The East Side Gang

• Playing Soccer (in which, we are squeezed into a space slightly larger than Riadh room whenever West Side gang decides to play cricket)
  
• As Ismail put it, we are in the business of selling and wrecking cars, with Riadh contributed to about 80% of it (The West Side is nothing compared to us in this aspect. Not even close)
  
• Active donors to all the restaurants around us, namely Mr. Gatti's, McDonald, Dobbie Gyro and almost all the buffet place in Austin. (The West Side joins us sometimes)
  
• No offense to the West Side, but we truly believe that we are cooler than them. (Mainly because we got Riadh the Superstar and they don't!)
  

Since i only bought my camcorder about 5 months before leaving States, I can't capture the photos of all members of the East Side. There are other members as well, but they left Austin before i bought the camcorder. Anyway, I present to you, The East Side gang:

Abd Rahman
Origin: United States of America
Affiliation: Since his father is Nueces East Side gang, he is one of us. But he is well-loved by both sides.
Remark: Give me my second last name, Budi “sleepin’”. He came into my room one day with Ismail and found me sleepin’. He called me Budi sleepin’ ever since. As of 2003, I think he was like 2-3 years old. Always there when we played soccer. Although whenever he entered the field, the game has to stop just so to avoid him getting hurt. I really miss that kid.

Abdullahi
Origin: Somalia
Affiliation: Adopted East Side gang, since he lives quite far away from us, but always hang out around the mosque.
Remark: An official sponsor for my graduation suit, since I don’t see the reason to spend money to buy it for just one occasion. Very nice and helpful brother. Always hang out at my place to get some tea before drivin’ home for 30-45 minutes everyday! And very skillful soccer player as well. Very cool an relaxed dude too.

Budi
Origin: Malaysia
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: My place was the center of activity for Gangs of New Eces, especially the East Side gang, since it is situated right next to Downtown Mosque. It’s the place for dinner, breakfast, tea, computer games, movies, almost anything. I’m known as an unpaid cook in East Side. I really miss being a host.

Hamad
Origin: Kuwait (Among the friends of America)
Affiliation: Adopted East Side gang.
Remark: Has the stamina of all Nueces gangs combined (with the exception of Ismail). Very polite and a true gentleman. Very hard to start any activity without him, since he is the one that can push everybody to do it. Always mistaken to be an Indian by strangers, but he is just a Kuwaiti trapped in an Indian body. His van, and then his big jeep and then his new car (forgot the model) were always the official transportation for soccer game to all gangs. Got married right after I left Austin. Mabruk Ya Hamad!

Iftikhar
Origin: Bangladesh
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: One of smallest brother in the gangs, but an active soccer player. He is our El-Capitan in UT soccer tournament actually. Soft spoken and always smiling.

Ismail
Origin: Morocco
Affiliation: Adopted East Side gang
Remark: Self proclaimed leader of all Gangs of New Eces. He is a great basketball player (used to play for Morocco) and an awesome soccer player as well. He is our top scorer in UT soccer tournament. Speaks funny black accent. Hilarious and courageous brother. Always throw stones at my window to call me up. Very loud, can hear him miles away. Tariq and me sometimes call hime Ismail the Elf, since his last name is Elfath.I really miss the dude and his kid, Abdul Rahman.

Jalal
Origin: Morocco
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: The greatest soccer player I’ve ever seen in real life. Can easily play for Malaysia national team if he lives here. He actually got paid playing soccer representing Huston-Tillotson College in Austin together with Riadh, although Riadh plays for free. My ex-housemate. Very well-mannered and friendly brother. He was a really good housemate to me when we used to be housemates.

Larbi
Origin: Morocco
Affiliation: East Side gang.
Remark: He is my regular nemesis. We argued all the time. Nicknamed Larbi the Wolf by me. Or Larbi the White. That makes him Larbi W. Boughaleb. The name Wolf came out because in one of the fishing trip (I miss the trip), he claimed to see a wolf and made a big announcement about it while nobody saw the wolf. They suspect that it was a fox instead, or even worse, just a sheep! Anyway, he might be right. Always loud and friendly guy. He is always mistaken to be a French or at least an American because of his white complexion. However, I really owe him big time, because he let me stay at his place when I was homeless for a while. Thanks Larbi, the leader of KKK, hehehe!

Muhammad Turki
Origin: Turkey
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: He is one of the most experienced brothers in the gangs. Did a lot of traveling all over the world. Very knowledgeable, humble and friendly big brother to all of us. He is a big shot engineer in Istanbul, currently doing Masters in UT. He is responsible in introducing Turkish food to all of us. A very good cook as well. He plans to come to Malaysia soon with Sokhib to visit me. You gonna have a good time here, Muhammad!

Muhammad Ansari
Origin: Morocco
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: One of my ex-housemate. He used to be a teacher back in Morocco. He was my first Arabic teacher here in Austin. Very calm, soft-spoken and artistic fellow. Plays good soccer too. He came from a happening town in Morocco called Marakesh. He was working in Marriott Hotel together with Jalal when he used to live with me, and both of them always bring free food from the hotel for Ticub and me to eat. That’s why our freezer was always full!

Muhammad Maryland
Origin: Egypt but residing in Maryland
Affiliation: Adopted East Side gang.
Remark: This dude defines the word “cool”. I can say he is the coolest gang in the street. Now he is back in Maryland with his family. He looks tough, but he screamed like a baby in the cinema while we were watching “The Ring”. Very active fellow when he was in Austin.

Omar
Origin: Qatar
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: Very good speaker. Soft-spoken and calm person, although he can get too rough in the soccer field. He left Austin for San Antonio a day before I went back to Malaysia. One of my closest neighbor in Nueces Street. Lives in the same place with Tareq and Riadh. The three of them are the three Musketeers of Nueces St. Or perhaps the Three Stooges? Heheh. Comes to my place sometimes and used my boxing stuffs to spar with Tariq. But it’s not always boxing though. When they fight, you can see all the kungfu, karate, taekwando and what not coming from them. All the cool stuffs never been seen on television.

Riadh
Origin: Tunisia
Affiliation: Important member of East Side gang
Remark: The funniest dude in the gangs. Always come out with weird ideas. My regular team member in soccer field, but together with Tareq, they were my regular enemies in Red Alert. A scary driver. In the words of Ismail, Riadh is in the business of buying and wrecking cars. He is always known to always have these special moves on the soccer field. Currently living in DC with Hamza. I remember Jalal told me once, when they were playing soccer for their college, there was this game in which they were losing 9-0, then Riadh came in as a sub, and scored the only goal for them. And he took no excuse in celebrating that goal like crazy, as if that’s the winning goal. To my friend Riadh, really miss you dude!

Saeed
Origin: Bangladesh
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: Was my ex-housemate. My boxing partner. We always spar together after school. One of the most polite, well-mannered and humble person I’ve known. Always smiling and cheerful, that’s why it’s always good to live with him. His parents live in Houston (or Dallas, I’m not sure. I always confused between these 2 cities). Whenever he comes home from there, we always have free dishes to eat. The dishes were from his mom for him, but we took advantage of it.

Sokhib
Origin: Uzbekistan
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: Sokhib. He was my housemate. When he moved in to our place, everything starts to change. Our kitchen, living room and restroom were cleaner than ever. Even the rat in our kitchen was shy to even appear anymore. He is a very clean, composed and well-dressed fellow. We are very close friend. He knows me from A to Z and I can say that I knew him really well too. Recently won his case in States, and makes him eligible again to travel outside States. He will come to Malaysia with Muhammad Turkey soon Insya Allah to visit me. Could not wait for that Sokhib!

Tariq
Origin: United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: An integral part of East Side gang. Another unpaid cook in East Side besides me. He is an Emirate claiming to be an Italian, but always mistaken to be a terrorist by others. In the end before I left, he claimed to be an Italian-Malaysian. How nice Tariq! Anyway, he is a cool friend and brother, very brave, friendly and understanding. As macho as he looks, he was the first one to jump on a couch when a rat passed by while eating at my place. An avid soccer player and fan!

Umair Syed
Origin: India
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: He was taking his masters in UT when I first met him. Before that, he took his first degree in Colorado School of Mines and worked for Schlumberger for a while. He just moved to Mumbai recently to continue his father’s business. He is very cool and smart brother.

Ahmad Al-Zatari
Origin: Lebanon
Affiliation: East Side gang
Remark: This handsome Lebanese is very outspoken and helpful brother. I remember when our friend Zawardy got burned in a fire accident; he was the one that went around Austin to ask for helps, mostly financial. Very smart and intelligent dude. And a good friend as well! Always wrestle with Asyraf and Ahmad Sammy. I can say I really miss their wrestling scenes, although it can get quite ugly sometimes.

Hamza
Origin: Tunisia
Affiliation: Adopted East Side gang
Remark: Used to stay with Riadh in Austin, then moved to DC to work there. Came back to Austin for a visit for quite some time. That's when he was adopted by our gang. Good soccer player, and a good friend as well. Currently staying with Riadh in DC.