Food..Fasting..Food..Fasting..Food

RAMADHAN MUBARAK...! This is my first blog posting during a holy month of Ramadhan. Although this is the month when I as a Muslim observe fasting from dawn till dusk but my mind normally think about food more during this month. So getting less food will result thinking more about food.

So on the first day of Ramadhan me and my family gathered for our first Iftar (fasting break !) at my parents' house in Tanjung Malim. This gathering a la reunion dinner was very important to me as nothing beat my Emak's signature dishes as a ground breaking Iftar for the month. However this year Emak decided to go simple compare to the previous years. So we had sweet sour fish, mixed veggies, tomyam (by my wife), umai (by my wife), chili prawns, curry puff and home-made rambutan jelly.

First Day Iftar

On the third day my wife and I decided to have Iftar at Roadhouse Grill restaurant in Jalan Ampang. To my surprise it was on my wife because she said she wanted to make up for my birthday dinner which we missed in last April. Yes last April we couldn't celebrate my birthday because we decided to save every extra cents that we have for Adrin's pram and 2 car seats. So the theme of the restaurant was the wild west frontier or cowboy style. True to the theme when they served bread and butter, I asked for butter knife but the waiter replied "sorry sir we don't have butter knife, you can use your steak knife...cowboy style". Oh I see..

Cowboy dishes

Then 2 days ago we tried a new restaurant in Taman Melati called Memori Corner. The restaurant's wall is full with Sudin's pictures by cartoonist Lat (if I am not mistaken). It brings back memory of chilhood games in kampung like batu seremban, ketinting, main guli and enjit-enjit semut. But what really brought back my memory was when I saw some hand-made wooden rifles hanged on the restaurant's wall. Wow..I used to make my own wooden rifle when I was a kid. I wonder whether kids in kampung nowadays know how to make it...DIY ! Or maybe they just buy a plastic one in supermarket. I looked at Adrin and thought ...this boy will never get the chance, what a shame. As for the food...yes this post is about food, we had mee rebus and curry mee which the menu claims to be the restaurant's signature dishes. The foods were delicious !

Memori Corner

OK..what shall we have for Iftar tomorrow...

Come, Come again!
Whatever you are…
Whether you are disbeliever,
idolater or fireworshipper.
You have broken your vows
of repentance a hundred times
this is not the gate of despair,
this is the gate of hope.
Come, come again…

Jalaludin Rumi, Poet

My Triplet Brothers

Picture by IIUM

I just got back from IIUM 24th Convocation Ceremony and witnessed 2 of my triplet younger brothers receiving their scrolls. I am proud and very happy for them. One of them even graduated with a first class honours degree in Bachelor of Biomedical Science. The other one graduated with honours in Bachelor of Engineering in Manufacturing. The third one has already graduated from UKM last year and now working with a Petronas subsidiary.

The Graduands

This 24th IIUM Convocation also features for the first time the new design for convocation attire. The obvious difference is the mortarboard which replaces the songkok. They have also changed the design of the robe i.e new fabric material, motifs and a hood at the back. At first when my brothers told me that IIUM graduands no longer wear songkok for convocation, I thought that was an unnecessary change. What is wrong with songkok as convocation headgear? It is unique and showcase a traditional element of Malay costume. Perhaps because songkok carries an identity of Malay ethnic, so it does not quite blend with the aspiration of an international university? When I read IIUM News Bulletin, it says that in conjunction with the Silver Jubilee of IIUM this year, IIUM has decided to come up with a new design for the convocation attire and they chose mortar board and beefeater as head gear to be consistent with other Malaysian universities. The decision was also based on survey at historical records of Muslim scholars' attire. My father told me the mortar board was first introduced by Imam Al Ghazali in Baghdad.

I have not had the chance to visit the convocation fiesta at convo hill. So I don't know how big and happening the fiesta is. I managed to look at posters advertising the important programmes during the fiesta but could not find anything interesting. In fact I wondered why did they have a marriage course as one of the major programmes during convocation fiesta. Is marriage an immediate agenda after graduation guys?

I was standing in front of the C.A.C main entrance when peoples suddenly gathered to see a VVIP of the day. I thought it should be the Sultan of Pahang. But to my surprise it was Mursyidul Am Ustaz Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz. Apparently one of his children graduated today. Congratulation Datuk Seri !

Takbir !

To both my brothers Nain & Ooi, congratulation ! I could see the joy and satisfaction in your faces. Today's occasion is just the beginning of the reward for all your efforts for the past 6 years. More rewards will come but more hard works are required. Let me be the first to welcome you to the world of reality, where fair play is not required and dream may not come true.

Oh yea..I had anticipated today that my father would bring up a topic on when I will start my Phd course after he looked at the list of Phd graduands today. But I guess he was so busy with my son Adrin and the topic didn't come up at all. Fuhh lega... But don't worry Ayah...it is in the pipeline (and the pipe is taking a detour to a desert soon..hehe)

Adrin and his 10 cents face !

Last but not least, to my brothers, thank you very much for making this day to be another happiest day for Ayah and Emak.

"To support mother and father, to cherish wife and child
and to have a simple livelihood,
this is the good luck"

Prince Gautama Siddharta

My Bass Guitar got cracked...again !

What a tragedy !... after all the care and attention my bass guitar fell again and cracked its neck again. Yes this is the second time. The first time it happened was due to a motorcycle accident back in 1999. I think my friend Zulkifli still remember the incident because he was riding with me when I lost control and my motorcycle skidded. It costs me almost RM200 to refurbish the cracked neck last time.

This time I don't know when I am going to fix the cracked neck. I am tempted at the same time to buy a new guitar, but I don't know. This bass guitar is more than just a guitar to me. It has been with me since 1998. Her name is Aria Pro II stb series. What I love most about her is her deep and fat sound. So far I have not come across any other bass guitars which can give me that deep and fat sound. The sound didn't come originally with the guitar when I purchased it. But it evolved by the aging of the wood. I love it !


I definitely will have to leave Aria when I go to Dubai. But it is too bad that I have to leave her in this condition. I hope I will be able to fix her again when the situation allows. There are so many other difficult things which I have to manage at the moment and the least that I want is anything bad to happen to my loved ones. Unfortunately Aria is fated to go through this ordeal.

I pray to the Almighty the rest of my loved ones will be sound and safe..

NOTE: Oh ya.. Zulkifli's gambus broke too. What a coincidence.

It takes a minute to have a crush
an hour to like
a day to love
but it takes a lifetime to forget

Ar Rehlah ila Dubai?

Wow it has been long time since I last checked my blog. Not that I dont have story to tell here but in fact I have so many things going on at the same time I don't know which one should be shared in this blog.

Then I realised the title of this blog is KEMBARA ILMU, so it is supposed to talk about my journey for knowledge which in reality, about my day to day understanding of the events, peoples and things around me.

So remember about the Important Decision I have made last month? Yes it was actually about a career move to oversea. I think a few of my close friends have already known that I accepted a job offer in Dubai. I will still continue to practise law but not in Malaysia jurisdiction but in Dubai/UAE jurisdiction. I am joining a regional law firm in Dubai for Islamic banking and finance practice which is what I have been doing here in Kuala Lumpur.

The interview parts and securing the job was easy, Alhamdulillah. But the ones proves to be tedious are all the process for visa and looking for a shelter in Dubai. But again I think it becomes tedious because I had to manage it whilst working.

Just to show you the nitty gritty which i have to go through for my residence visa:

1) Get my law degrees certified by UAE Embassy - but before they can certify my certificates I need to get certification from Wisma Putra and Ministry of Higher Education in Putrajaya.
2) Cost of certification - RM10 per copy with Wisma Putra, RM150 per copy with UAE Embassy plus petrol and toll to Putrajaya
3) Collection of documents - less than 1 hour with both Wisma Putra and Ministry of Higher Education, but 2 days with UAE Embassy. The Embassy can certify your certificate less than 1 hour but with extra fee of RM75. Macam tu pula...

And then come the issue of accommodation in Dubai. I have been searching the internet for room or apartment for rental for about 1 month now. The reality in Dubai is that everything nice is still under construction and they construct it for the rich peoples. Everything new in Dubai is of high quality and come with high price. So a small room rental per month can cost me more than a month salary in Malaysia. To make matter worst most of the landlords want you to pay rental one year upfront by 1 - 3 cheques. How absurd is that?

That is where their economy is directed i.e Dubai is built to be a place where rich people want to come and spend money. The result will be a small rat like me have to pay at premium just to get a basic necessity like a bedspace, room or flat. Hahah... already I am complaining. But this is reality and every place has its own pros and cons. In summation, I still dont have any confirmed accommodation in Dubai at the moment.

What about the pros? As of now I can see it in my letter of offer only...hehe . But I am hoping to see more. Life is not all about work and money.

Another cons would be my involvement in Dewangga Sakti. There is no way I can be active with them whilst living in Dubai. I plan just to continue listening to the music and practising with my bass guitar. Perhaps I could still jam with them whenever I go back to KL.

All in all the above are just what I expect it to be. I am excited but at the same time very worried and anxious about the move. Is this for real? Am I cut for this?

Last but not least, as a preparation to lead a closest possible life like in Malaysia, my wife has graciously taught me on how to prepare Nasi Lemak. Today I brought and ate Nasi Lemak prepared by myself. Below is the picture. Delicious.... and I found out a box of Nasi Lemak is sold at AED16 in Dubai. Oh Nasi Lemak...

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream"

Vincent Van Gogh

Important Decision

This month I have been busy with works, music and research. Lets not talk about works since it never end and keep the music low at the moment. About the research, I am not talking about Phd proposal research but a research on an opportunity which I have been offered with.

The opportunity had its pros and cons but being an optimist and survivor that I am, I think if I want to do it, just do it and today a decision has been made.

I hope the path I took will be blessed by Allah and everything will go as planned. There are a lot of difficult and complicated things to be done after this and to me the best way to handle it is to do one thing at a time.

Soon I will reveal more details about this. One thing at a time...

Music and Friendship

I just got back from Dewangga Sakti's gig in Singapore held on June 7th-8th. It was Dewangga Sakti's first cameo in the city state. The band also did their soft launching of the EP Mabok Kepayang in Singapore. As a musician in Dewangga Sakti I am happy and proud to see the first fruit of our labour is now riped and ready to be enjoyed by listeners out there. But what is most important to me, this trip to Singapore has left something meaningful to me as a musician in the band.

I have been active with music band for more than 10 years now, first with Cryptic Malediction and then Dewangga Sakti. The love and passion for a particular music has drawn me and other bandmates together to form our bands. But I can say music alone does not sustain a band. It is the bond and friendship created whilst making the music that hold us together as a band. My equation to this formula is music + friendship = great survival band.

Without friendship I don't think my bands can achieve what they have got now. Sure you may ask why friendship is so important? The answer depends on how far you want to drive your band. I can simply put advertisement for a guitarist, drummer and vocalist and quickly form a band for a project either to perform or produce an album. I can do it with a complete stranger. But I dont think I can do it for more than 3 years if I don't perceive other bandmates as friends as oppose to mere bandmates.

I say like this because there are a lot of ups and downs in moving together as a music band. I am not talking about a band who just gather for a jam during the weekend and collect music materials together. This is about managing a group of peoples towards serious goals and maintaining consistency and improvement at it. The process of achieving those goals require a lot of sacrifices, commitment and hard work. Along the way, you could see peoples' attitudes, obstacles, excuses, laziness, ego, anger and frustration. What better way to understand and overcome all these problems? To me the answer is friendship.

Some may say it should be professionalism. But professionalism alone is not enough and in fact you could only behave in a professional manner if you think it is your profession. To me being a bandmate is not a profession, it is a passion.

My bandmates and I in Dewangga Sakti faced many obstacles in producing our first EP Mabok Kepayang. It may sounds simple to produce 5 songs and print it on CD but behind the scene it deals a lot more with cooperation, voluntariness, understanding, love and respect to each other. The works for the EP have made us closer to each other and reinforced our brotherhood in music. Moving forward I pray that we would be able to understand and cooperate with each other more and avoid past mistakes and loopholes.

Coming back to my Singapore trip, apart from the traveling fatigue and lack of sleep I had so much fun and laughter with my bandmates. I laughed so hard that I trapped air in my lungs and ripped my abdominal muscles (my theory only !). It is very rewarding to have a really good time after hard days work. The Singapore trip was special to me because it was the first time Dewangga Sakti got to travel outside Malaysia in full board. In our previous trips only some of us were able to travel and perform overseas due to the client's requirements.

In Singapore Dewangga Sakti have embraced En Wah Yun Kua as a new member. He plays percussion and is very good at it. He is my bandmate now and definitely a friend. I hope he can bring a lot of improvement to the band and vice-versa. I look forward to create more beautiful musics with him and bring benefit to other peoples out there.

"In the rhythm of Life, we sometime find ourselves out of tune, But as long as there are friends to provide the melody, The music plays on."

L-R Standing = Mohsen, Syamsulfaiz, Wahyun, Zulkifli
L-R Sitting = Irwan, Norman, Azman, Raof

Scandalous !

Couldn't hold it anymore !

Dear Honey, How are you? I am currently at ...


Still scandalous !

Dream...dream ..dream

We are in mid-year already. How fast time is passing by me and I wonder what have I achieved so far in 2008. So I started listing out all my plans in January up to May. There are small and big plans. Lets not talk about the small plans as they are really trivial. People say one must desire something to be alive. So here are my big desires sparked in this year:-

Desire # 1

In January I started a plan to further my study for Phd. It sounds grand and ambitious. I planned for this year I must come up with a proposal and submit it to a suitable university. But the moment I started to think of a topic, I got stuck...until now. Not that I could not come with a single topic but when I thought of a topic I followed up with its literature review, to see how many books can be referred to, what have been written on the topic and what is the development of that particular area of research. I know now that finding a suitable Phd topic is a very difficult, challenging and daunting process. And this is just a beginning to a more painful process of writing and completing a Phd research. No wonder not many people go for Phd. I have my personal reason to aspire this difficult desire. I am still struggling to find a topic and am not going to give up yet. Wish me luck !


Desire # 2

This desire no. 2 has been well kept in my head since a child. I dont know why lately I keep dreaming about it more often. I have been dreaming to own a Harley-Davidson motorbike since I was in primary school. But growing up in this country I learned that a Harley-Davidson is a luxury good and to own one I need to be at a level where I can afford a luxury. Honestly I am not at that level yet. But recently I caught up with an old friend who owned a Harley and knows a lot of our friends who also owned Harleys and he told me that with correct strategy and right peoples I can own a Harley at a price of a Kancil. Now that is not a luxury anymore, is it. But practically I dont think I can buy anything big until I settled down with my new house. So wish me luck for this one too !...eerrr maybe 2-3 years to come.

XL 883 Sportster Low

In conclusion, we are in mid year already and none of my big plans has been achieved yet. I need to work harder and smarter....Music please !

"What if nothing exist and we're all in somebody's dream? Or what's worse, what if only that fat guy in the third row exists?
Woody Allen
American Author