Yes, ‘tis been quite a year. so many things have happened in the past 12 months. some of ‘em good, some bad. frankly speaking, I have mixed feelings abt the year 2004. sure, there were many major disappointments (Mr. G.W Shrub’s electoral win in November for one. then again, I really couldn’t care less abt America and its obviously bleak political future) but I guess I can’t really complain because apparently, there were many other interesting/eventful things that have occurred. here’s a recap of some of those things in question:
Weaving a Web I started this website sometime at the end February 2004. originally, I was ‘inspired’ by judd to write journal entries on MySpace.com, but I wasn’t satisfied because I couldn’t do heavy web designing with it, so I just ditched the whole thing after 5 entries and began plans for a ‘true website’. with some of the basics judd taught me before he left, I began learning how to use Microsoft FrontPage to make simple web pages (with additional help from nublie of course). later, while taking the X201 Business Technology class, I began using Macromedia’s Dreamweaver to do most of my web editing.
from the beginning I had wanted the site’s overall design to be significantly different from your typical blog page, so I asked the help of another senior, epul, with my designs. to maintain some form of originality, I objected to the idea of using premade blog skins/templates and opted to do the whole manual coding myself. I even changed the archive section to make it more...’unique’. recently, I downloaded Macromedia’s Fireworks to spruce up the site a bit. yeah, sure. some of you my think the site’s overall design looks ugly/sloppy and I myself have seen many original and neat-looking sites, but at least I did everything on my own. that’s surely sth to be proud of. it’s even a surprise that I know how to design a website. for a guy who doesn’t even know how to use a standard cell phone (no kidding) that’s an incredibly huge accomplishment you know...
Friends, Debates and... 2004 was a year when judd, syah and epul left. it’s kinda sad because there are fewer Malaysian malay men around here (and worse still, more are becoming romantically involved, leaving me w/ very few ppl to hang out with). I really don’t care abt the girls...there are just way too many of them over here anyway. besides, ‘tis been awhile since any decent-looking Malaysian chicks came to IU...
I remember a year ago, the guys and I would hold discussions after dinner, talking abt various topics ranging from religion, politics, to sex, and many other stuff. it has been almost half a decade since I left the debating scene, and although I swore I’d never want anything to do w/ debating anymore, I guess I couldn’t help myself from talking/arguing w/ the fellas abt their opinions and exchanging ideas and points of view. sometimes I do notice that during these discussions, the way I talk bears eerie semblances to the way I used to argue as a debater. but then I remind myself that times have changed and I try to maintain calmness and restrain myself from going overboard w/ my arguments. someone once told me, she was quite surprised that at times I could even argue vehemently one minute and then suddenly turn into a mild-mannered and reserved person, talking in a very pacifistic way. quite a talent huh?
w/ judd now gone, the only ones left in the group are ikram, ajeep and me. occasionally, yazmi and nublie would come to share their “expertise” in women and relationships w/ us, but most of the times it’s just the three of us discussing together, usually after dinner in the living room and sometimes at Subway, after working out at the gym. it’s really fun talking abt these things...it gives me the opportunity to learn how ppl think and why do they subscribe to certain beliefs and ideas. I really wonder what I’d do without the guys...
on a not-so-related note, while several buddies have left for home, it’s quite shocking that some ppl that I thought I’d never see or hear from again “popped up” last year. I have the memory span that of a goldfish (translation: I’m really bad at remembering ppl) hence it’s a real surprise that I’d get to meet these ppl after so many years. once, I completely forgot a Chinese ex-classmate’s name after not seeing her for one semester, and it was damn embarrassing when we bumped into one another ‘cuz I didn’t know what to call her (I could’ve prolly gotten away w/ just a “hey you!” as a greeting but I didn’t want to take any chances). but what really surprised me is that some of these ppl were close friends of mine during my debating days.
as I mentioned earlier, I never want to associate myself w/ debating anymore and I personally hate it when some ppl remind me of it. sure, I had my own share of fun and major letdowns back then, but it was sth of the past and meant to be forgotten. I guess I was trying so hard to forget anything to do with the past, I didn’t realize I was beginning to forget ppl from that era as well. if it weren’t for the wonders of Friendster and the MSN Messenger, I bet these ppl would become nothing but distant memories for me.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Mania I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! while I was still doing my prep program in Shah Alam. I followed the manga a bit, and later when I got here, I was hooked to the anime. I thought abt trying the actual card game and played it w/ the guys for awhile, but it wasn’t until last summer that I was finally persuaded by epul to play competitively. here’s a rundown of the Yu-Gi-Oh!- related events I attended last year:
June 2004 we started out at this tournament at a local game shop downtown called Game Preserve. I think mentioned this event in a previous entry. yeah, I lost. nothing spectacular. at least I got some exposure of playing the real deal w/ actual human opponents (all this while I’ve been playing against pitiful computer A.I).
September 2004 I started coming to Game Preserve regularly. hahaha. coming. regularly. “coming regularly”. hahaha. anyway, I participated in several tournaments and by the end of the month I finally snatched my first victory at 3rd place . all I got was a lousy non-functioning calculator (to tally up life points during the game) and a cool-looking deck box, but at least it was worth it. the guys over there finally realized I was quite “a force to reckoned with”. anyway that was the last time we played at Game Preserve since the owner didn’t appreciate us using the game room past 9 pm, so the guys and I decided to play at another hobby store near the college mall called Avalon.
November 2004 I really made my mark when I participated in a team tournament and won 1st place (again, not much of a prize, only got 2 booster packs). in teams of 3, I became team captain and lead our way to victory against some of the best local players here in Bloomington. but that was nothing compared to the Rise of Destiny Sneak Peek event that ajeep and I attended near the end of the month in Indianapolis. it was an actual Upper Deck-hosted tournament conducted in Swiss format (5 rounds, 32 participants per “flight”, no elimination, prizes are distributed according to the number of rounds you win) but the rules are different because duelists can’t use their own decks to compete. instead, we’re given 5 booster packs each (9 cards per pack) and then 15 minutes to construct a deck w/ a minimum of 20 cards before dueling. it was tough because not only would you have to rely on your skills, but what cards you get could also determine your overall performance throughout the whole thing. now I always thought I’ve been blessed w/ an insane amount of luck in my life so I was confident I’d get some really good pulls. turns out Lady Luck wasn’t smiling at me that time, cuz all the cards I got was so lousy beyond comprehension, I almost cried. still, I went along and surprisingly, I won round after round until some guy beat me in the 4th. ajeep lost by the 3rd (anyone who won 3 rounds or less got 1 booster pack) but I was determined I should at least win 4 rounds (which I did). it was simply amazing. because I had all crappy cards from my pulls, I had to rely on my skills and my luck at drawing the cards I needed to win the 5th and final round which netted me 3 booster packs and 1 European tournament pack (but then all I got from these packs were also lousy. damn it). oh well, at least I won sth (even better, in my flight of 32 ppl, I ranked 3rd. not bad eh?).
the thing I truly love abt Yu-Gi-Oh! is the tactical and strategical aspect of the game, esp when you have to make decisions and determine the best move or course of action based on the resources you have (the cards in your hand). I dunno. I’m hoping I’ll find some time this year to participate in the Regional tournaments and then the Nationals, before finally heading for the World Championships (which will be held in Japan this year). man, that’ll be freakin’ sweet I tell ya.
Ramadan, Raya & Annoying Brats it was my second Ramadan in the States and fortunately, nothing bad happened (well, several ppl did break up, but that’s not much of a tragedy compared to ajeep’s mishap in the previous year when he broke a leg after he slipped and fell down in the kitchen). also, unlike 2003, we only had to prepare and serve food at the masjid for iftar once. but then, you know something’s wrong when it is the guys who end up forking out money to buy the ingredients and doing all of the cooking, serving and cleaning while the girls didn’t do diddly-squat for the iftar at the masjid. raya itself wasn’t that bad. ajeep and I decided we’d have sth different, so we decided to roast a turkey for the feast. I even got to perform the Eid prayer too (the year before I had to skip it because of a farking philosophy class).
one other event worthwhile mentioning was during this annual iftar-dinner we had at a local church (it was a joint-venture event between the church and the Islamic center, but the food was prepared by muslim brothers & sisters). while the guys and I were enjoying our meal, this nice-looking lady who sat quite near to us asked my housemate ikram abt the athan and why muslims fast. realizing that he was having a hard time w/ a response, I decided to cut in to help ikram out a bit. turns out, in the next 15 minutes or so, I was the one who actually ended up explaining every bit of detail to the lady abt the functions of the athan and some clarifications abt muslims practices (God, why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?). don’t get me wrong, I know some of you might think that it’s cool to explain to non-muslims abt Islam, but I’m just a lazy-ass person who couldn’t be bothered to talk to a stranger any longer than 5 minutes. but I guess it wasn’t that bad compared to the previous year, when I had to teach this lady and some kids the Arabic alphabet. it was even worse when she asked me to teach the kids how to write their names in Arabic.
speaking abt kids, sometime during late summer, ikram and I agreed to help hana at this family day event. the job seemed simple: take care of the kids at this inflatable “bouncy castle” so they don’t end up getting hurt. it was practically a babysitting job and we had to do it for 3 hours with the promise of a 20 dollar supermarket gift card each. sounds easy? NOT. while ikram seems like a natural w/ kids, I had an incredibly horrible time throughout the whole thing. those little bastards were annoying as hell, esp the smartasses who would complain and not listen when I told them their time bouncing in the castle was up. I swear, if it weren’t for the fact that the parents were around, I would’ve gladly whipped out my leather belt and start lashing those brats Indiana Jones-style repeatedly.
Natural Disasters on December 26th 2004, tragedy struck when an earthquake in Sumatra caused tsunamis throughout South Asia. I heard the death toll for Malaysia is abt 66 (and that doesn’t include the many “missing” ppl). while the news of the tragedy was very depressing indeed, I was actually reminded of another disastrous event which occurred exactly 8 years ago, when Hurricane Greg caused massive destruction and flash floods which killed hundreds in Sabah. coincidently, both happened on the day after Christmas. weird isn’t it? I was actually in Kota Kinabalu when Greg stormed that night. my mom tried to wake me up around 3 am in the morning because the wind was strangely violent but I couldn’t be bothered to get up since I was so damn tired and sleepy. I was shocked beyond belief the next morning when my dad drove the family around to see the whole town in a mess. guess one would never expect these things to happen in Malaysia, huh? anyway, my condolences to anyone who lost their families, friends and pet cats in the recent tragedy.
I think that’ll be enough of reminiscing of the past year. it’s 2005 and it’s time to look up ahead for better things to come. now off w/ you.
