The Life of Saz

Sunday High Chases Away The Monday Blues

2011-12-13T07:44:00.001-08:00

"Standard lah Akak... bila Selangor cuti, KL jam."

That's what the jockey dude told me yesterday when Hubby and I valet our car at the Bangsar Village 2 entrance. We were late for our Bodytone Acceleration Training, hence why we decided to valet. The roads were packed. Full of Selangor-ites taking advantage of their one day holiday by going into town. Of course, the town was also full of KL-ites (who were all not on holiday) going about their busy work routine. I swear, no one works in the office anymore, choosing instead to do their meetings and appointments outside of the office.

Hubby and I spent some quality time with the girls. We've been so busy with work lately, hubby especially, that we took this opportunity to bring the girls jalan-jalan... to KLCC! Goodness, the traffic we had to go through! But it was worth it

Earlier on during the day, before our Bodytone work out appointment, we went for a short drive to the convenience store nearby to grab some household stuff. Our male maid drove so Imaan sat on Daddy's lap and Tiara on mine.

Nash and I on the way to Bangsar Village 2. We were chatting about all sorts of stuff, as we always do. Five years into our marriage and we still have so much to talk about. Alhamdulillah.

Later during the day and after braving the horrendous traffic, we finally got ourselves to KLCC. Pheww! The girls were excited. Kaki jalan these girls. I wore a Topshop boob tude dress over jeans and tied a Zara scarf around my shoulders, which one side slid under the armpits after handling the girls, strollers, bags etc. Hilang glam terus! But oh well...

I dressed the girls in these cute little dresses that their Popo (my stepmom) bought for them on her Canada trip, and since malls can be quite cold, I normally don on their cardigans. The purple and pink tights were something I got for them from a baby shop in Bangsar Shopping Centre and for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the shop. Imaan has this lepak pose that I find hilarious. The girls love being on the stroller, always looking around curiously and excitedly.

Hubby was pushing the stroller in front of me and I had to take this picture. He caught on the skinny jeans craze and got himself a pair on his recent trip to Australia. I was a bit skeptical at first. My first thought was "Don't you have to be skinny to be able to pull that off?". But after studying him for a good five minutes, I decided he did it justice. Plus, I think his ass looks cute. Hehehe!

This was when we got home from KLCC. Tiara was already fast asleep and Imaan, being the active little baby that she is, insisted on a lil playtime. My sister Fiza, whom the girls will refer to as Mama Ja when they start talking, has this thing about dressing them up in the silliest things. In this case, it was their Daddy's hat that was put on Lil Imaan.

I love spending time with my beautiful family

Sazzy on IPhone

My Latest Craze(s)

2011-11-30T10:54:00.001-08:00

Life has been hectic lately. If you have been following my twitter timeline, you probably have an idea on how busy and full my schedule has been, what with the weekly MyEG Xtra Time shoot, non-stop events, special appearances and emcee-ing gigs.

My beautiful baby girls have grown. Imaan and Tiara are almost 7 months now. How time flies! I have been religiously capturing their growth and discoveries with my iPhone camera. Of course i'll be sharing those pictures in this blog as I have done on Instagram.

As you all know, besides the love for my babies, work, food etc... I also have the love for fashion. So here I share some pictures of my latest craze.

I've been wearing a lot of stuff from thepoplook.com lately. They have really nice casual but funky dresses and tops. I especially like this pleated dress. So much so that I also have it in deep pink . The one in the picture is in grey.

I bought these shoes quite a while back actually, way before I got pregnant. I love how it's so funky but because it's a nude colour, I'm able to wear it with almost anything I wear. Got these beauties from Aldo.

Here's me at MIFW (Malaysian International Fashion Week). As you can see, I'm wearing the Aldo gladiators. Its such a safe colour that it matches with any outfit. I got the top from JASPAL and the skirt used to belong to my Mama. She was quite a fashionista back then and her collection of clothes were amazing!

Another dress I got from thepoplook.com. I was out with the baby girls last weekend and felt like wearing something flowy and girly. So this was perfect.

Sazzy on IPhone

How I Will Always Remember Him

2011-08-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

I lost my grandfather... My datuk is gone.. He left us last week on the 22nd of July at around 8pm. Words can't express how I feel and I suspect if I dared to go there, I will break down and do the ugly cry. The kind of cry which will have me sobbing my heart out, snot running down my face and me wailing and choking incessantly. So I've been keeping it at bay, my feelings, especially in front of everyone.

I miss him... I miss him everyday... And not a single day goes by when I don't think of him. This man has been a pivotal figure in my life. Being the eldest, I guess I always had that connection with him. I was his first grandchild, his first love. I have memories of him and I sweeping the porch way of his house in Ampang back when I was around 4 years old (well, him sweeping and me making a mess of course). Memories of him taking me out for a stroll in a mall or a restaurant for treats.

I have many beautiful memories of him, but one particular memory grabs me. It was back then in the late 90's when I was in high school. Datuk had always been proud of the fact that I followed his athletic streak. We both loved sports, be it running, skipping, badminton, football and such. So when I got selected to represent my school for long-distance track running - 400m, 4x400m and 800m, he was proud. I remember him coming to the stadium wearing his sports jacket and bearing drinks (my guess it was an energy drink). He had come to show his support. How happy was he that his granddaughter was running for interstate, that he had come all the way, by himself, to show his love and support from the sidelines. I cry when I think of this, I feel this huge lump forming in my throat and I want to break down each time I remember this.. but I don't.

My Datuk was a man of many words, often had things to say about almost every subject. He was also a reader, often reading books on religion, politics, history and the occasional fiction. He was intelligent, often quoting sentences or paragraphs from books he read (that used to impress me tremendously). He was a flirt, often pissing my Nenek off with his philandering eyes (eyes, only eyes!). He was obsessed about cleanliness, and was very house-proud. Often you would see him going around the Ampang house rearranging furniture, sweeping the floor and porch way, picking up rubbish from around the compound, and even went as far as clearing up the road outside the Ampang house. He was also a very fit man before he had his first heart-attack. I have vivid memories of him skipping rope on the porch way from since I was very young. Being the sports enthusiast like him, I would also play badminton with him in the evenings. He taught me how to "smash", the act of hitting your shuttle with power and speed downward to your opponent's court.

Of course there are many more memories of him.. like memories of him sitting in his usual chair in the Ampang house living room and having his smoke, maybe talking about politics, or sometimes talking just about anything. For some reason, my memory of Datuk is always of him in his infamous turquoise baju melayu. He always had that on. I can't quite recall why I seem to always remember him in that outfit. Maybe it was because of the outstanding colour...

Speaking of memories, I had recently gone back to the Ampang house to collect a few items from the kitchen in preparation for Raya ie baking trays, weighing scale, recipe books and such. Well in truth, it was my mom's maid that needed to pick those things up. So while Risda was busy cluttering around the kitchen searching for the items, I got busy looking through some old photo albums, hoping to find some long lost photos of Datuk and I back when I was a tot. Among the mountains of photo albums, here are the pictures that I managed to unearth. Some of it were also taken from my sister's blog :P

Handsome and stylish man he was...

Datuk was an ASP (Asisten Superintenden) but retired as a DSP (Deputy Superintenden) *if the spelling is wrong please blame it on my sister as this fact was also taken from her blog :P

Datuk and Mama, in the early 60's

Datuk and three kids - Mummy Zieda, Uncle Man and Mama

What a beautiful couple! I'm guessing they were in their early forties. They looked really good, didn't they?!

Now, I'm guessing this was when they were in the 20's ? Yes, they had dancing back then :P Let's do the twist, anyone?!

A dashing Datuk getting out of the car, and entering marriage.

The family back in 1981. Arwah Datuk, Nenek, Mama, Mummy Zieda, Uncle Man and Moksu. The baby would be me (first grandchild). I'm pretty sure my Papa was the cameraman.

And 26 years later! Look at how big the family had grown.

One of my very few pictures that I took of Arwah Datuk and me (and Nash). As his sickness deteriorated, I ceased the picture-taking, out of respect for him.

My beloved Arwah Datuk and I in Le Village Resort Kuantan.

This pic was taken before his first heart attack in 2006. I remember crying my way to the hospital to see him. It was the year I got married and we were all busy preparing for the wedding. I remember thinking "No Datuk , you are not leaving me when I need you at my wedding!"

Of course he survived... In fact, he survived a few more attacks. As the years went on and his sickness intensified, the family could only watch on helplessly and did what we could. There were many panicked trips to the hospital, bottles and sachets of medicine and pills prescribed and consumed, thousands of ringgit spent on consultation, oxygen tanks and hospital rooms. However, even though Datuk's health got worse and weaker, his spirit stayed strong. The countless amount of hospital trips and doctor's visit only reminded us to cherish all the extra time that we had with him.

Arwah Datuk finally passed on 5 years later... After years of battling heart and lung failure. I miss my Datuk so much but I was lucky to have him for 30 whole years. Thank you for giving me that extra time to be with my Datuk...

The Best Surprise Ever!

2011-03-19T03:43:00.001-07:00

I love planning surprise parties. I've done so many that I actually consider myself quite a pro. However, the downside to being such a good surprise party planner is that its pretty hard to surprise me back. A few times my loved ones had tried (including darling Hubby) and I always seem to find out, or something would happen such as someone would accidentally tell me about it . Sigh.. Trust me, it wasn't as if I went sniffing about it in the first place.

For the past few years, I've been telling everybody how I was going to organize a big celebration for my 30th birthday. Maybe do a "Michael Jackson" theme where guests come dressed up as their favourite MJ and have a DJ play all the MJ hits all night. Of course, I didn't know back then that I will be heavily pregnant on my 30th birthday.

So when this year came around, I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to do anything. I was more excited about celebrating the coming of my twin girls and focused instead on the Baby Shower. Besides, I already had the best birthday gift I could ever ask for... my baby girls :)

My birthday came and the first thing I did was wish my sister Happy Birthday as we both share the same birthday, although we were born six years apart. That was some good planning done by my parents there.. LOL! Then I turned to hubby and asked him if I should organize a birthday dinner with my family. He shook his head, and told me that he was going to take me out to a nice dinner. He had even booked a place and all. "Wow!" I thought. "So no need for a big dinner then. Just a nice lil dinner with hubby will do."

On the way to dinner, hubby insisted that we drop by our home in Damansara (we're currently staying at my Mom & Stepdad's til after confinement/pantang) to grab our camera. Although we were a bit late for dinner and I was already starving, I said okay.

Got to our home and as we walked in, I was greeted with this romantic setting, complete with a butler/waiter named Karim waiting for us. I was in shock! My living and dining hall looked different! There was our dining table looking like a 5-star hotel dining set-up, complete with a bottle of date sparkling juice . Hahaha! Isn't this just so beautiful??!

It doesn't just end there, hubby had even gone all the way as to hire two musicians to serenade us through out dinner.

We were served a 3 course dinner. That was the next surprise. Hubby had actually been at the house all afternoon cooking up a storm! This was our main dish. It was delicious!!

I was in complete disbelief the whole time. I couldn't believe that hubby had done all this just for me! You should have seen my face. Dinner was perfect. Karim the butler was at our service the whole time, and our serenading duo surrounded us with beautiful music.

Just when I thought that the surprise was finally over, in came another surprise. This time through the front door. I looked up from our desert and there were my family members and bestfriends walking into our home, with a birthday cake and all.

They even brought more food with them! I was already so full I couldn't imagine stuffing myself with anymore food.

So, of course, I could only look on while my family devoured my favourite food from a popular chinese muslim restaurant "Haji Shahrin Low". It was a beautiful night indeed, with the amazing romantic candle lit dinner with hubby, followed by the surprise entrance of my close family and friends.

Sazzy & Nash's Lil Divas Baby Shower!

2011-03-15T05:32:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my dearest friend and business partner Aishah Sinclair and old friend Farhan, along with our awesome SinclairFalak team, threw a Baby Shower for hubby and I. Needless to say, it was something that I've been looking forward to for weeks! We started on the Baby Shower plans from a month away and I even took the trouble of putting together my ideas for the theme, games, venue etc. Of course, Aishah kindly told me that as the planning process progressed, there will come a time where I will be completely ignored. Mother-to-be is not allowed to be part of the planning/organizing. So bit my lip and twiddled my thumb I did. It was not easy to let go, I tell you. I've always loved planning and organizing parties, and to be told to sit back and relax while someone takes over the planning was tough!

A month sailed by quickly, and apart from occasionally butting in with ideas on games, menu's and adding on names on the guest lists, I did what I was told to do. To sit back and relax, and left the organizing to the team. It was actually really nice to let go for once actually...

The day of the Baby Shower came, and hubby and I were super excited. We love getting together with our family and friends, and what better way to celebrate the coming of the twins but with the people we love. When we walked in to the Baby Shower, we were completely blown away with the impressive set-up done by my team. Everyone looked amazing in their pastel coloured outfits. (I instructed everyone to come wearing according to the theme colour - pastel pink, purple, blue or green. Control Queen I was)

Farhan, who was in charge of the decorations, had gone all out in decking out the place according to the theme I wanted. Lil Divas Baby Shower was well under waaayyy... Here are some beautiful pictures of the Baby Shower taken by Ena :)

Baby clothes courtesy of Soraya Ann, Aishah's lil angel :) Thank you Soraya for loaning us your baby clothes for the day.

The venue was chosen by me - The Pink Sage Diner at Solaris Dutamas. I was confident with the venue. I knew guests would love it as it had an open air concept and a very very retro feel to it, with booths and sofas to hang out in/on. Big biiiig thanks to my friend and owner of the diner Noreen Ramli. She and her team came up with a delicious teatime set to serve all my guests.

These darling "Red Velvet cupcakes" were done by our lovely ex-staff Suhana Roslan. If you think they look delicious, wait til you try them! Guests were ooh-ing and aah-ing over them. Thanks Sue for these delicious cupcakes! They're absolutely divine.

Arrival of guests. My team welcoming my family members and giving out the goodie bags. Big thanks to Adidas, Kiehls and Hershey chocolates for giving us goodies!!

My two lovely emcee's Aishah and Daphne. They rocked the party!

Nash and I were called up to the front of course, so that they could put on the "Diva" and "Divo" sash (made by dear designer friend Amir Luqman) on us, and also to give a thank you speech to our guests

A "Daddy game" was played and it was a hit! The game had people roaring with laughter.

Since my birthday was merely a few days away, the team decided to surprise me and my sister Fiza (who shares the same birthday as me, 10th March) with a birthday cake and song. Awwww!

We invited a few close media friends of ours to grace our event. Huge thank you's to Opie from Kosmo, JD from Berita Harian, Faizal from Kosmo, Malay Mail and Hello! magazine.

E News Asia also came to cover our Baby Shower. Here's a pic of the gorgeous producer Joanne de Rozario interviewing us :)

Guests mingling and tingling away

Aishah, me, Uncle Joey and Farhan. The Lil Divas baby Shower team.

Looking gorgeous ladies! And baby :)

My dearest girlfriends and their lil tots :)

My beautiful crazy family. I love you all very much!

At the end of the day, when the guests had left, except for a selected few, Nash and I sat back and looked at each other in amazement. It was the most perfect baby shower anyone could ever have. To be surrounded by the people you love is a blessing, and we couldn't have asked for more. Thank you to everyone who made this baby shower happen. We love you from the bottom of our hearts and will always remember this amazing day. Now, we're just waiting for the arrival of our beautiful twin girls. We can't wait to meet them!

Ribena

2011-03-15T03:15:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of my second trimester, hubby and I decided to move into my grandparent's place in Ampang, where my Mom and Stepdad were temporarily staying as well, while waiting for their new house to be ready. That was somewhere in mid February.

Now it's mid March so we've roughly been here for a month. Of course hubby and I do occasionally go back to check on the house and our assistants drops by once every two days to feed the cats. I miss home, but its nice being here. Waking up in the morning is a noisy affair, with us talking over breakfast and going through each others plans for the day. Its normally just the two of us when we're at home, or sometimes I eat breakfast alone as hubby has early morning meetings at times. However here in Ampang, the mornings is what we malays would call "Meriah" :)

Work has definitely slowed down for me, except for the occasional photo shoots and media appearances that I have to make. I also go to SinclairFalak's office once or twice a week only as I can work from home. Thanks to my lovely biz partner Aishah Sinclair for holding the fort while I go through my last trimester! Days are not as hectic as it used to be and I'm slowly getting used to the rhythm. I have to! Its not like I can move much nowadays! Sigh.. Patience Sazzy... just 2 more months to go..

Anyway, one afternoon while I was lying down on my bed, taking a small break from being in front of the computer too long, my grandmother (Nenek) knocked on my bedroom door. I was tired, as most women are at this time of pregnancy and getting out of bed is work, literary! So I was feeling slightly annoyed at the fact that I had to haul myself off the bed and answer the door. My Nenek was still waiting outside patiently as I slowly made my way. I started thinking things such as "I wish she would understand that I'm tired and that I'm in dire need of a nap instead of knocking at my door and insisting that I get up!" But of course I didn't say anything. She is my Nenek after all.

Still feeling a bit anoyed, I opened the door to find my Nenek standing there with a smile on her face and a bottle of Ribena in her hand. She knows I like Ribena and of course it was for me. She proudly held it up and said "I got this for you. I bought two bottles when I went out just now because I knew you would have liked one too."

Now this is coming from an elderly woman of 75, could hardly walk fast due to age and is suffering from cataract (a medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision)

I'm pregnant and tired, now, but I will get my health and my strength back after giving birth Insya Allah. However, this is my Nenek's condition as of now and chances of it improving are low. Even then, she had gone through the trouble of purchasing one bottle of Ribena for me and when she got home, had excitedly but slowly made her way to my bedroom to give me this drink.

I looked at her face and am reminded of how much I love her. She's been my Nenek, my guardian, my second mother, ever since I was a baby. And nothing as challenging as her cataract could get in her way of being that wonderful grandmother that she has always been for me. I felt ashamed for thinking like such a brat just a couple of seconds ago. Here is unconditional love, love that knows no bounderies, no pain and no time.

I learned a powerful lesson at that second. That we must always appreciate what we have, even when we are feeling down and not quite a 100%. We must always remind ourselves of the things that matters most and cherish the people that matters most. I love my Nenek. And she will always be my Nenek. And no matter what happens, I am committed to being the best granddaughter I could possibly be for her :)

My Nenek proudly holding her first cicit (great-granddaughter) Lil Baby Maya. Also, my first ever niece :)

PESANAN DARIPADA QUE !

2011-03-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

2011-02-16T00:24:00.001-08:00

Great news! SinclairFalak's Success Series Workshop will be having another fantastic workshop that will surely have you drooling for more afterwards.

For the first time ever, we're combining two Award-winning actors in one single workshop. Que Haidar and Zahiril Adzim will be bringing their years of experience into our one-day workshop happening this 26th of March Saturday.

Que... Lights, Camera, Action!! with Que Haidar

and

Movement & Improv with Zahiril Adzim

Details

Time : 10am - 6pm (Registration - 9am)
Date : 26th March 2011 (Saturday)
Venue : Jabatan Kebudayaan & Keseniaan Negara, Banggunan MAS, Jln Sultan Ismail, KL
Fee : RM199 (normal price) By adding another RM50 you are entitled to a VIP pass

You're probably wondering what's a VIP pass. Well with a VIP pass, you will have direct access to our Celebrity trainers and a free coffee & tea session with them for a full hour in our VIP section after the workshop. So don't forget to inquire or request for a VIP pass when you register yourselves. Seats are limited as this is an all exclusive workshop! So sign up and book yourselves a spot quick!

Lesson

2010-10-28T05:49:00.001-07:00

Learned something not so new today, but it was a good reminder nevertheless...

Always, always be patient when dealing with the antics of much older people, no matter how annoying and dramatic they get.

Wooooo-saaaaaah!

2010-08-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hollaaaaaa!!! Testing out my new template. Amacam? Ok tak? Terer tak?

Gol & Gincu Season 2!

2007-07-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

I know! I know! Its been too long since I last blogged. Apologies for that, husband has been using my laptop since his crashed. Told him to get me a new one pronto if he's gonna be using mine like his own. Anyway, been busy for the past few months with the shoot og Gol & Gincu Season 2 and revamping Beat TV with Ashraf and team. Busy being a wife too :D

Now, to my wonderful fans who've been asking for updates on Gol & Gincu... As you all know, 2 episodes have been aired on 8tv for the past 2 weeks. Same time same day... Sundays 10pm. Dont know about Suria channel in Singapore tho but I reckon it'll start airing quite soon. We're still in the midst of shooting the season, yes, we're not done yet, and I hope it wont be dont for quite some time cos I love shooting for G&G. I seriously have too much fun shooting on set.

More drama's this season, obviously. Lets just say, its all things that you'd never expect to happen. Make sure you guys keep tuning in every week. But for those of you yang tak sabar sabar... I present you some behind the scene pictures... Hehehe...

Here's my preparing for a scene in my character's room. Its a damn cool room with really eclectic stuff lying around to suit Shasha's personality. Kudos to Gwo Yunn, Head of Art Department. She's great!

Some stuff of Shasha's at her bedside, including one of the red shoes that she made Haikal wear last season, handphone and a pic of the two of them together. It was quite challenging to shoot our scenes as some really serious stuff happens this season. Honestly dont like where our relationship is going in this season. Pretty heavy issues I must say...

That's Bernard's ass I'm lying on if you're wondering. He's directing most of the episodes. We also had guest directors, like Min Jee, who is an absolute darling, director of episode 5 and 6, as well as James Lee, quite a hottie, who directed episode 12 of last season and epidose 2 of this season if I'm not mistaken.

I could only managed to capture this much of the set due to space. Its quite an awesome set. All of our rooms are located in the same house. Putri, Mia and Reza's room are next to my room and Ayu's room is downstairs. This has been my second home for the past few months :)

Well guys, will be back to post more pics and behind the scene stories of Gol & Gincu soon. Promise!! Again, dont forget to tune in to 8tv every Sunday at 10pm for Gol & Gincu The Series 2. Much Love!!!

HoNeYMooN BLiSS

2007-01-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Aaahhh... perfect weather, perfect beach, perfect everything... honeymoon was in Mauritius and let me tell you this, if ever you want to go there with your loved one, make sure you both are completely in love with each other.. cos there's not much to do! Unless you love suntanning and eating the whole time which is what I absolutely adore doing. Food was scrumptious... absolutely delicious. We had a great honeymoon package deal in Hilton and were extremely spoiled the whole time we were there.

Hilton Mauritius was gorgeous and smaller than I thought it would be. The Spa is absolutely out of this world but extremely expensive. But since I was already enjoying living lavishly, I thought "Why the hell not?? I am on my honeymoon!" Unfortunately for Nash, he was too sunburnt at that point therefore decided to skip the process, much to his regret later on as I told him what a rejuvenating experience it was. Poor baby...

Ahhh... breakfast was always delicious. It was the usual breakfast buffet that hotels serve. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, croissants/toasts, sauteed mushrooms, omelettes, beef bacons, juices, fruits... you get the idea. We were so stuffed each time after breakfast that lunch was ruled out everytime. But when dinnertime came, we were ready to eat a horse!!

I was constantly taking pictures of my food the whole time I was there, be it during breakfast or dinner. The waiters there probably thought I was a lil' nuts but obviously chose not to say anything. They just smiled and asked me if they could be of any help, which I politely refused as I was the only one professional enough to take photos of my food. Anyway, the main reason of the whole taking-pictures-of-the-food thing was to put all on this blog so that I could make all of you jealous. Mwuahaha!

Now, if u could just observe the picture above (not on the right), you will see a funny looking green sauce, and that is the most pedas and delicious sauce ever. Something like belacan but better. I basically dipped almost all of my food in that sauce sebab sedap sangat

OOooOhhh just looking at the food is making me hungry. This is one of the appetizer dishes if I'm not mistaken. My plan was to put these pictures up in the blog as soon as I come back from the honeymoon. However, that didn't happen so I can't really remember much about the food.

up, that's me in front of the camera. We extended our stay because Mawi and gang all came to Mauritius for the Hotlink Mawi @ Mauritius tour. So my Beat TV crew came along and we recorded the trip. We joked about how Mawi couldn't make it to our wedding, but instead invaded our honeymoon :) Haha!

Thats me and my beloved Astro crew. Abang Budi, my Beat TV producer. Love him to death! And also Kak Haina, an executive producer at Astro. We went to quite a few places that day, along with Mawi and his fans. Lovely bunch they were, and all huge fans of Mawi I could see.

Thats us doing our usual goofing around. Mawi launched his album there so we had a press conference where Nash and I had to host. Can you believe I started working before I got to even come back from my honeymoon?! But it was all good tho. By this time, Nash and I had moved from Hilton Mauritius to Indian Resort. The resort was beautiful although Hilton was much better. Hehe! Nash and I left two days before they did as we had work on the very day we came back. All and all, it was an amazing and beautiful honeymoon, and I couldn't have asked for more :)

SaLaM AiDiLFiTRi

2006-11-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

I know its a lil bit late but we're still in Bulan Syawal and everyone is still going for "Rumah Terbuka"... so......

SeLaMaT HaRi RaYa n MaaF ZaHiR DaN BaTiN

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating Raya with loved ones and are buncit from all the rendang, lemang, ketupat and so on. Lots of Love!!!!!

MiSSiNG GoL & GiNCu??

2006-09-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Aaaahhhh... more of Gol & Gincu... I couldn't post most of the pictures before this as the season was not over yet on TV. Sorry for not updating my blog much lately but I have been extremely busy and plus, my laptop is at the service center. So what I've actually done is connected my hard disk, which has all my backups, to my fiance's laptop. Quite 'leceh' if you ask me... but since I miss blogging so much, I couldn't help but put myself thru all that trouble. Bukannya susah sangat pun.. Malas kut..
For those of you who miss Gol & Gincu... I feel you.I miss it too. Tremendously. And to 'ubat' your rindu... hopefully it helps, even if its just a little bit... I'm going to post you some of 'behind the scenes' photos.

A scene from episode 11 if I'm not mistaken, where my character Shasha was trying to warn Putri of Eddy. A slightly, very slight, emotional scene cos I've never had Fazura being mad at me, and her having to act that way to me for the scene (even though it was just an 'act'), was hard, even for her.

The set-up for the famous 'almost-kiss in the car' scene. We were laughing hysterically during the first few takes. We just couldn't keep a straight face!!

"NiCe AKHiRNYa BiSa BiCaRa DeNGan KaMu"

2006-08-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

First time I met him, it was at Anugerah Planet Muzik 2006 in Singapore early this year. Caught him looking at me and I remember thinking "Hey, isn't that Marcell, the Indonesian singer dude that my sister say is cute?"

We smiled and nodded at each other. He IS cute..

Met him again at the Forces of Nature Yogyakarta Quake Aid recently and we finally got to talk. We saw each other and waved eagerly, as if we've known each other for ages. He came up to me...

Marcell : Could I take a picture with you?

Me (astounded): Huh? Me? I was just about to ask you the same thing!

And so we did, took pictures I mean.. Chatted some more while smiling like fools... Aaahh... Still am...

FoRCe oF NaTuRe

2006-08-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am a FORCE OF NATURE!!! That was the tagline for the day on Saturday 19th August 2006. The Yogyakarta Quake Aid 2006 was held at the Polo Field of Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club.Once again goodwill and charity was the main agenda and the musicians of Indonesia and Malaysia joined hands in a "Live Aid" style concert under the Force of Nature banner.

The charity event went on for about 9 hours staraight and it was also aired "live" on Astro Ria where Hani and I were the hosts. Nine freaking hours guys!! It was crazy and I was dead tired by 2am. Event going to the toilet was like running a marathon agaisnt time.

We even inserted a few Astro Ria shows like Durian Runtuh, Gitu-Gitu Apek, and of course, Beat TV in by doing it "live" on ground. It was the first time ever that I've done Beat TV live and I have to say I was excited to finally do it.

I was so happy to meet her... Ruth Sahanaya... one of the first Indonesian singers that I knew when I was growing up. I grew up with a family who mostly listened to Abba, Jon Secada, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman... etc.. But Ruth was one of the few Indonesian singers that some of my family members liked listening to. Still remember the days when "Kaulah Segalanya" was waaaayyyy overplayed on our "Home Karaoke System".

I STiLL CaN'T BeLieVe iT!!!!!!!!

2006-08-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

OH MY GOD! Oh My God!! Oh My GoDDDDD!!! I still can't believe that I won! It was totally unexpected cos I actually really thought that the award was gonna be awarded to Ida Nerina. I still can't forget the feeling. It was wonderful!! A feelingh that I'll never forget. What a night, what a weekend! Things were quite hectic the whole weekend as not only was I nominated, but I also had to host the "Red Carpet" with Zainal Alam Kadir, Yasmin Hani and Fahrain, and perform a "Gol & Gincu Cheer" with Fazura for the FFM event itself. That two days was filled with pure pressure, anxiety and lots of fun.

This is Hani and I in our hotel room at The Legend right before we rushed over to PWTC to stand by for the Red Carpet. We arrived at PWTC at around 1pm for rehearsals that day. Rehearsals finished at 4pm.. we rushed over to our room.. Fendi and Lan (our make-up artist and hairstylist) arrived around 4.30pm and started to make us up feverishly.. Our fashion designers arrived with our dresses about an hour later (Big thanks to Raymon and Aaron of VonJolly for my dress! And to Rizman and Wan from UITM for Hani's!).. As soon as make up and hair was done (all the while trying to stuff food in our mouths so we won't end up 'kebuluran') we got into our dress and zoomed off with the rest in tow. Talk about a crazy day! BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!!!

MoRe oN GoL & GiNCu

2006-07-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Told you guys that I'd be back with more on Gol & Gincu. More goss and more pics on the making of the series and what actually goes on when the big camera turns off (and my camera turns on.. Haha!) For those of you who've seen Daniel's blog, you might've come accross some spoiler pics that Daniel just had to put up to ruin your surprise. Well not completely... but still?? (Daniel is so going to kill me!)

Crazy things happens on the set of Gol & Gincu. Well, what do you expect when you put a bunch of nutters together to do a series, or a film for that matter? It still gets insanely hilarious, even when times are tough and everybody is tired.

I absolutely loved shooting this episode. Putting Raz in a pair of high heels as Haikal made my day. He was a good sport though, strutting his stuff in those heels around Lim Kok Wing University. And that's Daniel being mengada wearing Putri's shoes. Haha! Love you Daniel!

Its funny... there were speculations on Haikal being gay, though I don't know why. However, we made sure that records were set straight in the later episodes. Make sure you stay tuned to find out how. However, if you look at this picture carefully... you'll find yourself wondering... Hmmm... Or it might just be because of Daniel's white sunglasses. Haha... again.. Daniel might just kill me for this!

Now, this was us goofing around (although it doesn't look like it) in one of our locations. I hardly have any scenes with Reza (Pierre) and I think this was one of the very few scenes that we had together.

The VeRY SeXY PuSSYCaT DoLLS LiVe CoNCeRT

2006-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say?! They girls are very very sexy... And surprisingly, are able to sing live. Not to mention their hot dance moves.. All in all, I enjoyed their show, held at Sunway Surf Beach on the 26th July Wednesdy night. Hey, got to watch it for free too as I had to cover the concert for Beat TV. I wasn't willing to fork out 200 ringgit just too see their concert so I made sure that covering the event was essential for Beat TV. But you know what, I've gotta admire the girls for their slick dance moves and very hot lingerie that they boldly wore on stage.. Duh! They are the Pussycat Dolls after all.. Here's some pics of the concert that I managed to snap...

Chillin' with my Beat TV babes... Thats Azrin (Beat TV P.A) and Dira (our very cute scriptwriter)... Caught Ashraf checking her out at times..Haha! Was late cos was stuck in the traffic jam and they were freaking out. Kept calling me every 5 minutes!

After the concert I had to do interviews with the fans for Beat TV, and everytime I asked them which of the Pussycat Dolls do they like best, all of them.. Yes ALL, answered Nicole, who is the lead singer. I do have to admit that not only is she very beautiful, she actually sings really well. But why Nicole? Is it because she's the lead singer therefore she gets most of the attention? Because most of the time when there's a group or a band, most of the attention is on the lead singer/s or on the vocalist. Like take N' Sync for example... Don't Justin and JC gets most of the attention? And what about Destiny's Child? Its mostly Beyonce isn't it? Or even rock bands such as Jon Bon Jovi and Aerosmith... I don't think I know any of the other band members' names, with the exception of Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi's guitarist. Or maybe its just me... Hmmm... Oh well..

Here's a pic of the girls in action from where I was. Mind you, it was not as far as it looks. Camera lah kan... nampak je jauh.. Hehe! I was at the media side and surprisingly, it was quite spacious. Unlike at all the other where everyone looked like they were being squashed.

GoL & GiNCu Da SeRieS... oVeR or NoT?

2006-07-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Wow!! We're finally done shooting the first season of Gol & Gincu. And I say 'first' because like most of you, I do want the series to continue its journey, even though a lot of hard work and long hours was involved for the cast, and especially the crew! Did my last scene on Friday 21st July at Starbucks, the part where Shasha scrolls down her phone to call Putri but decides at the last second, to call Eddy instead. Why? Which episode? Well, I guess you have to stay tuned to find out.

All in all, I had a great time shooting the series. Had the chance to explore and get more personal with my character. It was fun shooting the scenes with Raz as Shasha and Haikal. No doubt he's a talented actor which made it all easier to create that tension between Shasha and Haikal.

To be honest, I actually had doubts about Shasha suddenly turning over a new leaf (well, sort of) by becoming friends with Putri. I guess I was afraid that Shasha will lose its bitchy factor that she created from the movie. However, things do change and friendships do bond from weird circumstances, which makes the friendship between Putri and Shasha quite special. I looked at it this way, Putri and Shasha are complete opposites, but their honesty and authenticity (meaning no bloody hipocritism) is what built the foundation of their friendship.

Also, I have to thank all the wonderful production crew and cast for making it such a memorable experience. Everybody was great and extremely professional. You wont believe how fast these people work! This time around, we got to work with a team of directors... Bernard Chauly (Ep 1, 5, 6, 10 & 11) whom I've worked with before for my first ever TV Drama 'Piala Untuk Mama'.. Love him to death for wanting to work with me again! Another great director, Imri Natsution (Ep 3, 7 & 9) whom I've known for years but haven't had the chance to work with him until recently... And then there's Brenda Danker (Ep 2) who directed me in an episode of 3R aptly titled 'Gossip which was shot and aired some time in 2003... A talented and very, very discipline director and ex-host of 3R (Haha! Better not turn up late with her on set) , Ngai Yuen (Ep 4) whom I enjoyed having her direct me for my fighting scene with Raz (Haikal)... Next is Lina Tan (Ep 8 & 13), another person whom I forever grateful to for taking me in to feature in her first film production so I love her to death for this, also Executive Producer of G&G... And lastly, James Lee (Ep 12) whose work such as 'Teatime with John' made me dream of working with him one day and finally had the pleasure to... Awesome awesome awesome!!! Great, great experience working with them. It was interesting to see and experience their directing as each of them had their own way of doing so.

More experiences to be shared, so don't worry. Will be back with more thoughts and stories on Gol & Gincu. Don't forget to catch Gol & Gincu, Every Sunday at 10pm on 8TV!!! Much Love!! Muaks!