Alhamdulillah

After being back in Kuala Lumpur for about a month and a half now, I can prolly say that events and incidents happened this time is pretty different from what I had in the previous years of summer vacation. It's my last vacation before I graduate. How time flies.

1.Projek Kalsom 17 (11-15 July 2011 )


Held in Malacca Fruit Farm, Melaka. I applied to be one of the facilitator for this program, and Alhamdulillah, it's a one unique experience that I shall treasure. Made a LOT of new friends, and insyaAllah I will be serving the next committee - Projek Kalsom 18, next year in Sarawak as a Publicity Manager.

"Projek Kalsom is a collaborative project between Kelab Kalsom and United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC). It is a motivational programme for Form 4 students who have excelled in their studies but come from less fortunate backgrounds. It is run by Malaysian students enrolled in universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but students from other universities are also welcomed to join as volunteers. The programme runs approximately one week." -

http://projek-kalsom.com/

"K stands for Kalsom"



2. KONSISTEN 2011 (10-14 August 2011)

My second time to attend the international student convention by Ikram. This is the only picture that I have, telling me that I went there. But there is not a single picture that can explain my feelings when I was there; because I took no picture and none of me. I see everyone in my heart. I feel their presence even though I have no idea who they are. Not even their name.

When we pray together side by side, I know I can rely on them. Even with a world-sized burden on my shoulder. This is the first (I hope there's a next next..) program that I just didn't fell asleep during any talk. MasyaAllah. But I fainted inside the masjid instead. xD

I see the family is getting bigger each year. With faces that I've seen 2-3-4 years ago, and go.. "I know you...!" and new faces, asking "Where are you from...?"to, "Oh.. you're the one who visited xxx (Jordan, Egypt, Jakarta etc..)"

 I wont be a 'mahasiswa' anymore next year, but I will insyaAllah be a part of this again.


3. KILAT 2011 (15-17 August 2011)

Kursus Intensif Lingkaran Asia Timur@ KILAT. A gathering of students who are studying in China, Korea and Japan. Saya hanya menjadi penyibuk menambah bilangan ahli majlis saja. ^-^"

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Another 9 more days of Ramadhan. I feel like I am running as fast as I can, but I feel like there's a junction infront, or a roadblock, or just a small rock that I might stumble upon. By hook or by crook, I must get there. InsyaAllah. 

I am holding on to that rope, but I feel like it's getting loose. I can feel that you're letting go. 
Maybe I am holding on to the wrong rope.  Ya Allah, I will hold on. 

Ramadhan Mubarak.

Weekend in The Land of Smiles II

Let me tell you why do they call it 'The Land of Smiles'.

at a sandal shop in Chatucak Weekend Market,

at a lamp decoration shop, also in Chatucak Weekend Market

I wasn't kidding when I tell you that people here smile A LOT. MasyaAllah, no wonder smile is sadaqah. We were walking through the market and no one call us to buy this and that. No one. You can try things on and just leave without buying, and they'll give you a BIG smile and say, ขอบคุณค่ะ kop khun kha ( thank you- for women).

When we were bargaining (which most of the time we failed to do so since its a fixed price), the guy (who was selling CDs just SMILE and said, "ten", and we said, "eight". He smiled again, and said, "ten", and we said "eight". Yes, we left, thinking that other stalls might sell it for "eight" to us. But no, all of the other stalls said, "ten", and smiled. So, we went back to the first guy, SMILE, give him 10(100Bh), he smiled, give us the CD, we smiled again and left. No frustration whatsoever.

Shopping never felt so relaxing. When you go to Pavillion or One Utama in KL, if you just leave, not buying anything, the shopkeeper would give you a "if you can't afford it, why bother coming in"- face.




I saw a pair of cute flip-flops, and I didn't know who to ask - for the price. There were so many people there, it was noisy, and I was mumbling...

"How much eh.."
and the young lady besides me said, "Which one do you like?".
In my head, "oh, the shopkeeper is too pretty and very nice-modestly dressed to be a shopkeeper", and I said "This pink one".
She called the other guy, asked him (in Thai language) how much is the pink one, and she asked me my size.
I said, "38-39?"
Later she said, "Do you want to try it on?", which I did, and she said, "The pink looks good".

It was a 150Bh slippers, and I realized that she was trying a pair as well.

We asked her mother (which we then realized that she was also a customer), how to get to MBK Mall, and they were very lovely indeed. Smileeeee all the way.

MasyaAllah.

Chatucak Weekend Market is a MUST GO in Bangkok.

We found this "Forget Me Not" Muslim cafe, and ordered 'Thai Ice Coffee' (left) and 'Thai Coffee plus Thai Tea' (the one on the right) and it tasted better than Coffee Beans or Starbucks.

 Seriously.

 It was THAT good.  The mix of Coffee and Tea in one drink somehow confuses me, but MasyaAllah.. it makes me think of how good things can be in the real paradise. 

Stalls like these goes along the street from BTS National Stadium station (in front of MBK Mall) till Siam Station.

We couldn't find any money changer that operates at 10pm, so shopping has to stop there. Didn't buy much, but spend exactly RM1000 for the weekend (including hotel, which was a great bargain as well ^-^).

We wanted to get on a Tuk Tuk like this dude. (Now we know why isit called a Tuk-Tuk. It horns, tuuukk-tuuukk!!)... But look at the traffic.. =(

I didn't feel like feeding myself with more carbon-monoxide if I were to take a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel. It's only one station away, 15Bh - where a Tuk Tuk costs 100Bh. yikes!

 Maybe, its because I haven't had any Malaysian fruits, all the fruits I had in this miracle city taste simple delicious. 

Managed to have Thai's dessert, 'Mango Sticky Rice' for 160Bh at the airport, 15minutes passed boarding time. x) 

(It was just nasi pulut and small sized mango yang sedap for 16 ringgit. Sedap punya pasal. Sedap. haha)

Alhamdulillah, this journey ends here in the 2nd album.

For now.

It's time for Ramadhan. 

But maybe, I'll be traveling as well.

We'll see.

Ramadhan Mubaarak everyone <3

Weekend in The Land of Smiles - Oh, Bangkok!

. . . 

I was amazed even before the airplane reaches the airport. Suvarnabhumi airport was beautiful. This is one country that beats my expectation to death.

. . .

Took the Express Sky Train to the city to Phaya Thai (150Bh for return tix -which I didn't even use because I took the taxi instead back to the airport) and change for BTS Train to Chitlom station for Bliston Suwan Park View Residence Bangkok.

One thing I am super amazed of this city is how much greenery I see around. Trees are everywhere! MasyaAllah.. Even in housing areas, they have as much trees as they can around every house, even Banana trees!

Parks like these can be seen almost everywhere. &&amazingly, in the city of Bangkok (as far as I'm concerned), I can barely see any rubbish around. What a clean city.

A view from our balcony. Huge trees..

(I wonder if it's because of their teachings that makes them protect these trees. If islam is being carried out the way it was supposed to, meaning that we can't even hurt animals and other living things such as trees, imagine what a wonderful world we'd live in; such greenery and calm)

Bangkok somehow reminds me of Japan (terubat sikit rindu). Feels traditional and laid back, yet quite modern for new technology, services and products.

 Their SevenEleven looks exactly like the ones in Japan, where they have bentos, pastries, lots(and lots) of Japanese brand products (plus they are cheap!) and you can pay all sorts of bills at the counter. & they even have slurpy, which Japan doesn't. A mix of my two favourite countries.

Lotte's Koara-no-Machi, Meiji's cultured drinks (caution!! SUPER DUPER SWEET - I think half of the drink was just SUGAR!), Calbee's Ebi-sen, and yes... bentosss!

Me and Mardhiah went for an aromatherapy Thai massage for 90 minutes, which cost us 850Bh.

 I picked lemongrass (mint for mekdi) for the massaging oil and it was just perfect. =)

- The infamous Pad Thai -

Since we only went there for about two days, there weren't much time for us to explore other parts of the city (and food as well). Mardhiah had Pad Thai twice, and I went with 'I-don't-know-what-do-they-call-it"(above) and Tom Yam Goong (below).

 with steamed Jasmine rice.

 and another Thai signature-dish, Som Tam. 

 That was just it, Alhamdulillah. The food was kinda expensive (at a 'proper' restaurant- 200Bh per dish) since we didn't have the guts to eat at the hawkers.

For the rest of the first album, click here.

I still got lots of things to share &brag &blab about. x)  

will continue soon!

Ramadhan Mubaarak everyone!

<3

In Perhentian!!

We went to Hentian Putra bus station (besides PWTC) to go to the East Coast area.

The bus to Jeti Kuala Besut (where the boat to Pulau Perhentian leaves) cost us RM 40, and we departed at 9:30pm to arrive in Besut at 5:30am. (If you get Mahligai Bus like we did, it will stop right in front of the Jeti place)

So-Young's first Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai. A must have in Malaysia. Eat up before getting to the island. It's cheaper to have breakfast in the mainland first.

We were lucky to get to know Kak Ita that later bought our boat tickets  (return tix for RM 70), and our snorkeling voucher (5 snorkeling spots for RM 40) . She told us about the differences between the Big and Small Perhentian Island, where the small one is better for backpackers as they have a wide choice of chalets and dormitories. Around this time of year (summer holiday  in North Hemisphere countries), you have to pre-book your stay or else you have to camp out on your own. We were lucky to have one room in Aubay Chalet (in Corey Bay) since we just crash the place without any reservation.

There are other places as well ( a room with 2 beds or a queen size bed),

• Senja Bay (they didn't have any rooms last time) - RM 100 per night with breakfast, 24 hours electricity, and Free Wi-Fi.

• Aubay Chalet (our chalet) - RM 80 per night, 12 hours electricity, VERY SUPER near to the beach (facing sunset) and very friendly staffs.

• Amelia Chalet - RM50 per night.

Others; there's so many other chalets out there, but it really depends on the availability. It ranges from RM15~ (for a dormitory placed further inside the jungle + the toilet and shower is outside and you have to share it with others if you don't really care it's okay).

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We just spend the whole day of our first day reading books and I was reading all of my notes to write my report... It was relaxing, but we were sweating hot since  the electricity only work after 7pm. T-T"

Around 5pm, we decided to take a look at the Long Beach (about 10 mins of walking in the jungle - there's a proper path) and it was just beautiful!! But yeah, I was the odd one out since there were many many mat salleh and perasantan mat salleh celups.

For dinner, we went to Amelia Restaurant has this BBQ set that cost RM15 including a small glass of lychee juice. Around the island, most drinks will cost about RM3 and a plate of a proper food will be around RM 8- RM 10. It's really easy to allocate your budget if you know how much things cost.

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You should bring 2-3 big bottles of mineral water, and a loaf or two of bread. Especially once you go swimming or snorkeling, you'd be starving in an instance. Just bring something to munch with you on the boat (when you go for snorkeling). Nuts would be nice.

Always the odd one out wherever I go.

 Snorkeling is something that you just HAVE to do when you're in Perhentian. It really doesn't matter if you can swim or not! You'll be wearing the life vest, the snorkeling equipment and the half-fin(?)- the thing that makes you feel like a fish (or a mermaid!).

 Our 5 snorkeling spots that I still remember,

•  1: Fish n Corals- MasyaAllah....... The fishes are just beautiful. There's like millions of them swimming around you. If only I had bread with me which I kinda did but totally freaked  out when they were like thousand of them swarming me. xP

•  2: Shark Point

 - saw a number of sharks swimming around me.
 - but totally freaked out when I saw a group of jelly fish and went straight back to the boat.. T-T" ( I had a horrible experience with them last time)

•  3: Penyuuuu!!

 - just follow the Penyuuuu and swim beside it! You can touch it if it comes to the surface, and mine DID!!
 - it was way huge than I thought it would be.

[lunch break in a village nearby]

•  4: Light House (breath taking view of the corals!!)

 - there's this small "Christmas Tree" that acts like daun semalu when you touch them.
 - Saw a Nemo family. A big one and a smaaaaall one playing hide and seek!
 - the differences in the layer of the water when suddenly you can feel it being really warm, or chilling cold.

•  5: Romantic Beach  (I love this place!!)

 

 - where I took my life-vest off and it felt really good to just swim on my own)

 - shallow water about 5 metres deep. The water was crystal clear!

 - played with gamat. Ewwwwwww =X

 - mencari (in search of) octopus!  and found one! and the way they 'blurted' their ink was just memorable!

 - sand white and transparent fishes playing at your feet.^-^

 - saw more sharks!! and more Nemo families!!

 # I panicked when my goggle got a bit foggy inside, and I swallowed too much of sea water when I laugh.

## I realized that when I'm panic or nervous, I laugh a lot. A LOT.

### When I was bitten by a snake back in Melaka, I was laughing all the way to the hospital at the back of the ambulance. and the paramedics got really worried and confused T-T"

#### I can't help but to laugh (or smile) if I'm being confronted - pastu they won't take me seriously. (syoganainaa..)

I guess that's about it.

All in all, I hang out with a Japanese guy, 2 Korean ladies that went there for scuba class (both on their own), my Korean mate (So-Young), Steven the hamsap scuba instructor and Hafiz one of the beach boys.

I would go back for more. I realize that I love traveling and SNORKELING!!

next stop, Red Sea! 

Before Perhentian..

Just because I am still in Perhentian (with nothing to do >_<)  and the Internet that our Korean chalet mate bought last night is still working, I'm gonna go ahead and write them post about my trip this time.

The jeti serves as a place where the tourist just hang around to watch the sunset, and the water is just so clear you can see every single thing inside the water. I can't imagine if they say that the Red Sea is way better than this. SubhanAllah, MashaAllah. I guess there's still so many things out there yet to be discovered!

Well, I shall make this post a bit detailed for the first time ever (in this blog) by explaining things that one should know to travel this path (if you're interested). I wanted to do the same when I went for my Arab trip, but as you've already know.. my phone decided to go haywire and that was it. An experience left to be unshared.

Excusez-moi pour the long introduction. =)

Actually, when I arrived in LCCT about 2 weeks ago, I met a Korean on her way to KL. I said, "annyong!"  to her first, and the next thing I knw, she was speaking korean to me! Unfortunately I can't speak Korean (Oh I wish I could..), but I was surprised to know that she can speak Japanese! She lived in Japan for 8 years, and now she's traveling the world for a year and Malaysia is her first stop!

She wanted to go to Cameron Highland for a week and I had to head to Melaka for my Project Kalsom 17 event. She said that her next stop is Perhentian, and I said, we shall go together then!

And that's how the journey starts..

.....

As soon as she got back from Cameron Highland, she stayed at my apartment for 2 nights, had a luxurious Traditional Malay Lunch at Kelantan Delights in Subang, met my seniors, friends and family and it was nice that she gets along well with all the havoc of my daily life as a nanny and a driver.

The appetizer!

Nasi Tumpang in Kelantan Delights. (Sangat sedap!!)

 

Kelantan dessert. Ouh2.. there's Lompat Tikam! Which means, Jump and Stab! ^-^

She even attended my father's colleague's daughter's wedding in J.W. Mariott ( yes, I told her that it was not a normal traditional  wedding event where most of the time they'll have it in a community place or hall instead of a hotel).

 #I told my dad, I really hate the awkwardness of having so many people at my wedding (in the future of course) and I want to have an eco-no-money family ambience event at home where my brother would play his guitar with his friends and I know all of my guest.

## hahaha.. I know I'm so out of topic here.

Let's go back. Now! In a different post of course.

To be continued...

SP#4 Berebut pahala

Berebut pahala puasa?  Mak saya  cerita, masa kat mekah haritu, ada orang akan berebut menarik anda supaya berbuka puasa di tempat yang mereka sediakan untuk berbuka. Lebih ramai orang berbuka dengan makanan yang mereka provide, apalagi, lebihlah pahala yang dapat diorang kumpul. Sebab dalam masjid tak boleh bawak makanan sendiri, semua orang makan makanan yang sama yang masjid sediakan.  So, bila ada yang terlepas bawak own food, apalagi, extra pahala la! Sebab pahala sangat banyak berganda-ganda kalau beri makan pada orang yang sedang berpuasa demi Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Sebab tu la better kita  buat SELALU majlis berbuka untuk orang yang berpuasa dari buat open house belanja beribu-ribu untuk hari raya. Kalau kita belanja kawan kita makan untuk berbuka pun, masyaAllah pahala puasa dia pun dapat kat kita tanpa sedikit pun pahala puasa kita berkurangan. Hebatkan?  Kedai-kedai menjual makanan kat sana pulak, menarik orang ramai  beli makanan kat kedai mereka supaya boleh disedekahkan pada orang laim yang sedang berpuasa. "Pahala!,  pahala!", orang kedai seperti memanggil-manggil. Bulan Ramadhan la kedai2 makan nak rebut pahala. Bukannya rebut untung semata! Oih, kalau bukak gerai kat bazaar Ramadhan, sure untung banyak dapat beli baju raya exta tahun ni. Mokuteki short-term deshou?  Ramadhan ni bulan yang sangat awesome. Buat apa2 pun Allah gandakan kebaikan. Tapi kalau dosa, takdela pulak Allah gandakan sampai jadi ribu-ribu kali ganda negatif. Baik je Allah kat kita. So, dekat2 nak habis Ramadhan ni? Apa benda yang kita dah buat, special lagi dari hari2 biasa kita? Insyaallah kalau benda baik, boleh la kita heret buat sampai our next Ramadhan. (tu pun belum tentu ek? Insyallah..) P/s: dalam dekat2 nak raya ni makin sedih pulak Ramadhan dh nak habis. At the same time, makin pendek la masa tinggal kat Malaysia ni, makin pendek la masa tinggal tuk spend time ngan family. Aduh, dah sebak-sebak dah nih.. （−＿−；）

SP#3 Kepulangan dari Mekah!

Sudah genap 10 hari mereka pergi, and my parents are now back in town!

Dalam kesibukan yang super awesome itu, dapatlah snap gambar budak-budak here and there. Sikit je la pun, tak banyak. Sibukla katakan.. ^-^"

Album - Without bonda.

Bonda bought a lot of jubah for me, but unfortunately she bought ALL 'S' size. Ehm, kecik.

So, sesiapa yang 'rasa' dia kecik sikit from me, I can sell them to you. Lawa2, but tu lah.. bukan rezeki saya namanya tu. Not only me, even the boys and the girls pun baju singkat la, tangan panjang sangatla.. macam-macam. Lain kali kena ukur dulu la yer, budak-budak ni cepat membesarnya.

But one thing that I REALLY like a lot is.... the kurmas!

Seriously, they are super delicious! Ada packets of kurma that yang dah dibuang bijiknya, and sangatlah sedap! Dang! Lain sangat la dengan kurma yang dibeli kat Tesco tu. Kurma packet tu bonda cakap dapat masa orang tengah tunggu nak bukak puasa kat Masjidil Haram, Mekah. No wonder la sedap sungguh ek? They also bought kurma nabi n stuff, banyak jugaklah food from there. Subhanallah!

Saya juga mahu pergi tanah haram!

One of my japanese friend asked me before I came back to Malaysia.

"U ni dah merata-rata jalan, tapi Mekah pun tak pergi lagi. Apadaa.."kata Katsu dengan nada perli.

"Hey. Tunggu la I kawin dulu, takmau la pergi sorang,"jawab saya nak cover baik.

Bonda dengar je pasal pertanyaan hebat si Katsu ni, dia pun cakap, "Kat sana nanti bukan boleh nak mengikooot je mana suami pergi. Nanti dia kemana, kamu kemana."

What I was trying to say is, STATUS solo la... I want to go as a married person. Apa tidak bisa? Haish. So, itulah ceritanya sedikit sebanyak yang boleh nak di share dalam waktu yang singkat ini.

Kain baju banyak lagi tengah menunggu dicuci, dilipat.. Kerja bibik anak sepuluh bukan senang oi! hehe.. Nak tanya apa2 silakan.

ramadhan mubarak untuk semua!

mari2 kita kejar lailatul qadr! tak sabar-sabar rasanya! waku-waku gitu!

SP#2 They left.

Last summer, they went to Barcelona for 2 weeks. This year, my parents have planned to go for umrah about 10 days. Why? Because Nadiah is at home.　 I feel like the biggest baby left back. All 4 girls sobbed like mad when mommy left for the immigration. Before I knew it, my list of things to do have been laundries, cooking, dishes and many many more, just like a full time mother (more like a widow since you have kids, but with no husband - said a friend). The groceries list is all about diapers, milk and food to cook for iftar. We don't really buy food from the bazaar Ramadan nowadays. But you don't expect me to make 2-3 different dishes! My mother is an exception. She's a superwoman. Sometimes she can make 5 dishes for dinner! Today's iftar was OK. Before I knew it, I miss my mother too much. I have so many things on my mind that I get unnecessary headache. When we got ready for tarawih tonight, only the last kids want to go. The rest? je ne sais pas. I have no idea where they went.

@Masjid Wilayah after tarawih. (sans bonda)

When I got home, more dishes coming, more laundry coming.. Allah knows what's best. He's the best planner. I hope the other sisters at KILAT, Masjid KLIA will be just fine. Allah-hafiz.

Summer Post SP#1 Them Roads

In less than 24 hours after landing in Kuala Lumpur, I had to drive all the way to KLIA from home all by myself. Let me remind you that I have not been driving for nearly a year now. (I was trembling! One hour of driving was somewhat scary! )

I had no choice.

One thing I realized was that, SOME of Malaysians drive like loose monkeys on the roads.

They give you no signal sign.

They don't give way to you.

They cut lanes like they're playing go-cart.

They follow you like they can't wait to kiss your car's ***.

They don't care about you giving the signal sign.

Left line for the slow ones? Nah, no more.

It's already stressful enough dealing with those kind of human beings while driving. I don't need the road sign to give me anymore stress.

I wonder who made all those signs.

They're amazingly horrible.

and detours?

You've gotta be kidding me.

Why not tell me how can I get there rather than telling me you're sorry.

NOT HELPING.

wow. Malaysia's road. I didn't know that I'll be this emotional and angry. One hour of travelling took me two hours. I guess I'm exhausted enough. Or maybe that it has been a while, that you can say that I'm too pampered back in Japan. Seriously.

We do not need them signboard.

Mr. Navi, I NEED YOU!