Talladega Nights

Guess what activity is best done during ramadhan? ........ watching Talladega Nights with housemate! (mampuih la sesat korang kalau ikut ajaran aku).

Went to Odeon at Trafford Centre. It's one of the biggest cineplex around with 20 cinemas in it. This is the 2nd time i went to the Traford centre.. me-thinks. Last time i went was 1 year ago, but it did not register in my head that the place is called Trafford Centre. And at that time, the place seem so far away!

Decided to go to the movie because Din has got a few free movie tickets left for this month. He needs to finish it by the end of this month, so i volunteered to help him finish them up. :D. Sorry ya Dini! Culik ur boyfriend. Haha.

The movie was one of those stupid but entertaining movies. I know for sure that this is not a movie qz would enjoy, because it will insult her intelligence. :). But for rumet.. ok la.. i guess. Ahaha. The plot was simple, but i don't want to ruin it by telling any of u peeps. Will Ferrel and Adam McKay did good. They wrote the script and even produced it. Kewl.

It was already 545 when we got home. Decided to TRY to cook again, this time, ayam sweet sour. Alhamdulillah, this time, at least, it tasted nice, although it turned out to be Ayam Masak Merah! aahha.. Whatever. I surprise myself.

How do you cook ayam sweet sour? and i still wonder, how do you make the chicken look darker? humm?? humm?? Oh well, my motto for cooking now is 'janji boleh makan'. SO dear housemates, u guys with have to bear with my cooking. Either that, or we go buka puasa Mcdougalls everyday.. Nasi Briyani Kambing!

Yeahhh!!!

Buka Puasa

Heheh... Satu benda yg best kat sini.. buka puasa sini free beb! Siap ada dapur yg tak berasap sepanjang ramadhan sebab tak pernah miss bukak puasa kat masjid. Rumah aku alhamdulillah la, stakat ni berasap lagi. Walaupon yg mengasapnya 2 org housemet aku kan.. Esok baru aku nye turn.. bukan sebab malas k.. :D

tadi makan kat McDougal's mosque dengan housemate. Mula-mula tension gila coz bas tak sampai sampai. tunggu punya tunggu bas tak sampai sampai. Waarghh!! Mujur la Din bawak kurma 3 biji. Cey, mula mula kerek, tanak bawak kurma sebab ingat buleyh sampai on time, sekali... fail! Thanx la Din.. ko la penyelamat dunia masa tu. Dapat merasa buka puasa kat bus stand. Tapi berbekalkan semangat untuk belasah briyani kambing. kitorang tiga org sanggup tunggu. Dlm kepala dok bayang briyani kambing jek. Motivasi diri. Heheh.

So, after 40 minutes of waiting, bus no 85 pon sampai.

Oh.. Btw Kat sini.. subuh pukul 430. Maghrib Pukul 707. So technically, puasa kat sini lagi panjang dari Malaysia. Heheh. Tak pe.. nanti dekat hujung nanti, makin pendek kot. Agaknya la.

Aanyways.. sampai kat mosque dah lambat.. org dah start makan. Solat pon mmg la tak khusyu' kan.. bau kambing beb! Briyani beb! makan kurma jek beb! Bile masuk bilik makan tu.. ingatkan sure dah habes dah makanan, tapi banyak gile lagi! berdulang dulang lagi ada! nasi briyani kambing ni.. di ulangi. nasi briyani kambing!

Makan 2 pinggan tadi.. eh.. 3 pinggan.. eh. 4 pinggan .. ahahhaa. Tapi kan.. pak arab yg dah mula awal tadi.. tak berenti makan lagi.. Rasanya mau ada 7 - 8 pinggan sorang! Dewa gila!!!

Haih.. nyesal plak tak amik gambar. Terpaksa la pergi lagi skali esok! hoyeah!

Mcdougal's Rock!

P/s - Apsal aku bunyi cam Remp-IT ni. Aahahha. "Luuu.. bikin hati gua panaassss la beb"

60 > 110

3. Mosques

The ISoc has also been working on improving the prayer facilities on both campuses.

South campus - Alhumdulillah we were given the ‘Muslim Student Centre’ (MSC) [what used to be called ‘Mcdougalls Centre’] to replace ‘Ambrose’ last year. We have been in talks with the university to renovate the building which inshaAllah will take place during the summer of 2007.

North campus (UMIST) – Work has been completed to increase the number if persons allowed into the prayer room from 60 to 110 Alhumdulillah. Moreover we are continuing our efforts to increase the numbers still. We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for patience.

Please find attached a map for both university mosques.

4. Iftars

As always, iftars will be provided at both university mosques on weekdays throughout the whole of Ramadhan inshaAllah. It is a great place to be especially when the Muslim campus community come together in this holy month.

Taraweeh prayers are also read at both mosques after isha prayer which is at 9pm .

If you would like donate money for the iftars then please contact:

Imam Habeeb ( south campus) – 07717744096 or Br Mahmoud ( north campus) – 07791344976.

If you would like to get in touch with us or find out more, then please email us on info@manchesterisoc .com or visit our website www.manchesterisoc. com.

Do keep us in your duas, JazakumAllahu Khayran,

Wassalaam

Your Islamic Society

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Makan free.. yeah!

cheers

60 Org...

Just wanna share this pic. It's posted in front of the Prayer room in Main building in the campus..

Figures.

Half of second week

Let's see.. what have i done so far..:

a) Crashed a party - It has been welcoming parties galore here in Manchester. Most of them held in The University halls. But i just went this one time and crashed it anyways. Coz they don't really check whether you are a resident. Free Booze and everything. I got to play pool with south africans, pakistanis, and also china. Won a few, lost a few. But i won all singles games! Hahah. I am now international. Ho yeah! Looking forward to crash more parties! :)

b) Settled registration - it has been a daunting task for some. But alhamdulillah for me, everything went well. The university has introduced this online system thingee starting this year where you have to do your academic and financial registration online. I managed to get my swipe card/Student ID earlier tha most people coz i managed to settle evrything online. It's a pity for some because they could not even log in to their online accounts and was asked to go around campus to sort out their problems. ANyways.. now i have a swipe card! yeay!


c) Went through Orientation - The orientation sessions were very informative. I've had a chance to meet new friends. Left to Right in the pic:

Aliff - Undergrad in Aerospace

Syed - Postgrad in Project Management. Worked with a chinese construction company for the past 2-3 years. Was stationed in Sarawak.

Myself

Kalai - Lecturer in Uniersiti Teknologi Petronas. Doing Postgrad as well.

Roy - Post grad in Information Systems. Born in Medan, Indonesia. Undergrad in National University of Singapore in IT.

Yow - Phd Student in Physics. Did his undergrad here in Manchester. Already 6 years in Manchester and he really loves walking. :)

I have met more friends around campus and the group has grown. There's Janet, Edmund, Adrian, Devian, and more. I'll describe more about them when we get some pics taken.

d) Still waiting to open up an HSBC account - Apparently we have to do it online firt and wait for them to post over the documents. Am still waiting.. Yeesh. Natwest is a more student-friendly bank, but some sources say that their internet banking sucks. Everything here is online here in manchester.. from buying a bus pass, renting dvds, getting a cinema ticket, choosing a phone contract, up to buying theatre ticket, u name it. They even give special rates for online customers, so it's not worth the trip to their offices/shops. SO i need to have a goog internet banking support. It's still HSBC for me!

e) Checked out Careers Service - The unversity has its own careers service. Its a dedicated unit to help out students to get their part time and full time jobs. If some of you are interested, they also have limited access for non students. Just check out this their site.

They have documentation on how to write CVs, cover letters, and also a link to another kewl website which help you identify your motivationa and skills, and suit it to the most appropriate job for you. Kewl huh? Just go and have a look if u r interested.

f) Malaysian Society Welcoming Gathering - Free pizzas! Free Diet Cokes! and they are from Pizza co! :). The best pizza.. coz it's free! Haha. Anyways, they organized this session to help out Malaysian students in Manchester to get themselves set up. Q's like the how to get a bus pass?, which phone contract is the best?, where to get halal food?, what if you want to travel across europe? and all sorts of Q's have been answered best to their own experience.

If any of you want to travel across europe, Check out this KelanaConvoy site. It's a Malaysian Company and they organze trips across Europe. Mind you, the price is in Pounds and it does not include the trip from Malaysia (if you are in Malaysia). However, one of the Malaysian Soc. committees is working with this travel agency and she said that it's the most family and muslim friendly travel agency. They will really take care of you. Btw, Thanx Jun! for the info!

And oh, we are going to Cheshire Oaks this Saturday. I personally what to get some winter clothing. Cheshire Oaks is a huge Factory Outlet where they have all sorts of branded stuff! SHopping!! SHopping!! Example.. you can get Clarks shoe for 30-40 pounds.. and it's buy 1 free 1!

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Btw, people know me now as Abg Fadh! Apparently everybody knows Elin here. Ahaha.. Nini.. i now know how you feel when u went to MMU and people start calling you 'Adik Tapai'. Ahaha.

[To Elin : I already met Lucas. Great guy. He even promised to hook me up with his basketball friends. :p Need to exerciseee... meeyorrhh. meyorrhhh.]

Pheww! quite a week huh? there are lots more things that i could write on, but maybe insignificant for you. (ALthough most of the info on top is irrelevant.. sorry..:))

And oh, Managed to get Sabrina on YM Messenger Pc-PC call. The line was damn clear. Talked for more than an hour! ahaha. I'm Lucky that it's free! :P (Another irrelevant info for you, i guess..:P)

Whoa.. Loads more to come.. I love Manchester! (Although Man U Kalah 1-0 ngan Arsenal.. ahahah)

Cheers.

1st week of Manchester

1st week of Manchester

What can i say, it has been exciting!

ALhamdulillah, the Malaysia-SIngpapore-Manchester trip went well. No air pockets in between, no customs issues, and no lost baggage in between. Everything went smoothly.

When i reached the airport, it was 630 in the morning, 20 minutes earlier than expected. I met Jeff, a taiwanese who will be doing his phd. I also met up with a mother-son combo. Mrs Kim and Andy. They are a friendly bunch. The international society was very helpful. They picked us up and send us straight to home. The weather was surprisingly beautiful, said the working staff. Usually it would be around 13 degrees, but the day we arrived, it was 22 degress. Beautiful weather!

I adjusted quite quickly, thanx to my housemates, my junior (Tambun) and a few Mcot juniors. Khairul is still here, and i am using his PC. I will be replacing his spot in this house. He is doing a few jobs around and we share this room a little. But i get the bed. :). My other housemates:

Syed - Doing his ACCA and also driving licence. ALready have a work permit and works as a stadium steward in the Old Trafford Centre.

Din - The one that introduced me to this house. He is doing his undergrad in Aerospace Engineering. Currently working in a cinema and gets 12 tickets for free (monthly?.. weekly? not sure)

Will and Kumar - Both are now working in a shipping business. Don't see them a lot. They are very busy because now is the peak season for shipping. I'm not really sure what that means but it sure means that money is coming in. :)

Khairul - currently my roommate. He is also working in a shipping company. But latest news is that he will be going to Birmingham to work in a farm. He wil be staying in a caravan for 3 weeks. Kewl.

MCOT actually stand for Malaysian Community of Old Trafford. As the name implies.. it's for Malaysians in Old Trafford, but somehow, since the community is active, the university decided to have them help out to welcome ALL the students from Malaysia, living ALL around Manchester. They are a very helpful bunch. One of them is my junior back in SDAR. A few of his housemates brought me to town centre to buy a few essentials.

You guys know what a Duvet is? being a kampung guy, i did not. Well, it's like a comforter, but u buy the cover and the inside of the comforter separately. Kewl huh. SO that u are not stuck with one design of comforter. You can change the cover as you please.

Another amazing fact is that i can now call home or any other landline (we call it fixed line in Malaysia) for free using a VOIP service. A bit of lagging, but negligible. It actually depends on the local access quality back in Malaysia because data is very noise sensitive. Oh well, as long as i can call home without any noise, it is ok.

And oh, not to mention the PC-PC call. Marvellous. Had a few initial problems to contact Sabrina on the VOIP service. But turns out, her sound card might be at fault. Tried using Mazlin's PC. It was just fine. Talked for hours! Thanx Mazlin! Jangan Jeles kay! CInta Antara Benua. Ahaha.

Elin.. Nini.. install la skype. We can do PC-PC call later on.

All in all, it has been an exciting and fruitful week. More on the next post!

Cheers!

Random Post

Umi said,"Walaupun esok kiamat, dan ada benih di tangan, maka tanamlah benih tu"

Now i know where i got my public speaking skills (if any) from.

Well, i haven't been blogging lately, neither reading nor posting, as u may have noticed. Maybe i am just saving all the ideas and will update once i get to Manchester.

Yes, i am still going to Manchester, and the flight is still this sunday, 2145 Hrs.

Nini is already in Romania. Good luck to her. Are u online dear? How was the trip? How are things in Romania? Update la ur blog... (look who's talking).

A few of Nini's friends came to KLIA to send her off. 5 of them. Lina, Jared, Pravin, An, and Victor. AHha.. sure tak sangka i memorized all of ur friends' name do yah. They gave Nini a going away gift, some sort of sunflower doll. or sumthing. I don't know what it's called. But it was nice of them.

Things were not as emotional as expected. Umi and Papa were stable. Only Lina was Teary-eyed. She was biting Nini at any given chance. Unique.. how she shows here love :).

Myself? well, i was stable as well, but can't help feeling sad.

I was sure before that i will not be emotional this sunday, but now, i have my doubts. I hate parting. I hate leaving my family behind. I hate having to leave my loved one behind.

But i need to do this. I need to go get my postgraduate degree. I need to cherish all the time i have in Manchester (and in UK). I need to mingle around, experience as much of UK as i can and bring it back to Malaysia.

Why?

Coz this is my journey.

A journey of a thousand steps.