I needed this

Hi guys,

a very quick one.

I came across this vlogger as I was searching for Universal Studio Japan content (coz I wanna go back sooo bad!).

Her name is Gita. her USJ video was very entertaining and 'educational'? I like how she talked like a host show; straight forward and to the point. Curious, I clicked on her channel and found below video.

it's half an hour video and took a little patient to watch if this is not the kind of video you watch but give it a chance. I did. and i like it.



I hope, someone else will find this video insightful and hope it lightens your heart in any way, shape or form.


. . .

for the living

hi guys.

Selamat Berpuasa to my muslim friends. 

Today is already the 7th day. Time flies so fast.

as tradition dictates, I had my second 1L cup milk tea from Easyway. 

and I'm sure I'm gonna have a couple more before Puasa month is over. Since this cup only available during Puasa. (*˘︶˘*)

another common thing during Puasa is Bertahlil (prayer for the one already passed away) and Menyungkaikan (breaking of fast with other people at your house) functions.
No, I have not been to one yet. There will be one function next week tho.

I should also point out that puasa is the month when the one who left before us will come and visit. (Imagine the movie Coco, but instead of worldly gifts, they left when we sedekah prayer to them and they continue doing that for the whole month of Ramadhan). this thought alone makes me a little more emotional than usual. ⊙︿⊙

You know how when someone passed away and there'd be a lot of people come by their home or to their final resting place to pay respect? I've always wondered; did we come or go there becoz we wanna say goodbye to the deceased or to give support to the one left behind?

My sister's bestfriend's mother passed away on 30th April 2019. and I found out from the bestfriend's sister's IG. of course, I felt sorry for their lost. but also I remember thinking, "Not that I know the mom well, but I should go for the betahlil for these two sisters", you know, for moral support. and i did go to the betahlil that night and I finally understand what Dumbledore meant when he said to Harry, "Do not pity the dead, pity the living".
Because the one left behind still need to continue living. and I understand now, why we need to visit them often for the first 40 days. for moral and emotional support.

with that I conclude, at least for me, I come for the one left behind. Because losing someone is not something you can get over with, you just learn to live with it, and we wanna be there for them, to show them, their life is still worth living for, we wanna help them want to continue living.

I'm not saying we should only be extra supportive during Puasa month, I'm saying, be there for the living. whenever. They appreciate it when we come and pray together with them as a form of support. Our small gesture of kindness counts.

That's it. be kind. 
in any way, shape or form.
for the living. 

. . .

Side Note: as I was putting the labels, I found out, I've used that Dumbledore quote once before. LOL. I need new quote. but that doesn't make that quote any less true. (◕‿-)

Me and Clover

If you noticed,
I sometimes watermarked my photos with Penniless Crime and *Shamrock*.

today as I was editing some photos, I wondered whats the difference between 3 leafed clover and the 4 leafed clover.

So, 

I Googled it.

I came across this article. Click Here.

Thus, if you even bothered reading that extra pop-ups, 
it says, a Shamrock (Irish Clover) is the 3 leafed ones.
the one with four leaf is not. But they mentioned how the four leafed clover means luck. the fourth being the luck.

Which  reminds me of this anime I watched not so long ago (I checked my IG, I posted this on Nov 2016); Honey and Clover.

I finally understand why (well, understand more now) one of the character was obsessing over four leafed clover, and keep saying it brings luck. or somewhere along that line.

I maybe obsessed with Westlife (Irish boyband) and know a lot more about their country than I do my own (or maybe not really), I never actually read up their history, hence why I only brought this up now.

hahhahaha 

you are too late, Az! six years after their disbandment too late!

hahahah


. . .

a Little taken aback by this

I want to quickly get this out of the way before I continue with my final entry for my KL Trip.

xD

let's get on with today's topic;
a Little Taken Aback by This.

as many know, I like to browse youtube.

currently, my obsession is looking up video for Solo Traveler to Japan.

thus, it make sense when below video pops up as a recommendation

Now, you know I've been to Japan back in 2016 and was so in love with that trip that I planned on going back in 2018.

but let's now watch the video first before you read my next set of thoughts.




First of all,
that hurts.

Second of all,
I think I understand what he meant.

I don't know which part I was most offended on, coz in all honesty, I didn't bother looking for muslim-friendly places while planning for my trip. all I care about is looking for the cheapest hostel!

Back in 2016, I noticed all the things he said, about Japanese being scared. 
We were being stopped at the airport once we stepped out of the immigration.
then on the train, there were EMERGENCY ALERT posted on the train monitor. the National Security is on high alert it says. I already thought that it was becoz of us when I first saw it.
Yes, there are people who looked at us dari atas ke bawah.

but apart from those awkward experiences, people don't really care about us. I mean, time kami bejalan to the station, buying food in the convenient stores, boarding the train. Nobody took a second glance at us. PLUS there are a lot more kind people I met than the judging/scared glance people.

Japanese really is a polite country, if you project the same.

It is true when he said, Japan isn't really Muslim-Traveler friendly.
Even when you try to Google, there aren't much. 
of course lah ada muslim friendly eatery but still those places aren't that easy to get to, at least not to first timer. 
From my recent research, Osaka has a lot of Muslim friendly eatery popping up this year and 2018.
even so, masih limited lah.

anyway,
when you watch the video from start to finish, you are gonna hate Mr. Nobita.
LOL
that's my initial reaction, at least.

I was mostly thinking "and you continued to be ignorant?!"

but then again,
it's not like I'm gona live in Japan forever.

I'm mostly gona be there for at least a week at a time. and all becoz of Harry Potter and Disneyland. 

So, I get what he was trying to say;

1. they are just scared. which is natural. I mean, I would too. better be safe than sorry.
2. it seems illogical to work so hard to accommodate a group of people who would probably just gona be there for a week. or sekali atu saja they visit Japan.
3. They can't just throw away their culture just for short-term visitors.

it's like when we want people to respect our home when they come around.
yes, we try to make our guest feel comfortable but that doesn't mean they can just do whatever they want or be too demanding, right?

so yeah... I understand.

but I'm afraid, I'm a little scared to go to Japan now.

LOL

I hope Universal Studio Singapore would have the rights to build their own Wizarding World of Harry Potter soon.

Kalau bukan kerana Harry Potter, I wouldn't be this worked up about going to Japan, banar tah.

hahaha odahnya...

but seriously, Mr. Nobita can say whatever he wants and I can be offended and decided upon never setting foot in Japan anymore.
After all, the world doesn't revolve around any of us and Japan will remain one of the top choices for female solo travel to go to.

I just wish I didn't watch the video.

. . .

Pointing Finger

I just had these thoughts lately and I think its important

I remember in one of my Team Building workshop, the facilitator mentioned about 'Pointing Finger'.

What I understood at that time was he was talking about blaming others but yourself.

He showed us this gesture

You see, when you point at someone, one finger is pointing to them, while three fingers are pointing at yourself.

In other words,

don't be easy to point faults in others. you might be at fault too.

Just something I've been thinking a lot.

and stop thinking that this post is dedicated to someone. 
I'm only posting this to reflect upon myself.

or am I?

LOL

but really, I've been so angry with a lot of people right now, and I think it's becoming a problem with me. mentally and physically.

it's not good.

and that 'pointing finger' thing pops up in my head.

it calms me down, little by little.

When you realized that you are not that perfect too, this 'gelora di jiwa' is not so worth it. 

coz there's just no point on getting work up over everything.

and that's all I'm gonna say, 

I have a lot on my plate right now, I can't be bother taking care of everybody else.

. . .

Food for thoughts

Whether you are on the ground 

or

on the plane, looking out the window

watching the night sky,

the stars still look the same at both distances...

and I aspire to be just like them; to look like Az Nuur at which ever distances.

. . . 

. . .

thought of the day 2

Have you ever?

I have.

Not all the time, but pretty often.

. . .

Thought of the day

Maturity isn't claimed.

Maturity is not something you declared yourself to be.

Its just not what you think it is.

Even these quotes are not all it.

Maturity is just.

#self-reflect

or is it?

muahahaha

. . .

a/n: I know there are certain things where you can claim yourself to be, but claiming to be mature while condemning someone childish, is not it.

Spare Time

I bet you don't know that in my spare time,
I sometimes listen to documentaries on youtube.
I said 'listen' becoz that's what I normally do when I played a documentary video on youtube. Played the video, ignore the moving video and just listened to the audio.

this habit of playing documentary videos from youtube came when I was dead bored with the songs I have on my phone.

I've watched many documentaries including British Royal's jewelries, first and last Emperor of China, the Pharaohs, the Last Tsar of Russia, and most recent, French Revolution.

the most interesting videos I've ever watched were the eight episodes documentary named The Romanovs, the History of the Russian Dynasty. 



the above video is the trailer. you can click here for the first episode if you're interested.

I read somewhere in the comment box that this documentary have a Russian version. someone commented that once you finish the English version, you should watch the Russian version with Eng Sub. I haven't got the 'rajin-ness' to do that. since, you know, I mostly listen to this documentaries and its not convenient for me to be reading subtitles especially when I'm at work.

I don't know what I gained from listening to these documentaries. It's not like I'm going to sit in an exam for the Romanovs History. 

but I did learn some thing interesting.
this Russian royals kehabisan membagi nama to their anak2
and most females who converted to the Russian orthodox also so malas to pick new names.

example:
Alexander - there were 3 Alexander(s) that ruled Russia
Nicholas - there were 2 including the Last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas the Second
Peter -  there were 3 including Peter (i) the Great.

there were also many Alexandra(s), Maria(s), Catherine(s), Olga(s), Anna(s)

apparently Alexander is for male and Alexandra is for female. See how lazy these name are??

here's another example of 'Kehabisan Nama':
Paul I sons - Alexander (i), Constantine, Nicholas (i)
Nicholas I sons - Alexander (ii), Constantine, Nicholas, Michael
Alexander II sons - Alexander (iii), Sergui, Paul, Vladamir Ok fine, this one is a bit original
Alexander III sons - Nicholas (ii), Michael

Maybe to them these are the names of the royals. you know, like the British royals with the name George.
I don't know.
Maybe its all the names they know back in the day. 
no Google to check.
Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

You all must be thinking I'm sharing something educational here.
maybe.
but really, the reason why this post was made was because of the name choice.
the moment i realized they used the same name over and over again, I just had to make a post out of it.
〜(^∇^〜）（〜^∇^)〜

I have one other documentary movie that I watched that made me go "what the hell did I just watch?!" when the movie finished.

I will share that in my next post.

for now, here's a list of Russia related movies that you need to watch if you haven't already:
1. Salt - Angelina Jolie
2. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol - Tom Cruise and that Hawkeye guy, Jeremy Renner
3. Anastasia (1997) - my absolute fav! 

. . .