New year and resolutions?

Assalamualaikum and a happy new year to my dear readers,

As 2013 dwindles down to a close, and precious minutes ticks away till 2014, we busy ourselves with statuses and posts about new years, and the inevitable almost ritualistic exercise of writing out our resolutions. Some of them are so far fetched, so fantasized that even we know, it is almost impossible to reach them.

Let's review 2013. How many of us can say that we have actually achieved our resolutions for 2013? Can you honestly recall things that you have done, that you are proud to mention in 2013? Have you lost a lot of weight? Have you gone on a backpacking trip? Have you made your life more than just study, work, sleep, eat, watch TV, facebook, twitter? If you have, then congratulations to you!

Perubahan.

Assalamualaikum ya pembaca-pembaca yang disayangi sekalian keranaNya.

Apa khabar anda dan iman? saya? umm, gitulah kan. :D

Okay, kali ini, post akan diterbit dalam Bahasa Melayu yakni bahasa ibunda. Tapi kalau ayat cam pelik sikit tu mintak maaf la kan, hari-hari kena improve dah berzaman dah tak tulis artikel bahasa melayu.

Pada suatu hari yang tidak panas, tapi tidak pula sejuk, sejurus aku balik dari Penang, aku mendapat sebuah mesej dari kawan yang aku sayangi kerana Allah.

Syaza aku ada problem.

Apa dia?

Aku malu nak mengaku tapi aku rasa macam aku jadi aku yang sebelum ni. macam mana ek?

If I was a character in the television..

If I was a character in the television,

I would be Anastasia

jealous of Cinderella

Some lessons I learnt in AGM 2013 (Annual Grand Meeting)

Assalamualaikum and a very good day.

November has been the most hectic month for me, as well as it is for almost everybody. It feels like November just passed us by only five minutes and we're already in the last month of 2013.

We had our annual grand meeting, on the 30th November 2013. Compared to last year, it was pretty fascinating since I also actively took part in campaigning. After a long and tiring day inside the hall, I reflected back some of the things I've learnt on that day.

"Why do you wear that thing on your head? Isn't it hot?"

Assalamualaikum and warm greetings on a cold autumn's day. :D

During summer, there is always one question that is frequently asked to me. "Isn't it hot wearing that thing on your head?" or even worse, "Don't you feel suffocated?"

There was once when I was traveling to go back to my house in Konkuk, and one of the ahjumma (read: makciks) didn't even greet me with a proper greeting, and started scolding me because I was wearing the hijab.

She started yelling at me and said that if you are in someone else's country, don't try to impose your culture! You should wear like Koreans when you are in Korea! After nagging me at least 5 minutes, and since all I could do was smile and try not to look affected by her harsh words, she said "Hot! It looks hot! Take it off!" and she started pulling on my hijab inside the train, with everyone else looking at me, all silenced because they don't dare talk back to their elderly. Despite being rather old, I guessed that if we were to have a wrestling match, she would win. That's how scary the makciks are in Korea.

Dating at the mosque?!

credit: Saeed Owairan

Assalamualaikum and good'aye mate! (fail aussie accent) :D

Today, I experienced something new and unique! We distributed pamphlets to Koreans! Not just any pamphlets but pamphlets about Islam! (I think spelling the word pamphlet is a pain but whatever)

So I just wanted to share some funny and weird stories while distributing and explaining roughly about Islam to Koreans.

Blood, Sweat, Tears, Sportsmanship and a sweet thing called Friendship.

credit: Hanis Shauqi

Assalamualaikum and a very good day (even though it's a monday) :D

On 5th October 2013, Malaysian Student Association of South Korea held the annual PPMK Sports Day at Jungseok Aviation High School, Incheon. The students were supposed to gather at 9:00 AM but officially started at 10:00 AM something like that. The day was wonderful, the weather was perfect and you could totally feel the adrenaline and energy that radiates from each student, be it as a player or a supporter.

Just google it.

Assalamualaikum.

This happened to me countless of times, and I think it happens to a lot of people as well.

Have you ever asked a question to someone, and their reply was "Just google it." ? I have. To be frankly honest, I get pissed every time someone tells me to google it.

Maybe it's just one of my pet peeves but I honestly think it's kinda rude to tell someone who's asking you a question to go google something.

Why is it such a big deal to me?

Here's why.

Homesick

Assalamualaikum everyone, and good day.

I haven't written a post in quite some time, with the new semester starting and all that, my head has gotten a bit confused, mixed up and the sorts.

I just came back from Malaysia, after 2 months of holidays. Most of my friends also just came back from their holidays, and mostly everyone misses Malaysia.

I would like to take you guys back 2 months before today, just right after I flew from South Korea to Malaysia. There was one week before I flew back, and in that one week, I wanted to do everything.

I wanted to climb mountains, have picnics, go swimming in clear, cool streams, go shopping, go water rafting, bike rides along Han River, and while most of them I did do, I didn't get to do all of them. After one week, it was finally time for me and my friends to return to Malaysia to spend our summer holidays there, bear in mind that we haven't seen our home nation in nearly one and a half year and we were so excited to meet our families and our friends back in our hometown.

I can't really say on behalf of my friends, but after landing safely in Malaysia, chatting with my family, eating out, and at 8PM, I laid in bed and thought,

"I miss Korea. I want to go back."

Saya masih orang yang sama.

Assalamualaikum! hihu~

Apa khabar pembaca-pembaca setia yang dikasihi Allah sekalian?

Hari ini ada cerita panas, well, tak ada la panas mana, cuma satu fenomena yang agak ajaiblah bagi saya.

Pada suatu hari, Lisa bertemu dengan rakan-rakannya setelah bertahun-tahun tidak berjumpa. Sebelum dia keluar, dia mengenakan baju kurung berwarna biru, selendang lebar bertona serupa, lengkap dengan stokin dan stokin tangan. Lisa yang belajar di UK, baru sahaja mendapat peluang balik ke tanah airnya setelah 2 tahun menuntut di universiti terkemuka di UK.

Dia tidak sabar bertemu dengan rakan-rakannya yang mengenalinya dari umur 13 tahun, malah ada yang lebih lama mengenalinya. Setelah menunggu kedatangan kawan-kawannya dia sebuah restoran di pekan, mereka berpelukan sesama sendiri, tangan berjabat, pipi berlaga, senyuman dilemparkan, sungguh Lisa merindui sahabat-sahabat baiknya.

"Wahh, Lisa, ustazah kau sekarang." Komen Mira tersenyum. Rakannya yang lain turut mengangguk tanda setuju.

"Dulu ingat Lisa kan tomboy, main jerit-jerit dekat laki, pastu ingat tak dia pernah tampar seorang budak tu, apa namanya, haa, Mamat!" Azura pula menyelit, diikuti dengan ketawa rakan-rakan. Lisa pun ketawa, tercuit hatinya mengenang masa yang lalu.

"Alah kau ni, dulu ingat tak kau suka dekat Ali, pastu kau siap bagi dia surat layang lagi, kau jugak datang complain kat aku." Lisa menampar lembut bahu kawannya sambil ketawa dengan ketawanya yang cukup unik.

"Weh, kau still gelak sama lah. Tak berubah pun!" kata Dina.

Lisa mengerutkan dahi, tapi senyumannya tidak lekang.

"Mestilah, aku masih Lisa yang sama kot."

"Yalah, kau kan dah berubah sekarang...."

Changing Seasons

The crackle of fresh snow underneath those boots,

the blackened ice of late winter,

stillness and the smell of death thickens the winter air,

probably the smell of your withering hope.

And spring promises you a thousand dreams,

budding beautiful flowers by the dozen,

slowly but steadily growing with love,

and those hopes of yours looks real

the heat heightens with a fierce intensity,

so does your passion and soul,

the sand is warm under your toes,

as you bask in the shine of your triumphs.

soon leaves start to grow old and darken,

growing frail and eventually kissing the damp floor,

what had gone wrong all along when it was going well?

you soon realize that it was the nature of things.

winter creeps in with it's harsh winds,

you seem to start all over again,

but this time you won't falter in the long nights,

for there will be a new spring by dawn.

-Syaza Mariyah-

1:31PM in my room, Malaysia.

Confessions of a Kpop Addict.

Assalamualaikum! hewhew. It's been a long time right? Okay maybe not so long lah. I've had a writer's block for quite a while (a while because my previous blog, I updated like everyday.)

But today, bam! An idea hit me like a storm, at 11:00PM whilst I was trying to get some sleep. And guess what? Here I am at 11 something something PM writing this post down because I can't sleep with an idea in my head. It's a curse, and a blessing I guess.

AHA!

Today's topic, I actually mulled it over for a while, thinking about the appropriateness of the topic, whether it would be opening my own 'pekung' but I thought, this is to be treated as a lesson. I will try to keep that in mind whilst writing this post.

p/s. I really want to write a post in full Malay, but I need to brush up on my Malay I think, you know, artfully, like novel type of Malay, with good grammar and powerful vocabs and stuff like that, because writing in Malay very casually doesn't have the same impact. Well maybe it does but I think I'll make it awkward so let's save that till another day okay? ^^

Newton's Third Law.

Assalamualaikum and good day.

Have you ever tried to hit a mosquito? With only one hand? Scientifically, the mosquito will not die from the impact. Why?

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

When you hit a mosquito with only one of your hand, the opposite reaction would be the mosquito 'hitting' your hand back with the same amount of force. But since the size of the mosquito is a lot smaller than your hand, the force of the mosquito high fiving you is barely recognizable. The force which you exerted on the mosquito, however big it maybe, cannot kill the mosquito because only a small surface area of your hand makes contact with the mosquito, the rest of the force is lost to the air surrounding it.

Confusing? Yeah, I don't like physics either.

Let's look at another way of looking at this topic, a universal example that is easier to understand.

Love. Or more specifically, unrequited love.

Sedangkan tempat jatuh lagi dikenang - A trip to SABDA

Assalamualaikum! And good day to all.

The post title is in Malay but maybe I'll write this post in English (or maybe rojak as usual)

On 15th July, I visited my former high school, Sekolah Menengah Sains Bagan Datoh or famously known as SABDA.

So you wanna be a Vlogger?

Assalamualaikum and good day to you peeps :D

It's been like what? ages since I wrote, and my last post was me all emo, and really, I am always emo.

But that's besides the point.

How's your Ramadhan by the way?
Mine's just great.

Except I have an idea on my mind that's driving me crazy.

I want to be a vlogger.

It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've written anything, maybe just a mere caption on facebook, and maybe little scraps of thoughts here and there.

I love to write. Writing is my way of escaping reality, it's my way of arranging my thoughts and making sense of them because half of the time I feel like I've gone insane.

Especially when most of the time that I'm alone, and I have absolutely no one to turn to, and then I talk to myself, and it feels like I've lost grip on what's really important.

When I decided to enter this university, I really thought I could change the world. I would make tons of friends because I am outgoing by nature and then my oral skills will soar through the roof and I will make a significant change in my life. I decided to be more independent of people and more dependent on Allah.

I sometimes have these bursts of energy where I want to do everything at the same time, I want to do my homework, exercise, eat right, sleep early, do assignments, research, memorize the Quran, teach kids, teach people, travel, meet new friends, meet teachers, and then this burst of energy dies and I sit there in my room, and I don't do anything.

That sucks.

And when I look back, I see that they are all in my head. I draw these perfect pictures of myself in my head, of what I want to be when I grow up, the things I'm going to do, the people I'm going to meet, the significance of my being and the ways that I'll change the world.

and then that picture fades horribly into a grey dull because like paint, if you mix all the colors together, you'll eventually get a horrible, unattractive shade of either brown or grey.

and then I realize, I have so much lacking inside of me, that I can't possibly change the world when I haven't changed myself.

I swirl into depression, and mask it with a smile.

Round of applause, I should win an Oscar