George

Yes, It's a late entry on the world's captivation on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Turned on CNN and other TV stations (apparently)....and the highlight: The Royal baby seemed to 'dominate' the news on that day(s). 

So...why not take a snapshot of it!! 

(gosh..I think I was royally influenced by the news coverage..., ㅋㅋㅋ)

Then...a few days later, I learned that the son is named 'George Alexander Louis. 

Ok..I could not write more about this entry.

Just wish the best for the family and the baby, of course. 

Scratches of thought

It's been ten days since the start of Ramadan. Wow..10 days of fasting.
In the midst of summer.
lots of things happened.
for sure, a mixed kind of triumphant feeling and at-times-hope-I-can-do-this kind of feeling.
*
In the course of the week, lots of things captured my attention.
Cory Monteith, my part time job, time scheduling of daily activities, the seemingly never-ceasing rain, house chores, restraining myself from peeping into last semester's grade, home-made ice cream, hunting for watermelon, KBS itineraries, SBS Drama, 너의 목소리가 들려, I Can Hear Your Voice, Uniqlo, Pacific Rim, my obsession with body weight, diet, sahur, iftar, prayers, tutoring, PPT for micro teaching, youtube-ing, CNN, blogging, CCS, tempat-tempat seru, ........................

Ansan Trip (again)

This was the second time that I went to Ansan--a 1-hour-5- minute-trip from Seoul by Metro. Indeed, a tiring trip as it was, still it never failed to lure me out of my den in Seoul to crawl away from the bustling life in Seoul to a seemingly not-Seoul-like outskirt town of Ansan...simply to have  a taste of --nothing else than--Indonesian food, since of course there are numerous Indonesian restaurants that dotted the streets there.

Maya, Jobirson, Felix, Wawan got Lost in the Market

This time around....I was lucky enough to have Wawan and other friends of mine: Felix (Ghana), Jobirson ( Uzbekistan), and Maya (Algeria). They agreed to go along with us since they wanted to have another taste of food. So, we went to Barokah restaurant (again) where we ordered rendang (the number one food in CNN food survey:)......hmmm Felix and Jobir loved it so much that they wanted to order the same dish again....., then we also had sate, nasi kuning, ayam bakar, tahu isi (that they loved so much) and of course....Teh Botol Sosro. ^^.
After doing some prayer at the Mosque, we had time to do some shopping. Ansan is notorious for its cheap stuffs, especially those of second-hand stuffs.
Well, we did do some shopping like crazy.
Maya, in particular, was so delved into the world of vegetables as she loves making salad. She found her heaven there since the prices were so way cheaper than those in Seoul.
We 'ransacked' shop after shop to find the bargain stuffs!!!

winter coat and two fluffy dolls

I had this winter coat for my wife, and also a big fluffy doll for my daughter.
Then, since it was about 4 in the evening, we got to catch the train to Seoul.
Oh, I managed to meet my colleague (Chrisna) with her husband, too.
Then, off we went to Seoul by Metro.
Before going....we took time to take a token of memoir in front of Ansan station.

Phombies (Phone Zombies) ^^*

I am having the vague feeling that something hasn't really happened until I post it to Facebook or my Blog.
Oh NO......I'm addicted.


* http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/30/opinion/greene-smart-phone-addiction/index.html

Ramadan: Explain It To Me

No food, no drink, no sex from sun up to sun down. and..that's pretty much what it's like during daylight hours of Ramadan....at least that is how CNN's Dan Gilgoff explains it. So, this is just a transcript of the video uploaded on CNN website. Hope it says pretty much what he says.

No food, no drink, no sex from sun up to sun down from an entire month. Ramadan is an Islamic month of Fasting. It is meant to be a month of reflection, prayer, and charity; detachment from worldly affairs; a month of purification. (And) it's one of the five pillars or duties of Islam. Ramadan is believed to be a month during which Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) started receiving er .. the divine revelation--the Koran, the Moslem's holy book from God or Allah. And, so..the most holy night during Ramadan of the entire entire Islamic year which is called the Night of Power..and that's the night which is believed  that Allah did start to reveal the text of Koran to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in the year 610.

All observant Moslems are expected to observe the fasting for the month of Ramadan ..so that the only ones who are really exempt: the children who haven't yet reached the age of puberty or those who are mentally disabled or chronically ill or who are too frail to fast. Now, if you can't fast, you're supposed to give compensation for every day that you miss..and that's often done in a formal charitable donation.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the Islamic calendar operates according to the lunar cycle or cycle of the moon. And so every year Ramadan moves up round eleven days earlier than the  previous year. It is supposed to begin with the sighting of the first new moon of that cycle. And every year there're debates about when that first new moon becomes visible so that  various countries believed that they see the first new moon on various days and Ramadan will begin on different days in different country.

The fast is broken each night er with what's called iftar meal and a meal that's off time communal banquet style meal that is eaten in a Mosque. The fast each night is often broken with dates which is believed to dated with the time of Mohammed. Every year during Ramadan the international sale dates just skyrockets. The month of Ramadan ends with a Holiday called  Eid ul Fitr or simply often simply referred to just  Eid  and it is the start of the next lunar month after Ramadan and it is the break the fast holiday... that's marked by a lot celebrations, feasting with friends and familes, a lot of mosques hold carnivals a couple days after Ramadan ends.