Au Revoir, Ramadan.

When it was the eve of Syawal, my late

grandmother would often sit at the

verandah, looking into the dark of the

horizon.

 

I was later told she kind of 'waved goodbye'

to Ramadan. With a sad feeling, of course.

 

With aged persons, it is probably the 

feeling of uncertainty of whether they'd

make it to the next Ramadan. 

 

Back then I only enjoyed Syawal. Now

not so. I prefer the month-long appreciation

that is known throughout the world.

 

It's gotten more and more challenging to

actually execute 'soum' here. Not that

it's easy to fast in KL.

 

*Mengantuk*

Letih, dol.

Dugaan.

I was served pork yesterday for dinner.

It's always shocking when you know there's pork
product on your plate. It takes courage to tell the manager
that you don't eat pork.

Even more to make him know that you can't mix them.

If I'm a character in a TV show, there'd be a swine
dancing in front of me right now, taunting me.

"You can take them aside and eat the salad"

Yeah, right.

20 minutes to go.

"It's alright guys, you can have your dinner first, I still have
a few minutes left before the sun sets"

All the while, I'm eyeing the bread, hoping they wouldn't
finish them too fast.

The time came and I gulped down a bottle of Coke and
some bread.

That gave me some major gas leakage. Burp.

When they saw that I didn't touch the plate, I explained

"I can't eat food mixed with pork"

"I will let the canteen operator know about this. I have
specifically told them to make a pork-free meal for
you. I will speak to them in the morning"

Whatever, man.

Yesterday had pretty good progress so the engineer
pushed them to test until late at night. Almost midnight.

Bugger. I hope the eatery's not closed yet.

Yep. A bit lucky. Ever reliable Strog Shawarma.

Arrived this morning, and approached by a staff.

"I have spoke to the canteen staff this morning.
They wish to inform that they regret not complying
to the request. They have no reason whatsoever not to
provide what has been asked"

Whoa?

Not Wanting To Remember, But What Can I Do?

Lab testing's pretty much the 'boring-est'
thing a person can do to earn a living.

And being a museum curator.

Or a taxidermist.

I guess there's a lot of boring jobs out
there.

The director if this facility asked me once

"How do you feel about the testing?"

"It's interesting"

"I'll ask you again after 12 runs" He remarked.

He's right. It's boring to me, heck I've only
been here for a week!

I guess for these guys, it's routine/exciting/
what-else-am-i-going-to-do?

All these Froude number, Reynolds number, scale
effect.

What about Shiri Appleby's number? When do they
going to produce that?

While I constantly remind myself somewhere,
someplace else there's always a s**ttier scenario
going on, and actually I'm a lucky man.

I beg to differ.

I'm just an ordinary guy in an extraordinary
position. That's all there is to it.

"Not so big, but still big" I remembered that
guy who bought me dinner, when I told him I was
an engineer.

I guess this post has no point in particular.

Yeah, when you're in Asia (Malaysia, e.g.) if
you're an engineer, you're kind of a hot shot.
The stock price is high.

When you're an engineer in UAE, you're just a
worker. Yes, you're just manpower, not more
than that. Take your paycheck, perform for
the duration of your contract, when the time
comes, we'll think about extending your
contract.

When you're in OZ (well, my observation) it's
a bit of both. They want you to perform, and
they want you to be happy as well. It's quite
an incentive to know they not only want to
squeeze your brain , they take care of your
brain as well.

Mental health, I meant.

So, I guess it depends on where, or what you
want to be or to do?

If I'd wanted to do just one thing, maybe I'd
hunt around.

I don't know.

At this point, I'd like to believe I'm a fool
who believes he's clever.

No harm done.

The Kindness of A Stranger.

Went to the Shawarma (again) for break fast, and
I have some kind of glitch.

I don't have any Kroner on me.

Yeah, I do have Euros, but these shopowners take
too much commission, leaving me with less Kroner,
and believe me, when you're dealing with two
currencies, it's an effing headache.

I ordered Kylling Menu, and proceeded to argue with
the guy on what the rate should be, when all of a sudden,

"I'll pay for his meal"

I was shocked.

"You want to pay for my meal?"

"It's ok. You Muslim?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm Muslim too. We're brothers."

Not that I had no money, but I didn't refuse what
he offered. I don't know why.

I said "Thanks."

"No problem" he said, patting my back as he headed
for his place in the shop.

I got my meal and joined him and his friend.

I have to admit, the situation was pretty awkward.

We made small talk.

"What's your name?"

"Ali."

"I'm Fahmi. How long you've been here?"

"Sixteen years. Are you from Indonesia?"

"Malaysia. Did you speak hindi just now?"

"It's Urdu. Pretty much the same."

We made small talk, intertwined with me
gulping down my dinner. Same with them.

As I finished my meal, I took out my business
card and handed it to him.

"Here. If you're in Malaysia, please let me know.
I will buy you dinner."

"Woow. Sure, man. You'll buy me dinner?"

"Why not. I promise. Thanks for dinner again,
Ali. You are very kind."

I walked out of the shop, amazed by the fact that
religion is really larger than life.

Only in Kobenhavn.

(Kobenhavn, Danmark.)

Into The Hollow

Avoir, Adieu, Goodnight
I’m too wrong, to get right
But I cant wait forever
I’ve always been alone
A fool believes he’s clever
Don’t you wanna go into the Hollow ?
I won’t go it alone
Aren’t you gonna follow ?

I live behind my eyes
Be sure to keep the surprise
I break what I’ve already borrowed
That’s why I always go
alone into tomorrow
Don’t you wanna go into the Hollow ?
Don’t wanna go alone, aren’t you gonna follow ?
Into the Hollow

Icht?

A few days ago (in Perth), I saw the ad for Father's Day,
you know, get your dad something cool this day, get him
this get him that.

I remembered hearing about my 'bapak', when he was
in I.C. , and he actually went to Bonn, Germany. I think that's
true. He was quite fluent in German.

And here I am, just a few hundred miles from the border of
Germany. I thought about going to Norway, UK, Germany
but I think I might stick to inside of Danmark.

But,

it'd certainly be nice to have a conversation with 'Bapak'
about where I went, and did, stuff like that.

It's a bit like showing off your battle scars.

Normal, bonding stuff.

Ah, well.

I've got Danmark's next top model here.

And she's mine.

All mine.

We're fasting tomorrow, aren't we?

Kobenhavn.

I'm Gonna Leave, I'm Gonna Leave You-u-u (Aa-aaa-a)

"Cracks in the ceiling, crooked pictures in the heart
countin' and breathin', I'm leavin' here tomorrow "

I should've posted this yesterday, actually.

KENA TRAVEL LAGI

Penat penat.

Baru balik kena berjalan lagi.

Penat dol!

We're in Perth, baby!