Saturday, November 01, 2014

Al-kisah di Tengah Hari Kemarin (Atau semalam. Mana2 lah!)

Lokasi: Perpustakaan Negeri Sabah, UTC

Aku: Kak, mo pakai komputer.
Kakak library: Berapa umur kamu?
Aku: 29
Kakak library: Ha? 29? Ingatkan 14, 15 tadi.
Aku: (Tersipu-sipu malu sambil menghulurkan kad pengenalan)

Makasih kak! I ❤ you! :8) :8) :8)

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Word of the Day: Serendipity

According to Wiktionary:

1. An unsought, unintended, and/or unexpected, but fortunate, discovery and/or learning experience that happens by accident.

2. A combination of events which are not individually beneficial, but occurring together produce a good or wonderful outcome.

Serendipity is when you find things you weren't looking for because finding what you're looking for is so damn difficult. - Erin McKean

According to Dictionary.com

1. An aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2. Good fortune; luck:
   "the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for."

According to Urban Dictionary:

1. A very good coincidence, often leading to something really awesome.

It was serendipity that I put one quarter in the gumball machine and three came out. :-)

2. A fortunate accident.

I got lost and found a bag of money, what a serendipity.

3. The action of making happy discoveries, by accidents or sagacity, of something not initially in quest of.

'I lost a needle in a hay stack last week, however whilst looking for it I found the farmer's daughter' - I had to consider this (as she was pretty and willing) a stroke of serendipity.

4. Lucky chance

Them falling in love was purely serendipity.

5. Something pleasant or useful found while looking for something else. Inspired by a Persian fairy story, "The Three Princes of Serendip".

I initially wanted to date Moira, but she turned out to be an awful bore and she snorted when she laughed, which I can't stand. She did however get me in touch with a car dealer who makes really cool custom cars, top quality and dirt cheap, three of which I bought within a year. That was a real piece of serendipity.

6. Finding the most amazing guy in the world while he is doing laundry on your hall. aka a happy accident or coincidence. Everything happens for a reason.

As I saw Kevin walking down the hall with his laundry I knew I had to make him mine. Turns out he likes me too and everything falls into place perfectly. Call it serendipity? Or fate?

Thought of the Day

 

I'm not only anti-smoking, I'm also anti-pornography (or anything close to it). So please be mindful about sending me porn or porn-like content, even if it is meant as a joke, DON'T, save it for your own viewing and amusement. Clearly, you and I have a very different idea about what funny means. Thanks for your understanding.

Peace, love & respect!

Yours truly,
Nurul in Chains

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Word of the Day: Meet-cute

According to Wiktionary:

(narratology) A situation in a film, television series, etc. in which a potential or future romantic couple meet for the first time in a way that is considered adorable, entertaining, or amusing.

According to Dictionary.com:

A situation or occasion when potential romantic partners meet for the first time in a charming or amusing way.

According to Urban Dictionary:

Scenario in which two individuals are brought together in some unlikely, zany, destined-to-fall-in-love-and-be-together-forever sort of way (the more unusual, the better).

The way the characters meet in "Serendipity" or "When Harry Met Sally" or at least half the romantic comedies out there.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

October Disaster #2

So last Saturday I hung out with Marwan again. This time we went to October Disaster #2 that was held by The Rebel Union at Karamunsing Room. Headlining the gig was Tres Empre, a 5-piece Post Hardcore band from Kuala Lumpur. The other performers were all local bands from various places in Sabah (mostly Papar if I'm not mistaken), including Prime Focus (Progressive Metal), The Jethroes (Scandi Rock), Eyes Full of Insects and Plumfield (Grunge), to name a few. As usual, I'm too lazy to describe the event in detail, so I will just post some of the pictures taken during the show. Btw, my favourite performers that day were Prime Focus, Plumfield and of course, Tres Empre. It was my first time seeing Prime Focus and Tres Empre on stage (heck, it was the first time I've heard their music as well!) and it was really surprising to find out that I apparently enjoy these two different genre of music. They were really energetic and refreshing to see! Maybe I've gone to too many similar gigs with the same old bands all over again, therefore October Disaster #2 was just what I needed to replenish my dying interest in attending local music events. Cough cough.

Here goes. Sori, malas mo edit. Zzzz....

P/S: Read more about the event on Langau.net by Bro Langau

Emcee for the day, Bro Langau
Plumfield
Darn Phill (Melodychain's vox) on action
Prime Focus. Sorry for the blurry image(s)
The Jethroes
Tres Empre
Ok, ini tipu jak! :P Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno photo sourced from Zimbio

And finally, my companion, Marwan! :)

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Ditto

Image Source: Manufiya Snippets

Kes Kusut: Untangled

Dear Pitty,

Thursday marked exactly 3 weeks after the accident involving Napoleon Dynamite (haven't I told you yet that I named my car after one of my all-time favourite movies, Napoleon Dynamite?) and a white Viva, which his owner R named Botak. In that 3 weeks we have become, well, acquaintances, and so far we have gone out for a movie outing once, together with his friend B who was with him at the time of the incident as well as my girls Farah and No Joke. We are even planning to go out for karaoke this weekend. Or in the near future. Crazy huh?

I guess I (or should I say Napoleon?) was fortunate enough to have been hit by someone who's willing to take the responsibility, well, simply because he was responsible for the accident in the first place. Both I and R were lucky because the accident only caused minor damages to both of our cars. I felt sorry that he had to bear all the repairing costs though, but again, we were lucky because we managed to find a workshop that I believe charged cheaper than most other workshops around KK, thanks to R's other friend who recommended the place to us. Not only that the price was low, they were super fast and efficient too! The result was very satisfactory and I DID NOT expect it to be that neat and clean. Kudos to Uncle Lim! (he's a Chinese muallaf lagi ok!) I must say that I felt a little prejudiced about the workshop at first, because it looks like, ntahlah, I don't even know how to describe the place. Jalan berlopak-lopak, berlubang-lubang, it doesn't look like a decent workshop at all. I was like, "What is this place....? You've got to be kidding me." But I agreed to leave Napoleon in Uncle Lim's hands anyway, something I'm glad I did, because he sounded so confident and something in his voice and manner made me confident in him too. "Perkara kecil jak bah ni", he said. He seemed to have kept his word. Napoleon looks as if nothing had happened to him (at least the part where he was hit). R's car too. He sent his car a week after Napoleon was sent to the workshop though. It took less than 2 days to finish each car. Awesomeness! Syukur alhamdulillah... In the future, should anything like this occurs again, I would already know where to go. I'm even considering sending Napoleon back to the workshop, which is located in Taman Inanam Jaya, to fix the minor scratches on his front bumper and right passenger door. Next month, maybe? Tengok lah camana nanti Pitty.

Looking (as if) brand new! Woohoo!

Would you like to know about something that is more interesting, Pitty? R's friend, B, is apparently one of the well-known bloggers in Sabah. He is in fact the person behind the now inactive We Are Sabahan BloggerMania (WSB) community, which sadly I'm not part of due to my late involvement in the blogosphere. (It was too late for me to join because by the time I wanted to do so, the community is already, well, dead). The Facebook page of WSB, however, is still updated from time to time, based on my observation. And I, apparently, have been following his blog since I don't even know when. I only realized this fact the day after going out for the movie Left Behind, which sucked, with them on Monday night. How did I come to the realization? I think I'll save the deets to myself. I'm so sorry Pitty. That's one of the disadvantages about blogging. You cannot really tell EVERYTHING as there is always that issue with privacy and confidentiality. And I am just not the type who feels the need to attract unwanted attention to my blog or myself as a whole. I think that is also one of the reasons why I still prefer the old-fashioned diary writing as it allows unlimited ability to express, write or doodle without having to consider the feelings or concerns of the other party you are writing or doodling about. The only concern you have with a diary is if someone would find it. And read it. Ironic, isn't it?

I say it's interesting because... of all 911 of his followers, they "bumped into" Napoleon, which happens to be the car of yours truly. Is it fate? It must be. What for and why? I don't know. I cannot tell. It is... almost like a serendipity. It is a serendipity. But it's not love that we found. It's friendship, which I hope is going to last. I have said it many times before Pitty, and I'll say it again. I believe that things happen for a reason, which I may discover soon or years from now, if Allah wills it. There are more things actually Pitty, but I'm sorry again that I think I mustn't disclose to you here. All I can say is that it is very interesting how one event leads to another and what it eventually reveals to me. God really does work in mysterious ways. For now, I'm just happy that I gained new friends instead of foes. And that the "kes kusut" is now untangled. Alhamdulillah. :)

Until next time (Serendi)Pitty! :P

Sincerely yours,
Nurul

Monday, September 29, 2014

Word of the Day: Meatspace

According to Wiktionary:

1. (Internet often derogatory) The physical world, as opposed to the virtual world of the Internet.

According to Dictionary.com:

1. (slang) The real physical world, as contrasted with with the world of cyberspace.

According to Urban Dictionary:

1. noun. A term, originating from cyberpunk fiction and culture, referring to the real (that is, not virtual) world, the world of flesh and blood. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The opposite of cyberspace.

"Writers, who can go for three or four days at a time without talking to people in 'meatspace' are particularly attracted to this form of friendship." - Andrew Brown

2. Deriving from cyberpunk novels, meatspace is the world outside of the net -- that is to say, the real world, where you do things with your body rather than with your keyboard. William Gibson's novels (Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Count Zero in particular) note the difference between the net of the console cowboys and the world of the meat outside.

"For many a true computer geek, moving through meatspace is a daunting prospect."

"SimStim was a meat toy, which is why Case had never been able to get into it."

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Former Schoolmate and Whatnots

It's another peaceful (read: boring) day in Mesapol, Sipitang. I wish I had a bike so I could go cycling around the neighbourhood in the evening (because jogging/walking requires a lot more effort and doesn't burn as much calories as cycling does. Excuses, excuses). Now I regularly go to the gym with Farah after work. There's a gym facility provided for public use (read: free, well at least for now) in the UTC building and me and Farah have been going there for around 2 months, give and take. I didn't know that I would enjoy going to the gym. It's good for me since I have been living a sedentary life for a very long time and I wouldn't want to be any fatter than I already am. Urgh. It's been a week since I got back here, so that means it's been a week I haven't been working out as well. I hope I can go back to KK this weekend because I feel like going to Bazzar (yes, that's how they spelled it) Music Fest that will take place at Starcity, KK on the 28th and 29th of September. Maybe I will ask Marwan to join me and Ain as well. Tengok lah nanti camana. :)

OK, who's Marwan? He is... Um... We went to the same primary and secondary schools. We were even classmates during primary school. Well, at least in Primary 6. So, um, we finally hung out 2 weeks ago at Fook Yuen, Asia City, but it wasn't just me and him. I tagged No Joke along, because it would've been awkward if I didn't. Farah was supposed to join us too but she cancelled at the last minute because she had to take her brother out for stationary shopping. Zzzz.... We've been chatting sometimes, prior to our meeting. I found him to be an okay guy. We talk about boring stuff like our lives, bla bla bla. I believe that he's not doing anything at the moment, but, he used to work in KL, he studied in MMU, Cyberjaya, he used to be in a band called... I forgot. Hehe. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't watch horror movies, he watches lots and lots of TV, he goes jamming alone, he plays guitar and drums, and he's quite a funny guy. Well, the Marwan I remember was a funny guy, kid. Hehe. Hmmm another thing about him is that he hates Sir Aminuddin, our former English teacher in Primary 6, whom I adored and still do until now. He was my favourite teacher. He was a really good teacher. Kids feared him. I feared him too, but at the same time I respected him. Even though he always rotan us if we forgot our books or didn't do our homework and teased us (the sole reason why Marwan hates him), somehow I found it very easy to understand what he taught. My English wasn't very good during the initial years of my primary school, I always got a B or C, never an A. But it was with Sir Aminuddin that I got my first A in English. And I have never received a lesser grade since. I have always thought to myself that if one day I'm going to be a teacher, I want to be able to teach like him. It was so easy to understand and since then English had become my favourite subject in school, thanks to Sir Aminuddin. :) Marwan told me that he's lecturing at UMS now. He found out about that little information from another former classmate of ours, Azril, who is now working at UMS.

Marwan vindictively said that if one day someone murders him, he would write down Sir Aminuddin's name using his blood on the floor or wall so that he would become the prime suspect. Buduh. Hahahahaha. What did Sir Aminuddin do that Marwan hates him so much? Well, I understand why Marwan feels that way towards my favourite teacher. It wasn't his fault. I would've felt the same way if I was in Marwan's place. I always felt sorry for Marwan every time Sir Aminuddin teased him about the way he walked. And I think because of that, the other kids thought that it was okay to make fun of him too. Okay, not so much of an ideal teacher, I know, but, I liked the way he taught okay, is that so wrong? And good for Marwan that he doesn't walk the way he used to anymore now. But so what if he still does? It doesn't matter. It doesn't make him a bad person. Making fun of someone does though. Because it equals to bullying. I hope that someday Marwan will be able to forgive Sir Aminuddin and I hope that Sir Aminuddin no longer makes fun of anyone for any reason anymore.

Well, okay, let's go back to the day that I hung out with Marwan. And No Joke. So after hours of chatting and laughing at his silly jokes, we went to see a movie, Lucy, which was a very lame movie, at Growball Cinemax, Centrepoint. No Joke seemed to enjoy it very much, it was in fact her second time, but me and Marwan thought it was a total BS. I could endure it only because of Scarlett Johansson. We went back home right after the movie. He was, sweet and all, thanking me for spending that Sunday night with him. I was like, yeah, sure man, it was a pleasure. I'm glad I brought No Joke with me, because honestly, we've never spoken to each other before. We only chat on Facebook. Itu pun kadang2 jak. Guys are weird. They acted like they didn't care about us, like we didn't exist in school, and suddenly they are acting all friendly with us years after we finished school. Jan Andris was like that as well. He recently got married if I'm not mistaken. I used to hate that guy because he was one of the boys at school who used to tease me and call me a poseur just because I like Nirvana and boy bands at the same time. Zzzz.... Well, I stopped listening to boy bands when I was in Form 2 or 3. Not because of the teasing, but because my music interest was getting more towards the alternative side of me. Hey, I started listening to alternative rock since a very young age okay! And I didn't have any brother (I have a brother but he's not into music) or sister who influenced me or anything. It was totally natural. I was born with it. Haha okay Nurul, okay!

Okay lah, it's almost 4 PM and I have yet to perform my Asar prayer. I feel like taking a walk or something. Until next time! :)

Friday, September 19, 2014

Hello Stranger(s)!

It's been months. (there was a several-minute pause here)

I meant to start this post as if I have never stopped blogging, as if I have been doing it every single day, but I haven't done it for so long I have completely forgotten how. I just deleted the 3 drafts I had been saving and been meaning to finish because I don't know what to do with them anymore. I might as well let this blog be defunct, but maybe I'm just another one of those cliched bloggers who started their blogs because everybody else is doing it and then stop and then blog again and then stop again and then blog again and then stop again and then blog again and then finally let the blog dies because keeping up the pretense and playing make-beliefs that you are a so-called writer/blogger has finally worn you out and proves to be a daunting task. Yup, daunting, for a lazy pig like me.

Many things happened between my last blog post and at least last week, but too bad I was too lazy to document them in this lame diary of mine. For instance, I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR. Yes, I finally bought a car in July, meaning that it has been roughly 2 months since I drove the car back from the dealer to my house. The car is a MYVI, which I named Napoleon Dynamite (keh3), dark purple in colour, automatic (of course), and is already scarred (zzzzz). It got its first scratches on 2nd raya day, not once, but twice, at two different locations. I was so upset by it I even considered getting it repainted, but of course I didn't because I couldn't afford it. Kau ingat cat metalik murah???? Zzzzz.... The second incident was definitely my own fault, which made it all the more upsetting and irritating. It even caused a minor dent (luckily not so obvious) to the right back door. Ya ya I know, I was so stupid and reckless. Urgh. But I am getting better at driving now and my parking skills have improved, if not much, a little. More practice is required especially on the drum and violin. Omg. Oh. My. God. OH. MY. GOD. I swear I didn't mean to type that. DRUM AND VIOLIN???? What's got into you Nurul??? Argh, I am obviously very, very sleepy now. So I'm gonna call it a night. I'll continue tomorrow.

Good night!