English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

Let me first introduce myself. I was born on the 1st of December in the year of the tiger. I am a Sagittarius. Born in the city of lights, Kuala Lumpur. I was given the name Saidatul Noorasyikin. I believe the meaning of my name is Light of Lovers. Lovers? I wonder.

I am the first of four siblings. Being the eldest, I am always called bossy among my family. Well, I do not consider myself to be bossy, it is just that I am always right. According to me. I would say I have creative fingers. I love to make beautiful things. One of my specialities is baking cute little cupcakes. I love baking for my family and relatives. Anytime we have a family gathering, it is a must for me to bring at least 2 boxes of baby cuppies.

Okay, let me go back through time. I want to tell you about my education background. Yeah. I know it sounds boring. But writing a journal on a Saturday morning is kind of boring too. Hehe.

When I was 5 years old, my late grandmother entered me into a small malay based kindergarten in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. By the way, she was the head of the school of that time, but I did not know that. Now that I think

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

about it, no wonder I was given special treatments by the teachers. I hardly remember any of my friends there.

The next following year, my mother, or as I call her ibu, entered me to a different pre-school, St. Fatima Kindergarten, located at the foot of Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. It was a Catholic based school. There, I made a few friends that I could remember their names. My two best friends from St. Fatima were Fatin and Shaja.

As for the primary and secondary education, ibu entered me into SK Convent Bukit Nanas and SMK Convent Bukit Nanas. One of the many reasons she entered me and my sisters there is because ibu used to go to that school as well.

Once I graduated secondary school, I was accepted to further my studies in Universiti Teknologi Mara. I studied Architecture and graduated with a B(Sc) in Architecture after 4 long years of torture. Well, it was not that bad. I have gained a lot of experiences and a lot more memories during that duration.

My passion was not Architecture anymore after I have graduated. I have lost a part of myself and I did not know how, when or why. I went into this period that ibu called “soul searching”. Frankly speaking I did not come from a religious or pious family. I would consider my family normal. Nothing too extreme. One day I had fallen into a deep and dark hole. And I took that a my turning point. Allah gave me His light and showed me His righteous path.

So here I am today. I have chosen KIPSAS as part of my new life. A new life and hopefully a better one. We have made our own plans, but Allah also has made His plans for us. Most certain He has the better plan. I hold to that believe and followed my heart. It might be a few years too late, but remember, Allah saves the best for last, InsyaAllah.

So until my next entry. XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

It’s a nice weather today here in KIPSAS. I am sitting here at Porch Dato’ writing to you. I really miss my family since I’ve been here. I can only visit them one every full moon. So I am going to talk about them.

Let me start with my dad, or as I call him Ayah. Ayah was born in Taiping, Perak on the 29th July, 1962. He was the first of five siblings. He is currently working for Prokhas Sd. Bhd. as an Executive Officer. During his free time, he loves to take photos. He is a part time photographer. He usually takes photos of wedding ceremonies and corporate functions. Ayah is very passionate about photography and cameras than he own at least 7 digital SLRs.

Then of course, there is my mother. I call her Ibu. Ibu was born in Kuala Lumpur on the 15th of October, 1959. She went to the same school as I did, SK and SMK Convent Bukit Nanas. She was the third child out of 6 sibling and was the only girl in her family. Loves to watching cooking programmes, even though she only cook two to three times a week.

Ibu and Ayah met when they were both working in Taiping. They fell in love and got married. On the 1st December that same year, I came into this world. Exactly three years later, my sister was born. We have the same birthdate, which is kind of cool right? Her name is Saidatul Noramalina, and she have just completed her Diploma in Broadcasting and Film from Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University. Her favourite food is Red Velvet Cupcakes, she always requested me to bake for her.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Next in line is my second sister, Saidatul Norhalisya. She is the third out of my siblings of four. She have also just completed her Degree in Finance from Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam. She loves fashion just like me. We have a lot of things in common. One of the things that we love to do together is going to maulids and taa’lims together. Oh, and we both love CHOCOLATE! May it be in the form of cakes, candies, milk, you name it, we will have it. We love each other’s company. By the way, all three of us went to same school as Ibu. It is some sort of a legacy.

The last one in my family is my little brother, Saiful Nor Adzhar. He was born on the 15th of May, 1993. He is currently studying for his Diploma in Broadcasting & Film at Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University. He used to study at St. John’s Institution, Bukit Nanas, which is located next to my old school. He loves shooting films and of course he loves girls. Well, all boys do right?

Well journal, I think that is all for now. I am going to have my lunch now. Write to you soon! XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

It is me again. I hope you are not bored yet with my babblings. So today I think I am going to talk to you about my Ramadhan in KIPSAS. Class started about the same time as Ramadhan starts. How appropriate. At first, I was kind of worried whether I can cope with both challenges at the time. Starting class and going through fasting month at the same time. But Alhamdulillah, it was not that bad. I love Ramadhan in KIPSAS. It really helped me to discipline myself while I am adjusting to the change. And I love the fact that the mosque is only 200 metres away from our hostel.

Every day, there will be a tazkirah held after Zohor. Most of the topics discussed were about fasting, Sunnah during Ramadhan and other things that are Ramadhan related.

Another thing that is new to me is having iftar at the masjid. The masjid here provide iftar for the students that want to break their fast in the masjid. It is such a lovely tradition. And I really hope that this tradition will continue in the years to come.

Every night there will be tarawekh, of course. The masjid here will conduct 20 rakaahs of terawekh plus 3 withir. But to be honest, I normally only do 8 rakaahs, 12 the most.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Well that is all that I want to share with you my dear journal, at least for now. I am late for terawekh. I will write t you soon, XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

Tonight is one of the scariest night of my life. It is the eve of our choral speaking contest. My team and I decided to have our last minute practice at our usual spot near Dewan Utama. But we were not in luck. Another group had taken that spot, so we decided to take the staircase next to it. That place was a little bit dark compared to our normal spot, but beggars can’t be choosers. We started our practice at 9 o’clock. There were a few other teams practicing near us. So a little competition started to show who is the loudest. During practice Madam Farah came by to watch us one last time. But she had to leave early because she had brought her baby with her.

Suddenly, we smelled something stinky. Rotten. Some of the girls wanted to change place, but at the end of it, we decided to stay. Some of the girls started to feel a little bit weird. Fifi asked for take five. The three girls for the last row, Fifi, Atie and Timah went to the back of the dewan to have a seat while the rest kept talking and giving suggestions to me to improve our choral speaking.

I heard a loud shriek form the back row. Everybody turned their back to see what was going on. Timah was the only one standing. She shouted “It wasn’t me!!!”. And called out my name to come over. I did not understand what was going on so I asked her why. At that tme I heard

another shriek coming from somewhere near Timah. In a split of a second, I saw Atie standing up and running away from us towards the old admin building.

Everyone was in panic mode. I had chills running down my spine. The hairs on my back were already standing. Dhiah came to me and I hold her hand. The other girls were running, scattered all over. Then a saw a whole group of boys were running in the way that Atie went. They were chasing Atie. I heard someone saying “She’s running towards the field!!” Atie was long gone from my sight. I heard they said they saw Atie jumping over the hedge as she was running and fell. But Atie quickly stoop up and continued running. Somehow

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

another group of boys managed to caught Atie and stop her. They had to hold her thighly to avoid her from running away. At that time I saw Naqi and a few other boys from my class. Naqi asked us how we were doing and told us to go back to our hostel. I hold Dhiah’s hand tightly and asked her the recite Ayatul Qursi. We walked together towards out hostel. On our way back, we caught up with Fifi. Once we have reached out hostel we went straight to Ika’s room. Ika is the head of our block. We explained to her what happened and her to conduct a Yassin recitation session with the whole block.

That night most of the Islamic Media girls slept together. Nurin slept with me in my bed while Fiza and Dhiah slept together. There 5 of us in my room, C409, included Fifi who slept in the top bed.

That was the end of one of the most terrifying night of my life. It was my first time going through an incident like that. Really, I do not want to have to go through it again, ever.

So journal, this has been quite a long entry. I am pretty tired now. I will write to you later. XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

It’s Sunday today and I am still in KIPSAS. It is a rare occasion that I’m stuck here. I would normally to back to my home in Kuala Lumpur. Oh, home sweet home. Well, let us put that aside. Yesterday I had a blast! It is my first weekend here in KIPSAS. So my friends decided to take out and enjoy Kuantan. They wanted to go to Telok Chempedak. I have never been there since I have entered KIPSAS.

The four of us, which includes Atie, Dhiah and my roommate, Dayah got ready and put on our best outfits. Of course, we were going out of KIPSAS!! Excited!! Sometimes, girls just want to have some fun. I drove them there, but of course Dayah showed me the way. I don’t even know how to get to Megamall without going around Kuantan a few rounds. Hihi.

Once we’ve arrived the first thing we wanted to do was fill our stomach. We were so hungry because we did not have time for breakfast. We wanted to try the local cafe there, I believed it was call Kafe Hutan Batu. Don’t quote me on that. But it wasn’t open yet. So yet agreed to have Burger King instead.

After lunch we decided to take walk along the beach. One funny incident happen that time. Dayah was holding a cup of fizzy drink, leftover from our lunch. She was so excited. She was walking so fast in front of us suddenly I

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

heard a loud girly scream. A monkey came towards her and took the drink away. Everybody was looking at her. I heard some giggled. Her face was white as ghost. And we all laughed at her.

The walk was beautiful. They made a pathway for visitors to walk on from one side of the beach to another side which was a little bit secluded. It was a very beautiful scenery. We managed to snap some photos of us together.

It was already 5 o’clock. We wanted to head back to KIPSAS, but before that we wanted to try Kafe Hutan Batu’s famous RM5 Chicken Chop. So we went there and ordered our food and have an early dinner.

We went back to KIPSAS with a full stomach, feeling happy and blessed for such a lovely day we have had had day. So that’s all I want to share with you my dear little journal today. Later! XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

I have to write to you again today to fulfil my English assignment requirements. I hope you are not too bored with all my occasional ramblings. Today I want to share with about my new roommate in KIPSAS. I have never mention before this that my room, C 409 has only 3 occupants. That includes me, Fifi and Dayah. So we have decided to add another roommate.

Meet Oyenn!! Oyenn is a little young cat, ginger in colour. She is a female. She has short fur and long tail. We found her near our hostel. The first time we saw her, she was playing with her sister that was identical to her, accept for the fact that her sister was short tailed.

We picked up and brought her back to our room. Oyenn is very friendly. She loves playing on my bed. Sometimes she even sleeps in it with me. We would feed her leftovers from our food such as chicken and fish. Sometimes we would buy her some sausage from the café.

Oyenn is so cute. She is very playful. One of her favourite things to play with in our room are our hanged clothes and dresses. She would hide under our clothes and try to catch our feet as we walk by.

So that’s all about Oyenn. I will tell you more stories whenever I have the time. Write to you soon. XOXO.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

Dear Journal,

Today is the day of our inter class choral speaking competition. After last night’s incident (Atie’s hysteria) we didn’t have enough sleep. We didn’t even finished our practice last night.

Earlier this morning, we woke up and got ready for show time. The girls wanted to have one last rehearsal before we got on stage. So we gathered outside the hall to rehearse. Madam Farah was with us for moral support. To our surprise, Atie managed to join in as well.

The script was too long. The girls wanted to omit some of the lines and shorten the script last minute. So we decided to cut the last part and continue straight to the closing line.

The competition was about to start. We were called inside. We were the fifth to present on stage. So we waited patiently for our turn. The first group to present was pretty impressive. As we waited, the girls wanted to gather one last time. Everyone was nervous. We hold each other’s hand at the back of the hall and prayed that Allah ease our mission for the day.

English Journal From the Desk of Saidatul Noorasyikin bt Rosmainoor

(PID 14150)

The MC called out our group. We split into two groups and took our place as discussed earlier. Being the conductor and group leader, I cannot show my nervousness.

“In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most kind”, the girls recited. I was very proud of them. Every words that came out of their mouth sounded clear and powerful. Everything went well. Every verse went smoothly. I was happy, and content. I heard some ooh’s and ahh’s from the audience. At one point, some even laughed, and some clapped.

And then we came to the last one-third of the script. I counted, 1, 2,

“But, among… !@#$%^&*()_+”, the girls stopped. I held my hands high, whispered to them the lines, and counted again. This time all I could hear was, “But, !@#$%^&*()_+”. Only by the third take, they could recite the line properly. Everyone in hall giggled. All I could do was smile and keep conducting.

When everything ended, we laughed at ourselves for remembering the lines. I was mad, I thought that it was very funny. Madam said, we had a thin chance of being in the top three if we didn’t stumble. I guess it was just not in our luck.

Well, better luck next time girls. We shall redeem ourselves in the next drama competition, insyaAllah. Write to you later journal. XOXO.