Sinai-Dahab-Sharm Sheikh travelogue part 1

I just posted one of 600 ++ photos available of my vacation recently on instagram and the memories struck like really I felt like going to that moment back, again.

I’m glad that I’ve decided to join the trip this time, at the right moment and right people to be crazy with. It was almost 12 hours travel by bus but the place is so beautiful. I wish I have Polaroid with me. We went by bus at 2am and managed to reach St. Catherine and check in to the hotel at 3pm that day. We did a little warm up at Wadi Arbain where the rock that had been knocked by Moses which happened to produce 12 source of water still there.

Also I forgot to mention we visited the Bar Liev fort that belong to Israelite army but Egyptians Army manage to confiscate that fort in 6 days.

1 in the morning we went climbing and I have no words on that experience. Tiring but it’s worth it. Here’re my few tips:

1.       Good companies keep you motivated.

2.       Bring snickers, mars or energy bars.

3.       Limit your water consumption because the loo there is not the best.

4.       A good pair of shoes helps.

And the last place which is the top of the mountain is so amazing with the sun rise on point. I love that moment so much. I wish I have a better word for that moment but naah. I wish who read this will have an opportunity to visit there someday!

the place was somehow like a village and as i googled, it says that this is the place where prophet Elijah hide from Jezabel.

Way back from climbing the mountain, we managed to visit a few tomb of prophets, historical places before heading back and packing for Dahab.

it's a fake smile. i'm dying inside lol.

the tomb

I guess I’m gonna need part 2 for Dahab. Untill here,

Bye.

Ramadhan *realistic* goals.

Peace be upon to you.

This post was written with my stream of consciousness, not planned at all and I’m sorry if it’s quite random.

I know Ramadhan is already here and this post might be quite late but I always believe that you are never too late until you already done with it, and our journey is way too long. Make it count.

To some of my readers who don’t know what Ramadhan is, it is a month;  seventh month of Islamic Hijri calendar where all of Muslims fast, restraining our self from food, drinks and stuff that can break the fast, as an act of spiritual cleansing or ibadah (act of pray, I don’t have the perfect words to put here) from dust to dawn.

First. Why do we need goals at the first place? Well… I think it’s nice to have something to achieve to enhance our ability, to make this whole time because Ramadhan is the time where Allah gave a lots of His chance, rewards and based on I know (I’m an Islamic law student, and one of my favorite subject to look  up to is Islamic Jurisprudence) and in it fasting (in Ramadhan) is ‘wajib mudhayya’ the obligations with limitations where you only have one month to fast. That’s all. Why not have a good plan on making this whole time the best of us?

Okay, let’s get to the main point.

I think it would be nice if we have a top 3 goals that we really want to achieve like;

1.       Read the whole Quran in a month.

2.       Stop smoking.

3.       Donate to the people in needs

 and give our full attention and focus to this three, if you have more just put it there but know your limits and start making it work. If you have other things that you want to achieve but not really as important as your top 3, make a general list so you can always review it.

Ramadhan is a perfect time, to change our inner self, from bad habits stuff. I hope everybody is in good shape and time and this little writing helps you, or at least give you an idea on making our best Ramadhan this year.

I guess that’s all.

Bye.

credits; https://www.tumblr.com/theshawllabel

Rules for being amazing

1.       Risk more than is required.

2.       Learn more than is normal.

3.       Show courage. Be strong. Breathe. Excel. Love.

4.       Lead. Speak the truth. Live your values.

5.       Laugh. Cry. Innovate.  Simplify. Adore mastery.

6.       Release mediocrity. Aim for genius. Stay humble.

7.       Be kinder than expected.

8.       Deliver more than is needed. Exclude passion.

9.       Shatter your limits. Transcend your fears.

10.   Inspire others by your bigness.

11.   Dream big but start small.

12.   Act now. Don’t stop.

13.   Change the world!

Common Courtesy.

I just finished reading Ellen DeGeneres’s book, [Seriously … I’m kidding] just in a day and I would say it’s quite a good book (I was searching for this particular book for a long, long time and then I found it at Virgin Megastores for LE156. Without doubt I just grab it even though it’s quite expensive. Here’s some tips that I learn after a few experiences; if you like something, just get it or you’ll never have it.

I like Ellen. I like her sense of humor, her wits and her trademark that she said at the end of her show “be kind to one another”. I find that she is very inspiring to me.

Well, there is a particular chapter in this book that bring me here, sitting in front of this laptop to write down this, this particular subject  that might sound cliché as it can be but I do think we need to do something about it. We need to change it.

That chapter she wrote about common courtesy on how she likes to be early and hate when people are late. So do me. I hate to be late because I too, have kind a sense of respect go people’s time and secondly because my watch was set to be 10 minutes early on purpose.  It is just annoying when people bring the term “common Malay behavior” when every time on a meeting or date you have to expect people will be late and so on.

Also when we talked about this, it brings us to the level of mentality of our people (Malay, Malaysian?) that maybe I’m stereotyping but it does happened, all the time to me. Maybe when a person is late in about 3-5 minutes that might be acceptable but 1 hour? You got to have good reason on that like your cats got sick or anything, maybe not traffic jam or … I don’t know.

The thing is this. Being early on anything you’re up to is not just about being able to keep on track of your plan and able to work it efficiently but also about respect and common courtesy that I think we need to change the way we look on that, as right now I think it is socially acceptable to be late as it is not a big deal or it’s a small matter. Maybe you think it’s a small stuff and I’ll leave that to you but considering all of the possible consequences that might happen; it is a big deal, to me.

Last but not least, it’s not that hard to just be ready earlier than we should, as it’s also a good habit and maybe it’s more than that like saying ‘thank you’, ‘please’ or just be kind to one another. It’s just a simple manner that was taught when we were kids. Above of all of this writing, my point is it’s nice to be punctual, to be on time.

Please,

Thank you.

Insecurity.

Asalamualaikum and hi.

First of all, I have wanted to write about this specific topic for a long long time but you know, procrastination.

credit: kellieburgers.tumblr

There is someone in my relatives that always pointing out my weakness/ something that I always insecure about whenever he get chances to do so and yeah, I get used to it but it always hurt. Even when you’re so done with all of it but I always tell myself to be calm every time he did that to me, by just ignore it/ keep it in my heart because I have a saying that I read said,

Don’t let idiot ruin your day.

Don’t. Now I’m kind of relief that I’m been able to get rid of him personally as I live in other country and I don’t get to face him, not a chance but I also know that he always did this to my siblings and somehow I manage to tell them all of these stuff too and I hope they’re strong. Even after all the stuff he did to me, I personally never fight back/backfire or whatever but I try to be nice, like nothing happened.

Well, I believe people like this is actually they need attention or maybe they’re too insecure about themselves and the easiest way to get rid the feeling is by being mean to others. That is why I don’t want to take their insults seriously even it hurts, sometimes. I wonder what is in their mind, hurm…

Sometimes, we are mean to. Conscious or unconscious we are human and never perfect. Never being able to make everybody happy. It’s like a wheel that sometimes we’re the one that are mean and sometimes we are the victim.

But here’s some tips from experience, I guess :-

1.       Avoid people you feel insecure around. You have to protect yourself from them.

2.       Surround yourself with supportive people that always gonna back you up.

3.       Know your weakness and accept it. Embrace it!

4.       Know that the more you felt threatened the more they like it. Don’t give a chance for them to indulge from it.

5.       Beat them with your own happiness. Be happy and smile because they hate it.

6.       Sometimes you need to share things to someone you really believe in. it’s scary but challenging one.

Above all, I hope this post might help somebody or as a reminder that it’s not cool by being mean. At the end, we all know that none of people expectation matters. You matters. It’s just on how you define yourself.

With that, thank you for reading.

Me and social media

Rant on social media.

Assalamualaikum and hi.

Well, to be honest I just read a few of my facebook friend’s status and have a few thought to say or to tell here specifically on social media. I knew the word social say it all but seeing someone posting their anger, out loud and commenting without knowing the border of you know… even there’s actually no borders but we as human do have instinct on that.

The problem is not about babbling and telling our problem out loud on social media but how we handle that. It might be okay for someone to do that at the first place but that doesn’t solve the problem. At all.

The thing is often we see people arguing, ‘practically’ yelling and so on through their tweets and stuff without, actually solving that problem. (Actually I’m trying to not to address the real stuff directly. If this is quite confusing, I’m sorry).

Secondly, I personally think that the way we handle our social media accounts reflect ourselves. It might seem like I’m judging but sadly saying that is how it works for me. That is practically why I have insecurities on posting something on facebook.

So the last to conclude all of the above, here’s my point :-

1.       Your acts on social media show your personality, be care full.

2.       Solve your problems; don’t just write it on your wall/tweets.

3.       You are free to disagree, but if you don’t mind tell me your thought.

So that’s all. Thank you for reading.

credit to: @80sNostalgia 

10 things I've learn living in Egypt.

Asalamualaikum and hi.

It’s been a year I have been living in Egypt. Wish I’ll have another incredible awesome year, amin. Well, there’re two big things happened today. First is I just finish my six days fasting (post Ramadhan) which is macam poyo ye dak? Lols while at the same time today is the opening of the new Suez Canal which is a big celebration in here, Egypt.

Regarding to this quite memorable experience ( been a year in Egypt) I think I would like to write 10 things I’ve learn living in Egypt. Here we go :-

1.       Patient is a must. Because there’re no rule here even there’re rules. Bureaucracy in here is quite challenging. hiks

2.       Always thank full of everything that you have because lots lots of people don’t even get to eat.

3.       The more you walk around the more you get something new.

4.       When it comes to conversations, just talk and talk. Don’t afraid to make mistakes as long as you learn from it.

5.       Not everybody will treat you good. Some will cheat you, some will make fun of you. Just don’t buy what they sell.

6.       Connecting to the point above, you got to choose two sides, be like Musa a.s (Moses) or Firaun (Pharaoh).

7.       Holding hand, kissing cheek and clapping hands are ways of Arabs being nice. Be prepared because you might find it weird for the first time but once you get to know the environment you’ll get it naturally.

8.       Celebrate eid at somewhere else/ new places with new people. Like I had done last eid fitri.

9.       Arabian food is not bad at all. Just try and error. You might like some.

10.   Transportation? Bus is the cheapest but always be ready to jump and run. If you choose taxi, don’t expect that you just come in and tell the driver your destination. You have to ask them first. Make sure you ask the price first.

So, I guess here is it. Wish me luck for this year, and may your day is great too. Peace J

Winter not-so-sonata.

Assalamualikum dan hai J

La ni tengah musim sejuk tapi tak bersalji di Kaherah.. Aku rasa lebih baik takda salji. Sebab kalau bersalji maknanya suhu akan jadi negative camtu. Berselimut 24 jam lah jawabnya. Alhamdulillah fasa enam darjah selsius dah berlalu. *fuhh

Tak tipu, musim sejuk memang dugaan. Dugaan nak ke kelas. Sebab nak ke kelas kena mandi. Tapi sebelum mandi tu nak kena bangun tidoq pun jenuh (susah). Kira sindrom malas musim sejuk ni memang A ler. Nak jadi cerita lagi kelas aku memang sejuk tahap gaban. Kira cakap tu keluar asap lah. Ingat lagi Doc. Ahmad habaq, “antum ba’da usbuq satamut. “ (Hampa selepas seminggu, pakat mati habis sebab sejuk) sebab kelas tu tingkap atas terbuka luas. Tak boleh tutup pulak. memang sabaq je lah.

Dan antara perkara yang aku rasa agak obvious adalah selera makan aku. Makin berselera. Kira selalu makan nasik arab sepinggan tak habis kali ni habis sepinggan. Boleh kata jajan tu memang spare lah. Boleh baham waktu emergency *lah sangat. Bab makan aku ni dikira ok lah, tak la picky. Campak ja apa pun insyaAllah aku boleh makan asalkan halal.

Teringat aku satu hadis nabi, yang mafhumnya berpuasa di musim sejuk ini bagaikan hadiah yang mudah bagimu riwayat Ahmad dan makna hadiah yang mudaah disyarahkan oleh Ibn Rajab sebagai hadiah yang didapati tanpa kesusahan dari pihak yang menerimanya.

See?

Point nya kat sini, berpuasa di musim sejuk adalah perkara yang mudah dilakukan dan diamalkan. Mungkin antara sebabnya yang aku boleh kaitkan dengan kefahaman aku adalah malam lebih panjang daripada siang. So waktu puasa pun singkat. Contoh la ni subuh pukul 5.30. Maghrib pulak pukul 4.15 lebih kurang. Jadi waktu berpuasa tu lebih kurang 11 jam ja dibandingkan dengan musim panas/Ramadhan yang waktunya lebih kurang 16 jam.

Lagipun musim sejuk ni tak berasa sangat dahaga. Dan tak seletih musim panas. Cuma best nak lena ja. Haha.

Mudah cakap, antara ibadah yang mudah pada musim sejuk ni adalah dengan berpuasa. Rahmat musim sejuk mungkin. Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal.

Hurm, rasanya cukup kot entry setakat ni. Moga bermanfaat. Jumpa lagi,

credit to : despicable-me.tumblr

Assalamualaikum.

Helping hands.

Assalamualaikum and hi.

For this time, this entry is just my personal thought. It happened every time I walk around Cairo especially around the area of my house and uni *I warn ya, this post might be extremely boring. When you walk around some places like Hussien, Darrassah or around shopping mall you’ll notice beggars and homeless everywhere.

Around the place where I currently studying you’ll find everyday few kids selling tissues. To me they’re supposed to be at school at that moment like the other child. Not begging people buying their tissues.

Whenever I saw them, I felt so sad kinda feeling and that moment remind me of how blessed I’m to have this life. How big are His nikmah/blessings to me that almost every time I forgot. One of my goals this year is to be helpful, to give more than I take.

And the reason I wrote this entry is to convey to you, and also reminding myself to all the point I wrote above.

credit to : usman-a93.tumblr

You know, sometimes when we help people randomly maybe when we’re in need there’ll someone else that’ll help us back. I believe the chains never end.

On the other hand, Quran tells us that next purity of faith, the most pleasing in the sight of Allah is kindness and charity, forbearance and forgiveness, and doing good to others. Those who spend in charity, whether in prosperity or adversity, who restrain anger and pardon people: for Allah’s bless.

And know what, when we give one of our belongings, Allah pay 10 back. In any possible ways. 

 May this post benefits us all. InsyaAllah.

Credit : Islamic-art-and-quote on tumblr.

How to get up early.

Assalamualaikum and hi people.

*English mode on.*

I’m kind of a morning person. I like waking up in the morning to do something instead of you know, dreaming again. *sometimes I did that too, you know when you too tired or too lazy to do anything :b.

Let’s just say in Islam, it is better to not to sleep after Solah fajr because our prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) told us so. Even when you do that you’ll notice you’ll become weaker and your day might not be productive.

But here’s some tips to get up early that I figure it out myself and some from my research on the web (I did googled it!) and most of it from Anna Vital.

1.       Have enough sleep. For an adult or youth like me it is enough to have between 5-6 hours. Recite dua/prayer.

2.       Sleep comfortably. Use a blanket that keeps you warm vice versa. Depends on your situation. Good sleep is between 16-21 degree Celsius *research.

3.       Sleep in total darkness because melatonin (the sleep hormone) is produced in the dark. *research

4.       Drink before you sleep! I did this to myself because I’m easily got a sore throat if I’m not hydrated. And drinking some water not only rejuvenating but keeps you hydrated. According to a research we lost lots of water in our body through breathing and of course, sleeping.

5.       Put alarm. Far than your bed so you can’t snooze it. Ahaha

6.       Plan an exciting breakfast. So you’ll look up to make that. And of course, if you want to work productively you’ll need a good boost because you brain feeds on glucose/sugar or something like that. I’ll just go as simple as a banana and hot chocolate. Or maybe some caffeine/coffee.

7.       Read a book. From a book (not online) because you can’t browse away from it. Or maybe your math/history books :D

8.       Have your goals of the next day/ schedule your most important task of your day especially in the morning so you’ll get excited to get up to do it.

9.       To my Muslims readers do look up for sunnah. The sunnah the better right? InsyaAllah I’ll list out some sunnah of sleeping (before/after) soon. There’s always goodness in every sunnah. You didn’t only get physical benefits but also rewards when you do it.

10.   Last but not least, in order to get rid of the sleepiness after you wake up a few tips that I can list out is :-

·         Be active. Sing in the shower or do some light exercise.

·         Caffeine. A cup of coffee always works on me.

·         Do something.

I hope that those tips might help even a little. I did not do the whole tips that I wrote up there but some of them help me.  Just to remain clear that my English is quite not good as I’m still working on it, through writing like this. If you do notice some mistakes grammatically or anything just tell me through all my social media networking account like twitter/comments bellow or maybe emails me at hdimussqim@gmail.com . I would love to know anything like ideas/tips/anything from you guys. With that, thank you for reading!

Life little instructions.

Assalamualikum and hi.

Welcome to 2015 :B

credit to: koto-mi.tumblr

Alhamdulillah, since 2015 here I thought maybe it’s quite “relevant” if I share something like tips or from the title,  ‘Life little instructions’. I got this from tumblr few months ago. It’s about an advise I guess from 95 years old William Snell (1993).

You know, sometimes older person knows. And they got it right.  Sebab depa makan garam lebih dari kita. Eh? And for sure I did orter sikit ayat tu. Mengikut sedap hati.

So here we go,.

   - Sing in the shower.

    -Treat everyone you met like you want to be treated.

    -Watch a sunrise once a year.

      -Never refuse homemade brownies.

    -Strive for excellent, not perfection.

    -Plant a plant on your birthday

    -Learn 3 clean jokes.
    -Returned borrowed vehicles with full tank.

   -Never waste opportunity to say you loved someone.

   -Leave everything a little better when you found it.

   -Keep it simple.

   -Think big thought but relish small pleasures.

   -Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

   -Be forgiving on yourself and others.

   -Say ‘thank you’ a lot.

   -Say ‘please’ a lot.

   -Avoid negative people.

   -Wear polished shoes.

   -Remember other people birthday.

   -Commit yourself to constant improvement.

   -Have a firm handshake.

   -Look people in the eyes.

   -Be the first to say hello. *or Assalamualaikum.

   -Return all things you borrow.

   -Make new friends but cherish the old one.

   -Keep secrets.

   -Have a dog/pet.

   -Plant flowers every spring.

   -Always accept outstretched hand.

    -Stop blaming others.

   -Take responsibility for every area of your life.

   -Waves on all kids on school buses.

   -Be there when people need you.

  -Don’t expect life to be fair.

   -Never underestimate the power of love.

Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.

Don’t be afraid to say “ I made mistakes” and “I don’t know”.

Compliment even small improvements.

Keep your promises no matter what.

Marry only for love.

Rekindle old friendship.

Count your blessings.

Call your mother and your dad too. If they happen to be alive.

Taken from whoahdreambig.tumblr.com

  and last but not least,