My biggest wish

It's a beautiful night.

And as I look out of the window, I made one wish. That everyone around me would be happy. That I could see bright cheerful faces every single day. Because whatever that I have achieved will not mean anything if the people I love and care for are in sorrow.

I truly hope my wish will become true one day...

Dear Iman

Dear Iman

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh.

How are you doing? I hope you're fine... you gave me quite a scare when I got to know that you had met with an accident and were in hospital. I wouldn't want you to go away. I can never live without you. I'm glad you're back home here in my little Heart. 

You know, it was heart-breaking to think that you were lying all alone in hospital, being very weak and vulnerable. I asked Allah (He was the doctor) whether you need any specific medicine to become better, and He said that if you listen to Quraan and watch people praying more often, you'll be better and always in good shape. According to Him, Quraan is the best Syifaa'. That's really good news, because it doesn't come with a high price. 

Don't worry Iman, I'll be doing that for you. Just please don't scare me anymore. Because life's hard without you around. And promise that you'll always be here, by my side... as my companion. Be stronger okay? I can only be strong if you are. 

Oh by the way Iman, I'm very much in love with Allah now. He always listens to me, and somehow I can always feel His love. Look, I've even changed my wallpaper on my laptop. I think you'll love it. =)

It's pretty isn't it? I know... I'll be sharing it with my friends too. It'd be great if they get to know Him. For I shall fall for the person who loves Him too.

Iman, I think I'll stop writing now. It's nearly maghrib. Time for Quraan and prayers. InsyaAllah I'll start doing Awwabin prayers too. For you.

Lots and lots and lots of Love,

Fairuz

p.s. Please don't read this when I'm looking... I'll be embarrassed~

Not a normal Sunday

Alhamdulillah, after one week at Changi... everything is settled at our office. I'm already an expert at taking short cuts from the bus stop to the office building, you know =) My jobscope is still the same, only that I'm in a new department after the 'death' of DRS (Digital Resources and Services). I love the people in NLB. They're always very happy =)

One thing I dislike though, is that the office is excessively air-conditioned =( The temperature there is set quite low, so that the books stored don't get damaged. But it's taking a toll on most of us who are new here. Even when we wear jackets and sweaters, it's still cold. The first day I started working, my fingers became numb and I couldn't really type properly. Inside it's freezing cold, but the moment we step out of the warehouse/office, it's sweltering hot. So you can imagine how 'shocked' our bodies can be. And unfortunately for me, I often break out in cold sweats... and since Thursday my body temperature has been going up and down. As if it's in a dilemma whether to make me have a fever or not. Imagine...

Evil bacteria/virus: Hah, nak demam ke tak... *cocok immune system*

Immune system: Demam lah camni!

Evil bacteria/virus: haha! =D

Mr Evil Bacteria/Virus, please go away =(

Then on Friday, I think I annoyed everyone in office because I was sneezing the whole morning. One kind colleague even said sorry because she didn't have any more tissue, but she pushed the wastepaper basket close to me =') All this has made me very woozy and I'm not able to think properly like usual, but this also means that my immune system is fine, Alhamdulillah.

And this morning I had yesterday's pizza for breakfast (abah and abg's fault for ordering it!!). It didn't want to stay in my stomach though. So it came out from where it first entered... that's what happens when my mum works in the morning -- I have pizza for breakfast. Now I would really like to lie down but I don't want to fall asleep before zohor.

You know, despite all the difficulties I face, I'm very thankful because my family always manage to make me laugh... =')

The moment my brother reached home one night, he plonked on my bed and started telling me about what my mum did:

abg: adik, adik, abg call mama smlm abih tau ma cakap ape??

me: biasa kan tu... ma cakap ape?

abg: adik imagine ah conversation dia camne!

"abg: ma, nari muhammad tak balik camp ah... ade duty.

mama: duty? muhammad ade duty ke muhammad nak pergi disco!

abg: ma, org sekarang mana ada pergi disco lagi -.-"

mama: abih pergi mane? clubbing kan!

abg: ma, muhammad tak cukup duit laa. ma tanye tanye knp? ma nak sponsor?

mama: heh heh heh... *evil laugh* k muhammad, bye bye!" 

*end of telephone conversation story

abg: ma creepy kan dik!

me: *laughing* kelakaaaaaaar! mama cute! =D

abg: hah, cute! mama makin creepy! *walks away* (repeats: "creepyyyy!")

These are the little things which make me happy =)

K, I really don't know what to write now... am starting to have a headache. Alhamdulillah it's nearly time for zohor. I hope I will be well tomorrow for work. Salam 'alaikum, and please take care all

Peristiwa tadi

lagu kat bawah dinyanyi ikut rentak: 'Rumah terbakar panggil bomba...'

Tudung terbakar panggil bonda
Bonda datang muka tak suka

A for Awak! B for Budak! C for Cuai!
Aaaa-wak Buuu-dak Cuuu-ai~!

- inspirasi daripada peristiwa yang benar benar berlaku.

>__<

Mencari dan menanti

Semalam bila ana melihat langit, malam kelam tak berbintang.

Tapi semakin lama memandang... dan ana buka mata hati ana, langit kelihatan begitu indah dihiasi bintang-bintang. Setiap bintang itu cantik, Allah yang cipta. Tapi ana tak dapat kata bintang mana yang paling bersinar. 

Tempat bintang tinggi tersimpan di langit. Kalau ana cuba gapai... pasti tak tercapai. Andai Allah izinkan pasti salah satu bintang akan gugur ke bumi. Jatuh ke tapak tangan ana. InsyaAllah.

Making the best out of bad days

I'm now more convinced that the reason why I got B3 for geography is because... I'm not good at reading maps. I think I failed miserably for all the map reading questions. =(

And that certainly didn't help me get to the new office in Changi South on time. 

My day started quite well, actually. I had a nice breakfast, got on the right bus and alighted at the correct bus-stop! =D Unfortunately, I walked the wrong way and that made a 10 minute walk stretch to one hour. =(

Take a look at the map below... the new office is at Xilin Districentre Block B (marked by the blue point), and yes, all those red and orange arrows show where I actually walked. 

I took a long route didn't I? I know...

Last week, my colleagues had kindly given me a huge photocopied map quite similar to this one. So when I alighted from the bus I straightaway held out the A3 sized map in front of my face, and figured out how to get to office. It was very embarrassing, as I was in a sea of cranky professionals who were on their way to work. Really, none of them looked friendly enough to help a lost person. So I shrunk and tried to figure it out on my own...

The map looks very simple, but honestly all the warehouses are really big buildings, and the names stated on the building are different from the ones shown on the map. So I got confused from there... To make things worse, there were no longer any person at sight when I reached Yusen Air & sea service. Only big big looming buildings which looked as if they were mocking at me. I was already scared, and it didn't help that yesterday morning was dark and cloudy. Allah, macam nak nangis... Then I spotted one person walking towards me. He didn't look local, but I had no choice... so I just asked him. Using broken English, he merely told me to take a right turn from the building. I was relieved for awhile because I had somewhere to go. I walked... but I couldn't find my office. I continued walking. And asking. Walking, and asking people, and at the same time praying to Allah that I'd find my way soon. 

Alhamdulillah it wasn't hot, but walking for an hour made my legs really really sore and tired. Having to walk past Bangladeshi workers made me more scared. Most heart-breaking moment: when asking a makcik for directions.

me: *exhausted* Cik, tolong saya... mcm mana nak pergi tempat ni? *points at map*

makcik: mana dia nak...? tunjuk makcik.

me: *happy* tempat ni, cik =)

makcik: *squints at map* oh yang ni...

me: betul cik, cik tau? =)

makcik: nak, cik tak tau baca sebenarnya... cik jalan-jalan sini saje cari kerja...

me: *starting to feel faint* Allah... cik, tak apa... semoga dapat kerja ya...

Ilaahii yaasirhu lii, after wandering around and even having to turn back (look at the orange arrows), I found myself at Xilin Districentre Block D. I knew Block B should be somewhere near, so I asked the security guard there - who was a nice Malay pakcik, baarakallaahu fiih. 

"Lah, nak, jalan depan je tu, lain kali dongak sikit ke atas. Block B memang terceruk kat tengah-tengah tu...."

When I heard those words I felt like crying again. After being lost in the middle of a place I wasn't at all familiar, I finally reached where I was supposed to go. 

Upon entering my office, my supervisor greeted me with a smile and that was enough to make all my sadness go away. Looking at how tired I was, she showed me around first. Our office cum warehouse is spacious, and my desk is bigger than the one in Geylang East. The best thing is that my workstation is ten steps away from the musolla! Walhamdu kulluhu lillah! =)

(Ya Allah, tapi ana mohon tak nak hadapi perkara camni lagi...)

Saat perjuangan diuji

 Sewaktu berjuang, pasti ada hambatannya. Pasti ada ujiannya.

Allahu ya'lamu maa yusiibunii... Allah mengetahui apa yang menimpa ana, sehinggakan ana rasa sangat sedih pada hari ini. 

Memang benar, bila kita berusaha mengejar keredhaan Allah, banyak cabaran hebat akan datang silih berganti untuk menguji ketabahan kita. Ya Allah, sampai murah air mata jadinya. Tapi ana tekad, walau seribu kali ana terjatuh ana akan tetap bangun kembali, mengejar cita-cita yang menjanjikan ganjaran yang besar daripada Allah. Itu janjiNya. Ana harap satu hari  nanti ana akan dapat mengenggam seluruh kalam Allah, biar sebati dengan diri ana. Walau terluka, walau hati berduka, walau tangisan kembali berulang, ana takkan berputus asa.  Takkan mengaku kalah! Ini niat yang terpatri dalam hati ana. Ana akan berusaha dengan lebih baik lagi insyaAllah. Biar tangisan hanya keranaNya... 

Tapi alhamdulillah ana masih mampu tersenyum, walaupun hati sedih. Sebab Allah menilai usaha kita kan? Kalau kemanisan iman adalah ganjarannya, ana sanggup lakukan segalanya. Ana tak ada penyesalan insyaAllah. Qaddarallaahu wa maa shaa-a fa'al.  Dan apa yang berlaku pasti ada hikmah. Pasti. Doakan ana ya =)

Ilaahii a'in abdaka...

Sometimes it may seem that life is difficult for us, but we can always choose to see things from another angle, can't we? It's a matter of choice... if you see every single problem as a gigantic monster because you've been using binoculars all this while, then I suggest you put it aside and look with your heart and mind, really =)

At times when problems come and become an obstruction on our path like a troll on a bridge, some people feel small. Others would feel that it's a nuisance. What about you... what would you do if there's a troll on the bridge that you want to cross? Of course, I'll give you the options to make it easier for you:

a) Attempt to kick the troll off the bridge yeah! 

b) Curse the troll and vent your anger.

c) Crouch, close your eyes, and say your last prayers... or

d) Take a while to compose yourself, be rational and try to work it out with the troll. 

If you chose option D, then alhamdulillah! =)

Yes, we'd probably panic if we see an unhappy troll in front of us ^__^"

But if you thought that it wouldn't help in your situation, then good for you! =D

You see, the same goes when facing problems. What use will it be if we ignore it? In movies with monsters, the innocent people always kick them out of their sight in desperation. What happens next? The monster comes back in the next scene, going Grrrrrr! and being stronger than it previously was. See. Not good. =)

... and cursing? Don't do this ok... whatever it is, we must always, always remember that we are Muslims. Good Muslims don't curse. And it's not nice to say bad words or be angry anyway =) During the sahabah's time, a man went to our Prophet asking for a piece of advice. What did our Prophet say? He simply said: 'Laa taghdhob', which all of us know that it means 'Do not be angry'. Everything is from Allah, so why should we be angry for what has happened? 

So what do we do, you ask? We just face it. Kalau tak berani, aksyen aksyen berani je dulu, insyaAllah lama-lama sikap tu akan diterapkan dalam diri. =D Ujian daripada Allah kita terima, sebab ia akan memberi kita pengajaran yang sangat berharga! It's good if you just accept challenges that come to you, even if everything falls on you in one day. Because the lessons learnt will benefit you in the days after, insyaAllah =) 

There's one thing all of us should remember though. We certainly cannot face challenges alone. We need Allah's help. Fasta'in bihi. It's like doing an assessment book and then peeking at the answer key when we feel that there's something wrong in what we've done. Then... walaa tu'ajjiz! Do not be weak and listen to shaitan. Dia memang gitu, bising je selalu nak bisik bisik apa entah kat kita. Bak kata abg, "Campak je dia kat kipas!!" tapi dah tentu tak boleh campak kat kipas jadi baca ta'awwuz je =D 

I'm writing this just to share my thoughts =) Alhamdulillah things are fine for me, but the fact that I have three more months left before I'm off to Al-Azhar is making me feel more nervous. Today I'll be having exams at Darul Quran too, so please make doa for me. Thank you =)

K, let's lighten up by watching a clip from my favourite comedy sketch show, Little Britain:

( oh by the way, this one is one of my favourites! =D )

That's all for now, I hope you'll have a great day ahead insyaAllah! =)

Accidental assaults upon the English language

Salaam 'alaikum dear readers! =)

Firstly I would like to thank those who have been reading this blog of mine... syukran k! It took me quite sometime to get it ready. K tadi kte trick awak... it took me a long time to get it ready. The most troublesome part was getting the layout! sampai bengkak2 mata cari yang sesuai (maklumlah tak pandai html) =D

'Ala kulli hal, alhamdulillah it's done, yay! Though one thing I wish I hadn't done was to put the counter there. ^__^" Since the day the numbers started increasing, I've always wondered who reads my blog... I guess it doesn't matter much, but if you find that my post might hurt some parties, or that it has too many grammatical errors until it becomes too painful to read, leave a message at the tagboard ok? (My english isn't that good so I need a bit of a help here) It doesn't matter if you prefer to be anonymous; I would appreciate the comments just the same =) 

Oh yes, I want to share some funny things that I've read in a book I recently borrowed! =D 

After work the other day, I managed to get this really funny book about language bloopers collected by this English expert.

My favourite section is Science Fantasies! Believe it or not, the following statements were taken from exams, lab reports, essays, and oral presentations given by science students. You'll certainly laugh when you read what they came out with (probably due to desperation =D):

• Gravity is the pulling type that makes sure that the planets don't fall or hurt anything.
• A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go.
• To most people solutions mean finding the answers, but to chemists solutions are things that are all mixed up.
• I am fascinated by the invisible world of microorgasms.
• Dinosaurs used to smell bad, but they don't anymore because they are extinct.
• A fibula is a small lie.
• With the naked eye, you can only observe what you see.
• A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it gets.
• Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound.

The ones about meteorology are among my personal favourites too! =D

• A blizzard is when it snows sideways.
• A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size.
• The wind is like the air, only pushier.
• A monsoon is a French gentlemen.
• Clouds are high-flying fogs. I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing. Clouds just keep circling the earth around and around. And around. There is not much else to do.
• We keep track of humidity in the air so we won't drown when we breathe. 

That's only one section -- wait till you read the others! It also includes excerpts of parents' excuse letters (Please excuse Connie from gym class today, as she had difficulty breeding), loony labels (on a blanket: Not to be used as protection from a tornado), and even funny headlines (KIDS MAKE NUTRITIOUS SNACKS)... this book is a must-read!
 

I hope you enjoyed what I've just shared with you! ^__^ My brother and I laughed so much while reading. Oklah... ada yang tak faham juga, tapi kita buat buat faham je, hehe =D

The book's title is 'The Revenge of Anguished English', by Richard Lederer. Go look for it if you want to; I truly recommend this book if you want to have a good laugh! =)

Teringat kisah lalu....

Bila dah tak sekolah ni, tiba-tiba teringat telatah satu kawan sekolah yang sukaaa sangat buat prank call!

Prank call 4/5 thn lepas yang memang kelakar lah kalau dengar ceritanya, tapi kalau sendiri yang kena, boleh panic! >__<

Nak tahu knp? Silalah baca......
____________________________

Waktu tu lewat petang, biasalah kita budak sekolah menengah tengah paksa diri untuk rajin buat homework.

Ingat lagi tau tengah buat homework maths! Waktu buat, mesti nak focus betul2. Tiba-tiba....

telefon: kring kring, kring kring.
me: ish tefon ni, lagi sikit nak habis maths ni~ *angkat tefon dengan terpaksa* Helo?
Org: *suara garau* Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullaaaahi wabarakaaaaa-TUH!
me: *dalam hati: eh siapa pula ni?!* wa'alaikumussalam...
Org: Ini Siti Nur Fairuz, anak Mohd Anis ke?
me: *takut* betul.... ada apa encik??
Org: Saya daripada Jabatan Solat MUIS, dan kami mendapati bahawa awak solat Asar semalam pada akhir waktu! Dan awak pernah tinggalkan solat minggu lepas!!
me: *panic yang teramat sgt!* hah tapi smlm tu saya terlelap, kan Allah bilang tak apa?!
Org: Ohh tak apa eh~~ Habis tu yang awak tinggalkan solat? Awak tahu tak kerana org-org seperti awak, kami di MUIS terpaksa buat tindakan!
me: Tapi saya tak tinggalkan solat! Awak tak percaya, awak tanya Allah! *hampir nak nangis*
Org: *bunyi org ketawa*
me: awak daripada MUIS, tapi awak ketawakan saya!
Org: oit makcik, bising betul! *ketawa terbahak2* ni _______ laaaaaa!
me: TAK NAK CAKAP LAGIIIIII!
Org: hahahaha!

Bila difikirkan balik, memang tak masuk akal lah MUIS ada Jabatan Solat, tapi bila panic/terkejut, memang sifat rasional akan hilang...

Yang paling penting, nasihat untuk semua penggemar prank call.... insaflah k? =(