Madame Blossom's Book of Poems

Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Rain

Woke up to the sound of rain outside my window. (ya lah tak kan kat dalam pulak.. tu alamat ceiling dah bocor..) It was soothing and perked me up a bit.
Dah lama jugak tak hujan pagi2. Alhamdulillah. Shiok ah.. cool aje. Since I'm on leave from solat.. boleh lah laze lagi. Orang kat seberang wud say.. 'layan katil' =D... sampai pukul 8, terlebih sikit.

Morning went well, even though I, as usual, I arrived late at the office. But my boss was even later than me, so I'm relieved.. keh keh keh.. Kata hubby, 'u parah.. masuk lambat macam boss'.
eh, bagus ah jugak.. I got tokoh to become boss mah... Mudah-mudahan.. be my own boss. ameen. And anyway.. i pay back what...

Actually my boss ni, kira baik jugak lah. After 3 days MC, starting last Friday, yesterday morning, I still smsed him, that I'll be coming in late - need to send Nadhrah to the doctor. She was having asthma. Terpaksa. Bukan suka2. Came in at 10am yday. Then in the evening, he asked, how I am, if I'm feeling better, and how's my daughter. Then he asked me, what is 'rose eyes'? Rose eyes?? ooooohhh.. 'Sore eyes' I texted him that day, using T9/Dictionary, and didn't bother to check before I sent. ceeeeh..

Oh YES. I need to turn off that cross posting to Multiply. Everytime I logon to multiply, I get selengehly surprised that the post is also there. Always tak ingat that cross posting is turned on. I feel macam kena broadcast kat Channel 5 and Channelnewsasia pulak (not that I'm such hot news). I think I'll stick to blogging on blogger, and photos there. Tak nak macam kecoh sana sini..

Well, talk about rain, I leave you with this hadith on rain. Omputeh slalu kata,'you're my sunshine' to express how much joy the person brings. But I think 'rain' is also a wonderful and meaningful word to describe a person. A person who guides and teaches you (directly or indirectly), lessons in life - islam ad-din, makes you want to be a better person, and makes you want to be like that to others. InsyaAllah.

Narrated Abu Musa:

The Prophet said, "The example of guidance and knowledge with which Allah has sent me is like abundant rain falling on the earth, some of which was fertile soil that absorbed rain water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance.

(And) another portion of it was hard and held the rain water and Allah benefited the people with it and they utilized it for drinking, making their animals drink from it and for irrigation of the land for cultivation.

(And) a portion of it was barren which could neither hold the water nor bring forth vegetation (then that land gave no benefits).

The first is the example of the person who comprehends Allah's religion and gets benefit (from the knowledge) which Allah has revealed through me (the Prophets and learns and then teaches others. The last example is that of a person who does not care for it and does not take Allah's guidance revealed through me (He is like that barren land.)"

Sohih Al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 3, Number 79:

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

..............

The last few days,have been quite weird. I'm a bit sad, like i'm in a strange world, like i cannot make things happen. And I was tired, and sick, and Nadhrah and Eema was also sick.
And Monday night, I went to listen to Mawi and Ina give their side of the stories, on radio, while driving in the car. All the time wondering what on earth made them go on national tv, camtu.. And I realise I've been wasting my time too much.

I was on medical leave since FRIDAY! I should have enjoyed myself. Suppose to help out hubby at his office, but I did nothing much either. There was nothing much that I could do anyway. Now, in my own office, I'm missing my hubby pulak.

On top of all of that, I can feel that my IMAN is lower, lower than those days when they were high. I feel a bit distant. Perhaps pasal subuh asik terlambat... pasal badan sakit nak bangun. Dah set alarm tepi bantal pun macam tak boleh bangun. Or maybe it's the setan.. whatever it is, i succumbed to it. Really.. really macam tak larat. I tried reading the Quran regularly.. i guess that helped maintain it from going even lower.

I'm feeling restless and frustrated. Is it because i'm sick,.. or is it PMS? But like Pink said.. PMS takpe... jangan jadi Perpetual menses syndrome sudah..

Whatever it is, I need to buck up. Hopefully tonight's input will help. InsyaAllah ameen. Ya Allah, just don't let me die in this state. Let me die in a state when my iman is high. Ameen.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

The Big Event

Yesterday, hubby suruh pegi dengar a talk/forum by Ustaz Ismail Kamus, Professor Datuk Hashim Yahya, both from Malaysia, and Ustaz Nazirudin Mohd Nasir from Singapore. Hubby once attended a talk by Ustaz Nazirudin and dia kata ustaz ni bagus and he is proud that we have such an asatizah kat Singapore. Pink pun pernah cakap dia bagus. So I pun terkilanlah nak tengok..eh nak dengar.

Rupanya this talk is on Isra' Mi'raj, Satu Analisa.

Actually kan, when I was learning about Islam, sebenarnya, I doubted the event of Isra' Mi'raj - due to my kejahilan. Astaghfirullah. Then I found it being mentioned in Al-Quran and Sohih Al-Bukhari. And I believe.

Some quick facts:

1. Isra' Mi'raj happened after the death of the 2 beloved people in Rasulullah's (SWT) life. (His uncle, Abu Talib, and his wife Siti Khadijah)

2. Before the journey, Rasulullah SWT was 'operated' upon. His heart was washed with the ZamZam water and filled with wisdom and faith.

3. He travelled on a white beast, smaller than a mule, bigger than a donkey - Al-Buraq. Satu kali leap/stride, it's as far as the eyes can see. Subhanallah.

4. Our daily 5 times prayers were prescribed by Allah SWT to Rasulullah during this event.

Now, the analysis.

Why was it that Rasulullah was made to travel to Baitul Maqdis first before the ascension to Heaven? The move was horizontal, then vertical.

Ustaz Nazirudin interpretes that as the importance of both horizontal relationship and vertical relationship. Horizontal relationship refering to our relations with all of mahkluk Allah SWT, i.e. other mankind, animals, environment etc.
Whereas vertical is our relationship with Allah SWT - and that covers the aspect of our ibadah.

Because walaupun kita solat 5 waktu, puasa tak tinggal, tapi mengutuk atau menganiaya jiran dia.. dia tetap akan dibalas jahat. Jangan kata neighbour.. buat jahat dengan kucing pun kena balas.

Another interesting analysis is, why make Rasulullah go through an experience that cannot be comprehended by the people of his time. Orang zaman tu, talipon pun takde.. TV and VCD jangan cakap ah..

Well, mukjizat Rasulullah SWT is everlasting. E.g Quran yang sampai sekarang pun masih The Amazing Quran. Orang dulu2 iman dia kuat. When Rasulullah SAW related this incident to his people, diorang percaya, without a doubt. No matter how bizzare it might have sounded. But skrg, kita dah dapat lihat kebesaran and understand how advanced that event was. 1400 years ago, dah ada 'wireless tv' - where Rasulullah was shown the Baitul-Maqdis right in front of his eyes, to describe to his people. Then there's the travelling at the speed of light. Only now scientists sees the possibility. However, even at this time, man with their current capabilities, is not able to travel at the speed of light(about 300,000 km/s - over a billion k.p.h.). When they can, the concept of time as man know now, will be different.

That's the highlights of the eventlah..there were other incidents about the isra' mi'raj being mentioned also. But after that came the Q&A. The people were allowed to also ask questions not related to isra' mi'raj.

Then ada orang tanya..'kenapa orang yang kerja, masih find it difficult to perform the 5 daily prayers?' eh? tanya question ni kat ustaz2 tu.. manalah diorang tahu. Bukan diorang yang tinggalkan solat kan?.

then ustaz Nazirudin, who was picked to answer, said, kalau seseorang tu, dapat menghayati dan memahami the reason for his solat, then, he'd be able to enjoy his solat, and make an effort not to tinggalkan solatnya.

But I wish he had said more to that. About the whole thing about solat, why we must solat, what we do in solat, what solat does to a Muslim. But I guess it is a big topic and he only has about 5 minutes to answer. :p

Overall, I benefited from the talk, my required dose of input.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Burgers and burgerdales

Ntah2 eh.. the word burgers ni, come from begedil.

Tengok burgerdale kan bulat, lepeh sikit (lepeh ke leper eh?..) Like how original burgers used to be. Only now they have made it flat to fit nicely into the buns. Maybe lah.. Then, diorang ingat begedil tu.. 'burger dale' . 'Dale' ntah budak mana ke binatang apa. And then back in America, they made their own burgers. And then back in Asia pulak (more accurately Malaysia) comes Burger Ramly (or Ramly Burger).

OR....... is it the other way around? Burgers - di amik jadi burgerdale??.. i mean begedil.

Or maybe... totally not related?

Allahua'lam.

p.s.
1) *Sigh* Sesungguhnya.. manusia ni... banyak membuang masa, memikirkan perkara2 yang langsung tak mustahak. Out of the 100% of subjects or issues that people think or worry about daily, only 15-20% are real important issues related to themselves. Hmm....
2) Actually this thought came about, when I was deciding to eat mee soto for lunch. Kalau tak keluar cepat, nanti burgerdale abis.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Sunflower surprise!

I was diligently doing my work (sambil chat), when suddenly at about 3pm, Wati called. Ada delivery for me. I went out to the reception...a big bunch of sunflowers! From my lovely sisters, teddie, pink and sleeping beauty (macam mana kita boleh dapat all this silly nicks? oh cerita dia panjang.. di simpan untuk hari lain, waktu boring2 takde cerita)

Blossom, May today be filled with sunshine and smiles, laughter and love.  Your sisters : Teddie, Sleeping Beauty & Pink
The surprise on my desk, brightening my afternoon.
Laptop and muvo slim not included.

Sunflowers: $50
Bath crystals that comes with sunflowers : $10
Delivery to TUAS! : $20
Dinner spent discussing this delivery : $20
How I felt, and the BIG smile on my face when I read the card : priceless!

Thank you all! I'm sooo touched and I'm very blessed to have sisters like u all. Love u all, for the sake of Allah SWT.

Sooo, I told hubby lah kan..
"u know, I got flowers delivered to my office!"
"HA? wah.. from who ah?" (jealous jugak..)
"From the girls lah.."
"ooooh. (a pinch of guilt)..actually I nak hantar u pokok.. abeh takde."
=D

Just now pun my bro pun ada send birthday greetings thru sms. Ingat jugak adik aku ni.. I better not forget his! I shouldn't - it's on hari Merdeka Malaysia.

Last night pulak, Baby nur da sms at 12.54am.. (korang ni tak tidur ke??)
As'kum Kak Erni! Happy birthday! May Allah bless you with iman and love, not only today but 4 e many yrs ahead insyaAllah. Love ya and take care! Muah!
:) Ameeeen.. Tks baby! and Happy birthday to you too!!! love u ..

Then..tadi balik kerja, my sweet girls, headed by Hanaa, presented me with a black and white brooch.. aawww so sweet! She said she knows that I like black, so she went to look for something black. Such a thoughtful daughter!

I'm so blessed, masyaAllah. Alhamdulillah.

Someone promised to buy me Pure White Linen, Estee Lauder. Something I totally will not buy for myself. But a gift? =D I accept any gifts of perfumes.** Apparently, this one is not launched in Singapore yet. But we saw it in KLCC last week!
Oh well.. it's ok. I take rain checks. ;)

** Narrated 'Azra bin Thabit Al-Ansari:
When I went to Thumama bin 'Abdullah, he gave me some perfume and said that Anas would not reject the gifts of perfume. Anas said: The Prophet used not to reject the gifts of perfume.
Sohih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 47, Number 756

Bad Tudung Day

Man.. i'm really having a bad-tudung-day today. Tadi pagi dekat 15 min.. kerjakan tudung ni aje.. itu pun macam tak perfect..

Tadi lepas wudhu pun.. another 5-10 mins cuba betulkan tudung ni.. pun macam kaku jugak.

Perhaps it's due to the fact that tudung ni baru, masih bau kedai lagi. Masih kaku sikit. Tu lah.. I should have washed it first. then dah lembut sikit baru pakai.. ceeehh...

Actually dah lama dah nak beli tudung plain hitam ni.. always out of stock.. Skali dah dapat.. dah macam tak sabar nak pakai.

p.s. Memang I like tudung hitam. in fact, memang I like black. :)

BENCI banks!

Happy B'day fr ***Bank
Enjoy 6 mth S$ TD @ 2.5% pa $5K - $40K
Bring 3 friends & enjoy 2.8% pa Valid for 2 wks T&C apply Call 1800 00000000 for info. To unsub sms UNSUB ***Bank


Kasi up darah aku aje! Bank-bank ni punya tricks and tactics and constant harassments.

Generally, banks take every opportunity to encourage people to make a fool out of themselves by BORROWING money and pay them interest?!?!?! Oh, call it whatever they like.. 'overdraft', 'advance cash', 'ready credit', 'cash on line' - the base of all this is that you BORROW from them and pay interest. Bday org pun nak buat gini. What the FISH???? Da gitu nak suruh jebakkan kawan2 yang innocent?! Oh PLEASE!!!

People who truly need to borrow, cannot borrow. People who have money to pay them interests they encourage, harrass, to borrow from them.

Astaghfirullah.. today's businesses, especially banks ni, dah full of deceit and greed. VERY difficult to find honesty in businesses nowadays. Kalau ada satu yang honest, boleh sampai jadi news.

So people.. PLEASE lah.. don't fall into their stupid trap, their flashing money across your face to make you take up loans that you don't even need.

Macam AMEX lagi teruk punya case menjolok orang. They will actually send you a cheque of a certain amount of money like 5K. You just need to bank into your account and you're in debt with them. When I get this kind of letters.. aku koyak2 kan.

I wonder how much they spend on printing this colourful, uniquely cut, deceit letters to send to people - sungguh2 membuang duit - baik pegi route those costs to helping ease world hunger & poverty.

They of course, totally don't care what you use the money for and what happen to you after that.. just as long as they get your loan, a signed contract that promises them your constant flow of blood money.

PO DAH!

p.s. No offense to friends and family working in banks. Asal diorang tak talipon aku suruh amik loan, offer credit card.
"Don't call us, WE'll call you, IF we need it"
And MAYBE there are banks who are not like that. Bank with Islamic Muamalat rules, is better.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Yesterday in muhasabah

Few things I think I should improve on..

1) Being more serious.
I'm actually quite talkative and I'd be cracking silly jokes in class. Tak lah sampai attracting the whole's class attention, just the close ones - but still..slalu gitu, no good leh. Memang dari dulu.. dari kecik2. I remember when I was about 6-7 yrs old, satu hari tu, I was quiet. The ustazah was actually quite concerned, and asked, "Awak sakit ke? Kenapa awak senyap aje hari ni?" Wahlau.. sampai gitu my tahap noisy. Sampai orang perasan kalau aku diam.

I think back, about how I was in class yesterday, and imagining if I had been more quiet, I'm sure I'll get the same response from my sisters.."why quiet? are you ok? are you sick?"

But I really.. REALLY.. should learn to be more serious among friends and colleagues. For God's sake..I'm getting old(er).. I do try from time to time, but most of the time I fail. Paling lama serious among friends, 15 mins i think. It's my current weakness. Of course sisters and friends enjoy this weakness of mine. We are all entertained.

But then again kan... takde lah sampai macam buat dosa gitu kan.. And when I need to be serious, I am. So, can I just stay the way I am? .... ok kot? Cuma dalam kelas tu.. cuba lah diam lebih sikit.

2) Appreciating what I have.
Sometimes I forget to appreciate my husband. Actually when I think about it..memanglah I should be thankful. All the things that he let me do - go for extra classes, get my own car, hang out with girlfriends, go Malaysia with girlfriends. Of course, he also gets to do his own stuff. So I really appreciate this 'alone' time we have. Tak lah kena mengadap each other every other time. Having my own set of friends, my own time, keep me being interesting, to me. I'm not bored. I enjoy everything that I am. Alhamdulillah.

So, when he doesn't adhere to my unreasonable requests at times, I must learn to accept and remember all the other stuff he has done or allowed me to do.
And I must also remember pesanan dia.."Jaga maruah diri and maruah suami". InsyaAllah.

3) Time management
I must not try to accomplish so many things in a short span of time. Must not be too ambitious. Set my priorities right.

Ini aje lah for now..even though there is still so much more in my mind. Kalau list all the things I should improve on.. tak abis post.. Sesungguhnya kita ni dhoif (lemah)..

Multiply dah kawin 3

Waaah.. Multiply blogs can now be linked to LiveJournal, Blogger and Typepad. So now, whatever I post here (in Blogger) will also be available in Multiply.

Memang for blogs, I was only using Blogger, perhaps because I'm more comfortable with the look and feel of Blogger's blog, compared to Multiply's Blog. But for photos, I feel that Multiply punya photo page is nice.

For videos, I still use Youtube.

Actually this post is also to test the cross-link. I want to confirm if it's updated to Multiply without any hitches. =D

Ok.. mari kita gi tengok if it's updated!
(teringat cerita P Ramlee punya dialogue - "mari kita tengok siapa yang kenaa!!")

Happy trying!
Selamat mencuba!

p.s. 1...2...5...30min...1 jam kemudian.. Tak update pun kat Multiply?!.
how da de?

p.s. 11pm.. masih takde. However the later post.. the muhasabah thing WAS posted automatically...
Oh well,.. kalau go, then go lah.. kalau tak...still ok.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Popular topic

Bila chat with colleagues or sisters - Teddie and Pink, at the office (on Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger OR SMS), i think the most used phrase would be 'ngantok sey' or 'I'm sooo sleepy'. This topic is most popular after lunch. Then we'd be asking each other to make coffee.. tidur kejap.. cubit or sepak diri sendiri..or we just chat kejap to hilangkan ngantok. It works a bit, but then, once we start working again - ngantok balik. So how ah?

Companies should REALLY consider nap time after lunch break. Tak payah lama.. 10-15 mins is enough. Studies have shown that it will actually increase productivity. Because I tell you, when we're sleepy.. tak tahu apa yang kita buat or type.. e.g. tadi I typed:
"Please change script to pull '0' (cancelled data) by reading the big sign on the garbage bag.." apa kejadah tu yang i type??
Actually that part about the sign on the garbage bag, which is actually by a road side.. was something that I macam termimpi kejap.. time tengah ngantok bangat tu.

So you see, providing nap time also helps us avoid silly mistakes like that.

Kalau ikut sunnah pun, memang Rasulullah SAW pun tidur kejap in the midday.

Narrated Thumama:
Anas said, "Um Sulaim used to spread a leather sheet for the Prophet and he used to take a midday nap on that leather sheet at her home."
Sohih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 74, Number 298:

Narrated Anas bin Malik:
We used to offer the Jumua prayer early and then have an afternoon nap.
Sohih Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 13, Number 28:

And true to our Prophet's sunnah, studies have shown that afternoon nap is essential for us. There's quite a few write-ups on this.

The Benefit of a Power Nap:
Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.

So apa lagi ni.. boss2 kita ni.. asal tak dengar2 lagi?
Kalau boss tu learned Muslim, insyaAllah sure kasi this nap, ikut sunnah..
Nantilah.. insyaAllah, if I open my own business.. 20 mins afternoon nap would be allowed.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

one omputeh's view of the isreal-Lebanese war

I didn't think that there would be any omputeh who would see it this way, but alhamdulillah, there are people in the west who can actually think logically. Most of the rest, their minds are retarded by booze, porn and money.

This man, he sees that it is not Hezbollahs who is in the wrong, but it's the israeleh, who is invading and occupying Arab countries.

George Galloway, a Respect MP, gives this interview on some british news channel (tak kuasa pulak nak sebut and advertise kan channel dia). I only wish that he had been more calm. Tapi dia marah sangat, cannot control his feelings.

May the Truth be clear. Ameen.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Jihad

It is easier to fight external forces than internal. External force, you know more or less, there would be an end to the fight. But internal forces (a.k.a. setan) ni.. consistently in us sampai mati.
Today we're successful, tomorrow we may not be. But everything is by Allah's leave, dengan izin Allah. So, important lah sangat, that I keep asking for Allah's help, in this constant jihad.

I sometimes become aware. Macam terasa, how tiring this can be.. because the fight is never ending. Never ending melawan either kemarahan, ke-tak-puas-an, nafsu, keinginan, itu ini setan.

Dulu masa selalu lalai, tak rasa or tak ingat pun benda ni semua... macam 'free-flow' aje. Setan didn't need to work hard.

But now, alhamdulillah kurang lalai, rasanya.. si setan ni pun.. dia dah step up dia punya attack - trying on my weaknesses, taking advantage of it. But alhamdulillah, i'm letting down my ego, and I acknowledge my weaknesses, and the fight goes on, insyaAllah.

Right this very instant, I'm mentally tired.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Kaifa hal

dah dekat 1.5 yrs blajar arab.. konon ah.. but part time. Up till today, yang confident tanya cuma 'kaifa hal' (apa khabar?). alhamdulillah, wa anti (alhamdulillah, dan awak?) lain berbual, belum tahu lagi.

but alhamdulillah, kalau baca Quran tu.. ada jugak yang faham, those common recurring words.. tapi kalau ajak gadoh cakap arab, belum boleh.

takut salah cakap, i guess. kata ustaz hakeem.. 'kalau takut salah.. itu masaalah'

nanti lah.. should berbual dengan hatta and mai.. fi lughatul arabiah. insyaAllah.

israeleh..

Memang benci betul kat the rulers in israeleh tu - tak tahu pun nama2 diorang - don't care to know. But top of the hate-list still bushOK monkey face.

Got an email tadi.. asking us to solat malam and doa' and read the ayat Quran surah Al-Isra (17), ayat 1-7 & 78-82. Go read the full meaning. What amazes me, is this ayat 4-7, which is as follows, masyaAllah.

And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will become great tyrants;
So when the time for the first of the two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might who ravaged (your) country, and it was a threat performed.
Then we gave you once again your turn against them, and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery;
(Saying): If ye do good, ye do good for your own souls, and if ye do evil, it is for them (in like manner). So, when the time for the second (of the judgments) came (We roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you, and to enter the Temple even as they entered it the first time, and to lay waste all that they conquered with an utter wasting.
Al Quran, Al-Isra 17:4-7


i hope, I live to see the tyrants wasted.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Lost

Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere;
Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return (Ø¥ِÙ†َّا Ù„ِÙ„ّÙ‡ِ ÙˆَØ¥ِÙ†َّـا Ø¥ِÙ„َÙŠْÙ‡ِ رَاجِعونَ)"
Al Quran, Al Baqarah 2: 155-156


Well. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

Saturday night, sometime between 10:45pm to 11:15pm, in KL, i lost my hp.

We were in the public bus which had no other passengers, from KLCC back to Bt Bintang. The last time i remember seeing my hp, was when I used it to reply teddie's sms. After that, I can't recall if I was holding on to the phone or if I had put it in one of the many bags we had with us. I was busy layaning my kids.

But surprisingly, I am not feeling down sangat. In fact I don't think I feel down at all. A little bit dissappointed perhaps, because I have like nearly 300 over pics inside that phone! But Alhamdulillah, transferred some pics already before. Phone numbers, insyaAllah can slowly collect again. SIM card, alhamdulillah, I was using the Digi one at that time. So I still have my singapore sim card with me.

Darling hubby said, "ohh.. maybe u sengaja hilangkan agaknya.."
"Eh!?!.... apeeeer aje?!"

But hmm.. IT IS a blessing in disguise, the hikmah di sebaliknya? I have a totally honest valid reason to get a new phone!! muahahahaha.. now let's see which Nokia phone I should buy eh?

I must get one that
- can take good pictures, at least 2Megapixels - ok lah jugak;
- can take and play video;
- must have mp3 player, (although I have my Muvo Slim - it's still useful to have the mp3 on the phone itself);
- perhaps a good personal organiser.
- This time I don't want a flip phone, slide or plain is ok.
- 3G.. eerrr.. maybe tak important sangat lah for now. I don't think I want to get a 3G plan now.
- oh ya, must be able to sms to a lot of people at the same time - for personal announcements ah.. I don't normally send chain smses.
- Oh, must have bluetooth for quick transfers of files to laptop.
- and quite convenient if it has a cable that connects directly to laptop to transfer many files, without having to take out the memory card
- Oh, and MUST have memory card for expandable memory).
- must not be too heavy and too bulky.

Right.. that's about all that I need in my phone. Now which model to get??

Another surprising fact today.. I lost the phone on Saturday night, and I have managed to live through Sunday and enjoyed the rest of my break in KL, without feeling any kind of lost whatsoever. Soooooooo.. I CAN live without my hp afterall. But maybe not for long lah.. Must get one by this week insyaAllah.

p.s. i'm wondering what that person who got my phone would be thinking, if the person goes through all the pics and smses and the notes. I'm still ok, cause takde pulak obscene pics or videos of myself or of others. Or maybe the person will not even bother going through them and would just delete the whole thing.. maybe..
but if the person goes through the pics and smses.. I think they'll be able to somewhat figure out what kind of person I am.. Isn't it interesting? I mean the fact that the contents of a person's phone, can tell you so much about the person? Yeah...masyaAllah.

p.s lagi. So many things I wanted to update.. but before I can catch up, benda baru pulak terjadi...

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Days yang packed like sardine

since monday, i've been quite busy, cause ada tamu from jepun. Tomorrow he is going back already, so today will be the last day to bring him around.

Terunuma san, wants to eat at local hawker centers.. so everytime makan I'll bring him to tempat2 takde tourist punya. REAL local hawker center.

Yesterday pun sooo busy. pagi pegi Dr Dzul punya talk. Tengahari Teru came to the house to taste local nasi lemak. Then petang pegi melawat kejap. Malam pegi night safari.. terkopak jugak bayarkan the whole family. Then lepas tu bawak dia pegi Adam Road makan.

I did so many things in one day, until at that point kat Adam Road tu.. rasanya like I went to Dr Dzul's talk the day before.. bukan same day.

Today will be another busy day, tomorrow nak gi KL. Yeay!!! But sedih kena miss this Saturday's class.

Oh since tomorrow nak gi KL, nak kena jumpa all my sisters hari ni.. so skrg gi lunch dengan teddie, then see mai and teru bawak gi Malay heritage center, then malam jumpa Pink.

Nanti nak post jugak ah.. pasal Teru's stay here. And then about Dr Dzul's talk also.. nantilah tangkap mood and time..

Ok, the days will be very padat.. very packed macam sardine dalam tin. But must remember not to waste much time on benda2 tak bermanfaat.. teringat pulak ayat..

By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
Verily Man is in loss,
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

Al Quran, Al-Asr 103:1-3


InsyaAllah.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Melayu Singapore & Malaysia

I've been hooked on reading some malaysian blogs. One thing that attracted me to reading their blog is cara percakapan between us yang beza sikit.

Although perkataan melayu are basically the same here and there, but sometimes, cara kita pakai perkataan tu, different.

e.g. dulu I've said to a Malaysian colleague

me : pegi 'bilang' boss you about this issue'
mc : ha? bilang? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
me : ha?..Oh,.... i mean 'beritahu'lah

So rupanya unlike sporeans, diorang tak pakai 'bilang' tu, as beritahu.. But actually 'bilang' tu memang sebenarnya 'kira'. cuma tak tahu macam mana sporeans can terpleot pakai perkataan 'bilang' tu as 'beritahu'.

then I find that in malaysia, diorang dah suka pakai satu perkataan ni.. 'layan'. i first heard it on cd ruffedge. I thought it was only in that cd - peculiar sikit. But after that, i read quite of lot of that word being used.

e.g. 'layan tv', 'layan kereta' or 'layan jugak main golf ni..'

So now.. I layan jugak baca some malaysian blogs ni...InsyaAllah, boleh lebih mengenali dan memahami saudara2 kita kat seberang tu.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Holiday mood

Holiday mood has set in. The mind is not at work already.

Tonight, to mark the start of my long holidays : fireworks.
Wednesday - public holiday
Thursday - company holiday
Friday - Personal holiday
Saturday, Sunday - yeay!

Kalau resign, holiday selamanya. hmm..

Studies on musical tastes

The New Paper, Monday 7th August 2006
Page 15

Listen to 'em % have sex earlier.

Teenages whose MP3 players are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

...


Duh? Abis, ingat apa?

Friday, August 04, 2006

Sifting & asking the right questions

If you need to gather information, from users, one of the skills that you must have is 'sifting' - 'tapis'. One more skill u should have is asking the right question (macam detective).

In a meeting to understand the requirements, you get loads of information, mostly irrelevant. Half an hour, diorang boleh explain apa diorang buat, but actually what you need, is actually in 1-2 minutes out of the whole thing. Tapi, tak boleh cut diorang sangat, biarkan diorang cerita. Cause they love telling us about their work. So kita dengar aje, dengan muka yang menunjukkan interest. Sometimes ada jugak other useful information that may help you in your solution design.

Mesti ada kesabaran, cause the way they tell their long story is, like without a breather in between sentences. So you cannot stop them. Or sometimes they also use the tajwid method, dengan menggunakan 'saktah' (berhenti tanpa mengambil nafas), between sentences. Actually I tak notice pulak when they take their breath. Paling tricky lagi when there are 2-3 users to explain. Satu baru nak abis cakap.. belum abis lagi.. tapi dah disambung or disampuk, by the other one. So itulah, the story can go on for quite sometime.

Sometimes, boleh ter-imagine, like I'm playing soccer. They are passing the ball here and there.. I nak cuba tackle, nak dapatkan bola, tak dapat-dapat. Sampai gol.

So kadang tu bila dah gol.. I mean bila diorang berhenti kejap, kena cepat2 grab the opportunity to ask or say what I need to say. Itu pun suara kena jelas, kalau suara lebih pelan dari diorang pun, diorang boleh sandang bola tu dari kita dan teruskan dribble sampai gol lagi.

And the very few times you have the opportunity to ask your questions, you must ask intelligent, close ended questions where you get the answers, hopefully within the next few questions. Pasal kadang kita tanya specific questions pun diorang masih jawab vaguely.

E.g. Simply nak tahu lauk apa diorang makan dengan nasi (This is just an example. Nak gambarkan aje.. takde sistem order nasi in my office.)

Me : You all makan nasi dengan apa?
They all : Lauk ah.. lauk tu kita mintak, dengan pakcik, kita mintak satu lauk, dia charge kita mahal, kadang-kadang pakcik kasi lauk satu, tapi charge untuk dua. (saktah) Tapi kadang2 kalau ada yang muda sikit tu, ah dia charge betul sikit.. blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...."
Me (10 minutes later..) : ooooh.. Ok lauk apa?
They all : Kari. (saktah) Kari dia ok lah, ada oomph macam real indian style. (saktah) Tapi kadang2 pucat warna dia.. blah blah blah blah.blah blah..
Me ( another 5 minutes later..) : Kari daging ke ayam ke telur?
They all : Ayam. (saktah) Kadang ayam besar sangat, kadang kecik sangat. (saktah) Bagian peha slalu abis dulu, kalau nak yang itu kena turun siang2.. blah blah blah blah blah..

Itulah dia. Meeting2 macam ni boleh mengambil masa yang amaaaat panjang. But that's part and parcel of being in this line. And I don't deny it's interesting. And I enjoy my work most of the time. Alhamdulillah.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Incidents at petrol stations

1) Station : Shell
Also present : pink

Attendant: 'Yes miss, which petrol?'
Me : Class 95.
Attendant sengih aje..
Me : ..eh!.. I mean that 95 Unleaded la..


2) Station : Petronas
Also present : fazi, teddie

Bukak aje pintu kereta, attendant tengah tunggu..
Me : Errr.. apa ada eh? (pointing to the pumps)
Attendant : (blur..)
teddie : Minyaklah!
Me : Oh ok lah.. minyak.. isi penuh.
(Rupanya Petronas cuma ada satu macam aje.. takde yang 95, 98 etc.. that's what I meant lah..)


2) Station : SPC
Also present : teddie

This young Chinese guy, dyed hair, who cleaned my car, dia pakai boot kuning ala phua chu kang, sebelah ada marked 'AH'. Sebelah lagi 'TI'
:D masih ada jugak budak muda nama 'Ah Ti'. Dia dah nak abis, ntah apa lagi dia buat kat terbongkok-bongkok dalam kereta ni,

I asked him' Ah Ti, how? ok already or not?'
Ah Ti : (Dengan muka so-surprised =o ) 'Eh! how you know ah?!?!'
Me : =D... Aiyah.. There on your boot, you write there mah.. AH - TI.

(I should have said that I have special abilities - can read minds. Then I can start to tell him his future... percaya agaknya. Or maybe not.
=D But, lagi pun, tak boleh lah.. tu da kira bohong pulak, walaupun main2)

The Prophet SAW said, "Woe to the one who talks and lies to make people laugh. Woe to him! Woe to him! Woe to him."
Related by Imam Tirmidhi hadith #.2485.

When the Prophet SAW, was asked if he joked, he responded: "Yes! But I only tell the truth."
Related by Imam Tirmidhi hadith #. 2121

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Working out and dieting

Once upon a time, hearing colleagues and friends going to the gym, I was thinking, yeah.. I should exercise to keep in shape too. Tummy pun dah makin membesar. Maklumlah, as we age, our metabolism rate goes down, or another way to put it is, our bodies become more and more efficient, so it needs lesser calories/energy to work. Subhanallah.

So, pada suatu hari, with encouragement (or more like, constant pestering) from darling hubby, I pun agree, for him to bring me to the gym, to test water. Nak pegi gym, tak leh lah pakai selipar kan, so pegi lah beli satu kasut yang cantik, lagi mahal. Baju and seluar pun kena beli, tak kan nak pakai pyjamas.

Kat gym tu, I see these machines, sekarang dah canggih. You work out for how many minutes gitu, they'll show you how much calories you've burned. I tried out some of the machines. Then I went on the threadmill. After about 20-25 minutes, I was tired already, checked the 'burned calories' indicator, it showed that I've burned about 60-70 calories lah gitu. Then, teringat pulak pernah terbaca bahawa, makan satu biskut berkrim aje dah 50-65 calories. Ceh!.. da 'lari' dekat setengah jam, setengah pengsan, baru burn 60-70 calories? Hmm..sungguh tak berbaloi.

Maka dengan itu, I made up my mind, that working out is a waste of time for me. Kalau I want to exercise, baik aku sapu dan mop dan lap satu rumah, or main kejar2 dengan budak2. Itu pun burn calories jugak, and rumah pun bersih, anak2 pun happy. Tapi nak lap satu rumah, dah ada pembantu. Main kejar2 dengan budak2 pun.. macam da tak larat.. Baik, jaga diet aje.

I read pasal diet, kat HowStuffWorks.com dulu, interesting site. Basically it explains, cara kita lose/control weight is to burn more calories, then we consume in a day. E.g. kalau you consume 2000 worth of calories a day, and then you use only 1500 calories a day, of course lah, makin lama makin membesar - sideways. The unused calories turn into fat and is stored in our body. (3500 calories = 1 pound of fats)

So that's the whole idea. People exercise to burn more calories. Or another way is to consume lesser calories than you need in the day. Itu aje.

A person like me, would use about 1300 calories on a typical day (approx., ikut weight, height, and age). Tapi, the amount of food/calories we consume, ter-over selalu. E.g. One McDonald upsize meal - easily adds up to about 1300 calories - dah hit my daily limit. Add one more McFlurry 630 calories - abis ah overshot. Itu belum campur nasi lemak pagi, mee goreng malam and roti supper.

So pemakanan ni yang I feel I have to jaga.

DAN, at last, berbalik kepada Islam. Itu lah yang paling best. Ni western punya style semua, buat orang buang duit dan buang masa aje.

Islam advises us:

Eat ONLY when you're hungry. STOP before you're full.
Bila makan tu, 1/3 of ur stomach is for food, 1/3 for liquid, and 1/3 for air. (meaning not full also).

A sohih hadith states:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
A man used to eat much, but when he embraced Islam, he started eating less. That was mentioned to the Prophet who then said, "A believer eats in one intestine (is satisfied with a little food) and a Kafir eats in seven intestines (eats much). "
Volume 7, Book 65, Number 309


Allah SWT yang jadikan kita, and He is Wise. He created feelings for us, kasi kita rasa hunger, filled etc.. depending on the needs of our body. If we don't feel hungry, meaning, we're still ok.. But when we're hungry, our body is telling us to get some energy.. So, eat only when you're hungry.

And so, I practised this for quite sometime already, and now I realise that memang sebenarnya, kita ni, makan way too much than what our body REALLY needs. Bila dah start 'makan-bila-lapar-berhenti-sebelum-kenyang' ni.. i find that the amount of food I really need, makin lama makin berkurangan - until ke tahap sekarang, dah constant. Rupanya sikit jugak - sampai orang semua komen. Sekarang makan nasi 1/3 pinggan, dah cukup. I see it's true, the hadith I read:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The food for two persons is sufficient for three, and the food of three persons is sufficient for four persons."
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 65, Number 304


MasyaAllah.

So, bagi you all yang nak diet tu, ikut aje lah the Islamic diet. It's healthier insyaAllah. Kebanyakan orang yang healthy sampai dah tua2 semua, termasuk yang non-Muslim (macam Lee Kuan Yew, I heard), mengamalkan an Islamic diet, cuma some of them don't know that the diet style, is encouraged by Islam.

Islam IS a way of life, and Allah SWT knows best.