The Scientist.

My obsession towards Coldplay never ends. I really wanna go to their concert. :(

I feel like writing about their famous number, The Scientist.

It's a song about "going back to the start" of a torn relationship. 'The scientist' here in my interpretation, refers to humans. Life itself is full with experiments, we keep on doing the same thing, over and over again to achieve something which sometimes we don't even know what. Sometimes we even expect results that satisfy us but there's no guarantee we'll get it. Relationships too are experiments. We never know what's coming up next yet we keep on putting hopes and effort to make it work.

I read somewhere how Chris Martin makes music just by messing around. Like the song Clocks.. He was just playing the piano and suddenly the tune came just like that. Same goes to Scientist. The time he 'messed around' the piano and created the song, this is the exact tune; the one that is out in the album. How I wish I could mess around and create masterpiece.

I love Coldplay. I love how I could totally relate to their songs. How the songs are like an explanation of what I feel within. and how the songs are so thoughtful. Not just some stupid songs about dancing on the floors and parties with half-naked women.

A disappointment.

I just calculated my CGPA, for the whole 2 and a half years of my degree program and I can honestly say I am quite disapppointed with the cumulative grade. I know I only have the realization to do well in my studies during my 2nd semester in Macquarie.. I have been pressuring myself to do good. Yet they are not enough.

I'm partially giving up but I know the journey is not over yet. Opah once said to me, never start something if we planned to give up halfway. Well at that time she was referring to me sweeping the backyard of my house when I was around 8-9 years old. I almost gave up sweeping cause I was tired when she suddenly said that and it still lingers in my mind, the advice.

I know I shouldn't take things too seriously, but I just can't stop pressuring myself. I want to do the best, I want to get good grades, I want to achieve success in life but I guess I just don't do enough.

I'm tired with all the mess I triggered.

Birthday wish.

Hey ho. I just realized something. When I am down and a bit emotional, I tend to have thousands of things to write.

It's already the 1st of November. I can't help myself from feeling happy every time November arrives. This year is my final year celebrating it in Sydney. Last year Alhamdulillah I went for a walk with Jah around Darling Harbour on the eve of my birthday, and got a dramatic surprise at midnight by my housemates. And the boys also threw me a birthday dinner party on the 19th. (Footnote: Alang I still remember your mango cheesecake, and Razeen's pizza telur and Farouk's kek pisang). Not forget to mention, all the beautiful wishes that I received on Facebook. I had a wonderful time, Alhamdulillah.. And thank you everyone for sharing your love with me! May Allah bless all of you. <3

This year. I have only one wish. Well two actually. The first, for people to send me du'as of course, as they are the most wonderful gift one could ever received.. And the second, for anyone to sing me a Coldplay song, and it would be nicer if they had a guitar along. Haha I know who would ever do that for me, but I don't mind, it's just a wish that is not necessarily be fulfilled.

Suddenly John Lennon's song Imagine plays on my mind. 

That's my wish for this year. Maybe my imagination is a bit too much, but the least I would do is, listen to them on my iPod. We always have options in life, being too rigid kills. At least that's my belief. :)

Oh dear. I'm more than excited now. *big grin*

I don't mind spending the day alone. Listening to Coldplay and lying on the beach. Any beach in Sydney. And waiting for sunset. It is going to be a happy day. <3

Sunset in Gold Coast. (summer 2010)

Almost sunset at La Perouse. (winter 2011)

Bondi (summer, dec 2010)

Well let's just hope it doesn't rain on that day. :P

Just smile. :)

The other day I was struck with something which all these while I thought could not affect me much. I never know that it was a big thing to me, until it really happens. Sometimes, we live in denial too much that when the reality strikes, then only we realize we have been lying to ourselves all these times. Don't worry, everyone faces problem, and don't be sad if you think yours is terrible enough as they are thousands of other people who ara having problems worse than yours. *just a little note to self.

Alhamdulillah Allah has brought me back to His path. I was too carried away with my own feelings for the past few months. I don't blame anyone for being that, it's my own fault. I thank all the people who have been really nice and caring towards me, who keeps giving me advices which sometimes I chose not to listen to although it's for my own benefit. Maybe sometimes their actions were too harsh. Nevertheless, they care. That matters most. I thank all of you for that, really. I'm blessed to have all of you around. :) I once thought that it would be nice to have a brother in my life to protect me from harm and guess what, I actually have brothers *yes, notice the plural form* without even realizing it. 

Heart is the place where it all starts. I thought I was ready but I was actually not. You were in the same position too. Nevertheless, I learn a lot from you. I learn to smile when I have problems. You do that a lot, although you might not have noticed it. I learn not to judge people easily as we are all raised up differently by our parents. You taught me not to be judgemental. You taught me a lot through our brief relationship. I treasure all the memories with you although I was a bit reserved most of the time. I was actually scared that I would lose control of myself and fall deeper for you. That's not what I'm supposed to be doing.

I am honestly glad you came up and call an end to it. I'll be happy when you are. I'll support whatever you do. Life can be harsh sometimes but you will survive insyaAllah.

People can say whatever they want and I admit I'm just a girl with a little heart. A heart that could feel love, and could fall in and out of love easily. People might not like it and don't agree with this but I admit you brought a sparks of light in my life when you were around. I know it's wrong in the religion and I've learnt my mistake.

But knowing you is never a mistake.
You'll always be a part of my life that I will remember.

being here again

I think I gotta start blogging again. I only have few weeks left in Sydney. I need to write about its beauty and all stuffs that I do every day from now on.

Today I have made the decision to go back to Malaysia on the 15th of December. It's hard for me to leave this place. It's literally my home now. Though I only live here for less than 2 years. I love living here, studying here. I know I should be grateful that I get this brief chance, but honestly, I don't feel like going back, just yet.

By the way, I need to move out from Zara Airyss in two weeks time. The owner sold this house already and we had no other choice but to move out. I am going to stay with the juniors at Nile Close. Hope my life would be better there insyaAllah.

Life has never been better alhamdulillah. But I tend to get migraine quite a lot lately. Maybe I think too much.

I am gonna miss this place.
I am gonna miss my uni and the library.
I am gonna miss breathing in fresh air.
The cold weather.
The strong wind.
I am gonna miss.... Him, too.

I feel sad today. :'(

Feelin the love of Spring

Honestly it took me a strong desire to write nowadays. For the moment I'm pretty occupied with two assignments which the due is reaching up fast. But I just miss talking here.

It's a beautiful morning here in Macquarie Park. The lumps on my neck seem to slowly fade away now, alhamdulillah. Down goes one thing to be worried of (hopefully). I was struck with cough and runny nose the other day, I think the weather got me. It gets really hot during day - reaches up to 25 degree - and the temperature drops extremely - sometimes to single number at night. No wonder many of my friends fall sick too. But alhamdulillah, hopefully that by falling sick, it becomes the kaffarah of our sins (cleaning of the sins). InsyaAllah.

Am lovin' Spring. Take a stroll outside you'll find pretty colourful flowers everywhere. Of course my pretty baby daisies are everywhere too. SubhanAllah, I could feel the love. However the downside of this season would be, you'll get to see all the insects start to appear, out of their hibernation place. I don't favour that much as I'm scared of animals, be it big or small, all of 'em.

Alright peeps, I have a birthday party to attend later this afternoon, gotta prepare something for both the birthday girl and birthday boy. And yeah, I'm officially (not so official as I still have that two assignments to do) on my two-week Spring break! weehooo~~

Hello Spring!

Hasta la vista baby! <3

Cabaran anak rantau.

Sesungguhnya post ini bakal berbahasa sedikit rojak. Seperti jiwa yang sedang gundah ini..


Cabaran anak rantau, di bulan Ramadhan.

Bukan dari segi makanan (mungkin sikit). Bukan dari segi bazaar (sini pun ada bazaar, seminggu sekali, itupun 15 kilometer jauhnya).

Tapi... Kerinduan pada parents.. especially mak, sangat tinggi pada bulan ni.. Tiap kali masak kat dapur untuk berbuka teringat mak. Tiap kali tarawikh ingat mak. Tiap kali sahur ingat mak. Tapi.. beza masa antara dua benua sikit sebanyak menyukarkan nak call mak. Bukan tak rindu Abah, tapi selalu bila call Abah.. Abah akan tanya khabar and sembang tak sampai 2 minit lepas tu mesti dia suruh letak phone. Mahal katanya. Takpun.. dia pass phone pada mak. -- Dear Abah... lagi lama call lagi murah sebenarnya.. -- Tapi takpe, bila dah cakap kat telefon dengan mak, kadang2 sampai panas telefon tu. Sampai mata separuh celik pun mak masih bercakap. Rindu betul dia pada anak dia yang jauh ni. Risau bebenor le tu.. Kalau tanya satu soalan je, contohnya "mak kalau nak buat bingkang roti, elok guna santan tepung ke liquid?".. Jawapan mak akan panjang berjela. Kadang2, sampai resipi dish lain pun dia bagi.. haish.. mak, mak. :)


Tapi hari ni rindu mak. Sydney habis tarawikh jam 830 malam biasanya. Jam 9 malam tu memang mata dah mengantuk dah. Tapi kat Malaysia baru jam 7 petang. Mak and abah baru nak berbuka. Berbuka berdua je diorang, anak-anak semua jauh. Yong dah kahwin, Nyah sibuk kerja, Atak belajar kat Pilah.. Tinggal Marina je lah pun kat rumah.

Waktu sahur Sydney habis 5 pagi. Tapi kat Malaysia jam 3 pagi. Mak mungkin tengah tidur, ready untuk bangun tahajud kejap lagi. Bila siang, Min pula sibuk di uni.. Kadang2 seharian Min dekat uni.. Nak call mak pun tak sempat..

Mak tahun depan kita raya sama-sama eh. Abah, jangan rindu Min sangat. Rindu pula nak kena marah dengan Abah. Bila jauh ni Abah jadi penyayang sangat. Dah tak marah-marah macam selalu kalau Min kat rumah. Hehe. Oh ya, serunding yang Abah beli untuk min tu.. Abah makankan ye. Australia ni leceh sikit bab-bab daging ni. Walaupun min teringin gila serunding, tapi takpa, min imagine je lah abah makankan. Mesti sedap kan..

Min dah hantar gambar kat Salam Perantau. Semua paper Min hantar. Tapi rasanya tak di-approve keluar surat khabar. (mungkin sebab cute sangat). Hehe.. Mesti abah menyampah dengar. Nanti raya dekat Ipoh nanti, kenang daku dalam doamu. Time nak jalan dari rumah Opah ke masjid, jangan lupa Min. Anggap lah min jalan sama-sama sebelah mak and abah.

Hmmm. Panjang dah Min tulis. Lagi 10 minit min nak tidur dah. Mak mungkin tengah sibuk tarawikh. Takpe, kita sama-sama beramal dalam bulan Ramadhan ni eh mak. Minta maaf tahun ni tak dapat lagi teman mak pergi tarawikh macam selalu..

Sampai berjumpa bulan Desember nanti..

Salam akhir Ramadhan..

Untuk Mak, Abah, Yong, Nyah, Atak and Maina.

Majlis Iftar Jamaei 20/8/2011

Little saying about Hijab.

Oh no, flu!

Guess the cold weather and being caught in the rain for few times this week cause me this flu. Nevertheless, Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah for still providing me with healthy body and mind and most importantly for giving me the chance to still breathe today.

When I was sitting at the living room just now, one of my homies read a quotation which was written by one of our friends at Uni on her Facebook page.. I found it amazing and a great reminder to all Muslim women out there including myself.

"You may dislike the thought of the Hijab and keep saying you will wear it when you're older. Truth is one day you will be wrapped around fully covered head to toe and lowered into your grave. Don't let your last day on earth be the first day you wear your Hijab!..." 

SubhanaAllah although I am now a full Hijabi girl, this statement really points direct to the heart.

Thank you Allah for Your reminder. 

May everyone get the benefit from this insyaAllah.

smiling and grinning.

I feel like smiling all day long.

:) :) :) :)

Alhamdulillah I am in a good mood today, so whoever happens to terserempak (bump) into me today at Macquarie Centre or the library, you might be lucky cause I feel like belanja-ing people.

Joking, guys.

Okay I'm starting to talk nonsense.

Exam in 4 days. Back to serious mode.

... Still smiling ...

:) :) :) :)

Avoiding discrimination

The other day when I was doing research for my Bilingualism assignment, I came across this one journal article about the education system for bilingual children in United States. Just a quick summary, the article pointed out that there was not enough resources provided for Creole-speaking Haitian children in the country, compare to the amount of bilingual education provided for Chinese and Spanish-speaking children.

The reason was simple. Discrimination towards the Haitian ethnic and also Creole-language itself was the major drive that cause this scene to happen. Since they both were originated from a third world country, the education authorities felt that it was not worth the money spent on them. It's quite contrastive to the case of Chinese and Spanish children as both languages came from more developed countries. You know, providing enough educational resources such as bilingual Creole-English books etc., it could take an enormous amount of moolahs.

Why does America, as they claim them being the 'hero of democracy', can't provide a fair education for all ethnics in the country itself?

---

It really makes me ponder when reading the article.

As a future teacher, would I be able to provide fair education to my students later? Would I not have the feeling of favouritism towards certain students? I'm a normal being with feelings but I hope I won't get too carried away in teaching.

Teaching isn't merely about mastery of all the theories learnt in university as it is also about adjusting it to fit the real situation in the classroom.

Teaching ain't easy. We might not need to deal with numbers or scientific stuffs like other job areas but we are dealing with the most complicated creation -- Human.

----


p/s: To those who are interested in reading the article can email me so I can give you the pdf copy of it.


As referred from 'Haitian Creole Language and Bilingual Education in the United States: Problem,
Right, or Resource?' by Flore Zephir in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (1997).

The thing that makes a girl happy

What is it that could make a girl smile all day long?

SHOPPING, of course!

I went to DFO shopping centre in Homebush this afternoon to get some seasonal stuffs - you know, coats, boots and other things. It's currently really chilly out there and I just needed to update my winter wardrobe with stuffs that could warm me when I'm out. I didn't buy much however.

These were the only things I bought.

Honestly, it was not much right? I mean, Paris Hilton would have spent more than I did. :P
Plus, you wouldn't want to see me standing outside in the cold shivering to death, would you? *wink*

The best thing that I bought was these thongs! It was only $2 from Cotton On.

The reason they were the highlight of the day? Cause I now have new bathroom slippers! The other day I fell down in the bathroom cause the Roxy slipper that I had was old enough that it had lost its grips. The result to that incident was - 3 big blue beautiful bruises on my shoulder and ankle.

Now I am the happiest person to enter the bathroom cause I got new funky blue-striped thongs which I couldn't take my eyes off from. Okay over. Just for the time being as it is still new.

Till then, toodles! :)

Fresh look!

I sent in my final assignment for this semester last night and now I am temporarily free! At least until the 20th of June where I'll be sitting for EDUC371 Children Reading Acquisition paper - the one and only paper for this sem (err can't quite remember the name of the unit but it sounds more or less like that). My whole day today was spent on making a total makeover to this blog page! I'm quite happy with the way it looks now. Feel rejuvenated and inspired to write more frequently. Hehe.

It's winter now in Sydney and Vivid Sydney annual event has started. I am actually going out later tonight to watch the event with my peeps.

Off for now! <3

Day 19 - A picture and a letter (choose any photo and write short entry to explain why you've chosen it)

My favourite kind of apple

To be honest, I don't really eat fruits that much. Especially apples. I hardly finish eating an apple as I get so muak besides it hurts my palate when munching them. Hence whenever I buy a whole bag of apples, they will end up rotten -- and to the bin.

However, the other day I went to my doctor for regular check-up and she reminded me to eat lotsa fruits and vegs in my everyday diet. So, that afternoon I popped into Woolies and luckily this one pack of apples were on sale. It was $2.99 per pack. What attracted me was the caption on the packaging.



So I said to myself, "This could keep me going, apples that taste like tarts". I was a bit sceptical of the ad but I bought em anyway. I was surprised that Pink Lady apple was really yummyyyy and my housies loved it too. If I were to buy apples in the future I would definitely go for this one instead of Granny Smith or Royal Gala for instance (which frankly I never know the difference anyway). It really tastes different, and the skin is really crunchy. I can't wait to eat them everyday. It changes my view of apples in instant.

And as the saying goes 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'..  Let's strive for a healthy life!

;)

The whole point of writing this up is I wanna say eat lotsa fruits in your everyday meal! By the way, is it just me or apples really do taste like 'something' if you eat them right after you brush your teeth? Just curious.

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

My biggest insecurity! Hahaha. Weight scale isn't really my best friend. Tried few diets, went to the gym and I ended giving up. I love my self, I love myself, I love myself. Okay I can't say anything more, this is totally my anxiety. And to those who ever make jokes of me, please look at the mirror first, ARE YOU THAT HANDSOME that you can laugh at other people?

Okay emotional. Haha. Thanks for reading. :)

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Maher Zain - Sounds of Light Sydney concert 2010

Maher Zain. I bet everyone should have known this man by now. It's his song Open Your Eyes and the story of how Ruben Abu Bakr embraces Islam in the video <Open Your Eyes> touches my heart deeply. Click on the link to watch the video. It only takes 6 minutes, do watch okay friends? :)

The song is about seeing the life and the world differently. No matter how tough the problems we are facing, how depressing our lives might be - just look at the world around us. OPEN YOUR EYES and see the world. The green leaves, blue skies and all living things around us. In fact inside us; our beating hearts. Aren't they amazing? Can't we just be grateful enough?.. And the story of how Ruben Abu Bakr embraces Islam really makes me shiver.. All the miracles of Allah are in front of us, can't we just be grateful enough?

The first time I watched this video was somewhere early last year.. And I immediately fell in love with it. I cried a tear watching it, reflecting all my ignorance towards Allah and His beautiful world.. May He always shower His love and mercy upon us all..

Then I started to listen to all of other Maher Zain's songs. Beautiful lyrics. He really opens my eyes and affects my life. Striving to be a good person, a good Muslimah. InsyaAllah.

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

This bloke is truly inspiring!

He's my senior at Macquarie Uni. Reasons for him being an inspiration?

He keeps reminding me to prioritize. To know which work is better done earlier or later. He always gets good grades and that's a result of his effort. Well-known for completing assignments earlier than the due date; as he says to me - it is like a reward by finishing assignments early. He has like 7 drafts for his assignments! Me? I don't have time for even 1 draft. Yeah last-minute work, you got it right.

Usually after Subuh he won't get back to sleeping yet he does revisions. However he is not the nerdy-all-the-time-with-books-type (tapi boleh kata sedikit skem lah hehe) as he knows how to enjoy and have fun too but he knows the limit.

The first thing that I notice about him is his soft-spoken-ness and modesty. Although he is the High Distinction
kind of student, he never boasts about it. Yet he always refers everything back to Allah by saying Alhamdulillah. ... *** "Jangan lupa nikmat iman dan Islam" - an advice he gave to us before he left Australia for good last year. I bet he doesn't remember this one, does he? Hmm. Although he said it not really seriously but I believed he meant it.

He teaches me (indirectly, that is) that good things don't come rolling. There's a price to pay - and they are called 'effort'. A personal inspiration to me, as his existence proves it is not impossible to achieve success, be organized and have good attitudes. At the same time to always be thankful to Allah and be a good Muslim.

To Farouk: Thanks for being a good friend. Sorry if I tell out too much info about you. You inspire me alot! :)

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

SKYDIVING!

I wanna do this like seriously! But at the same time... I don't really have the guts. Err.

They have it here in Sydney and I have few friends who would like to do it as well. I want to but deep down I'm scared!

Guess why I wanna do it badly? So that one day I could say to my children - "Mom jumped off a plane before!"

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

I simply cannot imagine my life without him. He's a true inspiration, an idol, that one should adore.

He's Prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him.

I can't imagine my life if he wasn't sent by Allah to guide us, to be true Muslims. Prophet Muhammad teaches us about Islam and asks us to follow the Quran and to live a life as a Muslim. Although he lived hundred years back, but his teachings remain as a guide. Without him fighting for Islam back then, will I be here - standing, breathing, living my life as a Muslim?

I know that there is still a lot for me to learn to be the perfect Muslimah but Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, I was born as a Muslim, am still a Muslim and will always be a Muslim, a true Muslim, insyaAllah.

Nevertheless.. we sometimes forget him although the Prophet until his last moments on earth never forgets us.. We need to remember that Prophet Muhammad is the one who has the syafaat to save his ummah from the hellfire on the Judgement Day, provided we are the believers and never set up partners in worship with Allah.

Say the selawat always. May we be among those who get the syafaat... InsyaAllah...

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

Allahuma Salli ala Muhammad wa ala aali Muhammad (SAW) 

which means 

May Allah send His praise upon Muhammad and upon the Family of Muhammad

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

 I just came back from Adelaide for a nice short getaway so that kinda explains my absence here. *wink*

So, day 13. A picture of your favourite band or artist.

COLDPLAY!!

Good band, good songs. I just adore them muchoz. I am all head over heels for them cause their songs are just amazing with deep and meaningful lyrics and their live performance is cooolll. My favourite song always and forever - Yellow. The song is like .. magic. Sad or happy, it just fits. I just think it's cool how when you listen to a song, you need to think awhile what it means and interpret it your way; like you 'own' the song.

If they were to perform anywhere near me, I would definitely go! :)

Day 12 - Picture of your favourite memory

Nyah at the back, me and Atak at the front
- 1994 - 

Childhood time definitely!

I miss the carefree joys of childhood.. Just play and play and play, nothing else to think of! 

I remembered playing dolls with my childhood friend Aida (wonder where she is at now), fought with my neighbour Kak Rina and Lina to see who got the slide first, played rounders every afternoon and picking up biji saga at the school's gate during recess time.. During my time, the slide at the playground was made of woods and it was realllly high. Unlike now where it is just slightly above the ground and is plastic-based - BOOO! I always went up the stairs and pretended like I was about to get on an air plane. I loved playing the swing too. I remembered this one incident at my kampung in Ipoh, where I was wearing skirt and played the swing. Then the wind blew off my skirt and I fell down because I let my hands off the chain to cover the skirt. P/S: Kids, please don't wear skirts to playground, okay?

Time grows, so do people. I do miss my childhood time but I am happy being an adult. It's my time to contribute to the world.

Solat.

Hectic week I must say! Nevertheless, Alhamdulillah I managed to settle few things on time, which of course I'm referring to assignments. Sigh. Despite the busy week, a few things cross my mind which leave me wondering, one of it is regarding our responsibility as a Muslim to pray 5 times a day.

No matter how busy we think we are, we can never leave the responsibility; to pray 5 times a day. In the Holy Quran it is mentioned that ..

"... And seek (Allah’s) help through patience and Prayer. But this is no doubt very hard, surely difficult except for the humble" (Al Baqarah 1:45)

"Dan mohonlah pertolongan dari Allah dengan sabar dan solat. Sesungguhnya solat itu amatlah berat kecuali bagi orang-orang yang khusyuk" 

Why do sometimes we feel that it is too hard for us to spend at least 5 minutes of our 1440 minutes (24 hours) of life in a day to pray? Why does this happen? Why do we think that other stuffs are more important than praying? Let's recap back the story of Isra' Mikraj.. The initial order from Allah was Muslims were supposed to pray 50 times a day, but our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked for less as Prophet Musa (Alaih Assalam) told Muhammad pbuh that his ummah would not be able to do it. So our beloved Muhammad pbuh went to Allah swt 10 times which leaves us with only 5 times a day.

Why 50 at the beginning? This is obvious. The reason of our creation in this world is to worship Allah and to do whatever that pleases Him. Nothing else matters. So He creates us to pray to Him. Thus, people will be busy praying all night and day as this is what Allah please... However, people become civilized and globalisation+modernisation come in, making people have a lot of other things to do. For example as uni students we need to study to get knowledge, work to earn money, businessmen have a business to look out for and etc.. These are actually 'side things' to keep us moving in the world. The sad thing is.. as days go by, we forgot the initial reason of our existence in this world which is to obey Allah. 

I'm not saying that we have to stop everything that we are doing and spend our whole lives just praying. In fact every 'side things' that we do is actually an Ibadah if we do it because of Allah, because all we want in this world is to get His blessings. What I'm trying to say is.. We should reflect back the purpose of our lives in this world.

The first thing that will be judged at Yaum al Mahsyar (padang Mahsyar) in Hereafter is.. our Solat. It is only 5 times a day and it is THE KEY that differs our path. Either to Heaven or Hell.

So, is our solat enough to bring us to Heaven? ...

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate

I honestly hate those three words. They appear like zillion times in my EDUC 371 assignment and I .. TRULY. HATE.THEM.

Enough said.

Day 10 - A picture of your most treasured item

My one and only favourite brooch!

I've been wearing this same old brooch for the headscarf since I entered maktab around mid-2007. I do own few other pretty brooches that people give as gifts but this particular one is my favourite for a reason I don't know why.

It doesn't have a beautiful design and I actually kinda forgot where I get this from. Very high sentimental value I would say. An item I treasure most!

This one rang a bell about my childhood days where I had a little brooch with a big red flower on it which I wore on the neck of my school's baju kurung. That one was really a favourite cause although the flower was already tercabut from the pin, I kept on continuing using it until the pin became rusty then only I changed.

Maybe it's because I don't enjoy familiarizing myself with a new thing again and again so I stick to one until it gets lost. Really hope this one would last! Haha. But the pin at the back macam nak patah dah sebenarnya..

Day 9 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Day 9 - A picture of  the person who has gotten you through the most

Mi mama! :)

Mak on the right side, with Opah..

She got me every time when I feel down or sad or frustrated, she just knows best! Just hearing she says 'Hai Min' on the phone, could already make me teary. She knows everything though I don't say a word to her. And she knows too whenever I have a crush on someone.. Err. :P

I'm sorry for every stupid thing I've ever done.. I still remembered you once chased me around the dining table with a hanger in your hand.. I was around 8-9 years old and couldn't quite remember what I did that time.. but I knew I pissed you off terribly.. I'm sorry.. For everything that I've done that make you sad.

You mean the world to me. Love you Mak.
See you in few months time. Don't miss me too much, okay? :)

Just a little sharing with all of you. From the Holy Quran:

( Al- Isra’17: 23 )

Maksudnya: “ ... Janganlah engkau mengatakan keduanya ( ibu bapa ) perkataan “ ah ” dan janganlah engkau membentak keduanya, dan ucapkanlah kepada keduanya perkataan yang baik.”

Day 8 - A picture of your hero / knight / heroine

Shrek and Friends! 

I am a big fan of Shrek movies!! :) :)

Why Shrek? He is an ordinary being (okay put aside the ogre blood in him).. Which I can relate a lot to humans. He is just a being with normal feelings; high egocentricity, couldn't care less about others and yeah he is ugly, some would say but I think he looks just fine. Cause that's what unique bout him. 

Nevertheless, the thing I adore bout him is.. Hidden underneath his negative attitudes, there lies a person with a beautiful heart in him. His motivation in life is his love towards his family and friends.

Gingy, Donkey, Puss in Boots and Shrek (with Woody) - my collection

Go watch all 4 Shrek films. You'll know.

Day 7 - A picture of the person you do the silliest things with

I wouldn't really say stuffs that I did was the dumb-kind of silly. They are more to cute-kind of silly. Err get what I mean? Anyways.. Here they are.. :)

The Hawtties!

Day 7 - A picture of the person you do the silliest things with

Us - the all-grown-up version (2011)
from left: Zati, ME, Dyl, Aida, Jaja, Nana and Iylea

Yeah the name was kinda gedik, but that's what we call ourselves, whether you liked it or not. Hahaha. Gedikness alert!

We were besties in Matriks K.Pilah, all the way from 2006 until now. We did lotsaaaa silly stuffs together but the one that I truly remembered was an event that took place back in 2007 - on the 15th of February. 

We were lepaking in my room (at the hostel) on the afternoon when suddenly a super brilliant idea came - to have our own post-Valentine's dinner party. So we divided tasks amongst us and I handled the room err excuse me the dinner hall decoration and menu for that night.

What we had that night was amazing.

Around 8pm the party started, lights were switched off and only tealight candles were lightened up. The guests (us!) walked on the red 'carpet' (made from a red-netted piece of cloth I found out of nowhere).. from the room door to the dinner place  - which was just about 5 metres away. Hehe. And.. Okay we actually ate on the floor. =_='.  

All of us needed to wear a wrist band each, to indicate us as the VVIP guest, as in the picture below. The flower-like shape was made of facial tissue and the same netted clothes as the red carpet were used to tie them up on our wrists.

Not so matang (2007)

The menu? Mihun goreng dengan lauk sardin which I ordered from Makcik Cafe A. Hahaha. Simple, yet 

delicious. For students like us, it was great enough to have sardines for dinner.

We also had award give-away. Each of us received an award according to our personality.. 

1- Jaja got herself the 'Miss Kasih Sayang' for she was the most caring and loving person in the group - ala2 mak-mak gitu..  

2- Dil- Miss Sleeping Beauty as she loved to sleep :P

3- Aida the most rajin person - Miss Workaholic.

That's all I remembered.. Sorry guys and girls.. And my award? Hehehe. I was given the title 'Miss Hawt '- for a reason which I still couldn't figure out why until now. Hahahaha. I didn't make this up, really. :P

Kinda silly and impromptu, but I treasured those moments lots.

See you tomorrow. :) 

Day 6 - A picture that makes you laugh

Need I say more?

Hahahaha. This one really got me every time.

Sorry Ms Hilton but this is hilarious. Hehehe.

So that's my Day 6 - A picture that makes you laugh.


:)

Day 5 - A picture of something you love

Commitment is drifting away, seriously.
However, the race is still on.
Fighting! :)


Day 5 - A picture of something you love.

STAR-GAZING!

I just love to star-gaze. Walk outside at night, do nothing, just to see the stars shine. The feeling is so good, to sit back and relax, enjoying the amazing view. SubhanAllah. Plus, Sydney's sky is very clear and the air is pretty clean to breathe in.


The last time I went star-gazing was last two weeks with my roomie Mira but that was actually to see the 'supermoon' (and girl talk of course!) *Though in the end, the size of the moon that we saw that night was normal like usual*. However, it shone a bit brighter and clear that night, SubhanAllah, amazing. :) 
We walked at around 8.30 pm from our house to Macquarie Centre (about 20 minutes walk) and then walked home. Takda kerja.

Me and Mira <3

My dream since I was small (which is not accomplished yet) .. Is to witness a shooting star. The sad thing about Macquarie Park - the area that I lived in particularly, it is really quite and kinda dangerous to go outside and 'ambil angin malam-malam' especially after 8pm because people here sleep very early. 

Anyway, I love the painting below alot. The moment I first saw it in my Arts in Early Childhood class last semester, I immediately fell in love with it. Stars are everywhere and you can see the reflection in the water.. The thing that caught my eyes was the two people in the picture on a beautiful starry night. Simply mesmerizing.

Vincent Van Gogh - Starry Night

So that's what I love to do, always. Star gazing. :)

Day 4 - A picture of something you'd like to do again

Day 4 - A picture of something you'd like to do again

Superman Escape, MovieWorld - Gold Coast. (Winter 2010)

I wanna be Superman again!

Hihi.

Yeah I would definitely want to ride the Superman Escape roller coaster again! Ini lah roller coaster paling tinggi, paling curam dan paling laju I've ever ridden! The best part of the ride was.. It moved a bit slow at the start (with a background voice telling the situation -- people in a subway (us!) were having an emergency so Superman had to come and save us fast)... And it accelerated suddenly at the speed of 100km/h (or so) -- when he 'came and pushed the train from the back'. Yeah, it was launched suddenly! I could literally feel blood rushed to the head when riding this. Loved the adrenaline rush!

Located at the Movieworld theme park in Gold Coast, this was a must for those who enjoyed riding roller coasters. I think it was Pidi who sat next to me during the ride. And oh, we took the front seats!! I loved sitting at the front row as I could see clearly the view from the peak and the steepness of the track. I held my arms out of the coach all the time during the ride although they warned earlier not to do so. Felt like flying! Love, love, love the feeling! I screamed out loud too! (til I had no energy at the end of the ride)

This is Pidi.
picture taken during our flight to Gold Coast.

I really felt like being saved by Superman at that time! By the way, my arms hurt for about a week after that. Maybe it was because of the gravity pull since the ride had 2 upside down turns and it was really fast.

Day 3 - A picture of the cast from your favourite show

Hello guys and girls. It's the third day and today's theme is "A picture of the cast from your favourite show".

My favourite show ever is ... UGLY BETTY!

I am a die-hard fan for this television series and have been following the episode since it first came out, when Betty was still like this.

Betty in 2006.

Before she turned to...

... THIS!
(Betty in 2010)

I watched the whole four seasons but now it had ended.. And I sometimes watched it again and again during my free time. Yeah, never got bored of it although I already knew the ending and even memorized some lines!

Back in maktab, I had my own television in the room. Despite having my own tv, I switched it on only once a week. Yeap, only for Ugly Betty. My ex-roomie Asrin was the witness, go ask her. Hihi. Luckily, I shared my passion for Ugly Betty with my other two partners in crime so we watched tv illegally together in my room every Tuesday.

My two partners in crime.
Left: Farah and me. Right: Mek Sya.

Just a little side info. My room was actually next to the hostel's tv room.

Back to Ugly Betty.


I could laugh, giggle and even cry watching Ugly Betty. Yeap, I cried watching the last episode when she finally left Mode - the place where she learnt about life which sometimes treated her the hardest way - in order to pursue her bigger dream... Cause Mode was the place everything started and it had to end..

I somehow could feel a connection between me and her. Despite her erm say... not so stylish figure, Betty was indeed a very confident girl! I envied her high-spirited self and her affection towards the people around her. I watched her fall and got up again -- she really was a true motivation for me.

Love, friendship and family were all the issues being raised in the series. It was really hilarious, fun, sad and an 'all-in-one' drama comedy and I always laughed out loud even though I watched it alone.

Betty might just be a fictional character and why should I feel so connected to her?
I believe there are parts of Betty in me. The positive ones, which I still need to dig deeper in my journey to really succeed in life.

Nevertheless.. I guess.. A truly happy girl can laugh and smile though no one's around her to actually make her happy, right?

:)

See you on Day 4.

Day 2 - Me and the person I've been closest with the longest

Day 2
A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Us at Subway, Sunway Pyramid - January 2011 - the day she cried :P

Say hi to Amirah Azizi!

If there was an award for the very-best-friend-you-ever-had, she deserved it. We were room-mates during our matriculation year in Kuala Pilah back in 2006 and have been good friends ever since. Though we were sometimes quite busy with our own lives, she never failed to be there whenever I needed her. I couldn't believe she even cried a tear when I hugged her for the first time after a year being apart (when I went back to Malaysia last summer).

The best thing she ever said to me that touched my heart was..
"Babe, you know what. You are the only person who understands me, my feelings, my jokes, my sadness although sometimes I rasa macam nak sepak you. I miss you :'( ".
via a text message dated 19/8/2010. It is still saved in my Nokia E71.

Err by the way. Yeah we insult each other a lot. Like HELL ALOT. But that's what best friends do right? :)

Love you forever Siti Noramirah Azizi. xoxo

Change of name

I've been considering changing the url address for this blog. It doesn't really portray me, does it? Heh. 'Bread and Tuna'? Really? How did I come up with the name 'bread and tuna'; some of you might have wondered.

It occurred last year, when I was planning to start a new blog. It was somewhere in Ramadhan, the fasting month. I was so hungry one night and was sitting in front of the lappie thinking of an appropriate url address. So I went to the kitchen and grabbed two slices of bread and spreaded tuna on them. Not that creative, I know but that was how I came up with the name. There's nothing metaphoric about it, really. Hehe.

Actually, sedikit sentap tadi with my younger sis when we chatted through facebook. I told her enthusiastically about my 30 day photo challenge and she suddenly asked me
"Min, don't you have any plan of changing the name? Macam blog nak buat sandwich je rasa".

=_='

Suka spoilkan mood orang tau.

By the way, thanks for the feedback and huge support for my photo challenge, guys and girls. I know it isn't really a big deal, but somehow I'm all up for it. Eager to update my blog regularly. Muchoz gracias.

At least I get to practise my writing skill here. :)

Day 1. Picture of Myself.

A picture of yourself with fifteen facts

this was taken in last year's winter (2010) at Macq Uni train station.

So here's my first day picture.


And these are 15 facts about me.


1. Let's go with the easy stuff first. I'm a November baby. November 18, specifically.
2. Favourite number is 8.
3. I love the sky at night. Sit doing nothing, just to see the moon and the stars. Never fail to amaze me, subhanAllah.
4. A good secret-keeper. *syhh* You can count on me.
5. I talk when I feel like talking.
6. I like singing. Wait, I mean, I LOVE singing. Not that I have a good voice, I don't. But my housemates would definitely agree with this one as they will not be a day without me singing at home.
7. I'm pretty bad in organizing study schedule, but good in organizing jalan2 trips.
8. I have an account on Friendster, Myspace, Tagged, Tumblr.. You name it.  
9. Procrastination and me are like sisters. No matter how much you hate them, they are always with you. :P
10. I like good guys. LOL. 
11. I don't always show what I feel within.
12. I dream of a simple beach wedding.
13. Swimming and badminton are the only two sports that I'm good in. Not the athlete-level, anyways.
14. Shrek is my all-time favourite movie.  
15. I am single and available.


Hahaha. The last point doesn't make me sound desperate, does it?