TRAVELOGUE BEIJING [ TEASER ]

Awake for the sake of supporting the year-end-closing. Ended up with updating this blog as I am not rajin to process the ER. While listening to the serenade by 혜성이 오빠 ㅋㅋ. 

Sigh. I just realized that I made a reckless actions. Before flew to Madinah, I back up my phone to clear the memory. I was in rush, perhaps, that I don't check the files as a whole. The file was crack and almost 80% photos and video in Beijing was all gone.  *Crying a river*

Need to consult anyone pro in the technology. Somehow I felt I save it somewhere else either in Ailee, office laptop or in the hardisk. 으이쿠야... 왜 제데로 초장 안 했냐 아인아? ㅠㅠ

So here's the deal. I went to Beijing last 16th October 2019 till 20th October 2019 for the Staff Excursion joined by ASSC, AMSB, ABGSG, AITS hosted by Amway China. 
Patah hati nak start write sebab gambar hilang.  TT

Kbye.

Simple is it? Just a word, but literally it kills the feeling as well as the conversation.

MY FIRST UMRAH : MADINAH AL - MUNAWARRAH [ PART 2 ]

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ. All praises and thanks only to Allah SWT in all circumstances. I am, hereby, today still having aaa... sort of mixed feelings especially disbelief. I still cannot believe that I already set my foot in both Tanah Haram Madinah and Makkah. Insyaallah, I will be having another travelogue in March. However, I assured you that all the excitement is long gone since I reached Makkah and Madinah. Knowing that no place even better than this 2 Tanah Haram. Though I traveled a lot, something is different with this both Tanah Haram. 
Well, talking about Tanah Haram, remind me of my Korean colleague, Jin Kim ( 김진). So literally he asked me a few questions that chocked me lol.

" Could you please enter the black box building ( Kaabah ) and take a picture inside of it? "
" Can I go there? "
" Why does it call as Tanah Haram? "
"Why this why that? "
"Yada yada yada etc "



Breathe in, Ain. haha. I always and I am trying my best in portraying a good 모습 ( examples) of Muslims in front of my Korean colleagues and friends. Considering this as my fardhu kifayah of letting them know about Islam. And I'm telling you that is not easy. A lot of effort is required. Thousands of explanation is needed. Knowledge and reading must be done so that you are not misleading them to the wrong teaching as taught by our beloved Rasulullah SAW. ( Peace be upon him) . I am not so good as well, still learning the Islamic teachings to share with them.

okay, back to the topic.

In Madinah Al - Munawarrah, we arrived around 3.30pm Saudi Time. Asked me lol. During the journey, I was slept all the way. The day ( read : a week ) before departure, I was extremely busy with Knowledge Transfer to both IBM and Jin Kim as he was my back up while I'm away, preparing the balance sheet reconciliation, settle the arising issue, responding to the tickets raised in SNOW as much as I can, managing the daily task and yada yada yada. Allah. Not to mentioned that I was sick and down with fever and severe coughing. Tapi tak rasa terbeban sebab I'm going to Makkah and Madinah. I ended up sleeping and just awake for the foods and solat. Upon touch down, a bit gelong sebab we departed on 10.30am Malaysia time, journey took 8 hours and 30 minutes yet we arrived at 3.30pm Saudi Time. And I still have more than 10 hours to go before night. 
Clearing out the immigration took around 1 hours. Luckily we went with Tabung Haji Travel so we was arranged to took the chartered flight. So risiko flight delay tu kurang. Memang ramai orang pergi dengan TH. One whole flight memang pergi dengan TH and required 10 buses of us all. Pergilah dengan TH. Service dia memang puas hati. For my first umrah's journey, Alhamdulillah memang puas hati. Setel dengan immigration, 10 buses awaits for us. Time taken from Prince Mohamad Bin AbdulAziz, Madinah Airport to our hotel, Saja al Madinah is around 20 minutes. Our mutawwif, Ustaz Munadi likes to shares the sirah and the information regarding the places we went through during the journey. Sampai hotel and having a dinner then solat dalam bilik. Tido lagi. Jet lagged teruk nau ahakss.

Front view of Nabawi Mosque, Gate 22 opposite to the Clock Tower

The next day, Mutawwifah brought us to Raudhah. From Saja Al Madinah hotel to Masjid Nabawi requires 5 minutes walk and the nearest gate is Gate 15. Sangat dekat and we can even see the Masjid's gate from our hotel. Masha Allah rezeki untuk dapat hotel dekat. For Raudhah's entrance we was divided by group of buses and separated by ladies and man. Mixed feeling again. Back in Malaysia, I've done a lot of reading and seek advised from those who went to Raudhah before hand. ( Will be sharing in the post special for Raudhah ) The moment we walk, I recite this zikr, asking all Allah SWT to ease our affairs to enter the Raudhah. 

 " رب يسر ولا تعسر رب تمم بالخير " “O Allah! Make it easy, and do not make it difficult.O Allah! Make it end well.”

Before entering the raudhah, awaits for our turn.

For Raudhah, Insyaallah I will make another post for it. All the tips that I get to know there and my experience entering the Raudhah, Insya Allah I will share it all. May it will be beneficial for those who is reading the post. 

The mutawiffah taught us to greet Rasulullah SAW, Saidina Abu Bakar As - Siddiq and Saidina Umar Al - Khattab. Wallahi, Sungguh Nur Ain Maisarah Phelps sangat sebak sepanjang perjalanan berjalan kaki dari hotel sehinggalah sampai ke Raudhah. Banyak pit stop for ladies before we could really enter the Raudhah. From the Door 25 also known as Uthman bin Affan's Door ( The only way to enter Raudhah for Muslimah/ Ladies ) until we reach my favourite Door, which is Bilal Bin Rabah Door. Why does Bilal's Door is my favourite ? Because beside this door is Makam Rasullullah. You will know ( supposedly )  if you're in Bilal's Door and you are close with / to Rasulullah SAW.  The moment I've saw the door lies our Beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW, my tears really cannot stop flowing. I never felt I really missed Rasulullah SAW until that moment. Allah Allah Allah sebak lagi while writing this. 

Masjid Nabawi's view during the Maghrib's azan

Masjid Nabawi's view after Isya's prayer time has ended

Tanah Haram bumi Madinah was really soothe me. Being there is giving me a break from the dunia's endless problem. Teringat Kak Masdiyana cakap,  " Kan best kalau takde masalah. Tapi ni dunia, masalah tak kan habis. Kat syurga je takde masalah " . This Tanah Haram was healing me, of course with Allah's permission. Berkat doa Rasulullah SAW and Allah's blessing, this place is giving me peace.  Subhanallah. I went to Makkah and Madinah when I was at the lowest point of my life. Allah is testing me with the losing of someone that I loves the most before I'm leaving Malaysia. Tapi bila sampai je sana, pijak je bumi Madinah, I know that this shall passed. My heart keep on reminding myself, as said in taklim by Ustaz Hannan Attaki, Allah has said in the Quran : Surah Al- Insyirah. 

credit : owner. Pic obtain from Google

I convinced myself. Allah is The Most Knowing and He knows better than me. I was down, I was in despair and my heart has fallen into pieces. Feeling being betrayed, left out and unwanted. My intention like, going to Makkah and Madinah, I wanted to spilled things out of my heart. 모두 다. 하나도 빠짐 없이 다 풀어줄 거야. 근데 Surprisingly, when I was there, I have a feeling like, "Hey Ain! It was not that bad though" . I'm having a slight thoughts over the problems that I'm having in Malaysia but I am not worried. Well at least not as much as I'm ( used to ) worried in Malaysia. Deep down I know I have non others but Allah. For sure, I know He loves me more that umi loves me. I'm convinced that my Rabb won't leave me when everyone else does. There, I let myself to put ultimate trust in Allah in all situation that seems to be impossible.  I whispered in Raudhah, pleading Allah to show me the way out for this mess.
" Ya Rabb. Tunjukkan hamba jalan keluar. Jangan biarkan hamba berseorangan walau sedetik pun " 

" Ya Rasulullah Ya Rasulullah Ya Rasulullah "



Sedih. Allah. There. In Tanah Haram, myself is learning to put things that out of my control into Allah's hands. I am learning to put doa and tawakkal before the effort. I told myself to put all the trust and hope upon Allah in the way Rasulullah SAW and sahabats puts their trust into Allah in the Uhud Battle. Trust me. Takkan sia-sia orang yang bersabar. Allah mesti bagi something pada kita for a reason. 
In Madinah, I've gotten  a lot "me-time" dengan Allah. Somehow Umi seems to be comfortable with Hakim ( my lil brother ) and I told Umi that I want to do the iktikaf in Masjid. She said okay. hehe. Maybe because of the distance between hotel and masjid was not so far, so she was not worried. But my best-friend Oka was overly worried. I told her, " Kita dekat Tanah Haram. Allah ada untuk jaga Ain" . Then baru case closed. Goodluck Noah for your mommy. HAHA

This the first page of Quran that I've read in Madinah.

I brought my own lovely Quran to Makkah and Madinah. Been using this Quran for almost 8 years and I bought that with Arwah Mek. ( Al- Fatihah. To Abah, Wan, Atok, and Tok Ayah as well ). Back then, I was doing my diploma in UiTM Merbok, Kedah, then brought to UiTM Puncak Perdana for Degree and now I'm using it while doing my Master in UiTM Shah Alam. My doa is may I can bring the Quran to United Kingdom in next 2 or 3 years for my PHD. Amin Amin Aaamin Ya Rabbal Alamin.

I think I'll wrap this post for now. In next post maybe I will be sharing about our ziarah to Jabal Uhud, Masjid Quba and other places around Madinah. I need to finish up the article reviews for IR 4.0 & Fraud and doing the reading for AMLA's assignment. 2 weeks to go before this semester is officially end. Till then, hang on Nur Ain Maisarah. Insya Allah, All is well.

May Allah ease our struggles. 

MY FIRST UMRAH : DEPARTURE & ARRIVAL IN MADINAH AL-MUNAWARRAH [ PART 1 ]

Alhamdulillah Kulli Haal. Me and my family was arrived safely and sound from our Umrah Trip. Aside from slight fever, coughing and flu, Alhamdulillah we are all in good shape. I wish Abah could be with us, yet Allah loves him more- Al-Fatihah. Planning for umrah was not easy for me. There's a lot of issue need to encounter and I decided to take only 2 papers of my Master's study this semester. Otherwise my time will be all packed and I'm worried I couldn't attend the Kursus umrah. Early this year, my best-friend Oka had performed umrah and I asked her to pray on my behalf ( because I really wanted to go this year). Second situation, my uncle, Ayah Ngah was invited by Allah to performed Hajj. So when he asked what I want him to pray on my behalf, I said :

" Ngah doa macam-macam mana pun tahun ni biar Ain sampai Mekah jugak"

2-3 weeks after Ngah flew to Mekah for his Hajj, umi assured me that we are going to umrah somewhere in November. Nothing can describe my feelings. Seriously. Nervous, sad, happy, anxious, all those mixed feeling. Some other day I feel like I really wanted to go there so badly to the extend I do the day count-down. haha. All my team members knew this.

So, on 15th November 2019, we all gathered in Tabung Haji center point in KLIA ( opposite to Paparich ). The moment I was there, seeing all people assembled wearing black and white, managing the luggage, Tabung Haji's staff distributing our passport and tag, Ya Allah, my eyes was in the state of disbelief. My heart is crying out and I did cried when the Ustaz was reading the doa and azan before we departed. This is it. The moment that I've been longing  for all this while. Allah Allah Allah. That's the only word I can say that day. Sambil jalan untuk clear immigration, dok ulang cakap dekat diri sendiri,
" Ya Allah aku nak pergi Baitullah. Terima kasih rezekikan aku untuk nikmat ni. "

Before immigration clearing

From KLIA we departed around 10am Malaysia time and we arrived 3.30pm Madinah Time. The journey from Malaysia to Madinah took plus minus 8 hours and 30 minutes. So basically the day before we departed to Madinah, I work late and obviously exhausted. Through out the journey I slept, listening to taqlim podcast and zikir, eat and the cycle repeated. 

Arrived in Prince Mohamad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, Madinah Al-Munawarah.

This is my first time me flying with Tabung Haji's Service and somehow I felt like their service is superb. Services, food, the logistic, guidance, and everything was all perfect. Tabung Haji is using chartered flight, so we were all quite free and the staffs is free to the short and quick ceramah during the journey. Nikmat apa lagi yang kau dustakan wahai Nur Ain Maisarah? I am all blessed by Allah through out my first umrah's journey. Alhamdulillah Alhamdullillah Allamdulillah.

Me and my family was arranged to joined the 8H bus. Our mutawwif is Ustaz Munadi. He's is Indonesian and has served with Tabung Haji for 6 years. He's has a lot of experiences in managing umrah, knew and well delivered of sirah Rasululla,  kita dengar dia bercerita sampai berjurai-jurai air mata, someone who is so humble, banyak mengajarkan doa, adab and ilmu-ilmu agama. May Allah bless and protect you everywhere and anytime Ustaz.

All those buses, is all for Jemaah under Tabung Haji. There's a lot of people. This the outside view of Madinah Airport. It's so windy and cold. When I first set my foot in this bumi Madinah, again it does feels surreal. 


"Ya Allah. Hamba dah sampai bumi Rasulullah. Dah pijak Madinah".


Well, as you were reading this, you might feel I'm exaggerating but I swear I'm not. The feeling cannot be describable.  At all. Yes, at all. Rasa kita ni hamba penuh dosa, tapi Allah tetap pilih dan panggil kita ke bumi Madinah & Mekah untuk jadi tetamu Dia. So people of earth, if you have an intention of going to Madinah or Mekah for umrah, trust me. It's Allah calling for you. Don't lose hope and put a trust in Allah even though it seems so impossible. Remember Allah is the Almighty, when He said "Be it" and the thing will be in the way He wish. So, make a doa for Allah to make the journey is easy for you.

In Madinah, we're stay in Saja Al-Madinah Hotel. 5 minutes walking to reach Gate 15 of Masjid Nabawi. Alhamdulillah dekat je and we all can managed it. Mostly road in Madinah and Makkah has built the ramp everywhere. Minimal problems for those with wheelchair. Insyallah bumi berkat Tanah Haram Madinah and Makkah, pertolongan Allah sentiasa ada.

view from our Dining Hall

Panduan waktu solat and all the announcement was paste in the Dining Hall.

See my eyes? Swollen from crying a river. Subhanallah. Masa ni baru keluar dari Raudhah. Insyallah I will be sharing the tips to Raudhah especially for Malaysian ladies. And in Raudhah, Allah has shown His Mercy for me. He has blessed me with all those Doa's that I made in Malaysia. In next entry ya, Insyallah.

Quiries : I ate Norcolut 5mg. 1 week before departure I've gotten the fever. Fast forward pergi clinic, so Doktor bekalkan 2 bags full of medicines for me LOL. ( coughing, allergic, paracetamol yada yada yadaaaa etc). Then, terspilled dekat Doctor about the menses cycle. Normally Ustaz akan suggest kita untuk tak makan any medicine and let the menses run normally. Tapi sedihlah pergi Tanah Haram tapi terhalang tak dapat masuk Masjidil Haram kan? So, I agreed to the Doctor's advices. In my case, I usaha ikhtiar 2-2. I ate the Norcolut and banyakkan solat hajat and dalam setiap sujud terakhir,  I doa dan niat " Ya Allah, tahanlah periodku sehingga kami kembali ke bumi Malaysia". Kena yakin, Insyaallah Allah makbul. Sebab the moment we arrived Malaysia, I've gotten my period. Alhamdulillah I was "clean" from hadas through out my journey in Tanah Haram Makkah and Madinah.

Insyallah I will continue the umrah journey's experience and tips in the next entry. Till then, be safe people of earth. May Allah bless

TRAVELOGUE PORT DICKSON

Last 2 month ( Yes, July 2019 ), I went to Port Dickson and Melaka with Ada. Ada la insisted of going there for baby crab hunting lols. And we haven't got a chance of having it because it wasn't the season. *crying  a river* The purpose of this trip is actually clearing minds before the final exam. I came here sebab buat-buat lupa paper was on the upcoming week to relax and cari mood study pff@#$%
Oh! I haven't wrote anything ( yet ) about Salomah. Alhamdulillah Alla Kulli Hal. Salomah was the biggest achievement of mine for the second year of working life. I, Nur Ain Maisarah Phelps has gotten myself her own personal car. wehuuuu claps clapsss! Local car, requested colour and almost 90% accurate birthday number for the registration number. I am on the top of the world. Goodjob for the first car, Ain! More to come, Insyaallah. 

Okay, done with the nag! Continue with the business.
I drove all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Port Dickson. Pick up Ada at her sister's house in Setapak and we headed straight to Port Dickson. Read : I salah jalan, keluar exit Putrajaya. Waze made us drove the old road, full with the farms and yes. It's help me that I don't doze off while driving. Not sure whether this is only my feelings or whatsoever, tapi biasanya I akan mengantuk on long-distance drive.
Upon suggestion, ... Errr. Shall I call it as a request ? hahaha. Ada sibuk melobi I, bagitau there is one stall yang memang sedap for the signature dish, Gulai Lemak daging salai. (?). Correct me if I'm wrong.

Tip : Dekat kedai ni ada sorang brother. Dia jual keropok & dia akan paksa korang beli. If tak nak, dia akan keep on mumbling saying not a good words to you. Ignore je. Kami rasa abang tu terlalu memaksa, sebab tu kami tak nak even mula2 ada niat nak bagi.

To be honest, kedai ni biasa je. Maybe sebab area kedai dia bersih, ada varities of foods and quite comfortable, so ramai orang. Boleh makan lah. Maybe I put too much expectation on this, so, I felt like hmmmm. Ya lo. I was crying inside. 
When we first arrived here, not to exaggerate but the weather is really no joke. Panasnyaaa Ya Rabbi. I told Ada, we better check in first. I think I need to take a bath to freshen up and I wanted to at least take a nap. Sayang masa terbuang kan? No choice since I started to have those discomfort feelings like burning in the eyes, tense in the neck area and dizzy. We cannot let migraine ruined my quite sudden-unplanned-ladies-road-trip , so we rushed to the hotel. We stay in Paradise Hotel, cost us around MYR140. Both Nur Ain Maisarah Phelps and Norsyuhada being such hmmm. kinda of idiot there. Basically, we can get the room by MYR 120 but we choose the room with a garden view. We've got fooled there. Masa tu I dah ada doubts because like the distance between hotel and beach is around 300m, but maybe there're having a view like Awana Kijal. Haaa kan. I tau I over pff$@#$#% nak expect 3star hotel dengan Awana.

After freshen up, I tido tak ingat dunia sebab memang pening kepala. Sampai la around 5.30pm macam tu, Ada bugging on me suruh bangun. Otherwise the main mission will be fail!  We wish to watch the sunset by the beach. Acah sweet tahap potong kaki-mengarut dia punya wish. 

Dont know the name of this beach. But it was nearby to the PD waterfront. 

Nampak macam sepi kan?  Tapi sebenarnya penuh dengan manusia yang dating, family datang picnic and etc. I'm coming for healing. Guess not really healing meh. This place if nice but it might be too crowded. Must be because of the weekend. A bunch of a.... an irrational teens ( I suspect students lol) get themselves too hype in taking photos and trust me it was super-duper-mega noisy, kids screaming and crying and the cars passed by. Nak buat macam mana? Memang tempat umum, kena redha la bising macam mana pun.   We bought like shredded fried chicken ( Ayam Gunting ) taste like a glue and drinks. There's a lot of stall selling souvenir,  foods and drinks. I bought myself a bottle drinks just in case.. you know. Getting any food poisoning.  * Overthinking mood on*

Spending time in there, with my own best friend. I think Allah bless us so much for our current achievement. It'd be glad if we got Bazilah, Fikah and Dilah together with us. From having a meal in school canteen and Kedai Kak Ani in front of the school, now we are manage to lunch in hipster cafe lols. Back then we was broke and penniless student to an adult who is earning our own salary. Tersentuh sis hokay! Okay, this is real funny yet so touching. *Drowning in memory lane*. We've been through the teen's life together and moving into adulthood season. All those pains, struggles, happiness, uncertainty and others life issue, we shared our thoughts there. Next time, if I ever goes there again, it will always remind me of Ada.

Dinner dekat cafe hipster malam ni. Konon sebab kedai ni viral. Tapi lupa nama kedai.  Okaylah, ada rasa. Spagetti dia so-so. Sedap je actually, but I prefer the spicy one instead of plain. Tapi dah kebulur, semua kami bedal.

Basically trip kali ni tak ada itenary for this time sebab the concept is more to gamble, try and error. 

In Port Dickson, sunset mission is successful! Baby crab tak dapat. We'll go again next year, during the season.

We're having a breakfast in hotel ( Jimat bukan ? ),  check out and gerak ke Melaka around 10am. Yang ni pun best, lalu kampung gajah, sesat sebab waze takde signal, ikut cara traditional berhenti kedai runcit buat-buat beli air mineral sebab nak tanya pakcik kedai tu jalan nak masuk Bandaraya Melaka. 

Pergi Melaka kali ni memang sebab Ada request nak pergi Pantai Klebang. 

Stop by at Klebang Original for that-so-called tea time. Paling best sini, Coconut Shake. Kuih-muih to biasa je rasa.

Tak cukup, kami tapau lagi. Acah nak buat bekal minum dalam kereta on the way balik KL.

Alhamdulillah, previous visit to Melaka, I don't have a chance to stop by at this Selat Mosque. Since this time I drove by myself, then we had the chance to came here. Sempat solat jamak takhir kat sini. If I knew the traffic will be that bad on that night, I might stay and solat maghrib kat sini. Next time, baby. Next time.

Dah abih cerita.

*Ending mengejut*

60TH TEST OF PROFICIENCY IN KOREAN | TOPIK

I have sat for my first level Test of Proficiency in Korean last year. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى كُلِّ  حَالٍ Alhamdulliah Ala Kulli Haal. My score is beyond expectations. 

The Test was held in Linguistic Faculty of UKM Bangi. I was so nervous that I booked a grab after dawn. As far as I remember, I was awake super early that day. Upon the arrival in the test location, I was so nervous. Seems like a lot of people is taking this test. Some of them were friends or maybe classmates ( dont really know) but bloody hell they spoke Korean fluently. As if they were the native speaker. Most of the test-taker was soo focus doing the reading on their final touch. Me ? Meh! I am that kind of person whom cannot read/ study before the exam.  It will be end up to panic attack since I have a feeling that not all the topic was covered! Hence, doing nothing is better. 

Examination's schedule and the on-going process.

I wish to share the procedure or what should you do if you want to take the examination.

1 . Go to the Navercafe of Koreaukm. The will put the schedule for the registration, examination date and the expected result of the examination. [ help yourself to check on the website. Nak berjaya jangan malas ye adik-adik sekalian ] 2.  Pay the fees. I don't remember the fees. Level 1 will cost you  within the range MYR 70-MYR 100. 3.  Made the payment to Prof. Ryu Seung Wan and send the payment slip to his email. 4. Prof. Ryu Seung Wan will reply the email by attaching the examination slip. 5.  Mark the date for the examination.
Depends on your purpose of taking the examination. There are the test taker whom taking this test as it was required by the university such as UKM, students that doing a language preparation before flying to Korea for their Bachelor Degree/ Master/ PHD or maybe a people like me. I'm taking TOPIK test to increase my education line in language. I never attended the class for Korean Language nor receiving the official learning certificate. So, it a must. Ehem. Certain company may required the TOPIK result before we were accepted to the company. I'm taking it in advance. Bukanlah tak cukup, tapi better kalau kita sentiasa bersedia. Kiranya macam safeguards and additional points untuk kita bersaing dengan orang lain. Tudiaaaaa writing in Bahasa Melayu's challenge. 

"Break a leg. You know you are more capable than this"

AWAL MUHARRAM 1441

It's been a while, isn't it lads? 
Nothing much, it just me is juggling between study and work's life. My company promotes work life balance campaign and hell I wasn't feel in that way, though. * eyes rolling*
Somehow, I feel like I need to change myself. Called it as improvement (?) , or whatsoever that you feel comfortable with. I'm scared. 
Recently,  I've been addicted into Ustaz Hannan Attaki's taklim podcast. He made me realize that Allah is sufficient for us all. At my lowest point in my life, when I've got no one to turns to, Ustaz Hannan Attaki reassure me that the hope must be put into Allah SWT.
Once we convince that, then worry not lads. Allah will make it ease for us, Amin and Insyaallah.
In this new year of 1441, I wish to be a better Muslim.

May Allah bless us all, people on earth.

p/s : I will do some reconstruction over this blog. So does the URL.