The End

Salam..

It's 11/4/2014 today.. remarking the end of my second year *but still the exam is on its way

The last bit of which has literally cut my breath down. Having to cram the practical assessments altogether in the last week had never put my mind at rest. Waking up the next morning accompanied by the same adrenaline rush of about to be assessed again. And today is a great relief knowing everything has been settled down. Alhamdulillah..

But before that, I had actually failed one of my practical assessments. Yes I failed. Though it is not accounted in the overall mark for that particular subject, we still need to get it passed as part of the module. So I need to repeat for it and alhamdulillah it turned out well for the second time. I can't remember how I felt when finding out that I did not pass, but one thing for sure I was already prepared for it. Doing my degree has somehow taught me of failure. Dulu time dapat result, kalau mana-mana subjek tak dapat A mesti dah nangis meraung-raung. Haha.. But it's a different case when doing a degree. The grade is still crucial yet beyond that, how far do you think you can perform practically and not doing it just for the sake of exam?

Minda kita orang Malaysia terlalu terikat dengan sistem peperiksaan. Bila nak exam baru nak kalut study dan bila dah habis terus lupa apa yang dah dibaca. Memanglah kalau dilihat dari satu sudut exam ni penting sebagai initiator. Cuba kalau takde exam, berapa ramai yang akan study sebagai aktiviti mengisi masa lapang? Heh..ini statement terkena batang hidung sendiri. =_=

Bila menghadapi saat kegagalan ni, tiba-tiba teringat perkongsian semasa usrah tempoh hari

'...Dan masa (kejayaan dan kehancuran) itu, Kami pergilirkan di antara manusia (agar mereka mendapat pelajaran), dan agar Allah membedakan orang-orang yang beriman (dengan orang-orang kafir)..'

(Ali-Imran : 140)

Sekali lagi, al-Quran sentiasa menjadi pemujuk hati. Jadi, apa yang nak disedihkan? Apa yang nak dirisaukan? Allah dah nyatakan bahawa hidup kita akan ada naik turun. Di setiap kegagalan itu datang bersama hikmah yang tersembunyi. Kalau kita sentiasa di atas mungkin kita akan leka dan alpa. Maka Allah kirimkan sedikit kesusahan untuk kita kembali ingat kepadaNya. Sememangnya fitrah manusia bila hati sedang bergembira, jarang sekali kita akan ingat kepada Sang Pencipta. Maka ambillah kegagalan itu dari sudut yang positif. Jangan terlalu bersedih kerana sifat sedih yang keterlaluan menandakan kita tidak redha dengan ketentuan Allah.

Mungkin ada juga yang mempersoalkan dia asyik menemui kegagalan walaupun sudah penat berusaha. Allah tahu kita penat. Allah tahu. Jadi haruslah kita bertawakal kepada Allah. Allah suruh kita berusaha tetapi bukan menaruh kepercayaan kepada usaha kita, sebaliknya kita kena percaya bahawa Allah adalah pemberi rezeki. Berjaya atau gagal semuanya adalah ketentuan Allah. Yang penting kita kena usaha sebab Allah akan nilai kita berdasarkan usaha, bukan pada hasilnya. Allah itu kan Maha Adil.

That's actually a reminder to myself since the exam is just within three weeks time. I hate seeing the exam timetable where there is not even a gap between exams. That means I'm going to sit for it on every single day. wuwuwu

That's all for now peeps!

*Dua hari lagi bermulalah kembara mencari cinta. Heheh

Assalamualaikum..

Being Me..

Salam..

'As long as your heart is still shaken when committing sins, there's still iman inside it. There'll always be a chance to improve'

Deep. Too deep. I was sitting next to my senior on our way back to Bradford. Such an inspirational lady she is, full of motivation and experiences. She went to see someone just to say those words but at the same time it touched me as well. She had just delivered it perfectly. Even though those lines are familiar to me, the tone of her voice somehow made me startled.

Every one of us has a willingness to improve. We can't judge others just because they are different from us particularly when we have no idea what kind of hardships they've been through. All we can do is give them support and advice. Agama itu adalah nasihat. Kita saling memperingati sebabnya manusia ni tak akan selamanya teguh berdiri bila bersendirian. Hati manusia ni kan berbolak-balik. Kejap rasa nak berubah sepenuhnya, kejap rasa bahagia dalam keadaan melakukan maksiat. Selagi mana ada perasaan nak berubah tu, cepat-cepatlah lakukannya sebab kita tak tahu bila Allah akan tarik balik perasaan tu. Dan kita tak dapat jamin masih ada lagi tak hari esok untuk kita berubah. Nak berubah itu senang tapi yang susahnya adalah istiqamah. Maka berdampinglah dengan orang-orang yang sama tujuannya dengan kita. Apa tujuan akhir kita? Mestilah untuk mencapai keredhaan Allah untuk menuju ke syurgaNya. Bila masing-masing dah jelas matlamat in syaa Allah kita akan sentiasa berada di landasan yang benar.

This past few days I learnt a lot about myself. Some parts of me which I haven't discovered before. Oftenly I felt inferior when watching others who are far more steps ahead. It makes me wonder, 'Am I born to just be an ordinary person or am I being too indifferent that I couldn't care less of things happening around me? Or maybe I'm just afraid to step forward, afraid of what kind of perception people might throw towards me. And the question goes on and on... 

But you will never know until you try. When I challenged myself to take a responsibility, that was when I found what I've actually got inside. No matter from which position you start with, it's the lessons that matters. As I said everyone is different in their own way. It doesn't mean you have to begin at the same position as others just to be like them. Find your true self, then you will enjoy what you're doing. Barulah perasaan ikhlas tu datang. And you will not see it as a burden to you. 

Apa yang saya fikir sekarang adalah sambal nasik lemak. Dah banyak kali buat tapi tak pernah dapat hasil yang ummphh hinggalah bila saya bekerjasama ngan housemate buat sama-sama, rasa macam sambal nasik lemak kami adalah yang terbaik. Eh? Macam takde kaitan je? Kikiki

That's all for now. Assalamualaikum wbt. 

Randomness

Salam..

I had a short conversation with Ummi one morning before going to lectures.

Saya : Ummi yakin tak kalau kita jaga diri dengan baik, kita akan dapat bakal suami yang baik jugak?

Ummi : Yakin! *dengan confidentnye.  

I don't know why this thing keeps worrying me these days. Perhaps, I'd been reading or listening too much nonsense things. You know, all those divorce and cheating thingy. Tiba-tiba rasa macam erk..takutnya nak kawin. Haha

Tapi kita sebagai orang Islam, mesti la kita yakin kan dengan perancangan Allah. Kalau kita tengok surah an-Nur, Allah cakap perempuan yang baik adalah untuk lelaki yang baik dan begitulah sebaliknya. Bagi saya, kalau kita bina rumah tangga berasaskan ajaran Islam yang sebenar, in syaa Allah akan selamat. Sebab tulah Islam mengutamakan agama seseorang wanita itu berbanding kecantikan, keturunan dan hartanya.

Sepanjang saya kat UK banyak la jugak program-program rohaniah yang saya join. Everytime pergi program camni selalu rasa amaze tengok peserta-peserta semua, baik muslimin ataupun muslimat. Umur lebih kurang sebaya je tapi pemikiran dorang jauh ke depan. They had always come out with brilliant ideas. Dari segi pergaulan, percakapan, gerak kerja semuanya memang mantap.

Bila tengok dorang ni maka timbullah persoalan kat atas tu. Layak ke saya dapat pasangan yang baik? Hmm.. orang cakap semuanya kena bermula dari diri kita sendiri. Cuba kita audit diri masing-masing. Solat sentiasa awal waktu ke? Al-quran baca hari-hari tak? Berapa kuat kita berusaha menolak nafsu dan perasaan sendiri untuk menjaga diri dengan sebaiknya? Ikhtilat dengan mereka yang berlainan jantina macam mana? Kalau benda ni pun tak lepas tak usahlah bermimpi nak dapat pasangan yang baik.

Tapi harus jaga niat asal kita jugak. Janganlah sebab nakkan pasangan yang baik, maka kita berubah ke arah kebaikan. Sepatutnya apa-apa sahaja kebaikan yang kita buat haruslah niat semata-mata kerana Allah. Bila kita sandarkan niat pada manusia senang aje nak terhenti separuh jalan sebab bila manusia tu pergi dari hidup kita, hilanglah semua usaha kita tapi jika kita sandarkan niat semata-mata kerana Allah pasti kita akan terus istiqamah kerana Allah itu sifatNya kekal. Dia akan sentiasa ada.

Memang kita tak dapat nak jangka bila jodoh kita akan sampai dan siapa orangnya. Tapi buat masa sekarang kita mampu untuk buat persediaan. Contohnya, belajar menguruskan diri dengan baik. Sekarang hidup single boleh la nak biar kain baju tak berlipat, bilik tak kemas tapi takkan la dah kahwin nanti nak teruskan macam tu. Nampak macam remeh, tapi kalau dari sekecil-kecil perkara pun kita gagal nak uruskan, macam mana pulak dengan perkara yang lagi besar.

Awkward pulak rasanya nak cakap pasal ni. Hehe.. The conclusion is everything actually begins from us. We are responsible for our future so we need to pave our own way. Bagaimana kita pada masa hadapan adalah bagaimana kita berusaha untuk membentuk diri kita pada hari ini. :)

Assalamualaikum..

Lessons in Life

There's time you feel like giving up on something

Brushing it off your mind

Coz holding to it will not make you any better

After they've made it clear to you

That hopes will always remain as hopes

Sometimes denial is fair enough

Coz you don't wanna feel

The same pain of yesterday

After those hard times you've been through

Of putting the broken pieces all back together

From the past that taught you a lot

The past that you don't wanna revisit

*Tiba tiba datang mood nak bersajak pulak. luls

Sushiiiii

Salam..

      This is gonna be the last update for my weekend activity. Hoping that the next weekend will be fully spent at home. ngeeeee.... So yesterday I went to Nouman Ali Khan's talk in Birmingham. I don't think I need to specify who he is. Who doesn't know Ustadh Nouman right.  Again this time, I had a chance to tadabbur surah Al-Kahfi. This surah holds so many important lessons for us Muslims on our attitudes and life choices. We could take a lot of ibrah from Al-Kahfi because the surah itself holds four different stories. Most importantly, those who familiarize themselves to read Al-Kahfi on every Friday will be protected from Dajjal. In syaa Allah. 

       Since this surah is about a story, people tend to question every single things inside it instead of seeing what Allah is trying to deliver through the surah. Let us take an example from the story of Musa and Khidir. Allah does not specify who Khidir is, whether he's a prophet or a companion etc but some people are eager to know his character. Knowing who Khidir is will not give any benefits to you, so why bother of asking more? It is the messages beneath the surah, not the character that matters.

Besides, it's a good idea to learn Arabic so you can get the most out of the Quran. Bila tadabbur ni, Ustadh Nouman go through satu-satu ayat. So apa yang nak disampaikan tu lagi terasa kat hati. Macam mana Allah memujuk, mengangkat darjat hamba-hambaNya yang benar-benar beriman kepadaNya. Alah.. macam kita tengok cerita Korea, kalau takde subtitle takdenye nak feeling2 habis kan. Samalah jugak dengan Quran. Yang penting kena faham. Barulah kita rasa seronok nak baca Quran kan?

Knowing the talk will be held in Birmingham, one thing came into my mind prior to the entrance fee was the sushiiii. Hehe.. I think that's the only halal sushi we can get in the UK. The price is affordable. If you choose a buffet style, of course you can eat as much as you want. Tapi jangan sampai xboleh jalan pulak lepas tu. Hehe.. So make sure you spare your tummy before hitting the restaurant. No tapau tapau k..

Seharian berdating ngan Hidayah. Hihi

I sent the pictures to my mom and my brothers were so curious to know how the sushi actually tastes like. Oh they haven't had sushi before. Kesian pulak. So I promised to bring them to get some sushi once I'm back to Malaysia this summer. Hopefully I'll make it :D

The talk finished off at 10.00 pm. We initially decided to go back to Bradford right after that but unfortunately there's no train operating at that hour onward. So we planned to stay at the mosque while waiting for the earliest train the next morning. Luckily since there were a lot of Malaysians at the talk, some of them offered us to stay at their home. Alhamdulillah.. walaupun tak pernah kenal tuan rumah tapi dorang sudi je ajak ktorang bermalam.

That's all for now. Assalamualaikum..

Occupied Weekends

Salam..

              I miss spending weekends at home lying down and wrapped in duvet with the earphones on. *lazy bum.  These past few weekends had been filled with events and lots of good stuffs . Just a couple of weeks ago I went to Ireland for a second time to attend a seminar. It was right after the last lecture that we took a cab to the airport and we even had our dinner along the way knowing there will not be enough time to do so before checking in. Regardless of the second visit, I still missed a chance to go to Giant's Causeways since each time I went to Ireland, it's always to attend a programme. 

Last week there was a muslimah nasheed event which was held in Leeds. I took part as one of the committees and opened up a food stall at the same time. As I was assigned as the prize officer, I was responsible to prepare the door gift for the guests. Maka malam tu bertungkus lumus saya bake kek coklat dan kek pisang plus our durian crepe together with Hidayah. We slept at 3 am. Tu pun atas sofa je and sambung buat durian crepe pukul 5 pagi. Letih. But alhamdulillah that our durian crepe and kuih sagu were selling fast. Everything went smoothly as planned and we even had much more participation if compared to last year.

Our poster designed by Hidayah

Looks tempting right? They actually are. People kept asking for them even after they had gone off. Hehe.. Opening a food stall at any Malaysian events is a good idea I would say because you will gain a lot more profit than what you invested. Mesti laku punya.

Plaques for the nasheed winners

Third place -  University of Warwick

Second place - University of Birmingham

and the winner -  University of Sheffiled

There was also a nasheed event for muslimin been held yesterday in Sheffield. We went there a day earlier to take part as a volunteer in Sheffield Malaysian Games as they didn't have a good amount of volunteers to account for a huge number of participants. I had initially requested to volunteer in indoor games but my name was finally listed in Food unit. Hah..muka ni asyik jadi AJK Makanan aje =_=

I already knew the event will be flooded by a large number of Malaysian but I'd never thought that it was going to be that much. And guess what? I almost had my back broken to serve all those people. Nak duduk pun tak sempat. Tsskk.

Salah satu tugas saya kena bancuh teh tarik sampaikan keesokan harinya kalau terserempak dengan ex-customer, dorang dah bagi tagline "akak teh tarik". Ok fine.

Lautan manusia

Oh ye..masa ni dorang invite Khairy Jamaluddin gak. Sempat la jugak berborak masa KJ ni datang melawat stall. hehe

That's it for the Sheffield Games which left me to sleep for 12 hours on that night. haha. The next day we went to NEXT. They brought Faizal Tahir for this year's special guest artist as well as a judge. Overall, the event was awesome but I think the muslimah version was a bit more advanced in terms of their creativity and originality. Well it's just from my personal point of view.

That's all for now. Till then, Assalamualaikum.

Saya dan Dapur

Salam..

ayam masak merah in progress

        Apart from being a student, I'm also now doing a catering service. Haha.. Just kidding. I enjoyed cooking, not that I'm a good cook but I'd always found this particular hobby does take the stress away. The fear of confronting the patients, the disturbing thoughts of upcoming exams as well as some killer subjects that have never been digested nor successfully drawn my attention towards them, interestingly they are all disappeared once I'm in the kitchen! Hehe..

The other thing is baking. Well it's not only me but all my other housemates have considered baking as part of their passion. Wah..gituu. Even if there's no special occasions, there'll always be someone who volunteers to bake. For nothing. Kadang-kadang tu sampai dua tiga orang kat dapur buat dessert yang berlainan jenis. Haha.. Maybe sebab dekat UK ni senang nak cari bahan and kebanyakannya dah ready made. Tepung gandum kat rumah ktorang memang kena selalu topup. Sekali beli 2 paket dan tak sampai sebulan dah habis. Makan gandum agaknya kami semua ni. 

I used to be a Kitchen Committee twice, one was during a winter event and the other was just two days ago. The challenging part was when we had to cook for 160 participants for 6 times daily. Yes it's tedious but you'll find it worthwhile seeing everyone enjoying what you'd cooked for them. I was never being paid for that, but I took that responsibility just to gain experiences. In syaa Allah walaupun dengan sekecil-kecil usaha, Allah akan nilai kan? Dengan syarat ianya disulami dengan keikhlasan.

Usually, the Malaysian Committee will find a location at the countryside when they organize any events. You know there's something precious when it comes to the countryside which is the scenery itself. I had always reminded myself not to sleep along the way. I wanna capture every single pictures in mind because I know someday when I'm back for good, I'll miss this country a lot. I might not have a chance to come back here again in the future. Who knows..

Kitchen Committees, RISE 2013

Dekat RISE ni la banyak sangat drama kat dapur. Nasik tak masak, lauk tak cukup pastu tido pun 3 atau 4 jam je. First day lagi dah kena dugaan sebab nasik yg ditanak atas dapur tu asyik jelantah je. Bayangkan la peserta sampai dari jauh and dorang pun kelaparan tapi nasik untuk 160 orang hanya ada satu periuk aje yang masak. Cuak sangat masa tu. Haha.. At last ktorang beli periuk eletrik tapi yang ade cuma size kecik. Bantai je la kan.. So ktorang buat shift sebab nasik kena masak continuously untuk tampung semua peserta. Janji dorang dapat makan. Ade yang sambil sental periuk pun bleh tertido dan x kurang juga yg tertido dalam toilet. hahahaha...

the dining room

Cantik kan? Nanti rumah sendiri nak design camni bleh x? hehe

I made her to get into an action :p

That's all for now peeps. Let's get back on the track. I'm supposed to be studying! Till then, Assalamualaikum.