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.

The Change

It’s almost one month that my tongue hasn’t had any contact with rice. I’ve been motivated through my readings that people who actually avoid rice from their intakes would have their weight decreased. To name few; Awal Shaari, Aznil Nawawi, Ziana Zain and Dafi AF5. And they who I am referring to are celebrities who have reason for doing that; they must look good in the television, or more precisely in shape enough to look good in front of camera. But how about me? Do I have any cameras to stand in front of them, or do I have any people to look me in the television? Absolutely no. However this change of diet of mine is due to the awareness of how far my body has been from the healthy BMI range.

Let me reveal this. My height is about 1.80m while my previous weight before I started this change of dietary intake was 90kg or ++. Thus, the BMI value would yield 27.778 (weight in kg divided by height in meter to the power of 2) which is in the range of fat people. The fit people have BMI values within 20-25. Therefore, for me to reach at least 25, I have to decrease my weight up to 81kg, which is to some people still sounds scary. However, taking into account my height, it is considerably fit.

For the benefit of monitoring my weight, I’ve bought a scale. I’ve measured my current weight; it is 88kg, which means I’ve fruitfully reduced about 2kg for one-month avoidance of rice. But back to the main topic, is rice the absolute culprit?

Actually, rice contains complex carbohydrates which will yield a lot of glucose after being digested. Thus, foods containing complex carbohydrates like rice must go through levels of processes which take time before the yielded glucose can be actually used up to produce energy, and most importantly the digestion usually produces extra glucose. It is this extra glucose which will eventually be converted into fat for energy storage if they are not used. That’s the basic idea of how rice makes people fat. However it has to be stressed here; rice is NOT the mere culprit but since it is the most common meal for Malaysians, it has to be listed as one of the culprits though.

However again, it’s not all about the meal, but the energy use also. It is as simple as this; 1. Input More, Output Less = Fat
2. Input More, Output More = No Change
3. Input Less, Output More = Thin
where the input is the meal intake, while the output is anything that uses the products from the digested meal such as working, thinking, and exercising. If you eat more but you do activity less, how do you expect you will be thin? So to accelerate reducing my weight, I do some light exercises like sit-ups and lifting weighs. Owh... it’s not so accelerating considering only 2kg per month, but I believe I’m not torturing my body so much with this change.

With this change also, there are some social changes and conflicts occurred. For example, my mom continuously pleads me to eat rice but I have to refuse and that hurts her. She can’t stand it seeing me not eating rice. So does my abah. Poor mak and abah, but please understand me. Besides that, I who are not used to consuming biscuits, have change. I buy hi-fibre biscuits and to replace glucose intake, I choose fruits, breads and chocolates. Yummy! And how about seeing me doing sit-ups previously? Hell no! I used to considering my daily works as ample enough to replace the exercise, which was actually only an excuse to keep the “mim alif lam sin”. Hoho...

Along this period, I only miss nasi goreng kampong which is my favorite meal, but not nasi putih to accompany the lauk-pauk and vegetables for my lunch. Owh ya, I don’t take heavy meals for dinner also. Sometimes it’s only a cup of tea and a bar of chocolate. I hope I can continue this “revolution” for few months more before I can actually taste rice again. Hoho... sorry rice. We’ll see other time ya?



Do you have any advise for me regarding this change of diet? I would love to hear it. Let's be supportive!

My toes are big enough to cover the scale aren't them?

See... 98 88kg.

Bloggers Gathering @KLCC

It was my first meeting with Syifa and Hazlyn.
It was Kak Ila’s first meeting with Wawa.
It was Wawa’s first meeting with everyone except me.
And we are all bloggers! It was our mini-reunion, should I say.

Planned by Kak Ila as big boss of the meeting, she aimed at two objectives: to gather her fellow blogging members and to teach her using the public transports i.e. KTM Komuter and Putra LRT to bring us to KLCC. The “us” was also including Kak Ila’s cute but aggressive son and daughter, Syamil and Hasya respectively. I was the one responsible for Kak Ila’s later aim as I am quite familiar with the public transport as compared to Kak Ila who allegedly had only once used the Komuter and never for Putra LRT.

Along the day, we had fun chatting, playing with Kak Ila’s children and not least knowing each other more indirectly. Now I know that Syifa is sooo talkative while Hazlyn is not. Meanwhile, Wawa as I already know her; Wawa is Wawa with her cute big laugh. For your information oh dear Kak Ila, Hazlyn and Syifa, u haven’t listened to her best “rendition”. You should be regretful for not listening to that on our last meeting! ;p Kidding Wawa, but you know what, that what makes you unique and people would remember you strongly for that reason I believe.

After this first gathering, I’m looking forward for another one, two or more. And I hope I can see more of my fellow blogging members face to face later when you come home ok? Although I’ve been thrown to hidden and demoted campus there at Kuantan, it’s not a reason to avoid gathering like this. It’s because I believe, the more friends I have, the more meaningful my life.


Present from Syifa. TQ very much Syifa~

Syifa met her friend.

Hasya, Kak Ila's daughter. I'm quite shocked that she can actually project a very high pitch voice!

So bored standing in the train, so i snap snap and snap...

Syifa, as you wish~

For some reason, I failed in all my trials to secretly (or candidly) capture Hazlyn's face. Argh!

Syamil, he's so manja with his mom~

Ulasan album Mawi – Satu Dalam Seribu

Lagu-lagu

Mungkin Langitmu Lebih Biru (Langit Biru)
Lagu ini saya sifatkan sebagai terlalu “Mawi”, berdasarkan 2 faktor utama. Satu: nyanyian Mawi dan, Dua: terjemahan lirik lagu ini. Pada saya, ada beberapa bahagian dalam lagu ini yang saya tidak setuju dengan cara nyanyian Mawi seperti pada rangkap Melujur laluan... Membikin dedaun hati... Ringkasnya, Mawi mempunyai masalah dalam melontarkan nota-nota rendah dalam lagu ini. Berkenaan liriknya pula, walaupun Mawi tidak membuat pengakuan secara jujur bahawa lagu ini berkenaan dirinya, namun bagi saya bukanlah satu masalah bagi pendengar untuk mentafsir lirik lagu ini dan mengaitkannya dengan Mawi. Malah, lagu ini bukan bermaksud jahat, tetapi memberi nasihat dan menyatakan harapan kepada subjek yang dimaksudkan. Berbalik kepada lagu ini, secara jujurnya lagu ini mengambil masa yang agak lama untuk melekat di telinga saya, tetapi apabila memahamkan liriknya, mudah benar ia menjengah dan melekat di telinga saya hingga sekarang.

Angan dan Sedar
Mawi, sila bersiap sedia dengan idea untuk persembahan di Juara Lagu 22 dengan lagu ini! Jika anda belum pernah mendengar lagu ini, bayangkan sahaja bagaimana hebatnya Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta sebelum ini, dan begitu jugalah lagu ini. Atau, tidak keterlaluan jika saya katakan lagu ini lebih bagus daripada Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta! Suatu garapan yang mantap! Memang makanan Mawi la!

Tercipta Untukku
Macam tajuk lagu kumpulan Ungu, Tercipta Untukmu. Selepas berkali-kali mendengar lagu ini, saya simpulkan ini hanyalah lagu biasa yang tiada magik. Namun, pada saya lagu ini masih boleh diberi ruang untuk diperdengarkan.

Demi Dia
Secara ringkasnya, saya kurang pasti sama ada lagu ini boleh menandingi ciptaan unggul Fauzi Marzuki seperti Kian dan Kekasih Awal dan Akhir. Entah di mana kurangnya lagu ini. Tidak menarik minat saya sangat.

Cinta Zulaikha
Hohoyeah! Lagu ini mengubat kebosanan dalam dua lagu yang sebelumnya. Persis sambungan lagu Aduh Saleha, begitulah yang dapat saya gambarkan kerana ringkasnya lagu ini menggunakan resepi yang sama. Resepi apa yang saya maksudkan? Dengarlah sendiri.

Satu Dalam Seribu
Lagu ciptaan Ajai ini mengekalkan konsep pop nasyid versi Ajai seperti yang terdapat dalam album pertama Mawi bertajuk Cinta Hakiki. Mungkin lagu ini boleh dijadikan single seterusnya selepas Angan dan Sedar.

Insya Allah
Lagu ini menonjolkan Mawi daripada sudut yang belum pernah diteroka dalam album-album dan persembahan pentas beliau sebelum ini. Dengan mood lagu dan nyanyian Mawi yang seolah-olah malas pada permulaan lagu dan kemudian berkembang di bahagian chorus lagu menjadikan lagu ciptaan M. Nasir ini sesuatu yang segar dan harus dipuji.

Ya Salam
Bagi yang belum pernah mendengar lagu ini, bayangkan sahaja lagu duet antara Yasin bersama Vince dalam Berkobar-kobar, begitulah miripnya lagu ini. Saya kurang tertarik dengan suara Yasin yang sengaja disengaukan kerana bagi saya ia mencacatkan lagu ini. Malah secara semulajadinya, sebagaimana dibuktikan dalam lagu-lagu nyanyian Yasin sebelum ini, suaranya tidak sengau. Namun begitu, sepertimana single-single ciptaan Yasin sebelum ini, lagu ini memang mudah untuk menangkap pendengaran (catchy).

Hanya Untukmu
Rakaman baru yang saya sifatkan lebih baik daripada berbanding rakaman yang sebelumnya. Ini termasuk susunan muzik yang lebih baik dan nyanyian Mawi yang lebih terkawal, mewujudkan satu persepsi bahawa ini adalah lagu baru, bukan rakaman baru.

Ujian Buatmu – Sehebat yang Ada
Rakaman baru ini tidak seperti lagu Hanya Untukmu dengan susunan muzik yang baru, tetapi ada beberapa bahagian yang saya rasakan sudah dikemaskan daripada hasil yang sebelumnya. Seperti Mungkin Langitmu Lebih Biru, lagu ini berkait rapat dengan Mawi, malah sebenarnya menceritakan tentang diri si penyanyi itu sendiri, seolah-olah lagu ini memberi motivasi kepada diri penyanyi itu sendiri supaya sabar dan tetap teguh dengan setiap ujian yang datang.

Vokal Mawi
Beberapa lagu dalam album ini berjaya menonjolkan vokal Mawi lebih lagi daripada album sebelumnya. Mawi masih mengekalkan sifat dengung jantan pada lontaran vokalnya, hinggakan ada beberapa bahagian khususnya lagu Hanya Untukmu, seolah-olah ia tidak lagi natural tetapi dibuat-buat. Namun secara keseluruhannya, kita akan dapat mengesan peningkatan penguasaan vokal Mawi.

Kesimpulan
Bagi peminat faantik Mawi, anda seharusnya berasa rugi jika anda belum lagi memiliki album ini. Bagi peminat suam-suam kuku dan yangtidak minat Mawi, apa kata jika anda memberi ruang kepada album ini kerana album ini mungkin boleh merubah tanggapan anda terhadap Mawi.

Harapan
Untuk album Mawi selepas ini, saya mengharapkan supaya lebih banyak kelainan dapat ditonjolkan sama ada dari segi ciptaan lagu mahupun vokal Mawi. Umum mengetahui Mawi boleh mendendangkan lagu irama Melayu dengan baik, jadi mengapa tidak memuatkan sekurang-kurangnya satu lagu dengan genre tradisional. Bagaimana pula dengan album Mawi yang menampilkan semua lagu duet beliau bersama penyanyi-penyanyi kesukaan beliau? Saya menantikan album itu.

Next entry will be on this matter.

My Schedule

It’s hard to convince people when I talk about my schedule during this 3-month break. I don’t lie about this, but still they found it’s hard to believe that I can endure such life.

I’m not infected by T. brucei gambiense which causes West African sleeping sickness, and neither T. brucei rhodesiense that causes East African sleeping sickness [practice what you learn right?] where the sufferer cannot sleep during the night. Surely it’s almost impossible because there’s no tsetse fly vectoring the Trypanosoma sp parasites here!

It’s only me who prefer to do so i.e. not to sleep at night. OK, 2 questions: Why and How.

Why I do so?

Answer: simply because I cannot sleep! I’ve tried many things to make me feel bored and sleepy but when I put my head on the pillow, nothing happens. Then I decided: That’s it; I’m not going to sleep until Subh. Apart from that, I have not much jobs to do from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., plus that most TV programs during that period are nothing but craps. So it’s better if I sleep then!

How do I fill the hours during the night?

First, I would like to admit that I regret that I unsubscribe to Streamyx that connects me to the world, but I’ll be more regretful later if I waste my money for the service that I don’t use. So the TV is my virtual wife with whom I spend my hours IF there’s interesting shows to watch. Or else, I’ll just go in front of my laptop, watching free movies that I got from LAN of UIA Gombak. They are numerous!

Other than that, sometimes, if there’s any home work to do, I will do like washing dishes in the kitchen, lipat pakaian, and any works that produce least sound because the rest of my family members are sleeping and I respect their need to get rest. Besides that, I’ve got collections of books primarily Reader’s Digest to read. They have been there in my cupboard months with no one interested to look at it because no one in my family can actually read English matters other than me.

Then at 5 a.m., I’ll start preparing sandwiches to be sold at my mum’s restaurant. Yes, sandwich and I cannot be separated now; for some reasons that I myself don’t know. Hoho... It takes about 30-45 minutes to finish it and usually it’s already Subh time when I’ve tidied all things up. It’s an advantage for me because I will not miss Subh prayer with this schedule of mine. After that, it’s only then that I can actually sleep and I really feel annoyed when my sleep is interrupted by noise like phone calls, my nenek waking me up and asking me unnecessary favors, and people taking bath next to my room. Argh! Shut up! It’s my time to sleep people!

Usually when I wake up, it’s nearly Zuhr time, or most frequently it’s already it. It’s normal for a 22-year old guy to have 7-hour sleep isn’t it? 6.30 a.m. to 1.30 pm or later usually... what’s the matter? Hoho... only then that I’ll be completely normal being living life as Muhammad Zaki bin Ramli.

Sometimes Burok (previously known as Inner) accompanies me when I sleep.

Sometimes I invite this fierce one to sleep with me...

Memang buruk kan perangai Burok ni? He lacks attention when we a family watch the TV, so that's why.

Mandi Manda @Panching

It was on February 23, 3 months ago but ironically only now that I can post about this. But since it was a special day to us who joined the trip, I still want to post the pictures here. Those who joined this trip were Safwan, Asmawi, Fahmi, Anas, Haris, Zubir, Izudin and I.

It took about 45 minutes driving from UIA Kuantan, or more specifically Indera Mahkota campus as there are two branches of Kuantan campus. Departed as early as 8 am, we planned not to take too long time there as it was Friday and we had to go for Jumaat prayer. However, what made it a special day was because we had fun along the 2-hour spent there; getting our body wet (instead of that highly chlorinated water supply in the campus), taking a lot of pictures (some of them are too extreme to be seen.. hoho..), having breakfast in the middle of the river, playing games etc.

On the way back to campus, we dropped by a restaurant named Restoran Zaman located somewhere at the Gambang – Kuantan route. Again, we found exceptional things in this restaurant; the foods are extraordinarily delicious, the workers are amazingly efficient, and the prices are considerably cheap. We ordered roti canai, and the taste is one of a kind, particularly its curry gravy! Pergh... I recommend people to go there and have a try.

Then, at almost 1 we arrived at our campus and straight away we prepared for Jumaat prayer. And that’s all for a brief but enjoyable trip to Panching, Pahang.



It's highly advised for pregnant mothers and people with heart disease not to watch this video.

After Long...

When was the last time I posted entry in this blog? Owh I forgot already, but I’m sure it was around exam period of last semester.

Now I’m in the middle of the 3-month break before going back to the campus in Kuantan. A friend of mine calls it KuanHutan which to me may sound offensive but it’s true but funny too! Whatever the conditions and difficulties that my colleagues and I faced during our first experience living there, we’ve been successful to go through the days. It’s not those that really matter, but most importantly is the value that we learnt from them that made us tougher and more mature day by day.

Now I feel like missing the campus, or more precisely the conditions in the campus. It’s true, not many people are there unlike Gombak campus. It’s true the public transport allegedly provided there is actually not easily reachable. I can list all of the dissatisfactions here but I choose not to because it’s no more important to look back. It’s just that I, and surely all of my kulliyyah-mates hope that the facilities will be better next time when we get back there this July.

I want to say sorry for those who always meet disappointment when visiting this blog and found that there’s no new entries here especially Kak Ila (I’ve been “scolded” by her for not updating this blog actually.. hoho…) and other Gubu friends around the world, and if any, those silent readers who co-incidentally encounter this blog by searching the word “pocong”, “pontianak”, “hantu” etc. I always check the statistics installed here and those are the most popular words searched by readers who visited here and then they ended in this entry.

If I have missed any tag appointed to me, please let me know. And if I’m not mistaken Kak Ila wanted to know how my desktop background looks like. Refer below for the picture. Apart from that, I still keep my promise to Ihab who is eager to know my comments on Kak Ani’s Lenggok 20 tahun album. Ok, after this I’ll write about it ya Ihab?

Below are pictures explaining what I have gone through along the silence... (not cronologically arranged)

During Angklung performance at KL Tower. More info, read IAC's blog.

At KL Tower before going up to the upper level from Restoran Berputar.

Owh Kak Ila this is for you~ Does this explain you anything?

She's cute isn't she? She's my cousin's daughter named Fatin.

Went to Bro Kamarul (from Biotech Dept. of KOS) and Sis Aishah's (my lecturer) wedding.

Again no caption. It's just that I love this picture. With Faxa, a member of Angklung Club.

With Pak Dadang before performance @ KL Tower.

With the guys of Angklung Club. From left: Asmawi, Fiza Hanif, Me, Jay and Sukri.

At The Moment....

The Writer of this blog is in a place out of

INTERNET coverage.

No new entries will be updated for some time.

He wish SORRY for any inconvenience caused.

wt.rgds.

his sister:)

Difficulties

This is the toughest semester I have ever experienced. Not mainly due to the move to Kuantan, but many other reasons that put me under almost unentertained pressure. Ulcers in mouth - a lot! Meaning to say the pressure is always on and on, never off. But I know He is always with me, to Him that I devote myself, praising Him as He is the only God. Ya Allah, I know this is just a piece of test you put on me. I pray to you to give me strength to go through all these difficulties...

Next week, final exam will start. Wish me all the best for me ya? Sankyuk!



Official announcement: This blog will be freezed until furter notice.

Need Time

Before... You still remember this picture?


After...

I just wanna be like the tree. Although it was once struck by ulat bulu, after some time, now it grows again... Stronger I believe. I just need time to dot dot dot...