It's been a great ride with Blogdrive, but it's time for me to say auld lang syne to it. Things are just not working out with us. Now, don't I feel like I'm breaking up with my own blog or something. :D

To those who are still up to reading aimless ramblings of mine, do update your browser to http://thesewords.wordpress.com. Meanwhile, I will still leave the Blogdrive link up as it has become an archive of my thoughts for the last year or so.

Goodbye, Blogdrive. You will be missed.

So much for winning the Barclays. In less than a week, Chelsea took a downslide when it lost to Blackburn.

Football aside, the week has been a stroll in the park, with only 3 schooling days wedged in between 2 long weekends. And I decided to utilise my time fully not by revising, but covering episode after episode of Prison Break.

Three days of grinning stupidly at the monitor every time Wentworth Miller was on. I think it was kinda worth the time wasted. Hahha. (P/s: Nore, try googling this guy up. Maybe you'd give a second thought about your Querido Mourinho tuh :P)

Yesterday, Kak Rika and I braved the rain and made our way to the Malaysian Cultural Night. I almost  had a heart attack when Kak Rika announced she would be donning her kebaya for the event. It's freaking 10 outside, with rain splattering the ground, I mean, I don't think so. Hahha. Ke aku ni je yang pemalas nak iron baju??

Anyway, the crowd was huge. For a midterm event, I hardly expected a full-house. But the number of people who turned up amazed me. Goes to show CSMU Malaysians still have their hearts rooted back in homelands.

The opening ceremony was a blast. The moment the curtain was drawn, I immediately forgot about being grumpy for waiting so long. One thing for sure, cultural-wise, let's not forget one thing that makes us truly Malays: Janji Melayu. That aside, a mixture of Malay, Indian and Chinese students made their way onto the stage in what portrayed the struggles Tanah Melayu had against British in order to gain independence. The scene was wrapped up with a poem recited by a Malay student, a low-profile guy, who happens to be our Imam. Another heart attack was is line. But it was a nice change from the ordinary.

The poem said and done with, the speaker boomed with the opening of Negaraku. Without warning, everybody stood up and the hall was filled with hearty chorus of young Malaysians singing their national anthem. I'm talking nice reflexes here. Didn't think we had it in us to be so semangat, eh?

The night proceeded on with dances from all three ethnic groups and a sketch. Let's just say if those people couldn't make it through medicine, they could still make it as dancers and musicians. They were awesome and talented. Below is the excerpt of a conversation I had with an Indian fellow during a Malay traditional dance:

Guy   : Laily, what's the name of this dance?
Laily  : Err...
Guy   : Is it Zapin?
Laily  : No. I don't think so. I thought Zapin is only for guys.
Guy   : Then, what's the name of the dance?
Laily  : Heck if I know.

Some junior ambassador I am, huh? I'm kinda ashamed with my limited knowledge concerning the Malay dances, but hey, I do know Ngajat! Do I get extra credit for it?

The night ended with a fashion show featuring all traditional Malaysian costumes. This was when the pretty girls and not bad-looking guys strutt their stuff and gave a  shot on modelling. We cheered, we hooted, we clapped hands. In short, the night was a success, despite minor technicalities and whatnot. I enjoyed myself although I forgot my contacts and sat halfway to the back.

Tomorrow is another big day: Rumah Sukan KUU. I'm doing 400 m. Let's hope I won't pancit halfway. Til then, I leave you with the one botak guy I adore. :D

The football fever is back now that the Premiership is nearing the end of 2005/2006 season. The highlight of this month's game is of course the much-awaited match between Chelsea & Manchester United as these are two biggest English teams to date, with the most numbers of supporters.

Personally, for the last year or so, since the downfall of Liverpool, I've never been much of an EPL fan. Spanish League provided more excitement than the bland English league, as insipid as its weather.

3 years ago, Roman Arkadievic Abramovich, the oil billionaire from Russia decided to put his billions to good use and entertain the football fans across the globe by buying up Chelsea, a then suffering, wilted club. He then financed the arrival of a few big shots, such as midfield Joe Cole from West Ham and Irish winger, Duff, with price tags estimated to be around 17 mil pounds.

Now, what do you do with an income of 1.5 mil pounds a month? Sheesh... Some people just have it all...

Next, Abramovich tried to sought after Mourinho, the winning Champs League coach into a deal. They struck a 6-year contract, which was the beginning of many wonders for the victory-hungered club.

Needless to say, the rest passed by in a blur, and Chelsea finally managed to hoist the Premiership trophy last year.

This entry is starting to sound like a sports news report. Nevertheless...

Since the realm of Chelsea's reign, or Chelski, as the English reporters affectionately refer to the club after its owner's origin, the number of its fans doubles, triples, or even quadruples. Many start to turn their heads at the mention of the once-overlooked club. Jerseys sell like hot cakes in the markets, we actually see some blues among the overpublicised reds Man U and black n white striped Juventus jerseys.

It's all about good football. Loyalty and allegience were a thing in the past. :)

Although Mourinho is well-known for his overconfidence and snide remarks, he should actually be worrying over the club's fate this coming Saturday. Despite the fact that Chelsea is sitting prettily at the top of the chart with 88 points, with 9 points comfortably exceed Man U's for that matter, the club did have a record of one loss and draw game whereas Man U only suffered a draw against Sunderland (which is by the way, the club with the lowest ranking in the league) for the last 6 games. What is it with high-profiled teams that they're able to mock themselves by losing to clubs like Sunderland and Fulham? Yes, don't answer that. I bet a lot of football bookies were overjoyed by the incredible results.

I'd better stop typing before I start talking about the odds. :D Anyone game for a Saturday Night Football?

My mother really has a way with provoking heart attack in me. We have the normal mother-daughter relationship, and as I grow older, I realise she's the best friend I always wished wistfully I had. We tell each other everything through texts. She only calls on birthdays or raya. It really is fine with me, although sometimes I do feel envious watching my housemate getting phone calls from their parents every other week or so. So imagine when yesterday evening, I got this text from my mom:

Assalamu'alaikum. Kakak kat mana? Mak nak call skrg.

My heart promptly started racing. And I replied,

Wsalam. Sila2. Kat umah laa ni.

3 minutes later, the phone rang.

Mak   : Assalamualaikum! (imagine chirpy KFC-Hour host imitation)
Me   : Waalaikumsalam. Apa cerita mak?
Mak   : Takdak apa. Amboi, gossip ja naa.
Me   : Awat, orang kat kampung semua ok ka? (because she just a paid a visit to Perlis last weekend)
Mak   : Okay. Semua sihat, alhamdulillah.
Me   : Abeh tu awat yg mak tetiba nak call? Selalunya raya ja call.
Mak   : (laughing) Laa, saja mak teringat dgn anak mak.
Me   : Huhu... Buat cuak ja. Ingat kan apa tadi...

Bleh dak tanya mak sendiri apsal dia call? Hahhahha. If it's not for me, the most ungrateful child around. But yeah, you can't exactly blame me, right?

This is the second consecutive Thursday that I'm sitting on my butt doing nothing. Despite the fact that I'm having a killer exam tomorrow, dengan lepaknya all the notes dipandang hambar (poetic jugak bahasa aku ni ye?) They say spring is the season to go out and enjoy, to fall in love, to flash that vibrant smile, but how the heck aku nak buat seme tu while I'm stuck here n kene study?

A teacher passed away on Sunday. It was totally unexpected. Meh, cross that out. Jodoh maut sapa yg buleh expect? Nope, this guy didn't suffer from any chronic disease. In fact he was as healthy as the next guy. Cute even around that late twenty-ish age. We attended the surgery lecture last Tuesday without any clue. Then Butirsky, the head guy made an entrance in full black attire. Even his usual jovial attitude seemed to have perished in thin air. He was solemn. Everybody started sok-sek-ing. I did catch a few phrases mentioning 'dead', 'mati', 'cuti' among the hushed whispers.

Butirsky then called out a student's name, all the while gesturing the fellow to approach the bench. So she did. Kitorang dengan penuh anxious nyer menunggu the news being transmitted. We saw the girl nodded obligely, then she turned back towards us. Then, she grinned.

I swear half the lecture room pumped their fists into the air. Yes, we were that happy over somebody's death cuz that called for a cancelled class and a cancelled lecture. Ha.

Tho the deceased wasn't exactly our teacher nor that we've ever known or actually recognised his face, his loss kinda affected our day. He was good friends with our teacher. Imagine waking up one day with the news that your best friend, lunch buddy, gossip partner missed a step and took a plunge into the ocean and, well, died. We could tell she was severely heartbroken, she was not her usual chirpy self, and she didn't even bombard us with her usual popquiz. And she didn't even attend the funeral until the last minute, bleary eyed and all.

Being a medic, I should be accustomed to bad news and the eventual death. But when it hits too close to home, you can't help but feel the surreality of the fact. Some even joked of the possible consequences; if the deceased didn't attend the beach party and actually gave in to his students' invitation to have a Tamil New Year dinner in hostel, he wouldn't have slipped, hit his head on the barrack and died.

He had other options of course. I don't think God had the idea of playing Final Destination with him in mind. Given if he did skip the party and attend the New Year dinner instead, maybe he'd get into an automobile accident and die too.

The whole experience kinda made me realised, nak mati, bila-bila je boleh mati. Maybe all the while, no matter how many times we've been told, we tend to forget the simple fact.