2015 in Review

So here we are again, having arrived at the last day of the year. This time, I'm making it a point to blog on my year and what's happened so far. 

Here's a photoblog of my year:

Travel wise:

I've traveled to three countries this year, China, Indonesia and Singapore for various reasons. Our trip to Xi'an, China is one of our (me and hubs) attempt at spending quality time together and make memories that will hopefully enrich our relationship. The trip to Banda Aceh, Indonesia is my mum's birthday gift to my dad, he's been keen on seeing how Banda Aceh has developed after the tsunami. And for Singapore, it wasn't a leisurely trip, instead we went to Singapore just for a short weekend to attend one of Al-Maghrib seminars last January and left right after the seminar ended.

Another one of my aim is to explore as many places as I can in Peninsular Malaysia. Coming from the island of Borneo, we would have to fly to Kuala Lumpur or any other cities in the peninsular, therefore we usually do not explore much of this part of Malaysia as most of our travels/ holidays tend to focus on traveling overseas. This time I've resolved to change all that and I've kinda made a list of places that I hope to visit in the peninsular before I complete my PhD. 

Visited Xi'an, China and the famed terracotta warriors.

Us posing with the terracotta warriors. 

Alexa's growing to be a frequent traveler and she's much more comfortable on long flights and adapted well to traveling, Alhamdulillah.

Us having a stroll on our last day in Xi'an.

Visited Banda Aceh, Indonesia and got to see first hand the after effects of the tsunami.

Lampuuk Beach. Beautiful, but deadly.

Aimed to visit more local destinations in Malaysia. This is Sabah Tea Plantation, Ranau, Sabah.

Slept in a bamboo longhouse at the tea plantation.

The room came with a traditional mosquito netting. Definitely this is one of my most novel and exciting travel experiences.

Visited Sepanggar Island, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. One of the most beautiful and private beach that I've ever been to so far. You can read all about my trip to Sepanggar island [here].

Walked on a canopy walkway at Poring Hotspring, Ranau, Sabah.

I actually went up in my pyjama pants. Haha! There's always a first time for everything =)

Another local destination in Malaysia, Perhentian Islands, Terengganu.

Went snorkelling with the fishes and turtles at Perhentian Islands. [Here's] my blogpost on my trip to Perhentian Islands.

Another local destination, Cameron Highlands, Pahang. Went strawberry picking with my university mates.

And obviously, one shall not miss the Boh Tea Plantations at Cameron Highlands. The breakfast here is one of the best highlights to my year. You can read all about my trip to Cameron Highlands [here].

Another local destination, Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang with the family. trip. [Here's] a photoblog of the trip.

Health Wise:

Like most women, every year my aim is to reduce weight. However, this year, I've stopped making that goal as part of my new year resolutions and instead concentrate on improving my fitness level. So to do that, I've made a list of activities that I want to do and focused on ticking them off my list. Among the activities that I've set out to do is conquer Broga and another hill (which later turned out to be Bukit Gasing), try out Jumpstreet and Skytrex Adventure. Besides that, I've also enrolled myself in a couple of marathons as a way to motivate myself to exercise. 

One of my aims this year is to improve on my health and fitness, so I went on several hiking trips with my friends. This one is our hike to Broga last November. [Here's] a blogpost on my hike at Broga.

And Bukit Gasing just last week. [Here's] a photoblog of the hike up Bukit Gasing.

Went for my first run after giving birth to Alexa, two years ago. This one is the 3.8 km Stroller Run at Kepong Metropolitan Park in November.

Another run just last week, 5km Garfield Run 2015.

Went to the Jumpstreet, the trampoline park in Petaling Jaya. I will definitely come again to improve on my jumping skills. And [here's] my review of Jumpstreet.

And went to Skytrex Adventure for some adrenaline rush and test our fitness levels. You can read all about Skytrex Adventure [here].

Profession Wise:

I am currently on study leave by my institution. Therefore most of my professional achievements will involve my academic performance and my ability to achieve what I've set out to do. So far I've completed all my necessary courses and the huge Comprehensive Exam (CE) this year. And I've been able to publish one of my assignments as an article in an Islamic finance bulletin/ magazine and also present in two conferences this year. Next year I hope to be able to present in a couple more conferences and be published in journals as well, inshaa Allah.



The IIBF - Inceif Student Conference.

Passed my Comprehensive Exam (CE) in November this year. The CE is one of Inceif's requirements prior to embarking on your PhD research and you can only sit for the CE once you have passed at least six out of seven courses, i.e. Islamic Economics, Islamic Banking or Islamic Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Usul Fiqh and Qawaid Fiqhiyyah, Islamic Law of Contracts and Fiqh Muamalat. 

Completed my final course just two weeks ago. For Inceif, there are two PhD tracks that a student can embark on, PhD by Research or PhD by Coursework and Dissertation. Both tracks require students to sit for a number of courses. My PhD is the one by coursework and dissertation. We are required to sit for at least 13 courses aside from our PhD research. Alhamdulillah I've completed my final two courses this semester. So starting from next semester, I can simply focus on my research. 

Religion Wise:

Since last year, I've tried to make it a point that any improvements that I make for my career/ profession, I should at the same time improve in my religious knowledge as well. With that in mind, I've enrolled myself as a student at Al-Maghrib Institute and this year I've managed to attend three of their courses. Alhamdulillah I've managed to pass their exams as well.

The first course that I attended this year was the Fiqh of Chillin': Entertainment and Recreation in Islam by Shaykh Saad Tasleem.

The second course which I attended in Singapore was Deception: Study of Shaytaan, also by Shaykh Saad Tasleem.

The third course which I attended in October was Lost in Translation: The Art of Contemplating the Quran by Shaykh Ahsan Hanif. All of Al-Maghrib's courses are amazing, but this one is among my favourite.

Finished reading Yasmin Mogahed's book, Reclaim Your Heart and Women Around the Messenger by Muhammad 'Ali Qutb.

Finished reading a book by Fazlur Rahman entitled Major Themes of the Qur'an. Not an easy read, but it does give some pretty good insight on the Qur'an. 

All in all I would have to say it's been quite a productive year. I can't believe I was able to complete all those things but then again, life is pretty amazing, if you really bother to sit down and just make a list of what's important to you. Looking forward to an exciting year ahead, and I do think (from the looks of it) that 2016 might just be one of my most challenging year ever (I know we haven't even started the first day of 2016 yet but I do think it's going to be quite tough for me as I only have 8 more months to go to complete my research before I have to report duty back to my institution).

But then again, it's only with life's challenges that we grow as a person and one thing that I always keep close to my heart is that, "Allah tests those whom He loves." May Allah's love increase for me (and you too), Ameen. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Fashionista's Escapades: Climbing Broga

So yesterday we took the opportunity of it being a public holiday (it was Deepavali) and went on a hiking trip to Broga. Truth be told, I was quite apprehensive about the trip up until the last minute. We were scheduled to leave for Broga at 4 am and at 3 am I was texting Azima on whether we should go and that it would be dark during the climb up the hill and whether the environment would be safe for us (I mean, it is a jungle and there would be animals roaming around). Azima managed to calm my fears and we went off to Broga and this is how it went:

Broga is located in Semenyih, roughly about almost an hour away from KL so when you're making plans for climbing, do take note of the traveling time that is required. There's a parking fee of RM2 charged and there'll be parking attendants showing you where to park which is great because it will allow the cars to be parked properly and you can easily leave the area quickly after you're done with your climb.

The path is on an earth trail which gets muddy if it rains, so do check the weather forecast before you leave for Broga because if it rains, the trails can be slippery and quite treacherous. Please don't climb when it's raining, or if it starts to rain when you're already halfway up, I would actually recommend for you to stop climbing and start your descent instead.

Breaking dawn over Broga.

Most people would start climbing at 5 am, and when we got there at 5.10 am, there were already quite a number of cars parked in the parking lot. Do bring a torchlight to light your path, there's no streetlights to aid your climb and whatever light that the stars and the moon beamed on us was definitely not enough to light the way. And yes, the handphone torchlight would be enough to light your way. Do also bring a small towel or some wet wipes, you will get sweaty and slightly muddy along the way. A small bottle of water is necessary and maybe some dry biscuits would be enough to tide you over if you're hungry.

The trail. This would most probably be a 30 degree incline (or decline, depending on how you look at it).

In terms of the trail, most of the time it was roughly a 20 degrees incline but there are some parts where the incline was 45 - 50 degrees so that can be quite daunting, especially for first time climbers. Don't worry, there are ropes to help the climbers along the way, especially when the terrain got a little bit steep and be mindful of your step, as you might slip and stumble if you aren't careful. The whole climb took perhaps about an hour and a half for us and if you're fit, it would most probably take you about an hour. We actually stopped many times along the way to catch our breath and to me that made all the difference, I was able to enjoy the whole climbing experience in a more relaxing manner.

The first two peaks.

There are three peaks, the distance between the first peak to the next is about 10 minutes walk and similarly the distance from the second peak to the third is also about 10 minutes walk. The first two peaks are flatter in nature and offers a great 360 degree view of the town and its surrounding areas below while the third peak is covered by some trees and huge boulders. However, once you get on top of the boulder, it definitely offered a better view than the first two peaks.

Climbing down from the third peak. The first peak is at the far end and the second peak is in the middle.

Do bear in mind that there will be a lot of people on the hill. I expect perhaps roughly 50 - 100 people were on the first two peaks while the third peak looked like there were perhaps 40 over people. So it will be crowded (especially during the weekend and public holidays) so if you don't like the crowd, come during the weekdays. Personally for me, I prefer having a huge crowd around me simply because I am a novice climber and there's safety in numbers.

As we were climbing down, there was still a large crowd making their way up so if you prefer, you can always pray fajr first and then climb up the hill. 

If you're wondering about fajr prayers, most people actually prayed fajr at the peaks so just bring your praying mats (or whatever material that's comfortable for you) for prayer. Some groups even prayed jamaah together so there's absolutely no worry of you missing out on your prayers.

Me, Azima, Lin, Ariff and G with the wonderful bright early morning sun ray behind us. Blessed, Alhamdulillah. 

And for parents, if you're wondering whether you should bring your kids along, just so you know, some parents brought kids in their carrier (hint: kids would be below 3 years old) and kids older than that were climbing their hearts out. I do believe this would be a good activity for kids and it would definitely teach them about perseverance, hard work and enjoy getting themselves dirty.

Broga. 1312 feet or 400 meters above sea level.

Waiting for sunrise. 

The sun peeking from the horizon.

This shot was taken from the first peak at 7.30 am while we were climbing down. 

I would definitely recommend the climb for most people, the view is breathtaking and the climb is absolutely worth it. I loved the whole climbing experience and would not mind another climbing trip, inshaa Allah.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista