Intricate Details

Today, I felt the pain of rejection but at the end of the day, I felt the warmth and comfort of being in the company of my family and love. For that, I’m more than thankful. Alhamdulillah.

Busy is an understatement. I thought the previous workplace was busy enough. But this is a whole new level of busy. We’re rushing through everything every single day, what sad lives we live.

Yup, the moment I’m feeling much better, that’s when another wave of negative emotions come in caused by external factors. And it is only February. Nice.

I’ve always been able to stay positive internally, regulate and rationalise my inner emotions but since the year started, oh god, how difficult it has been. One after another.

Yes. I.am.so.tired.

It has not been a breezy start to the year but I’ve always been reminding myself that with patience, everything will be alright. I’ve been a little more emotional these days for reasons I do not even know why. Nonetheless, through all these challenges, I know that Allah knows best and may He grant me the strength through everything. It’s probably time for me to take a step back again and reflect on the reminders He might be giving me through all these. Ultimately, may Allah protect us and keep us away from harm. Amin.

At a stage where I’m just like, okay whatever.

Final day! We’re finally heading back home. I have so many things to be thankful for in this trip. One of it would be the opportunity to meet the chinese muslims here. We went to one of the halal eateries and when we wanted to leave, the shopkeeper didn’t want to accept the full amount of the money. He said we are muslims and that it was alright. Masya Allah, I think the best part of this trip was seeing fellow Chinese Muslims giving the salam and practising Islam. I feel so touched to see how our religion unites different races. Alhamdulillah.

We got back in Shanghai in the morning and the rest of the day was spent shopping. Since it was Christmas Eve, Nanjing Road was so filled with people. It’s a nice atmosphere though minus the people. Oh well.

The waves were pretty bad considering that we were in the great big ocean. Quite a number of us got seasick so the whole day was spent resting. It was a good rest with nothing to do for the day.

As always, we arrived in the early morning and set out for the tour after breakfast. Unfortunately, it was raining and the wind was really strong. It got really cold!

We visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museum and it was a really nice experience! I loved the amount of history and information there. It would have been better if we had more time and a smaller, quieter crowd to appreciate the exhibition. Sadly, the rain was too heavy for us to explore the park behind it which is called Ground Zero. This was where the bomb exploded 500m above the ground.

After that, we headed to Peace Park where we walked in the rain. That was where one of the prisons was located before it got destroyed by the bomb.

Since the tour ended early, the three of us decided to explore the area near our ship in the cold, rainy weather. It was a good experience though and I’m glad I was in the right attire. I developed a stronger love for Nagasaki compared to Fukuoka. I loved seeing how their houses are on slopes, with mountains at the back, looking all rustic and unique. We stopped by a souvenir shop near the cruise terminal and one of the shopkeepers was reading through the ingredients for us. She said that the snack was suitable for muslims. Masya Allah, I had no words to describe that moment. It was so, so heartwarming to see how these Japanese are so well-mannered and considerate. Alhamdulillah for the opportunity to experience such a beautiful culture.