Fit in my KASUT!

My struggle in Newcastle

It's been like, what, 2 week since i last updated my blog? now I'm in the UK, newcastle to be exact. Life here is kinda okay. The mat salehs are very friendly, and most importantly,they respect. My flatmates,are all cool. They're definitely considerate,although I'm the only Asian/Muslim in the flat. at first,i was kinda skeptical,whether or not,I'll fit in just fine. But to my dismay,i actually do. I've been working hard, to put aside my differences with them, and trying to not be judgmental and ethnocentric, and it helps a whole lot. I've joined them playing poker (which,i actually knew nothing about, and is slowly picking up the game), but of course, i know where my limit lies. I'm not betting any money, and the most that they've bet is like, 1 pound.. So as far as my limited knowledge is concern,as long as i don't attain/lose any money in the game, it should not be sinful. Other than that,I've been invited to some party,and I'm considering of joining them as well. But that depends on my mood later,i don't want others to make a big fuss out of it.For some,this is a big deal,but for me,it's a good start to socialize. As Muslim, i know my limit,and I'm trying hard to put up some distance as not to cross the religious border. Hopefully,this ain't no culture shock,he he.

Puasa ke Poseur??

Nampaknya, bulan ramadhan dah bermula. Kepada umat Islam, mereka akan menahan diri dari makan, minum dan yang sewaktu dengannya. Memperhebatkan amalan diri, bagi mengutip keredhaan-Nya. Bulan ni, akan bermula lah orang memenuhi masjid dan surau, akan ramailah perempuan-perempuan yang mula berjinak-jinak dalam fesyen bertudung, akan gembiralah anak-anak kecil bermain polis sentry semasa bapa-bapa bersolat tarawikh. Itulah antara fenomena yang acapkali di perhatikan di bulan puasa.

                                                                                                            

Ramai akan berkata, "eh, puasa is a good opportunity for me to quit smoking, to menjauhkan kemungkaran, to segala-galanya lagi lah". Bagus-bagus, tindakan dan keazaman yang wajar di puji. Salute & tabik springgggggg! (sfx iklan adibah noor).

                                                                                              

Tapi yang tak berapa nak best nyer, bulan ni akan dijangkakan statistik penyakit gastrik akan bertambah, penyakit hati akan berkurang sedikit, tapi penyakit membazir akan mencecah indeks yang melampau. Puasa jer, mulalah, pergi bazaar ramadhan, beli segala macam jenis juadah (bercakap ikut pengalaman sendiri ni.. he he). Kuih pelita la, murtabak laa, roti john la, popia basah la, air tebu, soya, jagung, bubur yang bewarna-warni, nasi campur, semuanya cukup (gulp, laparnyerrrr).

                                             

Rasa-rasa, si pembeli punya kuantiti barangan, mengalahkan kuantiti barangan yang dimiliki oleh Sang peniaga, macam boleh bukak gerai sendiri pulak. Dan bila seminggu nak raya, orang akan membanjiri gedung-gedung baju, dan bagi yang mampu, akan berkira-kira duit simpanan untuk memperbaharui segala jenis perabot rumah. Yer la, raya setahun sekali, tapi hutang credit card yang ditanggung, mahu sepuluh tahun baru terbayar beb...

                                 

Tapi yang best nyer, bulan puasa menggalakkan perkembangan sihat di dalam keluarga. Ibu-ibu dan bapa-bapa akan dapat meluangkan masa untuk berbuka dengan anak-anak di rumah... Drum roll ("utamakan keluarga, semakin hari semakin sayang" - sambil dato' Sharizat memberi thumbs Up!).

                                  

P/s- walaubagaimanapun, hopefully bukan di bulan puasa jer kita  baru nak jadi baik. Bulan januari, febuari dan seterusnya kena la kita berterusan memperbaiki diri. Nasihat ini, di dedikasikan untuk diriku sendiri! :P

Bahasa Melayu Hebat !!?

Pada waktu lapang (read - time2 bosan), saya gemar melayari internet. mengupdate blog, yang kelihatan syok sendiri sambil memeriksa emel. Tapi, recently, ada la gak melawat ke satu blog, kepunyaan seorang wartawan melayu. susun aturnya kemas, dan ada banyak gambar. Bukan la blog pasal gosip-gosip artis, tapi lebih kepada yang bercorak reflective dan mengenai isu2 semasa di malaysia. tapi, yang lebih best nya, ada seorang brazillian ni telah mengambil effort untuk mentranslate entry-entry wartawan itu ke dalam bahasa inggeris. out of interest, i think. He doesn's speak malay, yet he's trying to decipher the entries, as precisely as possible. Tapi, kadang2 kelakar la juga, sebab translation itu, lari jauh dari apa yang dimaksudkan.

                                                                           

That's not what i'm focusing right now, what i'm trying to say is, Hey, tak cool dan hebat ke, sebab ada foreigner yang start from zero untuk mengkaji bahasa Malaysia, better yet, he's doing it alone, i.e. strictly based on internet refferences, no formal classes what so ever. wonderfully, he even admits that the blog has sparked interest in him, to someday come and visit Malaysia. Pelik kan, orang luar cakap bahasa kita indah, tapi kita sendiri take it for granted. Take a look on my blogs, bercampur aduk. Rosak-rosak....

                                                 

Tapi worries not (macam tak kena je utk guna this phrase), we aren't alone. Similarly, many english speaking people are starting to take their mother tongue for granted as well. Broken grammars, and faulty adjectives are starting to make their special cameos in the holywood movie. That day, i saw Oprah explaining the difference between "effect" and "affect", as well as "lie down" and "lay down". Things that many of us would haf known for ages. I'd say, languages has deteriorated soo much, all around the globe.

Incident 2 September

Aritu, someone said...
"Aperla pakcik tu. Arini baru nak pakai baju bendera Malaysia. Dah lepas laa. Merdeka celebration."

Man, that strucked me like hell. I couldn't respond much, just shuckled and give that guy a big fugly grin. Dalam hati i sed,

"Rupanya, rakyat malaysia cuma jadi patriotik pada bulan ogos je.."

Shame shame.. Sebab, saya pun macamtu.

P/s- totally love A. Samad Said's puisi kemerdekaan. Monumentally beautiful!

Middle-Valley meeting!

Pada hari Ahad yang lalu, bertarikh 2 September, Saya telah pun keluar berjalan-jalan bersama rakan-rakan. Berjalan-jalan, sambil bergelak ketawa. (wait, i'm turning the dork mode off)

                               

processing...
STILL processing......
Cranky mode, ACTIVATED.

                                                         

Haha, that very sunday. I went out. Dengan hajat di hati, untuk gather. quite a few friends were invited, Me (duhh), Mizan, Dzeti, Sara, and Mysara.Before going there, i was hoping to atleast, do some final catch up with them. Exchanging stories, and reliving the good ol' days. but to my dismay, HAMMMMPAAAAASSSSS!!!! Muahaha.Yer la, rancangnyer pukul 12TGh. Mizan showed up around 11.30 kat MidVal, and i arrived a little later than scheduled (12.05, darn ktm with its sh*tty off schedule).

                                                   

Tapi yang tambah membengangkan, Dzeti ingat kumpul pukul 3, and sara cakap pukul 5 baru dia boleh sampai. Melaka jam (dia balik kg the day before). Takper la, mujur mizan was there. We did some non-retail therapy, seriously, went window shopping for 3-4 hours. Kaki rasa nak tercabut jer. Tried out clothes, and went camera-paranoid.memula nak tgk movies, tapi the line was like, a human train, literally. Last-last, makan hotdog jer.lepas tu, makan kat food court, and lepas tu lagi makan kat Marrybrown. (cash flow, mengalir keluar dgn deras, KACHING!)

                                                               

Bila dzeti sampai, things start to get stupid, really really stupid. Laffter begins to kick in, and i dgn mizan tak henti2 tease her. sampailah, Hisham arrive, baru stop. Then sara pulak dtg, and this time, i was victimized (i know, quite a faulty adjective). Sara, Mizan, and Mysara tagged up, mengejek my chinese ancestry, and my mata yg kecik. Takper-takper, tengok la. nanti memalam, kamu-kamu akan diganggu oleh chinese corpses yg lompat2 tu. he he. Tapi, i wasn't mad. When they called me by names (or more accurately, acted up). Sebab we're close buds.Things like that, ease up my nerve instead of wrecking them. Tapi, sometimes, when other people do that to me, lebih2 lagi org yg tak rapat, i'd boil up and snap. So awassss.Unless u're in my comfy zone, don't even try to do that.

                                                         

p/s- sorry mizan, for all the bruises on ur, well, asset! hehe, nanti i kasi anti-bruise cream.