Mumbles. My mumbles. I mumble a lot.

... including strangers.

You reading this. Regardless of your skin colour, race, religion, creed and all the things that make us different.

You. Friends. Family.

Wishing you a Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha. Eid Mubarak. Bayram Mubarak Ölsun. Frohes Opferfest.

*sharpens knives* Now where the cows at?

(I can't find a suitable picture. So just imagine a cows face, or a steak, or sup tulang.)

Wow. I can't imgine what they are thinking right now. I can't imagine how are they holding on, or how they are going to pull through this one.

To me, it's, well, wow.

But I guess this happens, and I'm sure there's an existing chapter in the Textbook of Life for this one.

I guess when you're way too occupied fighting for a mission, or a cause, this will eventually happen. You fight for something. And you get knee-deep doing this, only to find out that somebody close to you, somebody dear at heart is doing the exact thing that you've been fighting against.

"Kuman di seberang kelihatan, gajah di depan mata tidak kau nampak."

The irony.

I have tiny eyes. You see, right from the beginning you know things are only going south from here.

Yes. I only have teeny, tiny slits to put my eyeballs into place. Being the Malay that I am, this sort of went out of line. I do not resemble your typical textbook description of the Malay gentleman. I'm fair skinned, and my eyes are not making things any better. Of course, it was hard for me.

The first line that people utter when they first meet me: "Muzani? I thought you were Chinese!". Gosh. If I had a penny everytime somebody says that. I get that A LOT at school. Well the first years mostly. The rest? I just had to make it clear that I am not of Chinese origins. Not that I know of actually.

Going to and back from school is another challenge. Usually old, Chinese grannys ask me questions in the LRT about the station that they're heading to. This is what I usually process throughout the conversation:

"/(&/%&%$&$§%$§&% Bandar Tasik Selatan )(/)(/)&%$§§?".

So my tip: Go back with Chinese friends. My usual wingmen: Wai Loon, Lik Wen, Phak Hoe, Calvin and the list goes on. They just back me up with this one. These are the times I wished I know Cantonese. No Chinese friend? Then go and make one. Should there be no Chinese friend available, I usually hunt for keywords. E.g the conversation above, listen carefully for the "Bandar Tasik Selatan" part. I'd normally answer back in Malay, or sometimes maybe even English. "Haah, kat sini Auntie." Tell me that's not awkward. Or I'd just nod my head. Or better yet, I hangout with Malay friends and speak Malay ever so loudly just to see their faces crumple with utter confusion.

I have tiny eyes. That's why sleep is important to me. Whenever I have eyebags, I'm technically blind. So if I overslept and missed class, don't blame me. I just want to see the world. Same goes when I laugh.

But some people I know find it cute though!

By the way. My spanking new iMac? *hugs tight*