Sonnet 1

The sky is blue, the sea is too,

He is The Creator of me and you.

Life’s a surprise, life is short,

You want paradise? Obey your Lord.

Always remember Him even when you’re at the helm,

Fulfill His orders without even thinking of questioning them.

When He calls for daily prayers, don’t say you won’t,

Because He can see us, even when others don’t.

We’re happy or sad, we’re frustrated or glad,

He understands us better than our dad.

So, why ignore Him when he never fails to remember us?

Recite the Quran and the Dhikr even when we’re on the bus.

He told us that our enemy is syaitan,

So why follow him? Haven’t we read the Quran?

He sent us Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as our guidance,

So why are we not following his (peace be upon him) footsteps? Isn’t that nonsense?

This poem is for me and you,

But reading the Quran is a better thing for you to do.

Anak Muda di Rantauan Tak Semuanya Pulang ke Desa

I guess it’s still not too late to wish everyone a blissful Eid ey. Well just so you know that this year is the very first time I celebrated Eid without my family. It ain’t so bad though. At least I have my friends here with me. Honestly, celebrating eid in Egypt feels no big difference compared to celebrating it in Malaysia because the huge amount of Malaysian students in this country. There are plenty of open houses and we still get the chance to eat Malaysian cuisine such as rendang, kuah kacang, nasi impit and numerous types of kuih raya. I think, apart from the fact that we’re celebrating eid without our family, the only regret is that we don’t get duit raya from anyone here.

On the 1^st day of Syawal, my friends and I went to ARMA(Asrama Rumah Melayu Abbasiah) to pray Solat sunat eidulfiti there. For those who don’t know, ARMA is like the Malaysian hall in Egypt. We took a cab and arrived at ARMA around 7 a.m. plus and around 8 a.m. we prayed and listened to the khutbah(sermon). After that only were we allowed to enjoy the foods. ARMA was flooded with Malaysians so we had to queue up. I didn’t even have the chance to taste the rendang there. Well at least I got the satay.

Later that night, my housemates and I made nasi impit, kuah kacang, rendang and kuih cornflakes. Well actually Shamil was the one capable of doing all those dishes. The rest just helped a bit. Quite awkward it was because usually people cook for eid before eid but us? We cooked after eid. Shamil said, “biasalah, raya perantau” and I added, “raya perantau bujang ah”. Long story short, everything was a success (based on bachelor’s standard of course) although the kuih cornflakes were made without its cups and some of the nasi impit were a bit too soft.

Celebrating eid in Egypt isn’t so bad. We have many open houses between Malaysians. It feels almost like home. So, to those who study in Egypt but still hasn’t the chance to celebrate eid in Egypt, I think you guys should try it. Besides, when else would you get the chance to experience the feeling of celebrating it without your family if not while you’re thousands miles away from home?

Roses are red violets are blue, forgive and forget, we're all human too.
Wherever we are, whatever we do, don't forget to pray that He'll bless me and you.
Life's a surprise, life is short.
You want paradise? Obey your Lord.
Not just in Ramadhan, not just on Friday.
... Tapi dalam apa jua keadaan, tak kira gembira ke sedih ...

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Summer has come and passed and winter is just around the corner. It’s been more than two months since I landed my feet on Malaysia after my first year in Egypt. Quite a long holiday I had and should’ve been useful to me. Well I chose the right word by saying ‘should’ve’ cause I don’t think it did. Not that I wasted 100 % of my time but I just don’t think I made the best out of it. Apart from the holy month, it’s not too harsh if I say I’ve been useless. I barely helped (but I still did) my mother with some house chores or my father. Not so bad due to the fact that I’m a son not a daughter but still, what good do I do if I came back home and not help them.

Think that’s bad enough? Think again mate. Not just did I rarely exercised, I also gained ‘some’ weight! Don’t worry how much, it’s just a figure but it just shows how lazy I was. A few days ago I played futsal and about 20 minutes of playing was enough for me to ‘deliver the baby’. Luckily nothing came out of my mouth though but the next few games I was back in shape brother. Give me another two hours and I’ll play like Steven Gerrard(‘s granny). Plus, yesterday (25/9/2010) I played football and I mean FOOTBALL. You know that game with 11 players each team, a referee and two linesmen? Yeah, that football. After almost two years I didn’t touch green grass, finally I had that chance again with my eldest brother and his ex-schoolmates. Frustratingly though that my weight didn’t change a bit. Maybe those fats were already turned into muscles so it replaced the weight of the fat.

Enough of my holiday stories. Wake me up when September ends would ya? Coz that means I’m just a week away from flying back to Egypt. Mixed emotion is what I could say about what I feel. Anyhow, class has already started last Saturday and I’m still in Malaysia. I’m a bit worried though that I might not be able to catch up with what I’ll miss. Hopefully my friends can teach me what they’ve learned while I’m still smelling Proton Saga’s smoke. People say that second year’s going to be tougher. Give me a break. I couldn’t even finish revising Physiology of Cardiovascular System in more than two months. So, now I’m really worried (at least I do feel worried though I’m still wasting my time doing something else) about the prospect of not being able to get mumtaz this year. I don’t wanna disappoint my parents for the second time running especially not my father. “No sweat mate, you’ll do fine.” *ignore me, I’m talking to myself*

Actually, if I get credit in my exam it is already good enough. Getting mumtaz is just a morale booster. What matters most is when I do become a doctor coz I’m not gonna treat my patients with my exam results, I’ll treat them based on what I’ve learned. So, getting maqbul(credit) and understanding well what we’ve learned is better than getting mumtaz but just by memorizing notes instead of truly understanding what we’ve learned. You’re not gonna do any kind of surgery while referring to the notes you memorized before exams would ya? You have to do it by understanding well what your patient’s problem actually is coz some things aren’t written in books. Am I not right?

So, hopefully this year would be better than last year. Less playing, less time wasting, less ‘online’ing but more studying. And let’s not forget that in the end, He decides everything so make sure we don’t forget Him. Not just for the sake of exam only but for the sake of our life, our family’s, friends’ and those we loves’ here and hereafter. May The Only One be pleased with us.

~Ya Allah, mumtaz untuk Muaz dan rakan-rakannya. Ameen~

Viva Alexandria

It’s hard to see the whole house wake up so early in the morning. However, that was what happened last Wednesday (16^th June 2010). Wasn’t really a surprise as some of us didn’t sleep at all that night (probably too excited about the trip to Alexandria). After fajr prayer, we (me, Shah, Sob, Ali, Omar, Himma and Hassan) got ready, bathed, perfumed, dressed up and went to Syabrawi as we were to meet Fiq, Shamil, B and Zarul there. While waiting for all four of them, we had breakfast (makrunah) first at Abu Hajar stall. Shamil and B arrived just as we were about to finish our breakfast. Shamil, B, Ali and Hassan took a cab and went to Ramses Station first to buy the tickets, Fiq was still getting ready and Zarul had to wait for him while the rest of us waited for a bus which arrived a few minutes later. When we arrived at Ramses, the tickets were already bought and not long after that Zarul and Fiq arrived too.

                                             
                                                                Ramses Station 

So, off we went. There’s not so much to say about what happened in the train as I slept most of the three hours throughout the journey. It was still early when we arrived (around 730-800 a.m.). Shamil went to buy the tickets for the return trip first before we all walked. We didn’t really know where to go as it was too early to go to the beach. Yet we still took a tramco to the beach but just to have a walk along it. After a not-so-interesting ‘walk’, we decided to go to Di Stefano Mall as some of us still haven’t had breakfast yet and to get some cool air inside the mall.

                                                                 Di Stefano Mall

Around 11a.m., we went to Bibliotheca Alexandria. It was big and sort of unique. We had to buy tickets to enter the building though. There were plenty of books there (of course there were, it’s a library). We weren’t really there to read or do some research, obviously, we just walked inside the library without any purpose. The funny thing is every time I look at a book I thought I was interested in, I just get bored reading it. When it was time for zuhur prayer, we went to a mosque near the library.

                                                              Bibliotheca Alexandria 

After zuhur, we went to the beach for our ‘main event’. We went to the Montazah Beach. The beach had many entrances which we had to pay to get in. We walked along the beach, well actually on the sideways off the beach, to decide which entrance we should take. We picked one, got in and got changed. The spot wasn’t so good though but we didn’t want some bunch of stupid Egyptians barbarians to spoil our mood. It took only a while for us to get into the water. It’s been a long while since the last time I went into the sea. The water was salty, what else do you expect from seawater, yet it still took the hot weather out of me. It was exciting and fun not just the water but to spend times with your friends. We made sand castle together, ‘buried’ Ali, ‘mermaided’ Shamil and played sand ball (to let out the frustration of not being able to play snowball). We stopped and took a shower around 7 p.m. and waited for the sunset though only Himma had the chance to watch it till the end. The rest of us were too busy ‘posing’, packing things and getting dressed. Still to see the sun from the beach was beautiful. We took a tramco to Di Stefano Mall for maghrib prayer and dinner.

After dinner, we took a cab to Sidi Gaber Station. Our train was at 10.15 p.m. Again, I slept most of the three hours throughout the journey. We arrived at Ramses Station around two in the morning. We took a tramco to Syabrawi but me, Shah, Sob, Ali, Omar, Himma and Hassan stopped halfway as it was closer to our house. Alexandria wasn’t really so good but how often do you get to go to the sea let alone with your friends? Kind of reminds me of Langkawi. At least it’s better than just sitting home doing nothing. 

 

Montazah Beach

Engineer Turned Doctor

Alhamdulillah. Praise be to Allah. Finally, I managed to finish my 1^st year in University Al-Azhar. The last paper for this year’s final exam was Biochemistry. Though it was quite tough, I hope all my efforts will be enough for me to get mumtaz, or at least maqbul so that I can pursue my studies for the 2^nd year at this university. Its holiday now but I didn’t know what to do. So, I decided to write this post.

Actually, becoming a doctor was no longer my ambition since I was in form 1. So, medical course wasn’t really what I had in mind whatsoever going to Egypt. When I was in form 5, I decided to become a chemical engineer and to pursue my studies in England. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to do so. Instead, I went to UiTM Shah Alam and took Asasi Kejuruteraan. Even till the final few weeks before the Mid Sem Exam I still haven’t made up my mind yet. Egypt and England are two different countries but the difference between engineering and medicine are even more significant. My father did told me that if His willing, he wanted one of his sons/daughters to be a doctor but I know that if I did it because of him instead of my own will, I might flop and things could get worse. So, I thought about it for quite a long while. I can say it was a hard decision but I decided to go to Egypt and that was only after Eidul Fitri which was like a month before I was due to depart. So to Egypt I went. P/S: Considering that it was University Al-Azhar, made things slightly easier for me to decide.

So, here I am now waiting for the Final Result. Hopefully I’ll succeed. It wasn’t so bad though. Besides learning everything about human bodies, we could appreciate the Greatness of Allah. How perfectly did he create us as he said in The Book. Sometimes it also makes me think how ungrateful we are. He created us, gave us an earth to live on, plants and animals to eat, yet, instead of saying a simple Alhamdulillah, we keep on complaining. May Allah forgive us all for our weaknesses, ameen.

At first, it was kinda hard to understand my professors’ English, but then I manage to cope with it. Studying medicine isn’t really hard. We just need to have the eagerness to know more about human body and of course we need to study well. Undeniably, the pressure of studying overseas is difficult but not impossible to overcome. We must not let ourselves to give up. It is important that we choose the right friends as our family are not there with us. So, friends are the one we rely on but don’t let them put bad influence on us. Plus, we must have a specific time for us to study. Don’t put too much pressure on ourselves yet don’t ‘relax’ too much. It’s best that we read the topics to be discussed in lecture before we enter the lecture or at least read t again after the lecture on the same day. This might help us to understand better and so that we won’t forget it easily. Studying in group is also a good habit as studying alone might make us sleepy (based on personal experience). Not missing lectures is also an important thing because some points discussed in the lectures are not present in the book or some wrong points in the book may be corrected during lectures. Besides, sometimes the professors will stress out which points are important. As for motivation, always remember our family especially mom and dad. It’ll help us significantly trust me. Most importantly, don’t forget The One who created us, who made it possible for us to have this opportunity, who, in the end, decides either we succeed or we fail. At least we should perform his obligations five times a day ON TIME. Read Yassin after Fajr prayer, perform tahajjud if possible, read the Quran, help others in their studies, remind others of what to do and what not to do with no other intention than to please Him and without forgetting to remind ourselves.

My 1^st year wasn’t as how I wrote above. That was just some experience I learned and want to share with those who are reading this. InsyaAllah, I will practice what I wrote in the 2^nd year. I’ll put more effort and try harder.

                                                ~Ya Allah, mumtaz untuk Muaz. Ameen~

GIZA ( PART 1)

Yesterday (9/2/2010), me, ali, abe, naqib, sob n shah went to giza. stepped out of ur house around 9.a.m. otw we bought some 'banin'. then we got on da 'tremco' (microbus) to ramses. at ramses we took da metro to giza station. luckily da metro was'nt so packed yet we still had to stand. then we arrived at giza around 10 a.m.++. at 1st we were wondering how to get to da pyramid from da metro station. as we were about to cross da road to take a bus, a treco driver offered us a ride to da pyramid. Alhamdulillah~.

da tremco driver could speak english(not so fluent though) but we cud understand wat he tried to say. he said he's gonna introduce us to someone who cud arrange our trip.

we arrived at some kkind of a village. there, someone was waiting 4 us. he spoke in english n explained to us about da trip. at 1st his offer was a bit 'high' so i pss,pss,pss n then we agreed wit 90 pound(ticket to enter da pyramid area, ride on da camel, pictures). we agreed to start our trip after zohor.

so, after zohor we began. we rode on da camel from his house. me n abe rode on da same camel, alii wit shah n naqib wit sob. stopped at a few places to take pictures. satisfying.

then we went on. there was another gate for da entrance to da area really close to da pyramid dat we cud touch it. from there we walked. on da way to da pyramids we took some pictures around da area. then we took some pictures of us wit da pyramid. we climbed it a few steps as we were'nt allowed to climb any higher (tho i really wanted to). we just took pictures of us wit da biggest three pyramids only as we were afraid we myte won't make it for asar prayer if we went to all nine pyramids.

then we went to da sphynx (don't know how da correct spelling is). but we could'nt touch it. everyone were only allowed to look n take pictures of it from a distance. then around 3p.m.++, we ended our trip. went to look 4 a bus. took da bus (no 913 in arabic letters) to da metro station. went to ramses. performed our asar prayer at a mosque there. after dat we bought ice-creams. really delicious especially mango flavour. u cud een taste da fruit like u're eating da fruit itself instead of an ice-cream. HONESTLY.

after dat we waited 4 a bus to haiyu sabi' (no. 710). we waited quite long. had to stand on da bus, again, until we reached haiyu sabi'.

THE END~

P/s: Cost:1)tremco from haiyu sabi' to ramses = 1.25 pound

2)metro from ramses to giza= 1 pound

3)tremco from metro giza to pyramid= 1 pound

4)da trip around da pyramid+ticket etc.= 90 pound

5)bus from pyramid to metro giza= 0.50 pond

6)metro from giza to ramses= 1 pound

7)bus from ramses to haiyu sabi'= 0.50 pound

TOTAL=100 +/- pound (food, drinks n souvenirs excluded)

i.e. around RM70

TO BE CONTINUED...

Night at Nile

yesterday i went to nile river. i went at nyte after isya' with ali,naqib,sob n shah. but 1stly, earlier in da afternoon i went to city star to meet zaimu n gandhi. i was late coz i tot they were gonna be late but wen i called dem they were alrdy in da cab to city star. i had to go to abas al-aqad 1st to draw some money(later i found out dat there was a hsbc atm machine at city star: da same row as hallmark 4 those who still don't know). then i walked to city star from there. tot it was gona b cold so i was wearing ma jacket. unlucky me, it was kinda hot. they were waiting 4 me at da food court. finally i was able to meet zaimu here(egypt). he was wit gandhi's friend. we ate hardeez(evrythng was on gandhi:thanx gandhi). then we walked around bla,bla,bla wateva people normally do at a shopping complex, stopped 4 asar prayer n then went to spinney bla, bla, bla. tehn it was almost magrib(around 5p.m.) i called ali if our plan to nile river was 'on'. he told me to ask shah n naqib n they said 'on' but ali said "nantilah aku pikirkan".
"pikirkan???? dah nak magrib ah Li. ko nak pk apa lagi??"

"ko jadi x g nile ni muaz?" gandhi said. "Hmm~ xtaw la" was ma reply. they wanted to go to naseer. so i said "jomlah. kang aku balik kalo x jd g nil, sia2 je. baik aku kikut korg" so i 4llowed the m to naseer. on our way to naseer, in da cab, i saw a very beautiful mosque. subhanallah!
about half an hour from city star we arrived at naseer. solat magrib n then went to adidas boutique. p/s:gandhi n his fren were under JPA scholarship, so duit pon MASYUUK~. gandi's fren said "00o0oish! murah ni gandi. 400 "JE". hahaha!!! i laughed wit zaimu. isaid "ikut hati memang la b'kenan, zaimu. tapi ikut poket: kempunan~

then ali called me "ko katne muaz?" i said "ko nak g x?". ali replied "aku ok je". "ok. ko grak ngan bdk2 lain, aku tunggu kat Sadat terus" i said. OK!
so, bla,bla,bla~ i went to sadat, "ALONE" from naseer(it was da FIRST TYM i went there). "nak cari stesen metro lagi, sorg2 plak. papehal smayg dlu ah. pas smayg baru cari". piece of cake.was'nt so hard to look 4 it. bot da ticket, got on da train(after wondering which one was da ryte train). arried at sadat a few minutes later. waited there for more than half an hour(not less than 10 trains), still ma ali n da boys were nowhere to b found. call ali, "baru sampai ramsis ni, tadi jam". Hmm~

finally they arrived. shah wnt to da gents 1st then only did we walked to da river( bout 10 minutes walking from da station).SUBHANALLAH! MASHAALLAH!. beautiful, seriously. we took some pictures 1st, walked aroun 4 a while nn then chose a boat to ride. had to wait till da boat was full. then, here we go (^_^)! FREEZING!!!

The following part will be written in malay, senang sket nak cter n senang sket korg nak paham.
dalam bot tu smntara tunggu penuh, adalah sorg dua minah arab ni joget2 plak atas kapal tu. memang benda biasa pon kalo org arab joget atas kapal. siap pasang muzik lagi. tapi aku tengook memamng nyampah gila ah. come on ah. dah la pakai tudung(tp baju still ketat). memalukan nama agama islam lah. korg cakap bahasa al-quran, tapi perangai cmni ke? nasib baik yang joget tu sorg berisi sorg gigi bersepai. kira tak teruji lah iman aku. bdk2 lain pon pndg tmpt lain. wtpe nak tgk. dah la x lawa(itu bkn persoalannya), wat tambah dosa je. aku pikir2 balik, kalaulah Allah takdirkan nak timpakan musibah(kapal karam ke apa ke) x ke naya. risau gak benarnya.

pastu kapal pon gerak. cm boring je. tapi lawa lah pemandangan dia. gerak3, dalam kapal tu ada gak bdk laki joget. tengah2 joget punya joget tiba2...gadoh. PULAK DAH. amek ko. dreba kapal siap bawak batang besi nak leraikan dorg. ini baru best (^_^). lagi syok dari minah arab tu joget. lama gak nak leraikan dorg tu. padahal bdk kcik je lagi. bdk skola lg rasanya. tp lama2 lerai gak. pastu dreba kapal ajak satu round lg coz round td ada 'tragedi'. tapi kena tambah satu pound(hara asal 5 pond sorg). orait, jalan satu round lagi. elok plak dua bdk td. joget sama2 balik. x paham aku style org arab ni.

habis naik kapal, kitorg pon balik. dalam kol 12+ smpai sabi'. singgah makan togen jap. pastu balik umah.

Kesimpulannya: nile memang lawa, tp elok korg tempah kapal yg kecik2yang bole naik korg2 je. so xdelah minah arab joget, xde gadoh2. bole enjoy sesame korg. xdelah malu2, segan2 ngan org arab. OK? Hakuna matata~