Éclectique

31st December 2009. It is the last day of the year. I just got my bike tuned and now I'm -- literally -- waiting for and fearing the day school reopens. Why waiting? Because I want to cycle everyday on my mountain bike and see Liyana again and drag my feet to the bathroom every morning -- OK, maybe not quite -- and I want to see all of my friends again. That's a lot of 'and's... Phew. About fearing the school reopening, I fear it because it means the long yet short countdown -- does that make sense? -- to SPM has begun. Recapping the year, it certainly has been eventful if not rickety. But then again, you're not living as a teenager if the roller-coaster ride that is life doesn't fly off the tracks every now and again. My birthday was certainly a momentous one. I got a new bike which was a big deal for me. My old bike was 6 years old and getting small. I was a bit sad when I knew I wasn't going to be using the old bike anymore because I've bee...

To my readers, I apologise if any of you were under the impression there really was an event. It's just a title -- which happens to have something to do with my post today. I'm sorry but there was no long-distance, endurance cycling competition in BJ during the duration of the school holidays. Nothing official, at least. My apologies. Anyway, back to the reason I'm posting this; I woke up 'early' today -- 9:30 a.m. Haha. So much for early, eh? Anyway, after a shower and breakfast, I went cycling. I went all over BJ alone on my Polygon Collossus AX1.0. Hehehehe. Just me, my bike, a bottle of water & my music. It was a fun -- and tiring -- ride. The Route: View Larger Map Legends: A/E - Home (I'm not going to put my address, duh) B - School (SMK Bkt. Jelutong) C - Lagenda (Jalan Teratak) D - Jalan Adang Checkpoints: This one I think is a bit obvious but just in case I'll clarify it. The checkpoints are; A-B, B-C, C-D and D-E. Time(s): Leg 1 (A-...

It is 26th December 09 here in Malaysia, the day after Christmas, also known as Boxing Day. Typically, this is the day when people go to the stores to get the proper size for clothes they received as Christmas gifts -- if it didn't fit. My family however, went to Signature GSC at the Gardens to watch James Cameron's Avatar! Better still, we watched it in 3D! Before entering the theater, we were given those square 3D glasses. It was cool. Even the advertisements about the upcoming movies were in 3D. It was awesome! With the 3D glasses, everything seemed to come at you. When they were walking through the jungle, I felt like touching the leaves of the ferns as they 'passed by'. Some scenes make you recoil because it feels like the gun is really pointed at you and that the people are actually shooting at you. It was definitely a rush. The movie was very good. Very deep. There is no, absolutely no, clear-cut good guy/bad guy. Everyone is caught up in trying to up...

It is a lovely morning and a thought hit me when I was in the shower. I notice at the pool & the beach, there are two main types of people. The first is the kind who goes for the pool/sea and start swimming and splashing. Enjoying the water and waves. Then there's the kind of people who will pounce on the nearest sun lounge and well, just lounge. I've tried to just lounge before, at the beach. But I get way too damn bored and I jump into the water. Hehehe. I love swimming too much. Though I prefer the swimming pool over the sea. Well, save for snorkelling. Hehehe. What about everyone else? Swimming in the pool/sea or lounging by the beach/deck?

No, I didn't make a mistake that cost me RM50 mil -- thank god for that -- but the RMAF apparently did. It was a routine maintenance for their fighter jets and obviously, as with every inspection, everything must be in perfect order or rectified where required. And during the course of this maintenance, they lost RM50 mil. Why? Because someone walked out with the jet engine. HAH?! Amazing. Simply spectacular. A routine maintenance and they lost a freakin' engine. Wow. RM50 mil, poof. Geez. There was also that blunder some years back where a terrorist group pretty much paraded out with a whole truck-load of guns. What's next, missing napalms? Certainly hope not. Worst of all, it was lost last year and it was hushed up. Fine, they didn't want to spread panic or something but a missing jet engine? How did that happen. And they're right to assume it is already lost on the black market. These kind of things are not stolen and then people hope for a buyer...

It's been sort of a while since I blogged. I have a lot I want to write but I on Thursday I forgot and on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, I didn't have a secure internet connection. Why? Because I went back to Taiping. On Thursday, I forgot because I was exhausted. Hehe. That morning, my family and one of my cousins -- he slept over -- went to swimming in Putrajaya. No, not in the lake, but in a/the public swimming pool. I'm not sure how many there are. It was really empty so my family managed to do our laps in peace without people 'berendam' there. I mean, come on, it's a lap pool, not a jacuzzi. You're supposed to SWIM, not soak. Especially to those who REALLY need to lose those pounds. There I go, straying off again. So, back to the story, the pool being empty was a really great thing. But the best part was that it was Olympic sized! Woohoo! I know, there are probbably a lot of Olympic sized pools around but I hardly go to any of them and they...

One of my cousins is over; Aiman. He is as old as Akid and the two of them are very close. It's too bad Alang can't stay over because then we cannot go back to Taiping on Friday. Let me elaborate on that. We are going back to Taiping this Friday & Aiman is coming with us. If one more cousin stayed with us, the car wouldn't fit. Well, it would, it just wouldn't be a comfortable 180km++, 2 hour journey to Taiping, Perak. Hehe. But I'm bringing the rugby ball back to Taiping anyway so it's alright. Hehe. I'm just really bored right now... What to do?

Sounds like the title of a bad spoof but it isn't. Essentially, that's what today has been. A tiring day with 2 kenduris to attend, a brief grocery and a cousin tagging along. It was really good seeing Liyana again. I've missed her so much. She looked gorgeous during Sofea's aunt Yasmin's wedding. Hehe I'm afraid I hurt her a bit just now... I'm sorry you felt you were bothering. You weren't. I swear. I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I'm sorry if you felt that way. You weren't at all... There are no emotes or abbreviations that can fit how much I want to apologise to you right now... Je t'aime sayang...

Life seems to be OK now. Actually, I feel sort of happy. Mama & Abah are not too upset over my results, alhamdulillah. I'm essentially done with my BM folio. Just have the 'Plot' section to wrap up. Should be simple. I think of it as a simplified synopsis -- which on its own its a simplified version of the story. 0_o. Haha. And my cousins are coming this Saturday! Woohoo! Hehe. It's been a while since I met them. Since... August or so. Just before PMR, during Eid il Fitr. Yep. It'll be nice to see them again. This year's Eid il Fitr was a lot of fun because my cousins from Canada came back! Hehe. It was cool being able to hang out with them again. Christmas is around the corner. I'm afraid Akid might be getting it to his head he can get away with ordering another game. Abah is not going to be pleased if he does. Then again, maybe he just likes to browse through Amazon.com like I like to browse through all the sites related to mountai...

Just thought I'd publish a post on sounds that I like. These sounds may or may not necessarily be relaxing. These are just sounds that I like. Waves breaking and crashing against the beach. Cliche, I know. But its so rhythmic and relaxing. Running water. No, not tap water. As in a stream or river. This one is not so rhythmic but still relaxing. Car's engine revving. Haha. Yes, I'm somewhat of a diesel-head. But I'm not into the shrill cry of F1 engines. Something deep. Muscle car sort of deep. Almost roaring if you rev it. That sounds like power to me. Keyboard being typed on. I know this sounds strange but I like it. To me, it sounds like inspiration being transferred and molded into a story. Camera shutters. The 'click' that goes off when you snap a picture. I like that. Especially when you've managed to get a really good angle and create a very interesting snapshot. Golf ball. When you take a nice, relaxed stance, swing that 7-iron and...

It's the eve before Eid il Adha and our washing area is flooded. A pipe connected to the washing machine completed broke off and the water was pouring all over the place. My mom came downstairs to find my maid practically soaked. My mom was very upset because she didn't say anything despite the severity of the situation. My mom was going "if I didn't come down to check on the apple pie, things would be floating down here," and Abah tried to separate two components but the part that was originally part of the tap completely shattered when he put a plier around it. And it wasn't because my dad applied to much pressure, the metal was brittle. I could literally break it in two with my hands. So, Abah & I went out to but the needed components. We rushed to Mydin and then to Giant because Mydin didn't have the tap head. That was tiring. Not to mention stressful. By the way, that is one of the few times you will see me outside wearing slippers -- bes...

The next iRB World Cup is being held in New Zealand in 2011, the same year as the Olympics. Considering where it is being held, I really much rather go to New Zealand than England. If I could. Haha. The first game kicks off in Eden Park, Auckland on September 7, just 10 days before my birthday. Woohoo! Hehe. On top of that; the first game is between New Zealand and Tonga! Both have their own war dances which would be really cool to watch! Hehe. If only I could go. Hehe. And I've always wanted to visit New Zealand. Oh well.

Today hasn't been the most pleasant day for me. The morning started out innocent enough with me being able to chat with my girl. Then I had breakfast and a small post-breakfast snack of brownies and raspberries. Yummy! I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Though the raspberries left a funny after taste. Oh well. After that, I turned my laptop back on and it lagged like hell the whole day. It was really frustrating. Seems to be OK now. I hope so. My brother and I watched Kung Fu Panda today. Haha. I feel like buying some novels from MPH to read over the holidays. Hmm. We'll see. That's all for now. Au revoir.

I used to wonder how people could live alone with only dozens of cats for company. I've discovered the reason why. It's simple, really and almost profound. Cats don't betray you or hurt you. They may bite and scratch but physical injuries heal. The same cannot be said for emotional injuries. Such injuries leave behind deep scars that never totally heal. Scars that are ready to bleed all over again under the right -- or rather, wrong -- circumstance. The best thing about emotions however, is that it can be locked away just as easily as they can be hurt. And with the right attitude, it need only undergo a certain trauma once to be mostly immune to it. Unlike the physical body which needs to go undergo the trauma multiple times before being able to endure it without significant damage. And yet another miracle of emotional pain is that it can be cured as quickly as it can be inflicted. Amazing isn't it? As we all know, humans can experience a vast degree of emotion...

Its a lazy Saturday afternoon and I'm not sure what to do. I could play PS3. After all it IS the school holidays. I really don't want to study. I feel like hitting the mall. The Gardens specifically. I want to just go through the serene environment, browse through the awesome -- though slightly more expensive -- things there. Somehow I want to go to the optical store there and browse through their Oakleys and also hit the outdoor store. Hehe. Don't ask me why. I just have that urge. Haha. Hmm. Since I'm the area, I should drop my mountain bike off for tuning at Rodalink. I guess that's all for now. Au revoir

Today we played rugby in the rain. It was a lot of fun! I managed to score a lot of tries. I'm very happy about that. Just wanted to post that. Hehe. That's all for now. Au revoir

This isn't really a postcard. I'm just publishing this post from school's Pusat Akses -- the only computers that have internet access which are accessible to students. Liyana seems a bit dissapointed. I'm not sure why. She wouldn't tell... I wish she would. There isn't much to write about. Today certainly has been interesting. Ayie & Fit are making ribbon-lapels for our class party later this afternoon. I hope it rains AFTER the party. And tomorrow. Then at least the field will be wet again for rugby. Muahaha! Aizat & Nadzirah are sharing a computer because there aren't enough internet-accessible computers here. Deliera & Timmy have their own computers while Erin is showing Liyana some online bartending game of some sort. She seems to be having fun. I wonder why Liyana is a bit gloomy. I want to know what's bothering her but she woulnd't let me in... -dissapointed sigh-

Marco Polo describes a bridge, stone by stone. "But which is the stone that supports the bridge?" Kublai Khan asks. "The bridge is not supported by one stone or another," Marco Polo answers, "but by the line of the arch that they form." Kublai Khan remains silent, reflecting. Then he adds, "Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me," Marco Polo answers, "Without stones there is no arch." This is just a something I found over the internet. DO NOT quote. I am unsure whether this conversation was actually documented or not but I thought it was pretty cool.

Just some of my favorite quotes. "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed," -Marco Polo, 1324 (on his deathbed) "There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory," -Sir Francis Drake, 1587 "Do just once what others say you can't do and you will never pay attention to their limitations again," -James Cook "By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination," -Christopher Colombus

What to write about? Hmm. I don't really have much to talk about but it's been so long since I blogged regularly I feel I must take advantage of this opportunity and write. Ahah! I haven't posted the pictures of the town my team & I -- The Frozen Ones -- built during the recent NIE NST Creative Writing Course. I've already provided an explanation about our town on my previous post ' NIE NST Creative Writing Program '. So here are the promised pictures; Beginning of construction -- Finally after a long discussion Putting the final -- hurried -- touches Voila! The finished product! Quite honestly, this is the first time I've engaged in such a project. Be it individually or with a group and it was a lot of fun!

The past 3 days, my family and I have been on vacation in Port Dickson. I know, school hasn't quite ended yet but my mom already booked an apartment there. The apartment itself is owned by the company my mom works for and they rent it out at a much cheaper rate to company employees. We left for PD around noon on Saturday so I managed to recover from the intensive rugby practice the previous day. The journey there was a bit gloomy, being rainy and all. When we got there, we had lunch, unpacked, watched a bit of TV, had snack and by 6 p.m., the rain had stopped so we swung by the beach. We didn't go into the water. Yet. Hehe. I took pictures of some things you can find on the beach. A few interesting things. That night, Abah, Akid & I watched a rugby game. France against South Africa. It was an awesome game! Hehe. South Africa played rough but Chabal was awesome! Hehe. Once they put him on in the second half, he was tackling like crazy. It was fun watching hi...

Just thought I'd blabber a bit. It's been a long time since I did a good, solid post. On a regular basis, at least. God it feels good to be able to blog freely again. This year has been one hell of a roller coaster. The new subjects are something new altogether. Chemistry and Add Math are my weak points. And history too. I used to be good at history but the recent topics aren't so interesting. And to make things worse, Form 4 topics WILL be asked in SPM. T-T. Ah well, no pain no gain, eh? Away from the topic off school, I'm watching a show on Discovery Channel about Indian cuisine. It is kind of interesting. Making me hungry. Haha. I like pepper. I had been waiting for this game since early this year. It was due out early-mid autumn this year called Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The best thing, it came out the day after my birthday. Even though I didn't get it then. Hehe. I already have it by the way and it is awesome! It's even better than the...

This weekend Liyana & I attended a 'Creative Problem Solving' course which is part of a 5-month creative writing course sponsored by Sime Darby Properties Sdn . Bhd . QM should have joined but her mom didn't let her. It really is a shame. In total, 43 kids attended. Our group consisted of representatives from SMKBJ -- Liyana & I -- and kids from Bandar Melawati -- I think it's Bandar . We called ourselves 'The Frozen Ones' because we were right under the A/C and it was FREEZING. The first day, we didn't do that many 'group activities' so to speak. Today, we had to built our dream town that also solved these problems Pollution Flood/Drainage Weather/Greenhouse effect Traffic Crime Social Problems One of the girls; Amal immediately said 'no cars'. So in our town, everyone cycles, skates or rides electric vehicles. The houses are powered by solar energy and the town's facilities are powered by a turbine in the man-made ...

The exams are finally over! Woohoo!!! Well, mostly. Next Monday is just EST & Civic. This is just some post I've been working on. I recently got a mountain bike for my birthday -- apparently its a downhill bike -- and it really spurred my budding interest in mountain bikes. So my goal is to try out a mountain bike course. The one is Sek. 13 looks really cool. I heard there's one in Putrajaya. Oh well. I've looked up videos of downhill mtb and it looks AWESOME!! Dangerous but I think I'd enjoy it. I did some digging around the internet and apparently these people wear some serious armor. Those things are going to be expensive... Ah well, people can dream, can't they? So, here is my post-exam goal/wishlist. Haha. Go mountain biking. Either downhill or just the regular trail, I'm fine either way but considering my lack of armor and the kind of falls downhill guys take, I'll stick to the trails. Get a helmet. A full face helmet. Kinda lik...

Yesterday, I had a debate. Sharanya, QM & I represented 4 Beta. We went up against 4 Epsilon who were represented by Heikal, Haziq Shaharel & Aizat. We had a blast! The topic was "P.P.S.M.I. should be abolished. Science & Math should be taught in the mother tongue". We were the government team. QM was quite good and so was Sharanya. Heikal had excellent points but his delivery style needs working on which is a shame. He had the best points. Aizat was good. He just lacked statistics. Haziq's delivery style was cool. Very calm, and relaxed. I'm not sure about the marks but 4 Beta won. And I was named 'Best Debater'. I expected it to go to Sharanya so it was a pleasant surprise. Lina came over while the adjudicators were convening and when Aizat said only debaters were allowed to the tables, Lina claimed to be our coach. Haha. That was a good cover. Afterwards Lina was like "Woohoo. Free cert!". Haha. Liyana was the Madam...

The thing about being on Cloud 9 is that a lot of things don't seem to affect you as they did anymore, don't you think? Well, at least for the time being until the effects wear off. Anyway, just felt like writing that down even though its probably not going to have any correlation whatsoever with my post. Haha. So, these past two weeks have been interesting, if not expensive. I told myself I wouldn't blog about these but then what the hell, it's my blog anyway. So, first off, everyone in my family got a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Everyone. Including my brother. It started off during Haziq Shaharel's open house. That WAS two weeks ago, right? Anyway, it started then. My parents dropped me off and went to Giant to do the groceries. The day before we had a belated birthday celebration for my mom. We let her go wild in the Gardens. Hehe. Mama bought not too many items but all she had been eyeing for a while; flats, handbag, etc. She had also been wanting a ...

Its been so long since I blogged. I've been caught up with studying and doing the Bio presentation and so many other things. I know, lame excuse, I used to be able to find time, etc. Its just I can't seem to pass my Chemistry & Add Math papers. I swore I did so much better for Add Math. Yeah sure, my marks went up from 10% to 35% or 38% but its not enough. I need to PASS. *Sigh*. This year is almost up and next year I have SPM. NOOO! So next year it's back to seminars, books, minimal TV & no PlayStation 3. ToT, The horror! Haha. I'm overreacting. Anyway, before zooming too far into the future, how to kick back during the holidays? Hmm. If only kicking back was as simple as portrayed by this cute kitten. Hehe. The rugby team is organizing a 3 day 2 night stay at Langkawi on December 15th but I'm not going. My dad isn't exactly screaming 'yes' and my mom gave a flat 'no' so I'll stay home. Kind of a bummer but it's ...

This morning was NOT my morning. First it rained in the morning before I left for school. That would make the first leg (downhill) of my trip to school dangerous as the sidewalks would be slick. The sidewalk on the second leg (uphill) has better grip. Then near the end of the first leg, my tire slipped and I fell, sliding a short distance. Genius sidewalk-makers who used concrete instead of tiles. Thankfully my bike only took cosmetic damage. Then on my second leg, it poured. Yahoo. So when I got to school, I was drenched. By recess I still wasn't completely dry. The gloomy weather didn't help. The rest of the day was OK. I enjoyed Mod Math. I really like a lot of the topics. Much to my girl's displeasure -- I know you weren't too happy with it. She also complained my bike was tall, needs a stand, etc. But I'm not changing anything about it. And its not 'just a bike'. That's all for now. I might update again later but don't count on...

It has been a while since I blogged. Where should I start? Ah yes, my raya. Hmm. How should I start? Haha. So many questions. I'd say the beginning is a mighty fine place to start, what say you? First day of raya. We woke up bright and early and went to the mosque in BJ. There was an announcement to raise funds for the new mosque to be built near the lake by Lagenda. The artist's impressions were quite nice. Unfortunately, I would have left for college by the time it is to be completed. Fortunately, I won't have to cycle there every Friday. Hehehe. After prayers, we went home, ate a little, packed my parents' rendang and some ketupat then we hit the road for Banting. Atuk seems more livelier now. Everyone was there -- a rare occasion in Banting since at least one family won't be there at the same time -- and though it was quiet, it wasn't awkward. Jokes were being cracked, laughter was heard and people were munching. Hehe. It was nice and relaxin...

Many visit the graves of those who have past, But this is no sad day, As we have been told to celebrate. On this day, The day when we have completed the Fast, We celebrate, Our triumph over our many lusts. It is the first day of Syawal, It is Hari Raya Aidilfitri, It is a happy day, For children and teenagers and adults a like. And during the coming week, The children and teenagers will go to their friends' houses, To visit; and more importantly, Collect the duit raya. And everyone will enjoy the food, Be it in the city, Or in the countryside, I myself look forward to eating lemang. Ah, The assortment of foods available after a long month of fasting, Alhamdullillah, We have made it through the month of Ramadan. An on this day, Everyone asks for forgiveness, For past wrongdoings, And to let go of old grudges.

I'm officially 16! Woohoo! Hehehe. I know I should've posted this earlier but I didn't have the chance. Sorrysorrysorrysorry! Anyway, it feels so good to finally be 16. Don't know why. Guess its just one of those milestone birthdays you can't help celebrating and enjoy. My parents got my birthday present yesterday but they had been planning it for a while now. They contemplated between a new bicycle, a DSLR camera and a Hifi system. They decided to give me a new bike. I was so thrilled! I've been using my old bike since I was in standard 4. Its been 6 years. Hehehe. Yesterday after school, my mom picked me up from school. My dad was already at home with Akid. We went to Pantai Hospital because Akid has his checkup appointment. While in the waiting lounge, Mama said she wanted to go to the Pasar Ramadan in Bangsar. While on the way, I dozed off in the car -- as always during bad traffic. I felt the car slow to a stop and Akid saying "Aqil's asleep" ...

There are two very important events coming up. One is Hari Raya Eid il Fitr. I know everyone is getting hyped up for it. Is it just me or do I feel more hype among my friends this year? Oh well. The second important upcoming event is my birthday!! Its in two days' time so boys and girls, I expect you to break the bank getting me all kinds of expensive presents! Muahahaha. Just kidding. A sincere 'Happy Birthday' is sufficient. And please smile. In case some of you were planning on saying it half-heartedly. There's only one teeny problem. I don't know what to ask for my birthday! Is this normal? I don't know but I seem pretty content with my life. I mean, sure there are a few things I would like but I'm afraid of breaking the bank. Hmm... Anyway, this morning took an interesting turn while I was getting ready. I was still in my towel and about to put on my contacts when all the lights in my room went out. I went to my parents room to check o...

Hello everyone. I'm so sorry I've neglecting this blog and its readers. Anyway, Ramadan is almost over. It feels so short this year. Raya is coming up. But if things keep going the way they are, I won't be returning to Taiping this year for Raya. Then again, two of my cousins there are sitting for their PMR & SPM examinations, respectively. Good luck to them! Next week there is no rugby practice and no Add Math tuition. Speaking of Add Math, I still need to ask my teacher for my results. Hope I didn't do too bad. My birthday is coming up. I haven't asked for anything -- nor am I expecting anything. All I hope for is that my Add Math results turn out OK. I've really been working hard at it. Ms. Shereen -- our Add Math tuition teacher -- gave us all -- her class(es) -- duit raya! Haha. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Hehe. Dah dapat 1st duit raya. Muahaha! That's all for now. Au revoir.

Vespa Casual (Special) Vespa Gran Lusso Leather Two pairs of nice Adidas Originals shoes. Both are from their Vespa collection. Both are very nice and I am sure they cost A LOT. Maybe a pair of shoes for my birthday? No. I don't know. I don't know what to ask for my birthday. Maybe I shouldn't? *Sigh*. Previously, I used to have lists and lists of what I wanted and from there I would cancel them one at a time until I knew what I was gonna ask for based on how much I wanted it, whether it was practical and whether it was reasonably priced. I'm sorry for the dull and melancholic post here guys -- and girls. Its just that I'm afraid it isn't normal not to ask for something for your birthday. Or is that something only 10 year olds do? Hmm. THAT is something to contemplate. By the way, congratulations to QM & Lina for coming out. Congrats girls!

My HP Mini is back up! Woohoo! We had a surge that blew my adapter. We've been going around looking for it but none of the stores we went to carried it so we got it from the HP Center in KL. Good thing it was still under warranty. Alhamdulillah they had in stock at the time so I got a new one on the spot. The service center itself was quite nice. Afterwards, we went to drop something off at Taman Tun Dr Ismail -- I think. I remembered the clinic across the street where I once got my BCG shot. It feels good to have my own laptop back. No more borrowing Akid's. But it was fun to use. Remind me to transfer whatever pictures I saved to my newly revived Mini. School is starting tomorrow but I don't feel like going. *Sigh*. Oh well, what can I do? The most exhaustive/boring part of the school routine is waking up early. I think that's what bugs me the most. Anyways, can't wait for my birthday!! 10 days to go...

The power surge was fixed on Monday. I know, it was a long time ago. I'm so sorry for the late update. My laptop ran out of battery and the power surge -- unfortunately -- killed the AC adapter. But the fuse for the cable itself is intact. It is SO frustrating. But I've set up a temporary account on Akid's Sony VAIO. Muahaha! So we're sharing. Getting used to Vista's set up. Not bad. Nice graphics. Besides that, the surge knocked out 3 of our Astro decoders, my filter pump and the cooking hood. Oh not to mention Akid's night light. Ah well. I didn't go to school today. Wasn't feeling well. It was so good to see Liyana at tuition afterwards. I missed her dearly. After tuition today, Abah, Akid & I went to the Pasar Ramadan at D'Pangkin for the heck of it. We bought two Murtabak(s), a box of Kuih Pelita -- Akid's favorite -- from Sofea's stall and some thing else for Mama and Abah. Also from Sofea's stall. Hehe. It ...

My house just had a power surge and now I am in total darkness. Yahoo. Remind me again why I can't just kill the electrician who did the house? Oh yeah, its illegal. Ah well, too bad. Anyway, the house is pitch dark and its getting really warm in here. God knows how am I supposed to get a good night's sleep. To make matters worse, tomorrow is a public holiday so no one will be around to help. God. My fam will probably go hang out at a mall or something. Though I seriously, seriously doubt it.

I found this old picture while browsing through the internet. Maybe its just the car afficionado in me because it is nothing special really but it just struck me. It is three Ford GT40s crossing the line during the 1996 Le Mans race.

When Ramadan came, I was excited to go back to Taiping because normally during Ramadan, at around 6 or so, my cuz and I play a bit of soccer. I always lose but hey, its fun. Not losing, having fun with my cousin is fun. Anyway, I thought we would be going back at the end of Ramadan. I was wrong. We went back to Taiping on the FIRST day of Ramadan. Hehehe. After my Add Math tuition that Saturday morning, I went back, packed up and after helping my mom a bit with the baking of two Crumbly Apple Pies -- my mom's Apple Pies are so YUMMY (Homer's day-dreaming tone).... my mouth is watering at the thought of it -- we hit the road. But first, we visited my cousins who just got back from Canada. It was good to see them again. They renovated their house quite a bit. It is very nice now. The boys are die-hard Man Utd fans and they decided to repaint their room in the same color & pattern as M.U.'s latest jersey. Yep, that die-hard. We left and hit the highway to arri...

I'm sorry everyone! I've been neglecting my blog. As many of you know -- and experienced -- we had our exams recently. It was OK. Phyiscs and Add Math felt easier. I'm afraid I messed up my Chemistry. NOOO! I used to be good at Chemistry... Hopefully, I'll pass, at least. Now I am free! Muahaha. I'm not going to school today. Not that I don't want to -- I really want to -- but my parents aren't letting me go on two reasons; Exams are over and they don't expect any learning to take place Fridays are the busiest days of my week. It's kinda a bummer but at least I'll still get to see Liyana on Saturday during Add Math tuition. Hehehe. Anyway, I was reading QM's blog and her latest post is about phobias. So I clicked the link on her blog and took a look at my fears. I know I have them but I am not paranoid by them or anything. They're more like annoyances than anything else really. Except buzzing/flying bugs. I always involunt...

Worry. There are so many things to worry about. Exams, H1N1, relationships, etc. Which reminds me, my Exams are near, my Add Math is weak. I haven't started studying yet. I'm afraid I'm going to fail Physics and Add Math -- again. I don't want to fail Physics and Add Math And to make everything a whole lot worse; Liyana is very, very sick. I hope she gets well soon. She's under a self-imposed quarantine.

I changed places in class today. I want to give it a shot. My results have been horrible and I really REALLY want to turn them around. Naturally, Liyana isn't too pleased about it. Neither am I but I need to do this to try and turn my grades around. Unfortunately however, Syarul's books are still in the desk and I really am too lazy to move it. I found I can focus better in my new place but unfortunately, its also lonelier. Liyana used to be right behind me so whenever I was bored or the teacher finally stop yapping, I could just turn around and just immerse myself in this safe sanctuary where I can escape the worries and pains of reality, be it even for the shortest while. Hmm. Should I go back to my place in front of Liyana or stay at Syarul's old place beside Ayie? I don't know. I'm torn between my concern for the future and my care for the present.

Yesterday, my family & I went to KLCC because my mom wanted to buy some gifts for a friend who was going back to the US or something. But apparently he's a really great guy and everyone likes him because my mom managed to collect 2 Grand ++. Is that a lot or what? So we arrived around noon and had lunch at Burger King. I had their new Double Stacker and Akid had their Triple Stacker. Hmph. He's the one who needs to be watching his waist line. Anyway, afterwards, we went to Swatch and my parents browsed through the watches and came across this very, very nice Irony chronograph. Everyone agreed on it and we put it aside, saying we'd come back. Before we left, my mom asked me which watch do I like -- because my current watch is falling apart and hinting for a new one for quite a while. Hehe. I had recently came across this neat watch from the online Fall-Winter catalogue and picked it. It looked neat but I wanted to compare it with another watch I had been eyein...

This post marks my 150th post! Woohoo! 150 posts published on everything in my life. I think the latest name, Eclectique, fits. I started this post to express my feelings at the time -- specifically about a Brazilian martial art called capoeira, hence the URL. But from there, it has expanded to cover my latest interests, important events and my ideas, covering much much more than simply capoeira. Woohoo! 150 posts! Au revoir

Just wanted to update my 'Bucket List'. 1. Go back to the US. Preferrably Massachusettes. Especially during autumn 2. Go to a nice college in the US. Hopefully nothing too intimidating. 3. Be able to slow dance on a beach at sunset or under the stars with her. 4. Catch an All Blacks vs. Wallabies game. vs.

Today, we went to celebrate my dad's birthday. When I woke up, both my parents were downstairs so I sneaked down and wished my dad a happy birthday. Then I went back up decided what to wear. Somehow most of the clothes that we wore needed to be ironed so my mom ironed her clothes, my brother's and mine while my dad ironed his. He insisted. All of us dressed casual-smart. We hit the road about 11:30 or so. On the way it was a nice drive. Light-hearted with laughter and chatter. We entered Putrajaya and after a slight detour -- due to a wrong turn -- we passed by the Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC) and it is an impressive building. Abah says it is like a hotel on the inside. There were so many flags outside. All the states' flags along with dozens and dozens of Malaysia's flag; the Jalur Gemilang. When we saw Pullman Hotel from the distance as we approached, we could see the architecture was marvelous. When we pulled into the parking lot and s...

I'm back from Weii Syuen's get-together. Firstly, thanks a lot Weii Syuen, I had a lot of fun! I'm pretty sure we all did. I took a lot of candid pictures. Muahaha! And some wacky ones too, of course. Anyway, before I went to SF Pizza, Michael ran into me in front of my tuition center. I was chatting a bit with Liyana and whether she should go to the gathering. I told her to make her own choice based on her own judgement. She cycled home to discuss with her mom so Michael & I headed to SF Pizza first. We didn't see anyone we know so we swung by into a gift shop that apparently opened up quite recently.` While we were about to leave, Tze Yie stepped in because she saw us. Haha. So the three of us headed to San Francisco and apparently, Sher Lin was already there so we greeted her. After a brief discussion over whether to sit inside or outside, we opted to sit outside where we could put more tables together in case we needed to. We were enjoying ourselves, ...

I just completed SMKBJ's first Ecocyle or ExploRace as everyone calls it. It was a lot of fun. Wil Sern, Tze Yie, Shuet Yee & Sen Yong were a lot of fun. They were all great sports. Tze Yie can hula hoop for 30 seconds! And that was her first time trying! She's good. Wil Sern was our guide as most of the track was in the Kubah-Serambi area. Shuet Yee & her brother were awesome. Especially during the second challenge where we had to tie our legs together and hop. Shuet Yee was very good during the third challenge; picking out what leaf belonged to which plant. I blew my back tire. Hehe. But its fixed now. Went straight to the store in TTDI Jaya after the event. Faris's team came in first apparently. I had a great time. Besides the blown tire. Time went by so fast. We should do it again. Oh and Afif's team gave me their 100 Plus. Haha.

Lamenting Malaysia's recent switch from teaching Science & Math subjects to Bahasa, I must say, this has to be the worst decision in a very long history of bad decisions. A round of applause everybody. Yahoo for our wise leaders. They did a similar thing when I was in standard 6. Halfway through the year, a mere months before UPSR -- our first major exam -- they swapped to English. Bravo. Smooth move, doing it halfway through the year. But our leaders' latest move is by far, the worst. Their biggest concern was that the margin between the rural-area students and urban students was widening. Another concern was the lack of teachers who could converse fluently in English. On the contrary, there are a lot of teachers who have perfect grammar. Never mind the accent, the grammar is what counts. And I believe rural students just need the right support. They don't need teachers who call them stupid and discourage them from learning. A sad, sad trait of Malaysians. ...