So sweet...

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh..

I am at site now, this place is called Nembe Creek. As usual, as the site location provided accommodation due to its remote location.  And of course it's full lodging here, meaning food are provided as well.

I got in here around 3pm. I packed some food from IA. And since I am fasting today, I only ate at 6.20 pm.

At around 7.30, somebody called my room, it turns out the lady that is in charge of the mess called me asking why have I not taken my dinner.

I don't have the heart to say that I have eaten, since she sounded so sincere, and I asked if I can pack the food instead as I am still not feeling that hungry. She said thats ok. She even waited for me at the mess to make sure that I took my food. Aawww...so sweet.. First time people called back to the room to find out why I have not eaten.. In Gbaran and Bonny, they never really tracked people's meal..hehehe

Till next time, wassalam...

The First Time

The first time she saw him, the thought that crosses her mind was...
"Oh my,  that is so gay... Such a waste!". His ear rings and metrosexual looks gave it away.

He walked in, heading straight to the end of the room, talking to some guy sitting there. He didn't even saw her. She thought he was just a visitor, and that was it.

The first time she talked to him, was when both of them were waiting for the bus, just a casual chat saying good morning. That was when she found out that he was like her too, there to stay for a while.

The first time he asked her to do anything was when the bus is leaving the office, and he wanted to get a picture of the traffic police that is standing right in the middle of the road. He was not happy with the picture that she took though..hehehe..

The first time he made an effort to communicate with her, was during one of the get together session where she cooked something, and he didn't eat it. Many people did not ate what she cooked, but none says anything. He was kind enough to make a small talk with her, maybe trying to say that he will try it next time when she cooks anything else.

The first time he shared anything with her, was when they were out on the shopping trip, somehow the conversation turned personal and she found out he has sensitive skin, and that he's allergic to tree nuts. She took note.

She can't remember when was the first time he sat next to her in the bus, or when was the first time they had breakfast together, and she wished that she took note, as it might not happened again. But she clearly remembered when the first time she felt so relieved having someone to talk to when she was feeling really down. She will always remember that, as he became the shoulder that she cried on, though not literally, but at least something.

For now it's not history yet between him and her. She hoped for something more, but the feeling is not mutual. At least not yet...

You

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

You left today for two weeks, and then I will be leaving for another week. In total it will be three weeks. My doa for you, to be kept safe, I hope I will never ever get tired to ask from Allah for your hidayah.

It's an agonizing 3 weeks ahead, I know I'll survive, but days are not as bright though, without physically seeing you. Gosh, you are my biggest test from Allah so far. I hope I am strong enough to get through this test in the form of you.

Ya Allah, give me the strengths....

p/s: you might totally forget me in the next 3 weeks, and I might be the only fool missing you. Darn...

Rindu........!!!

As I was telling my colleague that I missed PD a lot, these emails were flying around..

From: Farhana SRCPD-DMA/433
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 10:13 AM
To: Azita A SPDC-UIO/G/SHMP; Sakina NS SDIUS-DMH/DFS
Subject: whats for dinner?

Assalamualaikum,

Semalam I made tuna spageti for dinner, konon western kannnn and then thought of you two kat perantauan, apa agaknya korang makan eh for dinner J

How are u girls? Ramai kawan dah di sana? Your house/apartment cantikkkk sangat :D semoga sentiasa dirahmati Allah di sana….

Rindu you two J take good care ok.

Regards,

Farhana 

Environmental Technologist

Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) Berhad

Batu 1, Jalan Pantai, 71000 Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan

Fax: +6 06 647 2014 Softphone: +606 648 52 65

From: Azita A SPDC-UIO/G/SHMP
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 7:20 AM
To: Farhana SRCPD-DMA/433; Sakina NS SDIUS-DMH/DFS
Subject: RE: whats for dinner?

Waalaikumsalam warahmatullah….

Aaawwwww…..rasa cam nak nangis baca email ni tau.. J my dinner repertoire for now is pajeri nenas, ayam masak kicap, sup ayam, daging masak halia…hehehe.. rajin sgt masak sebab tak boleh tapau.

Nak buat mcm mana.. kalau tapau takat pizza ja boleh makan, memang x leh selalu la..hehehe..

Kawan…? Hhmmm.. PD gak best L sini mostly families, and single people pon mostly keep to ourselves most of the time, unless nak join mat saleh2 tu lepak kat bar…I am very much confined inside the house now.. alhamdulillah rumah cantik..hehehe..so tak la depress sangat dok terkurung dlm rumah..

Memang tiap2 hari masak la ni for dinner? Untungla rhemy…hehehe…

Rgds,

Azita

Process Safety Advisor

Waalaikumussalam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh J

Terharu Farhana you teringatkan I here, missssssss you ladies sooooo much too! L Hopefully both of you are well in Malaysia and Nigeria J

Farhana, Remy might have told you this, but I baru je borak with him semalam via IM while he was having telecom with Houston J

For now, I am still kelam kabut settling down – adjusting to work, locking down renting an apartment and habis stressed out looking to buy/lease a car (sebab I am returning the car like next Thursday tapi sampai skrg tak jumpa kete nak beli/lease lagi)!

Work-wise:

Takat ni, all I do is read background standards/statisctics/info, practicing how to utilize Pivot Table in Excel to help on Data Analysis. But the one that tires the most me here is having to adjust to not moving around as much as when I was in the refinery (and I don’t even know if that’s a good or bad thing!). Here orang start kerja at 7 and balik at 5. I start at 7.45 balik 5.45 pun considered lambat already!

My colleagues (from different parts of the world) all remarked saying that I am brave to have driven 8 miles to work every day after I arrived, and do things on my own! They were worried I’ll get stressed up adjusting, but when they heard me – they said I sounded happy. Hahah.

P/S: I even scratched my rented car on the first day sebab tak biasa left hand side drive :P What’s funny is when I informed the Rental Company, they were like, “As long as it does not involve another car and you’re not bothered with the scratch, you can continue using the car – Shell paid for the insurance already anyway :P

Life wise:

Kawan wise:

Memang tak ramai, no lunch kaki yet except my Co Line Manager here if he IS here! (he works from home) L All on my floor are “oldies” (above 35 ish) – and Americans are a bit weird, they can ask you “How are you?” and just walk off without waiting for your answer. Like what my German Lady Line Manager said, “They will smile at you, because if they don’t they’ll lose their jobs.” – I.e., insincere. They eat lunch at their desks, and they all eat sandwiches je!

Lonely la here, at least for now. I met a Muslimah while praying at the surau last week – hari ni will catch with her, hopefully she’ll be my lunch buddy J Outside work, Asmaziah introduced me to 3 other single ladies – working in Hess, MIDA and SBM Offshore. I would kadang2 have dinner with them to borak.

Makan-wise:

I am getting sick of eating seafood and vege for lunch, so what I do is, I either skip lunch (if I malas turun to beli sandwich) or I bawak roti from home. Malam ada freedom nak cari makanan halal – so Asmaziah’s single lady friend sometimes ajak dinner at Middle Eastern/Indian/Malaysian/Indonesian restaurant (Sini kedai nama “Malaysian Mamak Restaurant” is not halal – they serve bak kut teh jugak if I am not mistaken L)

There is halal marts here, one of it that I went once is “Jerusalem Halal Market” – mostly middle eastern ingredients, but that’s OK. I cook more often now, senangnya Nasi Goreng – later when I move in to my apartment next Friday, I’ll load up my fridge more and start cooking more “complicated stuff” haha.

Everything else wise:

Barang2 sini all are subjected to tax (8.25%) PLUS you have to give Tips (10-15% of overall bill) when at restaurants/taxi/services. And cars + rented apartments WAJIB ada insurance. And everything goes by 12-13 months contract, if you back out you’ll get termination fee which is a bomb. Everything’s complicated here – that makes me miss Malaysia more, flawed or whatever.

And here, orang bawak kereta all sambil tengok GPS! It’s literally so difficult to adhere to the Life Saving Rules here, sebab org potong masuk your lane tetiba, and they are sooooo aggressive in the driving! (Even a hantu driver like me can say this, bayangkan je la!) :P

Kesimpulan:

Living abroad really really really makes the peribahasa, “hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik di negeri sendiri” very valid and justified. I just miss everything about Malaysia, flaws and all – its straightforwardness in most affairs, its not too modernize nature (meaning still ada pasar basah, and can afford to be sloppy hehe), the warmth of the people (we’re literally like family in SRC!), my family, and you guys of course!

P/S:

Panjang la pulak cerita ni kan :P Rindu sangat33333 all of you!

Regards,

Sakina

Best Regards,

Sakina 

Downstream HSSE Projects Advisor,

Functional Services Focus Delivery Group,

Shell Downstream Inc.,
One Shell Plaza,

910 Louisiana St,

Houston Texas 77002, United States of America

Softphone: +1 (713) 241-4827

Email: N.Jalaludin@shell.com

Smile

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh..

Its hard to predict somebody's mood first thing in the morning, especially if that somebody is someone you are fond off, but all doubts are cast away, once that person smile... :) Alhamdulillah..

Smile is a forgotten sunnah.

Here is a a story of the sahabah which I think many of us knew.

Whenever Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) saw the Prophet he would find his blessed face as bright as the full moon, and whenever he (peace be upon him) gazed upon Anas, he would smile. Every encounter was met with a smile which caused the heart of this great companion to be greatly affected – so much so that he felt that he was the most beloved to him. Naturally he wanted his thoughts confirmed, so he asked the Prophet as to who the most beloved person to him was. The Prophet replied “Abu Bakr.” Hoping that he would be the most adored to the Prophet after Abu Bakr, he repeated the question and to Anas’s surprise, it wasn’t him but instead Umar. From this simple act, the Prophet was able to make Anas think that he was the most beloved person to him. It was with these small but greatly effective gestures that did not take much effort that made the Prophet so beloved to all people of his time. In fact, Abdullah ibn Haarith (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I did not see anyone who smiled more than the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).”[1]

Smile is contagious, keep on smiling :)

http://www.islam21c.com/spirituality/242-smiling-the-forgotten-sunnah/

Wassalam

Of Scholars, Hijab and Arrogance

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Pardon me for the value-less post previously. It was spur of the moment. Having been here alone, there is not many outlet that I can share my feelings, so ya, pardon me for that :) I thought of deleting it, but hey, nobody reads this but me, and the fact that I was happy for that one particular moment, I think I should not delete it. Let it be a memory, and this blog will remind me later should I loose my mind, or my memory..hehehe..

Back to the actual things that I wanted to share today. These past few days, there has been some incidents that has made me a sad Muslim. I have been following few scholars from the West, reason being is that I think their delivery are more in tuned with my thinking style. I have nothing but high respect with the local Malaysian scholars, but sometimes, when they speak, they carry more of a Malay mindset rather than Islamic one, I would not delve into details, just saying that their style does not suite me. Ok, about the western scholars, I was shocked to see Br Yusha Evans sharing a link that states 10 reasons why people should not follow Imam Suhaib Webb. I went through the list, and all of the things mentioned paint a bad picture of Imam Suhaib.

I respect both men, Br Yusha for his quest of truth, and Imam Suhaib due to his vast knowledge of tafseer. Days apart, Imam Suhaib issued a statement to refute one of the item, and his reasoning seems valid. But what makes me sad is, these two gentleman are good scholars to begin with, and to let the dispute came out in the open, its just not right. I see points in both sides and I pray to Allah that both of them are protected from any further slander. To me, Br Yusha is like Umar al Khattab, he is stern in his words and action and he is not about to keep quiet if he sees something that is not right. I hope Allah soften his heart and clear whatever misunderstanding that he has with Imam Suhaib. It really makes me sad to see the cyber war that has been going on between these two camps.

Second is, a long time friend, she has reached a certain goal in life, and as a result, she decided to put on the hijab. As a friend we were definitely very happy. The thing is, she is now on holiday, and we see pictures of her slowly loosing the hijab. We started to raise question among our small circle of friends and I decided to message her privately. I just want to find out why and remind her she needs to look inside, find out why she put on the hijab in the first place. Maybe the way I asked the questions intimidate her, she quickly became defensive. And for her to say that I woulds not understand how difficult it is for her to put on the hijab, it makes me even more sad. We all have challenges in being a good Muslim, it might not be about hijab, there are a lot of other things and temptations that is ever willing to drive away from the straight path.

She was mentioning, the more people push, the more she won't do it, as if telling me to shut my mouth and she has the right to do whatever she wants. Its sad, really, it really is. I asked her to seek the strength from Allah SWT. We face challenges day in and day out. We fall and get back on track most of the time, but we should never close a door for somebody that is trying to remind us. Maybe I am reading too much into this. I don't know. I have said my piece, its up to her how she wants to take it. I pray the best for her, and if the question of hijab is so sensitive to her such that she does not want any reminder at all, so be it. I know she will come to her senses, and I hope its not too late then. We never know when our time is due in this world.

I had a chat with a non Muslim last few days. He was born a Christian, but according to him, he and his family were not really practicing it, and he was amazed at me and another Muslim that has been fully observing what Islam requires us to do. The conversation went on, and somehow I mentioned to him that Islam consider everybody are born as Muslim, but the way they were brought up makes them a non-Muslim, as we should call them, the not yet Muslim. So when the not yet Muslim returned to Islam, we called them revert, instead of convert. His reaction to this idea took me by surprised. He said, that is an arrogant statement, are you saying that you are right, everybody else is wrong, they just don't know it yet? I was dumbfounded, when he put it that way, it does sound arrogant. But that was not what I meant, shoot, I said the right things, but he took it the wrong way, maybe its because of the way I said it. Allahu akbar..... I need to read more, I need to correct his perception, and in order for me to do that, I have to be well equipped. May Allah make it easy for me.

Till next time, (bila nak update pasai kebun ni..hehehe...)
Wassalam.