Hidup Maggi!

Dalam kehidupan ini
Yang terindah
Melalui usia remaja
Senda gurau suka duka
Sering berganti
Meninggalkan kesan abadi

- Ogy Ahmad Daud's "Wajah Rahsia Hati" OST Ali Setan -

Filem ini membawa mood yang mendekati realiti sebuah kampus pada alaf baru dengan gaya hidup remaja yang lebih berfesyen, memilik telefon bimbit, berkereta, skuter dan basikal mahal tetapi masih tetap suka makan mi segera. Remaja dilihat happy go lucky, senior dan junior masih suka cabar mencabar, pelajar lelaki dilihat suka mengurat, pelajar perempuan mencari cinta dalam diam dan pensyarah begitu toleransi meskipun pelajarnya masuk terlalu lewat ke kelas, hanya tinggal seminit lagi tutorial hendak selesai.

- Perenggan akhbar di atas dipetik daripada suratkhabar Berita Harian -

doesn't the words remind you of your uni years? *sigh* it did to me....the paragraph was taken from an article written about the latest malay movie offering, "Kuliah Cinta" starring Erra Fazira (who else..) which could not be rivalled with another uni-life movie from the Eighties, Ali Setan...by the way, those not in the know, the lyrics from above was from the aforesaid movie...

i'm not doing a movie review here, merely musing over the words in that certain paragraph...it reminded me of my carefree uni years... in uni, everyone was "berfesyen"..especially, the business students! haha, mengikut reputationlaa nie...and everyone had either a mobile phone (which changes like, every sem *rolls eyes* ), a scooter (that comes in blazing colours), a motorbike (either kapcai or those rider types) and quite a number too had cars (ranging from the nifty Kancil to larger models)...but everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, still goes back to maggi mee for their emergency dietary supplement..heck, sometimes it even extends to being a full-day meal! a kettle was indispensible back then, and the person who owns them will be the popular one on the block...i remembered my friend, Anwar, telling me how he and his friends had to make do with cooking maggi in a pail! eww, but that didn't put me off maggi, either! hehe...and remember those end-of-the-month days when you simply have to stretch those ringgits before the next installment comes in *wink*...and remember all those concoction and and innovative Maggi recipe you came up with for variety? haha, Nestle can learn a lesson or two from us students...

i did remember how i had to stretch my ringgits and settled for an RM 1 nasi bungkus...how did i manage that? well, being friends with the abang gerai ensured beberapa sen discounts...nasi separuh, only sayur and no "binatang" (ayam, daging or ikan), plus some free sambal belacan, and voila! you have a one ringgit lunch! hehe...speaking of discounts, we just can't seem to stop asking for them! be it the mamak stalls, the gerai tepi jalan, the abang burger depan 7-Eleven..semuanye mintak discount! i think we even mintak discount at the makcik kedai dobi...

"remaja dilihat happy-go-lucky"..yup, that's right...no matter how tensed we get (heh, tensed ke? ), and no matter under whatever pressure we are, happy-go-lucky je all the way...bile pergi gerai ke food court ke, macam pesta, as everyone seems to be having a great time with their friends...kat library masa exam weeks pun, it wasn't a purely tensed zone...people were seen walking round, laughing quietly...and in our case, running down to the tv area to catch a tv show in between studying...speaking of our tv area, i remembered a certain friend, Abang Lokman, who told me that during the "Mis Tres Hermanas" and "La Usurpadora" phase..the tv area will be crowded come 4.30 p.m....and he would tell me and my friends how some would be crying quietly in the audience after a particularly emotional scene..hhehehe....

and the best memories of all, submitting all the last minute work! hehehehe...i am known among my friends for my EXTREMELY last minute work...i know its really bad, and someday its gonna cost me *sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, gedebush! "...but those were definitely memorable ones....i remembered finishing my Business COmmunications project like 20 minutes before the deadline, and hopping on the back of a motorbike of a friend of mine (yes Afti, i did that!), giggling all the way (i soo tak pandai naik motor, i don't know where to put my hands!! and i was heavier than my friend, so i was kinda scared that we might topple over at the corners, cuz we were going really fast! if my mom knew, she would kill me! hehehe..) she got us to the binding shops to bind the pages!!! and that took soo long, that by the time i arrived at my lecturer's room, panting, wild hair, slippers and all, i found him by the door, looking pointedly at his watch..hehehe...sorry sir!! i passed the subject, altho' to this day i never knew if any marks were deducted for that delay...by the way, Mr Chook Ka Joo, the subject lecturer, left us shortly after that, which was kinda sad, cuz he's a great lecturer..he was the one who introduced us to the phrase: UPM (Universiti Penuh Manusia)..hehhehe...sorry UPM-ers!!

ooh, and the extra costs for being late, when we had to bind our assigments with hard covers, and it would take 3 days for RM 10...and we had to hand it in the next day! after much cajoling with the apek at the shop, we managed to get him to be done with it by the next day, but at RM 25!! takpelaa, janji siap...i remembered reminding the apek countless times.."ingat tau, sebelum pukul 3, ingat tau, jangan lupa aa..."

and the night me and my friends had to stay up to finish a 15 page Company Law assignment AND prepare a presentation by the next afternoon...we started at midnight!! Half an hour before class start and we're still binding it at the shop...then we discovered that my car cannot be started!! arrghhh!!! luckily, Nieza came to the rescue with the Nonz's car ...and we managed to make it to class, only 5 minutes later than we should...the presentation actually went very well...but guess who had to push her car later, in the pouring rain, AND in a white shirt???

and remember how those lecturer couldn't care less if you came in late or super early? it really helped that most of the doors leading into the class is located at the back of the rooms...hehehe...there were countless times where we just had to smush ourselves in between total strangers, just so we don't attract the lecturer's attention...not that he cared anyways...and ALL those early morning classes that were just hazy memories, as we were too sleepy to pay attention...remmeber all the "sleeping positions" in class? ade yang mendongak laa, ade yang leaning to the left or right laa, ade yang tunduk soo super low that their heads almost touch the desk laa....hehhehehe.....

these memories apply mostly to myself and my close circle of friends back in uni...but i'm sure you guys have unique memories of your own..what compells me to share some of them with you today is that tiny paragraph in the article...funny how a small tremor can cause an avalanche....

present-day London: woke up early in the morning to take pictures at the park in front of the house..it already stopped snowing and the sidewalk is really slushy and slippery..ugghh...by the time i got out of the house, it was really slippery so i can't walk as fast as i wanted to, so kena jalan cam wanita jepun pakai kimono ketat...really had no mood whatsoever to go job hunting today, but i did actually make an attempt..alang-alang dah keluar pergi bank tu, pergilaa kejap Oxford Street to try my luck...tried Clinton Cards and Zara (i know, i know, i'm not trendy enough, but a girl's gotta try kan? )..pulang dengan hampa..so got myself a lamb kebab for dinner, and settled down to watch The Weakest Link...highlight of the day: discovered a different route home today...heh...

tomorrow Tina Yoohoo's coming over..yay!

oh yeah, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha everyone! :)