Macam tak percaya?!

My Main Stream is up on ranking at Malaysian Top Blogs!!.. Muahahaa... Nombor 83 already. Pencapaian yang bagus "bangat". Bravo!! Not sure whether it will remain there or not.. Depending on number of unique hits and votes, will it then maintain its ranks (or even improve?). Thanks for those who voted for this blog.. Keep voting guys! Cheers all..

p/s: Will be out of town in few minutes time. Small possibilities of updates until next week. Off to Sheffield today, Notthingham tomorrow then finally Amsterdam the day after. Keep tracking me on the Tag Board. Till then, adios amigos.

Another Tsunami?

Another quake hit Malaysia today, as a result from another earth quake with epicenter at Northern Sumatra (nearby Medan). At about midnight Monday 28^th March, history is about to be repeated. People became paranoid of any signs of quakes, big issue now isn’t it, having to know what the 26^th December catastrophe can cost you.. Your lives and your love ones. It became big issue as I am writing this, all of Kuala Lumpur and other places in Malaysia made it to the morning news. We are lucky enough that Malaysia were only exposed to the merely aftermath of the 8.2 (initial reading) richter scale. But, look at this picture, it hit front page of CNN! (Humang ai.. glamer pakcik makcik ni seluruh dunia..) Now, don't over exaggerate the rumours. Make sure that you get the right source of info. I think CNN has got it to the news first rather than BBC. AFP should have already put it up on their headlines. But free info for everyone, keep this webpage, the Pacific Tsunami Center since they claimed their instruments to detect and measure is very good (reliable and sensitive) that they are the first point to know when Acheh's tsunami hit. I believe this info is most reliable of all. Even other media, they didn’t even got the numbers right e.g. number of casualties, magnitude on richter scale. Try to go here.

CNN front page today!

Only yesterday my heart felt deeply saddened with the tragedy from Acheh's Tsunami, (after watching Tsunami Anatomy of a Disaster by BBC). It outlined about the stories behind tsunamis survivor. However, deep inside their thoughts I can sense the trauma can never be heal, can never receed in due time. Many things were revealed from that documentary, most of it I should have known. Though having to try to think how would the feeling be when lost and loneliness (what if I am one of those victims..) hit us all at the same time, personally I don't think I can bare it. Many times, we are reminded that we are being tested in God's will. (May Allah bless those souls lost in the tragedy). Let us make it as a reminder of the doings in our lives. Some people (source from MERCY Malaysia) made remarks when they went to Acheh for humanitarian aid they were traumatised. Pregnant ladies with their babies out from their womb, some saw bodies got stuck on top of trees, some were thinking about those prisoners got trapped in their cells, can never do nothing.. AJAL., once it approaches you, you can never deceive it (rejecting the theory from Final Destination the movie).. compilation of experience I that I know.

AND Today. when it happened again, everyone got really scared. Yes, people learned from mistakes. Even the Pacific Tsunami Center in Hawaii, they were the first people that have got the first hint on Boxing Day Tsunami, it just happened too fast, without realizing its magnitude. Yes, they admit that they shot the first buletin online saying that there is an earth quake with epicenter in Indian Ocean, not in Pacific.. possible DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI BUT NO THREAT TO PACIFIC AREAS. Minutes then hours passed had they realized that it should not be ignored. Yes, other places not in Pacific is not within their areas of responsibility but only if the people of Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Somalia been warn at least a few minutes (20 minutes at least) they could have flight for safety. Imagine how many thousands of life can be saved. But then, I believe those guys have felt it more deeply than I think they are. They keep asking “have we done enough?” Yes, they did try to warn the authorities. God is great, at that very crucial moment, they weren’t able to think the best link to call the right contacts for warning. By the time they did, its already too late. Yes, they felt the guilt, perhaps its not them to blame.

All in all, until now, there isn't any signs of big devastating destructive tsunami at any other places, or perhaps there is that we didn't know? Let us pray that this is just IT. Pray that you are driven away from any of those misfortunes and don't forget to pray for your loved ones. Put your head down to Allah, these are signs for us to be prepared at all times (I warn myself the same, realizing that own Iman is thinning out).

Change to British Summer Time

Please be acknowledge that the British Summer Time commenced today, Easter Sunday (27th of March) where the clocks (time to be "noun" precise) goes forward 1 hour. Please incorporate the new time system (payah la nak ubah-ubah setiap 6 bulan ni) as they may affect your daily arrangements. Remember, not setting the clock to the right time may:

• Get you sacked for getting late to work
• Get bad remarks from your lecturer when you are late to Monday morning (or any other day) class. Professors just don't accept missing out the time when BST changed for excuse.
  
• Make you miss your public transport that follows the BST starting today (Ida & Arie terlepas bas tak tadi?)
• Make you miss you favourite TV show, when it is aired one hour earlier than yesterday (Chikong, did you managed to catch The O.C?)
  
• Make you miss out on the opening times and most importantly the closing times of the supermarket, shopping complexes (tolong tutup kedai dude')

On top of that, enjoy Easter Holiday!

Thanks Didie.. Someone somewhere.. somehow...

For elaborating my writings.. thats exactly what I meant.. Its not only for those special relationships, but also to friends, families, and long lost friends perhaps.. have a read on Didie's Thots.

Thoughts of the best things in life to happen....

For all you bloggers.. enjoy this early spring flower that I found in Liverpool.

The football side of me.. is there any?

The pride of Manchester


Manchester, the new breed.. Man City FC


You'll never walk alone.. from LFC


Everton .. from a distance

These are the maniacs I have been talking about.

Sorry lah Che Pah and Laily, gue udah publish ini foto dulu.. Kalian bukan masih lagi di stadium tour Newcastle & Leeds? Ada jumpa A**sm*n*ok?..Glad that your visit here was very enjoyable and memorable ones.. Iyolah, dapek jumpo pemain idaman kalbu, apo tak eh.. Dongan den ni haa kono heret skali aahh poie Liverpool. Den ingatkan dari Jomapoh ko Menchestee ajo.. rupo ee... jauh laie ekau poie..

Are you a Red Devil?

For all you Red Devils out there


For all you Smithy's maniacs


Another shot by Smithy's maniac


Saha a.k.a Sahak.. ingatkan Melayu tadi.

Someone somewhere somehow

I told a friend (someone, you know who you are), that there will always be someone somewhere somehow been thinking about you at that very moment. How far is it from the truth? Was proven to me today.. that it is true.

The Sauber Team in da house...

Giler jelesssssssssssssssssssssssssss... dengan bebudak UTP huauauauahahahaha.. nangis nangis.. Kenape tak buat masa aku masih budak UTP.... huahuahua..

Oh well, anyway, I am not jeleous THAT much. Since, I've already met them: up close and personal.. tak percaya?? Get them autograph from Felipe and Nick Heidfeld (ultimate interest was with Kimi Raikonnen, then) .. So, adik2 UTP ni.. akak ni tak hairanlah lagi. But deep inside, feel that I am the one whom suppose to be there. Have always wanted them drivers to have some events at/with UTP during F1 Season 2003 .. Should Tan Sri Hassan have thought about this earlier, would make me the biggest Sauber Fan ever..

check it out at

http://www.sauber-petronas.com/en/presse/index.php?op=detail&archive=0&id=57

Karnival Malaysia Manchester

Highly spirited, overwhelming patriotism feeling... Proud to be Malaysian.

In a nutshell, I've had loads of fun especially singing with the choir (Feveret Jalur Gemilang) and the Gerai Nasi Lemak Perantau was not bad at all. We closed shop quite early at about 2.30 pm because there's no more food left to sell. Last but not least, getting acquinted with Cik Nolee Ashilin, million thanks for your support.

Our TPM from my lense.. during Hi-tea cum dinner at Barnes Walis UMIST


One corporate figure I idolized.. anda kenal?

(Feel honoured having to meet him, be introduced and have a little chat with him.)

Check out gambo Peja, Najib and Amir KUSMA at
http://foto.bernama.com/foto/new/viewphoto.asp?autonum=4292&page=8
News from Utusan, Berita Harian and the Star are all about the same as the one with Bernama.

Good future reference..

Addicted to these...

Does the need of God relevent in the 21st century?

To comment and to define the topic I just put above is way out of my specialty of study. I am not in a position to represent what the whole community to answer it precisely. To another extend, I do own an opinion about it. It is the faith I believe in that holds me to where I am now. It is the knowledge I gained from my previous education that had been put quite a good stand in my mind, and continuing that, I am ever hunger of the knowledge of this complex world, any sort of knowledge. Not that I am a person of alim ulamak, but just enough for me to jot down my thoughts.

Only Allah knows why I am writing this. There is 2 reasons to be honest (the fact that I am a very reserved person, I am not sure whether I should post this in my blog, but if I do, I really meant what I said).

The first is to immediately write down my own views of the multi faith debate that I attended just now. This debate (or so call a debate) had brought 3 faiths to together give opinions and views on the title as I have written above (or something similar to that).

In view of the current degree of relevance of God in the 21st century it must first be defined further in terms of technicality, for example what do we really focus on in the 21st century. Silat Cekak Hanafi have hold a seminar to discuss on challenges to be faced in the 21st century, now the main point here is the figure "21st century".. crudely, my point of view is that, we really cannot judge anything right now, as we have only just entered the 21st century. We have another whole century (995 years to be precise) more to go. We cannot even predict what and how the future is going to be. That's where we rely on history to teach us how to predict the future. But then again, if we don't address our concern now, the issues that may arise in the future NOW... we may have not be able to prevent the unfortunate events, have the space of improvement by learning from mistakes.

Relevance of God in the 21st Century... regardless of how we defined it... for me God is relevant AT ALL TIMES... of whatever the century, whatever period of political occupation it had, whatever era of technological advancement there would have been achieved in the future AND be it in the extreme of situations... of peace and war.

Being at the multifaith debate, opened up new horizon for me, to think more focused, to define more clearly why I am here to where I am now today. The title have only created a platform for these experts in religion (there were representatives from Judaism, Muslim and Christianity in the panel also, one guy whom is not holding to any side of the religion but is studying religion) to give the insight view of how their religion perceive in this post-modern day era, I mean the 21st century. I appreciate all the new knowledge that I gained, I now understood more the perception for Christians and Jewish faith and their concerns in the 21st century. Throughout the discussion and Q&A session, I focused more on the differences that arises between these faith with mine. The panels are all very motivated in joining their views together, on top of holding their religion's stand in front of them. Of course those attended were seeking information of what religion is to give to them , to benefit them, to offer them. I personally think that all the views I have with my own faith were not stirred at all, in fact it was being hold up high by the Ustaz (a well known Imam in Manchester). I accepted other views from other faiths as differences that I should give tolerance to, as we are living in the same community. I want to live together in the community and perhaps serve the community(subject to whether I'll be staying long in the UK or not). Therefore, we would be obliged to get the same form of tolerance from others as well.

In the bigger picture to where Islam is being perceived by the world now, is a point where there are so much more to lay out and analyse the reasons why are these perceptions surfaced. Everyone would agree with me if I say, recent events have lead to misperception on Muslim and the whole of Islamic structure. It made me realised that there are other people whom is aware why I am looking a bit different from them with the head scarf covering the head.

I can brag on and on about this, but I am not a preacher.

Want to know the second reason?? It is really hard to describe. Ever had an occasion when you have intentions of doing something out of the ordinary when suddenly another occasion turned up that diverted you from doing the first intention? It's something like that, it happened to me. Iwas at a point junction on making decision which is better for me. Clearly, my attendance to a "knowledge event" (majlis ilmu) is much better on top of all other things regardless of its intentions. It WAS a sign (a clear cut sign) for me. My silat instructor conveyed a piece of knowledge (ilmu) when he commented on this kind of scenario. This event (the term is "Al-Maunah" in arabic.. not relating to the extremist group in Malaysia) is an event where you are about to do something, but other things occurred, and you somehow followed the second event. Then, only you realised why the first event was not meant for you to follow. (Quoted from Abang Nizar jurulatih Silat Cekak Hanafi). It happened again tonight..

I have a friend....

I have a friend, he is from Greece. Real nice guy, friendly and funny too. It was this semester that I get to know him more. We are doing 3 groupwork together. So, that's how I started to be friendly with him (as many of you may take me as very unfriendly, arrogant and sombong as first impression, that's quite true ^wink^).

I learned many things from him. One of which interest me most... His name.. He's got a nice name "Ioannis Tompras" which I think sounds 'classy' to my ear, well me not used to foreign names, I think of it that way. Pronounce it as the famous musician, "Yani". He told me it was actually his grandfather's name. I was impressed, such an honour to hold somebody's name. It was funny when he said he didn't like the name and didn't have the choice of choosing a name for himself, a unique one just for him. He revealed to me that it was actually a tradition in Greece. The tradition goes for the first son in the family, it shall bear the name of the grandfather (father's father). If followed continuously, not breaking the tradition, the name will be retained in the family honouring them, the family members. Same goes to the first daughter which will follow the grandmother's name (mother's mother).

I have another friend... whom I take as my best friend in class.. She's a Mexican, her name's Adriana Reyes Cordoba. She's the one given me to try her Tajin Chili to be eaten with clementines (buah oren.. sedap ooo...). We see now how Mexican culture does have similarities of putting their surnames names as Greeks does. From Adriana name, Reyes Cordoba are from her mother and father's surname. Reyes is father's and Cordoba is mother's. Where Reyes means "king", Cordoba, for my ears sounded very nice and very firm which brings out the strength in the names. Both names retained within the family. When she got married, she will combine her surname with her husband's for naming their children where she will only carry her father's surname to be pass on to the next generation.

You see how I picture it... I remember there was one time I learned about genetic code during A-Level Biology... The genetic code only comprises of X (female) and Y(male). There are a lot of different combinations that these code can make because it will not exist as a single gene, it will occur in pairs. I reflect this phenomena as such coupling up the surnames such as Adriana's. Yeah, in probability and statistics as well.. we learned about many different combinations of things in life. Will there be a probability of accurances of the same surname again? Incredibly VAST information to be spilled out to study. A little bit too much to do compared to solving a jigsaw puzzle.

In these two cases, I see it as a reflection on how affectionate the relationship is between family members and members of the extended family. Ioannis said to me, everywhere he goes, people will know him, his name, his father.. they are well known.. such a friendly atmosphere he should have back there in Greece. I like to think that everywhere I go, my neighbour recognize me. It showed how close the community to each other where they can all depend on each other. It's really the kind of culture that I would love to live in. We have that back in Malaysia, oh yes we do. But, has it gone with time? That nobody ever cares about anyone anymore..

Silat dijulang, Budaya terbilang

Semenjak beberapa menjak, sanubari persilatan terbuku jauh didalam jiwa... Penulisan sebegini mengingatkan kembali semangat dan perjuangan yang terpahat didalam minda..

Diambil dari sidang silat, dengan pelbagai komen membangun yang jelas arah tujuannya (Authored by Salman).. Seiring dengan kata-kata Saudara Amrahi Buang "Pendekatan kita adalah mudah, kita berjuang bukan kerana dipaksa oleh sesiapa. Kita bergerak sehati, sejiwa, seiya, sekata,segerak dan searah untuk memenuhi visi perjuangan kita."

Tajuk : Silat dijulang, Budaya terbilang
Pengguna : Salman
Tarikh : 2005-02-25 12:28:27

Assalamualaikum

Kesungguhan kita menyambut ulangtahun ke 40 kelahiran semula SC bukan lagi cerita mainan. Tidak cukup dengan pengisian program sepanjang tahun, kita tampil mengemukakan tema perayaan yang dinamis. Ramai yang maklum dengan maksud tema tersebut. Sungguhpun demikian, saya ingin memberikan sedikit pandangan untuk difikirkan bersama.

SC pada zahirnya, hendaklah mahir pada anggotanya. Silat adalah gerak. Gerak itu hidup. Jelasnya apabila kita membicarakan persilatan secara khusus, tidak mungkin kita dapat lari dari gambaran kehidupan. Untuk hidup kita perlu kepada perubahan agar diri dan persekitaran turut berubah. Silat adalah warisan yang perlu dipertahankan. Biar pernah wujud anasir hitam yang merobek kemurniannya, masih ada lagi sinar yang mampu mengangkatnya kembali ke tempat asalnya. Ada pendapat yang mengatakan asal silat bermula dari makam yang mulia iaitu dari dada para ilmuan dan cendikiawan. Ilmu diperturun dengan penuh tradisi dan tatasusila agar penerima dapat meneruskan turunan ilmu tanpa henti. Andai pendapat ini benar pastinya silat ini pernah bertapak kukuh pada satu kedudukan yang amat tinggi. Jika ini sememangnya berlaku, saya amat yakin silat pada satu ketika dahulu merupakan nadi yang menggerakkan kehidupan satu tamadun yang hebat.

Perkataan budaya terhasil dari cantuman budi dan daya yang membawa maksud usaha bersungguh-sungguh untuk memelihara siasah terpuji. (berdasarkan pemahaman yang diterima melalui SC) Usaha yang berterusan akhirnya membuahkan kebiasaan yang diterima oleh keseluruhan masyarakat. Di awal perkembangan tamadun silam, ukhuwah dan ikatan persaudaraan yang kuat telah membentuk kelompok masyarakat setempat yang hebat. Mereka amat berbangga dengan kampung halaman. Hatta atas rasa bangga dengan kampunglah maka nama-nama agung seperti Syeikh Idris Al-Marbawi, Syeikh Daud Al-Fatani (sekadar beberapa nama) merakamkan tempat asal usul mereka dihujung nama. Apa yang cuba digambarkan ialah kemasyhuran nama, asalnya bermula dengan satu budaya ilmu yang bersemi dari tempat kelahiran. Demikian diantara usaha yang dimainkan oleh para ilmuan terdahulu. Tidak salah jika langkah tersebut disusuli. Cuma kontek perlaksanaan harus lebih kontemporari.

Saya berpendapat, memartabatkan silat bukan sekadar mempopularkan gerak seninya yang hebat. Apa yang lebih diutamakan ialah sejauhmana kefahaman dan falsafah yang dibawa dapat dikembangkan sehingga membentuk kefahaman sejagat. Hampir segenap cabang ilmiah dan seni gerak SC telah dan sedang saya terokai. Pastinya, belum lagi ditemui salahnya faham yang dibawa. Telah ramai sahabat seperjuangan Ustaz dalam penyebaran wadah persilatan ditemui. Tiada barang seorang yang mempamirkan fahaman yang jauh bercanggah dengan didikan yang disemai. Inilah kelebihan kita. Maaf. Saya berbicara dalam kontek pengalaman bersama ahli-ahli SC. Sehubungan itu, kekuatan yang sedia terbentuk, sudah cukup mantap untuk kita ketengahkan kemurnian amalan dan kefahaman yang dibawa, untuk tatapan dan penerimaan masyarakat. Cuma perkara yang dinyatakan bukan kerja mudah. Budaya perlukan penerimaan sejagat yang sebati dengan kehidupan seharian. Sedangkan kehidupan seharian dilingkari dengan ketamadunan barat.

Pendidikan menurut SC mendasari method penyampaian dan kefahaman yang bermula seawal berdiri lurus. Dilihat dari segi silibus, pendidikan formal berakhir dengan penerimaan buah terakhir. Selebihnya adalah kemahiran yang bertujuan membentuk kebiasaan. Tanpa ada kemahiran, boleh dikatakan agak payah untuk kita membentuk budaya terbilang melalui persilatan. Ini adalah kerana kefahaman dan kemahiran perlu dipandu, dihurai, dirumus dan ditahkidkan oleh Guru. Andai ini kurang sempurna, impian mungkin berakhir ditapak yang sama. Guru adalah nadi yang menggerakkan minat. Pada Gurulah tersembunyi segala khazanah yang bakal merungkai kekusutan yang menghalang pembentukan sahsiah. Pada Guru jugalah terbentang segala huraian falsafah yang menjadi mangkin pembentukan peribadi. Lantaran itu, dalam usaha untuk menjulang silat ini, jangan sekali-kali kita membelakangi Guru.

Kebangkitan SC sebagai fenomena bukan lagi khayalan. Falsafah Silat kini sebenarnya telah berlegar diminda para ahli yang bertaburan di segenap lapangan. Bahkan secara tidak sedar, masyarakat yang berada disekeliling mereka turut dibawa untuk menerima kefahaman dan sahsiah yang ditunjukkan. Apa yang jelas selama 40 tahun SC hidup dipersada budaya kita, masyarakat sebenarnya telah jatuh hati dengan kehebatan para pendokong yang memiliki cara fikir dan tindak yang mendahului mereka. Hakikat ini mereka maklum. Cuma mereka masih tercari-cari wasilah sesuai untuk dipraktikkan. Mereka perlukan contoh. Nah ini tanggungjawab kita. Mahirkan seni kaki dan tangan. Mantapkan seni gerak kita. Perhalusi kefahaman diri. Pamerkan kemurnian peribadi. Kitalah sebenarnya warisan yang perlu mendahului masa. Saya yakin bahkan ramai lagi yang turut yakin, inilah silat akhir zaman.

SALMAN

maybe some of us recognize this man?

Mangkuk cantik,madu dan sehelai rambut

Pada suatu hari Rasulullah s.a.w. bersama-sama Saidina Abu Bakar, Saidina Umar dan Saidina Uthman pergi menziarahi Saidina Ali di rumahnya. Kedatangan mereka bertiga disambut dengan senang hati oleh Saidina Ali dan isterinya Saidatina Fatimah r.a.

Bagi memuliakan tetamu, Saidatina Fatimah r.a. menghidangkan madu kepada ayahandanya serta kawan-kawan karibnya. Madu itu diletakkan dalam sebuah mangkuk yang amat cantik. Semasa membawa mangkuk berisi madu itu kepada mereka, tiba-tiba sehelai rambut jatuh ke dalam mangkuk tersebut. Semua yang ada hanya memerhatikan keadaan tersebut.

Tiba-tiba Rasulullah s.a.w. meminta semua sahabat yang hadir untuk membuat perbandingan terhadap tiga benda tersebut iaitu mangkuk cantik, madu dan sehelai rambut. Maka para sahabat yang ada memberikan pandangan masing-masing.

Saidina Abu Bakar r.a. berkata : "Iman itu lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik ini, orang yang beriman itu lebih manis daripada madu dan mempertahankan iman itu lebih susah daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Saidina Umar r.a. berkata : "Kerajaan itu lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik ini, seorang raja itu lebih manis daripada madu dan memerintah dengan adil itu lebih susah daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Saidina Uthman r.a. pula berkata : "Ilmu itu lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik, orang yang menuntut ilmu itu lebih manis daripada madu dan orang yang beramal dengan ilmu yang dimiliki itu lebih sulit daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Saidina Ali r.a. pula berkata : "Tetamu itu lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik, menjamu tetamu itu lebih manis daripada madu dan membuat tetamu rasa gembira sehingga pulang ke rumahnya lebih sukar daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Saidatina Fatimah r.a. pula mengatakan : "Seorang wanita itu lebih cantik daripada sebuah mangkuk yang cantik, wanita yang menutup auratnya itu lebih manis daripada madu dan mendapatkan seorang wanita yang tidak pernah dilihat orang lain kecuali muhrimnya lebih susah daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Rasulullah s.a.w. pula mengatakan : "Seorang yang mendapat taufik untuk beramal adalah lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik, beramal dengan amalan yang baik itu lebih manis daripada madu dan berbuat amal dengan ikhlas adalah lebih sulit daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Malaikat Jibrail a.s. pula berkata : "Menegakkan panji-panji agama itu lebih cantik daripada sebuah mangkuk yang cantik, menyerahkan diri, harta dan waktu untuk usaha-usaha agama lebih manis daripada madu dan mempertahankan usaha agama sampai akhir hayat lebih sulit daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Allah SWT kemudian berfirman : "Syurga-Ku lebih cantik daripada mangkuk yang cantik itu, nikmat syurga-Ku itu lebih manis daripada madu dan jalan menuju syurga-Ku adalah lebih sukar daripada meniti sehelai rambut."

Renunglah pendapat-pendapat para sahabat besar itu tentang mangkuk cantik, madu dan sehelai rambut. Pasti terdapat banyak pengajaran sebagai pedoman kita menjalani kehidupan di dunia ini.

(Thanks Moon for this feed that you forwarded to me)

Harry Potter Conquest

Like a dream come true, well almost. Hajat semenjak dari Malaysia, mesti pergi tempat-tempat lokasi filem Harry Potter. Bak kata Ally Iskandar dan jurualih bahasa ASTRO, terasa begitu “teruja” sekali semasa merangka perjalanan ke London kali ini.

Seperti ala-ala siri Jejak Rasul, kami memulakan perjalanan masing-masing secara berasingan dari tempat kami bermastautin sementara di UK. Now, we can call ourselves, Penjejak Badai.. eh.. silap.. Penjejak Harry Potter. Dalam bahse omputehnye “Harry Potter Conquest”.

Go through the brick walls to get to platform 9 3/4. Just make it casual, make it a little bit of a run if you are nervous.

The Conquest starts on the morning of Saturday the 19^th Feb after we make rounds through the Porto Bello Market (not in picture). From here, we took the tube and headed towards King’s Cross St Pancras Station, for the most obvious reason. This is the place where Harry and his fellow friends boarded the train Hogwarts Express that will take them to a journey (nobody knows where exactly Hogwarts is). Where else can we find Platform 9 ¾. ..imitating like in the movie, but looked pretty much a fake signboard and the figure of half trolley being attached to the wall have already excited us. Well.. not only us, there are a number of other visitors that only just realized about this newly formed (fake) Platform. Nevertheless, we got excited and took more pictures.

Look at the time, the Hogwarts Express must have already left.


Hang on to your ticket Harry, its very important. But Hagrid, there must be a mistake, it says platform 9 3/4. There's no such thing, is there?


Arie melaporkan dari Kings Cross: It was reported that this is the location where the muggle sightings of a flying car was believed to be seen.

Then, armed with a book of London’s map and knowledge that the Gringgot’s Wizarding bank is actually the Australian House and that Leaky Couldron was shoot on Charing Cross street, we headed towards Charing Cross tube station taking one of the tube line (I think the brown line since the black line is not operating that day).

To add more fun, we stopped by Trafalgar Square, which was just outside of the tube station, before heading to our original destination. Using the map, and a few ‘we-got-lost’ gestures, a Londoner stopped by, whom are kind enough to show us the way to the place we wanted to go. I didn’t know Londoners are friendly, all I hear was they are quite posh.. and arrogant at some time.. but all this perception was proven wrong just by a friendly gesture from this nice lady whom is waiting to cross the road.

So, when she showed us that Australia House is just down the road on Strand, we knew we were on the right track. I think he have passed by London’s red light district, bars and pubs are all around.. that’s when I think I saw a signboard of SOHO somewhere..

There's no place safer than Gringgot's the Wizard Bank.

Finally, after some 15 minutes walking, we reached the corner connecting two streets. There stood the Australian house. A magnificent building situated at the corner of the street Aldwich and Strand, it stood arrogantly proud bearing the Aussie’s flag.. Real nice architecture.. from the Victorian days perhaps?

After taking our own sweet time having our pictures taken (good thing there’s 3 of us).. we then move onto Aldwich road, just to see what are there to be discovered. To our delight, we came across LSE, King’s College, all those too many theatre houses, and Drury Lane (Theatre Land), as Masyoo kept saying “that’s where the Muffin Man lives”.. Betul kot Muffin Man tinggal situ..???...

In search for Diagon Alley and Leaky Couldron, we found this.

We traced back the steps towards Charing Cross with hope to find Leaky Couldron and Diagon Alley along Aldwich, and Strand Fleet. The map is quite useful, we use a short cut to get to Charing Cross. However, we didn’t exactly know the location of the filming location. With only our imagination and vague memory of the movie, we surveyed the shops and alleys.. those looked old and ugly was Masyoo’s target of the road infront of Leaky Couldron and possible Knockturn Alley location. After a short distance of walking, we encountered a whole lot of people queuing to buy tickets for theatre play or perhaps the movie tickets. That’s when we realized, we are already in Leicester Square. Have we missed it? Or it may be well ahead at the other end of this road? We haven’t gone further up because some of us need to have a call for nature. However, we do enjoyed the vibrant environment on Leicester Square… erm..it will be a good idea to come here during the Premiere of Harry Potter GOF. If anyone wants to invite me,I will surely be up to it.

Later on, we continued to see other highlights of London, the Buckingham Palace to see the Queen.. to see where the Queen lives. Couldn't stand it anymore to be in open air, it was freezing in London, it snowed (akhirnya seleji turun juga buat Masyoo dan Arie..)! Temperature was reported to be -3 C... and all I have on was this lousy bubble jacket, BEKU!

And.. finally the least we found was this witch in the middle of muggle packed town near Covent Garden. She must be really old, look at her hair colour.

Masyoo got really excited because she was standing on the location where the Knight Bus almost collide with another 2 double deckers in HP POA. Night scene, look at those light trails. Splendid!

After coming back to the hotel and take some time off to catch our breath and pray and had packs of Maggie mee, we continued our plan to go to London Bridge. Buying a day travel card have got its advantage. You can go anywhere on the tube and on all the buses at anytime you want, provided its before 12 midnight the day you baught the ticket.

How I get tricked from the day I was born to think that "London Bridge is falling down".. the bridge that is falling down is not London Bridge, it is named Tower Bridge.. London Bridge was just a plain bridge as in the picture of Masyoo above.. Nevertheless we were as excited as ever. Take pictures at all angles, never miss any part of it..

To Masyoo and Arie, had great fun with you guys... jom le kita plan Conquest ll and lll pulak..

Hajat kesampaian

Does anyone knows what this is? Just a piece of old signboard that I found in Kings Cross Train Station...one of my dreams which came true.

Kyoto Protocol have finally come into effective..

Yup, thats the news I heard today.. with me having to listen to lectures on Environmental Management and Legislation (I thought I am done with it on my final year in UTP) this semester, boy am I feeling joyous for this historical moment (poyo je...)
Anyway, I should know what this fuss about Kyoto Protocol all about. It's a name for an agreement being drafted under the UNFCCC for years (since 1990s) to address the issue in areas

1. Climate change
2. Carbon dioxide emission plus other green house gasses

There is not much concern actually, if you don't want to consider the raising temperature of the earth surface, the fact that the ozone layer have depleted and hence the increase in UV rays penetrating the atmospheric surface, hence bring adverse effects to the weather due to extreme temperature fluctuations... well.. it wouldn't be much of concern for those of you who doesn't care about how the environment would be for the future generation. BUT for me it is!

Talk about environment, here I am to comment on this treaty (or whatever they call its name). My comment is “finally!”. For years now, since the concept of Control of Pollution (COP) being introduced to rectify the environmental problems that occur due to the industrialization of the nation, several intense negotiations had taken place COP 1,2, 3. It was the most tiring/intense period of time. Finally, in 1997 during COP 3, in Kyoto Japan, the Protocol was adopted.. but not yet taken into action. 8 years had passed, and now when this treaty is about to be enforce, the biggest polluters in the world have not given their words to join in this strategy of bringing sustainable development to the world.

The fact is that this protocol mostly aimed towards the industrialized countries to help together clean up the mess that they had been stuffing into this suffocating world while, they themselves enjoy some nice fat income of $$$.. Now, even after long years of discussion, America (ooppss.. wrong country) The U. S of A still wouldn’t want to join in the "cleaning up the mess" that they (most of all) have done to the world. Talk about creating a mess, I have loads of other facts that I can write on US’ not-so-intelligent approach towards cleaning up the environment.

All matters converged into one reason: it is too costly to implement, will cost the country billions of dollars of losses..

Possibly,

1. because there are just too much rubbish to be clean up
2. they don’t have enough space (do they? I thought they have a lot of space)…
3. It’s not what the economists would suggest (now, see what I mean.. read on my past articles) because it will bring bad impact on the economy

And.. you know what, the Aussies government are no different (jangan marah Epul iye..).

I give respect to the UK, France, Germany, even Russia got persuaded to join in.. Brazil, China, Indonesia, India the still developing countries but still want to take part, and of course Malaysia is ever the supporter..

Terkenang asam boi..

My latest addictions... secrect recipe from Mexico..sabraso!
Thanks Adriana for understanding my taste buds.. nyum nyum...

Blackburn outing that doesn't seemed enough..

Itineries

0915 : Jumpa Akida & Indonesian gang dekat Piccadily Train Station & beli tiket
0945 : Boarded train towards Bolton
1015 : Tukar train dekat Bolton
1045 : Boarded train towards Blackburn
1115 : Arrived in Blackburn
1130 : Masuk kedai (= toko) Tommy Balls (tempat jual kasut brand Clarke murah giler)
1230 : Pegi satu lagi kedai Tommy Balls (ni cawangan yang satu lagi kat atas bukit)
1250 : Lepas bayar kasut (* pasang!!~~rahsia) turun semula ke kedai yang bawah
1330 : Head back to train station, tapi singgah beli salad kat Morrisons
1400 : Boarded train towards Manchester Victoria
14 50 : Sampai dah ke Manchester semula.. taklah jauh sangat pun Blackburn ni.

Bolton Station


Teman-teman ke Blackburn
(Thanks Mbak Maya, Akida & Nuli for such great fun,
nanti boleh mulai kelas Bahasa Mal-Indo bersama Effa)


Blackburn's sky line.. well sort of

p/s: Bila pulak nak pergi lawat Blackburn Rovers ni.. :(

Engineers vs Economists

Let me tell you what the engineers do. As part of the engineering society, I feel that the development of human race lies within our hands. All the hard work, the dirty jobs and the painful long working hours are all bared on our shoulders. In simple words, engineers build roads, canals, buildings, houses, bridges, ships, airplanes, cars and towards the other extremes… engineers design and create microchip, tiny computers, recombinant DNA you name it. All of the most complicated things on earth, we build... and then we destroy them. We even succeeded in destroying the rain forests for land development, disrupting nature’s life cycle, increasing the concentration of pollutants in every drop of water you drink and every breath you inhale. Oh yeah, we did that.. Really do.. We then get blamed for the ozone depletion, the climate change, the oil spills, massive nuclear reactor explosions, the increment in death rate for cancer related diseases, the extinction of wild life… and the list goes on and on..

Underlying what we have done, what we have contribute, all our live and energy being centered towards the development and making life much easier for the race called homo-sapiens… does anybody know why we are being asked to do this? Is there a specific purpose why we wanted to pollute the air, deteriorate the environment, increasing the probability of pregnant mothers to be more prone to have a maldeformed child ?

We don’t really have any reasoning, we were ASKED to do this because the demand of the world citizen.. "am not putting the blame on public citizen" because this is the portion where bulk of the big shots country’s wealth came from.. it is the “Economists” whom is the architect that designed what is to be in DEMAND, decides and influences the super powers on what is to be trade off (our world, the environment) and what's not (the economy, stock exchange, liquidity should be on the highest priority), and to what magnitude it is going to be implement (small scale or big scale).

I quote this closing remarks fromRoland Clift (TCE Feb 05), "... that means, engineers now need to join in as social or political agents not just as technicians. Enabling the future generation's sustainability also means using our (engineer's) expertise to warn against actiities that will damage future generations, and to show there are other ways of doing things than the technologies we use routinely now."

Make sense? Perfectly overstated...

Have a think about it.

Prince Charles to marry Camila in April

Breaking the news to the public, BBC had successfully tightened me to my seat in the living room with mounting curiosity what was the buzz all about... It couldn’t be William’s love story, or another of Harry's mischievous rendezvous. It was actually, the father, the Prince of Wales, next-to-step-on-the-throne Prince Charles getting married to “long-term partner” Camilla Parker Bowles.

Above all matters being discussed, the big issue now is what title will Camilla holds after this. Camilla will take the title HRH Duchess of Cornwall. Spokesman Clarence House added at BBC One that Camilla will not be known as Queen Camilla but as the Princess Consort. Erm.. how interesting, with me and my limited knowledge of the Royal Family and democratic system in the UK, who make the decision what title she should use?

Up to this moment of writing this posting, the news and media are overwhelmed with reactions from the public citizens, not to mention religious reactions all over the United Kingdom. Good news isn’t it? There’s nothing wrong with it as I see it.. if they are making such big issue of Camilla not supposed to remarry because her divorced husband is still alive, and that Anglicans are used to opposing of remarrying a divorcee, it will do nothing to it.. The Queen herself had approved to this marriage proposal.

More news on http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4252795.stm?display=1

Selamat tahun baru Maal Hijrah

Baca ketika selepas solat Asar atau sebelum Maghrib hari terakhir bulan Zulhijjah

Baca ketika solat Maghrib malam 1 Muharam.

Sumber : JAKIM
http://www.islam.gov.my/program/doa.html

Teka teki teka tekuk..

Bringing back to live, my collection of teka tekis..

The "Dalam banyak-banyak..."

Dalam banyak-banyak hari, hari apa paling garang? H A R I M A U
Dalam banyak-banyak binatang, binatang apa paling kedekut? K U D A (Kedekut..kedekut..)
Dalam banyak-banyak binatang, binatang apa paling kaya? K E R A N G (Shell jual minyak pe!)
Dalam banyak-banyak tepung, tepung apa yang tertonggeng? T E R P O N G G E N G


The "Sequencial"

Pisau potong daging, daging potong apa? T A H I
Apa dia "bentuk bulat, rasa hebat"? U N C A N G T E H L I P T O N
Apa dia "kecil, hitam, berpeluh"? S E M U T H I T A M L E P A S J O G G I N G
Harimau menawan hutan, singa.. M E N A W A N K E L U A R G A B A H A G I A

The Ikan's"
Kalau semua benda dalam dunia jadi ikan, ikan jadi apa? B A N Y A K
Kepalanya besar sangat, badannya halus keding? I K A N B I L I S P A K A I H E L M E T

*To kawan-kawan segunung, mesti dah tak lawak dah kot sebab korang dah biasa terkena ngan aku... kebanyakan nye idea keluar masa kat atas gunung., sebab dah memang itu kerjanya memanjat dan penat. Jadi wajiblah "kena"kan orang sikit. Walaupun hakikatnya aku lagi banyak terkena balik..

Thanks to Jenit, Zazu, Azrin, Asma as I remembered.. korang pencetus idea bahagian-bahagian dalam teka-teki ni.

(Teringin... nak kenakan orang, sangat-sangat..kueng kueng kueng)

Let's get started... what are ionic liquids.

Ionic liquids are organic salts with melting points under 100 degrees, often even lower than room temperature. Recently they are employed more and more as substitute for the traditional organic solvents in chemical reactions. The most common ones are imidazolium and pyridinium derivatives, but also phosphonium or tetralkylammonium compounds can be used for this purpose. Lately, we have introduced the environmental friendly halogen-free ionic liquids .

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/Brands/Fluka___Riedel_Home/Organic___Synthetic/Ionic_Liquids.html

This is my first attempt to start my disseration project. I think I shall need to follow some sort of a plan like this one below.

Stage 1: Study these.. (preliminary)
Stage 2: Categorize the information
Stage 3: Decide which area to be more specific
Stage 4: Define the objectives and work baundaries
Stage 5: Plan a working research method

These are only the outline for the literature research... the bulk of the work is yet to to be discovered...

(Thanks to my supervisor, Prof P. Sharratt for enlightening my thinking on this area that is highly regarded as a clean technology for chemical operation. However, it has yet being verified in terms of its practicality and environmental suitability which is what I am suppose to find out.)

Happy CNY to my Chinese friends..

Gong Xi Fa Chai! (For a dear friend Wai Ping)

Few days ago, I asked one of my classmates to give me Mandarin oranges since CNY is just around the corner.. He got really confused why did I asked such thing and why did I associate it with CNY.. I told him that in Malaysia, I am so used to receive these oranges, during CNY.. and that I got it from my friends and colleagues. Surprisingly he said he never heard such a thing, nor it was part of his tradition.. and he is from China (Tanah Besar). I bragged about the story on the taste of the orange, (I know many of you heard this before).. the story when the orange is best eaten on the day of CNY itself .. Only then it will taste nice. After that, it will become sour and even tasteless.. Never had this Chinese guy, my classmate heard such story.. Ok then, so why are Malaysian Born Chinese (MBC) associate oranges with CNY? I really don't have the answer..

But anyway, he still gave me oranges.. only it's not Mandarin oranges.. they are clementines.. Thanks a lot Jacky! Happy Chinese New Year to Yu Rong too.. (can't wait to have one of those Moon Cakes again.. sedap oo, cari la yang halal... kena tunggu sampai September lagi la nampaknya).

Can happiness be baught?

If happiness can be baught I want to buy this..

Macroscopically into Manchester

Macroscopically into Manchester means an angle of view that is broad enough but not too big to describe. Something that many of us here realized but not giving enough attention that it was there.

This first picture was taken this evening on my way to Trafford Center, along the road of a very complicated name (the view from the upper tier of the double deck was perfect for me to take my shots, provided the sun’s still up, the pictures would be really nice). The Municipal Council had tried to live up the small town of Old Trafford, well I hardly call it a town. From the point where I have taken this picture, it will take about 5-7 minutes more to reach the magnificent Old Trafford Stadium, “The Theatre of Dreams”.... If anyone would expect a huge “Welcome to Old Trafford” sign……. Well.. this is what you are going to get. Nothing more than a mere lamp post deco..come to think of it, it actually does prove real good effort, because there are many more of the lamp posts being 'dressed up' like this..

Old Trafford welcomes you..

The Britannia Hotel, formerly known as Watt's Warehouse.. Dated back in 1858 where the heart of Industrial Revolution started, it is well known in the world (that time) as the cotton "Cash & Carry"(this reminds me of my Chem Eng Department, we call it The Mill for some reason). This premier architechtural building is still standing & fully refurbished just down town Manchester City Center...
Before I came here, this is among the first building and places that I wanted to see. Having being described to me (by someone) as one of Manchester’s premier hotel, it seems to me it is popular since it is strategically located on the busiest street in Manchester (Portland Street).

The High Streets of Greater Manchester, is just a stroll away from Britannia Hotel. So you see, it is not as colourful as those in London or Liverpool and as sunny as those in KL.. The sun (ray to be precise) is only visible 1-2 times a week.. Gloomy winter, if it had snowed, the mood would have changed dramatically into “jolly” but we are now heading spring. I would love to see colourful flowers bloom in this boring city..

The Phenomena of Azan (Athan)

Amazing as it sounds, but fortunately for the Muslims of the world, it is an established fact. Have a look at a map of the world and you will find Indonesia on the eastern side of the earth. The major cities of Indonesia are Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Saibil. As soon as dawn breaks on the eastern side of Saibil, at approximately 5:30 am local time, Fajar Azan begins. Thousands of Muadhins in Indonesia begin reciting the Azan.

The process advances towards West Indonesia. One and a half hours after the Azan has been completed in Saibil, it echoes in Jakarta. Sumatra then follows suit and before this auspicious process of calling Azan ends in Indonesia, it has already begun in Malaysia.

Burma is next in line, and within an hour of its beginning in Jakarta, it reaches Dacca, the capital city of Bangladesh. After Bangladesh, it has already prevailed in western India, from Calcutta to Srinagar. It then advances towards Bombay and the environment of entire India resounds with this proclamation. Srinagar and Sialkot (a city in north Pakistan) have the same timing for Azan. The time difference between Sialkot, Quetta, and Karachi is forty minutes, and within this time, Fajar Azan is heard throughout Pakistan. Before it ends there, it has already begun in Afghanistan and Muscat. The time difference between Muscat and Baghdad is one hour. Azan resounds during this one hour in the environments of Hijaaz-e-Muqaddas (Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah), Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq.

The time difference between Baghdad and Alexandria in Egypt is again one hour. Azan continues to resound in Syria, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan during this hour. The time difference between eastern and western Turkey is one and a half hours, and during this time it is echoed with the call to prayer.

Alexandria and Tripoli (capital of Libya) are located at one hour's difference. The process of calling Azan thus continues throughout the whole of Africa. Therefore, the proclamation of the Tawheed and Risaalat that had begun in Indonesia reaches the Eastern Shore of the Atlantic Ocean after nine and half hours. Prior to the Azan reaching the shores of the Atlantic, the process of Dhuhr Azan has already started in east Indonesia, and before it reaches Dacca, Asar Azan has started.This has hardly reached Jakarta one and half hours later, the time of Maghrib becomes due, and no sooner has Maghrib time reached Sumatra, the time for calling Isha Azan has commenced in Saibil! When the Muadhins of Indonesia are calling out Fajar Azan, the African Muadhins are calling the Azan for Isha.

If we were to ponder over this phenomenon thoughtfully, we would conclude the amazing fact that there is not even a single moment when hundreds of thousands of Muadhins around the world are not calling the Azan on the surface of this earth.

Even as you read this material right now, you can be sure there are atleast thousands of people who are hearing and calling the Azan!!!

Forwarded to me from my counterpart in Brunei.. (Thanks Abdul Haji for the lead)

All you engineers out there! Do you agree with this statement?

A dear friend posted this on Frienster.. thanks Jun for the lead! But do we really need these reasons to have an ENGINEER boyfriend? (kueng kueng kueng.. habisla all you doctors out there.. admit it, engineering is the best thing to do! bak kata mak mentua Kassim"Siapa Kassim?? Doktor, Loyar, Majistret?!" all out)

~rEAsonS tO hAvE aN eNginEeR aS a BoYfRieND..

Why engineers?!! here we go..

Advantage 1: Secure lifestyle

An engineer boyfriend can provide you with a secure lifestyle. At 27 years old, an engineer probably has a respectable, stable job that gives him high income to own a car, invest, have a comfortable life, and get married and buy a house too.
Law graduates are still working as a lowly apprentice in law firm, most management graduates h have just failed on their first business plan, the arts graduate is still looking for a job, and the medical school graduate is still living in a hospital.

Advantage 2: Unmatchable industriousness

An engineer boyfriend will dedicate an unimaginable amount of his time and effort to understand you. Engineers strain really hard to understand their work. You can believe that they will try really hard to understand women too, just like how they understand their work, once they believe that you are the one. So even if they don't understand you initially, they will keep on trying. Even if they still do not understand, they will figure out the correct method to keep you happy (e.g. buy diamond ring = 1 week's worth of happiness) And once they find out the secret formula, they will just keep on repeating it so that the desired results appear.
Unlike the Lawyer who will argue with you, the Management graduate who will try to control your spending, the Arts graduate who will 'change major', and the medical school graduate who will operate on you.

And you know what??? it's really so easy to make engineers believe that you are the 'one'.
Say that you like one of their projects and they will be hooked to you forever...

Advantage 3: An engineer boyfriend will never betray your trust.

Let me first tell you what is wrong with the rest of the others...the lawyers will lie about everything, management graduates will cheat your money, the arts graduate will flirt, and you probably just look like another cadaver to the medical school graduate.
Your engineer boyfriend is either too busy to have an affair, and even if he does, he is too dumb to lie to you about that.
Hence, an engineer is the most secure boyfriend that you will ever find - rich enough, will keep on trying to understand and please you, has no time for affairs, and too dumb to lie to you. So girls out there, why procrastinate?!

Get an ENGINEER for your BOYFRIEND!!hehe..

kesimpulannya, engineers..tak kira la laki ke
prmpuan..mmg COOL..heheh ;)