Shahrill Ramli Is 36 Years Old @ The Year 2020 : A Grateful Caterpillar In The Chrysalis.

I am now a legit 36 years old! Thanks to Mak and Ayah for all the food galore – Laksa, Nasi Ayam and Durians. I try not to upload the pictures as sometimes I feel like such sharing would offend those who have been missing their own demised parents. Gasp! Last year, I celebrated my birthday by doing a spiritual journey to Seoul, South Korea during Ramadhan. It feels surreal to even reach the Year 2020 when my childhood was all focused on this year as Malaysia under Tun Mahathir had launched Vision 2020 in 1991. Thus, Malaysians were encapsulated with the ideas that Malaysia would be a modern nation by the Year 2020 – which was not impossible; if it wasn’t for the 1997 financial crisis and other global threats. I really hope I could finish my thesis write-up by this year or next year. The clock is ticking, really!

A 36 years old. Can I still use the name “childlike” for this blog? Haha!

Today also marks the 76th day of Movement Control Order (now elevated into Conditional) which is set up due to COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, we are at the fourth phase of the MCO and so far, Malaysia has done very well! Alhamdulillah and kudos to the Ministry of Health! It is during this very time that we feel VERY LUCKY that we are Malaysians and I heard that hundreds of Malaysians who are residing abroad are planning to “come back”. Well, who am I to question such – but I guess other average Malaysians could not contain their disgust as well. But then still, even after all the “Malaysia-sucks-while-countries-abroad-are-better” comparisons, Malaysia still opens her arms. Politically wise, Malaysia is having another dark period involving subsequent drama of Sheraton Move. I used to be very candid in my blog about politics – perhaps I will write more once I am back to Batang Kali, tomorrow – with Rifqi.

Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, our national unsung hero during this COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you Dr and to all Malaysian health practitioners!

The feud. Muhyiddin Yassin Vs Tun Mahathir. I will write on this in upcoming entry, Insya ALLAH. 

So far during these 2 months of MCO, I have completed two articles and I have been corresponding with my supervisor, Prof Muati through WhatsApps and emails. We have been sending the two articles to various Rhetoric Journals but so far most of them are futile missions. Still, never lose hope. If the current submission do not crystallize, we would try the local ones. I hope that these two papers would get to be published although I already have one paper published last year. The first paper is on Ustaz Azhar Idrus’s rhetoric and the second one is about Muhyiddin Yassin. Hopefully, they would be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tedious. But hey, every academic experiences this. Publish or perish?!

Becoming 36 years old seems surreal. Yes, although I don’t really look like my age; the reality is as the reality does. I still have another 4 years to go prior to becoming a 40 years old! Haha! But I actually like growing older. I realize that the old cliche expression that “age makes you wiser” is true. I have noticed some changes in the way I think and the way I speak in comparison to my then-self 10 years ago. I have also become more realistic and practical – although deep down that inner childlike positivity still keeps me energetic! I know that even after securing PhD, it is not going to be easy to penetrate the university to become a Communication Lecturer especially with the recent pandemic. Still, I rather focus on the PhD first. Amin. Hopefully, everything is going to be OK.

Amin.

On whole, I think the essence of now as a 36 years old is that Shahrill Ramli embodies that sense of being grateful. I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for my parents. I am grateful for my career. I am grateful for my financial independence. I am grateful that ALLAH SWT has been kind to me although as a plain human, I do sometimes led astray, away from the Path. But I think, the struggle is real and no harm’s done to keep improving myself from my setbacks. Amin. A letter from Shahrill Ramli to Shahrill Ramli; dated 1st June 2020 @ 36 years old. 

The Malaysian Movement Order Control Order @ COVID-19 Pandemic : The Panic-Buying, Thronging The Police Stations, The Two Weeks Isolation-At-The-Attic & The Challenges Attending A Semi-Senile “Nyanyuk” Grandmother!

Starting today, Malaysians are asked to coop ourselves inside our houses due to the Movement Control Order that officially commences from 18th March 2020 until 31st March 2020. Luckily, it is school holiday and I am now at Jitra, Kedah to spend the supposed school holiday. Nonetheless since COVID-19 pandemic is getting worse in Malaysia with spike in the number of infected persons reaching 790 cases and two deaths (a “tabligh” attending the mass get-together in Sri Petaling and a Sarawakian priest), government has issued the order yesterday to curb the spread of the viral infection.

Inalillah. Condolence.

Yesterday was really an eventful day for Malaysians. First, there was the panic-buying fever as people thronged the supermarkets to get themselves enough food ration for the next 2 weeks! You could see pictures of Malaysians “attacking” groceries and racks of breads, vegetables, biscuits and even condoms (lol!) were empty! Seemed funny because a month ago, a lot of Malaysians were trolling Singaporeans for doing that, labeling the Singaporean counterparts as the “insufferable Kiasu” – but now, it looks like Malaysians are licking their own spits, no? Second, people were thronging in police stations to get the “balik kampung” and inter-state movement permission from the policemen as Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, the Malaysian IGP has made it compulsory for Malaysians to get the permission for anyone who aspires to travel. So naturally, the police stations were so packed with people (as well as the bus stations) that the IGP finally “surrendered” to the situation by retracting the policy! Phew!

The panic-buying!

Malaysians were thronging the police stations to get the permission for inter-state travelling. Unfortunately, this increases the physical contact between people!

As for me, luckily Rifqi and I arrived at Jitra on Sunday, 15th March 2020. Usually, I would go out with him venturing the rustic ambiance of Kedah but this time around, I have decided to coop ourselves in the house. True enough 3 days later, this Movement Control Order was issued. My parents’ Jitra house is a decent terrace house with a self-made attic (I stay here whenever I am in Jitra!) and three rooms. By right, it would be a comfortable one for my father, mother, nephew and I but now, my grandmother (Tok) who is turning into semi-senile is staying with us as the other uncles and aunts did not voice any interest to take care of her – so my mom being a devoted Malay Muslim bound with filial piety had decided to take care of Tok although my mother’s own health is somewhat fluctuates due to her diabetes! So, we give Tok the Master Bedroom as there is also a toilet specially for her inside it. Mak has to move to the third room where usually Kakak and her family stay whenever they come to Jitra whereas Rifqi and Ayah sleep at the second room which used to be my room. On the other hand, I usually coop myself up on the attic and sometimes Rifqi would come up to tease me and all. Personally, I am an ambivalent person (I am a Social Butterfly but I also prefer a hermit’s life!) so naturally this 2 weeks Movement Control Order is not a big deal for me as long as there is Internet and books! Haha! 

I took the opportunity to do my morning jog on the 17th March 2020, a day prior to the Movement Control Order. I plan to continue the health-regime routine during the 2 weeks Order. I did tabata today! Hopefully it would last till the end of the Order. Haha!

My grandmother, Tok. She is now experiencing the semi-senile (dementia) phase or in Bahasa Malaysia we call it “nyanyuk”. She now sees people who were already dead (my grandfather, her parents, her relatives, etc) and also creepy images like clock turns into devilish-looking snakes or vases turn into little boys. Apparently, this is the normal phase of dementia where the person would start to experience hallucination. It has been quite challenging as suddenly in the middle of the night, she would open the door and claims that people were coming to visit us or in the afternoon, she would don her Hijab and sits at the door “bickering with someone” she claims has been badmouthing her. I salute Mak for willing to take care of Tok although deep down, Mak is annoyed and angry that her other siblings are turning deaf ears on this. Well, I guess like other typical Malays, they would come back to kampung instantaneously when news that “Tok is terminally ill” or “it’s time to divide the inheritance via Faraid”? I hope I won’t be like that. As the male heir, it is my duty to take care of both my parents. Amin. 

On whole, I should be grateful as a teacher that this happens during school holiday and I do not have the dilemma as my other friends who are working in banking, medical or telecommunication lines as they still have to work throughout this two weeks period of the Order. Sometimes, I do get annoyed reading the complaints that some of my teacher friends and colleagues write in social media about this Order. It is time to stop complaining and reflect how lucky we are – we don’t have to work 24 hours attending the sick people at the hospitals; we don’t have to patrol around to disperse the ignorant Malaysians from flocking an area. I also aim to expedite my thesis writing and perhaps this 2 weeks Order is a bless in disguise? Amin YRA.

The Bird Poo Scam & Islamophobic Insult : The Europe 2019 Wanderlust @ Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Leeds & Edinburgh!

This trip was not exactly something I planned to have by the end of this year. I had my own solo trip to South Korea circa June 2019 for my birthday which coincided with the Ramadhan (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2019/07/06/rebirth-of-an-istiqamah-attempt-my-4th-solo-trip-to-seoul-south-korea-my-35th-birthday/) so there would be no possibility of having another abroad trip this year! Alas, circa September my sister buzzed me alerting that the price for Europe seemed quite affordable. I tried to shun off the idea but it has been three years since I last toured Europe so I guess that wanderlust urge was kicking hard. Spontaneously, I agreed and Kakak finalized the tickets (she likes doing all the comparison between flight tickets, transportation and lodging pricing!) from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam with Dubai as the transit airport. So for three months, this trip has been the object of determination for both Kakak and I. Whenever we felt down or demotivated with our works (I particularly on my school workloads and PhD where I had to finish a thesis chapter and articles for publication!), the idea of travelling abroad managed to arouse that fire to finish off our workloads prior to the vacation on 12th December 2019! Haha!

Waiting for our flight to Dubai, UAE.

So, on 12th December 2019, we flew to Dubai with Emirates at 7.10 p.m. from Kuala Lumpur. As usual, it was a comfortable flight (love Emirates!). We arrived at Dubai circa 10.00 p.m. (Dubai is 4 hours behind Kuala Lumpur) and had to wait for our connecting flight to Amsterdam at 8.10 a.m. the very next day. We arrived at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam around 2.30 p.m. and it was 4 Celsius (well, it was winter!). We took the train to Brussels-Zuid in Belgium circa 6.00 p.m. By then, it was already dark as the sunset at 4.30 p.m. We arrived at Brussels around 8.15 p.m. unknowing that there would be an experience waiting for us.

The historical facade of Amsterdam Centraal (something like our KL Sentral) and having coffee at Starbucks. That worn-off face, though. 

I went inside the toilet and while I was in, a Stranger No.1 approached my sister who was busy looking at the telephone trying to navigate our direction to the hotel. There was an instant touch upon my sister’s trench coat as if something was smeared very quickly! With broken English, he told my sister that there was “bird poo” on her trench coat (by acting out that it was smelly!). My sister doubted – “There’s no way a Caucasian would be too kind to a Hijabi Asian without any ulterior motives!” But of course being Asian, she politely (but curtly!) thanked Stranger No.1 and paid him no heed although she noticed there was something on the trench coat. Once I got out, she asked me to look and yes, I saw there was a chocolate-coloured liquid smeared on the liquid! I removed with tissue but it didn’t look like bird poo but more of cosmetic liquid (like facial concealer). Now, that rang the alarm. We just wanted to get out from there. So happened that while, I was facing my sister to remove the stain, Stranger No.1 once again approached us and this time, I noticed there was a brief touch on my trench coat. Using the same modus operandi, Stranger No.1 stupidly told me that there was (again!) “bird poo” on my trench coat! True enough, there was that cosmetic liquid on my trench coat and my sister removed the stain! By then, we understood this was a trick. The toilet area was a bit deserted at that time. So, we started to make a move without knowing the right direction. We were about to ascend staircase when I noticed a Stranger No.2 stood steadfastly there as if waiting for us to ascend before him. Well, my instinct was correct when suddenly this Stranger No.2 approached me and used the same “bird poo” modus operandi! By then, I became annoyed and signaled to him that “No, No! Just leave us alone” and at the same time kept walking forward to break free from this guy! Unfortunately we were heading to another more deserted, empty area! Damn! Reluctantly, we had to make a U-Turn and fortunately we saw someone was walking to another path heading to the correct area. Without hesitation, we followed and Alhamdulillah, it was a crowded area. But of course we were quite intimidated by that and we hurriedly dragged the baggage crossed the road, walked along the pavement and alleys heading towards our hotel. We became paranoid that we kept turning our heads back to ensure that these guys did not follow us and that they wouldn’t identify our hotel!

The Nativity Scene display at Grote Markt, Brussels and the varicoloured waffles at a pastry shop not far from The Manneken Pis. This time around, Brussels was memorable for we nearly to be duped with Bird’s Poo Scam! Alhamdulillah!

Alhamdulillah, we arrived at our first lodging in Brussels named Euro Capital Brussels. It was a comfortable place, suitable for us budget travellers and most importantly, there was WIFI. On the way to Brussels from Amsterdam, we received SMS from Eurostar stating that our train from Paris to London has been cancelled due to the national strike (apparently Parisian drivers are demanding something about pension schemes). This was an absolute shocking news for us! Luckily we haven’t book the hotel and the bus tickets from Brussels to Paris. Initially, we planned to spend 2 nights in Paris but due to this, we had to revise the whole journey. Kakak decided it was the best decision to arrive at United Kingdom (the sooner, the better) as we already booked that quite expensive Harry Potter London Studio tour (the highest point of our whole trip! Haha!). After much deliberation, we had come to consensus to spend another night in Brussels and the very next day, to push off to London from Brussels Midi/Zuid (Brussels South Station) via Eurostar train.

Since this was not our first time in Brussels, the trip was a relaxing one. We didn’t really bother to cover the whole tourist attraction lots. On our first day in Brussels, we just hanged around at Grote Markt square and savoured the majestic view of Grand Palace Brussels. There was a high Christmas Tree at the centre of the square and a nativity replica placed not far from the tree. The Christmas ambiance was eminent. After that “bird poo” scam, Kakak and I became paranoid. We became sensitive when strangers approached us or perhaps walking or standing behind of us! Perhaps wearing “hijab” highlighted us as potential preys because there was this one gypsy girl approached us asking us for some donations while vividly uttering that words ‘Masya ALLAH!” LOL! Unbelievable, I say! We savoured Kakak’s favourite Belgian waffle and visited the Manneken Pis (not really excited as that wasn’t the first time! Haha!). We roamed around Brussels by walking through alley and cobbled streets. By 4.00 p.m., we retired as sunset was approaching due to winter and checked-in at our second lodging, Ibis Brussels Gare-Midi as it offered the most affordable pricing. We had to moved out from Euro Capital Brussels as we only booked it for a night for initially we planned to go to Paris by bus. Spent the night resting as we had the Eurostar train to catch at 8.00 a.m. on the very next morning.

The secondhand book store in Brussels, Belgium!

On the 15th December, we pushed off from Brussels to London via Eurostar train around 8.20 a.m. The journey took us circa 2 hours 15 minutes. We arrived at St. Pancras circa 10.00 a.m. and had our breakfast at Pret A Manger. We took the Underground heading to Bayswater for our London’s lodging, the Holiday Villa Hotel which is a Malaysian-owned hotel, located at Leinster Gardens. For three nights, I thought it was affordable and cozy with good WIFI connectivity albeit the designs were a bit outdated. Furthermore, it is not far from Malaysian Hall located at nearby Queensborough Terrace. We parked our luggage and backpack bags at the hotel and visited the Malaysian Hall for lunch. Then, we ventured out to Westminster Palace. There were a lot of people crossing the Westminster Bridge. We could see several men doing street-magic tricks along the pavement by using a few cups. Automatically, we could sense scams were being operated there but we ignored them but at the same being vigilant for any pickpockets lurking! Not far from us were two Malaysian youngsters who were so excited taking pictures. Perhaps that was their first time visiting United Kingdom. I knew what they were feeling, that was normal! But suddenly, one of the con-man approached the lady coaxing her to participate in the game. It was audible that the lady was hesitated but the con-man was pushy in a persuasive way. Of course, the lady had to give a money note for the game and you could hear a few “spectators” around persuading this Malaysian lady as well (no doubt, the con-man’s accomplices!). Kakak and I were hesitated whether or not to stop this lady as we didn’t know if this was a genuine game; or a scam?! True enough after 5 minutes, the Malaysian lady shrieked demanding her note back but the con-man refused to give, claiming that “lady, you have lost the game!” The Malaysian lady was stunned and angry but there was nothing she could do. We finally approached the two friends and told them that the man was probably a trickster. The lady narrated her story but we thought she and her friend would do fine as she unwittingly quipped :-

“Nasib baek I bawak banyak note!” (It is lucky that I still got plenty of notes!)

After that, we went to the Tower Bridge as I haven’t been there yet in my previous two trips to London. It was nice to see the iconic bridge of London and the famous River Thames.  Looking back as a Middle Class Malay boy who grew up in a modest two-rooms police barrack back in Penang, I still can’t believe that I had the opportunity to see these with my own eyes! Alhamdulillah! We called the day off at 5 p.m. Well, that’s the downside of travelling to Europe during winter as the sun sets earlier than usual.

Arrived at St. Pancras Station, London!

London Eye and Westminster Palace, 2019.

The iconic Tower Bridge. Although I’ve been to London 3 times, this was my first time seeing the Tower Bridge. 

On our second day in London, we commuted the train heading to Cambridge Central Mosque in Cambridge since that was my must-go location. Initially, Kakak was a bit hesitated as the journey alone took around 1 hour and return ticket would cost approximately 50 pounds per person (equivalent to RM250). She kept questioning me whether all this was worthy but I told her that this was one of the places I had in my mind for this tour and I didn’t mind spending money on that. Using Great Northern Rail was a bit chaotic as there was no fixed seating and we had to be really fast entering the train once the announcement was made as Kakak told me that train would only stay at the terminal for approximately 4 minutes before it pushes off – with or without you! From Cambridge Train Station, we had to walk around 17 minutes through suburban residences area before we finally reached the mosque. Initially, I thought that the mosque was closed since I found in the Internet that the mosque’s operation hour was at 11 a.m. However, we arrived there circa 10.20 a.m. It was truly a gamble as our train back to London was at 12.00 p.m.; so if the mosque were to be closed by the time we got there, our journey was absolutely in vain! I bid salaamed to the guard and he opened the electronic gate for me and Kakak. Subhanallah it was beautiful! Dubbed as the first “green mosque” and eco-friendly, the Cambridge Central Mosque was small but cozy. At the front yard, there was a fountain with garden. There was also portico and an atrium leading towards the prayer hall. The ablution area was so comfortable and chique-looking. There was also a vast car park at basement part of the mosque. How unfortunate that we couldn’t spend more time there. After performing the 2 rakaat Tahiyyatul Masjid Prayer (a prayer to respect a mosque), we then headed back to Cambridge Train Station. Kakak was amazed by the unique architecture of the mosque. So I guess she finally considered the journey worthwhile. Haha! Once arrived at Bayswater, we dined (more like lunch?) at the halal Chinese restaurant called Noodle Oodle (check the website at http://noodleoodle.com/) and feasted on the Roasted Duck. It was delicious but the Teh Tarik was just so-so.

Alhamdulillah, my wishlist ticked! The Cambridge Central Mosque. Had the opportunity to perform Tahiyyatul Masjid Prayer.

The frontal landscape of the mosque. Dubbed as the first green “eco-friendly” mosque, it was quite a controversial construction as some of the residents opposed the mosque. Nevertheless, the project was continued and finally launched by President Erdogan of Turkey. 

The ablution place and the atrium. Alhamdulillah for this chance I never imagined when I was young!

On the third day in London, we made our way early to Fountain Square, Victoria as it was Harry Potter’s time!!! We had to be there no later than 7.15 a.m. so you could imagine what time we pushed off from Holiday Villa Hotel in Bayswater! Haha! From Victoria, we had to take the Golden Tours bus to Watford and the journey was around an hour. We arrived at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden around 9.30 a.m. Though it was pretty chilly cold outside, the inner side of the studio was somewhat fiery! Well, at least for the Potterheads, like Kakak and I! Haha! There was a gigantic dragon replica hung at the atrium and at both upper sides of the walls, you could see ensemble of characters from Harry Potter team vs Voldemort team. It was really a magical feeling! Haha! We spent approximately 2 hours there. There were sections dedicated for Potion Class, Harry Potter’s room (with the four poster beds!), the Fat Lady portrait, Dumbledore’s rostrum, the gowns and dresses worn by the characters in Yule Ball and Slughorn’s Party, and many more (I could go on and on!). It was also mesmerizing to see the surreal facial prosthetic masks created by the CGI team. And as the icing to the tour, both Kakak and I got to taste the butterbeer! Some conservative lot might scream dramatically for the word “beer” but for y’all information, it’s just a soda, not beer per se, OK? LOL! We took the bus back to Fountain Square, Victoria circa 12 p.m. noon and arrived there around 2 p.m. Had luncheon at Malaysian Hall (technically, I brushed shoulder with Kak Zaharah but I didn’t notice her! On the other hand, she saw me but had to rush back! What a pity!) around 3.30 p.m. and by 4.30 p.m., the sun already set.

The Harry Potter Warner Bros’ Leavesden Studio! The mecca for Pottermania and Potterheads! LMAO!

We felt the magic in the air! Haha! The Hungarian Horntail dragon and The Weasleys’ Shop at Diagon Alley!

Samples of the characters’ gowns and attires during The Yule Ball, the Potion Classroom and the entrance to The Forbidden Forest.

Centaur in The Forbidden Forest! There was also Aragog! Haha! 

The replica of Hogwarts School of Wizardry castle; the colourful shower of Prefects’ Room and in front of Hogwarts Express!

Harry’s first “room”, if you could say that!

The beautiful Gringgots Bank! Spectacular construction! In front of the the Dursleys’ Privet Drive house and Butterbeer (it is not a beer. It’s just soda, so naturally, it’s Halal!).

The Potters’ house in Godric Hollow, a facial prosthetic mask of a goblin and scene at Ministry of Magic.

The realistic scene where a dragon gone berserk and destroyed Gringgots. The dragon was humongous! 

All kinds of chocolates! Fancy Chocolate Frog? At the corridor that supposedly connects the castle with the owlery (in the films, of course! lol!). And at the Weasleys’ quirky The Burrow!

On the 18th December, we took the train to Leeds. We stayed for a night at Ibis Budget Leeds Centre Crown Point Road hotel. It was comfortable but the arrangement was rather minimalist. Still, for budget travelers like us, we had nothing to complain about. Leeds was way colder than London. On the day of our arrival, it was 2 Celsius and imagine having to drag the luggage on the cobbled alleys while having your backpack bag on the big winter coat? No wonder I grew scrawny throughout the trip! Hah! We went to the shopping mall nearby looking for Raess’s Ryan Scooter (you know, the rich You-Tuber boy?) and Rifqi’s sport shoes. Then, we headed to Leeds Kirkgate Market to feast on the delicious crayfishes and oysters of Hayess Seafoods.

Hayess’ seafood at Leeds Kirkgate Market. Just loved the oysters and crayfishes! 

Leeds Kirkgate Market. Leeds City center center night view from Ibis hotel. Savouring this Scottish Highland cookies (OKlah…)

On the 19th December, we boarded the train to Edinburgh. The journey took us around 3 hour and 20 minutes. We passed through Durham and Newcastle Upon Tyne. By the time we arrived at Edinburgh, it was already dark at the Edinburgh Waverley terminal. Our lodging, the Cityroomz Edinburgh Hotel was 15 minutes walk along the Princess Street. The room was small, again a minimalist-arranged but somewhat very comfortable with a double decker. Simply loved it! I would say it is a strategic lodging as there was also a bus station heading straight to the airport at the very front of the hotel. Christmas was definitely in the air once we arrived at Edinburgh as there were many Christmas Markets tents with vibrant lights! There were also merry-go-round and artistic shops with quirky souvenirs and crafts. I could smell cookies and gingerbread in the midst of the cool winter night. The music was exciting! It was the kind of Christmas vibe that would make you so jolly and cheerful, really!

Edinburgh Waverley, the train station. Night view of Edinburgh Christmas Market 2019!

The festive ambiance. Christmas was in the air.

Interesting carriage for tarot-reading! I saw people were queuing up for this! Haha!

Kakak and I. For us it was surreal that both of us managed to crystallize our childhood dream to explore the world! As Middle Class Malay children, wanderlust was (and is, still!) a big deal for us!

On the next morning, we began our morning by having hot chocolate at Pret A Manger and then headed towards the Edinburgh Castle. The climbing was quite tiresome but the view was immensely breathtaking, Subhanallah! Of course as the cheapskate traveller (Haha!), we opted not to enter the castle but simply savoured the view. While we were busy taking pictures of ourselves, a couple with a baby approached us asking to take their family pictures. As we already had our bad encounter with the Bird Poo Scam, we became apprehensive and suspicious. But of course being Asian, it was hard to be impolite! So after taking a quick picture, we dashed away (seemed that the couple were lingering around us!). There was a souvenir shop nearby which happened to be three-floored underground lot. Pretty unique! Along the pavement, we saw street artistes playing bagpipes wearing the kilt; Scottish element was in the air! We then headed towards the The St. Giles Cathedral, a historical church lies at the centre of Edinburgh Old Town. It was so majestic. Well, although I didn’t get to visit Notre Dame as our train from Paris was cancelled, I guess St. Giles was a worthwhile compensation.

The Edinburgh Castle.

The views around Edinburgh Castle. Masya ALLAH, tabarakallah!

The quirky-looking Old Edinburgh and a street artiste donning some sort of Viking attire (inspired by Hollywood’s “Braveheart”?)

I wonder, what’s underneath the kilt? LMAO!

Interesting different design of the Scottish traditional attires. 

The Old Edinburgh’s St. Giles Cathedral.

Historical Medieval architecture. 

Anyway, as we were heading towards the Edinburgh Mosque, something unexpected happened! Kakak and I were walking along the pavement when out of the blue, a strange man (seemed like a gypsy as he was quite copper-skinned) shouted abruptly! Initially, I thought it was a random verbal attack but as we continued our walk, I noticed that his ferocious eyes were fixated upon Kakak! He was actually cursing Kakak! I stared at him and was stunned. Kakak noticed that but but she just lowered her gaze and continued walking. At the same time, she signaled to me to keep walking and to avoid any confrontation (she knew I am the kind of person who usually would retaliate back!). We purposely walked to the midst of the road just to deviate the direction BUT APPARENTLY this gypsy was determined to follow us! He kept cursing in loud, audible voice (but sadly, no one came to our rescue) :-

Fuck you! Go fuck yourself! Go back to where you come from! What, ye think I am crazy??”

I recalled that he was also mumbling about telephone and other things (when Kakak and I reflected on the fiasco, we came to conclusion that perhaps this gypsy guy thought Kakak was taking his picture as she was indeed holding her telephone while walking. Perhaps he felt it was a provocation?). As the path leading towards the mosque was somewhat an isolated alley and we hardly saw anyone there, Kakak had double thought on going to the mosque (well, we were just being verbally attacked with Islamophobic slur, hadn’t we?). Nonetheless, we kept walking and finally reached the mosque. I didn’t get to really explore the mosque as Kakak refused to spend more time there as sunset was about to approach and for safety reason, it would be best not to wander during nighttime. However, I have to say that the archway of Edinburgh Mosque was unique and the ablution section was neat. Nevertheless, we also were bewildered seeing two policemen guarding the gate of Edinburgh Mosque. We wonder whether there were to be any Islamophobic case in Edinburgh on that day and spontaneously, it reminded us of the New Zealand Mosque shooting tragedy! You know as much as it was an inconvenient experience, but it was precious nonetheless. I’ve got to experience what it must have felt like to be the target of Islamophobia. It was real. We then had briyani as lunch and then went straight back to hotel as by then, it was already 5.00 p.m.

The Edinburgh Central Mosque. Bittersweet memory. Sweet because I was able to add another feather to my #ShahrillsJejakMasjid lust but bitter because Kakak and I were verbally attacked by a gypsy on the way to the his mosque. What a precious life experience, it was!

The idea was to spend our night at Edinburgh Airport before our flight to Amsterdam at 6.00 a.m. (check-in at 4.00 a.m.). But once we arrived there, the airport seemed stuffy and crowded. Out of sudden, I became nauseous and kept burping and burping. I threw up and became unwell. I didn’t know what caused the sudden health setback but I noticed that it was right after the bus bumpy ride from Edinburgh Old Town to the airport. The outside was freezing cold and once you entered the bus equipped with heater, the winter coat make you sweat. On top of that, you have to squeeze yourself among the larger Caucasians! So… Haha! Initially, Kakak thought of just cooping ourselves in the airport as it would be dangerous to walk to any nearby hotels in the dark. Nevertheless in the end, we decided to book a hotel even if it was just for 8-9 hours; at least I could just lie down to rest. Thankfully with Agoda and our Samurai Wifi, we secured a room at a nearby Moxy Edinburgh Airport. Seriously, it was the right thing to do as I kept throwing up the whole night for couple of times (and I did force myself as well). By 3.30 a.m., we checked-out and by 4 a.m., we already checked-in at the airport. Alhamdulillah, the process with EasyJet was smooth.  I just slept throughout the 2 hours flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam.

The Edinburgh Airport’s meditation room catered for all faiths. I honestly think this concept is so good. If only the September 11 2001 attack or ISIS occupation on Syria did not occur and Islamophobia was not rampant in the West. Sigh. And of course the Moxy Edinburgh Hotel as by then, I had already threw up two times! 

Basilica of Saint Nicholas located just a stone-throw away from Amsterdam Centraal.

Winter morning at Ibis Amsterdam Airport. A few elder Dutch citizens serenading the crowd with countless Christmas oldies. The iconic structure at The Dam Square. 

At one of the Amsterdam Canal Rings.

Prostitution and sex services are legal in Netherlands. I guess it is like Europe’s Thailand where horny pricks frequent here to get laid. Not that I am promoting such “tourism”! Haha!

Once arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, I slowly recouped my strength. We headed to our last lodging for the trip at Ibis Amsterdam Airport. It was reachable simply via shuttle bus ( a recommended lodging!). We just lazed around in the room and after a good night sleep, Alhamdulillah, I finally recovered. On the last day, we just toured around Amsterdam. As it was my second time, the excitement was not as paramount as 2016 but it was always nice to see the Christmas fiesta mood during winter! We went to Dam Square and came across the Cannabis Museum (I was intrigued to enter but Kakak refused as the place was full with people seemingly so gung-ho!). There were also a few sex toys shops that form the famous Amsterdam’s Red District area. By 3 p.m., we went to the Indonesian restaurant called Iboenda and satisfied our crave for rice (Haha!) there. As Maghrib was about to approach at 4.30 p.m., I had to find a musolla or a mosque nearby to perform prayer. According to Internet, there was a mosque called Mosque El-Tawheed located at Jan Hanzenstraat, which was around 15 minutes away from Iboenda. The road leading to the mosque was somewhat isolated, practically away from the main road. As we already had a few misfortunes throughout the trip, we were a little bit hesitated and always be on alert. The facade of the mosque wasn’t as what as we expected. If I didn’t noticed the miniscule word “moskee” etched on plaque-on-the-wall, we wouldn’t have known that was Mosque El-Tawheed we were looking for! The entrance was equipped with an intercom and luckily, it was opened when we arrived. It was quite deserted (later we learned that mosques in Amsterdam would only be opened during prayer hours and not all the time!). However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the inner compound of the mosque was quite wide!

Satisfying our crave for rice at Indonesian’s “Iboenda”.

The “moskee”, mosque. Masjid El-Tawheed in Amsterdam. The entrance was quite ordinary without significant facade that reflected Islamic building but in the inside was somewhat wider compound. However mosques in Amsterdam are opened only around time of prayers. 

Our flight to Dubai was on 22nd December 2019 circa 10.00 p.m. We kept our luggage and backpack bags at the airport and then went to a boat house cat shelter named Poezenboot.  Entrance was free but it was encouraged to donate for them. The cats were lazy, fluffy and ferocious! Hahaha! While waiting for the queue, we bumped into an Indian named Vicky Varun who was doing his MBA in Latvia. Initially, we were a bit skeptical as he loquaciously started conversation (we admitted that we became rather paranoid during the trips. Anyone could be a potential trickster!). But turned out that he was quite a friendly chap. Haha! After that, we dined at Iboenda and then made our way back to the airport. Again, it was a comfortable flight to Dubai. With 19 hours to our connecting flight (Kakak purposely adjusted to that so we would have adequate time to explore Dubai)! We arrived at Dubai circa 8.30 a.m. Honestly, there were so many places to discover but in the end, we ended up choosing the ones that were accessible by METRO train which were Burj al-Khalifa and Burj al Arab.

With Vicky Varun, an Indian who is now studying in Latvia. It was great meeting someone who initiated honest conversation rather than having any ulterior motives (pickpocket, scam) while waiting for our turn to enter the Poezenboot, boat house for cats!

Kudos to the people behind this project! Thumbs up! Do visit the shelter if you are in Amsterdam. Entrance is free but you are encouraged to donate for the cats!

Initially, I thought of ascending up the skydeck of Burj al-Khalifa but in the end, one had to pre-book the entrance and the price was circa 200 Dirham. So in the end I thought, why wasted money on that? Perhaps next time – this time around, having the majestic view would be sufficient enough. So we roamed around Dubai Mall and had luncheon there – and went to the fountain side where we could see the high towers of Burj al-Khalifa! It was really spectacular. Nevertheless, I felt that familiar vibe; it seemed that Dubai Mall – Burj Khalifa was modelled to the similar concept as per Suria KLCC (big mall with fountain and tallest building located as the frontview). Around 2 p.m., we then try to locate Burj Al Arab. According to various information the internet, we had to change our METRO train to a tram and then to take a bus as the building is located near Jumeirah Beach. Somehow we boarded out at the wrong bus station (out of no where!) and had to walk circa 15 minutes across the congested traffic of Dubai to get to Burj al Arab! In the end, of course we made it but since it is a luxury hotel, obviously we could not enter. So like many other middle class travelers, we simply took picture with the building from afar! LMAO! We simply spent around 15 minutes there (along with other thronging tourists!) and decided to call the day off as the winter sun was about to set. Unfortunately, we got confused with the transportation way back to the tram station! We walked, and walked, and walked along the pavement at the side of the roads as the twilight now became nighttime. Finally after half an hour of walking (gulp! Haha!), we finally found a bus station and Alhamdulillah, the bus led us to the METRO train.

In front of Burj al-Khalifa!

The Dubai Mall Waterfall and the interior. Apparently, there is another tallest building in the world set to be under construction namely Dubai Creek Tower!

Interesting Dubai. I hope one day I would be able to have wanderlust specially just for Dubai!

Twilight in Dubai (we were literally walking along the pavement trying to locate the bus station. Approximately half an hour! Phew!). And at front of the famous Burj Al Arabia.

I noticed that only the immigrants, blue-collared workers and tourists were using the public transportation. There were no signs of the Emiratis with their Arabic garments or keffiyeh! I wonder why? Perhaps they prefer using their own vehicles? But I noticed that the vehicles flocking the roads were big and they liked riding their cars fast and furious! Anyway, Dubai was really interesting. I think I would certainly be back for more to discover this metropolitan gem of Arabia. On whole, it was more of a layback trip for both of us. But I managed to shed off 3 kg; from my 60 kg to 57 kg throughout the 2 weeks. Well, there is no better way to lose weight than a backpacking travelling, no? Haha!

Shahrill Ramli’s Vision 2020 @ Personal KPIs : Healthy Lifestyle of A PhD Candidate, Primary School Teacher, Avid Bookworm, Amateur Fun Runner & Addicted Wanderlust!

It is the 3rd January 2020. 3 days in this highly anticipated new year. Today I am not feeling that well as the weather is so scorching hot (34 Celsius). My head throbbing and I could feel phlegm building in my throat and lungs. During my Europe tour with Kakak (will update that in the upcoming entry!), I had also developed phlegm due to the winter. My body isn’t equipped to extreme weather. But I guess it is a normalcy when you are travelling here and there.

KPI No.1

KPI No.2 & KPI No.3

2019 has been a good year for me, Alhamdulillah. Although I have been away from my blog, it has been a spiritual period. But one thing I am quite frustrated with myself was that I did not enter any running event (my 2019 KPI was that at least I enter 2 events!). So, this year is a new leaf with new determination. My KPI for the year 2020 :-

• To publish my second article in journals; focus on my thesis and hopefully to sum up the whole PhD journey this year, Insya ALLAH;
• To attend 2 conferences to sharpen my scholarly persona (prior to viva);
• To give my best to my school responsibilities – teaching Science for Year 4; and English for Year 5 and Year 6;
• To read at least 5 books from authors around the world;
• To join two running events;
• To travel either local or abroad (but I have this vision to perform umrah for 2nd time).

KPI No.4

KPI No.5

KPI No.6

But most importantly is my health. I pray and hope that my body will be in good condition. That I am healthy. For health is undeniably the greatest wealth a man could ask for. Especially now that this year I will be 36 years old! Gasp (I know!)! Haha! I am trying to be BMI conscious now; drink water a lot and this year also, I am trying to eat more greens and fruits, Insya ALLAH. Amin.

My 2019 Accomplishment & Accolades : 1st PhD Article, 2 Conferences, Being Brave, Honest & Transparent in School Meeting, New HRV Honda Car, Twice Abroad Trips (South Korea & Europe) & 5 Books Read!

2019 will be leaving soon. And will never come back, ever again. This year has been somewhat a spiritually-cleansing year for me (although I did have my few setbacks). But on whole, I am very proud of myself for taking that intervention step to alleviate that wilderness in me. Anyway, there are a few accomplishments that I am very proud of myself this year. More like grateful, Alhamdulillah :-

• I have published an article for my PhD. This means I still have another one to go and of course with the thesis. I will try to really push myself hard this year, Insya ALLAH;

• I attended two conferences to polish my “scholarly” persona in this PhD journey;

• I have come clean with issues in my school and I am glad I was brave enough to speak up in front of my colleagues to speak my mind instead of playing around the bushes. Not to make anyone feeling less significant but to express my mind in a most respectable way without wanting to disgrace anybody. Alhamdulillah!;

• I have new car. I am not really a car fanatic. Frankly speaking, I was quite OK with my fuchsia Myvi but since it had started to have problems here and there – and I am a frequent traveler either to UPM or around Malaysia; I guess the best option was to buy a new one. So I got myself a Honda HRV, which is at the range that isn’t too significantly affecting my monthly budget;

• I traveled abroad twice this year. First, I did my 4th solo trip to South Korea during Ramadhan and visited Kat. And secondly a trip with Kakak to Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland and UAE). I shall cover about it in the upcoming blog entry!

• I have finished reading around 5 books :- “China Rich Girlfriend” (Kevin Kwan); “Farewell My Concubine”(Lilian Lee); “Heroes of Olympus” (Rick Riordan); “Kafka on the Shore” (Haruki Murakami) & “Doctor Sleep” (Stephen King).

This year marks my lowest blog entries. But it has been a therapeutic one. Looking forward for Year 2020! Amin.

The 2019 Ordeal Of My PhD Article Publication : Predatory Journal, Presentations At Conferences & 1st Article Publication!

A lot of things had taken place in my #ShahrillsRoadToPhD journey since my last entry in September 2019. Where do I begin? First, the conference I attended in UUM as stated in previous entry was quite ambiguous. Sure as you can read down there (in the previous entry), I was so excited when the chairman of the conference told me that “SCOPUS editor has given green light on my paper”! Come on, as a novice researcher desperately needing a paper to publish in order to graduate?! Are you kidding me? Of course I was so excited! So, I’ve been waiting for the news about it for the whole month of July (I attended the conference on July) and August. There was no clue although it was initially claimed that my paper was OK. Then in September when I finally gave the ultimatum either to respond or I will pull back the paper, I received the SMS that everything was perfect (as per my previous blog entry) and SCOPUS editors were “satisfied”. Nevertheless, the catch was that, I have to pay the processing fee of USD500 which was equivalent to RM2000++; and my paper would be published under a journal called “Opcion”. Now, when I first saw the name; I had bad feeling about it. The name, simply didn’t sound legit. I googled and found that Opcion is :-

  

The details of the Opcion and its Scopus coverage years when I searched in September 2019.

1. A journal by Venezuelan University named Universidad del Zulia;
2. Scopus coverage years were from 2008-2018;
3. It is mentioned in Jeffrey Beall’s tweet as a corrupted journal (Beall’s List is famous as the ensemble list of predatory journals where researchers are tricked into giving their writings to a supposed journal to be published provided a certain sum of fee is paid and the articles usually received nonchalant or no reviews from editors, at all! 

Jeffrey Beall is a controversial scholar but his “Beall’s List has gathered a lot of questionable and ambiguous journals deemed ‘predatory’. You tell me, how could I ignore this tweet?!

I messaged two lecturers; my Co-Supervisor Dr. Moniza and Dr. Akmar. Both told me that if I sensed red flags, I should redraw the paper. After all, it is important for UPM to recognize the journal in order for me to graduate. After thinking about it; and read about traits of these predatory journals, I decided not to continue with the “publication”. The paper entitled “A Rhetorical Analysis on Tun Mahathir’s Speeches During His Political Hiatus” was then pushed to another journal namely Pacific and ASEAN Communication Journal (PACA) by the end of October 2019. So happened that Dr. Moniza who was the editor was so patient by aptly corresponding to my emails, WhatsApps and inquiries about it. There were a lot of amendments I had to make (how come UUM said my paper was “perfect”?? Haha! Another RED FLAG!) and the  truth is, my article still needs a lot of improvement in order to “be on par” with the other published articles. But Alhamdulillah, after two months the article was finally published in PACA December issue. Thank you so much Dr. Moniza for your patience and guidance although I know you have so much in your plate! Will never forget that!

     

Reading these traits of predatory journals have strengthen my hunch not to continue with Opcion. Although tonight (dated 26th December) when I search in SCOPUS I did found that the coverage years are now renewed to “2018 to present”, I think it’s better that way. I did not want to take risk of UPM not recognizing the journal!

But of course to give Opcion a fair view, tonight I once again googled about it and well, I have found that its Scopus coverage years are being renewed to “2018 until present”. Well, I may have lost the opportunity to get published in a SCOPUS journal but then again, it is quite questionable = paying RM2000+ and my paper was “perfect”?? Too good to be true! Well, that’s a lesson learned!

As presenter in ICRGD 2019 Conference in UIA. 

Secondly, I attended another conference in UIA namely  the International Conference on Religion, Governance and Sustainable Development (ICGRD2019) on 16th-17th October 2019 where I have presented another conceptual paper  entitled “A Rhetorical Analysis on Azhar Idrus’s Ethos in Gender-Provocative Selected Sermon”. It went well. I was hoping for Question-and-Answer to sharpen my upcoming viva session but there were no questions. But I did have a great time discussing with the other speakers and that experience boosted my confidence. I guess I need to attend more conferences for that. Anyway, I am still waiting for the verdict whether the paper will be published or not. Already sent an email asking about it. If there is still no answer, I am going to push it for another journal.

 

I am so emotional seeing the email and the snippet of my published article. Not polished, not perfect but it is a good start for 2020. Alhamdulillah! Aiming for another article and the thesis. Amin!

Anyway, whatever it is Alhamdulillah at least I have published an article this year. And I’ve completed another chapter in the thesis. I am looking forward for 2020. I will be working my ass off for it, Insya ALLAH. Amin.

My Own Personal PhD KPI for 2019 As Full-Time Working Student : Two Conferences for Two Articles Publication @ Graduation Requirement!

A very delayed blog entry. But I feel like I need to immortalize this experience. This year, I have taken new approach for my PhD. I don’t want to push myself that hard anymore. I am going to take it slowly with my own pace while delegating my full time job as a primary school teacher (seems easy but loads of clerical stuffs to be executed! It feels rather frustrating when your focus in PhD is already at its zenith that suddenly you have to channel the focus into school workloads. But then, it is what it is! Suck it up, Shahrill!). But, I have been making my 2019 resolutions that I will strive to write and publish two articles in academic journals – and one of the way is to join conferences!

On the 27th June 2019, I have attended the 1st International Scholar Conference 2019 at School of Multimedia Technology & Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). I presented my conceptual paper on “A Rhetorical Analysis of Mahathir’s Malay Dilemmas Speeches During His Political Hiatus (2003-2018). On whole, I’ve received positive feedback from the audience but of course, there are rooms for improvement suggested by Dr. Manvinder and others :-

• The duration from 2003-2018 is a vast period (Answer : It is the period where Tun Mahathir was in his political hiatus. The term political hiatus itself is defined as the transition period between his 1st premiership into 2nd premiership);
• 16 speeches are a lot to be transcribed. How the researcher (Yours Truly) is to analyze the speeches without human error? (I proposed to use the traditional approach (listen and transcribe verbatim;- Dr. Mahvinder suggested to me that corpus analysis software tool will be much help to eliminate human bias).

It is important for me to sharpen my academic presentation delivery. It is quite challenging serving as a primary school teacher where I have to simplify my lingo to be in sync with the kids and then as a PhD candidate getting immersed with all the Aristotelian terminology and sophisticated demeanour!

I took note the recommendations to be discussed with my Supervisor. It was also encouraging to receive positive feedback from a few scholars there who are looking forward for my writing as UUM is known as the hub research on Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Apart from that, I also had a chit-chat with a doctor from Iran who took keen on my presentation.

The abstract.

Since I only took a day off from my school by flying to Alor Star on 26th June, I flew back to KL after the conference was over as I had to assist my colleagues to co-train the Action Song for Year 4 pupils in the STEM Carnival (which by the way, unraveled its own DRAMA and the dirt of organizational politics – but I won’t dish it here! But then again, perhaps after I leave the school! Hahhaaha!). Nevertheless, I am happy to hear that the editor of Scopus was OK with the article for the first assessments after I made some adjustment according to Dr. Manvinder’s recommendations. . I am looking forward for the update on the publication progress as that was the main reason why I joined the conference, as well as to fulfill the requirement for PhD graduation! 

Hopefully everything will be eased, Amin. 

So now, for the second conference which is the “International Conference on Religion, Governance and Sustainable Development (ICGRD2019)” that will be held at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa on the 16th-17th October 2019, I am planning to present my paper entitled “A Rhetorical Analysis on Azhar Idrus’s Ethos in Gender-Provocative Selected Sermon”. I have already sent the abstract and after a few adjustment made recommended by the assessors, it was accepted by the committee. I am looking forward to strive for another potential in publication. Hope everything will be OK. Amin.

My next conference, Insya ALLAH. 

Rebirth of An Istiqamah Attempt : My 4th Solo Trip to Seoul, South Korea @ My 35th Birthday!

2019 is all about my spiritual revelation. My birthday was on 1st June 2019 and that marked my 35th years of age (Gasp! Haha!). So, I wanted it to be a very spiritual event and coincidentally, it was during Ramadhan and school holidays. Initially, I was aiming for Perth but being an eleventh-hour person, I was hesitated took my own sweet time to deliberate the decision. But the price kept increased and finally circa 2-3 weeks prior to the date, I make the decision to book the ticket and saw that the price was more or less the same with South Korea’s. Since entering Australia is quite tedious with its rigid documentation and all, I decided to go for Seoul (although I wasn’t particularly horny about it!) and since Kat is now based there, perhaps I could also pay her a visit, no?

From Alor Setar’s ETS Station to KLIA2 Tune Hotel on the 30th May 2019.

The journey wasn’t the typical tourist-y; it was just a brief spiritual one. I also had that thought of spending my Eid there but Kakak wasn’t keen on the idea. She told me that Ayah and Mak would definitely feigned the nonchalant reaction but they would definitely not be happy if I wasn’t there especially since Kakak and her family would spend the 1st Eid at Pahang. So in the end, I opted to go for 3 days 2 nights.

The Incheon Airport, Korea. Futuristic-styled of architecture.

School holidays commenced 5 days prior to 31st May 2019. I went back to Jitra, Kedah first to spend Ramadhan with Mak and Ayah. Then on 30th May 2019, I took the ETS from Alor Star to KL and spent night at KLIA2 Tune Hotel as my flight was scheduled at 6.30 a.m. so I needed to be at the airport approximately 3 hours earlier (to be on the safe side!). On whole, Tune Hotel was a comfortable lodging recommended for travellers! It was a 6 hours journey and I arrived at Incheon Airport circa 3.30 p.m. Initially I was contemplated to rent the pocket WIFI but after finding out that I needed to pay US200 as deposit (RM1000) from various blogs, I thought I would simply rely on the public internet WIFI – after all, it was only for 2 nights! Haha!

My lodging for 2 nights at Seoul, The Hamilton Hotel. Cozy, comfortable and strategically-located at Itaewon.

The best thing about Seoul in comparison to Perth is that the former is hassle-free in terms of documentation than the latter. A Malaysian simply need to fill in the visa-upon-arrival (make sure all the particulars and the address of your lodging at Korea is accurately stated!). Being the klutzy me, I am prone to be reckless in all these stuffs but apparently, the experiences of travelling with Kakak all these times and seeing her managed the documentations somehow rang some senses in me to prepare at least a legible itinerary prior coming to Seoul, Korea. Once I passed through the immigration, I purchased the T-Card which is more or less like our Malaysian Touch ‘N’ Go card – it can be used in every transportation; so it is advisable for a tourist to get it. The T-Card is around 4,000 won (RM20) and you then, you can top up the card according to your need. Since I was going to rely heavily on the card, I put approximately 60,000 won (RM200) for the card and I could refund the money back once I am to leave Seoul.

I’ve been waiting for the right weather to wear this Brook Brother’s coat. Well, although it was summer in South Korea, fortunately it was 21 Celsius on the day I arrived. So, I had legit reason to wear this. LOL!

Since it was during Ramadhan and a spiritual journey, I decided to lavish myself so the lodging was not really a cheapskate accommodation (unless if it was for a tourism mission, being cheapskate is a must! Haha!). I booked 2 nights at Hamilton Hotel due to its strategic location; just a stone-throw away from Itaewon Metro Station and not that far from the Mosque – which is my main reason of visiting Seoul. So, from Incheon Airport, I took :-

• Airport Express (There are two types; I took the All Stops, coloured in blue) from Incheon to Gongdeok (approximately 5,000 won or RM21);
• Seoul Metro Station Line 6 from Gongdeok to Itaewon (approximately 2,000 won or RM7).

I arrived at Hamilton Hotel circa 5.30 p.m. It was really a comfortable place with good WIFI – but of course quite pricey for a budget traveler like me; approximately RM350 per night. But it was all worthy! I received WhatsApps message from Kat that the Malaysian community there was having an Iftar and an invitation was extended to me. Initially I was a bit hesitated but in the end, I thought why not, right? At least I could see how the Malaysian community in Seoul interacted and witnessing the lives of our Malaysian diaspora abroad somehow is intriguing – this would be the second time I am to experience such interaction – the first one was at Leeds, United Kingdom when I visited Kakak during her one year stint of Master’s Degree in 2014 and also during her convocation in 2016.

Get yourself this map and you’ll be alright!

My friend Kat is working at the Malaysian Ambassador and the Malaysian community members are mostly housed circa Hannam-dong which is merely two stations away from Itaewon. It was so nice to finally meet her and we had so much to talk about! It was surreal that I finally was at Seoul given the fact that I am not a K-pop fan and Seoul is no where in my Wishlist ever! Haha! It was an experience meeting the Malaysian community and after that hanging out with Kat as we had our night-walk from Hannam-dong to Itaewon! It was a reminiscence of our USM days when we used to have night-walk circa 2.00-3.00 a.m. (after karaokeing! Hahah! wow, life was good back then with less problems to think, no?) from Sungai Dua to Bukit Gambir! I also get to see that as a member of Malaysian ambassador, life is hectic and sometimes could be very stressful. as outsider, we only see the designation as somewhat prestigious and glamorous but the responsibility that comes with it could be overwhelming. Nevertheless with all the commotions, Kat and Francis still make effort to spend time with me and I was very touched by that.

Thanks Chica for spending time with me although you are leading sucha a hectic life at the Embassy! Hugs!

The next morning, I woke up late – right after Subuh, I slept. I was supposed to commence my itinerary at 8.00 a.m. but I woke up at 10 a.m! 2 hours late from the schedule! This was crucial as I wanted to call the day off at 5.00 p.m. so that I could have my iftar at the hotel and performed Tarawikh at Seoul Central Mosque. But anyway since this was my own spiritual free-and-easy trip, I took it as a flexible tour. My first destination was the famous Cheonggyecheon Stream; a supposed 9 km river that flows through the heart of Seoul. Used to be a polluted river, it is now a tourism spot and serves as a mind-rejuvenation haven for the people of Seoul who are definitely leading hectic lives. From Itaewon, you can go to Gongdeok and then from there, you can take Line 5 to Gwanghwamun. It was definitely a tranquil place.

Cheonggyecheon Stream.

Not far from there, you can see the Gwanghwamun Plaza where the status of the Great King Sejong is located. As I am all interested in history, I was amazed by this. Apparently, he was the one who had popularized the Korean alphabets known as Hangul and is considered as a revolutionist of modern Korea. From Gwanghwamun, you can simply walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace but apparently, I didn’t have the energy to do that so I took the metro train. From Gwanghwanum, I stopped at Jogno 3 (sam) ga and then changed to Line 3 to Gyeongbokgung. As a historical freak, this is my must-go place! If you are wearing the Korean traditional attires, you don’t have to pay the entrance fee but if you don’t, the entrance fee is only 3,000 won (RM11). Growing up, I never knew about Gyeongbokgung Palace or the Joseon Dynasty – I only knew the famous Forbidden City of China! Thus, it is somewhat interesting to discover that Korea also had its own regal dynasty and boasted such beautiful palace. Of course in comparison to China, Korean palace complex is somewhat less grandeur as Chinese influence is eminent but still, one could not help but feeling quite fascinated by the palace. It took me approximately 2 hours to complete the Palace tour.

King Sejong’s statue at Gwanghwamun Plaza. A very respectable king.

Majestic Gyeongbukgung Palace, the landmark of Joseon Dynasty. I love history!

By that time, my head was already throbbing as it was scorching hot and I was fasting. I resumed the journey to the next destination which was Bukchon Hanok Village. From Gyeongbukgung station, I stopped at Anguk Station and then I had to walk circa 1 km up the hill. Since I did not have any internet connection, the Naver application (it is like a Korean Waze) that I downloaded was useless and I had to rely on my instinct, my screenshot snaps and also direction boards! Haha! Very traditional. Apparently Bukchon Hanok Village is somewhat a hidden elevated residence located up the hill. It was tiring but somewhat therapeutic to see the traditional element blended with modernism. After that, I planned to visit the Jogyesa Temple and I had to walk passed the Anguk Station towards an opposite direction. Perhaps I was too tired and forcing myself to walk while fasting wasn’t a good idea – I was lost and before I knew, I was already 1 km away from Anguk Station and nowhere near any of the supposed landmarks of Jogyesa Temple. After wasting time for about 40 minutes, I decided to call it a quit. After all, perhaps visiting a temple during Ramadhan wasn’t a great idea? My head was throbbing and my legs were aching.

Bukchon Hanok Village. The traditional Korean settlement. I like how Korean government utilized its culture as part of the tourism attraction in the midst of the Hallyu (Korean Wave) craze!

It was already 3.00 p.m. and I also planned to visit the Myeong-dong Cathedral and Starfield Coex Mall Library. I only have two hours to spend so that I could visit the Seoul Mosque before Maghrib/Iftar as I want to make sure I know the way to the mosque to perform Tarawikh on that night itself. It was apparent that I have to ditch the cathedral (It was a shame; I am such a cultural aficionado. Perhaps, some other time?) and opted for the big library at Coex Mall. The journey itself was quite long as both locations were separated by the Han River and took approximately 1 hour to arrive :-

• From Anguk Station to Chungmuro;
• Changed to Line 3 to Seoul University of Education;
• Changed to Line 2 to Samseong.

The ridiculously enormous library at Starfield Coex Mall! Geeks and bookworms like me simply adore this view.

I arrived at the sophisticated shopping mall around 4.15 p.m. and found the amazing big library! It was surreal seeing Koreans spending time with their books in the middle of the shopping mall. Splendid! Anyway, heading back to Itaewon took me around another hour so by 6 p.m., I’ve arrived at Itaewon Station. I make my way towards the Seoul Central Mosque and after a few try-and-error, I found the mosque. It was isolated but once I entered the arch and climbed the hill, it was beautiful and a serene sight to the eyes. Located at an elevated terrace, one can see an aerial view of Seoul. Alhamdulillah, I have the opportunity to perform Asr there and I could see preparations made for the Iftar. I wanted to join but seemed like the tables prepared were quite limited and I saw a lot of Muslims were thronging the mosque – perhaps were counting on that iftar. So I thought it would be best for me to have my own iftar at the hotel because I had my own financial mean in comparison to these people who were perhaps menial workers forking their lives for meager salary. I bought a Tandoori-and-rice takeaway at a Halal shop and then back to Hamilton Hotel.

The Seoul Central Mosque, Itaewon. Alhamdulillah, I made it there on my 4th solo trip. The 1st trip to Singapore (The Sultan Mosque); 2nd trip to Brunei (The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque); and the 3rd trip to Bangkok, Thailand (The Foundation of the Islamic Centre of Thailand). Yeay!

The view of the mosque during Tarawikh. Amazing sight to see Muslims performing the prayers together. After Tarawikh, there were drinks and sweetened desserts a.k.a. “kuih-muih” prepared by the Muslimahs.  Alhamdulillah!

It was a great experience to perform Tarawikh at the mosque. It was a clear-cut prayers of 8 Rakaat without any lengthy Doa(s). Seeing Muslims in Korea performing Tarawikh was amazing; most of them are of South Asian descents and then they were also the Nusantara people (Malaysia and Indonesia) and I also noticed some of the Eastern European features. The commotion at the mosque was festive. Children were playing while the adults were mingling with each other after Tarawikh. I went back to the hotel around 10.30 p.m. Kat and Francis came around 11.30 p.m. and they even brought the Laksa Sarawak they made for the Iftar Carnival at the Malaysian Embassy that I couldn’t attend. So nice of them, really. We chatted until 2.30 a.m. They must be exhausted selling the Laksa Sarawak but they came to me and brought me food for my Sahur? Amazing friends, they are.

Iftar prepared by Seoul Central Mosque. But I didn’t join because I thought there were other brothers who really needed them. I didn’t feel good about that because I had my own financial means for my iftar. Let the ones who need the most savoured the food.

The next morning on the 2nd June 2019, I was scheduled to fly home. Initially I thought of taking the trains but Kat and Francis were adamant to drive me to Incheon Airport by car so that I could have some landed views of Seoul. The immigration was such a breeze and hassle-free. Honestly although it was a brief stint and a solo spiritual trip, I was so touched by Kat and Francis’s effort amidst their hectic schedules. Love you both! And perhaps I would be there again with Effy, who knows? Haha! I am also happy that I make the decision to do this solo spiritual trip. This is my 4th solo trip after Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. I am looking forward for another solo adventure! Amin!

There was a Robotic Helper at Incheon Airport where you could take photo and it will be sent to your email. So we used it to take our photo! Haha! Thanks guys! Appreciate your thoughts and efforts to spend time with me albeit your hectic schedules. Hugs!

A Tribute to My Faithful 8 Years Ride @ Goodbye Dagny Taggart, Hello Christine!

My second blog entry in 2019; 5 months after the new year! Haha! Whoa! Virtual spiderwebs all over, eh? Anyway, I can’t ignore this event which I feel like I really need to force myself to immortalize it in the blog. After 8 years, I finally bid farewell to my dear ole’ fuchsia Myvi, Dagny Taggart.

Goodbye, Dagny. You have been such a faithful friend and accomplice. So many memories throughout these 8 years, despite the sarcasm thrown by my colleagues and pupils! They were conservative ignoramus lot.

For the past two years, Dagny started to show a lot of ‘tantrums’  – so many parts to be fixed and some were starting to get loose and damaged : Brake pads, brake discs, air-conditioner, tyres, etc. I am a noob in the mechanical parts of the car and I dread of spending a lot of money to the workshops for the sake of Dagny’s maintenance. But I am a frequent traveler (off to UPM or any other parts of Malaysia!) and I need to be able to feel secure whenever I am on the road despite being the noob. So, I thought – rather than splurging money fixing Dagny; I might as well just grab a new car – and that came spontaneously like 3 weeks ago; –

• Listed down all the potential cars that I wanted;
• Went back to Kedah to have some sorts of physical scouting and test-drive sessions;
• Negotiated with Bang Lan, my father’s contacts at Alor Star Tandop (a seasoned car consultant);
• Signed the agreement with BSN;
• Sold Dagny for meager amount RM13,000 (inclusive of all the defunct parts and scratches on her body! Sigh) – well, what do you expect; a car is a liability. it is a depreciating asset! I actually had a split initial intention either to buy new apartment or a new car; although buying an apartment/house is an appreciating asset but being a single person, I don’t think I have the time to manage two residences – so for the time being; having a new ride is more suitable with my life as if for now.

4th May 2019; the last day of Dagny Taggart. This picture was taken at the highway shoulder near the Alor Setar Selatan Highway Exit. You will not be forgotten!

I have to say I had that mixed feeling. Reminiscing the bittersweet beginning of unable to accept her due to the colour fiasco (REFER to my writing dated 26th February 2011 at https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/fuchsiamagenta-one-of-a-kind-introducing-dagny-taggart/) and then all the memories of life with her ;-

• All the long night journeys from UPM back to Serendah and then Batang Kali during my Master’s Degree years 2014-2016;
• Travelling to the north, south and east coast of Peninsular Malaysia;
• The colourful memories with someone who used to be a significant other in my life from 2010-2017;
• Rendezvouses sessions circa end of 2017-2018.

Throughout the 8 years of service, I never had any accident – except for the expensive gasket and coolant fiasco due to ‘Ayah’ erratic last-minute checking of Dagny (He has this habit of wanting to check my car and Kakak’s car before we start our long journey back home from Jitra; it is admirable BUT, he likes to do that at the moment we announce it is time to leave – let say 5.30 a.m.; the moment we are ready to drive; that’s when he would be adamant checking them and nag, nag, nag for about 30 minutes!). I immortalized it in the entry dated 17th September 2015 at https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/the-car-coolant-the-gasket-my-car-breakdown-incident-km-250-7-plus-north-south-expressway/. He is a great father and I love him but nobody is perfect. As a son, I learn to weather his antics; after all, he is MY Father!

To Dagny, thank you so much!! I would never forget WUT 2185 although I heard your colour will be repainted to attract a wider spectrum of potential buyers – fuchsia or any pinkish hues are still taboo amongst conservative Malaysians! Goodbye Dagny; and welcome Christine; my HRV Honda I named after the possessive haunted car in Stephen King’s novel. 

Picture courtesy of Paultan.Org. My Christine is an HRV Honda Passion Red. 

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019 : The Year of Spirituality & Epistemology @ 2019.

Today is 1st January 2019. I am writing this piece of entry at my class 4 Bayu in SK Serendah. This year I am 35 years old (although of course, I still have another 6 months to be a legit 35 years old but I guess it is better to acknowledge that and embrace that. Haven’t y’all heard Hermione Granger (in the movie) or Dumbledore (in the novel) said “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself”?); also it is my 9th year to serve as a primary school teacher; and my 5th semester in my PhD journey. I am looking forward for another tremendous life journey in 2019 but of course 2018 was somewhat a year of Savoir Vivre! Just as I predicted a year ago, 2018 was indeed an “experiential, varicoloured life” (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2018/01/27/myn-2018n-ressoolutions-the-year-of-savoir-vivre-the-experiential-varicoloured-life-good-childlike-gone-bad/).

So, a 35 years old, huh? My hair is whitening. Haha. It is God’s gentle reminder that I am no more a youngster. Who am I kidding? Have to embrace the fact. 

Looking back, there are of course ups and downs throughout 2018. For personal associations, I admit that this year was somewhat an experimental year for me. I am no saint and neither an angel. The wanton alter-ego was a domineering persona and I admit I had fun to commit all that “persuasive games”. To be entangled with those who are already in legit matrimonial relationships – would that make you a harlot? But well, it takes two to tango. Nevertheless, I intend to cleanse myself in 2019. This year, I am going to treat my body as my temple. Hopefully, I can be “istiqamah” on that. Amin.

As for PhD journey, I am quite nervous. After meetings with my lecturers, there have been so many drastic changes. Only early this March (my second Committee Member Meeting) after 4 semesters that my lecturers decided studying Angelina Jolie’s speeches would not resonate strong academic contribution as opposed to other credible speakers, for example Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/my-22ndd-research-committee-members-meeting-the-phd-research-diverged-rhetorical-criticism-focus-group-discussion-approach-goodbye-angelina-jolie-hello-dr-mahathir/). So you could imagine the topsy-turvy situation! I have to re-unearth the possible research angles as well as the possible speeches to be analyzed. On top of that, my writing is still quite amateurish and non-academic as it lacks “critical thinking” values. Sure, I have a lot of citations but those are meant to be peripheral statements as opposed to the “critical analysis.”

I passed my Comprehensive Exam!

Nevertheless, of course if I were to rant on my “self-criticizing” moments, that would be endless, no? On the contrary, I do have good points throughout my PhD journey this year. For example, :-

• I’ve managed to ace an “A” in my Advanced Qualitative Research Methodology subject (which I thought was freaking difficult!);
• I’ve presented a paper in 12th Biennial Convention of the Pacific & Asian Communication Association (PACA) 2018 in Universiti Malaysia Sabah at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2018/07/12/suunn-sea-studyyy-sabahhh-my-virgin-communication-convention-12th-biennial-convention-of-paca-2018-universiti-malaysia-sabah-ums-the-spontaneous-island-experience-manukan-island/); and
• I’ve also passed the dreading and difficult PhD Comprehensive Exam which comprises Oral and Writing tests (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/4th-semeester-shaahrills-rrror0oad-to-phd-passing-the-comprehensive-written-oral-exams-acing-advanced-qualitative-research-methodology-exam-presented-paper-at-first-communication-conve/)!!

Before entering the examination room! I was nervous!

I also managed to get an “A” for my Advanced Qualitative Research Methodology.

When I reminisced that all these were achieved as a person who pursues PhD while working full time – I am quite satisfied and feel that I need a pat on my own back. I should minimize that sense of “self-criticizing” and starts to focus on the positive sides rather than dwelling in the negativity. Looking back, I feel “-

“Hey, not bad for a person who has to juggle time working full time and on top of that, being entrusted with quite heavy responsibilities at working place, no?”

With the Philippines’ delegates.

I presented a paper in a convention. I guess it was OK for my virgin experience as an amateur who also work full time while pursuing PhD.

As a school teacher, I have been entrusted with a few heavy responsibilities throughout 2018. Usually, a teacher is to teach only one core (UPSR) subject to the year 6 pupils but I didn’t know why that the school had asked me to teach both English and Science?! This meant that in comparison to my other colleagues, I had to put double effort to :-

• attend the weekend additional classes almost every week (since Science and English are in separate weeks; English+Malay slotted for 1st week whereas Science+Mathematics on the 2nd week);
• school holidays programmes (Kem Menjawab Soalan Peperiksaan);
• UPSR Gerak Gempur activities (Permata, Berlian, Champion, whacchamaccalit)

My 6 Samudera 2018 pupils. Great kids. I am going to miss y’all.

And on top of that, I was also chosen to be the class teacher for Year 6 Samudera. I am the only teacher in the school who was chosen to be the class teacher and also to teach 2 core UPSR subjects!!! Being the class teacher for Year 6 means that there are tonnes of documentation stuffs you have to settle for your pupils as they were about to migrate to the secondary school – so you have to attend to their :-

• testimonials;
• the “Sjil Berhenti Sekolah”;
• health books;
• teeth cards;
• counselling profiles;
• immunization papers;
• their Dana Tahun 6;
• the NILAM records, etc. 

I have to be honest. It was suffocating. And I felt like the school didn’t show any mercy towards me although they know that I am pursuing PhD which is a total different game than degree or Master’s degree (I am not being pompous but that is the truth). But since the school revoked my post as the PIBG Treasurer 2017, I accepted the new posts as token of gratitude. It was an unspoken “barter” / give-and-take” common sense. But it wasn’t easy. But indeed in the end, I am glad that I accepted the challenge. My 6 Samudera pupils who are the “academically-abysmal” lots did their best in UPSR. There were only 5 pupils with all Es (6E) in comparison to the previous year in 2017 with 8 6Es. So, in a way, this helped the school’s percentage and I am glad that my pupils tried their best. Certainly going to miss them as I have been their class teacher since 2017. Overall, it was a fruitful year as a teacher for me.

During announcement of UPSR results.

I also had the opportunity to travel twice to Thailand this year. The first one was to Phuket with my sister’s family and the other one was my spontaneous solo trip to Bangkok. I didn’t even had the time to blog about my Bangkok trip! I went there after Aidiladha just to experience the Islamic culture there. I booked the renowned Islamic hotel al-Meroz and went to the nearby Bangkok Islamic Centre which I first saw in Mizz Nina’s Instagram account. As a historical freak, I also went to the Grand Palace and really, it was a mind-blowing experience and I felt like Anna Leonowenns! I also made new friend on the way to Suvarnabhumi Airport. I am proud of myself for doing this.

Exquisite Grand Palace at Bangkok!

Islamic Centre of Thailand. Subahnallah! Great place.

At Patong Beach, Phuket with my sister and my two nephews. My brother-in-law arrived a day later.

So, what’s up with my new year resolutions? I have fulfilled 90% of my 2018 resolutions as per below:-

1. To solidify my PhD journey – Yes, I got an “A” for Advanced Qualitative Research Methodology; I presented a paper in conference and I passed my PhD Comprehensive Exam!;
2. To give my best as a teacher – I managed to help my pupils to reduce the number of 6Es candidates and helped to boost the school’s percentage;
3. To read 6 celebrated books/novels – I didn’t achieve this. I merely read 5 celebrated books according to my Goodreads account (“Natrah : In The Name of Love”; “Rosemary’s Baby”; “Robert Kuok : A Memoir”; “Empress Cixi : The Concubine Who Launched Modern China” and “Billion Dollar Whale”.)
4. To participate in 3 running events – I didn’t achieve this! Did not participate any running event at all!
5. Travelling @ Wanderlust (Domestic/Abroad) – Went to Thailand, twice!

So for this year 2019, what are my goals? I intend to :-

1. Publish an article & accelerate the progress of my thesis ;
2. To excel as a teacher (Class Teacher of 4 Bayu, Ketua Panitia Pendidikan Moral & Ketua Penasihat Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia) ;
3. To read 5 celebrated books/ novels;
4. To travel @ wanderlust – or perhaps visiting Makkah again for Umrah? Goodness knows;
5. To dedicate more time with my parents ;
6. To be a better Muslim by cleansing myself from any vile attractions.
7. To participate in at least one running event.

On whole, I hope to become a better version of myself this year and to be a better Muslim. I think it’s already enough fooling around with all the experiments. It is time to cleanse myself and draw myself closer to spirituality and piety. So, 2019 is going to be the year of Spirituality & Epistemology. Amin.

Amin, hopefully 2019 will be the year of spirituality and epistemology for me.