TODAY IS 30TH AUGUST 2009

There are essentially three things that I want to ramble about today. One may be a bit short, the other might be somewhat longer and the last one is just a kind of tribute (I think).

So, the first thing is that I'm going to Korea in exactly 6 hours and 20 minutes. My flight leaves KLIA at 11.30pm tonite.. And I still haven't finished packing..Ha!! I'll be going there with my parents. Abah actually has a conference there and he asked Mama to come along. And of course, I'm tagging along because honestly, who'd let this opportunity go.. Even though it IS in the middle of Ramadhan.. Huu~ Soushite minna san, you can expect my next post to be adequately picturised and extensive...

The second agenda: OTANJOUBI OMEDETTO GOZAIMASU MATSUMOTO JUN!!! Finally, you're 26. I wonder whether he celebrated with his fellow Arashi members or just enjoyed a quiet celebration at home.. Since he doesn't have any solo project now, having finished SMILE, I don't think he's working.. Or is he? *stares out to think for a while* Anyway, I'm planning to get me some cake so I can have my own private celebration (Plus, I haven't had cake for a while, I miss it...) Speaking of SMILE, I just bought the DVD last night.. Yeay!! *Throws non-existent confetti into the air while smiling goofily* I love being a fangirl... Although I do so wanted to start watching it, I know it's impossible to finish it all up in one day.. So, I've resigned myself to watching it after my return from Korea. Insya Allah. So, just a bit of spoof from my birthday..

WHAT I DID ON JUN'S 26Th BIRTHDAY

Basically, I spent almost the whole day inside. I watched (and downloaded) some old episodes of Arashi no Shukudai-kun. Then I slept for a bit in front of the TV and just started packing at around 2.30pm.... I caught some Ace Ventura and is currently in front of the computer, typing up this entry while listening to Love So Sweet. Aand, THE END...

Lastly, since tomorrow is Malaysia's 52nd year of Independence, there is something that I would like to say. I'm thankful to be Malaysian. And the reasons are simpler (and a bit superficial?) than you may think. Mostly the reason I'm grateful is the multiracialness (Huh?) of Malaysia. Because it does make you more susceptible of other cultures in the world. Like even from the beginning we are made aware that they are many types of people with different style of living. Because of these...

1. We can have almost any type of food here in Malaysia 24/7. Provided, they have to be halal for Muslims but still Malay, Chinese and Indian food are available even in the remotest part of Malaysia.
2. You have more holidays!! Haha, some might laugh at this but it's still one of the reasons why I love Malaysia. You don't have to go looking for reasons to take the day off because they're already giving it to you. I think July is the only month that we don't have one sort of national holiday.
3. I have a feeling that Malaysia is the only country that has shows fom all corners of the world in its national channel. Subscribed channels don't count because obviously you have more variety in cable. I mean, you have the staple Malay, Chinese and Tamil. But you also have Hindi, Latin, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian and obviously English programs to choose from. It's also usual for a movie-goer to choose from shows of various languages at cineplexes. Big high five to whoever thought of subtitles.. You rock!
4. And last, I love the fact that it is a somewhat small country that kinda makes it easier for its people to go from the bustling city and be at the sea in just under two hours. Or can be at the highlands in almost an hour. Isn't that amazing? You get to feel and experience all types of landscapes. I've heard of some people who haven't seen the sea for almost their entire life. Isn't that sad?

However, I'll admit that there are a few glaring inadequecies. I'll not list them all, just from the top of my head..

1. I think Malaysian are too pampered because of our multiracialness (I know, again.. Huh?). It's because they are too many racial sentiments that people (especially leaders) tend to tiptoe around, trying to please everybody. In a way, this kind of hinders development which ultimately makes real progress difficult.
2. I noticed that there is lack of national pride among Malaysians, especially young ones. I applaud programs like PLKN and we do celebrate Independence Day in school, but that's kinda it. There's no real effort to really make the Malaysians appreciate their nation, land and be proud to say that they're Malaysian.
3. With the influx of other cultures into Malaysia, and the fact that we're embracing it with arms wide open, there should be a concentrated effort to actually conserve OUR culture. There is no program (that I'm aware of) where they show histories of Malaysia. Aside from our history lessons, we barely know of the arts and produce of Malaysia.
4. Lastly, there's a trend I notice where at first we will be all gungho on a project, claiming it to be this and that. And after a while it just fizzles out. The project might still have been carried out, but all the hype has gone waaay down to minus. Tsk2.. Such a shame.. There's also lack of maintenace for what was once a high profile project, but upon its completion left alone to fend on its ownself...

This is just purely my thoughts, and a little half-baked at that. I don't mean to condemn or look upon any Malaysian, I'm one too, you know. But with the goods, there must be the bads. I love my English, haha.. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to be a Malaysian, but my nationalism sentiments could be a little bit more higher. I think that's it. Abah has already gave me the dagger eyes to finish packing up... So, off I go.. Till next post... Sayonara...

EDIT: I found out what Jun did on his birthday..!! He was performing at Arashi's 5x10 Kokuritsu concert.. Cool.. Wish I could've gone and celebrated with him... The members even gave his present and cake on stage.. Some pictures from the concert courtesy tenjostyle@livejournal

Jun's Birthday Present..

Some shots of Jun at the concert

ALWAYS KEEP THE FAITH

This post is basically ramblings on TVXQ and Arashi.. Read on at your own risk of boredom and maybe even confusion...
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Nowadays it's been a limbo of depression and fervent hope for me. Although sometimes I'm smiling and laughing, I can't help feeling a little bit out-of-sorts whenever thoughts of TVXQ come racing across my mind. Even as I surround myself with their images and music, there is still that sttubborn niggling thought. What if....? I don't even dare to imagine a day when TVXQ would break up.. That would be a sad day for me...

JaeYooSu, fighting!!

The trial for JaeYooSu was on the 21st and although no resolution was reached yet, TVXQ fans across the world are praying and hoping that this will not be the end of this amazingly talented group. They have been together for 5 and a half years and gone through so many together. They've achieved so much. Broken so many records (The first foreign artist to have SIX straight Oricon Weekly, sold 300,000 album copies for Mirotic). But most importantly, touching so many hearts. It's no wonder that they currently have the largest fanclub in the world (as recorded by Guinness).

For most of the fans, their music is when you will first start to notice them. Regardless whether it's a ballad or a full out SMP song, you'll be hooked almost instantly. But if you see their interviews, backstage preparations and variety appearances, you'll get the feeling that they are just five guys, wanting with all their hearts to please their fans.

Even if they are sick, they'll still put on a smile and sing. And sing well. Junsu sprained his ankle during their Secret Code Tour. And he went up on stage on a wheelchair. Yunho hurt his back while rehearsing but still performed in their Asia Tour Concert in KL. It truly breaks the heart to see their dedication and what they are willing to do in the name of their fans. I've witnessed firsthand how they pushed through the pain when Changmin after he fell, still continued singing and waving during a concert in Bangkok. Yoochun caught a cold and because of his asthma, kept coughing throughout their rehearsal during their Mirotic comeback. But you wouldn't know that if you saw their performance. It was flawless.

And get this, they only have ten days off every year. 10 out of 365 days. Only ten precious days for them to be with their fans and family. Even that sometimes get cut short e.g. I think Junsu only had 5 days beacuse of his Anyband commitments in 2007. And they are only paid 10% from all the sales of albums, photobooks, concert tickets, merchandises and whatnot. 10% for all the 5 of them. Just a mere 2% for each of them. It's just unbelievable.

Personally, I think the issue lies with the management. With the revenues that TXVQ is bringing in for SM Entertainment, they should cut some slack for the boys. Let them breath. All they're asking is for a review of the contract. And SME throws all this crap about their endorsements in China. And about how much they spent for TVXQ during their training days. I'm guessing they've already paid that debt back ten-fold. I mean, come on, SM. We're not dumb. We can totally see right through you. I just hope that someday they will come around to that.

On the other hand, Arashi is celebrating their ten years anniversary. Being together for ten years, that's just a testament of their staying power. Being a new fan, I've always thought that they have been enjoying great success from their debut. But I later found out that they did face hardships during the initial years. After they found their footing in the music industry, boosted by the members' solo activities, they are becoming more popular. They've released a BEST OF album and I just love the hidden track. It's so upbeat. My perfect remedy for my pseudo-depression period. The 5x10 song is also okay. It's a track they wrote for their fans, but I think they're writing skills needs vast improvement if compared to the compositions of JaeYooSu. However, Arashi's songs are a little more upbeat and poppy than TVXQ which is kind of a good thing for me right now. I have yet to come across a genuine Arashi album here. So, I'm currently thinking of ways to get people to buy them for me. It's a pity I'm not so fond on the online shopping thing. And their concert!! I so hope I can go, but... So many things are in the way... Money being at the very top of the list...

Tension agete, Arashi-chan!

What I love about ARASHINKI is the dorkiness of both groups. It's like they have no qualms showing their not-too-flattering side to the eager side of fans. Ergo, they are showing us their true colors and not what they want us to believe. I also love their group dynamics. It's like each member has thir own space and their own thing. But all of it merges into this one beautiful relationship. And last but not least, I love their stages. When they perform, the energy is so overwhelming that you can even feel it sitting in front of a monitor. During one of the concerts, Jun sang the song La Familia which talks about his feelings and hope after five years of being in Arashi. Wouldn't it be wonderful if TVXQ could sing that song? Someone! Do a fanvid of TVXQ with La Familia!! Now!!!

So this is definitely a confusing time for me beacuse of the one hand, I'm devastated for TVXQ but ecstatic for Arashi. Oh, the world of fangirling.. How you can make my head spin... So, as a final word to my rant, to all Cassiopeians, Always Keep the faith. No matter what we will stand by our boys and forever and always. For Arashians, let's keep smiling with them and hope that they'll still be together for more years to come.

Red Ocean at Tokyo Dome. Isn't it beautiful?

P/s - I want to welcome Ayang to the TVXQ fandom. It's a truly wonderful place with good music, good people and endless laugh-out-loud moments. Next time I'm going to any TVXQ concert, I'll let you know k?

WHAT I DID ON MY 26TH BIRTHDAY

Well, the main thing I did was... SLEEPING!! Haha, yes that's true. I slept on my birthday. Plus, I didn't even go out of the house. The furthest I got was just outside the gate because I had to move my car.

I guess I was just a bit sleep-deprived and sort of energy-depleted due to the two previous days of hard work. In the two days, I got a total of about 10 hours of sleep in total. Plus I was moving and walking around a lot, which explains the drainage of energy. Originally, I planned to go out with Qamah and/or Ama that day. But that got cancelled, which sort of explained the absence of pre-planned activity.

Nenek also wanted to have a tahlil the previous night. We had a brief candle-blowing just before we went back home. And I got RM40 as a birthday gift from nenek. Arigatou gozaimasu Oba-chan.. So, in the end I only managed to get some shut eye at about 12.15am. Luckily, this meant that I was still awake at 12 which gave Mama the perfect time to wish me for my birthday.

Anyway, back to the birthday... I woke at 6.30am and dragged my feet to my laptop. As I was playing around, looking for Arashi updates I remembered that I have yet to create a Facebbok account. So, I registered and just looked around the site for a bit. I uploaded some photos but decided against tagging them as that would take the whole day. So, in a way the account is like my birthday present for me!! Just like this blog was created on my 25th birthday. Wow, this blog is a year old.. Sangil Chuka Hamnida Blog-Sshi..

Meanwhile, everybody else have woken up and was sprawled in front of the television watching the last few episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.. Nobody ever gets tired of that show. I love Phoebe's cookiness and Joey's ignorance. Monica and Chandler are cho chweeet and Rachel with Ross are LOVE. It just never gets old. Even Zaim and Mama were very reluctant to leave their seats because they wanted to see the ending. I slept for a bit and was only woken up when everyone was looking for Zaim's missing RM100. It turned out to be in his pants... Yikes!

Zaid has gone out and bought breakfast for everyone but since the Birthday Girl don't do nasi lemak so much, I got nasi kerabu!! (Yeay!!) But I only got around to eating it at 12.30pm.. Tsk2.. bad eating habit... (Shakes head while looking sadly to the ground)... Then, I watched some CSI. Feeling somewhat restless, I had a little chum session after which I started the day's worth of Arashi downloads. Hee..

I managed to catch the ending of the final episode of Zettai Kareshi and enjoyed some JKPop on Channel V and MTV whilst solving the Sudoke puzzle in the Sunday STAR. No Arashi and Tohoshinki today, though.. As usual, I can never do the Diabolical one.. I only managed to complete one diabolical puzzle.. *disappointed but vows to compete another one* Then, I replied to the birthday wishes that I got during the course of the day. Just wanted to apologize for my late reply and also a hugely big thank you to those that texted me.. Firdaus, Aishah, Kak Maya, Illi, Iffah, Qamah, Eela, Kak Iza, Ama, Nazri, Safura, Farha.. Also thanks to my family for the yummy birthday cake.. And to Bye for the Secret Recipe.. I have to thank Kak Maya again for her impressive birthday present.. This is beginning to sound like an award acceptance speech, so moving on...

I had another nap and only woke up to watch my weekend kdrama (My Too Perfect Sons). Then, I had the YongTauFoo Mama made for me. Cho Umei!! I made my way to my room and enjoyed a couple episodes of Arashi no Shukudai-kun. Both had Jun as the food commentator so, I was quite happy. Aiba and Sho is just too funny.. AibaJun was in zero gravity, Mirrorman was completely idiotic and Sho fails at cooking.. What a perfect way to end the day..

Because I had two nap sessions, my brain was still buzzing when I climbed on my bed.. but with the lights off and the fan whirring, who could keep awake? In the end, it's off too Zzzzz land.. Oyasumi nasai!

TRAPped AGAIN!

I celebrated Friendship's Day with two of my bestest friends, Ama and Kak Maya. Am I lucky or what? And the theme is.. (drum roll)... Water!...

1st August

I woke up later than I planned, which consequently caused me to be a full half an hour late to Ama's place than promised. But then, Ama had to fill up her tank and with the roads being quite packed, we only managed to start our journey to Trolak proper at about 11.

The travel was as usual, me and Ama basically sharing recent stories of each other and just singing at whatever's on radio. Kak Maya was waiting for us just off the first traffic light after the Slim River toll place and brought us to her house.

Lunch was waiting for us when we got there, but was a bit cold since we were supposed to come two hours earlier. Hee, Sorry Kak Maya!! Anyway, Ama was so happy to get to eat tempoyak again after soo many years. Apparently, the last time she had them was when we were still in UIA! That kinda shocked me because in my house we have tempoyak on a weekly basis. Ama, next time if you want tempoyak, come to my house, okay?

After we ate, we quickly got ready to go to the waterfall (which in the end is not so much a waterfall, more like a stream or a creek) in Tapah. We reached Kuala Woh at about 3.30 and quickly found a spot to put our bags and food. After which,we preceded to enjoy the cool water and surprisingly warm sand.

We packed up at about 4.30 and went to have a quick change of clothes at Kak Maya's rented place in Kampar. Kak Maya and me sang a bunch of Korean and Japanese songs on the way while Ama slept at the back. Haha..

Then, we hopped back into the car and made our way to Jaya Jusco Kinta City. Why there? Beacuse we were going to see "The Proposal"! We got there about half an hour before the show starts which means that the cinema wasn't opened yet by the time we got our hands full of popcorn, hotdog and drinks. I enjoyed the movie but wasn't quite convinced with the idea that the hero fell in love with his mean boss in just three days. But it was still a good movie nonetheless. Sandra was being the stereotypical cold b**ch with the warm fluffy pink heart hidden deep inside and Ryan was just too HOT! We laughed a lot and I even clapped my hands a couple of times.

The movie ended at 11 and we stopped by some shops for food. Kak Maya was practically driving like there's no tomorrow. I think she had her foot glued on the accelerator because we made it back to Trolak in just an hour an a half. The funny thing is, at first I wanted to stay up so that she won't be sleepy. In the end, I was singing at one moment and sleeping at the next. By the time I got up, we were already halfway into the journey. Lucky Ama was there to keep her company. Sorry again Kak Maya! As soon as we got home, there was nothing much left to do but head to the bed and catch a lot of ZZzzzss...

2nd August



When Ama and me woke up, Kak Maya was happily making donuts. So I helped her with holing the donuts while Ama took a bath. Kak Hawe SMS'ed saying she was already on her way there when we were having breakfast. Interestingly, there was an article in the Mingguan Pancaindera section about the Taman Rekreasi Air Panas Sungai Klah. The exact place we were going to on that exact day!! It's fate, I tell you.

So, we got ready and headed out at about 9.30. First, Kak Maya took us to the Pasar Umum Sungkai. There were lots of stuff that they sell over there, as with all markets. We bought some snacks and fruits and I saw some outfits which were totally cute. Sadly, I'm saving money for an upcoming trip, so no impulsive spending done here!

Then we made our way to Sungai Klah. We paid RM10 each for the entrance fee and were given blue strips. Last time it was yellow, you know... Just as we were about to step up on the plank, Kak Hawe had arrived with her fiancee who henceforth shall be known as Abang Bale and Kak Manje.

As usual, we would rest awhile at the Natural Sauna place and took some pictures. There were not many people yet that early in the morning, so we had the whole place to ourselves. A few shots are taken and we would just not-so-quietly enjoy the steam slowly rising up from the hot water. Naturally, Ama was ecstatic to see the steaming stream. Os much so that somehow her strip tore and fell into the hot water! Luckily Hero Abang Bale came to the rescue and safely retrieved the strip. Fuuuh...

Then, we made our way to the hot pool. The water this time is not as hot as it was the other time. So we managed to stay for quite some time in the water. And I even immersed my whole body in the pleasantly warm water. However, there were moss floating in the entire pool which kinda grossed me out after a while. They were stuck everywhere. So we got out of the pool and ate the food that we brought in.

Next is the mountain spring pool. We didn't go into the water here last time but since Ama wanted me to take a picture of her on the slide, I did manage to dip in the cool water for a while. Kak Manje and Kak Maya watched from the sidelines while eating some laksa and jeruk. Ama bought ice creams and we were happily people watching when Kak Hawe and Abang Bale joined us.

The final place is the Egg-Boiling place where we would just dip in our feet. The water is about 30-40 degrees so it was hot but not HOT . I think the trick is not to lift up your feet after you've put them in the water or else, you'll fel a split second of coolness and an intense heat. You just have to resist the pain until your feet temperature kinda equilibrates with the hot water. After that, it's just a pleasantly warm feeling on your toes.

We had a brief stop at the therapeutic pool and then made our way once again to the Natural Sauna place. We rested there for a while and not long after that, we went back to Trolak. It actually started raining just as we got in the car, thank God. After freshening up, we had lunch. Tempoyak again, to Ama's delight. Almost all of us had a light nap and then we had to pack up and say goodbye to Kak Maya. So, with a heavy heart, I waved goodbye to her and we were on our way back to KL.

Ama took me to Giant Kota Damansara because I have never been there. So we took a quick walk around and had an early dinner at Nachos Nachos. I slept over at Ama's that night and was on the bed as soon as I finished praying. Funnily enough, I think I had more sleep during this whole trip that I would if I were to stay home.

So, that's basically the whole two day trip that I took with my Bestest Friends! I had loads of fun and it was nice hanging out with them as I haven't seen Ama for a while and will not be meeting Kak Maya for a long while. I already miss them...

On a side note: Happy Birthday to Kak Hawe (1st August) who only managed to join us on the second day due to prior commitments.

On another side note: News have broken out about the possiblity of the disbandment of TVXQ which I hope with all my heart is completely untrue. My eyes are watering as I'm typing this. I'm also having difficulties listening to their ballads as it would definitely make me teary eyed. Thank God for Arashi. I've been listening to their cheerful songs to lift my spirits up...

Always Keep The Faith...