are we there yet?

this is my final post...

2005-10-16T07:20:00.000+01:00

...on blogspot.

so change your bookmarks, blogrolls and feed readers, and fasten your seat belts.

prepare for [are we there yet?] version 2.0.

i fell in love

2005-10-13T09:51:00.000+01:00

love you.

South Asia Earthquake

2005-10-09T17:07:00.000+01:00

Donate here.

so we meet again..alhamdulillah

2005-10-04T00:00:00.000+01:00

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Messenger PBUH sais: "Whoever observes Sawm (Fasts) during the onth of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins eill be forgiven."

Agreed upon.

Harapan Ramadhan - Raihan dan Man Bai

Ku mengharapkan Ramadhan
Kali ini penuh makna
Agar dapat kulalui
Dengan sempurna

Selangkah demi selangkah
Setahun sudah pun berlalu
Masa yang pantas berlalu
Hingga tak terasa ku berada
Di bulan Ramadhan semula

Puasa satu amalan
Sebagaimana yang diperintahNya
Moga dapat ku lenturkan
Nafsu yang selalu membelenggu diri
Tiada henti-henti

Tak ingin ku biarkan Ramadhan berlalu saja
Tuhan pimpinlah daku yang lemah
Mengharungi segalanya dengan sabar
Kita memohon pada Tuhan diberikan kekuatan
Ku merayu pada Tuhan diterima amalan

Selangkah demi selangkah...
Dengan rahmatMu oh Tuhanku...
Ku tempuh jua

to all my colleagues in ireland, let us try to get the most out of this glorious month, insyaAllah.

postsecret

2005-10-03T07:54:00.000+01:00

PostSecret. what's yours?

hmm...must be a new kid

2005-10-02T23:52:00.000+01:00

The genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.

Mao Zedong

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

Oscar Wilde

people will know you're new around here when you:

1. don't buy that soda, calculating that if you convert the price to malaysian ringgits, you could get a satisfying lunch back home.

2. walk slow. people here move around pretty quickly. don't know how many times have old ladies carrying their groceries overtook me when walking along the streets of dublin. eventually, we follow suit and will be walking as fast as the old ladies, at least.

3. have a camera in your hand everytime you go out, even when going to class and buying vegetables.

these are not mistakes. they are just something that you'll learn as you go along the path of life. all of the above and more are from my own experiences as a fresher not so long ago. and i'm still learning everyday.

visit

2005-09-28T22:43:00.000+01:00

A : how jsljsjajs asljsahbjblbd ajslahun dihd adnansn ?

B : i snkabdh hdalhfiuah anjdjaklh ahdhalhd nbajkb.

C : oh!

me : haha... (then i smiled..again)

best referee

2005-09-26T19:11:00.000+01:00

watch it and judge for yourself.

retro games

2005-09-25T11:38:00.000+01:00

remember duck hunt? remember doom? here's duck doom. brings back old memories.

get it here.

[via boingboing.net]

a saturday in dublin

2005-09-24T20:08:00.000+01:00

I took my mind a walk
or my mind took me a walk—
whichever was the truth of it.

Norman McCaig (1910 - 1996)
Scottish poet.
"An Ordinary Day"

right after the brief talk on the "future collaborative directions of medical studies and developments in malaysia and ireland" and lunch at rcsi, i went to the city centre by foot just to soak in the atmosphere and think about this and that.

yes, that's something i like to do once in a while. if a few weeks ago, you can find me walking almost aimlessly through the streets of kuala lumpur, now i can be detected on mary street or camden street, sometimes with a camera in hand.

so, below are a few pictures that i took today, for your viewing pleasure.

selling art, outside stephen's green

street performer, grafton street

street performer II, grafton street

chess

2005-09-20T22:58:00.000+01:00

chess - rivers cuomo (pre-weezer)

people asked me what have i been up to during the 3-month summer break. well, in between my busy schedule of doing nothing and watching tv, i managed to participate in a couple of chess tournaments and boy! was my chess a little rusty. i lost quite a big chunk of my games, including some to primary school kids. not the best feeling in the world to have after those incidents!

i believe that some chess in life is a good thing. it encourages us to do something that we often avoid, that is to use our heads. we often look for the easiest way out. but often in chess, the easiest way out is the fastest path to your king's doom. imo, chess will improve your awareness, patience, memory, decision-making, planning and even time management; the attributes that will benefit us certainly.

that's me in action in the selangor allegro. should have won that game. check out the cool hair.

that's also me but with shorter hair. that was at kyuem in lembah beringin. i won that game!

all pictures were taken without permission from gilachess. btw, gilachess beat me fair and square in the kyuem tourney. (hehe.. must bodek la)

useful links:
chessbase - the main source of international chess news on the web
gilachess - where else to get comprehensive info of our local chess scene?
gilachess web log - expect to find live coverage of malaysian chess tournaments here.
the chess network - malaysian chess federation official website
the daily dirt chess blog - insider news and views from chess writer mig greengard
fide - the world chess federation
chesscorner - learn to play chess!

don't you just love broadband?

2005-09-15T05:36:00.000+01:00

with just a couple of clicks you can connect with your family and friends at the other side of the world. seeing and hearing your little sister gleefully shout your nickname on the little window in msn messenger is enough to get you through the day of lectures about nerves and bones and dissections of bodies to view the superficial fascia and the trapezius muscle.

new chapter

2005-09-09T17:35:00.000+01:00

this is where a new chapter begins.

mersing, pulau rawa and pulau besar

2005-09-05T14:37:00.000+01:00

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever says, 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi,' one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.

(Book #75, Hadith #414)

more pictures, here.

useful links:
outta the way, but worth it
Mersing
Besar Island
Pulau Rawa
Tioman Island Complete Guide

2005-07-16T10:56:00.000+01:00

you fight
then you'll die

or you don't fight
but you'll die also

better die without the fights.

2005-07-01T08:42:00.000+01:00

still haven't seen her yet.

a thousand things i learned

2005-06-12T02:20:00.000+01:00

this will most probably be my last post before i return to malaysia. wow! what can i say. what an interesting nine months i had. so many things that i learned, so many people i met, so many places that i went to. priceless stuff.

i'll take the opportunity this holiday to recharge, to prepare for the tedious road ahead, to reconnect, and not to forget, to eat 'real' roti canai and teh susu.

so see you in malaysia, god willing.

hairy post

2005-06-10T03:50:00.000+01:00

my last haircut was on december of last year. maybe that's not a long period of time for you, but for me, that's a long time, considering i used to visit the barber every 2-3 weeks when i was in school. now my hair is somewhat afro-like and i look like i'm just out of bed all the time.

it's funny how people's perspective on you change with your hair. it seems like people do judge a book from it's cover.

my hair is so uncomfortably irritating that i've considered cutting it all the time, but decided to keep it out of curiosity.

one interesting thing is that my father used to have big hair when he was in varsity also. there's one blown up black and white potrait of him that'll make us smirk a little everytime we see it. maybe it was the hair that attracted my mother to him, and what a great mum and wife my mother is.

hmm... maybe i'll keep the hair for a little bit longer.

trip to belfast - a pictorial report

2005-06-07T16:33:00.000+01:00

belfast, was great, especially in bright days.

dome

town hall

fish with a message

inside the university

queen's university

ulster museum

greenhouse effect

macro

x&y

i had a blast.

the beautiful game, but not so beautiful fans

2005-06-04T18:56:00.000+01:00

tonight's game is the international friendly of northern ireland against germany, in belfast. i'm in the heart of the city. the match is at 8 pm and right now it's a quarter to seven. hundreds of northern ireland faithfuls are outside of the house i'm staying at, drinking beer and singing and chanting, interrupting the flow of traffic. already i saw 5 people urinating anywhere they find suitable. police in bullet proof jackets are everywhere. armoured vehicles are parked at the corner of nearby streets just in case. apparently, the national stadium is just a stone's throw from where i am. the singing gets louder, and now i'm hearing horns.

now it's 6.55 and i'm getting drowsy. i wonder if i can have a nap in this noise.

let's see...

belfast

2005-06-02T23:38:00.000+01:00

here are some pictures of my first day in belfast. maybe i'll write a report later.

birthdays

2005-05-23T19:22:00.000+01:00

happy birthday to you. i know you don't read this blog, but happy birthday anyways. hope you'll have a fine year ahead.

and happy birthday also to my roommate whose birthday was yesterday (22nd May).

love doing the laundry

2005-05-20T11:24:00.000+01:00

yes..i really love doing laundry.

great!

better!

!!!??

if you're late just for a wee bit, your clothes will be disposed of to the most interesting of places.

just love doing the laundry. do you want me to do yours?

crossroads

2005-05-18T13:56:00.000+01:00

a friend of mine is in the same position as i was a year ago. she's at the point in life where she needs to decide what'll she do in the next 10 years or so. at the point where she chooses the plot for the next chapter in her life book. it's not easy. especially in her case, with her spectacular qualifications, she has a plethora of paths to take.

for me, i didn't get what i iniatially sought after. quite an unexpected break knocked on the door and i accepted it (not really with open arms). they told me it's not going to be smooth sailing, and boy... are they right. there's a reason i'm here and i'm going to find it.

so all the best to you. you've a bright future ahead. just watch out for the potholes in the road, and nasty unscrupulous people.

an evening of recitation and praise

2005-05-16T13:56:00.000+01:00

[here]

dedication to the teachers

2005-05-16T12:06:00.000+01:00

16 mei is teacher's day in malaysia. a day dedicated to the educators; teachers, lecturers, tutors, mentors or whatever title you give them. it's a day to appreciate their contributions in spreading knowledge. sure they get paid for doing it but it's still not a walk in the park. i should know because i have educators as parents and i have seen day-in and day-out what it takes to be dedicated knowledge instructors.

there are so many teachers who had guided me to be what i am today (i hope that i have turned out to be someone decent enough for them to be proud of), that's its not possible to dedicate all of them here. even if i try i'm sure i'll omit someone, so i'll better not.

you know who you are.

i'm forever thankful.

have a great day cause tomorrow you need to deal with us, students again.

happy birthday ika

2005-05-14T12:33:00.000+01:00

how can i forget your birthday, sis? sorry.

i always pray for your smooth ride in life.

i hope i can always be there whenever you need me.

//can't wait to go back.

F=ma

2005-05-13T20:23:00.000+01:00

F = ma
force = mass x acceleration

F = mg
force = mass x gravity

it's good that my m is small.

今夜　月の見える丘に

2005-05-10T17:05:00.000+01:00

tatoeba dou ni kashite kimi no naka aa haitte itte
sono me kara boku o nozoitara ironna koto chotto wa wakaru kamo

aisureba aisuruhodo kiri no naka mayoikonde

te o tsunaidara ittemiyou
moeru you na tsuki no kagayaku oka ni
mukae ni yuku kara soko ni ite yo
kakera demo ii
kimi no kimochi shiru made konya boku wa nenai yo

itai koto kimochi ii koto sore wa minna hito sorezore de
chotto shita chigai ni tsumazuite mata shitemo boku wa hade ni koronda

kizutsuite yatto wakaru soredemo ii osoku wa nai

te o tsunaidara ittemiyou
ayashii hoshi no hisomu oka ni
shigemi no oku e to susundeyukou
kegashitemo ii
hajikeru you na egao no mukougawa o mitai yo

te o tsunaidara ittemiyou
mammarui tsuki no kagayaku oka ni
daremo ga minna terashidasarete
kokoro no moyou ga sora ni utsutteru
itsudemo sou yatte warattenaide
kakera demo ii
kimi no kimochi shiru made
konya wa issho ni itai yo

can't wait!

2005-05-04T18:58:00.000+01:00

three down, one more to go...

The Best Country In The World

2005-04-23T13:27:00.000+01:00

ireland is the best country in the world, according to the economist.
and malaysia is the 36th.

hmmm..interesting.

ebay can be a dangerous place

2005-04-21T16:45:00.000+01:00

yes, ebay can be a dangerous place. you just don't know with who you are dealing with. yet, sometimes all you need is just plain old common sense.

nasi goreng pattaya

2005-04-19T15:49:00.000+01:00

i'm going to slow down on the blogging for a while. but do drop in from time to time. give me a couple of weeks and i'll blog like never before. in the meantime, here's a picture of blossom, our cat back home in malaysia.

[awty?] turns one!

2005-04-11T09:13:00.000+01:00

[are we there yet?] turns one

on this day last year, i posted my first entry on this blog. well, it's not really a proper entry, but it counts anyway. since then, i've blogged about a lot of things. from goreng pisang to a trip to terengganu, from song lyrics to my deepest feelings, i blogged about anything that deemed appropriately bloggable.

true, i'm no jeff ooi or mack zulkifli, and i would be lucky to get 10 hits per day but i'm proud of [awty?] and i'm going to continue posting in my effort to find the answer to the question 'are we there yet?'

why call it [are we there yet?] i hear from someone at back, well obviously 'screenshots' was taken and at the same time my.... hey wait a minute, this would be a great topic for my future posts wouldn't it? so stay tuned. hehehe...

to you non-bloggers out there, you might ask what's so good about blogging? maybe you think that bloggers are just a bunch of narcissists, trying to emulate journalists or something. maybe you're right. but for me, apart from polishing my writing skills, [awty?] gives me the opportunity to get acquainted with new people, and reconnect with long lost friends while keeping in touch with my current buddies.

yes, i'm going to go on as long as i can and as long as blogger and the photo hosting remain free. so for the taste of what to come, here are a few planned future entry titles:

- the 'fongkar' guy
- the bosnian lady
- the irish and jogging
- me and the irish 'makcik's
- home sweet home
- the day we lost him
- what's up with that?

i think i'm going to stick with this template for a while, even though there're a few technical issues. but i'm going to change the header pictures from time to time.

i would to take this opportunity to thank blogger, photobucket, flickr, fotopages, the petaling street project, kubrick and michael k. pate, noipo.org, and to the visitors of [awty?], whoever you are.

here's to another year. or two.

1.d4

2005-04-08T12:44:00.000+01:00

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. c5 Ne4 7. Nxe4 dxe4 8. Qc2 f5 9. Bc4 Nc6 10. a3 Bf6 11. O-O-O Kh8 12. f3 Qe7 13. Bg3 f4 14. Qxe4 fxg3 15. hxg3 g6 16. Qxg6 Bd7 17. f4 Rf7 18. g4 Rg7 19. Qh6 Rxg4 20. Bd3 Rg7 21. Nf3 Qf7 22. g4 Rag8 23. g5 Bd8

hmmm....

ahh.....

no, no that's not right...

arghhh...

('accidentally' knocks the pieces off the board)

i'm back.

transparent screen

2005-04-01T10:28:00.000+01:00

what do you think of my transparent screen? better ones here.

trip to galway

2005-03-30T12:43:00.000+01:00

hmmm... haven’t update for a while. maybe after reading my last post, you think i was having a nervous breakdown or something. the truth is, i’m just back from galway, the county on the west coast of the republic of ireland.

what can i say about galway, but beautiful. there were lush green fields everywhere, a rarity in dublin. and the cliffs of moher was breathtaking. more on that later.

the journey to galway took us about four hours by bus. we were greeted by our fellow ex-matrix, jawa. he took us to rafiq’s and aiman’s house, passing through the city centre. the city of galway is certainly not as big as dublin, but it’s developing rapidly. even as we speak the construction of public infrastructures are going under full swing. that’s why currently the roads get congested all the time but i’m sure in a few months time, it will look magnificent.

the atmosphere in galway is somehow different than in dublin. it seemed less hectic and everybody is taking it easy. maybe it’s the people, or the fields or even the cows but i felt a sense of calmness during my stay in galway.

the highlight of the trip was the tour of the burren. what’s interesting about the burren i hear you ask. well basically it’s just rocks, rocks and more rocks and some fields, but beautifully landscaped. for more information, click here. there’re also some ruins, a 6000 year old burial ground, and a lighthouse. but the icing on the cake was of course, the cliffs of moher. a description of the cliffs which i took from here :

"situated in county clare and bordering the burren area, the cliffs of moher are one of ireland's most spectacular sights. standing 230 metres above the ground at their highest point and 8km long, the cliffs boast one of the most amazing views in ireland. on a clear day, the aran islands are visible in galway bay as well as the valleys and hills of connemara"

there are many tour companies that can take you there, but the one we took, o’neachtain tours was great.

wow! what a fine trip we had, a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city of dublin. highly recommended! (now i sound like an ebay buyer)

thanks to rafiq, aiman, zaquan and zaidan who accepted us with open arms and were the best hosts we could ever hoped for.

i will be back. there’s more to see. i want to explore the aran islands and connemara. next time maybe.

more pictures of the cliffs here.

slip away

2005-03-20T21:55:00.000Z

8874762

i let you slipped away.
aahh...what a pity.
my loss is other people's gain.
you changed my life......yes you have.
i see the world differently after you came.
then you left.
you left me at the place where i returned.

i don't know where i'm heading now.
i'm still searching for the guiding light
that you took away when you left.

aahh...what a pity.
a real pity it is.

take good care of her, please.

spring break

2005-03-18T11:17:00.000Z

this is what happened, is happening and is planned to happen around [are we there yet?]

we're now in our first week of spring break and understandably activities have slowed down a bit. everybody just finished their exams and gladly receive the three week holiday to relax, recuperate and maybe do some travelling. there are even some who are going to london to see some concert at the royal albert hall.

the weather is changing for the better too with maximum temperatures of 17-18 degrees. it may not seem much but believe me, we welcome it with open arms especially after dublin recorded the heaviest snowfall just a week ago.

mild temperatures + longer day time could only mean one thing. football. yeah now we have the strength to kick the ball around outdoors after a five-month hiatus. oh man, i really need to improve on my stamina, was panting furiously and started seeing stars after only five minutes of footie action.

yesterday, almost 700,000 people flock to the city centre to witness the st patrick's festival parade. there were maching bands, floats and other stuff you would see in a parade. me? i didn't go. slept until noon and watched the coverage on the six o'clock news, heh.

tomorrow, a theatre entitled "mencari jalan pulang" will be performed in the royal college of surgeons, ireland exam hall at 7 pm. it is directed by bro fahd razy of rcsi and tickets are at 2 and 5 euro. all proceeds will go to the tsunami victims in acheh. so have you got your tickets yet?

macvaysia got this from here who got it from someone else. everybody in this computer lab were looking at me in peculiar fashion after i laughed my socks off reading it. i know my english is not perfect and i suspect you could detect similar grammatical errors in my blog entries, but i'm trying to improve and this blog is a great medium for me to do so.

Digital Rebel XT

2005-03-14T11:40:00.000Z

beautiful.

i'm (almost) an FM2005 addict, how about you?

2005-03-11T17:58:00.000Z

it's been almost a week since i last updated [are we there yet?]. was i busy? or was i just plain lazy? a bit of both really. the truth is, over these past couple of weeks i've been busy lazying around playing football manager 2005.

i blogged about this game before and i thought that i won't be playing it after all. but suddenly i got this offer to buy it real cheap and what do you know, a few days later, i was busy clicking away.

for those who don't know what i'm talking about. fm2005 is a football management stimulation game where, as the title suggests you got to manage your football team. you can buy players, acquire coaching staff, train players, insult other managers, set up tactics, change clubs, the possibilities are endless! what's more, you can change your interface (skinning), and load your own pictures, to add in that personal touch. it's basically is 'the sims' of football and more!

what's great (or awful) about fm2005 is, the game is virtually endless. you could just click your way from season to season. so that's why it's such a waste of time. but you couldn't help it because you're curious of what would happen next. will you win that cup? can you buy that player? will you get sacked?

fm2005 is a production of sports interactive and their previous releases were called the championship manager series. but due to a clash with the publishers, eidos, they then team up with sega. championship manager still lives with a different developer, but it's not half as good as fm2005. i have played this game since it's early days, way before the 2d match engine was introduced, when all you have to 'watch' the game were flashing texts. and believe me when i say that the game took a lot of hours from my life.

apparently, i'm not alone. yes, i'm not alone.

one purpose of this blog entry is to give some advice to the people who are 'fortunate' enough to not yet play fm2005. don't!! if you love your life and don't like to stare at the monitor for very long periods of time, don't play this game. if you already bought it, then throw it away. don't say i didn't warn you.

now if you excuse me, i just bought kaka for 37 million pounds and i have a match against birmingham and i need to pick out my team.

everyday is mother's day

2005-03-05T16:10:00.000Z

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
A person came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Who among the people is most deserving my companionship (of a kind treatment from me?) He said: Your mother. He, again, said: Then who (is the next one)? He said: It is your mother (who deserves the best treatment from you). He said: Then who (is the next one)? He (the Holy Prophet) said: It is your mother. He (again) said: Then who? Thereupon he (The Prophet (peace be upon him)) said: It is your father.

Sahih Muslim : 4621

I Wish I Could Tell You Mom

I wish I could tell you, Mom
how much you mean to me....
But there are no words to say
how much I admire you...
how much I appreciate you...
how much I thank you
for everything you've done.

- Author Unknown.

"To the world you might just be one person,
but to one person you might just be the world."
~Author Unknown~

what will it be tonight?

2005-03-03T19:55:00.000Z

studying abroad is not as glamorous as most people would think where the image is you go to the lecture theatre wearing thick jackets passing through parks watching the squirrels and the falling brown leaves and everybody’s enjoying themselves.

in fact it’s a struggle. you’ll struggle to get up in the morning, especially when the temperature outside is minus one degrees and you are in your deep and warm bed. then there’s the sudden feeling of longing you get when you think of good old malaysia. every international student i met, be it from malaysia, canada or saudi arabia just can’t wait for the summer holidays on may when they can finally put down the books (for a while) and go back home.

one more of the battles you have to fight in this war to gain knowledge is to decide what to cook for dinner. i hear some of you laughing but this is a real challenge. i can recall during the days in matriculation college, when the stomach started growling i could just go to the café and lash out two ringgits for a good meal. eating out on a daily basis is not a good option, especially for dubliners where a just-satisfying-enough meal will cost eight euros on average. that’s about RM40.

so the best option is to cook your own meals and with chicken as the least expensive protein source, your kinda stuck with chicken. we’ve tried almost anything we could, fried chicken, grilled chicken, chicken curry, chicken kurma, tandoori, chicken soup, rendang, masak merah, masak kicap, masak lemak, you name it. what else can you do with chicken? don’t mention of tom yam. i lost count of how many times we made tom yam. we even experimented a few times, throwing in any sauces or spices we saw into the pot sometimes with impressive results, but most of the time barely edible.

no, i’m not being ungrateful. i’m just highlighting the daily challenges we have to face here. being thousand of miles away from home gives me valuable experiences and makes me very appreciative of what i have. it makes me a competent cook too.

tonight it’s my turn to cook. anybody’s up for some tom yam?

let it snow

2005-03-03T19:52:00.000Z

we didn’t see much snow during the winter holidays and we were informed back then that dublin is not the place to seek for snow. then to our surprise suddenly it snowed for a week (not continuously), with the heaviest on the first of march when everybody is expecting for spring to spring out. but it was not to be and temperatures remain at around one degrees until today. i lost count of how many times i heard myself or others said “sejuknya….” while shivering.

here are more pictures of the white stuff outside of my on-campus apartment.

peace

2005-03-01T11:37:00.000Z

peace
Originally uploaded by azizul.

i'm sure you're familiar of the feeling i'm having right now. it's the feeling you get for a few days after the exam. the feeling of freedom and content. the feeling that's gonna last only until the results come out.

How To Study

2005-02-22T19:32:00.000Z

here's a great guide for students of all ages. compiled by william rapaport of state university of new york. but all the guides and books in the world can't help you if you don't have the motivation and determination. and that's what i'm looking for right now.

Selamat Tinggal Dunia - The Lyrics

2005-02-21T15:21:00.000Z

many visitors got to this blog searching for the lyrics from butterfingers' selamat tinggal dunia and many were left disappointed. other than this and this entries, i rarely blog lyrics and you can get all the lyrics if you buy the album anyway. i highly recommend you to get the original copy. but as a butterfan to another, here are the lyrics that i copied and pasted from here.

1. Ngilu

Malam nyilu mengasyikkan
Rongak gigi sendiri
Aku kini dibelenggu

Malu bertanya takut malu
Menconteng arang
Cakerawala
Kini aku muflis

Hidup mati muzik
Bangun tidur muzik
Cuba bernafas
Ralat itu normal
Maafkanlah hamba
Hamba pun hamba wang pada zahirnya

Akhirnya

2. Daulat Tuanku

Hujan di tengah hari
Pakai payung emas
Lumpur yang terpalit
Dayang-dayang kemas
Belajar luar negeri
Duit tak pernah cemas
Setelah ditabalkan
Jodoh dengan puteri

Party hujung minggu
Kereta BMW
Cari gebu-gebu
Teman beradu

Junjung titah patik harap di ampun

Daulat Tuanku

Perempuan zaman modern nak ayam tambatan
Ataupun anak Sultan lupa daratan
Panchung sula rejam Woi!
Aku tak gentar
Lagi suciku ini milik rakyat jelata

Junjung titah patik harap di ampun

Daulat Tuanku

Oh! Janganlah murka
Dirgahayu takkan layu
Oh! Lagu ini takkan berhenti

OK jumpa lagi di lain hari
OK cuba lagi sampai mati
OK jumpa lagi barangkali

Janganlah cemas

3. Cuai

Secara serta merta terumbang ambing
Tiba-tiba kacau bilau
Nyawaku melayang di bawah gerhana cahaya lampu neon
Fikiran mengamuk hati berkecamuk
Terpekik terlolong

Langkah kau amat licik hinggaku terpedaya
Batinku dipukau oleh sihir di bibirmu

Guna sebelum ia kembali guna
Sebelum tarikh luputnya
Egoku terhina tercicir di pinggir
Laluku tergelincir
Salahkah ku merasa serba salah? Ya?
Salahkah ku bermasalah?

Otak kau memang cerdik
Sungguh terperinci
Batinku dipukau oleh sihir di bibirmu

Untuk seketika kuhilang kawalan diri
Untuk seketika kuhilang
Kuhilang

4. Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda
hehehehe....

5. Selamat Tinggal Dunia

Pagi petang
Siang malam
Lintang pukang

Pasir jerlus
Litar pintas
Jerangkap samar

Selamat tinggal dunia

Semangatku takkan luntur
Marilah pulang kepangkuan

Tarik picu
Senapang patah
Payung terjun

Selamat tinggal dunia

Semangatku takkan luntur
Pulanglah pulang kepangkuan
Puteh tulang jangan putih mata

Selamat tinggal dunia

6. Kabus Ribut

Di sini ngelamun hari mendatang, hari mendatang,
kiranya, ku memeluk hiba
Gitupun beralun, awan mendatang, awan mendatang,
kiranya, ku memeluk hiba

Derusan kabus ribut yang menyimpah,
yang mengucap tiba,
Ku ingin bersamamu sehingga akhirnya

Kabus ribut
Indah berseri-seri
Kabus ribut
Bilakah sampai sampai waktu

7. Merpati Sejoli

Merpati sejoli hari-hari begini
Garuda menyerang tembak dengan senapang
Bertemu si burung murai paterikan mulutnya

Esok masih ada

Aku orang biasa tak mungkin mangkat dijulang
Gagak hitam mencari pasangan di reban ayam
Comel loteh menari berdanza lupa diri

Esok masih ada

Janganlah terasa hidup ini sementara
Wartawan hiburan pon$@ homo=?%+!*
Merpati sejoli hari-hari geli-geli

Esok masih ada

Tanyalah esok
Masih ada ke?
Ada ke?

8. Hanyut

Aku
Dalam suasana hening
Pagi ini rajin pula terasa sasau hilang
Kota metropolitan ini
Penuh dengan sisa-sisa
Dosa dan kuman kusta

Hanyut
Dalam arus pemodenan ini
Kalau begini camana nak makan nasi
Janggal kerana kita semua
Manusia hidup dalam kolam konkrit
Kanan kiri kereta laju
Tapi hari ini bukan hariku

9. Taman Tasik Perdana
Pelbagai manusia suka kunjung ke mari
Angin subuh yang dingin waktu bersuka-neka
setelah penat mencari ilmu rezeki disiang hari
sebelum senja kala ..........

Hirup udara tubuh segar bugar
Padang menghijau rumput dihiasi
aku laksana seekor serangga
hingap di bunga taman tasik perdana

Alangkah puas kalbu melihat langit biru
Pudar sedikit rasa duka dan nestapa
imbas kembali zaman waktu ku curah dulu
kini dulu semalam esok hari bermakna

Hirup udara tubuh segar bugar
padang menghijau rumput dihiasi
aku laksana seekor serangga
hingap dibunga taman

Di Taman Tasik Perdana
Singgah sebentar taman tasik perdana
Taman tasik perdana
Ilhamku

Singgah sebentar ditaman tasik perdana
aku laksana serangga

10. Tentang Tentang

buka radio di pagi hari
malam hari sama sahaja
cinta sana cinta sini
aku gila geli

buka radio omputih
propaganda amerika
ape benda yang merdeka
jilat bontot depa
ape benda yang merdeka

bila kawan ramai
......
cakap besar tunjuk belang
tapi bila sorang-sorang
pengecut pemalu
macam semua orang

saya ni bukan sempurna
tapi saya tahu
dosa dan pahala
ku tuhan sahaja yang tahu

gelang si paku gelang
gelang si rama-rama
tentang marilah tentang
bersama-sama..

c'est la vie

2005-02-18T14:41:00.000Z

with exams just around the corner, time seems to fly. look at the clock and it's noon already. look at the calendar, then you'll notice you can count the days remaining with your fingers.

yet, when i looked inside the drawer this morning, and saw my flight ticket to malaysia, suddenly i sensed that time ticked so slowly. i studied the calendar once again just to be reminded that it's still a long way to go.

c'est la vie

** *

2005-02-16T19:29:00.000Z

Abu Shuraih Al-Khuza'i, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) observed: He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should do good to his neighbor; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should show hospitality to the guest; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should either speak good or better remain silent.

Hadith number in Sahih Muslim : 69

why is it easier to yell f*** **u, p*****k and b**i, than say sorry or thank you, or even just keep quiet? why is it easier to show the finger than give a nod? why the sour face, when a smile will bring more benefit? why?

sorry for the questions. i like to ask questions. heh, even the title of this blog is a question.

on another note, i found this interesting blog. i'm grateful i don't have such problems.

new year, new me (hopefully)

2005-02-09T19:39:00.000Z

happy new year, 1426 AH

taman tasik perdana

2005-02-09T19:37:00.000Z

stephen's green
Originally uploaded by azizul.

if you like to read blogs or you are a blogger yourself, you might be aware of one way a blogger can update their blogs even though they have nothing to blog about. and that is to copy-and-paste the lyrics of their favourite songs. i thought i won't have to do it, but here it is, the lyrics of taman tasik perdana by butterfingers. the picture on the right is not of taman tasik perdana though, but of stephen's green, dublin. ok, signing off.

Taman Tasik Perdana

Pelbagai manusia suka kunjung ke mari
Angin subuh yang dingin waktu bersuka-neka
setelah penat mencari ilmu rezeki disiang hari
sebelum senja kala ..........

Hirup udara tubuh segar bugar
Padang menghijau rumput dihiasi
aku laksana seekor serangga
hingap di bunga taman tasik perdana

Alangkah puas kalbu melihat langit biru
Pudar sedikit rasa duka dan nestapa
imbas kembali zaman waktu ku curah dulu
kini dulu semalam esok hari bermakna

Hirup udara tubuh segar bugar
padang menghijau rumput dihiasi
aku laksana seekor serangga
hingap dibunga taman

Di Taman Tasik Perdana
Singgah sebentar taman tasik perdana
Taman tasik perdana
Ilhamku

Singgah sebentar ditaman tasik perdana
aku laksana serangga

meow

2005-02-07T17:14:00.000Z

meow
Originally uploaded by azizul.

alamak, i got nothing to blog about for this few days. so, i thought i'll upload this picture of one of my favourite cats. i don't know where she is now. oh, and her name is (simple enough) miau.

friends

2005-02-01T18:53:00.000Z

friends are those who remember your birthday and wish you luck even though you don't remember THEIR birthdays.

thank you guys.

for those who don't remember, don't fret, i don't remember yours either. really.

selamat tinggal dunia

2005-01-31T18:18:00.000Z

after posting about it and waiting in anticipation, finally i got my hands on a copy of selamat tinggal dunia (STD), the latest album of butterfingers. hahahaha.....maybe it's safe to say that i own the only copy in ireland. so, having nothing to blog about, i'm going to write my say on this groundbreaking album.

the first butterfingers tune i heard was girl friday from the butter worth pushful album years ago (that was when dead mushroom was top) and had been hooked to buttersound ever since and believe me STD is no butter worth pushful. if i want to really relate STD with any of butterfingers' previous albums, i would have to say that STD is the sequel to 'malayneum' with less psychedelic vibe. songs like taman tasik perdana and merpati sejoli give me the same tingling sensations as when i'm listening to pacific and antidotes.

in the interviews prior to the launching of std, butterfingers promised a different formula, a different listening experience for their fans and different did we get. first major difference? well, it's in malay. maybe some of you might remember that butterfingers had stated a long time ago that they won't do malay songs. heh, guess they didn't keep their word but so what. in fact, the first malay song they released was tahun 2001 in the 'underground tribute to sweet charity' almost half a decade ago. the malay music industry desperately needed salvation from the monotonous cintan-cintan jiwang formula and butterfingers came to the rescue. they gave a mention of this trend in the first line of their sharp and cynical tentang-tentang, "bukak radio di pagi hari, malam hari sama sahaja, cinta sana, cinta sini, aku gila geli".

some old butterfingers fans dislike the direction butterfingers are taking musically. you can refer to their opinions in the royalbutterfingers forum. they say that bf lost their grunginess. well, to me butterfingers had abandoned grunge long ago, starting from the hallmark album 'transcendence'. bf is not about grunge, they're about buttersound, they're about how the music is expressed, how it is conveyed. heck, if they can make dangdut sound good, then let them gelek!

to tell you the truth i already heard most of the songs in STD such as cuai, kabus ribut, ngilu, tentang-tentang and daulat tuanku months before it was launched, though not in their final mix. that's what you get when you have hardcore butterfans on the net. what's more is that you could download the video clip for kabus ribut and other butter videos here. moreover, songs like merpati sejoli was introduced to the public as early as new years day 2003, when they performed at rock the world III. you can even sample tracks of bf's supposedly next album, siaran tergendala and pancasona.

STD kicks off with ngilu, perfect intro for the album and powerful lyrically ("rongak gigi sendiri",heh). the tunes that'll surely attract the masses are cuai and kabus ribut. selamat tinggal dunia is another candidate, but i'm not so sure about the verses though, "pasir jerlus, litar pintas, jerangkap samar" maybe just too cryptic to be fully appreciated. maybe, it's their intentions, who knows? i'm not so sure about daulat tuanku getting regular airplay though. why? just see the lyrics and tell me how hot and spicy it is. my favourite track, probably is taman tasik perdana, though kabus ribut had been my song of choice in the shower for almost a week now. i don't know but something about it make me want to go to taman tasik perdana and see the flowers and butterflies. kudos to kadak for his excellent bass works in merpati sejoli and what can i say about hanyut except hmmm mmm mmm mmm. urusan seri paduka baginda is one song that's not really a song complete with gamelan and stuff that's somehow connected with cuai, the track before it.

if you don't understand what i'm talking about, then get the album, the ORIGINAL album published by EMI malaysia at only RM34.90. or if you're still not convinced then you can hear 30 seconds samples of all the tracks here.

if you need to see another (better) review you can visit the forum or here.

talk about the trinity in trinity

2005-01-28T11:13:00.000Z

last evening at half past six, an interfaith dialogue which was organised by FOSIS ireland was held at trinity college dublin (TCD). due to a technical difficulty (heh, i slept actually), i came late and the edmund burke hall was filled almost to full capacity, most of them are students and the dialogue was already under way once i arrived. it is essentially a comparative religion dialogue discussing the similarities and differences between the two major religions, christianiaty and islam. the guest speakers were sheikh shabir ally of the islamic information centre and mr chawkat moucarry, lecturer of all nations christian college. the two speakers were very knowledgable on the two faiths and both studied the holy scriptures and both researched the historical properties of both beliefs, yet both have, most of the time, different interpretetations.

the dialogue started off with the speakers conveying their arguments and points based on their understanding of the holy scriptures. interesting enough, the main focus of the session was, i think, about the T in TCD , the concept of the trinity. holy spirit, father, son and sins were among the recurring phrases yesterday. after a short break, the two speakers were asked to give out their conclusions. mr shabir ali concluded that islam are both rational and compatible with the old testament and the new testament while mr moucarry requested the audience to analyse the quran and the bible and understand these basis of these two beliefs.

the dialogue ended with a promo video of the next main event in the FOSIS EIRE calender, the end the occupation seminar that will take place in our beloved astra hall, university college dublin sometime in march.

this saturday, the 29th of january, shabir ally will visit cork for another interfaith debate with george hilliard at university college cork.

at around 10 o'clock everyone put on their jackets, exited the edmund burke hall and left the most famous university in ireland into the bitter coldness of the night, with something to ponder about.

here's some videos of shabir ally's past lectures.

good luck to you

2005-01-25T10:49:00.000Z

it's not easy to change. sometimes we do everything in our power so to avoid it, even though the change is for the better. it's not easy to be in a strange environment, you'll not only be facing the new environment, you'll also be battling with yourself. doubts, regrets and what ifs will surface. but if you hang on just that little bit, having the end in mind, you'll go through it, and that's what i believe.

my sister's going to face this challenge very soon and i wish her good luck and be strong. i hope you'll do better than me and i hope you'll succeed. if not, then it's ok.

just remember we'll always be there for you. but also remember that change is inevitable, soon or later it will happen.

i'm back

2005-01-25T09:56:00.000Z

for those who'd visited my humble blog before, you may notice that i've altered a few things here and there. actually this is the fourth template since the early posts in around april of last year. i thought i need a blog with a simple and clean design, unlike the last template which was quite packed with jpegs all over the screen. once i got the idea to change the look, i spent about a few (almost) sleepless nights pondering about it. where to put the title? should i change the background colour? what's the main theme? during that time you can find me staring at the ceiling for long periods of time or walking the whole perimeter of the ucd campus alone or scribbling something on a jotter pad at 3 in the morning. i'm the kind of person who after stumbling across an exciting idea, will concentrate all his efforts and mind on fulfilling the idea, making it a reality, almost neglecting other things, including sleep and meals.

this template was designed by michael heilemann, ported by michael k pate and transformed by me. some features are not compatible with internet explorer so i recommend you to use mozilla firefox.

now the latest template is up and running and from here it looks fine, to me at least. a fine blog will need fine posts, not really a fine design. i'll try my best. so please come back again. and bring a friend along.

nerd?

2005-01-19T21:06:00.000Z

sorry seems to be the hardest word

2005-01-19T11:35:00.000Z

sorry for the lack of updates. i'm working on something.
so tungguuuuu....

shopping spree on boxing day

2005-01-13T18:06:00.000Z

england trip - part three

boxing day. the day after christmas. even before the winter break everybody was talking about the massive price reductions on the 26th of december and the place to be on that day was in london. the 'everyone' i'm talking about were the malaysians in dublin, ireland.

surely enough, once we got on oxford street, the premier shopping spot in london at about 10 in the morning, a lot of familiar faces were instantly recognised. even them. haha...it seemed that the whole malay community from ireland had gone to london to spend their hearts out. some of you might wonder whether there are no shops in dublin for us to shop. the reality is, things in ireland are generally much more expensive, sale or no sale.

sale posters were everywhere, promising reductions as much as 70%, all bright and big, enticing people to take a peek in their outlets and to come out with a bag in hand.

we also came there to witness the supposedly mile-long lines in front of store entrances starting the night before. however, the first long line that we saw was at half past ten, at the entrance of one gucci store.

being the young and active youths we are (heh!), we only concentrated on the sportswear stores, such as the nike and adidas outlets, jd sports, sportsworld among others. suffice to say, a lot of pound sterling notes were handed them british cashiers!

leaving the hectic oxford street behind, we went back to malaysia hall to get refreshed (and to store our newly-acquired stuffs) and hit the road once again.

this time we headed for stamford bridge, chelsea's home ground to get a taste of a premiership match atmosphere. it was chelsea vs aston villa. one thing though, none of us is a chelsea fan, but who cares. once we arrived, the game had already ended with chelsea winning 1-0 and the only people there were autograph-hunting fans, waiting for their admired stars to come out of the stadium. after joining them for about 5 minutes we decided the players had left already and went inside the chelsea store. i, a man utd fan for more than a decade, bought a chelsea shirt. heck, it was cheap, five pounds.

just as we're about to leave, suddenly the whole place was filled with shouts and cheers. that was when we realized that there were still some players in the stadium. they were in their expensive cars which were blocked by die-hard fans. some of them stopped to sign a few shirts. we saw frank lampard, and one guy, and one guy (heh... i only recognize a handful of their players). chelsea's gaffer, maurinho, was last and he stopped a while to entertain the people. oh... we also bumped into a dubliner and fellow blogger, bro rizal.

not wanting to waste our unlimited tube travelcard, we headed for the london tower and the famous tower bridge. beautiful.

the next day, we checked out of malaysia hall and visited the stadium of another famous london club, arsenal. then we stopped by baker street before heading to victoria coach station. our next destination was leeds.

more pictures of boxing day in london here.

next on [are we there yet?] - more shopping?

be grateful...

2005-01-11T11:34:00.000Z

Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) worshipped so much that his feet were swollen. It was said to him: Why do you undergo so much hardship despite the fact that Allah has pardoned you for your earlier and later sins? Thereupon he said: May I not (prove myself) to be a grateful servant (of Allah)?

Hadith number in Sahih Muslim : 5044

i usually just delete the forwarded e-mails people sent me. but this time i opened one sent by ka and my heart sank after seeing this picture. it's amazing how a collection of colourful pixels can spark a realisation. i need to be grateful of what i have.

i don't know the origin of this powerful picture, so sorry for any breaking of copyrights.

the england trip series will continue after this.

christmas day walk

2005-01-10T19:05:00.000Z

just a quick entry. there was no tube service on christmas day. because of the thorough planning the night before and nothing interesting to do in malaysia hall, we decided to walk our way to the big ben, walking through the royal gardens and visiting buckingham palace. along the way we past by trafalgar square and 10 downing street. great day for walking despite the cold temperature. the whole journey and back took us more than 5 hours. but we came back with contented hearts and a lot of photos. below are some of them.

start walking

birds

malaya

buckhingham palace guards

rainbow

london eye

much more images here.

next on [are we there yet?] - boxing on boxing day.

false alarm

2005-01-07T09:40:00.000Z

england trip - part one

so here i am back in dublin. surprisingly, i find this irish capital much colder than the cities i visited in england due to regular gale-force winds.

what you are about to read in the following paragraphs are my review of my trip to england last week with two of my friends, kimin of ucd and syed nabil of nui, galway.

but don't forget my other travel companion throughout the journey, dan brown's the da vinci code. i bought it at eason the day before take off and found it as an interesting read to keep me company while waiting in the victoria bus station for seven hours or during flight delays due to bad weather conditions. a senior recommended me this book and after hearing all the hype about it and seeing it on the bestseller's shelves in every bookstore i just got to get my hands on it. all in all, it's a great, suspense-filled thriller. it would make a great movie. the subject matter is pretty deep for me though, but good knowledge nevertheless.

so, we flew to bristol international from dublin airport at around noon on the 23rd of december. after touch down, we headed to the heart of bristol to reach aidi's on-campus accommodation in bristol university. the student's hostel was on top of a steep hill and what a workout we had. we only stayed there overnight because our bus to london was scheduled early the next morning.

one interesting incident happened that night. i'm not going to type about it here but it does involved four fire trucks and onion rings.

the next morning, after barely caught up with the coach, we headed for the capital city of england, london. arrived in victoria coach station around 10am, we went to the new malaysia hall at queensborough terrace via tube.

first thing we did after checking in? went to the cafeteria of course for some nasi lemak and teh tarik (ahh...the first nasi lemak in four months that was not self-made. :p).

after that, we went to london central mosque near regent's park.

then we checked out picaddily circus and surveyed oxford street and we went to chinatown.

to be continued... check out the pictures of bristol and london here.

next on [are we there yet?] - no tube on christmas day, so what to do?

i'll be back

2004-12-31T10:06:00.000Z

at the moment i'm in bristol. tomorrow i'll be going back to dublin to continue my academic journey. just wait for the official account of my 10 day trip to united kingdom. until then, bye!

boxing day sale

2004-12-25T19:30:00.000Z

this is already my second day in london. yesterday we went sightseeing around london by tube. unfortunately, the tube closed on christmas, so what did we do? we went to westminster from malaysia hall by foot. and that whole journey took us about five hours. hahaha! it was good fun nevertheless. along the way we walked through a bunch of royal gardens. the ones that i remember right now are hyde park, kensington garden, st. james' park.......and what else? i'm sure we can't see them all if we travel via tube. ok. got to go now. my time's almost up in this internet cafe. more notes and pictures once i get back to dublin. cheers!

the big ben and london eye.

twelve years old already.....

2004-12-20T00:00:00.000Z

i'll be away for almost two weeks. so expect an updated blog in that space of time. but please come anyway anytime you can. and bring a friend along. i'll be back with pictures from my trip. see you next year...

tie the knot

2004-12-17T15:02:00.000Z

'Abdullah bin Mas'ud's Hadith, may Allah be pleased with him.
'Alqamah related: While I was going along with 'Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) in Mina, 'Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him) happened to meet him. So he walked and talked with him. Then 'Uthman asked him: Abu 'Abdul-Rahman, should we not marry you to a virgin girl that your past may be recalled to your mind? 'Abdullah said: If you say so, Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to us: O young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes (from casting evil glances) and preserves one from immorality; but he who cannot afford it should observe Fast, for it is a means of controlling the sexual desire.

Sahih Muslim : 2485

"hingga ke anak cucu" - my grandparents.

only nineteen years on this world, i already have one former schoolmate who got married early this year and another one is going to take the plunge this weekend. the one who's going to tie the knot this sunday, was a childhood friend of mine. i remember doing everything with him when we were kids. i also remember he had this amazing coin collection from all over the world and he just gave them to me.

one funny incident that stuck in my head was when we were in standard one (around 7 years old) in primary school, me, him, and this other guy once slipped a red rose under a desk of a beautiful girl (where's this girl now, i don't know) during recess. unfortunately, this girl, being the good, obedient person that she is, took the rose and reported it to the ustazah. boy, were we busted. i remember the ustazah gave us a good lecture. "kecik-kecik lagi dah gatal".

i can't recall what or who influenced us to slip her that rose that day. i'm sure that the hormones have not kicked in yet at 7 years old. i blamed it on the tv and hollywood movies. but this girl was pretty. hahahaha........those were the days.

ok, back to this guy. i don't know who's going to be his bride, but i wish for his happiness hingga ke anak cucu. good luck man.

me? i don't think i'm going to follow his footsteps in the near future. don't think i'm ready to take on the responsibility. don't even have a suitable candidate yet. :p

change

2004-12-16T11:15:00.000Z

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: While two women had been going along with their two sons, a wolf came and made away with the child of one of them. One of the two women said to the other: It is with your child that it (the wolf) has run away. The other one said: It has run away with your child. They brought the matter to Prophet Dawud (David) for decision and he made a decision in favor of the elder one. They then went to Prophet Sulaiman son of Dawud (may peace be upon both of them) and told him (the story). He said: Bring me a knife so that I may cut him (the child) (into two parts) for you. The younger one said: No, it cannot be, may Allah have mercy upon you, he (the child) belongs to her (the elder). So he gave a decision in favor of the younger one.

Sahih Muslim : 3245

notice the new title? the links section was also updated.

tomorrow is another day?

2004-12-14T19:15:00.000Z

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
"I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: The son of Adam abuses Dahr (Time), whereas I am Dahr since in My hand are the day and the night."

Sahih Muslim: 4165

time's up

exams are over. the pressure, the memorizing, the cups of coffee, the constant visits to the library, the doubts, the motivations, are over (for a while, at least). this also meant that the academic term is over and everybody is in holiday mood.

the campus is already as quiet as shah alam stadium on football match day. the university rescidence is also seemed abandoned. most irish and canadians had already returned home for christmas. i don't celebrate christmas, but i won't mind returning home. heh! if only i could.

what am i going to do this holiday? i should do something meaningful and worthwhile while i'm still here. i feel like travelling.

maybe i'll finish reading the skeleton crew. good book. that stephen king fellow is very imaginative and creepy.

conclusion : don't waste time. time is gold. we never miss water till the river runs dry. bla....bla...bla....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

hmmmm........

2004-12-13T19:28:00.000Z

will update soon.

kuala teregganu. sometime this year. Olympus C-3030 Zoom

mastermind?

2004-12-08T16:16:00.000Z

i was surfing the net and reading through people's blog when i found this personality survey thingy by bbc and decided to give it a shot.

my result:

and here's the summary given.

* Visionaries who put energy into achieving their goals
* Prefer to work independently and dislike inefficiency
* Think of themselves as logical, thorough, and bright
* Values practicality and common sense above ideas and theories

"Masterminds create a vision for the future by gathering and organising information. They then develop strategies to achieve their goals. They have a rare gift for looking at almost anything and seeing how it can be improved. These skills and the Masterminds' high standards often allow them to reach leadership positions at work.

Mastermind is the least common personality type in the UK, according to a nationwide survey.

Masterminds value independence and prefer to work on their own. Once they have decided on a course of action, Masterminds rarely change their minds, although they can be persuaded by clear reasoning by someone they respect.

In situations where they can't use their talents or are unappreciated, Masterminds may cut themselves off from a group and criticize people who don't understand their plans. Under extreme stress, Masterminds may overindulge in sensory experiences like eating, shopping or watching television."

hahaha......whatever.

but one line of the summary i think is true about me.

"Masterminds often have an unusual sense of humour, which arises from their ability to spot surprising links between seemingly unconnected facts."

billions of blistering blue barnacles

2004-12-08T15:28:00.000Z

another random picture.

when i was a kid, i used to think that the blinking red light in the car after the alarm is activated only blinks when you stare straight at it. so i remember hiding under the seat and locked myself in and slowly watched the LED. it blinked. next i try peeping at the light from the outside of the car. it blinked. then i did the same thing but wearing my dad's sunglasses thinking that the light must have sensors that can detect your eye movement. it blinked (of course!). only after that did i know that it will blink continuously if you watch it or not. that must be my first scientific observation and experiment.

warm warm chicken shit

2004-12-06T18:40:00.000Z

soon, i'm going to lose this, just like my other websites. before this blog, i had a few other html projects, some of them are experiments, while some were intended to stay, just like the chess site. but all of them have one thing in common, they're always under construction.

why can't i finish these projects? well i can give many straightforward answers (which are true), like lost passwords, lost contents, some other big projects came up, no time, or exams are near. but should i look further into myself, maybe I'll find the true answer, maybe i have the habit of 'hangat-hangat taik ayam'.

this habit doesn't just pop up when i'm doing websites, it's been happening my whole life. for example, i stopped taekwando training at only yellow level I, played the trombone for only a year (yes, i used to play the trombone when i was a kid), stopped playing (and studying) chess a couple of years ago and can only do pop shuvit when skateboarding (yes, i used to sk8) because i quit last year.

is it just me? or does everybody have this habit of quickly losing interest? is it embedded in malays that even a saying has been created of it? or is it just laziness?

can i change? of course i can and i will, god willing.

harun salim bachik II

2004-12-02T19:04:00.000Z

just some random picture. this was taken on June 2004 in kuala terengganu.

exams are near. everybody is getting more serious now. the library is almost to full capacity every night and i smell coffee every night. and i should do some revision instead of blogging. now where did i put my notes.

good night!

on my desk

2004-11-30T19:09:00.000Z

on my desk, i see the lecture notes on evolution, i can see the highlighted line that stated that men are descended from tree-dwellers.

on my desk, there is harun yahya's work, evolution deceit, that countered the evolution theory, saying that it's all a ploy by materialists.

also on my desk, the holy quran - translation and commentary.

toll gate girl

2004-11-27T10:40:00.000Z

the other day the three occupants of 23-2 belgrove stayed up for most of the night. no, unfortunately we weren't studying like we were supposed to considering exams are just around the corner. actually, last night we watched the malay telemovie toll gate girl starring amy mastura and rashid salleh. yeah, you might think "what, takde citer lain ke?" i thought so too at first but right after the opening montage we were immediately glued to our seats. it's not because of the storyline which was so so, it's not because of the typical malay tv humour of hindustan movies and funny lines.
it was because of where it was set, in good old malaysia.

the whole room went silent when we saw klcc in the background, the place where we used to hang out. we were all reminiscing when we saw jalan masjid jamek and i think somebody screamed when we saw markonah (amy mastura's character) walked through a pasar ramadhan. ahh... when will i go to another pasar ramadhan, trying out all those malaysian delicacies? heck, we even missed the PLUS highway and everybody was pointing out prominent landmarks along the route markonah made to reach her 'kampung'. it's sad i know. maybe it's because we're barely three months here in dublin and malaysia had been our home for almost two decades.

i learned two lessons after i watched the movie.

1. appreciate malaysian movies. i must admit that i am not a fan of malay movies. but somebody got to support the industry. and if it's not us than who will? once the support is there, quality will follow.

2. appreciate malaysia. there's nothing quite like malaysia and we need to protect it. maybe that's one objective of the government to send students overseas, to make them appreciate of what they'd left behind.

malaysia, i will return for good someday, insyaAllah.

selamat tinggal dunia

2004-11-25T10:16:00.000Z

this 14th of december, it will be released. after years of waiting the album that will shock the malaysian music industry will finally be out. and by examining the track titles and lyrics, i expect it will be a cause of controversy too especially to those who refuse to open their minds.

official track list:
1. nyilu (hidup makan tidur mati muzik)
2. daulat tuanku
3. cuai
4. urusan seri paduka baginda
5. selamat tinggal dunia
6. kabus ribut
7. merpati sejoli
8. hanyut
9. taman tasik perdana
10. tentang tentang

source from royalbutterfingers.

it's about time.
but how am i going to get my hands on it?

belgrove

2004-11-21T18:32:00.000Z

not much to say only it's getting colder. no it's not like genting highlands. it's more like wall's ice cream freezer. the day's getting shorter too.

on another note, the second weekend of syawal had been a good one for us. there were open houses everywhere (including malaysia hall which was organised by kelab umno ireland) and we only managed to go to a few.

view the pictures here.

Eid Mubarak 2004

2004-11-14T21:38:00.000Z

we celebrated Eid on saturday the 13th. after the Eid prayer we visited the homes of dr. azli, dr. arimin and abg. mail. at night there was a barbecue in merville. on the next day, we the ucd freshies arranged an open house and a lot of seniors and doctors and other colleagues were invited. in the evening, we went to the ambassador's residence. below are some pictures of the events.

tomorrow, class as usual.

celebration.

waiting to eat.

now it's ready.

banner.

just some of the muslims in dublin.

now is the time to take photos.

visitors.

smile.

abang mail.

the ambassador.

more pictures here.

Happy Birthday Mum! (12th November)

2004-11-11T15:13:00.000Z

oh no.... it's you!

2004-11-06T15:30:00.000Z

oh no.... it's you! you're back! i thought i got rid of you a few months back.

you haunted me for so long.

those sleepless nights.

those endless clicks.

i thought you're gone for good. but no! you're back. even better than before.

so you changed your name. heh! you can't fool me. i know it's you the whole time.

no! no!

i won't go there again!

nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

go away!

go away football manager 2005!!!!!

not at 49 euro at least. heh! heh!

the joy of ramadhan

2004-11-02T11:10:00.000Z

observing fast in the month of ramadhan in dublin has been an exciting experience for me. other than the shorter fasting period, there's also the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, from diverse culture backgrounds. but most notably, free iftar! the general equation is free iftar = don't have to cook + try out various cuisines from tunisia, saudi arabia, lubnan, morocco, turkey, algeria, malaysia (of course), the emirates, pakistan among others. in the space of two to three weeks i'd sampled food originated from all over the world, some of which i've never seen before.

having iftar in mosques and gatherings presents you with the opportunity to make friends and connections. recently i got acquainted with a lot of muslims just by breaking the fast with them. unexpectedly some of them share the same interests as you. in the space of a few days, i've met with a canadian football player, an avid fellow chess player (who is an established doctor), an irish convert, a malay neurologist, fellow bloggers and a libyan accountant. as they say tak kenal maka tak cinta!

one thing that i learned in my first few months in this foreign soil is to speak up and hide my shyness (being a malay, i am naturally shy :>).
one example was when a few strangers sit in a group waiting for the food to be served, there's the curious silent few minutes where everybody
just smile and look at each other and when the food are served everybody just eat quietly until it is finished and they leave straight after that.
that period of time seemed very odd to me. after a few similar incidents i decided i can't take it anymore and i forced myself to be the first to speak
and break the ice. normally i just mention about the cold climate, or the freshness and tenderness of the dates, or the expiration date of the orange juice on the table.
this, will normally make the ball start rolling and we'll get to know one another better. i do occasionally get the "me no speak english" but we just smiled
and continue conversing in simple, broken english. i figure if i'm just going to stick in the malay group and joke in malay and talk in malay it would be better off not coming here at all and just attend a malaysian varsity and save a lot of money.

with all that said, i'm grateful to God for giving me this opportunity and i will fully make use of it, insyaallah. i only pray for the strength to go on and protection from unfavourable incidents and unhealthy influences.

salam.

"verily then along with every hardship is ease. verily along with every hardship is ease"
al-Insyirah: 5 and 6.

me + camera + dublin =

2004-10-27T10:14:00.000+01:00

evening news.

post office.

dun laoghaire.

cow and bird and grass.

duta besar.

penantian II.

bank.

shop in glass.

dublin bus.

penantian III.

apples and oranges and grapes and...

warning sign.

dates with almonds...

2004-10-15T15:43:00.000+01:00

below are some of the messages i received last night:

1. i met iman, takwa, patience, peace, joy, health and wealth today. they all need a permanent place to stay, so i gave them ur address.

2. most beautiful word - Allah, most beutiful song - azan, world perfect encyclopedia - al-quran, best exercise - praying, best diet - fasting.

3. bila mata bertemu mata, akan mula rasa kasih, bila hati bertemu hati, akan mula rasa sayang, bila dahi bertemu sejadah akan terasa kebesaran Allah...

and there are some more but i won't type them here because they all got those mushy ASPI teddy bears and drawings.

it's that time of the year again. it's ramadhan al mubarak! cherish it. make full use of the month cause we never know if there is a next year for us...

zzzzzz.....

2004-10-08T15:26:00.000+01:00

only a few minutes ago
i realised that
i have been sleeping
all this time
i need to wake up
yeah!
i need to wake up and
fight.

on another note, there's the fosis party tomorrow. malaysian freshies from all over ireland are coming. but what's more important is there's lunch and refreshments. let's go guys!

baile atha cliath

2004-10-06T10:27:00.000+01:00

i want to apologise to my loyal visitors (if i have any!) for not updating more frequently. it's not that i don't have the facilities but it's quite uninspiring to try to write your thoughts and views in a computer room filled with about 30 other users. and that's what i am going through right now. maybe i need to write it down and type it later. but that won't feel right. i'll find the solution soon. but now off to town!

siaran tergendala...

2004-09-24T17:06:00.000+01:00

ayam golek
itik bertenggek
cuci mata
menunggu masa
untuk dipercik

perlahan lahan
kayuh
jangan gelojoh
jangan gopoh
nanti nescaya
roboh

harus berwaspada
sayang
hari kian
semakin hampir
aku
semakin sesat

di hutan batu...

stranger...

2004-09-16T13:19:00.000+01:00

these are some pictures of my first days outside malaysia heading to dublin. i know most of them are dark but it will do cause i don't have the software to touch them up. there seems to be something wrong with the camera settings. i promise better pics soon.

in flight entertainment.

laptops and aeroplanes.

heathrow in the morning.

shopping for frying pan in the city centre

my spot in this windy and new world.

memories...

2004-09-16T11:27:00.000+01:00

a friend of mine ask me to publish this picture. this is a drawing of our form 5 class in 2002 from my former pal which i mention on 'the journey'. 10 bucks if you can spot me in the picture. hint: i would be the handsome one. (heh!)

ticking clocks...

2004-09-09T01:36:00.000+01:00

you gotta do what you gotta do.

the journey

2004-08-31T11:44:00.000+01:00

31st august. For most malaysians this day is a day of joy and happiness because 47 years ago this day, tanah melayu regain it's independence from the clutches of british rule. but not for one group of people that i know. because today, one member of this group had passed away. this person was a former classmate of mine and also a fellow neighbour. the news of his passing shocked me because it's just like yesterday that we painted our classroom, went fishing, played football and teased girls together. he was a good person, honest, friendly and courageous. but now he is going to another world. a lot of his relatives and friends old and new went to pay their last respects to him. it really moved me when i saw his father who looks strict on the outside went into tears sitting beside his deceased son. that is love.

all this made me realise once again that i will go too one day. what i hope is that i will leave this world with my faith intact.

"from Him we belong, and to Him we shall return."

connection error

2004-08-28T07:50:00.000+01:00

...

low battery

2004-08-28T02:20:00.000+01:00

well well well. what do we have here?

why not?

???

shebby singh II

2004-08-26T03:15:00.000+01:00

let's talk football, to be more precise, let's talk manchester united. we are back in winning ways after defeating norwich 2-1 and edging out Dinamo Bucharest 3-0 earlier today despite losing to chelsea on the opening day of the english premier league. alan smith proved to be a bargain after scoring three goals in five days. with all that said, there is still more to come for man utd with van nistelrooy and saha recovering from injury, heinze is still playing in the olympics and ferdinand will come back in about a month after 8 months of suspension. what's more, united is making an offer to buy wayne rooney from everton. the near future is looking bright for man utd. however, this season is also tougher than ever with arsenal looking invincible and the chelsea squad oozes quality in every position. middlesbrough, liverpool and newcastle is also not far behind. this all add up for a mouth-watering period of the beautiful game.

no doubt

2004-08-20T02:46:00.000+01:00

confused? having doubts? unsure of something? too shy to ask?
don't let it rot inside you. don't lose your faith.

get the answers.

nasty.txt

2004-08-18T14:27:00.000+01:00

i learned a good lesson in life not too long ago; that there are nasty people in this world. people who looked nice enough the first time you saw them. nice enough to give your faith in them. nice enough until BAAMMM!!! they revealed their true colours. words fly. i saw their cursing faces and the most hideous stare(s) you can imagine. i'm grateful that i didn't reacted excessively like they do. maybe i'm scared. yeah, i'm scared that i'll be just like them. after this, i would be more careful when dealing with strangers.

they said never judge a book by it's cover. they were right.

what will it be?

2004-08-17T15:45:00.000+01:00

ayam masak merah
daging masak kurma
kari daging
sayur campur
daging masak kicap
kari kepala ikan
tom yam
rendang ayam

Google Search: azizul

2004-07-16T14:34:00.000+01:00

only recently did i discover that if you google "azizul" and my fotopage (not my blog, sadly) will be listed eighth on the first search results page.
i know some of you might say 'so what!' but it's good publicity nevertheless. i know it's been a while since i've updated the page because i don't have any interesting subjects to photograph. i'm at home for the majority of my days right now.

seems greek to me

2004-07-05T17:19:00.000+01:00

so greece won the european championship. a real shocker to many. how can tournament favourites like France, Holland, England and Italy that are loaded with world class players can be outclassed by teams like greece? some say that the famous players were exhausted due to their long club campaigns. while some say that the Beckhams, Rauls and Figos were too busy shooting tv ads for their sponsors while the other teams were training their heads off. nevertheless i found the tournament interesting enough for everybody and i have the black eyes due to sleep deprivation to prove it.

saw spider-man 2 yesterday. great movie.

two roads diverged in a yellow wood

2004-06-28T03:10:00.000+01:00

at the moment, i feel like i'm robert frost in his poem 'the road not taken'. right now i'm standing at the meeting point of two separate trails in the woods, deciding which one to take. i know if i take one path it's almost impossible to go back and take the other. oh, can i feel the pressure thinking that i'm actually at the part of my life where i have to make a life-changing decision, a decision that will determine my future, my well-being. as i see it, one path is safe and easier to take and the other is more challenging even in the beginning of the journey. yes, i can see all the thorns and ditches and wild beasts i have to endure if i choose to take the second path. yet, if i ever make it out alive, the path will lead me to a more rewarding end. i will become a more mature person. i realise that everybody will eventually make this kind of decisions sooner or later in their lives and i have seen some people who make terrible decisions and i pray that i won't end up like that.

nevertheless, whatever path i choose i will stick to it and i hope that God will guide and help me the whole way.

are we there yet?

this is my final post...

i fell in love

South Asia Earthquake

so we meet again..alhamdulillah

postsecret

hmm...must be a new kid

visit

best referee

retro games

a saturday in dublin

chess

don't you just love broadband?

new chapter

mersing, pulau rawa and pulau besar

a thousand things i learned

hairy post

trip to belfast - a pictorial report

the beautiful game, but not so beautiful fans

belfast

birthdays

love doing the laundry

crossroads

an evening of recitation and praise

dedication to the teachers

happy birthday ika

F=ma

今夜 月の見える丘に

can't wait!

The Best Country In The World

ebay can be a dangerous place

nasi goreng pattaya

[awty?] turns one!

1.d4

transparent screen

trip to galway

slip away

spring break

Digital Rebel XT

i'm (almost) an FM2005 addict, how about you?

everyday is mother's day

what will it be tonight?

let it snow

peace

How To Study

Selamat Tinggal Dunia - The Lyrics

c'est la vie

**** ***

new year, new me (hopefully)

taman tasik perdana

meow

friends

selamat tinggal dunia

talk about the trinity in trinity

good luck to you

i'm back

nerd?

sorry seems to be the hardest word

shopping spree on boxing day

be grateful...

christmas day walk

false alarm

i'll be back

boxing day sale

twelve years old already.....

tie the knot

change

tomorrow is another day?

hmmmm........

mastermind?

billions of blistering blue barnacles

warm warm chicken shit

harun salim bachik II

on my desk

toll gate girl

selamat tinggal dunia

belgrove

Eid Mubarak 2004

Happy Birthday Mum! (12th November)

oh no.... it's you!

今夜　月の見える丘に

** *