Snowdon Mt. Invitation--Better Tomorrow

Allahu! I knew it. Hobbies reflect one’s personality. Maybe in the most subtle way we could imagine.

As I have mentioned in my previous entry, my hobbies certainly are to be around Mother Nature and to photograph her as best as I can.

A friend of mine invited me to visit Snowdon Mountain in Wales this winter and I checked it out on Google just to make sure that this place is as promising as my seniors have told me. It turned out to be my mistake to think like that because it has fantastic view all around.

I know now why I loved both of my hobbies so much. I am a person who uses analogy to make people understand my content while talking or writing sometimes and it clearly shows that this is my thinking pattern for lots of matters.

I love how my hobbies symbolise life, my life specifically. I always see a mountain or a hill from the ground as something so magnificent, so glorious standing on its own. Of course, then I would be intrigued to climb it but a person is vary from another physically and as for me, it consumes a lot of energy and emotions(whenever I feel like giving up halfway up the hill). After reaching the top, I would immediately have my phone in my hands to take photos to bring back home. Once I got home, I would edit them or leave them originally and post them on social media or for my personal file. 

This is exactly how we live our lives every single day! As a child, we see a career or a bungalow as something spectacular, impressive enough to make it as our dreams. We grew to achieve or to be exactly the person we wanted to be and it never gets easier than day 1; we got stronger and more cautious instead. Once we get what we hoped for, we craved for it to last and become our everlasting memory in our minds to tell our families and perhaps future generations. We sometimes post our life stories on social media (or not). Am I right?

Nouman Ali Khan (Islam preacher) once said that if we see the world as we should be, every creature and manmade stuff can be a medium for us to reflect upon our life and our doings.

So, would you want to change your thinking pattern once in a while? Sometimes, change is good for both our souls and bodies. I’m saying this because most of us have changed already. As kids, we imagined stuff, we were more positive than we are today, we were innocent, we practically used analogy if you can recall your childhood? Imagination explains it all! Now, we became more realistic, seeing the world as it is; a cruel planet to live on as can be quoted as “only believe what we can see” even love can be misinterpreted to be the meanest feeling. Guess what? All of us have been through a lot. Me too. But, we should never blame on others for what we have done wrong. We are the cruel creatures, the world is the victim (if we want to discuss about global warming etc.)

You know what I’m talking about. We were born for a purpose. To make peace and it is never too late to start something nice. We might have taken a false corner but we can always turn back around and get on track right this moment. I repeat, it is never too late to change for a better tomorrow, for a better us. We struggled. I know we did though I never knew your terrible stories but I am now trying to convince myself by writing all these down for us to remind ourselves that we are smart and good enough to our own self that we can change for the better. All good things can be done alone but it is much more powerful and effective if they are done by a group of people; a community, a country, every soul in the world.

This reminds me of the victorious era when Muhammad pbuh ruled Makkah. This is a fact agreed by great historians and scientists and economists, not simply a religious point of view.

Please drop a comment if you have something to say or to express an opinion. They would be very useful for me to improve next time.

***I think I will definitely accept the invitation. 

Thanks. Salamualayk. 

Bukit Batu Putih, PD -- Let us be inspired!

Bukit Batu Putih, Port Dickson was my latest hiking trail and was extremely worth it. Just 30 minutes of hiking but since there was no sign of the hill’s entrance we, me and Kak Najwa, were lost and finally reached the top after roughly above an hour. So, as usual, I always have something to write about my hiking trips. Sometimes, I did not write based on the activity itself but commonly was highlighted by it.

In this entry, I would like to highlight about inspirations. We all need inspirations from time to time after mental exhaustion life events. We all have been through it. No big deal because we know how to tackle this particular subject as everyone is learning throughout each day. However, when I stepped my feet back to my house after this hike, I realised that I have numerous questions in my head and one of them was how well do we actually know how to tackle hard days and really apply them to our life in order to have better tomorrows?

Source: Internet.
Hiking entrance- right before a hut in front of the firehouse

I’m talking about both emotions and actions. Of course, every act is a translation to what we feel but sometimes our brains interpreted it  almost to the opposite and that’s how one develop his character; extrovert or introvert. This is just a general perspective from someone who barely knows about humans’ brains. An extrovert is able to fully express his feelings most appropriately and it is contrary to an introvert. Please do correct me if I am wrong.

I actually was inspired to write about this after watching a very inspirational movie the other day. Too many ‘inspire’ root-word in a sentence, I know. Anyways, my hobbies inspire me in a way I never thought of possible. So, I do recommend you guys to have hobbies and be proactive in doing so. As for mine, each time I go to hike and then take some good photos, I feel alive and revived. I haven’t feel that way for quite some time and a bonus just came knocking on my door. The view at hilltop of BBP, PD was breath-taking. The feeling that I felt at that moment was almost similar to every bad thing in the world are wiped out in a split second. It is indeed such a powerful feeling. I was super excited that my fear to heights was gone for couple of minutes. I stood on a rock and suddenly thought that this is a blissful country. I repeat a blissful country. Yes, a very blissful one.

We are blessed for a gift after another and we overlooked it most of the time. When we are tested with hardship, we complained, we rebelled yet did not have enough faith to believe that the bigger the investment, the bigger the return. We pray, we ask Allah for mercy, for solace yet we never try to our full capabilities on seeking it. All we do is ask and demand but never to put proper amount of efforts parallel with our wishes. I demanded rest when we were lost in the middle of a hot dry day which was totally appropriate but I also demanded that I can find the entrance as soon as possible. I rejected the possibility on enjoying the forest’s view and might able to find a rare breed bird because it never registered in my mind. Soon after we walked round and round, circling Tanjung Tuan Firehouse, we also asked some Samaritans and googled on how to reach our ultimate spot, again demanded longer rest, we found it!

Only if I was not so demanding, I would be thrilled and cherish the very moment. My physique was fatigue and I could no longer establish any joy and this is an exaggerated version of my tiredness. Yes, I do make lame jokes too.

When we are inspired, we actually believe in ourselves to go through our days and perhaps take risks or in other words, grab opportunities! They’re lying there untouched by people whom are scared to try new things, to change a routine, to leave comfort zone. Once headed down the hill, we sang “I am Titanium!” out loud and it felt good! Of course there were nobody there but the nature heard us, Allah heard us. Every piece of thought are silent prays and never have Allah missed to answer them; yes, no or I’ll give you a better option. After all, I do think I am titanium. :)

All I’m trying to say is take a pause once in a while. It might not be any harmful to anyone or to any outcome that we wished for. Learn to rest, not to quit and cherish every moment because we deserved it.  Seek opportunities and grab them while they last and most importantly, be inspired!

p/s: be inspired even from a smile.

That’s is for now, Salamualayk.

Bukit Saga--Wondrous Waterfall

Masha-Allah!

This phrase alone actually can save my time from writing a 600-word of description on how amazingly Allah had taught me through my hobbies (photography & hiking) but as usual, we, humans would die arguing about stuff that do not come along with explanation. #metaphor

So, here we go!

Masha-Allah is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation, joy, praise, or thankfulness for an event or person that was just mentioned. However, I am using this phrase not only for an event or a person but to every single of them that has walk into my life picture for almost 5 months I have resided in Malaysia after roughly a year stayed in another man’s country.

Truthfully, I just wanted to share my experience for hiking at Bukit Saga, Ampang along with the idea of the above phrase can channel throughout this page because it is plain interesting in my head.

I went for hiking to this hill twice and enjoyed every second during both days. For the first time, I went with Azira and Wahidah because they’re the only ones whom have free time at that moment. Undoubtedly, we gasped for air after 10 minutes of walking from starting point because for those who haven’t been here yet, the whole 2-hour trail is innocently steep. Your spine, your shoulders, your thighs and your lungs basically will suffer for a good outcome. I repeat, for a good outcome, a very good outcome; as Rasulullah had taught us to repeat an advice/motivation thrice (first, to inform the listener. Second is to stress the point. Third is for the speaker to remember what he had advised the listener)

We had to spare a chocolate bar for instant sugar intake or else either one of us, beginners, can collapse and instead of walking down the hill will roll down the hill. That is a fact. Nevertheless, we made it through all the way to the summit and felt happier and relieved more than after receiving a gold medal for 100m sprint (if we won one).  A few hikers were spending their time on the summit too though it was noon already.

One thing that made me love my hobby more is it taught me how to love and defend your stand proactively. Bukit Saga now is a part of targeted site to be excavated for a new highway route in Kuala Lumpur. The downside of this is obviously the possibility of losing a place that one has put a heart into it but on the bright side, as I have mentioned above is how those people defend it like it meant their souls.

Source: Internet

‘Those people’ are a community; Persatuan Pendaki-Pendaki Bukit Ampang, if I am not mistaken. They even built a mini recreational park on the hilltop which is supposed to be an encouragement for youngsters to exercise more. I truly support this idea! Again, if this hill will be excavated in some years from today, the whole aim would be gone. Less green means less oxygen. As simple as that but a new highway is crucial too in order to reduce traffic in the city. Did we use our power wisely to have both situations under control? Bukit Saga stands the ground and less traffic can be obtained?

I do not mean to be emotional on this matter but it is for awareness purpose generally. I am not backing up any side. Just pointing out facts and questions that we have kept under our beds.

We thought of continuing our journey that day to a waterfall but were strictly forbidden by local volunteers. It was noon so no human beings can help us girls if anything happens also it was about to rain. Abided not to the advice but to our lust, we achieved a consensus to just have a go. Half way to the virtually picturesque waterfall, we could not proceed due to darker view in the forest and we couldn’t afford a chance to gamble around with the danger of slippery trail and may break our body parts. We turned back and ran downhill. I fell and as a result, my ankle swelled. It did not make anyone of us to slow down in any way somehow because it was getting much darker like it was actually almost night time. So, we laughed and continue to run downhill again. As we almost reached our car, it rained cats and dogs. We were very grateful for that and for letting us to be safe from any danger. Alhamdulillah.

Moving on to the second part of this entry.

I went with Kak Najwa. I seduced her with exaggerated version of my story about how lovely the waterfall is though I did not encounter it the first time. She was hooked and again our physiques were challenged for a good outcome.

Source: Internet

This time, we determined to fasten our pace and to go to the wondrous waterfall. At noon, we were a bit ahead from my first hiking trip so we moved forward and to our naïve minds, the path to go there is barely touched by humans at least recently. Why? Because there lived a huge group of wild Chikah ( I still don’t know how to spell this Orang Utan relative correctly) and they were stalking us from tree tops. We finally saw them soon after they started to make horrible sounds indicating as we learned afterwards not to go inside the territory. We headed back to the hilltop as fast as we could, feeling like throwing up that instant but we managed to keep it together with wooden sticks in our hands as our only weapons.

We then took an hour break at a spot just to talk about how lucky we were to escape from wild animals’ attack. For my lesson, never trust a website fully and always ask an acquaintance for guidance for any challenging physical activities.

As for my reflection, it is indeed worth knowing that being determined to get something is totally fine as long as we can handle the consequences; negative or positive because everyone in this world is born to be neither a winner nor a loser, each of us is born to be a chooser. We choose an option and pray to Allah that we can embrace the path; risky or easy. As parallel with what Islam has taught us, always choose something for the benefit of everyone and give in for exact Qada’ & Qadar.

That’s it for now. Assalamualayk.