Trapped in a Melburnian Heatwave

They say Melburnian chicks love to wear black. It seemed true even when the day became soaring hot today. That's the spirit, girls.

It's very annoying on how much you have to pay $5 for a 15 minute Internet access in your own room. It's annoying because it is, yes, expensive and it has limits. Where's the joy of being online if you have limits to it?

I've succeeded (kind of) in keeping my expenses low this time -- quite amazingly (yes that's good news to you guys, Ayah & Mama). That partly because I fell asleep at the very wrong time so I found myself rushing to Fitzroy then Prahran only to find many of the shops are closing down. Which is, well, both good and bad. But being me, I did managed get myself something in the midst of the closure. (Ah...)

On a focused side of the trip, RMIT seemed to be enlightening, sort of. Well it does poses itself as having a residing Innovative Professor of Architecture (?), among others. Melbourne University is kind of too much, and I got myself lost finding Swinburne while Monash is too far. From what I've surveyed, studying architecture in Melbourne can be not too bad. In fact it's cool to study architecture here. I think its much freer here if you want to explore more, compared to London where starchitects seem to rule over everything (Foster, Rogers, Hadid.. bla bla bla). Australian architectural schools seemed to be kinder (but of course, none are kind, including where I am studying now).

So thanks to my coursemates I'm reminded of our current assignment here. Melburnian bathrooms are, well, anthropometrically and ergonomically efficient? I forgot to bring my measuring tape, anyway. But seriously, please, above all, I'm on a break here. Work, well, we'll get back on that on Monday?

As for now, I'm planning to take a walk down Yarra River. I apologise for the lack of photos, I deliberately planned not to take any much. Besides, we're going to see much of this city after all in the future, aren't we?

Posted in Melbourne. PHOTO A commuter passing barriers at Flinders St Station, morning January 28. Melbourne was under an extreme heatwave, while Adelaide experienced its hottest day in 70 years today, and an official handling Melbourne Open complained that Australia is just 'too hot' for hosting games. But seriously, it was hot!

M is for

Manipulating chances. Or maybe a name of a city.

I don't know about you but the year basically did not give me a break, at all. With the classes commencing dramas came unveiling itself one by one, producing crisis always under making with new puzzles yet to be solved, even if you have the clue. Not that I'm exaggerating, but the ever-dwindling plot seems to have sent me here, where am I now.

I have been tested by own patience. Curiosity, it seems, is overwhelming. All of a sudden I'm quite eager to explore wider chances, the opportunities I seemed to have left out two years ago. I looked over these things -- these 'things' I'm trying to reach right now, here -- even when I actually have the means to do so, and I kind of have regretted that.

Of course, all these starvation for something new and questionably better is being put into consideration. All I can say, the best time to make them a reality is in two years' time and not now. Nobody ever said the condition and situation that I'm being in currently is not that desirable, well at least not directly. Waiting for everything present to finish first is still an option.

I'll be here until Thursday. Surely from the photo some of you would've known where am I now (many in my contact list call this city home). As for everybody else, well, take care.

Posted in here. Who loves Nadal, again?

Restarting Things

So, ready for another year?

What filled up my 2008 was underspecified. A chaotic year, no less, full of perplexities, judgments and brand new open roads. It was an exciting year full of travel, grasping dream lands and inviting (and uninviting) new people to the track of my life. Alongside with things new and untouched came the revival of the past, old faces tangled with the newer threads, reunited and refreshed, altogether making up my life.

If you wish, you can catch some of these images at, say, my Flickr pages. But of course, not everything is not up in the web. 2008 saw a clear line published in my blog -- a line between my private life and the life that I intended to put up here. Quite a 'secularisation' of the blog, to say the least. To quote Haziq, 'Syukri blogs of only what he wants people to know about him.' Unlike the posts of 2006 and 2007, of course. Today, what you read here is what you'll get.

I have decided to go slow this year. 2008 is just too much -- financially, socially, religiously, politically, well, everything. Amidst all the upcoming recession thing, I'm taking advices from especially my Accounting/Economics friends to take some serious actions on my spending habit. While at that, I'm intending to take my photography and writing to a level more than casual, maybe submitting some to magazines or contests while managing my portfolio to a more presentable way -- something I'd do besides improving my grades with my architectural studies.

Hopeful, much. Reading it all makes it sounds corny, but a little reorganising should help.

Like I said, I'll go slow. In fact it has, and so far I liked it -- a feeling I afraid will evaporate as soon as the classes start tomorrow.

See you soon.

Posted in Shah Alam. Going back to Seri Iskandar now, and I'm already looking forward to the Chinese New Year break! PHOTO, in Subway, NYC.

Revisiting an American Dream

Even a superhero with a superpower has his own weaknesses.

A man peeks through the fences set up around Ground Zero where a construction of a new Freedom Tower complex, which will achieve a height of 1776ft -- the year of America's Independence -- upon completion; December 29, 2008. On September 11, 2001, a 'terrorist attack' sent the World Trade Center collapsed to the ground and three thousand people dead. For the Flickr set, click here.

"HE'S BEEN TO SAUDI Arabia," the immigration guy said to his colleague. Skeptical as if this is the first case such as mine, his face remained stern and indifferent. "It's OK if he's been to those countries, right?"

His colleague shrugged and said something I can't recall. I was at Newark-Liberty, just arrived from Stockholm and even though outside the weather's freezing, I felt heated up at the gates to the so-called freest nation in the world. The fact that I have been to both Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in a time lesser than six months seemed unpleasing to the official.

"It's alright, you're good," he assured with a sigh, as if bringing a relief to an argument -- which never took place anyway, as I remained silent and presented myself as decent and angelic as possible while he was confirming my entry. I proceeded to the arrival hall with a feeling I would call as a mix of being insulted and disappointed, even though I have expected the trouble.

On a Friday at a mosque in Washington DC, a group of Muslims gather to listen to the weekly sermon. Made up of a largely African-American crowd, the congregation listened attentively to the preacher by the mimbar, dressed in tie and coat, bursting his khutba out lively with energy. With a ravage and passion to grab his listener's interest, his sermon stands in stark contrary to our Malaysian ones -- so government-ish, so well prepared it's strange, so lullaby.

"Have you seen what God has done lately?" he expelled, full of spirit. "Have you seen who has been lifted by God to be our leader? Have you seen this pictures of this guy on the papers lately? Have you seen that a guy, by the name of Barack -- BAR-rack -- Hussein Obama has been lifted to be the leader of the free world? A guy with the name Barack?! and Hussein?! Barack -- which means kindness! Oh, and Hussein -- handsome! My God, oh God, save him!"

"Is this, finally, what America is all about? At least this is what our founding fathers wanted -- though at that time they still kept blacks as slaves around, anyway. But really, we have come this far and believe me, we have come near."

Not very far from the neighborhood, forty-three years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the steps of Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall. Today, works are undergoing at the U.S Capitol and in many important areas in Washington DC, to prepare for the up and coming presidential inauguration this January 20 for Barack Obama -- first ever African-American president -- who won America's most revolutionary election last November.

For many, Obama means change. For skeptics and pacifists, things will be just like before. For many others, the rise of Obama simply means that the end is coming near. But like it or not, Obama's popularity is unstoppable, obviously for John McCain and in general for the citizens of not just the US, but the world. For many outsider Muslim viewers, Obama's election means brighter future for the Middle East conflict. Predictably, some wouldn't agree. America, at large, is viewed as a 'strong ally for Israel' and is basically a 'proxy for the Jews', to quote Tun Dr. Mahathir's speech at the opening of 2003 OIC Conference in Putrajaya.

The blame seems to be so far-fetched, quite a party-pooper for a wave of change, equipped with a bad sense of sarcasm. However in reality, even in Manhattan, you can't really avoid dealing with Jews. Menorahs for Hanukkah -- a little eight days long Jewish holiday exaggerated to compete with the frenzy of Christmas -- is everywhere, at the most important buildings which include the White House. I'm definitely not anti-Semitic, what more xenophobic but their domination caused quite a stir in myself not out of prejudice but rather jealousy, because having control over New York is a big deal. Even the presence of the many Halal hot dog booths around the city wouldn't balance the whole situation.

Ariff tries to light-write 'I Love DC', which became more like 'LOVE' instead; December 26, 2008. At these footsteps in 1963, thousands of people gather to listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have A Dream' speech. For the Flickr set, click here.

It's understandable at times like these, not only with clashes of cultures but also economic turmoil, the world needs something to rely on to, to foster hope and to land a trust. Quite more understandably, Bush is not the answer, and McCain was simply seen as a clone of the latter. Then Obama came, with a powerful force at that. And the rest is history.

Sitting at the corridors of power, the wide avenues of DC wouldn't let me escape from the thoughts of what will happen next -- and whether I like it or not, I'm actually seeing myself anticipating for Obama's inauguration. So is the rest of America and the whole world. From mosque pulpits to the streets of New York -- not Brooklyn, not Queens but Manhattan itself -- Obama is everywhere, the soon to be First Family images adoring front pages of magazine racks, enshrined in many form of art, his merchansides a hot sell, and simply being talked about by everyone.

Being in New York would make you feel that the so-called multi-racial and multi-cultural sphere we are embracing here in KL is somewhat, well, fake. We don't really embrace it, we shunned it. We don't really appreciate what we have in common, instead we highlight the things we are different for. New York is much an incredible melting pot, filled with people from all sides of the Earth.

But the sad part is they being insecure, with things they don't even quite know of (Islam, for an obvious example). Things are improving at ground level, but the paranoia at the security points aren't showing signs of leaving. The prejudice is simply there, and to my humble opinion, America is still not that free as they say. To put it in a way: I love it, but I'm not going to have sex with it. Europe is a better choice to study and migrate, plus the people is much more stylish -- average Americans are sloppish and unattractive.

To say that the coming of Obama will not necessary bring any change is cheesy, but it is unfortunately and partly true. Probabilities, of course, can be anything. Nevertheless, as in any good leader, Obama should know the burden he's carrying, the load of trust he's receiving and the vast glare of hope he's reflecting.

As I rushed back to catch my PATH Train back to Jersey at 33rd Street two hours short from my flight back to KL on my last night in New York, a sight came to my eyes amidst the rush of shoppers and holiday crowds in the Avenue of the Americas. Familiar flags wave quickly, reflecting the fury of its holders. Their shouts didn't resonate at all, the noise of the cabs and the voices of others simply mould them down. But the message is clear: Palestine is, again, in distress.

Another protest. Another infuriated crowd. Another sign of the world is not really at peace. This time, it's proven that even the Arafat scarves worn by the hipsters and indie won't help.

Part of this was written in Washington DC. Posted in Shah Alam in a rush for a lunch appoinment. And may Palestine lives. Number of casualties are rising as Israel-Hamas clashes are entering its second week. UPDATE My many thanks to Azli who has given me this link of which you can donate 10p by posting a comment, a simple yet big donation to the road towards peace, we hope, of Gaza.