Here And Now

If I can describe life at this point then the word I'll choose will definitely be letih. Dan bukannya dieja lam-ta-ya-ha (nope, that's too mild a spelling); I'll spell it lam-tho-ya-ha instead. Kata ustaz, ditebalkan dengan huruf tho bagi menunjukkan kesungguhan!

But at the same time life is precious too. We were talking about Eirfan's day at school while having dinner. He had a(nother!) hair cut at school yesterday (oleh cikgu disiplin). I was horrified but his abangs said, ah just another day at school (I know -what?!) And the abang said the same teacher benci abang masa abang sekolah dulu (me : whaaaat?! - why do I know this, and other similar stories, years later / too late? This has happened repeatedly actually)

And on another note, I do admit I am no technologist. I cant even keep up with the latest tv remote (!) let alone storage and devices and replications. Dedupes. Virtualizations. I like old stuff. Old movies. Classical music. Monet. History (!) - technology has not been a priority so far.

Yes, I must be high on something because I do realize I keep punctuating my statements with special characters.

And I'd love to share perkara2 yang menyentuh hati. Yang mengingatkan kepada kehidupan abadi. I thought if I can easily share Julie Andrews or Vivaldi, why not of more worthy things? So here goes -

Pada suatu ketika Nabi Daud as berkata kepada malaikat Izrail : bila sampai waktu ku untuk mati hantarkanlah pesanan kepada ku. Baiklah kata Izrail. Maka apabila tiba waktu untuk Nabi Daud meninggal, datanglah Izrail memberitahu bahawa ia datang kerana sudah sampai hujung hayat Nabi Daud. Kata Nabi Daud, tapi engkau berjanji untuk menghantar pesanan memberitahu ku bahawa ajal ku akan sampai. Kata Izrail, benar dan pesanan tersebut telah pun disampaikan. Dengan putihnya rambut yang hitam, dengan kedutnya kulit yang anjal dan - Allah, saya terlupa yang ketiga yang disebut dalam kisah ini. Dan.

Selamat mencari rahmat untuk kehidupan abadi.

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A Weekend About Food

Yes, I made the ice cream that I said I would. With lots of strawberry. Heaven.

We wanted to have lunch at Seri Melaka, but it was closed. Darn, the buttered prawn and asam pedas fish are to die for actually. We went instead to Santai which is about as busy as ever and rather unlike its name. Their kerabu mangga and ikan masak taucu was seriously good.

We also did Little Penang for asam laksa, curry mee and otak2. The otak2 we like. But I think food at the MidValley outlet is tastier. And with less msg too.

And then there was hotdog with home-made chili con carne. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos. The kids were super-hungry after their games of paint ball. Food just disappeared (it is always at times like this that I am most contented).

And also some paint ball time out photos (Eirfan kata takut kena tembak, jadi masa main dia menyorok belakang abang2..)

First round..

Second round..

Third round. Lunyai.

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BB&MB Part 39 Fiqh al Sirah 3

Alhamdulillah. Habis jugak dek saya buku Fiqh al Sirah Jilid 3 ini. I have been reading it for quite some time. This is the last of the 3 part series of sirah rasul.

I like the first book that tells of the early life of Rasulullah saw (ingatkah anda bahawa Rasulullah mengembala kambing semasa kecil dan peristiwa di mana hati nabi dibersihkan?) And the third, the conclusion of the da'wah (cerita favorite saya has got to be bila Rasulullah membuka semula kota Mekah). Siri yang kedua penuh dengan peristiwa peperangan dan perjanjian serta bai'ah.

Namun saya tidak menjangka buku ke-3 berakhir dengan wafatnya Rasulullah - so I was caught by surprise when I came to the end (but then come to think of it, what else could be the conclusion?) Peristiwa haji dan wasiat nabi terakir. Dan saat2 Rasulullah gering. Dan kasihnya sahabat kepada Rasul bila Abu Bakar ra sambil menangis berkata, kami tebuskan engkau dengan ibubapa kami wahai Rasulullah (selepas Abu Bakar faham apa yang dikiaskan nabi bila nabi bersabda, Seorang hamba Allah telah diberi pilihan untuk mendapat kemewahan hidup di dunia atau berada di samping Allah). Sedih. Saya mengingatkan diri, peristiwa2 ini mesti dipahatkan di hati.

Bacalah cerita2 sejarah. Pasti ada pengajaran yang dapat dipelajari. Dan mungkin juga ada benarnya - without history there is no foundation to the future.

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Happy Friday!

Enchanting things (you may tune to Julie Andrews' List of My Favorite Things here).

Flowers in window boxes and on sills and hanging on the panes.

Proper afternoon teas. Pure indulgence!

Anything winter.

And anything country.


And along the way I decided to put Ms Andrews' lyrics here after all.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes
Silver white winters that melt into spring
These are a few of my favorite things!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember
my favorite things
and then I don't feel so bad!

What the heck, here's Julie Andrews herself.

And ooh, how cheerful can anyone be preempting the weekend?

All beautiful photos (and more) from kris atomic. Have a good weekend darlings, whatever your plans are (I am making strawberry ice cream and somebody is treating us for lunch this weekend!)

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Ofis Saya Memang Hip

Ustaz Azhar Idrus datang menjawab soalan di ofis smalam.

Trademark ustaz - tangkap gambar.

The new hall was filled up fairly quickly with only standing room (or bersila room) for the late comers. The AJK (appropriately JKK?) brought in tikar. The CFO came (he is YDP of the organizing committee after all); but I was pleasantly surprised (and pleased) that our Dato' Sri CEO also showed up dengan santainya for the session. Semoga Allah merahmati semua yang hadir.

Seperti biasa Ustaz bercakap dengan gaya spontannya. Sesekali dewan gamat dengan respons terhadap keterangan ustaz. Namun saya sendiri sangat appreciate his stand on the issues relating to women (saya agak mungkin menangis SIS atau feminist movements kalau dengar; sebab they have no more so-called causes to fight for).

Memang indah ugama ini sebenarnya.

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Books, Books And More Books Part 38

So I finished another Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series (which I regard sebagai filler penyelamat di masa mood membaca menjunam). There is a lull in reading for some time now. I bought new books although there is no progress with the old. I am crossing my fingers that the pace would be faster from here on.

For weeks I've not been reading much, but memerap memanjang. Saya rasa kita memang mudah jemu. Nak jadi tak jemu kena tanya diri sendiri, what's in it for me? (I suppose I believe man are materialistic creatures.)

So what have you been reading lately?

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Bonda

I was home this past weekend visiting ibu yang tua. One thing I must do when home is to walk around mum's garden and look at her plants. And take photos. She's an avid gardener with lots of pretty flowering plants in her lawn.

And I can tell if she's been well or otherwise by the state of her plants. This time around, there are no new pots that I can see. And whatever flowers there are in the garden are from old plants. But her vegetable plot is newly sowed so that is a good sign. She admits, mak pun dah tak larat nak pergi tengok pokok bunga. Nevertheless there is still an array of pretty flowers found.

Pretty roses.

The exotic birds of paradise (that I once planted in my own lawn and then threw away because they never did flower but on the other hand never stop having bright flowers in mum's garden). A long time ago mum had asked ni pokok apa? We said orang putih panggil birds of paradise. So mum had literally translated it as burung syurga since, which I like.

Frangipani (I love frangipanis). She has all the colors - yellow, white, pink and the brightest red. Early morning is the best time to smell the sweet flowers.

An assortment of pretty hibiscus.

I do not recall what these are called - a type of orchids, that I know. Mum used to have these when I was tiny. And now years later, she started replanting them again.

A delight - amongst the flaming red lily and orchids in mum's debilitating garden I found Snoopy in his ice-hockey attire!


When I was very young I was always sad when Sun came and anybody who came home left for the city again. It means - ? I dont know what it means, but I know I felt sad. I wonder now if mum feels that way too this afternoon, sitting at the table behind the blinds as she waved us off.

Ya Allah, ampunlah ibuku. Rahmatkanlah ibuku. Masukkanlah ibuku antara golongan yang sedikit. Ameen. (Tolong doakan juga untuk ibu saya. Jazakallah.)

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What A Lovely Notion!

From Zana's (tea at delicious or ben's are always tempting and fun. Are we meeting up again soon girls for some scones, maybe?)

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Not Celebrating For Celebrating Sake

I suddenly realized that it was April Fool's day yesterday. And it was St Patrick's not too many days ago (read it in the papers that St Patrick's day pun orang dah sambut di Malaysia rupanya. Like Oktoberfest). And Valentine came and gone without a thought. New Year apa lah lagi.

The thought that crossed my mind is how nice it feels not to be attached to these so-called celebrations (mainan dunia).

But I was rather bothered that Earth Hour came and we had not made any effort to support it although I have thought about it. Some. It was rather a big thing at the office. We even have a contest to support the occasion. How nice (ofis saya memang hip). Maybe next year we'll participate. For a good cause.


This year saya cuma intai keluar tingkap semasa Earth Hour and noticed that lights are still on in the neighbors' houses (no girls, not Zarina's. And anyway she is forever in Putra Jaya on weekends). Next year InsyaAllah.

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His Vs My Dinners

Unfortunately I didnt get to spend this weekend sleeping. Neither did I do that last weekend. I suppose my weekends are never meant to be spent sleeping. Tertulis di dalam buku sebegitu agaknya.

I've been busy (sampai weekend pun busy). Most dinners are fast food last week. And then we rounded up the week with dinner at the mid-eastern restaurant in Melati called Taj Hadramawt. We had lamb kabsa and lamb madghout. I thought the madghout tasted like nasi tomato. And I've never tasted better kabsa than at Saba' in Setiawangsa actually. No photos. Terlupa. And I dont think we'll return anyway.

But dinner on Sat was the best of all. We had pre-ordered ribs from the pasar tani butcher and my husband had baked us ribs with dry rub and barbeque sauce. He slow baked the ribs in the oven for hours (!) under the aluminium foil and then once tender smothered the ribs with the sauce. There were coleslaw and mashed potatoes too (we could get used to this).


We got this idea to do the ribs after we went to Mustafa Jones in Melawati for bbq meals a few times. The children enjoy these meals very much although they insisted, bapak punya home-made burger berganda lagi sedap dari burger di Mustafa Jones. How sweet (btw, did I ever mention my husband do make the juicest, thickest meat patties ever? From scratch. He would get some meat, mince it on the processor, add herbs and spices and then pat them into thick burger patties. Voila! Saya? Saya tengok dan makan je.. Oh no, wait. Saya goreng fries).

Anyway. Jones is a black American who married a Melayu and then open a diner serving strictly bbq meals. He opens for dinner only. If you like to visit he is at the restaurant called Kayu Manis behind the MIA institute in Melawati. But service could be slow at times.

And dinner today is prepared by me. We had ikan goreng dan sambal. From day one that is all I know how to cook (!) - patutlah masuk dapur pun so unispiring selalunya. My husband on the other hand would make things like the baked ribs and burgers, chickpea and leek soup, chili con carne, salsa with grilled capsicum, cous-cous and avacado salad (yes, I know! I had gasped too. And then makan je lah).

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