Driving Class 101

My entry last year, ‘Day 1 of Driving Class’ is not comparable of my entry this time. Because this time, the driving part is at a whole different level!  This time, it’s where the horror begins… Well I don’t know about you guys, but it’s horrifying enough for me… I’m lucky to actually live to tell the tale (ok now I’m just exaggerating)

It all happened yesterday. It was the first time in ages that I haven’t wake up as early as yesterday. Normally I would just go back to sleep after the Subuh prayer, but not yesterday. Because yesterday was no ordinary day. It’s the day I’m getting behind the wheels. It’s not that bad the last time I was behind the wheel. That was actually the very first time in my whole life. So I didn’t worry much about it.

Apparently, it turned out to be a disaster that crushed the immense spirit of a young driver-to-be. All it takes is just one small accident. Well almost accident… It all happened so quickly that recalling the situation in exact detail is kind of hard. Anyway, I consider myself lucky since nothing was broken or even scratched. But one thing I know is that my confidence level started to hind down a little bit. I noticed it because I started to feel a bit hesitant while driving after that incident occurred.

I know driving is not hard. In fact almost every can drive these days. If driving is so difficult, there won’t be that many cars on the road, right??! I kept telling myself that it’s all about the rhythm. It’ll be as easy and as naturally as breathing once you get the rhythm in your feet (to push those pedals and everything). It’s just like when a dancer first learn the choreography of something new or a pianist getting a new set of score that was never played in their whole life. Of course the dance routine wouldn’t look as beautiful and the song wouldn’t sound so amazing. But when they finally get the rhythm in their body or fingers, it’ll be spectacular!

And so this is what the optimistic part of me kept repeating over and over again. Hope it’s the same with my driving…

Perception

For those of you who already read my previous entry, you would probably know what this entry would be all about. So as the title goes…’Perception’. It may not involve any beauty as what I already wrote before, but the concept still applies. So have you got the numbers figured? How old do you think the lady is? No need for precise number or anything. A range is good enough.

Ok…Since it’ll be easier to explain with the picture, that’s why there’s the picture again as you can see on the right hand side as you read this. You know when I first saw this picture, my guess was that the lady couldn’t be more than 20 years old. To me, she looked lovely, although I can’t seem to figure out why she looked away. It made her seem kind of like a snob to me. Anyway, when I showed this picture to my mom, it really shocked me when she referred her as an old lady saying that she’s 70 or maybe even 80 years old.

   

I was like, “Are you sure coz she looked pretty young to me?” If you ask me, I would say that she’s a lady from the upper class back in those days judging from the fur coat she’s wearing, the feathers and necklace and everything. So then I asked my mom what is it that made her see her as an ‘old lady’. You want to know?

First, look at the ‘necklace’. Apparently, from what mom sees it, it’s the old lady’s mouth! Then there’s the ‘ears’. Looks like an ear is not just an ear because it’s the old lady’s eyes! If you can already see the picture of an old lady, then I guess you would know that the ‘chin’ is actually her nose! Surprised??!

So there you go. That is how perspective of one person differs from the other even though when looking at the same subject. In the book, it also said that one’s perspective will influence their attitude and behavior. Let’s say if you, like me, saw the lady as a lovely young lady, then you would undoubtedly found it difficult to think about helping her cross the street. If you’re a guy, there might even be a slight chance that you’ll try to get number or something. But since I’m a girl, what do I know, right?

I found that this might be one of the reasons why people with no appreciation for art like me find it difficult to enjoy any art piece that some called it as a ‘masterpiece’. To me they’re just colors on a piece of paper. But I guess perspective is what makes things a lot more interesting. If not, maybe the human species would be very dull and are no different from the other species that inhabited earth. I guess perspective really make us human special. Although I don’t deny the fact that perspective can also lead to disaster when leaders don’t see eye to eye on important matter.

Well that's all for now. Hope I had just enlighten you with this entry...Peace out^_^

Perception of Beauty

If anyone asks you to define beauty, how would you describe it? Does it take account to how expensive it is (if it’s an object that is)? Or would you have described it as something very valuable that nothing is a match if it were to be compared to it? Or is it simply the dance that Billy Bell performed on So You Think You Can Dance? Oppss I guess that's just me. Anyway, if that question were to be asked to me, I’d say, “Boy that is one tough question!” LOL

If you can understand the true concept of beauty, then you would understand why I would have given that response. I don’t know if you’ve heard this before but there’s a proverb that goes “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This is because beauty in things and people exists in the mind that observes them. That is why a beauty to one may not be a beauty to another.

This concept also applies to a society. Ever heard of foot binding that was practiced by the Chinese girls and women? If you haven’t, well let me just put it this way. It’s a custom in which the female have to bind their feet for a period of time (years normally) to get a feet of the desired shape. Due to this, they are disable for their whole life. However, the Chinese interpret this as a sort of beauty. To me, it’s just plain torture. Who would want small foot that can get you nowhere? Not me.   

So can you get what I’m trying to say here? Beauty is very subjective. It’s no math where the outcome is definite. 1 + 1 would equal to 2. Obviously. Even a 4 year old would know that. But beauty will never have an exact characteristic…And that's the beauty of it.

Ok so one last thing is that I found this picture when I was reading this book my mom forced me to read. Take a good look at it. Try and guess how old is she. I’ll write my review on this picture in my next entry so be sure to take a real good look of this picture. It’s related to the topic of this entry but I’m having a serious headache so I’m not going to force myself to write any more. So I’ll stop here and here you go. The mysterious picture…

The Ugly Truth

So today I watched Mentor. Well precisely, it's only the audition of it. I think most of us who lives in Malaysia would know that Mentor is one of those reality TV shows like Akademi Fantasia, Malaysian Idol and etc. It was actually my dad who turned on the channel so I just joined in to watch it since there weren't anything else that was fun to watch.

When I watch, I realize how the mind of our nation works. Apparently, it's too easy. What am I talking about? Well get this....

I found that almost a quarter of those who went to audition said that they are from a poor family and life had been tough for them. And so, their solution was to try out for the audition. Unfortunately, their singing was clearly not what the mentors-as they call it-are expecting in the competition...So at the end of the day, they went home with tears and crumbling hopes and bla bla bla....

To be honest, even I, who have no expertise in that area, know that they're definitely not made for the show.
But my point is that, those people are the young generation, aged not more than 25. Although they lack of experiences in life-not that I have a lot more than them, because hey I'm only 18- they should know what's best for them and what's best to solve their problem.

I seriously think that they are too addicted by the fame and fortune portrayed by the celebrities. The fame and fortune clearly had got them blinded hence they couldn't see the situation with the right state of mind. We all know that even celebrities have their ups and downs. If their songs or movies can sell in the current market and keep on selling, sure they'll make it big time for themselves. But if not, they are history. Adios. Au revoir. Sayonara. Goodbye. Sure they'll have some hardcore fans that will support them no matter what, but then that's all there is to it.

Singing is something that comes naturally. Believe me I know because I'm not that good of a singer myself...Oppss...guess the cat is out of the bag. LOL. Anyway, I think what they really need is a good education. For one thing, it's something you can actually learn and it's something that can take you beyond boundaries. I believe that the people in our country still lack of realization towards the importance of education. Take example of the people I just mention. They wanted to make big money through what seemed to them to be the easiest route to the so call success.

But I'm not saying, "Oh screw all those celebrities. They're just good for nothing". That's a big NO. I'm not saying that it's wrong to be a celebrity either. That is if you have what it takes to be one. And I don't deny the need of a good entertainment that they give, I really don't, but everything has to have a limit. Not all of us can be a singer or astronaut or the prime minister. Sure that's what we all wanted to be when we were in kindergarten. But the truth is, someone got to be the teacher, the policeman and even the garbage man. Even if those positions in the society isn't as important as they seemed compared to the others, they are still respected as an individual who have the gut to make a difference in the world even in their own unique way. That's why they're not just a teacher or a policeman or a garbage man but they're 'the' teacher, 'the' policeman and 'the' garbage man Just try to imagine if everyone become, for example a singer, then who would become the fans? And what about the trash? Who would take care of them if there are no garbage men? If that's the case, the world would surely be a stinky place to live in.

So that's the truth that we all have to face. It might be ugly but then it is the truth...

You are what you eat

So last night I went out for dinner at this restaurant somewhere near my house. And as I waited for what I ordered, my eyes caught a glimpse of the opposite restaurant which is owned by a non-Muslim. If I were to describe the scene in a business-like way, I would say that the owner sure is making a lot of money...

My point is...there were a bunch of people, which majority are Muslims (sadly to say so) eating at the opposite restaurant owned by a non-Muslim. It really break my heart to actually witness that scene with my own eyes. I for one, as a Muslim really care about what I eat. Whether the food is halal or not. That is how my family brought me up. So it got me thinking, doesn't those people parents taught them about the importance of eating halal food from a halal source? And then I thought, if they were taught about it, then maybe they don't know that particular detail about that restaurant being owned by a non-Muslim. Maybe...But then again, how could they missed that since it was very obvious.

When asked about it, most of them admit the fact that the owner is a non-Muslim. But they said it was ok since the worker are Muslims and so are the cooks. Somehow they seemed to forget another important detail that would allow the food to be considered halal.

What is that you ask? Well it's non other than the source of that food. Take a very simple example. A chicken. It's a halal food since Allah didn't say that it's not in the Al-Quran. But it didn't stop there. In order for it to be halal for us the Muslims to eat it, it must also come from a halal source. If a halal food come from a non-halal source , then the food become non-halal for us to eat it. It's just like math. When there's positive and negative, what would the result be? Negative.

What I'm trying to say is that since the owner is a non-Muslim, what is the guarantee that he would buy his supplies from a Muslim? I'm not being prejudice here if that's what you're thinking. I'm just being conscious of what I eat and hoping that all the Muslims out there are too. It is true about what people say. The stuff about 'You are what you eat'. If you're a Muslim who portray the image of one yet you don't even give a damn to what you eat, then it would clearly reflects what kind of Muslim you are...

P/s: The stuff that I wrote in this entry is not a criticism. It's my thought that I would like to share with the hope that people would reflex on it for the betterment of all including myself....wasalam

Avalon High

For those of you who had previously read the book would clearly see the difference between the book and the movie that was aired on Disney Channel last night. To me, it was a huge disappointment! I seriously love the book. Meg Cabot is the best and everything but the movie is a bummer. Way to ruin my favourite book! I mean how can they possibly even think about making Ellie the one who is the reincarnation of King Arthur??! She's a girl for crying out loud. It was supposed to be A. William Wagner in which 'A' was Arthur. Of course they didn't mention that in the movie.

Owh and the part where Marco was supposed to be the evil stepbrother, well you can forget about that. In the movie, it turned out that Marco was a member of  The Order of the Bear...an organisation that believed that King Arthur will reincarnate to change the world. It really make no sense at all. So since Marco is the good guy, their literature teacher is the evil one which clearly make no sense since the evil one should be Arthur stepbrother.

I know the producer wanted to spice up the story but to me it's just a little too much. The story was completely twisted up! I can't believe I was so excited to watch it a week ago. Good thing they cast a cute Will Wagner...LOL^_^

Tik tok!!!

The clock is ticking drawing me closer to the day when the SPM result is revealed. It really creep me out just by thinking of it. Seriously! The result would be the key to my future. If I screwed up causing my result to be NOT OK, I am done for. Not that it would be the end of the world for me or anything but close enough...Without good result, I can kiss my scholarship goodbye. And that is so not what I want. Do you know how much it cost to study abroad these days? A fortune! Unless I have that kind of fortune, the scholarship is my only hope to further my study in USA...no pressure there.