Wat sek dulu dan sekarang
The Terengganu dialect is amazing. Few years ago I shared an article about Mujo in one of my FB notes. Few days ago, I read about this in my brother's FB page.

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Ganu kiter....

sbelum akak nikoh.tok kodi ngesoh name ic pengatin laki.kodi kata nok tanye soalan skit.pengatin laki debo doh ni.

Kodi: lame dh kenal hok puang ni?
Pgntin: dlm 2 thn lbih
Kodi: hoo molek la...mesti g dating sokmo ni dok?
Pgtin:kdg2 je Tok.dia trg sy duk kl
Kodi: Doh xjupe,org muda leni org ngorat wat sek sokmo la ni

**terangkat pggung pgntin&wali dengor soalan tu***

Pgntin: Mnada Tok,kang haram!
Kodi:bakpe haramnye,kang ada niat nok nikoh.wat sek la.barang percume!
Wali: hoi! mung tok kodi jgn wt aib ank nantu aku gitu depang org rama ning!!!!
Kodi: ce wt mari talipon mung aku nk cek

***kodi mitok ngan pgntin***

Pgntin: talipon saya ikut suka saya la nk save menda pun
Wali: wi la awang eh kalu mu rasa mu dok wat

***ketor tangan pgntin bg fon ke kodi,muka meroh merang doh***

Kodi: doh ni fail natang ape?wat sek la ning ke org panggil menda gining?

***wali cepat2 bangun g tengok,pgntin pun sama naik...saksi bejerebat atas belakang***

Ramai2 pakat kata "oooo WHATSAPP!!!"


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Ha ha... Memang kelakar. Kelasss bahasa Ganu...


Speaking about 'wat sek', we actually had something similar years ago, when I was in my matriculation days. I often exchanged text messages with 2 of my best friends Mona and Alon. In the class, I sat in the second row, behind Dijah and Lina Hassan. While Mona and Alon sat besides Dijah. So, how did we exchanged messages between us? We had what we called conversation book. I jotted down the message and asked Dijah/Lina Hassan to passed to Mona/Alon. And they will replied back the same way. Ha ha... Very outdated kan... But managed to keep us awake during classes. Kesian Lina Hassan and Dijah kena jadi posmen. And haru kalau conversation book tu terlepas kat orang lain yang tak sepatutnya baca...;D


Now with the modern days 'wat sek', I can easily keep in touch with family and friends. Especially friends. It makes life easier since we can 'wat sek' secara berkumpulan. We shared almost everything. Dari resipi ke masalah anak ke masalah bibik ke petua kurus ke bisnes ke isu-isu hangat ke perkongsian ilmu dan macam macam lagi. 




On some days, the messages received can be hundreds. Sometimes, I may not be able to contribute to the discussion because of time and work constraints but reading the messages can be one way to release stress. And the messages keep me entertained during boring meetings... Well, I just have to remember to switch off the sound or else my phone will keep beeping each time there are incoming messages. So, let's 'wat sek'? To quote the tok kodi above: Barang percume! :)
Movies and me
During my early days of school in Raub, my first exposure to movies were when we, the school children, were given free tickets to watch movies. Tak la selalu. Dlm setahun, sekali je kot. Raub is a very small town. Cinema pun satu je, if tak silap. The cinema was then ruined in a fire. The subsequent cinema pun tak tahan lama. Now, dah tak de langsung kot... Or dah ada, but I was not aware. However, I remembered how excited I was to go to the movies back then. Couldn't remember what movie or macam mana boleh dapat free or siapa yang sponsor ticket free.

Next phase, was the secondary school days in one of the boarding schools down south. We got to watch movies almost every week as our entertainment. After all, all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. And there were lots of Jills on the verge of dullness.:P Anyhow, the movie was slotted every Friday nights, outdoor, in our school compound. And if the weather was bad, we watched the movie in the hall. We always looked forward to this weekly event. Each dorm will have their own mattresses or boxes or anything that can be used to sit on to watch the movie. Awal2 petang, masing2 dah bawak kotak or alas to spread on the ground. Book tempat yang paling best, ala-ala first class. We definitely had fun. We had our fair share of screaming kalau cerita hantu, we let out the love sigh kalau cerita cintan cintun, and we cursed the bad guys kalau cerita action. Those were the days. Oh ya, setiap minggu sorang kena bayar 50 sen for the movies.

Today, the excitement of watching the movies with the girls was relived when Emy, Mas and I watched the movie Parker. Of course, as usual, our outing tak sah kalau tak de makan-makan. We had lunch at the Garden Lifestyle Store & Cafe, MidValley. Nice place with a very nice ambience.


Emy had olio pasta. Looks yummy.

I had Pan-Seared Duck Breast. I am not a duck-person. I can't actually recall when did I ever eat duck or whether I have eaten duck at all before. Saja nak try. Furthermore, nak go full force with the no-nasi-diet la konon. Visually, not so impressive kan? Taste pun so-so. Vege dia tak sedap, esp the red cabbage. Padan la dgn harga yang tak mahal sgt kot.

Emy had the iced blended mocha drink while I had a combo of fruits juice named Garden Punch. Not bad, sedap...

Mas who came later had mee goreng mamak. Love the presentation, esp the heart-shaped egg. 

Mas had watermelon drink while Emy ordered her second drink, Iced Lychee Tea. Cute jug-like glasses. I think the drinks offered here are worth for your money.

We also had desserts; carrot cake and cheese cake. Carrot cake kureng sedap. The almonds sprinkled on the top rasa mcm dah tak fresh. But the cheese cake sedap.

Afterwards, we went for the movie. A very nice movie, packed with action. Tapi kena control la jugak. Tak boleh nak excited mcm masa tgk wayang kat sekolah dulu..ha ha... Emy suruh simpan tiket wayang ni, sbg kenangan tgk wayang sama-sama...:D

After the movie, tak sah kalau tak minum2 dulu. We headed for Kenny Rogers. Emy and I each had Hot Chocolicious Milk while Mas had Cappucino.

We ordered 1 Jacket Potato with beef filling to share among us. Very nice.
We also had this Warm Chocolate Oasis cake and cheese cake. The Chocolate Oasis is very nice. Inside the cake, you will find melted chocolate. Memang sedap. Cheese cake dia pulak kureng. 

And I managed to overdosed myself with chocolate. Sikit punya susah nak abiskan my drink. Counting all the calories, I think mcm tak de makna je the no-nasi resolution.:P 
I'm being paid to entertain...
Every month, in my paycheck, a certain amount is paid to me under the entertainment allowance. Dlm bahasa melayunya, elaun keraian. Nak kata banyak sangat, tak la banyak. Tak sampai ribu riban. Nak kata sikit sangat, pun tak jugak. Let's just say it is quite a generous amount. Usually, duit tu digunakan untuk raikan diri sendiri atau raikan family. Doesn't sounds right kan? Since it is included in the paycheck, the money should be spent on something work-related, right? 

According to businessdictionary.com, "entertainment allowances are costs incurred in socialization associated directly with a business purpose such as obtaining an order or advantageous trade terms." And entertainment allowances are often associated with entertaining clients to breakfast/lunch/dinner, pegi karaoke,  some sort of tour/holiday and macam-macam bentuk entertainment yang lain.

I supposed I can be considered in the business world too. The education business. And my students are considered my clients, aren't they? Through the years, I have taught hundreds of students and get to know some of them quite well. Usually from being involved with small group sessions, research project and other teaching-learning activities. It feels just right to spend some of the entertainment allowance on them. And the social activity that we enjoyed the most is eating together-gether. So, here we are enjoying ourselves.

Sekinchan Ikan Bakar, Setiawangsa

Seoul Garden, Festival City Mall

Ahroy Thai Cuisine, Cheras

Marakesh, Kg Baru

Pizza Hut, Jalan TAR

Pizza Hut, KLCC

Nando's, Jusco Taman Maluri

The Apartment, KLCC

I may not be able to do this with all my students. But that doesn't mean I practice favoritism or putting one student above the rest. I would like to regard this as rezeki masing-masing. Dah tertulis rezeki untuk dia dapat makan free hari tu...:)

Going back to the definition from businessdictionary.com above, it says 'associated directly with a business purpose such as obtaining an order or advantageous trade terms'. Well..., I don't have the purpose of obtaining any order from them nor do I anticipate any advantageous trade terms. But I would say, entertainment allowance spent on students are money well spent.:)

p/s. Not restricted to students, the entertainment allowance should also be used to entertain visitors or fellow colleagues who come to the department/faculty for a visit. 
And yes, not forgetting untuk meraikan my girlfriends and Cik Kiah group.;D
Birthday bash at KFC
It has been more than a month since I last wrote in here. Busy sangat la konon... Anyhow, lots of things have been happening. School reopens, busy with my students' exam, deadlines and reports to complete, meetings itu ini, sana sini... The list goes on and on. I'm not complaining because busy is good. Just praying that Allah ease everything for me. Amiinn...

Now, let me jot down what happened last month. Early last month, 6th January to be exact, my daughters, Syahirah and Syafiqah, celebrated their 11th and 5th birthday respectively. We arranged for a birthday celebration at KFC. Well, we sort of made a deal with the kids. Few years ago, my eldest requested a birthday party at McDonald. So we had the party and said to her, she was only allowed to have that sort of celebration once. And the other kids will get the same allocation too. So, it was Syahirah's turn this year. Ha ha... Kejam tak mak ayah dia...?

Anyway, Syahirah invited a few of her school friends.
We also invited family members 



and a few friends. 

We had a blast. Well, the kids definitely had a blast. With the food



the games




 the cakes




 and Chicky.
 






I am happy to see the birthday girls happy. And the KFC event planner made sure Syahirah won most of the games.:)