CQ40 + 21 + ♥ = Upd8s!

It's been a while (more like forever actually)...hahaha. FYI, CQ40 is the name of my beloved laptop (which also has other nicknames like lappy, alienware and Sabrina) it's a Compaq Presario CQ40 model, bought in the year 2007. It's not that I don't want to update this blog with any new entries, it’s just that my laptop is having a problem right now called ‘system freeze’...yeah, just like the name suggest, it will freeze every now and then due to hardware failure- the screen will have no display whatsoever (black screen, but still projecting lights), the system just won’t respond no matter what button you press. Urgghhh...it’s literally killing me, with all the assignments (yeah,right...), folders, presentations, video editing and debate research that I need to do. The timing couldn’t have been more right ain’t it? Hahaha...serve me right.

A few weeks ago, on September 14^th 2011, was a very big day for me...why? I’m pretty sure most of you already knows...it was my 21^st birthday celebration! Hahaha...as usual, the night before, I was busy replying birthday wishes on my wall and mobile. I slept very early (at 10pm!) in Faiz’s room just to make sure nothing ‘bad’ will happen to me that night...hahaha.talk about being paranoid. :p

The next day, all my friends and classmates sang the birthday song to me in class...trust me, I was soooo touched and happy at that particular moment. Then they were planning to have this kinda celebration dinner at Alees Restaurant located in the kingdom of far-far away in Sikamat...another touching moment was that every single one of my classmates have expressed their interest in attending and celebrating...oh gosh. I told Asyraf (the event planner/mastermind/Class Rep/my brother/classmate/friend) that they shouldn’t be doing this coz I think it’s not fair to the others...well, you know, being the only one celebrated in such a big celebration might cause others to feel unimportant and timid because during their birthdays, nothing like that was organized...but Asyraf convinced me that this is a very significant celebration, coz it is my 21^st birthday...the number 21 signifies a total freedom in the eyes of the law (as in I can have a credit card, change my statuses as a Malaysian citizen, entitlement to any property and all sorts of stuffs...), a benchmark of adulthood and...the appropriate age to vote! Hahaha. I can now choose my preferred government.muahaha.

It did not simply end there. That night, all my classmates were there, except for Neoh and Jason coz they went out with a bunch of guys for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I was very shocked (and happy too!) to see everyone there. We combined four tables in a row to fit all 23 of us, crammed next to each other like tuna in the can, and one-by-one ordered our dinner, beverages, snacks and desserts...surely enough, it took almost an hour ++ for all the menus to be prepared, given the number of people ordering.haha. Once everything was finished, I started to sense something was wrong...the event planner (Mr. Asyraf) disappeared into thin air all of a sudden, and I know something is definitely wrong about this whole picture...I was right.

*(pictures will be included here later)*

All of a sudden, from the back (kitchen) of the restaurant, there he was, carrying a very tasty-looking chocolate moist cake with three candles on top of it, unlighted. In synchronized chorus and harmony (hahaha), everyone started to sing! “Happy Birthday to you (2X), Happy Birthday to Shamil, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!” Only God knows how I tried my level best to contain and suck up all the tears that was starting to crystallize both my eyes...as the hydro pressure started to build up inside my optics, amplifying its volume by the time, the candle was lit in front of me-2 big candles and 1 small one representing the number 21...oh i soo adore the idea. Without further ado, I blew the candles and made my wish as the infinite flashes of the camera started to blind my sight. The sound of thousands of hand clapping and the views of familiar faces smiling were caught by my senses.

Then we all had our lovely dinner, Fera had to leave early...bye3 Fera...and we all went back safely...wait, SAFELY? Hmmm...I was not as safe and sound as i thought that night. On my way back to my block, accompanied by my lovely friends, little did I know that there were more to come, a series of unfortunate events were lying in wait for me. For starters, as we were about to enter the IPG entrance, I was FLOURED!! Yup, literally floured to the point that all my black outfits turned as white as the snow.  Damn you Asyraf...hahaha...and here comes the best part. Without me realizing (and I was absolutely helpless at that time), I was carried by Adri, Afiq, Asyraf, Haziq and Tamil, by my hands and legs to the field where muddy waters were everywhere due to heavy rain earlier that afternoon. They dumped me onto the mud! (luckily all my precious belongings were saved beforehand...phew...) YUCKS....and there I was, covered with a thick layer and mixture of water, soil, flour and mud (and some other micro-organisms attached to those stuffs)...as I was about to clean myself inside the groundfloor’s toilet, Haziq offered me shampoo...or so I thought. When I opened the door, I was splashed by a homogenous mixture of 2-weeks old rendang, cigarette, and some alien-looking liquid (perhaps Maggi Curry?) all over my face and upper torso. Curse you Haziq! It took me approximately 1 hour to clean up my body with all sorts of foul odour/smell/aroma. And that was how my birthday celebration goes. Funny huh? That my dear readers, was the most memorable birthday of my life :D Best party ever!

On a side note, I received presents from my parents, Naim (my little brother), Putra, Haziq and some of my friends. Thanks for all the cards, presents and wishes!

The final topic is what makes me really blush...it’s happening for real!....again!!!! Oh God...save me. The symbol ‘less than’ (<), combined with ‘the number three’ (3), will make the shape of a  horizontal heart --> <3...rotate that 90 degrees anti-clockwise, it will become like this --> ♥

Sorry, but that is all that I can reveal for now...I myself am soooo confused. This just happened quite recently, it happened so fast it even caught me by surprise! Hahaha. At least this will help me forgetting something else. Oh well, cest la vie (‘that’s life’ in French). Let’s just hope good things will come out from this.

That’s all for now...thanks for your time...bye! :)

XOXO

-Shamil Usrah-

Splashing Water Havoc!

playing beach volley!

today we (Mail, Afiq, Haziq, Bedil and me) went for a 'you could say a recreational trip' to....guess where?? ....Port Dickson!!! yeah sure, it's not as beautiful as langkawi or tioman island with crystal clear water and all, but it's still a beautiful place to hang out. Well, initially, we planned to go to Jearam something, somewhere near Pantai, Seremban...but since we're not very familiar with the place (and none of us knows how to get there), we went for the beach instead. As soon as arriving, we unplanningly (without planning) bought a beach volleyball worth 25 dollars (that's expensive!) some swimming, some water polo actions, beach soccer, photography session, then we're set to go.

beach marathon!

sand / land crocodiles...haha

bieber on the beach

amphibious creature

-0-

alia's epic pose

 after that we all went to Haziq's aunts' house for lunch...dude, i'm telling you her aunt's cooking is so damn good, i even had a third plateful of rice. I even gave Ipat (haziq's cousin) a five dollar note as duit raya (also, since we all didn't bring anything beforehand...) then all of us went back...effing tired.

3rd Raya 'Aidilfitri - The API & BMI Index

Do you know that according to a report from MMD (Malaysian Meteorological Department or Jabatan Meteorologi), the API also known as Air Pollution Index of rural / village areas have increased dramatically from 1.6 to 5.8 over the past few days? They compared the API for big cities in Malaysia like Kuala Lumpur with low-developed area (like in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan) and they found out that the village area have been producing triple the amount greenhouse gasses they usually produce across the country. The big question is, WHY?

Well, to me, it's not a mystery at all. As a world-renowned  detective, I've solved the case and I have identified several major causes..haha. In one of my science classes (also from the movie '21'), my teacher kept reminding us in every experiment, "always account for variable change". That means, we have to consider all factors and variables before we hypothesize, do observations and make conclusions. The first thing to consider is migration and immigration rate of the general population. A majority of people from the city celebrated Hari Raya at their respective hometowns (grandma's house, relatives house, in-law's house...blah3) Therefore, the population density of people is higher in villages compared to the metropolitan area- causing the village area to be more polluted than ever with more garbage and energy consumption...during Raya time (or other festive season for that matter). Imagine all the traffic jams full of automobiles in the city transported to the village...that's the amount of gasses from cars that we produced.
The next factor is I think the most responsible for the high API index. Just consider all the burnings required/done from making the 'lemang', open burning by common villagers behind their residence (they still think it's not wrong to do that) like what my uncles did at Kuala Pilah, the burning which occurs underneath the big skillet (kuali/kawah) for making 'dodols' and 'wajiks' & 'rendangs'-both rendang ayam & rendang daging (traditional Malay cuisine) which most of them use coals/charcoals...don't you think all that leads to massive emission of CO2 & other hazardous gasses? I do. Not to mention, all those BANG!! & BOOM!! from the infinite supply of firecrackers & fireworks like what me & my cousins play on the night of 1st Syawal..*sound effect-Firework by Katy Perry* 
Even when I want to sleep late at night in my village, I feel like I'm in one of the war zone in Afghanistan or conflict region in Bosnia Herzegovina (do i spell that right? i hope so...reference: Social Studies class) with non stop explosive action surrounding our village.hahaha.
and that is why ladies and gentlemen, the village recorded one of the highest API of all times. There are times when the pure village is more polluted than the city area. Don't compromise / sacrifice our mother nature just to celebrate Raya in our modern way (I am an environmentalist...what can I say...) With that, I rest my case...thank you...

Hey, why so serious? I was just kidding-lah! ....Actually, all of the textual evidence from the introduction was a lie...it was fabricated, the MMD has never released such a report. I made it up just to inform you of my Raya experience in my village, Kampung Parit located at Kuala Pilah...hahaha.sorry! :p


Today is the third Raya, and I'm sitting in my room in front of my Alienware laptop (as if...) wondering about the other index that I want to talk about- the Body Mass Index or BMI. It is a generally accepted fact that those who were fasting during Ramadhan will gain weight when Raya comes...with all the mouth-watering dishes like kuah kacang, rendang + ketupat, lemang (made of coconut milk or santan, mind you) which are high in cholestrol, plus all the Raya cookies-kuih badam, tart nenas, biskut cornflakes...you name it...it's extremely impossible for you not to gain weight especially if you visit all your relatives, family and friends house to house. And that is exactly what's happening to me. I've gained like 3kgs in just a few days!! what the ....talk about unhealthy diet...pfffft..the worst part is, unlike in IPRM where I can exercise and play tennis or basketball or jogging, I can't do all that here! (reminder to myself: shed some extra weight after this okay...resist...food...temptations...) Eat right people...we are what we eat after all.


Well, that pretty much concludes this entry for now...later.adios. 
To all, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir & Batin ;)

 happy eid mubarak to everyone!