This little one is 10 months old now and boy, she's such a poser! I used to have a hard time trying to get a photo of her because she'd be gone before I can snap a decent photo. Nowadays, she'd stay still for a few minutes and wait for me to be done taking pictures before she goes off to play with her favourite ping pong ball.
I was watching the Global Malaysia Series on Youtube one night and she came up on the bed and sat in that position for a few minutes. Kemi oh Kemi, who taught you how to pose macam ni?
"She's the girl that believes that what comes around goes around. The one that hopes for a better day. The one that won't give up on you. She's the girl that's unlike the rest. The one that spent her days smiling, and her nights crying. She's the girl that would love to be loved. The one that looks so damn strong, but feels so weak. She's the girl that picks herself up every time she falls."
Saw this quote on Instagram and the first thing that came to mind was 'that sounds so much like me'. This is when I am reminded that I am not the only one having a hard time or fighting a tough battle. There are others out there who are probably going through something similar. I thank Allah for these small little reminders that come my way once in awhile. D-14 to final exams.
In the middle of revision classes for Audit right now. Taking a short break and looking at photographs taken during our trip to Sydney in Winter. Yet to blog about it cos so many things happened after we got back from the trip : my uncle passed away suddenly, fasting month, Raya and the start of the new semester. Time flies so quickly!
It's raining heavily and I think it's time to make myself a cup of coffee cos I feel like dozing off anytime soon. Have a good weekend!
Revision month is when I find myself doing weird things to de-stress and this time round I started rapping and learning different Malay dialect songs. Not that I'm good at it but I guess the thrill of jumbling words up, not being able to keep up with the beat, mispronouncing words and wondering 'Eh what does this word mean?' is kinda fun. These 'loghat' songs aren't that bad after all, you know. I used to get so annoyed by the Rembau Most Wanted song whenever I hear it but here I am attempting to perfect my pronunciation and get the beat right. I even went through the trouble of finding out the meaning of the lyrics because I didn't really understand the Loghat Nogori at first. Then I proceeded to attempt the Botingkek song and I found myself being able to understand the N9 accent better.
I love how W.A.R.I.S writes about his 'state of nine', it's unique adat, the different suku (Did you know there's 12 suku in N9? I found out through his song), the issues about 'ughang kito' and of course the mention of makanan sodap. After listening to Botingkek, baru tahu kewujudan tempat bernama Senaling, where Juzzthin is from.
The thing about rap is that the lyrics is more like a conversation so one can actually write about more informal stuff or maybe I just haven't mastered the art of lyric writing. I'm halfway writing a song about my hometown, Johor Bahru and I'm stuck with the flow of the lyrics. Will have to work on that when final exams are over.
Here's an acoustic version of the Rembau Most Wanted song and my favourite part of the lyrics...
A great reminder for all of us :
Kojo tak kuek tapi berangan nak hidup sonang
Baik poie mampuih dari susah'an semuo ughang
which roughly translates to...
Not willing to work hard, but dream of having an easy life
Don't make it hard for others, You better go to h*ll
Botingkek
'Ado ghoto kalau dibelanjo
Ke jalan boto tak salah tu do
Masalah ughang kito
Takdo duit boghobut ghoto
Duit abih ontah komano
Monyosal kemudian takdo guno
Rumah tergadai nak tinggal kekno
Molopong yolah nak wek camno'
It's okay if property/money is spent on the right things,
The problem with our people is that
They don't have money, they fight for property (I assume inheritance?)
No more money, what was it spent on?
There's no point to regret later on
House is auctioned off, where will you stay?
I'm not sure of the meaning of the last sentence whether it's the standard BM word melopong or it's a loghat. Do drop a comment if you happen to know. Thanks!
This one by Zee Avi in the Sarawakian Malay language entitled Siboh Kitak Nangis meaning Don't You Cry.
Other classic loghat songs that I like would include .....
Found out about this song from Akademi Fantasia 4 champion, Faizal who used to sing many lagu loghat Ganu like Watimang Landok, Itik Gembo Gembo, Anak Udang and many others
Jambatan Tamparuli, a popular Kadazan-Dusun song
Na na na na na Ganu Kiterrrrr
One of my dad's favourite song, Apo Nak Dikato. I remember singing this at a karaoke session with uncles, aunties and cousins during Raya, so much fun!
On the topic of loghat, I still remember back in secondary school I would ask my friends to teach me their loghat because Johor's loghat is quite simple, nothing really fancy (unless you're talking about Bahasa Jowo spoken by Johoreans of Javanese ancestry, susah nak faham, I only know 'wes mangan?'). I picked up a few words here and there from...
Airina (her mum is from Peghok) like teman (saya), kome (similar to korang/kamu orang), ayor(air), deghoyan (durian), nakei (nakal) etc. Time marah or excited memang loghat Peghok keluar hehehe
Nuwaira (both her parents are from Nogori) Her mum cooks the best masak lemak cili api and rendang daging! When speaking to Nuwaira, most of the time I'd refer to myself as Den rather than the standard 'Aku'. We'll say things like 'Nak poie mano tu?' 'Den dah sampai dopan ghumah ni ha'...
Nadia (her dad is from Kedaq and they stayed there for a number of years) like ayer nyok (air kelapa), hangpa (korang/kamu orang), awat (apa hal?), lapaq (lapar), habaq mai (bagitau lah aku) and all the other Utara phrases.
Fatin (who's from Kelate) : kecek (cakap), abe (abang), ambo (saya), guano (macam mana), hite legea (hitam legam) etc. This has got to be the hardest loghat there is coz I couldn't string a sentence together, it took me years to understand them speaking in the first place.
We'd throw in words from the whole of Malaysia in our conversations because for most of us who grew up in KL, we get bored of the standard BM we use day to day so why not add in some words and create a whole new rojak language altogether.
When you put us on stage together, slang KL lah of course. This was a musical we put together during our graduation year in 2009 entitled Madu Tiga the Musical.
I really think these dialects are very precious to each and every state there is in Malaysia. With the migration of the orang kampung to bigger cities in search for better jobs, I hope they retain this important bit of them and teach their children how to speak in these loghats. I do know of some people who have moved to KL for many years and they slowly lose their accents because it's "not cool" to have a so called kampung accent but seriously that's what makes you unique.
It really is a nice scene whenever people from the same state meet in a big city like KL and they start talking away in their own distinctive language.
It would have been your birthday today, Mummy. I miss walking into the room early in the morning to wish you Happy Birthday and give you a birthday kiss. Losing you is definitely the hardest thing I have gone through thus far but it taught me many things too. Thank you for being a wonderful mother during the 20 years that He lent you to me. Words cannot express how much I miss you. Happy Birthday, Mum!
I promised to meet up with a friend for lunch at Sunway Pyramid and to have a group study session afterwards at the university library. It took some time for him to find a parking space so I thought I'd pay the bookstore a visit just to browse through some books. I was mainly at the Malaysian authors, biography and the history and politics section when I found a few interesting books that I wanted to buy. Knowing that it is revision month and I should be revising instead of being so nosy on real issues, I told myself that I'd come back after exams were over.
Just then, I saw these two books (I Am Muslim & King of the Sea) by Dina Zaman. Habislah, I thought. Sure enough, my hands reached for the books and without further hesitation, I was at the counter making payment. The number of books I've been buying for the past few months can surpass the amount of books I've bought in the past ten years, I think. *pats back*
My first Starbucks in half a year maybe? Tried out the Christmas Special : Toffee Nut Latte. And yes, this is where we ended up doing our group study. It was effective, surprisingly.
A few minutes after I uploaded this photo on Instagram, I found an emoticon comment by the writer herself! Sharp eyed Kak Dina Zaman ;)
I started reading 'I Am Muslim' on the day itself and I wish that my audit notes were as addictive as this book! Dream on, Liyana, Dream on!
Photo taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia during our Small & Big circuit temple tour
"I learnt the hard way that I cannot always count on others to respect my feelings, even if I respect theirs. Being a good person doesn't guarantee that others will be good people too. You only have control over yourself and how you choose to be as a person. As for the others, you can either choose to accept how they treat you or you can walk away"
I have come to the conclusion that this is the only way for me to be happy, to be able to live freely without expecting too much from others like I used to or else all this excess baggage would weigh me down as if I don't have enough on my plate already. I have dreams that I want to achieve in life, I can't be bothered with people who only belittle my ambitions just because they don't have the courage to chase theirs.
May and November are my revision months, where I spend everyday doing Past Year Questions and try to get myself into the whole 'I need to pass this paper' mode. I am repeating papers F8 (Audit and Assurance) and F5 (Performance Management) this semester. Hope I can finally pass these papers and move on to the other papers.
Oh God, the title of my blog post sounds so corny! Sekali sekala takpe lah ek? Maafkan adinda... I just rewatched the Puteri Gunung Ledang movie when I got bored of studying audit this evening which explains why I'm talking about 'cinta' or love in this post. 'Setiap orang punya impian, Impian itu yang bisa meneruskan kehidupan ini, Impian Dinda adalah untuk mendapatkan cinta sejati' - Gusti Putri Retno Dumillah
I guess we all need that tiny bit of hope that we will one day find true love. I never had a boyfriend as a matter of fact. I always placed importance on studies, family and music that I didn't get into a relationship like many of my peers did. I didn't feel the need to do so because I was happy with how things were. Now that 2014 is coming to an end, my younger cousins reminding me that I'm turning 23 next year and the 'Dah ada boyfriend ke belum?' 'Bila nak kahwin?' questions I constantly get at family gatherings, cousins and friends my age already engaged or about to get married, adalah a slight feeling of 'I wonder when will my turn come'.
For now, I'll first and foremost improve my relationship with God, finish off the remaining ACCA papers, travel to countries I have never been to, do more community service work, start my family history project and contribute back to the society in any way that I can.
I believe it has all been written by the Almighty so my other half will come at the right time. So here's to hoping I meet the one who would be my best friend and my Imam at the same time, the one who would believe in me even when I doubt my abilities, the one to share my joyous and sad times with, the one who would love me for who I am and the one who would grow old with me. Dah dah cukup, the list will keep going on sampai esok pagi pun tak habis. Since I'm on the topic of PGL, can't wait for the PGL reunion concert next March. Praying for Tiara Jacquelina's speedy recovery!
I found this amazing video of an orchestra performing the various songs from the Puteri Gunung Ledang movie. Soooo goood!
As an 'Anak Johor' who spent her first seven years living in Johor Bahru, I wanted to do something special for the JDT football team and the Johoreans who will be going out full force at the final match of Malaysia Cup in Bukit Jalil tomorrow night. Right after the semi final match between JDT and Felda United, I composed this simple song and recorded it quite last minute. My prayers are with you, JDT! Luaskan Kuasamu ! Feel free to drop a comment and tell me what you think about the song :) Have a great weekend!
