Two of my good friends will get married to each other this Saturday. Dib and Ida, congrats to both of you. Wish you all the happiness in life. Marriage is a sacred thing; cherish it for your whole life. Bro, just ring me up if there’s anything that needs my attention and help. I’m more than happy to help you both.

The following day, 1 Aug 2004 is my first wedding anniversary. Alhamdullillah. Thank God for all his blessings. Time really flies. Still thinking on what to buy for her present. I’m really not that good when buying things. Yeah, I know, the thought counts, but still.

I want that day to be the best day of her life. Any idea? Currently I’m thinking of buying her jewelry. Bracelet perhaps.

Why I think it’s still not good enough?

Okay. This is getting ridiculous. I really don’t like telemarketers. And, for the past one month, my wife’s getting a lot of calls from ASTRO telemarketers. Not one, not two, but four ASTRO staff try to seduce my wife into subscribing their TV channels. Come on. You should have a database. What’s the point to call again and again when my wife’s already mentioned clearly that she’s not interested?

The conversation below is purely fictional.

Telemarketer: Hello, may I speak with Pn. Azwin?
My lovely wife, Azwin: Speaking. Who's this? (Oh God, he got great voice.)
Telemarketer: I'm Amir (I’m not using a real name here) from Astro. You're one lucky chick, we’ve decided to give you free Astro’s. You only need to pay installation charges and monthly bills. Walla, it’s yours. You interested?
Azwin: Really. Am I that lucky? You are the fourth person who called me this month. That’s scary dude. Btw, I'm not interested. You see, I'm rarely at home.(I wonder from where he got my name, Oh God, what a great voice he had.)
Telemarketer: But why? It's too good to be missed. Everybody loves free stuffs. I think that includes you Puan.
Azwin: Okay, okay. I love free stuffs. You got me there. But I'm not interested.
Telemarketer: You think about this first huh. I'll give you another call tomorrow. We've got "Akademi Fantasia".
Azwin: Thanks but no thanks. I'm not that interested.
Telemarketer: What a waste. We provide great movies and TV series. We've got "Akademi Fantasia". Everybody watched that shows.
Azwin: *sigh*. Amir, I'm quite busy at the moment. Thanks anyway. Bye.(What a waste, he got great voice. I hope he call me back tomorrow.)

We are hardly at home. For the time being, there's no need for us to subscribe.

And you even dare mentioning Akademi Fantasia (I like Linda though) over and over again. Come on man, you can do better than that.

Better luck next time okay.

Sending my car to the workshop today. Maybe I’m out of car for about 2 weeks.

Damn.

That car is seriously in need for some body and paint works. I’ve owned 1997 Wira, which I bought in 2001 from second hand dealer, and I really love her.

Ok.

It did cause me a lot of troubles before. To change the parts and what not, but that only brought me closer to her. After knowing the car inside out, I’m not willing to change her for any new model.

Even for free. Not yet.

I feel connected to her.

Fazly*: I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to give my best performance tonight because I'm not allowed to wear my white jacket that I've already bought beforehand.
Me (in front TV on happy Friday night): Huh? That's nonsense dude. I didn't find any association between your jacket and your performance. It seems unrelated.

You still suck**.

Don't know about you guys, but I think that jacket is so last centuries. The one vampire wears in good old days. Remember, David Baroenaz in Angel. I love David though; he's so stylish. Haha.


Anyway, he managed to wear that jacket and even made it to final 11.

Come on.

*One of Malaysian Idol finalist.
**Sorry dude. You really do.

Agreed with Paul Moss. This week’s Malaysian Idol contestant is much weaker compared to last week. I can say that this is the weakest group so far. This week we can see there’s a lot of indifference in view between Paul Moss and Roslan (plus Gee). For instance, Roslan loved Fazly performance but Paul is so not into it. Gee even said that she likes Fazly's sense of fashion. Come on. That's so 70's Gee.

Anyway, I think Paul got better taste compared to both of them. Not voting for anybody this week, but Rydee really got a very sexy (husky) voice. I believe she can go far. Not in this series obviously, outside maybe.

Cut my hair last Sunday. Vin Diesel’s style.

Some rules of the air for flyboys:
1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
3. The propeller is a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can watch the pilot start sweating.
4. The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.
5. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might just be another plane travelling in the opposite direction.
6. You start out with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before emptying the bag of luck.
7. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no-one knows what the are.

Reader’s Digest, Oct 2001

Last year I made a list of things that I would like to do before I turn 40. Here is the list. The strike out entries means only one thing, it’s already being done successfully. :)

1. Climbing Mount Kinabalu.
2. Pay credit card bills in full.
3. Buy a house in KL vicinity.
4. Learning how to swim.
5. Beach body. The one like Vincent Ventresca had during his days in Invincible Man series.
6. Getting married with the sweetest girl on earth.
7. Making two beautiful babies
8. Bali Islands, Paris, UK.
9. Performing a hajj with my love ones.
10.Participating in a marathon (full distance).
11.More charities.

Can’t believe I’ve already achieved 3 entries from the list. How time flies. About that charities thing, I’ll just let the status as status quo. Life’s short, help wherever we can.

Last year, Malik Mydin from Penang became the first Malaysian to swim non-stop across the 33.6km-wide English Channel. He made it in 17 hours and 35 minutes and was rewarded with a Datukship.

Not even a year later, Mr. Lennard Lee, a medical student at Cambridge University, successfully swam non-stop across the same English Channel in 9 hours and 45 minutes.

What do you think? Another 'Dato' in the making. Come on.

Don't get me wrong, I admire his guts and he even doing all that for charities. Cool. But you can't award everybody with Datukship. The control mechanism for this thing is needed. Badly.

Went to PD Sanctuary last week. The travel was okay and the stay was quite nice even though the nearest beach (that we can swim inside) is 30 km journey from that place. We brought along our BBQ set and we are spending most of our time in the swimming pool.

Hurray.

Like there is no swimming pool in KL.

Mum and Nadiah, Happy birthday. My mum and sis are quite lucky for they shared the same birthday's date. May happiness will always be with both of you.

Watched Malaysian Idol last week. Really like Syima’s performance (even though she didn’t make it to final 11). She’s cute and she had a very strong voice to compliments that. Voted for Rizal, Vick and Syima, but only Vick made it as final candidates (congrats man). Mac Chew (the pianist) is brilliant. I really like the way he played along with the songs (the way he rearranged the melody to suits the time given to each contestant).

I wish I’m that good.

Honestly I don’t like to see my friends getting married. As much as I elated for them to finally settled down, I feel sad when they do, and I feel even worse when they tell me nothing’s gonna change. Yeah right.

For once, I didn’t think that Sen. Kerry would ever pick someone who was that much more credible and charismatic than him to be his Vice-presidential candidate. I was dead wrong. You really surprised me man. It is Sen. Edwards name that’s being announced to run side by side with him on his US presidential campaign. To me, this move will sure boost Democratic chances in coming US election (mind you, Edwards does bring immense charm and charisma to the camp, and we know that personality does matter). Bravo to Kerry for picking up the best VP candidate even at the risk of being outshone by Edwards.

It's undeniable that Edwards has charisma and magnetism in spades. I'm curious how many Democrats will regrets voting for Kerry in the primaries over Edwards. I personally like Edwards.

On different note, my deep condolences to late Tan Sri Azizan’s family. He passed away last night due to heart problem. I can say that, it’s a big lost to our company (we lost our dearest chairman) and to Malaysia in a whole. Alfatihah.

"You should change your phone man, it is big and bulky," my colleague says.
“How dare you.”

I’ve owned Nokia 6150, which I bought 4 years ago, and obviously it is my first love. I felt comfortable holding it. Even if there is a need for me to change handphone in the future, I’ll opt for communicator, which is bigger than my current model, mind you.

I’m quite old fashioned when it comes to certain things. For example, I prefer a day reading good books than a session in karaoke lounge. I'll pick orchestra compares to rock concert. I even become a member of MPO, KLCC. In this entry, I emphasize the word ‘prefer’ and that means I’m quite okay to go there once there is a need to do that.

My wife’s complements me in that sense. She loves to sing and a visit to News KTV (we rarely go to other places) will simply makes her happy. I can say that, she’s quite modern and that’s why I love her.

Mika Hakkinen is considering a comeback. Wow. That news really makes my day. Even though, he's not coming back to Mclarens (my all time favorite team), Williams is also a good team (that produce a great result this season) to start back your career with. I think yesterday’s race (Silverstone GP) is a turning point for Mclarens team. I hope this type of consistency and result will continue throughout the season. Maybe there are not enough races for them to challenge for the title, but what the heck.

It will surely provide some kind of confidence to the team or to the driver (I’m referring to Raikonnen here).

The 'Menopause (The Musical)' is quite hilarious. We (Me and my gorgeous babe) had a really good time watching the play. They really can sing and act. Bravo to all of them.

Last week was a very good week for me indeed.

Simply put, Barry Manilow is a genius. I adore his masterpiece. I adore his work. I wish I could produce the songs with this kind of impact. Even though I'm taking piano classes and what not, I'm still suck come producing a good song.


I'LL NEVER LOVE THIS WAY AGAIN
Dionne Warwick

You looked inside my fantasies
And made each one come true
Somethin' no one else
Had ever found a way to do;

I've kept the mem'ries one by one,
Since you took me in;
I know I'll never love this way again.

Chorus
I know I'll never love this way again,
So I keep holdin' on
Before the good is gone,
I know I'll never love this way again,
Hold on hold on, hold on.

A fool will lose tomorrow.
Reachin' back for yesterday;
I won't turn my head in sorrow
If you should go away;

I'll stand here and remember
Just how good it's been,
And I know I'll never love this way again

'Darren Kang, who is on summer break from Sheffield University in Britain, died after at least 15 youths attacked him after an argument at a restaurant. The attack arose as a result of Kang chiding the youths for jeering at his fiancee' TheSun July 8, 2004

What will I do if I'm in Darren shoes? As I grew older, I will just walk away when and if the situation arises. I think that there's no point for me to play along with their act. Let them with their own world.

But (OK, I know we can't start the sentence with 'but'), there is one time (IOI Mall, few years ago) my sis was being teased by a group of not-that-cool-but-they-think-they-are-the-coolest-kids on our way out from the shopping complex and I just lost my cool. I shouted mean words to this group of kids. Luckily, they just walked away and nothing bad happened.

Looking back, I know I can't defend myself in that situation. Hey, I’m just a kid.

To Darren, rest in peace.

Brain Teaser
How may times I used the word cool?

I'm gonna watch a performance called 'Menopause' in Actor Studio Bangsar this Saturday. George thanks for the tickets. I really appreciate it brother. I'm sure my wife's gonna like the show. It's been a long time since I brought her to see live performance.

Watched Malaysian Idol last Sunday. That girl is really rude. Can't believe that this type of attitude still exists in our community. She, in the first place chooses to go through this audition all over again (Mind you, she's already attending the audition held in JB). She should be ready to hear the comments from the jury. How can you have this ambition to be a singer and yet not ready to receive any crude remarks?

And, there is one guy who acted like a gangster. Who do he think he is? A Mafia is it? If I'm one of the jury I'm sure gonna smack this guy there and then. Please have respect to other people if you expect to get the same treatments from them. You can't go far with this kind of attitude.

This is really a small issue, and by acting like that, it shows how immature you are.

It really pissed me off to see this type of attitude. Please change dude.

Euro 2004 finals: Portugal vs. Greece

From the beginning of this tournament, I've never predicted that this will be it. Greece really produces the biggest upset so far. First with France, and now with Euro 1996 first runner up, Czezh Republic. From this, I can conclude that the past performance does not tell the future. We can’t be complacent. It’s a sure tell sign of the end of our road. You will be defeated to this so-called 'notsopopularyetdedicated' team. Greece is nothing compares to Netherlands (for example), with no players modeled with Adidas and what not. But, they produce great result (in this tournament).

Which is the most important.

Edited on July 5, 2004 (8.50 am): Portugal 0-1 Greece
A goal from Angelos Charisteas helped Greek side to stun the hosts and win the UEFA EURO 2004. Congrats to the winner. But, I still like the popular team (Netherlands in particular). They played entertaining football.

Dear DPM,

Yes I know it's quite ambitious to be an astronaut. But, this is what I want. I always want to go to outer space and discover what's in there. It's my ambition since primary school. And, I can say that it's still my ambition. After finishing my degree, I plan to take up pilot classes with Malaysia Air Force. Unfortunately, my mother is not into that idea. I know, by being fighter pilot, my chances to participate in Outer space Programs will be much greater. Yup, they said anybody can apply for that job. Yup, you once said that we don't have to be scientist or to be in an army to apply. But deep down, I know that this 'army guys' will always have a better chance compare to me.

Now I hate those pilots.

Enough said. Please consider my application.

Regards,
Faizall