We Played Kites

Coming back from a break away from the office, the question asked would definitely be pergi mana? My answer this time is, nowhere. The children are working, it is the year-end after all and Iman, as usual would be working evenings and weekends. Ilyas has recently moved job so no leave there for him.

And we have always planned our year-end holiday for early in the year anyway. No pressure then, although it is not the school holidays. Eirfan doesnt mind it as much as I do, co-incidently..

My do-nothing, tak-pergi-mana time was spent at home doing everything and nothing (you may interpret that as you will). One thing for sure, the kitchen was definitely well-used. We made cakes and cakes and cupcakes (nak kata banyak nye buat cake compared to other days; tapi tak banyak pun in actual fact - yang jadi dan yang tak jadi..), we baked lasagna, tried a new baked chicken recipe.

We also tried a local Trengganu gulai ikan aya recipe which we followed from a 'gerenti jadi' buku masak that I got for RM5 (it was a gift to my hubby who loves nasi dagang with a passion - cheapskate, I know). I'll show some pictures (with the other recipes) later. For now I'll share the chocolate cake topped with chocolate ganache that we made.


We went for a picnic and mandi air terjun. We shopped. We walked. We did the garden; and cut our pokok jejawi which neighbors called cantik and likened our lawn to the tropics garden because of its green-ness. If we sit on our porch, the tree can hide the fact that we spy anyone passing by our front gates (ps you Cronies, or maybe spying on Zarina - haha). But it was too big already. The roots have gone all over the pond. Takut nanti pond pun crack.

And we played kite at Kepong. It was fun. Maybe we'll go play kites again. And get even bigger kites. Something like those that the pros play.

The kites come in many shapes and sizes. We had two, one of them is the bat (I'd love to get the one with the princesses - but Eirfan would surely make a case out of it). Our bat (in the photo at the very top) could almost look like the batman emblem (except that it is a bit fat, come to think of it).

We also flew a fish. It went up high but came down quickly when the wind stopped.

The guy above looked like he's a pro. His kite has got 4 strings and there is this 'zinggg' in the air when his kite cut into the wind. I gaped and just had to take photos (dia buat donno, maintain macho gitu..).

And you cant believe the number of people playing kites here in the afternoons. But the wind is good and the field is vast.

Nothing beats an afternoon in the open space - made even better when you have a kite or two, to fly.

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Something Serious This Time

Sesungguhnya Allah menciptakan Neraka berpintu tujuh.

"Ia ada tujuh buah pintu." Surah Al Hijr Ayat 44

Jibril as datang kepada Rasulullah saw (lalu Rasulullah saw bertanya,) "Wahai Jibril terangkan kepada ku tentang neraka dan panasnya". Lalu Jibril berkata, "Sesungguhnya Allah menciptakan neraka dan Dia nyalakannya seribu tahun sehingga merah. Lalu dinyalakan lagi seribu tahun sehingga memutih. Dia nyalakan lagi seribu tahun sehingga menjadi hitam. Hitam pekat dan gelap. (...)

Kemudian Nabi saw bertanya lagi kepada Jibril, "Wahai Jibril ceritakan kepadaku tentang pintu-pintu Jahanam (...)". Jelas Jibril, "Dari satu pintu ke pintu lain memakan waktu perjalanan tujuh puluh tahun. Tiap pintu lebih panas daripada pintu sebelahnya berlipat tujuh puluh kali."

Kemudian Rasulullah bertanya tentang penduduk pintu-pintu itu. Maka Jibril menjawab, "Pintu terbawah, di sanalah tempat orang-orang munafik. Namanya Hawiyah (...) Pintu kedua tempat orang-orang musyrik. Namanya Jahim. Pintu ketiga tempat orang As Shabiun (orang-orang yang menukar agamanya). Namanya Saqar.

Pintu keempat tempat Iblis dan pengikutnya daripada golongan orang Majusi. Namanya Ladha. Pintu kelima tempat orang-orang Yahudi namanya Huthamah. Pintu keenam adalah tempat orang-orang Nasrani namanya Sair.

Kemudian, Jibril terdiam. Maka Rasulullah saw segera bertanya lagi, "Mengapa engkau tidak menceritakan penduduk pintu ketujuh?" Lalu Jibril menjawab, "Wahai Muhammad, janganlah engkau bertanya aku tentang itu." "Ceritakanlah kepadaku" desak Nabi saw. Kemudian Jibril berkata, "Di situlah tempat orang-orang sombong dari umatmu yang mati sebelum bertaubat."(...)

Lalu Nabi menangis keras sekali.

~Mukashafah Al Qulub

Selawat & salam kepada junjungan besar Nabi Muhammad saw.

Picture above gotten from here.

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Charts You'd Never Think Of

I wanted to put up some other stuff but somehow my enthusiasm for them has somewhat ebbed.

If I learn one thing (and one thing only) from blogging, then it has got to be that writers are right - you've got to get your story on paper (or equivalent..) when you feel it. Otherwise it'll be gone and you will lose that moment. With nothing write. Well you can write, but it wont come from the heart. And it'll show.

So since I am having no heart for my own stories I'll share these with you.

I dont do facebook..

I dont really watch CSI. But I agree with the chart.

Yeap.

Zana might just try this on her cat(s).

I've got my fair share of the question.

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Getting Old (er) Part II - As We Age

I like this info that I've gotten via email from Aton. It puts the important things in a simple manner without the cliches attached.

In a crunch, take your Bs for mental alertness. B12 for your heart. Use UV sunglasses and have enough ACEs for your eyes. Do weight exercises for bone density and to prevent muscle loss. Use sunscreen to protect skin. Read more below.

Choose health.

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