My New Home
It's official.
I have moved to http://adzariff.com/
Please update your bookmarks/blogrolls. Drop me a line if you wanna link exchange or something.
See you at my new home. :D
Moving On....
...to a new location.
Yes, this still-very-new blog now has its own domain, and is now in the process of relocating. All the posts have been imported to the new place, but there's still some tinkerings that needs to be done, mainly due to the incompatibility issues regarding the "Read More" widgets difference between Blogger and Wordpress. I still need to manually put up the Blogroll as well, but no problem, that can be done in a day or two.
As of now, I'm squeezing in my remaining time in Malaysia in between driving classes, traveling back and forth between Puchong and KL to pick up stuffs like visa, passport, flight ticket, baju raya yang dah kena tempah, kuih raya, some other last minute shoppings like a luggage bag for instance....and that third installment of Eragon book that Zayd asked me to buy...and the promised meet-up with Pipi this Friday to go to the SPA to just plain out ask them SPA about the exact/estimated date for the induction course. See...there's still no news of the exact date of the induction course, the only thing we know is that it's gonna be after Raya. Well, it can be any day. 3rd of October is after Raya. So is 9/9/09 or 10/10/10, they're all after Raya. Some specific date would be nice. I think they absolutely expected us to be in Malaysia all the time by the phone or the mailbox waiting for that phonecall/letter whereas we won't be around the country to do just that. A few people already warned me that the government has the tendency to just ring you up and tell that you have to drag your butt to this-and-that location immediately....immediately can apparently mean the very next day! And I'm going to Saudi next week Tuesday InsyaAllah and Pipi herself is going to Thailand to celebrate her Raya there...we're the odd bunch supposedly so we need to do this.
Someone from the Ministry of Health / SPA who can do some inside job sleuthing around for information of when exactly I'm gonna be called will be my very best friend and can get some duit raya from me as a token of my gratitude...or souvenirs from the land of sands.... whichever you like. Seriously.
Oh...anyway, the new location of this blog will be http://adzariff.com/. See you there. Not sure when exactly the move will be official, but for now, I humbly request for you guys to update my links in your Blogrolls so that it'll point up to the new site. Thanks! :)
Jejak Mesir 2006: Day 3 - When in Egypt...
1st February 2006
Today is the day where I split up with Anna and Im because the girls had their own agenda today, meeting up with several of Im's old friends at their apartment. So Halim and Md.Nor devised a way to keep me entertained for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we couldn't do much because I was down with the flu, but I absolutely refused to be kept cooped inside the apartment. Hence, donning my winter jacket I set out with them to prowl the streets of Cairo, not caring that I looked weird in my jacket on an otherwise mildly cold day where guys usually would wear a light jacket instead of winter jacket. It would be a waste if I stayed in for the whole day.
So after the previous night's 'disaster' with dinner, we were promised authentic Egyptian foods, ones that we were looking for. Thus the first thing to do that morning was to look for the ingredients. Halim had sup kaki kambing in his mind, which he claimed to be a favorite amongst his friends. His friend agreed to cook it for us as long as we bought the ingredients for him. I was asked whether I was up to live the life of a regular Azharian student who wanted to go marketing for food stuffs, meaning going to wet markets and dusty streets for good bargains. Not exactly what I had in mind while vacationing, but still you know what they say...
When in Rome, do what the Romans do.
Okay, so I wasn't in Rome. It's just a saying. Change Rome to Egypt, Romans to Egyptians, and there you go. :)
We took a bus to go to the city, and were dropped right smack in the middle of the city...I think. Anyway from there we set on foot towards our destination. I didn't have any idea where the market was so all I did was following Halim and Md.Nor blindly, while listening to their commentaries about Egypt and Egyptians in general, while still trying to not let the fever get the better of me. I was eating chocolate while on the bus, and I kept on holding the chocolate wrapper after we got off because I wanted to look for a trashbin. After minutes of walking, I still couldn't locate any trashbin and my friends began to notice my peculiar behavior. I told them I was looking for a trashbin, and instantly Md.Nor took the wrapper, and to my surprise, let it go right in the middle of the dirty, dusty streets. "They don't have a lot of trashcans around here because the people would just throw them on the street anway," I was told. Hmmm.... Well, back to the saying I mentioned earlier. While in Rome...
Okay, okay, while in Egypt.... Savvy?
We arrived at the market and I marvelled at the sights of fresh meat. Haha yeah, I know, weird huh. I actually liked watching fresh meats being hung around. And suddenly I stopped and gaped at a stall....with a lot of animal heads placed in a row. At first glance they looked like the heads of pigs, but that's impossible. The ustazs assured me that they were cows' heads although they did look almost like pigs. They touched them to prove their point. Then I heard the sound of something being ripped and sliced, and glanced behind...and I think I just got sicker. Saw the butchers cleaning out the intestines of cows, and then placed the cleaned intestines on the shelves. Halim informed that in Egypt, almost all parts of the cows were deemed edible by the Egyptians. Then Halim sauntered to the stall with the kaki kambing that he was looking for. Md.Nor told me to just stand around the stalls so that he could take some pictures. The butchers saw this and realized that I was a tourist. I did look out of place with my jacket, cap and I think I heard Md.Nor telling them that I'm from Japan. They wanted a photo with me, which we took, which they never got anyway because it was Md.Nor's camera.
After finishing up with the marketing, we went to have lunch. I was asked to be specific of what I really wanted to eat and I described the kebabs and all those meat stuffs that I dreamed of eating. I was taken to a restaurant which sold just that. I waited at the booth while the ustazs went to get the foods. Being a bit sick that day I couldn't eat much, but they were delicious and exactly what we had in mind. They were Shwarma (pretty much like a kebab) and Macarona (cheese lasagnia with meat fillings) A couple of veiled female Egyptians who were sitting on the booth beside us kept looking and whispering at our direction, specifically towards me, because I was eating only one Shwarma. They ate two shwarmas each. Whoa, one shwarma is filling enough, whatmore with the pasta I had along as well. Or maybe they were staring at me because I kept on glancing at them, curious of how they were going to eat with their purdahs on. :P Silly me. We then went up to the roof to have some tea, while watching the local kids there playing pool. Egyptians seem to love their tea, which I couldn't really drink without wrinkling up my face in wonder - the serbuk teh is just too thick and accumulated nearly half the glass. Where's the uncang teh when you need them? One thing funny enough to note; the Egyptians have really YELLOW teeth, a testament of how much they love their tea.
From there, we went to Halim's penthouse. It's a simple apartment above the roof of an apartment complex, and it's where we would be having our special dinner later that night. Passed the kaki kambing (somehow saying it in English as...goat's feet??...didn't bode well with me) to his friend so that he could start preparing our dinner. I went to the corner of the rooftop and marveled at the sight of the Cairo city in bright daylight. Never before have I seen a city so....brown. The color of the sands.
After prayers the three of us headed to the International Book Fair. It seems that every year there will be a book fair in Cairo. Im and Anna would be going there as well so it was like a rendezvous point for all of us. However there were just too many people around and we never did encounter the girls while we were there. There were many medical books sold there at competetive prices, but I didn't plan on buying anything and I never did, because I didn't have enough luggage space and what space I did have then I wanted to use for souvenirs. Besides, books are heavy! I don't need that extra weight to bring back to Russia. After realizing that there was no meeting the girls there at the book fair, we decided to set up a new meeting point - at a local history museum or something not too far from the book fair, a place called the Panorama.
To enter the Panorama we needed to buy tickets. Halim and Md.Nor wanted to spare me the burden of having to pay the tourists price, which was why each of them had an Al-Azhar student card they borrowed from their friends, in order for me to be able to get in with half price or discounted price. However, it wasn't a foolproof plan - the guards didn't believe that I'm even a Malaysian. It literally took a battle of words between the guards and the ustazs (while I slowly fade in the background, tugging down my cap so that I could hide the blonde hair strands). The ustazs went as far as getting the guards' superior to get down and dirty as well before finally it was settled: I just have to show my IC, and there it showed me with Malaysian and Islam printed on it. I got in with discounted price, although no doubt the guards were dubious still because the student card used didn't match the fella that got in. Hahaha.
Now, Panorama is a museum which tells about the history of Egypt and the wars it had gotten into. Im, Anna and her friends were also there, having arrived earlier than we did. Right after we got in, we went straight ahead to the auditorium because there was a screening of Egypt's history - how Egypt was able to recapture Sinai from the Israels. The whole movie was in Arabic, which is why I was lucky because Md.Nor was there to translate everything and all I had to do was listen intently - the history is fascinating.
From one auditorium we headed to another, a circular one where we all stood in the middle. The walls around us were decorated with paintings depicting the story of how recapturing Sinai was done - the platform where we stood spun around slowly so that we could get a good view of everything around us - the paintings, some props and even some pieces of the real deal were thrown in for good measures. As the story was already told to me by Md.Nor I took the chance to snap photos instead. Well actually it wasn't my camera to begin with - friends have been so kind to photograph my memoirs here.
The girls went back to their friends' apartment so the three of us guys went to a small mall instead because I wanted to look for Strepsils for my sore throat. Found it, and after praying and some unplanned shopping done (CK Eternity perfume, Reader's Digest magazine and Archie comic books) we all headed to Halim's penthouse for our dinner.
It was my first time having a dinner on top of a building, underneath the clear night sky with the twinkling stars, with the cool night breeze sweeping past. It was a perfect setting for a dinner, and the dish cooked up by Halim's friend was marvelous.
Im and Anna looked rather excited about something and they shared it with me there and then: they wanted to extend the vacation. From one week only, to ten days. I agreed readily. The ustazs had no problems with that since they too were on a holiday. By extending our trip there we'd get to visit Gunung Sinai, the Red Sea and lots of other historical places outside Cairo.
It was settled. The next day, the first thing we had to do is to look for a travel agency. Change of plans, but looking back now I'm glad we decided to do it. And....that wouldn't be the only time we extended our Jejak Mesir trip. :)
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RM30 Richer
Salam and Hello all. Recently in conjunction with Malaysia's 51st Merdeka celebration, Aeropama.com has organized a contest. The task was to provide funny dialogues for the picture he had provided. I decided to join in just for fun, didn't expect anything...
...and it turns out I'm the 1st prize winner! Cheers.
The prize: RM30. And it's already deposited into my Maybank account. Thanks bro!
CIK NADIA: En.Abu kenapa cara duduk tu lain macam je saya tengok?Read More......
EN.ABU: Sakit perutlah…isskkk….memulas rasanya perut ni…isskk
CIK NADIA: Haa tu laa, makan tak ingat dunia! Saya dah kata makan sikit-sikit cukuplah, ni tak, semua nak dibedalnya. Padan muka. Lain kali…uhh….
EN.ABU: ….kenapa?
CIK NADIA: Eeeeeeiishh bau apa ni? BUSUKNYEEEE!
EN. ABU: (Berfikir: Alamak…kantoi! Cis! Cis! Cis! Camne nak cover ni…ok ok tukar topic)
CIK NADIA: (Tergelak) Takyahlah nak cover-cover lagi en.abu, saya tengok muka en.abu pun dah tahu. (Tergelak lagi terkekeh-kekeh) En.abu kentut kan????
EN. ABU: Haishhh! Jangan la cakap kuat2! Nanti org lain dgr!
CIK NADIA: Tu haa diorang dah tutup hidung tu!!!!
EN. ABU: HUUUUUUAAAAAA!!!
CIK NADIA: Hihihi… (terlupa yg dia pun mula-mula jelik dgn bau yg semacam tu…seronok tengok org terkantoi punye pasal..)
Fancy For a Coffee?
A different way to have your daily dose of coffee. And it's supposed to be good for your liver too. Watch. :)
The Most Anticipated Ramadhan
These may be late, but Happy Merdeka, and Happy Ramadhan. For me and many of my friends who have just graduated this year, Ramadhan in Malaysia is something that we have been anticipating for the past six years we had to fast and celebrate our Eid in Kursk, Russia. Now that I'm here in Malaysia, all of a sudden I've gotten a bit nostalgic and would like to share some of my memories there during Ramadhan.
When I was in first year, all the way till around my fourth year, fasting month fell on winters, which meant SHORTER duration for us to fast. Imagine imsaa' was around 6.30AM, and maghrib was at about 4.30PM. Plus it was cold so we didn't really feel that we were actually fasting, since there were less sun and more nights during those times. At times we finished our classes around 4.00PM, and we got back to our hostels, cooked, and by the time maghrib approached we were ready to have our dinners. And terawih prayers were usually around 6.30PM and we'd finish around 7.00PM..... really loved those long nights. From 7.00PM till midnight onwards, we really didn't know what else to do, after doing the basic studying and finishing up tasks. I tended to be a more of a night person when it came to studying so those times were very beneficial for me. And I hated summers because of the shorter nights. :P
There was one Philosophy lecturer of ours when we had the subject in our second year, she'd allow the Muslim students to go back early in order to break our fast. And when this became unfeasable for her because the Muslims were a minority in the large group of students attending her lecture...she allowed us to eat something to break our fast. All of the Muslim students would usually sit around the same area, and when maghrib approached you'd hear the rustling sounds of chocolate bars being torn open, or the sounds of people sucking out the small juice boxes until they were empty. I couldn't remember whether there was the more adventurous ones who brought proper meals to the lecture hall....I'm pretty sure there was someone or I wouldn't have the idea about this.
As for me, after the first year I had to fast in Russia, the five years that ensued became something of a norm. Back then, I prefered to not think too much about it as friends gushed over how they missed fasting in Malaysia, with their families, etc etc. It couldn't be helped as I was the one who wanted to study in Russia in the first place. Besides I just thought: even if I were in Malaysia then, my family were at Arab Saudi anyway so it wasn't too much of a difference for me. And Dhahran Arab Saudi being in the same time zone as Kursk Russia also helped, a lot -- because while friends had to consider the five hours time difference (by the time they broke their fast their family members would already be doing their terawih), I had the comfort that my folks and siblings were also preparing to break their fast just as I was preparing for mine. Jauh di mata dekat di hati.
Some of the highlights during our buka puasa there were the twice-per-month IFTAR organized by the Arab students. This usually translated to us as free food which consisted of hefty servings of rice, potatoes, roasted chicken (like those served in Kenny Rogers, mind you), dates, sweets and juices. The Arabs sure can eat A LOT and they marvelled at us petite Malaysians who usually ate a quarter to half a portion of what they ate, wondering whether we actually had enough? When the number of Malays increased over the years, we also managed our own IFTAR between the Malaysians as a way for us to gather around, seniors and juniors. The event would be organized by Kursk's PPIM and the foods prepared by the better cooks amongst us. Me....I helped out with the makan process. Heh.
Gambar hanya ilustrasi tapi lebih kurang beginilah kalau ada any gathering makan kat sana. This is from my 23rd birthday party. :P
How IFTAR was back there...
Terawih prayers....well the past six years hadn't been the times where I could admit of being a regular to the surau. One of the earlier reasons being that those who organized the terawih prayers wanted to compress a whole juzuk in the 8 rakaat prayers and not many of us could actually stand for so long, waiting for the exclamation Allahu'akbar which meant it was time to rukuk. I decided to do my terawih in my own room, my Hindu roommate didn't mind the slightest bit too so that helped a lot. And over the years, the more observants of the regular terawih-in-surau attendees began to realize why the prayer had gotten unpopular with the students and heard our suggestions for shorter recitations. Last year when I gathered the strength to regularly attend the prayers, it was only half-a-page for every rakaat.
And now....strangely, I don't feel the hype. Not too much anyway, even though I'm in Malaysia. Probably because my family is there at Saudi, so I carried on here almost like how I did it back in Kursk. The mosque is near my uncle's condo so I could walk there, and the prayers were surprisingly short so for me it's great and I had no problem to attend the prayers regularly. But if I could name one thing that I really looked forward on this Ramadhan, it would have to be this.
I just love Bazar Ramadhan. Foods galore! Lots of choices, and if it weren't for the fact that I have made a promise to watch my waistline I'd be tempted to buy everything. Foods in Malaysia are really very cheap compared to Kursk. Imagine, people doing occasional nasi lemak business there sell the nasi lemak at 70rubles (RM10) and we think that's cheap!
Ahh...chicken or beef kebabs. In Russia, sights like this usually mean pork kebabs. There were those who sell chickens only too, but you really have to ask, because porks are popular meals for the Ruskiis.
Puasa belum mula but I've already gotten myself 2 pairs of Baju Melayu: one Teluk Belanga and one Cekak Musang, and one sampin songket. It was a spur of the moment shopping (I didn't get new Baju Melayu last year). I bought these early because I don't think I have the patience of having to beat the crowd to look for my ideal Baju Melayu during the month of fasting. So might as well got these early.
InsyaAllah, I'll be flying to Saudi on the last week of Ramadhan to spend the last few days of Ramadhan with my family and also my first Raya Aidilfitri ever with them after six years. Thankfully, I'll be called for the induction course after the Eid. Here's hoping that nothing comes by and take that chance away from me.Anyhow, my resolutions for this year's Ramadhan.
- To pray terawih every night (usually I did, but there times terlajak tidur etc etc...)
- Pray terawih at the mosque more often (improving since last year)
- To try waking up for sahur (I usually opt to forego sahur in favor of just a few more minutes of sleep, waking up as usual for Subuh prayers instead. Today however, somehow I woke up at 4.44AM. Those Chinese superstitous ones would say, sei, sei, seiya! Haha....)
- To lose 5--10KGs!! Haha dream big, dream big....but I have to lose at least something because I have purposedly challenged myself in doing so....the new pants I bought are just at their muat-muat size around the waist so if I still want to fit in those pants I better start cutting out what I eat. Living in Malaysia has not been good for the waistline........ maybe I should pay the gym a visit? No food + more workouts = more weights shaved off?
- To....uhhh.....hmmm......be a better Muslim? InsyaAllah. Always am striving for it. Syaitan pun dah kena kunci kan this month, but Mom said that remember that they have already spent 11 MONTHS doing their work on us, whether we realize it or not, so traces and residues of their dirty works STILL REMAIN, so tak payahlah happy sangat yee konon2 syaitan kena kunci. Heheh... the message goes for yours truly as well.
- World peace. Seriously.
- Last but not least I have to be at least at this size, like I was last year. I know I won't get that hair anymore since I wear them short and black nowadays.
InsyaAllah to everything.
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