Demam. Start dengan selsema, suddenly ears ringing, then batuk-batuk. I refuse to go see Dr Abdul Malek, cuz he'll be lecturing me about "tak makan sarapan" and all that jazz again.

Friday
I went for "Love Matters" press preview and PC to accompany Swee. I told Swee that the chief was all questions when he found out that I WAS indeed going with her and Swee said, "He did? It was his idea in the first place."........................ (*grumble* idea dia, lepas tu tanya aku seolah aku agree to something stupid, pfft...)
 
After the PP, Akma from TV3 pulled us to the side and asked us to comment in front of the camera, for MHI Hari Isnin. I pushed Swee to do it, thinking I'll be safe but nooooo... So, you know how I always membebel about people who give opinion on tv and said stupid things like, "Ok laaa... kira bagus laaa..." and dumb comments like that? It appears that Swee and I do that too when panic attacks. So now I would not call anybody who gives opinion on TV as 'dumb' ever again. Right after that me and Swee went into depressed mode and believe that we will never EVER wanna do appearance on any TV show if that ever happens. Embarrasing. Two film reviewers, can't even give an opinion like professional film reviewers on TV.... pfft.  

(Tuesday update: Keluar "MHI" Tuesday. Didnt watch it, but can hear mum's excitement on shouting my name from downstairs. I was like, "Heh, what's with shouting my name at this hour?"... beberapa jam kemudian turun bawah, she told me excitedly that "I saw your friend that Chinese girl on TV. Then I saw YOU."....... now baru boleh cerita dengan orang, sebab segmen tv show itu dah berlalu and nobody can mock me and Swee now... Ha.Ha. Thank God it has the word 'Cinema Online' on it, so it looked like two professional people, no matter how unprofessional we sound. And thank God mum still doesn't know how to use the REC button no matter if we have been using ASTRO Max for a year.)

Later on at the PC, Swee was struggling with the camera. So I told Swee, I can help listen to the whole PC so she can just take pictures happily, but if it's in Chinese, there's nothing I can do.

Turns out, it's in mandarin. Weehoo... so I sat there with Akma (the TV3 gal), and Jack Neo went "I will try to speak in english because of some of the nonchinese." And then everybody looked at us as we grin sheepishly. But of course the english part stays only like 5 minutes before it turns into mandarin again. Like, why bother with this 2 people when you have all other press that can speak the lingo, right? Haha. Akma was saying, "You know, I just know basic words, it's a subject learnt in UiTM." and I grin even wider thinking, "Yeah, you, me... we all play around during our mandarin class thinking the only time we will need this is if at 26 we still watch Taiwanese tv drama, right?"

So of course I can't help Swee with the PC. Because by ear, this is how I understand the whole thing;
"I think blablablablablabla hard, but blablablabla I blablabla he blablabla wife blablabla. Actually, blablablabla I blablabla I cannot blablabla I blablabla but why? Hahahahahaha.... So, blababla I blablablablablabla..."
"But you blablablabla... right?" Henry Thia menyampuk.
"No, it's blablablablablabla." slap Henry Thia's leg.
(cue everybody laughing, while two malay nincampoops go 'hehehe' and thinking if we laugh they would know that we're actually clueless but if we don't, it looks rude and horrible).
And every time they are laughing, some of them will be looking at us, like thinking, "Haha, suckaaaaa..." (haha, no lah. I exaggerate je)

Saturday
Aya's birthday in Desa Pinggiran. The girl turns eight.

Before going out, salam ayah yang tak ikut. The father instead just gave us his hand to kiss like Don Corleone, and not even moving his glance away from the TV. Apparently watching Amitabh Bachan playin the don in 'Sarkar Raj' kat TV3 is even more important than bidding farewell to his kids. (I know, it's not Bachan he's focusing on. It's Aishwarya Rai).

Spent an hour in Alamanda trying to find the perfect gift for her. If it was me, I would go for stuff like baby doll on toilet seat, or pooping dog stuffed toy, that sounds more like me... as the... you know... me. But gross toys apparently are too expensive (how can you sell a pooping doggy toy thing at RM80? It's POOPING for God sake...). Finally we bought her a beads thingy set where you can make bracelets and stuff. Then me and Aying spent another 30minutes finding Ejal his birthday gift (we forgot to, last time). Gave the lil ruggie a Hot Wheels truck, after me and Aying argued which looks cooler and decided on mutual consent on the blue transparent one.

Ejal was so happy with the thing, and use the sofa, his dad's legs, boxes and etc as terrains for the truck. After done playing, Aying take his turn pulak with the toy, and menunjukkan gaya permainan "orang dewasa" - by reenacting the scene where The Joker's truck terbalik in slow motion after diperangkap dengan Batman's cool batbike thingy.

That night Mun texted and said that she's alone at her house and ajak lepak kat umahnya in Damansara. So yeah, I did. Spent the night watching "The Nanny" on reruns. Before going to bed I realised that I was having a nose bleed.
"Mun, nose bleed is a symptom of what?"
"Badan panas."
"Wah, I'm so hot sampai berdarah hidung..."
"Ko sendiri hot, sendiri berdarah hidung?"
(Ketawa sesama sendiri)

Sunday
Went to IKEA with Mun and makan poached salmon with chives sauce lepas desiring it for almost a week. Saw this one guy with a cool beard, and told Mun that I liked his look.
"Which one?"
"That one, the white shirt one with... a... tattoo... on his... leg?....." (cue Mun ketawa seeing my expression from 'falling in love' to 'utter kekecewaan').

Then balik rumahnya semula, and her family already balik dari kampung. We were browsing through a recipe book and saw this one recipe called 'Son-in-law Eggs'.
"Mak, Syahida jumpa recipe lucah." says Mun
"Recipe apa?" tanya mak Mun.
"Son-in-law Eggs." jawabku.
"Oh, telur menantulah." jawab Mak Mun and then she started talking about 'subur' and stuff and I was laughing like hell with how nonchalant she was with lawak kotor, much to Mun's horror. Haha. Forced Mun to watch "The Reader" so I can have someone to talk to excitedly about it.  

Then went to Klang to go see Mun's brother and waited while Mun and the boys talked about architecture stuff. Then baru balik rumah. Tellin her how sad I am that my being 'a freelancer' is considered as 'tak bekerja' by people around me.

"I know." she said. "People still have this antediluvian thinking that 'having a career' means 'bekerja untuk orang lain'."
"Yup, having SOCSO, and EPF, and balik rumah pukul 5. I wish they would stop making me feel like I'm jobless. They might not realise it, but pushing me to get 'a job' is the thing causing me migraines, and is breeding more insecurity inside me. I am a writer. That's not just a name I give myself. It's my job. Trust in me, and I'll work it. Why can't people see it as me trying to make something out of myself, rather than see it as me destroying myself? So hard to stay positive while people givin you the nego vibe."

Sigh...

It's the weather.

My body feels tired, I spent 4 hours awake and 20hours sleeping. Waking up only to feel that I need to get more sleep. One meal a day.

Is that the reason I am so tired? Am I lacking in carbs?

Hair is damp. Opening Microsoft Word but mind refused to cooperate nor coordinate with hands. Wishing that I have that technology where I can just say anything and it will be written on the monitor by itself. I wish I have that technology where I can just say stuff to people's face.

It's the weather.

It rains and then it's so hot that you just wanna take off all your clothes. Then it rains again.

I am talking about the weather but I am not talking about the weather.

I will find RM400 before Aying does to buy my sister's handphone off her. Why? Just because. I have a crap for a cellphone for almost 4 years now. I had a NOK3200. I loved it cuz I paid for it myself, and my dad paid 1/3 of it. So it's half a present from dad, who seldom buy you anything. But a pickpocket would not care about that fact when they stole it off your pocket one evening at the Pasar Seni bus station. I still remember him. White shirt. White pants. He was the only one who queued and did not get on the bus. I know. I observed. And it is more painful to know the face that hurts you. I guess some things are better left unknown.  

Then I bought Aying's phone off him because he wanted to buy an N-Gage. And I've been using the same fuckin phone for years. The same Mr Darcy's voice for a ringtone. The same Jay Chou song for the caller ringtone. I never deleted any numbers. I even have Aying's old girlfriend number in it - the one whom we loved, the one that Aying left. I still think she's a dear. She loves Spongebob and she calls him 'Gumok'. And she is very respectful to my parents. And for once I thought I would have a little sister of my own. I don't have a younger sister to bully. Pity.

You can always tell a person through their phone. If they have many, it means that they're loaded enough to have many - because they have many contacts, and it means a lot of opportunity. But if one is an old phone, it means that they might be loaded enough, or have too many contacts enough but wealth doesn't always come.

A girl in a relationship will have a nice phone. They will have accessories, usually furry little thing, or an alphabet hanging. If they have stickers on it, it means that they are manja. It won't be the same phone for years. Usually they will have a new phone faster than you can spell CELLPHONE. Why? Because they tend to lose it. And the boyfriend will always pay for a new one.    

A guy in a relationship will not have a nice phone. It'll be dented, or a little bit dirty, filled with scratches. This because they tend to scrap it on the wall when they talked to the loved ones. If the phone is scratched on certain sides, it means the guy is a busy person, or someone who just not really care about things. They'll answer quickily, and then they'll just throw the phone on the table, on the bed, anywhere.

An independent girl usually opted for a sleek black phone. Most of the time they will choose the flips. If someone who uses a Nokia and then bought a new Nokia, it means that they are the kind of people who likes continuity. Status quo. People who buys different kinds of brands each time are usually people who loves experimenting, and usually are people who like new experiences.

Some people are all these, but they still use the same phone. It means, there's a part of them that wants stability.

But all of these are not always entirely true. You cannot judge someone based on that observation only, you have to know them better.

I have a Nokia 3220. The screen is badly scratched, the silver lines that goes around the phone are rustic, once it has been inside a glass of coke, and a plastic cup of coleslaw. It has fallen from my bed several times, rolled down the street hundreds of time, fell down from the table and broke the plastic case and the battery fell off lots of times and if Dr. Bakashmar return to Malaysia from Australia and calls me (just a theory), the person who answers it would still be me.

What does that tells you?

Shorter blog song.
Now I will make sure all songs on the blog do not go more than 2.30 minutes duration. But I still have it because I hate a quiet blog. After this, Pretty Ugly's "Ronald Moore".... whenever I can find it.

Went to a press preview for the movie "Role Models". Okay, I admit. I can be biased when it comes to Paul Rudd. He has a dry sense of humour and the most beautiful aqua colored eyes, like Matthew Macfadyen. It's like he can say any mean things and then he can stare at you with those eyes and you will forgive almost anything. Bahahahaa. But that's not the reason I rate it high. It's just that certain comedies are getting too boring. There're vulgar ones that are sometimes just too much, while there's the lame jokes that makes you go 'oboy...' But here's the thing. I think if I bring my mum and my vulgar brother together to watch it, both of them will enjoy it. Enough said.

I spent the whole day trying to finish off "Soul Men" stuff for the microsite. I thought the dateline was 23rd, but apparently 21 & 22 are weekend so, must finish work on Friday. But then Swee ajak go to "Love Matters" punya press preview and PC and since she'll be all alone, I agreed to accompany her, because I'm nice (ha'ah, yela tu... memang saja2 nak melarikan diri dari rumah, puji diri sendiri plak), and that means all must be done before Friday.

It's raining heavily, and of course i love it, because rain is the best weather in the whole wide world (ha). And dad seems to love it even more. THAT is the time for him to wash his car, clean up the gutter, cuci lantai, everything. No matter if it's raining like madness, complete with kilat sabung menyabung, he will be scrubbing the drain happily. Often I will be screaming from the door and pleaded that he would get in. It's lightning and thunder! Many people died because of it! He will absolutely ignore us, but two hours later will be lying down on the couch, with a cold. And in addition to that, a free lecture from mum about how his stubbornness is a pain in the ass.

Yesterday my MP3 miraculously healed. Remember I said something about how my MP3 dah rosak n that if I don't push the NEXT button, i will end up hearing the same song playing over and over again? On Wednesday I was termenung inside the bus when I realise that for the last ten minutes the songs changes! It's a miracle! Healed by itself! Haha, poyo. But then, today, I realised dat the left side of my earphone damaged. Oh yeah, of course. -*cough*TYPICAL*cough*-. Of course it will be damaged. It's me. Something must be wrong somewhere, or that would not be my life. Every time it's perfect, I will be so scared, that I will accidentally or intentionally damage it. Ngahahaha. (sedang buat salinan dalam otak untuk guna dalam novel).

Petang tu tengok "Chitchat Of Beautiful Ladies" kat KBS and then tolong Nad yang sedang menolong Aiman dengan kerja rumahnya. Apa ajelah sekolah rendah sekarang, aku pun naik pening tengok soklan cikgunya... then chat dengan Masni - new layout for blog still in construction.

Boycotting... uh... finally...

This is interesting. In the event of the tragedy in Gaza, everybody is having their own opinion about boycotting Israeli stuffs. Here's the thing.

Please stop annoying me with it.

The amounts of time I had to listen about this. See, if you are not boycotting Israeli products, by all means, do whatever you like. But can you please do not give long explanation on why you are not boycotting. So, you think it's not a wise thing. Stop calling those who boycott these stuff as 'hypocrites' or 'people who do things just because they think they're holier-than-thou', or saying 'boycotting is just a fad that will fade away'. Stop telling people you're not boycotting because you're not being a hypocrite, because being 'hypocrite' is not an Islamic thing to do. You know what is not Islamic to do? JUSTIFYING. It's Machiavellian.

And to those who boycott. Oh my God. Puh-leeze. I know you are doing this as a 'little jihad' for the Gazans, to maim Israel and whatnot. But can you please be discreet about it? Okay, you're boycotting. But you don't need to give others (who don't do such) the boy-you're-going-to-hell look. You're not holier because you do that. Like Yeh said, it's called 'boycotting', not 'Hurrimat alaikum'... And you're not showing a good example to those who don't when you are so proud of your deeds. Just because you do, doesn't mean that you're the champion of Palestinians now, or that you'll go straight to heaven. I mean, hell, yeah, so you're doing this because of the situation in Gaza. But what did you do last time? When Afghanistan was under attack? Iraq? Tebing Barat? The situation in Myanmar? Stop being so politically-correct. The first thing about dakwah, is to not being an insufferable know-it-all. See, that's why I can never establish myself to being one.

I am boycotting. My friend is not. I do not donate to the tabung Gaza. She did. We have our way in approaching the subject. Could we please stop arguing with each other. It's embarrasing, for God sake.Orang lain duk berjuang, kita kat sini bergaduh fasal siapa yang lebih correct. We are all weak, kita semua kurang iman, buat apa yang kita mampu.    

Humanity are scarce.

Well... where do I start...

Phibun my siamese cat whose face looks like a burglar wearing a burglar mask had been following me around all day. From the room, to the other room, he even followed me to the bathroom. Annoyed at the fact that I cannot walk fast enough without trippin on his tail or something, and scared that such would happen (since I tripped over Owen the other day and if I didn't control my balance I would have break my arm, but instead I just hurt my wrist), I let him get inside the bathroom, locked the door and bukak shower. Punyala die terkejut kena air, he jumped and tried to claw his way out like a friggin rat. The funniest sight ever.

So, since Phibun is already wet, I thought, sure, mandikan jela mangkuk ayun sekor nih... now, before this, with Kabu (the one that died last year), bathing him was easy. He was so used to it that bathing and hairdrying were second nature. But we didn't treat Phibun like we treated Kabu. Sesuai dengan rupanya yang seperti perompak itu, we let him do his own thing for all this while, and so, bathing was not a part of the adopt-me deal. He was running around, yelping, screaming and shrieking for help. No, seriously. He was mewing something that sounded eerily like "Help!" (something like 'Mewpppp'....) at the top of his lung and woke both Kapo and Owen - and both of them were so curious, they ended waiting outside the bathroom, waiting to see what's behind door number one. As soon as I opened the door, Phibun ran like he never ran before, all wet and smell like sabun susu kambing (isn't it ironic that a goat milk is used to wash up your cat... while a goat still smells like... well... a goat...).

That night, we watched 'Prison Break' together. Now, my family don't always have the same interest in TV shows. While dad changes channel from Vaanavil to Celestial (hoping to find a good Ajit Kumar or Chow Yun Fatt's movie), kaklong and her KBS channel, Aying who find solace in cartoons or any triad genre on Celestial, mum and her Indonesian telenovelas, and I myself who tries to update global films resume by watching Kirana or just look for good sitcoms on Star World, there is one tv series that all of us would watch together. It's "Prison Break". All of us love Michael Scofield in many a different way...  

I am now stuck with that TV2 ATV series. I can't help it. It's Dicky Cheung as Wong Fei Hung. Cheap and unconvincing it may be, and while other cast are all dubbed in Cantonese, my old giddy 'I heart Cheung Wai Kin' soul felt like it needed a little bit of guilty pleasure.

Other than that, I was walking while chatting with Mun and Nad at Maju Junction the other day and saw a bakery that sold chocolate cake and suddenly craving for one. So I bought a box of van Houten baking choc and bake myself one. I was thinking, I would not make a single mess this time. This would be the most systematic and cleanest in my history of baking. I would not have even a little flour on my face, nor finish the task and smell like a Ginger Bread Man. I would be the ultimate Martha Stewart - have you seen her bake? Spotless kitchen!

But then I made the wrong decision by using tray yang bocor. Consequently? I single handedly destroy my own oven. Adunan kek itu telah leak ke bawah, and for the first time in my life I had the 'smoke in the oven' experience. I had to stop and clean the oven, and then the chocolate moist drips on my white Ebay Bid shirt, there's chocolate in my hair, and I ended up duduk atas lantai at the corner of the kitchen, eating chocolate crust with Phibun on my side. I'm not saying the cake tak jadi, kek still jadi... but the experience of menjadikannya was horrendous.

I was so upset I think I will stop baking for at least... well... until someone else buat request... (and that means kaklong dan perjanjian yang selalu dibuat kepada orang lain yang aku akan buat kek). Sigh...

Had a press preview for the movie "Seven Pounds". But was extremely mengantuk due to the cake crisis the night before, and the movie is just too.... normal to be reviewed. One of those heck-just-3stared-it kind of thing. Then singgah office to return press kits, get my cheque and balik umah. Aney cleaner tegur aku and asked me if I'm not working. Cool, aney cleaner ingat aku (gahaha, orang yang rase diri unremarkable and easily forgotten memang suke rase terharu bila orang ingat dirinya). Dad asked why I waited near Maybank, and I told him I just deposited my check.

"For what?"
"Doing freelance for the office. Reviews and stuff."
"Then write lots of reviews lah, I got lots of old movies you can review. Then you can get more money."
"That's not how it works dad."

Yup, that's dad alright. Never remembered how old I was, which class I was in, or what sort of work I do. Hahahaha.

I have not touched the internet for three days. Weehoo, a record! Been busy doing unprofittable stuff, and enjoying em.

Saturday.
My sibs and I bawak the lil kids - Shazni, Shazrina and Hazirah (and makcik too, haha) go watch 'Geng' at TGV Mines. Aya was so excited she kept calling my sister to confirm the show. Mines was full with the VD clans, and the 'GENG' tix are all sold out for all mum and kids. 9 y.o Shazni kept talking along the way to the mall, and I was laughing all the way.
Shazni: Kawan abang tu kan, dia tak reti eja 'Rajin'. Dia eja 'R.A.J.E.N'  
Shai: Ala, abang tu pun sama aje, kakngah tengok kad abang tadi... ' Terima Kasi, mak dan ayah'. 'Terima kasiH' la!
Shazni: Hala, itu abang 'terkesilapan'
and then when he saw a temple at the side of the road, dengan pantas dan yakinnya dia retort, "Eh, tu masjid India."....................... kuang kuang kuang...
But I just can't take it, when he saw a necklace with a cross, and said that I am wearing it too and I went "Bila masa kakngah pakai salib?" and dia sebak tudung aku, cuba carik, while the cashier looked at me with a doubtful expression.

Aku rasa dia salah pandang bracelet POTC aku yang ada bentuk sauh tu as salib.

Then Nad called and said that Mun ajak picnic at Putrajaya, so I asked Aying to drop me off at Masjid Putrajaya (hey, couples... berdating depan masjid Putrajaya? NOT cool), so Nad and Yeh would come and pick me up. We went lepak depan tasik at Cyberjaya, sambil makan roti canai dan minum slurpee sampai dada rasa beku. Mun told us that she and Lan were so bored being the only two person in the company, that they started to have an 'imaginary secretary' called 'Kak Qem', whose full name would be 'Puan Qamariah', and every time that they feel too lazy to do admin work, they'll be like, "Takpe, nanti kita suruh Kak Qem buat."

My friends are getting weirder by the sec, ever since Yeh started on that 'imaginary friend' of his - a guy named 'Man' who works in HDC. Every time I said something, he'll be like, "Imma tell Man what you said." So I told them that I have one too. He is called Encik Magi, wears an alternative glass and likes to go backpacking. And every time I am having a writer's block, that is because Encik Magi left me to go backpacking across Europe. Ah, celebrating the insanity...

While I was polishing my nails with a buffer, Mun asked me to do hers, and I said that she doesn't need any cuz her nails are shiny as it is and I asked why the hell she has pretty nails and I don't?
"Oh sebab mak aku kawin dengan bapak aku dan lahirkan aku." katanya dengan muke slenge. And then said that the only way I will have her pretty nails is if her mum marries her dad and got me instead.
"Tapi kalau mak kau kawin dengan bapak kau dan dapat aku, nanti aku yang ada 'isu tragis' kau."  says I.
1-1...

Instead of going straight home, Mun and I slept over at Nad's (after she halau Ehsan dari rumah to go sleep someplace else so we could sleep at his room... tsk... that's Nad's definition of 'nanti aku tanya adik aku'). After chatting for a while, Nad and I went munching snacks downstairs at 2am, so that would be a proof to my mum that I am not under any extreme diet, like she accused me of doing.

Sunday
I followed Mun to her office cuz she has a model to build and to be submitted on Monday. Meet the bunga kobis (in other word - 'Lan' and his after-shower hair. One word, Azlan Salim... 'HAIRCUT') at the office and then we went picnicking dekat belakang ofis diorang, sambil minum-minum and borak tentang kehidupan. Gaaaahahahaha. I told Mun that I am blaming UIA for messin' up my life plan. My plan was to graduate at 22, and have my life complete as I hit 25. But I graduate at 24 thanks to the stupid 1 and a half year at Matrics UIA, and now I'm goin on 26 and the plan is no where intact. Aha.

Then Nad and Yeh came to pick me up, pegi minum air kelapa and then go straight back to Shah Alam. Rasa nak demam....

Monday
Temankan Nad pergi ambik kontrak WHO at Jobstreet. Mun decided to join, and so we went there Shai-style (meaning naik public transport). Pegi JObstreet, then post office, then CIMB, then Maju Junction, and then had a hard time trying to catch a cab.

Jalan Raja Laut, Monday, 6pm... soooo not a time for cab-catching activity.

But we finally dapat rembat satu,tengah-tengah jalan. And it goes like this;
"KL Sentral, pakcik."
"Laaaa.... kamu ni kan.... cubalah pergi Gombak ke Selayang ke, pakcik nak ke sana. Pakcik ni baru balik dari arah Bangsar dengan bersusah payah meredah trafik ni, kamu nak suruh pakcik ulang balik?"
"Alaaaaaa, pakciiiikk.... takpelaaaa, eh?"
"Kamu tengok jalan raya ni. Jem teruk."
(Mun mencebik sambil kuis-kuis lantai dengan kasut) "Halaaaa pakciiiiikkkk..."
"Kamu ni nak ke Sentral nak ke mana?"
"Nak balik. Kitorang balik merata-rata."
"Balik merata-rata?"
"Ha'a. Saya nak balik Putrajaya, kawan ni nak balik Shah Alam, yang ni nak balik Puchong."
"Oooo.... kamu ni... pakcik baru ingat nak balik rumah."
"Rumah pakcik dekat Gombak ke?"
"Yelah, dekat situ. Pakcik ingat kamu nak mengarah ke sana. Jalan jem nak ke sana."
"Oklah, kalau macam tu, jom pakcik ikut saya duduk Putrajaya."
"Hahahahahahahaha..."
Lepas Nad berjaya buat pakcik tu gelak besar, kitorang pun berjaya mengharung jem dan ke KL Sentral. Nad took the ERL, Mun took the LRT and I took the commuter. Sampai aje Shah Alam, terserempak bapak Tim depan komuter, borak kejap fasal Farid's condition. Kata bapak Tim, dalam ada sebelah tangan je tu, still lagi boleh keluar merayau malam-malam bawak kereta!

Hahaha... that's good right? Tandanya dia tak concern about his recent OKU-ness and just living his life the way he did before.    

Rasa demam datang balik.

In another note, I am so gonna miss "American Gladiator" after the grand finale next week. The contenders are one thing, but I kinda love watching the gladiators. My absolute favourite would be the 'Wolf' - cuz he likes to howl and trash talk a lot, like a friggin wrestler.

Tengah dilema... nak gi opis ke tak nak besok... harus gi opis sebelum Kak Mai last day... tapi badanku ini rase tak mampu dah... tahan demam dua hari, tula akibatnya... Oh yeah, Kak Ani, congrats on the good news, harap it's a girl this time around? Tee heee....

Check out dad's stories HERE

Friends - Therapeutic in a peculiar way.

Nadd: aku dah dpt sebenanye tapi diorang kene bincangkan balik sbb message yg mengatakan aku pregnant tu x sampai... oh damnation. Kalau aku dapat, selesai la kot masalah hormon ni... wahaha
shai laden: diorg takleh buat macaam tu. aku membangkang!
Nadd: aku pun!! mane mun? shy, sementara pic tu tgh nak send aku nak solat jap ek
shai laden: okeh. tula, mun ni suke hilang2
Nadd: aku nak amik smayang... tapi ade lipas
shai laden: ko nak amik semayang?
Nadd: aku suh yeh spray dulu... eh.. amik air smayang
shai laden: spray is another word for pray without the 's'... ahahaha
Nadd: ahahahaa. sabo jek
shai laden: aku kan philosopher. ahaha
munn: aku pegi bancuh kopi
Nadd: tapi spray membunuh!! kenape ko bancuh kopi?
munn: pastu carik alas utk mouse yg gile ni. pasal nak minumla
Nadd: eh tadi dekno dtg rumah aku beli tudung. saje nak cerite
munn: woooo semangat nye..
Nadd: dekno kije kat cyberjaya gak skang
munn: oooo
Nadd: oh korang, tolong la doakan skali utk aku btol2 dpt kije kat WHO tuh
munn: amin....
Nadd: tengkiyuuuuuuu
munn: lipas dah mati belum?
shai laden: amin. Lipas blom mati, die kawin wan suriati
Nadd: hahahahaha, dem jek
munn: tesedak air kopi aku... akakkakaka
Nadd: air kopi pun boleh tesedak??
munn: akula tesedak kopi
Nadd: oooo... hik hik... mane shy? bancuh teh ke?
munn: silakan nad, minum shai..
shai laden: aku tak bancuh teh. teh bancuh aku
munn: tula nad, ko tak blaja anatomi kopi
Nadd: ha'ah cikgu yusop x aja anatomi kopi dulu. kalau tanye die tanak jawap... nape teh bancuh ko?
shai laden: sbb aku hot. ngaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha.
Nadd: wahahahahaha. tappe2..btol tuh
shai laden: apa cikgu usop ajar ko?
munn: cikgu usop mengajar aku sesuatu tentang kehidupan, the fact that 'cikgu fizik tak semestinya terer fizik'
Nadd: ahahahahaha
munn: jadi jangan banyak tanya kat lab. yela kan.. wlaaupun ko tak pandai ajar fizik, tp ko boleh ajar murid2 tentang erti kehidupan yg sebenar. ahahahhaha
shai laden: ye, cam, hidup ini umpama kopi
Nadd: a'a... macam Cikgu Yusop, "Our life is like fishes in the sea..." ahaha
munn: "fish has to eat... we have to eat"
Nadd: ahahahahaha
munn: babi pun kena makan gak... apesal tak bg contoh babi je
Nadd: ahahahhaha
munn: anatomi babi lg close dgn manusia dr ikan
Nadd: babi pandai kan lagipun kan
shai laden: teringat filem 'anatomie'... eh, itu ayat cikgu yusop ke?
Nadd: ahahahaha
shai laden: bukanla. tu sir...... ape tah nama die tu
Nadd: bukan..tu cikgu english. Sir..tah..... to sir with love
shai laden: ahahaha... that is one sir i dun wanna love. tula... patut bagi falsafah babi, 'manusia stress, babi juge stress', dan bile kite benci manusia tuh, kite panggil die 'woi babi'
munn: akakakkakakakka. babi betul.
Nadd: tapi omputih kate kite kene makan babi sebab dlm babi ade vitamin penting yg we cannot live without and babi sangat precious
munn: ekeleh
shai laden: heh?
munn: vitamin apa tu?
Nadd: tapi apsal kalau diorang marah pun diorang panggil org tu babi?
shai laden: adekah ko berpikiran begitu sbb kita lahir tahun babi?
Nadd: nape nape?
munn: vitamin b...odoh?
Nadd: ahahaha... bukan aku la
shai laden: ahahahahahaha... anyway, babi dalam bahasa industan maksudnye kakak ipar
Nadd: oh maksudnye aku babi kepade adik2 yeh. wahahaha
munn: ahahhahahahha
shai laden: ahahahahahaha
munn: bongok gile..
Nadd: aku tanye yeh 'ayang babi ke?' tekejut yeh
shai laden: bayangkan chop panggil ko 'eh babi, babi'
munn: ahahahhahaha
Nadd: bile aku terangkan maksud aku yg sebena yeh kate sebutan die bhabi laa
shai laden: ahahaha, aku tau...  tapi saje je nak dijadikan cerite
Nadd: hehehehe, syok bagi yeh tekejut sambil main psp
munn: kata 'org melayu', sebutan melayu dia babi jela..
Nadd: (nak attention je aku ni)
munn: eleleleeeeee...
Nadd: wahahaha
munn: lipas tu agaknya roh dah sampai syurga dah nad
Nadd: pahni kalau org panggil aku babi aku x kesah dah. sbb mmg betul pun... a'a la
shai laden: ahahahahaha
munn: adik aku dah pelik2 tgk aku gelak sorang2
Nadd: yeh kate die dah 'corok ayaq' kat lipas tu bg masuk dlm lobang
shai laden: lipas harus dibunuh je
Nadd: takleh2, aku pregnant
shai laden: takyah nak kesian2. kalau ade nuclear war diorg selamat
Nadd: yeh xleh bunuh binatang time aku pregnen ni
munn: lipas bukan binatang
shai laden: tapi lipas bukan binatang
Nadd:  superstitious btol
munn: dia pest... kan shai?
shai laden: btol btol
Nadd: ala... tapi tapi
shai laden: lipas adelah makhluk yg harus dibunuh. Like killing the cancer
Nadd: tapi die makhluk Allah (gaye ustazah). ahahaha
shai laden: oh, aku insap seketika
Nadd: alah sebenanye yeh dah spray die sampai mati, pastu baru corok ayaq bagi masuk dlm lobang
shai laden: hoh, tu lagila... macam hitler
Nadd: ahaha
shai laden: macam saddam hussein pun iye gak
munn: ada tak emoticon cakap astagfirullah gaya yeh tu?
Nadd: takde, yeh mmg hitler lipas
shai laden: ahahahaha. skrg yeh kene bela misai kontot n pakai baju gamba lipas mati
Nadd: ahahaha yeh stress sbb ko kate die saddam..tapi xleh nak balas balik sbb tgh men psp. ha men la psp tu banyak2, main laa... kan kan kan?
shai laden: ntah.... men psp tu, macamla best sgt. kalau aku keje kat halal hub, aku haramkan psp (saje dengki sbb tak pandai main psp)

*FOOTNOTE:
- LIPAS - a nick for a high school mate at SMKAKS. He married another high school mate named Wan Suriati (in which we called Izat)
- "Life is like a fish..." is a word of wisdom from our english teacher masa form2. It was a weird word of wisdom. Very uninspiring.
- Babi stress - not a fiction but a fact. Mun watched this show on TV about how orphan baby pigs are more stressed than piglets with a mother.
- Shai is my nickname, and also an Arab word meaning 'tea'.
- Saddam & Hitler - 2 dictators who use the method of poisonous gas to kill people
- Cikgu Usop - cikgu fizik sekolahku who apparently hates physics and will never answer any enquiries. Explain why we all 'physic'ally dumb. Except for me, cuz I didn't take the sub.
- bhabi - in Urdu/Hindustani language, it means 'sister in law'.

You always hear about dogs chasing cats, right? Well, my cats chased dogs. Apparently they think that they're the royalty of Section 11 and have the strength of 100 felines. And I don't mean pooches here. I mean stray dogs. Stray. The ones with rabies and stuff.

I was like, hell-loooo... you guys are wearing bells. In the feline society, that means you guys are pondans who are fed with cutely shaped cat food. Stop trying to be all gangsta. 

Other than that, Phibun's current hobby is sleeping on my foot. No matter where he slept, in the end, the next morning, the bloody tom would be using my foot as a pillow. And weirdly enough, tepat je jam pukul 12tengah malam, he suddenly turned into a 'security guard'. I'll go to the toilet, and he'll be guarding in front of the door. I'll be downstairs munching in front of the fridge, and he'll be waiting near the stairs. Just now I was lecturing him that he is not a rottweiler or any sort of dog and even if I needed any protection, he's a cat and he can't possibly guard me.


You know what is my current annoyance?

The fact that some people seem to make conclusions about my life rather than asking me themselves. Look, if you have a question, ask. If I'm not answering, that's because I do not want to share it. Do not make your own conclusion by trying to trick me through my facial expressions, response or stuff like that. That's MY game. I am an expert at that. Don't try it on me.

This is what I shared with Dash while we were discussing about stuff. She was upset about people prying on her blog, making their own conclusions about certain things that she wrote, and creating hostility. It used to be fun, being a blogger. You do not know who are your readers, and you don't have to jaga hati sesiapa pun. You can just write the damnest things and people don't go all emotional. But when you know who are your readers, THEY will have this sense of oh, dia cakap pasal aku ke? Dia perli aku eh? Bengangnya. Aku nak sebarkan kat orang lain yang die ni perangai macam ni...

Interestingly enough, we were not even talking about that person. Read at your own risk la. Pfft.

Then, what's with people and not signing off YM properly? You were talking to them, and then suddenly they just don't answer you. I mean, 'GTG' would be the three most easiest alphabet in the online communication world. Use it. It's okay for Nad to do it, since she's pregnant and bound to fall asleep at any time. But non-pregnant people should use it. Try it. It's easy. It goes like this, "Hey, GTG. TTYL. Bye."

If you're bound to destroy the english language, do it right.

Interestingly enough, if I ever did that they think I'm rude. See, I don't do stuff that people don't do to me, and vice versa. Interesting, isn't it? I am not "Kaunter Melayan Perbualan Orang Apabila Mereka Takde Kawan Lain Yang Boleh Diharapkan Untuk Membincangkan Isu Yang Mahu Dibincangkan". Harap Maklum.

Don't even let me start on missed calls, emails, SMSes and other fucked up shits... ugh. 

I had a very peaceful week last week. Despite of the 'issues' that I have... err... triggered, everything else went smoothly. Writing was fine, previews were okay, and I kept meeting Vincent from JeVince at previews who Swee insisted that I am having a crush on.
"Yeah, forget the Thai hottie, must keep the local flavour..." she said.
Ha. Ha. (show a dry face)
First of all, I do not have a crush on the Thai hottie. I just love calling him a Thai hottie because he's a Thai hottie, bearing in mind that I do not go for the 'hottie' type. And second of all, Vincent is going to liaise with the boss and I ain't wanna have that kind of talk whenever I am in contact with Swee, or I'll put my head in the dumpster the next time I see the guy.

Crush.... pfft.
Hear that pryers and snoopers? I. am. boh-ring. Find other people to gossip about!

DIALOGUE OF THE DAY
(nama member terpaksa dirahsiakan atas sebab2 privacy)

shai laden: eh, kenapa bile kite makan coklat, kite mesti nak fold elok2 wrapper die? mesti nak bukak elok2, pastu kepilkan celah buku... padehal nanti kemudian kite buang jugak
membershai: sebab kita ada simptom ocd. kakakaka
shai laden: tapi.... sume org buat camtu, tak kirela die mmg originally ocd ke, atau die messy dalam bab2 lain
membershai: tak gak... tp mmg ramai org camtu eh
shai laden: tula pasal. kalau coklat mahal oversea ke, lainla gak kan. ini, cadbury. yg tahun depan pon wrapper tu gak. So tadi, bile aku berjaaya gak makan cekelat yg aku sayang nak usik dah dua hari tu n menyedari aku telah memfold die elok2, aku lantas mengkeromotkan ia supaya aku tak simpan celah buku. hahahaha................. aku tengah buat subliminal mesej untuk ko nih, ko sedar tak? aha
membershai: cadbury ke ape? owh ye ke... tak sedar pun..
shai laden: ahahahahaha. vochelle. cadbury bengapla, tak reti buat dark choc
membershai: aku dah shut off benda2/ unsur2 subliminal yg nak masuk dlm otak aku. aku proses yg staright forward je skarang
shai laden: oh? kalau camtu. meh aku straightforward. MOVE ON. akakakakakaka
membershai: haaaaa. baru aku paham, ahahhaha

THE SWEAT STORY

I never shop after a film preview. GSC Mid Valley is above the South Court entrance, which is also the exit for the feeder bus. The most I would do is to walk towards the Food Junction, buy me a salmon skillet spaghetti and then go home. But on Friday, I felt extra 'rajin', since if I return early the road would be filled with cars as it's solat Jumaat time. I went inside Jaya Jusco, saw a pretty sweater at Goggles and suddenly a new sense of "I must have it!" suddenly bewitched me, and I bought it.

Ten seconds after paying, I had that 'moment' where I go "Oh my God, this is mine, all mine..." complete with the matching it up in my head with my other wardrobes and five minutes after that, suddenly the electrical jolt of my common sense return and I went,
"What the hell are you doing? You're a freelancer. You live in poverty!"

Sigh... I will never become a shopaholic. I have too much economic doubts in my brain.

DARK AND MYSTERIOUS

It's a mystery why I can't seem to tear open the chocolate wrap and just eat it. It's always easy with any Cadbury chocolates. I love the hazel nuts and after buying I would just at it with no remorse. But dark chocolates... Every time I bought a dark chocolate, I will stare at it and not eat it. Vochelle is one thing. Try Swiss dark chocs with those unique vintage wrap. Oh my God, I would absolutely hold it in my hand and not eat it.

Dark chocolates are those chocolates that I felt like I want but can't have... it's like, I don't want to eat it, I just want to own it. This is my chocolate theory, purely chocolate theory, not some weird analogy or metaphor about other stuff, please be noted.

Shai's Chocolate Range:
1. I choose dark chocolate over Ferrero Rocher anytime
2. Ferrero Rocher over other chocolate
3. But poor people must be satisfied with only Cadbury
and I'm not even a chocolate-enthusiast. Always jeruk salak over chocolate.

MY JEANS ARE NOT TIGHT

Once upon a time, I had a Versace jeans (not mine, my aunt gave it to me. I can never afford brands). But big bad 'happy days' in UIA made Shai indifferent to her body and so one day she realised that the jeans became too tight. So without any regrets she just puts it away and never looked back.

On saturday, she was cleaning her wardrobe and saw the jeans and tried it on. Not only it fits, it even became loose. Wow, this sengsara days are really worth it. Keep on being sengsara for another year, and I'll make Heidi Klum weep. See, who said one needs exercise? Ahahaha.

BELANJA MAKAN

At 5pm today while watching 'Romulus, My Father', paklong called and told us that he is at Shah Alam Mall and asked us if we would like to join him. Well, I love joining paklong. For one, being a consultant, he has every single details about the stupidity that revolves around the government institutions. Second, you can ask anything and he will belanja, and thirdly, when you're unemployed, he would always hulur RM50. Usually I would feel embarrased, but hey, this is my uncle, if he wants to give his niece money, why would she decline, eyh?

I'm poor. Relatives help each other, you know. Ha.

SPACE HOG

I need some space. I really do. If I am rich, I would have bought myself an apartment and do all my work there where it's all peace and quiet. I told Tim that if I have a load of cash right now, I would fly to Lahad Datu first thing tomorrow morning and go stay with her and join her watch some friggin orang utans at Sepilok until my work's done. But anak marhaen kena sedar diri.

Then I called Mun, realisin that she's on her way to her friend's Sha birthday party, which triggered a memory inside my head and I went, fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, looked at the time and realisin it's 10pm and thinking that 'hell, I'll think of somethin else later' - letter of apology, song dedication, chocolate moist cake, Indonesian horrorny vcd (gabungan horror and horny), tujuh dulang hati virgins or something, and asked her if she's free tomorrow (as time of publishing, tomorrow would be today). Guess what, she is not (like always), thus had to do a Mun-less activity with Nad and Yeh. Plan A, seafood at Bagan Lalang, plan B, picnic at Taman Tasik Shah Alam. Whatever it is. I don't really care. I just need to be somewhere else.

I am not a fan of holidays....

(msg: Your birthday is on 19th? I swear to God it was 9th last year. Am I hallucinating? I think I'm going crazy)

DIALOGUE OF THE DAY

"Aying ni kalau mandi lama betul."
"Memanglah. Aying basuh semua, cuci ketiak, cuci badan, cuci bontot..."
"Tak ada siapa nak bau bontot kau."
"Mana tau, dekat opis pegawai terjatuhkan fail dekat belakang Aying ke, bila dia bangun dia terbau, huh wangi betul bontot Adlil ni."
"Kepala hotak ko la."

(tajuk tak ada kena-mengena, saja guna sebab tajuk macam tu selalunya menarik perhatian orang-orang yang kuat bergosip untuk baca entry. Hahaha.)

It's one SMS to another from Swee, obviously the SMS-representative of the editorial team of CO, asking me to attend previews for "Eden Lake". Ugh, that movie is my limit in horror genre. Of all the "Friday the 13th", or "Hostel" or any of those weird torture movie, it ain't the same with this. You can watch psychos doing psycho stuff and you feel horrified. But seeing underaged kids doing psycho stuff, it's just.... wrong.

And then also for the movie "Valkyrie". Now, what is it with Hollywood and their knack for injecting hatred towards Adolf Hitler? I am sick of watching movies in which the short man is shown in such dramatic monstrous manner. Yes, he was a dictator and he was evil. But so was George Bush. Come to think of it, Hitler killed his enemies (under the influence of people like Goering and Himmler), and Semites, and sacrifice lots of his own German army at the same time. Isn't that what Americans are doing now? And ugh, if I heard another "Hitler is evil for killing lots of Jews again" Imma throw up on Tom Cruise's face. It's SEMITES. Not JEWS. Not everything about Holocaust was about Jews. Stop thinking them the victim of everything. And anyway, those Jews were the innocent people who did not want to leave Germany, their home, to start over in Israel. Zions didn't help them. So, it's not just Hitler's evilness. It's also the Zionists' - their own kind. And again, it's not like the guy is evil from the start. He is just a fallen hero, like Caesar. He was the champion of people, who brought Germany back from its destruction. But like what Two-Face said, Hitler WAS that guy who lived long enough to see himself turning into a villain. 

Please click on the titles for reviews.

Then Swee the SMS-rep again sent more SMSes for freelance work that now goes to features and microsites. Then she went "Seems like ur working for us like normal, just only out of ofc... i want ur job!" and I was like, "Yeah, cool rite?" and started to try to make her jealous by emphasising the fact that I was eating while reading the newspaper sambil bersila in my shorts in front of the glass screen as we speak while she is in the office trying to make more MSN Bios and do more contests.

I love the work, you know. I love translating stuff, I love writing features, involved in microsites, and writing contests... contests the most fun. You can just make up lots of weird slogans and ask question and provide weird answers, like:
Siapakah pelakon utama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
a) Brad Pitt
b) Brad Sherwood
c) Brad E. Bunch
d) Brad Andbutter

It's fun playing with words. But during my time, it was so hectic - what's with CO and my other career as an author, going out, coming home late - that I just can't take it and sometimes my head just refuse to think. And you know how important the use of the right brain in this line of work. Now, when doing freelance, I think I was able to defragment my thoughts again, and really, doing it all is much easier. That's how I just go "Yup, Ok, Alright" to everything.

Dad opened my mail again. Seriously, I was telling mum if that by any chance somebody is actually sending me anthrax, dad will die first. The thing is he chooses the mails that he wants to snoop at. He would not care about opening my bills, for example. But if it has Buku Prima logo on it, he knows that would be my royalty paper and seeing money (or the statement on how much I will get) makes his day. It makes him feel that, yeah, my stupid second daughter actually got money and is not driving towards utter destruction, something that has been a curse to anybody who chose to take Political Science as their major, with Dad leading the pact.

It's weekend again. My, weekdays seem so short in my world, and I now came to hate weekends. On weekends, tv shows are all suck, hangout places are stacked with youth and their so-called cool lifestyle, and no internet.

Definitely no internet. Every weekend, the internet will go straight to kaklong. From 8.30am until late at night, it would be on her PC. The one sucky thing about this is that her laptop doesn't have MSN, so any time I need to pop up to talk to people... well, I can't. Then the late at night until early morning will be Aying's time since he never has any schedule for weekdays, it would be melampau if he can't get to use the internet on weekends too. It's hard not having the internet because even writing will be a tad difficult. The internet is my source of stuff, you don't go and bulldoze your own version of things no matter if you are writing a fiction. So, sometimes when I came to a part where my characters are people who are lawyers, or architects or engineers, I need the internet for terms and jobscope and stuff.

So usually I use weekends for other stuff. Like, tomorrow would be hectic. I need to bake Nad her chocolate moist cake, then off to Putrajaya to give it t her, deal with the tudung ekin thing, pick up little Sofieya's present and go to Kak Mai's house... all in the course of three hours. Hmmm... why do I have a sense that somehow this might not work. Ah, tomorrow punya cerita...

(You're right, Nad. This is fun.)

For those who ask for my opinion on Perak MB issue thing, well, I'm sorry. This is more or less a legal issue, not much political (the political would be HOW Najib turned these dodos back against their old party). Too many legal terms for the issue and involves constitutional cockups. Not my forte and am not qualified to talk about it, unless for sembang2 kosong kedai kopi, like any other pakcik2 yang think they're politically-correct. So, just find your answers HERE.

(Published it the day before)
This is my new rule in life. Any 'bright' ideas that I've made at 3am in the morning should NEVER be executed. Never. At 3am, one should go to sleep and dream a little dream of a world without problems. That's it. At 3am one should not be wrecking her brain thinking how she could reverse the issue she has created before it escalates.

Sound too serious? (My readers would ask me why, but the people who snoop will make their own conclusions.)

I am having a nervous breakdown coupled with a migraine, waiting for the result of my stupidity.

In a lighter note (why do I always have a lighter note? How will people take me seriously if I always have a lighter note?), let's do compare and contrast, because, gee, I don't know, how about 'my blog, my right to write crap'?

WHICH IS BETTER, THE BOOK OR THE MOVIE? Part 1

Stephen King's "1408"
The book. The movie is too darn annoying and tried so hard to be scary. I mean, it's like watching your most annoying uncle trying to scare you time and time again with the same annoying ghoul mask. It's King's book, therefore, the best way to be scared is to read the book. The imagination is a much scarier domain if you exercise it well, young padawan.

Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice"
Both. PNP is the only book I wake up early every morning to read, and the movie is simply because casting Matthew MacFadyen as Mr Darcy is the most brilliant decision ever. Instead of going for the 'yeah, Mr Darcy is an arrogant asshole', MacFadyen portrays him in a better light - a shy guy who doesn't know the proper way to talk to people just because he was a rich guy raised without a mother.

Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight"
The movie. The book bores me with Bella's POV on stuff and since I think like her, it is like reading your own diary. And since becoming a writer, I know an 'imaginative' and a 'berangan' type of writers from their way of writing. Meyer is no imaginative. The movie is more quick-paced (with the exception of the boring mountain scene) and has that glossy feel to it, like a coffee table book.

Vikas Swarup's "Slumdog Millionaire" (a.k.a "Q&A")
The book. The movie is different as it takes only the concept of the book and 15 minutes to the end is a tad boring. The book has meatier roles (no Latika character and the guy is called Ram Mohammad Thomas, not Jamal, and he got no brother, and even his name has a story on its own), more profound effect and an ending that makes you feel "Damn, Swarup is a GENIUS!"  

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
The movie/4-part drama. The book has certain chapters that makes you do the skip-skip thing.

Cecelia Ahern's "P.S, I Love You"
The book. The movie is changed so much and I hate it when the book tells a story about an Irish lady and the movie has an American vibe about it. It just decreased the 'umph' of the story. Like, you can never measure European wit with American's. Ahern and Kinsella are two most poignant witty chick lit writers in this era, and both came from the same continent.

Habiburrahman El-Shirazy's "Ayat-ayat Cinta"
THE BOOK! The movie annoys me to a point of... making me feel like choking Hanung Bramantyo to death. It just goes to show, some literature work cannot be translated to the silver screen. It just lose its beauty. AAC's strength is in El-Shirazy's poetic words. THAT can't be transferred to film. Besides, the guy who plays Fahri looks like an easy target for bullies.

Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park"
The film. The book would be one of Austen's more preachy work and is not that interesting for a read. But the film made it view-able, and chewable.

Lauren Weisberger's "The Devil Wears Prada"
The movie. Meryl Streep is a one-woman show, who can doubt that? 

Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code"
The book. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon? Who wanna believe THAT? And where the hell did Brown go? After four books of making fun of the US government, secret service, people's faith and even the Vaticans, he's retired already? Wimp.

Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl"
Both. Although, since the book is a fictionalised version of the Boleyns real history, and the movie is the fictionalised version of the fictionalised version of the history, that would make the film.... historically inaccurate by 70%? Ah, whatever. Casting a Johanssen and a Portman is even more inaccurate but we all can live with it. Not the history of my life, not my problem.

Stephen King's "The Shining"
Both. In the book, King choose to highlight the craziness in one's mind when they're fighting off inner demon while at the same time left off trapped inside an old haunted hotel (something that "A Tale of Two Sisters" tried to create but failed miserably because out of 10 people watching it, only 2 understand). Stanley Kubrick's version is more towards the sinister building and how it affects Jack. Jack's right, you know. "All work and no play makes one a very dull person". Eeeeeeeee..... eeeee....... 

Anwar Ridhwan's "Hari-Hari Terakhir Seorang Seniman"
Both book and tv drama. But that was like yearsssssss ago.