Hi..Nama saya Iqa.

Haiya, ini budak sangat poyo.

Nama: Iqa Mohd Salleh

Umur : 18

Hobi: Bermain gitar

Kejayaan: Compose songs dengan Chris Martin and Noel Gallagher

(Sila jangan percaya)

Uxbridge

Sitting on the train to Uxbridge on the Met line, as clear as the picture I've always had at the back of my mind; a picture of me staring outside a moving train, I could hardly believe I'm living the dream. What's so gorgeous about this place that I chose to leave behind the prettier place? The great scenery, the cold that bites my skin? That, I will find out.

Uxbridge, meeting some friends at Brunel I have, and getting my Bubble jacket which I bought from Farah Yunus before she left the UK. "Farah dah takde space nak bawak balik Malaysia baju-baju, so jual sikit."

Whoah. I guess she must have spent most of her time here shopping.

Class has been *beep* hectic. Which explains why I have not been updating this clumsy blog. I've been dreading not to go to Uxbridge, figured I should use the weekend to study. (Like what I've been doing the previous weekend). But on second thought, alang-alang dah menapak ke UK ni, baik lah langkah panjang lagi sikit. The guilt burns within miliseconds. Bwaha!

Ruislip Manor. Berbelit. How do we pronounce THAT? "Rice-lip Manor, " announced si Announcer train. Huh, kalau aku, Ru-is-lip aje.

As soon as I got out the station (Uxbridge), I stood in awe, gazing at the simplest town I've ever seen. Buildings located next to each other, in the most perfect order. I sooooooo wish I had chosen to go Brunel! Countryside with horses, cantik!

The Chimes, The Pavillions, Hayes, the mosque in the center of Hayes, houses with chimneys.

Sangat kampung. Sangat saya suka. Sangat tenang.

Dulu, kena buat dua pilihan; Brunel or LSHTM

Last-last pilih LSHTM

Sekarang nak rasa rugi pulak

Sebab life kat Uxbridge lagi tenang

Uxbride baru rasa macam student

Campus Uni besar macam UM

Central London serabut habis

Tapi takpelah

Nak buat macam mana

Dah masuk belajar dah pun

Tapi kan still boleh jalan-jalan Uxbridge weekend

Ok, happy balik *Smiles*

Stand By Me

So what's the matter with you?

Sing me something new,

The cold and wind and rain don't know,

They only seem to come and go away.

Stand by me, nobody knows the way it's gonna be.

-Oasis.

Russel Square

Hari Jumaat, tiada kelas, keluar berlomo.

Oh sebelum tu teman roomate pegi Covent Garden, beli jam pertunangan kat Fossil.

Berlomo kat Russel Square, I'm telling you, the best place to take awesome Autumn pictures.

Happy. Indescribable. Hilang rindu.

My cheeks are cold from the Autumn breeze,

I smile despite the killing shiver,

The happy squirrels bring such warmth,

They fill me with joy..and love.

Iqa, what were you thinking?

Iqa,

What were you thinking as you happily let Syaitan led the way?

Chosen ones?

Kadang-kadang saya terfikir; Kenapa dalam ramai manusia, saya dibawa oleh Allah ke bumi England ni?

Untuk menjadi yang lebih baik atau sebaliknya?

Bila fikir balik, hidup kat Malaysia tu dah selesa sangat. Semua ada. Komunikasi senang.

Duit senang. Kemudahan tip-top. Selasa dalam comfort zone yang tak pernah bosan.

Jumaat lepas habis class @ kerja, pergi enjoy. Karaoke. Movie. Dan sebagainya.

Tak ada pengisian.

Bila sampai sini, saya jadi cultural shock. Bukan sebab selalu masuk pub, mabuk-mabuk.

Bukan sebab berchenta tak ingat, duduk kat park bebas buat apa je.

Tapi kat sini, saya kenal sembahyang berjemaah bersama-sama housemate yang semuanya

perempuan.

Terkejut dengan cultural student-student Malaysia kat sini.

When was the last time you solat berjemaah with a group of women?

Err, Matriks kot. The one and only time. Tu pun sebab aktiviti wajib.

Haritu diorang suruh saya jadi imam. Geleng.

Haritu diorang suruh saya iqamat. Geleng.

Malu.

Tadi diorang suruh saya jadi imam. Geleng.

Tadi diorang suruh saya iqamat. Baru lah first time dalam sejarah hidup saya iqamat.

Selama ni, buat apa-apa pun mesti nak amik yang sederhana. Yang paling ringan. Solat, asalkan buat, dah. Titik. Pastu pergi lagi cari hiburan dunia.

Hehe. Iqa, iqa.

Oh, belum cerita saya join Usrah setiap Jumaat malam. Mula-mula tu orang ajak, whylah nak duduk dengar, suka hati lah nak dengar ke tak, baik aku duduk dalam bilik, ish usrah lama nih baik aku study, apesal la nak poyo semacam, emm jangan paksa boleh?

Macam tu sekali ya masa mula-mula tu.

Tapi renung-renung balik, kenapa lah nak rasa macam tu kepada orang yang ajak kita buat baik?

Hish.

I might sound like an ustazah, I might sound freaking poyo, but this is what I actually feel inside.

Semoga kedatangan saya ke sini dapat mengubah saya jadi yang lebih baik esok hari, InsyaALLAH. :)

There She Goes

This is me when I'm busy texting/BBMing/YMing/tweeting/facebooking.

Jangan dilupa, cuppa coffee di sebelah kanan.

This is so me.

Lelaki dalam Kelas

Ada dua lelaki yang saya suka dalam kelas.

Professionally la. Sila jangan salah anggap. Suka as in, respect.

Satu, Muhammed. Seorang Egyptian yang petah bercakap, fluent English nya, strong leadership skills, idea yang ditempiaskan bernas, supportive dan suka tersenyum. Suka encourage saya bercakap sebab dia tahu saya pemalu. Dan bila saya bercakap, dia akan bagi full attention (tak tahulah kan kot-kot apa saya cakap masuk telinga kiri dia pastu keluar telinga kanan dia balik ke apa), tapi at least he listens. Last-last saya vote dia jadi class rep.

And the other one is Andrew. Muka dia seriously, critically, earnestly, severely, sebijikly macam Shaheizy Sam the pelakon. Cuma versi Americano je, rambut perang-perang. Tak tipulah. Kenal dia masa sama-sama tengah sesat barat timur selatan nak cari Rose Room.

"Do you know how to get to Rose Room?"

"I have no idea but I'm heading there too. Jom carik-carik sama-sama."

Cheh boleh gitu.

Borak punya borak, last-last masuk subgroup yang sama. Kenapa saya suka dia? Sebab dia pun sama supportive macam Mohamed. Walaupun lah selaku note-taker yang sungguh tak berdedikasi, at the end of the discussion, dia boleh tepuk bahu saya (ergh, walaupun kurang nak gemar la cara ni) and said, "Good work with the note taking."

The smallest thing pun nak cakap macam tu. Kiranya, dia appreciate la effort saya tu.

Kan best semua orang sangat appreciative macam tu. Betul la kata Uncle Zack, Americans are friendlier.

Satu lagi kenapa saya suka si Andrew; dulu dia join Doctors Without Borders. Sangat Cool.

Satu lagi kenapa saya suka si Andrew ni; dia lone ranger macam saya. :)

Orientation

Dalam minggu orientasi, saya dapat rumuskan bahawa:

Being the only Malaysian sucks.

People talk too fast sucks too. -- Sebabnya, saya tak dapat nak tangkap.

People are too smart.

That sucks too. -- Sebabnya, saya ni kurang smart.

People are outspoken. -- Sebabnya, confident level saya paras buku lali.

Sucks.

Budak-budak Public Health kena pecah ikut group.

Setiap group ada course director yang pegang.

Pastu ada subgroup, pastu ada subgroup discussion.

Bila time discussion je cepat-cepat saya angkat tangan; "I'll be taking down notes."

Yelah kan, kononnya taknak jadi Speaker, taknak join Discussion, taknak sumbang Idea.

Kononnya lah kan.

Sekali, pap pap pap pap pap pap pap brumm brummm brumm peng peng peng...macam tak cukup nafas diorang berbual. SERENTAK pulak tu. Sepatah haram tak dapat nak tangkap.

Aku ni berlagak macam English tu first language je.

Berpeluh-peluh jugak lah nak jot down bende alah tu semua. PADAN.MUKA.LAH.KAN.

Passive nak mampus. Macam ada pasir bertimbun dalam tekak ni. Boleh kira berapa kali keluarkan suara time tu.

Pastu course director tanya; If you were stuck on a deserted island, name one thing you would bring.

Terus aku menguap. Apa punya soalan daa.. Maksudnya kita dah tahu kita nak stranded ke apa ni? Kalau dah stranded tu stranded je la... melainkan ada genie in a bottle yang boleh tanya apa kita nak.

Iqa was like: "Since I couldn't live without music, I'd probably bring my iPod and make sure I have every Coldplay song in it."

-_-

Bijak.

Kesimpulannya, saya benci group discussion because it makes me look like a dorky dork.

Bedford Square

Bila break je, angkat bag, tarik jacket, kaki tu laju je pergi Bedford Square.

Al-maklumlah, saya ni tiada kawan.

Maka, bila break ja takda hala tuju.

Bedford Square jugak yang tenang.

Minum coffee (bawak dari rumah, saving punya pasal), baca buku cerita, dengar iPod.

Tu sudah cukup menggembirakan. Relaxation.

Bench tempat saya selalu lepak;

Hari tu ada jugak cik Squirrel datang lepak sama. Rasa macam nak cium je.