Angklung Performance in AGD

Yes. I was on the stage twice.

One for the singing, and earlier to that was this angklung performance. It was a debut for such performance in IIUM Kuantan Campus and we were proud to perform it in Kuantan.

From what I've been informed, the Kulliyyah of Science will buy a set of angklung which costs about RM10,000 for the students' cultural activity in the kulliyyah. Wow, that's great! During the performance, I could see the smiling face and eyes of the Deputy Dean of Student Affairs of the kulliyyah. That would be a good start for angklung in Kuantan, I think.

But let's wait until that becomes true in the first hand. Who knows, maybe Angklung Club will be established here in the future?

Playing angklung is not just like shaking it uncoordinatedly. You need intensive trainings with other members of the group and through the trainings, you'll gain a lot of things and most surely, you'll know your friends and teammates more. Don't you agree, members of Angklung Club IIUM Gombak?

Hey, let's shake the angklungs, and shake the IIUM Kuantan Campus!

Kasi gegarrr!!!

Birthday Surprises

ONE

I bought some meals from the cafe to celebrate the birthday with friends and juniors in my room. No cake. I couldn't afford to buy one. Just simple meals would do, I supposed.

Suddenly, I got an SMS from Bad, "Ki, ko kat mane? Aku dah ade kat bilik ko ni"

"Jap jap. Akak ni tengah masak"

When I reached the room, it wasn't only Bad there, but his other friends and of course his twin, Pudin. Out of my knowledge, while I was at the cafe, they were practicing the angklung to play the Happy Birthday song. For a beginner like them, composing such a song so quickly was highly creditable. Then, they played the angklung and while singing the song.

I was speechless and touched.

T_T

TWO

It was late at the birthday night. We were practicing angklung for a performance this Friday. The door was closed in order not to let others to be annoyed with the sound.

Suddenly the door was knocked.

It was Jay. He came to see us and to see the meals. He didn't take any of them and he left with a signature with the door. Haha...

We continued practicing. We played a medley of Mary had a Little Lamb, Happy Family, London Bridge and You're My Sunshine, Enjit-enjit Semut, Burung Kakak Tua and lastly Joget Pahang. Fuh... What a line of songs!

Suddenly again, the door was knocked.

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to Zaki,
Happy birthday to you...

Jay and some other came with a Secret Recipe's Indulgence cake! I was surprised, speechless and my heart pumped faster than usual. Not to mention, they sang with angklung as the background music. Huhu~

T_T

Thanks friends.

T_T

The Further You Travel, The Wider Your...

I've got midterm exams to do in these 2 weeks, so I need to focus more on that as my priority. Much to talk on the visit and competition in Bandung but I guess time does not allow me to write.

Few important notes:

• We won the third place in the angklung competition.
• Travelling with flight wasn't as good as i dreamt.
• I love Nasi Timbel!
• Now I can recall the taste of rice. Haha..
• I want to travel more to anywhere in the world!
• Rupiah figures mentioned below must be divided by 2500 to get the price in Ringgit Malaysia.
  
  

It was my first time ever experiencing flight, flying in the air above the sky. Although it was kind of boring when it's too long in the plane where I couldn't do anything but sleep and look at people's behaviour, it was fun though! The Dutch's plane KLM brought us to and from Jakarta.

Nasi Padang. The system to count things up for payment was different from what we always do. The taste of the meals is not so much different from Malay's but it was my first time, again, eating belut. Delicious! Hey, I ate them with rice for your information. They cost Rp16,000 for belut, babat and rice.

The salesmen here are so enthusiatic to sell their products. There are tricks to play to deal with them to get the lowest price possible, or else they will play tricks to trap you to buy their products. The best way if you're not interested with their products is by ignoring them at all like they are absent around you. One more thing, don't look at their faces. They will try to look as much kesian as possible to attract your sympathy. Cet!

Stalls like this are numerous and I wonder how they actually gain profit with such small number of products sold and high competition between them? Another thing is that the halal-ness their food is questionable. So be careful.

I bought the jacket at Tangkuban Parahu with Rp110,000. Nice! Actually I can get lower price than that, but being typical Zaki, I don't really mind to pay more. Just take it like donation to the seller.

Another movable stalls. But I didn't try batagor. What is it?

Again, my first time seeing volcano just right in front of my eyes. I could the smoke originating from the ground. Subhanallah..

Picture at Tangkuban Parahu. Feel like want to go there again, but without those annoying salesmen. Is it possible?

It was so cold. Is it because I've lost insulators beneath my skin? huhu~

I love Nasi Timbel Komplit. It's like mixed rice but with certain specified lauk pauk in it. The chicken, the sambal, the veges, all are complete in one set for one mouth. *matila hari ni 1 Ramadhan aku menaip benda ni.

Picture before the actual competition. We were the only non-Indonesian group taking part in the competition while the rest are groups from Bandung and other parts of Indonesia. Unfortunately, audience are not allowed to take pictures or record videos in the hall of competition during competition going on.

This is Jahe Rempah, mixture of cengkih, various herbs, halia and of course as you can see, cinnamon. All together mixed up and there you go, a sip of drink made up herbs. To me, its taste was just nice. Not too strong. Its cost is just Rp7,500.

Nasi Bakar Merah. Not as nice as Nasi Timbel, but still I consider it as something new and cool meal. The best one is of coure its sambal. Yummy!

No caption.

Going to Bandung...

Ya right~

So many difficulties we encountered with stuffs related to going to Bandung. Now we are wishing and praying the best will fruit in the end. Amin.. I'll not be available till 12th of September in the internet world. Wish us all the best!

*Have anyone read the case about karate competition that caused fight between Malaysia and Indonesia. That scares me to go to Bandung. You know... Indonesians... Ganyang Malaysia! Na'uzubillah... we were almost not allowed to fly because of this you know by the Malaysian authorities! Syyy...

*OK, I promise. If there is any nasi-based meal in Bandung, I won't reject it. PROMISE!

*I can't promise that I can buy everyone gifts from Bandung... So...

Gigam

Gigam refers to "gila bergambar" which really describes how maniac angklung club members when it comes to capturing pictures. Owh OK, i also join angklung club, although I'm not certain about my membership status but I still join their performances. That means, I'm also gigem and I'm OK with that. Hoho...

So, what? Here are collections of pics during last 3 performances that I joined with Angklung Club during the end of the semester break.

After performance for Higher Education Ministry's program.

No caption.

The Angklung Club members.

Who? Disabled?

Spoiling the pic.

Performance during Taaruf Week for the intake July 07/08.

Waiting before commencing our performance.

During performing. I enjoyed it very much!

As if the umbrella is blown by air.

Want more?

Spoil la that side mirror!

Before rehearsal. Do I look thinner?

Waiting waiting and waiting for the slow-moving technicians. Then what they do? They sing Pahang's official song.

After the performance. What else? Capture pics till you turn exhausted la! Huhu~

Present but Invisible

*picture has been deleted. Sorry*

Let me talk about friendship. Few occurrences happened that brought me to question myself; where am I situated in my friendship? At what level am I?

The friendship I mean here is the relationship with those living fleshes with brain and heart called human whom I spend most of my time with, whom I am comfortable with, and whom I put love and faith on. It’s not virtual friends whom I never or rarely meet face to face but I could interpret their intellectual behavior via their written words, but real friends whom I put my body and heart close to.

In relationship, people always use the word of wisdom which says “sedangkan lidah lagikan tergigit” to suggest that close bodies do hurt each other, whether intentional or not. There must be party who is hurt inside, and the blisters are actually more painful than physical sores. And here is a pinch of black story of my friendship with people I call friends.

Basically, I treat my friends equally. What do I mean by that equality? It’s simply that I don’t put any level of friendship between them thus I trust, treat and love them equally. I don’t label any of my friends as best friends or whatever, purely because they are all my friends, the best in my heart. But that few occurrences were really a matter for me that blinked me to think; am I invisible? It’s small matter for some people, but still it is a matter that I take as personal.

Imagine these situations:

1. One of my friends is choosing stuffs during shopping and somehow he needs opinion whether they suit him or not, whether he should take it or not. Instead of asking me who is nearest to him, he chooses to ask others far from him. Hello, am I invisible? Am I brainless that you can’t ask my opinion?
2. 4 friends are in one situation. One of them is hungry and needs friends to accompany him to the café. He asks the first friend but he refuses for some reasons, and also the second one. I am the third person he supposes to ask who is ready to accompany him but I am just waiting him to ask me friendly. But unfortunately he does not ask me. Hello, am I invisible? Where am I lacking that you don’t see me?
3. Few friends and I are in a room where suddenly a new hot story that is out of my knowledge is loudly propagated repeatedly between them. When I ask what it is, they avoid me and made me like I am no one to know it. Hello, am I not your friend to know it also? You just make me feel like I am complete loser stranger!

Here is where I started asking myself; where is my position in the friendship? Can’t I get the equality of friendship I have shown? Where am I lacking that we cannot share things? Aren’t we friends?

I know I am not good in everything to share my opinions. I know I am not always available whenever they want me. I know I can’t expect everyone of my friends to tell me all secrets they have. But please consider how I would feel if situations like above, and many more, happen. Not once, not twice, but more than that. It’s like I am present but invisible!

Here, I am not questioning my friends’ credibility and trustworthiness as so-called friend, but I am questioning my position in the friendship. At which level am I situated in your heart? Where am I lacking that made me sometimes feel like I am invisible among you all? Maybe it’s my fault that I overlook due to my own weaknesses. Or maybe it’s only me who is sometimes softhearted when it comes to friendship and easy to get hurt inside.

It’s actually constantly hurt when I keep thinking of this matter. I can’t help it but to say that I badly need friends to make life colorful. But don’t paint it black! I hate black on my silk of life but few dots were already there. I did see this thing positively, but I couldn’t stop asking myself – am I not a good friend?

Footnote: Please don't think I have problems with my friends now. This entry is nothing but a release of thoughts for those occurences that happened not in a day, but the past friendship period.

Angklung Again...

What is the difference between attending workshop/talk/program that attracts your attention and the one that does not? Yes, you don’t fall asleep!

That’s exactly what happened to me last Monday when I went to a workshop organized by Angklung Club IIUM where the night before I only had a 4-hour sleep which is typically not sufficient for my body to recover the energy. But since the inputs gotten from the workshop are basically interesting and really into me, I had fun with them and I didn’t fall asleep throughout the day.

The inputs are generally all about angklung; the history, the development, the types etc. All these while, what I knew when I played angklung was just to shake it. But after the workshop, I appreciate the uniqueness of angklung as another type of musical instruments. Moreover, I am grateful for being introduced with this great creation of Allah called bamboo that has various usages from food to musical instrument. Besides that, now I realize that bamboo is like coconut; the older it is, the better it will be. Older angklung sounds better than the new ones and even the process to make it takes years for it to sound right in tune. Subhanallah...

Besides that, the workshop was also as a preparation before Angklung Club members are sent to Bandung this early of September to take part in a festival held there. As far as I know, I’m also listed for that matter but the distance between Gombak and Kuantan is a major problem because we need to practice in group because this type of angklung we play is about performing as one group. And this time, what makes it more challenging is that we need to memorize the notes instead of seeing it during performing. But after all, I think I won’t mind if I need to go to Gombak every weekend just to practice with the rest of the members, Pak Dadang and Cikgu Zahir. Please don’t exclude me!!! I want to go to Bandung too!!! Wish us all the best ya? Amin...


The OBGYN members from Bandung performed that day and it was amazing!

Although the songs played that day were not familiar to my ears but they sounded great! I enjoyed it very much.

Their sarong is a very characteristic of them. Although it looks cliche, but still it's nice. So what?
More info about the workshop and the performance a day before (I don’t like to talk about this for few reasons), visit angklung club’s blog.
Read also: AWI's (angklung-web-institute) website.

Engitex & Visit to Gombak

I know whose bike this is and i saw the owner minutes before I captured this picture. Afiq, rosak uh?


I visited my lil bro at his new schoool, boarding school named Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP) Integrasi Gombak. Since the school is located not far from UIA, so i have time to see him. Owh togather with emak n abah actually.


Brooom brooom.. Penyapu penyapu.. Owh no... they are all supermotorbike drivers during Engitex. Cool huh?


Since it was Engitex, it's was all about engin. No la... Like this one, it's a device programmmed to walk directed by Ir scanning underneath it. Cool!


The exhibitor. His name is Lee Chong Hoon. Eh, no! His name is Nakamura Hiroshima. Eh, no! His name is Azhari Miftahul Djannah. Pergh.. Nama ko tak hingat! An engineering student from Indonesia (but he doesn't look like one to me) who explained me the devide that he created. Cool!


The Exhibition. Cool! But i wonder, now Kulliyyah of Science have moved to Kuantan. Next academic year we'll have convocation, in which usually representative from Kuantan campus will be asked to organize Medical Exhibition (why must the word Medic is there where as it wasn't merely about medical stuff?) as one of the subprogram. Is it going to be another Medical Exhibition? Hey, Kulliyyah of Science got Mathematical students i mind you!


The aeroplane made of poly-estrene. Creative and cool!


Is it me, who is tall? Or they who are short? Argh!


Yay! PC Carnival! But I didn't buy anything because I haven't got my loan from SUK Selangor. Fortunately I do business as backup, which is just enough for my daily expenses.


UIA students kah ini?


Yes they are! They are UIA students, but they didn't show as they should. Cover your aurah dudes! I see that the regulation (I mean university's regulation, not Islamic law) wasn't being applied here although actually uncovering aurah in the public is prohibited in Islam. Is it islamic to behave like this. Just few more centimeters to see the ducti and sacs i tell you! Who to blame? SRC? MRC? Pak Guard? To make thing worse, there were students from other university during the day I captured these pictures attending Engitex. NOT COOL!!!

Angklung Performances during Taaruf Week

These are videos on our performance during last Taaruf Week for the intake of Semester 2 2006/2007. All these while i kept saying that i joined Angklung Club activities without featuring our performance. Now I want you all to listen to the songs sung by angklungs. Enjoy!

Angklung Club Performance for Taaruf Week

This time, it's confirmed! No more co-currucular activities in Gombak. Tomorrow I'll be moving to Kuantan. Yesterday was my last activity here - Angklung Performance for Taaruf Week for the intake of Second Semester 2006/2007.

The night was so stressed. Looking at my friends face during the first 30 minutes before we went on-stage triggered my heart-beat almost to the maximum beat. But after that i cooled down because at the back stage, we made joke of each other, made "suara sengau" with Kak Nadia, entertaning others who still felt nervous.

Once we stepped up on the stage, show time! Angklung Club was the first musical group to perform (and in the same time to promote the club to freshies) and we did quite well for Ada Apa Denganmu (barulah aku tahu in English it means What's Wrong with You) and the best for Pandang-pandang Jeling-jeling. To keep the beat on track for angklung to me is quite hard since there were about 20 heads to be synchronized and that's why we missed the beat for the first song. But overall, we've made it! Hooray!

I really wanna mention this . ONE - that Nasyid group is loser! They came late and thus forced the PC to change the schedule on the spot. Not only that, they forgot the lyrics for Iktiraf song, putting the musical groups into chaos, including us - Angklung Club members. Ade orang sebelah aku tak nak main dah note B pasal he totally lost! Haha (matila dia kat sebelah aku lagi sekarang ni).

TWO - silat guys were not gentlemen at all! They saw girls holding heavy musical tools and instruments and what they did was just seeing them without any intention (how do I know? Hehe..) to help. Even there was an incident where the Gamelan instrument fell from the trolly and almost (setelah mendapat mesej daripada si mangsa) hit a girl, and what the-muscled-body-but-empty-in-the-head guys did was just stare and stare.

THREE - Welcome to Thaqif Ilman to Gombak campus. Belajar betul-betul ye dik?!


Angklung Club members who get involved for the performance.


Gamelan group.


Caklempong group.