New year

1 hour and 44 minutes to 2012.

2011 was awesome. Learnt many things. Did many, too.

I can say that 2011 is the year of liberation. Around the globe, revolutions were moved by people overthrowing their oppressors. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya. 

I myself broke through several lockdowns this year. Chose to jump off the 'stereotype' wagon. Emancipated from the fear of the rules. What matters most now is common sense. I find it preposterous to live by rules made by people no smarter than others to control the others.

After all, I think I don't anymore give a toss for what people think. That's why over time I stay low so that my doing and behaviour remain behind the curtain of a stage of hypocrisy. It's all between me and God, Allah is Great.

So now 2012 is approaching and I don't think I need to change at all. A much better year ahead insyaAllah.

New year's eve

It's rainy in Kuala Terengganu all day long. It started with a windy cloudy morning, then downpour in the noon which got heavier by the evening. It's cold that I only took the morning bath. Couldn't even sweat anyway.

My aunt said that decades ago when she was a kid, monsoon season was winter for Terengganu folks. She would prepare at least a jacket and a raincoat, saying it was so cold people exhaled cloud when breathing, like people in the "western movies", the kid me thought.

During this season, people generally choose to hibernate and limit outdoor stuff. Tapioca becomes the daily staple, possibly due to its resilience in pooled grounds. Furthermore, it's a common backyard plant. Boiled tender with some salt and sugar, then served with grated coconut flakes. Best enjoyed with coffee.

'Sabasun 2', written in Jawi (٢ ‎ سا با سو ن)

By the way much of staying indoor, I had breakfast at the town. Then headed for some grocery at Sabasun, the only retail store I know boycotting Israel-related products. It's local grown and has TVs installed at conspicuous corners screening, besides ads, campaigns for Palestine.

Twatter

I once had a Facebook account. Enjoyed it quite. Until I realised I've divulged too much that I was building an online dossier. Furthermore, it's extremely awkward when 'friends' in Facebook are so much strangers in real life. At first, it's cool, but later I knew I was slowly becoming a socially awkward penguin. Besides, I became addicted.

So as a methadone to this Facebook drug, I set up a Twitter account. Like it better than Fb. Especially because it's pretty simple and neat. Features attention whores would frown upon.

Keep #Twitterjaya clean.

Unfortunately though, these publicity hunters won't back off. Of course the timeline is not anyone's private feeds, but don't overuse it.

But honestly why I'm in the ranting mode is because I'm irritated by certain Twitter users who are so fond of unmentioning. Then there's some people who whine and blabber at things and people being the pain in their asses so they think it's good to let other people know they're damn pissed off. If you do this, screw you. If you have a beef at someone, let it out in person. I personally think that venting your anger or discontent on Twitter is so selfish.

Vestige

Last September I rambled about my Samsung YP-U3, my faithful company during moments of solitude in school.

Well, my friend was right, my MP3 player has started to go senile. Just a few days before its 3rd anniversary next February.

Often when I play some music, the seek bar goes erratic and reverses the navigation, the whole touch pad becomes a useless flat plastic surface, the top buttons including the one for the power too, malfunction I can't turn it off.

The only way to fix it is by plugging its retractable USB stick to a computer or charger. But that's only temporary and it's only a matter of time before the whole process repeats. I've gone thru this when I first got the MP3 player though not always, unlike now.

I think it's time I put it to rest. Still usable as a memory stick, it's not anymore my mini jukebox.
"An MP3 player minus the player"

After all, I've got a much better replacement. Yeah, I think the choice was obvious when I thought I should upgrade. Nevertheless, I did rove the Internet to merely verify my pick and just in a few days, I've made up my mind. Left then was just a visit to an Apple store to top the survey.

My fav app. As you can see, it's boring.

And there I was, an iPod in my hands, conceding bitter defeat to Apple's unassailable trend might.

Fluorescent adolescent

2012 is just a little over 3 days away. By year count, I'm at the end of my teen years on the brink of adulthood.

If there is a regret I have, then it is me not living my adolescence to the fullest. I feel like there's a lot of things I left behind and may never catch up anymore.

The fun. Especially.

p/s : Although many interpret the song above as the ballad of a sex-deprived woman, I think the clip video is more general. A boy who grew up andabandoned his colourful side of life, eventually 'killing' his soul.

Heliconia

Everyone has something he is fond of. This is mine. Presenting to you 9M-MRD, Boeing 777-200ER. In the magnificent "Heliconia : Freedom of Space" livery. Its sisters are two 747-400s, (reg 9M-MPB & 9M-MPD), both sported the red "Hibiscus : An Experience Redefined" livery.

Shamefully, both liveries were scrapped off by Malaysia Airlines for a 'fuel inefficiency' reason. Apparently the amount of paint used fattened the aircraft and thirsting them more for fuel.

Anyway, this aircraft model is one to die for. Hyperbolically. After the Romeo Delta returned to the standard MAS livery, collectors have been seeking after one of these licensed diecast models. Manufacturers in the mean time have stopped producing those due to licensing terms, though the fake ones are still being made in China and sold ubiquitously. Just to give the idea of how limited this is.

Mine was made by GeminiJets. And considering the novelty of my collection, I surely was lucky to grab one!

Tis the season

I don't go to varsity. Good thing is I don't get locked up to college life which is actually barely a life, by accounts of my friends.

If you take a close look, there's a Japan Airlines B763 on the taxiway.

But that also means I don't get the many holidays on semester breaks. In fact, we don't adopt the common college system. However it is unclear whether the place where I study is subjected to AUKU or not.

Which explains why I'm so darn excited when we are granted holidays. No plan for the one-week holiday though, except some promises of teh tarik sessions with my school pals. It's been long since we last caught up on each other anyway.

PMR

I sat for PMR in 2007. Confidence was high with an excellent trial result in my pocket. In fact I was the only one who stroke all A's in the trials in the school.

Thank Allah, the streak went on til PMR. Results were announced on December 27th and I was among 8 to obtain full A's in my school that year.

I then left for a school miles away from home. Not wholly my choice, it was mostly my parents', over thoughts that I should work harder for SPM. And that was only possible if I could stay away from my precious TV. Apparently they knew I was sneaking up late at night to watch TV, even during the exam!

But if not for that, I wouldn't ever know how lucky I was to enrol into a boarding school. Wise parents are wise.

This year's national performance is the best in 4 years. Means we did better in 2007. Now that's a little pride I should enjoy. ;)

Generalising

The hottest news among Malaysian netizens is the marriage of a Malay boy with his fellow sperm bearer in UK.

That is not the least of his problems since his sponsor Petronas has filed a lawsuit against him for flopping and fleeing med school thus breaching his scholarship contract. This fella is a former top pupil of a coed school in KL.

Worse his parents are taking the fall for him. They are now forced to be paying RM890,000(!) to Petronas for the aforementioned reason. This guy, I won't even mention his name here, is such a rascal. He screws up his study and inflicts his family no less with all the shame and debts.

On another note this proves one thing, homo people don't exclusively hail from single sex schools.

For obvious reason, people often mistake the single gender schools as the cradle of homosexuality. Just backing the notion is the sodomy trial of then DPM Anwar Ibrahim, a former pupil of MCKK, a male boarding school.

Anwar was found guilty amid blatant accusations that he was a victim of a political gambit orchestrated by then PM Mahathir Mohamed. Interestingly, Mahathir's supporters who were the ones taunting Anwar's sexual orientation a result of his MCKK days seemed to forget that Mahathir is also an alumnus of a male school, Sultan Abdul Hamid College.

Now if you think again, if single gender schools cultivate homosexuality (either directly or indirectly) because there's no opposite sex than the coed with boys and girls together promote bisexuality. Problem?

Myself a proud old boy of a boarding school. And so far looking for only female better half/ves.

Langkawi

After the average MavFest at Subang last month, yours truly looked forward to this year's LIMA.

But my hope was crushed as Airasia delayed my flight by an hour. Supposedly I would arrive at Langkawi by 1530 hrs and spend the noon at the Lima 2011 finale. At last, the closest I got to Lima was watching the long line of planes on the tarmac at Mahsuri Exhibition Centre adjacent to the airport I landed on.

So the weekend got a little less awesome but my disappointment was absorbed by the mesmerising beauty of Langkawi.

The best part? Motor riding to Kuah Town for the night shopping. It is common knowledge that chocolates are abundant in cheap in Langkawi so it's not inappropriate to say we spent all our allowance on tons of choc packs.

And because it has been long since I last rode a bike I let some steam off that night riding around some parts of the island.

Still I felt jealous to my pals who managed to catch the Lima airshow.

Darn AirAsia.

Wishlist

I almost certainly won't buy Android.

I may get a BlackBerry and find it underused because I'm neither a businessman or socialiser, but not Android.

I may get a Windows Phone and find it deluded with Microsoft past eminence, but no chance for Android.

Honestly I think that iOS somehow inspired Android to an extent, iOS formed the base of android.

Malaysian Air Festival 2011

The event of the weekend was the Malaysian Air Festival 2011. I admit that local aviation is no way interesting, in fact revolves no wider than MAS' underachievement and AirAsia's fabulous (and dubious) performance.

But this was irresistable.

The festival was held in conjunction with the centennary celebration of the first landing on the soil of Malaya.

GP Kuller was the man, an Antoinette Monoplane was the machine, and Jalan Ampang race course, KL was the venue. That was a 100 years ago. The race course was wiped out entirely in 1998 to make space for the world's highest twin towers, Petronas KLCC.

So what's there at the event? Nothing that interesting to be told. I mean, not to me. Perhaps if I am a regular guy who studies at college instead of airport, it was interesting.

But since I'm already writing this and at the moment not so fond of Twitter, let me jot down a few things.

Tix were sold at RM10. I got mine for free. New Straits Times paper (yup, the physical paper only) generously invited its readers to collect free tix days prior to the event. So online readers, fret not. You can still watch the event pics and vids online too. Ha2

There was powered paragliding, aerobatics, formation, and static display. A paraglider had a bumpy ride. He tripped off his feet or so it seemed during take-off run. And bamm, caught on tape! Felt a bit pity tho, since people rushed to him holding cameras, not stretchers.

There was Sikorsky S-92 (N146UK), a big heli in a special colour scheme, "Legacy of Heroes". The paint scheme depicts the silhouettes of police, army, etc. It's brand new, built in 2011.

There's a booth for Peugeot. Hmm, I spoke to myself "What the heck is the Pugs doing in an airshow?" Out of the league, right? Yet I couldn't hesitate to take a look at the 508 and mamamia, I want one!

Few booths were set up in the terminal, which if not for the thought of free pens and notebooks, I wouldn't bother to visit.

All in all, it was fun, but far from a blast. Now looking forward to LIMA 2011. :)

Happy New Hijri Year

At the end of dusk today, I bade farewell to the year 1432H. Almost missed the year-end prayers if not for being awaken just before Maghrib. Alhamdulillah.

So, a new year was born. Resolution?

Nah, I don't have any. I'd just take the prayers as my wish for the year. Overall, to be a better guy.

That's all for the hope. Maybe I'll conjure up some more during the Gregorian new year 2012.

Moreover, for obvious reasons, the Hijri new year just comes and passes by barely noticed. I myself, despite hoping for a wider signification of it, can't deny. It's the way the world works. I mean, any company ever starts its financial year on 1 Muharam? Do tell me if there is.

Yet the most important point is to change ourselves. We need an impetus to do anything uphill. A new year is an impetus. It gives you hope that it's another 1 January/Muharam, a brand-new, and it's on you to turn it into anything good. Better, the past, good or bad, has faded away too with the mutual optimism we share with people around us.

As a mediocre boy, I need this even more.

Eid Adha 1432h

So I went home again a week after I did the first time. But this time it's for the raya celebration. It was a great occasion. I celebrated the eid adha this year at Mak's hometown. Authentic eh?

We had a busy and bloody morning. Seven cows were sacrificed and quite a few hundreds kilograms of meat were safely distributed to the eligible recipients, mostly the needy here. A portion was cooked straight away at the mosque where the cows were slaughtered. By noon, various dishes were warm ready for the villagers to feast on.

Meanwhile we family did our own way of feasting the fresh meat. The way to go was roasted. Plain roasted beef dipped in asan jawa sauce filled our draughty tummy that day.

All in all, it was enjoyable. Especially since the family could have a sit down together enjoying the celebration and of course, the delicacies. :)

I got a pic of the fallen cattle but I must stress I mean nothing vulgar from it.

And this post is posted a week after the eid. I guess I'm already at an advanced stage of procrastinating.

Home again 2

When I called home a week before the homecoming, I was told that the durians were aplenty in the orchards. That alone is enough to tempt me to go home outright. What more since my cousin said that the fruit would be eaten to none when I really reached home. Wrong. I came home to a fruit of durian in the kitchen. Well not really enough to fill my tummy yet a graced one as for the long last. Yummy. Truly the king of fruit.

Home again

I thought the tropical storm was close last night. The skies around LCCT were obnoxiously gloomy. By the way, the plane in the middle, is the 9M-AFO, sporting a tribute livery for ex-PM Tun Dr M.

I was down with fever for the whole past week. I guess it was so bad my throat sore so much I couldn't consume or talk. Which was bad. Worse, plus the sleep disturbance. Could see myself in sorry state.

I thought eating fruit would help, so I grabbed some bananas and apples from the store. Turned out that just worked out the opposite. The doctor who I met after days of sickbed was the one who stopped me. Thanks doc, but I still dislike medicine.

Alhamdulillah it turned well better a day before my birthday. So I could toy with my birthday present I've got in advance. ;)

AirAsia flight AK5388 was delayed for 25 minutes last night. Reason unstated. I don't think it's because of the weather, they're just being their usual self, sigh. But still I like the Airbus A320, it's fairly quieter than the Boeing 737, what more the ATR72.

Oh yes, Terengganu are playing tonight against N9. Stupid FAM just doesn't know things. How come the prestigious Malaysian Cup Finale being played at a state stadium? And just stupider, a poorly maintained stadium? And the ticket price hike? Darn, no.

I'm watching the game from home. Don't judge my loyalty for the team. I was there the last time we lifted the FA Cup. Well, actually, I almost left. But I darn stayed after the Kelantan own goal, and kept supporting till the Nordin's goal. Yeah, I witnessed that all. And I spent the night at Masjid India that night, thanks to the incompetent LRT system. The LRT stopped for around half an hour midway, with coaches laden with football supporters. Worse they didn't extend the operation hour longer that night. Dumb systems everywhere in Malaysia, you see?

But just so you know, Terengganu will win tonight. InsyaAllah :). #ganunelang #petehganupeteh

Dramaking

My MP3 player has been relived, thanks to this brilliant pair of earphones I spent a week worth of lunch on. Went to Lowyat and got stuck hours in the infamous KL traffic jams just for a pair of earphones, that's pretty silly.

By the way, as I went through the music library, I found it quite nostalgic. First, the MP3 player itself that is a vestige of my school life. Like any boarders; whose TV time is almost nil; I enjoyed it as the only means of entertainment. Better, it also kept me company when my fellas went for overnight at their sweet homes.

Second, again, the MP3 player itself. It's not anymore in production if I'm not mistaken. The YP-U3 was at a time, quite a hit. It was catchy in design; the only MP3 player other than its Samsung siblings I knew that featured touch pad controls; and much more affordable than the reputed Sonys. In fact, I got mine for only RM109, which was around RM40 cheaper than the then market price. Lucky I grabbed it during a digital fair at PWTC.

My friend however, once said, that this MP3's shell life is only 2 years, and beyond that, it may break haywire anytime. He justified that with his own YP-U3 that broke after 2 years. Let's see, I bought it on Febrary 2009, and 2 years have passed on! But that may exclude the months lost being kept idle in the drawer ha2.

Third, the songs. Of course, for a person like me who enjoys fine music (ha2), I don't simply hear and directly store a song in its 1GB memory. The song or music, must be a real treat to my ears and I really favour it. So when I listened back to what I loved 2 years back, it's a retreat of reminiscence.

Back then, Hujan, Meet Uncle Hussain, retro and rock Malay were my pick. But now, I might have become someone else that I hear a lot of English.

Talking about MUH, I really love Dramaking. Have been hearing to it for tens of times already since I resurrected my U3. I don't know why, but I find it one helluva song! :)

7 Syawal

With people resuming the rat race, I think Raya is unofficially over. This year's dates for Raya and holiday just don't go well. It's just too brief.

Moreover, early September is the start of the academic year for public varsities nationwide. See, instead of visiting relatives, people are packing and shopping and preparing for the college brouhaha.

Can't the Ministry be less sensible?

I got shipped away back to the metropolis just before I could say I no longer need to eat for a month. And as expected, the spirit of celebration has faded away outright from this city of materialists.

Raya 1432H updates

-1st Syawal was on 30th August. I got scolded by Mom for asking this hundreds of times.

-Missed the announcement of Raya.

-I'm disappointed with the meteorology dept. The forecast was that we're going to celebrate Raya soaked, well we were, but with sweat.

-I like it's rainy, even on Raya. It cools down everything.

-I lost track of my social circles. Apparently, nowadays, you don't get Fb, you don't get life.

-Met fewer relatives. That, combined with being past-juvenile, I get less duit raya. But fret not, o dear self, 'cos the notes are all green and red. ;)

-Kuala Terengganu isn't that crowded this year. Usually, the traffic snails to still on holidays.

-I'm irritated with those "fast and furious", 'outside' drivers. This is laid-back Tranung, not one of those frenetic towns.

-I don't retain the chore of filling my tummy. In yester years, I'd fill myself to the brim and ended up catching diarrhea and fever.

-Nasi dagang is the all-season delicacy. Bet 'orang luar's never heard of nasi kuning;- prepared similar to nasi dagang except for the yellow rice and the addition of sambal belacan.

-Another one, tapai (pron. taa-pay). That's fermented glutinous rice.

-The only TV show put on by RTM this year is Behind Enemy Lines. All the others are craps churned out by some deluded local productions.

-The drama Pusing Beraya on TV3's Cerekarama slot last Saturday was a good piece. Actually, the ending was stupid, but the master play by Jalaluddin Hassan and Rahim Razali saved the lost 120 minutes of my life from being a waste.

-Ucop Wilcha is boring already. C'mon, I can do that rotating British 'number three' hand gesture too. Lt Hicox can, as well.

-Merdeka? No, Raya.

ps : In Terengganu and Kelantan, the term 'orang luar' (outsider) is used for people hailing from all the other states of the Federation of Malaysia.

28 Ramadhan

Notes at the end of Ramadhan.

Actually, I'm quite confused with the date for Raya this year. People have been saying that this year is special because we're welcoming a double celebration. Raya and Merdeka, on the same day.

But just now, the bilal at the surau in my kampung made a quick speech after we performed the terawih prayers. He said that tonight was our last terawih for 1432H, and that we're celebrating Raya the day after tomorrow. Eh, 30th? Merdeka is on 31st?

I'm not interested in verifying that now (I concede to my laziness this time). For the past hour, I only logged into four sites; Twitter, Fantasy Premier League, Gmail and Blogger.

I just want to wait for the announcement by the Royal Seal keeper tomorrow. It'll be the first time for keeper Dato' Syed Danial to be on TV announcing the date for Raya, which, has become the most anticipated show of 29th Ramadhan.

Oh, I'm also frustrated with the Portal 2 installed just now. For long, I've been dreading to travel thru portals, and a PC with better performance supposedly ended it. Turns out, my DVD copy is the Russian version! Darn it. Should just download it when I get a proper connection.

And welcome me as one of Skype's newest members. Got my account just now. Guess I'm falling into another social network trap ha2. Four months since I got out of a horrid virtual city named Facebook.

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Lastly, I suppose this will be the last post for Ramadhan. My vision a month ago was that I would type in an account weekly throughout the fasting month, it seems to fail obviously. Nevertheless, since I'm the only one reading this piece of sh*t, no guilt is felt ha2

So, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Merdeka! to all of you, except Mat Sabu.

Retreat

How it goes with me, Ramadhan is incomplete without being with family. This holy month supposedly be a time for us Muslims to strengthen the ties between us. And one shan't ever forget no relationship supersedes that of family.

Plus, living in city is cramping me, mentally and physically. The temperature is hostile as usual, and it's never not hazy here.

So I felt grateful to have planned this getaway months earlier. Travelling by bus is tiring to many, but not to me. It's quite a part of the getaway itself; I'd sleep along the way.

Now here's a tip, if you're getting a bus ticket, try Sani Express. Heard they're equipping their double deckers with 'in-flight' entertainment right now. Not sure about the possible ticket price hike, but for now, it's as usual.

Gotta enjoy this weekend.

8 Ramadhan

Today marks the start of the second week of Ramadhan. Which means 8 days have passed since I stopped buying nasi lemak for brunch.

So the first week, I think was an uneventful early stage. I went thru the drill as I did last year. But actually, I feel that I'm exhausting Ramadhan for nothing.

When I was in school, the encouragement for religious deeds was thrusting. Sure, the feeling to get close to God was factored by the many exams students have in school.

I was no exception. Thinking of this has shed a little light upon me. An epiphany perhaps. I think I'm a hippocrate. To myself and my deeds. I'm so heavily guilty. May Allah forgive me.

Therefore, I'm changing this. The second week of Ramadhan has to be the start for better undergoing of Ramadhan . It's not too late.

I'm putting the words here so that I can come across this post anytime and remind myself of what I've determined.

InsyaAllah.

Spiderman 3 is epic

After watching this, I felt a little guilt that I didn't watch it earlier, like 4 years back.

I am kinda unfriendly towards cinemas. It's a feeling I can't avoid. To me, the idea of watching movies should be similar to watching TV. A couch, or pillow, free-flow drinks, and endless snack from the fridge (that depends well on your foodstock).

Back to Spiderman 3, this movie is a blast! (yeah2, I'm the slowest slowpoke).

I particularly like the ending, that makes this movie an epic. Retribution and revenge and forgiveness and humanity.

I mean, who knows Parko was quite misunderstood; actually I pre-empted this when Parko seemed so innocent at the start of the movie; and Harry was so noble to eradicate all his sentiments towards Peter, in fact taking the fatal blow for Spiderman.

Yeah well, he kinda mistook Pete so he should do what he did, but Harry missed out on MJ and even his own pop.

Venom, I hate. I hate him too when he was Eddie Brock. A jerk.

Oh, and I'm so eagerly waiting for The Dark Knight Rises. The trailer, the poster seem so nice and attractive! Will surely be an epic!

AirAsia-MAS deal

Over the weekend, words have flown around town that Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia and local LCC supremo has been in talks with the govt to buy stakes in Malaysia Airlines.

Purportedly, Mr Fernandes and the govt thru Khazanah Nasional are already in the final stage of the discussion and the deal will be finalised as early as Monday.

The news as first reported by Malaysian Insider here.

The news as further propagated here.

And so far, the people, primarily the flying public (and me myself) are a tad skeptical to the idea. Furthermore, the idea of Mr Fernandes to 'help the ailing airline'?

Skeptics in the air here.

I know that people are just nice sometimes, but in business, it won't happen without a knife behind one's back, I believe.

I heard that AirAsia X has been poaching for lucrative routes traditionally served by MAS, and they're not getting much from the govt till now. That is enough to make them belligerents.

Hope that this deal will never happen. MAS needs transformation, the right one by the right people right now. We know it's ailing and falling to a rival's play will instantly dig its own grave.

Centre of attraction

This happens in everyone, me included. Someone tells a story, and someone else comes up with another story, greater, either good or bad, and steals the eyes before someone else repeats the drill.

I like the Malaysian typical style of response. It’ll start with “Aku lagi lah,” and the speaker goes on uttering his words of excitement. I do it too, I admit.

Conversation #1

A : Dulu, masa aku kecik aku punya mainan Merc McLaren yang betul punya tau.

B : Aku lagi lah, dulu aku selalu naik Ferrari pergi sekolah.

Conversation #2

A : Aku dulu tak pandai, exam mesti markah terendeh punya.

B : Aku lagi lah, dah berapa ramai bomoh ayah aku bawak pergi jumpa, semua kata aku punya kelembapan tak boleh ubat.

See, people don’t care if more sordid, or more humiliating stories are told, as long as they are interesting enough to help live up the scene.

Yes, I, as a typical Malaysian enjoy this.

Happy Ramadhan

Once in a year, comes a calling for us Muslims to further prove our submission to God.

Ramadhan is a month that gives us chances to share the feelings of hardship and plight that have become a daily predicament to our poorer fellows.

The rest, well, you either have known or else find out at the Terawih tazkirah.

Aircraft Engineering #1

Aircraft engineering is not aeronautical engineering.

Though both subjects are in the same spectrum, they can be considered being at the opposite ends of each other.

Aeronautical engineering designs, aircraft engineering fixes. Perhaps that describes these two best.

In Malaysia, it wasn't until quite recently that people started to have interest in aircraft engineering. Surely before, all they knew about planes were pilots and stewardesses.

I guess that's because of the emergence of institutions offering aircraft engineering courses, of course, with wide publicity. UniKL's MIAT, for instance.

One thing apparent that sets a difference in aircraft engineering is qualifications. No degree needed. And no university too. Apprentices are trained in certified engineering schools (as per DCAM 66 Part 147), in order to get the much coveted licences.

Munir no longer MAS' Chairman

Tan Sri Mohamed Munir Abd Majid would not resume post as Malaysia Airlines' Chairman as his term expires end-July.

Many reports have made way into the news stream, but I like this one most.

I first met Tan Sri Munir on early 2008. That day, my school was to be officially adopted under MAS' Pintar program. Idris Jala was MD and perhaps too busy with his various turnaround plans he couldn't make it to the event. But Tan Sri was there, along with (then) Menteri Besar Dato' Idris Jusoh and the celebrated Terengganu-born pilot, Dato' Capt Nawawi Awang.

I was to usher these VIPs, with my headboy on that time during the whole ceremony. I didn't quite remember what happened but I recall standing sweated in a blazer, in a warm tropical day.

But back then, having the chance to treat these VIPs was like heeding a noble call.

I saw Tan Sri Munir again early this year, at Subang Airport Mosque during the Friday prayers.

This time I was not anymore a pupil but instead an apprentice to his company.

As time flies, things change too.

Idris Jala is now Senator, and a Minister in the PM's Dept.

Months after I met him, Idris Jusoh was the main antagonist (or protagonist ?) in the Terengganu Palace 's disputes over his re-appointment as MB past-GE12. Now he is Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA)'s Chairman.

Dato' Capt Nawawi is now MASWings' MD.

And Tan Sri Munir now gets less chance to meet the stewardesses.

Another post, zing!

BlackBerry

One of the things in my long volatile wishlist is a phone. Given the market today that is abundant of smartphones, I don't rule out jumping onto the bandwagon.

So there I was, with scarce cash balance trying to find a suitable phone for myself.

iPhone is almost perfect, except the price tag.

Hence I turned to its most expected rival.

BlackBerry seems to appeal better. By that, I mean, lower prices. Still, I have to fork out some hundred ringgits from the bottom of my shallow cashflow. That is if I really wanna go for it.

But I won't.

I don't really need to play games on a phone, I can do that better on computers.

I don't really need to have a large memory, because I'm not a music junkie to store lots of songs. No need for mobile internet, because I hate straining my eyes to view small webpages. Neither am I a social snob who tweets for everything I do.

Nope, no wide screen. That translates to the bulkiness of a phone.

I've come to a realisation. I don't really need smartphones. Not now, at least.

Phone K.I.V.

Bersih

The hottest talk in town is about the Bersih rally now taking place everywhere in Kuala Lumpur.

I'm coincidentally booked for hometown this weekend, but it's just an excuse because I'll still not go to the rally if I'm around.

Luckily, I can follow the show here.

Now let's be honest. I don't quite like the rally, as I don't the government. This is silly.

Why didn't Ambiga hold it in Putrajaya?

Less traffic, wider areas. (Fact is, there's no one in Putrajaya other than govt staffers). Though the drawback is it's less accessible than KL, but hey, Bar Council did have a walk there some time ago, right? And the PM's office, residence, EC's office are there too.

Why does the govt overreact?

Seriously, I fail to believe those reports in Utusan and Bharian. Too much past false abstains me.

Stupid. Gajah and mentimun. The latter always suffers.

Megaupload

I've downloaded and watched lots of my favourite movies from Megaupload. Simple, easy and quick. For that, I hailed Megaupload as one of the greatest internet inventions.

Today, I settled a friend's errand credits to Megaupload. He asked for my help to send a 800MB photos to his friend. Facebook will just degrade the quality, mail attachment is quite unpractical, and Flickr has a 300MB limitation.

So I compressed them into a .rar before uploading them to the file-sharing site. I've found another essence of Megaupload.

And this is the site the government is blocking. Much to the anger of the people. Very much.

Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines doesn't make it to Skytrax's top 10 this year. Not a surprise as it was already at 10 in 2010.

Six years after the infamous RM1b flop. Six years after numerous revival plans. Six years of profits and (still, this year included) losses. Six years of different men at the helm.

MAS placed orders for six Airbus A380s, the first due to be delivered in 2008. Delayed. Compensation got in. Rescheduled to 2010. Delayed. Compensation got in. Rescheduled to first quarter of 2012. Delayed. Rescheduled to the sixth month of 2012, June. Eh, no compensation this time around eh?

Advertisement

I opt to insert ads in this blog. It's because I heard that it's hard to get approved for them, especially Google Adsense. Nuffnang in the other hand is kinda an experiment.

Some quarters of bloggers don't put up ads on their blogs. Their blogs are clean, nice viewing, and often, of quality writing.

They blog sincerely.

They don't write pieces of sh*t.

They don't do short aimless posts.

They don't follow your blog.

They deserve respect. They have mine.

Maharaja Lawak

We don't always have bright comedians. In fact, we're more to slapstick and joking at the cost of others.

Rowan Atkinson did slapstick in Mr Bean, but proved himself a master in colloquial jokes with his stand-ups. Malaysians know him rather as the former.

Last Friday night, 'text'ers crowned Sepah as the first Maharaja(2) Lawak.

Congrats JoZan.

Exam

My teacher once quoted "learning is a redundant process". I googled for the quote, but all I found is "learning is a lifelong process" and "learning is a continuous process".

Actually I direct-translate it from Malay. That should originally sound "belajar ialah proses mengulang".

And that proves right when you have an exam around the corner. All the words, concepts, ideas taught to you, are revisited. Play fair, we try to get everything stuffed into our brains. Play foul, we pick only that stated in the 'leaks'.

I wonder what computer game is the genius playing right now?

No. 1

In God we trust.

But in others, we check,.. go even further to scrutinise.

That will hinder us from any harm.