Exploration of my Mechanical Wonders

Happy Birthday Dzareif!

2012-02-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Lion City

2011-10-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

The other day i went for an early weekend getaway to Singapore. I had been there once before when i was little but I could only recall accessing the border . I was desiring to go again, as my ex-house mate kept inquiring me to visit him while he is still working there. A friend of mine, had been longing to explore outside Malaysia and in need of a travel mate to go with and hence, i took the randomness to visit the Lion City. This time around I get a clear gaze of our neighbouring country which was once, part of Malaysia.

At first, I did not apprehend much because I imagined it will be like going to another state in Malaysia except it would be cleaner as Singapore have their strict rules on everything and I favor nature rather than a metropolitan area. After a while in Singapore, i cant deny it felt like i was in another country and I would say it was the greatest concrete jungle i have ever been too so far. And I love the usage of the public transport contrast to Kuala Lumpur which almost everyone have their own car. There were no stray cats or dogs, it's unusual to see rubbish laying around and the best part is there were no Rempits (indiscipline motorcyclist that we have in Malaysia).

Working in the production line and being a big fan of roller coasters, Universal Studio was a must. Singapore had launched the opening of Universal Studio about a year ago at Sentosa Island. We were grateful to get tickets at the very last minute and the people was not as much as the weekend crowd. The Studio consist seven different sections. They are the Hollywood, New York, Madagascar from the animated films, Far Far Away land led by Shrek and co, The Lost Work from Jurassic Park and Waterworld movie, Ancient Egypt from the Mummy Films and the Sci-Fi city. I met Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria and the penguins from Madagascar. Frankeistein, Cahrlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and that villain from the Mummy movie. Singapore was near the equator and it was a very hot sunny day but the coasters made my day. It's been awhile since I had the awesome rides. The Battlestar Galactica Human (Steel Dueling Seated Roller Coaster) and the Battlestar Galactica Cyclon (Steel Dueling Inverted Roller Coaster) was the best two and i still cant determines which was better. I also went for the Steven Spielberg Movie thing which showed us how real they made it in Hollywood with the best quality of sounds and properties in front of our eyes.

Besides that, In Singapore, I explored Orchard Road (almost similar to KL town and Bukit Bintang area in Malaysia), Bugis Street where we can get souvenirs, Little India (almost similar to Masjid India but more organised) where most of the Indians are, Badok which was one of the Malay area and Marina Bay where the businesses and trade centres (the best part of the concrete jungle). It is different here for the Malays as they were the minority and you can mostly see them at a counter, as a taxi driver, a tourist guide, retailing and so on. There are even Singaporeans living in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and works in Singapore because the rate of Singaporean dollar is just a bit more than twice from Malaysian Ringgit. They would live in luxurious houses nearby the border but bare in mind that they have to go through immigration every dawn particularly for the school kids.

All in all, it was a wonderous getaway. What made it better was the travel mate that I went with and the people that guided & gave great hospitalities. Thank you Uncle Jepun, Dan Dan and Thumbelina for the lovely time. =>

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

2011-08-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all 'Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri' and 'forgive me for what I have done wrong to you intentionally & unintentionally.

Here's a spin off Aidilfitri advert from the movie KIL! Enjoy!

Madinah & Makkah. Ramadan 1432

2011-08-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah on the first nine days of the holy month of Ramadan, I went to the two holiest cities, Madinah & Makkah. I preferred to explore these places by myself but on research it was almost impossible to get a visa unless through travel agencies. I chose to accompany my mom and dad as they had arranged with a travel agent to spend early Ramadan there. It was never the same arriving back to Malaysia.

We were only permitted to visit the two holy places within 30 days of the Umrah Visa. There were about 30 of us in the group consisting of families and young senior citizens. We arrived in Jeddah late evening and the time difference was minus five hours from Malaysia. It took sometime at the airport as they were a bit fussy on security plus many had come for Ramadan. Even the airport that we landed on was not the international airport but the airport they used for Hajj. It took us another six hours on bus to our first city, Madinah.

It was a nerve wrecking moment just accessing the Madinah Munawwarah; the illuminating lights of Masjid An-Nabawi made it the most beautiful mosque I ever gazed from a far. We reached our hotel about half an hour approaching subuh shalat and due to some miscommunication we could not check in yet, so we had to wait. I could not falter; instead I head off to the mosque for the subuh shalat.

Often called the Prophet's Mosque, as it is the final resting place of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W, it is considered the second holiest site in Islam. It is the second mosque built in history. One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome over the center of the mosque, where the tomb of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W is located. Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it. Early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar are buried in an adjacent area in the mosque. The site was originally Muhammad's house; he settled there after his Hijra (migration) to Medina, later building a mosque on the grounds. He himself shared in the heavy work of construction. The original mosque was an open-air building.

After shalat my dad brought me to greet salam at Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. tomb. We had only two days in Madinah including a day of fasting. Every time the azan is called out, the people would not waste their opportunity to shalat at the mosque and even daily businesses were closed for a moment. The Madinah locals would usually supply food for the people who break their fast in the mosque.

We did a trip around Madinah on the second day. First we went to Masjid Quba which was the first mosque built by the Prophet S.A.W in Madinah when he did his hijra (migration). The trip goes on to the date (kurma) farm. There were 17 types together and the best one to break your fast with is the Rutob date. Soon after we went to the foot of Mount Uhud located at the northern side of Madinah.

Battle of Uhud; the polytheist of Makkah just went through a great defeat at Badr and decided to take revenge by attacking the Muslims in Madinah. There were 700 men against 3000 men of the polytheist. The prophet S.A.W appointed 50 archers on Mount Ramah that helped their first bout of victory and the Polytheist retreated leaving behind the spoils of war. The archers left their positions to gather the spoils despite of what Prophet S.A.W had told not to leave on whatever the scenario. At seeing this, a flank of the Polytheist army came around Mount Ramah and attacked the Muslims from behind and many were martyred, even the Prophet S.A.W was injured and his incisor tooth broken. They managed to defend themselves.

Our last destination for the trip was Masjid Qiblatain. It was known for the change of Qiblah for the first time from Jerusalam to Kaabah when Prophet S.A.W was offering his Zuhr prayer and the change of Qiblah was revealed. Besides that we visited other places like the Quran factory (but it was closed), Khandaq (Trench) and the date Market.

We left for Makkah Mukarramah at 1130am the next day supposedly at 9am but the bus driver overslept. It was sad to part Madinah but I had to move on to do my Umrah (less pilgrimage) in Makkah. We had to be in Ihram - a sacred state (a person in the state of Ihram must not tie any knots or wear any stitched items) before leaving the hotel and if we were to do Umrah from Madinah we take our Miqat (being in Ihram state) at a Bir Ali mosque just a few kilometres outside Madinah. In the Prophet S.A.W days it took about eight days & eight nights to journey from Madinah to Makkah through the desert on their camels but for us, its more a less about five hours. We checked in the hotel infront of Masjidil Haram around 5pm, and there was little time to perform Umrah before the break of the fast. So, my parents determined to do after terawih, as we did not want to miss the 20-rakaat tewarih at Masjidil Haram.

For Umrah, after being in ihram state, the pilgrim performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Ibrahim (Abraham) and his second wife Hajar, and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are: (1) perform a tawaf, which consists of circling the Kaaba seven times in an anticlockwise direction. (2) Perform a sa'i, which means rapidly walking seven times back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah. This is a re-enactment of Hajar's frantic search for water. The baby Ishmael cried and hit the ground with his foot (some versions of the story says that an angel scraped his foot or the tip of his wing along the ground), and water miraculously sprang forth. This source of water is today called the Well of Zamzam. (3) Perform a tahallul or taqsir, meaning a cutting of the hair. A taqsir is a partial shortening of the hair, whereas a tahallul is a complete shave of the head, except for women, as they cut a little amount of hair instead.

Makkah was so developed, as there were many buildings and skyscrapers just outside the Masjidil Haram. I could feel the heat as it reached up to 43C and the thousands of people mounted up the temperature. The crowd in Masjidil Haram can be out of control at times compare to Masjidil Nabawi because Masjidil Nabawi have a front and a back but Masjidil Haram, the Kaaba is the centre of Qiblah, so everyone comes from every direction of the mosque. My dad guided me on my first Tawaf followed by Sa’ii. Getting lost with your group was considered normal. I had never felt so many people at one place with one intention, to submit to God. Alhamdulillah my mom and me managed to perform an Umrah each day within our week stay. We tried different timing each day, just to avoid the crowd. Performing an Umrah during the day were less people compare during the night but during the day we were fasting. We even tried after Zuhr when the sun was directly glaring above us but still there were so many. The duration of Umrah could be done less than two hours but sometimes it took up to four hours. There were three major test that we faced performing an Umrah during the Ramadan 1> dehydration (fasting) 2> the summer weather (can be up to 50 C) 3> the crowd (can reach more than one million people). Patient was the cure and only God knows.

Our daily routine were mostly Shalat at the mosque, sleep between two Shalat prayers or performing an Umrah, break fast (iftar), terawih and sahur. We took our Miqat by bus or minivan at At-Taneem mosque (this is for people who lives or stays in Makkah wanting to do Umrah) because we had to go outside the haram area before reentering and At-Taneem was the closest which was located just outside the border of Haram. We went for a trip around Makkah on one of the days. To my disappointment, the trip was mostly just viewing from the inside of a bus because of the Ramadan and the heat. First we went to Mount of Thowr, located 4km south of Masjidil Haram. The cave of Thowr was on the top of the mountain that was known of the spiders, which helped the Prophet S.A.W from being found from the people who wanted to kill him on his spreading of Islam just before his hijrah (migration) to Madinah. On our way to Padang Arafah, we stopped by at a little famous mountain called Jabalur Ramah. It was said that Adam and Eve met here after being sent down on earth. We went through the places that in need to complete a Hajj, from Arafaat, Mudzalifah and Mina. There were hundreds of shelters that can accommodate for about 3million Hajj Pilgrims and were sectioned on continents, regions and countries. We took our Miqat at Jaraanah this time (another alternative).

A monorail train station in Makkah was built to ease the travels of Hajj in 2009. There was a controversy when constructing the monorail station. The Chinese Railway Company had won the multi billion contract for implementing the 450km rail road linking the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah and Rabigh. The conflict was that the company wanted non muslim Chinese workers but non-Muslims were not allowed inside Makkah (Haram area). So, they discussed among the educated class of muslim legal scholars and authorities on this matter. One Ulama' did not allow it to happen. After much debating, they decided it was to consider an emergency case (darurat) - meaning it was allowed because they needed the train for the better good and there were no other options. So they went on with the construction and Alhamdulillah, God had other plans. Over 600 Chinese nationals working on the Haramain Rail project have embraced Islam. Their conversion took place 24 hours after getting books introducing Islam in Chinese language at their work site at Arafat, which is outside the Haram area. The workers that converted were invited to do the Hajj by Saudi Arabia last year. They also did a trial with the monorail and will be properly operated this year.

I wanted to socialize more but it seemed like everyone here, had only one motive. Every time I did my prayers in the mosque, it was always a different person from another country. Sometimes we chat or getting to know one another but only for there and then. There were so many Muslims from all around the world and different mazhabs (teachings) with only one thing in their heart, to have a place in heaven. I will go there again one day! InsyaAllah!

Bali Again!

2011-07-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Just came back from Bali last week! Wanted to write about it but turned out that theres nothing much to write about because it wasnt as great as the first time! Went with Khalid and Abbas but this time we hungout with people that lives there! Budi from Jawa Timur and Asran from Kalimantan. They showed us the short cuts and cheap prices for food and stuff. All in all i find Bali not as fun as I first went. Maybe because I was stuck in the same place most of the time. Went for about three weeks and my only regret was that i didnt explore more places! $$$ problem! cant wait for my next trip soon! anyway i have a new board retro fishtail 5' 11 specially for Cherating!

KiL - Official Trailer 1

2011-07-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

Our first independent movie trailer is out!!! it will be done soon... hope u guys like it.!!

'Riding the Waves' coming soon!

2011-06-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

I submitted a proposal on october 2010. They responded in January 2011 saying they were interested and asked us to pitch it! In February we were selected amongst the about 500 that had submitted. We were one of the 20's chosen. Im glad. but since then we had to work out the treatment to satisfy the supervisor in order to sign the contract. and finally this day today we signed the contract. SO it's gonna happen this coming monsoon, a documentary on surfing scene in Malaysia. Sadly they rejected the malay title 'Main Ombok'. So we have to come out with something new later on. Im nervous yet excited. Alhamdulillah n InsyaAllah everything will go fine. Thank you Nik Amir, Rewan & Jeremy of Flux Visual Lab for helping me out on this but it is still a long way to go.
This is a teaser that boosted our project;

=>

It's a wrap!!

2011-06-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

5 days to go... KIL the movie

2011-05-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

My first involvement in making an independent film. 5 days to go before the shooting...
Pressure mounts up....

introducing Main Actor; Redza Minhat as Akil

Main Actress; Cristina Suzanne Stockstill as Zara

and myself as the Production Manager... =>

check out the website... http://www.kilmovie.com/

Route Explorers: KL - Bangkok, Sep 2009

2011-04-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

my attempt to do a travel-log. didnt work up. now on plan B...
thanks to Lish & Khalid

A raw attempt on short Film 'Masak'

2010-10-11T13:58:00.001-07:00

this was a raw attempt that me and my friends Nik, Lish and Yasmin did with the equipments we have... enjoy....

A Malay Warrior who fought for Indonesian Independence

2010-10-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to my late Grand fathers and Grand uncles who had the reality life show of experiencing the hardship as youngsters during the Japanese occupation of Malaya and South East Asia as a tribute by the younger generation of family to them.

This question always intrigues me - How did my late great grand Uncle Pak Salleh (my late great grandfather’s youngest sibling) come to and settled in Bandung? My father told me that it was a long story. He came to Indonesia in 1945 when there was then no AirAsia, no Straits Shipping Company and no Malacca Dumai ferry. It is not Ripley’s Believe it or Not BUT he actually came to the shores of Bali by riding on a piece of plank (a prototype surf board). Now I know why I like to surf in the sea at Cherating, yearn to go surfing in Bali and to travel throughout the Java Island. He related his experience to my father and my father told it to me, and I am repeating here for our generation to remember by especially my Muar family origins.

It all began in Muar town when the Japanese occupied Malaya. As a common practice then, the Japanese always rounded up and kidnapped village youngsters and forced them to serve in the Japanese army. They took those youngsters who liked to hang around (Lepak) who were curious watching the Japanese soldiers in Muar town. My late great grand father , Haji Ahmad Idris and his brother Pak Salleh, somehow managed to run away first but one of their brother’s, Mahfis were unfortunate to get caught by the Japanese soldiers and loaded into the waiting lorries and was sent to the Thailand to serve as forced labour on the infamous death railways. Pak Salleh, my father call him Kakek in Indonesian (equivalent to Atuk in Malay) on the other hand became a soldier for the allied and was sent to Indonesia. He was transported to Singapore and then was put on a boat outbound to Indonesia. However, half way through the journey, the Japanese gunboats torpedoed the boat. When the boat was beginning to sink, Pak Salleh and his friend kept each other floating by holding on to a plank that was blown off from the boat. His friend became weaker and finally sank to the bottom of the Java Sea. He held tight to the plank and thinking he will be next to die. He kept afloat for days thank the Almighty Allah that his life is still long (“Alhamdullilah, umur Kakek masih panjang lagi”) he was rescued by some fisherman. What an irony for “a piece of plank that floats in the sea”. He used his piece of the plank for survival and I am using a piece of plank (surf board) for sport. And it is just a piece of plank. His journey to survive from Bali Island to Surabaya and in Jogjakarta he met Muhammad Suhar Sukarya who was an Indonesian freedom fighter at that time. Pak Salleh joined M.S Sukarya to fight the Dutch for the Indonesia Independence. After World War II was over he followed M.S Sukarya back to Bandung where he met a beautiful girl and married her to settle down and started his family. When he died, he was given the honour to be buried at the Warriors Graveyard (Pusara Pahlawan) in Bandung. My parents and grandfather visited him 25 years ago.

My uncle Rafid once worked at Subang, East Java, Indonesia in 1994, and often visited them during his stay at Indonesia. In fact, the family in Muar sponsored him to come back to Malaysia (Muar & Kuala Lumpur) to meet the family here. He came to our house in KL but we were with my mother in Leicester, UK. My father went for meetings in Indonesia and visited him several times. The last time my dad met him was in 2002 when his health was failing due to the old age.
We knew of his death from the son in law in 2003 but after that somehow we lost contact. When I went to go to Bandung, I tried to get his address. My father had misplaced it and he remembered only the name road (Jalan Rajawali Timur) but not the numbers. Luckily, my uncle Rafid still kept the address of the son in law, Pak Sukandar.

The other brother, Mahfis survived the force labour of the death railways. When the Japanese surrendered after the American dropped of the two atomic bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Khad and I were in Nagasaki in 2001), the force labour were abandoned. He made his way to the south hoping to come back home to Malaya. He traveled and lived from village to village in Thailand. He did not reach home though but settled half way in Bangkok. His mother waited for him for years since her maternal instinct knew that he was still alive some where. Every evening she waited at the main door of her house looking to the road hoping that one day his son will emerges in front of her. He tried to contact his mother in Muar but his letters did not have correct address. Finally, he wrote one addressed to the mosque. The mail carrier send to the Kampong mosque and it was read to the villages. But by then, his mother had passed away.

My grandfather in Kuantan (my dad’s father) was also being forcefully recruited to become Japanese soldiers. He had to learned Japanese language and can sing Japanese songs. He managed to run away from the Japanese army one month before the Japanese surrendered and went into hiding. The younger generation heard that Malayan then was having hard time during the Japanese occupation from the history books. . But the youngsters then had really experienced very hard time then were forced to serve the Japanese in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaya.

Bandung and the rest of the journey...

2010-09-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

Dearest…
We felt like accessing a mind field for our 2nd part of our travel as the alert from the Bendera group in Jakarta stated of getting rid of Malaysians from their country. The Malaysia – Indonesia conflict was at climax as Malaysians were not advised to enter Jakarta but on the bright side the price ticket went as low as RM179 one way. That was a rare as usually bargain AirAsia tickets would only apply if you booked it for some of months before but not five days before. It turned out that Bandung was one best adventure I had.

We left for Jakarta on 2nd September (Thursday) after a week rest in Malaysia due to extension of our Visa stay for another 30 days. It was creepy all right wondering what might occur if we end in the middle of the conflict. Even Man was stuck at the immigration for some time, as they took advantages of the circumstance. As soon as we got out the airport, my concentrate on only wanted to get out of Jakarta, so we took the bus straight to Bandung for 75k Rp. Bandung was said to be a great place from most people we met along the way. It is located among the hills, so it rains usually but this time of the year the rain was more frequent due to global warming. The people here has fairer skin contrast to other Indonesians as their weather are always cool and so less sunlight. My eyes were wide open to see the beauties of Bandung. Bandung is the 4th largest city and is known as a posh district in Indonesia. We have a school friend Harizah, who is studying Medicine in Padjajaran University for six years and is on her final month to graduation. She was not around as she had to do her practical out of town, so she electronically introduced her course mate Amira. She gave us a stay at her boyfriend’s room (who was also out of town) at the hostel rented for mostly Malaysian students. We met Har the next day after she came back for the weekends. Earlier that day there was a demonstration in Dago about 10minutes drive from where we settled in Sukajadi. The demonstration was done at a Petronas Fuel station where they burned the Malaysian flag and pictures of our current prime minister. It gave us a rattle as phone messages amongst Malaysians were spread to stay in their homes and not to go out but still we went for a night hangout at the nearest shopping complex, Paris Van Java and oh my more beautiful girls all dressed up elegantly. We met Har’s close mates during her study in Bandung. Also met Rizal (the room that we stayed in) later that night and had numerous conversations. My questions toward him were my curiosity on medic students as my exposure was from TV sitcoms. Rizal told us that the dilemma here was always about money. Most of them do not have the funds to even pay the medical bills. It differs to Malaysia as usually our hospitals would do the surgery or medication first and worry about the bills later but it was vice versa here, if you do not have the money, you will ask to leave and bare with the problem you have. Insurances are mostly done by the rich but it was still not to be trusted because of scammers. The Indonesian government does help the poor citizens but the process itself is said too tedious and someone may presumably die before the right document & affirmation is done.

Dago & Riau in Bandung is the known places where factories outlet for cheap imitation clothing. We took a risk on going to Dago even though there was an Anti-Malaysia demonstration the day before. We even stopped at the Petronas station where it all happened to snap a few photos. The shopping complexes in Bandung reminded me of the ones we have in Malaysia particularly the night life along the Dago area. They have cafes and restaurants where mostly students and people from Jakarta hang outs. Jakarta citizens love to come down to Bandung during the weekends as it is only more a less 2-3 hours away. We met more of Har’s course mates for our break fasting as they had a gathering for a seafood dinner and therefore we get to know them a little better of their bizarre and tragic experiences throughout their internship in different locations. That Sunday I woke up really late (the long sleep that I needed) and hung out at Har’s place as we waited for break fast at nearby Nasi padang restaurant. Har left that evening to a new hospital location. It is requisite for the medic students to do their housemanship for six months before graduation. Every month they have various destinations. That night Khad brought me to Chiampelas road which was known as the jeans street. I realize that you can be posh at every level. Either you can buy the imitations which were very good on quality or if you have too much money, you just can spend it on the originals.

I had a mission in Bandung which turned out to be one highlight of my Indonesia trip. I was in search of a lost family which was related to my maternal Muar origins. My great uncle was involved in the World War II and somehow ended in Indonesia and met his other half in Bandung. Unfortunately he died in 2003 and since that our communication deteriorated. I only had an address gave from my uncle as he visited them in 1994. My dad lasts came about a few months before Arwah Pak Salleh died. It took me a while to look for it as the number of the house was 120 but I could only find 118 and next to it was an office block that put me in blunt situation. I was not about to give up as I know that I needed to look for them one way or another. As I wander around the office, I spotted there was a road behind it and to my relief I found it but there was no one around. I asked the neighbour and they told me to come at night. I went again and rang the bell of the house. They answered it but it was not them. I stated what my expectation was and gladly so the couple living there was the brother-in-law to arwah Pak Sallehs eldest daughter. He said that the family relocated out because the land was sold to a businessperson in Jakarta for four billion rp. His family also were about to move out in a few days and I guess it was meant to be that we met. He called up Pak Sukandar and told him about my arrival and later his eldest, Hendra picked me up to their new home in Chiangjuang which they moved in about five months ago. Pak Sukandar was married to Ibu Tuti (arwah Pak Salleh’s eldest daughter) and had a son Hendra. Pak Salleh was close to my grandpa Atok Ahmad because they were about the same age. Both parties did some visiting to one another countries during the 80’s and 90’s. Also that night, arwah Pak Salleh’s wife came to the house to greet me and she was blooming happily as she said that she prayed for this to happen because since the passing of her husband there was no news or much contact among the two families. Id never met any one of them before and my family went for a trip to Bandung a year before I was born. Hendra himself went to Malaysia with arwah Pak Salleh in 1995 and during that time my family was in England. I decided to stay at their house until Raya Aidilfitri where I can meet up the whole generation at arwah Pak Salleh’s house. Hendra showed me more of Bandung. He brought us to the notable Administrative Gedung Sate, shopping factories and had the two attempts going up the hill area to see the view but out of despair it rained whenever we were up there. He also took me to arwah Pak Salleh’s house in Rajawali timur where pictures were seen of the past of us Malaysian family visiting in Indonesia and the other way round. There was even an album of pictures sent from Malaysia. It seemed that my arwah grand uncle Hassan, Uncle Malik, Pak Pid, Pak Kob and my family was the ones in touch before my arrival in Bandung.

The day that I have awaited most finally attained. Spending the Raya Aidilfitri with my family that I had never met in Bandung was a blessing. I woke up late that day but in time for Aidilfitri prayers. I put on my baju raya melayu but when I was at the mosque it felt like I was overdressed as people would stare and wonder who this guy is? So I kept close to Hendra and Pak Sukandar, so I do not feel out of place. Relatives of Pak Sukandar came to the house after Aidilfitri prayers and later before noon we went to nenek's (opah for me) house at Rajawali timur and met my unknown family. Nenek had the seven children, more than a bunch of grandchildren and some great grandchildren. I felt like a celebrity for a while with my raya dress up and relatives wanting to know of my Malaysian routes. Stories were exchange, old pictures were shown & new ones were taken and the foods were delicious as rendang and ketupat was the basic but there were plenty of others that I never had before which bloated my stomach. There were about 30 of us cramping inside the little house but it was joyful of course, the only problem that I encountered is the Sunda language that they communicate amongst one another. Besides that it felt like Muar in the 90’s. Also did my Friday prayers nearby the house. I met so many people till I forgot to ask their names. Later we went at Pak Sukandar’s family house. Their house was slightly wealthier and he too had a big family. Pak Sukandar’s father, Sukarya (deceased) was best friends with arwah Pak Salleh as they were soldiers during the World War II and they both fought for Indonesian independence. Both eldest children were married to each other (regarding to Pak Sukandar and wife). It was an emotional end leaving and saying my goodbye’s to the family. I surely hope they visit Malaysia someday as we were connected again.

As promised, Khad, Man & I had to carry on with our journey. Khad was craving for the waves and we intended we would head there once the Ramadhan was over. We took an economy train that night which cost us only 24k Rp. but the predicament was when the arrival of the train. It was so full that we cannot even enter the train, as people block the doors only for the police to be aggressive with them. It was Raya Aidilfitri and everyone wanted to go home. The economy train just kept on selling their tickets without limitation. To our desperation, we saw some Indonesians climbing outside in between two trailers, so we took a chance on that and it was one of my craziest train ride for the next nine hours outside the train. Lucky it was night time and our vision was limited, so it was not that scary but to snooze off was a bad idea as we had to look out for one another so we would not fall off. We stayed at Jogjakarta for two nights to catch our rest and took off again to Bayuwangi in an economy train for 35k Rp. but this was worst. The train departed from Jogja so we managed to get seats but everyone kept on coming in and not coming out at each train stop. Witnessing all this from my seat where I was stuck on to for 16 hours as we could not move elsewhere or it will be taken. We reached Bayuwangi late midnight and stayed in the mosque till the next morning as we took our surfboards and left for Bali again.

We had about 12days left before our flight back, so we decided to spend it with the waves in Bali. We wanted to go to Lombok but by that time we ran out of money. We went to four different destinations in search for good waves and Kuta was our base. I surfed at Uluwatu, Canggu and Berambangan where the waves went up to eight foot only for me to get wipe out but it was a great experience. All in all I find my Bandung was the best place because of the location among the hills, the beauties, cheap clothes etc and most of all getting in touch with my Bandung family.

Sumatra Island Amazing Race

2010-09-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Dearest…
The following few days of my expedition felt like amazing race as I had to be in Dumai, Riau for the ferry to Melaka within two days. It was fatiguing all right as it was the longest ride ever I went on a bus. On Saturday (22/08/10) just after Zuhur, we went to the bus terminal as Ebby & Vania navigated us by utilizing the local bus. As usual, once you access the terminal, there will be people crowding you, holding you back just so they can sell off their tickets. We had ours to Dumai for 270k Rp. with the AC Bus Company. But to my despair, they took a little more time than they promised. We took off on Saturday around 3pm and reach Dumai on Monday about 9pm. Imagine, 56 hours on a bus ride.

The 1st stop was at Merak, a ferry port which connects to Pelampung, southern port of the Sumatra Island. It was midnight then, where we can only enjoy the breeze of air at the front of the ferry for approximately 2hours. We met this family, who were traveling from Solo which totaling their traveling was 5days 4 nights with the bus. How crazy was that? The bus ride was considerably cheap but there was a catch, they will only stop at their chosen restaurant for us to have our break fast and sahur. The predicament was that the cost per meal was above par, somewhere above 20k Rp. for a typical meal.

I wish to explore more on the Sumatra Island because the people here are much alike to Malaysian compare to Javanese but time was against us, we can only perceive the Sumatra mostly through the windows of the bus and during the pit stop. We can pick up their slang better compare to Javanese as they had so much resemblance to the Malay language. The Sumatra Island is four times bigger than the Java Island but is 1/3rd of the population than Java Island. We had a long stop at Palembang but did not bother to wander around much because it was really humid; this is because we were near the equator line. If you might know, Parameswara, the founder of Malacca sultanate in 1400 was born in Palembang.

We reached Dumai that Monday night. Khad had a friend there, his ex college roommate Novli. Novli works at a hand phone shop where most of his income from selling credits. His family offered us a stay at their place for the night. Nov brought us around the town that night and we had one of the best Bakso in Dumai. Dumai is a city in Riau province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Dumai is an important transport and trade center, both regionally and international (among other things to Malaysia). Dumai is rich in oil (fuel and palm oil). We woke up early the next morning to get the tickets to Melacca. And yes we were late by a day and fine 200k Rp per person per day.

We are going to have a rest for about a week a Malaysia as we were in need to restore our energy and of course we were off budget and staying in Malaysia saves a lot. It seems the Indonesia and Malaysia conflict was getting tenser as the Bendera announced to shave and sweep of Malaysians who were in Indonesia. My flight to Jakarta is just after our independence day. I feel like entering a mine field but I cannot stop now as we were only half way through the whole journey. Do pray for our safety.

Menggo

P/S: where were you? Hope to see you again...

Antara Yogya dan Jakarta... Kita Jatuh Cinta....

2010-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Dearest…
My exploration throughout the Java Island from east to the west was getting better as civilization appears heading west of the island. I went on the dodgiest bus ride so far in my life heading towards Yogyakarta. The bus was 85k Rp. per person and it took us 12hours. It was economical all right but it was so packed that you cannot even sleep nor do anything for a matter of fact and it puts me in numb circumstances at times. There were 5 seats within a row and almost at every stop there will be buskers approaching on and off the bus trying to get change off you with their one hit wonder cover. Food sellers were typically around too despite the daytime of Ramadhan.

We were at Jogjakarta right before the Sunday (15/08/10) sunrise and took a local bus 3k Rp. per person. Our destination was to Ibu Tuti’s house nearby University Gajah Muda (UGM). Ibu Tuti Loekman and her husband were warmhearted mates of my parents during their stay in The Hague, Netherlands when my dad was studying there in the mid 70’s. Her husband passed away about 10 years ago and her two children have a family of their own. She now lives with her maid’s family at her home. Her husband was active in politics and since his death, she took over. We took a long nap to cover our sleep for the day. That evening we went for a wander at the notable Jln Malioboro (like Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Malaysia) which was the main street that sells inexpensive stuffs mostly made in Jogja. Jogja was known for its batik, so there would be all sorts of materials to be sold in batik form. Remember always to bargain half the price and slowly rise up bit by bit until both parties agree. The terawih in Jogja reminded me a lot of kampongs (village) in Malaysia during Ramadhan, almost similar to some differences. They usually have a recite before the prayers and the terawih was at regular speed contrasts to the ones in Muncar, Bayuwangi which was ultimately quick.

We woke early on the next day as we arranged for Borobudur, a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues, only to miss it out because the price was ridiculously high compare to the local price of 15k rp to international price 125k rp. How we expected that they would consider us as we were brothers in blood and a neighbouring country. Instead we alter our destination to Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi by noon. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. Although smoke can be seen emerging from the mountain top at least 300 days a year, several eruptions has caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 64 people on November 22 in 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. We did not actually climb the volcanic mountain but a Serampangan hill nearby which we can view Gunung Merapi from the peak. Gunung Merapi was said extraordinary due to of its white sand on top cause by the 300C lava. I was not prepared for the climb as it was spontaneous and it took us an hour with slippers and jeans to reach the peak. Plus, we were fasting, but our disappointment of not entering Borobudur kept us going. There were also caves from the Japanese occupation during the World War II at this National park.

It was a routine for us during our stay in Jogjakarta to head for Malioboro Road for the night and day if we did not have elsewhere to go. The daytime was mostly to see or to shop and thenight was just to hangout. There was a Ramadhan Independence Yamaha 2010 concert going on for the eve of Indonesia Independence Day broadcasted live at the end of Malioboro Road. As always and since it was a holiday, the event and the streets were full of people as their spirits were highly energized on their 65th independence day. Jogjakarta was also known as city of students, known for many universities and colleges. UGM itself is well known throughout Indonesia and only the bright ones belonged there. Throughout my stay I met Riya, she was a student at Muhammadiah working at Malioboro street helping her mom out during her free time. We also met Danny for our last night hangout at a Chilli restaurant nearby Ibu Tuti’s house. He was working at the restaurant and randomly we were buddies with him. He just moved from Jakarta to Jogja because of his desire to study but in need of money to save up before he can register. Danny brought us where the nightlife hangout. It was next to the famous ‘Kali Code’, a river which was once filmed.

We left Jogja on Thurs evening on a train economy class which cost us 26k Rp. compare to the executive which was 200k plus Rp. The train ride was another unexpected experience. When we accessed the train, most of the people would take as many spaces as they can so they can have a restful sleep. They would spread their legs out or even put their bags and would just ignore us looking for seats. The only way was to tip the workers to get us some seats. People in the train would sleep in all sorts of position and even on the floor. Again it was 12 hours journey to Jakarta and certainly I did not get my sleep with food sellers walking throughout the train regularly. To keep yourself entertain, you have to communicate with public around you and exchange stories to one another. I met two Ibu’s, infront, next to me and a group of students at the seats opposite us. After sahur I thought, I could acquire some sleep as some seats emptied because some passengers had left for earlier destinations and food sellers had left too but to my dismay, the buskers came singing their lungs out.

We reached Jati Negara station, Jakarta timur just after sunrise. Ebby and Vania, whom we met earlier in Bali came to pick us up and brought us to Central Jakarta as we checked in at Jalan Johar at a house with rented rooms for 110k Rp. We had our rest and soon after Ebby and Vania brought us to Dufan (Dunia Fantasy) at Ancol. Ancol is like Disneyland for Indonesians and thanks to Vania, our admissions were free. We mastered all the adrenaline rides while waiting for breaking fast. The rides were better than the ones we have in Malaysia.

I realized that the Indonesians appreciate music at every class. They strive to survive by singing mainstream songs to the crowds, on the bus, at hangouts or wherever there are many people. Besides music, there were people who would sell foods, hot drinks, cigarettes, toys and even onions or anything that is convenient for walk around with. Sometimes it can be annoying when it comes to that stage when they kept on bugging you. My recommendation is always to prepare small changes less than 1k Rp. for these buskers or just simply say no and shake your head. Avoid eye contacts to these sellers because it gives them hope. We did not go around much in Jakarta as we were saving it for our next Jakarta trip throughout our exploration. For now we were chasing time, as our 30 days visa stay was almost over and we aimed to travel to Dumai, Riau, Sumatra Island and cross borders to Melaka so we can extend our visa for another 30 days.

Menggo

P/S thank you for being there… =>

With love from Muncar, Bayuwangi, Jawa Timur, Indonesia

2010-08-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

Dearest…

I’ve decided from here and now onwards I desire to write to you only so it will always come from my heart. I had two great weeks with the waves that kept me in peacefulness but for me the real adventure commences here. Instead of waking up heading for the waves, this time was contrary. We are heading for an exploration. Khad n Man made friends with Ibu Ul’us and she invited us a stay at her hometown in Muncar, Bayuwangi, East Java and we followed her to her hometown on Sunday morning 08/08/10.

Our trip began early morning with Pak Imron picking us up with his minivan which we paid for rp 800k. Ibu Ul’us, her friend and the three of us went for a 6 hours journey on the road along the west coast of Bali, took a ferry to java Island and towards to Muncar, Bayuwangi. After lunch, we stopped by at Ibu Ul’us eldest daughter Ul’us house in Blambangan, Muncar. Her husband, Mas Haji Ikrom was still recovering from liver affection. Along the way we encountered marching parade from schools and clubs in Muncar as they practiced for the Indonesian national day which will be on 17 August (65th year). Later that evening we went to Ibu Ul’us house in Tembokreja, Muncar which was about 4km away from her daughter’s house. We met Ibu Ul’us son, Affendi and his wife. Affendi sells bakso on his bicycle and his clients are from four nearby villages. I had slight warmth on Monday. After lunch we followed Mas Ikrom to his working area. He was a fisher and owns a big boat where his workers would go out to the sea and do the fishing for him. Bayuwangi is the 2nd largest fishing industry in Indonesia after kepulauan Sulawesi. He brought us to the beach where the entire of the trading was done. Later that evening, we went to witness the national day parade. They advanced the parade before the actual Independence Day because Ramadhan falls on Wednesday. I envied the spirit these Indo have on observing them parading. They were more open on what they want to do and usually would have their own variety trademarks within their troops. I felt their independence and freedom compare to what we have in our country. Later that night news spread to the Chief of Tembok, Muncar that there were three outsiders in town. He came to the house and asks us to identify our passports as he reasoned that he was jealous not to be informed of our stay. The next morning two other people came to verify us. They advised us to report to police on our stay and we did that. I did not understand why the fuss was exaggerated because immigration had done their part on our stay Indo. Or maybe they just want something in return from us. Once settled at Muncar Police station, Pak Ikrom brought to do some fishing at Bali strait. Rudy whom we met a day before joined us as we rented his father’s boat for rp. 200k. Rudi was Mas Ikrom’s cousin. Did you know that there are 169 types of fish in Bali strait? The initial plan was to go to Pasir Putih which was nearby Pelengkung (2nd largest wave for surfers) but the waves and current were too strong for us to go further. We only manage to get three fishes, which I caught a little one. Before heading home we hung out at an island where most fishers would stop by. To my disappointment, to see them being ignorant of the cleanliness of the sea, as rubbish, oil and fish dumps were scattered in the sea, especially at the shore. Rudy brought us Nongkreng (hangout) the nightlife in Muncar with his friends Riul and Kristian. It opened my eyes knowing the locals here, how they crave for education as they appreciate money so much. I cannot deny how cheap things were here. Imagine a cup of good cappuccino cost me rp. 2k = 50-60sen. To work around here usually would earn about rp. 200-400k = RM50-120 per month. As for Rudy he works at Pulau Batam as a kitchen helper and he earns rp. 1.7M. It took him three years to save up for his first motorcycle. He said that he doesn’t mind being a cement mixer in Malaysia which he can earn rp. 3M. You must know that the population of Indonesia is 250 million and 220 million are in poverty.

We started our Ramadhan with a BBQ fish for sahur. The first night of fasting was melodically booming. There’s like madras in each village and each village was proximate. From where I stayed we four different azans simultaneously can be heard and echoes of others but as for Ramadhan they would read the Quran until 12 midnight and would start again around 2 at night. They would call for SAHUR SAHUR SAHUR like every 30 minutes starting from 2am. There even kids playing drums just to wake the society up for sahur. So the night was sound tracked with Quran reading, calling for sahur, kompang kids but it’s hard to hear which is which because every madras wanted to be the. They surely know to make full use of their loud speaker. Sirens were also used for imsak and Maghreb. I find the terawih can be a little too fast or maybe I just need more time to adapt. For sahur and breaking fast regularly we would by food from Market and ibu Ul’us would cook for us. On Thursday evening, Rudy brought us to a local league for Muncar with entry of rp 3k. The yellow team was one nil up against the orange team when we came. The 2nd half scenario was certainly bizarre. It started out with yellow team committed a foul in his penalty area but the referee gave a free kick instead. In dissatisfaction, a fan from the orange team barging in the field towards the ref. Then a yellow team’s fan came towards that guy and a fight broke out between them. The game was paused and the police was included. Then the referee was brought to the side with the players involved to re discuss what occurred. A new decision was made and the ref gave a penalty but the yellow team doesn’t want to play because of the new ruling. In the end a player from the orange team took a penalty without a keeper. The final score was 1 – 1 and that was the end. As Friday approaches we had to search for a ticket to Jogja as for our next destination. It cost rp. 85k 12hours ride to Jogja by bus and rp.180k 20 hours ride to by train because it stops at Surabaya first.

By the end of the week, I realized that most local around here feared or see Malaysians as terrible human beings. 1st on the list was because how Indo maids were treated in Malaysia. I met this lady with stilt and her story was that she worked in Malaysia for two years and returned to her hometown because she was tortured by her employee. 2nd; The Manoraha and Tengku Fakhree of Kelantan royalty case. The episode here was total divergent. They really hate him and thoughts of how cruel Malaysians are. 3rd the 2002 and 2005 Bali Bombings which involved two main people of Malaysian nationality, Azhari and Mat Top. I can only listen and tell my point of view and defend those unrelated to these events. Thank you to Upin and Ipin as their widely love for the animation as everyone smiles would be shared whenever they knew that we were Malaysians. As for me everyone is an individual, you cannot judge them by their nationality. We have problems too with Indonesians in our country and I now understand why the hunger for money. I am grateful for my great upbringing from my parents. I am also glad that my journey started from the rural area as I will be heading for Jogja this coming week.

Menggo

Indonesia - Bali

2010-08-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

25.07.10 - SUN; my plane landed at Denpasar about 7pm with Azad while Khad & Man waited for us as they arrived on earlier flight. Checked in Bali Manik, Poppies Lane II, Kuta which cost us 100k per room per night with two beds which we bunk in the four of us. Sneaked preview the beach and felt exhilarated for next dawn. MON; the day that had finally attained!!! Woke up early just to surf at Kuta beach. The long beach had many beach break points as Kuta beach was connected to Legian beach. Khad, Man and Azad scouted their surfboards as I carried mine from Malaysia. The waves were fantastic, almost 2m at its peak. Browse on the nightlife in Kuta. It seemed that mostly everybody was partying all night long. It reminded of my stay in Surfers Paradise,Gold Coast, Australia when I encountered the schoolies during my stay there. Bali is like a 2nd home for Aussies. additional to that there were many Europeans and Japanese. TUES; Morning surf. Great day surfing for me as I had a long ride with my own board which I find it difficult to ride it during my time in Cherating. Met up with Vania and Ebby which was our neighbour. They were from Jakarta and were on vacation. It’s easier to roam with them as they were Indonesians and managed to bargain stuff to a local price. Evening surf. We rent motorbikes which was 200k per bike for a week. Vania and Ebby exposed us more of Kuta. Went to Discovery Mall at Central Kuta where local youth loiters. WED; Morning surf. convinced Abby and Vania to surf. Met Ben & Morehu which was our other neighbour . They were pro kiwi surfers from New Zealand. Bungy jump with Vania in the evening at Legian Beach nearby Seminyak. 550k rupee as I imitated to be a local. The cost had been double if you were not a local. Cannot deny how frightening it was just to glance down but once leapt it was purely awesome adrenaline rush through the veins.

THU; Morning surf at Kuta halfway and went to Canggu beach which were 45minutes motor drive bearing north. The waves were simply bigger and angrier. Canggu had reef break which made it easier to predict but can be risky when low tides because the corals were about a foot away. It was a tiring day just paddling throughout the strong current and windy day which made the break unpredictable at times. It was the last night for Ebby & Vania as their time in Bali had almost came to its end. Had seafood to celebrate the night. FRI; Morning surf as it has become our routine during the day to surf until fatigue. Khad with the most drive but I always come out early from the sea depending on frustration with performance or simply just knackered. Vania & Ebby left that evening heading back to their home in Jakarta. Met up with Kish n Zan from Malaysia. Kish was our friend who won a trip to Bali. Showed them around Kuta and looked for Kish’s soon to be surfboard. SAT; by today I begun waking up late and would likely to surf around 9 – 10am. The sea water in Kuta can be too chilly during the dawn. I do not know how Khad did it every sunrise. Went for a hour drive heading south to Uluwatu after lunch. The waves were incredible mainly because of the clear sea water but I didn’t surf only to be envious of Khad & Man surfing the waves of Uluwatu. Besides that the evening scenery was mesmerizing enough. Today was Ben’s (new zealand neighbour) 24th birthday. He invited us to celebrate it at Apache Reggae bar. Music was good. Met Robyn (Aussie) & Yanti (Belgium) which was one of our neighbours too heading for Ben’s birthday.

Week 2
01.08.10 – SUN; Morning surf. It was Azad’s last day as for me, Khad and Man extended our stay. Went to Denpasar Airport in the evening. Azad departed on 7pm flight followed by Kish & Zan on 9pm flight. Yanti also left the next morning on 7am flight. MON; took a day off from surfing after continuous work out for a week. Mostly did my resting (sleeping) and planned out the rest of our stay. Met with Okta at a tribal music instrument shop where he works. Man met up with Okta before I did and Okta was a close friend of Robyn. They all had the same interest with tribal drums and beats where they would jam even for a while in the music shop. Just listening to beats and trying to join them with other relevant percussion had surely made my night. TUE: good surf day for me as I had another great ride. The waves were smaller this week comparing to the first week. That night Okta brought us to a Roti Canai and Teh Tarik restaurant as Robyn was craving for it. Good food but not as good as Malaysians. WED; worst surfing day up to date. Most of my time was battling with the waves. A washing machine day as I rolled within the waves a couple of times. Met with Ibu Ul’us which was an owner of a Warung Jawa where the foods were cheaper than most of the Warungs or Restaurant around. Also met up with Pak Imron and made plans to Grajakan as Khad was eager to go to Pelengkung (G-land) which was said the biggest waves in Indonesia were found there. THU; early morning surf and the waves went big again today. The waves were not cute anymore, much angrier and could put you in shock when a 2.5meter wave coming in front of you. Glad with a few rides and of course a lot of wipe outs. FRI; slept the whole morning. Went for Friday prayers and the khutbah was about Ramadhan as it was a couple of days away from puasa. Evening surf. Knackered because had to paddle through the strong rip current. SAT; Nothing much today. Body felt a bit warm. Evening surf. Cannot wait for tomorrow to explore the Java Island...

Cherating Cherating..... surfing Cherating

2010-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since my last blog. I had to job hunt since my pockets were running low in cash. Finally after having my 5th interview since September, I conclusively received a job. Initially, my employer welcomed me to affiliate them in December but I requested to postpone as I had the one last thing on my mind to do before my reality starts and that is to surf...... the yearly monsoon invades again and it’s the perfect time for me to study surfing. I spent my remaining productive lazy bumming days in Cherating. I did not had much to spent, so I did some part time working only to survive the free stay at Cherating Cottage.

Cherating had been my favourite destination in Malaysia for the past seven years, mostly because I am astonished and fond with the travelers and backpackers that I encountered. My networks also expanded through the people I met which were related to my euro trip last summer. As I was getting bored of Cherating, I realized from Jeany, that I had come at the wrong time of the year. Usually I would crash Cherating sometime around between March to August, but it seemed Monsoon season brought something interesting for the villagers. I decided to stay for a month at the end of 2009 and a little bit of 2010 just to learn to surf. Khad and Man had been Cherating much earlier as they had their jobs as lazy bummer beach boys. So I got myself a surfing board and learnt it like the locals did. To my advantage, some of the locals were my friends and they were warmhearted and generous enough to teach and guide us. Most of them were really young at age in vice versa I was young in surfing. It was really stressful at beginning, as frustration arouses only my determination to keep on going. Step by step, one by one I had to experience to perfection (still not perfect though). Paddle!!! Paddle!!! Paddle!!! ... As the kids around me yelled giving me the energy to paddle harder to catch the wave. That was my weakness as my upper body was not as fit as my lower half because of the sports that I played had mostly applied more on my legs. It took me some time for me to get my balancing point on different surfing boards. I started out on Abbas long board. After I had a few little rides I transferred myself to my fun board. It was a tremendous change for me as the fun board it's shorter than the long board and weighing at 78kg would make it harder for me to balance on 6'2 fun board. And then it was about the waves. They do not come in good forms every day. Sometimes it was fat; sometimes it was too short, sometimes it was everywhere and sometimes there was none at all. It entirety depends on the monsoon wind which also had created a variety of strong current. I like to surf during the rainy and cloudy days compare to the hot sunny days which will ultimately burn my skin and tanned me to shiny black. The sun block was not much effective and the sea had put us in denial of the heat as it was really cool when the sun was happy. The low tide waves were better than the high tide waves as it is much thinner and much force to give you that push to have longer rides. The atmosphere in the sea were simply fantastic, mostly surrounded by the locals, sometimes foreigners, pro surfers, hot chicks and sometimes the cocky town locals (they just had that look on their faces like surfing were only meant for them, not for others to learn – usually the ones that would get pissed off with you and blame it all it on you). There was always time to chat while waiting for the waves. And to make it all worth it was that moment of ride. It was another dose of adrenaline shot to repeat it over and over again. For me that was the steps of a beginner. It took me about 5 weeks to get that ride on my own. The next level would be the maneuvering and skills.

Besides surfing, we did other activities when the sea was flat. For instance, skim board at the edge of the sea water, volley ball, beach football, kayaking and more. It was the school holidays and the young locals would always be around to make it all fun and worth staying. There were even people from outside Cherating who would stay just for the monsoon season just because of the adrenaline of wave catching. Thank you to the locals and old & new friends I gathered . Thank you Pak Tain for the stay. Now I know how it feels like craving the waves. It’s going to be some time for my next trip as I started working a couple of weeks ago just for the purpose to save up and explore. Till then see ya

Route Explorers: Journey to Bangkok (Songkla - Krabi - Phuket - Bangkok)

2009-10-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

My next exploration was from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok.I had two other acquaintances, Khad & Lish and our mission came with a motive. It's not a vacation but a job to be done as a step to take on the world.

Day 1 (25-26/09/09)
We boarded the 14 hours KTM train ride from KL to Hat Yai which departed 9pm the night before at KL central. The cabin was comfortable but at periods can be a little a shaky as it stopped from station to another through out the east coast track. We checked in the immigration at Padang Besar by 10am. An hour later we reached our first check point in the Songkhla province, Hat Yai. The language barrier made it complicated for us get a simple answer. We met a random guy at a nearby mosque and he showed us where the minivans that will be parted to Songkla. We went on the minivan not knowing where to explore and to sleep for that night. Khad applied his communication skills which where we met two lovely girls, Pa & Jeab who had volunteered to show us around Songkla. They were heading to Rajamangala University of Technology of Srivijaya as they had some chores to do as students. After putting our bags to safety, Pa and Jeab took us to nearby beautiful beach but the sun was too hot for us to browse around. Then, we took a Tuk Tuk (Thailand kinda taxi) as Pa & Jeab took us to the Songkhla aquarium where exhibitions of fishes were displayed. Soon after, Pa & Jeab brought us to the Naga Head statue at Song Thale Park, Laem Son On and the Mermaid Statue at Samila beach. Both figure had appreciable backgrounds for the people of Songkhla. We head back to Hat Yai to spent the night at Cathay travelers hotel for 250baht per night. Later that night Pa had brought us to dinner next to the night market in Hat Yai. We met Jenny, Pa’s relative and had a little chat before ending the night.

Day 2 (27/09/09)
That morning Pa, Jeab and Jenny had breakfast with us before our departure to Krabi at 9am which cost us 240baht per person. The trip was about 5 hours with a stop at Trang. First, we searched for accommodation as we flow from a guesthouse to another to acquire an appropriate charge. We met Urai, owner of Nature View Guest house which had given us a double bedroom for 250baht per night. We were introduced to Bat, his brother who was a Tuk Tuk driver and had brought us to Tiger Temple Cave. It was 1237 steps that we climbed as my breathang became deeper for every step which made it all worth it once we were at the highest peak to view the whole of Krabi. According to the Buddhist monks that they would climb up the stairs at least twice a day. Bat had brought us to a nearby cheap halal hawker stalls nearby for dinner and later sent us at the night market.

Day 3 (28/09/09)
The day had promise us beautiful beaches and clear sea as we had book a day on a trip to Phi-Phi Island for 800 baht each. A truck picked us up from our guesthouse at 9am as they brought us to Ang Nang, 40mins drive. The trip was socially connected as we met and had conversations with people from Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Canada and the locals. The weather was fantastic as the sun light reflected down in the deep blue sea. The jumpy boat ride took us to our first stop at Phi Phi leh, the smaller island of Phi Phi. The combination of limestone in the middle of the sea with a background of sunny blue sky mesmerized me. To my disappointment the trip to Maya Bay (The Beach, Leonardo Di Caprio) was canceled due to bad waves. We snorkeled for a hour before moving on to the Monkey Bay where the monkeys were egocentric of their appearance. We had watermelons to tease them closer and fed them; they even drank coke straight out of the glass bottle and performed mating session. As noon approached the tourist guides, Is and her sidekick Mau, which Khad managed to get intimate with, took us to Phi Phi Don which was the bigger island for lunch where we were served with full of hospitality. Before going back to the main land, we had a one last stop at the Bamboo Island to swim and relaxes. Besides that Is also explained and showed us the Tsunami hit locations in 2004. At Phi Phi island itself more than 5000 died. By 6pm we were back at our guesthouse and went for dinner.

Day 4 (29/09/09)
We left Krabi for Phuket at noon, four hours journey which cost us 250 baht each. We had the minivan sent us to Kata Karon Beach since we can get cheaper accommodation compare to the ones at Patong Beach. Phuket were known world wide as tourist favourites and the prices can get high at certain places but we sidestepped that by getting a place at Karon Beach for 300 baht per night. We went for swimming that evening at Karon beach. The tidal waves were too strong until a lifeguard had to tell us to get out. That night we rent two scooters for 350 baht and we searched for halal food. The one we ate was expensive since it was like a formal Indian restaurant. eg. Roti Cheese Naan 1250 baht = rm12.50. Yeah right but we had no other choices as we couldn't find cheap halal shop around. By 10pm, we took a drive to Patong Beach which was about 20 minutes away. The night was a total chaotic happening tourist getaway as people were partying and were entertained by the dancers. The weather was unpredictable too that night. It rained a couple of times but only for short while.

Day 5 (30/09/09)
The rainy night had made us overslept till ten in the morning. Our bus to Bangkok was five hours away. We had the rent bike for 24hours hence we spent our time to explore more of Phuket town. Along the way, there was the Wat Chalong Temple which we had a look around. It’s one of the holiest temple in Phuket. We prolonged our way to tesco to get some groceries and along the way Khad with Lish were stopped by a Thai police officer. To my relief, the police officer said "Malaysia, Asia… Okay!!!!". We found a cheap halal restaurant for lunch before we left for Bangkok about 3pm. It cost us 950baht each for the 14 hours from Karon beach which they took us by minibus to the Phuket town and from there we took the overnight bus to Bangkok. The bus was cozy but the seats did not give us that proper sleep. We had a stop at Chumpon around midnight for dinner before elongated our destination to Bangkok.

Day 6 (01/10/09)
It was a sudden awake when we reached Bangkok as the bus conductor had to call for us. It had rained all night and still was that dawn. We took a bus to Banglumphu where we researched to get bargain stay in Bangkok as we were running low of cash. Without perceiving the scenario of how it would be, we had found a place exactly on the Khosan Road itself. We furthered our rest on the bed till noon. Khad had surveyed around Banglumphu area that morning and brought us around the hectic town. We went to one bridge, Rama VII Bridge which crosses the Chao Phraya River. Some activities were done by students from schools as they were preparing for their cheer leading competition. Later that evening we head to the city by local bus and took the skytrain to Siam where all the shopping complexes illuminated the night life of Bangkok. We were told that all KFC were halal in Bangkok and it was confirmed when we had our dinner before heading to the most prominent business and financial centre of Bangkok, the Silm/Surawong area. Over 50 years ago, nobody would have the foresight that the Surawong – Silom area, then a remote district with paddy fields all around, would be main centre of business and financial. The two streets were busy not only in the daytime, but also in the evening, when people came out to eat, to meet business friends or to seek entertainment. We took the last bus to Khosan road at 10pm and to my amazement the road was a busy night market with mini bars hawker style, sarcastic t-shirts, insect foods, illegal license, foot massages all can be bought in Khosan road and the tourist from all around had made it commercialize. The loud music amplified our room till 2am. Imagine sleeping to that.

Day 7 (02/10/09)
The unplanned wake up call from the music stall had started from 7am and it carried on during the day. We went for our Friday prayers at the Cakapung mosque which was placed in among buildings where a series of alleys before finding it but the azan had always arouse the existence. It seems throughout the journey, we discover the influences of Islamic culture was mostly from Malaysia. The khutbah was almost similar with minor differences but in Thai language that kept us wondering. We had a chat with the Imam for that Friday prayers which had introduced us to Manas Nana, the Director of the New World City Hotel. He brought us to his hotel nearby and had invited us for lunch. Manas suggested going by boat along the Chao Phraya which were known as the Venice of the east. It was a cheap way to travel and also for tourist to competence the trip down the river. Later that evening we went back to our guesthouse and waited for the night as we head the Sulom/Surawong area for some amusement. We did our last minute shopping at Khosan Road before off to bed.

Day 8 (03/10/09)
A minivan took us to the airport for the 1pm flight to Penang since it was the cheapest and available. By 4.30pm we were in Penang and used the local bus to Sungai Dua for the bus back to KL. We were back home by 11pm.

A Night of Power....

2009-09-09T12:04:00.001-07:00

A reminder to my fellow Muslims...

Laylat al-Qadr, basically is the Night of Power. Qadr means honour and dignity. Lailatul Qadr means the night of honour and dignity. Laylat al-Qadr is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It is also the anniversary of the night in which the Qur'an is believed by Muslims to have been revealed in its entirety.

This is one of the holiest and most blessed nights, which is likely to occur on one of the odd nights on the last ten days of Ramadhan and mostly believed to be the 27th. The reward of worship on this night is better than the worship of a thousand months of worship, equivalent to a person's lifetime. This night had already opened its gates of treasures when the angel for the first time had come with the Divine Message in the cave of Hira, but its auspiciousness has continued to be with us permanently. Every year in the month of Ramadhan, this night is given to the Ummah.

As far as the signs of Lailatul-Qadr are concerned:
1. The sun rises early in the morning without rays.
2. Rain may fall either during the night or during the day of that night.
3. During night the sky will be lightly foggy.
4. The sky will be slightly lighted without reflections and without rays.
5. The angels and Gabriel all descend down onto earth for many purposes.

Anyone who is interested in attaining the Mercy of Allah will strive very hard to look for the Night of Power. Anyone who is interested in receiving the blessings of Allah on the Blessed Night will work very hard to enjoy the Night of Power. Anyone who is interested in attaining peace of mind, peace of body and peace in society, he has to look for this Night and to live it.

(Qur'an 97, 1-5)

In the name of God, the Benevolent, the Merciful.
1 Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Predestination.
2 Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Night of Power is!
3 The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
4 The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees.
5 (The night is) Peace until the rising of the dawn.

Ameen

Graduation Day

2009-08-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two month since my return home from my mini Euro expedition. I cannot deny encountering a massive Europe hangover after being back in Malaysia. Reality check!!! My return home had put me in dissatisfaction as my journey to take on the world seemed to be unattainable due to the 3rd world country we reside in. But of course nothing is impossible yet only time was required.
I had been down for more than a month, desiring to be in back in Europe or elsewhere rather than stuck practicing something that im not interested in. Pressure mounts me as peers and family had questioned why am i not working yet? Well how can i be someone that i am not? How can i proceed to do something that i am not passionate in? Im done pretending what that i am not!!!
Graduation Day had just went by. After 5.5 years of studying, i conclusively received my Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (hons). I do not regret taking this course hence of the exposure that i had, the people that i met, the life experience thay i gained and most of all it had sharpened my mechanical mind only to discover what i really wanted in my life. All in all, i did it for my beloved parents as they had been supporting me through the years. Once, about half way through my years in UNITEN, i had requested my dad that i could not take anymore of this course as it was getting more complex and complicated. My dad responded with full of support and just saying just to finish off my degree. Since that day, i vowed to complete it. From that i learned to complete what i had started and my determination to hold on to a commitment. An advice from my academic advisor had changed me into whom i am today. She told me to expand my network within my course so i can achieve better or at least to survive with my academics. I had been less conservative since then, and had consumed more knowledge from others by forming a study group and finding tutors among friends, in my definition 'Parasite'. It may sounded negative, but the friends that i had made i would cherish forever as a way to say thank you. I would say half of my degree belongs to my friends that had helped me along the way in accomplishing the certificate that i have today.

Some would ask why did i go through with it? Well there was no one to blame, only to say that i was fickle minded and indecisive of what i want during those period of days. Growing up as the youngest boy in the family, most of my decisions had been made since during preschool. perhaps i was too pampered to know what i want or perhaps i was not revealed to other fields beside science related. Yup, i grew up in the 90's era where science in Malaysia was growing fast and seemed to be the only way to be successful in life as opportunities had widened. Even during my secondary school, for those who did not yet made a choice and had a good result for PMR were put in the science stream classes automatically.
Alhamdullillah that Ramadan had cleared my mind spiritually. I only need to believe and to be patient to achieve my real goal in life. After conversations with friends, wise individuals and observations, i can only understand that i need to execute with what i want in life to be happy ever after. Only time will tell. And after all that, it all came down to qualifications and experiences in the related field, which i had none, only personal experiences which was not presentable enough. And without that, money was always the factor. So therefore, i may need to get a decent job for a year or two to build the foundation of my dreams. One step at a time. It's healthy to have a plan rather than those that does not have any. InsyaAllah i can achieve it.

Euro trip: Milan (Italy) - Paris(France) - Den Haag (Holland) - Amsterdam - Brussels (Belgium) - Back to London

2009-07-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

My Euro trip came down to the final part of the journey despite having more cities in more countries to be explored. My time in Switzerland had left me passionately attached as I embraced my exploration to Milan, Paris, met parents from Malaysia in Den Haag, Brussels and back to London for my return ticket home.

Day 26
Andy had left for work that morning following our goodbyes to each other. I carried on sleeping for a couple more of hours and packed my bags just before noon. I reserved a night train from Milan to Paris the day before. My prepaid ran out of credit and my communications to my contacts were only by public phone. I left Zurich at 1pm and reached Milan about 4+ pm which had left me around six hours to bewilder around in one of the world capitals of design and fashion city. The grace of refinement and beauty in manners of the Italians had alienated me to a total tourist. The Gucci handbags, the Prada shoes, the Armani suit, the Versace perfumes, you name it... it was visible of my surrounding. Approaching the Cathedral, I went through a passage surrounded with shopping malls, inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which was covered over by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades. I continued my walk searching Da Vinci museum but to my disappointment it was closed by the time I was there. The sunset in Milan had slowly illuminated by the shopping and street lights of the elegant city which had left me perceiving the scenario before leaving to Paris.

Day 27
I shared a room with two Argentineans and a random Arabic speaking fellow in a room with six beds hanging beds, three on each side. My night train had brought me to Paris in the morning. I had wasted for more than 3 hours going farther away from the Eiffel Towel until I realized it was only 25 minutes away by metro train. I had only chosen two locations due to shortage of time, the Eiffel Tower and Art De Triumph. I had been to Paris before but that was 14 years back with my family and one place that I was astounded with was the Art De Triumph, where the insane fast cars without traffic lights roundabout. I rushed for the train to Den Haag at 3.35 only to miss it since I didn't do my reservation to cross country. We took the next train an hour later and reached Den Haag around half past eight. Couldn't find any public phone and didn’t remember the name of the street of my hostel reserved room. I arrived at the train station and the first thing that was on my mind to find for Scheveningen beach as that was my only remembrance of where the Jorplace, my accommodation for the next three nights. Reached my dad by public phone once I’m Scheveningen and he told me to look for Kaiserstraat the street where Jorplace hostel. I met my sister again but this time with Don, as I checked in for my room with Don. After perceiving the sunset, we sent Doya to Ambassadors hotel nearby Centrum which was 20 minutes away by tram, where my parents had stayed.

Day 28
Pa had some consultation to get an agreement with the Dutch relating to Palm Oil. Whiles Ma, Ma's friend, Doya, Don and I gathered at the Ambassador hotel as we went for window shopping at the shops and malls in Centrum which was nearby.

Ma had showed us Noordeinde Palace which was one of the four official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Pa had studied there for his masters in business when it was the Institute of Social Studies, based in the north wing of the palace between 1952 and 1976. Ma and her friend had separated with us as she went for shopping and Doya, Don and I went for lunch with a friend of a friend of mine in UNITEN. Feisal had lived in Den Haag since he was born and was a teenage friend of my course mate, Faizal who had lived in Den Haag before furthering his studies in UNITEN. Feisal came with her younger sister and had conversed with another two friends for the lunch. A bomb threat had arisen outside the restaurant as the waiter informed us that the police did not let anyone out as they safeguarded the place only to find out it was a false alarm.

Soon later, Feisal had showed us a little more of the town as we walked to the tram station. Doya and Don went to Moduradom (miniature Holland buildings) and as for me; I went back to Ambassador Hotel to reunite with Ma and Pa. Before night falls, Ma and Pa had brought us walking along the beach of Scheveningen heading to the house where they had lived 35 years back. Ma and Pa were extremely happy as they had presented us down their memory lane with new unfold stories of their past. The year was 1974 when Ma and Pa married and lived together for the 1st year in Scheveningen at the age of 24 (and now I’m 24 doing this???) and was impregnated of Elal about a year later (No wonder he loves the Dutch football team.

Day 29
I was in Amsterdam with Don and Doya approximately to 3pm and met Azfar again minutes later. Azfar went from Rome to Milan to Paris to Munich and to Amsterdam after the split. We used the tram to get inside of the town. We walked around town with some miss direction searching for the one museum that Doya wanted to go to. We bought souvenirs at the hard rock cafe and went to the park next to the Van Gogh museum for a photo session with the 'I amsterdam' sign. Vondelpark was a few kilometers away, so we wouldn’t want to miss that, as it had an average of 10 million visitors yearly. We had a night walk just after sunset just to sneak peek a delicate bit of the nightlife before we went back to Den Haag for the night. Sent Doya to my parent’s hotel and said my goodbye to my parents and Doya as we couldn't meet up the next day and I had to overnight in Brussels to catch my return morning train the day after.

Day 30
I was supposed to meet Azfar in Amsterdam before going to Brussels but he went off just before I reached Amsterdam. I had a little walk around the town for the last time whiles waiting for the next train to Brussels. After four hours train ride, I finally arrived in Brussels at 8.25pm. I only had a few hours of the sun before the night falls. Azfar had picked me up at the station and brought me to a famous park with administration buildings nearby. Just before dark, we walked towards the town and stopped by for some dinner, before enjoying the night life in Brussels. We checked in a random hostel exactly next to the main train station so we wouldn't miss the train next morning at 7.59am.

Day 31
We were on time for the morning train and arrived in London about 10am. The initial plan was to meet Nafeez in Portsmouth, but Nafeez had to work for the rest of the day, so we preferred to be in London to finish off our remaining cash before our return flight. We had lunch at Malaysian Hall which I just realized how lovely it was to have Malaysian food after not having a taste of it for the last two weeks. I met a schoolmate of mine Liza. Adah brought me to Oxford street soon after for some shopping. I had a dinner again at Malaysia Hall. Met Ema, an old friend and met some of Raja's family, my neighbour. It's the weekends and Malaysian Hall canteen was the preferable place for a meal. We slept at Jeff's place for the night, as Hadi (Jeff's housemate) had entertained us before bedtime.

Day 32
I started my day searching of Craven Cottage as I had to get a Fulham jersey on my brother's friend request. It took me two hours until I had found the only shop that sells the jersey which was a few kilometers away from the stadium and only to find out that it was closed on Sundays. I met Jeff at 4.30pm as he was from Northampton from his working place. Again, had my dinner at Malaysian Hall and this time I met Farahana.

Day 33
Jeff brought us around town with his company car. It seems that having a car in London was really expensive as you have to pay for congestion in central London, parking which can be expensive and of cause the fuel cost. First we went to Malaysian Hall again for lunch. Then we went to Putney Bridge where I had to get Fulham jersey. Soon after we went to a shopping mall as Jeff had meeting to deal with. Azfar and I had left London Paddington at around 6.30pm heading to London Heathrow for our return flight at 9.10pm.

Euro trip: Zurich - Luzern - Locarno - Lugano - Gruyere - Bern - Rheinfall - Uetliberg (Switzerland)

2009-07-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

One of my foremost time in the course of this exploration i would say Switzerland!!! In Switzerland, i spectated the Swiss-German, Swiss-Italian and the Swiss-French parts of Switzerland. Besides that, the people in Zurich which i had only met once or twice before were superb as they had treated and exposed me around Switzerland with full of hospitality. Special thanks to Allahyarham Michael Isaac Sarajuddin and my good friend Khalid (Michael's cousin) who had introduced me to these people in Malaysia.

Day 19
Due to the cancellation of the night train, our alternate route was to Zurich. By this time, i didnt had much rest because the alternate train was with standard sitting not the night train where they had bunk beds. Our train reached Bern at around 6am and therefore we had to transit to another train to Zurich which was an hour away. Andreas Caduff (Andy) picked me & Azfar at the Zurich airport that morning and brought us to his place in Lufingen which was ten minutes away from the airport. Had coffee at Andy's place and slept for a few hours. It was a cloudy day in Zurich but what I am seeing was simply tremendous as Andy sneak peek us of the largest city in Switzerland. Andy brought us nearby the lake of Zurich where we scattered around for pictures.

Day 20
After settling down and having a long sleep, Andy had brought us to Lucerne which was about a hour drive but it took us longer as the main roads were shut. The appeal here had been the 204 metres Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) which was designed to help protect the city of Lucerne from attacks. Inside the bridge was a series of paintings from the 17th century, depicting events from Lucerne's history. It was constructed in 1333 crossing the Reuss river that connects the Lake of Lucerne. We walked across the bridge, beside the lake, into the town where I am surrounded by aged and modern buildings.

Day 21
The cheerfully sun had waken me up for my Swiss-Italian exploration. Azfar decided to go his way that morning, as he wanted to spend more time in Italy. He had a friend in Milan and was planning to head for Rome. Andy and I had parted with Azfar at the train station as he went to Bern before heading Italy. Auntie Ruth (Michael's mom) had joined us for the tour for the southern Italian part of Switzerland. So we took the train to Locarno, a three and half hour journey. To my astonishment, the alterations of the German buildings to Italian buildings which occurred after going through the mountains of the Swiss alps which separated the two sides. First, we had some drinks at Piazza Grande, Locarno which was the place for important film festival commemorated every year, the Locarno International Film Festival.
Then we went to Swiss minitour at Mirende, nearby Lugano. Swiss minitour was the emplacement where i saw the various great buildings in Switzerland in miniature form. Before heading back to Zurich, we expended some time in Lugano where the atmospheres were totally contrast from Zurich, i signified more Italianate. Lugano lies at the edge of Lake Lugano, which is situated between the lakes Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como, south of the Alps. Besides the lake, Lugano is surrounded by mountains. The mountains provide several opportunities for sports or sightseeing.

Day 22
Another sunny day for us to explore the Swiss-French side of Switzerland. Andy drove me and Aunt. Ruth to Gruyeres which was a hour and a half away and we went to the Castle of Gruyères located in the medieval town of Gruyères, Fribourg, was one of the most famous in Switzerland. The building was built between 1270 and 1282, following the typical square plan of the fortifications in Savoy. The castle itself was on one of high peaks in Gruyeres and the place surrounding the castle was like an old village which was maintained for tourism. We had tour inside the castle and was mesmerized by the architecture and lifestyle they had during the medieval days. Gruyères also known for their cheesy cheese.

At 5pm we arrived at Bern which lies in the Swiss plateau within the Canton of Bern, somewhat west of the center of Switzerland and 20 km north of the Bernese Alps. The landscape around Bern was formed by glaciers in the last Ice Age. The city was originally built on a hilly peninsular surrounded by the river Aar but outgrew these natural boundaries in the 19th century. Several bridges were built to allow the city to grow beyond the Aar. The buildings were outrageously splendid as we went pass the Zytglogge clock tower and the city's medieval covered shopping promenades.

We planned for Basel but couldn't find the time to do so, instead we met Simone back in Zurich about 9pm. Simone & Andy took the same course with Michael and went to the same school during their college years. We had some drinks and Andy uncovered me a bit of the nightlife in Zurich. I drove for the first time in Europe (on the left hand side) sending Aunt. Ruth to her house and went back to Andy's to sleep.

Day 23
The weather wasn't on our side as it was a rainy day. We had something to eat at Andy's parent house where I met his parents and his youngest sister. By 3.30pm we met Simone as we planned for the Rhine Falls, the largest plain waterfalls in Europe. The falls are located on the High Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. After Andy parked his car, we had to walked with our umbrellas and drenched shoes to capture the perfect view for me. The weather played a role on the moods of the Swiss. Simone said that it would be much beautiful on a sunny day but for me it was beautiful enough on a rainy day. After having some drinks, we head back home to Andy's and minutes later we sent Simone to the airport as she head back her house by train.

Day 24
Today I spent my time in Zurich contrastingly. Andy had to work.I met Simone at the train main station. She arrived with her bike which was her common transport for her and other citizens of Zurich (and most of the European towns). So she recommended me to ride along with her around with a bicycle around the town of Zurich. The bicycle that i had used was for free as we only need to pay the deposit. Another great experience, cycling inside the town of Zurich. Simone brought me to her friends house Simon for some coffee. It was a cloudy day but sometimes the sun would show up. Simone, Simon and I decided to cycle to the lake of Zurich and go on the Pedallo (Pedal boat). So we did just that, rent a Pedallo and went cycling (water cycling) to the center of Lake Zurich and simply just chill whiles enjoying the sightseeing of Zurich. Later that evening we went to Simone's house for her homemade Pizza whiles waiting for Andy to pick me up.

Day 25
After having lunch at a famed vegetarian restaurant, Hiltl, i went to Üetliberg which is a mountain in the Swiss plateau, part of the Albis chain, rising to 873 meters high. The Uetliberg offers a panoramic view of the entire city of Zürich and the Lake of Zürich. The tram ride from Zurich was about 20 minutes away. Later that evening Andy cooked for me and Aunt. Ruth dinner which was delicious as it was my last night in Zurich. I am gratefully happy for my stay in Switzerland as these people had really brought me into the life of Zurich and Switzerland. Thank you Andy, Simone and Aunt. Ruth for the lovely time.

Euro trip: Bergen (Norway) - London again - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Düsseldorf (Germany)

2009-07-01T05:08:00.001-07:00

I didn't owned that proper personal time with the Internet, but now i can do it slowly but had to recall my lovely time in Europe. My trip had became interesting as more towns that I had step in. From Norway to England by flight and my farther Euro trip was by train.Day 13

As it stated on the last post that I was departing to Bergen town which was about 40 minutes away by train from Dale. There was a Bruce Springsteen concert going on in Bergen as Bruce had been very well-known amongst Moiselle & her working mates. There were about 20 of them which had plans to crash the concert, so me & Doya fancied to tagged along but only to go to Bergen as the tickets for the concert would acquire a huge sum of our money. Our day started late, as we had to wait until Moiselle was done with her job. Nills took us and pick Moiselle & Meline at Dale and head of to Arna train station which was about 20 minutes away. Once we reached Bergen, Moiselle and her working mates all gather up at the Jacobs & all to have a dinner before the big concert.

At 8 PM we walked 20 minutes to the concert arena and Doya & I parted with them and intended to meet them again around midnight. So we had been walking mostly around Bergen gazing the eye-filling town. Bergen was not that big as you can cover one side to another for about 45 minutes. Norway's second largest city might be its most beautiful. Set on a peninsula surrounded by mountains and the sea, the compact center offers a tangle of crooked streets, picturesque wooden neighbourhoods and hilltop views. Late night the city were full with people as most of them just came back from the concert and we were there to enjoy the rest of the night or should i say morning.

Day 14
Again, today we did our resting and eating again. Moiselle cooked us meatballs for lunch as it was one of their common cuisine in Norway. Following that day, Moiselle had to sent her car for some compulsory servicing or she will get fined. Helped out Nills to move around some tables and foods as Aunt. Nor continued preparing for Dale Dagna which was like a yearly mini festival.

Day 15
Our day started early as we were heading to Voss with Aunt. Nora and Aunt. Fazilah which we met a couple of days earlier. Voss, about 60 KM away from Dale was the town where they had winter Olympics yearly. They even conducted skydiving ( how i wish i can do that one day). Aunt. Nora presented us around the pretty sight of the town as she did her shopping. We left Voss about 2.30pm after having lunch. Voss was also known for their smoked sheep's head which they present half of the sheep's head on a big plate but we didn't have that hence it wasn't the season. Helped out Nills again for the preparation of Dale Dagna. Since our last night in Norway, Doya and I had spent our night with the family

Day 16
Waking up today was blue as we knew that we were going to leave town after embracing a magnificent time with the Tosse family. At 10.30pm we went to Dale Dagna and hung out at Aunt. Nora's section. She did her selling of Malaysian food every time this event was up. She had done a lot of Satey, Karipap, Popia and Mee Goreng. She was the pioneer of these Malaysian food in the town of Dale and had a splendid respond from the residents through out the years. the foods were fantastic except it was not spicy as it must be suitable wit the Norweigian tongues to get good bazaars.

After our goodbye, Moiselle had sent us to Arna train station as we went on our day travelling back to London. Arna to Bergen by train 20 minutes. Bergen to Haugesand by bus 3 hours and 15 minutes. Haugesand to the airport by another bus 15 minutes. Haugesand to Stansted London about a hour plus. We reached London at around 10 PM. We missed the first bus to central London, so we had to go on the next one. From there I had to pick my Uni-mate Azfar which would join me for the second half of my explorations. rested at Paddington at Jeff's place.

Day 17
Didn't had much sleep as our day started early to Oxford road early in the morning with Azfar. I didn't plan to do much shopping through out the trip but to my overwhelm everything was cheap as it was the summer sale. So I did bought some shirts and new shoes, as the old one was warned out. I had to pick up two begs at Mel's place (my cousin) but along the way I had lost my direction and we missed our train to Brussels because of lack of direction and tube difficulty due to it was under construction in preparation for the Olympics 2011. Luckily we went to the train station and told them our dilemmas and they asked us to come back once we are prepared. Doya went her own route back to Bristol. Again Azfar & I missed the next train after getting our traveling bag from Paddington. Had lunch nearby King cross station and we embarked for Brussels at 5 PM. We charted to head Barcelona after reaching Brussels but because of the trains we missed, there wasn't any train possible that night. So our alternate plan was to crash Amsterdam and we got there just after midnight. It was Saturday night, and Amsterdam was completely in a different perspective that i had ever seen. Everyone was alive and kicking. We checked in a room with 10 people. Had our walked around the night life of Amsterdam before we head for our beds.

Day 18
Again I did not had much sleep as we shared the place with 8 others, so the room was always active till the next morning. As we checked out at 10 AM, we went to the train station to book our next destination. We had our night train to Munich but we have to be in Koln(Germany) by 12 PM. We left Amsterdam at 2.30pm to Düsseldorf as it was nearby Koln but we had to transit three trains. Amsterdam - Eidhohoven (Netherlands) - Munchenglabach (Germany) and finally in Düsseldorf for about 3 hours journey. We had about 5 hours plus to explore the D town. Düsseldorf is Germany's fashion capital. This elegant and wealthy town could feel stiflingly bourgeois if it weren't for its lively old town pubs, it's position on the Rhine and the postmodern architecture of its Mediahafen. After having something to eat we went to the Rhine where the people hung out and we left for Koln at about 10 pm for our train to Munich. While waiting at the night the train, to our disappointment the train had problems so we had to take an alternate route which was to Zurich. Yes!!! next stop Switzerland!!!!

Euro Trip: Warwick - London(England) - Stamnes (Norway)

2009-06-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

The rest of my days in England were more relaxing... but my trip to Norway was a whole different perspective of witnessing the enchanting nature in the Scandinavia earth.
Day 5
I had lunch with Rob, Jayne and Caroline at Pizza Hut where Lewis had been the manager. Lewis was one of my high school mates and had known him for about a year but that was 13 years previous. These Pizzas were a bit contrary contrast to Malaysia's Pizza Hut as Malaysia's Pizza had been modified according to the Malaysians taste but the dessert that Lewis had recommended was luscious and certainly we do not have it in Malaysia. After my goodbye's with Caroline and Jayne, me and Rob head of to University of Warwick where my cousin Haikal was doing his masters in civil engineering . We met Haikal at around 5pm and Rob went back to Leicester as he had to sent Arnie to the vet again. My time in Warwick were mostly loitering around the University with Haikal. He introduced me to some of his brainy buddies. Most of them just love being a student as they were not pressure on working compare to us in Malaysia. adorning all that, me and Haikal did some catching up while playing the Pro evolution Soccer 2009 on the PS3 all night long.
Day 6

Haikal did a mini tour at his University before we left for London at 2.30pm. It was a two and half hour journey with the Megabus as the sun spreads the summer through my seat window. We met Haikal's eldest sister, Melissa and her husband Jason at around 6pm and had settled down at her house. She brought us to a Muslim Pakistani restaurant and we had the tandoori's of London. Haikal brought me to 'Hartamas of London' later that night which was known as the Covent Garden where we had our ice cream and supper at Burger King.

Day 7
I played football with the London lads that Jeff had introduced me. I undergo the verve i had here was a bit unalike because the air was unspoiled for football. In Malaysia, you would get knackered to easily because of the 40C average temperature which made you sweat like a pig, but not here.... you can keep on going to the next level as sweating or dehydration weren't much of a problem. Haikal, Jeff, Raudah (Jeff's girlfriend) and I had a dinner at the MHL Malaysian Hall London. Haikal was happy as he never been here before for the past six years his time in England. The food certainly brought out the flavor of Malaysian dishes. Later that night, I had to pick my younger sister, Doya as we planned to go to Norway together. Met her at Victoria station and brought her to Mel's, we packed our bags and we fled off to bed....

Day 8
Our day begun early in the morning as we had a day journey to reach Stamnes, Norway. We left Mel's at 630 in the morning with Haikal guiding us to DLR station. A change to Circle Line at the tube and we managed to catch the 7.15am Bus to Stansted airport from Victoria station. After breakfast, my sister thought we were late for the flight, hence we dashed our way through with our aggravating hand luggage and just manage to reach on time at the 1055am closing gate. The flight was about a hour and a half and the time difference were a hour ahead. 130pm Norweigian time we reached Haugensaund which was located at the south west of Norway. We took the bus which transported us to the town itself. Norway is comprehended for its seven fjord. Fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. The sea was blue as you can get. It was a bright sunny day but the wind was strong which gave me the chills. Our bus to Bergen was at 4pm. The scenery was indescribable, as we look through the windows of the bus. The best part of the bus journey was the ferry. Everything was a new experience for me and my sister. We reached Bergen about 7.15pm and again we rushed our way for the 730pm train to Dale. 40 minutes later we reached to our destination that is Dale where we met Moiselle. She brought us to their homes in Stamnes where we met the rest of the family, Aunt Nora, Nills, Midora and Maurit. Aunt Nora was my second cousin but was close to my pakcu and makcu. She married Nills, a Norwegian local and she had the three daughters, Moiselle, Midora and Maurit. Moiselle, Doya and I later that evening went to Moiselle uncles place where it would be our sleeping accommodation for the next eight nights as her uncle had a month labor at the ship
Day 9
We woke up late as Nills wanted to send aunt Nora to work at 2pm. We had the aunt Nora's curry for lunch and went on for sight seeing at Kattehol. Neil showed us where the river and lakes where they usually hung out during the summers as the kids like to swim and during the winter where they can skate. Stamnes is a village area within the mountains. The community ranges about 200 -300 people and everybody knows everybody. Moiselle's and Nills driving gave me the creeps as they were masterfully with the small roads edging the mountain sides. Later that evening after Moiselle was done with her kindergarten work, she brought us around Dale, a nearby mini town next to Stamnes. We also visited Nills parents grave. Day 10
I experienced my 1st Christian wedding in Norway. We went for Sigrunn & Kenneths wedding in Bergsdalen. The bride was attractive, the ceremony was fabulous. Kenneth's sister was Moiselles friend which was the strongest lady in Norway. Moiselle also showed us the hydrodam that the citizens of Dale and Stamnes used for electricity. Later that evening we had a BBQ at our cabin and Moissele brought us to the Pub to get a pizza at 12 midnight. The night ranged from 1130pm - 230am which was only three hours and it was not comprehensively dark. Day 11
Neil had brought us for a trip at the peak of the mountains where we had seen one of the greatest sightseeing in Modalen. Nills showed us the longest hand made tunnel which was done about 80 years ago. We visited a close friend of Nills at retirement house for a while before we set off to the mountains. According to Nills, the people around there are millionaires as they produced the electricity from hydrodams and the sands that they have import to Bergen. All in all it was beautiful. I can only express it through my pictures.....Day 12

Today were mostly sleeping and eating. Thank you Aunt Nora for the lovely asam pedas. Thank you Moiselle for the BBQ, the home made cinnamon bun, breakfast, snacks and everything that had kept us warm througout our stay. The food really made us feel homely because of the Malaysian touch that kept us hot especially the sambal belacan.. Thank you again.... Tomorrow Bergen town!!!!!

Euro Trip: London - Leicester, England

2009-06-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have my own personal time with the computer. A lot had been done and I'm having a great time so far. Had a few difficulties with sleeping on the 1st few days, but now I'm fine after feeling homely in Leicester.

Day 1
after transiting in Dubai, I arrived at Heathrow airport around 1230pm London time on the 28th June. I went pass the immigration with flying colours (well that’s what I thought), as my dad told me to prepare on what to answer for my trip. The weather was great (still is) and the timing was perfect for me to be here. It's been a while since I had this excitement of travelling. My first mission was to meet my friend at Paddington London. I walked all around in the airport trying to find my way plus the eccentric of wanting to see everything with my 16kg back pack on my back and took the London Connect train which cost me about £7 for my next destination. I met Jeff around 315pm. Jeff was a good old friend of mine in TTDI and he was studying at Imperial College London for the past 4 years. I settled down at his house and soon after, Jeff brought me to the Hyde Park which was a wonderful calming park and he showed me Royal Albert Hall

where Siti Nurhaliza had performed numerous of times. Later that night Jeff introduced me to some of his friends and we had dinner together. We ate at Sukaramai which was a Malay restaurant but to my surprise the cost was expensive (well to me it was since I was in Malaysia a day before). Nasi Ayam £5.70 times 5.6 = about rm30+. I had grilled beef and ice lemon tea which cost me about £8. After dinner I met more of Jeff's friend and we hung out till midnight. I was really knackered since I roughly had about 3hours of sleep for the past 54hours. Went back to Jeff's and had my beauty sleep.

Day 2

I had my lunch at Malaysian Hall, as there were a lot of Malaysians since it’s the cheapest Malay food around. We did our Friday prayers there, as it was one of the only places to do that around here. Jeff had some work to do at his college, so he dropped me off at The National Museum. This place was fantastic, way better than what we have in Malaysia. I was amazed with the Dinosaurs exhibition, with massive gigantic dinosaur bones which were structured to the original size. Imperial College was nearby, so I met Jeff after he had completed his work and he showed me around his intelligent college as I was surrounded with geniuses. Imperial College was ranked no.5 in the World after Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and MIT.
Jeff brought me to a few interesting places around London by using the underground tube which was £5.6 daily. We stopped at Victoria Station (not the one we have in Malaysia, this was the real station) to go to Buckingham Palace which was a few blocks nearby. Then we went back to Victoria Station to meet up with Jeff's girlfriend which he was very proud off. haha.... she was going to Birmingham to meet her family. Later that evening we took a bus heading to Fulham Broadway and I went to Stamford Bridge just to show my butt at the Chelsea stadium.To my astonishment, as we were heading back to Jeff's place for dinner, I saw two of my TTDI schoolmates Fazly and Muhsin, opposite from where we were standing at the Paddington underground station. So we met up and had Duck rice for dinner at Basewater (It was the only halal one in town). We went to see Big Ben and the London Eye as it was simply beautiful during the night time. Muhsin had invited me to spend a night at his house in Hatfield, Hertfordshire next to London and about 40minutes away by train. We could not sleep early that night as we did a lot of catching up and laughing our head off till the next morning.

Day 3

I only had about an hour or two of sleeping since I still had my jet lag sleeping problem as my body had not yet immune to the night time of England. Initially I was supposed to meet Rob early in the morning but my friends here kept asking me to stay as they wanted to have lunch and watch the FA Cup final together. About 7pm plus we left Hatfield heading back to Jeff's place to pick up my stuff so I can head off to my next destination. We had some problems at the train station as we were trying our cheap way out of everything. I separated from the others at Kings Cross Station as I was in a rush to meet up with Rob because he was picking me up to bring me to Leicester. After running here and there, lost a couple of times, went to Paddington for my stuff and went back to the tube underground and head of to Stanmore station. I was knackered as I didn’t have much sleep. At 10pm I met Robert Mitchell after 13 years.

Day 4
I had the best sleep in England so far as it was homely like in South Wigston, Leicester. I was a temporary resident for 4 years as my mom did her PhD 13 years back. Rob was one of my first friends in Leicester, and since that our family were close, as they had visit Malaysia too. My younger sister in Bristol, Doya kept coming down to Leicester as it was a second home to her.
I woke up, met Jayne (mom), Caroline (sister) and Arnie (Dog) and had my breakfast while chatted with them. Rob drove me around Leicester to show my Parkland Primary school (had about 2 years there), South Wigston (a year there) and University of Leicester (where my mom took her PhD). Then we head down to town to see the changes since I left. There was a new shopping complex connecting to the high cross shopping complex in Leicester town. Besides the new complex, not much has changed except everything was a lot bigger (most probably because I was small back then). We walked around the town, searched for a Leicester city jersey and had sushi. Later that day we went for a BBQ for Mitch (dad) as he entered a bicycle riding from Leicester to Skegness within 12 hours about 100miles all together. It was done for Leukaemia charity. It was a lovely Sunday evening. Jayne had bought me halal meat so I can enjoy the BBQ as well. Met a lot of new people which some of them had met Eidura (my sister). Met Rachel (Rob's girlfriend) and we went to their house nearby and it was still under construction. They estimated of 3 weeks after they can move in. Rob is currently a police in Leicester and he is doing undercover. Rachel works at the Tigers stadium (rugby). They met while working together there 5 years ago. They are lovely together and it kind of sets me off to look for a job, a girlfriend and a house. =>

I’m heading of to Warwick later this evening to meet up with my close cousin, Haikal. I'll try to keep an update whenever I can. Cheers.... =>

Sneak peak of Europe....

2009-05-27T03:27:00.000-07:00

Finally it has come to that day.... where i can sneak peak of my mission n vision... Yes, am going for euro tripping for a month... my flight is to London and will transit in Dubai... Im leaving tomorrow morning at 2am from KLIA.... Id planed my trip to the most budgeted traveling with a total estimation of rm9k for a month from 28/5 - 29/6. You guys would probably think that it may be impossible but hopefully with good networking i can cover it all.
Most of the cost went for transportation but im gonna use that to travel to 7 or more countries. Bought my flight ticket during the Matta Fair event in Malaysia about two months back. Emirates Airlines rm2641 return ticket. Eurail rm1600 and other busses n trains around rm500.
My accomodations are mostly my networking consuming of my friends and family around Europe. I will be staying in England, Norway, Switzerland and Netherlands. From that i will be travelling to nearby countries which most probably be France, Belgium, Luxemborg, Germany, Austria, Liechienstien, Italy and maybe Spain. About 80% of my accomodotions are either at friends or family (my sister and my cousins) place. I'll meet up my parents in Netherlands as my dad have some work at the Hague during 22nd-27th June.
Therefore im gambling my way for a month of Euro trip with rm4k pocket money. Im scared but at the same time im confident that it will be enough for the whole month. I will update my travel log through out the journey if i get my chance on a computer....
Sorry to those that i didnt say goodbye too as i was busy settling my things before this journey.
Wish me all the best... cheers.... =>

Football in Malaysia

2009-05-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've always been a massive fan of football. Fantasy football, championship manager, winning eleven, futsals, football team, mamak Saturday night football, etc. etc, yes I'm attached to it. What can I say, the English league evolved around me during my primary days. Even my eldest brother; as he was studying in Manchester, would from time to time visited us and we would never miss on playing International Superstar Soccer on the Super Nintendo console. He would also mention on and on about upcoming youth players in the English Premier League.

Basically what I’m trying to bring up here is that there's a lot of us adore the game. Most of us are big fans of the four big teams in the EPL. I love the atmosphere when it comes to watching big matches. And of course the debates, the disagreements, the loyalties on each others team; I just love all that. What bums me out is that how I wish we were routing for our own local clubs instead. Don't you just envy those in the stadiums rather than watching at Mamaks? Well I can’t blame you guys. We are currently ranked 161st. Malaysia’s national team performances for the past 15 years have fallen like a house of cards.

Malaysia's biggest achievement in football was becoming the bronze medalist in 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta after defeating South Vietnam 4-1. Malaysia qualified for 1972 Olympics in Munich, conquering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Philippines en route. Two years later, Malaysia won their second bronze medal in 1974 Asian Games after defeating North Korea 2-1. The team continued its glory after qualifying twice in a row for the AFC Asian Cup in 1976 and 1980.This era saw the rise of a generation of now legendary players, led from the front by the thunderous striker Mokhtar Dahari, centreback pairing of Santokh Singh and Soh Chin Aun which were deemed one of the best centreback pairs in Asia in the 70s and R. Arumugam, affectionately known as "Spiderman" for his agility, in goal.

In 1994 Malaysian football was embroiled in one of the biggest bribery scandals in the country. Many star players like Matlan Marjan were involved the corruption scandal that destroyed the credibility of Malaysian football. High-profile players who survived, such as Azman Adnan and Khairul Azman Mohamed continued to inspire cult followings, but the game had been badly hit. The 2000s saw the arrival of Muhamad Khalid Jamlus, a trialist with Eintracht Frankfurt), Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, once signed to RC Strasbourg and Indra Putra Mahayuddin, among others, but for all their European connections, still failed to generate a mainstream interest in national football. The decline of the Malaysian national team comes in tandem with the decline of its domestic leagues. With the dearth of mainstream interest and starvation of funds, Malaysian football today is miles away from its glorious days of the 1970s and 1980s.

My suggestion is we should change our mind sets to Latin football instead of adapting English football. Maybe we should send players to Latin countries and have more broadcast on the Spanish or Brazilian league. There are many talented players in Malaysia but still our game plays are mostly base on long balls, crosses and tactical. It is beautiful to watch, I can't deny that but it is possible to play against bigger opponents physically. Maradonna, Pele, David Villa, Robinho, Messi and more others are all more or less our size. And to say that we don't have the stamina or we consume inappropriate diets; I doubt that. I'm certain that Nicole David and Rashid Sidek had lots of Nasi Lemak and Ayam masak merah.

One of my goals in life is to watch the World Cup in the stadium. One of my dreams is to watch Malaysia play for the World Cup; then again that’s too much to ask… haha... or at least in the AFC or the Olympics. I’ll assure you that I'll be one of the 1st to purchase the tickets if the impossible happens. Hopefully it will in my lifetime. Cheers =>

Music is a form of Art....

2009-05-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

I would describe my mp3 player as the soundtrack of my life. I would say that I wanted to be a rock star. If there was big shot rock star or electro DJ in town, i wouldn't hesitate to participate. I love to hear the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds. In a way it helped to relax, to release anger, to express feelings - basically singing my lungs out. My music interest verifies from traditional to modern. I'm a hardcore on rock, followed by acoustic and electro. I'm mostly on the vocals as it brings more compassionate from the heart. For others they would prefer to let their instrument do the talking. Whatever it is, it puts a person into another level of creativity in producing a form of art in life. I regretted not taking piano lessons at early age but then again it's not never too late.
My music vocabulary started since way back in primary when I was involved with school performances. My Rock star wannabe period was after completing hig school.. FairCyde was our band which consists of Erin the cute drummer, Nik the Japo Freak (then), Khad the Composer wannabe, Shaz the "no comment" and me. Besides performing for weddings and birthdays, the furthest we went was on stage at the Cherating Cottage which we didn't get the attention we wanted. All in all, it was a fun experience. FairCyde deceased when two of the band members studied abroad. Then, I went to another phase of music, the rave madness. The Zouk Fest in Genting caught my first attention. I was influenced by my peers, as they robotically shuffle their way through the beats and bass of electro tunes.
Nowadays, I still have random jamming sessions with random friends but mostly I would just strum on my guitar and sing. If there's karaoke invitations from my peers, I would most probably not miss that. Oh yeah, I still have a problem though; I still can't feel the RnB vibe. can anyone teach me to horny dance? => haha...

What a Night...

2009-05-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

What a night.... last night i encountered a mixture of feelings after being investigated by morally degenerated hypocritical flaw enforcement. I was caught with a different agenda but they manipulated to a different scenario. How pathetic. Whats disappointing is that they are the majority race and were born under the name of Islam. My brother went through the same s*** a few months back. What i didn't understand was why did they said that they wanna help you out but at the same time i can see it in their evil eyes that their intentions were way beyond saving your butt. Why??? is it because their wages are low? how can they live that way for the rest of their life and not thinking of their after life? I thought it would be different at my hometown, but no... they are all the same, well most of them. How can we change that? can we? i want too or at least to arrest those who are miss using the power. After bailing out, it all end up with no case. wtf???
another thing that sunk in my head, was a REALITY CHECK for my life. After completing my studies, i had plans of my own to pursue my dreams, but the peer pressure around me slowly eating me inside out. this was because...

1. my plans were way different from my course
2. my uni mates which were mostly working kept pressuring me to work.. (basically i think they envied my free time as most of them didnt enjoy the working life yet)
3. my dreams became impossible after meeting those that knew better
4. MONEY!!!!!

my reasons of why im not rushing to look for a job..
1. Ive been studying for 17 years.. i just wanna rest my head for a while
2. recession year.... why do i need to pressure myself a.s.a.p to look for a job?
3. well almost 50% of my peers didn't get the job that was related to their course (mostly the ones without excellent CGPAs). wtf? as might as well i start my own thing right?
4. i see the difference in my friends with working reality, its either they didn't like what they were doing internally or it is just another hard phase that everyone have to go through.. but all in all by the end of the month there always that smile after their hard work... that's what kept them going......

therefore, what I'm trying to say is that I'm in focus again after yesterdays event. I'm sticking to my plan. I'm gonna do something that I'm interested in or at least try for about a year or two and if it a success, its gonna be my life.. and if it doesn't, well then ill become an engineer... =>
n that's why I'm writing again.. so i can keep updating my mission and vision. cheers....

Where is my mind?

2009-04-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

As it wonders; what should I do next? What about my project? How to get her attention? Why are they laughing to their sins? How do I fund my traveling? What should I do with my life? What about my project? WTF am I thinking about? How do I answer my next question? As it goes round and round, over and over in my head, in my mind, in my brain as it flows through and through again. I can go on for a week with sleepless nights. I can't stop until there's a solution, unless I'm distracted. This usually works 63.44%. But still it’s a mental pondering that I can’t switch off and on just like that. My friends would usually say that I think too much. But how can I avoid these random views, opinions, judgements, moods, memories, psyches, disagreements, nous, reasons? Even a minor situation can bother me. Why does it happen to me?

My mom once said that when I was a kid I usually have that dissatisfaction looks on my face and I would go silent and consider something carefully and thoroughly. Sometimes it would just go on. Was I brought up like that? Or was it my genes from my parents; intelligent wise thinker and psychology manipulator. But it's not all bad. There are positives with my thoughts. Ideas, the rare, the unthinkable, the alternate answer, the problem solver would come out of the mechanical mind. It's not always right but its sequatiously coming out first hand from the head. Multi-tasker to save time. Versatile in various sports. Sarcasm to the extreme that will laugh your lungs out. Determination when interested. Creative decision maker in spontaneous scenario. The best of all is having consciousness of the surroundings, situation and mostly people. Automatically, I like doing observations on a human mind. And from that I would make predictions. The more I observe, the better my predicts. I would say that my prediction is usually 71.37% right but then again I maybe wrong. Or am I exaggerating? Hmmm… another word to explain my sanity; exaggerator.

Once, lately there's a religious man whom wanted to do some cleansing in my house on a request of one of my neighbours. So he did all that and offered to cleanse the members of my family in the house. We agreed, and one by one, each of us taking turns to be cleared. The Ustadz took a long time on me and my mom especially concentrating on our heads which he palms calmly on it. In result he said that there's a lot going on, bothering and disturbance in our minds. Interesting indeed. What does that mean? Certainly my head becomes lighter after the cleansing.

Usually all these sensitivity in my mind I would tell out. After a while I find myself in these situation where it wonders, ponders and fonder. So to my beloved friends, do become intelligible of my wondering moments and my random acts as it is a part of me. As I grow older, the wit expands. I don't know how to overcome my jargons in contrast my gift. Everything in life there's pros and cons. The best way is just to distract me with something interesting. But what if when I’m alone? haha.. Basically I’m writing it out here can be one of my solutions plus I can improve on my English. Do accept my theories and do correct me if I’m wrong practically and verbally. Cheers =>

Where Is My Mind?

Ooooooh - STOP
With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trip and spin it, yeah
Your head'll collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind
Where is my mind
Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimming

I was swimming in the Carribean
Animals were hiding behind the rock
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
was trying to talk to me, coy koi

Where is my mind
Where is my mind
Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

-Pixies, Fight Club Soundtrack-