Saturday, March 30, 2019

The Christchurch Mosque Shooting

it was one of the heaviest weight I felt in my heart.

For as long as I have known, Christchurch had been peaceful, the people, the environment, everything was on its own, living in Peace.

So when my ears received the news, I couldn't, and wouldn't believe it at all.

"It has to be a dream, it has to."

I could not believe that such a peaceful place would've been attacked.

And when my ears heard that it was in the mosque that it had happened, during the time where many people were worshiping, I could not move, I was in agony and worry.

"Who was there", "How are they"

My dearest friend, 3 years younger than me, our family friend, had been taken during the massacre, Al-Fatihah. It was first said that he was missing, and a few days after it was officially announced of what had really been.
The last time I saw him was 2013 when their family came to our home, and it was supposedly last year that they were to come again. Upon receiving the news of his passing I could not stop my tears as it fell tear by tear wetting my cheeks.

Unfortunately until now I still cannot stand to elaborate on the brutal attack that had taken place, because with Christchurch, I am in utter despair and my heart feels truly heavy.

Alhamdulillah, even with the darkness that had clouded, the sun shone past. With it, the community had come together, all of them in support of one another. 50 died and many entered Islam. The beautiful and heart-wrenching supports, Hijab day, the broadcasting of Adhan throughout New Zealand, the two-minute silence, all in respect.

The Christchurch Mosque shooting taught the world many things.

It is not a matter of race, religion, age or gender. It is a matter of whether the community loves one another, as their own equal. We are nothing without others, and being number 1 does not matter when the existence of other numbers are not there. To stand with one another, is to love one another.

 To stand together, is to respect, honour, love and care forever long.

What happened on Friday

One cannot cease to exist without the other, here's a telling of Friday 15/03/2019

Like any normal days this day began.

5.40 Subuh, 6.30 to breakfast, 7.30 I started changing into my costume.

I was the mascot for Valiant😜 for the school parade, and to say the least, that morning was exhausting due to the scorching sun. Exhausting, even though I only stood under the tent all the while cheering for the athletes along with others.

(The 2019 theme for KEJORA was "floral")

While that was going on, the judges also came to the tent in which Aliyatul presented the little details.
The morning was over quickly and the time for Friday prayer came. So the boys got ready and the girls all went back into the dorms to get some rest.

And in the dorms, were where heartbreaks began.

I couldn't get any sleep that afternoon, so I ate, talked, and did anything I could to fill up my time while also getting ready for the school parade. It was during this time that I received a phone call.

"There was a shooting in Christchurch"
my heart stopped. my home.

"A man shot at a mosque and recorded it live to spread"
my heart dropped.

My mum detailed me on what happened but I couldn't get my mind set straight because it hurt to much to hear. That Christchurch, my home that had been there for me for nearly 4 years, had been the target to such a cruel and brutal terrorist attack.

My mum informed me of the victims, that our family friend was still out of contact, that a family friend had been shot, that there will still more we hadn't heard news of.

She would contact me later to tell more, and I hadn't realized that teardrops were falling as I heard every word that mum had said. Alhamdulillah Aqirah was there, because she was the only other person that was awake.

3.00 pm and we were all out on the field. The parade would start at 5.00 but there was another judging before that. As I was preparing for the parade, here and there from the field to the court, I received another call from my mother.

I answered with all the cheerfulness I had because I was getting hyped up for Valiant. Unfortunately so, from a stand I dropped to a squat, covered behind the many props there I cried. News came that a very close family friend of mine had been there during the shooting. It was proclaimed that he was missing, but even his mother had accepted the most possible outcome of his Syahid. Some of the other close family friends, shot on the backside, shot to the chest.

"Injured" "Syahid" "Missing"

I felt like I had lost it, lost the cheer and my friends had started calling me to get to the tent for the judging, but my heart was still breaking and I couldn't hold the incoming tears.

I was blessed Alhamdulillah that on my way to Valiant's tent I caught sight on Aqirah carrying around Legacy's prop, the tent to the left of us. Immediately as I saw her, I went up and held her in a hug as I told her everything my mum had. I was left shivering and she too, had sighted tears on her cheeks. I was pulled away quickly to continue my job as a mascot.

Luckily I had a mask on that was able to cover my puffed eyes properly, although it was still red and a forced smile beamed on my face all the while the judges were there.

My friends' enthusiasm and the KEJORA activities overall had me forgetting for a while. The excitement of the crowd and the enthusiasm of all respective house colours, Valiant, Legacy, Legend and Orion drowned any sadness that was ever there.

As the mascot for Valiant, I was acting as the red riding hood but honestly speaking it should've been more of "red robin hood" instead, because I wasn't exactly dressed like an innocent young girl in the woods searching for her grandma. Accompanied by a bow and arrow, I felt like robin hood about to capture some bad guys .

The parade went on exceptionally well to say the least, and I was satisfied. Not long after, the closing ceremony began. The MC's, Dayana f4 and Zahin f3 started off with the prize giving ceremony, and the main highlight of it were the declaration of Aqil as the Senior Sportsman and Afiah as the Senior Sportswoman for Upper Secondary, while for the others, unfortunately I can't seem to recall.

But through a whole week of endless working and sleepless nights, the main highlight of the day was put into the spotlight.

"And first place for the parade, goes to..."

LEGEND

"And first place for the tent, goes to..."

LEGEND

"And OVERALL winner for the 2019 KEJORA goes to..."

obviously,
LEGEND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, that was it, Legend won, Valiant in second place, even so, I was satisfied because we had given our best. Fun can go on, but we still had to clean up. Right after picture sessions, with the house colours, friends, etc. we began packing up the props we had used and picked up any rubbish seen by the eye.

Eventually it got done and we all walked back to the dorms drenched with the weight of tiredness.

That night, I started thinking about the massacre once more.     

Monday, December 31, 2018

A Day of Being Me !

Assalammualaikum and hey

Let's get going on with my life! :)

As usual, I woke up in the middle of the night so I got up to the bathroom and washed my face, soon after I fell back asleep and reopened my eyes at around 6.00 am for the Subuh prayer.

After completing the Subuh prayer I turned on my laptop for some music fishing ~ I also did some reading in the meantime.

A bit before 9 the three of us decided to go for a small shopping spree, my mum wanted to find a bluetooth mp3 or some sort, and we got ourselves some brunch at the mamak.

By the time everything was completed, we returned home at noon where I settled drying up my clothes, folding them up, helping my mum insert songs into her new mp3 and basically contemplating school. All of it done, while a lighted candle stood on my desk. I absolutely love scented candles and the calming feeling it brings everytime I set my eyes upon it. I did all of that until Maghrib with breaks for Zuhr and Asr.

Right after the Maghrib prayer my family got ready for dinner at Mama Zana's house. As soon as we reached there I was greeted by hugs- or it was most possibly the other way, they were greeted by my hugs :)! Then we got talking, about SPM, life, examinations, school and so many more, including BOOKS ! 

Just before Isya prayer came, we were already off home and I continued arranging my belongings to be brought to school the next day.

And so, goodnight !~

Our 16 Day Road-trip around Thailand

We had planned this for months already, it would be my family, and my aunty's along with my grandmother. As said by my aunty "For Khadijah as her post-IGCSE gift and for Sufi as her post-SPM gift". I don't want to talk much, I mean 16 days is long :| so I'll just be dropping of a bit of description and some of my favourite photos ;) I honestly loved every single bit of the trip ! I miss those moments too much.

Day 1: Our two cars went on our way from Kuantan to Gurun. I basically slept the whole ride so there isn't any proper photo to put on here. Along the way when I did wake up, I looked out the window to admire the scenery.

Day 2: Early in the morning, we got some breakfast then headed straight away to Krabi. We reached the Thailand border shortly after and went through the immigration process. We stopped by for lunch at Krabi and I got myself a Thai-styled Nasi Kerabu, mouth-watery <3 aonang="" at="" guest="" house.="" krabi="" p="" stayed="" the="" we="">

Day 3: We went on a boat trip to a few Islands at Krabi. To Koh Phak Bia, Koh Lao La Ding, Hong Lagoon and Koh Hong. I loved every single stop, we went snorkeling all the way but I was a bit tired at the last stop.

Day 4: Our day went on, on the trip from Krabi to Ranong. Upon reaching, we stopped by the Ngao Waterfall Park then after settling our baggages into the Madinah Ranong hostel, we went to the infamous hot springs and simply relaxed. The hostel we stayed in provided a menu for dinner and it was simply delicious.


Day 5: Being settled at Ranong, we decided for an at-hawk trip to Myanmar because it was only a boat ride from Ranong. We reached there in the afternoon so we stopped by a mosque, then later we got Nasi Briyani and went to visit the Pondok Tahfiz, Kampung Melayu, Kawthaung by songtheaw (a vehicle). They were speaking Malay so fluently so that put a homey feeling in me :0 Shortly after we returned to Ranong.

Day 6: We said our goodbyes to the very friendly people of Madinah Ranong Guesthouse and went on our way to Prachuap Khiri Khan ! We first stopped by the Waghor Aquarium and had so much fun and a cheap fee too. The aquarium closed at 5.00pm so we went directly to check into the hotel. After completing our Maghrib prayer, we walked our way in search of muslim food (it was a very long walk because a bit of technical problem occured haha).

Day 7: From Prachuap Khiri Khan to Kanchanaburi :)! we stopped by the Samut Songkhram Mosque for the lads to complete their Friday Prayer. Later on we arrived and checked into the Thai Guesthouse and had packed dinner there.

Day 8: We visited the Death Railway Museum situated at Kanchanaburi where there was also a memorial cemetery for those who had died in the building of the Thailand-Burma Railway. This was probably one of the most exciting trips of all that we had around Thailand.

Day 9: Off to Ayutthaya ^0^ We stayed at the Ayutthaya Riverside House and settled into a boat house ! First time ever and it was so exciting, at night it was pretty chilly, but then we also had the air condition on.

Day 10: "I'm a sunflower, a little funny~" -Sunflower Shannon Purser. So as soon as we had breakfast we went on our way to Lopburi and as it is known for its sunflower fields, a stop was compulsory (a highlight for the day's journey, before that we got ourselves lunch first) ! So we took some photos here and there but the sun was scorching-not the best time to go in the evening.

Day 11: This day was probably the most not so okay. Why? Because we were on our way to Bangkok and the whole journey was jammed. By the time we reached our accommodation, some problem had occur with the rooms and such. Shortly after taking a break, we went out to discover Bangkok's exquisite shopping site. First off to Indra Square at the Pratunam Shopping Mall where I bought a few dresses and next to Pratunam Market after 4 hours circling around the mall. My parents and grandmother felt tired so they went back earlier while I followed my aunty's family around some place else which she then decided to be Terminal 21. This was such a shopping haven, if I'll be coming back to Bangkok I surely want to come there again ! The floors are states of different countries with shops and decorations complementing the said states or country's culture. After a tiring day we finally lied down.

Day 12: We set on our journey ahead to Hua Hin. A very calming journey, but I guess at that point everyone was simply tired. As we reached the Hua Hin Hostel, my cousin and I decided to stay back and rest while the grown-ups when to the beach. The both of us had lost a lot of energy due to being hyped up a bit too much in the day. oh, I have to slip this in- CAFE AMAZON is wonderful ! Their petrol stations are so complete with 7E, these cafes, and food shops. But Cafe Amazon is my main highlight of all those- chillingly delicious <3 :="" also="" and="" coffee="" cried="" dropped="" finally="" for="" foreheads="" gone="" here="" honestly="" i="" iced="" it="" just="" koyok="" like="" mentally="" my="" nbsp="" night-market="" night="" now="" on="" our="" out="" p="" poof="" sufi="" that-="" that="" the="" to="" was="" went="" with="">

Day 13: Hua Hin to Chumpon ! We stayed the night at Rub Lom Chom Klong Homestay- in a water village!! so that was definitely exciting because it isn't accessible by car, you either have to walk or ride a boat. The owner was very friendly too ! I basically chilled on the hammock that was there, and the food for dinner was bought by the parents.

Day 14: Later that morning, the owner's mother cooked for us a rice porridge, and being the person I am, I asked for a bit more vegetable toppings :") We then went on our way to Surat Thani stopped at some places, then also stopped by Surat Thani's central mosque for the Friday prayer. We then checked into the River Nature Hotel, there were kayaking, swimming pool and some other activities available. Later on into the night, we went to the night market and I had their specialty- Banana Pancake (I had already eaten some on previous days too)

Day 15: Surat Thani to Pattani~ We arrived at the hotel just before Maghrib so we cleaned ourselves up and got ready to pray at the Pattani Central Mosque, one of the largest and beautiful mosques in Thailand.

Day 16: Last Day ! fuhhh from Pattani, we stopped by Narathiwat for food and some last minute souvenir shopping hihi. Later on we went through the Malaysia-Thailand border and got through the immigration process. The original plan was to return directly to Kuantan but the drivers were far more than tired. The next morning we went straight away home.

:)


Sunday, December 30, 2018

I MET MY PARENTS :P

Assalammualaikum and hallo !

Meeting my parents every holiday will never not be an interesting experience because they are some of the most unexpected people I might meet in my lifetime and I'm forever grateful to be blessed with such wonderful parents <3 div="">

A story about my dad, as told by my aunty was that when my grandmother asked dad to help around do some chores, he'd do it straight away, but there was a tagline he'd say right before he went off, which was "by the strength of a bear!" or "by the speed of a cheetah!". Don't say anything more because the look on my cousin's face and I were pure shock before we stumbled into hysterics. Apparently it was a reference to one of his favourite TV shows BraveStarr:
It was later on when we were settled in for the night during our Thailand trip did I mention it to my dad. It was the first my mum had heard of it, and she too laughed, I was in the middle of massaging my mum at that moment when dad suddenly put the show on Youtube and passed it to me to watch.

There was also this one morning and my mum was ultimately tired, as so was I, but then my dad started making all these kind of jokes and like the story-teller he is, he began creating these dramas and I just couldn't help myself from bursting of laughs. Yes, my mum too just couldn't help laughing too. So all plans of sleeping were simply diminished but it felt great to have a laugh in the morning.

As for my mum, whenever my cousin and I would have our mini talks or deep ones, my mum would suddenly appear in between us going "so... what's the topic, I'm young too :P lemme join in". Mum's so cute with all that honestly. Young at heart <3 div="">

So yes, I have two interesting people I met during the holiday? :)
I LOVE YOU MUM AND DAD !

Bohemian Rhapsody !

Movie Review- A cinematic experience 5/12

Assalammualaikum, and hello !

So today I just watched "Bohemian Rhapsody" at Mid Valley Megamall's GSC Cinema along with my parents. I was super excited to be hearing that dad picked that out for the night's movie. This time, he booked the tickets online beforehand because it was still pretty new and was in the eye of many, there was a high possibility that the tickets would run out soon enough. I've always enjoyed Queen's songs, so the thought of getting to know the story behind Queen's success and their unique hot hit Bohemian Rhapsody, was not a chance I'd turn away from very easily.

The film, telling about how Queen was first established began when Freddie Mercury first entered the picture, and it's a big part of the film to tell about how his life went through during Queen's music reign. The relationship their band had was one of a family, like soul-brothers, they were not about to give up on each other. Their friendship is simply 'to-die-for' , and everything else is just- fabulous :)!

I've got to admit, I had plenty of laughs throughout the film and not to forget my sudden flow of tears at certain parts of the film. It was such an inspiration, what ideas were brought up in order for the published song, how the band wanted to interact as highly as they could with the audience.

With the ever increasing popularity and paparazzi, Freddie Mecury later faced his downfall, it was a time in which he separated himself from the band, got into a lot of frenzies and destroyed himself in the process. Time came, and time helped, former fiance of Mercury found him and had a little talk, maybe that was or was not the trigger, but he soon came into realization with his faults (which not many could actually achieve). Later on, he also decided to reconnect with his band mates, of course they were angry but once a family, you're always a family, and that was what they were, all of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon- a family. That was probably the sweetest moment I felt to be :')

The highlight of the film for me, would most definitely be the Live Aid performance, because of Queen alone, amount of donations increased multiply and it was later known to be "the note heard around the world"

I'd watch this movie repeatedly, and I don't do repetitions-ever ;)

Cheerio

Saturday, December 29, 2018

DECEMBER BOOK REVIEW- ACOTAR

This December has been filled with my exhausting obsession with a new trilogy I've recently started. I have to say, even in my dreams I'm unable to be rid of it. So what book exactly that's got me this hooked? 

It's "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas

Simply said, I'd love to ramble about the whole trilogy but for now I'll focus only on the first book. The genre is basically a fantasy-romance of adventures where the world is separated into two lands by a border, one being the mortal lands and the other being faerie lands, Prythian was the name. It takes place in a world where mortals fear the faerie beings with legends, myths, and stories of the brutality and heartlessness of faeries. The common knowledge etched into mortals' mind is that faeries can be hurt by iron, and that they cannot ever lie. Whether it's true or not, those mortals who have crossed the wall (a border between the two lands) have never returned to the mortal lands again.


[the map]

Thus, we come to the main protagonist, a young huntress, the youngest of three sisters living in a shack with poverty cowering over them with their disabled father. Once, they were people of wealth living shamelessly, but the actions of their father in causing debt doomed them to their lowest. With the shortage of food and no action taken by the father or sisters to avoid it, the youngest , Feyre, took her first kill, becoming the first of many. 

Their shack stood so close to the wall with forests of trees in between them. Common knowledge and fear of the faeries deemed them to know and fear what could be lingering within the forests. But desperation struck them and Feyre risked hunting in the woods. 

On her hunt, she caught eyes on a wolf preying on the same deer as she. Warnings of faeries would've kept a saint hunter from disturbing such predator lingering in the forest, but Feyre felt she had no choice and shot an arrow into the wolf and alongside, also killed the deer, her main prey. The wolf put up no fight and simply gazed into Feyre's eyes as if it was content with dying. 

Afterwards, finished with her hunt, Feyre skinned the wolf to be sold and took the deer home. But little did she know, what killing a wolf would later cost her. That night, with a knock upon her door, Feyre was taken to the Prythian land into the Spring Court and met with Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, Lucien, his emissary and servants. Never, was she to return. 

I mainly fell in love with this book because Feyre is such a badass, she has her feminine side but her strength physically and mentally is just powerful. She'll do what she sets her mind on to. Being in the Spring Court she was allowed free roaming, making counters with other sorts of creatures such as the naga, puca, the suriel, and the bogge. It was also here that she learnt the truth of faeries, the lies the old faeries fed the mortals, on how iron doesn't actually affect them, and that they could lie just as well. Like all stories go, Feyre was bound to fall in love with the masked man, the High Lord Tamlin of Spring Court. Thing is, about a lot of pages at start, she thought Tamlin was just another High Fae, upon snarling the Suriel at some point in the book, that was when she discovered the real position of his. 

Before things get blurry, here it is.
The Suriel is an ancient being, who'll tell you anything, IF you catch it, and with the right answers, because it knows everything (so yes, that's why I stan Feyre so much, she's a mortal yet she caught a Suriel). 
[the Suriel]

The bogge will lure you into what you like and seduce you into looking behind, because once you look, you'll see, and when you can see that is when it can kill you.
The puca is much like the bogge but that you can see it and it'll kill you very slowly if you happen to approach and get your hands on it.
The naga, is like an animal that can talk, walk on two feet and simply ultimately the epitome of creepiness.
[the Naga]

The Attor is a creature that loyally serves a queen of evil during the time of this book
[the Attor]

The Archerons, Feyre the youngest of three siblings, the eldest being Nesta who is a cold-hearted lady with strong will, and the second is Elain, a sof-spoken and sweet lady protected highly by dearest Nesta.
[from the left; Elain, Nesta and Feyre]

Feyre now stuck in Tamlin's court is forced to make out the best of her time here and learn to let go. Her responsibility in ensuring that her family was safe was said to be due to a vow to her mother before she passed away. Although, Tamlin and Lucien both reassured her on the safety of her family, she still couldn't keep still, I mean who would really if the faeries that mortals feared so much are now in your presence, I wouldn't be fine at all.

[Tamlin to the left and Lucien to the right]

Having nothing to do, all Feyre did was hunting with Lucien, eavesdropping on the two's "secret" conversations of Prythian's problems, and falling in love with Tamlin.
As days passed by, the more Feyre heard, the more she discovered that Prythian itself was falling apart, and the more she heard of this "queen" that caused such fear in Tamlin, the one person she knew so strong. Ahead she went, and the journey continued on. Through swords, bows and arrows, traps, lies, deceive, resentment, she lived and died and the story went on. 

The book was of all sorts, drama, adventure etc. but for sure, it brought me to tears, it brought out anger and pain. It's a book that truly got to me, and not many could ever achieve such.

Unfortunately for me, I brought this book along on my 16 day trip around Thailand and being me I finished it in only a short time span which caused me a lot of stress due to not being able to continue the trilogy :') but my desperation to read led me to find the continuation online. Currently, I'm halfway through the third book and I've been in hyper mood all month due to these novels. My addiction of this also had me going through fan arts and memes of the novel, which also attracted me to a bestselling series also by Sarah J. Maas titled "Throne of Glass". I'll surely be reading that by the time I've completed my final year at MRSM TAR and specifically-SPM :') 

Mentionung my Thailand trip, tune in for the next entry for some spice of that ;)

Cheerio readers !

The Christchurch Mosque Shooting

it was one of the heaviest weight I felt in my heart. For as long as I have known, Christchurch had been peaceful, the people, the environ...