Saturday, April 5, 2008

Blogger's Lunch Meet

Time: 1.00 PM SATURDAY 5th APRIL 2008
Place:Kayu Nasi Kandar, Tesco, The Curve. (Event was moved to Asam Pedas)

There will be a lunch meet at the above place. All bloggers are welcomed. If you have to bring your own family along please do so. Please be informed that the place is very quite small and you may have to take turns to eat. Mat Salo will try to get some tables reserved. Those who can be early should go early to hold the tables and let other newer arrival to take over. That way if the attendance from bloggers are big, it wont inconvenience their regular customers.
After all the idea is to meet fellow bloggers right?
Anyway its a sort of welcoming home for Jaquiline Teqjeu (j t)who will be arriving from USA. She is on a long flight from there and will join the group as soon as she could keep her eyes open and freshen up.
The followings have confirmed their attendance:

Mat Salo, Kerp, Tokasid, Akmal, Shah, anuradha, acciacatura, elviza.

Probable attendance Pi Bani, anon miri, kak ena, Pak Idrus and JT (should the flight reach KLIA on time). I will inform YB Wee Choo Keong to attend.
Should we inform YB Dr. Khir Toyo? He is a blogger now and he has the time to attend since he is no more the busy MB and not much protocol is required.
How I wish I am in KL now so that I can join in.Huhuhuhu so sad.
Please try to confirm with Mat Salo on 0122203756 in case there too many attendees and a new site need to be found real fast.

The lunch gathering was considered as a huge success because the initial idea was just a small gathering of a few people. It was all the more meaningful as Nora (anon of miri) and Jaqueline Teqjeu (jt) of USA was in KL. They wanted to welcome them.

The following people attended the gathering:

YB Elizabeth Wong
Pak Idrus
Pokku
Capt Yusof
Jafflam
Marina Mahathir
Galadriel
Stephen Shanghai
kl confidential
a voice
Raden Galoh
Acciacatura
Mat Salo (organizer)
kerp
cakapaje
Elviza
mute audio
Jaquline Teqjeu
Anon of Miri
ricky
Tokasid (co organizer)
Pak Adib
Edelweiss
Aiman (the youngest blogger)
Minnie Ab. Aziz (A blogger with no blog entry yet)

The following bloggers wanted to attend but wasn't able to due to some reasons or other as in bracket.

YB Wee Choo Keong (Prior engagement)
Pi Bani (Prior engagement)
Fauziah Ismail (Prior engagement)
Akmal (Kelek Kelantan)
Pendita (Too faraway)
pb (Pak Zawi wan't in Amanputra Puchong to give her a lift)
Pak Zawi (Helicopter kehabisan minyak)
Zewt (He didn't know of the event)
Zabs (Sukan sekolah anaknya)

To those who were directly involved in the organization of the mini gathering, we wish you syabas (nothing to do with water supply). Lets have more of such gatherings from time to time.
Tell me if I miss anybody. Will rectify later.
Mat Salo will be blogging about the event later.

Shah of Cakapaje has an entry in blogsite here
Shah put in another blog on the gathering with more pictures here.
D Jaff of Jaff Point has posted some pictures. From his posting I found out that they shifted to Asam Pedas due to space constraint at Kayu and better ambience which is more conducive to such an event. See the post here.
Pokku has a take on the event too. Read it here.
More pictures at anon of miri here.
Elviza's take here
Pak Idrus has posted a blog on the meet here

51 comments:

Pi Bani said...

Ahh, you're not the only one who won't be able to join. I can't make it either. As I mentioned to Mat Salo, I kena contract masak ayam this weekend as we're having a kenduri tahlil for my late Opah.

Tak apa lah, some other time...

Pak Zawi said...

Pi,
Sama nasib la kita. Me more because of the distance and the grandkids being home.
Al Fatehah untuk ur Opah.

Anonymous said...

Pak Zawi,
I love to attend.

Unknown said...

Pak Zawi,
Sama la kita, tak boleh pergi. Perhaps next time ;) Lain kali ajak semua bloggers datang cuti cuti kelantan.
Have a nice weekend.

Nightwing said...

Helo Pak Zawi,

Me too..also cannot make it...for me it is accross the sea....:(

Any way...hope Akmal and others will take pictures.

Welcome back JT and have fun for those are are attending it, please have extra fun on behalf of those who can;t make it.

Cheers.

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Adib,
I have informed Mat Salo that you will be attending. He asked me to blog about it cos he is to busy making arrangement being the de facto organizer. Bring Pak Idrus along will ya?

Pak Zawi said...

Akmal,
We both are in the same boat. Apa nak buat. InsyaAllah kita cuba di Kelantan satu hari nanti.

Pak Zawi said...

nightwing,
Mat Salo will be the official photographer and he will definitely be taking pictures. Zabs will be there too.
If I say I am far from KL, you are even further. So we will be missing such events all the time la.

Monster Mom said...

Anybody want to organize one for northern region???

pB said...

Salam Pok Awi


ingat kor Pok Awi ado ...

buleh joing kalu Pok Awi ado ...

tapi sayae Pok Awi tak dok ...

lengkali kalu maghi jalae Puchong , royak lar ...

Pak Zawi said...

monster mom,
Just start a small lunch meet then post it on your blog. You will be surprised that there will be many people who would be joining up. It doesn't really need much organization really unless activities will be included. What we will do is just to meet face to face those people whom we have known by their blog name. No money need be collected as everyone will be paying their own meal. Its just a gathering place and we say hi and later strike up friendship with those you feel most comfortable with.

Pak Zawi said...

pb,
Pok Awi dok kampong ni. Anak yang kat Puchong tu balik bersalin di rumah. Jadi payoh la nak gi Puchong. Lepas dia balik Puchong nanti la baru gi. Tu pun kena tungu lepas Emak Balkis balik baru sedap jalan.
Buat blog ni bab tulong Mat Salo bab dia tak dan nak announce kat blog dia.
Kalu Pok Awi gi Puchong nanti Pok Awi royat la ko pb.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Zawi
I'm in KL and I can't make it! I've got something planned as it is already!
When you're in KL, let me know yes?

Pak Zawi said...

Fauziah,
Well u can't have everything sometimes. Since the meet will stretch till 3.00 can't you catch the tail end of it?
Will inform you the next time I am in KL. No problem.

Mat Salo said...

I've already informed most if not all the Usual Suspects..Pokku, Pak Adib via Pak Idrus. Too bad abt YB Wee though. YB Eli Wong's PA called to say she can attend only between 1.00 - 1.30 pm. Maklum lah dah YB, sibuk :)

But what if Toyo comes? mampuih!

Pak Zawi said...

Mat Salo,
What if YB Dr Khir comes?
Let him be seated to Tokasid, they have alot to talk about to each other. Who knows Tokasid may even talk him into buying everyone lunch for the day. You should be grateful to him for that.

Lee said...

Hi Zawi, how wonderful to meet people we only know by their callsigns.
Hope I one day can shake your hand, have iced coffee and fish head curry, ikan percik and kita tembak angin.
Stay eay Zawi and have a nice weekend, Lee.

Pak Zawi said...

U Lee,
Meeting up is a different level of friendship altogether. After meeting up perceptions may change because we are meeting the real person. More often we get closer to each other though sometimes they may not be so at all. So far I enjoy meeting up fellow bloggers. We distinctly remember those we have met. The numbers must not be too large to enable effective interaction.
U Lee, how I wish we could meet one day. I would like to shake your hands too.

pendita said...

pok awi, nalu kawe nok gi join blog lunch tu, blog kawe pun tadok gapo2 pun..huhu.. ingat nok kelik kelate, tapi tok tau lagi...

Pak Zawi said...

pendita,
Gi la join lunch meet tu. Masa ni la nak saing ngan diaorang. Semua baik dan tak sombong belaka walaupun mereka Datok atau Tan Sri. Jange raso rendah diri.
Kalau tak kita but meet di Kelate make mee rebus jah la.

Pak Idrus said...

Zawi, thanks for the liveblogcast from KB for an even that happened in Key El. See!! how our world works in cyberspace.

I was there and enjoyed every minutes of that great meeting of like minded bloggers. And met all those bloggers that I had only known in blogsphere. Now I had put a face to those blogger friends. It was indeed a great day for blogger especially so after the changes in the political scenario of the country. Great for blogger, great for the country.

Thanks for the blogcasting for KB. Have a nice day and take care.

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Idrus,
The fact that I wasn't even attending made it all the more ironic. I knew about it when Tokasid sent me a sms about the event and also asking for Akmal's telephone number.
When I told Mat Salo to post a blog on his site, he asked me to do it instead so that was how it came about. Unfortunately Dr. Khir was'y able to attend otherwise he would have gained some new friends there.
My daughter Azura told me about the place being small and I was worried too that if a big turnout happened, there wont be a place to sit.
I am glad the meet was such a success you were there to participate. Would like to see your take on the event.

zewt said...

aiks! i missed it!

didnt know JT is back...

hope to hear good news about Azura.

Pak Zawi said...

zewt,
You were so near and yet so far from the event. I should have posted a comment on your site for that. Anyway if you can do Klang you can still meet up with jt there provided she can spare the time. She will do a pilgrimage to KB before going back to The States. Otherwise you can send her off when she goes back.
No news yet so I guess it can be good news. Keeping my hope for the bet for Azura.

Anonymous said...

Dont worry Pak, I am flying home and I ll call youuuuuuu!

Pak Zawi said...

Elviza,
Please do and I will fetch you at your mom's home.

ZABS said...

Salam Zawi,
Thank you for the update. Will check with all the other blogs you mentioned for further info. TQ.

Pak Zawi said...

zabs,
You are most welcome. This is all that I can do to help the cause.

ummisara said...

Salam,

I attended the gathering {though 4 a short while]...it was happening .....

tokasid said...

salam Pak Zawi:

Alhamdulillah the meet went well. Everone was having a good time.That was the first time I met them(except Shah Cakapaje and Kerp), even Matsalo!

I went via the Kota Damansara toll and called Shah to guide me. He was at home and said I should follow him. So he took me through some concrete jungle and finally arrived at the Curve. After finding the lot to park ,Shah,me and MrsTA proceeded and only then we received Matsalos sms about the change of venue. 100 pace from kayu he said. But not to which direction!
As we were trying to figure out which way was Kayu we saw matsalo and Capt Yusof sitting outside Asam Pedas. Shaking hands woth matsalo and Capt Yusof(not so Ancient capt ni...)my bulu roma meremang.I know I can be their friends at that instant. After a while Nora Anon Miri and Mrs Anon came. D Jafflam arrived then Raden Galoh n family and Kerp(alone).Soon Elviza ,Pak Iddrus,Pokku, muteaudio,Anu Galadriel,YB Eli Wong,A voive and Edelweiss. Then came Shanghai Stephen,DP Marina,JT came.A suprise was Aiman the youngest blogger at 13 years old.) Matsalo received a call from Yati KL Confidential whom soon appeared with VJ. Mior sms-ed me that he had a meeting at 2.30pm so he can't make it.Ricky of Wattahack came alone.
Finally Elena Accia along with hubby(Azlan) dan her buah hati(MuAzim,Azizah and Aisyah) came. Accia baru balik dr bawa anak2 tadika to Zoo Negara.

Foods were ordered but it was slow to come( well many ordered Asam Pedas of various varieties) but we didn't care about food much that day. It was talking and laughing.And whisperings(the ladies).

Pak Idrus did ask me and muteaudio: You guys know why we blog? Coz we are talkative and once we go home we don't talk much( ye le sapa nak debgar kan?)so we write!

It was a diverse group,politically.But we blended well. There were political talks but it doesn't hurt anyone's feelings at all.

By 4.00pm most started to say goodbye. There were handshakings with strong gripd.There were huggings and kisses among the ladies and group fotos(the ladies). But a few stayed on. Me,matsalo,Shah,Kerp,Muteaudio,Yati KLConfidential and VJ did. We continued talking and another round of teh tarik. Finally by 5.30pm we said our goodbyes. Muteaudio took Kerp home(well Kerp had a Arsenal-Liverpool game to catch). Me,Shah and matsalo promised to have supper at Halim Ayamgolek at Section 6 Kota Damansara( and we did meet and Halim joined us till 2.00am).

it was wonderful.
Maybe when you and Akmal is in KL or when Che'gu is in KL we'll have another one.

Pak Zawi said...

edelweiss,
Lucky you. Where did you seat yourself? Were you the one sitting next to Marina Mahathir?

Pak Zawi said...

Doc TA,
Thanks for the detailed narrations. I can now visualize how things happened and the din made by friends seeing each other for the first time but feeling that they have known each other for years. Thats the beauty of it.
It will be great if there will be another meet sometimes from now. Not so soon of course because when you have too many, the fun may not be as much.
I think what happened was more than you, mat salo, kerpie and shah had bargained for, especially when you have anon from miri and JT all the way from USA. I cant wait to read JT's take on the event. I hope she will blog about it.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you Doc. I felt like I was there.

Rita Ho said...

What a joyful event! Everyone is visibly at ease with each other and having loads of fun even though some were meeting for the first time - a truly Malaysian spirit.

Very nice of you to cover the event from afar, Pak Zawi, encouraging others to share along the way. It speaks volume for the value you place on friendship.

I look forward to read more of such gatherings and also hope to meet some of you lovely folks on my next trip home.

J.T. said...

Hello Zawi

Thank you for the mention here. It was a wonderful meet. I am so glad I managed to return as scheduled. It was still a 50/50 deal up to the last two days. So, to Zewt who did not know I was coming home, my apologies. I could not and did not want to blog or say anything because I was not sure myself.

Thanks to Mat Salo for organising this supposedly small affair. It grew! But I am glad because I got to meet the bloggers present - some new to me, some whom I have never seen in photos and especially the ones I have been promising to meet if I ever did make it back to Malaysia. Rita is right. I, for one, was at ease with everyone.

It has been hectic for me since I arrived. I am still reeling from jetlag. I blame age. :P

Since I have some personal work cut out for me during this trip, I may not be able to make it to KB. I wish I could stay longer so I could make my rounds.

I hope I will be able to blog during my stay in Malaysia. If not, all stories will have to be saved for later.

P.S. Thanks to Nightwing for a welcome back note in his comment. :)

Pak Zawi said...

Rita,
What I did goes to show how much I value such meets. Imagining myself to be there all the time and urging those who attended the meet provided me with a peek through their window. How great to feel the euphoria of it all. You wont know until you have been in one.
When you come back please let me know cos a reception party will be sent to welcome you perhaps at the airport even if I cant be there. It will even be nicer if you can arrive on a Monday because the Mee Rebus Tuesday will ensue the next day and you will get to attend it. That is Malaysian hospitality for you.

Pak Zawi said...

jt,
It was an auspicious occassion indeed wit you and anon of miri being the guests. I am so glad mat salo and gang managed to pull this off. He was so excited about it and was dismayed by the turn of event fearing that the place maynot be able to cope with the growing number of interested bloggers. Al the more so when I posted a comment on YB Dr. Khir Toyo's website. Lucky thing Dr. Khir hiself didn't turn up otherwise he would have brought along an army of friends with him.
Since you have important personal matters to attend to, please go ahead and finish them. God willing there will be another occassion for you to come back to Kota Bharu.
You are right about MAS flying the Boeing 777 to USA. My son did the New York sector recently.
Hope you will have a safe Journey home.

Syaliza Abdul Rahman said...

alamak ... missed it! i haven't logged in for a few days and missed the announcement.

hmm... takde rezeki. i hope to attend the next one :o)

Pak Zawi said...

Syana,
You missed an important one. Just like me I regret like a toad.Can't describe the feeling. Just imagine it as the worst kind.
Take not of Mat Salo's number and call him to let him register your number so that incase there is another happening in town he will just mass send the announcement to all prospective bloggers who would love to see the faces of other fellow bloggers hahahaha.
Though I know of the event 2 days in advance, my distance from the center of the happenings wont allow me to attend.
Good luck to you the next time they hold any such events.

Pak Idrus said...

Zawi, thanks and here is my take. Have a nice day.

Pak Zawi said...

pak idrus,
Thank you for the info. I have visited your site and enjoyed it. Great job

Ah Yun Wong said...

Helicopter kehabisan minyak ?
Good excuse :)

I didn't attend the meeting coz I am too busy doing NOTHING !

j.t.said "It has been hectic for me since I arrived. I am still reeling from jet lag. I blame age."

Mm..mm wonder how young is she ?

Pak Zawi said...

linken lim,
When you can't attend an event, any excuse is good excuse. So why not use one that can elicit a smile from the reader?
I see you had a good excuse too hehehehe.
As to jt's jet lag, you will have to believe her as the more than 20 hrs of flight is no joke. There is no direct flight from Alabama to KL. She had to do several sectors before hopping on the last leg to KL. Furthermore she is from a different time zone since when its AM here it is PM there. You have to experience it to really know how bad jet lag is.
As to her age, if its not in her profile, you better not know about it. Had my fair share of sulking ladies where age is concerned. Anyway we are as young as we think we are cos age is just a chronological number. On the other hand some young men have the physiological age of an old man due to unhealthy lifestyle.

Anonymous said...

Mintak lalu Pak, nak cakap dgn TA.

Aikkkssssss??? Siap ader extended version lagi sampai pukul2 pagi? Tsk tsk tsk tsk...

Memanglah blogger2 nih! They love the sound of their own voices. hahahaahahaha.

Salam Pak

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

Pak Z,

we've only met once but to me, you've been a great friend seems like i've known you forever. it was regrettable you had to miss it but i can assure you there will be another round, if not soon. this has turned more than just common interest in blogging, its about brotherhood, about friendship no matter how far apart some of us are.

J.T. said...

Hi Zawi

I noticed Linken's question about my age. I don't hide it... I am 41. That should give him an idea why I am suffering from jetlag. :) 10 years ago, I got over a 30 hour-journey within two days. sigh...
Anyway, I agree age is just a number. I feel young most of the time but my body has a knack of reminding me the truth. :D

A minor correction, I flew out from Louisiana. (Then flight from Dallas to Korea and finally to KL.) Total flight time about 28 hours ... and that is the shortest one I could find.

By the way, a note to Syana ....
Pity you missed it but there will always be another time and another chance. Bloggers don't die, they just go to the next mamak shop to regroup. :)

Pak Zawi said...

Elviza,
It all goes to show how excited everybody were about the event expecially the core few who initiated the events. It was reminincent of the gathering we had for signing of GUIT by Awang Goneng and Kak Teh at Coffee Club Kunikuniya.
All the more so when the original plan was just for a few and turn out to be several times over. Rather unfortunate that Rocky, Unker Zorro, Kak Ton and Nuraina weren't there. The big bonus is of course YB Eli and Datuk MM. I would trade my fingernails to be there.

Pak Zawi said...

kerp,
Spot on. I couldn't say it better than that.

Pak Zawi said...

jt,
Thanks for volunteering the info and the correction that it was from Lousiana and not Alabama as U had stated earlier. Now you got it direct from the horse's mouth will have an idea of the flight from Lousiana-Dallas-Korea-KUL is over a period of 28 hours and imagine the trouble of transits. Even a young man of 58 like me wouldn't be able to take it. I dread a 6 hours what more 28 hrs.
As to your reference to Syana, she is a great cook and a small meet at her place over fried kueytiaw will ensure that she will not miss the event.

Wakmasnoor said...

Dear Zawi,

Great to see you having this gathering and union of bloggers. Emm, wishing i could be among one then.

Any chances of me joining the fun, next time around?

Hey, take care friend. And catch up later, okay. See you.

Pak Zawi said...

wakmasnoor,
Welcome to my humble site.
Such gatherings are for all bloggers to meet. Anyone at all are welcome. All you need to do is to be at the place where the meet is held and just introduce yourself.
Though invites were sent, it is only to the core few and the rest who get to know can always inform them that one intend to attend so that matters of place suitability can be addressed.
A meet is organized due to the reason that we havent met each other before. Meeting up will improve the camaraderie among us and so all are welcome even to those who just read blogs but often post comments. More often than not we pay for our own lunch other than the Mee Rebus Tuesdays at Kak Ton's place where the gracious host provide the food for free.
Another meet will be organized during the next school holidays to fete Che'gu Nazir of Kata Tak Nak blog fame. So be on the lookout for the announcement, I am looking forward to it too cos I would like very much to meet bloggers like Che'gu, Tokasid and Shah of Talkonly (cakapaje) and many others whom we have never met before.

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