August Rush

omg omg omg omg....

There are no proper words I could use to describe this movie, except that personally I think it is just AWE-INSPIRING, EXCEPTIONAL, MOVING, and truly truly truly EXCELLENT...

There are a lot of elements in this movie that truly touched me; the idea of music is everywhere and around us if only one would just listen, of love at first sight and still holding to that feeling even after years had gone by, and of the fact that there's no greater feeling then being able to feel belonged to someone, in this case even more so for this boy whom have been feeling lost and alone all of his life while waiting and believing that one day he will be reunited with his parents if they can only hear his music.

Go watch it and judge for yourself. Maybe to some people there are parts in this movie that feels too mystical for their taste, but watch it with an open mind and open heart, and you'll be surprised yourself of the emotions that would wash over you in the end...

Here is the part that I loved the most in this movie. Had tears in my eyes all through this part, it was just so wonderful and moving. Oh, just go and watch it, will ya!

My Daemon

Have recently watched The Golden Compass at the cinema with the girls. I've been waiting to watch this film since it came out but never had the chance. Suffice to say, I can't wait for the sequel! One thing that made me kinda love this story is that the idea of each and everyone of the human beings in the alternate world have their own Daemon, the soul that resides outside of their body in the form of an animal representing the characteristics of their own soul, most often an opposite gender from the humans. For example, if I were to be born in that world, my Daemon would be a male. Interesting huh?

Anyways, just for the fun of it, I decided to find out which animal my Daemon could be.

Surprise, surprise....it's a cat. Hmmm, would love it to be a white tiger though.....

Strength Of A Woman

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape, but ...

A woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything, but ...

A woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her, but ...

A woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future, but ...

A woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them.

A strong woman walks surefootedly, but ...

A woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face, but ...

A woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey, but ...

A woman of strength has faith that in the journey she will become strong.

-anonymous-

So, which one should we be? A strong woman or a woman of strength? Or a little bit of both? Sometimes its easier to be none of the above, and sometimes one doesn't have a choice but to be strong and have the strength to go on living. At times it's exhilarating when others tell you that you're strong, but at times you just wish that you aren't. The highway of life is not a straight one, it is full of twists and turns and bumps. So really, you don't have any choice but to get up and get going even after you've had that nasty fall. And so, does that makes you a strong person, or a person with strengths, or someone who has no choice but to deal with life's lessons no matter how hard it is? Hmmm, I wonder.....

The day when an acrophobic went skiing...

ACROPHOBIA

Definition: Acrophobia (from Greek ἄκρος, meaning summit) is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment. Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely.

(from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Now, if I were to say that I’m an acrophobic, it really made sense that any activities involving heights is something that I would never consider doing, ever. So that is why you have to understand why I would say that I am really proud of myself in being able to do something that I would have never done, even if I was under the influence of ethanolic substances. Well, maybe I would do it if it’s an absolute emergency, but voluntarily putting myself in danger? I think not!

And people, NO, I’m not talking about something illegal here, ok. Come on lah, I’m talking about skiing...



THE VATRA DORNEI TRIP

Skiing? Me? If you had asked me before this, those two words would never have the chance to be in the same sentence of possibilities, i.e. Me skiing is an almost impossible and ridiculous notion. Never in my life would I have imagined my first time on the slopes would be here in Romania. But as far as first times go, I think this would be the most memorable one...

Started out waking up early to prepare but managed to be at the gara just in the nick of time (thank you asem for your early morning sprint! :-D), the lovely train ride with its magnificent snowy mountain views, and the hike up to the villa that we are supposed to be staying for the 2 nights. The air is fresher there, and the ambience was quite lovely. I would say that it’s a charming quaint little town, though it has its share of modernization (there’s a Fidelio outlet there lah people). As lovely as the sightseeing was, I think skiing was on most of their minds. But due to the fact that it was freezing cold out that day, it was decided that we would go skiing the next day.

After a hearty lunch, we headed straight to the ski park. Boy oh boy, I really can’t tell you how big the butterflies were in my stomach when I first saw the slopes. All the way I’ve been saying that “There’s no way I’m gonna be doing this people, no way…”, but when they were all strapping their boots and ski gears, I just thought, “What the heck!” and finally succumbed to put on those chunky robotic looking boots when a pair of those boots in my size were handed to me. Thump, thump, thump…..

“What in the world have I gotten myself into?!” was the first thought when, fully equipped, we all went out from the cabin with our skiing gears. And guess what; then and there one of us had the first fall, poor thing. I was so engrossed in keeping myself balanced and trying not to fall, looking very awkward and foolish, that some sweet guys took pity on me and showed me some tricks to maneuver those things. Thanks guys, but knowing is one thing, trying to make your body doing what you have learned is another thing.

But you know what the funny thing was, I really didn’t give two hoots about how ridiculous I looked or if others were laughing at me. In my mind there were only these things – get up safely without slipping, putting on my skis correctly, skiing down on my two feet and arrive safely at the foot of the slopes without any broken body parts. Well, no guesses as I managed to do it all except for the skiing down on my two feet part. Yup, I fell on my butt and/or my back countless times. Oh, but I did managed to ski down without falling once, at last, but that was after maybe the umpteenth times tumbling down. And then there was this one time that I actually continued to slide downwards on my back after I fall. Ouch! Yeah, embarrassing, I know, but not as embarrassing as being helped by a group of teenagers who can’t stop giggling at my antics. Yeah, it happened...

But then, after introducing ourselves and a brief how are you session, they turned out to be sweet young things and showed me how to ski. It was really nice of them and sweet too, but it really tickled me when they asked how old am I, if I’m there with my parents and which school I go to. Huh? School? Yeah, junior high school. Me. You should have seen the open mouthed astonished looks on their faces when I told them my age, priceless I tell you. I mean, people have been telling me that I look young, but a high school teenager?! Gosh, I haven’t been one in ages! Heheh…. At the end of the day we were sorry to leave the park, but I don’t think I would fancy a night skiing experience just yet. And as we parted our ways, the kids once again demonstrated their warmth and kindness by inviting me to celebrate Christmas (which was the day after the next) with them and their families. Aww, so sweet…but regretfully I had to decline as we had already bought our tickets for tomorrow.

All in all, this trip really was an experience that I would never forget. Not because of the bumps and bruises that thankfully have healed, but for the first time in my life I went skiing and also for the fun that I had on this trip with my buddies.

So, here’s to you guys….

- Asem: Thank you for early morning 100m dash with our bags!

- Dharma: Waaah…you ski like a pro lah, bro!

- Ganaga: Up for another round of the ‘Dinosaur adventure game’ anytime soon? I know I’m not! Gosh, it was really crazy, wasn’t it? But I really had fun lah, thanks for the very-much-needed laughter…

- Pandian: Thank you for persuading us to go when I nearly changed my mind and not go. I owe you one. Terima kasih, Mr. Tour Guide …

- Suzz & Loga: Next time if we go again we’ll make sure we borong the whole town ok! Oh, and I really like your bumble-bee boots!

- Ju: Glad you had fun skiing too. If you guys wanna know, this is one daring girl lah. Really lah ju, if it were me rolling down with my head over heels sumpah I won’t go skiing again. Hmmm, but I guess berbaloi kot main kat tempat tinggi-tinggi sbb “pemandangan” dia sungguh lah menarik nya, betul tak….

Thanks for the lovely time you guys! So, where are we going next? ;-)

And here are the photos :)

What Time Of Day Are You?

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

Hmm....might be true.....

Blast & Drum Corps

This one really did "blew" me away...




And I was going ga-ga over this one too...




My goodness, what I wouldn’t give to watch them performing live….. Though I’m a faithful woodwind-ist, the brass section and the percussions have always fascinated me. Well, what to do, once a band geek always a band geek…..
Rindunya band!!


SPIRIT SOLID SMART

Battle of the Tests

This past few weeks have been HELL. Literary. Personal issues notwithstanding, we have been having class tests for almost each subject, and at least 2 tests every week. Crazy. And then there’s the class presentations. It’s like as if all of our lecturers are having a tug-of-war competition with our schedule. Unbelieveable. We were practically walking zombies in the campus (at least for the ones who studied)… With our packed morning to evening class schedule, it’s a wonder that I am still able to even remember to eat and chew my food, although more than often it’s on the run. Arghhh… I am slowly going nuts!!

WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING HERE?!!

n.b. ECGs… People, I’m dreaming about ECGs nowadays, urghh… *facepalm*

Eid Mubarak

After one month of fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan now comes the most awaited celebration (well, at least for us). Eid-ul-fitri. For 4 years now I haven’t had the chance to celebrate eid with my family and friends back home due to study commitments. One would say eid is eid, no matter where you and whom you spend it with, but as most of my countrymen would tell you the eid celebration back home is, in another word, "havoc lah"…

The day would start with getting up, cleaned and dressed with our newly bought clothes, going to the mosque for the eid prayers and then back home for some heavy-duty breakfast feast. Well, I don’t know about the others, but when my family gets together we’ll just eat and eat and eat. One can be sure that there’ll be no shortage of food supply at my grandparents’ place when we congregate there, be it eid or almost every weekend. Don’t you all agree, my darling cousins?

And after (or sometimes before) that, the most important part of the day starts. It’s the part where we will all sit around and go to each person to ask for forgiveness for all of our wrongdoings from each other. The sequence would be starting from the oldest son/daughter right up to the youngest. Oh, and another important thing to note, our traditional clothes MUST have pockets with ample space. And for the girls, handbags, preferably . Why? Because while we’re going around shaking hands and hugging our beloved we’ll also receive small, flat packets filled with some money. Yup, I think for me personally this part is the part that most of the small kids will get excited about. Well, actually, not only the younger ones, even the older ones are in for it too. Who wouldn’t? Extra pocket money for us? Hello….

But there’s a downside to it though. Not like the chinese where you will have to give angpows only if you’re married (am I right here?), for the malays the ones who are already in the workforce (i.e.earning an income) will have to set aside a small sum of their salary just to give out these "duit raya" to the younger and non-working/studying ones. Hehehe, like what my cousin said to me that day, "Alah, koyak lah poket camni kalau keluarga kita bertambah besar…" Well my dear, don’t worry. In 3 years time I’ll be contributing too, insyaallah. Hey, you know what, maybe we can pool our money and combine it to give to them. Whaddya think?

And after all the "I’m sorry for everything" session which would sometimes, or most of the time for my grandmother at least , be accompanied with the release of the tear flood gates (banjir, lah…), the guests would start coming to the house. You see, during the month of Syawal for us it’s the time where we would visit our relatives, be it near or far "untuk mengeratkan tali silaturrahim". Sometimes it’s the only chance for us to meet with our distant relatives and get to know them. And more food and hogging. Honestly, by the time we’re done visiting for the day we would be so full that our clothes would start to feel a l’il bit tight in certain places . But being here during eid I do miss the traditional cakes and biscuits back home that are normally only available during eid. Best nya makan kuih raya…..

Oh well, all in all, that’s the Eid celebration at home. And not forgetting also, we Malaysians celebrate Syawal for one whole month. So do expect to be invited to open houses hosted by family and friends, and that explains also why one needs more than 2 pairs of new clothes (for some people anyways) as they would get more invitations to these functions compared to others. But actually, how many is enough? Personally I’ve stopped buying new ones for me as I’m using my current ones over here. Nobody would know any differently, right? Ooppsss…shouldn’t have let the cat out of the bag, now everyone would know. Silly me …..

So, to all of you…

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI
MAAF ZAHIR BATIN
Mohon maaf jika ada tersilap kata terkasar bahasa, Halalkan makan minum
&
EID MUBARAK !!

The Cranky Traveler

Have you ever been on a long-haul flight where you were practically stuck in your seat on a plane a few thousand kilometers high up in the skies for hours and hours? Well if you have, maybe some of the things below would struck a cord…


1. Crappy seats

Really, I think this is the major grouse that any frequent flyer would complain of. Some of the planes that I’ve been on have seats that are too small, with minimal leg room. If you’re traveling domestic or short distance then it wouldn’t really matter but long distance? Urghh…this is one of the times that I really rejoice in being short. Can you imagine someone who’s over 6ft tall having to accomodate his body to the oh so cute seats?…

Another thing that I noticed is that some Asian carriers provide bigger seats compared to European carriers. How do I know? Well, depending on the airline sometimes we had to transit in a neighbouring country before taking the next flight (operated by an Asian airline) back home. Correct me if I’m wrong, but after several observations I don’t really believe that my butt had suddenly shrunk after 12 hours of sitting. Seriously. Try and see it for yourself.

Oh, and another thing. Where you sit is also VERY IMPORTANT. Personally I find that seating by the window is warm, though you can have a good sleep sans interruptions. A note to snorers; please choose a window seat and do cover your face with a pillow or at least supply ear plugs for your neighbors to avoid your musical stylings from ‘rocking their world’. Do choose a seat next to the aisle if you can’t seem to hold your bladder for easier access to answer the call of nature.

And the other thing that I can’t stand are auto reclining mechanism seats. It’’s bad when the person in the seat behind you is fidgety and/or just kept pushing and pushing at your seat until suddenly you wake up from your partial slumber to find yourself in an upright sitting position! Oh god, it happened to me recently and it really really pissed me off royally. And no guesses why I was cranky throughout the whole flight…


2. Bad service, bad planes, bad landings

Cabin crews that are just plain rude or ignorant. Was really shocked when I encountered these individuals because have never experienced anything like it with our local airlines.Planes that are really bad that the interior of the plane practically groaned, squeeked and rocked especially during landing. I’ve been on one and let me tell you everyone onboard were covering their heads and some had even turned blue!Bad landings — self-explanatory. Never experienced those though. But a friend told of a landing where the plane skidded off the runway and jumped a few feet into the air before touching the ground again. Scary…


3. Sleep amount prior to your flight

Enough sleep and rest before you fly might work for some people but not me!! Why? Because I can’t sleep on the plane if I’m too well rested.
But if you do not get enough sleep and can’t even get a shut eye in-flight = Cranky+Furious+Extreme jetlag ...
Pros vs. Contra of enough sleep and rest prior to flights. Verdict is still out.


4. Special meals

Whenever I fly I would request for special meals. It’s really convenient, but I have one question though - why serve them early? Generally it’s a good idea, but there were a couple of instances where I felt bad especially when the stranger next to you started to get impatient waiting for his food and starts bugging you about yours (yeah it really does happen ok!)…


5. Last but not least…

Dehydrate, dehydrate, dehydrate…but do stay away from diuretics to avoid the hassle of visiting the lavatory for a time longer than you been in your seat (for me it is tea!)
So, anyone else have your own grouses about travelling by air? Do share!

End Of The Torture Session

Yesss!! The exams are finally over!! Oh my, what a relief… Now I can finally do some catching up on my zzzzzz’ss without any nightmares or heart palpitations…

I’m going home soon, yay! But, have to start packing first, hmmm… Now, where did I keep my mini padlocks again, seem to be misplacing them all the time…

And I can’t seem to get this song out of my head since yesterday! Help! Oh well, there goes my beauty sleep…


Balik Kampung - Allahyarham Sudirman Haji Arshad

Perjalanan jauh tak ku rasa
Kerna hati ku melonjak sama
Ingin berjumpa sanak saudara
Yang selalu bermain di mata

Nun menghijau gunung ladang dan rimba
Langit nan tinggi bertambah birunya
Deru angin turut sama berlagu
Semuanya bagaikan turut gembira

Ho ho ho… Balik kampung (3X )
Hati girang
Ho ho ho… Balik kampung (3X)
Hati girang

Terbayang wajah-wajah yang ku sayang
Satu-satu tersemat di kalbu
Pasti terubat rindu di hati
Menyambut kepulangan ku nanti