Assalamualaikum
Its been close to 5 months since ive returned to this blessed country. Many things have happened in this short span of time.
First and foremost, ive grown another year older. Hopefully, wiser and closer to Allah..
Second, my niece Humayraa has grown up so fast that it feels as if it was the first time i carried her at the airport.
Third, job responsibilities have changed (personally feels like I'm a nomad. Not that I'm complaining. Haha). No no not changed. Correction: have been piling.
Fourth, the traffic jam endured daily to and fro makes me miss Canberra so much. How i wish i can just walk to work (dream on).
Fifth, seriously i need to shed the extra kilos and get back into shape ala studies dulu.
the end. :)
P/s: I'll avoid from talking about politics. Just feels better that way :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Selamat Datang ke Malaysia
Assalamualaikum
First posting since I've been back to Malaysia. Definitely missed my family big time.
However, I do miss Australia. Not because of anything in particular, but just because of the clean environment, the tranquility that I experience while living there.
Ever since returning, I've had a hectic life of going through endless traffic jams, facing people with lack of road ethics etc.
Just hope that one fine day, I'll be back. Insya Allah.
First posting since I've been back to Malaysia. Definitely missed my family big time.
However, I do miss Australia. Not because of anything in particular, but just because of the clean environment, the tranquility that I experience while living there.
Ever since returning, I've had a hectic life of going through endless traffic jams, facing people with lack of road ethics etc.
Just hope that one fine day, I'll be back. Insya Allah.
Friday, June 29, 2012
101: Halal Food / Produce: Canberra (Part 3)
Just to introduce some halal products which are readily available from major supermarkets in Canberra.
Steggles. Whole chicken, nuggets, etc. Most of the products are certified halal by the australian federation of Islamic Council (afic). The tip is, I only buy when there is an AFIC logo on the product.
Pacific west. Fish tempura, squid, prawns. Yum.. Be careful when purchasing products manufactured by Pacific West (in Malaysia). Only purchase the ones that have the Malaysian halal logo (jakim). Some of the products are clearly not halal as they use beer batter (mainly for export markets such as in Australia).
Semoga bermanfaat. :)
Friday, June 22, 2012
101: Halal Food / Produce: Canberra (Part 2)
Assalamualaikum
Part 1 was more of the basics should one intend to indulge in some self-cooking. Part 2 is more of introducing the halal restaurants available in Canberra. A disclaimer: The restaurants are based on recommendations by local Muslims, certified joints from 2011 till mid 2012; you might want to recheck again just in case there are any changes after that period :)
(Image source: Google & respective websites)
Halal Restaurants / Fast food etc.
1. Ali Baba - website
Theme: Lebanese, Mediterranean
What is halal? Everything from kebabs, zucchini balls, grilled chicken etc.
Location: Its practically everywhere - Canberra Centre, Civic, Dickson, Gunghalin - Click here for location
Comment: Its like a fast food chain which is available in most suburbs in Canberra. Price ~$5-$20 depending what you order.
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1----------------------7-------10)
Cleanliness: (1---------------------7--------10)
2. Nando's - website
Theme: Portugese
What is halal? Chicken
Location: There's four branches in Canberra namely in Belconnen, Canberra City Centre, Woden and Tuggeranong - Click here
Comment: Argh, that Portugese peri-peri chicken wonder is also available in Australia. No different from the Nando's in Malaysia. I personally would avoid the rice (nasi kunyit??) as its not to my taste. Price range ~$5-$30. A bit pricey, i must say. A quarter meal could stretch you to $15.
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1-------------------------8----10)
Cleanliness: (1------------------------8-----10)
3. Turkish Pide House, Yarralumla - website
Theme: Turkish
What is halal? Everything
Location: 47 Novar St, Yarralumla (its actually beside the Yarralumla Halal Meat store - refer previous posting)
Comment: There are many Turkish pide restaurants in Canberra. But this particular restaurant deserves mention. In my humble opinion, it serves the best kebab and Turkish pide (note: even non-kebab lovers revert to eating kebab after visiting this joint :) ).Price ~$5-$30. By the way, the kebab ($9.50) is so fulfilling that it can last you the entire day)
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1-------------------------9--10)
Cleanliness: (1---------------------7--------10)
4. Roti House - website
Theme: Malaysian
What is halal? Everything
Location: Shop 4, Ground Floor, Ernst & Young Building, 121 Marcus Clarke Street Canberra City ACT 2601
Comment: Well, if you're craving for Malaysian food, here's the place to go. Its the only halal Malaysian restaurant that i know of in Canberra. However, be prepared to pay a premium. A roti canai would take you to ~$6 / piece. If you're hungry and you have many friends to dine with, my suggestion is to order the lauk-pauk and rice to share. The portions are huge. Aussie-style :).
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1--------------6---------10)
Cleanliness: (1----------------6----------10)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are a few more restaurants which are halal. I'll try to add more in the forthcoming postings.
Part 1 was more of the basics should one intend to indulge in some self-cooking. Part 2 is more of introducing the halal restaurants available in Canberra. A disclaimer: The restaurants are based on recommendations by local Muslims, certified joints from 2011 till mid 2012; you might want to recheck again just in case there are any changes after that period :)
(Image source: Google & respective websites)
Halal Restaurants / Fast food etc.
1. Ali Baba - website
Theme: Lebanese, Mediterranean
What is halal? Everything from kebabs, zucchini balls, grilled chicken etc.
Location: Its practically everywhere - Canberra Centre, Civic, Dickson, Gunghalin - Click here for location
Comment: Its like a fast food chain which is available in most suburbs in Canberra. Price ~$5-$20 depending what you order.
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1----------------------7-------10)
Cleanliness: (1---------------------7--------10)
2. Nando's - website
Theme: Portugese
What is halal? Chicken
Location: There's four branches in Canberra namely in Belconnen, Canberra City Centre, Woden and Tuggeranong - Click here
Comment: Argh, that Portugese peri-peri chicken wonder is also available in Australia. No different from the Nando's in Malaysia. I personally would avoid the rice (nasi kunyit??) as its not to my taste. Price range ~$5-$30. A bit pricey, i must say. A quarter meal could stretch you to $15.
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1-------------------------8----10)
Cleanliness: (1------------------------8-----10)
3. Turkish Pide House, Yarralumla - website
Theme: Turkish
What is halal? Everything
Location: 47 Novar St, Yarralumla (its actually beside the Yarralumla Halal Meat store - refer previous posting)
Comment: There are many Turkish pide restaurants in Canberra. But this particular restaurant deserves mention. In my humble opinion, it serves the best kebab and Turkish pide (note: even non-kebab lovers revert to eating kebab after visiting this joint :) ).Price ~$5-$30. By the way, the kebab ($9.50) is so fulfilling that it can last you the entire day)
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1-------------------------9--10)
Cleanliness: (1---------------------7--------10)
4. Roti House - website
What is halal? Everything
Location: Shop 4, Ground Floor, Ernst & Young Building, 121 Marcus Clarke Street Canberra City ACT 2601
Comment: Well, if you're craving for Malaysian food, here's the place to go. Its the only halal Malaysian restaurant that i know of in Canberra. However, be prepared to pay a premium. A roti canai would take you to ~$6 / piece. If you're hungry and you have many friends to dine with, my suggestion is to order the lauk-pauk and rice to share. The portions are huge. Aussie-style :).
Ratings:
Food satisfaction: (1--------------6---------10)
Cleanliness: (1----------------6----------10)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are a few more restaurants which are halal. I'll try to add more in the forthcoming postings.
101: Halal Food / Produce: Canberra (Part 1)
Assalamualaikum
I had this posting in mind since its been a year since i arrived in Canberra, Australia. For any Muslim, im sure we would try our very best to search for halal food / produce. I'll start with basics and slowly expand on halal restaurants based on the suggestions by local muslims and my own experience. (*note that all google map locations / streetviews are sourced from Google :)
1. Halal meat (fresh chicken / beef etc)
Location: Shop EG24 Canberra Centre, Cnr Bunda & Petrie Streets Canberra ACT 2601
Comment: There are many brands in Superbarn. However, only Cordina is certified Halal.
b) Yarralumla Meat
What is halal? Mutton, sausages, chicken, beef, pies, nuggets etc.
Location: 45 Novar Street Yarralumla ACT 2600 Tel: (02) 6281 0396
Comment: Initially, this was one of the first places i sourced my meat from. The price is a bit on the premium side. But sometimes they do special promotions on Groupon (for all you coupon lovers!)
c) Jabal Halal Market
What is Halal? Everything!!!
Location: Jabal Halal is located in two areas (i normally visit the one in Holt)
a) 2/104-116 Hardwick Crescent Holt ACT 2615 Tel: (02) 6162 1495
b) 2 Heard Street Mawson ACT 2607 Tel: (02) 6286 7333
Comment: Put it like this, if Mydin Mart is like a one-stop centre for reasonably priced goods, than Jabal is exactly the same except its a fresh food store. Besides meat, Jabal also sells fruits, veggies, nuggets, frozen produce etc. The customer service is good.
d) Belconnen Halal Market
What is Halal? Chicken, beef etc.
Location: 1 Walder Street, Belconnen ACT 2617
Comment: The name of the shop changes a lot (i think). Probably, due to change in ownership (it does happen in Canberra). Its quite cheap here. However, i personally think they should improve on customer service. At times it can be quite slow. Teguran ikhlas :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, so we've covered the basics. Hope it's beneficial. End of Part 1 :)
Friday, June 1, 2012
The search & quest for halal food in Canberra
Assalamualaikum
Just a teaser before I stop blogging for a while (due to exams). I'm planning this short but easy guide in searching for halal food in Canberra based on my relatively short experience & interaction with the community & students here.
Insya Allah, it'll be out once I relieve the headache I'm experiencing. :)
Hope it'll be of benefit to everyone out there.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Examination
As I countdown to the remaining days I'll be here in Canberra, the thought of leaving will always play in my mind.
Exams are near. Hopefully I'll be able to ace it through. This experience has thought me something. Really tough at times.
Autumn is near the end. Winter is here. :)
Monday, May 7, 2012
My cute niece, Humayraa
Humayraa Imani. Such a beautiful name. Eventhough I'm a bit sad to not be able to see her from day 1, but I'm so happy for the joy that Humayraa brings to my family. My parents literally light up when she's with them. And her cuteness & smiles also bring happiness to me eventhough its via skype. :)
I truly pray to Allah may Humayraa be solehah & bring joy to her parents & family.
Wait for Pak Ngah to balik. :)
Sent via BlackBerry® from Vodafone
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Ramblings...
Assalamualaikum.
Interesting few weeks i had. Preparing for mid term etc. Over the past few weeks, ive also encountered new malaysians. The hottest topic that popped out is definitely politics. Well, if they start talking about it, then what do you expect me to do? keep quiet? haha..
From my observation, nearly 100% of all Malaysian students i met, are anti-government. The irony of it is most of them receive scholarships from the government. I'm fine about being critical of the government, for the betterment of the nation as a whole. But the problem is, people tend to over do it.
Lets give some examples. There was this chap who is obviously pro-opposition, started to talk to me about the negatives of the present government. bashing here bashing there (the normal stuff). Then, i started telling him, my assessment of how i see things. First, both the gov or opposition are not angels. Both play around with character assassination, which to me is sick politics. This fella is swindling money, this fella has moral issues, this fella this that. Obviously what i said had silenced the chap. He admitted that he agreed to what i said. Fair enough.
While some may say this is part and parcel of politics, does our beloved Prophet ever asked us to do this? Obviously not. Whilst i acknowledge the weaknesses in the gov, i don't go around bashing them if whatever they do is right (e.g. subsidy rationalisation) and trying to cook up some political mileage saying that you can bring down the pump prices to RM0.90/litre.
There are also some who come and say to me about the racial issues in malaysia. Im all for equal opportunities etc. But, if you really want equal opportunities etc, why not start with a 'simple' issue by the name of education. Why do we still have SJKs and such ? why cant we just have a one school system? Whenever this is brought up, gov or opposition tries to distance from the issue. Then many groups will say its their right for vernacular schools. Why suddenly you want to fight for your right? So we want racial integration and such but still hesitant when it comes to education? Dont get me wrong, im not trying to fan any racial hatred or such. Its just im frustrated at people labelling some quarters of the society racists, denying their rights or saying that they are treated as second class citizens when the fact is, everyone is racist whether they realise it or not. Has the so called treatment prevented any malaysian irregardless of race to be successful in their careers? Has it prevented them from doing business and get filthy rich? Heck, if you look at our neighbour, can the minority race hold the highest position in the army? can he/ she be the PM of the country? racism is everywhere. full stop.
Dont get me wrong. Ive never supported any political parties, let it be the gov or opposition and maybe never will (lets hope i dont eat my words!). But there are times when i just sit and think what the hell is happening to the blessed country by the name of malaysia. Cant we just respect our differences and live in harmony?
Oh well. *drinking coffee and biscuits...**
===================================================================
Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w: Maksudnya: “Sesiapa yang membenci akan perbuatan pemimpinnya (yang maksiat) maka bersabarlah kerana sesungguhnya sesiapa yang keluar menentang pemerintah sejengkal lalu mati, maka dia mati sebagai orang jahiliah”. (al-Bukhari dan Muslim)
Interesting few weeks i had. Preparing for mid term etc. Over the past few weeks, ive also encountered new malaysians. The hottest topic that popped out is definitely politics. Well, if they start talking about it, then what do you expect me to do? keep quiet? haha..
From my observation, nearly 100% of all Malaysian students i met, are anti-government. The irony of it is most of them receive scholarships from the government. I'm fine about being critical of the government, for the betterment of the nation as a whole. But the problem is, people tend to over do it.
Lets give some examples. There was this chap who is obviously pro-opposition, started to talk to me about the negatives of the present government. bashing here bashing there (the normal stuff). Then, i started telling him, my assessment of how i see things. First, both the gov or opposition are not angels. Both play around with character assassination, which to me is sick politics. This fella is swindling money, this fella has moral issues, this fella this that. Obviously what i said had silenced the chap. He admitted that he agreed to what i said. Fair enough.
While some may say this is part and parcel of politics, does our beloved Prophet ever asked us to do this? Obviously not. Whilst i acknowledge the weaknesses in the gov, i don't go around bashing them if whatever they do is right (e.g. subsidy rationalisation) and trying to cook up some political mileage saying that you can bring down the pump prices to RM0.90/litre.
There are also some who come and say to me about the racial issues in malaysia. Im all for equal opportunities etc. But, if you really want equal opportunities etc, why not start with a 'simple' issue by the name of education. Why do we still have SJKs and such ? why cant we just have a one school system? Whenever this is brought up, gov or opposition tries to distance from the issue. Then many groups will say its their right for vernacular schools. Why suddenly you want to fight for your right? So we want racial integration and such but still hesitant when it comes to education? Dont get me wrong, im not trying to fan any racial hatred or such. Its just im frustrated at people labelling some quarters of the society racists, denying their rights or saying that they are treated as second class citizens when the fact is, everyone is racist whether they realise it or not. Has the so called treatment prevented any malaysian irregardless of race to be successful in their careers? Has it prevented them from doing business and get filthy rich? Heck, if you look at our neighbour, can the minority race hold the highest position in the army? can he/ she be the PM of the country? racism is everywhere. full stop.
Dont get me wrong. Ive never supported any political parties, let it be the gov or opposition and maybe never will (lets hope i dont eat my words!). But there are times when i just sit and think what the hell is happening to the blessed country by the name of malaysia. Cant we just respect our differences and live in harmony?
Oh well. *drinking coffee and biscuits...**
===================================================================
Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w: Maksudnya: “Sesiapa yang membenci akan perbuatan pemimpinnya (yang maksiat) maka bersabarlah kerana sesungguhnya sesiapa yang keluar menentang pemerintah sejengkal lalu mati, maka dia mati sebagai orang jahiliah”. (al-Bukhari dan Muslim)
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