welcome to the jungle

15

darn...maybe I should seriously consider doing more exercise from now on :p

The Day You Went Away

It was probably 10 at that time. After immersing myself in amazingly detailed world of mass effect for about 1 and a half hour, my dad asked me wether I wanted to follow him to pick up my sister and brother-in-law at the pier. The road between Pekan and Kuantan was still closed because of the ongoing flood and the only option to get to Pekan from Kuantan was by boat. I hesitated, but then changed my mind, switched off the game and head out.

Long story short, we picked them up and returned home straight away. I didn't waste any time to pick up where I left off. Another 2 hour of my time was invested for gaming. When mom called for lunch, I put the controller down, took the disc out and switched off the console. Little did I know that it would be my last chance to enjoy the game.

After lunch, I returned for another helping of mass effect. I switched on the console only to learn that it was displaying 3 red lights. Meaning - theres something wrong with the system harware. Its the console's equivalent to the human's coma. I was frustrated, no doubt cos theres no guarantee I can it fixed given that it was originally bought in NZ. I did everything I could thought off and went to sleep the worry away. It took some time before it finally sank in... and then it hit me. Maybe this is all just another test from the great Creator. Maybe it just seems like coincidence but it is, afterall, befitting of the day where mankind are encouraged to perfrom sacrafice.

This is the conclusion that I reached: I will try to get the console fixed, but just in case it couldn't be done, maybe its high time for me to quit gaming altogether. A sacrafice that I'm sure one day or another I would have to make.

Sinking of Pekan

The rainy season is officially here and my hometown of Pekan is getting flooded. This is by far the worse case since 1998. Today is the third day since Pekan started flooding and the water level is still rising thanks to the seemingly non-stop raining.

"PEKAN BANDAR DIRAJA" has sank

Actually, just a portion of the town is flooded. Some areas are still passable by car but there are areas which are just too flooded for anything to get through.

the river is pouring onto the streets

Another cause for the flood is cos the Pahang River is right next to the town. As you can see from the pic above the river is consuming the road and within a few days you will see boats on that road instead of cars.

This is the area which is most affected by the flood. The water level is just a few inches before entering the shops. Most of the shops, however, are still open. Most admirable.

The flood has also caused the Pekan-Kuantan road to get cut off. Because, food supply are mostly brought in from outside of town, there is currently a shortage of food in town. As if things couldn't get any worse, we don't get any supply of water as of this morning because the water pumping facility has been submerged. Our only source of water now is the sky. I don't know how things are going to turn out in the coming days but I do know the longer this flood last, the worse the situation is going to become. Worse comes to worse, I would gladly give my life away and ride on that submarine to....oh wait, wrong story :p

My December

Tis a season of engagements and marriages. Honestly, not a week will go by without at least 2 engagements or marriage ceremonies that I am obliged to attend. All those aside, December seems to be very very boring cos I'm mainly stuck at home. Ah...I wanna go out and play frisbee, go picnic somewhere, maybe hang out for some bubble tea, or invite some friends over to play games all day long. No, I can't have those, not any single one of those. Its so depressing...and boring. I kind of miss November now, however horrible and hectic that month was.

A Bridge Too Far

Notice : There are 2 things that you need to know if you plan to read. 1)The following entry contains sensitive (controversial even) issues that people may disagree with or find offensive. Read at your own discretion, and please accept it as the writer's personal opinion. 2) Its a long (and fairly formal) read.

If there was something that is the pride and joy of Malaysia, it is it's multi-racial populace and all of which, live in harmony. Unfortunately, some recent turn of events revealed that this is no longer the case....or perhaps it was never the case in the first place. Perhaps there has always been a rift between the races, only now its fast becoming a canyon. Now, I'm not usually one to comment on things like this. I hate politics through and through but. Racism, however, is against one of the tenets of being najibu. Therefore conflict between races, especially among Malaysians deeply troubles me. I've been thinking on this issue a lot and I think that without actually realizing it (or meaning to do it) people have been putting up a wall between races brick by brick.

No non-sense

The phrase 'non-*insert noun here*' is frequently used in this country and is largely accepted by most. I don't know what most people think of the phrase but to me, its one of the phrases that I have always disagreed with it's usage. When you say, for example, 'non-muslim', its like saying theres the Muslim, and then theres everyone else. Sure, people might argue that its much easier to say it that way because Muslims are the majority in this country but it doesn't hurt to acknowledge that there are people with other religious beliefs, which btw, isn't called 'non-Muslim'. I love my religion, and I think other people love their own religion as much as I love mine. So for me, this has got to do with respect. If we don't show people the respect they deserve, how could we expect people to respect us in return. Without mutual respect among people, conflict is surely abound. Call me overreactive, but hey, its my opinion.

Pride and prejudice

Our people are much too diversed and much of them live in their own flock. There nothing that can be done about this. Its only natural for people to stick in grous that they relate to most. The problem is when theres too strong a presence of racial pride. Unless we want to widen the gap between people, these feelings have got to go. No one race better than the other - all of us should be considered equals. Although this is what I want to believe, I know for a fact that its almost impossible to get everybody to think this way. Its sad, but its true. The only thing worse than this is that some people have bad perception of people who are outside of their ethnic races. I've heard parents not allowing their child to mingle around with people of a different ethnic race. Under such circimstances, the child will grow up to have a certain prejudice towards other ethnic races and later in his life teach his/her child the same thing. Its a never-ending story.

One race to rule them all

It is my dream to see every Malaysian as...well, Malaysians. If we could somehow do away with the race thingy.. The way things are now, the different ethnic races in Malaysia will always associate themselves with something different. The Malays will believe that Malaysia is righfully theirs. The Chinese will see China as the country where they originated and as for the Indians, India. Yes, we can clear the this by merely adding the word 'Malaysian' before their ethnic races but I don't think that solves the issue. If we were able to somehow consider 'Malaysian' as a race instead of a nationality. Frankly, I don't think its gonna happen. I know, its not as simple to do as it is to say and political issues certainly won't allow this to happen anytime soon. I did say in the first sentence that its my dream didn't I? Thats what its likely going to be - just a dream. Even if it won't officially happen, I do hope there are other Malaysian who see things this way.


This is one issue that has been I've been debating alone inside of my head. As such, theres plenty more that I can write but I should just leave it at that. On a side note, I am perfectly neutral from a political stand-point. Everything that I have written are wholly that of my own thought and therefore does not reflect my affliction to any ideologies, factions or secret societies of sort. If anybody actually reads this piece of writing and finds it annoying or offensive, I sincerely apologize. I do not condemn other peoples thought on the matter, nor am I saying that they are wrong, I merely stated what I disagreed with and what I think could be better. Again, I truly apologize if I offended somebody in the process. Peace be upon you all.

-Najibu

Field of Dreams

I had a strange dream last night. I was talking with an unknown guy in Japanese. I wasn't sure if that guy himself was Japanese but his Japanese was of native speaker quality. My Japanese was at my current level, which means I have to think before I can make out a sentence. In a way, it was practice through pushed output. When woke up and thought about it though, I noticed something really strange. The whole thing took place in my dream, which means its all in my head. Then, how was my brain able to generate perfect Japanese for the other guy when my Japanese was no better than it is in the real world. The only explanation I could think of is, in a dream could happen. :p

NZ journals # 6 - Good-bye Days

This is gonna be my last post in NZ as I'll be returning to Malaysia in less than 24 hours. Finally, my life story in NZ is coming to a close.

Nothing much to say.. I'm not happy, neither am I sad. Packing is a hassle though. That also made me realize that I have too much gaming stuff. It might go more than 20kg, all thanks to the 8kg lcd tv I'm bringing back. Hope it won't. There is one thing I'm carrying home which I know is more than the weight alloted by the airline - the memories of the past 2 years I spent here. Its the one thing that I will treasure for the rest of my life

OK... I said I won't be sad, but I will most definitely miss my life here. Goodbye NZ.

NZ Journals #5 - F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Perhaps the best thing about my 2 year stay in NZ is having great friends around, both new and old.

The B.Ed boys

friends then, friends now

Hadi, Nesa and Jarod...I've spent a great deal of time with these boys back in IPBA and they are still spending time with them, albeit not as much as. Everybody's always busy and besides, we're not living in a single building like we used to in IPBA. However, that never stopped them from being an absolutely wonderful group of friends, and ones that I could always depend on. Thanks guys

The Torrens Team

torrens conquers all!!

My other housemates (excluding Hadi), Deli and Kurt. Truth be told, I don't know too many people outside of those from my course. These 2 quickly became on of the earliest non-TESL friends I made. They're good people and it was unfortunate that I only got to know them better in my final year here. Kurt also happened to be an excellent game buddy. One that I can always trust my back to when I'm playing Halo online. Go Torrens Team.

The International

friends and rivals

Despite being in NZ for almost 2 years, I have to say that compared to my other Malaysian friends, I don't have that many friends that aren't from Malaysia. Daichi was one of the few. He's not only a good friend who is totally fun to have around but is also my gaming rival. My only regret was to lose to him 8-10 on our final Dead or Alive match. And then there's Chizuru, who has been a great help in increasing my Japanese language proficiency. I really hope I get to see them both again in the future.

The Guys at EB

Unfortunately, I never got a picture of them. But then again, you don't expect a customer to walk in a shop and take some snappy snappy of the shop attendants do you. Being a regular customer of EB Games Wellington, I have befriended all of the full-time workers there, so much so that we know each others' name. Imagine that, going into a shop and the workers there can call you by name...priceless. Its all the better that they are a great bunch of people. Tommy, Pete, Dave, Fei, Stephen and Lucy, although I haven't got a picture of them, I have a feeling I won't be forgetting about them anytime soon.

The Nihongo Students

taisetsu na tomodachi

And finally this quatro of Japanese Language students, Aishah, Leny, Sue Fin and myself. I learnt a lof of useful things from them and I have to say, these guys...er, girls played a major part in making me much more social these days. It was only after going out and hanging out with them this year that I realized going out with a group of people can actually be fun and that encouraged me to start hanging out with more people. Not suprisingly, I made a lot more friends this year than I did last year. If it weren't these girls, I'd probably be the hermit crab I was last year. You people are awesome friends in my book.

To all my friends here in NZ, thank you for making my life in NZ memorable and so much better than I expected. Allow me to finish this in a very kiwi way by saying, thanks heaps guys!

Goodbye to you

What can I say

We've only been together for what... about 8 months now maybe?

And now you are leaving me, gone from my life

Was it because of me?

Was it because I don't spend enough time with you?

Or was it because you were jealous that I spent more time with another instead of you..

Still, I don't think that a good enough reason for you to leave me like this

But now you're gone

What can I say

But know this

Sure, I may have not spend so much time with you

But that does not mean that that I don't love you

For all the money and time I spent for you, how can I not love you

Indeed. I shall miss you

Your sexy and curvy lines

Your dark and shiny skin

But now you're gone

What more can I say

Except goodbye, my ps3

najibu's ps3 : march 23 - november 12 2007
total time spent together : around 120-140 hours
for the amount of money I invested to get my hands on it, it sure didn't live up to my expectations..but to be broken within less than 1 year of purchase (and just within weeks of leaving NZ!) is just utterly heart-breaking. Danked

The NZ Journal #4 - home and away

Finally, Najibu has the opportunity to update his blog. Things has been very busy for Najibu for the last couple of week and not to mention, some crazy events took place in that short period of time.

Now to why Najibu hasn't updated his blog for a long time :
REASON 1
1.1Najibu's parents came to NZ
1.2 Najibu got kicked out of his room and had to stay downstairs
1.3 Najibu's laptop was always in his room.
1.4 Najibu lost his previlege of 24/7 internet access.

REASON 2
2.1 Najibu's house organized an open house
2.2 Najibu got busy with stuff and helping out

REASON 3
3.1 Najibu was away for 5 days on a trip to which took him all over the North Island

With regards to the trip North, Najibu really tried his best to enjoy it but it just wasn't his cup of tea. However, there was at least one interesting thing that he managed to do which are these pics below

Najibu's work when he was stressed and bored

Najibu's work when he was missing someone

Well, its nothing special, but Najibu likes it, and therefore it goes into Najibu's blog!

The NZ Journals #3 - Games Meet

It is a well know fact that I love video games. So what could be even more interesting than being a gaming hermit in my room? Why, playing with a bunch of friends of course!

5 people = 5 times the fun

Every now and then people would come over and spend some time playing games with me. It doesn't happen all that often, which is too bad, considering how I really enjoyed those moments. It's not always the same bunch but there are some regular faces such as Daichi and Fifi. Then theres those times where I would play with my three housemates but even that is pretty rare. The time I spent most playing with another person is either when I'm playing Halo 3 with my war buddy Kurt or when I'm duking it out 1 on 1 in Dead or Alive 4 with my equally-good-at-games friend Daichi. Fun times indeed.

The Adventures of the Torrens pt 4 - Cleaning Up the Closet

Last time on the Adventures of the Torrens, the all of Blue Team members has assembled for one final showdown with their arch-nemesis, the Evil Red Team.


If the fight is decided from how cool their outfits looks, the Red Team would have easily won. Fortunately, war isn't a beauty contest.


It doesn't take too long to realize that the other members of the Blue Team are more useless than they seem. One might wonder was it worth it to even save them in the first place.


Luckily the captain is alone is enought to take care of business.


The Red Team put on a tough fight but as soon as they realized that their chance of survival was slim, they quickly ran with their tail between their legs.


With memories of the past haunting him, evil thoughts sprang to his mind. What will happen? Find out in the concluding chapter of the Adventures of the Torrens!

The NZ journals #2 - the weather

It's impossible to describe Wellington without mentioning about the bizzare weather here. The name, 'Windy Wellington' describes it all. It doesn't really matter what time of year it is, the wind here will blow you away, but I guess its something you have to experience yourself to comprehend what I am talking about. At one time, I had to hold on to a pole just to avoid myself from being pushed away. In fact, when the wind is blowing at full force from the front, you might not even be able to breath cos your chest is being pushed inwards. For those of you who have and is thinking, "hah, you say that kind of wind is strong?!" All I have to say is apparently you haven't been here long enough to truly feel the wrath of the wind around here. Sometimes when its blowing strong enough you can even here the 'howling' of the wind. Believe me, the sound can be scary at times. Especially when you are alone in the dark in your room.

Rain is pretty frequent here in Welli. I like the rain here because sometimes, the rain drops are so soft that you will hardly get wet even if you're walking in the rain. I did say sometimes though so don't blame me when you try this and find yourself soaking wet. The rain+the wind can usually add up to a very chilly day. Using the umbrella is not a very good idea in Welli unless you want it to fly away or at least end up broken. I HAVE seen some people using it but only very few rare instances. Despite my great intrigue to know what ever happened to them, I simply didn't have to time to follow them and see if their umbrella came to any harm.

Okay! That wraps up this edition of the NZ journals. More coming soon

Can you figure out these riddles?

On my last day of school experience, one of the staffs handed out a piece of paper with the following pictures on it just for fun. I really enjoyed it and so I wanted to share it with others as well. Here's a tip, its not too hard really. You can check for the answers below each picture but I highly recommend trying for yourself before you do so. Have fun :)

answer : seven seas (easy right)




answer : forgive and forget

answer : missing you (TRIMAS KAT ALI G)


answer : uptown


answer : see through blouse (bet you couldn't figure tht out :p)



answer : first aid (all too easy)


answer : west indies (okay, this requires a bit background knowledge so I won't blame you even if you don't know)

answer : six feet under (I think you're starting to get the hang of things by now)


answer : glance behind



answer : tricycle (this one's pretty obvious no)


answer : reading between the lines



answer : crossroads (another easy one)



answer : below zero degrees (come on, you know you're starting to see the pattern now)


answer : neon lights (clever! I like this one)


answer : just between you and me


answer : one in a million


answer : broken promise


answer : touchdown


answer : life starts at 40


answer : jack in a box (easy no)


answer : growing economy (this one's a tough one, the only one of the few I couldnt figure out for myself)


answer : apple pie (one of my favs. i hated maths and totally forgot what those numbers mean :p)

answer : standing ovation (not too bad is it)

answer : making up for lost time (hohoho)

answer : i understand you undertake to undermine my undertaking (the toughest in my opinion. never saw that coming)

So there we have it. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed doing and making them myself (^_^)

The NZ journals #1 - Wellington City

I can hardly believe I've almost finished my 2 year study here in NZ. Academic wise, all thats left for me to do is the final school experience tomorrow, a final exam next thursday and a debriefing shortly after. The days that I'm going to spend here are numbered. In but just 5 weeks, the time will come for me to leave NZ for good. This series of blog entries will be about my stay here for the last 2 years (almost), what I liked about NZ, what I don't like about NZ, and everything in between. That's going to cover a lot of grounds, thus the episodic contents. bear with me people

Wellington city, overlooking the ocean

This first entry will be about Wellington City. Stayed here for a pretty long time I did that I can't help but to like it.

our house is somewhere near that tower in the middle

I'm not actually the kind of guy who likes sight-seeing, so even though I've been here for a long time, there still a large portion of this city that I haven't seen. If I were to write about the whole city, this entry would be endless so here's just some things that I think is interesting about Wellington. I'll let my lovely lady friend do the honour of presenting them (^_^)

soya presents...Cuba St.

Cuba is the shopping district in Wellington CBD. For a mall, its not really awesome to be honest, but I like the lively atmosphere always present there. From time to time you get random people performing even more random acts, from street musicians to the weekly hare krishna march, theres a lot to see in Cuba St. Cuba St. also happens to be the street where my fav shop in Weli is located. Pick a guess, (hint: its somewhere in the picture)

soya presents...te papa national museum

The te papa (lit : our place) national museum is one of the very 1st places that I visited in Weli because we were invited to watch the play 'taming of the shrew' on our second day (or was I third..) of our arrival. Ever since, I've been here for 2 or 3 more times. Like any good museum, the exhibitions changes from time to time and at one time, the museum hosted a Lord of the Rings exhibition which was pretty cool. If you aren't already a fan of museums, this place won't win you over but its worth a look at least once.

back to the future, anyone?

One of the more unique thing about Welli lies at the transportation system. Looking at the picture above, you can see all those cables hanging above road used to power buses. I'm pretty sure they have a similar thing elsewhere but current;y, Weli is the only place I know that use the cable buses. Theres one quirk about the cable-powered buses though - should there be another bus in front of the bus you are riding, there just no way of getting through. On a side note, the cables always remind me of back to the future. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just forget about it.

That's all for today. More entries coming up before I leave this country.

p/s: too busy with school to do the next ch. of the Adventures of the Torrens this week, but maybe at the end of the week...just maybe.

the adventures of the torrens pt. 3 - the journey home

Last time, the Torrens learnt of the Evil Red Team's evil scheme to assault their base. Fearing for the safety of their belongings...er...their comrades, they made haste to the base.

Driving lesson 101 - no matter how in much in a rush you are, safety always comes first. Think about your loved ones.

The road home was a bumpy one, but the captains driving was top notch. They managed to get back to base with everything intact....almost everything.

As they entered the base, they encountered an enemy patrolman. They knew they had to finish this one before he had the chance to call for reinforcments.

Despite not being able to drive, he later figured out that he could just as easily save them on foot, and so he did.

Finally, the team is once again complete. Will they be able to rid the base of the Red Team and save the world? Find out next time.

to be continued again....

credits : this chapter features special guest; ah seng