Assalamualaikum wbh and a great evening.

Warning: This entry is not meant to be shared with general readers, so is the high language context and complicated sentence structure (read: ridiculous English) used.

I've been kind of awake for the past two days, sleeping for about  four hours or so in the two days for some useless activities that I enjoyed most =)

Alhamdulillah I made it to review a paper sent for a journal that requested me to be a reviewer today. Daebak! At least today I've contributed something useful for the scholarly side of me. It's kind of scary to have your paper reviewed by someone who didn't have enough sleep. I remembered the quote from the US president during WWII who were frightened that decisions were made by those who hadn't have enough sleep! Decision maker, do get enough sleep okay.


I did some simple experiment too yesterday, since I hadn't enough sleep and was hungry at that time. I lost my focus entirely. Last time my focus was strengthened by hunger. Less sleep seems to distract that a lot. Apologies for my nagging and writings here. My insanity is intact.

Actually I am writing to remind me of those moments of going and  being abroad. I had, by chance, alhamdulillah, made it for a number of times being abroad. Most of the trips were sponsored by my mentor and supervisor for my career advancement. While I can still count those experiences with my bare one hand I wish to write as much as possible about them before I began to count the next trips as 'another one, and yet another one'. For this entry I wish to write about the memories brought back and how I'd be reminded of those.

For some of us who had been abroad for quite a time and return to where we belongs, memories of being there are among the things mostly cherished, apart from the coins and notes and souvenirs, if any at all. While those memories can (and mostly) be captured in pictures and videos (thanks to all these technology available today) sometimes they just went through our head as if we were still there at that moment or yesterday, even after years went by. I wish to remind myself of what are those cherished memories and when I am reminded of those while being here in my hometown.

Melbourne, Australia, for ANZMAC. 

I need to check my passport (couldn't trace it for now) to verify the exact date of my being there, but it was between 30th November to 2nd or 3rd December 2009 as far as I could recall (my insanity is still intact remember). This is my first trip abroad and it was partly sponsored by my supervisor for a conference where I have to present a research paper. My best memory of being here is the feel of its wind when we (my brother and I) went out from the airport heading to the bus stop to go to the city. Our first step on the soil was made in one of those nights of the final days of Australian summer. I think it was because this is my first moment of being abroad, that the notable difference of wind, air and sun ray from that of my home country made it the most cherished moment that last forever (in shaa Allah) in my mind. One thing that could remind me of those memories is the smell of my brother's perfume or deodorant at that time. Whenever I smell it I'll vividly remember the moments of being there. As I like to read available local newspaper I also recalled the news of Tiger Woods scandal there. I couldn't really catch the Australian slang of news broadcast in the television in my room, so that was how and where I learnt about the scandal.

Hatyai, Thailand, for UUM. 

This is my second trip going abroad. I spent two nights in the city after Changlun was flooded (and my house was burnt in fire) in 31st October or so (I'll verify it again when I found my passport folks). I came here with my university's bus together with the lecturers and postgraduate students from Malaysia's northern universities for  a conference organized by UUM. As I mentioned that Changlun was flooded so has Hatyai. Nevertheless the situation was not as bad, since it has been for quite some time after the flood I guess. What I remembered most when I'm here is the similarity of the city with my place, so there's nothing much to ponder about. At least the local time is an hour earlier than Malaysia, so that is it. What reminds me much of my being here is the song Nothing on You by Mash-Up because I heard the song right when I switched on the television in my hotel room. So whenever I heard this song I'll remember how I've been to Hatyai in 2010 with my supervisor and his colleagues. I came to present one of my IB lecturers' paper, as well as mine on IJN study.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, for AIB-SEAR. 

Somewhere in December 2010 (again) I've reached this beautiful city with my buddy cik Aidah. What I remembered most of this city is the traffic (amazingly) and the river cruise. I began to note that I tried to feel the different wind and air and the sun ray here to that of my hometown, but it is quite the same. Subuh is rather early in here though. By 7am I think the time was like at 10am in Malaysia. So while we spent the minutes in the taxi I was amazed by how many motorcyclist with unique helmets were there on the road. When we reach the hotel we were told that the hotel where we were suppose to stay is few hundreds meters behind the one where the taxi dropped us and it scared my buddy to death thinking that we might ended up sleeping at the stairs of the five star hotel where I was suppose to present a paper if we couldn't get to my three star's ( I couldn't speak or read Vietnamese folks, and I too couldn't imagine offering initial greetings to my fellow paper presenters there at the stairs) . We met nice bellboys though, and it was very lucky to be able to walk to the right hotel afterwards for a needed rest. The breakfasts at the hotel was also of my fond memories. Still when I heard the song Nothing on You and the other Beautiful Girl by Sean Kingston I'll be reminded of the memories here. Those songs were so in at that time I guess. And at times whenever I ordered tom yum that tasted more like asam pedas. Also whenever we need to walk to grandiose-like hotels anywhere on earth my buddy and I, we'd probably talk about the moments in Saigon too. I cherished my presentation here most-a full room and I presented in the presence of my supervisor. After that I had hoped that he'd never watch me present again, no thanks to my viva experience two days later though.

Seoul, South Korea, for personal reason. 

This was my first personal trip to a foreign country. Because it was personal I spent my own money on it. For the first time I was quite reluctant to reach the ground before figuring out what I was looking there, or what I really want to do there-my reason for being here in Seoul (apart from those sightseeing and the likes), I need to find it out before I landed. I think I've found that too, alhamdulillah. I spent 8 days here, the longest yet in a foreign soil, and still I yearn to come again in shaa Allah for a longer time. Since Daehanmingu is so in Malaysia right now (all those K-everything) my memories here could simply be recalled by merely looking and listening to Korean-related dramas, movies or news (hey I've been there, or wow we'd done that), especially since I've prepared with Secret Garden and made the vow to come after Full House. The OST and favorite dialogues in SG (especially) and FH were among the items that could dig the memories out. It is a pity I could't reach the spot of FH, but I'm not sure if it is worth to be regretted either.

My most cherished moment here is everything. The different wind, air and sun ray. This time I also noticed of the different soil too. Daehanmingu is really a country of mountains. The buildings in Yeouido, the park in front of KBS, Nami's trees, Cheonggye stream, JUMP, the homestay, the trains and buses and taxi too. And our prayer moments at days as well, because most of the times we would try to reach the room before Isyak. I couldn't really recall the moments spent sleeping here, probably because we just collapsed on the bed after our prayer whenever we reach our room late at nights. Ooh and yes the moments spent cooking in the room too with my buddy. Coffee with latte. Since this is my last being to a foreign country I'm not sure how the memory would be affected again after my next trip (in shaa Allah if there are still any). And perhaps because I'd decided to come again the feel is not the same as other previous trips. I guess this is one of those trips that had a profound effect on me. Because of this trip I made the effort to learn Hangugo. I also made it to buy my current galaxy note before my flight and explore its use in the land of Samsung. Since I reached Seoul as a first dan karateka, I think it would also affect my commitment to karate afterwards. Not to mention the cosmetics and facial needs.

I'll keep this entry open, for the incoming trips in shaa Allah.

For now, it is penned on 19th February 2013, at about 12.35am. Got to get some sleep to regain my sanity folks.

Cheers and wassalam,
Ili.