[Movie] The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Plot:

Three student documentary filmmakers venture into Maryland's Black Hills to discover the truth behind the myth of the Blair Witch -- and never return. The only trace of their disappearance comes one year later when their film footage, documenting their final terrifying days, is found.

Yeah! This horror was on TV this morning and I just said to myself "Aah what the hell, let me just watch it." even though I was having second thoughts about it from all that I've heard of it. For starters, I can say I liked this movie! It's a typical story but it's like none-other really. The difference in these sorts of movies compared to other horror or thriller is that they use the real names of the main actors. I got fascinated by their real acting, if you could call it that because basically, they're not well known actors (if at all) but random people (I guess) just so that the movie can be unique and has that extra realness to it.

The atmosphere is the typical type to any horror movie, especially those of freakishly shaped trees and tree branches. I actually hate that! It was dark beyond dark. Literally, this movie had the least amount of light during...rush hour? lol. Plus, you don't know what exactly it was they're facing. Was it a monster? A tree that can walk and talk? A friggin' CHILD?!! Maybe a witch?! I still don't know exactly what it was that they faced but all I know is that it was bad *eyes wide open*

What I really liked about this movie - again just like in Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity - is that the whole 'filming' was raw footage. Yes! Raw footage basically rules all for me - at the moment, who knows I might get bored of it later lol - because it gives you the "real life feel" kind of feeling. Scary right?! Yes! But this movie was different. There were TWO cameras. Now that's new! Maybe I'm making a big deal over nothing but it was different yet annoying how magically the view changed from one camera to the other. Should that even be allowed to happen? Well, I'll just leave it at that.

Now the question is, did it scare me? It should have but it didn't. Surprised? I am. I honestly was expecting to be scared out of my comfy chair but I'm just sitting there with wide eyes open - I guess just trying hard to see what they were facing - and that's it. Like I didn't get the 'heart beating fast' feeling. Well maybe once. But yeah. I can say I was disappointed by that part but I still liked the movie. It had an interesting story to it but then it kind of leaves you with a cliff hanger. When the movie ended I literally screamed "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?". Yeah I was glued to the screen because I wanted to see...it!

I didn't want to watch this movie after I watched Paranormal Activity and you know how the whole hype between these two movies were; they got compared as to which was scarier. Well, they said that The Blair Witch Project was scarier...I'm gonna disagree. Dun dun dun duuuuun. Paranormal Activity left me paranoid for a few weeks and sleepless for a night or two. But The Blair Witch Project...nothing? I just liked it that's all.

I score it an 8/10.

P.S. An hour later I went out with my parents for lunch and I sat at our table kind of, let's say, "analyzing" the movie. This movie has a BIG flaw!! Hint: read the plot.

Its kindness is limitless

Well, eleven days have already passed - just like that *snaps fingers* - and I have to say that I'm enjoying my self and am very comfortable too (7amdulellah); finally! I've met up with almost everyone that I needed to meet up with but there are still a few to go (you guys know who you are *wink wink*) which I'm quite excited to meet.

One can say we've partially settled down with all that's left to do is receiving the furniture that we ordered and re-arranging the place to make it feel more cosy and homey.

I got the phone I've been wanting since June *huge grin*
I present to you Sony Ericsson C905.

I picked this very same color, bronze, since all that was left was pink and silver. I wanted black but they ran out of it (=.=) so I picked bronze because I'm not a big fan of pink and my last phone was silver; fair enough? C905 is basically the whole package, just to give you an idea in short. I love it!

I'm willing to update and fix up my CV so I can start applying for jobs since it takes a while for 'them' to reply to you here, sad enough. I know and heard that it's so hard to get a job here so it's worrying, you know. But inshAllah 5air. I don't know where to start with the looking part (websites/ads ??). But first things first prepare my CV.

I'm gonna talk about Oman a bit...just randoms things.

:: One of the coolest things about being in an Arab/Muslim country is the fact that any restaurant, supermarket and anything that sells food you go to is guaranteed to be halal *BIG grin*. So there is no need to worry or check if the product/place for that and best of all, you won't feel sad for not being able to buy it (especially when you want it badly). All you need to read is the Expiry date for products (Yes people, read the expiry date of every product!) and the menus of the restaurants! And as for the restaurants, well basically you're not just stuck with 2 or 3 places but instead you have like a bajillion places to pick from!
This part might not be about Oman, but I just had to mention it *innocent*

:: Oman is a BEAUTIFUL country. Very beautiful actually! Every time we go out (since I'm not driving) I'd be looking out the window just absorbing everything. It has changed greatly and has become tidier, cleaner, and greener (nice!). We visited Matra7 a few days ago and I was amazed by the beautiful harbor there and the very nice side walk, OH! and the greenery. I can only imagine this place at night *heart*

I enjoyed just standing there, looking at the beautiful green-blue pure water and feeling the cool breeze on my face. But it was in the afternoon, where the sun was at it's highest (big mistake), I think, and I got a minor sunburn on my nose and cheeks.

:: People stare a lot here and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT; may they be women, men, children and any nationality too. The old, married (some) Omani men are the creepiest. I'll just leave it at that.

:: Ooooh! The service here, may it be at supermarkets, banks, delivery are super super super slow. Btitla3 roo7ak (you're soul tries to escape) just waiting for them to get done. Some of them show it in their face that they HATE the job they're doing. They work bedoon nefs (with out interest). I don't blame them but come on, put a little effort in it!

:: Is it just me or has the double-head trend decreased? *thumbs-up girls*

:: Traffic jams are crazy here! No seriously, I've never seen anything like it. I think I'd enjoy the roads and driving if there was a bit of control, traffic lights here and there and actually if people followed the law. I love the roads here though! They're wide and endless. I'm not allowed to drive until I convert my license to the Omani license. Yeah! That sucks!

:: Majority of Omani's are super nice and polite! This is what I love about this country...its kindness is limitless *heart*

Can't wait to experience what more this country has got to give!

A song I've been constantly listening to for the past 2 days.

Thareed Oman

I don't know where to begin but here I am, the start of the fourth day since I arrived to Oman and I'm loving it! Pressure has seized. Stress is gone. If there is anything I'm doing then it's for sure relaxing and taking my time with what ever that's occupying me before the seven boxes and four bags arrive for the unpacking. I think unpacking is less stressful than the packing? *thinks* I mean one can just take it easy...no rush.

I've spent the last few days sleeping, reading (a lot), unpacking the bag that I travelled with, playing a bit of Mahjong Titans, and going out here and there hunting for a phone. I need to get in touch with so many so bare with me.

Day of travel was surely the most hectic day. We ran like crazy trying to get everything done and the only time where we actually sat down and relaxed was when I drove us to AUX airport (my last long drive in NZ *cries*). Having not slept that night, we were moody as hell and I had anger issues. Actually, my anger needed some major managing the last week or two before our travel. I mean, I practically snapped and swore (nothing bad or big) at anything, some of which were funny especially when my Palestinian accent and side came out.

Our flight from AUX to beautiful Muscat was really good. If I'm not over-exaggerating then I can say it's the best flight so far. I had a plan where I'd watch about ten movies - movies that I've been desperately wanting to watch and I finally got the chance to - since I don't think I'd sleep through the whole flight... Well, from AUX to melbourne, a three and a half hour flight, I managed to get down Ice Age 3 and half of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Now the flight from Melbourne to Dubai, fourteen hours, is where I thought I'd begin my marathon. I ate while I completed the other half of Harry Potter 6 (which was a major disappointment or I was just too sleepy to give) to check that there was about twelve hours and a half remaining to Dubai. I slept from then till the remaining time was only three hours that I killed by watching Up and an episode of Fareej which I enjoyed a lot! Sleeping that much was greatly unexpected. But I was glad because it only made the flight shorter and quicker.

Seeing Baba when we came out of the sliding doors was hands-down the highlight of the last month or two. Finally it was all worth it really. Plus I greatly missed our house here, and my room even though it's empty and not very G-chan-ee but still...it will change once the rest of our stuff arrive *grins*

At first I had agrophobia (fear of going out) for reasons like the weather and the driving. Yesterday though I decided I'm going to go to CC with my parents. Well one of the reasons I decided to go is because I need a phone but actually I wanted to see the Omani world. I ended up driving us to CC thanks to Baba's trust in me. Who knew?! I drove as if I don't hold a full licence or as if it's the first time I take the wheel. Well I wasn't comfortable. Mirrors weren't positioned for me and the seat was uncomfortable plus I wasn't used to the car and the steering wheel being on the left side. I think Mama was more scared of my driving than the take-off and landing on our flights. So much for cheering me on. Roundabouts where the creepiest and toughest parts I had to deal with, otherwise I think I'll manage.

I haven't seen anything weird while I was walking there...maybe the time I went was the reason *jokes* But I did get an unfriendly reaction. While in one of the shops, I wanted to pass to get to the pants that caught my attention but a lady was blocking my way. She saw I wanted to pass but didn't even bother to move. I softly asked her to "excuse me" to which I got a deadly stare in return. Mission accomplished but what the...?!

I drooled over the number of Mustangs I saw. They're gorgeous monsters!

I had Thareed Chicken? or is it Chicken Thareed? Anywho, I think I'm in love because that dish will have to be my favorite Omani dish so far! I luuuuuurved it. The bread oh the bread! *drools*

I start my day basically after Fajr prayer where after I finish praying and reading Qura'an I lie back in my bed and read Interview with the Vampire I for two to three hours. Definitely an exciting book and I'm pretty amazed by the detailed explanations:

"The lights were going out, first in the balcony, and then along the walls of the main floor. A knot of musicians had gathered in the pit below the stage, and at the foot of the long, green velvet curtain the gas flickered, then brightened, and the audience receded as if enveloped by a gray cloud through with only the diamonds sparkled, on wrists, on throats, on fingers. And a hush descended like that gray cloud until all the sound was collected in one echoing persistent cough. Then Silence. ...

Interview with the Vampire Vo. I - Anne Rice

I really liked this part.

I need a good visit to Borders because for the mean time books are my occupation. The rest of the day comes un-planned which is good enough for me.

I'm glad I'm finally home!

Hysteria...

Looking at this shot just reminds me so much of myself and my current state. I think I've finally hit rock bottom today or maybe....this whole moving frenzy and work has finally got it's toll on me. I'm blogging about today because I want to remember it's "contents" for when I someday quit from blogging and read through my blog (I've missed it!). Another reason to why I want to blog about today is because it's apart of this whole moving from one country to another kind of process so it's like the step to a...new life.

Five days are left till our departure from NZ, back to Oman and basically, instead of us controlling time, it's controlling us! As freaky as this may sound but that's exactly what's happening.

A "normal" day for me, these days, is waking up around 9:30am, having breakfast, checking my email because there's bound to be a message or more from my client, then the rest of the day happens by itself. Basically it consists of running errands - a lot of them shockingly, packing/selling, some more errands, cleaning the room that my bro is moving to, and with a blink of an eye it's like 6pm-7pm at night where I'm fully destroyed and in the need of "me" time or relaxation time. But no. Actually that time is when I get to work on my clients website. Yeah I work. Sitting on my bed working on Photoshop and Dreamweaver breaking my back because I'm desk-less (lol). I do get to work on the site during the day but my day is usually hectic and my hours working on the site is not continuous so that's no good.

Today, the 10th of the 12th month of 2009 (sounds dramatic lol), mama and I woke up at 7am to finish packing the final two boxes left for shipment (by air). We had a total of four bags and seven boxes. We are moving to another country after all. Anyway, a really nice Scottish man with a HUMONGOUS truck picked up the eleven items and managed to get an interesting conversation with us about Palestine and the Jews -- that's what he called them, Jews because he says that Israel doesn't exist. He surprised me. Around 10am the good man was gone and our house was emptier. Mama and I sat on the empty floor to have breakfast; tummies were rumbling by then.

Somehow, the tiredness started to kick in. Not sleeping much + the amount of work we've been doing for the past month or two has made exhaustion and pain "come out". Despite this, we ended up going to my bros room and complete it's cleaning. Feeling what we felt, our smartness had decreased dramatically lol We reach the room and the following occurs:

Mama: "Aaaah! I forgot the keys to the room. I swear I was feeling like I've forgotten something but it wouldn't come to me."

G: *laughs like an idiot from tiredness*
"it's okay. Let's go back and get them."

*mama pulls out of the drive way and we head back home. On the way...*

G: "I feel like crying from all this. I'm happy and all but I'm so tired."

Mama: "Same here, haha. This whole moving thing has started taking a toll on us"

*takes a wrong turn that has no exit while still talking to me but does not realize it*

G: "Mama where are you going?"
*starts laughing*

Mama: *looks at me and starts laughing hysterically and uncontrollably while trying to reverse and turn the steering wheel which was a huge mission because of tiredness*

G: *laughs at mama for laughing the way she did and for not being able to turn the steering wheel*

We laughed for maybe a whole minute, turning tomato red and tearing up. It was the sort of laugh where "what's happening" is funny yet sad at the same time. I just thought we've gone crazy.

When we got the keys and went back to the room, again we had forgotten to get another important item. An adapter for the vacuum cleaner since it's from Oman and does not fit to the style of NZ sockets. So I drove, like a psycho, back home to get the adapter while mama began work on the room.

Windows (from outside and inside), a couch, the bed's mattress and the carpet were given a nice good clean. The place smelt good and looked clean. We're satisfied now.

We went back home, took nice long showers and had a cup of coffee while planning what needs to be done for the rest of the day. All plans went down the drain though because the two hour rest that we decided to give ourselves went longer than it should, so we decided to call it quits for the day and I decided to bring us kebab's from Salateen (a halal Moroccan restaurant -- I think it's Moroccan lol) since I don't want mama to cook. It was a good dinner. Quite beautiful actually. I'd have to say it was the highlight of the day because it was the whole family talking and letting out the "adventures" of the day.

After dinner, we crossed out yet another day of December.

[Movie] Paranormal Activity (2007)

Plot:

After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban "starter" tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.
Oooook!

This movie was horrible! Yes, horrible. It's truly as scary as you've heard it would be. I just want to know, is this under the horror genre, because honestly if it was then it was the scariest horror movie I've ever seen. Well, it's probably the first horror movie that I actually thought was scary/horrible because most horror movies I've seen, to-date, are mostly gore with a lame or no story and I didn't find them scary but more like disgusting. So kudos to Paranormal Activity for actually being scary.

Anyways, back to the movie; like I was saying it was very scary, horrible scary, thrill scary. A "scary" that you don't usually enjoy (I did not just say that lol since when anyone enjoys scary?). There came a certain point in the movie where I was going to close my laptops screen or even just throw the laptop out of the window because I was alone and started getting really freaked out. Weird enough I was glued to the screen because I want to see.... . I had to keep watching. My eyes where all over the place because I didn't want to miss anything. Then once you notice something different or out of place you start freaking out because you know something is going to happen. Worst thing for me about this movie is not being able to see much because it was dark and all I relied on was the time at the bottom-left corner of the screen and the sound.

The way this movie was filmed was awesome (my opinion of course). It's one of those movies where just "raw" footage was used just like in Cloverfield and Quarantine. You know how people send their funny video to "America's Funniest Home Videos"? (example) Like that. A family video. It made everything seem like it was...real. I started freaking out actually because I thought this was a true story until the end where I read it wasn't.

Now the actors/acting. I'm kind of in the middle with them. A part of me is thinking the acting was lame and not done so well, while at the same time I thought this is what gave the viewers the feel that it's "real"; like they're not reading of a script or anything of this sort but more like they're the ones making this movie. It was natural.

The ending was a disappointment for me. Endings are so important because it's like the slap to the face or something. Endings are usually the one that you excess talk about because they were THAT great. It was average. I was expecting a worse horrible scare.

I watched this movie alone which is actually a mistake because the night I watched it I couldn't sleep at all. Surprise surprise, I know it takes me time to sleep but the movie just made me worse and I was still freaked out from it. My heart even hurt from all the "holding breath in" and the scares, so on, so on.

I'm planning to watch this again with my friends but I'm still not over watching it the first time lol It was horrible and it truly messes you up big time.

8/10

No way, José!

:: I can officially and finally say I'm done with my Bachelors. My marks for my four papers came out last Friday, and hamdulAllah (Thanks to God) I have passed with good grades and managed to do well in a paper that I was worried about. I carry a Bachelors Degree in Computing and Mathematical Sciences (BCMs) now. How cool is that?! Looking back at the days, I remember when people came to ask me what I'm studying and I'd say the full name of my degree. It was a mouthful lol but yay, I'm done!

:: I've started work on my clients third website and I'm enjoying it since I've missed designing and coding websites. Here's a sneak peak.

It's still under construction. First thing I need to do is re-size those icons on the top-right corner; they're too big. Check out that name at the bottom =P

:: I hate goodbyes.

:: G is officially a Full License holder baby-eh YEAH! I had my 1 hour long test yesterday, and I have to say it was nerve wrecking and quite hard. To be honest, I was beyond shocked that I passed because I almost killed us. When that huge mistake occurred, I gave up all hope. I was told to take us (instructor and I) back to the station and that's when I was telling my self while driving all the way back that I failed. "Oh my gorsh! I have to take the tests in Oman. How the heck will I ever pass?!" and all those negatives thoughts just rushed through. What they usually do is they tell you if you passed/failed when you've parked the car at the station. So I parked the car, in a retarded way, and waited for the bad news.

Instructor: Well...*pause*....you passed, BUT! ...
G: I PASSED?! *surprise in my voice*
Instructor:...you need to be careful with your speed (yeah I was speeding) and intersections. Other than that, you did well.

I went into a fit of thank you's, then the instructor went for smoke. I guess I stressed him out lol

:: the countdown to going back to Oman (for good) has started since Monday. Twenty Seven days to go. Day by day I get more excited yet impatient because I just want to get there. Stress is in the air since we're trying to sort out everything quickly so we can be on the safe side. Though at the same time, we're trying to enjoy as much of the days we've got left here in NZ; especially the driving in my case.

Black Coats

This was taken in Rotorua last Saturday.

:: besides all this busy-ness with work, traveling within NZ and packing, I manage to get some of the things I consider fun for me. I've said this before I guess but my freakish-ness for movies has returned so I try to get down a movie a day.

The new set:

• The Women (drama)
  
• The Love Guru (comedy)
  
• The Man Who Cried (drama)
  
• The Haunted Mansion (family)
• Gone Baby Gone (drama)

Surprising isn't it? Not a single thriller. I guess I've been abusing them lately or maybe not many have caught my attention at the video store, hence the "light" choices. I think I will write movie reviews, for every movie I watch, from now on so that this place stays alive. One is on "hold" at the moment.

Also, I've been playing one of the scariest games out there. Yes! It is. Fatal Frame III The Tormented (aka Project Zero 3) is the game. I'm more than half-way through, so I'm hoping that I finish it before I leave. I didn't go through any dramatic screaming fits like how you'd find on youchube (example below). I'm usually silent except for the few "Oh my God" (s) and "eeeeeeh" that escape me without knowing. There were a few days (maybe a week) where I had hardcore paranoia...at night. Yeah! The game had it's effects especially on my sleeping because I kept thinking that a dark figure is going to pass by my door while I'm in bed, so I had to keep myself awake, checking the door every 5 seconds just in case. Yes! I sound like a baby and I know it's just a game, but I have to say it is one of the scariest games I've ever played. I'm over it now, I sleep fine lol and I WILL FINISH IT! I have to. I came all this way and went through all that to give up in the end? No way, José!

Warning: excess swearing (they're a bunch of guys, so go figure).
I played this part and it was horrible.

:: Summer; what I don't like about summer is Sushi. Yes! Shocking as it may sound coming from yours truly, but Sushi just looses it during summer.

:: I'm addicted to m&m's O.O

[Band] Outlandish

Note: this post is dedicated to Nadia (aka Dofari Gucci) but it's open to everyone as well! *innocent*

Who are these guys?

Outlandish are a multi-award winning hip-hop group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, they consist of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Moroccan background), Waqas Ali Qadri (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and Lenny Martinez (born in Honduras and is of Cuban and Honduran descent). All three members are devoutly religious, Isam and Waqas being Muslims, and Lenny being Catholic. The band members live in Brøndby Strand.

Outlandish's hip-hop/R&B/soul music sound takes influences from their various backgrounds (Moroccan/Arab/Amazigh, Pakistani/Punjabi and Latin American), and although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu/Punjabi, Danish, and Arabic. All these influences make the music of Outlandish somewhat unique and this is easy to notice from the variety of genres covered in their albums. Outlandish often include themes about Islam and contemporary issues facing young Muslims in the west in their music, and sometimes their songs define a unique nasheed-like urban genre.

Read more at Outlandish's Wikipedia Page

Well I just want to blog about how fantastic these guys are and post some of my favorites and probably the best songs by Outlandish. I definitely consider them on my top favorite bands (out of all the American rocks bands list -__-") because honestly they're just fantastic and definitely do you proud for 1. who they are 2. their fantastic songs and 3. for the many strong messages they send out to the world and the youth of today. Kudos!

They've released 4 albums:

• 2000: Outland's Official
• 2002: Bread & Barrels Of Water
• 2005: Closer Than Veins
• 2009: Sound of a Rebel

Sadly, I only managed to get my hands on two albums, Closer Than Veins and Sound of a Rebel, and some of the well known songs, which became favorites, from Bread & Barrels of Water. If I have to say which album is my favorite so far then I'd definitely point at Closer Than Veins. That album is fantastic and I loved every single song!

Anyways, enough with the mushy talk and let me share some of their awesome songs.

Outlandish - Aicha


If you know this song then you're most probably singing along with it lol Beautiful!

Outlandish - Walou


Okay! This has to be my favorite from Bread & Barrels of Water.
A strong song with powerful lyrics, beautiful guitar work and a perfect video.

Outlandish - Guantanamo


A more upbeat song. About familia! *heart*

Outlandish - Look Into My Eyes


This song was originally a poem written by Gihad Ali (a Palestinian girl) which voiced out in the clearest way the distances between Palestinian experience and American experience. Another video was produced for this song that I like more.
A link to the Poem.

Outlandish - Callin' You


Aaah...I honestly just LOVE this song! ♥
Beautiful, beautiful! Better than any song that sings about women as if they're only pieces of meat. This is respect right here! Official Video
Taken from the Arabic song "Tamally Maak" by Egyptian superstar singer Amr Diab.

Outlandish - Always Remember


This beautiful song is the Callin' You of Closer than Veins album ♥

Outlandish - Feels Like Saving the World


Another upbeat song! Love it!
I didn't post the official video because they don't include Lenny's part in it (which is the nicest part lol). Link to Official Video
Just discovered that there is a Remix version by Svenstrup & Vendelboe of this song.

Fantastic band! If you don't know them or heard any of their songs, you're kinda missing out lol.

Oh and no one will ever find me listening to hip-hop/R&B/Rap but seriously these guys are a gigantic exception. Their songs have meaning I have to say.

The Official Outlandish Site ~~ Outlandish on MySpace Music

Tell us your favorite(s) =D

[What's This?] Who decides this stuff?

So I would like to know who decides that a certain movie is good, funny, scary and so on. No really! You find these little quotations on the back or front of a DVD cover along the lines of:

"Scary as Hell" Dustin Putman, themovieboy.com
"Mind Blowing" Philadelphia Weekly

you get the idea. Okay, they do state who said these but seriously, seriously how reliable are these sources? Some of these quotations are just a bit too much for a certain movies sometimes. Like you expect for a movie to be really scary but instead it turns out to be just pure gore and if you're lucky you get one tiny horrific, scary scene. Where's the "scariness" they're talking about? Or take a comedy. They say that it's so funny that you will fall of your chair (something like that lol) and surprise surprise you crack a laugh once or twice and that's it. I didn't fall of my chair! Where's the part that's going to make me fall of my chair!!?

I think they add these , just to boost the movie and get people to watch but how would you feel when you read something like that or you're the type of person that relies on these quotations and after you watch the movie you're probably disappointed by it? I mean come on, let's be honest here and admit that these little quotations are actually doing their jobs to a certain extent. I mean how many movies, that I've picked out, mislead me to thinking that the movie is going to be "something" or or (second 'or' intended) I've watched the movie first then I read the quotations on the covers to see how they exaggerated about it when the movie was just...average.

Okay okay! I know "to each his own...something something" but we're allowed to disagree and have our own opinions at the same time right? I mean aaargh! they can be quite frustrating. I think it's best to either rely on yourself or get some feedback from someone's taste in movies (especially if that person is interested in the same genres as you) you trust OR (!) the quotations should come from a "reliable source" (for example, I'M a reliable source! *Kidding*). Yes! Some of these quotations can be accurate and spot on but others, honestly, whaaaaa!?

P.S. This post might seem useless, will make you think "who cares!" and does not make sense. Well, it's 12:40am NZ time, I can't sleep, and I'm feeling drowsy but this topic came up while chatting to a friend the other day so I thought about it and decided to let it out here lol Also, I'm a movies freak so that's why I would care plus, I've seen many disappointing movies whether I read the quotations before or after watching the movie.

G'Night from Kiwi land!

Lazy Updater

I've been wanting to update this place since forever (I've got a couple of things in mind). I even clicked on the "new post" button a couple of times and I type one line but end up ditching it. Anywho, I've finally pushed myself to update! Talk about being a big lazy lol

:: I can say that I'm officially done with University....FOREVER (inshAllah!) but I do have my final year project report to complete which is not a biggie' because it's almost done. In the end, I can't believe I'm fully finished with uni. Four years just gone like that *snaps fingers* It went really fast and I have to say it's going to be weird not going to uni everyday, sitting in the lab where I find my mates and kind of get stuck there for the rest of the day working on assignments. Epic days! The labs were my second home. I'm going to miss these days and the people that were a part of them...and I'm also going to miss Bongo (best Sushi shop in the whole of Hamilton FYI) *tearing*

Last Sushi lunch for Sarz (she's leaving for Oman tomorrow): taken today.

:: I'm back to being a movie-holic/freak which I'm happy about, because this semester was very tough so I had lost this freakishness about movies. On Saturday is when I finally got the chance to rent some movies;

• Fight Club (Action)
• Super Bad (Comedy)
  
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Horror)
  
• Definitely Maybe (Drama/Romance)
  
• The Lookout (Thriller)
  
• City Hall (Thriller)
  
• Australia (Drama/Romance/War)

I'd be happy to take any suggestions, since I'm running out of movies to watch.
I have a feeling "City Hall" might get a nice review from me...so will see how that goes.

:: I should be getting back to my Web Design/Development job soon (after I hand in the final copy of my report) which I can't wait for because I really miss it. *Nerd alert* Honestly though, I really did miss it. One more website left to create for my client and I'll be done. Hopefully I'll be finished before we head back to Oman.

:: So we booked tickets for Oman on the 16th of December. I honestly can't wait to get back! Our stuff is getting sold and our house is getting emptier slowly *Yay*

:: Sarz suggested that I take on the 365 Project, where you take a picture of something that explains your day in one line "story". It sounds interesting and fun, plus I've gotten into photography lately so it's bound to give me good practice. I haven't decided when I'll start. I guess I'm just waiting for the "right picture" lol

:: Lastly, I've discovered that most of the videos I favorite on Youchube (intended) are acoustic (I love this word) covers of some of my favorite songs. Just the other day, I found a fantastic cover of Outlandish's beautiful song "Aicha" done by some Indonesian guys. One is playing the guitar and another is playing the beautiful Oud. So one can just imagine how amazing (IMO) it would sound. I LOVED IT! It's completely instrumental. What's awesomer is you can totally make out the tune. Perfect-o!

Listen to that Oud ♥

Watching this video made me want to learn the song (I think I tried before but it was hard) on my guitar and learn to play the Oud also! *crosses hands*

[Movie] Se7en (1995)

Plot:

Lt. William Somerset, a burnt-out veteran cop, is on the brink of retirement. Forced to train his ambitious and eager replacement, Somerset is teamed with Detective David Mills on an investigation that draws these disparate cops deeper and deeper into the twisted world of a cunning and meticulous criminal. He is methodical, exacting and grotesquely creative. He is known as John Doe and he is the most vicious serial killer alive, fashioning murders based on the seven deadly sins. As each new victim is discovered, the detectives must combine their collective experiences to track the trail of a killer bent on seeking attrition for society's sins.

Man oh man! When I get excited about something, or say am strongly amazed by or love then I get into fits of "SICK! This is SICK!". I don't mean it in a bad way, but more like to explain what I feel about the movie. I need a powerful word.

So yeah, this is one sick, sick...sick (!) movie. I don't know where to begin really, because there's so much I want to say but they're all clashing in my head. Let me start by saying, I truly loved this movie. It has definitely become my favorite movie of all time. I have to say that I enjoyed every second of it, from start to end. My eyes glued to the laptop's screen, my heart beating 300 (trying to be reasonable here) beats a minute and my brain working at 10 (trying to be reasonable here again =P) thoughts per minute. Well to be honest, that's exactly what I love about these sorts of movies.

Definitely expect disturbing/violent, maybe gory scenes but, there's a story behind it all. It's not just the typical one bad guy killing every single person in sight, blood splatter here and there, a shock now and then and done; that's the end of the movie....no, there's a story behind this one which makes those scene's bearable and somewhat...interesting.

Being the "thinker" I am (refer to previous post) this movie just took so much energy out me that I didn't even want to drink or eat anything because I just wanted to focus on every aspect of the movie, scene, message and words. I wanted to solve the mystery, I wanted to guess what would happen next or who's gonna go to the chopping block. There was one point of the movie, where I guess correctly who's going to be one of the victims but as the movie came to a near end I started changing my mind and thought someone else is the victim. It turned out I was right the first time round but my point here is, the movie really plays with your head.

It was pretty intense because of the atmosphere and the whole idea of murdering people according to the seven deadly sins. But, *shakes head with amazement* it was very interesting and the feelings you feel, it's not fear or disgust but more like a...thrill. The movie for me, basically picked up when the action started, because right after that everything started coming together.

The actors.

Morgan Freeman's character I didn't like at all. Too cold for my liking and a personality that said "I'm the best". His job, in my opinion, turned into more like a satisfactory thing rather than being the good detective, saving people and it's my job kind of thing. I have to admit he became nicer later on but I wouldn't say he was a favorite. If you've seen this movie, you might disagree with me, but this is my personal opinion *grins*.

Brad Pitt's character was the nice, good, funny, smart and dumb but has a lot of wrath kind of character. I couldn't take him seriously at some certain parts of the movie even though he's being serious. I just laughed every time he opened his mouth. He laughs at his own jokes and when he includes a swear word at the end of his sentence...hahaha *remembers a scene* He was definitely the top in this movie. An astounding (first time I use this word) and unforgettable performance I have to say. He "shined" in the ending scene!

The bad guy, John Doe is how I will refer to him here instead of his real name because that alone is a surprise that I don't want to spoil, for me, beats Brad Pitt's performance by just a bit. When he first fully appeared on the screen, and the way he appeared was amazing for your information, I asked my self "wait, I know this person, looks familiar. Naaawh it can't be him. What did they do to his hair?". I was more assured by who it was from the credits (!!). He's one of my favorite actors. What disturbed me the most about him is his face. He had no expressions whatsoever. It was just one look the whole time; a look of utter carelessness, smartness and satisfaction. He cracked a smile at one point but nothing to get excited over *laughs* I could keep talking about him but then I'll just have to spill the beans.

The worst sin for me will have to be gluttony (always have been ever since I watched Full Metal Alchemist *anime*) and after watching this movie, lust comes in second place.

Best scene, for me, would have to be the final scene. It was beautiful (the place) first of all and that's where your thoughts go crazy because anything could happen at the moment; that's all I will say. Oh, and when the end is reached and the scene fades out, just before the credits start rolling, you see:

##### ###### John Doe

the name of the actor that played the role of John Doe, then the credits roll. Honestly that part alone, black screen and letters in white, was fantastic for me. I just loved it! Argh, I don't know how to explain it...I just love it *laughs*

Lastly, David Fincher directed this movie so go figure. Kudos!

A must see!
A movie you'll never forget.

10/10

[What's This?] "Analyzer "

I will always and forever be an "analyzer" (or a thinker) unless some kind of miracle happens where a lightening bolt strikes me and stops me from this madness.

Thursday night, I had quite a long chat with a good friend of mine which kind of went into the late night hours (11:00-11:30pm) and since my friend knows the kind of person I am, I was told to head to bed early since I "need", at least, one hour and a-half to analyze and think about "whatever I think about". I immediately defended myself by saying that that is not true.

It was true...

One may ask, what in the world would G think about? Well, that night I ended up thinking about my last assignment for my COMP437 paper - which is having to write a wiki article on "Feedback Relevance" and designing an interface to complement the article. I just kept getting ideas and sentences of how and what to start my wiki article with. After a while, I realized that my friend was right about me. Here I am, lying in bed, 12:30am and thinking about what to write for my assignment. O......kay! At that point I got angry and finally admitted that this is a problem because I could've used the one hour or so of thinking, by sleeping! Hence, came thinking part 2. I started thinking that I'm going to blog about this particular..."thing" and include it in the category "What's This?". I also started thinking how should I start it, what to write and so on, which all basically took about half an hour. Oh! I also thought if I should include a picture with this post and what should it be. Am I crazy? Yes, I think I am.

I stopped myself from all this madness and decided to get a drink of water. When I got back in bed, I finally fell asleep. So, I guess I should've done this earlier if it was going to make me sleep.

Next morning, I lost all my train of thoughts, all my ideas for my assignment and "this blog post" (which is about three days late by the way) and everything just turned out differently than what I thought about. What I thought about seemed cooler (!) but it's all forgotten now due to my incredible power of remembering things.

Word of the day: "think"

Are you a ?

P.S. If you're wondering why I used that picture, well, that's L from an anime called Death Note (best anime out there) and he is a major thinker! It's part of his job though.

Assassin's Creed Machinima

So it's finally done! *laaaah holy music*
It took quite a lot of work but I managed to do it.
I hope the lecturer doesn't ask me to add or change something about it because that would be troublesome lol

Used a couple of programs to get it done.

- World of Warcraft Model Viewer (to get the characters)
- World of Warcraft Map Viewer (to get the world)
- Fraps (for recording the actions)
- CineGobs (for editing)
- Windows Movie Maker (for putting it all together)

This is a final project worth 45% of the final mark for my Game Studies paper...dun dun dun duuuuuun. So Yeah! It's pretty huge.

It's not as smooth as I would've liked it to be but I'm happy with it!

The credits is the best part for me lol
=====================

It's officially the last week of uni, tomorrow being the last day.
I'm pretty amazed by how fast this year has gone, actually, more like gobsmacked. I guess this is good in a way but at the same time you feel like you're running out of time or something. I can't really say that I completely finish tomorrow because I have some huge projects due in the next to weeks. So one can say, my "last day" of uni is on the 30th of October. That's good enough for me because I won't feel so under pressure and for once, I don't have exams/assignments due during my birthday! I can't wait to start watching movies again *cries*, I miss that A LOT!

[Music] The Sound of Reason - Palestine

Let the video and song speak everything...

Long live Palestine!

[Music] Outlandish - Always Remember

Weh! Haven't posted one of these song "reviews" in a while, so here's one.

Have always been a fan of Outlandish. These guys are fantastic! I only found out yesterday that they've released a fourth album, Sound of A Rebel, around May this year (Yeah, I know! So much for being a big fan). I'm this late because NZ doesn't know anything about these guys...sadly. So I had to do the searching myself. But anyways, I've listened to the first five songs of the album, and I have to say they've changed quite a bit compared to their previous work. The reason to why I haven't listened to the rest of the album is because I kinda got the "on repeat" craze for one of their songs. Yup! Always Remember. One could say it's the Callin' You of Outland's Closer Than Veins album. I just love this track. It's absolutely beautiful, vocally and lyrically.

So if you haven't heard it yet, here it is!

I think it's the lyrics that go to me =P

Edit: Feels Like Saving The World is another fantastic song from their new album!

An Open, Wide, Grass Field

You know how sometimes you just feel like running in an open, wide, grass field? I want to do this at the moment. Like run and run and run till I get the biggest stitch that anyone could ever get and have a breathing attack. Also, I don't want to run in a wide circle, I want the field to be infinite so that I can just run forwards till I get sick of running. This would do good...exclude the stitch and breathing attack though.

Well, apparently, my final year of university is coming to end and one can only imagine how hectic these last few months have been...from every single aspect. I think this weekend was the first time I get this shiver within me just from realizing and remembering the amount of work I have to do between now and the 23rd of October. It didn't feel nice to be honest, but hey! I guess this is what University is all about...I mean getting all worked up and working your brain off by getting everything done and in time.

Here's what I've got going:

• SMST319 [Game Studies] 20% Test - 5th October
• COMP436 [Advanced Graphics and Computer Games] Project Topic Presentation - 6th October
  
• SMST319 [Games Studies] 45% Final Project - 12th October
• COMP437 [Information Retrieval] 20% Assignment 4 - 21st October
• COMP436 [Advance Graphics and Computer Games] 20% Project Implementation + Report - 23rd October
  
• COMP477 [Report of an Investigation] 100% Project Implementation + Report - 23rd October
  

Bloody... Crazy stuff right there, eh! They're all huge and go towards the final mark so inshallah 5air! I can't wait till it's over, where I can get back to my job that's been on halt this whole semester due to the study work load plus selling our things and the packing for Oman to start. Yay!

I should head to bed.
I've decided, for the next few weeks, to wake up early and do something useful towards my studies; get some work done basically. That's if I can get myself out of bad that early in the morn'.

G'Night

Friend

Friends are beautiful.
I don't mean physically but in a general way...friends are beautiful. You can always count on a friend, or friends, to make your day. Honestly, it takes many things to get you down, to ruin your mood or your day, list goes on, and yet you have this friend that just lifts you up and make you forget about every single negative thing that came your way. They cheer you up and make you laugh, and when you give them a hug (depending on who it is -- to guys it's a No No) as a thank you gesture, they start to wince and claim that they got your coodies (yeah I know it's cooties but I've always said coodies), which makes you laugh even more.

Special bonds are made just like that, a snap of finger, especially when you feel you've chosen the right friend and you've thought carefully who is your right, true friend. I'm not saying every friend you come across is perfect and the friendship lasts forever. No. Surely, in every friendship there are the ups and downs, some to the point that strong friendships are forever broken, but that's what makes a friendship perfect anyway...these ups and downs I mean. Specifically the downs, they test the strength of the friendship. It tests whether if either side is worthy or deserving to return to. Am I right or am I right? *pokes tongue out*

Your friend is special to you. You need to appreciate them and never forget them. Believe you me, you can't forget about them because your so used to them being in your life every day that if there comes a day where you don't see them or spoken to them in some way you'd feel there's something wrong in the whole picture...there's something missing. This just shows how special and important they are to you...to me.

N.B. There are many more aspects of what a friend is, but I'm just sticking with the obvious ones.

But here's the thing; Treat people the way you want to be treated. Right? So what does this tell you? Since this is how you feel about your friend (all the things I explained) and that's how special they are to you, then guess what! Surely, that's how they feel about you too. YOU'RE a special and important friend to your friend(s). You're the one that's missed when a day goes by with your friend who feels there's something missing in their day. Right? I hope so.

So this post, is just dedicated to friends.
Don't forget that you're a friend too =)

Love goes out to all of my friends.

P.S. Friend can refer to a number of friends, not just one.

[What's This?] Your Own Advice

Have you ever found your self in a situation where you can give good advice and boost up the person you're advising, yet you don't apply this advice on yourself? I will not deny this but I'm constantly in such situations and I only realize it when I'm in a stressed out mood. It's a good thing to give advice to people, especially if they were friends. It makes you feel good that you cheered up someone or you gave them a little push to get them on their way. Then after a few days or so, they come to tell you "I did what you advised me, and I'm so happy everything is going well...". It's a nice feeling isn't it? ^^

I've been told a couple of times that I'm good at advising people yet I'm the worst at advising myself or following my own advice. This sentence might've sounded weird to you. I mean, you might ask yourself "What the hell, you already know the advice so just take it?", but it actually doesn't work that way. There's a bit more to it. I have to agree with this sentence; I also doubt I'm the only one agreeing and surly there's absolutely nothing wrong with it because after all we're only human.

I've discovered that most of the times it's best to hear advice from others even though you know it already. It's just different when it's coming from someone, especially if they were close. The best thing is when they feel that there's something with you even though you're doing your best to hide it. It's nice. Plus, feeling good afterward comes with the package so there's nothing negative about that. One may say, "No, I don't need advice, people don't need to know what I'm feeling/thinking. I'm not that type of person. I'm strong...", surprise surprise you may find yourself, one day, in need of a person with the right advice that will lift you up and change this idea that's in your head.

There you go!

[What's This?] Just a recap

Note: I've changed the name of these posts at least three times. First they used to be "I hate #" where I got the comments hate is a strong word. Okay! So I changed it to "Segment #"...and I thought that was just to dull so I finally changed it to a categorical title "[What's This?]" and I'm planning to stick with it :D

What's "[What's This?]" about?
I quote what I wrote in my first post for this category:

So I'm starting this new, let's call it..."segment" =P where I state something that I hate. May it be daily life stuff, food, games, actions, clothes, whatever. I can start a segment where I state the "something I like"...but there are too many good things in this life (right?) so it's just those few things that may annoy/anger/tick/etc you that DO stand out.

So here it goes.

Examples of some previous topics I've blogged about that you can check out if you're interested:

* [What's This?] Don't Do This!
* [What's This?] Gangsta Wannabes
* [What's This?] Patience Test -- This is a really long post but surly you will enjoy reading it =P
* [What's This?] A Salam and A Smile
* [What's This?] You're life must be boring

I've got two pending [What's This?] topics one of which is being written at the moment. So yeah!

Stay tuned.

Is it Eid yet?

So here's what happened. I started receiving txts after ftoor saying that "The moon has been sighted, so tomorrow is Eid. Eid Mubarak everyone!", so on and so on. I was so out of this world with this news because I didn't want Eid to be on Monday, since I've got 3 hours of lectures plus a 30% assignment due on that day. So I can imagine that the day would be finished by the time I can do anything for Eid.

After the "Wohoo's" and "In your face, tomorrow's Eid" and "Eid Mubarak", I receive a txt from friends saying to go over to their house to put henna. I love henna and the two Eid's is about the only time where I get to put it. As I was getting henna-ed I was FWD-ing and receiving txt messages from friends, when I read the mother of all let downs; "Eid is not tomorrow it's on Monday". "The moon is actually not sighted, so tomorrow is the 30th of Ramadan, Sorry for the false news". And some crazy person actually sent "April fools tz nt eid 2mrw! Tz on Monday. Sory!", who got an angry reply from yours truly of "You Suck!". Pretty sad isn't it, what they did to us I mean. Like the excitement when you get the news that it's Eid has gone to waste. Now if someone told me, "EID IS TOMORROW", the reply will be "Yeah old news. Already know that since Saturday". The feeling is just gone.

Ah well. It was by accident I guess. Another day of the holy month to go so we should totally use this day wisely. I just feel sorry for the friends that I txt'd with the news, who txt'd their friends who txt'd their friend's friends and so on. Small country, so word get's around pretty quickly.

Anywho, since I'm flooded with uni (4 weeks till the semester finishes *eyes pop out*) work at the moment plus Eid is just around the corner, I feel that I won't be able to blog much until I get some of the things out of the way. So I'd like to wish you all, in advance, my wonderful readers, if you guys are still reading me -- I'm sorry for not updating much, EID MUBARAK! Kel 3am Wa Ento Be Alf 5air! May God accept our fasting and bless us and our families, Ameen. I also wish you all a wonderful Eid with many sweets and money-eh! =D

P.S. I've got a couple of things that'd I'd like to blog about, and I think I will write them down somewhere just so I don't forget them. Stay tuned.

G'Night

Mama says: Is everybody here?!!

So back to uni and 2 weeks of the holy month, Ramadan, have already passed. It was nice to have a 2 week break which crossed with the start of Ramadan so we'd only have to fast 2 weeks while at uni. Not complaining.

I haven't updated in quite a while which is odd I guess...but seriously, for once I have nothing to talk about or something that I would share on here anyways =P

For the past 2 weeks, I just sunk myself into my duties as a Muslima, gaming (yeah! I got into gaming), so many Iftaar gatherings...*off topic: just noticed a scratch on my arm O.O*...and trying to get as much sleep as possible -- which was impossible (sadly) because my sleep is just seriously messed up.

Anywho, on a lighter note, as I was putting on my shoes this morning, to go to uni, I spotted a bunch of baby ducks and their mother walking from behind my brothers car. I was so happy to see such a cute "scene" that early (11am...lol) in the morning. Made my day really. I've assumed that they were in our back garden eating left over rice and bread from last nights Iftaar, because they were coming from that direction. Of course, I carry my camera everywhere I go now, so I immediately took out the camera and started shooting. I tried to get as close as possible but that only scared them and made them walk faster. Aaaw, I just wanted to grab one of those baby duckies and hug it.

I feel in this shot the mother is saying: "Is everybody here?"

I think they were heading to uni because they were going in the same direction as I was. Well, the closest lake is at uni anyways. Safest place for them so hope they made it there safely.

Taqabal Allah 9iyamakum!

G'Night

Ramadan is upon us!

First of all I'd like to say Ramadan Mubarak dear readers! I wish you all a blessed month for you and your families...for all of us. May Allah accept our fasting ya rab!

It's almost going to be a whole year since my first post in this blog. Can't believe it. A whole year (on 9/9/09)!! Looking back at those days, so many things have changed. I'm looking forward to Ramadan. Actually, I'm always looking forward to it. Even though I'm in NZ and there's a different feel to it in the Arab/Muslim countries, it still feels like something else. Not like any other day. I just love it!

A mini update on me:

Well what can I say, it's been a pretty hectic B-semester for me with lots of weird, crazy, stressful and pressuring things happening. On top of all of this, I had gotten really sick with a flu, recently. Yes! I totally suspected that swine flu has finally gotten to me, but el 7amdulellah it turned out to be just the usual winter flu.

All of these things happened but I'm just thankful that I had wonderful, amazing friends by my side supporting and pushing me to do what I can. You guys well know who you are (some will not be reading this because they don't know about my blog xD) so just know I'm thankful for you guys! <3 Also, love goes out to my Mama!

So a two week "holiday" has started here, today was the last day, and I'm pretty glad that we'd only have to fast two weeks during uni. The reason why I used quotations marks in holiday is because, well, you can't say it's a holiday really. I mean, I've got 3 assignments to hand in next week so I'll be going into uni to do some work plus I have my full semester project. Crazy right! A lot to do...which is good because I'd like to be busy rather than not.

Lately I've been interested in Horror Games O.O Yeah! I know...where did that come from? Actually it came from my Game Studies course that I'm taking this semester. The main focus is on horror games, and for our first assignment we have to play a game and analyze it by writing a 2000-2500 word essay. I've been playing Resident Evil 4...and I LOVE IT!

Anyways, this is it from me. I should go sleep, since tonight we will have so7or inshallah (3 hours and a half to go....I'm so going to be cranky xD).

Ramadan Mubarak all!
G'Night

Suheir Hammad - Def Poetry

Okay! So I had to share this because this video is one of those videos that just moves you powerfully. This young women is amazing and her words are just...*cannot think of a powerful word to describe the words*

Honestly, I'm amazed and happy by this. No matter how many times I watch it I still get fascinated and moved by it like it's the first time I watch this video.

A must see!

Thanx to Sarz for sharing this with me! <3

[Travel] My Kamboo3a is bigger than yours

Thursday 16th July
Location - Al Khod, Oman
Time - 12:00pm

Aaargh! I'm in such a depressive mood right now. I really miss my cousins and every single one of my relatives. It sucks living so far away like this *angry*.

I also miss Jordan...I actually really do. It was so much fun! Not bad for a country that I had so much negative thoughts about. As for Oman...well Oman is so friggin' HOT!...and quite boring =P I don't want to be here lol. I really can't believe how air conditioners are crucial...objects in this country. I don't know how people without an AC are fighting this oven lol.

We're here for just 2 days so we only went to City Center, since it's near also. I checked out a few shops and bought a few things but honestly I was a walking zombie. I didn't feel like being there. But here's the thing...everything has changed...negatively and positively. There were some...humans that were out of place if I can say also lol.

The guys. You've got the ones with the dishdasha, which I find very handsome...them wearing the dishdasha not the guys...don't get me wrong here xD, then there are those with jeans and a shirt or a nice Qamee9. Modern, stylish and most importantly reasonable. Then! You see you're 'Gangsta Wannabes' or even worse...'The triplets' as I like to call them.

'The Triplets' consists of three guys who wear the same shoe, pants, shirt, hair-cut, hair-do, and hair-band. The hair-cut is usally of neck length. The hair-do is blow dried and curved at the tips. The hair-band is used to pull the hair back from the front.

..................

What the?! What's this "new" trend xD? Yes! Believe it or not it's a trend since I didn't just see one 'The Triplets' but more than one. I was shocked to be honest. What's fascinating though is their height. They're all the same height as well! =O I already find it weird when girls do this even though it's alright and a commen thing but to see guys doing this and with that hair-do, is just the cherry on top really!

So I finally saw the real Kamboo3a, scarf...thingy that girls wear. I got warned about this; by Omani girls. Some even said that I will laugh when I see how ridiculously high those things can get, but I actually freaked out. Seriously! I was shocked.

I was waiting to get into a dressing room to try on something when this girl came out of one of the dressing rooms....O.O This was my first Kamboo3a sighting. I think she blew dried her hair because her fringe was perfectly made in a way that it sat 7cm above her head. Then there was something higher, behind the fringe, that's covered by a black scarf. I think it was 15cm high *eyes pop out* Her head was so huge, vertically and horizontally! It looked really heavy also =\ On top of all of this about one kilogram of makeup plus blue contact lenses. Why all of this?

I found out that girls with high kamboo3a's compete with other girls to see who's kamboo3a is higher. The following conversation occurred behind me where some girls were standing very close:

Girl 1: "Why are you looking at her?"
Girl 2: "Oh! I'm not looking at her face, I just want to see if her kamboo3a is higher than mine. It's not."
Girl 1: "Aah ok."

So both of these girls saw a girl walking by (her abaya and kamboo3a caught their attention) and apparently girl 2 looked too much at the walking by girl and hence the conversation.

Well people, I'm very much shocked. I saw some reasonably sized Kamboo3a's (man I hate this word now xD am I even saying it right?) which didn't go over the head but behind it and I thought those looked really nice. But the over sized ones are just...eye popping.

Anywho, our flight back to NZ is sometime at or after Fajr...not sure. But all I know is we have to be at the Airport by 3am. So no sleep for us. I'm just waiting to have lunch (even though I don't feel like it but I'm being forced to eat since I haven't been eating much lately) then I'm off to get some sleep.

That's the end of it, sadly.

[Travel] Emo's vs. Pink Muscles

Monday 13th July
Time - 10:00am
Location: Arajan, Jordan

So we managed to get time, as a family, to go and do something together. We went to a place called Share3 Al Wekalat which is a long street where you have these more modern shops/restaurants on your left and right. It was not bad. Quite nice actually!

I managed to buy 3 shoes from this shop *forgot its name*, so was pretty happy about that. I definitely got disturbed in that shoe shop though because for one thing I know there are men who grow their pinky nail, to pick...stuff. But to grow the nail of the thumb is a first time. It was absolutely long and perfectly shaped O.o I wanted to break it! Ergh! *shivers* Okay! It's not like I approve of growing the pinky nail but the thumb?! Seriously?

After paying we went out and continued our walk to see many more...unexpected types of people.

You've got your Emo's. Yes! The emo trend is pretty popular here and it's the full look too; the hair, the clothes and even the makeup. The guys and the girls. I remember seeing one the first day we arrived. I was sitting with my bros in the back seat of my uncles car and this car passed by us:

Gchan: "EMO!!"

Bro gives me this scared/confused look and says:

Bro: "Oy! There are so many here...they think it's cool or something."

Then, there's the group of guys with major muscles and tight.pink.shirts.....
This did it for me >_<

Then came the fellas from the Gulf. They actually made me laugh and ticked off at the same time. Who would go from one country to another just to sit in Starbucks? Who! I find that quite retarded since there are all these nice, sha3bee - the country's own cafe's and restaurants - places. I know it's none of my business and stuff but seriously...Starbucks?!! Shame on them.

Anyways, this happened about 2-3 days ago and I just got the chance to write about it. I spent the last 2 days catching up with friends, shopping, visiting family and spending the night at my aunts house, which was a lot of fun. My cousins and I stayed up to watch a horror movies, Friday the 13th, which was a complete waste of time. We laughed at how stupid it was though...such a typical horror.

I couldn't sleep that night. I kept on thinking that we have almost 2 days till we leave and that just made me really sad. Getting back to our life in NZ...meh!

[Travel] The Road to the Pink City

Monday 6th July
Time - 10:11am
Location: Arajan, Jordan

So yesterday we had a cousins only trip to...PETRA!!! Oh. My. Gosh! This is one amazing place! I've been wanting to visit it ever since I saw Transformers 2 xD. It's such an amazing, beautiful place that photos won't do it justice.

We rented a mini-van and al hamdulellah it was perfect for 10 people (even though it was just an 8 seats van lol) . My favorite uncle came with us to drive us there...we specifically chose him because it was like he's one of us. He totally made the trip even more fun with his lovely personality and sense of humor. We were 4 girls and 5 guys (not including uncle). We got picked up around 5am and headed on the road to Petra. We were all very excited and crazy (that early in the morning eh?! xD). It takes around 3-4 hours to get to the Red City, but it didn't feel that long because we were talking, singing, and eating.

The road to Petra is a pretty desert-ee road but it was still very nice and mashallah the weather was perfectly amazing! I asked my uncle if he can just stop, anywhere basically, so we can take some pictures. And so he did. We fooled around a bit and one of my cousins taught us how to do the Dabka so we all ended up doing it. It's pretty easy actually...thought it'd be more complicated than that lol.

Back on the road!

The nice thing was that the road was completely empty...but who goes out that early eh? When we came close to reaching Petra we were able to see how huge it was:

When we finally got there and entered, we were welcomed by a long, open and, again, desert-ee road. If I remember correctly I think we walked a total (going and coming) of at least 10K's. It was uber tiring!

So we started our walk taking pictures here and there.

Oh! The smell...was absolutely horrific xD There were horses that took people, who wanted a ride, to a certain checkpoint before entering the actual walkway to Petra. So imagine all the poo lying around lol.

After bit of walking, we finally reach the main path to Petra.

This was a long walk too. Longer than the desert road at the beginning. But it was a nicer and cooler place.


Finally we reached Petra. It was an awesome feeling, like you've achieved something and it's as if you're in a movie - like how you turn the corner then you find what you were looking for - like that lol.


It was pretty amazing. Very fascinating also. Loved it a lot! There were a lot of tourists there, mostly Asians and Americans. I wonder how they stood the sun. It wasn't hot but the sun was totally out there.

We started getting hungry so we went to find a place to sit and eat. My uncle ended up taking us up this scary, rocky mountain...it was pretty dangerous if you ask me, but we made it and it was a good, beautiful spot to have a picnic.

After getting energized with food we continued our walk deeper into Petra.

We reached a point where we were practically dead. We hadn't had much sleep, due to the excitement, so one can imagine how sleepy we were. All the walking we did just took it's toll on us. It was so hot, that time of day, the sun was way up in the sky, hitting us with it's rays. Plus we were really sweaty and stunk so bad lol...actually I think it was the animal "droppings". All of that and we still had the walk back to the car. Nobody had energy.

The walk back took us twice as long as the walk going...plus we ended up riding horses the last half-hour of the walk because that's it...we were done! My horse seemed to feel the same way as we did lol...poor thing. He just couldn't walk. As we neared the getting off place he made this really loud scream-horse sound and actually stopped in it's tracks. The owner gave him a tug and the horse gathered itself and moved.

I ended up apologizing to him saying something like "I'm so sorry for making you carry me all the way here"...he just looked at me like in the picture lol. *cute*

We all slept on the ride home. We ached so bad to get home and have a cool shower lol. I couldn't stand myself. Oh! I was wearing white boots, they came back pink xD so we were very sandy as well.

All in all, it was the most amazing trip ever!!
Never to be forgotten!


p.s. all pictures from Petra will soon be uploaded to flickr =)