Bandung

15 April-22 April

Bandung… I really love this place. It is the heaven for shopaholics like NORHAZIAH MOHD SALLEH.. The first time that I heard about the trip, I myself looked for the form to be filled. In me, I knew that this trip is not to be missed J

The 2nd sem of 2nd year was terribly unique. The workloads were hellish… Classes were from 8 am to 6 pm almost every day… And the exams.. Pergh… The toughness and the required commitments was unprecedented.. I admit and confess here that I failed one subject during my mid term and also the result for this sem is the WORST ever… But the second worst in my U life. The worst was in matrix when I got 3.1 hahaha

So you see, the depression and tension was already mounting due the pressure from studies.. To add it all up, my love life did not flourish too.. My motivation was BANDUNG… Repeatedly I would say “I just want to get this over with and enjoy after this…”. Every time my thoughts drift away to Jalan Dago, Pasar Baru, Rumah Mode and etc there seem to be a surge of new energy in me and I was up to my desk in no time. Study study study then Bandung Bandung Bandung..

The day that I was waiting for finally arrived. Zul volunteered to send me to the airport and I just can’t stop talking in the car about the things that I expect from the trip and also how I imagined it would be.. In the airport we met Solah, Abg Bad, Fizah and Jaja… Shifaa was late and I panicked a little. Afraid if she couldn’t make it in time.. It was less exciting that time because some of our friends already boarded the first flight to Bandung earlier that morning.

Dinner with Kelab Umno

This was when we met with the Malaysian students in Padjajaran province. I was quite disappointed for not seeing any familiar face. Shifaa, Rei and me sat with a very sweet and friendly girl name Nodi. She introduced us to a new creature name Cali and as usual we can’t control our laughs when she told us that Cali would leave black ink to mark its presence. If the Cali walks on your lips, the dark line would really look like a mustache. The food was delicious that night and that was the last time that we ate Malaysian food in Indonesia.

Cibaduyut

It is one of the famous areas for shopping that I have not yet explored during my first visit to Bandung. This is the place of cheap bags and cheap denims. I got myself the wrong pair for shopping. I shopped with Mida and what a dynamic duo we were. We ended up being the ones with the most shopping bags that night.

Padjajaran University a.k.a. UNPAD

That morning, we woke up as early as 6 am (Indonesian time). We headed to UNPAD in our new vest. We were welcomed warmly and the girls were indeed flattered when one of the lecturers blurted “Wah! Cantik2 ya siswi Malaysia!”. The best part of this visit was when we had the chance to play the Anklong. The one who taught us was the son of a musician who had struggled to conserve Anklong and also changed the Anklong note into Do Re Mi form from its traditional note. We played “I had a dream” by Westlife, “You raise me up” by Josh Gorban and Indonesian songs. There was a futsal match before we depart. The UIA students prove themselves good by scoring 6-0. O ya, I met with my friend Rafshan in UNPAD. I was so excited to see him that I inadvertently screamed with joy hahaha

2nd yr in UNPAD

Sunda Cuisine

That night we were served with Sunda cuisine.. The orange juice was tasty but too sweet.. The chicken or may I say the chick was sooooooo skinny and small that I think I was short of protein supply that night. I really love this sambal that looks like pecal but I forgot to ask what it’s called. I just can’t let my hands off the pucuk ubi yg di celur dengan air panas..

ITB

ITB... NIce...

This is the oldest university in Bandung and it is a really well-established university. The buildings are clearly more modern than UNPA. We did a tour around the university which they claimed as the smallest in Indonesia but actually I still think that it’s big! Our guides Ikur, Nisa and Ridho were great. They were friendly and very patient. We stopped so many times during the tour to take pictures. ITB is just so nice and there are sooooo many strategic places for posing.


We were very impressed to know that ITB has its own BE lab equipped with an isolated room with beds. What’s amazing, the students are soooooo independent.. They figure out the procedures of their lab practicals by themselves. One more thing, ITB also had made me feel that I was not serious in studies all this while.. The students here are soooo dedicated and even study during gaps between classes. They finish their works before going back which means our habitual PROCRASTINATION does not exist there.

To be continued…

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What brings us together

A few days ago I came across one of my best friend’s blog in which she’d expressed about how she is now suffocated by the threats made by one of our ex-classmate.. The threats and torments did not haunt her alone. Instead, the black mails are received by most of us… The girls of SPM 2003… Yes! A psycho is on the loose and lurking creepily in our private lives.. The modus operandi was almost the same in every victim.. Short messages of threats or sometimes compliments or just another hogwash of whatever that hover in the mind of the doer. A lot of pictures have been grabbed and posted in the offender’s friendster. What’s more… Unique comments accompanied every faces that are exhibited in his friendster… which in turn, FREAKED US OUT!

However, what fascinates me most was that zeq was able to see the hikmah that lies behind this somewhat like I KNOW WHAT U DID LAST SUMMER:SPM 2003 episode. This “episode” is one peculiar thing that brought us, the SPM 2003 candidates, back together. Zeq suddenly called me from UK after months of silence. Suddenly, we all heard news from everybody who was victimized by this guy.. We now have something to talk about again. And we have now realized that we all still care for each other even after 5 years of separation…

One incomprehensible attribute of this guy is that he seem to be trapped in time. He remembered everything that occurred during our schooldays and he is constantly talking about it.. The things he talked about are apparently those that are done without mature considerations, old habits that are long left behind, old attitudes that no longer exist and some things that we don’t even remember doing! Hehehe

But one thing for sure, this guy is like a time machine to us. When we talk about him, automatically we’ll go back in time and the chat will by itself change into remembering happy times during school.. While chatting in YM, I would suddenly laugh my heart out in front of my computer screen enjoying the memories of my teen age. It breaks my heart to hear people say bad things about SMSL. It really doesn’t matter if I met this psycho in SMSL. But deep in me, I’ve put SMSL as one of the DELIGHTS during my lifetime… My friends and foes.. Lessons learnt… Smiles and tears.. They are all DELIGHTS..

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Yikes!!1

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!
Finally my ceaseless activities has ended. It was definitely tiring and got myself quite weary and dark... But I think there were all worth it to make this small heart of mine happy and content :-)

10.4.2008
Gunung Senyum....

My first ever mountain after my accident.. I decided to take this challenge even though I received a lot of NO's from our parents hehehe... Hurmm... Honestly, I initially underestimated the mountain itself... I told my mom that it was just a small hill but they call it mountain because there are just few mountains that are as high as mount kinabalu in the Peninsular... I even joked to my friends that we all will ascend and descend the mountain with smiles from ear to ear and that's how the mountain got its name. So then we met with reality....

During the first day, I saw the mountain.. Frankly my heart didn't jump when I saw its height.. It was all rocky... We were informed that there were a lot of caves there.. so at about 2 pm we went caving... It was so windy that afternoon and I was quite sleepy during the trip to all the 8 famous caves.. I didn't pay much attention to what the ranger was talking about. The myths and links between all the 8 caves to me were quite absurd but when we reach Gua Silat, I could see that the cave formed a very nice square that is definitely suitable enough for people to fight in there. My favorite part of the activity was when we were in Danau Impian, a part of Gua silat. There was an opening that resemble a window on the wall of Gua silat at which when you stand there and look out you can see a majestic scenery of a tiny forest enclosed by the rocky mountain. The myth has it that this was the place where Tok Long and his wife (a 'bunian' or is it an elf in english? like in the LOTR as I imagined it) stand and share their dreams to become husband and wife. That's how the place got its name...

We went caving again the next day.. This time we were victimized by Sang Pacat... We were hiking in one line and I was among the ones who are at the end of the line. From far away, I could hear desperate voices yelling for help.. Huhu it gives me a freak.. Occasionally my mind would hover and think about whether Sang Pacat is on its way ascending my thigh... Fizah and I made a loyal friendship vow that we will only check the wounds when we reach the camp. At the camp, I found three wounds on my leg.. The offender and its accomplices (if there's any) left without a trace... That afternoon we went abseiling.. I tried twice and to this day I regret for not having tried the australian and spider abseiling huhuhu

Third day was the climax.. The starting point of the mountain gave a clear hint that it would be rough and tough to go up.. a red small cardboard was nailed to a tree with something written on it.. I can't believe what I've just read.. "DANGER. FOR EXPERT ONLY." from the very start everything were solid rocks.. at one time.. we were only standing on one slim iron rod with nothing below us... I kept myself thinking that I could do this and I want to get home safe so there's no room for me to make a single mistake hehe. So I go on with determination hehe... we were wall climbing without rope all the way up under the scorching sun. At the second base, everybody was already dehydrated. Shifaa and I left a bottle of water to drink on our way down there. We manage to reach the peak at about 2 pm. The real challenge was when we descend the mountain. at one time, shifaa slide down so fast that we all panicked. she was saved by a small tree. I was so upset to find that the bottle that we have left was already empty. When we reach the rope that head to the slim rod that I mentioned before, it started to rain... desperately, shifaa and I plucked some leaves and lick the rain drops on them... Super dehydrated we were..
we manage to reach the ground safely and were so happy to see our friends to be safe and sound..

2 days latter I was in Bandung... And after bandung I went to the International Rakit Expedition.. so much to tell.. So little time and idea.. so I'll continue latter la ek... :)

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