2009

Hello 2009. It's been a short trip with 2008. She's already left. And i feel quite guttered honest. I couldn't do much in the past year. Felt there was MUCH more that could've been done. Isn't it always that way. Having the idea that, things always doesn't go YOUR way. But i insist on it. I still think i've wasted too much time on nonesense and nothing productive.

The last few laps of 2008 was led by a trip to paris, of which i promised MORE photos, and also london. I just got back from the city and arrived in Bicester Town. Crashing over a friend's place for New Year and the first day of 2009. Seemingly, i've learned alot since the last new year.

Many have struck my mind. Ideas and thoughts which might've intrigued me earlier. Lying in the midst of growing up, possibilities and opportunities were the chase. In such an ambigious race towards what i might call; LIFE, made me wonder as well if it was all worth it.

Another year in the foreign land has made me a different person. 2008 witnessed the many frustrations, happiness, anger, depression and lots more from the inner heart of me. Some of which i don't even want to express. In fear i would only bother myself.

A year ago, i thought it was the most perfect year ahead! Everything planned out, carefully straightened and sorted. But Allah has His ways with His subjects. Everything happens for a reason. I've learned that well in enough. Mama has taught me to accept what Allah has laid out for you and make the best out of it.

People tend to forget, we are mere humans. Humans with minds which think and re-act to certain situations with effective means. For everything that happens, even with the strength of our wisdom, fail to apprehend, happens for a reason.

Reasons of which you need to logically form within your scope of mind. 2009, i hope would bring the best of me and of everyone else. Last year's resolution, Alhamdulillah, most of them have been achieved. And some others? Being achieved. InsyaAllah with His blessings and prayers, it will all happen smoothly.

For this year, i propose to myself, a life without hassle and a disciplined one. A life where i would greatly appreciate things more! I wish for 2009 to be a lovely year. Eventhough now, Gaza and Israel are fending each other off. I still think there's a way for everything. In time, we'll see.

InsyaAllah, i will try to keep my promises fulfilled to Allah, parents, family and friends. With what strength that's in me.

To bring it all up, i wish all a Happy New Year. And may Allah bless you. May this new year be an auspacious one. Prosperous and bring great fortune to all.

I'd also like to ask for forgiveness if ever i have faulted. For i am still learning.

Wassalam.

Hilmi
2009

A snappy holiday

heyya. My oh my. I've taken so many photographs, that im so lazy to have a look at them and bother to upload. hahahaha.

I've uploaded a part of the Paris photos on my flickr though. It's still uploading whilst i do this. Hmm tomorrow, i'm leaving for Bicester. Kak fida and Lubi are doing a 'makan2' for us at their place. Seemingly, their house is just a stone throw away from Bicester Village. I think i posted something about it before. It's a village where branded goods are sold. BUT at a cheaper price. It's last season's stuff. But heck. I care? no i dont. i love some of the stuff they had. I'm sure i'll pick up somethng tomorrow.

Speaking of picking up, i picked up a nice cardigan from Tommy Hilfieger, the ONLY thing i spent on Boxing Day. hahahahah funny. Cost me about 60 quid it did. Painful. But really warm. I could wear it to class and at home :D

London's next on sunday. A whole four day trip with my brother. Planned up quite alot of things. Was thinking if we can even get IN the Madame Toussauds this time. I wonder.

Busy busy as a babbling bee...... i need to catch up on my sleep. I've been waking up early. Rising shine in the morning. I shouldn't. I just turned 20 a month ago. And i'm sleeping proper. That's not right. Blargh!

Oh and we bought a few games for the PC today. Assassin's Creed is the bomb! Though, they could saman the main character's voice. For being so 'reading the script' voice. Ergh... Oh and the highlight of today!!! As the picture above hints, we went and watch the Aston Villa vs. Arsenal game today. It was at the Villa Park. Seated at M1 Doug Ellis stand, we saw everything crisp and clear. Got about 300 shots of the game. hahahahha crazy!!!

Anyways, it's clocked at 2.45 now. Gonna head to bed. The air bed that is. It IS comfortable u know. When u have a nice comfy comforter of course ;)

good night!!

Salam.

Merry Christmas!

Eiffel Tour

Just a sneak peek at what i saw in Paris. Magnifique? Don't you think?

:)

Je mapelle...

Oooh la la.. I just got back from Paris! The land of Romance and love. Very lovely. Nice people. :)

But i'm really tired. Sorted out things in the house. Luggage. Clothes. Laundry...Haih..

Was viewing the photos i took in Paris. Not as NICe as the ones i took in ROME! Reason?

Sky was as dull like nobody's problem on the first day out... the next day, it came out nice. BUT my battery pack went out... so yeah... some day huh?

But some of them looks great. Am loving the camera...

updates soon!

Merry Xmas all..

Cooked up

Hey all!

I'm really sorry for not being able to update recently. These few days were packed with sleeping and lots more of that. Hahahah. Also my brother has JUST arrived yesterday. We've already had lots of fun. More to come in the next few weeks ;)

It's great having him here. At least, i HAVE something to do. And someone to be around :) Last year, i didn't get to celebrate New Year in the UK. So this year, perhaps in London insyaAllah. I've planned up ALOT of things. Phew.. thanks to papa and mama for their support, i've got a few trips lined up for us.

First off (cause some of them aren't confirmed yet!) we have a trip to the romantic city of Paris this Sunday. Flying from Birmingham to Charles De Gaulle. Will be staying there for about.....3 nights? Good enough for a short euro trip. The hotel itself HAS caused the big damage. Silly me didn't do a good job organizing stuff earlier. Haih.

We then have the Bicester Village trip. Basically, it'll be killing two birds with one stone. Morning till afternoon (depends on the sale!) and enjoying a good evening dinner with kak fida and lubi at their house. It'll be great! A fun time i reckon. Bicester is famous for their branded clothings which HAVE been slashed off prices. So i thought, it'd be a good time to go. Especially AFTER boxing day ;)

Oh and speaking of Boxing day, me and my brother will be watching the ARSENAL vs. ASTON VILLA match at the Villa Stadium here in Birmingham. On a bombshell, Fairuz helped HEAPS in getting the tickets. As they were QUITE sold out :P

London...is the trip i haven't really thought over. Perhaps 29th - 1st of January. Or perhaps 2nd? Cause Ayu and Fairuz would only arrive back home on the 3rd anyway. So no one's at home :)

Me and Fairuz then thought of an ingenious plan! The few days before ilham goes back, we thought a trip to Manchester and Liverpool would be great! Everton, Old Trafford, Manchester City and liverpool... woooooooo..hahahhaha

Hmm so far that's what i've PLANNED. I hope it'll be as i planned. InsyaAllah with Allah's permission.

Oh and yes, i've submitted my final essay for THS just this afternoon. Brought ilham around the campus. To show him what my classes and faculty is like. :) He somehow likes the computer hub. har har har. Who wouldn't. When it is covered with 10-12 Macs and Extra flatscreens. Hahahha.
My earphones went bad a few days ago. Lost the mesh for the tip. SO had to get a new one. Saw this beauty ( if Apple didn't keep finishing their stocks), i wouldve gotten the APPLE in ear headphones.. which costs the same with this. Had a try just now. And it works pretty darn good :)

Truly on a bombshell, that would be my plans for the weeks to come. :) Will be posting photos from Paris once i'm back insyaAllah :)

Till next time!

Hilmi R.

Breathe

It's been awhile...


and i'd like to take a breather. with the winter cold winds blowing. Outside my window God works it all out..

Eid Adha

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha kepada semua mulimin dan muslimat di seluruh dunia. Dan kepada mereka yang sedang mengerjakan ibadah Haji, moga Allah merahmati anda semua.

A happy Eid Adha to all muslims around the world. To the pilgrims, i wish you all the best and may Allah reward you with what's best for he is the All-Knowing and Kind.

Hilmi R.

Swan Lake

Hi everyone,

how was your saturday? Mine was VERY productive. I had my magazine stuff done (not much) the night before. And a few hours ago i had some touching up with it as well.

interesting thing today was, i went to the park AGAIN, this time with andy (again) and photographed nature's best. Swans, birds, people and the lake. It was beautiful. Pretty and astounding! I just feel peaceful when i get so close with my creator's creations.

Anyway, there's lots more to do with my assignments. So i wont be updating much so soon. Tomorrow, i'm planning to do the FCUK photo session. It'll be fun. i promise ;)

anyways, more info soon! i'm totally knackered.

Goodnight! Salam.

Hilmi R.

December

Hi all,
first of all, a happy birthday to ALONG!

sorry i haven't been updating. To those readers who wouldn't want to say anything, but keep dropping by. Thanks :)

Anyway, it's the 4th of December. DECEMBER?! WOW! Time does fly! Faster every minute. I suppose it does when you are all caught up with the many things ahead and past of you. I've been back in the UK for about 3 months now. Man, and i thought i wont get through. Alhamdulillah all is well. Though there was bumps here and there. Support from family and friends couldn't have been better ;) thanks guys.

Anyway, updates on my daily activities! Hmm let's see. On monday, Bal and Phil (lecturers) agreed on my idea and told me to proceed. Hah! I haven't said much about the FCUK brief here eh? So yea, i have quite abit to think about before posting it for viewing :)

The next day, Michael needed some help with photography in the studio for HIS FCUK idea. Good lad. I LOVE his idea. Hahaha it's REALLY out of the box! We shot a few exposures and results were splendid. I was quite happy. Michael a.k.a art director for the shoot was happy (i hope)... and the models? enjoyed and had fun we did! Yam joined us after a few shots. So we then had MORE fun with lighting and the studio. Hahaha we were asked ' You guys done yet?' by the technician cause we didn't want to leave :P

Wednesday passed by like a candle light. i slept quite late that morning and forgot to throw out the thrash! God. I'm so sorry. Apologies to Ayu and Fairuz for not remembering to throw out the thrash. Gomenasai!! I hope it didnt affect that much. Cause i tried to clear it out and put it outside at the dump site. So yeah, i'll remember next time. I feel like a d**k. Now, moving on! Wednesday was quite a breeze. And chill. CHILL. VERY chilly. It was -4'C the night i was doing my Magazine layouts. My goodness, my arse froze like nobody's problem. hahahaha. My toy arrived that morning as well. hehehe ordered a MUNNY from amazon. It's a really neat thing. It makes u think creatively and makes u want to be creative! Having fun at a blank canvas. I totally salute kidrobot for such an effort ;)

MUNNY!

Today was rather light. I didn't do much in the morning. At aroun 2am, i went to bed and dozed off till morning. Woke up and was so lazy to go for NewTechnologies. It was cold, rainy and i was all comfy in bed. But yes, i pushed myself and got ready. i was in class a little LATE. But i was there nonetheless. We were having a lecture on GAME DESIGN. Interactivity and how games were and still are designed for certain target audiences and etc.

Very interesting, but found it rather draggy in the middle. The usual :P

I then joined Amar and Sneha for lunch. We had vegetarian burgers at the Gosta Green Pub. Hahaha it tasted weird. But filling. Hehehe good enough for me. Discussed some things regarding our current on goings and headed back to Uni. I was in a tensed situation of not knowing WHERE to print my soon to finish magazine. It's so hard to find printers around here who would do 10-15 pieces of magazines. Anyway, more on that later on.

SO yeah, now i'm here writing away about what most wont even bother to read or think about. Hope i'll get my essay for THS and magazine layouts done by tonight. God speed.

InsyaAllah all will be smooth and done on time.

Till next post.

Salam :)

Hilmi

Sheikh Yusuf Estes: Beat Women in Islam? Their High Value

i just love this dude. :) May Allah bless your soul good sir :) he makes islam sense to logic and it works!

What im trying to say is, whatever's in the Quran, there's a reason behind EVERYTHING. And the reasons are clear in front of you. :)

JazakallhuKhair