Jom Balik Raya

Today after work, I am to take Emir and myself for the annual gunting rambut Raya session before driving to Kulai. All according to my wife punya plan la. On the afternoon of the first Hari Raya, then only we drive balik to my kampung in Kuantan. Knowing my mother in law, she wouldn`t allow us to leave so early and so i would estimate that we can only leave Kulai after 5 pm. This is how I have been celebrating for the last 5 years of married life. Quite fun. I try to make myself look seriously involved in the planning but actually I can`t really be bothered balik Kuantan or balik Kulai dulu. So...if I argue about it and finally agreed to her, it gives the impression that I am really concerned and the issue looks very important and geting me to agree is the first sweet feeling of Raya. As long as I can see almost everybody, even if they don`t say hi to me also never mind but as long as I can see them, it`s already good enough. The rest is bonus.
I said I actually don`t care Raya Kulai or Raya Kuantan dulu because as long as I can go to both places I am already satisfied. It`s already a blessing for me. It`s not only the place but with whom you spend time with. It can be during Raya or much after or before it`s already a blessing. Because before that for almost 16 years, Raya morning often meant starting the day alone with yesterday leftover bread, scramble egg and teh O. It`s not because there`s no other food in the house but the culture there is different. In Turkey, they celebrate Ramadhan and not Shawal. On the 1st Shawal they just go for raya prayers and then if the weather is good, take their family for picnics or to a nearby relatives house for a visit.
Sometimes rindu jugak raya sorang sorang makan salami scramble egg with bread, cucumber, black olive, feta cheese and fresh tomatoes.
Selamat Hari Raya and drive safely.

My BIG 7

The BIG 7

7 BIG Wants :

1. Get a good camera like P5 and go out a few days on a photographic expedition.
2. Travel through the countryside of South America on a motorbike like Che`.
3. Open and run a chalet near Kuantan and 'carpe diem' by playing chess and pc games?
4. Build a house on an acre beach front plot in Kuantan.
5. Set up a paint ball team.
6. Invite all my old friends in Turkey to my home.
7. I want to know the secret of the universe.

7 BIG Can :

1. Cook very well.
2. Eat very well at buffets so can invite me.
3. Take very good pictures and comments even better... heh heh heh
4. Philosophy talk with idealists, radicals, socialists etc.
5. Play strategic pc games for hours or days.
6. Go to a formal dinner with worn down shoes with a hole on the top and not feel any shame.
7. Live with only 3 pants ( 2 for work and 1 for casual ). Takes 0.1 sec to choose what to wear.

7 BIG Can`t:

1. Can`t sing or play musical instruments. Tone deaf lar.
2. Berkemas. I am allergic to dust and the act.
3. Ride a motor bike.
4. Can`t dance at all but can hop. Hip no, hop yes.
5. Can`t understand many things but it never bothers me.
6. I have difficulty starting a conversation with people I just know.
7. Go shopping with women. When they want to buy a simple yellow blouse at SOGO, they start the search from the carpet shop somewhere in JTAR. My advise to men, there`s nothing to understand no rationale also, just don`t follow.

7 BIG Fears :

1. Being late and make people wait for me.
2. Forget important things.
3. Pondans. Seng Hup is the area to test courage.
4. Losing people close to me.
5. The unpredictable. I used to be very scared of girls. Jump through windows and so on.
6. Drowning although I can swin and have saved people from drowning 3 times.
7. To forget and be forgotten.

7 BIG Love:

1. Cats but not keeping any now at home because of space and children.
2. Ancient history. I`m good at Ottoman history.
3. Photography especially on people and life. Hope someone will buy me a D50 also. Then I won`t care if Paul Moss wants to burn me at the stake I`ll publish many nice pictures.
4. Green mountains. I'm not a rock climber but hiked Toros mountain, Elciyes , Bolu and half of Ararat. Was great. Everybody should do it when still have the strength.
5. Movies especially life drama like `Life is beautiful`, `Motorcycle diary` and `Taegukgi`.
6. Outdoor activities like camping and hiking but doesn`t have much opportunity to do so. Not much energy also nowadays.
7. Museums. Spent more than 2 hours even in the small Sarawak museum.

7 BIG Passion :

1. BMW M3.
2. Firearms.
3. National Geography.
4. Discovery Channel.
5. Siti Nurhaliza ? and my wife...etc.
6. Still photography.
7. LOST ( the TV serial)

7 BIG Dreams ( Most very stupid, some day dreaming):

1. Be an aircraft fighter pilot fighting dunno who.
2. Be a Kung Fu expert with magical power but eat noodles at halal stalls with Jakim logo.
3. Be a Malay warrior together with Mat Kilau fighting the British in Pahang but I have a M16.
4. On the very day Kitty died thousands of miles away, I dreamt of her coming to sit on my lap her tail as usual wagging high.
5. After all this years I can still dream being confronted by a ghost. Only difference now is I`m not scared any more.
6. Live around 1,000 years ago.
7. Dream of a dream of another dream and woke up in a dream also.

7 BIG treasures :

1. Old photos from childhood.
2. Not so old photos from younger days. (Never realised I was so handsome. No wonder lah.)
3. A Sundang . ( An old sword from great great grandfather )
4. Some belongings of my arwah mother.
5. A keris Mataram I bought in Indonesia.
6. An M16 A3 air rifle same as the one Maman own and shown in his blog.
7. Almost everything in the HD.

7 BIG Says :

1. Apa dia?
2. Kenapa buat gitu?
3. Weh!
4. Ho oh yek?
5. Nak ikut mana?
6. Lama lagi ke?
7. Apa kata...?

7 BIG Facts :

1. I enjoyed 16 years in Turkey, made many friends, hiked the mountains, cross the streams, jumped the waterfalls, stayed in villages, passed through Kurdish battle zones, know the people...My Turkish friends don`t consider me a Malaysian anymore.
2. When it comes to travel, I plan carefully for others but rarely for myself because I believe getting lost can be a great adventure. It happened before.
3. I love roasted lamb. Especially those not thickly marinated and cooked in sand.
4. I hate getting stuck in a festive season traffic jam especially at Senawang.
5. I`d love to go fishing and hope P5 will teach me how and buy me an ugly stick for starters.
6. The truth is I can be very happy with small things. Can be satisfied very easily. That`s why I can still wear my worn down shoes. Sometimes just for fun I act as someone with a different personality. People who know me well understand the joke but others may not.
7. I`m quite sentimental. It was pointed out to me bluntly some years back.

So those were my BIG 7. They may not be totally true and even the true ones are only true at the time of publish. The not so true ones are not really lies but a result of a condition called hypoglisemia + intermitten autapathic fever.