Saturday, September 25, 2010

Saudi National Day Celebration

Bismillah,

Yesterday, there was a Saudi Arabia National Day's celebration. It was the 78th National Day. This event was organised by the Saudi Students Association.
The pamphlet..

They lined up several interesting activities such as folklore dance (using stick and sword), trying their sweet Arabic dishes, have a feel of their traditional attire and have your name spelled in Arabic calligraphy.  

Me putting on the abaya. It was so huge!

The back of the postcard. My name in Arabic letters. I think it's supposed to be 
'shod' instead of 'sin' to really represent the meaning of my name.

The front of the postcard, the picture of The Kingdom Tower.

Locals putting on the Arabic attire.



This guy also performed on that day. Is that kain pelikat?? Yup, it looks like one. 


 The real Pak Arab.. =P

(Disclaimer: All those photos are not mine. It belong to Saudi Students Association, UQ. You can find the picture on picasa. Click here.)


When I looked at the postcard picture, the Kingdom Tower reminds me of one authentic hadith:

Abu Hurairah r.a narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked by a man with extremely dark hair and white clothing, "Tell me about the Hour". The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The questioned one is not more knowledgeable about it than the questioner". Then the man said, "Then tell me about the signs". The Prophet (pbuh) replied, "That the slaves girl shall gives birth to her mitress, and that you see barefoot, naked, poor shepherds builds tall buildings. [Sahih Muslim] 

Moga kita semua sentiasa dalam golongan orang beriman hingga hari Kiamat, Amin2..

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

How do we pray?

Bismillah,

I have just submitted 2 assignments by today. Alhamdulillah, managed to submit by the deadline. =) Okay, this time I want to share my experiences with the readers, things that certainly you will not account for when you are in Malaysia.

So how do we pray over here provided that, there are no surau in every shopping mall or gas station or along the road itself? Well this is how we used to do it:

If we have planned to travel on that day, or even go for a shopping at the city we will prepare ourselves with the wudhu before we go out. Kalau kt Malaysia tak de nyer nak buat camni kn? This is because toilet over here always in a dry condition. Plus, people do not use water for istinjak purposes.

If you simply go to the sink and do the wudhu, the locals will give you a disgusted look as if you already messed up the whole place. To them wet = dirty! Yuks! (they said..) So the challenge is to maintain that wudhu; to not fart and to not touch the opposite sex. And hey! it is also a reward to always be in wudhu state.

Another thing to note is, most of the time we pray with our cloth peeps! =) There's no need to wear that white piece of clothes (telekung la pe lagi...). Because as long as you wear covered piece of cloth and not tight, hijab that thick enough and draw over the bosoms, wear socks and you are good to go! Easy peasy right?

From other point of view, praying without telekung teach you to always wear covered and modest clothes. Telekung is a tradition guys, remember that. I still remember there was one brother said in his sharing session;
"Nak tahu pakaian kite menutup aurat ke tak, tengok bole bawak untuk sembahyang ke tak? Kalau tak bole, tak menutup aurat sepenuhnya lagi la tu"
Ok, we have talk about wudhu, we have talk about the appropriate attire for praying. So now let me share about its location. As I said from the beginning, there is no surau (and please keep in mind that mosques are not everywhere) to perform our prayer. In a matter of fact, we have try all sort of locations! To name a few:

  • In an open recreation garden, Melbourne (with people passing by in front of us of course!)
  • In the fitting room
  • In the parent room (this room is specialised for moms that wish to change their kid's diapers or want to breast fed their baby)
  • Behind a tent with no praying mat, touching the damp grass during Fraser Island trip.
  • In the discussion room of Biological Science Library (twice when we had an overnight for our assignment)
  • At an open parking lot of a gas station (under -3 degree of Sydney morning breeze!)
  • In an open garden, Sydney (and it was raining cats and dogs!)
  • In the lecture hall (of course it was vacant.. ;p)
  • On top of snowy Mount Buller during winter (and it's freaking cold!)


(courtesy picture from Wawa)



It just makes me feel that prayer is meant to be easy and simple! And can be anywhere too!
Be grateful to Allah for this priceless experiences.. =)

And I believe all my friends that study / travel to a non-muslim country experienced the same way too right?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Be productive




Ok that's me telling myself to be productive! No more postponing things..



Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The most awaited parcel has finally arrived!

Bismillah,

Today I want to share about my parcel. What's inside it? Well definitely kuih raya and kerepek! What else to ship from Malaysia during this raya season right? Hee... It take almost a week, no matter what kind of shipping service you use. So guys, don't get cheated by Pos Laju or express delivery service like FedEx, DHL, or ABS. Whether you use the normal cheapest rate or the special expensive one, the parcel will always arrive after one week, guaranteed.



This 5kg parcel has safely arrived on last Thursday, which is a day before the Eid celebration! Pandai betul ayah aku timing kan? =) Thanks ayah! Love you much more. And this was what he text-ed me:

"Yun, kuih raya dah pos. Beratnya 5kg! (He always use exclamation mark inappropriately, haha...) Kena RM110.00. (Which is the cheapest, Hasanah used to pay almost RM300+ for almost the same weight) 2 minggu sampai. (Which is not, only need to wait for one week) Nanti dah sampai, sms ayah"

Totally torn up! Nasib baik wrapping paper kertas minyak je. Ganas betul kastam Australia.

Alhamdullilah, the parcel passed the inspection by the immigration (they are really fussy you know?),
and nothing have been confiscated! =D

3 types of kerepek.

Almond London and pineapple tart, my favorite!

Dek kne campak sane, baling sini kotak ni habis hancur tat nenasku.. =(

Monday, September 13, 2010

Happy Eid Mubarak 2010



I skyped with Ibu and Ayah on the Eid's night. Miss them so much! Selamat Hari Raya Ayah, Ibu. Do forgive my sin and wrong doing. Send me your prayer.


The first Eid calebration away from beloved family.. Feel sad, yet I still have friends that will always brighten my Eid, and till this degree ends. Love you always!

The Eid prayer..

After the Eid prayer..

With dearest housemates..

The first open house attended, they served lovely Malaysian food!

The second open house at Ras's..

The third open house at Bella's

The forth open house at Zuhreen and Iqa's


Now the weekend had ended, the normal life of mine is switch on again. Sigh~ Eid, assignment, Eid, revision, Eid, homework. Dear all Malaysian, please be grateful that you guys get 3 weeks off from uni life for the Eid celebration..