Day of Sacrifice: Eid Adha

Assalamualaikum & good day...

Less than a day left, until Eid Adha is celebrated in Jogja, & probably not long after that in Muslim worlds at large, & wherever there are pockets of Muslims worldwide.

For the uninitiated, Eid Adha is one of the main Islamic festivities, celebrated every Islamic year, on the 10th day of the final month of the year, Dzul Hijjah. It is celebrated to commemorate the sacrifice made by the Prophet Abraham.

Abraham was willing to kill his own son, Prophet Ishmael (Ishmael then was a young boy of about 10), when ordered so by Allah, & Ishmael also displayed true faith when he was also willing to be sacrificed.

Along the way to the sacrificial site, Satan disguised himself as humans, trying to waylaid the Prophets, trying to convince them to disobey Allah's orders. But the Prophets never waver in their faith. Nor in their conviction.

However, when Abraham's knife was already at Ishmael's neck, an angel came with a qibash. (a type of sheep). It turned out that Allah was testing Abraham's faith & piety to Allah, & Allah gave the qibash to Abraham, & ordered him to kill it in Ishmael's place.

Thus, Eid Adha is celebrated with the underlying theme of sacrifice in the name of Allah.

It is also encouraged (sunat) for Muslims to sacrifice four-legged farm animals (cow, goat, sheep, camel, etc. but not pigs, which can't be consumed by Muslims) on Eid Adha, or in the space of three days after Eid Adha, & the meat from the sacrifice is given to the poor & the needy.

Traditions hold that Islam considers Eid Adha as even bigger in terms of significance than Eid Fitr (celebration after finishing the fasting month). However, in Malaysia & perhaps Indonesia, Eid Adha is generally celebrated with less fanfare than Eid Fitr. This is a sad thing, really, as we Muslims should at least elevate Eid Adha's status to where it rightfully belongs.

Many Muslims also seemed to forget the theme of sacrifice. IMO, Eid Adha is more than just the special morning prayers, more than just sacrificing animals & giving meat to the poor (although these actions themselves are virtous). Eid Adha is about your willingness to let go of something you really cared, something you really liked, letting them go because you want to obey Allah's orders.

It is also about sacrificing certain things to achieve something, such as reducing your play time for your studies, so that you will learn more & become a better person.

It is also about your willingness to go the extra mile in whatever endeavours.

Have a Happy Eid Adha, everyone....

Wassalam....

Cloudy Days...

Assalamualaikum & good day...

Well, it looks like this evening in Jogja is cloudy again...the dark cloudy type...

Don't get me wrong here, hehe. I have no issues or 'a bone to pick' with dark cloudy days...it's just that I can't help but feel a bit sad & retrospective whenever they come a knockin'...rainy days are even worse ..(^^)

Funny isn't it? Most people will certainly welcome cloudy or rainy days with wide open arms, the kind of time when they can read a good book, curl by the fireplace (in temperate countries that is), spending time with loved ones, or just simply curled up in bed...in classic fetal position..& have a nice slumber...

Not me hehe (further proof that I am unusual & weird, folks)..my ideal weather would be cloudy BUT with the sun just behind the clouds (playing hide-and-seek with us mortal souls), & with some wind..that kind of weather really makes me feel good & upbeat..

When it's dark clouds..or heavy rain...I will be silent..retrospective..reminiscing..be nostalgic..be a bit sad..wistful..thinking of past regrets..

But rest assured..all are not lost for me on dark cloudy days...there are positive things that I can glean out of them...I consider days like this as my personal pause button..so that I can get out of high gear for a while..thinking whether I have treated other people with kindness...whether I have behaved badly...

Not too bad...after all...these dark, cloudy days......

Wassalam & good day...

p/s: Idul Adha is just around the corner for Muslims...(^^,)

Feeling Lost...with 7 Deadly Sins to boot!

Just finished the anatomy exam for this block...alhamdulillah...
...
Don't know why I'm feeling so listless & lost, sad sometimes ;)...these couple of weeks...

And after chatting with Phaik Hsia, I also realized that I am now afflicted with 4 of the 7 Deadly Sins...I am now constantly feeling Envy-ious of other people, I eat a lot (Gluttony!), feeling so lazy most of the times (that Sloth folks!), and being so arrogant (enter Pride)..

Hopefully I can break out of these character molds soon (Ameen)...bcoz I seriously am hating the way I behave now....huhu....

Let's just hope that the remaining members of the Sins, (Wrath, Greed, Lust)..don't become permanent members of my psyche...

A Twilight Zone-kind of scenario, and scary....

Nevertheless possible...

Hopefully will never happen....

Signing off, wassalam.....

This Man...Who Will Always Love You (Anuar Zain did it again!)

Lelaki Ini

Kasih, kenanganku
Ingatkah saat saat dulu
Kasih, apakah dirimu
Merasakan semua itu
Ke mana pun langkahku pergi
Ku masih melihat bayanganmu cintaku
Dan kemana pun arah anginku berlari
Hati ini masih kau miliki

Korus:
Lelaki ini yang selalu mencintamu
Selalu, tanpa ragu
Lelaki ini yang selalu memuja
Hanya dirimu
Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku

Sanubari ku
Aku yang mencintakan mu
Hanya dirimu…

Karena cintaku, tak berbatas waktu
Karena cintaku, tak mengenal jenuh hatimu
Hatimu…

(ulang korus) 2x

Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku...

... once again Anuar Zain (Malaysian singer for the uniniated) has done it again...for me at least..but..judging from the general response of the Malaysian public to "Lelaki Ini", I would say that he enthralled some more hearts other than mine...

Previously, my fav Anuar Zain (AZ) songs are Keabadian Cinta, Sesucinya Cintamu, & Semuanya Untukmu. It's been a while since I heard a really good song from AZ.

Don't get me wrong. His other songs are good too.
It's just that when I am listening to music, I usually appreciate the songs, rather than the singer.
If I listen to singer A, I might be attracted to some of his songs, while at the same time not really liking his other songs. Case in point, I like Maroon 5's Must Get Out, but find This Love too out of my taste.
I also tend to appreciate songs that I can relate to, songs that in my view have some meanings for me. Case in point, Christina Aguilera's Reflection.
And I don't care about languages either. If it has good music & meaning, by all means, reel me in! Case in point, L-Arc-En-Ciel's (Japanese) 4th Avenue Cafe.

Haha..sorry such lengthy exposition...now back to AZ.. & Lelaki Ini..
This song is really nice, & a bit different from his previous songs. In fact, all the songs in his new album, Anuar Zain, seems to be a departure from his previous albums. This could be due to the fact that this time around, AZ decided to rely on Indonesian songwriters and composers. Only one Malaysian composer is involved, Jenny Chin, while the other composers hail from Indonesia.
I tried to find out which one of them has a hand in making Lelaki Ini, but can't manage to find it.

What I like about this song was the message that is delivered.
To me, it sounded like this guy in question really likes the woman, & regardless of place & time, & whether the woman returns his feelings, his heart will forever be hers, & his heart will never belong to anybody else.
It's like throughout the song, the guy was trying to convince the woman of this matter, & the way AZ sings it, we can truly sense the guy's sincerity. The guy wasn't being pushy either, it seems that he will accept the fact that the woman might not love her, the guy was just voicing out his feelings, so that the woman knew how he felt. A bittersweet feeling permeates throughout the song, perhaps accompanied by melancholic feeling too.
The song ended with the guy's affirmation that she will always be the only one for him. The ending seems to be open-ended as to whether the woman will accept his undying love or not, it seems more likely she will not, yet I can't help but rooting for the guy, hoping that his love will be returned.

The message aside, the music also didn't disappoint. The use of orchestra as the background singers really add as a nice touch, and sets the right mood for the song. The use of orchesta sets a haunting mood, some might call it nostalgic too, which leads one to suspect that actually, the woman is already attracted to someone else, that the guy was just reminiscing wistfully of a love that he might have had, but can't. The way that AZ and the background singers plays off each other are superb, & shows chemistry. I also like the part of the song, where the chorus is sung by a sole female background singer, which plays off well with AZ's take of the chorus beforehand. Makes me want to know who she is!

Alas, my only beef with the song is, surprise 2x, the crescendo. When AZ sings the words, sanubariku, aku yang mencintakan mu...it sounds just a wee bit weird..as if this part of the song is not in sync with the rest of the song..but, it's not too out of place..

After hearing Lelaki Ini, I wondered for the umpteenth time, is AZ singing about himself in his songs? I do hope that he will meet his soulmate soon. At 37, time is not on his side.

Here's to u, AZ. Hope that you meet the love of your life, any time soon....:)

A Piscean who loves cats...

Now, let's see if I can still do this blogging thing...after a long hiatus (inhales deeply...:) )...

If somebody ever asked me what are my favourite animals...I would definitely say cats as one of them..rabbits too..but for today..I'll talk about cats...

Once I put the title "Cat Lover" as my flash disk's name...& it was met by derision & laughter by my friend Kuden...he said it sounded like a really bad porn star name (his words) haha...yeah on hindsight..it does sound like one..

Anyway, why do I find cats interesting? maybe it's just the way they strut, so full of confidence & pride, or one might also say with a certain air of arrogance :) ...it's just that I am not that confident of myself, as cats are...detractors might say I give cats some human qualities :P ...still I hope u get what I'm trying to say...

& consider this, even the Egyptians treat their cats as family members, to be given proper burial rites just like other human family members..heck they even have a cat god, Bast
(although it leads Robin Williams to joke about it.."that's why when the Red Sea close up on the Pharaoh, & he calls out to his God, his Cat God can't do shit 'coz he's afraid of the water...")

And for people who always say that "dogs are better 'coz they r more social than cats..cats r so anti-social"...
well..let me quote from wiki :P (with some editing, for better flow,mind)
"The typical negative stereotype of a cat describes a very solitary animal, prone to aloofness and self-sufficiency.
However, cats are not generally as asocial as that stereotype, it's just that cats don't have a pack mentality.
This mainly means that an individual cat takes care of all basic needs on its own (e.g., finding food, and defending itself), and thus cats are always lone hunters; they do not hunt in groups as dogs or lions do.
One example of how house cats are naturally meant to behave is to observe feral domestic cats, which are social enough to form colonies..."

Plus, combined with the cats' cuteness & pest-controlling habits, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better pet.
[I can almost hear my friends' saying, "hmmph, if Haneef likes something, he finds whatever reasons, no matter how insignificant, to support his argument" :) ]

Actually, I think dogs are good pets too, its just due to my Islamic obligations, so I can't really take dogs as pets.. :)....another topic for another time...

Ahh..cats..what's not to love?...

p/s: do u know that a mother cat can be pregnant with offsprings from different fathers? The reason that this can happen because cats are one of the animals that can experience superfecund, i.e. fertilisation of two or more ova from the same cycle by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse.
In simple words, a female cat usually have more than one ovum per estrous cycle, and at the same time they have multiple partners, so their eggs can be fertilized by sperms from different male cats.
(don't worry, superfecund phenomenon in humans are extremely rare, because women rarely have more than one egg, and and are usually monogamous, at least in one estrous cycle)

Halcyon days...hopefully will last forever...

Assalamualaikum & good day evryone...

It's been more than 1 month since the last post...am settling down for 3rd yr now...6 weeks running. hv been a bit lost & depressed l8ly, even lonely sumtimes, but now...my mind is rested for the 1st time in a month or so...alhamdulillah

Although currently have many things on my plate...studies..organization work..thesis..reports...Insya Allah, God willing I can handle them all...

Right now the climate here in Indonesia is a little bit unfriendly for Malaysians...bcoz of the case where the Indonesian karate referee, Donald Luther Kolopita, was beaten without valid reason by 4 Malaysian police in plainclothes...mayb more on that in the nxt post I guess...mayb hehe.

Have to sign off now...Insya Allah more thoughts in the future...not in the nxt couple of days though...hv to sort out many things...

Thx for my friends who encourages me to keep on posting...here's to u guys hehe...

wassalam.. & good nite....(^^,)

Love is a many splendoured thing...& Bye Bye Malaysia! For now...

Assalamualaikum & good day...

Thx Sujen for the pointer that he had gave in response to my last post...yeah, I forgot the whole thing about the Sorting Hat & the sword.

Actually I really has some good ideas (me thinks) to vent my spleen on for this post today, but alas, Allah has other plans for me..(or actually it is I who has plans hehe). I have to start packing for my flight to Jogja, Indonesia...2moro.

It is that my holiday is ended......I do wish that it was a teeny bit longer..(stop that u lazy bums, get back to work now!)...oh well, 6 weeks have gone by, and now it's hello 3rd year of med school, promising to be the toughest year yet in my med school life ....

So, in place of my post, I would like to share wif u an article..which I found quite interesting..it's an old news article lying dormant inside my laptop, I do have this "hamster syndrome", where I like to stash things that I like for future uses hehe.

If I am not mistaken, it's an article in NST (New Straits Times for the uniniated), back in May 2006, by Kalimullah Hassan who is currently the editor of NST (if I am not in error).
The title is:

Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing...

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defences, you build up a whole suit of armour, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life ...

You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostage. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you- and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

OUCH! This passage is from Neil Gaiman, the English-born American novelist, screenwriter and children’s book author. Love or shattered love both evoke strong emotions and reactions. Those who were young once can empathise with Gaiman’s spurned lover for surely, like most teenagers, they, too, went through such heartbreak.

It’s like this. When you are in love, nothing can go wrong. The freckles on your loved one’s face "add to her striking looks" and the wispy moustache on his face "makes him look macho".

But when love turns sour, the "freckles and all" bother you. When love goes bad, that wispy moustache, actually, makes him a wimp.

Strange thing, love. It’s understandable why Gaiman hates it so much.

Some time ago, Donny Osmond’s song Puppy Love was the favourite tune of many a teenager. Osmond mirrored the views of teenagers then — and now — when he sang that the elders don’t really understand.

And they called it
puppy love
Oh, I guess
They’ll never know
How a young
heart really feels
And why I love her so

And they called it
puppy love
Just because we’re
in our teens
Tell them all it isn’t fair
To take away
my only dream

That’s what my kids tell me now. I don’t understand. What is there to understand? I have been through it.

Didn’t my Standard Five trainee teacher break my heart when she went back to Day Training College after two months and never contacted me?
I still remember her house in Lahat Road in Penang. That’s how smitten I was.

Didn’t my Form Three teacher do the same when she upped and went and married that dentist in Bukit Mertajam?
And I still remember her white Datsun 100A and that she used to take off her shoes when she drove it. (I used to jostle with a few other lovesick classmates to carry her bag when she drove in. That’s how I knew she took off her shoes when driving.)

And my first "real" love — someone my age —forsook me when she became engaged to that engineering student who won a scholarship to Brighton University.

Of course, I understand. There is time for love and there is time for studies. Now is the time for studies. Love can come later, I tell them.

The problem with kids is, like Benjamin Disraeli said, they don’t realise that "the magic of first love is our ignorance that it can ever end".

End it surely does. Rare are those who say that they married their first love and have since lived happily ever after.
The reason everyone talks about their first love is because there was a second and a third and…

So, logic dictates that, in time, you will find your lasting love.
Why, therefore, forego the "more important" things in life now like your books, earning a degree and getting a good job instead of "wasting time" on a romance that in all probability will not last?

My friends, too, have this issue with their children. So we must be right and the children wrong. Right? Well…

After one such discussion with the children —they’re all in their teens or early 20s — I was reminded by my wife that we, too, were young once.
She’s the smart one in the family with her worldly wise views. It’s just that when you are set in your ways, like I have become, you don’t want wisdom to interfere with your ways.

When did I stop being a child and become a father? And a father like my father who, when I was a child, I thought did not understand me either.
He didn’t like it when I borrowed his car and took my college-bound girlfriend out till late. He didn’t like it when his friends told him that I was seen in town holding hands with her.
He didn’t like it when I tore pages from my schoolbook to write love notes which were never sent to her.
He didn’t like it when I went to the bachelor parties thrown by Munusamy and Goh Beng Huat, where the music was made for slow dances.
He didn’t understand.
I actually thought that he didn’t love me and I once ran away from home for five days, staying at a friend’s house in Penang.
Even when he came looking for me and found me and burst into tears when he saw I was safe, I didn’t realise that he loved me.

Now I know better.
Because I am the father that he was — always meaning well, loving the kids very much, yet, sometimes forgetting that I, too, was young once.
It takes us a long time to realise that our sons will grow up to love someone else because that’s the way life is, and that’s the way it should be.
It takes us a longer time to realise that our daughters will one day find another man in their lives — besides their father — and will go away.

Now, the fear sets in. They have new loves, they are going away to college, they are going to get married — so who’s going to be with us when we are old and frail?
These are the real worries but, I think, we sometimes just don’t want the kids to be hurt because we know that their hearts will be broken.
We cannot bear it when they pine for a love that could not be.

The last two verses of Puppy Love go thus:
I cry each night
my tears for you
My tears are all in vain
I’ll hope and I’ll pray
that maybe someday
You’ll be back in
my arms once again
Someone, help me, help me,
help me please
Is the answer up above
How can I,
how can I tell them
This is not a puppy love.

Didn’t we go through that as well and isn’t that why we want them to focus on real things such as studies and college?
No. Not really true, is it?
If we really are honest with ourselves, we have never forgotten our first loves.
We can remember the shape of their nose, the colour of their glasses, the wave of their hair, the smell of their soap and shampoo….

Each time we fell in love, it was a great feeling.
Our friends would call us stupid, love-sick puppies and we’d think they envied us.
Our fathers would rant and rave and we’d think the old fellows don’t know what it’s like to be in love.
Walking in the rain was so much fun; the scorching sun was a good excuse to go to the waterfalls in Sik (Kedah); the cold nights were an excuse to sit close together; the warm nights were a reason to spend a longer time in Ponniah’s ais kacang stall.
We could find an excuse for everything — as long as we were together.
Really, really, really… don’t you relish the memories of those days of puppy love? I do.

And it would be sad if we deprived our children of such memories to live on when they get older.

The important thing, though, is our last love, I must tell them. And I found it with their mother.(It’s true.)

For my late father, if he is watching me, I want to say:
"I became the man I think you wanted me to become. I know you loved me very much.
"But like you, after my episode as the runaway kid, I, too, will let the children be children.
"Because as you learned, I have learned. That’s the way it should be."

p/s: Goodbye Malaysia! & Thx to my INTEC friend Raais for sharing this article. I hope u, & evrybody, will all find their last loves in the end.....

Au Revoir, Harry!

Assalamualaikum...
As I am posting this, I had just finished reading the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly
Hallows (HP7). Took me about 15 hours to finish it. (excluding other activities), hehe.

It has been quite the journey.

Well I remembered my 1st reaction when my mother bought the first books was indifference. "Another kiddie stuff", was my thought.
At that time, my family was late to embrace the Potter affair. Joanne Kathleen Rowling (pronounced more like bowling, rather than howling), aka JKR, has already written 3 books of the series. So, after my mom had finished with the the first book, I picked it up on a whim. And I was engrossed from the word go, hehe.
Before I continue, I would like to say that JKR is by no means a faultless and great writer, she has her shortcomings:
tendency to lose focus sometimes, redundant plots, holes in the storylines, and her ideas are not all original (being really a smorgasbord of all proven things and plot devices).

Warning: some spoilers ahead for those who haven't read The Deathly Hallows

So how was the book u ask? In my opinion, it was a good book, as a whole I think it is the 2nd or 3rd best book in the series, after Prisoner of Azkaban & The Philosopher's Stone.
Her pacing has greatly improved, the plot is engaging & fast albeit being the darkest in the series so far, what with so many deaths, with major characters dying left, right, & centre.
The humor is also not as abundant as previously, but when it is used, it is used well.
JKR also manages to tie up almost all of the loose ends, with interesting throwbacks to seemingly unimportant hints in the previous books, but now we know that the hints are important.
I also like the way that JKR has fleshed out more of some of the characters, making them more complex and more interesting. We thought we have got the characters figured out, but boy are we wrong! We get to see that Dudley do have a spot for Harry, Dumbledore is not morally perfect and has some weaknesses, Pettigrew's redemption, and Snape is not the double-crosser that he seems.
There are many scenes that really touches my heart, especially some of the deaths, like Dobby's, and Snape's past story. (I guess I am just a hopeless romantic...but the unrequited love that Snape has for Harry's mom, Lily, and his redemption due to that love, was just sad..)

Having said it the book is not without its faults. I think that some of the plot has leaps of logic, has holes.
For instance, how does Neville managed to obtain the sword in the end? I thought it was stolen by Griphook.
And what is the worm thing at the King's Cross? Is he Voldemort?
And does the moving pictures in the wizarding world has a connection to the person's original mind? JKR never explains this satisfactorily. The portrait Dumbledore is behaving just like the human Dumbledore. I think it just cancels out the closure we felt after Dumbledore' death. "Look, everyone, it's ok even if Dumbledore's dead, he can still give advice thru his portrait self!".
And even as I am writing this, I still don't understand completely how Harry cheats death after beong cursed by Voldemort, although I think I understand it vaguely.
The final showdown between Harry and Voldemort was a bit anticlimactic, I mean after 7 books' worth of buildup, I expect something better. Instead, it was more like a verbal duel, and Harry took us on a logical reasoning of how Voldemort has overseen the flaws in his plan.
And JKR could have done better with the ending. Whenever I read or watch anything, how the story ends is really important to me. The ending was OK, but I would really like to know what happened to the other characters after Voldemort's death, how do they cope with their losses, how do they rebuild their lives.


But as a whole it was a good read. In the end, the story is really about good winning over evil, about not fearing death, about friendship loving and caring for others, about seeing the good in others, about seeing others with unbiased & unprejudiced eyes, about optimism & hope.
JKR has managed to give a fitting end to the series, a feeling of closure. Thanks JKR, for creating an interesting story and involving characters.

Goodbye Harry...!


p/s: My favourite character in the series other than Harry, is Snape.

Nuri's broken wings..and finally will R.I.P

A reply from my previous post from Kuden: "tulis la english. aku tak rase ko tulis skema pun. aku rase ko tulis best. tulis je tapi kalau ko nak rojak. pedulikan dbp haha"

hehe...oh well...mayb I stick wif English for a while..not that I am an Anglophile anyway...

As for the title...
Last night my parents & I were havin' dinner in front of TV..there were 2 news then..one was the follow-up on the Nuri tragedy..the other was about the carrying of Jalur Gemilang across the continents, in lieu of our 50th Merdeka festives..neway..

My dad commented: "Malaysia x abis2 tu je la kerja dia, skit2 nk cari nama, (referring to the flag run)." I added: "the tallest building, jln2 kat North Pole, etc etc. Kalau guna duit tu ganti Nuri lagi bagus rasenye." My mom chirped in: "Duit banyak kot, tapi semua hilang kt rasuah."

For those who dont know my family quite well,they might think we r all government haters & pro-Opposition hehe. But I disgress. That wasnt the point. Rather the point is that we think that the government should spend the people's money wisely.

The Nuri, aka Sikorsky, or better known as Sea King in other countries, was first used by US in 1961, as an anti-submarine heli. It was then used by Malaysia since 1967 or 1968, as a combat carrier. Since then, the Nuri helis has crashed about 17 times.

I am no military expert, nor I can say fairly that the Nuri might have overstayed its welcome, but surely this is ominous? 17 crashes in a space of 4 decades is not an attractive record. It doesnt take a genius to figure out that taking a ride in Nuri is dangerous business. I think those poor soldiers r always praying & keeping their fingers crossed b4 hopping onboard..hoping that this wouldnt b their Titanic voyage.

I think that the Nuris should go. We shouldnt endanger the lives of our soldiers, our countrymen, just bcoz we refuse to change our derelict helis. I think its such a waste to lose their lives thru heli crashes, which we could avert & prevent. No price should b too high for preventing the loss of human lives. I am not saying that we should forego any flag-running or mountain-scaling or building anything for the country's pride, but we should spend the people's money on more important things first: replacing Nuris, education, health, eradicating poverty...then if we have extra money, only then may the Government send someone to dive into The Mariana Trench etc etc.

I am sorry, and am expressing my regret & condolences for the victims' families. Deep down in my heart, I think that the deaths should have been avoided.

But Najib has said that the Nuris will b replaced in 3 years time. Let's just hope there will b no more crashes.

We can only hope...

Mayb I should be bilingual hehe...

Assalamualaikum...

sorry for the long wait...just finished a round trip to Kelate to visit dear old 'nenek' (love u Granny! hehe), then after that visiting my Sis at MRSM Pendang...

...I am never going on a trip from Kelate to KL by a 4WD...nvr again...
....'pusing sana pusing sini...nak muntah kawe' hehe...

neway...i have been wondering whether I should blog 100% in english...or mish mash it with Malay...coz I read my previous posts...hehe...& I feel unsatisfied...
now that's a big problem dont u think? if ppl r bored wif my blog, fine...but I am bored with my own posts?hehe..trouble's in the air...

how to say...when I read my posts...they seemed stale...not fresh...'skema' hehe...
mayb bcoz when I use english...I tend to use 'bookish' words....

the reason why I dont use Malay with English...bcoz if I use both together..I think I wont do them both justice...(u know..bahasa rojak...I can sense the DBP guys are already wagging their tongues hehe, saying no to bahasa rojak)

but I think I should try to use bahasa rojak for a while...to be fair to all my friends...eventhough it means that my blog cant go global haha (so boastful Haneef..tsk tsk tsk)

...the DBP police r after me now...

"Autobots! Transform & Roll out!"

I love Transformers back in my childhood days...still do I guess...

love the Autobots..altruistic Optimus Prime and his sense of good, honour, friendship..hehe...adorable Bumblebee.."cowboy" Ironhide..rebellious Dinobots ("me Grimlock King")..Jazz with the musical voice..the no-mouth Wheeljack...

Then we have the Decepticons..strong & tenacious Megatron..shrill, double-crossing Starscream, emotionless & cold Soundwave..and all those interesting robot-sets (Constructicon, Combaticon, Stunticon) hehe...

Mayb the attraction was the changing forms, the powerful characterization,the camaredrie, the straight outright good vs evil...
I could go on & on...

Which brings us to the Transformers movie? Is it any good? hehe...

Transformers
Directed by Michael Bay
Pros:
+The movie manage to retain the spirit of the cartoons. Optimus is still the same character..wise, caring, a strong leader...u can sense that the Autobots really have strong bonds..Megatron is menacing..Starscream is still waiting to betray Megatron etc etc
+Good balance of storyline btwn robots and humans...I thought that the human element will b forgotten..not so here..
+Really mind-blowing special effects, the transformation scene...all r really seamless..the robots dont seem to b fake

Cons:
-When the robots start to brawl, sometimes its really hard to tell which is which..."wait, is that Bumblebee or Barricade getting slammed?"...because mayb I am more partial with the cartoon designs of the robots...the movie designs seem to b full of cogs & gears & God knows what other mechanical parts hehe
-Autobots seemed to me a bit weak compared to the Decepts..one of them get torn in half (sob sob)..both Ratchet and Ironhide cant subdue one Decept..& they need help from humans...Optimus gets beaten really bad by Megatron..(well mayb because Autobots were holding back..so that humans r not harmed..)
-The disappointing ending. Megatron was supposed to be strong and all, I thought he would be finished by Prime. But he had to go down the way he did.it's a bit anti-climatic after the build-up, a bit of a cop-out..

Final verdict: It's a good movie, with really mind-blowing special effects, albeit a simple storyline. Fans of Transformers shouldn't miss it, non-fans should get a good time..7.8 out of 10

And so it begins...

Assalamualaikum...

hehe actually I have some misgivings about this..becoming a blogger..

once I said to my pal Kuden, "Kuden, aku ni bleh ke jadi blogger, aku ni kan skema...takut diorang boring baca aku punye blog..serius & x lawak langsung"...to which the reply was, "alah, selambe je, try la dulu..."

so, I said to myself, mayb I should give it a try...hehe..I have dabbled in blogs once..it was a disaster (my views & mine alone hehe).

mayb I felt compelled to give blogging one more shot, bcoz I noticed that my literary wit had dulled a gr8 deal...back during my school days I like to write short stories...er I mean...if the BM or English teacher gives an option, I always like to do "Gambaran cereka" or free style hehe..those were the days..so I just want to make sure that my language stays sharp...

& also my hope that my blog would be an outlet for me to pour of some steam, & also an outlet for me to share my ideas, my thoughts, my musings....

hopefully I won't repeat my mistake with my previous blog...back then I would try to update evry day...until I myself was bored reading the posts hehe...
I will update only when I am feeling like it...not as a compulsory daily activity...

I am also thinking of whether I should use English only or interchange it with Malay also...since I dont want to alienate my friends...any comment hehe?

well I guess I should be off now...for the moment...till then...

wassalam