Ramadhan 2010

So here i am after spending my first Ramadhan overseas, and my first Aidilftri overseas. The first one without my family around me. The first one outside of Terengganu actually since both my parents are from the same state. And i missed my first solat raya overseas : (  Insyaallah next year i'll try my hardest to stay awake and go to the local masjid. Luckily enough my first aidilfitri celebration overseas went without a hitch or any problems whatsoever. We had plenty of traditional foods to choose from lemang, laksa, soto, rendang, kuih raya but no ketupat. Or maybe there is but i missed it. We the bujangs did a performance of dikir barat and it was so hilarious and fun. We did practiced twice but overall i think it was okay considering we had to submit two assignments prior (the day before to be exact) to the celebration.

students of deakin university

But it's not the Syawal i wanted to write about. It's about the Ramadhan that had just past.


I had to admit it was different from the typical Ramadhan i ever had. There was no atmosphere of fasting around us. Same day as any other day, except everyone else is eating and you're not. There was no bazar ramadhan to visit. None here in Geelong but there are some mini bazars around Melbourne. What we want to eat, we cook ourselves. There was no big congregation of people going to the masjid every night, the typical huge volume of people trying to get to the mosque before tarawih each night that causes massive traffic jams along the road. We had only ourselves. Our little community of Muslim comprised of families and friends and the local Muslims. But it was enough. I feel blessed. Even in the land where Islam is not a major religion, i'm humbled.


True we had almost non-existance Ramadhan atmosphere around us but we had plenty when we were around ourselves. I realized how true the saying out of the comfort zone is now. We became much more conscious of ourselves, our actions and of others. We had tarawih every single night which is not always the case back in Malaysia for me. The first week was at the local masjid where we had our share of experiencing Turkish way of ramadhan. A bit fast, okay maybe more than a bit but still it's the niat that matters. The following weeks were done in the comfort of our house yet nonetheless enriching and humbling. We took turns by being the imam and hilmi being the wiseguy of our house nicknamed the routine 'akademi calon suami' (or something like that, i can't really recall). haha. drop me an email for your suitable future husband :)



Another aspect that improved vastly was the skill of our cooking. We made the challenge of creating 30 different dishes in 30 days of ramadhan. It was succesful....almost. Because during the last days we somehow lost track of the dishes made.haha. But still it was fun and challenging to complete the feat. I for one successfully made the tom yam chiang mai for 20 person during our house iftar. it was a great event and bonding session between us students. and we had a near-faint tragedy because the tom yam was too spicy for naz to handle and also shazwan whom i didn't know is allergic to mushrooms. im truly, deeply sorry to both of you :P

deqnot & tas checking out our tomyam chiang mai (mira is already on it.haha)

iftar at our house and bonding session

But most of all, i believe i improved even if it's not much but to a certain understanding. In the sense of spirituality and believing. We had a nightly discussion where we discussed and shared stories and experiences and give advices to each other which i truly valued. Not to forget the plentiful infos and tazkirahs available on the web to help shed the light towards the right path. This kind of activity is really benefiting to all of us. Sometimes it's the words of our close friends are the most effective and easy to comprehend. I learned a lot and i hoped my friends too. There is a hadis that says "Belajar satu bab daripada ilmu lebih baik dari sembahyang (sunat) seratus rakaat” riwayat Ibn Abdul Barr and Ibn Majah. These little discussions might open the way towards jannah. insyallah.


And that's all for this article. i originally wrote the drafts for this article a few days into syawal but lost the enthusiasm and ideas to write. eventually, syawal had passed me by and i just finished my study for this semester so i got some time to ponder and write. i shall remember this past ramadhan as one of my best and enriching month. let's pray for the next ramadhan to be better and we live to meet it again, insyallah.


wasalam.

Knowing thyself

I always believe that life is a journey of learning about yourself. When we were born into the world we learn how to breathe instinctively. Then gradually we learn the physical aspects of ourself from walking, jumping, running, swimming, smiling, eating, and to hold our pee when the toilets're full or too dirty.

However, it's not the physical actions of ourself i'm focusing on but more towards our spiritual side. Our personality, the character, how we handle ourselves etc. 

According to dictionary.com personality by definition is the quality of being a person;  existence as a self-conscious human being;  a personal identity.

As Paolo Coelho aptly said;

Man improves himself as he follows his path; if he stands still, waiting to improve before he makes a decision, he'll never move. 

When we made 'the' decision and move forward, we inevitably learn about ourself. Why did we made the decision, what did we consider when we made the decision? How will the decision affect us? Wether the decision we took is one we happy with or did we just made a mistake is not as important as the journey we go through when we made our decision. 

Life is about learning ourself and improve and make mistakes and continue improving.

Along my short journey so far in this world I've learnt many things about myself. I learnt that i'll cry when i see/be among others cry or when i see a touchy movie or drama. I learnt that i'm most emotionally vulnerable when i'm sleepy or when i just woke up. I learnt that i forgive but don't forget. I learnt how to appear happy and satisfied when actually i'm sad and disappointed. I learnt to be content. I learnt that i keep my secrets quite well that nobody (even my close friends) actually know my full story and history other than the normal trivial matters like where you were born, lived, studied etc. (as if anybody is interested).

Further up on learning about ourself is how we learn to react to others in a certain situation, how we control ourself when we are faced with something we truly despise or cherished, what path do we usually take when are given option to choose. To be safe or to take some risk. Will we take the scenic road or the bland one? Learning when we are the most effective, is it in the early morning? or late at night? will it be a long-focused several hours of concentration or we need to take some pause between the hours to stay sharp.

I learnt that to accept others and to not judge them by appearances is extremely hard. To accept them as they are in the belief that nobody is perfect and we ourself are never a saint to start with. How often do we ridicule someone out without even trying to know them by just looking at their Facebook profile picture or when we heard from a friend of your best friend's friend that his friend said something bad about him that when we actually met the person we already have bad thoughts about him?

Maybe we learn about ourself differently. Either by experience, stories, observing, reading and many countless ways. But ultimately to learn and accept being ourself is a journey in itself. I might write this post today after mulling about the subject for more than a month. Which i learnt that i'm not one to write something without preparation or knowledge with fear that it might be misleading or cause unnecessary problems :)

Have we learnt something about ourself today?

Sometimes in your life you will go on a journey. It will be the longest journey you have ever taken. It is the journey to find yourself. - Katherine Sharp 

Salam Ramadhan 1431H

Salam Ramadhan dari warga Moorabool, Geelong, Australia. Semoga Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik dari yang sebelumnya.

Proposal Daisakusen

One of the best Japanese drama I've seen so far. Maybe the compliment came a bit late since it was released in 2007 but still. This one really goes deep inside me. I really-really want to watch it again and again but the drama stuck so strong in my mind it felt useless to re-watch something you remember so fondly so passionately. But of course I definitely will watch it again, someday for sure :)

Everything about the drama unfolds near perfection. Each of your emotions are played and skewed and churned inside out it leaves you almost at the edge. Even the song is great. No wonder this drama won so many awards including best drama, actor, actress, supporting actor and actress, and best song.

And I think you'll like the theme song of Proposal Daisakusen performed by Kuwata Keisuke titled Ashita Hareru Kana even without watching the drama. Lovely song indeed.

This is one of few posts I'll publish about movies or dramas that left a huge impression to me. Really love this one! haha.

define yourself

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. Wayne Dyer


so true, so true...

23 years ago..

If i am granted one wish for my birthday then I'd wish for my beloved mother eternal happiness and well-being. thank you from the bottom of my heart. umi, aki sayang umi selalu :)

The picture from the left is my sister, me, my umi, and my youngest brother. If I'm not mistaken the picture is taken around 2006 when I was still in matriculation. Look at my beautiful and lovely umi :)

Knowing thyself

...soon

into the unknown

into the unknown, originally uploaded by -syauqee-.

This is a picture of the summit walk on Lake Mountain. It's a 2 hours drive from Melbourne CBD. we had fun sliding with toboggan and tried making a snowman which is not as easy as i thought.haha.

The picture looks like a set in a creepy mysterious movie. well, in reality it does feel surreal to be there and because of the climate there is almost no noise there, like a mute scene with foggy unwelcoming path...

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

just after 1 sem in geelong...

i can somewhat safely say, i have completed my 1st semester in deakin university, geelong. good luck for another 3 (or more)...

looking back to what i have been through for the past few months. it just proves how small we are in this world... org putih sume besar2..haha.xdelah. ada je lagi kecik dari aku

i've learned a lot but i know for sure i will learn a lot lot more. i experienced a lot, and i will sure be experiencing more in the future. learning outside your comfort zone really is something isn't it?

i've learned to cook. real cooking. i cooked before, but not for eat sake like people depends on your cooking u know? mothers would know how 5 hungry boys in a house who wait eagerly for dinner every day. that's me on the mother side right now, though i dont cook everyday. we rotate 5 of us everyday. i know that i will enjoy cooking.but never thought this much this fast.

so far i've cooked ayam tandoori (original tandoori with my own spices done from scratch), for 5 families in which we invited to eat at our house.jamu kecil-kecilan rapatkan ukhuwah kata org.quite a feat for someone who just started cooking it just a week before. before that during our housewarming event i teamed up with zakwan and did roti jala. i did once in malaysia and fortunately had the chance to harness my lipat roti jala skill here again. it was gone in literally minutes. i just got sekeping from hundres we did. memang best.haha.

i successfully did ayam kari that tastes like real curry with extra spicy and extra lemak. and got the seal of approval from tazz when she tasted it.haha. chicken soup which tasted good though quite easy to cook. ayam masak kari is another curry base menu i did which is my own improvisation of another menu in which is so spicy, my housemate got teary eyed.sorry, i thought it was on the mark but looks like it was a bit off.

A few days ago i tried doing tiramisu. which is a failure if u really compare it with secret recipe.haha. but still got eaten clean by my housemates. later i asked hilmi where he replied it actually tasted like ice cream.no wonder they finished it off.my tiramisu ice cream.haha. it was actually for corio's housewarming party. in the end we brought nothing and went home full.memang betul py makan free..haha

anyway, there are plenty other things i want to share. like the cold weather, our journey along the great ocean road, sunday markets, the extremely nice malay families here in geelong and more. but i have to go now. nak main game pulak.

salam

people dont change without any reason

isn't it?

i dont see somebody says tomorrow im gonna be a different man and really does. even if he changes, i dont see him last long without any clear reason. seriously, the only change that counts is the one that has a profound reason, incident, moments that actually brings significant change to a person. something as big as death, divorced parents, loss of bodily use etc.

in fact even if they do change, will it lasts forever or is it just momentary?

cause there are loads of people out there that promised to stop smoking for whatever reason is and never did isnt it?

however way we see it, we'll never know if people really does change or not, if they do change will it be permanent or is it short-lived, will the change be for better or worse?

who knows?
should we even know why?
why bother?
shouldn't we accept them as they are?
whatever they did or might do?

Being judgmental

im learning that to be judgmental is not good.

im saddened when people are too extreme in their judgement it clouds their compassion and decision.

im more scared when Muslims freely pass judgement as if God speaks through them.

dont we realize even the beloved Prophet never pass judgement freely?

the sahabats are so scared to give their opinions because they know they will be held accountable for everything they said and did at the hereafter.

despite that i know we will have opinions on everything.

it's perfectly normal to have opinions but not exactly by passing judgement to everything and everyone.




Before you pass judgement onto others please consider these questions first :

-have you really been living the Islam way of life thoroughly and faithfully?

-do you realize everything you said is held accountable at the hereafter?

-is it in the teachings of Islam to call names, say bad things, and/or accuse of anyone be it Muslim or non-Muslim without you really have in depth knowledge of the subject?

-are you better than Rasulullah and the sahabats? because the Prophet himself never hated his neighbour that throws shit at him every single day until that neigbour died and he came to her house to say his condolence.

-only God Himself knows the absolute truth about everything and realizing that do you really know is a person is going to heaven or hell?

-do you know the only way into jannah is by His mercy? so, despite whatever you thought or knew a person had done who knows that God has gifted that person His mercy?

-then after looking at the questions above, is it in our position at all to be judgemental when it is never ours to begin with?





a reminder mostly for me and whomever reads this.

p.s. judgemental is different to opinion.

salam.

Blog updated!!!

it's been over a year since i updated this blog. much had happened during the past year. i wish could put it all here but my memory doesn't really serve me good. you see, my memory works in a way that even i cant clearly understand. i can remember something utterly useless without any effort and sometimes i cant remember a thing even if i spent hours trying. huh, wonder
where did i put my helmet just now? wait, i don't have any helmet! haha

so, maybe i feel like i want to write this today. maybe because i after i read adzim blog i think i owe like whoever is reading this.haha.i don't think anybody read this anyway. it still serves as a reminder of me and what i think and feel right now.that counts for a write i suppose.haha.

ok, now where do i start? well, let's look a year back...obviously!
that was during my 1st semester. we were doing project in terengganu.the terengganu traditional games center. okay, let's just say it sucks!! i mean my end result was the worst so far in all my projects done by my judgment. and that, sums it all. then, it was our last semester as the student of bachelor in architectural studies. i was so excited that we went to singapore. it was my first time going overseas!! and thats where the happiness ends actually. the semester was, how should i say it...frustating. it was the most exciting project i had done but the end wasn't really much to our expectation.we got into some problems and some students had to repeat the 2nd semester in a period where things began to change to kaed. because of our doings. the akujanji letter was introduces subsequently in the next new academic year and effectively put us on the losing end of the trade.some experience huh? nope.wakaka

heh, then it was time for our heritage studies. which got me to inner Mongolia,china. yes!!! it was like the most exciting and well spent time there. we really had fun and got into shopping so much. i don't really remember what i bought but my money's gone and sure that was by shopping right? right? wait, i remember eating so much there i gained like 2 kilos!! that's much i tell you! thanks to the most juicy meat satay i ever ate in my whole life!!! we ate like 5 sticks everyday.at least! noticed i never mentioned bout what we originally supposed to do there? well, maybe because my job was to take pictures and videos that it was natural to me and i really don't remember it that well.haha.duhh

my mind was elsewhere when i applied to continue my study in part2 at kaed. i was busy searching for uni offering architecture course in australia. i got accepted into 4th year and spent like one whole semester studying. during that time i got several offers from the unis i applied and eventually decided to accept the offer to deakin university. im going there this february with 7 others that i know of. im really looking forward to this new chapter in my life thanks to my family that fully supported me.which i will never get to give back what they sacrified to make sure i'll be there.except for eterneal gratitude to u all.really, i love them with all my heart.

which brings me to november 09. i worked as a design consulant at fd architects. i finally worked!! i never thought i had survived the working world. but there i was, designing (more like renovating) bungalows and catering centre.haha. it was good time. i totally love my workmate that is hazim, my boss.hahaha.and afiq. i wished we will work again with each other in the future.and add kupaf into the mix and it's the perfect working experience i should get.haha.
wishful thinking that was.

now this is an interesting event that i should mention. during my time working there, i managed to coax hazim and afiq to go to a book fair namely the big bad wolf book fair to look at some books. the price for the book there were ridiculous!!! the most expensive was only 10ringgit and i got back with 14 books totalling only rm100.where in normal situation would go for like around rm700!! maybe...haha. but because the price was so insane that hazim and afiq thought they had to get at least some books themselves. and there u go, i just started a reading revolution to afiq
and hazim. two people that would puke at the sight of a novel if given to them and now is big fans of cecilia ahern!!! can u believe that?!! and most interestingly as hazim and afiq took their books back home, their family started rading and there u go again!! another book revolution. at least im partly responsible and im proud with this!wakaka

theres more i should note. several of my friends got engaged and planned to marry. congratulations to che raiskandar and amiera samad. and also adzim marzuki and asmaa zamil. this couple caught us by surprised.really few knew bout their relationship until they got engaged. still, may all of u be blessed forever :)

and what about me? nope, im still here.for the time being my heart is reserved for my mom.yup,that's it.reserved.for the number 1 girl of my life.haha.and do u know when will the next important girl comes in ur life? nobody knows and thats where i put my bet on.

i feel like i just wrote nonsense.haha.wonder why.

during right around the same time in november i started the obssession in action figures. particularly spawn and one piece figures. i bought my first spawn from an online ad and got a nice deal.now i in total i have in my possession 5 spawn figures and 2 one piece figures. my very first action figure actually was the lead singer of detroit metal city which i gave to my elder brother. of course, it's now somewhere in his house.haha

the kumbangs is my other obssession. we just released the kumbangs tshirt design and hopefully would be able to put it to print before i go to aussie. u can get the whole story of kumbangs in other blog that im planning to write about. sometime in the future.hahaha.

reading it all back i guess its not much to talk about eh? haha.what do they always say.life is a short one.live in meaningful or meaningless. its all up to you in the end. i always thought by 23 i'll be having beard and moustache and sorts.haha. looks like the hair decided not to show up yet..maybe it has...at someplace else.wakaka.

so, there u go a summary of what have been over the past year.im thankful to god to what he has bestowed upon me. hopefully i dont put it to waste and try to live my life the fullest..

untill next time :)