Updates; Akamaru and Randomness

It's been so long since I last updated that I was surprised by my most recent post. I don't exactly remember writing it. Wow, my posts lately begin with how long I have not updated the blog. Anyway, I remind, or rather forced myself to resume writing because I see the benefit to it now that I have to write myself to college.

I have only started on this post and I don't know what to write anymore.

Oh, I just remembered something from my avid-Japanese fan days. Diyani and I used to obsess over Naruto. Once, her brother got a pet cat for himself. She wanted to name it Akamaru, a pet dog in the anime. Much to her dismay, her brother was an Akademi Fantasia fan and so it was named Mawi.

I can't wait to get back to Alor Setar and resume watching Naruto be with my beloved family, and also catch up with fellow ex-Asmarians

On Being Fit

I didn't write for a month, I know. Life has been quite hectic. Did you know that you can swim in UiTM Shah Alam, indoors, and it allocates men's and women's sessions? Wohoo~

I don't think keeping fit is an easy thing to do, especially when you're a student. One of my classmates once commented that a day without volleyball for him felt like a day incomplete. I wish I could say something like that for myself about any sport.

I think I am a bit delusional. I sometimes think that one of my hobbies is playing sports, but in reality, I don't even exercise regularly. We shall see with swimming!

This is all there is to my update OTL

Why I Loved Living on the Fifth Floor

I just Moved from Akasia's Fifth Block. While most of Intec's population would agree that the fifth floor is the worst nightmare, I believe it is quite a haven. And by fifth floor, I really mean Akasia's block 5, house number 509. By the way, there are no lifts in the residence colleges. I started taking pictures from my room a few days before moving out. Why so melancholic over a house? Here are some reasons why;

Total Privacy

Our block was facing the surau, and from my room we can only see the roof of it. Plus, the view of the road was mostly blocked with cooling and lush trees. And living in an all girls' college allowed us to open the main door most of the time.

The roof of the surau.

Cooling

Being on the fifth floor doesn't always mean that it is cool but according to the law of physics ( or so I think), the highest level should be the coolest. Hypothesis accepted when my neighbours from the third floor did not agree that I thought it was quite cold for a stretch of days one time.

The (almost) sunset view

Improve Cardiovascular Rate

I had to climb up and down at least twice a day. Even my class in Intec is on the third floor. Yes, do imagine me living a healthy life here. Well, minus my choice of food. Before living on said floor, climbing up to there would make me break out in a sweat, and I would find myself panting by the time I reach the top. Now, I am as steady as a rabbit. See what I did there.

So what happened? Why did I move out?

Water crisis happened. After a week of barging into our neighbours' houses to use their toilets, we finally managed to move out. A5/509 was nice. It offered tranquility. But it was also cockroach-infested and I don't always love the fact I am FORCED to improve my health by climbing the stairs like that.

So, even though I loved that house, I can't complain that it is better that this house in Cemara. Am loving this baby. So goodbye, A5/509.

The last time I looked over the window from my room

Pleasant Stranger

Recently, I took a flight to Kuala Lumpur and was fortunate enough to sit next to a very adorable Chinese boy, roughly 11 or 12 years old.

I had booked the seat by the window but seeing a boy already making himself comfortable in my seat, I didn't bother pointing it out and just took the seat beside him. Along the way, we chatted sporadically.

Then he did the nicest thing. Both of us were feeling cold as we sat on the side where the automated aircond was. And it was directly on top of me. I told him we should change seats across the aisle. Then, he pressed the button to call the flight attendant. When I asked him what was he going to do, he told me, "Saya suruh diorang perlahankan aircond sikit", I was a bit baffled and failed to suppress my laughter. When the stewardess arrived,  I tried to explain that he was cold.Simultaneously, he tried to explain to her that I was cold. Then only did I realize that he went through all the trouble because I couldn't stand the low temperature.

It was cute and funny at the same time. The two passangers sitting across the aisle were laughing at what had transpired. By that time, the stewardess had started to explain that the tempearure was fixed. Flustered, I said I would move to the seat across the aisle, where it was supposed to be warmer.

The boy did a few other things (which I'm too lazy to tell) that made me more convinced by the minute that he was a very pleasant boy. I felt like congratulating his parents for raising such a kind child. And as you can see from my writing, I didn't even ask his name. But oh well, it doesn't matter I guess. He still remains as the best fellow traveler I have ever met on a plane.

PS: Talking about pleasant trips, I remember the worst incident I encountered on a flight. A man sitting behind me kept his foot on my arm rest! I was sitting by the window by the way.  And throughout the flight I battled with him by applying pressure onto his foot using my elbow. Of course, I had something else to alas. Unfortunately, he was indifferent to my attacks. Even when I got the stewardess to tell him off, he put his foot down only to put it back again onto my arm rest a few minutes after. Elgh.

Don't be fooled by the view. There were instances I thought the plane was going to crash.

Writing Memories

I was just thinking how big of an impact writing can give. Not towards others in this case, but towards oneself. I thought to myself just now, I would write a book review on 'Death to the Dictator', before I forget everything else that has happened. The book is on the Iranian election which was won by Ahmadinejad but was suspected to be fraudulent by the people. Next thing you know, the nation went protesting on streets. I first read the book two months ago. So yesterday i read and was perplexed to a sudden appearance of a teary wife longing for her missing husband, which after some more reading I realized that the book spoke of couple’s predicament in the earlier pages.

Just like memories, we tend to forget. That's one of the reasons I love writing. (But honestly, I think I might love the idea of it more than actually doing it). Anywho, I went through my previous writings, and I could see how I viewed things differently, how I have somewhat matured. Imagine going through your journal entries, and you come across a sad one. This would make you try to relive those moments but you can't really do that because the pain is gone. And with that you feel more grateful for today. Unfortunately, it also works vice versa. Reading back a happy memory when you're feeling down would probably create a longing for yesterday. But nah, it doesn't necessarily have to be true for the latter!

Ultimately for me, the greatest gratification that comes from writing about your past is when you read them all over again, you know something happened not because you remember it but by your own writing .For instance, I wrote about my visit to an ancient town, Toledo. I didn't write about the rest of the trip to other places thinking reminiscing would suffice. Frankly, now all the memories of my visits other than to Toledo have been jumbled up. Regretfully but at the same time gratefully, I think to myself that at least I have one visit recorded. I am always thankful for every time I write about a memory because now, sometimes when I read them back I don't recall certain events that have taken place but I know that they have happened. Just like a history book, it is something you don't remember to have happened but you know that it definitely has occurred. Except unlike history, the events are more personal and they give meaning to you. And for me, that is very gratifying.

Cow Dung

As you may have guessed from the title, this might seem like a mindless post but let me defend myself. This could be a pursuit culture appreciation.

If you don't already know, I celebrate the Kedahan life. I love the dialect and people here are very amicable and funny.  I was not born here and my dialect ain't very piau (though undetectable by non-Kedahan ears), but I've lived here for most of life. So I pretty much have understood the nuances and culture here. Well, not that it has a stark difference from other parts of  Malaysia.

Anywho*, one day, at my college in Shah Alam, I smelled a stench that came from outside . I was with a friend that time. I commented , " Bau macam tahi lembu", and my friend laughed in disbelief, " As if you know what cow dung smells like!",

Now it was my turn to be in disbelief.

YOU KNOW NOT OF COW DUNG STENCH?

But then I realized, it was only natural that someone who has grown up in the city would not know what cow dung smells like. For Kedahans ( and guessing, also true for Kelantanese), cows and its odor are deeply intertwined with our lives. This might sound like I'm generalizing from personal experiences but feel free to disagree with me.

Okay, this does sound like a mindless post.

All jokes aside, I do like to ponder on this cross-culture bizarreness. Especially now that I'm in college, I get to meet people from even more diverse backgrounds. Which is really cool.

I guess I am interested in people,at least in this sense. To sum it up, a Javanese friend of mine once said, "Aifa ni suka tanya pasal Kejawaan aku".

*I just realized anywho is a somewhat-proper word. I've ignorantly spelt it as anywhoo all this while. Haha. 

Overused Excuses and Divine Speech

I'm back (again)!

I know it's been about six moths since I last posted and I won't give the following excuses:

a) I'm too lazy
b) Procrastination is my middle name
c) I'm busy
d) I have a writer's block

The fact that I laid them all out means they're  all sort of true. Except for (d) because I did think of some posts to write but never realized them, which brings me back to a,b,c.

Obligatory introduction aside, sometime ago I read all my posts again and MY GOD the posts were so cringe-worthy.  I have finally come to this stage where I get embarrassed of the stuff I wrote back then. Ironically, I didn't understand when other bloggers say this kind of stuff back then. Now I know better.

Updates!

So I came back from Divine Speech which was awesome!

I've always loved Nouman Ali Khan's talks. I can say that Divine Speech is the best seminar I've ever attended.These are some of the topics discussed (which I copied from its web page).

Why does the Qur’an repeat itself so much? Why are its stories not in chronological order? Why are its chapters in the sequence they are in?  What is the purpose of the oaths in the Qur’an?  Why are there claims that the Qur’an has grammatical mistakes?

And good news, the seminar will be aired on Bayyinah TV. Before Divine Speech is uploaded, you should check the other videos. Go subscribe! Payment is optional.

Not to romanticize anything but Bayyinah is one of the best things that has happened to my life. To know and truly believe that the Quran is from God, rather than just being told it is so,  is just superb.

I don't know if I can ever promise to write constantly but I do want to.

Unlocked

As much I cringe inside when I finally publish a post, especially when I have it on my Facebook wall , I continue to so anyway.  It's a really tough thing to do actually, to have all your thoughts (given I write all of them, which in my case is rare) made public. It's a funny thing when I think this back. Because I almost never talk about  my personal life in my posts. Personal, according to my definition of course, but I think most readers would agree, no?

Anyway, why do I write? I think I've stressed it more than it is necessary in previous post(s). Why, I started writing was for a different reason altogether, priority wise. I resumed writing in this blog a few years back because I probably thought that it was cool thing. Credits to my lovely and talented friend, Michelle.

So now, I have promised myself to write more often. I know this post has no solid content but I just felt like I had to write. It was nagging me at the back of my head. Plus, I was and still am in the mood. I wonder what people think when they read my posts. Do I sound self-absorbed? Ya Allah, not that, please.

I am not sure which direction this post is going so I'll probably end it soon. Overall, I quite like this one.

Peace be upon all of you.