Nenekku

Tahun Baru Cina yang sudah berlalu menandakan bermulanya Tahun Anjing oleh masyarakat Cina di Malaysia, harapan yang meninggi dipendamkan seperti tahun yang lepas. Cuti panjang selama beberapa hari dimanfaatkan oleh keluargaku untuk pulang ke kampung di Melaka. Sepanjang perjalanan, fenomena yang tidak asing lagi di Malaysia telah dijangka. Bermula di persimpangan keluar ke Seremban daripada lebuhraya utara-selatan, bibit bibit kebosanan di dalam kereta telah mula tergambar di benak fikiran apabila aku melihat deretan kereta seperti sekawan tebuan berterbangan yang tiada penghujungnya. Tiadalah gunanya untuk dikesalkan oleh kerana ini ialah suatu fenomena yang tidak asing lagi semasa musim perayaan. Akhirnya, empat jam masa diambil untuk aku dan keluargaku untuk tiba di bandar Melaka, disambut oleh senyuman nenek kesayangan yang telah lama menanti. Setibanya aku di rumah nenek, masa pantas berlalu apabila aku terus menjamu selera masakan asam pedas nenekku. Kegembiraannya tidak terhingga sehingga aku sengaja makan dengan banyaknya semata-mata untuk mengukir senyuman di wajah tuanya yang bercahaya. Setelah menjamu selera, aku menjamu panorama indah di luar rumah yang dihiasi oleh pohon pohon orkid yang menawan bak taman di kayangan.

Aku berkata kepada nenekku, "Nenek, cantiknya pokok pokok orkid ini."

Nenekku menjawab, "Cantik memang cantik jad. Tapi, setiap minggu nenek kena pergi pasar beli satu plastik berisi kerang sebab pokok pokok ni."

Aku yang tidak dapat faham cuba mendapatkan kepastian, "Kenapa nenek beli kerang untuk pokok pokok ni?"

"Nenek letak kerang hidup kat pokok orkid ni. Ganti sebagai baja."

"Ye ke, nek? Lar, ijad tak tau pulak yang kerang hidup boleh diguna sebagai baja," jawabku yang dalam kekeliruan.

"Ye jad, kerang hidup lagi bagus daripada baja yang dibeli di kedai," nenekku menjelaskan.

"Mm, ijad belajar benda baru ni. Kerang hidup sebagai baja. Nanti ijad nak cuba la kat rumah nanti," jelasku dengan bersemangat.

Aku belajar pengetahuan baru semasa cuti hari itu.
Terima kasih nenek.



Haha, it is kind of weird writing in Bahasa Melayu. But hey, I am a Malay and a Malaysian. Proud of that. Do not ever forget your root =)

French Connection United Kingdom

I was tickled by the words on my brother's FCUK shirt that says:

"Commit the oldest sins, the newest kind of ways" by William Shakespeare.

Anyone has any points of evaluation?

It is great for FCUK to apply the knowledge in literature in their marketing and branding plan.

Good job.

The Sky and an Aeroplane

My mother is in London right now. I accompanied my father sending her to KLIA on Wednesday night. Honestly, I have this feeling of happiness when I look up to the sky at night, seeing an aeroplane flying across the horizon, among the twinkling stars. The most beautiful view in my life is the view from up on the aeroplane above when you look to the world underneath u, how it makes me think how big the world is and how amazing the creations of the land, sea, and mountains by the ultimate God. How I wished I could live somewhere up above, thus I could see the marvellous view every day when I say, "Hello Mr. Sun".

And meditating about the reasons behind all the creations. The creations are my encouragement in my life.

As Voltaire said, "Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well"


Just now when I was online, Tengku Zharif who is a friend of mine from Imperial College London nudged me and he said, "I met your mother at Malaysia Hall". Ohhh, how I wished I was in his shoes.

Siberian Dance

I spend most of my time during the holiday at home watching Australian Open, the Grand Slam of the Pacific as they called it. Unbeatable and the best sportswoman during the tournament I would say it is Maria Sharapova. Honestly, I salute all sportswomen but my degree of salutation narrows down to the path of tennis as it is the game besides football that I enjoy watching it, how the players apply the law of gravity to hit, aim, and place the ball on the most unreachable spot beyond the reach of their opponents. The average period of 2 hours per match amazed me how high is the players' fitness and how serious they are in preparing their fitness to display the best swings and dances in the court prior to the game. Semifinals are just around the corner, and I bid the best to Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, and Martina Hingis. To my knowledge, most players who managed to proceed to quarter-finals were the unseeded ones like Nicolas Kiefer and Marcos Baghdatis, and congratulations I say. To Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, and Anastasia Myskina, thank you for the show.

I researched a few facts regarding Maria. Below are the facts that I managed to find:

1. Date of Birth: April 19, 1987
2. Birthplace: Nyagan, Russia (Siberian Region)
3. Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USA
4. Nationality: Russian
5. Height: 6'2
6. Weight: 130 lbs. (59 kg)
7. Plays: Right-handed
8. Clothing: Nike
9. Racquet: Prince
10. Endorsements: Speedminton, Motorola, Parlux Fragrances, Canon, TAG Heuer, Honda Japan & Colgate-Palmolive

11. Personal Life: + Coached by her father Yuri Sharapov and Robert Lansdorp + Mother's name is Yelena + Started hitting tennis balls at age four; at six, participated in exhibition in Moscow that featured Martina Navratilova + Began training at Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA, at age nine (which required a two-year separation from mother due to visa restrictions and finances) + Off-court interests include fashion, singing, dancing and movies (favorites are Mona Lisa Smile, Something's Gotta Give and Love Actually) + Second year of high school and studies via an Internet school + Enjoys reading books in the Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series + Prefers Russian and Thai cuisine + Favorite dessert is French crepes with Nutella + Favorite drinks are orangina and virgin strawberry daiquiris + Signed with IMG Models in November 2003

12. Career Titles: + SINGLES 2003: Tokyo & Quebec City 2004: Birmingham, Wimbledon, Seoul, Tokyo & WTA Championships 2005: Tokyo, Doha & Birmingham + DOUBLES 2003: Tokyo, Luxembourg 2004: Birmingham + HIGHEST RANKINGS: Singles: 1 (22/8/2005)Doubles: 41 (14/6/2004) + BEST GRAND SLAM PERFORMANCES Australian Open: Semis Roland Garros: Quarters Wimbledon: Champion US Open: Semis

Keep on dancing Maria =)

"Your energy is as boundless as your ambition, total commitment may be a way of life you should seriously consider" - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Semester 2, come I say

The holiday has started and semester 2 will start next month. Trying to make my holiday a productive and a fun one, my train of thoughts has listed the main things that should be done to occupy my free time. Definitely, frequent solitary visits to TGV KLCC, futsal every weekend, reading somewhere in the lines of the books, plucking the strings of the guitar and indulging into its harmony, watching EPL, and having supper with my childhood friends once in the blue moon during the holiday =)

I am enjoying my solitary single life right now. My indulgement in love will surface once I have my own career, my ultimate dream in life.

Albert Einstein once said, "Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom"

As I turned to 21 years old

As I turned to 21 years old, my heart tells me to ponder into a new reflection of life, understands the real definition of it:

"Yesterday when I was young,
The taste of love was sweet as rain upon my tongue,
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game,
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned,
I always built to last on weak and shifting sand,
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day,
And only now I see how the years ran away.
Yesterday when I was young,
So many happy songs were waiting to be sung,
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me,
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see.
I ran so fast that time and youth, at last, ran out,
I never stopped to think what life was all about,
And every conversation I can now recall,
Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all.
Yesterday the moon was blue,
And every crazy day brought something new to do,
I used my magic age as if it were a wand,
And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond.
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride,
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died,
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away,
And only I am left on stage to end the play.
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung,
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue,
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday,
When I was young"

This is an old song by Roy Clark, the first country music artist to guest host Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Give it a try to listen to it =)

As Bob Hope said, "Roy Clark is the consummate entertainer!"
www.royclarklimited.com

Turkiye 2005/06

"Istanbul, like a great work of art, is a city where fascination grows with familiarity. The city's setting of hills and water, enhanced by its silhouette, its pomp, and the historical circumstances that warrant that pomp and romance only begin to outline the elements of its enduring spell" Anna G. Edmonds/Turkey 1993

My flight to Istanbul with Malaysia Airlines was on the 25th of December which took about 11 hours and upon arrival at Ataturk International Airport my family and I met Omar, our tour guide graduated in International Relations from Cambridge University (the letter O has double dots on it, and the right pronounciation is eeo) and the driver, Lokman. He speaks good English but Mr.Lokman only speak Turkish.We headed to Bolu (towards the east side of Turkey) and Mr.Omar said the journey is going to take 3 hours. It was freezing cold at the moment. During the journey through the highway, we passed by the Black Sea and according to Mr.Omar the sea contains less salt but he has no idea of why the people called it the Black Sea because the sea is not black in colour at all! Then, I could see Istanbul World Trade Centre and as far as my eyes could see, everything including cars, houses, and land were white as it was snowing heavily at that time. Mr.Omar continued to explain the general information about Turkey and he told that 3% of Turkey is in Europe and the rest is in Asia. As the minivan cut across the important bridge that brought us from the Europe side of Turkey to Asia, which was built by Turkish and Japanese company upon collaboration in 1988 with the height of 65m from the sea level (Bosphorus river) I could see a lot of beautiful mosques that resemble the miniature and marvellous architecture during the Ottoman Empire that once a great Islamic empire in the world that lasts for 400 years in Istanbul. Then, in the highway I could see a number of big trucks been stopped by the police (polis) by the road side and Mr.Omar explained that in Turkey, trucks are not allowed to be driven in the highway after 4pm for safety concern. I could also see the buildings of Carrefour, Ikea, Toyota, Renault, and Hyundai along the highway, which amazed me how powerful their branding is until it could penetrate the world market including Turkey. I also observed the Turkish government used Renault Meagan as the taxi car (taksi). We passed by the town of Izmit which was destructed by an earthquake few years ago but now everything has been reconstructed and the people continue their normal, daily life as usual. Then, there was a town called Hereke few minutes later and Mr.Omar said eventhough it is a small town it is an important town in the Ottoman history as the people of the town used to make special handmade carpets only for the Sultan and they used double knots in thread (instead of single knot in the making of other carpets in other countries) that make a very fine, smooth carpet that is incomparable. The people of the town consists of Armenian and Turkish origin and now, the production of the Hereke carpets has been commercialised and it gains the ultimate recognition of the best carpet in the world. Going back to the story of the Black Sea, Mr.Omar told us an interesting fact that after 1000 metres down the sea, there is no oxygen and the scientists and archaeologists now claimed that Noah's ship must be in the Black Sea and they are now starting the scientific and technical work in finding the ship. They said that as there is no oxygen after 1000 metres in the Black Sea, the ship must be still in good condition and because there is no oxygen and without the appropriate technology, no one can go further the level to discover the mystery behind it. Mr.Omar said the Turkish people did not say anything about the claim and they allowed the discovery work to be done in their country, eventhough most people know that the most relevant claim of Noah's ship is in the border of Turkey and Iran. After about an hour, we stopped for a short break at the rest area and without hesitation I bought peanuts that I never seen before, coated with honey with sesame seeds and once I ate one, I could not resist myself from eating the whole packet during the journey surrounded by the silence of snow, swirling out of the sky like feathers.

26 December 2005, Day 2: I woke up at 5.45 am (it was 11.45 am in Malaysia), had a sleep wearing 3 layers of clothes and 2 pairs of socks at Koru Hotel in Bolu. My breakfast was a wonderful one as it was served with a variety of cheese (tongue cheese was one of them), goat's milk, various types of wheat, bee made honey, and others. At 7.35 am, we began our day with the journey to Ankara. During the journey, Mr.Omar entertained us with some history of the country in which he said the Ottoman Turks began the Uthmaniyyah Empire in 1299. At the end of the 20th century, it was the turning point for the great imperialism. During that period, most Arab countries (except Saudi Arabia which the Ottoman did not rule due to the respect for the holy land) were fighting against the empire for independence. As a result, during World War 1 they supported the Allied Countries (Great Britain, France, United States, and Italy) as a medium for them to fight against the Ottoman, and for the sake of protecting themselves the empire had to join the war joining German and Japan on the Axis side. The history of the world tells us that the latter side lost, and it was a sad history for the Ottoman empire. They lost the war, and the empire was divided into different parts as England conquered part of it, France the other part, United States the other, and Italy ruled the south-east of the empire. Realising that their country has been taken away and there was nothing left even a single dust for the Turkish people, General Mustapha Kemal Pasha started the war to fight even for a small amount of their country's soil. Thus, Mr.Omar told us that what you see of Turkey in the world atlas is just 10% of what the original empire was prior to the war.

He made a point of frustration with the Arab countries for joining the Allied Countries to fight against their own religion empire that gives protection and generates prosperity for them with fairness in terms of economy and respect for the country's personal matter for 400 years in the name of Islam, just for the sake of getting independence that just spark the racial hatred of 'assabiyah' among themselves and blinded by ego and lack of unity. He stressed again, that if this war did not happen, there would be no issue of the invisible Israel and Palestine as they were under the Ottoman empire before.

While he was telling us this important history, I could see the tears glowing in his eyes and he ended with, "Nothing in this life is certain. When you are up, there will be a time when you will go down"