Salaam & hallooo again, everyone! Wah it's been 2 years since I last wrote something here hmm. :) Now having my semester break (more like nearing it's end) and felt it's time I should put up a new post at least once, as what I had promised to a friend studying in Syria.. Just two weeks more to go and soon I'll be starting my 3rd year insyaAllah! Busy, busy phase ahead.

But before that happens, I'm glad Hajjar suggested climbing up Bukit Timah last Saturday morning. Saw it as a chance to mentally train myself for the tougher core modules I'll be facing too haha. Since I had always wished to go Mount Stong and Ophir with Saff Perdaus but never could, guess it'd be good to see if I can withstand the much smaller version first. Pictures credit: Bro Halim.




On the day itself I was woken up by flashes of lightning and thunder at 4am! Pretty worried if we had to cancel our plan, but thankfully by the time I met my APEX Irsyad friends at the Visitor Centre it was raining less heavily. Sat down and had our very filling potluck breakfast, and ahh Khairiana's baby carrots wtih Asparagus & Cream cheese dips were really yumyumm! It was still drizzling so we ventured out to a nearby playground at Hindhede Park, and there were trampoline and ropes to swing around! It was fun enough watching the girls jumping on the not-so-bouncy canvas and playing catch :D We finally began trekking when the skies cleared around 10+..






Although I initially thought that we're going to take the usual concrete pavement to the summit, things got quite exciting when we decided to trudge the more difficult route, climbing looong continuous series of high steps and muddy twigs-laden grounds. Had to go up and down many many times that I kept getting out of breath and seriously weak in the knees! Couldn't talk much throughout the climb with my barely enough energy haiz..

But despite the extra toughness of this route, I'm pleased with how closer we got to experience nature in the depths of all those greenery. Stepping onto uneven soil, steadying ourselves against the trees when descending, looking out over the edges and slopes which were just on our right side (with the frequent shout-outs "keep left!" :D) .. and even coming across wonderful features like the mini-waterfall below.






Just when I started to get all happy as we emerged out into the main pavement, I spotted this towering flight of steps up ahead which stretched far beyond what my eyes could reach! It was super duper high it even looked monstrous >_< Called the Summit Path, this was really the final lap to the top. But little did I know what's bound to come.. What felt like climbing endlessly soon turned into the most excruciating punch I could no longer deal with.

In an instant the dizziness hit me and it got so hard to breath. Really felt like passing out there and then, asking people to just go ahead without me. But in those blurry moments I saw Rayhan reaching out her arm for me to grasp, some others reassured to endure a lil bit longer (Asyraf even exclaimed an encouraging "Allahu Akbar! Go Diyana!!" hahah) and Safa kindly offered to carry my bagpack. MasyaAllah.. so nice of them! With all the help given and the tiny bit of strength left, the summit was eventually in sight and conquered! Alhamdulillah~ yaaahooo!! :D




In a nutshell, I felt the trip was a very humbling one for me: of seeing the weakness within, and the greatness of heart that Allah has endowed in others around me.. Grateful to be in the company of such cheerful sisters and brothers, who are always full of amazing humor but still encouraging the remembrance of Him. Alhamdulillah! =) And now that I've tasted the rigors of Bukit Timah, maybe I won't be going for the other two after all =P