Post eHousemen
January 28, 2018
I have quite a number of posts in draft - on Umrah, Europe trips, Malaysia trips, things I did while unemployed yadayada.
Wrote something in each of them, unfinished posts with unedited photos... but I can't put blog as my priority since that day :) Unemployment phase is going to be over very soon and a new life's adventure is approaching.
Can't say I am ready but I pray hard that I have prepared good memories and knowledge to face the truthful lifestyle later. Huhu. Pray for me, yea guys!
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| Going to remember this! |
23rd January 2018
It was the first intake for 2018 and I was included in the list.
The system opened that day at 12pm sharp. Even though I used to book my exam dates via the online University's system for the past good 6 years, but I couldn't help to still feel nervous this time. My future 2 years depend on this.
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| eHousemen |
Still, I told myself to think positive if I got any placement beyond my list. But alhamdulillah, it turned out I got my top four choice. All my Hradec Kralove's colleagues got the hospitals they aimed for as well. Alhamdulillah.
May this is the best for us!
I am going to contribute there for the next two years, hopefully it will still be smooth despite the challenges :)
Ameen ameen!
Ameen ameen!
Awesome Prizes with Traveloka Fly & Win CNY Contest 2018
January 24, 2018
It was an impromptu trip to Cameron Highlands that my parents and I have just returned home from. Alhamdulillah, it was a beautiful short trip that I will always remember and may all the good memories that I have created together with Ayah Mak be the strengthening core for me to start working very soon.
I guess an unemployed daughter with her retired parents really make a good combination for trips. Hehe. And to see them smiling will be one of my life goals, forever.
Redha with me, ya Ayah Mak?
When I was in Cameron Highlands, I watched this one short video for Chinese New Year. It is about a mother who comes out with lots of ideas to make her son happy. She works as a taxi driver and loves to show different parts of the world in various unique approaches to his one and only son. In my heart, I believe she really want to travel the world with him but can't afford it. The ending of this video is a bit touching, watch it yourself. T_T
So, what do you think about the video?
Other than my amazement towards the woman, this video actually reminds me of my very first time flying. It was out of my expectation to have the chance at that time. Planes and me, I honestly had not much idea how to relate us before, other than studying hard to make me eligible to further abroad.
But, this era, chances to fly are almost everywhere. We can buy our own tickets (there are low cost airlines wohoo) and I have been reading that some people collect points from their credit cards! Wowww.
Traveloka Fly & Win CNY Contest! :)
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| Our Cameron trip recently. |
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- 1st: 6 days 5 nights to Seoul (flight & accommodation)
- 2nd: 5 days 4 nights in Phuket (flight & accommodation)
- 3rd: 4 days 3 nights in Langkawi (flight & accommodation)
I guess Seoul is the number one favourite destination for Malaysians! Even though South Korea was my second country abroad that I had been to, honestly I haven't traveled around Seoul yet. Haha. I had a conference in Busan and my time there belonged to the event.
1. Go to Traveloka CNY 2018 Contest. Click Login with Facebook. Then click START GAME.
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| It is encouraged for us to read the terms and conditions for better understanding. |
2. Tap on the screen to balance the plane passing through 'obstacles' like towers, pyramids, hot air balloons, clouds etc. We can obtain extra points by flying through angpaw (red envelopes). Be careful of flying too high or too low as well.
Be patient! :D
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| Tap tap tap... |
To my understanding, to post / share about the challenge on Facebook is NOT compulsory. We can still submit our score to win the Grand Finale Prizes. But.... there is another thing to take note! Traveloka also offers prizes for sharing the Traveloka Fly & Win CNY Challenge on Facebook! There will be 2 winners (randomly chosen) who can win RM1000 Traveloka Voucher each.
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| My best score so far. |
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| So, I make an attempt, like this. Hehe. RM1000 is a lot okay! |
4. Fill in our details and click REGISTER.
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| Fill in.. |
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| 5. The final page! |
Why not grab our chances to secure these free stuffs for us? Hehe.
We can do this!
SS, Perak, Malaysia
180123
9 Challenges in Masjid Nabawi, Madinah
January 23, 2018 Medina Saudi Arabia
Now, it is time to move to Madinah. Every single day in Makkah was meaningful to me. Even my parents who have been there more than once, are still counting days to go there again. See, how significant Makkah and Madinah to Muslims :)
And to you, if you have never been there yet, insyAllah, let's pray hard we will be invited very soon, ameen :)
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| Beautiful masjid, beautiful every whereeeee! |
Actually these lists were applicable to Masjidil Haram as well, just, maybe my challenges were a bit more in Madinah - when I need to istighfar most of the times to calm myself. T_T
1. Embracing people from ALL OVER THE WORLD.
People. They are not just Arabians or Asians like us - Malaysians, Indonesians, Singaporeans or Bruneians. But expect people from other continents as well - Africans, Indians, Turks, Pakistanis even Europeans and Americans!
All of us have different styles of praying (the basics are still similar) but I need to always tell myself, this is me and my way, and them with their ways. Even though I spent 6 years living abroad, I have never seen such mixtures of people. T_T
Berlapang dada, I must say with different mazhabs, another point to jot here.
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| Challenges but the view is always magnificent! |
2. To pray inside Masjid Nabawi or the open spaces outside?
Again, another point open for discussion. As I met different answers every time I asked different people.
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Satu solat di masjid ku ini (Masjid Nabawi) lebih baik dari seribu solat di tempat lain kecuali Masjidil Haram." (HR Bukhari dan Muslim)
Some people prefer to pray inside Masjid Nabawi instead of open spaces outside as they consider the ganjaran to be inside not outside. If you prefer to pray inside, do come earlier before the azan (about 10 minutes) as it will be a bit hard to get a proper space or empty saf if you are late.
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| Sunset - I have no experience watching the process of opening and closing these roofs. After Fajr, when I exit the mosque, it is already open. And after Maghrib, it is already close. |
This is different than Masjidil Haram. I can say if I arrive in between azan and iqamah, I still manage to get myself a good space with Kaabah in front of me <3
Prepare a small prayer mat so that if you don't have the chance to pray on the carpets, you can still pray on the tiles comfortably. The tiles are cold, I am telling you.
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| Open roof inside the mosque - at night. |
3. Orang suka makan saf.
Haha I don't have proper words for this. MashaAllah.
For example, you come early and you manage to get yourselves a good place on the carpet to pray. Like myself, I love to pray beside a pillar so that I have extra spaces to put the sling bags.
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| Masjid Nabawi |
The challenge I want to say here is... when suddenly a group of people come sitting in front of me (knowing there will be no spaces for me to even sujud). I experienced few times that I need to adjust myself before sujud otherwise my head will kiss her foot. T____T
Not to forget how people love to walk passing me, while putting their hands on my head. Other example, their bags simply hit my head and they don't even realise that. T_T
4. Put the shoes in the spaces provided.
I understand some people prefer to carry their shoes with them. Huhu I am not sure if they lack common sense or their common sense is not similar as mine.
At least, if you want your shoes to be with you , put it nicely in a plastic bag.
Can you imagine suddenly you sit on random people's bare shoes (without any knowledge that the shoes are clean or not)? There was one time, a group of 3 ladies came to pray behind me and suddenly they put their bare shoes in front of me.
Whyyy? I don't understand this thing. T_T
5. The guards.
Honestly guards in Makkah are scarier than in Madinah. Hehe.
But, in Masjid Nabawi, we will encounter more guards especially for women. To enter the mosque, there will be guards who will check our bags. Not sure what items are they searching for but camera is one of them. It was a bit tricky for me as I usually put the camera inside my bag (even though I don't have much intention to snap).
But, phones are allowed so just take pictures with the phone okay? Even though sometimes the guards won't allow you to do so. Just, be careful of other people's aurat.
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| Post-Isya' prayer I think? |
6. The challenges to enter Raudhah.
This is one of the ultimate goals in Masjid Nabawi.
Since Raudhah is located closer to men's prayer areas, the duration of time to be there for women is a bit limited. If men can enter Raudhah 24/7, compared to women who can only attempt to enter after Fajr, Zuhur and Isya' prayers.
I will write a specific post on Raudhah - my experiences and tips :)
7. Be patient, sabar sabar sabar
Related to other points, there will be A LOT OF PEOPLE. Sometimes, even for me I need to calm down, be open, try to be ikhlas to go to Masjid Nabawi. I need to keep telling myself that Masjid Nabawi is a very special place, Rasulullah's tomb is even there!
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| Wakaf Quran in Masjid Nabawi have this stamp on :) |
Other than people crossing above you, slapping your head with their bags... please expect they even cross your bags even though there are Qurans on top of the bags!
I am crying insideeeeee.
8. Botol spray wuduk
Same as in Masjidil Haram, this item is crucial.
Toilets for women are not that far and usually they will be in front of the doors to enter the mosque. But for women who already be in the mosque and suddenly batal wudu', it will be a bit challenging to go outside and to take wudu'. T_T Another challenge is to return to your saf when the people are increasing in numbers after you have taken your wudu' outside.
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| The toilets - it is not encouraged to go alone to the basement where the parking level is located. Dangerous especially for women. Stay in groups, yea? |
Avoid drinking too much water before prayers and do it after prayers instead. Water is important to prevent dehydration which is common for us there.
Oh yea, to use the spray, prepare yourselves with small towel to prevent the water from dropping onto the carpets.
9. Tawakal
All efforts must come with this. Tawakal.
Tawakal that there will be spaces for us to pray.
Tawakal that there will be chances for us to visit Rasulullah s.a.w. and his Companions in Raudhah.
Tawakal that our shoes will still be on the shoe racks when we return to pick them up.
And tawakal that our ibadah will be accepted by Allah and we will be granted with pahala and syurga :)
Ameen.
SS, Perak, Malaysia
180120
[Photos] Views of Makkah from Jabal Nur and Gua Hira'
January 22, 2018
It was an impromptu plan for our group. I think there were some people who personally requested to hike Jabal Nur and it became a group activity instead. :D
I am so glad and it becomes one of my best moments in Makkah.
Something I have never imagine in my entire life - to visit the hill where the first revelation was delivered to Rasulullah s.a.w.
That event was significant enough and the reason why the hill is named as Jabal Nur - nur means light / cahaya.
Alhamdulillah!
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| Beautiful, isn't it? <3 |
We left the hotel after Asar around 5 pm with a small van to accommodate 13 of us who would love to join the hiking trip. It was really pack in the van, but I still remember that was the moment I had the sweet chance to introduce myself to other group mates and got to know other people.
What is needed for you to climb?
- A small bottle of water
- A hiking stick
- Wudu' spray. :)
- Dates (kurma) for immediate energy supply
- Comfortable shoes and clothes
- Money - I recommend lots of 1 to 5 riyal notes.
You can easily buy the hiking stick at the shops at the base of the hill. A nonadjustable wooden stick costs about 5 riyal, while the adjustable one about 10 riyal. Haha, at that time my mind flashed back to a cheap hiking stick I bought in Czech for just 20kc! (approximately RM 4),
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| It was challenging to decide at first - to go hiking or not, as I just finished my umrah before Asar. Huuuu |
Arrived quite close to Maghrib, we prepared ourselves for prayer there - neither at the mosque nor musolla but simply at the shops, beside the road :) Then, we started climbing. The hill was not that high, just 640 meters plus but maybe because we hiked in the dark, it felt different.
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| I was amazed with the driver's skills to park their cars at the hilly road like this. |
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| Can you see the crescent moon? |
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| Special pose from the cat :D |
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| View of Makkah. |
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| Hiking higher... |
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| And higher... |
We had been taught that how special Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. is. Even though he was born in a place surrounded with Jahiliyah, he was well taken care and protected from those activities - like syirik etc. But, Rasulullah didn't like all Jahiliyah the people had been doing. He went to isolate himself and to find calmness in Gua Hira' by climbing Jabal Nur.
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| The hills are full with rocks like this. |
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| And this. |
Through out the pathway up the hill, we can meet a lot of people asking for sadaqah. Especially, there will be quite a number of guys who ask sadaqah to make stairs on the hill. Stairs are very helpful for people to climb and sometime the original rocks are too steep to step. It is up to you to help and I would recommend you to prepare small notes before hiking - so that you can help different people.
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| I couldn't see any toilets up there so I wonder what was this thing. T_T It was on the stairs though, I bet no one want to poop in public like this. Actually I have no other idea of what this thing is. -_-' |
Once we reached the peak, we could see some stalls (maybe around 4?) selling varieties of items from drinks, food and even clothes. Prices were a bit higher than usual, but you can expect why - attraction site and I don't think it is easy to carry all items uphill. T_T
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| Stalls. |
Walking at the peak, we could see the best view of Makkah from Jabal Nur. Of course Kaabah was out of view but it was easy to locate the qiblah based on the tall clock tower. In fact, on top of the hill, there was an area complete with carpets to pray.
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| Like this. |
Just ask around about the cave and we managed to arrive at Gua Hira'. The entrance to the cave was not that big, not easy either because the cave was behind rocks.
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| Surah Al-'Alaq - the very first Quran verse revealed to Rasulullah s.a.w. |
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| There were many people but bearable, each of us had the chance to pray at the cave. 2 people can pray at one time - one standing and one sitting. :) |
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| Some people said this is an example of vandalism T_T |
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| Some of our group mates who climbed together :) |
There are many life lessons we learned through out the hiking trip.
It is an amazing spiritual experience, reminiscing the memories when Rasulullah s.a.w. went to find peace in mind plus all strength and sacrifices Rasulullah s.a.w. and his Companions had made to make sure Islam spread to the whole world till now.
And it was really fascinating to think and imagine how Saidatina Khadijah risked herself to deliver meals to Rasulullah s.a.w. Climbing the hills twice daily... I don't think that was easy! There were no stairs back then.
MashaAllah! SubhanAllah!
SS, Perak, Malaysia
180120
Behind the Treaty of Hudaibiyah
January 21, 2018
Another miqat that we went to set our niat was Masjid Hudaibiyah. It is a small mosque with limited spaces to pray. It is said that the water there is a bit salty as its location is close to the sea. I don't taste the water there, not sure though.
Hudaibiyah is another beautiful place in Islam.
Why?
There is a remarkable story behind this place :)
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| Masjid Hudaibiyah is just behind the tree. |
Before Hijrah to Madinah, Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. lived in Makkah for 53 years. At the age of 40, he received the first revelation and Rasulullah s.a.w. spread Islam in Makkah for 13 years. Then, Muslims migrates to Madinah and Rasulullah continue spreading Islam there for another 10 years before he passed away.
About 6H (6 years after hijrah), Rasulullah have missed to perform tawaf so much. Makkah was his home. T_T After he told his companions, turned out most of them also missed their hometown too. After Rasulullah s.a.w. dreamed about performing tawaf, they finally decided to go back to Makkah for hajj. They prepared food, animals and covered swords.
An interesting idea about swords is...
If the sword is left open (without any cover) - it means war at that time.
If the sword is left open (without any cover) - it means war at that time.
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| Masjid Hudaibiyah's front door I guess |
When Quraisy heard the news that Nabi Muhammad was coming home, they spread rumors that Muslims wanted to have war and attack Makkah. In fact, they actually came in peace and for peace. T_T
Khalid al-Walid and other people blocked them at Tana'iem. So the group made a detour to Hudaibiyah. And they were denied entry here as well.
They decided to send an messenger (utusan) to negotiate and Uthman bin Affan r.a. was chosen due to his soft heart and he was loved by Quraisy before. And another rumors spread that Uthman r.a. was killed! The Companions became angry and they came with a pledge (baiah) to avenge the rumored death of Uthman r.a..
After the pledge, the Quraisy released Saidina Uthman and sent another Suhayl al Amr to negotiate the pledge - which was then finalized as Treaty of Hudaibiyah (Perjanjian Hudaibiyah)
Demi sesungguhnya! Allah reda akan orang-orang yang beriman, ketika mereka memberikan pengakuan taat setia kepadamu (wahai Muhammad) di bawah naungan pohon (yang termaklum di Hudaibiyah); maka (dengan itu) ternyata apa yang sedia diketahuiNya tentang (kebenaran iman dan taat setia) yang ada dalam hati mereka, lalu Ia menurunkan semangat tenang tenteram kepada mereka, dan membalas mereka dengan kemenangan yang dekat masa datangnya;... - Quran 48:18
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| Prayer area for women. |
Still remember the contents of Treaty of Hudaibiyah?
- No wars between Muslims and Quraisy for 10 years (no injuring / damaging as well) = gencatan senjata.
- Whoever in Makkah and Madinah can choose between Islam and Quraisy.
- Quraisy who come to Madinah, they need to be returned to Makkah.
- Muslims who come to Makkah, no need to be returned to Madinah.
- Muslims can enter Makkah the next year but only for 3 days.
- etc. (maybe some others)
The treaty did not look helpful much to Muslims but Rasulullah s.a.w. knew that was a good agreement. And alhamdulillah, since then, Islam was spread to Makkah (Khalid al-Walid revert to Islam!) as well to other places, even until now :)
SS, Perak, Malaysia
180119
Meeting Amazing Camels :)
January 20, 2018
Second day of ziarah luar, meeting camels was in the tentative :)
Well, I personally have never see camels in real life and I have no memories of meeting them in the zoos as well. Are there camels in zoos in Malaysia?
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| With the friendliest camel there. |
"(Mengapa mereka yang kafir masih mengingkari akhirat) tidakkah mereka memperhatikan keadaan unta bagaimana ia diciptakan?" - Quran 88:17
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| Deserts |
Camels are such interesting animals!
Camels can survive in the middle of deserts without meals up to three weeks. The hump does NOT contain water as most of us believed - instead it stores fatty tissues that can be metabolized into water when needed. Another point is that it concentrates the fat at the hump so that camels can survive in hot weather. I mean, if the fats are distributed through out the body, they are easier to be metabolized.
Like abdominal fat. Haha. This is the most stubborn fat to lose!
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| I am too sad that the camels are staying in this kind of area T_T |
If you have seen camels by yourselves, have you realized camels have different bending of legs than other animals? I am trying my best to explain this T_T.
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| Mummy and baby. |
If you observe the picture above, can you see the camels bend the front legs at two sites?
Most people including me would think that the joint that I make an orange circle to be the knee joint. In fact, it is actually carpal joint (equivalent to our wrists). Meanwhile in the blue circle represent the knee joint.
So, knee joints of camels bend backwards instead of forward like humans do. All these special anatomical bones of camels help them to carry heavy stuffs on top of them.
Fascinating, right? :D
ANYWAY, BE CAREFUL OF CAMELS
TO AVOID MERS-COV
TO AVOID MERS-COV
Just, avoid lots of contact with the camels and wash our hands (or use sanitizers) after touching them. Avoid raw milk and poorly cooked camel meats as well. T_T
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
171221
SS, Perak, Malaysia
180119
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