Graduation 2015

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the Ruler of the world, and Salawah upon His Messenger, Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

After 3 years abroad, I finally get to see the end of my study. Hardship, sweat, knowledge, battling with software, reference-hunting, library visiting, lack of sleep, chasing the lecturers, comprehending something new, ran away from someone disturbing and annoying, cursing and crying, shouting and many more. These years had given me a lot of bitter sweet experience which I trade nothing for it. It just priceless.

Alhamdulillah for giving me the chance.

Within this time frame as well I learnt a lot of things. Be kind to everyone, trust a few, appreciate moments and those willing to spend time with you, friendship, laughter, be forgiving, seeking good in people, smile a lot, giving positive vibe, seeing the world in whole new perspectives, connect with far away family and friends, finding true meaning of life and many more. I wish I can share the list but it is way too long. 

Alhamdulillah for giving me the chance to study abroad.

I had my family who always behind my back. My few circles and flatmates willing to share few chats and coffee. I always appreciate companion of others, I don't ask money or materials, just sitting time together and talk and laugh.

I got to travel with many great people. We explored various places and made our way to destinations. Sometimes, I went by myself and met a lot of other travellers. I enjoyed meeting new people and having known different things from various places. This is what I treasured the most.

Alhamdulilah for the great companions.

And here is my graduation pictures. Thank you to everyone who has accompanied me along the tough way. And I have farewell video I made as a memoir of my 3 years abroad. Have a watch, thank you. :)

This is a goodbye to my great years in UK. I felt a bit lonely and sad. And now is the time for job-hunting. Wish me the best guys. :)

"Oo Allah, thank you for all the moments You had me living. Alhamdulillah. I'm very grateful for all You've bestowed upon and I pray to You for the best in my future endeavor. Please take care of the people I've met along this life and I am humbly request You to let me see them again."

Illaliqa'. Wassalam.

Bosnia 2015

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the Ruler of the World, and salawah upon Beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

I went to Balkans area. One of my destination was Bosnia-Herzegovina. This time, I travel to a place where Islam came and the people accept it. The country has so many potential to be one of the great Islamic country, yet so many tragedies happened to the region.

Sarajevo has faced so many wars and death. If you go there, you can see a lot of graveyard across the city. From the Ottoman empire to Austro-Hungarian empire, and the break up of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, so many people had died.

First world war started in Sarajevo. The heir to the throne was killed in the city. That was one of the bloody tragedy. So many people were involved in the war, and so many lost their loved ones.

During the break up of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Sarajevo was surrounded by Serbian army. So many people fled to neighbouring countries, like Montenegro, German and others. The situation was so dire that nobody was able go out the street, neither the children can play football at the field.

Nejla, one of the friends I made in Sarajevo told me the dark stories. She was born in the era, lost a lot of relatives during the period. Her family escape to Montenegro for shelter as the city was very dangerous to live in. Nejla told me the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Bosnia nowadays, that much resemble a civil war in modern world.

War Memorial of Children Sarajevo

I visited the monument erected for the memorial of the lost during the period. It was such a sad moment that people killed each other because of their differences. I went to yellow fortress up on a hill to see the whole city and to my view, I saw a lot of gravestone, spread over the city, the martyr of the fallen people during the war.

Near yellow fortress

City of Sarajevo during the night

Nejla and her friends were so friendly. The first time I came to Sarajevo, I was treated with Pita and cookies, a Bosnian specialty. Its shaped like a pie but tasted like our murtabak, but you can choose the fillings, either meat, potato or vegetables. I like it very much. I also had Cevapi, which looks like kebab. Eat it while you hungry and it is so delicious. Also, I met Mr Shahril Kadir, a solo traveller from Malaysia. We talked a lot about our trip and he treated me with Burek. Alhamdulillah rezeki.

Pita, I will miss this.

Something I had, which also very delicious. I think it's called Bosanski Lonac.

Cevapi

In Mostar, one of the city that badly attacked during the war I met Sumija. We talked about a lot of things, from the country condition to the people. They (the Muslims) also having a conflict with Croats people. Sumija and her family fled to Koln for shelter during the war. She was very nice. She helped with car rental & breakfast. If I got the time in future, I will come to visit Sumija and Nejla. Insya-Allah.

The famous Mostar bridge, Stari Most.

I met Mr Mustafa during my visit to Tekija, Blagaj. Though he doesn't speak English, but luckily I can understand a bit of German. He told me the story of the Tekija. Also, I met two traveller from Thailand and a group of chinese Malaysian who were so kind to offer me a ride to Montenegro.

Tekija, Blagaj.

I really like Bosnia. The food was good. The people were nice, though some people were nice to you because you have money. And also they have a lot of Masjids almost everywhere. I really miss the sound of azan 5 times daily and the feeling for jamaah prayer in proper Masjid.

Masjid in Mostar

 Masjid in Pocitelj

Masjid in Bascarsija

One regret from my trip was I didn't spend enough time in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I will come again to Bosnia, to learn about their culture, people and food. I met a lot of people that helped me and gave me advices and tips for travel. Alhamdulillah. Insya-Allah I am planning for future trip to this beautiful places.

"O Allah, give the people I met during my journey a lot of baraqah and rezeki. Guide us to righteous and take us to Your Jannah."

Illaliqa'. Wassalam.

Vienna 2015

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the Ruler of the world, and Salawah upon Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

My friends and I, we went to Bratislava and Vienna a month ago. The trip was inspired by an Indonesian movie setting in Vienna, "99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa". We travelled from London Stanstead to Bratislava early morning.

What I want to highlight in this journey was the place we've been. A restaurant in Vienna, named "Der Wiener Deewan". A pakistani halal buffet restaurant in Vienna. It was located near central Vienna.

What amazing for the shop was the good food they served. And they let you pay as what you wish for. A lot of people came to the shop, be it muslims or non-muslims, everyone enjoyed the food and alhamdulillah the restaurant can accommodate a lot of people.

If you ever come to Vienna, please visit this place, but it isn't open on Sunday. I wish the owner and worker of the shop will be rewarded with baraqah and pahala for their honest work.

"O Allah, You are the Most Gracious, please grant the kind people everlasting sustenance, baraqah and wealth. So that they can continue to help others who need them. And please grant the less fortunate people with good health, provision and kindness. So that even they don't have the wealth, but they can also help others."

The trip was awesome, I met a lot of people, and personally knew them. It was fun and this trip has a its own specialty. alhamdulillah. Thank you all. :)

Illaliqa'. Wassalam.

Summer 2014: Vienna, Budapest, Prague & Krakow (Part 2)

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Allah, the Supreme Ruler of the world, and salawah upon the Last Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

My friends and I rode the night train to Vienna from Venice. It was a long bumpy ride in a small carriage. Well, if you want to have a taste of what the night train, you might not want to do it again. But for backpacker, it might save your accommodation for the night. Haha.

Vienna is the international city. It was beautiful with marvelous modern architecture. We stayed at Meininger Hotel, which is good and cheap. I like it. We went to the State Opera House, St. Stephen's Cathedral at the heart of the city, Hofburg Palace, Parliament building and Rathaus. In the evening, we went to Schloss Schonbrunn which is a palace, a big beautiful one, with large garden. We hiked to the top of the hill, to see Neptunette, Gloriette and the city from the top.

in front of opera house

Hofburg

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Rathaus

Schloss Schonbrunn

Gloriette

Neptunette

The next day, we went to Budapest. It was long hour train to budapest, and long walk to the hostel. But the hostel was awesome. We got an apartment with living room, kitchen, balcony, and two rooms.

I walked to the chain bridge for about 3 hours which was exhausting. But the journey and view were awesome and I like it. The next day, we went to take the tour using hop on hop off service. We went to the Buda Castle, Citadel, Hard Rock Cafe, Chain Bridge, Heroes Square and all. Since it was very hot, about 38 deg celc, we prefer to spend most of our time on the bus. On the night, we rode the cruise along Danube River.

Heroes Square

Synagogue

Parliament

Chain Bridge

Budapest

Then, we went to Prague. Like last winter trip, I brought the group to see the view from the castle, which was mesmerizing. I met my senior, Aized for while.

2nd time prague

View from our apartment

Then, our last destination was Krakow, Poland. We took night train as well. I managed to contact my junior who studying in krakow, Hanan. Nothing much on krakow because we pretty much exhausted for our 17 days trip. 

Square

Cloth Hall

The next morning, we flew back to London. I was sad to leave those unforgettable memories, and wish to have the time to go back in the future. I met a lot of people, that taught me a lot of things, like where to go, how to go, what is the culture and more importantly, self-development either inside or outside. 

"O Allah, thanks for all the sustenance you gave upon us and please bless us our journey and the people we met."

With that, I end this long story with

Thank you for reading. I am back to being busy. I am sorry for the lack of update.

Thanks. So. Much. My friends who accompanied me.

Illaliqa'. Wassalam. :)