Final Journal Entry

Description of the Photo

Version 1:

A boy is laughing when his picture was taken. There are pillows and bed in the photo. It must be taken in a bedroom of someone. The age of the boy is 2 and a half year old and he is my nephew. The boy is laughing perhaps because he was playing with someone when the picture was taken. There is light in the room. It shows that the picture was taken during a bright sunny day.

Version 2:

The picture was taken by my sister. She was playing with the boy in the picture who is our nephew. She loves taking his picture while entertaining him. They were in my room. There was no one else in the room except for themselves. The picture was taken at about 1 o'clock in the evening and that is why there is a bright sunlight in the picture.

Combination of the 2 versions:

On one bright sunny day, my sister was busy entertaining and playing with my nephew. We were just moving to our new house at that time. It had been two weeks at that time. Everything was settled and unpacked except for some stuffs that belong to me. I had not much time. I put all the pillows and my other stuffs on my double Decker.
It was fasting month. My mother and my elder sisters are all busy cooking and preparing food for breakfasting. Thus, there was no one to entertain my nephew. Therefore, my younger sister decided to play with him. My nephew loves it when his picture is taken by someone. And after that, he would ask to take a look at the picture.
My sister is always ready with her camera phone. She would take his picture at every angle. My nephew would laugh whenever his picture is about to be shoot. They enjoy playing with each other.

Journal Entry 5

Imagine being a child prodigy who is not understood by people around you. You long for friendship and a normal life.
Write a poem describing your life.

UNDERSTAND

U - Understand my needs, my desire,
N - Never abandon me as I need your guidance,
D - Do hear what I've got to say,
E - Easy on me, I'm not a robot, I'm learning,
R - Re-teach me if I do wrong, I'm an ordinary human and make mistakes,
S - Support me if I fall,
T - Tell me what should I do, don't order me,
A - Answer me if I'm asking, I want to satisfy my curiosity,
N - Never leave me in the dark,
D - Dream with me, you'll know better me.

As how you want they understand you,
Me need someone too,
Just like you,
Know myself,
What my mind wants,
Don't give me wounds,
I need your treatment.

Poem 5 (Activity 5 - Receiving A Postcard)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Sandy white beach,
Clean water,
They dived better
than us,
You saw together,
witness.

Don't you miss the good old days,
When everything was really amazed,
Like the picture,
We long for such place,
Give back to us,
Do not erase,
Won't you miss everything displaced?

This is what we learn,
Human make mistakes,
So does it can be turned,
To whom it may concern,
Please don't let it happen..

Poem 4 (Activity 4 - Sending A Postcard)

I SAW SEA SHELL ON THE SEA SHORE

I saw sea shell on the sea shore,
But now it is not like before,
I wonder what had happened,
Does it disappear?
Or too upset with the development?

She sold sea shell on the sea shore,
She now no longer there,
The business is no more,
Everything ruined, she couldn't bare.

We beg you,
Don't dirty the place,
We ask you,
Don't be disgrace,
Let us start with a pace,
And together we make it paradise..

Poem 3 (Activity 3 - Receiving A Postcard)

SO I THINK I CAN DANCE

Hey friend! Still remember me?
We once met by the sea,
I was alone, you came accompany,
Knowing you made me free.

I was upset with what happened,
U were saying something, strengthened
my feeling,
I can forget her that made me angry,
I found someone that makes me happy.

At times I was dancing alone,
It was awful,
Like a song with no tone,
But now she is here,
We dance together,
Thanks to you,
I became greater.

My wooden leg is here no more,
Give it no chance,
To be like before,
So I think I can dance.

Poem 2 (Activity 2 - Sending A Postcard)

DANCING KING

We used to dance together,
Before I became a loner,
Mow I'm dancing much happier,
Without you as my partner.

I saw therm dancing happily,
They laughed and kissed hindsight of me,
Jealousy is not in my dictionary,
Don't you hope I'm begging you coming back to me.

All by myself,
I was dancing,
No discipline,
No nothing,
I now can move freely,
The picture of the man is just like me,
Can't you see,
I'm smiling.

I don't car much of the surrounding,
Why, you ask?
I'm the dancing king..

Poem 1 (Exclusive Place)

MR. HALL

O' Mr. Hall,
or should I call you by your full name,
Living Hall..

It's the place for all,
My family gathers,
We love, cry and fall,
You are the witness,
O' Mr. Hall..

While watching television,
I might fall asleep,
You keep me sleeping,
Till I awake,
You blow me wind,
Me fly wings,
In my dream..

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak..

I think this Ramadhan is the most exciting fasting month that I ever had. The first reason would be my family had moved to Kapar, Klang and this made me easier to go back home whenever I want to. Secondly, the first Ramadhan was on 1st of September. It made me easier to count how many days of Ramadhan had passed. We always know and remember the date in Georgian calendar, but it always hard for us to know the date of Hijri Calendar. And it is much easier since Ramadhan is also the ninth month of Islam. The next reason is because I managed to save my money from buying the food at the bazaar Ramadhan. I have determined not to buy any food (except for beverage and some kuih) this time. I’d rather cook since I learnt some of the recipes from my mother and my friends. I don’t want to waste my talent (???) and money. I am not really good at cooking but it is good enough since my housemates had given me their compliments by saying that my dishes are delicious. It’s good enough for me. I will improve as time goes by, Insya-Allah.

For this Ramadhan, I have put an aim to do the Tarawikh prayer every night. If I miss to do it at the mosque, I will do it on my own at home. Besides, I want to finish (khatam) the Quran before Ramadhan ends. If I can’t do it, I will make sure I will khatam before the end of this year.

Ramadhan came only once in a year and it is the month of ibadah. I hope I will not wasting my time doing nothing. As a Muslim, I also hope that Allah s.w.t will accept all my ibadah and reward me. Insya-Allah.

My Favourite Fictional Character..

Frankly speaking, I admired female character. Why, you ask? I have my own reasons. Firstly, I have watched too many male fictional character and sometimes I can guess their movements and next actions since men sometimes do share the same thought. Secondly, I wonder how it will look like if female is to save the world. Can the female character save the world as good as the male character does? Thirdly, I feel doubt if they can do actions like the male characters do.

The fictional character that I favour the most is Piper played by Holy Marie Combs from the Charmed series. I watched this series from its very first season until its final season and never missed once. Piper had the power of freezing and blowing things out. At the early part of the series when she was first knew about her power, she can only freeze things for 5 seconds. Later, her power grew and she could even unfreeze the part of the frozen body that she froze. She had an elder sister, Prue and a younger sister, Phoebe. Being a middle child, she always became a middle person to calm these two persons who often had arguments.

When Prue died, she became a very responsible-yet-depressed mother and sister. She once divorved with her husband and later they get back together. She had gone through all the ethick and thin in her life calmly. She also possesed a new poer of blowing things out, including human and demon. She was at first found it hard to control her new power. However, with the support from her family, she managed to overcome it. Married to a white-lighter and had two very powerful magic sons, she had to protect them from them, though sometimes they protect her.

What I like the most about Piper is her powers and the way she controlled them. She did not misuse them and always helped the innocent. She also a very lovely mother and never forgot her responsible even though she had a business to run and innocents to be saved. I am really looking forward to watch other female character who has the same or more powerful than Piper. She was potrayed as a very string woman..

The Items..

• Leather Jacket
• Business Card
• Dusty Radio
• Silver Locket with Inscription
• Bottle of Herbal Medicine
• Rugby Ball
• Fortune-telling Cards
• Jar of sharpened Pencils
• Brand New Laptop

Zakiah takes off her leather jacket that was given by her ex-boyfriend. It was meaningful to her. But not anymore. She had to wear it since it was raining when she left home this morning. She takes something from the pocket of the jacket. It is a business card given by her client whom she met two hours ago. She turned on the radio that is placed on her dining table. it was a bit dusty. It's been a while since she listened to the radio as she is very busy with her job as an insurance agent. After 10 minutes, she goes to the cupboard and takes a bottle of herbal medicine which she should consume in order to make her fever feel better. Before eating that, she take off her silver locket with an inscription of her ex-boyfriend. She knows that she still cannot forget him. Done with the medicine, she sits back on her chair. In front of her is a rugby ball. As an ex-rugby player of her school, she keeps the ball to keep her mind track back the old memory. She then switches on her brand new laptop that she bought just now at Plaza Alam Sentral before she met her client. She found a fortune card slipped through the laptop. It must be someone else's, she thought. 'You will live happily ever after'. It is written on the card. She smiled herself. She put it on a jar on her desk that contained pencils.

Early Reading History..

Since I was a school boy until now, I am not the type of ‘reading’ kid. I only read for ‘survival’. Thus, I only read when exam is just around the corner. I rarely read books even for pleasure. It will make me tired and I ill fall asleep. The only two books, if they can be categorized as books, are Doraemon and Shin Chan. I would rather read these books starting dawn till dusk than to do anything else. Sometimes, I do go to the library but seldom read the books there. I often study there with my friends. However, I remember this one book (novel) that was made compulsory to read as a literature component when I was in Form 1. The name of the novel was ‘Aku Anak Timur’ written by Siti Aminah Haji Yusof. This novel also had won the first prize in the ‘Competition of Writing Journey Novel’ this novel was written in 1980’s.

The novel was a bout a girl, Zarina who followed her mother during school holidays to visit her father who was studying in Leiden University, Netherland. When she reached there, she was at first rather shock with the lifestyle of the Western people. However, she realized that their way of lifestyles were different due to their differences in cultures. Later, she met a guy, Niek Van Hoeve who was then introduced her to his friends. She then became influenced by her new friends and this made her parents worry. Everything changed when she was almost being raped by one of her new friends that she just met at the party. After the incident, she realized why her parents disobeyed her all this while and how far the Western people had gone in respecting others.

I like this novel because it showed the patriotism spirit that the main character, Zarina had. Apart from that, the writer also had shown to me how beautiful the scenery along the journey besides how wonderful the experience that the family had. It was narrated well and I believe all the readers could imagine the real situation happened in the story. It also taught me the new language which, language of the Holland people. Zarina in one scene of the story became mad because the people there did not know where Malaysia is. I still remember how weird I felt when I first read about it. Soon, I became proud as people from all around the world have known Malaysia now.

As a person who never experienced staying at overseas, the novel was like ‘an imaginary place’ that I had been. It really ‘brought’ me there. Since the novel was written in1980’s, when I first read the story in 2000, I did wonder if the perception of the Western people towards Malaysia had changed. As I stated above, in the story, Zarina became mad when the people there did not Malaysia and yet they knew Indonesia better. I do hope that now, the new generation know Malaysia better since we are more advanced and developed better than Indonesia.

High Fidelity..

What is the movie about?

• Searching for a true love. That is the main theme and what the movie is all about. Rob Gordon, the main character of this movie tries to complete his searching by having relationships with several women. However, he encounters a lot of problems due to his own fear of commitment.
  

How it is different from a common love fiction?

• From my point of view, it is different since it is narrated by a man.All this while, we have been watching all the movie that shows how women perceive love and at the end it is always men who is blamed. However, this movie shows how Rob sees love in his life. Besides, there is no such thing as too romantic scene that would make me sleep while watching.
  

Who is your favorite character and why

• Dick, a low-profile friend of Rob Gordon is my favorite character. What I like the most about him is his characteristic - low-profile yet funny. He doesn't like to talk when he doesn't feel it is necessary. All of his points are relevant he does not spAt the early part of the movie, Dick is shown as 'a loser' in love. However, towards the end of the movie, we can see the difference in him. He becomes more confident in himself and even manage to get himself a girlfriend.
  

Provide an alternate ending

• Rob insists on forgetting Laura. He decided to focus on his career. He becomes a very well-known person due to his success in managing his record store. Later, she found another girl who is prettier and end even smarter than Laura. He realizes that they really compliment each other. They get married and Rob managed to have his own company. His label becomes an international label. Then, Laura regretted what she did. However, it's too late since Rob already has his own family.
  

Writer's Block..

Problems Faced by Students When Writing..

When writing, i often face these problems. They come in tree different stages.

Pre-writing stage:

1) Organizing ideas.
- It is sometimes hard for me to organize the ideas since it came to blow out in my mind and I have to arrange them in order.

2) Draft/Outline.
- This problem happened since I was in primary school. I am kind of free writing person. I love to write whatever comes cross my mind. I hate doing draft since I think it will just make me lose all the idea that I had.

While-writing Stage:

1) Grammar / Tense.
- I think most of the writers would encounter this problem. It really makes me 'worry' about my writing. I have to double check my grammar and the tenses. I do this even while writing all the entries in this blog. This is sometimes hampering me from writing.

2) Thesis statement.
- I often face this problem while writing essays especially during my pre-degree. Sometimes, the idea of the content of the essays did not come out when I was writing the introduction, therefore, it was very hard for me to write the thesis statement. And sometimes when I just had a new idea, I had to make a change to my thesis statement. This is really tiring.

3) Exposition of the ideas.
- Good ideas would sometime come without elaboration. I had the idea, but while writing it I do not know how to elaborate it.

4) Mental Block.
- This is a very common problem of all the writers. The mental sometimes being 'blocked' and I can't even think at all. When this happen, I always stop writing and do other thing while waiting for the idea to 'appear' in my mind. If it does not appear, I'd rather stop writing.

Post-writing Stage:

1) Overwrite.
- After I had finished writing, I always wonder if my writing had exceed the limit. Readers sometimes hate to read an overwrite essay. And I hate it either.

2) Overstate.
- Sometimes when I had a very good idea, I became too excited to write about it. Thus, I would sometimes wrote too much explanation. Therefore, I had to double check my essay and erase the unnecessary elaboration.

3) Too Complex / Not Simple.
- As a reader, I did face a problem to understand what the writer tries to deliver. So, when I was writing, I often wonder if my readers would understand my message.

4) Too many needless words.
- When this happens, the readers often feel that reading the article is just wasting their time. I always double check all the words, since I might put too many needless words.

The New Semester..

07/07/08 is the date that marks the beginning of the new semester. Being a part 5 student in my third year of study I do really hope that I will be able to score the GPA of at least 3.5 (May Allah grant my wish). I heard from my seniors that part 5 is actually 'the hell' of this lovely course. I do really hope that they were wrong though I do think it was right in the first place. This might be due to the 20 credit hours with 5 subjects of 3 credit hours that we 'carry'.
I am really happy that the holiday was finally over since I did not have so much activity to be done during my holiday. As usual, the main problem faced by us is regarding the online registration system. Some of my friends did not actually registered for the subject as a result of their 'lateness'. Luckily, I did not have to face such problem since I registered early on the very first day of the registration. Even though I had to wait for more than an hour for the sake of joining my class, U5C. Technology...!
The first week of this new semester gave us no assignment and I do really like that. I just hope that the semester will leave me a sweet memory.