Just bought this at Kafe Baru few minutes ago and it tastes almost like Chipsmore! It is actually the Nescafé Mocha (without the ice), and it costs me about RM1.50 only. Reasonable yet so delicious! Will be enjoying this effortlessly until midnight, while finishing the need-to-be-submitted-by-tomorrow assignments. Hehe. Stress is reduced, who knows! :D

Assalam and good evening everyone! 

So how are you doing peeps? Well? Alhamdulillah :). Mine is the other way around. Too much pressure and workloads for the past 2 weeks. Time constraint adds even more to the self-suffering. This is a usual scenario happening to university students when the final exam is around the corner (2 weeks more to go, can you believe it?!).

Lecturers begin to wrap up their teaching activities, making all presentations, tests and quizzes to be done as fast as they can. If I could have prepared myself for the worst of time (by means of finishing my assignments earlier, providing better attention span during lecture hours, reading all those bulky notes since the beginning of the semester), only then I could use the remaining days of the semester enjoying myself watching those movies and doing a little bit of blogging!  :/

Now, even the slightest regret doesn't mean anything. All I could ever do is struggle in the mud till the end. Allah, may you provide me the strength and confidence, since I seems to be lacking in those nowadays -___-

However, alhamdulillah, my health condition is nonetheless at its best condition during this moment thus providing me the will I am longing for in order for me to go through the hardship. I hope the same thing goes to you to my friends! :D

Till then, thanks for reading :)

I keep on thinking why I'm living such a depressed and boring life, without knowing the fact that I'm actually blessed. Blessed, because occasionally, throughout my life, I've been surrounded by ever-so talented people around me. My mum, she is an enthusiastic business woman. Even though making curry-puffs is the only thing she is skillful at doing, she put her 100% passion at it. She always put this smile of satisfaction on her tired, wrinkly face, that I always cherish whenever I am looking at one of those.

I have this friend, a blooming singer and guitarist, who is very keen on making her own art and never get tired of doing what she does best, every night and day. Behind her, I could see this shining, sparkling shadow of joy and triumph, a bright future she is heading to. The unseen confidence she is hiding inside herself - she need to have a stronger faith of her own, unique talent. If I can see it, why can't she? 

There is a guy, a potential photographer, who always has this very straight-forward, clear, serious visions in his life, which he is slowly able full-fill them one by one each day. Before this, he is just a casual photographer, only using a common gadget of RM500 or so to capture the best moments of his life. During this period, he always admire people who are better than him (in terms of gadgets and skills), but behind this admiration, he is determined to be one of them. And just so you know, recently he bought himself a DSLR worth RM3200. He did this by saving his salary for 5 months - he is a part-time tuition teacher. Could you imagine how on earth did he do that? Oh, what a satisfactory, victorious achievement! I was there all along this process, seeing his enthusiastic, shiny eyes; hearing those determined, eager voice of him whenever he talked about photography. I'm so proud of him. May he becomes a successful photographer in the near future :)

Another friend of mine, a writer, is full of thoughts and wisdoms in her life (well, sometimes she acted weird and blurry haha). People might think she is one of those nerds, the nobody, but people don't know, behind her baggy Pashmina (her favourite style of wearing the hijab nowadays) lies a successful writer, having her book sold all over those book-stores in town. Then there is also another guy of a skinny, bony figure, and with a glance, people might think he is a drug-addict or a drug-dealer something like that; but the truth is, he owns a printing shop by which he worked real hard for a few, struggling months for his dream to come true. How amazing they are, aren't they?

These people, they might not be as brilliant as Einstein, but they do something they are really good at, and they do this with continuous hard work, determination and dedication. If in any way your life is surrounded by people like them, be thankful and proud of yourself, because through them, you have gained the will of living and surviving the hard life of yours, for they are always be there as your daily source of inspiration. You have a wonderful life which others out there are dying to have. I'm blessed, same goes to you. Alhamdulillah :D

People say when we want to fight the problem, we need to keep our head positive. A point to ponder, what about if the negativity is all over the positivity? There is a saying, "Disebabkan nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga". You can relate with that if it is plausible to you (for me it is). Being positive can be thought in mind, however the negativity could be shown through lack of mental and physical involvement in survival activity. Our body will react towards what our mind thinks. Sometimes in the reversal way. Is there any way to hide this weakness? No one was born to look perfect. Neither do I.

How do you guys feel whenever you watch this short clip? For me, it is inspiring enough (especially the background music, the jazzy rhythm is very soulful). In fact, Nescafé is one of the powerful brands which successfully persuaded me this whole time, and shapes my thinking, at least for some goods, outsmarting "viruses" in my mind. Hehe.

Mr. Jamil: Name a toiletry brand you are using. Quick, quick, name me one.

Us: Shokubutsu!

Mr. Jamil: Then Shokubutsu already "had" you. We are all being "had". We are all being persuaded.

All right Sir, then I am already being "had" by Nescafé. What contributes to Nescafé's triumph in persuading me? Was it the ads on the TV? I'll take that as the first point. If you observe the video closely, you will get the message - a cup of Nescafé in the early morning will make your day. It's obvious ya know. If you have noticed, the background music used in the video was a song "Lovely Day", sang by the lovely voice of a talented Malaysian singer, Yuna (the original singer is Bill Withers). Let's observe the song lyrics:

When I wake up in the morning light, The sun is at my eyes, Then I look at you, And I know Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day (2X)

Make Nescafé, make the moment.

Brighten up by Nescafé.

Simple ads, simple song, simple messages, but the meaning behind it, is huge! The ads is actually trying to portray the good side of consuming Nescafé in the early morning  (which I already explained above), and the pictures used in the video is alluring (especially to a lomography maniac like me). So these are the things that persuaded me to consume Nescafé.

I never thought of something like this before I started consuming Nescafé. I mean, I didn't really think that coffee could lift up my gloomy morning. It is actually relies on yourself, the way your perceive the day is totally up to you, and not being controlled by some sort of food or drinks. It's like the placebo-effect - if your mind tells you that you are happy, then you will be happy, that's the power of mind. But then people around me kept telling me (through ads, radios, printed media) that, "Hey let's start the day with coffee, it has caffeine in it, it can boost your adrenaline, lift up your mood, and yada yada....". So then I thought, "Oh so that's the way it goes!", then after frequent exposure to these messages, especially through ads on TV, I began to believe what they said. Slowly, every day, I began to adapt the goodness of coffee (Nescafé) in my mind, adjusting it with my physical and emotional needs. I began to believe that the reason I was so sleepy during the morning class was because I haven't had my Nescafé yet. So when the class ended, I went straight to the café, got myself a glass of Nescafé, and poof! I'm not sleepy anymore, becoming quick-witted, motivated and such.

Why this happened? Simple. Our brain is unique. We see and hear many things every single day in our life. Sometimes our brain tends to get confused between the inferences and the real thoughts in the context, as well as what is "true" and what is being "perceived", because we are relating things we saw and heard with our life experiences, thus making our belief on the inferences becoming more powerful than the truth.

However, despite of me being persuaded by Nescafé, I'm aware about it all the times. I'm always keep on telling myself to completely stop the Nescafé drinking habit, but I'm incapable of doing so. All I could ever do is to reduce the intake, because despite of the goods, there are also some bad effects of it. For example, after the intake, my heart begins to beat unstoppably like a racing car, which difficults me to sleep; and a forbidden assumption of Nescafé for quite some times will make me feel depressed.

As for the conclusion, we should be aware of the persuasive things around us, in order for us to keep our conscientiousness about whatever things we are consuming throughout our daily life :)

I have decided to write tonight. Not that I was urged by certain people to do so (they did successfully influenced me at certain extents), but then I think if I keep on being lazy to write, I'm afraid I might lose my interest in writing, forever. It's now or never. Not writing for more than two weeks doesn't mean I'm being dormant in this cyber world. My blog reading habit still remains intact (kudos to my blogger-mates, they wrote such great posts I never get bored to read!). Sometimes I wondered maybe they enjoyed blogging more than I do, by which I'm so proud of them to have such long-lasting interest span :)

Just to let you know, the new semester has started for three weeks now, yet I'm still in the honeymoon mood. Hehe. Sorry dear lecturers and friends, if I ever bored you in any way during the whole time I spent in the class. As usual, I'm starting to receive the "Scroll of Madness", from the superior ones. Urgh, inescapable. Same routines will come and go. The total full stop is when the last paper of the last subject is being handed to the invigilator. The feeling to face the busy, restless student life, again, is like you are out of the food heaven and then suddenly you have to enter the fat factory. Oh, no, no, it is unarguably does make sense. Believe me.

I've got to go now, but before that, I want dedicate this to all people who inspired me. Enjoice!

Wow time passed so fast I can't barely notice that it has been 10 days I haven't post a single update on my little blog. Maybe I'm still in the Raya mood? No, of course not. It's just that so many things happened around me, and I have put a lot of thinking cap throughout those 10 days. Those meaningful Raya moments, problems, unknown fears, and else makes my mind too crowded. I feel like writing them all here, but no, I won't do that, because some things are better to be kept secret. Oh well, they said no troubles are not meant to be solved, and that life is too short to be unhappy. I'm still alive and kicking, and I will continue living like that :D

I'm not so into these photography things especially during important occasion (yes I'm lazy), but anyway, care to take a look at some of my Raya photos? 

Oh hey, maybe it is not too late to wish happy Edul Fitr to all my blogger-mates right? And for that, I wish you guys a happy Edul Fitr! Please forgive my wrongdoings, and may Allah S.W.T. blesses us all till the end of time. Thanks for reading :)

Heard this song from Sonny With A Chance: So Random! Halloween Special, and I was very excited about it. I found this song kinda catchy, and at some point, quite meaningful as well. This song, "Work of Art", sang by Demi Lovato, really brought me into a level of passion which made me love living my everyday life even more than before. Let's check out the video first.

Nice song right? Now, what does the lyric says anyway?

Everyday is like a blank canvas You know you can paint it anyway you want it You can draw a black cloud You can make the sun shine Coloring a rainbow or use black and white Open up your eyes and your imagination Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Oh every night is like looking at a dark screen You're never too young or too old to dream You can make a fantasy into a reality 'Cause you're creating your own masterpiece Close your eyes and dream it Seeing is believing Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Turn a simple thought into a philosophy Turn a star into a galaxy Make a little noise into a symphony You're creating a masterpiece Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Come on let's write a song A little poetry Take a photograph Let's make some memories You can make it anything That you want it to be If you follow your heart Life is a work of art Life is a work of art Life is a work of art

Basically, the song is about living our life our very own way, meaning that we ourselves determine how our life would be. The first stanza states that life is a piece of blank space; it's totally up to you about how you would want to colour it, create it, live it, with your own imagination. Then in the second stanza, the singer urges everyone to create memorable moments out of anything, name it photos, writings, poetry, etc; this can be made true if you always believe in yourself, always have faith in your strength. The third stanza tells us that everyday is a brand new day; it's never too late to reach your dreams; and the singer creates a metaphor by stating that life is a masterpiece.  

Turn a simple thought into a philosophy Turn a star into a galaxy Make a little noise into a symphony You're creating a masterpiece

In this line, the singer is taking arts seriously in life. She believes (and want her listeners to believe also) that every part of our life is an art. Whatever we think (a simple thought), see (a star), speak and hear (a little noise), can be transformed into a work of art if we want to. Our world (life) is the creation of our own art. 

And I extremely agree with her. Demi Lovato, thanks for this lovely song of yours :).

You are beautiful when you do not simply show your physical appearance to anyone, for your beauty is only for your husband to see, and him alone.

You are beautiful when you cover your aurah properly, as it shows how grateful you are on whatever perfection Allah S.W.T. lent to you. 

You are beautiful when you are kind to others, as a smile on their face is priceless.

You are beautiful when you love everybody around you despite their goods and bads, for they are the colours of your life.

You are beautiful when you rise again once you face a failure, for you have just motivate others to do the same. 

You may not see it but you are beautiful. Beautiful in your own way. So, rejoice your days ahead.

"Apakah manusia itu mengira bahawa mereka dibiarkan (saja) mengatakan "Kami telah beriman", sedang mereka tidak diuji lagi? Dan sesungguhnya Kami telah menguji orang-orang sebelum mereka, maka sesungguhnya Allah mengetahui orang-orang yang benar dan sesungguhnya Dia mengetahui orang-orang yang dusta", (Surah Al-Ankabut, ayat 2-3).

"Boleh jadi kamu membenci sesuatu, padahal ia amat baik bagimu, dan boleh jadi (pula) kamu menyukai sesuatu padahal ia amat buruk bagimu; Allah mengetahui, sedang kamu tidak mengetahui", (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 216).

Kenapa aku harus menghadapi ujian seberat ini?

"Allah tidak membebani seseorang melainkan sesuai dengan kesanggupannya", (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 286).

Aku rasa sungguh kecewa dengan semua ini.

"Janganlah kamu bersikap lemah, dan janganlah (pula) kamu bersedih hati, padahal kamulah orang-orang yang paling tinggi (derajatnya), jika kamu orang-orang yang beriman", (Surah Al-Imran, ayat 139).

"Hai orang-orang yang beriman, bersabarlah kamu dan kuatkanlah kesabaranmu dan tetaplah bersiap siaga (di perbatasan negerimu) dan bertaqwalah kepada Allah supaya kamu beruntung", (Surah Al-Imran, ayat 200).

"Jadikanlah sabar dan shalat sebagai penolongmu. Dan sesungguhnya yang demikian itu sungguh berat, kecuali bagi orang-orang yang khusyuk", (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 45).

Apa yang aku dapat daripada semua yang terjadi ini?

"Sesungguhnya Allah telah membeli dari orang-orang mu’min, diri dan harta mereka dengan memberikan syurga untuk mereka", (Surah At-Taubah, ayat 111).

Kepada siapa aku harus berharap?

"Cukuplah Allah bagiku; tidak ada Ilah selain Dia. Hanya kepada-Nya aku bertawakkal", (Surah At-Taubah, ayat 129).

Aku tak dapat bertahan lagi!!

"..dan jangan kamu berputus asa dari rahmat Allah. Sesungguhnya tiada berputus asa dari rahmat Allah, melainkan kaum yang kafir", (Surah Yusuf, ayat 87).

Sumber: Fazlina Razali

So it was yesterday when my family and I went for our first time (during this holy Ramadhan) break fasting session at a local restaurant. This was actually beyond our plan - we always loved to eat home-cooked meal rather than anything else in this world, but my brother recently got his first pay-check, and that he happily decided to belanja us all. We, of course, immediately agreed lah. Thus, we planned this and that, and ended up leaving the home quite late (supposedly we left at 5.30 p.m., but the IRT Deadliest Roads programme on History Channel was really addictive, it turned out that we left out home at about 6.20 p.m.). Unluckily, we had to change our whole plan, as we could not book the meals at the planned restaurant because it was quite far from our home, about 20-minutes journey, if I was not mistaken). We got caught up in a buzzing roads full of cars rushing towards the destination with the same intention - to break the fast.

Going back and forth on the road, we finally were able to settle ourselves down at a nice seafood restaurant. Then it was my favourite moment - ordering the food! Since we had discussed everything earlier, ordering the food did not take a long moment. I ordered myself a glass of hot Nesloo, and after that, I saw this pamphlet on the table, which said, "Three-layer tea", with a huge picture of it on it. The picture was like, "Order me, order me!" - you could imagine how delicious and appealing the picture looked like. I thought, maybe it was a good idea if I ordered this, since I was never in my whole life, drank it before. "Pakcik, pangkah Nesloo tu, saya nak tukar dengan yang ni!", I said, with my finger pointing at the picture, as the Pakcik was busy taking our order. He nodded. My brother quickly gave a what-the-hell-are-you-doing-don't-order-that! stare at me. I made a what-are-you-staring-about? expression at him. "Mintak yang panas ye Pakcik", I told the Pakcik. "Yang panas tak ada dik. Three-layer tea tu memang buat sejuk". Oh, my heart sank down to the earth, as I was never a big fan of cold-iced drinks. "Tak pe lah Pakcik, saya order Nesloo tu je lah", I told him frustratedly.

So, we sat at a table waiting for the break fast time to come by. Foods arrived one-by-one, driving us crazy with their tempting smells. And I saw the same "Three-layer tea" pamphlet again, on our table. "Ma, orang nak sangat minum teh tu..", I told my mum who was sitting next to me. "Order lah kalau nak", she said. Yes! The exact answer I had been wanting to hear! Ignore that cannot-drink-cold-drink principle, I finally got the three-layer tea ordered, and within few minutes after that, the tea was being delivered safely to our table. 

"Caye lah cakap aku ni, benda tu tak sedap!", suddenly my brother told me. 

So, I understood his stare just now.

"Eleh, mung pernah rasa ke?". 

"Pernah sekali. Giler tak sedap, rasa dia pelik".

"Biarlah, aku nak rasa pelik tang mana. Tapi, orang cakap benda ni sedap".

"Tak tahu lah aku. Kena orang yang pandai buat kot, baru rasa dia sedap".

 

Then it was the break fasting moment, and the three-layer tea was the first thing I sipped. Yeah, it tasted quite weird, and I felt bad for ordering it, but, I chose to give it a second chance - come on, you couldn't definitely judge the taste from a few sips, in fact, I did not stir the entire gula Melaka yet. I pushed the three-layer tea aside, and finished my meal (I did not drink when I ate, it would make you fat, ya know). Back to the three-layer tea again, and this time, I stirred all the gula Melaka until the layer was no longer visible. I slurped it, and to my knowing, it tasted awesome! I urged the entire family to try it as well. Two of them (including my staring brother) did not like it; one of them liked it; I liked it (very much!); and my mum refused to drink it, because she said it looked weird. After a repeated efforts of forcing her, she finally gave up, and drank it, and she did not looked quite pleased with it. Hahaha. Well, everyone did have different taste buds didn't they? Regardless of what happened, I was glad that I took the courage to taste the three-layer tea. And after this, I will begin my search on the best three-layer tea in town. Bring it on!

Phewww, what a long 2-days hols.

I do admit, I miss being on-line so much, and being away from doing the thing I love the most is quite upsetting to me. What to say, I got a resolution to achieve. I'm actually in the process of restraining myself from anything electronic (TV and phone excluded), especially laptop, due to the fact that it is the main reason (which I believed) of me getting the bugging neck ache all these times.

In fact, you see, my room and the living area (where we got the TV system installed there) is just a few steps away from each other. So, while I am watching the TV, and then the ads come out, I tend to go straight to my room, checking whatever updates from the Internet (say FB, blogs, and such). I'm guessing that it's kinda rude to actually have to pause any conversation I'm having with either my brothers or my mum when we are waiting for the programme we watch to be continued after the ad. In fact, I rarely continue my watching when I'm deeply absorbed with whatever stuffs I did on the Net. In the end of the day, I tend to regret that.

 

I can't cope the way of living a life with myself sitting in front of the computer for almost 12-hours (approx.) a day, anymore (of course I would stop once a while to complete my chores). It's really tiring. I know it's wrong to do that, but once the addiction is in control of you, you are numb. And I hate myself for being so numb like that. I know, I need to fix that real soon before the new semester starts in next upcoming month. Action speaks louder than words. 

I need to break away from my own jail

Oh well, I guess I have to go now. My two hours of Internet surfing limit is almost depleting. Till then. Happy fasting everyone :)

Pada suatu ketika dahulu, ada sebuah kampung dimana semua rakyatnya amat rajin belaka dan tidak ada yang malas walau seorang pun. Jadi pada suatu hari, rajanya membuat pengumuman hendak mencari seorang yang malas. Semasa perhimpunan itu dijalankan, ada seorang lelaki telah mengaku bahawa:
 
Katanya, "Saya adalah yang paling malas".

Raja pun bertanya, "Apa tahap kemalasan awak?".

Lalu jawab lelaki tersebut, "Kalau saya hendak makan, harus ada orang yang menyuapkan saya".

Tiba-tiba, datang seorang lelaki lagi lalu berkata, "Saya lebih malas lagi daripada dia, wahai tuanku".

Tuanku pun bertanya kepadanya, "Sampai mana pulak tahap kemalasan awak?".

Maka jawabnya, "Kalau saya makan pun, sampai ada orang tolong kunyahkan untuk saya".

Maka raja pun terdiam membisu. Tanpa disangka-sangka, lalu datanglah seorang budak lelaki kepadanya sambil berkata,

"Saya adalah yang paling malas, tuanku".

Raja pun bertanya, "Bagaimana pula dengan tahap kemalasan awak?".

Budak itu pun menjawab, "Entahlah. Nak cerita pun malas....".

Juadah berbuka hari ini: ikan bawal kukus, kuih ondeh-ondeh, Nescafe segelas (wajib!), sayur campur dan nasik putih. Tak de lah grand sangat kan, tapi cukuplah untuk membuatkan aku happy sepanjang malam ni. Bagaimanapun, kita jangan mudah lupa, walau sesedap dan mengenyangkan mana sekali pun makanan yang kita makan tu, bukanlah makanan itu yang mengenyangkan kita, tapi sebaliknya, Allah S.W.T. lah yang berkuasa mengenyangkan kita. Setiap hari, kita kena sentiasa beriman teguh dengan kalimah "La ilaha illa Allah", dengan memasukkan kebesaran Allah S.W.T. ke dalam hati kita, dan mengeluarkan kebesaran makhluk (dalam konteks ini, makanan adalah makhluk) daripada hati kita.

Waktu ketika berbuka puasa memang bagi aku sangat special, sebab masa tu lah ahli keluarga aku dapat duduk satu meja, makan beramai-ramai. Lepas makan tu, sambil tersadai kekenyangan menghabiskan saki-baki Nescafe dalam gelas, kitorang akan mulakan sesi bersembang. Time ni, semua idea dan ilmu pengetahuan yang aku dapat melalui aktiviti pembacaan blog pada setiap hari, aku akan kongsikan dengan ahli keluarga aku, dan semua orang akan dengar dengan penuh khusyuk, lalu bergegarlah rumah, apabila masing-masing nak suarakan pendapat mereka. It's like having a big family gathering, padahal kami cuma 4 orang je (will be 6 in the last week of Ramadhan).

Manakala sebelum tu, kami dapat sama-sama buat riuh dekat makmal makanan (yeah, makmal makanan is dapur, sebab memasak bukan seperti hari-hari biasa, yang mana kita dapat merasa dengan lidah; memasak sebelum berbuka puasa hanya membolehkan kita mengagak kuantiti dan sukatan bahan dalam masakan kita tu, macam dalam makmal kimia lah, kita sukat bahan kimia tu, sebelum campur dengan benda lain). Mana nak alami suasana macam ni kat rumah aku pada bulan-bulan biasa. That's why Ramadhan is really a special and meaningful month for me. Moga hari-hari mendatang pada bulan yang penuh kemuliaan dan keberkatan ini akan menjadi lebih baik daripada hari ini.

Tidur siang pernah dianggap sebagai salah satu tanda kemalasan. Islam menganggapnya sebagai suatu kebaikan asalkan seseorang itu tidak berlebih-lebihan dengannya. Di dalam kitab 'Misykatul Masabih', ada disebutkan tentang salah satu amalan sunnah yang pernah dilakukan oleh Nabi S.A.W.

Tidur yang sedikit pada waktu tengahari (qailulah) tidaklah keji. Rasulullah S.A.W. ada melakukannya. Imam Al-Ghazali di dalam kitab 'Ihya Ulumuddin' telah berkata: "Hendaklah seseorang itu tidak meninggalkan tidur di siang hari kerana ianya membantu ibadah pada malam hari, sebagaimana sahur membantu puasa di siang hari. Sebaik-baiknya ialah bangun sebelum tergelincir matahari untuk solat Zuhur".

Islam mempunyai pandangan tertentu tentang tidur tengahari. Ia dianggap sebagai sunnah dan bukan sebagai suatu yang keji. Tidurnya hanya sekejap. Tujuannya adalah untuk kesegaran tubuh badan agar dapat dimanfaatkan untuk melaksanakan amal dan ibadah yang berkualiti. Dewasa ini, berpandukan kajian-kajian saintifik, tidur sekejap di waktu siang (day-napping), terutamanya pada waktu tengahari, didapati amat berkesan untuk mempertingkatkan tenaga, tumpuan dan akhirnya produktiviti pekerja-pekerja.

Baru-baru ini, satu kajian yang dijalankan selama 25 tahun terhadap kesan tidur ke atas negara-negara industri dan pasca-industri telah mendapati bahawa, "92.5% pekerja-pekerja yang berkesempatan tidur pada waktu tengahari, mempunyai daya kreativiti yang lebih tinggi. Daya kemampuan mereka untuk menyelesaikan masalah juga meningkat. Semua ini pastinya meningkatkan produktiviti", (Napping News: 'Scientific Proof Confirms: Napping Enhances Worker Productivity', from eFuse).

Waktu tengahari merupakan masa yang paling sesuai untuk tidur seketika kerana sistem badan kita memang bersedia untuk memanfaatkan fasa tidur pada waktu itu. Fasa ini disebutkan sebagai 'a mid-afternoon quiescent phase' atau 'a secondary sleep gate'. Antara tokoh-tokoh yang menggalakkan tidur tengahari ini ialah William A. Anthony, dan Camille W. Anthony, pengarang buku 'The Art of Napping at Work'. Demikian juga yang disebutkan oleh David F. Dinges dan Roger J. Broughton di dalam buku mereka 'Sleep and Alertness: Chronobiological, Behavioural and Medical Aspects of Napping', manakala James Maas, pakar tidur daripada Cornell University juga telah merumuskan bahawa tidur pada waktu tengahari sekadar 15-20 minit sudah mencukupi untuk mengembalikan tenaga dan menjaga kesihatan. Seorang pengkaji yang lain, Donald Greeley, telah menyatakan bahawa tidur tengahari adalah bermanfaat selama mana ianya tidak melebihi satu jam. (Gail Benchener: 'Parents and Sleep Deprivation', Family.com)

Sunnah tidur tengahari yang diajarkan oleh Nabi kita, Muhammad S.A.W. rupa-rupanya merupakan suatu amalan yang amat saintifik lagi relevan pada hari ini. Wallahu'alam bissawabb.

Baginda Rasulullah S.A.W. bersabda: "Sesungguhnya aku telah mengalami mimpi-mimpi yang menakjubkan pada malam sebelum aku di-Israqkan". Antara 9 mimpi tersebut ialah:

1. Aku telah melihat salah seorang daripada kalangan umatku telah didatangi oleh malaikatul maut dengan keadaan yang amat menggerunkan yang datang untuk mengambil nyawanya, maka malaikat itu terhalang perbuatannya itu disebabkan oleh ketaatan dan kepatuhannya terhadap kedua-dua ibubapanya.

2. Aku telah melihat salah seorang daripada kalangan umatku telah disediakan azab kubur yang amat menyeksakan, diselamatkan oleh berkat wuduknya yang sempurna.

3. Aku telah melihat salah seorang daripada kalangan umatku sedang dikerumuni oleh syaitan-syaitan dan iblis-iblis laknatullah, maka dia diselamatkan dengan berkat zikirnya yang tulus ikhlas kepada Allah S.W.T.

4. Aku telah melihat bagaimana umatku diseret dengan rantai yang diperbuat daripada api neraka jahannam yang dimasukkan melalui mulut dan dikeluarkan rantai tersebut daripada duburnya oleh malaikat Ahzab, tetapi solatnya yang khusyu' dan tidak menunjuk-nunjuk telah melepaskannya daripada seksaan itu.

5. Aku telah melihat umatku ditimpa dahaga yang amat berat, setiap kali dia mendatangi satu telaga yang dihalang dia daripada meminumnya, ketika itu datanglah pahala puasanya yang ikhlas kerana Allah S.W.T. memberinya minum hingga dia berasa puas.

6. Aku telah melihat umatku cuba untuk mendekati kumpulan para nabi yang sedang duduk berkumpulan, setiap kali dia datang, dia akan diusir, maka menjelmalah mandi junubnya yang sempurna rukunnya sambil menghampiri kumpulanku seraya duduk di sebelahku.

7. Aku telah melihat salah seorang daripada umatku berada di dalam keadan gelap-gelita di sekelilingnya, sedangkan dia sendiri berada di dalam keadaan bingung, maka datanglah pahala haji dan umrahnya yang ikhlas kerana Allah S.W.T. lalu mengeluarkannya daripada kegelapan tersebut kepada tempat yang terang-benderang.

8. Aku telah melihat umatku cuba berbicara dengan golongan orang mukmin tetapi mereka tidak pun membalas bicaranya, maka menjelmalah sifat silaturrahimnya dan sifat tidak suka bermusuh-musuhan sesama umatku lalu menyeru kepada mereka agar menyambut bicaranya, lalu berbicaralah mereka dengannya.

9. Aku telah melihat umatku sedang menepis-nepis percikan api daripada mukanya, maka segeralah menjelma pahala sedekahnya yang ikhlas kerana Allah S.W.T. lalu menabir muka dan kepalanya daripada bahaya api tersebut.

Semoga kita dapat sama-sama mengambil iktibar daripada pengetahuan ini. Wallahu'alam bissawabb.

Realiti: Adalah amat mengecewakan apabila kesemua kedai pisang goreng dan ais kacang di area Gong Badak pada hari ini terpaksa tutup awal (statistik pada pukul 5.20 petang tadi) akibat kehabisan stok jualan bahana diserbu oleh pelanggan semenjak pukul 3 tadi lagi.

Punca: Esok puasa.

Kesimpulan: Bersyukurlah bahawa Allah S.W.T. tidak mewajibkan hamba-hambaNya berpuasa sehari suntuk, kerana jika itu berlaku, pasti realiti hidup pada hari ini akan berubah. Sesungguhnya Dia Maha Mengetahui.

Ahlan Wasahlan Ya Ramadhan al-Mubarak

Manusia yang paling lama mengalami kesusahan ialah mereka yang pendengki. 

Manusia yang paling tenang hidupnya ialah mereka yang qana'ah (bersyukur dan puas hati dengan nikmat Allah S.W.T.). 

Manusia yang rendah kehidupannya ialah mereka yang menolak dunia. 

Dan manusia yang besar penyesalannya ialah mereka yang berilmu tetapi melampau batas.

Sumber: Mastika, Ogos 2011.

A relationship is like a rose,

how long it lasts, no one knows.

Love can erase an awful past,

love can be yours, you'll see at last.

To feel that love, it makes you sigh,

to have it leave, you'd rather die.

You hope you've found 

that special rose,

'cause you love and care 

for the one you chose.

- Anonymous

Apa ke benda Bejeweled 3 ni?

Bejeweled 3 ialah sebuah game yang direka oleh syarikat game yang bernama PopCap Games. Peraturan permainan ia mudah sahaja. Korang cuma perlu swap gems yang sama warna untuk mewujudkan sambungan gem yang lebih panjang, dan gems tersebut akan bertambah pada setiap masa. Dalam Bejeweled 3 ni, ada beberapa mode game yang korang boleh pilih untuk main, contohnya mode Zen (mode yang santai, tak ada kekangan masa, dan ditemani music yang relaxing), dan mode Quest (mode yang mempunyai 40 puzzles dan 11 mini games). Paling aku suka main mode Zen lah, sebab aku ni jenis gabra, so kalau ada time limit, boleh pengsan aku.

Ha, tu lah puzzle yang menjadi kegilaan ramai orang dalam rumah aku. Masing-masing nak jadi pengumpul markah terbanyak. Ada yang sampai tak tidur malam main benda ni. And currently, the highest score goes to Imran, with 861,000 scores.

Anyway, kalau korang bosan tak de apa nak buat, bolehlah try main game ni dengan men-download-nya secara free dekat sini or sini. Nak main dalam FB pun boleh. Just click je sini, and then tekan "Go to app". However, jangan salahkan aku pulak kalau korang tetiba jadi ketagih. Hehe. That's all. Thanks for reading.  

Well, I bet almost everyone of you ever dreamed of living in a beautifully-decorated, almost perfect room, yes? Me too, and I found myself lost in a fairytale once I laid my eyes upon those pictures below:

Manakala gambar di bawah diambil di atas kemuncak bangunan tertinggi di dunia, iaitu "Burj Dubai", yang setinggi 2,620 kaki, bersamaan 801M!

Sekarang cuba lihat pada bahagian tepi sekali belah kanan gambar di atas (dibulatkan). Apabila anda berada di atas kemuncak "Burj Dubai", anda dapat melihat proses putaran bumi yang sedang berlaku. Sungguh mengayatkan!