you know you are reading a good book when ...

you know you are reading a very good book when ...

1. when you start reading it, you are not able to put it down until the very last page - might even forget to eat, sleep or shower!;
2. you feel torn inside when you are reaching the end chapter - you want to know how the story will end but you also don't want the story to end so soon;
3. when you finally finished reading, you cannot sleep (if you finish at night), your feel warm and fuzzy (like being in love) or other types of emotional swelling depending whether it's a happy or sad ending;
4. you keep re-reading your favourite parts or chapters (or even the whole book!) right after finishing it the first time.

well, that's me...what about you? :-)

what a colourful world

One fine day (fine weather but not me..), at a clinic's registration counter in Tawau....

Clinic assistant : Nama? (Name?)

Me : Z*****

C.A. : Umur? (Age?)

Me : 3*

C.A. : Kerja? (Occupation?)

Me : P***** M*****

C.A. : Suku?

Me : Hm? Suku?... (a few miliseconds pass) ..owh, Melayu.

C.A. : Ok. (And handed my new clinic card.)

The conversation above might not matter much to just anybody, perhaps it's just a trifling thing. But it's significant enough for me to be remembering it, still. It reminded me how these little things made me aware of the gazillion roots or ethnicity this part of the country have. And how some people just feel that it's enough to know that there's only Malays, Chinese, Indians, Bumis or non-Bumis.

The reason why I still remember this little 'interview' is because never before in my life someone asked me what 'suku' (race) I am. The closest thing I could think of is 'bangsa' but that is almost never being asked verbally, you just simply write that information in written forms, rather absent-mindedly. But to be asked that verbally, I almost said, at the back of my mind, to the clinic assistant, 'Can't you tell?'.

The thing is, on the other side of the country, people just so used to the fact that (and take it for granted) the brown-coloured skin and flat-nosed (and tudung-clad ladies) are Malays, fair and slit-eyes are Chinese, and dark-brown skin with big eyes are Indians. Others that don't look close enough to that description or maybe 'half-half' of something might be the ones to be asked what race are they. Here in Sabah, one might have to ask to know...at least, for my untrained 'foreign' eyes, because there are not simply the 3 major races here, or Kadazan, Bajau, Dusun for that matter, plus the whole lot who came from the other side of the sea, I guess.

What a colourful world it is....a salad mixture, or bubur cha cha...whatever it is, it tastes good.

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

a pale horse with spaghetti on the side

The Pale Horse is one of the novels from the Queen of Mysteries, Agatha Christie, that doesn't employ the witty Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot as the detective. In its stead, the novelist of detective stories, Ariadne Oliver appears but only as a minor role. Most of the story is told by narratives of Mark Easterbrook, a scholar and historian, who is the main character of this book.

The enigma revolves around an old inn by the name of The Pale Horse, which is then converted as a residence and occupied by three middle-aged ladies; an occultist, a medium and a witch. Whether it's the house itself, or the occupants, but there's something going on there, something dark and sinister...or maybe black magic? Mark doesn't really know, but he sure wants to find out.

And Mark would've left all the business about the Pale Horse alone if it's not because of a strange list of names he saw from his police-surgeon friend, Jim Corrigan. A reverend was found murdered on the way home from visiting a dying woman who before drawing out her last breath, revealed an important secret along with the list of names to the reverend. What is the secret...and what's with the names? Whatever it is, it is something the murderer doesn't want others to find out, however the list finally lands on Detective-Inspector Lejeune, who then starts an investigation by finding out about the names and looking for witnesses of the murder.

Everything about the case is happening close to Mark. One of the names on the list is his recently demised godmother, another name - he happens to saw the owner at a bar and later knew of her death from the obituaries, and another - Corrigan! Is it connected with his friend? The Pale Horse is mentioned by one of his dinnermates and then his cousin brought him to the place itself. There's the hushed stories of a business in removing unwanted rich relatives ... and it all leads to the Pale Horse and the intriguing characters around the village. Most of the names in the list are rich people who already dead but the cause of deaths are nothing but natural ailments. Mark is torn between his believe for real evidence and the influence of the black magic theory weaved by the Pale Horse occupants. With Lejeune and an acquaintance, he's determined to find the truth and solve the case before the last name on the list becomes a victim.

Title : The Pale Horse
Author : Agatha Christie
First published : 1961, Harper Collins, UK

Brilliant story. I know there must be some sort of physical evidence just I couldn't think of what it is until the end chapter. And I got my criminal wrong too! You can feel the dangerous risk Mark is going through in uncovering the murderous scheme because the character Mark is not a cool detective like Poirot or Miss Marple whom we already know their roles and who they are. He's just a normal person who wants to be certain of things. Love it!

Solat, Kebaikan Dari Perspektif Sains

Title : Solat Kebaikan Dari Perspektif Sains

Author(s) : Fatimah Ibrahim, Wan Abu Bakar Wan Abas & Ng Siew Cheok

Pages : 110 pages

Publisher : Universiti Malaya, 2009 (2nd Ed)

Price : RM29.90 (WM), RM31.90 (EM)

Language : Malay

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Every Muslim knows that performing the solat 5 times per day is an obligatory practice for those who has fulfilled certain criterias. In fact solat is the second Pillars of Islam. There are already many books explaining and discussing about solat, its principle, methods, and benefits to ones belief and faith in Allah The Almighty. Performing solat is a way of ones submissions to Allah and proof of obedience. For those who really perform it with full understanding and concentration would feel his/her closeness to The Creator and thus solat provides spiritual salvation and mental calmness. But are there some kind  of physical effects to the body? This is where the book comes in. This book explains the benefits of solat in scientifical aspects in as simple as it can to the general readers. The study, a brainchild of former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was conducted by 3 expert scientists and researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Malaya University in Kuala Lumpur.

The book discusses the results of the study in 7 chapters. While the introductory chapter explains about the required movements in solat, the other 6 chapters presented how does solat affects the practitioner's body composition (Chapter 2), heartbeat (Chapter 3), waist pain (Chapter 4), brain (Chapter 5), muscle (Chapter 6), and erectile dysfunction, or ED (Chapter 7). Each result is accompanied by graphs and photos. At the end of the final chapter, there's a list of glossary to help translates certain terms.

As a summary, through this study, it is proven that the movements in solat really provide a lot of benefits to a human body. As the recitations in each movements provides spiritual and mental peacefulness, the movements itself is beneficial to a person's health in general, a light exercise for the muscles and keep the blood circulation going. Make sure to check out the conclusion of the study, you'll find out that performing the solat 5 times per day with correct movement, tamakninah (stay in position for a short amount of time), jemaah (performing solat in congregation), and understand the recitations would give you a better body composition especially in Ramadhan, the fasting month when you fast and perform solat tarawih. You'll also find out that certain positions and movements would put your body at rest, activates your pelvic muscles and improve the condition of a ED patient.

Allah swt has engineered such good things, it's up for us to think about it. After reading about this study, a Muslim should be more attentive to how good he/she performs the solat in all aspects, not just the physical ones. Kudos for the professors and researchers behind this study, keep on expanding the research.

spilled milk is not worth crying

... a peaceful weekend ...

that at first started with a very sulky mood, coz this blogger really messed up with her own blog. yup, on friday she thought, oh ... why not re-organizing my blog a little bit coz I think my labels are too many and not really serving its true purpose.., so she spent some time looking through all that and finally in the end she discovered she has lost around 70 already published blogposts ...

darn it!

ticking a post would result in certain other posts got ticked too? and when you delete it, it will delete the other ticked ones...? really?!

duh!

okay, no use crying over spilled milk...however, surely it was so heartbreaking at first when you realized that you've lost something that you've worked on with enthusiasm and passion, and it's not just about blogposts, it can be something about your work...when you've lost something, it won't be the same anymore if you cannot recover it back in the same shape and form it was before...perhaps you can re-create it again, but it won't be the same, it won't be the same.....huhuhu

but now, she's gotten over that heartbreaking feelings...peace!

Studio Ghibli Craze Pt. 2

I remembered that last year I wrote about the Studio Ghibli's animated movies that I've enjoyed in my post Studio Ghibli Craze, and then noticed that I haven't really finished writing it, since there are more movies that I have seen and enjoyed. And so, here comes the second part of it...for me to share with you. :)

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Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Kiki is a young witch whose mother is the resident herbalist in the village where they live. Ever since she turns 13, Kiki always waiting for the chance to go out of her village as it is the witch's tradition that when a witch turns 13, she has to travel for a year for training to become a resident witch. So, finally Kiki settles herself with her black cat Jiji at a nice town by the sea. Although having a hard time at first, she finally finds a friend and shelter in the home of a cheerful baker woman, Osono. To support herself, Kiki has to make use of her skill and since she only knows how to fly with her broom, although not proficiently, she finally decided to become a delivery girl (by flying), while stationing herself in Osono's bakery. In the meantime, a young boy named Tombo took a liking to Kiki as he is interested in aviation (and so interested in Kiki's ability to fly) and also because Kiki is a different kind of girl. After encountering a bad experience with some of Tombo's friends, Kiki's ability to fly and speak with Jiji suddenly disappear, causing her to feel down. Another friend of Kiki, Ursula, invited her to stay at her forest cottage, and after being there and through Ursula, Kiki's spirit becomes a little bit uplifted and she believes that after a series of things that turned wrong, she would find a new purpose that she can work on and probably from there she can get her powers back. One day, an accident occurred where Tombo is involved, and driven by her strong will to save him, Kiki finally recovers her flying power and able to save Tombo in the nick of time. Afterwards, Kiki becomes the hero of the city and finally settles there for good to continue her practice.

In this movie, the characteristics of being independent and having a strong will to overcome life obstacles are perhaps the main things to learn, especially for young people. Good things doesn't come easy, eh .. And also, if you dream to do something, you can realize the dream if you work hard enough. This is shown in Tombo's persistency in inventing a kind of flying device from a bicycle, because of his dream to fly. An inspiring movie. For note, this movie is loosely based from a novel by a Japanese author, Eiko Kadono.

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Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Ohh....I watched this one many times haha. Maybe because of the romantic element? Or the voice actor for Howl is so kakkoi..haha. Anyway, this movie is also based from a novel of the same name, from a British author Diana W. Jones.

Sophie, is a young hatter, who I think, feels insecure of herself because of her plain look with brown hair (but I consider her as very cute) compared to her mother and her sister who's considered prettier than her ( imagine..blond hair and blue eyes). Anyway, as she's on the way to visit her sister who works at a bakery, she encounters 2 soldiers who try to hit on her but then saved by a mysterious guy. However, as the guy escorts her, they are followed by some blob men (got the name by the English subtitle though...) and to avoid them, the guy suddenly rise up to the air with Sophie and start walking on air to safety. Once Sophie gets back to her house, she's visited by the Witch of The Waste. It seems that the blob men are servants of the witch, and the mysterious guy before is actually Howl, a young wizard whom the Witch is trying to find. The Witch casts a spell on Sophie, changing her into an old woman. Sophie is terrified at first but then slowly cherishes her old form as it makes her feel less insecure. Sophie somehow feels that her old form frees her from being scared and self-conscious, even makes her feel more cunning than before. And so, Sophie run away from the city until at the mountains where she saves a scarecrow with a turnip head and encountered Howl's moving castle.

And that is the beginning of Sophie's journey that leads her into meeting other magical characters. Inside the castle are Howl's himself, a brilliant but insecure young wizard, Calcifer, a fire demon who keeps the castle moving, and Markl, a boy wizard in training. The story has several other subplots that all intertwined very nicely to create a wholesome magical fantasy story. Somehow, apart from the love that grows between Sophie and Howl, the wizards and witches, and the war that occurred because of a missing prince, all plots in the story, there's something to be learned as well.  

  

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

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My Neighbour Totoro is like the cutest movie filled with cute and adorable characters. Two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, very active girls indeed, moved to a modest house in the countryside with their father, who is a professor, to be near to the hospital where their mother is treated from an illness. At the new house the sisters encountered 'dust bunnies' and forest spirits called Totoro. The main part of the story centered around the girls' encounter of the forest spirits and how the spirits responded to the girls innocent and honest behaviours, in helping Satsuki finding Mei after Mei gone missing. What I love about this movie is how the animation is full of texture, bringing the feelings of softness and comfortable, as I would love to roll around inside the Catbus and hugging or lying on the big Totoro for real. I also like to see the portrayal of father-daughter relationship in this movie as the girls' father, sportingly, kindly and lovingly treated his daughters well and with respect. A heart-warming story. 

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The Borrower Arrietty (2010)

I just watched this recently. Yup, it's kinda new. The story is based on a Mary Norton novel, a British author, where it dwells about a family of little people called The Borrowers as they borrow things belonging to the humans for a living. The plot revolves around the Clock's family, who live under the floorboards of a house in the countryside. One day, the father, Pod, takes his 14-year-old daughter, Arrietty, on her first borrowing trip. However, while trying to 'borrow' a tissue paper, Arrietty was accidentally seen by a human boy, Sho, who happens to be staying in that house (his aunt's house) while waiting for his heart operation (he has heart condition since birth). Although not seeing her very well, but the fact that a human already know of their existence in the house, Arrietty's family plans to move to other place, as it is a rule that the little people should never been seen by the humans, obviously, for their safety. However, Sho is a kind boy, and later on, both Sho and Arrietty do meet and have conversations. Unfortunately, the budding relationship between the two is sensed by the housekeeper Haru, who, unfortunately feels that the presence of the little people is annoying (she thinks of them as thieves, while on the little people's view, they are just 'borrowing' things that the humans would not miss, such as a single cube of sugar, a piece of tissue paper or a pin). In a sequence of events, Haru found the Clock's house and kidnapped Homily, Arrietty's mother, and locked her up in the kitchen store. Although Sho helps Arrietty in finding her, Arrietty's parents really think that they should move away to someplace new. Although both are sad, Sho and Arrietty parted well. From their short relationship, Sho, who at first almost feel helpless with his with dying condition, feels a lot better after knowing and seeing Arrietty's fight for survival.

The animation is very brilliant in colours, vibrant, very detailed and full of textures. I am somewhat amazed by the animated perspective of the human world from the little people's viewpoint. The flowers, the leaves, even the things in the doll house inside Sho's room, everything is detailed to perfection. And it is very interesting to see how the Borrowers make use of the things in the house as their tools. I also love the music at the start and the end of the movie, it seems ethereal. The movie is simple but very nice.

So, there they are...another 4 movies produced by Studio Ghibli that should be enjoyed by everybody. They are heart-warming, inspirational, enjoyable, fun and makes you feel good. Enjoy.  

Seefood

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Recently, I watched an animated movie called Seefood. Being an adult doesn't mean I cannot enjoy kids movies, right? And anyway, most animated films are made to suit all range of viewers age (and some are even specifically for adults, you know..), and I have written quite a number of reviews of animated films in this blog. Part of the reasons that made me interested to watch this movie is due to the fact that it is the first Malaysian-made animated film in English language and that the movie has been shown in ..er...90 countries, if I'm not mistaken before it finally came back to its home country last March. After some reading, I found out that Silver Ant, the company that created this movie has started this movie project since 10 years ago but only able to finish it and release it after Doha-based network company, Al-Jazeera, provided financial support for its Children's Channel.

In a glance, Seefood is about environmental awareness and friendship. After watching, I, as a viewer, could see that this movie is obviously trying to send messages about shark's fins hunting, marine life protection and environmental pollution. Basically, the story is about Pup, a bamboo shark, who determined to save his brothers and sisters (bamboo shark eggs) from the ruthless shark's fins fishermen. Concerned about his safety, Pup's best pal, Julius, a kind-hearted white-tip shark, along with Mertle, an old turtle, and Octo, an octopus who is a genius inventor, all together helping him during the trip on Man's land for the mission. Along the way, Pup and his friends also meet other friends and foes.  

What I can say about the main story is that it is a very good one. The animation? Superb. The colours are beautiful, the voice over and the animated movements match perfectly. The characters itself are beautifully created, and Pup is sooo cute and adorable. However, it's quite boring. The story moves in a slow pace, quite draggy I'd say. And there are some parts, or subplots, that I don't quite understand, or maybe, a bit under-developed. First, why do the deep sea creatures want to go out from their abyss, which is definitely their natural surrounding, into the upper part of the ocean? Second, why does Spin the ray fish meet the deep sea creatures? And third, why is there a factory by the sea? After thinking a bit hard, I could come up to some assumptions which might explain the questions. However, I think the story itself should not be so complex and giving hard time to viewers. The story-telling lacks understandable, explainable dialogues and scenes. Some part of the dialogues also lacks the element of fun, and some parts also lacks dialogues or sounds that you'd normally hear in real situation. In other words, it is not quite 'lively'. However, I think the roosters are quite interesting, as well as the interactions between Julius and his three 'servants', and the coconut crazy crabs. 

Whatever it is, at least I've learned from this movie, that a bamboo shark can breath on land up to 12 hours, isn't it cool? All in all, apart from the boring factors I mentioned above, this is actually a good movie. But it would be a better movie, a movie that we can't forget and wanna watch over and over again if with smooth plot and spot on dialogues to match that excellent animation.