Kekasihku Seru Marathon

Had a lazy weekend. Was in the bedroom right after my Asar prayers and contemplating between vacuuming the rug or straightening up the kid's mini library when I heard something interesting coming out of the hall TV. Turns out, the father and son duo, while channel surfing the Hubstation found a free sneak first episode of a Malay horror drama, Kekasihku Seru. The title oddly, did not even sound like a horror flick.

It was so interesting that when that first episode ended, we really needed to know what's happening next. Starhub's clever marketing ploy worked. We subscribed and paid $13 for 13 commercial-free episodes. It was this morning while I was googling the net and found out that the drama was actually aired on TV3.

But since we couldn't get TV3 signals and it's commercial-free, we were saved the suspense and got to watch everything back to back uninterrupted. Weigh the pros and cons and we'll argue about this later.

So that Saturday saw us watching the first 6 episodes and started on the last 6 early the next morning. Hey, we were curious. Although they gave us 45 days to view it, we just had to know what came next.

Amidst the horror, suspense and shocking moments, it was actually quite interesting and definitely more believable than the stupid Istri Untuk Suamiku.

The story revolves around Marissa (Emelda Rosmila) who was awakened at 3.30 am to her mum's sudden death. While mourning her loss at her grave, another main character, Rashad (Fizz Fairuz) was also mourning at another grave nearby over the loss of his wife and daughter in a road accident. Both deaths were caused by this 'thing' which is what this story is all about.

Upon finding out that she is an adopted child, she leaves her studies hanging, ignores her best friend's pleas and sets out to find her real mother. She eventually made her way to Highland Estate where she found Doctor Hakim, a local doctor, freshly fired from his job of looking after his catatonic patient, Mas Ayu (Kuza). Marissa was mistaken by the head of the house, Mas Suri (Umie Aida) to be the new nurse "Mariam" and was given the job right away. Marissa accepted after catching a glimpse of Mas Ayu through one of the windows and was sure that the patient was her mother.

The real nurse, Mariam, however, got stalled in the middle of nowhere in her car (she just got her license - poor girl) no signal in her handphone and got brutally killed by the "thing".

It was easy to hate Mas Suri from the start. She was headstrong, fierce and boy can she scream. There was an air of mystique about the house and everyone spoke in circles. We felt sorry for Marissa who just could not get her answers. Everyone refuses to tell her anything. Her first night was frightening enough. The 'thing' disturbed her, tore her telekong into shreds and made her cry out her frustrations while she grappled for the Quran to seek strength.

Doc Hakim sought Marissa out and told her that the medications for Mas Ayu were wrongly labelled and that's the reason why Mas Ayu just sat there doing nothing the whole day. Marissa hated Mas Suri and confronted her but never revealed her suspicions about the whole family. Secretly, she threw the medications and Mas Ayu eventually began to respond to her.

Meanwhile, Rashad, still grieving about his dead wife and daughter was haunted by them and began to 'see' dead people. He seeks out his grandfather whom he has not visited for a long time. His grandfather once told him about his gift when he was a young boy but his own father did not want him to dabble in "nonsense" and took him and his brother to live far, far away from his grandfather.

Rashad's journey took him to the local village's police station near Highland Estate after receiving the news of his brother's murder. Turned out that our Doc Hakim was actually his brother. Ghostly images of Doc Hakim appear and reveal to him his diary and all the going ons in Highland Estate.

Marissa, now at her wit's end, with too many unanswered questions became bolder in her intentions, lashing out at the similarly stubborn housekeeper, Mak Wan. Mas Suri meanwhile, has this ability to cure herself from serious injury by drinking what looked like vile, thick liquid and smoking eggs. We were taught to believe that there's some sort of black magic going on and Mas Ayu became catatonic because she "langgar pantang". There were also words that none of the ladies in the house were supposed to get married and Mas Ayu apparently flaunted that golden rule.

Rashad's investigation over his brother's murder led him to Marissa who was caught trying to run away after getting blood samples of Mas Ayu to prove that their DNA matches and that they're mother-daughter. The blood samples got lost and the mystery continues.

Mas Suri, tired of Marissa's confrontations, fired her and told her to leave the house. Marissa's frustrations mounted and she was determined to get Mas Ayu away even if she had to resort to kidnapping. The plan failed and Rashad convinces Marissa to follow him to meet his grandfather who might know the answers.

They found his grandfather deep in the forest after meeting random, dead people along the way. Grandfather thus started the tale.

The story spans six generations actually. Mastura was Waris (Hairi Othman) first love. The two love/lust after each other so much that they decide to elope and live in the forest after Mastura's father refuses to accept Waris who comes from a poor but religious family. To tie their bind permanently, they seek the help of a she-shaman. Waris knew that Mastura's father would seek them out so they made a pact that even if one of them is dead, the other can call them back or something like that. Mastura's father found them and killed Waris.

Mastura killed her father and brought Waris back from the dead. He is the 'thing' and the 'saka' that will be the centre of this story. After some time, Mastura somehow realised that Waris was just an undead body and that he was capable of evil things. She repents and seeks the help of Waris's brother who guides her to the true path. For all of Waris's evil doings, he can never kill his own flesh and blood, so the lives of his generation were always assured.

Mastura however, found that she could not kill a dead guy and went on with her life. She got married to Mas Yunus and died alone during childbirth, greatly disturbed by Waris. The daughter, Mas Ita grew up with an aloof father who somehow blamed her for the loss of his wife. Mas Ita was accompanied by Waris and grew to love him. Waris persuaded her to marry because for him to exist, Mastura's blood must run throughout the generations. Mas Ita reluctantly got married and couldn't care less when her husband died at Waris's hand. She lived with Waris's presence and her daughter, Mas Juita.

Mas Juita grew up and Mas Ita became jealous that Waris is now drawn towards her daughter. Mas Juita has no idea why her mother was always talking to herself. Mas Juita got married and gave birth to Mas Dahlia and Mas Lela. Mas Ita died pathetically because Waris didn't need her anymore. There were 3 breathing Mas's for him to choose from.

Mas Juita knew of Waris and hated him. She seeks the help of a religious man (Waris's family). She seeks ways to kill Waris but to no avail. The only way to kill him is to find his grave and give him a proper Muslim burial.

Meanwhile, Mas Dahlia and Mas Lela grew up. Mas Dahlia being more outspoken than her loser sister became angry when Mas Juita told them the history of their generation and that they must never, ever get married. Waris approached Mas Dahlia. He has been approaching her when she was a child, giving her delicious food (in a time of war) and showering her with money. Mas Dahlia was blinded by greed. When Mas Juita died, she used her wealth to buy Highland Estate and moved in with her sister Mas Lela.

She then got married and gave birth to Mas Suri and Mas Ayu. Her husband conveniently died soon after. When the girls came of age, Mas Dahlia died, in the same way as her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Waris approached Mas Suri who rejected and fought him. He then approaches Mas Ayu who was in a gullible position after coming back from a party, freshly raped. Frightened and confused, she accepted Waris after he dropped the rapist's dead body at her feet.

Mas Ayu gave birth to a stillborn and refused to believe that her child was dead. Mas Suri secretly got married and gave birth to Marissa. She quickly divorced her husband, returned to Highland Estate and gave the child to Mas Ayu who actually believed that was her daughter. 

Upon seeing Waris with Mas Ayu and Marissa, she quickly took the child away to be raised by a friend, far, far away. Mas Ayu, bereaved by the loss of her "daughter" was never herself and got lost in her own world. Here, we then realised that Mas Suri was in fact Marissa's mother and not Mas Ayu as we were led to believe.

Mas Suri, Rashad and his grandfather eventually fought Waris but they cannot kill him. They did manage to find the grave (which was transferred over to Highland Estate) and retrieve his remains but they couldn't rebury him. The earth just refuses to accept him.

They eventually went back to the original spot where he was killed and Marissa managed to put him to rest.

We really thought the drama ended here. One year later, Rashad got married to Marissa and she gave birth to a girl. The stupid Mas Ayu killed the nurse at the nursing home and went back to the grave to retrieve Waris.

The End.

Despite the hanging climax, it was a good series. Should have watched in YouTube and saved the $13 but the storyline was fantastic and the whole thing deserves a two thumbs up.

Better than stupid unbelievable Indon sinetrons anytime...

Weekend Getaway

Am fighting sleeping mode. I am so proud of my organising skills and ability in juggling 20 000 things at one time that I failed to enjoy the pleasures of sleeping.

I got back from KL in one piece. The days leading to the trip were filled with resentment and irritable attitude towards the kids and The H who can really move the ratings on the patience lever to the maximum possible position. Must be the hormone imbalance as my period is late and I know I'm not pregnant.

So after planting the idea of "Adventure in the Train" to the kids who are on a constant "Thomas and Friends VCD" diet, The H declared that we're not driving up to KL afterall. We're taking the old school route by sitting quietly for 7 hours in Express Rakyat from Tanjong Pagar. I wish!!.

We ended up sitting for 9 hours on our butts and repeated attacks of Tom & Jerry cartoons.

When I first stepped into the train, I was taken aback by the dirty curtains hanging limply fom the grimy windows. Tiny roaches (the ones you see in buses) scurried about. The seats were old and frayed, toilets a thousand years old and the doors separating each cabin did not automatically slide back so someone sitting in front has to constantly close the door to minimise the noise because people with itchy backsides keep going in and out of the doors and never close it back.

Thank goodness the air-con is working and the air is fresh enough.

I thought I could get my sleep in the train after getting through the Woodlands checkpoint passport stamping-stop-at-toilet amazing race because prior to waking up at 5 am, I actually watched True Lies (I can't help it, I just loved the part when Jamie Lee Curtis does the hooker striptease) and went to bed at a quarter past midnight.

I didn't get my sleep in the train really. Matin kept walking around barefoot and switching seats just to irritate Danial and I keep looking out for signs of abnormal rattling/shaking of the train. I mean, the coaches have obviously seen better days.

We arrived in KL at 4:07pm. Nine hours after leaving Singapore because the Engine stopped somewhere in Bukit Panjang and have to be pulled back to the switch points where another Engine could replace the malfunctioned one.

Upon arrival at KL Central, I headed straight for Subway to satisfy my craving for an Italian BMT with lots of olives. Something which I can only swallow my saliva at in Singapore.

Hotel was great although much can be said on the Customer Service front. The malay guy on the counter apparantly thought we're some lost village people who just needed to use the toilet. I mean, I don't think he expect much from a bunch of stragglers dragging their worldly belongings in a trolley bag up the steps of the hotel lobby from the LRT station nearby instead of making a grand entrance in an airport limousine.

He was almost smirking when I handed in our bookings via a crumpled piece of A4 paper printed out from their website where we already made a $20 deposit. Maybe he certainly didn't expect me to hand in the ringgits in cold hard cash upfront to pay for our lodging which is what I proceeded to do next. If that humbled him, he didn't show it but the slight change in attitude was obvious enough to give me that twitch of satisfaction.

We got the executive floor with chandeliers at the lift landing. Chandeliers!!! The kids spent one hour in the lap pool before we make one trip to Suria KLCC to tapau dinner. Once we stepped in, it's like meeting an old friend. Everything is just the same. Even Kinokuniya's format is the same.

We managed to slot in a whole day at Genting the next day but the queues are a real turn-off. The trip up was a totally different experience from the one I remembered in 1981 (I was only 7) where I puked all the way from Subang Jaya (my aunt's place) to the top. Things are much more different and better now. It was not that cold and the place is not much different than that of Downtown East but I managed to take pictures at spots where there are mists and everyone in the office actually thought I was in Alaska over the weekend. Apparantly, no one missed me.

That night, after packing amidst the snore of The H and the kids sleeping soundly, I thought I'd better get enough rest and sleep early. I ended up watching Pirates of the Carribean - At World's End on Star Movies. It was the only chance I got because if I watch it at home, anyone would just interrupt me and The H would just take the remote and change the channel without consulting.

I did not like the ending though. Will Turner is cursed to spend 10 years at sea and 1 day on land to see his wife. So by the fifth trip, I don't think Will will like it when Elizabeth Swann is a 70 year old hag while he's still a ravishingly handsome swashbuckling pirate. Disturbing.

All in all, the trip was not that bad. Seeing the kids so contented with the hotel pool and the simple pleasure of just walking around in the cold air at Genting and spending time with them just makes me so happy. Nevermind that The H can really get on my nerves at times.

For now, I desperately need another holiday to de-stress from this holiday.