Summer's gone...

...time to set the clock back an hour.

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be allright
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home




_______________________________________________

Artist: Michael Buble
Album: It's Time (2005)
Song: Home

When you know you have a problem...

I'm not expecting you to be someone you're not.




We're in a restaurant, we're dressed up, we're eating.
If not small talk, what is there?
























According to Freud, and I'm paraphrasing, instinct of love
toward an object demands a mastery to obtain it...




...and if a person feels they can't control the object or feel
threatened by it, they act negatively toward it...




...Like an eighth-grade boy punching a girl.




I treat you like garbage, so I must really like you.
Given your Freudian theory, what does it mean if I start being nice to you?




That you're getting in touch with your feelings.




Hmm. So there's absolutely nothing I can do to make you think that I don't like you.




Sorry. No.




*sigh*




I have one evening with you, one chance, and I don't want to waste it talking about...




...what wines you like or what movies you hate. I want to know how you feel...




...about me.









You live under the delusion that you can fix everything that isn't perfect.
That's why you married...




... a man who was dying of cancer. You don't love, you need. And now that your husband is dead, you're looking for your new charity case. That's why you're going out with me...




...I'm twice your age, I'm not great looking, I'm not charming, I'm not even nice.
What I am is what you need...




...I'm damaged.



























____________________________________________________

Scene taken from the TV series, House M.D.
Season 1, Episode 20 - Love Hurts.
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House.
Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron.
Currently showing every Thursday at 10pm on Channel 5 in the UK.

Do Girls Fart?

I was in my bed getting all comfy and cozy when all of a sudden, *PAARRRPPPP!*, I had a great big fart. My whole bed vibrated violently as if I was experiencing my own mini-tsunami. The temperature underneath my duvet must have increased by threefold. Keeping it firmly tucked in for sure eliminated any forms of life underneath (excluding me of course). Disgusting, yes, but the wide smile on my face told a different story.

While amidst my own celebration of self-induced warmth, I thought to myself;

Do girls fart?

It occurred to me, if my memory serves me right, that never have I heard the sultry resonance of flatulence coming out of a girl.

Burp, yes. Plenty.

Fart, no. Never. Not even once.

Almost all my guy friends fart openly. It’s all part of the male-bonding ritual that we do (hehe). The louder we fart, the prouder we feel of what we accomplished. However, not all farts are audible. Sometimes, amidst the jokes and laughter or during a serious brainstorming or discussion session, a strong whiff of lethal organic incense would suddenly appear out of nowhere. We would normally call that “The Silent Killer”.

I would be thrilled to discuss the other varieties of this rather debatable human phenomenon, but I shall leave that for another day. At the moment, I’m very curious as to whether or not girls do fart.

I mean, if they don’t fart, where do their excess gases go? Out through their ears? It has been reported that farts can kill brain cells. Maybe this is how we get our “blonde bimbos”. I said MAYBE.

Perhaps girls have better digestive systems, such that food is efficiently processed that no gas has ever accumulated in their bowels?

Or perhaps they do fart, but they have mastered the art of stealth (yes, much like a ninja), that none of their farts can be heard nor smelled.

Even if that was true, why on earth would they do that?

Why hide it?

Farting can be extremely entertaining. They should turn it into a seasonal sport and broadcast it live on satellite tv. Think of the revenue that would generate.

But seriously, do girls fart?



Now where did I put my gas mask?

10 Karipaps On My Plate

10 karipaps on my plate, time to break my fast, I can’t wait

9 karipaps on my plate, 1st one heavenly, 2nd one should be great

8 karipaps on my plate, it’s nice and hot, I’m sure you can relate

7 karipaps on my plate, enjoying it too much, can’t stop at this rate

6 karipaps on my plate, what’s wrong with me, I can’t think straight





5 karipaps on my plate, half gone now, I feel slightly irate

4 karipaps on my plate, who came up with such a delightful trait?

3 karipaps on my plate, hmmm not as exciting as number eight

2 karipaps on my plate, ugh so many karipaps I have eaten to date

1 karipap on my plate, why should I even bother fighting fate?






No karipaps on my plate, all gone now, think I’ve put on weight!





___________________________________________________
karipap a.k.a curry puff
- pastry pouches filled with curried potatoes, deepfried until golden brown
- very similar to the Indian samosa or English cornish pasty.

Memories of Past Ramadhan

It was very dark and cold as I walked home from the local mosque earlier this evening. It has been nineteen days of fasting and that means ten days left to go before Eid. I can’t help but to remember the time I did terawikh prayers when I was still back home in KL... it then dawned upon me, I can’t recall ever doing it back home. Has it been THAT long?

What I do remember (fondly), is hanging out with a few of my closest friends from secondary school, mastering our hurricane punches with M. Bison on Street Fighter 2 or frantically hitting the special Bomb button on the futuristic shoot-em-up Raiden 3. This took place several years ago at the games arcade centre on the 2nd floor of Jaya Supermarket in Section 14, and would happen a few times in a week during the fasting month (hehe).

It would normally be around 8:30pm, with our stomachs still full from the face-stuffing routine during breaking our fast earlier. We would take turns hijacking borrowing our parent’s/sibling’s car and that person would be the designated driver to pick everyone up and send everyone home at the end of it. Each of us would be in our baju melayu and jeans to make it look “authentic” to our parents. We told them we were going out for terawikh, but we actually spent the evenings wasting RM2 at the arcades (hehe). It wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t do a pit stop at our favourite stall by the roadside in SS 3 for our regular teh tarik fix, before we retreat to our homes for the night. Gosh, RM2 sure had a lot of value during those days. My elder sister told me that kids nowadays demand at least RM5 for duit raya, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth their “efforts”. Sheesh.

In any case, things have been different since I’ve sat foot on UK soil. Money is always scarce and Ramadhan evenings have always been filled with terawikh prayers. I can’t help but to feel that things may have remained the same had I not left home. I would still be hanging out with my friends (at least the ones who are still single) and be out all night NOT doing what I should be doing.


One of my English colleagues asked me couple of years back, “Why do you have to fast, Ahmad? I mean, I know it’s religion but what do you get out of it?”.

“I don’t think I’m the best person to answer that, Lisa” I said.

I hate to admit that I couldn’t give her an exact answer back then. I can’t exactly remember what I told her, but it was something along the lines of,

“It’s the one month that reminds us (Muslims) that no matter how big our houses or our cars are, no matter how much money we earn, no matter who we are, i.e. doctors, lawyers, engineers, farmers, fishermen, the Sultan of Brunei, etc. each and every single one of us will have to go through the same thing every year. And that teaches us never to look down on other people and be more compassionate towards those who are less fortunate”, I added.

“Oh”, Lisa’s eyes grew bigger. As if she had completely misunderstood the whole concept of fasting beforehand, and that she could now appreciate the reason behind it a lot better.

Among the many exchanges of thoughts with a fellow Jedi Master from the land of the Saracens, we briefly talked about how the effect of being a minority in a foreign country has made us better Muslims and subsequently, better human beings. This is not limited to just a religious thing, as a minority, we also learn to be considerate toward other ethnics living side-by-side, some of which come from the same country. Why not? The non-Muslims can learn to be considerate toward us, knowing that we are observing our fast and can only have food after sundown. They know that we can only consume halal food. Why can’t we show the same courtesy for say, our vegetarian Hindu friends? These are the sort of things that can be observed here in the UK, but hardly back home in Malaysia. Why is this only seen where we’re among a group of minorities? We should extend this behaviour everywhere. We should seek to not only excel in our academics and careers, but also to improve ourselves psychically, mentally, spiritually and last but not least, socially.




Err.. this was meant to be a nostalgia blog entry.

She Has No Time

You think your days are uneventful
And no one ever thinks about you
She goes her own way
She goes her own way

You think your days are ordinary
And no one ever thinks about you
But we're all the same
And she can hardly breathe without you

She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time

Think about the lonely people
Then think about the day she found you
Or lie to yourself
And see it all dissolve around you

She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time

Lonely people tumble downwards
My heart opens up to you
When she says she has no time
For you now

She says she has no time
For you now

She says she has no time



_______________________________________________

Artist: Keane
Song: She Has No Time
Album: Hopes and Fears (2004)

Abang 2005: A Different Kind of Abang

Hi sayang, how are you? Hope you’re doing fine. Abang ok je.

You tengah buat apa tadi? Abang saje je tulis ni. Tgh takleh tido, so might as well I write something to you. Err.. abang sebenarnya tak biasa tulis2 ni. So kalau tak best jangan marah abang ok?

How was karaoke? Tgh bulan2 puasa ni, kurangkan lah sikit karaoke tuh. Abang bukan larang, tapi bulan Ramadhan setahun sekali je. Tak pun, you nyanyilah lagu2 nasyid ke.. lagu2 Mawi ke.. hehe. Abang pun dah gila lama tak gi karaoke. Last time abang gi karaoke was at a friend’s place in Central London. Not a proper karaoke place lah tapi diaorang ada karaoke machine and beribu2 songs. Actually abang segan nak nyanyi, tapi kawan2 abang paksa. So layan je lah. Diaorang kata suara abang sedap, macam suara James Ingram hehe. Errr.. you kenal ke sapa?

Abang tadi hajat nak buat nasi goreng pattaya for buka puasa, tapi at the last minute tengok banyak bahan2 tak cukup. Aisehman. So had to have something else for buka. Then abang gi supermarket, to get all the stuff. Esok hopefully dapat la buka nasi goreng pattaya. Nanti abang ambik gambar tunjuk kat you okay?

Oh tadikan, masa abang balik dari terawikh, abang ada lalu bus stand ni. Ada minah salleh kat situ tegur abang. Dia pakai baju hitam, skirt hitam dgn jacket leather hitam. Semua hitam, tapi dia putih hehe. Hidung and kening dia ada tindik. Dia ajak abang gi ikut dia gi clubbing. Pastuh dia picit2 lengan abang. Kuat jugak dia picit tau. Nasib baik abang tough. Kalau tak sure terkehel kat situ jugak hehe. Abang cakap terimah kaseh je pastuh abang senyum skit. Abang terus chow. Laku jugak abang ni kat minah2 salleh rupanya hehe.

It’s getting cold here. Nak masuk musim winter dah. Abang keluar rumah pakai long coat. Macho gitu hehe. Weather tak menentu nowadays. Kejap gelap kejap cerah. Typical British weather. But lately banyak hujan lah. Abang don’t mind actually. I quite like the rain. I especially like the smell of the air after it rains. Good thing we don’t have any monsoon drains over here hehe. Kalau tak sure bau tak best.

Esok abang plan nak gi tengok wayang. Filem Serenity tuh nampak macam best jer. I may watch that. Abang suka citer2 camtuh. Actually abang dah lama jugak tak gi cinema. The last time was... entah, abang pun tak ingat hehe. Two months ago kot? What was the last movie you watched, sayang?

Then maybe abang bawak balik kebab kot. Asyik masak je. Boring la pulak masak utk sorang. Kalau you ada ok gak, best sikit abang nak masak. Hmmm tetiba lapar la pulak. Dah lewat dah ni. Maybe I should try and get some sleep lah. Abang ada beli Horlicks. Diaorang kata it helps you sleep. Abang dah togok satu cawan dah. So mari kita tengok dan lihat. Jangan ter-miss sahur sudah lah! Hehe.

Oklah I’m going to turn in now. I’ll write to you more soon ok?

Good nite sayang. I miss you.

Lots of love,

Abang iJun

The Hero Dies In This One

You think you know me, but you don't, and that means you don't know what I can do. You see me as someone who's popular and has all the answers, that's not true. I may not always know what I'm doing, but I'll try to make things better. And when I make a mistake, because face it we all do, I promise I'll ask for your help. I can't do this alone, but if you'll take a chance on me, we can do great things together. I promise if you believe in me, I'll find the courage to reach for your every dream. John F. Kennedy said that courage of life is a magnificient mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences; in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all morality.

Don't look now but...

...the new iPod is out!



A 5th-generation iPod?

Available in black?

Bigger screen?

Thinner?

Lighter?

Can play videos?

All for the same price?

Ok, where's my wallet, and can somebody please get me a towel?

*drooling*

______________________________________
Personal message to Ayes - "BELI WEI!"

Shutdown, Sleep or Restart?

Is that you, Mulder? At this time of night? Oh, you're just a re-run.

It's 3:00am and I've been blinking, winking, tossing and rolling in bed. I gave in and decided to find more use of my brain... by getting up and watching telly (N.B. it's a known fact that you actually watch telly to shut your brain down, not the other way round). Ah well, it's almost time for sahur anyway.

There are times when I wish that I was a computer; when things appear to have gone awry, you just turn yourself off and let things cool down for a bit. Way too easy. The bad news is, once you shut yourself down, the paramedics are going to have one hell of a time bringing you back up. Not to mention the grief you will be giving to your beloved friends and family. Bummer.

Sleeping is another good way to forget about your problems, and it can be really easy when you have nothing to look forward to. But alas, how long can you stay in bed before you get a headache from too much sleep? You do know that you have get up and pee don't you? Even Einstein slept a maximum of twelve hours per day. I have news for you; you're not Einstein.

Last but not least, I wish I could just restart myself; with the flick of a switch, be back up and running at full speed in a matter of seconds (or minutes if you're on Windoze XP). I really want this to happen. I'm praying for this to happen. So far, things are pretty grim but I have to be optimistic. I want things to get better. It can happen.


I know it can.

When you had too much for sahur...

...it's not really advisable to go straight back to bed. So you spend a few more minutes online... chatting with good friends...

...and challenge them to a game of A Pencil Odyssey!

Hehe!


____________________________________
*sahur = pre-dawn meal

London Starts Fasting Tomorrow

A quick visit to the Islamic Cultural Centre UK website a minute ago revealed that the 1st day of Ramadhan this year will be on Tuesday 4th October. That means we are a day early than back home in Malaysia. Friends in Leeds and Bristol claim that their first day of the fasting month will begin on the Wednesday the 5th. Weird, but true.

Those in London can download the Ramadhan Timetable in Acrobat PDF format here.

To all my Muslim friends, whichever city you're in at the moment, I wish you all a very happy Ramadhan. May Allah bless us all and accept our Ibadah in this blessed Month.


Now, please excuse me.
I have some last-minute food-shopping to do!



p/s: No, I didn't expect it to be tomorrow!

Much Less Ado About Nothing

I woke up at 2:00pm, much to my own disgust. I went to bed at midnight so that means I slept for twelve hours. That is not good. Could it be the effect of that Milo 3-in-1 with extra milk that I had last night?

I lost my first sock in the washing machine. I have never lost a sock before. Where do they go? Can a sock actually get lost in a washing machine? Is there a conspirancy against having pairs of matching socks? In any case, I feel a bit sad for its other half. A memorial will be held in honour of it later today.

Somebody told me I make her laugh and how she thought that her life would be better if I was back home with her. To be honest, some part of me actually wanted that too.

I had a weird experience when I took a dump earlier. I saw stars on my first push. It felt like I was in space. But the stench reminded me that I was still on Earth. Damn reality.

I've been a Mac user for 4 months now. I must say, OS X is different, but awesome, yet easy to use. It's complicated, but I like it.

A friend just told me that you can actually buy stuff on Petaling Street nowadays and they accept currencies in Euros, British Pounds or US Dollars and payment by credit cards. I must admit, I was bit surprised by that.

Tonight, I had Tiger Prawns in Sambal Tumis and Honey Roasted Mackarel Fillets with rice. I’ve ran out of vegetables and the supermarket shuts at 4pm on Sundays. Even so, it was the best dinner that I had in 2 months.

Rory Bremner cracks me up.

My neighbour downstars is playing loud music again. It’s a good thing she has the same taste in music as me.

I have this habit of touching my nose with my upper lip. It feels funny doing it with a moustache. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a mustache... yet.

I just took a bite out of an apple, and only realised I had eaten half a sticker that was on it. Wherever it came from, it was a place beginning with “New”.

I passed wind. It was loud and heavenly. I hope it didn’t leave behind a stain.

I logged onto Friendster and found these as “Popular searches in my network”:
1. zodiac love match
2. fazura
3. LV bags
4. henjut
5. nak terkencing
6. sharifah aleya
7. AZRINAZ MAZHAR HAKIM
8. what was i in my past life?
9. tunang mawi
10. 跟女友做爱

A quick search on Google reveals that no.7 is the Sultan of Brunei’s latest wife. She’s a former TV3 personality and is 32 years younger than him. Even Michael Douglas can’t compete with that; definitely something only a Sultan can get away with heh heh.

Oh ya, no.2 was the hot chick in Gol & Gincu and no.6 is the elder sister of Sharifah Amani, the chick in Sepet (*shudder*).

I just got over with no.5 and could use a bit of no.4 right about now.

I think no.3 is overrated. But then again, so is an iPod. Nonetheless, I'm still getting one.

I used to believe in no.1, nowadays I don’t even give a toss.

Ditto, no.8.

I think whoever searched for no. 9 should really get a life.

I have no idea what no. 10 is, but I hope it’s the name of a very gorgeous female Chinese celebrity.

I received 44 SMSes today. Something tells me that is not a very good number.

Fasting will start either on Wednesday or Thursday. I’m already thinking of what I’m going to have to break my fast on the first day.

It’s only 9pm on a Sunday night and none of my regular chat friends are online. They must have a life.

Miss Congeniality is starting on Channel 4. Well it's either that or Bad Boys on Channel 5. To be honest, my testosterones would be happier with Sandra Bullock rather than Will Smith.


I hope the weekends get better than this.

Blood Is Thicker Than Water

Hello, I have just been pulled away from my baby walker. I was enjoying my favourite bowl of Nestum for a moment there, minding my own business.

What’s going on here? This big man is carrying me out of the house. I’m powerless to do anything. Where did my bowl of Nestum go?

The big man is saying something, but I can’t understand a single word. Now he seems to be calling out for somebody. He sure has a loud and deep voice. I could feel my arms vibrating hehe.

It looks like the big man’s yelling worked. A girl appeared out of nowhere. She is smaller than the man, but bigger than me. She must have just woken up from a nap. She almost ran over my baby walker just now. I find that very funny and giggled a bit. Maybe she knows where my bowl of Nestum is.

The big man then told the girl to do something. She seems to be climbing up a huge and dirty metal object. Wow, she’s pretty good. She managed that all on her own.

Uh-oh. The big man has put me down on the metal object too. Ouch! It’s hot on here! I don’t feel comfortable at all!!!

Hey big man! Where are you going? Come back here and get me off! What do you have in your hand there? Why are you waving at me?

Erm.. my diaper feels like it’s burning!!! Somebody get me off this thing!! I want my Nestum! This girl smells funny! And why is that man still waving his hand!!??


*click*


UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!








p/s: Happy Birthday, Sis!