Akhi wa Hurairah or is it wa Qittun???

Ok~ My arabic is obviously terrible but I guess the title up there plainly tells you what I'm about to write...




This is my big bro.. I know I seldom mention him in this blog (have I ever mention him..??) It's not that we're not close or have any issues. In fact we're very close and I can say he had put a lot of influences on me as I grow.. Well, most of these 'influences' I'm talking about are actually those which lead me into liking boy stuffs such as watching WWE, martial arts, video games and X games~ And as his kin, we sure have some in common like we love CATS but my BIG BRO is an EXTREMIST when it comes to CATS!!!! Here's why~


FLASHBACK!!!!


When I first got home, around mid April, I noticed there were new cats in the house but they appear to be handicapped (I can't find other words to best describe them)...

One was limp.. Faltering in his each and every step

One with a torn left ear and I believe this had caused him to have that tilted-to-the-left head due to loss of balance..

One has a glaucoma in one eye..

Gg: Mommy, why are the cats seem to be 'physically impaired'??

Mommy: Owh. They're actually stray cats captured by the city council and was placed in the pet clinic. Your brother took them because he felt sorry for them...

I thought "Owh.. How nice of him.."

But then a few weeks after that, when I was in the Peninsular, I received a call from my mom. She sound delighted and I know from that tone of voice she has got with her a pleasant news. I just woke up at that time...

Mommy: Dik, your bro just brought home some cats again. They're so0o0o0o0 cute!!!!

Gg: Owh.... Ok...

Mommy: They were about to be left at the dumpsite and your brother felt sorry for them and took them home~

Gg: Owh.... Typically him~ How many are they???

Mommy: NINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gg: Hah!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????? BANYAKNYA!!!!!!!!!!!


I thought my brother had lost his sanity.. I imagined all the nine cats to be handicapped like the others... But then, they were not. They were surprisingly clean and well-mannered. They pass stools in the toilet and that makes it easier for us.. They're so adorable and lovable to0!!! hehe

But seriously he really have to cut this habit of bringing home stray cats or our house will be like...

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Pouring Feelings: PRP and relocating~

Honestly, my nerve was quite a wrecking havoc in the past few weeks; since the day we first heard the news that we were to report for duty on 1st July. At that time I was still in my 'adventure' mood, lying rather merrily on Shifaa's bed. After the news reached us, I sensed an unusual rattling in Shifaa's speech while I was rather relaxed, expressionless and was staring blankly at the ceiling~


I really think something is wrong with my sense of emergency switch. I've never had the ability to show that I'm actually disturbed deep within. It is as if the glands supposedly secreting adrenaline are clogged and as if the nodes on my heart is put into default that the rhythm seem to be uniform even at times when it should be beating faster.


But today, all the worries and distress that have been bearing on me are finally lifted. My attachment place was officially announced by the deputy director of the Bahagian Farmasi~ Yep! It's the place that I've hoped for, Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I know I'd requested to be sent to the Peninsular when I submitted the form months ago. But in such short notice to report for duty, I really don't favour hustling around to relocate myself in a new place.

I'm very glad that everything went smoothly today. Everybody was warm, polite and very helpful to me. Alhamdulillah that the first day experience gave a good impression about my working place so now I can use the weekend to rejoice and reset my physic and mental for the coming days of me as a provisionally registered pharmacist~


Well... I'm actually 'relocating' to0, in some way~ Since my parents divorce, I've stayed with my mom and only visit babah during school holidays. During my years in the university, I actually spend a lot of time travelling back and forth from mom's place to babah's; trying my best to equally allocate my time for both my beloveds~ Mom was quite upset at first when I told her Labuan Hospital is not listed as the hospital for the 1 year training.. She said

"You know how I feel..?? It's like I've planted a tree in a piece of land.. Water it everyday.. Fertilized it when necessary... And when it's time to harvest, someone
else reaped all the fruits~"


Hohoho!!! If your mom says something like this, how would you feel??? Me??? My eyes was already brimming with tears but I manage to fight it back~


"Mommy.. It's not that someone else reaped all the fruits.. Your tree is moved into a bigger land for it to grow and grow and grow... This is so so that it'll be able to produce more fruits... When it's time to harvest, the fruits will not only be for the person who planted it, but even enough for imports~ Even when it is in a new piece of land, still the gardener will get her royalty,right??"


That's the best answer I could give... It's really different between here and Labuan, you know.. During weekdays, eventhough mom and abang are tired after work, they'll still have time for chat and laughter at night.. During weekends, we would roam around the island or sometimes go for picnic with my uncle's family or visit Nurul at school or visit other relative or etc.. There are just too many options for activities there compared to here.. Here, it's all quiet and they sleep early too; leaving me alone with TV and friends in the cyberspace~ I'll try my best to adapt.. Or maybe I can introduce to them the joyful life of Labuan hehe


I'm well aware that babah and umie are also trying their best to make me feel really at home here. I mentioned to babah that I needed another bookshelf and guess what, he bought it for me PRONTO! And that sure makes me very happy... This simply means that I have space for NEW books!!!! I'm very excited about it that I feel like putting the pics here hehe

At mom's house, I've another one; full with books that there are actually two rows of books in one compartment =) see the pic on the left, the row at the top shelf is already doubled!

So I guess that's all.. Wow! quite long~ Don't expect anybody to read till the end because I just need to pour this mix of feelings.. Now~Lets pray \\(".)


Ya Rabb, I beseech you to hear the pleads from all our hearts.
Light us in our journey to Your path and bestow upon us the remembrance of You in all our daily activities..
Grant us the discipline, the health and the strength to perform our duty..
May all of us be reminded to be earnest and honest in al our dealings..
Guide us in our search for 'ilm and may it always be for Your sake and the ummah... Ameen~

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Palestine.. From Beirut to Jerusalem~

This is a book I borrowed from Shifaa. She sort of dug this out from her library to show it to me after the Mavi marmara incident. I sort of delayed reading it since I was trying to finish one of the shopaholic series. But once I start leafing through the pages of the book, I just couldn't get it off my hands~ This book made hot tears running down my cheeks...







This book is actually the account of a doctor's experience while she was working in Beirut as a volunteer in one of the hospital near Sabra and Shatilla. She came to Lebanon amidst a devastating war and when she first set foot on the camps, she was flabbergasted by the aura of agony waft around the refugee camps.. In the middle of the war, the surronding was etched with potholes from bombs, grenades and shells... The homes of the Palestinians and other buildings were reduced into rubbles and ruins.. There were even stench from dead bodies..







Ceasefire was established after the evacuation of the 'terrorists' from Beirut. Only the women, children and old folks were left and the evacuation gave promise to new hope and reconstruction of life. Believing this, the Palestinians left in Sabra and Shatilla gave up their weapons to the authority for the sake of peace. 3 days after rebuilding the camps, a group of militants thrust their way into the camps and start their massacre. Women and children were herd in a stadium and shot dead~ Pool of blood were everywhere; even the newly painted walls are now smeared with the red colour of blood. They were unable to resist for all the strong men were already shove off from the land~





The author described how terrible she felt for not being able to do anything about it. She was kept hostage in the hospital where she was working. Discomfited by the sounds of shots and exploding bombs outside, she waited in horror for the time to be released and face the aftermath of the atrocity.

The most touching part would be the part where she described the kindness, hospitality, generosity and the strength of the Palestinians. She often wonder where did the Palestinians acquire such resilience and perseverance. Everytime war broke, everything they've built were crumbled but the Palestinians always could reconstruct almost immediately after the war ends at an incredible speed.

In the book, the author often mention the incredible people she encountered. Palestinians, Lebanese, dedicated volunteer workers who come from various countries and of various religions and beliefs. I was so touched by their unshaken spirit to uphold the rights of the Palestinians.

A mourning mother who'd loss her family said this..

"We will get back our homeland. Not too soon.. Not too late.. But just in time"

And I was very moved by the hospitals motto

"Treat friends and enemy alike"

And this was proved in an incident where the doctor refused to treat Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian counterpart of hers came to her and said,

"They may have killed my forefathers and my family members, but still they have the rights to have our treatment"

I also admire how the Palestinians accept the deaths of their fighters and honoured them as heroes and never as defeat.. When a war ends, the living children would stand together and held their hands up high and some making peace signs with their hands for they've survived the war.





I really think I should stop now hehe I'm very excited about this book that if I don't stop now, I'll end up writing another book about this book in here hehe



so this book is highly recommended! O yeah~ actually the author tells about her visits in 1982, 1985 and 1987 but I only highlighted the story about Sabra and Shatilla in 1982 so I saved all the suspense about other massacres of the later years~





O0o0o0 Palestine~



*am thinking of buying this book for my own collection =)

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That thing that makes a man look SEXIER~

First and foremost, I'm just a normal girl with the tendecy to eye on good-looking guys. This is just a recollection of when I first found out what makes a man more appealing...

I was sitting on the beach in Sapi island with my cousin. We were in the middle of a chat when suddenly we felt a swoosh of wind passing us. It was no ordinary wind.. It was from the stride of a young, tall, nice built and handsome caucasian man. The attraction was irresistable as if there was a magnet forcing our eyes to leer on his every moves.

He stopped and spread a garment on the white sands. He lied down and put his sunglasses on. So that's it~ we thought he was going to lie down flat and enjoy sunbathing.. Typical~

But then, what made him worthy of our second glance was when he pulled out a book, which seems like a novel to me, from his bag and start reading it... Pergh! that was seriously alluring. There was like a magical charm there.. I thought it might be due to the good looks plus em.. intelligence perhaps hehe I gave him 10/10!

A bookworm can be rare among the male stock but they seriously don't have the idea how books can actually draw women to them...

I remember one time I sort of accidently blurt this out,

"You know, if one day a Beast come to me and offer me his library just like how the Beast offered Belle his library in Beauty and the Beast, I'll definitely marry him"

But at the end of that conversation I sort of retract that since I don't think marrying a beast is that cool unless he turns into a normal human being in the end :P

So yeah~ That thing that makes a man look sexier is actually BOOKS and this brings me to some wishes about books~ here goes

1. I wish to write a book and get it published one day

2.Other then aspiring to have my own pharmacy one day, I actually would love to have my own bookstore hehe

I've always been an avid reader but I sort of slow down a little bit a few years back but now since I'm so free, the habit seems to reemerge and I just can't stop reading books these days.. so I figured that I'll do some book review in this blog because I do find lots and lots of beneficial books these days and I really think it's worthy to share them with all of yous =)

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transpeak expedition (4th June-9th June)

Huhu I don't know that writing about transpeak can be this difficult.. I've been staring blankly at the screen for a few minutes now, trying to mentally sketch the flow of this expedition story. So I guess I'll start with the picture of the 8 proud Team Elite members hehe

From left: Haziah (Gg), Shifaa, Mida, Don, Zac, Jepah, Madi, Cagan

4th June 2010 (Day 0)


We assembled at Bukit Jalil at around 5 pm and start dividing the ration. I was gobsmacked by the amount of ration as Zac's dad open the boot and my jaw dropped involuntarily as a medium sized plastic full of ration was passed to me. Heavy!!!


There was a little drama before our departure to Ulu Kinta. Mida got lost on her way to Bukit Jalil and was no where near Bukit Jalil at 6 pm. Luckily the bus was delayed; thanks to the disorganized temporary bus station and the heavy evening traffick jam. We saw Mida running towards us as the bus pull up right in front of us

Our guide's relative generously offered his house for that night =)

5th June 2010 (Day 1)

We set out to Ulu Kinta Dam around 9 am which was also the starting point of our hike. We took a ride on a small pickup truck and the scenery throughout the short journey was mesmerizing~ We were surrounded by lines of colossal mountains and the scenery was made even more splendid by the sparkling water of the dam. Everything seem to be so peaceful~


The above picture was actually taken before we start the climb. After that we were spraying bygone to avoid from leeches. I sprayed it as if the bygone was a perfume hehe

IT WORKED! \(^^)/

Ulu Kinta Dam -->> Kem Seroja -->> Kem Kijang -->> Last Water Point

Hikers normally camp at Kem Kijang but we unanimously agreed to spend the night at the water point. There are some advantages upon continuing the journey; one is that we covered about 2 hours of the 2nd day's hike that night and the last water point is the only place to have the last decent bath and also is very convenient for any other business which is best done in the presence of water (you know what I mean~ hehe)

That peak on my head is the Peak of Mount Korbu :)

6th June 2010 (Day 2)

We started quite early during the second day heading towards the peak of Mount Korbu and Mount Gayong... The climb towards the peak of mount Korbu was utterly challenging. there were many uprooted and rotten logs which we have to either go across it or duck below it. We did some rock climbing too. Many 90 degrees climb too. I remember at one point I was holding on to the rocks and my heart skipped a beat when I realize that there was actually a ravine just below me and if I slip, I'll be done~ I remember having the thought "I want to get out of here alive" hahaha

Mount Korbu peak (7162 ft). We had our lunch here and took a rest for about 30 minutes before continuing our hike towards the peak of Mount Gayong.

Hurm~ I would say my mental was put into the toughest test on the way to Gayong. I have to duck and even crawl for so many times. The surronding was all mossy and damp and there were muddy grounds as well. I can't exactly perdict to what extend I should duck so I end up bumping my bag against some tree stems every so often and there I was sighing trying to avoid from improper words spilling out of me.

So this is Mount Gayong's peak (7129 ft). Well, we didn't bring our bag to the peak. We left it somewhere below; around 5 to 10 minutes walk from the peak. Spent a few minutes taking pictures up there and man it was so windy and I started to shiver. I was exhausted. Luckily I manage to put up the smile for this picture hehe

Mount Gayong --> Junction peak

We target to camp at Lembah H2O that night. However, we were too weary to continue the journey and we were running out of water so we camped at the Junction peak instead. We did a night hike that night, and man the route was em.. NASTY! There were quite a lot of steep slopes and we have to triumph over these in the dark~ The light from our headlamp doesn't help that much to me..

7th June 2010 (Day 3)

Junction peak -->> Lembah H2O -->> Kem Kuali

That morning we hurried to Lembah H2O. Severely dehydrated and on a self-posed restricted diet, my pace were ridiculously slow. Even the sound of water failed to energize me to walk faster. Lembah H2O seem to be to0 far and beyond reach! at Lambah H2O, we had our lunch and some even wash~ Then we move towards kem Kuali where we spent the night.

There's a small water point in Kem Kuali. From our campsite, we saw the lights from Ipoh.. I felt this bob of splendour deep within upon seeing those lights. They made me feel closer to civilization haha

Our fingers are actually showing the total of G7 that we've conquered. Mine's just three (^^)v

8th June 2010 (Day 4)

Kem Kuali-->> Yong Belar peak -->> Kem kasut -->> Kem Tudung Periuk-->>Sg Besar

-->>CAMERON!!!!!

The peak of Yong Belar (7156 ft) was about 15-20 minutes 90 degrees climb from kem Kuali. It's quite high up that you'll be gasping for air due to the high altitude but Yong Belar offered the best view of all the peaks.. We saw mount Korbu, which was hidden behind another mountain. We just can't believe our eyes. Yong Belar showed us the distance that we've gone through!

See those mountains in front of us?? We set foot on all of them before we got here!

So from Yong Belar we start our hike towards Cameron highland; towards the light of civilization~ hehe we met a group from MSU on our way down and it was a relief to finally meet with your own kind. Throughout the 4 days, other than nature we only have each other hehe The above picture showing the route towards Sg Besar and then in Sg Besar you have to walk on pvc water pipes which I found annoying because they were so slippery and I don't have the balancing skill to walk on them and I so often stumble in the most embarassing ways you could've imagined... HATE IT!

So at the end of the journey you'll arrive at this dam.. It was already dark (pitch dark in fact!) so I don't really know how the surrounding looks like. But we were descending a flight of very steep and terrifying-looking stairs and there Uncle Kumar was waiting for us with his pickup truck.

The pickup truck ride was joyful; a mixture of jollity from our triumphant accomplishment in conquering all the peaks safe and sound as well as the gaily bumpy ride on the truck. The road was full with potholes, some even have stagnant water inside. I think it would look like the route in the 4 wheel drive expedition thingy during the day~

So here are the guys on Day 5 infront of our lodging; all clean and fragrant hehe Some are claiming that this will be their last expedition, some are planning to settle down and hang their haversack as a display or as a memoir item.. But... Not for the Power Puff Girls~ 3 expeditions to go to complete all G7 and till then our haversack will not be just for display (^^)v

Power Puffs!!!!

This was where I carelessly grabbed onto a decayed stem; bumped my head hard and almost fall off the log.. I saw stars dancing above my forehead~

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It's the CLIMB~

Well, I've just completed the 4 days Transpeak expedition.. All I can say is, this was the toughest hike I've ever done so far. 4 days away from all the comforts of modern life, my physic and mental were both tested!

Morning~ Somewhere between Gayong and Yong Belar~ I think~ hehe

People often question "What do you find from all those tiring hike in the mountains?" and the question I dread the most would be "In what way does this hobby of yours contribute to the ummah, the society?"

I honestly don't have the answer but here is what I can say~

Hiking is not all about trickling sweats and aching muscles. The feeling from the embrace of nature is indescribable unless you feel it yourself. Every touch of gusting wind, every sound of streaming water, and every move of swaying trees seem to have its own message. The mesmeric scenery is no where to be found in the hustle bustle of the city. And trust me, when you set eyes on all the great view on the top of the mountain, there will be a jolt in your heart that tells you that this massive world of living things does not appear by itself but is made and fashioned by the hands of the Almighty. The expanse of the horizon will make you realize you're just a tiny itsy bitsy part of this universe

Sunset on the way to Kem Kuali

That is what nature has to offer~ Trust me, all the hardship and obstacle will get you into your nerve and at this point you'll probably see another side of you that may have not come into light in ordinary situations.. It might appear in the form of anger, despair or the feel like surrendering. But as you do more and more hiking and meet with this situations more, you'll learn to control and suppress that side of you.

Team Elite!!!

During the hike you also have loyal friends who'll stick with you in whatever situation. But the real question for you is 'will you be that loyal friend???' Are you willing to share all the ration you have in the midst of adversity? Are you willing to sacrifice that so limited water that you have to quench the thirst of others? It is the lesson of survival but not to survive alone, but to survive together and to finish the journey together in one piece


Hurm.. definitely will miss hiking days~

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