Nurulain04’s Weblog

Well..some of you might have known that I went to Malaysia last Thursday, June 12th to Saturday, June 14th with my family and some of my relatives. Specifically, we went to Desaru Golden Beach Resort..which I think is situated somewhere in Johor. The journey is not as long as I’ve expected. In fact, it only took us around an hour to reach the place. We took a ferry from Changi and continue our journey by bus.

In a nutshell, my holiday wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought, as there were not many activities that can be done in the resort itself. But there were some fun experience. For instance, I got a chance to try the go-kart. Initially, I refused to, but after being persuaded by my family I plucked up my courage and had my hands on it. I drove the go-kart extremely slowly cause I was just too chicken. I only drove for 5 laps and decided to call it a day.

We also visited the Desaru Fruit Farm, where the tour guide showed us the different exotic fruits grown in Malaysia. I loved this tour as it is very informative, and I never knew that a durian and jackfruit tree actually bears flowers cause they are really tiny. We also learnt some facts about the bees which play a part in the pollination process. Well, do you know that the male bees live only to mate with the female bees, and then they die? Hence, this means that the male bees have a short life span while the female bees are the busy ones doing their work. I guess this may apply to human beings too. Haha!

Oh ya…we had lots of fun swimming at the waterfall at Kota Tinggi. The water is extremely cold but refreshing. The view is just magnificent, perfect for me to release my stress. There were some fishes in the stream, and some of my relatives got bitten by them. However, according to them, it doesn’t hurt. The rocks were really slippery, and I heard that a Singaporean boy was rushed to a hospital after he broke his arm while swimming. Fortunately, no unwanted incidence happened to us as we took care of each other. We spent around an hour and a half at the waterfall before going for shopping at Mini Kelantan. I didn’t really buy anything there, cause most of the shop sell the same thing–clothes, clothes and clothes.

Well…undoubtedly, I have indulged a lot of food during my holiday cause I’ve gained 2kg in just three days! Oh dear…anyone wants to hit the gym with me? Haha. Anyway…I do hope that my next holiday will be much better.

Till next time, folks. Toodles!

As usual, I came home feeling exhausted after school. After taking a shower, I walked into my room to put my clothes on. I reached my hand to the cupboard’s knob, but as soon as I opened it, I noticed something peculiar. A brown, slimy object was at the right part of the cupboard, scurrying towards the pile of clothes at the base of the cupboard. Of course, it was a lizard! I slammed the cupboard door and ran out of my room. Don’t worry…I had my bathrobe on (haha). I had no choice but to wake my snoring father up, begging him to kill the lizard cause he’s the only one in the house with me (my mom’s working and my siblings were at school). So…my father, in a zombie-state, grabbed a can of insecticide spray from the shelf in the kitchen and trudged into my room. Obviously, I was like ?????. It’s a lizard, not an insect! But I chose to keep quiet. I climbed onto the sofa in the hall in case the lizard came out of my room and dart towards me (Yes, I am very paranoid). So…from the hall, I could see my father opening my cupboard and he jolted backwards (either because he’s shocked by the lizard or the messy state of my cupboard…heh). He then released the spray of the insecticide, and the lizard jumped out! Of course, I screamed, even though I was like 5 meters away from it. My father continued to spray on the lizard. The lizard sort of began to ‘stagger’…trust me, it was seriously really disgusting to see a lizard dying. When it then stood motionless, with his BARE HANDS, my father grabbed it and chucked it off my bedroom window. I was praying that no one happen to walk under my flat.

So…after the lizard saga, there was an empowering insecticide smell in my room, hence I decided not to step in. Instead, I wore my mom’s butterfly dress. Yeah…laugh all you want. -.-

I HATE LIZARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Madhan, I’m sure you’re nodding your head with gusto)

I’m not sure why I wasn’t in a mood today. Perhaps I’ve caught the Monday blues or so. Or maybe because I haven’t get enough sleep these few days. I have loads of assignments plus quizzes to study for, though I feel a little bit fortunate that there’s no exams for this semester. My eyebags and dark circles are beginning to form. Oh shucks. I’m going to be ‘animorphed’ into a panda very soon! *screams*

So…earlier today, I woke up relentlessly to go to school. Throughout the day, I haven’t been smiling(told ya…I’ve got the Monday blues). Everything felt bad. But the worst thing that happen to me takes place in bus 184, on my way home. I was sitting in front of an old man. I think he’s having a flu cause when he drew his breath in, there’s a wheezing sound. Or maybe he has asthma or something…I don’t know. I was gazing at the scenery outside the window of the bus, trying to relax myself, when suddenly a ‘roar’ startled me out of my wits. The old man had just sneezed. It was extremely loud that I think the lightning will sound like a pin-drop. Plus…imagine how my ears hurt as I was sitting directly in front of him. My eardrums were like begging for mercy! However, that is not all. I felt drops of water splashed onto my nape, and a whiff of funny smell entered my nose. My face muscles contorted in utmost disdain. Obviously, the old man did not cover his mouth when he sneezed. My blood temperature was really rising at that moment. I felt like turning behind and let my voice rise into loud and angry words, giving him a piece of my mind. I just can’t believe he just got millions of germs on me! it’s just terribly, totally, ‘effingly’ disgusting.

I rocketed all the way home. The first thing I did when I reached home is to bolt to the toilet, scrubbing my whole body hard trying to get all those germs away. I was cursing under my breath, intimidated by everything that happened today. 2nd June is really a ’suay’.

Today, I’m going to touch on the updates that is linked to the media. The good news is that a new American Idol is born! David Cook clinches the American Idol title for season 7 while the young David Archuleta emerged as the runner up. This is the first season in which I do not side any of the finalist. I believe that both of them has their own strength and weakness. Nonetheless, based on the performances during the finals, I feel that Archuleta outshines Cook, probably because of the wrong song choices Cook made, as mentioned by one of the judges, Simon Cowell. However, if we judge based on their progress throughout the season, I agree that David Cook should take the crown. Moreover, in my opinion, Archuleta is still young, hence there are still a lot of opportunities for him to be successful as a singer.

Robert Knox(right) with his mother, Sally and younger brother, Jamie.

Now, allow me to touch on the bad news. I am sure that you guys have heard the news in which the “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood prince actor, Robert Knox, was stabbed to death after an attempt to save his brother from a knife attack in Kent, SouthEast England.”(Rediff, May 26, 2008 18:03 IST). In case you haven’t heard, he was believed to have been stabbed multiple times by an armed man who threatened his 17-year-old brother, Jamie during a brawl. An dispute over the alleged theft of a mobile phone is known to have triggered the argument. Three of Knox’s friends were also injured, but not life-threatening. A 21 year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

As a Harry Potter fan, I was indeed startled and depressed by this tragic news. Not only Knox is young(he is only 18 years old), but he just started to embark his career as an actor. The power of a knife–in a split second, all his dreams were completely shattered. Knox’s family has lost a beloved member. From this tragedy, I feel that the country should impose a heavier penalty to people who carry weapons around with no valid reasons. I mean, why would you need to carry a gun to the supermarket or something. By doing so, I believe that it can prevent such mishaps from happening again.

To end this post, I would like to offer my condolences to Knox’s family. May he rest in peace.

I stood in front of the Guardian store at Choa Chu Kang MRT station, bathing in perspiration as I wait for my sister to arrive. The sweltering sun was beating ferociously on my face. We had planned to go to Chinese Garden to do my photography assignment-shooting photos that involved man-made and nature-and I guessed Chinese Garden is the perfect place to be. My eyes were then attracted to a tall, tanned teenager who was crossing the junction in front of the store. No, it’s not because he’s attractive or tall or whatsoever. But the green man was already blinking, and yet he was taking his own sweet time, as though strolling in the park. In addition, his ears were plugged with earphones. Out of the blue, a loud honk from a silver Honda Jazz, which was about to make a right turn, started to fill the atmosphere, and almost everyone passing by had their eyes glued to the road. Nonetheless, the boy did not seem to have any reaction, for his speed remained at snail’s pace. It’s either because the music from his iPod or mp3 was being played loudly or he chose to ignore. My heart went pit-a-pat. I was feeling nervous for him, and at the same time, incensed. If I were the driver, I would get out of my car, pluck the earphones out, pinch his ears and drag him to the end of the road. Just imagine if the light has turned red, the lights for the cars turned green, and an incoming, speeding car did not notice that there’s a teenager who is still taking his own sweet time to cross the road. This would create an accident, which could have been avoided.

Drawing from this experience, I hope that readers out there, especially the teenagers, will use your gadgets at the right time. You don’t need to listen to music while crossing the road, do you? Just plug those earphones out for a while so that you can be more attentive to your surroundings. And please, don’t turn the music up too loudly that someone who is two miles away can hear what you are listening to! Your eardrums are pleading for your mercy.

Well…that’s all for today. ToOdles!

On the 10th May, some of my relatives, mainly my aunts, and I went to Raffles City to attend a hi-tea session in conjunction with Mother’s Day which is organized by Bertita Harian. The event was hosted by Najip Ali. There were special guesses invited such as the Singapore and Asian Idol Hady Mirza, Suria’s Anugerah’s winner Aliff Aziz and two indonesian actor and actress. Being a no. 1 fan, I could not afford to miss this hi-tea session as Hady Mirza was performing, so I persuaded my mom and relatives to attend it. In a nutshell, I had a great time during the hi-tea as not only I got to watch my favourite artistes, but also I get to bond with my relatives as we do not get to meet each other frequently. Most importantly, I got to spend more time with my beloved mother, and seeing her enjoying the session is enough to draw a smile on my face. Below are some of the pictures I’ve managed to take.=)

From left: my sister, my mom and me

My relatives a.k.a the Moms.

Aliff Aziz

Hady Mirza

Ok…I will not post a lot of photos…for it will take a long time to upload. I’ll try to link all the photos to another website if you wanna see.

11th May is a very significant day for women who have dedicated their lives in nurturing, educating and giving their utmost love and care to the future generations–Mothers. Even though there is a day allocated to thank and show our appreciation to our moms, I think they truly deserve to be treated specially every single day for what they have done for us. Without our moms, we won’t be here. Without our moms, we don’t know the true meaning of love. Our moms are the first persons we see when we are born. Our moms are the first persons who showered us with tender loving care. Hence, for all the wonderful moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day.

As usual, I bought the Straits Times from 7-11, which is at the void deck of my flat this morning. When I got home, I plopped down the sofa and browsed through the different sections of the newspaper-Home, Saturday, Classified…but the minute my palms touched the Life! section, my eyes were attracted to the front cover, which has the words ‘Get Unplugged’ enormously and boldly written, with a cartoon picture of a man wearing a computer costume who was dying when he plucked himself out of the socket. Curiosity got the better of me as I anxiously flipped to pages 2-4 to read the related articles.

In a nutshell, the articles mainly discussed if Singaporeans, who are notorious for using tons of gadgets in our lives, can survive should there be a Shutdown Day, in which all gadgets are turned off so that we can get in touch with life today. Most articles portray that most Singaporeans begin to feel uncomfortable when they part from their everyday gadget even for a minute or two- be it television, radio, hand phone…you name it.  Hence, being  the normal Singaporean citizen, I too decided to put myself on a challenge to live without these gadgets just for a day.

I switched my hand phone to the silent mode, switched off all the power points in my room and hid my laptop. I then commenced reading the newspapers, but somehow I just could not pay attention to what I was reading. I adjusted my seating position a few times, but it was to no avail. I felt uncomfortable and thought that something was missing. That’s because I normally read with the radio switched on. Somehow, I need music to do my daily activities. In fact, I can’t even study without plugging my MP3 earphones into my ears. Music never distracts me, but it actually helps me to focus. Yes, weird indeed. So, unable to keep my focus in reading the newspapers, I got up and decided to do something else.

I went into my room and pressed the television switch. Nevertheless, it did not turn on. I completely forgot that I had plucked the socket out from the power point! I was so used to watching television during my past times, so I had no idea how to fill my time. I let out a sigh and plopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. Life suddenly felt meaningless. The silence in my room was so overwhelming. Everything felt so strange. Nevertheless, a vibrating sound erupted the silence, which probably came from my phone. I was so tempted to check the message I’ve just received, but I told myself, “This is a challenge. You can do it”. I covered my ears with my pillows, and then I dozed off.

So, the sleep killed half of my day(I slept at 2pm and woke up at 7pm…ha-ha). 5 more hours…5 more hours, I told myself. I tried reading the newspaper again, but decided to read the more interesting section-the TV schedule(haha…) Suddenly, I remembered that there’s my favourite drama at 8.30pm today! I tried very hard to convince myself that I’m just missing one episode…and that I can perhaps watch it again on You Tube. However, I could not stand it. I was too weak to withstand my crave any longer. In the end, I failed the challenge, at around 8.45pm.

So here I am now…in front of my Mac, updating my blog and chatting with my buddies. And it’s only 10.15pm. When I switched my phone to the normal mode, there were seven unread messages. A day without gadgets is grueling enough.

Fancy yourself waiting for the bus at the interchange, standing for 15 minutes with a 2kg laptop on your arm and a 100 pound bag(of course, I’m exaggerating) on your shoulder. Beads of perspiration are trickling down your forehead. After a hard and tiresome day at school, all you want now is to plop on your comfy bed and doze off. The queue grows every second, but still the bus is nowhere in sight. You begin to let out a huge sigh and keep glancing at your watch, as patience is not your virtue. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the bus arrives. As you are about to put one foot on the bus, an auntie in her 50s pushes you aside and hurries onto the bus to get a seat. How would you feel? Well…that’s exactly what happened to me earlier today.

Exasperated. Fumed. Agitated. These are just some of the words that could express my feelings at that moment. I have been standing for 15 full minutes and she just cut the queue and get onto the bus! Well…I’m sure that you readers have experienced a common thing. I just don’t understand the attitude. Why do people have to rush to get everything they want? Where’s the sense of being considerate or thoughtful in people today?

Mornings and evenings-I call them the ‘rush hour’. It just seems like people are rushing everywhere they go. Sometimes I have this perception. More and more technologies are invented to help us human beings in our work. We want everything to be done faster. If you don’t believe me, just observe. Whenever someone’s computer lags or do not switch to another website in one second or lesser, they complain. And wireless internet system now has a speed of as fast as 8 Mbps. So does this so called ‘The Faster, The Better’ phenomenon applies to our movement/attitude too? Why…why do we let these conquer us? Let’s give a thought about that.

So…I hope that we can slow down a little bit and breathe and regain a little calamity in ourselves. Throw the “kiasuness” and “kan chiongness” in us away and hopefully, the world will be a better place for us to live in.

As usual, I boarded the bus home from Chua Chu Kang bus interchange today. I wasn’t appalled by the fact that the commuters were standing elbow to elbow like a pack of sardines. But what sent an ‘electric shock’ to flow down my spine was that I thought I was standing next to a live female ‘chopstick’. She was ultra-thin that it seemed like the lamp-posts were obese! The whole time I was standing there, I was wishing that I could move away from her as she’s making me look like a giant. However… hold thy horses! I do not have anything against skinny people. What made me upset was when I saw the magazine in her hand which featured a size zero model on the front cover. And I’m pretty sure that there were more of such photos being shown inside the mag. That sent me thinking and worrying at the same time. Why…why do people nowadays have this perception of ‘the thinner, the better’? Do stick insects really look that nice? (!!!)

In my opinion, teenage is a period of time when we got easily influenced by anything we see or hear. For example, you go to school and this popular dude in class shows off his new NIKE bag (an original one…), which probably cost around 80 bucks. You, receiving the pressure to be equally cool, move away from the canteen at lunch to save money to buy an identical bag. Well…I’m pretty sure you readers have experienced such moment right? But what does a NIKE bag has got to do with my topic today? Allow me to carry on.

The media plays a role in upbringing a teenager. Perhaps, it is something that many of us can’t live without today. It is common that there is at least a television in each of Singapore’s homes. Through television, we can catch “live” shows of the Oscars or Grammys. During these shows, we normally see Hollywood actresses sashaying through the red carpet, showing off their 24-inch waist, thinny-winny arms and toned legs. Whereas, entertainment channels like the MTV shows music videos that are usually being edited to ensure that the artistes have hot bods. Now, these indirectly portray that if you want to be hot and make it big, you have to look like that. Like I have mentioned earlier, teenagers get influenced easily. Hence, these unfortunately lower some of the teenager’s self-esteem and causing them to be overly concerned about how they look. These may cause some of them to develop what we know today as eating disorders.

Food is being seen as their worst enemies. A lick of that vanilla-flavoured ice cream will cause them to gain 10 pounds.They nibble their food. They spend hours in front of the mirror, turning their bodies at every angle and pinching their fleshes, thinking them as fats. They hit the gym for hours (with not the intention of being healthy, of course). They are suppressed by the fear of getting fat. All they worry about is food, food and food. These are the common thoughts or actions of someone suffering from eating disorder. I mean…c’mon…food is created by God for all of us to enjoy! During special occasions…we eat. And by eating together, it also helps to bond families. The only good thing about this is that it helps the world to save food and hopefully, the inflation stops. Instead, why not donate the food to others who are starving right now instead of keeping them in the refrigerator, thinking twice on whether you should eat them and in the end, they end up stale!

Well of course, not all people suffering from eating disorders cut out food totally. Bulimics binge their food (that means stuffing tons of food into their mouth…making pigs look more civilized) and later, purge them out. Number 1, it’s obviously disgusting. Number 2, this may cause the stomach to rupture. Number 3, the smell of vomit will stick onto you that your crush runs away from you even though he’s 2 meters away. Now…that doesn’t sound good isn’t it? You have yet to read the worse part. Imagine poking the end of the toothbrush or your finger into your throat to throw up. That simply spells yuck!

In my opinion, to stay in good shape and feel good, it is important to take everything in moderation and strike a balance. In short, follow the healthy pyramid guide and stay active, not by cutting out food totally and making a huge fuss of them. People come in different shapes and sizes, and there are probably good reasons why God created all of us to be different from each other. So, I hope through my post today, we can learn to accept each other as the way we are. Learn to love yourself, and you will be love. Peace!