A year to be remembered

2014 has definitely painted as the dark times of our country. The unfortunate events of MH370 and MH17 was certainly uncharacteristic of our small country. The current big flood episode is certainly challenging the country as a whole and us as Malaysians. And eventhough QZ 8501 is not ours per say but the brand Air Asia is certainly ours and the world feels for us.Testing times for us testing times for our solidarity.

Our du'a is important so that any misfortunates that we are facing be eased by the almighty.

Colleagues of mine left for Kelantan today. Prayers that their mission will be fulfilled and certainly their efforts are commended.

Du'a for Pantai Timur

Banjir is getting worse in Pantai Timur. Last I heard, Kelantan called for emergency.
Let us all pray for all ofthem that this disaster being eased for them.

A post i like in this early search of hajj meaning

I kinda like this post, thus permission to be displayed on my blog yeah. There is no retweet or like function on blogs, so copy paste with acknowledgement. I am sure it is meant to be shared. A start for me in my journey so that i can reflect to this post, when i am in doubt.

Taken From blog entry: Noor Allah production: 

Since Hajj is the accumulation of all other pillars of Islam, the attacks from Shaytaan and trials from Allah are sure to occur in order to separate the believers from the hypocrites. There will be many inconveniences and annoyances during the journey but if the believer is focused on the purpose, all these will not be of any importance.

Once you intend to go on Hajj worry about yourdealings with Allah and your service to Him SWT, not about the service of the travel agent or the problems you might face during the journey. Know that the difficulties will be there regardless of how much you try to avoid them, as it is through hardships that Allah SWT checks the status of our faith and our sincerity to Him. If you remember the gifts and services that Allah SWT has offered you throughout your life, you will be able to remain focused on what kind of service you are offering Him SWT and what attitude you are showing Him.

1. ;First purpose of Hajj is to capture our desire and nafs in order to fully enslave ourselves to Allah SWT. Our temptations and desires should never exceed a limit where they become the driving force of our actions. Unless we capture our ego, arrogance, and temptations, and surrender them to the will of Allah SWT, we will never be able to attain salvation and true success on the Day of Judgment.
2. To remember the Day of Judgment and affairs of the afterlife as we have been discussing.
3. Third purpose of Hajj is to remember the mercy of Allah SWT and to acknowledge how many chances of repentance and purification He SWT has bestowed upon us. It is one of our duties to inculcate this quality of mercy of in our own personalities and to deal with others accordingly.
Hajj is supposed to bring out this trait in a believer as he gets a chance to view the state of many Muslims who are inferior to him in health, wealth and ability. Prophet SAW was sent as a mercy to mankind and he said:
“Allah shows mercy to those who show mercy. Show mercy to those on earth, and Allah will be merciful to you.” (Abu Dawood & Tirmidhi)
4. To gain the level of absolute purity toward Allah SWT. The restrictions such as prohibition of sexual intercourse, of contracting marriage, of being a witness in marriage, or even intending marriage while in the state of Ihraam are to be observed or they can break the state of Ihraam and nullify Hajj.
These are all halal acts but at this time they become prohibited because they are dealing with the affairs of this world and Allah wants us to leave off worldly matters entirely and be purely for Him SWT. This is the true essence of the call of pilgrimage:
‘Here I am O Allah, (in response to Your call), here I am. 
Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. 
Verily all praise, grace and sovereignty belong to You.
You have no partner.’
This call of labbaik or saying ‘Here I am’ is to be done with humbleness, humility, service and devotion to Allah SWT enveloped by absolute love for Him.
5. Humble ourselves to Allah and His creation by not causing any oppression. Any oppression even toward animals, let alone other Muslims, can nullify Hajj. This heightened state of consciousness during Hajj is to remind us of the etiquettes that we have forgotten, and to revert back to these lost teachings of Islam.
6. To try to build the habit of obedience to Allah SWT during this journey. Once this habit of doing everything according to the will and teachings of Allah and His Prophet is established, maybe when the person returns, he/she will continue to obey Allah in their daily lives.
7. To remove the love of duniya and material possessions from our hearts. We are so occupied with our work, business, family, friends, education etc. in this life that the affairs of the hereafter go in the background. The purpose of Hajj is to remove all of these ties from our hearts and reset our priorities according to Allah and His Prophet SAW.

While going on Hajj, we leave everything behind us just like we will when we die. While we are on Hajj the world continues to function without us, which is a reminder for us to refocus our energies to where they really matter. This is why one of the manners when you leave your house with the intention of Hajj is to forget about all your obligations except what you owe to your Creator and Owner Allah SWT.

8. The journey of Hajj is symbolic of our life’s journey to the hereafter. No place on earth is our permanent residence. We are all here to spend a designated amount of time according to the will of Allah and will leave sooner or later, and then spend some time in transit until the Day of Judgment is established. That is when our final residence will be determined: the best of residence being jannah and the worst being hell fire.
9. To remind us of the brotherhood and equality in Islam. Irrespective of race, ethnic affiliation, skin color, material wealth, educational level—we are all same in the eyes of Allah SWT. We follow the same rituals and customs and are encouraged to be generous and kind to each other. We are supposed to take care of the needy Muslims during this time as it is not only worship but our responsibility.
Abdullah Ibn Mubarak was a wealthy taba'ee (follower of the companions) who was known for his generosity. Every year at the time of Hajj, he used to equip a large caravan for Hajj and distribute all his money in the way of Allah to the point that after Hajj he had nothing left.
AWhy would he do that? To get the ultimate benefit from this journey and to devote all he had for the sake of Allah SWT.

Once Abdullah Ibn Mubarak Headed Out With His Caravan To Hajj And On The Way He Saw A Woman Collecting A Dead Bird From The Side Of The Road. His Curiosity Was Intrigued So He Followed The Woman And Inquired About Her Actions. She Said That She Was Going To Cook It To Feed Her Hungry Children. He Was Shocked And Asked Her If She Didn’t Know Of The Prohibition Of Eating Dead Animals? She In Turn Asked Him If He Was Not Aware Of The Permissibility Of It For Those Who Are At The Brink Of Starvation.

He was so moved by her ordeal that he gave all his Hajj money to this lady, went back to home and locked himself indoors. He forbade his family to inquire the reason of his return or to tell anyone that he had come back, as he wanted to keep his deed purely for Allah. He stayed indoors until the Hajj season passed entirely and caravans started to return from Makkah.
He began to go outdoors and started meeting the returning pilgrims who would thank him for his assistance that he provided them in Makkah, Medina, or other places that they had visited. He was shocked; he returned to his room and started crying to Allah SWT asking Him to explain what was going on. Abdullah Ibn Mubarak saw RasulAllah SAW in his dream who gave him the good news that Allah was so pleased with his action towards this woman that He created an angel in the form and look of Abdullah to do the Hajj on his behalf along with the good deeds that Abdullah regularly used to do. He SAW went on to inform Abdullah that Allah had rewarded him for ten Hajj and had accepted the Hajj of all others because of him. All because Abdullah had helped a needy woman!
RasulAllah SAW said:
"Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter. Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter. Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother.” (Muslim)
Hajj is supposed to remind us of the needs of the Muslim ummah either financial or spiritual; to discuss these matters and return home with the intention to fulfill these needs. During the early days of Islam, scholars used to have a designated meeting place during Hajj where they would regularly meet to discuss the affairs of the ummah and pool their resources to come to common understanding and goals.
10. This leads us to the next purpose of Hajj which is inculcating and adhering to good behavior and manners. It is not the amount of prayers that we do but rather our behavior, our humility and our willingness to be of assistance to others that elevates our ranking with Allah SWT.

Allah SWT explains to us in Surah Al-Baqarah:

Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by entering the state of ihram], there is [to be for him] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj. And whatever good you do - Allah knows it. And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of Allah. And fear Me, O you of understanding. (2:197)

Conclusion

The real preparation for Hajj is not the knowledge of the rituals...that is secondary. The matter of primary concern is the preparation of the heart so you go in a state that is acceptable to Allah SWT. Most important luggage to take with you on this journey is conscientiousness of Allah, the awareness that Allah is watching you at any given time and is with you whenever you need Him SWT.

Status of the heart matters more than the rituals. Angels descend according to the status of the heart of the slave, not the amount of his deeds. If the status of one’s heart is acceptable to Allah then even if the person makes minor errors in carrying out his rituals, Allah SWT is an All-Merciful and Pardoning Lord. But if the heart is full of shirk (association with Allah) and arrogance, then even if all the rituals are carried out perfectly, the purpose of Hajj will be lost.

Labbaikkallahummalabbaik..

It was overwhelming to have received the invitation. I estimated it to be about these few coming years but having the official letter with your name in it is totally out of this world. Alhamdulillah, thank you to Allah for his graceful invitation. To step again on the holy land as the last i did was in 1992. 21 years ago in makkah and madinah.

Alhamdulillah, i have given my confirmation and i guess my journey towards hajj has began. It is still a long way to go till next October but insha allah, it starts from the niat to go.Anything can still happen along the way but for now, insha allah my du'a is for the trip to be realized with his blessings.

I have not made any arrangements per say for the month I am away but i believe insha Allah, it will come. Why hesitate for hajj when all other trips i have planned i did not hesitate?

In a way, i am excited for this trip but again the doubt feeling of am i ready for this comes. Insha Allah, i need to dwell more into this matter with the hajj courses and my readings of the subject. I reckon there are a number of books that i can read and share their experience with.

As Azad mentioned to me, " the search starts now.. and there has to be change eventhough only a little be for this pilgrimage to be mabrur.." 

Courteis

Being in private practice to me is not much different from public practice. The only difference is we directly charge the patient and the cost is visible to them from day 1. In government, even the healthcare workers sometimes do not realize how expensive clinical medicine is, especially involving intervention such as surgery.It is only in private practice where one will try to be not wasting resources compared to when you are in the government.Honestly, i reckon we should educate our government healthcare workers the true cost of healthcare. 

I would like to refute the statement that being in private you have to be more courteous. Like hello??? Weren't you courteous when you were working in the public sector? If not, then there is something wrong with you being a doctor or a nurse! 

I have always  maintain my  courtesy and most importantly to be mannered in my dealings with my patients. I believe it is important when dealing with people. As healthcare workers we are no different to our patients. We can be patients when we are sick. And when you are sick, you would want the positivity all over to help with the healing. 

I always believe that one will be treated the way one treat others. That is why i will be at my best when handling others as that is how i want people to treat me. There is no unison here but multi lateral comitment from every party. I want to be the doctor i envision doctors should be when they treat me. That is why soft skill is important in our profession. Many may not realize thinking that being smart or brilliant is enough. Well, unfortunately it is not especially nowadays. 

It is fun to connect with our patients. I enjoyed my GP locum days when i was out in the community. It was not just a matter of treating their disease, it was more to see their well being. Their families and how they cope with their daily lives. Sometimes patient come to us to seek a third party unbiased opinion and i reckon it is a job we have to cater to. 

We are all humans after all.. 

#DIAgnosis2 for 2015

Alhamdulillah, bak kata AF:
 "IA, DOAKAN kami.."

                         missing oncall docs that weekend: beni & din.

We won.. but we lost.. and the fans were superbly winners! #AFFSuzukiCup2014

To quote a friend of mine, 

"I've been to many world cups, champions league, EPL, Ajax games, el classicos, but what i experience in Bukit Jalil last night was out of this world! Kudos to the Ultras!!" IFRW

I have to concur. I've not been to as many games as him though (he is one serious hardcore supporter I can tell you that, seram woo.. haha) but I've been to as many Malaysia's game in the past.I've blogged most of my Malaysia experience in the past. But what transpired last Saturday in SNBJ- was simply breath taking and i can say that I am proud to be a supporter! Harimau Malaya selamanya! 

I was with Shah, Kamal and Shah's MA. We were all from the same vicinity (Bukit Jelutong).We took the LRT option. Some smart aleck told us it would be easier for us to go back home if we park in Salak South. Ok la.. why not, trusted friend, sounds good. Unfortunately upon arriving at the station we realized that it was the same line! hahaha Only one and the one on the opposite side would be Sri Petaling! There is no way though to park in Sri Petaling!! haha wakenabeb bcoz in the end our friend drove there instead of parking in Salak South ! 

 The LRTS were jammed packed. Memang penuh! It was 4pm and we had to squeeze our bodies into the LRT carriage. The spirit and hope was there. Malaysians came in droves from all generations. Atok bawa cucu, balak bawa awek, nenek bawa cougar.. hahaha macam2! I love this feeling of positivity. All of us knew we lost to Thailand 2-0 earlier but somehow we knew we may overcome the deficit. 

 The parade was damn cool. Mega Cortez they call it and reminded me a lot of Dutch Army when we were in Marseille 1998. The atmosphere was electrifying eventhough it was raining. Nobody cared about the rain. It was definitely 100 000 supporters in Bukit Jalil that day if not more. Everybody was optimistic and was looking forward for the game. 

 Inside the stadium, it was superbly goosebumps all over. The ultras were chanting and singing all their might, and the non ultras followed in style. The atmosphere was electrifying! The Thais must have been worried for their players as the noise can certainly affects ones spirit and determination. We were the ultra docs! 10 of us..all clinical specialists together in tandem reliving our youth. At the same time, supporting our national team to win this cup! It was possible despite seemed impossible :) This was definitely not present previously. Paling kuat pun gendang and inilah barisan kita. Nowadays, Ultras will chant few songs to the delight of the crowd.. again and again! All the time! One other difference i see from the past is the number of people performing prayers. in the 80/s and 90s you hardly see anybody praying before the game but nowadays it is a common sight. Sapa yang tak sembahyang tu sure terasa nye.. sahabat syaitankah mereka.. hahaha 

 When we were up 3-0 courtesy of Safiq Rahim' David Beckham style of freekick, the crowd went wild! Who would have thought we were winning despite the setback! The dream was real! The supporters felt the fairy tale will end with the neding that we wanted! 10 more minutes guys.. 10 more minutes!! Everybody was singing and chanting! Happily together in the stadium atmosphere.. Im sure the players down there did not expect it as well. 

 It was not meant to be. The thais fought back and scored 2. Our hearts sank.. really low when the 2nd goal was scored. But somehow we continued to cheer our team. We saw our team played thier might but perhaps the Thais were the better team. We cheered till the end and when the referee blew the final whistle, then it was to the Thais. The thais won the cup.

We won the game 3-2 but we lost via aggregate, 4-3 because of their earlier win in Bangkok. We were shattered but funnily as compared to the games we lost in the past, the fans were happy. Happy because they saw how we lost. Kalah bermaruah. And i guess as fans that is what we wanted to see. The display of courage and fighting spirit. We saw that. The nation saw that. 

To the ultras, you've created a different atmosphere for supporter who comes to the stadium. It makes the experience totally euphoric and exciting. One can have the comfort of home watching live on telly, but the goosebumps you get at the stadium is totally out of this world!

Kudos Malaysia!

Kudos Dollah!

Kudos Ultras!

and Kudos to all Malaysia fans in SNBJ that night :)

XCLUSIVE!! Engagement of the year Anwar Fazal & Fatin Liyana @honeykoyuki #Diagnosis2

As a tribute to both of you.. (therefore i'll blog it in honeykoyuki style.. haha)
What i can guarantee.. i have the exclusive pictures of the event! But using my iphone lah as I'm sure the pictures from the official photographers will be much more superbly beautiful!


So ceritanya memang ekslusif la gua kena jemput. Rahsia besar tu.. mana ada announce mana-mana publicly kat social media walaupun Fatin ni kira memang celebrity blogger la (takde la ciput mcm blog yours truly.. huhu) .. Menang Anugerah Srikandi Negara lak tu baru-baru ni.. Perrgghh... terasa keciknya blog toncet ni. Bahaya celebrity tunang or nikah ni, takut papparazi datang serang beramai2.. takkan nak halau kot? habis la budget jamuan.. haha
Anyway, AF ni memang hot property lelaki idaman malaya.(serious talk punya) Bila baca twitter feed majlis ni, rasanya menangis dah ramai gadis-gadis yang ternanti lelaki yang boleh bawa mereka ke jannah.. termasuk mak-mak yang teringin dapat menantu handsome dan beriman.. package zaman sekarang mana nak dapat woi !! Mau je orang nak buat niaya, boleh je menghalang dari petunangan unggul 2014 ni dari berlangsung. Hantar santau ke.. tahan kat tol ke.. or ramai-ramai buat bantahan dengan bantuan ultras malaya nyanyi2 luar rumah Fatin..  dramatik tu..katanyaaa (macam Azwan Ali style lak daahh..) Apa kurangnya Fatin kan.. (kang orang ingat AF sorang je smart fatin ni tak lawa haha) Ramai la jugak kecewa Fatin dah tunang.. tapi laki ni bukan bule kira.. baru tunang je kan.. setakat tunang.. ek ee leehh.. hahaha  

Sampai2 je takde sapa lagi sampai.As usual memang gua awal la, kata majlis kul 11 I'll be there at least 15 minutes before.  dah la bukannya kenal pun ngan Fatin Liyana nye family. so call la team superhero/Azah.. depa pun on the way lagi time tu. Pakai waze pun nak tanya camana nak sampai hahaha Alamak... camana ni.. Sekali tengok kat back view mirror, Shark laa.. haha @Syamsulyusof. KL Gangster sudah mari woo jangan sembang!! Lepas tu nampak AF! Yeah.. dah sampai dah rombongan lelaki! Jadi "family" la ari ni walaupun ni la first time jumpa semua orang.. hahaha takpela.. part-part propa ni memang expert gua beb.. 

konon artistiklah 

                                      On the way.. on the way.. Aizzat&Azah
So family sume pun masuk.. gua pun ikut la jalan belakang. Kat tangan mmg ada tongkat selfie, kalau orang tengok pun mesti ingat cam family photographer la pakai iphone cikai.Cool gile pasal live piano mainan auntie Fatin masa kitaorang masuk(who happens to be a colleague in UiTM haha what a small world!) 

                                         family side AF

                                          family side FL

                                      sanak saudara keluarga

                                           "Saya ni orang lama... " jeng..jeng..
Time-time ni, gua comm dengan AF la apa jadi kat dalam.. seriously..live reporting kat whatsapp. hahaha ( bole buat movie ni). Acara adat pun bermula. baik buat skype je terus tapi pasal prepaid kan.. tak layak.. hahaha Nego-nego part ni memang cuak pasal tiba-tiba je bule kena tanya macam2 kena mintak macam2. I've been to many adat events and perghh.. kalau caught off guard masak beb. Family2 melayu ni sensitive.. kang terasa hati dah payah going off on a bad start. 

 Alhamdulillah, majlis berjalan dengan lancar tanpa cecat-cela. Fatin masuk pun cam tersipu2.. kenalah kan. Kang terperanjat lak datuk Fatin tengok terkinja-kinja masuk cam happy :) It was a sweet moment when AF's mum gave her advice straight after wearing FL the engagement ring. I'm sure the crowd felt that moment too :) 

AF mum ni dah reject banyak woo gadis-gadis malaya yang mencurah2 nak AF. Tapi AF ni memang dia sayang kat mak dia, and Alhamdulillah, FL la pilihan lepas istikharah. (true story ni tau..) Tapi takleh cerita la kat sini sapa mak AF dah reject.. haha (mak you buka cerita best kat gua depan azah and aizat.. haha bole masuk melodi ni) 

Bila AF dah masuk time amik gambar ramai2.. malu-malu kucing je tu.. haha kucing pun tutup mata tengok gelagat aksi miaw.. hahaha Cool la kan..  

                                         kira gaya ayu la.. mak andam dah train..

                                          Insha Allah..

                                         Hantaran in combination

                                          Sincere moment

                                          Insha Allah.. jauh lagi perjalanan ni.. 

So begitula ceritanya gua jadi "family ' terjun pada ari Sabtu tu. Ok je pasal boss Diagnosis yang nak tunang kan.. mestilla support beb. Nanti dia fire kang.. haaa menangis tak berlagu beb. 

                               bawa tongkat selfie ni je satu gambar wefie. haha 

Thank you to both of you for inviting me. FL if you are reading this, sorry la feeble attempt to blog it your sempoi style! hahaha Insha Allah, I will du'a for both of you and can't wait for the matrimony soon (date pun kena rahsiala.. takleh la cite kat blog ni.. haha)

P/S Dr Beni.. Dr mahyuddin.. aizzat link la blog entry ni... haha nak try theory tgk bule tumpang popularity FL tak.. 

Its a wrap

The picture says it all.

                                          14/12/2014

Its getting nearer #Diagnosis2

We had our 2nd meet up last weekend to finalize on certain aspects of the book launch. Yup Diagnosis2 is really really close to you! We missed  Mahyuddin as he was delayed in Kota Kinabalu. Otherwise, it would have been the first time the complete team is assembled physically.

                                                      AF in an earlier wedding doa job

We ended up in Las Vacas Yap Kwan Seng after only realizing the nice tea shop closes at 6pm when we were already there.. haha (thanx Ben, tapi kesian jugak Ben coz its always him who had to choose the meet up venue!).

AF is very positive about this project and that positive vibe certainly envelopes all the team members.

 I am optimistic as well as i believe we will make people believe in us again. It was a fun meet up and insha Allah, of many more to come. 

Will it be as good as Diagnosis?

We hope so.Insha Allah :)

UiTM Medic Marathon 2014

Me being out of UiTM does not mean I am not affliated to them. Most of the colleagues are my friends and the friendship remains. When Adli advertised this to us, of course it was something that i cannot resist. My only worry then was i was working on that day! Was it possible?

After thinking a lot, i decided to just join the 5km category as I will have to rush to Rawang after the run. And that is if it started on time. And with the usual tradition of amateur organizers, we were late to start of with! hahaha The warm up only began at 715 instead of 0645. I was a bit worried if i had to abandon this run. 

 It was nice to have my footie mates Abe, Shah and Syazli to join this run.Adli and Abid was as enthusiastic too. I am sure if Izzat was around he would sportingly do this run as well.As this was a fun run, i was not intending to have a go at it to get a PB. I was looking forward to a leisurely run with my mates who are starting to get interested with healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately, because of the tardiness i had to leave all of them because i have to be in Rawang to start a case at 0830!! And the run began at 0745!!Was it possible? 

 The route was relatively flat until KM 2 when suddenly there was a small sloping hill going across the cemetery. I did not expect this so there was a little bit of mental breakdown there.. haha I continued my run with huff and puff and in a way i forced myself to run at a faster pace. I had to! not that i have a choice! hahaha

When i ended the run i did not look back as i needed to get tothe hospital! ran in about 25 minutes and there i was, away to work! hahaha

Thank you JPK UiTM for organizing this and definitely a run i would like to continue joining every year :) KUDO!!

Here we go here we go #AFFSUZUKICUP2014

Nobody would have predicted the results we achieved in Hanoi.. not in a million years! And for the VFF to investigate their players for any possibilities of throwing the game away can be justified. Vietnam were definitely the favourites playing at home. Harimau Malaya was banking on the oldies to bring them through.

And as though luck was keeping themselves to our side, we were up 4-1 by half time! A penalty, a fluke chip and a lucky cross that became an own goal.. we were ready for the finals. I'm sure the players themselves did not realize how fortunate they were especially playing away!

Credit to the team, they did play better in Hanoi. more discipline with Shukor marshaling the backline. the midfield play was better though i don't think Piya did as well as the media potrayed. I reckon it was the strikers who played well closing the play well by pressing. Well done to Indra for playing his part off the ball rather than on the ball. 

And yes! We are in the finals woohoo..!!

We can do this! Kamon!!! #HarimauMalaya

PJ Half Marathon 2014

This was my first PJ Half Marathon whether you beleive it or not! It has always caught my eye to join this event since school days but somehow the dates never fitted my schedule. It used to be sponsored massively by The Star and the hype towards PJ Half has always been the paper's highlight. I guess The Star newspaper has since withdrew their sponsorship but PJ half will remain to be the event for PJ inhabitants.

This year this event is organized by Deeno and Pak Am's company, thus no more excuses for not joining this race. I did not train specifically after Pacesetters 30K but i did try to fill in runs in the evening. My current job is unpredictable therefore it was not as regular as I want to. However i knew I'm quite comfortable to finish 21km run without over straining myself. The question now is whether i want to achieve my sub-2 in my future runs? Perhaps.. perhaps.. 

The run was supposed to start at 530am. Unfortunately due to a fumbling act by 100Plus we started half an hour later! The starting pace was slow but i did not push to run faster. Perhaps because i am not sure of my endurance due to my lack of training. The surau provided for us at Km 6 was sweet! 

The whole route was in fact not too bad as there was only a climb at KM9.In fact if i had trained better this was my opportunity to go sub-2. It is so much possible. 

 

Surprisingly i was comfortable with my run. my breathing was good and i ran more than i walk. I'm sure if i had another 21K run the weekend after i will improve my time tremendously. I reckon i did a 2h15min ish but i need to look at the official time once it is released. 

It was a good run topped up with a good event management. It may not be as glamorous as it was before but it has the makings of such in the coming near future. 

Cape town at its best

Cape town is certainly beautiful. It is the place to be for honeymoon seriously! The weather is just nice and the scenery of its surrounding is really amazing. I was fortunate that i was invited for WCRAPT here and it was my chance to explore Cape town as i don't think i will come casually here as it is far away from home!! It was difficult to make my way around during the conference and that one day i had, i maximised my time to conquer the land :) 

We stayed in Westin hotel which is just opposite to the conference. It made life easy and being the speaker's hotel, it was at its own class. Every late afternoon we would make our way to V&A Harbour, a complex which is dedicated for tourists. The setup is simple but the view it offered is amazing. On a clear day the sea would highlight the beauty of Table Mountain in opposite directions. The sea breeze certainly makes the experience wonderful and i was glad wifey was with me. I guess this trip was a relief for her, in fact the first outing overseas we had together (just the 2 of us) after 10 years! Alhamdulillah it was refreshing and an effort to strenghten our relationship. 

In Cape town, one cannot miss this few things. 

1. Cape of Good Hope & Cape Point

2. Table Mountain

3.Malay Cape settlement

and alhamdulillah we managed to settle it in one day! We took the conference tour as it was advisable to do so. It maybe a bit rushed but we managed to capture the main essence of the peninsula. 

 For history buffs like me, reaching Cape of Good Hope is a must! Bartholomeow Diaz, Vasco De Gama.. the landmark explorers of the past who paved way for the lights of history point! Few may argue their achievements to be the pathway of colonization! Regardless of which, it is interesting to be at where the western and eastern civilization meets.The landscape reminded me a lot of Perth :) Perhaps being the western part of the southern hemisphere makes it less coincidental than the thought. 

 The scare was table mountain as the weather was unforgiving on the 3 days we were there. Manoj gave a tip ," If you see the mountain, then it means you have to just go!" which we certainly missed on our first day. The next 2 days the table is covered with the clouds and of course the cable car operations will be closed because of that. We were really lucky that we gambled to go there on a Friday 5pm, beating all the rush! The weather turned really good that evening and we had to make our way there byhook or by crook. And we were indeed rewarded with the beautiful scenery of Cape town sunset.. What a way to end the lovely trip! 

 It was a nice getaway. You would definitely want to be here with your soulmate or partner. The romantisicm is much alive in Cape Town. Alhamdulillah for what i have achieved in 2014.