Melayu oh Melayu

Sometimes I am sick to my guts when I am reading such article in the news or mainstream media – bashing the Malays! Now, comparing the Malays to the Jews? Give me a break! As if we are not good enough, as if we need the whips for us to realise that we need to shape up of ship out.

This is nothing new. Even in the era Tun Mahathir, he was vocal in saying that Malays are lazy, Malays are backwards, Malays need reminding from time to time (it's clear in his Malay Dilemma). I was asking myself – are Malays that pathetic not to even worth to be emulated?

I do hope all these politicians know what they are uttering. What this does to the Malays? All they are doing is to build a huge gap between the ethnics especially in self-realisation and esteem. Why must we do this? I am not suggesting that we are fine. There are tons of things to be done! But by degrading a race over the other it seems that there is hidden agenda behind this.

Are you leading us to slowly take away certain benefits for the Malays and hence you could justify your statements in saying Malays are lazy. For example; let’s take away the subsidy of fertilizer from the farmers. Yes you got me right – slowly this will happen. When the farmers (high percentage of them are Malays) are denied the access to subsidy, they are not empowered. Lack of empowerment to self-build their own household economy will further deteriorate their condition. And majority of this will be Malays. Malays that are in some secluded places. Malays that are striving and struggling to make ends meet. Malays who are trying on daily basis. Malays that don’t need reminder that they are not good enough!

There are good Malays. There are a lot of them. I don’t even want to mention names. But where are these good Malays? No they can’t be seen, they are not in the media. They are not in the forefront, getting involved in the battle for the power as we see on television on daily basis. They are the Malays who have the dignity in no stooping so low, knowing that they don’t want to make a mockery of themselves by shamelessly fighting for power when they know themselves well.

If we are talking about Malays and the kind of Malays we want to mould, well, what kind of Malays we want to mould? Is that enough we want to build society of Malays that are good? In what sense? In terms of having worthless degree, worthless diplomas? Yes, you got me right. Who was the one, who changed the education system in Malaysia so much so, it is not competitive anymore. Everyone goes to universities, everyone gets their degree. What happens now? Too many of them and it is quite common to have a clerk having diploma or a degree now.

Where have we gone wrong when it was working just nice 25 years ago. Remember, those days, it mattered so much to get into Form 4. The drop outs will start going to vocational schools where they fulfilled the needs for the skilled workers and certain quarters would go on to enter universities etc. There was balance, something that is non existence today! Where have we gone wrong? Didn’t a Malay develop the reform in educational system to save or to destroy Malays until we get to the catastrophe that we see today? And now, brace yourself to answer – haven’t you got to do with where Malays are today based on what you have consistently changed over time to suit certain agenda?

I can go on and on about this. What sickens me is that; How very dare you to say that Malays need reminding. If there is a need for reminding, remind all of us – Malay, Indian and Chinese. Not just the Malays. There are millions of good enough Malays out there, who don’t crave for mentions, but deserve respect!

We have come a long way, and drop this belittling. I have had enough of this. In a nutshell, I would pay huge amount of respect over a Malay who hailed from kampong and possibly having parents working as rubber-tappers, who managed to get into a university over a Malay who came out of no-where, used to work as a gate-keeper at train station, and all of a sudden being elected as an ADUN in a state, and went on to build a palace that deserves questioning – and now, I pose this question back to you; Which is the worthy Malay now?

Sandstorm in Khartoum, Sudan

Khartoum, Sudan. Sat, 26 April 2008

Yes! I have just experienced sandstorm, right here. Well, memula masa tengah seronok chat dengan Luke dan Kodek, aku tanya la Luke pukul berapa tempat dia sekarang. Tetiba jadi kelam, gelap tempat aku ni. Aku ON kan la lampu2 yang ada. And then terdengar bunyi angin kuat, "Hari nak ujan kot ni". Aku ke beranda. Dari dalam aku dah tengok, keadaan berdebu, pasir, gelap tak nampak apa sangat.

+ Sandstorm in Khartoum, Sudan #1

Demi laporan terkini lagi sensasi aku gagahkan diri ke balcony ni hah (wpun aku joke joke ni, tapi dalam hati tuhan aje yg tahu sbb aku duk rumah sorang sorang, Matthias tak ada). Aku pantas keluar, terus aku rasa particles pasir terus menerobos masuk dalam hidung, mata. Ish, teruk benar rasanya. Aku nampak bebudak, macam berhenti main terus berlarian. Aku dah rasa something was not right masa tengahari - sebab pandangan aku tak nampak jauh, limited visibility.

+ Sandstorm in Khartoum, Sudan #2

Before this, org ada cakap ribut pasir kat Sudan. Last year someone told me about that. Perhaps, Tuhan nak bagi aku the true experience of being in Sudan, in a way bagus gak dpt experience ni. Lama gak ribut ni berlangsung. Aku tak tau la apa akan jadi post-ribut ni. Pokok tumbang ke, pasir masuk dalam rumah tu jangan cakap la. Tadi aku keluar sebentar aje tadi, ni hah baju dah bau pasir dah, tangan kesat dengan debu dll. Subhanallah...

+ Sandstorm in Khartoum, Sudan #3

And here is the video... [If the video doesn't play, that simply means Youtube is in the midst of verifying/validating it. Please come again to check it out, real soon <-- gila tak aku berangan ada beribu pembaca kat blog ni!]

The last Friday in Khartoum, Sudan

Today is my last Friday in Sudan. I called Nagi a few times to ask him whether I could go for Solat Jumaat together. I assumed he's away outside of Khartoum. He had been asked to drive the people to the sites outside of Khartoum. Normally, if he is around, he'd call me the day before. Anyway, that is that.

This morning, I realised there were rashes/itchy spots around my elbows, wrists and knees - that's strange. I talked to My0space and Luke about it. Both of them suggested the same - Clarytine. That was my mission after Solat Jumaat, to get those tablets.

+ The mosque - for my last solat Jumaat in Khartoum. I do not know whether I will be back here even though the customer really wants us to stay on

+ Jalan jalan cari minyak, sblm meneruskan perjalanan

I called Waleed. Thank god Waleed was willing to pick me up to go to mosque, then to run a few errands and of course to drive around for Clarytine. The mosque we went to is quite close the apartment. I do not know what's that called. But it's brimming with people when I got there. And it was so so so so hot. It is 43C today! You cannot imagine how hot it is out there. I feel bad for turning on the AC 24 hrs a day, but what choice have I got?

+ Imagine that, no you can't imagine! ;)

After the solat, I had to wait for Waleed close to 10 mins, showered with that blazing heat. We had to refuel the car etc. Only then we went to look for Clarytine. I was told that Clarytine has not been approved for / unavailable in Sudan.

+ Yeah I needed to leave with TWO, in case one doesn't work, haha

Seriously - everytime I go to pharmacy to get my medicine, there is dodgy feeling that I have. For some stupid reason I have this distorted thought that there is a strange mix of fake drugs + real ones in all pharmacies. I don't know. Perhaps, I watch too much Youtube stuff. But the reality is, that sorta thing does take place in Africa. Finally I had to settle for 2 strips of tablets which I have never heard of - then again, I do not suffer from this that often. So I don't know.

Before I dash off, I leave you with a REALLY nice song by Ahmad Jais - Harapan Kecewa; my little craze for now. Why can't songs be this simple, yet so deep. Enjoy it. Uh btw, I managed to download the MP3 version of that, and soon it will be in my ipod. ;)

Email to my former boss

+ I must stress that this pic has nothing to do with the entry. However, I was at Newcastle airport, while using the £1-for-20mins-massage-chair, I saw the screen. It is appalling to see how exorbitant the internet can be!

I don't even know what to write. Yesterday I got a call - asking for updates on this blog! Hahaha. This must be serious. Readers of my blog have started calling to ask for updates :) I am sharing the email I sent to my previous boss in the old co! Nothing serious, from time to time we like to talk about where Malaysia is heading to, besides some other personal stuff!

W'salam Pn Rose,

Well are you busy preparing for yr son's wedding or busy with filling up the pink forms? Hehehehe. That is a good start really. Did you buy any? Are u planning to buy the shares of TMI?

This is all market sentiment - I don't know how people see 1) The movement of TMI in the region, 3) performance of the mobile arm since it is a part of TMI (or the Mobile Arm has been floated on its own?), 3) JI in terms of repeating the same success in Mxxxx! I heard some rumours abt him the fact that he was not entirely the reason why Mxxxx is the way Mxxxx is... I dont know...

I had a discussion with another fellow consultant here in the office (I am delivering project in North Africa now). He was so mad the fact that there was this co that performed 27% (improved by 67% compared to last year, year on year), profit margin for 1Q when, there was an analyst commenting, it is not good enough when it was predicted to achieve 35%! He was mad since, no matter how well blue chip performs, there is stupid junior analyst who came out from somewhere and fiddling with Excel and came up with 35% and now, the fact that he had said that 27% is not good enough - market reacts to that since that is in the public! How fair is that? When they dont know what's the deal inside! Market sentiment, or analyst's sentiment.

You must be ecstatic about getting your 1st daughter in law. Great, happy for you. I hope all will be well, you can send the invitation card to:

[my address, blanked out]

{Thanks so much, I dont know whether I can make it, but sure, I appreciate the thot as always... speaking of which, please send my salam to your husband and family OK}

Speaking of election, well, I think the media has to have its own reform. Sometimes what's reported is completely one-sided. I am glad to see that there is a generation who wants change now. The explanation is simple; I remember growing up in kg where, my mom among the many, on the day of election would say "Ekau pangkah apo? Dacing ko?" Among them. It means that, in their head, there is manifestation of an image and not the future. And now, the wind of change has softly swept the kampungs, since the person who heard such conversation when he was 6 yo, and now having seen enough, I manage to influence and give the other side of the story to my parents.

But to my dismay, my parents even marched to the nomination office with a BN candidate simply because the candidate is; anak buah dia! Ops... yes, my second cousin I think and he won! Not only for DUN but Exco! (That is wrong! after all the information that I have shared with my parents...) I am so interested to go and meet him, and I want to know how he sees our kampong/consituency before he sees the world. I like to have a conversation with him, why the new generation is rejecting BN now... why BN is seen to be irrelevant in time to come. If UMNO is serious in fighting for Malay rights, this is not the catastrophe we must endure!

On the PKR site (please check their new website www.pkr.com, haha... kidding that is Poker Online website... hahahaha), anyway PKR, this is time to show examples and think out of the box - on top of it all, they must now walk the talk! If all is well, other states will follow in 2012. Show good examples, now all the key states are under PKR... well time to even do beyond sustaining the development. do something different. Create more jobs outside KL since KL is saturating now... BN is silly when they said, due to the fact that PKR are in certain states FDI is afraid to enter Malaysia, so not-right. That alone brings down the credibility of Msia and the impact, we feel it as Rakyat and when measured, the current govt is seen to be non-performing - tepuk air di dulang, kena muka sendiri. I think it was so uncalled for.

Anyway Pn Rose, on the work front... nothing new really, yeah some exciting projects and doing analysis, making proposals, trying to solve customer's issues have led to serious hair loss and more grey hair. Other than that things are dandy. I am off to UK for a week next week, for a break and I will be in Ireland on 8th May onwards. (tired, tired, tired). This work can be really exhaustive, mentally... erghhh... and i am not getting any younger.... Haha.

Rgds,

ZuL

Blowing things out of proportion

+ Sometimes, or all the time really, I feel it is not worth it to spend on crappy breakfast, esp at the airport. The stuff above costed me Euro7 at Schiphol Airport. It's a rip-off and it was just 2 plain croissants! This pic has nothing to do with the story below actually.

OK I have a story to tell. It is about work - unfortunately. Anyway, it is about how people can blow things out of proportion. It was my honest mistake, not even a typo, it was an honest mistake.

Well, I need to manage the delivery of information from a few vendors, that make them competitors yeah. Then, I sent emails to A and B, the 2 vendors. In one of the emails, I had included email address of B by mistake, when I was supposed to address only A. OK that was my mistake.

I was supposed to get updates from them since 10 days ago and then, up till today, they have delivered like 30% of the information when I need 100% by now. The people that I deal with are based in Dubai and Cairo. Goodness me. And now, A was accusing me that I did not take care of the sensitivity of the email and the content of the email etc. There was just AN EMAIL that I made a mistake on and I was gentleman enough to own up to it. I sent an apology email to everyone.

Things got out of hand - like someone in Sudan was attacking me. Enough the fact that I had owned up to it and he went on dwelling on it. Well, I said "We could have avoided the manic emails, if all of you are committed to sharing the information from day one. Yes it was my mistake and can we put that to rest so that we move forward. We have no choice but to move forward unless, you feel otherwise!"

I seldom make mistake like that. But, I could not avoid it. I am dealing with lotsa people with thousands of emails flying around. What do you expect me to do. At least I owned up to it and let it settle, keep your chin high and off we go - to the future. But I came to conclusion, these people, especially in this interesting part of the world and middle east, they like it this way - delaying stuff for no reason. I have noticed that. And the moment they realised that one point, I have committed the mistake, he was on and on about it as if he has testicular cancer because I fed him with contaminated Nile water! Even that, I will own up to it and say sorry.

Lads, after all, what's the fuss all about. It is only natural that I will be in touch with B besides A, since I need the best deal (in fact I talk to C, D and E!). I won't stick to one vendor. You think I am stupid?

By the way, it got me to ponder, if B had realised that there's competition from A, logically he'd be working his butt out to submit the response to my RFI. Instead, he kept on buying time and till today, I have not heard from B neither have I received complete information from B. In short, these people are total d*ckheads.

Out and about in Newcastle

+ The Student Union of Newcastle Univ

It was drizzling when we headed to solat Jumaat. It was not that heavy downpour or anything. When we got there, it was already packed with people. After solat Jumaat, lunch was waiting for us - 2 portions of rice/chicken prepared by Abg Khairun. It was nice.

+ Stumbled upon this welcoming poster so to speak, at the entrance of the old business school of Newcastle Univ

Then we headed to city centre. I bouught my facial wash - Clinique. Out of curiosity, I asked about their range of bronzer for men and also the fast-tanning cream. I guess the people were puzzled. Why would I need that, when I am already readily "tanned", haha. I forgot to bring my old Nokia charger from Dublin, we went to Argos - a catalogue shop that has everything. Hehe. The first Argos - out of stock. And I remember, from the website it says that there's another Argos in Eldon Sq. Faris was adamant that the outlet has been closed down or relocated somewhere - there is no Argos in Eldon Sq. I was not happy. I was sure there's one - upon which, I stumbled upon it and proved to Faris that I was right!

+ The controversial Argos outlet inside Eldon Sq

As we wandered pointlessly from Marks and Spencer (M&S) to Fenwick to John Lewis, I suggested we watch a movie. Off we went to The Gate. But there was nothing interesting. And I had this idea of heading back to M&S and had our evening tea - it was our latest craze now; having afternoon tea, plus tea-cakes with butter & strawberry jam.

+ Before we apply the butter + jam

+ After the butter + jam applied

+ Take a look around the Revive Cafe in M&S, check out the demographic of people, generally they are like 50 and above ;)

That was nice. Now, I have to call for a cab so that they will come and fetch me at 3:30am tomorrow. Argh, such a drag to go to the airport at an unearthly hour.

East meets West tema dia...

Mana kan tidak. I just finished breakfast bertemakan english - dengan fried bread, grilled tomatoes, serta 2 sunny side-up eggs :) Hmmm sedapnya, wpun ada orang komen tak healthy. Hahaha. Lepas tu pulak, utk minuman panas, buat pulak Kopi O Malaysia yang instant tu. Kaw! Sedap. Berselera di pagi yang mulia ni, sementara nak ke masjid tengahari ni - dan makan lagi sbb akan beli nasi dengan lauk pauk Malaysia dari Abg Khairul :)


Oh jangan lupa, sementara makan breakfast tu, Youtube hiburkan pulak dengan lagu2 nasyid sebab hari ni hari Jumaat. Maka berkumandanglah lagu2 Hijjaz spt Fatamorgana dll. Tu dia pakej lengkap, East meets West meets Middle East, hah tu dia!!!


PS: Luke resipi dia aku bagi offline la nohhhhh... Yg bab2 kopi ni pulak Luke, ekau buleh la substitute kan dengan KOPI JANTAN yg ekau boli kek Abu Dhabi tu... Bkn ko beli semua stok kopi - kacip patimah la, kacip aspalela la... segala ada

It is never enough...

Oleh kerana ada peminat yang dok tunggu untuk entry baru aku, you know who you are, so aku pun akan nukilkan la entry baru aku ni. Demi peminat, dan pembaca, aku berjanji akan jadi blogger yang bertanggungjawab. Haha. Boleh ke statement aku cam tu.

+ Church ni adalah landmark yg tak leh nak di avoid kat Newcastle ni, ntah apa nama church ni ntah. You can see the place is brimming with people, I mean students. Semua muka tak mandi. Sure Mas ingat lagi kan, pi lecture tak mandi kan? Ops. Aku yg penah pakai PJs ke lecture hall, ambik notes dan balik tidor balik!

+ Tempat melepak selepas seharian penat menela'ah sifir doblas! Sbb my clients like it when I recite algebra and equations - hah sapa cakap cam ni?

+ Ini lah dio city centre nya, aku pun malas nak komen sebab tak tau nak komen apo

+ Kalau ke Newcastle, jgn lupa ke Eldon Square, kat dalam tu ada kodai2 baju. Hehehe. Nothing yg menarik sebenarnya (sbb dah selalu poie kot), tapi ada la kedai utk pi shopping2. Eh ada green market gak, tempat beli ikan dan sayuran

Aku tengah berada di bandaraya Newcastle, UK ni sblm aku boarding semula ke Sudan untuk last part of my project kat sana. Lama dah tak ke sini, so aku ikut la Faris balik ke Newcastle ni untuk beberapa hari sblm aku naik kapalterbang semula on Saturday - 5.55 am Saturday ni, ala macam biasa la. Kalau aku ambik dari Dublin pun, waktu yang sama. Tak de apa yang meneruja kan.

+ Sesapa nak beli jam Rolex, bukan Lorex, atau Rorex ye, so bgnan dia tu dia, tersergam indah

+ I think it is about time for them to have new signpost, dah tua bebenor dah Yeop!

+ Monument ni ada kat tengah2 bandar, aku pun tak tau apa nama dia.

Hari ni aku tak tau nak cerita apa. Tapi tadi aku dok pikir one thing in general, atau specific - whatever we do, it's never enough. Tu lah conclusionnya aku dpt rumuskan hari ni. Mungkin selama ni aku nice sangat kepada orang. Ye lah itu dah fitrah aku kan, so aku tak kan pulak nak tukar jadi jahat kepada orang pulak kan. On the other hand, aku tak pulak jadi door mat. Kekadang I feel, it is nature utk letakkan certain people in the top priorioty, and then lain pulak yang aku dpt. Aku rasa macam kena betray. Kita sedang la sanggup buat macam-macam, in the end apa yg aku dpt. Memang aku tak harap kan apa2, tapi bila certain things that I discover buatkan aku pikir balik - teruk sangat ke treatment aku untuk deserve benda2 yang aku rasa aku tak deserve.

+ On the way back from city centre, lalu kaw tempat student duduk

+ Aku pernah duduk dalam student accommodation ni 1 malam dulu, teringat zaman2 student

Aku confess, ada beberapa orang dalam hidup aku, besides my parents/family yang I love unconditionally. Tadi bila borak dengan Kodek, aku realise sapa orang2 ni. I am glad they are who they are. Tapi aku tau, aku honest in what I do. Tapi kekadang aku realise, esp today la, makin banyak kita beri, manusia can jadi forgetful dan tak sedar yang dia dah hurt aku - may be subliminally, tapi, aku rasa macam tak appreciative towards my honesty in doing things for her/him.

+ Makan kat Nandos tadi, Newcastle nye Nandos HALAL, tu yg best tu. Kalau nak tau HALAL ke tak halal ke kan, meh tanya akak skirt pendek tu hah, muka macam dissatisfied semacam!

So, bak kata mak aku, kita tak de hak, tak mampu nak tukar orang punya attitude, perception, apa jua la kan. So kalau benda2 ni berlaku, kita concentrate on ourselves. As far as I know, tak de la pulak aku kena change to the better - cuma aku nak better control over myself. Buat aku pikir balik, I should be fairer to myself and be 'a bit more selfish' (not in a bad way) and pikirkan pasal diri aku gak. In the sense that, kalau apa2 berlaku, at least I can look back I have done enough for people that matter to me without destroying myself. Sbb kadang2 manusia jadi kabur bila kita terlalu berkorban, dan tak tau appreciate. Kadang2 people fail nak buat reality check. Betul la kata orang, kekadang it takes a loss to feel the presence. Bkn la sampai tahap kehilangan kan, tapi buat aku berpikir.

+ Student terlampau - buat kerja la sangat kan, atau surf Youtube tu? Sampai video Zur Eda pun jumpa gamaknya!

+ Huh tu dia, buah2an di letak di tepi meja study, sambil menstudykan diri, sambil menjamu selera dan mendapatkan vitamin2 yg perlu utk kecergasan minda

[Maaf kalau korang tak paham entry aku kali ini, at least aku dah let out apa yg bersarang dalam kepala aku sekarang]

Powerscourt - revisited on Sun 13th Apr 2008

I realised that I was so tired after hours of travelling. I had to be at the airport twice on 11 April 2008. While waiting for Faris at the airport, I sat at McDonald - of course having my favourite curly fries. I met a new friend - a Malay guy working at that Mc Donald. He was asking me whether I work in hotel industry - instead I told him I work for E, as business consultant. He started telling me that her wife is looking for a job too and used to work for E in M'sia, and he could not understand why the wife now has to go thro' recruitment co in order to get in. Anyway, I did not have answer to that, I just kept quiet and listened. Exchanged numbers and off I went.

+ Malasnya nak caption - so in short, I was on my way to Powerscourt. I needed to take the train to Bray, and then hopped on the bus 185 to Enniskerry/Powerscourt, where the Powerscourt garden is

+ Perhaps it is just not the season just yet, when I was here last year, there were thousands of roses. The pic above is one of the limited few flowers that we saw last Sunday


Saturday - Faris and I decided to go out to town to check a few things out and had a haircut, which Faris did not like it at all. We had to go back to the salon to get his hair attended to once again. The hairstylist was not happy of course - that made it 2 of them, Faris who was not happy with the haircut and the stylist who was not happy having to attend to the same customer twice. We went on to shop a bit - I was looking for new duvet, perhaps goose-feathers and stuff. In the end, we did not buy it. Faris said - it not money well spend since the one I have now is rather nice/ok.

+ Jauhnya Maya Karin datang, sampai ke Ireland nak promote filem Duyung!

+ Take a closer look - either the man is riding the dragon (which is a bit too small kan?), or the dragon is a part of his anatomy, congenital so to speak, hehe

Then, we decided to meet Itamar for dinner. I treated him for dinner at Bocca. It was funny when I met Itamar - he said; When will you ever be back here for a long time so that we can plan to do things. Haha. He looked rather he really meant it. It is hard when it comes to social life, but I do my best to keep friendship going, that is the reason why I keep small circle of friends here in Dublin. I guess in May, there will be more time spent in Dublin except that I have to deliver a workshop in Cameroon. Let's see to that, since the host is complaining tha my rate is too high and we are costly! Whatever.

Moving on to whatelse we were up to... Well it was hard to convince Faris to do anything. I don't really know. I love to discover what Ireland has to offer but he was tired - perhaps too much work and stuff and he felt like unwinding with less things to do. In the end we decided to go to Powerscrourt. I had been there before on my birthday last year with Zila and Ramlah. This time around I wanted to show Faris what Ireland has to offer.

+ At the Japanese garden

+ The Japanese garden

Basically, Powerscourt that's located in Co Wicklow is - Powerscourt Estate (Irish: Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens, today occupying 47 acres. The house, originally a 13th century castle, was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels, starting in 1731[1] and finishing in 1741. A fire in 1974 left the house lying as a shell until it was renovated in 1996 (Source: Wikipedia)

+ The whole garden, and the mansion as you can see. Nice ay?

+ Me and my artistic sense, it was a try actually. I kinda like it

+ At the end of the tour, we were starving. It was indeed a great way to end the trip, with a very nice fish pie, some salads and pot of hot tea. BTW, I must delare that it was one of the best fish pies I've ever had

I am so bloddy lazy to update with more stories. That is all basically. The weather was a bit gloomy but we were lucky to experience some sunny spells during the visit and we ended up having our fish pie in the drizzle. But, it was grand. At the very least Faris was happy to have seen that nice side of Ireland, and there are more of those places really. We ended the trip by deciding to take the bus back instead of train, so we could see more things along the scenic view as we slowly ease our way back to Dun Laoghaire.

When it comes to flying, I am always the unlucky one

11 April 2008, Fri

I am writing this entry from Istanbul Ataturk Airport while waiting for the connecting flight to Dublin. This airport – I would not say that it’s got things worth shouting about or is it me? Yeah, I guess I am numbed to the experience of being at the airport, checking out duty free shops and not buying anything, trying endlessly to find free internet etc. That is a snapshot of airport experience and I guess this airport offers just that, although not as extensive as some bigger and major airports, all I could think about is to get home. It looks like I need to endure 4 more hours of flight, 30 mins of chatting session with Itamar at the airport when I get into Dublin since he is at work today and a 30-mins cab drive before I am really home.


My flight from Khartoum to Istanbul was not great. Turkish Airlines just sucks big time. The plane. The way the plane was flown. The cabin crews. The food. Generally the service was just bad. The crews have this attitude as if they are forced into doing prostitution only to enjoy it a bit later, but further frustrated when they know someone is making £130 an hr somewhere in the UK *ops. I just don’t get it. It was a 5 am flight, yes everyone was grumpy – at I was. I had reasons to be grumpy. As for these people, they knew that they’d do this flight beforehand and I am sure that was not the first. Pull yourself together and show us where the exits are and how to inflate the jacket!


Anyway, I was seated on the isle seat – as always. There was this old chap (read: fart) sitting on the window seat – imagine this; mid 50’s, Indian-descent Turkish of some sort, with face that looks for trouble all the time! Least that I knew that I was seated to the World President of Moral and Etiquette! As always – I would put my blanket and pillow underneath the seat in front of me so that I would be able to reach them when I need them. Upon seeing that and on top of that, my feet were close to the pillow, he was abruptly striking an uncalled conversation:

Old fart: Excuse me, you... Pick up the pillow! Pick up the pillow. [He raised his voice from second no. 1, and pointing to the small pillow under the seat infront of me]

Me: *Looking perplexed and glancing at the pillow momentarily before looking back at his face*

Old fart: Pick up the pillow. You put pillow on your head. You are stepping on it with your shoes [at this juncture he had managed to attract a few pair of eyes and ears, how embarrassing was that? For me, at the very least]

Me: *further perplexed* [But I was still staring at him, blank look of course]

Old fart: You put the pillow on your head and others will use it. Pick up the pillow!

Me: [with voice that’s calm but firm], Look! Mind your own business!

Old fart grunted and he was green with humiliation for he did not expect that from me. This kind of people – people that don’t deserve the oxygen that they breathe, is somewhat that I labelled self-righteous, with no limit. I think that they are used to enforcing things around their comfortable group of people, therefore they tend to do the same with other with respect at the end of the list. What makes you think you can do the same to me? Not today honey, not today. I am at the highest level of my barometer of don’t-disturb-me-and-I-need-a-lot-of-rest-and-sleep! So he pressed completely wrong button.

It didn’t end there. It’s hilarious thinking about it. I saw him eating and drinking like there is no tomorrow. He did not realise he had just called for an enemy 30 mins ago. I finished my food early – since I did not like them. And I went to sleep right away. And, I could see that he was fidgety at times but he kept it to himself. I bet he wanted to go to the toilet and he has to go through me. Or, perhaps he did not want to risk it for he did not want to step on the pillow that was still at the end of my feet.

+ This notice just doesn't make sense! Found at Istanbul Ataturk Airport - in the toilet that is. As a blogger I am responsible to acquire and develop new content and entries for my readers, hence, the camera and in the toilet

I am heading back to Dublin! Yippie!

Finally, I have come to the final few days before heading back to Dublin. I am looking forward since I will get to spend some time in Dublin - get to spend time with friends, catching up with stuff over there, and more importantly to have that banana + nutella + ice-cream crepe by Trinity College. I can't wait. This time around, my flight will be at 5 am and then via Istanbul and then Dublin. I do not care. I will be in Dublin by 2 pm on Friday. I would then, in the evening head to the airport once again to fetch Faris. I will just take the bus. That is easier and cheaper, €7 for one way, and €12 for rtn. Not bad, compared to €50 by taxi (one way).

+ My house in Dublin is located by the marina. And, by the pier, there is this group of seals (a family I guess) that always hang around the same area by the pier since it is close to the fish-house and they always wait for the leftovers

Today, it had been a long day for me. When we were all (the guys = Tamim, Matthias, Michael, Fredrik and I), at Little India, Matthias got a phone call and Matthias and I were required for a meeting with the CMO at Rotana. I was puzzled. I could imagine myself unwinding at the apartment and now, I had to head to Rotana. It'd better be a good meeting. It was a meeting with the guys from Nokia. It turned out to be a good meeting and I had to capture the gist of the meeting tomorrow for us to move ahead in the project.

+ Aren't they cute? There are many of them, about 5. If I were to buy fish (hardly), I would turn up around 9-ish there, and spend a bit of time watching this animal. Fantastic!

About work - there is this new consultant in the project. I was mandated to take care of him in terms of giving him assignment and to monitor his progress. So far, he is OK. Well, I have been monitoring him based on the assignment I gave him really. Anyway, today I could not hold it any longer after he made mistakes consecutively - his problem is that, he is WAY too eager and he likes to make business judgement based on his personal views. He has no back up to his preconceived and premature conclusion. Then he made mistakes TWICE within 5 mins. And then I called him out of the meeting room and I had a chat with him, and I said "While I appreciate you being aggresive and all, it would be good for you to back your arguments with facts. I know you are eager to contribute, but, your eagerness will be killed once you are told that you make one mistake after the other. It is fine I can correct your premature business conclusion, what if you have made the same mistake to our client. You will be dead meat!" All he did was nodding.

Later in the evening, I got a text from him "Zul, I appreciate the talk we had. I will better myself. And this is not the first time I am encountering this issue. It has been pointed out to me before". Well I replied his text with "Brilliant". Haha. To me, I must salute him, he took my advice well and I am eager to see the difference tomorrow etc. Enough about work.

+ This is the marina I am talking about. I still remember last year, at 11pm during the summer, I went for a walk with some friends by the pier/marina

+ I like this pic, one morning on the way back from buying the fish :)

Oh 2 days ago, I spoke with Abah. He is doing well back in kampong. He asked me whether the parcel has reached Newcastle or not. Well, I did not tell him anything. I said to him - let's assume it has reached Newcastle. Anyway, speaking of parcel, abah quickly added "Zul, bungkuihan yang omak kighim haghi tu, pejabat pos tu dah anta balik dah. Kono pulangkan balik. Isik eh dah tak elok laie dah. Cumo bagi tau ekau yo!" Haha. That is the controversial parcel which never got to me back in Feb. Now, it is returned to my address back in kampung. Well I am sure all the rendangs have actually gone bad.

Weekend in Khartoum - again!

Fri, 4th April 08

Penatnya. Rasa macam the whole day I was out there in the sun and heat. Nagi called at 1, saying that he was downstairs waiting for me. He promised me that he'd bring me to An-Neyleen today - finally dapat solat Jumaat kat An-Neyleen, masjid yang sangat cantik. So kami pun ke sana.

+ Dah lama nak sembahyang kat sini, last2 dapat gak

+ Ramai budak2 ambil upah utk kilatkan kasut ke, selipar ke. Terpulanglah

Aku sempat berikan kepada Nagi phone Nokia yang aku belikan utk dia kat Malaysia. Dia ada cerita yang phone dia terjatuh dan tak tentu-hala sekarang nada dering dia, kekadang ado, kekadang sunyi sepi meruntun hati - so kat Malaysia hari tu aku belikan dia satu. Dia happy banget. OK lah tu kan dpt gak redakan dia, sbb dia kata boss makin marah sbb dia tak ganti phone lagi. Nak ganti phone, sesapa pun nak ganti kan, tapi masalahnya, kena pakai duit gak kan. Bos pun tak ada perikemanusiaann.

+ Tengok la gerai-gerai tersergam ni. Si peniaga sedang menanti selepas sembahyang Jumaat

+ Nagi bukan main lagi senyum simpul nak makan ikan tilapia ni

+ Eh sempat lagi dia berposing sedangkan orang ramai tengah menunggu ikan goreng dia!

Lepas solat kami pergi makan. Dalam kepala aku, nak makan kat gerai2 ikan yang di tangkap dari Nile tu, apa rasanya kan? Aku pun suggest la kat Nagi aku nak makan sana - wpun debaran di dalam dada ada, bersih ke tempat ni, ikan dia tu halal ke? *ops, hehehe. Anyway, kami pun pergi la makan. Mak ai, ikan dia bosa bona. Siap ada grade lagi, yang bosa bona SDG10, kocik sikit SDG8, kalau yang kocik boto tu, itu dah ikan bilis, elok goreng dengan kacang panjang, letak kicap sikit, hehe. Aku suruh Nagi ambik yg sedang-sedang sajaaaaa (eh lagu Iwan plak dah). Dia tidak cantik mak... dia tidak cantik mak... (eh silap, got carried away dgn lagu Iwan ni hah). Dalam pada tu Nagi sempat beli selipar, sbb selipar dia ilang kat masjid. Dia kata dia malu sangat sbb benda tu berlaku depan aku, aku kata "Tak yah la malu Nagi, kat Msia pun sama. Org Islam ni bukan semuanya baik2... tak yah nak malu-malu!".

+ Ke Souk lagi aku ni. Bukan la best mana, tapi seronok gak sesekali ke sini

+ Dialog pakcik tu "Naik lengoh tangan aku dok turunkan arragi, masuk ni dah 40 pasang aku turun kan... Kalau dia ni tak beli, aku rodok tekak dia dengan batang kayu ni karang..."

+ Masya'Allah Khartoum panasnya sekarang. Terpaksa singgah melepas dahaga. Nagi pulak beriya nak suruh aku makan desserts orang sini - manis nya!

Lepas tu kami ke Souk - aku beli lagi Arragi. Kali ni nak kasi sebagai hadiah. I bought 3 pairs. Alamak lagi berat la luggage aku kan. Tak apa la. Sekali sekala. Then lepas dah penat semua, aku pun balik la. Petang tu I went for a walk sebelom Maghrib. Bila azan berkumandang aje, aku balik ke apartment and singgah kat masjid sebelah rumah tu - untuk solat Maghrib sesama dengan diorang (masa ni lah phone aku nak bunyi kan, sedangkan selama ni senyap sunyi aje!).

Sat, 5th April 08

Hari ni Nagi datang dalam pukol 10.00 AM. Tujuannya, kalau ikut plan aku nak pi tengok Pyramids, tapi sebab ada masalah sikit tentang pertukaran myk itam (yes you heard me right), terhadap kereta tu, trip pun tak jadi. I am gutted la. Tapi instead, Nagi suggested aku pergi a dam - apparently cantik tempat ni. Aku tak kisah. I dont mind, asalkan ada aktibiti di hari weekend kan.

So sebelom tu, Nagi kata dia ada bawak anak buah dia, Mohammed. Mohammed ni pelajar univ - Kolej Sudan dalam jurusan perakaunan. Di waktu weekend macam ni, dia kerja kat kedai milik keluarga. Kedai ni menjual makanan haiwan ternakan - lembu/kambing. Ala kambing ekor panjang yang kita pernah tengok dulu kan. Hehehe. So, sampai aje kami duduk duduk la. Sebenarnya, aku nak check out gak, kedai ni macam mana. Lepas tu Mohammed insisted utk aku makan breakfast dengan dia - makanan typical Sudan utk breakfast. Ia dinamakan 'ful' yang dimakan dengan roti. Nagi kata try le, kalau sesuai dengan tekak aku ni kan. Tapi takkan tak try kan. Aku ni memang jenis tak leh jadi Anthony Bourdain dalam Travel Channel tu yang boleh makan segala benda.

+ Tu dia, guna botol Coke tu pun dah boleh nak siapkan ful utk breakfast kami. Memang aku kurang lalu la kan, tapi sebab depa dah beriya nak siapkan breakfast, apakan daya

+ Ini lah dia, di makan dengan roti pula. Ambil roti tu cicah la dengan ful tu. Lagi ramai lagi fun. Org sini memang ajak aje sesapa makan, bagus konsep diorang - bagus sangat, tu yang menarik tu

+ Ini anak sedara Nagi, Muhammed nama dia. Buat accountancy katanya kat kolej di Khartoum ni, pas tu weekend pulak tolong berniaga

Aku started checking out the surroundings and how 'ful' was prepared. Mohammed guna botol Coke aje untuk pound kacang merah, tepung apa ntah, lepas tu letak some kinda gravy, olive oil, a bit of greens etc. Lepas tu dihidangkan dalam loyang kecil aluminium and then we all macam makan sikit-sikit dari pada loyang kecil tu. The taste - not so bad. Tapi sebab tekak kita tak biasa, tak leh la nak berselera macam depa kan. Lepas tu Mohammed offered nak minum kopi, well aku declined nicely sbb aku tau sangat kopi Sudan ni, manis giler. And kopi dia pahit.

Kami teruskan perjalanan. Sampai aje ke kawasan Jebel Auliya, kat sini lah terletaknya dam tu. Jauh gak perjalanan. Apparently, tempat tu adalah tempat dam di mana air dari Sg Nile (white) dimasukkan ke dalam dam. Aku pun confused sbb - aku tak sure mana satu dam, mana satu adalah Nile itself. Ramai gak la orang di sana berkelah. Ada yang bawak keluarga dll.

+ Boleh tahan la tempat ni, cantik gak.

+ Satu lagi gambar yang aku rasa kalau National Geographic tengok, sah sah menangis nak beli gambar aku ni, hehe

+ Di dam Jebel Auliya ni boleh picnic. Gigi air ni di bhgn Sg Nil. Menarik gak, ada part yang cantik

Aku dioffer untuk naik bot = SDG30. Aku tak nak sebab panas gile. Tau aje la kan, kalau dah panas matahari dicampor pulak dengan panas air laut/sg, masak nanti. Lepas tu kena mandi sebab rasa macam melekit. Aku tak nak la. Walaupun tempat ni tempat berkelah, tapi kebersihan tak de la terjaga kan - byknya aku tengok bekas tulang kepala kambing (depa sembelih tepi pantai ni kot, terus salai ke apa ke), sampah sarap jgn cakap le esp kalau masuk bhgn yg byk pokok tu, air dia, jgn pulak imagine air kat Krabi tu kan, air dia ni berlumpur dan agak cetek la. Tapi ni la tempat diorang abiskan masa weekend. On the way back tu, aku offer diri aku utk drive - Nagi ok aje. Aku drive sebentar aje. Susah gak, dah pulak left hand driving, pas tu manual. Tapi OK la in the end. Kat sini, agak biasa kalau tumpangkan orang yang memerlukan utk naik bhgn belakang pick-up truck tu, dan diorang naik la. Ada yang naik tanpa hala tujuan, naik aje. Pelik tapi benar.

+ Puas mamat ni pujuk aku untuk naik sampan dia, aku kata tak nak, sebab keadaan tak mengizinkan... Nak aje aku tanya, "Jaket keselamatan ada?"

+ Senonoh ke tak ni? Beberapa generasi tengah naik boat ni, tak ke karam boat ni nanti. Kok ye pun, bahagikan la, sewala 2-3 boat kan?

+ Si penjala ikan dengan jalanya yang tertebar... nak menjerat ikan di dam itu la tu

+ Si penjual ikan. Ikan ni senang aje tangkap, jala aje... banyak pulak tu. Lepas tu dah dapat jual aje la kat orang2 kat sini

Masa nak balik aku offer Nagi utk belikan famili dia ikan. Ikan tilapia macam aku makan semalam. There were a few anglers kat dam tu, ngail ikan, tak kurang juga yang menjala ikan. Semua ikan kebanyakannya adalah - tilapia, ada gak baung. Ada pulak pakcik ni nak jual labi2 kepada aku dengan SDG20, and I asked Nagi to tell him "That animal is better off in the water, it is not supposed to be in your hand". Boleh aku menggila pulak kat situ. Tapi, aku ni kan animal activist. Dan dan tu gak aku teringat kat Jimmy kat kampung, hari tu kepala dia luka :(

+ Tengok la budak2 tu stand-by aje tepi2 tu dengan plastic bags, dia akan suakan la plastic bag tu kepada penjaja dengan harapan, plastic bag dia naik carta. Bila terpilih, dia akan dpt duit la. Aku pening tengok. Lebih banyak plastic bags dari ikan!

Penat betul lepas abis berjalan2 ke dam tu. Dalam perjalanan balik Nagi agihkan ikan kepada keluarga mentua dia dan keluarga dia. Lepas tu aku ajak dia ke Afra Mall - sebab aku nak beli ice-cream kon tu, dan aku nak beli jus pelam fresh dan juga nak cari dental floss. Susah sangat nak cari menda ni. Akhirnya semua dpt. Lepas tu aku balik, aku letih benar. And then tertidur.