Kuala Lumpur 2014 (1)

This year I want to take photos of my beloved Kuala Lumpur as much as I can. Growing up, I realized that my beloved city have gone through so many changes. I wish I have the photo of every changes... but I don't.

So, that's what started the mission :)

I hope you enjoy the photos although it was taken by my not so 'canggih' phone camera. Unfortunately, as much as I love photography, I dread carrying the big camera around...
I'll try to be a more dedicated photographer... ngeee...

 

These pictures are already on my instagram. Reuploading them here :)

Enjoy!

The Petronas Twin Towers.

Photo taken from the best position to view the tower :)

National Mosque @ dusk.

Entering Kuala Lumpur from the North via PLUS Highway.

It was a sunny & windy day at Menara TM.

The iconic Masjid Jamek Kuala Lumpur

 Colourful shop lots in the middle of the city.

Giving new life to the old buildings.

Menara TM in the evening.

Dato' Keramat Lake Garden in the morning.

 KLCC garden in the evening.

View from the Suria KLCC food court.

 Titiwangsa Lake Garden in the morning.

Colourful water fountain @ KLCC

Beautiful sky & the Jelatek parking lot.

View from in front of Menara TM.

Pasar Dato' Keramat.

Old & new in one picture :)

P/S: Don't say anything...  I know... I'll start lugging that big camera around... :P
Are those horizons not horizontal? Another thing to improve... hmmm...

Muslim Women & Hijab... A mighty challenge..

Lately, I saw a lot of comments in Facebook on the hijab of muslimat (muslim women). I agree with all the comments because they are all about the truth. But, I also acknowledge the challenges that we face, as muslim women in complying with the actual definition of hijab.

* Most of the captions in the images are in Malay... let me know if you need translation :)

What we naturally like, as women is as in the picture on the left while what is required from us is like the picture on the right.

 

So, this is where the challenges begin. 

Where all the tests of our iman is put on us... 

The tests which required all the strengths (of heart) that we have..

TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT.

 

As someone who has been up & down the stages 2-7 all my life (but most of it is at stage 5) and I have only been consistently staying at the stage 6-7 for the past 3-4 years, I can say that I understand these challenges.

We women like to look beautiful & stylish...

We also like to be praised for it, even though we sometimes deny this :)

But, this is the truth.

And this is also the reason why we have a lot of challenges in fulfilling the requirement of hijab.

 

Plus, there are so many female fashions out there that is not syariah compliant.

The fashions, they look beautiful, so stylish, so fashionable, so modern, so tempting...

and our weak heart always fell for it...

So, what can we do about this?

What can we do so that we comply with the requirement of hijab, but also look presentable?

First thing first, we do not want to be like what is captioned in the image below:

and please avoid the extremes...

• Extremely tight (leggings, skinnies are definitely a no-no)
• See through clothing (because it just defeat the purpose)

In this case, I guess what we need to learn first, is the actual definition of hijab.

The image below summarized the definition quite nicely (except we don't have to look like we're marching when we walk... just don't sway too much)

 

Then, find some of the examples out there... the examples of muslimat who dress up nicely & still syariah compliant :) We have a lot of professional muslimat to look up to...

All pretty & successful...

Whatever it is... moderation is the key.

Not too much, not too little... 
Please also remember that, sloppy is not equal to moderate :P

We can do this you know... be syariah compliant.
All we need is the strength of the heart.
And we women are already a strong creation...
This should not be such a big challenge to us until we cannot improve ourselves even bit by bit.
Just put our heart into the determination to climb up the stages.
And...
Find the circle of friends who will support us with this cause :)

To those who are still looking for the strength to take on the first step of hijab, I hope the answer from Ustaz Azhar Idrus in the image below will open your heart.

We can do this! Lets beat these challenges together!

Speechless still climbing...
Pray for me.

As usual, please correct me whenever I am wrong...

Thank you! Love y'all! Muah mmmuahhhhh!!!

*Images credit from FB & Internet...

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Easily the best movie of 2013...

It has everything... adventures, actions, humours, wits, courage... and even a love story... auwwww...

This movie adaptation made me want to read the book...

Tauriel, Legolas & Bard made me want to sign up for an archery class...

and the landscapes made me want to book a flight to New Zealand like, right now!

Gosh!

Please just go watch it!

Chef Michael Smith...

always gets me into a cooking mode :)
'Chef Michael's Kitchen' is definitely my favourite TV show for the moment.
The way he cooks is so simple and he showed us how we can be creative in the kitchen.
I love it!
I can't wait to get his cookbook... hihihiiiii...

Chef Michael with his desirable spice rack :)

So, we won't forget...

I have had enough with all these nonsense...
Nonsense answers...
We are all well educated people, yet they tried to treat us like idiots...

This entry is not specific to any political party...
Instead, this is a reminder to all leaders...

DON'T SAY STUPID THINGS!
WE, THE CITIZENS, ARE NOT STUPID PEOPLE!

 

 

 

 

Seems like, since the latest election, a lot of prices went up...
Petrol, sugar, property assessment tax in KL... (http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/commentary/263279-tong-kooi-ong-blogs-dbkls-200-assessment-hike-is-not-right.html)
Next is LRT & monorel...

All in less than a year...
After this, what's next?

With all these prices going up & up, added with all the ridiculous answers from the ministers, my blood pressure is definitely going up too... up to a boiling point.

I don't even want to talk about property price, crime rate, social problems... Malaysian education...

 

There is a saying... 'MELAYU MUDAH LUPA'...
So, I'm putting these few examples in here because we really need to remember this...
So we shall not forget in lets say, the next 5 years?

We shall not easily forget this... not until this kind of stupidity stops...

Hopefully things will change for the better soon...
Hopefully all these cockiness & selfishness will stop soon too..

P/S: I know the examples I put in here are from one side only, but for the other side... don't be too proud of yourself. You are just '2 X 5'.

Thank you very much.



The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

I can't wait for this movie to come out in November 2013.

I love the first movie so much and I hope the second one will be much better.

Who doesn't love a tough beautiful kind girl kick-a** and winning a game with a strategically brilliant kind boy who has a crush on her since forever?

I love it. Don't tell me that you don't :P

My favorite my scene from the first movie was when they decided to eat the Knighlock berries.

Such a rebellious underdogs! Brilliant! Just brilliant!

Anyway... for now, I'll just have to be patient and accompany myself with the second book while waiting for the second movie. And, to lure you to flood the cinema the end of this November, I present to you the trailer of the 75th Annual Hunger Games - Catching Fire.

May the odds be ever in your favour!

 

Shanghai, China

I got a chance to travel to Shanghai last September. I've always loved traveling to China... I don't know why. I think it's most probably because I think that the country is so BIG... so many places to explore. In this case, I think I would enjoy traveling to Russia & USA too...

Anyway, Shanghai is a big city. Bigggg... they can afford to have big roads complete with a special lane for 2 wheels and another special lane for pedestrians.

And they have a lot of trees! Big big trees! I like!

My experience:

• Honest taxi drivers. Even though a few people warned me to be careful with the taxi drivers, I didn't feel cheated at all. They all used the metres for the taxi fare. I searched on Google map how long it would take for me to reach the hotel from airport so that I'll have some ideas if I was being cheated. Google map said it will take about 30 minutes... I reached hotel in about 35 minutes. No cheating there right? Nope!
• Food... I've always loved Chinese food. The canteen at the plant served vegetarian food. Nice... and there was a HALAL stall just across the Radisson Blu hotel. Lucky me!
• A lot of handmade items... clothes, bags, table cloth, table runner... things like that... and cheap imitation products. But, as usual... bring your bargaining skill with you :)
• The city is clean... Yup, clean... I'm impressed. 
• The city is full of modern architecture... and also I didn't get to go to The Bund. But, I'll go there next time I go to Shanghai. From pictures, The Bund looks awesome!
• The weather on my third & fourth day there was so lovely... the sun was shining, the wind was blowing, the air was cool, the trees were dancing... I was definitely smiling... Happy!
• All nice people.. not so friendly but the ones I met, were nice people. So, it all comes to that. The people are the ones that makes a traveling experience a wonderful one :)
• But... the driving... Fast & Furious like driving... I kept hitting my imaginary emergency break at the passenger sit. OMG! I just hope they don't drive like that if they came to Malaysia.

I didn't take much picture during my time in Shanghai... Why was that??? I was busy soaking in the view of the trees, the sky, the rivers and the buildings... I'll remember to take more pictures in my next trip :)

For now, I hope you'll enjoy these few pics that I managed to take.