plans for the holiday

been almost a week since i got back. as much as i want to occupy my free time with plenty of activites and events, somehow the weather just won't allow me. including this time, it's been 5 days straight rainy day in kuantan. sigh~ baru ingat nak pergi mandi dekat water world yang baru bukak. adoi.

but nevertheless it won't stop me from hanging out with my family and friends. though there's some problems with my phone, stupid Celcom, guna phone adik aku jela. haha.

last night i watched the liverpool vs man city match. to be honest, i'm not really a big fan of epl. and thus didn't really follow the updates. i'm more a serie A person. so far i still haven't found many people who share the same interest. probably because i wasn't looking for one.

the main point here is that there's some distinct differences i noticed when i watched the game. and when i asked my friend, he confirmed my opinion. i found that epl games are rougher and their defenders use more body strength to guard their areas. the games are also more fast paced, especially when attacking. then again like i said, i don't have many experiences watching epl, so my opinions can't be trusted.

as for serie A, the games are more tacticals, slow paced and less body contact. i mean at the back. sometimes it gets to the point that the games becomes too bored to watch and you just can't be bothered to hold your eyes open anymore, especially when the games start at 3 or 4 am in the morning. lol. last-last tunggu result keluar esoknya. haha.

perhaps that's why people enjoyed watching epl rather than other leagues. more unexpected scenes, more drama. and at times, more injuries. kawan aku cakap, sekarang ni trend injury kat groin. dulu tak pernah dengar groin tu ape. haha.

anyways, i'm still in the middle of brainstorming for plans during this summer break. if you have brilliant ideas, throw it out here and i might just consider it (:

happy holidays everyone!

home sweet home

i am merely few hours away from my flight back home to malaysia and i can't bear to shut both my eyes! haven't been sleeping for almost 20 hours now, and i am forced to stay awake or risk missing the flight scheduled early in the morning.

exams just finished couple of days ago. how i felt like an unbearable load has been taken off my chest! phew~ weren't the best exams period, but i think i did alright. hopefully better than last year's at least. and please dear God, let us all excel in this exam! (:

now i have to make plans for the summer break. though plenty has been set by my family without my presence, i still need to come up with a masterplan, of something light and fun. recreational time i would say. oh yeah, to you, i've bought the present as requested. now you have to hold your end of the deal. hehe. i want burger king! see you when i got back!

as crazy as it sounds, i've filled the two days gap before i go back with plentiful of walking, window shopping and gifts scavenging. oh yeah, scavenging alright. no mistake there. though it may not exactly be in the garbage or waste deposits, but it reflected just how desperate i am to find the presents within just two days! i think i've used up more energy in that two days than i have if i played soccer for one full game. just great.

i guess this would be my last post from australia, for this year. this year's been pretty exciting, with various good and bad things happened throughout the whole year. but i'm glad that it makes me who i am today. for i am still grateful with whatever i have left. haha. as if i've had much more before. anyway, may the coming years be even better. i have a dream to accomplish, and it won't be achieved overnight. so yeah, work on it hasif!

goodbye australia! see you again next year!

a constant reminder

today i read several articles which really touched me as a person and as a believer. for the past few days, i have been secluding myself from the outside world, merely because i want to focus on studying. but it was proven unsuccessful, as i periodically surfed the net, reading news and checking football scores. however, i am glad that i came across this website, that has given me good insights for me to develop myself into a better individual. without doubt, the site is now one of my good reading's link.

couple of weeks ago, i took a big step forward for myself, and right now, i am shouldering huge responsibilities, not to myself, but to people who are expecting a lot from me. from time to time, i sometimes wonder if i can ever pull off the tasks given to me. but after reading the articles today, i believe that as human, i can only do my best, and the rest is for the higher power to determine. 'usaha, doa dan tawakal'. this is among the phrases that i constantly reminded myself, long ago, until i forgotten when i got lost in the sea of worldly matters.

may this next phrase become a reminder for me in the future, so i will remain true to my obligations, insyaAllah.

“Kamu semua begitu bercita-cita terhadap jawatan kepimpinanan, ia akan menjadi penyesalan pada hari kiamat. Ia sesuatu yang nikmat pada permulaannya tapi keburukan pada akhirnya” (Riwayat al-Bukhari).

storyteller, narrator

kadang-kadang aku terasa macam nak tulis dalam bahasa melayu. tapi aku tak dapat nafikan, bahasa melayu aku memang lemah. kosa kata aku sangat terhad. bahkan aku sendiri kadang kala tercari-cari perkataan bahasa melayu dalam kamus dewan bahasa. siapa kata kamus dewan tak berguna lepas belajar matematik dan sains dalam bahasa inggeris?

orang kata, kalau kita nak pandai berbicara bahasa asing, kita kena pandai guna bahasa ibunda dulu. memang, aku pun tahu aku tak berapa fasih berbahasa inggeris. tapi aku tak putus asa. aku cuba untuk guna kedua-dua bahasa sebaik yang mungkin. aku bukanlah seorang yang puitis. aku tak dapat menggunakan bahasa-bahasa kiasan untuk menyampaikan hasrat hati. aku juga tidak pandai menggunakan metafora dan pelbagai lagi elemen-elemen sastera yang lain.

apabila aku baca kembali semua tulisan aku yang lepas, aku dapati perkataan yang aku gunakan sangat mudah. malah apa yang aku berhajat untuk sampaikan melalui tulisan tersebut hanya tinggal hajat. tidak semua dapat aku pamerkan melalui tulisan itu.

aku suka membaca. lebih-lebih lagi membaca mengenai kehidupan orang, masalah yang mereka hadapi, cara mereka atasi masalah tersebut dan juga cara mereka memperoleh kejayaan yang mereka kecapi sekarang. kadang-kadang, aku juga ingin berkongsi pendapat, menyatakan hasrat hati terhadap penduduk dunia, mengubah persepsi mereka tentang sesuatu isu, membuka minda mereka kepada pelbagai lagi alternatif dan pilihan yang boleh difikirkan.

jika boleh, aku hendak semua orang bersikap terbuka, bersikap positif, bersikap toleransi. alangkah indahnya dunia jika hakikatnya begitu. alangkah banyaknya kemajuan yang boleh kita laksanakan jika kita membuka peluang kepada kemungkinan.

tapi aku tidak pandai bercerita. walaupun semuanya bermain di fikiranku. walaupun semuanya aku rasa jauh di sudut kecil hatiku, tapi aku tak berupaya untuk berkongsi semuanya dengan orang lain. amat sukar bagiku untuk memastikan aku sampaikan apa yang aku betul-betul rasakan, fikirkan.

because of that, sometimes i envy people. people who have the wisdom to write and people who have the stories to share. but most of all, i envy people who can do both. i will always look up to them, and learn from them as much as i can. one day, i will be able to stand alongside them, and tell them stories. my stories. when that day comes, i will become the storyteller. i will become the narrator.

pocoyo!

there's nothing wrong asking for help once in a while. otherwise, you might just have to skip a lot of the fun!

i believe we all have that inner child in ourselves, even if we try not to acknowledge it. but hey, what's wrong with having it! at least it reminds us of all the dreams we once had as a kid.

the reluctant politician

another book added into my wishlish, 'The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time'.

one of the quotes i found interesting from the book, said by Tun Ismail himself,

Why did we fight for Merdeka? So that the different races can be divided? That can't be the way, right? That can't be why all these great Malay and Umno leaders fought for this ... Something is wrong... I hope the new discussions will start. Why are we building Malaysia? What Malaysia are we building? What kind of symbol is Malaysia supposed to be?

i already heard stories about Tun before, from a friend i met at the airport. he personally expressed his interest in the politician, saying by far, Tun was the best Malaysian politician, even more than Tun Mahathir himself. at that time, i could not convey any opinions, since that was the first time i've heard of the name. hopefully, the next time i meet him again, i have gone through this book, and then we can discuss in length about Tun Ismail.

Lila

today i discovered a new side of myself. i just figured out that i am enthralled by european culture. Vicky,Cristina Barcelona and Lila says it all.

thought of the day

to reach out to people, start by lending a hand

when the world is flat

recently, i came across a book entitled 'The World is Flat' by Thomas L. Friedson. i was strolling around the library when suddenly there is this one familiar looking book, but with a new and improved cover. i haven't actually read the book yet, and so i took this opportunity to find out what it is about.

to my amazement, the reasoning and explanation given by the author on how he came to the conclusion that the world is flat seemed so convincing. as solid as a steel wall. i remembered one of his points was, in the current era of globalization and technology, everyone stands on equal ground, with the same opportunity for improvement and recognition. if a person is well known in his/her field, there is something exceptionally different and unique about that person which sees him/her stands out from the rest of the crowd within the same area.

before this, between the 1800 and 1999, the world of boundless connectivity was still fresh, with new and more modern technology being discovered every passing minutes. this era was the era of group domination, mostly trading companies, spreading their items and services across the globe, using vehicles as means of transportation. During this time, we can see huge amounts of import and transport took place, using either ships, planes or if not, the usual land vehicles crossed borders of different countries, delivering the required merchandise or services.

however, the current situation demands higher intellectual ability and professional skills rather than raw materials and services. people no longer have to go knit their own clothes, nor do they have to own their personal garden to get vegetables and fruits etc. instead, those who came up with the idea on how to mass produce the item in the shortest amount of time, and afterwards provide the best marketing techniques to sell them off are the people everyone turned to.

if before, scientist discovered that one of the brightest mind of mankind, Albert Einstein only used less than a quarter of his brain potential, with each year passed and every newborn neonates are wiser than their parents, how far have we human reached our brain potential? and how far long must it takes before we fully utilized the ability of our mind?

i do not know the answer to these questions, but what i'm sure is that at this exact moment while i was writing this post, somewhere out there in the world, someone else is making new discoveries. whether we want it or not, we are now in a massive competition against everyone else in the whole world. let's not waste time, and risk failing in the end. let us all put our best effort, and give everything we got to win this competition. good luck.

one

One seed can start a garden. One smile can lift a spirit. One candle can light a room. One conversation can start a friendship. One step can begin a journey. One heart can love many. One person can make all the difference.

i stumbled across this passage while i was surfing the internet, reading through people's blogs. someway somehow, it captured my attention, and i sensed a slight feeling of happiness deep down. hopefully it will do the same to you. (: