anugerah pilihan pembaca 2011

It's here again! Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca 2011- Popular - Berita Harian or the English Equivalent is Reader's Choice Awards 2011 - Popular - The Star.


There are 10 nominees for each category and readers have to pick the top 3 for Fiction and Non Fiction. Since last year, I've been dilligently following this contest even to the extent of reading, renting and buying some of the nominated books. But ah...I don't really get what Malaysian readers like. Most of the books are boring to say the least. Maybe I just don't get what the majority in Malaysia reads. I guess I'm the minority...huhu.


The nominees for Malay Fiction are: (in no particular order)


1. Lafazkan Kalimah Cintamu - Siti Rosmizah
2. 2 x 5 - Areila Sahimi
3. Cinta Sufi - Ramlee Awang Murshid
4. Cinta 3 Suku - Herna Diana
5. Pergilah Air Mata - Hanni Ramsul
6. Masih Setia - Aisya Sofea
7. Coke and Sundae - Ilya Abdullah
8. Sepupuku Suamiku - Lynn Allyna
9. Saat Kau Kata Cinta - Anis Ayuni
10. Bukan Tak Sudi - Mimi Afinie

I have read book no 4 and 7. 4 is decidedly full of cliches with kampung girl meets handsome rich dude but 7 is quite ok only I think it's targeted more to teens as the language is so simple. Most of the writers here are also nominated last year which means they have quite a following. But..(sigh) Malaysian contemporary literature are too littered with romance..no?

my lil tyke

pictures of my lil tyke with his fav person; grandpa. my son is very cute...neh? huhu

5 things you do not need to know but I'm telling you anyway about my son

1. He loves Maher Zain songs..obsessed is more like it

2. He loves McD fries (damn..who wouldn't?)

3. He's afraid of the dark, loud things and thunder

4. He's very picky about food

5. He eats very slowly like his mama

- the reason I'm putting this because I really don't know what to say in my blog haha. Okay so next time I'll be reviewing books that I just read.

may the odds be ever in your favour

Have you ever read a book so good that you can actually feel a chill went up and down your spine? Goosebumps even? Yeah..that's what happen to me to quite recently when I read the Hunger Games. It's so faced past and full of action that I just cannot put it down and have to finish it in less than one day.

It's the story set in a distant future in North America where a nation called Panem controlled by the Capitol forced every district to nominate a boy and a girl every year to participate in the hunger games. This Hunger Games is sort of like Survivor with a twist, the winner is the last remaining person in the game which means all the others must be dead or killed. Wow! It's so violent that sometimes I wonder how it could pass off as a YA book in the US. Our protagonist is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen who's from District 12- the poorest district in Panem. She volunteered to take her sister's place when she was choosen to be in the game.

She's feisty and have been providing for her family since her father died by hunting wild animals in the woods outside her district. As a survivor, you have an inkling she would eventually win the game but so many twists and turns happened and even an unexpected romance that what makes me hooked.

No wonder they're turning it into a movie. It's that great! With three books in all, the series is really fantastically violent but amazing! The first book is the best, the second is okay but the third is so cringe worthy violent. Forget Twilight, this is one series that everyone should look out for!

postcards from heaven

Entry kali ni agaknya ditujukan khas buat Mak Andak yang telah membuat special request untuk melihat gambar-gambar di Kundasang. And since I don't bring my digital camera, I have to rely on my dearest sis for the pictures. So damn clear since she's using Canon EOS which is far superior than my Olympus.

On a bright sunny day, Gunung Kinabalu nampak cantik diselubungi kabus as in the picture. I've never actually climb the mountain. Partly due to my grandmother forbidding me to do so years ago during my uni days. And partly because I think I'm not fit enough to do so. Haha..seriously I have rashes if its too cold. Jusk ask Miz Wanie. During my uni years I will apparently go itchy crazy because the library and the lecture halls are too freezing cold! Whoever heard of cold allergy? I have scars to prove it.

Apparently according to my sis Kundasang agak comot sekarang. Mungkin sebab ada construction di tengah-tengah pekan nak buat kedai or R n R katanya. Pekan ke? Tak taulah nak kategorikan Kundasang ni pekan ke sebab kedainya ada sederet je. Gerai sayur je yang banyak. Oooh kepada yang tak tahu atau kurang tahu..Kundasang ni adalah tempat di Sabah di mana terletaknya Gunung Kinabalu. So..understandbly it's so cold! Lebih sejuk dari Cameron Highlands..serius!

Ini gambar my lil son Haikal with his grandma. Tengokla awan/kabus kat belakang. Memang sejuk! Tapi yang herannya si kecik macam tahan sejuk je. Stokin tak nak pakai. Apa lagi baju sejuk. Aku dah menggigil dia steady je. Eceh..bolehlah study kat overseas macam ni. Hehe..berangan. He's just so immune to the cold which is quite baffling.

Ini pulak gambar Haikal dengan Atuknya. My lil tyke is so attached to his grandpa. Probably because he's the first grand child of my parents. Manja meleleh..asyik nak mintak dukung je. Kalau marah sikit menangis.

Kecik-kecik lagi dah puas berjalan kan? Tiap tahun naik kapalterbang or belon as the Borneos called it. Tapi dalam kapalterbang tak nak pulak tidur. Asyik nak jalan sana sini. Rimas agaknya orang yang duduk sebelah. Bayar mahal-mahal duduk depan sekali tapi kena duduk dengan the my lil terror in the sky. Huhu..nasib.

Kalau hujan lebat nasib tak baik akan ada tanah runtuh on the way to Kundasang. But landslides are apparently common here. Recently 20 houses were damaged because of landslides but because it happen here and not in KL, I guess the tv people doesn't even show it in the news. I mean seriously where is Karam Singh Walia? Sedangkan kalau longkang tersumbat kat KL pun orang dah bising-bising complaint dalam tv.

My sis who's teaching in SMK Kundasang told me that the school has been deemed unsafe to occupy by JKR years ago but they are still occupying it! Maybe because there's no budget to move the school or there's just no location to build a new building. I just hope the authorities can do something about it. Janganlah sampai ada kejadian tak diingini macam di Hulu Langat lagi berlaku.

Teringat zaman dolu-dolu masa kali pertama Mak Andak and family datang holiday kat Kundasang. Tanah runtuh teruk sangat sampai berjam-jam terkandas kat tengah jalan tapi Mak Andak still boleh melawak sambil makan pisang dengan tenangnya. Huhu..

Masa tu my brother and my cousins pergi panjat gunung but sampai separuh jalan je. Sejuk sangat kut? Tapi dapat sijil jugak..hehehe..