a stranger in a strange land. un inconnu dans un pays méconnu: novembre 2005

Something Stupid

I finally did it. I finally did my communication presentation today. Normally each group has about half an hour to present but my group took an hour, and i spoke for like 30 minutes. Ok I guess. Some grammar mistakes here and there. But somehow i can still not accept the fact that i somehow, accidentally, blurted a giggle in the middle of my presentation. I must've looked stupid.

Yesterday, after my Economics class the prof said 'Ok, now that the class has ended, put your things away, except for a pen'. Oh shit! Another surprise contrôle. 'Write about any recent economic happenings. You have 10 minutes' he said. And I was blank. I couldn't think of any. Surely Greenspan stepping down is a news, but I do not know the details. The privatisation of EDF (French TNB) is a news, but it's a month old. Luckily I remembered a news that i saw the day before while having dinner. The French will be taxed everytime they purchase a plane ticket issued in France, in order to help poor countries. Hang on, this sounds a bit illogical, i thought to myself. Did I imagined that news? 'You have 5 more minutes'. Oh what the heck. I wrote everything I saw (or imagined i saw), and wrote in like 5 lines instead of 8 that he asked. Later I asked my friends if they've heard anything about it. No one heard of it. That's it, I was imagining that news. But when I got home later in the day, I went online and checked. Such tax has been approved by the parliament 2 days before. Ah hah! So I was not imagining things. Thank goodness.

Taken

I have not been updating because I was not feeling well for last few days. It's end November, but winter is already, not only knocking on the door, it's already INSIDE. I hate changing seasons. I always get sick. And I will sleep when I'm sick. And that's what I did last Saturday. Woke up at 8, slept from 1230 to 1300 while waiting for Syazwan, and from 1400 to 1800, then from 2000 until 1000 the next day. So i guess my headache is not from the fever, but from having to much sleep.

Today's maximum temperature was 4. It's like living in a freezer. No wonder those vegetable sellers at the Wazemme market don't worry about their freshness ( the vegies of course, not the sellers ).

Yesterday I did something terrible. Something that I have been trying not to do for the last 4 years. But I shouldn't be saying this especially on the Internet, but I'll give you a clue; It has something to do with Harry Potter. Oh I felt so guilty. A true fan will never do it. But I'll blame it on the French. It's their fault for not understanding English.

Speaking of Harry Potter, it was on the news today. Bla bla bla, movie's coming out this Wednesday, bla bla bla, fourth film, bla bla bla, very dark and full of emotions, bla bla bla, main actor is the second richest teenager in UK after Prince William, bla bla bla... hang on, wait a second. Second richest after Prince William? Meaning he's even richer than Prince Henry? And he's only 16! That is not fair! I'm 18 and I'm the 1,967,982nd richest teenager in Malaysia (please note that it was a randomly selected number and was not taken from any ranking list).

Let's talk about something else. Today half of my group took the english test. The other half will be taking it this Friday (including me; that reminds me that i have a german test as well this Friday). I asked them how was it. They said it was hard. Ok. Then I asked the Nicaraguan? Nicaraguese? girl. I have to say that she's the only person i think who can actually speak english in my group. We even make fun of the others when they mispronunce the words (to hired = to haieghed, or even worse to heeghed) . And she has an american accent. Back to the story. So she said it was tough. Ok. And she told me that there was a dialogue with a Scottish accent. Not Ok. Scottish? I thought we're learning English? I normally have problems understanding Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents. I'm not complaining about the accents, I mean everyone has an accent; Malaysians, Singaporeans, Australians,.... French, but when it comes to giving a test, shouldn't the prof be using the standard english?

Oh for cying out loud! Second richest? He's only 16! If you think I'm just jealous, well, yes I am.

I didn't know they show Taken here in France. It's on the SerieClub channel. I'm not really a fan of Taken, but I think it's a good show.

Some secrets we keep. Some are kept from us

My mom told me once that when you're afraid of something, what you want more than anything else is to make it go away. You want your life back to the way it was before you found out that there was something to be afraid of. You want to build a high wall and live your old life behind it. But nothing ever stays the same. That's not your old life at all. That's your new life with a wall around it. Your choice is not about going back to the way things were. Your choice is about hiding, or about going right to the heart of the thing that scares you.

Sometimes the best way to move into the unknown is to take familiar steps, small steps. To do ordinary things to deal with something that is in no way ordinary. We're always going someplace new, all the time. Familiar things just let us pretend that we aren't moving into unfamiliar territory. You take those small familiar steps, and you try to be honest, not to live as if nothing had changed but still to go on with your life. But there are times when what you need is a piece of how things used to be

When you're little, you like to think you know everything, but the last thing you really want is to know too much. What you really want is for grown-ups to make the world a safe place where dreams can come true and promises are never broken. And when you're little, it doesn't seem like a lot to ask.

Even when we know we'll never find the answers, we have to keep on asking questions.

People talk a lot as if the most important thing in life is to always see things for what they really are. But everything we do, every plan we make, is kind of a lie. We're closing our eyes and pretending that the day won't ever come when we won't need to make any more plans. Hope is the biggest lie there is, and it is the best. We have to keep going as if it all mattered, or else we wouldn't keep going at all.

People say that when we grow up, we kick at everything we've been told, we rebel against the world our parents worked so hard to bring us into, that part of growing of is kicking at the ties that bind. But I don't think that's why we kick at all. I think we kick when we find out that our parents don't know much more about the world than we do. They don't have all the answers. We rebel when we find out that they've been lying to us all along, that there isn't any Santa Claus at all.

Is every moment of our lives built into us before we're born? If it is, does that make us less responsible for the things we do? Or is the responsibility built in too? After you hit the ball, do you stand and wait to see if it goes out, or do you start running and let nature take its course?

The hardest thing you'll ever learn is how to say goodbye.

What makes a man who he is? Is it the worst things he's ever done, or the best things he wants to be? When you find yourself in the middle of your life and you're nowhere near of where you were going, how do you find the way from the person you've become to the one you know you could have been?

Second richest?

ralat

As I was searching the net for a picture of the 2€ from Monaco, i realised that the only Monaco coin with two heads is the 1€ coin, and the heads face right. I have two heads facing left. Could this mean i have a very rare coin? I hoped to soon. Later I found out it's not Monégasque at all. It's just a belgian coin. But not any kind of belgian coin. A Commemorative coin. Which is coined only once. So it IS quite rare.

saperlipopette

No it's not another entry of world's longest words. Saperlipopette is the french equivalent to 'opocot mak kau'.

Ah, today is one of those days where everything seems perfect, though those kind of days do not come by very often. I got my second (hopefully not the last) full marks for a test. I got 10/10 for my Economics contrôle; which is the equivalent of a kuiz in MRSM system (not UPSS, not Semester). Not only this is good news because i got the full marks, but also because this means, the next contrôle, i can get basically any marks between 0 and 10, and I'll still have my needed average. This doesn't mean i can now close my books and notes of course, but this means, that no matter how hard the contrôle might be, i can still get over with it. But then there's still the evaluation week in Mid January of course. But let's not talk about that shall we?

Yesterday, as i was about to pay my kebab, i noticed something particuliar about the 2€ coin that i took from my pocket. Instead of having 1 head, it has 2 heads (literally. heads as in a body part, not as in head and tail). It's a 2€ piece from Monaco. One of the rarest piece in the Euro coins collection (the rarest being the Vatican coins). Dinie was proud having a 2 cents coin from either Monaco or San Marino. But me, I have a 2 € coin. Beat that! Should i keep it, or should i put it on bid on eBay?

And yesterday, the word Malaisie appeared in the crosswords. Oh, I am so proud.

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

As you might have known, the french national sport is, no doubt, the strike. And this week there's a striking (pun intended) sporting event. The University's restaurants are on strike from Tuesday 'til Thursday. Meaning we needto find alternative food source for lunch. Yesterday we ate at Flunch, today we bought sandwiches from Paul's, and tomorrow, we have not yet decided where to eat. And in times like these, we realised how we really appreciate the restaurants' food; though it tastesbad, it's cheap. With only 2.70€ you get a main dish, and 3 side dishes, be it desert and entrée, or just plain deserts, like I always do.

I was supposed to be presenting my Communication project together with Maxime and Elise today, but since last week's group didn't manage to finish in time, they continued today, which delays today's first group. That means we only have 15 minutes left to present our project, which is impossible since we have loads of videos to show. So the prof decided to postpone our group to next week, where we will be having a Communication test as well. Neat.

Do you have a PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS problem? Next time when you're in Germany, you might want to visit a DONAUDAMPFSCHIFFAHRTSELEKTRIZITAETENHAUPTBETRIEBSWERKBAUUNTERBEAMTENGESELLSCHAFT.
And to any physics student in Malaysia, could you explain to me what is MENYETIDAKNYAHCASDIVERSIFIKASIELEKTROSTATIKKAN? And for my french friends, do not use the elevator anymore, it's ANTICONSTITUTIONNELLEMENT wrong, it's for the handicaps.

No, I did not type those letters randomly with my keyboard. The first word is the longest english word which means a lung disease caused by breathing in certain particles. The second one is, of course, the longest word in german, and probably in any language with 80 letters which means "the club for subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services (name of a pre-war club in Vienna),". The third one is the longest malay word which i have never heard of. I thought the longest word was memperkotakkatikkan. The last word is the longest word in french, which i don't find it long at all. C'est NUL. But do you know which word is really the longest in the world? It's smiles . Why? Because there's a mile between the first and the last letter. ;)

Tandas itu Tandas kita

Tahukan anda hari apakah hari ini?

Hari Tandas tingkat kesedaran

KUALA LUMPUR: Hari Tandas Sedunia yang disambut serentak di seluruh negara semalam, bertujuan meningkatkan kesedaran orang ramai mengenai pentingnya memiliki tandas yang bersih bagi menjamin kualiti hidup.

Hari Tandas Sedunia, yang diasaskan Pertubuhan Tandas Sedunia (WTO) dan disambut setiap 19 November adalah untuk menyedarkan orang ramai bahawa tandas yang tidak dijaga dengan baik boleh menjadi punca kepada merebaknya pelbagai jenis penyakit .

Di SHAH ALAM, Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan mengesyorkan supaya tandas di kira-kira 10,000 sekolah di seluruh negara dinaik taraf dengan teknologi terkini.

Timbalan Menterinya, Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew, berkata kementerian itu yang bertindak sebagai penyelaras sedang berbincang dengan Kementerian Pelajaran ke arah pelaksanaannya.

Sehubungan itu, katanya, Sirim Berhad sudah diminta mereka bentuk tandas mengikut standard bagi kegunaan tertentu dan kini di peringkat akhir penyesuaian.

"Kemudahan dalaman tandas juga perlu diubah, misalnya penggunaan pengepam air automatik yang lebih lasak," katanya pada sidang media selepas melancarkan Pembersihan Tandas Awam Serentak bagi seluruh negara di Laman Budaya, di sini, semalam.

Dalam perkembangan sama, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) mengeluarkan 33 kompaun terhadap pemilik restoran bagi tempoh Januari hingga Oktober selepas tidak menyelenggara tandas dengan sempurna.

Pengarah Jabatan Kesihatan DBKL, Dr Zainol Ariffin Pawan Chee, berkata bagi tempoh yang sama sebanyak 513 amaran dan 546 notis perintah sudah dikeluarkan terhadap pemilik premis dan pengendali tandas awam di ibu kota.

“Kesemua 68 tandas awam di ibu kota ini dibahagikan kepada tiga kategori iaitu A, B dan C mengikut kepada tahap kebersihan dan penyelenggaraan tandas masing-masing,” katanya selepas melakukan pemeriksaan tandas di restoran, pusat beli belah dan stesen minyak membabitkan empat zon Cheras, Klang Lama, Kepong dan Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, semalam.

Di GEORGETOWN, Sebilangan besar pelancong yang melawat Pulau Pinang masih tidak berpuas hati dengan tahap kebersihan tandas awam yang disediakan.

Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP), Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib, berkata selain vandalisme, terdapat juga masalah lain seperti reka bentuk dan peralatan kurang sesuai dipasang di tandas awam.

"Sebagai langkah meningkatkan kualiti tandas awam, MPPP memperuntukkan RM1 juta bagi kerja menaiktaraf, manakala RM45,000 lagi untuk penyelenggaraan," katanya.

Di KUALA TERENGGANU, Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh belum berpuas hati dengan tahap kebersihan tandas awam di bandar ini dan meminta Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Terengganu (MPKT) meningkatkan segera tahap kebersihannya.

Beliau yang meninjau tahap kebersihan tandas awam sebagai persiapan kejohanan Perahu Layar Piala Monsun yang bermula 27 November ini berkata, semua tandas perlu sentiasa bersih terutama pada waktu puncak.

"Saya masih kurang berpuas hati dengan tahap kebersihan tandas awam walaupun MPKT sudah meningkatkan kemudahan tandas awam, termasuk memasang jubin bagi keselesaan orang ramai,” katanya.

Di JOHOR BAHARU, Sebanyak 16 restoran di sekitar Johor Baharu diarah ditutup dalam tempoh Januari sehingga September lalu kerana tidak menyelenggarakan tandas masing-masing dengan sempurna.

“Semua tandas ini didapati terlalu kotor,” kata Datuk Bandar Johor Baharu Datuk Wahid Dahalan kepada pemberita pada majlis Kempen Kesedaran dan Kebersihan Tandas Awam sempena Hari Tandas Sedunia di sini, semalam.

Kesemua premis berkenaan masing-masing dikompaun RM250 mengikut Undang-Undang Kecil Tandas Awam MBJB 2003 kerana tidak mengurus dan menjaga tandas kegunaan awam dalam keadaan bersih.

Di IPOH: Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI) akan mempamerkan nombor talian hotline di setiap tandas awam di bandaraya itu bagi memudahkan pengguna melaporkan terus kerosakan atau kegiatan vandalisme di kawasan kemudahan awam itu.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kerajaan Tempatan negeri, Datuk Chang Ko Youn berkata, cadangan itu bagi membolehkan pengguna terus membuat aduan terhadap pihak berkuasa supaya tindakan segera dapat diambil.

"Jika selama ini nombor aduan kerosakan merangkumi semua jenis kerosakan membabitkan kerajaan tempatan, kali ini kita akan sediakan nombor hotline khusus untuk pengguna melaporkan mengenai kerosakan tandas awam,” katanya selepas melancarkan Kempen Kebersihan Tandas Awam peringkat MBI di sini, semalam.

Di MELAKA: Datuk Bandar Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah (MBMB), Datuk Zaini Md Nor mengarahkan semua ahli majlis menjadikan sekurang-kurangnya dua tandas awam di sekitar bandaraya sebagai anak angkat masing-masing.

Beliau yang mengambil dua tandas awam iaitu di Taman Bunga Bandaraya dan Hadapan Memorial Kemerdekaan di Bandar Hilir sebagai anak angkat berkata, kaedah itu akan memudahkan MBMB memantau tahap kebersihan tandas awam di sekitar bandaraya.

"Oleh itu, saya mahu 15 ahli majlis MBMB mengambil sekurang-kurang dua tandas awam sebagai anak angkat," katanya kepada pemberita selepas mengadakan operasi pemantauan tandas awam peringkat Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah di Mahkota Parade, di sini, semalam.

Ihsan dari Berita Harian...

Jadi sudahkah anda mengucapkan selamat hari tandas kepada tandas anda hari ini? Seperti anda, tandas anda juga mempunyai perasaan, ingin dibelai dimanja. Jadikan hari ini hari istimewa untuk tandas anda. Luangkan masa anda bersamanya.

Sometimes I wonder if Berita Harian has ever consider changing its name to Berita Hairan. And after reading this article, i cannot help myself from laughing. With all those steps taken by the goverment, we can still laugh at Singapore when they have the cleanest toilets contest?

dinaik taraf dengan teknologi terkini. -
Sirim Berhad sudah diminta mereka bentuk tandas mengikut standard - The next thing to do is to get ISO 9000 for the toilets

misalnya penggunaan pengepam air automatik yang lebih lasak - lebih lasak atau lebih tahan lasak? why must a water flush be lasak?

Kesemua 68 tandas awam di ibu kota ini dibahagikan kepada tiga kategori iaitu A, B dan C mengikut kepada tahap kebersihan dan penyelenggaraan tandas masing-masing - And I'm sure 80 percent of them are Cs. I think this is a good step. Just like those restaurants grades we have. Imagine having an A restaurant with C toilets.

terdapat juga masalah lain seperti reka bentuk dan peralatan kurang sesuai dipasang di tandas awam - seperti?

semua tandas perlu sentiasa bersih terutama pada waktu puncak. - during peak periods, you'll need MORE toilets not CLEANER toilets, but having both doesn't hurt.

Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI) akan mempamerkan nombor talian hotline di setiap tandas awam di bandaraya itu - And then what? Send the public toilets squad? Oh, I have a good name for them, instead of SWATS, we'll name then SQUATS

Datuk Zaini Md Nor mengarahkan semua ahli majlis menjadikan sekurang-kurangnya dua tandas awam di sekitar bandaraya sebagai anak angkat masing-masing. - Awww, isn't that thoughtful? I'm touched.

Nein!!!

I have my first german test in two weeks time. Nein!!!
Let's try translating that into german shall we?

Ich habe mein erster test (ab? im?) zwei wochen. <-- seriously, i'm only 50 percent sure of it

Ach Friday. I love Fridays, where everything else doesn't matter anymore as the weekend is approaching. I was bored in English today. So after i've finished the work that the prof gave us, i began to 'play' with Paint. Not knowing what to draw or paint, I just wrote 'pourquoi' (=why). The i exited Paint and made it my wallpaper. Not realising that people saw my wallpaper, i began to play with my stationaries. Then the prof began discussing the answers for the excercise. I pretended that i was listening, and half heartedly note down the answers. Suddenly the prof looked at the guy next to me. "Done with you work of art Mr?". The guy was in Paint. "Mr Zamali 'Pourquoi?', Mr X ' Parce que ', Mr Y ' Pourquoi pas?' ". The guy next to me painted 'Because' (it's a french thing actually. when you ask 'why', if the person doesn't know or doesn't want to answer, he'll say 'because'). And the guy next to him painted 'Why Not?'. Rather hillarious I must say, looking at three parallel computers with screen saying Why? Because. Why not?

Ich bin dreisprachiges? malaysisches französisches englisches

I love Lille. I love the city, I love the people, I just love it. But I hate the weather.

In Colmar, you don't get rain that often, but if it rains, you'll get a heavy downpour. Lille is the total opposite. It rains almost everyday now (it's autumn), but it doesn't rain that heavy. If you stand in the rain, it's as if you're standing near a sprinkler where the water droplets are really tiny, that when it hits your face, especially when it's cold, it feels like needles. What's worse, since it rains almost everyday, the clouds stay in the sky, as if they're trying to say "we'll be back again tomorrow, so we might as well stay".

My classmates always say how lucky I am to be a trilingue (a person who speaks 3 languages), and i always reply to them "Trilingue? How can I be a trilingue when I can only speak one language fluently? I may be able to speak 2 extra languages, but that doesn't make me a trilingue". I mean, it's true. I speak Malay. I don't see how I can be lucky by being able to speak Malay. I mean I am proud of my language, but on the global platform, the furthest that it may take me is in Irian Jaya. And sorry to say this, but I am not an English speaker. Yes I can speak English, but that doesn't make me bilingual. I mean the woman behind the SNCF counter can speak English as well, but I do NOT consider her as an English speaker just because it's written 'english spoken' above her counter. Furthermore, for those who've heard me speaking English, will understand what i mean. I'm far from speaking the Queen's English, but I have to say I'm slightly at a higher level than the average Malaysian or French. But seriously, I think my spoken English is getting better eversince I came to France. I make less grammar mistakes, and I do have more confidence in me, eventhough the fact that being in a non English speaking country makes me forget certain amount of vocabulary. In terms of speaking, I think I speak better French than English nowadays. I realise that I can converse in French more comfortably and confidently with my classmates here that conversing in English with my classmates in Sunway College. But I still make grammatical msitakes, especially when it comes to gender (la ristourne et pas le ristourne). And I still have problems in reading comprehension, especially this morning when we had to read an article on GDP in Economics. So let's make a report card on language fluency shall we?

Bahasa Melayu
Pemahaman Pembacaan: Baik
Pemahaman Pertuturan: Baik
Pemahaman Pendengaran: Baik
Penulisan: Baik
Tatabahasa: Baik

English
Reading Comprehension: Good
Oral Comprehension: Fair
Listening Comprehension: Fair (depends on the person's accent actually)
Writing: Good
Grammar: Fair

Français
Compréhension Lecture: Moyen (j'ai du mal quand c'est trop technique ou littéraire)
Compréhension Orale: Bien
Compréhension Ecoute: Bien (sauf si la personne n'ouvre pas sa bouche)
Ecrite: Bien
Grammaire: Moyen

This is how I evaluate myself in language. It's wholly personal. People might not agree with it (better or worse). And as you can see I am a monolingual, and I am much more confident speaking French than English.

Why all of the sudden am I so interested in my language skills? Because the other day I felt as if my English is getting worse, so I blurted out in the lecture hall "I have not spoken English for quite a long time now!". Then a classmate asked me "When was the last time you spoke English?". I answered "In Malaysia of course". She asked me back "With who? I thought you speak Malay with everyone?". That was when I realised, she has a point.

Je ne suis pas un choix

La raison ou la passion? Ce qui est simple ou ce qui est juste? Faut-il investir pour être parmi les premiers, ou faut-il attendre comme les autres? Quelquefois la vie nous emmène à des situations où nous devons faire une décision. Une décision qui peut tout changer. Une décision qui justifie qui sommes-nous. Nous sommes comme à un carrefour où nous devons décider quelle voie choisir. Et quand nous avons décidé, il n'y a plus de choix; il faut continuer la voie jusqu'à ce qu'on arrive à un autre carrefour où la situation se repète. Toute au long de la voie entre les deux carrefours, nous nous posons la question, ou plutôt le doute, et si nous avons pris un autre voie? Tant pis. Ce qui est fait, est fait. Même si ce n'est pas la meilleure décision, nous ne pouvons plus rien faire que d'espérer qu'à la prochaine fois, nous allons faire un meilleur choix. Alors, ai-je fait le bon choix?

Country road, take me home
To the place I belong...

What's easy might not always be what's right

When I just arrived in France last year, a senior told me this "All the stupid white men have either migrated to The US or to Australia. All that's left in Europe are the smart ones ". How true is this? Was he brain washed by a french who tried to instill the idea of "we french may not know how to speak English, but we're not stupid".

Today I went to Belgium (again) with Syazwan. This time we took the bus instead of the metro, and we arrived in a town, which is not that bad (the size of Selestat maybe?), Mouscron in French or Moeskroen in Flamish. Really, we didn't plan this trip actually, we had the idea just before going to the mosque for friday prayers. And my hypothesis that time passes very-very-very extremely slowly in Belgium was proven yesterday. We arrived at around 1545 and we walked very slowly around the town , and got to the town center. We thought we must've been there for like at least an hour, but no, it was just 1615. And so we walked and walked, and we've finished the whole town by 1645. So we headed to the nearest bus stop and saw that the next bus to Lille is at 1718, from that bus stop. Syazwan suggested that we walk back to the bus station where we got off (Mouscron Gare). I said no, it's a long walk back to that station, i wouldn't want to risk it, since the next bus would be at 1815. I would't want to spend an hour doing nothing in Belgium... especially in Belgium. But I gave in finally, and we walked back to the station. We must've walked for like 30 minutes, but no, when i checked my watch, it was only 1700. And when we got to the station it was only 1705. We still had time. So we took pictures at the train station which was just next to the bus station, and when the bus came, we headed back to Lille.

Today is actually a public holiday in France. It's the Armistice, the day where the First World War ended. To commemorate the day, we decided to watch a movie called Joyeux Noel. It's a movie about three sides (Scottish, French and German) fighting a battle during the WW I around christmas. They were fighting each other everyday. Like most war movies, soldiers miss home, miss wife, soldiers cry, soldiers fight, soldiers run, soldiers eat, soldiers fight, and soldiers cry again. But at Christmas Eve, the Scottish played their bagpipes, and the Germans sang opera, in their own trenches (and the french? well, they ate their christmas meal quietly). Then, the german opera singer came out of the trench, the scotts got excited, and both sides got out of their trenches (and the french? they were still eating their meal quietly). The lieutenants of both sides met, and shook hands (by this time the french were eavesdropping the two sides from their trench). The french lieutenant was called out and the three sides decided on a cease fire. Soldiers from the three sides met each other for the first time and exchanged photos of their wives. On Christmas day, they played football and buried their dead. Higher officials on all three sides knew about this, and disbaned their units. Story ends.

Two points that i would like to point out from this movie. Firstly, the uniforms. The germans were wearing gray-green and the scottish were wearing dark-green, both are good for camouflage. And as for the french, they were wearing dark blue (not navy blue) and red. They still had time to put a touch of glamour to their uniforms even when they go to war. Secondly, in the movie, the German lieutenant could speak german, french and english, the French lieutenant could speak french and english (because of which i would say that this movie is fictionous), while the Scottish could only speak english, with a scottish accent. It shows that even when you're fighting against the English, you still need to be able to speak it, whereas when you're english, you need not to bother learning your enemy's language, since they'll be able to communicate in yours.

I learnt a lesson today; We need to choose what is right and what is easy. I chose what was easy, and really regret that I've made that decision. I will not elaborate that point any further. Thank you.

Eyes in the Skies

I was walking back happily to my hostel. I walk through the green space that resembles a small forest between the metro station and the main IUT building. I looked around and I saw no one. Ok, this is it, I've been holding it for hours. So i did what i had to do. I dug my nose. 30 minutes later, while surfing the net happily at home, i received an email warning me not to dig my nose anymore in public places. It's disgusting. And the email said, if ever i dig my nose again, they'll send to everyone i know a copy of the picture that they've taken by satellite that shows me digging my nose passionately.

The story above, however funny and shocking it may be, is NOT true. I don't dig my nose in public. And didn't receive any email.

What I was trying to say is, we have certainly lost our privacy in this fast growing digital age. Have you heard of Google Earth? It's a software that you can download for free from google, that actually shows you satellite images of the earth surface, and in some places with a very precise detail. I mean, for someone who's ignorant, like you, who just found out that such software exists, for instance, this is something cool. I mean you can actually see how your house looks like from space. That's the problem. Someone, can see, observe, study, spy on your house without even you knowing about it. With the free Google Earth, you can actually get images with the visibility upto thousand feet above sea level. If you purchase the software, you can get a better visibility upto afew hundred feet. But that's what's offered to the public. We do not know how detail are the images that were not offered to the public. I've even heard that the maximum is 2 meters above sea level. That means the guy who controls the satellite can, probably, see if i got dandruffs or not. So that's why i gave the digging one's nose example earlier. So remember, if you really want to dig your nose, even if there's no one around, Big Brother is watching you from the skies.

I got back my maths paper today. Not bad. I think i got the highest in my class. 13/20. And i got full marks for the last question. Translate terms in French into English and vice versa. And remember the guy who said that i actually used cable to get into IUT? He actually asked me today if i could help him in maths. And the other day he already asked me to help him in Accounts. Me, being a person who hates berdendam (ye ke?) told him "yeah, ok". And just like i told you in my previous post, the Frenchies have a really big problem when it comes to English. I really had a good laugh looking at their answers for the last question. Oh I'm so mean.

This is not Lille, but my University Campus. As you can see it's 15 minutes by metro from Lille. Note that the building where my classes are, was still under construction when they took this picture. Walaupun dekat dengan London, Paris and Brussels, rumah jugak yang jauh.

Bukit Jelutong. Unfortunately, they have not taken a satelite picture of Shah Alam yet. So there's no clear picture of my house from the sky. Which is good since i wouldn't want anybody to take picture of my house without me knowin about it.

this is Subang Jaya SS 14 and 18; the place where i grew up. We moved to the house in SS 18 in 1993 before moving out to Shah Alam in 2003

Lu Slim La Beb !!

I'm not fat, I'm just a little overweight
I know, right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not fat, I'm just a little overweight
I know, right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be... me!

Well, I modified the lyrics from Unwell by Matchbox 20 a couple of years ago. A way to self motivate? Well, you can say that. But it was just for a laugh actually.

As usual today, i came back from class and turned on my computer. I logged in to my first email. Opened my new messages, and logged out to log into my second account. If you're an MSN Hotmail user, I'm sure you know that when you log out of your account you'll be directed straight to the msn.com page. And usually they have a few headlines of articles that keep on changing from one to another. As i was about to click on the log in link, a title caught my eye. Fat!So? Well, of course i was dying (well maybe not) to know what it's all about. So I clicked on the title, and was directed to the article. I couldn't help myself from laughing and sighing at the same time. In the US there're associations, health departments and programmes that fight the problems of the growing number of overweight and diabetic people. But that was not what the article was all about. It's about a few associations who are actually trying to raise the self esteem of overweight people by saying ; there's nothing wrong being fat. There's actually a book that came out with the title Fat!So? (i was thinking of buying it online, but i rather not). Fatso, is a name that is given to those who are, well, Fat. It's mean. It's just mean to call people fatso. So the title Fat!So? is actually a jeu de mots (playing with words). Yeah I'm Fat! So? is basically what it means.

Well I know I'm fat. Wait! No. I'm overweight. It sounds milder. And I'm doing everything I can to reduce my weight right now. Cut on sugar, cut on oil, cut on meat, cut on bread and cut on almost everything else. But sometimes, when you cut out too much, you'll feel like you're missing something, feeling something's lost, and so you try to retrieve what is lost. That's the dangerous part. Meaning you'll eat as usual again. If you don't realise it soon enough, you'll ended putting on weight instead of loosing them actually. Err... Well look who's giving advice on dieting eh?

I've lost 17 kgs last year. So I'm targeting to lose at least the same amount this year. Apalagi, support aa. Kimi! Kimi! Kimi!

you speaking french?

If you're an english speaking person, and you like to travel, the whole world is heaven, but France is definitely hell.

You're in a foreign land, you want to ask someone where the bus station is. "Excuse me could you tell me where the bus station is?"

In Malaysia you'll probably hear this
"The bas stesen? You go stret, at the trefik light you tern rait"

In India the lady you asked might not answer straight away, instead she'll yell "Nandini! Nandini!" calling another girl who's just behind her. She'll strike a conversation with the other lady in their own indian dialect, but you're quite sure they're discussing about a bus station as the word keeps on being repeated in english throughout their conversation. At last, one of the will answer as the following:
"To get to the bus staysion, you walk straight, and you turn ride at the traffic lighde"

In Japan, already, when you're asking your question, the young lady would nod her head, if not bow, after each two words you speak, and she'll answer
"Hai, you waruku suturetto, atto do turaffikku raitto, you turuno rraittu" and she'll bow to you again when you reply thank you. Be sure to bow back to her also, but if she bows again after that, do not bow back, as this cycle might last 5 minutes.

Now in France, the first guy you ask to, will no longer takes interest in your question as soon as he heard you speaking English. The next person will say "Basse Station? (low station), Desolé je ne parle pas anglais" and walks away. The 14th person you ask to ( which by this time you might as well give up and have a go with your map reading skills), if you're lucky enough, actually understands your question. And his answer will depend on his english level. The following answer would be from a person with a very impressive level.
" To go to ze buzz stassion, you continue tout droit, and at ze tghaffique light, you tughn a droite"

Note that the most important information, the direction, is left untranslated, for two reasons. He doesn't know the word in english, or he doesn't even bother to translate it since he thought you might've guessed it anyway.

Seriously, I think France is the country with the least english speaking people.

Hari ni bawak kuih raya sikit pergi kelas. Cuba teka apa habis dulu? Mestilah tempeyek yang sedap. Diorang suka kuih raya, and favourite diorang ialah Almond London yang mak buat. Tapi diorang kata kuih bawang tu pedas. Pedas ke?

On the wrong side of the English Channel

Sometimes i wonder if I made the right decision coming to France, when all of my life I've been dreaming of going to England. But it's nothing serious really. It's just a thought...

Got my parcel from my parents today. Time Kaseh Mak! (Mak, kimi duduk dekat Lille bukan Laille). Tak sangka harga pos cam gitu sekali.
Well i got the usual raya parcel; tempeyek, kuih bawang, biskut almond london, kerepek ubi, kuah kacang, and kad raya. But i was dissappointed that the thing that i was waiting for was not in the parcel. Ibu sirap. Aihh... Takpelah, next year balik Malaysia borong sekarton.

Well i woke up earlier that my usual waking up time for monday mornings to get to the city center to retrieve my parcel. I brought a plastic bag so that i wouldn't have to cary the box all the way across the town. But the bag was not big enough, so I was like hugging the box all the way to the metro station. At the ticket validation machine, there were 2 Métro Prévention staff. They were looking at me and my parcel suspiciously. While i was walking down the stairs, i saw there was a metro just arrived so i hurried down the stairs and ran to catch the metro. I made it, but there i was in the metro, Asian looking, with a parcel, sweating, and i keep checking my watch (because i thought iwas late for class). Well of course people was looking at me. They must've thought i'm a terrorist waiting to explode myself in the metro. After a few stations I couldn't stand it any longer having eyes looking at me, i took out my 20 minutes, and did the new number game, Sudoku. Hell, it was easy.

Yesterday is the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire World Premiere in London, which i missed the live telecast on the net because i was at the laundry. Tomorrow is the premiere in Paris (I think. That's what they've been saying in the french HP forums). I was thinking of going, but then again paying 30€ just to see a bunch of actors walking through a crowd, without even the guarantee of taking pictures with them or even getting their autographs, and the fact that I'm not one of the invités , which means i won't be getting to see it, i think i'll have to pass. Baik pergi Paris masa Mawi datang nanti. Ahahahahaharubiru.

Diriku hanya insan biasa,
miliki naluri yang sama...

aucun pays n'est parfait

No country is perfect. Including France. Usually when people talk about France the Eiffel tower comes to mind. Champs-Elysées, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, perfume, expensive designer clothes, TGV, wines, champagne, cheese and lots more. But that's just the surface. If you look further, you'll see unemployment, poverty, decreasing quality of life, homeless, decentralization, beggars, social aids to the poor and less fortunates, and the list just goes on. And these might just be the reason for the recent suburban upraisals that began some 10 days ago.

I don't actually know how did it actually started, I haven't been following the news, not since 2 days ago. But from what I heard on the télé, basically the youth in the cités (the less popular quarters of a city - in Malaysia it's the equivalence of setinggan) is not satisfied with the way the government is handling the problems in these cités; unemployement, discrimination, racisme, and other social problems. And furthemore, the government sent the police to make roundings in these areas to keep an eye on the youths; who're always suspected up to no good. So the youth feels uncomfortable that they're being watched and that their welfare is not taken care of by the government. So they decided, seperately, to launch uprisals in the suburban Paris; which is made up mostly of these sort of cités. They work in small groups of not more than five. They burn cars, shops, busses, and schools. At first these incidents are only in Paris. But as if they just had their callings, the youth in other cities also launched upraisals in their own city, notably the suburban areas. These new attacks in the province (anywhere else outside the capital) are basically copy and paste operations; they employed a similar modus operandi as the ones in Paris. The Reserve Unit was dispatched to these areas to take control of the situation and they managed to arrest some 200 suspects (they burnt up to 800 cars in 10 days). And to everyone's surprise, some of them are only 13 or 14 years old.

Almost every night in the news they showed Lille as one of the target cities, but seriously and luckily, I've not actually heard or seen one.

I'm not sure why is he pointing his gun to the houses

This is not Baghdad nor Gaza. This is Paris, the city of lights

No. This is not a suicide bombing in the streets of Baghdad. It's a car burnt by angry mob in the outskirts of Paris, France

As you can see it's all over of France. And these are only the major cities that were hit by the suburb upraisals. There are almost 50 other more cities or town with the same problem. And i purposely marked Paris with a huge circle because it's not only in Paris but also the towns and cities around it.

the boy who missed

I, Mohd Hakimi Zamali, has actually missed the live World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because I was at the laundry. Talk about time management.

Do you think I should go the Premiere of Harry Potter this Tuesday in Paris?

Perempuan Gila Anak Sudagar Penipu-crazy lady daughter of a cheating merchant

Hello Sabarina kekasih lama. Sudah lama kita tidak jumpa ya? Er, Sabarina, saya ada rekod baru untuk Sabarina

-Lagu apa?

Perempuan Gila Anak Saudagar Penipu

-Ada-ada sajalah.

Kedai ni aja yang jual, kedai lain takde

Wahaha, rindunya 3 Abdul. Irfan, poskan aku CD tu.

I'm so bored today. I was chatting with my french friends on MSN, when one of them asked me what song was i listening to. He couldn't understand the song title that was written next to my nick name. So I told him it's a malay song. And he asked me to translate it in french. I did. And that was when i realised, it didn't make any sense at all. So since i was bored, i went to my Windows Media Player and translated every Malay song that i have into French. Some do make sense, but others are just unacceptable.

Bukan Cinta Biasa - Un Amour Anormal Cinta yang pelik
Janji Manismu - Ta Promesse Sucrée Janji Bergulamu
Cinta Beralih Arah - L'Amour Qui A Changé Le Sens Cinta yang tertukar arah
Perpisahan Terasing - Une Séparation Séparée Perpisahan yang terpisah
Pudar - Flou Kabur
Dengarkanlah - Ecoute S'Il Te Plait Tolonglah Dengar

Banyak lagilah

But then again, you can never translate a malay song into any other language, while you can easily translate any song in any language into malay.

Try translating Cindai to English. I bet my newly bought Taillefine Strawberry Yogurt that you can never make it.

Bloody Hell

Putain!!! Il é cho le controle de math aujourd'hui. Arghh!!! Chuis stressé dès ke je sors de la salle. J'été tro stressé ke g fait qqch d'extraordinaire ds le cours de droit; j'y ai participé!! g fait des remarques, g posé des questions... qqch ke je ne pouvais jamais imaginer avant. Et qd j'été o V2 pr allé manger, j'avais le sentiment kon sera en fevrier ds qq jours. Pq fevrier, je sais pas. Mais il é vraiment cho le controle. G calculé et si jamais g tout bon, j'aurai o max 12 s/ 20. Putain!!!

I purposely wrote that in French, SMS style (though i'm not sure if i got it all right), so that you people who are smart enough to use the free translator online thingy, won't be able to translate it that easy (excuse me if my sentences today are incomprehensible, i'm all stressed up. Why? read up there).

Malasnya nak pergi kelas besok.

Oh yeah, for the Salam Aidilfitri in the Utusan, well, takde rezeki. I forgot to change the pic's format from MPEG to JPG.

He's evil i tell you

Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished. What was the mission? To wear my Baju Melayu to class today. It was not as bad as I had expected (well who knows, people might be talking behind me). And I have never been prouder to wear my Baju Melayu. There was only just one tiny problem; I felt like Barney the Dinosaur. No shit. My Baju Melayu was bright purple, with my green yellow samping, i really felt like Barney, if not a walking brinjal.

Well, Hari Raya in class was not that bad.

Below, is actually a song. A song that is not french. A soundtrack actually. Most of us have heard this song in the original language without knowing what does it actually mean. Today I found the translated version of the song, and i find it makes a nice poem. Those who understand the first line, can surely guess what song was it from. A clue; though it looks short, the whole song is actually 7 minutes and 42 seconds long.

Que ce soit dans la joie comme dans la peine
Nous ne serons jamais séparés
Que ce soit dans la joie comme dans la peine
Tu es contenu dans chacun de mes souffles
Ma vie est mêlée à la tienne
À chaque instant, je te rendrai grâce
Ce sont là tes privilèges

Partout où je regarderai
Je ne verrai que toi
Sur mes lèvres, un seul nom, le tien
Dans mon coeur, cet amour ne faiblira jamais
Mon coeur n'est pas ta maison
Mais ton temple
À l'intérieur, à jamais ton refuge
Ton parfum y reste présent
Quelles que soient les saisons qui s'y succèdent

Syawal nan sepi

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Halalkan Makan dan Minum

ingat-ingatlah kepada orang yang berada nun jauh di tempat orang

sesiapa yang nak hantar duit raya, silalah beritahu, boleh hamba berikan nombor akaunnya

-musafir di aidilfitri-

Vacances Superbes

Ahhhh. I'm back in Lille. I was in the Rhone Valley; Grenoble, Geneva and Lyon. I really had a good time. Well I didn't really get to see Grenoble since i only spent a night there and we left early in the morning for Switzerland.

We met up in Grenoble, Awad's place, Friday. Then early Saturday morning we headed up to Geneva. Geneva is a nice city. Pretty interesting. It seems that almost all important world organizations at least have a headquarters there, if they don't actually come from there. We visited the Jet d'Eau, 140m high, the red cross and red crescent museum, the united nations, and of course the CERN. It was far from what I've imagined when i was reading Angels and Demons. In all, Geneva is a nice city to visit especially when you can just have a sit by the Lake of Geneva. Mind you, it's expensive to dine there. A Burger King meal can get you a t-shirt from the Red Cross Museum. And I bought both.

We took the last train to Lyon from Geneva. Got to Dinie's and Fifi's place at around midnight. Their house is like 5 to 6 times my room. I mean even their individual rooms are bigger than mine. And it's in a very calm quarter and the house itself is nice. Not exactly Buckingham Palace, but at least it's not as bad as our rooms in Colmar.

Lyon is a nice city. It's big and clean. Cleaner than Paris. And being used to the cold and humid weather in the North, the weather in Lyon was really, what Goldilocks would call - just nice. Even the strong wind is not that annoying since it's not the cold wind that we get in the North. We went to the Fourvière and the Amphithéâtre Gallo-Romain, which are the main attractions in Lyon, apart from the painted walls. We did find some painted walls, but not the nice ones. And since we didn't have the time to go looking for them, it makes the visit to Lyon incomplete.

It has been a great holiday with Awad, Fifi and Dinie. I would've stayed longer in Lyon, but their classes restart this Wednesday. I wouldn't want to disturb them doing their homeworks, (which reminds me that me too, I have homeworks). I took the 20h20 train and got back in Lille at around midnight. As i was riding the metro from the train station back home, I noticed that there's something different in the Metro stations. And I only realised what it was when the metro passes the Lezennes station. Transpole has decided to unlock the dustbins in metro stations. For quite a while they have been locked in order to prevent from people putting bombs inside. I guess they had to choose between having bombs in the dustbins or litter on the floor. And since the former is less likely to happen, they chose to unlock the dustbins instead.