Brrrrrr(mingham)

Winter doesn't want to leave. Even as I type this, it is snowing... in March. I remember, this time last year, there was a heatwave. Crazyyy

Last Saturday, Adam participated in Birmingham Malaysian Games where he played his all-time favourite sport, squash. (But at the end of the day, he said he never ever wants to play it again. I think he might be tired of it, haha.)

Adam with his medal

Participants, volunteers, a president and kak Umi

Sarah, Adam, me, and kak Umi

Despite the cold weather, we had such a nice day out...

Hahaha

The snow made the campus look like Narnia, so of course we had a bit of a photoshoot

The flowers don't stand a chance :( 

But these daffodils are fighting!

The snow is very deep. In some parts of the UK, vehicles, sheep and people
have been buried and trapped in the snow and have to be rescued.

These photos were all I took because my phone was low on battery and ran out of memory :(

Tick Tock

In one month, I will turn 21. I'm not like everyone else, panicking about getting older and not feeling young anymore. Thinking like that is so silly and close minded. You are as young as you want to feel or act, and there are many wonderful things in our future waiting to greet us, like new friends, new opportunities, new family members, our job, marriage, umrah... the list goes on. This life is short and it's a waste of time worrying about staying in the past or present. We are moving forwards and closer towards death without realising it. It's important to appreciate what we have while we have it and accept anything that Allah throws at us.
But to be completely honest, I did get a little shocked when I saw the number "21". I think this is because so many things have happened to me during the age of 20, and I felt like I didn't really want to let go of it because being 20 means those memories are still alive. I've never had that feeling before this (because nothing interesting really happened, haha.) But, like I said, time is moving quickly and there's nothing I can do but be thankful. I've really enjoyed being 20 and I look forward to what 21 brings.

20 and 2012/2013, I will miss youuuuu

Busy bee

Ya Allah, it is already March! Why is time flying by so fast? I've been very busy recently but now everything is back to normal. We can say hello to the sun and the spring, to the flowers and the birds, and goodbye to cold, winter days.

What I've been up to:

We finally did our performance for Warwick Mnight. It was nice to be a part of it again.

One last practice before the show!

Coventry University Malaysian Society at Warwick Malaysia Night 2013 :)

With Pei Shen and Amalina and I am wearing...a kebaya.

The audience! I don't know why, but it seems no matter how big or small an audience, I will always, always be nervous for a performance ;____; How do I get rid of this? More practice? Aiyaaa~

My Dikirians were ah-mazing. I'm very proud of them and I'm happy to know them.

I just feel a bit bad for letting them down with my poor performance, but what's done is done.

A couple of days after Mnight, I went to watch SingSoc Production of Twist of Fate. 

It was hilarious! I wish I could watch it again and bring along my other friends who didn't come.

I'll definitely be attending next year's, insyaAllah.

I wrote a new song! https://soundcloud.com/sitimel/beaten-up-and-bruised

CVUMASOC ice skating day :)

Kak Siti joined too, and she was so frightened like a little mouse. 

She couldn't even concentrate on looking at the camera!

It's not every day that I dapat keluar makan with Kak Siti. I will always see pictures of her makan sini, minum sana. I'm not a Warwick student ;___; and I'm not TESL. We ate at the Noodle Bar!

Not every day I get to keluar makan with these two, either!! Thank you Kak Siti for belanja-ing us ngee

We had lovely weather the other day, so I went out for a run.

(Funny thing is, it's snowing right now. Yep, in March, haha)

Allyanne was terribly ill for a week and she could hardly move or speak. It was nice because the house was quite and clean. She just slept and laid there. Cute... like a cat.

~~~

This time of year is usually the busiest because of my assignment and since it's my final year, I don't want to fail!! I.Must.Graduate. But it's so easy to get distracted, especially since there are so many events happening. It's super hard to prioritise things but a lot of my time is wasted on Twitter, Whatsapp, Line, and Instagram. Argh, social networking, damn youuuu!! I have one project due next Wednesday, 20th March, and then I have my final everything due 26th April. No Easter holiday for me then (but I don't deserve one, anyway). I just came back from Post Mnight Social. It makes me sad because I don't think I'll ever hang out or even see those people again. But that's another event, out of the way. The next one is this coming Friday, which is TTFN's Song for Friends. I don't really know what to say about it except, yes, I'm nervous.

kthxbai

Allyanne

I was playing the guitar one day and Allyanne wanted to sing Mine by Taylor Swift. She really knows this song and I must admit, she's adorable when she tries, haha. She's growing up so much and it's happening before our eyes. Sometimes we don't even realise it because it's happening so gradually. I guess this is how our parents feel when they look at us.

Astaghfirullah

I opened up blogger because I originally wanted to post about how I feel my life is so difficult. I wanted to complain about how all these people in my life, the friends I have made, are so nice and sweet. And that it makes it so much harder for me when they will have to leave. Sometimes I feel I want to break contact with them. Stay distant so it won't hurt as much later on, or avoid talking to those who have already left.
Then I realised how ungrateful I am. My life is not at all difficult. I have been blessed and I am spoilt. I will never be grateful enough for what Allah has given me.

"Complaining is ingratitude. So when you complain, you show ingratitude to Allah."

Astaghfirullah.

People are just people and although you cannot help what you feel, is it not better to feel sad about something that is much more important? You cannot change the situations around you but you can, however, change how you react to these situations. Learn to accept the happenings around you for Allah has planned it, and no misfortune happens without His permission. It's time to concentrate on what we were put on this earth to do.

May Allah guide us and keep us on the right path, ameen.

Practicing to perform

I'm very tired of Dikir Barat practice for M Night and going to Redfern to practice our performance for ladies night. I know it's just singing but I don't know why, it makes me tired. I don't want to complain too much though, because although all this takes up most of my time, I know that I will miss it in the future. I will miss performing, practicing, making friends and hanging out. It's very fun. 

Below is a photo of the Dikirans learning their moves. I can see that they are all having fun and that makes me happy. I hope I don't let them down.

Group photo with the girls! We had a dress rehearsal yesterday. Is my outfit weird? Yes, I think so.

I may not know these ladies very well but I like them so much. They are so kind and friendly.

Another group photo with some of the dikirans. They are so sweet :) :) 

Hehe, me and Fatin playing with the Tomoto app on my iPhone.

Me and pretty Pei Shen!!

Haha, during the dress rehearsal, there were no plates left so we had to eat mee goreng in a Costa cup and use the stirring sticks as chop sticks. It reminded me of the time in Malaysia when we visited Melaka. We stayed at AFamosa resort with Haziq and for some reason, the kitchen didn't have any plates or cutlery?! So we improvised, just like camping...

Everyday, we sell food. I will sell it during practice, carry it with me everywhere. This bag has many memories; selling rice at the prayer hall; selling food at Warwick games; food delivery; M night practice, and many others...

I'm very, very tired and it's very, very late and I just finished practice with "Satu Arah". I really wanted to go home but felt too lazy to walk all the way home. But, alhamdulillah, I have a brother who can drive, so here I am, with my guitar behind my back, waiting for my ride home.

"Praise is poison"

A dua I found about how we, as Muslims, should react when praised (or insulted, or when someone has the wrong perception about us)...

.اللهمَ اجْعَلْنِى خَيْرًا مِمَّا يَظُنُّونَ وَاغْفِرْ لِى مَا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ وَلَا تُؤَاخِذْنِى بِمَا يَقُولُون

Allahumma-ja’lni khayran mima yadhunoon wa-ghfir li ma la ya’lamoon wa la tu’akhidhni bi ma yaquloon.

"Oh Allah, do not call me to account for what they say & forgive me for what they have no knowledge of and make me better than they imagine"

[This supplication was not taught to us by the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), but it is one that his best friend, Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) would make after being praised (some narrations state that it was a duaa of Ali radi Allahu anhu).] 

This was the article that accompanied the dua: 

"For many Muslims involved in da'wah work or Islamic studies, one of the biggest struggles they face is praise and fame from their communities and peers. It is the nature of humans to praise what they see of people, but we are taught in our Deen that too much praise can harm a person.

Once, the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) heard a man praising another, and he responded to him, “May Allah 's Mercy be upon you! You have cut the neck of your friend.” [Bukhari]

My teacher used to say, “praise is poison”, because of how it can ruin a good intention into a corrupt one. When we are constantly praised, our weak souls begin to rely and covet this praise, so good deeds are then done solely to hear those words of praise. A person's nafs may rely so much on this praise that they begin seeking it for what they did not do."

http://muslimmatters.org/2011/04/26/the-supplication-series-being-praised/