Salam Australia (Mana blagak pon tajuk entry)

"Dalam kepekatan malam," Sentiasa Ada by Hujan.

Hello again to all of you. Yes you. And you too. And who could forget, you.

Just an update post. Nothing much.

This is very late, but I have arrived safely in Sydney, Australia. My seniors over here have been treating my cohort like family. They've been very thorough in orientating us over here. No significant problems have risen because of their awesomeness in taking care of us these first few weeks.

It is currently the first week of lectures and I have had a little taste of what the lectures over here are going to be like, and I'm liking it so far. The lecturers have been great, and they have succeeded in making me eager to learn.

There are some pictures of my exploits around here in my phone, but I haven't come round to uploading them yet. Once I do, I think I'll make a little "picture post" just for funsies.

I have also registered myself in the university rugby team and have gone for my first training session. It was okay, but after a whole semester of not playing any rugby, I'm a definitely more than a little rusty.

And now I even read in my head in an Australian accent. I don't know if this is good or bad.

Thanks to all of you who have been wishing me well. May Allah bless all of you.

InsyaAllah, I will be picking up where I left off on "By The Water" soon, so watch out for updates on that.

I guess that's all for now. My eyes keep closing and my head keeps nodding, signalling something I'm not quite sure what.

May peace be upon you.

Cheers!

Last Blog Post From Malaysia For 2 Years

"I'll pretend that I'm a man for now," Faith by Seven Collar T-shirt.

Dangit! I soo knew what I wanted to write before I clicked "new post"! The second I clicked it, I spaz out!

*Five minutes pass.

Now I remember!

Ehem.

Looks like I won't be able to finish my mini-project before going off after all. And I was so determined to finish it in time at the beginning of it too! Haiz. -_-"

But seriously, distraction could hardly come in a better form. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog, watching my videos, asking me questions in Formspring, liking my facebook fan page, commenting nice things about me, spreading my videos/articles over the internet, and subscribing to/following my vlog/blog! I really appreciate it all, really, and that's and understatement. I can't thanks all of you enough! Just love all of you! ^-^

May peace be upon all of you.

Cheers!

By The Water #6

"When you finally get to love somebody," It's Gonna Be Me by N'Sync.

Click here for previous episode

***

Credits to iproperty.com.my

"Tilt it a little to the right. No, I mean the other right," and with that, Aliff gave a "what?" face to his wife, to which Nur laughed to. "Come on, you get what I mean," Aliff couldn't help laughing along with his wife, albeit while shaking his head. That laugh is just too amazing. That face is just too cute. Never thought hanging up a picture could bring out a laugh. "Okay, just nice."

They moved into a new house together after four days of being married. The house wasn't too small, but nothing luxurious either. Just an average one-storey semi-detached house near the city. The rent was reasonable and it wasn't too far away from the city. And the area's surau was in walking distance. They were content.

They spent most of the day unloading their things from the moving lorry, and it was now nearing sunset. There were still several boxes left to unpack, left stacked in the corner of the living room. Nur decided to call it a day and went to hit the shower. Aliff smiled back and told her to go on ahead. He still had some things to fish out of his boxes, mainly clean clothes.

He went to the box stacks and started looking for a box labelled "Clothes". He removed a small box on the top of a stack and read the label, "Nur's". His curiosity got the better of him and he opened the box after checking that his wife wasn't in the room.

In the box, he found among other things, a picture of a small Nur. She didn't seem like she was even old enough to walk yet, and holding her was a smiling woman who looked very much like Nur, not her mother that he met during the wedding. In another picture, Nur was wearing her school uniform and it looked as if it was her first day of school. Nur wasn't smiling, but she was cute nonetheless. Sandwiching her in the picture were her late father and the same smiling woman who held her in the picture of her as a baby. Her late father wasn't smiling though.

Another picture showed a teenage Nur, still wearing a school uniform, still alongside her late father, but this time with her mother that Aliff met at the wedding. Everyone except Nur was smiling. Aliff was confused now. He stared at the three pictures.

"What are you looking at?" Nur came into the room fresh out of the shower to find her husband staring at some pictures.

"Who's this?" Aliff asked, his face asking a thousand more questions.

Nur covered her mouth. Oh no. "You looked into my box?" said Nur on the verge of tears.

Upon seeing his wife's reaction, Aliff went straight to her and put his arms around her. "Why? What's the matter?"

Nur's arms acted as a barrier between her husband's body and hers, but she didn't push away. She couldn't push her tears away either.

They stood there like that for a few minutes with Aliff stroking his wife's hair gently with one hand and holding the pictures with the other hand whose arm was around Nur.

***

May peace be upon you.

Cheers!

By The Water #5

"It wonders me, how soon will it be?" Sunny Cloudy by Delude.

Click here for previous episode

***

Credits to slatestoneart.ca

They sat on the bench by the city park's lake, side by side. The view of the sunset there was stunning. They both mouthed "Subhanallah," almost in sync, but they didn't notice. Nur had been coming here to witness this majestic show of God for quite a while now, but it was Aliff's first time.

They wed just a day ago, and their fingers were still red with inai (henna), and they still couldn't bring themselves to hold eye contact for more than 5 seconds straight at any one time. This was fantastic. Perfect, almost, thought Nur.

Aliff thought back to the incident when they first exchanged words, him stuttering like and idiot just to order a glass of milk. He was glad he remembered to reply her Salaam, or else none of this would have happened. This. Ah, it still makes him smile from ear to ear just by thinking about it.

Nur noticed her husband's sudden smile and gave a puzzled look in his direction. Aliff broke out of his meditation when he noticed his wife's curiosity. He just let out a breathe of a laugh and put his arm around her. Quite awkwardly he did this, but he didn't care anymore. This is my wife, and I love her.

Nur was a little taken aback with this new ground broken by her husband. But in a few moments she got comfortable in his arms and felt safe and secure. She redirected her gaze towards the lake and the sunset. Now it's perfect.

***

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Please take some time to make a prayer for all the Malaysian citizens in Egypt. May they get back to Malaysia safely and soundly.

May peace be upon you.

Cheers!