Pre-story of my next travel diary

I am sorry for so many delays. I lost a lil bit of my focus and I become nervous without reasons haha. Entah la kenapa, but well yeah sebelum Disember melabuhkan tirai, I will try to finish my travel story. I just wanna write this though I am not sure who would still read my story lol

Anyway, this is the best part out of all including so many dramatic scenes when we were in Jeju. Our flight took off in the evening actually and we almost miss the flight because apparently my sister salah tengok jam and she thought we still have an hour to go dan still nak makan kat myeondong lels. Jadi berlari la kami dalam departure hall tu dan duduk2 je flight pun take off dengan gembiranya hahaha.

I purposely arranged our itinerary of our shopping time on the last day in Seoul so that we can really budget our expenses. In Korea, there are tons of shopping street and shopping places espc in Seoul. The best thing was they were all so cheap! Baju high quality semua boleh dapat RM30 je. That was crazy but being a typical me, I didn't buy any but I definitely would kalau tengah banyak duit ahaha coz semua barang-barang dia cantik cantikk, plus they are really up to date! To be honest, I still think I need more time to enjoy Seoul because window shopping could be one of your top itinerary if you come to Seoul. I am so into Korean design nowadays so I wish I could stay longer to explore more of their blouses and dresses. Tengok je pun dah cukup hokay hahaha. Well, we made it to Namdaemun market to look for gifts for our friends and family and then headed to Myeondong to shop for skincare!

Myeondong was insane. There were cheap skincare items and make up materials as to compare if you bought things online or if they sold it in overseas. I obviously can't shop like my sisters so sis tahan nafsu tengok skincare best best, shielding myself from the promoters persuasion and promotions, I was really strong to avoid the temptation I tell youuuu. I have made lists of skincare that I really wanna try and alhamdulillah, went to myeondong and I bought things I really wanna have. I successfully bought my snail essence which was a totally hot item of Cosrx and it was still sold out when I checked the item in hermo before I went to Korea. I also got my other Cosrx products and bought tons of sheet masks. And guess what, being a lip tint addict, I purchased my lip tint from Nature Republic for just RM18. Aha, before that I also get to taste hotteok in Namdaemun! I love watching travel vlogs and each time I watched vlogs in Korea, hotteok catches my attention so much so I made it myself out of curiosity hahaha. I can say that mine tasted pretty good so when I saw hotteok sold along the market I got so excited just to verify the taste of my hotteok hehehhee. 

I am too lazy to find all my pictures back in the street. It was the street that was packed with people and goods. But, I was totally happy in Seoul and being happy over buying things was another level of happiness actually although duit mengalir bagaikan air haha. 

So here's some video I edit to sum up my days in Korea. Before I proceed with another post on Jeju, please enjoy the video below :)

Toodles!

BTOB - Missing you

Hi.

I literally fall in love with a song at the first heard.

In which when I read the lyrics, it literally tells you the untold story of mine.

I never knew this boy group at the first place anyway but the song and lyrics are on point.

Presenting, the heartfelt of missing you.

Dear Wan Syafiqa,

Let's stay focus and cool.

Ps: I'll talk about my Jeju trip soon.

Day 3: Take 2 on Seoul

Hi guys.

I should have written this way back then. But I was quite busy trying to finish up my manuscript for scientific journal I need to complete. So I lose a little bit of writing my online diary. 

Anyway there's another reason of not updating this post coz I've been quite lazy to retrieve the pictures last time since they were all saved in my icloud. So yeah, I postponed on updating my second part. 

Well, the next destination we went was of course the famous Nami Island. It took around 2 hours to get there so we make sure that we went out as early as possible as we wanted to visit Itaewon at night. We took the train to go to nami island and I would highly recommend you to use 'Korea Subway' apps to look for the route. But you have to know which station you need to get off. You can't simply type in the destination like how we use google maps. Hence, you need to do a little bit of research and jot down a few notes so you won't get lost. I even have my notebook and highlighted important station and stops so we wont get lost easily haha. Good thing is it also showed you the fees per ride. Pretty much you can do the budget well and have at least rough ideas how much you should topup. I only used around 20 000 won for our 4 days around Seoul, and it is actually quite cheap. I usually use google maps pretty much on everything coz I love it so much ever since I live in Australia. You just need to type in your destination and it tells you everything and also the possible public transport you can take from your location. If it's involved in subway line etc, it even tells you the line and the route. It works really well in Australia and Japan but it was hopeless in Korea hahaha. I don't even know why. 

From the station to the ticket counter we took a taxi to reach Nami Island. Well actually at this area, you can visit other places too like Petite France etc, but I told myself, no you don't have to go and it's okay. Let's made it to France someday lol. As soon as I reached at the last point, I saw so many people there. It was packed with tourists OH MY GOD. And the lines to buy the tickets were insane. But we don't have to wait that long though, they did quite good job. I applauded them for that. It took only 3 000 won per entry. And also you can choose either you want to enter it by ferry or zipline. Since we were on tight budget, ferry was our choice. Memang pack la satu ferry tu penuh dengan tourists, kalau karam mati katak agaknya haha. It was a very short one, 10-15 minutes pun dah sampai. 

The first hour was cycling all over Nami Island, and we searched for the instagrammable spots to take pictures of course (although I don't have ig). I think it was around 10 000 to 12 000 won for 1 hour I guess. 

Last stop dia Gapyeong station rupanya. hehehe

Nasib baik bergambar

Sekarang kita dah sampai kat tempat beli tiket ya tuan tuan dan puan puan 

lepas berbasikal singgah tangkap gambar jap

After that we stopped by a muslim friendly restaurant and ordered black bean noodles or jajangmyeon. Sedap wei lain beno rasanya dengan dubuyo ke myeondong toppoki ke so different hokayy. But I can't remember the name. It is actually quite easy to find it. Korang pegi je amik pamplet nami island kat tourist center, it includes the halal sections. Then baru lah kteorang menapak cari tempat winter sonata. My dad was exhausted already coz he's been here twice and my dad jenis yang cepat bosan so dia dah nak balik haha. But being the typical Wan Syafiqa, I won't give up until I reached the signature statue and so called trees hahahaha. 

And yes bebeh, we found it.

 So this is the place peopleeee

The famous winter sonata statue. Sebab takde snow so kurang la skit feeling dia 

ehehhehe

Engkorang tengok la ramai dia macam manaaa

Stress aku nak bergambar orang photobomb sesaje 

Once mission accomplished, we made it back and sebab aku beriya nak makan dakgalbi gigih la kteorang cari. There were lotss of dakgalbi restaurant but there's only one halal place which is chuncheon dakgalbi. Quick tips, if you get off from you ferry, you need to head way down to the right and look for this restaurant. It was not too far from the jetty and it is surrounded with other restaurants as well. So you need to have good eyes for this hehe. 

I have to admit I enjoy eating this so much despite I was quite full 

coz I had a big bowl of jajangmyeon earlier.  Banyak kauuu

Semput jugak nak habiskan. 

Then, get back to the train station and headed back to Seoul. Another 2 hours and 30 minutes journey. We departed around 4pm, so it was already dark when we reached Seoul. It was quite a long day as we made it to Itaewon at night mainly because we want to experience the national mosque there :)

SubhanaAllah, Allahuakbar. 

It always feel good to be around your fellow muslims <3 i="">

The sense of belonging just got me here mashaAllah. 

As you guys know, Itaewon is full of Kebabs, loads of halal variety food. I was so tempted to try the halal guys hahaha since I've seen so many good reviews of the restaurant. We didn't anyway coz I let my dad chose his restaurant and we went to the same restaurant he went before. Since I heard that it was pretty tough to get a loaf of halal bread, we visited Salam bakery and bought a few stacks of bread to prepare for our next journey in jeju. 

We had so much walking in Korea and I truly enjoyed it. Mungkin sebab nak kurus jugak ahahaha.

Anyway, I have so much un-ticked lists in my wish lists. If I ever visit to Seoul again,  I have to: 

• Drink coffee at their coffee shops
• Try their Bingsu with their various flavor
• Try halal korean fried chicken. The smells of the fried chickens was so damn good!
• Wear their school uniform and walk around Lotte world 
• Try their halal korean bbq in Gangnam which I missed on the 1st night
• Go to their university and look for the school of Microbiology ahahaha
• Shop again at Myeondong and visit my fave korean skincare line
• Try their street food with the guidance of trusted muslims
• Attend free make up tutorials in Gangnam 
• Attend their korean cooking class since I heard they provide halal materials as well. Cool kan?

Hah, banyak nauu. Conclusion?

Kena pergi lagi sekali please. 

*I postponed this post for sooo long since so many things encountered while I was writing this post. Stay tune for the next post on my next stop, Jeju island!

Day 1 & 2 : Seoul Took My Soul Away

Guys.

I haven't move on with South Korea just yet that I have been boasting around telling people how good the trip was and how badly I wanted to come again to fulfill all the things we did not do. I need more time for that purpose obviously! I watched Joan Kim/Joanday Vlog a lot. The excitement sparked and yes people, second vacation is totally a must.

I have a weird habit of keeping things close to me if I feel like I need to achieve something from it. Just like how this trip goes, I have been telling a lot of people and I even wrote a post on how I really want to experience South Korea myself. Well, Korean wave blows hard. Even my dad won't hesitate to come there for the second time. Many people around me have been to South Korea and came back with souvenir in hands since I was at my teens. I used to gather them around and brought them to whenever I go or keep them in the visible area so that I can keep on telling myself, I would be there someday and I just did. It was refreshing and amazing indeed :)

I consider this as my post-thesis submission celebration because I flew right away after submitted them hehehehheh

Anyway, I feel like I should be there for two weeks or more so that I can really satisfied with my trip. But yeah, it is never easy to gain money people... marilah ukur baju di badan sendiri haha

So it took around 6 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, Incheon International Airport. I feel like my half day was wasted just for being on the flight. *Sigh* Flight from KL would be departing for 3x times a day I guess, so I highly recommend you to take the night flight. Hence, you'll be reaching Seoul in the morning and right away explore the city. Since we took the morning flight, we reached our hotel late evening. Incheon-Dongdaemun took around 1 hour and 30 mins which did not include our buffer time of purchasing T-money card for the subway and our portable wifi.

I choose to stay around Dongdaemun since it is only a few stops away from Myeondong and Namdaemun market considering that we need to catch our flight to Jeju after 3 days in Seoul. The first night we reached Seoul, it was pouring the whole night and the next morning too. My original plan was to take a subway to Gangnam to have dinner but it was quite late, plus we had troubles to find our hostel coz we chose the wrong exit out of ! The Korean subway line was totally big and every station they have tons of exits, and if you chose the wrong one, you'll definitely end up at a different place.

First lesson learnt: Read how to go a particular place carefully and choose the right exit!

If you are interested to stay at our place, it was Sunrise Dongdaemun Inn. This place is one of the cheapest place in Seoul as far as I searched through booking.com and I think the rate for an average price for dormitory (1) person is similar or I could say slightly cheaper if you compared to the (1) person rate of living in the three-bed room in this place for 1 night . Since we lived in a private room, so I think that's the added point of this place. I was pretty excited because our room was located at the attic. If you watched Korean dramas, you'll see so much scene on how people living at the attics. And they also provide space for you to chill outside. Perhaps it is where people often drinks and eat fried chickens. Pretty much, it really gives you the similar vibe hahaha. Not to mention it also has mini kitchen for you to keep your food in refrigerator or heat your food in the microwave. Fret not, they also provided you with all sort of utensils you can use to cook.

The attic where we can access from our room!

Cool kannn

Anyway, that night my dad dozed off early because we had so much walking from the airport to our rented place. I was long for the Korean Barbecue in Gangnam since it was the only halal barbecue place you can find in Seoul but yeah we didn't make it T.T I need more time pleaseee. Kak yang and I didn't want to waste our time so we went to walk around Dongdaemun. Well, I read that Dongdaemun market should be visited in night time because the night market would be so alive during midnight time but unfortunately, we didn't even catch a glimpse of it. I walked for about 3 KM that night but yeah still nothing. I am not sure is it because of the rain or is it us that did not find the right market. So we went to shop for umbrellas and stocked up our rice to be eaten the next morning. Thought of buying some veges but they were really really expensive. The price was so much different from the veges we had in Japan. We still can have veges soup in the morning in Tokyo, but we couldn't do it in Seoul haha.

The next day, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace and we also visited Bukchon Hanok Village. Actually, in this area you can also visit Insadong because they are located close to each other. But we didn't make it to Insadong though, the palace tour was massive enough. The palace was big and we weren't able to walk freely since it still rained that morning. But it was still okay. We had a free tour offered by a school student named Da Hun and I applauded her for doing such a great job in giving us the explanation. I think it was a very good alternative to develop someone's soft skill and Malaysia needs to do that too! It rained all the morning so we missed the show in the palace. But we took some pictures of the people. My sister began to doubt whether were they real people or not as they keep on maintained straight face even though we took pictures together. That was quite hilarious to be honest hahaha

Da Hun and us!

Prior to take this picture, there were bunch of good looking men around. 

So I've seen another beauty of Seoul ehehhehe

Besar dan tinggi sangat mamat ni! 

Power boleh maintain muka straight 24 jam agaknya

Simply love this photo because it was well captured! :)

After we finished our tour with Da Hun, there is a free museum admission just next to the palace: National Folk Museum Tour. I think the appropriate time to finish the tour around the palace would be around half day I reckon? I still think there were more things I haven't discovered though because there were too much things to see huhu. As soon as we set off our feet from the museum, the sun begun to rise. If you're looking for a place to eat halal authentic Korean food in this area, please find Halal Kitchen that is run by a Korean Muslim man named Mr. Hassan. From the palace you need to walk a little but it was a walking distance and possible for you to reach by walking. The restaurant is situated a little bit of uphill so you need to look at up right and use the stairs to go to the restaurant. Actually, by the time we got there, the restaurant was still under construction but then Mr. Hassan was kind enough to offer us Bulgogi set and cooked for us. There was also prayer space so while I waited for my sister and my dad to finish their zohor prayer, I was given Banana uyu for free. How nice! I was thankful enough that he allowed us to dine at his place, but then he gave me the milk so I could feel that Muslims are connected through some kind of special ways hehe. 

You'll see the sign board. 

Mr. Hassan Lee who was kind enough to cook us this hearty bulgogi hotpot.

The delicious banana uyu gaiss! 

It became tastier because it is for free hehehhe

Then, we made our way to the area of Bukchon Hanok Village which is not far from the restaurant. You'll see some volunteers who wore red vest holding the map of the area. They are very helpful and friendly! So please do not hesitate to ask them. I've got so clear information from them because most of them can speak English and eventually found Hanboknam Hanbok rental place! There are two type of hanbok you can rent. The premium one where you can choose characters with more diligent design and the ordinary hanbok which is more cheaper than the premium hanbok. We chose the normal design and it costs us around 20000 won per person for 1.5 hours. You can choose to wear the hanbok for all day and wandering the area. I forgot to tell you that you can get free admission to Gyeongbokgung palace if you dressed up in Hanbok. What a catch kan? hehe

I was actually laughing so hard seeing my dad with this attire!

He was so determined to wear the hat everyoneeee lol

Family potrait

If we were born in the Joseon dynasty

The village itself has so many intsagram-able spot.

So many spots to make you feel like you live in that area and the ancient time

If you were to visit this village, you need to try the tea shops in the area so that you can feel the vibe of going through the time machine, enjoying your Joseon era at its finest!

Welcome to Tsukushi-Lee clan house!

We ordered berry tea, sikhye and rice cake. 

I always wanted to try sikhye after watching Minguk in TROS spilled the sikhye by accident

in the sauna. The scene was too funnyyy hahaha

For the rice cake, I don't really favour that kind of sauce. 

Sweet sauce which fits sweet tooth people. 

We ended our tour at 6 pm I guess, and began to make our way back to Dongdaemun. We thought of tracing back the market but unfortunately we didn't make it again. I actually did not know what went wrong because I was usually a quick witted person with directions and places. I adapt to new place really easy but this Dongdaemun market, I failed to find it huhu. Nevertheless, that was one of the craziest walking we experienced after the one we had in Tokyo. But we were very happy with wearing hanbok since it has been in my wish list for a long time! I can't remember what we had for dinner but I guess it was the rice we heated in the microwave and rendang tok abah brought from Malaysia. We were too tired to look for halal food and I pitied Abah who can't walk anymoree hahaha. What an experience!

I guess, I'll stop for now and would update another entry for my 3rd and 4th day in Seoul. 

For a travelling like this, it always makes me feel refresh and alive again.

I always look into Korea through the screen but now, I have set my foot on it.

I thanked Allah for always listening to my prayers.

I ran and wrote last month!

Hi guys.

It's been a while since I haven't write any updates in this blog. Rasanya kalau korang scroll setiap post pun ada ayat ni kahkah but anyway, it is really been a while kan? Don't you think so?

When I last updated my story on final draft etc, I focused my work on the corrections I need to mend and my final presentation afterwards. Though there are lots of things I wanna share, somehow my busy life restricted me to write the stories right away. Because every time I came back to my room I literally collapsed and sleep until the next morning. Sometimes I didn't even turn the light off and I didn't even know when I dozed off. For all those times that I have been hibernating from writing my online diary, I have been participating on 21 km virtual run last month and I also successfully submitted my thesis for the external examiner evaluation alhamdulillah!

Okay, this might sound absurd but you know I don't do long distance run and I found jogging is a boring thing coz you'll do this individually. However, this 21 km virtual run was so much fun that it trained me to run every morning constantly. And every time I saw my running tracker had increased in the distance section, I got motivated easily. I also felt that I need to do better than last time kind of feeling. So yeah, I have completed the run everybodeeehh =)

You see daaaat? I leaded the board hoyeah!

Semangat sangat hah, sampai aku lari 30 km last month aherher 

Tak main dah 21 km. Aku lari advance 10 km hahaha

Okaylah ni muka muka beginner yang happy gila sebab berjaya habiskan 21 km haha. 

lagi 2 orang #teamkurus kteorang takde dalam gambar

That was really fun aside of completing my thesis. Or perhaps it became a fun thing because I was stressing out with writing. 

So I also completed my pre-viva before I sent my thesis for evaluation. I was kind of satisfied with my presentation and my work since I consider it as my final presentation and that was the only chance for me to explain my work enthusiastically. I mean I've been working for years for this project and I should be doing a great job in explaining my findings to other people. I did not feel so nervous, instead I was looking forward for it and alhamdulillah. I was satisfied and guess what? My pre-viva celebration was going to the gym and running again the next morning for my virtual run assessment lol. Okay probably that was the reason I got exhausted every day hahaha. 

Terima kasih Ariff sebab tolong amik gambar dan update kat Dr. haha

Dan ya tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 

pre-viva aku memang meriah dan mendapat sambutan orang ramai

-___-

I took for about two weeks to mend my thesis after receiving suggestions and comments from my examiners. Got it revised by both Dr. Azzmer and Dr. Naim and eventually submitted 3 copies of my softbound thesis. My supervisor said he was moved with my 'special dedication' section and yeah to tell you the truth, I wrote my acknowledgment section after I officially completed everything. And I didn't expect that writing it was such a heart warming and moving at the same time. I realized that my work would not come to its completion without many supports from my friends and family. If I was mentally tortured like most of the postgraduate stories I heard, I know this might be impossible. So everyone my work is not solely mine, it was built and contributed by lots of people out there. Well at least to my mental health la kan? haha. 

I submitted my thesis on 4th October and flew to Korea the next morning.

I reckon that as my post-thesis celebration! hahahahaha. Bought the flight tickets a few weeks before and decided Korea as our next destination. I know that was quite crazy and adhoc but yeah I need to breath some fresh air to stay alive. Ehem, you know me well enough kan? hihi. 

Korea is truly amazing! It actually has been a week since I returned to Malaysia. But I still can't move on with Korea and yeah definitely coming there for the second time. 

I haven't disclose this yet in my blog but I wish to bring my future-someone (read:husband) to Adelaide just to let him see the place I have grew. But now I have included Korea as a place where I need to come again with my future husband. Simply because I wanted to do lots of fun things with him in the future, well that includes wearing a school uniform and wandering around lotte world! 

I will write my Korea entries soon =)

See you guys in the next post!

Aha, nailed these cool-ly!

I've been waiting for this time to update my blog.

Alhamdulillah guys, I have submitted my final draft of my thesis last Tuesday! The feeling was incredible. Because right after I wrapped up my colloquium works, I speed up my writing and I worked like crazy. My thought is solely to finish off this thesis thing and I don't want to pay for my tuition fees haha. And yeah did it. Right now I am preparing my slides for pre-viva and still waiting for feedback from both my supervisors.

I wish to update this last month since I had much much stories to share. But the due date and my thesis flutter me a lot. These two years of my postgraduate life I think I experienced a great achievements during the latest colloquium held last month:

• I was the editor of Postgraduate Magazine entitled 'Virtousi' which was launched at the Colloquium night. I worked on the layout, the page arrangement and even proof read some of the articles sent to me. I chose the concept and did some alteration too. I know it was so much works but I was really happy and satisfied with the final result. I used to dream of being a journalist to be honest, tv hosting and reporting. Hahaha. That is probably the hidden part of me. Simply I feel so expressive working on the magazine. I love it so much. That should be my precious baby after my thesis I reckon. I feel so proud of my co-editorial board member: Shahrain and the PGKOS committee. Alhamdulillah we nailed this pretty cool. 

The anonymous quote is originally mine so yeah not so anonymous anymore hehe. 

Here is the link. Feel free to read it since it's made to motivate and inspire people with our postgraduate activities :)

VIRTOUSI

• I represented postgraduate student in a forum with two other lecturers. The theme was motivation for postgraduate students. To be honest I was freaking out because I know my place and of course I am not that diligent enough to be up there. I don't even own a thesis at that time and that is the most anxious thing ever for a postgraduate students of course. But Alhamdulillah, I think I did a pretty good job in this 2 hours discussion. After all a forum is all about discussion and every voice matters. It is not sort of debate that you need to win an argument. So it was all based on your point of view. That's the beauty of discussion until I was questioned by a phd student on my credibility lol (I think I need to write entire post for this sebab banyak sangat benda nak bebel haha) Frank enough, that was the point when I think I need to blurt out everything without thinking. So my virtual friend, where were you? (I know we were disconnected for almost a year now, but you were the 1st one I thought of that time. Because I wanna do it comfortably haha)

The other two lecturers are extraordinary. Memang bagai langit dan bumi. 

Hahaha. But like Dr Naim always said, "You are nothing less than me. We learn from each other"

Those words were so heart soothing. Thank you dr. 

Also I've got so many supporters that day. Credit to Dr. Latif too haha.

• I participated in 3 minute thesis and won first place! Alhamdulillah tsumma alhamdulillah. It was the first time me showing my unpolished public speaking skill in IIUM since I left school 8 years ago lol. I do not expect this would be such a plot twist cause the champion of this competition was there too. I was quite busy that week coz I attended a training program held in Bangi before the colloquium. Pretty much I barely had the time to practice. The thing is I prepared the text early and keep on murmuring the text while I was ironing and read my text before I sleep. That's was the only time I had. So yeah, hard work didn't betray :)

• I was the multimedia PIC for the Colloquium night. So I did another fun thing again! :) I edited videos and prepare for the VIRTOUSI launching ceremony. Since I was part of the editing team, I look forward for that moment so much! and alhamdillah things went well again. I feel expressive again coz I chose the songs ensuring that theme that night could be delivered nicely. Worked well with my co-multimedia committee; Wanie! Setiap kali dengan wanie, mesti rasa tenang dan selamat haha.

I looked so pale I know. That's the beauty of my bare face. hahaha

Well, on occasion patutnya beregek la skit ye dak.

But seriously I was out of mood sebab balik pukul 5pm, 

lepastu rasa macam overused my body for the weeks and I reached my limit.

Balik bilik, took a brief nap then 6pm baru terhegeh2 nak mandi dan iron baju. 

6.30pm terus keluar dan get ready kat hall. Sempat edit lagi satu video masa niii

Okay panjang penjelasan kenapa aku keluar muka camni hahaha

Kulliyyah of Science Postgraduate family. 

I am quite reserve at some points but I am glad to meet such amazing and steel heart people.

Coz I know to get going of this degree needs more than intelligence.

Let's stay strong and keep going inshaAllah!

I think this should wrapped up my post tonight. 

Still, at this point I am patting my own self (since nobody is doing this haha) to let me know I can do the impossible. What an achievements. Good job dear self!

Desire vs true love

Back on my stable state.

Those shattered feelings are temporary alhamdulillah :)

Tapi yerla kan, kita manusia mana pernah perfect. Hari hari kita cuba untuk jadi yang lebih baik dan cuba bangun balik dan find ourself back apabila teruji dengan benda-benda yang melibatkan hati dan perasaan. Lepas sehari dua dah okay dah sebenarnya hehe. Aku dah kembali dengan agenda dan impian hidup yang lebih besar iaitu ingin membina generasi harapan. Generasi yang bakal menaikkan nama islam iAllah.

So let's focus on to be a better version of yourself.
Mari menimba ilmu, menjadi wanita yang berfikir.
Menjadi orang yang bermanfaat untuk orang lain dan untuk masyarakat.

Semalam sebelum tidur belek2 balik kata-kata dari yasmin mogahed. Lemme summarize it into a small passage.

She said that people are often confuse on hawa (desire) and true love. We ought to believe that our wife/husband are our true love and submit ourselves to them. Yes, they are real but that's not true love. True love is when we submit ourselves 100% to Allah SWT. Allah says in the book that Allah created you from yourselves mate so that you find tranquility in them (30:31). Real love brings about calm-not inner torment. True love allows you to be at peace with yourself and your god. Hawa will bring you miserable, you keep on chasing them but you'll never reach them. So what I felt must be bounded to my desire/hawa. It's normal and it's about how you take care of it.

So may Allah grant us someone who can eventually bring us closer to Allah swt.
Ameen

Distracted

Today I saw him at the 1st time after almost 3 years of hibernating from his figure.
I never tried to get his update or even view his profile in this time interval. I did not do it. As for today, I never intended to do so, but I received his photo from my friend who asked me whether he is the person we used to know. A picture of him in the badminton court, playing I reckoned. I verified and lose my mind lol.

It was disturbing, but the other part of me keep on viewing the picture over and over again.
I never thought these years of trying to recover myself, it actually brought a deep wound inside me and it is never 100% healed to my surprise.

Tipu lah kalau tak pernah wonder, how he's been doing lately. Tipu lah kalau tak rasa kita masih tunggu. Entah. I've been trying to rationalize my mind but my heart said the other way round. They do not sync at all.

If ever people asked me how it is felt. This is what I truly feel all these years.
Goodnight.

Life update!

Hi korang.

Salam Syawal ke 16!

Dah raya ke-16 dah, baru nak update blog yek. Hihi. Macam biasa la, kalau kat rumah memang bukak laptop pun tak sempat. Thesis satu chapter pun tarak! Confident je haritu sebelum raya nak bawak balik kerja, adalah alasan tak buat kerja rumah sangat. Takde makna nyaaa hmm

Tahun ni happy juga sebab dapat cuti raya lama. Sampai 2 minggu aku cuti hah. Start seminggu sebelum raya dah balik rumah. Pick up kak yang kat airport yang baru balik dari Bangladesh dan terus shoot balik rumah. Aku balik dah culture shock dengan kondisi rumah sendiri. Dah kenapa macam tongkang pecah? Urut dada sekejap haha sebab aku tahu aku yang kena settle semua tu sorang sebelum semua orang balik kampung wuwuwu. Disebabkan banyak sangat benda yang kena cover kat rumah tahun ni aku tak buat kuih langsung. Pecah tradisi rumah takde kuih dan of course tenat kondisi kuih kat rumah aku. Siap pesan kat kakak ipar balik ni bawak kuih banyak2 je, takyah bawak benda lain haha

Anyway, tahun ni sejujurnya Ramadhan aku agak kurang pencapaian macam bulan puasa yang sebelum ni. Sebab aku dah mula pening dengan thesis dan menghabiskan masa aku untuk paper dan journal. Cumanya jihad aku untuk mengawal portion makanan terlaksana dengan baik sekali di bulan Ramadhan ni! Gais aku dah tinggal semester last dan dalam proses menyiapkan thesis. Bangga tak dengan aku? Haha aku pun tak sangka dalam kepenatan aku memerah otak dan berjuang dalam lab, dah nak sampai penamat dah perjalanan master aku ni :')

Kurang tulis blog pun sebab tulis thesis dan article banyak sangat rasanya lol. Lagi dua minggu Kulliyah aku akan buat colloqium dan committee aku sekarang tengah sibuk mengeluarkan article untuk pelancaran majalah Postgraduate-zine/PG-zine. Ohooo so much things to do in this short time kan?

Aku tak berniat nak update secara detail hari raya haritu. Saje nak update apa yang berlaku dalam hidup lately. Cuma tahun ni apa yang aku belajar, raya memang medium yang terbaik untuk mengeratkan silaturrahim. Yang tak pernah bertandang rumah, tetiba muncul, dan masa tu la boleh kenal family kawan-kawan kita etc. Kalau masa lain, awkward kan? Itulah istimewanya Syawal. Kalau ramadhan masa kita hanya dating dengan Allah, tapi bila Syawal, masa untuk meraikan manusia dan orang sekeliling kita. Cantik Allah susun =)

Okay sebelum aku berundur aku belanja la satu gambar Syawal :D
Just so you know I am still here, alive and busy. As always hihihi.

Tahun ni full semua ada!

Selamat hari raya maaf zahir dan batin :)

Off to my data analysis & open house co-sv jap lagi. 

Toodles!

That 'dugeun-dugeun' feeling

Assalamualaikum peeps!

Ya tuhan.
Tak sempat langsung update like I mentioned in the previous post. Demam pru buat aku murung 2-3 hari. Cuba digest segala benda dan cuba move on sambil mendoakan dan mengharapkan yang terbaik untuk New Malaysia. Lagi buat aku murung bila semua orang sembang kencang kena ubah kerajaan, New Malaysia bagai tapi akhlak dan sikap rakyat Malaysia tak pernah nak berubah. Kutuk mengutuk lah, bahasa semua kelaut. Dengan agong2 pun korang berani. Waww. Ahh banyak lagi lah buat aku sakit kepala scroll fb dua tiga hari lepas. Nasib baik sambutan hari ibu dapat tone down all those hatred and comments.

Malaysians are so disappointing at one point.
Hmm, ok dah cukup.

Harini aku nak cerita pasal pasca GE14, hari hari yang aku akan kenang sebab dapat jumpa penulis fav aku heee. Remember I went to PWTC before going back to Kuala Kangsar?

Ada seorang penulis yang selalu buat aku jatuh cinta setiap kali baca artikel dia. Each time I read the article he wrote, each time I fall for it over and over again. Aku tak pernah pun rasa nak view profile dia ke apa ke because I was so in love with the articles. lol. I admire his writings so much that finally I read about his convert story! Dan masa tulah aku baru tengok 'crush' aku ni punya rupa hahaha. See, in my eyes your knowledge and intelligence come first before anything else. Aku bukanlah stock perempuan di luar sana yang tak semena-mena cair dengan kehenseman Syed Saddiq. *Tetiba* (No worries syed, I know you are extra-ordinary since our highschool years, no offense)

Dan bila seorang yang banyak membaca dan mengkaji, akhirnya dia jumpa islam on his own. Mati-mati aku ingat dia ni kacukan ke, rupanya dia ialah convert. Bahasa Melayu dia tip top habis lah, aku sangat admire orang bukan melayu yang boleh bercakap dan menulis bahasa melayu dengan baik. I just love watching them. Aku pernah baca pasal sifat keterbukaan orang Melayu ni sangat tinggi, sekarang baru aku rasa convince sikit aku ni memang darah Melayu sungguh, bukan berdarah jepun. Mungkin lah ada secalit sikit hehehe, nak jugak.

Anyway, sehari sebelum aku pegi PWTC aku dah feeling neves-neves. Inikah perasaan orang diluar sana yang tak sabar-sabar nak jumpa artis kpop/fatah amin kegemaran dorang? Haaa aku dah faham perasaan niii. So start daripada malam tu aku dah mula berdoa supaya Allah sentiasa jaga aku supaya aku tak 'over the-boundaries' sentiasa jaga akhlak dalam keterujaan aku nak jumpa fav author aku. Alhamdulillah Allah memang jaga sungguh, sebab lepas dapat autograph dia, aku terus blah tanpa mengeluarkan sepatah perkataan pun -___-

Pastu menyesal sikit. hahahaha.
Lepastu mood kembali seronok sebab dia mention nama aku dalam post dia. Terima kasih ingat 'Syafiqa'. 2 hari aku seronok sebab ni je sampai lah GE ruin everything lol.

Aku rasa aku sangat lack of knowledege dengan isu-isu yang dia tulis. Bila aku baca, terus rasa macam mind blowing sangat. Korang yang dah terer ni mungkin lah tak rasa excited macam aku lol, tapi bila berbicara tentang bangsa dan agama, sefikrah la pulak rasa kita ni ya huhuhu.

Buat korang yang wonder,

Aku bercakap tentang penulis buku: Dunia tanpa tembok & Mencabar teori konspirasi.
Haaaa. Google sendiri siapa penulis dia.

Sorry aku nebes 'dugeun-dugeun' pulak hati aku, 

sampai tertutup tajuk buku tu. 

Aku dah habis baca buku Dunia Tanpa tembok. Recommended sangat untuk orang yang nak  memahami percaturan kuasa dunia, kuasa politik yang berkait rapat dengan faktor geografi sesebuah negara. Mencabar teori konspirasi belum lagi. 

Aku harap dengan kehadiran penulis yang membawa ilmu sebegini tanpa menggunakan jargon2 tertentu dapat mendidik rakyat marhaen macam aku ni untuk faham bagaimana sistem sesebuah negara. 

PS: I hope you will produce more books so I have the reason to meet you again simply because I have lots of questions to ask you. 

#Syafiqamemilih

Assalamualaikum semua

Hari ni ialah hari yang bersejarah buat Malaysia. Selama 60 tahun ditadbir oleh Barisan Nasional, today is a total flipped. A hard one.

PRU14 menandakan rakyat mampu membuat perubahan.

Kali ni nak cakap dari hati.
Harini juga beberapa kali air mata ni tumpah huhu.
So yeah, to be honest I have mixed feeling.

Perasaan bercampur baur. Anak muda sekarang banyak yang hanya risau pada perut sendiri. Dalam keadaan ekonomi mencekik maka berbondong-bondonglah mereka melaung-laungkan sentimen perlu tumbangkan kerajaan. Mereka nampak kena hapuskan gst, minyak naik tol dan sebagainya (this is true, no offense), mereka tidak melihat bagaimana agama kita perlu dijaga, dipertahankan kedaulatannya. Tanpa mengira calon, asalkan blok yang menentang BN, laju je masing-masing nak undi. Tak buat homework langsung pasal calon yang perlu diundi. Malah ada yang pangkah undi melihat pada simbol, tanpa tahu pun nama wakil parti tersebut. Kata nak yang terbaik untuk Malaysia tapi tak pernah kenal pun calon yang nak diundi tu. Shame on people like this!

Sebagai seorang muslim, setiap sudut dalam kehidupan kita perlu buat keputusan dengan berlandaskan keredhaan Allah. Sesuatu yang harus seorang khalifah lakukan; memakmurkan muka bumi dengan rahmah Islam. Tapi kalau pemimpin non-muslim yang kita pilih, dimana kedaulatan agama kita? Umat islam sepatutnya bersatu, mengundi atas tiket calon muslim yang berwibawa. Kita sepatutnya bersepakat memilih seseorang yang boleh membawa nama islam dan syiar-syiar Islam ke parlimen. Bukan semata 'asal BN jatuh'. 

I am so sad today. 

Whether or not the government is ruled by either parties, 

I can't see good Muslim leaders dominating the parliament. 

Today is a mourn day.

Nevertheless, I am still a proud Malaysian girl who wants a better Malaysia which uplifting Islam.
I am talking with the view of how I see the new generation campaigning everyday without considering what a real Muslim should do. 

Jangan negara kita menjadi seperti Turki.

Rakyat terlampau inginkan kemodenan, 

percaya dengan pemimpin yang dianggap mampu membawa perubahan, 

akhirnya terhakis dan tergadai nilai islam.

Turki hari ini ialah negara yang sekular. 

And I seriously think we're leading in that way too. 

Travel stories update :)

Hi guys!

Lama dah tak cerita pasal travel kan?

I came back from Sarawak recently. This is actually my second time went there. The 1st one was 8 years ago when I was still 16teen but that trip was not considered as really a vacation because all we did was more to visiting my dad's friend whom he didn't met for almost 40 years. Abah was the 1st batch teacher who came to Sarawak to teach Bahasa Melayu from semenanjung at that time. And while he was still a young lad, he met a kind hearted lady who used to cook for him lunch and dinner. Eventually that makcik and pakcik Palah became his foster family. So we went up to Julau and even Dalat (We learned the story of Dalat during our form 1 literature components if you guys can still remember), visiting his 1st posting school as a teacher, we even went to his rumah sewa back then. I know abah was happy, but we didn't get the chance to feel as happy as him, LOL. So yeah, we went again and this time we visited quite numbers of places. And of course, most importantly the taste of Sarawak food. Comparing the two state lying on the land of Borneo: I must say food in Sarawak fits my taste buds more than the food I had in Sabah. But the spectacular beaches views and sunset in Sabah wins over trees and forest I've seen in Sarawak.

This is actually my 2nd family trip after Bandung in January. Bandung was so much fun too since my bestfriend from high school tagged along as well. But as soon as I came back from Bandung, I received numerous works I need to settle. And because we had my niece Aqiqah held not long after that trip, I lost spark of writing about it. I was too exhausted I think lol. Travelling back and forth, cleaning and doing chores at house, finishing my lab works and writing at the same time.

The last few months were quite intense coz datelines are all on ques.
Sigh.

Anyway, I will write up my Bandung story after this maybe if I have the time. The place is amazing, foods were wonderful and people are just so soft and polite. The only cons was it rained heavily on the second last day so we missed out the most important scenic moment and pictures in Bandung which was to visit Kawah Putih and the nearby Danau. It was kind of cold up there and the rain did not even allowed us to get even a glimpse of the Danau huhuhu. All we could see was fog. But then Abah said, kalau ada anak-anak abah nak kawin, kita pergi Bandung lagi sebab nak beli kain hahaha. I think 4 days and 3 nights were so short to discover the hidden gem in Bandung. Overall both were great journey.

My travel diaries officially started when I studied abroad. Oh maybeee, a year before that coz my family started to bring me flying to see the world. Since I got like much free time before pursuing my studies at that time. 9 months were not a short period that I ended up going to 3 countries. Going around Asian countries after several years spending times travelling around southern zone of the world, I am more and more proud to be Asian hihi. Because I think Asian are unique creatures which hold much more tradition and cultures which I love experiencing them.

I'll be back to Kuala Kangsar tomorrow after dropping by Pesta Buku at PWTC and that is, obviously for voting and PRU purpose. I take the chance to have a week off from Kuantan. Going back relaxing at my hometown, trying many many recipes I saved on facebook and making my sister and dad eating all them up soon. No worries people. I'll chip in my entries in between.

See you soon.
Bye! :D

Purify

After a while, hati dah kembali stabil. Alhamdulillah.

Terima kasih rabithah. I grew up with this song,  I still can hum the japanese lyrics.

Good cover and the new lyric is mashaAllah so heart soothing.

Terkeluar GGV pun takpe ehe, you already deliver such amazing cover and most importantly the message to all people out there.

#Wansyafiqakembalistabil
#Shebrokedownabit
#donottrigger

I am tired

I am so tired of what happening today.

I think I am so fed up with my family members.

And I am giving up with my adik adik liqa' too. 

I'm tired of receiving negative emails. 

and I keep on feeling I am not competent enough.

I am tired of being so much optimistic.

I am tired thinking about money.

so I lose my sabr today. 

And after I lost that, I began to feel disappointed with myself. 

I am now look down upon myself. 

World.
People.

I am just out of strength.

I am exhausted.

The songs of strength

Hi peeps. 

I recently think that there are a few good songs out there that able to at least give you a shot of hope, well at least to the point of a human being. 

There is no doubt that the 1st thing that we need to turn to when things are hard is Allah. 

Your prayers and dua, your Quran recitation and your ibadah are all that really counts. 

Just in case if you want somebody out there talking to you from a human perspective to a human being too, then these are for you :)

Fight song by Rachel Platten 

I found this is uplifting my spirit so much.

Especially when I feel like listening to something (I am all alone so far, 

I think musics sometimes need to play its role) while walking to my lab,

I felt so pumped up. 

Fix you by Coldplay 

Coldplay is really good at writing such deep lyrics. 

Listening to this feels like it speaks my emotions so well. 

At times, I sang this to myself.

That is when I felt so incomplete, when everything is at its best pieces, 

'I will try to fix it'

Superhero by The Script 

Listening to this makes me realize that all the struggles I went through 

is actually made you into something bigger.

Day by day, you are learning things and growing your own heart of steel.

You are worth your own life, because you are the superhero of your own story. 

It is okay to listen to good songs.

Just remember that how much you tried hard, Allah knows the best. 

*Patting my own back*

You are doing well so far, Wan Syafiqa. 

You need to hang in there for not that long now. 

Eventually you'll make it, IAllah. 

Review: Clean face toner & Klairs serum

Hi guys!

If you ever read my blog post before mentioning on how disappointed I was regarding Nourain and the mercury issue, yes I stopped using that product and I decided not to use any of the local products anymore. No, I didn't break out once I stopped using it, thank god! but, I do get bumps and pimples after 2 months. I am not sure whether it is after effect or not. Well, I am pretty sure it is not (I think) cause I am more positive that it all happened because I was stressing out a lot. I caught fever since I used my body too much. As soon as I recovered from my cold, all my pimples strike out like crazy. It is sad, I know :(

Anyway, since that happened. I've been watching a lot of skincare routine videos to improve back my skin texture lol. I literally watch lotsss of it okay. Hence, I am following religiously with the korean steps of skin care. I loveee how it improves my skin. It takes quite a time but I know it is much safer, slowly but surely. So right now pimples all gone after 5 months, alhamdullillah =) I need to work on with my hyper pigmentation and scars.

I am starting off with double cleansing now - oil cleanser - normal cleanser - toner - serum - blemish cream - scar cream - sunscreen.

I exfoliate my skin twice a week and also wear mask once per week.

I know it looks quite complicated, I used to be so lazy too but after having such smoother skin day by day I get much more motivated to get clearer skin and I am attached to them now hehehe

If you are curious on the products I use currently, I am using Dr. Belmeur clarifying line from The Face Shop. I started off with only cleanser and moisturizer (the most amazing moisturizer I used so faaar. Love love it) but not the toner since I was out of the budget and I couldn't afford them at once lol. I am not going to review the line in this post cause I will talk about them later. In today's post it's gonna be my honest review on my empty toner bottle and also serum I used for the past 5 months!

So everybodeehh, let's talk trash!

The toner recommended by the sales girl when I wanted to purchase face shop items was Clean Face, Mild toner. It claims that it has tea tree leaf extract and it can treats oily and problematic skin. Well, I love the tea tree leaf scents but I think it is pretty strong for people who do not like scented skin care. This toner also contains alcohol which might not be a favorable ingredient to some people I think. So far, I might say this is not an incredible toner as it is very mild. All I can say that once I put on this toner on my face, I feel that all those skin care I put afterwards really absorb nicely on my face. But it didn't do much on pores or white heads. I bought it around RM35.00 if I am not mistaken. It is affordable, considering its ability and the price I do think it is quite reasonable.

So yeah, my score for this toner is 3/5.
It is average and suitable for normal skin.

The second empty for the past 5 months is my klairs serum; freshly juiced vitamin drop. This is totally a hit for me! It is actually vitamin c serum which contains centella asiatica extract that is very good for pimples. I am afraid of how vitamin c might tingles my skin initially, but after trying it out it doesn't irritates me and I feel like my face is getting brighter and it helps in reduce my hyper pigmentation too. The consistency of the serum is not that viscous compared to other serum. It is actually kinda feel like a bit watery and it absorbs well too. Since it claims that it has hybrid stabilization technology, the vitamin c doesn't oxidized and they only use plastic and transparent bottle to store the serum. I love the packaging because it is light and easy to bring anywhere. I do think it is a superb serum and I love it so much. The only cons that I can think is the price. It is very pricey as it might cost around RM100+ but if you are able to find a trusted seller in shopee or lazada, the price might dropped to RM90+ if I am not mistaken. Because of it is quite expensive I have switched my serum to 20% of vitamin c serum tiam source (might review this later on). I do feel the difference actually. Comparing these two serums, I must say that Klairs serum is more of my baby of course!

My score for this serum is 4.5/5!
Lovee it.

This is my honest review on these 2 items. Opinions and thoughts might differ from others too.

So yeah, I can now chuck out my trashes into the trash bin now =)

Another lost

Today is the day of me losing my 93 years old grandpa.

No, I didn't go back home. 

Instead I am writing my blog here in the place where I work the most. 

The molecular lab.

I am now confuse of how exactly I should feel. 

Should I feel at lease a lot better coz I've seen tok was struggling so much last time?

Should I feel sad, crying underneath my pillow because I will never see him again?

Should I feel relieved because tok should be in the better place now? 

And the question is, is it a really 'better place' for him since everyone's better place is distinct from each other for sure. 

Death is a sure thing, when I think it back thing that is worrisome to me is of course the after death life. O Allah, place my mother and my grandpa to the best place in the hereafter along with the syuhada' and the believers. Grant them the highest level of paradise. 

For a person who still need to work in uplifting Islam as our sole goal, 

let us still work for your battle is not over yet. 

Al fatihah to both my grandpa & mom. 

I love you.
Lillahitaala. Always.

Semoga aku menjadi zuriat yang solehah, menjadi asbab mereka ke syurga.
Tetap sabar dan kuat iAllah. 

The frustrating 30%

Hi guys.

To tell you the truth I kind of lose my motivation to endure my normal days. I am not a person who lose to myself, instead I fight for everything I have to fight and stay strong by myself even if the world is against me. The best I need is just myself to keep going.

Lately things don't go on their way. I think I am frustrated over my research project. The thing is I have like 30% to complete so my lab work would be officially done.  However it goes the other way round. I believe that in research everything is unpromising and really fragile. The samples you have etc. When you are working in the field of microbiology, this is even harder because you can't really see anything until you run a confirmatory test. And those tests are the most heart-wrenching thing evaaa people!

I was on my way back from the lab so I stopped by the cafe to grab some food, eventually I met a 5th sem master student and we had a chat. She decided to extend her semester so she has ample time to write her thesis. I am always worry in this kind of thing. This anxiety nowadays get quite annoying and hair loss is not a joke too. Haih

As time goes by, I feel quite empty and lonely.

I do sometimes underrated myself, and sometimes I do have some expectation as well.
I am so complicated, yeah I know lol.

I think I need someone to at least console me, tell me that you believe in me when I have doubt in myself, and making me feel a lot more confident back.

Off my eye bags, pale and breaking out face. 

Smiling makes you look brighter, at least it hides 

your struggles. 

I need a booster, please.