Solat: Rukun Qauli

http://youtu.be/VyEJOtP3x0Y

Di dalam solat, rukun qauli adalah di antara perkara yang harus diberikan perhatian.

Rukun qauli adalah rukun solat yang perlu dilafazkan, disebut hingga didengari oleh diri sendiri. Jika sebagai makmum, cukup sekadar berbisik.

Ada 4 rukun yang disebut sebagai rukun qauli:
1. Takbiratul ihram
2. Al Faatihah
3. Tahiyyat akhir
4. Salaam

Moga kita istiqomah dan sentiasa dilindungi Allah.

InsyaAllah.

Book: A Brief History of Tim

Time, minus 'e'

 

Yes, it's not misspelled. And it's not Hawking's famous book. Humour rather than serious; the extreme contrast. Just by removing a letter of a word.

 

Simply amazing.

 

Humour, to me, can only be churned out by a creative person. The writer has to weave together a lot of different ideas, common knowledge, history (at times), current issues, and a dash of personality. I rarely read humour books, but this one caught my attention. I really like this one.

 

I got a taste of it at a book sale held at KL Sentral concourse. I was browsing for some other books that may be of my interest, and I had a quick skimming on this one. Right there and then, I was smiling and chuckling, not bothered about the world spinning around at that time. It is simply hilarious based on a simple idea and the contentes are brilliantly thought of.

 

Have a go on a few pages of it here.

 

Unfortunately it was one of those times when I said to myself "this can be picked up later". And I lost it. Perhaps it's the only copy there.

 

If you do find a copy, please let me know where to get it from, preferably locally (KL, JB, Seremban). Else I have to resort to online ordering.

Sigh.

 

 

Resah Awan - Plague Of Happiness

Resah Awan
Plague Of Happiness

Tunjukkan aku awan
Yang selalu mekar dan ceria
Tak endahkan dunia yang
Selalu bersengketa
Terlalu mementingkan diri
Terlalu ikut rasa hati
Duduk awan pasrah
Tak dia berkuasa

Rata rata dunia
Berlumuran masalah
Kerana mereka
Bertuhankan kuasa
Nyata bila awan sedar
Dunia bukan milik kita
Yang benci isinya
Manusia tak berbeda

Sungguh awan lihat semua dunia
Lelah bermasalah
Tuhan tolonglah manusia
Sungguh awan lihat semua dunia
Lelah bermasalah

-------
Dah lama dah lagu ni.
Apapun, aku sangat suka susunan muziknya. Terpaut sejak dari nota piano yang pertama lagi...

Dan aku ada jugak la kayuh offroad dengan 2 dari ahlil kugiran ini.
:D
Agaknya boleh jugak kalau 'awan' tu digantikan dengan 'kawan', mengikut lenggok orang Johor. Dan mengikut tajuk album lagu ini.
Kot.

Lively Newscasting

I watched a weather report/forecast over the CNN this morning. What made me interested on watching it is how the presenter was doing it.

She appeared very relaxed and joyous, making mundane  information appears interesting. With the help of graphics, of course. But mostly I'd say it is because of her personality.

This, and at the conclusion of her session - at the transition of handing back to the news anchor. The anchor held her on and they had a short chat; quipping about how 'fly' the weather girl was. The weather girl replied enthusiastically and they exchanged a few lines afterwards. A friendly morning chat with a colleague in the office. So human.

Now why can't we have it like that in our daily dealings and interaction with other people? Meetings are so formal that it sucked souls, and people are not as relaxed as they  could be. Let's change that. Let's be more human.

And hopefully our newscasters are not too uptight no more.
:)

Have a great day. Greet other humans.

For the record, this is my first blog entry typed entirely from my Xperia Active smartphone.
Sent over Gmail, while on board KLIA Express towards KL Sentral.
Neat.

Food: White Brick Oven

I baked our own bread many years back (only for a short while) using the automatic bread maker that Naza redeemed through Cosway. Quite simple, really. You put in the ingredients the night before and leave it on overnight. The next morning is a beautiful dawn greeted by the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked bread. It tastes good, but one day the machine broke down. So was my bread making.

In April's edition of Going Places (food issue), the mag featured an interview with Mustafa, the man behind White Brick Oven. I filled the 40 minutes flight from JB to KL in awe, and from the descriptive texts therein (with photographs) I could almost smell their wonderful bread.

I'd consider dropping by their place for their good loaves, next time I'm in KL with the family, time permitting InsyaAllah. Of course, would be informing them 2 days in advance for our take home orders.

Price list is here. Yes, quite steep but I'm sure they're worth it. Things that take time are always worth it. And you can't rush art, right?

Read their blog here.

Perhaps I'd chat up with Mustafa and get some pointers on bread making at home for weekends (when I don't ride, of course).

uʍop ǝpısdn

uʍop ǝpısdn sı ɹǝʇndɯoɔ ɹnoʎ sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟı

;)

What's Your Hobby?

as defined by Oxford Dictionary, 'an activity done regularly for pleasure'

My pet question to people as an ice breaker or to break a silence:

What's your hobby?

In this digital age, the young ones would give an almost similar answer - mostly computer related. Even if it is essentially taking up reading as a hobby. You know, reading newspaper on the net, reading e-book, etc. The other generic answers from them would be the typical facebook-ing (is there such a word?), blogging, blogwalking, playing video games and computer games, and such. I'd be surprised if one would give me 'collecting stamps' as an answer. That would be too 80's, and now becoming rare at least in my circle (yes, I mingle with younger people too). However, it is surprising that most of the time people would give me "I don't know what my hobby is" and "I don't have time for a hobby". And a lot of them would be quick to give "sleeping" as a valid answer. Well, no wrong answer because it is really subjective, right?

There are expensive hobbies and there are simple and cheap ones. Interestingly, a certain hobby could be either. Of course, because there's a really wide spectrum and it really depends on whether you're really into it (read: obsession) or just taking it as a way to fill your time and make you feel human. Take fishing as an example. It could be a simple activity down the paddy field with a bamboo rod, or a boating trip in the Philippines. Err... it applies to cycling, too.

I do get interesting replies to that one simple question. One guy told me that his hobby is hunting. Looking at me being amazed, he continued, "wild boar, porcupine, ayam hutan (partridge?)". Looking at this guy, you wouldn't imagine that he's that type. And then the floodgate suddenly opened. His face really lightened up and he went on and on with the details of it. I asked that question to him while I was sleepily driving on the highway from KL back to JB. So I would say that besides coffee, another person's hobby could also relief you from the torment of staying awake while driving. But I have to caution you, though. If his hobby does not interest you, than you're added with another torture. Then again, you could always reverse that by telling him about your hobby instead. Hehe...

Anyway, it's a tool for getting to know people and also sometimes you'd gain invaluable knowledge about things that you've never even heard of. To take Carnegie's advise in How To Win Friends and Influence People, getting people to talk about things that they are passionate about is one of the things in 'Six Ways To Make People Like You'. There you go, building relationships. 

So what's my hobby?

To put it simply: Reading. I read books, and nowadays more of cycling and gardening (lesser of the two) magazines.

I'd love to have cross-stitching as an answer, but to stick to the definition perhaps it is not.

Cycling? Nope, it's an obsession.

;)

What's your hobby, my dear friend?

Measure of Sincerity

Perhaps the measure of sincerity is that you do something happily without any fuss, and you don't expect any recognition or reward whatsoever other than Allah's blessings. You might not even remember about the good deeds you'd done for something/someone.

Perhaps.

Or you're just plainly forgetful.

:)

Book: Michael Crichton's Micro

I learnt a new word - posthumous.

MC did one-third of the eventual novel, while the rest is the work of Richard Preston. I've never read (or heard of) his books, but I'll definitely get this one solely because it has MC's touch. As always, I'll wait for the paperback.

Reading the synopsis, it is in MC's style. Like his State of Fear. This one's being compared to Jurassic Park, and it is interesting for we'll be shrunken and transported to the bigger world (I think).

Read more:

MichaelCrichton.com

cbsnews.com

image taken from MC official site

at the entrance

It has been a long time since I last entered Singapore. More than 5 years, surely. My children haven't at all. In March this year we made our passports, but only in October we made the trip to Singapore. So near yet if feels like it's so far.

In conjunction with Marsya's birthday, I decided to bring everyone to the Singapore Zoo. It was a busy weekend with not much sleep for me personally. On Saturday I went to Melaka for Burung Hantu 2011 offroad night ride, and back home right after the event ended. Took a nap at Machap R&R for an hour before Fajr and reached home at 7-ish Sunday morning. When I reached home I cleared out the dirty clothes form the night's ride, put things back to their places and did a bit of gardening. I woke everyone up at 8.30 so that we could go early because there are a few things need to be done before we could enter Singapore and head out to the zoo. Eventually, everyone got ready and at 11.00 the car started to roll out to Stulang CIQ.

While queuing at the Woodlands checkpoint, I noticed that somebody in an mpv on my right waving to me wildly. Haha... it was my cousin from Woodlands, Abang Man. He called me up and invited me to come over his place later on after the zoo visit and I said no promises. As soon as I entered the immigration checkpoint, my phone was without network reception. I had forgotten to activate roaming access. Was unable to call him to ask for address and directions to his place. Too bad, maybe next time insyaAllah.

It was the first time I bought an autopass for the car to enter Singapore; with tips from friends and the swiftness of Singapore immigration and LTA, it was not that hard. Just fill in a few standard details in the form, queue up and pay $10. The process took less than 10 minutes. My thanks to Reza for giving me the embarkation card, too.

The Singapore Zoo is not far from Woodlands checkpoint, and there are ample signs to get us there. We reached the zoo at around 12.00, parked the car at a nice covered parking building.

The zoo entrance fee for the five of us amounted to $66. $20 for adults, and $13 for children (3 - 12y). Free for Umar. Not too bad, as the park is big and the animals in there looks healthy. The areas are clean, too.

We spent a bit more that 3 hours in the park. While deprived of sleep and my legs are still tired from the ride the night before, it was surprising that the walk in the zoo did not make me exhausted. Sleepy at times when stopped, yes, but no complains of tiredness from me. Of course the children are.

We had our lunch late, at 3.30pm in KFC. Umar needed a nappy change and so we went off. The toilets at the zoo lobby are nice, but no faucet provided except for tissue rolls.

:P

However, the nappy change room has everything. Washbasin, nappy change counter, faucet (without hose), shower and toilet bowl.

I asked the muslim lady at KFC if there are any musolla available, but there is none except for staff only. She mentioned that people would use cardboards. As it was reaching 4pm (end of Zuhr), we decided to solat at the parking lot. Went up to the uncovered topmost floor, and found a shaded area. Parked the car to cordon us, and we perform our solat. Soon after, we went out of the parking lot.

There's a mini drama happened to me while exiting the parking lot. Apparently, foreigners have to get a 'complimentary ticket' valued at $4 from the zoo counter. So, long story short, I went back to the counter (some 500m walk), bought the ticket and went out. Thanks to Diana the parking assistant over there for guiding me.

The journey back to JB was uneventful. Smooth ride all the way, alhamdulillah. InsyaAllah, there'll be more trips after this. Perhaps a weekend over my cousins' places, and mountain biking at Bukit Timah too.

:)

 

More photos here.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1432H

Assalaamu 'alaikum warahmatullah.

I'd like to wish you a blessed Hari Raya, and Taqabbalallahu minnaa wa minkum.

May Allah accept (the fast and worship) from you and us.

I hope that we would foster the strength gained from our ibadah and good deeds made throughout Ramadhan; and continue on towards the rest of the year, until hopefully we could meet with Ramadhan again.

InsyaAllah.

Be safe, and remember that moderation is key, in everything.

Till we meet again, hope you had a good one.

Sincerely,

Akmal Hizam

image taken from here

X-stitch: John Clayton collection

http://www.hcrafts.com/johnclaytoncircles.html

Breathtaking designs.

Note: my Summer Meadow project is still on-going, 4 years and counting :)

His other works (for Heritage Crafts) is here.

Check out the panoramas and a piece titled Harbour Reflections.

Lau Kaa Na Bainana

TV Alhijrah - channel 114 Astro sekarang ni ada menyiarkan rancangan Lau Kaa Na Bainana (jika Baginda ada di antara kita). Masa siaran adalah 5.30 pagi dan juga 10 malam.

 

Baca di sini (ada video jugak) untuk maklumat tentang rancangan tu. Yang aku boleh tambah, ialah ianya meninjau sejauh mana pembawaan akhlak Rasulullah SAW ke zaman kita ini. Banyak yang boleh kita (aku) ambil iktibar, dan muhasabah diri sejauh mana kita ikut akhlak Rasulullah SAW.

 

Yang menariknya, cara pembawaan rancangan ini adalah segar, walaupun kaedah 'wakenabeb' digunakan. Kelainannya di sini ialah, ianya bersifat positif, bukannya menonjolkan yang negatif atau untuk mengenakan orang. Aku suka dengan gambaran visual 3D yang ditunjukkan untuk membayangkan kehidupan di zaman Rasulullah SAW.

 

Namun, yang paling pentingnya aku rasa ialah energy dan passion yang dikongsi oleh pengacaranya. Itu sahaja, rasanya mewakili separuh dari kekuatan rancangan ini.

 

Kena tengok dan hayati sendiri.

:D

 

Ramadhan Kareem

Apa azam anda?

Waiting Game

Is it a game? Well, it's a tough game if it is so.

 

If you know that the thing you're waiting for is going to come at a definite date and time, still it is a tough game. Because you can't really do anything about it, except for waiting for it to arrive. Makes you want to scream, really. If you do know that the thing is going to come, but no idea at all when it would arrive, then it would be doubly tough game.

 

For things that are uncertain, it's not called waiting; but still we are preparing ourselves for them. For the one thing that is certain, I'm struggling to prepare myself. I pray that Allah eases this journey to prepare for my last day, and not merely waiting.

E22 Fully Opened 10.06.2011

http://www.e22.com.my/Latest/Lebuhraya-Senai-Desaru-Siap-Untuk-Dibuka-Kepada-Pengguna-Lebuhraya-Pada-10-Jun-2011.html

 

Great news to me, personally.

Now (errr... tomorrow), it will be much faster to balik kampung to Pengerang as I don't have to pass by Ulu Tiram and Kota Tinggi anymore.

 

May the area around Bandar Penawar, Desaru, Pengerang and the like would also flourish from this.

 

Shall we have our breakfast at Bandar Penawar this weekend, dear?

:)