Ramadhan

Ily's recent post gives me the idea to write down this entry. This year's Ramadhan is quite different than last year's as we started on early September, which bring forward iftar as late as 830 p.m. in Lafayette (it's getting earlier though). And it's a bit tiring at the beginning. My 1st day was in my so-called-hometown, 'The Red River Gorge, KY', specifically, Miguel's Pizza.

It was the weekend of labor day plus a canceled morning class on the coming Tuesday, which gave me along with Kate, Adrian and Andy plenty of time having a relaxed-climbing trip. It was not until 3 hours I left Purdue that I called Addin asking solat time, which I rarely forget to jot down before heading to The Red, I figured the 1st of Ramadan was the coming Monday!

There was no problem at all fasting at The Red plus climbing at least 4 routes per day. On Monday after done climbing, Jenny came with an idea to do drive-in movie. And it was gonna be 3 movies back to back! Oh ya, drive-in movie or theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. So, basically we pay $2 for each movies and of course drive in into parking area, turn on radio channeled through the frequency given, sit back, grab popcorn and enjoy!

So, Jenny decided, as she always does, to have an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I didn't tell them that I was fasting that day. We drove 30mins away from Miguel's and got into this fancy Mexican restaurant in Winchester. When it came to my turn to order, I just said no, which was totally surprising everybody. It is uncommon for us not to have a big meal after such a tiring day of climbing as we always have at least 4 big slices of Miguel's Pizzas. Also, we kinda climbed a bit harder than days before since it was the last day.

As I told them that I was fasting because of Ramadhan, because Muslims before me had to do so, I can neither drink nor eat anything at all bla bla bla, I was bombarded with tons of questions!

Andy: "What if when you're climbing, you're sweating and the sweat drop into your mouth?"
"What if when you brush your teeth and you drink some water?"
"What if I shovel pizza into your mouth now?"
"What if you climb, falls and almost dying in need of water?"
It all came at once! And I was like "Andy..." but Kate goes "Stop it Andy! Otherwise you're gonna be thrown into the Hell." I didn't know whether to laugh or not, but Kate's response making sure I was not troubling myself answering those questions, considering that I was starving, I found hilarious.

The best part of it was when I bought this super duper delicious ikan bakar to eat while watching movies. AND of course Ale-8, a kind of soda which I brought some home a while ago and some people thought they were beers, which doesn't offend me at all. AND drive-in theater was great! I think better than normal theater.
Hmmm.... I miss the Red....

Dude next to me

So..
It was 930 in the morning. I was so sleepy in WTHR200 com lab.
Was transferred from SC G076. WTHR200 was locked...I couldn't get in...had to call site operator...she was late..people kept on asking me why it's closed...bla bla bla bla...
I started working at 645, ONE and HALF an hour to go.
Need to study for STAT quiz later.
Need to collect materials for my OIL! class paper, which is due tonight.
Need to read a play for my Sound Technology Design final project.

AND all of sudden, there was this kid sitting next to my computer station goes,
"Excuse me, how many electoral votes does it take to win presidential election? 273 or 270?"

I was like, what? how the hell on earth SHOULD I know about it? Do not I look Asian enough not to be asked such question?

But looking at how he was in hurry writing a paper next to me, I just tembak by confidently goes "273."

He thanked me and continued writing. But I felt bad if it was a wrong answer. So, I googled the question and found out it's actually 27.
"Dude, it's 270."

He thanked me again.

I think I should read Paan's blog a lot. Putting the fact that Computer Lab Assistants NEED to be customer friendly. What a policy....

Circle

Getting back to the Red last week was a hell of fun. Climbing three days in a row, 4-5 routes a day, leading couple of tens and catching up with climbers at Miguel's were something worth for after a long vacation back to Malaysia, though I missed PUMSA's callout.

Not even an hour we left Miguel's, it came across my mind how much I miss the woods. But with these people surrounded around me, I supposed my life at Purdue will be 'wild' enough to pull me off of any bewilderment living in the States.

Justin Kranzman - We started climbing together a year ago

Andy Constantino - Climbing consultant (A flexible climbing beast)

Kate Sipla -Best storyteller ever!! plus she works at Von's, one of my fav places in Lafiesta. We share lots of stories! Gossip buddy!

Jenny Farney - Ex-climbing consultant, who once told me she had a crush on me! Uhuk! uhuk! She's a bit uptight..

Marc Dillon (yeah...Marc with 'c'). A climbing teacher of mine. He's a good climber himself, for sure.

Randy Hart - Just a buddy!

Mark Endo (Don't have a picture of him just himself). He's my brother over here. Always always always be there for me.

Hell yeah! That's a CIRCLE apple pie I made for iftar just now..

Weekend & Labor day

Off to The Red River Gorge, Kentucky!

It's him again

I'm always looking for the best definition of 'life' until I came across this clips a while ago. He illustrated one of the best definition I've yet heard.

Reminiscing

I've heard that it's possible to grow up, I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way. We whisper secrets with our best friend in the dark. We look for comfort where we can find it. And we hope against all logic, against all experience, like children, we never give up hope.

After careful consideration, and many sleepful nights, here is what I have decided, there is no such thing as a grownup. We move on, we move out, we move away from our families and form our own. But the basic insecurities, the basic fears, and all those old wounds just grow up with us and just when we think life and circumstance force us to be an adult your mother says something like that, or worse something like that. We get bigger. We get taller. We get older, but for the most part we're still a bunch of kids running around the playground desperately trying to fit in.

-Meredith Grey (Yesterday)

In it

So go ahead. Argue with the ref, change the rules. Cheat a little, take a break and tend to your wounds. But play. Play. Play hard, play fast... play loose and free. Play as if there were no tomorrow. It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game... right?

-Meredith Grey (Name of the game)