A cat made me smile. :)

This happened when I was in my secondary school years in Malaysia. I don't know if it's something unusual or something normal, all I know is - until now, I can't forget what's happened and I don't think I would ever want to forget it.! :) Two cats it was that made me smile - one was orange with white stripe and the other was a black and white cat. Both came when I cried and both turned my frown upside down. :)

As a student who depends on her parents to fetch her from school everyday, when I cannot leave the school before 1:50 pm, I'd have to wait for my mum until 5- 5:30 pm. Waiting until 5:30 would have been fine, IF I only had some friends with me. The only problem was, by 4:30, the school's already empty - leaving me by myself and the security guard. I don't what I was scared of more, the strangers outside or the security guard that was INSIDE the school. I'm a girl - with the crime rates increasing, anything could have happened! At first, I wanted to just let the time fly by doing my homeworks or revising or ANYTHING that'd be useful. I was too scared though. All I could think about was my fate - if there were some people trying to kidnap me, what would I do? If the security guard tried to harm me, how will I defend myself? I even came up with some Kung Fu moves (which I made up myself) just so that I can be prepared if the worst should happen. This came to be sort-of like a norm to me.

On one occasion, I broke down by the canteen's long stool and cried - the canteen was dark, the day seemed to get darker and I spotted a male foreign worker somewhere. I was scared and I didn't know what else I can do. I was technically cursing the school for making the extra curricular thing compulsory - I was emotional then, please understand. When I reassured myself that it was for my own good (I think I did xP), I prayed and prayed for my safety, at the same time thinking of ways to defend myself if anything should happen. Right then and there, the orange cat came. It jumped on the long stool I was sitting on and looked at me, smiling 'mee-ow'ing. I knew tears were still coming out of eyes, but this time, I had a smile on my face. For some reason, my heart calmed and I seriously had the feeling that Allah sent the cat to make me feel better. ngee~ I LOVED IT! ^^ Usually, I'd be scared of cats for their claws, and if they tried coming near me, I'd move away. But this one, it came closer and just sat on the stool and I didn't mind that (surprisingly). Believe it or not, I actually talked to the cat - and that made me feel better. :) You can call me weird if you want, I'm just happy to hear whatever you have to say.

The black and white cat came when the weather was not as good as I've hoped. It was raining heavily, the sounds of thunders were banging in my ears and the sky was dark. Hence, the reason why it proved to be even more scarier than the experience before. Before this I sat in the canteen, now I sat in between the canteen and the school's pavement which linked to my old primary school. Whenever I heard the thunder, my heart would tremble, hoping that I won't be struck by the lightning. As before, I prayed and prayed and prayed. And, a cat came out of NOWHERE. Well, it might have come from the curriculum room wall I was leaning against. hihi. Like the cat from before, this cat smiled as well and you cannot imagine how calm that made me feel. I was thankful, amazed and  just happy that, that cat came. Alhamdulilah. My tears of fear were replaced by tears of joy, laughter and just amazement. I just sat down and thought of the cat as my friend. Talking my heart out.

As I've said before, I don't know if both these experiences are something unusual or something normal, all I know is - until now, I can't forget what's happened and I don't think I would ever want to forget it.! :) And thought I'd like to share it in my blog, so that whenever my time comes, my family and friends would know one of those memories which I just LOVE! :)

Assalamualaikum~ ^^

The episode of my change.

When I was young, I committed a LOT of sins. Prayers to me were nothing, wearing the hijab (to cover my aurah) to me was boring and lying to me, was something unavoidable in order to save myself from getting told off - eventhough I knew lying was and IS a sin, and I've done a lot of other sins as well as all that I've listed. I would avoid doing all the compulsory thing wherever possible. Basically, although I was a Muslim and testified that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad (SAW) is His messenger, I don't think I truly believed there will be a Hereafter. I was blinded by this World - having fun seemed to be my main priority in life.

After a couple of years living in ignorance, I finally changed, Alhamdulillah.

It was a beautiful month of Ramadhan. At first, I was reluctant to fast, but, because my parents and my older brother and sister fasted and I was expected to fast as well, I fasted - even though it seemed boring and somewhat a torture to me. All this was out of my own ignorance of course.

Until one fine morning, I thought, "If I have to fast, I might as well wake up early to fill my stomache up, enough for the day". So, I woke up around 4 o'clock in the morning, around an hour and a half earlier than Fajar (subuh - sunrise in english). Because I was young, around 12 or 13 years old back then, I didn't know what to do after waking up that early. Helping my mum cook would be something I'm clueless about. And so, I decided to take a shower - four o'clock in the morning - you can imagine how cold it was! After I showered, I had no idea what to do - our house was neat and tidy - meaning I wouldn't be able to pass the time by tidying up (although I felt like wanting to be a good girl).

Since I had nothing better to do, I turned on the TV. The first channel that came on had a man reciting the Quran. Out of foolishness, I changed the TV to other channels in the hope of some cartoons. Fortunately for me,  Cartoon Network was unbearably boring and most of the other cartoon channels didn't have any cartoons on air due to the time of day. So, I thought I might as well go to the first channel rather than sticking my face on Cartoon Network. I listened to the recitation of the Quran and read the translation (tafseers) of the verses that was on the screen and my heart trembled with fear as I read and listened more attentively. I think it was a verse about the states of the people of Hellfire.  And then, a verse about the states of the people of Paradise. My heart trembled with fear, all I wanted to do was cry and cry and all I prayed for was my safety from the Hellfire. Because I didn't want my mum to see me cry, I tried to keep it all inside me.

After that one unforgettable experience, I changed. I started praying five times a day, started having an interest in learning more about Islam and just keeping myself occupied with good deeds rather than bad. Wearing the hijab was not an embarrassment to me anymore, I saw it as a MUST thing to do in order to save myself from Hell and get myself closer to Allah SWT. Alhamdulliah, until now I'm thankful for that experince to Allah as it has changed me to a better person - even my families were surprised with my changes (I think). I don't think I have ever told them this story though, even though I've been asked by one of them before why I've changed. Subbahanallah Wal hamdulillah Wa la ila ha illahu allah hu akbar. Who knows, I might have been granted this hidayah because of some people's prayers. For all those people, I thank you! :) May we be among the guided ones and saved from Hell. ameen~

Why am I telling you this story?

A lot of people has been wondering how and why I've changed. Well folks, that was the answer to your question. Please do note that I am still a normal human being and I still do have a lot to learn. So, please do correct me when I'm wrong and please forgive me for all my wrongdoings.

Thank you, Assalamualaikum.~ ^^

My restaurant has NO doors, but it DOES have an entrance. :)

It's been quite a while since I've played Restaurant City. No, let me rephrase that - It's been AAAGES since I played Restaurant City on FaceBook. After getting back on it today, truthfully, I wasn't surprised why I left it for such a long time - the restaurant was horrible! I think it was a plan gone wrong or something.

At first, looking at it - I was like "Nahh..I ain't playing this thing again. It looks too awful!".

The trouble with me - I want my restaurant to be like all those other famous five-star restaurants. That's not a weakness - rather, it should be a motivation, right? But hey, I thought it looked so horrible that it own't be worth my time to play on it anymore. But then it hit me!

  "Nabihah, if you intend on making a business, you can't just give up everytime things don't go as how you've planned!" 

And that my friends was the start of my newly-found inspiration to keep on playing the game! haha xD. It's AMAZING how you can relate a game to reality just to make yourself 'work' harder. You see, I've been wanting to start my own business when I get back home in Malaysia - possibly start selling at my university. Selling and studying - that'll be one of my dreams come true. :) That is of course - if Allah wills. ^^ The world of business, as I understand, will not be as easy as this game - there'll be loads more risk and loads more problems on the way. So, that's how I came to that kind of conclusion - to never GIVE UP! ngee~! :D

The picture above is my restaurant after that 'inspiration' I had. Notice that it doesn't come with doors but has a maze for a garden? Well, that's so that I can buy time and reduce the number of 'complaints' I'd get from my beloved customers. :) However, I felt I could buy some more time - which led to this:

I know - the tiles needs to be changed, and I need to find a better way of buying time since this one looks horrible! I'm broke at the moment and so, highly doubt I can add that much to the restaurant with such little money.

Whatever happens to the restaurant, I think I'll just let it happen because NOW is the time for me to get back to reality! 

Assalamualaikum~ ^^