terima kasih!

ok you guys know what? im actually in leeds right now. yea, thats right, leeds as in leeds, england, UK.. hehe. ive been here for the past week. well, not really. arrived on friday if im not mistaken. it wasnt much of a difference, because, well, everyone here speaks english. the only thing is the long long flight. there was actually a phase during the 15(approximately) hour flight when i just thought "lets just turn around and end this flight!". rase rimas betul ah kekadang, coz almaklumlah, nak buat ape kat dalam kapal terbang tu 15 jam? asyik2 duduk, makan, tido. kalau boleh jalan2 takpe la jugak kan? ni tak, duduuuuuk je. kejang a kaki. but it was ok. all in all i think it was around a 30 hour journey, adding up the busride all the way to leeds and the traffic and the transit and the waitings and stuff. but it was worth it. ;)

tuesday we went to paris. now that there was something different. for one, not everyone speaks english, they speak french, obviously. i kinda think its something like indonesia. everyone, tak kire org asal dier ke, org yg pindah masuk ke ape, sume cakap the national language. and i dont mean know. sometimes, its the only language they know. im amazed. theyre just so proud of their own culture, that they dont care what the rest of the world thinks of them. to them, let the world learn about their culture, let the world fit it. and just think about it, french is one of the world's major languages, aside from english, spanish, chinese and, to some extent, arabic.

but the stay in paris was really something. just a short stay. but lets some it up. we got to see the eiffel tower (!!), the louvre (!!!!! ive been imagining the place ever since i read da vinci code. i couldnt believe i was actually there at first. it was.. wow!!) and the notre dame (again, ive only seen it in cartoons.. also, wow!!). u know, its all those places that ive been fantasizing about through the books and movies, and ive seen it! owh, and went to disneyland as well!! and this is something to note. disneyland. i know it seems childish and all that, but i actually had a great time! the thing about disney is, it gives us this feeling that, no matter who, what, where, when or whatever, dreams really do come true. theres nothing about impossibility, about limits and about outrageuosness. as long as u can and dare dream it, if u work towards it, its gonna come true. thats what disney is all about. and at some point, i dare say i really thought i was a child once more. back in the days when anything was possible. i dont know why, but at some stage in our lives, people say we grow up when we start to not believe anything and everything is possible. its kinda sad really. coz without dreams, we have nothing to aim for, nothing to achieve. it was a really touching moment. =)

language. i was in paris for only 3 days. the first 2 days, i was so desperate to speak french with them. "comment allet-vous? tres bien, merci. et vous? bien!" etc etc. and i did pick up some french, im proud to say. hehe. but then, something at disneyland struck me and gave me this realization. there was this spanish man (his south american actuallay) and this chinese gurl. we were waiting for the parade, and the man asked the gurl "hablar espanol?" to which the gurl shook her head vigorously and went "bu hui!" and the man started talking in fluent spanish about how it was ok, not a lot of people speak spanish there, and he was talking about the cameras and stuff, all the time using his hands and facial expression and pointing to make the gurl understand him. and the gurl did understand him, and she talked back in mandarin in the same manner. the point is, each is so confident and comfortable with their own langauge, that they can just use it anytime anywhere, regardless whether people understand or not. dont get me wrong, im not implying we should learn about other cultures and languages. thats another aspect, another point of view. but after that, i started thinking, and then started speaking in malay with anyone who spoke french to me while i was in paris. instead of saying "merci!" i went "terima kasih!", stuff like that. it felt so good!!

well, sorry to say, im not uploading photos again in this post, coz im using my cousin's laptop. but i'll upload them once i get the chance to. sorie!! but now i gtg. im back in leeds now btw. =)