Alhamdulillah

Truth be told, I'm not perfectly happy with my current life. My (current-gen) consoles are broken, none of my good friends are around me, my favourite cat isn't with with me and worst of all, my most beloved person is far away from me. I can't even call her anytime I want. And working life...well, lets just say is nowhere near as fun and easy as my days as a student. The list of cons goes on and on.

But hey, look at the bright side. Reports indicate that as of January, more than 10 000 workers got laid off because of the economic downturn. I've friends who are local/overseas graduates who are desperately looking for a job to pay their loan whereas I've already secured a job well over 5 years ago with not single cent to pay nobody. I can't ask for anything better than that now can I. Sure, it isn't perfect but the pros outweighs the cons by a large margin. God has definitely given what is best for me, Alhamdulillah.

Alhamdulillah performed by Too Phat and Yassin. Alhamdulillah literally translates as 'praises be to God (Allah)', or something like 'Praise the Lord'. I'm not a big fan of hip-hop/rap music, but Alhamdulillah won me over. Great song.

Welcome Home

As I'd mentioned in the previous post, I managed to get myself a place to stay in Tioman. It isn't much of a house. Well, it isnt't even a house to begin with; getting a house in Tioman is borderline impossible. The place I'm renting in now is a small chalet. When I say small, I really mean small. I left the cables for my camera in the room (silly me) so I couldn't put the pictures here, but here's a schematic of the room.
It's about as big as 6-tatami room, probably even smaller. The small space beside the bed is just enough one person to perform the prayers. By the way, the bed takes up about 60% of the space. There's no kitchen so I have to eat out every day. Good thing there are restaurants nearby. Grocery stores, and most importantly, the school where I'm working at are also within walking distance.

The room is equipped with air-con and water heater, but I agreed not to use it, unless I want to be paying more than RM250/month. I'm not exactly thrilled with my new home, but I am thankful to have one. At least I won't be obliged to stay in the warden's room anymore, so at this point, I really can't afford to be picky.

Welcome Home, performed by Metallica. Also known as sanitarium. This is metallica in their prime.

I Get By

I have a lot to write about the 5 day experience living on that patch of land called Tioman, but instead of writing a lengthy wall of texts, which could be unpleasant for both me and you, I present you with a very concise summary of the experience, in the form of the following chart :

Click chart for a larger version

Note: my normal psyche level is at 75

(1) The boat got stranded because the sea level wasn't high enough. Stuck on the boat for approximately 2 hours, 55 minutes and 22.66 seconds. Boring.

(2) Tioman was definitely a beautiful place. First impression: impressed!

(3) The warden's room I was given to live in looks like a dilapidated room that has been left unattended for 2 whole decades.

(4) The toilet. Look at the scale. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

(5) Started work immediately. The working environment is relaxing and the colleagues are a real nice bunch. I figure I could get along well.

(6) First staff meeting. TOV, ETR, WTH?? Was also given the position of panitia and a handful of paperwork to do. I was so totally lost there...

(7) Learning the ways, thanks to the guide from the senior teachers.

(8) I got a place to stay! Well, a room to be exact. It's a small chalet not too far from the ocean. Rent: RM250/month

(9) Started moving in most of my stuff from school. It was then when I realized how truly small the room is.

(10) Made friends with a few people who were also pretty new to town. We went fishing. I decided to pick up fishing as well soon.

(11) Went around town. Got to know various individuals. Many people already knew me as 'the new teacher'. They really made me feel welcomed.

(12) A colleague showed me around town on a bike. Free tour is always appreciated.

(13) The marine reserve has got to be some of the nicest waters I've seen in my lifetime.

(14) The plan was to go swimming, but I caught a terrible fever. Really bad fever.

And I returned home the following morning. It wasn't a terrible experience, but it was by no means a truly great one either. Oh well, I can get by...

* I Get By, by Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, is song with a nice tune but really weird lyrics. 3 out of 5 stars.

Should I Stay or Should I Go: part deux

The real answer for the question is I should have just stayed. Upon arriving at Mersing yesterday, the Jabatan Laut announced that the sea was way to dangerous for them to allow boats to set sail. They've put out a notice that boats will officially start operating again on the 19th. Emphasis on 'officially'. If boat companies think they can go to Tioman no problem, they're free to go but the passengers won't be covered by insurance if anything were to happen.

There were quite a few teachers who were stranded as I am, including my Pengetua...haha. So he told me to call him back on Thursday, and if everything's A-OK, we'll finally be leaving for Tioman on Friday. So yeah, not even a day into the job and I already got a few days of paid holiday (hopefully).

And while I'm at it, here are a few things thats been going around my head:

• met a few teachers from the school yesterday and it would seem I'm the only one from my age group.
  
• the other teachers are adult adults and they talk adult-ish stuff. The only thing I can talk objectively, without disagreeing with other people, is video games.
• I'll be the only English teacher in school, which means it's automatically confirmed that I'll become the panitia too.
• the closest person from IPBA to me, location-wise, would be The Seng in Johor, and I'm supposed to be in Pahang!
• the island is only 12km wide! I wanna try walking along the shores until I circle the whole island one day.
• the people there looks not too different from the dudes you see in Hawaii !(from movies, never been there meself)
  
• there were more things i thought about yesterday which I'd forgotten today
• and then some.
• OK, that's probably it.
• I really hate it when you know that you know something, but you just can't recall it.
• probably should just hit publish and be done with it...
  

word

[edit] holiday continues for a few more days. If all goes well, I'll be leaving on Sunday morning.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

...is actually a rather pointless question now. In a matter of hours, I'll be leaving home to Rompin, where I will meet up a man who I must now call Mr. Principal, and follow him to Mersing, where we will catch a ride on a boat, and hopefully get to Tioman without any trouble.

That's right. I will be officially cast away to an island.

Details are still quite sketchy on the area, but I do know that the school I'll be serving in is, fortunately, situated in the central hub of the island - a town called Tekek. The school is called...SMK Tekek. Genius!

Now, I can't really be sure whether I'll have internet access there. I'll definitely update the blog as per usual if that were the case. But just in case I don't, this will probably the last entry that I will post for a pretty long while....

Actually, maybe until Chinese New Year, now that I think of it... ahaha

Well, I'll just make a point to write all about the place the second I have the chance to. So there. Done.



*Should I Stay or Should I Go, performed by The Clash. A light and entertaining rock song that I knew thanks to Rock Band. Very easy on the ears. I give it a 4 stars worth of love

Yo Peeps, This is for You...

Actually this isn't so much of a blog entry. More like a shout out to all the dudes and dudettes of cohort 2.

So as of this week, I guess all of us should have started teaching in our respective schools. Maybe some in the city, some not too far from the city, and maybe some without electricity. Regardless of where we'll be, I'm sure the past 5 1/2 years have taught us at least something about teaching, and I hope know that we'll all be great teachers that'll bring about great changes to the future generation.

Ganbarimashou (lets work hard), people!


note: side entries like this won't be using a song as a title, or I'd be running out of one pretty quick

My Happy Ending

A little note, if you haven't already read Nas' post, then I suggest you give it a quick read to make sense of what I'm going to write here...

Done? Good!

His writing got me thinking quite a bit, because what he wrote is kind of true; in real life, there's no such thing as a truly happy ending, is there?

This reminded me of Enchanted (which I just watched recently) and how I so totally despised it. Why? Because in the end, the girl fell in love with another guy and left the man she was supposed to marry. "That isn't supposed to happen",I thought. It's against my ethos, thus the reason why I find it unacceptable. (forgive my simple-mindedness, thats just the way I am)

So on the basis of that, I figure that my thinking is somewhat poisoned by the 'happy ending' concept I've watched in so many Disney cartoons as a child. Am I wrong to think that way? Probably. But I don't see it that way nor do I care if people say it is, because I do believe that happy endings can happen.

Notice I used the word can and not will. (the linguist in me is kicking in..ahah)

For me, happy endings are't something that's laid out nicely in front of you with red carpets along the way and you can just walk over to it. It's something that you have to work for to achieve. And even if things were to turn sour at some point, your attitude can make a differance. It ultimately falls down to YOU to turn things right.

For what it's worth, this seemingly child-like thinking of mine is one of the things that had kept my relationship with my one and only girlfriend ever/now-fiance/soon-to-be-wife going for as long as it has. Its not like we never get into arguments; we do. But we managed to make it through all of those because we tried to, instead of running away from the problem (and eventually break up).

I intend to keep our relationship going strong till the very end and I'm going to make sure it does.

P/S : It sure won't hurt to have great partner too =) Thanks for being with me for all this time Soya. You're the best! Love you~

On second thoughts, I don't actually need to write all this... but since it's already written, probably I should just hit the publish button. Oh well...here goes...

[Edit: I was reading and found a verse in the Quran about happy ending. What great timing! It goes...]

Dan perintahkanlah keluargamu serta umatmu mengerjakan sembahyang dan hendaklah engkau tekun bersabar menunaikannya. Kami tidak meminta rezeki kepadamu, (bahkan) Kamilah yang memberi rezeki kepadamu dan (ingatlah) kesudahan yang baik adalah bagi orang-orang yang bertakwa.

or in English..

And enjoin upon thy people worship, and be constant therein. We ask not of thee a provision: We provided for thee. And the sequel is for righteousness.

Surah Ta-Ha, ayat 132

So that there is the truest happy ending. Case closed!

*My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne. I guess everyone would've known this song by now. Don't actually like it, but not a bad song at all.

Lights

There isn't a lot to see in my current room really, because there isn't a whole lot of stuff to begin with. There's the queen size bed where I sleep, the couch where I'd sit to read the Quran, a pretty much useless stand fan and the table where I'm using the laptop to type this blog. There is however one thing that I always like to look at each day, and it only appears for a brief period of time. This....I guess I can only describe it as a ring of light, which actually has more than just a passing resemblance to the XBOX360 logo - the ring of light - though the logo evidently has more rings to it.

XBOX360 Ring of Light

Back to my ring of light, it appears between 5.15-5.30 everyday, if the weather is good, and is at its brightest in the middle of that time frame. It's actually the result of sunlight through the window and reflected on the metal bar of my bed projected on to the wall.

Not the most amazing thing in the world, but I think its neat enough to share.

*Lights, by Nobuchika Eri. Heard it through the amazing brick game Lumines for the PSP. Quite Good. Particularly liked the chorus

Green Grass and High Tides

We were in Kuantan to send my fiancee to her posting briefing earlier today. I was kinda happy that she got Pahang, even though I really don't know which part of Pahang it may be. And then there's another thing; I don't know where I might be sent to, and I really hoped it won't be anywhere far from here. [please let it be Pahang...please let it be Pahang...]

There certainly were a lot of them JPNP (Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Pahang) dudes around there, and my dad knew most of them. One of those dudes happened to be the state's Deputy Director of Education.

*A rather long conversation between him and my dad ensues*

Dude took out his cellphone, talked some.

*More conversation follow*

After a while dad came to me, telling that Mr Deputy Director had inquired JPN directly and that my name is listed in Pahang. Hey, great! Afterall, Soya's gonna be posted somewhere in Pahang too!

"...in Tioman", he added. Owh-kaaay... well, it could've been worse, really, so I'm grateful the way it is.

Right then I was thinking : If Soya were to be posted to Tioman as well I'd bet they'd just let us marry~ ha ha

Dad also said that Mr Deputy Director said the guy at the office said that only 3 people from IPBA applied for Pahang, 2 girls and 1 me. So, they decided the best person to be cast away to an island would better off be a guy. Where's gender equality when you need 'em? As a side news, one of the girls (one being Mass, I think) will be posted to Chini (of Tasik Chini's fame), about an hour from my home town =)

And not too long later, I found out that Soya will be posted in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands.I think I heard glasses shattered somewhere....

So she'll be at the green grass of the highlands, while I'll be living with the high tides of the island. Not to point the obvious, but situation will be like this -

That's from one end of Pahang to the other! And separated by the sea, no less! Sigh...

Oh well, in situations such as this, I guess it's best to just play the card in hand. Make the most of what we got. To quote from someone, "situation and place dun change but our attitude can".


*Green Grass and High Tides, performed by The Outlaws, arguably one of the best southern rock band in rock history. And this song has some of the most awesome guitar solos ever. Give it a shot. A highly recommended listen!

This is me

It hasn't even been 1 week into the new year and good things are happening!

We had evening tea and dinner here.

Sat together and looked at old photos of mine.

And I think we've decided on a tentative date for our wedding!

Wait...I'm probably going ahead of myself now, so let's start all over again.

Today, my fiancee made her debut here in my home... with here family of course. Not intentionally, I would say, her posting briefing is tomorrow morning she while she (and her family) is around the vicinity, Mom decided to invite them over.

And that's when stuff started to happen.

When something is happening, my parents always go all out. No, that's probably an understatement; they'd go for 120%. So began the intensive cleaning of the house since they day before. I, of course got my work all lined up. Cleaning the walls, the toilets, vacuuming, throwing away unnecessary stuff, grocery shopping are all part of the list. I can't really complain about anything, but it were me, I'd just leave things the way they were but I'm not really in the position to complain, so I gave the usual 'OK'.

So I did all the job I was assigned to the way I do a job. Being a person who believes in absolute moderation, my parents were...how shall I say... less than pleased by my standards. I am a 75% man (though sometimes by a streak of luck it may raise by 5-10%). I aim for my best, yet I don't strive for perfection, something that my parents always try to talk me out of. But at least I only got a little lecture, which although still kinda hurts, is something I can still bear. Oh well.. the only thing I can do, is say "oh well".

The point being - I hate the whole idea of pretending to be something that you're not to please someone. I'd rather have someone not like me for who I am, than to have them like me for someone I just pretend to be. A lot of people told me what a stupid belief this is, but I don't care. Its my own belief, and nothing you say can make me believe otherwise. It's my life to live, nobody can tell me what to do. This is me...

..but, on second thoughts, maybe I could make exceptions for a few people =)



and you know... I just realized that this post is totally way off from what I'd originally planned to write...oh well

*This is me - Demi Lovato