"global peace and unity"

as'kum all (peace be upon you),

just got back from london. obviously, this doesn't need an intro. everyone knows my parents are coming and guess what? they're here!!!hehe finally!! but enough about that, let's talk london!!

london was.. erm... okay... haha actually london was unbelieveable. got there on friday. was the first ones to get to BH eventho the original plan was to meet up at the station but *someone* was typically being "herself" and missed the train!! lol. anyways, w had to pick t up so as expected, they were late! and i arrived first at BH. perfecto!!

oh, did i mention i was travelling with n?? as always!!!!! :p at BH, met a really cute girl being all panicky about whether there's an empty transit room available. as always, we end up sharing the room. so were my two girls. friday was hectic. went to mawar restaurant. been craving rendang beef. went there with d,w,t and n. then sent n off to the station and the four of us went to bayswater to meet t's veryyyyyyyyyyy down-to-earth friend, h to take some stuff. man oh man, her apartment is a killer!! and got introduced to her boyfriend, b. then we went back to BH using tube. :D stayed up LATE just having girl-talks!! even met a nice girl from leeds, her name's n. taking mechanical engineering.

woke up early on saturday because of the open house at the dorchester thingy. we arrived around 12-ish. it was great. met afiq, a few known faces, took pics and then went back to BH and got changed. we went to oxford street to do some shopping. and yes t did!! hehe. went to starbucks as well. and as usual, slept late again. hahah.

on sunday, woke up really really early cause;
n asked me to go to east ham and meet him there for the islam channel's "the global peace and unity" exhibition instead of him picking me up in paddington, so being the silly little newbie that i am with underground tubes, i managed to make my way alone to east ham and it was proper cool, not only that i changed tubes, but i managed to meet a lot of people who were proper giving me the looks of "you're a muslim, i won't be nice to you" and there was even one guy who gave me the stare. haha i don't care. :)

anyways, on the way to change tubes, there was one guy who was looking at me with a smile on his face and a glance of total amazement, his face actually lights up when he saw me and there was this sense of "i can't believe what i'm seeing" aura coming from his looks, prolly because i look bedazzled kali lah ah with the headscarf, masha allah.. the wonders of hijjab... :) even though i gave him that "what are u looking at, mate" look, but he still has that smile on his face as the tube slowly moved. masha allah.

i arrived at east ham and waited outside for n and his cousin to pick me up, then we went to excel, london for the exhibition and masha allah, i have never seen such a great eyesight of having muslims gathered together making me proud to be one of them.. the program was really an eye-opener and a more in-depth understanding of what's going on after the 7/7 bombings and what's happening to the muslim communities in britain as a whole. you know, the harassment, the blame, the racism... everything. it was like a free speech program led by not only renowned speakers from all over the world, but those who actually made an impact and difference in the firmness of islam in britain and in the world. yes i'm talking about yvonne ridley, dr. zakir naik, nasheed artists like dawud wharsnby-ali, zain bhika and many more.. i just couldn't believe my eyes to be a part of such wonderful unity of muslims, amounting to 22,500 people sitting in one very big auditorium and just shouting the mercy words of "allahu akbar", masha allah, thank you naveed for telling me and bringing me to this auspicious event. i'm forever thankful, hopefully i can come next year!! oh, did i mention it was broadcast live on tv as well??? haha there goes the politicians and head of states - in your face!!

the event finished at 8.30 and there was a big traffic, obviously and then we had to go back to get n's things from his cousin's place and then head back to paddington where the journey itself takes an hour, so we arrived in paddington around 11.30 and i took my shower straight away and accompanied n for his supper and then went back to BH and slept.

woke up really early for heathrow to pick up my parents and now they're here. i'm tired. i'm sleepy. and i'm not feeling very very well. sneezing, blowing, coughing, shivering, the whole package. lol. hopefully, all i need is a good rest and sleep and i'll get better tomoro morning, insya allah, so i dun have to miss my class. :S

i got this from the event on sunday~~
"...one minute of anger is another minute loss of happiness..." when the speaker talked about patience and endurance in allah's tests, be it in how others treat us (esp. the non-muslims) or be it in our life, the harshness and the pain because in the end, it doesn't matter who we are, what we do, how wealthy we are in this life, because the question that allah will ask us is "what did you do with your life?"

all in all, in the end, it doesn't matter where we come from, what defines us the most is, who we truly are. and i'm proud to say... i am a muslimah...

as'kum (peace be upon you) and take care. ;)