The I.E.L.T.S Incidents: Part 4

Yep, there's more. Huhu.

I finally arrived at a friend's place, a flat house in Taman Melati. My cold weren't as bad as before. Just some runny nose left. Quite irritating, though. But I'm pretty much used to it since cold and me, we're like best of buddies. It always comes knocking at my door for no apparent reason. Must be because of my sinusitis. I don't drink ice much lately. It's bad for my sinus.

Anyway, after dinner that night, there's this small food stall at the parking lot of the flat house. So my friend was offering me this ice blended fruit drink sold there. It's only a ringgit. Or was it 1.50?...Well, it's his treat. So...Jom! I was wondering how an ice blended could be so cheap. "Pop Es Blender...Patut la pun...muahaha" I was laughing out loud as I read the label on the sachet :p I did have a little doubt whether it's safe to drink, but I ordered one anyway (without considering my big exam the next day :p) - mango flavored. Truth be told, it really didn't taste much more than a ringgit. Haha. I couldn't finish it all. It tasted like Wall's Mango Tango which is to me, yuckkk~ But hey, it's ice blended. Any flavor goes~ I still finished more than half.

The next morning, I woke up with an uneasy felling. Felt like something was wrong somewhere. I shook my head. "Oh, crap...headache." I was having a cold the day before, granted, but was it es blender or was it the polluted air of KL city that made it worse?

Nevertheless, it's just a slight headache. I ignored it, got myself ready, and head out to the exam venue...

The I.E.L.T.S Incidents: Part 3

Sink or swim. Don't be too judgmental.

I approached the driver, "abang nak gi KL ke?" He's a Chinese, or perhaps a Sabahan or Sarawakian. The other 2 were a Chinese and a Malay. Then I told them my bus left me and I need to chase the bus and all. The driver was a bit reluctant at first and was asking his buddies whether they should let me in.

While putting on my puppy eyes :p I was shouting in my mind "Duh, what, are you afraid of me? You guys are tough and look like freaking gangsters~ I'm the one who should be afraid of you!!"

They finally let me ride with them. Yeyy! But things like they might stab me in the car then throw me on the roadside did cross my mind. Haha. The Malay sat with me at the back. There's a cross hanging on the backmirror.

So, off we went, chasing the stupid SANI. But here's another funny thing. I need to call the ticket counter so that they could inform the bus driver about me. Luckily I got the bus ticket with me in my pocket. There were phone numbers on the back.

I flipped open my cellphone and looked at the screen. "Crap, one bar left...adeh, main sms byk sgt dlm bas td ni~" I dialled the number anyway. A lady picked up, and I told her about what happened. That fucking lady actually snapped and scolded me! Ampeh betul. In fact she was luring me into an argument. She was saying how I should have told the bus driver before I got off the bus to the toilet or to buy a drink. I mean, does anybody really do that? The bus stopped at an R&R, for God's sake! Most of the passengers got off the bus including the bus driver! Bodoh betul. Stupid SANI.

"One bar left..." I reminded myself as I quickly toned down my voice and brought her back to reality. "Cik, saya bukan nak gaduh. Saya nak selesaikan masalah ni je. Boleh tak cik call driver tu, minta dia tunggu kat mana-mana?" After a pause, a bit nicely she said I better call the driver and deal with the driver myself. So she gave me the driver's number. I have nothing to jot down the numbers, and the battery was giving warnings. "No choice, had to memorize, and memorize it fast." A few seconds after I got the numbers, "Hello, Hello..." No answers. I looked at the screen. Blank~ "Oh, crap...Adehh, ape nak buat ni..."

Oh, what the heck..."Err...bang..." While showing my blank cellphone "Bateri abis." And the guy went "Huh?"

"Err...Bateri abis...Nak call driver bas..."

Then he went "Adoi, isk...credit abang tinggal brape ni..." while he was checking the balance. "3 ringgit 80 sen je ni..."

I put on my puppy eyes again. Haha. After a pause, he gave me his cellphone. Yeyy! I dialled the numbers and prayed that my memory didn't fail me. It got through, and yes, it's the driver alright! He agreed to wait for me at Tol Karak. Relief~

Along the way, all of them started criticizing buses and bus drivers, joking on how they would scold the bus driver after we reach the bus. And that Malay dude was telling how his pregnant wife and a few others were left at R&R Tapah. I was thinking these guys weren't so bad after all. And they were actually armies. Or was it police? Well, something like that.

We finally caught up with stupid SANI. Those guys were so kind that they waited for me to make sure it was the right bus. But the thing about scolding the bus driver, that never happened. Haha. Nevertheless, my point is, don't prejudge.

I finally caught my ride to IELTS. Wanna hear the best part? Huhu. The bus driver said he knew I wasn't on the bus. He honked lotsa times for me. Since I didn't show up, he just left me.

Stupid SANI.

The I.E.L.T.S Incidents: Part 2

"...stupid SANI"

Then I looked around to see if there's anything useful to solve this problem of mine. There's an Indian guy in his 30's walking to his Proton Arena. "Oh, this might work..." So I asked the guy whether he wanted to go to KL. Unfortunately, he just wanted to take something from his car. I looked around some more. There were lotsa cars, but I didn't see anybody near those cars.

Suddenly, something struck my mind. "Barley! My hot barley!" I quickly walked back to where I sat before. "Oh, Dear God, it's still there! Thank God! Thank you (^_^)". *I love u, hot barley~* I sat down and start sipping again. It's still hot~ Yeay!

It's about 3 pm. Sweat started coming down as I kept sipping the hot barley, whilst my brain was working on all the possible solutions on that fateful sunny day. I wondered whether I was sweating due to the hot barley in the heat of the sun or it's because of the adrenalin rush. Regardless, there's only one solution - Gotta hitch a ride. I finished my hot barley in a few minutes. Then went off to a gazebo near the carpark and wait for almost 10 minutes. There's no other SANI bus around. In fact, there were no other buses except for a Masterskills College bus.

I looked around again, searching for a possible free ride. Most of them were with families. And the cars were full. Some got in their cars and drove away before I got to them. Pathetic. Haha. Hey, if it's a movie, I would have gotten a ride from a hot chick~ True? Like hell that's gonna happen for real~

My eyes caught these 3 crook-looking guys heading to a Proton Saga...Yes, 3 guys, not 3 hot chicks. And they looked like ex-cons who just got out of jails, with those army haircuts. Well, this is reality. "Oh, what the heck..." as I walked towards them.

The I.E.L.T.S Incidents: Part 1

Going back home from work today and there was 'Trouble Is A friend' by Lenka on the radio. It really made my day thus I am very happy. So I decided to write tonight (^_^)

Nonetheless, I'm not writing simply for the sake of writing. It's actually a story worth telling my kids.

I took the IELTS exam on June 13th. That would be on Saturday. So I took a morning bus from Kuala Terengganu to KL on the day before. The bus stopped at Chendor (before Cherating). Answered the nature call, then the Divine call, then the tummy call. More like the taste bud call. coz I only ate a bread and the all-time favorite, Tropicana :p

After an hour or so, the bus stopped again at R&R Temerloh. I wondered why, it's only been about an hour... But oh, what the heck, I wasn't feeling well. Minor sore throat with a slight fever. So I didn't give much thought on such trivial question. The nature called again. Dammit. The parking space for buses was quite far from the toilet and the shop lots. Still, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Gotta answer the call~ huhu :p

A big relief. And hey, the bus was still there. Good. Now to ease my sore throat. Hmm...hot barley sounded really good at that time. So I ordered one, found a seat, sit down, and start sipping with a hope that the heat would kill away all the bacteria in my throat. Haha. Just after a few sips, I noticed something peculiar, or rather... frightening. There were many people there, but somehow, it was too quiet! "Where are other passengers from my bus?!"

A shockwave raced through my veins. I stood up, left my dear hot barley Oh, hot barley I love you, farewell~ and stepped out a bit. "Oh, thank God the bus is still there! Must be my imagination~ huhu"

Lalalalalaa~ I went back to my sweet barley~ After only a couple of indulging sips, my eye caught a glimpse of a big red thingy from afar, moving slowly. I quickly turned. "Hey, that looks familiar...Oh crap, it's moving." While keeping my macho intact, I stood up once again I love you, hot barley. Goodbye~ and start walking. Slowly...slowly...a bit faster...faster...then a lot faster. I seriously thought the bus would stop and wait for me. Apparently, it didn't. Haha. Who am I kidding~ "Oh well, there goes my ride to IELTS. Stupid SANI..."

A Story for My Grandson.

Too much thoughts in the past entries. Haha. I should have some facts in this blog too. Perhaps I should write something for my grandson to read about his grandpa later :p

So dear grandson,

Grandpa was sooo occupied with work this week! And as always, things just wouldn't run smoothly for me. There's always a hole or a tree or a puddle of mud in my way. Haha. But at the end of the week, I can still sit in front of this notebook of mine and said to myself, "So things didn't end up so bad after all..."

I had to present a project today, partly my project. I had to show the final presentation slides to my boss yesterday, and the draft the day before. After all, the project is under her supervision. And it's a project comprises 3 sub-projects. Quite a headache to combine and relate everything to each other. Some of the stuffs were beyond my expertise~ huhu.

I'm sure I was given 1-month notice about the presentation. But whether this is a last-minute work, I'm not sure anymore. Coz I don't think I had much time in the weeks before since I'm also involved in the newsletter for the company. Had to cover up events from January to March, wrote articles about em. U know, like a journalist. Haha. Oh, that's definitely a last-minute work. January to March, that was the time I had. There were like 6-7 important events from January til March. Luckily I have a new assistant now to help me with this stuff. Huhu. And there were also a couple of admin stuffs I needed to cater.

However, I'd like to emphasize here that those are additional workloads. My main tasks in this company are to handle 2 practicals and to do research. And I have 2 ongoing research here, and one of em ain't progressing much *sigh~*. I also have to help other colleagues with their research once in a while. It's good to be helpful tho. Oh, one of the practicals was giving me headache in the past couple of weeks. I had to arrange field trip for our clients. Luckily everything worked out in the end. After a couple of pening times, that is. huhu

Anyway, back to my presentation. My notebook was faulty last 2 days. i just got it back in the late afternoon today. Luckily I have most of the important stuffs in my thumbdrive. And luckily I just got my new PC from the company! But the problem was, I couldn't do my work at home~ so I had to finish everything at work. Oh btw! I think this was the first time I didn't stay up all night preparing slides! It was always last-minute work in the past. Haha.

Then last night we got a call. A close relative just passed away. Close by blood, but I'm sure me and him, we didn't know each other. But my ma insisted to go. But she did ask me whether I had the strength to go. I agreed with a heavy heart. It was almost 2 hours away~ and I was thinking about reading a bit on my next-day presentation. I was glad that sincerity came knocking along the way. Yeah, visiting a deceased relative couldn't be a bad thing, I thought. I drove my car happily all the way. We arrived back at home after midnight. But I was glad I agreed to go.

I wouldn't call it a bad presentation. But the project that I presented really raised up some issues. I received lotsa questions and comments, both constructive and destructive :p I didn't get to answer most of the comments due to time constraint. Plus, I respect the elderly. Huhu. I have a question raised up in my head tho, if big shots like MARDI or MPOB or LGM cancelled a research, does it mean that the research is worthless or have no future? I think not.To me, there must be ways to make things work. In research, if you start today, you can't get the results tomorrow. Get what I mean? And this is a place where knowledge is gathered, it is not a corporate company. It's a place where research may be less useful, but it is never useless. But someday, the insignificant one might fit in the puzzle somewhere...

So grandson, you wanna be like your grandpa? (^_^)v

P/s: Sorry if you can't figure out the kinda 'company' I'm working in. Haha.

My Convocation

Perhentian Island

Everybody has been updating their blogs like 10 times since last month. And I just have the time to write a new entry today. I thought I'd be having lots of leisure times with this new job. Apparently not. Huhu :p Still, it's fun to be doing what I like to do, though I have to sacrifce a couple of other things that I like to do. Well,there will be times for catching up later, such as today (^_^)v And I even went to Perhentian Island last weekend yeyy!

A lil scandal for a scandalous blog. Huhu :p

It's a lil bit late to mention this, but I had my convocation last 2 weeks, on the 24th of August. Was it super fun? Hmm...so-so, i guess. Well, I've graduated in February, and have been working ever since. I even changed to a new job. So to me it's kinda like 'just a convocation'; nothing serious, nothing grand. What mattered to me then was meeting with my old friends. Yeah, I was expecting a big gathering, catching up with em, getting to know their families. Unfortunately, not much of those happened. All of us got separated right after we got out of the hall and everybody was busy with their family, including me :p Some of them went back early. *sigh* huh~

Nevertheless, some of us managed to gather together and snap some awesome pictures! Although not everyone's in it, but it should be enough for reminiscing later (^_^) As long as the memories remain somewhere~ Huhu. I don't have a camera. These are some of the pics that I could grab from my friends in friendster. There should be more though. But they don't have any reason to upload Lutfi's pics in their photo albums, rite? Huhu.

The sky is yours~

My classmates~ Aku rasa budak yang tak pakai robe tu tak grad lagi kut...she's still in skola rendah~ huhu :p

Yeah, throw some more! Cepat~ Lepas ni dah nak hujan~

My batch~ Luv em all!

Ade ke patut diorang cakap aku macam budak tadika...

Ehem.

My ex. Oops, Ex-image consultant only lah~


Post-convo dinner at Saisaki Buffet.

Muka aku yang cina dah semakin jepun sebab makan sushi banyak sangat~ huhu

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Did you see what I was wearing? Huhuhu. Brand new suit~ and a new haircut too. I mean I just cut my hair short. It was pretty long before. Oh, I would probably shave my head again after raya :p Anyway, despite my not-so-handsome-looking face, the suit made me look pretty damn good, doesn't it? Haha. Mind you, I didn't buy em solely for the sake of convocation. I've always wanted a new suit. I'd be using em a lot after this! Hey, I'm in a professional field~ Gotta have such attire ;)

As always, I suck at shopping clothes. Major suck. Oh, did you notice the green shirt I was wearing inside? I bought that a few months ago in this entry. For the blazer, I bought em on my way to KL. Me and my ma stopped by at East Coast Mall, Kuantan. We went into Parkson and headed straight to G2000 section. Coz I got an info that they're giving lotsa discount on blazers! *Tenkiu McLa!* Huhu. No image consultants too this time. No Arshana, no Ati, no Mun no Ann. My ma was with me, but she didn't know much about suits. *Oh help me God~*. I flipped through the blazers hanging there. No salesgirl was there at the moment.

"Damn, why are there so many to choose from yet they all look the same?! I hate convo~"

I called Arshana. No reply~ "Crap, sape lagi aku bleh contact ni..."

"Razali! Hoho, Zali metrosexual sket. Yeyy!"

I called Zali. No reply~ "Tak guna, Zali. Ko gi mana~ Huuu~" *almost cried..huhu :p *

Then the salesgirl came out from the storage room. Luckily she was very helpful! (^_^) Telling me the differences and asking me to try this and this and that. Then Zali called. "Yeyy! Saviour!" As expected, he knows everything bout mens' clothing! - The buttons, the shape, the cut, the collar, the latest design, the in-thing! - I'm telling you he knows everything about it! Like a fashion guru~ huhu.

I also tried the pants. I spent about 2 hours there and called Zali like 5 times asking for guidance! Muahaha :p And who do you think made the final decision? My mom? Me? Guess again~ It's the salesgirl. Hahaha. Yep, she said this blazer fit me better over that one and that one coz bla bla bla. I don't mind, coz she's pretty cute and seemed like to know what she's saying. I will follow you~ Huhu. I almost bought a pair of black pants there too. Tried 4-5 pair of pants, then retried them again and again coz I'm sooo damn unsure bout how a good pair of pants supposed to be. When I was about to buy the one that I thought was the best, she said "Err..isn't the waist a little too big..?" Unfortunately they don't have a smaller size. Huhu. So afterwards, I text Zali,

"Jom kita kuar shopping esok! (^_^)"

Bought a new pair of black pants and a sleek tie with Zali at Midvalley on the next day! And Zali was also the one who helped me collect my convo robe the week before. Tenkiu very much Zali! I owe u big time!~ huhu. But I have to iron the robe the night before convo and it was super irritating! Mmg sumpah seranah la time gosok jubah tu. I hate convo~ Huhu.

P/s: To the juniors who are going to have your convocation next year. If you want to get what I wanted to have on your convocation day, do make plans with your friends! Oh, I don't mean the suit lah! Hahaha. I mean the big gathering with your friends and their families~ know the flow of programme on that day and plan earlier with all your friends on when to meet and where to meet and what to do. Let your family be friends with your friends' families. Not to mention you can take lotsa pics that way with everyone in it. So your convo wud be more happening! And guys, we're science students, so make some noise! Huhu (^_^) Hey, kitorang je yang baling mortar board tu tau!~ huhuhu. Oh, sweet memories~ ONE MORE THING!! AKU BERJAYA BUAT 'PEACE' KAT ATAS PENTAS SELEPAS AMIK SCROLL!! I don't have the pic, but it should be in the video. MUAHAHA~ Oh, I luv being a science graduate from Kulliyyah of Science IIUM! Coz we are wacky! (^_^)v

Super Update! Taman Negara + Kenyir + Wedding

KENYIR

I came back home from Taman Negara at noon of the 10th of August, Sunday. Had a short rest, then I punched in for work in the afternoon. As I walked into the office, I saw my big boss talking to a colleague of mine. As I was about to walk pass them, he called for me, saying "Lutfi, nak pergi Kenyir?"

"Err...nak!!...?" (^_^)

The trip was for a research project totally unrelated to me. Huhu. Two nights (12-14th August 2008). Free transportation, free accomodation (Resort, beb! Bukan khemah~) and most importantly, free good meals :D Talk about being lucky :p Lalalalalaaa~

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TAMAN NEGARA

I joined the J.R.E. II. Or u may read it as Jungle River Ecology: Level two. From 4-9th of August 2008. Location? Taman Negara Pahang! (^_^) Since I did my internship at the Institute of Biodiversity (IBD) Lanchang, I was invited to be a volunteer for the program. You don't play-play ah, national level wooo~ Jointly organized by PERHILITAN, NRE, and Ministry of Education.

Well, it wasn't as fun and as challenging as I thought it would be. I was expecting students to be the participants, but they all turned out to be teachers~ And almost all are 30+ years old~ Huhu. The jungle trekking was easy peasy. But I had my fun anyway in that one week, and I think it's totally worth it (^_^) Hey, free holiday in Taman Negara with free good food and place to stay~ that's what matters most. Huhu :D

I leave the details and pics to Tuan Caracol, k. What I'd like to say about the trip is, it was totally worth it! Not coz of the program itself, but it's due to the chance of meeting the people that I had left 2 years ago - The staffs I met and learnt from in IBD. Puan Noni, Pak Andak, En. Syukri, En. Khairul, En. Ki, Pak Din and Cik Dila. My internship with them 2 years ago taught me a lot about life, and we had so much fun then!

I don't know bout their academic qualifications, whether all of them have degrees or diplomas or SPM or none. Those things don't matter. I never care. What I do know is, they are people with lotsa experience. The kinda experience that you don't learn in schools and universities. Some of them even have better ways of thinking than university students. Creativity? You might lose to them. Critical thinking? They could in fact teach you the right way to think. Huhu.

So what defines us? It's definitely not your certificates. It's your mind and heart. I ain't gonna respect you just because u have the certs. Dear readers, don't you dare look down on someone just because they have a lower academic qualification than you. Respect people equally. Don't prejudge. Certs won't do you any good if you have a rotten heart~

Oh, on our way back we dropped by at Merapoh. I got to meet dearest Wanie, Kira and Jannah! (^_^) I was super duper happy! My wish came true! Well...partly, coz sadly Iqah went for a school trip. Huu~ didn't get to meet her~ Love em like they're my own kids! Huhu

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WEDDING

1 month before 16th August 2008
"Lutfi, jemput la datang kenduri kawin aku 16hb Ogos"
= 1 wedding to attend

1 week before 16th August 2008
"Luppi, tau dok Sya (my ex-classmate) kawin minggu depan?"
= 2 weddings to attend

2 days before 16th August 2008
"Luppi, Diyana Husna kawin gok ari Sabtu ni."
= 3 weddings to attend

On the 16th of August 2008
"Lutfi, kita gi kenduri kawin member aku skali."
= 4 weddings to attend!

Dah la aircond kereta tak berfungsi~ I got back home with a severe headache and a totally worn out body. But glad that I made it to all four weddings (^_^)v

Candak Sutong 2008

I was getting busy again...err...lazy, actually. Huhu. Sorry for the late update :p

Hoho, went squid jigging (mencandat sotong) again! Now let me recall...when was it eay...Oh, 17th of May! That makes it the 5th squid jigging expedition in my ever-wonderful life! Okay...ever-wonderful is a little too much... :p

Anyway, the different thing about this year's expedition is, I was the project manager. Yeah, I was the host this year~ (^_^)v The first 3 was free, everything was arranged by a friend's father. The 4th trip, last year, I went with a friend, along with his friends, and I gotta pay rm 50~ dah la tengah sengkek time tu...we went jigging in September. Haha, pretty stupid ey? :p The waves were very strong and we all got sea sick~ I threw up a couple of times too. Huhu. But we did bring back some squids. I only got one though :p

Well, that was last year. Let's forget about it. Coz this year rocks, baby!

I arranged the trip for 8 friends, with my eldest brother and my elder sister tagging along. We departed from the jetty on a fisherman's boat at about 6pm Saturday. Arrived at the jigging spot at around 7pm, a friend of mine immediately got the first catch of that day. But that's the only she got on the whole trip. She got sea sick a few minutes later and never got back on her feet again. Haha :p

The boat owner was kind enough to change spots a couple of times, looking for the 'lubuk'. At our 3rd stop, we waited for half an hour before my sister got the first catch. Then it turned to be a real 'lubuk' yeyy! (^_^) After 12am midnight, only the fantastic four were still up and mighty - me, Pojan, my brother and my sister. The rest got sea sick and some were just sleepy~ huhu. We were up till 5am when the boat started to head back to the shore.

And you know what? We brought back some 40-50 kilos of sweet, juicy squids! Most of them are about half a meter long. I jigged up 22 squids myself! Pretty impressive ey?~ coz I never got more than 10 before. Hohoho.

My mom gave out some to neighbours and friends. And the rest? This is the best part! On Sunday night, we had sotong bakar, sotong goreng celup tepung, tom yam sotong and sotong sumbat ala Kelantan. We cooked and ate till 1 am~ Everybody was stuffed up real good. Muahaha. You can really taste the sweetness of fresh squids~ The next day, we had sotong masak sambal and sotong masak kunyit for lunch. I know, squids and squids again. But unlike chicken or beef, u'll never grow tired of eating squids (^_^)

I gave out lotsa tips last year, here's some additional tips for squid jigging:

I don't know why they call it squid jigging, but here's how you squid jigging. Throw the jig into the sea till it reaches the bottom sea bed. Then pull it up about 1 feet. Then u start gettin' jiggy with it by snatch n' release, snatch n' release, snatch n' release...until it feels a little heavier than before. Senang giler~ huhu

Oh, you might wanna wear a dark shirt, coz those squids would be squirting some serious black inks! Make sure u don't direct the squid's head towards yourself or your friends, unless u wanna get ur face painted black~ huhu :p

The Girl Who Lost The Bet

If u have read 'A Bicycle To Remember', there was this 'budak kecik' who dared me to cycle from KT to Kuantan. Yeah, so kecik (i mean, short) that I just have to look down on her. Huhu :p Oh, I'm not gonna reveal her name here. Let's just call her 'The Girl Who Lost The Bet'. In short, TGWLTB, but please read it in full, otherwise it wouldn't sound dramatic. (Show a lil sympahthy for her, will ya? :p) Anyway, if the lil tortoise is reading this and decides to come out of the shell and publicize herself, be my guest. No harm done on my side. Huhu. As the story goes, TGWLTB said I could ask for ANYTHING, it would be her treat, and she would HEAR & OBEY. I repeat, HEAR & OBEY~ lalalalalaaa~ (^_^)v

My alter ego (the evil one :p) refuse to just let her plainly buy me a plain lunch or dinner. He wanted some entertainment. Tsk tsk, he is sooo evil~ He said to me,"We must use this rare opportunity to make her suffer and bring her misery. Muahahaha!" Sooo evil~ tsk tsk tsk...Then I got influenced by the evil me, "Yeah, my life is a little plain, I should add up some spices and colors~" So I agreed with him. But since I'm a not-so-evil person, I tried to make a win-win situation, where she would also benefit from it. Til now, me n my evil alter ego came up with more than 10 conditions so far for TGWLTB to fulfill on D-Day she's treating us. Errr...me :p

1ST CONDITION: TGWLTB must be happy on D-Day. [ Huhu, I won't be enjoying my meal if there's a sad person sitting in front of me, will I? ]

2ND CONDITION: TGWLTB must be healthy on D-Day. [ Same explanation as previous, I'd just lose my appetite~ and I don't wanna be sending her to a hospital. Haha ]

3RD CONDITION: TGWLTB must be confident of herself on D-Day. [ This has something to do with her character, yeah she lacks self-confidence sometimes. But it also has something to do with the 10th condition! ]

4TH CONDITION: TGWLTB had moved on from any of her sad past, experience or crush, things related to love and relationship. [ Well, since she had a long fruitless crush and a couple of bad experience with love and relationship, I might as well help her move on. ]

5TH CONDITION: The length of TGWLTB's hair must be below her chest. [ Simply want her to suffer and make her life more difficult, but in a way, making her try something new. She said the longest she kept so far was up to her shoulder. I'm not gonna see it anyway, wouldn't know if she cheats later :p ]

6TH CONDITION: The treat will neither be in Terengganu nor Kelantan, unless stated otherwise by Lutfi Lukman. [ No good+EXPENSIVE+exotic place to eat lah at these 2 states~ Lagipun suasana macam kureng je~ I don't know much bout other states though. Most probably D-Day would be in KL ]

7TH CONDITION: TGWLTB must write down all the conditions on a beautiful piece of paper and show it to Lutfi Lukman on D-Day. [ Gotta make sure she remembers all the conditions, rite? ]

8TH CONDITION: The bet will be void if TGWLTB got herself a boyfriend, but it will be back on if they break up before the due date. [ Do you want to see me in the newspaper? Got chopped up by a mad boyfriend or something? Huhu :p ]

9TH CONDITION: TGWLTB must weigh 45kg on D-Day. [ I'm a good person. I'm angelic :p I'm helping her to lose some weight. She said she wanted to lose some weight, so I'm just helping out a bit. And at the same time see her suffer and make her life more difficult! Less yummy food for her and she needs to exercise more~ Hahaha ]

10TH CONDITION: TGWLTB must wear a skirt on D-Day. [ Err..she wore a skirt once, and she was wondering whether it looked good, whether she should buy one and wear it more often yada yada yada~ Oh, that one belongs to her friend :p Since she lacks confidence of wearing one again, I'm here to save D-Day. Bet she'd feel awkward. Haha. Well, her pain is my gain~ ]

11TH CONDITION: On D-Day, TGWLTB must only use 'saya' when addressing herself, and 'awak' when addressing Lutfi Lukman. If she mistakenly use 'aku' when addressing herself, or 'ko' when addressing Lutfi Lukman, Lutfi Lukman is allowed to knock her head without any retaliation whatsoever. [ Just consider this as an excuse for me to knock her head for free~ (^_^) lalalalalaa~ But don't you think girls shouldn't use 'aku' and 'ko'? ]

......
...... [ There may be more coming. My evil alter ego is working on it. Tsk tsk...He is soo evil~ ]
......

FINAL CONDITION: The time limit for TGWLTB to fulfill all the conditions and treat Lutfi Lukman on D-Day is 31st of December 2010, or before one of us get married, whichever is sooner. [ We gotta have a time limit, rite? I don't wanna wait till I'm in my 50's~ haha. Oh, and may I remind you that you don't want to see me in the newspaper, got chopped by a mad husband~ Huhu :p ]

It's not that difficult, isn't it? And not to mention, FAIR. Huhu :P . The difficult ones are only no. 4, 5, 9, 10 & 11. But she's already complaining and sighing~ Hey, put the blame on the Evil Lutfi Lukman. It's not my fault. The Real (and Nice) Lutfi Lukman simply wanna make another memory (^_^)v

When will the D-Day be? It is up to The Girl Who Lost The Bet now (^_^)

A bicycle to remember

FUHH~ last week was hectic and tiring~ I did one helluva thing. Another great, crazy, stupid and pain-heals-chicks-dig-scars-glory-lasts-forever adventure! Hold your jaw tightly, don't let it drop in awe of disbelief. Ehem ehem, drum roll please.................

On the 10th of March 2008, I cycled from Kuala Terengganu to Kuantan! Huhuhu :p

Kenapa, tak percaya? I'm not sure why I did such a crazy thing. The best reason I could think of until now are, to test my limit, to make memory and lastly and the most logical reason is to bring my bicycle to IIUM. Eh, tak logic ke? Haha. I leave the judgement to you. Oki doki, allow me to share the chronological story of my insane journey. This time, in both English and Bahasa Melayu ;)

[Reminder: Italicized words are either conversation or my thoughts]

A month before, I got my old bicycle fixed. A purple Lerun Mountain Bike with 21 speed. Codename: Storm.It has no absorber, no suspension whatsoever. Just a plain mountain bike. My ma bought it for me when I was in form 1 - early 1997, for Ringgit Malaysia 330. I haven't ridden it since late 2001!

The night before D-day. Ma, Pi nok balik dengan beskal esok. She didn't believe me at first. Yeah, who in a healthy mind would? Huhu. Surprisingly, she's OK with it. We joked around about it, along with my brother and my lil sis. But deep down I knew I was serious.

Here's the route I took:

KUALA TERENGGANU --> Kuala Ibai --> Chendering -->

Rusila --> Rhu Rendang --> MARANG --> Merchang -->

Rantau Abang --> Kuala Abang --> DUNGUN --> Paka -->

Kertih --> Kijal --> KEMAMAN -->

Cherating --> Gebeng --> Semambu --> KUANTAN!!

*The names in capitals are districts/daerah

1^ST HALF: Journey in Broad Daylight

6.20am - Bangun, mandi, solat Subuh, put on my gears - a pair of LEE COOPER jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt with a glow-in-the-dark word on its chest and a cap I cilok from my KakLong :p

7.20am - Tapau bekal - char kuey a.k.a kayu keramat, a tupperware of fried rice and a bottle of mineral water. I put them in a knapsack I cilok from an old friend :p

8.00am - Bersalam-salaman dengan ibu, abang dan adik. Put on my ASADI slippers.

8.05am - Off for the adventure!! Eh, tayar macam tak cukup angin je~ So I went to the nearest gas station to inflate both tyres.

8.20am - Officially off for the great (+crazy+stupid) adventure!

Paling jauh aku pernah pergi pun sampai sebelum Chendering je. Aku berbasikal mengikut arus. Maknanya aku berbasikal di sebelah kiri jalan. The things that scared me the most on that day were buses, lorries, trucks etc., u know, the things that can really lenyek you into unidentifiable pieces, especially when crossing narrow bridges. Dah la jalan kat Rusila-Marang tgh dinaiktaraf, jalan tak elok. Scary~ huhu

9.10am - Right after Rhu Rendang, I suddenly heard something. Pssss...pssss...pssss....

No way, are you friggin' kidding me? Biar betul, ke pasir bergesel kat tayar? Several seconds later, the front tyre got all flat. Sah...Oh, just great~ Tapi nasib baik dah dekat pekan Marang! I looked around for someone with a reliable face, I found a pakcik. Asked him the nearest bicycle shop. He wasn't sure, but he said to go near the primary school. Dragging my bike, I walked with a little hope and faith. Took me about 15 mins to realize that there isn't any bicycle shop there! Hujan dah start turun secara rintik-rintik...Ampeh pakcik~ Aku bertanya lagi kepada 2-3 orang mat rempit yang tgh lepak kat depan sebuah cyber cafe. Kat Rhu Rendang sana~ Jauh tu~ Hujan ni~ I thanked them and walked on. 2-3 saat kemudian, hujan turun lebat. Haha. Aku pasrah je. Aku terus berjalan. Tapi alhamdulillah, 15 saat kemudian, hujan kembali rintik-rintik (^_^). Aku jumpa kedai motor, tanya abang kat situ, dia bagi direction. Yeay! jumpa kedai beskal!

10.20am - Teruskan perjalanan!

My butts started to feel a little sore. Haha. The seat wasn't very comfy. I had 2 short rests to replenish my energy. Nothing much, just char kuey and mineral water. At this time, I was aiming to reach Kuala Abang. There's a beautiful beach there, a nice place for me to have my lunch - fried rice! The weather was perfect. No bright sun, a lil cloudy. Just nice.

Darn~...I thought I would reach Kuala Abang in no time, but it was such a long journey through Merchang. You know, the feeling that u think u're just one step away from your destination, but the road suddenly seems endless. I bore with it and smiled anyway, and kept pedalling of course :) A little headache. Coz of the rain, perhaps.

1.15pm - Reach Kuala Abang, had my lunch, and a long rest (^_^)v

2.00pm - Teruskan perjalanan!

I intended to stop by at my KakLong's house in Dungun. I texted her, saying that I might reach her house a little past 3. But no reply :(

3.15pm - Reached Dungun. Still no reply from my sis. Went to her house, her car's not there. Still working, I guessed. What to do~ Teruskan perjalanan!

Stopped a couple of times for char kueys (yeah, i brought a lot). huhu. Oh, along the way from KT to Kuantan, I stopped many times at Petronas for 100 plus and Tropicana lime+vanilla, my favorite!

Rupa-rupanya kat tepi jalan ada banyak bangkai. Ada bangkai tikus, bangkai kucing, bangkai ular, bangkai biawak, bangkai kambing, bangkai lembu, bangkai manusia. Ok, that's a bit too much. Setakat bangkai biawak je yang benar. Selebihnya gurauan :p

5.00pm - Stopped by at a mosque. Solat zohor dan asar, jama' taakhir. Then, teruskan perjalanan! Wait, wait. I brought a kain pelekat. Considering my sore butts, I tied up my kain pelekat to the seat, for extra padding. Oh, I should have wore pampers, you know, for extra padding :p

6.00pm - Reached Kertih. Paka and Kertih are where all those oil and gas plants are located. I lepak at a bus stop, ate some char kuey, had a short rest.

I called my other sister, she lives in Kertih, working there as an engineer. She designs oil plants.

Pi kat kertih ni, KakN kat tempat kijo lagi ko? Nok singgoh ni. My family speaks in kelantan dialect.
Ho, mari la. Dok jauh doh. 10 minit jah dari situ. Jupo kat keda make lepah bala polih
10 minit tu kalu naik keto
Dahtu Pi naik gapo?
Beskal.
Huh? Gilo apo??

6.45pm - Arrived at the restaurant.

Had a chat with my sis and her friend, asking me about my journey. She thought I was kidding :p But then she thought I was crazy. Well, she's cool with it nonetheless. I ordered mee goreng and hot lime. Tengah-tengah makan tu, hujan turun dengan sangat lebat! Hoho, lucky me! (^_^)

7.30pm - Hujan dah reda. I followed my sis to her house, a 10-minute cycle from the restaurant.

Ahhhh~ bed!~ pillows!~ fan!~ Shower!~ Heaven!~

A few times my sis offered to send me to Kuantan with her Neo, Satria Neo. Dokse, nak bawak beskal. I answered her firmly. I assured her that I'll be fine.

Well, I've made it this far.
I've already cycled more than 100km.
Being here now, it wasn't that far from KT..
I'm already halfway there, to Kuantan
Just about another 100km to go..
It's already night..
Hmmm...
I want to make memory.
God, let me do this.
I want to do this.
Period.

Sempat buat bet dengan seorang budak kecik yang sangat bencikan aku. Walaupun dia rendah, tapi dia pandang rendah gak kat aku. Mungkin masa tu dia sedang berdiri di atas kerusi...huh? (Huhuhu! padan muka kalah bet! nyeh nyeh~ :p)

2^ND HALF: INTO THE NIGHT

9.00pm - Teruskan perjalanan! But I stopped by at a nearest market. Aku beli apa? Haha. Lampu suluh dan pita selofan. Nak buat apa?? Err...headlight untuk basikal aku :p Aku salotep lampu suluh tu kat alang body basikal. Puan-puan di rumah, sila pastikan suis lampu suluh tidak terbalut sekali ;)

9.20pm - Teruskan perjalanan! Untuk perjalanan malam, aku mengayuh melawan arus.

Baru je aku masuk jalan besar...Eh?...hujan? Haha. Hujan renyai-renyai. The kinda rain that I love. It's soothing. I kept pedalling (^_^) As always, I looked up towards the street lights, watching the rain fall, illuminated by the lights. They sorta sparkled.

Alamak, lampu suluhku basah~ I immediately stopped by the roadside under a jejantas, pull out a plastic bag outta my bagpack and wrapped it around the torchlight. There you go~ Ok, teruskan perjalanan! lalalalalaa~

Right after I got out of Pekan Kertih...Damn...gelap giler...Oh this'll be one helluva adventure...

It didn't rain for long, only about 10-15 minutes.

Usually there are some street lamps at junctions. I switched off my torchlight then. Power saving :p But I still have 2 spare batteries in my bag. Ada la juga aku berhenti rehat 2-3 kali di Petronas, makan Tropicana :p My own sweet moment (^_^)

Cycling in the dark like that, it's pretty damn scary. Cuak gak. Cuak giler~ :p Memang zikrullah selalu di bibir :) Selalu menanti-nanti sekiranya ada lembaga putih di bibir jalan, atau di sebalik pohon-pohon besar yang bergeseran sesama mereka kerana ditiup angin, yang di antaranya juga kedengaran bunyi ranting-ranting kecil jatuh ke bumi disambut dedaun kering yang basah.

Ketika ada kenderaan lalu, lega sekejap. Ada lampu. Ada manusia lain. Selepas itu kembali semula dalam kesamaran, hanya ditemani cahaya lampu suluh yang cahayanya tak seberapa.

Bimbang juga sekiranya ada 'si lembaga putih' yang menerpa keluar secara tiba-tiba ketika kenderaan memintas. Mungkinkah aku akan hilang kawalan, termelencong ke arah lori yang sedang menerpa pantas? That wouldn't be a pretty sight~ haha

Aku selalu ingatkan diri. Apa-apa sahaja yang Allah duga aku, adalah perkara yang aku mampu hadapi. La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus'aha. Sekiranya Allah tunjukkan alam lain kepadaku, maka aku pasti sanggup melihatnya tanpa ragu-ragu. Nothing will ever happen without His permission. If He permits it, then I shall face my fate. If I die tonight, then die I am.

Namun begitu aku selamat (^_^)v

11.30pm - Selamat tiba di bandar Kemaman.

Agak sunyi. It took me a moment to realize that I was in Bandar Kemaman. Usually there are lots of cars and people, hustling and bustling in that small city. But I cycled happily anyway. Ye la, jalan besar, kereta takde, lampu banyak, terang (^_^)v

Other than my butts, the back of my neck hurt too. I've been holding onto the handle for more than 10 hours now~ The right side of my neck hurt more, perhaps the result of using the computer mouse too often. huhu. Baca manga banyak sangat~ Both legs were quite tired. My knees were pretty worn out. My left knee starting to hurt a bit. Pain heals...

12.10am - Reached Cherating. Stop by at a restaurant. Ordered a hot milo.

Tengah-tengah minum milo tu, hujan lebat! Hoho, lucky me! (^_^)v

12.30am - Hujan dah berhenti, teruskan perjalanan!

I didn't remember the road in Cherating being sooo dark and sooo looong~ Seingat aku ada banyak kedai-kedai makan! Huuu~ But I kept pedalling anyway. Lalalalalaaa~ Ada bahu jalan yang tidak rata, aku hampir hilang kawalan. Cuak~ terus check tayar. Nasib baik OK. Ada mat-mat motor passed by me and gave a friendly wave. Huhu, takut gak kalau diorang tetiba tahan aku untuk diperkotak-katikkan :p

It's a cold night, but my body kept producing heat. Somehow I felt a little warm.

1.45am - Since I won't be seeing any restaurant after this, I had another stop at Restoran Sri Baging 2 near the end of Cherating. Cun jugak... I mean, pekerja kat situ. Yang perempuan la, bukan yang ada ciri-ciri kepondanan sket tu. Huhu, ada seorang awww kerja kat situ :p But I didn't care much about them. Eat my megi goreng, drink my fresh orange and watch a boring malay drama. Rest. My neck, my left knee and my butts ached some more. About 60km more to go i guess.. Just great~ huhu :p

2.10am - Gotta finish what I've started, teruskan perjalanan!

Baru je beberapa minit, hujan turun renyai-renyai. The road forked into two at the time. There's an exit to the left, into a highway which would lead to KL. It has an exit to Kuantan in between. Another path is the road people would normally use to go to Kuantan.

Huh? Lampu suluh ni macam dah loose je. Ciss, pita pelekat hilang daya lekatan disebabkan air hujan (saja buat ayat skema). I stopped by the roadside to fix it. Wrapped it up all over again. Dekat exit tu ada banyak lampu, sangat terang. And the rain was falling beautifully at the moment. God I love the scene of myself at that time! (^_^) Aku fikir pemandu-pemandu kereta yang melepasiku mesti ingat budak gila mana ni bawak basikal pagi-pagi buta~ :p

2.25am - Teruskan perjalanan!

This is when the real thrill began!! The road of Gebeng. I didn't choose the highway coz it is waaayyy too dark and i was sure there'd be less than 10 cars would go through there at sooo early morning. If anything happened, I'd be pretty much...dead meat. But this another road? Not a good option either. Cars, lorries, trucks, with narrow roads at some places. Big trees with lots of eerily silent darkness most of the times. But I have to keep moving forward.

Bateri ada 1 bar je lagi. So I switched off my handphone. Not wearing a watch, I couldn't keep track of my time anymore. There's only one thing in my head - IIUM Kuantan. I cycled.

The road of Gebeng, and from Gebeng to Semambu. God~~ it was a damn scary road~ I'm not gonna cycle there at night ever again!

Bila kita dalam ketakutan, dalam kesusahan, Tuhan akan sentiasa di sisi. Kenapa? Kita yang cuba mendekatkan diri denganNya, atau Dia yang dengan sifat pengasih dan penyayangNya datang dekat kepada kita?
I could only cling to Him.

What scared me the most?

Aku berbasikal melawan arus, hanya dengan bantuan torchlight dan sedikit tulisan di baju yang glow in the dark. Can the passing trucks see me? Everytime they put on the high beams, it made me felt so tiny. Aku tawakal je, harap-harap tak ada yang tiba-tiba melencong ke bahu jalan, ke arahku.

Ada jalan-jalan yang sangat sempit, tiada bahu jalan yang bertar, sekadar rumput. Jambatan lagi la sempit, takde bahu jalan pun~ Ada juga jalan yang sempit, berliku-liku pulak lagi. Dah la gelap! Tiba-tiba ada lori datang lagi~ Thank God I was safe and sound.

In the dark, if I caught a glimpse of something moving on the ground...Huh?! Ular ke tu?!...Alhamdulillah, no living snakes along the way~ huhu

Along that eerily silent dark road, with big trees and bushes on both sides. The wind blows sometimes and you hear branches scratching against one another, twigs falling to the wet ground. The worst part is, you are all by yourself. No one else. No cars. No trucks. Just you, pedalling alone by yourself into the night.

Oh, but then again, God is always with you. That's how I made it (^_^)

Dekat Semambu, dan dari Semambu ke Kuantan, jalan dah sangat OK. Jalan baru. Bahu jalan pun luas bertar. Now the problem is my body. The back of my neck was already numb. The muscle strained too much that it went numb, that's my best guess. Urat kat lutut kiri macam dah nak putus je...Kaki kanan sangat lenguh...Dan bontotku...adehhh...

Pain heals...Pain heals...Chicks dig scars...Glory lasts forever...I didn't decide to do this so that I can give up now...Lutfi Lukman, you did not decide to do this so that you can give up now...

Besides, I have a bet to win ;)

And I kept pedalling with all my might. I was no longer scared of the dark, the trees, I didn't even bother if any 'lembaga putih' appeared. So be it. I ignored all the pain. Biar la lepas ni tempang sebulan pun. So be it. What time was it? I didn't give a damn. Everything in and about me only focused on reaching IIUM Kuantan.

Yang kelakarnya, ada sekali tu dah nampak lampu-lampu jalan yang banyak! (*_*) Ingatkan dah nak sampai. Lega sedikit. Kayuh punya kayuh, ceh, dia gelap balik~ Long way to go~ Teruskan perjalanan!

Nampak bangunan, ada lampu (*_*) Ingatkan UIA. Ceh, kilang apa ntah. Siap kena salak dengan anjing lagi. Terus pecut! Haha

There weren't much cars anymore at that time, only trucks passed by one after another, with a few minutes interval. They must have thought that they were seeing ghost cycling. Lepas ni ada cerita. Eh korang tau tak? Jalan baru tu berhantu! Ada hantu naik basikal!

The road seemed neverending. I kept pedalling. Ada juga jalan-jalan yang membukit sedikit. God, give me strength...I kept pedalling. Di sepanjang jalan baru tu, it's like my body moved because my mind told them to move, regardless of whether my muscles were able to keep up with the movement or not. I don't really get it too. At this time, I cycled faster than I was most of the times, and I cycled consistently too, like I didn't know how to stop. The only part of me that I could feel was my head. The rests just moved by themselves. Pain? What's that?

After 2 hours of non-stop cycling, I finally could see the true light I've been searching for all night...!

4.30am - IIUM Kuantan, on my left. Persimpangan Berlian (or was it Cengkih? Haha, lupa! :p) was only about 100 metres away.

Aku stop kejap. Switched on my hp, text my ma, my sis, zali and budak kecik yang obviously kalah bet padan muka. Then, Teruskan perjalanan!

4.40am - Right in front of IIUM Kuantan. Should I go in? Makan aiskrim pun best gak ni...Yosh! Pegi 7-Eleven baru buka sebelah Restoran Rahmat! Cycled a bit more lalalalalaaa~ (^_^)

Waahhhh...bestnya!~...Mula-mula makan aiskrim Tropicana lime+vanilla flavor. Oh, hujan turun renyai-renyai~ lovely! Dah habis tu, masuk balik, beli Nestle Bliss yoghurt drink tropical flavor. Msg2 dengan my ma sket. She was kinda proud, but at the same time told me not to do such a thing ever again. Haha. I didn't promise her :p Dah habis tu, masuk balik lagi sekali, eh, ada aiskrim Tropicana baru... Tropicana Plus, with a slice of real mango. Rm 1.80. Terus try. Perghhh...sedap giler~ Sooo mango-ishly tasted like mango!

5.30am - Head back to UIA. Jumpa Pojan yang tengah on the way nak gi amik Kak Siti (PA Biotech Dept) kat terminal. Stop kat sebelah aku, buka tingkap, pastu tanya, ni Lutfi ke?

It's almost 6.00am when I reached the main gate of UIA. Ingat nak lalu je, Pak Guard bertegur sapa plak~ huhu.

Student ke?
A'ah, student..
Dari mana?
Err...Kuala Terengganu..
Hah?? Bawak basikal??
Err..a'ah...
Kamu bawak basikal malam-malam?
Err...a'ah..
Tak gelap ke?
(Aku tunjuk lampu suluh yg kulekatkan di basikal)
Kuala Terengganu...isk, jauh tu! Kamu bertolak pukul berapa?
Lapan.
Lapan malam?
Tak, Lapan pagi, semalam.
Berapa jam tu?
Err..lebih kurang 20 jam..tapi banyak berhenti.
20 jam?? Biasa ke bawak basikal jauh camni?
Tak pernah. Ni first time. Saja cari pasal :p

Dan ntah apa lagi la yang Pak Guard tu tanya. Bagus la, concern! (^_^) Dah habis bab basikal, masuk pulak bab politik! Ye la, baru lepas pilihanraya kan.. Ada la 20 minit aku tercegat kat situ borak dengan dia. Hahaha~

WowW...one hell of an adventure, one hell of a journey, one hell of a memory. I was so out of my mind~ Haha! Stupid, Crazy, but Great!

Thank you my Ma, my Sisters, my Family, my Frens, and Zali. Oh, also budak kecik yang kalah bet padan muka~ huhu (^_^)v

Guys, make memories! (>_^)

rock climbing

PAIN HEALS.
CHICKS DIG SCARS.
GLORY LASTS FOREVER!

Keanu Reeves said that in his movie, The Replacements. One of the coolest things I've ever heard! It seems befitting with my latest adventure (^_^) Hoho, last weekend I went ROCK CLIMBING at Batu Caves! The Adventure & Recreational Club (ARC) collaborated with Science Students Society (SCIENCESS) to organize this 2-days program. Being a normal student I am, I got time~ muahaha.

We arrived with the determination to conquer!!

Briefing by the 'Otai' Abg Man. He's been climbing rocks for more than 10 years!
He taught us about the history, the equipments used, the communication etc. The hows, the dos and the don'ts!
The basic knot we need to learn was called 'double figure of 8, follow through with stopper'. Long ey?

BBQ! lalalalalaaa~


Eyarghhhhh!! Let's do this!!
What we did (for beginners) was called 'top roping'. They already anchored the ropes at certain heights for us. Different 'roads' have different height of anchors. For top roping, 2 people involves at the same time. The person who climbs is called 'climber', and the one holding the other end of the rope on the ground is called 'belayer'. Mind you, you have to climb with your own strength and skills! The ropes are only for safety reason, so that if you got off balanced, slipped or whatever, you won't fall down to the ground and die wastefully :p This is a very safe sport. All the equipments were tested and certified~


Dedicated rock climbers :p

Everybody was looking up at the climbers~

Hoho, that's me conquering my first road!

Reached the anchor, Peace!

Resting~

Halfway on my 2nd Road, a lil tougher this time~ I got off balance once

Yeah! Reached the anchor! No mountain is too high~ hehe

Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever!
My 3rd road. A lot tougher than the previous two, damn tough for me - a beginner! Plus, having climbed two roads already, I was quite worn out even before I started climbing, my hands were a bit shaky. About 2-3 metres from the top, I got off balance 5-6 times, hanging only by the rope. I almost gave up. Zero energy. Cuts and scratches on my hands and feet. I saw a lil blood on the stone I stepped on. I recalled the Goo Goo Dolls' Iris - "Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive". If I had given up, I would be regretting it now for sure. It's just isn't me to end up that way. So I gathered every ounce of my God-knows-from-where last strength and force myself to the top! (*Remember, the top here means the anchor) Thank you my belayer, Don, for being patient and supportive! ;)

That's Don at the very left, followed by Abg Man, our instructor. The rests are unknown fellow climbers :p

The ROCK CLIMBERS.
We ROCK!!

After that, muscle pain all over my body for a couple of days!~ Cuts on my hands, arms and feet. helped a bit in adding more pain :p Every movement hurts. I could barely lift my arms. I even had a hard time scrubbing my body over shower :p But hey, remember what I said? Huhu. Glory lasts forever!~ (^_^)v

Death

For those who are a bit sensitive, or easily get scared, I warn you, don't read this. Especially Ann, Do not read.

Yes, it is sensitive to some people. Why do people avoid thinking about it? It may happen a hundred years later. It may happen tomorrow. It can even be this second right now while you are reading this line. What is it? It's death. Just so you know, death is inevitable. Oh, you already knew? :p Yepyep, sooner or later, we all gonna die. Now don't say that I'm telling you lies, coz that is one solid fact you can't deny.

Allah saved me so many times. My friends helped me a lot. Sometimes i thought it's weird for me to still be able to breathe this beautiful life. But most of the times, God knows how grateful I am. I have my loved ones, my family and my friends. I hold a few dearly in my heart, wishing that I could meet one of them again when I'm ready :)

When I was in primary school, I played a lot with a chinese friend of mine. One time, we went playing on a small hill. All the trees had been cleared up for construction. And there was this wall of rocks, or should I say, a cliff? (My vocab sucks, forgive me~) It was quite high, and I was just a little boy back then.

"Yun Ming, let's climb to the top!" I said to my friend. Speaking in chinese, of course.

Perhaps he's smarter than me, he refused :p So, I climbed it myself, confidently~ huhu. It was exciting!...at first lah~ after that...haha..just when I'm about to reach the top, I could not find any other rock that I could grab on. I couldn't go further up. I looked down...

Crap, was it this high before?! If I fall down, it's either dead or a few broken bones for sure.. Wait, where's Yun ming? He's not down there! Now where the hell did he go when I need him?! Oh, my mum's gonna be so pissed off if anything happen to me...Hmm...would she be sad if I die right here today? I might be in the newspaper tomorrow..."a boy fall down from a cliff while playing with his friend"...hmm...They might interview Yun Ming...and perhaps my mother too...I could imagine her crying...

I still couldn't move an inch. God, I was scared, I really was. The warm sweat started to feel cold. My palms was getting sweaty too. I couldn't hold much longer. God, please help me. Please help me, God. Then suddenly, I saw a hand! I looked up. Yun Ming! I've never been so glad to see him :p He grabbed my hand and pulled me up to safe. Haha, actually he took another totally 100% safe path to go up there, unlike stupid little lutfi.

Throughout nearly 23 years of my life, I had faced several dangerous situation. Hoho. The world is such a dangerous place. So many incidents with my bicycle. Motorcycle accident, once. Haha, that one was scary. A little faster then i might get drug under a truck. There were two incidents in which another inch might have caused me to go blind. Oh, the bus accident was a wonderful experience :) Just several weeks ago I was sooo close to get struck by lightning that I could hear the sound of electrical charges ripping the air at my right ear. A friend of mine walking on my left side already "jatuh terduduk", flabbergasted, shocked by what he just saw. Nevertheless, everytime I managed to get through those situations, it made me feel more alive. It made me remember Him. I like to do crazy stuffs too. I'm not afraid of a few cuts and bruises. But don't worry, I would never do anything reckless. Never ever. I do take risks, but nothing more than I can take ;)

I was lucky for countless times. Alhamdulillah. I do think about death sometimes, especially when I was in a life-threatening situation, and it actually made feel calm. Nauzubillah, I don't want anything bad that would end my beautiful life. But when my time really comes, be it 100 years later, be it tomorrow, be it now, I hope I can accept my fate. I hope I won't have any regret. I hope I won't regret on things that I haven't accomplished. What I hope the most is for my friends and families, for them to keep on living their beautiful lives. I hope they won't have any regrets or grudges on me. Like how they keep me in their hearts, let the unspoken words buried in their hearts too. Coz what done is done. what gone is gone. There'll be no turning back of time.

-Dying is the hardest part of living- Lutfi, November 5th, 2007

Candak Sutong

Saya pergi mencandat sotong 2 hari lepas. Itu kali ke-4 saya ke laut mencandat sotong. Kami bertolak pukul 6.30. Sewa bot, RM500, complete dgn jaket keselamatan dan alat2 mencandat. Kali ni ombak sangat kuat, tak macam yang sebelum2 ni, air tenang je. Saya pulak nak try TAK makan ubat mabuk laut kali ni. Haha. Akibatnya, muntah 2 kali. Tapi dapat jugak la sotong 2-3 ekor. Yang sedihnya, brader bot tu cakap, lepas muntah baik baring dulu. Saya pun baring la, tido kejap. Ingat kul 12 camtu nak bangun mula mencandat semula. Tapi bangun2, enjin bot dah start dah, masa tu kul 12 lebih. Rupa-rupanya kitorang terpaksa balik awal sebab nampak macam nak ribut. Brader bot tu pun dah cuak dah. Hmm, biasanya lepas subuh baru bertolak balik. Kalau tak mesti dapat berpuluh kilo sotong. Tapi kitorang dapat la jugak dekat 5 kilo sotong. Keesokannya, kitorang bakar! wahaha. best2 nyum2!! Cicah cili sos!

Here's some tips for those interested in squid fishing:

1. Musim mencandat biasanya around march-september. Tapi sebaik-baiknya ialah dlm bulan april - jun.
2. Sebaik-baiknya pergi sewaktu bulan cerah. Sotong suka cahaya.
3. Untuk yang rasa dia akan mabuk laut, bolehlah beli ubat mabuk laut di mana2 farmasi. Makan 1-2 jam SEBELUM naik bot. Jangan beli ubat mabuk darat plak tau! Check betul2.
4. Ada juga yg cakap untuk elakkan mabuk, minum air bikarbonat byk2 sebelum naik bot, utk buang angin dlm perut. (tapi tak tau la berkesan ke tak)
5. Elakkan makan selepas zohor, nanti lebih cenderung untuk muntah. Have ur lunch during lunch hour, k.
6. Mencandat sangat mudah, tak perlu umpan hidup pun. Budak kecik pun boleh buat. Tapi kena faham konsep. Candat tu luminescent, dengan kata lain, glow in the dark. Sebab sotong suka cahaya. So, setiap kali sebelum buang candat tu ke laut, pastikan ianya sudah mendapat cahaya mencukupi. Setiap bot candat dilengkapi dengan lampu spotlight, sangat terang, jgn bimbang. Atau sekiranya anda rasa ianya tidak mencukupi, bolehlah bawa torchlight sendiri. hoho.
7. Akhir sekali, ingat, mencari rezeki di laut bukanlah mudah. Sebenarnya bergantung kepada rezeki masing2 juga. Ada yg dapat byk, ada yg dpt sikit. Berdoalah moga dimurahkan rezeki. Jangan malu bertanya juga ya.

Selamat mencandat!