Last Vegas Review

Legendary indeed!

Last Vegas Review – Adam Sandler had Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade in Grown Ups, while John Travolta got Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence as Wild Hogs so it’s only natural another foursome had to be formed by uniting Michael Douglas (as Billy), Robert De Niro (Paddy), Morgan Freeman (Archie) and Kevin Kline (Sam) for a highlight of their twilight year trip to Las Vegas. These ‘legends’ hit the Sin City to celebrate Billy’s bachelor party and ends up having time of their lives. Each of these guys have had enough of their old age stage and wants to feel young again by trying to get laid, going on a drinking binge and cap it all off with mother of all party. 

One for the album!

Get ready to laugh your butts out with jokes and funny scenes once the gang hits Nevada. It’s a laugh fest from performing ‘judge duty’ to ‘picking the double D guest’ for the party. Along the way the guys stumble upon ‘Diana’ (Mary Steenburgen) and things get kinda complicated between Billy and Paddy but maturity beats that situation. Billy comes to realize that he is not alone after all while Paddy tries to get over his wife’s passing. Archie connects with his son who is concerned about him aging, meanwhile Sam who gets a ‘hall pass’ from his wife and actually manages to score a young chick realize his wonderful experience are not worth if he can’t share it with his wife. The oldie gives and learns some lesson during their spontaneous trip to the desert.

Playing 'judge'!

With couple of Oscar winners among the cast you can expect the best ‘selamba’ lines from all four Douglas, De Niro, Freeman and Kline with ‘Mrs Ted Danson’ showing off her singing talent. The chemistry were simply awesome, you will be wondering why they didn’t get together sooner. Douglas with his usual playboy persona, De Niro with his ‘sour puss cum party pooper’ attitude, Freeman as the crazy oldman wanting to gulp down the whole bar and Kline ‘trying to hump a young thing’. They take on Vegas way better than the new generation. You will feel like gathering your friends and hitting the casino soon. 

Songbird Steenburgen sizzles!

If you thought this old timers are way past their prime, think again because they can still hit the jackpot on the big screen. The story moves along well with tones of humor, friendship, conflicts thrown at every curve. You get to see Vegas from few angles and might want to save up money to experience all the glam and glitter that gets associated with the city. Heck, I felt like packing up my bag and drag my friends along for a trip after watching this movie and hopefully will reach there one day soon after coming so close few years ago. Now, who’s with me? Cepat pegi apply visa and let’s go to Las Vegas! Viva La Vegas baby! 

Cheers boys!!!

P/s - Thank you Churp Churp for the preview tickets! 

Diana Review

Giler sama kan muka?

Diana Review – I remember crying my eyes out when I heard the news of her passing in 1997. She was 36 when the tragic accident claimed her life. I mean 36! That’s not an age to die certainly not for such a nice person like her. Say what you want about her, but we might never get to see a Princess like her ever again. She truly was Queen of the Heart, at least for me. I only wished I had the chance to meet her. I was excited when I heard a movie is gonna be made about her but honestly this film let me down a bit as it focused too much on her vulnerability. It portrayed her as an ignored puppy waiting to be adopted only to be dumped and hurt again and again.

Diana would have been proud of Naomi I guess.

The movies starts off with dreaded night at the tunnel in Paris, I was already cringing because I didn’t want to see ‘that’ scene again. It still makes me angry, the way she was ‘hunted down’ by the ruthless paparazzis just to increase their sales which ended with such a tragic loss. Thank God, the Director decided the ‘rewind’ the timeline back to 2 years earlier where she met a Pakistani heart surgeon, Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews) and fell head over heels for him. Diana (Naomi Watts) even went all the way to Lahore, Pakistan to get his mother’s blessing. Unfortunately there were too much barriers and the two lovers never got to solemnize their love. This movie concentrated much of the story during her difficult times of having to face the press after her divorce with Charles and her ‘sensational’ interview with BBC network with some tricky love she had for Hasnat. 

Dedicated Mom she was to her boys!

Naomi Watts must have studied Diana’s every moves because there were times when she really looked and behaved like Diana. Her poise, hair style, dressing, talking, walking was like Diana in her was finally coming out. I even felt sad and sorry when ‘Diana’ was falling apart despite being loved by many but kept getting disappointed by those who claim to love her. Sigh…what a life she had ey? Naveen on the other hand made me want to reach into the screen and smack him every time he was rude to her. Reminded me of so much of some one that I know. Bluergh….bongok punya jantan. If you love her, then nothing should stop you right? I mean if she is willing to give it all up, then apa masalah engkau? Bluek. *Lepas geram sikit, sorry.

Idiots that 'killed' a precious life

Anyway, we all know how the fairy tale ended 16 years ago. I’m not sure how things would be if she was still alive now. Would those darn ‘scavengers’ (Read: Paparazzis) have ‘killed’ her one way or the other? Would she have got married to Dodi? Would she still be longing for Hasnat's love? Would she have found another love? Guess we will never know. Let us remember as her a person who was passionate about loving everyone she came across. The end credit showed what different she had made in such short time she had on Earth. May God bless you. Rest in Peace, Queen of Hearts.  

Flowers laid for Lady Diana outside Kensington Palace, September 1997.

P/s - Thank Pat for the preview tickets 

#TSDayOut Banting Edition

#TSDayOut Banting Edition

Amacam? Ada berani nak ikut?

Jap…did Tourism Selangor make a mistake by organizing a day out to BANTING? Unless you have been living under the rock, you would know that this place was recently highlighted in one of our country’s most shocking crime committed. Memula teragak-agak gak lar nak joing but then takkan lar they gonna ‘bring’ us to that place for real? Sewel ke apa? But then it would an experience oso kan if can ‘visit’ that place ek? Ok, jangan merepek Mani…on with the program please. As usual, registered my name and dapat berita baik kena pilih, saw few familiar names. Ngeh ngeh ngeh…waited for the day and on that day guess what happened? Boleh ke bongok overslept and reached the meeting point almost an hour late. Nasib baik ada yang lagi lambat dari aku (uhuk uhuk Hidayat…uhuk uhuk) I’m really sorry guys for the delay. Minta ampun beribu-ribu ampun ek. Since I arrived late, belakang bas dah kena ‘chup’ so kena duduk depan, tengok sebelah, hero Bollywood sebelah aku. Amit’eeeeeeeee!!! Long time’e no see’e! Lepas kena ‘ceramah’ sikit, bus started to move to our destination.

With love, from Tourism Selangor! :)

Maka mulalah sessi kecoh dalam bas dulu. I got my #TSDayOut shirt, this time kaler Oren! Niceeeeeeeee!!! Me likey. Oh yeah dengan bangganya, saya nak poyo kejap and declare I could fit into their size ‘M’. Some of the geng did notice I’ve lost weight. That’s all. Ok back on track again.  Since I was late, I didn’t have time to walap breakfast and my tummy dah mula keroncong, nak ask if got stop for breakfast takut pulak kena belasah but guess what? We did stop for sarapan pagi, paid for by…siapa lagi? Tourism Selangor lar! Weeeeeeeehooooo!!! 

Yummy yum yum!

Apa makanan you ask? Nasi lemak sotong! Double Weeeehooooo!!! We sat and walap our food and there was small ‘apron presentation ceremony’ for the owners. Nom nom nom….sedap wey nasi dia, sambal oso beh tahan. Sambil tu I went on my standard kacau orang procedure. Time to make some more new friends. One of the best perks of joining #TSDayOut besides discovering different parts of Selangor.

Nak satu boleh? hehehe

Lepas dah kenyang, lagi lah bising dalam bas tuh till we arrived to our first stop of the day. Kerepek factory Ros. Oo ooooooooo…..pochida….abis kantoi my secret (I have soft krezi spot for this munchies). My memories of Tanjung Sepat came to mind. I tried to ‘act’ cool but some did remember my haul there using trolley. La la la…‘cover line Mani….cover’. We changed into our shirt while the owner gave us some info about his factory. I’m sorry but I was not really paying attention because we were standing sebelah ‘kedai’ kerepek tu. I was just trying to control myself from running and grabbing all the snacks inside the shop. 

Cuse me, cuse me....listen please people....

Lepas dah share info, we were taken on a short tour of the factory and saw how a simple ibu…eh…ubi keledek were turned into crispy tasty kerepek. 

Nampak senang, tapi kalau silap haribulan can hilang jari lor! :P

Inside the factory, I saw ‘pillows’ of kerepek’s stacked. Damn if tade orang, confirm aku dah seludup semua. Sambil tengok tu, we got to ‘conduct taste test’ on freshly prepared kerepek. Nyum nyum nyum…eh sedap lar…ambik lagi, sikit lagi…ehehehe

Tu dia....from stick to slice!

Not an easy task this is....heat resistant must be high!

Lepas tu, jeng jeng jeng…cari Renu kejap to claim back my deposit dulu so I can borong some home. Ingat nak take trolley like last time but stopped with basket je. Yang tu pun damage dah RM59.10 but it was all worth it. 

Tengok tu...mana tak tercabar 'keimanan' like this?

Kalau beli kat town entah burn how much more. Budak-budak lain tengok dah mula gelak. Bluek! So what? I have big family maaaaa…moving on to the next stop. The main spot, Paya Indah Wetlands. I have heard about this place but didn’t have chance to make it. 

Selamat datang semua!

Sampai je Matahari dah panas terik adoi….cap…cap…cap...sunglass…sunglass..sunglass…where is you??? Kalau tak abis dah cair aku. *Disclaimer – saya bukan poyo but I have sensitive eyes so I can’t stand if it’s too hot. Sekian.

Cantik kan? but not for swimming ok!

No time to read so snap picture only! *meaning must go again! :D

We were given small briefing by Encik….huhuhu…I’m sorry but I forgot his name the moment he mentioned we will be going around the place on a bicycle! 

Listen kids...

Say what??? Yeayyyyyyyyyy!!!! Bapak lama aku tak naik beskal! Ingat balik time rempit dulu. 

Jeng jeng jeng!!!

We were divided into two groups of 15 people each and mula la kayuh. I was like a kid at kampong naik BMX yo. Even though the bike was kinda rusty, tak kisah, janji get to kayuh ayuh. 

Ready to kayuh tak? Lai lai lai....

We stopped at the ‘Kolam Itik’ dulu. The Sun was really tearing up everybody. Some went to have a closer look at the itiks while I was trying to find shade. Huhuhu….panas siot. 

Quak! Quak! Quak! 

 

 

 

Gambar 'songlaped' from Amit! ^_^

After some explanation we moved to the ‘Kolam Buaya’ part. 

Amazing but scary creatures this one!

They had about 40 over crocs there. Some are bigger than….let’s just say…kalau depa dapat aku. Fuh! Kenyang sampai Krismas kot! Gulp.

1, 2, 3, 4.....ok memang banyak!

You want to take picture izzit? Ok, come I 'pose' for you!

Sambil wipe the sweat, tengok-tengok, ada Santa Clause kasi 100 plus…waaaaaa….syiok woah. 

Jackpottttttttttttttttttttt!!! gulp gulp gulp

Then tetiba-tiba ada rombongan kanak-kanak Ribena who were also having their own day out. Best part, those kuchirats were wearing Orange kaler shirt oso! Hehehe comel sungguh budak-budak itew semua. We saw how the buaya’s were fed. Busuk giler ayam tuh. Bluek! 

bluek bluek bluekkkkkkkk

 

 

We spent most of our time there. Those pro-photogs snapping away with their big arse camera. Ada yang siap panjat pagar tu lagi to get the best picture because theme of the day was ‘Nature’.

If you dare to climb, then you can to take pictures like this! *Stole from Amit again! hehehe

From ‘Kolam Buaya’ we cycled our way to ‘Kolam Hyppo’ pulak. Lepas semua orang dah kumpul, Abang-in-charge (yup I forgot his name too, sue me!) mula sahut…‘Juita….Juita…Juita’….Yennathu…Juita va? Hamboiiiiiiiiiiii…. nama bukan main! The best part, Juita heard her name and came to the wall where tones of camera were waiting to go ‘click click click’! 

Last animal stop of the day!

‘She’ had her ‘daughter’ following her every step! So cuteeeeeeeeee!!! Rasa nak lompat to the opposite wall and gi peluk anak Badak Air kecil itew. We saw how she was fed with fruits and also took loads of pictures of her munching on grass. 

I can see you.....almost see you!!!

Yes, you can, now you can!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a priceless encounter to see this animal at such close range! Thank you TS! 

'Come let's go back to the water baby, it's so damn hot outside! Bluergh'.....

Lepas dah puas hati, it was more ‘pijak peddle time to check out the chalet available for rental. It was priced at RM120 per night (Don’t ask me how this seems to be the only information that I could remember! Hehehe!). The room looked huge! Siap bole golek from one end to the other dengan senang sekali. 

Kan dah kata besar and luas?

ehem ehem...seeeee....I'm not the only krezi participant!

Best part? Ada bathtub woah! Damn! Must.come.back.soon.one.day.ok.Mani! Got air con. The view pulak memang syiok giler, facing the lake! Fuh! Really chun lor. 

Lawa kan? Lawa kan? Lawa kan?

Pengantin baru sibuk shot photo! Phweeeeeit!!!

After kasi lepas to take pictures , we kena kumpul to take group picture. 

Anak sesat siapakan ini !?

Everybody say....yeayyyyyyyyyyy!!!

By then the sky looked so dark oredi. We were lead to our final stop to makan, submit best photo, speeches, slide show and prize presentation. I was hungry like a Hyppo…ehehehe so walap mum mum dulu. 

Too hungry to snap invidual dish picture & this was one of the best meal I've had!

The winners were announced and we had to leave our basikal and head to the bus before it started to pour cats and dogs! Sebab dah lambat we had to skip the ‘cendol’ stop over. 

Congratulations guys!!!

One more group picture please!!! Smile semua!!!

In no time, we arrived back at Bangsar after another awesome #TSDayOut with bags of chips! Said our farewells till next time again.

 

Hmm…how am I gonna carry these bags balik ni?.hmmm…..now that’s another story altogether but as usual saya ingin merakamkan setinggi-tinggi ucapan terima kasih for choosing my name for this amazing happening day out! I’ve been to BANTING and survived yo!