My old PC crashed, and taking with it most of my memories in the form of never processed digital pictures. What I mourn the most is the lost of the pictures of my trip to Singapore back in 2009, and Raya pictures dating back to 2005.
Yesterday while I was browsing through the Photography thread in LYN forum, I saw someone mentioned EOE online as a cheap printing site. Always wanting to try new things that can be done online, (I even 'cook' online. Order Pizza Hut through its site -> Pay -> Wait 20 minutes -> Pizza arrives!) I took a look.
The site is having an extended promotion where the price to print 4R pictures is only 30 cents per piece, and provides free delivery for orders worth more than 35 ringgit. I thought this is a very reasonable price and it wouldn't hurt to try with last Raya pictures. So I downloaded the software "EOE Photo Express" from the site. Registration and all can be done through the software once installed so I proceeded with registration and it brought me to this screen:
I clicked on 'Prints' and because I've already put the photos to be printed on Desktop, the folder is immediately listed on the left. I highlighted the folder and the software loaded all the pictures inside the folder on the right.
I clicked 'Select All', pressed 'Next', and it brought me to this page where I have to choose the size and quantity for each print. I put '1' in 4R selection for whole set and clicked 'Apply' and 'Next'.
It automatically calculated how much you have to pay, and displayed the shipping and billing address that you specified when registering.
And then come the boring part, the uploading. But I just left the process on the background and went to do other stuffs. The site assures me that even if my internet is suddenly disconnected (with the lousy router provided by TM it always does), the uploading process can be resumed.
Once the uploading is done, it brought us to the payment options page. There are three options, paying by card, Maybank2U and bank transfer. I think through card and Maybank2U the order would be immediately processed while using bank transfer you would have to email them the payment details manually. I paid by card, and the payment went through successfully without any hiccup.
I submitted the photos for printing on Monday evening which was definitely after office hours, and this morning (Wednesday) I received them! It certainly is fast, photos are printed on glossy paper similar to other photo studios and definitely with comparable quality. I am a happy customer! Will definitely use this service again later.
Ugly camera is ugly. This picture doesn't do justice to the real things. Also when I looked at the pictures, I saw that there are more pictures of Sofiya than our family. Haha..
Dan beginilah Seperti yang kau katakan akan berlaku Hidup adalah mudah bagiku Lebih selalu dari tidak
Dan beginilah Cerita lebih pendek Tiada cinta, tiada kemegahan Tiada wira di langit
Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti...
Dan beginilah Seperti yang kau katakan akan berlaku Kita berdua akan lupakan hembusan itu Lebih selalu dari tidak
Dan beginilah Air lebih sejuk Anak gadis peniup Murid yang menafikan
Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti melihatmu Mataku tak henti...
Benarkah ku kata aku bencikan kau? Benarkah ku kata aku mahu Meninggalkan ini semua dibelakang?
Fikiranku tak henti memikirkanmu Fikiranku tak henti memikirkanmu Fikiranku tak henti memikirkanmu Fikiranku tak henti memikirkanmu Fikiranku tak henti... Fikiran ku.. fikiran ku... Hingga ku jumpa seorang yang baru
Having a ... more than normal interest in the Korean boy band Super Junior makes me feel like I have regressed a little bit. But there is more than a little feeling of nostalgia that comes with it.
The last time I was this involved over boy bands it was more than 10 years ago, when I was in high school in Melaka. I remember the peak moments of my obsession was during the pre-PMR years of 1997-1999. Like any other teenage girls, I was into the usual pop groups; Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, Spice Girls and other random one-hit-wonders gracing the current MTV scenes back then. You could say I was a committed fan. I would save my school allowance so I could buy their cassettes (cassettes!) and numerous imported magazines like Smash Hits and Top of the Pops (which didn't come cheap). Together with my close friend, Rahah, we would make frequent visits to Mahkota Parade or Jaya Jusco to buy these goodies and then pore over every pages together and shrieked in delight if the issue came with the poster of our favourite groups.
I remember always having to buy batteries for my Walkman because I listen to my cassettes almost every day. With time I learned a few tricks, some are practical ones, like using Atuk's radio to rewind the cassettes so I can re-listen to the Side A all over again because rewinding drains the battery too much (one time Atuk saw me doing it and said I have to pay the electricity bill for this frequent activity of mine), others are not really grounded scientifically like placing my batteries under the sun in the hope that it'll last a little longer. I can't say the method really worked. When I put the batteries back into my Walkman and pressed 'Play', the previously melodious voice of my idol is now turning ... slow... and... sounding... like... an... old... man... singing.......
I bet the current generation have never heard that kind of sound out of their songs. If it wasn't for my frustration that I need to buy another set of batteries soon, I would find it almost funny.
When I went to a boarding school, the previous fangirling activities stopped. I still listened to music, but I wasn't really invested in the groups and singers anymore. I may know who sings which song but I wasn't interested in knowing more about them. My music taste had also evolves, with me graduating from mainly listening to pop songs to other genre of musics, liking indie songs and rock bands; being blown away by live performances of MUSE.
Fast forward to 2010. My friend, who I have always share everything with get caught in the K-Pop phenomenon that is Super Junior. She was roped into chaperoning her cousins to their first concert in Malaysia and since then has fallen to their charms. She kept giving me links to songs and music videos and I thought their songs are nice, but can't seem to understand the hype surrounding these boys. Until she gave me a link to one of the numerous variety shows that they were featured in. (Korean Variety Shows deserve an entry of its own, it is remarkably different from the format of reality shows of our local TV or from the Hollywood. Suffice to say it is not variety show if you don't end up holding your stomach out of laughter)
Intimate Note - the show that clinched it for me.
After I watched that show, the rest were history. I was caught, hook, line and sinker to their hilarious personalities, their mission to always try to destroy each others' image on television, and I grew to love their music too. They have three genuinely talented vocalists who sang haunting songs like this:
OST for Cinderella's Sister - It Has to be You. The song is one of the reason the drama was a top hit.
I tentatively forayed into the Super Junior fandom and my mind was blown with the amount of dedication and hard work the fans put through. The group, being based in South Korea but amassing a large amount of support outside of it must be credited to the non-exhaustive work of their fans. They translated lyrics, interviews, articles and even provide subtitles to the shows that the group were in. When they are performing in music shows there will always be kind souls that stream these shows LIVE from Korea. Three of the group members are also Radio DJs and almost every day there would be streaming of their radio shows, complete with the video of them in the radio studio. Last year, when they started their third concert series and was having their first performance in Seoul, a group of fans from China did a live streaming of the concert... by calling the cellphone of their friend who is attending that concert. Of course mostly we can only hear the screaming of fans, but I was really impressed nevertheless.
Super Junior's Sorry Sorry, the song that has taken Kesang Tua by storm. This was during their 'come back', the first time the song was shown on the music show. They then clinched number 1 spot three times in a row, received the Mutizen Award and couldn't compete anymore.
Internet has really changed how fans relate to their favourite musicians. The experience is much more richer, and there are so many things to immerse oneself in. Back in 1997, there were barriers, I never really feel close to any of the personalities I admired. This time around these idols feel like only an internet server away. There was this one time I was watching Heechul, one of the Super Junior members DJ-ing his radio show. During the playing of songs I saw him typing something with his phone and then suddenly my Tweetdeck popped up a notification of a tweet from him. I literally saw him doing that posting. And a few minutes later a translation of his tweet was posted. It all feel really surreal to me, being new in this kind of things.
Feeling very much connected makes it all much more difficult to disconnect. Fans get really emotionally invested, 'wars' between fans of different groups are commons. It is important to know their latest doings and activities, look at all their latest pictures, and stalk for every bit of news and information about them on the internet.
I could easily see my 13 years old self drowning in all this. It is a blessing then I only had cassettes, magazines, and Hitz's Rick Dees in the Weekly Top 40.
Semalam, ada kenduri doa selamat di rumah Pak Long. Ketika doa baru saja mahu dimulakan kami semua digembirakan dengan kedatangan Mak Chah sekeluarga dari Melaka. Kebetulan keesokan hari (hari ini) ialah hari lahir Mak Chah yang ke-48, Mak Ina dan Lina telah diam-diam keluar membeli kek untuk kami sekeluarga menyambutnya.
Saya mula-mula belajar mengaji ketika tinggal di Kampung Pinang, Sungai Besi. Sewaktu itu saya mengikut kawan yang sudah dahulu belajar mengaji di Surau Kampung Pinang. Setiap pagi, berbekalkan Muqaddam dan rehal serta tudung yang diikat belakang saya akan berjalan ke surau bersama-sama rakan karib saya ketika itu, Faishah.
Pengajian mengaji di surau setiap pagi dipimpin seorang ustazah. Sudah tidak ingat pula saya apakah nama ustazah itu. Atau mungkin saya tidak pernah mengetahuipun namanya apa. Kami semua anak murid hanya memanggil beliau 'ustazah'.
Mula-mula saya belajar 'Alif, Ba, Ta' yang memang saya sudah hafal. Kemudian belajar mengeja sedikit-sedikit berpandukan Muqaddam. Tetapi pelajaran mengeja saya baru sahaja beberapa kali sudah ustazah hentikan untuk memandu saya menghafal ayat-ayat lazim. Saya sangat cemerlang dalam menghafal ayat-ayat lazim. Malah dapat 'memotong' rakan-rakan yang sudah dahulu mula menghafal dari saya. Untuk menggalakkan kami menghafal surah-surah ini, ustazah sering kali mengadakan pertandingan, dan menyediakan hadiah bagi para pemenang. Saya beberapa kali memenangi pertandingan, dan ustazah juga memuji prestasi saya. Saya berasa bangga.
Mama dan Pakcik Yahaya ketika itu berasa ianya sangat kelakar yang saya banyak menghafal surah-surah lazim tetapi tidak pandai mengeja.
Sebagai seorang kanak-kanak, ada surah yang saya 'tidak suka' kerana sukar dihafal. Surah yang saya rasakan sukar ialah Surah Al-Falaq. Ada pula surah yang saya sangat suka, yang saya rasakan senang dihafal dan membawa perasaan istimewa kepada saya ketika itu. Saya masih sangat menyukai surah ini, Surah An-Nas.
Dengan nama Allah, Yang Maha Pemurah, lagi Maha Mengasihani.
Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): Aku berlindung kepada (Allah) Pemelihara sekalian manusia.
Yang Menguasai sekalian manusia.
Tuhan yang berhak disembah oleh sekalian manusia.
Dari kejahatan pembisik penghasut yang timbul tenggelam.
Yang melemparkan bisikan dan hasutannya ke dalam hati manusia.
(Iaitu pembisik dan penghasut) dari kalangan jin dan manusia.
Semalam, 1 Ogos 2010 adalah ulangtahun kelahiran sahabat karib saya Rahah Mokhtar yang ke 26. Happy Birthday, Rahah mok mok.
Saya mula-mula kenal dengan Rahah ketika bertukar ke Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Datok Bendahara Jasin di Tingkatan 1. Waktu itu saya ditempatkan di kelas 1B, dan Rahah pula di kelas 1A. Kami sekelas apabila tiba subjek Ekonomi Rumah Tangga dan Pendidikan Agama Islam. Sewaktu kelas pertama ERT, guru subjek ERT pada waktu itu iaitu Puan Muawanah menasihatkan saya untuk membuat salinan fotostat nota-nota minggu sebelumnya daripada kawan sekelas. Dia mencadangkan nota Rahah kerana menurutnya, tulisan Rahah kemas, dan dia rajin menyalin nota. Saya memandang Rahah, dan sudah tentunya ketika saya memandang dia tengah tekun menyalin nota kelas hari itu. Pandangan saya sewaktu itu, tentunya budak ini pendiam, budak rajin yang baik. Saya juga mendengar dari rakan-rakan yang Rahah ini sangat pandai, antara pelajar terbaik kelas 1A. Saya fikirkan ketika itu mungkin saya akan kekok dengannya.
Ketika mula-mula berkenalan, kami menggelarkan masing-masing "saya" dan "awak". Kami agak kekok, tetapi saya sangat senang berkawan dengan dia kerana dia senang menerima saya. Kawan-kawan saya di kelas 1B ketika itu seperti tidak sukakan saya, mereka tidak suka dengan "budak KL" (saya dengar sendiri dari Zaleha, rakan sekelas 1B) dan tidak sukakan saya berbaik dengan guru-guru yang mengajar. Walaupun saya seharusnya lebih bersedih dengan perkara ini, saya ketika itu sangat tidak kisah, kerana saya semakin rapat dengan Rahah. Kami mendapati kami mempunyai banyak persamaan, dan perkara yang meyakinkan saya bahawa dia ini memang 'satu kepala' adalah ketika saya bertanya kepada dia : "Awak baca komik tak?" dan dia menjawab... "Baca! Dragon Ball, Yuyu Hakusho, SlamDunk, Dragon Quest..."
"Saya/awak" bertukar kepada "aku/kau" dengan cepat. Kami kemudiannya seperti tidak dapat dipisahkan. Setiap kali rehat, siapa yang dilepaskan guru terlebih dahulu akan tunggu di luar kelas untuk ke kantin bersama-sama. Tiap kali kelas ERT dan PAI kami akan duduk bersebelahan dan apabila naik ke Tingkatan 2, kami sekelas, duduk bersebelahan, bergayut di telefon, keluar ke Melaka dan bersama-sama sehinggalah ke Tingkatan 4 apabila saya bertukar sekolah. Selepas itu saya sudah jarang bertemu dengannya, tetapi disebabkan ikatan persahabatan yang amat erat, setiap kali kami berjumpa/berbual di telefon ianya seolah-olah kami baru dipisahkan loceng akhir sekolah sebentar tadi.
Tingkatan 2 di SMDB. Kereta merah Mak Chah ada di dalam gambar ini.
Saya rasa sepanjang hayat saya ini, tidak akan ada lagi sahabat yang lebih rapat dengan saya selain Rahah. Kami sangat rapat, sehinggakan ketika di sekolah beberapa kali orang memanggil Rahah sebagai "anak saudara Cikgu Hafsah", terkelirukan Rahah dengan saya. Kami sangat rapat dan seluruh keluarga kami mengetahuinya. Nenek Rahah memanggil saya 'Pablin' dan Atuk saya memberitahu Rahah kalau saya mengusik apa-apa barang dirumahnya: "reportterus dekat Polis". Kami kemudiannya mendapati 'betapa kecilnya dunia' apabila mengetahui Busu Zai dan Nek Busu Rahah adalah kawan baik kerana berjiran di Johor Bharu, dan Uncle Roji dan Auntie Shila Rahah adalah pensyarah yang rapat dengan Pak Busu di UTM Skudai. Perkara yang masing-masing merapatkan lagi hubungan saya dan keluarga dengan Rahah dan keluarganya.
Kaifa dan Rahah di Melbourne. Berjalan tak ajak!
Terlalu banyak yang telah saya lalui bersama Rahah. Saya sudah mengenalinya separuh dari hayat saya. Rahah, atas persahabatan yang kau hulurkan aku ucapkan terima kasih. Lets be best friends forever.
Back to back winnings : Euro 2008 and now World Cup 2010. These boys are legends. World Cup 2010 will always be remembered as the one with noisy vuvuzelas, psychic octopus and Spain as the champion.
Discovered totally by accident. I was telling my friend in Dubai that our internet is more a 'berukband' than broadband. So I googled 'beruk', and I discovered.. jeng jeng jeng.
Try it yourself. Search for beruk in Google and look at the first result that it returns. Typing in beruk and clicking the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button would make the experience even better.
How is this possible? Because of Google Bombing. I wonder who diligently did this.
Edited to Add : I've received the book today (15th July 2010). It took about 20 days, and I don't know whether this is standard/early/late because I've never ordered anything from England before. I noticed one thing though, it took quite some time for the order to change from 'Processing' to 'Dispatched'. Around 3-4 days. I've since ordered another book, and this time it was dispatched within 24 hours. So maybe the first time Visa took a while to process the transaction?
Anyway, here's the picture! Taken by phone's camera so sorry for the poor quality.
So, if you don't mind waiting for the book to be delivered, this online bookstore is really a good alternative to buy imported books, especially those hard-to-find/out-of-print titles. Coincidentally Book Depository is also giving out 10% off vouchers at the moment so now is a good time to try the store out.
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First, let it be said I receive no commission whatsoever from writing this. :)
I would like to share a site that I just recently discovered, Book Depository. This online bookstore is most famous for its free worldwide shipping. Yes! Free worldwide shipping! Intrigued, I made a visit to this site.
Prices can be shown in 5 currencies : USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD. I chose EUR because after comparisons of each currencies using the website XE.com, price in EUR is actually cheapest when converted to MYR.
I checked the price of a title I've been wanting to buy, but previously there was only hardcover version in Malaysia and the price was MYR99.90. The site list a paperback version, costing 9.55 EUR after a 9% discount. (9.55 EUR = 37.9084 MYR).
To make a comparison, I head to MPHOnline to see the price listed for the same title:
The same title, the same publisher (Harper UK) but at MPH Online it costs RM 44.90. A 7 ringgit difference.
And this is where MPH as a local bookstore loses SO MUCH against Book Depository:
MPH can't even provide a next day delivery when it costs that much for shipment. FAIL.
I checked with Kinokuniya Online Store KL, and the price for the book is same as MPH Online. However the shipping fee is RM 8 for West Malaysia and a whopping RM 40 for East Malaysia. Free shipping will only be given when one's total order is more than RM 300 for East Malaysia and RM 500 for West Malaysia. Either way, those living in Sabah & Sarawak lose. They are better off getting their books from Book Depository.
p/s: I've succesfully placed my order from the site. Will update this entry when the book is delivered!
Malam ini. Pasukan pilihan saya akan bermain, menentang Switzerland pada jam 10.00 waktu tempatan : SEPANYOL!
Penyandang Kejuaraan Eropah
Berkata tentang Piala Dunia, ingin saya bercerita bagaimana saya mula-mula berminat dengan bola. Pada tahun 1998, ketika itu Piala Dunia diadakan di Perancis. Saya berasa kagum apabila mengetahui 'Zinedine Zidane' yang sangat hebat itu ialah seorang Muslim, dan 'Zinedine' adalah salah satu cara mengeja nama 'Zainuddin'. Menurut Pak Busu, selepas Zizou menolong Perancis memenangi Piala Dunia tahun itu, toleransi terhadap penduduk Muslim di Perancis semakin meningkat. Semenjak itu saya rajin menonton perlawanan bola sepak, kagum dengan impak bola sepak dan pada masa yang sama saya selalu mengambil tahu siapakah pemain-pemain Muslim terkemuka dunia.
Menjulang Piala Dunia 1998
Izinkan saya menyimpang sebentar. Dalam perbincangan mengenai Qur'an, Falsafah dan Sains, ada satu 'trend'/fahaman yang agak popular. Ia dipanggil Bucaillism. Dinamakan sempena Maurice Bucaille, pengarang buku The Bible, The Qur'an and Science, penyokong trend ini cuba mencari bagaimana penemuan sains semasa boleh dikaitkan dengan ayat-ayat di dalam Al-Qur'an. Teori-teori dan fenomena seperti pasang surut air laut, Big Bang serta pelbagai telah terlebih dahulu disebut di dalam Al-Qur'an mengikut penyokong fahaman ini. Antara pengarang yang 'masuk' dalam kategori ini ialah Harun Yahya.
Namun terdapat kritikan terhadap trend Bucaillism ini. Kritikan paling vokal terhadap bahaya menghubungkan ayat-ayat suci Al-Qur'an dengan teori-teori sains ialah bagaimana bila teori sains yang dihubungkan ini terbukti salah? Adakah ia juga membuktikan bahawa ayat-ayat Al-Qur'an itu salah?
Di internet terdapat banyak perbalahan antara golongan penyokong Bucaillism dan mereka yang 'anti-Bucaillism'. Pembacaan menarik.
Apa pula kaitannya dengan bola? Sebelum ini saya mengagumi pemain-pemain bola Muslim. Namun.. Muslim sayangnya tidaklah bermakna mereka ini mempunyai sifat terpuji. Contohnya apabila Franck Ribery dan Karim Benzema sama-sama ditahan kerana skandal pelacur bawah umur. Aduh!
Jadi, saya kini tidak lagi selektif dalam memilih pemain untuk disokong. Semua mereka sama di mata saya. Kriteria 'saudara seIslam' sudah tidak ada, sebaliknya saya melebihkan cara dan skil permainan. Jika pemain itu juga 'cute', ianya bonus.
Yesterday I finished reading The Quran and I by Anas Zubedy. The title caught my attention and I finished it in one sitting at Sunway Pyramid's Popular. Oops.
The description of the book (taken from Anas Zubedy's blog)
The Quran and I by Anas Zubedy is a collection of reflections and childhood memoirs featuring among others, inter-faith and inter-racial friendships and depictions of how the multi-cultural Malaysian setting is fertile ground for personal growth. The book highlights universal values found in the Quran through daily life experiences and serves as a simple introduction to the Quran.
credit : Anas Zubedy's blog
I was expecting a story of how Qur'an helps him in making choices in everyday life or something close to that, I was expecting Qur'an as a central topic but this book is not exactly that.
He told his story, from a childhood submerged in poverty until he is now a successful adult. He had a very interesting story to tell, I especially love the stories of his remarkable mother, and his friendship with his Christian best friend. Throughout this book there are numerous Qur'an passages that fits with the story he was telling.
But I can't help feeling the Qur'an quotes are just that. Quotes. That fit with the theme. I remember reading on how the writers of Glee decided what songs to be featured in an episode. First, they will write the storyline, and then scour the music catalogues to decide what songs suit that episode. Sometimes the songs fit perfectly, sometimes we viewers are left wondering how the heck that even relate?? In many ways this book feels this way.
credit : Fox
Plus some of his interpretations of Qur'anic verses sound like a personal interpretation, interpretations that suit his values. This could be dangerous.
BUT. The book is quite interesting. I absolutely agree with the writer's sentiments on the importance of unity, and how diversity is God's creation so we must love/embrace it. I may not agree with all the ways he interpreted the holy verses, but I appreciate the story he was telling.
It is going to be World Cup again soon. This blog was first created on a World Cup year. In a way it is celebrating its birthday I guess. Like someone who was born on 29th February, aging every year, but older only once every four years.
(There was also something here about how after all these years and everything that happened I still remember the boy that broke my heart four years ago but I deleted it.)
Saya punya banyak memori tentang zaman kanak-kanak, antara yang paling saya ingat ialah betapa gemarnya saya terhadap komik Doraemon.
Doraemon mula-mula saya kenali dengan menonton anime (kartun) nya yang ditayangkan di TV. (Kartun Doraemon ini nampaknya begitu evergreen. Saya baru saja selesai menonton satu episod di NTV7 sebentar tadi). Kemudian pada sekitar tahun 1992 (jika tidak silap) Syarikat Penerbitan Tora Aman mula menerbitkan komik Doraemon secara bersiri.
Saya masih ingat, Mama mula membelikan komik Doraemon untuk saya semenjak keluarannya yang pertama. Sewaktu itu cuti sekolah, dan seperti selalu saya berada di kampung. Mama membawa komik itu ke kampung untuk bacaan saya. Sewaktu Mama sampai, saya tidak berada di rumah Nenek, sebaliknya di rumah Tok Ali. Apabila saya sampai di rumah Nenek, Mama memberitahu dia ada membeli komik Doraemon untuk saya. Wah! Saya sangat seronok. Tetapi kemudiannya saya mendapati komik itu sedang dibaca Nadiah. Mak Lang menyuruh Nadiah memberikan komik itu kepada saya, tetapi Mak Chah (dan keadilan sosialnya) memberi arahan kepada saya untuk menunggu giliran. Saya menunggu dengan tidak sabar-sabar.
Doraemon Volume 1
Maka bermulalah kisah cinta saya dengan komik-komik Doraemon. Komik-komik ini menjadi peneman zaman kanak-kanak saya. Saya berasa amat kagum dengan imaginasi pengarang Fujio F. Fujiko. Komik ini menceritakan tentang pelbagai perkara, daripada apa yang menyebabkan kepupusan Dinosaur, kepentingan menjaga alam sekitar, dan pelbagai lagi konsep-konsep sains dan sosial.
Namun melebihi kekaguman saya dengan jalan cerita yang pelbagai, saya merasa dekat dengan watak di dalam komik itu. Seperti Nobita saya (ketika itu) adalah seorang anak tunggal, dan saya juga seorang pelajar sekolah rendah. Saya juga teringat membandingkan Mama saya dan Mama Nobita. Kedua-duanya memakai cermin mata tetapi di situ persamaan berakhir. Di mana Mama Nobita ialah seorang yang sangat garang, saya teringat memikirkan bahawa Mama saya tidak garang (sekurang-kurangnya tidak segarang Mak Chah dan keadilan sosialnya).
Terdapat satu ketika, dua keluaran Doraemon telah keluar tanpa kami sedari. Sewaktu kami ke kedai Titian Emas yang berdekatan dengan sekolah, Mama membelikan saya kedua-dua keluaran Doraemon itu untuk saya. Seorang budak Cina yang juga berada di kedai itu pada ketika itu seperti kagum dan berkatakannya kepada kami. Mama membalas;
"Ialah budak ini, emak dia sayang dia."
... Doraemon akan sentiasa mengingatkan saya tentang zaman kanak-kanak saya. Namun yang penting sekali, Doraemon akan sentiasa mengingatkan saya tentang kasih Mama kepada saya.
This song never fails to make me be in a fun! mood. Plus the group name is "fun.". Hahaha.
fun. - All The Pretty Girls
So I call your name, cross my fingers uncross the others, hesitate. Oh,I don't think straight with nothing to prove.
I don't wanna say I'm leaving I will stay until the weekend. And you can take all your things; the boxes and rings and get going.
'Cause I've been waiting for...
All the pretty girls on a Saturday night. Let it be, and come to me with the look in your eyes. Well you break and take all the words from my mouth. I wish all the pretty girls were shaking me down.
So I call(I call) you out(out baby) Just to feel a little bit better about myself(he does) And I do(you do), baby I do 'Til their lips start to move, and their friends talk music I say "I've never heard the tune!" But I have, I just hate the band 'cause they remind me of you.
Every single night ends up the same, I don't say much at all, but I bring up your name. (Over and over and over) I think it's striking me out.
All the pretty girls on a Saturday night Let it be, and come to me with the look in your eyes. Well you break and take all the words from my mouth. I wish all the pretty girls were shaking me down. But not you, you still wear boots and your hair is too long and then this one doesn't want to admit she's fallen in love Oh c'mon, oh c'mon, what's a boy to do When all the pretty girls can't measure to you?
I don't understand your reasons Please just stay over the weekend You can't take all those things They define you and me everything we've become, You're all that I need Please don't make me face my generation alone.
All the pretty girls on a Saturday night. Let it be, oh come to me with the look in your eyes. And you break and take all the words from my mouth? I wish all the pretty girls were shaking me down. But not you, I feel your faith is destroying the world and then this one never really understood the 80s is over and done Oh c'mon, what's a boy to do, when all the pretty girls can't measure to you?
p/s: I don't condone violence, but to piñatas oh yeah!
This morning me, Nadiah, Anis and Arina competed in Museum Hunt, arranged by Young Muslims Project. I found out about this event from Young Muslims Project's Facebook event, where a whopping 80 people 'confirmed' their attendance and another 400 said they 'might attend'.
I was expecting a big crowd, but there were less than 20 of us this morning. Heh. But we had a great time nevertheless.
Me and Anis were paired together, and we actually finished all our tasks first. But we were placed second because we counted the number of domes of major mosques' replicas wrong. Being replicas and small it's hard to distinguish whether some of them are domes or just random circlish things. We counted more than 1000, when it is probably around 900. We never found out how many domes there were in the end.
Pictures : (to say a thousand words)
Drawing task. The only art I can do is where a mouse is used and an undo button is available.
'Tasbih' we made for one of the tasks. It is now together with other tasbihs hanging at Anis car's rear-view mirror.
One thing I really like about this museum is how big and bright it is. I remember the National Museum being dark and very gloomy. Arina took a wrong turn into the National Museum this morning and we saw that the museum is hosting a ... Pameran Keranda.
I think I am too sarcastic/cynic now for chat room chatting. I can say I had my fill back in 1997/1998, when this house first subscribed to the internet. Back then I remember spending hours in front of the PC, chatting to strangers at channel #kampung in mIRC. Those were the days.
I think back then people were more sincere to get to know others on the net. The ability to communicate with someone only through a medium of PC and modem was so noble that people just be themselves. And they were a lot funnier back then too.
I went into a chat room today, and seconds after I logged in, I was bombarded with messages, mostly from perverts (ewww) asking for 'bicara romantik' (double, triple, major EWWWW). And the a/s/l question immediately after saying 'hi' now just annoy me. And most of them seems to be 25/male/kl too. Yeah right.
Where have all the decent guys in chat rooms went? Achik, I think you got the last one.
Semalam, 28 Mac 2010 saya dan Nadiah telah menghadiri Workshop 'The Crisis of Modern Consciousness' anjuran bersama HAKIM, ABIM dan Fajr Symphony. Alhamdulillah, niat saya yang begitu beria-ia hendak pergi mendengar syarahan Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad tercapai, malah dapat juga ditemani Nadiah. Thank you dear. Kami pergi ke sana dihantar pagi-pagi lagi oleh Mama. Terima kasih Mama.
Antara isi-isi syarahan beliau yang dapat saya catatkan:
According to BBC, humans are less happy now than 50 years ago.
Women were happier then than now
Values such as self-esteem, security, optimism, sense of hope have been down in UK since 1950's
These are the values that secularism can't really supply
Humans are exposed to many kind of technological advancements
But they are not more happy because of it : technology are just distractions and modern world is a world of distractions
A story by Maulana Rumi - about a baby that can't stop crying, and not satisfied with every food offered
We are all holding a crying baby in our arm, human soul that is crying out for authentic nourishment
The soul is not satisfied with bits and pieces e.g : technology
Zikrullah - milk the crying baby needs
What is a moderate muslim? - If u believe in materialism and Darwinism but at the same time believe in Qur'an & Sunnah, there will be a crisis in spirituality
Technology - are just toys and tools, we should pay no heed to them
Intelligent muslim sense an estrangement with duniya
Grip with akhirat - there's enough for everybody
Grip with duniya - envy, because resources are finite
State of joy comes from intimacy with akhirat
History of human is cyclical
Believers must always be in a state of optimism; pessimism -> despair -> kufur
Certain shafts of lights are visible
Study of quantum mechanics - future already exist (I wish I know more about this subject. Fascinating stuffs!)
Time is no longer what it seems to be
Reaffirm the concept of qada' and qadar
Our view of reality now : far more dynamic, slippery
On 'self', modern world view : self is glorious, can do extraordinary things. e.g : be yourself, challenge yourself
But no single entity of self : consciousness -> collection of memories? (a bit lost here)
We are not really what we thought we are, no linear continuity of thoughts
What is self?
There's a collapse of ethics, rise of communism, totalitarianism
Modern world, inharmonious, paradox, focus on materialism but also try to fight for universal human rights
Religion have more to offer now than what it did previous years ago
Imam Ghazali, when confronted with hedonism : e.g - modern world, we must see what we can use
But a spiritual soul must be inside in order for us to see what is usable, what is forgery (like a money changer)
How do we get the wisdom? It is right of believers
Someone with wisdom, firasat, intuition can know and differentiate belongingness to term of Allah's rule
But human consciousness can be polluted with envy, ego, nafs
Ugliest manifestation of religion comes when driven by ego, frustration, trauma, envy, rage rather than spiritual
Example, distortion of Jihad, ends in destruction
To be in the middle - hardest path to be
Sirratul Mustaqim - hardest place to be
Quality of believer is having awareness that we are just passing through
Human's soul is not from this world, but from a divine world
Our true home is the heaven
We must set a boundary from free-fleeting wandererness, pray for hikmah
People with wisdom restrain themselves
Pada sesi petangnya, Shaykh Seraj Hendricks pula memperkatakan tentang identiti Muslim, tetapi ketika ini saya sedang 'gila-gila' menahan mengantuk maka hanya beberapa perkara saja dapat saya fahami.
Usai workshop, kami berjalan ke Stesen Keretapi Kuala Lumpur, sambil menangkap gambar-gambar seperti pelancong. Kami menaiki komuter ke Subang Jaya, makan malam di Subang Parade dan pulang diambil Mama (terima kasih lagi Mama).
InsyaAllah saya akan berusaha untuk ke majlis-majlis ilmu sebegini lagi di masa akan datang. Ucapan tahniah kepada pihak penganjur yang berjaya menganjurkan program syarahan yang sangat bermanfaat.
I clicked 'Select All', pressed 'Next', and it brought me to this page where I have to choose the size and quantity for each print. I put '1' in 4R selection for whole set and clicked 'Apply' and 'Next'.
It automatically calculated how much you have to pay, and displayed the shipping and billing address that you specified when registering.
And then come the boring part, the uploading. But I just left the process on the background and went to do other stuffs. The site assures me that even if my internet is suddenly disconnected (with the lousy router provided by TM it always does), the uploading process can be resumed.
I submitted the photos for printing on Monday evening which was definitely after office hours, and this morning (Wednesday) I received them! It certainly is fast, photos are printed on glossy paper similar to other photo studios and definitely with comparable quality. I am a happy customer! Will definitely use this service again later.
