24... An endeavour and a promise..

As I remember... In the past.. I had asked for the same thing during my birthdays...

When I was 20.. I was immobilized for many months due to a fractured left femur. It was christmas when the girls threw a surprise party for me right after halaqah... I was surprised alright.. I even asked, "Whose birthday is this??" after they finished singing the birthday song.. Yes.. That night I'd wept and asked for the same thing while all my friends were asleep...


When I was 22.. I was roaming helplessly in the valley of 'lost'. Left the only guy that I've ever loved.. And was losing my own self-esteem, losing trust and was struck by a myriad of despair. My brother noticed my bloodshot eyes from crying day and night. He arranged a picnic on my birthday and I was given the task to prepare everything.. I guessed he wanted me to get busy with something and stop crying.. And amidst the sound of the gentle wave, with tears pooling in my eyes I'd asked for the same thing again and I'd made a promise that day..


I'd asked Allah to give me STRENGTH and for this year I'm going to ask for STRENGTH again~


I say, I'm currently in a transition phase; that is escaping my 'regulated' world and entering the 'real' world. I've to admit, I can be classified as the zany type, who seem to never run out of ideas for antics. But all this while I've actually been living in a 'regulated' world..


My first 'regulated' world was SMSL.. Al-mathurat before maghrib.. Congregational prayers.. Al-mulk and Yassin before bed.. Usrah and Qiamulail during weekends...


Then I moved on to UIA.. The Garden of Knowledge and VIRTUE.. Well, the difference between UIA and SMSL is that in UIA you don't have seniors pushing you to do all those religious rituals and obligations. But there's this aura in UIA that'll drive you to actually observe all those things; which is very good in my opinion..


But now, I'm in the 'REAL' world.. Still in the process of adapting to it.. New acquaintances are made day by day and they are from different walks of life and of different backgrounds and beliefs.. And not all of them understand my belief and my practices..


The 'REAL' world is, to me, very challenging.. That is why I beseech strength from the Almighty so that I won't be drifted away by the current of change. I'm totally aware that even when there's variance in the sense of the way my new friends and I socialize, it is really up to me to figure out how to uphold my conscience amidst this new environment.


I also need strength to evade all wasteful temptations. Now that my pocket is autmatically filled at the end of the month, I really would want the rizq that I've been working for to be chanelled into the right path and not just to fulfill my lavish desires.


I need physical strength to fulfill all my obligations; may it be career-wise, religion-wise and family-wise. Without physical strength, I won't be able to give equal attention to all these things which are very important to me.


Finally, I beseech strength to keep my PROMISE...

Happy 24th Birthday Haziah~
Be strong~
InshaAllah~

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My Cousin's Wedding: Labuan Style (^^)

28th November 2011 was my cousin's (Maslyn) wedding. I took a flight from KK on Friday night and it was sure a bumpy one because it was raining quite heavily that night. I missed the akad nikah and was already late for the 'malam berinai'. When I arrived, it was already the photography session and some relatives were already preoccupied with the karaoke set.

We were amongst the early birds for the big event on Sunday. Well, each of us were given our own task so that was why we were so early. Actually a few minutes before this pic was taken, I was still in my track suit and t-shirt and was carrying watermelons and some other things hehe

This is my cousin's pelamin. Very nice indeed!

So here's how we do it in Labuan... Firstly when the groom arrive, they'll exchange greetings and then one of the bride's family member will recite some doa and selawat before allowing the groom to enter. And the the groom will be brought to circle an umbrella for 7 times. But these days people simplified this practice with only doing so for 3 times

And then comes the besanding part. The tepung tawar thingy was done during malam berinai so basically during the besanding, the newly weds just sit there and let people look at them and take pictures. (^^)

Here's my favourite part of all! \(^^)/ Makan suap suap!
I actually don't know what's the formal name for this. This is just what I created myself since I was little. What I like about this one is that actually the pengantin belumba2 suap. There are 3 rounds so they belumba la sapa bole kasi habes the 3 rounds first..

Masa kecil2 dulu, my cousin and I always curi makan the pengantin leftovers. Orang tua2 cakap nanti cepat kawen. My cousin suda kawen.. Me belom lagi hehe So I think what the orang tua said is so not true hehe

This is our family photo with the pengantin. At the centre there, that's auntie Maranih, the bride's mom (^^)

Then after photography session with family and friends, comes the 'potong kek'. When I was little, they usually do this on Sunday nights. So, in the past it was nikah on Friday, malam berinai on Saturday, bersanding on Sunday (usually morning to midday) and then the ceremony ended with potong kek on Sunday night. But now, everybody is so busy that everything is done in one or two days.

As you can see my cousin is wearing cheong sam there. Well, we have some chinese blood in us but for my cousin Maslyn, her dad is chinese. So she's like more chinese than all of us.. Get it?? Hurm.. I'm also little confuse with what I'm trying to say here

So here's another family picture with the pengantin..
And then we went to Grand Dorsette to enjoy the fo0d festival hehe :P

So that's it.. The Wedding: Labuan style (^^)/

OPS cari mentua.. haha :P

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On belay! Climbin'! (^^)/

I've been missing the mountains.. And I've found a substitute to fill this empty space in my heart...

WALL CLIMBING!!!!

This is nothing new.. I know... But these days.. I mean recently, I'm just addicted to wall climbing...

I go to Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre (SICC) in Likas at least twice a week...
I could stay there for hours...
And when I got home, the routes that I failed to finish is just mind boggling...
My mind are still processing on how I could actually finish the routes...
The thoughts would hover for days.. That is until my next visit to SICC...
It's like an infection... A brain infection :P

I even bought two climbing books \(^^)/





This one is filled with lots of pics and basically talks about the essentials in rock climbing. Most suitable for beginners like me. And what I like the most about this one is that it's so easy to understand that I can share it with my young bros and cousins

This one is more of a motivational book with lots of inspiring words.. The things mentioned is, to me, even applicable in other daily activities. Mainly about attaining success and about having the correct, unshakable determination to finish up what we've started and intend to finish in excellence. One of the phrase in this book that caught my attention...

"In deviating from the flatlands of everyday existence, we take lif eto another dimension that bonds mind a nd body in a highly distinct way. Our senses and emotions are amplified as we experience the acute pains and pleasures, and heightened awareness unique to our crucible to the vertical world"

Well said indeed~ (^^)



And this is what you've to go to work with when you'd hours and hours of training for three consecutive days hehe

Hurm.. I'm not really sure of what I'm aiming for with all the hard work and trainings.. But they just gives me this feeling of content..

It would be really nice to become a world class climber~ But starting at 24.. That's quite late.. huhu




Nak hubby gini la... Supaya I can continue climbing hehe blonde, tall and handsome haha

Mountains... Don't worry... You're irreplacable.. I miss yous... T_T
O0o0 angin~ sampaikan rinduku pada gunung ganang~

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