Climbing the Great World of China

A #throwback post

Presenting,

One of the 7 Wonders of the World, 

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!

This magnificent edifice is actually a series of forts constructed as early as from the 7th  century BC. They were eventually being joined together to form a very long fort known as the Great Wall of China.

This historical site is located at the Northern border of China/Mongolia and it took about an hour by bus to get there from Beijing.

Nicole, our Beijing-born tour guide showed us the terrains of mountain and hills on our right side when we were about to reach to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. The Great Wall is so massive and soo long that there were several entries located at different locations of the wall. Ours was the Badaling entrance.

We took a class picture in front of the Great Wall and we were ready to hop about and race to the top!

Raced to the top? Yeah rightt...

The flight of stairs was sooo steep and uneven. Don't you dare to look behind you once you climbed further up if you suffer from acrophobia.

It was a very strenuous journey up there. I am not an athlete, I do not possess incredible stamina, my lung function test result shows that my lung function is not normal (I have allergy since I was a kid which is one of the predisposing factors of asthma but no Alhamdulillah I don't have asthma). In short, I'm not someone you would expect to climb the Great Wall all the way to the top. 

But I had determination, and that was one thing that kept me going. 

How did I do it? I climbed slowly, gripping the metal railing on my left tightly, and I exhaled and inhaled as frequently as I could to get more oxygen and to expel the carbon dioxide accumulated in my body. Plus with higher altitude, the atmospheric pressure gets higher and less oxygen is available. 

It was also so freaking cold, and you shivered uncontrollably when the cold winter wind constantly blew towards you when you're climbing. But it was good, in a way. You did not get sweaty. But some of my friends suffered blocked nose and there was blood coming out but it was coagulated due to the immense cold.

While climbing, we noticed some of the Chinese locals muttering 'Malai-siya', 'Malai-siya' when they passed by us. 

There were several stations, and we stopped to take pictures at each station. The athletes in our class raced to the top with ease while us the not-so-much of an athlete people climbed it slowly, step by step.

As I climbed, I began to recall some of the things I have learned and read about the Great Wall of China. It was built by Shih Huang Ti, the first Emperor of China. Millions of people had died when building the Great Wall and they were just buried at the construction site. Thus, the Great Wall of China has a notorious name which is 'The Longest Cemetery in the World'.

And then, we saw our class banner being flapped and fluttered from one of the stations. Yaay!

On my way up there,  I was thinking of the Disney movie Mulan. How on Earth could the soldiers ran up and down the tower while fighting Shang Yu and his men? And oh, the beacons they lighted to ask for help were available at each tower station.

We had passed about 3 to 4 stations. Most of my friends had stopped climbing even from the first station and with each station we reached. 

I climbed faster than some of them and when I stopped by to get a rest and enjoying the picturesque views of the nature from the Great Wall, Syau had just arrived and she was shocked

"Sarah, you're so fast!"

I grinned "Unbelievable huh?". Syau is our Squash Queen aka an athlete.

 2 guys in my class were behind me and when they saw me, they jokingly  asked "Eh, macam mana Sarah boleh naik sampai sini?" (How could you climb until here?) I just dismissed them and continued climbing.

I climbed with another guy and a girl, both from my class and each time I continued to take one more step, the guy would pant and ask "Nak naik lagi ke Sarah?" and I was like "Of course!". He stopped climbing soon after. hahaha. 

Then, we reached a station. Someone in our class came out of it and ushered us girls into the station,

Oh wow... it was a souvenir shop! Several of my classmates were already there and waiting for the old man (how on Earth did he manage to climb up there everyday?) to carve our names to the..

Guess what?

MEDALS!!!!

But of course, nothing is free in this world. Pay for the medals we must. It was 30 yuan (RM15) for a medal. You can opt not to buy it though.

This is to certify that Sarah Kushairi had 'successfully' climbed the Great Wall of China on the 17th of January 2014. 

We were so elated!!!

The journey downwards was more excruciating. You later realized that your legs hurt when you went down each step. 

The buses were waiting for us and once we stepped inside, we were greeted by a hero's welcome by our classmates. XD

My only regret was that the time given was very short (only for one hour mana cukup!) and that it was approaching dusk and the surrounding got darker.

(Plus a friend of mine sensed there was a dark, sinister feeling creeping up on her.. longest cemetery in the world, remember?)

I wish I could go there again, climbing as far and as high as I could (I doubt I could do so in just one day, the Great Wall is about almost 9 freaking thousands kilometres! @__@) from morning till noon. Insya Allah. I'm gonna have to learn Mandarin laa...

I'm grateful to be given the opportunity to climb the Great Wall at a young age, when I am still full of drive and energy, hahahaha..So, do it when you're still young and energetic!! GO GO GO!!!

Disclaimers: Pictures are from my collection, my roommate Adiba's and our class trip's Facebook group.

Footnotes: 

Long before the first tragedy of MH370 had befallen Malaysia in March 2014, life was good, at least for me and my friends. 

We went to Beijing 2 months before the incident, in January 2014. It was during the Winter season. 

Thus, when the news struck us 2 months later, we were incredulous, each of us thinking 

"It could have been us"

and we (read: me) would imagine the headlines of the newspapers and news networks around the world saying "56 Pharmacy students were in the plane" or "Lebih 50 orang pelajar Farmasi UIA hilang bersama pesawat MH370"

Well, we took Air Asia because it was cheaper, LOL. But it could have happened to us. About 10 of us who went to the trip took MAS (because lambat beli tiket Air Asia thus MAS tickets got cheaper, unbelievable huh?) and it could have happened to them. *shudder*. What's more, they took the MH360 plane to Beijing. Not MH370, but close. One of the crews that served them at that time could have been the same ones who disappeared with MH370. 

Now now. Talking about this incident still saddens me. Let's pray that the truth will be unveiled one day, insya Allah. #prayforMH370 

Ju On 3: The Beginning of the End

Achievement unlocked!!! :D

It was my first time watching a movie at the cinema ALONE and that movie watched is none other than
Ju On 3: The Beginning of the End ( a great choice, right?) 

 Because what's better than watching a movie alone? Watching a horror flick alone 

( I mean, at the cinema. I've watched various horror movies alone on my laptop)

I have this paranoia (so many!) of people kidnapping me when I'm watching movie alone in the cinema thus I've never got to try it. It could happen, you know *serious voice* thus I was clutching the pepper spray tight in my left hand for the first five minutes. The remaining time there was spent stuffing myself with the popcorn because what's better than watching a horror flick alone in the cinema? Having your own popcorn! No need to share with your friends/siblings, LOL. 

Theatre number 8 was located at the end of the hallway( hohoho) and as I entered it, it was less than 10 people inside, of which all of them were with their respective partners/friends. 

My seat was quite far from the 'crowd' because I would like to fully cherish the experience of having to watch a movie in the cinema alone, thank you very much. No point of watching it alone if you're gonna have to blend in with the 'crowd', right? 

So, I was in the middle of the theatre. I was the only person in that particular row. Not a single soul in front of me. No one in the row behind me. The closest human being available there was the couple at the far right at the row behind my immediate empty backrow (get it?) 

In a way, I was alone. Just me and my popcorn. The big screen flashing in front of me, my own movie theatre yes! I was about to watch Ju On, supposedly one of the scariest horror movies in the world. Oh yeah? Ju On could be lurking in the dark, crouching and crawling at the empty spaces, ready to pull me into her world of supernatural beings.

Wrong. Ju On is not a person/ghost. It's a curse. LOL. Cast by those who had harboured immense anger and grudge when they're about to die. I don't know. That's what the movie said.

SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you have the intention to experience watching Ju On alone in the cinema, then come after you have watched the movie.

Or if you don't, oh well...go ahead and read then. 

So, the movie started with the definition of 'Ju On', then to this house in Japan. It's a pretty- looking house, with a sweeping staircase that leads to the first floor once you opened the front door. Three people entered the house. A policeman, a woman from the Child Abuse Prevention society or something like that, and the guy who was holding the camera and recording the whole thing. They received a report about a child abuse case which took place in the house. 

Like any good horror flick, the camera lackadaisically focused on anything which caught 'its' fancy. Kind of like the 'Blair Witch Project'. So, you won't know what will appear in front of the camera. They went upstairs, calling 'Toshio kun, Toshio kun'. 

Toshio Saeki, the pale boy in the previous Ju On movies..You know him, right? 

The woman and the policeman went into the room on the second floor. The cameraman stopped at the staircase and suddenly the woman and the policeman bolted out of the room, clearly shocked. They found Toshio kun inside, dead for several days. The woman and policeman went downstairs, out of the house while the cameraman went inside. Inside the sliding wardrobe, he saw the dead body of Tashio-kun covered with blood. 

Cue more horror music background, the cameraman fumbled with his camera and suddenly Tashio-kun appeared in front of him. Screen faded to black. Sort of. 

Then, moving on to Yui, a young woman who became a substitute teacher for an elementary school. Apparently, Tashio was in her class and he had been absent for 7 days. She went to Toshio's house, and WHOAAA

Someone was standing in at the back of the staircase, looking so scary and horrifying whatsoever with her pale face, eerie smile and long, uncombed black hair O___O. 

HAHAHAHA

I almost dropped my box of popcorn. 

That was Kayako Saeki, Toshio's mother. She was the scariest ghost in the movie. But of course, Yui thought she was still alive. Kayako said Toshio's father took Toshio and when Yui wanted to ask more, she disappeared. Yui went upstairs to Toshio's room and bla bla bla I forgot then Kayako appeared out of nowhere, inviting Yui to have tea downstairs, and she disappeared again. Yui went downstairs and saw a cup of tea which didn't seem that it was freshly prepared. She saw Kayako sitting down on the tatami mat, her back facing Yui, and Kayako was doing something. 

Yui called Kayako several times, dup dap, dup dap, she moved slowly to look at Kayako and BAM! 

Kayako abruptly turned towards her, continued to look at Yui with the most ghastly expression with her hand scribbling furiously onto the notebook, drawing spirals thingy. 

Yui ran out of the house. 

Now, moving on to Manami, or is it Minami? Okay, a group of 4 high school girls went to take a look inside the house. The house was unoccupied after the murder of a boy; Toshio. Minami saw Toshio inside the room, and she screamed and her friends laughed at her. Not much of scary parts here. I found Toshio cute, rather than scary. Kayako, on the other hand.... *shudder*

Then later on the four of them suffered insufferable deaths.

And...let's skip the boring parts. 

Yui was alone at school marking exam papers when suddenly she saw the ever-scary Kayako walking down the dark and dim hallway and Yui chased after her. Even the way she walked is freaking scary!!! Plus her long hair which flowed down her back!! T___T

Kayako entered the classroom and when Yui came in, Kayako was nowhere to be found but instead, she found a diary on the table. She began reading the diary and Kayako was behind her,muahahaha..

Yui's boyfriend Naoto came home and saw Yui standing in front of the window. Yui then began touching the window glass with her finger and began to furiously scribble the spirals thingy (what's with it?) and later on she fainted. 

Naoto then found out from the real estate agent that 19 years ago, Toshio was found dead in the house. and that 10 years ago, the real estate agent's wife, and her younger sister (one of the girls mentioned earlier) died soon after they entered the house. 

Then  Naoto also died after reading Kayako's diary which he found inside Yui's bag, which then left us to Yui, alone. 

This is the awesomest part of it all. Because Kayako was in these scenes. Yui went to the house, and found a box of tapes of which she played it at the house living room. Basically about how Kayako and Toshio were murdered by Takeo Saeki, Kayako's husband. 

Yui went inside the sliding Doraemon-like wardrobe and she opened up the top of the wardrobe connecting to the roof. She poked her head out into the space under the roof and she found the disfigured body of Kayako. Kayako suddenly opened her eyes and she crawled in the most hideous, horrifying manner, so much faster than Usain Bolt and began to chase Yui. Yui ran out and went downstairs, and found Toshio. Then Kayako again, then Toshio, Kayako. It seems like she was stuck in the middle with nowhere to run. 

Kayako is scary OMG. 

Then, Yui woke up. Apparently, she was dreaming. She went outside and was greeted by Naoto, her dead boyfriend who was walking with his head twisted to the back. It was rather comical, LOL. Then, Toshio touched her hand. 

Conclusion: Takeo tought that Kayako was cheating on him and that Toshio was not his son. So he killed Kayako. Kayako, on the other hand, wanted to have children so much that she prayed that kami-sama gave her any soul, anyone's children to her. So the restless spirit Toshio who was found dead earlier in the movie entered her body and Kayako delivered a son, who shared an uncanny resemblance to the dead Toshio (same boy of course). The thing is....there were 2 Toshios? Which one is the original Toshio?  Anyway, the house was cursed, and anyone who entered it, even for a second, would face the most horrifying death, muahahahaha...

THE END. 

I was alone right? And there was no one for me to hold to during the scary parts (read: Kayako) so I just covered half of my face with the then already-empty popcorn box, LOL. 

It was surreal. It gave me the chills. Whenever I see a flight stairs, even at my home, I would be reminded of Kayako. *shiver*. 

So, how do I find it?

KAYAKO IS SCARY. 

My ratings: 4 and a half stars. 

Kayako still gives me the chills. Try watching it alone just like I did (with no one in front, left, right, back, sitting in the centre, in the dark) and see how! :P 

The Case of the Burnt-turned-Sweet Cake

I'm not a cake lover. 

Probably it's because I'm not too keen in eating anything sweet as I have the 'diabetes paranoia', hahaha.

But this time, I feel like baking a cake. I love looking at the pictures of beautiful cakes on the internet but to actually bake one, I've never done it. 

So, I decided to bake a cake. 

It's inspired by a 'Wander Tudung People' cake, the chocolate cake with peanut butter cream and snickers chunks. 

It looks quite easy to make so I decided to make one!

I bought the ingredients needed:

For the cake, you need

• A Chocolate Cake Mix ( I used Nona Instant Cake)
• 4 eggs

For the peanut butter frosting, I followed the recipe at Betty Crocker website.

You need: 

• 1 cup of butter/margarine, softened
• 1 cup of smooth peanut butter
• 3 cups of powdered sugar ( I made a mistake of using castor sugar blurgghhh)
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

For the cake, the instructions are according to what was displayed at the back of the cake mixture box. 

For the peanut butter frosting,

1. Beat the butter until it becomes fluffy
2. Add in the smooth peanut butter, milk, vanilla and 1/2 cup of sugar and beat the mixture until they urmm.. mixed well. 
3. Add in the remaining cups of sugar, beating the mixture well with each addition. Get what I mean? 
4. Coat your cake with your peanut butter frosting. 

What actually happened:

For the cake,

I followed each instruction carefully, just like a good research project student, even adding my own tips I've scoured through the internet like:

•  heating your oven 15 minutes before you bake your cake
• greasing your cake tin with butter before adding the cake mixture in
• Placing your ingredients at room temperature half an hour before baking (until they reached the room temperature)

Everything went well but as I peeked through the oven glass, I saw that the top of the cake gets black, and blacker. 

OH NO!!! DID THE CAKE GET BURNT??!!

I got disappointed, but I will never give up! Giving up is not me! 

Even after it turned out to be like this;

Exhibit A: The burnt-at-the-top-and-edges chocolate cake (so-called).

The cake cracked in the middle, and there were small holes because I used a fork to poke through the cake. 

So I googled to know what actually went wrong. It's the temperature! I followed the baking instruction to burn bake it at 180 degree celsius for 45 minutes but whyy my cake turned out this way? 

As it turned out, many bakers actually encountered this common problem. A good tip to be remembered is to lower down the temperature when baking, or when you see that it's about to get burnt. 

I told you that I shall never give up right? So I took the cake and scraped off the burnt edges and top with the kitchen knife. And may I present to you, 

Exhibit B: The Transformation from Charcoal Black to Chocolate Brown (erkk) 

Now, done with the cake. I had prepared the peanut butter frosting beforehand.

What actually happened:

• I made the mistake of using castor sugar, so my frosting becomes granulated and not smooth. 
• I put too much sugar. The 'diabetes paranoid' person like me doesn't like it. 

Anyway, what's done is done. I then covered the cake with the peanut butter frosting and snickers chunks, decorated it at my whims. 

Exhibit C: The finished product, HAHAHAHA

Exhibits D and E: eh, it doesn’t look that bad..

I then put it in the fridge to cool the frosting, and I braced myself to try a small slice of the cake 

My verdict: heyy not bad, the cake is baked to an almost perfection. Almost, not utmost, lol, except for the small burnt bits at the bottom which are masked by the (unfortunately) sweet peanut butter frosting! 

My dad came back home and I gave him a slice of it to taste

His verdict: Sedap!!! And when I told him "It's super sweet!" He said " No lah" and finished it off. 

Now now, my dad is a brutally honest person. I remember the time when I was 6, and I showed him the drawing that I'm going to send to the KFC Chicky Hours show. Instead of being like other supportive fathers who said "wow, so pretty! You'll win it" and cringed behind their children's back, to me, 

he said "Tak cantiklah! Tak payah hantar,". How heartbreaking. I'm feeling it till this day. HAHA

He's also a cake lover, and he doesn't suffer from 'diabetes paranoia'. 

When my mom came back home, I showed her the cake. She touched it and said 'the texture is good!"

My dad told her "It's nice! Only that she has to improve on the appearance aka the frosting,"

All right! It doesn't matter whether it is burnt/sweet/not pretty, I just baked my first cake! And it is edible! :D 

Now what shall I cook next?

Stay tuned for more of my culinary adventures!!!

Stir-fried Kailan Mayhem

I found onions in the kitchen. T___T

Today, I decided to prepare Kailan Goreng Ikan Masin. It's one of my favourite dishes! 

I rummaged through various recipes on the internet, get the gist of each one of it, and I was ready to cook! Bring it on!

The ingredients needed are:

• Kailan vegetables (chinese broccoli/kale), chopped 
• A bulb of onion, chopped/blend
• A dash of garlic (I'm not sure about the exact amount, but it's lesser than the onion), chopped/blend
• Salt 
• No Ikan Masin. But I have dried shrimps (udang kering) so it's Kailan Goreng Udang Kering then, LOL. 
• Oil

The instructions:

1. Pour the oil into the pan, heat it, and until it is hot enough, put the chopped onion and garlic into it, allowing it to be stir-friend (tumis) until the distinctive aroma is unleashed! (LOL)
2. Wait until it get brown (WRONG! I made a mistake at this point, will be further explained below)
3. Sprinkle the salt on the Kailan
4. Put the kailan into the frying pan
5. Sprinkle a small amount of dried shrimps.
6. Turn off the fire
7. Serve 

But, in the midst of cooking, I found out that my Kailan was turning brownish and withered!!!! Dx

What the crap is this?? 

(the flower-patterned plate was used to mask the hideousness of it, to no avail)

I had a bad feeling about this. 

And when I tasted it, 

C'est horrible!!! It tasted so bitter and oily. The worst Kailan Goreng I've ever eaten! 

What could possibly go wrong? 

I googled and found out that my 'Tumis technique' was WRONG! I should wait until the onion and garlic combination turned yellowish instead of brownish, which indicates that my Onion and garlic got burnt! (hangit!) Thus the bitter taste of it. 

I also realized that unlike rice, vegetables are fragile creatures that could not stand the heat for too long. Poor souls! ;(

Anyway, I was determined to start all over again. I have the 'researcher' spirit in me, and I shall never give up! 

The new and improved instructions:

1. Pour the oil into the pan, heat it, and until it is hot enough, put the chopped onion and garlic into it, allowing it to be stir-friend (tumis) until the distinctive aroma is unleashed!
2. Wait until it gets YELLOWISH
3. Add chicken stock cube (I thought this was my saviour, boy was I wrong) 
4. Meanwhile, you could soak the kailan in a bowl of salt water instead of sprinkling the salt on it. 
5. Put the kailan into the frying pan
6. Sprinkle a small amount of dried shrimps.
7. Turn off the fire
8. Serve 

I was happy to see that it turned out better, SO MUCH better than before.

Appearance/Presentation marks: negative ten

I made the silly mistake of putting too much sweet sauce into it. Hence the brownish gravy-like stuff. Trust me, it looks better in reality.

My verdict: SEDAP!!!! The vegetables are so crunchy, just the way I like it. Onlyy that....it's a bit salty. I guess it's my fault for putting the chicken stock cube (throw-throw only) and putting the salty dried shrimps after that. Dried shrimps are sufficient. No need chicken stock cube. I've never heard of anyone else making this dish with chicken stock cube as one of its ingredients *facepalm*. Plus, I should have tasted it while cooking, to determine the degree of saltiness and tastiness, and to adjust it to my likings.

Best served with white rice. Hot/warm. And nuggets. Long live nuggets!

Never mind, I could always try again and again.

Wah, now I feel like cooking more and more dishes. What shall I cook tomorrow?

Stay tuned for more of my culinary (mis)adventures! 

'Throw-Throw' Garlic Fried Rice

Or in Malay, it's called 'Nasi Goreng Bawang Putih Campak-Campak' or 'Nasi Goreng Bawang Putih Hentam Sajelahh'.

I have a confession to make. This is quite an embarrassing confession.

I. DON'T. KNOW.HOW.TO.COOK. 

All my life, I have always been the 'eater', the 'food taster', rather than the cook or the chef. 

My mom and my grandmother on the other hand, are amazing cooks. They have amazing culinary skills and they love to cook. 

I, on the other hand, love to eat, and to only eat, rather than cook. 

My maid had returned to Indonesia for her Hari Raya Vacation and I am left at home to fend myself.  To ensure my survival, I must eat. And to eat proper foods, I must learn how to cook. 

I could always drive to the restaurant to eat but no. "This is the time, Sarah!" I said to myself. 

"You must now learn how to cook!" 

"It's now or never!" 

The first ever 'successful' food recipe that I've tried by myself is the 'Cheese Omelette'. It's very simple but it's the tastiest cheese omelette I've ever tasted! xD

I'm pretty confident that I have inherited my mother and grandmother's culinary skills. It's there inside me, waiting to be released, unleashed from its chain of laziness! 

Thus, my culinary adventure begins!

I know the basic steps of frying stuffs. 

Plus, I have learned that once you know how to 'tumis' (stir-fry),you can cook anything!

Girls who don't know how to cook, don't be embarrassed. We're all in this together! We can transform from 'professional eaters' to 'superb chefs!' 

The first step is all it takes. 

Girls who know how to cook, oh all right, congrats!

Guys who are judging girls who don't know how to cook, oh all right.

Guys who could cook better than girls, oh, awesome! 

So for this Nasi Goreng Bawang Putih Campak-Campak, you need the following ingredients

• Cooked Rice (1 used 1 cup of rice)
• Oil (I'm not sure about the exact measurements, as long as the amount is enough to stir-fry the garlic)
• Garlic (I used about 3-4 tablespoons)
• Half of Chicken Stock Cube 
• Kale (Kailan), or any other vegetables, cut. 
• An egg
• Salt 
• Ajinomoto (if you want to) 

I couldn't find onions in the house T___T, so Garlic and chicken stock are the main ingredients for stir-frying. Don't worry, it turned out all right! 

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in the pan, until it bubbled and boiled
2. Put the garlic into the oil, and just stir it around until the aroma is unleashed (naik bau, LOL), and the garlic turned brown and crispy (fried). Have to keep on stirring it or else it will stick to the bottom of the pan. 
3. Then put the chicken stock cube, mix and stir it. 
4. Sprinkle a pinch of salt ( I forgot to do this, thus my rice tasted bland, initially. So I sprinkled the salt on the rice and just turn the rice over to mix it well). 
5. Put the vegetables. (should not do this, should do this after you had fried your rice or else your green vegetables would turn brown and withered, and this is not okay for a vegetables lover like me). 
6. Put the rice and just fry it, turning it over until the rice obtained its distinctive brownish colour, and that the rice had been fried evenly. 
7. Using your spatula, move the rice to one side. Break an egg and put it at the empty side of the frying pan. Let the egg becomes cooked, and you can mix it with the rice. (For the egg, mix it well beforehand, and you can add salt and black pepper to it) 

Fry the chicken nuggets and eat it with your Nasi Goreng Bawang Putih Campak-Campak! ( I really campak-campak everything!)

My verdict: It is not exactly superbly tasty but it tastes edible. I should have added the salt earlier though. Haha. Oh well, this is a first attempt. I finished it all and I survived the day, yaay!!! :D *clap clap*. I just know it that the 'Cooking gene' I inherited from my mom is inside me. Besides, there's still room for improvements! 

Now, what shall I cook tomorrow? ;D

Stay tuned for more of my culinary adventures!!!

#I shall improve on my recipe-writing skills, haha. 

Once Upon a Time in Palestine

These pictures are breathtakingly beautiful! I could live in these pictures! 

Pictures taken from Business Insider (click). Now don't anyone dare to sue me! HAHA. 

Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan

I'm currently reading this book.

I am a huge fan of Khaled Hosseini.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is the first novel I read of his, and it helped me to overcome the unbearable feeling of homesickness I experienced during my first week of Taaruf at CFS IIUM in 2008 (it was my first time leaving home so yeah), by relating it with Mariam's life, and that her life is so pitiful as compared to mine that I felt ashamed with myself for crying in bed at night (only on the first night!) 

Since then, I had read this novel over and over and over again that I've lost count. I've probably read it for about 4 to 5 times already. 

I found 'The Kite Runner' in the CFS Library. That novel is so heartbreaking and cruel (yes, I'm talking about that sodomy scene!) that I can't bear to pick it up and read it again.

You can say that 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is my favourite Khaled Hosseini novel, probably because the 2 main characters are women, and that they are very courageous and mentally strong in overcoming the hurdles life had thrown towards them. That, and I've always been interested in the plights of women in other countries. It's not the religion which treats the women badly. It's the culture that had been embedded deep in their roots. But of course, the culture which perceives women as a second class gender is not the sole reason which lead to the women to be treated without respect, but it is no doubt, one of the main factors involved. At the end of the day, that individual himself is the one who is accountable for his own actions. 

I digress.

I hope that  'and the Mountains Echoed' will be an engaging read, like 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. 

While reading Khaled Hosseini's books which described about the various landscapes of Afghanistan, I felt compelled to google some pictures about Afghanistan in the 1950s and 1960s; the time settings for most of his novels. 

Some of my favourite pictures:

Lataband Pass on the way to Kabul  

This picture above is the Herat-Kabul Highway, possibly the route which Mariam and Rashid had taken to go to Kabul, soon after their marriage in Herat (it's not a happy marriage BTW, sorry to spoil it for you).

You can see more pictures and descriptions of each here (click) 

Afghanistan was so much beautiful and modern back then. It's sad to see what happened to it now. Women are denied of their educations (first thing in my mind!), plus so many absurd restrictions imposed upon its people (especially the women). You can read more about it in Khaled Hosseini's books. 

All right, back to reading! 

And I'm BACCCKKKKK!!!!

Assalamualaikum and a very good morning. 

After a 3 and a half months of hiatus (April, May, June, July), I'm back towards blogging!!!

Whoa, I did not blog for almost 4 months? I can't believe I could even do this! 

End of temporary hiatus. This blog is now alive and kicking! I'm going to write write and write like there's no one who reads this blog other than me, myself and I (so that I don't feel extremely self-conscious). 

How did I come to a decision to continue blogging? 

The passion towards blogging is rekindled after reading this particular person's blog for one whole day. Her blog is just too awesome! She had been blogging as long as I am and it is indeed interesting to see the transformations and changes she had went through all these years. I slept until almost 2 in the morning just to read her blog! I even dreamed about things I'm going to write in my blog, LOL. I guess I just miss blogging. 

I hope I'm not regretting this decision. 

Auf Wiedersehen!(Germany won World Cup 2014 like finally!) 

I guess this is goodbye?

You have no idea how many drafts I had written just to post at least something on this blog. 

I'm suffering from a major 'writer's block'.

I usually write about myself, my thoughts and just anything else related to me (because it's my blog and blog is usually known as an online diary duhh) in this blog. But now I guess I just don't have that desire(?) to talk about myself anymore, haha! 

Oh well, I was being sarcastic towards myself.

I had started this blog almost 7 years ago, in December 2007, after I had finished my SPM. 

Now it's April 2014, almost 7 years later and I'm about to graduate with a Bachelor in Pharmacy, insya Allah. 6 years of foundation studies and university years had changed me, I think. To become a better person, I hope.  

It's a new world out there, and I think I'm ready to take on the challenges! 

But for now, I just don't feel like blogging anymore. The passion is no longer there. Like I said, I have changed? Hahaha...

So I guess...This is goodbye? :)

Whoever you are, wherever you come from, new readers or loyal readers (LOL), thank you for reading my ramblings throughout these almost 7 years. Thank you. 

*bows head*

This is Sarah Sarcastic E.Beth Darcy Knightley Matsujun Syaheira Skywalker Wizard Nox Kushairi signing off. 

*Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened-Dr Seuss*

*Cries in the corner xD*

Kinda...

So, a few days ago I kind of wrote a blog post about how I really feel about life, about MH370, about our country-seems like a very interesting blog post, isn't it? Well too bad, because I got too empathetic and emotional when writing that particular post that I actually cried before posting it haha! It's in its beautiful draft form now. :P

Anyway, back to the present.

I simply do not have any idea on what I should do in the future, what I should do with my life. I know that I wanted to become a lecturer, but I am still clueless on what area should I undertake. 

5+ weeks attachment at IKOP Sdn Bhd (Pilot Plant) had been a blast, and I'm currently in the Research and Development department, whereby I was forced to mundanely count the number of particles of the Paracetamol powder, viewing them using the high magnification optical microscope manifested onto my laptop screen via the installed DinoCapture software. I dislike handling complicated machines (I was clueless on how to set up my new printer) so I guess Pharmaceutical Technology is not for me...

Which leaves us to....

- Pharmaceutical Chemistry- Oh, Chemistry. I love Chemistry so much. It had been my most favourite subject back then at school because I had a very awesome teacher- Mr Chong, thank you very much! I don't know in what other way could I express my gratitude towards you. Okay, I gotta study hard, I gotta make you proud to have me as your student. :)

I am more towards a Physical Chemistry kind of person, rather than the Organic Chemistry. I used to love Organic Chemistry back then at school but as I entered my foundation studies, I had faced difficulties in understanding this subject simply because I don't understand what the lecturer had been teaching me. So, I grew confused and started to hate Organic Chemistry. But as I embarked upon my degree, and that I had to face Organic Chemistry again, I started to work really hard and yeah, it turned out all right, thanks to a great lecturer. 

But research. Oh, I wonder how many times had I talked about this. Research is sooo frustrating. I love doing research but arghhh it's soooo frustrating when you do not get the results that you wanted. I might consider taking Pharmaceutical Chemistry as my post-doctoral studies (cewwahhh).

-Pharmacology- I'm not that good in memorizing drugs and its mechanisms of action. Plus, Pharmacology is a research-based field of study. One major problem: I am scared of rats!!!! T___T

-Clinical Pharmacy- Oh, so far, throughout my 4 years here in Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, I scored quite well in subjects related to this field. I love Clinical Pharmacy. Well, let's see how long does this feeling last during the upcoming 6 weeks attachment at the hospital eh? 

For Clinical Pharmacy, you have a chance to communicate with the public, to give talks, to just express and convey your ideas on anything that would uphold the career of a pharmacist or the integrity of the Pharmacy field itself. You could write, you could do research involving the public perception or something. I think I like this kind of works. People could be frustrating, I know but at least I got to develop my communication and social skills, muahahaha.

I think most of my friends and other people agree that I am not suited for this Pharmacy-related area (I'm more towards an Arts-y person->that's what they said) but heyyy I'm gonna prove them wrong!! :P

So, if I were to pursue my studies in Pharmacy related area, Clinical Pharmacy tops my list for now. 

If I were to pursue my studies in other areas, I'd like to do

-Anthropology and Journalism

- History and Archaeology!!!

- Language and Literature 

- Foreign Language!!! (I could teach Bahasa Melayu at Japan! Haha) 

-Law (?) Oh forget it no way am I going to take Law. 

So, that's all for me! Let's pray for MH370!!! 

Crushed

This is my final semester and I have decided to write this out.
I am not sure whether you guys remember about this charade game I used to post in my blog.

Here's the link

http://sarahkushairi.blogspot.com/2013/03/day-4-write-about-one-of-your-biggest.html

No one could guess the answer to that charade. It is quite cryptic, really. But once you get to know the answer, then everything makes. sense.

The answers to each picture are as follows:

Pic 1:crushed pill
Answer: crush, pharmacy

Pic 2: class photo
Answer: classmates

Pic 3: 3 fingers
Answer: 3

Picture 4: calendar with the year 2010 circled around it.
Answer: year 2010

As that post was written in 2013, the answer back then was:
" I have a crush on one of my classmates for 3 years since the year 2010"

Whoa... there, I said it! Hahaha.

It's 2014 now. Do I still have a crush on him? Maybe.

Do I want to let my feelings be known to him? No

Do I want to end up with him? No

Have I ever pictured our future together? A bit. And it was disastrous. I stopped thinking about it already.

It is weird, isn't it? You have a feeling towards this person and yet you don't want to end up with him. It's just a crush.

No, I am not going to tell anyone who that person is. Haha.

That's all from me.... thanks for reading! :D

Summer in Taiwan: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

An #outdated post 

Chiang Kai Shek was one of the leaders of the Kuomintang Party in China. Back then, Taiwan was a part of China. And oh, I just checked Wikipedia . Taiwan is also known as 'The Republic of China' while the Mainland China is called 'People's Republic of China'.  On the day of our field trip around Taipei, we were brought to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. 

Meet Vera, a friend from Indonesia who loves the camera a bit too much. :P

Again 

While I, on the other hand, love to take pictures of buildings, sceneries

and candid pictures of people.xD 

See this girl?

Trust me, there are so many pictures of her in my camera. T__T HAHAHA) 

The one-whole-day of a field trip ended up with the bonfire night, where we were brought to a spacious field of some sort and that we had to dance around the fire ( reluctantly, for us Muslims), chanting 

'Oh, Mighty fire, God of fire' and bowed to it. Of course I just stood still. No way am I going to bow to the fire!!! If you refused to dance properly, you'd be given a sticker and would be forced to dance in front of everyone. All these experiences were rather new to me and I felt so sad and sinful. It made me question myself "Why didn't I just refuse to dance? Who cares if they thought that I am a boring person?" This is my religion, and I need to stick to my aqidah and principles. 

A funny story: Before the commencement of the bonfire dance, I was standing between this Korean guy, Lee on my right side and Cindy on my left side. When the committees ordered us to hold the hands of those standing next to us, I immediately ran away from Lee, taking Cindy with me. Lee looked confused and his facial expression at that time seemed to say "Why are you running away from me?" 

 Sorry Lee.. I should have told you nicely. Dx