Barbecue Night

Tonight is Along's last night of weekend break at home. He flew home from Pandan Indah yesterday night and mom made nasi beriyani for lunch and barbecued chickens for dinner.

Man, he sure was missed.

So we had barbecue. Chicken, pieces of sausages and two fishes. Marinated and barbecued to perfection by specialist mom.

Dipped in the sweet sauce Life Barbecue Sauce and the tangy taste of Black Pepper Sauce.

Um umhh.

And we rewatched Bruce Willis's The Kid.

I fell, again.

Now excuse me, I shall need to go swoon in peace.

Stray Cat

Ever since I first applied for a class at OLC, I put it straight away that it is a place I will only go to learn and to help others with any question regarding knowledge that they throw at me.

Not to make friends. Never did, never will.

If there is, perhaps, the rare kind worthy to be friends with, then I am all up for it.

Yes, I am a bit of anti-social. Perhaps. I am not friendly. I am, analogically, like a stray cat.

Beautifully mystifying. Elegant with an air of authority and mischievousness. Intrepid. Inability to trust strangers.

Will come near for food, as soon as the feeder walks away.

Pity I am unable to embrace the peeps as friends; pity I am unable to trust them fully. Pity I never find it within me to pour out all the inner storms.

If I treat everyone the same way, who will I treat special?

p/s: We're officially 17 and 8 months old today.

Doctors Uncovered

JPA program today saw us walking to Panglima Ward a.k.a male medical ward and was greeted with a trail of fresh blood along the hallway.

Now we're talking.

Patients were as critical as airway dysfunctional and corrected with tracheostomy to TB. There were also patients with excessive fluid in their stomach [I'm not sure the term, but it sure is not oedema.] and patients with lung probs.

Kind of like the time Hakim had bronchitis and had to underwent that tedious ventilator thingy.

A skill I fully perfected today [ceh] is the art of recognizing levels of doctor.

• A doctor who listens a lot, writes on a lot of PTH and speaks little is a sure sign of a houseman officer a.k.a newly grads.
• A doctor who talks a lot is sure is a medical officer a.k.a at least a year more experienced than a HO.
• A doctor who, when approaching a HO and a MO on a round, automatically silence the MO with his mere presence; now we're talking about a specialist.

I told dad of this. He pondered and laughed. "I suppose you're correct."
Next we were off to the O&G clinic and Orthopedic clinic. More blood-taking, simple urine pregnancy test and more dressing. Not much event.
I met Dr. Rosdi after lunch and he recognized me though the name slipped his mind. He congratulated me on the SPM result, expressed his sincere pride, tips for the upcoming JPA interview and sent his regards to mom and dad.
A nice doctor. He told me to go for it!
We under the JPA program were not enlisted to observe any paediatric clinic nor wards, a fact dad pointed out rather profusely. Despite it all, dad brought me along to his wards; NICU and another one with cute babies in their cots under the shade of ultraviolet light.
Sweet.
NICU was a sad view. Babies hardly the length of my humerus linked to machines and wires and more wires. Babies in ventilators.
I'll be a paediatrician one day and help those kiddies to achieve a fulfilling life as mine.
A surgeon or a paed? I'm not sure of what field I'll be in, but an M.D. nevertheless.
-----
Remember I mentioned about my JPJ retest on last Sunday? I passed, sure I did, but my P licence is still with Yakin Pandu. Mom's going to pick it up tomorrow.
I'll be reigning the roads! Police, beware!
And the OLC final debate? Well, do not underestimate Ninjas. Even with intentions of helming third place, we beaten the easy path to number one!
You're reading the drabbles of the team captain for Ninja Turtles.

25 March: Metallic Blood

We should gathered at Ward 28 a.k.a female surgical ward at 8 sharp, but due to the downpour and jammed traffic, I had to surrender to the fact that I was late by 15 minutes.

The team waited. Gracious.

As usual, we did our routine. Most of the patient there were those of pre-operation, patients with gastro-related probs and even breast cancer and excessive lumps. The ward was full; even the extension beds were fully occupied and the nurses had to rush upstairs for extra beds from Ward 29.

At 11, we moved to Ward 29 a.k.a male surgical ward. Most are guys with pre-operation preparations, urology probs [males tend to get problems with their excretory system once they age] and others.

Afterwards, Mahsuri Ward a.k.a female medical ward. A doctor briefed us; obviously a HO, but his name tag was on backwards and I couldn't get his name.

Medical. Means there's loads of patients with jumbled-up probs all under one roof. Name it; respiratory, nephron-related, gastro, we have it all.

Why did I sounded like a sales rep? Dude.

One that really caught my attention was a 27 y.o patient fitting. I stood up and went near her. Her mother was at loss of what to do. Doctor? Yo, we need help here!

She was already lied on her side and the doctor [HO] put his gloved hand between her teeth. She was clattering; bordering between consciousness. I smelt the metallic scent of blood.

Blood oozed from her mouth. Two conclusions came into; whether she bit her tongue or the blood came from her stomach. I recalled her being referred there from the gastro unit.

Two MOs soon came to the rescue. We students exited the procedure and let the docs do their job in peace.

She was soon stabilized. Her mother was still in silent tears. I can only smile empathetically at her.

Need to accumulate comforting skills. Currently, mine is non-existent. Actually, I hate it if I'm in distress and people come up to me, patting the small of my back and cite the same mantra, "Sabar ye." like a broken record.

Like I'm not. Duh.

p/s: MO stands for medical officer. I described blood as metallic-scented because blood is composed of ferum. True enough, go sniff some blood. You'll agree.

24 March: Out of the Class and Into the Ward

"Guys, get inside the class!" I hissed, half-shoving five of 3 Sabar pupils into their class while eying Muallimah Sakinah at the front of the class. "There's a teacher in there!"

"Don't worry, Muallimah Sakinah is sporting." Iqbal [his parents spelled his name with a 'K', but he did with a 'Q'] shrugged his shoulders and resisted my push.

"Now, is that why you were such a chatter in my class?" I frowned. "Because I'm sporting?"

"Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"I'm going now." I sighed at his comfort level around me; too comfort as to typically ignore my question. "Get back in class, young man."

"Why are you still using that big bag?" He pointed out my Nike sling bag.

"You are such a whiner." I pinched his cheek. "I like it. Big enough to fit you."

"Great!" He beamed and patted Raja's shoulder. "Come on, let's get inside and follow teacher to the hospital!"

"Sure," I nodded, playing along as I opened my bag wide. "Hop in."

Iqbal walked Raja towards me and pushed his head gently into my bag.

He didn't fit, of course.

We laughed our lungs out.

I ruffled their kopiah/tudung-clad heads, wishing them a great day, study well and walked towards the gate.

"Bye, teacher!" They chorused.

I turned around and frowned. Ten kids were now outside the class. "In. The. Class. Now."

They laughed.

I resumed walking, chuckling softly.

-----

JPA Program Pendedahan Kerjaya Seorang Doktor commenced. Not much to elaborate on since the main idea is to expose the career of a medical doctor to potential JPA scholars.

The goverment didn't want us to regret taking up medicine, since not everyone know that being a doctor is not all bed of roses. The path is laid with thorns and could result in blisters if overlooked.

I'm in Group 2, along with Yong, Nazreen, Ida, Hana, Zatil, Afzan and Hedaayah. All from different social and education background. Nazreen was the leader of the team and he's a PLKN trainee at Pasir Mas camp.

First day and we were briefed by Datin Pengarah Hospital. Then Group 2 walked to Cempaka Ward a.k.a male orthopedic ward.

Just a bunch of guys with ortho related probs. Accidents, accidents, and more accidents. We got to see them in external fixatures, POP and others.

The doctors were pretty much busy to bother with us, but they didn't mind us tagging along. We missed their daily round, but I did tagged after a houseman officer taking blood samples from patients.

Quite fascinating.

Afterwards, a friendly Dr. Abdul Hadi took a short break from his paperworks and briefed us on the routine of this ward and his life as a HO, among others.

Next, we moved to Mawar Ward a.k.a the gynae ward.

Eponymly, there's where female with female-related probs were stationed. Except for breast cancer, nuh-uh. They're stationed at Ward 28 a.k.a female surgical ward.

Just the same thing we did; briefed by tour-guide nurse, interviewed the patients, poking heads around the cubicles, briefed by doctors. Here we were lengthily briefed by Dr. Fairuz, Dr. Faiz and Dr. Wan Zahanim.

Not much eventful. I kept thinking of my class in SRI Aman.

Huh.

Never the One to Say Goodbye

I went to 3 Sabar earlier this morning and was greeted with sunshine smiles. The boys kept asking, "Teacher, teacher. You'll go home by 9, right?"

"It's 11, Hazim."

"Oh." And they laughed.

"Teacher, teacher. What are you doing at a hospital for so long?"

"Big secret, kid."

"She'll be studying there, right, teacher?"

"Brilliant, Majdi."

Majdi laughed.

"Teacher, teacher. You'll be back after a week, right?"

"I will, Iqbal."

"Okay." The squeaky boy laughed.

I gave them a brief tazkirah [assembly was cancelled due to light rain.]. Halfway through...

"Teacher, you're wearing slippers."

"What?" I blinked at smirking Raimi and stared at my feet. "Raimi, it's sandals!"

"Slippers."

"They're beautiful sandals!"

"Slippers are slippers."

"Shoes hurt my toes."

"Slippers."

I pouted in defeat. He smirked in vain. A law should definitely be passed prohibiting kiddies from smirking at adults.

The quickest way to wipe a smug grin is by catching the person off guard. So I did. A swift jab to the belly always works.

Raimi chuckled his way to his seat, clutching his belly.

I soon walked out of the lively class at 8.15, passing Raimi on my way out.

"Teacher, send my regards to your boyfriend."

I feigned surprised. "You are my boyfriend."

He turned himself slightly away, shielding his face with his palm. But not before I caught that wicked smirk of his.

I seriously laughed at him.

As I arrived at the teacher's lounge, I was called by Muallimah Rahmah and I filled her my confirmation that I shall leave early today and will be absent for the rest of the week.

She smiled in affirmation, signaling her consent. "We'll have you covered for the rest of the week."

"Thanks, muallimah."

"You did, by the way, left assignments for today?"

"Well actually, I left assignments for the rest of the week."

She grinned. "We'll try and find a new teacher by next week."

I partially dropped my smile. "Oh. Okay."

And that remarked left my in a turmoil for the rest of the day.

I never plan on enjoying teaching, but Allah had let me. It's quite hard to let go after only 5 days of getting to know them.

At 10.45, I stopped by 3 Sabar to pass them their marked exercise book. The class was silent when I approached and Muallimah Rohaiza Hanim was in, teaching Jawi.

As soon as I knocked, smiled and salam-ed, Iqbal shot off his seat. "Teacher, you're going home now?"

"Oh, it's nearing 11 now." Hazim remarked.

"Yeah." I diverted my attention towards muallimah. "Sorry for the disturbance; I'll just leave these on the table."

"Sure." Muallimah smiled.

I passed by Raimi's seat, caught the other kids smiles and passed him a note.

"Teacher, you'll be back next week, right?" Iqbal asked for reassurance.

I gave him a partial smile. "Perhaps."

"Teacher, what about the-"

"Almost forgot." I smiled at Hazim and gave him the rest of the lyric of PSFM unofficial song. "Nice day, everyone."

"We can share, right?"

"Of course, Iqbal."

I nodded to muallimah and, "See you guys.". Left the class before any innocent questions were asked.

Frankly, I hope they'll never find another teacher, but I am in no position to be selfish.

Selfish, indeed.

Have a pleasant day, everyone.

p/s: Note to Raimi?

Please ensure anyone who hadn't passed up

their English exam paper to do so by tomorrow,

especially to Wahida, Hilman, Hazim and Raja.

Thanks!

Teacher

Mischief Managed?

I closed my eyes. "Class, silent please. I've an announcement to make."

Raimi seated himself in Solihin's place, next to Iqbal. The girls sat comfortably, staring me. Chatterboxes remained on high volume.

Opened a bit and glare. "I won't bother with whoever making noises."

Shuffles. Raja seated himself like a good kid. Hazim and Iqbal scrambled to their seat. Haikal remained monkeying around.

"Today would probably be my last day here."

Silence.

Raimi's smile dropped.

"What?!" Iqbal scrunched up in complaint. "It's only been four days!"

"The teachers always come and go!" Raja piped.

"Andai ku tahu... terlebih dahulu..." Hazim sang melodramatically.

"I'll probably come on Sunday, but I'll leave around 11. I can't make it to school from Monday to Thursday."

"Where are you going, teacher?" Fatimah asked from the back of the class.

"Hospital."

"What? Why?" Came the scruffy voice of Iqbal's.

"Something." I shrugged. "Now let us learn something new today-"

"When will you come back?" Raja looked up towards my looming height.

"Andai ku tahu..."

"I'm not sure." I glance at him. Smiled. "If Muallimah Rahmah found another teacher, I probably won't be back here as a teacher.

Iqbal whined.

"Okay, class. Enough announcement. I really want you guys to learn something today. Everyone take out your Grammar notebook now and write these down."

Volume went back up.

"I mean it."

I turned around and frowned at each and everyone of them. Raimi sheepishly smiled and took out his. So did Iqbal and the rest of the gang.

Amni came up front and started asking, "Which book, teacher?"

"Grammar. Now go back to your place." I turned towards the whiteboard when I saw a flash of blue and Raimi running back to his seat.

"Raimi!" I sighed exasperatedly at him. Someone is being mischievous. "What did you do?"

A grin came as a reply and I saw that he had sweeped out the 'f' and 'L' from Preposition of Location, our topic today.

"Everyone, start writing now." I actually glared him. "And that means you, too, young man."

He laughed.

"... terlebih dahulu..." Hazim sang while writing. I just had to kneel in front of his table and proposed, "Hazim, I know a song. Wanna learn?"

"Which song, teacher?"

"PSFM unofficial song. Kami lah barisan perwira-"

Volume went down a little. Raimi looked up from his writing and glanced at me.

"Putra putri SMI tercinta-"

Iqbal scrambled of his seat and stood beside Hazim.

"Anggun segak tampan, sungguh bergaya-"

For real, I can sing!

"Semangat sekeras waja." I stood and smiled. "Ever heard?"

"My sister has one of those." Raja grinned. "Got loads in the computer."

"I see." I swept my glance across the class. "Okay, back to business."

-----

Between teaching and securing a scholarship, I'll choose the latter since it's quite important. Judging by the level of fun though, teaching way passed that of scholarship.

These JPA, UPU, BNM, Khazanah, UEM, Sime Darby and others scholarship are boring. I never did fancy filling in forms.

On Sunday I'll have my JPJ retest and I need to be there by 12.30. Sure I wouldn't want to be distracted this time.

Monday till Friday, I've a Program Pendedahan Kerjaya Seorang Doktor at HRPZ2, compulsory for every JPA overseas medic scholarship applicants. Dude, that's my hang-out place.

I really hope these tedious two will be settled quick. Then I can focus on teaching.

Bending the young minds of students. Ah.

Oh, I forgot. The OLC debate is still ongoing, but the so-called Debate Council had dragged the competition for quite a period of time. I've been bored to sleep.

Besides, I've other fish to fry.

I miss the mayhem of 3 Sabar already.

Third Time's the Charm

Third day with kids.

I started the day with picking up trashes with my class, 3 Sabar. I'm actually their homeroom teacher. I can't believe my luck.

As we finished our deed and head back to class, Raimi and Haikal walked by my side with the former grinning like a cheese every time he turns sideways and sees me.

Next, Physical Education with 3 Ihsan. You know what, they were already in their sports suit, eager for me to get them to the field when I arrived at their class.

Then I noticed one boy crying by his table.

Let us skip the boring mushy part and get on with the field part.

3 Ihsan boys wanted to play tag. So I let the cannons loose on the field and chuckled wisely at them running and slapping each others' back and run some more until they panted out for air.

As I chuckled, Iqbal of 3 Sabar came up and tackled me. I turned around and poked the kid's belly. Twice. He squirmed, laughed and ran for cover.

Ah, kids. Lively, aren't they?

The girls wanted to skip. I found a skipping rope and made to hand it to the girls when Raja and Iqbal (again) came up and demanded their skip.

"You guys weren't even playing with it." I remarked to the short boys. "Let us borrow it for a while."

Raja and Iqbal continued to tug at the other end of the rope. I merely stood there aloof, wound it twice around my hand and smirked as the boys huffed and puffed futilely.

It's official. I'm strong.

Then I nearly stumbled forward. In my smugness, Hazim (3 Sabar class monitor) came and helped the helpless boy by tugging with all his might. And the addition of half the boys of 3 Sabar caught me off guard.

Strong Mitsui was defeated. No comment.

Later that noon, I had my class with the 3 Sabar. As I sauntered slowly towards their class, I noticed everyone was quite. Everyone was at their seat. No chatterbox Raja could be heard.

Did I miss something here? Hard at work? A fierce muallimah in class, perhaps?

I peeped. There's no muallimah, just her handbag on the table.

The kids saw me. "Teacher!" The girls piped out. Iqbal practically scrambled out of his seat.

"Guys, chill." I pushed my way around Iqbal. "Now get back to your Arab homework."

Raimi smiled. I smiled. Aqil grinned. "Almost done."

And soon the music was turned up loud. Everyone was talking to me, and I didn't know whom to focus my ears to.

Why is it, that they shut up in others class, but won't in mine? It's like sitting in a cramped broom shed with speakers as wall.

Somehow, amidst all the chatters (they were talking to me, actually) and the blazing sun, I managed a grin permanently plastered on my face. I kept thinking, is this how I behaved when I was 9 years old?

Halfway through the class, Hazim piped out out of the blue. "Have you got a boyfriend, teacher?"

"Iqbal is my boyfriend." I said with a straight face while holding the marker in mid-air. "Happy?"

You wouldn't believe the amount of laughter our class emitted. The whole block shook like a fragile leaf on an autumn tree.

I was still in my pose. Until I saw Iqbal, hiding his face in his kopiah while half-sitting half-laying on his chair and laughing rather sheepishly.

Serious demeanour collapsed and I joined in laughing my lung out.

Five minutes later, Iqbal kept talking and drowning my voice so I resorted to another tactic. "Sorry guys. I like Raimi better than Iqbal."

Another earthquake of laughter and all boys crowded around poor Raimi who grinned helplessly at me. I shook my head at Iqbal sitting on Raimi's lap while patting his shoulder slowly.

Dude, next class, I'm bringing a camera.

Have I told you teaching is fun?

p/s: This post is dedicated to the lively crowd of 3 Sabar.

I like Raimi. He's a quiet boy who sits at the third row from the front with a smile always on his face. Although he hardly ever speak without being addressed to at first, he had this look of eager to learn and giving his attention to the teacher.

The teacher's heart was touched.

Teacher's First Day

I am so tired.

I've got four classes to teach; 4 Ikhlas, 3 Ehsan, 3 Sabar and 3 Amanah and I teach 3 subjects; English, Physical Education and Art.

Since today is the first day of work, I excused myself for having to calm my nerves. I was very early for my first class [4 Ikhlas] and had to hang around the ladies because I was too dignified to be found squawking in front of a class full with students and a male teacher.

4 Ikhlas wasn't bad. Literally, they were Class A, so the students were quite well-mannered and were pretty much loquacious. The first thing they said when they saw me entering the class was, "How old are you?"

And they soon bombarded me with "Are you married?", "You've got a boyfriend?" and the likes.

Ah, children. I forgot what it was like to be naive.

What Teacher Atiqah did?

1. Assessed the student's progression in speaking English by having them introducing themselves deliberately.
2. Assessed the student's progression in vocabulary, writing English and grammars by having a quiz, which involves making simple sentences, filling blanks and usage of vocabulary.

Afterwards, I sauntered towards the canteen for a much needed bottle of water.

Second class today was 3 Ehsan and they gave me a pretty bad impression of the lot. Literally, they're Class C. C for chaotic.

It was really hard to get them under control. As I interviewed the girls, the boys were running around, making riot and picking up fights. I counted 5 times I had to pull them off during the one hour class period.

And as I interviewed the boys, the girls were minding their own fish market, chattering like morning birds. I forgot how I used to drive my teachers against the wall.

At 12.30, as I finished my first meal of the day [2 kuihs and an over-sweetened iced Milo, RM1.40], Ustaz Rashid called and gave supportive remarks of my noble job as a teacher.

I so badly want to sleep.

After solat, I've another class with the 3 Ehsan kids. Arts.

Now, Atiqah was never known for her prowess in art and craft. The best she could do is draw weird-looking human. Nor is she capable of colouring, much less mark coloured pictures from students.

And origami? Well, she used to make those paper stork, simple basket and paper planes to be flown whenever she got bored with Head Student's speech in monthly prefect meeting.

I simply had no idea what to do in Arts class. I even considered calling mom.

So I entered the class, addressed the kids and started writing on the board. Students buzzed with, "Teacher, why are you writing in Art class?"

"Okay, class. State a colour."

"Pink!"

I grimaced.

"Green!" Marwan piped out from the back of class.

"Good. Now state a shape."

"Love shape!" Nurin said.

Dude. "Others?"

"Square!"

"Okay."

Now the board reads:

Pendidikan Seni

Aktiviti: Melukis dan mewarna

Tema: Hijau dan segi empat

I squatted in front of Danish's table and attracted 5 boys. "Now, I want you to free-draw with green and square in it. Like this. I'm going to draw my dad-"

I borrowed Muallimah Wardah's 4-in-1 pen earlier this morning [Teacher Atiqah was clever, going to school without even a pencil case].

I used the black ink and started to draw Papa's head and neck, eyeless since they were hidden behind his rectangle spectacles.

"See? He's got a rectangle spectacles."

"Wow, teacher! Nice hair."

"Haha. Now, my dad wore a shirt-" Green ink to draw a square, a small triangle on each side for his t-shirt.

"See? Green and square. Any colour can also be used, as long as there's green and quadrangle in the drawing."

Proceed to use blue ink for Papa's pants and red for his shoes. "Understood?"

"Yeah. Teacher, can we borrow that pen?"

Ah, children. I forgot what it's like to be amazed by minial things.

After that, I went to teach the girls [two small groups] and two small groups for the boys. I also managed to draw a green truck, a green rocket on blast and a green square fish in a black rectangle aquarium.

Not bad. As I sauntered towards other students, I could see boisterous boys determined to finish their drawings without much care for my watchful eyes.

They were still not sitting at their respective places, but I'm not whining. Hope tomorrow will be better.

p/s: Sore throat. Need endless supply of tamarind juice.

13 March: Teacher Atiqah

I met Muallimah Rahmah Mahmood today. She taught me Mathematics in standard one up to standard three. That strict old lady, I remember her giving me strokes for not finishing my homework. Blame the Phlegmatic in me.

She's still alive, yeah, and sure is kicking.

We talked about my SPM result and my future plans. Chatted and caught up with the past.

She then offered me something totally out of the blue.

"Would you like to teach standard 1-3 English? As a substitute teacher?"

I agreed instantly.

She smirked and sought for Ustaz Omar [Director of Pusat Pendidikan Aman]. Ustaz asked me if I was okay with it. Relinshing my agreement, he told me to come by this Sunday.

I went for a walk after that, contemplating what I've got myself into. Can I teach? Sure, I've tutored thick old Hikmah Science for the past to years.

But teaching 7-9 year-old? Well, come to think of it, 14-year-old Hikmah sure acted like a 5.

But the big question remained unsolved: Can I wear sandals to the job?

Hahaha. Ignore all that until we meet the real deal. So, how does Teacher Atiqah sounds?

p/s: Contrary to popular press, the allowance is not a big deal.

Best History of Malaysia

Today is 1st Rabiul Awal 1429.

Today is a great day.

The opposition has retained their 1990 winning of beloved Kelantan with 38 federal seat for PAS and 1 for PKR compared to 6 for BN out of 45.

The huge majority just confirmed the dirty general election management during the 11th GE in 2004.

Apart from that, we were tremendously grateful for the foreseen victory of the opposition, especially with the winning of Kedah, Selangor, Perak and Penang [Lim Guan Eng of DAP will be the new CM]. Click here if you ever doubt me.

It's a pity we didn't win over Terengganu. Allah bless us all.

I'm so happy I could cry. ALLAHU AKBAR!

From various sources, poor Pak Lah seemed highly stunned with his inability to reply coherent remarks for the press. "Dah kalah, kalah lah!" and "Macam-macam lah." were among the preschool answers.

Have I mention I love Pak Lah? No? Well, I never really fancy him.

Pak Lah won at his Kepala Batas area with a majority of 11k, decreasing 7k from the 2004 GE. I wonder what happened to the 7k voters? Sent over to Kelantan, perhaps?

UMNO has diligently sent voters from KL and other state over to Kelantan, sponsoring their ticket back home and giving them each RM200. Wanna bet all voters of hundreds buses were opposition supporters?

Pak Lah was the Chairman for UMNO Penang and seeing that they lost the state to the opposition, let's bet whether poor Pak Lah will still making it as the Prime Minister.

I have a funny feeling that we'll see Najib as our 6th PM. Oh well. He did won Pekan seat with a majority of 26k.

It's the rakyat revolution that all should be wary off. BN has fooled Malaysia for a long time and they've got the lesson they seem to be deprive of.

It's high time we change.

Walk the Talk

Previously, on Baka no Tensai...

I need to take another two-hour class.

And I did. I went down to Yakin Pandu and paid RM20 for a repeat form. And I had my repeat two-hour class at 11 a.m.

Which ended at 11.30. I had to laugh. [I think they know we'll get bored doing the same routine two hours straight. Besides, all repeaters merely made silly mistake, it's not like they didn't really know the drill.]

The instructor showed me the car and let me practice freely up the hill, into the side parking lot and into the three-point of carnage.

It was simple actually. I didn't know how I flunked on the three-point yesterday, but if anyone ask, I'll say, "There was a hottie there. I got distracted."

Wanna bet how many will fall for that?

And hopefully, my next JPJ test will be before the end of next week.

I paid RM10 shortly afterwards to book my JPJ retest, which will be held on 13th March around 2 p.m. Please wish me luck!

Oh, and yesterday was the first time I skipped OLC class. Not impressive.

I may be unlikely to make it to usrah.

Contrary to popular view often expressed freely in press, I did went to usrah. Quite the diligent person I am, right?

I arrived SMI just in time for the closing of the daurah jamai'e. Dayang-sensei saw me and said, "Atiqah, didn't you get my message? We're having a daurah jamai'e today and your present is optional."

Obviously I didn't. Dude.

I need ice-cream.

I didn't have any.

I'd rather lick my way through an ice lolly rather than have creamy ice-cream, like Cornetto, thanks to their raunchy advertisement they have nowadays.

What's the big deal about Cornetto and romance, anyway? I see no connection. Or am I naturally dim-witted in certain frontier? It's plausible.

Bunny Talk

Mom called me just now and I told her of my test. Hahaha, now I feel better.

Despite the lack of ice-cream, the talk and these cuties made up for me.

Now I have the sudden urge to hit the pet store to pick up my own bunny. I'll name him Mee.

Baka no Tensai

Let me kindly highlight to you the driving test JPJ impose on you in order to get your P license.

1. On-road test
2. On-circuit test

• Side parking
• Hill climbing
• Tiga penjuru

I passed all, but I failed the tiga penjuru during the on-circuit. In short, Atiqah flunked her first JPJ test.

This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my short nearly 18 years of living. Even smacking Aiman's head with the pencil case wasn't even close to match my current stupidity.

Okay, say it. I'm stupid. Yeah, I know. I would be contented if I failed during the on-road test, but no, I passed that one. I would also be contented if I failed during climbing the hill during the on-circuit test, but no, I passed that one.

Why, of all thing, I failed the eeeeaaaasiest one? Man, I can't believe I could have flunked the eeeeaaaasiest!

Huh, so the heartbroken lady needed something cold and sweet to replenish the fractured heart. Off I went to treat myself with a can of coke. Which only added to the misery with its immense sweetness yet barely there coldness. ARGH! For a bright person, I sure am dim-witted!

Okay, enough self-damnation.

Since I gracefully failed, I need to take another two-hour class. I hope I'll get it finished tomorrow. And hopefully, my next JPJ test will be before the end of next week.

My L license will die on the 16th March. I need a P by then.

This time, I really need all the prayers I could get.

And with my silly red heart and short-circuited big brain laying in the recovery room, I may be unlikely to make it to usrah.

I need ice-cream.

To ER is to Human

Being the constant telly-watcher I am nowadays, I spend most of my free time doing so while surfing online, babysitting Hakim and shooing dust out of the house. I'm a multi-tasker.

Given the choice, I always watch Discovery, AXN and Hallmark channel with the occasional National Geography, History and Animal Planet.

Sometimes I will compromise with Hakim, making way for Playhouse Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

I've a fetish for medical, investigation and legal drama and I try my best to catch them whenever I can. Name it: ER, House, Alias, CSI [LV, Miami, NY], Numb3rs, McBride, Without a Trace, Law & Order and L&O: SVU. Even the British-laden Wire in the Blood.

I also watch Mythbusters, Las Vegas and Nip/Tuck. Careful and always on my guard on those last two.

Man, look at those links...

I'm ever so grateful with the airing of ER [last aired was Season 2, episode 1: Welcome back, Carter!] on Hallmark. Sure, I know I'm obsolete but frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

I fancy Dr. John Carter. He had an approachable attitude and his bedside manner was better than most of the doctor there. Dad always emphasise the importance of communication in the medical field and to treat the patients equally with dignity and respect.

Usually I watch TV3, but now I only flip to that channel every Sunday at 10 p.m. for my date with the Winchester brothers.

TV3 has gotten way past boring especially since they kept airing Barisan Nasional on the go and the puke-inducing advertisement on BN so-called achievements. [A bunch of wuss, those achievements were Malaysia's. BN is a party, not the government, dammit!]

I have no problem with those airs, but the press are being biased and only show one side of the story. And we declare ourselves as a developing democratic nation. Pfft.

It's not the billion they subsidized, it's the trillion they robbed us!

Current affair: Ninja Turtles presented on 'Understanding Psychic' this morning. Got quite the nifty praises from the floor.

As the class debate champion, Ninja will be up against some class's champion on the semi-final round on 10th March on the motion yet to be disclosed.

Malaysia 12th GE is two days to go. I'm nervous. God, please retain Kelantan under the current PAS government, I don't want us to be as detrimental as other states, ameen.

I can't believe I can jump from ER to BN.

Well Said

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek and almost always achieve a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you.

You Are a Total Brainiac

You're amazingly brilliant. Some would even say genius. You're curious, thoughtful, analytical, and confident. You take on difficult subjects because you want to... not because you have to. No field of knowledge is too complicated or intimidating for you. You've got the brains to do anything you want. It's possible you end up doing everything you want.

Your Power Element is Metal

You are persistent (and maybe even a little bit stubborn). If you see something you want, you go for it. You have a lot of strength, and it's difficult to get you down. Very logical, you tend to analyze everything going on in your life.

Your Sloth Quotient: 55%

You're definitely lazier than the average person, but you're able to live a somewhat normal life. All your life needs is a little more effort and variety, and you might see that doing hard things is actually fun!

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a multi dimensional wonderland, with many layers. You're the type that always has multiple streams of though going. And you can keep these thoughts going at any time. You're very likely to be engaged in deep thought - and deep conversation.

Quizzes courtesy of Blogthings; where bloggers go in search for junkies for their junkyard of thoughts. Weird description, yeah, but I'm nothing but weird.

Kick de Fella!

This cold is getting worse. Now I'm all watery-eyed and my sneezing hitched up to thrice per hour. I need Vitamin C.

While dutifully ransacking the house and winter-cleaning the coffee table, I found this Wajah Pemimpin Rakyat; Foto Jurnal amidst all the dust and sneezes.

I swear, this book was never to be found yesterday, but there it is. I think mom's foster son, Zaim the adventurous PAS supporter gave it to her when he came down earlier this morning.

He walks with a limp, kinda like House minus the flame-decorated walking stick and addiction to Vicodin, after he crashed into a lorry last year on his motorcycle, fracturing his femur and tibula. That's all I know about him.

Amazing, huh? Crashing a lorry. I laughed like mad when I first heard about him.

Back to the photo journal, it was compiled by Kickdefella who went around respected Tok Guru last year, snapping here and there. The photos he shot were impressive enough to keep me ogling and frantically turn the page around.

I see no price tag so I assume it's FOC. The journal was published by Global Media Channel Sdn. Bhd. My, aren't the Kelantanese to be proud or what?

Presents, Still

Silly me, I forgot to write about the eventful yesterday.

As usual, Saturday means I'll sleep in a bit, miss out on Numb3rs aired on AXN and head to OLC for the usual class from 9-11++ a.m. Trust me, the class never started nor ended on time.

But last Saturday was different. SMI/SRI Graduation Day was held at the nearby Gelanggang Seni.

The whole family went there, even the sleepwalking Hakim. The four-year-old was still half groggy when he jumped into the Toyota Innova. Yeah, he didn't bathe; mom merely gave him a new change of attires.

We departed at 8.30, and I rushed to meet my junior Ain since my cellphone was in her possession [She playfully took it away on Thursday, intending on giving it back afterwards. Unfortunately yet predictably, she accidentally took it home.].

I met Dayang-sensei and told her I have English class but I still wanted to be on stage for my prizes. She told me to come over at 10.30.

So I did. Always the pragmatist, I walked from GS to OLC, or rather, I half-ran while trying not to trip on the over-sized jubah of mom's. It's only an 11-minute walk. I like walking.

Usually, I'll sit at the front row but seeing as I've asked and was granted an early leave, I settled myself at the back of the class.

The popular commonly sits in the front. Being away from the lot, it was quite comforting. No idle chattering of unnecessary nor uninvited peeps.

The day's topic was on stress management. Dr Wan gave us each a piece of form to be written with our former and current behaviours as well as the turning point in our life.

Being the proactive self, I finished writing all traits down within minutes of being given.

It was also a nice change; sitting at the back I mean. I get to crack jokes with Widad and made witty remarks on Taufiq. Even Ashraf asked me to translate some words.

At 10.15, I bid the class adieu.

At the GS, the atmosphere was lively. It was packed with kids in white uniforms, mothers in colourful kurungs and Ubaidah in that ridiculous dull green floral shirt.

I got 3 awards that day: Full Attendance, Best Prefect and Pembantu Jurulatih for BaSeD.

It was my first time getting the full attendance award and I'm proud of it. Last year was hectic enough I couldn't find a day worth to skip. I remember dragging my feverish ass to school on two separate occasion.

Granted the Best Prefect along with Naim, well, I can't say it was unexpected. I pretty much earned it.

All in all, the day was great. I got presents; not much to brag but presents nonetheless. Who's whining? But the biggest prize was sitting at the back of OLC class. I've a good mind to start sitting at the back next time.

Stuffy Hana

*sniffs*

*clears throat*

Currently my nose is clogged with unseen mucus. I hope the mucus will remain that way, I'm not the person to walk around snivelling and covering my nose with tissues.

The days had been cold and I recalled sleeping without my beloved thick blanket. Yes, it was only a mere inch away but being the lazy fellow I am, why work hard? Sleep is more enticing.

And that attitude resulted in stuffy nose.

*achoo!*

*sniffs*

I've sneezed. It can't be helped that dust and germ conquer the atmosphere.

Citing Bruce Willis, it is not global warming that is the issue here; it's global humidity.

Sufiyyah told me the Kelantan River is on the rise, and judging by the strong wind and the possibility of rain down the hulu, the probability of flood is quite high. Let's just hope it won't be baked into a political issue.

And while I'm here, stuck in this comfy bundle-bought black hooded sweater, I bid you fellows a good day.