It Is Just An Itsy-Bitsy Silver Screen Crush

We were at Ruz Aladdin in Ampang, kedai masakan Johor. I think it is a revamp from the old restaurant - the food tasted better than the last time we were here. Ada beriani gam, mee rebus Johor, mee bandung, soto etc etc. The beriani wasnt too bad but mee bandung di sebelah restoran Haslam di Pekeliling lagi sedap..

Anyway. The movie being played was Ghost Protocol. I said wah, cruise - I have to watch this. This past week there was Jack Preacher, Mission Impossible and Top Gun (!) Awesome. Tiba2 alahai, ada orang tukar channel pulak.. I said to hubs, you think I should tell him to switch back to MI?  

I walked up to the restaurant owner (the waitress told me who he is) who had changed the channel to some tennis game. I picked up the remote on the table and said, do you mind if we switch back to hbo? I am watching MI. He coughed and said oh belum tengok ke? Saya dah tengok 2 kali (he seemed flustered, the poor man). I didnt tell him I've watched the movie twice also already (I love the part when cruise swings on the short rope into the hotel). I didnt tell him I have a crush on cruise either (blush). Of course not.

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Doodles

It is not my birthday. And not mother's day. And neither it is Christmas nor an anniversary. I havent won any blue ribbons. But can I have either of these pretty, pretty please?

(I have a crush on Fossil)

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An Old Photo

I laughed when I found this photo. I was looking for other stuff actually. We were at the the library in Shah Alam then and we tried the 6D show.

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Room Makeover

I'd love to have a space like this in my house. The colors are bright. And the made-over IKEA shelves look priceless.

I am looking for ideas to redecorate a bedroom. And today we are getting some paint. Have a good day off.

(via here)

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I Am Thankful. I Hope.

Difficult times will always teach you something new if you but realize it. 
Make you appreciate more the things you are missing out, 
You value the time you thought you dont have,
And make you more thankful to Allah if you search hard enough.

I hope I am smarter, wiser, lebih redha dan tawaddhu' and more thankful Insya'Allah.


And on another note - how cute is this?

 It went into the washing machine and came out squeaky clean. Its owner ada banyak soalan to me like, kenapa mama basuh? Kenapa tangkap gambar? Mungkin anxious I will give it away to charity..

I suppose you lose some but in the end win a lot more; if only we remember that sesungguhnya kita umat yang bersyukur. Have a great weekend. I think I will shop tomorrow. 

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Surah al-'Ankabuut

I was working when I thought thank you Allah that it is Thur already. And then asked myself, why did I thought that when it is actually only Tue today? It has been that kind of hellish week (I promise myself I will not swear anymore - while on the road especially - and anywhere else either..) Everything else is taking the back seat - specifically classes (oh definitely!) Ustaz Azhar came again yesterday but I skipped that too. I was too busy.. (sesungguhnya lima perkara yang patut direbut sebelum datang lima yang lain were not paid heed to at this time - salah siapa tanya ustaz beberapa minggu yang lalu).

Namun, the good part is I managed to do some reading some days ago and would like to share some things found.

Surah al-'Ankabuut diturunkan di Mekah, mengandungi 69 ayat. Dinamakan surah "Al-'Ankabut" (Perihal Labah-labah) kerana misal perbandingan yang berhubung dengannya ada disebutkan pada ayat 41.

29:41
Misal bandingan orang-orang yang menjadikan benda-benda yang lain dari Allah sebagai pelindung-pelindung (yang diharapkan pertolongannya) adalah seperti labah-labah yang membuat sarang (untuk menjadi tempat perlindungannya); padahal sesungguhnya sarang-sarang yang paling reput ialah sarang labah-labah, kalaulah mereka orang-orang yang berpengetahuan.

29:2 - 3
Patutkah manusia menyangka bahawa mereka akan dibiarkan dengan hanya berkata: "Kami beriman", sedang mereka tidak diuji (dengan sesuatu cubaan)? 

Dan demi sesungguhnya! Kami telah menguji orang-orang yang terdahulu daripada mereka, maka (dengan ujian yang demikian), nyata apa yang diketahui Allah tentang orang-orang yang sebenar-benarnya beriman, dan nyata pula apa yang diketahuiNya tentang orang-orang yang berdusta.

 29:62 
Allah memewahkan rezeki bagi sesiapa yang dikehendakiNya di antara hamba-hambaNya dan menyempitkan (rezeki itu) baginya; sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui akan tiap-tiap sesuatu.

29:64 

Dan (ingatlah bahawa) kehidupan dunia ini (meliputi segala kesenangan dan kemewahannya, jika dinilaikan dengan kehidupan akhirat) tidak lain hanyalah ibarat hiburan dan permainan; dan sesungguhnya negeri akhirat itu ialah kehidupan yang sebenar-benarnya; kalaulah mereka mengetahui (hakikat ini tentulah mereka tidak akan melupakan hari akhirat). 

29:69
Dan orang-orang yang berusaha dengan bersungguh-sungguh kerana memenuhi kehendak agama Kami, sesungguhnya Kami akan memimpin mereka ke jalan-jalan Kami (yang menjadikan mereka bergembira serta beroleh keredaan); dan sesungguhnya (pertolongan dan bantuan) Allah adalah berserta orang-orang yang berusaha membaiki amalannya.


Selamat beramal dan mencari kebahagiaan abadi.

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From Aeons Ago

I was a sweet kid (seriously). Boisterous cousins werent (arent, will never be) my cup of tea.

    
Ultraman must have been hot then. 

(we were at the then Subang International Airport visiting my brother who was an air traffic controller).

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A Delicious Birthday Makan2

Ilyas celebrated his birthday late last month (he was supposed to be a Jan baby). We went for makan2 on his birthday at Delicious Jalan Tun Razak.

I went once with Dee here and l.o.v.e. the place. The restaurant is upstairs and it is like you are in a forest somewhere with the trees outside despite the fact that you are in city center. The deco was beautiful too.

I like the traditional english afternoon tea set that was served on a tiered stand. It comes with assorted sandwiches, scones and pavlova (the pavlova was simply sedaaap). Their caesar salad was good too; and the one that comes with salmon was even better. The steak and lamb shank was biasa je; mungkin shank di Secret Recipe lebih sedap.

 

 

 
The fish and chips at Chili's is better if you ask me and we have not had carbonara that tasted better than the one we ate at Toowoomba (banyak komen; carbonara saya di rumah kurang pekat kata anak2; and they were being nice I am sure of it).

 

Kalau pergi, order caesar salad dan afternoon tea set; sure tak nyesal.

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Another Arab Cuisine (Shot Down, I Suppose)

Kami pergi lunch di Sawarbina; an Arabic cuisine restaurant a couple weekends ago. Tapi lupa pulak ambil gambar makanan (bab ni Iman je yang rajin).

But anyway if you are here, the kabsah is not worth trying. My hubs had a lamb shank dish called hmm.. kharuf mahsi (lamb shank and rice) which is good - nasi with chinese parsley. I'd recommend that. The dishes here are a bit pricey; maybe because of its location sederet dengan Menara Celcom, a few lots away amongst the bungalows-now-turned-into-shops.

The restaurant is spacious; the inside renovation wasnt completed yet then. But I am not sure if we'll come back. And personally I think there are just a tad too many of these restaurants now anyway. And Saba in Setiawangsa is still my favorite.

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Let's Do It!

If I am asked for things I had learnt in 2012, these three would be at the top of my list:

1. Less Is More. In styles. Decoration. In speech. Dalam Islam pun dianjurkan agar bersederhana.

2. Conquer Your Fears. Tackle your fears head on; as it will come back to haunt you if you do not.

3. Sesungguhnya Allah lebih mengetahui segala. Allah sangat menyayangi hambanya. Mintalah, berdoalah. Dan redha atas segala yang ditentukan Allah.

And although I do not have resolutions this year; I do have a few tips to share on making yours successful, if you have any:

1. Ask yourself why you fail last year (if you did). Identify the causes; your weaknesses.

2. Tell everybody what you hope to achieve this year. Tell the world. So that you'd have more to lose if you fail.

3. Put effort in you targets every single day. Tiny steps will take you a long way in the year.

That said, set your sails and full speed ahead. Semoga tahun ini lebih bermakna dari sebelumnya; di dunia dan akhirat InsyaaAllah.

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2013

Happy new year everyone. All the best to you this year. I dont know about you, but 2013 seem like a very challenging year. First, tengok the year schedule yang bos prepare - mak aih, sungguh ambitous dan mencabar! And at home too I have several big projects this year.

For now I'll go ahead and recap some favorite post from last year; if you dont mind.

9. Favorite video
8. Favorite teacher ever
7. Favorite raya story
6. Favorite phrase : No Regrets
5. Umat yang berjaya : Yang bersyukur 
4. Amalan yang terbaik : Solat malam dan Berdoa
3. Favorite flashback photo
2. Best siblings meet-up 
1. The best ever ziarah; with fave photo below.

Have the most successful year ahead; semoga bertambah berkat dan rahmat, InsyaAllah.

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