Watch This Space

I'm Moving On.

2010-08-23T15:38:00.001+08:00

alifnur.tumblr.com

Friday

2009-12-04T08:47:00.001+08:00

Routine is:

1. Reluctantly waking up at 6.30am (well 7.00 if you count the snooze) every morning for Subuh, only to find yourself longing for more comfort time underneath the thick blanket until it is already time for class.

2. Eating the same brand of cereal every morning while checking your email account and the timetable. Occasional panic occurs when you are late for lecture and you still have some documents to be printed out.

3. Walking along the same route that you've been using for the past three months to get to class while listening to your iPhone. What's on the playlist? Hundreds of unfamilar indie songs that really makes your mundane routine an interesting experience every time.

4. Looking for a random spot to sit at for the whole duration of the lecture. Depending on the lecture, sometimes there will be something on that piece of paper you wanted to write your lectures notes on. Sometimes there will be random words on it that do not make sense; which could only mean one thing -you're bored and not paying attention.

5. Going back home only to find yourself too tired and unmotivated to do extra reading or anything productive in general. Hunger leads you to scavenge through the almost empty fridge for lunch.

6. Going to bed at around 1.30am. While resting your head on the pillow, you do a little reflection on the events that took place today and wonder how you could make things better for the following day. You download an app to kill some time before dozing off, but you get hooked on the game and decided it is not yet time for sleep. The next thing you know, you're already back at number one.

But life isn't that boring all the time. Not everything is a mundane routine.

1. Sometimes you have friends who are awesome enough to come and visit you in Manchester to have a good time. This will mostly like mean a visit to the holy ground of Manchester football (hint: Old Trafford), the Piccadilly Gardens, Trafford Centre, a round of Laser Quest battle, and even Blackpool like last week. Then you'll take them to visit the pride of the people of Rusholme - the Curry Mile. Half chicken with rice at Zam Zam? Alright. Lamb ribs at Krunchy Fried Chicken? Hell yeah. Qabily Pillow at Afghan? Bring it on. Yeah, your wallet will probably shrink over time, but the good time you have is just priceless.

2. Sometimes your dream of watching live English football matches right before your eyes may come true. As you are seated at the lower tier of the stadium among other enthusiastic fans of the club, you begin to reflect upon those times back in Malaysia when you were just watching matches at mamak stalls or at the comfort of your living room. The feeling is way beyond compare. It gets even better when you're witnessing the demolition of Arsenal right before your eyes. The next thing you know, you're already joining the rest of the home crowd chanting "Go City Go City" all the way to the final blow of the whistle.

3. Sometimes when you make that extra effort for your International Politics tutorial presentation, you may get rewarded for your effort. "It was a really good presentation Alif" doesn't come around quite often these days, hence when it does happen, you can't help but smile all the way back home.

4. You'd be surprised at the prospect of making loads of new friends when you decide to do something different and get out of your comfort zone. Your voluntary work for UNICEF recently has really opened up a whole new horizon which honestly looked pretty bleak previously. And of course you can't curb your enthusiasm for tomorrow's Giving Aids A Face Fashion Show and the peace march called The Wave which will take place in London this Saturday:)

5. Also, sometimes your ears become over sensitive of the occasional knockings on the door. You feel anxious to answer the call, hoping that it's the postman delivering the items that you recently bought online. Oh what joy it brings when it arrives in such an immaculate condition, just like how you imagined it to be.

Like my man Mraz said, It's the little details in the fabric that you sometimes take for granted that actually makes your life colourful.

I'm loving it here in Manchester.
Like a not-so-wise drunken man I met on the bus en route to Piccadilly once said, "This is Manchestaaaaaah!!!"

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Wrapping It Up

2009-11-21T07:22:00.006+08:00

Today is the last day of our fundraising project. Despite the challenging weather that we had to endure throughout the sale, it went really well I'd say. Can't wait for our next project in December. Oh, thank you so much to those who actually came down to our stall and supported the cause by donating their money to the fund.

Pulling a publicity stunt. Wasn't really effective, but it was a good effort nonetheless:)

Setting up the stall.

And the sale was on.

The Cypriot in action.

Oxford Road at its busiest.

One for the album.

In the kitchen, cleaning up.

Adina and Francesca:)

What a fulfilling day.

Manila Flood Relief

2009-11-18T09:41:00.000+08:00

So I went to the chaplaincy upon Adina's invitation right after my lecture a few hours ago. To be completely honest, at first I was kind of reluctant to join the voluntary group because I was the only boy around and that I did not know any of the girls except Adina. So it was pretty awkward for some time, I admit. All the girls were already occupied with stuff to do - some were cooking in the kitchen while others were cutting onions at the table. I, on the other hand, tried to make myself feel at ease by hanging at one corner of the area and updating my Twitter status and checking my Facebook account. Anything that could keep me occupied. Well of course it didn't work.

After some briefing by Francesca (a sweet girl she is), I was finally given the job to prepare the spring rolls together with a few other people. That was when the awkwardness disappeared. Geraldine, a first year Filipino student, explained to me what exactly happened in Manila last September. Two hurricanes struck Manila twice in the same week, leaving devastating effects and panic across the country. Many people lost their lives and thousand others lost their homes and are currently seeking shelter in schools and churches. It's a sad sight. All the while she was explaining this, I couldn't help but feel embarassed by my own ignorance. Why wasn't I aware of this catastrophe? Now that I understood the gravity of the situation they're facing, I'm really glad that I could be of some help. For once I thought I had a very fulfilling day, despite not being able to have proper Internet access for the whole day and finish my homework that's been piling up since the last two weeks.

Anyway, back to the main point.

The fundraising will begin tomorrow at 11.00am. Feel free to come and support to help lift the burdens off their shoulders. Together we can make it happen.

Good night people. Thank you for listening.

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Tuesday

2009-11-17T22:36:00.001+08:00

In case you're wondering, no I'm not on a bus. I figured that I'm running out of beautiful landscape pictures to begin my post with, hence explaining the picture. Not that I'm trying to imply that it's pretty. Whatever. Doesn't matter anyway.

What's more important right now is the fact that I prepared myself a decent meal for lunch. Egg fried rice with barbeque sauce. Normally I wouldn't even bother touching the stove or the rice cooker because scavenging through the empty fridge seems like a better option. Not anymore you see. This young lad is slowly discovering his magic touch. Or not.

Financial Reporting lecture is at 3.00pm. After that, I'm gonna head straightaway to the chaplaincy to help prepare food for Wednesday's fundraising activity. The organisation is trying to raise fund to help the flood victims in the Phillipines, so I thought it'd be cool if I just lend a hand, you know, just to help promote the cause.

Now that the holidays are approaching really really soon, I feel the urge to get out and travel. Egypt sounds like a nice place to go. Spain too. But anywhere will do really. Hey I heard you're going somehwere this winter. Care to take me with you?

Okay. Lecture time.

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Laundry

2009-11-16T21:23:00.001+08:00

Do you know what I like the most about my occasional trips to Atlas? The scent of clean clothes, all dry and warm, fresh from the dryer. If no one's around, I would probably take the time to savour the moment by inhaling deeply the rich fruity scent of the comforter, then followed by a long "Aahh..." How satisfying. I guess the whole experience is even better than a trip to Musicana for a round of shisha fun time.

On the hand, if there are people around, I'll just read a book or listen to my iPhone instead.

Now that I'm able to write all this while doing my laundy could probably mean only one thing: the Economics lecture this afternoon is cancelled. So hooray to that.

The parents expressed their worries yesterday over the lack of communication between them and this son they own. I'm really sorry, but the Internet is somewhat uncooperative recently. I have no idea that she's the jealous type. Don't worry, I'll Skype you guys later alright.

Okay. It's now time for lunch.

P/S: Have you ever stepped inside a Hollister retail store? I really really love the atmostphere. The scent of summer, the dimmed lights and the beach like ambience really set the mood. It makes the shopping (in my case mostly it refers to window shopping) experience really worthwhile.

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Monday Morning

2009-11-16T18:50:00.001+08:00

Finished my Economics Class just now. We were supposed to get our essays back, together with the grades and feedback but apparently mine was misplaced somewhere. Funny, according to Dr Richardson, because earlier before the class started he mentioned my name. Now I will have to meet him at his office this Friday instead.

Right now I'm hanging at the cafe, waiting for my Advanced Matheatics class at 11.00am.

Remind me to send my clothes for some drying at Atlas later this afternoon. Then I'll have to submit the Financial Reporting essay before 4.00pm today.

I will try my best to stay away from eBay for this week, at least. I think I've succumbed to the addictive world of bidding and winning that it is beginning to drain me financially. Oh wait, another item is ending soon! Got to go yo.

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A Quick Recap

2009-11-15T23:37:00.001+08:00

I just finished a looong post for this blog but it suddenly disappeared! Damn it.

One step at a time I guess. Sigh.

Well, this post was supposed to begin with me realising how long this blog has been in abandonment and that I was starting to miss writing here. Then it would probably be followed by a sentence along this line,"I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. Oh well, enough with the sentimentality." Or something like that.

Anyway, the main objective of today's post is to compress everything that happened from 19th September 2009 (and maybe a couple of weeks before that as well) up until today, Sunday, 15th September 2009. So here's the recap of previous episodes.

On second thought, nantilah.
I'm lacking inspiration.

Out of Exile, Into the Wild

2009-09-19T11:23:00.002+08:00

So my visa was finally approved yesterday, just in time for my flight to Manchester tonight at 2120 hours.

Finally, something worth updating in a very long time.

They Say Lightning Doesn't Strike Twice

2009-08-17T10:00:00.003+08:00

Usain Bolt's done it again!

p/s: I'm going back to Balai Felda today to meet Mr Taj at noon. Come on la Felda!

Telur & Koay Teow

2009-08-16T23:35:00.005+08:00

En route to Ipoh for majlis bacaan tahlil at Atok's place yesterday, we stopped at R&R Tapah for breakfast. Undecided on what to eat, I wandered around the plaza until I saw this cafe selling koay teow and noodles. There were fresh eggs on display too. Two female workers were present that morning - one was behind the counter while the other one was busy cooking in the kitchen. I approached the counter to make my order.

"Koay teow satu kak. Tambah telur mata."

"Telur takde."

I wasn't really paying attention when she said this. Hence when my order was ready, I noticed something was missing. So I asked again.

"Er kak, tambah telur mata satu."

"Telur takde."

"Tu bukan telur?" I pointed at the display beside the counter.

"Tak goreng lagi," she replied. Yes I can see that, thank you very much.

"Tak boleh goreng ke kak?"

She turned to her colleague who was cooking at the kitchen and asked, "Telur ni boleh goreng tak Asiah?"

"Tukang masaknya takde," the cook explained, not even looking back.

Confused (and not wanting to make things look even weirder), I paid for the plate of koay teow and walked away. Before I got back to our table, I bought a fried egg from the stall next to theirs.

All the time while I was having my breakfast, I couldn't help but wonder what really went wrong that morning.

Pendorong Semangat Saya

2009-08-14T18:26:00.005+08:00

Dear Felda Holdings,

Reason 32 for me to go to the UK:

The boys and I are looking forward to our Epic Train Adventure which is aimed at promoting a world without borders and prejudice. Chey. This long journey will cover London, Calais, Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk, and Moscow. From Moscow, we'll travel across the Transsiberian until we reach Vladivostok where we'll begin our journey to Beijing through several Chinese provinces. From Beijing, we'll either continue the train journey (taking us through Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Pnom Penh, Bangkok, Padang Besar, and last but not least, KL Sentral) or take a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur from Beijing. Awesome, I know. And yes, you are welcome to support our cause and make this happen by not withdrawing the sponsorship.

Transsiberian baby!

From Beijing, with love.

Thanks for reminding me of this, Haqqa.
We'll make it happen, Insya-Allah.

Phew

2009-08-14T17:35:00.004+08:00

So today I went there as early as I could, but unfortunately Mr Taj wasn't available for the whole day. Instead, I was greeted by his secretary. Her name is...oh no. I forgot.

"Itulah, nak jumpa dia tak boleh main redah je tau. Adik kalau tak buat appointment, susah la nak set up a meeting. Adik ada bagitau dia?" she asked.

"Ada. Saya ada email dia semalam."

"Dia ada reply tak?"

"Tak."

"Patutlah." Dang. Terkena balik.

But it wasn't over yet as she agreed to reschedule the meeting to Monday afternoon. I handed her the letter still, in case Mr Taj was around. Guess I survived the scare today.

And later tonight, the whole family is going back to Ipoh for the kenduri doa selamat which will take place tomorrow at Atok's place. Haih. Lagi banyaklah soalan-soalan sensitif tentang masa depan saya yang perlu dijawab esok.

"I have no further comments. Thank you." If only it's that easy.

Tomorrow

2009-08-14T00:25:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow morning, I will get to Balai Felda to meet Mr Taj, Felda Holding's Senior Executive Director of Human Resource and hand him this letter.

Dear Mr Tajuddin Carrim,

I am deeply sorry to learn that my results, as you are already informed, did not meet the requirements that have been set by Felda Holdings. I am saddened by this outcome because the results do not reflect my true potentials. For your information, I have been a consistent student throughout the semesters, besides actively getting involved in college activities. The college can definitely confirm this for you.
I am also aware that my grades may result in the termination of the sponsorship contract with Felda Holdings and that the release letter will be on its way to my mailbox sometime next week. However, in my humble opinion, I do not believe that this is the end of the road. I would like to kindly seek your courtesy to revise my case due to several reasons.
First and foremost, it is indeed true that not only have I failed to meet the sponsor’s requirements, but also both my firm and insurance universities’ as well. However, before any decision is being made, I have good news which I hope will reverse the situation.
1. The University of Manchester has reviewed my case earlier this week and to my delight, they have agreed to offer me a place in one of the degree programmes stated below:

L100 – Economics
N100 – Business Studies

Their Economics degree programme, for your information, belongs in the top 20 universities in the UK which offer the programme. Under normal circumstances, the requirements are usually higher. For my case, however, they are willing to make an exception. The degree programme, to my delight, can be combined with 29 different majors, with Accounting and Finance being some of the combinations offered. Furthermore, the Manchester Business School is also well-known for being the hub of business professionals and economics researchers.

2. In addition to the offer received by University of Manchester, the University of Exeter is also kind enough to consider my case and is highly likely to offer me a place in their degree programme for the October intake. The offer was initially made at ABB, but after reviewing my case they have agreed to lower down the grade. The offer will only be made after 20th of August 2009. This is great news for me nevertheless, considering the fact that Exeter currently is the second best university behind Bath in relation to Accounting and Finance programme*.

*Based on the Times Good University Guide 2010

3. Earlier this year, I took the effort to make an application for a place in one of Australian universities to pursue a degree in a related course. University of Melbourne, which belongs to the elite Group of Eight, have offered me a place in their Bachelor of Commerce degree programme for February 2010 intake. For your information, its Bachelor of Commerce programme is as good as, if not better, than the one offered by London School of Economics.

What I mean to say here is that even though my journey to Manchester might have been held back a little bit by this disappointment, I am lucky enough to be given not just one, but three opportunities to mend the situation right. I have learnt, from my personal experience, of many people who shared similar upsets as I currently do and yet the slight misfortunes did not hold them down. They failed to meet their sponsors’ requirements, but because of the trust being given to them, they managed to prove that the results they received were only a tiny fluke. I do understand that it is the policy of Felda Holdings to maintain the standard by setting 2A 1B as the minimum target, but in my humble opinion, the results are only part of the process. I know that everyone, myself included, has tried the very best to achieve this, but there is a bigger picture that we have to look at. I do admit that I have failed to live up to your expectation, but right now, I have the opportunity to prove my qualities. Three universities have put their trusts in me and are expecting my arrival. The only thing that is left is your approval.

I have done all I that I could on my part, and now my fate lies in your decision. Hence, I am full of hopes that you would consider my situation the best way possible. I personally believe that, rather than relinquishing Felda Holdings’ investment on me by terminating the contract, it will be more desirable to see your investment grow and become even more rewarding in the long run. Parting ways with Felda will definitely be a difficult thing for me to go through.

I would like to thank you for the luxury provided throughout my entire 24 months in KYUEM. I am forever indebted.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Alif Nurhaziq

Hope everything will turn out for the best. Wish me luck.

Azwan Arif

2009-08-13T01:33:00.004+08:00

Get well soon, Azwan.

A Rebound

2009-08-12T23:58:00.007+08:00

You know, after 10th of August, this blog was supposed to be one detailed account of my journey to Manchester. I already had everything planned. Oh how I really wanted to write about my experience enduring the last seven days leading to the big day, that Monday morning when I got my A Level results (along with the big smile on my face, the supposed prank I intended to pull on my parents about the results, the endless phone calls made and received, congratulating my friends on their excellent results. And then my journey to Manchester begins with visa application after receiving my unconditional offer from the university, followed by passport renewal, pre-departure briefing at Balai Felda, attending the ceremony celebrating the scholars, kenduri kesyukuran at my house, shopping and then KLIA. Then I'm already en-route to Manchester!

But as it came to my realisation, some things just don't come your way that easily.
I thought that at the end of the torment, after the excrutiating seven days of waiting, I would finally get what I had hoped for. Well, um, I guess things seemed to be a little bit more complicated than that.

On Monday, exactly one week before the results were out, I couldn't sit still. The clock's ticking alright! By Wednesday, I started having some weird dreams about marriage and world peace. On Friday, when I was having a bonding session with The Creator, there were tears on my cheeks. This was absolutely rare. Sunday night, in my opinion, was the longest night of my life. I couldn't sleep at all. Watching Man United being beaten by Chelsea in the Community Shield match gave me an epiphany. There goes Ferguson's Shield. Will my Manchester dream go the same way too? The aircond was switched on the whole night, and yet tucked underneath the blanket I found myself sweating like mad.

The thought of not being able to make it was killing me. What's gonna happen to the skydiving experience with Aainaa and the gang? What about the community service in Africa? What about Eurotrip? What about donning my best winter gear, walking along the streets of London and get spotted by Scott Schumann and being featured in The Sartorialist? What about taking part in Boxing Day shopping madness? What about Old Trafford? What about taking beautiful pictures? What about having a blonde girlfriend? (Okay, maybe not that) What about graduating and living the good life? Damn. Fikir je pun dah pening.

I had planned to make a countdown on this blog too, just like everyone else. And then on the last day before the results were announced, I would say something like this:

"If there was no update on this blog tomorrow regarding my results, then it could only mean one of two things - either there was a shortage of good news to deliver, or...I'm too busy celebrating!"
Hint: It's not the first one!

Or maybe something more catchy.

However, the results were not as pretty as I had hoped for. I knew that by 8.30am that day Facebook was already flooded by updates delivering their good news. Congratulations were everywhere. Oh how I wished I could join you lot. I didn't have the nerve to tell my parents just yet, so I waited until my dad came home that night to break the news at the dining table. What a great timing to spill the bean yeah? Soon awkward silence filled the air. Eyes downcast to the dinner plate, I was feeling guilty as hell. Urgh.

But I know deep down that not all is lost. I know it was a major disappointment, but this thing is far from over you know. Reading the entry from Fiqss' blog made me realise about how the system works. Her post reminded me to not lose hope, but to have faith instead.

Then it occured to me. It seems that my brain works best under pressure or when I'm caught in a problem. When I was a kid, I used to get into a lot of trouble and yet I had always managed to find a way out. This is no exception either. Hence, I masterminded a plan. An master plan that will take me and my luggage to the UK this September. Oh I will get there alright. Just you wait.

P/S: Aainaa has a blog!

Better Late...

2009-07-28T22:13:00.005+08:00

Here's a rather bizarre article I stumbled upon the internet today, as featured on Greg Ross' page.

Shizo Kanakuri disappeared while running the marathon in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. He was listed as a missing person in Sweden for 50 years — until a journalist found him living placidly in southern Japan.

Overcome with heat during the race, he had stopped at a garden party to drink orange juice, stayed for an hour, then took a train to a hotel and sailed home the next day, too ashamed to tell anyone he was leaving.

There's a happy ending: In 1966 Kanakuri accepted an invitation to return to Stockholm and complete his run. His final time was 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds — surely a record that will never be broken.

Moral of the story? I don't know. Perhaps if you have to choose between a glass of orange juice and national pride, always pick the latter.

Seketika Di Dapur.

2009-07-25T23:05:00.005+08:00

This week so far has been an unproductive one for me. I wanted to go jogging, but my left leg hasn't fully recovered yet (tapi bley je kalau nak). I wanted to start reading a book, tapi at home takde title yg interesting enough. Watering the plants tu memang tak ah. So I was left with no choice but to proceed with the usual routine -TV, internet, tido, and movies (which is fine by me, but not quite according to the mother.)

Tapi not today. Sebab today, I finally did something awesome. Haha. Gua buat doughnut weyh! Lu bikin apa hari ni? (Sorry ar poyo sket. Sangat excited dengan pencapaian diri.)

Ini bukan lakonan semula. Ini saya, mula berjinak-jinak dengan dunia pastry yang indah. Haha.

Mula-mula, buat bentuk normal.

Curious, I went on to make a pretzel-looking doughnut...which I failed miserably.

Goreng-goreng time.

Next, sapu sket glazing sugar on the surface of the doughnuts for maximum impact. Haha. Then siap!

So yeah, that's about it:)

Bukit Jalil

2009-07-21T01:15:00.005+08:00

Five hours ago, summarised:
-Received a phone call from Meri. "Man U match jom!" It was already 7pm.
-Rushed to his place and half an hour later, I arrived.
-Followed his entourage of little cousins and family members to the stadium.
-Arrived at 8.30pm. Seated at the VIP area. Ihsan and his friend were also there.
-Watched the match, then it ended with the score 2-0.
-Macheda threw his jersey at our spot. Sket lagi nak capai. Cis, abang depan lak dapat.
-Before we headed home, lepak SS15 makan roti tampal favourite Meri. Kenyang.

Ihsan and Akmal.

Owen!

Nani macam robot owh.

Pakcik bertuah.

The entourage.

Thanks Meri!

A Lonesome Friday

2009-07-17T10:59:00.004+08:00

Both the little sisters are coming home today. I never thought I'd say this, but I secretly miss them very much. I miss being annoyed at their antics and gossips. I miss getting into fights with them over petty things such as the TV controller and the internet. At least it's better than having conversations with my head all week long.

Isy. Cepat ar balik, makcik-makcik sekalian.

Tuesday

2009-07-14T15:29:00.006+08:00

Admit it. Stop-motion videos are never boring to watch because they are awesome and unique. Those who appreciate them will understand the huge amount of effort being put to make a simple 3 minute animation for the viewers' pleasure. Well, at least to some of us. When me and Tiger attempted our first stop motion video last year, it took us days and thousands of photos to create a six minute video. Although it was a painstaking process, it was worth every minute. So when I stumbled across this video on Youtube the other day, I couldn't help but admire the awesomeness of the video and the director. This is truly a masterpiece. Nod your head if you feel the same way too.

Just Now.

2009-07-12T18:28:00.003+08:00

On my way back home from KLCC just now, I noticed a lad sitting in front of me in the LRT. His eyes were closed, his head rested against the glass panel, totally unaffected by the occasional knocks he received throughout the journey. His bag was firmly placed on his lap as water was dripping from his wide open mouth. I also noticed the writing on his shirt. It read "A Wild Dream."

Then it came to me, "Oh patut la. He's living the dream."

My Favourite Pictures From Redang

2009-07-08T21:54:00.004+08:00

Owh Redang Island we miss you already.

Advertisement 1.

Advertisement 2.

Upon arrival.

"Macam postcard," Azam suggested.

Dalam boat.

Our private beach.

The island.

Haha.

Masjid Kristal.

And the winner! Sorry Safu, tapi serious lawa:P

Settling Down

2009-07-08T20:23:00.003+08:00

I got back from Langkawi yesterday. The bus started its journey at 9pm and arrived at Pudu at around 5am the following day. While waiting for the LRT to start operating, we had breakfast on the streets of Masjid Jamek. How interesting.

The Langkawi trip this time around, to me, is awesome in its own way.

To Pua, thanks for the hospitality.
To Atuque, nice keeping in touch with you.
To Tloy, thanks for the story. I'll try to learn a lesson or two.
To Reno, Ali and Nasy, selamat fly ke Aussie.
To Haziq, congratulations. Imperial baby!

And to Oggy, good luck dude. Manchester's waiting.

Redang Bay Redang Bay!

2009-06-27T20:16:00.004+08:00

I just got back from Redang this morning!
Woohoo best giler.

Will dedicate a post about the trip, but perhaps some time later.

My Dateless Prom

2009-06-23T16:07:00.006+08:00

Last week, on Tuesday, I attended my first prom ever. Well actually, it wasn't technically a prom, considering the fact that you came with your other three friends of the same gender, instead of your college sweetheart. But whatever. Perhaps I've watched too many chick flicks of high school romances that it kinda shaped my perception of prom.

Anyway, it was the food that I came for. Others might have different opinion about this, I don't know, but I thought the food was just normal. Afiqah agreed with me on this. The only thing splendid about the menu that night was the dessert. So I was kind of disappointed that night.

But overall, the prom was not bad at all. Some of the boys and girls looked stunning that night. If there was ever a moral of the story, well I think I got one. The open dance floor session remained as something I'd rather watch than get involved in. Haha. Ade orang tu gile all-out ar menari. Horrifying, really:P

Afi, our chaffeur. Haha I'm kidding. Thanks for picking me up Afi, sayang kamu.

One awkward interview with Azwan, one of the Mr KYUEM candidates.

Umyra and the boys.

Attiyaa, Fatin and Aainaa busting their moves on the dance floor.

Shahir!

Faiz Zamri. Apparently lost in the dance floor.

Afiqah Aziz:)

Sara Liyana.

Zaim and Muzhir!

One for the album.

Kamila!

Random photo number one.

Tiger and Nadia.

Random photo number two.

Akmal, Jeshua and Aidid.

Afi, Hariz, Haiqal and Tiger.

Isa.

Our after party at Pelita with Abu and Aidy.

Owh yes, in a couple of hours time, I'll be joining the boys for the trip to Redang. Yeay beautiful sandy beaches here I come! Will be coming back on Friday, so don't miss me too much.

p/s: Nabila, thank you thank you thank you. Are you sure you didn't give me the filtered one?:P

Saat Yang Genting

2009-06-23T12:10:00.005+08:00

So I got home on Sunday from Kemaman, just in time to join my parents for dinner at Pak Li Kopitiam some time later. My parents insisted that he joined us too. So we had quite a conversation over dinner, but honestly, I was already thinking about the trip to Genting the following day.

The following morning, we took a bus from Hentian Putra to have fun at the peak. Wait, before I met Aidid, Afif, Acap and Zul at KL Sentral, I had an awkward moment with this South African guy. He came to me and told me his story, which I refused to share it here. Long story short, I wasn't sure whether I was mugged that morning, but in the end I did give him RM 3 to help his cause. Whatever his intentions were, I was glad nothing happened. And come to think of it, I certainly enjoyed the conversation. 2010 World Cup tickets anyone?

Overall, the trip to Genting was an awesome one. We went in at around noon and went back to the apartment at around 4am, after watching Terminator Salvation at the cinema. So you could only imagine how exasperated we were, but it was definitely worth the fun and experience. Aidid, Afif and I went back earlier the next morning because we had to prepare for the next event - the college prom. But more on that later.

Upon arrival.

Our room.

The spinner.

I think the girl on the right is Indonesian.

Pirates. Extremely underrated.

Go kart yang super slow.

Spaceshot. The best ride in the park. Definitely worth the wait.

Corkscrew. Well, the weather that afternoon totally screwed our chance to have a ride.

So toboggan pun toboggan la.

Dinasourland.

Bumper car.

Toured around Venice in a gondola.

Had supper at one of the restaurants to kill some time before watching Terminator Salvation at 1.15am. Yes, the food over there was pricey.

And then we went back to the apartment, cold, tired and sleepy.

Zul had written a detailed account of our trip to Genting in his blog. So you may want to head over there to read his entry.

6 Naqib Reunited

2009-06-23T07:20:00.007+08:00

So yeah, last two weeks I went back to Kemaman to meet my ex-classmates, some I had not met for quite a number of years now. We (I mean, they) had planned a mini party by the beach for the reunion. At first, I didn't want to go due to several concerns (the awkwardness the situation might bring about and transportation, among other stuff), but Zharif insisted. He even picked me up from the college. So hooray. I even spent the weekend at his place, jalan-jalan around Kemaman.

Despite the lack of number of attendees, the reunion turned out good actually, in contrast to my earlier prediction that this was going to be lame and boring. After not keeping in touch for so long, I guess this was a great opportunity to get updated with their whereabouts and going-ons. Oh how things have changed. Alisa is going to Portsmouth this September while Syasya to Queen's Belfast. One of us even brought her baby daughter along. Yes, she's already married. Some things, on the other hand, do remain the same. Like Anwar, for instance. His antics are still well-preserved.

Haziq Muzir. Now studying in UTM.

Anwar Hakim. Uniten.

Liyana Nabilah. Almost everyone in her family is a doctor. She will be joining them too.

Awie. The organiser.

Syahidah.

Aeti Amira. She was there for a while, then she had to leave.

Jaja, or Wan Nur Nadzatul Aizat. I even remembered her full name:P

Alisa Hanis. She hasn't changed much, I guess.

Ain Amelia.

Zharif. Thanks for for the hospitality bro. Good luck in Wichita.

Amira Anuddin.

Erra Aziera.

Aina Nisha. Penolong ketua kelas. Also co-organiser.

The girls.

Almost half of the class.

Thank you so much Aina, Awie and the rest who made all the efforts to make this reunion possible. To those who couldn't make it, you guys better be around next time.

I'm Back. I Guess.

2009-06-22T18:17:00.004+08:00

Last two Fridays, on the 12th of June 2009, I had three reasons to be happy. Firstly, I finished all my A-Level papers. Yeah baby. However, I would like to reserve my comment on the examination because it may spoil the fun and the good time I'm having now. I knew one thing for sure though - I was glad that they finally came to an end.

The second reason was the arrival of the much anticipated Yearbook a couple of days back. Honestly, I can tell you a lot of stories behind the scenes regarding the making of the Yearbook, but never mind. They're not really pretty anyway. Here, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your compliments. I, on behalf of the design team, really appreciate the positive comments and feedback. It, undoubtedly, could've been more awesome without the slight technical errors here and there. And for that reason, we would like to apologise to the people affected. Missing chalet pictures, wrong contact details and pictures, missing articles, and possible misspelt names. We're terribly sorry for the errors omitted.

The third reason was the neverending chain of interesting and fun activities I have been having since that day until now. The chronology so far:

6 Naqib class of 2001 reunion party in Kemaman on the 13th of June.
The trip to Genting with the gang on the 15th of June.
My dateless college prom the next day.
Garnet House farewell party on the 17th of June.
KYUEM Inter house Football - the final match between Garnet and Topaz on the 18th.
Our friendly rugby match between the juniors and the departing seniors the following day.
The end of semester dinner held at the dining hall the same evening.
The Awards Day, and a series of slightly unfortunate events which took place after that.
A supposed orchestra performance which turned into watching Night at the Museum 2 with my bestie last Sunday.

Things I'm looking forward to later this week and the following weeks:

The roadtrip to Redang with Ihsan, Faridq, Afi, Tiger and Safu tomorrow! Can't wait:)
Biro Tata Negara. Hm, I'm not sure if this fits in the list, but whatever.
The trip to Langkawi with the KYS homies! Another island, another round of good times.
Muslim Overseas Camp.
And finally, the A Level results.

I should really start disciplining myself to update this blog more often.

Bola Sepak

2009-05-23T09:21:00.003+08:00

Garnet won 3-0 against Sapphire last week.
Next week, we're taking on Diamond.

Ooh we're on fire!

7th of May 2009

2009-05-08T20:58:00.004+08:00

Happy birthday, Nabila Majid!
Bestie yang super awesome:)

"Believing hear, what you deserve to hear:
Your birthday as my own to me is dear...
But yours gives most; for mine did only lend
Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend."

-Martial-

Have a good one yeah:)

Yearbook Oh Yearbook

2009-05-02T01:26:00.005+08:00

My fellow comrades - Vellu, Afif and Jo.

Despite whatever mess we've gotten ourselves into,
we will get the job done.

We will kick ass. Our yearbook will be awesome
(design-wise, at least).

Kan?

Erk. Tapi banyak lagi dowh tak siap. Haih.

What Wilfred Peterson Said...

2009-04-29T11:31:00.002+08:00

...every morning when I wake up

and every night before I go to sleep.

Today

2009-04-28T19:17:00.004+08:00

Jealousy is the great exaggerator.

And I should've known better.

Saisaki: A Guilty Pleasure?

2009-04-26T17:45:00.005+08:00

The JCC seniors went to Saisaki Restaurant a couple of weeks ago for dinner. Initially, we planned to bring the juniors along. However, due to several reasons and unavoidable circumstances, we proceeded without them. Sacrifices had to be made, Attiyaa assured us. Even Aainaa was willing to sacrifice her 10 minutes of fame, performing on stage during the Ladies Night, which also took place the same evening. But Aley, undoubtedly, was the one who had to make the biggest sacrifice. I'm not going to mention it here, out of respect. But you could probably guess:P

The treasurer.

While waiting for Miss Aida and the others to arrrive.

Miss Aida, the advisor.

A thrilled Aizat.

Aainaa, before the blonde jokes.

Teriyaki chicken yo.

Making our way out.

Shahir looked silly here.

It was pretty much a guilty pleasure for some of us, knowing that we had a good time dining out at the expense of some unfortunate juniors. But honestly, it was worth it:P

The Less I Speak

2009-04-26T16:04:00.004+08:00

I was not in the mood last Friday morning during Math class, partly due to what we did the night before. Zaim, Meri, Tiger and I got bored, so we decided to compose our own acoustic songs. The acoustic session was all spontaneous, with the awesome playlist of songs ranging from "A Song For Aimi" (which is Tiger's favourite), "Roggy and Jalani" and not forgetting "The Ex-Girlfriend" by Zaim, dedicated especially to his, ahem, ex-girlfriend. Then when we concluded, it was already 2.30am. And I had not done anything productive at all that night.

Back to math class. Both Tiger and Zaim didn't come to class that morning, but I somehow managed to make it in time. But I was so deprived of my sleep that it spoilt my mood. While Mr Mahadzir was explaining the solutions to the class, I stayed quiet, eyes on the white board, my mind wandering off to God knows where. Even Abu's jokes and occasional funny gestures seemed lame that moment. There was very little interaction between me and the rest of the class. However, it felt good, this splendid isolation. For once I listened more than I talked.

Then it got people worried. Or so I presumed.

"Is he okay?"

Later that afternoon, me and my bestie had a conversation about relationships. Sure, what a topic to talk about over a 5 minute break from Econs revision at the RC. It actually dragged on a little, but in the end she did make me realise something which I failed to notice all this while.

I always thought that silence is easy. No things that may be said accidentally that should be apologized for, no stupid explanations. Just silence. And time that will eventually heal all wounds. Because the more I speak, the more vulnerable I get. But little did I know that while it may have prevented me from saying all the wrong things, it actually puts me in a situation where I'm often misunderstood. Well, based on my life experiences, she's probably right. Silence is not always that easy.

Maybe I shouldn't be standing on a silent platfrom that often.

This Beautiful Imbroglio I'm Caught In

2009-04-26T12:14:00.010+08:00

Time flies, seasons change. From the point in time where I last checked this blog until now, many things, significant and insignificant, had happened. Kiko Macheda, the unknown reserve team regular, suddenly became the talk of the town after scoring two crucial goals for Man United (unfortunately during the FA Cup, "third time's the charm" didn't really happen). Obama is still busy doing his thing, fixing the limping US economy and reaching out to the Muslim world, among other stuffs. Meanwhile, somewhere closer to home, Najib became the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, amidst the unsettled dispute in Perak and the heavy cloud of controversies engulfing him.

While all these took place, I was busy being myself.

Garnet House went to Pangkor last week. It was an awesome trip, I should say, despite the heavy price I had to pay for a fun weekend at the beach - I got sunburnt. With this overtanned complexion I am currently donning, Juek feels that I've lost my charms. Unperturbed by her comment, I suggested her to just embrace the Hawaiian spirit in me.

Damn. Now I miss my fairer side. Nevertheless, there's something about the beach that makes it so welcoming though, don't you agree? Faridq, Safu and I had a discussion about our post A Level trip to Redang already. And the exam has not even started yet.

While everyone else in the chalet was busy studying (or in Afif's case, tucking in bed earlier than normal), I picked up a new hobby which I'm getting attached to - Isa's semi acoustic guitar. To prove my seriousness in this business, I hired Zaim as my guitar tutor. Well, not really. But since he's a regular visitor to my chalet, I might as well ask him to shed some light on Backstreet Boys' As Long As You Love Me and Aizat's Hanya Kau Yang Mampu, among other great songs for rookies like me. I even bought a capo. Now the only thing missing is my own guitar.

By the way, have you heard Afif's rendition of Better Man? It's better than original, man:P
"Send someone to love me, I need an astronaut..." Haha.

I may be ignorant at times, but as I walked around the college the other day, I kinda noticed something. Is this the season for love? Because almost everyone now seems to walk and study in pairs. Now that the exam is drawing near, I remembered one of the usrah sessions I attended a couple of weeks ago (believe it or not, I do attend usrahs every once in a while), in which the ustaz raised the question, "Cinta atau Cita-cita?"

Well, if you ask me, I want both.

Some time last week, the seniors were presented with a list of new pet brothers and sisters (the 11.5 studens) to be welcomed into the existing pet families. Fatimah and I now officially welcome Amalina into the family. Clap clap. Haha, macam la happening sangat.

Amalina.

P/S: Sorry Abang Z, it's your loss:P

And the seniors' external dinner (which now has an official name - the KYUEM Prom), will be held some time after the A Level exam finishes. My heart says let's party, but based on the survey I conducted on 50 samples, I may have to reconsider my decision. The simple reason being - when the people you wish to spend the fun time with that night had decided not to go, I don't think it'll be that fun anymore. But we'll see.

I bought a new external hard drive at the PC Fair recently. The 320GB mother lode of entertainment has now become my source of joy during my free blocks.

Or productivity killer, depending on how you look at it.

I find it interesting when people, boys especially, take the extra time and effort to make their rooms feel more...inviting. I mean, you can actually know the person from the way he/she keeps his/her room. This one day, I got really bored. So I decided to raid random chalets and conduct a spot check, you know, like the old boarding school days. Well in the end I did make some interesting discoveries from some people who decorated their rooms with pictures and stuffs. Inspired, I decided to do the same.

A sneak preview of how it looks like.

There's a little quote I posted by the bed. It says, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end." I don't know who said it, but it makes me smile every time I read it. And there are a few more I posted randomly all over the room.

By the way, I've uploaded the pictures I took in Pangkor at Facebook. You can view them here.

Rizal

2009-03-14T16:45:00.002+08:00

Rizal died that morning in his private room at the hospital. His parents, who were there since the first day he was warded, were awakened by the constant beep of the vital signs monitor. His heart was no longer beating.

That morning, Rizal, my 12 year old cousin, died of leukemia. Poor boy, he still got so much to live for. Al-Fatihah to him.

Dikir Barat

2009-03-12T00:14:00.003+08:00

Garnet dikir barat performance that night was one of my proudest moments ever as a Garnetor. Like seriously. Haha lambat gile nk comment. Actually, I wanted to reserve my comments on our performers until I finally get the chance to really get this blog updated. However, now that the chance is here, there go my ideas - out through the windows. Most probably they're fed up with me leaving them in abandonment for so long. Honestly, I hated the fact that we did not get the results that we deserved. It is fathomable that we did not get the first prize, but not getting any prizes at all? Now that's debatable. However, we (I mean, you lot) did talk about this at the LT1 right after the competition ended, and honestly, I was so happy that the juniors took it positively. It's just a minor setback really, come to think of it. We all know now that we're heading towards the right direction. Just stay on track.

I can't help but anticipate what this bunch of enthusiastic people are gonna achieve next, because deep down I know that we're leaving the house in good hands:) Go Garnet go!

What Does One Trillion Dollars Look Like?

2009-03-07T13:48:00.003+08:00

This is a random post I found on the net.

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

The Accountant

2009-02-20T22:05:00.001+08:00

There once was a business owner who was interviewing people for a division manager position. He decided to select the individual that could answer the question “how much is 2+2?”

The engineer pulled out his slide rule and shuffled it back and forth, and finally announced, “It lies between 3.98 and 4.02.”

The mathematician said, “In two hours I can demonstrate it equals 4 with the following short proof.”

The physicist declared, “It’s in the magnitude of 1x101.“

The logician paused for a long while and then said, “This problem is solvable.”

The social worker said, “I don’t know the answer, but I am glad that we discussed this important question.”

The attorney stated, “In the case of Svenson vs. the State, 2+2 was declared to be 4.”

The trader asked, “Are you buying or selling?”

The accountant looked at the business owner, then got out of his chair, went to see if anyone was listening at the door and pulled the drapes. Then he returned to the business owner, leaned across the desk and said in a low voice,

“What would you like it to be?”

They Say Life Is A Test, Graded On A Curve

2009-02-20T20:25:00.001+08:00

At age 4, success is...not peeing in your pants.
At age 12, success is...having friends.
At age 16, success is...having a driver's license.
At age 20, success is...having sex.
At age 35, success is...having money.
At age 50, success is...having money.
At age 60, success is...having sex.
At age 70, success is...having a driver's license.
At age 75, success is...having friends.
At age 90, success is...not peeing in your pants.

Note to Self

2009-02-12T06:47:00.000+08:00

1. You were born an original. Don't die a copy.

2. Jealousy is the great exaggerator.

3. You may delay, but time will not.

4. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

5. There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship.

6. Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy.

7. For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Happy Birthday Najah and Juek!

2009-02-09T23:18:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, girls can party harder than guys, as proven by Najah and Juek at the cafe just now. Actually, Nabila and the rest had planned a surprise party for both the birthday girls. And of course, birthday celebrations will not be complete without the presence of cupcakes.

However, in the end, we were the ones who were surprised at the outcome of the party. Like I said, sometimes girls can party harder than guys. Here are some pictures at the scene.
Cupcakes galore!

Najah had an intimate moment with Farahani.

Before things turned ugly.

The mini crowd.

The birthday girls. Now available as mobile wallpapers.

The computing students. Anak-anak Mr Ravi.

Atiqah and Diyana.

Chaletmates.

Nabila, the master planner.

Fatin!

Simaa. Kelaparan.

The photographer.

Najah managed to escape the horror with a minor bruise.

Bottom: Juek, ketika ditangkap basah.

Happy birthday, Najah and Juek:)

Summing It Up

2009-02-08T21:34:00.000+08:00

I realised that this blog had been in abandonment for quite some time now. Well, it was not updated for almost a month, until this afternoon when I finally managed to muster my strength and start writing again. There are a few things that I failed to mention earlier, so I guess now let's make some space for this entry. It's a bit too late, I know, but whatever.

First of all, my Cambridge appplication. Alas, the wait was finally over. And it ended with me drowning to death in the freezing cold pool. My application is unsuccessful. Why did you make me wait for sooo looong that I began to have a little bit of faith and confidence in myself when you finally broke the news, Cambridge? Why? Quoting Kanye West, "How could you be so heartless?" Now I understand why sometimes no news is actually good news. So I got rejected, fine. I can live with that. But why did the news have to come on the same day the AS results were announced? Memang sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga la. And if you're wondering, yes, my results are not pretty.

I have yet to decide on my university choices, but most probably Exeter will be one of the options.

And the last 30th of January was my sister's birthday. And to keep up with the current trend, we celebrated the special day with cupcakes, just like everybody else does these days. Kan Nabila? Cute, colourful cupcakes. Happy birthday Afia! You're already 14 yo.

That day in History class, we were given a chance to become Mao Zedong's representatives to discuss about several issues with Khrushchev's associates. It was undoubtedly one of the most interesting classes with Ms Daleen so far. Do you know that Mr Mao never brushed his teeth? And rumour has it that he was a womanizer. Ah, I wonder if the habit did wonders to his charm. Perhaps it creates some sort of seductive aroma which attracts the opposite sex, I assume.

Last but not least, PGL the Musical was awesome. Nabila and I agreed that although it was a great performance altogether, it lacked a vital part - Asmaradana! Haih we were anticipating it thoroughout the show until it unexpectedly came to an end. Actually we were ten minutes late due to the sudden traffic jam and the cabbie, who was an aging Malaccan man, kept cursing every once in a while. This was so so unlike what Gusti Putri Ajeng Retno Dumilah said in one of her lines, "Orang Melaka sangat sopan santun sekali ya." Haha.

I'm all set for another record breaking run by van der Sar and the rest of Manchester United players tonight when they head to East London for a match against West Ham. Glory glory Man United!

No, I'm Not Trying to Save My Face

2009-02-08T17:36:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I tend to overlook the fact that I'm the house captain of Garnet. Although it is indeed a good thing not to get too obsessed with power, we must also look in the mirror and ask ourselves whether have we been using the power bestowed upon us for the greater good or not doing anything at all. This post has nothing specific to point out really. It's just that I noticed that I haven't been speaking (or acting, for that matter) as the house captain for quite a while now, especially when Bangsawan preparation was taking place for the past month. I don't have an explanation to this, but perhaps I was more motivated to work as the Props Manager rather than the house captain. In bringing out the interest of the other house members to work together, it was all down to Pilus and Zaba who made the efforts. They always know the right words to say.

Anyway, as the house captain of Garnet, I would like to say a few things to my fellow Garnetors. First of all, don't forget that we won the Best Props Award! Although some of us thought it was not a big deal, look on the bright side. We were the FIRST house to receive the award that night. Gempak ape. Haha. My pathetic attempt to cheer you guys up. So congratulations! Even though our props crew were pretty small-scaled, we still managed to get the job done. To those who stayed up so late at night making kerawang and stuffs, please know that I really really appreciate the effort. We all have our shares in this. And to those who questioned our right to win the award, know that we're cool with whatever you have to say. No hard feelings. Although we were upset with the results, quoting from Azri, "there's no use of crying over spilt milk." We Garnetors, we get over things quickly right? Just like bad break-ups. Haha merepek.

And now, the thank you list:

Zaba: For vounteering to shoulder the heaviest burden of all. Not getting an award for your work doesn't mean that you're not a good director, right?

Atiqah: For writing a beautiful script for us. I really thought that we stood an equal chance like other houses, but unfortunately luck was not on our side.

Farahani: For trying her best in providing costumes for the actors and actresses that night. We all know that you've gone through a lot of pressure due to this. Although you might be a little dejected with the results, trust me, your efforts did not go to waste. And our android trees were undoubtedly the most awesome costume that night.

Jojo: For the backdrop and countless number of other things she did. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings the other day. It was definitely unintentional.

Afif: For getting the job done:P

Fara Ain, Najah, Farah Hazwani and the usual crew: For the dedication! They were always there when we needed them most. Cayalah.

Sorry if I've missed a few names. On a more serious note, to the rest of Garnetors who didn't bother showing up during the preparation at all, please read Aimi's blog. Or if you don't even bother clicking the link here, let me make things easy for you.

Garnet only won the Best Props. Oh well, something is better than nothing. Congratulations to fellow Topazians. You guys well-deserved it, like what Bangbil said to me, they really wanted to win, so you can imagine how much effort every Topazian put in. Garnetors were not really enthusiastic, i must say. As always. I don't know why but it's like a tradition or something. Somehow, it's really hard for us to change it and i think it's because of the mentality that we have. You know in every event, we'll be like, ' Ah, we can never win. The other houses are way better'. And truth be told, there you go, a LOSER once again. I am just telling the truth. I am a Garnetor myself.

It can be really frustrating thinking about the effort that you have put in for more than a month just for that 30-minute show and in the end, you lost. I guess, it has pros and cons. We have to sacrifice our time, energy and our studies to attend practices and, to prepare thebackdrop, props, costumes and the list goes on and on.

And yesterday, it ended. And that's it. Next year, at this time, the same routine will begin again.

Should it continue like this?

There, she said it. Personally, I was quite affected by the results. This Bangsawan will the last event for the seniors and soon we will step down and lock ourselves in our rooms and become kiasus (right Jo?), but it's sad to learn that our last event as committee members was not quite a successful one. I do understand the fact that academic matters should always come first, but why can't we excel in both? It's our lack of enthusiasm that really bothers me. And yet we call ourselves the house of "Flaming Enthusiasm?" Ah, the irony. I really really hope that the upcoming committee members will do something about this.

I think that's enough. Anyway, this is a statement from your house captain, and no I'm not trying to save my face. I am merely telling you the truth. Thank you for your time.

In Difficult Times

2009-02-08T16:34:00.000+08:00

Difficult situations can sometimes bring out the best (and worst) in us. In desperate times, we will show our true colours. Our judgement on a particular issue will be clouded. Morality and integrity will be carelessly overlooked. Squealers will squeak at gun point. Well, except for Tony Montana of course. "Why don't you try sticking your head p your ass — see if it fits." Even at gunpoint and with a chain saw about to slice open his friend Angel's head, Tony doesn't know when to shut up. Epic. Some will abandon the rest of the crew and jump on another ship, blinded by the promises of the captain of the other ship. Self interest will become the main motivation. And leaders will become robbers, depriving the people of their rights. But fret not, for truth will prevail in Perak.

But it is Bangsawan that I want to talk about. It was over last Friday, marking the end of a month's worth of tears, tension and unnecessary labour for A Level students like us. For the past four weeks, everyone involved was very much made estranged to their academic progress. Well, in some cases perhaps. Unfinished homeworks and skipped classes became a norm, although most certainly they were just plain excuses. One thing for sure, Bangsawan preparation definitely had robbed my rugby session in the evening and my occasional visit to the RC at night. And now that it's over, I can finally rest my head and concentrate on other important stuffs.

However, let's admit that not all is bad about Bangsawan. Although the pressure it brought along had caused physical and emotional damages to certain people, I must say it was also a blessing in disguise. It had brought us closer, not just as a mere organisation, but also as a family. And it also gave us a lesson on how to deal with difficult situations. Perhaps the men in Perak could pick up a few lesssons from us too? Haha.

Now that it's over, will things change for the better or back to where it began?

Do We Have Our Own Mr Hyde?

2009-02-08T15:51:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I feel I just don't quite like myself when I'm at home. Here, I become everything that I don't want to be. Disconnected, alone, plain lazy. And everything else in between. This room I'm in right now...it just attracts too much negativity. This is where the bad habits reign supreme. It's amazing how our surroundings can actually shape us. And just like chameleons, we adapt to different environments, differently - all according to our own ways. It's just that sometimes our adaptations may not be as expected by the flock. And the fear of rejection and bad perceptions may sometimes lead us to camouflaging some parts we do not wish to share with others. Like our dirty little secrets, I should say.

Makes me wonder, is there another side to everyone that they wish to conceal from others? Do we have our own Mr Hyde, hidden deep within our skin?

Of Bangsawan And Hyperinflation

2009-01-17T15:35:00.000+08:00

Block One. History class. So Mr Brookes' position has now been replaced by Miss Daleen, an expat from South Africa who is also a qualified IELTS examiner. It's been two weeks already since we bid farewell to Mr Brookes, and I have to say things are much better now compared to Day One, when she first introduced herself to the class. In the beginning I thought we were going to have an imperious, somewhat scary 30 something year old Caucasian woman from South Africa as our teacher. And the thought of having to endure the pain for the rest of the semester definitely does not make things any better. But I've survived the horror. Now I realise that Ms Daleen is actually a nice person. And to be frank, I am most impressed with her ability to make the whole class participate in discussions and stuffs. Now, even Tiki can't be as silent as she wanted to be in class.

Some random things I've learnt for the past two weeks:

1. Laos is one of the most bombed countries in the world. Not quite a tourist attraction now is it?

2. Seriously, without the US participation in the Vietnam War, Hollywood would have been dead by now. Hundreds of Vietnam War films have been produced since the 70s, and trust me, they will keep making them in many years to come. "Hey we haven't made a film about the Vietnam War for quite some time now. Let's make another!"

3. Citizens of the world should be more concerned with the US and the European countries economic downturn that is taking place right now, rather than diverting their attention to small and insignificant matters like the hyperinfation in Zimbabwe, or the war in Gaza for that matter. People should be concerned with the rising unemployment rate due to job cuts and the failing economy. "Starvation in Zimbabwe due to economic sanction and hyperinflation? Ah, they'll manage." "The survival of our automotive industry or the lives of the people in Gaza? Hm, that's a tough one. I think I'll pick the former." What an interesting time we're living in right now. Sad, innit?

4. I figured that the preparation for Bangsawan which started last Monday is now beginning to take its toll on me. I don't quite like the fact that I can only see the same faces coming to lend their hands with the props preparation every day. God knows what happens to the rest who don't bother showing up at all, even when they have every reason not to hide in their rooms. And I haven't been able to really sit down and study at all too. Haih. That kind of explains why I find myself clueless in Math class this week. I had planned to start over when the path is clear for me, meaning when I am no longer associated to Bangsawan or the high committee of Garnet House. But that will be too late. Luckily Fatin, being a very self-motivated person that she is, had requested Mr Mahadzir for extra classes. And I, being a supportive friend, agreed to join her. And so we had our first class this morning. A week's worth of Mechanics lessons in half an hour. Now that's something. Thanks Fatin:)

5. "The hardest part is waiting." I still haven't received a reply from Cambridge concerning my application yet. I get nervous every time I check my emails. And people keep coming to me every now and then, asking questions like, "How's your application?" "Any news yet?" and "Still in the pool, yeah?"

"Yeah, still swimming." That's what I would normally answer. By the way, out of the five people who were in the pool in the first place, only me and Sabrina are still surviving. Best of luck to both of us.

6. Sapphire's ICAN video is brilliant! Attiyaa, we should do a collaboration some time:)

7. Thanks to Ms Rena, I now understand why female genitalia mutilation (FGM) is heavily criticised and condemned by human rights activists. It's scary as hell! However, it is imperative to recognise the differences between the mild practice of female circumcision at one end of the spectrum and the extreme genitalia mutilation at another.

By the way, according to state-run media on Friday, Zimbabwe's Central Bank will introduce a $100 trillion Zimbabwean banknote (which is worth US $33 on the black market) to try to ease desperate cash shortages. Our saviour, President Robert Mugabe. What a brilliant person he is.

The Black Man Should Get Tough With Israel

2009-01-11T18:40:00.000+08:00

I realise that most of the things I write here are pretty much about myself. My daily routine, the occasional joy and disappointments I let out - most of them are attributed to my own little bubble I'm living in. I find them easier to share with. But mind you, I am not ignorant. I do care about what happens around the world as we speak. Besides the the panic and constant apprehension experienced by the European nations and the US over the recent economic downturn which has become the main topic of discussions almost everywhere on the internet these past few months, another important issue which demands the world's attention and action is of course the Palestinian crisis. A 60 year old crisis which is yet to meet with a satisfying conclusion for both conflicting parties.

And now, as the Jews in the region are flexing their muscles through an extravagant showcase of missiles and tanks, at least 800 Palestinian lives had already been sacrificed. People say Jews worry for a living - their tragic history comples them to do so. The potential for a nuclear Iran, combined with the growing accuracy and lethality of Hamas and Hizbullah rockets, will create tremendous concern. But they still cannot justify why the innocent children of Gaza had to pay the price. Collateral damage, they claim. You call putting bullets into a helpless three year old kid collateral damage? Oh come on. Don't insult my intelligence. Are you going to use the same excuse for the other 300 kids who shared the same fate too? Please.

Illustrating just how insecure the Jews have been feeling for the past 60 years.

One thing we know for sure - Palestine is being victimised by parties who seek to benefit the most from this bloody political powerplay. Be it Livni, the Jews back home, the Saud King, or even Hamas - to me, nothing is as it seems. There are always hidden agendas.

What can we do to help them? Pray to God for the Palestinians' well being, run donation drives to raise funds, send medical supplies to the collapsing hospitals, increase public awareness by running campaigns. But for now, forget boycotting American products. Admit it, we're just too dependent on them. And I bet not many will answer the call for boycotting anyway. Hence it will not work as effective as we think it will be. Since the rest of the Muslim community can only protest in street demonstrations in front of embassies while most of the leaders just shy away, in my opinion, the most realistic solution to the crisis so far lies in the hand of the the most powerful man in the world - The President of the United States. No, not Bush. Barrack Obama, when he steps into the Oval Office this Jan 20. This view is expressed by Aaron David Miller in his article in the latest Newsweek issue.

If Obama is serious about peacemaking he'll have to adjust that balance in two ways. First, whatever the transgressions of the Palestinians (and there are many, including terror, violence and incitement), he'll also have to deal with Israel's behavior on the ground. The Gaza crisis is a case in point. Israel has every reason to defend itself against Hamas. But does it make sense for America to support its policy of punishing Hamas by making life unbearable for 1.5 million Gazans by denying aid and economic development? The answer is no.

Then there's the settlements issue. In 25 years of working on this issue for six secretaries of state, I can't recall one meeting where we had a serious discussion with an Israeli prime minister about the damage that settlement activity—including land confiscation, bypass roads and housing demolitions—does to the peacemaking process. There is a need to impose some accountability. And this can only come from the president. But Obama should make it clear that America will not lend its auspices to a peacemaking process in which the actions of either side willfully undermine the chances of an agreement America is trying to broker. No process at all would be better than a dishonest one that hurts America's credibility.

Second, Obama will have to maintain his independence and tactical flexibility to play the mediator's role. This means not road testing everything with Israel first before previewing it to the other side, a practice we followed scrupulously during the Clinton and Bush 43 years. America must also not agree to every idea proposed by an Israeli prime minister. Our willingness to go along with Ehud Barak's make-or-break strategy at the Camp David summit proved very costly where more disciplined critical thinking on our part might have helped preempt the catastrophe that followed. Coordinating with Israel on matters relating to its security is one thing. Giving Israel a veto over American negotiating tactics and positions, particularly when it comes to bridging gaps between the two sides, is quite another.

If the new president adjusts his thinking when it comes to Israel, and is prepared to be tough with the Arabs as well, the next several years could be fascinating and productive ones. I hope so, because the national interest demands it. The process of American mediation will be excruciatingly painful for Arabs, Israelis and Americans. But if done right, with toughness and fairness, it could produce the first real opportunity for a peace deal in many years.
Miller, an adviser for Democratic and Republican administrations and author of “The Much Too Promised Land,” is at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Saturday Morning

2009-01-10T08:28:00.000+08:00

Dude, my Cambridge application got in the winter pool yo. I'm neither sad nor overjoyed by this, but as an optimistic Nea would put it, at least I can still be hopeful. Yes, I am well aware of the competition and no, I am not putting high hopes on this one. But it'll be awesome if they do consider my application and offer me a place at one of their colleges (besides Girton). I mean, to make it this far is quite an achievement for me. Watching others meeting with disappointment over their Oxbridge applications is a painful experience already. So yeah, I will keep my fingers crossed and pray to God for His guidance. Wait, I don't mean the first part literally. You can't really cross your fingers while you're praying right? It's peculiar and inappropriate. I've done my part, and now it is entirely up to Him. In the meantime, I'll just carry on with my daily routine. Anxiously and ever patiently.

The first week returning back to college was pretty smooth I think. Although I must point out that not everything that I had planned worked out. I should at least equip myself to face the tight schedule ahead (organiser, anyone?). Haha I don't know how effective it'll be, but I think I'll give it a try. Events this semester include ICAN, Bangsawan and Garnet housetrip, among others which I pretend not to care. Sometimes I wonder why I have to worry about all these things when the real event this semester, in case you've forgotten, is our A2 exams in May and June. Speaking of which, our AS level result will come out this 21st of January. Another painful wait. Please please please spare me from having to resit for the papers thanks to horrible results. So yes Fatin, I would love to join you for a revision class with Mr Mahadzir.

Owh I think I miss my hair. Tsk tsk.

The Week That Was. In Retrospect.

2009-01-06T23:52:00.001+08:00

So I've turned 20 three days ago. Not quite an awesome feeling, but I guess I embraced it like a man. My birthday celebration this year was something I will never ever forget. Not once in my life have I felt being so appreciated as a friend. At least not in such an extraordinary way like I had with my close friends a few days ago. First it was Nabila. Initially she had planned a surprise mini party for this aging soul, but there was some miscommunication somewhere along the way, jeopardizing the surprise itself. And the presence of another friend too. But to me, everything was perfect from the point when Juek, Blur and Nabila arrived at the LRT station with a birthday cake, followed by the mini celebration we had at the golf course in Bukit Jelutong. Thanks a lot Nabila and the rest for the surprise. I really appreciate the fact that you took the trouble of carrying the cupcakes around that morning.

Fatin almost made it here in the pictures.

And last Saturday it was time for an intimate celebration among the Shah Alam crew members. A representative from Damansara joined the party too. This time, it was Aainaa who planned the whole thing. First, she picked me up from my place (along with Faris, Shahir and Akmal) and took us to an undisclosed location which later came to my realisation as Marche, located at the Curve. An awesome place it was. They also presented me with a chocolate fudge cake with "You're Freaking 20 Oggy!" written on it, courtesy of Shahir's sister. Gee, thanks for the reminder, peeps. We had a good time at the bowling alley afterwards. By the way Aainaa, I demand a rematch:P *Owh a little footnote* If you're planning to ask Nea out for a bowling match, don't forget to bring Akmal along. You know, so as not to embarass yourself with the score (if you're not pretty good at it, that is). Haha, no offence bro:D

Awesomeness.

I had a great time celebrating my adulthood weyy. So thanks a lot, you people are the coolest bunch of friends ever. I'm sorry if I've spoilt your surprises. I really didn't mean to:/

By the way, adulthood? HAHAHAHAHA.
I'll save it for later.

Yay...?

2009-01-02T11:13:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year Yo!

Fatin Afiqah

2009-01-02T10:26:00.000+08:00

1. Apakah benda yang paling penting dalam hidup kamu?

Family.

2. Apakah benda terakhir yang kamu beli dengan wang sendiri?

Top Gear issue 22.

3. Di manakah tempat impian perkahwinan kamu?

Macam Mawi. Hahahahaha.

4. Berapa lama anda rasa hubungan kamu berkekalan?

Lama. Jap, hubungan apa?

5. Adakah anda dilamun cinta?

6. Di manakah restoran terakhir kamu makan malam?

Rasta.

7. Namakan buku terakhir yang kamu beli?

Top Gear issue 22.

8. Apakah nama penuh kamu?

Alif Nurhaziq Abd Rahman

9. Kamu lebih senang dengan mak atau ayah?

Mak dan ayah.

10. Namakan seseorang yang kamu ingin jumpa untuk pertama kalinya dalam hidup anda?

Adolf Hitler.

11.Sebutkan 8 nama sahabat yang paling rapat dengan kamu?

Faris
Shahir
Aainaa
Nabila
Fatin
Abu
Faizzamri
Azwa

12. Adakah kamu mencuci pakaian anda sendiri?

Takmo jawab.

13. Tempat yang paling seronok kamu mahu pegi?

Buat masa sekarang, safari di Afrika Selatan.

14. Pelukan atau ciuman?

Soalan apakah ini?

15. Butirkan 5 perkara tentang orang yang tag kamu.

Penghuni RC sepenuh masa.
Menangis bukan hobinya.
Penggemar F1.
Suri rumah contoh. Malang sekali masih belum up to standard, mengikut segelintir pihak.
Anak Mr Mahadzir!

16. 8 perkara yang amat saya gilai buat masa sekarang

Blogging.
IM
Photography.
Resident Evil 4.
Internet yang sederhana laju.
Tidur.
Makan.
Memalaskan diri.

17. 8 perkataan yang sering di ucapkan.

"Weyy..."

18. 8 buah buku yang paling terbaru dibaca.

Lapan? Biar betul.

19. 10 lagu yang saya boleh dengar berulang kali.

Mates of State - My Only Offer
Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire
The Decemberists - Yankee Bayonet
The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You
Fall Out Boy - America's Suiteheart
Barry Manilow - Can't Smile Without You
Snow Patrol - Run
Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos!
Muse - Hysteria

20. 8 perkara yang saya pelajari tahun lalu.

Kepentingan menguruskan masa dengan bijak.
Rakan-rakan: Tanpa mereka, hidup kurang indah.
Menjadi rajin bukan satu pilihan, tetapi suatu kemestian.
Jika kurang pasti tentang sesuatu perkara, pastikan.
Menjadi ketua adalah suatu amanah yang sangat berat.
Punya masalah? Selesaikan segera. Makin lama dibiarkan, makin sarat jadinya.
Mind over matter.
Overexcitedness dalam melakukan sesuatu perkara kadang-kala boleh mengundang bencana.

21. Mari men'tag' 9 orang lain.

Syamim.
Haziq.
Pokchek.
Mariam.
Abyan.
Majin.
Dan selebihnya.

I Think I'm Better With My Artificial Intelligence

2008-12-26T19:46:00.001+08:00

Fifteen weird things/habits/little known facts about myself.

1) I often read newspapers out loud when I'm alone. Yes, like a newscaster.

Yes, believe it or not, I do that almost every morning after I finish my breakfast. Normally I will sit on the dining table downstairs and I will read out loud some interesting articles from The Star, starting from the sports section to more serious issues like the latest celebrity scandals. No I'm kidding. The world news actually. It's a habit that I picked up since I was in primary school. The funny thing is that the reading comes with facial expressions too. My English teacher said it would help me speak the language better. Haha. Now I can't seem to break the habit.

2) I talk to myself quite a lot actually, especially when no one is around.

Absolutely true. On the way to class, while I'm in the car alone, in the shower, or even when I'm about to go to bed, I will unintentionally pick up a conversation with myself, with topics ranging from current issues to future plans. Creepy, I know. But don't freak out. I'm still a pretty decent guy really. Hey, at least we've never had an argument.

3) Remember the show Barney & Friends? I used to have a huge crush on one of the cast when I was 6.

No, not Barney! This sounds rather silly, but this is a true story. I kid you not, I swear. Remember the jovial blonde girl in the show? Her name is Ashley. She was featured in the show from 1995 to 1999. Every afternoon I would watch the show, not because I liked seeing a dancing purple dinosaur, but rather because Ashley was on TV. She was cute weyh. But um, I might have taken it a little bit too far by writing letters to her. I didn't get the chance to deliver them though, which I thought was a good thing. Who knows what might happen if she actually read them?

4) I was a target of bullies during my kindergarten years. Then later when I was in Standard Two, I became a bully. Hey, if you can't beat them, join them. Right? Um...no?

Karma, they say. Yeah, I used to hate going to the kindergarten a lot because of that. I still can't figure out the reason why my classmates hated me so much, even until now. For your info, this is not the kindergarten which I had mentioned in my previous post. This one is before that. Anyway, some of the boys would take my belongings in the bag during recess time and throw them on the floor on a regular basis. There was one time when they even cut my shoelaces for no reason. Some of the girls were unsympathetic too. They would verbally abuse me in class. No I don't know why. Sheesh, but I do know that they really have acid tongues. Then when I became the monitor of class of 2 Anggerik, I put myself in the bullies' shoes, trying to understand their situation. And oh my it felt so good! When teachers were not around attending staff meetings, we would pick a fight with the neighbouring class, just for rereational purposes. Memang havoc giler. It's a guilty pleasure kind of thing. Luckily it all stopped the following year when I became a prefect. I'm changed man altogether now. Haha.

5) I used to sing in the shower out loud at home. This stopped when I finally figured that my neighbour could actually enjoy my performance too.

Haha, how embarrassing! No wonder they were looking at me in a peculiar way the other day. And the giggle that came after that too. Erk.

6) I was able to identify almost every car models that I saw on the road when I was 5.

My dad used to buy this British magazine called What Car? every month. It's an £8 car magazine full of pictures and reviews and news which I found very interesting to browse through. Pretty much like my textbook back then.

7) Stage fright. I still get that when appearing before an audience.

Yep2. I tend to beat around the bush a lot when I get nervous. And say the wrong things too. Haih.

8) I think British accent sounds pretty handsome when spoken.

Don't you agree? Listen to Beckham, Daniel Craig, Clive Owen, Alex Turner, or even Mr Conquest when they speak. It sounds so proper.

9) I have long eyelashes. Long, but not curvy, which is pretty disappointing actually.

It's a gift from God, I know. Dust won't get into my eyes that easy. At least I'll survive walking across the stormy desert with eyes wide open, just like the camels. I used to hate them a lot, but now I think they're pretty sexy actually. HAHAHAHA. I mean, I don't mind people making fun of them anymore.

10) High School Musical is not that bad actually. Hehe.

Um, no comments on that.

11) I used to think Japanese men know how to dress better than the rest of the entire world population.

And I still do actually. They can be a little out of this world at times, but hey, it looks just awesome to me.

12) I secretly wanted to be Westlife's sixth member back when they released their first album.

Haha, the dark ages when boyband reigned supreme and ruled the airwaves. I used to think they were a bunch of cool people. I imagined myself being on tour with them all over the world with millions of fans dying to meet us in person. Owh, I even made a back-up plan if Westlife rejected my application. N Sync and Backstreet Boys ade lagi:P Haha I felt so stupid for sharing this with you.

13) Somehow I think it's easier to lie than telling the truth.

Just a thought.

14) If procrastination is a paid job, I think I would've been a billionaire by now.

Trust me on this one. Haha.

15) I find it hard when it comes to giving detailed descriptions or instructions to people.

I know what I want in my mind, but sometimes I just can't share the exact impression with others. Lack of vocabulary perhaps? And I tend to ramble a lot too. Sigh. I think I have a problem in conversing properly.

Thanks for tagging Audrey, this is pretty interesting actually:)

Now I'm tagging:
- Syamim
- Haziq
- Fatin
- Azwa
- You.

I know you're bored right now, so do it yo:P

A Little Twist in the Plot...No?

2008-12-25T14:50:00.000+08:00

I had planned on writing a post about what followed my arrival from the zoo last Tuesday. I wanted to tell you how angry my mum was for not answering her phone calls. Yes, the 28 missed calls. I told her that the cellphone was to blame. It was already fully charged the night before and yet it still went dead while I was busy working at the zoo. Tired and definitely not in the mood for her lecture, I stressed out the point that it was purely unintentional. It was the phone. But she had more rational and solid counter arguments against mine, so I gave in. It was already Maghrib anyway. I had to get ready for the activity we had planned for the night ("we" being me, Reno, Ali and Haziq) - go karting in Shah Alam.

Later I found out that she had called several friends of mine too, asking about my whereabout.
Haih.

I also wanted to tell you how twisted my Tuesday was. The trip to the zoo was something I really looked forward to. It started off well, but it didn't end the way I wanted it to be. The supposed go kart racing was a big letdown too. I had called the place earlier, asking if it opens that night. The voice at the other end of the line confidently confirmed this, so we thought everything would turn out okay. But it didn't. When we arrived at the place, it was already closed. I felt so pathetic and miserable. Luckily this bunch of people knew how to have fun, even in the worst case possible. Hence, determined not to let their trip to Shah Alam to go to waste, they decided to have a mini tour around the city. Armed with only a camera, we went on a photoshooting spree - from the arcade of Plaza Masalam to the lake nearby the PKNS building and finally concluding the tour at a mamak restaurant in Bukit Jelutong.

What a night it was.
Thank you for making my day.

But I couldn't tell the whole story properly because something went horribly askew yesterday.
I don't want my writing to sound rather narrative, so let me just stress some key points from the incident.

Number one. We decided to have the go kart racing yesterday. And so we did. Called the person in charge three times in advance, just to be clear. Nine of us turned up that afternoon - Haziq, Ali, Reno, Wiri, Faris, adik Reno, Farrah, Meri and me.

Number two. So we had an awesome race. While busy tackling corners and drifting through the hairpins, I felt something slipping through my pocket and it went to my back. But perhaps I was too busy manouvering the circuit to notice, so I ignored it.

Number three. Little did I know that it was actually my cellphone slipping out of my pocket. It only came to my realisation after the race ended. I checked the seat of the go kart, but to no avail. Panicked, I searched around the circuit, leaving no area untouched. The rest tried to help as well. We even tried calling the number to see if it could lead us somewhere. It couldn't. In the end, our one hour search around the mini circuit only met with my own frustration.

Number four. Here's the thing. The fact that the phone couldn't be reached suggests that it was either damaged as it hit the ground, or someone might have found it lying somewhere and switched it off. And kept it for himself. The first theory was indeed valid. But to be fair, we had covered the whole area in our search, so even if it was smashed upon impact, we could at least find its little pieces somewhere. But nope, none was found. I hate to be judgemental and pessimistic, but this actually leads me to the second theory. It could still be on the seat when I left the go kart and someone might have noticed the cellphone and quickly took it and make it his. This sounds rather silly, but my previous phone shared the same misfortune too. And um, I guess when you've become a victim once, you are somehow able to sense this kind of thing happening. It's like a victim's hunch I should say. Or maybe I just don't know who to blame.

Number five: Why do I put my cellphone in my pocket? Dude, everybody else did the same thing too, so it was not an issue. If my spider sense was tingling that day, I probably would've just left it in the car. But maybe things were meant to happen that day, and so it happened anyway.

So yeah, I lost my phone. My bad Wednesday. I figured that Fatin had a bad day too. Haih. Malang memang tak berbau. I will probably get my number back soon, so in the mean time, I'm pretty much a phoneless guy. Just like the old days. Hey, actually this is pretty funny, come to think of it. My cellphone and I were not in good terms lately. I've said some bad things behind its back. Lagging la, battery cacat la. Besar gedabak la. Maybe it felt offended, hence it decided to disappear. Padan muke saya tak bersyukur. My only regret was that we did not part ways in good terms. Sigh.

To Nabila, thanks for organising the voluntary work at the zoo yet again. Really appreciated it. And the brief visit to your place too. Everything was great except for the timing. Sorry if I ever offended you in any way. And I know that my mum was texting you that day, so the whole "jangan-beritahu-oggy" thing tu bley stop dah:P To Fatin, jangan fobia nak basuh baju lak lepas ni. Haha. And get well soon yo. Tak macho la nangis2.

Happy December the 25th everyone.

A Little Twisted Tuesday I Should Say

2008-12-24T01:27:00.000+08:00

I woke up at around 5.30am today because I had a community service at the zoo. I had to wake up early because I didn't want to go there unprepared. Plus, I was driving. Traffic jams can be a real pain in the ass, especially in crucial moments in which I'm sure you've familiarised yourself with. We were supposed to be there at 8. However, due to a slight miscalculation on my behalf, I arrived at exactly 7. Hence a good 60 minutes of waiting took place immediately after I parked my car at the zoo reserve parking space. No I was not tired...yet. The prospect of me having a great time that day rather silenced my pessimistic side's counter argument.

The first lesson today - as voluntary workers, expect ourselves to be fully utilised by the authority. Yes, the dry leaves on the floor, the clogged drain at the hamster house, the hungry mice begging to be fed, the almost full garbage cans, and even the cleanliness of the crocodiles' den - they are all under your portfolio. At least that's how Mr Hamdan and Mr Ravi made me perceive the situation. No I'm not complaining. Some of the things we did today were absolutely fun. Sweeping the dry leaves while being stared by the gang of crocodiles hanging out close by was like experiencing an intimate moment with the wild. Yes, we were in the den, sweeping. And yes, they were only a couple of feet away from us. The activity at the hamster house allowed us to grab the rattlesnakes' lunch menu by the tail. Too bad these cute creatures had to become a part of the food chain. Some fast-paced action drama were involved somewhere along the line too.

But um, since we volunteered ourselves to be part of the team, I think we deserved the right to draw a limit to our commitment to the job, don't you think? 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,' Newton concluded. Well, this is an explanation of the extra time we took for breaks and, ahem, the breaking-in of the room just now. So if you happen to read this, Mr Ravi and Mr Hamdan, please understand that we have our reasons.

I've told you before about my cellphone. One moment it states that the battery is full, then later it dies just like that. I always thought that I just couldn't be bothered by its inappropriate behaviour. I guess I was wrong. 28 missed calls. In three hours. Sheesh. Indeed I was badly affected by it.

The journey home from the zoo just now was such a complicated issue that I prefer not to endure again. But it already happened. Why bother bringing that up again?

Summing it up, it involved:
A race against time. A supermassive parking lot on the road. Fulfilling wants. Discomfort, camouflaged. Destinations. Delays. An unacceptable excuse. Home. Lame jokes. An overworried mother. A pissed off driver. A silent outrage. A dead cellphone. A circle of friends. A wrong turn. Spaghetti.A stormy weather. Unanswered calls. Pudding. A little bit of anger. Fatigue. Unnecesary troubles. Complications. Insistence. Ignorance. A short notice. Awkward conversations. Concerns. Smelly clothes. Gratitude. A safe journey.

Ah. Maybe I'm just plain tired.
That probably explained why I was in such a mood.

Yes, I'm Still Basking in Sentimentality.

2008-12-17T16:31:00.000+08:00

I wanna share a story. Back then when I was primary school kid, the dial-up internet, which was made possible thanks to the 56K modem, was something new and revolutionary. Everybody in the class was super excited by its existence. Their fondness of the technology was made obvious through incessant sessions of online chatting. I was no exception. Friendster and Facebook were unheard of back then, hence besides communicating through e-mails and Yahoo Messenger, there was practically nothing else that we found interesting (well except for some who were thrilled by their online adventures to 'the other side', if you know what I mean). And soon I grew tired of it.

I decided to do something different. I signed up for penpal programmes at various websites, you know, just for the sake of trying. At first I thought it was rather useless and unprofitable. Plus, my English was only as good as the typical Standard 5 Malay boys from Kemaman, if not worse. So I didn't put any hope in getting noticed at all. Well, not long after I submitted my application online, I found out I was wrong. A girl named Bobbijo Harrison from New South Wales, Australia sent me an e-mail, asking whether if we could become penpals. And yes I was very very thrilled.

"Internet is so awesome!"

We exhanged e-mails for quite some time, talking about things ranging from hobbies to cultures and everything else 11-year-olds would talk about. I was so happy. Tapi malang tak berbau. It was raining heavily that particular afternoon and as usual I was surfing the internet when all of a sudden the thunder struck the house, causing a blackout. I thought it was only temporary. Later that day I found out that it had also claimed the life of my modem. And the computer too.

For a month, Bobbijo had not heard anything from me. When we finally got the computer back from the store, I tried contacting her again. But she just disappeared. Maybe thunders struck her house too. But that was it. Her story, I mean. Tak habis lagi la:P Then I started writing to even more people. There was this girl form Arkansas named Katie who shared a lot of stories about horses and alfalfa. Very interesting. I can't remember why we stopped exchanging emails. Owh, maybe I forgot my password and had to make a new email account but I couldn't remember her email because it's stored in my previous account resulting in me not being able to contact her anymore. Phew. That's quite a mouthful. Or maybe I just made that up.

And there was also Joanna Kroliczek, from Poland.

This is her. She was eleven while this picture was taken.

Yes I was intimidated. Look at me when I was her age. Haha.

Yeah this is the last letter that I received from her. I found it last Sunday when I was cleaning up my room. At the end of her letter, she asked me to send her my photo.

Did she get it?
Sadly, no. Because I never bothered to write her back.
Only two letters and that was it.
Teruk sungguh.

The moral of the story?
Jangan online mase tengah hujan lebat.

Unearthed!

2008-12-14T22:16:00.001+08:00

So nothing really interesting happened today. Instead of following the usual routine of going out on Sunday, I spent the whole day rearranging stuff in my room and while doing so, I took the effort to clean it up as well. It's not that it needs a lot of cleaning up since it's already in the list of things that I regularly do. Religiously, in fact. Hehe. So yeah, this is how it looks after the mini mountain of unwanted stuffs that used to live here made its exit from my room. Bukan banyak beza pun. Memang dah bersih dari dulu:PPemandangan normal di bilik saya. Serius.

They say hard work will pay off eventually. Or something like that. Well, in my case, this is indeed true. However, the reward for my effort came in a less conventional form. Guess what I found hidden in the cupboard for years? This!

Haha. Who are these bunch of children in red pants? Kanak-kanak Tadika Seri Budi Kemaman! This picture was taken in 1995. The third from left is Shah and the second (standing) from right is Kamarul. We were best friends back then. Very very close. But I'm not sure if we still are now.

My classmates.

The tadika that I went to used to organise a lot of activities which obviously require the kids to participate in. In this picture, we were performing a song which I couldn't remember the title. It was Graduation Day I think. Or something similar. That night, we became cowboys, dancing tribesmen and also not-so-accomplished junior bodybuilders. I can't show you the pictures because they are not so, um, 'appropriate' :D

Curious, I dug up all the albums that I've abandoned in the cupboard for years and found more and more pictures of my former self. Haha.

Like this, for instance.

Anyway, during my primary school years, I used to sign up for various kinds of co-curricular activities. Some were voluntary, like these.

Pengakap Muda! My earliest memories of sleeping in a tent, getting ambushed by gangs of mosquitos at night, marching in the sun, listening to ghost stories by the campfire, and everything else in between. Best gile.This was taken in 2000 I guess, during Perkhemahan Pengakap Sekolah-Sekolah Rendah Terengganu in Kerteh. Poyo je.

Haha. Zharif botak.

The group from Sek Keb Sultan Ismail, Kemaman.

Abu Ahnaf. See, I still remember his name.

And Tae Kwon Do too.

I received my yellow belt when I was in Standard Two.

And red/black tip when I was in Standard Six. I'm stuck in the same belt ever since.

On a different note, this is an example of the activities which I didn't really want to sign up for. But I did, involuntarily.

Me, Kamarul and a girl. Impiana Cherating, I think.

Swimming classes! Sounds fun, I know, but I couldn't think of any fun moments back then. Every class that I attended was like a prison sentence in disguise. Haha. I used to hate the swimming instructor very very much. He would take off his metal watch and throw it in the middle of the pool and ask us to bring it back to him. If you plan to make an excuse (because the thought of drowning scares the hell out of you), he'll simply answer by dipping your head into the water and push you to the middle of the pool. You're on your own, buddy boy! Does it sound fun to you? Almost every session I would struggle to live for another day (because of his stupid metal watch) and at times when I felt that I had reached my limit, I would scream out for help from those who would listen. Haha bodo je.

I knew I should've just played dead instead.

The Blueshirts.

Standard Five. Jamuan kelas 2000.

From left, back: Afifah Hidayah, Liyana Nabilah, Nadia Donut kot (haha oops), Haziq Muzir, Zharif, Sakinah. Front row, from left: Lupe, Lupe, Lupe, Ain Mohammed, Siti Khairunnisa, Afiq Azri, Kamarul, lupe, Anwar Hakim.

Call me sentimental, but seriously, it's great to relive those wonderful moments of childhood years every once in a while. If only digital cameras were already in stores back then, I bet thousands of pictures could have been taken. Senang sket. Actually, there are loads more that I could show you here, but maybe I'll just save them for later.

So yeah, my reward for staying at home and cleaning up my room for the whole of Sunday came in the form of nostalgic stories to reminisce upon. And here I am, sharing them with you.

What's your story?

Gombak

2008-12-11T01:18:00.001+08:00

I'm back from Yana's place. Had my tummy stuffed with grilled lamb, onion rings, apple crumble and what not. I was told that the apple crumble was Nea's first attempt. Not bad eyh.

Saw many familiar faces. All looking fine and dandy. Especially Haziq. That's cool, mainly because I didn't realise how serious the landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa had its impact on his family until I actually read his blog this afternoon. Then we heard the story from the man himself and saw the pictures from his camera. Scary as hell. Hope everything will turn out just fine for those who are affected by the calamity.

We were ahead of schedule in the first place actually. Pushed off from Shah Alam at around 5.45pm, partly because of the lesson we learnt the last time we went to Gombak (to Syamim's place). But we overlooked the fact that this time we didn't have to go all the way to Bukit Rimau to pick Shahir up from his place. So there was a little misjudgement with the timing. Realising the fact that we still had ample time at our disposal, we decided to watch a movie at One Utama. Madagacascar at 6.30pm. Pretty awesome actually.

The journey back home was a little bit dramatic as Bob and the gang decided to do it "Impak Maksima" style. We were supposed to have a mini convoy back to Shah Alam, but it didn't seem like it at all. Macam race ar pulak. Call it adrenaline rush, but throughout the journey I thought I was having a conversation with God. Cuak gile.

One Day In Prague

2008-12-09T20:53:00.000+08:00

Haha. I wish.

Raya Haji Comes Early!

2008-12-08T00:50:00.000+08:00

Canon EOS 450D with 18-200mm IS lens. Owh what joy.

As excited as a child getting a lollipop, I tested the new kit for a bit.Hangers galore!Yep2, it can even capture images of friendly toyols running around the house.
Sorry Afia:PRandom sungguh.Yeah. Hot naked chicks. Who can resist the temptation?

Hehe. Thanks ayah, you're the best.
Selamat Hari Raya Haji everyone!

You may not be reading this, but um...
Happy birthday Aainaa!

Gua ditagged!

2008-12-04T00:41:00.000+08:00

My top five most favourite foods :

Roti planta.
Kinder Bueno.
Muffins, preferably vanilla.
Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger.
Nasi & Telur. All time favourite.

Ten things i love doing :

Internet.
Music.
Photography.
Movies.
Sleeping.
Meeting people.
Um...blogging?
Games.
Sports.
Driving.

Five things i love doing when I'm emotional:

Sleep.
Have an intense conversation with my head.
Have a normal conversation with close friends.
Menyalahkan objek tidak bernyawa.
Three Rs - Relax. Reflect. React.

Five things I love doing when I'm happy :

I laugh.
I talk nonsense.
I smile.
I share my happiness with others. Chey.
I do stupid things and publicly embarass myself. Unintentionally.

Five things I wish to happen :

Awesome AS Level results.
An e-mail from Cambridge, saying "You're in, bro!"
Obama living up the expections of his voters and supporters.
Waking up realizing that I still have hours to continue sleeping.
I wish that they all would come true.

My top five addicted songs :

Sex On Fire - Kings of Leon
Pokerface - Lady GaGa
My Only Offer - Mates of State
Yankee Bayonet - The Decemberists
Death to Los Campesinos! - Los Campesinos!

Five people I wish to tag :

Mariam
Fatin
Nabila (tapi dia takde blog)
Pokchek
Anda!

Langkawi, As I Recall It

2008-12-02T20:04:00.000+08:00

Pingat Darjah Keberanian: JLo
Terbukti JLo berpegang teguh pada prinsip mind over matter ketika menaiki cable car ke puncak Gunung Machincang. Meskipun claustrophobic, keberaniannya mengatasi segalanya. Syabas.

Tangisan seorang wira.

Di Langkawi, kami lebih banyak bertutur dalam loghat Terengganu daripada loghat Utara yang mungkin lebih appropriate dengan keadaan demografinya. Even Aman pun xbley control at times.

Padang Besar.

Siapakah salah seorang ahli kumpulan yang hampir ditinggalkan bas gara-gara terlalu asyik menikmati nasi lemak di R&R dalam perjalanan ke Alor Setar?
-Ashraaf Raiez!

Ahli kumpulan yang paling bersemangat kolej? Klu: Hampir setiap hari dia memakai baju-baju kolej untuk ke mana-mana sahaja di Langkawi.
-Ashraaf Raiez lagi!Perhatikan Ashraaf Raiez. Go Garnet Go!

Dr Rahmat, bapa Bandung sebenarnya peminat lagu-lagu berunsur opera.
Pada malam barbeque di banglo merah jambunya, radio di balkoni mendendangkan lagu-lagu tersebut untuk hiburan kami. Zul, peminat harcore Def Leppard dan Guns N Roses, kelihatan interested dengan melodinya.

Kedengaran alunan melodi opera di atmosfera. Perfect.

Zul gemar scuba-diving. Di air terjun. Ketika breakfast.Beberapa ketika sebelum Zul melepaskan gian.

Muka Faiz member Farah Hazwani tu sebijik macam Juekk. Yep, Faiz tu perempuan.

"Ukur baju di badan sendiri." Pepatah yang paling sesuai untuk summarisekan pengalaman Aman membeli jersi di Padang Besar.

Roti di The Loaf memang mantap. Tetapi nasi lemak makcik berlori putih di kawasan tempat letak kereta sekitar Bayview Hotel yang terbaik. Tak hairanlah jika orang ramai sanggup menuggu giliran untuk mendapatkan nasi lemak pelbagai kombinasi makcik tersebut. Kuih2 dia pun sama. Pergh.

Makcik Bayview Hotel terbaik!

Pemenang Anugerah LAME Langkawi 2008: Nabila Majid
Lawak-lawak spontan yang paling kurang mendapat sambutan. Tahniah.

Tahniah Nabila!

Biasalah jika berkunjung ke mana-mana destinasi pelancongan, kita ingin mendapatkan souvenir sebagai kenang-kenangan. Bukan selalu dapat pergi ke sana. Tetapi bagaimana pula jika souvenir anda tiba dalam bentuk lawatan ke klinik dan tiga jahitan di kening? Syera, JLo dan Bandung punya cerita menarik setibanya kami di Jeti Kuah.

Soalan : Apa persamaan Ashraaf Raiez dan Zul?
Jawapan: Trip ini merupakan kali pertama mereka ke Langkawi.

Pada awal perjalanan ke Langkawi, Nabila ada menyatakan kepada kami tentang 'competition' yang dipersetujui antara Chimbo dan dia. Chimbo pada ketika ini sedang mengikuti trip ke pantai timur bersama satu kumpulan yang lain. Syaratnya mudah. Kumpulan yang mencapai target 4000 keping gambar diambil sepanjang trip menang.
Kami akhirnya menang, walaupun tidak mencapai target 4000 keping.

Ahli kumpulan paling semangat - Baku!Tak pernah tak semangat:P

Pernah mengalami sindrom post shopping regret? Sama ada anda membeli dan menyesal atau menyesal kerana tidak membeli. Sindrom ini mampu merosakkan percutian anda. Penyelesaiannya? Ikut cara Ariff Daud. Beli dahulu, cerita kemudian.Ahli kumpulan paling gembira di Padang Besar. Gambar menunjukkan hanya sebahagian daripada barang-barang yang telah dibelinya.

Sediakan makanan sebelum perjalanan panjang, terutamanya ketika dalam perjalanan menaiki kereta api yang sangat lama. Menu di kafenya tak banyak. Tapi chef2 dalam keretapi tu mesti cool kan? Kerja merata-rata. Sekejap di Ipoh, sekejap lagi di Arau. Hmm.

Menikmati mihun yang tak macam mihun sangat. Tapi bolehlah.

Ketika di Padang Besar, saya keliru seketika. Rata-rata orang yang saya temui, lebih ramai orang bertutur dalam bahasa Kelantan dan Siam daripada loghat utara. Membuatkan saya lupa sebentar bahawa kami sebenarnya di Perlis.

Padang Besar = Syurga Jersi Unggul.
Satu fakta benar yang tidak boleh disangkal lagi.Cakap je, semua ada.

Orang yang paling tenteram tidurnya ketika dalam kenderaan awam - Zul.
Baik di dalam bas atau di dalam gerabak kereta api, tiada apapun yang mampu menggugat tidurnya. Saya respect daya konsentrasinya yang tinggi.

Ketika di Pantai Chenang, pastikan anda berurusan dengan orang yang betul jika ingin bermain banana boat atau island hopping. Ade mamat ni memang tak putus asa mengajak kami menggunakan perkhidmatannya. Rumor has it that in the case of island-hopping, sometimes they just send you to one of the islands, and then leave you there for good. Owh-kay.

Riang-ria di Pantai Chenang.

Malam Maggi dan Jutaria di rumah bujang merupakan malam highlight bagi saya.
Memang xbley bla.

Tips untuk diri sendiri: Jika menyewa kenderaan di Langkawi secara berkumpulan, pastikan kenderaan tersebut cukup luas...dan mampu mendaki bukit.
Our pimped up ride. Yeah baby!

Lawatan kami ke Idaman Suri menyedarkan saya tentang betapa ignorantnya saya terhadap selera dan citarasa kebanyakan kaum ibu. Jika ada award untuk anak yang paling memahami antara kami semua, sudah pasti Shafielah pemenangnya. Tidak lekang phone dari telinganya ketika menerima pesanan daripada emaknya di Seremban dengan tekun. Dulang, cadar katil, utensil dapur, semuanya lengkap. Semua untuk emaknya. Saya? Um. Toblerone je kot. Tu pun untuk diri sendiri.

Apa bezanya rasa laksa penarak di Langkawi dan laksa yang biasa kita makan di kedai-kedai lain? Entahlah. Sampai sekarang saya masih belum dapat meneka jawapannya.

Owh, next time bila announcer perkhidmatan pengangkutan awam buat pengumuman "Harap maaf, kereta api mengalami sedikit kelewatan dan dijangka tiba sebentar sahaja lagi", pay no attention to the words 'sedikit kelewatan' and 'sebentar sahaja lagi' because seriously they have been misused. Hmph.
Kereta api usang pilihan kami!

Huhu.

One of the things I've learnt from the trip to Langkawi last week is how dependent we are on technology - mobile phones, to be precise. Sangat-sangat penting, sampaikan ketiadaannya buat kita tak tentu arah.

1. Just a moment after Nabila and I set foot on the sidewalk of Pudu Raya that Monday night for our bus ride to Alor Setar, she realized that her phone was left at the back seat of the car. Her driver, who was driving us both to the destination, had already left. Travelling with the absence of her mobile phone was not something she had planned. Panicked, she borrowed my phone and called home, asking for her driver's number simply because she couldn't remember. Her parents were both in Hong Kong, so calling them would not be such a brilliant idea. To make things worse, her sister didn't have his number either. Bummer. By now, the driver mesti dah jauh gile. Then, she asked her cousin of the same question. Nasib baik the family knows the driver's number. So she then called him, explaning the whole thing she was going through. Dengan baik hatinya, dia pun patah balik. Panik di Pudu Raya pun berakhir.

You know what's funny? Instead of going through the hassle, she could've just called her number using my phone and he would've certainly noticed.

2. My N80 and I are not in good terms lately. He turns off whenever he feels like, even in crucial moments - like the one we had in KL Sentral mase nak balik on Friday morning, termasuk a few other occasions as well. Nabila's mobile phone dah nyawa2 ikan upon our arrival to KL Sentral that morning. Being a careful and organised person that she is, she told her mum in advance that in case if she couldn't be reached, she should contact her friends' numbers instead. Well in this case, she gave her mum Aman's number and mine. Haha confident je. Little did we know that my phone wasn't functioning properly and Aman had already left KL Sentral. Jadi bila her father arrived to pick her up, she wasn't there because she didn't know, and also partly because my phone buat perangai. Tak pasal2 ada lecture on time appreciation. Haha.

So that was our Langkawi trip as I recall it. I might have missed out some details somewehere along the way, but what matters most is the fact that we all had a wonderful time. Thanks everyone for the experience. And thanks for inviting:P Haha.

Nak tau detail dengan lebih lanjut, baca blog Ariff Daud.
Owh, for more pictures, click here.

Hooray.

2008-11-24T18:51:00.000+08:00

Yay, Langkawi, here we come!

The Great Taste Party. I Guess:P

2008-11-24T17:55:00.000+08:00

The four us Shah Alam people (Aainaa, Faris, Shahir, and me) went to Syamim's barbeque party yesterday. Faris was nice enough to offer us a ride. But he was probably being even nicer to Shahir for offering to pick him up from his place. Haha. It's pretty obvious now kan Shahir that your place jauh nak mati compared to the rest of us. No wonder you seem kind of disconnected sometimes:P Anyway, the journey to Syamim's place in Cemerlang Heights was pretty dramatic, exhilirating and adrenaline pumping (Okay, I think I'm exaggerating it a bit. Can't really contain my excitement now, can I?) as Aainaa was trying her best to handle the caramel pudding that she made all by herself from meeting its catastrophic ending throughout the whole journey. Faris' driving skills pulak wasn't really much of a help. Perserverance is the key to success. Fortunately, the caramel pudding survived the drama and made it to the table where the food was served. Aainaa must've been so proud that her pudding received a lot of positive feedback from semi-professional food critics that night. Habis semua kot. Haha.

There were quite a lot of people jugak yang datang yesterday. Perhaps that's why the party rase mcm best je. Even Aidid pun datang, even though he had to leave earlier sebab his family had other plans. Quantum of Solace at Galaxy eyh? Haha kantoi. Some people were even sleeping over Syamim's place. And after makan2, some of us played games while the rest sembang2 at the sacred confession room. I think you get the idea by now how 'alive' the house was after midnight yesterday. Owh and Nonel, we saw your apology card. Haha, gile sweet. Oops:P Tapi the most interesting thing that happened yesterday had to be the convulsion caused by Bandung's car. It had turned its back against her by refusing to start and they all hit the panic button. Trying to console the damsels in distress, Jimmy came with the idea to jumpstart the car. And yeah, some of us tried to lend a hand too. I don't wanna sound bimboish here, but honestly that was actually the first time I ever did the whole jumpstarting procedure. Bandung pun selamat pulang. I hope:P

It was already getting late when we realized that it was time for us to go. Syamim, however, insisted that we stayed over her place, at least until Subuh. But after a long period of contemplation, we decided to head back to Shah Alam.

At 3.00am.
What a night it was.

Thanks Syamim. The party was fun!

For more pictures of the party, click here.

Awesomeness.

2008-11-23T08:57:00.000+08:00

Best Script - The Golden Cage

Best Cinematography - The Golden Cage

Best Actress - Alissa in The Golden Cage

Best Emotional Video - The Golden Cage

Best Horror Scene - The Sick Note

Video of the Year - The Golden Cage

Director of the Year - Aiman Rashad

Finally, a proper recognition.
Thank you so much to those who had voted for us.
You people are awesome:)

Anyway, the end of semester dinner last Friday night was super awesome. The food was great, the perfomances were entertaining and the mood seemed right. And the seven trophies were a very much welcomed addition to our collection too:) Can't remember the last time I received one. Oh wait, SPM kot. Also, congratulations Aainaa for both the successful event and the award-winning directorial debut. Siap ade acknowledgement from Mr Zaki kot. Gile ar:)

And to Abu, Nabila, Fatin, Chim2 and Juek,
the post party at the Guard Post was awesome:)
Mmg xley bla:P

So today is the first day of our six week break.
Sunday morning.
Shower.
Breakfast.
Newspapers.
TV.
Internet.
More internet...

...and later, barbeque at Mim's place!
Yay. Can't wait.

2008-11-19T17:20:00.000+08:00

Something To Talk About

Tiger and I started working making videos together during HAW 2007. "The Sick Note" was our first baby and personally I felt so happy that finally I was given an opportunity to work on such cool projects. Come to think of it, The Sick Note was probably our biggest project to date - with costumes and props such as fake knife, fake blood etc, I thought we might have pushed it a bit too far. But it was fun! The only thing that bothered me was the fact that it did not get the proper screening it deserved that night due to some technical problems, which might have originated from our lack of knowledge in the rendering process. *Note to aspired film makers of KYUEM* Render your video in MPEG-1 format. It's lighter and reliable. So, based on the lessons learnt while making The Sick Note, we started making more videos. Sampai la HAW 2008 baru2 ni where The Golden Cage got the 2nd place in the video competition.

I like making videos with Tiger. I think we have the chemistry, or whatever thing you wanna call it. Tak tension2. But I must admit I dislike the first part of video making which is the process of idea development. Normally he will come up with brilliant ideas while I just tag along and improvise them. Personally, I'm more interested in the presentation of the story, the cinematography, the script and stuff like that.

I like it when people appreciate our works. It doesn't really matter if we win or lose. We've been taken for granted for quite a number of occasions anyway, so not winning anything is the least of our worries. However, things may have changed a bit this time around. Last couple of months, we participated in the Cambridge 150th Anniversary short film competition where all participants are required to make a short film of 150 seconds long about the essence of our school. Tiger (and a few others) came up with the idea of "My School is My Life". And as usual, we did not put any hope in winning the competition. Banyak kot contestant lain from other parts of the world taking part as well. However, it doesn't mean that we did it half-heartedly. Hard work jugak tu.

And this morning, Tiger received an e-mail. Here how it goes:

Dear Rashad

Congratulations!

You are a joint winner in the CIE 150th Anniversary Competition in the video category.

The judges were extremely impressed by your short film.

All the winners will shortly be announced on our website.

Please can you confirm how you would like your name to appear. It looks different on your entry form?

Also, do you have a contact email to alert your school.

Once again, well done on being a winner in the CIE 150th Anniversary Competition.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Sweet Gill
CIE Media Producer

Yes. We won.
Congratulations weyh!
This one's for you Tiger.
Cheers:)

Owh, here is an update:)

Cambridge Competition Winners Announced

Entrants were asked to write an essay, make a short film or take photographs that showed an aspect of their school life. Over 450 Cambridge students entered from schools across the world.

The judges commented on the high standard of the entries received:

‘The best thing I learned this year is that Cambridge students are creative and talented individuals. They have relished this opportunity to produce some impressive work which truly reflects the Cambridge values of self-direction and curiosity about the world,’ said Geraldine Seymour, CIE International Communications Manager.

In all three categories students showed mature writing skills, strong visual flair and a clever use of composition to tell a story. These entries were highly commended by the judges for their high quality. We hope to publish these in future CIE publications.

CIE would like to thank all those who took part in the competition.

The winners in each category are:

Short Film

Click on the links to view the winning entries.

Shaheer Shahid, Roots Montessori High School, Pakistan
Life in Roots

André Castro Lundin, Sir Alexander Fleming College, Peru
Looking for an answer

Muhammad Aiman Rashad bin Yusof, Kolej Yayasan Uem (KYUEM), Malaysia
My School is My Life

Photography

Click on the link to view the winning entries.

Maaz Ahmed, The Fahims Schools System A-level Karachi, Pakistan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30360070@N05

Alakyaz Ohan Assadourian, National Orthodox School, Amman, Jordan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30950848@N06/

M.K. Danial Ron, Bina Bangsa School PIK, Indonesia
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danialron

Writing

Click on the link to view the winning entries.

Tiffany Britton, Eagle Academy of Ohio, USA
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Gareth Chun Heng Cheng, German Swiss International School, Hong Kong SAR, China
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Keisha K. Moreau, Dominica State College, Dominica
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Marc Weissmann, Lodge International School, Malaysia
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Meena Murugappan, International School of Lusaka, Zambia
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Mennatallah Hassan Abouzeid, The Continental International School, Egypt
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Neel Karpe, Bombay International School, India
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Rayyan Aziz Ansari, Beaconhouse School, Pakistan
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Sabin Gnawali, Xavier International College, Nepal
The Best Thing I Learned This Year

Congratulations to all our winners!

2008-11-17T16:09:00.000+08:00

They Say A Picture Says A Thousand Words

Okay. I really really wanted to abstain my enthusiasm over last Sunday's trip to Sunway Lagoon by not writing about it here, but this picture of the trip was just too interesting to be kept in the computer, unshared. So I'll make an exception for this one. Hehe. Brace yourself people. Here goes.

Something is seriously wrong with the picture, kan? Kan? Even an average, slightly impure mind pun would have been able to spot it right away (tahan gelak). I don't wanna go into details now because the picture itself says a thousand words.

Kelakarlah anda Nabila.
Nanti pegi Scream Park lagi okay? :P

2008-11-15T18:08:00.000+08:00

Sabtuday!

Hello. Okay now hold your thought. I think I know what you want to say. Yep2, new blog layout! I figured that the former layout, although very cool in its appearance, lacks practicality and friendliness, providing those who visit my blog with great difficulties to maneuver around the site. So atas feedback kalian, now I'm switching to this new layout. Hope you'll like it.

I figured that I need to improve in my writing skill so that I won't be conveying the wrong ideas in my posts. Lately, I noticed that I sounded rather dark and emotional in my writing. Haih. Trust me, it was not my intention to be so negative with life. I hope I am more interesting than that. I guess from now on I should be writing more on the positive side of things rather than the opposite. Baru best kan? And um, I was told that two of my posts had caused quite a stir within the semi-professional gossip speculators lately. Honestly, I don't know what to comment. Can I just say that I was, um, inspired? Well thanks for bringing that up Nonel. Now the whole of Lembah Beringin has to know. You're such a great friend:P

A series of events had gone by for the past two weeks. Firstly, my AS exams are over! Obviously I'm glad that I've gone through my exam period, unlike some of us who still have papers to sit for. Kan chaletmates? Haha. Apaperpun, all the best to you people. But still, I'm very very concerned at the prospect of me screwing up my exams. Tak best ar camtu. And the thought of me having to resit the papers next year really scares the hell out of me. Hassle woh.

Owh, Garnet won the 2nd place for the HAW video competition! Wee. We received a lot of feedback from the audience, with comments ranging from the contents, the cinematography and even the soundtracks. Personally I feel sooo satisfied. Penat wo. Some people even approached me and expressed their dissatisfaction over the results. Takpe la. The winning video from Topaz memang best pun ape. Teng is like the Godfather of special effects in KYUEM kot.

Marathon was fun. I guess. But honestly, a little more enthusiasm and support by the house members would definitely make it even better. This has always been the case. But it's still yet to be tackled.

And last night Battle of the Bands was held.
Isa and his band really kicked ass!
For the first time I'm proud to be your chaletmate. Haha xde la.

No Solution! We rock too you know.
But um, no more Beat It, please:P

Performing the first song, "The Kill".

Will be heading to Bob's place in a couple of hours. His family is organizing an open house today.
Makanan enak, here I come.

And I'm back. The food was nice, but it was the people who came last night that made the open house even more fun. Muz, at least now you have an idea of what it feels like driving around Shah Alam. HAHA! Kesian wo Muz, dua jam sesat kat Shah Alam. Pusing2 je, balik kat Giant. Jalan sket je, balik pegi Giant. Memang paranormal. Tatau la die balik mcmane. Takpe2, smangat tu yang penting.

Thanks Bob:)

2008-11-10T23:11:00.000+08:00

Does Time Heal All Wounds?

I woke up this morning with
mounting guilt and bitter disappointment
of yesterday's mistake and unwelcome news.
Oh, what a great way to start my day.

I thought I could just sleep it all off
and let it slip through my conscious.
But the cold stare and the silence it brought along
suggested that I was wrong.

Tell me then,
when one's appeal for forgiveness
finds itself in ignorance,
how else can he undo the damage?

Sometimes things just get out of control
as he relinquishes his grip on reality
And as the adversity it causes finally takes its toll
the cold hard truth knocks him off his sanity.

Then come this period of restrospection.
A pathetic phase of an offender's life when
he spends hours regretting what he's done
and wishes that he could turn back time.

He knows it's rather impossible and unprofitable
but he cannot help feeling so vulnerable.
Either he's scared of losing a crucial part of his life
or just concerned of the bad perception people may hold against him.

Contemplating his next move, he wonders
on how should he react to the current crisis.
For his biggest fear is not just about
not doing the best he could
but also the possibility of
magnifying a tiny, insignificant event
a hundred times over
and making a big deal out of it.

A voice whispered in his ears,
"People move on. So should you."

This leads him to a question,
"Can time heal all wounds?"

Yes it can.
Only if we let it.

2008-11-05T14:33:00.000+08:00

Obama won the election!

2008-11-03T11:02:00.000+08:00

Phew.

I blog for three reasons.

The first is to share a piece of my mind with those who have the time to listen, although I must say I do not think that I'm obliged to dwell here all the time.

The second is to have an alternative when I refuse to do the primary. You know, just to make me feel better as I let time slip out through my senses.

The third is simply the combination of the first two.

Just like this entry.

I woke up quite late this morning. Actually, I had woken up for Subuh prayer at 6.30am. Then I tried checking stuff on the internet. My desperate attempt to stay awake. The connection, however, was a bitter disappointment. So I went back to sleep.

It was already 8.25 am when I met Shafiq outside the Math class. Mr Mahadzir locked us out. Aiseh. What a great way to start my day. Pretty shocking actually. Never happened before. But whatever.

It's Block 3 now. Miss Rena has cancelled the class.
I should be doing some revision now.

Because Econs is on Thursday.
And I am still far away.

Owh. happy birthday Fatin:)

2008-11-01T09:46:00.000+08:00

It's hard to say you're okay when
you think you're well prepared for the exam
but the cold hard truth reveals that you are
not quite there yet.

It's hard to promise yourself that
you will make use of the ample time you have
for revision and other productive things
because you simply cannot underestimate
the power of procrastination.

It's also pretty hard to be yourself
when viral infection got the better of you,
making you dependent on medication
which leaves you unconscious
and a little confused.

The thing is

It's hard to say that
I like staying here for the weekend
because I simply don't!

2008-10-23T19:40:00.000+08:00

Perhaps It Was Sheer Luck

So...hooray! Finally the burden was lifted off my shoulder. I'm just so glad that the interview was finally over and that I don't have to be concerned about it anymore from now on. What a great relief. So yeah, maybe I should just cut to the chase and tell you all about it before it leaves my mind. As mentioned in the previous post, I had to join the 6.30 am trip from KYUEM to HELP College where the interview is conducted, even though my interview took place at 1.50 pm. Apparently, I was not allowed to join the 11.00 am trip because it was full of quarantined Chemistry students. It's silly, I know. Tell Mr Beadsworth about it. So off we went.

I received a call on our way to Damansara. Guess from whom it was?

"Hazim!"

I know right. What a pleasant surprise. And what's more touching about the call was the fact that he called all the way from Warwick you know. That was super awesome! So we had a chat. It's been a while since the members of P11 last heard of him, so we talked about a lot of things to keep up with each other. I must say that we kinda missed the presence of our own UMNO Youth Chief Leader in our chalet. Ever since he left, his place was taken by a future doctor who lives on an endless supply of cigarettes, Coca-Cola and fast food. And by fast food I mean Burger King, McDonald's and KFC. Nothing less. Don't get me wrong, we all love Isa, don't we? Just don't tell him that. Anyways, it was great to learn that Hazim is doing fine over there. And the fact he's still a virgin. Haha.

We arrived at around 8.10am. Wei Liang was the first among us to be interviewed. His session began at 9.00am. *To KYS people* Guess who did I meet at the interview just now? Salasiah weyh! Haha. It's been a loooong time since I last saw her. Apparently, she's applying to read Medicine in Cambridge. She looked just fine when we met. We had a little chat, but it was a bit awkward because we haven't talked for quite some time now. Tp bagus ar. In the meantime, while waiting for our turns, Umyra and I decided to have our breakfast at a mamak restaurant nearby. *Note to Aainaa* Roti planta die sedap gile wo! Bley challenge MMZ ni. Kalah ar ur ane:P Then, I realised that time was beginning to move very very very slowly.

The hardest part is waiting.

A good 180 minutes had slipped through unnoticed when I learnt the fact that my interview schedule had to be pushed forward a little bit earlier because the person who was supposed to have her interview before me was late. I was actually pretty composed and relaxed in the beginning. I thought I was ready. But after people start asking each other about how they fared in their interviews and expressing their disappointments over unanswerable questions, I kinda lost it a bit. I was left alone in the waiting area while the rest were having their breakfast, in desperation to have a conversation with a living soul to calm down my nerves. Nasib baik Aainaa came to the rescue at the right time. I can always rely on her for that. And before I knew it, Dr. Martin was already calling my name.

He was a nice looking man. Pretty much like Dr Horsfall, but without the belly. He gave me a warm welcome before asking me to sit on the chair. On the table laid a few pieces of paper and a pen. Damn. Please don't ask me math questions. Please don't ask me math questions. I camouflaged my concern over 'the possibility of him asking me about some equations I was not familiar with' by acting cool. Poyo. He then prepared a few pieces of paper for himself before starting the interview. It's your battleground dude. You get to call the shots! Right.

"So, why do you apply to Girton?" The first bomb was dropped.

"Well, um, first of all, it is a relatively small community compared to other colleges, so everyone is kind of closely-knitted to each other. And the atmosphere is pretty vibrant too. Another reason being the strong alumni that every Girton can be proud of. They consist of successful and influential people from all over the world. Even Princess Miyamoto of Japan had attended the college." Princess Miyamoto is not a fictional character, I swear. I did my research.

"I see. Yeah, you do know that Girton is situated a little bit farther than the rest of the colleges right? A little bit up the hill." I just agreed.

"What inspired you to take Land Economy at Cambridge?" Here comes the motherload!

"The inspiration came from my own observation as a Malaysian citizen. As a developing country, we are proud of the rapid development progress taking place in Malaysia. The emergence of big cities like Kuala Lumpur is a great sign of achievement. However, despite the rapid economic growth taking place, we are still yet to tackle the problem of the emergence of slum areas in big cities in Kuala Lumpur. I think this problem can be tackled effectively with proper understanding of the situation." Pergh. But obviously some of the sentences were a little different than the real thing.

"Okay. Can you identify at least five problems that arise resulting from overpopulation in the cities?" Gulp. Owh-kay.

Out of desperation, I managed to mention four to make it in the list. Traffic congestion, pollution, social deprivation, and high crime rates. But what's the last one? Aiseh.

He gave me a clue. "What did you and I have just about an hour ago?"

"Um...an introduction?" Irrelevant and so out of context. I felt so stupid for saying that.

"No. Think again carefully."

"Um...lunch?"

"Right. Exactly. Food. Lack of food supply, because there are too many people to be fed. Resources have to be allocated to cater their needs."

I think I survived the horror.

Then we talked about the application of taxes and subsidies in tackling the issues arising from overpopulation. I thought it was pretty much smooth sailing because some of the things that he asked had been discussed in Mr Conquest's class. And the rest of the interview went just fine.
Dr Martin even wished me luck in my AS exams before I stepped out of the room.

One of the best mathematicians in the world wished me luck in my exams!

On our way back, all of us were sharing our experiences with each other. Some were unfortunate enough to be presented with numbers and difficult equations. Some even had to interpret data from unfamiliar graphs. Teng had to listen to a brief lecture on Fibonacci sequence while Afif was pretty much affected by his interviewer's refusal to shake his hand. I don't really know what to comment on my interview. I personally thought it was great, but we could never be sure of what they really had in mind. Apaperpun, the fact that I was not being asked to solve difficult mathematical questions really saved my ass.

Come to think of it, maybe it was just sheer luck.

2008-10-22T12:40:00.000+08:00

The Great British Invention

Mr Brookes asked an interesting question to the class this morning. Today we discussed in general the difference between the three main totalitarian regimes. As usual, Ting was leading the pact in bombarding him with questions and ideas for his consideration. The rest just listened intently and occasionally nodded in agreement. The two periods of History was beginning to feel like a drag when suddenly Mr Brookes asked this question:

"Who first invented concentration camps?" The class was silent for a moment.

Any normal student with a considerable amount of knowledge in History would most probably suggest one of the three countries. Even Ting did.

"Stalin's Russia?"

"Um...Mussolini?"

It's Hitler's Germany, right?" Someone suggested. He seemed like he was full of confidence.

Mr Brookes just grinned. And then came his reply.

"Nope. It's Great Britain. Hooray! Concentration camps are a proud invention of the British people." Believe me, the sarcasm really came out of the blue.

He later went on to explain to the anticipating class how they were first invented. During the Boer War (1880-1881), British soldiers had captured about 28000 Boer women and children and kept them in a large concentration camp and held them as hostages so that the men would obey to the rulers (the Brits). Some of the people who were held captive did not survive the poor conditions of the camp and the harsh treatment they received. Some even suffered from diseases and died.

Oh, I didn't know that.

"Another great British invention is the antrax virus. We are the ones who first introduced biological warfare!" he added. A burst of laughter soon followed his sarcasm. "Oh, we also had our share in inventing the world's first atomic bomb. So there you have it. We're quite advanced in that sense."

What a great way of looking at the world.

And of course, among other great inventions of Great Britain include Oxford and Cambridge University.

My interview will be conducted tomorrow at Help College, Damansara. Apparently, I had to leave the college at 6.30am because the 11am trip will be full of quarantined applicants. Right. But my interview starts at 1.50pm! It doesn't really make sense now, does it? Guess I'll just hang around and read some stuff while waiting for my turn.

2008-10-21T22:00:00.001+08:00

Untitled 2

Remember Tony from the previous post? Apparently that was not the end of his story. Just about an hour later after he had finished spilling all his thoughts and feelings in the post, he received a phone call. The phone call which proved the point, pellucid and clear, that for the past 24 hours, he was just acting silly.

Michelle finally gave him a call that evening. A lively conversation took place between the two close friends. She sounded quite like herself now, much to Tony's merriment. He now understood why she was felt so dejected after the interview. He would've felt the same way too if he was in the same situation.

For the past 24 hours, Michelle was going through a phase called recovery.
For the past 24 hours, Tony was silly enough to think that everything had to revolve around him.

Patience, is my friend, is the keyword. He knew he could have started a whole new drama over something silly like that if he was not patient enough. Nevertheless, Tony still blamed the voice inside his head for its influence in his judgement. Perhaps you could just do him a favour by ignoring whatever he wrote in his previous blogpost.

He was still thinking of giving her the card.
Maybe tomorrow.

"If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought."

2008-10-21T13:43:00.000+08:00

Untitled

Tony really wanted to talk to her that day. He wanted to apologise for being such an arse by not wishing her the best of luck in her interview. He knew it was not just an interview. It was THE interview. One of the most important dates in the calendar. He was plain ignorant, he admitted.

So Tony braced himself and dialled her number.
There was no dialtone. Her cellphone was switched off.

"Maybe she ran out of battery," he reasoned. A pathetic attempt to kill his curiosity.
His curiosity was indeed killed that afternoon - eight unanswered calls later.
So off he went to the field. Playing football in the rain.
He was still thinking of her.

An hour later, he tried again. Fingers crossed.
There was a dialtone. Yes! Finally.

"Hello? Hey Chelle, it's me. I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier before the interview. It must've slipped off my mind. So how was it? I hope it all went well with you. Well, tell me about it."

His joy of finally being able to pick up a conversation with Michelle was shortlived as it met with a weak, unenthusiastic voice at the other end of the line.

"It was horrible. I don't know," she replied. Short and unfriendly.
"Come. I know you did your best. Jenny said hers went great. What made you think it was that horrible?"

"I don't know. Whatever." This is starting to get awkward, he thought.
"Are you sick? Because you don't sound okay." Another pathetic attempt to make her talk.

"No. I'm fine." You're lying.

Obviously she was not in the mood. There was no use in faking it.

"Well, okay then. I gotta go. Sorry to bother you."
He hung up, unsettled.

That night, he received a message. It was from Michelle.

"I was stupid Tony, my only chance and I blew it. I just felt so stupid during the interview. I know there's no point regretting but it's hard when you can't say you'll learn from your stupid mistake. It feels so degrading especially when I have huge expectations that I certainly can't live up to. I know it's not the end of the world and no I won't quit my prayers. It's a matter of time and I'll be okay."

He thought she needed time and room to breathe, so he decided not to reply.
But half an hour later, he received another message form her.

"Why did I even bother to tell you all this? Whatever Tony." Huh?

Despite being caught all erratic and confused, he replied.

" I don't think I have the best words to say to you, but I'll just give it a try. My dearest friend Michelle, it was just an interview. Nothing is really going to change tomorrow, or the days that follow, even if you blew your only chance of getting to Oxford. You will still be the same Michelle that everyone knows. The possibility of you getting a place there - that's not even for you to decide. Let the interviewers do their job. If luck is on your side, you'll be accepted. And if it's not, then there are still four other universities waiting for you. You're just being hard on yourself. I will most probably suck in my interview too, but whatever. Like you said, it's not the end of the world. Remember in the beginning you used to have doubts on whether you should apply to Oxford? You didn't really make it a big deal. But now you feel like it's the only option, the ultimate goal. I may not know you that well, but I know you're a person who always strives to achieve the targets she had set for herself. You can keep blaming yourself for the rest of the night if it makes you feel better tomorrow. And no Michelle, you're not stupid. Sorry if I'm just repeating the same thing other people have been telling you, but that's what I think."

That's quite a mouthful. He wasn't even sure if his words could do the trick.
Patiently, he waited for her reply.
There wasn't any.

That night, Tony had a conversation with the voice in his head. He always does that when he has troubles or feeling restless over something which involves himself.

Tony thought the cold treatment he received was very painful. Everybody has their share of misfortunes. Other candidates who attended the interview must've felt the same way too. He thought she was just making a big deal out of it. Okay, fine. He understood the fact that with Michelle, expectations are always high. But the higher you aim, the lower you will fall if you miss the target! You should've prepared yourself when you first set the aim you know. Somehow he felt that he was very much affected by this. This is unfair. Well, theoretically, you have nothing to do with this, so don't even bother. She'll probably feel better without you pestering her so much.

Well, some fact checks:
Both of them:
-are in the same class.
-live in the same neighbourhood.
-are in the same club.
-used to have part time jobs together.
-are somewhat very close friends.
-have seen the best and the worst in each other.
There are other things that can relate both of them as well, but there are just too many to be mentioned here.

He couldn't give in just yet.
So before he went to bed, he made a card to give to Michelle the following day - just to make her feel better.
An inspiration he collected from his high school years.
It wasn't the most beautiful card he had seen. But it's the thought that counts, right?

He was early for class the following morning. He planned to take advantage of the situation. Michelle sits next to her in the class. Perhaps he should put the card under her table, hoping that it would get her by surprise. Or maybe not. Too late, everyone had entered the room.

He wasn't really listening throughout the lesson as Mr Hessleback talked about the difference between mens rea and actus reus. His mind was too occupied with questions on how he should give the card to her. Should I just put it in her bag if she's out for a five minute break? Or should I walk with her after class and hand it to her instead?

Michelle did not even bother to look at him and say a word from the moment she sat next to him. That is so unlike her. He, on the other hand, did not dare to start a conversation. Perhaps it was his ego who got the better of him. And before he knew it, the class was over. Walk with her!

She seemed like she was in a rush, hurriedly packing her stuff and making her way out through the front door. He soon followed, slowly approaching her. Now is the time. Suddenly her hand reached for her cellphone in her orange handbag and picked up a call. Either that, or she was just pretending to have a great conversation by projecting her laughter just loud enough for Tony to notice. Great. Just great. She was avoiding me. A major blow. A big let down. A very painful fact to bear.

He finally retreated. His efforts had to go to waste.
Tony lost the plot, indulging himself in the agony of defeat.
But he moved on. It's not the end of the world.
For a moment, he thought he could relinquish his grip on the problem.
Then he went back home.

And started writing this post.

2008-10-20T07:01:00.001+08:00

I Survived the Horror!

So the verdict is out - Baik balik umah for the weekend.
My weekend at the college had been hopeless.
Nothing significant had been achieved.
Bosan gila.

But to be fair, yesterday was pretty interesting as we were finally able to ride the bicycles.
Lama gila tunggu. On weekdays, some even waited at the spot 15 minutes earlier just to get the bikes.
Siap solat Asar kat situ dulu kot. -I'm kidding.
There weren't that many people queuing that evening.
Perhaps many were discouraged to go out because it was raining.
And two busloads of people were off to Mid Valley. So less competition.
So Nabila and I went to embark on a journey to the centre of Lembah Beringin.
Wee~ Best ar, tapi sakit bontot and lenguh lutut.

Weekends at the college can be fun when you have intresting stuff to do.
Apparently, designing layouts for the yearbook and IELTS and Islamic studies presentation are not in the list.

Anyways, I read about McCain's campaign launching personal attacks on Obama through its ad called "Who is Barack Obama?" about two weeks ago. I've always wanted to write about it, but it slipped off my mind. Apparently, Barack's middle name is Hussein. And for the paranoid and the ignorant Americans, that could only mean one thing - Barack Obama is a terrorist. McCain's supporters were also reported to have practice racial slurs in gatherings and conventions. Obviously the target was Obama. Last two days, a neighbourhood in I-forgot-where in the US was shocked by the presence of "Obama" hanging upside down in front of a house a member of the community. It was actually a ragdoll with Obama's name written on it upside down. An interview with the culprit's neighbour conducted by a local TV station suggested that the man holds the belief strongly that the man in the White House should always be a "white Christian."
"I don't like Obama because I heard he's an Arab," an old woman uttered in one of McCain's rally not long ago. Right. This is just an example of how ignorant McCain's supporters are. Don't get me wrong, I reserve my respect to those voters who vote on the basis of their candidates' policies. But not to those who vote because of things they' aren't even sure of. Now even McCain finds it hard to contain his supporters from having outrageous portrayals of his competition.

The bottom line is, McCain-Palin's campaign efforts during this last stage before the Election Day can be described as desperate, extreme, reckless, and irremediable. With the way the game is heading, on Nov 4 we shall witness an "Arab" being elected as the new President of the United States.

2008-10-19T00:49:00.000+08:00

Hidup Ibarat Roda. Cuma Kini Saya Berada Di Bawah.

Hari minggu di kolej memang memenatkan.
Banyak masa untuk diisi. Namun cuma sedikit yang mampu dicapai.
Masih banyak yang ingin dibaca. Cuma secalit yang melekat di minda.
Saya dapat rasakan bahawa hari ini bukan hari saya.
Ada saja yang tak kena.

Perhaps I should've just gone back home.
Haih.

Saya seorang minimalis yang sentiasa ingin lari daripada klise.
Mengikut trend ialah klise. Melawan stereotaip pula bukan.
Kadang-kala lebih unik jika kita berbeza daripada orang lain.
Namun pada kelazimannya kita hanya kelihatan lebih poyo.

Saya harap saya jatuh dalam kategori yang pertama.

Acapkali saya ingin beranggapan bahawa saya seorang yang berbeza.
Bila bertemu seseorang dan menjadi kawan, saya harap saya bukan sekadar 'just another face'.
At least, that's not how I want to be remembered.
Tetapi, saya mula menyedari hakikat bahawa kita lebih mirip daripada yang saya sangka.

Klise dalam persahabatan

Saya ada seorang kenalan ketika di KYS dahulu yang terkenal dengan sikapnya yang sentiasa menongkah arus.
Segala perlakuannya berbeza dengan majoriti. Tutur katanya tidak seperti biasa.
Pada saya, dia seorang yang sangat genuine.
Namun biasalah, kita lebih celik untuk melihat keburukan daripada kebaikan. Klise bukan?
Maka, keunikannya dihubungkaitkan dengan perkataan 'pelik'.
Kemudian, 'pelik' bertukar 'jelik'.

Kebanyakan rakan-rakan saya berasa tidak selesa dengannya. Saya tidak terkecuali.
Kami rasa gayanya hanya menyebabkan dia tersisih.
Ada sebab mengapa kami beranggapan sebegitu.
Dia gemar melakukan perkara yang boleh dilakukan dengan mudah - melalui cara yang sukar.
Pendiriannya pula tidak selalunya relevan dengan situasi.
Sebagai misal, ketika kami bertungkus-lumus dan bersengkang mata menyiapkan kerja kursus Kemahiran Hidup PMR,
dia leka dalam dunianya. Dunianya ialah Magic the Gathering.
Maka bila deadline datang menjengah, kami juga yang bertungkus-lumus dan bersengkang mata membantu menyiapkan kerja kursusnya.
Usah tanya mengapa, pokoknya pendiriannya ketika itu menyusahkan kami semua.

Tetapi dia tetap dengan pendiriannya.

Klise nombor dua - The deserted makes a good target

Rakan saya yang seorang ini sering menjadi bahan untuk jenaka kami semua.
Biasalah, bila yang majoriti berasa sedikit berkuasa.
Agak pelik juga bila memikirkan seseorang yang bersusuk tubuh sasa, bila dijadikan bahan jenaka, tidak pula melawan.
A gentle ogre. Tetapi dia bukan seorang ogre. Jadi kami acah lagi.
Mustahil dia tidak pernah melawan.
Bila diacah, dia menzahirkan amarahnya pada objek-objek di sekitarnya. Tidak pada kami.
Namun reaksinya hanya menjadi jenaka yang lebih lucu buat kami.

Klise nombor tiga - Persepsi dan anggapan

Saya terpanggil untuk mengutarakan subtopik ini kerana 'pesanan' yang saya terima daripada seseorang semalam. Satu perkara yang saya sedar sepanjang saya bergelar pelajar KYS dan seterusnya KYUEM ialah betapa terdedahnya kita kepada persepsi orang ramai, bergantung pada perilaku kita. Setiap pasang mata yang melihat adalah juri yang menilai. Pada saya, walau sekeras manapun kalian menidakkannya - jauh di lubuk hati setiap di antara kita, saya percaya kita adalah makhluk yang judgemental, meskipun hanya sekelumit. Klise berlaku apabila kita menilai tanpa usul periksa. "Mereka berdua rapat lain macam saja. Mesti ada apa-apa."Lebih parah jika penilaiannya yang mungkin sarat dengan ralat tersebut dijaja kepada mereka yang ingin mendengar. Mungkin gosip ialah terma yang lebih sesuai digunakan di sini.

Hakikatnya, jika kehidupan di kolej ini ibarat sebuah teater muzikal, boleh jadi saya memegang watak seorang yang klise dan boleh diduga. Tapi tak bestlah macam tu.

2008-10-17T00:09:00.000+08:00

Rawak

So Mathematics Paper 1 ended last Wednesday. My first AS paper of the year.
While others expressed their concern on how difficult the questions were,
I was more concerned with myself not feeling the same way that most of them did.
They were not easy, but they were not ridiculously difficult to answer either.
I don't want to be overconfident.
For all I know, I could be the one who ended up making
silly mistakes that could cost my marks dearly.
Mintak dijauhkan.

I've been spending quite some time at the RC lately.
A desperate attempt to get myself to really really understand the gravity of the situation.
Dah AS kot. Isy2. - I've been telling that to myself over and over again.
Lambat sket nak commit to memory.
At least, at the RC, I'm free from the distractions in my room.
And thanks Fatin for the encouragement. Smangat ajak.

I will be having my Cambridge interview next week on Thursday.
Wish me luck:)

The offer from Manchester came quite as a shock for me.
Didn't expect it come this early.
Apaperpun, I'm thankful and glad that I received the offer:)
So one down, four more to go. Yeeha.

You may not be reading this Ya, but I seriously thought yesterday was fun:D

Lembah Beringin has a dark secret.

The road to nowhere is filled with cow dungs.
Like, tons of 'em.
But cows were nowhere in our sight.
Just bushes and an empty road. So where did they go?

There is a mystery waiting to be unraveled.
Just thinking of the possibilities scares the hell out of me.

Actually the seven of us went for a walk around Lembah Beringin tadi.
Initially, the plan was to embark on a journey to the house on the haunted hill. Tapi x jd.
Haih.

Mohamad masih tersipu-sipu bila bertembung dengan saya.
Mungkin peristiwa di kafe masih segar dalam kotak ingatannya.
"Nama saya Mohamad. Nama awak siapa?"

I'm still keeping the beat with my blistered feet.
Bile la nk okay ni.
Sigh.

2008-10-13T08:25:00.000+08:00

Yankee Bayonet Is A Great Song

So I went back home on Saturday night, hurriedly slipping out the crowd as the Raya celebration was on the verge of conclusion. I wish I could have spent more time for pictures and conversations. Tapi takpe la.

I'm at the RC now, patiently waiting for my speaking test session with Ms Susan. I plan to do some reading here, you know, just to make myself feel better for the interview at 10.30. Well, apparently, I'm still here. Eyes still glued to the screen.

I woke up early this morning with the plan I had laid out last night before I went to bed. Well, the plan basically includes:

- Me going to sleep early so that I won't have difficulties waking up in the morning.

- Waking up early, just get a fresh start on something*

- Well, that something* is an option of Math/History/Econs.

- And not going back to sleep after Subuh.

Basically, the plan had to be scraped off in favour of the internet. It was quite okay at first, but after a while it got hopeless. So off to bed I went. And abandoned the plan.

PMR starts today. I sent Sharifah a message, wishing her all the best for the examination. She'll do just fine. The whole of her batch too, I hope. Just like the previous batches:P

I still have some works pending. Yes, they are still far from completion. Can't say I don't have the time. Ye la, you can even make space for this entry kot! -Touche. Apaper la. I still blame the voices in my head for their influence in my judgement.

Ciao.

2008-10-09T13:23:00.000+08:00

Thursday

Prepared speech is over. Yay.
IELTS speaking test, however, is not.
The same goes to the Cambridge mock interview.
Both of them will take place this Monday, back to back.
Starting with the test. This time I'm doing it with Ms Susan. Hm.

These things on Monday leave me to question the relevance of going back this weekend.
If I choose to go back, that means I'll be missing the Raya celebration on Saturday night.
But at least I won't be missing the the fun the following weekend.
But if I don't go back, everything is vice versa.

And I haven't prepared much for the mock interview, besides the optimism I hold dear that it will be smooth sailing, that is.
I don't wanna look dumb. Then don't act like one! -Right.

Interhouse dance competition was over last night.
Wasn't the best of performances, but for making use of the limited time to prepare a 'proper' performance for the audience, I would say it's a great attempt nonetheless.
Congratulations Garnet.

2008-10-07T15:54:00.000+08:00

Sejenak Berbahasa Melayu

Hari ini 7 Oktober 2008. Sudah 7 hari Syawal menjelang (atau 7 hari Ramadhan meninggalkan kita, bergantung kepada bagaimana anda melihatnya). Teringat kata-kata seorang ustaz di surau tempat saya menunaikan solat terawih tidak lama dahulu. "Jika kita ingin menilai amalan kita ketika bulan Ramadhan, lihat diri kita selepas berlalunya Ramadhan. Jika amaun amalannya sama dan mendatar sahaja jika diplotkan pada kertas graf, maka Ramadhan tidak memberikan kesan kepada kita." Saya lihat diri saya sendiri. Sebelum dan selepas Ramadhan. Saya tersipu sendiri. 'Mungkin tahun depan,' saya menaruh harapan. Masuk hari ini sudah 2 hari kolej bermula. Tiada apa yang begitu luar biasa berkenaan semalam, melainkan sepasang kasut yang saya pakai ke kelas. Ya, kasut tersebut menarik perhatian yang agak luar biasa. Jenuh saya memberi penjelasan kepada mereka yang bertanya.

Suatu perkara yang saya belajar tentang diri saya kebelakangan ini ialah kecenderungan saya untuk rasa mengantuk di kelas. Saya yakin saya bukan seorang penidur tegar, tetapi inilah realitinya. Ketika Mr Conquest sedang menerangkan tentang implikasi polisi fiskal terhadap ekonomi, saya hanyut dalam dilema saya. Dilema apa? Saya juga kurang pasti. Di dalam kelas Mr Brookes juga begitu. Mungkin kelas bermula waktu tengahari selepas makan. Saya bukan jenis pelajar yang gemar bersengkang mata untuk menelaah pelajaran hingga lewat malam kerana saya percaya situasi seperti ini hanya membawa kepada 'diminishing return' semata-mata. Oleh sebab itu saya sedikit hairan dengan keadaan diri saya yang mengantuk di dalam kelas ini, meskipun waktu tidur saya agak terkawal. Kadang-kala, saya berharap mata saya sekuat Fatin dan Aainaa agar lebih banyak yang boleh ditelaah setiap malam. Mungkin agaknya saya memang seorang penidur.

Saya tidak mempunyai kelas selepas makan tengahari hari ini. Kesempatan yang ada saya gunakan untuk membaca blog rakan-rakan. Saya terpanggil untuk berkongsi perkara yang hampir serupa dengan apa yang dialami oleh saudari Syafiqah Misteri seperti yang direncanakan dalam blognya. (P/S: Saya amat tertarik dengan gaya penulisannya yang selamba dan straightforward, mirip dirinya dalam dunia sebenar).Jujur saya katakan bahawa saya juga mengalami sindrom pasca-Raya yang sama, meskipun tidak seradikalnya. Menyedari hakikat ini, petang semalam saya berjoging mengelilingi kampus dengan harapan segala lemak tepu di saluran intestin saya pergi meninggalkan saya. Peter Bjorn dan John mendendangkan irama indie rock Sweden mereka di telinga saya. Saya sedikit hairan melihat kemerosotan populasi KYUEM petang itu. Mungkin saya terlalu awal. Sebelum itu, saya lakukan sedikit senaman ringkas selama 20 minit di dalam chalet sambil diperhatikan oleh Tiger yang sedang khusyuk menonton Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Sebuah filem ringan untuk mereka yang bosan. Saya sedar tanpa usaha yang istiqamah, target tidak mungkin dapat dicapai.

Saya sayang tubuh saya.

Saya dalam dilema.
Patutkah saya menawarkan diri untuk menyertai editorial board yearbook batch 10 & 10.5?
Saya sedar tanggungjawabnya besar.
Tugasnya bukan sedikit.
Saya cuma khuatir akan komitmen saya terhadap pelbagai perkara lain.
Namun saya punya banyak idea yang ingin saya sumbangkan.

Wajarkah saya pulang ke rumah minggu ini?
Saya punya alasan kukuh untuk pulang.
Juga tinggal di kolej.

Mungkin cost-benefit analysis dapat membantu dalam penilaian saya.

2008-10-06T06:48:00.000+08:00

Welcome back to college, people.
Guess what?
The pair of shoes that I left in the common room was gone!
What a pleasant surprise.
What a great way to start my day.
Haih.

2008-10-04T13:30:00.000+08:00

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Afternoon

When you've spent hours browsing through your friends' albums on Facebook, you know there's something wrong with you.

Siapa kata orang Malaysia tidak gemar membaca?
Cuba lihat di bahagian majalah-majalah di MPH - kebanyakan mereka di situ!
Membelek naskhah-naskhah di antara rak-rak, kemudian meletakkannya kembali sesudah membaca.
Mudah lagi percuma. Bernas bukan?

Sometimes when I come across simple questions like "What is your favourite food?", "What is your life motto/principle of life?" or "Pengalaman yang tidak dapat anda lupakan", I get tounge-tied. I really don't know what to answer. Can a simple "ntah" be accepted? Sigh.
Maybe I should prepare a set of answers, you know, for future references.

Are you obsessed with death?
I don't know if it's an obsession, but lately I've been imagining myself meeting the Grim Reaper whenever I do things, like crossing the road, holding a pen, or even reading a book. Scary, I know. No, it's a suicidal kind of thing, but more of accidental type.

2008-09-28T20:05:00.001+08:00

I got a postcard yesterday. Wee!

2008-09-25T14:37:00.000+08:00

The Little Things

A great friend of mine sent me a poem last Tuesday.
It is of her own writing.
"The Little Things", the title read.
I was planning to post it here, but after giving it a thought,
I decided not to. It was meant for me, after all.
Plus, it'll be more special that way.

It is a simple poem.
No heavy applications of
paraphrasing,
anaphora,
repetition,
or enumeration.
Just words to convey the messages,
and clearly they were projected before me.

It struck me.
Sometimes we are too busy doing things we do,
too occupied with tasks and jobs
that we tend not to notice
the little things that have actually
done wonders to our life
and making it more meaningful to live in.

We are too enraptured
in chasing dreams
and fulfilling needs
to notice the details in the fabric.

Because sometimes
little things give us away.

Thanks for making me realise:)

2008-09-24T23:56:00.000+08:00

Last Monday Night

So Monday was awesome. Six of us - Nea, Ei-Jean, Aainaa, Faris, Shahir, and me went for berbuka puasa at KGSAAS. Yes, Shah Alam, I know. What a great location to have an outing with friends. The food was nice, although I must admit that some of us were expecting more. Don't get me wrong, we were actually very grateful that someone was kind enough to foot the bill for us. So thanks a lot, we really appreciated it (you know who you are=). After berbuka, Shahir suggested an activity -firecrackers and bunga api. So off we went to a lake nearby the PKNS building to relive our childhood memories, well at least in my case. Personally, I'm not a big fan of firecrackers and bunga api, partly because of the fear that I may not sleep at night in one piece anymore, and partly because of this one story in which I was very much involved in.

It happened when I was in Form 1. Well, if you're wondering, this story has nothing to do with me getting involved in an accident where I lose three of my fingers in an explosion caused by home-made firecrackers or anything of the sort. Now let's keep this simple. It was the 2nd day of Raya and I was in my grandmother's house in Ipoh. We stayed there for a couple of days. My cousins and I had a great time doing things relatives normally do everytime they meet during festive seasons. It was just great. So one afternoon, one of my cousins asked me out to get some supplies of firecrackers at a stall nearby. I agreed, and we both went there together. He must have collected a lot of duit raya beforehand, because that afternoon he was shopping like mad. I didn't say anything that moment- as long as it's his treat, I'm game. Plus, it's not that I will ever buy them using my own money anyway. It's like burning your own money.

Later that night, after the family barbeque, we burnt every single firecracker we bought at the stall. Took us hours to finish the whole pile. I just tagged along. After all, it was his money, remember? I thought I had the last laugh.

So the following day, when my family was busy packing and preparing our stuff before we headed back to Kemaman, I noticed something amiss. My duit raya was gone. The whole bunch of it. Little did I know that it was my cousin who took it while I wasn't paying attention that afternoon, using them to buy firecrackers for us to enjoy that night. Let's just skip the part where I found out that he was the one who did it. Trust me, I had no idea he would do such a thing. I thought that I must've misplaced it somewhere and the thought of the money being stolen by my own cousin never crossed my mind. Sounds like betrayal to me. Well, in the end, he confessed to one of my aunties of his crime. I was indeed betrayed.

I still had the last laugh, but I figured it was not that funny anymore.
That's just sad, ain't it? But it was ages ago, and we're now in good terms. I guess.

That's why I don't fancy them that much. Anyways, it was really fun hanging out by the lake. Thanks Aainaa for saving the day by bringing the camera along:)

But um, I must point out that it didn't really feel like Ramadhan when we went out that night:P

2008-09-22T12:36:00.000+08:00

I'm Discouraged.

2008-09-21T02:15:00.000+08:00

Wall Street Is Burning, But These Fat Cats Will Be Just Fine

Martin Sullivan (AIG)

Former AIG CEO Martin Sullivan netted more than $14 million last year, including a $1 million salary, $3.6 million bonus, $921,876 in stock awards and $2.4 million in option awards. As generous as this sounds, it was actually a bad year for Sullivan, who earned more than $21 million in 2006. But don't worry too much about Sullivan, whowas replaced by Robert Willumstad in June 2008. A new executive severance plan announced in March keeps Sullivan covered with salary and bonuses for 30 months after termination. AIG's 2007 fiscal year ended on December 31.

James Cayne (Bear Stearns)

Bear Stearns' former CEO James Cayne raked in $38.3 million in 2007, including a $250,000 salary, $17 million bonus, $14.8 million in stock awards and $6.2 million in "other compensation." Cayne was outsed as CEO in January 2008, when Alan Schwarz, formerly the president, took over. Schwartz sold the company to JPMorgan Chase in March, after it became clear that the investment bank couldn't survive the ongoing mortgage crisis.

Kenneth Lewis (Bank of America)

CEO Kenneth Lewis, who earned more than $24 million last year. Lewis led Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch this week after acquiring Countrywide Financial in January. Last year, Lewis earned $1.5 million in salary, $11 million in stock awards, $4.5 million in options and $4.3 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation. His pension earned another $3.2 million, and he got more than $200,000 in other compensation. Meanwhile, industry analysts anticipate thousands of layoffs stemming from the recent Bank of America acquisitions.

Daniel Mudd (Fannie Mae)

Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd garnered $11.6 million in total compensation in 2007. He started with a salary of $986,923 and saw a big increase with stock awards of $6.8 million. Mudd also earned $576,492 in option awards, $2.2 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and $863,749 due to changes in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings. Earlier this month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency named Herbert Allison the new CEO of Fannie Mae as part of the government's takeover of it and fellow mortgage financing agency Freddie Mac.

An article I read in the internet which I found very interesting. Thought I should share it with you. It's amazing how much financial CEOs got paid to ruin their companies.