you smile, i smile

I've never dreamt of doing a pre-wedding photo shoot at all. It was never in the plan. However, when a budding photographer friend offered to shoot us, I said why not? I was even more ecstatic when Rizal said yes - considering how camera shy he is.

We headed to The Curve as early as 8.30 am, trying to reach there by 9.00 am in the hopes of avoiding the public. It was drizzling that morning all the way there so my heart sank because there's no way we could do this in the rain. Alhamdulillah, just when we stepped out to The Walk, we could see a ray of light from the sky.

Didn't know what to expect, we just stood there while Eda and Yuzni were trying to get their equipments ready, testing and what not. They were snapping away but we just stood there like the National Monument Haha To cut things short, the session started off pretty funny with Rizal acting real awkward and his shyness really showed. But after 3 hours, I was surprised myself at how sporting he had become and we loosened up.

I'm still very thrilled at how the photos turned out. They're really good! I'm not saying this because they're mine, but Eda really did a good job. I love it!

Here are some of the pictures.

(My personal favourite!)

Eda was also the one who took pictures of my engagement. I think I gave her her big break when I requested for her to be my sort of OP for the event. She has received many requests ever since and I highly recommend her. I know she still has a long way to go but as an amateur I think she's doing pretty well. Do check her out at her official blog or add her at Facebook.

the mark of torment

It's that time of the schooling year again. I think most schools are now in the midst of their final year exam - which is a total bliss! This time around, JPS has decided to carry out a standardized state exam in which all Form 2 and Form 4 students from all schools will be answering the same sets of questions at the same time. Only the Form 1 students will be answering questions prepared by the school.

Like every tests or exam, the English paper is usually scheduled on the second day. So the bliss is, as you can see, short-lifted. You go back to your table, and you're being shoved scripts by scripts. However, that gives us English teachers (normally) ample time to finish marking the scripts, distribute the papers back to students and give a copy of the finalised marks to the class teachers on time. And everything is pretty much done.

Only, doing so in reality is not as easy as being said. Marking them papers requires a strong willpower from my part. Paper 1 is not a problem at all. Paper 2 gives me shivers. My eyes will start to blur and my hand will start shaking after marking only 4 papers. I've stopped after that 4 papers and I haven't continued since this morning. It's truly a test of patience and fairness. You have to spend an inordinate amount of time on one script to check on all sorts of mistakes you could find and I can assure you after 4 papers, you'll start seeing stars.

Oh, the complexities of responding to students' composition!

3-day trip out of school

Today is the second day I'm out of school. I'm in PPD, joining other JUs (Jurulatih Utama) to settle the SAP marks for the previous SPM trial for all schools in the Klang district. Tomorrow will be the day when we compile all the results and analyse our district's performance in general and identify schools which are still in the 'grey' (weak) group. Indirectly, I'm also working for the Academic Department in PPD.

I can say that I'm lucky to be given the opportunity to be in the team for I am still considered a new teacher, masih lagi setahun jagung. I've been doing this for awhile and I think I like it. I get to meet teachers from other schools, discuss with them on examination related stuffs and learn from the experienced ones how they seem to do it in their schools. With the SAP team, I'm one step ahead from the rest in terms of having all the schools' results in my hands. Not to mention, it will help me with my 'Laporan Prestasi' as I'm involved at the district level. Also it benefited me last year when I got to check my sister's school examination results from the data we received from her school so that I know she's been telling the truth haha

Besides, I can actually spread my wings by getting to know people from the PPD and it's nice when people 'up there' actually acknowledge me because of my frequent visit there. They're actually really nice. So yes, when I'm called for any SAP meeting I am more than happy to be there because a trip out of school is absolutely haven once in a while!

Yesterday, when we have finished collecting the data from schools, I went straight to Subang Empire to meet my mum and sister there. We planned to have lunch and shop for my wedding bed set. We got what we needed at Tangs. However, we couldn't decide on where to eat. Finally, after many trips back and forth on the Ground floor (where most of the eateries were), we agreed on Tarbush - a restaurant serving Lebanese cuisine.

We've been eyeing this place for quite some time when we first saw it at Sunway Pyramid. But since my dad is not a fan of anything other than Malay kampung food and our usual eateries, we didn't have the chance to try Tarbush. Going through the menu, I noticed there were a few authentic dishes and some which I'm familiar with due to my stay in Australia before (thanks MacMuslim Society!). However, the main dishes kinda dissapoint me a bit for most of them were like a fusion dish of some sort. Tak authentic/exotic sangat.

My mum ordered fried dory with briyani rice (see what I mean?). The mayonaise (or was it?) was so delicious! I couldn't make out the ingredient but there was definitely a lot of garlic involved.

I ordered Tawook sandwich (which was superb by the way). Pita bread filled with grilled chicken, special sauce, and lots of vege. I didn't expect it to be served with fries though hehe

And my darling sister ordered Chicken Briyani which was good but not exceptional.

We were absolutely full when we finished our food. Based on what we ordered, I'm giving it a 3/5. We plan to go there again and try some other dishes, especially the shish kebab. Tengok boleh beat the best shish kebab ever tak.

If only Birkenhead Point is just within reach! Oh nyum! *drools*

i'm a peacock, let me fly

That's as funny as it can get. Really.

The Other Guys didn't wow me as much as I expected it to be. Surprisingly, I found myself enjoying only at some scenes of the movie. Truthfully, I am a bit of a loss where this movie is concerned.

Let me tell you why. Albeit its PG13 classification, it's ironic that the so-called bad words weren't censored - at all. In fact, the whole movie wasn't censored of its words and scenes and we had kids as young as 6 in the cinema, watching wide-eyed to supposedly 18sx scenes and dialogues. You have that in translation and it would surely sound so wrong to a kid. I wonder whatever happened to the censorship policy now.

The movie to me, is dirty. It is full of vulgar and dirty jokes that one can only cope at some point. I am one of them. Needless to say, it is hilarious, but downright dirty hilarious. However, one has to have sort of a background knowledge of the Hollywood and LA entertainment scene to catch some of the jokes. If you don't know who Kim Kardashian is, or what the reality TV Jerseyshore is all about, one would surely be lost.

picture from Google

The Other Guys is a guy's version of our chick flick. It is purely a guy's movie as opposed to a common comedy, which I can laugh my heart out throughout the entire story. And yes, it was just the guys in the cinema who laughed real hard, even when that particular scene made no sense. But it's a great movie to unwind to nevertheless. Will Ferrrel is the man!