I'm back!

Hey guys, it's been a while since the last time I post in my blog.

Life has been really great for me. I am here in Dublin for almost 2 months already. I've settled down and life's are getting tougher everyday. Study, assignments, meetings, sketch practices, badminton matches, music, jamming sessions, photography, trips and vacations... gosh, I can list all the activities and blog about them. But I won't, because that will make me sounds bad for I love what I am doing.

Well, let's talk about music. The first time I got involved in music was when I went to Sunday School in Saratok's chapel. Since then, I am interested in learning music but I've never really get the chance to learn and take a higher step in it. When I was 14's, I joined the marching band in my secondary school but the dream couldn't go further due to solicitation by our former school's principal in refusing to fund for the school band.

My dream doesn't stop right there. After SPM, my mom actually suggested to me to go for piano lesson and of course, I couldn't agree more! Right after National Service, I went for piano class for 1 month. I managed to learn how to read notes. Since then, my passion in music over-whelmed my life.

Abadi, Hijaz and me jamming in PMC music room... I really miss this moment *sigh*

I starts to learn to play guitar when I was in KMB (during 2nd year). I learned guitar by myself with the help of a chord book. My method of learning guitar: Have a chord book, open your favourite song and play along with it provided there are chords available for the song, of course. I still remember how hard for me to get myself to play chord B when I first started playing guitar. It took me 3 months to get it right.

Not enough with piano and guitar, I dare myself to learn to play drum. And I really glad I did. I even play in a band and the best thing is, our band won the 2nd place in KMB talentime! Woohoo! When I went to PMC, I took a further step where I would practice drumming at least once a week. I got to learn a lot when I was there.

Plus, I also got myself an electric guitar and had jamming sessions with my friends. Since I got an electric guitar, I fall in love with punk rock music. Heavy distort and up-beat drumming, everyone is totally enjoy it when we jams.

Now, in Ireland, I am really glad that my parents allow me to involve in music despite knowing that I am doing medicine.

For me,

Music is a way for me to express myself and cope with my daily life's stress.

Music connects and unites everyone. That's what I believe and it will always do, now and forever.

Hijaz and me doing cover for Your Call... and yes, music unites

A Tale of Cats

No introduction needed, these are my cats in Saratok.

They all are fluffy and very cute. Not to say, they are super duper adorable!

Name: Cat (seriously)
Age: 8 months
Favourite toy: Insects (any kind)

Name: Miccun
Age: 5 months
Favourite toy: Cap (bottle's, container's)

Name: Goldie
Age: 5 months
Favourite toy: Anything that Miccun plays (Miccun's best buddy!)

My favourite,

Name: Sweetie
Age: 3 months
Favourite toy: Anything that is small and catchy

So, these are my friends at home. Together, they make all of us happy! I really love cats! Meow!

Home

Home, sweet home. Oh, how I miss my home.

Now, I am back at my sweet little hometown called Saratok. I've been here since I was 9 years old. Anyway, my family is from Saratok. It is good to stay in your own hometown.

So, what is home? For me, it is a place where people remember and think of me(apology to Masashi Kishimoto). Anywhere in this world, as long as there is somebody always think of me, that is a place I can go back to and called home. But, it is not as easy as it says. The concept of home is much bigger than that. It needs to be truly understood before you can believe a place to be called as home.

It does not start as simple as having a house, you know. It's about the people who lives in the house that can make a place your home. So, it's all back to our relationship with other people that really matter. There are levels in relationship. Acquaintances, friends, mates, colleagues, special friends, girlfriend or boyfriend and families. To achieve the specific level, you need commitment and love. What I believe, these are the 2 things that are essential in relationship. As long as you understand these, God bless you, you can have another homes. I live what I say and I am living it.

I have a lot of homes in Malaysia. Not including relatives, I have 5 homes that I can go to. I am so grateful that God give me a unique persona. I am glad that I have 5 non-relative families that I can go back to. I am thankful of what I got.

So, next time when I move on to other places, I will have another places that I can call home.
So do you, friends.

Remember, HOME is a place where people remember and think of you.

My 2nd divorced & my 5th marriage

So, finally, I officially got married with my new wife.

With duit hantaran of RM1350, and recited the vow, I successfully own her.

Meet my new wife, RG350EX!

New Layout, New Vision, New Mission but still the SAME blogger

All the best, mates!

I think that is longest title of my post right now.

Hi guys out there. So, here I am, I'm BACK!
No surprise for you guys but it's been a very busy week. Seriously, not kidding, extremely busy.
You all knows it's the exam season, so what else am i residing on except on my desk and revising the syllabus.

So, this is my new layout for my blog. Spent about 2 hours editing the XML code. Looks like I am also quite good in breaking and making the code for blog, huh.

Updates: 3 down, 3 more to go. Good luck to all my friends who are having exams.
May the force be with you.

I'll be back soon.

P/S: I certainly gonna miss Penang... for a moment.

We are on the same path... I took the detour and enjoying it right now.

Collage for PMC lecturers

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Choose one of your choice and don't forget to comment ya!

A Long Pause Before I Re-Emerge...

This is a video recorded by my friend during PMC Ballad Session.
Enjoy!

Stop

These are the things that we can stop at in our life and wait for the red-light to change to green (if it ever change):


In making decision, we usually stop and look for the best choice that we have in that situation. Some stop to ponder the consequences of every action that they chose to do and glad that they made it. Yet, some people make some bad decision and choose to stay 'bad' the rest of their life. Worse still, some never choose to make decision in their life.


When we learn something new, we usually stop and observe on other people. Some are learning more from observing others, some just get drifted away and caught in the whirlpool of confusions. It's best to stop and ask if you don't understand what are just being 'taught' to you so that you will be in the right direction to success. Worse still, some just never learn through out their entire life.


During an accident, some people stop and drop off at the side of the road to see what had happened. Some stop to help the victims. Some just stop because other people also stop. Some stop because their driver stop to check the situation (only applicable to people who like to car pool). Not enough with that, some stop to look at the car plat number (hoping that the accident will bring luck to them). Worse still, some never stop and ignore to know what had happened along the way.


Romance can be achieve when you are able to stop and enjoy the moment of love with your partner. Some couple stop and start thinking about their future relationship. Some couple stop because their partner also stop to ponder. Nonetheless, some couple stop and overdo in their affair. Worse still, some could not stop and control their libido.


Some people who is a __________ (feel in the blank with appropriate word) addict learn to stop their addiction by learning how to control, limit and stop themselves from proceeding with another achievement in what ever they do. But some just never stop. Worse still, some even increase and keep on increasing their dosage.


So friends, learn how to stop and know your limits cause some of the things we do in this world may turn their back on us and backfire on us.

Wait, my inner-self tell me to stop right now.

Rain

Hello there, fellows. So, how are you guys doing lately? I am pretty occupied this month. With the upcoming due date for project and presentation, plus with the preparation for the final exam (finally, it comes), I am really occupied. But I still got time to enjoy and lay my back to rest.

I know that recently my blog has been uploaded with entries regarding our Medan trip. Thank you for reading them and posting up comments about the entries *sweet memory*.

Anyway, I hardly noticed that my blogging style has changed until I read my previous entries. Last time, I used to write something that came across my mind and something abstract. And now, I am going to return to my original style after diverting for quite a long time.

*****

Ehem *clearing my throat*, so this time, it's about "rain".

Rain. What do we know about rain. We did learn about it when we were in primary school. We even had an experiment how does it really happen up in the sky (the one using the kettle where water vapour condensed on the mirror and turn into water droplets).

Anyway, for your information, it's been raining for 1 night & 1 day in Penang. I am starting to enjoy it because, recently, I've been complaining the stinging hot weather over here in the Pearl of the Orient. It's been over-heated.

I still remember when I was a kid, I really rejoiced when it's raining, especially when it was in the afternoon. Me and my brothers together with our friends will started to run out of the house and cycled to the grassy field near our house. Not long before reaching the field, we shouted for joy and enjoyed the rain shower as we came together. It's so amazing how rain could create happiness and friendship between us. I wonder how powerful God's amazing grace in His creations. Even a small thing like rain can bring joy and happiness in kids like I did before.

When I was complaining about the radiating temperature in Penang, I was wondering how long did I need to wait before it's gonna take for this island to be blessed with rain. God heard me, and He answered and poured the rain immediately *Thank you God*.

Rain brings back life to the world. Green plants start to spring back and beautify the Earth with green colouration. And it also marks the mating season for some animals *love is in the air*. I saw lots of birds , strictly speaking swallows and pigeons, flying in the sky finding their mates to ensure their continuity in this world. Squirrels are chasing around and fighting to be the best for their instinctive mate.


Same goes to us. Rain helps us to feel refresh after a long torturing hot weather. A quench of rain drops on our skin is enough to satisfy our fatigue after a long day of struggling in our daily life. The coldness it brings help us to sleep soundlessly at night, become like a baby in the sweet cradle again. Waking up again in the morning make us feel never better before, and some of us, wait most of us will continue hibernating on the bed, I presume, during the cold day. How wonderful what rain change to the ambiance surrounding us.

Well, that's about it. We all know how rain shaped our world everyday. Kids running joyfully, men hold their lovers hands as the walk under the rain & old folks have sweet coffee in the coffee shop, reminiscing pieces of their life that fall into places together as the rain falls down...

These are so amazing and thank God for the rain that He created.

P/S: I really miss my childhood memories when I could ran happily and peacefully under the rain. Wish I am somewhere else when it's raining.

Thank you MEDAN! (Final Part)

HORAS!

Hello there. So, finally, it comes to an end. This will be the last chapter of "Thank you MEDAN!" by me. In this chapter, there are a lots of exciting things that we did in Bukit Lawang and Medan City. So, go and enjoy yourself reading it!

April 09 2009

- We woke up early (at 6.30 a.m.) for the jungle tracking
- Water is very cold, so I decided just to wash my face and brush my teeth before entering the jungle
- 7.30 a.m.: we were ready for the jungle tracking leaded by Ayub, a local tour guide
- First 15 minutes was quite tiring because we climbed the steep hill. Furthermore, I haven't have my breakfast... huh
- Inside the jungle, Ayub called for the orang utans
- Waited for a long time (about 30 - 45 minutes) until we found one. However it was wild and it ran away from us... sob, sob, sob...
- Waited patiently and we finally found another 2 wild orang utans
- We fed the wonderful orang utans with bananas
- We also met 2 English women (Allison and Sarah)
- Ayub looked for and found 2 Thomas Leaf monkey (I mistakenly heard it as "tomaslip" monkey)
- Very cool animal and we fed them with bananas
- Went out of the jungle after that and arrived at the room at 10 a.m.
- We rested at Bohorok riverside. I washed my feets and crocs there
- Then, we went for brunch (I had fried rice with scrambled egg)
- Check out at 12.30 p.m. and it was raining when we went back to Medan City
- It was "Hari Mencontreng" a.k.a. Election Day. So, there were a lot of motorcycles and thank goodness there was no riot in Medan. Libur!!!
- Reached Medan at 3.00 p.m. and again, we stayed at Labana Hotel
- I was tired that afternoon. So, I took a nap until 6.30 p.m.
- We went to Minang's restaurant at 8.00 p.m.
- Had minang's food and they were absolutely fantastic!
- I had salted fish fried rice + ayam penyet sambal pedas
- Then, we went jalan-jalan around the Medan city by car drove by (who else if not) Wak Hadi
- I enjoyed the city night life
- Most of the shops were closed due to Pemilu (it means Pilihanraya). They were afraid there is gonna be a riot. Thank goodness there was no riot when we were there.
- Returned to our room at 10.30 p.m. and I accidently fell asleep because I was tired
- Woke up at 12 midnight just to take my bath and then rest again for the rest of the night

*Salleh was bitten by leech during jungle tracking
*Me and Bedi were almost got bitten by leech as well but manage to get rid of it
*Allison has been to Sabah before. Bedi had a good chat with her
*The minang's food cost up to 198, 000 rupiah!!! My portion was only 38, 000 rupiah and the rest were by Bedi and Salleh. But anyway, the food is awesome!
*Salleh bought fried noodle at hotel for 19, 000 rupiah and it was quite nice too
*I should have enjoy minang's food a little bit more even though it costs me bundles of money
*Learn how to talk like the local Indonesians. It is very useful when you are buying stuffs and foods.

Orang utan... such a wonderful, delicate creature.

Feeding the orang utan. Greatest moment to be in touch with the animal.

Thomas leaf monkey... A cool, friendly animal... It has Mohawk hair style :)

Cleaning up after jungle tracking at Bohorok River.

The cheapest hotel we stayed in Medan.

Leaving Bukit Lawang. We had a wonderful experience over there. Thank you Bukit Lawang... sob, sob, sob...

Wonderful minang's food. Mouth-watering and delicious!

April 10 2009 (finally...)

- Woke up late (8 a.m.)
- Rushed to check out because Wak Hadi was waiting (suppose to meet him at 8.30 a.m. but only manage to get things packed up at 9 a.m.)
- We went out to try some much cheaper minang's food
- I ate ayam pop + daun ubi rebus + perkedel (begedil) + sambal + nasi putih. Total, it costs me 14, 000 rupiah. I was really satisfied with the price.
- After that, we went to Sultan Maimun Castle and we took some 'royal' pictures
- It is a small castle and nothing really interesting over there
- Me & Salleh bought postcards of Sultan Maimun Castle
- Then, went to a batik shop
- Bought batiks for Dr. Chong and my father. They are beautiful and very cheap
- It is only 85, 000 rupiah (convert to Malaysian ringgit, it is only RM 28... I've told you, it's cheap)
- Then, we bought Medan layer cake for 50, 000 rupiah
- After that, we went to Plaza Mall Medan and shopped over there
- I bought 3 CDs for 85, 000 rupiah... Damn cheap...
- Then, we went to Polonia Airport to board our flight back to Penang at 2.30 p.m.
- We left Medan at 4.00 p.m. and we had a sweet journey in Medan... sob, sob, sob... :(

*We were "attacked" by female shopkeepers where they were trying to sell skin cream. I managed to avoid it and did not buy their product even though they tried it on my skin... lol... pity Bedi and Salleh
*I really found the CDs are very cheap and I used them to create background music of the video we took in Medan.
*I found the trip is really worth it. It taught me to be responsible because being in another country without parents supervision test your leadership skills. And I managed to make the trip meaningful and packed with trips from town to town.
*Felt I little bit sad in the airport because we finally left Medan after almost 1 week.

Simple minang's food for breakfast. The last meal in Medan...

The 'royal' picture... lol.

In front of Sultan Maimun Castle.

Buying batik for my dad.

Final hour in Medan... *sad*

We were back in Penang and had a wonderful time in Medan. Thank you Medan!

******

So, that's it. That's all about the trip in Medan. I created a 2-hour video about our trip in Medan and hope it will be a memory for us to be in Medan. Thank you for patiently reading my posts. Hope you yourself also enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy in Medan!

Thank you so much everyone!

Thank you MEDAN! (Part 3)

HORAS!

Hello surfers... To who ever who had follows my journal "Thank you MEDAN", this is the continuation of it. In this chapter, we went for a tour in Brastagi and also Bukit Lawang (Bohorok).

Surfers, enjoy!

April 08 2009

- Woke up at 7.30 a.m.
- I had a good sleep last night; bitten a few times by mosquitos
- It is cold in Brastagi (some more I was shirtless the whole night, it was damn cold)
- Thank goodness there was hot shower
- In the morning, we went to Gundaling. It is a good spot to see the volcanoes
- Volcano behind a male statue is Sinabung, meanwhile the one behind a female statue is Sibayak
- There was a horse ride, but I didn't want to go for it even though it was cheap because of lack of time
- From Gundaling, we went down back to Brastagi for shopping
- I bought a few T-shirts and ulos for my mom at a very cheap price (thank you Brastagi!)
: T-shirt from 30, 000 rupiah to 20, 000 rupiah
: T-shirt XL from 35, 000 rupiah to 25, 000 rupiah
: Ulos from 80, 000 rupiah to 40, 000 rupiah
- We went to Bukit Lawang from Brastagi at 11.30 a.m.
- Road is windy and in bad shape
- Almost got into an accident - luckily Wak Hadi is a skillful driver and avoided the lorry
- Caught in traffic jam when we almost reached Medan City
- Stop at Medan for lunch; I had nasi soto and sup lembu (I was so hungry that i ate 2 meals for lunch... hehehe...). It was yummy and reasonably cheap
- Continue the trip to Bukit Lawang on a very bad road
- Reached Bukit Lawang after 3 p.m.
- At Bukit Lawang, we were looking for a cheap hotel. Finally, after a short walk in the jungle, we found a cheap hotel (the cheapest we ever stayed upon arriving in Medan). It cost only 80, 000 rupiah... Sweet...
- In the evening, I booked a jungle tracking package for 200, 000 rupiah
- I bought a pair of crocs for the jungle tracking
-We had a dinner at the hotel cafe. The food price is a little bit expensive but the food taste quite nice
- Sleep early after dinner (kroih, kroih, kroih...)

*Salleh said something 'porno' along the way to Bukit Lawang (caught it by my ear... lol)
*Salleh wanted to say sauce but end up saying rose (rose = sauce... hahaha)
*Bedi farted in the room twice and toxificated the room... huhuhu...
*I had a nice chat with Wak Hadi. He became friendly to us when we were in Brastagi. Nice to have him as the driver.
*Bukit Lawang reminds me of Saratok. I missed the longhouse and the river. I also missed the bridge that I used to run near my longhouse (that will then make the bridge swing... haha... I always did that when I was small)
*I like Bukit Lawang because the air is fresh and the place is peaceful

As the sign board said, Welcome to Gundaling Hill.

The Borneans... cool...

Crossing the bridge of Bohorok River. This is the type of bridge that I loved to run on. Missing home at that moment.

Rocking in Bukit Lawang!

So, that's what we did when we were in Brastagi and when we arrived at Bukit Lawang. Brastagi offers a good choice of fruits and also souvenirs (and of course I bought a few things as a memory from Brastagi. Even though the road to Bukit Lawang is unexpectedly bad, but upon arriving there, it reminded me of my hometown. Peaceful and green...

So, that's it for the third chapter. Wait for the final chapter of "Thank you MEDAN!" ok.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you MEDAN! (Part 2)

HORAS!

Hello there! Thanks ya for reading up my previous post about Medan. And now, with no further delay, go on and read the next chapter of "Thank you MEDAN".

Enjoy reading!!!

April 07 2009
- Had breakfast in the hotel in the morning - I had a fried rice with scrambled egg
- Went to Samosir Island at 8.30 a.m.
- 1 hour journey by ferry
- Met an old lady - a nice lady - she requested us to sing songs for her (Bedi sang Laskar Pelangi & Tetaplah Disisiku)
- Samosir Island is very, very awesomely beautiful
- Lake Toba is very, very large (last time, I only managed to read about Lake Toba from textbook, could not believe that I was actually over there myself to see Lake Toba... Praise God.)
- Water is dark blue, can't see anything below
- Scenery is very, very beautiful
- On the island: lake view is wonderful, lots of paddy field, the mountains look great & wonderful
- The road is small and has a lot of puddles
- Went to the Stone Chair where executions of the enemies and traitors were done by the Bataks 200 years ago
- People are very desperate of customers - they forced us to buy stuffs from them
- Salleh was forced to buy a sarung - they are cunning
- Despite all that, I used my bargaining skills to buy batik (from 85, 000 rp to 35, 000 rp) & ulos (shawl for 120, 000 rp to 80, 000 rp)... hohoho...
- Visited Batak King's tomb made of mountain stone (the oldest tomb, forgot how old it is, lost count I think... lol)
- Me & Bedi ate B2 panggang (B2 means pork)
- The shop is smelly & a bit dirty
- Praise God that nothing happen to our stomach
- 1.30pm, journey from Tomok (a town in Samosir Island) back to Parapat
- On the ferry, we met with a family - they own a food shop in Padang
- They have a cute little boy named Edwin; he is so adorable :)
- After that, we had a windy-road journey to Brastagi
- The road is very windy - just like a snake
- We played teka-teki with Wak Hadi
- Wak Hadi told us a story about Lake Toba and Batu Gantung
- Stopped at Simarjarunjung to had a very nice ginger tea. It tastes very good with pisang goreng
- Then, we continued our journey to Brastagi
- Managed to have a nice talk with Wak Hadi along the way to Brastagi
- We saw 2 active volcanoes named Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung
- Reached Brastagi at 6 p.m.
- Stayed in a budget hotel (after learning a lesson in Parapat) for 150, 000 rupiah
- At 8 p.m., we went out for dinner
- Me and Bedi had a roasted chicken and Salleh ate ikan nila bakar (it is a type of fish; called Ikan Pacu in Malaysia)
- The food taste ok & slightly different compared in Malaysia
- Then, I bought an adapter to charge my phone; I bought it for 9, 000 rupiah
- Then, we looked for food in case we were hungry in the middle of the night
- 11.00 p.m.: we went back to the hotel and had a rest

*Some people in Samorsi Island are 'dangerous'
*If you have good bargaining skills, you can bargain a lot in Medan
*Samosir Island is great because of the scenery despite the shopkeepers over there are so desperate of customers
*Food? Don't worry too much about getting food over there. Just make sure that you look for a clean shop
*Water? If you can, try to drink sealed-bottled-water
*To be friend with somebody, expect friendship and act :)

On the ferry with Wak Hadi on the way to go to Samosir Island.

Views of Samosir Island. It is so beautiful and you should go there.

An old woman trying to persuade us to buy stuffs from her shop. Hands in pocket!

About to enter Kampung Siallagan, a Batak village.

Beautiful view of the hill in Samosir Island. I am in love with it.

In front of Batak Museum. Nice group picture.

Edwin, the little star from Padang.

Had a very nice ginger tea at Simarjarunjung.

Arrived at Kaliaga Bungalow in Brastagi. The air is cold over there.

I had a very good roasted chicken for dinner :)

A present from Salleh.

Reading back what I had wrote in this post, WOW, that's a lot of things that we do that day. We had the best experience in Samosir Island and we really enjoy getting to know about Bataks, Karo and other ethnics, especially their cultures and legends. Besides, with bargaining skills, we also enjoy buying stuffs over there :)

Okay then, wait till the NEXT chapter! See ya!