Lots have been done and I am enjoying the Holidays !!

Woo Hoo! I am enjoying life and the holidays as well. Although I have been tight on my budget, I was able to pull in my resources to enjoy as much as possible with little money to spend. As there is much to say, I will just summarise them with photos of time spent with my relative and friends.

21 Nov - My friends and I were lucky to be able to learn a thing or two abt france and its people. I learnt about the origin of mont blanc that it is the top of the french alps. We were also fortunate to be able to taste french food. And the cheese were wonderful!!!

My Second Love.. Chez!

Finger Looking Good! I just cannot stop!

22 Nov - My buddy, Mustapha got married

The Groom and the Bestman!!

I also visited Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve, went out with my cuz, Wahidin, had dinner with my friends Adam, Rizar. I also helped a friend with jis retail therapy and was surprised that the person is able to spend up to SGD400 but i think it was a good buy as we manage to buy numerous items.

On the 30th of Dec, my silat coach got married. Then the next day, 1 Dec, the silat gang headed to sentosa for a day under the sun. I truly enjoyed the company and played many games like zero point, 5 stones, beach voleyball, super soaker, frisbee and just chilling out.

The crazy dude!

I also manage to visit the marina barrage.. really a nice place to chill and enjoy the breeze. But getting there is a challenge. Below are some photos of the place.

The View from the barage

Gettin' Wet

The Barrage itself

The good, the bad and the weird

I finally got to watch my korean movie. And i have to say, it is one of the best cowboy movie i watched. To think abt it, this was the first ever cowboy movie that i watched. hahaha.

The movie was worth my $10. The action was great, the comedy was hillarious. I was very captivated by the storyline and the twist at the end was good as well. I will really recommend this movie to my friends.

Good Week

It was a good healthy week.. I told myself that I need to change my lifestyle to a more active one. and I am gald that the firstweek has been going as planned. I had jogged, swim and went to the gym. I am happy. I hope I am able to continue with this lifestyle.

I had finally finished watching my Korean drama "My Sassy Girl". It was a good drama that engage me and always wanting me to catch the next episode. The korean drama are good at getting people wanting more.. Hahaha.

Well it is the holodays, I want to explore the Henderson wave and Hotparks as well. I am also looking forward for my Mt Kinabalu climb in Dec.

Exams are over. Now for a deserved break.

To reflect on this sememster in NIE, I find it one of the toughest I had experience yet. The timetable for my classes were not favourable. Most of the days I would end about 5pm and would have a break of 3 to 4 hours break in between. it was the long break that exhausted me and not the classes.

Assignments also took a toll on my confidence and with every assignments came up, it sucked up my positive attitude. However, I am glad it is now over and I am taking a good break from the hectic school schedule.

The upcoming semester will be my last ones. I won't be as bad as this one. Despite the hectic schedule, I had also manage to schedule in some fun time.. hahaha

"A night with Anuar Zain" was a great. It was a thrilling experience to watch one of my singing idols performing at esplanade. He really sang beautifully. It was worth it .. so damn good.

The run

It was an indead a good run although i did not run the whole 3.2 km through the south buona vista loop. But I think i did quite well...

My legs are aching a bit but its all worth it... Hope still can survive anothe rrun on monday at NUS.

Saturday may go down to buy winter clothing

Busy ..Busy .. Busy Weekend

So what's new.. I am busy again.. hahaha.

In addition to my work an assignements, I had also organised the Institute of Mental Health visit and Hari Raya open house for my club members. I was so busy that I turned down to attend two open house on Sunday as i had to complete my AAG 333 essay. Haiz.

Sorry Fuazi and Ryan.. did not mean too. On Monday, which is Deepavali Holiday, I had an open house and I was happy that my NS buddies turned up, Nizam, Jian Feng and Jiaming. We caught up with each other. I am also have been feeling guilty for not attending silat training and the practise run for the KK trip.

I also hope that my adek is able to get his school work in order. He has been stressed lately and hope he would be able to complete the semester smoothly.. All the best Bro.

The good news is that I am now left with 1 presentation, 1 lesson plan, 1 report and 2 exam. Seems a lot but I can manage....I know I can.. I had experience worse. But I just hope everything will still move as planned and I am able to execute the job. Ok .. BACK TO WORK!!!

The Eid of 2008

This Lebaran, is full of significant and joy.. Although this year celebration, I was busy with my assignments and preparation for test, I managed to visit my relatives and friends. I finally managed to catch up with my cuz.. Wahidin and Halis. I am glad they are doing well.

I also went out visiting with my secondary friends and not surprisngly, they came with their family and children. It makes me wonder when is my turn .. hahaha. I also went out with my Silat gang and we had a good time... the best time was spent on the bus where we saranade different Malay songs to entertain ourselves during teh journey.. So cool rite.. hahaha

Well this coming week, I wil be trying to finsih up my last few assignments for this semester and hope everything will go smoothly..:)

Zakir

Remember the old songs of Singapore!!!

Somehow, today i fell a bit patriotic and i search the wonderful youtube to reminisce the good old years... to my surprise, there were not many good songs that reflect the fell and "real" voice of the people... However what i noticed that our songs have evolved in the many years...

In the 1980's, we grew up with songs like "We are Singapore", "Count on Me Singapore", "One People, One Nation, One Singapore" These songs are used to bring the people together and unite as one.

In the 1990s, the songs we discontinued and i wonder why... I guess we might be too busy making money and progress as a society.

However, in the new millenium, I guess the government notice that many of the Singaporeans a "lost" and are looking for an identity to call our own. Thus many of these citizens, migrated to look for greener pastures overseas. Therefore to indirectly welcome them back, songs like "Home", "Where I Belong" and many more.

However those two mentioned above, Home and Where I belong are songs that i felt which are good and represent the true meaning of Singaporeans.

Looking forward to what is up ahead...

Well , holidays are coming to an end now. But it was indeed an unforgetable one. I had travel to China where I learned a lot of new things. Learn a new culture and get to travel to numerous places which i never dreamt going. The highlight was my trip to the Great Wall of China, it was really a magnificient sight. The 'Silk Street' was also an eye-opener as I got to experience first hand the 'art of bargaining'. It was definitely cool. Hahaha

I had also managed to get bronze for my silat competition. I am happy as it is the goal that I had set for myself. However, I did not win any matches..hehehe. My first round was already the quarters and I won due to disqualification of my opponent as he was under-weight. In my semifinal match, I met this 'boy' (boy because he was only 17 yrs of age) from RP. And he really 'trashed' me. Thus I lost the match. But the good thing was if you made thru to the semi-final round you automatically win a bronze. Am I lucky?

In my other free time, I met up with my friends and caught up with one another. Eating was the norm but what made this yr holiday different was that I went KOK.

I also just got back from KL where i enjoyed myself tremendously. The company was great and so was the food. I may sound crazy but when I was there i tried many restaurants that was available in my home country, Singapore. Some of teh food establishments that I went for were Subway, Carl's Jr and PastaMania. It was heavenly. I finally get to taste this food leagally (halal).

Overall, I enjoyed my holidays and luckily I am also looking forward to school life again.

SPARE TYRE

You learn something new everyday, Don't you? Well just like any other outings, I would plan and call up and sometimes even drive my friends around if I have the car. Today was no different. I had planed for a badminton games with my silat friends and a karaoke session followed after that.

However what made this trip memorable was once i reached the location for the karaoke, I was shocked to be informed that my back left tyre had punctured. DAMN! I said to myself. But still carried out my plans as usual, I proceed for the singing session.

After singing my hearts out, my two silat friends offered to help me to change my tyre. I was touched. Therefore, we embarked in out first ever, changing tyre process.. hahahaha.

It was an eye-opener and i learned a lot about the steps on chaging the tyre. For those who never done it b4, hope this tips help.

1. Ensure your jack, spare type and the metal tool to unscrew the bolt are available.
2. Ensure the spare tyre is not punctured (hahahhaa)
3. Jack up the punctured tyre half way. Turn the jack in a clockwise direction.
4. Unbolt the bolt of the tyre. (Anticlockwise direction)
5. Loosen the bolt.
6. Continue to jack up the car.
7. Change the tyre.
8. Tighten thebolt (Clockwise)
9. Lower the jack (Anticlockwise direction)
10. Keep the punctured tyre and jack.
11. Drive off to the nearest workshop and do the necessary.

I would like to thank my two friends who have helped me change the tyre. I wont be able to do this w/o your help. I really appreciate it GUYS....

Holidays are here... Woo Hoo!!!

I am delighted, estatic, happy and all of the positive words that god has created to express happinees and joyfulness. YES! Its the hollidays. I luv it.

Although the official holidays started in late May, I am not able to indulge and experience its wonder as I had to venture into the unknown for 2 weeks. I went to Beijing. Upon returning the ordeal continued as I had to attnd informal classes to prepare myself for my research paper that is due on Oct 2008.

In addition to that, I also had to train for my Silat Competition. BTW, I got bronze. hahaha. Upon completion of the competition, my dear prof requested us to return to scholl again.

Now it all ended and I can embrace the holidays. In a span of a week, I manage to catch up with many of my friends and I really treasure the time we had. That is all I ask for during the holidays. And of course my friends are also fed up with me as I am always busy as I had to arrange appointments just to meet up with them.

Sabit, Tojang, Sendeng and Sapu. A hard day's work @ ISG 2008

This weekend, I spend my whole time at the invitational silat games at RP. I saw many matches which my teammates from NTU silat club take part in. My match is scheduled for next week. However I am currently feeling the anxiety and nervousness for my match. I really want to perform well and prove everyone wrong. Hopefully I am able to get rid of this bad feeling and have the greatest fight in my life.. You have gone thru many obstacles. Perform your best and you will reap your rewards in the future.:)

Good Job Singapore

Today I visited the grand old dame a.k.a the National Stadium to watch the 3rd round World Cup qualifying round between Singapore and Uzbekistan. It was a great atmosphere with the stadium being half filled with Singapore Die Hard Fans. It was positive to see that we still have many passionate fans who will still come down after their long working hours to give their undying support to our national team.

My expectations for the game was not that high. I hoped for a draw between the two teams. Once the whistle is blown to mark the start of the game, I can see that the away team was controlling most of the play. I felt that the Lions we holding their half very well. Unfortunately at the 10 mins, the away team scored their first goal. I was quite disappointed but my friend told me that it is still early in the game and Singapore would draw level anytime. True enough we did, It was so unexpected yet beautiful goal. The fans were aesthetic and overjoyed when the home team scored the equalizer.

There is still hope i said to myself. the two teams continued to pile on the pressure on one another. Unfortunately, it was the Singapore defence that took the beating and Uzbekistan scored their second goal. The crowd were shocked at the goal and wondered how it entered the net. Again the feeling of lost sets in. Singapore continued to pile on the pressure and the effort was rewarded when we earned a spot kick. The spot kick was converted beautifully and we draw level again. The crowd cheered!

Not long, the uzbet scored their 3rd goal. The fans waited eagerly for the equalizer again but it never came. Instead, the away team scored their 4th and 5th goal. What a let down. The second half whistle blew. It was gg to be hard climb for the national team to draw level with this score difference.

15 minutes passed and the two teams re-entered the pitch. The two teams gave their best but we can see that Singapore was hungry for more goals with them trying to win more of the possession of the ball. In the 30 minute of the second half, Singapore manage to put the ball into the net. In that instant, I thought there may be a chance for a better score line and even a draw. I continued hoping but the opponent was indeed a better team and they replied with 2 goals, bringing the final score of 7-3 against singapore.

Although we lost, I felt that the Singapore Team played well. It was indeed an entertaining game and worth my time and money to watch the game. Well done Singapore and continue to pursue your dreams. All the best.

The Great Wall

I have been on a 2 week trip to Beijing China for my Final Year Project in NIE, NTU's Geography Module. It was an interesting trip to the country. I had a culture shock but learned a thing or two about the country with the largest population in the world.

The highlight of my trip was the climb up the great wall. It was indeed a challeging climb up the wall. The dont call it 'GREAT' for nothing. But upon reaching the top, I was rewarded with a nice paranomic view of the place. It was breath-taking. However the smog/pollution limited the beautiful view.

I Scream , U scream, we all scream for ICE-CREAM!

Yes people... what can be more heavenly than a free ice-cream. On 29th of April is FREE CONE DAY by Ben & Jerry. Yes my favourite ice-cream outlet. Being a B&J fan, I queued up for 20 mins to get my free dose of "medicine" for the day. It was sad that they only have a few selection. I opted to try a few favour called "Chocolate Therapy." It was GOOD, but it cannot beat my favourite flavour, which is "Fossil Fuel".

Hey at the en dof the day, it's free ice-cream. What more can you ask for?!

The ending is the new beginning!

Yes it is over... I just had my last paper and I am so relieved. The second semester is finally over and now it is the long wait for the results that will be announce in June. It is along agonizing wait but that will not stop me from enjoying myself during this holidays. Thus mark the new beginning. This holiday I think i wanna to put a theme to it.

"To relax, rejuvinate and renew"

Cool huh?! The three 'Rs' would be the direction is achieveing the holiday experience. I wanna relax, enjoy myself, rejuvinate my senses and renew my spirit. For my first stop, I went to have dinner with my good secondary buddy and we ate at Fish & Co. I was long awaiting to eat there and I had the fish platter for one. Finally my craving was met.

I also planned to rent movies to watch during the holidays.... I just cannot wait!!!

Sprinting to the finish line

Finally I am reaching my last paper... the day will b ein Monday. I simply can't wait for it .:) There is a lot of movies i wanna watch.
1. Speed racer
2. Iron Man
3. Three Kingdom
4. Indiana Jones

so many movies .. but i would want to watch ever one of it. Hahaha.
My pocket will be so dry bit it is worth it.
Enjoy my last long holiday.

The three "F" in Life

Although this is my study week for the upcoming exams for this semester, I could not resist the temptation of good food, good company and great laughs. In this week alone, I had gone out for 'fellowship' dinners with my rotaract friends, around 5 times!!! And I felt a bit guilty after every outings as I really need to utilise my time to study. But I told myself that I need to also relax myself from all the stress of revision.

Monday, upon completion of my last assignment for this semester, I went out to Sedap corner at Simpang Bedok. The name of the place does represents the quality of food it serves. SEDAAAP!

I had dinner and fellowship with my RAC Singapore West members on the 17th (wednesday). It was more like a guys night out. We indulge in coffee at TCC at Boat Quay and proceed to dinner at Bukit Timah. On friday, I had sushi with members of RAC NTU. The following day (sat), I had western food and ice-cream at Vivocity. However, I was quite sad that I did not get my dose of B&J. However the time spent was a good stress releaser for me and it is a way help me focus on my studies as I know that the time spend studying must be utilised fully.

I am really excited for the upcoming holidays. The things I like about holidays are that I am able to catch up with my friends and relatives. Next to engage in activities that interest me expecially outdoor activities and spend time on Rotaract organising activities etc.

I really hope I am able to perform well in my upcoming examinations too.. Wish me luck.

Finally ... an update

It took me 4 months to update my blog.... It has been that long. I have been busy with my school work an drelaly got no time to breath.. I just finish my last assignment and now starting to study for my exam which are in end april.

I think this sememter, I had written the most number of words in total for my assignmentts.. i guess more than 10, 00o words.. let us count together.

AAG 103 : 1500
AAG 104: 3500
AAG 233: 3500
AAG 244: 3500
ACE 201: 3500
ALS 101: 1500
And many more smaller assignments: 4000 words..

WOW!!! that much.. i am so shocked.

Now I have to start studying . for my 3 papers... stress man..