IT'S A PANDAN LIFE ...!

It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back. ~Mick Jagger #01 – Describe 10 things about the person who tagged you (Iman) 01 Iman is my cousin’s daughter. Her mom, Kak Yati, is Mak Chom’s daughter. Mak Chom was my dad’s half sister. Mak Chom and my dad shared the same father. 02 I’ve known Iman since she was a baby, back when her parents used to stay at Taman Permata. 03 I really like her name. Iman Hayat. It sounds so glorious and majestic. 04 I was told that Iman was named after her father’s friend (I think his friend is a female, of Arabic or African descent, I’m not sure), back when he used to study in the States. 05 I have never thought that she would do engineering. English or Humanities, was more like it. 06 Iman used to be my best friend back when I stayed with her family in Skudai. She was probably nine or ten years old at that time. It was my first teaching post, and I had no place to stay. We shared the same room for about two months and w...

Love and eggs are best when they are fresh. ~ Russian proverb. Telur pindang is simply delightful. I can’t get enough of them! I don’t remember when I actually acquired the taste but every time these eggs are available at home (normally in small quantities), my sisters and I would be fighting to get the eggs all to ourselves. When my sis got married last July, she insisted that every guest is given a telur pindang . I concurred, thinking of the number of telur pindang that I would be able to savour. When I got home for the wedding, my sis, mom, aunt and uncle were busy at the back of my grandma’s house, taking out the already boiled telur pindang from the large pots. The fragrant aroma of spices wafted through the air and I had half the mind to soak my self in the pots for a spice bath (is there such thing?). Because the smell was so nice, (like the taste , it is a smell that you have to acquire ), I quickly volunteered to fill the bakul telur with the eggs (so I can avail myself ...

If you have made another person on this earth smile, your life has been worthwhile.~ Sr. Mary Christelle Macaluso I wake up with a zest ‘Cause you make me smile I eat with pleasure ‘Cause you make me smile I work and I hum ‘Cause you make me smile I go home and don’t dread it ‘Cause you make me smile Now I’m trying to sleep And you still make me smile. 14.12.08 11.25 pm.

* KPI = key performance indicator = a business metric to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an organization After weeks of long tedious meetings discussing the KPI of the department, I was suicidal. Truly, I was. During the last meeting we had two days ago, I simply tuned off. I also prayed to God that my boss would disappear and never come back. Within minutes, my mind started to wonder about the many things that I would like to do once the meeting is over, and I started scribbling… A colleague sitting a few seats next to me, passed a note: Z, you look so engrossed. You’re not taking the minutes, are you? I replied: Nope. Unsatisfied (for I don't know what reason), she passed me another note: Huh? Then why are you scribbling so profusely? What are you up to? I handed her the paper I used to scribble, which goes like this: Jif Softlan Plastik sampah Scouring brush Kitchen towel Tissue Toothbrush Toilet Duck Mineral water HL Milk Calamansi Bread Milo Nescafe She th...

Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? ~ Fanny Brice The term cam-whoring has been coined as early as 2001 but I only learned of its existence last week, by accident. I was perplexed for a while but after putting two and two together, I figured cam-whoring means doing something sexually explicit in front of the camera for others to view and I wasn’t far from wrong. A quick google the next day confirmed this. And to my surprise, cam-whoring can actually carry different meanings: 1. The act of exposing oneself on the Net in exchange for goods. 2. The act of posting pictures or videos of oneself on the Internet to gain attention. 3. The act of taking pictures of oneself and/or with one’s friends excessively. Well, I guess the meaning of cam-whoring has evolved over time. I can relate to meaning No. 1. I mean, it goes well with the meaning of whore, although a whore doe...

Four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what the soul is. ~ Voltaire 37 things you should know about me: 1. I'm no longer a clothes horse (My wardrobe can't take it anymore). 2. I still love dressing up for the occassion. 3. I'm still a coffee drinker. 4. I'm still a loyal friend. 5. I still believe in love (I still haven't been lucky). 6. I try to go to the gym three times a week (Killer body, what killer body??) 7. I'm still afraid of the dark. 8. I still can't say no to people I care about. 9. I believe aestheticism is very subjective (After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, that is). 10. I still love kids. 11. I still have very few friends, maybe added one or two in the past year, but my friends won't be my friends if they aren't reliable. 12. I still try not to judge people. 13. I'm still open minded. 14. I still love CSI Vegas (But Grissom, do you have to go?). 15. I still love traveling. 16. I still love Europe. 17. I...

Creative work is play. It is free speculation using materials of one's chosen form. ~ Stephen Nachmanovitch I am me Round, jagged and pink You are you Square, jagged and black Do we meet halfway? Or do we just holler from where we are and let our voices fade in time? * Suraya and I played this creative game during a long and tedious department meeting and this is the outcome. My words are italicized, Suraya's non-italicized.

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. ~ Oscar Wilde I'm active but passive I'm busy but lazy I'm ambitious but static I'm hot but cold I'm funny but cynical I'm happy but lonely I'm creative but simple I'm angry but patient I'm fed up but resilient I'm sane but cuckoo I'm focused but distracted I'm centered but fragmented.

Cincin ini tiada makna lagi. Maafkan aku kerana melemparnya ke lembah jauh. Bukan aku benci. Tetapi bila segala kata telah menjadi lain, aku pun harus menerima dengan tafsir dan laku yang lain. 1992

Sememangnya aku suka mengungkapkan cinta tapi jarang dengan kata-kata atau setiap masa kerana cinta yang diucapkan berulang kali akan hilang nikmatnya Sememangnya aku tidak suka berjanji pada bulan atau matahari sebagai saksi kerana tidak semua janji bisa ditepati kuasa Illahi mengatasi Sememangnya aku tidak suka bersumpah untuk sehidup semati kerana cinta bukannya aku tidak percaya hakikatnya kita hanya hamba yang pasrah demi Allah Mungkin aku tidak romantik tetapi aku kan realistik. 1992

A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. ~ Anonymous Recently when I was at home, I had to look up a word in the dictionary. So, I quickly snatched one of the shabby dictionaries on my bookshelf. While I was putting it back on the bookshelf, I realized that I seldom pay attention to the bookshelf that I have in my study. Well, come to think of it, I rarely spend time in my study anyway. In fact, it has become more like a store room than a study. Realizing that the shabby dictionary really came in handy when I needed it, my eyes darted a glance at all the books that I have on the bookshelf, thinking that maybe, the rest of the books that I've neglected would also come in handy some day. Like the shabby dictionary, most of the books there are old, but I still keep them for the simple reason that I appreciate books and hate the thought of letting go of them. Some of the books are career-related; those that I had brought back from my offic...

(Dedicated to Suraya. My heart goes out to you...) Tidak pernah aku mengundang kesal setelah kau berikan sebuah cermin meminta aku melihat wajahku sendiri kemudian kau hempaskan berkecai. Seperti kaca-kaca itu aku tidak pernah menyatukan keretakan hati ini. 1992

Sekalipun aku tidak pernah pasti tentang perasaanmu namun keakraban itu cukup bermakna. Kita tidak perlu membina janji apalagi untuk saling mengharap bila tiba waktunya merah atau jingga warnanya kita terima saja. 1992 English Translation: A Note Though I've never been certain of your feelings this closeness means a lot. We don't have to build promises nor do we have to put up hopes When the time comes no matter what colour it transforms to red or orange we'll deal with it. 2008 * A buddy advised me not to translate the poem to English but I just had to try. The meaning is lost in translation,I have to agree.

Apa bisa kah disembuhkan luka yang berdarah dendam yang tak sudah sudah? 22.6.92

To be a good student takes as much wisdom as it does to be a good teacher ~ JJ Dewey Essay question (not less than 350 words): The advancement of technologies has brought many benefits to teenagers. As a teenager, choose a modern technological invention and discuss three ways how it benefits you. Provide relevant examples where necessary. Best Introductory Paragraph: ...If we compared to the stone age, I don't know how they survive their life without anything. We should be grateful because was born in this modern age with many great inventions around us. (I sure am grateful!) Best Body Paragraphs: The first benefits of this technology (handphone) is communication. This is because in old time we want to call a person that using a bird that still give worried to the people that send the message wether the message had received by the person or not. This is because there have many possibilities that might happen to the birds. (This guy is giving a voice to those birds. Smart alec! E...

*Smart alecs sure make teaching GRAMMAR a lot of fun! Construct a sentence using the Simple Past Tense, Simple Present Tense and Simple Future Tense. 1. Simple Past : 5 years ago, I didn't smoke. Simple Present : Now, I have a friend who smokes. Simple Future : 5 years from now, I will smoke. 2. Simple Past : 5 years ago, I didn't like shopping. Simple Present : Now, I like shopping. Simple future : 5 years from now, I will have my own shopping complex. 3. Simple Past : 5 years ago, I lived with my parents. Simple Present : Now, I live with my friends. Simple future : 5 years from now, I will live with my wife.

* The view from my (office) window To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent, that is to triumph over old age. ~ Thomas B. Aldrich So. Ramadhan came, and went. Eid ul Fitr also came , and went. My birthday came today and is going to end soon. How time flies. I realized this as I opened the window of my office and stood facing the palm tree leaves that have sprouted out to cover 50% of the view. The trees must be really tall, I thought, since my office is on the second floor of a three-storey building and when I moved in 4 years ago, the leaves had not reached my floor. When I looked at the leaves, I thought they looked every bit like the pandan leaves. Green and robust. Always branching out…growing and growing. Occassionally, these leaves would have to withstand scorching heat, heavy rain and thunderstorms but they still grow. One of these days, the view from my window will be completely blocked by these leaves. But that’s okay. Like the leaves, I suppose...

I can eat a man, but I'm not sure of the fiber content. ~Jenny Eclair 1. Josh Holloway I'll get LOST with you any time! 2. Patrick Dempsey Lots of MCDREAMY , please, take away! 3. David Gandy Row, row, row your boat gently down the LIGHT BLUE sea and stick to your pose! 4. Jonathan Rhys Myers Your wish is my command, BOSS ! 5. Takeshi Kanechiro I'd move to JAPAN for you! 6. Daniel Wu I want to be your SEIKO watch! 7. Won Bin There won't be any AUTUMN IN MY HEART if you're around! 8. Daniel Craig A QUANTUM OF SOLACE is never enough!

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1860 A blogger friend recently sent an article that appeared in The Telegraph regarding the resignation of Michael Vaughan who was the England Test cricket captain (Many thanks, Krishna).Well, to be honest, I’m not a fan of The Telegraph nor am I a fan of cricket. But I was glad my friend sent me the article. It really captured my interest. Not because of the witticism of the journalist but because of the absence of it. The article basically talks about Vaughan who weeped (there’s a marked difference between weeping and wiping a tear, right?); following a succession of other sportsmen like Beckham and Federer, to name a few, who have all cried in public. Despite arguments that it is indeed normal for men to cry (publicly or otherwise), the writer seems adamant that: Crying is for sissies. It is not cool for men to cry ...

Trengganu did exist once, as Terengganu does now. ~ Awang Goneng I came across Growing Up in Trengganu by Awang Goneng during one of my trips to UM’s bookshop. There were a few copies left and after reading the impressive blurb on the back cover, I quickly bought it. It took me quite some time to actually start reading it but when I did, it was unputdownable! I haven’t come across a truly captivating account of the East Coast since Che Husna Azhari’s Melor in Perspectives – a remarkable collection of short stories set in Kelantan. Growing Up in Trengganu started off as the blog of freelance writer, Wan A. Hulaimi. Because it was too good to exist only in cyberspace, a good Samaritan somewhere in Singapore decided to publish it. It goes without saying that this book is a collection of Goneng’s fond recollections of the time he grew up in Trengganu. Indeed, his powers of recollection are extraordinary. His accounts of people, places, food, history and Trengganuspeak leave me in awe....

*Smart alecs sure make grading a lot of fun! Question: Explain what is "received pronunication"? Answer (as in the Answer Scheme) : General British English - Known as RP - an educated variety of English which is used throughout the country - not everyone's natural way of speaking English. Top "Smartest" Answers: 1. RP can be described as something from the beginning has been pronounced as it is. 2. RP is a verbal pronunciation with or using the tongue to stress the sound. 3. RP is when you receive vowels and consonants. 4. RP means we receive the pronunciation from another person. 5. RP is the sound that is being said by humans when they are talking verbally.

* Smart alecs sure make grading a lot of fun! Question: Explain what is “small talk” by giving an example. Discuss TWO of the small talk principles by providing illustrations or elaborations where appropriate. Top "Smartest" Answers: 1. Small talk is talking in small voices but clear and people can understand. 2. Small talk is speaking silently and not disturbing other people. 3. Small talk means a person talk to itself, maybe the person wants to memorize and thinking about something.

*Smart alecs sure make grading a lot of fun! Question: What is negotiation? How would you apply the art of negotiation at a meeting where some people are opposed to an issue? Top "Smartest" Answers: 1. Negotiation is the art of rejecting. 2. Negotiation means brain washing someone to accept the truth told by us. 3. Negotiation is a skill to nego back with the people opposed to the topic that the speaker is presenting.

I write for the same reason I breathe – because if I didn’t, I’ d die. ~ Isaac Asimov This is not a movie. It is a true account that centers on me, who attends weddings and funeral only if they involve people she really knows. There is no romance involved, and she does not run into any tall, dark and handsome guy that she particularly finds attractive. The first wedding is her dear sis’s, whose wedding she enjoys tremendously even before the wedding begins. The second wedding is her dear sis’s friend’s wedding, a Mexican wedding which she also enjoys tremendously due to the fact that she does not need to don any baju kurong or kebaya . The only thing she does not like about the wedding is the food, which is totally alien, and which drives her to find a nasi lemak stall right after the wedding is over. A few weeks after the first wedding, her 80-something grandma passes. After getting two or three frantic calls from her newly wed sis, she drops everything and drives to Johor. As she ...

Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other. ~Anonymous It seems like it was only yesterday that I witnessed my youngest sis got married. As I watched her sat in front of the Tok Kadi , waiting for the marriage to be solemnized, all my faculties were frantically trying to convince my skeptical, doubting self that she is all grown up. Could this demure-looking woman possibly be: That precious bundle of joy that I had held and cooed in that tiny, isolated little ward in the hospital 23 years ago… That little rascal with China doll bangs who cut off the cats’ whiskers, put make up on them, then pretended like nothing hideous happened… That rowdy teen that I’d chased out of my house for behaving just like any other normal, hot-blooded, rebellious teen… Looking back, there has been a close bond between my youngest sis and I ever since she was a baby. I remember when my sis was just 2 or 3 ...

The sari is probably the longest running and oldest apparel in the world ~ http://www.bigpedia.com/ So. I felt like a Bollywood princess yesterday. Still do. Hehehe. I got a sari yesterday from two of my M.A. kids – Prem and Satkuna. And I’ve never felt happier! Prem bought the material a few months back and brought me to an Indian tailor. I don’t know why she felt like she had to buy me one but she said she’d really like to see me wearing a sari. She said I’d look good in it. I doubted it but when the sari was wrapped nicely around my body, I thought I looked hot! Smoking hot! Hehehe. Well, I am indeed adventurous when it comes to clothes. Satkuna insisted that she paid for the sari. Again I don’t know why she felt like she had to pay for it. I was thankful, nevertheless. It is unfortunate that Prem didn’t get to see me wearing it. I sent her my Bollywood pics straight away. And today she replied. I think she must have been beaming like a proud parent! Hey, Prem, get married fast ...

The unexamined life is not worth living~ Socrates Life is not so bad considering... 1. Other people have got meaner bosses. 2. I’m teaching the same courses over and over again. 3. I’ve cut out some people from my life. 4. I haven’t got news about my study leave application. 5. I’ve spent a lot on my previous trip. 6. I’m still single. 7. I’m celibate.

It is ever the invisible that is the object of our profoundest worship - Christian Nestell Bovee You don’t inspire me But you’re the force That delights The existence of night The fear of the unknown You don’t inspire me But you’re the force That comes alive in This bantering kingdom That knows no boundary You don’t really know me I don’t really know you But you’re my muse And that’s all that matters For now.

I think it's my adventure, my trip, my journey, and I guess my attitude is, let the chips fall where they may. ~ Leonard Nimoy Now that the mad jet lag is over, it’s time to scribble about my latest trip abroad. I’d like to refer to it as the U.S/U.K. trip, since the trip began in the States and ended in the UK. Pre-trip The trip to the States was my idea. I’d really wanted to meet Yours Truly (YT), whom I’ve virtually known for 5 years. Since the thought of meeting a stranger (a male one, for that matter) in a foreign land was extremely scary, I asked a very good friend of mine, Faiz, to accompany me. He’d mentioned that he’d accumulated enough Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Enrich points that would entitle him to a free round trip to LA. Since I was planning to meet YT in LA anyway, I thought we might as well go together. Luckily, he agreed. I’ve known Faiz for a few years now. He’s so dear to me, almost like a brother. So, the plan was for us to fly to LA, meet YT, and Faiz and me...