It was a combination of smells that trigger your senses. It was the chestnuts, the cigarette smoke, the smell of the trash, the smell of the streets. Being away, you take those smells for granted. To come across those smells again, would be finding home again. Those were smells of Kuala Lumpur, my birthplace, my home.
These thoughts came to mind when I was out the whole day with Kak Yang. I could never come across those smells if I was not walking on the streets of KL. The smells are far from pleasant, the diverse range of people also gives you a diverse range of attitudes, but these things make me further realize that I could never live anywhere else for the rest of my life. Kuala Lumpur has been tuned into my frequency, because this is where I have lived for most of my life. I'm sure there are many who would agree, and disagree, many articles written about KL that further emphasizes the notion that its not a perfect place by far, but it is still home now and forever.
The smell of the streets are just one trait that triggers KL in my mind, the way people live their lives, the way people drive on highways, the way everyone would know how to communicate, the way every Malaysian strives everyday to survive, and never gives up in our own way.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
i am an enigma, someone solve me !
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Yeah, its been a while...
If this blog were a closet, it would be filled with dust, and smell of things that have not been out of the closet for a long time. If this blog were a baby, it would already have learned to walk since the last time you saw the baby. All i'm trying to say, sorry if there are any who read this blog, and were wondering when the next post is, well this is it.
Laziness, or maybe thinking that there is nothing significant to write about was what kept me from adding to my collection of posts. I've been feeling weird these past months, and have yet found the cause or the defining moment that triggered me feeling that way.
To start off with, I am back in Malaysia, safe and sound and eating like there is no tomorrow. Malaysia is truly a hub for food, from cheap to expensive, but always there when you want it, at the time you want it. After almost 3 weeks back home, I still have places to eat that I have not crossed out on my list. I have still not gone all out though, out of fear of not being able to fit into my tailored pants.
Tailored pants, tailored suit, the main reason i'm back in Malaysia, my abang is getting married in less than 2 weeks time. The time has finally come for him to tie the knot. I have grown up idolizing my abang, my hero during my adolscent years, as many little brothers would do. I've watched him become the best man for his friends, as well as our cousins countless times, which makes "always the bridesmaid never the bride" befit him perfectly. But Alhamdulillah, its his time now, and I wish him and my new kakak to be, all the best and may god bless them always.
Two of my friends have commented that I have not changed one bit since the last time they saw me. I react only with a smirk, a grin, because I know myself better. Physically, yeah, they would be spot on, despite my efforts at the gym but then swindled when I stopped during ramadhan, which made me unchanged physically. Inside however, I would say that I have matured, in many ways than one. This year has been a discovery for me, a shift in paradigm, however slight shift it was, but definitely a shift.
My friends are unchanged, in essence, but most of them are now graduated and started jobs in thier respective professions. With that, comes more matured mentality, and all of us are now thinking of the next stage of life. Personality wise, they are the same old crew I grew to love and cry with, which I am thankful for.
I've been thinking of 2 specific days that made me feel calm, happy, appreciated and wanting to be there again and again. I'm thinking of the company I had on those two days, and wondering if the feeling was mutual. I sleep at night (or to be specific, the wee hours of the morning because thats when I get back from hanging out with the crew) always hoping I would end up dreaming of those 2 days.
Anyways, I will try to post more interesting stuff on a more frequent basis. Thanks to those that have told me to write more often because they like reading my posts (however boring and like a report it is..hehe), which gives me the confidence and will to keep writing. Till the next post.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Sometimes a sincere smile is all a man needs to feel appreciated when things don't go his way and an act of selflessness as basic as offering tea in the morning makes a man feel loved.
Feelings were felt when things were done but not said. Hope is hopefully not yet shattered.
Laziness, or maybe thinking that there is nothing significant to write about was what kept me from adding to my collection of posts. I've been feeling weird these past months, and have yet found the cause or the defining moment that triggered me feeling that way.
To start off with, I am back in Malaysia, safe and sound and eating like there is no tomorrow. Malaysia is truly a hub for food, from cheap to expensive, but always there when you want it, at the time you want it. After almost 3 weeks back home, I still have places to eat that I have not crossed out on my list. I have still not gone all out though, out of fear of not being able to fit into my tailored pants.
Tailored pants, tailored suit, the main reason i'm back in Malaysia, my abang is getting married in less than 2 weeks time. The time has finally come for him to tie the knot. I have grown up idolizing my abang, my hero during my adolscent years, as many little brothers would do. I've watched him become the best man for his friends, as well as our cousins countless times, which makes "always the bridesmaid never the bride" befit him perfectly. But Alhamdulillah, its his time now, and I wish him and my new kakak to be, all the best and may god bless them always.
Two of my friends have commented that I have not changed one bit since the last time they saw me. I react only with a smirk, a grin, because I know myself better. Physically, yeah, they would be spot on, despite my efforts at the gym but then swindled when I stopped during ramadhan, which made me unchanged physically. Inside however, I would say that I have matured, in many ways than one. This year has been a discovery for me, a shift in paradigm, however slight shift it was, but definitely a shift.
My friends are unchanged, in essence, but most of them are now graduated and started jobs in thier respective professions. With that, comes more matured mentality, and all of us are now thinking of the next stage of life. Personality wise, they are the same old crew I grew to love and cry with, which I am thankful for.
I've been thinking of 2 specific days that made me feel calm, happy, appreciated and wanting to be there again and again. I'm thinking of the company I had on those two days, and wondering if the feeling was mutual. I sleep at night (or to be specific, the wee hours of the morning because thats when I get back from hanging out with the crew) always hoping I would end up dreaming of those 2 days.
Anyways, I will try to post more interesting stuff on a more frequent basis. Thanks to those that have told me to write more often because they like reading my posts (however boring and like a report it is..hehe), which gives me the confidence and will to keep writing. Till the next post.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Sometimes a sincere smile is all a man needs to feel appreciated when things don't go his way and an act of selflessness as basic as offering tea in the morning makes a man feel loved.
Feelings were felt when things were done but not said. Hope is hopefully not yet shattered.
Monday, September 15, 2008
They had the right idea
I saw this link on facebook one day, and I would think that its not just me that has tried it, but its called yearbookyourself. The results were ok, probably because I didn't have the right picture to slot in the template, but with what I had to work with, one picture caught my eye, and made me think of my Atok for the first time in a long time..
I now know why my family said I looked like my arwah tok. Aside from the hair (which he never had much of), the combination of the glasses and face shape, yeap, quite sebijik la. I need a second opinion, but i'm pretty sure of it.
I don't know if my grandparents did or did not plan to have a big family like they have today, but If they did, they had the right idea. Sometimes, if you think of it, it's impossible, with the age gap that they had, they would be able to last through the years. But again, "orang-orang" lama did what was needed, worked things out, and eventually, everything would be ok.
Opah had her 82nd birthday on Merdeka Day, and even without me and ayeng, the house looked full as always, courtesy of the "right idea" of raising a big family. She looked healthy enough, managing to smile depsite her impending illness, but again, I think seeing her son, daughters, her cucu's and cicit's around her, that would give anyone a morale/mood boost if you ask me.
Why this sudden out of place post? I don't know, something triggered it, and it has been written, so might as well publish it.....
P.S,
With an err of smugness Venus cast its spell,
which made the knght aim his arrow towards the ground,.........
gotta get outta here, making me weak, making me spew out rhymes and shit...
I now know why my family said I looked like my arwah tok. Aside from the hair (which he never had much of), the combination of the glasses and face shape, yeap, quite sebijik la. I need a second opinion, but i'm pretty sure of it.
I don't know if my grandparents did or did not plan to have a big family like they have today, but If they did, they had the right idea. Sometimes, if you think of it, it's impossible, with the age gap that they had, they would be able to last through the years. But again, "orang-orang" lama did what was needed, worked things out, and eventually, everything would be ok.
Opah had her 82nd birthday on Merdeka Day, and even without me and ayeng, the house looked full as always, courtesy of the "right idea" of raising a big family. She looked healthy enough, managing to smile depsite her impending illness, but again, I think seeing her son, daughters, her cucu's and cicit's around her, that would give anyone a morale/mood boost if you ask me.
Why this sudden out of place post? I don't know, something triggered it, and it has been written, so might as well publish it.....
P.S,
With an err of smugness Venus cast its spell,
which made the knght aim his arrow towards the ground,.........
gotta get outta here, making me weak, making me spew out rhymes and shit...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
As promised
As promised...the dance performance for Unity in Diversity. I only danced the first and third part. Enjoy people..
Monday, September 08, 2008
Merdeka?
This is an overdue Merdeka post. I really did want to write something on Merdeka day, but due to technical problems with the video I wanted to attach to this post, It comes almost 10 days overdue.
Honestly, I wasn't feeling very patriotic on the day itself, when I normally would in previous years. I guess I was thinking about a situation in Malaysia about a friend that made me sad. But i'm not at liberty to discuss that here. The day was spent, firstly sending Imran and Nana to the bus stop, sending Harris back home, to the rec center for "Merdeka Volleyball", bit of badminton, lunch with Qi Su and Meqsu in town and Merdeka cake made by Hani at Rotary court. Not very exciting.
So, Merdeka? I myself truly believe that Malaysia is a special place. If we really try to see everyone as the color grey, and think of ourselves as Malaysians, Merdeka would truly have lived up to its true meaning. I remember in primary school, my best friends were Amritpall Singh and Nicholas Tan. It was never about race then, and I think I'm not the only one that feels that way. Somewhere down the line, people change, people grow up, and more variables come into play. I love the idea that Malaysia is a country with racial harmony, and I want to be able to be friends with people that have different religious beliefs and are from different races. I want to be free to be happy for them when they celebrate their festivals, and I want to have the freedom to share my joy with them when I celebrate my festivals.
I am guilty of the occasional racial name calling, and I know its just not me who does it, but honestly, its more out of habit than malice. I mean, If I hate someone, its because I hate someone, and not because of the race that person belongs to. Maybe that's just me. But even in the this name calling context, it would be better if people say "bloody Malaysians !" rather than specify to any particular race. Hahaha. At least there would be unity even in our negatives.
51 years? My god, time flies. Still, after all those years, we're still struggling, and the sad part is, its amongst ourselves. I guess the world doesn't really see Malaysia that way, and I guess one thing that all Malaysians do best, is not showing the world our true colors.
Happy belated birthday Malaysia. I hope that the drama that is unfolding is for the best. I still love you Malaysia, and believe in the idea of you.
I leave you with a video me and Lutfi made for Malaysian Night 2008, with help from Worm and Haizat. Its called,
"How far has Malaysia really come in the eyes of the World"
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Reality Check
It was a busy weekend for MUMSA last week, as we had 2 events in succession. The first was the Unity & Diversity show, where MUMSA is again participating with a dance performance, and also the next day, we had our Annual Malaysian Night dinner.
UNITY & DIVERISTY PERFORMANCE
I know I said somewhere that it would be a long time before I danced on stage again, but that was then, when I was what people called a noob, unaware of the joy of performing especially something that you would never think you were capable of doing ever in your life. It falls under the same category as bungy jumping, you never thought you would do such a thing, but you did, and you would do it again.
Dance practices started about a month before the show, and ideas of what we would be performing came pouring in. At first we wanted to do a five piece performance, malay dance, chinese dance, indian, kadazan, and a modern dance which involved hip-hop and break dancing. Yes it sounds scary, thats what I thought anyways. We ended up doing just the malay, chinese and indian dance. This year, it wasn't just 6 dancers, but we had 19, and that made practices fun. Once again, Caroline correographed most of the show, while Hani and Laili took care of the Malay dance. I have to honestly say, that after watching last years show, Hani and Laili made this years Malay dance simple, compared to Elun's piece. But, it was for the best, as Caroline's correography for the Chinese and Indian dances were intense, and the simple start at the start was needed, especially for the dancers who had to dance all 3 dances.
At the end of the show, we won best unique performance, which I think we deserved because of the different elements we showed in our dance.Video of the performance will be posted as soon as I get a better copy of it, as my copy was shot at an awkward angle, so not everyone is seen, including me..hehe.
MALAYSIAN NIGHT 2008
Due to last years success, organisers Lutfi and Jace decided to stick with the costume theme. This year, it was Hollywood, Bollywood & Mallywood.
Once again a video was needed for the night, so me and Lutfi got to work starting on Friday. We shot more footage on saturday, did the editing saturday night till the night of the dinner. I came up with the idea and so it wasn't that great of a video. It was meant to be more, but I think I did not execute it as well as I wanted.
I went to Malaysian night dressed as a gangster, Al Capone style, American gangster style. It wasn't much dressing up really, believe me when I say others dressed up, with make up and props, but me, a pinstripe suit, and put on my normal face, and I'm a gangster (coz people always say I have a unfriendly face).
People who have known me since high school will probably know that I was supposed to sing at my prom, but that never happened, so at Malaysian night, I made up for that, and performed. Hahahhah. It's funny how this year, Haizat transferred from Albany and he asked if I wanted to join him in performing for Malaysian night. What the heck, bila lagi kan. Good thing the performance were watched by friends, and our mistakes while singing were forgiven. It was good, bit nervous at first but by the time the second song came, we were comfortable.
Video me and Lutfi made will be posted up soon as well, and video of the singing will not be posted.
The night was fun, and of course the photo sessions, with all the different costumes. I even got the best dressed, just because Iylia won already for most photogenic. Look at the pictures here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150568&l=a21ff&id=673915175 , and you'll know why he should have a clean sweep for the awards.
The night ended smoothly, and kudos to Jace and Lutfi for organizing a great event.
REALITY CHECK
P.S : I am officially tired of it. My efforts have brought me nowhere near, instead has made me bitter. I am switching off. I am officially crawling back into my sanctuary where its safe.
UNITY & DIVERISTY PERFORMANCE
I know I said somewhere that it would be a long time before I danced on stage again, but that was then, when I was what people called a noob, unaware of the joy of performing especially something that you would never think you were capable of doing ever in your life. It falls under the same category as bungy jumping, you never thought you would do such a thing, but you did, and you would do it again.
Dance practices started about a month before the show, and ideas of what we would be performing came pouring in. At first we wanted to do a five piece performance, malay dance, chinese dance, indian, kadazan, and a modern dance which involved hip-hop and break dancing. Yes it sounds scary, thats what I thought anyways. We ended up doing just the malay, chinese and indian dance. This year, it wasn't just 6 dancers, but we had 19, and that made practices fun. Once again, Caroline correographed most of the show, while Hani and Laili took care of the Malay dance. I have to honestly say, that after watching last years show, Hani and Laili made this years Malay dance simple, compared to Elun's piece. But, it was for the best, as Caroline's correography for the Chinese and Indian dances were intense, and the simple start at the start was needed, especially for the dancers who had to dance all 3 dances.
At the end of the show, we won best unique performance, which I think we deserved because of the different elements we showed in our dance.Video of the performance will be posted as soon as I get a better copy of it, as my copy was shot at an awkward angle, so not everyone is seen, including me..hehe.
MALAYSIAN NIGHT 2008
Due to last years success, organisers Lutfi and Jace decided to stick with the costume theme. This year, it was Hollywood, Bollywood & Mallywood.
Once again a video was needed for the night, so me and Lutfi got to work starting on Friday. We shot more footage on saturday, did the editing saturday night till the night of the dinner. I came up with the idea and so it wasn't that great of a video. It was meant to be more, but I think I did not execute it as well as I wanted.
I went to Malaysian night dressed as a gangster, Al Capone style, American gangster style. It wasn't much dressing up really, believe me when I say others dressed up, with make up and props, but me, a pinstripe suit, and put on my normal face, and I'm a gangster (coz people always say I have a unfriendly face).
People who have known me since high school will probably know that I was supposed to sing at my prom, but that never happened, so at Malaysian night, I made up for that, and performed. Hahahhah. It's funny how this year, Haizat transferred from Albany and he asked if I wanted to join him in performing for Malaysian night. What the heck, bila lagi kan. Good thing the performance were watched by friends, and our mistakes while singing were forgiven. It was good, bit nervous at first but by the time the second song came, we were comfortable.
Video me and Lutfi made will be posted up soon as well, and video of the singing will not be posted.
The night was fun, and of course the photo sessions, with all the different costumes. I even got the best dressed, just because Iylia won already for most photogenic. Look at the pictures here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150568&l=a21ff&id=673915175 , and you'll know why he should have a clean sweep for the awards.
The night ended smoothly, and kudos to Jace and Lutfi for organizing a great event.
REALITY CHECK
P.S : I am officially tired of it. My efforts have brought me nowhere near, instead has made me bitter. I am switching off. I am officially crawling back into my sanctuary where its safe.
Monday, July 07, 2008
BERSATU 08 : Style over Substance
The long awaited BERSATU games in Wellington ended with mixed emotions for me and my team. MUMSA obtained its first gold medal in the history of the games, but really, we were unlucky not to add to the tally. Takder rezeki.
Preparations for the games, besides the obvious deed of training, consists of fund raising, rallying supporters and keeping everyone on their toes. We did a pretty good job for fund raising, sausage sizzles, and also the selling of Nasi Lemak and other Malaysian goodies, which contributed greatly to the final amount. Kudos goes to everyone involved in making those two fund raising activities a success.
As for the games itself, we left for Wellington on the 28th of June, on the bus, and arrived a few hours short of the opening ceremony. This years opening ceremony was simple and I guess its how it should be. Our contingent arrived in our brand spanking new MUMSA t-shirts, which I thought was the paling semart out of the others. As head contingent, had to go through the baca ikrar, and some introductions on stage, which was all good. No speeches.
The night went on with introduction videos and performances from WMSO, a dance number, as well as the Haka. Ceremony ended earlier than expected, and all went back to the backpackers, to get ready for the first day of games.
Everyone was pumped up for the first day of games. All were on time. Only thing was the weather made the organizers have a headache. Football was canceled, and moved to the last day, while Touch was now to be played indoor. Netball went ahead despite the roaring winds and pouring rain. Badminton was on schedule as planned. First day was a bit of a bore, as the team split up into 2 as venues were different. Full support couldn't be given and to me that made us suffer. We bowed out of Touch in the group stages, but definitely with a fight. We were unlucky with netball and badminton, but didn't make the semis due to goal or points difference. Bad first day for MUMSA.
It was the same story for the second and third day, where we challenged but not making the semis again. Even lost my cool, my temper during handball, and I apologize to all that were hurt if any. The girls made a valiant effort in Futsal, and I felt had a great chance to make the semis if not get a medal. But due to a tactical error, we bowed out in the group stages as well. Despite the losses, I am proud to say, that our supporters were the best during the games. Our cheers and chants made a difference, and I could safely say, we all lost our voices supporting each other. Even WMSO who had the biggest number of supporters did not come close to our supporting power. MUMSA supporters ruled the whole of BERSATU. I say thanks to those who led the cheers, who till today still have not recovered from all that screaming.
It was the last day, and there were 2 sports left for MUMSA to get a medal. Football, which was now to be played indoor, went on first. We were up against the defending champs, and expectations were high. We won 2-0. We broke the curse, we won our first football game at BERSATU ever. Morale was high. Too high, as we switched off against CMSA, which left us vulnerable to get kicked out of the tourney yet again. We won our 3rd game against Otago, but then had to depend on the match between CMSA and WMSO. Everything was going smooth, until CMSA scored with 12 seconds to go. The group was now tied 3 ways and due to some technicality, we were out, WMSO and CMSA were in. Potential out the window yet again.
All of us went up to support Takraw, the last game. I got a text on the way there saying we made the semis. I was overjoyed, at least points for MUMSA. When we got there, another fight with WMSO, although it went to rubber set, the experience of MUMSA shone through, and carried forward to the finals. The abang-abang post grads showed us experience, as well as moves no one at the BERSATU level has seen. MUMSA got our first gold. We were ecstatic.
That night we had our closing dinner. The venue was great, some hiccups, but overall an enjoyable night, even more so when MUMSA won the video competition with this video
The audience responded positively, reacting how we expected them to react, many of them asking us for the video to keep. Credits to Imran for showing us the video, Matt Harding for the inspiration, and Lutfi for making the video a reality.
We left the games this year with a new and improved reputation, that MUMSA were contenders, not just another team making up the preliminary stages, but challengers, tough challengers that other contingents should be looking out for in years to come.
Friday, June 06, 2008
8 eight
Okay people. I was tagged by la poupres, saper entah dier. Since I am always looking for excuses to put off studying, I will layan. Anyways, 8 things, facts about myself. Oh before that, the rules? Here they are
Okay. Laying down the rules of the tagging game:
----------------------------------------------------------
1) Semua blogger harus menyatakan peraturan-peraturan ini dahulu.
So here are the eight:
Uno:
I have a thing about letting people down, I don't like it. I think its because I don't handle guilt very well. So people that are pleased = no guilt for me
Dos:
I still think i'm overweight even though i'm borderline not overweight. If by all randomness someone were to ask "Who's the fattest here?" I would raise my hand, even though I'm not the fattest there. This is not a joke. Haha
Tres:
I am more alive in my imagination than I am in real life, which i'm trying to minimize this year. Keeping it real in the year 2008.
Cuatro:
4. Thats my jersey number, for football, futsal. Started because of Patrick Vieira. Arsenal great, midfield general. From those few statements, I love football, the greatest sport in the world, watching, playing, being passionate because of it. www.espfootie.blogspot.com
Cinco:
Family and friends are my lifeblood. If I call you a friend, I would literally go to the end of the world for you.
Seis:
From the numbers, uno, dos, tres, you might figure I like the spanish language. Hope to learn it soon, and also hope to visit the country in the near future.
Siete:
I like cooking, and flatting this year lets me do that. It doesn't work everytime, but it also means it does work sometime, which I am proud of.
Ocho:
I would like to think I am creative, with my writing, pictures and videos. Hopefully I am really creative at one of those things and not be a poser, and just say I am creative but not.
So, there they are, 8 facts off the top of my head, not much time because i'm not using my own laptop which is still not functioning. Sorry if the facts are useless. Haha
I am tagging:
LSG : Because he's the only one I think will do this thing..
thank you. good night
Okay. Laying down the rules of the tagging game:
----------------------------------------------------------
1) Semua blogger harus menyatakan peraturan-peraturan ini dahulu.
2) Setiap blogger harus mula dengan 8 fakta/amalan tentang diri mereka.
3) Blogger yang di tag hendaklah menulis tentang 8 fakta/amalan mereka itu dan menyenaraikan peraturan-peraturan ini. Seterusnya tag pula 8 orang lain.
4) Tinggalkan komen kepada mereka yang di tag memberitahu bahawa mereka di tag dan suruh mereka datang baca blog kamu.
(La Poupres, 2008)
So here are the eight:
Uno:
I have a thing about letting people down, I don't like it. I think its because I don't handle guilt very well. So people that are pleased = no guilt for me
Dos:
I still think i'm overweight even though i'm borderline not overweight. If by all randomness someone were to ask "Who's the fattest here?" I would raise my hand, even though I'm not the fattest there. This is not a joke. Haha
Tres:
I am more alive in my imagination than I am in real life, which i'm trying to minimize this year. Keeping it real in the year 2008.
Cuatro:
4. Thats my jersey number, for football, futsal. Started because of Patrick Vieira. Arsenal great, midfield general. From those few statements, I love football, the greatest sport in the world, watching, playing, being passionate because of it. www.espfootie.blogspot.com
Cinco:
Family and friends are my lifeblood. If I call you a friend, I would literally go to the end of the world for you.
Seis:
From the numbers, uno, dos, tres, you might figure I like the spanish language. Hope to learn it soon, and also hope to visit the country in the near future.
Siete:
I like cooking, and flatting this year lets me do that. It doesn't work everytime, but it also means it does work sometime, which I am proud of.
Ocho:
I would like to think I am creative, with my writing, pictures and videos. Hopefully I am really creative at one of those things and not be a poser, and just say I am creative but not.
So, there they are, 8 facts off the top of my head, not much time because i'm not using my own laptop which is still not functioning. Sorry if the facts are useless. Haha
I am tagging:
LSG : Because he's the only one I think will do this thing..
thank you. good night
Saturday, May 24, 2008
24...eh 23 la...
Another year, and another birthday away from home.
Just before midnight, text came in and wished me a happy 24th birthday. I read it, and then locked the keypad on the phone. Only after 15 minutes, did I unlock the keypad and re read the text, and realised that 24 is wrong. I'm only 23. Haha.
It was yet another simple birthday, as always really throughout my life. Have I ever had a real birthday party? surely, but I can't remember my baby years ( I still believe one of them, brother sister or cousins dropped me on the head when I was a baby, but they deny it profusely). Its always dinner with the family, and drinks with the Kakibangkus.
This year, its sad and happy. Sad because no family and kakibangkus, but happy because brothers cooked and baked for me. Appreciate it guys.
Just before midnight, text came in and wished me a happy 24th birthday. I read it, and then locked the keypad on the phone. Only after 15 minutes, did I unlock the keypad and re read the text, and realised that 24 is wrong. I'm only 23. Haha.
"to the beat of tradition we danced, eyes meeting, arms swaying, cheeks blushing, feet uncoordinated"
It was yet another simple birthday, as always really throughout my life. Have I ever had a real birthday party? surely, but I can't remember my baby years ( I still believe one of them, brother sister or cousins dropped me on the head when I was a baby, but they deny it profusely). Its always dinner with the family, and drinks with the Kakibangkus.
"in the dark, sparks flew, oh how the sparks flew..."
This year, its sad and happy. Sad because no family and kakibangkus, but happy because brothers cooked and baked for me. Appreciate it guys.
"light? say it isn't so, waking up is not an option now"
Remember those videos last year? we're making fresh new ones this year. One is already on my youtube, silly test video, but fun nonetheless. Another 2 definitely coming, because its required for BERSATU, with potentially more video fun after that.
"what good is a name, if it's not for reference"
With exams getting closer, and one more assignment to hand in, its officially nearing the end of semester one. Like my age, time flies.
"teardrops of water triggered by time"
Friday, May 09, 2008
A month disconnected
Looking at the date stamp of my last post, it has been exactly a month since I updated. Why? The answer to that would be my laptop is not functional, and still not functional. I haven't been totally disconnected though, thanks to the Massey computer lab, and the 24 hour access card.
A lot happened in the last month, a bad luck month really for me and my flatmates. The car was acting up again, and took 2 weeks to get well again. Safwan's car blew up...well the engine did, which meant its not functional and meant there is one less car at the house. Iylia can't drive anymore, because he got pulled over by the police, and he's still presenting a Malaysian license, which goes invalid after a year. Well he can drive, but if he gets caught, he'd be imprisoned, and the car he drives would get impounded. Sam's power supply blew up, which was the most minor of all our bad luck. And of course my laptop is unusable, which i'm predicting to be the motherboard, and if it is the problem, I won't bother and continue being a bonafide student in the computer labs.
So enough of the tales of bad luck.
I cut up my first whole chicken this month. It's good cutting steaks into small pieces, but tearing up a whole chicken with a meat cleaver is wayy better. I have pictures of the event, but due to the laptop not functioning, I have limited access to the pictures, which are in Safwan's cam. I promise you the grit and determination of dismantling that piece of poultry was caught on camera.
BERSATU games down the block and around the corner. MUMSA has been appointed co-hosts, with Wellington Students Organisation, with the event being held in Wellington this June. The top committe of MUMSA will be involved with the actual games, so they have appointed a few select people including me, to handle the contingent in their place. The top committee say they're busy with BERSATU, but I think they're just dumping their load on to us "choice" slaves, haha.
There was a leadership meeting/seminar in conjunction with BERSATU games down in Wellington at the Malaysian Students Department. I was not even supposed to go but due to transport and Razif unable to get an extension, I replaced him, and along with Iylia, Sheng and Eugene drove down to Wellington for the ANZAC day weekend. Left Palmy early and reached Welly around 10 ish. It was quite empty, mostly because people were still in Church for ANZAC day appreciation.
We were all seperated accomodation wise, with the reason of mingling with other leaders of other contingents being thrown at us. I didn't mind that, pretty valid reason. I did mind however mind that MY accomodation looked like a whorehouse from the outside, and Iylia's looked like a modern motel, and even had Sky TV . Woo-saaah. I started to dread the trip, After settling in (if that was ever possible in that building), we were told to be at MSD, and so we were. It was my first time being at the MSD, and I was quite impressed. Went up to the dewan for a briefing with Aunty Rose, the student attache here in NZ. Aunty kept repeating "Expect the Unexpected" and after all was done, it was exactly that.
After the briefing, we played frisbee. Fun? not when you play it in the dark. Aunty said all events on the schedule must be performed, and because we were late with the previous item on the schedule, it was already dark by the time we were done. Everyone was still up for it, some groaning of course, but generally looked lively. It all went well and we actually caught the darn thing while in the dark, except for Iylia, who tried to catch a pass, and bumped into a team mate, and fell down spraining his ankle. What most of us were annoyed about at that point, was that aunty refused to call the driver to pick Iylia up and back to MSD. Instead, we as a group, took turns carrying him from the park we played, which was down a hill bout 10 minutes from MSD. It was good that we came together, but in a way dangerous, for Iylia, and for us as well. That invariably left him useless when it came to activities over the weekend as he was on crutches. Alas, all was justified by aunty at the end of the seminar. The night ended late, even more for me as I went for coffee after.
I didn't get much sleep in Wellington, because its damned noisy at night, and it was early starts each day. The second day was mainly for BERSATU, where the committee presented their presentation to the contingents. It got quite heated and it will be a different BERSATU next year if proposed changes are approved.
The third day was the best, and all the stress of no sleep and high levels of annoyance with aunty's mental tests were gone as we participated in an "Amazing Race" kind of activity called senses. Kudos to the organisers of that, coz it was really a great experience. It helped me bond with new comrades as we sang, laughed, guided and made fools of ourselves together as a team. My team would have won too, if I hadn't broken an egg. I would have never seen Wellington if not for that activity, and again that made the whole weekend worth it. That night, tired bodies sat down for a final talk with aunty, where she explained herself to us. She was testing us with , in her own words "putting you out of your comfort zone", which was spot on. She justified her actions, and I personally think its a loss to MSD in NZ if she was not there working with us students. She refused to take credit for the success of the weekend, but she got us there, and that deserves credit.
So that was my month disconnected. Sorry there are no thousand words worth of pictures.
A lot happened in the last month, a bad luck month really for me and my flatmates. The car was acting up again, and took 2 weeks to get well again. Safwan's car blew up...well the engine did, which meant its not functional and meant there is one less car at the house. Iylia can't drive anymore, because he got pulled over by the police, and he's still presenting a Malaysian license, which goes invalid after a year. Well he can drive, but if he gets caught, he'd be imprisoned, and the car he drives would get impounded. Sam's power supply blew up, which was the most minor of all our bad luck. And of course my laptop is unusable, which i'm predicting to be the motherboard, and if it is the problem, I won't bother and continue being a bonafide student in the computer labs.
So enough of the tales of bad luck.
I cut up my first whole chicken this month. It's good cutting steaks into small pieces, but tearing up a whole chicken with a meat cleaver is wayy better. I have pictures of the event, but due to the laptop not functioning, I have limited access to the pictures, which are in Safwan's cam. I promise you the grit and determination of dismantling that piece of poultry was caught on camera.
BERSATU games down the block and around the corner. MUMSA has been appointed co-hosts, with Wellington Students Organisation, with the event being held in Wellington this June. The top committe of MUMSA will be involved with the actual games, so they have appointed a few select people including me, to handle the contingent in their place. The top committee say they're busy with BERSATU, but I think they're just dumping their load on to us "choice" slaves, haha.
There was a leadership meeting/seminar in conjunction with BERSATU games down in Wellington at the Malaysian Students Department. I was not even supposed to go but due to transport and Razif unable to get an extension, I replaced him, and along with Iylia, Sheng and Eugene drove down to Wellington for the ANZAC day weekend. Left Palmy early and reached Welly around 10 ish. It was quite empty, mostly because people were still in Church for ANZAC day appreciation.
We were all seperated accomodation wise, with the reason of mingling with other leaders of other contingents being thrown at us. I didn't mind that, pretty valid reason. I did mind however mind that MY accomodation looked like a whorehouse from the outside, and Iylia's looked like a modern motel, and even had Sky TV . Woo-saaah. I started to dread the trip, After settling in (if that was ever possible in that building), we were told to be at MSD, and so we were. It was my first time being at the MSD, and I was quite impressed. Went up to the dewan for a briefing with Aunty Rose, the student attache here in NZ. Aunty kept repeating "Expect the Unexpected" and after all was done, it was exactly that.
After the briefing, we played frisbee. Fun? not when you play it in the dark. Aunty said all events on the schedule must be performed, and because we were late with the previous item on the schedule, it was already dark by the time we were done. Everyone was still up for it, some groaning of course, but generally looked lively. It all went well and we actually caught the darn thing while in the dark, except for Iylia, who tried to catch a pass, and bumped into a team mate, and fell down spraining his ankle. What most of us were annoyed about at that point, was that aunty refused to call the driver to pick Iylia up and back to MSD. Instead, we as a group, took turns carrying him from the park we played, which was down a hill bout 10 minutes from MSD. It was good that we came together, but in a way dangerous, for Iylia, and for us as well. That invariably left him useless when it came to activities over the weekend as he was on crutches. Alas, all was justified by aunty at the end of the seminar. The night ended late, even more for me as I went for coffee after.
I didn't get much sleep in Wellington, because its damned noisy at night, and it was early starts each day. The second day was mainly for BERSATU, where the committee presented their presentation to the contingents. It got quite heated and it will be a different BERSATU next year if proposed changes are approved.
The third day was the best, and all the stress of no sleep and high levels of annoyance with aunty's mental tests were gone as we participated in an "Amazing Race" kind of activity called senses. Kudos to the organisers of that, coz it was really a great experience. It helped me bond with new comrades as we sang, laughed, guided and made fools of ourselves together as a team. My team would have won too, if I hadn't broken an egg. I would have never seen Wellington if not for that activity, and again that made the whole weekend worth it. That night, tired bodies sat down for a final talk with aunty, where she explained herself to us. She was testing us with , in her own words "putting you out of your comfort zone", which was spot on. She justified her actions, and I personally think its a loss to MSD in NZ if she was not there working with us students. She refused to take credit for the success of the weekend, but she got us there, and that deserves credit.
So that was my month disconnected. Sorry there are no thousand words worth of pictures.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
somehow, somewhere...it all went wrong
When did it happen? when did it all turn sour for Arsenal and Arsenal fans? We were glowing at the prospect of winning 2 trophies a month ago. As of this morning the two became one, and highly likely to be zero.
Arsenal were clear leaders of the premiership a little over a month ago, and successive draws and a loss to Chelsea put us down to third. Where did Chelsea come from. It was dubbed a "two horse race" by the media. I guess we never learned from the story of the trojan horse. So when did the bad form start. From my own recollection, it started with the game Eduardo got his leg broken at the game at Birmingham City. A last minute goal from Birmingham (McFadden I think..) gave us our first of five successive draws. We were top, and the teams we drew, we should have won, and if we did, it kind of didn't matter if we had bad results with the top teams. Add to the fact the son of a gun Portuguese cow dung called Ronaldo is on fire this season. Comparisons to Henry when he was unstoppable in Arsenal's unbeaten season. Seriously though, even though he is an arrogant man, I still would prefer his French arrogance (because they are known for it) over C.Ronaldo's any day. Arsenal are now 6 points behind leaders Man U with five games to go, All good mathematically, but in the event god blesses us with amazing form for the last five games, it would probably favor Chelsea, as they are only three points behind the leaders.
Champions league. I honestly didn't even care if we won. I just wanted the premiership since it has been so long since we won it. Although it would have been sweet to win it once. That thought came to an end, when an undoubtedly great second leg at Anfield ended with a loss. Had one foot in the door when Adebayor equalised late in the second half, but then a minute later, we conceded a penalty, and Gerrard does not miss from the penalty spot. Another Liverpool - Chelsea semi on the card, and looking at things, a Barcelona-Manchester United for the other semi.
So when did it go wrong? Every true superstitious Arsenal fan would blame themselves. What did I do different? Did I forget to do that or this? For me, it started when I went back to Malaysia, and got worse when I get back to New Zealand? Maybe good luck disappears during traveling.....nonsense probably, maybe. In reality, loss of Eduardo didn;t really weaken our team, in my opinion anyway, because he was never a first eleven player, although, admittedly, he was coming to form at that period and unluckily broke his leg oh so devastatingly.
I am still heartbroken. Started off with low expectations, but made the fans believe it was a special season. I guess it doesn't work that way.
ps: another letting off steam post...ignore coz nothing interesting bout me in New Zealand except the fact I'm in New Zealand...
Arsenal were clear leaders of the premiership a little over a month ago, and successive draws and a loss to Chelsea put us down to third. Where did Chelsea come from. It was dubbed a "two horse race" by the media. I guess we never learned from the story of the trojan horse. So when did the bad form start. From my own recollection, it started with the game Eduardo got his leg broken at the game at Birmingham City. A last minute goal from Birmingham (McFadden I think..) gave us our first of five successive draws. We were top, and the teams we drew, we should have won, and if we did, it kind of didn't matter if we had bad results with the top teams. Add to the fact the son of a gun Portuguese cow dung called Ronaldo is on fire this season. Comparisons to Henry when he was unstoppable in Arsenal's unbeaten season. Seriously though, even though he is an arrogant man, I still would prefer his French arrogance (because they are known for it) over C.Ronaldo's any day. Arsenal are now 6 points behind leaders Man U with five games to go, All good mathematically, but in the event god blesses us with amazing form for the last five games, it would probably favor Chelsea, as they are only three points behind the leaders.
Champions league. I honestly didn't even care if we won. I just wanted the premiership since it has been so long since we won it. Although it would have been sweet to win it once. That thought came to an end, when an undoubtedly great second leg at Anfield ended with a loss. Had one foot in the door when Adebayor equalised late in the second half, but then a minute later, we conceded a penalty, and Gerrard does not miss from the penalty spot. Another Liverpool - Chelsea semi on the card, and looking at things, a Barcelona-Manchester United for the other semi.
So when did it go wrong? Every true superstitious Arsenal fan would blame themselves. What did I do different? Did I forget to do that or this? For me, it started when I went back to Malaysia, and got worse when I get back to New Zealand? Maybe good luck disappears during traveling.....nonsense probably, maybe. In reality, loss of Eduardo didn;t really weaken our team, in my opinion anyway, because he was never a first eleven player, although, admittedly, he was coming to form at that period and unluckily broke his leg oh so devastatingly.
I am still heartbroken. Started off with low expectations, but made the fans believe it was a special season. I guess it doesn't work that way.
ps: another letting off steam post...ignore coz nothing interesting bout me in New Zealand except the fact I'm in New Zealand...
Sunday, March 23, 2008
this is getting ridiculous
What is New Zealand known for? Its a tie between dairy products, rugby, the place they shot Lord Of The Rings, and undoubtedly sheep. Sheep outnumber humans here in New Zealand seven times which basically means there are seven times more sheep than there are humans. Thats a whole lotta sheep.
I was out with Rahmat to get some stuff for the car (which we didn't get because it was easter, and nothing was open), when Iylia texted me, the text read "we have a new pet". I replied asking what pet?, but he never answered. When we got back to our house, we found out what the pet was....
It was a sheep or a ram to be exact. I certainly did not expect this. I was seriously thinking we had a rat in the house, or a cat suddenly decided to call our flat its home, but a ram in our backyard? never. Sam actually discovered it and ran in to get Iylia, who went out and petted the ram, and when he tried to tie the leash (it had a leash, sort of, which led to us concluding that it was someones pet) to our clothes drying thing, the ram got mad and chased Iylia all over. Luckily, Adzhar happened to drop by, and took control of the situation and proceeded to tying the animal to the clothes drying thung....all of this happened before me and Rahmat came back, which was a shame, because Iylia getting chased by a Ram should be an amusing sight.
Iylia called animal control, and we just hung out there waiting for them to come. The ram was actually very friendly, but it did leave presents on our lawn, and a bit on the pathway leading to the clothes drying thing. While waiting for animal control to come, we did what anyone would do in this situation...took pictures and videos of it, as I don't think it would be happening again anytime soon. Check my youtube for the actually aimless video of the ram. Haha
After 20 minutes of wholesome sheep fun, someone came and asked "you guys didn't happen to see a sheep running around did you?" which would have been a really weird question on any other day, Turns out it was the neighbor across the street from our house who was the owner. Iylia immediately called off animal control and our excitement for the day was over. Only in New Zealand.
On another note....my cousin Kak Intan got married yesterday, without any complications and was told Fahmy lafaz skalik jer...bravo. I am really happy for her and her husband, but yet a bit sad because I couldn't be there with my family to celebrate the occasion. So to Nor Intan and Fahmy, Selamat Pengantin Baru, semoga ke anak cucu.
I was out with Rahmat to get some stuff for the car (which we didn't get because it was easter, and nothing was open), when Iylia texted me, the text read "we have a new pet". I replied asking what pet?, but he never answered. When we got back to our house, we found out what the pet was....
It was a sheep or a ram to be exact. I certainly did not expect this. I was seriously thinking we had a rat in the house, or a cat suddenly decided to call our flat its home, but a ram in our backyard? never. Sam actually discovered it and ran in to get Iylia, who went out and petted the ram, and when he tried to tie the leash (it had a leash, sort of, which led to us concluding that it was someones pet) to our clothes drying thing, the ram got mad and chased Iylia all over. Luckily, Adzhar happened to drop by, and took control of the situation and proceeded to tying the animal to the clothes drying thung....all of this happened before me and Rahmat came back, which was a shame, because Iylia getting chased by a Ram should be an amusing sight.
Iylia called animal control, and we just hung out there waiting for them to come. The ram was actually very friendly, but it did leave presents on our lawn, and a bit on the pathway leading to the clothes drying thing. While waiting for animal control to come, we did what anyone would do in this situation...took pictures and videos of it, as I don't think it would be happening again anytime soon. Check my youtube for the actually aimless video of the ram. Haha
After 20 minutes of wholesome sheep fun, someone came and asked "you guys didn't happen to see a sheep running around did you?" which would have been a really weird question on any other day, Turns out it was the neighbor across the street from our house who was the owner. Iylia immediately called off animal control and our excitement for the day was over. Only in New Zealand.
On another note....my cousin Kak Intan got married yesterday, without any complications and was told Fahmy lafaz skalik jer...bravo. I am really happy for her and her husband, but yet a bit sad because I couldn't be there with my family to celebrate the occasion. So to Nor Intan and Fahmy, Selamat Pengantin Baru, semoga ke anak cucu.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Explain to me
Alright, here goes. I am a Malaysian, and I consider myself a pretty patriotic one. However I never really indulged myself in the politics of Malaysia. One could say, i'm pretty buta politic. As all Malaysians have undoubtedly have already known, we just got through our 12th election last weekend. The results have spoken. BN suffered a big loss, losing their 2/3 majority vote in Parliament. I checked on Subang, and saw that BN lost that as well, to DAP, I was like wooah. Pembankang menang siut. I was actually worried....
Then I stopped, and thought to myself,..."ok...BN lost to DAP, so now what?.what was the significance?"
Someone explain to me what's gonna change?. I know. using Subang as an example, the overall feel of Subang won't change much. I can understand if PAS was to take over Subang, there would probably be no more Asia Cafe, and yes like I told makcik in Dublin, women probably won't be able to shoot pool anymore at Asia Cafe anymore, because there would be no Asia cafe, and because its not proper for women to play pool? Ok maybe I'm being overly harsh on the what ifs when PAS is concerned.
But seriously, to someone who actually had no big problems with BN, someone explain to me what will change. I asked Sheng and Eugene today, and probably shouldn't have done that, because if you know Sheng, he'll have a long factual explanation, talking bout economies and such, while if you knew Eugene, he'll just talk bout the subject aimlessly. Which left me basically where I started, I need terms I can understand.
Theres probably an issue with corruption, and the fact that prices of everything are rising. I know the opposition are promising changes in the NOW, but after watching an news clip of Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, where he explained, in order to implement the changes promised by DAP in particular, taxes are going to be raised, and that consequently effects the future generation. With corruption, hey, I'm gonna be a pessimist bout this and say it won't go away. Reduced yes, vanish? no way.
I read LSG's blog and he mentioned the election as well, and he was writing specifically bout Nurul Izzah, who in all my blurness in the arena of politics and general homeland knowledge, is the daughter of none other than Wan Azizah leader of PKR. She won her battle with Dato' Sharizat, and after googling Nurul Izzah's name, and then saw her picture...I wondered, in a totally comical thought (kena state, maner tau kena saman ker)....did the voters vote for her because she has the caliber, or because she looks more attractive, in my opinion on a poster than Dato' Sharizat. I mean if I was like a neutral voter, and a normal joe, I would pick Nurul Izzah hands down just because. I can safely say guys work that way.
Often at family gatherings, when I sit amongst my family members, and listen to their stories, complaining bout this and that about the government, I guess its kind of interesting and maybe a bit refreshing to see Malaysians do want change and it actually happened this time. We'll see I guess, how well the opposition delivers, and also interesting to see how BN reacts. Will the loss trigger the change in them? I hope that BN or oppostion, in all their battles, don't forget about Malaysia and Malaysians.
Then I stopped, and thought to myself,..."ok...BN lost to DAP, so now what?.what was the significance?"
Someone explain to me what's gonna change?. I know. using Subang as an example, the overall feel of Subang won't change much. I can understand if PAS was to take over Subang, there would probably be no more Asia Cafe, and yes like I told makcik in Dublin, women probably won't be able to shoot pool anymore at Asia Cafe anymore, because there would be no Asia cafe, and because its not proper for women to play pool? Ok maybe I'm being overly harsh on the what ifs when PAS is concerned.
But seriously, to someone who actually had no big problems with BN, someone explain to me what will change. I asked Sheng and Eugene today, and probably shouldn't have done that, because if you know Sheng, he'll have a long factual explanation, talking bout economies and such, while if you knew Eugene, he'll just talk bout the subject aimlessly. Which left me basically where I started, I need terms I can understand.
Theres probably an issue with corruption, and the fact that prices of everything are rising. I know the opposition are promising changes in the NOW, but after watching an news clip of Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, where he explained, in order to implement the changes promised by DAP in particular, taxes are going to be raised, and that consequently effects the future generation. With corruption, hey, I'm gonna be a pessimist bout this and say it won't go away. Reduced yes, vanish? no way.
I read LSG's blog and he mentioned the election as well, and he was writing specifically bout Nurul Izzah, who in all my blurness in the arena of politics and general homeland knowledge, is the daughter of none other than Wan Azizah leader of PKR. She won her battle with Dato' Sharizat, and after googling Nurul Izzah's name, and then saw her picture...I wondered, in a totally comical thought (kena state, maner tau kena saman ker)....did the voters vote for her because she has the caliber, or because she looks more attractive, in my opinion on a poster than Dato' Sharizat. I mean if I was like a neutral voter, and a normal joe, I would pick Nurul Izzah hands down just because. I can safely say guys work that way.
Often at family gatherings, when I sit amongst my family members, and listen to their stories, complaining bout this and that about the government, I guess its kind of interesting and maybe a bit refreshing to see Malaysians do want change and it actually happened this time. We'll see I guess, how well the opposition delivers, and also interesting to see how BN reacts. Will the loss trigger the change in them? I hope that BN or oppostion, in all their battles, don't forget about Malaysia and Malaysians.
The story so far
Reporting after the last out of place "emo-ish" post.
New Zealand the second time round for me was exactly that, revisited, no thrill of the guy who left home the first time, but someone coming back home to his current home base. Everything was pretty much where it should be when I came back to Palmy. The flat was kinda hectic, with most of the guys holding up here to avoid starting paying for the halls too early. That meant stuff were lying everywhere, living room packed, mine and iylia's room had visitors, and I lived out of the suitcase for another week. After most of the guys moved into the halls, I cleaned up my room, unpacked my stuff, rearranged my furniture in my room, started making it my own again.
Anyways, house matters aside, MUMSA had its clubs day booth up, and boy oh boy, we had loads of new members signing up. To date, there are, if not mistaken, 12 new scholarship students from the respective sponsors. Thats an increase from last year. Either Massey is becoming a popular destination now, or we (the "old" students) did a good job of marketing Palmerston North, and Massey, either by word of mouth to respective juniors, or we just made this place "happening" because we are that cool. haha. Not counting the scholarship students, we have a handful of new private students as well, making this year, undoubtedly the largest number of members for MUMSA.
The kickoff event held by MUMSA was the bbq, held at the ICC (again),which would turn out to be a bit on the small side, as almost all that registered on clubs day turned up plus Mr.Prez decided to include the post graduates and their families to join as well. The event was really organized from start till finish, which led to Eugene commenting, "Malaysians ker nih? semua dah prepared before hand, and on time pulak tuh", which I thought was funny and honestly a very sensible question to ask. Food was prepared almost a day before, and chicken was pre-cooked (so that people won't have to wait long for their chicken to bbq) with 3 hours to spare. People turned up on time, and as I said before, the place was packed. But all in all, MUMSA collectively did a great job in my opinion.
The haunted maize maze was revisited again. The event this time was joined by some members from WMSO. The venue was different from the last time MUMSA went. It was in a place called Marton before, 40 minutes away, but now its a brand new maze, in Sanson. 25 minutes away. I have to say, it was nowhere near as scary as the one in Marton, and half the time to complete it. But to look at the glass half full, we had a good time, hanging out with the newbies, and our friends from WMSO, which is all good.
Oh yeah, classes. Started, 3 I like, 1 don't like mainly because of the lecturer, and out of the 3 classes that interest me, only two I actually pay attention to everyday because of the excellent lecturer who makes you participate, so you don't really have time to let your mind wander off.
New Zealand the second time round for me was exactly that, revisited, no thrill of the guy who left home the first time, but someone coming back home to his current home base. Everything was pretty much where it should be when I came back to Palmy. The flat was kinda hectic, with most of the guys holding up here to avoid starting paying for the halls too early. That meant stuff were lying everywhere, living room packed, mine and iylia's room had visitors, and I lived out of the suitcase for another week. After most of the guys moved into the halls, I cleaned up my room, unpacked my stuff, rearranged my furniture in my room, started making it my own again.
Anyways, house matters aside, MUMSA had its clubs day booth up, and boy oh boy, we had loads of new members signing up. To date, there are, if not mistaken, 12 new scholarship students from the respective sponsors. Thats an increase from last year. Either Massey is becoming a popular destination now, or we (the "old" students) did a good job of marketing Palmerston North, and Massey, either by word of mouth to respective juniors, or we just made this place "happening" because we are that cool. haha. Not counting the scholarship students, we have a handful of new private students as well, making this year, undoubtedly the largest number of members for MUMSA.
The kickoff event held by MUMSA was the bbq, held at the ICC (again),which would turn out to be a bit on the small side, as almost all that registered on clubs day turned up plus Mr.Prez decided to include the post graduates and their families to join as well. The event was really organized from start till finish, which led to Eugene commenting, "Malaysians ker nih? semua dah prepared before hand, and on time pulak tuh", which I thought was funny and honestly a very sensible question to ask. Food was prepared almost a day before, and chicken was pre-cooked (so that people won't have to wait long for their chicken to bbq) with 3 hours to spare. People turned up on time, and as I said before, the place was packed. But all in all, MUMSA collectively did a great job in my opinion.
The haunted maize maze was revisited again. The event this time was joined by some members from WMSO. The venue was different from the last time MUMSA went. It was in a place called Marton before, 40 minutes away, but now its a brand new maze, in Sanson. 25 minutes away. I have to say, it was nowhere near as scary as the one in Marton, and half the time to complete it. But to look at the glass half full, we had a good time, hanging out with the newbies, and our friends from WMSO, which is all good.
Oh yeah, classes. Started, 3 I like, 1 don't like mainly because of the lecturer, and out of the 3 classes that interest me, only two I actually pay attention to everyday because of the excellent lecturer who makes you participate, so you don't really have time to let your mind wander off.
Friday, February 22, 2008
My Summer
I shouldn't have gone back to Malaysia for as long as 3 months. 1 month would have been enough. I wouldn't know that for sure of course, but at this present moment thats what I think anyway.
Summer in Malaysia started out as probably all of you already know, with a surprise for my family and friends. That was was something planned in advance and actually seeing the plan become a success was actually quite gratifying. The months that followed the return were pretty varied in activities, with only one common factor...foood. I fulfilled my cravings for whatever I craved for over the summer, and the cravings would undoubtedly be refreshed this year.
First couple of weeks back, it was just hangout sessions with the boys. Futsal (ahh, good to be back in those caged pitches), and of course lepakking at MyTomYam or Air Buah or now more affectionately referred as Ayaq Bu by us Kakibangku-ians. Then the activities started. Go-kart sessions with cousins, trip up to Genting Highlands (haven't been there since probably standard 4.....it got bigger huh?) with KB family, which was fun, mainly seeing who actually had guts in the family, haha. My cousin Kak Intan also got engaged that December, but I will not be attending her wedding because its in March (apa salahnya nikah terus daripada tunang? boleh aku attend) which is a bummer, because its Kak Intan, one of my closest cousins. We said good bye to Faizal, as he got a job in Dubai, which I think is great, experience over there will do him good, career wise. Closed off December, as well as the year 2007 with a barbecue at my house, again. Was reluctant to host at first, but in the end it was great, and any time with my closest friends is good time in my book.
In January, the Borois (me, Mann and Hafiz) took a trip to Langkawi. Although we didn't do much in activities, the journey to get to the island and the conversations with the borois, made the trip worthwhile a thousand times over. January also had karaoke sessions with Hildi, Laili, Syana, Alel, Zerol and Jepp (new way to kill yourself, get a real hard rock song, and try to sing exactly like the artist..haha), a field football match with some students with UM, (which we won triumphantly 6-3), and celebrated Hafiz Botak's 23rd with another surprise, but a different Naili's Place.
Celebrated another 3 birthdays early February (Fazee's, Amoi's and Laili's), but not before beating another team at football, winning 1-0. Hung out with the just the sistaz, pretty much for the whole afternoon at the curve, which was something new and a very welcome addition to my routine when i'm back home in Malaysia next. The last outing with the KB family was again at the curve. Late lunch at Litlle Penang, and drinks at Nasi Kandar Spring. It really turned out to be the last outing, because even though I still had 3 days left till my flight I had food poisoning, and had to spend the last days recovering in time to be travel ready.
The day of my flight, I went to Opah's for lunch. Met my aunts and of course Opah. Second time round doesn't make saying goodbye to them any easier. I guess I always see my cousin Azril, and wonder how he handles it so well. It might be he gets to come back at the very least 3 times a year. So the level of kerinduan won't be as bad. Anyways, Mak, Abang and Kak Yang sent me off at the airport, as well as the brothaz and a couple of sistaz. I did cry the first time, but not this time. The flight was not smooth sailing, with numerous cases of turbulence, with one occasion felt like I was sitting in a roller coaster and dipped too much for my liking, which made me almost curse too loudly.
I shouldn't have gone back to Malaysia for 3 months because I was starting to feel too much at home (which is normally how a person should feel when a person is at home) but that made me not be in the mindset of being a student overseas. I would miss being a son at home. I would miss the late night lepakking at ayaq bu with the closest of friends, talking bout anything and everything and laughing till you can't laugh anymore. Sometimes it doesn't get any better than that. But, I am a student overseas, and that is what I chose to do.
I apologise for this entry. Sappy,boring and out of place in this blog, but needed to be written. Normal service will resume after this entry.
Summer in Malaysia started out as probably all of you already know, with a surprise for my family and friends. That was was something planned in advance and actually seeing the plan become a success was actually quite gratifying. The months that followed the return were pretty varied in activities, with only one common factor...foood. I fulfilled my cravings for whatever I craved for over the summer, and the cravings would undoubtedly be refreshed this year.
First couple of weeks back, it was just hangout sessions with the boys. Futsal (ahh, good to be back in those caged pitches), and of course lepakking at MyTomYam or Air Buah or now more affectionately referred as Ayaq Bu by us Kakibangku-ians. Then the activities started. Go-kart sessions with cousins, trip up to Genting Highlands (haven't been there since probably standard 4.....it got bigger huh?) with KB family, which was fun, mainly seeing who actually had guts in the family, haha. My cousin Kak Intan also got engaged that December, but I will not be attending her wedding because its in March (apa salahnya nikah terus daripada tunang? boleh aku attend) which is a bummer, because its Kak Intan, one of my closest cousins. We said good bye to Faizal, as he got a job in Dubai, which I think is great, experience over there will do him good, career wise. Closed off December, as well as the year 2007 with a barbecue at my house, again. Was reluctant to host at first, but in the end it was great, and any time with my closest friends is good time in my book.
In January, the Borois (me, Mann and Hafiz) took a trip to Langkawi. Although we didn't do much in activities, the journey to get to the island and the conversations with the borois, made the trip worthwhile a thousand times over. January also had karaoke sessions with Hildi, Laili, Syana, Alel, Zerol and Jepp (new way to kill yourself, get a real hard rock song, and try to sing exactly like the artist..haha), a field football match with some students with UM, (which we won triumphantly 6-3), and celebrated Hafiz Botak's 23rd with another surprise, but a different Naili's Place.
Celebrated another 3 birthdays early February (Fazee's, Amoi's and Laili's), but not before beating another team at football, winning 1-0. Hung out with the just the sistaz, pretty much for the whole afternoon at the curve, which was something new and a very welcome addition to my routine when i'm back home in Malaysia next. The last outing with the KB family was again at the curve. Late lunch at Litlle Penang, and drinks at Nasi Kandar Spring. It really turned out to be the last outing, because even though I still had 3 days left till my flight I had food poisoning, and had to spend the last days recovering in time to be travel ready.
The day of my flight, I went to Opah's for lunch. Met my aunts and of course Opah. Second time round doesn't make saying goodbye to them any easier. I guess I always see my cousin Azril, and wonder how he handles it so well. It might be he gets to come back at the very least 3 times a year. So the level of kerinduan won't be as bad. Anyways, Mak, Abang and Kak Yang sent me off at the airport, as well as the brothaz and a couple of sistaz. I did cry the first time, but not this time. The flight was not smooth sailing, with numerous cases of turbulence, with one occasion felt like I was sitting in a roller coaster and dipped too much for my liking, which made me almost curse too loudly.
I shouldn't have gone back to Malaysia for 3 months because I was starting to feel too much at home (which is normally how a person should feel when a person is at home) but that made me not be in the mindset of being a student overseas. I would miss being a son at home. I would miss the late night lepakking at ayaq bu with the closest of friends, talking bout anything and everything and laughing till you can't laugh anymore. Sometimes it doesn't get any better than that. But, I am a student overseas, and that is what I chose to do.
I apologise for this entry. Sappy,boring and out of place in this blog, but needed to be written. Normal service will resume after this entry.
Friday, February 08, 2008
official MUMSA jersey.....ni tak tipu...serious
The jerseys are finally ready to be unveiled. This is serious talk. I was afraid it turned out like shit, thankfully it turned out fine, well thats my opinion. I might be biased seeing that I worked on this all by myself. So without any further delays, and so that finally you guys would get off my back, I give you the official MUMSA football jersey as modeled by yours truly , hope you guys like it.
Firstly, here are the features of the jersey
Its a Climalite Adidas, same concept as the Nike Dri-Fit ,(sorry dude, had to go with a company employing cheap labor, and I distinctly remember you said no Nike, so you see, I try to make everyone happy). As you can see from the first picture, we have the Adidas logo on the right side of the jersey white on black. On our left, placed right on our hearts, we have the official MUMSA logo, the excellent Bunga Raya/Silver Fern combination, which symbolizes the Malaysians in New Zealand. On the left sleeve, we have MUMSA proudly written on it, to tell the world we play for MUMSA. There is also the players jersey number printed front and center.
In the second picture, We have the players name and jersey number. The font used for the player name is the same as the one used on our MUMSA t-shirts, Eurostile. I thought it would be wise to keep that consistent. Not shown are that the sleeves sport the traditional Adidas three stripes.
The following are pictures of everyones jersey from the back and the front, so semua orang can see and not bug me to show them (sorry if I seem grumpy, but its stressful work you know...haha)
I'm quite happy with the result actually, was worried bout the logo turning out bad, but kudos to Hoops Station for another job well done. The numbering was another concern as I literally blindly picked it out of a list, because I had a headache at the time. So my job is done, and now it is your turn to pay 30 NZD as discussed. Nak bagi lebih for the the sweat and tears pun also welcome,(hint hint). See you guys back in Palmy in 2 weeks time.
Firstly, here are the features of the jersey
Its a Climalite Adidas, same concept as the Nike Dri-Fit ,(sorry dude, had to go with a company employing cheap labor, and I distinctly remember you said no Nike, so you see, I try to make everyone happy). As you can see from the first picture, we have the Adidas logo on the right side of the jersey white on black. On our left, placed right on our hearts, we have the official MUMSA logo, the excellent Bunga Raya/Silver Fern combination, which symbolizes the Malaysians in New Zealand. On the left sleeve, we have MUMSA proudly written on it, to tell the world we play for MUMSA. There is also the players jersey number printed front and center.
In the second picture, We have the players name and jersey number. The font used for the player name is the same as the one used on our MUMSA t-shirts, Eurostile. I thought it would be wise to keep that consistent. Not shown are that the sleeves sport the traditional Adidas three stripes.
The following are pictures of everyones jersey from the back and the front, so semua orang can see and not bug me to show them (sorry if I seem grumpy, but its stressful work you know...haha)
I'm quite happy with the result actually, was worried bout the logo turning out bad, but kudos to Hoops Station for another job well done. The numbering was another concern as I literally blindly picked it out of a list, because I had a headache at the time. So my job is done, and now it is your turn to pay 30 NZD as discussed. Nak bagi lebih for the the sweat and tears pun also welcome,(hint hint). See you guys back in Palmy in 2 weeks time.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Official MUMSA Football Jersey
At one of the many potlucks we had last year, just before the Massey Indoor Soccer World Cup, Razif, our esteemed football captain suggested MUMSA have their own football jerseys. Everyone agreed. The only thing was he wanted the jerseys made there in Palmy, which I disagreed, as even our simple MUMSA t-shirts cost 35-40 NZD if i'm not mistaken la, so jerseys would cost more given the jersey material. So I suggested I would buy and print the jerseys when i went back to Malaysia, where it would be way cheaper, and more freedom to design.
I admit, I procrastinated with my task of searching for suitable jerseys in the first month I got back to Malaysia. With various MUMSA members bugging me about the jerseys, which I guess they were duly entitled to as it was their money as well, I got serious about the jerseys at the start of January. I went to the usual places to find jerseys, being somewhat of a pro as the last Kakibangku jersey, we had to do the same thing. Pertama complex, Sg Wang Plaza, Summit, the usual. After 3 weeks, I have found a design I liked and have bought them. Sending them for printing and hoping it will be ready before Gong Xi Fa Chai. I actually hoped that I could get help from Aizat to design the jersey with me, but I didn't have the heart to bother him with his busy schedule these days. So i'm gonna wing it.
I'm doing this own my own, so I fully accept the responsibility if the jersey turns out looking like manure. If it turns out smelling sweet as, a little credit on my part won't hurt, haha.
Anyways, here are the pictures of the unprinted jerseys.
I know, I know..at first glance it looks like my kain pelikat. Well it is my kain pelikat, but if you look closely, its my kain pelikat covering the two bags that contain the jerseys. Sorry guys, this project is in progress, and I will unveil the finished product on this blog within the coming 2 weeks.
Until next time people...
I admit, I procrastinated with my task of searching for suitable jerseys in the first month I got back to Malaysia. With various MUMSA members bugging me about the jerseys, which I guess they were duly entitled to as it was their money as well, I got serious about the jerseys at the start of January. I went to the usual places to find jerseys, being somewhat of a pro as the last Kakibangku jersey, we had to do the same thing. Pertama complex, Sg Wang Plaza, Summit, the usual. After 3 weeks, I have found a design I liked and have bought them. Sending them for printing and hoping it will be ready before Gong Xi Fa Chai. I actually hoped that I could get help from Aizat to design the jersey with me, but I didn't have the heart to bother him with his busy schedule these days. So i'm gonna wing it.
I'm doing this own my own, so I fully accept the responsibility if the jersey turns out looking like manure. If it turns out smelling sweet as, a little credit on my part won't hurt, haha.
Anyways, here are the pictures of the unprinted jerseys.
I know, I know..at first glance it looks like my kain pelikat. Well it is my kain pelikat, but if you look closely, its my kain pelikat covering the two bags that contain the jerseys. Sorry guys, this project is in progress, and I will unveil the finished product on this blog within the coming 2 weeks.
Until next time people...
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