Offers In Hand

There goes a very busy week in school and I deserved a really good weekend and so I did.

It has been a really crazy academic term. We start to receive university offers and interviews. (For me, 2 more offers to wait for!!) Our school really did a really great job and I praise them for doing so well in helping with my UCAS and everyone else's. 95% of upper six students sent off their UCAS application by now (end of November) and in my tutor group ( Registration class in other words), all of us have received at least one offer. My tutor exclaimed how rare for a school to obtain this kind of achievement. I agree :) People are also starting to get interviews from really top universities like Oxford and Cambridge ( I did not apply for these) Some of my friends got it. So I become the very proud friend and the supporter all the way. 

But I guess everything doesn't stop there after getting all these offers. Offers come with conditions, me pursuing my studies in the UK next year also comes with academic conditions so I have to work extra hard not to let myself and others who supports down. 

Okay. This is a fact. Most people in my school don't know where Brunei is and yes I am used to that by now. I told them about Borneo island and near to Malaysia but they still are clueless. I have to bring my planner with the world map attached to my class tutor to point out where it is. Surprisingly at last, my Further Maths teacher knows where Borneo Island is. At least someone knows. To clear this confusion I will have to point out where Brunei Darussalam is.

Yes it looks really tiny but at least it can fit 400,000 people and it is still peaceful :)

On Friday night, I watched Hunger Games : Catching Fire that kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole movie because it was awesome. It was the premiere show in Harrogate so it was rather interesting. People were coming in really early to get the best seats and it was rather hectic because everyone was seriously excited, chattering away before the movie even started.The half an hour advertisement however spoiled it. I've read the first book before and continued until the first part of the second book. I brought the book as it was suppose to be read during my first ever flight to the UK and I ended up being swallowed by sadness listening to Westlife songs "My Love" ,"Seasons In The Sun" and watching some movies for the whole 16 hours. I think I'm going to read the last book of Hunger Games : Mockingjay because I cannot wait until 2015 to know the ending. Who can? and why does it have to be split into two parts? 

On Saturday Afternoon I spent the whole afternoon and night watching my latest favourite korean drama "The Master's Sun". Thank you to my friends in Brunei who recommended this drama because it is just beautiful. This might be the first korean drama I fully watch this academic year so don't scold me for anything yet. Haha. It's genres are horror and comedy which doesn't seem to match well but in this drama it does. The horror is mostly on the first episode. I'd grown immune after that because the storyline is amazing and the multiple funny scenes got me. The main actor and actress are so hilarious that it was so hard to try not to laugh (especially during the night, because it might bother the others). I really like the main actor, So Ji Sub's voice is what I will always tell people who talks to me about this drama. 

Fictional dramas , movies and books are my absolute area of favoritism. 

On Sunday Morning, I went to The Deep, in Hull which takes about 2 hours from Harrogate. It was a school trip. The Deep claimed to have 3000 fishes. As what I saw on the internet, the building looks like ship and this reminds me of N.E.M.O centre in Amsterdam. That was one of the reason we signed up. However, it was rather disappointing because we had seen better aquarium centre such as in London and Kuala Lumpur. It felt like it was a really small building from the inside. We took just 45 minutes to go around and I ended up continuing my drama on my phone. Thank you The Deep's public internet. I wish we can go around Hull but we didn't. We stayed in The Deep and arrived back at school around 5.30pm. In Harrogate it was already pass Maghrib so it was really dark. We basically went on a day trip!

Let me share about the sport that I do for Games ( Sports period ) this year which is golfing in Rudding Park. This is a new experience for me. There are only 6 people and it takes about 15 minutes by bus from school to Rudding Park. We always have golf on a Wednesday afternoon. We have a coach to give lessons and guide us through different steps and different type of clubs each week. After a few weeks of lessons we are now able to play on the real golf course. 

On a windy or rainy day we have to stay indoor so I was amazed by the golf simulator which let you play indoor golf. It is more like Wii but you hit real golf balls using real clubs with nets to catch it. Something like the below image, but less professional looking. We are then able to know the speed of the ball and how many yards it travels just by playing indoor! If I can, I would like to bring my parents to play golf one day. The only place I can think of is Empire Hotel Golf Club. Sounds expensive to be honest. *Sending hints to Brunei*

That is all for now :)

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My Personal Shock Attack

I was curious about why I suddenly listen to Malay songs and watch comparably many malay movies in the United Kingdom. Before this, in Brunei, I always listened to english songs and seldom watched Malay movies. My Ipod was full of English songs now I deleted most of my songs and replaced it with Nasyid and Malay songs (some are quite cheesy, to be honest).

The next big thing is that I start to read Malay novels. When we come to think of it, for a girl who read Harry Potter books almost everyday and other fiction english novels, reading a romantic malay novel is shocking. Hah!

My mother is a big fan of Malay novels. In Brunei there are shelves of Malay books and since I was small I commented that I will never read those books and I remember my mother said that I will when I get older. Oh no. So I'm old now?

I think it is just a sign of maturity and honestly, missing Brunei and the malay culture. I thought it's just me but I asked a friend of mine from Hong Kong her opinion. She understands because she also listen to more Cantonese songs than when she was in Hong Kong. Pretty interesting.

There was a time when I did watched a lot of malay movies and that was when I was still in primary school. Movies like Senario, Mr Cinderella, Soal Hati, gila gila pengantin and many others. I just watched Soal Hati again last night and thought it was a really good movie and I wonder how I really understood the whole story line in the year 2000. I was just 5? Huh? Maybe I watched it a few years later. That makes more sense.

Since this post is about my recent love craze of the malay entertainment let me share some books, movie and songs that I encountered. Haha

So last night I watched Soal Hati online and noticed how skinny and good looking Afdlin Shauki was back then. His soft voice was a charm. For a movie from 2000, the acting and story line is far better than some movies now. I couldnt find ' Soalnya Siapa' which is the sequel of Soal Hati. Now I'm frustrated.

"Tanpa keberanian mimpi tidak bermakna"

The first Malay novel I've ever read : Adam & Hawa by Aisya Sofea. I bought the eBook version and I totally loved it. I watched 1/4 of the drama. It was a really good drama but I just wasn't able to finish it yet. Surprisingly there is a continuation for the novel : "Dekatnya Cinta". I think this will just elongate the drama that already goes on for 8 years in the first book. They will have to deal with more dramas and dramas again?! Although I can see how frustrated I will be but I still bought the eBook so that I can read on the plane back home this December. Woop

        

The weird thing about my Malay songs are that I listen to more cheesy songs. This is just my "Recently Added" playlist........ ( ignore Monsters University. Haha)

I used to make fun of my cousins who listens to cheesy songs. Karma or what. Haha. I'm just being cheesy nowadays. Other than watching Malay movies, I turn to watching sad and depressing Korean movies. I watched 'Miracle in cell no 7' and 'Moment To Remember' which I ended up with a towel (bath towel) of tears. Miracle in cell no 7 just illustrate injustice in this world! The father daughter relationship tears me apart, broke my heart and makes me miss my dad.

According to my countdown : 21 more days till Brunei. I will do my best to fill up this 21 more days not by procrastinating but inshaAllah doing useful things, good deeds and revisions! I can't wait to sit on the new 787 Royal Brunei aeroplane and experience myself the claimed "bigger space" and the updated tv screen.

GO ROYAL BRUNEI!

Assalamualaikum :)

  

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Salam Tahun Baru Hijriah 1435

                  

         Salam Tahun Baru Hijriah 1435!

•  United Kingdom : 3rd November Brunei: 4th November

More Islamic dates from nurmadinah.com:

	3 Muharram 1435		1,374 tahun yang lalu... Istishad Imam Husain
	4 Muharram 1435		Nabi Musa [A.S.] menyebrangi sungai Nil dan Firaun berserta pasukannya tenggelam Imam Hussain dipindah dekat Sungai Euphrates.
	6 Muharram 1435		1,374 tahun yang lalu... 40.000 pasukan Yazid Laknatullah tiba di Karbala
	9 Muharram 1435		1,374 tahun yang lalu... Rombongan Imam Hussain dikepung oleh musuh / Malam Asyura
	10 Muharram 1435	Kamis	1,374 tahun yang lalu... - Hari Asyura / Syahidnya Imam Husain pada Tahun 61H, pembantaian seluruh keluarga dan pengikut rombongan oleh pasukan Yazid Laknatullah - Hari Anak Yatim Menurut sumber sumber lainnya pada 10 Muharram juga telah berlaku : - Nabi Adam bertaubat kepada Allah. - Nabi Idris diangkat oleh Allah ke langit. - Nabi Nuh diselamatkan Allah keluar dr perahunya sesudah bumi ditenggelamkan selama 6 bulan. - Nabi Ibrahim diselamatkan Allah dari pembakaran Raja Namrud. - Allah menurunkan kitab Taurat kepada Nabi Musa. - Nabi Yusuf dibebaskan dari penjara. - Penglihatan Nabi Yaakob yang kabur dipulihkkan Allah. - Nabi Ayub dipulihkan Allah dari penyakit kulit yang dideritainya. - Nabi Yunus selamat keluar setelah berada di dalam perut ikan paus selama 40 hari 40 malam. - Laut Merah terbelah dua untuk menyelamatkan Nabi Musa dan pengikutnya dari tentera Firaun. - Kesalahan Nabi Daud diampuni Allah. - Nabi Sulaiman dikurniakan Allah kerajaan yang besar. - Hari pertama Allah menciptakan alam. - Hari Pertama Allah menurunkan rahmat. - Hari pertama Allah menurunkan hujan. - Allah menjadikan 'Arasy. - Allah menjadikan Luh Mahfuz. - Allah menjadikan alam. - Allah menjadikan Malaikat Jibril. - Nabi Isa diangkat ke langit.
	16 Muharram 1435	Rabu	Perubahan Kiblat
	25 Muharram 1435	Jum'at	Wafatnya Imam Ali Zainal Abidin, Cicit Nabi saw.
	1 Safar 1435	Kamis	Perang Siffin
	2 Safar 1435	Jum'at	Wafat Zaid bin Ali bin Husain.
	3 Safar 1435	Sabtu	Wiladah Imam Baqir.
	7 Safar 1435	Rabu	Wiladah Imam Musa Al-Kazhim
	8 Safar 1435	Kamis	Wafat Salman Al-Farisi Al-Muhammadi
	9 Safar 1435	Jum'at	Perang Nahrawan

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Too Much Fun In Amsterdam!

I just arrived back from Amsterdam yesterday. I was there for 3 full days and stayed at the apartment for 3 nights. I finally got a new phone shortly before going to Amsterdam so I took a lot of pictures although most of the picture in this posts will not be from my phone ( not a good photographer ).

I just slept for 2 hours because we have to go to Southend Airport by 5.30 and the car journey takes about 2 hours from Paddington London. We use Easyjet airlines which take only 40 minutes to go to Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport. Our apartment that we rent for 3 days is above a vegetarian restaurant named "Golden Temple". The staircases were quite steep, the light were dim, everything looks wooden and so we thought it's not as nice as we thought. The good thing was that 9 people was able to sleep well and that's that ( forgetting all the other crazy stuff that happened).

    

Must go places:
We found Albert Cuyp street market on the first day where people sell souvenirs, street foods, flowers and many others. I ate Churros with sugar that taste like donuts but much more crispier and different in shape. There are a lot of different flowers that made me go crazy. Everything looks so fresh and lovely even in the cold weather.

On the first night,we went to Centraal Station (That is how they spell it) where the central station is. It reminds us of St Pancras station in London. It is in the city centre and we walked around the area. The night scenery was so magnificent, It was satisfying. I can see many hotels, building, unique lights and the canals that I saw in pictures before.
      

On day 3, we went to Anne Frank house. We almost give up because of the long queue but we didn't give up. It was an hour queue in the really windy weather!Nevertheless, it was the number one place that I wanted to go to because I've always love the story of Anne Frank that I read from my book a couple of times. It was a really an interesting place and will always recommend it. I felt a rush of emotions in that historical place. I bought a Anne-Frank-diary-look-a-like as souvenirs ( I love collecting notebooks and diary)

We went to Waterlooplein shortly after that as it was nearby. It was said to be a floating flower market but we weren't convinced because we didn't really see it as "floating". We spot a lot of interesting flowers like flowery cacti and Venus Fly Trap. 

We also went to NEMO science centre. The building looks like a green ship. It is near to a chinese restaurant that looks like a chinese temple. It is the mush more bigger version of OGDC in Brunei. On the top floor of NEMO we can see so many parts of Amsterdam so we took a really nice group picture. Spent hours in this centre because it was really interesting. There are many fun and weird facts and games we had so much fun. We were even fascinated when we saw a big bubble making metal ( water bubbles ).

Around Dam Square is the Royal palace and some posh looking shopping centres. On the centre there is The National Monument from world war II. 

On the last night before dinner, we went to the famous I AMsterdam sign which is at the back of Rijksmuseum on museumplein. We spotted the other sign on Schipol airport but it was harder to take picture with. We took so many pictures ( Actually, we took pictures with every letter ).

The things that shocked me:
People ride bicycles. I never saw that many bicycles at one place ever in my life. They even have their own roads for riders which makes tourists like me confused on where to walk. They also use electric trams everywhere. We bought a 72 hours ticket for 16.50 to go anywhere with trams. It was scary how we have to be quick to get out of trams because once, we missed our stop and end up walking from another stop back to our apartment. 

How are they suppose to find their bicycle?!

We found Amsterdam's own Chinatown! It was a rather narrow alley of chinese restaurants, not so chinese restaurants and souvenir shops. 

In Dam Square, there are a few blocks of souvenir shops. I bought a lot of souvenirs including magnets, keychains and even Amsterdam shopping bags. Some of the souvenirs here are sort of "explicit" and it was the cons of Amsterdam. The only thing we can do was to avoid them. We went back here the next two days for more shopping!

Hey our apartment was a complete shock but oh well. 

Interestingly there are a lot of Halal restaurants in Amsterdam and we can easily spot Indonesian and Malaysian restaurants as we walk across the streets(some of them are not halal). We ate alot of arabic food because most of the Malay food restaurants are not halal. Ironically, I ate more steaks and beef in Amsterdam than in my school. We ate at a Malaysian WAU restaurant on the last night. We have to wait for an hour for vacant seats. It was really expensive and sadly we were slowly out of cash. HAHA.

I guess Amsterdam have a little Indonesian influence since there are some people that we encountered taht can speak a little indonesian-malay and of course the many indonesian restaurants.

Netherland loves cows and I love them too. There are a lot of cow prints on souvenirs and there is this one shop where there are actual size cow sculptures which are upside down on their ceiling. I managed to took a picture of it. 

The other thing is the buildings. They have different shapes every each block. I bought many magnets of the different building so that I can make a puzzle out of it. Haha.

So we walk through the red light district. We just walk straight really quickly and get out of there feeling completely shocked. Fullstop.

Amsterdam Special Food:

So I stated Churros but the other famous food is their pancakes. It was rounded and very large so I shared with a friend and was still full in the end. We ate at Sara's pancake house. We ordered American pancake with whipped cream, chocolates, banana and ice cream. It was amazing! We saw people eating Poffertjes which is mini cute pancakes. Of course if there are pancakes, there will be waffles. We bought waffles with strawberry and bananas in Chinatown. Some of us ate mini crispy waffles called Stroopwaffles. They look nice ( I didn't get to eat them ). On Albert Cuyp market, we came across a stall selling mint which is made from Eucalyptus ( I think this is the name of a tree). It tastes like those sweets for sore throat e.g Strepsils.

The tongue twisting names:

Rembrantplein: Named after a guy named Rembrant. His statue and some soldiers' statue were in the ccntre of Rembrantplein square. We took so many pictures here to start day 2.

Prinsengracht: It took a lot of practice to pronounce it. Our apartment is here and Anne Frank house is also along this area that is why this is the most frequently visited stop.

Keizergracht: If we take the tram, this is the stop before Prinsengracht.

Languages:

Most of the sign boards are English translated. The people and tourist mostly can speak english but of course we were curious about dutch and try to learn some. 

Hello: Dakh

Toilet: Svallet

Yes: Ya

No: Ney

Thank you: Dank u well

Do you speak english? : Spreekly engels?

We didn't really use them but it was nice to know. There were a lot more but I already forgot most of them because it was a complicated language for me. 

Post Amsterdam Mood:

Just yesterday we got back from Amsterdam to London Southend and now I am already in my boarding house in Harrogate. I will certainly miss all my friends that I will meet again next year (going back home this December). Half term is over and we have school tomorrow. It is time to be serious about school work again although I'm getting really nervous about it now. I am really looking forward to winter break since I will be flying back home in a month time. This will be a short term but feels really long. I will promise to work extra hard!

That phrase " So close but still so far" but InShaAllah, we can do it!!!

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