SHAH-AZZ, INCORPORATED

Qider tagged me so I could write all those memorable things of 2007… Actually, I do not really know about tagging people around in blogs or in any ‘you’ve been tagged’ kind of ‘chain-letter’ so people continually write something about it…It might have something to do with the game ‘aci ligan’ aka ‘kejar-kejar’ during the kindergarten and ‘hingusan’ days, when when your ‘IT’, he/she will go after the other kids (the ‘prey’) and if the ‘IT’ successfully tagged them (by touching), then they’ll become the ‘IT’ and the tagger becomes the prey… the best part is when they tag other people, they’ll shout “TAG! YOU’RE IT! YOU’RE IT!”…the ‘prey’ has the ability to ‘chup’ or exempted from being tagged by sitting down and making their hands like the shape of a ‘snake-head’ (you know what I mean), waiting for other free members to tag them back so they are also free..I’m not sure how to win this tagging game, as the primary objective is to simply have some fun, running along chasing people (at least, that what I did during those years)..there were some different version of the rules used for different type of tag games agreed between the participant…some are like, no ‘chup’s allowed (because if there is only a few ‘IT’s chasing dozen of guys, then they potentially remain ‘IT’ for the rest of the period since the ‘chupped’ guys can be freed easily)…others, played in two teams, while allows ‘chup’ping, if once they are tagged, they are out...the ‘IT’ teams win if they successfully tag every prey, or each of the prey members ‘chup’ped themselves with no one else to free them..Otherwise, the prey team wins, even if there’s only one untagged members left…and then, both team will switched roles and continued until the end…

Ok tak citer 2007 aku nih Qider? Hahaha sekian trimas…
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Oklar aku seriouussess sket…there were up and down moments…amongst were:

* New Year started with the flooding of our rent house at Parit Raja…imagine those ‘dropping’ floating around (DOWN)
* KUiTTHO flooded as well, so there’s some extended holiday for the student (not sure if its UP or DOWN, as it doesn’t affected me that much…and our house was also flooded, which isn’t helping the situation)
* Had to go through another grueling semester, wasted some money and time (DOWN, DOWN, DOWN)
* I’d though I’ve committed one of the biggest transgression of my life, involving everyone around me…the GUILT factor had indulged myself (a cruel LETDOWN)
* But the most important part was, since I believed that I somewhat, somehow, ‘decided’ it, then I knew the risk so well that I’m willing to take it. It’s part of my life, after all (UP)
* And the best thing was, I was inspired from those who loved me and those I loved… (very UP)
* And so, I’ve got the ONLY 3.xx GPA in my entire KUiTTHO life…it’s only one subject, but, what the heck (UP)…
* …which eventually, I successfully GRADUATE..yay! (big UPS)
* I’ve passed my driving test, be it the objective questions, on the circuit or the actual traffic, on my very 1st try! (super UP! Trust on my driving skill bebeh..)
* But sadly, since I haven’t completed my motorcycle test, I couldn’t even glimpse, let alone touch, my license card (DOOWNNN swimming into the drain of Parit Haji Rais…darn)
* If I really knew, I would want to drink cappuccino with some milk and share it with someone…instead, I drank too much tea (hopefully it wasn’t that down…that someone told me that ‘tea’ has some form of ‘cappuccino’ and ‘fruit juice’ inside…so, I just need to drink ‘teh tarik’ often, and I got all four at once!! :) )
* Joining INSEP, specificly the uE course, while originally I did not have the ‘right’ reason in participating it, eventually, I am glad that I did…I enjoyed every moment with my new batch of friends (UP)
* Finally, I’ve got to walk up on that prestigious stage and getting my degree on my Convocation day, not to mention, with new robes! (UP UP AND AWAYYY!!)
* The experience I gained during PECIPTA ’07 was astonishing…I learned to talk with big guys with some confidence..and wearing a tie and coat like an executives...and most importantly, we won bronze on our project (not really mine, but being ‘koyo’ once in a while is ok :p)…many thanks to Mr Hairol and Mr Afandi for giving me this chance (clear UP)
* …but of course, at the expense of the bowling tournament between uE and RKA..come to think about it, I NEVER played bowling during my 4 months session at UTHM with the uE pals (sob sob DOWN sob sob)
* …and you thought my confidence from PECIPTA retain for a long time...NOT! I lost a part of it during the FKEE’s board meeting with the student (DOWN)
* But then again, I thought I’ve become one heck of an emcee during the Interpersonal Skills, and also during the Effective Communication class (UP)
* …but yet again (brape byk but daa), I’ve got only 6/10 for my clothes in I.S. (DOWN)
* On one calm night, while I was doing my VHDL assignment...out of the blue, I've got a call...one of the most exciting moments happened in my life (and I've became 'revitalized' all of the sudden...straight UP towards the end of the solar system)
* The whole CCTET experience: joined the ‘Equipment Committee’ (me, Pa’Joe, Aly, Jun, and other two non-uE’s), Photocopied tons of paper works, lifted 4 flip chart ALONE from the Multimedia lab, resting at the Katerina Hotel Room, slept inside the partition while on duty, and in the conference hall as well..Then the dinner night…the feast aka bulah, the FKEE team’s pantomime* (including all those training session), and myself as a voice-over…(just a few downs, but overall, it’s UP again) *minor note – since this is the correct spelling in English, I assumed that the correct spelling for BM should be pantomim, that ends with the m, not n as I originally thought
* “You are hired” mocking interview session…wow, that’s some achievement…me, Mat Yuz & Jamal (big UP)
* …and that CV’s “shredding” session (big DOWN, but fully expected :p)
* Who would think that I could become a MODEL?? Yup, the catwalk model on two nights of Ole-Ole Ramadhan…after I’ve been forced in becoming one, and with faces painted ala ‘tepung gouma’, overall, it was great, fully enjoyed it (UPPPP dan terase ‘hinnsssss’ kerna menaikkan saham diri sendiri…hahaha)
* The uE Pizza Hut break fast party (UP)
* Karaoke’s, beaches, bulahan, and ‘lepakkan’ on various places with various sets of friends...but on every Karaoke’s sessions I joined, Achik & Isti are the ‘de facto’…(anyway, UP-UP-UP-UP for everything)
* Getting the taste of wearing bunny suits, and doing some fabrication stuffs, also sleep inside the clean room…it always cool and refreshing with its ultra-filtered air…this includes tagging along with my final project’s clan members: Qider, Jun and Jamal (UPsy daisy)
* Dr Berhan’s Effective Communication was the best subject in INSEP…never got easily bored…it was a sad day on the last class (UP…then DOWN)
* I’ve never got the chance to say goodbye properly to a lot of my very best lecturers who helped me throughout my 7 years degree, as well as during INSEP…some of my top priorities are:
1)Dr Zarar (PA, EMT)
2)Hj Ayob (PSM, Opto)
3)Mr Shamsul (CA/NA)
4)Mr Afandi (uE, DLC 1)
5)PM Siti Hawa (Electronics I & II)
6)Mr Zainuri (Original PA, Comp. Basic)
7)…
(there was a time I thought of writing a long list of tribulations to each of my lecturers…but I forgot some of their names…shame on me…so a big DOWN)
* Farewell to our home sweet home of Parit Raja, not to mention, the town ITSELF…7 years, and you’ve got so assimilated with everything around you…kudos to my ‘final year’ housemates:- Master Hairol, Jai, Jamal, Chipsmeth, Meor, Matyi & Najib…(DOWN…but all those memories are always UP)
* I’ve got the best staffmates within the EMI/Lightning Cluster at TMR&D, the practical place I am right now, writing these entries…huhu (UP)
* I, with Daus, had a lot of enjoying moments with those at Hakita - Matyuz & Sham during these practical period, also once with Ibrahim…but then again, with 2007 ends today, I’ve never met the rest of the Selangor-based uE clan - Pa’Joe, Aly, Qider, Jamal*, Shida*, Madsyah (not UP enough)..* minor note – I only met Jamal on NON-uE occasion, and Shida once a TMR&D crew as well..

Did I miss anything?
How about like this…If you’re UP, then I’m UP :)
Life is like a wheel…there’s always the UP and DOWN moment…and that cycles always repeated in one form or another…whatever happens, you always have to keep moving forward, and hopefully, when the wheel eventually stops, you are on the top side…Good luck in the journey of your life, Godspeed…and Welcome 2008..

I’m lazy. Nuff said…
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Ok seriously…I had some ideas about what am I going to write on my blog…but those ideas did not materialized in a writing form sooner as my brain was focusing on some other stuff...and so, those ideas were eventually lost and I’d forgotten anything that was happening for the past few weeks…Actually, there’s nothing really interesting to write, it’s just some kind of my own ‘formality’ that I have to have an entry at least once in every month…that is way out of my own ‘standard requirement’ of how regular should I write in a month…in my early days, I used to write 3-4 entry per month (1 entry per week average)…I once wrote 11 entries per month, my personal record (1 entry per 3 days average…this was excluding photo-only entries, which I had to use hello/picasa software during the inability to upload photos within blogger itself…also, there are some (x) in 1 blog which each of the (x) should have its own entry)…

Of course, it was different then…it was during my 5th year of what supposed to be my ‘5-year reign’ (before increased to 7 :p) at UTHM…those years when you can do all sorts of fun stuffs with your friends, be it with your housemates, neighbors, coursemates, schoolmates etc..each had its own exciting occasion and events to be told, even it looked as it was only dumb, generic-like stories like what’d you eat, what’d you learn, where’d you go etc…

However, throughout those years until now, I realized that some of the events were about the same thing over and over again...i mean, you could see the ‘pattern’ or the ‘template’ is almost the same each time. For example, if I write about friends’ marriage, the only things that change are ‘who’ marry ‘who’, the date and the place; the rest is quite repetitive…then, as time passes by, our friends will have their own commitment, like work, family, etc., so to do those fun stuffs will be reduced and more restricted…until at one point, you do not know what else to write about…

Mind you, I really like to write as much as possible…I know my visitors would always want to read new stuffs from me, just like how much I enjoy reading their new stuffs…in my over 2 months stint at LI so far , while I managed to write 4 entries, including this one, others have 8 entries, 13+4, 7 and 5 (this is some amongst my uE friends…there’s a lot more if I included my other friends…those who wrote lesser than me are not included :p)…they have ‘uninterrupted stream of ideas downloaded out of nowhere’, which is quite remarkable…hmmm

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Let’s start with one of the so-usual-stories: marriage…using the so-usual-template, here it is:

Who: Alfian and Hazrina
When: December 8th, 2007
Where: 3K Court, USJ, Selangor
Summary: Alfian aka Pian was our BVC coursemates, while Hazrina aka Haz was from our ‘pairing-rival’, BVI; both from UTHM… I knew both of them quite well and their attempted ‘cover-up’ relationship (actually, it’s Pian who did that…ok x kawin dgn ‘sepupu’ sendiri? :p patut xyah cover2, kami sume sapot korang arr..)..Anyway, we missed out the invitation, except maybe only Maram12th and Gen got it (who asked me to come along with him)…so kami2 nih (me, Pokli & Jamal-followed Mr. Mohsin) ahli penyemak je harharhrha…Some BVIers and other friends also came along…
Run-down: Gen picked me up, then headed to Jusco Equine to buy present. Bought 2 of the glass/plate/bowl set after some (very) long consideration, and then wrapped it up. Headed northbound to Pokli’s apartment (can’t remember where), then tried to find this 3K sports building at USJ. Met them and others, took pictures, gave present and ate nasi minyak..Left 3K, sent Pokli’s home, then Gen sent me back as well..


Who: Fawaz & Huda
When: December 9th, 2007
Where: Kelab Darul Ehsan, Ampang, Selangor
Summary: Fawaz aka Bapak was our BVC coursemates, Huda aka Wooda@Uda was...hmm…someone Bapak knew for so long..huahuauaa..While Bapak did invited us, we didn’t get the card (Ammar kept it all for himself :p), so we kinda bit lost trying to find this place, even though this is one of the grandest place for a wedding ceremony..It’s Bapak after all, so you would expect to come to this kind of place huhhu…
Run-down: Gen took me again, went to pick up Brahem, then waited for Jamal at Kelana Jaya station…I wasn’t feeling well right after came back from Pian’s wedding the day before, so I wanted to bought some Panadol (not soluble type arrr…don’t repeat the same mistake :p) at Guardian…DID NOT NOTICE the existence of a cheap, mineral water which they put at the front of their premise, so I went inside looking for one, or something that looked like one…came across this mineral water called ‘Evian’, not only it’s 500ml less, it cost almost 4 times the normal cap ayam mineral water..siyooot dot com…rase pon kelat semacam jer..Maybe sebab aku demam kot…then went for Bapak’s place…came VERY late, at the end of the supposed ‘eat-time’, but what the heck…pengantin stay lagi arr…Bapak the hensem guy became more macho, Wooda looked very elegant with the headscarf (really, I mean it)…some already came, some waited, some came even later than us (where the catering guys already packed up some chairs and tables…took some pictures…I sang ‘tenda biru’ at Bapak (just those 2 words, I did not even know what song was that), and he cried (fitnah)…It was Sue Kaseh who came up with this song, and I’d asked her ‘Mr Nice Guy’, Umar aka Maram12th for some clarification (weih aku sebut korang ni xpele kot…anggap doa mustajab dari aku huhuhuuu)…of course, they both were the last couple to arrive here when all the foods were nowhere to be found…I almost forgot, Mr Gen had his moments not just one, but with two bikini gals from Holland..woi upload lar aku nak tgk, simpan sorang2 lak :p…Gen sent Brahem, me and Jamal back to where we belong afterwards…


visit here for some photo collections...

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Next, I want to talk about floods…yeah2 I know, It is common around this period, the monsoon season...Those from the east coast of Peninsular are ‘lali’ with this, and most of them were already well prepared..Only those at the west coast, I believe this happened quite recently…I seldom hear about floods on the west side 6-7 years ago…But did you know that there was also ‘flood’ at my home? No, not our neighborhood, but our own house, WITHOUT the rain pouring?

On the day we’d planned on balik kampong to Gopeng (Jelapang actually…Uchi was sick, and she was staying with my Mak Ngah), there was a water interruption…I managed to bath early in the morning, but around 9-10am, there was no water coming out from the pipes…someone within the family apparently forgot to close the tap at the upper bathroom after it was opened, thinking that it was the ‘default’ tap position…There was two coincidence: the bathroom drainage was clogged with hairs and other weird stuffs, AND, there’s a long ‘crack’, or fractures on the floor tiles (and at the walls and ceilings as well) at my room and my sister’s room, which happened a very long time ago (because of the constant moving of Earth tectonic plates?)…Based on my intuitive ala CSI, when the water DID came back, it poured out very fast and filled up the bathroom’s floor until the water had the same level as the tiles outside…It overflowed and sneaked inside the crack and drop on the top of the kitchen’s ceiling at the ground floor…Over time, the ceiling could not hold up the on-rushing water on it, and eventually, three of it fell apart..

But it did not stop there. The water was still pouring and spreading throughout the kitchen floor, and then the living room, and finally, to the front driveway/porch out to the road. Our neighbor noticed this and called Abah, and he helped by closing the main tap outside. The next day we came back, this was what we saw:


Mama started pointing finger on anyone who ‘bathes late’. While it’s true it was because some human error or carelessness, I would say that “it happens because it happens”…how about blaming the water department for the water cutoff, or the house contractor for the cracks, or the plumber for the drainage unsystematic traps? I would rather had the ceiling fell at that moment than when someone was underneath it :p