Cold

It's beginning of autumn and it's already cold for me. I can't imagine how cold it would be when it's winter. But fasting in this cold wheather is actually helping. I don't feel hungry nor tired.

Breakfast time also is fun. Though it is a foreign country, we still get to eat Malaysian cuisine. Yesterday we had beef rendang, ayam kalio, bubur lambuk, karipap. And today, more Malaysians who live in this area are coming to join us breakingfast. And it is a pot luck one. Liza and I are making roti jala and beef curry for the occasion.

Our house searching is still fruitless. Imagine a house just been advertised, on the same day it's already been taken. And we keep searching vey hard. We feel guilty to Razif & Liza for staying in their house for many days now but their great hospitality is making us feel at home.

Hmm...how I miss sunlight.......

Hallo Germany!

Finally I'm able to update. I've been writing on our daily experience ever since arriving in Germany but because there was no Internet, I was not able to post them. So I'm warning you, this entry is a long long one, ok.

8/9/08

We had safely arrived in Frankfurt yesterday at 1 pm. Alhamdullilah, we didn’t have any problem throughout the journey. But no doubt, it was very tiring. We were on three different planes; Kota Bharu-KL, KL-Dubai then Dubai-Frankfurt. We had two farewell: one in KB Airport and one in KLIA.

With family in KB

With my brother and my parents

With my sisters

Departing from KLIA was very challenging. Our flight was at 2 am and the twins were already tired (they played at the airport playground for hours before that) and were very sleepy. And to reach our boarding gate was such a long walk especially when you carry several hand luggage and two sleepy toddlers. I felt like it takes hours the each ourgate. By the time we reached the gate, each of us carried one twin, and two hand luggage. And with the new security airport system where they checked thoroughly at the gate, we had to queue such a long line and then when it was our turn, we struggled to place the hand luggage and all personal belongings into the scanner belt while carrying the twins. And for me, I wore my new shoes and it was killing me, so having to walk such a distance, was very torturing. I was regret that I didn’t put on sport shoes. Nak nampak cantik le konon.


But luckily the twins slept so soundly throughout the KL-Dubai flight. I however was barely sleeping. Good enough Emirates flight offers such a huge selection of entertainment. So within that 6 hours flight, I managed to watch two movies, 27 Dresses and Narnia: The Prince Caspian and 1 episode of Heroes. We arrived in Dubai airport at 4.30 am,but we only arrived at the airport terminal nearly 5.30 am. Dubai airport such a huge airport. When we landed, we were transported to the terminal by bus and I felt like it was such a long distance to reach the terminal. And then there were so many people, so it was another long queue to pass the security gate. I was thinking to have sahur at the airport, but with all the things, we just didn’t have the time. Luckily we had meals on the plane, an hour before landing.

Dubai airport provides stroller facility and that was something that I really appreciated. Unlike KLIA. So less trouble to carry or drag the twins and the hand luggage too. The 4-hours transit which I thought would be a long waiting was actually very short. Looking for prayer room already took half an hour, then cik HB and I took turn to do prayer. By then, it was nearly 7 am. Then we had to change some money to dirham currency because we need to buy some food and books for the twins, books to occupy them for the next 6 hours flight. And I was thinking to buy myself a pair of sandal because of the torture of the new shoes. We only managed to get milk box and books for the twins but no sandal for me because we were running out of time as our next flight was at 8.25 am. And again we had to walk such a distance to reach our boarding gate and then rode a crowded bus to board the plane.

This Emirates flight to Frankfurt was a nice one. We were given seats very near to the toilet. It was just a step away….And then it was such a child-friendly flight (I don’t know about other airlines as this was the first time the twins on the flight journey). From goodies of sling bags packed with books, pencil colors and craft material which needs to be assembled to form dolls or something, hand moppets, then they took polaroid photo of the children for free. The entertainment TV had Disney movies, cartoon shows and really made the twins occupied and made our life a lot easier too! I got to watch more movies and Heroes series in peace….hehehe.

Another thing was bugging me before our arrival to Germany, was whether all the foods that I brought along would pass the custom check. My sister-in-law had mentioned that all we need to do is just to go to the ‘Nothing to Declare’ lane rather than the ‘Goods to Declare’ lane. If we were lucky enough, they won’t question anything. But somehow we ended up at the ‘Goods to Declare’ lane. But luckily the officer only asked for one small luggage to be opened. That was the bag full of foods actually. I was praying very hard he would not find serunding which packed under the bottom layer. But when we opened the bag, it was messy with twins’ milk formula all over. I suspected the pack was torn off. So the officer just lifted up a little bit of the formula pack and peep inside a bit then he said ok! Fuh…selamat serundingku. Then he only looked into my handbag and a paper bag and then let us go.

When we came out into the arrival hall, one Malay guy greeted us. He was the one whom cik HB’s friend had arranged to meet us at the airport. His name is Razif, along with his wife, Liza and they are very very friendly. Then they took us to their house in Rüsselheim by train, a district in Frankfurt. We were so blessed that they were there, because without them, it would be quite difficult for us to be on our own. Especially when we knew nothing about this new place and some more managing all the heavy luggage and the twins.

Liza and the twins at the airport

At their house, we were introduced to another friend, kak Ina whom has been in Germany for 16 years but still a truly Malay. Liza told me Kak Ina is an expert in cooking Malay dishes and it proved her right. Yester day for berbuka, we had very delicious karipap, made by Kak Ina and Liza had made kuih lapis, with Kak Ina’s recipe. They also served nasi tomato, gulai ayam and so on but after eating all the kuihs and still tired from journey, I was very full.

Today we’ll be going to Darmstadt. Since Razif is working, Kak Ina and Liza will accompany us to show the way. We’ll be staying in Hotel Aron, Darmstadt until Wednesday to get things settled. We would probably come back to Frankfurt if we could not find any house there.

It is still a lot of things to do and a lot of things to learn……….

9/9/08

Darmstadt – First Impression

We are in Darmstadt now. Yesterday, Razif, Liza and Kak Ina came along with us to get to Darmstadt. Razif, who was supposed to work yesterday, was not feeling well so he went to see doctor and got MC. Though not well, he insisted that he wanted to come with us. From their house in Russelsheim, we took train up to Frankfurt-Main then changed train to get to Darmstadt. Darmstadt is not very far from Frankfurt, I think it took us only 20 minutes to arrive in Darmstadt from Frankfurt-Main. Since Kak Ina has been to Darmstadt before and she reads and speaks fluent Deutsch (Razif too!), our journey went smooth.

First, we went to search for Hotel Aron, the hotel that we had booked online. From Darmstadt city, we took a bus to get there. The hotel located about 5km from the city. Though it is a budget hotel (the rate is € 29 per head for double room, still expensive if you convert to RM, huh?) the room is actually not bad. It’s quite spacious, clean and comfy. And they only charged additional €10 for extra bed for our twins.

After we had checked-in, we left our things in the room and came back to Darmstadt city with Razif, Liza and Kak Ina. Centre of Darmstadt city called Luisenplatz is a bustling place full of shopping complexes, shops, historical monuments and university. Cik HB’s university, TU Darmstadt is located only by 5-minutes walking distance from Luisenplatz. The first thing we bought was the food and drinks for the twins. Razif took us to this one cheap bakery shop called Back Factory. It has various selection of breads but of course we need to be careful whether it is halal or not. Liza mentioned that some buns are not halal like those extremely soft cause the ingredient is suspected to source from pork based.

And then we went looking for hand phone prepaid number. It’s very important for cik HB to get local number as soon as possible because he needs to communicate a lot with people here. We were so excited when we saw there was this good promotion of prepaid simcard (O₂) with free Samsung cell phone at €15! (of course the hand phone is just a cikai one, but it doesn’t really matter, it is still cheap!). But then buying simcard is not as easy as we thought it could be. Apparently in Germany, if you want to buy a simcard, you must provide your residence address. Though Razif has given his address, it was still not acceptable unless Razif could show any letter or documents that printed his name and the address. And Razif didn’t have one. Luckily Kak Ina always brings along her utility bills, so they used her name. So complicated, huh?

Cik HB also met his mentor for the first time yesterday. His name is Junaid Shaikh from India and such a nice person. Razif, Liza and Kak Ina had left by then to Frankfurt. It was already 7 pm, we wanted to break fast in Luisenplatz and since this Junaid is a Muslim, we asked him whether there’s any Turkey’s Doner Kebab around. But too bad, he didn’t know. So we decided to go back to the hotel since we already very tired and we have some express food at the hotel.

View in Darmstadt

Fresh fruits

When we reached hotel it was already time to break the fast. We have dates and chocolates brought from home. And then I cooked maggi in rice cooker and later rice. We have serunding, sambal ikan bilis and crunchy fried ikan bilis with nuts. So it is good enough to fill our stomach.

Tomorrow, cik HB will be going to TU Darmstadt to get things settled. The twins and I will be staying in the hotel. It’s a pity that the twins don’t get enough rest and been dragged all over the place since we travelled to Germany 2 days ago. So let them get enough rest first before we explore more of this place.

11/9/08

House Searching

It’s our fifth day here in Germany. And it’s hard. All because of the language barrier. Everything is in Deutsch. We have yet to get a house. And finding a house/apartment is indeed challenging in Darmstadt. Since there 4 centre of higher learning education around Darmstadt, the competition to get an accommodation is very fierce. And expensive too! So our choice is limited especially to suit our budget and regulation ( the house must be at least 48m2 in space for four of us)

About the house searching, we get help from Indonesian students here. So far we have met two Indonesia who are very friendly, Mas Aldy and Sultan. They speak fluent Deutsch, so they are the one who make the phone call to query about house advertisement. Today cik HB and Sultan are going to see an apartment in Weiterstadt. So if everything is agreeable by both parties (cik HB and landlord), we will take the apartment.

Ramadhan & Journey

I guess it's still not too late to wish those who's been reading my blog "Selamat Berpuasa", right?

I'm in KB again. Busy with preparation to go to Germany. Everyday we go out to buy things. And feel so blessed that we have the opportunities to break fast with families before we off to Germany. We were with my family in TM on the first day of Ramadhan and now with my in-laws. My mother-in-law keeps feeding us with favourite dishes every breakfast time. From ayam percik, gulai serati and today she's going to cook nasi kerabu, I'm sure I'll be missing all these when I'll be in Germany.

I'm thinking the best way to pack our things. Cause there are warnings from those we know, to be careful with packing method. Reason being, we carry loads of foods. So if we unlucky, our bags will be ransacked and probably things will be seized by the custom officers. How true is this, I don't know but whatever useful tips that I have received, I'll use it. Thanks a lot to Kak Azi and Zara for all the information.

Tomorrow will be the travellling day. We'll be off from KB airport at 4.50 pm and will be arriving at KLIA at 5.45 pm. We'll be meeting my family and some cik HB's siblings at KLIA. Our flight to Dubai will be at 2 am. So we have ample time to spend with families.

Please wish us luck with our journey. I really hope and pray that we will not face any trouble throughout the journey and life in Germany would be easy.

Back Again

Oh! It feels so good to be able to blog again.

It's been pretty hectic for the past one week. Got back from KB then dropped by at Tg. Malim then off back to Melaka. Then to Putrajaya to accompany dear cik HB submitting his KPT papers. Then Melaka again to finish off with the packing.

Now we are in TM. Just arrived from Melaka at 12.30 am. At first we wanted to move out from our rented house in Melaka within this weekdays but the lorry is only available on this coming Sunday. So we have no choice. Since we have planned to go back to KB by 2nd of Ramadhan which is next Tuesday, we decided to go back to TM for a while to spend some time with my family before we off to Germany. Friday, we have to go to Putrajaya again to collect the cheque, then Saturday to meet some friends, then off to Melaka again for the moving out day on Sunday.

We are counting days now...yet there are still some things are incomplete. Just now we were browsing the net looking for temporary accommodation in Darmstadt before we could get a permanent rented place. There is this youth hotel that offers accommodation at affordable price but we were not very sure whether children are counted in the room booking because we couldn't find any option that includes children. So we sent e-mail to inquire about the matter.

Anyway, we have plan B for that matter. Cik HB's friend in Germany has arranged for his friend who lives in Frankfurt to meet us at the airport on our arrival day. We will be staying with this friend at his house for the first night. If we couldn't get a place within the temporary period, this friend has given assurance that we can stay at his place. But we hope we would get the youth hotel cause it is much better for us to be in Darmstadt rather in Frankfurt to get things settled and we do not want to cause anymore hassle to this new friend. It's good enough that he's meeting us at the airport and offers his place for our stay the first night.

Hopefully things are going to be in smooth run......

Just An Update

Hehehe..finally I get a chance to update.

We are in KB now. Yesterday was my SIL's wedding. We bought the TMnet prepaid card and by using the fixed line, we get connected to the net. op. Using dial-up is not as bad as we have expected. Not as fast as Streamix of course but fast enough to do some browsing on the net.

Good news, our visa is now ready for collection. So does the necessary papers for KPT submission. Flights tickets are booked and confirmed.

However, there are several things to do. We haven't move out from our rented house in Durian Tunggal. That must be done by next week. Just 2 more weeks to go.

Ok, Nabihah is crying like baby and it's very disturbing. I gotta stop now.

My Last Working Day

Yeay!!!!!

Finally, after two months waiting, and after have been working for 6 years 15 days, the day has finally arrived.

The project team had arranged a farewell lunch for me yesterday. They even bought a Secret Recipe cake. I know it's a norm to have a farewell party when a colleague leaves, but I didn't expect these construction guys would take effort to arrange for a farewell party. How sweet.....

KFC....huhuhu

The yummy cake

The project team. Don't ask which one is the evil boss.
He was not around. Invited but refused to come.

Me and Herda, my only lady companion for the past 2 months.
Now that I'm leaving, she'll be the only female at the office

This could be the end of my engineering career. Yes, I've said I hate my job but at certain points, I love my job too especially when I was a designer in the HQ. I feel proud to see some of the projects that I have involved with have been in operation. I've learned a lot for the past six years ever since I started working with SMHB. I'm thinking to pay a visit to my HQ, to meet my ex-colleagues (oh, they have become ex now!) especially Mr. Meyappan, my mentor.

Anyway, though working at site has made me so miserable (I call it the dark time of my working career), with evil boss (I think you have heard enough about him, huh?), long distant daily drive, problems with works, I'm so grateful that Allah s.w.t gave me the strength to go through all these obstacles. At one time, I have thought of going back to HQ, but then I thought again, all these are just small challenges in life, I can avoid this time, but there's no guarantee that I would not face these kind of challenges in the future, would there? So just deal with it.

And I did it. Did it. Yes I did it (nyanyi mcm Dora the Explorer...hehehe).

The past 15 months I have survived driving 240km a day, 1 road accident (read here), several car break-downs and lots more. It was hard but now I feel stronger.

The car that has served me for the past15 months.
Because of its problems, I've learned a lot about car maintenance.

This is my 'baby': Bekok Raw Water Transfer Project.
Bye-bye. X dapat join masa MB potong riben nanti...kekeke

I would not be blogging for a while after this. There is no Internet at home. Besides I'd be busy with lots of things to do. Anyway since I have to return the sim card of the telephone number I'm currently using to the company, and I need to get a new telephone number, I would probably looking for prepaid type that offers broadband. Ada tak, ha? And to friends and acquittance that read my blog and keep my current number, please take note that the number is no more mine after 31/7/08. Nanti kang you all call, takut org lain yg jawab, ok!

Tomorrow is a new beginning of new career: Full time housewife!!!! How exciting!!

Israk Mikraj

Selamat menyambut Israk Mikraj kepada muslimin dan muslimin.

Sedikit pengisian agama berkaitan Israk Mikraj yg dipetik dari blog Ustaz Abdul Halim Abdullah.
Mari kita hayati:

Dikirim pada 9 Julai 2008 oleh inijalanku

“Katakan (kepada mereka), ‘Kamu lihatlah apa yang terdapat di langit dan di bumi’..”(Surah Yunus:101). Dari 2 butir pasir di bumi hingga apa sahaja termasuk planet saling menarik antara satu sama lain dengan nilai tetap yang sama di mana-mana alam ini, G=6.67428×10E(-11)m3kg-1s-2 dalam formula F=Gm1m2/r(2) !! Subhanallah !! - Kenangan subjek Physics masa Matriculation 1983 di Australia. (Foto oleh NASA).

Pada hari Jumaat 4.7.2008 (1 Rejab) yang lalu, kita memasuki bulan Rejab yang didalamnya berlaku peristiwa Israk Mikraj yang bersejarah. Peristiwa tersebut bukan sahaja menunjukkan kekuasaan Allah swt di atas sekelian makhluqNya dan benarnya kenabian Muhammad saw, bahkan ianya juga membuka ufuk pemikiran dan cita-cita manusia sejagat dari hanya sekadar terhad kepada muka bumi ini semata-mata kepada cakerawala ciptaan Allah swt yang amat luas dan jauh, siap untuk diamati untuk lebih kita mengenali Tuhan Pencipta Agung, siap untuk diterokai agar manusia memperlengkap dan meninggikan kualiti ilmu pengetahuan demi memenuhi cita-cita tersebut.

Setelah kewafatan Khadijah ra, pendokong moral dan material perjuangan Baginda saw dan kewafatan Abu Talib, pelindung Baginda saw dari ancaman fisikal oleh kafir Quraisy pada Tahun Kesedihan, Dakwah Islam berada diposisi paling tenat disegi saikologi Nabi saw dan para Sahabat ra sendiri, maupun disegi tiadanya kemasukan baru ke dalam agama Islam dari kalangan penduduk Mekah. Dengan azam tidak menyerah kepada keadaan, Baginda saw mencuba nasib, mencari peluang baru untuk Dakwah ini di Taif, 80 km dari Mekah, namun harapan dan sangkaan Baginda saw meleset. Di Taif, Dakwah tidak diterima, Pendakwah dihina dengan dibaling batu oleh penduduknya. Pintu Dakwah ditahun ini hampir tertutup. Namun Allah swt melalui Surah Huud, mengarahkan Nabi saw terus beristiqamah menjalankan amal Dakwah ini meredah fasa-fasa gelap yang sedang menyelubunginya, tanpa isteri yang mendorong dan tanpa bapa saudara yang melindung. “Shayyabatni Huud” (Surah Huud telah mengubankan rambutku !!).

MasyaAllah !! Setelah 9 bulan perjalanan, Amerika menjejakkan alatnya di planet Marikh pada 25.6.2008 lalu dan hari ini menunjukkan fotonya kepada umat manusia di bumi. Tanah Marikh diambil dan dianalisa. Foto ini boleh tiba ke bumi dengan pantasnya, melalui perantaraan apa? Orang kafir sibuk meneroka alam baru sedang umat Islam pula sibuk melayan tuntutan Kuasa-kuasa Besar Dunia dan bercakaran sesama sendiri.

Allah swt tidak membiarkan Rasul Akhir Zaman berpanjangan dalam kemuraman seperti itu. Dakwah ini harus dipacu hingga berjaya bukan sahaja di Mekah, tetapi ke seluruh dunia, merangkumi sekelian jin dan manusia. Pada malam 27 Rejab ~620M, Jibril mengejutkan Rasulullah saw dari lamunan malam dan mengisyaratkan kepada Baginda saw bahawa kenderaan Buraq telah siap di luar sana untuk membawanya ke Masjidil Aqsa di Palestin, naik meredah 7 petala langit, ke Sidradul Muntaha melalui Baitul Makmur, memenuhi undangan Allah swt. Di Masjidil Aqsa Baginda bersolat mengimami kesemua para rasul, melihat bandar Baitul Maqdis, memilih susu dan menolak arak. Di langit, Baginda bertemu sebahagian para rasul, diperlihatkan gelagat penghuni-penghuni Syurga dan Neraka serta tanda-tanda kebesaran Allah swt yang lain. Di Sidratul Muntaha, Baginda diwahyukan Allah swt apa yang hendak diwahyukan olehNya, termasuk kewajipan Solat, ibadah yang paling utama.

Tidak seperti roket yang hanya dipakai buang sekali sahaja disetiap pelancaran dan operasi, “space shuttle” berjaya dicipta Amerika bertindak seperti teksi antara langit dan bumi, boleh diguna berulangkali. Setakat ini 4 buah space shuttle iaitu Columbia (dilancarkan pada 12.4.1981, tepat 20 tahun selepas Yuri Gagarin, manusia pertama ke angkasalepas), Challenger, Endeavour dan Atlantis telah dihasilkan. Tiap satu memakan belanja setahun budget seluruh negara sedang membangun di dunia.

Sekembalinya Nabi saw ke Mekah dari langit, kekuatan Baginda saw untuk berdakwah lebih kental. Segelintir orang Islam murtad kerana tidak dapat menerima hakikat boleh berlakunya peristiwa Muhammad saw pergi ke Palestin dan langit serta kembali semula dalam malam yang sama. Para Sahabat ra yang lain bertambah keyakinan dan kekaguman mereka kepada Nabi tercinta. Bagi Nabi saw pula, melihat sendiri kesudahan manusia di Syurga dan Neraka sudah cukup memberi motovasi penuh untuk menyelamatkan mereka didunia lagi, sebelum mereka menempuh alam Pengadilan dan Pembalasan, belum lagi berpeluang menerima wahyu langsung dari Allah swt di Sidratul Muntaha. Tiga tahun selepas itu, keimanan baru, lebih tinggi dan teruji inilah yang menjadi asas kepada Hijrah dan penegakkan Negara Islam di Madinah.

Ini foto bersejarah kerana kali pertama foto bumi diambil dari angkasalepas (pada ketinggian 300 kilometer). Foto ini diambil oleh Yuri Gagarin, angkasawan Rusia dan manusia ketiga ke angkasalepas pada 12.4.1961, selepas Nabi Isa as (selepas percubaan membunuhnya) dan Rasulullah saw (dalam peristiwa Israk Mikraj).

Dari sinopsis ringkas peristiwa Israk Mikraj, dapat disimpulkan sebahagian pengajaran berguna untuk umat selepasnya dan kita seperti berikut :

1. Kehebatan dokongan isteri, kerukunan rumahtangga adalah salah satu asas kejayaan dalam diri Pendakwah dan Dakwah itu sendiri.
2. Perlindungan seperti yang diberi oleh sesiapa contohnya Abu Talib, biar pun dia bukan seorang Islam, adalah penting dalam memastikan Islam berkembang tanpa gangguan terutamanya di fasa awalnya.
3. Kepentingan Masjidil Aqsa dan Palestin di dalam perjuangan Uslam dan umat.
4. Dengan Nabi saw menjadi imam semua para Rasul yang lain di Masjidil Aqsa, hari ini dan selepas ini, umat Islam mestilah menjadi imam (pemimpin dan pembimbing) kepada umat-umat yang lain, dan bukan sebaliknya seperti yang berlaku hari ini. Umat Islam mesti bekerja ke arah itu.
5. Solat adalah ibadah terpenting dalam Islam. Di Hari Kiamat, tidak dinilai amalan-amalan lain jika solatnya dinilai sebagai gagal.
6. Iman pendokong-pendokong perjuangan Islam, termasuk para Sahabat ra akan terus menerus melalui proses penapisan, untuk membeza dan mengasingkan permata dari kaca.
7. Negara Islam tertegak bila ada jemaah manusia yang bersedia memikul tanggungjawab tersebut dengan keimanan yang telah teruji seperti para Sahabat ra.
8. Umat Islam dituntut melihat cakerawala dan kehebatan penciptaannya, bukan terhad atau terkongkong kepada apa yang ada di bumi sahaja.

Masjid Kubah Batu (Pelancaran), di tengah-tengah Masjidil Aqsa, Palestin. Di sini tempat pelancaran kenderaan Buraq membawa Rasulullah saw ke Sidratul Muntaha, menembusi 7 petala langit dan Baitul Makmur. Hari ini ia ditawan oleh Yahudi yang dilaknat Allah swt. Pembebasannya sebelum Hari Kiamat dijamin Allah swt. Bila ? Siapa pembebasnya ? Apa ciri-ciri mereka ? Bagaimana mereka dididik (dihasilkan) ?

Marilah kita sama-sama merai dan memperingati peristiwa bersejarah dan besar ini, dengan mengatur atau menghadiri ceramah mengenainya. Jauh lebih itu ialah mencedok pengajaran-pengajaran darinya untuk kehidupan berkeluarga bersama anak isteri dan perjuangan bersama-sama teman-teman yang beriman. Sekian.