Pergi Hijau / Going Green

Saya tak makan daging, ayam atau ikan, dah lebih sebulan dah..............

I had this thought of turning vegetarian since way back in Kelantan. Bakpo (why?) you ask? Dok tahu kawe! (not sure myself). I think it was a calling, you know, like in Jogho, when Mamat explained to his wife of his liking to bullfighting, "aku nih oghe perjuange, mung keno pehe" (I have a calling, you understand?)

Its not easy being a semi - vegetarian (I never consider myself a strict vegetarian, I still eat animal product, milk and eggs for instance) here. And the word vegetarian itself is so alien, below is a transcribe text between me and Kak Ruby

Location: Kedai Makan Kak Ruby, Sekyen 2, Shah Alam.

Kak Ruby: Makan ni je dik? (I was paying my packed lunch, nasi putih, kerabu mangga and tempe)
Me: saya vegetarian kak
Kak Ruby: ooo, allergic eh? dari kecik lagi ke?
Me: hehehe

And it was also difficult, personally. I have to give up a lot of favourites, among them are my mum's specialty macam sup ayam, nasi lemak...~sigh~

Hmmmm... dok tahu nok royak gapo doh............

And Along Came Sackboy

I vowed on previous post not to indulge too much into gaming world this semester, and I am sad to say that if anything can be said about me posting this very post, is that I am only human, incapable to hold to the words I uttered, because I am about to review a game I had a chance to lay my hand on recently.

Little Big Planet for PSP

Upon first hearing the tittle when it was first announced for PS3 last year, I thought it was like Animal crossing for PSP, only to be surprised because this really is a Platformer.
Okay, got to be honest that I am not a fan of platform games, but a few hours playing this, and I instantly love it.
Beautiful graphic, creative levels and oh, your Sackboy (or Sackgirl if you want it) is just sooooo cute. You can customize him if you do not like his sack appearance.
You can also create your own levels and share them with other Little Big Planeteers



And, as requested by Im, more screen shots!











Hmmph, Dok Tahu Nok Royak Gapo doh.....

Son of a Beach!

Me mum decide to have a feast-of-a-dinner today, sea food themed. All because her favorite son is leaving to Shah Alam.

Being the mum that her kids know and love, when it comes to cooking, she only use the best ingredients, and that is exactly what is lacking on that eventful day!

So dad, with all the love for this little family, drove us (me, me mum, me anak buahses Nazmi and his two sister) to Telaga Papan, a small fishing village by the sea occupied by, well....., fishermen!

A visit here or any fishing villages is always a nostalgic treat, as I was born by the sea, in Kampung Penarek to be exact, which also happened to be me dad birthplace. We frequently do a short trip to Telaga Papan, often to replenish mum's stock of sea bounty or just for picnics.
I think dad loves these little trips, there is always a childish glow in his face from watching us play by the sea.

FYI, this is what my parent refers tu as 'naek darak', the moment when the fishermen land their catch and display them for buyers to see.

And the rest will be told by pictures:

Me mum, dok pilih the finest among fishes and clams and shrimps....

A typical scene, "banyok udang kare weh!"

Baby shark

Another typical scene, among buyers are families of the fishermen hoping for their safe return

Salam from Nazmi and moi!

Hmmph, Dok Tahu Nok Royak Gapo.......

Ayohsu dan Saya

Assalamualaikum, Nama saya Nazmi, umur saya 9 tahun. Saya bersekolah di Sek. Ren. Keb. LKTP Chalok Barat.



Ini Ayohsu saya, dia balik ke rumah sebab dia sedang bercuti. Saya suka berkawan dengan dia. Tapi dia suka merajuk. Satu hari saya terpanggil dia bodoh, dia merajuk. Saya cakap yang kawan - kawan saya yang lain kalau bergurau selalu sebut bodoh, bodoh, biase je!. Ayohsu cakap yang perkataan tuh kasar dan menyinggung, die cakap lagi orang kite selalu sangat pakai perkataan tuh. Saya tak paham sangat kenapa, tapi saya ikut je sebab kalau saya dengar cakap dia, dia bagi main PSP dia.

Lepas tuh semalam tengok Galleri Perdana kat TV1, pasal tsunami. Ade die tunjuk video orang dihanyutkan air. Macam lawak sebab dia tunggang langgang, Nazmi pun gelak la!. Ayohsu marah, die cakap ini tragedi, mane boleh gelak. Nazmi tak paham tragedi tu apa, tapi kalau Ayohsu marah tuh makneye bende tak elok lah kot. Lepas tu die tunjuk pasal sorang pakcik yg baby dia mati sebab tsunami tuh, Nazmi tak paham lagi. Baby tuh kecik lagi, mane boleh die mati awal - awal. Nazmi ingat ustaz cakap kat sekolah, kalau baby mati terus masuk syurga, sebab tak buat dosa lagi, Nazmi tanye Ayohsu betul @ tak, tapi die senyum je.

Hmmmph, dok tahu nok royak gapo doh....

Two Sided Temptation

2010 approaches and I vowed to limit my gaming world to only Farmville on Facebook, you know, to give enough space for me to focus on more crucial matter (education, for example), I think I lulled too much time living in Role Playing Games that I forgot too live in the world where I truly exist.
But as always, with important decision there will always be those who opposed you, those exist only to make sure you succumb to do what is wrong thus straying you from the path of light (gitu!) and this particular one exist in the form of,

Rune Factory 3!

Those who familiar with Harvest Moon games will know that this is a spin-off of the series. Unlike Harvest Moon, Rune Factory games incorporate RPG elements, (fighting and leveling and stuff) and you still have the farming simulation that Harvest Moon is famous for. It was cleverly glued together too, in order to fight, you have to farm and vice versa.

I tried the Japanese version of this and I was thrilled (with I do not understand Japanese and all) Now eagerly waiting for US release in 2010!

I finished Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 this year so I really know this gem!

And oh, this one is for Nintendo Dual Screen, it has two screen thus the tittle, two sided, capiche?

Pengajaran

Anda tidak pernah belajar apa - apa dari pengajaran, bukan?

Faces and Friends: Pangkor Escapade

Merci beaucoup!

It was years ago, the exact date eluded me but it was in the first week of my brief life as a form 6 student. While waiting for a better call, I decide to lull precious time here in Sek. Model Khas Chalok.
Enter our first character, Shaharul Mukhliz Mohd, a friend of mine I made acquaintance since kindergarten. On some business I had forgotten, he asked me to accompany him to school one afternoon.
Whether it was fate or it was my luck ringing a bell, we met our beloved Sir Ruzaini who teaches us English for SPM. I remember him asking of my application for TESL programme I'm doing right now. My answer is that I have not yet received any letter concerning that matter. The naivety of me! thinking that they still paper letters! being in a Felda settlement really have its bad side when it comes to technology. I was 18, and I was aware of the internet but never use it before.
So sir Ruzaini took us to the school computer lab and with a few clicks, congratulation Ramzi, you are asked to attend an interview regarding the course you applied, when will it be? Tomorrow!!!
I rush home I made my family aware of the good, short notice news, and I sent my parent to Chaos to prepare me for tomorrow.
I end up putting on my form 6 school uniform (without the necktie) for the interview.
So my dear readers of blog suciku, you will now understand why I owe this two wonderful person thousands!
Again, thank you!

Je suis un lâche pour cette annonce ...

J'ai vécu dans le déni. Dois admettre que je ne suis pas heureux avec certains de mes amis, et j'ai caché cela pour trois années de notre amitié. Je répugne lui, sa présence ne provoque que la colère et la haine, mais je le cache avec mon sourire.

I Lost a Key....

image taken here

Oh, its just the key to my house. I lost him times before but he just appeared out of thin air when my worries for him subsided. Half of his disappearance because of my own fault, you see, I am not a good owner, I left it alone in the house when I go out, only to have myself lock out inside the house, waiting hours for my housemate with his key. Half of it is just that I need times alone, you know when sometimes you needed time just for your own, you need to go out. I concluded that I am tired of this game. So I decided to get a new key and when he appear later, I just tell him that I have a new one. Beside the warm feeling I have having him around, I do not lose anything else .......which is everything!

Trengganu Raya Delicacies: Tapai Pulut in Daun Getah

This one particular sweetmeat is popular here in Trengganu. It is more common to ketupat or lemang and to have raya without this is not raya indeed here. If my memories of past raya did not betray me, there is no raya that was celebrated without tapai pulut. So significant that mom priorities this in her list of raya delicacies, ketupat is always bought from someone else.



Usually prepared two days before Eid, mom will make sure that it is everyone's affair of making sure it is done before the end of the day. Preparing this is always a merry chance of get together for us.


The tapai is made from sticky rice (or is it called glutinous rice?), mom use the help of bacteria in ragi (that chunk of white stuff in the strainer, seriously, I dont know what is this in English) through fermentation to help sweeten it.


The tapai is wrapped in leaves of rubber tree, beside from giving the tapai a shade of refreshing green, the leaves also provides aroma, but not at all like the smell og getah mind you!


For us youngster, this will be perfect time for us to hone our skill of tapai packing, as shown here by my nephew, beside, who else will carry the sweet tradition after this?


Perhaps aided by some ancient Trengganu charm, the tapais are left to sweetened in some dark damp corner of our house.


And usually when Eid comes, the tapais are ready to be wolfed by sweet tooth who craves it! YUMM!


My living memories only remember two version of tapai, the one shown here and another one, wrapped in daun jembal. Usually made by those who live by the sea. Why? simply because rubber tree dont grow near the beaches

Tapai in Jembal Leaves, taken here

But I even heard that they use yam leaves to to prepare tapai, wonder how they overcome the gatal that come along?

Next, I will share the secret trade of making Nasi Dagang which in the very moment of me writing this, is steaming hot in mom's kitchen, bye!

And he landed on my chest...

I guess when you are so close to nature, nature will tend to get friendly. I was home for raya and was enjoying my privilege of waking up late when i felt a gust of gentle wind on my face and then a gentle thud of something landing on my chest. Now, growing up in a FELDA settlement, when things like this happens to you, instinct tells you to run and screams for your mom, exactly what I did after that, which was really stupid because what landed on my chest was a cute, black bird.

I dont know where this little fella comes from but it was thin, when I grab it, I can really feels its bone underneath those feathers, so been a good Samaritan that I was, the proper things to do is to feed it.

I think this one belong to someone. It is tradition among us who keep birds to let them go during Ramadhan, they fly back to their cages at the end of the day anyway. But, judging by the state of this one, I am pretty sure the owner has not been a good bird keeper, so there is no hurrying to return to your cage birdie!

Judging by the way it folds its wings, I am sure this is a really young bird, maybe stolen from their nest just after hatching, the same way many birds use to end up in cages in my kampung (I know because I used to do that a lot when I was a kid). 

What I got to say about this is, go ahead if you want to keep a bird, just make sure it always happy