antz

This morning, I came back to work, to find that a mug of PLAIN water I left behind, had a group of ants in it.. all in the middle. It's like they committed a mass suicide.

I am puzzled as to why the ants are attracted to PLAIN water. I thought it's only some sugary stuff?

Then, as I looked closer, I was surprised to see that the ants were all ALIVE!! I don't know how long they must have been swimming inside there.. but they WERE. And I always thought ants CAN'T swim. Maybe now they have ants swimming instructors.

Maybe it's a normal ant behaviour? But I can't look up for information about ants now.. Yes, so clever.. I'm in the office mah..

Then, I didn't know what to do, cause kesian la pulak.. nak pour all of them into the sink. But I can't possibly fish one by one out..because it IS the office hours. I cannot be seen standing there, fishing ants from my mug. And I cannot fish all of them out at once.. nanti semua terus lari berkeliaran all over my hands and the pantry. The auntie at the pantry saw me in deep thought, holding my mug, she checked to see if I was ok. I couldn't tell her I was thinking about these ants. So I just said.. 'errr.. nothing'

Then I remembered, they CAN swim right.. and I have no time to stand there any longer to ponder over what to do. I didn't want the auntie to get any funny ideas. So I just prayed for the best, for these ants, and poured them into the sink.

Swim ants! Swim!

I do hope they make it somewhere. Ameen.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: An ant had bitten a Prophet (one amongst the earlier Prophets) and he ordered that the colony of the ants should be burnt. And Allah revealed to him:" Because of an ant's bite you have burnt a community from amongst the communities which sings My glory."
Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5567
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the seven principles

the founder was a very very nice man, who cares a lot for his society and his people.

He came up with the following seven principles:

1. Contribution to society
2. Fairness and Honesty
3. Cooperation and Team Spirit
4. Untiring Effort for Improvement
5. Courtesy and Humility
6. Adaptability
7. Gratitude

Sadly now these principles only remain in the books or on framed glasses, but not truly practised.

These days, people separate human relations with business. 'Work is work', they say. Or 'we pay them already mah? Tired so what?' - no empathy langsung!

I believe, for a principle or policy to be successfully implemented in a company, the HEAD must practise them himself. Then he must actively promote the same to the rest of the employees. If the head doesn't care, then that's the end of story for those principles.

Same thing for other stuff, like they send me for courses on how to improve this and that.. how to implement a good system to accomplish this and that.. but hey.. seriously.. do i have the power to do so?? Surely, the top must be the one to support these efforts.. baru boleh jalan. Lama2.. company cuma buang2 duit aje, hantar orang gi course, but that person, cannot do much to make that change for the better.

Hmmphh.. if when I have my own company/business, insyaAllah, I want to apply those seven principles too, or something along that line, insyaAllah. And all of the above finally goes back, lillah - for Allah SWT. And gratitude is to Allah SWT and the people around you.

You all doa2 lah, that I can have my own shop/business, in the near future. Ameen.

~melancholic blossom~

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the CNY break

We've heard the stories, we've avoided it before. But this year, hubby thinks we should just go for it. And so, our family, including MIL, Cik Alin's and Cik Nyah's, decided to be part of the news, of jams and long queues at the Customs, by going over to Malaysia for a short break.

This time, Blossmobile, gets to come along, because Cik Nyah takde transport. So, yours truly (me, bukan lyana), drove. The trip towards Melaka, was ok, no jams whatsoever, Alhamdulillah. Maybe it was the time we chose to leave.. about 11am, on 1st day of CNY. In Singapore, towards Tuas, the road is almost empty.


Even managed to drive an 'S' on the empty road, just for fun. My aunts kat belakang, cuak kejap. =p Since I'm driving, there is not much pictures of the journey. (nanti yara cakap.. dangerous).

Kita tak buat apa sangat lah kat sana. Stayed at AFamosa. 1st night kat the resort hotel, 2nd night kat bungalow. We didn't do that to try the 2 types of accomodations. It was because the bungalows were full on the 1st night.


1st night, we met my uncle, who lives in Melaka,for seafood, where I only see food. I really don't eat much. Memang rugi bawak aku makan, especially for buffets.

Initial plan was to go to Umbai for seafood. On our way there, it seems like the whole of Melaka was heading to Umbai for seafood. Then seriously, when we reached Umbai, even the avenue leading to the seafood place at the end, dah jammed. So, changed plan.

Went to Alai instead. Even in Alai pun, packed jugak.

almost everyone in melaka, also having seafood that night.. (balaghah)

I must say that place at Alai, Deli Muara, is not bad. The owner, has a degree in Physics! Ok, not that it makes the food any tastier than it already is.. but waaah.. respect sama dia.

2nd day, morning-morning, we went for breakfast provided, in their Cowboy town.




The rest of the day was water day. Almost the whole time was spent in or near water. First, we went to water world. I was busy queueing and climbing stairs to get on rides, sampai tak ingat nak amik gambar at all.

And then, when we went back to the bungalow, ada swimming pond pool pulak, apa lagi.. budak2 dan non-budak2 pun terjun dalam air.

masa part I, diorang tak tahu amik gambar terjun! ceh..

By the 3rd day, I'm done with swimming. But the kids swam some more.

After we checked out from Afamosa, we went to Bandar Hilir.
Ada new 'hawker center' sebelah Mahkota Parade. The food is nice.





Finally, on our way back, we faced the real slow traffic and jams and accidents. I saw 2 sets of accident vehicles on the side.

The first one, they told me, the bus, must have hit the car or something.. i can't really see.. i was driving. I only saw people from the bus, having to stand by the road side. The railing on the right side of the highway, dah bent teruk.

2nd one lagi kesian. It involves a singapore car rupanya. I saw the front of the car, kemek beyond recognition.. and there were a few cars and people standing around. I can't see more. Yes, I was driving.

but my aunt told me, a man's body was on the side of the kemek-ed car. and on the other side, the mother, lying on the tummy, facing her crying child who was about 4-5yrs old. :'(

And.. KOGs (Kereta orang gila, or maybe a better term wud be 'kereta orang gopoh') continue to speed and/or cause danger to other vehicles by whizzing left and right, or tailgaiting so close behind at high speed, to intimidate the car in front. Fools. I pray that there's much lesser or none of such accidents. But I also hope that IF these KOGs cause any accidents, it's only their own, and the only ones injured are themselves, not anyone else.

Well, Alhamdulillah, we're back safe and sound, albeit me being tired from driving. Yes, actually tired from driving. I slept almost the whole day today!

I'm expecting work to be hectic tomorrow. :|

broken heart

hari tu, hari tu, hari tu lagi* my colleague, she bought lunch for the department, for pre-CNY treat.

And she also went to order heart-shaped pizza. I believe it is to commemorate that old pagan-turned christian festival, that many people (regardless of race, language or religion) seem to celebrate, nowadays.

Yah they celebrate it, by contributing to the economy more on that day. They do it by buying common and/or useless stuff for their loved ones, at a higher-than-normal price.. Or they spam inboxes, with pictures or hearts and roses.

I think most of them, don't know the origins of that day. If they knew, then I think most of them, Muslims especially, will not celebrate.

Wait..where was I?... oh right...they had this heart-shaped pizza during lunch.

BUT nobody wanted to cut it, without their loved ones. It's like 'so wrong' to cut that heart shaped pizza just like that. After a few minutes of them coaxing and teasing each other to cut the cake, I decided to save the day.
Untuk tidak membuang masa lunch yang singkat itu, I offered to cut it, so that we all can get it over with and carry on with our lunch.

I cut it like this:

Kesian eh.. but I like the shape. and I like the colour.

***

Ingat tak the Monday when i took leave? I had a good sister-in-law-ly outing with dadha. A private meeting, which was loooooong overdue. =D She convinced me to participate in a scrapbooking class that day - which I did, and I like.

Yup.. Besides that, I want to share pictures.
My favourite, wud be the one of Dadha, feeding the giant cat (or mouse?) - I like the mural on the wall.


< >

* hari tu, hari tu, hari tu lagi
- is how nadhrah would say it, to mean 3 days ago.
Kalau nak refer to '4 days ago', tambah aje lagi satu 'hari tu' in front. Kalau nak refer to 'last week'...

* this entry is 'unplugged'. da too ngantuk to check. zzz..

enjet-enjet semut

Found this clip and find that it's soooooooo cute, I just have to share it with all of you. Watch it!

My children played it over and over again, and da hafal pun part of the song. (I wish I can hafal Al-Baqarah that fast.)

enjoy.



p.s. don't take the stereotyping to heart.
in everything we do, we do our best, and lillah. :)

have a good week!

dog's saliva considered najis

In class we are now studying Fiqh Muqaaranah (Fiqh Perbandingan) where one of the differentiating opinions that we need to research on, is on dogs.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The purification of the utensil belonging to any one of you, after it is licked by a dog, lies in washing it seven times, using sand for the first time.
Sahih Muslim, Book 002, Number 0549

It is jumhur ulama (collectively agreed by ulama) that dog's saliva is najis. But we need to determine, the other parts and find the different opinions.

So, while I was trying to find the materials, on the internet, I ended up blogging instead learned something new about dogs. The thing is, although since young, I've accepted that dogs are considered najis berat, I've never really understood why. But kita terima aje hukum ini.

The thing is, I didn't know dogs normally eat faeces (their own and others). I didn't really think it's true, until I looked it up and I found this article>>.

So.. it's no wonder that dog's saliva is najis.

And now I really wonder how some people can allow their dogs to lick their faces or even their babies. Eeuw.




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p.s.1 = The new tag is 'advance our knowledge' as in the ayat from Al Quran, Ta ha 20:114

High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth! Be not in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge."

فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يُقْضَى إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُ وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا

So insyaAllah, we share and learn - when I find it appropriate to do so. :)

p.s. 2 = I'm not going to post any pics here.. although I have a few many. As I don't want to you all to think that the people in the pics, reminds me of dogs or dogs remind me of them. =D

Nanti.. next post, coming soon, insyaAllah.

tangkap mood

hmm? asal tak blog?

errr..


masih tengah nak tangkap mood..

you know, kalau takde mood, walaupun ada topic, tapi like... it's not from the heart. So, it wouldn't sound sincere. yeah.



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jump

Alhamdulillah, my brother came back safely on friday night, despite doing the bungee jump.

Yes he jumped!

And dia kata, the scariest part was while on the platform. walaupun dalam video dia nampak cool aje..dalam hati, Allah aje yang tahu. And after jumping down for a while, and not bouncing up yet, he said his mind, kind of switched off, and only came back, when he bounced. Eisssh.. cari pasal.

And wa salute sama Dadha for having done it before too!
Me? No thanks.

And, last Friday night, we went camping kat East Coast. Last minute kind of thing.

1st time for me, to camp out by the beach, overnight.

The best part for me was, waking up very early morning for Subuh by the beach, and having breakfast at McDonalds there, very early, before the crowd comes. I like. I think we may do it again.

This weekend, in colourful pics:



oh yes, blossmobile ex-door. :p


And, in black & white (with new hp :p - i like!)




Y'know, if I start my weekend by going out on Friday night, then I feel the weekend is a bit longer. Cause I'll return home after that, sleep, and wake up the next morning to find that it's only Saturday.

However, this time, I didn't feel that, in fact I feel it's shorter. Cause although I went out Friday night - yes, but I didn't return home till after class Saturday. Then I woke up this morning to find that it's already Sunday.

Anyway, fret I shall not, cause tomorrow- working, I am not. =D