Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Kutukan Dewata: APA MAKNANYA BERSAMA PAKATAN YANG MENENTANG HUDUD ...

Kutukan Dewata: APA MAKNANYA BERSAMA PAKATAN YANG MENENTANG HUDUD ...: PAS Umum Keluar Pakatan ?!! Berikutan tentangan demi tentangan daripada sahabat sesyurga PAS dalam Pakatan Haprak berkenaan ...

P.O.L.I.T.I.K.U.S

Sometimes I forgot that I have a blog. I mean, I still tend to use Facebook as a place to vent my frustration in human beings. I need to stop doing that. At least when I rant on my blog, I don't know who my audience is. So no one would mistake that my post/comment was directed at a specific person or a group of people. Y'know how it is on Facebook right? Some people have this stupid tendency to think that every status was shared with them on the poster's mind. *roll eyes* 

I decided to delete the status that I posted just now and share it here instead. Okay, I didn't actually delete it, but I changed the privacy setting so it's visible to well, only me. So, here goes.

Kenapa bila cakap pasal politik (tidak kisah mana2 parti pun), majoriti orang buat dalam keadaan marah2, mengamuk, meroyan, memaki hamun, mencarut, tuding-menuding jari, dan yg sewaktu dengannya? Pada yg muslim tu, mau tanya sikit, Nabi ajar camtu ka? Atas nama memperjuangkan Islam? Nda malukah kita mengaku umat Nabi Muhammad s.a.w dengan perangai camtu? Nda payahlah bergaduh2 berperang mulut sana. Ketawa jak Yahudi Zionis tengok. Sebab? They won, we lost. Kbye.

Note: I didn't post this status for likes/comments. I just had to get it out of my head.


I'm just so sick of people who claimed to be the so-called pejuang Islam, but at the same time express their opinion in anger and dirty words, which are against the teaching of Islam. See the irony??? When it comes to politics, I just wish that people could be more civil and level-headed. I believe that each and every one of us, regardless of race and religion, were taught that we should be courteous, tactful, and the most important of all, patient. Yes, we were taught about all that. So can't we just practice it already? Regardless of which political party that you side with? Please?

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Good News vs Bad News

Yesterday, I received both good and bad news.

The good news was, my aunt whom I call Ucu, had given birth to a baby girl, her 4th child, my new cousin. Syukur, alhamdulillah, both mommy and baby are safe and healthy. :)

The bad news was, my sister Fatin may have to see a brain specialist or a neurologist if she continues to have headaches. Severe headaches. I don't know how bad the condition of her headaches is, but, she told me that her roommates told her that she had been screaming in pain for the last several nights due to her headaches. Yep, they told her. Meaning, she wasn't even aware of the late night screaming she made. She was down with fever a couple of weeks ago (on her birthday) and was given medications accordingly by the doctor. She went to see the doctor again when she didn't seem to get better from the headaches. The doctor gave her migraine medications and advised her to come back if the headaches won't go away. Well, the headaches didn't go away. As advised, she went to see the doctor yesterday and the doctor gave her more powerful migraine medications. If she still keeps getting the headaches, the doctor said she would need to go to the hospital to see a neurologist. 

I'm so worried. So effing worried. She's coming home for her mid-semester break this early May. I will take her to see Dr Ganesh with mama. And perhaps buy her a new pair of spectacles or just upgrade the degree because that could be one of the reasons of her headache. Gosh, I really hope it's nothing serious. But serious or not, this matter should not be taken lightly. I hope that it is just a normal headache. Or migraine. Or whatever. As long as it's not what I'm trying to wash off my mind right now. :(

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Learn to Drive: Day 11

Pagi tadi macam biasa, pegi lagi kelas memandu. Tapi aku belum lagi kena ajar jugak laluan Mesapol-Sipitang tu. Ah. Bila dorang mo ajar aku laluan ni??? Aku ingat tadi kena ajar la suda kunun. Tapi masih lagi dalam litar. Ndapalah. Jadi tadi aku buat tiga2 tu lah, 3-point turn, side parking ngan bukit. First2 tu Encik Sabri temankan aku naik bukit tu. Dia bilang, "Cantik!" Hahaha. Sekali buat lagi 2nd time, terus nda cantik. Mati2 enjin pulak. Zzzzz.... Nda bulih kena puji sikit ko ni Nurul. Bidak. Hahahaha. Lepas tu Encik Sabri suruh aku praktis sendiri. Ngam2 satu jam dia signal dari jauh suruh aku berenti. Aku tanya, besok camana. Terus dia bilang, "AMS nda buka bisuk. Public holiday." I was like, "Ha? Public holiday?" Huh, apa2 lah. Malas plak aku mo banyak tanya. Pastu bila aku cakap kalau Rabu camana, ok ka? Dia bilang nanti dia call. Hummmppphhhh kalau aku tau bagus praktis 2 jam terus jak tadi. Ah Encik Sabri ni. Baru jak aku puji2 hari tu. Ni la ba ni dorang ni. Orang mo dapat lesen tu as soon as possible, tapi dorang ni lengah2 plak. Dari awal lagi begitu aku perhatikan dorang ni. Telampau laid back tul. Ada saturang kakak tu hari tu, dia bilang sampai 2 kali suda dia renew lesen L dia. But that was months ago lah. Before I went to KL lagi. Mesti dia ada suda lesen tu sekarang. Cousin aku si Akmal tu, who is more than 10 years younger than me, suda dapat lesen P dia. Padahal aku lagi awal dari dia daftar ambil lesen ni. Cis. Tapi ya lah, aku hari tu tergantung 2 bulan. Sepa suruh juga aku. Kalau nda, mesti ada suda ni lesen by now. Dia ambik di KK. Dia cakap kalau time kelas tu, 2 jam sekali. Pastu dia awal2 suda kena ajar laluan tu. Siap kena suruh pakai gear 5 lagi. Gila kan. Tapi, ok la jugak. Cepat dia pandai. Yg aku ni??? Ih menyesal aku nda ambik di KK. Zzzzz..... Nasib jugak nda payah bayar lagi for extra hours ni sebab memang begitu style dorang. Dari segi produktiviti, AMS ni memang nda berapa la aku tengok. Aku yg slow-mo ni pun rasa dorang ni slow. Suda la teda servis ambil n hantar balik. Adui. Mama bilang maybe dorang ni begini sebab dorang teda saingan. Dorang jak kan satu2nya sekolah memandu di Sipitang ni. Kalau di KK tu, banyak saingan so sebab tu dorang efisien, pantas, cepat. Huh..... Terpaksa lah aku ikut flow dorang ni. Apa bulih buat la Nurul. Kenalah ikut style Sipitang yg slow, laid back n relax ni. Perkataan "rushing" atau "haste" tidak wujud di sini. Zzzzz......

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Nama saya Nurul, bukan Najwa

Makin lama aku makin bosan pulak bila orang asyik panggil aku "Najwa" disebabkan cara pemakaian tudung aku yg kononnya hampir sama dengan cara Najwa Latif, gadis genit bersuara agak merdu (bagi aku) yg terkenal dengan lagu "Cinta Muka Buku" dan "Kosong". Situasi ini bermula cuma sejak aku kembali ke Sabah. No one called me "Najwa" when I was in KL. Heck, no one even bothered about the way I wear my hijab. I still remember the day I came back to KK. Mom, Fatin and Ain took me to the Ramadhan bazaar at Asia City after picking me up from the airport. A man there, one of the hawkers, said to me "Hai Najwa!". I was like, zzzzz.... And then, it never stops. Wherever I go, people will call me Najwa. And sometimes even Yuna. *roll eyes* The funniest thing is, I didn't even know that Najwa's hijab style was similar to mine. Seriously, I couldn't even care less. Not that I have anything against her. I think she's a very talented singer/songwriter/guitar player.

Image Source: Gitar Kapok

So one day, I googled her because I could no longer hold my curiosity. And... Oklah, aku akui, memang ada persamaan. But contrary to popular belief, my hijab style is actually inspired by a young lady named Syireen Saari. Nope, not a celebrity. Just a regular Malaysian girl who blogs and shares her hijab tutorials on YouTube. Biasalah, masa mula-mula start pakai tudung dulu, itu jak lah kerja aku, usha-usha hijab tutorials di YouTube. And of all the tutorials available, I like her style the most. I realize that Syireen's style is also inspired by none other than Hana Tajima, but I prefer the former's YouTube tutorials because they are easier to follow. However, cara aku pakai tudung tidaklah 100% sama dengan Syireen. Aku buat cara yg aku rasa paling mudah dan selesa. Typical me, bila sudah selesa dengan something tu, mulalah malas mau belajar cara lain lagi. Especially, cara yg complicated tu. Memang ai malas lah ye. Hehe. Anyway, below are some of my favourite hijab tutorials by Syireen in case anyone who is reading this "rojak" post is interested. And remember folks, my name is Nurul, not Najwa! Good night!
 


An Evening in Sipitang

Dear Pitty,

I received an unexpected visit from a friend, Pija, this evening. Well, it wasn't really unexpected since I was the one who told her to come hang out with me whenever she happens to be in Sipitang. But... I didn't expect that it was gonna be on a Thursday. She PMed me on WeChat at around 5 pm saying that she was already in Lubok Darat, which is around 20 minutes from my nenek's house (gauging by the time she arrived to pick me up). Pija and I aren't that close but we were in the same class during Form 4 and 5. We also went to the same sekolah agama since Primary 1 until 6. She is now teaching English at a primary school in Beaufort. We went to Esplanade Sipitang (where else could anyone go here?) for some satay and bakso. I took her to the Sate Jamrut stall because their satay is the best in town. I wasn't really hungry because I had a late lunch (if she told me in advance I would've had my lunch earlier), but I didn't want to hurt her feelings since she drove all the way from Beaufort (around 1 hour and 30 minutes from here) so I ate anyway. Yeah, I'm good like that, hahaha. She just came back from Langkawi and she gave me a key chain hehe. The outing was brief but nice. We had a little chat about our jobs. She told me how stressful it is to be a teacher and her plan to pursue a Master's degree soon. I wish her all the best! Thanks to her for making my day a little out of the ordinary. :-)

That's all for now Pitty! Until I write you again!

Take care!
Nurul

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Learn to Drive: Day 10

Everything went very well today I must say. I even did the hill without Encik Sabri sitting beside me TWICE, so yeah, I felt pretty good! :D I was like, "I LOVE YOU ENCIK SABRI!!!" Hahahahaha. I just need to make sure that the front tyres won't go past the yellow line next time. I'll do better in the next session, this I promise! I'm really glad that Encik Sabri is my replacement instructor. Of all 3 instructors that I've had sessions with (Saiful, Hamdan and Sabri), Sabri is by far the best! He doesn't make me feel so rigid or awkward or intimidated, I mean, he makes me feel comfortable, and when I feel comfortable, I listen to the instructions better and when I listen better, I execute better and the result will be better of course! I like Encik Sabri and I hope he continues to be my instructor until pre-test time. No offence to the other 2 instructors, they are okay but... I don't think I learned much from them. Especially Saiful who calls me Najwa because he doesn't know my real name, zzzz... I feel like the first 4 hours I had with Saiful was wasted because he didn't really teach me anything. During the first class, he asked me to practice the gears (without driving the car) and after around 30 minutes he asked me to go home. I was like, wait, what? That's it? I was prepared for more than just playing around with the gears for 30 minutes okay! Zzzzz..... For the following sessions, he pretty much just asked me to drive around the circuit alone and without proper guidance. Only during the 5th hour that I had my first session with Hamdan, who is actually the instructor that I self-picked. And I had the 2nd session with him a few days before I went to KL. So actually, Hamdan only taught me the 3-point turn for 2 hours, and the rest was handed over to Encik Sabri because of the reason already mentioned in my previous post. Since my 10 hours has ended and I have yet to learn the final route, Encik Sabri asked me to consult with the Akademi Memandu Sipitang office staff on how I should proceed next. I'll call the office and Hamdan on Tuesday and see how it goes from there.

Did you notice that I kept addressing Encik Sabri as "Encik Sabri" and I didn't address Hamdan and Saiful as such? Well, I don't know. I don't mean to be rude or biased to the other 2 instructors, but Encik Sabri earned it. I feel like I owe him so much because he did this only as a favour for Hamdan. And it was with him that I succeeded at the hill, which is the most difficult part of all, in addition to side parking AND 3-point turn. So I think calling him "Encik" is the least that I could do to show my appreciation and RESPECT. If I knew, I would've picked Encik Sabri in the first place. Huh... I really can't wait to get my P licence. I just wanna get this done and over with.

Learn to Drive: Day 9

Yesterday was the 9th day of my driving class and I finally succeeded to do the hill!!! :D :D :D I was so happy I wanted to scream!!! Hahahaha. Buttt it was still a bit awkward and not so smooth yet. I'm so glad I did it at last! :D At 2 PM today I will have another session with Encik Sabri, the replacement instructor. It's gonna be my 10th hour, which is also my last hour. Why 10 hours not 8? Because I only had 2 hours of bengkel, so the person who handled the bengkel session, Saiful, said that we could claim the 2 hours balance for lessons. I'm not sure if I have to pay for extra classes though. I haven't started on the route yet. I'll see how it goes later.

Yesterday was also the day my Macik Inah got engaged. Alhamdulillah... :-) The event started at around 2 PM, so sebab tu aku sempat lagi pegi kelas memandu pagi tu hehehe. Her fiance is a widower with 5 kids, my soon-to-be step cousins. Haha. He is from Kuala Penyu but teaches at a school in KK. 2 of his kids are currently studying in UMS and UiTM, while the others are still in primary/secondary school I assume. Alhamdulillah, my Macik Inah finally found her soul mate. I hope Allah will bless their relationship until Jannah. I pray for her happiness and I hope everything will go smoothly as planned, amin...

Everybody has left. Pacik Salim and Fadhli left yesterday evening, followed by Macik Zainab, Farhan, Wani and Ira after maghrib. Pacik Nawi, Akmal, Aideel, Afiq and Adib left this morning, and mom and Ain followed suit slightly afterwards. It's just me, nenek, Macik Inah and Macik Tam again. Huh... The only thing I don't like here is that feeling of loneliness again. That melancholy feeling you get when people come, make your day, and then leave again. I don't like it. I guess I'm not really a loner after all. Well, yeah, okay, I'm a loner, but not by choice. I love being surrounded by people. But not strangers or even acquaintances whom I barely even talk to most of the time. I want to be around FAMILY and FRIENDS. People I'm familiar and comfortable with. Of course there are Macik Inah, Macik Tam and nenek here, but we pretty much mind our own businesses. I'm not saying that we don't get along or don't talk at all, not like that. But, yeah, y'know, I don't know how to explain it, but yeah, y'know. Sometimes I really, really wish that Fatin or Ain was here with me. Sometimes I wish that Suzie was unmarried so she would stay here (she used to teach at a local sekolah agama before she got married) and we could go out for lunch or dinner at Esplanade Sipitang or whatever. There's not much to do around here, but at least I'd have a company. A friend. Someone that I could share my thoughts or feelings with.  But... that is a selfish wish.

Don't get me wrong, I like it here. The house is so much more comfortable than ours back in KK. It's calm and peaceful. I won't hear any angry mom screaming at her kids or neighbours fighting over stupid things like TV or whatever here. But.... I love being at home too. I love being at home because my mom is there. I miss going to the market with her. I LOVE going to the market with her. We will have breakfast together and then we will go shopping for groceries. I will help her carry the bags. And sometimes I'll take her out for lunch or a movie. And sometimes we will go to the mosque for solat jemaah together. I love those moments. I can tell that my mom is so much happier when I'm at home. But my nenek needs someone to look after her too. Since I am working from home, I am the perfect candidate to be my nenek's "part-time nurse". She can't even tell which medicine that she should take or if she has taken them or not and my aunts aren't always around to do that for her. It's okay. At least, my time here won't be spent in vain. At least I have a purpose to be here. Purposes in fact. And I will always be thankful to Allah no matter what.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Learn to Drive: Day 8

So I had my driving class with the same replacement instructor on Wednesday. He taught me how to do the side parking and we also did more practice on 3-point turn and the hill. Okay. So, the "you-don't-have-to-press-the-accelerator" theory was wrong. I was still unable to do it right. The instructor had to help release the hand break because I still don't know how do all 3 things; control clutch, control accelerator and release hand break at the same time. Apparently, I need to balance the clutch and accelerator before releasing the hand break. But I still couldn't find that point of balance so, yep, I failed to do it again. The side parking went well though. I never thought that it would be easier than the hill, thanks to the use of poles! :P The instructor said that my level of driving is okay already, but yeah, the hill is my only problem right now. He also said that by now, I should have started practicing the final route, which requires me to drive from the academy to Mesapol, then Sipitang, and then back to the academy. But since I haven't mastered the hill, looks like it's going to be postponed. I have 2 hours left, but my original instructor said that I don't need to worry about that. I don't know what he really meant but, okay. I won't worry then. I hope that I can have my next class this Sunday. Macik Inah is getting engaged tomorrow, so I won't be able to make it tomorrow. I think I'll stop now. My cousin is sitting behind me so I'm afraid that he will curi-curi tengok what I'm writing. Bye.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

I See Dead Pixel (No More)

ONE dead pixel by kosijenka

You know that black spot on my laptop screen that I was obsessing over and made me down the whole day yesterday? Yes, that round black dot people call dead pixel? It's gone. Magically, marvelously, strangely GONE. Not that I want it back but yeah, it was really odd. I guess it wasn't a dead pixel after all? Or that maybe the web-based dead pixel removers I tried yesterday really did work? I don't know. But I am sure glad that it's gone. I was hoping that yesterday was just a bad dream and when I wake up today it will be gone. And, it is. Fuh. Syukur alhamdulillah. I am dead pixel-free!!! Woohooo!!! You won't be missed so please don't come back!

Monday, April 14, 2014

I See Dead Pixel


Yeah, the blog title speaks for itself. "Arrrggghhhh there is a dead pixel on my laptop screeeeeeeen!!!!!" is the top news story of Nurul Hanani's life on April 14, 2014. I just couldn't believe my eyes to find a not so tiny black spot on my laptop screen this morning. I thought it was dust or dirt at first. Arrrgghhh so frustrating because the laptop is only a couple of weeks old!!!! I couldn't stop obsessing over it but I had to force myself to focus on my WARS writing. Urgh. I made some googling and found that dead pixels are not fixable, unlike stuck pixels, which could be removed using some pixel fixing software available online.  I tried a couple of them such as JScreenFix and LCD Repair V2.0, nevertheless, to no avail. I contacted the retailer from which I got my Acer laptop and they told me to check with Acer itself regarding the dead pixel policy. So I called Acer KK service centre and a lady informed me that they can only give me a free screen replacement if I have at least SEVEN dead/stuck pixels! I was like, SHOOOOOOTTTT!!!! But she asked me to bring my laptop to the centre so they can take a look at it and possibly fix it for me. Now I regret for not just buying a SONY VAIO laptop as I originally planned. I think Acer is more prone to pixel issues than other brands (I think), because my old Acer laptop has 8 to 10 white dead pixels of various sizes (most of them are small) but they are not as annoying as the one spot on my new laptop screen because it's BLACK! My sisters are using SONY VAIO and Asus and they are so far 100% pixel defect-free! And they have been using the laptops for a while, which makes me all the more disappointed and resentful! URGH! I feel like going back to KK this weekend lah. See la how. >81

BTW, my Sunday driving class is going to be replaced this Wednesday because no instructor was able to teach me yesterday. It just occurred to me this morning that the real problem lies on the clutch, not the accelerator. I actually do not have to release the clutch fully before releasing the hand break. I believe that fully releasing the clutch was what caused the car engine to keep stopping the other day. Urgh you idiot Nurul, of course la! Isn't this what you have been learning in the past several months??? Zzzzz.... I misunderstood the instructor's instruction! He didn't ask me to release it fully, but slowly while slightly pressing the accelerator at the same time. But I also just remembered yesterday that someone told me that it's not necessary to press the accelerator at this point, because the car would still move (same rule as when we just started to move the car; release the clutch a little and hold it until the car is stable enough then only the clutch can be released fully; and then press the accelerator at desired speed). Zzzzz.... I'm going to try both methods this Wednesday and see which one really works!

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Learn to Drive: Day 7

Today I learned the hill and did more practice on the 3-point turn. A different instructor taught me today as my original instructor, Hamdan  a.k.a. Boy, won't be available for the time being. I was informed by him that he's staying in KK for a while after his wife's labour. Doing the hill was not as easy as expected. I thought that it would be the easiest among the 3 parts; hill, side parking and 3-point turn. Boy, was I wrong. I still couldn't figure out when is the right time to release the clutch and hand break. Theoretically speaking, I know that I need to release the clutch pedal and press the accelerator pedal slowly and simultaneously and that I must release the hand break once the clutch pedal is fully released. For some reason, I still couldn't get my timing right. I tried many times and failed every time. I, however, am aware that my mistake was that I didn't push the accelerator pedal enough for the car to move forward. That's why the engine kept dying. I must be able to change this tomorrow. I MUST! I don't think that the replacement instructor looks forward to teaching me again though. I hope that by the time Hamdan returned I would have already mastered the hill and 3-point turn. At least. Doing the 3-point turn was easier this time, but it was still not perfect. But I believe that I did it better than last time. I really can't wait to get my P licence. I WANT IT. I WANT ITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!

Friday, April 11, 2014

It's Friday, just another ordinary day.

Dear Pitty,

How are you? It has been a very long time since I last wrote you. I'm sorry about that. I've been busy being not busy. I just turned 29 on Tuesday. No celebration, no cake. But some friends did wish me a Happy Birthday. :-) It's alright, I don't really mind anyway. I'm grateful for the life that Allah has given me and that should be enough. There haven't been many improvements in my life, but there are some improvements. One of them is that I am taking driving classes (finally!). I'm going to resume my classes tomorrow after an almost 2-month break (I was in KL for 3 weeks and didn't come back to Sipitang until last Sunday). I'm aiming to secure my P licence before Ramadhan, insha Allah... Wish me luck, okay? :-)

I bought a new laptop too! It's Acer E1-472G. White colour. So far, so good. I'm enjoying Windows 8.1. The only thing is that The Sims 3 won't run properly on this system. Such a letdown. But it's okay. I guess I'll wait for The Sims 4, which is scheduled for release this December.

I'm now an aunt to my cousin Suzie's son, Zaim. She gave birth to him on March 23. I meant to call Suzie but I haven't done so. I promise I will call her soon. :-) There will be more additions to our family soon. My Aunt Inah is getting engaged this April 19 and the wedding is scheduled on June 1. Farhan, Suzie's younger brother, is also getting married this year. Alhamdulillah... :-) Aside from my family, most of my friends are also moving on to new chapters of their lives. Kym is now a mother of a very beautiful baby girl, Kimora. Bazooka has 3 sons, 2 of them are twins! Ezura's son just turned 1. Faezah's cute baby boy Yusuff is now 8 months old. Ille is 5 months pregnant. And Farah is getting engaged in May. Even Ally is married now! Wow! I guess I kinda always knew that I will be the last (or one of the last) among my friends to settle down. It's okay. It's not like it's a competition or anything. I am much better off single than being with the wrong man anyway. Any human being is much better off single than being with the wrong person, don't you agree Pitty? The right man will come along sooner or later. I don't need to worry about it because Allah is the best matchmaker. :-)

What else is going on in my life? Nah.... Apart from what I just mentioned, nothing much. I'm still working with BT as a SMA. There's a slight increase in my salary but I'm grateful. My workload had increased too. It was a little crazy at first but I'm getting the hang of it just fine even though the client is driving me nuts sometimes, but I'm fine. Now you must be asking why am I writing you this letter when I should be doing my work, aren't you? Well, my work for the day is done. Unless my colleagues need my help, I will only be busy during the first half of the week. I will normally spend the rest of the day on Facebook or Twitter or watching TV or playing some silly games. And today I decided to write to you.


Well, I think I've told you everything so far. I know you are never going to write me back, but it's okay. You've always been such a very good confidante. I'll write you again soon. Take care Pitty. :-)

Yours,
Nurul