A Silent Tribute

Have you ever wondered what's it's been, lying on your deathbed, staring into nothingness. Have you ever wondered what would it feel like having your last breath, knowing that you're never going to meet your loved ones again? We would never have the chance to tell the tale.

He was once a teacher, infamous of his never-ending stories, conspicuous glare and puns not more entertaining than watching nails rust in the middle of winter. His tale was but of a sad one. In the eyes of students, he was a bane, but in the eyes of some, he was a hero, a father figure. We never thought his puns, lame jokes, or petty insults were just a futile attempt to entertain and liven up the mundane air of the class. We never thought he maybe confiscating phone just to feed his family. We never put it that way. As time goes by, we grow older, so does the gift of God, the brain. But we forget Nature's most fundamental law, everything around us grows as well. Our pets, our brothers, our sisters, our teacher and our parents. It may seem a delusional nightmare but it's the cold truth. He is now a memory to be remembered and cherished by those around him. May Allah place you in those who held in their Iman. Al-Fatihah to the late Cikgu Zamri, a name that we forever would remember.

"Verily we belong to God, and to God we return" - Sura Al-Baqara, Verse 156

 Insha Allah, his soul be in peace and his sins forgiven. As for us, for as long as we take our breath, remember that Death does not wait for anyone. Allah is Great.

Time disintegrates, no exception

A Bad Habit

It's has been a really long time since I've tweeted, umm, sorry, blogged anything sensitive. Well, tonight comes to a topic that has long been roaming inside my mind. It's about hating. Ironically, I'm a big hater for haters, but to put it into a more appropriate terms, I disapprove of haters. We'll dissect into that in just a moment.

In the meanwhile, we should define the word hater. Basically it means a group or individual that strongly disapproves a subject be it metaphorically or literally. I guess everybody know this term already. Let's move on to the main point.

After years spent with the 9Gag community, my friends and society, I've come to learn that they purely hate stuff like Twilight, Bieber, 1D, Kpop, and all those stuff we learn to hate about. Being in a remote and calm environment, breathing fresh breeze of the vast ocean, I've notice that hate is the spawn of Satan in your heart. It might not be clear to some, but it's the truth.

I won't lie to you, a few days ago I was a strong hater of one of the group stated above. I know that Twilight is cheesy and Bella's face is quite emotionless, but that does not give you the right to hate it with all your heart. I don't see the relevance in hating it so much. We could channel the immense hatred onto the Zionist perhaps, but hating some romantic teenage movie isn't more profitable than staring a melting ice cube. Hating is just one way of Satan playing with your heart. And every time you hate something or someone, you'll be adding sins to your petty soul.

The main point is, if you don't like it, then don't do anything with it. Just ignore perhaps. Hating? It's just gonna add to your sin count. See? Nothing really profitable there, isn't it? For instance, they say the Twilight saga is better than the Harry Potter saga. In my point of view, it's all the same. What differs is the fanbase, it's either they are mature people or just immature kids who whine all about the opposing team.

All this words up there could be confusing to non-readers, what I'm trying to sincerely convey is, please don't hate each other and respect other people's taste. It's their decision, their taste, their preferences. And as a mature person, you should respect their decision no matter how 'gay' it is.

I'm not trying to force any one of you to follow my creed but it's a must for me to share what I've gained from the past few months staying here. As the Malay proverb would say,

Buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih

Let's improve for the betterment of ourselves, and the society. Amin.

'Till then

The Maiden of The Far East

Today marks a special day for all of us, especially one of my friend all across the South China Sea. Yes, I'm looking at you Sabah. Well, this post was not conceived under high doses of budu nor belacan, but it was purely conceived as a tribute to one of the most thoughtful friend I could've ever asked for.

Here we go.

DK Vivi  Fazrenna :)

That's my friend and yes, that is her real name, and the smiley has to do something with it. Although I do not remember how I knew her in the first place, she always has been helping me a lot with my deeper problems. She seems to be calm even in the most dire situations. She said I'm always acting funny and being so awkward. Well, again, I am not really comfortable around girls. Hehs, me just being me, lacking confidence. She's more mentally matured then she looks trust me. She taught me tons of stuff in my times. That wasn't an exaggeration but yeah, that much.Oh yeah, she's from Tunku Kurshiah College, and no, she's not available. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Why the long tribute you ask? Oh yeah, before I go derailing the post, it's because it's a very very special day for her. What day? Well it's her 18th anniversary of her coming into the world! In other words it is her 18th birthday. To be frank, I didn't know her birthday was on January, as she looked more of a February or March type of person. That's a pointless assumption, I have to say. 

As I type this, I remembered that she didn't prefer to type in Bahasa Melayu because it sounded harsh. So, let me attempt a passage in that. 

Lapan belas tahun melangkah ke alam Dunia,
Sudah engkau meghilang dahaga sang minda,
Menimba ilmu serta membuka mata,
Agar melihat hakiki kekuasaan-Nya,
Bukan sekadar luka dan duka,
Bukan sekadar ilham yang nyata,
Tapi juga kurniaan Maha Pencipta,
Bumi, Laut, Flora dan Fauna,
Agar insan bersyukur kepada Allah,
Sang Pencipta Alam Semesta

Hope you don't laugh at my passage up there. It's the best I could think of right now. And before I forget, happy birthday Vivi. Jazakallahukhair.

'Till the next time

Stuck In The Realm of Growth

It has been a long while since I've updated this blog. Honestly, the last post was on 26th of August, that's like half a year back. Nevertheless, I have returned. 

It was quite a rough journey to this post. The moments faced together as I prepped myself for my final face-off with against the SPM examinations. It was a memorable moment with my buddies. Forgive me for not having many pictures on this paragraph as I didn't have much time during the exam week itself. 

After all the twists and turn from the examination, comes the emotional period - no puns intended - where we, the brothers of Vasilios, would go on our separate paths. It wouldn't be true if they say men do not shed tears. But as a fellow friends would say;

"Men cry not for themselves, but for their comrades"

The quote itself brings a whole new meaning to the term friendship. I've learned to cherish more than just the moments, but also to cherish the presence of those who are close to us. The moment arrived and we bid our final farewell.

The Brotherhood

Then, I've witnessed my migration from the West Coast to the East Coast. That was a far move from my old home. So then I was busy with the moving. I will not rant much about this here.

Next, it was my birthday on the 10th of January. So, that's not much to talk about since I practically did nothing much on my day. To be honest, there's nothing much I could do here in Terengganu.

One of my friends told me that life is all about moving on. I guess so it's true, since I feel that I'm getting older and this gut feeling is telling me to stop eating rice and move on to bread. 

So, officially this is my first post of 2013. 

'Till then.

From Daddy With Love

After a while with the UE600, I felt obliged to review on those lovely pair of IEMs.

First impressions were speechless. Sound was purely balanced. At first use, it wasn't clear of what it brought. But, after around 2 days, the quality improved drastically.

I can assure you the IEMs are top quality for its price. To my ears, it created a really surreal 3D soundstage. And that was with the provided silicon earbuds. It provided good seal and noise isolation. Quite a good seal as it was comfortable. The seal also provided the buds with a nice airtight seal to produce that realistic-rather-than-booming bass qualities. Speaking of bass, it did provide me with a clear and more real thump rather than warm bass. On the other hand, it did not sacrifice any of the treble for the bass. In other words, the highs sound clear and crisp, while the bass gives great padding to the highs, and not forgetting the mids were surely balanced and alive.

During the review session, I decided to try out the Comply Foam Tips. It is cited that it is the holy grail of the earbuds. You should check their website, just Google Comply Foam Tips up. Surprisingly, it improved the sound quality tenfolds. And as a plus, it is so damn comfortable, after an hour with those stuck in my ears, I barely noticed it there. Squeeze it and insert, it will expand and follows the contour of the ear canals. With it being as foam, one must put alot of care into those tips.

As conclusion, it is recommended if you seek for clarity in music as the price is highly recommended for amateur audiophiles. If you prefer more warmth and thumpier bass, I wouldn't really recommend this one for you. And to my dear friend Yasmin Sofea, if you have the cash and looking for clarity and a nice soundstage recreation, this are for you.

Lovely indeed

Pair-anomal Activity

 Let's jump in straight to the point. Here it goes, my beloved Ultimate Ears 200 is decommissioned. Yeah, pretty sad I swear. One would say do not make a storm in a teacup, but, unfortunately it could not be said here. You see, music has been a part of my life since 2009, when I was emotionally attached to sounds and so. I joined the orchestra on that behalf.

  So, since then, sound quality has been my important issue. Last year Faiq introduced me to a pair of lovely earbuds, or technically known by their true term In-Ear Monitors (IEM). It was quite a yardstick in the music accessory arsenal, and at that moment, I fell in love with that pair

These were the dead pair

 In a few months, I took that pursuit and got one of my own. It was euphoric. The treble was clear, the highs were crisp and the bass. Wow, the bass had a kick to it. So warm. I'm not an bassophile to be precise but the bass got me. It was nice. And considering the robust build of the set, I wouldn't worry about the durability. 

 

 After a year, the pair went unbalanced. The left one going quieter than the right. Hmm, not sure why. But, I used it normally. A few months passed, and the left one gave away. I was pissed that moment. 

UE 500. A potential.

 Not long after, the other followed suit. Argh, that was the last straw. So, I decided to move on to a better pair. After reading a few reviews, I tried to eye on the UE 500. A few review later then I stumbled upon the UE 600. I was intrigued by it's system. Traditional IEMs utilizes dynamic drivers where as the 600 takes advantage of top-firing armatures producing clear sound, and great 3D soundstage. 

UE 600vi. Breathtaking.

 Now, the price wasn't that of a problem. 

 So, in a few months, expect me to have another review on the Logitech Ultimate Ear 600vi dedicated to a fellow friend Yasmin Sofea. Yes, the 'vi' is important in order to have a handsfree call with my other half. 

Till then, stay put! 

We All Have What We Want

So, Rifqi, having a wishlist doesn't determine whether you're a girl or a boy okay. Now, back to the topic then. Well, there are certain things I would love to have this year. Nothing much but, it is just awesome. It's just what I want, to feel great and happy for the upcoming crud storm I'm about to face

Here goes:-

• Official Sony Playstation 7.1 Surround Sound Bluetooth Headset
• HTC One X
• Gunnar Paralex Gaming Optics
• M4 Tokyo Marui Airsoft 
• M200 CheyTac Intervention
• An 'OmniBlade' replica 
• Ability to Fus Ro Dah someone of a cliff
• SPM 9A+
• PS Vita with Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• Uncharted II: Among Thieves 

And the list basically goes on. It's fun to have a wishlist, especially when it give you hope to look forward in life and gain more, and earn what you'd hankered for a long time. Hmm, what more can I want and have? Oh gosh, that sounds so 'childish'.

The Sony 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound

HTC One X! So hot.

Gunnar Gaming Optics

M4 Tokyo Marui Airsoft. Closest to the real deal.

Fus Ro Dah, a force spell, flinging poor Lydia off the cliff.

Lovely, just lovely

Commander Shepard's lethal OmniBlade 'replica'

The Most Epic, Uncharted, both 1st and 2nd

So, there you have it. All in its glory! And all I want, and love.

'Till then