story of my life

Goodbye

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:35:10 GMT

It's time for me to bid farewell to blogdrive. It has served me well despite some hitches in posting and reading the posts. After receiving complaints from friends sometimes and what not, I finally decided to move back to my old place at blogspot.

So, my ramblings now can be found at :

http://shamslyde.blogspot.com

Same name, same crap, same person.
Different theme, different house.

See you there!

How was your 60 minutes?

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:34:59 GMT

Ours (Syera and I) was spent in the picture above (pardon the quality). Yes, we went for a swim. A lot of our neighbours participated as we can see one by one apartment turned dark. Looking up from the pool, we could see few heads popping out from windows chatting with loved ones, enjoying evening breeze and some just stood there by their windows staring into the night. A family of four and another young couple had their evening walk and enjoyed each other's company. It's not a 100% participation as we could see some of the apartments had their lights switched on, but hey, Malaysians ranked number 7 in the world as more than 250,000 people registered to participate and support Earth Hour. Our neighbouring flat took the extra mile by switching off all coridor lights. I wonder how much energy was spared tonight.

So, how was your 60 minutes?

Earth Hour

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:01:03 GMT

This Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm you can vote Earth by switching off your lights for one hour - Earth Hour

Liza and Wan really put in time and effort in writing and promoting this event among friends and fellow bloggers and I am pretty sure there are a lot of other bloggers out there doing the same. Earth Hour received a very well deserved entry in their respective blogs.

It might not bring a very big impact to our global warming crisis by switching off your lights for one hour tomorrow night, but it sure does voice out how many billion people really cares about this crisis. And it might put some pressure on world leaders to act on this urgently and seriously. Let's hope and pray.

I am imagining how would Earth look like from up above if the whole world participate as different time zone switches on their light and the neighbouring time zone swithces their lights off. You got what I mean? ;)

Syera, candlelight dinner perhaps?

Always on my mind

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:52:09 GMT

Thanks to Kak Kui, these past few days Hetty Koes Endang's very infamous song - Kasih, has been stuck and rewinding over and over again in my head like a broken record. You know, the time when you can't simply get that song out of your head for no apparent reason and you keep on humming along and singing non-stop. Sometimes, it's just a jingle out of a radio advertisement, sometimes, it's a song from yesteryears, sometimes, it just bugs you after reading lyrics from somebody's blog. So, to cure this, I have been searching for that song here and there. Three days later after failed downloading, incomplete song and what not, I finally got it. Thank you Kak Ila! It's a great song, really lovey dovey, suits those of you out there who's really in love. You know who you are. ;)

So, this evening, Wan and I were talking about Anoop Desai, one of the American Idol Season 8 finalist. I did watch his audition and it really really took my breath away. Seriously. I suppose those who watched it have the same thinking and feeling. In fact, right after he sang for his audition all the four judges were silent for a few seconds and then only we can hear Paula said "I didn't expect that". Ok, ok. I'm not promoting or crediting him here. Right now, Always on my mind sang by him is in my head, rewinding over and over again. His rendition of that song is definitely not the same as Elvis Presley's but, it's just as soulful. So, at the moment his voice and this song especially fits my mood and my heart perfectly. Just like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Always on my mind is always on my mind. :)

Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best
Girl, I'm sorry I was blind

You're always on my mind
You're always on my mind

Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely lonely time
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
Little things I should've said and done
I just never took the time

You're always on my mind
You're always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't die
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, I'll keep you satisfied

You're always, always on my mind
The little things I should've said and done
I just never took the time

You're always on my mind
You're always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't die
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, I'll keep you satisfied

Five

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:19:27 GMT

Only He knows how lazy and uninspired I am to update my blog. It is not that I don't have anything to write or should I say type about, it is just simple plain laziness. Period. Oh well.

So, after a day with Syera which starts with a very very late lunch, I mean really late : 4pm, and a quick dash to the office sending in previous jobs and taking new ones, and show-tell my favourite tudung shop inside City One, and dropping by Cik's place to do laundry, Asar and Maghrib, and oohhss aahhss watching The Biggest Loser and Oprah, and sending Syera's pants for alteration, I finally decided to reply a tag. Takde kene mengene kan?

At last count I have five tags to reply but I want to start with the latest one by Puan Liza. Aci tak? So, here it goes.

5 things found in my bag
- purse
- house keys, car key
- pendrive
- smart tag
- facial blotters

5 things found in my wallet
- cash
- IC & driving license
- loyalty card i.e J-Card, Mesra, Bonuslink, Tesco etc
- ATM & credit cards
- bank in slips & ATM receipts

5 favourite things in my room
- bantal & tilam kekabu
- tikar buluh
- haversacks
- laundry basket
- books

5 things I've always wanted to do
- perform Umrah with Mama & Papa
- scale as many mountains possible especially Mt Rinjani & Mt Cook
- diving at Mabul & Sipadan
- kayaking around Phi Phi Island
- hike up to Angel Falls

5 things I'm currently into
- complete my ACCA studies
- enjoying Mama's freshmade breads
- working towards certification in water rescue
- fishing
- moving into a new 'house'

5 people to tag
- Ayin
- Dal
- Kak Kui
- Kak Ned
- Una

Done. :D

Al-Fatihah

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:07:37 GMT

Yesterday morning, I received a very sad news. One group of SAR volunteers who were on their way back from Lojing to Kuala Lumpur met with an accident. One of them, Suraya, didn't make it. Two are critically injured and the other person succumbed to light injuries. I couldn't write much here, because I am too sad eventhough I don't know her personally.

Somehow, at the back of my mind I was thinking about Syidu since they are working at the same place. And my thoughts are confirmed. Just got off the phone with Syidu and she is on the way to KL right now, planning to visit arwah's family in Shah Alam.

A relative of hers wrote an entry about her and that accident.

Al-Fatihah.

Exercise your rights

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:29:44 GMT

After battling heavy trafic, I arrived at college safely, 5 minutes to go before class starts. Thirsty to the point of dehydration, ok, exaggerate, I head to the vending machine in front of surau, hoping and dreaming for a cup of cold coffee. With high hopes, I slot in 80 cents and pressed appropriate button. The next thing I know, ice came blurting down from dispenser into nothing. Coffee and cream too. There was no cup there. I presumed that machine was out of cups. I stared in disbelief and frustration. Standing next to me was one of my classmates. She wanted to try again.

'Kot kot la ade.'
'Silekan' I said.

The same thing happened. Frustrated and thoughtful at the same time, I immediately called that vending machine operator, complaning about what just happened. A lady answered and she was very nice and helpful. There's somebody who is already on his way to service that machine she said. She'll call that person and ask him to return my money. Fine by me.

During break, I told my classmate about that call I made.

'Rajinnya? Satu call tu pun dah lebih dari 80 sen.'
'Tak sampai 80 sen pun satu call, lagipun, I was thinking about others before us and after us, kalau takde sorang pun make a complaint, rugi je la semua.'

She just smiled cynically and raised her eyebrows, almost mocking me. Few minutes before class ends, I received a call from that guy. He asked me to wait for him after class and he'll return my money. So, there I was, waiting for that guy and this classmate of mine was there by my side, waiting as well.

That guy came and he handed RM2 to me. 'It's ok' he said when I wanted to hand over change. No complaints from my classmate when I gave her money, instead I received a wide ear to ear grin.

To me, it's not that 80 cents that matter but my rights as a consumer that made me place that call in the first place. It's a sad thing if everybody that lost their 80 cents have that Malaysian 'tak apa' attitude like my classmate. 80 cents is a very little amount and a very little thing to put into a bigger scale, but if something so little and almost worthless as that is not being taken action against, I wonder how about other things that matter and have utmost importance.

Frankly speaking, I didn't have this 'exercise your rights' attitude before. This thingy only happened to me after I attended Corporate and Business Law class. My lecturer was a good one. She always narrated her experience in this thingy called 'exercise your rights'. She always stressed out that we, future chartered accountants should know and fight for our rights and never never have that 'tak apa' attitute. Not only lawyers should fight for their rights.

Once, she told us about her argument with an immigration officer. I suppose you guys who have a passport knows that we have to pay RM1 for that application form. And just like you, I paid that RM1. But not my lecturer. She fought for it, she kept on asking and hammering that officer with questions and rationale as to charging RM1 for a flimsy piece of application form. And guess what was that officer's answer. He said, this is for those old people and foreigners and non-Malays who couldn't understand BM well, so that they will not waste that form and fill it up properly. And this lecturer of mine asked that officer.

'Do I look like an elderly? Foreigner? Or somebody that doesn't know how to read Malay and fill up the form properly? I am a professional and I am very sure I can fill up the form without mistakes'

That officer was speechless and he just handed over that form to my lecturer while saying 'Jangan bagitahu orang lain saya bagi awak borang ni free.' Guess what, my lecturer gave another long sermon to that officer about fairness and equality. Poor guy.

I'm not telling you guys to fight with an immigration officer or any other government officers for that matter the next time you are applying for anything. I won't go that far, but certain things, yes, you have to fight for your rights. For instance if you ordered 'kopi O takmau gula' and received 'kopi O dengan gula sangat banyak yang belum dikacau' instead, and try to drink that cup of coffee without stirring it, how about just call over that mamak, ask him to take away that cuppa and demand what you ordered. ;)

Stopped

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:32:23 GMT

Search for clerk on Gunung Yong Yap called off

GUA MUSANG, Sat: Police have called off the search and rescue operation for missing RHB Bank clerk Mohamed Hassan Ayat Zainuddin, 28, on Gunung Yong Yap, near Pos Brooke 21 days ago.

Gua Musang deputy police chief DSP Aziz Hassan said the operation was stopped following a directive by Kelantan police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi here today.

"The operation has to be stopped as police have not received any new lead that can help us to locate the missing person," he said here today.

Aziz said the Civil Defence Department (JPAM) and the Fire & Rescue Department have also stopped their operation.

Mohamed Hassan Ayat was found missing while descending Gunung Yong Yap with 13 others on Feb 15. -- BERNAMA

source : NST

Setempat Henti operasi cari kerani hilang

GUA MUSANG: Operasi mencari dan menyelamat kerani RHB Bank cawangan Bangi Selangor, Mohamed Hassan Ayat Zainuddin, 28, yang hilang di Gunung Yong Yap, dekat Pos Brooke, 21 hari lalu, dihentikan semalam.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Gua Musang, DSP Aziz Hassan berkata, operasi itu dihentikan selepas menerima arahan daripada Ketua Polis Kelantan, Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi, semalam.

�Hari ini masuk tiga minggu kehilangan mangsa dan pihak kita menerima arahan daripada Ketua Polis Kelantan supaya menghentikan operasi mencari dan menyelamat.

�Sehingga operasi terakhir yang dijalankan semalam juga, tiada perkembangan atau petanda terbaru yang kami terima untuk membantu polis membawa kepada penemuan mangsa, menyebabkan operasi terpaksa dihentikan,� katanya kepada di sini semalam.

Beliau berkata, anggota penyelamat yang lain seperti Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (JPAM) dan Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat turut menghentikan operasi berkenaan.

�Selain polis, semua anggota keselamatan yang lain seperti anggota JPAM dan Bomba turut menghentikan operasi masing-masing kecuali beberapa pendaki yang juga rakan mangsa dilihat masih meneruskan pencarian,� katanya.

Beliau bagaimanapun berkata, jika ada petanda terbaru yang boleh memberi panduan untuk penemuan mangsa selain menerima arahan daripada Ketua Polis Kelantan untuk meneruskan pencarian, pihaknya akan menjalankan kembali operasi mencari dan menyelamat.

Pada 15 Februari lalu, Mohamed Hassan Ayat yang menyertai ekspedisi mendaki gunung berkenaan bersama 13 rakan lain dilaporkan hilang ketika dalam perjalanan pulang selepas menuruni gunung.

Perkara itu disedari rakannya sebaik tiba di Kem Agas untuk berhenti rehat dan mereka awal-awal lagi menjalankan gerakan mencari mangsa, namun gagal.

Kumpulan pendaki dari Kuala Lumpur itu menganjurkan ekspedisi mendaki Gunung Yong Yap terletak berhampiran sempadan Perak itu bermula 10 pagi pada 14 Februari lalu dan sebaik sampai ke puncak pada jam 11.30 pagi keesokan hari mereka terus bertolak turun jam 12.10 tengah hari.

Sementara itu, ibu mangsa, Norhayati Abd Razak, 56, berkata meskipun operasi dihentikan, beliau masih berharap ada petanda terbaru ditemui pendaki yang masih meneruskan usaha mencari anaknya.

�Saya sentiasa berdoa dan sangat berharap anak saya akan ditemui tidak lama lagi,� katanya. � Bernama

source : Metro

Please, pretty please pray for him.

Poisoned?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:14:05 GMT

Last Tuesday I came home quite late around 1am and the house is already pitch black. After plugging in my handphone to it's charger, I straight away went to toilet to clean up. I was facing backwards when closing the toilet's door and almost fainted when suddenly I heard a voice calling my name. It was Syera, sitting there in our living room, in pain. After calming myself from that near heart attack, I sat down beside her and asked what does she want to do? She has been vomitting excessively since that evening. At last, after much thinking, she agreed to go to clinic. We were looking for a 24hrs clinic like a madman in our area. None to be found. Crazy! At last, we headed to Pandan Indah. Arrived home around 2.30am and Syera took her medication and tried to doze off.

The next morning, she woke me up, asking me to send her to Pudu to catch a bus to Kuantan and from there to Kemaman. I suggested we go to Hentian Putra instead and take a bus direct to Kemaman. Syera boarded the 1pm bus and arrived safely in Kemaman around 5pm. That night I had dinner with Mel. She was in town attending a course in HKL.

Thursday afternoon, I started to feel stomach pain, purging and vomitting followed suit. It went on and on until 4am Friday morning. Dehydrated and delussional, I was thinking "santau?" then laughed at my own absurd mind. Too much idiot box. Alhamdulillah I got better with Pil Chi Kit Teck Aun and a stick of Nutri Bifidus.

Come Sunday, I still haven't heard from Syera. No reply from sms sent and no answer from calls made and I start to worry. Monday afternoon, I called Syera's mom and she told me the most dreaded news. Syera's hospitalised since Sunday.

She is still warded and I pray that she will get well soon. Do pray for her speedy recovery yeah?

Hiatus

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:01:26 GMT

Forgive me my friends, for I have been on hiatus for far too long. There is something wrong with our house's streamyx and/or my wireless adapter and/or my laptop but I can't get connected to the net. So, for the time being I am only able to read emails without replying, read blogs without leaving any comments and straining my eyes YMing using my handphone which leaves my right hand thumb sore due to excessive chatting. It is quite troublesome and irritating yet I have no other option. Right now I am connected through a dial-up modem which brings me to the speed of 44kbps. I know. Disheartening.

On a different level of hiatus, a friend of our rakan sepergunungan has been missing for 14 days as of today since 15th February 2009. It brings much worry to all of us. Rescue teams have been deployed continiously, they have searched hi and lo for him since his dissapearance yet he is still to be found. His entry a few days before he leaves to scale Gunung Yong Yap makes us feel a little bit sceptical, even the title of that entry itself makes us feel scared to the bones. But please, pretty please, pray for his safety in there, pray for his safe return to his awaiting parents and family. And please, pretty please, pray for all the rescue team consisting of police, firemen, JPA3 and fellow climbers who has been in and out canvasing all possible area deep in the Titiwangsa range. You might not find a lot of coverage on mainstream media reporting about his dissapearance, I am not able to explain why but my opinion is that, there is not so much use if it is reported widely unless he has dissapeared in the city instead. Nonetheless, there's a few here and there. Please, pray for him, his safety and his safe return. I thank you.