Penguin! Penguin! Penguin!

Finally, I saw a group of them yesterday, right in front of me, happy like a kid


It was a great day...pictures comin soon, the professional photographer hasn't uploaded the pics yet ;P

Sort of Homesick

I woke up this morning, a bit late, mind you, it is Sunday Morning, wohoo!

But the weird thing is I woke up thinking of Terengganu's 'keropok lekor', a type of fish chip, which is a popular 'cuisine' in east coast of peninsular Malaysia. Maybe it is because of heavy dose of dried fish chips that I got from postage delivered here three days ago from my parents.

I miss home maybe. And I found out that there is somethg interesting going on in Terengganu from the phone conversation with my family this afternoon.


nice right?

more pics from the blog below
http://masjidkristal.blogspot.com/

the park also will features replicas of 12 mosques, including the Al-Hambra of Spain and Taj Mahal of India.

aint that cool?

Angkasa1 in less than 1 day

In less than 24 hours, Dr Sheik will be the first Malaysian in space, Congratulation. [more infos and live stream here] Despite the program was turned into a political mockery, I cant help myself feeling proud when I see this pic on the front page of Utusan Malaysia.



hopefully, this program will really be a catalyst for our Science and Technology development, or at least an inspiration to all of us.

Published ISS* Guidelines for Muslim

*ISS = International Space Station

I did posted about this months before, and today I've been alerted by the Star that the guidelines have been published. So straightaway I downloaded it from JAKIM web.
You can download the docs here (Malay) and here (English translation), and also a fancy looking version here.

Although, I applaud such effort, which is able to tell the world that its not a problem for Muslim to be in space, but I couldn't accept the way they put up the guideline.

First of all, it doesnt have the authors' name in it (even the fancy version), I think having a name or two or more does matter, to whom the readers are supposed to refer to in case they need further explanation.

Second, lacking of source. Islam is a religion that uphold its references such as The Quran and the authentic Hadith, thus it is important to elaborate how they had come up with such guide, or the sources of scholars book they refer to.

Third, I dont like the way the write it. It doesn't in line with the standard as the guideline for ISS and doesn't reflect the way Islamic books on ruling supposed to be written.

For examples:

1) Cleaning the no.1 & no.2 section

Istinja’ (washing-up)

Istinja’ means cleaning of the private parts after relieving onself. Istinja’ is by using wipes/tissues which are available at the ISS.

Rules of making istinja’:

1. Using pure, not sacred material
2. Using a solid material
3. Using a dry, non-slippery material
4. Using not less than 3 pieces wipes/tissues
5. Before the najas (filth) dries
6. Before the najas (filth) spreads

I did stumble on this before, its just a normal way of performing istinjak, even on earth we can do the same. Why on earth they have to put such rules, for example rules no1 until 3. Since we all know that they will use the tissue provided in the ISS, why cant we just eliminate these 3 rules, since we all know that the tissue is hygenic, solid and dry?
The way they put it, looks like its just a copy paste work.

2) Eat

4.1 Food

If there is doubt on whether the food served on ISS it is halal or not, it is then permissible to eat the food on the basis of not to starve.

Why the 'if' is still necessary, I think it is possible to check what are the foods that will be prepared for the ISS. And why we still need to put the clause that if it is non halal, it is only permissible to eat to avoid starving. Taking into account how highly scientific ISS station is, I'm sure that they all had calculated the food intake that will provide enough nutrition to each individual on the station. Thus there will be no problem about eating non halal food excessively, the intake is just enough for survival, and isn't that make the non halal now permissible?

3. Pray

3.5 Praying

ii The performance of the physical postures (such as standing, bowing and prostrating) is to suit the conditions in ISS,prioritizing as follows:

1. If upright standing is not possible, then any standing posture,
2. Sitting. Bowing is by bringing down the chin closer to the knee or the prostrating place,
3. Lying down on the right side with body facing the direction of Qibla,
4. Lying flat
5. Using the eye lid as an indicator of the changing of postures in prayer,
6. Imagining the sequence of prayer.

The guideline for Praying, is also a copy paste from the existed rules on how to Pray when the normal ways is not possible. Why on earth, they cant just be exact on how to do it on ISS, taking into account the ISS situation?

I have to admit that my knowledge on Islamic rulings is not in depth, but I can't just zip out my mouth, knowing that such guideline that will be distributed worldwide and carry the Islamic image is not done on par with Islamic analytical sense on rulings. Wallahu'alam.

12 hours in KL

Had return in one piece this morning from my trip to KL, Alhamdulillah segala urusan dipermudah.

Sempat juga ke Tasik Titiwangsa naik Eye on Malaysia. Thanks Zakiah (coursemate dulu) for accompanying me around KL that day, walaupun dah naik dan waktu tu mmg langsng tak sesuai, dengan panas terik 2pm.





Gayat! Zakiah rilek je, berdiri dlm coach tu, sambil menerangkan prinsip physics yang berlaku :P

And Thx to Rizuan (schoolmate dulu) sudi berbuka bersama di Times Square walaupun sgt lah sibuk dgn final yr project.

Seronok berjalan, walaupun dlm keadaan berpuasa.

Guys, Will miss u all huhu

p.s. Azim rugi ko tak ikut, best tau naik train hehe

I will never grow up

A Maze of Transportation Methods to KL (my personal journey to collect my visa tomorrow)

Want to go via KTM train (13 hours journey 6pm-7pm, but I think it is worth a try, plus it have berth to sleep on, will be much more convenient than bus, plus my head dept in the UK, is a locomotive collector/fan, will have somethg to talk about with him, i mean out of the academic thgs)
ACCESS DENIED: adviced to take a bus to Shah Alam, go to yr relative house, and ask his help to take you to the Visa Center

Dont like to interrupt others daily life, plus I am not that close to him.
And if I took a bus, I will arrive early morning, since bus trips are usually at night.
Thus, still insist with train
ACCESS GRANTED: not fully heartedly, they bought me a train ticket.

Later told by the granters: You cant bring yr laptop along, also yr atm card. KL is not a safe place. And they brought up the issue of me being robed in KL 4 years ago (I made a mistake, waitin for my fren at a black area in KL, the Central Market). Old memories freshen up again.

Without laptop, the 13 hours journey will become unbearable. And I am now feels insecure about this trip, If others don't believe in me, how can I believe in myself. Dont wanna be blamed later, if somethg happens to me in the trip that is not really agreed by the access granter.

Thus, I had made a decision to sell back the train ticket (will lost 50%) and buy a return (on the same day) flight ticket. Yup that had pissed off the access granters. (I am really sorry, didnt mean to be a disobedient son Huhu)
I think that is the safest. Reduce my time being in KL, and hopefully i am back in one piece.

Pray for my safe journey ya this Monday.

-7.45 am-
After an hour later of rethinking:
I think I shouldn't give up and will go on with the train journey.
I have to believe that I can stand on my own two feet.
I have to grow up!

Jom Heboh Penang

Last weekend, I was in Penang. And coincidentally, Jom Heboh was bein held there that weekend. As I never been to this carnival, I decided to give it a try. So early that morning, my sister and I head to Queensbay Mall to experience it ourselves.

Well, its not bad at all. I arrived early, people not yet got up from their extra time weekend morning nap, therefore I was less bothered by mass amount of people. There were lots of booth from TV3's owned to food product to automotive to hotlink supersized booth to a ministry booth.

For those who hv never been to this carnival, here are things u can do:
TV3 booth, u can meet the celebrities, get their autograph, take pics (its no big deal for me)
Food booth, u can sample food, and buy em, they sold it cheaper compared to retail
it is a fun place to be.

The highlight of my Jom Heboh was Muadz.
He is a singer, a new talent with good intention. A good addition to our local music industry. We can categorized him in Nasheed, but with a fresh approach, contemporary image and music to spread the message of truth through the lyrics. Alhamdulillah, there are such efforts. Its a great thing I found about him there.

Here are the pics of the autographed CD (my sister's)







My sister was suprised that Muadz is an extremely nice guy when we met him. Probably because she never met a celeb, they are supposed to be nice, but I think he is genuine. He expressed his gratitude over our purchase, in fact he was the one opening the CD plastic wrapping using his own coin. I felt silly for a moment, I think I didn't even say thank you when we left. But I did say Good Luck (it is unnecessary when I think about it again) and All the best!

Haven't yet heard all the tracks as the CD is with my sis, but i did heard some (i think its live) during the carnival. He has a good voice, really nice tone, suite the lyrics and music. And his inspiration (written in the CD) are Sami Yusof and Outlandish (to name a few), owh now I see how he come up with this album. I hope Malaysian can embrace this kind of Nasheed genre. Its time to move away from the MTV guys, it is so 90s haha

I felt a bit sad, bcos he didnt get a good support during the carnival. Nobody bother to stop when he sang live at a booth, it was just couple of us and a few, which I think is pathetic. I saw most are Malay there at the carnival and of course Muslim, come on, give him a support at least by stopping by. Probably bcos no one knew him (just recently he got into the newspaper), he deserves attention like these guys below had.







...sucked into hedonisme for a while.
The male celebs were on makeup (not light!), hehe, i know2, the camera thingy, but seriously theyd lost their masculinity

Back to Muadz story, He has his own blog at http://muadzseekinglight.blogspot.com/
There are some clips from his album. Its worth a try to give a visit and listen to some. "The Wayfarers" is an awesome track.
For those in Malaysia, Grab his CD in stores. It cost less than RM30 and you are helping him spreading the words of wisdom to humankind.

Muadz is a lawyer by profession, and a singer by passion.

p.s. Frens, great to see you all in Penang.

Firefly's 4th Model

In the past post bout firefly [Firefly can now Fly High], I was wondering where the hell is the 4th model in the Firefly's official web, promoting the 2000 free seats.

Erm, supposed there are six of them, since these jpegs are numbered from 1 to 6 with number 4 missing.
When u login to firefly, let me know if you found the 4th model Mayb (s)he got banned, bcos his/her pic doesnt pass the 'level of shock' firefly required. Hehe

Finally, I found the 4th person, and he is in real shock. Too shock, it doesn't pass to appear on the web (pls don't take this seriously, Dear reader :P)







Update on Firefly: Firefly will take over FAX

WARNING: TRAVELING BY PLANE CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL WARMING
this should be printed on plane tickets in the future, like the warning of harmful health effect of smoking on cigarette box

Firefly can now Fly High

Firefly is no longer just an insect now (or the malay name, kelip-kelip). Its now also the name for the new budget airline based in Penang Airport. [read this in the star]

What got me excited is, now there are 2 daily direct flight from Kota Bharu to Penang which cost about
+RM 47.40
(47++ is the additional fees for domestic)

Thats convenient!

Unconvinced with the ability of firefly to really fly. Id waitd for the first successful flight news bfor writing ths post.
[read the news in The Star]

Aha, It can really fly. The flight is a bit small. Smaller than an air asia plane, dont require an aerobridge, u can just get in/out from the plane using the built in stair :)


and the flight is operated by four crew members - two pilots and two cabin crew, erm dont require much people for a 5o seater plane.

Below is some detail bout the plane from The Star


OK ready to fly? hehe

the website is www.fireflyz.com.my

I'm not sure why the web is 'fireflyz' with a 'z' while the real name is without 'z'. If u type the url as www.firefly.com.my, it wont automatically redirected to the real web. Erm thats wierd, and the firefly domain is still available actually, but its owned by a motor vehicle oil saver company.

The fireflyz web has been operating for weeks.
But still, buying the ticket online is not an option. You have to call the hotline for tickets. Erm not sure on how this work.

stated coming soon. huhu. when, firefly?

I like the models they used in the web. Haha. All in shocked (terkezut beruk kata org) LOL






Erm, supposed there are six of them, since these jpeg files are numbered from 1 to 6 with number 4 missing.

When u login to firefly, let me know if you found the 4th model Mayb (s)he got banned, bcos his/her pic doesnt pass the 'level of shock' firefly required. Hehe

K Just wanna share this great news.
Happy flying (esp to bro Zarul) hehe