Du'a For All Y'All

Occasionally, I will recite a general du'a.

It goes like this.

"O Allah, bestow upon all Muslim, Mukmins and Mujahideens success, triumph, etc in everything they do, victory in anything they fight against, triumph in all the things they want and need in life, as long as it follows Your only true path.

O Allah, bestow upon all Muslim, Mukmins and Mujahideens the convenience in all their undertaking, the easiness in work and business, the best of brotherhood, friendship and kinship, and the utmost understanding of what life is all about.

O Allah, bestow upon all Muslim, Mukmins and Mujahideens the world over, knowledge, information, strength, intelligence and the will to do all the things in Your cause."

That's it, sorta. It's only a part of what it used to be though.

I hope more people pray not just for themselves and their families, but for every Muslim, Mukmin and Mujahideen around us too. And making mine as an example would be nice too.

Small Time Indeed...

I have devised a small plan to pay up my ever increasing credit card bills.

And it will involve a duration of 5 months.

I hope I will get my small-time financial freedom just before Raya Fitrah commences.

I HOPE!

Notable Singers

Some singers that I noted for the past 5 years, and is worth a listen to are as below. And I don't usually listen to female singers lately, hence the singular candidate.

Tina Arena
Here is a somewhat raspy but soulful female singer. She was probably the one singer that resembles Siti Nurhaliza of Malaysia, and all Siti's vocal tricks are seemingly from her too. And why? Listen to Heaven Help My Heart, and there's some evidence of Siti here and there. And she did hers way earlier.
Notable songs:

• Heaven Help My Heart
• Be A Man
• Love Is The Answer

Steve Overland
I have never heard any other male vocalist that has a sexier voice than FM vocalist "Stiv". And I'm not talking lyrically. He has a voice that makes your hair stands on ends. And you want to listen to that same song for ten times, and it awes you more and more. And Frozen Heart can easily be the sexiest ballad of the '80s.
Notable songs

• Heart Of The Matter
• Frozen Heart
  
• Crying In The Dark

Steve Perry
Simply the legendary Journey vocalist. He popularizes the "rock falsetto" singing. It's simply using the falsetto voice to hit the high notes, but with a rock edge. And everybody else copies him afterwards. Quite a pioneer I would say.
Notable songs:

• Hopelessly In Love
• Don't Stop Believing
• Foolist Heart
  

Joseph Williams
The legendary Toto vocalist. He not only has a soulful voice, but a rocking voice too, to match the music played. And his live stint with Toto in 1987 are hair-raising, especially Till The End and Could This Be Love.
Notable song:

• Till The End
• Stop Loving You
• Pamela
  

My School Song

My primary school song (1984-1989)

Abadi sekolah dibina
Buktikan taat setia
Menuntut ilmu plajaran
majulah kehadapan

Hormat pada guru semua
Bersama ibu dan bapa
Kekallah dan dipelihara
Amanlah dan bahagia

Majulah sekolah kita
Berikan setinggi mulia
Hishamuddin sekolah kita
Majulah maju bersama

My version (until I know the real lyrics, circa 1988)

Abadi sekolah dibina
Mustika saat setia
Menonton ilmu plajaran
Majulah kehadapan

Hormat pada guru sama
Bersama ibu dan bapa
Sekarang dah tinggi hala
Amanlah dan bahagia

Majulah sekolah kita
Berikan sedikit mulia
Hishamuddin sekolah kita
Majulah maju bersama


PS: Felt so retro lately...

Music To My Ears Too

My current, and usual, play list is, and why:

Hard Rockers

Journey -

• Majestic (the guitars rules!)
• Too Late (the intro guitar-piano duel, the guitar solo, and the soaring vocals)
  
• Lovin' You Is Easy (the ultimate jazz-rock drumming, the guitars and a perfect rock vocals)

L.A. Guns -

• One More Reason (the guitars and bass combo at intro, and powerhouse drumming)
  

Lynch Mob -

• Sweet Sister Mercy (the jammability(?) and the guitars)

Poppers

Joseph Williams -

• Make Some Time (Alternative Version) (the hihat play, and the vocals)
  
• When You Look In My Eyes (the almost singable vocals, almostttt)
• One More Chance (dreamy ballad, where Joseph rules)
  

Toto -

• Till The End (Live Vienna 1987) (the intro soundtrack, the fast tempo, and Joseph Williams!)
• Could This Be Love (Live Vienna 1987) (the powerhouse backing vocals, and the soaring vocals of Joseph yet again)
  

Steely Dan -

• Aja (the drums, and the overall melody and classic feel)

FM -

• Heart Of The Matter (Live 1989) (Chris' stinging Scorpions-like guitars, the keyboards, and the soaring Steve Overland vocals)
• Everytime I Think Of You (Live 1989) (almost perfect ballad, and the vocals still rules)
  

Jay Graydon -

• Walk The Wire (Live) (the keys, and the vocal duo of Bill Champlin and Joseph Williams!)
  

Jazz

Jim Horn -

• Rio Sunrise (the Jeff Porcaro drumming, and the overall sunrise atmosphere)
  

Steve Gadd -

• Brick Lane (the ultimate paradiddle drumming)
• Gadd Groove (the ultimate drum solo, or is it?)
  

PS: So much of Joseph this time around eh?!

Driving STELLAR

I drive once a week now.

Last week it's on Friday. This week is probably the same too.

You know what? All the monotony of bus-hopping just disappeared, in one single day.

I founded out the cause of the cooling problem. It's the radiator cap. It's not protective enough anymore. I need to replace it, then see if it persists.

If it doesn't, then the problem is solved. Then I can go long distance again. To site, to holiday, to wherever.

Another thing is, the steering rack and hub ball joint needs attention too. I feel I must make a budget for those.

Or should I just swipe my Citibank? It seems all too easy short term, but in the end, Arrrrrghh!!!

800 Optimistic Kilometers

2pm.

The party's over. Obviously, I will have to head back home now.

I felt I just had to drive slowly this time.

It takes great patience to drive like this. 70kph all the way, with the occasional 60kph, and the even rarer 80kph.

I don't know whether the cars at the back was as patient as me. I don't quite care though. They can overtake the slow me anytime.

And why? I know you would ask.

It's the glorious feeling when you save fuel is why.

I have done 750km on an Iswara 1.3 with full tank of petrol. And around 700km with my wife's Wira.

I targeted 800km with the current driving behavior.

If I achieve that, I will target 850km next. On a full tank of petrol, calculated at around 40 to 45 liters consumption.

Next year will be nightmare coming true. I must prepare myself.

Gathering Of Old Friends

Just arrived to Telok Rubiah, Sri Manjung, from KL.

Everybody looks jovial here. Me too.

It's very nice to meet everybody again. It almost seems like 1992.

The place we stayed was good, only a bit hot. Probably it is always that way here.

Later in the evening, we had a brief football game. I think I am better off being the defense or goalie, not a striker/forward or midfield.

At night we had BBQ and karaoke session. I myself sang a few tunes too.

All Rawang friends, thanks for attending. I just hoped we all enjoy the stay here.

Should It Be Rapid-Something-Else?

Is KL The City "Rapid", Or The Bus? Or The LRT?

I tried the Putrajaya Central - KL Central bus route. It was okay, except for the traffic jam after the Sungai Besi Toll, that is. And the traffic jam is guaranteed to happen everyday. And KL Central is pleasing too.

Then I tried the Putrajaya Central - Kelana Jaya LRT bus route. It was okay, and the traffic was way better than the former.

And both have long queue lines to board the LRT.

It's just that, the LRT ride seems to double the time taken, when compared to boarding at KL Central.

I don't know, but I guess rotating route is okay.

Come Friday (hey, it's tomorrow), I will drive. All these public transportation business is way too monotonous.

Habits

Some of my habits

• Always playing with my beard.
• Always crack knuckles, knee joint and elbow joint, spine, collarbone etc
• Always reads newspaper from back pages first, excluding sports section.
• Always tapping my feet, nods my head, gritting my teeth, and hums, while listening or not listening to music
• Always adjusts hair when it gets messed by the wind, while driving.

That's all I can think of. Blurred at the moment.

Joke - New Fridge

Some guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying "Free to good home, You want it you take it."

For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too un-trusting of this deal, looks to good to be true, so he changed the sign to read "Fridge for sale $5o". The next day someone stole it.

So Rapid

I think RapidKL's update on Klang Valley transportation is better than previously.

I have, though, some personal opinion on the drawbacks.

• I have to park further than before.
• The route used by the bus near TUDM is too prone to traffic-jam, which is observed to start as early as 7am.
• The seats are awkward, and are not comfortable for sleeping anymore.
• Mydin seems to be a cool spot already.
  

And I have the good points at hand too.

• The bus is more frequent. I hope this fact stays put.
  
• The transit between LRT and bus is nearer, and I am prone to do more window shopping.
• The surau is definitely better in KL Central than in Kotaraya Complex.
  
• The bus are positively separated from its private company peers Sri Indah, Metrobus and Maraliner.
• The buses are new. Yay!

I should try it in a week, and observe the consistency. And I will decide if I like it.

Constantly

STELLAR successfully got his oil changed.

Afterwards he runs with a consistent temperature, and relieved I am.

Now, to worry about the 350rm steering rack. I was quoted 40++ for the labour.

Where to find the dough?

Afternoon, headed to Seremban.