Dancing Buttacupp

Trying this out since I was tagged by Azita. First-timer so excuse the boring bits.

7 random facts about me:

1. I am not a window shopping person. I go shopping with a purpose. For example: I’ll go shopping if I need to stock up on toiletry supplies, shoes are worn out, birthday presents, etc. Yes, some of my friends hate bringing me around. Haha

2. I have been told I have a weird-insincere-sounding laugh. Perlu dengar dulu la. Haha

3. I stopped playing competitive sports since I was 12, but enjoy outdoor activities and leisure sports. I’m the only member of the Wan siblings that goes camping, swimming, jungle trekking, plays a few sports for fun, bowling, foosball-ing, etc.

4. I have no artistic bone in my body. I can’t sing, play instruments or dance to save my life. Sisters, Farrah, Wati and Azita can attest to this Farrah taught me the simplest traditional Malay dance and it took me a while to get the hang of it. I think she was very patient and struggled not to get mad at me :p

5. I began writing poems and stories at 15 to express my feelings. I joined debate at 15 because I was into causes, global and local issues.

6. I love animals and the environment. I am against cruelty to animals. I actively support environmental conservation. I am not a vegetarian though. When I was younger, I used to own fish, cats, birds, a turtle, and a hamster. In PD, Wati and I almost ran over a puppy. It was alone and motherless. We actually made traffic stop at the entrance to the PD Shell refinery because we wanted to save the pup who almost got crushed by a lorry tanker. I still get teased endlessly by Wati for wanting to keep and rare the pup by following the Hanafi school of thought which allows the raring of dogs. Ok ok stop laughing.

7. I have a tendency to fall down at public places. So beware! I am a HSSE case/law suit waiting to happen! Let me share some of my most memorable experiences:

a) Falling off a chair and landing on my back on the hard floor at McD, Subang Parade in 6th grade during the lunch crowd

b) Slipped, did a 180 degree turn, and fell on my back at the entrance of Carrefour Subang in highschool on a rainy day- having an audience who were trying to get shelter

c) Fell down on my butt on a sidewalk in KL near Bukit Bintang during go home traffic in 2006

d) Tripped and fell on my back at the Shell Kareoke Room, Sports Club PD. Thank God there was only Farrah to laugh at me

7 things that scare me:
1. Going to Hell.

2. Farrah (bukan nama sebenar- haha) when she gets angry after discovering I have ‘forgotten’ to eat :p Kalah my sister Murni or my mom getting mad at me. At the end of the day, I know she cares…

3. Having in-laws that are too demanding. Alhamdulillah so far my family have been blessed with good in-laws. Just heard scary stories from other people is all. You know who you are! Still keeping the faith

4. My offspring going against the Legacy and hereditary principles. It’s such a challenging world now!(Ooops, belum ada apa2 lagi pun dah takut. ish ish)

5. Betrayal. I’ve had some of the worst. It has shaped me be who I am today.

6. Failing:  at work, education, family, community and the environment even though I know it is part of growth..part of life.

7. Losing my loved ones. I don’t easily get attached. When I do, it’s forever. Even though I am emotionally retarded and slow, it hurts more when you lose someone special. A family member, a friend, a companion.

7 random music at the moment (in no particular order):

1. Unfold- Marie Digby

2. See You When You Get There- Coolio

3. Take Me There- Blackstreet Feat Mya

4. Eve, the Apple of My Eye- BelleX

5. al-I’Tiroof- Haddad Alwi

6. Somewhere Over the Rainbow- Jason Castro’s version

7. Beautiful in My Eyes- Joshua Kadison

7 things I treasure the most (material things): This is hard ‘cos I don’t have a lot of material things..and I don’t really care for them. Here goes:
1. My handphone- connection to loved ones

2. My MP3 player- I am a music person & don’t realy watch TV. Songs soothe and inspire me.

3. My Panasonic Lumix compact camera- There are still undiscovered beauty !

4. My books! and a good library- I’m a nerd and proud of it :p

5. My car eventhough it doesn’t have fancy seats, a CD player, or those cool gadgets. I love it anyway!

6. Internet? Reasons are self-explanatory

7. On-line banking! This is very useful in KL. Makes me miss PD more though.

7 "first time" things I ever did:

1. Learn to dance- refer to Random things above

2. First time I tried my hand at kareoke was at Shell PD’s Managemt Team Away Day for a teambuilding event in 2006. Gosh, that was embarassing. Dah la kena buat sketsa Kuch Kuch Hota Hai! I was fish out of water. Hope there aren’t any videos of it…

3. Was a flood victim in PD. Refer to previous entries

4. I accidentally caused a false alarm at my office by opening the wrong door. This caused all the guards to run around looking for the culprit. I actually confessed to the guards 5 min later (after they stopped running around).

5. Going on road trips without my family happened when I started working. Independence is schweeet!

6. I watched American Pie at age 25 in PD after being forced by Wati and the girls. I fell asleep during the movie!

7. Went on a tour of a a crude oil ship in 2007! Chatted with the captain and co-captain. That was awesome!Thanks to Wati for making it happen.

7 people to do this (random and no particular order):

1. Annabelle

2. Mawar

3. Aman

4. Aqi

5. Melor

6. Azmir Razwan aka Fowler

7. kak Berq

XoXo

Asma wan signing off

Many of my friends have asked me in the past few months about:

• my whereabouts,
• some enquired on the change in my voice–>kononnya jadi lebih dalam! (really? didn’t really notice that),
• the downward shift in my weight, and
• subdued comical antics (seriously?!)

Let me release Garfield out of the bag. Haha.

Frankly, these 2 months have tested my mental, physical, emotional and spiritual strength. Professional, personal, health and financial trials have been hitting me left, right, front and center since April. Yes, these 2 months I was someone else. i was not always on my best behavior.

At the end of the day, I addressed each trial by putting them in their respective places. At least, I tried to regardless of the consequences.

Of course, some trials require more time, so I spend a little more time arriving at my resolution.  Those may have been the times when my friends caught me at the wrong time, hence exposing my darker side, unlike how they normally see me. Not at my best behavior.

In those dark hours my companions are His Legacy, al-Ghazali, Rumi, family, friends and don’t forget Google (Ha! It’s true).

It forced me to re-inspect myself, my realities, my community and environment. I did a SWOT on myself. Sheesh, that clearly spells out conflict of interests. :p Oh well.

It was these experiences which made me realize:

• that my belief in the good in people has many times caused me insufferable pain, but i learned once more to trust even if to be badly crushed again. I will continue with the action of trusting, but will improve the process
• even when i am at my lowest, there are others who are suffering even more. it doesn’t kill to be kind even when you’re down. i will continue to try
• work isn’t the only thing to measure greatness and neither is your employer
• age isn’t the only measure of greatness. knowledge, and wisdom are…and how you utilize these 2 things
• i am allowed to misbehave as long as i do not infringe on the rights of others. i guess this means i can misbehave responsibly? haha
• some people will only see the Darth Vader in you, but i will continue to do good anyway
• some people may hate you, but there are those that love you for the good, the not-so-good and the in-between. those people have to stand up and you need to open your friggin eyes is all
• i can’t buy health even if i am Bill Gates. it’s not a level playing field for you in terms of health, but who cares? Prove them wrong.

These experiences taught me that my head and heart have not wandered far from my benchmark. I have allowed myself to be human. Though there is pain, I am still trying to improve because that is part of my growth.

These experiences are ….

my saving grace.

P/s: vote for barack obama…haha (saja je)