Australia… Where my heart is….

Perth is gorgeous. Love the city. Love the people. Love the feeling. Love everything. I even drive around with my sisters in Perth. Yup, they drive very careful. (I guest I am used to Malaysia way of driving now..) Feeling like staying in Perth forever. It feels very sad to come back. Back to reality.

Someone ask, what is so good about Australia. Most of the people who have been in the down under would know the answer. My mentor is one of them. He said he hate the city the first day he arrived, and now he keep searching for job and counting the tax to settle down in Oz. But that is only 50% of my answer, the rest let it be sweet memories that never fade away from my heart.

Everyone who knows that I graduated from UQ in geology said that I am fool for not staying in Australia. Including En. Shah. And most of them said I’m double fool for giving up all the offers. If it wasn’t for my mum, I won’t give up the first offer. If it wasn’t for the wedding, I won’t give up the second offer. If it wasn't for tarbiyyah and daawah I won't give up both offers.I was meant to come back. And I did what I have been told to do so.

But this time, coming back is really entering a whole new world. I suggested to my mum again, lets move to Australia.. you’ll love it there. And she said, I really have to consider “his” say. And I told her that I have a tournament to attend to on 14th -16th of June at Kerteh, and she said, put yourself on the other important person’s shoes, and imagine how would he feel if you’re going to the netball match on your marriage leave. (I don’t intend to go in the first place but when she said that, it makes me feel sad, and reminds me of My Best Friend’s Wedding.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

I watched the movie again. 3 times indeed. MAS offer variety selections of movies. But I can’t resist my heart from watching beautiful Julienne with her plans on stealing the bride’s man. Kimberly Wallace sacrificed her college, her interest, her family, her career just to be with the man she loved. I don’t know whether I can do such sacrifices. Anyway, love the movie. Love the songs.

We even had everyday session of listening to My Best Friend’s Wedding original soundtrack. And of course my Mariah’s collection. (En. Shah was the one who started requesting for it everyday.. and guess what he started missing it now).

Whenever you call – this is my song with Huda. Hero – our song when we were at Gowrie (Sarah, Huda and me). Always be my Baby – my song with my roommate at Residence Hotel back in 2002 orientation programme. Forever – my song with my friend in the UK. And the list goes on.

I keep mumbling all these at the office back in Perth. Until they remember which one is which.
“I hope you two will find your own song” Rahimi said. Well, before that, let’s hear from Amanda Marshall again, from My Best Friend’s Wedding Original Soundtrack…

I’ll be OK

It’s the time to let you go
It’s time to say goodbye
It’s no more excuses
No more tears to cry

It’s been so many changes
I was so confused
All along you were the one
All the time I never knew

I want you to be happy
You’re my best friend
But it’s so hard to let you’re going now
All the could have been

I always have the memories
Should always have you
Fate has the way of change it
Just when you don’t want it to

Flow away the change
Let love fly away
Till love comes again
I’ll be ok.

Life passes so quickly
You got to take your time
But you miss what really matters
You miss all the signs

I’ve spend my life searching
For what it was always there
Sometimes it will be too late
Sometimes it won’t be fair

Flow away the change
Let love fly away
Till love comes again
I’ll be ok

I won’t give up I won’t give in
I can be creative but just might have been
I know that my heart will find love again
Now is the time to begin

Flow away the change
Let love fly away
Till love comes again
I’ll be ok
I’ll be ok
I’ll be ok.

I can’t hold on forever baby
Can’t hold on forever baby
Can’t hold on forever baby
I’ll be ok.

Take care, and be good as always..
Cheers.

Perth...

Assalamualaikum,

Big smiles. We have (sort of) come into conclusion who should win the bid. Hmm, the contractors here are even thougher. They did give us a hard time. A lot of lenghty clarifications, and nonsences requests. Nevetheless, that is not the reason that has put big smiles on my face.

OK lets recall on Sunday morning. We didn't manage to be on business class this time (less than 6 hours travelling). Even the manager has to be on economy. That's not a big deal. As long as it is to Australia, it has already make a huge.. real huge difference. There is no word to describe how happy when the flight touched down at Perth International Airport. For the first time, I dont have anything to declare at the airport. But the dog was scarier this time. They were not as active as today, 3 years ago.

When we were out from the airport, I immediately feel the cool breeze of Autumn. Hahah, guess what, I left all my jumpers, and jackets back in Malaysia. Hahah never thought of the autumn is as cold as this. Alhamdulillah, Rahimi came and be the life saver as always...Dia kan banyak lemak to guard him from the cool weather... Rahimi no offence.. I'm just quoting you.

Perth is a very cosy city. No traffic. The bus is free. Clean. I can drink directly from the tap . First thing I bought after arriving... susu segar... and the Australian witbix!!!!we had lunch at the kings park.. there is long lists about aussie that is still the same.. tapi.. nnti lah cerita.. nk balik... wanna meet the sisters today..

some pictures: http://kimberlite.fotopages.com

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

xian china

Assamualaikum warahmatullah

May everybody in best health and imaan. Thank Allah for the very best opportunity He had given me. Being the youngest participant in the 4D seismic Applied Technology Workshop held in Xian China, was a great opportunity. Learnt a lot both technical, and soft skills.

Chinese has a long history of ketamadunan. Which I don’t feel like quoting any. The great mosque (one of the oldest mosque in China, aged 1300 years) is one of the main attaction in Xian,China. Bukti menunjukkan islam telah menapak di China berkurun yang lalu. Para sahabat telah lama ke datang ke China melalui laluan sutera.

I was surprised when (Xuri – one of the committee member) said that Muslim is the largest community in the whole China. Especially at the west until the city of Xian. Then when communist overruled china, no other religion can come in especially Christianity. That’s why islam stays there. So it wasn’t hard for me to find halal food.

They are fathers and mothers

Being the youngest in the group gives you an advantage to listen to fathers and mothers. Each one of them wants the best for their children. No matter how good you are when you’re talking about complicated technical stuff there always and always be a soft spot in your heart especially when it touch about love and children..

Ada yang home schooled their kids. Part of the reason is because the husband is always away.. and they travelled a lot. But main reason is to monitor their children’s moral behaviour. Another senior manager was great when she talks about her family and children. One of my question to these people… how do you manage yourself and your family. And again the favourite answer that I always get is… communication and understanding.

Being the youngest and single in the group always gives you another advantage… hehe somebody might have mistaken that you have a good potential in this so called oil and gas business..(yeah right) guess what, I was verbally offered a job. Well with only a year experience I was offered either being a geologist or geophysicist at least doubled my current salary… and times it by at least 3 (if you want to convert it to Malaysian ringgit)… hmmm pretty good offer but.. hey haven’t you have a debt to pay to the country???

And the person who actually offered me that job was also considered to be hired by my current company… well, oil n gas is a pretty interesting business kan.

Do we speak the same language???

Part of the main concern in the workshop is how to integrate multidisciplinary teams who consists of geophysicist, geologist, reservoir engineers, economist etc. for example.. Geophysicist… our language is Hz, Amplitude, Frequency, phase etc. While the reservoir engineers are talking about porosity, saturation, pore pressure etc. How can we understand each other???Which reminds me of the book Man are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Again, are we speaking the same language???

It is so crucial for us to understand other people’s language.Which also reflects that it is very crucial to understand Arabic, since it is the language of the Quran. On the other hand, shows how crucial it is to understand our madu’ language so that when we talk about islam… it is not just solat.. puasa and haji… so that when we talk about islam it is not just a hard religion full with obligations religion rather than selamat… dan membawa rahmat ke seluruh alam…

Akhir kata…Jaga diri hiasi peribadi

egypt's trip

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah,

Selawat dan salam buat rasul junjungan. Rasulullah saw. May everybody is in great health and imaan.

It’s been a while since my last entry. Masa tu cakap I’m going to Egypt. Heheh dah lama dah balik from that trip, skarang datang Egypt again for the second trip. So, currently I’m sitting in XXX office. Waiting for them to settle out stuff to start our journey to Western Desert.

So, since I’m very bored. Lets do some recap on Egypt’s trip.

First Trip.

First trip went very fast. On Monday I knew that I have to go to Egypt, renew my passport on Tuesday, and straight to Cairo on the next day. Hehe, carigali…..

The next day went to clear out some stuff with the partners and contractors. Went for a nile cruise at night. Went to pyramid, citadel (salehuddin al ayubi’s fort), masjid Hussein etc. The trip actually finished at around 3 since the bosses went to sleep.

The next day, my Egyptian friend from orientation brought me to the most tah pape museum in the world. All I see were just patung and patung.. and keranda… we finished the tour in the museum for just like half an hour.. heheh.. then went to khan khalili… tried egyptian juice… suddenly my friend said he has to go back home for family lunch…

Ooo man, Im not gonna let the same thing happen again. So, I went to al-azhar university… trying to see somebody that look like Malaysian. There were 3 ppl sitting at one corner. The only Malaysian look kat situ… so heheheh dengan gaya paling mengada sekali, I managed to convince them to accompany me to maqam imam syafaei. We walked and visited all the maqam around the area.

Mesir: Anak singa vs seladang pengecut

Back in Australia, ada satu talk yang saya dengar,
“rakyat mesir seperti dibuat begini” (speaker tu buat gaya sedang merangkul leher seseorang dan ditampar-tamparnya).

The next day, I went with my Egyptian friend and we went passed the Anuar Sadat memorial. Kawan saya kata anuar sadat was killed by the ikhwan. Then dia x puas hati betul kenapa these ppl x tgk apa yg AS cuba buat. Anyway, Anuar Sadat signed the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Lihatlah bagaimana mereka dah racun pemikiran kawan saya. Perjanjian damai. Kerana dia damai.. maka itu adalah terbaik walau dengan sesiapa sekali pun. Tapi untuk apa “damai” di mata tapi hakikatnya kita dijajah. Hakikatnya kita tidak merdeka. hakikatnya “kedamaian” itu bakal meragut pengabdian kita kepada illah yang satu.

In different occasion , dengan celuparnya sekali, saya bertanya kepada taxi driver “di mana hassan al banna di bunuh?” then the taxi driver said, “he has not been killed. He died in his sleep.” Satu pemalsuan fakta. Tapi merekalah segerombolan tentera semut yg telah berjaya diperbodohkan oleh seekor ratu semut yang kejam!

Saya sedih, di beberapa tempat di bandaraya kaherah itu, bagunan tinggi2 dan cantik2. yang rata-ratanya ada 3 ke 5 orang tentera yang lengkap bersenjata. Di dalam bangunan cantik itu, orang-orang tempatan yang saya tidak senang utk berada dekat dengan mereka. Ada seorang yg berpangkat sangat besar di dalam satu syarikat tapi biliknya dipenuhi oleh asap rokok. Dan saya rasa asap rokok lebih banyak masuk ke dalam paru-parunya setiap kali dia bernafas compare to the fresh air.

Tetapi di ceruk yang lain, hanya ada rumah-rumah flat yang tidak diplaster dengan baik. Relatively kotor. Dan tidak dijaga. Di ceruk yang lain, kanak-kanak berlari-lari meminta sedekah. Di ceruk itu juga ada jalan yang suram, seperti tidak berpenghuni. Tapi apabila ditegur insan2 di situ, mereka sangat ramah. Somehow ada roh di ceruk itu. Somehow ada cahaya pada mata-mata mereka.

Di satu ceruk, di hadapan masjid al-azhar, ada dua orang kanak-kanak sedang duduk. Seorang kakak bersama adiknya. Tapi kakak ini tidak duduk sahaja, dia membawa seplastik tisu. Saya hulurkan satu Egyptian pound dan in return saya beli sebungkus tisu. Kemudian, kanak2 itu mengembalikan 70 plaster kepada saya. Saya tolak. Tapi kanak-kanak itu insists. Saya tolak lagi. Kanak-kanak itu masih insists. Di wajahnya seolah-olah berkata – aku bukan pengemis.
“it is for you. Take it! Kata saya dan saya terus berlalu. Saya harap kanak-kanak itu selamat dan diberkati rezekinya. Harap ibunya tidak memarahinya ada duit lebih berbanding tisu yang dijual.

Hari terakhir saya di kaherah ketika itu, rasa sayu. Saya bakal merindui bumi ini. Tapi somehow dalam hati saya saya rasa, saya bakal berpeluang lagi ke sini.

Second trip

Alhamdulillah telahan saya tepat. Saya di assigned utk pergi sekali lagi. Tapi kali ini tugasnya bukan setakat di office, tapi saya bakal ke Western Desert. Dan jika keadaan permited, saya bakal tinggal di situ at least untuk beberapa hari sehingga tugas kami selesai.

Sekali lagi trip kali ini, saya pergi dengan principal saya. First day kami di kaherah. Selesaikan beberapa perkara berbangkit.

Esoknya (iaitu hari yg saya duduk di dalam xx manager’s office ini) kami bertolak ke Western Desert. Bandaraya kaherah sibuk seperti biasa. Maklumlah ketika itu 12 tengah hari. Kami keluar dari kaherah dan menujuk ke al alamein city.

Antara yang menarik pokok di pinggir sungai nil, tamar besar2 berubah kepada smaller shrubs. dan apabila kami hampir di base camp, x ada pokok. It was barren dessert. Flat.

Besides the changes in pokok di dalam perjalanan tersebut. kami melalui jalan menyusuri lautan mediteranean. Sangat cantik subhanallah. Di situ juga ada pusat peranginan/chalet holiday house yang cantik. Ada german and Italian army’s graveyard.

this is on the way back actually - belakang tu view of mediterranean sea

kami solat asar di masjid tepi jalan. Saya berasa pelik kenapa orientation masjid ini berbeza dengan rule bayang2 yg selalu saya guna utk tentukan arah kiblat. Lalu saya yg mmg susah nak kalah ni pun tanyalah geng2 partners saya..heheh rupanya saya berada at the other side of the world where makkah is at its south… hish geologist apa cm ni..

anyway… hari semakin gelap ketika ini baru saya mula berasa takut. Perjalanan yang mulanya tadi ada rumah2 di tepi jalan. Pokok2. kadang2 si pengembala kambing atau unta serta binatang2 gembalaan mereka. Kini semakin lengang. Bukan setakat lengang. Tidak ada sesiapa pun yang tinggal di situ. Kalau ada pun orang hanyalah checkpoint tentera. Itu sahaja.

Saya mula rasa takut. What if suddenly the tyre is flat. Im the only lady in this convoy and non of these ppl are my mahram. What if I cannot get in. this is in the middle of the desert and yet I have to travel to matruh with a driver that I just known a few days ago. Masa tu saya hanya berserah kepada Allah. Suddenly saya terfikir yang kadang2 saya ni ikut sangat darah muda dan nafsu yang membuak2 untuk menerokai “dunia” ini sehingga saya sanggup mempertaruhkan apa saja yang saya ada ketika itu. Most important thing keselamatan. Tiba2 saya rasa geram dengan diri sendiri, seperti saya tidak berorganisasi. Saya tak bertanya pun pendapat orang2 sepatutnya, saya terus optimis dengan keputusan saya.

Alhamdulillah, malam itu kami arrive di camp without any question from all of the military checkpoints. Surprisingly, communication breakdown, saya ingat ada ladies di camp itu. Tapi selama dua malam tidak ada. Those ladies pergi meeting di tempat lain. And saya sorang2 je lady. Dan saya hanya bertawakal kepada Allah untuk itu.

Principal saya buat statement. “you are one of the most daring girl I know…” Im not really sure how do I want to take that.

Anyway, 3 days in western desert reminds me of Mt. Isa. The trip itself is full of uncertainties. Similar to when I went to Isa, tertinggal flight and in the middle of nowhere. Sorang2. somehow the atmosphere is similar. Very hot and windy day. Very cold nights.

I almost cry when we left western desert. It feels like that is the last trip to the western desert. Then we head back to cairo.

Kenapa orang Arab macam orang Arab
Ramai yang bertanya pada saya, hows your trip. Jawapan saya - great, awesome, etc kepada most org yg ada di office. Banyak yang saya belajar, but ill try my best to put them in words.. pertamanya orang arab jadi macam org arab salah satu sebabnya adalah kerana padang pasir itu..

Badwi - mereka mmg sangat tak kesah pasal hygeine. Teringat kisah Rasulullah tegur seorang badwi yang buang air di dalam masjid. Sepanjang perjalanan saya ke western Desert, tandas adalah antara perkara yang x de la best sgt. tapi secara logiknya. kehidupan badwi, mereka berpindah randah. di desert tu, flat nothing. jadi untuk memulakan kehidupan di situ adalah kadang2 mustahil.

air hanya bayangan illusi pembiasan cahaya sahaja. jadi dengan kehidupan berpindah randah ini, banyak lagi menda lain yang derang kene pikir daripada nk wujudkan sistem tandas yg ok sbb they are not going to stay they anyway.

contoh lain, kedegilan orang arab. somehow saya rasa duduk di desert itu pressure la jugak. yg ada hanya padang pasir, dan langit, serta kengkadang unta liar yang tersesat seminggu sekali. simple je. so bila org arab dapt problem, depa x reti nak kona2 sgt pasai depa mmg dh duduk dlm suasana simple mcm tu. dan saya dpt rasakan ketenangan tinggal selama seminggu disitu. bila saya pulang ke cairo, nampak pokok dan bangunan kembali.. rasa complecated sgt.

Good company..

Initially our flight is cairo-kl. This was changed by the ppl back in kl since we finish the job a week earlier. But when we at cairo, my principal came out with a very brialliant idea because I said to him that I wanted to go to dubai. we called Mas asking is there any flight from dubai to kl the next day. They have, and then we went to the airport and change our ticket from cairo-kl to cairo-dubai-kl. It was a hassle changing ticket in Egypt. Im fully aware of this. But my principal insist.

“its ok if we didn’t get to go to dubai…”
but my principal is so cool. Kitorang sama2 meredah mcm nk menukar tiket tu.. heheh he just add another flavor di trip ini..
“im doing this for you …” he said.
“wahhh so tired. Sometimes its not too bad to be and feel young and do crazy things again” he said once we in the flight. Hehehe this reminded me exactly to my trip to Melbourne after Isa. It was a spontaneous decision. Instead of Brisbane-sydney… I did Brisbane-melbourne-sydney…

sweet memories remain…

finally I came back to kl on Monday. Tired but not exhausted. A friend went to uzbek the next day. And today another good friend of mine went to uzbek as well. We had the SA&P COP team lunch in the afternoon. First time for the whole team to get together. And we noted that we should do this more often not until one of us want to leave us. Perpisahan adalah berat dan sangat menyedihkan. But if it is for the best, just redha. Hope that both of you will get the best out of it. Jaga diri elok2, jaga solat, jaga makan, jgn kerja kuat2 sangat… and do contact us kat sini.

Akhir kata.. jaga diri hiasi peribadi kepada semua..

jauh berjalan

jauh berjalan...

Venue: Baram River, Miri Sarawak.

Dan Dialah yang membiarkan dua laut mengalir (berdampingan); yang ini tawar lagi segar dan yang lain asin lagi pahit; dan Dia jadikan antara keduanya dinding dan batas yang menghalangi25:53


Atau siapakah yang telah menjadikan bumi sebagai tempat berdiam, dan yang menjadikan sungai-sungai di celah-celahnya, dan yang menjadikan gunung-gunung untuk (mengokohkan) nya dan menjadikan suatu pemisah antara dua laut? Apakah di samping Allah ada tuhan (yang lain)? Bahkan (sebenarnya) kebanyakan dari mereka tidak mengetahui.27:61


Dia membiarkan dua lautan mengalir yang keduanya kemudian bertemu,antara keduanya ada batas yang tidak dilampaui oleh masing-masing.55:19-20


Dulu masa belajar, gambar mcm ni lecturer cik nur yang tunjuk, ambil dari atas, somewhere in africa rasanya.. kali ni.. cik nur tgk dgn mata kepala sendiri.. dan siap main2 air tu lagi... masyaAllah... di mana2 ada sign of Allah tapi hanya pada mereka yang ingin berfikir


saya rasa sungguh tenang duduk di Miri. Menghabiskan ramadhan di Miri. Semoga Allah ampunkan dosa-dosa yang lalu. Semoga Allah jaga hati ini dari segala maksiat. Ramadhan adalah bulan tarbiyah. Tarbiyah bagi hati.Azam after ramadhan - tanak ulang kesilapan before ramadhan!


Sangat cepat masa telah berlalu. Antara Ramadhan lepas dengan Ramadhan hr ini, macam2 yang terjadi. Serata malaysia dah jajah. Pelbagai orang dari segenap pelusuk masyarakat saya jumpa... Cepatnya....Yesterday was the last day at uni for my dearest sisters. Rindu sangat. Sangat sangat.