I got to see Australia

No, not the country. At least not yet. It's "Australia" the film. And, as usual, I will not write much about it. It is still showing in local cinema.

One thing that really sets this film apart from other "Hollywood" film, is that it tells the story as it is. It lacks the propaganda-like-self-glorification that many "Hollywood" films share ("Black hawk down", "Pearl Harbor" - just to name a few). The story intertwines with real historical events. These historical events were not distorted just for the sake of self-glorification. They even have the 'lost generation' depicted in the film. And all these was done tastefully and skillfully, so much so, the 2hours 45minutes just breezed away!

To sum it all, this is a down to earth film about the land 'Down Under'.

Rusa Masuk Kampung

The title of this entry translate to "deer went into a village". No deer was harmed in the making of this entry. It is actually a Malay idiom. A similar idiom in English would be "fish out of water". Again, no fish was harmed in the making of this entry.

Ma Hen asked me to come along to a friend wedding invitation. The wedding was to be held in a house in rural area. The kind where the house have no number on a nameless road. The only address given to Ma Hen was the "kampung". I telephoned a colleague and got the rough direction to the "kampung".

So off we went, driving along the narrow winding road. Turning back wasn't an option. There was no area to make a safe U-turn. So we continued driving. We slowed down when we saw cars parked along the road. I spotted a little yellow signboard "Kampung Juasseh Hilir" on my right. I made a right turn into a small one-lane road. Ma Hen asked if the car being able to fit into the road. Yes, if you are used to driving in those small-barely-fit-one-car "kampung" road.

I drove slowly passed a man. Ma Hen wound down the window and asked:

Ma Hen: Pakcik, tumpang tanya. Ni wedding siapa? (translation: Excuse me, uncle. Whose wedding is this?)
Man: [Gave blank look]
Me: [Trying hard not to laugh my head off, but couldn't think of what the right word]
Ma Hen [repeat]: Ni wedding siapa? (Whose wedding is this?)
Man: [Yet another blank look]
Me [From the driver seat, finally found the word]: Pengantin siapa? (Who is the groom?)
Man [smiling]: Zulkarnain
Me & Ma Hen [Smiling because we found the house]: Terima kasih.

My dear Ma Hen was like 'fish out of water'. Having lived and worked in concrete jungle for many years, and attending lots of hotel-weddings, the "kampung" wedding was a welcomed change for Ma Hen.

The drive back was great. Green trees left and right. We switched off the air-cond and wound down the window. Who needs air-cond when you have fresh air!

Changes

While driving in Perak, I received a phone call. There's a 'job-opening'. It wasn't my first choice (I applied for other places too). Needing some changes, I accept the offer - only to have the other job offered to me a day later. And so with a little regret, I boarded the bus to the main office to collect my offer letter.

Two months had passed since I started my new job. Still adjusting and trying to cope up with the changes. To put it in another words: I traded concrete jungle and traffic jams for a proper jungle and different kind of traffic jam.

The road to my office cuts through a forest reserve area. And best of all, regardless of whether they are hogging the lane or even in the wrong lane, these road users always have the 'right-of-ways' and will not get punish for showing their 'hairy-backside'!