Dublin

Off to Dublin till saturday

Dublin! here i come!!

(Maybe i'll meet the puteri there? who knows.. huhuh chuak mimpi tu. serious)

Why i studied the night before the final paper

It was only 9 p.m when i started yawning like crazy.I was really tired that night. Don't really know for what reason, to tell the truth, i did not study much that day, despite having an exam the next day. Tried to push myself out of this sleepinees, but at 10 p.m, i was already snoring.

Suddenly, i heard something moving in my room. I half opened my eyes and i saw a women figure in my room, standing at the edge of the bed. I could only see her back as she was facing the other way. She was wearing a 'kain batik', like those women u see in the old malay movies, washing clothes beside the river.

She turned. The most beautiful thing ever. Her skin is yellowish-brownish and she had long hair. I did not see clearly because i didn't want to open my eyes. But the closest i can describe her, is that she looked a lot like Vanida Imran.

I pretended to be sleeping. But suddenly, she moved towards me. And of all things, she started to wash me. She had this sponge like thing that she soaked in water, and she started to rub my hands and legs. I was really scared. And i started strengthening myself, that this was some kind of test and not to succumb to lust.

but i couldn't bare it anymore, because somehow i knew that she would eventually get to the 'uncomfortable areas'. I opened my eyes and said to her.

"Apa awak buat ni?"
"What are you doing?"

"Tengah mandikan awak. Awak kena bersih, sebelum jumpa puteri"
"I am cleaning u up, before you see the 'princess'"

We talked for a while. I can't remember exactly what we were talking about (or i choose to not remember.. hehe). But towards the end.. i said something like this.

"Cantik awak ni ye..."
"You are very beautiful.."

"Tunggu la nanti bile awak jumpe puteri"
"Wait till you meet the princess"

And that was when i wake up. I quickly looked at the watch and it was only 2 am in the morning. I dared not sleep again. So i studied.

That was why i studied the night before the final paper.

Burung

Aku ada kawan. Satu hari, dia duduk termenung di tepi tingkap. Muka makin serious. Ternyata kepala sedang memikirkan sesuatu. Mengunyah cornflakes sarapan pagi. Makin hilang dirinya dari dunia.

"Kenapa?", aku bertanya.

"Jadi burung nak?", sahutnya.

"Kejadah nak jadi burung?"

"Aku rasa aku takda tujuan hidupla, bohsan, sangap.. tahu dak sangap?"

"Aeknaaaa.. ingat kenapa laa nak jadi burung.. Rilek la brader, banyak lagi benda ko buleh buat. Poyo sangat ko ni.. ingat masalah negara apa laaa tadi.."

Hari tu aku gelakkan dia. Hari ni baru aku faham, apa maksud member aku. Hari ini aku tiba-tiba rasa nak jadi burung. Tiba-tiba rasa tak ada tujuan.

Kenapa?

Sebab aku dah habes exam.. yeay!! merdekaaaa.. merdekaaaa.. merdekaaa!

Terbang bebas jom!

The Green Mile

I was taking a break from my studies (cheewah study konon.) and was trying to catch something interesting to watch on the Sky Tv when i stumbled upon this classic masterpiece. The Green Mile is adopted from The Stephen King's Novel. It has been quite some time since i've seen this movie. Maybe it was back in year 2000.

Anyways, I didn't get to see much, just managed to catch the ending. The ending tagline went something like this : "We all walk on our own Green Mile, each with our own different time". Well, since Green Mile is an institution where they conduct capital punishment via electrocution, the character was definitely referring to death.

It's a very interesting movie. Go and have a look.

Have a nice and fruitful day.

Collide - Howie Day

HOWIE DAY LYRICS

"Collide"

The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah

I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
I somehow find
You and I collide

I'm quiet you know
You make a first impression
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide

Don't stop here
I lost my place
I'm close behind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
You finally find
You and I collide

You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide

Abstract From the Quran : revised

Note : If this is too long, just read the last paragraph.

Assalamualaikum and Happy new Islamic Year to All. Yes, it is again Awal Muharram, the start of the new Islamic Calender Year which is marked upon the HIjrah of the Muhajirin to the Madinah.

A brother gave a talk last night, and it was a very moving speech that got me to start thinking on a few things. One of the things he mentioned that Islam is the key solution to all the problems (through Al-Quran and Sunnah). He was saying that We have to give credit to the westerners on their achievements on technology. They (westerners) have went through a lot, from the separatism of the church from the state, which led to more thinking that led to the Industrial revolution. These experiences has made them achieve lots in terms of technology, maturity of law such as equality and such. However, it is said that they are still lack of the key thing, which is the soul searching of oneself, to feel complete. That is why there is a period called the romanticism, where there were emergences of thinkers who started thinking : what is the meaning of life?

That is where Islam comes in. Brother Asad related that Islam during the time of Rasulullah s.a.w there were two significant phase of Islam, which were Makkah and madinah. Makkah was a time to complete the 'inner self' which more toward strengtehing the iman and takwa. . Madinah, later on, was about the strengthening of the 'outer' Islam, which was about technology, law, economy, all within the guidance of Islam.

And this framework is still applicable to us now. We need to strengthen our inner self and then the outer part in whatever we do. It is a cycle that we need to go through to become a complete human being. Although the journey for each human being might be different.

The cycle can be seen having a long period, like 'makkah' during puberty and teenage years and 'madinah' during the later, more matured years. The cycle can also be seen in a very short period, as in thinking about doing something for the day, or an hour or maybe a longer duration of project for that matter. Example, organizing a project or student activity with your committee. You would have to assess the inner strength of the committees such as individual skills, priorities, what tickles and what stresses them, and how close the committees are with each other. Given all the inner variables strong, insya allah, the other project/activity tasks and issues can be handled without much hassle.

On a more general note, some might not believe that Islam is not the answer, but they can't really deny the relevance of the framework. Strengthening from within, and then from without.

However, this made me think. I am curious. How did the Sahabah and the Muslims during the rasulullah s.a.w era abstract all the knowledge of Technology, Law, Economics from the Quran and sunnah. And how does one answer the questions of Who is god? Who are the human being? What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?. if anybody knows, do share.

My First UK Paper : E-business

Yes! first paper completed. Have 1 more paper to go. To tell you the truth, i'd never answered this kind of application-based questions before. It was really tiring! First i read the exam questions, i went, " What?? what is this question really asking me?". It was like i had to decode the questions first, asking my self, "What is this Q about?", or "which part of the textbook does this Q come from?", or " Any other part or knowledge that i can bring into this Answer?".

Owh, i forgot to tell you about the format. It is a structured-essay kind of Q's, answer 3 out of 5. They gave us 3 hours, meaning 1 hr for each Q (duhhh!). But it tell you, it was a very action-packed duration of time. No rest at all, my right hand was practically screaming frantically,"stop writing you d*mba**!, I feel like killing myself !". And i could just imagine my left hand laughing away and pointing his fingers at the right hand, saying "padan muka!". Ahaha.

It took me 4 pages to answer the first question, 3 for the second, and 2 for the third question. Talk about bashing your hand huh? They didn't ask what A is.. or what B is. They were asking, how do you apply a which portion of A with the combination of B towards realizing C?. Or, How do you advise the realization of C? (without even giving a clue of A or B, just have to think of it urself)

Oh, don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining. Apart from my hands and brain cells screeaming, everything was just alright. Though I had a minor headache after the exams, it is just an indication of how long i haven't been exercising my brain. It was a very good mental challenge.


But mental challenge here is more of analysis/evaluation on evidence that you have gathered, rather than putting everything into your memory and let it gush out on the paper during exams.

Don't know what to say about my confidence level though. well.. 70%? 80%? can't really tell, because structured/essay q's are very subjective to evaluate.


Looking forward to the next mental challenge. Distributed Systems.. here i come!

Approach

Warning : This might not apply to you.

Ever had a feeling that you have discovered something very life changing, but not sure whether it applies the same to everybody? I think it is called self-realization.. or something.

Well, mine was about approach. And it was today. Last week, i was studying (mind you.. studying!) on the Distributed Systems Paper.. and everything went very smoothly. Everything was just clicking and i was able to memorize lots of stuff very quickly.

I tried doing the same with approaching this e-business paper, but somehow, it just felt hard to visualize all the concept. It is as if i has nothing in my past experience that i can 'latch' this new information onto. Well, it took me quite sometime to realize that hey, i've worked in TM for quite a few years and maybe i should skip the general theory and apply all the new information to TM straight away.

Earlier approach was : Text Book>extract general concept>latch to past theorethical knowledge (because for Information Systems, you can't visualize all of the equipments available in practical,you can just visualise generic terms such as routers, or client systems)

Now : Text Book > latch onto past practical knowledge
(Dealing with abstract concepts like efficiency, performance.. how can we visualise such things? well, the best is to latch it onto practical knowledge straight away)

After this new approach towards the E-business subject, it is easier for me to handle the new concepts.

Which brings me to my point, there will surely be different ways in approaching all sorts of things, even though it falls under a smiliar task : studying for exams.

I would love to bring this concept in a broader perspective. (i.e: Approaching women?,Airplane approaching landing lane?, approach reading?, approach marriage?, approach work?, approach stress? approach happiness? Approach educating children?) But that would be endless, and i don't have time for that now.

I know, i know, some of you might be going "Duhhh.. itu pon tak tahu ke?". That's why i included the warning above.

This might not apply to you.

Cheers

Thoughts of meself

Since there's no time to elaborate, i just blab on a few geist of my thoughts

1) I will be conducting a theatre workshop on the 7th of Feb under MSSM. Can't wait for that to happen! Really miss the aroma stageworks group back home.

2) I am considering directing the play for Malaysian Nite. Really interested, just hope that my course load will still give me room and time for that.

3) I am 50% ready for thursday's paper - E-Business. 900 pages of textbook reading! (Now i know why they allocate a reading week in the middle of the semester)

4) Last night, I had naan, chapati with baby chicken, and keema. Damn nice.. yummy!!

5) An awal Muharam event will be held this friday. Tabung For Malaysian Flood victims will be passed around.

6) With all this load, I suddenly feel homesick.

7) Snooker!~.. jom snuker weyh!! Ayil.. rumet.. ceng.. datang sini cepatt!!!.. Aku nak main snukkk...Ahaha.

8) Ski trip! am going for ski trip 2-4 Feb to scotland. Let's hope there's snow. Damn you global warming!!

Ok peeps. Wish me luck!

Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck cLuck Luck Luck Luck (find the odd one)

Wassalam.

p/s: all this is about me! me! ahahah...so think about me! ahahha.. well, except for number 5 of coz. Datang weyh.. jangan tak dtg!

Use your Head!

This is what part of my brain looks like at the moment. Lots of these tree-like stuff hanging in my head.

How did i get to know about this mind mapping thingee? well, it was way back in year 1994 when i first came upon this concept. So i guess lots of people would already know about this. To tell you the truth, i stopped believing in this crap after SPM.

However, Syed introduces me to this book by Tony Buzan, creator of the mind map concept, which stresses the importance of mental literacy. I bet most of us are already financial literate, or IT literate, but how many of us are mental literate.

Won't go in detail about the book. You guys would have to go read it yourself. But i do benefit a lot from the speed reading section of this book. For example, i am now able to cover in 15 minutes study material what i used to cover in 2 hours!!. Now that is efficiency.

Coupled with mind mapping technique, this has really changed my way of seeing things.

I also now know why i tend to easily loose interest, wander off, or need to reed the same line twice. Wel, the answer is quite simple, we need to know how many words can be translated into images in our brain in a certain time. If we read to fast, we tend to strain the eyes and the information has no chance in 'sinking in' the brain. If we read to slow, than we easily wander off and loose interest. There is also a techinuqe in reading. Normally we would go word by word, line by line. Well, there is actually a more efficient and stress free way to do that. But it is kinda hard to put in words, so you guys go ahead and read the book.

I also recommend if you read this book and apply to your kids (if any). They can be geniuses!

All the best! (to me as well, exam next week!)

Wassalam.

Hamhock!

Hehe.. Gua dah jumpa hamhock baru gua! Ingat lagi dak Beny?. Tapi Hamhock kat sini indoor. Tak buleyh beat lagi hamhock kat SIti Hasmah Digital Library tu. Hm, tak tahu ape dah jadi skang ni ngan hamhock tu kan? :P

Haih.. dah dekat dekat exam ni teringat plak masa dekat dekat exam dulu. Masa tu la aku ngan Ayil akan muncul kat library untuk memparasitkan diri. Heheh.

Argh.. miss plak time kacau Dewa dewa dulu. Yat, Beny, Juli, Eewa dan lain lan dewa yg tak tersebut kat sini.

Miss plak time rumet tidor dlm library pas tu berdengkur dengar satu lib.

Miss plak tengok kapel kapel yg bergaduhan kat lib.

Miss plak time kat Melaka.

Miss plak time kat cyber tapi struggle membawak diri pi Melaka untuk cari ketenangan (konon!)

Miss plak masa lepas exam terakhir tu, ramai ramai kumpul depan library tangkap gambar.

btw.. siapa ada gambar tu haa?? dha berapa tahun dah ni. tak up kan lagi!!

Ok, gua nak tido. Kalau sia[a tak paham hamhock tu apa.. sila call Beny. :)

Daa!

Dari KL ke London.. RM 10 sahaja..

Sumber : Utusan Malaysia

AirAsia X terbang ke destinasi antarabangsa mulai Julai

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X, syarikat penerbangan tambang murah jarak jauh pertama tempatan, menawarkan tambang serendah RM9.99 untuk orang ramai terbang ke beberapa destinasi utama antarabangsa termasuk London, mulai Julai ini.

DETIK BERSEJARAH: Fernandes bersama pramugari yang memakai baju simbol harga terendah penerbangan AirAsia X ke Asia selepas pelancaran di Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

Sebagai permulaan, AirAsia X yang dikendalikan Fly Asian Xpress (FAX), turut menyediakan penerbangan tambang murah ke beberapa lagi destinasi popular di China, India dan Australia.

Tempahan tiket bagi AirAsia X, yang juga antara syarikat penerbangan tambang murah jarak jauh pertama di dunia, boleh dibuat di laman web www.airasia. com mulai bulan depan.

Pengarah yang juga Pengasas FAX, Datuk Tony Fernandes, berkata dalam tempoh lima tahun, AirAsia X bercadang meluaskan operasi ke beberapa bandar raya utama Eropah seperti Prague, Berlin dan Milan serta Amerika Syarikat.

Pada tahun pertama operasi, AirAsia X yang menggunakan pesawat badan lebar jenis Boeing 777-300ER dan Airbus 330-300 menjangka mampu mendapat sehingga kira-kira 500,000 penumpang.

"Penggunaan pesawat itu akan memberi keselesaan kepada penumpang jarak jauh," katanya pada majlis pelancaran AirAsia X oleh Menteri Pengangkutan, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy dan Menteri Pelancongan, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, di sini, semalam.

AirAsia X yang menggunakan model perniagaan seperti AirAsia iaitu dengan struktur tambang berperingkat akan berpangkalan di Terminal Penerbangan Tambang Murah (LCCT) di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) di Sepang.

Fernandes berkata, FAX akan bekerjasama dengan syarikat penerbangan tambang murah antarabangsa lain bagi menyediakan penerbangan sambungan ke destinasi yang tidak disinggahinya.

"AirAsia X akan membawa revolusi kepada industri penerbangan tempatan selain mempercepatkan usaha menjadikan Malaysia hab penerbangan tambang murah global.

"Pelancarannya sempena Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2007 ini juga diharap dapat membantu membawa lebih ramai pelancong ke negara ini," katanya.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif FAX, Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali, berkata AirAsia X akan mempunyai dua kelas tambang mengikut jenis tempat duduk iaitu saiz biasa dan lebih luas, yang ditawarkan pada harga tambahan.

"Seperti AirAsia, makanan dan minuman boleh dibeli dalam pesawat, manakala perkhidmatan hiburan pula akan disediakan sebagai pilihan untuk penumpang pada bayaran tertentu," katanya.

Chan dalam sidang media selepas majlis itu berkata, AirAsia X tidak akan memberi kesan kepada Penerbangan Malaysia (MAS) yang menumpukan kepada perkhidmatan tambang penuh bagi laluan penerbangan antarabangsa.

Katanya, pendapatan MAS tidak akan terjejas kerana ia mempunyai segmen pasaran berbeza. Kerajaan akan memastikan laluan utama AirAsia X juga tidak memberi saingan secara terus kepada MAS.

"Sebagai contoh, bagi penerbangan ke London, AirAsia X tidak akan mendarat di Lapangan Terbang Heathrow yang menjadi persinggahan utama dan antara destinasi paling menguntungkan bagi MAS.

"AirAsia X dijangka mendarat di lapangan terbang kedua London, Gatwick yang terletak kira-kira 48 kilometer ke selatan bandaraya itu," katanya.

Pada majlis semalam, FAX turut memeterai memorandum persefahaman(MoU) dengan AirAsia bagi membolehkan syarikat itu memfrancaiskan jenama AirAsia X ke peringkat antarabangsa.

Pengerusi AirAsia, Datuk Pahamin A Rajab menandatangani MoU itu bagi pihak AirAsia manakala FAX diwakili Raja Mohd Azmi.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, Fernandes yang memegang 50 peratus saham FAX menjelaskan, AirAsia X dan AirAsia adalah dua entiti berbeza dengan pengurusan dan kakitangan berlainan.

"Bagaimanapun kedua-duanya mempunyai jalinan kerjasama dari segi sambungan penerbangan. AirAsia menumpukan kepada operasi sedia ada di rantau ini, manakala AirAsia X kepada penerbangan jarak jauh,"katanya.

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Mampuih aku kalau semua datang.. hehe.. kene first come first serve key!

Care Instructions for clothes

Ever wonder how to care for your clothes? Can it be ironed? Bleached? What's the proposed temperature of washing?

Have you tried reading the labels on your clothes and wonder what the labels on your clothes mean?

I did.. and i found this link. Useful. Now hopefully i can be disciplined enough to check the labels before i wash my clothes.

Interested? Visit this link

I peed in Old Trafford Stadium Platinum Suite

I peed in the Old Trafford Stadium Platinum suite! Hoyeah!

Alhamdulillah, thanx to Zairi (and his mom), i got a chance to watch the Man U vs Reading game last Saturday. Zairi and iqbal came all the way from London (and before that from Malaysia) just to watch the game. At first we all thought that it was just a normal ticket, but apparently, the management of the stadium had other plans for delegates of its sponsor, the Tourism Malaysia. They gave us Platinum Suite tickets!

The only problem with that is that we only knew about it when we arrived at the stadium, which is such a catastrophe because we were surely under-dressed. Everybody else were wearing formal coats and blazers! and we just couldn't refuse the first class treatment where they asked for our coats for them to hang!(which resulted in us showing our class.. by wearing t-shirts and jeans!) With the treatment they gave, i even thought that they were going to dry clean the coats and give them back later! Ahah.. I wish!

Delegates of Malaysia in the Welcoming Lounge : Uncle Syed, Me!, Syed, Zairi & Iqbal

After a glass of fresh orange juice, we were ushered upstairs to the dining area. Being an adventurous individual i am, i ordered Foie-Gras, which turned out to be served with Duck internal organs! Haha! had to ask the chef to change it to the mushroom soup. :P. While waiting to be served, Lou Macari, a Man U legend, came over and had a photograph taken with us, with the Carling cup! (unfortunately, i haven't receive the pic yet.. they are going to send it over once they have it developed)

*Note : Lou Macari scored against Liverpool back in the 70s which won them the premiership

Fine Dining Lunch before kick off!

After the marvellous lunch, we were ushered to the seating area. Where we had a good view of the game. We sat opposite the player's bench. At first, I just couldn't believe that i was in the stadium, but the roaring of the crowd somehow shook me to reality. I was watching the game live!

Platinum Seats

The thing with watching the game live is that there is no replay of the goals. I dared not blink, just in case C. Ronaldo puts one header and score. It was totally a different experience. We were fortunate that it was a very interesting game where there were lots of action. The 3-2 result would testify to that. During half-time, we were ushered back to the dining place where we had another round of coffee and some sandwiches.

The view from the seats

It was a great experience. One that i would never forget. I will keep the souvenirs and frame them. One day, i will show to my grand kids and say "ni la.. atuk dulu pi manchester stadium". Make jokes all you want (e.g :me having grandchild). I know some people might be dying to crack that joke. But the fact is... i did watch the game live in the stadium. So.. in your face! Ahaha

Once in a lifetime experience!

Oh, did i mention? i peed in the Old Trafford Platinum suite!

2007

Apa aku nak jadi tahun 2007 ni?

Aku tak nak jadi Syaitan
Hasut menghasut kerja harian

Aku tak nak jadi Binatang
Nafsu dilayan bukan kepalang

Aku tanak jadi Malaikat
Menurut sahaja walaupon berkat

Doa diriku nak jadi Insan
Itukan kejadian terbaik tuhan