blablablog: 2012

What December means to you?

So December is entering it's second week. I hope it's not too late to welcome December. It's a month of a lot of things.

A month of holidays. A month of celebration. A month of get-together.
A month of wedding invitations. A month of spending your money at the shopping malls for the things you will regret buying later.

A month of forgetting your homework. A month of waiting for your exam results.
A month of getting that driving license. A month of part-time job.

A month of thinking back about your 2012 new year's resolution.
A month of company's accounts closing.

A month of buying, wrapping, giving and receiving Christmas gifts. A month of snow.
A month of beach vacation. A month of proms. A month of bersunat.

A month of FHM's top 100 hottest women. A month of giving away 2013 calendars and diaries.
A month of farewells and retirement. A month of saying goodbye to school of you're taking SPM this year.

And for the less optimistic people, it's also the month of apocalypse, the end of the world.

Whatever December means to you, I just hope you have a good one and may all your resolutions come true before the clock ticks 12am on the 1st January 2013 :)

Ramadhan Kareem 2012

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Ramadhan tiba lagi. Alhamdulillah, kita berkesempatan untuk menjalani bulan yang memang ditunggu-tunggu oleh semua umat Islam.

Aku konfirm, Ramadhan yang lepas-lepas ada memberi sejuta satu kenangan dekat korang. Bulan yang mencabar, bulan orang buat duit, bulan orang pakai duit, bulan reunion, bulan orang nak belajar berhenti merokok, bulan orang nak cuba kuruskan badan, bulan orang putus jari main mercun. Macam-macam definisi ada.

Ramadhan kali ini adalah Ramadhan yang kedua aku sambut di Johor Bahru. Walaupun secara teknikalnya sekarang aku dekat Keramat kerana memang dah jadi tradisi keluarga utk bersahur, berpuasa dan buka puasa (aku masih ralat nak guna perkataan iftar) pada hari pertama dengan family.

Kenangan aku pada Ramadhan-Ramadhan lepas tak banyak beza dengan korang, aku rasa. Kalau masa kecik, dijanjikan seringgit satu hari puasa penuh oleh parents aku. Kalau masuk zaman sekolah rendah, zaman selalu ke tandas basuh muka dan berkumur (ada la setitik dua air kumuran tu yang mencecah tekak). Masuk zaman sekolah menengah pulak since aku sekolah asrama, bersahur dan berbuka puasa ramai-ramai di dining hall tu perkara wajib.

Sehinggalah ke zaman uni, kalau masa sengkek tu, pergi bazaar je beli satu jenis juadah main course, berselang selikan dessert yang berupa kuih muih tempatan. Dan paling aku ingat masa aku berpuasa di Sibu Sarawak utk 2 tahun sebab aku posting kat sana. Pukul 6.45pm dah masuk waktu. Memang syok tapi hari-hari buka sorang sbb kat sana colleague pun takde sangat.

And for sure, antara benda yang paling famous di bulan Ramadhan ni ialah Bazaar Ramadhan (aku masih belum ready nak pakai term PARAM) dia dan segala kuih muih, lauk pauk yang ada. Murtabak, air katira, ayam percik, even kurma pakcik Yusof Taiyob pun akan kembali femes bila bulan puasa.

Dan of course, bulan ni la bulan kita beramal. Bukan nak jadi poyo tapi kalau sebulan ni pun korang takleh nak beramal lebih sikit dari 11 bulan yang lain, susah lah aku nak cakap. Zaman kekecik dulu pergi terawih sebab nak usha awek. Sekarang pun ada lagi sentimen tu tapi dah berkurang sebab awek-awek baya aku yang datang pun mesti dah kahwin ha ha.

Apapun, jadikanla Ramadhan kali ini Ramadhan yang bererti. Kalau nak beli juadah, beringatlah, jangan sampai membazir. Kalau nak main mercun, berwaspadalah jangan sampai terbakar rumah. Ambik kesempatan ni utk banyakkan amalan. Masa ni jugak utk kita buat reunion ke, mini reunion ke dengan member2 lama. Makin tua korang, makin susah nak jumpa kawan-kawan lama duduk setable borak-borak. And kepada yang berpuasa di perantauan tu, aku respek korang. Bukan senang nak adapt esp kalau first time.

So, selamat berpuasa lah ye. Semoga amalan kita semua diberkati :)

Exactly one year ago, what were you doing?

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So as I was busy planning and sorting things out for my upcoming birthday dinner this Saturday, a thought struck me, "Last year at this time, was I this busy or things were already in place for my birthday dinner party?"

The answer is the former. This time around last year, I was still busy making plans and inviting people over to my party. I was still having headaches on selecting the best venue, date, menu etc. It was so poorly planned and I remember making a promise to myself, "Next year I will do it better."

Turns out, I'm not. I'm not doing it any better than last year. I'm still the sloppy, poor-planner as I was last year. Perhaps I can take comfort with the fact that I got a little busier this year with #twtupJohor and other stuff, but in a nutshell, I didn't fulfil my own promise I made to myself, last year.

And that triggered me to think at a larger scale. Looking at a bigger picture. My life as a whole. Have I changed for the better this year? Am I a better person than who I was last year? Am I keeping the promises I've made before?

Plenty of yes and no I'd might say. Then I started to evaluate myself, where I am and who am I now. I started to look around. I started to compare. I started to analyse.

How do I fare, work wise? Am I a better employee now? Do I understand things that I didn't last year? Can I solve problems that I can't back then? What about financial-wise? Have I started saving for my future? Or am I still a big spender like I've always been?

And one can't simply run from the relationship question. I remember seeing a girl, at this time last year, which didn't turn out well. Fast forward to one year later, she already has a boyfriend now with 3 different ex-boyfriends before that. And me? I'm still roaming free in this lonely town called the singlehood. Well no change there.

So the questions keep on flowing, like I'm doing an interview and a post-mortem on myself. Have I gained more weight this year (yes), do I drive a better car this year (no), do I have more Twitter followers this year (yes) and the list goes on and on.

So, the bottom line is, people say life is a journey. Up ahead, looking forward. But there's certainly no harm in looking back once in awhile. Not to dwell on our past, but to do a reality check on ourself. To evaluate things. To analyse situations. To re-set goals. To see where do we stand today.

Those evaluating is not enough. We must strive to be better. We need to adjust our attitude if it needs to be. We have to grow up, and be more wiser than we were last year.

So tell me, exactly one year ago, what were you doing? And are you generally doing it better this year?

So I watched The Vow

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So I have. Watched The Vow.

Quite frankly, I wasn't aware about the existence of the movie prior to watching it. Neither have I watched the trailer nor seen the poster anywhere. Perhaps they were there, but I just happened to miss them. So I didn't know what to expect out of this movie, initially I thought.

Anyway, no, this is not a movie review, professionally. I'm a no movie critic. I'm just a normal guy who enjoys watching movies, and tonight I feel like sharing it. And yes, spoiler alert.

So, what is the movie all about? And how did it affect me until it made me blog about it?

This movie starred Channing Tatum and my ex-girlfriend, Rachel McAdams. It lingers around how far can one go, in getting his love back. What would he sacrifice. How long can he weather the storm. How determined he is, in fighting reality that the one he loves. has become a complete stranger. Not on her own will, but fate decided that they got into an accident and she had a major knock on her head that she fell into a coma. Upon waking up, she didn't remember her own husband.

As this movie goes along, audience is left wondering the ultimate question, will Paige (Rachel) ever regain her memory? What will Leo (Channing) do to help Paige in rediscovering herself, and eventually rediscovering them?

I'm not gonna spoil it further for all of you, but I'd must say, I enjoyed watching this movie. After series of good and not-so-good action and comedy movies I watched recently, it felt actually good to watch a good romantic movie.

So I'll leave you with some of memorable lines from this movie and some quotes that I created myself from this movie. Enjoy!

"I hope one day I can love the way that you love me." - Paige
"I vow to love you, no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other" - Leo
“How do you look at the girl you love and tell yourself it’s time to walk away?” - Leo
"If we're meant to be together, we'll be together" - Leo
To me your face is familiar, but to your heart, I'm nothing but a stranger.
Sometimes after you've tried your best and put all your effort into it, you'll just have to let times do its course.

Falling in love is not a once-off event. You should fall in love every day, with the same person.

Strange sounds heard worldwide.

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I stumbled across these youtube videos of people recording strange sounds they heard recently. Some of them were from 2011 but most of them were during the first weeks of 2012. These strange trumpet-like sounds have been recorded all over the world, from Canada, Uzbekistan, USA, Costa Rica, Ireland and even Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. Call me gullible but these sounds are freaking scary, man.

Here are the videos:-