Breaking Fast @Jati Restaurant

I first heard about this restaurant from Fendy, after a week in Manchester, because I was complaining to him that I haven't take rice for quite some time now. He mentioned to me a couple of restaurants which served rice and these include Jati and Rezki.

"Wah... they have Malay restaurants here? Hmmm... I'm impressed!"

A week later, I received a message from newly found Internet friend (thanks to blogging, I guess) saying that he will be coming to Manchester with a friend of him on business purposes. When he said he will be breaking fast at the Jati Restaurant, I quickly responded to his blog to ask whether or not, I could join them dining there.

In short, we agreed to meet at about 6.30pm.

I arrived quite early, at about 6.00pm and thank God I managed to find the restaurant with clear direction given by Fendy (well, it's not that difficult to locate it because I remember passing this route on my way back to Old Trafford 7 or 8 years ago) . To kill time, I decided to walk along the Oxford Road because it's busier, which means safer. I walked and walked until I spotted one of my favourite spots in Manchester i.e. the Cornerhouse, where I used to entertain myself with art films from all over the world.

As usual, it was full and I quickly grabbed the latest October 07 listings and ran into its bookshop. In one glance, I've identified a couple of books which I would like to bring home to add into my collection of film studies books.

My alarm (one of my favourite functions on my Sony Ericsson Walkman) went off at exactly 6.30 pm. I grabbed and paid for the latest edition of Sight & Sound and quickly walked back to the restaurant.

By the time I was there, there was a group of four Malaysian Chinese, an English couple and a Malay lady with a British husband inside the restaurant, having their meals. It totally reminds me of the Malaysian Hall canteen in London, only that it's a lot smaller.

While the waitress helping me with the menu, Lee and Martin popped in with big smiles on their faces. We meet each other at last! I ordered the set meal (rice with salad and chicken tomato), Malaysian teh tarik (they used milk powder instead of condensed milk - I guess for health reasons!) and a bottle of apple juice. Lee had a similar dishes except that he took chicken kurma and a big glass of teh tarik. If I'm not mistaken, Martin opted for fried noodles and also a big glass of teh tarik. The waitress came back to us with a plate of dates. How sweet!

I hope I did not bore this two gentlemen with my uninspiring life. And surprise, surprise... Lee is also a big fan of Ramlah Ram. Oh my God! I don't know how to describe it but I feel so wonderful to meet someone in these days who enjoys listening to Ramlah Ram. He also enjoyed Kuching as much as I do. That's great! If the time permits, may be we could go for a vacation in Kuching in a group in the near future.

I took the opportunity to ask Lee and Martin for some useful travel tips especially for my next trips to Edinburg and Germany. Martin advised me to go to Hamburg during Spring because it will be awesome (Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany) and cost effective (the most important factor for poor students like me!). Insya-Allah will try to google Hamburg after this and soon will disturb them with my queries.

Lee also suggested to me to go to Edinburg on New Year holidays because there will be some kind of celebration or special event or something (I forget its name) to do with gorgeous firework displays. Hmmm... maybe I need to start finding a friend in Edinburg soon to realise this trip. Hehehe.

It was nice to meet the two of them - both are equally friendly. We exchanged numbers (although Lee was a bit struggling to save my number, hehehe) and promised to stay in touch. I informed both of them that I will be going down to London on this coming Raya and insya-Allah, if time permits, will try to arrange for another get together in London or in Cambridge.

We said goodbye to each other at about 8.00 p.m. To some the food might be pricey but to me, it's quite reasonable and definitely will come back again.


p/s: My only regret is I totally forgot to bring along my camera! Hopefully, Lee will find some time to email me (arenaKu@yahoo.com) the one and only picture we took last night and will upload it a.s.a.p.

Ketentuan Ini

While getting myself ready to go out into the sunny Saturday of Fallowfield, I clicked to edriena.imeem.com to listen to Ramlah Ram's latest single titled Ketentuan Ini. So far I've listened to it 4 times today! Could anyone out there share with me info on the composer of this song. I've a feeling it' composed by Azlan Abu Hassan based on the similarity of its bridge to other Azlan's songs. But its arrangement is more akin to Ajai's. Is it Ajai then?

In case you guys would like to listen to this song, please help yourself by clicking this link http://edriena.imeem.com/music/fU5nosta/ketentuan/

And the lyris too (courtesy from Mohamad Fairozee Mohd Hashim)

Tak semudah kau sangka
Melepaskan kau pergi
Hati yang meronta
Hampa kecewa
Ku tekad sembunyikannya
Dari pandangan mu

Aku rela begini...oohhh
Berakhirnya disini
Dari bersamamu terus berpura
Setelah cinta tiada lagi
Di hatimu

Korus:
Ku hapuskan air mata dari mengiri
Kesengsaran mengharung perpisahan ini
Ku pujuk jiwa nestapa pendamkanlah duka
Pasrah pada lara kententuan ini

Uhhh...
Tak semudah kau rasa
Melepaskan kau pergi
Hati yang terluka
Dikunjung jua
Kerinduan yang tidak tertanggung
Terhadap mu ohh...

Sesungguhnya ku tahu betapa sukar untuk ku
Menempuh hidup walau sehari tanpa mu
Ku terseksa ahhh..........

Okay guys, got to go and bye for now.

Towards the last weekend of September

Another class by Dr. Jacinta on Financial Markets. I went out quite early today because of two reasons, first, to avoid long queue for bus and secondly to have ample time to search for Mansfield Copper Building. It turned out that I was the first student to enter the Lecture Room 2.03 at 8.25 am - 35 minutes early!

To kill time, I tried to read yesterday lecture note on ICT and Social Development. Then, came in Nana Yaw (please have a guess on what gender this person is...). Nope, Nana or Yaw is a guy and he's not from China or Taiwan or Hongkong but he's from Ghana. This is the generous guy who sent us the softcopies of reading materials for Issues on Development Finance. Thank God, I don't know how he got all those literatures because I've been searching for the past two days and only managed to get one. Yeap O.N.E.!

Oh yeah, because (I think so) I spent hours and hours reading on these literatures, I missed my sahur! By the time I woke up, it already 5.20 am. This is the first time I missed my early breakfast. Hopefully, I will survive and so far so good. It's only 3 hours to go.

Before I go, let me show some of the things that I bought yesterday from the City Centre. I really, really these new clothes because I've been wearing almost the same cloth and jeans again and again. After this, I really need to find an affordable laundry shop because the one in my hall of residence is quite pricey (at least according to Ana - my Spanish flatmate). Since tomorrow is Saturday, may be I can walk the West side of Ladybarn House to look for one.

Have a productive weekend you guys and wish me luck. Adios.

PINK Garlic, Rusholme

It was quite cold (to my standard at least) yesterday. It rained again in the afternoon and got very breezy in the afternoon, slightly before I went out from my flat to go to Rusholme to attend a dinner organised by the Islamic Society.

I saw quite a number of Malaysians there but there was this friendly brother named Zahiran, of course from Malaysia, greeted me with his big smile on his face and asked me whether I was a first year student!

Well, he's not the only to have that idea of me as an undergraduate student (and first year student!) because a couple of Pakistani students also asked the same thing. I guess it may be because of my small frame and youthful look (hehehe).

The dinner finished around 9.00 pm and before I went home, I decided to visit Fendy since I already in his neighbourhood. He said he was doing nothing but listening to music and surfing the Net. He offered me some of his Raya cookies brought from home. My God... banyaknya! I politely declined his generousity since I don't like modern cookies, yeah like Almond London, etc. Anyhow, syukran brother. Syukran.

Allah Selamatkan Kamu!

Would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Aidil. Good luck in your undertakings. May Allah bless you with more rahmat, berkat and joy. Aamin. And I take this opportunity too, to republish a poem dedicated to him. This poem was first published on Aku dan Sajak last year.


Mi Amigo (Temanku)

Terbayang-bayang lagi
saat pertama
susuk tubuhmu
memasuki pandanganku.

Terngiang-ngiang lagi
saat pertama
buah tutur hemahmu
memasuki pendengaranku.

Masih segar lagi
bunga-bunga indah
yang kau bawa
ke dalam persahabatan ini.

Pada Tuhan, ku panjatkan syukur
kegembiraan yang dihadirkan
bersama-samamu
dan pada Tuhan jua kupanjatkan doa
moga bersambungan gembira ini
hingga ke syurga-Mu.

Untitled (a.k.a. Photoblog I)

p/s: Congratulations to Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and Dr. Faiz Khaleed for successfully completed the aerospace training programme and been certified as fit and qualified to go to outer space.

Note: Pictures taken from Sultan Muzaffar.

My growing appetite!

Another 20 minutes before we break fast in Manchester and see what I've bought for my buka puasa! And I still have tuna and sweet corn pasta inside the fridge.

At first, I was planning to break my fast at the Victoria Mosque but unfortunately, it's raining outside and I don't feel like getting wet tonight. So, I just made my way to Tesco Express to get sandwiches, fresh grapes, dates, instant pasta and doritos (hehehe). Then, I walked to Raj Take Away for chicken briyani. This is my first rice in Manchester after so many years.

Okay, guys... selamat buka puasa to all Muslims here and selamat bersahur to all Muslims in Malaysia. Adios!

Crucial Guide

At this point of time, Ajoi & Azzril are organising a buka puasa @Graha Residen while I'm spending my afternoon listening to all Jennifer Hudson clips on YouTube in my cozy room. I tried to call Azzril just now but no answer. Maybe he's too occupied with hosting work. Then, I called Ajoi, and thank God, he answered my call. Unfortunately, he didn't recognise my voice and we were like talking to stranger for a minute or two.

The biggest challenge of organising a makan-makan function in our circle of friends is attendance. I think I just pass the issue of punctuality because it's too obvious I guess. Somehow or rather, it's a habit of most of my friends for not confirming their attendance. Most of the time, they prefer to give vague answer, which I tell you, very difficult to differentiate between a YES or a NO answer.

After a couple of experiences with them, I've improved my system to ensure that everybody in a win-win situation. I make sure, no more vague answer to my invitation. This is very important because as a host you need to budget for your event properly - even to petty things like seating arrangement. So that, all invitees have a space for them to sit on, be it on the chair at the dining table, on the couch or on the floor in the living hall.

That is why I prefer to hold important events like house warming party and Eid Mubarak open house in batches. So that I can manage my function efficiently and effectively. The bigger the crowd, the more busy and panic you will be, especially for clumsy people like me.

Let me put the record straight - this has nothing to do with different class/treatment for different friends. I'm sure those who have been with me all this while can verify this claim that I treat all my friends fairly.

Therefore, I really hope that Ajoi and Azzril would still be motivated to arrange for next events although it seems like there is lack of cooperation from a couple of friends, but trust me... it is worthwhile to include them in your future get together thingy.

Last but not least, some pictures of my room:

And a view from my room. I know, not a lovely sight, especially those recycle cages and bins. Anyhow, I've to live with it my whole year here.

p/s: The title is borrowed from 2007 Postgraduate crucial guide: An essential guide for students at Manchester.

It's good to be here again

I braved myself yesterday to go out from my room and went to city centre to see how much Manchester (at least the city centre) has changed since the last time I was here, August 2000. Before I jumped onto a MagicBus, I managed to snap a picture of my hall i.e. Ladybarn House.



I stopped for awhile @my school to check whether or not, the bank letter is ready to be collected. Unfortunately, I've to come again tomorrow (today) and proceed with application to open a bank account with... HSBC. Last time, it was called Midland Bank. Oh yeah... another snapshot and this is the Arthur Lewis Building, which housed the School of Environment and Development.



I quickly jumped onto another MagicBus to continue my journey (journey? hehehe) to City Centre. From what I see, the City Centre has not changed much. A couple of new buildings and a few merchants moved in and out.

And I noticed they've levelled up the small square in front of the bus station, which is good to me but unfortunately, I prefer the previous landspace. Full of colourful flowering plants. Or is it because summer is almost over and those flowers have already blossomed in April!



Anyhow, I also managed to do some shopping at the Arndale Shopping Centre, and picked up, among others a jumper and a short for my still-in-planning sport activities. By the way, is YOGA considered as sport? Hmmm...

The Meroyan Ex-Housemate!

He abused my trust. He said bad things about me behind my back. He terrorised the blog of one my close friends. He harassed one of my close friends with uncalled SMSes and childish behaviours. He tried his best to influence S, N, Y, H, A & I to go against me, but I don't have to worry because these friends of mine are matured adults and they know the true colours of this ex-housemate of mine.

Like I said before, I don't want to make friend with him. And have totally ignored him. Unfortunately, he's a psycho. He got worried (read: panicked) when the above friends are still nice to me. Well, it's not my principle to disclose his pekungs, therefore, I let Allah determine his fate. May Allah bless him (and all of us) with more rahmat, berkat and joy. Aamin.

Alhamdulillah, I'm done with this ungrateful human being.

What a long day yesterday was!

I started the day as early as 4.00 am for my sahur and guess what I had? Fried chicken (bought from SFC - Southern Fried Chicken) fries, apple, a couple of dates and orange juice. While waiting for my Fajr prayer, I switched on my SufianSharis and once again "testing" the speed of the 10Mbs broadband connection. Oh, thank God... I can straight away watched Dina and Ning Baizura on Youtube without having to wait any longer for those clips to be uploaded (sorry, I can't find the exact word and I know it's not uploading).

I also spotted a couple of close friends on my Gmail account and thank God for whoever created the IM - I'm so glad that I can have a chat with them through Google Chat! Anyone fany a chat with me (hehehe), kindly forward me your Gmail address and Insya-Allah, will buzz you next time when I spot you online.

Since the hall of residence that I live in is not on city campus, but in the Fallowfiled campus, I have to go out early (well, not that early anyway) to catch a bus to my first day with the Faculty. My housemate said the other day that I can walk to the University and it only takes about 20 minutes to get there. But maybe I save it for next summer because now it's quite windy up here.

The first agenda of the day was an informative briefing by Prof. Jeffrey Henderson on Manchester in the Making of the Modern World. Well, I don't want to bore you guys with the details but just to share some interesting points that I picked up from the talk:

1. The University of Manchester as one of the so-called civic universities, was set up by an engineering entrepreneur because the Oxbridge universities (plus University College of London, Durham, etc - I can't remember what they call this group of universities) "ignored" engineering and related subjects and these universities only started to offer engineering degrees slightly after the World War.
2. Civic universities like the University of Manchester was among the first to allow females to study and graduate.
3. University of Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffields used to part of the University of Manchester.

My day continued with a couple more of knowledge sharing sessions which include briefing on course units, coursework, a dedicated session on plagiarism and not forget to mention ice-breaking activity. And it only stopped at 10 past 5.

Since the bank already closed by now (I still have not open a bank account!), I quickly went home to prepare for buka puasa. I got myself strawberry doughnuts, apple, banana, orange juice & cholocate milk shake. After Maghrib, I joined Ana & Christina in another series of talk on fire and safety at the Conference Hall, Owens Park. We straight away raced back to our place after it finished and I give myself an hour for another testing of the broadband before I jumped in my bed.

Wow, what a day!

I'm so sorry...

...that I missed a couple of my friends' names in my previous posting. I did receive calls from Herman (I'm so sorry and I really mean it, bro!), Aidit, Niza and Nazri.

Anyone else that I've left out? Pelupanya aku ini!!!

According to Wikipedia an apology is a justification or defense of an act or idea, from the Greek apologia (απολογία). An apology can also be an expression of contrition and remorse for something done wrong.

Well, I don't think that my mistake is justifiable, therefore I opt for the second meaning. In this regard, Herman... Aidit... Niza... Nazri... please accept my sincere apology.

Oh yeah... I would like to take this opportunity to strongly condemned the immature behaviour of an opportunist (I think this word is too mild for HIM) who has terrorised a blog of one of my close friends. Since Allah has promised to chain the syaitans in this blessed month of Ramadan, this act clearly shows that this person is indeed a BAD (again, too mild for HIM) person.

From Ladybarn House with...

Alhamdulillah, I've safely arrived in Manchester last Sunday afternoon. It's quite windy up here and it's approaching to the end of summer. Because it's still summer, it also means that I've to fast from 4.45am to 7.25 pm. Yeap, longer than you guys in Malaysia.

Today is my third day in Manchester and only today that I got my internet connection in my room sorted out. At last!!!

I live in a mixed flat, which means I have two female housemates (Anna is from Spain and Christina is from Cyprus) and a male housemate from Greece. He's name is John. Don't ask me their surnames, please.... because if I can't pronounce it, very unlikely I can remember it.

I'm still looking for the best bargain for mobile phone. There is a fair chance that I might be signing with Tesco Mobile. Yeap... they do a mobile subsidiary! If I'm not mistaken, they have 3 attractive tariffs under the Pay As You Go plan, namely, Tesco Mobile Value; Tesco Mobile Standard; and Tesco Mobile Extra.

Our Value SIM is ideal if you only use your mobile to text and talk within the UK.

Hmmm... 5 pound for its SIM card and 10 pound worth of airtime, I think I've found the best candidate!

Thanks a million, guys!

To my beloved friends - (in random order) Kak Sharifah, Mus, Faizal, Rikke, Ed, Izal, Noris, Zul, Rina, Zack, Azzril, Hafez, Ajoi, Din, Hasanah and Fahmi.

First of all, thank you very, very much for coming to the airport just now to send me off. I'm so touched by your gesture and really appreciate it very much.

Oh, my God!!! You guys really turned up! Thank you very much for making my day.

Do keep in touch, k and I will try my very best to update my blog as frequent as possible. I really, really gonna miss u all.


p/s: And thank you to those who called and SMSed too - Zetty, Zul Wahab, Azwa & Alin.

Menghitung Hari

I only have 6 days left to get up, close and personal with my beloved family and friends before I fly to Manchester once again to read a postgraduate degree at the University of Manchester. Like what I've said earlier, I've yet to prepare for my departure and have tonnes and tonnes of things which need my immediate attention before I leave. And time really flies!

Last night, a couple of my friends threw a farewell party for me at an exclusive place in Ampang. A team of four generous lads - Rikke, Ed, Wadi & Izal have been such lovely buddies and they stay with me, both at up and down times of mine. Terima kasih daun keladi, guys! I really appreciate it very, very much and May Allah bless all of you with more rahmat, berkat and joy. Aamin.

The party also gathered 11 wonderful people, which they are beautiful in their own unique ways. I've so touched to see Wadi & Cik Lan troubled themselves in the kitchen preparing those delicious meals.

Seeing their sincereness on their faces made me wonder, what make I deserve this treatment? Have I been a good friend to all of them? Hmmm... I don't think I've the answer to that. What a shame for someone who claim to be a friend of theirs for six years (Rikke) and four years with Ed, Wadi & Izal.

I used to have a jealousy feeling towards Rikke, I don't know, maybe due to my inferiority complex issue. He's smart, gorgeous, loveable & have great love life. How stupid I was at that time to feel threathened by my own close friend.

But one day in October 2005, he said to me a great advice which really, really helped me to overcome one of my biggest challenges in my life. He taught me to be proud of myself, be strong and stand firm by my principles. He's one of a few close friends of mine who without any hesitation, offered my a shoulder to cry on. And alhamdulillah, praise to Allah, I managed to rebuild my integrity @work. Starting from that day, I've promised to myself to be the best friend to these beautiful friends of mine.

While doing this posting @Steven's Corner, I give myself another try... do I deserve this from them? Hmmm...

With close friends@DAMAS

After a long planning (and a couple of postponements too), the four of us managed to get into a car and drove to DAMAS for a long overdue dinner. If I'm not mistaken, I've been here before with Nazri, Abie, Yusry & Nazri's tenant. And I still remember the helpful salesman @SenQ, yeap... very helpful lad! But that outing was just a window shopping trip.

My three ladies made me to decide where we should dine, The Coast or Penang Village? I picked the latter simply because I know for sure I can have noodles in it. It's a cosy restaurant, nothing fancy and the ambience is just right and conducive for us to chat and chat and chat.

I told them a couple of secrets and they gave me a couple too. Well, actually they are more like open secrets, therefore, no drama and no controversy! Light, light saja!

At first I was very excited to shoot a couple of pictures in the restaurant but once the starter came, I totally forgot about it. So, I only have the pictures of the starter! Sedih!!!

Ok gak, presentation dia... but don't ask me about the name of these dishes but I'm not good in memorising menu and lyrics. Sorry...

Today, in the afternoon after spending a couple of hours clearing my workstation, I called a friend of mine for another long overdue lunch. That's my third time to DAMAS and I started to loooooooooooooooooove it!

Are these two gentlemen look familiar to you? Both are celebrities, especially the one with broad smile which was featured frontpage on today's News Strait Times. Herman is my second friend who had on the cover of one of Malaysian papers, after Yusry (Harian Metro).

The moment I noticed his face this morning when I picked my copy at the nearest petrol station to my Graha Residen, I straight away called him.

And I quickly SMSed Mus and Amir to inform them this. Kecohkan aku ni? Hehehe...

M200-E415

Its name is SufianSharis. It came to me yesterday, late afternoon at about 6.45 pm. It came from a well-known family, in Japan.

I'm in celebration mood!

Yesterday was the birthday of my younger sister and today is the birthday of one of my best friends for more or less 14 years! And another birthday of my friend before comes the birthday of my youngest brother, which is in less than 3 weeks' time. And another birthday of my friend in the final week of this month!

In about 12 days, Muslims will start our fasting month which is a few days before I will be flying to the United Kingdom to read a master degree. Although I have yet to make any preparation, but I'm excited and looking forward for my first time flying in Business Class!

Oh my God! And this is also mean that I will be missing quite a number of birthday celebrations of my beloved family members and close friends. Is it still appropriate to be in celebration mood?


p/s: Takziah buat Nizam & sekeluarga di atas pemergian ayah tercinta.