.: Trailing behind :.

Reminiscing.

Brother:: Aren’t you afraid to go out on your own?

Me:: Who’s in charge? *index finger pointing to the sky* :P

Brother:: Haha~ Back at me, eh? Fine fine, be careful. 

This brother self-adopted himself as my mum’s son and as my older brother. Don’t ask me why. Anyway, the “who’s in charge?” line is distinctively his, and was used on several occasions. One of it was when I was taken ill. In an attempt to lighten things, he uttered these sentences:

“Remember who’s in charge. He is the one that tests you and he will be the one to take it away. Be strong and patient little sister. You have my du’a.”

Sometimes, I find myself reiterating those very words.

“Who’s in charge?”

And a feeling of assurance will sweep pass me.

4.15pm Malaysian Time

.: Tumbled view :.

Clearing up.

While leveraging; should or should I not attend another conference, I ditched the thought for a post.

Throughout the course of 2 weeks, the mind was cluttered over a series of things. Some are thought to be exceedingly mind-boggling to comprehend. Alhamdulillah, the solutions came soon enough. Periodical execution lies ahead. Moreover, the timing now is seemingly apt to produce a 360 turnaround effect.

Meanwhile, I haven't acquire the knack to immerse myself completely in the Mandarin language. In accordance to that, there are numerous humongous hiccups encountered in each passing day, although friends are making it worth the while. Without a doubt, my Mandarin today is several notches higher than how it was a month ago. I do not expect a miracle to happen, therefore realistically, I hope to make some major leaps and bounds progress in the next couple of months if only I can allocate more time, effort and focus into it. 

:: 谢谢你们的鼓励和打气，我慢慢读书哦~! 

Yet again, the blogging passion has dwindled further. I haven't been able to churn out any good posts, or any hogwash posts in particular. Excuses are kept aside. A friend predicted the demise of the blogging culture. Perhaps, that is the phase I am going through. Does anyone else feel this way? Having the urge to blog, yet unable to salvage the contents? Or do you concur this entirely?

Have a nice weekend everyone!

3.58pm Malaysian Time

.: Deepavali :.

Or Diwali.

Wishing everyone a blessed Festival of Lights!

Photos of chicken tikka and chicken something tikka courtesy of Al-Karim restaurant, New Delhi, India.

They and another Pakistani guy were kind enough to allow me to snap some quick shots of these delightful skewered chicken pieces. Malaysians may have to wait another year before they make their 2nd visit. At least, that was what I was told. Or that was what I understood. *haha~* There's no point in cross-checking with my sister since she couldn't make any heads or tails of what they had said. I extend my gracious thanks to my former colleagues from India. Because of you guys, I can actually understand their thick Indian accent.  

Note :: Don't ask me which is which. I have clearly forgotten as I was too focused in trying to snag the recipe from the Pakistani guy. haha~ Anyone care to shed some light?

Another holiday. :)

8.08am Malaysian Time

.: Bahasa Melayu :.

Posting in my mother tongue.

Considering I hardly write in Malay, and even though I speak the language everyday, the conversations are mostly conducted colloquially. Didn't take long for me to notice that I am actually losing my grasp in the language, therefore this is quite a brave attempt on my part to sort of get in touch with it again. Having gone down the path thereby I had been dubbed a non-Malay due to my incompetence in the language many years ago, I prefer not to endure it again.

. ~ .

Standard Malay *as far as I can remember ... to my Malay language teachers, please send me a detention slip if you notice more than 10 errors.*

"Terus-terang, Aja tidak boleh ingat kali terakhir Aja menulis di dalam Bahasa Melayu. Terasa kekok dan payah sangat. Kalau diikutkan, Bahasa Melayu sering digunakan sebagai bahasa perantaraan baik ketika bersama-sama ahli keluarga mahupun sesama sahabat-handai. Namun, bahasa tersebut telah dicampur-adukkan dengan bahasa asing. Tambahan pula, tidak dinafikan wujudnya penggunaan bahasa pasar dikalangan generasi muda. Sesungguhnya, keadaan ini amat membimbangkan lebih-lebih lagi apabila segelintir daripada kita tidak mampu untuk menilai keindahan menulis di dalam bahasa ibunda."

Written in slangs and abbreviated forms as how I would speak with my peers.

"Terus-terang, Aja tak bleh igt bile Aja last tulis dlm BM. Rase pelik; susah sgt. Ikutkanlahkan, BM ni kite slalu gak pakai bile sembang dgn famili & kawan. Mungkin sal dah campur dgn base laen kut. Pun sal, kitorang slalu gune base pasar. Tp, mmg sedeylah bile kite dh taktau nilai laie."

English translation.

"In actual truth, I can’t remember the last time I wrote in Malay. It feels exceedingly peculiar and strenuous. If I were to contemplate on it, the Malay language is regularly used as the communication language with family and friends. However, its' usage has been influenced by foreign languages. I do not deny, there is also the usage of slangs amongst the younger generations. Hence, the situation becomes tremendously worrisome particularly when some of us aren’t able to value the beauty of writing in our mother tongue."

Losing the proficiency.

8.20pm Malaysian Time

.: Vanished leaves :.

Shifting sands.

It is said that the reason leaves fall off the branch is to allow new leaves to grow ...

No matter how sad the fallen leaves look ...

There will always be new sprouts to take their places ...

Perhaps the emptiness in the heart is something similar to that ...

Crosses space and time.

8.15pm Malaysian Time