Make the Time

In the name of Allah. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

Assalamu'alaikum, everybody!

"There's no such thing as 'too busy'. If you don't have the time for friends and/or family, MAKE IT."

~ Anonymous ~

I'm gonna have to do this more often. I doubt I'll be writing more posts in the future but considering the equipment for my research will take some time to get to Malaysia, might as well keep writing.

I'll be honest, I DID plan on writing something here a few hours ago but I didn't have a clue to what I wanted to write about. You see, that's my dilemma most of the time: I either have NOTHING to write or I have too MUCH things to write that I ended up not choosing and not writing. But lo and behold, a friend of mine online wrote something.

She asked where she can get words of comfort. Now, most of the time we turn to family, no? I mean, come on. I do that myself sometimes but there are things that your family will NOT understand no matter how many times they say so. Naturally, you seek out your friends. You'll definitely find you're go-to guy/girl. God knows I have that one friend. We've been friends for almost 15 years now and I like to think we're doing alright. When you have that one person that knows what makes you tick and how twisted your sense of humor is but STILL hangs out with you, hold on to 'em! He/she might be the only human helping you keep your sanity.

Shout out to my brotha from anotha motha! You know who you are, bruh

Now back to my friend online earlier, I told her to maybe try and reach out to someone. She said that she did but it sorta fell on deaf ears. This irks the hell out of me. Is it THAT hard to be nice?

Being busy is understandable. We all have our crap-load of work to do but there is no such thing as being "too busy". Just don't...

Unless you're in a family matter, your boyfriend/girlfriend can wait, your game can wait, your goldfish can wait. You have a friend in need, you help 'em out even if all you have to do is say a few words of encouragement or listen to your buddy vent or rant. It's not friggin' rocket science.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one but have you noticed the sudden increase of suicides over the years? Most of the time we read it on the internet. It's really heartbreaking. I can't help but think that some of them are people who don't know who to turn to. Worse yet, they reached out to someone but they just shrugged them off. That mentally and emotionally mess you up, man. Imagine being forced to go through something you don't wanna do. In this, trust me, you wouldn't want that. I should know.

So anyway, my friend said she'll deal with it in her own way. Hey, when I'm upset, I eat. Haha!! People have their own way to deal things. For some, it's sleeping. Others, it's food. Communication, man. It's important.

I have this one post I desperately wanna write about but it has to wait. More or less a year. Till then, I'm gonna enjoy what life's gonna throw at me.

See you guys on the flip side!!

P.S: Hope you got those comforting words you wanted no matter where it came from

Movie Review - Ant-Man and the Wasp

In the name of Allah. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Assalamu'alaikum, y'all!!

"Maybe you just need someone watching your back. Like a partner."

~ Cassie Lang (Ant-Man and the Wasp) ~

5 months. Friggin' 5 months since my last post. What the frack?! Blame it on research and me procrastinating though. Anyway, it's been 5 months since my last post but it's been an even longer time since I did a movie review. So this time it's this movie........

Ant-Man and the Wasp poster

I'm in no way affiliated with anybody as I'm doing this review since I'm not a professional film critic but just a casual movie-goer. So this review may or may not contain spoilers since I'm pretty unclear what counts as a spoiler. Haha! Here we go....

Paul Rudd reprises his role as Ant-Man/Scott Lang from the 1st movie. The same goes for Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne), Michael Peña (Luis), Ti (Dave) and David Dastmalchian (Kurt). Newcomers include Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI), Hannah John-Kamen (Ready Player One) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Mother!, Murder on the Orient Express) who plays Janet van Dyne, Hank's wife, Hope's mom.

Like it's predecessor, the movie has the quick-witted Scott Lang being in a rut in almost every moment of the movie. For instance, trying to be an awesome dad to his daughter Cassie while being 3 days from finishing his probation after getting arrested for being involved with Captain America (Captain America: Civil War). Hank, knowing that Scott returned from the quantum realm after going sub-atomic in the 1st movie, believes that his wife is still alive and that there is a chance to save her. So in a nutshell, that's sort of the basis of the film.

HOWEVER....

(There's always a 'however', isn't there?)

Things are never easy when you're a superhero. Hank, Scott and Hope face a new enemy in the form Ava Starr a.k.a Ghost who can phase through objects, making her a different kind of bad guy (or bad woman. I'm equal opportunity). She wants Hank's equipment to get Janet out of the quantum realm and suck the quantum energy out of her and cure herself from her condition, possibly killing Janet.

As if that's not enough the heroes face Sonny Burch played Walton Goggins (Shanghai Noon, Justified) who want to take Hank's tech and sell it on the black market. Have no fear though, Scott's got some back-up........

These 3 ex-cons (4 including Scott) are starting a security business but of course they have time to play the good guys. Michael Peña plays Luis the same as he did the first time: Fast-talking and funny as hell. Same goes for T.I and David Dastmalchian. I guess you can say they're like the comic-relief of the flick but they do their parts too.

I think what people were most looking forward to (at least I was anyway) was seeing Evangeline Lilly in that Wasp outfit. This seemed inevitable considering Hank showed Hope the suit at the end of the 1st movie.

Can we all just agree that Evangeline Lilly is SUPER pretty?

Anyway, the full introduction of the Wasp into the MCU is good considering that we actually KNEW the character was coming. It'd more awesome if none of us knew Hank made the suit for Hope and we suddenly see her fighting in it in the sequel. But hey, to each his own, innit?

So, can the heroes get Janet from the quantum realm? Can Ava cure herself? Or will Sonny get the best of them all and sell Hank's tech in the black market? I ain't telling you the rest of the movie so what the heck are you waiting for? Go see it!

I give "Ant-Man and the Wasp" an 8.5/10

Movie talk aside, I had a rough couple of months lately. I've been struggling physically, emotionally and mentally. I can't actually write it now and post it. I'm telling you, man. It's hard for me not to vent out and tell the world. It's even harder for me to call out the person(s) who did this to me. And yes, I'm talking about you. To think that the support and concern came from OUTSIDE this particular circle is sad for me.

And if ANYBODY who reads this even thinks of telling me, "Syauqi, take that post down" or even "Tak elok la kau buat blog entry macam tu", you CLEARLY don't know me. You have no idea what my strengths and weaknesses are. You have no idea what I bottle up inside. FOR MONTHS. YEARS even. So if you have issues with my posts, the door's open and PLEASE let it hit your ass on the way out.

See you guys on the flip side!!

P.S: As per usual, stay for the post-credit scenes. BOTH of them ;-)

NZ Road Trip: Auckland Part 2 and Homecoming

In the name of Allah. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Assalamu'alaikum, everyone!

"Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory."

~ Dr. Seuss ~

Alright, you guys. This is the last post of the NZ trip and it's basically the trip back home.

Our road back home actually took us one whole day. Our flight was from Auckland and if you've been following my posts, we were in Christchurch. Our flight to Auckland was really early in the morning. Like.. SUBUH early. We had to pray at the airport. So waking up at 4 a.m, we caught a cab to the airport, waited for about an hour and flew back to Auckland.

Got a few pics from the plane and in these ones, I have one of my favourites....

Love this picture!

It was good to be back....in Auckland. Hehe..

We gave our rental car that we used earlier in this roadtrip back the Apex car rental branch in Christchurch. You see, we arrived at Auckland at around 8 a.m. Our flight to Malaysia was 8.30 p.m. So we had 12 hours to kill and we need a way to get around. So we had to rent another car. And that we did.

I'm not gonna lie. I didn't take that many pictures on our last day. I just wanted to soak in the surroundings, the views, the weather...NZ basically.

We took a drive through the town center and after a while we got hungry. Sure enough, there was a kebab place nearby and we got 4 kebabs and went back to Cornwall Park, one of the first places that we went after we arrived in New Zealand. As I mentioned before, I just soaked everything in. Even at Christchurch airport, I started doing that. Just standing outside with my brother outside the airport, basking in the cold while waiting for Subuh. Looking at all the Mat Saleh and Maori people.

I loved New Zealand but Malaysia was calling.

New Zealand, to me, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you're a city boy or city slicker like me, this country will make you fall in love with the great outdoors. Regardless of the season that you go which in my case was spring, you'll just love it. Trust me. Between the buildings and busy streets of Auckland and Christchurch and the countless number of scenic views all over the country, you'll have plenty of things to see. Not to mention the things that I wasn't able to do that is both amazing and so much fun. Like taking the Milford Sound Cruise, bungy jumping at the Kawarau Bridge, going downhill by luge. I was very fortunate to go to NZ with my family with the limited budget that we had. So if you have many to splurge and you wanna travel overseas and have an adventure, I recommend you some to New Zealand.

I don't know about other people but I never had the chance to feel cold weather when I was little like my parents and brothers did before I was born. So whenever I get the chance, I just jump on it. Know what I mean? Rezeki jangan ditolak eh?

Anyway, this is my last post for this thread of my NZ roadtrip last year. You can read my whole roadtrip from the start by clicking THIS.

See you guys on the flip side!!

P.S: It just dawned on me that I need to bulk up to have a little bit more freedom.

NZ Road Trip: Christchurch

In the name of Allah. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Assalamu'alaikum, everyone!

"And it is He who spread the Earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits, He has made it in two kinds; He makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for people who reflect"

~ Surah ar-Ra'd from the Quran, 13:3 ~

Sorry for the hold up. I had a progress meeting today and I was extremely behind schedule so I've been busy the past few days. Now let's get right down to it. Our last stop in our road trip was......

CHRISTCHURCH.

On our way from Queenstown, we did a quick picnic at Lake Tekapo. The lake is about 3- 4 hours drive from Queenstown, halfway to Christchurch. There are actually some other cool stuff and places. But first, I'll tell you what we did first, aites?

  

We arrived at Christchurch at late afternoon and it was quite a big size for a guest house. Chris really knows how to make his guests feel welcome though. When Ibu was praying, Chris came by and tell us what we can do and where we can go. He told us that there were a few bars and pubs that we can go if we wanted to drink.

Haha!!

I think if he saw my tudung-wearing mom, he'd suggested other places

After settling in for a bit, the 4 of us got a little peckish. So we after doing our Solat, we headed back out to find some grub. Again we found a place that made good kebabs. We took 'em home and just chilled for the night.

The following day was more eventful though. We went to a few places. First place, we visited Re:START a.k.a the container mall. It's a temporary mall set up after the earthquake that happened there in February 2011. The shops and stores are literally containers turned into little shops. There are also some food trucks and stalls that sell little trinkets.

Sorry for the lack of pictures though. It was sort of our last day so we wanted to really take in the sights.

Later we went to the International Antarctic Centre. The tickets for the tour and shows were off the cards since we were going to meet Ayah's friend at Canterbury University.

Here's a few photos at the centre.

Gotta love the penguins. Haha!

Then we went to the Air Force Museum. Ibu and I didn't do much though because we were beat. But I think Ayah geeked out. Haha! He loves these old fighter planes.

Actually, sort regret not going with him. Oh well.

Last stop before going back to our place, we met up with Ayah's old friend at Canterbury university.

 

Turmeric latte

Ayah's friend suggested us to have turmeric latte. Ibu didn't like it that much but I think it was good. It has that flavour and tinge with a weird after taste that tickles your taste buds.

Don't ask why I took that last picture. Because I don't know either. Hehe..

At night, we rested up and slept early because the next day was our flight back to Malaysia. But we had to fly from Christchurch to Auckland, then from there to KLIA2. I have a few other photos from that too but maybe next post.

I mentioned earlier about the other stuff to do at south island.

1. Te Anau

Te Anau is a town in south island that has Lake Te Anau, the largest lake in the south island and 2nd largest in NZ after Lake Taupo. It's at the shore of Fiordland (a bit of wordplay from the word 'fjord'). Lying at the borders of Fiordland National Park, it is also one of the places where visitors can go which is no. 2 in this list.

2. Milford Sound

Milford Sound is actually the name of the cruise. If you wanna splash some cash on one of the most beautiful scenic views on EARTH, I highly suggest you take the cruise. If you happen to take the Interislander ferry and think the views from THAT ship is amazing, wait till you take this one.

3. Invercargill

Invercargill is the southern and western-most city in NZ and  one of the southern-most in the world. I heard from someone that in the winter there might even be snow if it was cold enough.

I'm gonna be honest, I don't actually know what's the best thing to do at these places but I heard it from many people enough to know that they're a big deal. Along with Dunedin.

I'll be posting our trip back to Malaysia soon In Sya-Allah.

See you guys on the flip side!!

P.S: I'm really lacking sleep and dare I say that this is due to me doing my post-grad

NZ Road Trip: Queenstown

In the name of Allah. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

Assalamu'alaikum, peeps!

" You know that feeling you get sometimes when you're standing in a high place... Sudden urge to jump...

I don't have it. "

~ Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) ~

Alright, here's the Queenstown post of my NZ trip. Of all the places that we went, from north to south, our accommodation in Queenstown is the only place where I took shots of the house that we stayed in. I'm not gonna lie. It was quite a posh place. Nothing big like a mansion or bungalow. Just a one-storey house but the appliances and stuff that the host has were more than what my family is used to. Haha!!

The house has that modern touch to it.

DISCLAIMER: Those are our stuff. Rachel, our host, prepared her place in top condition. We were packing at this time

The living room is pretty simple too. And..It's right next to the kitchen.

That cabinet on the left actually has the washing machine and dryer inside.

The bedroom has like a walk-in closet. Pretty nice.

I took these shots just before we were off to Christchurch. And to be honest, I think I wanna make my house like this. Haha!!

Alright, let's get right down to it. In Queenstown, you HAVE to go to the town center. In the town center, you have the shops, you have the view you have the buskers and did I mention the view?

Btw, if you rent a car, don't be surprised if you have a hard time finding a spot to park. The Queenstown town center is what I think THE place where tourists go. But hey, I'm sure you will eventually.

In my opinion, you guys can start by going to the Queenstown Mall. It's not you usual mall as it is open air. I guess you can say dia lebih macam blok-blok kedai. 

Those buildings at the sides there are actually shops. Lots of shops ranging from small restaurants to cosmetic stores. And I'll let you in on a secret.

If you wanna buy souvenirs -- especially to those who keep asking you to buy something for them -- there are A LOT of shops you can choose from here. Trust me. Rambang mata wei. Haha!

And I know some of you play rugby and are huge fans. So guess what...

They have a store where they sell the All Blacks' OFFICIAL LICENSED PRODUCTS! My brother walked in and he was like a 5 year-old kid in a candy store. Haha!!

Although, if you wanna buy some t-shirts or rugby jerseys, prepare some cash. Like..lots of it.

Alright. Still at the mall area, if you keep going straight, you'll see something like a small harbour. And maybe it was the weather that day but it was B-E-A-utiful.

It's a good place to take a photo of yourself too. Hehe...

My Instagram profile pic ;-)

If you're worried about food, don' worry. There's a place called Turkish Kebab and it is halal. Obviously, it has kebabs where you can choose lamb/chicken/mixed. You can also get burgers and falafels. Shakes and juices to drown them down and finish with some ice-cream...

We happen to stumble on Goldfields, the Lord of the Rings' official jeweler.

Near the town center is also another attraction that I mentioned in Rotorua: The gondola and luge. Basically, you go up a hill on a gondola, you go downhill by luge. No idea? Check out this post and see no. 2. You can Google the prices if you're interested.

Just so you know, we did this all in the morning till about 1 p.m. We have another attraction that NZ's famous for:

BUNGEE JUMPING

The place we went was the Kawarau bridge where AJ Hackett Bungy runs the operation. Sadly though, the 4 of us didn't jump because it was too damn expensive. 205 NZD! Right now, that's about RM 500+. We went to NZ when the rate was 1 NZD : RM 3.00+. And this is not including the video footage that the bungy centre can make for you. Nak dekat RM 1000 jugak la.

We still went to the centre though.

Lifeguards just waiting for another jumper

It may not seem like it, but the water is so blue! I think being there is quite worth it but if you have the moo-lah to bungy jump, have at it! Jump and scream your lungs out.

That was the last thing that we did on our 2nd day in Queenstown. That night we all just watch some Netflix on Rachel's Smart TV, had dinner and went right to bed. The next day was a 7-hour drive to Christchurch, our last place before going back to Auckland for a flight back to Malaysia.

I'll write that one ASAP In Sya-Allah.

Btw, if you haven't been following my posts on my NZ road trip, have no fear, you can click on these links. All you need to know from the airport to the attractions. In order:

• Arrival
• Auckland
• Rotorua (Hobbiton)
• Wellington and Interisland Ferry
• Taylorville
• Hokitika nd Franz Josef
• Lake Matheson and Arrival at Queenstown

See you guys on the flip side!!

P.S: My research is going very slow but at least I have some progress!