My warm wishes to everyone. From Jitra, Kedah. It’s the season of Eid Mubaraq 2008!

Sometimes, its hard for you to surpress the bad alter ego. The dark emotion always find way struggling out, wriggling like a worm on a hook. I ain’t gonna elaborate about this because I don’t want anyone to feel insulted or ‘terasa’ since these days a lot of people are scrutinizing tis blog. Enough said, my last day before raya holiday (that was Friday) was spoilt due to some ‘eleventh hour setback’!! As much as I tried to confine the anger, it just consumed me until the day after ; Saturday ! So lucky that on Saturday, I have the Baju Raya Shopping Spree to look forward to with Kakak, Abg Zam and Nephew Rifqi at Jalan Tunku Andul Rahman & Jalan Masjid India! In the light of Ramadhan spirit, I tried to be a more patient person; still trying. *sigh*. Bad things happen when I lost control of my patience. So far, the volcano has never erupted throughout my days in the Bank… yet. I hope to remain poised behind the childlike smile till the end of my tenure. But you never know, shits could make you unleash the ugly side of you. It’s darkness in the light.

Yesterday (Sunday), Kakak organized tis small close-knitted Iftar aka breaking fast and invited few of her friends. Initially, Abg Zam’s friends were supposed to attend as well but sumthing came up last minute. Those who attended were Kak Ris, 2 of the friends-I-couldn’t-recall-coz-I-barely-know them; Kak Siti (kot?), and Abang Am.  It was all about Kakak reminisced back the ole days at University. Kak Ris now is working in the entertainment line; that is production house. Maybe in a coupla months, she’ll open her own salon @ boutique! Cool for her! My nephew si kecik Rifqi tuh plak was like excited seeing a lot of people. Mula2x tu malu la, pastu memang agile la kan?! Hhehe.. Anyway, Raya lagi 8 hari!=)…and I can’t wait for my last day in the Bank! *sigh*

Above all, it was a good reminiscence for Kakak and also a nice get-to-know for me and Abg Zam. And yeah, I’m currently in the mood of counting my days from the the expiration date serving the Bank!~

Animation has always being my no.1 favorite genre of films. Irregardless of Disney’s, Dreamworks’ or the Japanese Studio Ghibli, any masterpiece presented via 2-D silverscreen; they certainly make way to my favorite liking list! Anyway, there is this one particular animated feature (non-Disney) which is really close to my heart; The Prince of Egypt.

Filem ini diharamkan tayangannya kepada Malaysian pada tahun 1998 due to its controversial illustration of Moses (Nabi Musa a.s.) and the fabricated fictions. Namun apa yang saya cuba kongsi di sini adalah melalui sudut pandangan saya tersendiri. For the past 10 years, setiap kali bulan Ramadhan menjelma, saya akan religiously playing the filem dan juga soundtrack Prince of Egypt. Pada saya, ia sebenarnya meningkatkan lagi rasa insaf terhadap perjuangan rasul terdahulu (Nabi Musa a.s.) dalam melaksanakan suruhan Allah SWT demi membela keutuhan tauhid. Saya tidak melihat filem ini dari perspektif negatif (mungkin dari segi illustrasi wajah atau pun perencah fiksyen yang diterapkan); malahan bagi saya ia merupakan sesuatu yang kita boleh jadikan sebagai wadah pembakar rasa kecintaan terhadap perjuangan prophets yang terdahulu.

For me, the film brilliantly reflects the kesengsaraan yang ditanggung oleh Hebrews; bagaimana Allah SWT telah mengilhamkan kepada ibu Moses (Nabi Musa a.s.) iaitu Yocheved (Yukabad) supaya meletakkan anaknya ke dalam raga dalam sungai dan akhirnya dijumpai oleh Siti Asiah, isteri Pharaoh (Firaun). Dalam al-Quran, Allah SWT telah menceritakan :-

“And We inspired the mother of Moses, (saying): ‘Suckle him, but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor frieve. Verily! We shall return him to you, and shall make him one of Our Messengers.” (Quran 28:7)

Dalam al-Quran telah disebut tentang perasaan Siti Asiah :-

“A comfort for the eye for me and you. Don’t kill him; he may be of benefit to us, or we could adopt him as our son.” (Quran 28:9)

Kita dapat menyelami bagaimana perasaan seorang ibu yang terpaksa melepaskan anaknya yang baru lahir hanya untuk menyelamatkannya. Setelah Moses melarikan diri Mesir dan berjumpa dengan Jethro (Nabi Syuiab a.s.) yang merupakan ketua puak Midianite (Madyan), beliau tinggal di situ dan dikahwinkan dengan anak perempuan Nabi Syuib a.s. iaitu Tzipphorah (Siti Safura).

Soundtrack filem ini, yang merupakan karya Hans Zimmer dan Stephen Shwartz telah memenangi Academy Awards for best theme song : “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey juga sangat baik susunannya. A brilliant musical arrangement with heavy influence of Hebrew and Arabian music, it is MUST listened soundtrack! Bait-bait lirik dalam setiap lagu memaparkan situasi yang dihadapi dan sekaligus menaikkan rasa insaf pada diri. Pemilihan penyanyi Israel Ofra Haza sebagai vokal Yocheved sangat menakjubkan. Beliau bukan sahaja menyanyikan piece of the song “Deliver Us” dalam bahasa Inggeris, tetapi juga dalam bahasa German, Itali, Perancis, Israel dan banyak lagi (37 bahasa kesemuanya!). I think she’s an excellent chanteuse and her voice is incredible. Unfortunately, she was shot dead pada tahun 2000.

Walaupun bagaimana, mungkin filem ini tidak sesuai ditontonkan kepada generasi muda yang masih mentah telahan mereka; dan tidak dapat membezakan mana satu yang fiskyen atau yang benar. Juga bagi saya tidak sesuai untuk golongan yang mudah terpengaruh dengan anasir luaran. Jika kita rasakan yang kita tak mampu menangani possibility lintasan hati (isbat) memikirkan yang bukan-bukan, dinasihati janganlah menonton. Nonetheless, what I wanna share is that, the depiction really amazes me dan tidak keterlaluan saya katakan, menginsafkan saya. Mungkin cara ini bukan cara yang konvensional dalam meningkatkan rasa insaf dalam diri tapi saya rasakan berkesan dan inilah yang saya ingin kongsi dengan rakan-rakan. Like they said, “Don’t judge the book by its cover.” Lihatlah sesuatu dari sudut positif. Sebuah tontonan saya di bulan Ramadhan! Di bawah, saya selitkan snipet of the song “Deliver Us” from You-Tube :-

I’m in the greatest pain. My geraham kapak a.k.a WISDOM TOOTH  is about to emerge! Last night the gum was swollen and I can’t even eat my roasted chicken wings (aih..talk about nikmat Allah SWT ditarik sekejap…). I had to like slowly sipping the kuah Laksa Penang and managed to enjoy the red jellies ja sebab tekstur yg suculent and tak pejal. Anyway, pagi tadi sebelum nak pergi kerja the pain was unbearable, ditambah rasa sakit perut macam nak diarheaa; decided to pergi jumpa dentist la.

Dentist told me that the gigi yang berlubang (not the geraham kapak) tu lubang agak besar (erk what happen>>). Walaopon lepas tampal still the gap tu ada potential to entrap some foods residue. I certainly had to come back kalao tampalan tu tertanggal. And as for the wisdom tooth tu, she prescripted some antibiotics and pain  killers to recede the swollen. Pastu baru boley cabut sebab ada gigi yang hinder the growth of geraham susu ni. Erkkk?? What happen?! All my life, I never have problem with my teeth! Well..hope i can get all done before raya! I hope i ain’t gonna miss all the sumptuous Raya delicacies nanti. Uhuhuh… *eyes rolling*. Sesiapa nak tau lebey lanjut pasal Wisdom Tooth ni, bley google wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_tooth

Today marks the 17th day in Ramadhan 2008. It is the day when the Holy Book al-Quran was descended from Heaven; righteously known as the “Nuzul Al-Quran.” If I’m not mistaken, the first surah (verse) of Al-Quran entitled the Iqra’ (Read!) was descended to Prophet Rasulullah SAW in form of revelation via Archangel Gabriel (Jibrail). The event took place in the Cave of Hira.’ That was much the beginning point of revelations by Lord SWT to our beloved Prophet Rasulullah SAW.

Anyway, I’m not feeling really well today ; my teeth ache, experienced diarheaa (probably due to 5 consecutive days eating-laksa-during Iftar @ Breaking Fast @ Buka Puasa). But put that aside, my daily nourishment for tis year’s Iftar selalunya will be the red jellies (agar-agar),  roasted chicken wings, kebab ( a MUST!) and of course laksa Penang =). The place I enjoy the most to do the food-scouting is the enormous Bazaar Ramadhan Putrajaya (since a regular visitor, most of the stalls I frequent already familiar with my face! hehe).

Above all, I hope tis year’s Ramadhan brings prosperity to my life and people around me; Insya Allah.

It’s very disturbing to be scrutinized. It’s like you can’t breathe and suffocating. Microscopically (erk??) insane. Well, I guess just bear with it, before IT LASTS! Anyway, there’s tis one thing that bothers me. Not that I can siphon it explicitly in here no more since my blog these days is accessable to people I would least imagine to read what I’ve written here! (which was meant for my circle of friends and Kakak’s circle of friends). It’s consuming…it’s a mind disturbia!

P/s : I’m praying to God SWT to kuatkan iman menghadapi dugaan dunia. True to Rihanna’s latest ‘Disturbia ‘- “It’s A Thief In The Nite To Come & Grab You.”  Lord SWT, I’m praying for Your Guidance.

NOTIFICATION UPDATES :

Anyway, yesterday (Sunday) went out with one-Third of ‘D” Club (erk?hahaa, I know! Sound sfunny now to utter it OUT LOYD tis days walaopon dulu I was the one who dubbed us with the name. LOL), Kathleen Nandung aka Kat. Initially, planned of breakfasting (me jer la hehe…Kat tak puasa la kan..hehe) at Rasa Mas tapi tengok2x dah fully booked! Darn! Domino Pizza, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds, etc semua dah FULLY BOOKED! Yang Food Arcade tingkat atas tu lagi la penuh kan?

Since we were like lingering at the brink of time nak berbuka tu (mmg agak desperate la), we decided to go to The Gardens (nearby je) and scouting for any places yang vacant. Darn! Semua dah fully occupied. But Thank GOd akhirnya there was tis one Indian Food Bombay Restaurant yang masih lg vacant. Without hesistation masuk jerla hahha! On whole, the foods there OKlah; I mean no THUMBS-UP tapi kalau nak lapik perut berbuka puasa tuh kira OKla… Hanging out for a while around The Gardens and had one luxuriously-tasting ice cream of Italian’s Gelatissimmo (yummy!); we called it a day-off. Kat dropped me off at KL Sentral and that’s like SAVE ME from the congested commuter tuh (UWEKKK!). Thanks Girl! =). Anyway, something happen when I was about to buy Pizza Hut for my sister! Hhahaha, I won’t be saying this IN HERE coz it’s kinda embarassing (yeah Kat! The You-Know-What!! LOL). 

I pushed my own envelope. Since I’ve already submit my 3 months notice of resignation, the pressure I put to myself is very much lesser. The pressure to outwit colleagues in matter of performance is simply not my agenda no more. Yes, I’m still doing the task assigned to me but the pressure of to not being the most-vulnerable one is no more. I’m indeed is looking forward for my new career (Insya Allah); the one I think I can simply soar high, coupled with passion and unconditional focus. All my life, I’ve always being the very best; or at least among the best. To settle as the weakest link in the chain is not my forte. That’s why I made the decision.

Anyway, enough with the babling. Yesterday, my faithful USM ex-roomate Sharizul Fazli aka Lie treated me Buka Puasa at Kampung Baru! I must say it was kinda nice there; which is actually a FAR CRY from the aristocratic hotel dinings, of which I guess most of my colleagues are accustomed to. Inilah yang dikatakan Kuala Lumpur yang sebenarnya; The real face and the HEART of Kuala Lumpur!! It’s all about the crowd and the commoners thronging dekat kedai to buy foods! Anyway, saya pergi Bank dulu menyiapkan kerja2x yang patut sementara tunggu Lie picked me up kat Bank (he’s staying at Kampung Pandan).

After Asar, he came picked me up and off we went to Kampung Baru! The crowd yang berkerumun di situ was like immensely! Agak meyesakkan jugaklah sebab I’m not the kinda person who like to be trapped in congested area. Tengok2x, Lie bawa ke kedai makanan Kelantan (He’s one, by the way). LOL! No wonder there were like a lot of orang kelate kat situ…DUH!! (By the way, this by no way any mean to discriminate anyone). Hhehe..To wrap it all, makanan kat situ sedap2x la and ada dua-tiga nama kuih yang saya tak pernah dengar mcm Lompat Tikar and Pelaga (I’m not sure if tis is the correct spelling; rupa mcm agar2x tapi berlemak sgt la.. tak lalu nak makan) .Lepas berbuka, went to his house kat Kampung Pandan which is actually kawasan yang I pernah lalu sebab Abg Zam pernah bawak; tapi tak sangka plak Lie duduk situ! And after a so-called supper makan “colek” aka Rojak at a stall nearby Ampang, we called the day off. Thanks Lie for the treat (Yeah, semua perbelanjaan ditanggung bereh! *wink*)!! Anyway, gambar kelam sikit sebab bateri kamera digital habis daa..kena gune camera handphone yg agak cokia (LOL!).

My trip to Penang last month was quite alleviating. Spent masa yang ada hanging out with Godsis @ Next Cousin Syarifah Darweena Al-Idrus (I called her next cousin coz we are like distantly related. Both our cousins married each other), her sister Dek Qah aka Sy. Syafeeqah and my Godsis’s fiancee Sham who’s now working as Penang’s GH dietrician (yer ke? pakar nutrisi la). It was nice to have tete-a-tete with Ween at her office kat Bangunan Canselori USM tuu) sebab dah almost a year tak jumpa and we updated each other’s life; what’s hot and not. After that, Me, Ween and Sham ambik Dek Qah who’s working as a trainee at Ar-Rajhi Bank at Gurney Plaza. So happened masa tgh makan, her bibi Auntie Syarifah Munirah (cousin of Ween’s father) SMS Ween, asking us to go ambik nasi (she did a kenduri kot) at her house at Minden Height. It was nice to see her and Kak Buji and her fluffy cats as well (the picture down is Nyioq, one the LAZY BUMP cat! Grr..so fluffy!Hehhe, Thanks Dek Qah for the piccha!)

She sent me back to Muzem’s house and around 11 PM, me, Muzem and Khirwan go karaoke-ing!!! Hhahaa, sempatlah sorang 7-8 lagu and melalak memang macam konsert sendiri la. Who cares right? Karaoke IS for people to melalak kan?! Haha, In KL, I don’t do tis karaoke-ing. It doesn’t feel rite. Only in Penang I sing! Yipeee! Balik adalah dalam pukul 2 AM kot..

Esoknya dah balik ke Kedah. Above all, thanks to Muzem for his hospitality and a nice reminiscence of Penang=)

Tiga hari dah berlalu dalam bulan Ramadhan al-Mubaraq. Alhamdulillah. Masuk tahun ni dah tahun ke-2 berpuasa as a working person (I know! Hard to believe right?! LOL). Last year was the trainee year and this year is the Assistant Relationship Manager year (LOL!). Time moves so fast that you just thought it happens within a blink of an eye, huh? Hehhe…Too early to jot extravagant hulaballoos (whaddaya expect?, it’s 8.17 AM! Hehhe).

Apa-apapun, saya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubaraq kepada semua kenalan, sahabat dan juga sesiapa sahaja yang maybe saya tak kenal but somehow stumble kat page saya ni. Maafkan kalau ada salah silap; sakit-meyakiti. All the good things come from Allah SWT; the otherwise are of course of myself. =).