Q1

Hi,

It has been the longest time ever since I last posted anything here. I used to update this blog a few times a week, every week, then it slowly becomes once a week, then once a month, once every couple of months... 

Sounds like I'm describing old married couples here. Huh?

Anyways, updating this blog has always been burning in the back of my mind. The big question is, "What to write?". Most of the time, after the postgrad episode, my life is pretty much drama-free.. There are some interesting events that might pique people's interests, but it's quite personal to share. No one wants to listen or read my opinions on the political situations here. I can give you 2.6 billion reasons for neglecting this blog. But I better not.

To get back into the habit of blogging, i think I'll just pick some questions from a list and write the answers.

To kick off; let me answer a random question:

Who would you want as a dinner guest; given the choice of anyone in the world?

A: Given the circumstances at the moment, I really want to have dinner with my great, great grandfather, Tok Ayah Hj Hassan.

Why?

At this very moment, about 30 of my relatives (cousins and 2nd cousins) are overseas in Indonesia visiting the birthplace of my Great Grandad (GG).

Here is the story.

My GG left his hometown in Lampung, Indonesia when he was 16. He left everything behind. Leaving the village, I assume is quite normal back then. However the mystery is, why did he leave? Whenever his children (grandma and grand uncle) asked him about this, he refuses to answer. No one knows. There are a couple of stories that goes about saying that he had a disagreement with the family, while another story is that there was a tsunami and he was the only survivor. So he left, took a boat to Kelantan.

I would love to have dinner with him and ask him myself, what happened. Probably asked some other questions like; have you studied under Tok Kenali? Why did you stay in Golok instead of KB? How did you meet and married my great grandmother? How long was the sea travel? So many questions....

Raya 2014

Happy Eid. Oh, Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf zahir batin ya, people are making a fuss about Malays using Arabic terms, like, Eid. As if our flat noses will grow into hidung mak arab yang macung tu, as if. Melayu tetap lah melayu, selagi hidung tak mancung, pipi jangan tersorong-sorong.

Today's the second day of Raya and only went to two houses, was quite a mini drama.

1) accidentally gave empty raya packet to anak sepupu. Budak sekarang dah pandai buat claim, dia datang balik bagitau takde duit dalam sampul. Hehe.

2) went into a houseful of relatives with an agenda. This particular "well-meaning" aunt. boleh pulak dia nak set up aku, then bagitau satu warga rumah, except me. I felt like i've walked into a trap. Like a deer in the headlights. Like a oblivious contestant of a reality show who doesn't know she's on a reality show, and everyone is watching. Hashtag awkward. Next year I'm going to celebrate Eid overseas with strangers or cats. Cats don't set you up.

3) mood raya dah hilang. Sekian.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Expensive cost of living

My parents and I attended a wedding of a family friend last week. It was a long walk from the car to the wedding hall. I think this is one of those funny conversations I had with mum...

Mum: Sewa dewan untuk kahwin ni saja dah mahal. Dekat tempat X dulu murah je. Sekarang dah RM10,000! Tahun depan naik lagi.

Me: (not sure if that's a hint or just plain talking). Mahal gila! Tu dewan kosong je atau sekali dengan meja kerusi?

Mum: Semua sekali kecuali makanan. Tapi kalau nak include catering, diorang kira RM24 satu kepala.

Me: Ha, kalau macam tu, baik ambil sekali dengan catering lepas tu panggil 10 orang tetamu je. Total cost RM240. Jimat RM9000 lebih sikit. Beres.

So, that was me.. Always finding a loophole. Or save some pennies.
On a serious note, omg. Mahal gila sewa dewan. Gila ke apa? Savings dalam ASB pun tak lepas nak bayar dewan. Benda2 lain macam mana la pulak.. Weddings are expensive!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sitting for exams is likemgoing to war

At this point of time, almost all 17 year olds are sitting for their SPM exams, including my baby sister. I wish her all the best and I pray that she will succeed with flying colours. I know she worked hard preparing for the exams since January, so I hope all her efforts and hard work will be paid off handsomely.

I remember my SPM exams. The exams weren't that hard, the tough part was preparation. Being in an MRSM didn't make studying any easier. Everyone's a genius, but if you're not, you have to work hard to be one.

Exams are part of a student's life, like it or not, everyone has to sit down for one. Looking back at my many years of examination experiences, here's some of my advise or points:

1) Preparing for the exams is like preparing for war. You need to strategise. Five or four months before the big exams, I'd lay down a study plan and draw up a chart of all the subjects and sub topics that needs to be covered. Paste the plan on a wall and strike them out once I covered them. That way I know How is my progress and whether I need to speed up my studying pace or not.

2) Read text books first. Write notes based on text books. Then read the Reference books (buku rujukan). Write notes based on Reference books. Then cross reference both books and notes to make a summarised notes. Yeah, crazy, coz I don't have a good memory I need to go through a subject over and over again to get it tattooed in my brain. Made sure I'd write colourful notes on flashcards. My favorite thing is writing on an A4 paper folded four times so it'll look like a little book. That works for History, Biology, Chemistry, Agama, etc.

3) For subjects that requires a lot of calculation requires a lot of exercise practise. And I mean A LOT. Maths and Physics, I can't just memorise the formulas, I had to do all the long divisions and stadard deviations and integrations, a thousand times if I must, just to get the concepts in my head.

4) Find the best time to study. My most productive time to study is at late, until the wee hours of morning. Find a good place to study. I had found a secret/quiet place to study where no one could find and bother me and thank God I didn't have to share it with anyone else. Perfect solace. Find a study partner who's committed to the study plan. This is sometimes hard to find, but there's at least one person who agrees with your study plans doesn't think it's stupid or too much work or too impossible to achieve. And normally that friend is another hardworking person like you.

How do you study for your exams?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I am blessed.

Salam,

There are so many things to be thankful for this past few weeks.
1) simulation work for thesis is going well.
2) submitted my second draft of thesis to supervisor for review.
3) witnessed like a dozen or so inspirational olympic stories.
4) no illuminati crap happened.
5) drove out from KL early on Wednesday and there was barely any traffic.
6) i get to spend iftar with my family.
7) looking forward for Eid.

For all of that and many more, Alhamdulillah.




I hope everyone will have a blessed Eid this year. Maaf zahir dan batin.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tsunami warning

Yesterday there were two (or 3) large earthquake that had occurred in the seas off Aceh. All measured at least 8.1 Richter scale. That was quite massive because the one that generated tsunami back in 2005 and 2001 Japan was all between 8-9 range.

Tsunami alert went off like crazy via social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. I think maybe faster then CNN or Reuters. Fortunately after some hours of waiting and speculations, the warnings had been pulled off, apparently the movement of the earth's crust was in a different direction compared to the last two that generated tsunamis. Something about moving sideways instead of vertically.

The fear was there. Definitely was there. People panicking not knowing what to do. Bracing themselves for the worst.

I don't know what most people are scared of, the fact knowing that your death is probably near or the possibility of surviving a disaster.

As for me, death is imminent. Tsunami or not, everyone will die, regardless. I think I am more scared thinking about living the disaster than dying itself (even though I am not ready, who is?). The panic, the sheer terror seeing something bad of large magnitude, that feeling that you feel at the pit of your stomach when all blood is drawn out of your face, the water filling your lungs, that unimaginable horror seeing your loved ones being pulled away from your very grasp for the rest of eternity.

Living through it and trying to live past it; is what scares me the most. Not death itself (although it is also scary to think about death sometimes and realise you're not ready yet).

And with that said, I pray that Allah SWT protects my loved ones from bad things that is surrounding us.

Selamat Hari Open House

It's a 3 days weekend, which means throngs of open house invitations. I try to fulfill all the invitations (giving priority to families first then friends) because this is the opportunity to get to meet far, far away relatives and friends.

Bak kata orang (bukan sedara saya), "kena kenal lah saudara mara. Kalau tak kenal silap-silap bergaduh tepi jalan ke, tak tahu pun itu sedara sendiri." [yeah, like I go out on the streets picking fights, lol!].

I took only one picture.

A Rainbow cake.

There's a story behind this rainbow cake - I have not tasted one before despite the hype of the cake all over the social networking scenes. Tried looking for one in Penang pre-Raya days, but did not manage to find anyone who's able to bake one in short notice. So we substituted Kek Lapis Sarawak for the Rainbow Cake. Told myself, "OK, my next goal is to get a rainbow cake".

Fast forward to last weekend, I was surprised to see one of the host has a Rainbow Cake on the menu! Pucuk dicita, ulam mendatang =)
(I think when it comes to food, I'm using the power of 'The Secret' excellently.)

Did you know Rainbow cakes are made from unicorns... urmm...  droppings? That's why they're colourful.

==============
I just stepped down from the weighing scale with an "o.m.g... did I really gained THAT much???"

I already have a slight inkling of some 'accumulation' of body mass when putting on my jeans and with that, it's appropriate to say 'You have to go with your GUT feeling'.

I need to do something about this issue before it grows 'bigger'.

USA Road Trip: Graduation

The 13th of May 2011 was the Graduation Day or as the people of Purdue called it, Commencement Day.

The event was scheduled to start at 8pm in a music hall.

The hall was nearby, we all just walked there. There's no such thing as 'Pesta Konvo'. Just a graduation ceremony. No people set up stalls to sell teddy bears or flowers. If you want to get that sort of stuff, you had to get them yourself at Walmart or the University Bookstore.

This is the inside of the music hall. We sat at the back row, like two tiers up. didn't get a good view, but there were two large screens at each corner where live video feed of the ceremony was shown.

While waiting for the University's President (macam Canselor lah), honorary guests and graduates to get ready to enter the hall, the audience were entertained by the orchestra and... the GLEE CLUB! (well, I think Glee Club is a fancy way of saying 'Choir Club' ;P). No, they didn't danced on the stage :(

There were some quirks around, and this (above pic) was one of them. Just to say that Graduation is not just a serious thing, these students ought to celebrate and have (a little) bit of fun. (fun! fun!).

The Commencement event went very smooth. There was only one speech, by the Univ President (of course) and they called the students up to the stage to give their scrolls. Masters and PhD students were called one by one and their scrolls were given by their own supervisors. Which I think is a great idea. Like a mentor acknowledging a mentee. But for the Undegrads, they were 'commenced' by the president herself.

Oh, yeah there were no formalities in this event. The speech was straight forward and nobody was trying to kiss anyone's ***.

YEAY, GRADUATED!

Obligatory pics with the family (some of these was taken on separate days)

Walking in the steps of Neil Armstrong

Ghemuloh Tok Ngah Yahya

This morning I got news that my grand Uncle passed away. Al-Fatihah and may Allah bless his soul and may he rest in peace.

*"Ghemuloh" is what my family say when talking about a person who has passed away. The equivalent of "Allahyarham" in standard Malay.

Since I have some time to myself, I'll blog for a bit before going to visit the the rest of the Clan tonight and tomorrow.

My thoughts about today:

1) As we go along our daily lives making plans for us and with others, we sometimes (maybe it's just me), forget that Allah's plans takes precedence over everything. When something like this happens, we drop everything and just go and perform our rightful duties as His servants and as a member of the jumuah (jemaah).

2) The irony in death is that, it takes away one, but brings the rest together.
And that is what exactly happened today, I met many of my distant (second and third cousins) that I've never seen before in my life.

3) Anything that happens and will happen in our lives, our family is the first support or back up system.

Looking back, I've always revered 'muloh Tok Ngah ever since I was a child. He was a great person whose intellects were ahead of his time. What I meant was he puts a lot of effort in 'future investments'. Back in the time where most people think that standard 6 education was adequate, he was working hard to send all his 11 children to school and universities. Whatever books his children wanted and whatever school they wanted to go, he will ensure they will get it for them. No matter what. He wasn't rich, but he was street smart in a honest way.

Somehow he has a knack with 'future investments'. An example, he once bought a land that no one wanted to buy, -kawasan bawah lembah yg selalu bah. so he got it cheap. Zoom now into the future, that land is smack in the middle of KB and suffice to say, selling that piece of land was enough to pay for medical fees and a lot of extra for the whole family. ( no life insurance back then ).

He was also the good brother to my late grandmother. The stories people tell about him, left you to desire having the same qualities as him.

what i admire most was how all his 11 children who are still very much intact, took care of him 24-7 during his old years. Most of them bought houses near to each other and brought him and his late wife to stay with them. They had like a duty roster of whom was in charge at nights and during the day, to accompany him and helping him pray. Yup, seriously 24-7. They took him everywhere, even for holidays they went together with him. Nothing but the best.

Today, they all helped each other in prepraring their late father for his last journey from home to his final resting place.

He was estimated to be 103 years old.

I hope one day all my siblings and I could do the same thing or maybe better to serve our parents in their old age.

Take care all.
remember, life is but a loan. We own nothing. We leave everything.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

D

D

29_A letter to your parents

To my amazing parents,

Abah and Mama.
I think you both are the best parents in the world (at least in MY world). You provided me and your other 5 children with everything that you could ever give, a comfortable house above our heads, enough food for us to eat but not too much that makes us fat, enough toys to make our childhood memorable but not too much that makes us spoilt, sending us to good schools so that we will be competitive in the real world but thankfully you're not like other kiasu parents that forces their children to do things they don't like. Thank you for the love and support you showed us, not too much that you make other siblings jealous of each other, and not too little that we feel neglected. Thank you for having faith in me and letting me go anywhere I wanted to go, eventhough I know deep down inside you're really worried about me (i know that's you dad). Thank you also for not making a big fuss out of me when you heard I waited in line for 4 solid hours for the Ipad2. These are just a few out of the many things you gave and shared with us.

Abah,
I looked up to you for guidance when I am unsure of my decisions. You shared your opinions but was not too pushy to impose any of them on me. I enjoyed listening to all the stories about your childhood everytime we go back to the village, even though it's the same old story about how long it took you to ride the bull cart from Padang Pak Amat to Kota Bharu with your grand dad (even for the umpteenth time). I remember how you took the time to send and fetch me from school when I was in Form 3 following the months to PMR everyday. I enjoyed that 30 mins journey to school and it really did chase the butterflies from my stomach away. We could talk about everything from music, to computers, politics, history and even about aliens and UFOs.

Mama,
You are the pillar strength in the family. You are the coolest mum ever. If there was something bad that I did, and I wanted to confide in, you'd be the first one I'd tell. I admire your patience, you wisdom and your artistic skills. I love the way how you show interest in the stories that we tell to you eventhough we know you don't even care about gadgets, movies, politics, UFO's and conspiracy theories. lol. You're very patient indeed. I loved listening to the stories about your childhood too and about the time you went on a road trip across America. Know what? I think I got the travel bug from you ;) We have a lot in common, people even say I look like you when you were younger. You can count on that based on the number of relatives commenting this to my face:- Weyyy lohhh... Ni supo mace Dah zame mudo!! I take that as a complement =)

Thank you for bringing me up the way that you did. I am grateful that both of you are happy with what I am doing with my life. I know I have your blessings. I know both of you are the best parent anyone like me could ever have!

I love you both immensely!

Your darling daughter ;)

09_A Picture from my Childhood.

This was taken decades ago. I like this picture because of two things. First, I looked like a cheeky monkey. And secondly, I also look 'educated' wearing glasses. *coughs!*

How do you deal with grief?

I just lost my dear cousin today. When my mother called to inform me the sad news, it felt like happiness and light has been sucked out from me at that very moment in time and the space has now been replaced by shock, sadness and woe.

I can't help but feel sad knowing that I am going to miss my dear 20 years old cousin who was once very bubbly and very helpful person who loves kids very much. Gone too soon is what I think.

She was a very healthy person the last time I met her sometime over a year ago. Then about 6 months back my mom told me she had fallen ill. Something happened to her nerves (saraf tunjang) and had problem with her sight and controlling her muscles. Due to that she fell one day and hurt her back and that worsen her condition. She had to walk using crutches and sometimes her brothers and sister had to carry her (papah bahu). Despite all of that, she was still determined to go to her classes. I have to let you know that she's a brilliant student.

She did went for check ups, did physiotherapy and alternative medicine, seeing an imam, etc. Not much improvements.

Two weeks ago, I heard that her condition deteriorated and was bed ridden. Then a few days after she went into a coma and was sent into an ICU.

The last I heard last week, I heard she woke up from coma and was recovering.

I was secretly praying and hoping that she will bounce back and be well again like normal. But I guess Allah knows what's best for her.

Dear Ya, I am so sorry that I didn't find the time to visit you or give you encouraging words. I know you are in a better place right now. All worldly and physical pain has been alleviated, finally. I truly admire your strength, patience and bravery in facing this big test from Him.

Everybody is going to miss you, but Allah loves you more. Al-Fatihah.

Kids nowadays...

I was listening to the morning radio show and the DJs brought up the topic of 'Kids nowadays are taking things for granted'.

So I stopped to think and I do agree. For example:

• when I was a kid, I looked forward every fortnight for our family outing to Komtar just to eat at McD or KFC. Sometimes it's just once a month. Nowadays, some kids are eating McD on a daily basis. (Fact: 1 in 4 children in Malaysia is obese!)
  
• my brother and I scrimp and saved our allowances, did a lot of extra chores and aced our exams to get some money so that we could buy our own toys. I remember we washed my dad's van every weekend and got paid RM5 per wash and ate peanut butter sandwiches packed from home for many many days just buy the Atari game console. Now their parents throws in a Playstation 3 on their birthday and hands them a Nintendo DS, just in case they got bored. No strings attached.
  
• cartoons only aired at certain times of the day. Saturday mornings and 530pm on weekdays. For the spare times, you just have to find something else to do to fill up your day. Nowadays, kids could tune in the cartoon networks to themselves and watch tv until they throw up.

So I wonder what they look forward to now? How kids nowadays values things? Are these 'things' ruining them?

But then again do you remember when we were young we heard our parents telling to us that "You kids had it easy nowadays, when I was your age, I had to _____ (fill in the blanks)" .

(*had to walk 2 miles to school wearing worn out shoes)
(*nasi lemak costs only 5 cent and sirap 1 cent)
(*it took us 15 minutes just to set up a fire to cook food)

So I guess things have a way of going around, right?

Life Lessons

My car had a flat tire last week. At that time, my brother was driving it (fortunately it wasn't me alone), he knew what to do and took charge changing to the spare. Below is a picture of the damaged tire, a huge gash at its side. Until today, I still wonder what kind of thing could make such damage?

Damage has been done. I bought a new tire to replace this one.

Sometimes I wonder if I knew what to do if my brother hadn't been with me that day? This first thing I would do is whip out my phone and call my dad. He would tell me, take the jack under the passenger car seat and use the emergency kit bag from the car boot and unlock all the nuts. Take out the spare tire from underneath the boot floor and replace it with the flat. Tighten the nuts and drive happily to your destination. When you have the time, go to the nearest tire shop and get the old one replaced.

Now I believe that being able to change a flat tire should be one of the things every girl should know how to. Although you can act all 'damsel in distress' like and wait for a knight in a shiny car to swoosh and change it for you but sometimes that doesn't work at all. Rexona roll on deodorant advert is a perfect example of a damsel in distress in dire need of a tire change. To no avail all cars just passes her by, it doesn't even helped if she looks like Miss Asia-pan and wearing skimpy clothes because apparently a dark colored armpit just scares men away.

... Then if your daughter arrives and appears even halfway adorable, every older woman you know is going to say something along the lines of, "Better get a shotgun!"
Read more: http://jezebel.com/5705486/10-things-every-dad-should-teach-his-daughter#ixzz17DowCiza

Coincidentally. Jezebel shared an article about things every parent (focusing on dads) should teach their daughters (including changing a flat tire). I think this is a very good piece because there are things that every daughters need to know which are not taught in school. Eventually daddy's little girl will grow up and you want her to be able to a strong, confident and independent young woman (like yours truly).

Here's are some things that my dad taught me:

1. To succeed and achieve goals you must be committed and obsessed with your work. Don't do anything half-way finished.
2. You can be angry, but don't be stupid.
3. Appreciate good music and enjoy listening to good songs.
4. Call back when you have a missed call (from a known person, especially if it's from home).
5. How to buy a car.
6. Embrace technology and enjoy technology (maybe I indulge in this over too much)
7. How to fix plumbing issues and also do DIY work (electrical wiring, painting, drilling holes).
8. Shop around, do not settle for the first thing you see.
9. Think everything through and have back-up plans.
10. Be resourceful.

And here are some things I got from my mum:

1. Always keep good ties with families, no matter what. Family is family, business is business. Never mix them.
2. Manage your money well and invest in something good that doesn't depreciate (like gold).
3. Learn to haggle and get good price of things.
4. Find a bargain store.
5. Packing bags and rations for travel.
6. Cook, sew and do gardening.
7. Don't panic and always stay calm.
8. Planning for the future is essential.
9. Always have some back up plans for financial emergencies. Secret stash.
10. Have and keep a hobby.

Sometimes I also get words of wisdom from relatives when I go or they come to visit:

1. Jaga amal ibadat & don't forget rituals before sleeping (baca doa, reciting a few surahs from the Quran).
2. Plan your financial life wisely.
3. Think positively.
4. Save in Tabung Haji and plan to go to Hajj.
5. Find a boyfriend (i always get this one a lot from aunts... *rolls eyes*)

Care to share some of you family lessons?

Break the ice

Apart from Eid celebrations where we get to meet rarely seen relatives; funerals and weddings are also avenues for extended families to come together because for some of us whose rezeki are fated to be gained far away from their families jauh nun di ceruk tok kun, which meant seeing families once a year is almost as good than nothing.


For me it's more comfortable to be attending a wedding rather than a funeral. But I'd still try to attend both though. This is the only time we get to bertemu mata (meet eye to eye), get to know faces and prevent embarrassing moments from happening. For such instance, I've heard stories about a bowling playing duo who didn't know that they were cousins until they met at a Eid open house. And a a pair of schoolmates who didn't realise that they were related until they met each other's parents during graduation. How embarrassing and sad is that?

Sometimes at a large gathering you're (literally) loss for words, mostly because you've been detached from families and friends for such a long time. When suddenly realised that after that salaam and smile, what's left is just an awkward silence.

To avoid showing (unintentional) disrespect to anybody and also not make that gathering a boring event for you and the person sitting next to you, try to start off by asking open ended questions to just break the ice and make the other person to talk more about themselves. This is a good way to learn about others and also reconnect back with family members.

So, the next time when you are in that awkward silence, here's some suggestions on what to talk about to break the ice :-

• So, what are you up to now? (this can go a few ways)
• working? where? how long you've been working there? what do you do there?
• studying? what are you studying? when is your exam? dapat no berapa? (if it's a kid)

• Where are you staying now? Where is that?  What are the interesting places nearby?
• Invite them to your house. swap phone numbers or ask what if you could add them to your facebook.
  
  !Note this sometimes is a sensitive subject, thread carefully or just leave it alone
• (If they're married) How many kids do you have? How old are they and what are they doing/working now?
• (I hate this question, but most aunties use this as an ice breaker) When are you getting married??

• or to be on the safe side, just ask general questions like:-
• observe what gadget they're holding and ask about it. How's that iPhone4 you're using, any good?
• nice baju kurung/tudung/bag! you made it yourself? or where did you bought it from?
• I heard you went to _____ (insert place) during the holidays, did you like it?

• and if there's nothing else to talk about, move to the next person and start your ice breaking session again.

There you go, some suggestions on how to break the ice. And now I'm leaving you with a clip of pencak silat  and kompang being played in the background performed during my cousin's wedding. This is one of the Malay traditions that is performed during weddings.

(I am missing my toastmaster's club. Need to find a new club)

argh!

Lately, when it comes to computers, I must be the one person with the worst luck ever...

This should be rule#1 of computer back up:

Never keep your back up files (hard disk) the same place as your computer. Put it somewhere at the back of your cupboard if you have to.

Our house was broken into last night, and we've lost 3 laptops, 1 portable hard disk with ALL my backups (!!!!!!!!!), money inside purse (the purse and all other content was left behind) and some small2 stuff.

That bloody fool thief used a metal cutter and cut through the lock and spent some time in the house looking for those stuff. I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!!!

I'm so frustrated right now. I'm so angry. I'm really dissapointed. I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL THIEF!!!

But I'm thankful that everyone in the family was not harmed physically. We'll definitely lock our bedroom doors and attach a door latch in every room starting tonight. Alhamdulillah and thank Allah for guarding my family from harm.

And as for the thief, I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL THIEF!!!

Certainties of living

"The only certain thing in life is... death." As Ben F did say (he also said taxes). How ironic is that?

I was at my uncle's funeral a couple of weeks back. It was quite a quiet and sad moment for everyone. This kind of event would normally put me into perspective mode. Looking at life as if I am looking at the contents of an aquarium. How could I put it... reflective?

Sometimes we live life as is there's always tomorrow and the sun will definitely rise as per normal. We always take waking up the next day for granted, sometimes if we remember, we read our du'a when we wake up like it's being carved into our heads without even diving into the deep meaning of everything that is happening. We should be GRATEFUL and THANKFUL to Allah for every little and the big things that occur in our daily lives. But sometimes, or should I say, most of the time, we forget. It's just one of our many flaws...

Suasana Hari Raya 2007

Selamat Hari Raya semua :)

Raya tahun ni jatuh dalam kategori 'biasa-biasa aja' kerana kami tak balik ke kampung dan hanya menyambut dalam nukleus keluarga kami sahaja. Walaupun sederhana, sambutannya tidak kurang dari tahun-tahun yang lepas. Cuma mungkin adik-adik sahaja yang mendapat kutipan duit raya yang kurang, tapi perkara itu tidak perlu digusarkan kerana sudah di 'top-up'kan sikit-sikit oleh saya.

Pelita harus dipasang untuk menambah 'feel'.

Cubaan untuk melakar nama guna bunga api.

Pada malam raya, kami sekeluarga sibuk membuat persiapan-persiapan yang patut seperti memasang lampu kelip-kelip, pelita, mengisi kuih raya di dalam balang, menukar sarung kusye mengemas rumah dan menjahit baju raya yang belum siap lagi. Semua ini dilakukan sambil menonton televisyen yang sedang memaparkan drama hari raya yang berkisarkan kisah kekeluargaan.

Pohon kemaafan dari ibu bapa.

Walaupun kami tidur lambat, kami mampu bangun awal pagi dengan penuh semangat untuk meraikan Hari Kemenangan. Mujurlah baju raya semua orang sempat disiapkan. Barulah tak ada orang yang rasa di diskriminasi kerana memakai baju tahun lepas.

CONGRADUATIONS!!!

Many many congratulations to my brother who recently graduated from USM last week. All your efforts have been paid off and may you continue the good work with your Masters degree.

Cameron Highlands

Did you remembered when was the last time you went to Cameron Highlands? For me, that was like ages ago... when I was in primary school, Std 4 kot. We drove uphill along the winding road and we had to stop a few times to throw up. It wasn't a pleasant trip at all.

AWAS! Tanah Runtuh.

However, on the first week of December 2007, we decided to go again, and with a purpose. My dad wanted to attend his high school reunion that was also in conjuction of his batch's 50th anniversary (of their age) that was organised at Strawberry Park Hotel in Cameron Highlands.

Please line up boys, we are going to take pictures.

We left Penang after lunch and reach Strawberry Park one hour before Maghrib.
Route: For ease of driving and safety, I'd like to advise all drivers who wish to go to Cameron Highlands (either coming from the North or South) to use the Simpang Pulai exit in PLUS highway. This Simpang Pulai road is very much better than the old narrow and winding road that people normalaly use 10 years ago. It is very much wider and less crooked and it only took us 1.5 hours to reach to the top.

I thought they were potatoes, but actually it's called 'Jagung Rumput' (that's what I heard).

When we reached Strawberry Park, my father was extremely excited to see his old high school friends. After checking in the apartment, he went straight to the lobby to hang out with his buddies, while we stayed in the apartment to freshen up. The funniest thing happened when my brother called out "Where's the aircond switch? I want to turn it off because it's too cold in here." while looking around for a switch, when actually he didn't realise that this is the actual temperature here in Cameron Highlands. No, you can't find a heater here.The temperature in Cameron Highland was quite cold and breezy. As comparison, it feels like April in the UK. Neither too cold, nor too hot but wearing a light jacket is extremely comfortable.

Abah holding a pingpong ball with chopsticks.

There was about 30 or more of Abah's schoolmates who attended the gathering, they brought along their families as well. The whole event was a 'sure-heboh'. It was quite funny that instead of calling these uncle with their proper name, we called them by their nickname. So this guy was Uncle Kodak, and that guy was Uncle Golok, and so on... The 3 days spent at the hotel was really fun. The food was fully sponsored by the alumni (one Uncle went all the way to sponsor a Steamboat dinner for all 20 tables!), then they organised Sukaneka (that was fun too) and a karaoke BBQ dinner (you can say the theme was 'In the 70's' since all the song they sang was stuff like Pop Yeh Yeh and Lagu2 Asli Melayu).

Throwing water balloons. Boys will be boys.

Everybody can't wait to taste their steamboat.

During our free time, we ventured into Bharat Tea plantation farm had some Hindi moments there. It's very brilliant of them to open the tea farm to the public although the area that the we are allowed to 'play' in is where the old tea trees are. Tapi tak kisah lah kan.

Visitors at the tea plantation grounds.

Strawberries are synonim to Cameron Highlands for Malaysia because they are able to grow them here. Almost naturally. If you go to a strawberry farm that says 'Pick you own strawberries' it doesn't mean you will go into the farm and pluck the strawberries from the ground, but instead you pick one of the flower pots that has a strawberry plant or pick some berries from a makeshift bed or pick berries from a box full of berries.

Pick your own strawberries.

Notes from the editor: Alright, the pictures are a wee bit small, but it is faster to upload it this way. A compilation of pictures cam be seen here.