keep moving forward.

The last part of my wonderful adventure took place at East Coast Park. We rented bicycles and I finally rode mine feeling the freedom I deserved to feel. Pushed off and pedalled like nobody was there to overshadow me. I cycled with the wind. With every breath I lost, I took in tranquility. I never looked back. I kept moving forward.

One lesson I'd learn as our journey started to end, was to trust Allah's plan. We have dreams, ambitions and goals, but at the end of the day, Allah is The Best of All Planners. We plan, but the Almighty's Plan overrides all plans.

The ebb and flow of uni life had made me lose my trust in Allah's plan. Not completely, but a significant amount. It affected me, yes, but it made me learn a great deal why I can only trust Allah in this life if I want to make it through to the next.

My mistakes do not define me. 

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.

— Henry Ford

This is a fight that I can win. Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." 

If love alone is worth the fight, then I deserve to love myself. Know that;

Allah has a purpose for your pain,
a reason for your struggles,
and a reward for your faithfulness.

"...the happiest people are those who are strongest in their love of God." (as said by Imam Ghazali r.a.)

stay kind, beautiful and loving,
Nurul xx

remindful of.

Ah, the rubber seed. Such a tiny little thing for its a massive role in my growth. Back when I was working at Singapore Art Museum, I loved being assigned to Isabelle Desjeux's exhibit, 1000 Rubber Seeds and One Mutant. I memorised my lines, I fell in love with the concept and I grew as a person. I learnt how to love failures for what they are. I loved the interactions I had, the drawings I gave and the lessons I kept.

If a word could be defined in a journey, this word would be: reminiscent.

As pensive as I am, taking a walk with two good friends certainly helped put things in perspective. Only God knows how much this has helped me. With all the sincerity in my heart, I do hope that this has helped you too.


She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.

— Elizabeth Edwards

sincerely,
Nurul xx

where have you been?

Not on Pulau NTU, that's for sure. During recess week, I finally took the time to relax and renew myself with my beloved friends (who are in love). *laughs*

Coincidentally, I downloaded an app (candycam) from Google play store so that I could experiment and take good photographs during our excursion. It was definitely an app worth downloading! I truly enjoyed using it.

I was so excited for this trip that I managed to prepare and cook my brunch in ten minutes, and get ready in fifteen. I met up with Dhania and Syahmi, the two lovebirds, as I call them, at Woodlands Bus Interchange. I shall skip the part about taking the wrong bus after the first bus broke down because we had agreed that this is the part that we'll laugh at when we look back at it later.

During the (extended) bus trip, I narrated and reflected a lot of the lessons I've learnt about myself and university life. Thank you for listening with such patience Dhania (and Syahmi – even though you were playing games on your DS).

It's easy for me to let go when I'm with these two loves. We've seen life change, yet this strength still remains. If this friendship has taught me anything, it's this;

"When life changes to be harder, change yourself to be stronger"

much love,
Nurul xx

LEGOLAND Malaysia ☀☁ (part 1.5)

More photo-taking sessions
With the hijabi, muslim kid and painter. Oh, and the flowers and trees!
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We started walking towards our left, and I spot a life-size lego sculpture/model of a hijabi holding a muslim kid's hand (we assumed that it was a mother and son- but it could have been a sister and a younger brother or an aunt and her nephew, you get what I mean). She even had a lego brooch! Impressive!

You can tell in the photos that Kak Shidah didn't really want to have her photo taken, but the last photo was an exception (;

Just when we thought our "photo-taking sessions with the live-scale lego sculptures/models" was over, I spot-

a Lego painter.

I mean, seriously- just look at her palette; do you see any blends? Ms Ye would be disappointed; "Never use paint straight out from the tube," she would always remind us during painting classes back in Goodman campus.

Also, I was fascinated (Nurul, when are you not fascinated at anything?) at the beautiful flowers and plants they had planted around in the park. And yes, real flowers not lego ones.

Look at how beautiful they are, mashaAllah! (:

Well, that's it for part 1.5! Stay tuned for part 2 (;

Stay inspired,
Nurul xx