Same Old, Same Old..

I received news from my friends that we will only be called to report for the induction course - which is compulsory before going for housemanship - after Hari Raya Aidilfitri. That means I've got a bit more than a month of free time. Some of the seniors who have already started working pretty much gave us this ominous advice.

Take as many break and sleep as you want before you start working, because once you've started working, you can only crave for those......

Whenever I'm not out roaming the city, I prefer to stay in the condo with the company of some good books and movies. It's rainy season nowadays and the journey from Puchong to KL is a tad expensive. I missed those times when we stayed in the heart of the KL city. Nonetheless, I liked the peace and quiet my uncle's condo has to offer. And staying all the way up to just five storeys shy from the roof, it's also free of miserable insects such as evil mosquitoes, and the air is a bit cool too. At times I don't even have to switch on the fan.

Sometimes after work, my uncle needed to meet up with some people and I'd tag along because then I'd be able to hit the cinemas or look around for some cheap pirated high quality DVDs. Since my last entry about movies and books, I've seen two more movies at the cinemas and have just finished reading the Girls of Riyadh book I've told you about.

Star Wars - The Clone Wars
Actually I'm not one of those kipas-susah-mati (die hard fan) of the Star Wars movies but I enjoyed watching them because of the graphics and special effects, despite the bad acting from some of the actors coughAnakincough....

Now as you all know, Anakin Skywalker is the former form of the now infamous super-villain Darth Vader, and in the third movie (Revenge of the Sith) we all see how Anakin slowly succumbs to the dark side of the Force, but with reasons we can understand - he's worried of his wife's death and wants to prevent that from happening. In this movie, however, it's set in between the second and the third movie and gives us the chance to see the better side of the adult Anakin Skywalker as he received a new Padawan learner, a girl named Ahsoka. I enjoyed the platonic master-apprentice relationship these two shares, which pretty much mirrors how Anakin is with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi.


And of course there's Yoda. Haha. Teringat kat a figure called Mama Yoda back at Kursk. It's all memories now. My friends know of whom I am talking about, and no, I am NOT the one who coined the term. But the term sticks once we heard of it. Okay, off topic. Anyway, if you're an avid Star Wars fan go see the movie. If you're not, well, just go anyway. But everyone's entitled to their own opinion. As for me I went to see this movie with my 14 and 11-year-old cousins and this is the only suitable movie on air. Well, there was also Wall-E but we decided on Star Wars first.

4bia
Yeah, it's a pun for Phobia, and it's rather fitting. It's a Thai movie with 4 plots that are not related to one another, but all have the same theme - horror. And it's really spooky, what more with the fact that there are only about eight people in the theater last night when I went to see it - never mind the fact that the people around me really need to get a grip of it. If you're so easily spooked, just do the rest of us a favor and DON'T come to the cinema to watch it if every few seconds you'd go EEEK!! AAHHH!! Freakin' annoying. Some Malaysians really need to brush up their cinema etiquette, if there's any.

Nevertheless, this movie really does what it's supposed to do. The build-up of each of the four plots is nicely crafted. I'm not gonna spoil the movie for you, but if you're looking to get spooked go ahead and see this movie.


Okay, movies aside, now my DVD treasure loot for the past one week.The DVD vendor recognized me as the one who had borong-ed the DVD the previous week. :P

From left, upper row, clockwise motion: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Shutter (english remake), Hybrid, Night Head (anime), Dragonball Z Movies Collections, Saiyuki.

Haven't seen any of this except some of the Dragonball Z movies which I bought just for a keepsake reason. I don't know a single thing about Saiyuki and Night Head, so hopefully they're good.  I really wanted to watch Prince Caspian so that's the thing I'll do after blogging. And Shutter...I've seen the Thai original version and I just wanted to see whether the English version lives up to its original predecessor. As for Hybrid, I don't know a thing about it but the premise looks promising.

On towards for the books.

 

I'm just gonna post the summary provided at the back cover of this book.

Released in 2005 in Arabic, Girls of Riyadh caused a sensation throughout the Arab world. Now in English, Rajaa Alsanea's bold first novel exposes the hidden lives of young upperclass women and their personal conflicts with cultural tradition and offers Westerners an unpredecented glimpse into a society often veiled from view.

From the Saudi singles scene in Riyadh to their travels outside the country, four young women, Gamrah, Sadeem, Michelle and Lamees, literally and figuratively shed traditional garb as they negotiate their love lives; their professional successes; their rebellions, large and small; and ultimately their place - somewhere in between contemporary Western society and their Islamic home.

That makes you curious enough? I was dubious upon receiving the book from my bro who insisted that it's a good book, but now that I've read it I have to agree with him. It's not anything we haven't heard of in our current so-called modern Malaysian society, but ours aren't as veiled as the Arabs. An eye-opener.

Okay, now I'm done with English-language novels for the time being. Remember my post about Awang Vampiro online novel I've found a couple of months back? Well that novel pretty much convinces me to further seek out more Malay novels of the Supernatural genre.  Then I found these and since the price were cheap and I've got some MPH rebate coupons from previous MPH shopping that I wanted to use, I took four of these novels aimed for the young adults and teenagers. Two of them are of Siri Cerita Rakyat genre and it has been ages since I've read those stuff so I got two of those. The third novel - Hantu Silap Mata - is a story that reminds me a bit of the movie "The Prestige", but with a very Malaysian feel and contain enough original stuff and plot to make it an original work of the author. And the fourth is like X-Men or Heroes, with the characters having supernatural powers.

Actually I have an ulterior motives when I bought these novels. I'd like to study the authors' way of writing - a habit I have slowly cultivated while I was writing my own private work. One of the authors I liked to analyze is JK Rowling; when writing is concerned, she's my idol. I'd look for ways to improve my own writing, and usually I'll pay attention of the way they describe the plot, the settings, the characters, and all other stuffs...what makes a story tick in particular? Some told me I should write a book on my own, but that remains, for now, something which I don't even know I want to do or not because I'd have a lot in my plate when I've begun working. But hey, no harm in having a dream right?

Another thing that have kept me occupied during the holidays is......... driving lessons! Now I can see the laughs coming, bring it on anyway... but yeah, at the ripe old age of 25 I'm beginning my lessons whereas most people would jump at the chance by the time they hit 17. And I can only do it now because for the past six years I only spent pretty much a month in Malaysia whenever I was back for summer vacation, and also because right now I have a specific set address for referral/contact purposes, whereas I'd usually hotel-hopping from one place to another the past few summers in Malaysia. Huhu. The test I mentioned on Friday's entries was the computer test which I passed with 45/50 - while doing the test, I expected to get five wrongs because I didn't remember seeing those questions in the question book the drive center had provided, and turns out I did get five wrongs. Hahaha. Tomorrow I'll have the 6 hours Amali lessons to go, then I can begin the real driving lessons. Lookin' forward to drive this baby soon.

Toyota Vios. Yeah, you see that there's already a long scratch at the right side of the bumper, which we realized we got while staying at KL Plaza near the Pavillion and Starhill. Probably some drunk retard did this. Langgar and lari. I wish whoever did this will have a long, prosperous life of living hell. Muahaha.

Sigh.... I haven't got the chance to even drive it for the first time and already it has suffered a long deep gash. Uncle told me that he knew people that can get a paint job done cheaper than what Toyota people suggested. Mom however had a better idea: At least with the car already scratched, I wouldn't have to worry of scratching it myself when it's time for me to drive it, since new drivers are always nervous and scared that they'd scratch the new car. Huhu. Maybe so. I'll leave the scratch intact for now until I can maneuver the car well enough in the open. Blessing in disguise? Still an eyesore nonetheless.

Probably you're tired of reading my life stories, so on the next entry, I will resume the long-overdue Jejak Mesir 2006.