CRUISING ON MELAKA RIVER - PART ONE

25th August 2015 ~ I got bored to death on the second day of the course in Melaka and decided to take a stroll from the hotel to anywhere my feet could take me. So I just walked along the road until I saw a river and continued walking along it.

I then arrived near a shopping mall called "The Shore" and there was a jetty for the boat cruise. After paying RM10, I hopped into the boat to enjoy the scenery along Melaka River. 

The view would be more spectacular at night but too bad, there was a session to attend so I had to be happy with this one.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"P. RAMLEE THE MUSICAL" CAME TO TOWN

5th September 2015 ~ One of the best news so far was to know that a musical theatre came to Johor Bahru, FINALLY. After buying the tickets online, I managed to get someone to tag along, Mr. Amirul Husni. So we went to Pinewood Studio located in Iskandar Malaysia, Nusajaya, which was actually quite far from the town area.

We were among the first to arrive and we found a "surau" [a small place for performing prayer] for our "Maghrib" prayer. The show started only at about 8:45 p.m. although it was printed 8:00 on the tickets.

This should be one the best theatre hall that we have here. There was also another recording for Astro Chinese television programme in the other hall at the same time. 

The musical was just AWESOME. It was worth the money and time and I could say everyone in the crowd went out feeling happy when everything was over. Congratulations to the actors, musicians and all the crew for the superb musical theatre.

the curtain call

Too bad I could not record the performance during the show but you DO have to see it yourself. I really hope that there will more theatre perfomances that will be brought here to Johor Bahru.

My next mission: to watch a theatre performance in Singapore.

AN OLD FRIEND FROM COLLEGE CAME TO TOWN

4th September 2015 ~ When Miss Jashireen Bashir was here in town, the best thing to do was to introduce her to my favourite "mee rebus" at Plaza Kotaraya. She is another coursemate from UPM TESL class of 1993 and was/is in JB for work-related matter.

Thanks for the time, Jash. We should try other authentic local Johor delicacies when you are here next time.

MOVIE REVIEW - "HITMAN AGENT 47"

This movie was made based on the Hitman video game series. The movie is very violent in nature, definitely not suitable for people underage but I am sure you people just don't care. The characters in the movie showed that killing could be easily done - without feelings. And sometimes they were invincible. They were all like robots in  a way as they were already programmed to kill each other. I just wonder is the video game as violent as the movie.

BOOK REVIEW - "SCISSORS PAPER STONE" by ELIZABETH DAY

This is a story of a wife who had to live a life with a husband who had been having affairs with other women in the neighbourhood, and a daughter who was sexually abused by her father. They just could not break away from the same man, the mother for the fear of losing the husband and the daughter for losing her father. They were just too weak to accept the fact that they had been the victims of a vicious man but strong enough to endure a life full of pain and misery. There was no climax in the story - everything just ended when the father died because of old age. I was expecting someone to pull off the plug in the hospital ward so everything could end earlier, but that did not happen.

AN UNPLANNED MEETING WITH AN EX-STUDENT

My next plan after I have paid for my purchase of the items at the counter was to have my cake and coffee. And out of nowhere, appeared Mr. Voon Yee Yung, an ex-student from SMKTUN SPM batch 2006. And when asked to chat over coffee at AEON Bukit Indah Secret Recipe, to my delight, he agreed as he was free at that time, I supposed. Too bad I met Mr. Voon a bit late, or else I would have forced him to watch a movie with me.

We have not met for many years and it was great to have the chance to catch up. Hopefully, we could do this some other time even though the possibility is quite low. Thanks for the time Mr. Voon, it was really great to see you again.

MEETING AN EX-STUDENT FROM/STUDYING IN MEDAN

29th August 2015 ~ Someone promised to visit during Eid but could not do so as time was quite limited.  Finally, at the eleventh hour, a day before leaving Johor Bahru for Medan, I managed to meet up with an ex-student (from SPM batch 2012) who is currently studying in Indonesia, for a brief chat. We first went to Kampung Melayu but all the food there was already sold out after 10:00 p.m. on a weekend (always blame the Singaporeans) so we had to find another eating place in Taman Sentosa.

Thanks Mr. Irham Mukhriz for the time. I guess I still have to put my plan to visit Medan on hold, what more now AirAsia has discontinued its direct Johor Bahru - Medan service. Do not worry, determination is the key to success. Or perhaps I should be thinking of another alternative available.