25th Night Of Ramadhan

Johor Bahru, Johor.

25/08/2011 - That date was my birthday and it fell on the month of Ramadhan. This was the second time that my birthday fell on the same month, the holy month of Islam. And I feel pretty lucky, you know. Last time, Afif told me that within the years of our lifetime, our birthday will and has fall onto the same day as we were born on for several times. Like me, 25/08/1988 was Thursday and my previous birthday, this year, was also on Thursday. I've tried to calculate the margin of years for the day of our birth date that fell on the same day. It's not the same or accurate actually. For example, 6 years after 1988 (which was 1994) my birth date was on the same day, but then 6 years after 1994, it wasn't the same day until another 5 years; a total of 11 years later after 1994. But what the heck, it's my birthday! Yeah! ^^,

On this particular night, Arif, Rasyid and I planned to do qiamullail together at UTM's mosque. (The plan was basically made last week) Before the qiamullail, we had some activities to do. So, what we have done was visiting Ishaq at HSA, then we break fast together at Kampung Boy Restaurant, then performed maghrib - isya' and tarawih prayers at a mosque in Terminal Bus Larkin, then after that buy some donuts and cakes at City Square JB and eat them at Dataran. I've invited Mad Long to come along, unfortunately he can only join us for the qiamullail. I also invited Iqbal, but he can only join us for moreh.

Currently is the third phase of Ramadhan, which have ten days left before Syawal emerges. Within the ten days of the third phase, there is one night which is very special. It's called the Night of Lailatul Qadar, in which it is the night when Al Quran was descended by Allah SWT to the earth and to Nabi Muhammad SAW. And that night falls and occurs once only on the odd date within that 10 days e.g 21th, 23rd, 25th night and so on. Since my birthday was on the 25th night, I was really hoping that Lailatul Qadar falls on it, that was the reason for performing qiamullail with my friends. If it did, I'd be very lucky. ^^,

Well, FYI, if you follow the usual calender, I celebrated my birthday one day early, which was the 24th. However, according to Islamic calender, the new day merges after Maghrib prayer, and that is why its considered the 25th night.

Musibah ---> Steamboat

Dataran, Johor Bahru, Johor.

Well, based on the title of this post, the story basically goes like this; 2 days ago, as usual, breaking the fast with my family right outside the UTM's mosque. Then I met three of my degree friends; they too are furthering their masters; which has not been seen for a very long time. They were Anis, Nore and Wani. So we set the time to have a little 'moreh' together at Restoran Jalal after the tarawih. Basically, I too had made a promise to Ghazi that I would buy him steamboat for tonight's 'moreh'. After spending an hour with my x-degree friends, I immediately went to pick him up at his house. By that time it was already 11.15pm. My tank was about to empty, so I filled it up first at a gas station. Then off we went to the Dataran.

I drove my car fast enough to reach there early, because I intended not to come back home late. So, along the road heading to the Dataran, somewhere at Danga Bay area; at first it was a very smooth ride then all of the sudden a big sound came out, like a bang, which sounds similar to a broken thick steel bar. It was loud. I was very worried, but then again, I was pretty sure that I didn't hit anything on the road as the road was very clear and smooth. So I kept on driving till we reached the destination.

I parked the car at the parking area near the Dataran, then immediately inspected all the four tires and the belly of my car. We did not see anything as it was night and dark, even with the help of a torch light, there were no damage seen. So we suspected that there might be a damage, but don't know what and where. And so we headed off to eat first.

Back To School

SMIH - SRIH, Kampung Sinaran Baru, Senai.

20/8/2011 - My old school was organizing a program called Malam Badar. For this typical program, it includes a huge iftar, performing prayers in large 'jemaah' and a talk from a representative which was regarding with Malam Badar. Basically, the programs starts as soon as we all break the fast.

So, lots of people come to this program like students, parents, teachers and alumni. The reason I went to the school was because of a promise I've made to Arif that I would help him and his other friends with the preparation of foods to distribute to the people who will attend the program. 

I headed to the school from my house after asar, I eventually reached there by 5.30pm. Most of the men there had already finished cooking the foods. The preparation had started early, like before zohor maybe. So what's left to do was to transfer the foods from the cafeteria to the building below (SRIH). So most of my helping hands were on that part of the job and distributing the food to particular areas around the building.

The food provided was conclusive of nasi, lauk kambing (I think; or was it lembu? hm..), lauk ayam, some fruits, some kurmas, some breads, and this other one thing that I don't know what it's called. haha, I'm not good at knowing food names, all I know is eating. haha.

What's fun was meeting old friends there. There were Arif, Amir, Syahir, Afif, Mad Long, Asyraf Aminuddin, Zubair, Ghazi and so on. Basically, I didn't participate much of the program, only helped for the preparation. Most of the time, I hanged out with all the other friends. Gathering together with my batch and walked around the school and talked about the past times. 

I left this school during 2005 and now its already 6 years, and lots of things had changed since then. There were 4 new buildings, which one of them was under construction. There were lots of major renovations, which was mostly different from what we had during our school years. Overall, our school was in the process of development, and to be honest, it looks good. 

I brought my camera along, so here are some of the pictures that I took. ^^,

Berbuka Di Bulan Mulia

MSI, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai.

Usually, people go to the 'bazar' and by foods there before they get ready to break their fast. Or some people go to the mosque as it's committee provide foods for people to break their fast. But for my family, we did not follow the same way as anyone else. My mom cooks non-heavy foods as it is vital for us not get too full which could jeopardize the khusyu'-ness when performing our prayers.

Even if the 'bazar' provides various foods, including heavy and non-heavy foods, somehow we aren't able to control our stomach demands for them. And we end up purchasing lots of food. And on the other hand, the mosque basically provides heavy foods only, mostly nasi berlauk la. I'm kinda into a 'diet program', so I'd have to 'defend' myself from eating those stuffs. haha..

Since my mom cooks, I helped her in the kitchen. Then when all are finished, it is packed into a basket. So when the breaking time comes near, my family and I headed to the mosque and once we've reached there, we immediately prepare the mats for us to sit on and delegate the foods. All the three of us sat there and waited patiently for the 'azan'.

Basically, for this ramadhan, this is our new 'trend' of breaking our fast together as a family. I did bring along my camera with me, but didn't capture much though. So, here are some pictures that I took. ^^,

Iftar + Moreh

Johor Bahru.

Currently, it is the holy month of Ramadhan. Muslims all around the world are fasting for a month. It is the only holy month in a year. All the devils (syaitan) are cuffed and locked up in hell; in return, all the heaven's gates are open. In this holy month, Allah promised us to give multiple 'rewards' (pahala) for each and every 'ibadah' and also good deeds that we do. 

Typically, this year is a little bit different. Usually, the holy month of Ramadhan comes when all students are in their semester. Even when all are fasting, there are always something to do. Then there is the 'bazar'. It is basically alive with all the students coming and buying various foods that are provided. The fun part is when we go to the 'bazar' with friends and break fast together. And the IPTs' mosques are filled with students. So, what I meant by different is that, right now, majority of students are in their study leave, 4 months of it and I believe most of them are at their hometown. So basically, there are not much of hanging out with bunch of friends. And there's not much to do other than hibernating. haha.. We often break fast with families rather than friends. Which is a good thing. But its kinda boring for some people, like me. You gotta understand, I'm an only child. 

So, for this particular time, an 'iftar' (a.k.a breaking fast together with friends) was planned. Well, it was a spontaneous plan actually. Taufik and I were visiting Ishaq, along with Zubair and Afif, in the evening. Usually, when its evening, JB roads are congested with people who are coming home from work. So, logically, due to the predetermined congestion, I thought we couldn't reach home in time before Maghrib and I was sure there will be an 'iftar' with the four of us. But then it was only me and Taufik, as Afif and Zubair wants to go 'berbuka' at home. So, I invited Arif to 'iftar' with us.

A Poem

S.I.N.G.L.E

Visiting Ishaq

Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru.

Currently, my friend Ishaq, is still lying on a bed in the hospital. Its already been more than two weeks now. He checked in since the 25th of July. Basically at that time, I didn't know anything about him getting severely ill. Remember the previous post about going to Times Square? He was already at the hospital for three days, and I was in KL hanging out with friends. It really shocked me. He was well and healthy the last time I met him. I was told that he was into his second day of industrial training, then he got ill.

If not mistaken, Taufik was the one who told me about the shocking news. So, I had to meet Ishaq as soon as possible. The first time I met him; I came with Taufik, Syahir and Afif; he was lying on the bed, weak, his temperature was high, and unconscious. Probably he was asleep because he was so weak. He didn't eat anything for the past few days, but even if he did, he'd throw up. He only drinks. During the first visit, I was told by Ishaq's younger sister that he was suspected to be infected with 'Tibi' (don't know the correct spelling) around his intestines. And he has a minor short term memory loss. He barely talks much and he doesn't move much at all. When we took him to the toilet to go for a pee, he barely remembers the way back to his bed. I was afraid that something was infecting or messing his brain.

Then the second time I met him, I came with Taufik, Arif and Rasyid, and we brought a hamper for Ishaq. I felt that it wasn't proper to visit him empty handed, that's why we brought the hamper. It was pity to see him like that, probably he wasn't comfortable with the surroundings. The ward he stayed in was too warm and crowded with other sick patients. I just hoped that government's hospital could be improved and provide with better facilities and cheerful surroundings for both patients and personnel. Lots of people visited him at the time. And just like the first visit, he didn't move much, didn't talk much and was half conscious, but there was a tube to channel liquidated foods through his nose.