These days, I can't read the newspapers without rolling my eyes or just getting myself all riled up.

For instance, this Al Qaeda and Yemen issue -- can I say, Here we go again? I don't trust anything that comes out of US intelligence; actually, I especially don't trust anything that comes out of US intelligence. Lies. All lies. I can't watch CNN without feeling like the word EVIL is plastered all over the screen.

It makes my blood boil. All the media needs to do, is just make a little mention of a certain country and the name of a terrorist group (which is quite possibly a big lie as well). Just, you know, mention those two names in the same sentence or the same paragraph even, and then everyone else makes a hoo-haa and soon enough, it becomes accepted fact among the blind, ignorant masses -- because you know, TV is God, and what the TV says is true. That's how powerful and potentially corrupt the media is. And the poor innocent people in Yemen are clueless. These stupid Americans from a country far away making claims about a place they know nothing about.

Yemen of course hits a soft spot with me because, not only is it the place of my ancestral roots, but it is a place that Rasulullah s.a.w. himself pointed out as blessed. Because it gave birth to some of the greatest teachers of Islam. If I'm not wrong, the hadith narrates that Rasulullah pointed his finger to Yemen and said, There is knowledge. (I think I better verify this. See below.) And I think the reason that a lot of Asian Arabs are ancestrally Yemeni Arabs is precisely because the missionaries of Islam to the east are these knowledgeable teachers from Yemen. They're part of the reason Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population in the world. (And that done without the sword, okay.)

---

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “The people of Yemen have come to you. They are tender-hearted and more delicate of soul. The capacity to understand (fiqh) is of the Yemenis and wisdom is that of the Yemenis.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 4129 & Sahih Muslim, no: 84)

Source here.

If US does anything stupid again, I swear I will be so angry.

Off on a little holiday to Jakarta and Bandung. :) (Brain, shut up about FYP and other worrying crap.) Will be back on the 25th.

Ja!

Happy New Year! :)

The Islamic Hijrah calendar just turned 1431.

HAHA, watch this. For real or what. I've never seen a panda sneeze.



XD

The way the mother panda was shocked - HAHAHAHAHA. She's like, What just happened???

Couldn't get back to sleep this morning because I started to freak out about my lack of any sort of progress for FYP, so then went online to get some things done.

And realised that we're going to have Chen Yu Zong again for Advanced Bioinformatics next semester. :\

At least we'll be prepared this time, although meh, I still think we're in trouble. Haha. Let my last semester be fruitful, please.

I watched this clip at Yu Jie's insistence -- so funny! This is why I love Arashi and why I love Jap variety shows. And I especially love the put-your-hand-in-the-box-and-guess-the-mystery-item game. Made me laugh so hard.



I loved it when Nino attempted to bonk Britney on the head, haha. She's seriously nuts.

Sometimes I feel sad that I'm so decent and kental (as my brother points out, I don't ever do interesting things -- oh what does he know) but other times, I'm thankful I'm decent and kental. Haha okay, I think it's too late in the night and I probably should not be blogging.

Today, went to the library to return some books and then ended up wandering around century square on my own, waiting for the rain to stop, and then I started splurging (finally got a pair of pretty shoes and a checkered shirt!) and got really scared because of the way I just do things without planning -- I started thinking about how I don't do any form of financial planning, and then I thought some more about the Malay families living in tents at beaches because they sell their houses without thinking and then become poorer for it and can't afford to buy another flat. :s Very scary. I felt like I was walking down the same road. This crazy impulsiveness.

On the way home, I amused myself by praying, Dear God, please help me be a good person without being crappy. XD I don't know where these thoughts come from, really.

Oyasumi.

About an Australian dude describing how he got into Islam, and I love the part where he talks about asking for a sign from God, and it was given in the way he least expected it. Just awesome.

It reminds me of the times I've asked for my own signs; one of the most dramatic ones was the time I sat in front of my computer blogging and being my whacked depressed self of the past, and begging God to just show me the way. And the next thing I knew, Amir Fadl's framed photograph on the wall of the stairwell, came crashing down all the way to the first floor. For no apparent rhyme or reason. A whole freaking framed photograph, okay, almost A3-sized. I remember just sitting stunned at the zen table for like a whole minute before getting up and putting the photo on the sofa so my dad could put it back later.

God works in mysterious ways. :)

I don't know whether I love or hate the fact that my knowledge of Jpop and Kpop seems to grow with no end in sight. A lot of it thanks to my sister. But THIS SONG.

Love this song. Although I'm not crazy about the rap part. But uuhhhn. Everything else is wonderful. The soulfulness and the melody and the hopeful-yet-painful lyrics.

CRAP. I finally started watching Supernatural Season 4 with my sister tonight (and it has been awesome) and then I went online because I was just kind of curious about the fandom situation these days, having never ventured there in more than a year, but then! I discovered a major spoiler. ACK. -.-

There are times I wish I could tie myself up with a rope so I don't do detrimental things to myself.

Lately, my favourite do'a has been one where I plead to God, Please protect me from my own weaknesses. Amin. And craziness. And destructiveness.

I am randomly remembering a moment in Year 1, when I went for the Muslim Society Tea (quite randomly because nothing came of it) and the members were introducing themselves, and someone said that his greatest fear was himself. Someone joked, "Oh, you look into the mirror and scream ah?" But I agreed wholeheartedly then, and I agree now.

I am going to be productive next week! Productive!