Iskandarians Now

"Can we get something to eat?" last line of Kung-Fu Panda.

Friends are great to have, aren't they?


Especially when you've had them since you still had babyteeth. 3 years in primary school (SK Iskandar), then a further 5 years in secondary school (Sultan Abdul Hamid College). But after the first 6 years, you've had to part with one of them as they had bigger and better things to pursue at 16 years of age.

And then after you've finished your SPMs, you've had to part company with all of them as each had their own thing to do in faraway lands, as you too have also been placed at an Institute on an island.


But then, after long years of being separated from each other, you can jump around like you were teenagers again (we're nearing 20) when you meet up in your hometown to go visit your old primary school.

Then you go to all the places that you used to frequent during the pre-pubescent days and recall all the stories you can muster up with much nostalgia. You marvel at how much the school has not changed after more than 6 years.


You try to re-enact you're primary school glory days in hopes that it would be as exciting as the first time you were there and met each other.

You visit the place once regarded haunted by you and your friends back in the day,

and you cam-whore.

And cam-whore.

And cam-whore.
Until a grumpy guard-lady chases you out of the school saying that you are intruding on the school's land. *Party-pooper*

Thank you Akmal, Shaheir, Amar and Gee for everything!

Cheers!!

6 Reason Why Aidil Adha Isn't As "Rancak"

"Ikatan itu kubuka sendiri," Mencari Konklusi by Hujan.

.read.

Wake up in the morning, perform the Subuh prayer with my family, go back to sleep.

Woken up again at 8am by parents, reminded that it's Raya day. Oh. Shower, then to the mosque for the Sunat Aidil Adha prayers. Come back and... nothing.

It sure wasn't like Aidil Fitr, and I didn't expect it to be. Here are a few reasons why Aidil Fitri feels a lot more exciting than Aidil Adha (in my humble opinion, anyway)-->

1. No fasting.
In Syawal, we have just finished fasting for a whole month, and are looking forward to the first day of being able to eat during daylight after a month of staving away from food. Therefore, Aidil Fitri is much anticipated. In Zulhijjah, you have already been eating 3 square meals a day for months, so the impact is less.

2. No Ramadhan Bazaars.
The arrival of Aidil Fitri also signals the departure of Ramadhan bazaars, and you know us Malaysians, we loooove our bazaars. Last time I checked, there were no Hijrah Bazaars around.

3. No Aidil Adha songs.
Even 2 days into Ramadhan, we can already hear the "Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri" songs being rotated everywhere; in shopping malls, from laptops, school PA systems, ringtones, everwhere. Try searching Malaysia for an Aidil Adha song and I would hail you as queen/king for a week.

4. Less open houses.
A lot of households spend a LOT of money on their Aidil Fitri open house that by the time Aidil Adha rolls around, they still have not finished paying off the debt accumulated from Syawal, so most don't hold huge open houses during this festive period.

5. No Hajj-goer, or Hajj-goer.
Either way, it only helps in retarding the celebrations. If there is a Hajj-goer in the family, then most of the money would have gone to paying for the Hajj, and most probably the parents won't be home, since they're in Mecca. On the other hand, if there is no Hajj-goer in the family, then there isn't much to go ga-ga over either. Just killing a cow or two. Or five.

6. SPM candidate in the household.
In my household anyway. It's smack dab in the middle of the most important exams in their lives, so they won't be going too crazy beraya here and beraya there.

Alas, I'm still thankful to be living and having the luxuries that I do. You should be too.

p/s- If anyone has got any more reasons, don't be shy to drop a comment.

Cheers!

A Bloody Knife

"Di lantai dansa inilah tempatku menyaksikan kugiran kegemaranku," Obsesi by Hujan.


I stare into the cold, lifeless eyes of his as a smirk emerges on my face. The nothingness portrayed in his stiff body shows that he was already that way since yesterday night. It doesn't matter. Soon, he'll join all his friends in the pit.

I reexamine my instrument. It's shiny blade, stained by countless cuts to innocent bodies reflects my hungry eyes as I come in again for another penetration of the flesh. Surprisingly, not that much blood is on it, but then again, I was a very neat person when it came to these things. You wouldn't want a mess when dealing with these matters. It would complicate things, if you know what I mean.

I exhale one last time before I raise my knife to cut into the stomach section of my victim. I slice off a section, revealing some guts and bone. Good.

I then open his mouth without that much force and insert my thumb into him and tear his lower mandible right off. How easily it rips off, almost too easy. The respiratory organs follow as I intricately dissect my victim as I was instructed to do. As expected, his guts followed, and I put it all away in the designated waste plastic bag.

"Phew, that's the last of 'em," I say to myself out loud. "Mak! Dah habis siang ikan!"


Cheers!

Practical?

"How can I decide what's right?," Decode by Paramore.

A lecturer of mine once said, "It doesn't matter (to me) what you're like on the outside, as long as you're good on the inside," while pointing to that part of his chest where the heart is. Sure, you can be a Saint on the inside, but what if that same Saint on the inside were to show an outside like..


it wouldn't be too saintly, now would it, especially if you're a Muslim in Malaysia?

Well, to me, if you're insides are as good as you claim, it would reflect on the outside, wouldn't it? Seriously, if you were a self respecting man, you wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like..

on the streets, or even n the privacy of your own bedroom now would you?

A self-conscious human being would wear something sensible and not slutty, or even something that might even get her into compromising situations. You wouldn't want that to happen now would you?

Seriously, a true Muslim would show that he/she is a true Muslim on the outside, as well as on the inside.

Seriously~

Cheers!

Salute Your Solution (tag from tomyamfan)

"Dasi taeeonado neoman barae," Barae by FT Island.

They're so hot right now~

And don't think I don't know what it means either. It means "Even if I was reborn, all I want is you." Hah!

K-pop is the new in thing right now, ok? And I'm not one to dwell on being in, but this is seriously a good song. Try listening to this one.

OK, so I got tagged by Tomyamfan.

OK, so I stole this tag from her, but it's just a fun looking tag to do, so I thought I might as well do it, seeing that I'm short on writing ideas right now. So check it out!

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Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. SONG FILE DEPENDS ON YOU..
5. The format= Song name (artiste)
6. Tag 10 people. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
7. Have Fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘ARE YOU OKAY’ YOU SAY?
::Buttercups (Cajun Dance Party).

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
::Don't Listen To The Radio (The Vines).

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
::Tears Don't Fall (Bullet For My Valentine).

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
::The People's Elbow (Attack Attack!).

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
::The Music And The Misery (Fall Out Boy).

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
::Design (Tempered Mental).

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
::Lightbulbs (The Answering Machine).

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
::Anysound (The Vines).

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
::Windu & Defrina (White Shoes & The Couples Company).

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
::Take Me Out (Fraz Ferdinand).

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
::Diamonds Are Forever (Kanye West).

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
::The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage (Panic! At The Disco).

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
::Bat Country (Avenged Sevenfold).

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
::Always Where I Need To Be (The Kooks).

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
::She's Got You High (Mumm-Ra).

WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
::Gold Digger (Kanye West) .

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
::Fire And The Thud (Arctic Monkeys).

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
::Shockwave (Black Tide).

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
::Deeper Conversation (Yuna).

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
::Gelombang Cinta (Butterfingers).

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
::The Real Slim Shady (Eminem).

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
::Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs).

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I tag anyone who is as fascinated with tags as I am.

And you know what, some of the answers are actually true. HAHA!

Cheers!

A History of God

"Your pastimes consisted of the strange, twisted and deranged," Crying Lightning by Arctic Monkeys.

The cover.

No, I'm not going to start writing about God. Instead, I'll be writing about a book that writes about God. The same thing? I beg to differ.

"A History of God" by Karen Armstrong is a book that I'm currently reading (yeah, not even finished yet). I borrowed the book from my lecturer, Madam Mariah, or rather, she lent it to me. She said it was an interesting read, so I said to myself "what the heck?" and accepted it like any good student would. Awww~

My first impression was just like most of yours. "What the?" immediately sprang to mind, but because it came recommended by a lecturer, I thought it couldn't be that bad right?

It is 399 pages thick (I triple checked) and consists of 9 chapters (I think). I have so far read until the 253rd page, and I have to say, this is a textbook. If you're looking for a relaxing, easy Sunday afternoon read by the windowsill, this is not it.

It mainly consists of historical facts about what humans worshiped at what time and why. It centers mostly around monotheism (new word!) which is the practice of worshiping one god and hovers a lot around Judaism, Christianity and Islam, although there are some mentions of Hinduism and Buddhism here and there where relevant.

I have to say, it's a good book if you want a deeper insight into the history of these three religions (as the title suggests). It's a good book to discuss, to raise views, points, arguments, discussions and such, but as I said earlier, it's no Black Dress. This book is for serious reading and studying, where every page needs to be broken down into parts where you can scrutinize and find facts.

Obviously, it's not a book that I would usually read, and it shows. It has taken me more than a month to get to even the page I'm putting my bookmark in, mainly because I keep dozing off every 20 pages or so. Sometimes it just takes 5.

Alas, I'm still determined on finishing the book, and moving on to my other books. So wish me luck, and if you catch me snoozing with the book on my face, please give me a whack. Much appreciated.

Cheers!

It's My Turn... Again?

"We are the only ones we are running from," I Never Wanted To by Saosin.

I haven't mentioned this in my blog yet, so I guess it's high time I did before people start accusing me of keeping secrets (what people??).

I have been re-elected as the B. Ed. TESL Cohort 2 Cohort Leader, the captain of a 62-strong team of different people of differing backgrounds possessing different qualities.

I'm actually not too keen on taking up another whole semester as the Cohort Leader again. A (sort-off) farewell speech was given by me here. If you read it, I said that I wanted as many Cohort Leaders as possible. But now the possibility of having 5 CLs has gone down to 4, given that next semester brings a new face to occupy the post. Plus, I cant compete for a position in the Institute High Council elections next semester. And I was just beginning to imagine myself as the Institute Big Kahuna (YDP). Oh well~

Regardless of my reluctance of taking up the job, I will still have to do it so, I'm going to have to give it my all or nothing. So check it y'all, in order to avoid work swamped on me for everything, I will ingeniously go where no Cohort 2 Leader has gone before, that is forming new posts such as the Transportation Manager, Spiritual Adviser, Tech Dude, and Wizardry Chief, besides the subject leader for each subject to aid me in my various works that I may have to do.

AND, so that next year's tenure would bring about more style, I should seriously consider making a Blazer for myself with the words "Master Chief" engraved on the back of it. And people will need to address me as such, even lecturers.

Howzzat??

Cheers!

Year-end Break Is Here

"Stop stalling, make a name for yourself," London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines by Panic! at the Disco.

And I don't know what to do.

I have just officially finished my 3rd semester as a TESL (foundation) student. Up next, 8 more semesters of good TESL (degree) fun!

At least I hope it'll be fun. It would sure suck if it didn't.

Okay, I'm digressing from the topic here, so let's get back on track. As I said, the foundations are over and I don't know what to do to fill the 6-weeks off that I have before I enter my degree years.

That's not entirely true either. I actually do have a few things planned for myself this holiday. They are:

1. Read the 6 books/novels that I have at my disposal.
2. Learn the "Gee" dance.

Cool dance huh?

Other than that, my diary's completely open. My brother suggested I learn to play the piano. I could steal the unused keyboard that's at my cousin's house, but then who's going to teach me? I suppose I'll have to teach myself. But then again, I'm quite a lazy person, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Any suggestions, anyone?

p/s- my brother's taking his SPMs this year, so if you decide to come over, don't you dare disturb my brother's study time, or else I'll be forced to gently tap your behind right out of the house. Comprende?

Cheers!

The Villain Dilemma

"There is more to this, I know," You're Not Alone by Saosin (pronounced "say ocean")

Here we are, watching the hero chasing the villain down. We see the hero dodging the countless bullets that the villain is generously firing towards our saviour. Here, the villain tries his utmost to kill our hero, shooting 1009 of the 1000 bullets at his disposal, but ultimately fails to even scratch our hero in pursuit. Here, the villain doesn't care if he kills the hero, heck, he would even be thrilled to be rid of the hunk.

But then, later in the movie we find that the villain has caught the hero and has put the gun against our protagonist's head. Here, we find that our antagonist has forgotten all his desperation to kill off our hero as quickly as possible. Most times we see the villain elaborate his master plan to his adversary, or explain to the tied down actor the justice of his actions. Sometimes he even manages to cut a deal with the hero and releases the hero just like that. Sometimes, the villain remembers that he actually NEEDS the hero alive in order for his plan to work.

Do you see what I see?

Cheers!

Consideration

"Ignoring any kind of prize I might receive at all," Salute Your Solution by The Raconteurs.

With the semester drawing to an end, exam time it is for most of the teacher trainees in IPGM Pulau Pinang Campus. This period is, of course, a very stressful time for the trainees here, what with all the studying and trying to catch up with all the skipped classes and sleeping in lectures to make the grade so that they would not have to go through the humiliating experience of retaking a paper, or worse still, repeating a whole semester.

During these stressful times, trainees need to enjoy the little things in life to keep their sanity. For some, it's enjoying some afternoon shut-eye, for others it's beating their roommate at a match of Pro Evolution Soccer. And for most, soothing themselves in the toilet is considered one of the most pleasurable extra-curricullar activities one could do. Yes, relieving themselves in the can would be an experience to savour. The feeling after exiting the vile grounds of the restrooms would put a wide smile on any trainee's face.

However, when a tool of a contractor decides that it would be a good idea to retile all, I repeat, all the toilets on all the four floors of a hostel block at one go, these trainees lose their sanctuary, their world turns upside down. Suddenly, they have to trek all the way to a neighbouring block about 150 metres away just to go number 2, that is if they can hold it in for that long. If they can't, then one would imagine looking for a nearby bush, or if desperation sets in, a bottle.

Sorry for the less-than-flattering imagery, but that is exactly what is happening in the Gajus block of IPGM Penang Campus as we speak. Not only have their sanitary rights been taken away from them, but they can't even shower there, so they go by the dozens to other blocks, or even the nearby Surau to cleanse themselves. I pity them, and condemn the blind-stomached (buta perut) contractor who was such a genius in devising this plan to make life plain hell for the Gajus inhabitants. A kick in the face would not suffice as punishment for their inconsiderate, appalling treat to Gajus.

I mean, couldn't you even have left ONE stinking floor for later so that the patrons could do their business in? To me, there is no excuse good enough to justify this action. Dahla depa tengah exam. Isk2..

To Gajus, I bid you all the best for your coming papers, and be patient with your condition. It will all be over soon enough.

Cheers!

I'm Back and Pie

"Farting is like burping through the other end."

My nose disagrees.

Yup, I have survived my foundation exams. My limbs are still intact and I'm still breathing, so I'm okay, I guess. Now I'll just wait on the edge of my seat to see if I made it to Macquarie University (excuse the spelling if it's wrong. I'm still not official).

It's amazing how 3 semesters just fly by. You enter, meet your roommate (Mesow), enter lectures, hold exhibitions, have class trips, move rooms and get a new roommate (Lan), play cards, watch movies, sleep (sometimes in class even), and before you know it, a year and a half has passed through your life. Wow.

And the Internet at IPGM KPP could not be worse, we had a whole week without it last week. I'm currently comfortably at home typing away, but I'll be back to Coombe Hill tomorrow for marching exercises.

What? Did I say marching?

Don't worry kids, No typo there. It turns out that the Institute was kind enough to plan a post-exam programme for us TESLians. Oienteering and Marching Course they call it. It lasts 6 working days, from Tuesday to Monday. Isn't the Institute just downright awesome? We were worried that all we could do was spend our mornings in bed to make up for the sleep lost from burning midnight oil for studying for the exams, but the Institute is always one step ahead of us trainees, and they proved this by introducing this cool course for us to look forward to. Fantastic.

Moving on from that dreaded topic. Pie.

I'm actually referring to PAI, which stand for Persatuan Agama Islam. What about PAI? Well, a few words uttered from a pal of mine got me thinking. And now I'm simply jotting (typing) down that thought.

Geng PAI, or in English, the PAI group (I refrain from using "gang" because of the bad connotation it brings). There's one in almost any place. Some groups are bigger than others, but they're there. And it's a good thing. They usually consist of nice people who frequent the surau and ask others to join them (to go to the surau). And it's a good thing.

BUT (yeah, there's always a but) what about the people who aren't in PAI?

Warning! Question mark galore ahead!

Why was PAI established? Certainly not to differentiate between the Muslims and the nons right? (If that were true, then there are a LOT of nons around.) Then was it an avenue for Muslims to be "Islamic" in? Then are the non-PAIs not Islamic? Or do we regard ourselves lesser Muslims, thus don't enter? Do we feel that if we enter PAI, we would have to walk around wearing skull-caps (kopiah) all the time? Would that be uncool? Do the PAIs wear their skull-caps all the time? No? Only when they pray, mostly? If we enter PAI, we would have to wear head scarves? Wait a minute, isn't that wajib for all Muslim girls? Then? If we enter PAI, can't we commit sins anymore? Do we want to commit sins? Don't we want pahalas? Don't we want to go to heaven? Do we want to go to hell? If we enter PAI, we might be considered a hypocrite? Are we not REAL MUSLIMS? Don't we pray to Allah? Isn't our prophet Nabi Muhammad (pbuh)? Don't we confess to the syahadah?

Back to the first question. Why was PAI established? Isn't PAI just a long term for ISLAM? Aren't all Muslims in the same club of Islam? Aren't we all supposed to be brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts? Aren't Muslims supposed to take care of one another, make sure we don't go astray, club or nay?

Hm, it's good to be back.

Cheers!