In my mailbox today: 25th July 2005

"Best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other" -unknown.

"Tentang Dia"

It has been a decade or more since I last went gaga over a malay song. But in the last few months, I’ve been listening to one particular number very frequently. I got hooked to it after watching ‘Tentang Dia’, an Indonesian movie. The song is of the same title by Melly (a duet with Evan). It is such a wonderful and meaningful song!

Sehitam langit di angkasa
Yang mendung memurungkan bumi
Takutku ke masa yang lalu
Menorehkan luka dalam hati

Kekasih yakini cintaku
Disinilah cintaku berlabuh
Perjalanan mencari jawapan
Berakhir karam dihatimu

Cerita cinta anak remaja
Menggauli kidung kasih
Punahkan takut dihati
Terkutuklah bila kita berpisah
Selamanya harus bersama
Buktikan kita bahagia

Tentang dia tak perlu kau risau
Lagu cinta hanya untuk kita
Tentang dia jangan pernah terlupa
Biar menjadi cerita di balik cerita
Dan kini tidurku tersenyum
Oh gadis aku cinta padamu…

It's inhumane...and it's personal!

I had a real shock turning the TV on after work on Thursday to see the scale of destructions and chaos the London bombings had caused. I first got to know about it from the radio on my way home but I thought little about it… Don’t get me wrong, I lived in London for a few years and every now and then, there would be small packages exploded here and there but rarely did those caused much damage. When I was staying at College Hall on Malet Street (which is just a short distance walk from Tavistock Square, Kings Cross and Russell Square), we had to evacuate the place numerous times due to bomb scare and we just got used to it. After a while, bomb scares were just like fire drills here in Malaysia.. You just have to leave the buildings just to follow the procedures, but you can still take you time, walk out casually while chatting to your friends. Bad, I know but that’s life isn’t it.. you just take certain things for granted. Subconsciously, you always think that nothing as bad as bomb explosions can happen to you. If it’s going to happen, it has to happen elsewhere but never in your area…

So, it shook me to the core when I saw the images on CNN that Thursday night. I could practically recognised most of the areas shown and it was just unbelievable to see that a place that I used to call used home was so badly affected by such an inhumane act. Tavistock Square, where a bomb exploded on a bus and killed about 13 people was just about 5 minutes away from my Pharmacy school. During my years there, I passed by Russell Square station at least twice a day to go to classes, so it was just shocking to see the same path that I used to walk everyday then was used on Thursday to wheel out injured and dead people!

At weekends, I used to be Kings Cross- St Pancras’ faithful visitor, either to take a train out to Sheffield to see a loved one or to pick up friends coming from all over the UK for exciting weekends in the metropolitan city. Otherwise, I would take the forever-packed Piccadilly line from there or Russell Square to go for cinemas or shopping trips… And oh, Edgware road station, that would be where I usually take my tube ride home after dinner at Mawar restaurant or Satay House at the end of my day-out.. how could the same always-packed piccadilly line and tube stations now be the victims of terrorists satisfying their sick needs? Why attacking innocent people? And why do it in the name of Islam when we all know that in Islam itself, violence and killings of the innocents are ‘haram’?

Eventhough I’m not in London anymore, I just feel that my own space has been violated by the blasts. It is getting personal now…



My sincere condolences to the victims and families affected by the bombings. May the culprits be caught and brought to justice soon…

Back at last

It's been a while since I last blogged or blog-hopping. Visiting a number of my favourite blogs for the first time in months today made me realised that I'm not the only one. Some bloggers have said their goodbyes to the blogworld and some others have just slowed down. Has blogging reached its peak and now on its way down? Or are we just too busy with our real lives that blogging has now taken the back seat for once?

As for your truly, yup, my life and health has taken the taken up most of my time. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy blogging anymore. I would love to put up the new places that I’ve visited or the new experiences that I’ve gathered in the blog.. only that the timings weren’t always right. Recently, I was at home for a 2 weeks’ medical leave after I had my appendics taken out but I still couldn’t blog because the internet connection at home was temporarily down.

But hey, I’m back now!

P/s In case you’re wondering, yes, appendicitis is painful and the only way to treat it is by taking it out. Don’t worry too much about scarring.. it’s only a pencil-line thin at the bottom right end of your stomach and it’s not clearly visible. So you can still wear your swimsuits and nobody will notice it! ;-)