Maria Elena | Peliks | Shortnap | Greek Helen

Assalamualaikum,

my name is Maria Elena. today, i shall be talking about myself because.. i don't know. i just feel like it.
MAHAABAHAHAA! gelak terabur please. AMARAN! ini post panjang gila. kalau anda ada awesome, anda baca sampai habis. hahaha! =p kidding!

first things first.

"maria, apahat lu pakai itu nama peliks untuk lu punyat bloggerisme?" tanya beberapa orang. 

peliks just came to me when i created this blog (2008, ehem) sebab masa tu 'mariaelena', 'mariaelenaisawesome', 'mariasharapova', 'marsupilami', 'batumarmar' dan sewaktu dengannya dah taken. sedih bangat itu masa, maka i thought, apa satu word yang paling senang mau diingat, senang nak recognise and unique?
OUGGHHH! BEBEH! tapi tu pun taken.
so i thought.... peliks la ini macam. dengan selambanya i typed it out, tengok tengok available! wahhh! manyak how liau!! so that's how my peliks got it's name. brahammaaahahaha! gelak terabur again please.

second things second.

"mariah carey, vhy iz your vizeo chanel (yes, i'm talking about the brand) iz shortnap?"

shortnap was easyyyyy. i ni the kind of person who can take naps easily anytime, anywhere. i can sleep standing up, sitting, in awkward positions, and i sleep comfortably. terror kan? not scary, but hebat. jahaujaahaaa! gelak terabur again lahai.
so masa i nak create my youtube account, again all the names i wanted to use all taken, so i thought...stress la ini macam. i vant to take a short nap la.
OUGHHH!!!! SHORTNAPITIS!!
but that sounded very odd. so i pendekkan to shortnap. myeheuheuhiaaaaauuuuuu! gelak gelak terabur tutup mulut please.

third things third.

"maria, ko nye pesbuk page pahal name maria elena is greek helen?"

ahhh~ itu a bit the long story wannn.
masa tu (2008, and i was 21years old) i tengah kemaruk tengok anime and i masa tu tengah adore gila Belldandy. kenal tak beliau? barangsiapa yang kenal, meh high five sket sebab kita goddess wannabe. hahahahha!!
belldandy is a character in an anime called Oh My Goddess! so yeah.. i wanted to be like her: cantik, lemah lembut, penyabar, and kuat. and so i googled for some greek-ish character i can use for myself and i found Helen, daughter of Zeus. so bajet-ing goddess macam Belldandy punya pasal, i pun guna lah Maria Elena is Greek Helen. coz i bajet-isme. know what i'm sayin' dawg?
namun, hakikatnya i memang takde sifat macam greek goddesses. kasar, gangsta, flying-kickable, and so much more. mostly, i am only human. =')
but oh well, a girl can hope and change is permitted. mana tau one day i'll be in the best form i can be? insyAllah~ =D

fourth things fourth.
i am Maria Elena, the only girl among siblings of 4 and my brothers have implanted in me to be as gangsta as i could for safety reasons. one time, masa taekwondo dulu, Sir pernah buat adegan rogol, and since then i memang PHOBIAAAAAA dengan being too soft. takut men would take advantage of that and i'd be too helpless to defend myself. scary isn't it? and my bros helped me to be gangsta-ish by bullying me and fist-fighting with me as if i was one of them. =\
i am currently working as an engineer di kilang sebelah sana. malas nak pingpongpingpong (normally people would say pumpangpumpang kan? tapi that sounds like kompang to me. haha!) pasal kerja saya sebab nanti nampak macam boasting lak. a lot of people have been asking:
1. engineer apa?
2. kat mana?
3. senang ke?
4. best ke?
5. belajar utp camane? senang ke?
6. kena result camane nak masuk utp?

please see below for the answers:
1. process engineer
2. kat kilang
3. biasa je. keje pape pun ada time senang, ada time tak senang. kalau nak berjaya, kena lah tabah face kesusahan.
4. biasa je. keje pape pun ada best and tak best. kalau nak berjaya, kena lah tabah face it all.
5. belajar utp sama je macam belajar mana mana. cuma it's environment is very conducive and it's terletak kat tempat yang tak senang nak get entertainments. which is good in a way =)
6. i pun not sure sekarang camane. i got my scholarship masa kat matrix on 2nd semester. so i tak gi educamp. after matrix straight masuk utp. sorry... tak dapat nak tolong.. please google it yourself k? jangan malas.

a lot of people have been pressing me about videos too, and to that saya jawab "saya keje dek. kalau saya takde keje, memang saya buat la. kot. sebab kalau ada free time, saya nak belajar masak sebenarnya." means to say, making videos is not my main priority. blogging, to me tak susah sebab i just typeeee je. videos kena edit edit and sebab i sorang je feature in my own videos, it takes double the time to shoot. sadderisme. sometimes i just wish someone can just do all those editting and holding camera stuff for me. myeheeehebeeleheee! gelak terabur keluar hingus please.

i love my family and i try to spend time with them whenever i can. my mom and i sangat close and some weekends, we'll try to go out and do something. mother daughter bonding la =) my family lak memang suka chill ramai ramai. that's why i am close with my cousins, aunt and uncles and grandmothers. love them long timeee! when it comes to friends lak, i ni memang tak reti nak keep in touch through social networking ni. i prefer jumpa lepak. sebab online lepaking is not real enough for me. =p but i do keep my close friends in mind and heart. i may not contact them always, but i always think about them. sweet kan? hahaa! =p

on life matters, i have my principles and disciplines which i stick to. and i definitely realise now that i have no problem admitting my weaknesses to the public. partly because i know i'm not the only going through......life. =) i love traveling (sampai i kena take up part time jobs to support this love of mine) because i get to see Allah SWT's amazing creations and how i always find similarities in some things. i started wearing the hijab after i got back from my first ever eurotrip with my friends! hehe! =)
i saw His Mightiness and i saw His fairness. i fell in love with other countries, but my love for my country and religion deepens and i'm grateful for the experiences.
sometimes we need to compare ourselves with those who have lesser so that we truly appreciate what we have. syukur.. =)

on public attention, fame, popularity, whatever you wanna call it, i honestly don't want to care about it. i do appreciate the many supports and all of you who have been encouraging me, sharing with me, teguring me and being really really cool with me!

YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!! 

but i'm still a pemalu and muka sombong kalau jumpa orang tak kenal. =p

pasal all this modelling and stuff, i admit that i still do it. but only for fun and as a side income. told you i want to travel =p i do try not to go overboard with it. i'd rather be a good role model than a model. know what i mean? haha! i'll try my best la k adik adik =)

from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for supporting me all this while! 

my friends, my family, my readers, my viewers, may Allah swt bless you =)
kalau ada salah silap, buat you terasa ke tercirit ke, buat you rasa nak menampar muka haku ni, buat you termuntah hijau ada sayur sikit ke, sorry sangat sangat..

kalau ada you terserempak ngan i, pastu you thought "eh, maria shmaria ke tu?" pastu bila nak tegur takut sebab muka i macam gangsta, sorry ek.. muka i memang macam tu sebab kata dah.. my bros dah cukup train i baek punya. hahahaa! just tegur je. =)

 i'd rather be Elvis? nahhhhh!! i'd rather be myself. hehe!

peace =)

ps: this was a lunch hour post. so excuse my grammatical errors and loss for words moments. and extremely sorry for much poyoness here. just wanna clear things up.

pps: for your information, Asfirdaus Asri (tunang saya) is not a Dato' and not a son of a Dato'. i saje je bagi dia that nickname sebab dulu, dia selalu ada this laugh when talking to his customers (dia buat business dong) which was, to me, very Dato'-ish. kalau korang tengok malay drama yang ada character dato' yang gatal ngan dia punya secretary pastu dia gelak "ehek ehek ehek" konon macam macho la kan, that was the laugh. but now dia dah tak buat dah. hahaha! but still he's a dato' to me. =p <---another thing i have to clear up. so excusez moi ah!

Kuala Lumpur

Assalamualaikum =)

ini pagi i ada sesi bergambar for Women of Malaysia (insyAllah will be featured for February issue) and it was at this awesome place which my noobself and my mom (i had her come with =p) didn't know about.

"apa ini tempat?"

hoooo yeaaahhhh, Perpustakaan Kuala Lumpur. 

i only know National Library, tak aware pun ada library lain.. and this library is the one dekat Dataran Merdeka. CANTIK OKAYYY!! and sooo clean! reminds me of Harry Potter for some reason. nampak sangat i bukan orang KL. ye adik adik kakak abang aunty uncle nenek datuk sekalian, saya orang selangor. peace. mueheheee =p

so after the interview, my mom and i apa lagi, jalan jalan la!! it was such a lovely day for a stroll anyway =D (and because we don't really know what was around that area.. guilty of being kl-noob)

Galeri ni best!

the gallery is small, simple and quaint, and the best part is that it's free! takyah nak bayar entrance fee kejadah. masuk, tengok, tangkap gambau, and... tangkap gambau. kalau ada duit lebih, buy some souvenirs la!

ini memang awesome.

ini juga.

tudung kelepet terbaik. hilang terus effect 'bawal'. tut tut tut.. =\

Arch woodcraft = maximum coolness

after checking out the gallery, kita pun keluar la to get vitamin D. and of course to check more cool things out.

Restoran Warisan! nak masuk but tutup.. sad..

maka i pun buat peace.

ini macam. ahakkk =p

bebehs, you think Rome je ke ada fountain fountain?

pffft! Malaysia pun ada ok! and it's way awesome-r! coz Malaysia memang awesome.

ada gaya macam baru menang olympics tak?

KL at its best. 

clear sky, clear roads, clear dataran merdeka, and me showing off my kungfu skills. terbaik.

setelah puas berjalan, we went to chill la. guess who we met?!

PITBULL!!!! best gila ok Pitbull join kitorang makan tutti frutti. hahahaha!!

kidding la. that's my dad, mentor to Pitbull. unbelievable? don't believe it. hehe! 

by the way, for the interview, Jubahsouq.com was kind enough to lend me their jaw-dropping-eyes-watering-gorgeous jubahs! 

absolutely stunning choices i was given, and with the help of my lovely mother, this was what i wore:

the theme was Beauty of Knowledge, so i thought i want to potray a muslimah yang knowledgeable. hahhaha!

at first wanted to go for "YO, I'M AN ENGINEER DUDE!" look, but then, tak semestinya engineers je yang pandai kan? (if that sounds poyo, sorry!!) that's why i thought of jubah. universal sikit =) i sure am nervous about the outcome of the interview. hopefully it'll be ok.. we'll see la next month camane.

so okay okaaayyyyhh.. i know i'm a kl-noob. when it comes to KL, i think shopping malls and masjid india. kira shopping areas la. i never thought of checking out the original KL buildings from colonial times sebab.. yeah, tak terfikir la kan. takde orang pun ajak "Maria, jom gi jalan jalan kat KL tengok buildings old school!". 

korang memang.

so apa lagi? if you people nak do something different for a change (since shopping malls can be boring), ajak la your friends or family to go around KL and really explore it!

=D

to everyone who's celebrating chinese new year, GONG XI FA CAIIIII!! pili pili pala paaaa~ (lagu pasal mercun). and to those yang balik kampung bercuti, drive safely and have fun!

peace.

Reflect

Assalamualaikum

last weekend, i emceed a fashion show (for ladies, mind you naughty boys) called Reflection.
honestly, i don't know how it went because i was the one talking and hanging around backstage, trying my utter best to repel my nerves. if it was me watching the show, probably i can tell how it went.
but from what a lot of people said, it was good. alhamdulillah =)

it was my first time emceeing events like this. i've done emceeing before, tapi memang fully scripted la. diri belakang podium pastu baca jeeeee. easy peasy lemon squeezy. making videos is way easier! cakap depan camera sorang2 as if i cakap dengan the whole world! and yang best nya, i boleh edit and re-take kalau i messed up! haha!
but this time around i kena jalan sambil cakap, kena announce itu ini and fill up awkward silent moments. nyeh.

i don't know how hosts/presenters/emcees do that effortlessly.
tabik hormat!

i only hope i delivered my best. i don't have pics because i didn't give my camera to anyone and i don't think people wanna take pics of me pun.
oh and i know there're guy readers here so i takmo bagi korang opportunity to tengok perempuan showcase baju atas badan mereka. not from my blog anyway. their badan is not for me to tayang free free. =p

just wanna say, it was a great experience on my part, the designers have shown their creativity at best, and the event was hopefully entertaining for all guests =D
shout out to AmmaraHijabi & the Insiders for trusting me to be the emcee for their event!!

enough about the show!

just wanna share something i've learnt last night.

when performing your solat, please try to slow down and recite the surahs properly. kita ada something called makhraj. tengok sini for reference. kalau salah sebut or tinggal huruf or salah tajwid, the meaning might be different. maka, tak betullah surah anda baca. maka rugi lah solat anda.. sayang kan? praying 5 times a day won't mean much kalau surah yang ada 4,5 ayat jadi satu je (sebab baca laju2).

so sabar dalam melakukan solat.

pastu, niat kena betul. ni fundamental. and then takbiratul ihram jangan tinggal. sebutlah "Allahuakbar" and remember it's meaning: Allah The Almighty. girls are encouraged to say it too but not out loud! asal diri sendiri boleh dengar, ok la tu. Allah is Mighty, we shouldn't be scared to admit that. =)

lastly, bila tahiyyat awal and akhir, jangan la baca laju laju! sabarrrrrrrrr~
sebab again, kalau salah sebut, salah makhraj, salah tajwid, mungkin maksud jadi lain.

please read up on Rukun Solat if you want to know more on do's and don'ts' when performing prayers.
and do share if you want here! or in your blog or wherever la! dalam Islam, sesama manusia, tak perlu lah kedekut ilmu =)

ps: ini lunch hour post. mueheheheee =p

Have a great day ahead!

peace.

Sabar

Assalamualaikum wbt

confession: i am quite an impatient person.
when i dig deep within myself, i found that the thing i hate most, is waiting. no matter what form.
sometimes when waiting gets to my nerves, i get angry.
and when i'm angry, astaghfirullahalazim..

it's very disappointing.
i used to ask myself "why is it that you can change your outlook, change your lifestyle and whatnot, but you can't be patient and control your temper?" everytime after i've done something stupid because i was too impatient. that's the thing about me. i know i need to chill, to sabar and calm down, but the next time, the same cycle will happen again.

Allah Maha Adil.
He knows i am an impatient person, so He tests me by letting me handle the most impatient client. i felt harassed almost everyday by the number of calls, emails and texts that i almost always lost my temper. since i can't just throw my tantrum at work (don't want my colleagues and bosses to think i'm unprofessional), i let it out by throwing rocks, slamming my car door (as if that helps! pfft), and what's worse, sometimes, i would let some cursing slip off of my tongue after talking or replying my client's email.
in hopes that it could make me feel better.
it doesn't and never did. but i do it anyway =\

then one day, not long ago, i did solat jemaah isyak in a masjid near my workplace. on the second rakaat, the imam's mic's volume went lower and lower thus causing the imam to recite the surahs louder so that we could all hear him. but i couldn't hear him anyway.. 'cause of that, my mind started to wander. i started thinking about the most random things and then suddenly i realised the imam dah rukuk. so of course i followed. then i thought to myself, "ya Allah, sorry ek.. apasal la i tak kuat iman ni.. i hope You can wait for me (to be beriman enough)".

it was like a tight slap given across my face as i stood for qiyam..

how dare i.. how dare i ask Allah swt to wait for me, whereas i couldn't even wait for others?
how can i ask Allah, The Almighty, to be patient with me, when i can't with others?
how dare i ask Allah, The Giver of Life and Giver of Death, to wait for me to be a better person, as if i'm the one who gets to decide when i want to die?

i cried while praying that time.
and when i read Surah Al-fatihah, fresh tears streamed down my face.

Surah Al- fatihah:

Bismillahirrahmanirahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'aalamin (All praise and thanks are Allah's, the Lord of the Alamin - mankind, jinn & all that exists)
Ar-rahman ir-raheem (The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
Maaliki yawm id-deen (The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense)
Iyaaka na'budu waiyaka nasta'een (You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help - for each and everything)
Ihdina ssirat al-mustaqeem (Guide us to the Straight Way)
Siraat alladheena an'amta 'alayhim, ghairil maghdoobi 'alayhim wa lad-daleen (The Way of those on whom you have bestowed Your Grace, not the way of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray)

Ameen.

my life could be taken away whenever He pleases, and there i was, asking Him to wait.
"how dare you.." i kept saying to myself.. indeed. how dare me..

i'm sharing this side of me which i'm ashamed of to those of you reading this.. and i'm sharing it because i know there are some people who share this same problem. we're only human. we make mistakes, and we're far from perfect. but it's time to change.. we'll never know if we have a 'tomorrow'.

so here's my new year's resolution. instead of a list of things that i want to do, i only have one thing that i need to do.

i need to be patient.

to be patient when doa, performing prayers, listening to others, eating, executing tasks, basically everything and anything. insyAllah.. 

Surah Al-Imran (3:120);
"..But if you remain patient and become Al-Muttaqun (the pious), not the least harm will their cunning do to you."

Surah Hud (11:115);
"And be patient, verily, Allah wastes not the reward of the good-doers."

Guide us to the Straight Way