The Young & Restless

Oh wow…just can’t believe it. Rudy & JJ actually called me on my other cell phone’s number again..I did what I did earlier, submitted my application in the wee hours on Wed morning and true enough, they called me the following morning. I was so nervous, instead of singing the line, I babbled it all the way..LOL..and then I heard from the other side..CONGRATULATIONS…wahahah =D All I did was register a new account in the site, alter my hp no and the home address to my cousin’s and wala…they called the next day ;-D

Will be battling out the semi-finals on April 22nd in Zouk. Still awaiting further details from their people. Quickly dashed for the phone and first person I called was Mel LOL. So early morning sumore kacau her dreamland sleep..LOL bukan main marah dia.. Later in the evening told priest and he was like walau eh walau eh..hehe..so I told him to register a new account and send again tonight.

Wow..been really tired these 2 days..shopping at all the hypermarkets in PJ KL…Tesco, Giant, Makro you named it…all for my preparation to UK. Bought a few clothes, a 28" luggage bag, some stationaries and more. It’s only 20% of completion..have to do notebook surveying and settle out my airplane tix payment. No worries then, 2 full long months, taking my sweet time too.

Surprisingly, Kevin Covais @ Chicken Little being the 2nd person to leave the comp.

I was thinking he would survive probably a couple more longer weeks as singers like him are labelled in the same category as season 3’s John Stevens and season 4’s Scott Savol, who both received a lot of critical comments from the judges but yet managed to stay till at least Top 6 before finally getting the boot. Ironically, some good contestants are gone in between resulted of them staying. Well, looks like America getting more and more pro judging the vocal singings and not solely on cuteness or good looks. We’ll miss ya, Chicken Little…not! LOL.

And finally I realised what singer and title song was being played at the end of the show when they played back the eliminated contestant’s journey through Idol. It’s Daniel Powter’s Bad Day, and this song is definitely riding high on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts seeing AI the most watched show in the US with publicity given to the song each week. Really slow ballad, am beginning to like it.

A big day on Sun as we have a lot of preparation to do for launch of Jac’s first official fanclub and first anniversary birthday bash at the Curve. Beginning at 12pm, we the crews of Jacsville will start decorating and setting the place straight up for the grandest event of all time. Picked up Jo and Clarice from the station and we headed straigh to the Curve. Most of them are already presented in sight and I wasted no time going in to help out with the decorations.

The banner at the entrance of Blue Garlic

Different angles of inside Blue Garlic

By 3pm, our jobs were almost done and Project Manager Raymond had us all the crews behind Jacsville gather up outside for a short briefing on our respective positions and duties for the night the event’s being held. Each crew members are given specific tag names hung around our collar to smoothen the process as we can differentiate between the customers and the crews.

As 5pm approaches, people have started signing up at the registration counter. Show was to begin in about few minutes time. There were a number of performances lined up for the night which includes breakdances and hip-hop rappers from groups such as Rhapsody, Caprice, Tikki Group and much more. Emceeing for the night was none other than Ostrova while DJ at the background was Assistant PM Ray with his assistant Bong Bong.

There were also interactive games sessions, questions on Jac’s achievement as well as the formation of Jacsville in between where prizes such as free CDs are given away to winners of the game and also lucky draws. A total of 4 lucky draw sessions with each lucky winner received watches sponsored courtesy by one of the members of Jacsville and for the final and biggest draw at the end, that lucky winner will receive an item, or should I say something personal from Jac’s possession.

Then they started playing the video created by Revo featuring Jac’s ever long journey from the time she step to auditioned for MI in Times Square till the time she won the title, till she eventually bagging enormous prestigious awards from various spectacular ceremony nights such as Anugerah Bintang Popular, Anugerah Hits 1, Anugerah Juara Lagu, the recent Anugerah Planet Muzik and most important which is equivalent to the local version of Grammys in the upcoming Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM 13). It was such a coincident when she turned up at the entrance while witnessing the fanmade video as we cheered and clap whenever the video panned on her receiving her award. She was smiling gratefully and I could see tears of touchness sipping out at the corner of the eyes.

There were also certificates awarded to the Jacsville crews for the hard and diligent work of setting up the event and making it a success.

Hehe…mine

The night was truly dedicated to her as she would only be the VIP guests watching the performances. Indeed, it wasn’t her usual of just wanting to sit quietly in the corner with dear Auntie Maggie as she went ahead to belt a few songs for her die-hard fans who were present at the club. If I Ain’t Got U, Because Of You, I Will Survive, Di Bawah Pohon Asmara were some of the songs for the night..and of course, how could we ever forget the ever amazing Gemilang duet with one of the Jac’s hardcore fan, Martin when he got the chance to sing the song alongside with Jac. Biggest applause went for that.

Martin imitating Jac’s ‘tarik mic tinggi-tinggi’

There was also a video on the variety pictures of us taken with Jac ever since Jacsville was formed one year ago done by our Ray and for that, the wonderful night ended with a bang. One group photo with everybody scribbled a smile on everybody’s fatigue but yet satisfied face.

One big happy Jacsville family with Auntie Maggie & Jac.

Had a little celebration for him the last Thurs (though his actual birthday was on Tuesday, happy birthday again ;-)) Earlier in the afternoon, picked up Dina from his grandma’s place in search for his ideal birthday present. Decided that Amcorp Mall was the stop we made. What I had in mind was a fountain pen with his name engraved on it. Eventually both of us kept switching ideas of getting him other stuffs..went through photo frames, fancy jug etc but all these just weren’t suitable and in the end, we stuck back to the initial plan that was to get him a pen. Found a suitable shop which we set our eyes upon this collection of a chain and pen next to each other. Ordered to do the engraving on it and the boss of the shop told us to come back half an hour later. We found a spot somewhere to sit and chat upon waiting for completion.

Half an hour later, the thing was ready and have it nicely wrapped up. Sent Dina back and will be picking him up again later the night to celebrate Kanesh’s belated birthday at 1U.

At 1U, Wei Wern was already waiting for quite sometime in Shakey’s..wasted no time ordering our main course first. As soon as the meal was done, we presented him the American Chocolate cake (which Wei Wern ordered earlier on there) and also the gift that we all coped up in it.

Had a great time joking and poking at each other till the night was over, sent Dina who had to be back by 11pm and Kanesh after getting some food for his dad at a nearby mamak restaurant.

Yup…that’s the verse I should sing when JJ & Rudy called me this morning. Gosh..what big of a blunder I actually made by answering it "Hello?". Really can’t forgive myself man…I so damn got the chance to compete in the semi-finals round which will be held in Zouk on the April 22nd. It’s a private number and I knew very well that it’s them calling..I thought I was suppose to wait till they introduced themselves first which then only I’d sing the verse out…Aduh.. Don’t care..am trying again..since contest ends on 31st this month.

Just got back from Jacsville’s 1st Anniversary Party meeting. Definitely a lot do on Sunday..LOL..can’t wait to put up a good show for her from us committees.

Article taken from yesterday’s The Star’s E-Biz section;

MAS can save RM303mil from routes revamp

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) expects to save up to RM303mil for its current financial year from the rationalisation of its international routes under a turnaround plan that will begin from April 1. 

“To build on its strategy to move to a ‘hub-and-spoke’ approach, MAS will withdraw from the current unprofitable routes and reduce frequency on selected routes,” the airline said in a statement yesterday. 

“It will also reconfigure its network through retiming of frequencies to increase direct connectivity between KL International Airport (KLIA) and international destinations.” 

The reduction in losses from the route rationalisation would come via improved loads and increased yields, it said. 

“Cost savings are expected to substantially offset revenue losses incurred by the rationalisation of routes,” it added. 

MAS said the route rationalisation was expected to have minimal impact on Malaysia’s position as a top tourist destination in Asia as the airline would work aggressively with its code-share partners. 

“Through existing arrangements with them, MAS will continue to promote connectivity between Malaysia and key international destinations as well as contribute towards the overall effort by the various authorities to increase tourist arrivals to Malaysia,” it said. 

The rationalisation is expected to have minimal impact on MAS’ cargo operations as the carrier would continue to maintain its key cargo destinations in Britain, Europe, the Orient, Australia, Middle East, South Africa and the United States. 

“The airline will make up for withdrawals of services through interline arrangements as well as increased freighter connectivity when two B747 freighters join the airline’s fleet this month and May 2006 respectively,” it added. 

MAS said flights between Kuala Lumpur and six destinations, namely Ahmedabad and Kolkata in India, Xian in China, Padang in Indonesia together with Manchester and Vienna in Europe as well as flights between Kuching and Pontianak in Indonesia would be discontinued over the next three months. 

Effective April 1, there will be an equipment swap between the A330-300 Kuala Lumpur/Chengdu and A330-200 KL/Kunming twice weekly return services to match passenger demand on these two routes. 

MAS will also reduce frequencies in stages on the Kota Kinabalu/Shanghai, Penang/Singapore, Kuala Lumpur/Sandakan, Kuala Lumpur/Nagoya, Kuala Lumpur/Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur/Auckland return routes. 

Starting May 15, the airline will realign some of its weekly Kuala Lumpur/Kota Kinabalu/Tokyo, Tokyo/Kota Kinabalu/Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Lumpur/Kota Kinabalu/Osaka services to operate direct between KLIA and the Japanese cities. 

“This move is also expected to further improve connectivity between Malaysia Airlines’ international and domestic network,” it added. 

MAS said it would honour all forward bookings ticketed to date on the routes involved in the route rationalisation and will make alternative arrangements at its own cost to minimise discomfort to its customers’ travel plans.

WTF?? Why this year? Gosh man…susah-payah we booked direct flights to Manchester in June and now MAS isn’t passing there anymore..ppftt…what luck? No wonder I got a call from Chung Yen saying our flights to Manchester has been cancelled and requested us to move our reservations to another flight. I thought the MSL had done something wrong of issuing us booked seats instead since I heard one of the staffs mentioned the other day when we’re paying the deposit that seats on the day we booked itself had been completely full.

As of now, I am no longer departing on 4th from Manchester. Instead I have changed my flight connection to Cathay Pacific and will be leaving on the 3th of June instead at 5pm. Will be stopping on the way at Hong Kong first for 3 hours before arriving in London the next day. Sigh..all the hassles through the phone of rebooking our flights. Thank god they called Chung Yen’s friend for if not when are they expecting to inform us this crucial announcement? What if by the time they inform us it’ll be too late to book on another blame and that time, who’s to blame??

Anyway went to clearance warehouse sale today at Old Town…some stocks of reknown sports brands i.e Nike, Adidas, Reebok are on the grab with more than 70% discounts. Mum bought a Puma running shoes, me bought a Reebok outing/sports shoes and my cousin bought a pair of sandals..can’t remember the brand though..and what good luck he had when the cashier struck the barcode wrongly or something as his pair of sandals originally cost RM80 with 30% off but on the receipt, it’s stated RM15 when it’s supposed to be RM56 LOL.

Nothing much on Sat, had a game of badminton with Kanesh, bro and his dad at BB at 6.30pm. It’s really good having to practise with his dad. Really pro-player. Heard from Kanesh that he was offered to coach the national team but turned down the offer due to heavy commitments.

Anyway, went to have dinner after that at Sec 14’s TGI Friday’s. Coincidentally, priest smsed saying there was 70% discount sales in Metrojaya as he’s there at that time. LOL replied him to find me at TGIs or maybe I’d find him there but dinner was served rather late and by the time we finished, it’s already 10pm….everything closed shop liao. In the restaurant, busy discussing what standard procedures to be taken and necessary items to bring to the UK. Though it’s 2 months away, well you know how time flies.

Went to catch Jac performed again on Sun at Planet Hollywood. My initial plan was to go there discuss about the Jacville’s anniversary preparation next Sun at The Curve’s Blue Garlic but expected we won’t be this lucky to obtain free admission like we did 2 weeks ago. Really reluctant to go at first but in the end gave in anyway. Meet Ulee at Bangsar station while awaiting Aris to pick us up and headed straight for PH. When we reached, called Kai Ma and they said they’re having dinner inside PH, which clearly was way out of our budget. Decided to have our dinner at Lot 10’s ground floor food court. That’s where we bumped into Michael who gave me a sudden shock from behind by slamming both hands on my shoulder..could have just given me a heart attack at the spot LOL…

At the entrance of PH, Michael said he had an extra tix so he could bring me in FOC again (talk about luck heheh) while Aris & Ulee had Detnelat who was already inside, with the help of his cousin whose a manager at PH got them in FOC as well. In fact, it was more fortunate than ever that he even booked a few seats reserved specially for us at the bar. Although it’s way further than the centre stage last 2 weeks ago but the view captured from this side is still okay.

Wow, tonight they had really lots of celebrity present..there’s Adam & Marion from 8TV Quickie, hitz.fm’s Serena C, Daniel, Saiful, Misha Omar, Siti Sarah and even AF’s host Aznil Nawawi was in the house! Surprising..oh and of course the guest artist for the night..Farah. Surprisingly Myn and Ivy came together with her other sis as well. She dueted with Jac Kelly’s Since U Been Gone. Most of the songs performed were similar on the 5th, additional to Because Of You, Khayalan, Kaulah Segalanya, Dia etc. She even introduced Michael up the stage and he did a little dance routine for the audience while she belted Amerie’s One Thing. At 40, he’s chereograping skills are just worth to be praised greatly LOL.

As usual, the night ended with a bang with her ever so famous rendition of Gemilang. After that, went yamcha at nearby stall with MXV, Aris, Ulee & Detnelat. Chatted till 4am as Aris took me a lift back to PJ.

Uh huh..Melissa McGhee voted off.

Kinda predicted though, no doubt Lately was the best performance for Stevie Wonder night from her up to dae but her fanbase seriously played a more serious role here to push her from getting eliminated. She covered her screwed up lyrics well..I seriously didn’t notice till she mentioned it when the judges were commenting. Bottom 3 along with her was Ace Young & Lisa Tucker who clearly doesn’t deserve the spot at all. I mean..her rendition of Signed, Sealed, Delivered had a very good showmanship and she took the enormous stage with ease. Ace on the other hand started off in the wrong key with Do I Do and even then the public was all jeering of how could he ended up in the bottom when the fact is, he kinda deserves the bottom 3 spot lah.

Kevin a.k.a. Chicken Little…boy the grannies are definitely loving you so much till they’re all doing powervoting to ensure your safety to the next level seeing as how bad you belted Part Time Lover. Could be another last year’s Scott Savol in the making.

Quote from Simon,"You had many many more escapes from Houdini himself."

Couldn’t sleep a wink last night, having the fear of looking throught the site this morning. In fact, I had been feeling ups and downs for the entire past 2 weeks as the day of my results inched closer. Couldn’t eat nor sleep with a peace of mind. But now, aaahhhhh…..what a sight of relief I could breath when I finally obtained the golden ticket to UK in June! I can now take things slow and steady while began planning my necessary items to bring abroad. Just settled my plain tickets deposit today at MSL. Will be flying off on the 4th of June, 10.30am from KLIA and arriving at Manchester in UK the very same day at 4.40pm local UK time. Me, Shiong Chung, Teng, Chung Yen & his friend boarding the same flight, MAS. Shiong Chung will be leaving from Penang whereas Teng from Sabah and both will end up in KLIA together with the rest of us. 2 months plus from now. It’s time to shop for notebooks, luggages, instant food, toiletries etc. Wow…am beginning to feel excited too.

It’s tension week again, results out on this Friday…wondering where my faith of finally pursuing my studies in UK for 3 months come granted or not. Well, love it, hate it, want it, refuse it or not, the day itself will arrive and consequences have to be dealt with professionally. There was an interview by the Uni representatives from UK on Tues (not that I haven’t been through the process last year) regarding on our registration into John Moores University. Simple interview, enough said.

Ish..few more hours till dawn and till I can yet revisit the ever dreadful college’s site to check on my results. Wish me luck!