My 22th birthday

Bismillah,

Yesterday was my 1st birthday celebrated in Australia.

So I started my day yesterday by finishing my summer report. What a pathetic way to start your birthday huh? Then I submitted my assignment on the afternoon and visited lab to finalise few things. Then when I was on my way to the NextByte at UQ Union from Goddard building, I got a text message from Rafizan:

"Pukul berapa nak datang? Translation: What's time you'll be coming?"

Owh my! I forgot that I've promised to pay his moths a visit at his insect lab. Then I turned back to Goddard building. Okay done visiting the cute moths (eww~), I headed to the NextByte according to the original plan. I passed by the Boost juice booth at the UQ Union. Owh! I forgot about claiming my free Boost juice on my birthday using my Vibe card. Boleh pulak lupe? Free kot >.<"

Then I proceeded to the NextByte to settle couple of things; form for MARA claim laptop and GST claim documentations at the Gold Coast airport this Monday. Owh yeah! I'm coming Malaysia!

Okay done with all the stuffs at the uni, then I headed to RUN office at Toowong to submit the "Notice Intention to Leave". Say good bye to Sir Fred Schonell Dr peeps.

After that, I pay Auntie Nisyat a visit. She's will be leaving for India next Saturday. She is a very generous person. Remember my flood story where she cooked us lamb Briyani? (Click here) I treat her now like my second mother at Australia. She fed me with lots of foods! Alhamdulillah2. So I ate grilled lamb, butter chicken, potatoes, with rice. Wah. Tak celebrate birthday pun makan mewah jugak. :)

At Auntie Nisyat's place, Ainna did henna on my left hand. Syukran jazilan Ainna! So I balik nanti jangan nak ada gosip - gosip liar cakap I dah bertunang ke hape ye ;p

 

Then, after Maghrib prayer we went to uni for Arabic and Al Quran translation classes. Alhamdulillah I managed to add my Arabic vocabulary with few new words. And when the classes ended, jeng jeng jeng! 

Surprise! Surprise!

All the sisters were waiting for me outside the class to sing me a birthday song. :') And we were sit at the Great Court enjoying this lovely cheesecake. Thank you very much to everyone!

Phew~ What a day.

Eh eh! I haven't finish people.
I still have the last good thing that was happening yesterday. This:

Resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

They even celebrated it with fireworks. Owh, how I wish I could have joined them. :)

Aniqah and Syazwani sent me back home using Asma' after that. On tmy way back, I gazed up the sky.  MashaAllah. The stars were shining brightly that the deep dark sky on that night just emphasizing the sparkle of the beautiful stars.

I silently thanked Him for this one blessed day.

Summer trip at Newcastle :)

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful,

I'm going to close my 2010 with this entry. As I promised in previous post, I'm going to share with you our summer trip to Newcastle on the last November. Jeng jeng jeng! =)

Okay, we went to Newcastle separately. They departed from Gold Coast Airport a day earlier than me due to some ticket-booking differences. 

From left: Aziemah, Ras, Ain, Hasanah, Zaira

From left: Aziemah, Ida, Zaira, Ain, Ras

Then they overnighted at Zaira's uncle's house (Erk.. Is the way I've put the apostrophe correct grammatically? Anyone?) for one night. They even managed to visit a kangaroo sanctuary on the next day. And left me behind. So unfair okay. >.<"

Boxing day in Aussie

Bismillahi rahmani rahim,

Yesterday was a Boxing day. Before this, I never knew there is such a day that you can call as a BOXING day. The first time I heard of this 'boxing' term, I thought that it is a day where all Australians go to the stadium to watch a boxing match. Haha!

Later, I found out from seniors that people used to go shopping like crazy on this particular day. Ape la pulak kaitannye lawan-lawan boxing dengan beli belah ni kan?? So, this is where the 'boxing' term is originated (Source from article).

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is a day the higher classes gave gifts to the lower classes. Before or on December 25th people of similar class would exchange gifts to celebrate the Christmas season. Gifts were not exchanged with the lower class until the next day called Boxing Day. It is also known as St. Stephen’s Day.

Why is the holiday named Boxing Day?

The holiday is named Boxing Day because the tradition of giving gifts of cash, food, clothing and other goods to the less fortunate were placed into boxes for easier transportation. The goods were distributed based on the family needs and their services to the giver

Who celebrates Boxing Day?

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and other Commonwealth Countries celebrate Boxing Day on December 26th.

Purpose of Teaching the Origin and History of Boxing Day

Boxing Day officially began in England in the middle of the 19 century under the rule of Queen Victoria. However, many adults and children do not know the true meaning of Boxing Day and its reasons for celebrating. It was a day to thank the community for all their effort throughout the years. The maids, drivers and other service workers were thanked with gifts of food, money, clothing, and other goods. It is important to teach students how they can contribute to society and to understand not all families are able to provide for their families all of the time. As well, the discussion on the origin and history of Boxing Day can open dialogue about less fortunate individuals in the community and how the students can make a difference. Students may do a viable proposal on how their class or a group of students can provide a service or gift to other families or students in the community who are less fortunate.

And now, boxing day I believe is the same thing as Year End Sale (YES) or Mega sale at Malaysia.

Okay, enough babbling about the history of this boxing day.

So last Sunday I went to Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) with friends. As the name itself explains its meaning, DFO is where the branded items are sold at a greatly reduced and cheap price. Then we split, to search for our stuffs. Me and Syazwani walked together as we will be buying almost the same items for our family members.

Okay, the first check point is where Corelle, the famous dinnnerware brand is sold. When I entered that store, almost everyone is Malaysian! Whoa! ;O Nampak sangat la orang Malaysia ni suka beli set pinggan mangkuk kan.. So, one item is done for Syazwani's mother. Alhamdulillah =)

Then we walked to the next store, Fossil.

Syazwani bought one watch for her sister and had adjusted her watch strap. And me? I've bought one already for my brother during my last winter trip to Melbourne. Whilst I've got my Fossil watch from Malaysia, long back before I arrived at Aussie. Haih, bertuah la sape jadi adik aku ni kan? Jam pun nak Aussie mali. Demand tinggi depa ni..

The answer

Bismillah,

So have you manage to answer my quiz in the previous post? :)

"C'mon, give it a try", Vignesh assured me to answer his simple quiz. We were on our way to the lab from the plant room.

"HIV?", I gave him my I-have-no-idea look. Okay HIV sounds like the dumbest answer to his looks-like-simple question.

"Not even SARS??", he replied in disbelieve.

"Why is that? Because it's airbone?", I continued. Okay saya memang lemah ya bab teka-teki ni. Sila la tanya sapa2 yang pernah main teka-teki dengan saya. =.="

"Try to get out of science", he gave me a hint after I literally begged for it. Haha.. But still, I couldn't.

More hint please!

"Right now you have it. Even I have it" he replied.

Hoh! Pulak dah. Penyakit apa yang dia ada, aku pun ada?? Uish, sulit ni!

Then Hannes (a PhD student) walk-passed us. Hannes waved and greeted us.

Then Vignesh told me the answer.

"It's a smile. When you smile at me, I smiled back at you and I will transmit the smile to anyone around me, like Hannes just now" he explained.

Well said Vignesh! Let's smile to brighten other's day. Kan sedekah jugak? =)

(Click the picture to be directed to the original source)

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..

Ifthar is like...

Salam guys =) Let's talk about one thing that is synonym with Ramadhan, ifthar! Breaking fast over here is different, much more value I would say. Yup, we don't have Malaysian food as our ifthar meal (unless you prepare it yourself la kn?) as Arab's food is more common over here!

To be honest, you don't need to worry about what's for break fast as free food is everywhere! Hehe.. Alhamdulillah2. Being the minority, the Muslim community over here is very well connected. Every day, there's always someone who volunteer to cater or offer meals for ifthar. And some seniors said, "Bile puase ni, kadang-kadang dapur tak berasap pon sebab hari-hari ade orang nak bagi makan free!" =D Who doesn't want to grab the opportunity being forgiven for his sins, just by giving food to a fasting man right?

And ifthar over here is very moderate. As orang kite used to say, "Ape yang ade je la ye.."

Allah s.w.t said:

"........ eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not the wasters"

[7:31]

Caliph Umar r. a said:

"O people, beware of eating too much, for it makes you lazy in prayer, is bad for your body and causes sickness. Allah hates the fat man. Rather you should be moderate in your eating, for that is closer to righteousness and farther removed from extravagance, and makes one stronger to worship Allah. No person will be doomed unless he gives precedence to his desires over his religious commitment"

[From book of Manaqib Amir al Mu'minin : page 200]

And because Malaysian food is not common over here, we practice to always be in moderation for our ifthar.. =) Nonetheless, high demand for Malaysian food during Ramadhan is something that you can't avoid! That's why we also have Bazaar Ramadhan. Ingat Malaysia je ade? =P Owh! Murtabak juge ade ye, mantap la..

Laku kot!

My friends' stall

Pulut kuning dan sambal ikan bilis.

Tuan empunya gerai =)

Laksa, bubur pulut hitam, air laici kang.

Simple booths set up, yet it were swarmed with people! =D

The arrival of Ramadhan Mubarak

Bismillah. The most awaited month in Muslim calendar, Ramadhan is now 3 days away. This year, will it be different for me to celebrate this fasting month in the country where Muslim is not the majority? Hmm.. Nervous, excited, curious are all now mixing up. Back then in Malaysia, I used to wake up after ibu have finish preparing with the main course. What I need to do was just serving the rice onto the plate. But this time around, I need to make my own sahur, with my housemates. Will that works? Insyallah..

What make us (the Muslim students at UQ) more excited about this first Ramadhan? It's public holiday!! Well not because the government over here really assign the first Ramadhan as a public holiday to respect the Muslims. It's just happen that the first Ramadhan falls on their Ekka day. Alhamdulillah.. =D (or maybe not, depends on the moon sighting..) 

Last Friday, the sisters over here made some small gathering in conjunction of this coming Ramadhan. Lots of activities have been planned to maximise the amount of pahala that we could gain. Yeah!

• Ifthar - Break fast together every Saturday. The hosting house will do the main course while others can  come as helpers or bring dessert. Our house will host this ifthar on the last week of Ramadhan. =) We've planned to serve our guest with nasi impit and kuah lodeh perhaps? 

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: ........he who gives food for a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from Hell fire, he will receive the same reward as him, except that nothing will be reduced from the fasting person's reward. [Narrated by At - Tirmidhi]

• Hafazan competition - Encourage people to hafaz new verse, with the 30th juzu as the priority in this competition. 
• Ukthi ramadhan (UR) - Each person should have one sister that has been paired with using lucky draw. The role is to be some sort of 'secret admire' to that sister. The objective of this activities is tighten the ukhwah and to delight your ukhti. You can give bears or buy her a chocolate bar as a present. Only when the Syawals comes, the identity of your secret admire can be revealed. ; )

   لا يُؤمِنُ أحدُكُم حتى يُحِب لأَخِيهِ ما يُحبُُّ لِنَفسـه

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: He has a weak faith until that person loves for his brother what he loves for himself

Tidak beriman seseorang itu selagi dia tidak mencintai saudaranya melebihi dari dirinya sendiri.

                                                                                                [Narrated by Bukhari]

• Qiyam - Will be held on the 3th week of Ramadhan. We'll do it together in jamaah at the house who host the ifthar.
• Tadarrus al Quran - A must-thing when Ramadhan comes. Will be conducted while waiting for Isya' prayer.   

And I believe many more activities that are not listed above. So excited! =D Every house also have their own 'Ramadhan checklist'..

This morning I went for a long one day course organised by HikmahWay. This 'Ramadhan Knights' course really refresh me back with all aspects of Ramadhan. From the origin, the acts that will nullify your fast to the celebration of Eid.

Owh ya, speaking of Eid, before the course started, we (the Brisbane akhwat) had a photoshoot (konon2nye) for 'Salam Perantauan' =D I'm so thrilled. Selalu tgk gambar orang lain je kn kt dlm suratkhabar tu? ;p

So this is the best outfit that we can come out with. But this is not the picture that will be sent for Salam Perantauan. Person that hold the pictures have not finalised yet which one is the best because we had several shoots of photo. Sedih oke baju raye x ade tahun ni, gune abaya yg ibu beli time haji dulu je.. Tapi x pe, berjimat cermat amalan mulia kn? =)

From left: Hasanah, me, Aziemah, Atiqah, Ain

(UQ with smiley emoticon..)

Let me end this post with this music video from Man Bai and Raihan. 

Mari rebut pahala jom!

The housewarming

Salam.. =) Yesterday we had an awesome housewarming at our place. Even though it's already like half year we've been here, for some of our friends this is their first time visiting our house! Yeah, we've been very busy last semester. (Da separuh tahun baru la nak buat open house..) 

Thanks to my housemates; Azzah, Ida, and Atiqah for making this happen. =D (Walaupon guest pertame da sampai tp ko still tgh memasak spaghetti kt dapur tu Azzah.. ;p)

  

Corn porridge and fruit cocktail

Cheese cake

Macaroni fried with garlic

Ramainye! =)

Syukran sume.. ^_^

Strawberry dipped with melted chocolate

With that, I want to wish to all muslims,

"Selamat menyambut Ramadhan mubarak!"  

1st winter trip

Bismillah..

8 hours flight from Melbourne to KL with Air Asia on the last 16th had been so restless. I don't know why. It's been about 4 months or so since I left my hometown. Lots of things had happen to me, or I better say changed me to be a better person. I'm so grateful of the valuable knowledge that I have collected from this winter trip.

Alhamdulillah I met lots of GREAT people from my 3 weeks of winter trip to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. Not to forget the people from Brisbane itself! =) Syukran ya ukhti.

I have so MANY things to share in this blog. Stay tune! =)

Packing!

Salam guys.. I'm currently packing for my winter trip, which will cover Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. Yeay! The most awaited event for this year!! Well, apart from being able to go back to my homie sunny Malaysia. ^_^

My room now is a total mess. Every space of my bed is covered with clothes. I need to pack for this trip and also my returning to Malaysia. Owh! Lot of stuffs to be done by tonight. Yes, by tonight. InsyAllah..

Owh, I need to make a video call at 11 pm (aka 9pm Malaysia time) with my family right after this. Ayah nak menyampaikan amanat2 terakhir sebelum berjalan - jalan ni. Hee..

My flight is on this Tuesday morning and almost all of us (biotechnology batch 2010) join this trip. And my flight to Malaysia will be on 16th noon of July. Pray for my safety and the barakah of the knowledge that I will gain from this trip. InsyAllah.. =)

Fraser Island

Good morning and salam guys! Today's weather is great. Ok this entry is about my field trip to Fraser Island. It's compulsory for my Field Ecology course assessment as we need to write a full report about the ecological part of this island. It was on my autumn break (Lame da autumn break tu tapi aku baru nak terkedek2 buat entry.. Hehe..). This 6-day trip was full of fun and excitement!

So what's so special about this island? Fraser island is the biggest island in the world that formed solely from the sand! It is a great place to study how succession and retrogression occur, and for Fraser island this 2 process is happening on the same place which is very rare! (Oke, those are ecological stuffs, just ignore it if you can't really make sense of it.. Hehe..) All 4 of us; Ernnie, Atiqa, Mazni and I (all are doing plant biotechnology) were lucky enough to join this trip. Very lucky indeed!

If you go to Fraser island on your own expenses, it can be very expensive. Just google it and you will know how luxury and high standard it is to have a vacation or honeymoon at Fraser Island. Alhamdulilah! We went there for 6 days plus transport, bunk house (ala2 chalet gitu..) being served by the best caterer in Brisbane 5 times a day, for only AUD 430. Owh! sangat la murah oke... ^_^

Enough babbling. Let the pictures do the story. Credit to Ernnie for all the pictures. I did bring my camera but forgot the batteries. Adess.. =.="

Ferry ride that we took on our way to Fraser island from the mainland. Muke excited!

On our way to Dilli Village by 4WD. Our bunkhouse on the bottom picture. Not bad right? 2 people per bunkhouse.

Gum tree (up) and Satinay tree (bottom).

Eucalyptus tree (up) and sun-bathing iguana (bottom).

Aiseh.. The 4WD got stucked. Let's push!!

Suddenly there was a desert out of nowhere! Hehe.. This is what we call movement of sand dune across the forest driven by the wind. We've been to Lake Boomanjin too. Go google it! This lake was panoramic!

Ernnie with Mazni (up) and with Atiqah (bottom). Love them!!

4 of us with the plant lecturer. Oke Asian mmg pendek, harap maklum. Our course mates (bottom). Around 80 people all together.

Salam winter from Brisbane,