Si Tenggang’s Homecoming

Journey apa??
Po-ke-mon!

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Unluckily, Pokemon-pokemon yang telah aku bela dalam DS waktu kat UK (Rujuk 9 bulan) itu hari terpadam atas masalah-masalah teknikal yang tidak dapat dielakkan. Abis Pokemon-pokemon aku yang berlevel-level tinggi mencecah Level 70 dan juga Pokemon-pokemon legenda - Uzie, Azelf, Giratina, Heatran etc. Sob sob. Susah wo nak tangkap.

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Selepas sebulan lebih dah balik Malaysia, dah abis raya, baru la ada mood balik nak start a new Pokemon Journey. Kali ni, instead of Diamond, aku main Pokemon Pearl lak. At least bleh la encounter dengan spesies spesies yang takde dalam Diamond.

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My other journey - The road to PhD is honestly - scary.

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Every time friends or relatives see me, they are gonna ask the same question. ‘Nak buat apa lepas ni’ or ‘bila nak pergi pulak?’ or ‘pergi mana pulak lepas nih?’ or probably all 3.

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Selalunya aku malas sikit nak citer bebenda tak pasti nih. Tapi sekarang aku buat pendekatan mudah - nak tahu? Meh nak bagitahu. And here is the story…

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Proposal

Aku dah abis round 2 untuk proposal ke Cardiff. My potential supervisor dah check dan ask for some more correction. Maksudnya kena buat round 3 la plak. Aku terhilang semangat sekejap semalam sebab rasa penat sangat sebab each round amik masa 2-3 hari. So ari ni aku mengapply Imperial College of London sebab bleh apply online. Imperial nih universiti top kat UK, maka aku tak put high hope sebab result Master aku tak berapa gempak. Esok aku akan cuba siapkan proposal utk Durham Uni plak sebab yang ni pon bleh apply online dan lecturer tu tak demand proposal yang sangat lengkap cam yang Cardiff punya. Kalo ada rezeki kat mana2 satu uni kat UK, fly la January ni kalo bleh.

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Tapi…

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Ada tapinya.. Rumour said that tempat utk ke UK dah penuh utk pemegang biasiswa USM. Kuota dah penuh. Sekarang kebanyakan school ask their holder utk pergi tempat lain - US ke, Europe ke, Aussie ke. Maka, aku sentiasa keep in mind yang aku maybe takkan mendarat kat UK utk buat PhD. Kalo mendarat next time, maybe utk bercuti / berbulan madu / academic purpose * (*Potong mana tidak berkenaan). So, camner plak tu?

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Juga

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Aku dah mintak sandaran kat PP Sains Math. So, kalo dapat bleh la tutor undergrad kejap start sem baru ni. Maka korang bleh la nampak aku tercangok kat kafe-kafe sekitar USM lagi. So junior2 Maths aku yang sedang amik Master yang membaca blog aku tapi tak pernah tinggal komen, bleh ar kita lepak2 sembang bebenda maths kat Kafe Bakti (waaah, aku tak senerd itu!!)

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Dan Jika…

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Jika kuota UK penuh, dan diorang suruh aku mintak tempat lain, bleh la aku mencangokkan diri kat USM beberapa bulan lagi dan blah buat PhD dalam bulan 4 kat mana-mana tempat yang terasa nak pergi plak (Kalo gi US, bleh jumpak Simon Cowell gak, ye tak?)

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Tapi buat masa ini…

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jadual aku dah agak penuh ler. Selain apply utk PhD, aku juga telah plan aktiviti berikut untuk bulan November

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1-3 : Kat rumah, proposal proposal proposal!
4 Ahad: Pokemon Battle dengan Muzaini!!!
5-9 : Kat Kulim rumah kak aku - buat game ala realiti tv lagi kat sekolah dia dan tolong sikit-sikit bebudak yang nak sit utk SPM (by request, diorang kenal aku melalui Pumpkin Race la)
13 - 23+- : Bebudak debat USM start training utk Royal. Join diorang training.
24 - ? (1 minggu) : Debat Royal kat UiTM Shah Alam, gi tengok debat dan Pokemon Battle dengan lecturer UiTM!!
Lepas abis debat: Lepak jap kat KL, jumpa kengkawan - Maharuddin dan Najhan, Naz dan Shahrill etc.

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So that’s it.

[Amaran: Mengandungi unsur-unsur yang mungkin boleh menyinggung sesetengah pembaca]
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‘Tell me what’s wrong with society’, baris pertama lagu Crazy oleh Simple Plan. Ari tu aku buka CD Simple Plan dalam kereta waktu menghantar Pidin, Shila ngan Nurul Bati balik IK. Alih-alih Pidin cakap, ‘ko dengar jugak lagu camni ek’. Ala-ala nak mengatakan yang muka aku ni cam ada trademark lagu-lagu pop/ballad jer lah tu. Aku minat Simple Plan, siap subscribe diorang punya video dalam YouTube lagi (ada official YouTube video diorang - vlog). Cumanya style aku nih lebih ker nerd kot, tu yang diorang cam tak berapa sangka tuh.
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Anyway, aku sebenarnya tak berapa puas hati dengan iklan-iklan sejak kebelakangan nih.
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‘… mengembalikan kenangan malam pertama..’ . What the heck? a.k.a orang UK cakap WTF. Ini iklan apa nih?
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Kalau nak dikatakan iklan tu disiarkan kepada cerita-cerita berat yang bebudak tak tengok, disiarkan waktu prima. Dan masalahnya, bukan jer pada budak-budak kecik, tapi bayangkanlah camni. Kalo ada tetamu datang, kita macam buka tv sambil makan ke, alih-alih kuar iklan nih, tak ke terasa termengkelan sikit (termengkelan = terserdak tapi tak keluar, tersumbat).
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Family-family time, cakap fasal ‘malam pertama’ plak. Ish ish.
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Lagi satu iklan tuala wanita. Seingat aku, dulu-dulu takde la pun iklan camnih. Dan sepanjang aku duk tengok X-Factor dan CSI kat UK, pun takde iklan tuala wanita kat tv diorang. Skang ni cam banyak jer. Dan rasanya orang pun tak terasa tersinggung dah disebabkan banyak sangat. Media kan membudayakan kita. Good thing or not, you answer it yourself. Cuma berbanding dengan iklan ‘malam pertama’ tadi, iklan tuala wanita kurang sedikit menonjol disebabkan iklan dia happy-happy jer cam iklan apebenda yang sapu kat ketiak tu dan iklan shampoo.
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Masih tak puas hati dengan iklan ‘malam pertama’ itu tadi, budak-budak akan berfikir:-
-malam pertama apa?
-apa bagusnya malam pertama?
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Tak ker risau kalo anak-anak tanya. Walopun aku takde anak lagi, tapi aku terasa risau gak kalo-kalo anak-anak menakan aku tanya soalan tu kat aku. Apa nak jawab ek? And no no no, don’t say that I am too conservative and not willing to talk such thing but I believe that it has to be in the right time and right place. Not some random rambling they ask after watching Dora The Explorer. [Wah, aku sangat bersifat kebapakkan kan? And yes, deodorant, that's the word]
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Hari tu kat Queensbay, aku tanya Shila. Bebudak debat lain pun ada gak, nanti nampak cam dating lak kalo tak bgtau. Aku tanya Shila, ‘korang ada belajar etika dalam pengiklanan tak?’, tanya dia sebab dia amik Masscomm. Dia jawab, ‘biasanya kitorang belajar cara menyampaikan iklan dengan berkesan’ (lebih kurang camtu la jawapan dia). Emmm, padanla terpampang besar jer gambar perempuan dalam pakaian dalam kat pintu kedai tuh.
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Yes, I am conservative for not liking those things happen in our beloved country. Takut jadi cam UK, suratkhabar-suratkhabar diorang selamber badak jer boh kat cover gambar naked woman yang hanya menutup atas dan bawah dengan tangan. Dan asal masuk Tesco, mesti nampak punyalah. What’s the different? Masuk Queensbay pun nampak jugak, ye tak?
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Tell me what’s wrong with Society..

It’s time to look back at my journey in London. It was a semi-wonderful year, but I guess I learnt something. My state of mind - kinda peaceful regardless of toughness doing the proposal - but also miss my life back in London. Two approach - what I miss and what I appreciate of both life in UK and Malaysia
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I appreciate…
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… the weather. It is raining outside but I can bear with just one shirt. I can walk around my house shirtless during the day and sleep without blanket. I can just sleep on the couch inside my sister house. I can eat ice-cream whenever I want. These are the things I always miss when I was in UK. And I want to appreciate it while I’m in Malaysia as long as I live here. It might be hot once a while but it’s better than freezing in UK. I love the fact that I can just stand by the dock in Tanjung Dawai, watching the sunset and be there for hours (x buat lagi pun, ari tu setengah jam jer). I don’t mind if my hand get stripes due to sunburn. I love the weather here. You never miss it until it’s gone. It had been gone for me for a while and I love it now.
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I miss…
… me being independent. Living in London was a big step for me. I was this boy who depend a lot on my parents, spending more than I should and get things the easy way. London taught me a pretty hard life. It was hard and I probably hated it when I was there at first. But now I kinda miss me handling my life on my own. Cycling through the unsure temperature to West Drayton town from my university, getting some food from Yiewsley Tesco or fried chicken from halal restaurant. It is always good waking up in the morning knowing that mom will prepare my breakfast (tapi skang mak abah tengah posa enam, so… takleh la nak mintak bukan2), but to know that I had the capability of handling myself made me realize that I kinda miss of that. I’m so ‘human’. Missing what I can’t get and moaning when I am living the hardlife.
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Punch me!

[Picture: kat Dundee ~ the contents of these boats ships are yours too, because i have returned]

Tetiba ternampak iklan kat tv, terasa kempunan lak nak makan Dunkin Donut. Ari tu waktu gi PD, sempat la beli kat Restoran Jejantas kat Rawang tuh. On the way balik, dah lewat, dah tutup pun kedai.
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Apsal la takde kedai Dunkin’ Donut nih kat Penang eh??? (Kalo sesapa ternampak ada kat Penang, jangan lupa kasik tau kat aku!)

Sejak kabel telefon dicuri, barulah kejap tadi okey balik. 3 hari jugak orang-orang Telekom duk boh wayar baru sebab hujan sejak kebelakangan ni. Kesian gak aku kat TM. Walopun aku agak bengkerk dengan TM yang tak rasa rasa nak turunkan rate diorang, tapi aku kesian gak dengan diorang sebab kena maintain bebenda yang tak sepatutnya - kabel yang kena curi. Yer lah, tak puas hati dengan perkhidmatan, itu hal lain. Tapi takde la sampai nak gi buat bebenda tak sepatutnya, ye tak.

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Dah duk kat rumah jer, maka takde la apa-apa pun. Aku tengah merangkak-rangkak nak siapkan satu proposal. Takde internet nih menyusahkan hidup gak. Bukannya apa, kengkadang bila terjumpa terma-terma yang tak difahami dalam paper-paper, terus jer taip kat browser. Biasanya melalui wikipedia. Ataupun untuk bebudak math, boleh la rujuk term2 kat Springer Online : Encyclopedia of Mathematics atau Mathworld.

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Nasuha, haa ni la muka baru bangun tido tuh. Saja boh sini particularly sebab best ar nampak diri sendiri cam gemuk sikit walaupun selepas demam sebelum raya itu hari, sudah pun berkurang 2 kilo dan belum pun recover lagi.

Raya kali ini agak best la jugak. Malangnya aku pulak tak berapa ada mood nak menulis. Masih letih dari perjalanan semalam. Sampai kat rumah kak aku dalam pukul 5 pagi. Abang ipar aku drive sepanjang malam. Aku, family kak aku dan anak murid dia 4 orang pakat-pakat pergi beraya kat Seremban, Melaka dan Tangkak. Kitorang tidur kat PD.

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Hari pertama beraya dengan family. Family abang ngan kakak pun balik beraya sini, so meriahla sikit pagi-pagi raya nih. Pastu pusing-pusing rumah adik beradik ayah dan mak a.k.a pak mak menakan.

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Hari raya kedua - aku, Mirza dan Muzaini duk aim nak pergi rumah Anuar (semua x-SMK Merbok), tapi Anuar tak dapat nak bg gi awal sebab dia bawak anak dia (baru sebulan usianya) gi klinik. Kitorang gi rumah Jet (juga x-SMKM), dia tak balik kampung plak. Stop sekejap beraya kat sawah padi yang menghijau cantik, sempat ler amik
gambar sikit!

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Gaya nak gi rumah Mirza, Zuherly (Pend USM) call. Dia datang rumah aku dengan Ayien (x-CS USM), Shawn (aaar… USM gak) dan Syafiq Ghause (x-USM, KPLI skang nih). Sempat ler meng’update’ berita masing-masing.

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Pastu aku gi rumah Anuar lepas MaghribTengok baby dia. (Gambar sebelah: gambar Anuar dengan baby dia). Aku excited la jugak mendukung baby Anuar sebab kawan sebaya dah ader anak.  Balik ke rumah aku, Mirza ngan Muzaini mereport kat mak aku cakap yang aku dah tak sabar nak ader baby sendiri. Mak aku laser, ‘ader ke sapa yang nak dengan dia nih, dengan perangai tak matang etc..’. Waaa. [Semoga tidak masin mulut mak aku].

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Hari raya ketiga - beraya kat rumah mak mentua kakak aku. Raya keempat - aku pergi rumah Maharuddin, dan kemudiannya gi PD ari raya kelima.
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So that’s it. Sekarang ni ada sedikit letih dari berjalan dua tiga hari, tapi aku mesti kena paksa diri sendiri untuk mula menyelak-nyelak paper untuk buat proposal round 2.
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Round 2…. Fight!!!

Just a short notice:kabel telefon kena curi lagi, so takde la telefon dan internet connection.

Maka, aku ingin mengucapkan selamat hari raya kepada semua kawan-kawan dan pembaca-pembaca blog aku serta semua muslimin dan muslimat, kecuali yang mencuri kabel telefon itu. Kepada di perantauan, Mahadi dan Abang Tra, semoga tidak tersyahdu lebih. Kepada kawan-kawan kat Malaysia, meh la beraya kat rumah <– Ni kalo ajak, maksudnya bukan ajak-ajak ayam laa. Kalo nak datang, just call atau hantar mesej kot friendster. Aku hanya free pada hari raya kedua hingga keempat sahaja. Raya kelima hingga raya ke ketujuh takde kat rumah - gi raya kat PD. Ha ha.

I woke up this morning and I got around 7

emails from Emmy’s friend (coz they keep replying to all) talking about Girl Language, one of the repost about understanding girls [One can read the original version here]. So I was like - should this one become a big issue. I was waiting for ‘buka posa’ time so I came out a rebuttal version of mine:-

Boys Language
So you think girl don’t have to understand us?

If I don’t call you
[It's because I am out of credit or saving my 50cents credit for emergency call]

When I walk away from you mad
[Give me some time to calm down, don't keep pushing me coz I have my ego, I know it, but I won't admit it]

When I stare at your mouth
[I'm wondering how many lipstick do u have coz it looks different today]

When you push me or hit me
[Ouch, its hurt!]

When you start cussing at me
[Aaah, mula membebel dah..]

When I am quiet
[You don't have to ask me what's wrong. I just need some space. Or probably I have mouth ulser]

When you ignore me
[I thought you wanna do something on your own. Where does those 'girls can do what boys can' come from?]

When I see you at your worst
[I keep wondering what to say. Saying you are beautiful seems so fake and you start accusing me of just to 'amik hati' and you feel uglier when you start comparing yourself with other girls. Saying you are ugly -- that's a suicide. So I keep quiet]

When I see you start crying
[ I always tell you that everything will be alright but you feel like my tone is not sincere enough. What the??]

When you see me walking
[You have to run coz my steps are larger]

When Im scared
[ You laugh at me saying that I'm not manly enough like it's not hurt.]

When I lay my head on your shoulder
[Be carefull, things is about to get wild!!]

When I don’t answer for a long time
[ Just assume whether I am doing these stuff: leaving my handphone in the room, charging it, coz I always forgot to charge; I'm driving my car and I don't have hands-free; I'm eating while watching tv, and the phone is on vibrate-mode : which means everything is okay, you don't have to worry, and I assume I don't have to tell you everytime]

When you look at me with doubt
[I back myself up. But just for 2-3 times. Not more than that, I hate repeating the same thing]

When you break my heart
[the pain never really goes away. Yeah, I mean it; but yet you never believe it]

When I repost this bulletin
[I don't mind if you read it, but if you read it, please believe it!]

–> Coz guys are also different that you have to put your effort to understand us as well….

Again, not feeling well. This time because I’m having flu. Well, at least I can ‘merengek’ to ma family. I keep reminding that to appreciate time of being here. Yerla, Mahadi kat UK demam sengsorang itu hari lagi teruk, ye tak?
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[Lagu latar: Carrie Underwood - So Small]
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Nak raya dah ek? Aku macam tak kisah sangat. Which is wrong as well coz it meant for us to celebrate the Eid, not becoming an ignorant who feel that Eid is juz a day for us to start eating during the day again. At least, I dun wanna be that type of guy.
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Banyak sebenarnya benda yang berlaku di sekeliling aku sekarang ni. Tapi disebabkan melibatkan perkara-perkara rasmi, dan perkara-perkara peribadi, susah ler pulak nak berkongsi dalam blog. Probably why I feel a lil bit resent.
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Just come across one excerpt of Preetena comic.

The strip really came out right to represent my thoughts. But like Awin wrote in her blog. kinda took it without permission -

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"in this life, it means a lot to be thankful..
thankful for those who hurt you; for they made you stronger..tougher..
thankful for people who left you; for they taught you to stand on your own feet..
thankful for the lies, as these made you more knowledgeable..
and thankful for the ones that stay by your side;for because of them you’re not alone…"

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[Read  her blog here: i'll never giv up: a smile...]

Once Crayon Shin Chan aka Dik Cerdas was popular among people who read Comic House’s comic. Probably as the result of curiosity after looking at the advertisement in Dragon Ball comic. Or some random comic buying. The picture is quite a mess and so different compared to other comics.

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Then, come the era of people who love Shin Chan because of what they see on tv after NTV7 had decided to put it under kids cartoon line-up. These people love Shin Chan for a very different reason than the comics fan. They love Shin Chan because he is cute and naughty. A depiction of a child that we can usually see which seems entertaining to watch on screen, but believe me, you don’t want to have one in your home. They love Shin Chan because he seems like an innocent boy who sometimes blurt out something unexpected. Are you the one of them who loves Shin Chan for this reason?

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‘I like Shin Chan’, sometimes a friend share with me. ‘He is cute and naughty’. Ah, I see. That is not why I like him, I told myself.

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Shin Chan is so different in comic making it hard to like him for the same reason. In the comic book, he is a bad naughty boy who has too many knowledge he is not supposed to have. He is not innocent for having an abnormally crush towards pretty girl. People who loves Shin Chan for this reason usually notice that these are the portrayal of a ’sick’ young man and Shin Chan characteristic is a parody of Japanese culture.

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For example, when Shin Chan flirts with a woman, saying all those flowery word and we feel like ‘it’s annoying’, it is actually pointing out to those men who flirt the same way.

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The last two paragraph was not that important. Whether you like him because you think he is innocent, or you imaginatively think that it is a form of art that represent a culture, which the second reason is not the reason of watching a cartoon; it’s okay.

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But most of people miss a lot Shin Chan when they just watch the cartoon. And here are some part where I like to see people have it when they say that they love Shin Chan

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The Art of Exaggerating Something The Wrong Way

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My friend Mahadi usually do it to me. It goes like, when I was talking to him through phone and I need to hangup. I said, ‘Okey la wei, aku nak kena call dia plak’. He goes like, ‘oh, takpelah… sejak hang kenal dia, aku mula diabaikan’, which later was burst into a big laugh. We both knew that it is influenced by Shin Chan - the comic!

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The Art of Making Wrong Conclusion

Like the second picture, Shin Chan regularly makes the wrong interpretation towards one circumstance. And that is the fun part of the practitioner (sorry for make it sound like an ideology).

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I talked to Dani about applying for PhD, and she said, ‘tanya pensyarah dulu. Kalau diorang berminat dengan aku, baru la apply pulak’, something like that. I replied, ‘berminat dengan ko???’, interpreted cheesely as ‘into you?’
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Sometimes, the usage of telling stories in a way of different tone is also applied. It usually go like this. ‘Aku tak tahu kenapa, dia selalu masam dengan aku walaupun aku tak pernah buat apa-apa silap’, talked using a tone of expressing some girls you might probably crush on, instead actually talking about a kakak nasi goreng at kafe **** (USM students, can’t you guess?).
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The Art of Making A Passionless Face
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See the comic strip beside. Most of people are going to express ‘tapi dia membawa risalah jualan murah’ with some attitude - showing that he feels concern about the things he talk. Instead, he make the statement without expression. The same way he does whenever he wanna give some sarcastic comments.
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The Art Of Predicting What Others May Say

This is the fun one. Before the person we talked to say about something, we quickly say first. I usually do it with my mom (bertuah punya anak) and sister. It goes like this:
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‘Mak, tak jumpa pun butang baju’, and quickly say, ‘tu laaa, cari apa.. semua tak jumpa’ coz I know that my mom always ended up saying like that.
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This section can be expanded to one long article, probably I keep that in mind.
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My point is…

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..simple. Read Shin Chan comic (particularly around 7 to 20+) and see the fun part of it. Then we can basically agree that the interesting thing about Shin Chan is not just about ‘naughty and cute’ but also the cultural transformation that it brought. (And I sounded like asking people to read something very important in life).
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[Despite stressing out of my life, I'm so having lot of time writing. I could not help myself]