Life is interesting.

I was about to write "life is plain" instead of interesting as the title.eheh. But it will sound so..pathetic?

Okay. I have been thinking. Yes I do think a lot, lately. I think about life, marriage, death, hereafter life. Thanks to the 2weeks leave Portsmouth Uni. I really really wanted a vacation, but I have no travelmate at the moment. My housemate, Sai is still having her exam till Jan26th. and Sem2 will begin on Jan30th. So, yup. What else I should do besides thinkin aite. Plus, its free! haha.

So I've listed my things to do:-

1) Perform Umrah this year Ramadhan - Atiah, my former colleague whatsapp me to ask to go Umrah together. But she'll be from Malaysia and I'll be from UK. I told her that initially I save Mekah to go with my husband-to-be (No, i dont have anyone yet atm, haha). But when I think back, I do not know when I will get married, with who, my financial condition at the time and the most important thing is w/e i will live long enough to reach that time. Just in case I die before I get married, I WILL regret it aite. So I've called my mum and my dad and these are the answers.

Mum: Haaa, bagus tuh, boleh2. buat ibadah memang bagus
Dad: Kenape nk buat Umrah eby? Buat la haji terus.Umrah bagus, tapi kalau buat haji lagi baguss.(Cute aite my dad)

ITS A YES! Not that Im surprise of as its always a YES pon.haha. tks both! Love you both. Rasa bertuah sangat sebab dapat parents yang kasi permission to do what I want to do (Umrah, travel, further studies). Some parents of friend of mine would not allow their child to go anywhere. Sangat kesian. Despite ckp la macam mane pon. For me, yes, you scared of losing your child in case of anything. But my dad believes in tawakkal to Allah. Even if dekat rumah pon accident can happen.

But the problem is we (Me and Atiah) are still sorting out which agent we should go with. Sbb for now takda lagi any agent yg kasi pergi from diff places. If nk pegi dari UK ade jugak. tapi tkde in bulan Ramadhan. Hopefully semua berjalan lancar, insyaAllah. Harap sangat dapat pergi umrah in Ramadhan. Nak rasa puasa and terawih there.

2) Volunteering in Africa - honestly, nak sangat2 buat benda ni. And currently looking a companion to go to. As its Africa, i prefer to have a male travelmate. Tapi tuhla, nk ikotkan i dun hve many male friends pon. Yang ada pon tk really into travelling.. Why volunteering? Keep aside its cool, I think its a good way to learn about African punya culture. Plus instead of just travel, why dont we do sumtin good kan. Help out the needy, paint the building, build a hse. kind of thing.

3) To talk to stranger at least once a week - I think semua orang interesting in his/her own way. ie, to know plumber/ orang yg kutip sampah. I've met a bus driver in Goldcoast, and she was previously an auditor in Ernst & Young. And she said, she is happy wf her life now. Amazing aite to know ppl. But to be honest, it will be quite hard to do. Because not everyone welcome stranger.

4) To practice piano/ keyboard twice a week - No, I dont hve basics. But I think its inspiring to be able to play your fav song in any occasion. It does not necessarily big occasion like your wedding or big event (tho its good if you can). Just small gathering like family gathering will be great. Current stage: Err, first verse of "Let it Be" by the Beatles. And there is hardly any progress since last November. ACCA did a a very good job in keeping me occupied. Duh.

5) To dance via youtube at least 30mins per day - Gymming here is expensive. 100 poudns for 6mths! Mahal kott.tak mampu. Squash court pon kene bayar. 6pounds per session! Mmg tak gune lagi raket this year, tk mampu. But since Ive to keep myself fit, Ive resorted to a new form of exercise. dancing via youtube. Takat ni Ive done Zumba dance, bollywood dance is coming up next. Woohoo ;)

6) To replace Runningman/ korean drama with ceramah agama - Prof Dr Muhaya penah ckp, ruginya manusia ni kalau hobi dia tak mendekatkan diri dengan Allah. Ie kalau kite tgk korean drama tuh, ape yg dapat. Orang tuh handsome, bukan kite dapat pon. Cecece, bajet je.padehal pasni tgk jugak.hehe.So, for current stage is kurangkan the amount, insyaAllah. Slow2. Ceramah agama pon dah banyak ade kt youtube sekarang, alhamdulillah.

7) To kurangkan facebook, gantikan dengan the real book - Okay, fb-ing is allowed, tapi untuk yg bermanfaat. Ie untuk tahu perkembangan kawan2. or baca link yang kawan post yang berguna. Now baru nk start2 baca sejarah islam. Its been ages since baca sejarah Islam ni. dulu blaja sampai darjah 6 je sekolah agama. masuk high school uni ada blaja jugak, but very brief.

8) To get into a relationship that will lead me to a better me - find someone yang loves me because of Allah, and hate me because of Allah and I love him because of Allah and I hate him because of Allah - sounds cliche aite, but ive come across an ayat quran today. Its surah at taubah ayat 24: Jika bapa kamu, saudara kamu,isteri kamu atau keluarga kamu, harta kamu dan perniagaan kamu menjadi perkara yang lebih kamu cintai dari Allah dan Rasulnya, maka tungguhlah Allah akan datangkan azabNya. Yes, I have to perfect myself first as a good muslimah, and insyaAllah Allah akan datangkan my Adam for the next stage in my life.marriage.

9) To be a better muslimah - Moga2 Islam bukan agama yang kita inherit. To know why we perform solah, why we puasa, why we do have to do good. And sentiasa berdoa agar kita dimatikan dalam iman. Why? Sebabnye, kita tak tahu pengakhiran kita nnt. Kita mungkin solat 5waktu sekarang, mengaji n doa, tapi kita tak pasti lagi masa kita mati macam mane keadaan dia. Tiba2 tgh tgk wayang, ceiling wayang tu runtuh ke. Kite tak tahu kan. Entah semapt ke tak mengucap

10) To always ingat of death - Recently banyak sangat orang yg meninggal. A student in Alex, Cairo meninggal because terhidu gas beracun from the faulty heater. She's 21, at that time preparing for her exam. 3 papers done, another 11 to go. She had her shower at the morning. Lepas tuh housemates dia knock the door after 1 hour sbb dia still tak keluar. Bile pecahkan pintu, tgk dia dah meninggal. Semua orang pasti akan pasti. Yes. Its just how, why, when n etc. And her housemate ckp the very morning, dia sempat bangun masak sahur. Dia meninggal dalam keadaan dia berpuasa. Alhamdulillah.

Eventhough I hardly know her, tapi rasa affected sangat with her death. It made me thinking, kalaulah aku mati hari ni, ape je amalan yang boleh selamatkan aku dari seksa kubur, n akhirat nnt. I was being so restless. Bila masuk bilik nk tidur je, slalu pikir cuba la kalau2 ada malaikat izrail tunggu. Takutnyee. And that night, I read few articles - how to prepare for death. Sebenarnye banyak faedah mengingati mati ni. Ok, yes, ia menakutkan. Tapi realiti is kita semua akan mati. Its just a matter of WHEN and HOW. Jadi, kita prepare utk mati pon kita mati, kite tak prepare utk mati pon kita mati, says Ust Hasrizal (blogger saifulislam). So ape yg kite nk pilih. Thus, lets just maximise kan masa yang kita ada untuk manfaat kite for hereafter and utk good remembrance for orang yg akan kita tinggalkan. Semua orang akan tinggalkan memory kepada orang yg hidup suatu hari nnt kan. Hope mine will be a good memory, insyaAllah. Plus kalau ingat mati ni, buat kita lebih istiqamah utk buat kebaikan. Jadi pk2, ok gkla kot kalau tulis blog ni. At least, dapat la jugak Eby tinggalkan memory utk orang yg hidup nnt, when my time comes ;)

11) To learn Arabic language for a month in Egypt - Egypt again? Yes, but for now its purely to learn bahasa Arab. Besnye kalau baca quran, solat n boleh faham apa yg kita baca kan. Actually the idea is suggested by Ainul, a friend i made in Egypt. Shes from Leeds. Nampak mcm menarik kan. As I think the best place to learn language seriously is go to the country yang speaker nye mmg that language. Kalau nk blaja mandarin, pegi China/ Taiwan. Sbb fokus sikit and leh terus praktis. The best way to learn language is to speak kan. But I think it'll be costly and timeconsuming jugak. Sbb I still have to go my dissertation for submission in Dec12. And flight to Egypt is not that cheap. Last time I went is 350pounds. So, buat masa sekarang, start faham maksud apa yg kita baca dlm solat is good enaf. Blaja sikit2. at least peruntukkan an hour a day, utk fahamkan bacaan solat. Next, maksud doa or surah yg simple. All I need is concentration + discipline. insyaAllah.

12) To volunteer, in addition of getting a paid part time job - Life is not just about getting something from the world. Its about giving back to the society. And by doing that, it will bring more meaning to your life aite. Instead of fikir ape yang kite boleh dapat dari dunia, fikir apa yang kita boleh kasi dekat dunia. So yes. volunteering is one of the ways you can give back to society. Ive js browsed tru e website. Apparently banyak sebenarnye volunteering activities kita boleh buat. They are: pet caretaker, send postcard to sick kids, read to kids, play wf kids during hols break, takecare of disabled ppl, drive the elders, paint building for free, and the list are endless. Touched pulak ble tgk one of e vids. Volunteer tuh ckp: its very simple, 4 hours during your weekend, even its simple to you, it bring a lot of meaning to sum ppl. I think i'll pick one wf playing wf kids kot, since I like them. But kids dekat UK ni ok ke. insyaAllah will make up my mind soon.

13) To be thankful and grateful to Allah - Conversation I had wf my former colleague Wanie, I ask her on opinion to make my life more meaningful. Dia ckp, "I rasa kita ni jarang bersyukur. Kita asik fikir apa yang kita takde then appreciate ape yg kita ada." Initially, I dont q agree wf her. I dun think bersyukur is e answer for this. I think Ive always rasa bersyukur. tp ble fikir balik, she's correct. Recent posts in facebook, banyak sangat orang get married. Jealous? Happy? Well, mixed of feelings. Tapi tuh la, takkan nk jeles of sumtin good kan. InsyaAllah my jodoh is somewhere. Instead, I shud doakan kebahagiaan orang. And perfecting myself as a good muslimah. And dia kate, you shud bsyukur utk ape yg u ade. You dapat study overseas, travel. Tak banyak orang dapat such peluang. Nak ikotkan, yes betul. Rasa bersyukur sangat. Sebab im born in a good family, even not perfect. I have big family wf 9 siblings, tapi alhamdulilah kitorang adik beradik taklah kne mintak sedekah kat orang. Makan pakai serba cukup. In fact, my duit gaji previously just kasi sikit kat parents, belanja adik beradik sikit. and thats it, the rest is mine. Sbb tu la boleh travel sume. My other friends, ada yg kne support family sume. Tak merasa pon chance nk travel. So the key is, dont think about what you dont have and appreciate what you have. YeayY ;)

14) To blog at least once a week! - Haha, nih yang paling susah ni (At least for now). Ive drafted a post about my Egypt trip. tapi baru hafway pastuh da malas. hehe. InsyaAllah2 ;)

K till then peeps. Have a productive day ahead ;) . Wassalam