Ikhwan and his toys - I hope Ikhwan will always remember his Thomas & Friends toy collections
Last 1st April marked the day when Ikhwan turned 3 years old. His current obsessions include Thomas and Friends, raksasa (monsters), Ultraman, cars and the animals (elephants, ducks, tigers etc).
For most parents in the world, some of the earliest things they teach their kids would be the 'A', 'B', 'C' and what better ways to make that learning interesting for the kids other than to match the letters with animal names such as 'C for cat - meowww', 'E for elephant - eeekkkkk' and 'T for tiger - aummmmm'. Likewise for Ikhwan. This (the learning of A,B,C), together with the catchy 'Old McDonald' song and the recent family visit to the Safari in Malacca (I will write more on this soon), has contributed much to Ikhwan's fascination with the animal world.
Cars - I'm not a caratic (car fanatic, hehe), but once in a while, I do read articles on cars or buy car magazines. I notice that whenever that happens, Ikhwan will always want to take a peek, if not wanting the paper/magazine all to himself. I guess his liking for cars is in his genes. I just push his interest further by buying him some car toys and letting him watch Cars (the cartoon). Also, the fact that he always sits in the front passenger seat whenever we ride together since he was little, may have also played the part in arousing his curiosity on cars. I remember when I just got my new car last November, he kept saying, "Car Ayah, car baru" (baru means new - you see, we Malaysians always mix the language, even the little ones).
Ultraman and monsters - thanks to our previous baby sitter whose son always play the Ultraman video game, and his mother, who entertained his request by buying him some Ultraman movies, he always imagined himself as Ultraman. Whenever he said, "Ayah, nak yash!" - that would mean he wanted some 'sparring' sessions with me (don't ask me where he get the word yashfrom). He was always Ultraman, while I was a monster.
Guess the Ultraman stories always depict monsters as baddies and uncool - until one day, he caught the movie Ice Age 3. That movie completely changed his perception on monsters. Nowadays he is always a monster. I remember one day, when he was pretending to be a monster, I asked him "Who am I?" He immediately replied "baby elephant" (in reference to Ice Age 3). Funny huh? I would prefer to be named a father elephant instead. Our roles have reversed somehow haha.
Recently, all three of us watched the movie 'How To Train A Dragon' at the cinema. As expected, he had a blast!!!
Thomas and Friends (T&F). I admit, it's all me who started it. You see, when I was a kid, I've always wanted a train set, with all those little houses, little trees, little people, mountains, animals etc etc. But that would be a ridiculous thing to ask from parents yeah?
So now, I'm living up my unfulfilled childhood fantasy through Ikhwan by telling him "Let's watch T&F on the Disney channel". Not enough with that, I bought him (close to 10) T&F DVDs, T&F story books and lots and lots of railway lines (ops sori, that's the line from T&F opening sequence, heeee). I meant lots and lots of T&F toys. This way, I get to be a kid again - minus the diapers, haha!!!
I memorise the T&F theme song and always sing it to him. Imagine a jovial dad singing to his kid - Disney style. By Disney style - I mean 'hitting' high frequencies when reaching the end of the song and spreading my arms out while doing so.
I also teach Ikhwan the different characters from T&F - Thomas (of course), James, Percy, Emily, Toby, Gordon, Henry and Edward. Impressively, Ikhwan has memorised them all. Even if the pictures in his books don't clearly show which particular characters, he can still tell the difference and name them correctly. I remember how one night, my wife tried to make up her own storyline and blindly named the train characters in one of his books. She ended up being corrected by Ikhwan due to wrong names given..... :-)
Anwyay, here are photos of our T&F toys (mine and Ikhwan's that is, hehe).
Twist the knob and see Thomas moves along the 'railway line'.
I just love Percy and his carriages. The chocolate did actually smell like chocolate, for quite some time after it was unwrapped.
Don't you just love (I guess) Harold the helicopter, carrying Sodor mails? When you pull Thomas, the fans of the planes will spin around, while the crane at the back of the lorry will turn left and right.
Flick one of the switches at the back of Percy - you can hear the choo choo sound when you move it. Flick the other - it's the theme music. For James, his eyes will move as he is pushed or pulled. Thomas has switches that will turn either the front or the back lights on.
I haven't opened this toy set yet. I'm waiting until we have finally moved into our new home in about 2 months' time or so.
The first Toby has slide shows, viewable from the lense. The other Toby 'gives' you three different surprises everytime the door is closed and then opened back again. Plus, what better way to brush your teeth while on the train, if not using T&F toothbrush eh? Ok, I'm rambling... Heck, it's close to 1am.... This is all Ikhwan. His imagination must be running wild when he arranged the toys like this, or he was probably remembering episodes from T&F, where the coaches always ended in trouble whenever they reached the dead end at high speeds. Sadly, Emily was considered useless and thus, thrown into the bins :-)
P/S: While it may seem that Ikwan and I are very tight, he's actually closer and cheekier with his mother. Not that I blame him or feeling jealous with my wife or anything, but I do know the reason behind this. This had something to do with what happened in the past, when I, a new father with still a lot of temper issues to handle, was left with a baby, and my wife's work schedule was a lot crazier back then. What I may reveal in a future post may shock you, and possibly Ikhwan, should he reads this when he's older...
I will always remember...Ikhwan's sleeping habits...
A quick glance at the above photos, may make you to think that they show some kind of skin rashes or diseases or something. Or perhaps burn marks?
Well, neither is correct. Actually, that's what happen whenever little Ikhwan sleeps on my hands a little too long - he would leave his 'ear' mark on my skin.
Ever since he was less than a year old, he really likes to sleep on our palms - guess they are just the right sizes to be his small pillows!
Only when he is fast asleep, would we gently lift our palms away. Cute - if you ask me. I just love watching him falling asleep. How he slowly dozed off - eye lids could hardly remain open (and in the process, I too would start to doze off, haha...) On the occasions that he slept for too long on our hands (his other favourite is to put his head on the lower arm, close to the elbow), our hands would feel so cramped, we could hardly move them.
Surely, when he's grown up enough, this sleeping habit of his would be a thing of the past. He may not remember it anymore, but I will surely remember it, and thus, 'documenting' it in this blog is one sure way! Even now, he's slowling starting to 'drift away' from this habit. He would rather, despite how cumbersome it is, cling on to his Thomas, Percy and Toby trains than to hug our hands before he sleeps, and Thomas, Percy and Toby trains would be the first things he would look for when he wakes up. Talk about 'obsessed' huh? Which reminds me, how at one time, he liked the song Obsessed by Mariah Carey :-)
Anyway, here's another photo which clearly shows my hand being pinned underneath Ikhwan's head while he was asleep. See how my palm is directly under his cute chubby cheek?
Mizunderstood - some 'little' jokes to brighten your day!
Here are some little ‘jokes’ that I want to share, based on real life experiences. Hopefully, they will brighten up more, your already brightened day!
For those who know me well, they'd know that I’ve been working in the field of Intellectual Property (IP), especially in patents, throughout almost my entire career life. Prior to working for the present company, I was with this IP firm called Michael Yeoh (not the real name).
Now, here’s a typical conversation that took place whenever I tried to explain to people (especially those I just met at functions not related to my job and I didn't bring my name cards), about the line of work that I do. Usually, it would start with the other person struggling to get my name right... sigh...
Person A: Hi! I'm A
Me: I'm Abdun..
Person A: Hi Abdul... Me: No, not Abdul, but Abduuuuunnnnn (see how I pronounced my name as though reciting an Al Qur'an verse with tajwid Idgham Maal Ghunnah)
Person A: Errr... Sori, so, how to spell your name? Me: It's A-B-D-U-N, with the N, not L...
Person A: I see, so, it's A-D-D.... Me: (thinking quietly) Are your trying to spell out the word ADDRESS?
So, after sorting that matter out, here's the next confusion that ensues:
Person A: So, where do you work? Me: I work with this firm called Michael Yeoh. Person A: Michelle Yeoh? The actress? Me: No… no… Michael Yeoh … (emphasizing on the word ‘Michael’) Person A: So, what does it do? Me: It’s an IP firm….. Person A: I see, so you are an IT person… you do computer programming? Me: No, not IT, but IP…. Intellectual Property! Person A: Property? So, the company builds condos or what? Me: Intellectual Property is ‘Harta Intelek’ – you know those Trademark and Copyright stuffs… But I deal mainly with patent matters. Person A: Patterns? You are a designer? You design clothing patterns?
Usually, at this point of time, I’d be too lazy to carry on with the conversation and tried to change the topic to something else, say… like the weather for instance. Now that I’m with a well known company, finally, whenever someone is asking me where I work now, I can simply say the name of the company, without being misunderstood by the other party.
Talk about being misundersood, my son, Ikhwan, despite his young age of just turning slightly over two years old, had been misunderstood by people too.
For a start, people always say Ikhwan looks like a Chinese. So, when Ikhwan grows up, he will probably get that a lot more (be mistaken as a Chinese). Someone might even straight away talk Chinese to him.
Ikhwan is also quite tall and big for his age. People have come to us thinking he's already 5 or 6 years old. The other day, when we were in the elevator at a shopping mall, with Ikhwan sitting in his stroller, another family walked in (a couple and their kid). Then, the mother said to her child, "Tengok abang tu, baik aja duduk dalam stroller," which means in English, "Look at that 'abang' - sitting so obediently in his stroller." (The direct translation for'abang' would be 'older brother'. But the Malays also commonly use it to politely referring those who are presumably, slightly older)
One quick look at the couple's child, both my wife and I knew that he was way much older than Ikhwan. Heck! He no longer needed to rely on a stroller to go out with his parents.
Anyway, how about this as another joke? Enjoy... :-)
The new Chairman of the Company, Mr. Ikhwan Rasydan is ready to chair his first ever board meeting. Sitting 'stylishly' in his specially ordered chair, he poses for the camera before he commences with the meeting.
Suddenly, there is a sudden change in Mr. Chairman's expression. He's probably not happy with the way his photo is taken OR perhaps he doesn't like the ambience in the meeting room OR can it be due to the choice of refreshments for that day OR may be, he just wants the camera for himself?
The Board members are puzzled when suddenly Mr. Chairman broke into tears. They know that the meeting is probably going to be postponed now OR they will surely be next in line to get scolded after the photographer's turn. It's going to be a long day...:-)
I got a call from my dad last couple of days, saying that my mother was vomiting for 7 times the night before and didn't sleep the whole night. The call came as quite a shock to me. First of all, because just like babies, older people tend to dehydrate quickly from diarrhoea or vomiting and this could lead to more serious complications. So, the news got me worried and I'm still worried. After all, she has reached the stage where a simple headache is enough to get me all uptight.
It seems that a few people I know fall (drastically) ill this year, even for a short period of time.
For example, I suffered a number of very bad migraine episodes this year and a few other aches here and there, which I would rather not to elaborate.
Then, Tok Zal passed away last Ramadhan after two weeks being admitted into the hospital.
Ikhwan's babysitter (Kak Ana) was also admitted into the hospital recently due to diabetic complication and infection to her kidney and lungs. Seeing her lying there unconscious on the hospital bed, with all those tubes and monitor screens really gave me an uncomfortable feeling and reminded me of Tok Zal when she was in the hospital. Kak Ana was already discharged. Whether or not she can resume taking care of babies (which includes Ikhwan) after this, is a different matter. What important now is for her to fully recover soon, Insha' Allah.
Then, there were 3 other people I know of, who had dengue fever (on separate occasions)....
... and only yesterday, I had a tooth extracted. It was the most painful toothache ever. I had to take 7 pain killer pills within an hour the night before, just so that the pain subsided, although of course I was scolded by my wife when she found that out, because overdosage of pain killers can have its adverse side effects. Funny though, the pain is still quite unbearable to this day...huhuhu....
I listen to all types of music. I'm also more keen to listen to English songs than Malay ones, probably because I was exposed to English songs since at a very young age. My wife on the other hand, prefers the latter or at least a mix of both. Whenever she rides with me and all she hears is English songs from my car stereo, she would sometimes ask me to tune in to a different radio station.
I don't really mind listening to Malay songs actually. They sure have improved and varied these past years in terms of genres and catchiness. Occasional listening to Malay songs is fine with me - as long as not too many or listening to them for too long.
Anyway, I enjoy any songs that are soothing to the ears, but bands like Yellowcard, Green Day, Boys Like Girls, Maroon 5 and All American Rejects top my lists of favourite singers. My preference has surprised a few people before. Guess, my personality doesn't quite match my taste in music - they reckoned I'd be more into pop or slow/sentimental music. Yeah, that may be true in the past, like when I was below 10 years old.
In my opinion, there's nothing wrong (for me at least) to like music. I've never been overly obsessed on any particular artists. I always never let music come first before other important matters like praying times or when calls for prayers are being summoned by the muezzins; or let it interefere with my chores where silence is needed. But I do sometimes need music to accompany my reading or when doing house chores.
Anyway, here's a video clip of a song that I can't seem to get enough of, whenever I listen to it. It's a beautiful song, called All (I Need) by a talented band (One Republic). As I understand it (from the lyrics), the song is about someone whose relationships and social life is affected due to much clinging on to the past. But my interpretation could be wrong..., so what's your interpretation?
Another catchy song from the band is called Mercy. Absolutely love it!
By the way, now that I have my own mp3 lists of favourite songs (see below my profile), hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I do... and for those enjoy the oldies, I've added hits from Belinda Carlisle too! Just click on the 'Menu' and scroll 'Left' or 'Right' to find out the track numbers of her songs. More oldies will be added soon of course... :-)
It was on Friday, 30 May 2008. My family and I had a dinner at a restaurant. They were serving some crisp poppodums (the above photo is not poppodums) as part of the meals. Upon seeing my food which came first and since his porridge still had not arrived, Ikhwan, as usual, was excited to have some.
Silly of me to think that the poppodum would have the same texture as Ikhwan's biscuits (i.e. soft when in mouth). Just as my wife tried to stop me from giving him quite a big chunk of poppodum, Ikhwan already put it in his mouth and tried to swallow it whole. Because of that, Ikhwan was either choking or trying to vomit the poppodum back out. He then, did vomit - not just the poppodum but most probably, almost his entire meal for that day. It was like water coming out of the hose after the tap was open.I would never forget the pain expression on his face and immediately, guilt took over me.
His vomit was all over the table where he sat by and on the floor and did not stop there. When wife took him to the sink to clean him up, Ikhwan vomited some more.
The Days That Follow
Ikhwan was feverish the following weekend, quite weak and did not eat much. Initially, we did not suspect anything serious. Then, on Sunday night, Ikhwan vomited the same way he did the previous Friday. Seeing that, I felt more guilty, fearing that could I have ignited something serious that had affected Ikhwan's digestive or breathing system....?
Wife took a day off the next day, hoping that Ikwan would recover from whatever bug he was having.
On Tuesday, Ikhwan's condition hadn't fully improved but his fever did subside a bit. So, we decided to send Ikhwan over to his sitter's house as usual. Around 3pm, I received a call from his sitter who said Ikhwan was burning hot, hardly ate and slept and cried most of the time that day. She also believed he had tonsilitis for his throat had inflammation.I could hear him crying. I called out to him, and his sitter told him that 'Ayah' was on the phone. His cry slowed down a bit. I talked to him further, trying to calm him down.
After hanging up the phone, I broke into tears. I had difficulty in telling a colleague about my son being sick, because emotion took the better of me. I think the reason I became teary was because;
1. I felt so helpless hearing him cry over the phone, not being able to hug and comfort him. 2. I could picture in my head how he must be looking at the earpiece when I was talking to him. He must have wanted his parents to be around. 3. I had myself to blame for making him sick due to the whole feeding-him-with-poppodum-when-I-shouldn't-have, which I believed had ignited his sickness.
That night, we hardly slept (especially wife) and neither did Ikhwan. We feared that his temperature would sore without us realising.Every time he ate or had his milk, he would vomit them all back, almost immediately. The vomiting was projectile and so much (considering he ate and drank very little, compared to his usual amount)!
The Hospital
Wednesday, 04 June 2008 - I took an emergency leave. Wife went to work, to rearrange her work schedules with her colleagues so that she could come home early and perhaps, took another day or two off too.
Soon after she left, I realised Ikhwan was breathing rather heavily, like he was very tired. He had also developed cough and flu. He hugged my right hand tight, with my palm as his pillow. He tried to sleep but was too restless to do so.
I could feel how hot his body was. My attempt to give him the pill through his bottom failed - it kept coming back out!!! I started to panic. My wife was still at work. Being a doctor, she knew these stuffs better. Usually, she was the one in-charge in giving Ikhwan medicine this way. With Ikhwan's body temperature like this, oral medicine would take some time to have any effect.
I gave Ikhwan a tap-it sponging. Once done, I rang my wife. I must have sounded all panicky that soon after that, wife called back, saying she was heading home.
At the hospital, the doctor measured his temperature. It was about 40 degrees C. Ikhwan was also dehydrated. This warranted him to be hospitalised. Wife told me that her leave application for Wednesday to Friday was approved. Unfortunately, she could not escape from working that following weekend.
Ikhwan needed to be put on drips. About 4 people had to hold Ikhwan on the bed, on each side, since the nurses had difficulty in finding his vein (and Ikhwan was struggling at the same time). One poke after another, they still couldn't find it. For every poke, Ikhwas was crying and screaming loudly.
The hospital did some tests on his stool and Ikhwan was diagnosed with Rotavirus, which meant this was no ordinary case of diarrhoea, fever and vomiting. That same day, all four of Ikhwan's grandparents and my brother in law drove up to visit Ikhwan. In laws went back to Muar in the evening, while my parents stayed for two more days.
On the second day Ikhwan was hospitalised, Ikhwan had no more diarrhoea and vomiting. I drove to the hospital straight after work. Wife told me the needle that allowed Ikhwan to receive his drips had caused his hand to become swollen. Luckily he was not infected. So, they had pull that out and the process of finding his vein started all over again. After more than 10 pokes (in total) were attempted on Ikhwan, this time around, the doctor gave up. This angered me a little bit, although my wife seemed to understand (of course!) that for those who are chubby or overweight (babies and adults alike), finding their veins could be quite a task.
The doctor advised my wife to give him enough liquid. Well, if only his appetite had come back and he drank as much! His lips cracked due to dryness, tongue had white patches on it, while throat was still as red as ever. All this caused difficulty for him to drink. In matter of days, he had already lost weight. I stayed at the hospital till well past midnight and only had dinner afterwards. I really didn't feel like leaving those two behind.
Friday morning, driving to work as usual. While stopping at one traffic light, the vision of Ikhwan looking up to his 'Ibu' with his sunken eyes and looking so frail, came to mind. Again, I broke down.Streams of tears running down on my cheeks and it didn't bother me if people could see me. I heard that, in couples, one of them would usually be more emotional than the other. Guess, in the case of wife and I, no question there who would that person be, huh?
While in the hospital, I noticed there were a few babies who were by themselves and taken care by nurses. Wife said those were from welfare homes - babies who were orphans or abandoned. Wife remembered cases where doctors or nurses, who, after spending days nursing the babies, felt attached to them and later adopted them.
Well, I could relate to that. There was this one baby girl who was about Ikhwan's age, if not older by a few months. She was so cute, of bubbly nature and friendly - she was the one who greeted me and my mum when we walked pass by her bed. She cried when we left her. That was rather devastating, having to leave her like that. I told wife, if only raising up a child was easy and cheap, I would adopt her for sure. At least, Ikhwan had a friend to play with at home.
The 'After-Hospital' Effect
On the third day (Friday) evening, the doctor allowed him to be discharged. I picked them up after work. He was still rather feverish and weak that Saturday, and slept for many hours. It was apparent, his full recovery only started that Sunday.
Days that followed after being hospitalised, Ikhwan's behaviour changed a bit.Normally, he would be like that bubbly baby girl, the first to greet or smile at strangers. But the experience of being surrounded by strangers (the nurses and doctors), being hurt at and to live in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable environment, must had traumatised him. Everytime while in elevators, he would cry so loudly if there were other people nearby. There was this one day, when we passed by a man with him in the stroller, he also cried. The man wasn't even looking at us and was surprised to hear Ikhwan cry.
My wife and I were worried of course, in case he got too scared of people. Now, after a few weeks had gone by, Ikhwan is back to his usual self. Actually, more friendly than before. He also eats more these days, laughs louder and very, very talkative. That's our boy!!! :-)))
P/S: Please note that the above photograph serves as an illustration purpose only. There's no scientific evidence linking the Rota Crackers with Rota virus and thus, I should not be held responsible for any decline in sales of Rota Crackers should any readers feel contempted to buy the crackers as a result of reading this article.
It was an early Sunday morning and the time was 1.15am. Earlier that night, my wife brought Ikhwan into our room around 9pm. At first, since the door was open, I could hear from inside our room, how Ikhwan was still mumbling instead of going straight to sleep. Then, not long after that, all was quiet, implying that both mother and son were already deep in their sweet dreams :-)
I wasn't sure what time I had fallen asleep in the living room, and with the t.v. still on. But when I woke up at 1.15am, there he was, sleeping next to me. Surprised, I quickly turned off the t.v. so that I could bring him back inside immediately (since both of us were sleeping on the carpet). He was awaken by my action, and after that, he did his usual before-and-after-sleeping-whenever-there's-someone-next-to-him cheeky routine, i.e. by rolling himself to the left and right and back again and again (this is one of his many other cheeky behaviours).
My wife didn't realise when Ikhwan crawled out of the mattress to get to me. If only we could ask him whether he was purposely looking for me or he was actually sleep walking (or rather, sleep crawling).
"Rasa terharu tak, Ikhwan cari Abang tengah-tengah malam?", my wife asked (Are you touched, that Ikhwan was looking for you in the middle of the night?).
Actually, I was more surprised than overwhelmed when I saw him sleeping there, right next to me. But, now that she had pointed it out, yeah, it WAS rather overwhelming...
P/S: Latest news from hometown about Sky, the cutest cat alive - he is recovering..... PP/S: Up next, what to expect and not to expect from the latest Indiana Jones movie?
Some say this year's American Idol is one of the best, while others say it's the best. Well - I go with the latter; it IS the best ever!!!
Last week saw the Top 7 battling it out on the stage. In my opinion, each of these promising contestants are talented in their own unique ways that none of them should be eliminated. My favourites would be David Cook, David A. and Kristy Lee Cook (no! the 2 Cooks are not siblings).
It was a Mariah Carey week (my wife just lurveees her songs, especially the old ones but feels contempt towards her choice of clothes). That would be tough, considering most of her songs consist of high pitch notes right? I mean, if I were to sing her songs, I would most likely end up sounding like a screaming banshee.
For most of the time, whenever contestants sing songs like these, they would either try so hard to sound like the original artists or they fall horribly flat by comparison. But last week saw the contestants' true potentials as singers (as Simon had put it, the show is about finding singers, not performers - no need to show how well they dance or play musical instruments while singing). Not just that, a few managed to rearrange the songs as though they were new songs, their own songs.
One very outstanding one was David Cook. His choice of song, Always Be My Baby was given 'a breath of fresh air' - it sounded so amazing and he sang it so dang well. Really hope he'd win the coveted title...
In the above video, see how he got all teary after hearing the judges' comments. Here's the lyrics to Always Be My Baby (David Cook's version):
We were as one, babe For a moment in time And it seemed everlasting That you would always be mine Now you wanna be free...yeah So I’m letting you fly ‘Cause I know in my heart, babe Our love will never die...noooooo...
You’ll always be a part of me I’m part of you indefinitely Girl don’t you know you can’t escape me Ooh darling ‘cause you’ll always be my baby And we’ll linger on Time can’t erase a feeling this strong No way you’re ever gonna shake me Ooooh darling, ‘cause you’ll always be my....my baby.....yeahhh.....
It was rather devastated to see Kristy Lee Cook go at the end of the show last week, huhuhu. I think last 2 weeks was her best week when she sang ANYWAYS.
Life is great, but sometimes life ain't good, When I pray, doesn't always turn out like I think it should, But I do it anyway (2x).......
One morning, as usual, I was listening to the radio while driving to work. The DJ's were discussing about a topic on having a relationship or dating with someone who doesn't speak your language or at least, doesn't speak the language you frequently use daily. If one party can suspect the language barrier would create a communication problem somewhere down the road, then why dated the other one in the first place?
Say for example, a Chinese lad who may not speak Hokkien as fluently as English due to the nature of his job or the friends that he always mingles with. Then, come this girl whom he loves but stammers in English which causes him to feel uncomfortable whenever they both hang out with his friends.
Apart from the DJ's usual antics that never fail to tickle the listeners, one call from Miss X (presumably a Malay, judging from her accent) struck my interest. She said she broke up with a Malay guy once because he couldn't speak English well, and she spoke and wrote more English than Malay.
Then, the DJ asked her a 'million-dollar' question, "Now what if you met a French guy who only speaks French and doesn't speak a single word of English, would you still date him?"
It was apparent she was pondering for a moment before without any hesitation, she answered, "Yes, I think I would..."
I was thinking, 'Whatt??? So, you'd dump a person of your own race and nationality (not to forget, religion) over some French guy whose sexual history is a big question mark?' Upon hearing her answer, I felt the sudden urge wanting to slap her hard to her senses, if only she were in front of me at that time.
I think just because your partner doesn't speak your preferred language fluently, it doesn't mean he/she has a lower standard than you. Obviously, Miss X, like some other Malaysians out there (especially the girls), are into guys who are mat salleh/orang putih (as the Malays call them).
Well, it's unfair for me to generalise all caucasian males are actually into sex whenever they have 'relationships' with Asian girls. But then, the secret is out in the open - everybody knows that, even our girls, about what do those mat sallehs have in mind.
I too, heard the same 'confession' uttered by this early-20 British chap who ridiculed his friend for not wanting to look for a Malaysian 'girlfriend'. He said, "Come on, we are in Malaysia. If I want a British girl, I'd go back to England. This is the time to have a taste of the Malaysian girls."
Yet, we still have girls who prefer the caucasians over the local guys. Why is that, beats me. I mean, are we, the Malay guys less attractive, less caring, less of a man? Have too many Malay men hurt their feelings, that they decided they want to fish for a different kind of man?
Are the caucasians really THAT caring? I mean, other than the above 'confession' which happened right in front of me, there was another incident that took place in a fast food restaurant. A middle aged American (probably Texan, judging from the hat) scolded the girl at the cashier for giving him the wrong change. He said, "Why don't you do your job properly, you piece of shit?" Since I was a regular customer, the girl relayed to me afterwards, that same guy once spat on the floor after seeing his male colleague who was errr...soft.
In another incident which took place more than 2 years ago, as I was leaving the jewellery store one Friday evening, a well-dressed caucasian approached me. He said all his belongings had been stolen and he needed RM 500 to survive the weekend before the money that his family had wired in could be withdrawn from the ATM the following Monday. Despite explaining to him that I needed to spend a lot of money for my coming wedding, he insisted I helped him and that he would pay me back. After I agreed to give him RM 30 without him having to pay me back, he tossed the money back to my face and started throwing all these swear and obscene words at me. Only after I (bent down to pick up the three 10 ringgit notes lying on the floor and) fled to talk to the security, did he leave me alone.
Now imagine these guys being all caring and gentlemen towards girls whose pants they want to get into, I wonder when would their hideous true colours finally come out. After having sex with them the third time?
Recently, the Prime Minister Office requested that a survey was done (this happened prior to BN's embarassing loss in the election) to study the reasons why more and more Malaysian males choose to wed women from Indonesia. According to the Malaysian Embassy's records in Jakarta, on average, between 5 to 10 couples from both countries register their weddings every day. Quite a huge number, don't you think?
Soon after that, a Malay daily newspaper took the step to do their own survey. Apparently, Malaysian men are said to be more caring and more understanding towards women compared to Indonesian males.
In an interview with an Indonesian female worker, she said if she is given another chance who to marry to, without doubt, she would still choose her Malaysian husband.
Likewise, for local males who marry Indonesian ladies, the ladies are said to be more gentle, cuddly and treat them better.
Now, whose words should we take here? Probably all words are true, if not biased. Or, does this mean that it is common for one to create a fantasy of having a foreigner as a partner?
The email that I received some time back told the story behind the above photo. It was said that a boy who was madly in love with a girl, had sent each and every lady occupants in the two-block dormitory, a box of chocolate. In it, there was a message that told them to either switch on the light of their rooms or to switch it off at exactly 12 midnight (or something like that).
The result – well, the girl got to see the ‘love show’ and realise the kind of trouble that her boyfriend had gone through, to prove that he loved her.
Before I continue on, I would like to make it clear that this entry is NOT about Valentine’s Day and I am NOT trying to spread the Valentine ‘spirit’ whatsoever. This is because I have made a pact to myself that, I shall NOT celebrate or eagerly anticipate any festivals unless it’s an Islamic celebration or a non-religious national holiday like the Independence Day or Labour Day.
Don’t get me wrong! I'm not against other religious festivals. I will still wish those who celebrate other festivals, but that is just how far I will go.
With regard to Valentine, do you know that it is one of the peak seasons (other than during New Year and Merdeka celebrations) where many Malaysian Muslim girls lose their virginities, either willingly or after being tricked into having a pre-marital sex with their boy friends/fiances. This statistic is not a made up story, but said so by a religious leader recently.
Meantime, back to the topic of love - never did I realise before, that as the Valentine’s Day drew nearer, more and more vendors are selling some real nice and cute gifts. Now that I’ve found the love of my life, those gifts really grabbed my attention, enticing me to grab hold of at least one of them. Not wanting to break my pact and being a hypocrite or anything, I admit that I did buy a gift for my wife, solely from-a-husband-to-his-wife kind of gift. With no Valentine’s card or even a wish came out of my mouth, my wife perfectly understood the purpose of the gift, and she accepted it whole-heartedly.
LOVE affects people in many different ways. It is amazing sometimes, just how far some of us are willing to do or go through to prove their love, or at least that’s what they say they are willing to do, haha. Surely you've read somewhere (or perhaps, you have used those words yourselves) that a man is willing to swim the ocean of fire to get to the girl of his dreams, or a man loses his sleep, eat and shower just thinking of his girl.
Wow! Talk about love struck!
The topic of love has also been covered extensively. The word is mentioned and discussed many times in the Al Qur’an and Sunnah; the theme is used in lyrics and scripts and the love symbol is (arguably) one of the most used in drawings and sketches.
I’m not really a sucker of love movies. However, I can name a few which are directly or indirectly about love.
- A woman is hell bent in ruining her friend’s wedding after realises that all this while, he’s the love of her life in My Best Friend’s Wedding.
- A woman falls in love during her most awkward and vulnerable situations like while disguising herself as a man in She's The Man or a reporter posing as a high school student in Never Been Kissed.
- A true story that portrays how a woman losts her life due to her love in protecting the gorillas in Gorillas In The Mist.
- A fury giant monster in the closet grows (not in size!) very much attached to a human girl inMonsters Inc.
- A young couple finds true love on board of a ship and tries desperately to keep their love (and themselves) afloat in Titanic.
- A man desperately in need of money, finds that a brotherly love is all he needs when he discovers that he has an autistic brother in Rain Man. - In Flightplan, a mother is all determined to search through the corners of a passenger flight, causing panic and chaos on board, when her daughter suddenly turns missing on the plane.
Love can also bring dire consequences. Here are some real life situations:
- when an Dutch girl who had been raised by her Asian parents was about to be deported back to her home country, a bloodbath ensued after village folks tried to protect her. - when a woman turns her back on her religion after marrying a man of a different religion, a nation goes unrest after some groups of people dare to challenge the course of her original religion. - lack of love has given birth to some of the most notorious criminals and serial killers ever recorded in history. - beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but one should be aware of what kind of beauty that he or she is attracted to, as there are those who are blind (and stupid) enough to still marry their partners despite knowing that the partners are HIV positive or drug addicts.
To my fellow Muslims, no matter how strongly we love, care and feel passionate towards another living thing, never forget the other MOST IMPORTANT LOVE OF ALL. A love that is pure, divine and accepts no substitutes.
Should we feel there is no one else to turn to, turn to Allah. As in Surah Al-Ikhlas (verses 1 to 4):
Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim........
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.
In Surah Al-Baqarah (verse 45):
Nay, seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit,-
In Surah At-Taubah (verse 129):
But if they turn away, Say: "Allah sufficeth me: there is no god but He: On Him is my trust,- He the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme!"
In Surah Al-Baqarah (verse 286):
On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."
Allah has touched and helped us in many ways that no one on Earth could have possibly granted the same. How can we turn our back on Allah and not feel grateful to Him just because we have fallen in love with a human being of different beliefs, or we have acquired so much wealth and power that we feel invincible or we feel we have the right to commit sins whether openly or secretly?
Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim........
Surah Ali Imran (verses 8-9 and 192-194)
"Our Lord!" (they say), "Let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure. "Our Lord! Thou art He that will gather mankind Together against a day about which there is no doubt; for Allah never fails in His promise."
"Our Lord! any whom Thou dost admit to the Fire, Truly Thou coverest with shame, and never will wrong-doers Find any helpers! "Our Lord! we have heard the call of one calling (Us) to Faith, 'Believe ye in the Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take to Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous. "Our Lord! Grant us what Thou didst promise unto us through Thine messengers, and save us from shame on the Day of Judgment: For Thou never breakest Thy promise."
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Some says that HATE is not the opposite of love, it's INDIFFERENCE. Whichever it is, an act of hate or indifference can bring much worse dire consequences. For examples:
- a broken hearted man or woman may close his/her heart to love and may even despise those of an opposite gender.
- fuelled by hatred and hurt, a disgruntled student may start (and end) a shooting rampage at his school, causing the loss of lives of many.
- due to hatred and vengence (if any), some country leaders have sent their whole batallions of army to attack other countries (instead of coming in peace), in the name of searching for weapons of NO destruction or hunting down a terrorist mastermind (nowadays I'm starting to REALLY wonder whether this person really exists or not, or if he does exist, whether he's actually a fabrication of some corrupted and lunatic minds).
- due to hatred of a certain religion, some people had the hearts to form the most heinous and devilish plan, mankind had ever seen:
by disguising someone to look like suicide bombers, to make us believe they acted as such, in the name of that certain religion;
by camouflaging the fighter planes to look like passenger flights to kill thousands of lives.
All this, so that these MASTERMINDS could embark on attacking countless others whose most of them, embraced that certain religion; killing and maiming them in their own backyards. These MASTERMINDS sure have managed to fool so many - even their own countrymen and women and people of all religions.
P/S: With regard to my final point on hatred, Insha' Allah, with the permission of Allah, I will expose in this blog, a conspiracy behind the September 11 attack. A conspiracy that is supported by ONLY facts, logic and reasoning - that can make us re-think our belief and perception and realise that it's not really a theory after all. It's what really happened!
Regardless of religous beliefs, those with the right frame of minds and souls, would be able to accept that, it is the only logical explanation behind the whole tragedy.
YA ALLAH! GRANT US YOUR POWERS AND SHOW US THE TRUTH OF ALL TRUTHS... MAY THE FAMILY MEMBERS OF BUSH AND THOSE OTHER MASTERMINDS, SUFFER YOUR MOST HORRIFIC PUNISHMENT AND THEY GET TO WITNESS YOUR PUNISHMENT AND LIVE. JUST LIKE THOSE MANY OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD (INCLUDING THEIR OWN CITIZENS) WHO WITNESSED THE HORROR THAT BEFELL UPON THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS DUE TO THEIR HORRIFIC AND MOST INHUMANE ACTS OF TERRORISM! AAAAAAMEEEEENNNN.....
The Oxford Dictionary says "boulevard" means wide city street, often with trees on each side. As for me, "boulevard" is the path that I thread my way through in life. At times, the trees give me protection from the hot sun above. While at other times, no amount of trees can comfort me when it pours. Come rain or shine, the road continues to provide me with the journey of life until it reaches its destination.
People say I'm sweet, kind, a gentleman, caring, romantic and observant (let's just concentrate on the good attributes). I love those who matter to me, and care about things that count. I'm a Malay Muslim and proud to be one. I DON'T think Islam should be judged by those nasty followers. Islam should be judged by the religion itself; its teachings and the purpose behind them. I mean, humans will still behave like humans right? Usually, regardless of religions that they embrace. It is also in my nature to please, since I believe that TO PLEASE EVERYONE IS AN IMPOSSIBLE FEAT, BUT NOT TRYING TO PLEASE ANYONE OTHER THAN ONESELF IS A POSSIBLE DEFEAT (own quote). Apart from sharing the things I read, watch and listen to, I'd also share my thoughts and feelings, and express my views on certain issues. Last by no means least, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE OF YOU OUT THERE ABOUT ANYTHING! If we knew each other 'in the previous life' and had lost contact, or we hardly contact each other nowadays, do email me or comment on my entries. Feel free to explore my blog & website (http://members.fortunecity.com/abdunmy/). Cheerio & Wassalam.
Sometimes, to boldly go (where no one has gone before) at warp speed may cause you unnecessary troubles.
Own quote, based on Star Trek
Lesson from the quote: Rushing to reach your destinations or goals may get you there fast, but may not always be the smartest thing to do!
"Note The Quote (Malay translation)"
Kadang kala, perjalanan (ke tempat yang tidak pernah ditujui) pada kelajuan maksimum boleh menyebabkan kesusahan pada diri sendiri.
Rekaan sendiri, berdasarkan dari Star Trek
Pengajaran: Terburu-buru untuk sampai ke destinasi atau matlamat hidup mungkin boleh membawa kita ke sana dengan cepat, tetapi langkah itu tidak semestinya yang terbaik!
You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.
George Lucas (Film Director and Producer)
"Favourite Note The Quote 2"
A sign in a mosque on the need to switch off handphones:
P/S: Email me if you wish to receive a "Weekly Note The Quote" newsletter, a compilation of quotations that appear here in this column or in any of my blog entries within a particular week. Please put Note The Quote in your email subject. TQ.
If you have a specific field/term to search on Islam, you can also enter your search item(s) at Islamic Web Directory, available at the bottom of an entry entitled Proofs. For your convenience in accessing the Directory, Proofs is available in "Other own (cool) stuffs" column. Thank you.
Penguin Rush
I just love Percy and his carriages. The chocolate did actually smell like chocolate, for quite some time after it was unwrapped.
Don't you just love (I guess) Harold the helicopter, carrying Sodor mails? When you pull Thomas, the fans of the planes will spin around, while the crane at the back of the lorry will turn left and right. 
Flick one of the switches at the back of Percy - you can hear the choo choo sound when you move it. Flick the other - it's the theme music. For James, his eyes will move as he is pushed or pulled. Thomas has switches that will turn either the front or the back lights on.
I haven't opened this toy set yet. I'm waiting until we have finally moved into our new home in about 2 months' time or so.
The first Toby has slide shows, viewable from the lense. The other Toby 'gives' you three different surprises everytime the door is closed and then opened back again. Plus, what better way to brush your teeth while on the train, if not using T&F toothbrush eh? Ok, I'm rambling... Heck, it's close to 1am....
