Monday, November 27, 2006

malacca roadtrip - wedding adel

Irin - Pada hari ini, kami, irin, enol, eni dan pie pergi roadtrip ke Melaka untuk mengahdiri perkahwinan rakan sekolah kami di TKC dulu iaitu Rose Adeline Aman. Originally enol was supposed to drive, bt the car taknak start and me n eni were watching high school musical n half ingat tak jadi pegi when miss pie said she’ll drive so of we go.

Pie – bidan terjun yg tetibe pergi je..tak tau kene ajak ke tak..hehe..tp takpe..food sedap…sgt kenyang..hmm..what else..suppose jumpe achort n toot tp tak jadi sbb depa jauh kat Bandar melaka n adel kahwin kat masjid tanah..:(,,tak jumpe achort my chatting mate..hehe…and lagi satu aku sorang je budak green….baru perasan sume budak blue…..tp takpe…best gak..gi jln umah kahwin jauh2 ni sklai skali…oklah…irin suruh tulis nie..…sume mat rempit boleh pegi mati..haha..tgh geram ngan mat rempit n we all tgh tgk berita mandartin psl mat rempit…n yup…I HATE MAT REMPITTTT….

Enol – now lepaking at rumah eni n irin. Bangun pagi memang bersemangat nak pergi, tapi masa tengah check kereta, tetibe… hampeh… tapi, nasib baiklah, “angel from ampang” a.k.a pie telah datang menyelamatkan keadaan! Horay!! So… apa lagi kami pun memulakan perjalanan ke MELAKAAA!! After 8 years, akhirnya dapat jugak jumpa dengan adel yang nampaknya sangat happy dan berseri di atas pelamin. CONGRATS ADEL! Semoga berbahagia hingga ke anak cucu!

Eni - Hmm…the trip was fun! Eventho ada la ujan sket2.. plus aku tak drive pun.. thanx to pie! Aku,erine dan enol sume tak reti drive manual.. warghh..bile le nak ade keta sndri. Hehe.. lesen pon baru nak amek. Haa..d wedding memang best. food dia sedap esp kerabu die.. and yg tak tahan tu adala pulak pacik2 pegi layan karaoke.. lagu Hindustan pon ade. Hahaha.. nway, congrats to adel! Cantek sgt dengan songket tampuk manggis dia…Bestnye dah kawen ☺

Irin - I love it. I like having company. So with my friends here, I sukela nk suruh dierang nyampuk. Lively sket. Skang tgh makan nasi goring dr satu mangkuk sbb kami malas basuh pinggan, haha. I hate Mondays. Spending weekends wit people yg best makes it bearable. Satu benda yg aku rase agak kelakar adalah throughout the journey kitorang dengar cd Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical n well there’s Melaka in it and we’re goin to Melaka. Okla takdela klaka mane bt I thot it was funny at the time.

Enol - Huahahahahaa (kelakarnyeee.. hehehe) Nih enol menyampuk semula… anyway, rumah-rumah melayu kat melaka memang cantik-cantik, laman luas dan berbunga-bunga. Hmm.. teringin nye nak rumah macam tuh. Oh ye.. saya juga suka berkumpul dengan kawan-kawan.. sayang diorang! Now kami tengah makan nasi goreng yang too masin with side dish nugget and keropok amplang. Lets enjoy this happy time enol!!! HUahahahahah!

Irin – am happy. Life is good. Alhamdulillah.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

A year from now, my goal is to graduate my masters at the top of my class with a thesis and product that will be beneficial to the art and design industry. I hope to be able to produce a Malaysian Art&Design resource. In the future it will grow into a full portal, database archive on the Malaysia Art and Design Scene. Somewhere after, it will be endorsed by wREGA or even have its own body that can give awards to local artistes and designers. Much like what AIGA has done in the US. It will be a vast collection on local artworks for the world to see. Ameen.

After graduation, I will embark on a couple of long term projects with my trusted friends.

1) Project t-shirt – to design, produce and unleash t-shirts that everyone considers a must item in their wardrobe like Levi’s jeans.

2) Project wedding – to provide one of a kind, personalized, customized, specially tailored wedding experience to brides and grooms and their respective families that makes them feel ultimate BEST SANGAT2.

3) Project buku – To design, produce and get it published. Books by Enol. Compilation of project Malaysia by Odisi Odah and Ironi Irina. Pictorial essays.

4) Project mykedaialattulis – To design and produce a collection of thematic personified line of stationeries and paper products.

5) Project HappyPoster – (cant tell you bout this, its copyrighted)

6) Project WannabeWanZaleha - To audition for the position of English newscaster on Media Prima.

7) Project Dance - To secretly enroll in Akademi Seni Kebangsaan Diploma Seni Tari.

8) Project KedaiMakan – To start on my kedai makan with Bapak.


That’ll keep me busy for a long time. Am not sure in what order will it be done or for how long a time. But I know its what I wanna do next. I know it’ll need a lot of effort and cash. I’m all heart. As Shafik Afendi always say, “GO SAJE…!!” It will be crazy. Many will oppose. Few will support. A lot of heartbreaks, tantrums and upsets will happen. Friends will fall out. Families will argue. Lovers will spat. Uncountable losses. But hey, it aint over till the fat lady sings. And I’m gonna sing it with all my heart. The journey will be a rough one but it’s definitely worthwhile. Going through it all will hopefully make me a better person and servant of God.

Through the journey I hope to help as many people I could to explore their potential and expand the horizons of their mind and heart. I’ve read and experience a lot to believe entirely that the only way to happiness is to help others without asking for any return. Total selflessness. It’s funny that most times it’s looked upon skeptically like I have some hidden agenda. My simple rule in life. Do unto others how you would want to be done to you and do not unto others how you would not like to be done to you. What goes around comes around. God is Maha Adil. I want to help as many people I could even in little ways. Like the mafia y’know, “ I do you a favour, you do me a favour” though not exactly in that context la. I try my bestla. Bt I’m only human maa, I always do stupid things one. I say I’m sorry, I’ll sure do it again. Be nice and hold no grudges. Life is better that way.

By the age of 35, I’ll have a couple of businesses. My own house. My own car and my own piggy bank. A loving family and diehard friends. Anda mampu memiliki semuanya (line sendayu tinggi, pinjam) I don’t know really how I’m gonna do all of this. I got a feeling I’m about to find out. (Dr Kamy, pinjam your phrase ah?).

Insya Allah. Ameen.

Monday, November 13, 2006

HAhaaaa…… had a good relaxing weekend. Went for my boss punye open hse. Eventhough hujan lebat macam hape, bt the kambing panggang made my day. Been craving for roast lamb for quite sumtime. Now am looking for good place to eat tempura. Any ideas anyone?

Its been a good week. Had my design picked for Kejohanan Bola Piala MB Selangor. I’m gonna have my first billboard!!! YAY!!!! Jakun gila siot!! And the logo is going to be permanent for the years to come. Bestnyee perasaan! Sorilaa guys, I get excited everytime my work gets published. Eventho. Sometimes the design may kena kutuk ngan golongan professional in the creative industry but it feels good nonetheless, when your work gets to be in the public eye. (Kecoh giler la minah designer sorang ni.)

Hey, bt dats a sign of some1 who loves what she does and has passion in her work tau. Biarpun a small insignificant job, I’ll do my best. I have been told many discouraging things in the past by people in the industry. Ade yang cakap I takde passion in my work. Ade yang cakap my design ketinggalan zaman, tak dynamic…. Bykla lg. When 1 party likes the design, the other party says its horrendous. Biasala tu. You cant please everybody. What’s important is to just keep on swimming and keep on producing good work and be open to learning frm anyone, everyone and everything. Sometimes, its hard to listen to others, I am degil myself, bt give it a while to sink in then I’ll see the light of the matter.

Cita cita dulu nk jd creative director in advertising. Had an interview once kt Leo Burnett bt for the post of malay copywriter. My BM is hampeh bt I went anyway for the oppoturnity. I showed my work to Ali Muhammad and ade yg die suke ade yg tak. Bt not enough to convince him to hire me as a designer. Sedih jugak bt then dh not meant to be. I’m not good enough – YET. Everytime I see a good piece of work I get jealous cos I wish I’d be able to think like that. I hoped it was my work. To work in advertising, you’d have no life. You eat sleep live in the office. N dat way of life wont make me happy or my parents happy.

The creative industry is one dat doesn’t end after office hours. It extends beyond that. There are bt a few yang ikut office hours bt even then, you’d have to bring work home. The more big jobs you take up, the more money you make, the more work you have to do, the more of life you have to sacrifice. Dependsla, nk buat duit byk ke tak. Thing is, money is not my motivation. I just want to experience producing a great piece of work. 1 that touch people’s lives in ways you cant really measure.

I want to have a body of work that will contribute some meaning to the design industry in Malaysia. Like increase awareness of the importance of design in business. In engineering. When people start understanding the role design can play in developing every industry, products will be better, sales will increase, economy will flourish (then perhaps they’ll pay designers better too). The design profession is a profession like any other profession. A designer is a professional. You need skills and knowledge to be a designer. Not just because you were an art student in high school it automatically means you are a designer. Anyone and everyone can design. It is a human activity much like eating and drinking. But to be a good designer, you need more than artistic merit. Creativity is a way of thinking. Design is more about what you can do with your head than what you do with your hands. I am a designer bukan sebab I pandai lukis, drawing is something I learn in Uni. Anyone can learn it. I am a designer because I like the creative process of coming up with ideas for every different thing.

There are times you have to design for Islamic events. Ade time for a sports event. Most times for a new company, a bakery say. A website selling cigars. An annual report for a nuclear research plant. It can be anything and everything. Design is a language. A visual language. So to speak to different people you use different way of speaking. Like a person la. To talk to a VIP, you dress proper, you speak professionally, you send in someone like Wan Zaleha. To talk to the masses, to the makcik makcik so they buy your sabun basuh pinggan, u speak a language they understand, some 1 they like – send in Chef Wan ke.

So for every different job that I get, I get to think of how best to reach their target audience. Be it VIPs, makciks, nerds or rockers. Hip hoppers or jocks, desperate housewives or young wannabes. Suitability and versatility is core. It may be a nice design but if the people you intend the design for think its crap, then crap it is. You nk ckp diorang tak blajar design ke hape ke. They’re the masses, who are you?

Kalau creative industry boleh jadi icon, I think it should be Madonna. You have to be a chameleon and constantly reinvent yourself all the time. You have to be ahead of time but still relevant to the current.

Somewhere in the near future I hope, Malaysia could be the design capital of this part of the world at least. Much like what Ikea is for Sweden, Sony for Japan, Mac for the US, Nokia for Finland or even Disney for the world. I’m sure the designers of Malaysia have their own brand of unique creativity they could bring to design that differs from other parts of the world. It’s not far now. I’ve met a lot of talented designers and I notice a lot of good designs lately. The bus express during balik raya look better, some good packaging for krepek, logos like JKJR… (here’s crossing my fingers for perhaps better signages….)

So far I think our fine artist are doing well internationally, our fashion designers are on par with those in other countries, industrial design have very bright talents, I don’t know much about the ceramic and fine metal development though. Our textiles are being recognized. Our films and ads win awards. Graphic design is really a wide mmm bahagian of design. And apparently the most misunderstood as well.

I’ve been asked many times. “What exactly does a graphic designer do? Lukis lukis?” As much as it irks me to be looked upon like some kind of kuman with no real job, I try my best to explain nicely. I try hard not to get carried away with my “Design can save the world” lecture. A lot of people are still clueless. Some still think it is ART therefore not important and can’t be called a career. Boo Hoo.

So hopefully, this reaches a wider audience. For more details and endless trivia or questions on design. Send me a comment or msg. I am not an acclaimed expert on design but I do love what I do and am still constantly learning to better myself. Roll me ur opinions, suggestions even criticism…. I may be in denial at first but hey, once you’ve heard it, you can’t really get it out of ur head can you?
Tell me if this isn’t bliss.

It’s raining heavily outside, got my tummy stuffed with roast lamb, listening to Norah Jones (my sis nani calls it lagu2 tido) and blogging while lying on my bed. Bestnyerrrr….!!! Relaxing on a Saturday without a care in the world. This is sooooo good. I really got to get one of these babies, iBook I mean.

Ni without internet ni, kalau ade fuh, layaannn… Boleh google images… yup, dat’s 1 of activity yg best untuk relief kerja. Search google images for pics yang cecantik2 and kumpul, then buat collage… suke gile!! I’ve been doing it for so long. Dulu mase skolah2 used to do it on my desk with cutouts from mags and papers. Combine the pics with caption yang best2. I was born to be a graphic designer hahaaaa….. Its like a motivational poster laaa, plus its personal, I can relate to the images and captions. Memang memberi prasaan yg best.

Maybe sumtime soon I’ll upload some of my collages. Norah Jones is 1 singer I love to listen to time2 hujan. Berangan gile. Other rainy day songs, are like sarah mclachlan and joni Mitchell. To me its has a soothing slightly melancholic touch which feels like when you’re selubung in your comforter mase kt luar sejuk gile and you’re all warm and fuzzy and ade bau raindrops and coffee. If I could visualize it, die mcm iklan Nescafe yg ade Nasha Aziz blk rumah lps hujan, ade baju2 putih flowing kena tiup angin kt ampaian, ade kucing masuk pintu, bunyi kettle masak air, Nasha lap rambut tgh pakai bathrobe, die buat secawan Nescafe, asap air panas kuar dr mug, duduk atas couch yg comfy and enjoying coffee. Rumah die mcm rumah kedai lame2 dulu yg tingkap die cam pintu. That’s one of my favourite iklan forever. It gave me a really feel good feeling. That was an ideal scene of what I enjoy.

“if I were a painter, I would paint my reverie……..” –norah jones

I love music that gives me a certain feeling, a mood and tells a story. I hope in the future I’d be able to wire my whole house so I could listen to music in the bath, the kitchen, the bedroom, everywhere….! Kalau lg gempak, the songs are classified by mood and ade sensor yg boleh sense the mood I’m in and play the music accordingly. Like Alanis time tgh marah, rushing, busy. Pussycat dolls, sean paul for sexy dance sessions. N sync or bsb for time buat keje mengemas. Eric Clapton for sad bt happy times, craig david and sugababes time yg rase cool, josh groban to lift my spirits. Old skool rock time time aggressive and frust. Ella for tringat zaman kanak2. Sheila majid for lounging times. TLC for groove…. Byk lglaa…

There are certain songs for certain situations. Sometimes the song plays in my head. Like a sountrack to your life. Someone get me an iPod la 4 my birthday. I think I shud be a spokesperson la for Mac. Haha.

“when ur song is done, will the love be gone?” – sugababes

enol menyampuk:

Certain songs sangat kuat kesannya dalam my life, they mark special chapters or episodes of my life. Macam penanda-penanda buku yang kalau ditarik keluar dari buku, automatically akan membawa saya ke suatu masa atau peristiwa, mengalami, menikmati semula emosi atau perasaan saya ketika itu.

Contohnya;

“Save Tonight” Lenny Kravits ( tak sure spelling die camne )
malam akhir sekolah, last day SPM, semua orang tengah giler-giler tahap max, lepak and menyanyi atas bumbung, jalan-jalan atas gajah menyusu dan sebagainya… aku tengah tengok irin packing kat room die, and tetibe lagu ni keluar kat radio. So, sampai sekarang kalau dengar lagu nih mesti teringat saat tuh.. lagu nih menggambarkan exactly macam mana aku tgh rasa pada masa tuh… dan kebetulan keluar pula pada masa yang sangat tepat;

save tonight
and fight the break of dawn
come tomorrow, tomorrow I’d be gone.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Have just finished hand washing 16 pieces of bra. Am on the verge of doing some design for work, I decide to pre-blog instead. Pre-blog means I type it in Microsoft Word first before I publish it. This is because I hve no internet connection outside of work. I happen to have my office iBook wit me so I’m thinking… go blog girl!

Sometimes I never publish my pre-blogs, some I’ve done on paper. Maybe later, I’ll have this compilation of unpublished entries. Y’know, like the ones rockstars have after they die that fetch millions on eBay.

My blog is called ironi irina. It’s because the reality in life for me is always far from what I dream about. Things that happen to me are to me ironic because it doesn’t go as I thought it should. In a way, I bet that’s how everybody feels. That’s why I talk and write a lot about the things how I wish them to be instead of how they are. My dreams are the one place where anything I want is possible and I decided to share it with anyone who reads this. It’s a therapy for me against the stresses in life. I think, I dream, I write. Its where anything I think should be, could be. It’s like halfway giving form to what you dream about.

Bt yesterday, at dawood sec 6 shah alam, while I was whining about the troubles in the world, enol asked me to put myself as another person in the chair in front of me and try looking at myself frm a different person’s point of view. So right now, I’d like to write about how things really are in my life, hopefully not offending anyone in the process.

I’m 25 years old. I was born in Sibu, Sarawak on the 5th of July 1981. My full name is Irina Hariati bt Abdul Muis. My mom is Maimunah, she’s frm Sarawak and is a teacher by vocation. My dad is a retired banker who hails frm Johor. I have 5 siblings, 3 of whom are married with children that amounts to 4 nephews and 4 nieces for me. I live in bkt beruntung rawang bt hve lived in various parts of KL n Selangor. I’ve went to school in SRK Subang Jaya, was a TKCian and now still a part of UiTM Shah Alam doing my masters full time in visual communication and new media while working part time as a designer for TriKystana Sdn. Bhd.

I’m short and overweight. I wear glasses. I constantly have a fight with my tudung. I have dimples in both cheeks and have been told I have a nice smile. I have acne marks everywhere bt if I wear makeup people wont notice bt usually am too lazy to wear any except for special occasions. I have straight hair that had been curled once and now am sporting a fringe in an effort to look youthful. Orang cakap I look exactly like my mom except I’m 25 kilos heavier than she was at my age.

In a sms thing, I’ve been told I’m beautiful, bijak, blackout, bubbly, bigsmile, baik hati (well, they’re my frens of course they’ll say nice things, except the blackout thing was frm my adik, Nani. I’m whiny, crybaby, bad driver, always hungry, always sleepy, control freak, scared of many things, byk cakap, kuat berangan, terlebih sensitive and emotional (I have no idea how people put up with me). One of my trait that I have come to learn and accept I posess is kedegilan dan keras kepala. ( see, I got 2 pusar on my head, plus kena hantuk ngan helmet berkali2, helmet yang pecah).


I have issues with being beautiful and beautiful people. I like looking at beautiful people, and they are mostly nice. I am jealous of them though, like they have it easier y’know. Humans, being humans, like beautiful things. And being beautiful gets you heard, seen and liked (that is power). And I can understand how a pleasing face can make you feel better. I constantly struggle with the things I have to do to look pleasing to the eye of others. It takes a lot of effort and sins to look good and I’m glad I have friends that just love me the way I am that don’t judge me by how fat I am compared to the last time they saw me.

I’m nerdy. I like studying, I like school, I like books, classes, assignments, research, discussions, and opinions. I can’t talk about clothes or shoes unless we’re talking about Giant, reject shop, FOS, Jusco, Uptown or the carboot at stadium shah alam. I have money bt I prefer to spend them on books or household items like comforters or nice stationery (or save it to kahwin, yippee!). I don’t expect to pay much for things I don’t think should worth that much, even though I like it a lot (ni hasil didikan Encik Abdul Muis ni…).

My family and I. This is a touchy subject, I have written about them before and it didn’t come out good. I wrote it when I was 9 and my mom and sis still remember what I wrote. What I can say is, despite the idiosyncrasies, the drama, the whole googaly moogaly, they are MY only family. Good or bad, they are my sanctuary. This funny thing called family.

I have few close friends whom I constantly share my life with. I will not mention names, you know who you are. They are the ones I don’t feel shy to go to when I’m troubled and would look at me the same way even after 5 years. They share my joy as well as my tears; my ugly side and my good side and still love me after and also trusts me to share theirs. My boyfriend is someone who was my friend since childhood and I fell in love with him when I was 11 and am hoping to marry in 2 years time, Ameen… He is a beautiful person who despite my lacking in a lot of things, appears to be as much in love with me as I am with him. There are a lot of imperfections in our relationship bt I have the confidence we’ll be able to work things out. We have the ability to communicate openly in a lot of things (including crying and bawling) and the readiness to listen (still learning and trying) and adapt accordingly to each other (u win some, u lose some). Yeah, sounds all bunga2 but we pray for the best la.

Working as a graphic designer, it is something that I love doing – design, bt when its work, u hve difficult clients, impossible datelines, not enough resources, overworking, low pay, colleagues yg mcm2 perangai, bos yang lain lain kehendak dan kepentingan…. Bykla yang kurang indah yg selalunya makes your work kurang satisfying. Bt that’s how working life is. Bt everytime working on a project, I get excited on the possibilities of the outcome that I always try to produce yang best gilerr. I love designing. Given the opportunity, I would design anything and everything walau berus gigi skalipun. Kalau ada time and money, the possibilities are endless in design and I like the challenge of putting something, an idea, to life. Giving it form. Bt tak semua la camtu, ada time yg terpakse buat selamberr jugak. Jadi maknanya, adela design saye yang buruk, org tgk gelak je, “camni kate love designing konon….” So skarang the company I’m working for kecik aje, job die takdela gempak mane pun, bt it keeps my brain and hands running and adela duit sket (RM550 per mth to be exact) to pay for my studies so tak nyusahkan makbapak. And I get to go to my classes and have this iBook kekadang so bolela curi2 memblog. Haha…. Banner pun bannerlaaa, janji design cunn… Plus its close to home so bole naik public transport memandangkan aku ni driver yang merbahaya kepada nyawa orang lain dan tak ckp duit nk bayar minyak.

My life at the mo, despite my complaints, can be considered ok. I prefer studying than working. Yup, I’m not tough enough for the industry I guess, plus my parents asked me to do this. I did it and I enjoyed it. Many would look down on my decision to do my masters now instead of working for more years. Well, my dad said he’d pay for the fees and I have no commitments, so why not? Go sajela. Best rupanya. I enjoy lepaking with my frens and boyfriend. Weekends I can go home and play wit my anak2 buah. Ada time to tgk tv and mandi. My constant problem wud be my fight with myself. Trying and forcing myself to smayang rajin lagi and not do forbidden things. A lot of stupid things happen yang make me go “WHY ME?????” Bumps and bruises and tumpah and terantuk sana sini, Struggling to jd good girl so I can go to heaven. Hoping to make my parents happy and peaceful. Fighting with Carmen, she’s my alter ego. She’s crazy, too crazy. Bt I guess she’s the part of me that gives me courage and passion to do things. If it were entirely up to me, I’d be scared to do anything! Praying that God wont make life so difficult for me coz I’m not that strong, I might do something stupid to cope with it. Praying that I pray harder. Read the Quran better. Treat people nicer. And to appreciate what I have. Please God love me and forgive all the stupid things I’ve done. Protect my family n frens frm harm and provide them with happiness and ease.

Everyday I try to…..
Give more, ask for less. Do more, complain less. Learn more, talk less. Smile more, cry less. Walk more, eat less. Pray more, sleep less. Love more, hate less.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

hi people, today I'd like to introduce you to this hot babe I've been dying to ummm...... BE.
Ladies and gents, I present to you, Brandy Carter.