Get Well Very, Very Soon (Please)

I was at Prince Court the other morning. It felt like I was entering a hotel when I walked into its foyer. There is a concierge at the corner. Doormen in Baju Melayu and Songket. The receptionist was friendly. And the parking was like Pavillion's.

The patient is a 15 year old girl with SLE. My heart goes out to her. But she was smiling lying on the bed. She rather looked like Rapunzel - from the movie, with hair short - actually (seriously). Her eyes are large and the smile never left her face. She made funny faces too when her mom told us things about her.

To her mom, we never can really comprehend your worry nor anxiety looking from the outside. But our doas are with you. For patience. Redha. And her speedy recovery.

Sesungguhnya tidak Allah menduga kita jika Allah tahu kita tidak tertanggung dugaan itu. Tiada jua kesusahan atau kesengsaraan tanpa Allah memberi balasan terhadapnya.

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Books, Books & More Books Part 25

I finished this sometime back. It wasnt as good as the others the author had written, though. It wasnt compelling enough. Or gripping. Or spellbinding. Or good enough for a best seller, if you ask me. Enough said.

This is the first book I finished this year. Last year I blogged 5 times about books that are read. In actual fact I finished more; only I didnt blog about them (they are the ones you keep in the closet or those you thought should be better kept to yourself ~ interpret that as you may).

Zana and I did plan to finish a book for each month last year. I dont think I got that many done. Although I think I did better in 2009 with 10. This year I've got no plans concerning books at all. In fact, no plans about anything at all; come to think of it.

If asked which book I like most I have to say Kite Runner. I remember crying while reading the book and crying when I even thought about the story AFTER finishing it. Dan Brown is rather captivating too. I should read seriously again.

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(Another) Wedding In The Family

And it was a good day to get married. It wasn’t too hot . Or raining. Or within the days where EVRYBODY getting married. We got to my sister’s place in Bangi very early. She was most adamant about that. Above, that's the tepak sirih (orang utara kawen mesti ada tepak).


The pelamin was not decorated with real flowers; but looked amazing nonetheless. Sweet. Tak payah nak habiskan duit beli bunga hidup yang inevitably akan layu pun.


Eirfan was one of the bunga manggar boys. Again. I am sure deep in his heart he had asked, why oh why? But he's already an expert at this. His motto is the faster you walk, the quicker the whole thing would be over (or so he hoped) ..

It was a beautiful wedding. Pretty. Like the bride and groom. Unfortunately the camera ran out of battery when the bunga manggar starts leading out the rombongan pengantin dan kompang dipalu.. so no photo of the happy couple (memang sah bukan jurugambar yang bertauliah).

She is the pretty (Ika; niece) bridesmaid.

Kakak-kakakku sibuk di dapur..

There is something about this photo that I like..

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Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar

1.
Abu Zar al-Ghifari ra (**)berkata : Telah berkata Abu Bakar as Shiddiq ra : "Ya Rasulullah, adakah jihad selain memerangi kaum musyrikin?" Rasulullah saw menjawab, "Sesungguhnya Allah punya pejuang di muka bumi lebih utama dari para syuhada. Mereka hidup diberi rezeki, dimuliakan Allah dan para malaikat langit menghias Syurga untuk mereka. Abu Bakar bertanya, "Siapakah mereka?" Rasulullah saw menjawab, "Orang yang memerintahkan kebaikan melarang kemungkaran serta suka dan benci kerana Allah. Demi zat yang diriku dalam kekuasaanNya, seseorang hamba (yang berada) dalam bilik di atas bilik-bilik pasa syuhada. Tiap bilik ada tiga ratus pintu dari yakut dan zamrud hijau dan di atas tiap pintu ada nur. Tiap lelaki dari mereka dikahwinkan dengan tiga ratus bidadari yang bermata indah (..)"

2.
Telah tersebut dalam khabar bahawa Allah berfirman, "Hai Musa, adakah engkau telah beramal untukKu?" Musa berkata, "Ya Tuhanku, aku telah solat, puasa, besedeqah kerana Engkau. Aku telah bersujud dan memujiMu. Aku telah membaca kitab dan aku mengingatiMu." Allah berfirman, "Hai Musa, ada pun solat alasan bagimu, puasa Syurga untukmu, sedeqah itu naungan untukmu, tasbih itu pohon di Syurga untukmu, membaca kitabKu juga bidadari dan mahligai untukmu, bahkan zikir pun adalah nur untukmu. Maka amal yang mana untukKu?" Kata Musa, "Ya Tuhanku, tunjukkanku amal yang aku perbuat untukMu!" Allah berkata, "Hai Musa, adakah engkau telah mencintai waliKu dan memusuhi musuhKu?" Kemudian tahulah Musa as bahawa amal yang paling utama adalah menyintai Allah dan benci pada musuh Allah kerana Allah.

3.
Telah berkata Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah ra, "Aku bertanya. Ya Rasulullah, siapakah syuhada paling mulia di sisi Allah?" Rasulullah saw bersabda, "Lelaki yang pergi kepada raja yang zalim lalu menyuruhnya membuat kebaikan dan melarangnya dari kemungkaran kemudian raja itu membunuhnya. Jika ia tidak mati maka Qalam tidak kering mencatitkannya setelah itu sepanjang hidupnya."


~ Mukashafah al Qulub


** Kata ustaz, sebelum memeluk Islam Abu Zar adalah seorang penyamun yang kejam. Tapi selepas mendapat hidayah menjadi sahabat Rasulullah. Reminds me of pepatah orang putih, a leopard never changes its spots. I think anyone can change. Dengan iman yang benar.

ps - I also googled Abu Zar and found out his name is listed in Wiki. Which makes me wonder what / who else are on Wiki.

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A Morning At The Forests

And it is the new year. Any new resolutions? Unfortunately for this year I have none; only those that I carry over from prior year - yes, those same old stuff (so let's move along, nothing interesting there).

My end of year was quiet. After we flew kites (below) we head over to FRIM. Living in the city for more than 20 years and didnt ever see the light of that place, I thought it is time to change things. After all, if famous people held their receptions there then there must be something good about the place..

We went for a family wedding in Malim Nawar (that's close to Ipoh, if you are wondering) and then up the hills to Cameron (which turned out to be rather chilly at the end of the year). And someone had gotten asthmatic attacks while we were there and so we visited the emergency ward at the local hospital also. Twice!

We painted parts of the house and did more baking (so what else is new?) And went to a few more weddings. Friends getting married, remarry. We also celebrated the boys' birthday at a Moroccan restaurant in the city.

For now these are the photos at FRIM. The place turned out to be a hot attraction with the locals; already open as early as 530am for joggers. Cyclists of any age are many with those walking and picnicking and having events too.

We had a picnic on a big boulder with the view of this waterfall.

The bridge/jungle look like they are a part of some spooky movie. The boys ran across the river straight into the depth of the jungle dalam sekelip mata, leaving us behind. They found a pond somewhere at the top of the hill and had a dip in the COLD water.

It was a good morning to work out some muscles.

We stopped at the tea house and had some tea with lempeng kelapa in the nearby gazebo. The food was outrageously expensive but the ambience more than made up for it. We found a papan congkak and the boys brushed up on old forgotten skills. The wakaf was filled with sweet smelling white gardenia (my mom calls that bunga cina).

Everyone took turn posing with the bunga cina (Iman was the culprit). They were sporting. Looked kinda silly, funny (and yet endearing).

It was a good morning to burn some calories. To spend time with the family. To create memories.

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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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Getting Old (er) Part I

So I am on a three-day medical leave. The bones are weary. The shoulders achy. The back tired. Knees buckling. And I was popping pills again.

I went to see the orthopaedic surgeon again (who is the most nicest doctor), who said the ailment is due to wear and tear. Over-used muscles. And who am I to argue with the specialist?

But secretly I also like translate it as penyakit orang tua (only the doctor's too nice to say it like that in my face). Let's be pragmatic about it.

And now my mom's words of caution came back to me. She had said, simpan sama tenaga tu untuk tua besok.. And if you havent discovered it yet, let me tell you that mothers are always right.

So today the doctor jabbed me in the tendons at the side of the kness. He said those muscles are all bunched and swollen (no wonder I had developed a nightly ritual of minyak gamat on the legs. Now I know why). I seriously didnt think I need any jabs actually, I thought those are normal sakit urat. How naive am I about health?

My back, shoulders and neck are old stories to the doctor. We had xrays and scans and mri's done on that during my last visit early in the year (come to think of it I should be grateful for small mercies - I havent been to the specialist for almost a year after all).

The funny thing is, I felt worse once I am home and took the medication prescribed. And lay down to rest like the doctor said I should. How's that? I am thinking that maybe after the consultation it finally hit home that this is more serious than I originally thought it was.

Earlier, as the doctor wrote notes in my personal file, I mused loudly to him and the nurse. I said, I think it is time to re-learn about yourself and your habits. What your body can take. How much you can do. When to stop. He said yes, you have to adjust with age (like I said, it is penyakit orang tua).

And all in all, in the mean time I am appreciating my boss more as there is no call / text messages from him about work or due dates although I know (through the grapevine) that he was asking about things; but only from people who are actually in the office.

ps - I hope to write some more about getting older. Soon. Thus the title.

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