The abandoned soul

Assalamualaikum wbt

Lama tak menulis, bersawang-sawang blog ni rasanya.
I'm sorry blog, last semester was truly a hectic one for me T_T


Will update more soon after I come back from travelling ;)

Tangis dan Tawa

"Adakalanya kita perlu menangis supaya kita sedar yang hidup ini bukan sekadar untuk ketawa" - quote

Belajar Masuk Dapur

Bismillah,

or shall I say, "Belajar dan Masuk Dapur"?
For women, these two routines come together. Why?

Seeking knowledge is everyone's need/duty
By saying this, women shall not be excluded from accessing education. Long time ago, women weren't allowed to go to school. Neither know any basic alphabets, nor how to count any numbers beyond their imagination. All that matters was they have enough ability to count how many chicken eggs in the barn for breakfast for the next morning. Nevertheless, men were encourage to go to school. A true fact but a very unfortunate truth, boys in their young age are tend to be more rebellious for something that they actually don't want to do, don't want to do. Even so, this statement is not applicable to all, because there's a lot of men out there manage go further with their education. Let's go back to the issue of education for women; just imagine if this still happened today, isn't it an obvious discrimination?

As for men, I believe they have at least want their wife to be able to teach the kids with something. Occupy them with a glimpse of the real world; what's life is all about. For example, if your kid asked you this:

How this beautiful flower grow up mom? does it drink water like I do?
  
I f you don't know basic science, how would you be able to answer this? kan?
What about teaching your kids basic math like 1+1 = 2? You won't be teaching your kids to tap on your iphone to know that!

So yes, women indeed need education and to be educated.

House chores not an ultimate women's job
To begin with, let me remind all guys out there, the Prophet SAW did help his wives to do house chores. What happen today? It looks like the duty is permanently stamp on women's shoulder. Yes, I agree that wives have to entertain the husband, but don't enslave them. You both can work together to do house chores, cooking and gardening, isn't that sweet? I believe that's good enough for women, men don't have to try so hard to win over women's heart with promises which they don't even know if they can do them.

Okay, so let see another problem with the so-called women's duty:
Now that they are allowed to further their studies, some parents are just so reluctant to let their daughters to decide their on their own lives. Some opt to study as far as they could, to achieve their dream. Some too, opt not to just study but also would like to have families while they are studying. Well of course, parents will be more than happy to let their daughters to study and succeed in life, but now they see marriage within the study time as a problem. They thought marriage will deviate their daughters from the route of success. It is true to some extend, but why doubt your daughters' potential if they can have pretty good handle on study and social life?Isn't this ironic when you set women free to be educated, but you pretty much refrain them from thinking the best way to live their life?

There's nothing impossible in life, it is just I am possible!
You know your kids well, you raised them good, believe in them! If you think they are just blinded by the false hope and deceiving world, tell them the truth, stop them from ruining their life. However, if you know they are capable on handling both 2 different sides of world, why stop them? why demotivating them? Yes, education is important, but what they feel about life is important too.

So yes, women are not just belajar, but they masuk dapur too and these go together!

I wrote too much today and here I put the end to my post today.

Disclaimer:
Whatever I wrote today does not reflect my life story. This is based on what I heard, what I see.

Wallahu'alam.

Setegas-tegas Seorang Lelaki

Bismillah,

2:45 pm (Thursday, Malaysia)

11:45 pm (Wednesday, Arizona)

Seorang lagi ahli keluarga kami dijemput ilahi, innalillah, wainna ilahi rajiun. Beliau adalah nenek kandung saya sendiri, ibu kepada ayah saya. Semoga Allah ampunkan segala dosa nenek (embah dalam bahasa jawanya) dan semoga embah ditempatkan dalam kalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Ameen...

Sayu dengar suara ayah dihujung talian tadi, setegas-tegas seorang lelaki, tumpah juga air matanya apabila orang yang paling disayang, yang berjasa besar, mendidik, melahirkan dan segala-galanya telah meninggalkan dia dan kembali kepada Sang Pencipta yang lebih kasih pada hamba-hambaNya. Ya Allah, berilah dia ketabahan...

Buat mereka yang masih punya ibubapa, hargailah, sayangilah mereka. Sesibuk manapun kita dengan hal2 dunia (pelajaran, kerja dan sebagainya), luangkanlah seminit dua melefon ke rumah, bertanya khabar. Itu sudah cukup menyenangkan hati ibubapa apabila anak-anak yang mereka susah payah besarkan sentiasa mengingati mereka.

"Dalam setiap pertemuan itu sudah tercatat satu perpisahan yang pasti"

Semoga ketemu lagi embah, maafkan Zati tak dapat balik jenguk embah ;( 

Semoga ketemu di Jannah,

Biiznillah...

Sept 20th 2012

Syawwal 4th 1433H

Intention

Bismillah,

Look at the tallest tree among the rest of those. Isn't it really cool? Exciting? When you are actually one step ahead of the others. But watch for the later consequences. You might well appreciate the gift and use it wisely or it might devastate your imaan. Watch out for "Takbur" guys!.

It's all depends on our intention,
We will be what our heart desires.

mamak vs. bbq

Bismillah,

(They said) Watching football (US soccer) in Malaysia is a phenomenon. Really? Just look at how many people out there occupying mamak's stalls during the day of any big games. Not just that, they (regardless any ages) will gather with most of their friends and shout out loud in zealous tone to show their support to their favorite football club. Very often, mamak's will have this kind of big screen and superb audio system just to attract their customers to come and eat roti canai while watching their favorite games (WWF pun iye ke?). Well, that's just my imagination, really. I grew up not knowing how's hilarious it could be at mamak's late at night. The only reason is dads prefers malay restaurant or mom's home cooking. So, I basically exaggerate whatever I saw on the TV :D 

There's one day my roommate and I went our for dinner because we have no idea what to cook anymore. Trust me, you'll get to some point that you just need a fresher air outside of your apartment and have someone else cooking for you. We went across the university parking garage and surprisingly there's a lot of canopy near the stadium area. Guess what?? ada games rupanya! Oklahoma vs. Arizona. No wonder jalan jammmm. What was really catching my attention here: though they couldn't get into the stadium, they camped outside, had bbq with their family and install a big screen to watch the live match! superb! Pergi restaurant, kosong! tak ada orang even kat situ ada screen besaq.

Okay, let's try to compare how these two different cultures express out their joy and excitement on something they really passionate about:

mamak dudes

sadly, takde pictures on the super bbq tu T_T

Anyways, you'll get roughly the basic idea the difference in the way they "participate" in such games kan? Personally, I will prefer bbq with family, sebab: this insyaAllah will strengthen your relationship with your family, by spending your good times with them. I wonder kalau kat my own country ada ceramah agama, mesti orang ramai berpusu-pusu datang and if they don't get seats, they'll just camp outside and bring their family too. Terjadi tak? ada kot...(oh yes, ceramah Ust Azhar Idrus - another phenomenon!) just look at how zealous these people are when screaming for their favorite football/soccer team kan? the passion should also apply to when you are listening to your favorite ceramah (if you haven't gotten one, do so!) 

so, it is not just mamak vs bbq, 

not just football vs. soccer 

not just mentor vs bintang rtm (eh?)

not just any other kinds of worldly entertainment,

but also

your passion for dunya vs the akhirah

make some more rooms for your akhirah contentment peeps!!

Wallahu'alam.

Camping Sekali Lagi!

Bismillah,

Flight ticket to Salt Lake City booked and confirmed on the September 28th through October 2nd. Vacation in the middle of semester? no way. That's mostly for the sedimentary basin analysis class's field trip.

Archived

Bismillah,

Beside experience, saya juga bawa balik seguni batu-batan yang dikutip dari perlbagai tempat during the field camp. Bukan senang nak dapat/nak pergi balik kat sana, so, inilah buah tangan from California:

labelling process

Shale from Harkless Fm.

My current collection of rocks - boleh jadi toys anak-anak nanti, cewah!

big horse shoe crab - original specimen ni - busuk sangat, but terpaksa tahan for the sake of taking this picture!

Rocks collections updated and archived!

Basikal Tua

Modesty is a Virtue

Halaqah Pertama Fall 2012

Bismillah,

Alhamdulillah, after a long summer "break", we finally had our first halaqah last week. The previous 2 years were awesome, we combined the halaqah with the guys under the supervision of our "parents" here, kak esfa and hazrul. When they're gone, I decided not to continue having the combined halaqah due to some conservative reasons (some people say so). Tak kisah lah, matlamat masih tidak menghalalkan cara juga kan? Even though the group is now smaller, but akhawat rasa lagi best begini, tak perlu cover2 sebab biasanya ada ikhwah dalam halaqah sekali kan?? rasa free to speak out to give opinions and ask questions, especially when the topic is about women's personal care/hygiene. Semoga dengan ilmu-ilmu yang dikongsi dapat dimanfaatkan bersama sekaligus dapat buat investment untuk akhirah ; among the three continuous deeds written in the hadith - ilmu yang bermanfaat. Yeah, kami kuat, walau dah tak ada "orang tua" in Tucson, insyaAllah berbekalkan nasihat and ilmu-ilmu mereka, kami mampu mengharungi hidup yang penuh dugaan dan mengekalkan biah solehah ini, ameen! 

Before I ended this post, I am pleased to share another recipe yang sangat instant. I usually will have meeting with the geodesist research scientist and professors on Friday until 4 pm (kalau tak habis juga, cabut lari je lah) then balik dah agak lewat, so apa nak hidang for my beloved sahabat2 during our halaqah/study circle? Anything on the fridge!

Ayam padprik "segera"

ready in 30 minutes - tanpa bergossip2 dengan jiran or rumet

By saying segera means the cooking duration is less than one hour cause I usually take a longer time than that!

You'll need:

Chicken breast - not a hurdle within this limited time

Thai chillies - depending on the spicy level

Lemon grass

Onions and garlic - minced

daun limau

lime juice

oyster sauce

corn starch

potatoes

carrots

sawi

chicken stock - home made, no cube stock ok, please take good care of your brain, refrain from taking too much food w/ msg.

Saute the minced onions, garlic, lemon grass, thai chillies and carrots. Agak-agak dah wangi, masukkan chicken breast (potong ikut suka hati). Add chicken stock (rebus je tulang ayam and kulit ayam) and oyster sauce. Let them cook for 5-7 minutes, then add in carrots, lime juice and daun limau. Add some more salt kalau oyster sauce tak cukup masin. Next is the corn starch, just to make the sauce more delicate. Last but not least, masukkan sawi and siapa ada tomatoes dan fried onions boleh lah juga. Ready to serve, senang kan? orang bujang macam ni lah, semua kena segera, masa sangat berharga tahu?! 

Selamat mencuba!

Rumah Terbuka dan Perut Terbuka

Bismillah,

After a month being "partially vegetarian", akhirnya dapat makan daging and ayam, the real protein kononnya. Sadly, one of the zabihah restaurant in Tucson, which was the closest to the university already out of business. The man who ran the restaurant said he was about to move to Australia (that was long time ago - I still saw him in the masjid though). Alahai pakcik, manalah kami nak pergi kalau tak sempat nak memasak? you are the only hope! Then, I search on the zabihah.com hoping that I will be finding another restaurant in Tucson which serve fully halal + zabihah food. Alhamdulillah, actually there is another restaurant which is 20 minutes away from my apartment (by driving, bukan jalan kaki). It is called, "Chef Alisah's Restaurant", a Bosnian European Restaurant. Fuyoo, bunyi dah gempak, tak cuba lagi tu. So, one day I invited my friend to have our break fasting there, the place looks elegant, exclusive etc, Foods? 

GCB - grilled chicken with bread. Eh, ada at&t box kat atas meja ni?? sebenarnya.....

Yasmin upgraded her phone! She's now a smartphone user too! Besar sangat phone ni: Samsung Galaxy Note

Beef meatball - lama tunggu order ni, i guess dia baru gentel2 meatball ni 

Gyros platter

Cevapi - famous traditional Bosnian food - simple, yet strong flavors!

I can't pronounce/spell this dishes, but it taste so good too

Cabbage salad -  ada rasa spicy2 sikit

Home made bread - oh i think the one i made lagi gebu dari ni hehe

Even though the number of Malaysian students in Tucson shows tremendous change this Fall, itu tak jadi sebab tak boleh buat open house kan? traditionally, open house akan buat kat rumah junior (sebab juniors biasanya rumah besar2 sebab tinggal sama-sama!) 

paling amazing: flan cake special made by yasmin. Best ooo

Kuah lodeh yang sedap!

Roti jala

Macam-macam

lagi lah banyak - ada western food juga

Daging masak merah - percaya tak lelaki yang masak ni???

Tu dia kakak berbaju silver yang bake cake tadi, kurus kan? sebab she bakes for people to eat, tapi dia sendiri tak nak makan, suka yeh tengok orang lain gemuk haha!

Aidilfitri 2012

Tucson, AZ, USA

Salam Perantauan 2012

Bismillah,

Three times in a row celebrating eid in Tucson, not bad. As early as 7:30 am in the morning, we drove to Reid Park, to where the eid prayer be held that morning. Kurang sikit sebaknya because takbir raya here don't make you feel like crying and that is how takbir suppose to be; joyful, happy, we are celebrating our victory against our nafs, our desire, our bad attitude and learn to control them. The reason why takbir in Malaysia sound sorrowful probably because anak-anak tak balik pagi raya, so everyone kinda gloomy, tapi, the parts which you go visiting your relatives, tak sedih-sedih pun kan? semua orang cheerful sebab dapat duit raya!!

Salam perantaun tahun ni, tak masuk paper pun, as usual, pemalas nak hantar kat paper, kami kan segan nak tayang muka, plus baru balik field camp, masih jelas kerentungan di wajah kami! Right after that, memang beraya habislah, we went to Dhila's house in Uni Garden, she cooked nasi lemak and her sambal memang tip top! Next is my house @ Uni Fremont -  since I have to cook alone (rumet masih bergumbira di tanah air pada ketika itu!), so dapat hidangkan rendang daging, lemang, agar-agar pandan dan air sirap bandung je... The second last house was @ kak liza's and Yasmin's. They are my new neighbour, just moved in few days before raya and mereka serve cake! Rupanya si Ridzuwan the senior pun masak rendang, tapi rendang ayam dan menerima pujian yang lebih2, oh tidak, saya dah ada rival!!! Serious tak nak masak rendang lagi nanti orang compare rendang kami (walau tak sama pun daging/ayam). Kunjungan terakhir was to our new super junior (Chong, Faiz and Awang). Bila lah nak dapat junior perempuan...Rumah ni serve ice cream yang sangat banyak, oleh sebab saya yang hantar mereka buat groceries, maka saya diberi peluang untuk memilih satu flavor kegemaran, apa lagi, pantas sungguh tangan ni ambik "mint choc chips!" tapi choc chips besar sangat and I don't eat those T_T. syukur alhamdulillah, rezeki hari itu sangat murah. syukur ya Allah ;)

got this from my best friend -  all the way from Malaysia, thanks nedd!

rendang daging (experiment dulu) and kangkung goreng belacan for the last iftar

jejaka-jejaka Tucson

pagi-pagi terjumpa kawan lama - gossip sekejap haha

gadis-gadis tucson diapit oleh mak-mak tucson

Cuba teka chong yang mana? (junior baru)

Juadah dari rumah saya - silalah makan

percaya tak ni hasil kerja tangan lelaki???

percaya tak ni hasil kerja tangan wanita??

percaya tak ni hasil kerja tangan makcik2 kuih di malaysia???

percaya tak ni dibeli di safeway? bukan freeway ye adik2..

Strawbeyy.....!

Sekian liputan aidilfitri dari Tucson, Az. Saya Karam Dalam Laut menjalankan tugas untuk buletin tv99.

Survivors Episode 5: Balik ke kampung jalanan

Bismillah,

My last destination for this field camp was Big Sur, California. There was no mapping project here, however, I had my final examination here ; individual mapping. What was so funny here, I met with surf dudes and real hippies here! Not funny enough? We were having a regional geology tour one day when a pick up truck stop by our vehicles. Turunlah sorang mamat ni, tak expect pun dia seorang hippy. He then interfered my professor's enthusiastic explanation about the regional geology of the area:

"hey yo, wassup! where you guys from?"

Ya rabbi, not just that, he also said "So we agreed that we should protect this area right? no rock hitting etc?. Yeah or Neah?" Professor yang sangat bengang toleh kat dia sambil buat apa entah - senyum kambing kot. He then pergi dari situ. Okay, during the individual mapping pulak, I was stopped by a surf dude "Hey, what's this point on your map?" sambil pointing at one of the mapping boundary in my map. "Sibuk je dia ni, dah la my map tengah chaos warna berterabur sana sini". When we get back to our base camp, lagi banyak cerita i heard from other people "Don't you have rocks in Arizona?". Ewah,ewah, we meant no harm, we came here to study, not to destroy the environment ok, just because you found this place best for your surfing hobby, doesn't mean that you can make the place exclusively yours. The other pakcik who stopped me and my other friend on our way up to the vehicle said tak boleh upload gambar kat internet etc, the area pun takde dalam mapping area, secret katanya (aigo pakcik, kalau rahsia, takkan lah saya ada topo map ni ohh!) tak kisah, nak upload gak! hehe

eh, forgot to cerita yang ni! view taken from the top of Mt. Morrison @ 10k feet above sea level

It took me five hours to climb up (bukan hike up! steep sangat!) then I spent good 1 hour nap here and called emak and ayah to wake them up for sahur hehe. SubhanaAllah, cantik sangat this view, the place where I was sitting on, tonjol kepala tengok bawah dah nampak valley (sangat steep oo, siapa tak sayang nyawa try terjun)

Ni area big surl - foggy!

Khyusuk taking notes while professor explaining on the regional geology

oh, yang ni sangat menarik! obvious uplifting event here with the beach deposits deposited on one of the formation (dah lupa nama dia)

We don't get to see this is Tucson -  appreciate this moment

During the individual mapping - i touched the pacific ocean, sending my love through it, hoping that it will reach the South China Sea, to Malaysia then to the one I love back then in Malaysia - jimat lah gini tak yah call mak hari-hari haha but, it will take 1000 years for any germs in my hand to reach there (distributed evenly everywhere in the world)

Finally - leaving Big Surl for berbelas2 jam driving back to Tucson! Depart @ 6.00 am (kononnya) ruapanya janji mat saleh kalau lambat memang lambat habis hehe  tapi still foggy - rasa macam kat london la pulak ye

Begitulah hikayatnya seorang pengembara menjejak kesan-kesan sejarah pergerakan Bumi selama hampir sebulan dan akhirnya beliau sudah benar-benar jatuh cinta pada Geology, pada ciptaan sang Pencipta.

Balik ke kampung jalanan pada August 13th 2012

UA Field Camp '12

Survivors Episode 4: Dear Mr Brunton

Bismillah

Dear Mr. Brunton,

Thank you so much
For being a good company
For being a loyal friend of mine

I've once lost you in the middle of nowhere,
I've tried to hold unto you,
Yet I was so careless
I've forgotten what was it like to be far away from you

I am terribly sorry
I cannot afford to lose you anymore
and indeed
thank you so much for still functioning,
for still pointing North precisely
even after intense-heavy-duty work
We made it there, Mr. Brunton!

>28 Days with Mr. Brunton<

The case with UofA name carved on it

Mirror on the left side - very useful especially for girls, we don't have to bring our big mirror, this is good enough! The compass needle on the right side for showing North direction. 

Survivors Episode 3: Day(s) Off

Bismillah,

For 22 years, this year Ramadhan was the special one for me. I never thought that I will be doing this in my life; fasting, travelling and hiking for almost a month. A good friend of mine once said,"baguslah, orang time puasa ni petang-petang tido, kau kena g hiking". That's my duty, that's my tasks to be fulfilled, apa nak buat? T_T. Serious, ramadhan itu juga sangat-sangat manis rasanya, rasa kelainan, umpama kalau masak ikan masak tiga rasa, ada rasa yang keempat! hoho

So, what we (The Malaysians) did during our days off?

1. Fasting!

2. Laundry

3. Shower! (beware of the dark water rising from the 10 days or more of no shower!)

4. Iftar together

Once we got at Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research (SNARL), I was amazed that we finally had a real kitchen! Which means, boleh lah masak-masak, no need to eat Mexican-American food everyday. After submitting our latest assignment late in the evening that day, we discussed among ourselves "what should we be getting for iftar tomorrow, since the cook will not be cooking during the days off". Then everyone agreed to have(not to cook!) shrimp curry. I listed down the ingredients "verbally" to one of my friend so that she could get the stuffs when she went to the city (We don't like to be in the same vehicle haha!). Good, she had all stuffs that I wanted, except for the curry powder looks extremely "healthy" and "weird" - organic curry powder????!!!

Here's what we've got:

Cooked shrimp - couldn't get any fresher than this

The celery is for Yasmin's fish soup-her cook was superb!!

So basic ingredients such as onions, garlic etc kena ada, plus bunga lawang (i don't know the English name for it). Since she couldn't find thai chilli, she got me harbaneros instead, trust me, she bought 4 of it but it tasted like a bowl of cili padi! then, tumiskan everything, including the harbaneros and potatoes. Agak-agak dah wangi, masukkan curry powder. To my surprise, the American version of curry powder lagi banyak proportion of tumeric than the curry itself. I had my friend who couldn't fast that day to try it and no way! rasa kunyit T___T. So I altered it, last-last jadi masak lemak udang, aduhai....failed! Maaf ye kawan-kawan, bukan salahku....! Bila kawan-kawan and cikgu mat saleh tanya, susah nak explain ape sebenarnya masakan ni, nak kata kari, kari tak jadi, nak kata masak lemak, ada rasa kari sikit. confuse. Anyway, as long as dapat makan something Malaysia that day! And thanks to anyone yang beli barang, I still didn't know who was paying these stuffs, i thought must be the guys sebab mereka tak masak and left the task to girls kan? kan? thanks korang belanja beli barang yeh!

That night itself, sempat beli my favorite Haagen Dasz Strawberry Sorbet for $3.99. Actually, when I was in Malaysia, tak makan ice cream sangat pun. When I got here, Arizona was really hot and I became best friend with Baskin Robin and Haagen Dazs (the only ice cream I can afford to buy here + halal)

My days off tak habis dekat makan-makan dan masak-masak je. I also did something beneficial (except for hiking - sebab the professors also went out hiking during their days off - apekah tak penat????????). Please enjoy the photos from my days off there:

not exactly day off tapi jalan-jalan juga lah

enjoy sight seeing - flowers and butterfly

sedang memikirkan masa depan @Yosemite National Park

Melihat manusia-manusia bertempiaran melarikan diri dari disimbah ombak (dengan gaya yang mengada-ngada)

@San Simeon beach - not exactly day off - jadi day off sebab professor drive terlampau "slow" menyebabkan kami 3 suburban tertinggal kat belakang tak tahu nak pergi mana - so chill out je lah

Biru ke hijau ni? Color blind sudah

First day off @Bishop city

Lihatlah, mereka semua dah jadi model - kurus ramping setelah 10 hari tak mandi dan tak makan daging!

Refreshing

Just a replica

Sierra Nevada giant batholith

 UA Field Camp 2012