Iftar/Picnic

It is the month of Ramadhan where Muslims around the world performs the third pillars of Islam by fasting for a month.  Being away from family especially during this month does make you to keep your friends as close as possible.  It is sad to be alone in celebrating the blessed month of Ramadhan.  Basically during iftar I break my fast with my few housemates.  It’s a routine for the last 9 days. 

Yesterday one of my friends, Nora Adila spontaneously came up with an idea for iftar; picnic!  Ok the last time I went to a picnic is quite some ago. So I was thrilled with the idea.  It sounds so much fun, and we had all the utensils at the ready.  Then, we started making a list of foods we need, and it came down to us that we could never cook anything on time if we were to proceed with our picnic/iftar plan.  Instead, the five of us decided to buy from the nearest food bazaar.  It was 6 p.m. (iftar is at 7.30 p.m. so the bazaar is at its peak and crowded with people buying foods) and we took about 45 minutes to get everything we needed.  That is a long time for we all know the bazaar like it was written on our hands (+_+)’’

Then we rushed to the picnic spot, a field next to the Shah Alam Mosque.  The parking spot was a challenge.  So does finding a nice spot for us to sit and wait for iftar.  there are so many people, it looks like there is some kind of festival going on.  But we managed to fine nice spot, a bit far from our cars but we made do.  Right after we set the place and foods, we could hear the imam at the mosque reciting iftar dua, and shortly after that, the Maghrib adzan is filling in the air. 

Since us all in a rush, we forgot about dates, which are a bit of a turndown, so we break our fast with water. But overall we all had so much fun having iftar in a nice field, with a lot of other people, too.  It is my first iftar/picnic, so it has a special place in my heart.  Hope I can do it again sometime soon =)

You don't need a certain number of friends, but a number of friends that you can be certain of

Chocolate is the best medicine

Yesterday I went to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur to satisfy my sweet tooth with my three friends.  Usually from Shah Alam to Kuala Lumpur took an hour the most, yet the traffic was so congested, we’re stuck for almost 4 hours!!! We were all hungry and tired in the car, four of us.  But we have some fun in the car, like singing and making jokes out of each other.  Then we spotted this...

We first think he's an off-duty traffic officer, but his instructions and signals are off and messed up so yeah...  it's kinda hilarious especially when you’re bored in car. 

And finally when we arrived, it took us almost another 30 mins to find parking space (T__T) but when we finally do, the relief... I've never been so grateful to arrived at your destination.  But, the wait was worth it.  Look at these babies...  

So cute I couldn't wait to fork in!!!

Whoever said laughter is the best medicine clearly never had this before~ 

Wishes and hopes

My eight year-old cousin Syabil Iman just been operated for burst appendix... and it just kills me to see him in such a state for he is such an active little man.  He was in a lot of pain with tubes and wired going on his nose and fragile little hands that he asked his mother “mom, it hurts so bad. What did I do wrong now?” My aunt said “no sweetheart, you did nothing wrong” with a big smile to contain her true feelings.  Then she turns to my mother and cry at my mum’s shoulder.  Then Syabil, with his weak little arm said to my aunt “mom, don’t cry because of me. I am sorry...”

That just broke my heart.  I promise him that when he got better, i will take him shopping and he can use my laptop to play games all day long.  That is all I can do for him now, which makes me feel hopeless, really... but then, I cannot do anything, can I?

Syabil Iman tried to look good for the camera...

Syabil, you are one strong person and adore you for that.  I will keep on praying for your health so be strong sweetie.  To my aunt, keep on the positive attitudes and take care of yourself and the baby inside.  I’ll be here if you ever need me.

The Unromantic Orient

This book is actually written in Germany, a travelogue by a journalist Muhammad Asad or formerly known as Leopold Weiss.  The journey took place in Middle East such as Egypt, Damascus, Jordan, Palestine and Istanbul. 

In his journey, he revealed the reason of his conversion to Islam in 1926.  Not only that, he also becomes an Islamic scholar, also known as one of the most influential European Muslim in the 20^th century.  

This book left deep imprint in my heart, as it took me to an outstanding and extraordinary journey in finding the true meaning of life.  As quoted from the translator, “as I started to read it, the travelogue became my own journey also”, is exactly what I felt.  

He is truly an amazing journalist and as a Muslim reader, I absolutely felt deep spiritual connection with his journey.  It also made me wanting to seek more salvation from Allah, and rethinking about myself, “am I a good Muslim?” and “do I truly embrace my religion?”  I’ve been reading a lot of books now to enhance my understanding of Islam, all because of this travelogue.  A saying goes “A good book has no ending (R.D. Cumming)”

One Piece

It was late now and I’m sleepy, but then I am happy because today I made two new friends. Well, technically, they are my friends already, but there is difference between knew them and knowing them. They’re fun to be with and kinda cute. Cute because they are being themselves, honest and they listen. I like the fact that they admit they doesn’t know everything, but I’m also amazed on how good they are when they actually pay attention.

Life is beautiful when you pay more attention to trivial things. As for today, I found another friends which we had something in common and I can express myself to them. Life is indeed deliciously beautiful~

Fall Again

I haven’t updated my blog for a very very long time... Sorry about that, a lot of things happened beyond my expectation, and I have a catch up to do.

Looking back, I am glad that I made it through the ‘new stuffs’. New place, new environment, new friends, new everything. But then still I got stuck and knocked down. Now, I am waiting nervously about my examination result that will be released this very Thursday. It is hard though to skip freshman year and jumped to sophomore without any idea about what the challenge I’m going to face. There are no senior that friendly enough to referred to, the whole batch is weird, most of my classmate… well, most of them did not understand my situation and hardship while the lecturers are intimidating [except for a very few of them that is friendly but then it was halfway through the semester and sure enough it is too late]. As for now, don’t really know what to expect. Sigh…

The fact that I always get depressed now is bugging me. So, I am going to try a lot of new cake recipes I got from my cousin that just got back from New Zealand. Baking makes me happy, so I am going to bake away my nervousness and eat away all the sadness, start with caramel apple cake.

Feel free to join me.

Bittersweet Syawal

My Little Cousins

Syawal is a month where a proud Muslim will celebrate it with happiness and gratefulness as Ramadhan passed by. Syawal has its own feeling. And I’m always looking forward to feel it. The sense and smell of reward, forgiveness, money [!!] makes me appreciate this month every time it arrives. Variety of foods, family gathering, convoy, family reunion [ouch!! I don’t even remember those far relatives. There are too many of them, I can hardly recognize each and everyone specifically], a lot of streaking and owh, duit raya for sure.

Yet, this year’s Syawal is not as fun as past years. The foods, the smells, the feelings are the same. But it lack one thing: my very own lil’ brother. Yea, yea he’s in India, studying like nerds to become a doctor. But heck he is my brother and I miss him badly. My mum didn’t cry in front of us siblings but deep inside I know she was torn apart. When my cousin first departed to Kiwi’s, I felt a little blues but now that my own brother is not here in front of my eyes, it hurts… a lot. But then it is for good.

Yet again, I had so much fun. I eat almost everything on the table, I drink fuzzy-to-fancy drinks, convoy [routine every year], running around foolishly, teasing my cousin till they laugh all right and visiting people that I don’t even know. I think I’ve gain 5 pound which is called as ‘pound of happiness’ and yea I am happy.

I really hope that everyone dear to me feel happy and content all the time. Trouble is a friend but I know somehow the people I love will get over it and live life happily ever after. Hope this year and years to come will bring the goodness in all people that I care about. Amen..

Raising Sumaiyah

The spoiled girl needs to leave home to continue her studies. So long, home sweet home. But the news didn’t excite her as she expected. When she received the news, it was rather dull. She sat silently and called her parents to tell them the news. The parents were grateful but she keeps on complaining. To make things worse, both parents cannot cancel their trip to Jakarta, which on the same date was the girl’s registration day. She was frustrated. She needs to register without her parents. And she is the spoiled girl who barely goes out for shopping without having her parents around.

From Puchong to Bandaraya Melaka with tears. On 4th July 2009, she registered at her college feels mixed up. The long queue, noisy parents, seniors yelling, waiting, catastrophe, more waiting starts to tear her apart. Still, she tried to be positive so that her parents won’t be worried. When she entered her hostel, she sighed. It was on the ninth floor, and the room was meant for 8 students. She picked her bed, and start to unpacked her loads. Then her roommate came in. Petite, cute, and outspoken, she glad she made a friend at last. Her new friend is called Pah (Sharifah). She has summer personality and she liked her. Later that evening, her ex classmate from her Diploma appears. She jumps in excitement. It is good to be in a new place, learn new things and get to know people, but it will be much nicer if she experience all the odds with somebody she knew. And she decided to share all that with Huda. The first day went with emotionally. A whole week to go for orientation.

The second day went, pretty smooth, but she tires out. The new environment makes her start complaining again. And she doubted her decision of changing courses from Office Management to Administrative Science. She wonders if she really made a right decision. The orientation is irritating, no latest news. Most of the things she already knew are told over and over that she almost throws up. The mean facilitators keep on bugging and yelling nonstop she hoped that they will lose their voice and stayed at their rooms sucking popsicles.

There are twists on the third day, when her friend Huda told her about her crush. One of the facilitator, of course. But she barely recognizes which facilitator. They all look the same to her. When Huda shows her the particular facilitator, she instantly judges the book by its cover. The guy looks down to earth, sweet, lone ranger, and a bit of scrappy, but that his style. They even call the guy ‘M’ for Mystery. Huda’s Mystery guy. The Mystery guy of Huda. Potato, potato. Their orientation week is not so boring anymore, now that she had something new to watch; the look that Huda made every time they bumped into M.

It was on the last day of orientation, while she had lunch with Huda. Then the weird man comes and gave his card. He said to Huda “This is my card. Call me, okay? What is your name?” but Huda just gave blank looks so the weird man went away, not without asking Huda to call him, again. The shock state was short then she laughs to tear. The weird man blush but still sit at his table watching Huda. Desperate or pathetic or brave or stupid, you decide for yourself, but as for her, she dislikes that kind of ‘introductory.’ What happened to ‘not talking to strangers?’ This is not a bar or social gathering. That man may be involved with human trafficking. Who knows? That night, there’s this JPK yelled at Huda’s face. Worse, it was in front of M. We are freshie doesn’t indicate you have the right to shriek like a fool or so she thought. The proud Huda felt so tiny by now. Poor her.

At last the orientation finished. It is a wonder that she is still alive, and smile. The spoiled girl is starting to like the new place. Nothing is perfect. The loop hole is what makes something special. Through it, we need to work hard, learn smart and be alert so we can experience the sweetness of being a student in city campus. Of course it will involve tears, sweat and blood, but without it we will never appreciate anything that comes in our live. Youth is a gift, once in a lifetime. Reserve what you want to yourself, but sometimes, open it to new things. Bit by bit, it will help you to grow to be a beautiful person. It will shine inside out. The spoiled girl learnt her lesson: stop complaining!!

I guess you all know who is the spoiled girl, right?

Love & Lucky

Do you believe in soul mate principle? Count me out; even if the sound of it tempted me. But I believed that we must find the right person. Once we meet him/her, it is our responsibility to give and take, listen and remember, watch and learn. We need the whole life to understand someone, there are new things that we discover about our mate, maybe not everyday, but he/she did sometimes surprise us, either in a good way or bad way. If you made a decision to be with someone, then never look back. Nobody’s perfect. Even you yourself have your own weaknesses, even me. All we need is a piece of patience and leave no room for regret. Ever!! Hard though to find someone who complement us which his/her weaknesses and gifts combined with ours, making life beautiful.

Or maybe all need is a little pixie dust and luck. Sounds fairy tale? (Of course the pixie dust part but luck exists) Look around. Can you find people with less effort but find ‘true love thus making the world a happier place to live’? I do. In fact, I’m living with them, eating with them even argue with them, sometimes. Meet my parents (ok, forget the less effort, they were engaged for 3 years. Phew!) My mother is lucky to have a husband like my father and my father is lucky for marrying women like my mother.

The luckiest? Us, the children. We have no heliparents, house full of love and almost everything we wanted. We might disagree with each other sometimes but I always look forward to go home and kiss my parents.

You always need to nurture the relationship and STOP taking things personally. My parents were married for 24 years now, lived happily ever after (real tale). Or maybe, just get lucky!! =]