.: Awards galore :.

To my lovely sisters.

Thank you to happily newly-wedded Mina and lovely Melissa for this spectacular blog-centerpiece.

The rules of this award are:

•List five current obsessions.

•Pass the award on to five more fabulous blogs.

•On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.

•When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well.

•Don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by leaving a comment on their blog.

:: Current obsessions :: *this is tough!*

1. Learning Chinese. Determination! Determination! Determination!

2. Cooking. I haven't been cooking lately. However, I keep getting recipes posted to my inbox and since Eid is 3 weeks away, that means I have 3 weeks left to bake cookies. I don't recall volunteering to make it this year, but it seems like my mum and aunt have made it my duty. Anyway, it's about time I regain my cooking obsession.

3. Memory Book[s]. Of my trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I like to flip-through pages and recall things.

4. Muhammad Ahmad Zahid Al-Hafiz. I'm not obsessed with him. I'm obsessed with his Quran recitals.

5. Writing. I'm starting to have the muse to write again. :)

Awarding this to ::

1. Hajar Zamzam Ismail

2. Empress Anisa

3. Farhana

4. Hijabee

5. Umm Travis

PS:: Mina, you don't need me to remind you how fabulous your blog is. :)

And another one by dearest Mina.

I'm awarding this to everyone in my blog and followers list.

Really sorry that I haven't been cruising over to your blogs for ever so long. Google Reader tracks about 150+ of unread blog posts, therefore I am aware I am missing a lot of updates. With time, Insha'Allah.

While I'm at it, CONGRATS TO MINA, EMPRESS ANISA, HIJABEE, and MICHELLE@COFFEE CATHOLIC! Honestly thrilled with the wonderful news! You lot should pretty much know why, hence I'm not mentioning anything. :)

Lastly, my heartfelt gratitude goes to the both of you.

Thanks Mina and Melissa! ^^

10.41pm Malaysian Time

.: Ramadhan mubarak :.

First day.

Ramadhan is finally here.

• A month to do some soul-searching by reflecting on the things we have done all this while.
  

• A month to be humble, compassionate, benevolent, giving, caring, forgiving to every single creation created by God.
  

• A month to evoke our initial existence, the sole reason we are sent to this world.
  

• A month to worship God, do all that He has commanded us to do and avoid all that He has forbidden us from doing

• A month to seek forgiveness and embark on the road of repentance.

Wishing all the readers a happy Ramadhan and may Allah S.W.T make it easy for us during this blessed month.

All in the name of becoming a better Muslim in His eyes.

6.15am Malaysian Time

.: Two choices :.

A choice.

Last year, I began my journey of relearning Mandarin. I wasn't serious. I wasn't committed. And I wasn't determined. I want to learn, but I wasn't.

Finally, the phone call from Ms. Chew. "Level-3 will start soon! This time, the teacher is a local. I'll see you ok!"

So in China I started to try and communicate with the locals. It was hard. The words didn't come naturally. And it still hurt. Terribly. As time passes by, a Quranic verse came into the picture.

"Verily, with every difficulty there is relief."

Everywhere I went, the locals spoke to me in Mandarin, even Cantonese. Like it or not, I had to speak the language. Do or do not, there is no try. When I fumbled the words, locals pleasantly waited for me to find the words or politely say things like, "Oh! Ni shi waiguoren? Duibuqi. Wo bu hui shuo yingwen". Then the pain somehow went away and I'll reply with "Meiguanxi. Ni bangmang wo henduo le. Xiexie."

Speaking in Cantonese, is crazy. Owner speaks in Cantonese, I don't understand a single thing but I just point to the item "M goi. Gei chin ah?". He'll say "Say go gau" and I'll try to remember my limited Cantonese, give up, have a dazed look and say "Ni hui shuo putonghua huo yingwen ma?". The guy obviously taken aback by my remark, bursts out laughing uncontrollably.

Tomorrow, is my 1st day of Level-3 Mandarin. This time around, I am serious, committed and determined to relearn.

No pain = no gain ... right ... ?

God help those who help themselves ...

12.33noon Malaysian Time

.: 至福の風 :.

The blissful breeze.

Hua Ta, Liurong Temple

Flower Pagoda, 6 Banyan Trees Temple

Guangzhou City

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.

Kahlil Gibran

There is a saying that tourists never consider themselves as tourists. Used to waking up so early in the morning, I took it upon myself to catch a little sight-seeing of my own only to return to the hotel when my friend has woken up. Alhamdulillah, I never encountered any problems albeit I reckon I must have made my friend worried on several occasions.

This was one of the temples I found during my escapades. Graced with a surreal and serene atmosphere, I spent a good 30mins loitering around the area, sitting under the banyan trees and observing the devotees paying their respects to Buddha. Places of worship have a tranquil effect on me, so for a moment the quote by Kahlil Gibran fleeted across my mind and I too joined the devotees in saying my graciousness to God, thanking Him for providing me this breathtaking opportunity. Perhaps I was being too cheeky by asking God to grant me several more chances in future.

One can hope, and hope is what keeps us going.

11.55am Malaysian Time

.: Circumstances :.

Undeniable.

I guess I needed another outlet to specifically showcase my abstract side. Hosted at Windows Live Spaces, it is presently shared to people within my network. If you'd like to view it, please let me know by leaving your email address in the comments section or drop me an email. ^^

Photos in China shall be uploaded tomorrow along with the meme by Hajar Zamzam Ismail, Insha'Allah. While I'm at it, thank you dearest Mina for the award and to Ash Mazelan ...

ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR PMR!!!

Beat my score of 7As ya! *self-proclaiming I was a geek*

Note :: PMR is the examination in Malaysia taken by Form/Secondary 3 students before they proceed to Form/Secondary 4.

Regaining normalcy.

10.19am Malaysian Time

.: 生命不息 :.

The dream has to end.

Been 10 days since I returned. Painstakingly, I found my answers. Do I have any regrets? Not at all. Perhaps, by doing so I have made peace with myself. One way or another. Alhamdulillah. I suppose, I walked down the path called life, be it rain or shine, no matter how heavy the burden is, it doesn't change the fact that life has to go on.

Therefore, whatever that opts to cross my path or come my way, I shall leave it to God's will as surely He knows best.

Until that happens, all I can do is ...

生者坚强.

4.21pm Malaysian Time

.: Timeless tale :.

Endless premonition.

Sometimes, when one person is missing ... the whole world seems depopulated.

Which is exactly what I'm feeling right now.

~

Far from divulging even the slightest measly portion of the aforesaid, I have somehow lost the muse to blog. Perhaps this is due to the fact that my present state of mind is still elsewhere.

Then again, I did mention I will do some posts about China. One particular noteworthy tidbit will be, I find it rather ironic that my days there were filled with sushi and catching the daily 'Boys Over Flowers' [a popular Korean drama] reruns. Atypical of my old-fashioned characteristics, a day did not pass by without me going to the park just to catch a glimpse of old people playing Chinese chess, Tai-chi, Qigong, dancing etc.

I spent some good 8 days scouring Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Guangzhou with friends, and new acquaintances. Food wasn't a problem as our dear Almighty God, Allah S.W.T has been really kind to me. The places I stayed at had Chinese halal restaurants a stone's throw away! Adding further into the blessings, I was granted the opportunity to meet other Muslims, albeit I spent it on asking where are the halal restaurants. Serendipity?

Now you may wonder how on earth I know they are Muslims? Simple. The guys were wearing head-gears. *I only met 1 lady wearing the hijab* Or I may have a built-in Muslims-detection-within-the-vicinity device. To reaffirm things, I walked straight up to them, smiled, said "Assalamualaikum" and we started prattling in Chinese, English and Arabic. The experience was overwhelming. Over at the beach, about 4 of the Chinese Muslim guys were having a picnic and doing their prayers. Upon hearing I'm from Malaysia, they assumed I'm a student and started offering me their food along with directions to Muslim restaurants. My good friend was concerned on the amount of trust I placed on these Muslims because I can just approach them without any fear. Truthfully speaking, I'm amazed myself. I don't do that in Malaysia. Where did I muster all that courage from? Total naivety? Maybe.

Collectively, the trip is good with one major exception. Approximately 2 days before I left, I screwed up. Big time. I suppose, that's the very thing that is dragging me down. Will post some photos and do a follow-up post one of these days.

Insha'Allah.

5.36pm Malaysian Time