ramadhan day 12

on my way back from Inoue n Najib's house last night
i took a long route home,
jz because i wanna feel the air of Ramadhan here...

it's just so different from my hometown back in Malaysia...
Ramadhan is not really celebrated that well, instead
most of our focus are directed to celebrate Eidul Fitri

the most touching scene i experienced here is
almost everyone brings along a Quran with them
and seeing people reading it anywhere,
on the bench, while waiting for a train, in the bus...:D

and...
people are unexceptionally nice to everyone
fights n quarrels are a bit less than usual...hehe

plus, people decorate their houses with beautiful lights and 'fannuus'
feels like Eid already, except that they started from the first day of Ramadhan!
wanna share these lovely pics

this reminds me,
when i was small...
ayah and mama sometimes brought us for a car ride at night just to see the lights decorated along the streets...
in KL or at the round-a-bout in Shah Alam...hee
"kaklong! adeeq!...tengok tengok lampu!"
miss those carefree moments ^_^

ramadhan day 11: i feel like a grandma!

of course not me...am 16, 18 max...LOL
(jz kidding)

well, today i had the pleasure of bringing Dr. Heba to Inoue n Najib's house...
they held an iftar for Gen6 to celebrate Nouman's 7th day!!!

of my almost 6 years in Cairo,
i've never tried this: driving!

plus, family n friends who knows me in Malaysia knew how bad i am in remembering directions...hehehe

but it turns out, Dr Heba wanted to drive from our faculty to their house!
(nope, it wasn't me who drive of course...haha)

i prayed hard that i wouldn't get us both lost in the heart of Abou Rish..hehe
Alhamdulillah, we didn't

but...there was another unique experience i went through

apart from being afraid i might get us lost,
the path was not easy...it took us almost 40 minutes just to go through the narrow packed alleys and find a place to park

in every corner we turn,
some thing needed to be moved out of the way
a quarrel needed to be halted
even a little girl help giving way for us...so cute!

'have you been here doctor?' i asked
'never, this is my first time here. how did you manage to find a house here?'
'our seniors used to live here'
'you remember the way?'
'yup, there are many malaysian houses here' and i point out some of my fellow friend's house on our way to Inoe n Najib's house

Dr Heba decided to park a bit far from their house, as that place was a straight path to Medan Sayeeda Zainab
and we were on foot after that.

and finally, Dr Heba said
'i feel like a Grandma!'

ramadhan day 9

after looking back all those years i've spent here in egypt
i find it a miracle i survived ^_^
and towards reaching the end, i question myself again...if i really wanna become a doctor?
why did i choose this path of life before?
am i strong enough?
will i pass???...

insyaAllah kheir...never underestimate the power of du'a
and Allah has eased me from the beginning of my breath, i'll do fine (self motivating..hee)

well...we (few of gen6 that are left) had an iftar with Prof Dr Heba Mustofa today
she is the malaysian student coordinator,
but this year is different...
apart from just being our coordinator, she willingly volunteered to be our private tutor for clinical internal medicine. every thursday from 2-4 (tho i usually reach class at 2.30...erk)
thus, we became ever so close ^_^

thanx to our friend Eckm, for arranging the time and venue
we had it here!

indian dish pulak (i feel like i have multinationality...hehehe)

so, before iftar...Dr Heba hand down some pretty great advices to become a doctor

she said, (from what i remembered...and it's edited...sorry, no pen n pencil on that day, simply my vague memory)

being a doctor doesn't just mean treating our patients physics,
they have a psychology part too
in the ward rounds, remember to allocate enough time for each patient when you go from bed to bed
all day long the patient bears staying in the hospital just to wait for the doctor's visit
do not treat them like a pile of work you need to finish
being a doctor, you may not feel this
but once you are in the patient's shoe, you'll appreciate the time spent on you

i remembered one day my grandma was hospitalized due to a fractured femur
all her children and grandchildren waited at the hospital for the doctor's visit
and when the doctor came, he said 'you're fine, she's fine...you can go home!'
and that is all we wanted to hear...that she's fine...it relieves us

each and every patient you'll meet, you'll learn something from them
each patient, so treat them well

choose carefully which branch you wanna go into
either internal medicine or surgery
if you are not into blood and mess and cutting people, take internal medicine
it needs great courage to cut people open and skills too to perform the surgeries

i remembered my rounds in the surgical department and the first week was in the emergency department
i got home and i vomit!
we had this patient coming with and amputated index
and my friend, put the index finger in the patient's hand and said 'go to the operating theater'
and they had and argument
'how could you give me my finger like that and ask me to go to the theater? you don't have any heart!'
it really is bad to put part of a person's body in his hand and ask him to go to the operating theater just like that, but we were busy at that time and have lots of other patients.
so, choose well

study well for your final exams,
once you finish studying, you'd realize that every topic is all connected
human is one
there is not just cardiology, or neurology, or gastroenterology...every part is connected
and there is no theoretical or clinical...everything is related
study them well
and while you study, you will realize 'why havn't i read this before?' hehe
and while you're taking your MD exam you'll say 'why havn't i studied this well while i was an undergraduate'
and when you'll become a professor, you'd say the same.

the first three years of your career will be tough
i remembered my residency
we had to work almost 24 hours
i sometimes didn't sleep for 2 days
and once in Ramadhan, a patient came arrested exactly at azan al Maghreb
and i had to make mouth to mouth breathing (at that time the hospital were not really well equipped like now)
after that, i couldn't eat, and patients came in back to back...until fajr and i continued fasting without eating
when i look back, i can't imagine i had passed those 3 years and i don't think i wanna do that again
but alhamdulillah, it's passed now...and you'll face it, kheir insyaAllah

i have more to tell you but this is so sudden
thank you for organizing this iftar
____________________________________________________________

: )

those are what my memory still remember
though we definitely chat more than that
hope it benefits those who weren't there and am sure you'd have wanna come
(hehehe...specifically to nadiah :p)

jangan jealous...hihihi

hmmmm...
the journey is proclaimed by many to be a difficult one
though those who lives to share the journey succeed awesomely
well,

إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّات

وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِىءٍ مَا نَوَى

i invite anyone to share in if i've missed any valuable advice that you remembered ^_^

ramadhan day 7

today, our egyptian colleagues organized an iftar event
with the class of Dr Hussein Khairy

the Malaysian were requested to bring along some deserts
Malaysian desert! uh hmmm...n we brought -

kek gula hangus
bubur jagung
bengkang carrot
agar agar
coklat kek
kueh sagu

the iftar was held in a park behind our Kasr el Ainy's hospital
all these while i've been looking out through department 25 every morning wondering where is the route to this lovely park...and finally we reach there welcomed by the beautiful sunset

on top of attending his classes every morning since the start of term, i never fail to feel awed by the presence of Dr Hussein
though as "the Dean" he never made us feel intimidated

and these are the member of the class ^_^

the iftar ended by Abdullah's joke of impersonating every figure he knew in Egypt
from all the Professors of Kasr el Ainy to Mubarak, Anuar Sadat...#hahaha#
and the best of all was of course of Dr Hussien's....LOL

it was really funny, he covered almost all of the Dr's favourite remarks and sentences in class
and even the way Dr Hussein walks n pick up his phone...and especially how he boost up everybody's confidence
'u know it, i know u know it!'
hehehe
'it's fairly straight forward!'
even Dr Hussein laughs along with us
hahaha

this is really one of the new culture i've experienced
makes me feel Egyptians are really easygoing and fun to be with ^_^

thank you so much everyone for the sweet memory :')

ramadhan day 6

today is.......
Egyptian cuisine day!!!

hehe, well...actually, i phoned my landlord if i could come and teach her how to make curry puff
as she told me she really love it...
but it turned out on this lovely wednesday, i was taught more than half a dozen of egyptian cuisine

let's go through by sequence of us -ieqa, madihah, sam, natrah n me- cooking from 4 to 6 p.m (ustazah Maha must've started much much more earlier than that...)

#1: kofta in tomato sauce

this is minced meat with rice and vege, blended and shaped into sausages
then fried and put into the tomato sauce (grated tomatoes in saute onions with a bit of salt n pepper)

#2: ghulash lahma

ghulash is this paper like thingy we use to make popia's skin (a malaysian delight...hehe)
but this paper is large...the one ustazah Maha has was almost the size of an A4 paper
4-5 layers of ghulash is laid in a tray or what'd u call that rectangle silverware...mince meat, sliced tomatoes, and olives is then spread on top of that layer
then another 4-5 layers of ghulash covers this topping...
it is then cut and blended milk and egg is poured
and baked in oven...super duper yummieee (i simply love it!!)

#3: makaronah basyamil

i've tried dis one...made it for mama last summer
i came late that i managed jz to see it coming out of the oven looking delicious...hehe

#4: rice (hehe...coz it wasnt our usual way of cooking it)

d'you notice those brown thin stuff in the rice?
well...that's like vermicelli but very very short...it is called 'sha'riyah' in egypt...means 'hair'
that sha'riyah is first saute in butter until brown...like real brown
then, washed rice and water is put in
cooked until rice is cooked ^_^
was there salt in it madihah? <- she was the one responsible for the rice...LOL

#5: grilled chicken

uuhhhh...this is extremely delicious
am not so sure how the first step was done...the chicken was cooked with some sauce and bay leaves (tomato sauce i guess)
and then grilled
ummphh!

#6: Egyptian lady fingers (coz it's super short) and boiled eggplant

finally the veggies,
1. lady fingers in tomato sauce (blended tomatoes in saute onions)
2. boiled eggplant with its dippings -
crushed chillies, black pepper, garlics and soaked in vinegar and some salt

#7: desert (sorrie no pictures...)

i felt like my stomach extends down from my pelvis up to my throat by the time ustazah Maha wanted to serve desert
it was something like trifle...or it is a trifle...biscuits with custard and jelly on top
nyumnyumnyummmm

burp!
Alhamdulillah~~

nope, there weren't just the five of us to finish all those up
kinah kamil, kinah rasad, kak yana also came and a portion was given to ustaz moataz and their 2 sons
and ustazah Maha! ^_^
thank you ustazah for the great lesson! 

ramadhan day 5

i noticed that every time i held a baby or beside a child, my heart swells massively
(is that the right expression?...well, that's what i feel anyway...like all the love is suddenly gorged in...whoaa, hehe)

today, in this blessed month of ramadhan,
a new baby of gen6 is born!
baby nu'man...^_^

baby nu'man first day in this world ^_^

congratulations to our wonderful friends,
najib and inoue
may nu'man grows up to be a good boy, great son and one of Allah's favourite slaves

أَللَّهُمَّ فَقِّهُ فَي الدَّينِ وَ عَلِّمْهُ تَاْوِيلَ

this is a dua, my landlord teaches me as she was teaching me al Quran
a dua our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed for ibnu Abbas رضي الله عنه
at that time, ibnu Abbas was still very small...

one day, years after our beloved Prophet (s.a.w) passed away,
Umar al Khattab chaired a discussion of أسباب نزل القرءان
(am not so sure how to translate this literally...it's a branch of knowledge that discusses the reasons of why a certain surah or ayah was sent down in the time of the Prophet s.a.w) or so that is how i understood it

well, in that discussion, Umar al Kattab had invited ibnu Abbas to join in
and at that time, he was only 15 years old...
so, many of the members of that discussion (who were wise and old) argued the presence of ibnu Abbas

anyway, as they were discussing surah an Nasr,

in the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

1. When there comes the Help of Allah, and the conquest

2.  And you see that the people enters Allah's religion in crowds

3. So glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask His Forgiveness. Verily He is the one Who accepts repentance and Who forgives.

sadaqallahu al Azim

most of the members said that this surah is sent down to tell good news, about 'fathul makkah'
that Islam will one day conquer Makkah and many people will embrace Islam.
and was proven to be true

when ibnu Abbas oppinion was asked, he said...
Allah wants to tell us that the mission of our beloved Prophet s.a.w is almost complete
and he (s.a.w) will leave us soon.......

isk isk...

upon hearing ibnu Abbas' words, no one doubts his presence

as the meaning of the dua our beloved Prophet s.a.w prayed for him was

"ya Allah, give him the understanding of our religion (Islam) and teach him the knowledge of interpretation"

*this story is fully based on my al Quran class' notes
i am not a student of Deen...do correct me if there are any mistakes :)

ramadhan day 2

not about me today

about mama n ayah...
mama n ayah is on a worktrip to turkey...and i get regular updates of their visit...^_^

i'll share a couple of them,
mama n ayah went to see a Masjid with 20 domes
an exemplary Sultan was described to me about this Masjid...
(unfortunately ayah did not remember the name of the Masjid nor the name of the Sultan)

anyhow, as the Sultan fought for that land, he vowed that he'll build 20 Masajid if he won.
Alhamdulillah he won, but unfortunately he didn't have enough budget to build 20 Masajid...so he built one with 20 domes instead :)

and ayah said he was a very tolerant Sultan, upon buying the land to build that Masjid, one of them belongs to a non muslim...that guy didn't wanna sell his land at first until finally he agreed with one condition:

"the Sultan cannot make a masjid on his land."

hmm...

the sultan agreed, and instead used thst land for a place to make wudhuk =)

ayah said his high tolerance has made 95% of the people in that land embraced islam...wow!


another story that i'd personally wanna go and feel is about Sultan Muhammad al Fateh and his soldiers...a Sultan that has never missed tahajjud prayers since he hit puberty ayah told me

he was also fluent in 7 languages, became a ruler at the age of 19...and many more values a muslim should look up to (and i believe most of us heard his story since we were young ryte)...and the most of all, he was mentioned personally by our beloved Prophet sallallahu alahi wasalam-

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

لتُفتحَنَّ القَسْطَنطِينِية

فَلَنِعْمَ الْأَمِيرُ أَمِيرُهَا

وَلَنِعْمَ الجَيْش ذَلِكَ الجَيْش

'constantinopal will fall into the hands of muslim arm

its king is the Best of kings

military forces are the best'

hadith, narrated by Imam Ahmad :')

in turkey, ayah and mama had to fast 18 hrs and they managed even to roam around...huhu, instead i stayed at home, slept or just read books and felt worn out for only 16 hrs of fasting...duh! be fit lynne!

these stories reminds me of the glory of Islam...
hope this Ramadhan will boost up our spirit
to become a better slave and better humans
n last beyond this holy month =)

*x pegi pon rase cam pegi...hee
miss mama n ayah :')

ramadhan day 1

alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah

i've been granted a chance to live another ramadhan...my 24th :D

again...no electricity during sahur...(but this time electricity was down in the whole town! no electrician can be called upon at 3 a.m. anyway...hee)
i learnt my lesson, instead of complaining, i befriended the floor right after subuh and fanned myself into dreams...bliss ^_^

today, i spent my day at home...trying my best to fit in all my books into the cupboard (it's been lying all over my room for a while...ops!)
alhamdulillah, i managed! ^_^

vintage...hehe
really, i hope it last long...hee


also today i tried to fill in my ramadhan calender...i need to plan my days or i might waste it on unimportant stuffs
am really easily distracted...huuu

thanx to sam for sharing doc's Tamer plan of studying...i really need that!!!
but only 5 days for cardio??? n 6 for neuro???..hmmmm, we'll see...

hmmm....

but, 

do not underestimate your ability and the barakah of the month of Ramadhan...i can i can i can!!!! yeah~

*if u fail to plan, u'r planning to fail

please pray am focused...haha

about my fasting....errr
even though the weather is slightly cooler than it used to be (only 36 degrees today) i found myself worn out towards the end of the 16 - 17 hours of fasting...
rubbing my epigastric region pleading it to be pitiful for just another half an hour, i wondered how those being captive in the israeli prison had gone on for up to 90 days of hunger strike...T_T

indeed our Lord only put us in a position we are able to go through...bless them

well, studying for me today was not great...need to try more tomorrow
all in all, i pray for a better day tomorrow...and for you too
ameeen :)

the day before ramadhan 2012

i woke up late from a 'nap' after subuh
grabbed anything that didn't need ironing n rushed to my favourite class of the year

Dr Hussein Khairy's 

mayb because i went to it every morning...
they say it takes 21 days for a routine to be liked and 66 days to be your habit permenantly if you didn't brake the chain...(from productive ramadhan seminar)
but, the major reason i love his classes is, i'd get a dose of motivation to be a doctor every morning ^_^

after that we had an egyptian breakfast! inside baghal...
i dunno if my combination of choice is what egyptian use to have...i took فُلّ (egyptian beans) because my dad loves it, i took مُسَعَّقَة (eggplant) because we love it and شَكشُكَة (scrambled egg) because i know what it is...hee

my major obstacle today was
NO ELECTRICITY!!!
i was complaining the whole time...hottt!!!! huuu...
in this weather without electricity was TOUGH for me...though luckily i can still eat n drink
i fanned my self till maghrib...(finally my landlord found an electrician that managed to deal with the problem, Alhamdulillah! ^_^)

suddenly it occurred to me, how would those syrian people live in outcast, not just without electricity, but also without food n a roof for shade...those palestinians, apart from being hungry n hot are also at the brink of death any moment...instead of complaining, zikr n taking wudhuk would have been better...isk...

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ اَخْطَأْنَا

رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا

رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تَحَمِّلْنَا مَا لاَ طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِه

وَعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْلَنَا وَرْحَمْنَآ

أَنتَ مَوْلَىنَا فَنصُرْنَا عَلَى القَوْمِ الكَىفِرِينَ

surah al Baqarah: last verse

hope this Ramadhan will be better than the last...ameen ^_^

i got RM 86 000 everyday!

did you remember those early days when internet started to be popular?
that was around me at 9-10 yrs old...(what? only 13 yrs ago?...hehe, internet seems like our life by now ryte?)

anyway, i had my first email account at hotmail.com and i subscribed to a weekly jokes from a website...
apart from those weekly jokes, i get emails from my mom and dad too...and that's it.
(now i have complete amnesia to both my first email address n its password...opss)

that was the time where i got this one email my mom gave me...

it said something like this

"if mama gives you RM 86 000 everyday, and you can spend it however you want n if you did not finish it, i'll take the balance back but the nex day you will get another RM 86 000"

with a big picture of a pouch overflowed with gold

hurm...i read it......... n forgot about it~...hehe

one night though
on our way for a dinner somewhere
(uuuhhhh, i love those moments when ayah or mama said, 'jom! kite makan luar hari nie!'...i'll be beeming inside out :D)
we had a conversation sonding like this-

mama asked, "did kaklong and adeeq got my email about that RM 86 000?"
"yup!" i said
"did you understand that email?"
"why? are you really gonna give us RM 86 000 everyday?" hehe - surprised n grinning
"owh, hmm...what would you do with that much of money?" ayah asked...

hmmmm....
"a house, a car, clothes..." me ticking of all i wanted...
"you'll only spend it for you?" ayah questioned...
"hmmm...i'll give some for the needy, for the masjid...for the school...."
"nothing for mama and ayah?" ayah argue more
"but you gave me that money, u must have more!"
"ouch! that's so sad...we give them a lot of money and they forgot about us...nope, i'll be giving all i have to both of you" ayah said
"huh? ok ok...i'll give u a present everyday...but are u really gonna give me that RM 86 000?" sparkling shiny hopeful eyes....

"nah, probably not...you dun even remember us..."
"laa....i told you i'll give u a present everyday..." 
"hehe, no...that was just an analogy...Allah gives you 86 000 seconds everyday...you should use them well, if not...you'll loose them just like that though, you'll get the same amount next day...but that'll be a great waste kn?...sort out your 'seconds' wisely....and remember to have some share for mama, ayah n people around you too..."
"owh! huuu..." disappointed me

i almost believed mama n ayah will give me RM 86 000 back then...hehe

TIME IS GOLD or so they say....

and LIFE IS SHORT

"SO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF IT!"

we are not granted with the abundance of time like the people in the past to prostrate to our Lord and please Him...
and we are not given the strength like they had to be persistent and sprightful in performing 'ibadah for Him
and we live in an age where people sin a lot
it seem impossible for us to match those that lived in the past to fight for Jannah...:(

but!

we are blessed with a night that every prayer is rewarded as praying for a thousand years
a month that every deed is multiplied
a day that any benevolence is blessed...
time of the day that any prayer and wish will be granted

:)

why not make use of these extra 'easy' income!
(reminding myself mostly and anyone who reads this)

may we enter Ramadhan with the best preparation
i apologize if i have hurt anyone or wrong you in anyway
if i have any debt that i havnt paid...do please ask it back from me...and i'll be glad to give any personal apologies if i have to

Ramadhan Kareem to mama, ayah, siblings, family and all my friends whether we are super close or just know each other by passing ^_^

*do pray for our brothers n sisters in syria, gaza and myanmar...and any muslim that is being mistreated

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْلَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَان

 وَلاَ تَجْعَلْ فِي قُلُوبِنَا غِلاً لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا

 رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ رَءُوفُ رَحِيمِ

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