Modern Adventures

I had been to movies a lot this year, yes I’m saying this year coz it’s the end of 2012 and I’m still alive to enjoy movies. It was The Hobbits that made me feel like typing this one out because the movie, to me, is a mirror of modern history (or probably modern event); a quest to reclaim a land rightfully belongs to a kin. I’m interested in the layer beneath the surface of The Hobbits.

Anyways, I’m writing this piece is not to praise the movie I watched just now (in which I did), but I’m typing this because it concerns ME and YOU..!!!!

And why is that you may ask. Every movie tells an elaborate tale of adventure, or very extraordinary event. Movies or tales will always be about someone achieving something of great lengths, failing and rise like fell giants, or how dwarfs are mightier than trolls. They show how hard it is a struggle for a man to go and fly all the way to France from the US for his daughter’s salvation from Albanian kidnappers (from the movie Taken). Or maybe the how many walls a patriot had his face smashed on, how many bullets he took, how many punches and kicks from high-class thugs and elite hostiles his body accepted, how any deaths of the people that matter to him he have to hold grief for the sake of his country’s safety (from James Bond series starring Daniel Craig). Or just simply how a group of expressive teenagers have to act and think a way to save the slumps they call home from corporate Armani-suited guys destroying those slumps into more 5 star resorts in Miami (from Step Up 4 Revolution).

 It never is about an ordinary kid or lassie waking up in the morning, brush their teeth, and face some glowing screens namely television, smartphones, not-so-smartphones, laptops, desktops and laze around the whole day, accumulating fat under their skins.

Or maybe you may say “What about the movies they claim to be about ordinary people?” Well yes, I agree, there are movies about ordinary people like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ but aren’t the ordinary people were doing the extraordinary? Isn’t that what the movies of these ORDINARY humans are building on, developing them into blockbusters? Ordinary people with extraordinary tale doing what most others do not and don’t have? It’s the adventure the essence of a movie. It’s the struggle, the pain, the process, and the outcome that makes a movie. Would you go to a movie that shows just only a guy waking up, having breakfast, go to work, and sleep at night? Raw, plain, and simply nothing to it right?

Yes, I do say much about movies, and yes you got my point there, but where are we since I wanted to put us in the picture? Well, it's all down here.

Have you ever thought, what if a producer comes to us personally and say “I’d like to make a biographical movie about YOU” what do your life has to offer to audience? Is your life an adventure? Was there anything you did that the world would value if it’s in front of them?

So, my call to everyone, and myself, is go out and have an adventure. Go and do something that you can be proud of yourself and use it for the greater good. Make YOUR OWN adventure and YOUR OWN movie (maybe not literally, but it’ll be great if you want to) and YOU as the main character, and YOU write your own script (within the limitations that God permits).

It’s OK if it is just about how you can cook, that’s what Ratatouille is all about. It’s OK if it’s just about how you just wanted to move your body to the rhythm; Step Up has 4 movies about it.

JUST DO IT

Trust me, it’s worth the effort, and it’s a long way. That’s why movies are normally more than half an hour.

Le' Régal

It seems my long lost interest has came back to fuse itself to the deepest layer of my dark red heart. Blood pumps through my veins, so as the interest acting as adrenaline when i ever see new ways to vessel this interest. (What's the synonym for interest? I can't seem to find the right word. To many redundancy)

"What's the interest?" you may ask. Well, it's cooking. Through out my whole life, I've seen friends with outstanding creativity in arts. I just envy them. I LOVE beauty, but i can't make any. Heck, my mom's an artist and she used to have her own galleries. I had a friend who can really make beautiful boards out of scrap, a friend who can craft writing pieces into a warp to another dimension, i have a friend who can write poems and literature as if she's Shakespear's reincarnation (exaggerating here), and a friend who draws like nothing in the world matters, yet her paintings made the world stopped a second. I mean OMG, why can't i be like them? What did my parents thought me when i knew nothing of this world? What skills do i really have? I WANT TO CRAFT BEAUTY..!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, after deep thinking (which happened a couple of years ago), i think i know what beauty i can make out of this God given B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. world. Allah showed my burning spirit a lead. And two things i can show my art of beauty are PhoToGraPhY and COOKING....

I don't wanna talk much about my hobby on photography. But one quote took my interest.

"Photography is the Art of Painting with Light"

 I wanna talk about my fondness in culinary arts (hahah...nicely put).

Ever since i was a little boy, i always wanted to cook. I still remembered the time when i see myself in the future as a military chef. One that fights and kills and die and COOK for the country. I mean, what a nice thing to dream of. 

Then i start to cook a bit. The first thing i cooked was plain rice. A good start. I started at 8. Something that most of my female friends couldn't do at the age of 13. Then it was omelette, sunny side up, American Breakfast set and so on. But it's usually light. Not so much of the seriousness. When ever i watched Junior Masterchef on telly, i'd be jealous of them coz i can't do what they did when i was the same age as them. Well, i do understand my family's economic crisis at that time. Pity my parents. May be good, may be bad. 

Then, the hobby that's about to peak came to a halt. MRSM (a boarding school, which i attended for 4 and 1/2 years) gave me the big read STOP sign to such an interesting thing. Rather sad. But, what can i do? I can still occupy myself with crafting poems (which i had a whole book on my poems. People said that i was quite good at it, but i know it wasn't enough. No, u can't have it. It's private and confidential) and deciphering songs from The Beatles and Pink Floyd (Man it's HARD).

Every holiday, every chance i have to get home, I'll help out my mom and sometimes my grandmom. From there i knew how to cook some dishes like sambal and curry. I really cooked it for myself. But it was nothing really. I like to watch cooking shows aired at AFC or LTC. It's interesting to watch pros cook. They look so calm as if the pans, oil, fire, ingredients are their good friends. As if those things are themselves. And the techniques, BRiLLianT....!!!

So, last Saturday (11th August, 2012) was my first serious cooking. I cooked dinner for the whole family. It meant a lot for me. The things i cooked was these (the pics are from the URL where i got the recipes from. My cooking did looked the same, at least 85%)

Chili-Lime Chicken Skewer

Cherry Tomato Salad

Potato Cheese Salad

And my mom cooked baked macaroni and cheese that night. Well, it was tiring, but fun and meaningful for me. My next stop would be Lime Butter Salmon Fish n Chips with Homemade french fries of salt and vinegar.

These are Macaroons. Nice aren't they?

Now, still at home, i'm planning with my mom to cook Macaroons. They look so nice and colorful. Grande' chocolate filling Macaroons to be exact, the ones i want to bake. Maybe this Wednesday, InsyAllah. 

So, that's my story on cooking. I like to use herbs, lemons, and lime in my cooking coz it usually tenders the oily taste, making eating much more heavenly. 

If i happen to cook any, and u saw me doing so, just drop by and as for some. Usually i don't mind, unless there's something super special about it.

Nisa'

It seems women, females, have become more materialized these days. I just can't seem to imagine that one day, my sister, or my friend to be on a billboard in KL, making a provoking pose. But, when i do see a women's figure on a billboard or some ads in the net, I see something on her face, something depicting that she's willing to do so, to be so. 

Made to materials was, becoming material is. 

Maybe power, fortune, and fame feed them their shamelessness. Though, it's never different of the opposite gender.


It's the responsibility of the people with conscience to shake them out of their 'teddy bear time bomb'. Lovely looking yet destructive character.


But this isn't what i want to talk about. The message I want to channel is that females should be treated as how they actually deserve.


Some may label women as inferior to themselves, then, they should go for soul counselling. Don't take people for granted. Women should be treated with utter respect like they deserve. They should have such rights that they deserve. If they are the ones that put their hearts to such effort to achieve something, then, give it to them. Why give it to others that don't deserve? Allah gave them hearts and minds and souls, then they should be treated like they have it.


Women are delicate, and they love beauty and fond of softness. Treat them with such manners. Talk to them delicately, with full of softness as they like it. But don't go overboard. They are also often expressive, be the ears that listens to their heart cries.


Women, mostly, don't like violence. Don't treat them with violence. It's bad. Rather, they like to fell caressed and to be understood (so as everyone else). Ever wonder why in wars, most of the soldiers are men and not women? Although, some women put up arms too, but mostly, they needed to be protected from harm. And men need to be their protector, without harming the women themselves.


In marriages, I'd say, the husband needs to be romantic and super understanding of the physical and emotional needs of his wife. Come on, there's no harm in doing so. If you don't, then what makes you marry someone in the first place? To run away from sins? Lol....torturing your wife, emotionally, is also a sin, or at least, it's immoral. Maybe, sometimes, go out for a stroll in the morning or make dinner for her is splendid enough. And never to forget that women marry men with hope that he may bring closer them closer to Allah.


As a friend, to a girl, from a guy's perspective, treat them with full attention. They're always muscular guys, macho and rich dudes all around that might get them ga-ga all over. But, I know, truly, they need a guy friend that understand them in all manners. Even though they might be better than yourself in some aspects, hey, does that matter much?


As a brother, treat them like the coolio bro that they always wanted. The one that would want them to drive them to hangouts or what not. The brother that will always remind them to be a solehah. A brother that would be that photographer when they win sport competition and such. And the best of all, to be a super duper good friend with her husband, when she has one. Even if they kahwin lari.....hahahha

Every female, I'd say, have that little girl inside them that will always deem to be a little princess. It's just nature. Allah made that, insyallah, they have something to be excited about. Some vision that entertains them.


But not to say we should treat women until we sail them to the open sea and spoil them. No! Everything has it's limits. Just look back to Al-Quran and Al-Hadith. Who knows better that Allah Al-Alim? The engineer knows his inventions the best. In Surah An-Nisa', it has said in the 5th verse:

 "And give not unto the foolish your property which Allah has made a means of support for you , but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice."

This ayat had made me think a lot. Even made me cry thinking about the perfectness of Al-Quran. Even the Quran mentioned how to treat women.


Hahhaha.....don't worry guys. I'm not leaving your needs out. Even guys have our needs. Sometimes, even The Hulk have his soft spot. Tenderness, we all need it.


But men, I know, that most of us, we can live without thinking of what other people would do to us. We have strong hearts that bear almost anything (some), so use it for the benefit of everyone else by being strong for the important people around us.


Thank you for reading, please leave your comments....and please be polite too (because some don't)

Dzikir Harian

* sekurang2nya 1000 kali sehari

Jumaat

يا ا لله
(Ya Allah)
Allah akan beri ketenangan hati kepada orang yang membacanya

Sabtu

لا ا له ا لا ا لله
(Tiada tuhan melainkan Allah)
Setiap kali membacanya, Allah akan hampir kepada kita dan Allah akan memberi segala kebaikan kepada kita

Ahad

يا حي يا قيو م
(Ya Allah yang sentiasa hidup dan kekal)
Memperolehi harta yang banyak dan membawa berkat serta dicintai oleh setiap manusia

Isnin

لا حو ل و لا قو ة ا لا با لله العلي العظيم
(Tiada daya dan upaya kecuali dengan kuasa Allah yang Maha Besar)
Setiap bacaan, Allah akan beri pahala sebesar Bukit Uhud dan menghindarkan sifat masuklah dalam diri kita

Selasa

اللهم صل علي عبد ك ورسولك و نبيك الا مين و علي اله و صحبه و سلم
(Ya Allah ya tuhan kami, selawatlah ke atas hamba-Mu, rasul-Mu, nabi-Mu yang amanah dan ke atas keluarga serta sahabat-sahabatnya)
Setiap satu kali bacaan, Allah akan mengampunkan dosa kita selama setahun

Rabu

استغفر الله العظيم
(Aku memohon ampun kepada Allah yang Maha Besar)
Setiap satu kali bacaan, Allah akan menghilangkan satu titik hitam di dalam hati

Khamis

سبحا ن الله العظيم سبحا ن الله و بحمده
(Maha Suci Allah yang Maha Agung, Maha Suci Allah dengan segala pujian)
Setiap bacaan, Allah akan mengampunkan dosa kita sebanyak buih di lautan dan Allah akan menghidupkan satu pohon buat kita di syurga

Burning ore to metal

I wrote this in 2011's August.

What I think...

I think we need a revolution. The younger generation of Malaysia is accelerating themselves towards future destruction of themselves and those all around.

Being pulled by their hearts, they render themselves with the unimportant issues and matters in life. What I'm talking about is my generation. My young community are demolishing their importance with their 'lust' and affection for entertainment. Either it's k-pop, movies, raps, fashion, all of this is becoming the culture of the world in 10 years time.

Where have all the spirit of embracing knowledge and pioneering adventures and success gone to?

We have heard stories of students becoming successful entrepreneurs, students found their passion in things that could help Malaysians or the world. But how many are there of those like them? What would the results be if we compare to others that become loyal slaves to entertainment?

One's mind develops from time to time. But a mediocre maturity is not enough. They need an environment that contribute as a catalyst to such growth. And they need to make their thinking more critical and put all the positive attitudes together and keep it in their hearts.

What these people lose is the hardship in achieving something. Usually, what they want is already there. Although this is good but how much would do the opportunity do good?

These youngsters may take such a shining chance to be star as for granted. They think they should have them and they deserve them and could do anything they want to as if the world is theirs.

Let's look at the past. The devastative war laid upon South Korea brought mischief and difficult lives for the Korean families. As for Philippines, they were poured with aid and luxury by the USA. Happy for everyone.

50 years forward. The South Korea end up in the first worlds while the Philippines had to sacrifice their dreams to live in the present day. At least mostly are like so.

But what about Malaysia? Malaysia is a mystery. Or maybe it's a riddle for someone to realize what happened. Malaysia went to war with the Communists and British and 13 May Tragedy but what have Malaysians learn? "Wars is not good. We need to bring our country to its feet." And so as what the generations of Tunku Abdul Rahman until the generations of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad did. But what happens now?