Happy Birthday, dear sister!

My sister, Lin’s birthday, was on 28th May, but as we were already meeting up for dinner to meet my mum who just came back from the US, we decided that it would be great to have a triple celebration – a celebration to welcome home my mum, a belated birthday celebration for my brother, Azan, and an early birthday celebration for my sis, Lin, though she was the one that bought us dinner that night! LOL!

When we got there, I immediately handed over a birthday present I handmade for her. I bet my stitching friends can guess what it was since I have been mentioning about it at the NNC group a couple of times. *grin*

Seen here is my sis looking at the bag after opening the present which came in a simple silver box.

I had wanted to make a card and tie up the box in ribbons, but, as the dinner was kind of unplanned, I did not have time to do all that. You see, I was planning to give the present to my sis on Friday, 29th May, but my sister was already flying off to Beijing on her birthday, 28th May for a holiday.

Here’s my sister again modeling the bag.

Noticed that the bag is looking very bulky already? *grin* She has filled it up with her very heavy handbag already! LOL! I just hope that the bag is strong enough to withstand my sister’s heavy duty usage! LOL! *wink*

Here's a closer look of the bag. No, I did not make the flowers. It is store bought as I could not find time to make one. Also, I am not sure if I can make one as beautiful as the flower I had bought at a shop along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

She said that she might be bringing it to Beijing. I wonder if she did. Even if the maker has never been to Beijing, it’s nice to know that the bag has made it there! My bag has gone international! LOL!

Back to our dinner, while we waited for dinner to be served, my mum related all the good times that she had while in the US - the travels, the good food that my SIL is now able to cook (read that, Eli? *wink*), the great art work that my niece, Sarah, has been able to churn out courtesy of the artistic talent that flows through her blood *wink*, and the wonderful music that my nephew, Farhan, can now play on the violin, a talent he inherited from his dad who can play the organ just by listening, with no formal music lassons.

As for the food, my sister ordered ribs and when my brother Azan heard that it was just ribs that was ordered, he was already worried that he might still be hungry by the time dinner is done with, as both my brothers are big eaters, but, when the ribs were served, everyone agreed that my sister had made the right choice of food. But, of course she would! Tony Roma’s is her playground and favourite restaurant. All the waiters and waitresses there know her, and she knows them! That’s my sister for you! Ever the sociable one, in stark contrast to me, the very shy one! LOL! *wink*

The ribs were so very delicious, and the meat was so tender! It just pulls away from the bones!

I could have eaten more had I not eaten so much of the baguette dipped in garlic butter that was served as a starter while waiting for the main meal to be ready.

There were other dishes which we ordered, apart from the ribs – fish and chips for Aiman and burger for my nephew, Ayin, though both dishes did not look that appetising.

Kids eat free here for every adult that dines here. To keep kids entertained while dinner is being prepared, they have puzzles and quiz sheets. Now this is one restaurant I will frequent often, not just for the delicious food, but for the thought and effort given to take care of the restles kids! LOL!

Thanks, Lin, for the great dinner! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May you be blessed with many great things in life! Happy birthday again to Azan too! Hugs!

By the way, I completed another bag today. I can't show a full photo of it just yet though, as I might want to give this away, but, here's a sneak peek of it.

As a result of doing 5 bags already, I have accumulated so many leftover yarns in so many different colours.

I am wondering what I should do with it, since most of the left overs are not longer than 1 meter in length, though a few are more than 2 meters. I am thinking of making them into granny squares, and then putting them together to make a bag. OR, I am also contemplating of mixing around the colours to come up with a multi-coloured bag.

Hmmm.....that's a thought!

Look out for further posting on what I ended up doing......or, anyone have any other suggestions?

A gift from Sweden!

As if getting presents from the US was not enough, on Thursday, I received a gift from Sweden! *wink*

Late last year, NNC organized a Birthday Exchange, which was actually initiated by me, but, as it came time to draw the partners, I find myself tied up with so many things at work that I could not find time to get around to setting up the partners, and I was running out of time as the end of the year drew closer.

I think I had more on my platter than I could handle. Kind hearted Margaret came to my rescue and offered to take it off my shoulder. Thank you so much, Margaret! I owe you one! *wink*

So, it was decided that the birthday partners shall be a secret. My partner’s birthday has yet to come, but I have almost everything ready, except for the card, and hopefully, when it is time to mail it out, I hope that I won’t find myself too busy to make the trip to the post office.

Anyway, on Thursday, 28th May, which was actually my sister’s birthday, a package arrived while I was in a meeting. My assistant placed it on my table in my room, and eagerly awaited for me to come back. The reason? He was eyeing all the lovely stamps on the package, because it was a package coming all the way from Sweden! LOL!

I told him that I will part with a few of the stamps when I have opened up the package, but, unfortunately, I could not find time to open up the package until I got home much later that day as I had work piling up, and letters for the day to clear. I only left the office at 7.00pm that day.

When I got home, as soon as I got dinner ready, I ripped open the package! LOL!

There were 3 individually wrapped packages inside the standard A4 size envelope, each tied up with ribbons. One even had a crocheted little motif on it. Very nice!

When I opened all 3 packages, I was in awe of what I saw before me. In the biggest package was this so lovely quilted runner in a block that I am not familiar what the name is for it, though I have seen it in some magazines before this. What is it called, Ulla?

The second biggest package contained what I think is a potholder, in a matching design to the table runner. Ooohhh! I think it is too pretty to be used as a potholder!

The 3rd package got me even more in awe as there were not one, but TWO very lovely quilted pouches in two different sizes made with very brightly coloured fabrics that was really eye catching!

The workmanship? AWESOME! I simply love the colours and it was simply ME all over the pouch, as it had bright PINK flowers on them! LOL!

As if the pouch was not enough, Ulla even added a small mirror in a casing in the smaller pouch. It was so cute! It’s definitely going into my makeup bag! *wink*

Thank you so much, Ulla, for all the lovely gifts! They are all so awesome! I love them all! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Hugs!

What a load of gifts!

My mum just came back from the United States of America after an almost 2-months stay at my brother’s house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who is doing his Masters and PhD there. She was there since March. 2009.

She safely arrived on 27th May 2009 at about 7.30am, but only cleared customs an hour later due to a lot of paperwork as a result of the influenza virus that is currently going around.

She looks well, and happy, and had lots to tell, so, we all, my sister, Lin, and two brothers, Ayis and Azan, met her for a belated birthday celebration for my brother, Azan, an early birthday celebration for my sis, Lin, and a welcome home dinner for my mum at Tony Roma’s, Sunway Pyramid.

Even before dinner was served, my mum gave away the gifts that she brought back for us, and, oh my, I love them all! Look at what she brought back for my hubby, Aiman and me!

For my hubby, a Jones New York Neck Tie, and for Aiman, a sports shirt and pants. I got the most presents, but, of course! LOL! *grin*

I got a book, “The Perfect Bag” by Linda McGehee, a pink Coach handbag, a dark pink Liz Clairborne purse from my brother and Sister-in-law for Mother’s Day cum birthday present, and a pair of Jones New York sunglasses! Wow! My birthday just came early! LOL!

This pink COACH handbag is perfectly me!

My mum knew that I was looking for a pink handbag as the current one I have is all worn out already, and anything PINK always gets me excited! LOL! So, this dark pink purse from my brother and SIL suites me very well, and goes well with my new Coach handbag! What more could I ask for? *wink*

I love this book, “The Perfect Bag” by Linda McGehee, and could not stop flipping through it during dinner while waiting for the food to be served.

However, I realized that the book came with the patterns missing as there were traces of a pattern being attached to the back cover of the book.

When I got home, I made a check online with the publisher, and they offered to send me the patterns. Now that’s what I call great customer service! You think we can find that kind of service here in Malaysia? Yes, but not very often, and very far between. *sigh*

We have a very long way to go when it comes to customer service. When in the US (since I spent most part of up growing up years in the US, I know the level of customer service offered there), the saying goes that the customer is always right, but, in Malaysia, the shop assistant/owner, and everyone else in the business is right, EXCEPT the customer (remember the entry dated Saturday, May 23, 2009, "JELITA it is not! - A lesson learnt......" being one very good example).

I have found a few nice shop owners/sales assistants, but they are a very rare species. We need to breed more of those, and I hope, under the new Prime Minister, steps will be taken to improve this part of our service, as it goes a long way in bringing in more investors to our country.

Oopps! Sorry! I am digressing! LOL!

Anyway, back to the gifts that I got from my mum, I also got this lovely pair of Jones New York sunglasses. This must be my most expensive pair of sunglasses thus far! *blush* Thanks, Ma!

My mum also bought a very lovely casing to go with it, and I bet it is going to make me look stylish, no, make that very stylish! LOL! *wink*

Thank you so much, Ma, for all the lovely gifts! Thanks, NikAi and Eli, for the lovely purse!

I won! I won! I won!

Yup! I am jumping up and down in excitement when Mel posted at NNC that I had just won a lucky draw in Studio Shoppe's, Mel's online shop, first giveaway draw!

Can you believe it? I can't believe it! I STILL can't believe it! LOL! When I first read about it, I went like, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" LOL!

You know how lucky draws always seems to evade me. I am one of those that never gets lucky when it comes to lucky draws, except when everyone gets a prize! LOL! This is a FIRST!

Goodness! I still can't believe it! Quick, someone, pinch me! LOL!

Read all about it here!

I just can't wait to get all those goodies! Mel is so so generous with the prize!

Here are some of the things that Mel had packed into the bag. Yup! I am going to get a crocheted bag from the sifu herself! Yipppeeeee!!!

The lucky draw really made my day, and a nice ending to what had been a very upsetting week for me last week (read previous two entries dated Saturday, May 23, 2009, "A week of upsets!" and "JELITA it is not! - A lesson learnt......".

Thank you, Mel! Please thank Nigel too for picking out my name. My hugs to him!

Happy Birthday Dear Brother!

My brother, Azan's birthday is on the 25th of May, a Monday. But, on that day, he will be going to Johor for a month long course, so, yesterday we decided to take him out for an early birthday lunch.

Initially we had planned on taking him to Bibi Wok at Bandar Puteri, Puchong, but, as we needed to get a present for a cousin's new born baby, we had to make a stop at IOI Mall in Puchong. When we got to IOI Mall, we chanced upon this restaurant that had just opened the day before at the new wing of IOI Mall. It was still receiving bouquets of flowers, congratulating it on it's opening.

We couldn't help getting curious to know what it was serving, and so walked in to inquire. I was sold on the array of food laid out at its buffet counter, and thus made a reservation for lunch. In the mean time, we went shopping for a baby gift, and some necessities.

When it was 1.00pm, we headed back to the restaurant, but not before I snapped a photo or two of the new wing of IOI Mall.

Seen here is the corridor connecting the old part of the mall with the new wing.

The restaurant, called Seoul Garden, serves korean style BBQ and steamboat. We immediately got ourselves settled and helped ourselves to the arrays of food laid out.

I would have taken snap shots of the buffet table if I could have gathered enough courage to ask for permission, but, I wasn't in one of those moods, though I did take many photos of the whole lunch affair.

My brother, Ayis, was also snapping away with his sophisticated camera.

Towards the end of our lunch, I asked one of the waiter if they could sing a birthday song to my brother. They kindly obliged, but not before they went for several rounds of practice, as we could hear them rehearsing at the back! LOL!

You see, the restaurant next door, Breek, managed by the same company, has yet to be opened, and so, they have not yet to get use into the habit of singing birthday songs to customers! LOL! So, Azan, you are the first! Now that is some birthday!

We didn't bring a cake as it wasn't really planned on a birthday song to be sung, and neither was I expecting that the waiter would actually oblige. *grin* But, as they did, it was kind of fun! LOL! *grin*

To top off the birthday song, the head waitress brought Azan a secial dessert from it's yet to be opened Breek restaurant, called Towering Chocolate.

It was really yummy, and my nephew, Ayin, and Aiman simply could not get enough of it! LOL!

I hope Azan had enjoyed his early birthday treat.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Azan! May you be blessed with many great things to come. Love you! Hugs!

A week of upsets!

It has been a week of many downs and upsets, to the extent that my best friend paid me a visit two weeks earlier that it should. You know, that girl’s best friend that visits you once a month? Yup! That best friend! LOL! *wink*

Yup, that happens – my best friend visiting me at odd times of the month, going havoc with my body – whenever I am undergoing an unusual stressful time, and this week is one of those times.

One of the many reasons, and the biggest reason, why I am very upset this week is because I got a letter from SPA (Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam) denying my appeal to backdate the date of my confirmation to the date when I got promoted, as opposed to six months later, whereas my other two colleagues’ appeal was approved.

I think my biggest upset was not so much that my appeal did not get through but more because of the fact that I did all the paper work, did the submission, and all the running around, but a friend who just came to sign the papers got his appeal through, but I did not. Had all 3 of us did not get the appeal through, I would still be upset, but not as upset as him getting and I did not when I did all the hard work. *sob*

It started with only me and another female colleague, but, as we thought that this male friend is also in the same boat as us, we thought we’d get him to join us in our appeal too, to make our appeal stronger.

He agreed, but did nothing to help us. My female colleague and I did most of the work, with me doing all the running around to get the all information as basis for our appeal. When it was time to sign the papers and send it off to SPA, the male colleague just came to put down his signature and left. I and my female friend went over to send the papers in.

I know that it is all `rezeki masing-masing’, but I could not help feeling upset, and very sad by this turn of events. Like I said, had all of us not got it, I would have still felt upset, but I don’t think I would have cried pails of water if not for the fact that I did everything and yet, I was the one being denied the appeal, whereas the other two got approved.

I called SPA to inquire why my appeal was denied, but I was not given a satisfactory answer, and could still be contested (on reasons of my PTK results, performance report and many others, which I am just at par with those who got their confirmation backdated). But, when I asked if I could re-appeal, I was not allowed to as they said that the committee’s result is final. Uurrghhh!

The officer who answered my query tried to pacify me by saying that I have to accept the fact that this time it might not be my `rezeki’, but, insyaAllah, there will be other times when it will be my ‘rezeki’.

I cannot argue with that statement, but still, it does not make me feel any less upset. It is a process (feeling upset, down and miserable) that I will have to go through and with time, will pass, before I will be able to calm down and accept that it is all fated, and believe in Allah that He has other better plans for me, insyaAllah.

I can only hope and pray............

JELITA it is not! - A lesson learnt......

I am putting this up with the hope that many will not make the same mistake I made, and will put a stop to shop owners who do not know how to appreciate customers that contribute to making their business survive all this while.

I was at this shop, called JELITA, at Kota Damansara on Thursday to get more yarns to make another crochet bag. What I would normally do if I am at Mayfair (Brenda's shop in TAIPAN), I would take out all the shades of the colour that I want, say, blue, and lay them out on the table to see if they match in terms of colour combination.

Brenda is very patient with me and understands my need to look at everything laid out on the table before making my purchase. She usually allows me time to play around with the yarns until I get the shades of colours that I want. I come home happy and satisfied with my colour choices and can start right away on my bag.

But, yesterday, the owners of Jelita (I think thay are a husband and wife team) of the shop were very rude and impatient with me. When I asked if I could take out all the colours of the shades of purple (I want to do my next bag in purple), he got mad with me and kept asking me to list down the colours that I want using the shade card.

When I listed down about 10 colours, she, the wife I pressume, asked me rudely if I am definitely going to buy it. If I am just going to see if it is the right colour, she is not going to take it out. She said that I will be wasting her time as some of the colours tht I want are kept in the store room. She wants me to promise that I will buy everything that I take out. When I said that I can't promise, she refused to take them out and asked tht I just take whatever was already in the cabinet in front of me. I told her, "you want to sell or not?" That's when her shop assistant came to take out the colours that I wanted.

As I was choosing the yarns, Aiman got restless and started playing on the dirty floor. I asked the male owner if I could just borrow a stool for Aiman to sit. You want to know his answer?

"Sini mana ada kerusi. Ini bukan pejabat. Ini bukan restoran. Mahu duduk pegi la restoran. Ini orang datang, beli dan balik. Takde duduk punya". (There are no chairs here. This is not an office. This is not a restaurant. You want to sit, you go to a restaurant. People come here, buy and go home. They don't sit)

I told him that if I go to any other craft shops and bring my son, they will always offer a seat to my son so that I will be relaxed and take my time to choose and buy the things that I want. He ignored me and walked off.

Before that, a lady asked if she could get her fabric serged. At that time, there were about two other customers besides me in the shop. The lady owner's reply to the customer that wanted her fabric serged? "You tengok saya banyak senang ke? Tengok! Tengok! Mana boleh jahit you punya kain!" (You look at me, am I free? Look! Look! Where do I have time to serge your
fabric for you?)

At that point, I told that lady that she was being very rude, but, instead of apologising, she scolded me for being on the other customer's side.

I would have just left the 12 balls of yarns that I had always picked out just to prove my point, except for the fact that I had already spent 30 minutes choosing out the yarns, and also I needed some of the colours for the 3rd bag that I am currently doing. But, definitely I won't be visiting this shop again!

When I related this incident to my hubby, he got mad with me for still making the purchase instead of just walking off. Friends to whom I have related this incident are also mad with me. *gulp!*

Yeah, I am embarassed and mad with myself too for not walking off when I should. But, definitely I have learnt my lesson.

So, dear friends, I hope that you will take a lesson from me when you feel that you are not fairly treated and just just walk away to make a point with the hope that such shops will not survive in this business to make hell to other people.

*note - JELITA means beautiful, and definitely this shop is NOT BEAUTIFUL in its customer service!

A final comment…….

I know that I have already lowered the curtains on Akademi Fntasia in my last entry, but I promised a friend who is currently overseas and had missed the final concert that I will put in an update on the concert. She only reads my blog to get updates on Akademi Fantasia. Thanks, Sabariah!

So, Sabariah, this is specially for you, and to all fans of Akademi Fantasia who follows my blog....

The opening for the concert promised a highly charged night when Hardstyle Republic, a shuffler group, did the opening act with a highly charged dance routine, followed by a well delivered “Revolusi” by the five finalists. But, unfortunately, the rest of the night was a flop. The heat only started and stopped there. To say the least, the rest of the night was kind of bland and cold, and did not pick up, even right up to the announcement of the winners.

Hafiz was the first to come on stage, but before he performed, he had to go through this boring joke which was not the least bit funny when AC Mizal asked him to choose a card to determine what he has to do as he faces the real world as an artist.

I find the whole gimmick boring and a waste of time. In fact, I find all the gimmicks slotted in between the performances boring and dull. Din Bramboi did nothing to lift up the spirits for the night. I have never found him funny when I hear him on Radio Era in the morning on my drive to work.

Hafiz’s vocals, as usual, were great, but I couldn’t help feeling that he wasn’t comfortable with the dance steps. It wasn’t naturally him to dance with backup dancers. He would have faired better dancing alone, as he went a little bit off in one of the steps.

Let’s just put it this way – Hafiz is no dancer when it comes to choreographed dancing. He needs a lot of brushing up to get to the level where Akim is now as both of them started out as someone who can’t really dance.

Please, fans of Hafiz, don’t get all emotional with my comments. I am just saying how I see things. I am not asking you to agree with me. This is my personal opinion and observations only.

Next to perform was Akim with his new song, “Bengang”. This is one of the better new songs this year. The other one being Hafiz’s new song. The rest of the new songs this year were just horribly bad, to say the least. Even Isma’s new song penned by her hubby was nothing to shout about.

I like Akim’s delivery of this song. The song suited him well. It definitely was the right song for him. However, I think Akim did not fully utilize the huge stage. He remained in the center of the stage most of the time. He has performed better than this in previous concerts, the 9th concert being his best. But, still, it was one of the better performances of the night.

Yazid came in next with “Kasidah Cinta”. A lovely song to me, and Yazid sang it quite well vocally, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t feel his emotions.

His interaction with the dancers was disconnected and lacks emotion. Had he injected some emotion in it, it would have been one of the best performances of the night as the drama was already set up for him, but he failed in the acting department. Dare I say that had the song been given to Aril, he would have nailed it? Oopps! Lariiiiiiii! Runnnnnn! *grin*

I expected a better performance from Isma with her new song, “Bisikan Godaan” as it was a song that she had heard before as it was penned by her hubby. Was I expecting too much?

This song will only stick in your mind if you listen to it over and over again. Isma’s vocals showed no improvement from the first concert as she already has good vocals from the start. She has one of the better vocals among the five finalists, coming in second after Hafiz in terms of vocals.

Like Edrie said, this being the finals, more was expected out of her. Unfortunately, she performed like she did in any of the weekly concerts. It lacks ummphh and superstar quality.

I am not being biased when I say that Aril’s rendition of Padi’s “Kasih Tak Sampai” was one of the better performances of the night. Adlin would have agreed. He injected the feel that was required for the song. I could feel his emotions. I wished that song was sung last instead of first between his two songs. It would have left more impact to the huge stadium and the excited crowd.

Again, was I expecting too much? It was, after all, the final concert, and we can only expect the best in the finals.

I must comment that the crowd went crazy the minute Aril walked on stage. It was hard to distinguish which fans were the loudest – Hafiz or Aril, as both fans went wild each time they both went on stage.

To say that Aril had no strong fans was definitely an understatement. They just failed to keep voting him to get him straight into the finals, resulting in him being booted out in the 7th concert, thus creating a huge controversy when the AFMASUK was announced.

After the final round, the audience was entertained by the kids who made it into the top 20, but could not make it into the top 12. To say the least, it was a forgettable performance. It was self explained why they didn’t not make it into the top 12. I need not comment further.

The second round started off with Hafiz again, this time with his new song, “Masih Jelas”.

As I said earlier, this song was one of the better new songs for this season. It’ll definitely top the charts in no time at all. With Hafiz strong vocals, it’s a winner right from the start.

I have always liked Faizal Tahir’s song, and this new song from Faizal is no exception. I knew the minute that Akim got the song that he was going to nail it, and he did. It suited his vocals to a T.

If you ask me to compare him with Hafiz in terms of showmanship, I’d choose Akim any time. I love his drama when he rendered “Bencinta”. I could feel his emotions, and he managed to pull off the drama effortlessly. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of him in the music industry.

Yazid’s new song, “Ya Pa Pa” is actually quite catchy, and I think Yazid managed to deliver it almost effortlessly. He did better for this song than he did for his cover version, which was good, as this is the song that will be playing in the radios. He seems to be enjoying this song, and that is another plus point for him.

I find his response to Kathy’s comment if be becomes the champion amusing, when he said that if he wins, the world will turn upside down (maka hancurlah dunia ini). LOL! This boy really needs to build up his confidence if he wants to make it in this entertainment industry. His joke was far better than AC Mizal's. LOL! *wink*

Isma was up next wearing a flowing green dress and my first thought was why they can’t give her a more glamorous outfit befitting a final concert.

Then, when Isma performed with winds blowing; I understood why she was wearing that flowy dress. It was to give impact to the song, and I think it did. Her delivery of the song? The best that it could be with her already good vocals, but Misha Omar need not worry as Isma is no competition to her.

I had already put in my comments on Aril’s rendition of his new song in my earlier entry. However, I still feel that he should have been given a song that suited him, instead of just any song. I had hoped that Acis would do his magic for this song, but I was disappointed when the ending to the song was like very abrupt and hanging. I felt like there should have been more. It was like an anti-climax when it ended.

The fact that Aril got the lyrics to his song too late in the week affected his feel for the song, and thus his overall performance. The song will remain “Toksik” to him for a very long time to come unless he gets a new song quickly. I was, to say the least, very very disappointed and ‘terkilan’ with his song and his performance.

I know he tried to inject some impact into his performance with his showmanship, but, like I said, the song was simply too weak and horrible, it was near impossible to make the song big. I really pity him for getting such a lousy song not worthy of a final song that was to be his debut single. *sigh* I wish him luck!

Performances by the ex-students were just passable, with only Zizi and Qhoud making an impact. The rest, at best, were just another forgettable performance. However, I must say that Stacy's performance injected some fire into an almost cold night.

When it was time to announce the winners, the crowd went wild. I could not differentiate whether they were shouting for Aril, Akim or Hafiz as they all sounded almost the same, but, Aril and Hafiz’s names sounded the loudest. It was almost unpredictable who was going to be announced champion at that point. But, I knew that Hafiz will win (for his vocals), though deep inside, I would have wanted Aril to win (for his showmanship).

Like I said in my earlier posting, the results threw no impact on me as it was already to be expected. A result any other way would have only created a huge controversy that will be hard to die down and I think Astro has gone through enough controversies this season. I am sure they have had enough.

I believe it was a result fans of Hafiz will agree in unison, and fans of Aril will agree that it was the best way to keep Aril from being further lambasted and criticized. Aril needs to enter the real world with less criticism and hatred, so that he can get on with the real task of being a star icon. I hope that he will be given the opportunity to prove himself. I hope that some big producers will sign him up, and soon.

I must add that I agree with what Adlin said that Aril's potential is greater than winning the champion title. Let's just hope that Aril can prove him right.

Overall, I think many will agree with me that this year’s final concert was one of the worst and most forgettable concerts in the history of Akademi Fantasia. But, I will remember Aril's and Akim's performances for a long time to come.

To me, only Akim fits the tagline "Transformasi" to a T as you can see him transform from someone nerdy to someone with style. Coming in close is Yazid, followed by Aril, but Aril was already born cute. *wink* He just got cuter! LOL! *wink*

Isma shedded a few kilos and no longer look like a mother with 5 kids, but more like a hot twenty something. Only Hafiz pretty much remained the same. Even his hairstyle remains unchanged. *grin* He failed to be transformed.

Yeah! Yeah! Someone's going to tell me that he is good already, and so he does not need to be transformed. Everyone knows that to be good, you still have room to improve, no matter how good you are. Everyone has to go through some sort of transformation as part of developing and progressing forward.

Oh well! Only time will tell who will actually make it into this hard and cruel industry. I wish them all the best of luck!

So, will we be looking at season 8 next year? If we are, I hope AC Mizal gets booted out first. LOL! *wink*

**note - photos taken from mstar online.