The First Night Of Ramadhan..

Ahlan Ya Ramadhan!

Alhamdulillah. Ramadhan is finally here. The month of redemption and forgiveness. The month of starting all over. The month full of trials for purification.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the fasting month of Ramadhan. We must always remember that we're not only fasting from eating.

We must also restrain our tongue from saying things of no benefit *this includes lying.. especially gossiping.. no laughing excessively either..*.

Our ears from listening to things that will darken our heart like the things mentioned before *I'm sory to say, but yes, music as well..*.

Our eyes from seeing *not yet intently looking..* things that are haram in Islam *no need to mention what.. we should all know..*.

Our hand from committing any kind of sins.

And our minds from thinking of sinful thoughts.

If we don't restrain ourselves from all this, then we will lose our pahala from fasting. We will get nothing except the feeling of hunger.

Other than restraining ourselves from all the things I've mentioned above, we must occupy out time with amal ibadah. We're mostly encourage to finish reading the whole Al-Quran during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

We should also perform solat sunnat tarawih every night of Ramadhan. There is a different reward for each night to anyone who performs tarawih. For example, the 1st night of Ramadhan, Allah SWT forgives their sins as if they were just born into this world. For those who perform tarawih on the 2nd night of ramadhan, Allah SWT will forgive the sins of both their parents as long as they have Iman for Allah.

It's different every night. Allah SWT has given this month just for us. It's a chance for us to change. Let's not waste it.

Badminton Strings Stressed Down..

It's a good thing I've booked the gym earlier in the week. Today, we had one of the most exciting badminton matches ever.

Who showed up?

1. Me
2. Tajul
3. Azri of Ethos!
4. Man the prince of smashes and his two other friends Zul and one other guy *totally forgot his name..*
5. Mr. Jaferi and his colleague Mr. Ikbal
6. Hafriz and Izlin

There were so many matches today that I completely lost track. Azri played non-stop, so did I and Man. There more than 1 doubles' matches running at the same time. There were barely anyone sitting at the benches watching. Even if there were, it wasn't for long.

There so many surprises that were unraveled today. Izlin turns out to be such an experienced badminton player. Not so much in matches but she's been hitting shuttles with her bros alot at home. She has really sharp reflexes that have become rather natural. Even though she doesn't play rough, she can deflect smashes given by tajul. Her strokes are rather powerful too. If only she's interested in playing the sport more siriusly. She truely has potential.

Hafriz has improve quite a lot since last semester. He can smash, he can hit the shuttle hard. Now all he needs to do is learn the steps and footwork.

Azri beat me in a 1 game singles match again today. And again, the difference isn't so discrete. I managed to get 19 points playing againts him.

Man is the prince of smash. He can smash from any part of the court. The most impressive thing was his jumping smashes. He can smash from anywhere because he's able to perform a perfect jumping smash. When he doesn't jump, he's smashes are much more explosive. Too bad he can't make tomorow. I'm really looking forward to a rematch. Yeah. Because I lost to him too.

Mr. Jaferi and Mr. Ikbal began playing a singles match againts eachother. The strokes were extremely powerful. I didn't get to play with any of them today, I was playing doubles with Hafriz againts Man and his friend. Mr. Jafery left quite early.

Tomorow will be the last day to play badminton before we start fasting. Since it's makruh to do heavy work while fasting, I won't be playing during Ramadhan. During Ramadhan, everyone will be focusing on their 'amal ibadah, so it's really not appropriate to play during Ramadhan. Ramadhan is the most beneficial month for Muslims. It'd really be a shame if we waste the month not occupying all our free time with as much zkir and 'amal as possible. All the best to everyone muslimin and muslimat out there.

Lousy Week.. Something..

This week has been a really packed week for me. I'm just so glad that it's over *freedom!!.. no.. it's never over..*. I was really stressed out by all the work I had to catch with due to the Pidato Kemerdekaan Competition.

Assignment submissions and tests. All in one week. Initially, I was supposed to have 3 tests this week, but 1 test was cancelled at the very last minute and I ended up studying for only 2 tests. The assignment that needed to be submitted this week was on Friday *which was completed on Friday of course..*.

I waited a really long time to get started on that because I wanted to study for the tests first. Unfortunately, I emphasized way too much on the test that got canceled in the end and ended up not studying enough for the other 2 tests *which makes me feel like biting my fingers off..*.

I've taken all the tests for this week plus a surprise test for debate ko. just this evening. That just leaves me 1 more test next week.

Have you counted how many times people have used the excuse that their thumb drive got corrupted for not being able to submit assignments on time?

I used to think that was such a lame excuse. Today, I've learned that probability of that happening is more that I thought. Yes. It did happen to me today and funny enough, on the day of submission.

This is what happened, Duang *whom some of you may not know..*, he's my housemate, had completed his half of the group assignment, he wanted to compile it with the rest, which was in my pc *recently formatted by the way.. Alive and well..*. I stuck his pen drive and openned his file. I copied the other half and pasted into his document. I pressed save. Suddenly this warning popped out saying "Cannot save document while it is being used by another application". Followed by "The file cannot be located".

I closed it *which made me deserve to be steamrolled by pingu..*. Because I closed the document, the whole document just disappeared. Gone. Just like that. Duang being the genius that he is didn't save any backup copy of his part in his laptop.

Duang had to do his part all over again and the assignment was submitted in time *Alhamdulillah!!..*.

The moral of this story is not to have a group member named Duang *no.. that's not it.. I'm so evil..*, really, always expect the unexpected.

Giving Chances..

Today, my class was supposed to have the first sociolinguistic test for this semester. I stressed the word 'was' because now we're not having the test today anymore *pass tense.. basic grammar dawg*. That's a good thing since I still have tonnes to read.

I've just finished one whole chapter on language change last night. Initially I decided to just take the test today with only that chapter in my mind. My brain was fried last night due to a overload of input from studying.

Fortunately, the class as well as the test has been this morning. Zaida rang me up to tell me the news. Sadly, it was because Mdm Roslinda's sister *not sure akak or adik* had just passed away. Innalillahi wailaihiraji'un. *Please recite Alfatihah for her..*.

She asked me to inform the class. Good news and bad news in one blow. *Puff. Boom! Boom!*

Now I have more time to study for the test. Alhamdulillah. To everyone who's also given this chance, don't waste it. Our lecturer must be grieving. Let's please her with our results.

Western In The East..

They came from afar and brought their food. I welcome them wholeheartedly. Eita. That's what they call their restaurant. They have the malay dishes and more. They have a western menu. That's right. Chicken chop, lamp chop, steak with no chop, pork.. wait, no, there's no pork chop. It's all halal. Don't worry. I'm sure this is the first restaurant with a western menu in seksyen 17. Eita.

Predicting The Past..

This week started off very hectic for me. I've been quite busy as the crew / runner for the Pertandingan Pidato Finals in UPM. *Which is now Universiti Putra Malaysia ye Bear.. How embarrassing*

Because of that, I've been so drained I haven't been able to publish any posts. Flashback to the day I last published a post, which was Saturday, badminton day. Sunday was badminton day 2, Monday and Tuesday are the days of Pidato Competiton - Finals.

Badminton Day 2

First of all, I'd like to apologize to everyone (Pingu, Izlin, Aimi, Scruffy, Azri, Acad, and Moja of Ethos!, Kak Aisyah the smash queen, Wan Chai, and Man) who came for badminton last Sunday, especially to Man of part 2. It was actually my fault for not booking the court earlier on. That day we had the most people for badminton. Sadly the INTEC gym was closed due to no reservations.

The staff only comes if there are reservations. This whole time, I thought the gym is open every single day because of the time they display on the board outside the gym. I turns out that all this time we've been playing on other people's reservations.

Despite all the disappointments, we all stuck together and hung out after going all aver the place to find an alternative venue.

Pidato Competiton - Finals

Aimi has pretty much reported what went down on Monday in her blog, Kindly Unspoken. There were quite a number of people who went to UPM for the rehearsal of the Pidato Competition Finals. Like Aimi has mentioned, we barely did anything. Most of us came just to eat really good food. The only thing we did was watch Wan Chai rehearse 2 of the songs to be sung today. That day, we discovered a whole new side of Wan Chai. He's quite the Diva *Even more than the Royal Oinkiness!..*. He's also quite the cam-whore *Acad is the only one who match him..*.

Our return to Shah Alam was delayed because the bus broke down while we were at UPM. But it was eventually fixed and we were off to Shah Alam. The trip back was nothing special. After the last toll into Shah Alam, the bus broke down again. The driven said there alternater failed or something, that defused the powersteering and the brakes *We rode on a bus that had no brakes!..*. But the driver was able to stop the bus and park at the side of the rode *No pictures because my N73 ran out off power.. Just my luck!*.

A van came and took half the passengers back first and left half (me, Tajul, Aimi, 3 Ethosak!s, Wan Chai, and Adib) behind who later got bored and died *No.. Not really..*. We entertained ourselves with whatever we had; a camera and a really steep hill.

We weren't alone though, there were man eating monkies on the hill. They waited for us to pass out to come down and feast their teeth in our flesh. But we eventually got out of there in time before sun down *Which is when man eating monkies have dinner..*.

Too much went on today. Nothing special though. I'll leave that to Aimi to share to the world.

Beaten Winner..

Weekends! Badminton!

Today's matches:

Tajul VS Nazz*

While Azri, Aimi and Hafriz were warming up in court A, Tajul and I were warming up in court B. Tajul hit the shuttle hard as usual. He smashed a few times. I gave him some short high shots to let his practice his smash. They were getting better after each smash. Then we started our match. Tajul put up a good fight. I kept giving him a low approach near the net. He got annoyed. But he was patient enough to play the game to the end. We played up to 15points. Tajul was a bit worn out after having to chase the shuttle all over the place. I am so evil..

*Nazz & Azri VS Hafriz & Aimi

After my match with Tajul, I joined the guys in court A. Azri was playing againts Aimi and Hafriz so I joined Azri. Aimi and Hafriz were a bit worried because Azri was such a great player and we were about to start our match. Hafriz's long hidden talent began to show. He could smash rather well. Aimi is the real live Neo from the Matrix. She was able to catch really fast shuttles with her bare hands. But as a result, she gave the opponent the point. Azri dominated the game on our side. I ended up dancing alone the rear court and sitting down while Azri dealt with the incoming shuttle.

*Nazz VS Azri

This was the match I highly anticipated. Nazz versus Azri - The Rematch!. I've played againts Azri once earlier in the semester and lost. Since then, I've been trying to have a rematch with him. However, he had to face many evil forces in the world that kept him busy. Finally we had the rematch. And I won! We played 3 games. The first game was won by Azri, the second and third by me. The points were very close and were never really that far apart. I felt like playing againts a mirror. The second and third game was extended to a duce. Azri is a great player. I'm pretty he let me win. I was left literally breathless after the match, I almost passed out outside the gymnasium.

(?) Aimi VS Hafriz (?)

This match started while I was playing againts Azri. I didn't really pay attention. It went on even after our match ended. Sat on the high seat, a started counting their points. But then I lost count because I was too busy taking picture. Sorry guys. We'll never know who won.

Nazz & Tajul / Hafriz VS Azri & Aimi*

Nazz VS Azri*

2 games, Azri won both. I was too tired to go on.

Not much to report bacause I don't remember everything that went on today. We're playing again tomorow. So for those who are free, come on down to the Faculty and play at the INTEC Gynasium. I've invited a part 2 Jr. who's freaking awesome. Azri and I saw him play once, we were left speechless. I hope more could come tomorrow.

(Everyone recharging at Sri Syaz)

Vacation At Home 2..

I'm back in Shah Alam! I only spent two nights at kampung. Now that I'm back, it's time for me to report on the trip to FRIM.

Oh wait.. Aimi has already done that in her blog, Kindly Unspoken.

Well, I guess it's meaningless if I were to write another one.

There's only one thing left for me to do, post some pictures. That day, I couldn't go a minute without my N73. Boy do I love that phone. The camera is great. I always have something to snap.

I didn't upload the pictures here because there's just to many to fit them all in this post. So I decided to finally open a Flickr account. However, I can't upload any pictures at this moment. My pc has been infected with all kinds of viruses because the anti virus has expired a while back.

The pictures are currently stored in my external hard drive. But I'm afraid to plug anything into my PC.

I hope this problem'll be solved soon. This is a job for, Scruffy, the geeky dog computer genius! Or Duang, the master of confusion! I hope he could scare the viruses away.

Free In Captivity..

Mr. Fever and Mrs. Flu decided to stay another day. The irritation continues. What's worse, they invited their friends, Mr. Burning Eyes, Mr. Dried Flaky Skin and Mr. Cough Like There's No Tomorrow. Oh, not to forget Ms. Flem.

Because of them, I'm forced to stay home. They just won't let me leave the house. I only managed to sneak for lunch. Now I'm tied up in bed with them crowding around me.

I had plans for today. Aimi and the gang are baking cheesecake today. She asked me to join. Boy I wish I could. I love cheese. *Hmm.. Cheeeeese..*. I hope they're having fun. I'd love to have some cake. I'm sure Aimi will publish a post on that soon at Kindly Unspoken.

Firhan, whose blog is Coretan Hati Seorang Insan, also asked me to accompany him and Wan Nurul to interview a teacher in Bangi today. I missed out on that too.

I'm alone at home right now. Downloading new songs from the charts. There are quite a lot of songs I haven't listened to yet.

I was also supposed to survey whether there are still tickets available to go to Alor Gajah for tonight. But I bet all the tickets have been sold out by now. *Just my luck!.. Adrian Mole style..*

I can't wait until these unwanted guests leave. Then at least I could something more productive.

Satisfying Loss..

This week I played badminton with someone who's way beyond my level of skills. He's *Yes, it's a "he"* been playing badminton since primary school. Now he's in his late 20s. He works out with weights, runs treadmills, and he's very creative in writing.

I can tell that he's been playing badminton for a really long time. He has 3 rackets with different string settings. He tried explaining how higher the tension is, the strong our blows become. I need to change my strings then. On to the match.

Nazri VS Mr.J

Mr.J is not Dr. J by the way. We started very quickly, meaning that the pace was at max. I tried to keep up, but I was way too inexperience for him. His blows were like explosives in the air. Ask Pingu of the Artic if you don't believe me. No exaggeration here. He lured me to the back of the court, then he sliced a nice net drop. He kept repeating that move, my weaknesses were obviously exposed.

I lost the first game, but I don't remember by how much. All I know is, I was thrashed badly. No use telling you about the second game. I lost that one too.

We played one more game after taking a break, I only managed to get 8 points. Even with Safar I managed to get 10 points. Mr.J is ludicrously amazing. Safar thought my smashes gave him quite a punch. Mr.J's smashes made mine sound like fart.

Even Pingu decided to retire after watching the match. It was as if he'd seen a ghost *Or maybe it was the sound of the fart*. Pingu had recorded a 2 minute clip of me being sat on by Mr.J. But Mr.J asked that we did not expose his inner beast to anyone.

How can he not. I feel like a fever is coming my way. Could it be because of the trauma?

His tips for me; try lifting weights, it makes the arm stronger, use higher tensioned string settings, it also helps add power to our blows, and use the shuttle that he used. I didn't really get that last one though.

I'm planning to play againts him again soon. Anyone care to join?

Light Eating..

I've always been fond of food. I love cooking, I love smelling the food and most of all, I love eating them. I do eat a lot.

Last night I practically died and went to heaven. Food heaven. I attended a Dinner for those who were involved with the Pidato Kemerdekaan at Retoran Terapung Seksyen 13. The theme there is seafood.

After all the speeches and doas, it was time to eat. The dishes came one by one. First came the rice followed by the Tom Yam. I sat at a table with other heavy eaters like Chip, Moja and Tajul. There were also Aimi, Lyana, Azri and Acad.

(Girls who love the camera) (Wan-cai came to sing for the ladies and Bear trying to be human)



(Ethosaak! While waiting for the food)



(Tajul learningto fold napkins) (Tengku lending his voice)

As soon as the food came, we started passing around the rice so that everyone would get some. There was this round spinning platform on the table where the food sat. So we turned that wheel and the Tom Yam stopped by everyone's plate. The tom yam was fantastic. It was spicy and it had red prawns with all kinds of mushrooms. I only took a small bowl of tom yam and set it aside for later. More food was on the way.

After the tom yam, they waiters and waitresses sent the Deep Fried what's-it-called fish, it was big, then there was Kailan Goreng Ikan Masin, Lemon Fried Chicken, and Butter Baked Prawns.

I took bit by bit, each of the dishes accompanied by some rice. I didn't eat much of the Lemon Fried Chicken, everyone was grabbing it. It was one of the best dish. The least popular one was the Butter Baked Prawns. The shell was to hard to open. I didn't take much like butter either. But I ate quite a lot. It was difficult to open the shell at first, but after the next 5 prawns, it was a walk in the park. I lost count of how many prawns I ate last night.

It was the most extraordinary meals in my entire life. I think it's the way the food kept on coming that made it fun for me.

( Like I said, I've lost track on how many prawns I ate, try counting the shells)

Funny Tragedy..

There are athletes among us. There are singers and artists everywhere we go. They hide their special talents from everyone else. There are computer experts at the kedai mamaks and there are chefs in our very own faculty. We never know. Behind these very dull, boring masks may lie natural comedians sleeping quietly, hiding their powdered faces and big red lipstick smiles.

I've never thought I would laugh so hard but yesterday I just couldn't control myself. I wasn't listening to a joke, nor was I watching Pingu polishing his belly. I was listening to a fellow classmate reading her story that she herself had written in class. It was painfully hilarious. It was as if I had been exposed to one of jokers laughing gases and laughed till my face turned red and had tears in my eyes. I never knew Wan Nurul Firdaus could come up with such a funny and honest story.

The way she read it was so honest. It's as if she didn't know that she had written something funny. Genius I tell you! Sometimes people are naturally funny. Wan, that's what you are.

Lonely Company..

In my previous semesters, when I feel like going bowling or playing badminton, I usually end up going all by myself. This semester, I always have someone to bowl with and to play badminton with.

Yesterday I went bowling with Firhan again, it's becoming like a weekly routine now. But yesterday we met our Jrs, the Warriors of Ethos!. Ethosaaak!

This time they were able to escape the forces of evil and actually play on the day that I play, but not soon enough I'm afraid. Firhan and I were done playing by the time that started their own game beside our lane.

I hope you guys would tell us when you're playing again next time. I'll be free on Wednesdays at lunch. Don't forget badminton this Saturday and Sunday morning. I've booked the court. If you're free, you're playing. Azri of Ethos!, I want my rematch.

Profitting Loss..

I should've published this post a long time ago but I was so busy with Mekar 2008.

Bofore The Bowling Tournament
This was last Wednesday, 1 day before the perasmian of Mekar 2008. I just found out that we were supposed to have gotong royong (GR) that day. However I had already booked the badminton court a day earlier for that evening, the same evening as the gotong royong. Some of the guys from Ethos! and PMFP asked me to postpone my plans and help out, so I did.

Since I didn't have to go home to change clothes, I had all the time in the world for other things, like bowling!

Day 3 of training:

This time I went bowling with Keroro, Scruffy and Pingu. We were all ready to practice for Friday's tournament except for Keroro, she just came along just for fun. At first we only planned to play only 2 games. We ended up playing 3 games. Some of us actually lost focus on the purpose of bowling that day. Instead of bowling to improve, we were busy keeping score and paid less attention to our mistakes. We were easily frustrated. Only during the 3rd game did we put ourselves together and regained focus.

Heikal of Teror was also there when we arrived so we played on the lane next to his. I've gotten a few pointers from the expert and until today I am still using the same skills Heikal taught me.

In my oppinion, it's better to do things the right way even though we suck at it rather than just wingin' it and relying on chance. If we achieve better results, it's safe to say that we've improved because we're doing the right way. If we achieve better results by chance, than there's no certainty that you've improved at all.

(Grr.. I hate the longkang!) (Roll together, bowl together)


(See, Heikal of Teror looks nothing like me..) (Heikal showing his moves)

Heikal left earlier but we kept on playing. Or were training? I'm not so sure anymore. We were playing most of the time. But as I mentioned earlier, were regained our focus during the 3rd game. Pingu observed my mistakes, I observed his, scruffy observed his own tail. Keroro wasn't feeling so happy with herself in the begining, but she did better in the later games.

It's hard to say if any of us has improved even for myself. I did worse than I did when I trained with Firhan. But it was certain that none of us felt like we were going to win that Friday.

The Day of Judgement

Finally the day has come. The Mekar had already started and that day was the second day of Mekar. All of our team members were involved with Mekar. So we had to register before head for the tournament.

We registered for bowling around 9am that morning so we had loads of time to eat. DE seksyen 18 was already full, so we went to a more quiet restaurant to have breakfast. There we were later joined by Kak Aisyah *I have no idea where she came from*.

(McD was quiet) (Kak Aisyah appeared out of no where)



(Red devils getting hot) (Our friendly foes)



(The Link students who entered)

Fun was the best way to describe that day. There was also a mixture of anxiety and frustration because some of us did worse than we usually did.

We didn't win. But this was a really great experience. We'd enter the next tournament when it comes again.

Smash Queen..

In case you're all wondering, the title of this post is NOT an oxymoron. I ran out of ideas for the title.

As you all know, Sundays are the days I jump around while holding a stick and wacking it at birds. However, today I had another gotong royong (GR). So again I was forced to cancel my plans...

No wait. I did play today.

There's no force in the world *accept for the almighty Allah* that would ruin my Sunday badminton match. But there was another problem, everyone was exhausted from the Mekar-Amal. I myself was also very occupied with it. Nevertheless, my obsession towards badminton has numbed my body from the fatigue that has developed from the previous days. So I played badminton first and GR afterwards.

Kak Aisyah *who now shall be know as the Smash Queen* was the only one who could make it. I have no idea what pushed her to be able to come today. No one else was willing or up to it *except for The three stooges of Ethosak!.. But there were again held keptive by the forces of evil*. Even Aimi failed to reply my messages this morning *and I still don't know what happened to her*. So it was just me againts Kak Aisyah.

No official matches took place. Basically we just had many-many rounds of rally. Today I've actually seen her capabilities in badminton. She's really good. She hits the shuttle hard. Her shots are really fast. I was left chasing my tale around. And man could she smash. I've watched girls play before. It justs drive me up the wall. The play with their hands down. Always of guard and always making bola tanggung. That's a bad thing by the way. Bola tanggung is when the shuttle shouts "Here I am! Smash!". I'm not saying that all girls do it, but I've never met one who doesn't, until today! TanTANTAAAN!! She hits the shuttle low. She rarely gives a bola tanggung accept for when when she serves. This is one girl I wouldn't underestimate.

The reason I stressed on bola tanggung is because when someone gives me a bola tanggung, I tend to smash instantly and end the rally there. But everytime I do that, my opponent would say "tak aci! awak mane boleh smash je! pemain2 pro pn takde yang smash aje!". That's actually because they rarely get bola tanggung. But each time they do, SMASH!! It's true. Watch the badminton matches. Observe.

Anyway, I'll be booking the court again next week, same days same time.

Busy Break..

The chain of daily publications has been broken due to the ridiculously busy and packed week. In case you've been living with Tarzan or Duang, the week the faculty is having the Mega Karnival (Mekar). This program involves so many people, I'd wack anyone who still has no idea what I'm talking about.

It's not usual that I go a day without publishing a post. This week has really been chaotic for me.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to several people especially to Aimi for canceling the badminton meeting at the very last minute. That day, the Mekar crew and the Ethos! society were having a gotong royong (GR) that evening at 5pm. Some people asked me to cancel my plans and join the GR. So I was forced to cancel. I was disappointed. But I forgot to tell you guys out there about that since I had bowling training that afternoon.

After the training, we (Me, Pingu, Scruffy, and Keroro) had lunch before heading back to the faculty to help with the GR. We got there around 5.45pm. There was nothing going on yet so I headed for the Surau to pray. Even after that, the GR hadn't started. I waited there until 6.45pm and went home. I was very disappointed. I could've played badminton. I hope nobody ruins my Sunday.

Anyway, I've a lot to write about. But I don't want to cram everything into this post. Today we had the perasmian Mekar. Tonnes of work was put into the opening ceremony. Some of the crew stayed up all night to make sure that the ceremony would go on smoothly and thanks to them, it was great.

I really don't know the best way to describe the sacrifice and dedication the crew had put into making Mekar a success, at least the for today anyway. Everything seemed all over the place at first but it all fits into place later in the end. Round of applause to you guys.

*I have pictures from today, but I'll add those later.*

Winning Last Place

Yesterday was supposed to be the second day of training but Pingu and Scruffy couldn't make to the bowling alley. However, we *Firhan The Great and I* went for our training anyway.

Day 2 of training:

"Playing to improve" is what I kept saying to myself. Training is like studying. You have to focus on your goal or else you'll just lose your purpose of training.

Yesterday we went to Ole2 *Alhamdulillah!*. When we arrived there, we met Heikal of Terror, best bowler in the TESL program I've ever met. The lanes were all used. So Heikal asked us to join his lane because he was playing alone.

Firhan and I were amazed every single time Heikal rolled the ball. He made it curve!. He starts rolling it from the left and as the ball proceeds half way across the lane, it moved to the center of and hit the pins at the exact angle that would cause a strike.

It looked as if he was moving the ball with his eyes. It was so fast. Heikal is an expert. He was the one that taught me the four step technique and so far it has done me well.

On to our training, I've improved a bit compared to last week. I think we should call Firhan Mr. Maintain. His score is never below 100. His record is 160+. Every time he rolled the ball, he'd get 9,9,9,9 and 9. He rarely gets less. That's how he started off, and that was how he ended the game. I on the other hand started off miserably but improve in the end. Therefore, I am Mr. Improve!

The tournament is this Friday, I hope everyone brings there best. Win or lose, it's the fun that we have that day that matters.

No Fake Jump Smashes.. Original Fakers..

The day that I've been waiting for has come and passed. This morning, I raced the sun up. I wanted to get to the badminton court before anyone else does. I wanted to be the first to breath the air in the badminton court *Ew.. I know..*. I rang the doorbell so that all the residents of my house would all wake up *No.. Not really.. That's just crazy*. I didn't want anyone or anything make me late.

Pingu got up from under the icy cold dark waters of sleep and so did the royal Oinkiness from his muddy sludge of dreams. They were the ones who were brave enough to come along. Kak Aisyah was coming to pick us up from the far away mountains of.. afar *which wasn't very far*.

When the she-warrior arrived in her mouse deer on wheels, only Pingu of the artic was ready so we headed off. Oinky was to join us later with Scruffy. We stopped by the village of Seveneth Eleveneth for some power bars before we played. As soon as we entered the gates of the Land of Eduacation, I could see the Intec Gynasium under the spotlights of heaven with a heavenly choir *HAaaAAAaa*. When we entered the Valhalla of all brave shuttlers, we realized we had it all for ourselves.

We arrived at around 8.20am and played until 11.00am. The people who showed up were myself, Hafreeze, Taj-all-bi, Scruffy of dog town, and Kak Aisyah the She-Warrior.

Matches that took place:

Me VS K. Aisyah

K. Aisyah & Me VS Tajul & Pingu

Me VS Scruffy

Me & K. Aisyah VS Scruffy & Pingu

I couldn't remember the scores, but they were great matches. A little bit on the slow side but everyone's improving.

The downside, the shuttles we used were damaged even before we started the matches. I bought Dunlop shuttles. They were cheap but fragile. We practically destroyed them during warm up strokes and rallies. I should have bought Sea Lion shuttle. They're excellent and they last longer.

Other than that, I was a bit disappointed by the number of participants we had today. I was expecting at least 8 people. Aimi woke up late because she was knocked out by coughing pills, but she did come eventually when we had our lunch. After the match. I was expecting one of the Jrs to show. I don't remember his name, but he's not someone you'd want to mess with. I've seen him play and played with him once, he's really good. But he didn't show up. Duang, he was.. somewhere else. Firhan also said he wanted to join, but I didn't hear anything from him this morning. Lyana had her hands full. The trio of Ethos were held captive by some evil forces. Pipah Kecik couldn't make it, but she'd informed already.

That's quite a lot. It would've been much more fun if the number was bigger. Hopefully next week they'll be able to come.

Healthy Fever..

I don't know what's gotten into me. Today, all I've done is play with my badminton racket. Swish! Swish! I never stepped out of the house today. I kept myself inside. Swinging the badminton racket.

And when I went online, I opened Youtube and search for videos that were related to Badminton. I checked the training videos and previous matches like the Korean Open 2008. I watched Lin Dan play against Peter Gade. Then I watched training vids on how to smash and how to help your partner from the fore court and rear court in doubles. Then I cooked. While cooking, I played with the racket again. Is this right? It just feels so wrong. I must really need to see a doctor.

I sure can't wait to play tomorow. I hope nothing goes wrong. Amin.