Monday, February 01, 2010

Legion 2010 - Where God Is The VIllain and Old Folks & Children Kill People

Last night, after checking out GSC cinema rating for this movie, Suami Terchenta and I decided that we should go and watch this movie for ourselves (that, and the fact that Sherlock Holmes was not showing last night). After 2 hours in the movie, Suami Terchenta came out confused and I came out feeling like I'd wasted RM23 of my hard-earned salary.

Plot:

An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in humankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner with the Archangel Michael.

Source: Legion 2010 Official Site (About)

So, the story started with this bunch of miserable characters stuck in the middle of nowhere, each with their own complicated issues. As they were getting on each other's nerve, in walked a cheerful old lady (I mean, really old lady) who sat down, greeted everyone and ordered steak. All of a sudden, she got really grumpy about her steak (I would too, considering the state of hygiene the dine-in practices!) and she started to curse the baby in the waitress' womb. Granny suddenly got so agitated, she bit off another customer and transformed into Spiderman!

Credit: Moviedime.com

I have to admit I got freaked out at this Granny. Grannies are supposed to be sweet or formidable, not jumping off and crawling on the wall and ceiling. So, that's the first outrageous BS that came up during the movie.

Credit: Guardian.co.uk

The second BS came a little while later, after they shot the Grandma dead. A man drove up to the dine-in, and introduced himself as - (gasp) - the Angel, Michael. C'on, this man is tattooed all over his body, and he's an angel? He looks like he belongs to some punk clubs, not God's House of Angels. Never mind, maybe the movie needs a tough-looking character to boost its popularity amongst female viewers.

Michael came, all business-like, started to distribute fire-arms and told them the Granny was possessed by angels. Not demons, or evil spirits or anything. That's BS no. 3 for you. As one of the characters rightly put, 'I don't know which version of the Holy Book you read, but in mine, angels are supposed to be the good ones!'

Then horror of horror, here's the biggest BS and bombshell Michael drops - that God is tired of humankind and wants to exterminate them from this Earth. Michael seemed to think he knows what's best for God and excuse me again, like who are YOU again?

The director seems to got really disillussioned here. Someone who knows better than God? God is the Ultimate of ALL BEINGS, and here comes somebody who seems to know better than He does. The stupidity of this movie was enough to give me stroke.

Michael preached about how humans, the object of God's love have fallen into disgrace through greed, murders and wars. Yet the one who will lead humankind out of the darkness is a child born out of wedlock. The one Granny cursed to 'f***in' burn in hell'. It's like murder is bad, and a thief will punish a murderer for the act of crime committed. Or does it mean that fornication is not a big Sin anymore?

Apparently not to the Director. To him, it's ok to curse the Archangel with the letter 'F' and it's ok to lead people to believe that God is indecisive? Like, first He disgraced Michael for disobeying him and defending the bad bad humans, then He changed His mind and restored Michael the glory of being an angel again for showing compassion? Huh? No wonder Gabriel looked confused for being the faithful one. So, yes. Sex out of wedlock is acceptable in this movie.

Please la... God is nowhere that shallow. He's the Almighty God, for God's sake! Everything He planned has been laid down in His Books, i.e when Earth was created and when everything should end.

My rating: 1/10 (deduct '9' largely due to the overall storyline and concept).

The only good thing that came out of this movie was us on the way back refreshing our religious knowledge - like, the names of angels and their roles. So, let's give a little test to the blog readers:

10 Angels That Everyone Should Know

1. Gabriel / Jibrail: God's Archangel and Messenger to the Prophets.
2. Michael / Mikhail: His role?
3. Ridhwan: His role?
4. Maalik:
5. Raqib:
6. 'Atid:
7. Munkar:
8. Nakir:
9. Izrail:
10. Raphael / Israfil:

No prizes for all correct answers, except that we all could refresh our knowledge :)

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Bersuka-ria di Air Terjun Gabai

Semalam adalah hari yang sangat fun.

Telah keluar berpoya-poya dengan suksesnya bersama Fab 1+1.

Fab 2 telah terkena buatan orang, dan sejak itu telah muntah-muntah dan tamo keluar rumah.

Fab 3 & 4 jauh di perantauan. (Sapa suruh buang diri di sana?)

Dan saya selaku Fab 5 telah mengkidnap En Suami Terchenta untuk join sekaki, bersuka-ria di Air Terjun Gabai.

Ada menarek?

Malam sebelumnya, Cik Nana telah calling2x:

Nana: U jadi tak pergi piknik di Gabai Falls ni?

Carneyz yang comel : Jadi, jadi... I nak bawak nasi lemak tau.

Nana: Ok, I bawak sandwic dengan air.

Carneyz yang comel: Pukul 4pm di Lookout Point tau. Jangan lambat.

Pukul 4.30pm, baru tiba di Lookout Point. Cis. Sungguh janji Melayu. Bukan salah kami, kebetulan hari ni ialah hari Thaipusam, dan kami tinggal di Batu Caves. Sungguh kelupaan.

Mujur kami datang lambat, therefore boleh la parking di dalam. Bayaran masuk ialah RM1 seorang. Boleh la, memandangkan kawasan air terjun ni perlu dijaga. Kalau tak, mungkin lebih menyerupai tempat pelupusan sampah-sarap. Rakyat kebanyakan masih punya mentality yang very pathetic, suka mencemarkan kawasan pelancongan.

Anyway, setibanya di sana, kami terus la tergedik2 menaiki tangga dengan semangat tinggi. Halfway, kami sudah pancit. Huhu..! Terus la berhenti di separuh jalan, dan cari port sesuai untuk berkelah. Maka aktiviti pertama ialah melantak nasi lemak. Aiseymen. Terlupa ambil gambar kami bersantap dengan seleranya.

Tiba-tiba datang seorang pakcik lalu menengking kami, 'Hoi! Siapa suruh turun ke situ? Tak nampak ke tempat masuk tu bertutup??' Amboi, budi bahasa budaya kita... penat YB Najib promote budi bahasa dengan iklan menelan belanja juta-juta. Tapi, mungkin pakcik tu concern takut kami jatuh tergolek2 ke bawah. Saya boleh bayangkan betapa comelnya kami bergolek-golekan macam kentang dari puncak air terjun sampai ke bawah. Sebelum pakcik tu datang dan tolak kami semua, perlulah berkemas-kemas untuk cari port lain.

Akhirnya memutuskan untuk turun semula ke bawah. Lepas meletak barang-barang makanan, kami teruslah menyerbu air terjun yang dingin.

SEJUK TAU!

Tapi fun giler, wa cakap lu.

Macam kanak-kanak hingusan, kami menyerbu ke bawah air terjun macam orang tak penah jumpa air sebelum ni. Dan apa lagi, sesi cam-whoring pun berjalan:

 

Best giler water therapy!

 

Encik Suami Terchenta pun tak nak ketinggalan, bercam-whoring sama-sama:

  

Siapa ambil gambar saya tengah tak bersedia ni? Dilla, gigit karang!

 

Thank you Nana & Dilla, sebab ajak buat aktiviti wiken yg menarek. Sebenarnya malam semalam kami nak pergi ke Kampung Kuantan jugak, nak tengok kelip-kelip di malam hari. Tapi bila sampai di rumah, hujan membuatkan plan kami terbantut. Lagi kerana review di Internet mengatakan lebih baik sampai di sana sebelum pukul 11pm. Therefore, maybe next time buat aktiviti Tom Sawyer, bak kata Dilla.

Lastly, gambar kami berempat:

Air Terjun Sg Gabai cuma terletak 30minit dari KL. Nak pergi ke sana, kena melalui Ampang menghala ke Lookout Point. Seterusnya, straight sampai ke traffic light dan belok ke kiri. Dari traffic light, akan mengambil masa 20 minit lagi untuk sampai ke air terjun. Kemudahan di sana termasuk surau, bilik air dan jugak gerai menjual makanan. Pelawat dikenakan bayaran RM1 seorang (dewasa) dan RM0.50 untuk kanak-kanak. Weekend adalah amat penuh dengan orang mandi-manda, so datang awal / lambat macam kami. Jangan lupa bawak makanan tapi silalah jangan buang sampah merata-rata. Anda akan dimarahi oleh pakcik yg garang. *wink*

Hidup cuti-cuti Malaysia!

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Di mana kotak komen...?

Ramai yang telah mengkomen blog saya tak de tempat komen.

Apakah...?

((( Saya terkedu sebentar)))

Hakikatnya, blog saya ada kotak komen, di mana anda semua boleh menokok-tambah cerita saya. Saya suka cerita saya ditokok-tambah. Hehe.

Baiklah kawan-kawan yang dihormati. Mari saya ajar anda cara-cara mengkomen di blog saya:

1. Mula-mula haruslah pergi ke blog Carneyz.com:

2. Then click di atas ikon kotak dialog (bubble talk) macam di bawah:

3. Lepas tu anda akan dibawa ke page untuk mengkomen. Very appreciate sekiranya anda komen dengan meninggalkan nama.

Senang bukan? Hopefully anda semua boleh memanfaatkan kemudahan kotak komen dengan jayanya.

Selamat mencuba! :)

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Friday, January 29, 2010

Bersyukur la jadi...

Semalam saya baru balik dari Kuantan. Trip 2 hari. Macam biasa, uruskan program. Penat, tapi saya rasa terhibur sedikit. Kawan-kawan dari Kerteh sangat heaven. Saya memang heart mereka semua :)

Anyway, dalam program ada satu slot bersama Ustaz. Ustaz kami telah membuat lawak yang saya rasa, sungguh la outrageous tapi boleh diterima akal.

Lawak Ustaz #1: Bersyukur
'Kamu,' Ustaz menunjuk seorang participant.
'Kalau Allah jadikan mu babi, mu suko dok?'
Sepantas kilat, beliau menggeleng-gelengkan kepala.
'Bakpo mu dok suko?' Ustaz tanya.
'Iskh... haram Ustaz. Najis berat...' Beliau menjawab.
Semua orang angguk-angguk kepala, tanda setuju.
Semua kecuali mereka yang berkecuali (hehehe...)
'Kamu tau dok, babi tu setiap hari mengucap 'Alhamdulillah' sebab dia lahir sebagai babi.' Ustaz berkata dengan sangat serius.
Erk. Apakah??
'Sebab dok ramai orang makan dia. Alhamdullilah, ana jadi babi, tak dok orang nak makan ana...'
'HAHAHAHAHA!'Tiba-tiba dewan bergema dengan gelak ketawa.
'Mu tau dok, ayam tu makhluk yang paling susah hati? Sebab orang Melayu, Cina, India semua makan dia. KFC dok sibuk carik ayam.'
OMG. Ustaz ni dari mana la beliau dapat idea yang sungguh outrageous ni?

Lawak Ustaz #2: Lembap
Ustaz dok pandang saya tengah cek email.
Maklumlah walaupun tengah outstation, haruslah saya tidak mengabaikan kerja di ofis pada saat-saat genting ni.
'Ustaz nak cek email ke?' Saya tanya dengan sopan-santun. Segan ma.
'Kalau tak menyusahkan.' Ustaz pun bersopan-santun dengan saya.
Lepas saya log out, saya pun beri Ustaz pinjam notebook.
'Maaf la Ustaz, Internet lembab sikit.'
'Lo... kalau lembap, mu lap la dengan kain buruk.' Ustaz dengan selamba menjawab.
Apakah???

Hehehe. Sungguhpun begitu, Ustaz sangat la berdedikasi dengan tugas beliau. Selain dari CEO kami, dia orang kedua busy dalam company.

Huaargh. Hari ni sangat la malas. Tapi saya rasa seronok sebab dapat cuti 4 hari. Cuma tak best nya, Suami Terchenta tak dapat cuti. Huhu... Kalau tak, saya dah lama beli tiket balik Sarawak. Tapi, sebab kami baru-baru ni membuat 'investment terkejut', jadi tak dapat la nak balik ke sana.

Hmm. Mungkin hujung bulan depan, saya mau ajak Bonda Terchenta datang ke sini sempena besday beliau.

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

CSR - The House Makeover Experience

Yesterday, I spent the whole day helping to make over a senior citizen's house. Yes, it was one of our company's CSR activities. If there was one thing I like about working where I'm working now, it is the passion and compassion people have towards helping other less fortunate people. So in that spirit, we all woke up really early and left home at the crack of dawn to Batu 18, Hulu Langat.

Every time we had CSR activities, it never fails to make me realise how lucky and blessed my life is. I know sometimes I feel miserable about work, work and work environment (no Fab 5 to cheer up my days). But at the end of the day I have Suami Terchenta to go back to, my family back at home, a regular paycheque to keep life going sweet and smooth.

Others may not share the same privileges that I have always taken for granted. Take the example of this makcik we visited yesterday. She is a spinster (unmarried lady), with no family, sebatang kara. She was so lonely that she caught a cat to cheer her up and kept it on leash so it won't run away. Unfortunately, the cat died after that. She was still asking for the cat's replacement when we visited her.

When I first peeked into the house, the condition was enough to make me feel depressed. That was just one look - the makcik spent every day waking up to the depressing state of her house, the musky smell of damp floor, trapped stale air and whatever that had stayed permanently in the house for years.

She had no bed, not even a mattress to lie down on. Her bedroom was unfit to live in (except for mice), so she slept in her living area, on a hand-me-down carpet that emanated a smelly odor around the house. She did not have any furniture save for a small dining table and a slightly bigger but worn out table where she put her food supply (some had even passed the expiry date). Since she did not own a cupboard, she hang her clothes on a stick which she hang on a corner of her living room, and behind the hang clothes were the clothes rack where she kept donated clothes (some were not even in good conditions).

As we were clearing her house, a few mice appeared from nowhere and ran all over the place. The girls screamed and ran out (including moi). Thankfully nobody passed out. Hehe.

We separated a few good things and threw out the rest that we deemed broken and un-usable. Then we washed dirty things, took out her carpet and threw out her very old, rotten tikar getah (vinyl mat) so we could install a new one. After her house was cleared, we gave her wall a coat of whitewashed paint to brighten the interior of her house, washed her window, painted the window-sill and her front door, and then fitted in the vinyl mat.

Instantly, the house was transformed.

It was a far cry from the place we saw in the morning. We put in new furniture in her house including a new bed, a new wooden cupboard and canvas cupboard, as well as a new cooking cabinet. We fitted in new bedsheet, new curtain and new bathroom cabinet. Then we organised her food supply including the ones we bought for her and taught her how to use the electric kettle and the new gas stove. The makcik looked all flustered but happy once her house resembled more like a house than just a run-down shack.

Outside, her house compound was also transformed. The men had cleared out the lalangs, overgrown branches and her drain. It looked 10 times more spacious than before.

But at the end of the day, I still felt really sad for her. Sure, she may have a more live-able space to spend the rest of her days, but when everybody left, she was all alone again. I wish we could give her something more than just materials, but we could not.

My colleague brought his son with him to the makcik's house. As he was working, his son lay down on the floor and played by himself. The makcik could not stop looking at the little boy with longing in her eyes. She kept on saying, 'Kimi duduk dengan makcik ye. Nanti Kimi duduk dengan makcik, nak tak?' all the while holding the boy's hand. The boy, in all his innocence, shook his head and withdrew his hand.

It just broke my heart. All she ever wanted was someone to love and banished the loneliness she felt in her heart. It was the same pain I felt when I did my first CSR - this 15-year old girl who was from Sarawak, abandoned by her mother at the orphanage and suddenly she met a fellow Sarawakian who understood her language and hugged her and listened to her story. And suddenly it's time to leave - and she stared miserably and longingly at this someone who could be her big sister - someone who could love her and not just take care of her.

I still could not find the courage to find her again - because I could not bear to break her heart again.

I want to always remember this feeling - that life has been kind to me no matter how crappy I feel nowadays.

I don't have a close friend in my office to talk to, like last time? The makcik does not have anybody to talk to all these years.

I don't have any kids and my biological clock is bugging me? The makcik never found her partner and never could have kids at her age.

I don't like my job and I wish I could quit my job now? Well. I guess at least I have income that I could spend helping other less fortunate people.

Sometimes people, you will never know how good life has been for you. Not till you have gone out and helped others who never had the life you have. So, whenever you have the chance, go and help others. Because giving never makes you feel poorer, it makes you feel richer.

At least that's how I felt. G'nite folks!

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