The Not So Black Limousine.

Yesterday, I had to wake up early in the morning since I had to prepare to go to a Dikir Barat practice, in which we practiced how to clap with style and for some reason or another, an Auntie just told me to join the kid’s dikir puteri as a Putera! Believe it, or not.

After practice, Ala’, Nasa and I went with uncle Nik to pick up Haziq. Some event occured in the car which I hope will remain with the people in the car. However, the reason for us picking Haziq up was: so that he can join us in an hour long, fun-filled, ear-deafening, exotic limousine ride all the way to Dubai Mall. (Why Dubai Mall, don't ask me).

The limo was to pick us up at my house, where Anum, Amjad, Nabil and Amanie were waiting with Umi, Auntie Sharifah, Auntie Faridah and Uncle Mustafa. Of course, the aunts and uncle were not to be joining us. Then, the limo came.

The first comment about the limo that I heard was: I thought we ordered the black one!  -.-‘ As long as it’s a limo, Anum, I don’t think anyone minded… :p

Once we got into the limo, the first thing we attacked was the radio/dvd player which was currently playing some Arabic song… Yeah, we’re gonna have soo much fun with that aren’t we?  -.-‘

With the music fixed, we switched it on to loud, and the ride started!

It felt like a short ride. What with the excitement of being in a limo, the sugar rush from the colas, and the fun of just us being together, I don’t wonder why. The pictures in Facebook tells a much better story than I can.

One thing I can tell you is that inside the limo, we were sweating buckets! At one point, we accidentally switched off the AC and had to get the driver to pull over and help us out! He also warned us not to stick our heads out the window… I wonder who’d do that…

Owh and Haziq left his glasses inside the limo and had to ask the limo driver to drop it off for him… Weird thing was: he was just reunited with his glasses before getting on the limo.

At Dubai Mall, we finally understood the major flaw in our plans: we didn’t have one.

So, for the next few hours, we decided to go watch a movie, which didn’t happen, then went to go bowling but that didn’t happen either since it was a Virtual Bowling alley  -.-‘ However, since we already bought the card for the games area, the others decided to spend it all since we were already there.

Game after game after game, they finally finished the credit up by going Karaokeing… Ala’ and Haziq enjoyed karaokeing… but I can’t say that people enjoyed their Karaokeing… Anum and Amjad did a bit of a duet in which Anum was waaay more dominant, seeing as how she actually knew the song…

Then, we went to eat. I wanted to get a Mrs. Vanellis’ Spaghetti Bolognese with extra cheese, which is my usual. Buuuut! When I asked the dude can I have Spaghetti Bolognese this is his reply: what is Spaghetti? We only have pasta.  -.-‘ I gave up right after that and went to get a McDonald’s Ice Cream Sundae. The others had Subway, Squid Pasta, Shrimp Pasta, and McDonald’s.

After that, we pretty much walked around aimlessly. No wait… we at first wanted to go ice skating buut… after a brief discussion, we decided not to. On the other hand, Nasa and Amjad decided to ditch us, and go ice skating together. We left them so that they could enjoy their date.

Then we saw Ala’ win in table tennis against some other guy and Haziq losing in table tennis against an extremely skilled girl.

Time to go home.

Umi, Muhaimin and I then dropped off Amjad, but not before making a stop at McDonald’s to eat.

A Review.

Basically, this post is about what I've been doing while putting blogging off.

1. Learned how to do Dikir Barat.
This. Is. Fun.
Those 3 words can sum up everything about Dikir Barat! For those who don't know what it is; Dikir Barat is a form of singing sang with the Kelantanese Dialect and Local Drums. It is usually sang in groups. Trust me: its not as easy as it sounds. Learning how to speak in that dialect was like trying to learn a different language all together! And then understanding it was a whole other topic. But as soon as you get the hang of it, everything just... flows. A simple demonstration of Dikir Barat can be heard from here.

2. Rode the Metro.
Okay, in Malaysia, we have the LRT, which anyone can ride in. In Dubai, we now have the Metro; a more complex version of the LRT. The setting is a lot more colorful, is a good, simple way to describe it.
Ala, Nasa, Muaz, Muhaimin and I had a trip on it to go to MOE which was one of the last stops for the train. Anum cancelled -.-'.
The first thing I noticed was that they had a song that was supposedly played to not keep the passengers bored. Well... It wasn't that great a song-classic orchestra type thingy- nor did it do anything to heighten excitement level..
For some absurd reason, the train didn't move for about 5-8 minutes at one stop, and we saw the people who worked there come in and checked the engine or something. I guess it was just our luck to witness the breaking down of a train. Fortunately, the train was fixed, and we zoomed on. Slowly. Wild guess: since the Metro is still young, the RTA is being really careful with it.
Coming back to the Rashidiah Station was a bit more eventful. We decided to take a video of the trip... minutes later, we noticed other people doing the same thing. Like they say: it takes only one person to start a trend -.-'.

3. Played around with a Mercedes Benz.
An uncle left this Mercedes Benz with us for a while and we needed to heat up the engine for a while. However, with just one look at the key, my mom was confused at how exactly is she going to start the car?! You know how keys have the teeth and the body right? The body being the usually black part at the back. Well, this ''key'' only had a back part.
I think my mom asked another uncle to come and help out because there was another uncle that came along and started the engine for us. Apparently, we start it like any other car: just stick the ''key'' in the ignition and twist. So why did they have to take out the teeth part for?
The fun starts now: since we're so used to other cars that weren't so... technical with all the buttons, I wanted to, no wait... I HAD to try all of them. They had a wiper for the head lights! I don't know if that's normal or not but I just find that really weird! I got squirted by it -.-'. Then the real wipers for the windows were on the same side as the signal lights but instead of twisting the handle, you press on it. Umi tried grabbing the right-side handle but since there was no handle... Owh and before we even drove the car around, my mom couldn't reach the pedals so we searched for the lever that is usually found in other cars to pull the seat forward... Turns out... it's also a button! Man, those people at Mercedes Benz really wanted to make life easy, didn't they?

4. School as normal.
Even though I say it's normal, can you name me one school that's normal? There's just no such thing! So I guess all schools are normally abnormal.
I am going to be helping around with the badminton club though, so that's kinda cool.
Homework is piling up. I guess being in the 11th grade has it's downsides too huh?
Muhaimin and I also got really lucky: We got on this taxi one day, and after a trip of chatting with the driver and joking around with him, he gave me his work number and told me to call him anytime I need a taxi! How cool is that?
What else about school.. Hmm...
Aside from the fact that a certain someone was supposed to come but didn't come, nothing much really.
Oh. I got nominated and am currently running for the position of Head Boy. I didn't want to do it at first because I thought of it as a popularity contest rather than a real election but since they changed the rules around so that the school's Senior Teachers are going to be choosing the Head Boy/Girl for their abilities instead of how many people know us, I agreed to the nominations.

Fa4idhi Out! - The 4 is silent.

And Here Comes Raya/Eid.

Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar	الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر
laa ilaaha illAllaah	لا إله إلا الله
Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar	الله أكبر الله أكبر
wa li-illaahil-hamd	ولله الحمد

Selamat Hari Raya Abah, Umi!

Tomorrow morning, Muslim around the world gather and, together, we're all going to Takbir as a signal for the end of the month of Ramadhan and the start of the month of Shawwal, to thank Allah for giving us the Blessed Month and all of its benefits.

To celebrate even further, everyone is going to pick out their best clothes, be it a Baju Melayu-customary for Malaysians- or an Abaya and don it on for the day and visit friends and family to enjoy their company AND the marvelous arrays of foods that are available at each house. To go one step further, we can also receive Eidiah or Duit Raya (note the 'we' and the 'receive').

Spending a lot of Eids in Dubai, I can only vaguely remember what it feels like to Raya in Malaysia. (thinks for a second) Really vaguely. And I just want to say sincerely to Jadah, Opah, Abah Ri, Mak, Mama, Bapak, Kholati, Ami Khairi, Ayah, Ibu, Ayah Cik, Cik Lin, Abang Yong, Muhaimin, Kak Durra, Abang Azmi, Kak Nun, Abang Mizi, Kak Teh, Abang Cik, Kak Uya, Kak Ada, Abang Che, Abang Rid, Kak Ida, Kak Ita, Kak Ruiyya, Wajdi, Abang Yun, Ubai, Khaliq, Haiy, Hafi, Saadullah, Hannah, Hamdah, Kak Yong, Danial, Iffah, Ishraf, Shamil, Auni, Rayan, Adam, Izni, Aimee, Batrisya, Ayisha, Alya dan Amsyar: Selamat Hari Raya Eidulfittri Dan Maaf Zahir Dan Batin. Eid Mubarak likul kum. (Selamat Hari Raya Semua)

You know, the Eids I've had with Jalil, Najwa, Ali and all.. seems so distant. Like right at the back of my head where its clearly there but I just can't get a proper grip on it. I just really want those memories back... Times were, to say the least, simpler. Even now, I'm still in a bit of shock that a lot of close friends moved away and that even more are moving away! I will miss all of you. Stay in touch.

Owh and I don't have a Baju Raya planned out yet...

Selamat Hari Raya. Saya mintak maaf zahir dan batin daripada semua.

Oh anyone noticed that tomorrow is 20/09/2009???!! That's 20092009!! heh thanks Anum =P

Here It Comes!

Yep, school's about to begin! Heaps of changes this year starting with: My older brother, Saif, is now no longer living with us in Dubai, which would lead to the next major change: me being the eldest child in the house(more responsibilities).
Actually, I don't think Saif and I have ever lived separately for more than a couple of weeks, tops. And you know, the stuff that makes it all more... noticeable, are the smallest of things. For example: the Internets faster, I get to sit at the front seat without someone fuming at the back, and there's more food than usual. Of course, this is me speculating, not yet living far away from Saif for more than a few hours. But I know for a definite fact that I am going to miss him. Maybe more than I expect to.
Another twist this year: I'm going to be a senior in my school! FINALLY is the word here. Honestly though, I can't imagine myself being a senior. Our predecessors at least LOOKED the part of seniorhood. With the beards, mustaches, super heights... I mean, they appeared as adults.
I don't know why, but none of my classmates seems to have that quality, maybe because I grew up with them for the last few years, I don't know. But it's just weird thinking we're going to be the oldest students in the school! And yeah, Kinza, if you're reading this, can you please comment on whether this is true for you as well?
This also brings up the question of life after high school... Which I don't want to think about yet. So I bid you adieu.

Amazingly, Life Can Be Boring.

No School.

No transport.

No place to go.

The holidays huh?

Lotsa free, unused time.

Brothers in the other house.

Parents have gone back to Dubai.

Umi will come back soon though.

Holidays are nearing an end.

Cousins have school.

Boredom strikes.

As you can see.

Laptop left.

Byebye.

Imh.


Sorry... ranting. In a stylish manner.

Do the Dino Dance

The makers of Ice Age really did outdo themselves with the last of the trilogy: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
The plot of the movie is simple: Save Sid, who stole 3 dino-eggs and hatched them, thinking that he is now the 3 dino-babies mommy. Of course, the real dino-mom doesn't like that.
The story has a new character who's whackiness is unparalleled: Buck, short for Buckminster and long for Ba. Just with this one new addition to the cast, the story becomes unimaginably hilarious. He leads the team through the underground world of the dinosaurs and has tons of adventure which ranges from almost being eaten by a dinosaur to inhaling laughing gas.
But of course, the greatest applauses go to the acorn-loving squirrel, who has his own adventure throughout the trilogy, all to do with his beloved acorn. In the last movie he has a nemesis: another squirrel. A she-squirrel. This new nemesis tries to steal his acorn from him and together, they have unbelievable fights which did make me choke on my popcorn.
To top it all off, the movie was in 3D, making the whole experience just that much more enjoyable.
Seriously, watch it.

'Half Blood' Magic

Yes, I haven't posted in a month. I noticed, thank you.
For the past month, this is what happened: I came back to Malaysia. I met Amsyar and Aimee, my two newest and youngest members of my family. I saw Transformers 3 which was awesome and Ice Age 3 which made me laugh until I choked on popcorn. I saw Harry Potter 6, and that movie is going to be the main topic today.

The movie differs in many ways to the book. The main difference is of course that the movie has moving pictures and the book doesn't. But the movie has it's own unique captivating 'magic' which enthralled even my limited-English-Vocabulary younger brother, Muhaimin.
'Half Blood Prince' is the 6th movie in the Harry Potter series and the fact that the series has such a high recommendation rate after all these years surely points to the powerful charm that the talented J. K. Rowling has conjured with her spellbinding words and her virtuoso writing skills. The marvellous cast, espescially the main trio - Danial Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - has the applause of the whole cinema.
The most interesting performance for me, however, was by Tom Felton a.k.a. Draco Malfoy. He brilliantly showed a mix of remorse, anger and fear, though hiding it under a mask of certainty. The scenes with him and Danial Radcliffe was unequivalently epic acting on his part. Now that the Harry Potter series is about to end, I can't help but wonder what this talented young actor is up to next.
Just like any number of movies, Harry Potter 6 has been greeted with all kinds of replies: the good, the bad, and the exceptional. An example of the exceptional: ''Dumbledore looks like he's wearing Olay!'' Yes, this is a real comment from a real person that I really know. You know who you are. ;P
As for me, this movie has both my thumbs up.
I'll soon post on what the Ice Age finale experience is like.