Tuesday, 31 July 2012

#2 Doa tetapkan iman

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

3:8
Surah Ali-Imran, ayat 8:
Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.
Dua' asking for firmness of iman







Surah Ali-Imran, ayat 147:
Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people.



source:
1. quran.com
2. Islamic World

mood kita naik turun bagaikan roller coaster and sometimes our mood affects our iman level. with this let's pray that in whatever situation pun, whether our mood is good or bad, we can still have strong footing on our iman =) in sha Allah!
here's a video by a lovely sister, Najwa Latif with a song that's so simple yet so menusuk kalbu! hehe!





i love it, and i hope you do too =D

have a good day everyone!

Sunday, 29 July 2012

i Bag you!!

assalamualaikum!

ok title macam drama + pun.. =p haha!
*ehem*

can you imagine this?

MARIA ELENA - BAG DESIGNER 

can you?
can youuuu?!

neither can i.. 

but it will happen!! maria elena, engineer + bag designer.. OVER GILA! hahaha!

Sometime had contacted me and they want me to be one of their designers! because, here's the cute bit, because they said they like my fashion sense! ahakk! (padahal i biasa sangat)
sometime is really awesome coz they get designers from all over ASIA to design exclusive bags at good prices!


kawaiiiii!!!

and I WILL BE ONE OF THEM DESIGNERS YAWWWWW!

i will be representing Malaysia along with John L and Aliana. wuuuaaahhh.. iolls sangat terharu..

but before i get everyone too excited (myself mainly), they said that i'll start from the "Inspired By" stage before i graduate to "Designed By" stage. i strongly agree with that since i really suck at drawing and i know neither head nor tail about type of cloth, stitching or whatever. hahaaaaaaaaaaaa! =p

so!! basically i will give sometime's bag designer some of my ideas, they will incorporate the ideas to suit the market and errr.. i forgot how the process is like.
i will meet the bag designer soon, in sha Allah to discuss about the bag designs and stuff.
oh gosh.. i'm inspired already!

check out their facebook page too to catch their bag updates =D
i'll share with you more about this soon! can't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttt!!!!!
=D

salam!

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

#1 Doa elak gelisah, hutang, dan sebagainya

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah, lagi Maha Mengasihani

Allahumma inni a'udzubika minal hammi wal-hazan 

Ya Allah, aku mohon dijauhkan sedih & gelisah

wa a'udzubika minal 'ajzi wal kasali

dan aku mohon jauhkan dari gopoh & malas

wa a'udzubika minal jubni wal bukhli

dan jauhkan dari menjadi penakut & kedekut

wa a'udzubika min ghalabatid dayni

dan jauhkan dari belenggu hutang

wa qahrir rijal

dan paksaan orang lain


English translation: I seek refuge with Allah from grief and distress, old age and laziness, miserliness and cowardice. I seek Your Refuge from the burden of being in debt and from being overcome by men

Amin amin ya rabbal alamin

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Hijab tutorial!!

assalamualaikum!!!

kalau tak jawab dosa, kalau jawab, uolls sayang iolls! iolls terharu.

hahaha!

for a quite some time, i've been getting requests for another hijab tutorial.
most requested for labuh style, which honestly, i felt like "why? kacang gila kot. you just panjangkan the depan part la"
until one of my friends actually asked me herself:
"maria, ni style apa lak you pakai?"

"ha? style biasa i je la. nape? nampak lain?"

"ha ah. sebab labuh kot. camane you pakai ek?"

zasssssssssssss

that's when i realised that ok fine, maybe i should make a tutorial. i pun buat survey kat facebook and the responses are overwhelming.

so i did it!
TADAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!



hope your 12minutes stay at the video was beneficial =B

thank you for watching! oh btw, i threw out my first hijab tutorial. auratku tak ditutup ngan elok.. iolls malu..

ok now!! allow me to repeat my advice in the video about why we should cover the chest area.
nowadays it's not safe anymore. we've read on the news about how girls are getting kidnapped, murdered, raped here and there. it's a scary world i tell ya!!

so we need to protect ourselves. of course we need to have gadgets or some martial art skills and whatnot, but on appearance pun we have to take care.
don't wear clothes that will "mengundang" leering looks from men.

if one thing i'm sure of, it's men's weakness for women. it's already stated in the Quran!!

Surah Ali Imran (3:14)
Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return.

so.. why cari pasal? we can look good of course, we can be fashionable or sporty or whatever, but we should know to what extend.
our assets (both front and back, top to bottom) can make men get lustful. the more we jiggle them in their faces, the more likely they want to 'attack' you.

don't go looking for trouble!

maybe it's because i'll be getting married, so i have this thinking that only my husband can see my precious gems, from the root of my hair to my pinky toes. haha! what a way to call them =p
anyway, i want only my husband to see my perfection and flaws. i find it insulting if other people sees them..
i want to be exclusive to only ONE! bertuah husband i nanti. ecewaahh!! =p

in sha Allah, Allah SWT will protect us if we put our trust in Him and put on efforts to protect ourselves too.

i have so much more to write about but i think this is long enough!!!!
ok uolls!!

Ramadhan Mubarak!!
and please forgive me for all my wrongdoings. to err is human, but still. i need to ask for forgiveness. tak cukup ilmu kan. still trying to improve. in sha Allah.. heeee.. =B

salam!

ps: can you imagine me being a bag designer? will share the story soon!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Friday, 13 July 2012

why do you do this to me?

xxx: sape kau?

maria: sape kau?

xxx: apasal kau femes?

*sigh*

many times i get this kind of questions. and seriously, i rasa awkward gila. jari mau jawab "aku tak femes, aku makan famous amos je" tapi hati mau jawab "aku pun tak tau. tanya orang yang cakap seperti apa anda dakwa kan"

ini, saya cerita kepada pembaca sekalian, bukan untuk tunjuk macho atau hensem, but sebab i like typing up my blogposts as if i'm talking to friends. friends who would understand. kalau tak understand pun, will try to understand.
i'm not sure why, but i'm like that. bear with me, please? =)

people now have expectations for me.
some expect to see a crazy lunatic yang hyper 24-7, some expect a hajah-like muslimah yang cukup hebat bab islam, some expect to see a stylish person, some expect to see a tall person, some expect a big person, and much much more.

it's tough, i tell you that.
why?
because i'm me. and the way i am, i'm all those mixed up in one body. i am hyper at times, religious at times, selekeh boleh, fashionable sket boleh, i can be either tall or short to you, i can be either big or small to you.
in some unfortunate events, i will not fulfill your expectations.

let's play a pretend game. you don't know me, i don't know you. but for some reason we have each others' facebooks, so we both cam kenal muka la. and one fine day, i see you face to face and i say "la. you tak tinggi pun!"
apa you rasa?
sentap kot.

let's say you dulu terror gila in something. let's say batu seremban. orang sume kenal you because of your awesome batu seremban skills. then one day, you just stopped playing coz you moved on to something else, something that makes you even more happier than before. but people keep asking you "main la batu seremban lagi. main laaaaa. bila nak main lagi ni???"
how would you feel?

can you understand that feeling? 
you go through your normal days as usual, but then some people expect you to be the way they think you should be, but when they don't see the resemblance between the 'real you' and the 'expected you', they get disappointed and make you feel bad for not being able to be the 'expected you' with them.

faham kah?

so back to the beginning. like uolls, iolls pun ada time time i tunjuk taring and time i sorok taring. it's normal, kannnn? =)

oh, and please don't ever call yourself a fan. i won't allow it. unless you want to be fan = kipas. so you choose la, nak kipas dinding or kipas meja. or kipas laptop tu.
tu i allow. =p

i was a fan once. i was so into this one artist and alhamdulillah i had the opportunity to meet him face to face. and guess what. i was disappointed. i went back home after that wondering why i was disappointed and i discovered.. it was simply because he was normal. i was expecting him to be singing and dancing when meeting me, i guess, which i thought at that moment, was completely unfair of me. since then, i just want to be an admirer. i take the good points from a person, and that's it. =)

a man is a man. a woman is a woman.
they can be famous and macho and beautiful, but in the end, they're just like everybody else. normal.

anyway, i stopped trying to live up to people's expectations, but it still hurts when people have that 'look', you know?
sometimes i tersentap sangat, that i just get really frustrated with myself. but it's weird.. coz i am supposed to be the way i am.. 

so now maria, what are you trying to say?
simple.

stop expecting.

why should we expect on others when we ourselves have not done our best in fulfilling Allah SWT's expectations on us?
it would mean a lot to so many people if we just stop expecting.
it would be a lot better if we can be considerate of other people's feelings.
it would be so much better if we fulfill our expectations for Allah SWT's sake, and not anybody's - note to self.


it would be so great if people would stop expecting me to reply to their tweets, messages, facebook friend's requests too. i don't live in the internet. i have work and classes now so i can't entertain everyone. it really hurts when people think i'm being sombong just because i don't reply their tweets or "don't notice them". masyAllah..


...

i really hope that i won't see that 'look' anymore =')

this is a bit off topic but it's a reminder for us all =)

Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger (may peace and blessing be upon him) as saying: "Verily Allah does not look to your faces and your wealth but He looks to your heart and to your deeds." (Sahih Muslim : Book 32, Number 6221)

i just want to remind you brothers and sisters to not be so into your looks, wealth, status, etc etc. all those things, "gifts", can turn into something bad like riya', ego, arrogance, and ungratefulness.
nauzubillah min zalik! 
we must avoid being swept away by worldly matters! we need to get our hearts purified, cleaned up and filled with love for Allah SWT. we need to remember that this life is temporary, whereas the Hereafter, is forever. in sha Allah.. 

may our hearts be in it's best condition at all times. =)

sekian saja.
jazakallah khair.
assalamualaikum.

ps: i sympathise all new muslim converts yang always have to face expectations from born-muslims. i've heard on radio about how some can actually expect a convert to be able to read the Quran immediately. such thinking is prejudice and un-islamic, so please be kind to our fellow mualaf k peeps. =) 

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Tips - To the BEACH!!

assalamualaikum!

so i promised at my perhentian trip post that i'll write up a post about what to wear to the beach.
sorry it took a while!

teehee!

basically it's quite simple. i like to pack light coz to go to perhentian or any other beaches in Malaysia, you will have to take a boat or ferry from a jetty to the island.
so you have to prepare yourselves with bags yang easy to carry and wear comfy clothes. coz you have to climb in and out of the boat/ferry. motip la kan nak pakai high heels and tight dresses and then you have to climb into a speedboat.
i know right.. =\

anyhoots!

from the comments, a lot of you girls have concerns when it comes to doing watersports like snorkeling or simply just swimming in the sea as a hijabi.

i was quite concerned myself..

so, from my first time experience, these are the 10 things you can't go to the beach without!

1. a thin material shawl, i think it's called chiffon. haha! sorry, bad with kain names.
so why thin material shawl? - coz i want it to dry up fast. i prefer shawls but i know some prefer tudung bawal. it's up to your comfort k?

2. inner neck. this you can buy at jalan tar, or online. it's practically at every hijab store too. i wear this for the obvious reason. so that my hair & neck will be covered. biarlah layer lebih, asalkan terjaga. heheee =)

3. long sleeved top, and i was wearing a cotton material top so that it would dry up quickly.

4. harem printed pants coz i don't want my pants to rise up above my ankles and printed because it distracts from making the shape of my legs obvious when the pants is wet. haha! fikir jauh okaaayhhhh! you can buy harem pants at the jetty if you haven't got any, or use track pants which is tight at the ankles. wear what you have je~

5. flats/slippers. i used flats because i forgot to bring my slippers. but really, all you need is one foot wear. coz at the beach, it feels better to just be barefoot. your feet sinks in the sands anyway.


6. PARIO! or kain batik. extremely important because you will need it to wrap yourselves in it when you're still soaking wet. takleh blah kan nak posing posing ngan pario. hahahaa! =p

7. SUNBLOCK!!! this is the other important thing you must have with you at all times!!

ok meh i bagi skin care tips sat nooo~
i recommend Sunplay ni because it has the highest SPF and affordable. SPF stands for 'sun protection factor' and the higher the SPF number, the longer the protection time. look at the ad, Sunplay's sunblock is SPF 130!! apart from protecting the skin from UVA and UVB rays, it can hydrate our skin from the super sun exposure at the beach.

so bring it along with you when you go snorkeling! after snorkel, top up sikit kat muka. my friends and i camtu la. after snorkeling at one point, we top up our sunblock before reaching to our next snorkeling point. alhamdulillah i didn't tan too much! considering the many hours spent in the salt water under the hot blazing sun, i didn't even get sunburnt! =D

girls (and guys?), i hope you make it a habit to wear sunplay sunblock before going out for outdoor activities like snorkeling. Afterall, Sunplay sunblock acts as an anti-ageing agent. definitely a plus!!

fyi, i put on sunblock everytime i go out for outdoor activities like jogging, snorkeling, etc etc.
that's why i look like a 16 year old. *lawak hambar*

check this out! =D



8. swimming suit/tank top/inner wear to wear underneath your top because sometimes our top will move about thus showing off our skin when in the water. i was wearing a long tank top which i tucked in the pants. so bila baju naik naik, tak nampak la badan. =)

9. sunglasses/shades! your eyes need some TLC too you know and apa salahnya nampak over sikit kat beach? AHAKK! =p

10. waterproof bag where you put all your gadgets, sunblock, pario, food, drinks, etc etc. this can be found anywhere on the island. it costs around RM 80 - 100, so bring some money along. but if you don't wanna buy a waterproof bag, just bring a handy bag for you to carry around. i didn't buy mine fyi. i borrowed from my friend. =)

so that's it really.
the reason why i didn't wear a muslimah swimming suit is because i don't want to spend money on something i know i won't wear frequently. bila masa la i nak swim swim kan? so i just wear what i have and make the most of it.
yeah, it's a lot of layers, but that's where our iman is tested isn't it?
so chill la and enjoy the water, the beach, the sand, the ambience!

and wear your sunblock please!!

haha!
hope this helps!
salam =) 

Thursday, 5 July 2012

sinopsis sket

assalamualaikum cikgu!

"how do we solve a problem like mariaaa~
how do you catch a cloud and pin it down
how do you find a word that means mariaaaa~
a flibbertijibbet! a wil-o'-the wisp! a clownnn!"

nyanyi nun nun dalam movie Sound of Music.

kalau aku boleh nyanyi balik kat diorang, this is how it goes. ehem.

"maria is not a mathematical problem that needs to be solved~
go to a candy shop, buy a cotton candy, pretend it's a cloud then pin it downnn
maria means white in spanissshhhhhhh
opocot mak kau! opocot mak aku! ok sentaaappppp!"


how's that!?

ok.. dah tersasar jauh dari masalah yang hendak aku sharekan di sini. motip kan aku nak "aku kau".
ok. switch to mat salleh mode!
ON!

so i'm a clumsy-one-of-a-kind girl. bertuah. serious.

after the Being Me event which was on 30th June, i went back home, and as i tweeted:
"i seriously really handsomely broke my phone into pieces"

wanna see? why am i asking?? i'm still gonna put the pics anyway. =p

BEHOLD!! MY MASTERPIECE!

look at how the cracks seem to mesmerise us.. look and you can see the many acute angles connecting one another forming...magic...
beautiful.
truly, the artist must be one heck of a person!

why, that's ME!

tepuk tangan sikit uolls! hhahahahahahahaha... ha.. ha.. ha.. ='(

iphone ni agak gangsta gak rupanya. it was still functioning really well. but to unlock or slide up down left and right, memang dapat cuts on precious fingers. 

honestly la kan. i wasn't even sad.
i was sad about the amount of money that had to go with it for repairing. but i was relieved that it was broken. gave me a few days as an excuse to leave the internet world.

the phone, i realise, has been the biggest form of distraction in my life.
instagram, twitter, facebook, game apps, picture editting apps, 9gag, safari - gosh!!
it's taking away my soul from living in the present.
seriously.

now memang la all this internet stuff ada banyak benefits gak, but focus people. focus.
it's something that internet has taken us away from.

while my phone was sent for repair, i was using an old nokia phone. senang sket. but because i didn't have whatsapp, i macam lost touch sket ngan work and friends.
hoho

anyway, i got it back good as new 2 days ago. 
and yesterday, i broke it again. AHAKKKKKKSS!!


not as bad as the first time. 
and i'm too lazy to change the screen again.
so biarlah. ahaks kahaks kahaks!

iolls wanna congratulate iolls coz iolls memang terbaik!!
terbaik dari ladang kopi!!
iolls loike!

haha!

before i end this noob post about myself, i wanna say thank you to all of you who saw me on the hijabista magazine =B
i actually kept it a secret since april. lama kan? 
i was nervous about it, but i read and i'm ok now. hehe! 
it's nothing to be proud of, frankly. i rasa very biasa. i still wanna go to Palestine and meet Lauren Booth =') in sha Allah..
so uolls can just relax k? apasal i suruh korang lak relax ek? haha! 
but seriously, thank you for acknowledging me =')

to all you peeps yang keep asking me "kak maria, takde video baru ke?"
well, apa salahnya dari tanya i that question, turn it into a doa. for example:

"Ya Allah, berikan lah maria elena yang awesome tu masa dan inspirasi untuk membuahkan video yang boleh memberi kebaikan kepada ku dan sesiapa yang menonton video2 nya"
amin =)

hehe!
ok! now can end this noob post!

sekian.
salam.

ps: "how do we hold a moonbeam in you hand~~" tanya nun nun nyanyi to which i shall answer "what for?"