Hair off the Scalp!

Visa application is just *&%#$@@& (insert random profanities).

OK,in the spirit of Ramadhan, I need to stop cussing, bawling, and cussing some more. O' Allah, give me strength to stave off the nascent anger and madness...

Need to get my head checked. Pronto.

Visitation...

So, I once again visited ASiS last Friday. Before you people start brandishing your contempt in my face and calling me a school-obsessed prig, I would like to state that the visit was the first since eons and I was there for the sole purpose of bidding farewell to the teachers and whoever whose paths intersected with mine. There were a few things, changes obviously, that begged the attention of my scrutinizing eyes. Here's a list for a long passage on this is bound to become arduous.

1. The first building that one will pass after passing the main gate is the library. Although I have no idea whatsoever of the current status of the place (previously, it was, for a greater part of the year, inaccessible), I saw a promising addition to the block. I think it's a computer lab. Students were filing out of the room when I arrived. Promising because a computer lab is a surefire recipe to attract students (oh well, librarians mostly) to use the library. The place has been in a sorry state for a long time. It’s about time for a change to occur.

2. Puan Rohaiza’s room, my personal haunting back then, is now equipped with a fridge! Wonder why the idea didn’t hit her when we were still around. It could have been a splendid place to stash food for use in the time of ‘crisis’ (it being free period). The introduction was a wee bit too late for any students to appreciate. Not that she grants entrance to just simply everyone…

3. There’s now a little Aladdin! Of course the real guy was still there, having returned from Seri Puteri where he wasn’t too keen of staying. The girls must have frightened him… Anyways, I miss the banters we shared over food pricing and quality… The best thing was, he still remembered most of my batch mates.

4. Bendahara, the house that I belonged to, tops the house system ranking. We’re, or rather aptly put, they’re leading by 2000+ points. Bendahara, I think, remains as the only house whose points went below zenith before making a meteoric rise to clinch the House of The Year award (whoa, exaggeration!), all in the same year. Of course we had to slave away our much treasured freedom on weekends, doing all sorts of gotong-royong imaginable to redeem all the lost points…

5. Cikgu Bad, my Form 4 Physics teacher, had defected to a new school. Cikgu Azwan, my Form 4 Chemistry teacher, is now a dad!

6. The oh-so-nice-and-friendly makcik cleaners were replaced by Indonesian workers. I see it as a highly dubious action. I know that the pay is cheap but to give way to them over local makciks who wish to earn something (or perhaps, they are the sole breadwinners in the families) is just ridiculous! There’s also a question on the security of students’ belongings.

7. For some strange reasons, I didn’t know that there was an expansion of the Staff Room until this visit. The renovation, which included the banishment of the adjacent Physics lab, was completed early this year. Teachers now sit in low-hedged cubicles, replete with a sitting area. In short, the place was far less scattered and disorganized. Again I was wowed by this improvement.

8. The place was still abuzz with the success of forging a partnership with some boarding school in Thailand. An envoy, which was consisted of teachers and selected students, visited the school last June. Last year, they invaded Indonesia. Again, I became a little envious and perhaps greedy. Why didn’t we have all that before??

9. The installation of air conditioner units in the hall hopefully helps in the school’s mission to scale the top spot in the next SPM. In my years, the stuffy hall could be a gauntlet to one’s olfactory system as well as a steep challenge to keeping attention. Even the stage background was adorned with pua kumbu.

10. Another addition in the hall was also noted. All I can say is I’m happyhappyhappy for it. It’s long overdue, but it’s there. It completed my visit. In a way.

Many things remained the same though. Kak Ton hadn't lost her chattiness (as well as her unrivalled obsession with SAS alumni), 'Diva' Norzila was still as blunt, 'Datin' Rohaiza hadn't lost her touch of class (she bought an induction cooker on the day of my visit), Cikgu Azwan with his furtiveness, Teacher Wan remained boisterous, Tuan Haji now sported a grizzlier look, Pn. Tuan Norma was still a ball of energy, and even a certain counselor was as dour as ever!
I sorely miss Pn. Hazilah and Cikgu Rose (one in Perlis, another in Melaka) … InsyaAllah, if conditions permit, we’ll meet up. A lot of catching up needs to be done.

That’s it for now. In the next post, hopefully, I’m gonna divulge certain consternations regarding my visit and beyond..

A bus with a View II

Sensational sunset. The blistering, molten planet slowly descended into wisps of varying colours at the far horizon. Unimpeded, the view was to die for.

Oh joy! What's that airborne contraption?

The plastic cover of the engine decided to alight from the bus as it coughed and spluttered in its way uphill. The complex mechanics of the engine were stripped for all to see.

God, what a journey!

Domestic Idiosyncracies...

Amidst the blizzard of personal businesses (which involve filling in a sheaf of hairy documents for visa application and sponsorship agreement and scrambling from one place to another for medical checkups) and in a grander scale, the ceaseless succession of cloying political dramas, it's easy for me to forget matters on the home front. Things are happening in my own backyard; familial quirks are not often given the benefit of attention by me. The head of the week was marred by an unedifying event which forced a certain couple to take refuge in their now dilapidated haunting. As usual, I only got to be in the know very recently. Of course, the prospect is remotely inviting. As Madam famously coined (not her original of course), when a door closes, another opens. The problem is, the threshold all of the parties concerned is about to cross leads to a litany of consequences. Yes, actions precede consequences. Haven't they heard of it before?

Hopefully the furore will subside and nothing becomes untangled and broken away at the end of the day.

A bus with a view...

A juxtapose. Brilliantine, azure sky in the morning. Soggy with freckles of moroseness in the afternoon.

2-0!

24 hours ago, I burned a bridge after crossing it and ushered in to the new era. The first day was marked with two extreme, very opposing emotions; one which transpired from an euphoric journey while another grew from a nascent, unspoken disappointment; both shared one common identity: that the ups and downs of life are more real from this perspective. I must arm myself to rise for the occasions and to take more responsibility in my doings. Gah, this sounds like a New Year's resolution!

Props to Pidah whose card was overwhelmingly adorable, Waa for a right-on-the-dot wish, and Naomi's rendition of one of the most enduring tunes in mankind history which is Happy Birthday that was worth recording. Endless gratitiude to those who remembered too...

It was also one of the quietest celebrations...

The Dirtiest Game!

They are pulling all stops to secure a victory in the upcoming by-election. Losing is not an option as the future surely looks bleak. Desecration propagated, opponents degraded in the worst possible ways, seeds of fear implanted. Politics are just stinking, disgusting, revolting, repellent. I'm keeping a good distance from such cacophony.

Blahblahblah!

In these past few days, I have:

1. Gone on a holiday at Langkawi.
2. Bought a bagful of chocolates.
3. Purchased bags meant for hand and checked in luggage.
4. Sat in the car for a boring stretch of 12 hours.
5. Attended a kenduri
6. Stayed in KL.
7. Met with my sponsor.
8. Paid the spanking new East Coast Mall in Kuantan a visit.
9. Bought a laptop.
10. Visited my uncle and his supposedly 'liberal' KISAS daughter (wth?!)
11. Started compiling necessary documents particularly from my sponsor.

A week of events awaits...

A Class Act??

It's perfectly understandable to award him with RM 300K but to confer him Datuk-ship is just too much. Nobody knows for certain if his career will reach a new height or will fizzle out in the foreseeable future. What if he won the gold? Will he become a Tun?

Home For A While...

Back and going again. It was fun albeit tad too tiring. By the way, it was strictly a shopping trip. A thousand little things to settle after this. The huge package from the university has successfully pulled the panic trigger. Have I enough time to do everything prescribed?

A Tale of A City, An Irked Citizen, and Two Impetuous Buyers.

They definitely raised the benchmark today as compulsive shoppers. I thought we were just gonna look around, figuring what we would like to have in our new abode. Apparently, I was misled. They signed up almost immediately. The show unit will be ours in a year time. I won't protest though. Seremban will be at our doorsteps soon. Convenience, finally.

I've always liked the idea of living in a big city. The crowd, hustle bustle, traffic jam, pollution, and pricey living cost are more like impetus for a good life. Of course the majority won't agree with me. Most would want to escape the hectic living. I'm drawn to it instead. That's why I like taking the train jam packed with world weary commuters. Oddly enough, they seem to induce an unspeakable, intangible comfort.

The only downside is that big cities are mostly infested with immigrants, legal or otherwise. True, they are indispensable in moving the country forward but their presence is just annoying. An utter lack in manners and reckless, I'm always alarmed whenever they are around. Skin will crawl, ire is drawn, and flashes of foreboding thoughts skitter happily through my brain. Hey the-power-that-be, do something before they take over the country! The policy makers especially those who grant them stay here should all go to BTN to reinstate the spirit of nationalism. Isn't that the whole point of attending the camp? Instilling an unconditional love towards the country, letting it not be wrestled away from the righteous owner. Somebody should take note of this.

A Good Day

Two of my friends' prayers were answered today. Alhamdulillah.

The update! Finally. They didn't send the wrong email it seems...

Disturbia...

If there's a memorabilia from KY that I wish to put away for a while, it would definitely be the Yearbook. The pictures of friends splattered with confidence and hope, oblivious to the future are just too much to handle, breaching the 'dam' that I struggle to uphold.

Misery is relative, don't you think?

Numb

You win some,you lose some.

I'm losing something I'd give the world to keep.

Foreseen but unwarranted nonetheless.

Alhamdulillah...

Triple A isn't just a type of batteries.

Edinburgh,ahoy!

P.S: This is plagiarized...

P.P.S: Hopefully the exam dept. didn't do any mistakes...

Lagged!

C'est ridicules!

Can anyone let us know when exactly it will be published? Wouldn't it be more organized to feed us with the knowledge of a specific time frame for us to ogle the computer screen? Isn't it more considerate to allow us with enough time to arrange for funerals, to light up the pyre, to write the epitapth?

8.8.08 comes and goes as another ordinary day.

The Summer Olympics kicks off today. And happy birthday to Jo and Azra.

Terminal affliction...

As the clock ticks by, the febrile blotches becoming more apparent, and giant pimples erupting out of the blue, it's perfectly sane of me to believe that doom is impending. The doctor in me comes out with a few symptoms that leads to a simple prognosis.

I am now:

1) Sweating in the bitter coldness of early morning.

2) Suffering from sudden adrenaline rush.

3) Having the heart racing at random times.

4) Hating anything related to science. Watching CSI proves to be unkind to my little blood pump as NMR and Mass Specs are liberally depicted.

5) Having trouble to marshall my attention whatever I'm doing.

6) Getting incoherent in talking and thinking.

7) On the verge of an aneurysm and subdural haemotoma.

The prognosis: The unwanted news in THE email.

Symptoms can be lessen if the patient is blazing the country road. A little caution that this little remedy is not to be taken when the patient is extremely disturbed.

Well, we propose Allah disposes ayte?

Nitrous free...

It would have never crossed my mind that getting behind the wheels confers so much fun if I didn't risk experimenting it earlier today.

Jamming the bare right foot onto the accelarator gave a sensation quite alien to me. But I'm all for it.

Dilah, we should do this more often. There are places I've never been to before. Worth the late afternoon exploring I think.

Trigger Me Happy! =D

Got this from Ateqs. Hope it'll cheer us up a bit while waiting for THE email to arrive. List FIVE things (a departure from Ateqs' rule) that make you happy whether for a fleeting moment it crosses your mind or stuff that'll cool you down after a sudden eruption. As for me, these stimuli work well to instigate the secretion of happy hormone (endorphine is it?Gah,I miss Mrs. Madeline aldy!)

1: SMS from friends close at heart.The reason why RM30 doesn't stretch that long to cover a month.I dread phone calls though.This is applicable to situations where I have to make a call or answering it from an unknown number. I wonder what this trait suggests of my character... I think I have a gist of it.

2: Stuff from previous institutions.I still keep all my test papers from the secondary school. I find it difficult to dump these keepsakes even though that they serve nothing apart from collecting dust and occupying spaces. But combing through them whenever the impulse strikes never fails to put a smile on my face. Sentimental huh?

3: A combination of things; a good novel,iPod,and a train ride, and the thought that I still have my family and friends.

4: Writing. In the midst of improvising the lead character. More flaws eh?

5: The utmost important thing, a potent drug to survive in the land of strangers as pointed out by Aqtar: God or in my case, Allah. Put Him in your heart and you won't feel alone. Insya Allah.

I'm asking all readers to jot down 5 things that induce happiness. They can be something major or downright silly. Post it on your blog or just drop a comment here. It's up to you to tag others. Just take this as a favour to me, please. Perhaps we do share a few things regarding emotion...

Em-Oo-See

MOC was a blast. I'm fully aware that this post will not do justice in capturing the essence of the experience but not writing it is an insult to the programme itself.

I can only come out with a hit-and-miss list. I beg your pardon.

The Hit List

1. So many questions were answered be it on religion matters and on life as a student. It also became apparent that there shouldn't be a reason not to practice Islam in a foreign land. Indeed Islam is a practical and flexible religion.

2. Isolation is an option, not an inevitable condition. Students are presented with a delectable array of activities to choose from.

3. I learned something invaluable about friendship there. Will dedicate a post for it, Insya Allah.

4. A small reunion which impact, I hope, will carry on to the end.

5. I met with new people! (Super seniors from God-knows-which-batch)

6. A far better theme song than the one at a camp I went to a few weeks ago.

7. A comprehensive insight into life in the UK from the innumerable video presentations. And yeah, the Student’s Survival Guide is superbly informative.

8. A host of great facilitators. Their passion is infectious.

9. The chance to meet Mr. Zaidi.

10. The result will be out in a few days time! Gasp.

The Miss List

1. The many digressions.

2. My many ineptitudes especially on issues concerning Islam.

3. Too short a programme. Unlike the other camp, which I thought went on and on torturing my body, mind, and soul, this one felt like it come to an end tad too soon.

To sum it up, MOC has successfully exceeded all expectations.