.recap2013.

Assalamualaikum.

2013. A year of new experiences and new faces. A year of hellos and goodbyes. A year of truth and hurt. 

Generally, for the year of 2013, I've been given the opportunity to know more people and learn more from them. Besides that, for this year, the ties between those whom are important in my life were managed to be tighten and hopefully it will continue to remain like that.
-Family and Relatives
-USJ23 friends
-OATHS0809 and CS0809
-KMKN friends
-tdpuk5
-Malaysian@Leeds

Besides that, for this year as well, I have seen and encountered various events which I didn't expect to happen during previous years. Is this a sign of maturity of the people around me? Am I holding myself back ?


January
13 January - My first experience of snow in Leeds.
16 January - January Test starts
21 January - OATHS0809 5th Anniversary

February
8 February - *First trip to Cardiff. The following day visited Cardiff Bay in the morning and attended FODX in the evening, whose main actresses were Afifa and Amirah R. The next day, attended Muhammad: MUM, a talk by Ustaz Don from Malaysia.
15 February - Visit Sheffield and attended the Sheffield Malaysian Games the following day. Played rugby touch and table tennis doubles. Managed to get runner-up for table tennis.

March
1 March - Visited Glasgow.
2 March - *Day trip to Aberdeen. Had two wonderful tour guides around the city centre. Had the opportunity to taste Nazu's cooking. Tasted like home. 
16 March - Attended DUDE5: BSc in Love Management.
17 March - *Visited Loughborough to meet my cousins. Had the chance to visit Leicester and tried the famous Tinseltown.
23 March - Second visit to Liverpool. Went for the Anfield Stadium tour.
24 March - A visit from my uncle and aunt from Malaysia at Leeds.
27 March - *Trip to Belfast via Jet2 with Acap. Started off with a wonderful stay in Belfast. Played football amongst Batch5mates on a Friday morning.16 out of 21 of us went there for a biking and camping trip at Rostrevor, somewhere near to the border of NI and ROI. Had a campfire and BBQ during the night, while singing our lungs out. Biking around the snowy hills of Rostrevor and eventually got tired. Visited the Giant's Causeway as well.

April
3 April - Collected my bike at Northallerton.
6 April - *Leeds Bradford Games 2013. Became a committee member for FIFA13 game. 
7 April - Celebrated amiminey's birthday with other '92 kids.
9 April - Second trip to Cardiff, with Akmal Z.. Tried a buffet restaurant at Cardiff Bay and joined Syimi for a swim. Afifa and Amirah cooked dinner the following day.
27 April - LUMSOC AGM2013. Elected as one of the committee.


May
11 May - Visited Sheffield and ate Nando's.
16 May - May Exam started.
26 May - Visited Leeds United.

June
1 June - Visited Sheffield.
2 June - Handled a talk by Sheikh Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin.
3 June - *Trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach with Tungk, Mud, Manjohn n Khairy, while others went to Germany, France. Rode some outstanding rides!
7 June - *Amon H visited Leeds. Brought him aroung the City centre, played touch together and watched a Doraemon movie.
9 June - Leeds Food Festival.
10 June - *Flight back to Leeds via Emirates with Khairy, Acap, Diana, Amirah, Akmal. Transit at Dubai for 8 long hours -.-
12 June - Registered for Hajj.
15 June - Returned to hometown in Kemaman.
23 June - Visited my tri-service squad at UPNM with Anam.
27 June - OPA Annual Tahlil at Bangunan OPA.
29 June - OPA Annual Dinner.  
30 June - OPPP Games Carnival at RMC. Had a great time catching up with my batch, OATHS0809.

July
1 July - Flight to Tokyo-Haneda by Airasia with Khairy. Stranded at Tokyo for the night.
2 July - Checked in at our ryokan and started going around Tokyo; Shinjuku, Harajuku. Had two reliable tour guides, Nina and Alief. 
3 July - Went to Disneyland Tokyo
4 July - Went to Akihabara, Daiba. Had dinner at a sushi restaurant in Saitama.
5 July - Took the bullet train to Shizuoka and visited NAI's place. Prayed Jumaat there and straight away went to Gifu, Ben's and Faiz's place. Had a wonderful night there.
6 July - Took the train to Hiroshima and visited the historical spots. Had a great Japanese cuisine there.
7 July - Took the afternoon train to Osaka and overnight there.
8 July - Covered some place in Osaka and took the flight back to Malaysia in the evening.
14 July - Iftar with Aidil, Syrith and Arif Chan at Carl's Jr Subang Jaya.
25 July - Became a facilitator for a 'Langkah Bermula' program at SMK Seri Bintang Utara.
27 July - Back to Kemaman.
28 July - OPA Iftar. met my cousin there, Naim.

August
2 August - OATHS Ramadan TTS at Nilai. Stayed there until 4am!
8 August - Eidul Fitri at Shah Alam. 
12 August - Went to Melaka with Khairy. Ate SK!
14 August - *Raya open house at Ash's. A lot of OATHS came.
16 August - *Raya Open house at my place. Had visits from Batch6, KMB friends, USJ23 friends.
17 August - Participated in the Viper Challenge, along with Que, Wandan, Ija and Fae.
23 August - Went to Syamimi's open house.
24 August - Went to a graduation ceremony in PICC. Stuck in a jam for 2 hours before reaching BMI for Miss Shairah's wedding. Spent about 15 minutes there before stuck again in a jam on the way to USJ to attend a Raya open house there. Luckily managed to reached at the exact and correct timing. After maghrib, went to OPA Raya Open house.
25 August - Nazu's Open house. Dragged Ayol and Bombay.
29 August - Went to Sunway Lagoon with Akmal Zubir and Syimi.
31 August - Attended the Independence Day celebration at Dataran Merdeka with Anam. Parked at the most strategic spot. Then, picked up Que at Sungai Besi and Wandan at Sepang before going to Mimo's wedding.

September 
2 September - Took a flight to Kota Bharu and first time reaching Besut, land of Khairy. Then, straight away to Pulau Perhentian, together with Shang, Syrith, Syimi, Risdo and Khairy. Escape from reality.
5 September - Back in Shah Alam and went to KLIA to send off a person.
11 September - Instagram.
17 September - Flight my batchmate, Jose to Newcastle, UK. 
20 September - Space's flight to Southampton, UK. Last dinner with family at Agehan Japanese Restaurant.
21 September - My flight back to the UK, sent off by my family members as well as my squads, Que and Anam. Debt for not sending me off last year.
25 September - Visited Sheffield.
29 September - Day trip to Glasshoughton, a factory outlet complex near Leeds.

October
5 October - Fresher's Explorace, as the Gamemaker.
6 October - Garage Sale at Kelso Gardens. 
12 October - Visited Sheffield with.
20 October - Eid Adha Celebration at Woodsley Community Centre.
31 October - The birth of my first nephew, Salahuddin Yusuf :)

November
2 November - Went to London for UKEC AGM2013 with Husni. Had Habibi Sushi with Syrith and Fred.
8 November - Visited Sheffield.
9 November - Went to Nottingham for Nottingham Malaysian Games 2013. Celebrated Mud's birthday happeningly.


December
14 December -Trip to Glasgow. Had the long-awaited OKO Express, a Japanese restaurant in Glasgow :)
17 December - Day visit to Edinburgh with Khairy, Muiz, Acap and some batch6.
20 December - *Attended a winter program, RISE at Stowmarket. The program was conducted for 4 days and 3 nights. Made new friends there and learned loads of things.
23 December - Had a dinner at Tinseltown, Queensway and overnight at Highbury.
24 December - *Visited Cambridge. Impressed by the magnificent university.
25 December - *Visited Southampton and stayed there for a few nights, with the hospitality of my RMC batch, Saifullah.
26 December - Boxing day at Portmouth. Only bought a pair of jeans -.-
29 December - Attended a weeding in Bradford and visited Sheffield afterwards.
30 December - Celebrated manjohn's birthday at Centertainment, Sheffield.
31 December - First attempt of making Nasi Lemak. Achievement unlocked for the new year.

Wailalliqa' maassalamah.

.japantrip2013.

Assalamualaikum.

Alhamdulillah, hari ini sudah berjaya menyelesaikan hari pertama berpuasa Ramadan pada 1434H ini. Moga2 amalan ini diterima dan moga2 hari pertama ini menjadi pemangkin bagi hari2 seterusnya. Aminn.

Nak dijadikan cerita, pagi hari semalam aku baru sahaja pulang dari bumi matahari terbit. Sekitar pukul 5 pagi begitu, yang mana juruterbang tersebut awal setengah jam drpd ETA. hebat2.

Di bumi Jepun, aku dan rakan aku, Khairy telah berjaya melawat beberapa tempat, antaranya Tokyo, Shizuoka, Gifu, Hiroshima dan Osaka. Alhamdulillah segalanya berjalan lancar, meskipun ada beberapa perkara yang dirancang tidak berjaya dicapai namun tetap sukses pada pandangan aku. Di samping itu, dari segi kewangan juga menepati target. Alhamdulillah.

Sesungguhnya, dalam bermusafir atau secara mudahnya berjalan-jalan, ia tidak seharusnya sekadar berjalan membuta tuli sahaja. Namun, permusafiran ini sepatutnya (atau sekurang-kurangnya) memberi pengajaran dalam diri kita, meskipun pengajaran itu sedikit. Keadaan ini mengingatkanku kepada sebuah ayat daripada kitab suci al-Qur'an yang sering dikongsi oleh seniorku di Leeds yang mafhumnya:

"Apakah mereka tidak berjalan di muka bumi supaya mereka menjadi orang yang ada hati yang dengannya mereka dapat memahami, atau ada telinga yang dengannya mereka mendengar, sesungguhnya bukanlah mata kepala yang buta, tetapi yang buta itu ialah hati yang ada di dada." [22:46]

Subhanallah. Hebat kalam Allah ini.

Sepanjang permusafiran kami di Jepun, terdapat beberapa perkara yang telah aku pelajari dan mungkin pelajaran ini agak umum tetapi masih bole diaplikasikan. insyaAllah.

1. Aku sangat mengagumi keteraturan yang ditunjukkan di Jepun, sebagai contohnya di stesen tren, orang yg ingin berjalan ke satu arah akan berjalan di satu laluan, manakala yang ingin berjalan ke arah laluan yang bertentangan akan mengikuti laluan berbeza. Pengajaran: kita kena tahu arah yang kita ingin pergi dan jalannya, jika tidak, kita akan sesat dan dilanggar.
2. Di kota-kota besar seperti Tokyo dan Osaka, sistem rel di kota-kota ini sangat mengagumkan. Mengagumkan dalam erti kata, untuk menuju ke satu2 destinasi common, terdapat beberapa cara dan laluan, dan biasanya disediakan oleh pelbagai syarikat tren. Maksudnya, ada banyak train yang boleh digunakan. Pengajaran: meskipun ada 5 train, janganlah kita kejar kesemua. Pilih satu sahaja. Walaupun yang satu itu memerlukan kita utk tunggu sehingga berminit-minit berbanding yang lain tp perjalanan kita dengan tren itu lebih certain berbanding yang 4 yg lain itu. 
3. Aku juga kagum dengan kemesraan (baca: politeness) masyarakat di bumi Jepun ini, khususnya mereka yang bekerja dengan melayan manusia. Mereka tidak lekang dek senyuman dan semangat meskipun mengulangi ayat yang sama berkali-kali. Pengajaran: satu praktis yang baik untuk diikut khususnya mereka yang bekerja di kaunter utk melayan pelanggan.
4. Makanan halal atau makanan yang sesuai untuk dimakan oleh umat Islam agak susah untuk dikesan. Perkara ini bertambah teruk apabila kita sebagai pelancong tak berapa nk reti membaca tulisan dan memahami bahasa mereka. Oleh sebab itu, hanya makanan yang common saja yang dimakan seperti onigiri tuna mayonais di kedai serbaneka menjadi target. Pengajaran: bersyukur dengan kepelbagaian dan kemudahan makanan di tanahair dan menghargai segala usaha umat Islam di bumi Jepun yang gigih menentukan jenis makanan yg boleh dimakan.
5. Langit tak selamanya cerah. Kadang-kadang hujan turun tanpa diduga. Namun, sejurus selepas itu panas terik lantas menjelma. Pengajaran: Life is full of uncertainties. Tak semua yang kita sangka akan terjadi, dan tak semua yang kita tak sangka tak akan berlaku. 

Setakat itu sahaja. Berikut merupakan beberapa gambar sepanjang trip ini.

Alief dan Khairy time jalan di Akiba

Nina, sorang lagi tour guide di Tokyo

Large scale Gundam di Daiba

Disneyleng Tokyo

Visit Sumpu Castle Museum, Shizuoka (Thanks NAI!)

Majlis bacaan Yaasin dan makan2 oleh pelajar Malaysia di Gifu. Langkah kanan ;)

From left: OPBen 0809B, Khairy, me, OPFaiz 0910C dan pekjah

Tour guide Hiroshima, Azri

Lunch di Hiroshima

Gambaran keadaan kota Hiroshima selepas dibom

Wailalliqa' maassalamah.

.parents.

Assalamualaikum.

Last weekend, most Malaysians celebrated Mother's Day. In social medias, people posted all sorts of wishes and pictures to show their deepest thoughts and appreciations to a person whom they call mother. The person who has sacrificed a lot. A lot.

"الجنّة تحت أقدام الأمّهات"

Always be grateful and thankful that we are still given the feeling of love towards our mothers or parents generally, as some people no longer have this feeling inside themselves. They no longer develop the love and care, thus ignoring their parents in all aspects. Even worse if they feel having their parents around them are like burden to them. We are aware of stories of people who neglect their parents like the story of Tanggang, and we know the tragic endings.

"And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age (while) with you, say not to them (so much as), "uff" and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word."    [17:23]

Do appreciate and pray for them while they are still alive and if they already passed away, then keep on praying for them. They can largely contribute to our 'share' towards gaining access to Jannah. Subhanallah!

If we ever have the urge to go against them without a concrete reason, then remember, "what goes around, comes around". We are going to be parents someday and our children might do the same to us.

Ultimately, it is not easy to become good parents. It is not a one-day training but an ongoing process and it starts even before a person gets married. We need to develop ourselves in all aspects especially in the things we want our children to acquire. Generally, if we want our children to be good, then we need to be good and viceversa. Seriously.

Keep on praying for the best for everything as we are from Allah and to Allah we will return.

Wailalliqa' maassalamah.