SAOIRSE

There were eight of us. Two from China, namely, Huanu (the group called her the beautiful Chinese girl) and Ming (he is also known as Ginger, I guess it was due to an incident that might happened in their trip to the infamous Crown Bar which I'd to pass due to a minor health reason). These two are in the same Master programme as me while the other five are our classmates in Economic Development and Issues for Development Finance classes. The other two guys are Shamel, which is from Syria and Mohamed, which was born in Sudan but currently live in Canada. We're also accompanied by another three attractive ladies, namely, Sarah (she's from France), Karina (from Poland) and Meseret (an Ethiopian who is currently living in Canada).

We flew on BMIbaby, one of the low cost airlines that flying from Manchester International Airport. I was informed by one of my friends, not many airlines fly from this airport because its fees and taxes are relatively expensive than most of other airports outside London. The fare that I paid for this trip was almost 20% more than my previous flights in December. And, I only got to fly to one city as compared to three cities when I flew end of last year.

As for the accommodation, we picked the Paddy's Palace Belfast, a hostel in Lisburn Road that is a two-minute walk from the Queen's University and the Botanic Garden. The eight of us shared a 12'x12' room with four double decker beds and Shamel was on top of me. Mohamed and Meseret claimed that this was their first time ever in a backpacker hostel.

Belfast is not that different from Dublin and is quite similar to Manchester, in terms of the architectural and ambiance. Nevertheless, I find that Irish people, in general, are better looking than the English. The trip also confirmed that they are friendlier too.

Although Belfast might be associated with a considerate acts of terrorism and mistrust (we were told by our tour guide that Belfast has been enjoying peaceful ambiance for almost a year and a half now) due to the conflict between catholic and protestant christians, I really amazed by one of their initiatives to propagate their belief and agenda. That is, by using mural paintings. I personally think it's a smart and effective too. At least, to tourists like me

Oh yeah... we did go to Derry and the magnificient Giant Causeway, which were outside the city of Belfast. And here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Where's the magic?

This is the fourth time that I missed the annual song competition by TV3 i.e. Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL). The first three were in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Nevertheless, thanks to the technology I managed to watched it online from my cozy room in Fallowfield.


This year's AJL is supposed to be the one that I'm looking forward to because I like all the songs. Plus, some of my favourite artistes are competing too. All three in the etnik kreatif category are my favourites - Nora, Ramlah Ram and Aishah. I'm also a big fan of Sahri and Lah Ahmad, who are in the balada category and Mawi, Misha Omar and Andi Flop Poppy in the pop rock category. In addition, my favourite composers Azlan Abu Hassan, Lin Li Zhen and Audi Mok are competing with AJL's darlings, namely, M. Nasir and Adnan Abu Hassan.

Unfortunately, after watching it on http://www.tv3.com.my/, I'm far from feeling all satisfied. In fact, I'm very disappointed with most of the performances, especially the heavyweights. Only three performances have had caught my attention and they are Janjiku by Sofaz, Ceritera Cinta by Jaclyn Victor and Lah Ahmad, and Angan dan Sedar by Mawi

The big four, namely, Dato' Siti Nurhaliza, Nora, Ramlah Ram and Aishah gave us the ketinggalan zaman performances. What I mean by ketinggalan zaman is that we've seen these kind of performances so many times in Anugerah Juara Lagu. And vocally, only Dato' Siti Nurhaliza and Nora slightly met the bar, while Ramlah Ram and Aishah sounded very out of place. Is this one of the signs that they are aging? Anyhow, these two singers still remain close to my heart.

Fazli Zainal, Fiq, Sahri and Bob showed promising performances but lack of X factor. Among these four newcomers, I prefer the renditions of Sahri and Fiq. To me, theirs reflected simple singing but full of emotion. I've to admit that I was very worried watching Fazli Zainal belting his heart out for the melancholic song, Harapan. He looked like he was in pain while singing this song by Hazami. On the other hand, Bob looked very relaxed singing Kasih Tercipta. However, his rendition, to me, was lack of feel and weight.

Talking about emotion, for the first time, I really enjoyed listening to Jaclyn Victor's live performance. And thank to Lah Ahmad for a smoothing vocal arrangement. They were both singing harmoniously, full of chemistry and moving too. And of course, Jaclyn Victor sounded very, very good when she sings, rather than screams. You go girl!

Undeniably, Itu Kamu is a good song. The melody is catchy and its musical arrangement is contemporary. Nevertheless, I hardly understand the words that came out from Rich's mouth. If he could polish his vocal a little bit, at least at par with the lead singer of Sofaz, they can be the best performance of the night. Anyhow, congratulations to Estranged and other subsidiary winners and thank you to Ramli M.S. for those beautiful musical arrangements. You're the best!

note: The pictures are taken from www.gua.com.my

Makan-makan, Tazkirah and Football

Thank to Allah, I've safely arrived in Manchester yesterday afternoon after a five-hour journey on coach from London. This time my stay in London was longer than my previous trips. I spent about 11 days at my aunt's place in Brent. And I considered it as a very productive visit. I've managed to attend two tazkirahs, which were facilitated by Ustaz Fairuz - one at Datuk Ali's house and another one at my aunt's place. Datuk Ali, like my uncle (known by Malaysian Londoners as Tok Din), is a good cook. He is now running his own oil and gas company in London after quiting from a senior post in Petronas.

Below are two pictures which I secretly snapped at the said majlis ilmu. Believe me, it was an informal function, with lots of makanan. Before Ustaz Fairuz started his 30-minute tazkirah on one of the 40 hadiths compiled by Imam Nawawi, we had a 15-minute starter; minum-minum and of course the kueh mueh tasting session. The third agenda was the question and answer session. This is my favourite part of the tazkirah because of the eyebrow raising questions asked by pakcik-pakcik and makcik-makcik in this group.

"Ustaz... saya ni, kadang-kadang tu, bila terserempak dengan orang-orang yang jalan hentak-hentak kaki ni, tiba-tiba terfikir... sakit agaknya bumi ini diperbuat sedemikian. Kasihan pula saya kepada bumi dipijak-pijak. Macam mana tu Ustaz?"

"Ustaz... kalau perempuan tu kahwin lagi selepas kematian suami, di syurga nanti dia jumpa suami yang mana?"

"Ustaz... kalau seorang yang sudah tukar jantina, berkahwin dengan orang putih di sini dan kemudiannya mati. Kita yang tahu dia ni asalnya lelaki, perlu ke kita usulkan supaya dia dikebumikan sebagai lelaki?"

After brief discussion about some of these questions, the tazkirah was closed by another makan-makan, which to my standard it was another heavy dinner (they called it supper) at about 10.45 pm. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the two sessions that I've attended while I was in London. Insya-Allah, for the next trips, I will try to ensure that my itinerary will includes this tazkirah on Saturday night. However, Ustaz Fairuz will return to Cairo to start the second year of his Master degree. According to Tok Din, they are currently looking for a new Ustaz. So, if anyone out there interested to facilitate this group, do not hesitate to email me so that I can make the necessary arrrangement to introduce you to them.

On last Sunday, Tok Din, Fauzi and Nurul were kind enough to bring Ustaz Fairuz and I to the Emirates Stadium, the official home for the Arsenal football team. Don't be surprised, this was my first visit to the stadium, which is the third football stadium in UK that I've visited. The first one was, of course, the Old Trafford Stadium and the second one was the Aston Villa stadium in Birmingham.

Tok Din and Fauzi are a big fan of Arsenal while Ustaz Fairuz is a fan of Manchester United. Although Nurul bought herself an Arsenal's jersey, I don't think she is a football fan and I won't surprise if later she gives the jersey to her newly wed husband. And me? Hehehe... let just say, I'm a kaki-bangku.

In terms of design and architecture, I think the Emirates Stadium is more good-looking than the Manchester United stadium in Old Trafford. Nevertheless, the latter is bigger and more commercially driven than the former.

Nurul asked me if I want anything from the Arsenal's merchadise store. Well, I wish she asked me the question somewhere else, like the Hard Rock Cafe! I politely declined her generous offer. Thanks, Nurul. I really appreciate it.






In case you guys were wondering, hehehe... believe me, I really know the players in the poster behind me. Kenapa? Tak percaya ke?

P.S. I Love You

I wish when my ex and I broke up about 7 years ago, I've had received similar letters like what Holly had received from Gerry. I wish I wouldn't have wasted about five years sticking to what I've already lost. I really, really took a long time to move on!

I did not watch the Kite Runner because we missed the show at 7.00 pm and I can't wait for the next show which was scheduled at 9.30pm. It will be too late for me to reach home before 12.00 am. Don't you remember that I'm staying at my aunt's place, therefore, I have to behave accordingly. Hehehe, I still feel like the well-natured teenager nephew that I used to be years ago.

Although the film did not get good reviews from the critics, I did enjoy watch it. I don't know whether or not it's a good movie or because of there were three of my favourite actresses in it - Hillary Swank, Lisa Kudrow and Kathy Bates. It's about a widow who received letters from her dead husband, which intended to boast her enthusiasm to move on and find a new love. I can't remember when was the last time I watched a similar film with a simple story with simple acting. And I'm so passionate about films with strong female characters and don't ask me about the actors because I don't recognise any of them.

Let me be specific why I like this movie. I'm sure some of my film buddies like Mus, Fezal and Ju can certify my tendency for films which highlighting human relationship. Although I don't fancy love story as much as these three people, but love is always a bigger (read: significant) subset of human relationship. I also cherish stories on relationship between a father and a son such as Kaki Bakar, The Wedding Banquet, Colors of Heaven.

P.S. I Love You reaffirms the open secret about missing someone when he or she disappeared for good. It is one of those films which remind me on how to feel happy or sad, angry or love to our beloved ones. Although they might have some shortcomings, but these shortcomings come with purpose. They gave me the good feeling to have some strengths. And I'm sure my weaknesses are to give them confidence that they too have strengths. Aren't God Great?

Oh, God... why didn't I get those letters.

In London Again???

Yeah, I'm London again at my aunt's place. Wow, I feel so merdeka now after finishing and submitting all my 8 coursework last Friday. That's why I did not post up any post since the last one on Sunday. Insya-Allah, I will be traveling again on 23 January 2007 and this time I'm going to Belfast, Northern Ireland with my classmates. Another celebration for completing all those demanding assignments. To who ever thinking of pursuing his or her Master degree, please and please pick a programme which is longer than a year. One year is too pressuring and pack.

Zam, zam ala kazam. To Belfast, my flying carpet!

Last night, I followed my aunt and her family to a class called 40 Hadiths Compiled by Imam Nawawi. The class is conducted by Ustaz Fairuz and the students will take turn to hold the classes at their home. I enjoyed the gathering very, very much. It was informal and held in a homey kind of ambiance. And I met my old friends there too - Dr. Kamarul Rashdan and his wife. Yeah, they are still there, almost nine years now. I don't think they will come home, at least not in this next three or four years. He gave me the number for my ex-housemate, Addi Faiz who is currently working in Bristol. Dr. Kamarul asked me whether I still involved in the perjuangan. Oh, God! When was the last time I heard that word - Perjuangan. Wow... I love really like strong words. hehehe.

Before you guys making any wrong conclusion, hehehe, let me put the record straight. It has nothing to do with any radical movements or terrorism activities. Not long time ago, a couple of my friends and I subscribed to the idea that we need to be in a jemaah because as a human being and in order to function well as human being, we cannot live alone. So, we joined every single jemaah that we can afford. You just name it, I'm sure at least 75% of your wild guesses are correct. Malaysian Student Society, Kelab UMNO, Hizbi, ABIM, filmmaker wanna be, I-just-support-any-clubs-but-Man-United and of course, tabligh.

And that was how I utilised my stay in a foreign land! And I hope I did not scare you.

I still don't know where those enthusiasm now. After returned home, I just spent less and less time outside.

I remember when I used to tumpang berteduh with my aunt in Kepong. My routine was like got up at 6.30 and took my komuter ride to Bank Negara station at 7.15 am and stayed in my office until 8 or 9 pm. Arrived at Taman Bukit Maluri at about 10 pm for an hour or two chat with my aunt on her day and updates on those telenovelas from the Latin America or the Phillipines. On weekend, I helped my aunt in the kitchen, folded the family clothes, did my wonder with the compound in front of the house, ironed my own clothes and spent quality time with the family in front the 29" Samsung TV. If I'm not mistaken, watching Akademi Fantasia and I was rooting for Nija and Sahri.

When I moved into my own rented flat in Pandan Indah, I almost had a similar itinerary but this time with my housemates and my neighbours. Yes... you read it right. My neighbours! Even my housemates still cannot understands how can I spent 45 minutes to a hour talking to my neighbours - abang K, abang S, abang B, akak A, akak T, pakcik R and makcik M. Oh yeah, another two neighbours about my age who live on the first floor.

No... we did not talk about the weather, and not the politics too, thank God. With the abangs, we talked about football (hehehe jangan tak percaya, si kaki bangku cakap pasal bola!).

"Kenapa kau tak sokong Man United? Habis tu, kenapa pergi ke Manchester?", asked abang K.
"Errr... saya sokong Manchester City?"
"Team division satu tu?" asked abang S this time.
"Errr... saya suka warna jersey dia. Biru cair. Sejuk mata memandang."

I'm sure those kind-hearted abangs still can't comprehend my rationale. My God, what a stupid answer from stupid guy pretending to like football. hehehe.

Chatting with the kakaks were conducted in a more personally way, always one to one chatting in our corridor. And the topics were diverse. About the rising costs of living, life as bankers (because akak K is a banker too), the arguing couples at wee hours (siap polis datang, ok! And I had at least 5 couples during my 4 years there.), and of course my all time favourite, the tangkap basah episodes!

Talking about tangkap basah, there was this case, where the group serbu a house on the second floor on one find day, they were surprised to death to find out that those weekend couple was legally married. The visiting husband came to the house (the wife rented the 3-room flat with another 2 single ladies) from Kuantan every weekend. The next day, an announcement was up on our notice board, which I guess from the family of that poor couple, stated their disappointment and anger about the incident.

"Apa perasaan tuan-tuan dan puan-puan kalau anak perempuan anda diperlakukan sedemikian!"

Two months after that the couple moved out and five months after that sad but kelakar (well no offence to the poor couple, but my kelakarness was directed at those caring 'neighbours') incident, I moved into my own place, which is about 2km from the Pangsapuri Inai. At Graha Residen, I tried to revive my jemaah enthusiasm, but I was short of time - those people in the office really, really made me 'suffer' (I'm exaggerating this part in case you need to know) before I could go for my sabbatical leave.

And here in Manchester, with those piling up journals to be read (I can't understand why these journals have to be at least 30 pages, when everything can't be written for about a tenth of those pages!) and the fact that I'm too old for to be a perfect buddy for the undergrads and too young for most of my classmates, I guess those spirit of perjuangan will be disappeared at least for another year.

At the end of the gathering, Dr. Kamarul and I made a promise to keep in touch to do some catching ups. We arrived home about 30 minutes after midnight and I straight away went to bed hoping for a chance to meet Joe up tomorrow to watch the Kite Runner. I hope I will enjoy the film as much as I enjoyed the book.

One fine day in 1984

(This picture was first published on News Strait Times online)

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish my small cousins all the best in their new life in school. I still remember my first day of sekolah betul. Some people call kindergarden as sekolah olok-olok or sekolah makan, at least during my time, long, long time ago. I woke up very early, a few minutes after the mu'azin called for a prayer. Thank God, my beloved mother has boiled two kettles of water for my hot bath. Yeah, we didn't have water heater that time and that what most people did. If not, I'm sure I will have the same label that some of my classmates got for not taking morning bath.

I was sent to school by my father but he just waited outside the class for a few minutes. A week before I already attended an orientation session for budak darjah satu, one of the few words of Mrs. Simpson, my class teacher, which I still remember until today. Another one is "seperti mulut murai". I wonder where she is now. Oh yeah, I attended the orientation session with abang Janjan, because Abah got a prior arrangement and Mak was too occuppied with my two little sisters. If I'm not mistaken, Mira was almost four and Lia was slightly over one year old. Thanks, abang Janjan!

My first few weeks in school was very interesting and fun because I made a lot of friends and we hardly learned anything serious. And of course, I was enjoying myself looking at a handful crying six plus year old boys. Hehehe, one boy even terkencet in his pant. Wow, I'm glad that I still remember this "ancient" word!

However, a month or two after that, I was bored to the death because my teachers taught almost the same thing that I've learned about a year plus ago at Tabika KEMAS Pasir Puteh. I complained to my mum and made known of my intention of not going to school. When Abah found out this, he asked me to go into his room and get him his belt. Hesitantly, I followed his instruction and get myself a gift for me to bring to my bed. The next morning, my mother suggested a briliant idea.

"Kalau Along dah tahu semua tu, along boleh tunjur ajar pada kawan-kawan yang belum pandai lagi."

I guess that was my first lesson about charity or amal jariah. And I'm so thankful to my beloved mother for this greatest lesson. And thank God, my fourth month onwards, I started to learn new things and I began to enjoy learning. And my favourite subject was Mathematics, which remain so until I lost Mr. Chong in my 4th grade. Although I still scored good marks, I guess since then, it was just for the sake of learning. My next pick was Bahasa Melayu and Alam dan Manusia. And it was these two teachers (Puan Fatimah was my BM teacher and Mrs. Muthiah for Alam dan Manusia) that had nurtured my love for reading. Since I came to school very early in the morning (because my schoolbus driver, Nyonya, picked me up at 6.15 am and my school was the third school in her list of almost 20 schools!), my routine was to wait Mrs Muthiah at the school gate for me to help carrying her bag to the Bilik Guru before she walked me to the school library.

Anyhow, I did enjoy most of my time in schools. So, once again... good luck, cousins. Break a leg! I'm not sure whether or not I learned that in my darjah satu. Hehehe...

Where are you now?

Every time I use facebook, the same question comes to my mind again and again. I was wondering where my old friends are right now. When I say old friends, I really mean old friends. Friends from my kindergarden and primary schools.

Well, I think I've no trouble to find out old friends from Tabika (a.k.a Taman Bimbingan Kanak-Kanak) KEMAS Pasir Puteh, class 1982 because most of them live not far from my parents' house. One more thing, in case you guys were wondering, I spent a gap year home in 1983 because I was too demotivated to write, read, sing, paint and play the same thing since I first joined the kindergarden in late 1980 at the age of 3 (plus).

The same thing with my friends from Pasir Puteh Islamic Primary School (PPIPS... please extra careful when you pronounce it)which I attended a few hours after my national primary school, every school day since 1987 to 1989. Most of them still live within a stone throw away from my parents' place. In fact, I still in regular contact with a couple of them like Rezuan, Ezlin, Normimi, Mohd Azri, Rosley and Anizah.

However, I'm totally lost my contact with my friends from Tengkera English School (TES), which later renamed as Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Tengkera (1). I found one on myspace last year which has been so kind to invite me to his wedding, just a few days after I've safely arrived here. From him, I found out about our ketua darjah, who is happily married and live in Melaka.

How about others? Gan Chew Boon, Chong Kim Leong, Tan Jin Tuan, Mat Nawi, Mohamad Rishidi, Kenny Soh, just to name a few of them. Where are you now?

I met Tan Jin Tuan once, when he came to my high school for a badminton tournament. From what our school player told me, he's playing for the state of Melaka for a couple of years. I really, really would like to get in touch with him. Besides catching up with our versions of life after TES, would like to refresh each other memories spent during TES days, which among others, include our traumatised visits to the school dental clinic and of course, our glory days in both galah panjang and lawan sifir. Talking about lawan sifir, apa khabar all my old teachers - Mrs. Simpson, Mr. Chong, Puan Siti Khaminah, Mr. Vellu, Mr. Low, Puan Fatimah, Mrs. Muthiah and Mrs. Too?

Now is 2008. What am I doing, thinking of people from my 1980s? Is this a sign of loneliness? You tell me!

A girl, A grandpa and I

"That girl is a personal friend."

Politics aside, I really think that is inappropriate to refer to a woman who you made love with. Don't get me wrong because I'm not saying that I condone what he did and I'm not interested to be a moral police myself either. How about, "she's a personal friend of mine" or "the lady is a personal friend of mine". Is it because she is early 20s, so she is that girl. If that the case, then who you think you are, you 61 year old... grandpa?

Oh, my God... what I need now is some DVDs to cheer me up. I think I want to give Little Mosque on the Prairie a try. My uncle gave me the DVD when I visited him and his family in London last month. He said he know I will enjoy this show, which is an instant hit in Canada, currently showing in various countries around the world, including France, Israel and Turkey. Hopefully, it will get to Malaysia too.

Okay guys, before I sign off, I would like to make known of my intention for my second part of European Tour. Insya-Allah, I'm planning to go to either Spain or Scandinavian countries. I really hope this time around I can gather two or three friends for this trip. Anyone?

OR