Sunday, December 23, 2012

A year's always a year. The difference is how long it seems to be.

Hi there. It's the end of the year again. Most of things happened quite the same like the years I've been through before, save for the fact that I would be 19 soon, after barely turning 18 in this month. (yeah, I'm one of those December kids.) This year's had been so hectic and rapid, frankly speaking, I haven't spent a year as fast as this before. Well, time sure flies, but, somehow, I think this year's experience is less valuable and memorable than those in years before this.

  It's surprising to find out that 365 days are always 365 days;but sometimes the moment seems too short or too long for us to live through. For me, 2012 is the shortest year of my life.  Though this year's supposed to be a turning point for me, but I keep feeling listless, unsatisfied with what I've done this year. So many things changed my life, but so much yet to be changed.

  Maybe it's because I miss my high school years too much that I keep feeling like this. It felt like I've just left school despite it's been a whole year since. The sense of belonging should have been long gone, but somehow, it won't leave.

  I think that's why most mangas tell stories set in high school. That is the only place where we grow through two stages of life: the end of childhood and adolescence. That is the place where most people found their first love, first learned the value of friendship, and first found the joy of being young. After that, growing up is boring and busy. More responsibility and issues to deal with, yet so little time given. I guess this is what means to grow up. Now I begin to understand why my parents, my teachers and so many people tell me to do this and that: they have been through the same things before and they made the same mistakes, but they want us to learn from it before we even do such things. Unfortunately sometimes life doesn't work that way.

  2013 is coming soon. Before that year unveils its curtains for us, let's scrutinize ourselves, look for the missing parts in our hearts, and fill them in next year. Or at least try filling them up.

   I wish for a time where I can finally celebrate a new year filled with afterglow of learning new life lessons. I hope years after this would be the ones teaching me the most.

  Have a blessed new year, everyone!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Newton's Third Law

(This is not a post about the physics law, so if you are looking for online tutorials, you have come to the wrong place.)

Assalamualaikum. Hi there. It's been a since my last post. (Okay, here we go again with the usual same header for every blog post I make) I've been through quite hectic times these past few months, and as always, I'm just too busy to write. Or maybe I'm out of ideas. Whichever it is, my monthly update is one day overdue, I wrote no posts for November, and now we are back to December already. How fast time flies by, it's already been a year since I finished high school.

  Well, that's how things work don't they? They say time speeds up rapidly when we are having fun, so I can pretty sum up this year as a very good year with so much exciting things happening to me, and my favorite fellow blogger, Aliya Najiha has finally updated her blog! Hurrah! Kinda miss your posts , Kak Aliya. Haha. (Not sure if she will be reading this, but anyways)

  So on this day I spent some time with my father, he came to KL for a meeting and I take this chance to hang out(?) with my dad, and decided to miss the Jogathon at my college this morning. Felt a little bit "zannen" because it seems people were having so much fun and some of my friends and "sensei"s won places in the Jogathon, beating PASUM. Oh yeaaah. Hahaha. (No offense PASUMians) Then we went to mall, having coffees and talked quite a bit, when I voiced out some of my desires of having new gadgets. But the gadgets are now overpriced, and I gave up of looking for new things to add up to my collections. I was actually looking for a good phone to help with my Kanji studies, but I don't want an entire new phone, because I know I won't be using most of the functions anyway. (I know I'm pretty stingy at times like these)

 I told him I decided to give up,and he said to me: " I will buy it for you, but ask yourself first, do you really need this? If your studies plunged down drastically despite your maximum efforts, and you think this might help, then go and buy one.But seeing how are things going now, without these things, you still managed to cope well. When I was your age, my lecturer also discouraged me from using technologies, because soon too much technologies will turn you to a machine slave. See how cashiers today, when you ask them 'How much is it?' '2 ringgits' , then you pay 10 ringgits, they still need a calculator to calculate the change."

 The thought hit me, "Humans are capable to do extraordinary things when they have nothing to help." The tougher things get, the harder humans hit back. To me, it seems analogical to the Newton's third law. "Every action has an equal reaction."  I pondered a little bit, and let's try to think together, how on Earth, past scholars succeeded in pioneering breakthroughs without much assistance from machines? I sum up the answers as their perseverance and the condition they were in provided them a catalyst to reach greater heights and elevate their academic threshold to a greater limit. The harder it got for them to search for answers, the greater they became.

 To all my readers out there, don't ever ever give up when you are trapped in a cul-de-sac, when there is no way but only to turn back, but instead break through the walls, smash the obstacles, and spread your wings.

"A lethal sword will render useless in the hands of a blind man, an innoceint pen will be deadly in the hands of an assassin."

Till next post!

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Time tides.

I love to write. So much, that I felt some kind of disappointment when I knew that my course's English examination won't include compositions. It's quite terrifying to realise that having no compostion exams will decrease my chance of writing even further, as I'm  not the type to keep diaries. Even right now, I taking a lot more time to spell some extra long words and translating whatever in my mind into English than I used to in my high school years. Sad, isn't it?

  Then there's this blog, 1994's. It's a blog authored by various bloggers, and all of them write exceptionally well. How I wish I were in their group. Learning another language and struggling with my subjects seems like to deteriorate my English capability to a serious athropy now. Not blaming the situation, but now I really miss those days where studies were not much of a problem.How much time had changed my life.







It's October now.A month since the last entry. It's fascinating how time flies rapidly without even us noticing, but it leaves a lot of evocative impacts on our lives. Illustrating this, think back of the time when you guys meet or video chat with your old buddies whom you hadn't met in a long time. "Wah, dah kurus laaa..." "Eh, apsal kau dah gelap hah?" " Iiiiish,, makin lawa la aku tengok kau ni!" must be among the comments,right? Of course, "Tak ubah langsung!" are heard, but some things must've changed right? That happens to me, a lot of things changed. My schedule, nap-time, the way I spend weekends, and of course, the people that surrounds me. Cest la vie, mon ami. We have to cope with the ever-altering surroundings or otherwise, we might stay unimproved. Changes and challenges always improve something right?

  That said, let us take every challenge and change in our lives as a path, a path to cross to the other side of our lives which haven't been discovered yet.

" Experiences are not measured by the amount of time one had lived, but how many challenges one had braved."

Till next time, mata nee, minna!

Monday, September 10, 2012

September is here, August is next, Then come October, Semester 1 final test =='

 Hey there. I'm sure most of kids my age are anticipating their results for the first semester exam, while I think matriculation colleges had already let the results out, most of my friends in foundation programs are still in the dark. Put that aside, what I'm gonna post is about final exam anyway.

  So, My exam is going to be on October, which the result is not as critical as compared to other students in different courses which requires them to get a 4.0 pointer or straight A or 45 points or whatever. Alhamdulillah my future university or daigaku, is decided through EJU results. So, that means, not so much pressure for the exams. The only consequence if I fail the exams, is not being able to advance to second year. And yet, the verdict is only made after combining results of first semester and the second, and as long as I pass, even if passing means at least a C; I still get the chance to go to Japan. Alhamdulillah, not bad, after tons of kanji and a lot of time restrictions which made college not so fun, I finally get something which lifts a load from my shoulders.

 Nothing much to post, aside from wishing my friends good luck for their exams. Buat betul betul tau.

Till next time guys. Haha.

Jangan stress exam ah. :)



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Future plans.

  Salam Ramadhan everybody. Alhamdulillah, Allah's grace with us this year, as always, and today we are blessed enough to still be given the chance to live and go though another Ramadhan, the month when the Hell's doors closed, and His Mercy is free for all. All you have to do is ask. Insya Allah, never there's a second He isn't listening to us, and His forgiveness is indeed the greatest love of all. Let's pray for His Mercy and redha, let's double our amal and may our Afterlife ends in Jannah, Amiin.
  As usual, my post always get published at odd times. Well, right now, it's only sometime before Subuh in my first Ramadhan away from home. Not really, if the times in school count, but I think I've never spent my real Ramadhan (the times when I was in Semenanjung, I was a little boy back then, therefore, half-day fasting was good enough) away from Sabah before, so this year's quite a new experience, berbuka puasa only after 7. Sabah prayer times is waaaaaaay much earlier, so, Maghrib is never after 7. Hopefully I will get used to it quick.
  Right now, it's almost two months at AAJ, and I'm fitting in. Schedules are packed,shukudais are stacked, and sleep is now no longer on my to-do list. Nevertheless, I'm loving the life here though I might complain a lot in my previous post and more posts to come. Seikatsu wa totemo isogashikute, kanji no benkyo wa muzukashii desuga, tanoshii desune.
  Okay, main point. My sensei told the class yesterday that AAJ has a program for second years that are about to fly to Japan , and it involves a lot of memories. Some time after the end of EJU, students will collect the things that remind them a lot about life at AAJ, and then they will put them in a time capsule. After graduating, AAJ calls them back, and these things will be unearthed, reminding them of the times here, where tears and sweat are dropped, where friendship and love are bonded, and dreams and visions are shared. Memories will soon take their place in everyone's hearts, remembering the hardship everyone had gone through to finally smell Malaysian air once again, after years walking on the land of the rising sun.
  I hope that day, I have had already fully matured, had already grown strong enough to face this world, and had already decided on my life course. Right now, I have several future plans that would need a lot of thinking and revising, and I'm still haven't made up my mind yet. Studying Japanese for a while now, my passion for this language rekindled,after I doused it off a couple of years ago because of my interest of going to UK and pursuing a medical career; seeing myself in this current situation resolved the desire a whole lot, and now I think I wanna be a Japanese Language teacher. Doesn't sound pretty bad, huh?
  I don't know whether if this sudden change of ambitions is caused by my indecisive personality or the extrovert guy in me. A teaching job involves a lot of speaking and social interactions, and I had always been marked by my teachers because of non-stop talking, even in exam halls ( by the way I'm having my exam now ) and libraries; as long as I'm in company of the right people, whom are willing to listen to my rants, nonsense and sometimes "tazkirah". Bahaha.
  But they always say, do what you love to do. Conficius (?) once said, "if you do the things you love for a job, you'll never have to work for the rest of your life". I hope you guys will choose what are you gonna do in this near future real careful too, so we all can live a life with no regrets.
  Aidilfitri is coming near, so I'm taking this chance to wish all my readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. May our amals are all accepted by Allah, the most Merciful Forgiver. And I'm sorry too, if somehow I had hurt your feelings, or took your haq someway. Let's all pray for another chance to meet Ramadhan next year. Aamiin...
 #Tak balik Sabah tahun ni so I'm gonna be a little sad. But still I can call you guys anytime kan?




# Seriously, I think my writing style is too feminine. Isn't that so?

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Ehemmm.

I read a post. A very good one indeed, telling a story about two awesome friends of mine, Syukri and Jerry. Narrated by Syukri, or as he likes it, Sung, he wrote about Jerry whom had always been his rival and how awesome these two guys were in school. To tell the truth, I am very much amused by them and I had been jealous of them because somehow, they are just damn smart. Just in case anyone wonders about the truth of the story, yeah, true that. I was a witness to their efforts to beat each other in exams.

  The story was truthfully written, except Sung did leave one last part. That missing chapter is : Sung, you cannot EVER leave out Ramdzuanny Musram from the rivalry. I admit defeat in high school years, but just you two wait. I'm gonna kick your asses someday! HAHAHAHA! (okay, that was over it) What I'm trying to tell here is I'm gonna fight harder and become stronger than before. But, please stay awesome as you guys  are already now. Wouldn't it be nice if someday we can meet up together and brag to each other on how damn good we were in college? I'm waiting for that day, for sure ;)

 Okay, I'm posting this because a lot of time had passed since my last essays, and I think I need to write something to stay sharp. Seriously, my English that I took years to improve had rotten since I've been stuck here in AAJ, most probably caused by the lack of conversations in English.(or too much Kanji?) English class is only held once a week, so I do not have much chance to communicate in English. I don't wanna be good in Japanese but losing my English over the years. So, here am I, blabbering once again.

 Ehemmm. I hope everyone whom reads this follows my updates, because I like to be watched. (Okay, I admit I'm an attention seeker) My previous post said that I went to JPA interviews and were still waiting for the result to come. Now, Alhamduliilah, as this post is written, I've been successful, and I have been studying at Ambang Asuhan Jepun, Universiti Malaya for 1 month now. Life had been tough, but this new phase is even tougher. Imagine 9 Kanji characters everyday to be learnt, and learning it today means you have to memorise and be able to write and read them the next morning, as we have a Kanji test every weekdays. Even that's still a blessing; our senpais had 12 Kanji to learn daily. Haha.

 Crammed with Japanese shukudai, pressed by boring science lectures, I have to say: I haven't been coping well. I sleep for at most 5 hours everyday, and I had been sleeping in many lectures because I'm such a heavy sleeper. Then, when the tutorials come, I don't know a damn thing. I was thinking to run away, but the love for Japanese language and the desire to build an Ironman suit kept me here somehow.

 In the midst of tiredness and laziness and the lack of motivation to remain an AAJ student, a way out opened its doors. Another scholarship offer. Coming from a well known private company in Malaysia, the offer offered me to do a financial course at UK. My preparations, as I was told, was only A-levels, which, in my thoughts, wouldn't be so hard, because the medium is English, and I will never encounter my much disliked subject ever, Mr.Physics. Allowances reach four figures in RM each month, besides being offered to do A-levels in one the most lustrous college in Malaysia, Kolej Yayasan UEM. Who would reject that?

 I was in dilemma, of course. At first, I was reluctant to leave, but after asking for friends' opinions and trusting my gut, I decided to go for it. I was gonna leave AAJ. Though sad to abandon my Japanese language studies and deleting the possibilities of founding a breakthrough in science fields almost entirely, I made the the decision. Consoling myself, I told my scared little heart, "Don't worry, you can learn Japanese anytime. The money's good, and the environment's better than UM." Job worries were thrown away from my mind, as the company guarantees employment after graduation;whilst JPA does not.

 I asked my aunt living here in KL to help pick me up on the night before the scholarship awarding ceremony, like most limited scholarships always have, and I packed some of my things. The event lasted for three days, so I'm gonna miss most of the lectures if I decided somehow to cancel the contract and go back to AAJ. That night was a point of no return.

I dragged my half-full suitcase on the road, headed out to wait for my aunt. Then what I guess as a divine intervention disguised in a phone call came. It was my dad.

                                                                                                                                  




 After chit-chatting with my dad, I went back to my room. Felt like a fool because some of my coursemates saw me leaving. Luckily no one asked much.

I said,

Sekarang ni Papi, saya nda tau apa mau buat. Saya pernah dengar orang cakap kalau dalam keadaan begini, dalam keadaan sudah buat solat istikharah semua, kalau masih belum dapat petunjuk, tanya ibubapa. Jadi sekarang saya tanya Papi, Papi mau saya stay mana?
The reply was,

JPA lah. Sebab saya ada kawan degree finance  UK juga, 15 tahun kerja baru boleh jadi boss. 
And a lot was said between us that night. So I stayed, believing in my father's words. Well, somebody did say trust your gut, but no matter how awesome we are, things won't work out well if our parents are not redha-ing our actions. Remember, Allah's redha is in our parents' redha too. If even the Merciful God's not on our side, I can't imagine how helpless can we be.

 The story is only beginning to take its course now, so I can't see where's this going yet. But, life is like book anyway, the climax will come sooner or later. Insya Allah this is the best for me, and I hope I will never stop believing in His perfect plans. Indeed Allah is the Greatest Planner.

I guess these guys will stay being my friends for these 2 years. Hihi :)




Saturday, May 19, 2012

UEFA Champions League!

   Kemenangan sudah hampir pasti, namun akhirnya Bayern Munich menangis di tempat sendiri. Chelsea dinobatkan sebagai juara Liga Juara-juara Eropah pagi tadi selepas merekodkan kemenangan 4-3 pada penentuan sepakan penalti yang mencatat keajaiban buat pasukan Liga Perdana Inggeris tersebut. Aksi perlawanan akhir yang cukup dramatik pagi tadi menyaksikan kedua-dua pasukan menjaringkan gol pada minit-minit akhir perlawanan.

   Bermula dengan gol Bayern Munich pada minit ke-83 hasil tandukan Thomas Muller setelah menerima hantaran lintang rakan sepasukan Toni Kroos yang gagal dihalang Petr Cech meskipun berupaya membaca arah tandukan tersebut. Chelsea menyamakan kedudukan pada minit ke 85 setelah penyerang berpengalaman, Didier Drogba menanduk kemas sepakan sudut Juan Mata menuju gawang Bayern Munich. Kedudukan terikat 1-1 memaksa perlawanan ke masa tambahan yang ternyata banyak menghampakan Bayern Munich apabila terlepas tiga peluang keemasan untuk menjaringkan gol termasuk satu sepakan penalti Arjen Robben yang berjaya diselamatkan Petr Cech. Drama dua pasukan berterusan sehingga sepakan penalti dengan Chelsea bolos 3 sepakan pertama dan sepakan Juan Mata diselamatkan penjaga gol Bayern, Manuel Neuer. Namun tuah ternyata menyebelahi The Blues apabila sepakan pemain Bayern, Ivica Olic diselamatkan Cech dan Bastien Scweinsteiger hanya setakat menggegar tiang gol. Didier Drogba menjadi hero Chelsea dengan menyumbat masuk sepakan penalti terakhir yang mengesahkan kemenangan Chelsea di Munich.

  Kejuaraan Chelsea menjadi lebih bermakna tahun ini kerana haluan mereka untuk ke pusingan akhir, perlu diakui, bukan mudah. Semangat pasukan dan ketabahan menjadi azimat ampuh mereka dalam mengharungi liku  perjalanan untuk menjadi juara. Keajaiban yang dicipta pada pusingan separuh akhir di Nou Camp apabila Chelsea menundukkan pasukan sensasi Eropah, Barcelona, walaupun terpaksa bermain tanpa kapten, John Terry manakala Catalans menguasai bola hampir 70% seolah-olah petanda awal kejuaraan mereka hari ini. Kehilangan tonggak utama pasukan seperti Terry dan Raul Meireles yang digantung pada perlawanan akhir terbukti bukan aral Chelsea  untuk mengucup bangga trofi kemenangan pagi tadi.