My wish..

It's a Sunday today and I'm at home. This is what I normally do on Sundays but somehow I feel this Sunday a little different from my other ordinary ones. I'm not doing anything different, just the feeling.

Anyways, I'm still at the same workplace although I wish and wish so hard that I'd find a new place to land. And a new bed to sleep in. Which comes with a new room and probably new housemates.

But that's too cheap a wish to be making in Ramadhan.

although it would help if it does come true.

*Just had to borrow that song title.. :P*

Gain some, lost some..

It's almost the end of Ramadhan of 1429. It will be Syawal in about a week. Baju raya are hanging silently in the wardrobe with no outward intention of seeing the light of day. It suffice to see some light twice daily, when I open the doors to get a shirt or t-shirt. Probably three times if I have other places to go before dark.

This Ramadhan also brought me great relief. Finally managed to drop the burden of guilt carried for over 2 years. It happened as a surprise really, as I was not expecting anything from my prompt. I sent an email a few months back with some information I chanced upon while doing research. Received a reply this week. Sent a random text message too, some time recently and received a reply to that as well. With apologies said, I guess we can all move on. Gain: 2 friends.

I've been on an eating regime from day 1 of Ramadhan. It came from a concept I logicised (I do this often, using my logic purely :P). In my logic, since I don't do much at night, I don't need such a high energy level. As such, I don't need to consume so much food as the food I eat should only provide me with enough energy to rest a bit, watch tv and sleep. In the morning on the other hand, I would need a lot of energy to wake up, remain awake and to go about the day's business. With that, my food consumption should be high to be able to keep me at a good pace throughout the day.

So I began eating just a little bit at night and a whole lot in the morning. It's a huge help that morning meals are almost piping hot, making it tastier to the buds. Although I received compliments (:P) a few times the past week (and felt the difference too), I refused to agree to them until I weighed myself on a proper scale. Loss: 4kg.

Well, it's not all good though as I found out that I have a metabolic rate of 2 out of 9 and that my body's equivalent age is 36. And that the measuring tape states that I wear a size 37! Hah, never!! :P

I've got to remove some leather from my belt now. I have three black ones and all are currently loose. Hope there's perseverance after Ramadhan.

BTW, I'm supposed to be 72kg. I don't think I'd like to reach that weight. It's way too light. 74 or 76 sounds just about right.

Gain some, lost some but in conclusion, it was a great gainful month.

Ignore my English ;)

Singkapan Ramadhan

I'm not sure how my earlier Ramadhans were but let me recap my memories on the Ramadhans that I remember..

At one age, Ramadhan was the most dreaded month of the year. It's because I have to physically refrain from eating and drinking, acts which I cannot understand yet at that age. It was like a forced ritual and I had to go through that ritual simply because my religion is Islam. Of course, parents and teachers at the Sekolah Agama explained the who, why, what, where, when and how but what meaning does it make in this simple mind of mine then? Nak kena bangun pagi pulak tu just to eat, at the time of day when I would rather sleep, and by then time I get home from Sekolah Agama, had to wait for a couple of hours before I can taste the first sip of cold something. It didn't make sense.

There were lots of moments when I turn to the hose in the toilet for temporal relief, to burp (and be heard burping! :P) right after that and emerge refreshed after a supposedly evening shower. There was also an incident (that I made as an excuse) when I was 10, to break fast because I couldn't stand seeing someone drinking. Oh yes, I did get to taste the sirap selasih earlier than others but I also had to stay outside when it was iftar (dah minum air, boleh la gi padang main basikal! :P). Daddy locked me out of the house for that 'mistake'. Did I mention that it was a baby drinking milk from his bottle? Yeah.. excuses.. :P

Secondary school years were also a bane. There were the seniors who would ask not to be seen eating (to put it in mild words), the afternoon fatigue boys roll call and there was once while in form 2 that I had a bad stomach issue, I was forced (and I accepted gleefully :P) to take bread dipped in air sirap. And had lunch brought to me by a roommate (by the instruction of the DSM, no less). Alhamdulillah, that was my only authentic stomach related problem so far. Others were more of *ehem* reduced will power :D

I don't really remember what went on during uni years except that in 1998, for almost a month, I had one constant company for iftar.

Ramadhan in 2000, '01 and '02 were the beginning of our venture into business. It started off with my dad making a suggestion to open our gates and make ayam percik sales. It quickly included akok, cream puff and nasi kerabu. In the first year, we also had occasional nasi dagang, courtesy of my brother's MIL although the years after, it didn't work out that well. We opened sales again last year (for the record, last year was the year 2007) with the assistance of some of my former students and dubbed ourselves the Percik KING. They received certificates for their participation and we took photos to remember the event. We even had our private convocation dinner!

This year's Ramadhan is the best for me, so far. There's nothing superior about this year's activities and I've spent most of my iftars at home (although this week's nights are booked until Sunday) but I don't have to go to work too early and I don't have to move much in the office so I guess that makes it more appealing as compared to previous years.

I've still not completely understood the meaning behind it all but I think I'm beginning to appreciate it more.

Ramadhan kareem :)

New habits stay on longer

But old habits die hard..

Okay, second day aku menggantikan aktiviti tidur pagi lepas sahur dengan baca blog orang lain. It helps jugak bila singgah kat blog tu ada lagu yang sedap didengar, sane, clean and somewhat energetic. Aku tak berapa suka lagu yang bising dan merapu although kadang-kadang aku dengar jugak. Sebab tu jugak radio dalam kereta hampir 100% masanya kat Lite & Easy "For your easy listening favourites". Mungkin 20 tahun akan datang, lagu-lagu yang aku kira bising dan merapu tu akan jadi listening favourites untuk golongan 'oldies' (yang mana aku rasa aku akan tergolong sama.. :P).

Plus the fact that after my radio antenna went missing, LiteFM's the radio station that I can get the clearest reception where music sounds clearer than noise.

If I turn on the radio that is.. :)

Aku suka dengar lagu yang orang recommend sebab bila orang recommend, secara langsungnya dah ada filter. The best thing about getting recommendations is that in the recommender's subconscious mind, the song is related to the person it is recommended to. So when someone says, "Listen to this song," or "I think you'll like this," it's more than a suggestion, it's a recommendation, a thought and more than that, it's someone sharing part of his/her life with you.

Agak seronok rasanya kewajiban bersahur ni. Subuh pun mudah nak cover, kepala pun cepat jadi aktif. Bila makan sahur dekat-dekat nak Subuh, bila masa nak pergi kerja, kepala pun dah boleh berfungsi dengan sepenuhnya. Bulan-bulan lain aku tidur malam waktu sama tapi bila nak bangun tu agak liat. Sekarang ni tak la susah sangat nak bangun. Tambahan pulak aku tak berapa suka tidur bila dah makan/bangun pagi. Jadinya, waktu tidur aku memang kurang kalau dibandingkan bulan-bulan lain. Don't ask me about Sunday la ya? ;)

Siang hari boleh baca..

Aktiviti pagi tadi sambil menunggu masa nak siap-siap pergi kerja adalah membaca blog orang lain. Aku singgah kat blog patplohtujoh lepas singgah blog ayien. Bila dah abis baca blog patplohtujoh tu, aku tersenyum sorang-sorang. Simple, unsur-unsur lawak jenaka yang bersahaja.

Kalau korang tak nak tido lepas sahur tapi tak tahu nak buat apa, boleh la pergi blog hopping. Untung sabut timbul, untung batu tenggelam. Suka juga aku maklumkan kat sini bahawa adalah lebih bermanfaat jika masa terluang itu digunakan untuk mengaji, mentelaah pelajaran dan beribadat.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Yang berusaha
Tuan Punya Blog

mane ade.. hehe..

Kite tak marah la.. :P

I didn't know that the blog sounded so.. (for lack of vocabulary) angry until I read it again and realise that it could sound like it was written in anger..

Kalau rasa dimarahi, mintak maaf ya? Bukan itu niat kite.. hehe..

Apelah..

From small I've been amazed by some school friends who prefers the word 'kita' to refer to herself as compared to the more apt 'saya'. It's not a gender issue but those who frequent this word were girls, thus my angle. (Just a note, those girls then are still girls now.. - if you get what I mean.. :P) It wasn't 'cool' to be using words used by girls and boys would usually choose other words in conversation. There are, though, some guys who were able to bridge the gap between the two genders by timely use of words that would woo girls and earn them smiles, stolen glimpses, love notes and 'kakak angkat's and those were THE GUYS of that time.

It's bright morning now. Good time to get ready to go to work :)

If you can't take the crits, don't share your wits.

Imagine writing on a piece of paper then making 1000 photocopies of it and spreading those 1000 pieces at various drop-off points in the city.

Imagine seeing on each of those 1000 pieces of paper that came about from a photocopy of 1 piece, words inciting hatred, dissent or simple vulgarity.

Imagine having all that done, with the peace and comfort of your chair and writing equipment while the copying and distribution is done by others.

That's basically what we do when we blog.

Some people just don't understand the implications of writing a blog. Thinking that blogs are 'personal spaces' that warrants writing 'personal issues' using 'personal languages' that one feels/deems fit for the content of the blog, some people just write according to their fancy with little or no thought put in to how it might seem to the readers.

I really am generalising here so don't start feeling offended or as if I'm focusing on you 'coz I really don't have time to critic any particular person. I'm just trying to (hopefully) wake some ignorant people on a simple fact.

WHATEVER YOU MAKE AVAILABLE PUBLICLY
is
NO LONGER YOUR PRIVATE PROPERTY

If you paint your car pink and drive it around town, you have no right to stop people from making comments on your car. If you decide to go to work as a drag, people around you have all their rights to comment on how you look (well, some may like it some may not).

The blog that you make available on the internet is also subject to the same public 'scrutiny'. You may be able to write and pour your heart's contents into it but that also means that you should be able to accept comments from all and sundry who reads it.

Unless of course, you disable comments from your blog then it's purely for reading pleasure.

There's no such thing as "It's my personal space so I write as I damn well please and if you don't like it, go fly kite or make yourself useful." anymore because you allow people to access and read it.

If you're worried that your blog may be read by people whom you don't want to read it or don't want yourself to be known, you'll either have to create an access limitation with user IDs, passwords and what nots or blog anonymously forever and ever.

If you're only a reader and are very private about your life, I recommend that you keep your thoughts in your head. If you're a reader and like to write, I recommend that you keep an open mind about the types of people who have access to your blog and watch your words everytime you write.

If you can't take the crits, don't share your wits.

You want it? Come get it :)

Okay, so I strayed a little. It's not like the world will cease to spin without my meddling into its activities. Yeah, it would probably cause some to wonder but I doubt it's directed towards me rather to the outcome that I was supposed to give.

Like, "Where's the toast?" Not "What happened to the guy who always prepares the toast?"

I'm rambling. And the above is purely drama.. :)

I still am recovering from a back ache that I got grilling some flightless birds on day 1 of Ramadhan although it's very mild now as compared to last week. And I had to go to work on day 3, inching my way through staring eyes and curious minds. Not to mention the extended standing hours on the 5th to the 7th, smiling and wasting colourful paper, which (I guess) extended the duration for complete cure of the ache.

It used to be an annual event starting in 2001 and since last year has made its way up to twice a year. Progress? No. The opposite of progress. (side note: tried to find the opposite but found regress, which does not suit the situation but if you do find the opposite, comment please. Searched for egress and not found in Cambridge online dictionary) I've only got myself to blame and my sleeping habits. Oh, not habit but location. Since the fan's over there, I decided to sleep on the couch rather than on the bed as I used to wake up *drama* dripping with sweat even with the fan at 3. Oh, I don't believe in turning it to 5 because I think it's pointless.

The sofa gave me a bad sleeping posture and multiply that with about 7 weeks of sleep, out comes the strained muscles and stiff back. Yeah. Learning from that lesson, I've migrated to my bed, which is just inches away (with no fan above my head) and acclimatised to the change (I now use a blanket!).

MATTA Fair 08 was quite alright. I've never been to one before because I don't just feel like being amongst bargain hungry people. Met many friends I've known along the way. The prominent people I met were Syaza, Aunty (?) Mesra and children (prominent because I made 1 sale to them :D). There were also seniors from school as well as basketball buddies. Also made 1 Hi! Bye! friend with a promoter of a health outlet at The Golden Horses (hotel). I have a strange feeling that I'll be going to MATTA Fair 09 as well.

Came to office after the long absence seeing lots and lots of papers on my desk consisting of cheques to disburse, PVs and petty cash records to enter and receipts to pay. Felt overwhelmed and played the notty-employee for a couple of days before finally completing the task yesterday.

Terasa terurus sikit after that.

Have some documents to prepare for an application (not job :P) and some updates to do for some package enquiries.

Otherwise, life's smooth sailing :)