爱 的 就 是 你

Wang Lee Hom = HOTNESS! His voice, his personality, his style, his sense of humour... 10 years older than me!!! I think I should fly to US... there might be someone like Lee Hom out there somewhere with such talent! AMERICA!!! ABC's man... I'm telling you... hotness!!! Where are the Phil's & Wes's?!! You'll never find them in England. I'm telling you. It needs to be in the US of A! =P

Veronica Mars

Believe it or not, I've just discovered Veronica Mars. I've heard a lot about it, but never bothered to check it out until a few days ago which turned my life all over. It's a pretty good show and I'm hooked. Thank you so much Rob Thomas! One obvious thing which is missing from my life is all the happening crimes occurring at Hearst University. You think I'd be good in tracking down criminals or find missing stuff? All those P.I. stuff? Me? Nur'i? Nah... but it would be fun to have a friend like that though. Like Veronica. Was thinking about the happening cool kids at school. They don't exist here. Not at my university. Or maybe it's cuz I'm not hanging out at campus so much but still, isn't it easy noticing those cool kids? Guess this is reality.

I've watched VMars 3 days 3 nights straight. Finished all 3 seasons. I guess I'm still waiting for Episode 16 to be released and I can't wait for Episode 19 of Ugly Betty and Episode 19 of Heroes this April 23. Remind me again that I do have exams and what am I doing watching all these shows? Guess this is the one thing that keeps my mind of certain stuff which will always remain question marks in my head. Also, what's up with the Logan's? One cute & rich guy Logan in Gilmore Girls and another Logan Echolls here in VMars. I'm starting to like this name. One of my dad's friend's name is Logan. With an extension of course. =)

Out of all the shows, I think Heroes, Ugly Betty and VMars really got my attention. The O.C is done with. One Tree Hill is just lagging. I gave up watching Nip/Tuck cuz it's just disturbing. I also stopped watching Grey's. I wasn't really a fan of Grey's in the first place to begin with. My friends talked me into it. House was interesting but not interesting enough to keep me hooked. I watched a couple episodes of Friday Night Lights and decided it wasn't really my thing. Six Degrees was decent enough for me to keep a follow up but then since I couldn't get access to the continuing episode after Episode 6 I stopped watching it. I blame the delay. Oh so there's this new show called October Road starring the hottie Bryan Greenberg in it. Haven't seen it but will check it out after exams.

Just a thought, when will I get my hands on playing the organ again? Broken Heart notes are pinned on my board, waiting anxiously for me to give it a go. Maybe I'll try at least once I get back to my home sweet home but the notes that I have are for piano. Who cares? There are plates, containers, and some china (as how they call it here) piling up my desk which is supposed to be used for studying. How lazy can I get?

I had so much fun with my girlfriends last night catching up on all the crazy stuff that happened. Me being in Norway for a week can cost lotsa dramas. One single text message could shock you! I miss them so much. It's just great all of us getting together again & planning for the Eurotrip. Might even do another video? Hmm, now there's an idea! Speaking of which, I'm also so looking forward to the Cyprus Baha'i Arts & Music Festival in June. Anyone going? I'm sure it'll be the bomb. It'll be so awesome! Can't wait to be on the beach again... just the sun and me baby. Of course looking forward to all the talks and talented performances.

So a couple of experiments, other than my discovery of the Strawberry Nutella awesomeness. Tried it on with banana, courtesy of Dinky. Rocked, but I still prefer it with strawberries. I even tried it with oranges. Yes, Nutella goes with everything. And I mean everything.

I really could be Betty you know. Helping out Daniel Meade with his work. Or I could just be like Daniel. Editor of a magazine. Snazzy! I'm guessing that what most of the girls dream of doing but getting there is actually very competitive, not unless your daddy is some hot shot CEO in a big company who owns lotsa shares here, there and everywhere. Ah, where for art thou?

As all of my friends know, my sense of fashion since I came to England declined miserably. I have since had no drive of dressing up for uni. Odd? Bizarre? But this is what the weather and a change of environment can do to you. Changing you slowly. Not dramatically I hope. Everyone seems to have the opinion of me toning down and with me wearing less colours. I just can't help to see just a few same colours whenever I open my wardrobe. It's disturbing for me not to see other colours you know. It really is.

Another thing that I pondered upon lately was me being a humanitarian or being the one protesting for a certain right. I could be one of those people camping out protesting about a tree, or go on hunger strike for a good cause. I've never done those. Or handing out fliers or drawing posters. That would mean so much to me. A flash of Summer Roberts activities just hit me. What she does. Her passion and love for GEORGE.

I better not write any longer. Everything from my mind is just zapping out. Did I mention I lurve the weather right now? Makes me feel more like Malaysia... nostalgic... home sick!!! Makes me wanna play badminton and go swimming. Dream on Nur'i.

Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal

Dearest friends,

You’ll enjoy reading this moment shared by a Bahá’í friend….

After learning my flight was detained 4 hours, I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.

Well, one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.

Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her.

What is her problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick, sho bit se-wee?

The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used - she stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been cancelled entirely.

She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the following day. I said no, no, we're fine, you'll get there, just late, who is picking you up? Let's call him and tell him.

We called her son and I spoke with him in English.

I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and would ride next to her -- southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.
Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out, of course, they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies -- little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts -- out of her bag -- and was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina , the traveler from California , the lovely woman from Laredo -- we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers -- non-alcoholic -- and the two little girls for our flight, one African American, one Mexican American -- ran around serving us all apple juice and lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend -- by now we were holding hands --had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought, this is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate -- once the crying of confusion stopped
-- has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost.

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Imagini - Nur'i

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Shin Shin (Afshin), Ramez, Jasmin & Kalim performing at the Nordic Baha'i Youth Conference 2007 in Lillehammer, Norway.

Norway!

When I first arrived in Oslo... my first thought when I got out of the bus terminal... "This city is so dead"... Which is true... due to the very small population and cuz it was Easter, no shops were open... it's a tradition... So the hostel I stayed in was not bad actually... it was in fact really nice and comfy! =) The next day, I was off to Lillehammer for the Nordic Baha'i Youth Conference! Didn't know what to expect... the weather in Norway was soooo cold compared to England... it snowed everyday... but it was very very pretty... made me feel like I was in a lil magic crystal ball... =) The ice-breaking game was cool... never played it before... different games compared to Asia! =P So many youth came from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Norway, UK, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg! The talks were given mainly by film Director Mark Bamford and one of his popular movie is Cape of Good Hope. The workshops were great too. I went for the Creative Dance Workshop, Drama Workshop & 13 Reasons by Mark himself. It was pretty inspirational. Made lotsa friends.... miss them already! Spent the last night at Oslo having dinner with the youth from Belgium, Luxembourg, UK and Norway at Egon restaurant =) For more pictures, please click on My Pictures on the right hand side of the page. Thanks! Happy Easter holidays everyone! *hugs*