AZURA ZAINAL

Im on REDFM 104.9 (4pm-8pm) EVERYDAY!

2012-02-12T23:58:00.001+08:00

remember the secret i told you about on my post dated 19/1/2012??? well, the cat is out of the bag. If you haven't already know, I will be teaming up with the OG from Redfm, Terry, everyday!!

"Spunky deejays Terry Ong and Azura Zainal will ease listeners through rush hour with upbeat music and their funky personalities from 4pm to 7pm on The Red Fix." - thestaronline.

im very excited to start on REDFM as a radio announcer but nervous at the same time. job starts tomorrow, 13 Feb 2012 :D. i guess its kinda normal to have that kinda feeling...i've done radio before (with another station) and it was quite an experience, but my time on air only lasted 7 months because of my TV Presenting commitments.

to be honest, the nerves of going to the office and having a fixed schedule is getting to me! it's like going back to school and the last time i went to school was 14 years ago!! (dang! didn't realise its been that long!). TV Presenting/Hosting is second nature to me. im used to going out-station and work for weeks, sometimes months, depending on what shows i do, and coming back having my days off accordingly...but now, its a whole new ball-game and im ready for it! ready to kick some butts! :p

so you better make sure you have REDFM 104.9 preset on your radio and tune in to Terry and I on THE RED FIX everyday! :P you are more than welcome to tweet, fb and call me on radio k!

love, me.

Mercury Training

2012-02-09T00:51:00.000+08:00

about 3 weeks ago, a long lost friend, a director/producer whom i used to work with, probably about 5 years ago contacted me after so long. told me that he wasn't sure if i was still using the same number. the reason he called was because he had a job for me. not the normal tv program but a coporate safety video. i've done corporate videos before, it normally takes about 3 days to shoot. memorizing scripts is a MUST! simply because we need to educate and inform people about the company we are doing the video for.

of course i said yes to the job. but the process took forever. this video is a lil different because we are going to be doing it for an oil and gas company. we are required to go for training in certain fields. after the long wait, harry (director/producer) called me yesterday to say that the MERCURY TRAINING is on, but not in KL, instead Cherating! say whaaaaat???!!

fine, not a problem, Cherating is not that far, with the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur you can get there in 3 hours. so harry decided that we should just leave very early in the morning and come back the same day. fine with me because i wasn't the one to drive. hahahhhahahah....

the training was to start at 9.30am, so just to be sure we had called to reconfirm, but gues what! the venue was changed to KEMAMAN! say whaaaaat??? hahahaha but despite the change, we managed to get there before 10am. i was the only one to attend the training for today because harry and adam had gone for it last week in KLCC. so the trip today was a joyride for them.

mercury training is a must for each person who needs to be at the oil rig. can you imagine, im gonna be on a helicopter for 2 hours to get to the rig which is 240km off shore! woohooooo!!! i cant wait. that too, we need to go for training..all for safety purposes. best thing about doing the "boset training", it gives me like a "license" that's valid for 4 years! meaning, an advantage for me as a tv host (should there be a need for me to do something similar like this video).

in school we did learn about mercury but only maybe 5 percent of it. so today, its all about ones' safety when we are on the rig and how to deal when we come in contact with mercury.

let me share with you a little bit about the chemical chareacteristic of mercury:-

1) chemical symbol : Hg
2) in elemental form, mercury is silver/white metal
3) emit mercury vapor
4) vaporization increases with temperature and surface area
5) metallic form is insoluble
6) liquid at room temperature (melting point - 38 degrees celcius)
7) weight is 13.5 times denser than waste (1 liter weight = 13.5kg)

there are 3 forms of mercury, elemental, inorganic and organic. when you are on an oil rig, it is very hazardous. the people who work on an oil rig gets paid a helluvalot of money because it is a high risk job. so safety comes first. how can you get mercury into your system? well there are 3 routes of entry:-

1) inhalation - from occupational hazards or pollutions
2) ingestion - consumption of contaminated food
3) exposure - direct contact (cosmetics, creams, dental filling)

they actually showed a video of Minatama Disease which happened in 1908 in Japan where people were exposed to a huge amount of mercury. they kinda go through a slow yet messed up death. they get major alzheimers where they would shake uncontrolably (imagine shaking a bottle hard) and they lose balance. they also did a test on some cats where it had the same effects, the poor cats!

so in order to avoid/minimize the content of mercury in a body we were taught on how to wear a safety suit (tychem) and our safety gears which looks like this...

yea, laugh now why dont you! hahhaaa this took about 15 minutes to wear!

and in the end this is how we're suppose to look like. imagine me in it???!!! i almost disappeared in all that!

and can you believe this dude was actually asleep during the training! caught in the act dude!

hahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahaha hahahahahah!!!

so after learning that, we had to do a practical at a mock-up rig. the guys who attended the training were nice. they helped me in getting dressed and explained a lot to me too! they recognized me from Xplorasi and Langit dan Bumi :p. the guys are working for maintenance where they have to do mercury clean-ups. before and after their job, they need to take a urine and blood sample to indentify the level of mercury in their body. some of the side effects are irritate lungs, cough, kidney, nausea/vomiting, just to name a few.

so this was what i learnt today...very interesting indeed. u cant take the tv presenter out of me...

i know this is quite a long post, but i just thought it would be interesting for me to share with you. you can never have enough of KNOWLEDGE!

hope you've gained something from this just like i did!

love, me.

masterchef Kelana Jaya!

2012-01-28T00:08:00.000+08:00

today i decided to cook lunch because my brother Idzhar will be heading back to the United States tomorrow and his request was for me to cook this! One of my favourite dish to cook...

Lemak Cili Api Crab! its a family favourite. everyone of us knows how to cook this although i have to say today's lemak cili api wasn't spicy enough, which was weird because i had put 13 cili padi, 1 red and green chilli in it?! Ok la, i normally put 15 but i thought by putting red and green chilli it will compensate the remaining 2 cili padi....and so, i was wrong. oh well, it still tasted GOOOOD if i do say so myself!

it was quite a crazy day for me. early morning at 2, i had to accompany a friend to send a friend to the airport. she was going to cambodia with ther family. just before that, i had a meeting with another friend which ended at 1230am. so i only had an hour sleep. after coming back from the airport, i managed to get 2 hours of shut eyes before heading out again to CHOW KIT ROAD to do marketing (talk about old school-not cold storage or village/jaya grocer yo!). so i was like half zombified when i was there to look for crabs and fish and etc...it's been a while since i last went to chow kit. when i was in school, my parents used to get my brother and i to follow them to do marketing every sunday. we would get our feet and clothes dirty and not forgetting coming out from the market smelling like a dead fish! my parents would introduce us to their "people", so they would say, "ok this is where we buy our chicken and meat, if you want to buy crabs, this person here has the best price and for vegetables you go to this aunty here....." and so on and so forth. then as soon as i got my driving license, everything changed. my brother and i was given responsibilities to go to the market every sunday without them! it was quite an adventure! hahahahahah of course i'm very grateful and thankful to my parents for doing what they did because now i have an extra advantage.

nowadays, its hard for you to hear a modern girl say "yea i go to the market to buy groceries for the house" or "yes i do know how to cook a meal". we are more focused on other things such as work, play, holiday and most of us eat out most of the time. well, maybe after MasterChef people are starting to change their ways???. besides making us go to the market, they also made us cook every sunday. my late mother said she wanted all her children to be an all-rounder, and that includes knowing how to cook for our wives and husbands. :)

i started cooking quite early because lunch had to be served before the Friday prayers. got my ingredients ready...

and im ready to cook! and yes, i haven't slept yet... straight to the kitchen after marketing....

the menu besides the crabs were fish in soy sauce and fried vegetables...

simple yet satisfying! YUMMEH!! bom apetitie!!

might cook again tomorrow too..

i hope you had a great a lunch and dinner just like i did... remember to always drink lotsa of water ok! :P

love, me.

Friend for Life!

2012-01-23T08:14:00.002+08:00

This person is special. Her name is Yeoh Ee Ping and u can follow her on twitter @eepings. I first met her when she was 9! And she was a big fan of Disney Buzz. I remember reading her letters to us where she would send in without fail! She was there at every Disney event to show her support and she STILL does in whatever I do, be it work or personal! We got connected again through a phone call she made to Hitz.fm when I was a radio announcer then and that's when our relationship changed from a fan to a friend. And with that I love u babs! Even though you're a decade younger, but it doesn't keep us from being friends where we can share about anything. On this special day, I wanna wish u a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR and besides it being prosperous, I hope our friendship will prosper too. :D

I'm a beautiful butterfly!

2012-01-23T01:16:00.002+08:00

it all began here....

this is a picture of baby Anatasha Abd. Halim. The cute boy who was holding her is my baby brother Imran. She was born on the 8th of August 1994 and she was the first grandchild. And now she looks like this.....

this gorgeous girl is now a beautiful butterfly who has left her cacoon and flown off to Abu Dhabi to stay with her father. She just finished her SPM and she's there to look for good colleges to further her studies. We are all very excited for her because i feel she is very lucky to be able to have the option of "looking" for the best college outside of Malaysia. another reason she's lucky is that SHE GOT TO TRAVEL BUSINESS CLASS!!! hahahha this is because her father is the Captain of Etihad Air! :p

i mean, she and her sister Athira would always fly off to see their father in Abu Dhabi at the end of the semester break and would stay there for a month until school starts again, but this time, Tasha had to travel alone for the first time, and she's not coming back until the end of February to get her SPM results.

(my sister with her beautiful daughters :p)

i still remember how small she used to be! how she used to be afraid of the sand, coz she didn't like the way it felt on her feet. She refused to go to the beach for the longest time!! She was also afraid of the dark for a while, but now she's ok. :) time really flies and can't believe that she will be eighteen and she is legal to be taken to the clubs! arrrhhh!! how awesome is that?! mum, aunties and uncles can take her out dancing..... FINALLY!! hehehe

its funny how everyone was at the airport to send her off because its not like she's going for good just yet! her friend Zhou Han was so sad that she was leaving, he teared! hahahahahah. its funny but its also fun to just go to the airport and have Mcdonalds before sending people off...yea, we are weird that way!

yes! food was expensive but thank mickey my younger siblings are with MAS, so we were able to get discounts! haaaah but it was still expensive! so happy faces everyone.....

when the time came for her to go, we were quite sad, coz that means, 1 less person to pick on!

c'mon, that's what uncles and aunties are for!? to make your nieces and nephews' life fun, miserable and exciting! hahahahaaa!

tasha!! we're all gonna miss you heaps! all i wanna say is, dont forget to have fun and explore as much as you can. you are young only once so live life to the fullest. take care and love you!!
here's a picture of Tasha and her siblings, including Zhou Han.... :D

love, me.

Dreamgirls DinDin

2012-01-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

so yesterday i orgnized a dinner with the cast of the Dreamgirls. invitation was fired on twitter and was hoping a lot of people could make it but not many responded to the tweet except for Rydee, Dina, Alia and Nadrah...it's ok ( their loss :p) we had fun anyway, more personal.. :)

we had johnny's steamboat at one utama...YUMMEH! i just love the chili dip served there. johnny's steamboat was my late mother's favourite place. i used to remember how she would make me go to the waiter and ask them to pack the chili dip! it was so embarrassing but i did it anyway. :p

we had a lovely time there, just the 5 of us and mind you we ate so so much! the usual things happened like gossipping and catching up with everyone. i had a picture taken but right now i cant upload it coz i dont know why im not able to open my iphoto (very very annoyed). once im able to i will put it up ok!

after a wonderful dinner and catch up session, dina took us to her friends' coffee place in taman tun to have desserts called mukha...OMG the cakes that we had was to die for! we had hazelnut chocolate brownie..i think also known as the "aaaaa" cake! hahah, and we had super chocolate cake mud pie ala mode! OMG! i can actually still taste the goodness of them! im sorry for not taking the pictures of the desserts coz i was to immersed in the whole experience while indulging the chocolatie goodness! AARRRRRHHHH SEDAP GILER..im sure you're thinking it must be super duper sweet, but surprisingly it's not! it is just right! Garsh, just writing this makes me drool and craving for more!

mukha was a good ending to a good night, our next girlie session will be a day of mani and pedi. cant wait! hehehehe

love, me.

Hello 2012!

2012-01-11T18:31:00.002+08:00

I cannot believe 2011 has left us....a good year it was. I had good working times. New experiences and making new friends..

The year 2011 started out with a brand new show with Astro Prima. Finally I got to do a show with Zainal Alam Kadir, very knowledgable and talented man, and it's called "Langit dan Bumi". It's the brain child of Zainal Alam. When he first shared with me the idea of the show and wanting to present with me, I didn't put high hopes on it. But when the time came, he kept his words, and the next thing you know, I got a call and and we're on the road shooting the program!

We grew really close, as our shooting dates were blocked for 2 and half months! We travelled in a van which Alam likes to call the "Scooby Doo" van. The van travelled all over Malaysia, from one city to the other, north to south and east to west...and how can we forget the pathetic make-shift towel curtains for the van. We bought the towels from Maidin Terengganu. hahahahahaha (long live Maidin!)

A lot of stories, experiences, hilarious happenings during the period of shooting that I will keep with me for a long time..I do plan to share it with you, provided that i discipline myself to write on this blog! hehehehe

Right after "Langit dan Bumi" i went straight for the Dreamgirls rehearsals. That was an experience i wont forget. Firstly, when will we ever get to be or play a role from Broadway??? Then, get to work with a theatre person who IS from Broadway?? And then, meeting new people in a new "industry" ie theatre??

I was very pleased that I was able to showcase my talent in acting, singing and dancing. Who would have thought that I was able be perform in Istana Budaya!

Working with people from different working background is amazing. You get to learn so much, especially when we were told our Jimmy Thunder will be played by a black guy from Broadway who actually left "Jersey Boys" to come to Malaysia! I was extra lucky because my role as Lorell Robinson (Jimmy's girlfriend) gave me the opportunity to work along side Kris Coleman even more! He shared with us a lot of his experiences from Broadway and giving tips on our performance as well.

I totally enjoyed my role and my experience in Dreamgirls, I think that could be one of my proudest moments...*tears* :)

After the Musical, I was offered to do A DIVING PROGRAM! Oh my gosh! I've been wanting to do a show like that in a long time! hehehe the power of manifestation?? :p

I got even more excited when they (Screenart Studio) told me that we will be staying on Mabul Island for a whole month! DANG!! Who would've thought??! It was soooo gooood! Now, I don't have to imagine what it would be like to stay on an island for a whole month! hahahahah

Everyday i woke up, got my gears and ready to dive...it felt like i was home..the sea was my playground in my backyard. I got to dive in Sipadan a total of 8 days! We even came to a point where we were willing to let go 1 of the days in Sipadan! I mean it's not easy to get there, everyday resorts are given a quota of 120 people a day including snorklers to be in Sipadan, and we were just spoilt! hehehehe

Thanks to Scuba Junkie for all their help and hospitality during our stay there. Not forgetting the people in Mabul, the Suluk people especially Abg. Mokhtar, the sweetest and most helpful man! We even got invited to weddings...yes more than once..we didn't feel like strangers at all! Im wishing for season 2 of 13 Hari Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai.. *crossing all fingers*

And now 2012 is here and I'm hoping it would better and more awesome opportunities come my way. A lot of ideas and things to do not just for me as a TV Host, but branching out into other areas. Time to grow my company Gumblow Cabxi (M) Sdn. Bhd.

I wish you the best in 2012, be sure to come and check on my blog k! I WILL make it a point to blog more! hehehehe *blushing*.

Talk to you soon!

love, me.

time to take it easy...

2011-06-18T12:56:00.003+08:00

I know I suck at keeping my blog updated, but this time my reasons are valid! heheheh.. I have been so so busy since the month of March shooting a brand new travel show for Astro Prima called Langit dan Bumi which will be on air after Hari Raya. I am actually looking forward for this show. I am sure you will find it awesome too!

We were supposedly to shoot all 13 episodes till end of May, but due to some un-foreseen circumstances, we only managed to shoot 11 episodes. The reason why it had to finish by end of May was because throughout June I will have to go for rehearsals for DREAMGIRLS the musical which will be in Istana Budaya from the 14th-24th of July. I am playing the youngest Dreamgirl, Lorell Robinson. So u must come and watch me okay???!!!

I have been been working non-stop, 7 days a week and am not complaining. Its just that it has gotten the best of me. I came back and went on with my rehearsals everyday from 10am-630pm. Saturdays and sundays are sometimes taken for shoots and weekday nights I have to do my voice-overs. So I think its about time that my body says "ENOUGH! TIME TO TAKE IT EASY!"

So yesterday, I decided not to go to rehearsals and go see Dr. Jo instead. And now I am at home, able to blog this! hahahaha.. I have a bad cough and wheezing and a flu. I just hope I will be alright on Monday so I can start singing and dancing again for DREAMGIRLS. I actually miss everyone at rehearsals :(

This is me, trying to keep my throat heated with VICKS as advised by Cheryl Samad, who is also in Dreamgirls :p

need a sweater??

2011-05-20T00:44:00.001+08:00

Finally we have reached Cameron Highlands to continue our shoot for Langit dan Bumi. In my 30 years of living, this is my 2nd time here and both times has been for work. I feel sad, how i never took the time to explore my beautiful country. Malaysia has soooo much to offer, we just need to take the time and do a lil research on places of interested.

Anyway, this time i get the 5 star treatment, so that means i get everything expensive..hehehehehooo!! Right now im staying in the old British Colonial house, Ye Old Smoke House. How i wish i owned one of these houses! I feel like im in the 18th century. I just feel like talking with an English accent! i cant help it!!

We haven't started shooting..so that's good! i can now catch up on my sleep. we have been shooting like crazy when we were in Penang. As for now, im just happy i have an internet connection so i can tell you about whats been happening with me. :p
Till the next one, toodles!

Love,me!

oh no! not again!

2011-05-20T00:43:00.000+08:00

Today is the second day of rafting in Sungai Selangor, KKB. I’m still feeling a little scared, but not as bad as yesterday, probably because I know what’s gonna hit me! The reason we are re-shooting the rafting bit again is because some of the shots taken yesterday were soft and not up to standards.

So we started the day by going straight to the big rapids, the first one was “1st Canyon”, this time the water level slightly more than yesterday, so we got splashed really bad but all managed to stay in the raft except the camera got wet, but thankfully it didn’t go into the plastic bag. Then came the “Chicken Drop”, the rapids looked scary. Here we had to stop and shoot some bits of Abak doing his job, like checking and analyzing the rapids. After that, we braved through the rapids, and thankfully again everyone was safe from being thrown off the rapids.

Then I realized, we were not going to do any stunts, that’s why we were “safe”… but I must say the last big rapid scared me and it’s called “2nd Canyon”. It has 2 drops, full force of water rushing into every corner of the big bolders. Abak said as long as we don’t get thrown off on the first drop, we would be fine. Sheeesh! Obviously I got even more scared! But I told myself, I just needed to be brave! As long as we listen to Abak’s instructions we will be fine. So then we went for it and phew! Was I a happy girl when we managed to conquer that rapid!

But it did feel a lil less adventurous when you don’t capsized, so I told Abak the last rapid we should just go for it and make ourselves capsize and we did! It was really fun.

I totally enjoyed this rafting trip. Sungai Selangor is so different from other places I’ve been before. It’s quite close to KL so you can just do a day trip with your friends. If you do have plans to come here, look for Abak to be your river guide. He’s really fun and friendly and knows his stuff!

Love, me!

2011-05-19T17:26:00.001+08:00

9 April 2011
The funniest shit happened on the day we arrived at Kenong Rimba Park, Kuala Lipis Pahang. We were here to shoot my other travel show called “jom Pi” and it will be shown on RTM2 every Sunday at 7pm. So anyway, we just had lunch and were just sitting around at the table, talking and planning for our shoot when suddenly all 3 of us, my producer Lan, Shukur and myself jumped off our seats like we just saw a monkey with Eddie Murphy’s head!!
OMG! You cannot believe when we looked at the table, a baby snake had fallen right on top of my medicine plastic bag!! Which was right in front of me! I laughed soooo hard because I could imagine our faces when we jumped off! It must have been classic! To be honest, it still cracks me up!
What an awesome way to start our shoot in Kenong Rimba Park, such an original welcome! Hehehehehehehe!!!!

AMRC 2010-Pulau Duyong Terengganu

2010-10-29T02:15:00.007+08:00

So after being in Terengganu for a week for the Malaysian Match Racing, the week continues for the Asian Match Racing Championships. Of course the favourite team Phil Robertson from WAKA Racing (New Zealand) who is also the defending champion has got my vote in winning this years' match. And guess what?! He actually did win beating David Gilmour from Australia.

In all honesty, the only team which I think has got cute crews is the WAKA Racing Team, seriously! Hey! I'm a girl and I'm allowed to look and have an opinion! :p Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me this year....but wait I think I have Phil's photo from last year's Monsoon Cup..oh wait, sorry, I don't have his picture :(. Will try and get it during the 2010 Monsoon Cup ok? :P

Alright then, time for some shots from the race....mostly crew and me...teehee

That's Sharin, Epol, Nadzry, and me!

trying to do my research...

crew photo!! finally all of us together!

There you go..it was quite fun, 2 long weeks in Pulau Duyong. And all are looking forward for the Monsoon Cup 2010.

For now, go on and tell your friends to check out my blog ok! ahahaha

Love Love!

MMRC- Terengganu

2010-10-28T18:37:00.009+08:00

Here I am in Pulau Duyong Terengganu. My days hasn't stopped for the past 2 months I think? :p After the Commonwealth Games, the next day I had shoot with Cipta Asia for the Rhb The Star Mighty Minds (Sat n Sunday), then on Monday straight to Terenggau for the Malaysian Match Racing Championships (MMRC) and the Asian Match Racing Championships (AMRC).

The race during the Malaysian Match Racing was quite slow during the round robin, so it was quite boring, that because there was no wind! I had to do a lot of waiting. Of course there were the favourite teams such as the Koo siblings, Tiffany and Jeremy Koo. This was the first time they faced each other in a match! 2 years in a row when Tiffany won the MMRC 2006 and 2007, Jeremy, the brother was one of her crew member. But this year, Jeremy decided to skipper his own Team.

It was definitely the right decision because Jeremy managed to steal the title and won the MMRC 2010. So this mean, he will be competing in the Monsoon Cup, together with International sailors.

My money was on the defending champion, Hazwan Hazim Dermawan. He's got so much potential and after winning last years Championships, he managed to score some sponsors for his team, PULSE and AC LAW. Now he's spreading his wing and as we all know, with sponsors, you can go really far. So, next year, Hazwan will be racing at the Korea Match Racing! So proud! Even though he didn't manage to defend his title this year, but its ok..he still has a long way to go. Experience does count because in real fact, Jeremy has more experience than he does.

WAH! This is like an article for the papers or something kan?? ahahhahha oklah, let me put some pictures up..

Masa ni tengah boring..hehehe

Of course you need this to move around in the Ri-Yaz Marina..

Dammit! i don't know why I cant put anymore pictures?? Takpe nanti I sambung ok!

Love Love!

bla bla bla

2010-10-08T21:14:00.009+08:00

What's up you guys! Well, this past 2 days, nothing interesting happened. Let me just show you our work place then.. enjoy! Please be reminded that its very tiny! hehehe..

This next picture you are about to see is the super cool car here in India. We call it the "inspector saab" car! hahahhaha. We all got excited when we saw it!

Time for me to go do my voice over now. Don't forget to watch astro arena k? Channel 801 and watch the highlights....coz that's the show I'm doing! hehehehe

luv luv!

Here Comes the Champs!

2010-10-06T21:27:00.005+08:00

We decided to do links in the studio today..our very small studio. We got the 2 Gold Medalists, Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim and Aricco Jumithi to come in to the studio for a chat. I was very nervous because it was my first LIVE report..in sports! Whatever it is, I was excited to take on the challenge. The boys were really shy!! but very sweet. :P Really proud of our athletes here and wishing them all the best in the other sporting events.

This morning we got a little surprise visit from Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar who came to see us at IBC. Of course I did not miss the opportunity to snap a picture with him.heheheh

and last but not least, jangan jealous ok! because I got the chance to hold the GOLD MEDAL and parade around with. hehehe

That's it folks! More to come!!

Luv luv!

CWG Day 4

2010-10-06T20:01:00.004+08:00

India has gotten to us! This is what we did during our free time at IBC...well not actually free time, but to release tension..

CWG - DAY 3

2010-10-05T14:12:00.005+08:00

The day didn't start out right. Our call time was suppose to be at 8am but the driver came late. As we were waiting outside we saw a car drove in...all banged up! and we were saying to ourselves "please not let this car be our ride". Well, it wasn't at first, that car was for the reporters but because the cars' radiator was leaking, we couldn't let the reporters have that car coz they needed to go around town with it. So we took the kereta rosak instead.

To get to IBC, it takes about an hour from our hotel, The Courtyard by Marriot. As we were driving , we noticed the car stopped and we found out that our car had a flat tyre! And we are talking about serious flatness!!

What is that?? A nail?? A big ass nail?? That's what I thought at first but it was actually a bloody SCREW! how the hell do you get a mother of a screw stuck in your tyre??

To add to things, the driver doesn't even have a spare tyre! We had to wait for someone to bring it over. We finally got to IBC 2 hours later.

"Welcome to India" and it truly is "Incredible India".

Wonder what's in store for us tomorrow....

CWG - DAY 2

2010-10-04T20:26:00.003+08:00

Sorry but no picture today coz I was afraid to bring my camera in due to the most menyusahkan security check. Yesterday my food got thrown away so...anyway, here's what happened today :

1) went out to several locations to do links for squash, swimming, hockey,weigh-lifting and off course we had to go through securities. Today I decided to bring minimal things out of the car. Guess what happened??!! THEY TOOK MY LIPGLOSS! I wasn't allowed to bring it into the swimming stadium! They were probably afraid I would paint the pool pink!

2) Then it was off to the Squash court. Here it was pretty straight forward. Because the entrance to the stadium was far, we had a shuttle bus to take us in. As we stepped in, our "Squash queen" Nicole David was painted on their wall! Awethome! The Siri Fort Stadium was quite nice because it was built around the old fort so it actually had some historical sites around it.

3) Then it was off to the Jewarhar Lal Nehru Stadium where the opening ceremony was held. We were there for the lawn bowl event. Dahla nak masuk macam taik, the volunteers don't even know their way around. So like yesterday, we were sent to walk all around the stadium. In the end we had to search for our own way. There's no signage that makes sense. One minute they say we can exit here but when we reach the security check, they say we cannot exit. KEPALA HOTAK! So back to where we started and met one of the volunteers and told him the problem. He apologized and my cameraman Pulen said "Dont say sorry, do something about it!'". Tu dah lepas geram sikit.

4) Finally at the Hockey stadium which is around the same area - all we wanted was to take an establishing shot of the freaking building. We have a media pass/tag that allow us to go anywhere (apparently not!) but the police decided that we cannot take any shot of the building. Got one the people with the green t-shirt (who is above the volunteers) to help take us around. We told him (coz he understands English) that:- "you are making our life/work difficult. We are trying to promote your place to our country in Malaysia. its not our loss if we don't get this shot. Stop giving us problems and you better talk to your organizers to give briefing to all your freaking volunteers and police and securities so that everyone is on the same page." Itu dah panas habis dah. I told them off. Mana tak-nya after walking so far thanks to them, then they come and tell us another bullc**p! Siapa tak marah?!

There was also a point where we wanted to get out of the place and they didn't allow us to! Apa hal?!!

Haiyo, well that's a brief on what happened on the 2nd day of the CWG. Feel free to tell anyone about it :)

More to come!

Luv Luv

Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010

2010-10-03T22:48:00.005+08:00

Hey! I'm actually here in India for the Commonwealth Games. I'm hosting the highlights for Astro Arena channel 801. U know how a lot of people were saying that u will get a culture shock when you come to India? Well, I actually didn't experience that, probably because of the "clean-up" that was done for this huge event!

The security at the IBC is ridiculously tight that it's actually becoming annoying! At the stadium was even worst! There were like 5 security checks and at one of them, I had to throw away all my snacks. I need them for my gastric but unfortunately it had to go to waste. I think it's also coz The Prince of Wales was there. Besides that, we had to walk reeeeeaaaaaaly far to get in coz cars were not allowed to go into the stadium area. I think the 3 of us (afiq and pulen) actually walked for like 3km!

Once we got in, we were asked to go here and there without proper directions. We were walking like idiots and we couldn't even find a spot for us to plonk our camera! Finally we just did guerilla style. We had to rush the footages from the opening ceremony to be transferred back to Malaysia. Man that was quite tiring.

So far day one experience has been interesting. OHH!!! I forgot, we nearly got pick-pocketed!! Choo (arena personnel) and I went out to buy food for the boys and as we were talking to a few boys for directions, and just as we were about to get in the car, Choo noticed her bag was unzipped! She thought all her stuff were gone ie passport, company money and etc! But thankfully as we were driving, she remembered she had put her purse in a different pocket of the bag! PHEW!! Panic giler siot! Imagine passport hilang??!!!

So that's a lil piece of India for us - "WELCOME TO INDIA!"

luv luv!

Stuck in the Airport??!!

2010-07-10T13:42:00.002+08:00

So, if you didn't already know, I am currently hosting a program called RHB The Star Mighty Minds National Challenge 2010. The show takes me all over Malaysia in search for the mightiest minds (school) of each state to compete in the National challenge. The winner gets 6k!

Anyway, my previous trip was in Kuching. It was lovely, I love Sarawak. If only I had extra time to just go and visit the National Parks! It was an early (8am) flight to Kuching and Bai's (make-up artist) first time on a plane! So I decided to get the crew to play a prank on her! So what we did was, when she went to the toilet, we all decided to go the gate and leave her behind. Shimie (asst. director) was holding Bai's boarding pass and he was hiding in the toilet. She panicked coz no one was to be seen! But we could see her,then she started calling Shimie to find out where everyone had gone! She panicked and it was sooooo funny! hahahahaha

The event in The Spring, Kuching, went well. I spent quite a bit there! I don't even know why I shopped! But all I can say is that, Kuching was fun.

Our flight the next day was even earlier...6am! So everyone got up at 3am to get ready and bla bla bla. Obviously everyone did not get enough rest. So of course we were all looking forward to get back to KL to just sleep. When we got to the airport at 4.30am, MAS told us that our flight had been re-timed to 1030am!! WTF!! That's like 6 hours of doing nothing! We couldn't sleep coz there was no where to, we couldn't eat coz everything was closed! so we just sat there, and watched RTM. So semua like so penat and zombified!

Bai and Denny(producer) tried to sleep a bit on the chair, but as soon as they put their heads down, suddenly a rooster started to cockadoodle-doo!!! IN THE FREAKING AIRPORT! That time it was 5am. At first I thought it was someone's alarm but then again, how loud can a phone alarm be, right? After the second cockadoodle-doo then I realized it was an actual chicken. It wasn't even 1 rooster! There were 3 of them! I was thinking to myself, what's so special about chickens in Kuching that you cant buy them in the Peninsular??

So oklah, flight re-timed, then the chicken, then MAS gave us KFC coupon for breakfast and said it'll open at 7.30, and they lied! It only opened at 8am! And when we got to the counter, the people at KFC said that we were only getting chicken nuggets and coke..IN THE MORNING???!! You gotta be kidding me!! SQUIRREL! But we took 'em anyway sebab lapar giler!

So then it was time to go to the gate ...and guess what?? We decided to play another prank on Bai! hahahahaha. She had slept at Starbucks when we were doing our voice over there. Denny said to just leave her there and so we did! But Shimie and I decided to wait at the toy store which was just opposite Starbucks. Then Denny called her on the phone to ask her where she was and that we had board the plane! If only you were there to see the look on her face! CLASSIC! She panicked, and when she walked past the toy store, she actually looked at me in the eyes but didn't realize that it was me! She was still half asleep! ahahhahahahaha kesian dia...

Overall, it turned out to be a fun 6 hours wait at Kuching International Airport. I'm lucky to have a fun crew to work with. :D

Tied Up

2010-06-25T11:02:00.002+08:00

Hey, I know I have been bad by not up-dating my blog. Its just that I have been so busy with work and other things! Right now, Im actually at NZ Curry House in Wangsa Maju waiting for the crew to come so that we can be on our way to Johor for the RHB The Star Mighty Minds Challenge shoot. So I thought, rather than waste my time sitting and drinking Milo O ice and look at cars go past, I might as well do this, right? Thank mickey this place has got internet connection!

I have so many things I wanna share, but i feel I need to be in the right state of mind to write it. Just a quick one, if you didn't already know, i was also busy with Princess Of Mount Ledang the Musical rehearsals and showcase. I played the lead role, Gusti Puteri! Something totally different from Tv Hosting, hehehe..

At least now, I can say I have tried musical theater and oh!! Stephen Rahman Hughs is HOT!!! He was Hang Tuah! heheh..oh dang, the crew is here. I got to go now! Chat soon k!

Luv Luv!

2010-04-08T01:57:00.003+08:00

I just came back from Kuala Selangor coz today I decided to take drive and just enjoy the beautiful drive and scenery. Left KL about 4.35pm and the drive was smooth sailing till I reached the JPJ roadblock!! Mang it took forever!! But after that was done, it was all good.

I wanted to see the fireflies in Kampung Kuantan. I didn't know what time the ticket counter opens, so when i got there at 6.25pm, I had to wait for an hour and 1/2 for it to open. So instead of waiting I decided to take a drive to Tanjung Karang to see the green padi fields. Man, it was such a beautiful sight and I felt so free and light. I love looking at God's beautiful creations, u know just take maybe 15 minutes to just sit and let your mind go free from negative thoughts and relax...i love that.

Anyway, coming back to my original trip, I decided to have dinner first so I had satay and nasi daging merah. Sedap siot! weehehehhe!! I really took my time, coz as we are all aware, fireflies only appears at night so I ended up at the sanctuary at about 10-ish. The ticket was RM40 per boat with a maximum of 4 passengers. It was a peaceful trip on the sampan. We paddled through Sungai Selangor and the mangrove trees looked like Christmas trees.

I learned that the male fireflies "blinks" 3 times per sec whereas the female only "blinks" once every second, so basically, the cheerful and always lit up are the males. What they do is, they would 'blink' to attract the females. When they're mating, they do not produce any lights or "blink"(ing).

According to the pakcik, there are 3 places in the world that has fireflies, Malaysia, Brasil, and New Zealand. And according to most people/tourists Malaysian fireflies are the most beautiful, and the only place where you can get up close and personal i.e touch them! And fireflies in Malaysia are the only ones that "blinks" at the same time, like they're in-synced!

There are no season for you to see fireflies, so, good news! you can see them anytime through out the year. The only times you cant see them are during heavy rain and strong winds.

I know a lot of us take things for granted especially when it comes to our country. There are a lot to see and learn, we neglect our own beauty. We always think that it will always be here because its in our backyard. I strongly suggest that you take a day and go see our fireflies...I'm sure they'll be happy to see you! :P

p/s: i couldn't take pictures of fireflies coz i would need a hi-tech camera. it was too dark!!

Launch of Astro Arena

2010-03-19T21:48:00.004+08:00

Yesterday I was at the launch of Astro Arena (801) which is a new channel dedicated to Malaysian sports. And guess what?? I will be hosting one of the programs called AkifPedia!! Be sure to watch it every Thursday @ 8pm. :0).Anyway, woke up really early coz we didn't wanna get stuck in traffic as the event was gonna start at 9am! I kelam kabut get ready till I forgot to bring my camera but luckily I have my blackberry to save the day. .hehe. We got there at 8.30am as always, the VIP came late. Dah la late, and the speeches they gave took forever! ahaha, I nearly tertido! hahahahah..

There were so many sports legend and the first one I met was Mariappan, he's won a lot of medals for the Paralympics back in the 70's for weight lifting. He still trains coz his aiming to win the gold medal for the up-coming Paralympics!! So let's root for him!!

Our badminton legends were also there, Dato' Misbun Sidek and Dato' Lee Chong Wei but I couldn't get pictures of them :( but i did get a picture a of the cutest footballers in the National Team!!! Zaquan and Aidil. :p

Here's another legend, he was a sports presenter on RTM but I think you'd probably remember him more as the guy who had Alzheimer in the movie Cinta (that's if you ever saw it), Dato' Rahim Razali...

It was quite awesome to actually see our National Athletes at the event who has put our country on the world map. I hope our sports will strive and get the support it needs from us Malaysian by doing our part in believing in them! MALAYSIA BOLEH and 1Malaysia!!

NIKE HO10 Line

2010-03-17T23:12:00.006+08:00

Last night I was emcee-ing the NIKE HO10 line with Adam C. It was actually quite funny coz the both of us had no idea exactly what we were suppose to do,we only discussed about the games that we were gonna play. So 30 minutes before the event and while I was getting my face touched up, we kelam kabut trying to understand the whole event.

Anyway, moving on, the event started with some speeches by the key people in NIKE and then dinner was served (chinese dinner, and man, its been too long since i had chinese food). The food at One World Hotel was oklah..I've had better but I didn't really eat coz I normally don't, or should I say cant eat while I'm working...sebab nervous hehehe..

While the retailers were having dinner, there was a NIKE HO10 Line fashion show, performances by the cheerleaders from CHARM and B-BOYS

These guys (above) were awesome! I was very impressed with their b-boy skills! And of course the clothes they were wearing was cun also! :p

After all that, Adam and I started our games and the first game was called the "running man". As you can see from the picture above, that's me demonstrating how its done. I can't believe neither of the "athletes" (that's what we address the guests as) had no idea what the "running man" was! I mean, all of them were born way before me and "running man" was hot during their time (MC HAMMER era) and they didn't know how to do it???!! But anyway..all participants did what they had too and were given NIKE goodies. Man, tough crowd they were! Adam and I had a hard time trying to pump up the ballroom!

Then we played the "jug" game where the person who can hold the jug filled with water the longest wins! It looks and sounds super simple but in actually fact, its tough! The guy in the green NIKE t-shirt looked pretty retarded towards the end of the game, but I have to give him a pat on the back for trying to hold it to the end but lost to the guy behind him.

The final game we played was very cheeky and stupid! hehehe...where the contestant had to write an alphabet using their a**! hahaha it was so funny watching all of them moving their a**es from left to right,back to front. Imagine writing the letter "i" (lower caps)!

All in all, everybody had a good time and it went quite well. I certainly had a good time and guess who turned up to take the pictures that you're looking at now...my sister kak ina and her daughter Tasha..

NIKE ACG all the way

2010-03-15T17:05:00.007+08:00

Hey U! How are things? I'm doing all right and just came back from Taman Negara Endau Rompin in Johor. I was there for my X-plorasi shoot and as always, it was an awesome and stress free trip. Anyway, I just want to share with you about how important it is to have good equipments and footwear especially if you want to go jungle trekking or do any adventure sports.

As you can see, the picture on the left is my ever trusting NIKE ACG (all conditions gear). I have had this for about 3 years now and I have been using it for all my Xplorasi shoot. This shoes have seen better days..The worst condition this shoes has ever been in was when I climbed Mount Murud in Sarawak - 2423 Metres (highest in Sarawak). It was the most memorable climb because it was really hard and we had to face too many challenges such as the rain, the mud, the slippery tracks and logs, the semi-ruined bridge built by the people and bla bla bla..

When we were on our down from the mountain, just when we thought we had the car waiting for us, turned out that the car couldn't climbed the slippery logging road because of the rain the night before. So guess what??!! We had to walk aaaallllll the way down to where the car was, 3 hours extra after going down from the mountain from 7am-5pm(when we reached the foot of the mountain).

To make things worse, as soon as we reached the car and had put our equipments and bags in it, the car got stuck in the mud!!! and couldn't move! In Sarawak, to get from 1 kampung to another takes 4-6 hours depending on the conditions of the road, and we are not talking about tar road, total logging red earth looking road. So, we actually walked all the way back to the lodge, in the dark, and my NIKE ACG was covered in mud. It became so heavy, i think it weighed in at 2kilos! Seriously! We only got back at midnight. Imagine having to walk down the mountain and back to the lodge from 7am-midnight. I was very lucky to have my super strong shoes coz it helped me get through the toughest time in climbing a mountain. And the shoes is still good for me to wear in my next adventure. Belum koyak yet :p! hehehe

The look of happiness at the peak of Mount Murud! heheh WE DID IT with my NIKE ACG!
OH! and by the way, after that trip, i came back with bronchitis! due to sleeping in wet clothes for 3 days coz of the rain.

p/s: it was colder than Mount Kinabalu..then. :

Excited!

2010-02-06T14:12:00.000+08:00

Hey u! im back, been busy shooting GET IN SHAPE. If didn't already know, its a show about 4 people doing different workouts such as kick-boxing,swimming,salsa and cross training. I have completed 8 episodes. So far so good but i have to say that the 2nd season participants are not as determined as the 1st season's participants except for Zainal, who's doing kick-boxing. His trainer Michael tak kasi chance langsung! The poor dude! hehe.

Last Sunday i actually took some new pictures of myself for my profile. Im very proud of the results. I haven't had pictures taken in long time so this year (2010) i thought i might as well spend or should i say invest some money on my profile pictures. These pictures will be sent to clients or even magazines or newspaper should they need it. Im gonna try and upload one picture for you to see..hehehe

So? ok tak?

A Quikie!

2010-02-05T23:42:00.001+08:00

Ello eloo! I know its been too long since my last post. I have so much to share but for now, just a quick one. I am now at the Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort and Spa, emcee-ing the Monsoon Cup 2009!

I was never a sailing fan let alone know anything about the sport. When I was offered to emcee it, i was honored and pressured at the same time. First gig i had was to do a 4 episodes show about Monsoon Cup called Monsun Datang Lagi!. So from there I learned a little bit about the sport. NOW I am here commentating the sport in Malay. hehehe

Its very confusing now but getting the hang of it..sorta! Anyway, I said it was gonna be a quick one so just to update you, its now the semi-finals and these are the skippers who will be competing - Minoprio (#1 ranking WMRT) vs Gilmour (4X WMRT Champion) and the next is Ainslie (#6 in WMRT) vs Col (#8 in WMRT).

Slowly understanding the sport and liking it, believe it or not. Well that's all for now folks! I have to work now! Time to commentate the semi-finals! Wish me luck!

Love love!

What's Up With That?

2009-12-30T17:35:00.000+08:00

Aww man! Im really sorry and i want to apologize to you for not updating my blog as religiously as i should. Frogive me?? :(

THE NECK!

2009-11-08T23:54:00.000+08:00

Today has been a day of pain for me. My neck still hasn't healed! So i decided to go to the chiropractor and do acupuncture. You see the thing was, i had gone for a massage at REBORN Massage Center. You know how they have people from China to do the massage? So anyway, to cut a long story short, I told them to just do a massage for an hour. But after the lady massaged me for 1/2 hour (it was so sakit!), she started talking to me and obviously i couldn't understand her, so i just said "OK" to everything. The next thing i knew, I had suction cups on my shoulder! I wish i knew how to add pictures to my blog so you can see it :(

Anyway, the massage didn't help. So, today, when i was at the acupuncture place, the doctor said that one of my neck disc has been dislocated, due to the massage yesterday. It got worst! The Doctor massaged me for 1/2 hour first to identify my problem, and believe it or not, i cried!!!!! i normally can handle pain, but this time, i just couldn't take it. The doctor panicked! hahaha. My sister was there too! Kak Ina told him, if Azura cries, that means it's very painful.

When the massage was done, he started the acupuncture. I had 11 needles stuck in me. it was painful in the beginning and when he twist the needle. Then it got numb. He left it there for 30minutes. I had my face down and because i was crying, i had hingus coming out!hahahahaha sorry for being disgusting! Again i really wish i could show you the picture kak ina took.

As of now, its hard to tell if i feel better or not because my neck muscle is still sore, he re-aligned my spine and neck. U should have heard the cracking sound...it sounded like the bubble wrap..."Pap Pap Pap". He said my tendon is torn, so he asked me to take pain killers or muscle relaxen to ease the pain.

I have taken 2 muscle relaxen pills, and my neck is more relaxed now, that's why i can write my blog. :).

If my neck still hurts when i wake up, then i have to come in again tomorrow. I pray that my neck will get better before i leave for Boracay on Wednesday!

Please pray that i get better soon :) thanks!!

Got to rest my neck now..good night

Love love!

Pain in the ..... NECK!

2009-11-02T23:49:00.000+08:00

Today has been a fruitful day for me coz early in the morning I had a meeting with Melvin, my co-emcee for The Monsoon Cup which will be happening from the 2nd-6th of December. Yes I will be emcee-ing this Worldwide event and very nervous about it! :P Melvin basically touched base about how messy the event can get. hehehe. As we all know, I know jack s@#T about sailing, so Melvin was tutoring me about rules and regulations and about the race course. MAN! it was too much for me to handle, but Melvin was pretty good at explaining it to me.It took him 3 hours to finish,not all, but at least 10% of it!

But the anal part about my day was I have been having a stiff neck for the past 4 days! And it got really bad today, to the point where I cant even turn my head. I actually looked a lil retarded! :P So the whole day, I walked like a robot, couldn't turn, bend down and eat even coz it was bloody painful! So can you imagine what I had to go through when I was driving???!!

After the meeting was done, I had to go meet my best friend, Nureen, to discuss about her wedding preperations. Of course being the best friend, I was asked to emcee the wedding happening this Saturday (7/11). It was a quick one, so, it gave me time to call my massage lady for a good massage.

Her name is Huruleign, she is the best massage person I know! If anybody wants a good massage do let me know. In the beginning, she couldn't fit me in but God's willing, she smsd and said that there was an opening at 6:15pm. I couldn't imagine the look on my face when I got that message. She is so good to the point that she could tell you how you attained the pain at a higher level! I just had to explain to her what was wrong and straight away, she just said to me, "you are holding your anger towards someone right?" . And YES! that was exactly what it was about. How freaky is that??! So...remember, stress does you no good! It F@#&S you up and makes you look retarded! :P
She did her magic on me for 2 hours, and now I can move my neck better than this morning. Of course you cant get rid of it there and then, but the pain was reduced to 40%! but the massage was PAINFUL!!!

Now that I can move my neck a lil, she said that I'm not allowed to do sports or anything active for 2 days! Dang! What about my runs and tennis and capoeira??!! :( Oh well....

OH! and today is my nieces' birthday (Thira). She turns 11 and we celebrated at Swensens. It was nice..and straight after that, my siblings and cousin and I had a discussion about my company, Gumblow Cabxi, and about an event that we are going to be doing. That was pretty much it.

And now, Im going to try and lie my head on my pillow and hopefully by tomorrow, the pain in my..NECK will be gone!

Good night! :)

Love love!

Boracay!

2009-11-01T12:02:00.000+08:00

Hi!! Just wanted to tell you that i am super duper excited for my Boracay trip! I'm almost done with my flight bookings and now waiting for the resorts to get back to me on the confirmation email. YES RESORTS! hahahah..I'm trying to be adventurous by staying at 4 different types of resorts. I will be traveling alone so i thought it'll be quite an experience/adventure to do something different. If i were to come again, then I will know which is a nice place to stay at!

My trip will start with a diving trip with a few friends whom i will be meeting there. Then from the 14th onwards, i will be re-uniting with my ex Disney co-host Nikki!! I'm so excited! Miss her and it'll be quite a reunion I'm sure!

Will definitely keep u updated!

And now to check on my bookings! Laters!

Love Love!

Im A Newbie :)

2009-10-30T21:56:00.001+08:00

Hey U!! Its me Azura and i finally have my own blog! Im excited about this because this is one of many ways besides twitter and facebook, for me to share my travel stories (X-plorasi) and well, other things that im in to.

Please bare with im still getting used to all this bloggin :). Still need to learn how to add pictures co believe me,i have LOADS of pictures to share.

If you have any suggestions or ideas on how i can improve my blog or anything at all, do let me know ok?. Its very much appreciated.

Love love!