the one where we dunno how to read the map?

haha.. i know, the title itself shows how dumb i am when it comes to map-reading. i thought i know and i thought it would be easy, but clearly i was wrong. it starts with me and my dear friend Jasmine Abdul Karim and it happened about 4 days ago. our little tour in Georgetown Penang. weird huh? it's been 3 years of me living in Penang but i still got lost. maybe i need to live for another 3 years to familiarize myself with the roads in Penang.. and i need a car! abah! ooopppss, licence first! damn!! i'm 22 yo and i don't even have a driving licence! but anyways, Georgetown is like a really huge maze and getting lost is common. so no worries you first-timer in Penang out there! you need to get lost so that you're familiar with the roads.. *knp bunyi ayat nie mcm pelik? get lost?* hahha!

imagine this is Georgetown and that's me and jasmine~ haha

we actually decided to go to Georgetown because we wanted to visit the State Museum for our research. it was the first time we ever get to use the RapidPenang CAT free shuttle bus. it was actually for tourists since its destination is actually tourist attractions. the funny thing is the people on the bus were not tourists. they were local people! well, maybe because it's free. haha! i guess you can put it this way, me and my friend.. we were the only 'tourists' on the bus! ngahahahaahah!!!

the museum was really interesting btw. it was full of information on Penang's culture and people. surprisingly, there's a lot you can learn just by visiting the museum. we managed to interview the museum staff, local and even international tourists from Thailand and Scotland. we were lucky actually since it was on Sunday.. hence the museum was jam-packed with tourists from all over the world. =PPP

the front of the museum with JAK as the model~ haha!

then we walked from the museum all the way to Masjid Kapitan Keling for Zuhur prayer. the mosque really gives me goosebumps. the first time i went there which was around a year ago, i swear i thought i saw 'kelibat putih' crossed behind me while i was taking my wudhu'. i saw it through the mirror and i remember i was alone. i almost freaked out but then i quickened everything and got out of the restroom. God knows how scared i was but i tried to think it was my imagination. huhu.. that was a year ago anyway.. might just be me imagining things. i was taking LHP453/creative writing that sem. hence my imagination was never ending. hahahahah~

seriously from state museum to the mosque, the views and people were really nice and it would look superb if photographed. i had my DSLR but we were in a hurry so didn't really had enough time to take pictures. but i will soon. then we went looking for KOMTAR. this is where it got interesting. WE WERE LOST!! haha

i thought i read it right and we would end up at the right place but the street we ended up in was the complete opposite of what we thought. okay... we dunno how to read maps. that said. it was weird coz the road we took, it was absolutely empty! all shops were closed and there were nobody.. almost like a deserted town! like in the movies! with newspapers flying around looking like a dead city! dang i should've taken some pictures so you guys can see how dead it was.. haha~

it was like this but if say that pic is Penang it would be an exaggeration punishable by death.. haha.. so pretty~ ours was quite scary.. =))

we got into a small fight more like a cute fight.. hhahaa.. about which one is the way.. then a local middle-aged Chinese man helped us.. thank you uncle! haha

he even asked where we're from.. and i said from JB. it would be really embarrassing to say we're from USM. he even wished us to enjoy our holiday! *sorry uncle* heheheh~

we found KOMTAR.. it was easy because KOMTAR's building is really tall and we just went from one small street to another until we found the place. haha~

why we went to KOMTAR? 

to drink Cool Blog.. hahah.. gila x? jalan kaki di Georgetown looking for KOMTAR semata2 nak minum Cool Blog??? hehehe~

love that day anyway! would love to do it all over again! =PP

the one with the....??

dear blog,

i've abandoned you once again. sorry dear!! i've been super busy lately! even if i'm not busy then i'm sick... yes, i haven't been taking good care of myself and i've been careless. nevertheless, i've learned my lesson! it was a hard one but effective! because i got really really sick that i had to go to the doctors quite a few times. and you have to know that i rarely go to hospitals or even clinics. one is of course i already have mom and dad for that since they're from the world of IV's and fusions. hahahaha!!  but the most important one was that i've never fallen sick like super sick before! haha! even though i'm back to my old state, there's this sense of insecurity, worrying over things like will the pain come back? is there something really wrong with me? and other sorts of mind-boggling questions that still remain unanswered. 

actually, i have tonnes of things to write about but as of this moment i am covered in pile of works unfinished!! and it's stressing! i'm depressed but trying to shove it away since stress is one of the main reason i got sick. *sebelum nie doc kate stress lah penyebab utama i got acne and now stress is one of the main reason i fell sick!!* wannursyazana >>> simple reminder.. do not stress out!! 

oh, yesterday we went bowling... with the rest of Soc Sci's final year students. it was a joyous event but at the same time there's this sad feeling >> because my bowling skill sucks and because we're gonna part ways very soon considering this is our last semester together. i felt like i just registered as a USM student yesterday. the image of mom, dad, and sis waving their goodbyes to me is still vivid. three years went by like it was nothing even though it's filled with bunch of memories. memories that will never be forgotten but remembered clearly in this mind and heart. i love you guys!!! 

social sciences final year students!!

anthropology and sociology major

political sciences major

oh my, i'm gonna miss you guys so much!!

will enjoy my few last months with all of them! =PP

the one with chest pain (pt.2)

okay, after going back and forth to the clinic twice already, now i know what the hell is wrong with me. it's called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).and the doc said something about reflux esophagitis. i googled it - it's necrosis (dead cells) in my esophagus which causes ulcers... luka dalam esofagus saya!! patutlah pedih.. gila menakutkan kot....!!! =(( oh my god, now i'm super scared! the doc said a lot of things.. things i can eat and cannot eat... these are those that i cannot eat!!! :

• fruits or juice that are acidic in nature
• fatty foods (no McD!! aiyaaaaa!!)
• pretzels (don't eat them by the way)
• coffee & tea (wth?!! tea?? oh my god i love them~)
• onions (hate them)
• peppermint (dunno about this)
• chocolate (okay, now i'm sad... i'm a choc lover. how am i supposed not to eat them??)
• spicy foods (no more sambal belacan)
• oily food (bye2 ayam goreng IK)

i cannot eat excessive or big meals. but hv to eat frequently. every 3 hours. what the heck am i supposed to eat every 3 hours???? and after googling it, there are a lot more of other things i can and cannot do!! oh my oh my.. so many pantang now.. but no matter what i hv to stick to it. it hurts like hell! but i'm sure hell is a lot more  worst of course. it's technically a hyperbole. ooomoooo, please go away... sangat sakit tau.. i hv trouble swallowing food and drinks since my esophagus got ulcer... and i don't wanna do endoscopy! you know, where the doc stick the tiny instrument with camera and light at the front used to examine interior organs. they would stick it into my mouth until it reach it's destination... scary ok!! ya Allah, please make the pain go away as soon as possible and i am praying for my healthy figure once again~ amin~

*what's weird is that normally obese people get this kind of disease. i'm super skinny.. guess i'm one of a kind~ *attempt no 1 to reduce stress and horror after learning what GERD is all about~* 

the one with chest pain

my chest hurts... so much. it's been like this for three days already. at first i thought it was because my sleeping position was wrong three nights ago. i thought it would go away soon. but it's been three days and it's really hard for me to swallow my food. it felt like something's pulling me from the inside. my chest becomes really tight that it's hard to breath or to burp for that matter. after  burp it would be really painful. sakitnyaaaaaa~ tomorrow the clinic will be closed because of Maulidurrasul... macam mana?

what's happening? i googled about chest pain and read a few lines only. afterward it got so scary that i stopped reading~ 

the one with heritage

i have tonnes of things i wanna talk about but am really lazy to write them all down. haha. let's just talk about yesterday shall we? went for a Walk-In Heritage organized by Archaeology Club and History Club along with my friend Jasmine Abdul Karim (JAK). we went to visit most of the museums here in Penang. almost 3 years as a citizen of Penang, i didn't know there were so many museums. i only went to one museum which is the State Museum quite a long time ago. there were Islamic Museum, Malay Museum, and War Museum. apart from the museum we also went to Fort Cornwallis which was opened by Francis Light (the founder of Penang) and Kapitan Keling Mosque which highlights the existence of Indian Muslim in Malaysia. been to Kapitan Keling many times already. Fort Cornwallis, usually hang out there with my friends at night so never had the chance to actually see the inside of it until yesterday because they close at night. it was awesome seeing being in a bunker where they used to store weapon ammunitions and canons. hehe.. by the way, most of the roads in Penang were closed yesterday because of Chinese New Year Celebration. Lunar New Year here in Penang, the people celebrated it in a really grand manner. roads were closed and occupied by kiosks with all sorts of decoration. the streets of Penang were decorated with red lanterns hanging from lamp post to lamp post. it was really fun to walk along the streets of Penang because of the atmosphere it exerted yesterday. 

red lanterns 

gateway >> astonishing~

felt like a tourist yesterday~

love the concept >> old houses occupied by the generations of the Malay's Mosque's founder~

a tomb located next to the mosque >> prob belongs to one of the family of the founder~

i didn't take many pictures. i didn't even bring my DSLR coz there were some technical problems with the memory card. if i had bring it along, i would've been on a shooting photos spree~ hahaha

gladly the memory card's fine now~ =))

Penang War Museum was awesome!! it was the actual military post for the British then the Japanese during WWII...the bunkers, the main offices, the cook, the torture room and the torture tools and so on... scary! we had to crawl along tunnels and climb a 90 degree stair. it was super fun! planning on going again for a night tour where we can actually hear bombs explode and guns blazing through the night. people screaming. it would surely feel like we were actually there during the war~ and then we can relive the horrors of the WWII

the one with malay movies

as most people can see, i rarely review Malay movies. well, that's cause i rarely watch them. not that i'm not supportive of local movies. it's just hard to find one with a whole lot of values and qualities in it. one movie that managed to capture my attention years back was Khabir Bhatia's Sepi. i love it. the movie was like Valentine's Day, Love Actually, and He's Just Not That Into You where random love stories compiled and connected to one another in a movie. it has multiple story lines and the perspectives it took were justifiably interesting. a guy falling for someone's wife prior to his wife's death but unable to be with that person because the situation prohibits them. a cook always receiving wedding invitations of his ex-girlfriends and reflecting on his personal life until he meet his soul mate. and finally, a girl who's shadowed by the death of his boyfriend becomes temporarily blinded by her imagination until rescued by an admirer. i dunno why but i love this movie. it was well-coordinated and well-delivered. another work by Khabir Bhatia that i also like is Cinta. it's the same as Sepi but has more stories in it. it's few of the Malay movies that i can look up to and be proud of.

but i recently went to watch Khurafat : Perjanjian Syaitan directed by Syamsul Yusof and to my surprise it was actually a really good horror movie. i've watched tonnes of horror movies before, be it Malay, Thailand, Korean, Japanese, or Hollywood and i have to say very few movies scared me to death. most of them are gory and bloody. especially zombie movies. yuckk. movies like Paranormal Activity (the first one) which is a low budget movie almost scared me to death. haha.. haven't watch the second one yet. gathering all my guts to watch it. haha. apart from that movies from Thailand scares me the most especially Nang-Nak. i was a kid when i watched that one. never watch it for the second time. maybe i will.. soon. haha i like Phobia... especially the second one.. and especially the last story. funny as hell! haha.. but i'm here to talk about Khurafat... back to the point >> when i decided to watch the movie, i didn't think i would be sitting on the edge of my seat and holding my friend really tight that i swear i might've bruised her!! haha... i didn't expect the ghost to be so darn drastic! drastic as in coming straight at you instead of just sitting or standing there scaring you. i swear to God my heart almost stopped and i got very jumpy afterward. haha.. it has element of surprise at parts you won't expect. and the ending was unexpected! seriously it was scary and good! two thumbs up to Syamsul Yusof.. thanks for scaring me! plus he's acting is way different than his prior movies.. maybe because this one is a super serious movie.. if i have to describe his acting in words, i'd say matured... and Liyana Jasmay always look like a kid to me and she's just adorable.. haha.. especially with tudung.. anyway i needed to scream since i haven't scream in a long time. hence, it was a good scream. haha.... so, go watch it! 

go Malaysia! keep making wonderful and great movies! oh, i can't wait to watch Yusry Abdul Halim's Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa!

the one with the people's will

it started with Tunisia. then the president stepped down due to ongoing demonstration by the people of Tunisia. he was  dictator anyway when he seized Tunisia years ago. but, what happened in Tunisia, happened in Egypt afterwards. currently there are uprisings by the people of Egypt demanding President Hosni Mubarak to step down form his position as the leader of the country. but he said he will not give in to the people's wish and will continue his duty until his term ended in September. and only through election will he accept the final result. hence, it's been a week since the uprising in Egypt occurred and they showed no sign of easing and giving up. it got more and more violent. what's worrying is the Malaysian students still stranded over there because of the flights been delayed. shortage of food, crime spree, and a whole other problems there. people got trapped in the middle of the clash between pro-government, anti-government, and the police. it's a good thing they used bean bags instead of actual bullets to handle the situation. but, if hit somewhere like the eyes, it can cause blindness.

Malaysian government already sent in the Royal Malaysian Air Force with supply of food and other things for those still stranded there and trying their best to bring them back. AirAsia even provided their Airbus A320 to fly them back from Egypt to Malaysia. some already taken flights and transited in Dubai or elsewhere. bottom line, the government needs to do whatever it takes and as fast as possible to get Malaysian students out of the  red zone. because the situation is getting worst day by day.

we're all praying for the safety of Malaysian students and also the people of Egypt. let's pray it ends quickly and avoid any more bloodshed in the country. i love Egypt because it has everything someone like me ever wish to see. the land of the pharaohs and rich in ancient history. i'm hoping the uprising ends in a good term.