3 calls from Allah s.w.t

This is an email i got from my dearest Mom since InsyaAllah we'll be going to the Holy Land of Mekah soon. i thought, i'd like to share it with you.

Panggilan Allah hanya 3x saja

Saat itu, Dhuha, hari terakhir aku di Masjid Nabawi untuk menuju Mekah. aku bertanya pada Ibu. "Ibu, kataku, ada cerita apa yang menarik dari Umrah?" Maklum, ini pertama kali aku ber Umrah. Dan Ibu, memberikan Tausyiahnya.Ibu adalah pemilik Maknah Tour Travel dimana saya bergabung untuk Umrah di bulan July 2007 yang lalu.Kebetulan umrahku dimulai di Madinah dulu selama 4 hari, baru ke Mekah. Tujuannya adalah mendapatkan saat Malam Jumaat di depan Kabah. Jadi aku punya kesempatan untuk bertanya tentang Umrah.

Ibu berkata "Shinta, Allah hanya memanggil kita 3 kali saja seumur hidup "Keningku berkerut "Sedikit sekali Allah memanggil kita?" Ibu tersenyum. "Iya, tahu tidak apa saja 3 panggilan itu..?"Saya menggelengkan kepala."Panggilan pertama adalah Azan ", ujar Ibu. "Itu adalah panggilan Allah yang pertama. Panggilan ini sangat jelas terdengar di telinga kita, sangat kuat terdengar. Ketika kita sholat,sesungguhnya kita menjawab panggilan Allah.

Tetapi Allah masih fleksibel, Dia tidak "cepat marah" akan sikap kita. Kadang kita terlambat, bahkan tidak sholat sama sekali karena malas. Allah tidak marah seketika. Dia masih memberikan rahmatNya, masih memberikan kebahagiaan bagi umatNya, baik umatNya itu menjawab panggilan Azan-Nya atau tidak. Allah hanya akan membalas umatNya ketika hari Kiamat nanti". Saya terpekur. mata saya berkaca-kaca. Terbayang saya masih melambatkan sholat karena meeting lah, mengajar lah, dan lain lain. Masya Allah.

Ibu melanjutkan, "Shinta, Panggilan yang kedua adalah panggilan Umrah/Haji . Panggilan ini bersifat halus. Allah memanggil hamba-hambaNya denganpanggilan yang halus dan sifatnya "bergiliran". Hamba yang satu mendapatkan kesempatan yang berbeza dengan hamba yang lain. Jalannya bermacam-macam. Yang tidak punya wang menjadi punya wang, yang tidak merancang pula akan pergi, ada yang memang merancang dan terkabul.

Ketika kita mengambil niat Haji / Umrah, berpakaian Ihram dan melafazkan "Labaik Allahuma Labaik/ Umrotan", sesungguhnya kita saat itu menjawab panggilan Allah yang ke dua. Saat itu kita merasa bahagia, karena panggilan Allah sudah kita jawab, meskipun panggilan itu halus sekali. Allah berkata, laksanakan Haji / Umrah bagi yang mampu".Mata saya semakin berkaca-kaca. Subhanallah. saya datang menjawab panggilan Allah lebih cepat dari yang saya rancangkan. Alhamdulillah"

Dan panggilan ke-3", lanjut Ibu, "adalah KEMATIAN . Panggilan yang kita jawab dengan amal kita. Pada kebanyakan kes, Allah tidak memberikan tanda tanda secara langsung, dan kita tidak mampu menjawab dengan lisan dan gerakan. Kita hanya menjawabnya dengan amal sholeh. Karena itu Shinta, manfaatkan waktumu sebaik-baiknya. Jawablah 3 panggilan Allah dengan hatimu dan sikap yang Husnul Khotimah. Insya Allah syurga adalah balasannya.

** Mata saya basah di dalam Masjid Nabawi , saya sujud bertaubat pada Allah karena kelalaian saya dalam menjawab panggilanNya. Kala itu hati saya makin yakin akan kebesaranNya, kasih sayangNya dan dengan semangat menyala-nyala, saya mengenakan baju Ihram dan berniat. Aku menjawab panggilan UmrahMu, ya Allah, Tuhan Semesta Alam **

assam pedas

last saturday, i had this assam pedas at Jemputree at it goes for only rm8.90 inclusive of all that and ice lemon tea. not bad, ayy?


not bad at all, but i love the one in Kampung Danga, Johor Bahru (sorry i didnt snap this one!)

nyum, nyum :)

adam. circumsized

yup, like the title. Adam dah selamat sunat. and he's such a lucky kid! those days, the tok mudim will circumsize for a much much lower fee but now? i think my Dad paid almost 1k for that. yup! im serious people. just beacuse he had to go in the OT and all they charge such fee. Good thing is, the specialist, Mr Osman (i was told specialists uses the Mr instead of Dr to show that they are specialists, whatever) will have to see Adam for a follow-up. Good eh?

Funny thing is, Adam being Adam, he was not scared to walk normally after he was circumsized, he scares Iqmal, Edros and Elly lagi ade la. and like my other brothers, they were too scared too see their penis cos of the stitches and blood. Adam just looked at it as if nothing happened. Even when he came out from the OT slightly high he wanted to see his. He did the same when he was back home. He even make fun out of it. He said " My penis is cute ayy? " im like "Ya Allaaaaaaaaaahhhh, boleh ke?" and when we wanted to make the i dont-know-what-to call-it (you tie up the raffia string to tie a bit of the kain pelikat so that it won't touch the body as to make the wound dries up faster) ok, whatever! Adam said "Jangan ikat dekat lampu, nanti lampu berdarah, Adam jadi electric." and "Adam nak ikat kat fan, nanti Adam jadi helikopter" Yup, funny Mr Joker!

while im blogging, friends, please watch definitely, maybe. i like the movie, love those kind of light movies and he's cute. the father, Ryan Reynolds of course! i wish i have my kids gets that kind of father. so sweet :) and Love. No thank you. they took the Malaysian version of Cinta and changed here and there. Hmm this is the first Indo movie that i will not approve.

Enjoy and Happy working people!

meltdown

oh yes i did. it was late late last night. when im done with ugly betty disc 4. and while im talking bout ugly betty there was a scene where betty was confused about her relationship with walter. whether its love or no love at all. whether she should breakup with him or not, and things like getting to know her real purpose of being with walter. well im not saying that im in that situation with Mr Boyfy but sometimes when you watch movies and tv shows, things like this just knocks into your head and u start to think very deeply if it will affect your relationship, if things like that might happen or (hopefully) might not. the bad situation, of course.

Anyone will tell me to chill and not think of it. After all its just a movie or drama or whatever but if they can make a movie out of that, at least someone in this world had experience things like that, no ? and i dont wanna be that person!

then there's this other question on marriage. about the promise till death do u apart and yada yada yada. i want to believe on the happy marriage, the happy family, the happy life or maybe i just sound ridiculous. but i know there's no such thing. and reading from what Dirah had to blog on, i was like OMG! we think alike. things like partnership and all. i totally agree. i don't blame men alone for this, there are women who neglect their responsibility as a wife. in case u don't know as a Muslim, and also a wife, we have lots of things in hand. the beauty of a wife. but does every wife do so? seriously, i dont think so. if i go on blaming men about marriage i'll lose faith in men, and having the Girl Power, i dont want to say things about women either. so you go figure. for what i know, i pray that Allah s.w.t will give me guidance to be a perfect Muslim and a perfect wife. Amin

All of this were in my head and suddenly my PC (head) just blew. i was nervous, horrified and confused. everything was complicated to me. i tried to scroll down my phone book and see whom i should call, and there's only a number i want to call (even though it will cost me A LOT!), its my Nad, Ada, Et and Sya in Dublin. Yes people, i had no choice, it was almost 2am and i cant be calling the 306 gals in KL; attie, fafa, ekin. And to my relief, Nad answered the phone and she asked me the usuals like "how are you?" and "tak tido lagi ke?".

nad, sya, ada & et

suddenly out of nowhere, i burst out crying like nobody's business. i felt so comfortable talking and crying to those i love most, the 306 girls. sometimes things like this should be exclusively shared with close friends. those who knows you in and out. Nad went out on loudspeaker as Ada was there too. the others were out working. for once, i wanted them back. i wanted the life i had with them minus the bad stuffs, of course. the life when we had each others back no matter what. it had been awhile since i last called them, and sometimes i thought that to them it wouldnt matter much. but they are still my friends. sisters of the travelling pants. i missed all the moments we had. the fights. the confessions. the cookouts. the shopping. the endless slumber party. the facials. everything! seriously i do. girls, we need to reunite!!

special thanks to my lovely sisters, Nad and Ada for all the wise words. i wouldnt be sleeping last nite if it werent for the both of u. Much love :)

lazy friday

my day started out so slow that i regret having nasi lemak for breakfast (personal note: no more nasi lemak!) i had to rush to Lam Wah Ee Hospital as Adam is going for his 'sunat' and boy was i almost in tears. He lied on the stretcher, half excited half nervous on the way to the Operating Theatre. i promised him that i'd be with him by the time its over and done with and i did, but i was tad emotional, looking at him shivering and his pale face.

it took them 1 1/2 hours to complete the 'sunat' thingy. i had nothing to do. i went to the cafe for drink with my dad n bro, i played some bubble games on the phone (believe me that is the last thing i thought of doing, being a game-hater), and when the nurses pulled him out of the O.T, Adam was curled on the bed looking like a baby. i just cant stand it. we (the whole family, or is it just me) think that he's still a baby despite his age and he would always be my baby brother, the joker, the person who loves to make me smile and laugh, the person who would follow me for a hair treatment and all.

'nuff bout all that, but im missing him already : (

when he was awake, he was rather blank. but i told him everything went fine and all. (im much nervous than he is, ayy?) and he asked me the million dollar question. "where's Mama and Papa?" i was speechless. i wanted to cheer him up but believe me i know what he's feeling right now. he needed care and attention from my parents and they were not there for him. my presence is the least i can do. Truth be told, i would never want my siblings to feel left out, unloved, or whatever. i'll try my best to cater it to them. i've got the hang of it since i dont know when. i feel that its just my responsibility and sometimes people just take it for granted. im not blaming but i just take it as it is.

let's not get too emotional or i'll end up getting my mascara and eye liner smeared!

OMG! carly smithson is out of American Idol. yikes. she's one of my fave but my ultimate is *batting my partly smeared eyelashes* definitely Mr. Cook, David Cook. moving on. i wonder what i'll be doing this weekends? Movie marathon? Ugly Betty Marathon? hmm maybe i should head down to Ferringghi for new series. Ugly Betty 2, Heroes 2, what else ppl?

recommendations pls :) this will keep me occupied. i don't know if it's menstruation but i think i read somewhere that men do have menstruation minus the blood thingy and the hassle of pads or tampons. its almost everyday now. a little bit of gadoh (small fights), and a touch of giggles, some lovey-dovey things and gadoh, and more gadoh. Gosh! It's been crazy. So much of a rollercoaster but i guess its normal for couples in a relationship. hmm.. Nobody's a winner, nobody's a loser. and at the end of the conversation one of us will give in and i'll end up dropping a tear or two, okay im lying (i get teased for this by my siblings ok).

Yes, im emotional, crown me!

p/s: pls listen to eyes on me by celine dion. some arab touch and so much about relationships.

random blogging

its another day at work. i thought it was only Monday. i should be more excited since tomorrow's Friday, Monday Tuesday, Friday, Sunday.. its all the same. Besides that, now or should i say today, instead of doing work, (i dont know why but) i'm browsing through brides-to-be blogs (there's a few to name or maybe should i say a list) and wedding/engagement preparations stuffs. the hantaran. the dress. the food. the everything. OMG! now i understand why most brides miss their beds and shrink a size or two. It's tiresome, time-consuming and all. but looking from the stuffs i've browsed and added in my favourites, i can't seem to make my mind up on the colours itself. Pink? Turqoise? White? Yellow? OMG! Imagine other stuffs im suppose to worry!! Arghhhhh.... People please dont ask me when im getting married or engaged, that i'll surely announce, okay?

Sorry but i think i need to move on to another topic cos i'm having a headache after loads of stuffs to take care of plus Adam is going for circumsization (did i get that right?) or sunat tomorrow. Good luck syg! well he's a brave boy than my sis cos he actually watched the doctor when we had our immunization for our Umrah next month. maybe i should post in the video i took at the clinic. you'll laugh your heart out!

oh and another thing to blog on. to my dearest nadira. im waiting for you to be back home for good from the irish land with endless juicy stories/gossips. everytime i talk to her, we seem to be having lots of stuff to share maybe cos we dont see each other too much and due to the distance and work. well, home sweet home Nad. and its time for me to pay u back for the lost date the other time we were suppose to do with attie n fafa :( i know you'll say its ok and anything else but i still cant forgive myself for that. so sorry babe. and another thing, i might not be able to pick u up at KLIA cos i'll be in Mekah for Umrah. another date, ya?

till next time..

celine dion's concert! Mr. Boyfy! & Tax Course

13th april 2008
it started with edros and i travelling to K.Lumpur for th long awaited concert of Celine Dion - Taking Chances Concert in KL. okay! i was a wee bit excited as she is a Diva, indeed and i just want to have fun.

The show started 15minutes late and at that particular moment, Edros had to drag me to the toilet which had this bee-line queue. I was like OMG! we're gonna miss the opening and we did. but the toilet place had a great view and it was better off watching it from that spot. okay.. so the concert started with 'i drove all night' and she went on with a couple of hits like 'i'm alive, it's all coming back to me now, i love you' and a few others and she introduced her latest hit ' taking chances' and 'eyes on me' taken from her newly launched album Taking Chances. i was singing to it, i had so much fun and i couldnt be more contented to see her show with the great band (especially the multi-talented guy who played the violin and guitar and so much more) and dancers. they were marvellous. to those who missed it, im sorry but it was effin good! we shared the concert with the King and Queen too. Datuk Siti Nurhaliza n hubby was there. Rossa was there.a lot more indeed!

she didnt sing the ever-so-famous ' my heart will go on' until the very last minute. she came back to the stage after changing her decent clothes. she wore this sparkly top with tights and a mini-cardigan from the start to this beautiful yellow Greek-goddess inspired dress that she changed for the finale act and OMG! she was so good.... i was almost in tears.

14th april 2008
post concert was crazy. we ended up waking up late. We were supposed to get up early and leave by noon. but we ended up having brunch. so you go on figure out what time that will be. i was sympathy with my bro cos he had to drive alone back to Penang since my sis and i had to stay back in KL for my course on the 16th and 17th. but there's nothing i can do as Papa had told Edros to do so cos it'll be an extra cost to fly Elly again down to KL (if she was to follow him back).

it so happens that it was Uncle Ali's birthday. so later that night, the whole family and us (my sis and i) went to this restaurant with great ambience, Carabao. Great food indeed. Price? Reasonable. We had the Mango Fish, Seafood Tomyam, Fried Asparagus, Black Pepper Beef and i had the Soursop and Strawberry ice. Its like ABC, the shaved ice wit soursop and strawberry sauce and some chunks of it. Yummy! Great people. Great Food. Great Ambience. I'm lovin' it!

15th april 2008
we had lontong kering and nasi lemak for breakfast and my favourite kuih koci . super fatty food for an early meal. To my surprise the course im attending had change its venue from PJ Hilton to The Saujana (formerly known as Hyatt Saujana). With the full-battery phone i made some calls. Saujana was full and i was stranded with no place to go since i had booked PJ hilton earlier that week. I made a few calls to hotels in the Subang area and they too were full. i was like WTF!?! but more of 'Astaghfirullah' since i need to practice to be more patient and zip up my mouth for Umrah. I took this picture on flight since i had nothing better to do with some ridiculous ideas in mind. But i think this picture is rather beautiful. Any biddings, AirAsia?

I,then, called in Kak Rina, my cousin and she was so happy to have me n sis at her cosy apartment in Subang, and she, too, was ever-generous too lend her car for me to travel to the course. Problem is... it has been ages since i last drove a stick (Manual car). Laugh on people but at home, all 3 cars are automatic. so dont blame it on me. believe it or not after an hour journey, we arrived at the KL Sentral and as soon as i stepped down to reach for my luggage, i totally felt like i was in Chennai. Y? can u believe it, not to be racist or whatever, these people were shouting their lungs out and pity me i had to past through them while they were doing it. my concern is my ear drums.

At KL Sentral, we met Iqmal, Elly's friend for lunch at McD's cos i was so hungry and we headed to Shah Alam. and there i had my driving class. i had to prepare myself for driving a stick. im confident enough that i'd be able to pull it off and i did in a mere 15minutes. at first, instead of going backwards, i actually went forward and slight hit the bumper. Oops! but after trying to my relief i got the hang of it. Yay! (pat on the back).

So, while waiting for Kak Rina, we had some 4 hours to waste. and i so wanted to get new straps for my not-really old Guess? watch (i had planned to renew it ages ago but procrastination overrules) and so we headed to Pan Global in KL and tadaaa... i had it done in less than 30 minutes (if you do it through Guess? boutique, they'll tell you that it'll take them 2months or so.so next time, get it done yourself!) i got myself a Hot Pink strap to replace the boring brown one, and a lilac strap for the Gold one. at least Papa won't have to worry bout getting me a new watch anytime soon, unless he's just too kind!

then from there i was longing for my Meatballs at the Ikea. so we went there and yes i couldnt resist the Daim cake.then, after lunch we were rushing to fetch Kak Rina from work but i wanted to get Kak Rina and her hubby the infamous Curry Puffs and the Almond biscuits.

~the end~

beauty of hadith

Assalamualaikum . . .
i got this one early this morning from my Pa
we're so in the mood of going to Mekah for Umrah
well he loves to send inspiring whatever not articles for me to ponder and get it in my sometimes soft sometime hard head/heart. so here goes...


Please be sure to read every word and every line. May the blessings of Allah SWT be upon you and your family. Insya'Allah.

A Beautiful Hadi thRasulullah (Sallallahu alaihe wasallam) said: 'When a man dies and hisrelatives are busy in funeral, there stands an extremely handsome man by his head. When the dead body is shrouded, that man gets in between theshroud and the chest of the deceased.

When after the burial, the people return home, 2 angels, Munkar andNakeer(names of two special Angels), come in the grave and try to separate this handsome man so that they may be able to interrogate the dead man inprivacy about his faith. But the handsome man says, 'He is my companion, heis my friend. I will not leave him alone in any case. If you are appointed for interrogation, do your job. I cannot leave him until I get him admittedinto Paradise '.

Thereafter he turns to his dead companion and says, 'I am the Qur'an, which you used to read, sometimes in a loud voice and sometimes in a low voice. Do not worry. After the interrogation of Munkar and Naker, you will have nogrief.'When the interrogation is over, the handsome man arranges for him fromAl-Mala'ul A'laa (the angels in Heaven) silk bedding filled with musk.

Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihe wasallam) said: 'On the Day of Judgement,before Allah, no other Intercessor will have a greater status than theQur'an, neither a Prophet nor an angel.'Please keep forwarding this ' Hadi th' to all .because Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihe wasallam) said:'Pass on knowledge from me even if it is only one verse'.May Allah bestow this favour on all of us.
AMEEN

my idol :)

imagine David Cook singing to u and u alone
i'd fall in love.....

sorry people i'll update u with my fabolous week and pictures of it....
to die for! hehe :P

12th April

its 12th of april, saturday afternoon and i'm stucked in the office with my brother, Iqmal. i've to help him with his studies as he recently somehow performed below our (me + my parents) expectations. and it's also a way for me to help my siblings. its somehow unfair to me to see them fail when i've graduated with a degree. Anyhoo, its rather a boring Saturday with nothing more to do except that i went to visit the doctor for immunization and took the picture for my Visa before going to Makkan for Umrah. Its just one of the regulations. To those who is not aware, yup, im going for Umrah 19th - 29th May. And thats one month away!

Ok, so enough bout that. I can't wait for tomorrow. Y? Well, lets just say that i'm going to a concert. Who? I'll let u guys know who when i get back from KL ok ? "the singer" is such a diva. yes, et, my eyes are turning green knowing that u went for Rihanna's concert. it's unfair kot! and i have a watever-has-to-do with- taxation course in PJ Hilton this week is no work, all leisure baybeh!

and.. and.. ppl pls watch 27 dresses, a great movie and James Marsden will make any knees go weak.. haha! for me it did. ok i need to get going, need a scoop of green tea ice cream at Baskin Robbins and read more stuff on my Umrah.

p/s: pray to Allah that my family and i would be fine :) thank u!

the great Islam

i came across this on youtube today...
nothing much but it says everything about Islam
i wonder how the non-muslims would react if they see all this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o82jkBwTwrM&eurl=

thanks kak ya for the wonderful clips!
i love it