Memory Lane - Is It Already 5 Years?

It is February 7^th 2013. Today, 5 years ago, I arrived at Maharishi University of Management as a master student in ComPro program. Two days ago, the same year, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the consciousness based education university himself, died. How time flies.

I recall that it was late night of Thursday too. The next day, Friday, I first time met the two Indonesian super fast coders - Murzal and Julian - when I was walking in the snow looking for the Argiro Student Center for breakfast. We were looking for a place to perform Friday prayer too. I wonder where they are now. Too bad I have lost all those memorable pictures.

Realizing how time makes fools of us all, I remember another quote from the same website (http://simpledirectoryanalyzer.orbiter-g.com/):

Not only that this quote is good for students, it is also good for me who wishes to pursue the quest for Andalusia@West. May Allah swt layout me a way.

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Will I Ever Have Time for Blog?

Two days more, one year ago, I wrote my last last blog post. It is amazing how time flies and how promises are hard to keep. As an academic, I want to write. But would I ever have time for this blog?

Earlier this week I happened to surf for a freeware on applications that can analyze directory content. I found this site:

• http://simpledirectoryanalyzer.orbiter-g.com/.

I found the software that I was looking for, but I was also struck by a random quote that the page displayed when I saw it:

It occurred to me that I might not have put enough effort for this writing, and it might indicate that I'm lacking great mind. I pray to Allah s.w.t. give the time.

I have made my quest for Andalusia at West a lifetime pursuit, why not the blog too?

---===HHHHHH===---

Memory Lane - The Pilot of Flashbacks

Today, four years ago, I landed in The United States of America on a quest to find my Andalusia at West. Today's date is February 4^th 2012, but the date I landed in US four years ago was February 3^rd 2008. The reason I still say that "it is today four years ago" is because by the time I landed in US February 3^rd 2008 it was already February 4^th 2008 in Malaysia. So my sense of date is not lost.

I have no picture for that memorable day as I didn't expect I would be writing about it in a memory lane for my own motivation to go to back to The US. My plan was to write about it as the starting point of my life in the promised land. Apparently the promised land is playing hard to get and has been asking more from me.

Nonetheless I would be writing about something that might be good for those who would like to take a budget but worth paying trip to the entertainment capital of the world - Los Angeles.

As I arrived in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) I went downtown^[1] to stay in Cecil Hotel [Google Maps Link]:

Cecil Hotel on the Google Maps

The hotel looks descent enough from the outside:

Cecil Hotel on the Google Maps street view

But it really is a budget but worth paying for hotel. The rooms are big and clean enough to be considered small hotel rooms. But the showers and toilets are shared. No wifi in the room but it is reliable enough and free in the lobby. I chose the hotel because it is the cheapest in LA downtown, close to an LA Metro Rail station, and a walking distance to many LA's hotspots. The hotel actually appeared in one of Astro's documentary channel on something like 'the best bargain in LA'. If I'm not wrong it might be one of the episodes of The Lonely Planet.

You can find a review on the hotel in:

• http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_Review-g32655-d276208-Reviews-Cecil_Hotel-Los_Angeles_California.html.

And I've capture the most reliable, honest and open-minded review:

• [ Best Review]

Let me remind you that this is the downtown of the third highest crime rate city in US. So it is advisable to explore the area during daylight and stay indoor after 5pm.

In case you flew all the way from Malaysia and looking for Malaysian Food in California, you can find one in Alhambra. I have documented it in one of my week's journal:

• The Week's Journal (Oct/27 - Nov/2 2008)

Alhambra is a separate municipal in Los Angeles County, but you still can reach it using public bus services or LA Metro Rail. Just Google for "City of Alhambra".

And if you go to Disneyland in Annaheim, Orange County, you may also want to pay a visit to an Indonesian Warong Pojok in Garden Grove. You can find it in the same week's journal entry of mine.

I stayed in the hotel for two days to shop for some cheap winter clothing. In a future posting I would write about another budget place to stay in Santa Monica near Los Angeles. This was the hostel where I stayed few months before that memorable day I landed in America on the quest for Andalusia@West.

[1]	Downtown in US refers to city center. This may cause confusion as most Malaysians refer the word downtown as the outskirt of the city.

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