Something Blue

A thing to miss in Miri- my motorcycle. Instead of the all the time driving cars in Kemaman, I kind of missing having a motorcycle to ride on. I used to ride with my friends Amin for quite some time after SPM and and my father only allowed me to use it around the areas that he allowed me to go on motorcycle. Amin never learnt how to ride a motorbike. Or did he? 

When I told my parents that I really really need a motorcycle, and I knew it was very hard for me to get permission from my parents to own one, they suggested that I should buy a super cheap car like Perodua Kancil instead. Well, of course I did not want that to happen since a Kancil and me has never been in good relationship since my Driving Lesson Era. After that, both of us closed our book. 

As hard it was to confide my parents, especially my 'bekeng' father, I managed to get their permissions to buy a motorcycle. Mind you, it was not that easy. I do not want you to think that I am some kind of spoilt child who always gets what he wants. No, I am not a spoilt brat. I do not even get an i-Pad or a DSLR camera. A motorcycle is a need in inefficient-public-transport Miri and that is the basis of my reason to get a motorcycle. -The Chukai Insider

Sunset @ Marina Bay

Two Girls in Senadin

From left, Acad, Nabelle, Ita and Rakin. - The Chukai Insider

I've been posting many serious stuffs for the last couple of days. In order to personalise this blog so that my friends won't say I am too serious in the web world, let me write something that you may like reading. There happen to be only two girls in our close circle of friends among the other four boys. The ratio is 2:1. These two girls requested to be featured on The Chukai Insider and I don't know whether I should feel honoured or happy or sad.

Haha. Let me tell you about these girls. I have known one of them for three years since we studied at the same place before. The other girl used to be the friend of my another friend. We have met before without knowing that Allah  makes us to become close friend now. 

I guess this post is for them and I know very well that they don't like to read. If you want to know something about them, you may put your comments below. By the way, one of these girls still don't know how to comment on my blog. 

Yes, here it is- Girls on Faidhi's blog. I don't know what my mother would say if she sees this. 

Yes, they are very close to each other since they are surrounded by boys(luckily, they are the good ones), they only have each other for geli-girl moments.-The Chukai Insider

What should you know about Ita and Nabelle:

• They both eat a lot- they are the kind of girls who eat so much without having to worry about their body weight. They eat and they eat more. 
• They both are not excellent cook but have impressive efforts to improve their cooking skills. Without them, how would I ever eat home-cooked meal. Thank you. Allah made you girls to be in our group with many purposes; one of them is to cook for us.
• Ita's strength is her empathy. She is so good with people and communicate very well. One thing I do respect about her is that she always like to say things and then abruptly say 'boleh tak?' (can or not?). That means she is always conscious about things that she said before. 
• Nabelle's strength come in the form of her reaction towards things. She is very positive about things and sometimes not in the right way. 
• They both talk a lot and never know when to stop. In Trengganuspeak, we call them 'bertih jagung' or popcorn means that they 'pokpek pokpek' about so many things non-stop.

I don't know what this is. This picture was taken by me during my trip to Gua Niah. Can someone tell me what this is?

Weekend Mood

Last Tuesday, I did my assignment at the mall, I went to the Popular bookstore (after I finished my work, of course). Like my friend said, 'kalu dok gi kang, mucong pulok mulok mung' (kalau tak pergi, nanti mulut kau tu memuncung - if we don't go there, you will be very upset, so let's go there). By the way, do you see how beautiful Trengganuspeak is? It's a heritage so be proud to speak Trengganu wherever you are if you know how to. If not, utilise any Trengganuians around you. They are everywhere.

Anyway, five of us decided to go there and before that I heard two of my friends saying 'Tengok cara dia jalan, mengangkang.' Amboi.

At Popular, I was shocked to see Dan Brown's A Lost Symbol at RM24.90, The Last Empress at RM16.90 and 1434 by Gavis Menzies is RM19.90 (the price before discount is RM89.90). I think you know what happen after that. My mulok was not mucong anymore so I went home on a Miri Belait with a smile that brought my lips to the ears and a dimple* on my right cheek dented like a crater on the moon's surface. 

All of the books are interesting (that's why I bought them), except A Map of Trengganu to those who are, may I quote "mmg dok brape suka journal/autobiography like books".  As for 1434, none of you will like reading it except me, a boring people who is also a, may I quote "heartless". There are many other chick lits (ugh)/boring lovey dovey novels (ugh too!)/thrillers/Oprah-esque books with great discounts at Popular. 

Reference: 
*Some cultures, for example Asian and Indo-ethnic sub-groups, prefer dimples as a sign of attractiveness and veracity. (Pessa, JE; Zadoo, VP; Garza, PA; Adrian Jr, EK; Dewitt, AI; Garza, JR (1998). "Double or bifid zygomaticus major muscle: anatomy, incidence, and clinical correlation". Clinical anatomy 11(5): 310–3. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2353(1998)11:5<310::AID-CA3>3.0.CO;2-T)

Look at the skies

Let's experience it together!

This is sunset in Miri, Sarawak. Who does not feel intoxicated by this Allah's beautiful creation? I was on a motorcycle with my one-of-the-kindest-friend I have here in Miri, Rakin Z. When I was on the motorcycle and my stomach was growling, I could not think of anything else but a video shown by my one of our very good seniors, Miqdad during our last gathering session. He showed us the video of a man looking for divine signs from the Almighty. He was asking Allah for some signs that will show him to the right path or to be spiritually guided. I will post the video later because I could not find it. He was looking for the signs for the whole night. Then, he opened the Quran and there it was. There is a verse in the Quran saying that about Allah's signs are His creations which are in front of our eyes. You don't need a telescope to be amazed with this panoramic view. If you could not see it, maybe in the future you will. The same thing happened to most of us, including me. It was the moment when you actually see something with your eyes but you realised that you don't see it with your heart. 

Like I've told you before, my stomach was grumbling. It made embarrassing sounds (in case of me, not so embarrassing). Luckily my friend called me earlier asking whether I wanted to eat ice cream or not. Why ice cream? I don't know. Even he himself also were puzzled why he asked whether I wanted ice cream or not. He came to my house and we decided to go to McDonald since I've been craving for it the whole week. We rode a motorbike the rempit way and off to McD. I took some pictures on the bike.

By the way, this is the Senadin City Centre, located in the heart of Senadin Metropolis. Here, there is one of the busiest junction in the world that even the Times Square in the Big Apple could not match. This is the only place where we can find real dinner food within walking distance. I'm talking about 15 minutes of walking, folks. Yeah, that is the nearest we can get.

McDonald! Finally I pampered my cravings for real burger, real fries and chicken porridge. I'm not saying that the fries cooked by my friends are not good, but they are not equally good as the McD's. So, buck up, improve your skills in cooking. Haha.

Something had struck me when I was on my way back home. My stomach was full and the view was indescribable. How are my brothers in Sudan? What are the Palestinians are doing now? Do they feel safe? Do they have enough food? Do they eat until their stomachs look like mine? Can they get food whenever they want like me? 

Then I remembered giving an advice earlier this noon to some friends about complaining. It wasn't really Faidhi-ism to give good advice to people but I did. I felt that I don't deserve to preach people about things to do in life as I myself always do bad things. My friend said, 'humans are not perfect' so everyone are not entitled to ask others to do good deeds. I cannot find any verse, but I think Allah has made us to have the responsibility to remind others to do good things in order to remind ourselves to do the good deeds. So, the next time I remind my friends to do good things, remind me too that I should do it also. 

My friends, why do we complain for everything when we have so much things to be praised of? Why do we always focus on negative events when we feel lifted off from the ground when we see the skies? 

Could it be any better? Thank you, Allah.-The Chukai Insider

"Gua Niah? Yeah, I've been there."

Gua Niah: My Story

by Mr F

After two weeks of assignments, tests and many other unnecessary stressful events, I was set to go to Niah Cave. Like I have mentioned in previous post before, I have a tuition-free week now, and getting out of my work desk is a dream come true for me. Due to some technical mistakes, I am able to post only a preview of the Gua Niah trip. This is the first part of a trip that left some 'guilty-to-the-humankind' members an experience they will never forget. And, it involves the remains of the past. Can you figure it out? No, you can't (Sheldon-like in The Big Bang Theory).

Trip to Niah Cave, a home of homo sapiens 40,000 years ago 

Look at these two boys, Acad (left) and Rakin (right).
Look at their faces: full of spirit to see Niah Cave! Olololo.

 After 30 minutes

Babies are sleeping, shh!

This guy doesn't need 30 minutes to fall asleep.
Way to go, Shafiq!

Nature's call..hahaha. Shh.. Toilet, boys?

When you study geology, this looks very interesting?
I don't feel sands and mud are dirty any more.

This is the beautiful Miri, folks. Look at the sky and try
to appreciate Allah's creation even though the road was very very bumpy. 

There were some villages along the road to Batu Niah, 110 km from Miri.
Look at their houses. Their lives are simple.
Whether you think it's good or bad, we must remember that we are still very lucky.

You see how lucky we are? Food is everywhere!
Even to the point you want to enter  a cave, which is located
far far away in the jungle, you still can eat.
From left, Shafiq J, Wei Min, Wani, Shafiq R, Rakin and  Acad.

Mengumumkan, ketibaan Y.A.B Datuk Baby bin Olololo. 

Can you see any interesting structure here? What rock is this?

I have more pictures that I will upload in the near future. This does not look serious at all, right Acad? -The Chukai Insider

Be a yardstick of quality.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.

That is exactly the quote I put in front of my desk. I am not writing about him. Why did I put his quote in front of my desk is easy to be guessed. Now, I'm telling my own heart to really expect myself to be the yardstick of quality. Last weekend was so unproductive. It was productive if you put the parameters on different things (unacademic of course) and I felt very sad to be able to perform. So, I am writing this to tell the person that I love so much and I really really want to see him succeed. So this piece is for you, Faidhi.

Dear Faidhi,

Once, you came late to the class. You are easily distracted and you know that. You were late for only around 10 minutes. But being you, it was a horrible thing to do. Then, something happened and you could not answer some questions in the class. You already know that particular lecturer like to ask you questions. When you could not answer, you felt so bad. However, what was your response? Did you work yourself to improve your studies? As one of your lecturers have said " All of you are matured enough. You can think". Yeah! 

So, what are your plans? You know what they are, right? Bye. Hope you are fine in your studies.

Interactive comments from readers are welcomed! Haha!

Bye. Tomorrow, I have practical test. Mineral and rock identification. Sounds boring? No..not at all. Let's score the practical test!-The Chukai Insider

Miri and Belait

Miri. Miri. Miri.

Mak Cik : Pdh lkdi kjh ihs?

Saya       : Ya?

Mak Cik : Hjh kjshd kjjk?

Saya        : Belajar kat Curtin. Hmm, apa? Nama tempat ni orang panggil apa? (So Semenanjung!)

Mak Cik : Sdhsh jhsbdjh Senadin. Fj kjsd hjhh?

That was one of the moments that I will never forget for the rest of my life. It was my first day in Miri and together with my friends, I went out to the so-called the Mid Valley of Sarawak, Bintang Shopping Complex! On the way back on Miri Belait Transport Sdn. Bhd. bus, I sat next to a mak cik. Dialog di atas menerangkan segalanya. That mak cik friendly giler!! But I did not understand a word she was saying except 'Senadin' which is the name of the place where Curtin is located. Aku pun gatal jugak, pergi tegur dan membuat muka peramah kat mak cik tu. Tanya nak balik ke? Jawab je terus  tak faham. Mak cik, you are my motivation for me to learn Sarawakian language since I felt so horrible not able to answer your questions. To have some conversations with the mak cik, I asked her something. " Nama tempat ni orang panggil ape?". So Semenanjung. She answered Senadin! She understood me but not vice versa! Haha. I will learn Sarawakian language, mak cik!

That was one of the little things that I don't think I will ever forget insya-Allah. Okay kids, what can you learn from the story?

1. We are all different and yet we share many common things. So, we should leverage on that. 

2. If you don't understand the language, it is not a barrier for you to show warmth or kindness towards others. 

3. Learn languages of others and accept our differences because it is fun!

Dear Mak Cik Atas Bas,

You have taught me so many things. 

My friends, see the beautiful things that happen in our everyday's life. Driving a Ferrari while watching an old couple on an old motorcycle holding their many children will not make you smile. But, a simple moment like a friendly conversation with a mak cik does.- The Chukai Insider

ps: I met the Mak Cik again on Miri Belait bus. She remembered me. I just smiled at her so that I would not have awkward moment again. I have not improved my Sarawakian language, mak cik.  Next time, okay?