"Aku takut akan semua dosa-dosaku" Andaiku Tahu by Ungu.
I don't usually listen to Indonesian songs, but the above song is playing on my roommate's laptop, and the song's really not bad. It actually has the onion-to-eyes effect when you're really listening to it loudly in the rain while reflecting all the bad things (sins) you've done in life and the day of reckoning. Let's hope we get there without stumbling too much along the way, yeah?
Anyway, about the title of the post, it really doesn't have much to do with the actual post. I wanted to share with you guys some interesting facts that our Language Development (LDV) lecturer, Madam Nurul Nadia gave us in class this morning.
She came into class this morning and introduced herself to us explaining that she's going to be replacing Miss Chong this semester in teaching us LDV. She briefly explained how learning under her was going to be like, what she allowed/disallowed in class, what she looks for in students, what she expects from us and stuff like that. She "opened story" (bukak cerita, as the Malays say it) about her experience overseas in the UK, as we were to go study in Australia on our 2nd and 3rd year in our B. Ed. course. Here's some interesting facts that she gave a lowdown on us about Westerners, or as we say it, omputehs.
When they finish bathing, they just walk out of the shower like that, baring everything for all, so we have got to prepare for that.
Don’t be surprised to see guys coming out of girls’ rooms in the morning, or anytime for that matter, and vice versa. It’s normal.
They drink when they’re happy. They drink when they’re sad. They drink when they’re thirsty, and even when they’re not. They drink to celebrate. To forget a bad day, they drink. And no, I’m not talking about drinking sparkling Ribena here. You know what I mean.
The guys over there can be pretty “cheeky” (understatement there). An example that Madam gave: At three in the morning, the guys went down to one of the girls’ rooms, unhinged the door, and ran off with it, leaving the inside of the room bare for all to see. Cheeky huh?
If we say we don’t do this-and-this (such as drinking, shagging, etc.) for religious purposes, they’re cool with it. They respect us and our religion.
White-chicks dig Asian men. ;P
So, if I'm lucky enough to get there, I've got to watch out for these things and be prepared to get shocked. I also have to be strong and resist all the temptations that will come my way. I hope I'm able to do that, and I also hope that us Malaysians will look out for each other when we get there. Remind ourselves where we come from and not drift too far from ourselves. Another thing is that we have to open our minds over there and don't condemn others for being the way they are. It's just because they were raised in a different environment, so we must understand, but not emulate. Keep our values strong and InsyaAllah, we'll come back to Malaysia as better, more understanding, more open-minded people.
“Bila ditanya, mana setangginya? Tepuklah dada, situ tempatnya”, a line from a song in the
Theatre “Mana Setangginya?”.
So I got back from Istana Budaya yesterday. As soon as I got back to my room, I started organizing my stuff in the room and put stuff to where they’re supposed to be, or rather wherever I want them to be. I was welcomed by my new roommate, Azlan. He already had his side of the room organized, so I took all night getting my stuff straight. When I finished, I didn’t have the energy or will to even open up my laptop, so I crashed. That’s why I’m late in posting my “Mana Setangginya” post. So this is it.
The Poster!
The Main Cast!
We arrived at the city of Kuala Lumpur at about 3 something in the afternoon after departing from the Institute in Penang a little later than 10 am. And guess what? We got lost. Yeah, great, I know. There wasn’t a single KLite on the bus on that day, so that made things hard. Then after a few hours of wandering around, the nice ELTC person guided us to where we were to be staying that night, his place. ELTC stands for English Language Training Centre, I just found out. It’s right next to/inside (not sure) Institut Perguruan Bahasa Antarabangsa, IPBA. We arrived at 5.15pm. My first impression on the place was “Wow..”. The place was great. Big and spacious with lots of rooms (5) and 3 bathrooms. There’s also a kitchen area, a dining area, a balcony, and a living room complete with a TV set. Now that’s living. As Ipe said “Patotla budak-budak kat sini pandai-pandai semua..” I just nodded while admiring the place a little more.
The living room area.
Unfortunately no more pictures were caught there because we had to rush out to get dinner before the start of the theatre performance. We ate somewhere I don’t know, but that was the first time I ate Tail Soup, after persuaded by Amirul to give it a go. And it wasn’t bad. Not bad at all. I would love to order it again sometime soon. Again, no pictures. Sorry, the bowl was finished faster than you can say “bone cartilage”.
We arrived at Istana Budaya at a little over 7pm, I think. My first impression of Istana Budaya?
Woooooooaaaaahhh!!!
Just checking to see if we’re at the right place.
A douche posing outside The CulturalPalace.
The fag telling his mom.
Don’t ask him. He knows nothing.
His friend included.
Truly jaw-dropping. And I couldn’t believe that I was going to watch a performance in there. The inside was just as impressive as the outside, if not better. Very clean, very classy. I even felt inferior to the carpeting. We entered the audience chamber at 8.30pm. The performance started at about 9pm.
The stage upon entering.
The start was impressive enough. Dancers coming in to the chant of “Mana Setangginya?” and great live music accompanied it. I realised that that was the first big-budget theatre staging that I’ve seen, and I embraced myself for the best show I’ve ever seen live. The big, well-detailed props, big-name actors (Tony Eusoff, Marlia Musa to name some), great effects, great songs played by a great orchestra gang, good story as well. And there were people flying. Did I mention that yet? No? Yeah, there were people actually FLYING! But none of the main characters flew. Only the “angels” were flying, which were irrelevant to the storyline, but made a heck of an entertaining piece of eye-candy. Oh, yeah, cameras weren’t allowed to snap any pictures, and if some did try to get a sneaky one, a laser pointer shone by the ushers there quickly scare the flicker-wrong-doers. If that didn’t work, they went up straight to the SLR-crazy people and threatened to confiscate the RM2000 beauties from their hands if they didn’t cease their piracy acts. Cool.
The play really criticized the community a lot, how they are too easy influenced by material things and lose sight of what’s really important in life, and afterlife. It was a joy ridiculing the “bad” society and seeing them get their just desserts. I just hope everyone who left Istana Budaya that evening came out a changed person and try to improve themselves as people.
I think that’s all for now. I really need to get some shut-eye. Classes have started and, boy, it sure feels different, this 3rd semester. I’ll write about it in another post-lah I think.
“Just because I’m on your side, it doesn’t mean you’re right” Cliffer by The Answering Machine.
As suggested by the title of this post, I’m definitely more than “a little bit happy”. I’m smiling from ear to ear while typing this, seriously (not literally, though. Coz that would just be freaky). Question marks appearing above your heads yet? Well, I’ll just let them stay there by not answering your query.
Nah~ I’m not that cruel. But I guess I am that playful. Here’s the dirt.
I open my eyes and ears to the sound of Bapak shouting “Abang! Boy! Bangun! Subuh!”. So I sit up on my bed and examine the bags I’ve packed yesterday to take back to the Institute. I felt reluctant, but at the same time excited to go back. I didn’t know how two distinct feelings could be felt at the same time. “Abang! Cepat la bangun!”, again Bapak reminds me. I reach my hand over to the other side of the bed, and disrupt the peaceful slumber of Boy.
“Wake up Boy.. Subuh..”, I said, not hiding the uber-baligh voice one gets upon just waking up. Boy opened his eyes and upon seeing my miserable, mamai figure, grunted and continued staring at the inside of his eyelids. I left him there to get his mandatory extra one-minute of shut-eye before really waking up and left to take my ablution. After finishing, Boy was waiting, as he always did, in front of the bathroom door, waiting for his turn. The praying-mats had already been hampar-ed and we (Aiman, Ainul and me) waited for Boy to finish and come and iqamah.
After praying, Boy went back to bed for his usual after-Subuh nap, and I followed, wanting to do the same. I laid on the bed next to Boy (in case you haven’t figured it out yet, yes, we share a bed..) trying to shut my eyes and cover some of the sleep I lost last night when watching Jack Dee on YouTube until 3 in the morning, but I just couldn’t. I tossed and turned for half an hour, then gave up on sleeping and went to the living room to watch some TV.
As I expected, Bapak was already at it, watching the US Open reruns. Sigh, golf? Well, at least that could bore me to sleep, I said to myself. But after staring blankly at the TV for another half-hour, I still didn’t feel any sleepier.
I asked myself, why can’t I sleep? “Eh, awat Abang tak tidoq lagi? Selalunya tidoq sampai pukoi seratuih!”. Even Bapak was amused. I don’t know, I said, more to myself than to Bapak really.
OK-lah! if I continue at that rate, I don’t think I’ll be able to catch any sleep tonight. So I’ll just cut to the chase. My family brought me back to my Institute, but not before eating Nasi Kandar Yasmeen for lunch, and let me tell ya, I ate a LOT. So much that when it came to dinner time, I was still tasting curry in my mouth. And let me tell you another thing. That VERY RARELY happens. Anak Pak Man is known to be hungry almost all of the time, so this was a surprise for me too.
Anyhoo~ After they dropped me off at my beloved Gajus block, I used my spare key to put all my stuff in my old room, assuming that that would be the room I’ll be staying this coming semester. But I was wrong. Oh, how I was wrong.
I went to the Hostel Office to check into my room, but it turns out that all the TESL students were to move to Amra block. My first thought was “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” (Cue dramatic music).
Here’s why.First of all, it was all the way on the other side of the campus, so I had to drag all my belongings (by hand and kudrat, mind you) a whopping 400-metres (uphill, mind you) to another block. Secondly, it was a long way from the cafeteria, and Anak Pak Man needs to have his chow nearby, yo. Third, we (TESLians) were isolated from all the other courses. So, if we weren’t exiled enough by the whole Institute, we now had to live in a community fully severed from other courses (there are KPLI folk here, but they don’t count). Fourth, I’ll have to leave my beloved roommate of one year, Mesow! Oh, how I’m going to miss disturbing his peace. Oh, and did I mention that we have to haul all our heavy as hell stuffs all the way to the OTHER SIDE OF CAMPUS?? Oh, I did? Sucks man, really.
So Amirul and me (Amirul is going to Istana Budaya too) heaved our stuff from Gajus to Amra (by hand, as nobody with a car had come back yet) in two trips. When we were finished (finally), our arms actually went numb. It was like they were injected with some anaesthetics before an operation. We felt like our arms were going to commit suicide to take the misery out of their lives. We rested for a while and refrained from saying a word to each other, being afraid that ours tongues might fall to the floor, and then we had to mop the saliva off the floor.
After about fifteen-minutes of panting and letting out small whines, Amirul took out his laptop to distract himself from the fact that his arms were falling off his shoulders, and turned on some music.
Then, suddenly, he shouted. I thought a cockroach went up his pants or something, but when I looked at him, he was grinning himself silly. He let out another “Wooohooo!!!”, and so I had to ask.
“Woih, awat??”
“AdaInternet weh!AdaInternet! Kita dapat Internet free!!”
So I quickly rushed to my Acer Aspire 4715Z and opened it, waiting the longest 7-minutes of my life for it to start, and there it was. “Wireless Connection: AP HEP (SCHOOLNET), Speed: 54.0 Mbps, Signal Strength: Excellent”
“Woooohoooo!” I joined in the act.
You know what this means my dear readers? This means that Anak Pak Man has Internet access 24/7 baby! Sure, it’s no Streamyx, and I can’t go to any sites that are blocked by the Ministry, but it’s better than nothing right? I can now blog freely in my free time rather than just sleep and violate Mesow’s personal space. Plus, I can now research whatever I want without asking the sympathy of Broad Band owners to complete my assignments and presentations. Oh, I am LOVING this!
Don’t get me wrong now, I definitely AM going to miss Gajus and all its inhabitants, especially Mesow, Arep and Rizal. But I don’t think being here in Amra is going to be that bad after all. Of course I’ll pay them a visit every now and then when I’m free enough.
So, tomorrow I’m off to Kuala Lumpur to see “Mana Setangginya”. Who knows, I might post something about it. Hahahaha! Good one man. I’m DEFINITELY going to post something about it. What else am I going to do with unlimited Internet connection? Sometimes I just crack myself up.
“I told you baby..” What Goes Around Comes Around by Alesana.
Salutations once again, and with this post, I break the tradition of mine which is only posting a maximum number of 5 posts per month (this is the sixth). An air of achievement fills the air as I type this down on my Acer Aspire 4715 Z notebook in Microsoft Words 2003 software. I should really get an external hard-drive, ‘coz this thing is low on memory, with all the songs and pictures and videos in it. Any ideas on what to get myself, my dear readers?
Today will be my last day staying (and wasting time) at home. This is because tomorrow, I’ll be off to IPGM Pulau Pinang Campus. I’m going back early because the next morning, I’ll be going to Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur to catch a theatre entitled “Mana Setangginya”. I’m pretty excited about this trip, because I’ll get to enter the esteemed halls of Istana Budaya, which surely beats going to the P. Ramlee Auditorium in Penang (although I can’t complain, ‘coz it’s pretty cool there too).
Another thing to look forward to is staying at IPBA. I’ve heard wonderful things about the place, and I’m quite sure it beats IPGM Pulau Pinang’s muscular (stair-climbing) backside (facilities-wise, anyway). We’ll be staying there for only one night, and without any IPBA people around, but it will still be refreshing to get a taste of how other IPGs are living.
And I also hope that we’ll be able to go out and “jalan-jalan” in KL, as I haven’t been there for ages. It feels like that anyways. I just want to feel foreign again, and I feel very foreign in KL. I don’t fit in with KL folk, thanks to my heavy Northern accent, so I’ll stick out like a chicken in a needle-stack.
Oh, and while I was just staring blankly into space before writing this post, I had an idea for a poem. I wrote it in, like, 5 minutes or so. It’s quite controversial, but when I hear controversy, I hear attention as well. Hehe. Feel free to drop a comment. You know you want to.
“But I don’t think you asked for much..” Obviously Cold by The Answering Machine.
I hate this. Below, I have posted my newly done reflection for the Merchant of Venice staging a few weeks back. I have to hand this in next week, but get this; they said the maximum number of words is 1000 words. I’ve written 1545 words. See my problem? I can’t help if I’ve got a lot of stuff I want to write about. Plus, I hate the language I use when I write my reflections. They’re so… skema. *Sighs* Oh well, here it is. Now I just have to chop off 545 words off of this. Has anyone seen my chainsaw?
On the 28th of May 2009, we presented our assignments to our lecturers. But this was no ordinary assignment. In this one, we were required to stage a play based on William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, which was part of our syllabus at the institute’s King’s Hall. But before I get to the actual day, I think it would be appropriate for me to write about the goings-on before the staging.
When we first received the assignment, I was quite eager to do the dramatisation, as I was in the Institute’s theatre club, and I liked being on stage, so that was a big plus for me in this assignment. We were told to divide ourselves into groups. We were to be assessed in those groups. We drew lots to determine our groups. My early opinion on my group was that it was going to be hard working with this group. This was because two of them were part of the organizing committee for the adaptation, and I must admit that I had doubts whether some of the members were able to speak in public, let alone on a stage. As if that were not enough, I was also appointed the MC for the dramatisation. All things being equal, I had no qualms about taking on that responsibility. But as it turned out, my team was the first group to take to the stage after drawing turns. This was a problem because after I had to address the crowd, I had to rush backstage and get changed as quickly as I could and go on stage right away. I put that worry aside as I still had more than a month to solve that little problem.
I took the responsibility of writing the script and also directing for our group. We held a few discussions to determine what our performance was going to be about. We finally came to a consensus that we were going to concentrate on the theme of mercy. I tried not to stray far from the initial story, but incorporated some humourous parts of my own so that it won’t turn out boring. I wrote all the scenes but the last one. This was because at the time I had some other work to sort out, so I let the others write the final scene. When I reviewed the last scene, I made a few corrections to their rendition and the script was done. As soon as we got the green light from the lecturers, we started with our practice. Upon reflection, I now realize that even if our lecturers said the script was good, I did not ask for my team’s opinion. Maybe they even had suggestions to make it better. So, in the future, I should consult my team before moving forward with a project.
As I was in the theatre club, I had some knowledge regarding theatre; therefore I passed some of that knowledge to my group members. During our practice sessions, I taught them how to breathe correctly through the diaphragm, to help them with their voice projection. But even after teaching them to project their voices correctly, some still had a hard time speaking up. I also taught them a very important rule of the stage, which is to always face the crowd. Quite a few did not know this, and I explained to them it was important because it helped the crowd hear what you are saying as well as letting the crowd see your facial expression. That takes us to the next thing I taught, or tried to teach them, which was facial expression. I tried to explain to them that, on the stage, all expressions must be exaggerated so that the crowd can see your expression and movement clearly. But some were a little too shy to really exaggerate anything.
After practicing several times, we were struck by an event that left us shocked. A friend of mine, Azlan, found out that some of the lines that some of us have been saying were detrimental to our “aqidah” (our faith in God), which were the lines in which we confessed ourselves as being Jews and/or Christians. To get confirmation of this piece of information, to find out whether we were really damaging our “aqidah”, we went to see an Ustaz in the Islam Department. He confirmed our suspicion, so we immediately contacted Mr. Ganesan and told him of our discovery and asked him whether we could change our lines. He said it was alright, so we moved on with changing the lines. In these turn of events, I learned that I had to be careful about what I said and always consult a more knowledgeable person. In this way, we won’t get the wrong information and overreact over something that’s not even correct.
After changing a few lines here and there on our script, we moved on with the practices sessions, and the girls even started with the costume making. They took our measurements and set out to buy the materials. I have to compliment my team mates on this, because they did a good job in making the costumes. Mine was a blue strapless dress. It would have looked beautiful on a girl, but because I was wearing it, it was not that appealing to onlookers. But there was a problem. They could not finish making the costumes before the last practice session; therefore we practiced without the costumes. This made our costume changes during the staging short on practice. We were to discover the consequences of that soon, which was during the dramatization day itself.
Then the big day came. The atmosphere in the hall was hectic as everyone was preparing to go on stage. They were trying on their costumes, putting on make up, rehearsing their lines and a whole lot of other activities. It was good to see everyone in good spirit for the staging. We started a little bit behind schedule due to some technical difficulties. Being the master of the ceremony, I addressed the audience and all the attending lecturers and gave a short briefing on what the evening was all about.
The first group to take to the stage was my group, so I rushed backstage and hastened into my costume because my scene was the second one. As soon as I put the costume on, I was quite bemused to see that I had put on the costume inside out. I had no time to correct my mistake as I had to go on stage immediately, so I went and amusing everyone by wearing an inside out dress. When I went backstage again, I quickly corrected my mistake with the help of my team mates. I now realise that I have to rehearse even the small things, such as putting on a costume, so that I won’t mess it up when it really matters. Aside from that, I think my group did a great job for the staging. I’m quite proud of them for doing a good job, and we showed good teamwork as we helped each other out tremendously on and off stage.
After our performance, we went off stage and enjoyed everyone else’s performances. To be honest, even though we did a good job, I still think that my group’s performance was one of the lesser interesting ones that evening. This was because all the other groups did a splendid job and showed their creativity on stage. I must say that I was really impressed with everyone’s performance, as they really showed that they were capable of fantastic performances. The best performance, in my opinion, was Azlan’s group’s performance. I congratulate them for making such an interesting play. They also incorporated singing and even rapping into their performance, which was really out of the ordinary, I must say.
It was a good experience for me, as I learned a lot of things along the way. I learned that staging a play is not that simple, and required a lot of work and cooperation from everyone in the team. No one can afford to sleep on the job and just be a passenger. Our lecturers have told us to look out for these passengers, but luckily there weren’t any. Everyone played their part in making this dramatization a success. I also learned that some of my friends had good acting talents, and really stood out on stage, even though they do not stand out off stage. I also had my first experience in being a director, and let me tell you, it is no walk in the park, especially when you’re working with people who have never been on stage before this. I had to teach them many things and direct their movements and acting to suit the play. I now understand why directing is not an easy job. I hope I can direct more in the future, as even though it was tough, I enjoyed it.
In conclusion, the whole dramatization of “An Evening With Shakespeare” was a thoroughly enjoyable and educating experience for me. Even though there were a few bumps along the road, but they were nothing we could not handle. I applaud my cohort for doing a marvellous job.
“I was wrong and you were right..” Cartoon Couple by Yuna.
Yeah, I clicked it again. Don’t know why, but I did. The thing is, I’m feeling really bored right now (and I mean REALLY). I browsed my blog and found that I posted 15 posts in January, when I first started blogging, and just 3-5 posts in all my subsequent months of blogging.
Then I asked myself, “What went wrong?”
After pondering for a few long seconds (3, actually), I reasoned that I was, if truth be told, as busy as a bee on speed. Damn, the second semester was a real hoot! Being a leader of a bunch of TESL kids is not easy, I tell you that. It’s made harder by the fact that these are a bunch of super active (and different) TESL kids, paired off with a bunch of super active lecturers that have high-expectations of you and your gang.
But I can look back to the semester with a smile. Sure we’ve had our down moments, but they don’t outweigh the good times I’ve shared with these nooligans. And having such a helpful bunch of people helping you along the way is always nice too. Thanks to all of those who helped making my tenure as a cohort leader a “good” experience.
Sorry I had to steal your photo. I didn’t have any good ones of you.:)
Some guy with his 2nd cousin and good friend, Azie.
The sperm-bearers of TESL cohort 2 cycle 3.
Not in order: Wan Bagan, Amirul, Syazwan, Azlan, Afifi, Sufian, Ridzuan, and some fag.
All the people shown above, including some of those whom I selfishly and “kacang-lupakan-kulit”-ly didn’t put up pictures of them, have helped me tremendously throughout my 6-months of (crappily) captaining the bunch of 61 people (me excluded). Hope you guys had a good time! Forgive me for my short-comings, for my wrong-doings, for my out-of-place poyo-ing, and all the negative stuff you can put in one sentence. I tried my best, and I hope it was enough, even though I know it couldn’t even reach the level of mediocrity.
Sure I had fun, but I don’t think I would be doing it (you know, being the CL) anymore. Next semester, there’s going to be someone else taking on that responsibility, and I wish the best of luck to whoever that will be. May his/her tenure be better than mine and bring about many improvements to our cohort.
Oh, and for anyone who might be wondering “Why did anak pak man step down? Coward ah?”, no, it’s not that. I’ve just decided that the post of Cohort Leader shouldn’t be limited to just one person. Let this experience be shared, not hogged by myself only. The post is a learning platform, where people can learn how to lead a bunch of diverse people from all sorts of backgrounds. Plus, we’re all learning here. No one’s perfect. No one’s the best. Everyone is equal. Besides, I inherited this post from Sufian from the first semester. If we could have five cohort leaders before we go off down under, then I think that would be great. The more the merrier, right? So, adieu to the cohort leader anak pak man, and hello to plain old tak-boleh-pakai anak pak man!
I really should be finishing my reflection on the Merchant of Venice dramatization. But, being the procrastinator I am, I’ve decided to fool around with my guitar. (Don’t get any wrong ideas here.. Naughty btoi..)
After listening to Wani Ardy on T-Rex’s blog and checking out Wani Ardys’ as well, I felt the urge to play around with some chords and pen something down. I got a stupid (and that’s an understatement y’all) song, and I’ve decided to share my stupid song with all’a y’all.
They say it isn’t good to expose our aib (short-comings) to other people, but I want to let this be on record, so that I can laugh at how stupid I was when I turn 33 years old (that is, if I reach that age.. InsyaAllah..) . It will be the greatest present I could have ever given myself! XD
So that brings us to the title of this post. I’m discontent over the fact that I can’t write good songs. I can’t make good, catchy melodies. I’m jealous with Wani Ardy, Alex Turner, even Boy for being able to write songs. Huhu >___<
But I know that this is all in His plan, so Alhamdulillah I say for all that I have,and Alhamdulillah also for all that I don’t. So, boys and girls, the moral of the story is, believe in God, believe in His will, and believein Qadha and Qadar.
Everything always, ALWAYS, happens for a reason. There’s always a silver lining in every dark cloud. Who knows? If I were able to write good songs, I might be a riak (boastful) person, and that is committing a small syirik right there, kan?
So, all together now, ALHAMDULILLAH!!
*Disclaimers*
-Lyrics in the comment box.
-I was bored when I wrote this song. Plus, my prepaid had expired, so I drew inspiration from that. I guess this song goes out to all those people who texted me but didn’t get a reply.
