Happy 1431 Hijrah Everyone…

I welcomed Maal Hijrah with prayers on evening yesterday… and also with hope as high as the sky.

I have real good Maal Hijrah memories for the first 3 years in secondary school. Maal Hijrah was an event that I look forward to. Every year we performed nasyid at Islamic Center in Kuala Lumpur. The first year, we sang nasyid together with delegates from other government departments. In the 3rd year, we got to sing on stage in-front of Sultan Azlan Shah… that was a great experience… and we got a waqaf Al-Quran from Egypt government as a souvenir...

The first 3 years in secondary school, I was really active with my nasyid choir… we were so cool… nerdy cool… hahahaaaa…

I still remember all the Maal Hijrah songs that we sang… I don’t remember the titles though… so, absorb to heart the lyrics below. If you want to hear the song, maybe I’ll sing and upload them here… I have to warn you though. That might bring 'thunderstorms'… heheheheeee…

* The lyrics are all in Malay… sorry…

The last song is my favorite :)

*****

1 Muharram detik permulaan
Perkiraan tahun Islam Hijrah
Perpindahan Nabi & umat Islam
Dari kota Mekah ke kota Madinah

Atas keyakinan & iman yg teguh
Kaum Muhajirin & Ansar bersatu
Rela berkorban, harta & nyawa
Demi menegakkan Islam tercinta

Hijrah itu pengorbanan
Hijrah itu perjuangan
Hijrah itu persaudaraan
Hijrah membentuk perpaduan

Oleh itu, mari semua
Kita sambut Maal Hijrah
Tekadkan semangat, tegakkan syiar Islam
Untuk sepanjang zaman...
Untuk sepanjang zaman...

Untuk sepanjang zamannnnnn...

Hijrah!
*****

Hijrah Muhammad Rasullullah
Dari Mekah ke Madinah
Membela kehidupan ummah
Hilang gentar, datang rahmat.

Muliamu dan amanahmu
Mengkagumkan dunia maju
Tunjuklah semua yang ragu
Mengakui Allah yang satu

Riangnya hati kaum Ansar
Menyambut Rasul yang berbudi
Basah airmata mengalir
Terharukan wajah suci

*****

Berhijrah dari derita
Berhijrah dari sengsara
Berhijrah kita dari berdosa
Berhijrah dari noda

Hidup ini kan kita isi
Kekuatan tanpa terhenti
Menuju arah redha Ilahi
Pelihara harga diri

Maal Hijrah seribu erti
Bersamalah Hijrah sejati
Berhijrah sepenuh hati
Itulah Hijrah hakiki

Dalam hijrah ada perpaduan
Dalam hijrah ada kemesraan
Dalam hijrah ada keamanan

Hiduplah Maal Hijrah!

*****

So, happy Maal Hijrah to all my fellow muslims. May this new year brings more meaning and success to all of us.

Coke + Mentos Rocket

Ok, I don't have cable tv... shocking right? Nah, not really since I found out that quite a number of people don't have cable tv. What I missed most by not subscribing to Astro? NatGeo & Discovery Channel of course... huhuhuuuuu...

Anyway, I caught this interesting episode of Discovery Channel's 'Time Warp' while I was on the flight back to KL. It was so interesting. I've always heard that we should not consume mentos & coke together, but never really have enough curiosity to try it on my own. Luckily, there's Discovery Channel & NatGeo... I can just watch other people do the experiment (and this is why I'm not a scientist... mystery solved :P )

You can find the whole episode online but the thought that I want to share is in the video I uploaded below. Pay attention to the time between 0:30 - 1:40...

This experiment triggered my thought.

Why can't mentos and coke be used to launch rocket then? It'll be interesting to see that happen and there won't be so much CO2 released to the atmosphere due to oil generated rocket launching.

Just a crazy thought... but I think it might work :)

Yo thoughts wandering outside of the box, come back in!

No way! The box is so square :P

Have a great day all free minds!

Unwinding...

2nd big milestone achieved... not error free, but without major issue. My deepest gratitude to ALLAH for all his help & guidance and to my dearest mom for her continous prayer. Also a big thank you for my Korean counterpart for their great cooperation and teamwork and to my team leader & teammates for all your support.

After 2 weeks of a somehow stressful period, I finally get some time to calm down, before the next chaotic events started. Which will be soon... But time flies so fast, that period will also past so quickly. All I need to do is to do my best, persevere and focus. Keep my course on the objective. I just hope I'll get to my target.

I've been unwinding yesterday & today... I wish I have more time to relax, but no... that time will come muchhhhh later... I keep telling myself, focus... focus... because it is so hard to focus when I'm hit with tiredness...

However, in my busy schedule I will always try to find time to update my blog for my left & right brain need to be balanced :)

Have a nice life y'all. Remember, if you're in stress, take a break!

MH - Malaysian Hospitality

That's definitely one of the reasons why I prefer to fly Malaysia Airlines (MAS)... patriotism aside and when cost is not in question :)

I have not been on many airlines... just a few... and comments about airlines that I haven't been on, I collected from other people. Above all, in my opinion MAS is the best. You wonder why?

I'm not sure. I believe, mostly because I'm a Malaysian and being on MH flight makes me feel at home. But seriously, MAS provides a good in-flight services, whether you're in an economy or business class. I'm sure there are some people out there who had bad experience with MAS, but to be honest, I never had that kind of experience. I hope I will never. All these time, my experiences flying on MH flights has always been pleasant and calm. The steward and stewardess were friendly, polite, gentle and they speak softly which is very important in a close and compact environment.

One time, on my flight to the UK, I was surprised with a mug of 'teh tarik' even when all I asked for was some biscuits for an evening snack. That was an unforgettable experience... the little things always make an impression :)

However, I must tell you... the main reason why I would always choose Malaysia Airlines is that they put a disclaimer in their menu... all foods served on MH flights are HALAL.

Phewww... that's the biggest relief.

All of us have different reasons for choosing an airline, cost especially. But, if cost is not a problem and especially if you're muslim and Malaysian, do choose Malaysia Airlines because no other airlines can understand Malaysian better. As for muslims, flying MAS is really worry free. Trust me.

Even if you're not Malaysian nor muslim, you should still choose MAS to experience Malaysian Hospitality... they really demonstrate how we Malaysian treat our guests :) which is GOOD...

Although, I do wish MH in-flight cabins can be as good as SIA...

Before I sign out, I would like to express my admiration to all 'smooth' pilots who had made my landing experience pleasant. They showed that landing can be done smoothly and gently and I've always admired them for that. To Captain Benedict Jody (I hope I got his last name right), captain of flight MH65, Incheon to KLIA via KK, thank you for the 2 times of smooth landings. You're the man!

I'm promoting MAS :) Kindly visit http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/ for flight reservation.

My first winter...

and my first snow of course...

Can you imagine how 'rusa masuk kampung' I was... hahahaaaaa... so funny! Everyone was running trying to get away from the snow... Like how we run away from rain, finding shades... Not me... I found an open space, spread my palms open, trying to catch the little snow balls...

Snow, I always imagined it would feel like grated ice, but really it is soft like cotton...

I wish my family was here... especially my beloved mommy...

Cik Ct insisted that I check how the snow flakes looks like... so I did... without paying attention at people passing by or whether they were looking at me... who cares? I was enjoying my first snow. How cool is that? So cool!

Observing the snowflakes, I found that there are a few patterns of them... they are so tiny, I only managed to identify one or two and it looked something like this....

Yesterday, it was quite warm. I think it was about 0 degree... never thought I would classify 0 degree as warm... but it is warm if compared to the other days when it was -4 degrees and the wind was blowing... and today it rained almost the whole day...

Tomorrow... maybe it'll be snowing...

I was hoping for a white winter... you know, when the white snow covered the pathway, the leaveless trees wrapped in those soft white 'cottons'... but, I didn't get my chance. But it's ok... I enjoy the cold weather anyway :)

I also enjoy wearing my old big long water resistent coat with hood. It has 3 pockets... the inside pocket to keep my important things... 2 outside pockets... one for my gloves, the other for my long scarf... It's a perfect coat for me. As kampung as I am, I wear 2 layers of coat with gloves covered hands & mafleur wrapped around my neck while the local ladies wore blouse with skirts & long stokings... plus a layer of knee length coat. That's all...

I bet I'll freeze if I dressed up like that.

This trip has been wonderful for me... as well as the last autumn. I always know that I enjoy spring and autumn the most, but winter is also not so bad. I only wish I had time to walk around to capture the beauty of winter...

Maybe some other winter, some other place...

Thinking of winter sonata... so romantic...

Forever dreamy signing off... nite nite...