The Surprises in Life

Last weekend a friend of mine got married. to a man she got to know less than a year; but he seems like the right man for her. Alhamdulillah.

her experience has taught me a lesson. Life is always full of surprises. 

her story begins when she was dating this guy ever since they were both in high school. so if you add up the years, a 9 years relationship. the only way to go is to get married RIGHT? you've been with this guy for 9 years, so the rational thing to do is get married. however, fate clearly had a different plan for both of them. They planned for a simple engagement, but somehow it ended with a huge argument between both family members. all because of the disagreement over the date of the wedding. 

things took turn for the worse when the guy had a change of heart and started seeing another girl. my friend was suffice to say, broken hearted and seemed to be depressed for quite some time. But alhamdulillah, eventually she somehow found the light at the end of the tunnel, found back her faith and came out as a stronger person. 

Within months after, she met a guy through facebook, who turned out to be a mutual friend of her bestfriend. They got to know each other, dated, and within months, the guy came to see her family to ask for her hand in marriage. 

The rest as we say, is history. :) 

As simple as that, if you have found the right one, you dont need years to get to know him/her, you just know :)

Subhanallah,Allah's mysterious ways. My friend finally got the lovely happy ending she deserved. But it also made me wonder that even after all these years of being together, it does not guarantee you a happy ending in marriage/etc. Sometimes these people in your life serves as a lesson in order for you to find yourself again, or come out as a stronger person. :)

Allah is great indeed. 

2013 HARROOO

Last week we celebrated the coming of 2013. The last hours of 2012 was excruciatingly unkind to me. After buying two tubs of Baskin Robbins ice cream (1 pint of jamocha and 1 quart of Chocolate), I thought i'd spend the new years eve scoffing down my ice creams and become a hermit in front of the tv, despite getting a few invitations from friends to celebrate the new years with them (because i was too lazy to drive). 

Ayah somehow seemed determined to kick me out of the house and made sure i went out. His ploy, when asked about what's for dinner, "I thought you're going out. We're not going to have dinner". And other similar tactics that drove to venture out of Bangi anyway. So i decided to go to Nina's house. By account, it should take me 45 minutes from my place to her house in Setia Alam. However, due to my useless navigation skills and even more useless Google Maps GPS, i got lose and ended up taking the longer route. And to make things worse, i got stuck in jam along with New Year revelers who wanted to celebrate it at the gaudy I-City. 

Guess how long i took to reach Nina's place? Guess la Guess la...2 FREAKING HOURS. By the time i reached there the food was almost finished, caterer was starting to pack up, and party was over. GREAT. But on the bright side, i still get to see my close friends, and spent the countdown talking over our sleepover party of three. :)

Since i never accomplish any of my resolutions during the previous years; i'm just going to list down things i look forward to doing in 2013:

1. Getting married. YES. i know this sounds cliche but who wouldn't be excited? After so long, i can't believe i'm getting closer to this life-changing experience. Le Sigh. 
2. Becoming a better Muslim (i pledge to try my best to pray 5 times a day, finish reading the Quran before i get married, and just be a BETTER person on the inside)
3. Moving into a new place with Faliq after we get married. I've had enough of the traffic jam in Subang, and I'm pumped up on starting over in a new place.
4. Living life to the fullest and not giving a damn about how much money I have in my bank account. Okay that's a lie. i will still live life to the fullest, but i will also bear in mind about how much money i have and how much i have to SAVE. 
5. Travel places! 2012 was a freaking bore because i didnt get to go anywhere. was supposed to go to singapore for the foo fighters concert but Dave grohl had a flu and concert was cancelled. We could still go but all my friends were completely disheartened and my renewed passport was wasted. So this time I'm just planning to go places that are near, Bandung (Company trip), Singapore (to find stuff for the wedding) and Bangkok maybe (with the girls).
6. Manage my finances properly. 2012 saw my financial condition crashed and burn like hiroshima because i didnt give a f*** about it. i spent like nobody's business, created a whopping debt on my credit card; and now i have to start picking up the pieces and be more responsible towards my finances. 

Happy new year everyone. 

The last hours of 2012 with the lovely ladies in my life :)

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

i used to be angry with God. For taking away the idyllic life i once had; growing up in a stable suburban home, surrounded by friends and our external family members were close by. hardship was unheard of, there was always food on the table, the house was a beautiful home one couldnt be ashamed of if he/she has to entertain guests, buying clothes almost every weekend. sigh. 

but when things turned out for the worse, ayah's business failed, we had to sell the house(s), and live in a rented terrace house (until now) with deteriorating condition; things actually turned out for the best.

i really did come a long way from being a selfish, ignorant teenager into someone i can safely say, a better, calmer,mature and more understanding. i began to see the other side of what it takes to be family. Not by spending your weekends at a mall or at a fancy restaurant, but by being there for each other even when times are tough. supporting your family even if  it means you do away the lifestyle you once had. despite not having as much as we used to have, my parents still managed to put me through university, and i graduated with second class honours, found a stable job with one of the prominent developers in malaysia, and now engaged to be married. 

there was no room for me to go astray and wasted; as i had both parents firmly behind me throughout the journey of my life from college to university and into the career world. there was no chance for me to swallow in my depression of not being able to afford the life i once had, because my parents were always there to remind me that " the best is yet to come, keep having faith in Allah, for this is a test for all of us to become a better person". no truer words can describe what im going through now.

it is a blessing in disguise. and i cant thank Allah enough for this.

MODERATION IS THE KEY (i think?)

It's good that now there's a rise in the numbers of girls wanting to look good. Especially hijabis; with more access to stylish hijabs and hijab-friendly clothes, it's not hard anymore to look good with a great outfit while rocking the hijab. and it's a bit comforting to see girls becoming more aware of fashion trends that actually works and looks good.

However i noticed that some tend to display or showcase excessive spending in the name of looking good. Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but the blogs we usually go to will feature the bloggers in countless different outfits lugging different designer handbags in each different photos. And not helping are the magazines that actually promotes similar lifestyle, e.g. Hijabista, Dara, etc. For me, as a middle-income earner or maybe low middle-income earner; i can only dream of having a wonderful wardrobe with a willing bank account but i cannot freaking afford it!

so what do i do? with only TWO handbags (not 5, 10 or 12), which i use "silih-ganti", i try the best that i can to create different outfits and styles with the limited amount of clothes i have in my closet. and let me tell you this, it can be really depressing to try to come up with different outfit EVERY FREAKING TIME; and not being able to shop each time the brain shuts down from cracking for outfit ideas and yearned for new CLOTHES. 

what more with the upcoming nuptial arrangements next year, i really....NEED TO SAVE MONEY, I.E. NO MORE MINDLESS SPENDING! so i might not be able to afford to buy new tops from H&M or the likes, but i will be damn sure i look good with the hand me downs i received from my cousin and friends. (it's a bit sad to think the new clothes i have were given by friends; BUT! NEW CLOTHES MASIH BAJU BARU OKAY!NO SPENDING!HEE HEE). so i decided to not bow down to the pressure of consumerism and to use whatever resources i have with me. ALL FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

 what is ironic is that now the islamic fashion is on the rise, it somehow goes against what islamic fashion is supposed to be. i thought moderation is the key? oh well. it's up to you how you want to see it, but for me, i'll be using my old clothes to still look good :) 

(im the one in the middle by the way, flanked by the lovely Jaja and Nina) i am wearing the MNG pants given by Kak Aya, a top i bought at JB two years ago, and a scarf i bought for RM 10 at Kelantan. :)