Light

“You give me a reason to live”

The warmth radiated, the passion emanated, cascading like a waterfall from her skin, bring me to fear. You are so beautiful, are you meant for me? I’m just nobody in the world of everybody, a small speck, breathing only to exist. Just as the divine stars twinkling in the skies, you are better than a million princesses, and just like stars, you’re out of reach. You are here… when the truth, I’m not sure of how I could live with you beside.

Bury the Horses

And there he and they march

The drums beat even faster

Every world collides

And the demon just got out

Sole proclamation of death

Whispers through the air

Black tears of blood

Mortal shells incapable of the end

A whimsical hope

A hauntingly sweet lie to the mind

Heat coldly creeps to the bones

The day clear as dark

Horses come and garrison holds

Fleshy arms bleed by metal arms held

For slaves are nothing but to rule

The truth is all but deceit

Before long, his victory is

Gaining a mournful defeat

Let the worlds collides

Only the winner takes all

True reasons are his enemies

And now silence echoes loud

Faith to the fate

Trusted in threat

Wishing Ya'...

A Sweet, Blissful, And Exciting Year Ahead!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hallyouuuuuuuuuuu~!

Kpop: one of those many facets of Hallyu that invades the shores of so many countries not just in Asia, but Africa, Europe, and the Americas. You can say the Korean Invasion started with that very series Winter Sonata. If you don’t know what Hallyu is, then let’s say you are not riding the waves.

So, what about Kpop? Kpop unites and divides people. Some people are avid supporters of the music and are willing to pay hundreds of Won… err… Ringgit, just to see their favourite idols. Others meanwhile belongs to the group of people who tries to steer away from the manufactured sounds of these Korean artists. Manufactured seem good enough word: three top Music Managements in that country seem to churn out more idols faster that you can see kimchi. Well, I belong to neither of the groups. I listen to Kpop music, and I have groups that I like [calling them idols is… err… not for me], but an over-the-top fan, I’m not. I like Jpop better.

Of course, I can’t deny their mass appeal. People love Korean groups, both male and females, and they are devoted to them that they know every single Korean words to the songs that they like, even if the fans really only understand a handful of Korean phrases – oppa, gamsa hamnida,and sarang haeyo being the typical ones. They love Kpop groups for their catchy, danceable, upbeat songs, or in many cases, for the cheery, bubbly songs, even if the people who sing the songs are 20 to 25-years-old males with Asian features. I find myself to love some of those songs. That’s the thing that makes Kpop, Kpop. Plus, their videos are always filled with all those slick dance moves, or mellow heartfelt performances. God knows how long they trained to get those grooves on – though you really should confess [especially the girls], you just want to ogle at their… err… physical attributes.

And that’s something that I think makes those Kpop groups likeable. Their… physical – attributes… [Okay, their bods…]. They work for it. That’s something that I really salute. Girls just can’t get enough of that hotness, can they? That’s determination. Meanwhile, some of the girls in the girl groups don’t really have that good of a voice [not that I have a good voice…], but they sure know how to strut and sashay their stuff on the dance floor. Just look at Girls’ Generation, or SNSD, or Shoujo Jidai, or SoShi, or just whatever that you want to call them… for all I know, you could call the group Stinky Tofus and those hungry Kpop fans would still come to their showcases… Now, back to SNSD, with too many faces in a group, I don’t even know who’s who, but they share one asset– legs… See? Of course, to think that they are grouped together just because of their legs would be something of a stretch... hey, why not show what you’ve got, right?

Talents?

Yes, you have to have talents to be in the entertainment business, and South Korea seems to be bursting with talented people. Just how many groupos appear in these few years? I only stick to those that I knew. Sometimes, many groups sound almost the same… their music are not that different, and of course, their faces… handsome or pretty, but I just can’t separate one from another. Only Kpop fans could recognize different groups. Some groups manage to at least distance themselves from the rest by being different – F.T. Island, for example, plays their own instrument [thanks, Amirah]. You know, people love groups, but there is a solo artist that I think is really talented. It’s a good thing too that she’s easy on the eyes [then again, they always are. Ask the girls]. She’s IU. I love her, and she shows growth over the years – from bubbly songs to more adult-oriented music.

So, I guess Kpop is here to stay.

Here's the Issue

JUST TO PUT THINGS INTO A PERSPECTIVE:

About 30 days until I reach this age:

21

I DON’T FEEL LIKE I’M IN MY TWENTIES!!!

Waiting

So, I was reading Berita Harian last Friday when I saw this:

You see, this is a letter sent by a Cohort 4 student. The C4 had graduated about eight months ago, but are still not posted anywhere. I’m not sure if this is a letter from Gaya’s C4 [my seniors] since C4 didn’t just exist in Gaya only – IPG Kota Bharu also had one before.

What the heck happens to MOE? I will be pissed off too if I am not posted anywhere after toiling for the past six years in my IPG and university. This is a waste of talents and teachers. Of course, some of them are now pursuing their Masters Programme. At least they have other things to do. How about for those who did not? The only way for them to kill time [and earn wages] is by doing other work.

I just hope their problem will be solved soon. I am hoping the same thing won’t happen to me after my class’ graduation… blahhh~

Gladiator: Fight for Freedom

Gladiator: Fight for Freedom

This is the first book from the new Gladiator series by Simon Scarrow. If you are familiar with the word gladiator, then you will get the idea that the story is set during the Ancient Roman Empire.

The novel is basically about a young boy named Marcus Cornelius Primus. His family is thrown into hell [well, hypothetically speaking] – his father, a former centurion named Titus, is killed, while his mother, Livia, after a failed plan to get away from their captor is turned into a slave in a winery somewhere in Greece. Marcus, who manages to flee meanwhile embark on a quest to save his mother by finding a Roman army general in Rome as instructed by her mother. He leaves his Greek homeland with nothing the clothes that he wears by being a stowaway on a ship. Fate proves to have another plan for Marcus as a sailor aboard the ship notices him to illegally board it and a fight ensues. A man seeing Marcus capabilities to fight finally buys him so that he can be trained as a gladiator in his school. His life as a trainee gladiator now begins, but his hope of saving his mother is rapidly diminishing. Unknowingly, Marcus actually holds a secret that even he does not know, that secret that will threaten Marcus’ life… and with it, the very foundation of the Roman Empire.

Basically, the novel is a children’s novel, and I’m 20 going on 21. So, maybe most of adult novel readers will not find this story a great read. The language is simple enough – it is not the kind of language that you could read in novels like The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, but that does not rob the excitement from reading it. I love the story because I love history. The novel really shows what it’s like to be enrolled and trained as a gladiator and the life during the Roman Empire as a whole. The characters are quite alright. Some proves to be fascinating, like the Athenians and the Spartan. A Celt who is the rival of Marcus is a good antagonist. Marcus being 10 years old during the course of this book is still developing. Perhaps more about him will be revealed on the second book. If you have a lot of free time, you could finish the novel in one setting.

The second book in the series, Street Fighter will be out on the next February.

Why I love 西野カナ

Why I love 西野カナ

Nishino Kana‘s cute

Nishino Kana‘s pretty

Nishino Kana’s Japanese

Nishino Kana sings beautifully

Nishino Kana’s songs are perfect

Nishino Kana always makes me smile

Nishino Kana’s my dream Japanese girlfriend

Nishino Kana has one of the best voices in Japan

Nishino Kana’s English and Engrish are pretty awesome

Nishino Kana’s albums always have the word ‘love’ as their title

Nishino Kana’s singles always have three full songs, no instrumentals

Nishino Kana always does her quirky fish lips in every single/album cover art

The Last Ink

We are losing something. In normal circumstances, these things seem to have infinitesimal importance to us. We don’t really care about them, but in the end, in a way or another, the disappearance of the seemingly innocuous aspects of life will have a profound effect on us. It is quite an irony because we do these things every day, and we take it for granted. The things are writing and reading.

Writing, we are rapidly losing our penchant of writing. At first glance it should feel absurd. Writing is the thing that we do every single day of our lives. We tweet each thing we’ve done, or say the things that cross our mind on the cyber wall… using our PC, or laptops, or smart phones. Some of us have blogs. In addition, we have forms to be filled, exercises, and other academic or non-academic stuff to write about – the main writing tool being the computer. Those are examples of what we call writing isn’t it? In a matter of speaking, ‘yes’ is the answer, but when we think of it traditionally, they are not. Each tweet has limited characters. The same goes to the comments and stuff in Facebook. We don’t write long materials anymore, and we don’t write manually much of the time.

I read an article in NST about this young 15 years old British traveller who visited Penang during its colonial heydays [at that time, there was no such thing as adolescence]. He gladly wrote a journal about the things he saw – the smell, the sights, the sounds, the life of the city. It is not a simple task to capture everything there, but this is the time when writing tells everything. The article didn’t really show the writings of the boy, but stated that the young traveller had brought to life the colourful and wonderful Penang’s colonial times with just ink and papers. You can’t beat that.

I think that is what writing is all about – getting the delights of living alive with just words. We couldn’t remember all the highlights of our lives, could we? Yes, we do take photos, but why rob the pleasures of writing away? We write shorter and shorter as time passes. We don’t know how to write well, let alone capturing the senses in our writings. Our essays are lifeless and bare.

Reading meanwhile is an acquired hobby. Why acquired when it is just a simple thing to do? The reason: many choose not to read. In this modern world, information and entertainment that you get from a book can come easily via the sprawling cyber web. Just a click and you have the things you want. Still, as with writing, reading things on your computer or your smart phones come with a catch [or two] – unlike the conventional method, reading with e-gadgets means that you are not engaging yourself with a higher level of comprehension and you will have an attention span that is short.

Besides, the novelty of the traditional book is something modern thingamajigs can never beat. Holding a real book gives you a feel of reality. Sometimes, you might even smell your book and heard yourself reading it out loud. Flipping a real book excites your senses, every page has new things. Imagine when you’re reading a novel, and you really, really want to know the event that happen to a character, or when you are trying to find an answer to your exercise in a text book. I think that is why books can be so engaging. They rouse our emotions in a way nothing else can.

In the lights of all modern conveniences all around us, we should not pretend that we are losing nothing.

70 and Above

So, you see... my parents are over 70 years old. They've been through a lot, and I can't help but to think when I look at other people's parents, the way they eat, the way they walk, the way they speak... they are not young anymore. Their health is deteriorating. It is not something that you can hide or run from. Eventually, your body will succumb to health issues.

My mom and dad... they are not like the others. Sure, they experience fatigue and minor or mild sickness, but they are still pretty much alright. My mom still cooks, my dad still spends his mornings selling vegetables with his  ye trusty olde' bike [that bike sounds like a motorboat rather than a motorcycle...], and you couldn't stop them from doing anything... old folks, they'll get restless if they can't do anything. In one way, I'm grateful to see them still active and err... nags at me at times...

I'm left thinking, what'll happen in 10, 20 years time? They've been with me for so long. Sometimes [or perhaps lots of times] I didn't really follow the stuff they've said, but that does not mean I don't love them. Living away from them in KK does bring lots of realisations about how underrated my feelings are towards my family. Perhaps, lots of us think we really love them, but do we really show that we love them?

I don't know what'll happen in 10, 20 years time... but now is the time that counts [though I have the hunch I'll still never follow everything they may say... err... sorry mom and dad...]

This is Wrong

First of all, writing a blog post in a cyber cafe is intimidating... it feels as if a million eyes are watching you from all directions, or maybe it's just me with my superior negative emotion of imminent death... blah~ Who cares.

Anyway, tempests always happen like every single day. Maybe the rain will continue for a month or two. It IS the monsoon season, so that's obviously the thing that should occur to this state. Imagine if snow falls... you can blame human for destroying the earth... me included~ WHAM. But anyway, yay, I can't remember the thing that I want to write... err... oh yeah... today's sunny though, hence I'm here in the village's CC. Get it?

My mom's mad at me for not getting out from the house... it seems that after months of staying in KK, I don't really want to get out from my home and go anywhere. It's normal isn't it? Or not? And duhhh... I haven't studied yet. Exam's in January. Not a good way of thinking.

So, without my laptop, I'll just rant here... and that's not beneficial... Help me~!

[Here's one more thing: Pos Malaysia said that a bag from Kota Kinabalu would take about a month to reach the Peninsular via the big blue sea... So, not true. Mine only took a week. That's a job well done... or maybe someone decided to give me a kind of one in a million chance of having my bag flown [flown with an aeroplane... I'm being too perfectionist here... burrr~!] So, uhhh... thanks?

Missing

Sometimes, you just don't get the thing that you've wanted since forever. It's alright to be sad or disappointed in the beginning, but in the end, the only reasonable thing to do is to get over that sinking feeling.

Maybe, you're not destined to have that. More great stuff awaits you, install in the near future. Don't fret. If you can't be strong again, then you ought to kiss your awesome chances goodbye.

The Last [for Now]

I'm going back to Terengganu today [its past midnight, peeps]. Next January will be the time for my second semester’s final exam, and I'll turn 21 by then... I can't believe I'm actually 20 [or 21 later]... 20? Doesn't feel like one. Anyhow, then I’ll be leaving Sabah and IPG Gaya for two years. UiTM Shah Alam will be my new home. Expectations and realities are not always the same. I just hope I’ll be having a great time there… though I know I’ll be missing my friends, my lecturers, my IPG, the life in KK, everything here in Sabah.

The sun will rise to end the dark, but sometimes, you want the darkness, because that’s when you see the stars in all their glory. All the same, the constellations on the other side might just be the same as here.

Broohaha

Lucky me… Taufik, you dragged me into this whirlwind of catastrophe… hahaha~ Just kidding. Well, he tagged me, so yeah… I’m doing this because I was tagged, get it?

So, the questions?

What is the wallpaper of you phone?

An animated primate, with a duck on a pond, with a drawing of a city behind. Main colour: green.

What makes you unique?

I’m sloppy… Muahaha~ I think I’m unique because I always spend hours and hours reading things in Wikipedia, or Nat Geo Mags, or other stuff… is that even unique? I listen to Jpop in Kpop dominated world… Booyeah~! Ok… maybe not…

The last time you were angry? Why?

Nah~

Are you giver or a taker? Why?

I don’t really know, though it seems as if I’m a giver more than a taker… hahaha~!

Your favourite hangout? Why?

Jesselton Point. I love the place and its ambience, especially at night. My second fave hangout, A&W, because of its Mozza burger and hot dog… yeah, they’re BLOODY AWESOME!

What is your favourite mistake?

A mistake where I can learn from it, such as grammatical mistakes in my writings. Yeah, that’s my favourite mistake. What? You think I’m going to write something love-related? Euwww~

What were you doing before doing this?

Writing another blog post about Kelly Clarkson, and now I’m penning this.

What and who you were afraid of?

Dementor and Lord Voldemort… hahaha… well those're obviously inapplicable here. Errr, I think I’m afraid of sarcasm(?), anything from the Blattaria or Blattodea family… and my mom when she’s angry.

Your childhood nickname? Really?! OMG!

Just Afiq… See, not that ‘OMG’-inducing name, isn’t it?

Your most embarrassing moment is?

Becoming to hyperactive in front of the public… last happened in CP. [See there? My favourite mistake... using the word 'to' when I intended to use the word 'too'...]

What was the strangest dream you ever had?

I had lots of dream, all strange, never normal. My mind has lots of imagination so it tends to create nonsensical things in my head. In fact my dreams were really strange that if I tell you about one of it, it will stir controversies, so no, I can’t tell…

Kelly Clarkson is becoming Stronger

Kelly Clarkson is back and she’s stronger than ever!

The girl ain’t playing with this album, yaw! You think All I Ever Wanted is magnificent? Wait ‘til you listen to this CD! You’re gonna get track after track of pure rockin’ attitude! How ‘bout that?

Stronger is mainly focused on love, strength, empowerment. Lyric-wise, the writers were really, really awesome! Kelly helped to pen in some of her own original ideas too. You can’t also deny that she has a great voice. I think she’s 100 times better than many other artists in the US.

The album plays heavily on pop rock tunes, but its R&B songs are awesome as well. It also features some tinges of country.

Here’s the track listing:

Mr. Know It All

What doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)

Dark Side

Honestly

You Love Me

Einstein

Standing In Front Of You

I Forgive You

Hello

The War is Over

Let Me Down

You Can't Win

Breaking Your Own Heart

DELUXE EDITION

Don't You Wanna Stay (with Jason Aldean)

Alone

Don't Be a Girl about It

The Sun Will Rise (feat Kara DioGuardi)

I love all tracks here, but my favourites are What doesn’t Kill You (Stronger), Honestly, You Love Me, Einstein, I Forgive You, The War is Over, You Can’t Win, Don’t You Wanna Stay, and The Sun Will Rise.

Kelly is just UH~MA-ZING!!!

Langadon Oku Dika

Time sure flies fast. Two and a half years seemed to be long, but here I am, in just about two days, I’ll be leaving Sabah for my holiday, and then the final examination for the second semester will take place in January. Not forgetting, UiTM Shah Alam is going to be my new home March next year.

Sabah has become dear to my heart these past two and a half years. This place is where I learn to be independent [slightly independent, hahaha…], meet new friends, knowing new cultures, and most importantly, I get to know myself better. Lots of highlights of my life took place here, for instance, I acted in the theatre, organising TESL Night, organising Big Book… that’s IP stuff of course. I got to meet VBC and Aizat, visited different places, even simple things, like learning how to use ‘bah’ [though I still don’t know how to use it correctly], or celebrating Pesta Kaamatan, and seeing Mount Kinabalu… all those things will indeed be precious memories that I’ll treasure.

Of course this will not be the last time for me to step my feet in this charming state. I’ll be back for my last year here, but that’s in another two years. Still, North Borneo is not the end of those surprises. New things will await me in Shah Alam, or KL, or Klang Valley… UiTM to be exact.

I don’t know how my life there’s going to be. All I know is UiTM and IPG are two different worlds. I am going to miss being in Gaya, but I am looking forward to my all-new experience in a university. You know something? I never thought that I’ll be a university student. So, it’s kind of absurd… hahaha, but anyhow, a chapter is about to close, and a new one will be written soon.

I will miss Sabah.

Permanent Memoir

I was a thought

Gone were the days

When I was

Missing from the mind

As words came in

And printed

A permanent memoir

And then

Gone

Into oblivion

Cheyenne

“But Cheyenne,” he spoke, “you stole my heart.” The boy pleaded to her with those hopeful shimmers in his eyes. He said it like what she did was a crime cruel enough to get him dead.

Oh, still September moved on, as the red wall chipped and flowers began to wilt.

Heaven

We once

Created heaven

Where we happily played

We believed in the paradise

But time

Imprisons us

And we’re left

With all we have

Forgotten

The space is

Disappearing

We’re living

With just

Shells

Jupiter

Lo

A

Single drop

Of Jupiter’s ray

And I feel your face

The warmth

August as

The

Lovely paintings

I curate

Do

Not

You

As yet

Realise?

Your heart

Shines

From

Afar

As I see

A sole sun

Shatters

Mine

Top Choices of Two Thousand and Eleven

The year hasn’t end yet, but anyhow, here’s the list of my favourite movies of 2011 [since I know I won’t be watching any other films after this anyway… muahaha~!].

Motion Picture of the Year/Best Fantasy

HP7 – Part 2

I’ll be damned if I don’t put this as my favourite motion picture of 2011. HP is our childhood, and the end of it signals the end of our epic magical journey with the greatest trio of all time.

Best Sci-fi

Real Steel

It’s also the runner-up for the Motion Picture of the Year. A father-son story with a robotic twist! Awesome performances from Hugh and Dakota and Evangeline and Atom! The battles, the emotions… everything makes the movie wonderful.

Best Action-adventure

Sucker Punch

Girls [especially Baby Doll], imagination and the cool music, and all those fights… Nuff’ said.

Best Teen Movie

I am Number Four

Number 4 and 6 plus Sam rock, the aliens suck and of course, Dianna Agron!

Best Animated Feature

Kung Fu Panda 2

Our favourite panda and his sidekicks kung-fu-kick some enemies here! It’s a real family animation with lots of moral values… and hilarious moments. Don’t forget about the inner peace!

Best Drama

Contagion

What will the world looks like if a virus spreads rapidly? People will fear the others, and the society will collapse to the ground as humans die. This medical thriller tells you all, the real science-approved way.

Best Comedy

Horrible Bosses

It’s a black comedy to be exact, and the funnily dark premise makes it quite different from other comedies.

Best Local Feature

Nasi Lemak 2.0

Political issues aside, this movie is indeed a window to the real issues of our country, but it also shows that the panoply of people in Malaysia is the thing that makes our country beautiful, just like a nasi lemak and its wonderful ingredients.

Honourable Mentions

Best Concert Movies

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Glee 3D

Runner-up for Best Action Adventure

Thor

Runner-up for Local Feature

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa

They Forced Me to Watch the Damn Thing Award

Final Destination 5