I don’t pay much attention when it comes to the Malaysian Hollywood scene, but after reading Jewelle’s interesting post, there’s no way I’m keeping tight-lipped.

Star TV recently gave Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza two tickets to attend the 49th Grammy Awards, because, wait for it…wait for it.. she won best dressed (photo below).

For those still in the dark, Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza is the Asian equivalent to Britney Spears. Back to Britney Spears’ glory days that is, not todays: white-trash-flashing-her-beaver Britney Spears.

So, this was the dress that bought her an invite to the Grammy’s, huh? I didn’t even know she’s attending the 49th Grammy Awards.

Holy Shit, seriously?!? Look at her dress (or whatever it’s called). It looks like one of those gifts you get on Christmas from your grandma. You know - Grandma does a sloppy job at gift-wrapping Christmas presents and always forget to label “From Grandma”. And the only way to identify that gift is from Granny, is from the slovenly workmanship. But since it’s Christmas - and it’s all about caring and loving each other - you assume she’s suffering from arthritis? Yeah, just like that. If you didn’t get what I was trying to imply, here’s a summary: Siti’s dress looks like an oversize and quite possibly, out of shape gift box.

I bet the designer was drunk the night before the dead-line and the only thing he/she (in this case, ‘it’ is also acceptable but I won’t go there) can find inspiration is from a potato sack. Yeah, put a potato sack, wrap a giant bow around the waist, glue those left-over laces from previous designs all over, a few strings here and there, and WALLA: two tickets to the 49th Grammy Awards.

I don’t blame Siti for winning the tickets, I blame the Star TV judges. Star TV judges: you need your eyes checked and re-checked - just to confirm.

Better yet, instead of giving the tickets to Siti, why not give them to the home-less guys on the streets? You know - the ones who act as if toothbrushes hadn’t been invented before. Just slap them with a decent shirt and jeans from Giordarno (it’s cheap - Ground Floor, The Mall) and send them on a plane to the Grammy’s. Just claim that they are pop-stars. Who’s gonna know? 99% of the people there are Americans. After a decent meal and a good night sleep in one of the luxurious hotel, send them back and act like nothing happened. You’ll sleep better knowing that you showed two homeless guys what they could’ve had, if only they paid attention in class.

Fashion is subjective. Just my 2 cents.
Apologies to the designer, and all my grannies out there.
I don’t celebrate Christmas.

I didn’t proof-read this post. It’s 2.03AM for goodness sake. I’m off to bed.
Ciao.

Sundays are usually spent at home — a day to unwind after an exhausting week at the office/school. Sunday is the day to just be lazy and don’t give a damn, or if you’re like me, a day to catch re-runs on TV if you missed it.

Yesterday, I made an exception. Instead of staying in bed for as long as my body would allow, I woke up way early for Sundays to catch the 3rd Skateboard Competition/Band at, what commonly known as, The Lagoon. Basicly, it’s a park, complete with it’s own library, mosque, skateboard area and those basic park necessities, with a man-made brown water body as a park center piece. All this dumped in the center of a residential area. I don’t think there is an official name. The sun also decided to make a long awaited appearance — shining very brightly instead of tucking far away and letting the rain fall.

I made a stop at H’s first before going to the event. His mum insisted that we ate lunch first before we go. Therefore, ate lunch, we did. Upon, walking to the area, it’s apparent that I didn’t get the please-wear-black-shirt-and-jean memo. I wore yellow and brown cargo shorts! I stood out. A yellow dot in a sea of black. I didn’t care, it’s was hot! Hot as in the heat from the sun. I felt sorry for those in black.

Along came afternoon and so did the colors. The audience nearly tripled in size. More colors appeared but black remains dominant. The sun was blistering but that didn’t keep anyone from leaving.

The bands were alright for a country who is still in the early stages in their music scene. Still early, infact. Just as a not-so-recent BB article reported, Black Metal and Emo music is gaining popularity in good `ol Brunei. I support the claim. I would categorize 90% of the bands there as ’scream-o’. It was okay. I also got the opportunity to catch Airholes perform ‘Not Cool for Gadong’ live! (Purevolume)

As for the skateboarding competition, I was quite surprised; for a community this small, there are skaters here who can perform ‘actual’ tricks. Not those hey-im-on-a-board-on-wheels crap. They are quite good actually. I also saw a female skater. Two-thumbs up! I love those “I (heart) KB” stickers on their helmets. Since the skate park is concrete, I really should urge the organisers to put a little more effort into the skaters safety. Paramedics on stand-by isn’t enough. The skaters must wear elbow-and-knee pads and not helmets only. And, yeah, a guy broke his foot.

I saw Kantalensa with his camera there. No, I didn’t take any. I was too lazy to get my camera. He might have some.

(Click here for event pictures) thanks to Kantalensa

All in all it was a great Sunday. I left the event with the desired tan (that’s a bonus). Perfect timing too — just in time for school. My arms and cheeks still hurts though, but that’s only temporary.

Early day today/tommorow (Monday), need to catch those lost Z’s.

After 2 gruesome weeks of forced intensive dance classes, proudly funded by the uncle because I wouldn’t spend a single cent if it involves me moving my body, I can finally scratch it off my to-do list and add it to my accomplishment list. It was extremely hard at first due to our lack of dancing experience. We dance according to Agnes Monica - Tak Ada Logika’s beat. The professional choreographer from the local TV network almost gave up on us, but after endless practices and late nights, we conquered and mastered the dance, and damn was he proud. According to the choreographer, it was the simplest move he can come up with, without looking like an aerobics performance.

We performed at the International Convention Centre (quite a prestigious place for first-timers like us). The hall was massive and so was the stage. It was so big that you can feel cold wind currents in the hall. Yes, cool breeze in a hall. The hall was divided in two floors; the upper deck and the ground floor (where most of the audience will be sitting). There were 11 stage performances including us and we were the last performance for the day. Let’s just say, the hightlight of the gathering. Haha. We were scheduled to be up at 1.37AM (on the dot!) but we arrived at 7.30AM. So, we sat at our round tables, eating, chatting, watching dance performances, and watched video presentations by selected few individuals. There was also a Lucky Draw with attractive and expensive prizes every 3-4 hours of stage performance. I won a B$200+ beaded necklace.

At around 10.30am, we switched into our stage outfit and waited backstage. We just sat backstage and rehearsed our entire routine from time to time. We were all nerves. We didn’t do anything really. Just lounged around. Around 1.30pm, a girl who was incharged called us, “De`Generation, please stand by for que.” We walked up to the side the stage, all nerves, peeking once in a while through the red curtains, waiting for the performance before us to end. It felt like forever.

Our name was called and we walked to the center of the stage. The bright lights was shining on us, the hall went silent, we took our positions, all 3200 eyes witnessing our first performance and waited for our song to be blasted through the speeakers. We danced and rocked the house down! We received a thunderous applause from the crowd and a few pheewits. We received raving reviews backstage but I’m sure the mini-skirts our female dancers were wearing, played a large role in the review, considering most of the performances that day, consisted of tracksuits, long pants and long skirts, oversized t-shirts, and even tudongs! Yeah, we felt really cool.

I have pictures but the memory card is somewhere in the house. I couldn’t be bother to find it. Would I do it again? Yes, only if it invovles prize money or plasma TVs. All in all, it was definitely an experience to be cherished for the rest of my life.

Affy-

One hell of a night!

Senior’s Prom Night ‘06 is in 17 hours or simply, 7.30pm Brunei Time (+8GMT) at the Teratai Bar, Panaga Club approximately 15 minutes from where I live. I have all my prom gear pressed, away from cat hairs and properly hunged on the hanger (its really a rare sight cause I usually pile my clothes to one corner after worn). I’ll be wearing red or somewhere near red in the color spectrum to match my date. Sorry, no pictures because only two people attending have seen my outfit (Wawan, who I shopped with and my date) and I’d like to keep it that way.

What I’ll be wearing:

• A “The One” corduroy (looks like velvet) black blazer from “Ego Men”
• A “Beverly Hills” blended cotton (feels like silk) casual maroon shirt with subtle tribal design. It turns to a lighter shade of red under light and black under no light. Looks amazing!
• A “Valentino” diagonally striped red silk tie.
• A dark grey “GA Blue” jeans to give a little shade to the whole outfit.
• A dark brown “Levis” 501 belt.
• Probably my brother’s “Cesare Paciotti” black leather shoes because it’s a size too big for me (slightly big for him too) - If nothing comes up.

So all I have left to shop for is shoes but I’m really tired of shopping. We’ll see how it turns out. I’m gonna get a haircut in the morning and after that stop by at Lydia’s to get something for the date. And maybe a little stroll through town ’shoe hunting’. Definitely, one heck of a day ahead for me, I better get some sleep.

Affy-

JIS’ Football Funday was great! It was really hot and sweaty under the Bruneian mid-day sun, but, all in all, I had fun. I have never seen so many beautiful girls converge in one football field before, so waking up at 7.30am was definitely worth it. I left the event with a huge smile on my face and a tan line between my legs and feet, and on my elbow. Sorry, no pictures because when the people there are that hot, the phrase sharing is caring doesn’t apply. Your loss for not attending the event. Hahaha.

Congratulations to the ISB girls football team for winning the championship!

Affy xx