your guardian angel.

our song.

you will never catch me blogging at 9.53am of a saturday morning.
1) i will most probably be clocking in hours at the mart.
2) even if im not, i will most probably be in bed.
3) and if im not sleeping, i will most probably be pretending to sleep.
so yeah.





today is exceptional.
i stayed online for 12hours throughout.
thanks to him (yeah, he's back) and the msn buddies.
these guys just dont sleep, do they?
isnt booking out the time for you to get all the sleep you need?

he said something to me in the middle of the night.
made my heart beat faster.
my tummy churn butterflies.
and i cant stop smiling.






and its the littlest's birthday celebration tonight.
my saturday is so unavailable.
oh yeah.
and my sunday too.

i slogged eleven hours in school yesterday.
they called me up and asked whether i was camping in school.
haha!!
yeah right.







just that night i met up with the girls for buker.
and i had to prove myself to be the selengehest person.
"that goes without saying."
i seriously thought i saw 960 of the bus directory going to bukit timah road.
after suria's call and one and a half hours later.
i found myself in that bus, stuck in a traffic jam at the expressway and heading towards stevens road. seriously, i went down there countless of times.
so i got off at the first bus stop after the expressway and flagged down a cab.
the available one had to be a mercs.
plus that $2 surcharge.

passed by ccab and memories came flashing across my mind.

dinner was great la.
i had 2 cheese naan, mutton keema and 2 black spiders.
proved suria totally wrong.
came down to $15.










these people of yesterday are making a comeback.
i dont even remember them.
one of them is the most persistent, and feeling all frustrated.
you said i was a heartbreaker - but i did warn you.












just listening to it puts me in a blissful and relaxed state.
finally downloaded it la.
he loves it too.

"bodies in the sand
tropical drink melting in your hand
we'll be falling in love
to the rhythm of a steel drum band
down in kokomo.
...
afternoon delight
cocktails and moonlit nights
that dreamy look in your eye
give me a tropical contact high
way down in kokomo."



























i was so stupid, to think that for one moment, you cared.
it was easy for you to say that you love me.
now, look into my eyes.
and tell me you love me no more.




























8 hours to go.

28 november 2006.
carved into my memory for life.
just the seventeen of us, for 17 full days.

these are only a handful of the three thousand plus pictures we took.
and they are taken from our own camera lenses, not ripped off some internet search page.
videos not included.
accompanied by brief side notes.

feast your eyes.
soak in the sights.









kia ora!! (that means 'hello' in maori).

new zealand, or also known as aotearoa (the land of the long white cloud), is divided into two - the north and south island. it has a total area of 268,680 square kilometres but a population of merely 4.5million. that is one thousand times as huge as singapore, but having almost the same number of people. new zealand has the countrysides of england, lakes of canada and mountains of switzerland. as for the time zone, new zealand is 5 hours ahead of singapore.

we opted for seventeen days of free and easy, with dearest cik lim and busu as our tour guides. they went there for their honeymoon nearly 12 years ago. prior to the trip, much planning had to be carried out. the weekly gatherings at nenek's and makngah's place would be used to discuss about the vacation. the pre-new zealand shopping was awesome. since i had my winter clothings from the last winter iran holiday, i didnt have much shopping done. the rest had a blast though, getting themselves long johns, sweaters, windbreakers, socks and other stuff. i didnt really feel the excitement yet since i was busy preparing for the As that year, but as the days drew nearer, i just could feel the anticipation.

it should have been summer. however, the air temperature was below 20 degrees each time. while we were at queenstown, it went all the way down to 6. can you imagine how their winter is? the everyday lunch out was a picnic, prepared by ibu, nana and me. lovely picnic by running streams.

the landscape.

lovely contrast between the blue sky and green pastures.

the sight of sheep and cow frolicking are a norm.

busu's photography.

the majestic rapids of huka falls.

nothing beats this - lake tekapo.

upon coming out of the van and looking at this view in front of me, i went "subahannallah."

it was so beautiful, it left me speechless.

the water was clear.

there was absolutely no one around the area, except for us.

the environment was calm and quiet.

like time stood still.

lake tekapo again.

we used the lake water for ablution - it was freezing cold!!

carried out zohor and asar prayers right beside the lake.

i dont know why praying there was so.. special.

the feeling was so overwhelming that i felt tears rolling down my cheeks and onto my telekung.

another of busu's photography.

a sight while we were on the interislander's deck.

heading from the north to the south island.

check out the snow-capped mountain, it wasnt even winter.

the sights while driving along the mountain sides.

franz josef glacier.

a 4km walk on the rocky surface.

yeah, i was merely in slippers.

franz josef glacier.

only a heli ride can give you this shot.

sights of an england countryside.

lush greenery.

huka falls.

caught sight of a mini rainbow.

mountainside driving in the evening.

my shot.

could harldy open our eyes because the wind was hitting hard against our faces.

the little ones almost got swept away.

washing the lunch dishes by the stream.


an indian restaurant - taste of bengal.

all of us had their naan with curry and mutton keema.

our favourite shopping store.

DFS. this one has three storeys.

plenty of momentos, the all time favourite all blacks stuff.

the place where i blew most of my money.

the suspended single vehicle bridge.

the majestic clay cliffs.

we had to walk up the rocky surfaces.

getting down was the trickiest part, the men proved their worth.

the incredibly cool waitomo caves.

there is a great historical story behind it.

the limestone sculptures were amazing.

they hung around 5 - 10 metres from the cave ceilings, like sharp icicles.

took a slow boat ride in the cave itself to see the glow worms.

it was pitch dark, you couldnt even see your hand.

reminded me of the descent.

the glow worms were very pretty as they looked like stars.

millions of them.

the activities

craters of the moon.

the fittest five of us managed to climb all the way to the top of the hill.

it was taxing, we were hiking up the edge of the hill.

but then.

the view on the other side of the hill from the top was.. magnificient.

worth our lethargy, sweat and aching legs.

we ran downhill all the way.

first originated from new zealand, and is still one of the most popular sports.

this is the traditional bungee jumping, a 60m drop down.

a hundred dollars per jump.

i was begging ibu hard to let me try, but she was strongly not in favour.

so the rest of us persuaded syahir to do it.

he took an absolutely long time to decide.

and was farting continuously!! out of fear!!

we even saw one man who backed out, even after he had put on the harness and everything.

despite that, the crowd of people who were watching cheered him on.

i really regretted not being able to try it.

once in a lifetime.

busu's family were the only ones who took the heli ride all the way to the top of franz josef.

we were all jealous la.

looked like they were in the middle of either poles.

and the heli ride should be awesome.

and!! their helicopter was red and black.

how cool is that.

our first lunch (without busu's and the grandparents).

at an iranian restaurant.

we had kebabs.

it was comical, cause the owner was pointing to the menu, and he went, "this is halal, this is also halal, this is not, this one is, this is not, this is.. "

we were chortling at him la.

didnt really look forward to the horse-riding activity, but nana was simply ecstatic.

the trail was wonderful though.

we trotted through wildflowers, long grasses, small streams.

we passed through some scenes from lord of the rings. cool la.

princess arwen was speaking in elven language, prompting her horse to fly.

the other seven black horses were closing in to her, but she was clearly the better rider.

they were separated by the running water of the river.

summoning her powers, the water horses came in powerful torrents, crushing the black riders down.

syahir kicked his horse in the belly, and it started galloping.

so did all the others behind him.

that was fun la.

unfortunately, muzakkir lost his grip and fell a few feet off his horse.

and it was his birthday.

=(

kawarau jetboat.

packed with 2 Chevrolet V8 engines.

700 horsepower dreamride.

the total 7 360 degree turns were so cool.

the ultimate activity, worth every dollar cashed in.

white water rafting.

only the four of us went.

the briefing was very thorough.

and by the time it ended, syahir was all quiet.
we were sent off to put on the wet suits and keep our stuff.

the wet suits were the most ridiculously difficult pieces of clothings i ever had to put on.

they were so very extremely tight, i was quite breathless after having it on.

following that, we were given a plain jacket, a red jacket for identification, a life jacket, a helmet and wet shoes.

it was so damn frustrating wearing them and putting things together.

it wasnt easy moving around la.

i ended up being the other two's guardian, signing some documents.

so mark was our instructor, and he is every reason for the word c o o l.

i think he looks a bit like viggo mortensen (how ever his name is spelt).

he comes all the way from scotland and his accent is way cool.

i know im overusing the word cool.

we met up with 3 other rafters :

carlos from spain.

mitch from down under australia.

john from the US.

very strong men.

we rafted a total of 17km down the shotover river through6 rapids, ranging from grade 3-5.

the last grade 5 rapid was called jaws and it was the most violent and coolest of all.

our hands were so numb from the freezing water, that we could hardly feel anything.

we went to wash ourselves and they prepared some hot espressos with biscuits to warm us all up.

the whole experience was.. COOL.

haha.

sydney airport. our plane did a detour.

queuing up to redeem our food coupons worth $110.

realised that there were many people clad in stripes.

including that guy in front of us.

and he is totally hot la.

we used the coupons to get plenty of pretzels, pastry, drinks, muffins, nuts.

we gave away $20 and threw away $10.

yeah.

the tram conductor.

we asked him whether we could snap a picture of him, and he went, "im just a normal guy."

=) cute la.

praying by lake tekapo.

heavenly.

the deserted roads.

great place we went for cherry picking.

1kg of sweet red cherries at a mere $5!!

levin adventure park.

where even the adults had fun.

this was the hamster wheel, we kept rolling and toppling on top of one another.

then there was the flying fox.

nana hit her nose real bad while trying to avoid a little girl.

and it began bleeding non-stop.

if you think luging at sentosa is fun, it is nothing as compared to new zealand's la.

the cool crisp air, astounding scenery.

syahir hit the intermediate and he was luging right beside the gorge.

check out their gondola!!

one other awesome ride.

it goes faster than a ferrari.

this stranger suddenly came up to syahir and presented him with 2 tickets, worth $30 each.

he kindly gave the other to me.

we had no idea what it was about.

we were well harnessed and were lifted off the ground.

they lifted us about 80 degrees above using hydraulics.

the swing overlooked the entire area .

it was beautiful from way above.

we were supposed to pull some string to trigger the swing.

we did a little prayer up there.

once the trigger was let go, syahir and i were screaming our lungs out.

it went up to 150km/h in merely 2 seconds.

just pure excitement.

nobody does the haka like the new zealanders.

lovely backdrop.

love, roseate.

we did plenty other things as well, which i didnt include.

5 october 2006 was memorable as i beat syahir to a game of chess right after our dinner.

he couldnt believe it either.

it was my first, and maybe the last ever.

he is that good.

new zealand - where they shot the entire lord of the rings trilogy as well as narnia's the lion the witch and the wadrobe.

the people are really rugby crazy. they had a huge digital screen counting down to the rugby world cup, up to the very last second.

the all time favourite all blacks team.

every rugby player's dream destination.

i spent some time teaching the others some rugby basics.

lovely.

really lovely.

make it your next getaway.

it was something tom said to me late sunday afternoon.
and he wasnt the only one to say that.
.. how can you have only your interest at heart?..

okay.


love itself is a selfish motivation. take it from william blake's 'the clod and the pebble'.
'love seeketh only Self to please,
to bind another to Its delight.'


to be able to have a choice - its fantastic.
but how can having choices be so great, if i had to choose between two most wonderful things?
truthfully?
it scared me alot.
and at a point of time, i told myself that i did not want to do this anymore.

but i had to take that chance at my choice.
if not i wont ever know, would i?
if i didnt take that chance at risking my choice, i may be missing something - which could be the best thing that would have ever happened in my life.


the complete stranger walked away for the final time tonight.
with maroon 5's sweetest goodbye.


its a total of 7 times i have hit the play button.
yeah, i counted.

aicha - outlandish.

thanks a lot, baby.

hmmm.
even the sister's hooked to outlandish's aicha.
exactly a month to the day she has always been anticipating.
and it means its a stint month for me.
whatever.

just last night i blew my dollars on ice-cream for the entire extended family.
fortunately busu's wasnt there.
its rolling in again.

i love the late night conversations with him.
and last night's was not an exception.
but he said something which made me think hard.
.. a million skeletons in your wadrobe.

i dont think i am that mysterious as you think i am, you know.
but.
you may think you know me, but you dont.
not ever.

i kind of miss the background dudes when we are having our talks while he's in camp.
my dear sir,
you've booked out for too long.
i am beginning to miss your men.

i am dreading this month's bill.

outlandish-ing

one night, i asked him what song would he associate me with.
a moment's pause. then he played the song over the phone. completely heartwarming.

last afternoon, i was awakened from my deep slumber by the sister. she had her laptop in her hand. he talked to her online and wanted me to listen to the song at that moment. i told you that he's persistent. calling you by outlandish.

check them out.

middle-east guys are soo hot. especially when they sing or rap in english and spanish.
or.
when they play footie for their country.

okay.
four days into ramadhan.
and a complete 12 days abandonment.










it just happened.
swept me off just like a whirlwind would.



it was one of the toughest.
but i made my choice.








the entire of yesterday with you.
was pure bliss.

you know things are going to get pretty ugly when:





1) one has given his heart to you.
and you adore him.



2) you went out for dinner with another.
but at the back of your mind, thinking of the other that you adore.



3) the entire night spent talking to one other on msn and the phone.
with follow-ups after he had booked in.
he's persistent and he insists.
the one who got suspended back in jc.
flying high at ocs.
7 charges under his name.

you know he's mack on attack,
throwing you off.
and you accepted a night out with him.

but you're still thinking of the other that you adore.

the worst has yet to come -
he is your friend's boyfriend.



4) your younger sister is worried - for you.

she already has plenty on her mind.
with him hitting another car.
her laptop crashing on her.
and who-knows-what-else.
if she's thinking alot, she's doing a good job at masking it.

nana honey.
im sorry i was so mean to you yesterday. =/





its going to be a hell of a thrilling ride.
i know.

watch this space.
period.

he scores.
her - 1. him - 1.
now she has to wait in anticipation.





he wasnt feeling too well yesterday when i saw him.
and today, he got caught in the downpour while riding across the expressway.
without a jacket on. =/

je suis maintenant bien plus déterminé.
nous devons obtenir le convertible.




by the way, im tipping the scales.
all in good time cause its merely a week to ramadhan.


supper with the dearest later at macs.