Finally I am here...

14.1.14 - shall be a memorable day for me; no matter what happens in my career path. Finally..after 7 years & 8 months, I really sat for an examination! It was truly an exhilarating feeling mixed with some regrets (which is of course is of no use) to have sat for an exam to further advance my career. An exam which I first thought of sitting in 2010. Due to "distractions", failure to plan, failure to prioritize and failure to look at future; I delayed & almost lost direction in career & life.

Allah is Great...Allah guided & re-routed me to the right path and I am happy to at least have found some direction & to have kick-started my journey to propel my career.

At this point of life, I learned an important lesson; Allah is always with us..be close to Allah. No humans can be as close as Allah is. Humans may disappoint us & never bother about us...but Allah is always there for us. Never lose hope.

As what mentioned in the holy qur'an :

I (Allah) said : Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. 'He will send rain to you in abundance;'And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.' "

- Surah Nuh verse 10-12-

Allah will give us the guidance. If we get distracted from the path & face difficulties...get back to Allah...Allah is ever-willing to forgive and guide us back to correct path. But we humans are just too arrogant & ignorant.

Just to cap; I sat for Part 1 MRCP (this is THE EXAM I was mentioning earlier) in Singapore (my first time entry to this city). Took a direct flight from Penang. Arrived at around 5pm. They have an excellent MRT/ERL system which practically connects you to every corner of Singapore. I took this MRT from the airport, down to Terminal 3 (if I remember correctly). There on I took another MRT & disembarked at Al-Junied station..somewhere in Geylang

There starts my headache.... I wandered around the area for almost 2 hours, before finding my "unnnamed" hotel, with the help of a waitress in a bar-cum-restaurant just opposite this so-called hotel. The direction they gave when I booked online was correct; but the signboard was not there. It is basically a budget hotel on 2nd & 3rd floor of a grocery shop. From outside, it looks suspicious (like one of those hotels where you can stay 2-3 hours to get "the job" done.

But inside was quite decent (in terms of that there were no unsightly scenes).

I booked a room for my own & they gave me a small room with 2 double-deckers inside; but with reassurance of that no one will be staying with me. Was really damn tired (I guess I would have walked at least about 2km to locate this place).

I started the next day quite early, at 5am. Went for Subuh in a masjid named Khadijah Mosque (approx. 800m walk from my hotel) *I noticed that azan was not heard there (I suppose not allowed in this secular city)* I admire muslims living in this city as a minority group; yet upholding Islamic values. In fact I saw a banner whereby one of the mosques I went, were promoting a kind of "weekly charity work at old-folks home"; something which I have never come across in Malaysia (or perhaps I might be unaware of any such programmes)

Well, by 8am I was out of the hotel & went straight to the MRT station. My b/fast being gardenia breads which I had tapau from our airport. MRT took me about 40minutes to reach Kent Ridge station (at NUS). However, the exam is somewhere on the other part of NUS; thus had to take a shuttle bus (provided by NUS) to reach there. Was a bit confusing & tiring to finally reach the exam place at about 10 (there is still a good 2 hours for the exams to start; which finally started after an hour delay) Just wandered around; met 2 housemen of mine (back in Kulim & HSJ). There were quite a number of ppl from other places besides Malaysia & Singapore. But I guess I am the oldest of them all...hahahaha...

Finally they called to enter the hall at 12 and after a long queue of verification (they want to see passport with photo & signature attached on it)

Exam started soon after we settled down. 100 questions of ONE BEST ANSWERED in 3 hours... That was a really looong 3 hours. Dizzy with the questions; my brain became hypoxic, requiring me to go toilet to reventilate. A gap of 45minutes were given (during which I quickly had my Zohor & Asar Jama' in a basement room - courtesy of an Indian gentleman working as labourer in NUS) ; before we were in again for Paper 2 (another 100 questions ~ which was tougher!!!)

When we left the hall, it was already dark. Went back to MRT station by taking a shuttle bus from Prince George Park's Residence. Disembarked at Bugis station. Wandered around the place looking for the place to get a bus ticket to LCCT. Finally found the place and the bus was scheduled to be at 12MN.

I meantime, went to a nearby Masjid & just opposite there was a "Malayali" shop, where I had a nice chicken briyani (which cost me SD 6 only - reasonable) & teh halia (SD 1.50)

Boarded the bus at 12MN & reached LCCT at around 5.30 (transit at Pudu).

Was home sweet home by 10.30am (delay being the wait for a bus from Penang Airport to Jelutong - as usual unreliable Penang public transport)

Alhamdulillah 3 weeks later the reult was out & I passed. Felt happy; "looking forward" for following exams which are in line for me (I shall write on my experiences with the following exams soon). 

Appreaciate my colleagues' contribution (in Ward 5c) for covering me when I was away with study leave & exam.

*This story was written in March 2014 (approx. 2 months after the event)* but I only "found time" to post today...hi3

Tafsir Ad-Dhuha &Al-Insyiroh

Has been MONTHS since my last post... Gosh..I am lazy. So to motivate myself, I looked at the ultimate revelation..the Qur'an & wish to share some verses here

These translations were taken from 'Amazing" Qur'an Tafsir published by Karya Bistari. An Indonesian translation.

Ad-Dhuha (Chapter 93 : Verse 1 - 11)

1.   Demi waktu dhuha (tatkala matahari naik segalah)

2.   Dan demi malam apabila telah sunyi

3.   Tuhanmu tidak meninggalkan engkau (wahai Muhammad) dan tidak pula membencimu

4.   Sesungguhnya kesudahan itu lebih baik bagimu daripada permulaan

5.   Dan sesungguhnya Tuhanmu pasti memberi kurniaan-Nya padamu, sehingga engkau redha-berpuas hati

6.   Bukankah dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang yatim lalu Dia melindungimu

7.   Dan Dia mendapatimu seorang yang kebingungan, lalu Dia memberikan petunjuk

8.   Dan Dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang kekurangan, lalu Dia memberikan kecukupan

9.   Maka terhadap anak yatim,janganlah engkau berlaku sewenang-wenangnya.

10. Dan terhadap orang yang meminta-minta, janganlah kau mengherdiknya.

11. Dan terhadap ni'mat Tuhanmu hendaklah kau nyatakan (dengan bersyukur)

Al- Insyiroh (Chapter 94 : Verse 1 - 8) 

1. Bukankah kami telah melapangkan dadamu

2. Dan kami juga telah menurunkan bebanmu (Muhammad)

3. yang memberatkan belakangmu

4. Dan Kami tinggikan bagimu sebutan namamu

5. Maka sesungguhnya bersama kesulitan ada kemudahan

6. Sekali lagi ditegaskan, bersama kesulitan ada kemudahan

7. Maka apabila engkau telah selesai (sesuatu urusan), tetaplah bekerja keras (untuk urusan lain)

8. Dan hanya kepada Tuhanmu engkau berharap

These verses (especially those I've bold) really touches me. Allah has reminded us not to give hope when you feel helpless. For which Allah is always there for us. When you had no one to turn to, enough for you to turn to only Allah. Turn to Allah, get back to Allah!

This is really an anti-dote for depression. If only we put full faith in Allah, everything shall be fine in life. We shall be in a position where by when met with failures & casualties, we will persevere as we know Allah is there guiding & watching over us.

Another point for motivation, don't rest on our laurels when we feel we have done/achieved something (of course we can feel satisfied & happy with the achievement) but nevertheless must never stop. As Islam encourages us to propel forward in life; as if we are going to live in this world forever; BUT with humility & syukur to what Allah has bestowed upon us.

"No soul can save us from hardship; only Allah"

I've not gone into asbabun-nuzulof these verses (shall do so next time)

Dining out In Jitra - 21.4.2014

21 APRIL 2014

Whew! I am finally writing after almost a year. Has been quite hooked up to books & work since joining masters in June 2013. (I shall talk about this past one year in some other entries)

I was to meet Miao2 & Pratab some where in Bandar Darulaman to go for dinner. Miao2 (as usual) was on his "food trip" across Northern part of Malaysia.

Well..this town is not a place I have been before, though it is only like 5 minutes drive to Jitra. Hmm..after looking at the place, I would rather just call it a "taman" rather than "bandar"

Anyways, by 7.30pm we were at this place called Haji Shahril Low Restaurant, very near to Jitra Mall. We were "navigated" to here by Pratab's wife who is a Dentist in this town.

At one glance the internal design of the shop was not that great; though it is quite spacious. So we placed our order after going through the menu for 15minutes. Good thing about this place, they have a "musollah"(prayer room), so we can perform prayers on time

So we ordered dishes like no one's business : 

• Deep fry Thai Style Siakap (about 700-800gm fish)
• Kung Pao Chicken 
• Baby kailan 
• Telur "Fusong"
• Sizzling Tauhu Telur Jepun - this one was awesome!!

Drinks was like free-flow for Miao2...He ordered not less than 4 glasses of different drinks.

The service was quite reasonable. Waiting time was good..our gastric juices were not overstimulated & not excessively secreted.

Tastes were acceptable; though not to say marvellous (well I am not a good food tasting judge anyway)

Overall the place offered variety of food & beverages. Menus were mainly Chinese food (or at least had Chinese name..) which was quite exciting for me, as it is not that easy to find pure Chinese food which is halal. It was not too hard to find the place (just about 15 minutes drive from Hosp Bahiyah (A.Setar)

It was really tough on my stomach to contain all those food after so long not being on eating spree (like those younger days...huhu)

All the best to both of you guys in joining masters. It is time to be in close contacts with books...huhuhu...

P/S: Just found out that this restaurant has a branch in Kajang.

Usual baby kailan masin ... again

Siakap Deep Fry Ala Thai Style

Ayam Kung Pao (don't ask me what does that mean)

PRU13 - Malaysia heading towards dawn or dusk?

I am no hardcore political party supporter or an avid follower of our politics but I am a strong supporter of Malaysia having two-party politics (not sole party domination as we have witnessed all this while). Thus I stayed up alone awaiting PRU results announcement and as soon as it was announced...BN won federal government, I became disappointed and went to sleep.
At one glance, it appeared as PR's show in 2008 was far better than 2013; winning 5 states & declined BN 2/3rd majority in Parliament.This time, there is only 3 states to show & additional 7 parliament seats. But if we detail the inroads PR has made, it is indeed an election with better success for PR & Malaysians particularly.
Take a look at Selangor, where PR successfully returned to power with greater mandate. 44 out of 56 seats were delivered to PR (additional 8 seats). 10 new seats - Sabak, Kuala Kubu Baru, Taman Templer, Dusun Tua, Seri Serdang, Paya Jaras, Sementa, Morib, Tanjung Sepat, and Sungai Pelek) They also lost previously won Kota Damansara due to failure to reach an agreement between PKR & PAS) & Semenyih. Most of these seats are Malay-majority constituencies & semi-urban. While DAP had an excellent election, PAS relatively had a quiet run except in Selangor, where they won 15 seats (compared to 8 in last PRU).
What does this shows? Najib's claim of Chinese tsunami is a mere racist statement by the so-called 1Malaysia champion. Malaysians of Chinese descend rejected BN. They indeed voted for PR. Another aspect is support towards PR & PAS among urban & semi-urban Malay voters are indeed great. But then why rural & semi-rural Malays somehow rejected PAS (esp in Kedah)?
Is Racial sentiment played by BN contributed to this?....A VOTE FOR PAS is A VOTE FOR DAP... DAP WILL END MALAY SUPREMACY, SPECIAL RIGHTS etc. (WE were able to see this wordings on newspaper all along that campaign period. Who is racist bro..PR ka BN?
There are areas of Chinese majority, where non-Chinese candidates of PR prevailed over Chinese candidates of BN (i.e. Raub, Mentakab, Pandan).

Now that PRU is over, can we get back to work, propel the nation forward & ensure wealth is fairly distributed? 
To PR leaders & supporters : Yes..they won with some flaws & cheats...Fine if you want to expose them. Do it by legal means; though we might not get the justice. Be a good cop for rakyat by exposing BN's wrongdoings & create more awareness among Malaysians that they deserve more than BRIM, KRIM etc. Prove to rakyat, you can be a better government. Most importantly, never become big-headed once you are in power!
To BN leaders & supporters : Stop inciting racial tensions...face the fact than you are losing faith among majority of rakyat. Stop the irritating money politics! If you repent & do a lot more things (as u should have done) to rakyat, you might regain rakyat's faith.
To some Malay NGOs : stop being a bull dog by boycotting Chinese products. Islam never taught us to do this. Remember, even Nabi Muhammad did business deals with the Jews & only went against them when these Jews betrayed & threatened Muslims. Even that is after Nabi has preached to them about Islam. Have we preached to our Chinese not-yet muslim friends about Islam? Do you have evidences that they are against Islam? The answer is no to both i guess :)

Let us reconcile & contribute towards development of the country for all. Uphold Islam in all aspects & no one will be sidelined..as Islam came as a guidance to mankind of all races! Take heed of Nabi Muhammad's example of creating a nation called Madina & the rules in Madina Shield (Piagam Madinah); where in rights of every citizen (Muslims, Jews, Christians & Pagans) were taken into consideration & upheld with no compromise & unjust.

STONG @ 1420m - A painful yet satisfying comeback

"HAVE ALLAH NOT MADE EARTH AS A WIDE EXPANSE AND THE MOUNTAIN AS PEGS" - Al-Qur'an (Chapter 78, Verse 6&7) 

- ayat ni telah diturunkan sebagai satu peringatan kepada mereka yang sangsi terhadap hari kebangkitan (Resurrection/Judgement Day), di mana dalam ayat ini Allah mengingatkan tentang fakta kejadian bumi & gunung-ganang. Dengan indahnya Allah menyatakan gunung-ganang sebagai "pegs" which means pasak. In other words, mountains are well indented into the earth, in order to support the earth. Modern science has revealed how true this verse is. 

MOUNTAINS HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED 49 TIMES IN QUR'AN ON DIFFERENT ASPECTS.

My last climb to any place that is rightfully called mountain or hill was back in July 2010. That is enough to hint how well I could do this time..a trip I had tried to get on since last year but failed on every occasion..

However, Thank Allah, I was able to get a group finally and on 4.4.13 we headed to Dabong where this gunung is situated.

4.4.13

Left Seberang Jaya at 6.30pm with 3 guys..Jeevin, Hafiz & Sofri. A slight twist to the earlier plan; we had to go further north (Alor Setar) to fetch Hasan the Otai, as bus to Baling (the initial meet up place) was rather later than expected. So we met up at Tesco Stargate, Alor Setar (nearby AS (S) toll exit). Had our dinner & Jama' prayers before leaving to Dabong at 8.30. 

We headed back to highway, exiting at Sik, Jeniang & made our way to Baling via Kuala Pegang. The motorists along this road were "superb" as most of them had no rear lights. We did not stop until into Jeli district, when it was 11.30pm. A non-stop 3hrs drive was really aching!

Then at around 12.15am, some 25km before Dabong town THE incident happened, whereby a poor creature hit my car on the right fender leaving me with some repairing work to do when I get back home :(

Damage done :)

Syukur..akhirnya sampai lah di Dabong pada jam 1.30 & dapatlah stay di homestay Abe Din dgn rate Rm80/ night

5.4.13

Kami pun check out lah jam 9. Pastu pi buat report polis di Balai Dabong. Rupanya kes pelanggaran oleh makhluk tuhan yang langgar kami mlm tadi mmg biasa di kawasan ni...hmmm....

Dekat jam 10 barulah p sarap & tapau utk lunch. Sampai perkarangan TAMAN NEGERI GUNUNG STONG (akhirnya....pada jam 10.30). Pas pendaftaran & peregangan otot sikit ala kadar, 11.10am; kami pun mula lah mendaki. Setelah setengah mendaki, hasrat di hati ingin ke puncak hari ini juga terpadam & kami sebulat/sesegitiga & apa2 saja bentuk suara, bersetuju untuk bermalam di Baha Camp & naik ke puncak dengan muatan minima keesokkan sahaja. Sebab dia....paham2 je la..huhu.

Kami amik masa 2 jam utk sampai di Kem Baha. Terus Kapten Hasan memasang khemah & aktiviti seterusnya bebas. Backdrop camping site kami adalah air terjun..lawa o.. I was quick to eat my tapau & sleep

Entah napa..masa dok tidoq, termimpi lak naik Tambuyukon mountain (which was my last climb with lots of sweet memories :( 

Petang; pi mandi air terjun & dinner we had maggi goreng dgn teh tarik. Malam, kol 8.30 da siap2 nak tidoq...walaupun xngantok. Akhirnya smpai ke kol 12 xdpt tidoq sebab hujan lebat, tempias menyebabkan ayaq terkumpul dlm khemah, kena lap buang. Jadi, buat lagi teh tarik utk supper.

6.4.13

Woke up early at 6.50am..huhu. Hafiz & Sofri went to do get some sunrise photoshoots. Did our Suboh on the rocks while awaiting sunrise. Started preparing b/fast (sandwich sardin-telor) & lunch (macaroni wth carbonara sauce...macam gempaq..Prego jer..)

9am : Started our Day 2 journey to conquer Stong. (Though planned to go at 7.15 actually...sigh)

There were 5 "checkpoints" before we reach the summit. Route from checkpoint 4 to summit was horrible..I almost gave up..huhu.

1.15pm : We finally conquered the summit..Alhamdulillah! Spent about an hour there, photographing, feeding a squirrel (dunno wat it was doing up there), had our lunch (macaroni thingy).

2.30pm : Descended down & reached Baha at 4.30pm. We did not bother about shaking knees as we descended down, as we need to be fast; a long journey back to north awaits us.huhu

Had a round of teh tarik & some last immerse in waterfalls before we packed up & started our last descend to car park.

Finally we reached to the point where we started at 7pm. (took us an hour to reach here from Baha Camp).

7.30pm : We left GSSP.  Stopped by at a stall for dinner & had our jama' prayers at a nearby masjid. Also bought a t-shirt at the only stall which sells Stong t-shirts.

Stopped by at Gerik for a roti canai & coffee, before heading onto BKE to send the 3 eligible bachelors at HSJ & further north to A.Setar to send Hasan. I checked into a hotel there at 2.45am...as I had enough of driving with sore legs!

Despite an accident and very tiring walk up & down the summit; plus an immediate long drive back, the trip was satisfying & looking forward for another hiking soon...

EXPENDITURES

1. Guide & Camp site = RM325 (can go up to 13pax/guide) - for 2 days

2. Fuel                        = RM 80

3. Food                      = RM 30

4. Homestay               = RM 80

TIPS

1. If you are driving, NEVER drive to Kelantan at night!

2. For a 2 days & a night trip like us, u can start your climb to Kem Baha after 12 noon. Plan so that you arrive in Dabong only that morning..need not overnight in Dabong. But if you wanna do Ayam & Stong, then it is different. If anyhow you need to overnight in Kelantan the day before, try to get a place in Jeli, as there is only a homestay in Dabong & if that house is occupied, u might have to overnight in your cars.

3. Possibly bring a closed tent to camp there. (I saw a scorpion & a small snake (dunno what type) outside our camp the next morning :)

4. Train well before coming :) I would rate this moutain as 6.5/10 in toughness. (I am an amateur saja)

5. There are 6 peaks here; namely Ayam, Stong, Baha (bukan Kem Baha ye), Kob, Mat Tahir & ntah apa 1 lagi. But usually ppl will ascend Stong & Ayam only. Ayam peak is said to offer more scenic views than Stong.

6. Stong Waterfalls are said to have seven levels & thus the highest in South-East Asia. However climbers usually dont hike up to 7th level, as it is of different route though much lower to the summit of Stong or Ayam. The waterfall that makes the backdrop of our campsite is at Level 2.It is the convergence of waterfalls from Stong & Ayam; which converge at much higher level (the 7th level I suppose)

This is where the trio youngsters trained before coming to Stong

The damage

Packing up at Abe Din Home Stay

Jeeve setting up some fire for rituals

All smiles..ni baru nak start. Odie (our guide at the back)

This is the stream we crossed along the way to Baha Camp

Contoh jalan ke Kem Baha

Sofri konon2 menyambut ketibaan tetamu di Kem Baha

View dari Kem Baha (corresponding to Level 2 waterfalls)

Pemasangan khemah diketuai oleh Otai@Hasan

Waterfalls at Level 2...air tak deras time nie. Klo hujan..perghhh..

Photographer beriman sedang meni'mati keindahan alam

Sunrise...MasyaAllah..

Mr Scorpio

Checkpoint #2 (Kem Baha to summit)- bole gak camp kat sini, kalo xnak tgk Sunrise. Tapi air jauh sikit

Sg.Selar - last water point (after checkpoint #3-Bogor)

Checkpoint #4 - batu besar & kayu sendeng

Checkpoint #4 - batu besar & kayu sendeng - a lateral view

Sofri sedang mengkontrol keletihan

the squirrel di puncak

Macaroni wth carbonara sauce di puncak, Bakpo Sofri tue??

Stong dari jauh

Pemandangan dari Puncak Stong

THE MUCH ANTICIPATED PHOTO