Mind our language

I had always been fascinated with languages around the world. Different people speak different languages. Because of this difference, it may lead us to confusion and maybe destruction. I have a story to tell, a story which happened today in Lille, France.

I did not slept properly today since my bus should depart from Gare de Leverdes in Lille at 7.45 a.m. , so I decided not to sleep and played Pro Evo 9 on Hakim's PS3 with Saiful, Ijat and Shahir. At around 6 a.m. I can barely hold my eyes and finally I drowsed to a coma state for an hour before waking up at 7 and rushed to the bus station. The outside temperature was freakingly -5 Celcius. Even the nearby fountain were frozen and the atmosphere was total silence, as if I was walking in a cold dead city. Hakim showed me to the bus station and I did not payed any attention since I walked with my eyes starring on the ground trying my best to beat the winter cold. We took the metro and when I arrived to the bus station I can barely remember how I got there. We waited for 10 minutes before the bus showed up and Hakim that was when I said goodbye and thank you to Hakim for sending me to the bus station. That was the beginning....

I joined the que to enter the bus while other passengers were preparing to show their tickets to the driver. Once I showed my ticket, the driver was saying something which I assumed to be Deutsch(German language) with some emphasis on the word 'nitch' which means No. So, I stayed beside the bus waiting for the other passengers to board the bus. When finally there were only two passengers left, another cute french girl and myself. The cute French girl was speaking in French to this German Driver who doesn't understand French. Out of a sudden, the driver were saying 'nitch zwei' , 'eine, du or du'. Which I assumed to be ''No two, only 1, you or you'' and as you can guessed, he chose the cute French Girl leaving me behind. I had no Idea where I was, how to get to London, How to speak French or even how to get back to my friends place. My telephone was out of battery and only god knows the freazing cold of Lille.

Then out of nowhere, an old guy approached from his car telling me that he was the girl's father and the girl was asking her father to help me. He spoke french and I was communicating using sign language (assuming it was a language) and noted 'merci' means 'thanks' a thousand times for helping me. I also said 'pardon' a lot and ' cas ce se sa?' which both means pardon and what is this/that. He was saying something about 'counter bas' so I followed him in his car and he drove to the bus counter which was like 400 meters away and using his old fingers counting 9 in french noting the time of the counter to open. That was when I saw a phone charger in his car so, I was saying 'Battery Kaput'' and he let me charged my battery for 10 minutes and I took the time to call Hakim asking him where his house might be at. He said take the metro to Gutterham and call him when I got there. So, I thanked the old French guy for helping me out and offered him for a coffea when he later said someting like ' I need to go to work now''.

When I arrived at Gutterham station I called Hakim and walked straight to his house as he directed me from his phone. At his house, everyone were sleeping and I straight away charged my phone. I called UK's National Express and they managed to put me on board the 1 p.m bus. So, Finally I managed to arrived in London safe and sound after a exhausting 9 hours bus ride.

Conclusion of the story, You may understand English, You may bring a French Dictionary but would you expect to hear German when you are in France?. Life is simply unpredictable!

In Lille

Cold......

France Today

Departing at 2030 hours, ETA(Estaminated Time of Arrival) in Lille, France at 0430 hours.

 'j'espere que tu aime ta nouvelle maison' 

1108 Miles covered around UK

1108 miles covered, a simple phrase yet has great meaningful memories and meanings to me. 1108 miles covered from 3 p.m 19/12/08 to 6 p.m. 23/12/08. We have traveled by a rented car which was Toyota Avensis around the United Kingdom for five lovely days and here I would like to write the story of our trip. This story would be 5 days long, perhaps to long to read but you can browse through with the highlighted phrases or words which might be interesting to read. We travelled from London-Cambridge-Nottingham-York-Newcastle-Edinburgh-Glasgow-Lake District-Manchester-Birmingham-Bath-Stonehenge-London. I would like to thank everyone who participated in this trip, one of the best so far for me..Thank you Adah, Hadi, Yameen and Rafie.

Friday(19/12/08)

In the beginning, our trip was almost canceled since I was needed to hand in my research project submission which was dragged till the last hour. I tried to place a hold on the car since It was almost impossible to rent a car during this time of the year, so I called the company twice to change the pick up from 9 am to 11 am which was later posponed to 3 pm. Once I submitted all the required papers, I rushed to Edgware High Street which was 1 hours away and met Rafie. Later we brought the car back home where our ''totally changed'' journey started. It was changed since in the first place, we wanted to headed west starting from the Stonehenge circling UK clockwise when Rafie forgotten to bring his bag along and we headed east instead. We headed out from Rafie's place at around 7 p.m. to Cambridge. Rafie drove all the way to Cambridge and I was the navigator using my super high tech phone Nokia N95 which we later called ''makcik gile suka ikut rally''. We arrived in Cambridge around 8 and decided to grab our dinner and while walking around Cambridge city, we saw this one beautiful clock called the grasshopper clock ( jam belalang). Earlier in the car, Adah told us the clock is quite famous and was engineered for almost 15 years by 500 engineers so the clock must be something worth seeing. At every hour, the clock will make something different hence at 8.56 we ran from the kebab house just to get a glimpse what happens to the clock every hour. Below is the video of our chase.  By 10 p.m. we headed to our car and drove all the way to Nottingham. At Nottingham, things got even weirder since we needed a place to stay and a friend of mine named Sarip was not home but we did not cared, we stayed at his house. Even his housemate were shocked to receive guests in the middle of the night. We did the  'muka tak malu' expresssion. :P So that was all for the day.

Saturday(20/12/08)

We woke up late at 10 a.m. without breakfast we were headed north! Our next stop was York, a famous city for its Vikingness culture. In York, we roamed the street and went in front of the Viking museum before deciding that the price was equivalent to the price of our lunch so we chosed lunch instead of enterntainment that afternoon. We went to this one ruined Castle located on top of a high slope in the middle of York City. The ruined castle was famous for its history which gave shelter to some 15 Jews who were running from an unknown place( I did not read much). After the small castle hideout visit, we were hungry like a python and found a chinese malaysian restaurant. The food was all seafood okay since Halal meat was almost imposibble to find.  After the York Visit, Adah took over the wheel and we headed back to north. Once we almost arrived Newcastle, I realised that Bhal was there,  studying or should I say 'merempat' in his friend's house. We went to visit him before having our dinner in a 'gay' restaurant. A 'gay' symbol would be those colourful rainbow signs or flags. So straight guys, next time youre going to a club, remember to watch our for those signs. After the dinner and our visit to St James Park Football park, we wanted to sent Bhal back before the accident happened. Adah was driving, I was in front and we were at the roundabout. The guys at the back were playing this game ' Hens Hans was in an accident, did she died?' when out of a sudden a car from nowhere came right close to the left back door. Everyone was screaming 'stop there a car at your left' when Adah pressed the accelerator and we scratched the car. We stopped and have a chat with the other car driver and luckly the scracth was not that bad. After that accident, we continue our journey in total silence for 20 minutes before we started to smile back again :). That night we stopped at Edinburgh and I drove all the way from Newcastle. We stayed in St.Christopher's Inn in the heart of Edinburgh.

Sunday(21/12/08)

We again woke up at almost 8. The room we were staying was like a school dorm, I stayed on the top bed and that morning went to the Edinbugh Castle. I can say that it was my first visit to real Castle. Once arrived in the castle, we entered and learned many valuable lessons which I wanted to describe here but too many info perhaps, I should not. After the castle visit, we went to the top of Edinburgh where there were like Roman pillars and some monuments standing. I can say that the winds of Edinburgh were the strongest wind that I have ever felt. I almost felt while standing on a rock and Adah almost bumped her head to a rock and Yameen's hair was flowing like fast moving rapids. Even Hadi and Rafie could not open their eyes properly due to the high speed winds.  We later continued our journey to Glasgow, the boring city which has nothing to see. We started tour search for the great tall ship in Glasgow but it under construction I think, we could not even come close and the place was like falling apart. Besides that, We initially googled that in Glasgow there was this one Light House tower and when we arrived there, the light house tower was simply nothing. A building, located somewhere in the city with a small glass opening and being proclaimed to be a grand lighthouse. I was totally not impressed. So, later that night we continued our jouney and went down straight to the Lake District. With the help of an IPhone, we googled our way for the night and found a Bed&Breakfast and stayed there for the night. The house was taken care by a guy named Jamie who recently just came our of the hospital after accidently crushed his hand on mountain biking downhill. We played Monopoly and that was al for the day.

Monday(22/12/08)

I will update when I have the time, so keep checking....

I knew

strong, confusing sights
scared, confessing rights

Hide your eyes
Say your fine
so close now, it wont be long now

I knew you'd never do it, i knew you never had the voice
You swear you didnt mean it, you like to watch me fall
yeah i would do it again, thats right i'd do it again
maybe you'll always hate me, Maybe you'll understand

more, than i can afford
its all just thoughts

Crazy Little Buskers

Have you ever wondered how it feels like being a busker. It feels horrible, shy, 'gile tak malu', stupid, 'perasan suare gempaq', 'reti tak pegang gitar orang tu?', or probably one in a million chance would be ''he's good?'' Owh, for some of you guys who might not know what busker is, so let me help you with the hassle by giving you a definition from dictionary.com

busk

   [buhsk] Show IPA Pronunciation

–verb (used without object)

1.	Chiefly British. to entertain by dancing, singing, or reciting on the street or in a public place.

2.	Canadian. to make a showy or noisy appeal.

I think, in my case, the second definition might suite correctly. So, last weekend some friends of mine went to hyde park, trying to experience this feeling of being a busker. It was damn cold and I can barely feel my nose. And yes, it was pretty stupid, pretty lame and the list goes on but what the heck, you would not know the feeling of something until you feel it by yourself. Did I get paid, maybe less then a pound i think.. With this post, I'm posting some youtube clips. So, do try being a busker someday people. Its fun!

The first song below is our own song. 'I knew'

And this is by Mraz 'I'll Do Anything''

Shit, I need to do my work now!

Independant Self Sufficient Adult

Once I enter my house after a full tiring day at school ( now its 9.15 pm), these are some few things that I will normally do occasionally.

1. Open the door, take off my shoes and wet socks and turn on the heater straight away
   
2. Drink a glass of tap water and open my fridge to scavange for any left overs last night
   
3. Enter my room and turn on this lovely super slow laptop
   
4. Throw my school bag under the table, the only place it will remain till tomorrow
   
5. Turn on the Television and today I heard the phrase ''Independant Self Sufficient Adult'' from the movie 'Failure to Launch' starring Matthew McConaughy and Sarah Jessica Parker.
   

I was just wondering, what does that really mean? Especially to me....

Your sun

During these cold winter days,
The Sun hides beneath gloomy London's sky,
Night becomes longer the day passes by,
I walk alone along the hyde.

Squirrels and pigeons roam together,
Scavenging food left on the ground,
A scarecrow came chasing away,
Squirrels and pigeons left to die.

Dogs with sweaters a scene to laugh,
In handbags like dolls, my stomach burst,
A walk in the park these dogs found each other,
They call it coincidence, I call it fate.

In cold winter days, you need a sun,
Something to warm you up outside the door,
My sun is long dead now a black hole,
Where this sun used to be a star.

Holiday

Figure 1.1 : The figure above is the map of the United Kingdom, scale at 2.3 cm: 20km

Winter Holiday is approaching very soon, planning to go on a road trip. But now, let me concentrate on my research report.

-over and out-

Winter Wonderland

Just got back from Malaysian Students Department(MSD) right after having my dinner with the girls. I am so full right now, I ate ' Nasi campur' accompanied by two pieces of roti canai and a glass of teh tarik. It has been quite a while since I had an appetite like a python and today the python emerges again. The winter python. Reason- We went to the annual Hyde Park Fair which was The Winter Wonderland. The weather was freezing cold and I can barely feel any of my fingers. At this freezing point, my stomach would act weirdly singing chritmas ryhme as if I have not eaten for a week.

The scenery was lovely, as if we are in Europe. Erm, wait..we are in Europe! Haha.. I mean the part of Europe with lotsa snow that is! The part where houses are made from fine pine or oak trees. The kind where most of the decorations are made from wood, with beer and hot food were sold almost everywhere. There was even an ice ring, one of the things that I have always wanted to do, Ice Skating but did not have the time, or perhaps the right moment to learn. The settings of the park was magnificient with red, blue and white lights hanging beautifully creating a warm atmosphere of joy and happiness although again, it was freezing cold. For the first time in London, I entered the Haunted House paying 3 pounds without even shouting or got scared. Was I brave or was the ride damn lame, I am sure I will not get any younger. There was also this huge beautiful fairies wheel, lighted by beautiful white lights which we later turned down as the charges was 7 pounds per person. Frankly speaking, I had a great evening thanks to the girls.

On my way back, I chatted with one of my friend  and she asked will I be staying here or will I go back to Malaysia. She told me she is going back, since her mum needs her badly so I guess that is a pretty concrete reason for her. She wanted to be a good housewife and told me when we meet again in 10 years time, she will be having like 7 kids and a happy family - I pray for her.  For me, it was a simple question but I found the answer to be uncertain. Malaysia has always been a place in my mind as where I was born, a place where I will be burried and a place where my blood will be spilled. I love Malaysia as that is where my family, my friends and my home will be. So, my answer would be I will be going back. But deep inside my heart, there is this one desire to actually stay in the UK for another 1 or 2 years, I believe there are lots of things to be discovered in this foreign land. I am still young and youngness does not come twice. I am now 23 years old and who knows by 30 will I be able to complete a 10km run. :P...erm.. in 30 minutes.

Yup, I did once said that a young mind will never get old but remember an old body will never get young. This might be my one and only chance to actually discover the world properly, to meet new people and again a better platform for me to perform. It is like you were given the chance to play football in Stadium Shah Alam against Wembley Stadium. Two different crowds with two different news coverage. So I guess, I would choose Wembley Stadium before heading back to Stadium Shah Alam. One day when I come back and play in Stadium Shah Alam, I will be expected to win the crowd and win the game. A simple metaphore to a very complicated situation. 

Hence, what will I do in the UK? Dey tambi, kerjala..apa lagi! Yes, I am hoping to be employed here in the UK and get as much experience as I can( Which means a year or two- not more than that!) before heading home. Home.......and maybe starting my very own home.

Btw readers , the previous post which goes with the title 1 has been a mind twisting clue or should I say puzzle by me to motivate myself and the readers. It was simply 1. A number to start, a number to hold, a number to chase and the only number I want. 1 means first, and 1 means a lot. I believe in 1 god, 1 belief and 1 chance to live. Hence, we only live once, make yourself 1 happy successful person.