A New Dawn

Ok, it is like 10 days into the New Year and it has been raining eversince... You would think that it would be easy to sleep but I keep waking up at odd hours. I got to admit, one too many things on my mind. But they are all sorted out in a way. Well, not exactly sorted but good enough at this juncture.

Anyways, my Shabana, Part and Felicia are back form their mni overseas studies. I caught up with Part and Felicia on New Year's Eve. We had dinner at Komala's and went to catch the fireworks. They got me some neat stuff too. Felicia got me this huge Hershey's bar, a limited edition Smarties and a lamenated leaf! Part on the other hand got me a shot glass from Cornell and some Reese Chocolates. They were so nice that I finished them in one day =P Anyways, we spent most of the time chilling out and catching up. We also went to watch the fireworks at Marina Square. It was not a bad way to spend New Year's Eve though.

Well, other than that, Mocks are coming up. My marketing is seriously giving me problems. I really need to find a way to tackle it like how I did with my IBM last season. My actual time table is also out. So yeah, it is not going to be a fun upcoming 4 months. I sought of decided that I will minimise my play once February comes around.

Well, studies is only one area which I got to pull my act together. I am really really screwed spiritually too. I mean, its been awhile since I visited "The Garden". And I have not been myself over the past couple of days or maybe even weeks. But I guess slowly and surely I am picking up the pieces. Also maybe the fact of being single is finally getting to me. I am not sure if I post something similar before but yeah, it is like suddenly I feel the presure of my status. I mean now I heard my youngest uncle is going to remarry. My second youngest uncle is waiting for his girlfriend to complete her studies and I think wedding bells are on the way too. I keep saying that I have not met the right one.The one I am keen on is taken, etc. But is that all just an excuse? At the end of the day, maybe it is just me... maybe I am just not good enough...

Whom God Loves, He Sends Them Suffering

Well, this week could be way up there with one of the worst week I ever had since I entered SIM. I mean, the whole week was pretty whacked. But just hope things will take a dramatic turn from here on end.

For starters, I failed my marketting test. I mean fialing not by my standards, by UOL standards! And this is pretty demoralising. but well, it is better that it happened now then in the finals. So I am alittle thankful for that. In fact I got a friend who scored 60+ for most of her assignments for marketting but failed the finals and is re-taking the module this year. So yeah, only way now is to learn form my mistakes.

Another thing that made the wee crappy was that I felt really bad about cancelling on Parveen at the last minute. We were suppose to catch SAW 2 but there was this meeting for the A.R.M.Y camp that day. So, I owe her popcorn and a knuckle sandwich from Sharon....

The meeting? It was pretty ok until the point where Jannah tried to show that she THINKS she is in charge... I mean she tried to put me up for duty at 0300 in the morning of the camp for both days. You got to be kidding me? I think I will end it there for this issue. I mean the more i blog about htis the more stupid the issue would sound and there is like no arguements whatsoever that she is doing a crappy job as the stand-in OC.

I think thats about it. I just returned from my sports marathon. I played soccer this morning fom say 0945 till about 1200. Then from 1700-1900 I had badminton. It was a pretty good workout but I sure know tha my body is going to hurt tommorrow. Luckily there is no school though. My badminton skills have not really been improving as of late but I hope to at least reach a certain level say in about 3-4 months time.

So yup, thats the week. Hoping for better luck this week. And yeah, I am still confused about the previous blog situation. Still not sure what is right and what is wrong. And yeah, there is another factor if added to the equation, would not really bring the dilemma up. And that "factor" seems to be happening alot around me lately... Strange, weird.... oh well, 'Wala Hawla wala kuuwata ilah bilahil aliyul aziim'

That Sinking Feeling

Another week of school went by. Nothing much to blog about which explains the lack of entries. I wasn't feel to good either. It doesn't help with the moral dilemma which I am facing. Anyways, school... The biggest thing that happen was this big check on a number of classes for gatecrashers. It was more like a police raid actually. They blocked off all the exits when they conducted their checks.

Because of this, Paul and I decided to play it safe and decided against crashing the Saturday morning MSM. However, we found out from Liz that there was no checks in the morning. Well, if I had went for the morning class, I might have went for Azimah's Nikah on that day. Anyways, yeah, I am really having a slow start with regards to my subjects. There is another test next week. This time is Management Economics. I was doing a couple of auction questions the other day, I barely got one full question right. Oh well, "Do not depend on your efforts, but His grace". (One of the better advices I have received in my life)

Weddings.... I went for 2 more on Sunday. Both were really opposites of each other. One is Jannah's brother's wedding. It was a very very simple wedding. I am not someone against simple weddings. I actually prefer it in a way. I went with Shariman and his family. I thought I would be meeting him there but he decided to fetch me from my place. I felt alittle awkward as the wedding was just oppostie my place. Food was ok and I didn't ate much. We hanged around with Jannah for awhile together with her friend Yani. They were discussing somethings about the camp. We left after awhile.

We sent Shariman's family home first before heading down to Azimah's wedding. Azimah's wedding was really neat. They had this Nashyid group there. For the benefit of those who is not such of what that is. They are a group who sings religious songs. Anyways, I met Khairilyani and her husband at the wedding. She still seems the same. I manage to see Azimah but did not have a chance to get to talk to her. She was really really looking good that day. I manage to send that message across to her. I ate more at her wedding compared to the wedding earlier. The food was really good. There was the usually rice, chicken and stuff, and they also had satays! Shariman was really enjoying the food. If I recall correctly, he had 2 servings? After the wedding we decided to head home. I manage to go for badminton practice. I have not been attending for close to a month now. I really got to buck up on my skills.

Training was pretty ok. There is this China lady, she really is abit irritating. Like, she wants things to be done her way hwne we practise among ourselves. Anyways, I really got to practise my lobbing and add more power in my smashes. I really have no idea on how to do that, but I got to try. I hope that is a signifigant improvement maybe say in 3 months from now?

Moral dilemma. Knowing its a public blog I will try to make it sound as vague as possible. For starters not many know about it. It is just weird how I find myself in this type of situations. I sought of decided to let nature takes it course and see what happens. I just hope its a one-off....

Another Day To Remember

The 72 hour marathon is finally over. I am pretty burnt out. Maybe I am getting too old or something. Anyway, today is the 27th November 2005. My closest friend Asar Ali tied the knot today. I still could not believed that it jsut happened. I met him since we were 10. And yeah, time sure flies I guess.

I woke up at about 0630. I washed up and prayed. I was suppose to meet Saravanan at about 0900. I called him a couple of times but he did not answer which suggested that he has not awaken from his slumber. Ali called me up and we were discussing if I should be at his house first or go straight to the wedding location. We then decided to meet at Choa Chu Kang. That is where the wedding will be at. He was suppose to call me before leaving his house becuase he was not sure what time he was suppose to be there. Anyways, he forgot to call me and I missed the Nikah. For the benefit of those who is not sure what that is, it is merely the ritual where they are officially named husband and wife.

So anyway, Saravanan finally woke up. He came over to my place so that we could head to the place together. Amithjeet would meet us at my place too. We all decided to go traditional. Saravanan was wearing his Kurta. Amithjeet was wearing something similar. Mine was a more of a Chinese type of apparel than Malay or Indian. Well, I was never really a someone with strong cultural background.

We headed to the place where the wedding was held. We managed to find Ali and we took some pictures. Hopefully they could be loaded up. The atmosphere was pretty good. We met Sikandar, Hairuddin, Dino, Sham, Faizal there. It was slightly embarassing to hear that they know what happened to me. And they like heard it from a number of sources. News sure travels fast in the Malay community. Anyways, it was a good reunion. Sikandar was really humourous...He was teasing Ali about his "first night" the whole time and he was taking a shot at everyone. It was all fun.... I also managed to pray with a Saint. He was leading the prayer and yeah, it was my first time experiencing it. He also gave a mini sermon afterwards. We decided to leave at about 1500. Everyone was giving their best wishes. It was one of those emotional moments that would be in memory for a very long time.

After the wedding we decided to relax and play a few games of pool. I lost to Saravanan again today. At least it was a close fight this time round. Then we played in pairs. And at the end of it all, the theory was that Amithjeet is the LOSING factor. As in he will lose with whoever he teams up with. We headed home after the pool session. I skipped badminton for a 3rd week running and might have to skip again next week as it is Azimah's wedding next week. That one is in Bedok... it is abit far but yeah, I should be hitching a ride from Shariman. Anyways, thats a wrap for now. Till next time.

Final Thoughts
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It was a slightly emotional day. On one hand I am happy for Ali. On the other hand, it just feels like time is going so fast, it is scary. Anyways, I know the question on almost everyone's mind when reading this post would be "Aziz, When is your turn?". Well, those who are clsoe to me would know that my love stories are not as simple as Romeo & Juliet. In fact, if Shakespeare was still alive he would have to ask me for advise for his work. Anyways, the point is, I agree with among the 4 of us (Ali, Saravanan, Amithjeet & myself), they believe I would be the next in line., but I am the only one who is single. But ironically, I sought of agree with them that I could be next. So yeah, I would take it one bridge at a time.

Getting Into Rhythm

I just got back after a pretty long day. In fact, it has been a rather long 48 hours with another 24 hours to follow. Lets take it from the top.

25/11/2005 Friday 1130
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I was suppose to meet Elly to pass her some marketing notes, but she was 30 minutes late. Well, in her defence she actually smsed me at 1111 to let me know if we could meet later instead, but, by the time I read the sms, I was already at the place at which we were meeting. You should never be late to meet a lady. Ok fine part, that was a one off... :P Ok so 1200, she was there. We had lunch since there was time to burn. We went to eat that Thai beef noodle thing in Clementi. Then we left at about 1245. She got a date with Mr Ting and I got to attend Friday prayers.

25/11/2005 Friday 1410
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So I came back straight home after Friday prayers. I planned to visit Ali's house but didn't managed to contact him, so I head home to catch Survivor. So far, the way things are going, Sharon could be right, a woman is going to win this year's one. She was sayign that there some sought of a pattern like one year its a guy thenthe next year its a lady. Anyways, Gary got the vote. After the show I head back to Lot 1 to get Ali's Wedding gift. Saravanan, Amith & myself were sharing it. We decided on getting them a pair of watches. There happened to be some designs which we overlooked the other day. I picked a Soviet Titus one. I did not manage to get a picture of it though. Anyways, yeah, we go tit wrapped and waiting for the mini bachelor's bash. Do not worry Ali is a holy man, so no stripper, no condom games and no whatever thigns you guys can think of in a normal bachelor party. It was a simple one. We did it in my room, had some nice thing to eat. Surprised him with a cake, got some sparkling drink. And he was pretty impressed with the watches. I felt good cause I picked them :D So they left at about midnight. I had still some stuff to do so I stayed up till about 0200 before turning in.

26/11/2005 Saturday 0610
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Managed to get at least 4 hours of sleep. I woke up, washed up and prayed. I got ready for school. I had an MSM lecture. Paul & I are hoping to crash into this class till the season ends. Lecture was pretty ok. We were doing this Markov process thing. it was pretty alright. Nothing that tough but it certainly was not easy. As usual, Mr David Quek is pretty limited with entertainment during lecture. So yeah, it was not easy to stay awake as well.

26/11/2005 Saturday 1200
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Lecture ended. I had to rush to Shariman's place for a meeting on the camp. To be honest, I was just there to play pool. Shariman has his own pool table in his house. Meeting was ok. Majority of the people involved are my sister's friends. They are pretty ok. I sought of got to know them better and we get along rather well. But there is this friend of hers though by the name of Hida. she is nice and we get along rather ok. But like she sought of gave me a taste of my own medicine. I mean like, I sought of have this habit of like joking with some of my female frined in a flirtatious manner. And with Hida, I am not goign to say I have met my match, because she absolutely left me dumbfounded. So I guess from now on, I better go easy on the jokes of that manner. But I am cool with it, it was just that I was caught totally off guard. Anyways, the pool game was ok. I actually lost to a beginner. I mean, I could not believe it. The way she held her cue, she really does not know how to play, but she get her shots in rather well. I met 2 new guys there, Amin & Fadil. Fadil is this guy who is similar to the Ismail mould. The only difference is that Ismail like to play it cool like those coolio type. Fadil on the other hand you can still see his immaturity and stuff. the other guy is Amin. He is a nice lad. One of those who just relax and is not the one who would make much problem. So I left his home at about 2100. Shahidah took a lift with us and we went to have supper. I was pretty full to be honest. There was sis,Shahidah, uncle,aunt, Rina, Amira & myself during supper. Basically, I just had a few satays and Sis, Shahidah and I shared a steak. We were done by 2130. And that brings us to now. I am jsut chilling and its now 2300. I am just waiting for the soccer match to start. If it is getting boring, I believe I would hit the bed.

27/11/2005 Sunday XXXX
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It is Ali's wedding. Will give you the low down tomorrow. Yeah, there will be a couple of Saints present tomorrow. I mean real Saints Ali's father-in-law managed to invie them and they should be coming tomorrow. Sought of looking forward to that. Well, as I said, low down will be tommorrow. Till then.....

The Blue Moon Is Out

Looks like I have been neglecting this place for some time. I even forgot my user ID. Ok my bad. Alright, school has been good, only the tests and assignment were pilling up for awhile. But all seems under control, for now at least. It is already mid November, After Christmas coms Chinese New Year then, Mocks & guess what? E-X-A-M-S! Time really flies you think?

I think I will post a couple of pictures up. Deepavalli pictures and all. I do not think I have taken this many pictures for a long long time. And more are to come. I got 2 weddings to attend this month. Azimah is one. She was a colleague of mine from Mendaki. I wondered where she heard about my weird diet.... She smsed me saying that the food that she will serve will be this that and stuff. And she said I can avoid the stuff that I do not really like.

The second is off course my close friend, brother, compadre, etc whatever you guys want to call it, ASAR ALI! Yeah this is the dude who I could not stand when we were in primary school. And yeah I cannot believe that he is going to tie the knot. But oh well, his wedding preparation are going rather smoothly and yeah sought of looking forward to it. We might have a bachelor's party this week. We will just see what happens.

Hari Raya this year was realy simple. We didn't visit that many house due to the fact that my sister had her O Levels examination through the holidays. But we visited a house which we have not visited for about 5 years. It is my grandparents house. Why? Ok reminder, this is a public blog, so yeah, my close friends will know. But anyways, it was a touching moment although alot of pieces were still missing. But as an old friend once said, "Slowly, but surely".

Oh well, that is all for now, don't really have the mood to blog. But I do hope to update it more often.

Reunion

Alright, it has been a couple of days since posting my first entry. Been alittle lazy when it comes to this blogging thingy at times... Anyways, update on my life... The day after I got my results I met up with Sharon in search of some Ben & Jerry's Ice-cream. I sought of owe her half a deal which we cut before the exams. We had problems looking for the falvours so yeah we went home wihtout getting any. Although on the way home I dropped by cheers and what do you know? The flavour I wanted was there... 3 TUBS!! So yeah I got my "New York Super Fudge Chunk". Before that, Sharon & I bumped into Keith & his girlfriend. We were chatting about the usual.. Crappy results etc... Nothing much to take note of the following day. Today was a pretty long day for me... Not really long, its just that I got more things to do than any normal days. So I began the day with a trip to Wak Tanjong Institute. It was pretty alright. The kids gave me a surprise by like ahving a mini party. It was Izati's idea. Sit down Izati, I got a student with the same name as you :P Anyways, they had this plan of getting me dirty but I negotiated with them as I got to attend a wedding afterwards. We agreed that they could spray me on the last lesson. After class, Shariman dropped me off at Bukit Batok where the wedding was held. I was waiting for Ariff and this couple sat at the stone tables with me and started chatting away. They sem nice. They just came back form a 10Km run and we were talking about the Army Half Marathon, etc. At about 1300, Ariff and Faridah made their way down. No change in either of them. Both are still... erhmmm THEM! We made our way up to meet the bride which was our secondary school friend. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, her name is Zarinah. So yeah, we did the routine best wishes and pictures and stuff. i am not really a picture person but I prefer to snap away. But off course I am not good at it. I will try to post the pictures up at a later time. I met a couple of other ladies, namely, Maznah, Hartini (she forgot my name), Nurul & even Arin. No its not THE Erin, its Arin who was a Ngee Ann polytechnic mate. Small world ain't it? I took my leave after my meal. Took a look at the groom and left. I had to rush for my badminton practice. This could be my last lesson for a month or two. The reason for htis is that my Sundays might have to be taken for a Futsal Tournament. SIM sent a team to compete in the tournament which tkaes place on Saturdays and Sunday throughout the month which means I would be unable to make it for my badminton practice. I just hope I do not forget what I have learnt... Well, that is all for now. On a side note, the disappointment from my exam results are still not really over although I try to portray to my buddies that it is. But yeah, I got a week to get over it. After that, I know what I have to do.... And I hope this time, next year, I will not be in the situation I am now.........