travelling

The other day, my colleague showed pictures of him and his family's travel to Turkey. Very pretty pictures, very very nice place. I asked how much he spent for the whole family (husband, wife, and 3 teenagers). He said, everything in, about SGD16,000. 10 days trip, including the journey to and fro. Whoa..

Ok.. I cannot afford that. And even if I can save up enough money - I think 'heart-pain' jugak seh.. nak habiskan like that. Oh ya.. actually if boleh save up enough.. I WANT to bring the family for umrah. yeah. InsyaAllah Ameen.

Oh.. Nur pun pergi Turkey jugak hari tu.. tapi dia ada free flight! so.. i should have worked at the airport.

I wish I can go on a trip, where I don't have to define too short an end date. Ok i know I'll get that trip when I'm dead..(..and Ya Allah, to a very nice place, insyaAllah AMEEN). but I'm talking about now.

Actually like taking a one year off work... oklah 6 months pun jadi la...3 months pun ok.... then going somewhere far - not REALLY on a holiday, but to stay there a while, maybe work part time for a few weeks, enjoying that place for a while. Then after a while, move on to another country. Now THAT would be real travel for me.

Oh OR!! .. go to Syria or somewhere around there.. for 3 months to just to study arabic and maybe work part time ke..

Of course, sekarang it's a bit too late. What with four kids and a husband. Itulah.. bodoh.. masa muda entah apa yang aku buat. Buang masa.

For now.. I think if I can get away for a couple of weeks away from work, away from home, to sit and finish writing - now that would be nice too.
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Ok lah enough of day dreaming.

Dapat cabut pegi KL sendiri for 2 days pun jadi lah..

doing it with love

Once upon a long long time ago, hubby and I were strolling on the streets in Gold Coast, Australia, when I noticed a trash truck slowing down. A man in t-shirt and denim jumpsuit, shades and headphones on, got off and walked to the beat of whatever he was listening to, towards the trash bin. He picked it up, emptied it and was on his way, still to the beat playing on his headphones. I remember thinking.. 'the way this fella does his job, it's like it's the best job in the world..' And seeing him also makes me think that the job of a cleaner, don't look bad at all! In fact, it looks like fun - how that man was doing it.

And I remember it to this day. And sometimes I'd be thinking.. imagining.. hoping..to see that kind of attitude, especially for the blue collared workers and the younger ones. Ada jugak ah I nampak.. kadang2 budak2 yang jual Ramly Burgers tu.. macam enjoy kerja diorang. That's good.

Cause u know.. every decent job is important. Kalau tak ada orang nak buat.. kecoh jugak jadinya. Imagine if nobody wants to empty trash bins or clean toilets. Boleh jadi national crisis...

You have to have some 'L-O-V-E' for the job you're doing . The determination to do the best you can, no matter what it is that you're doing. Cause every job we do, is for the benefit of another. Every job is an ibadah, when you do it with the intention to give the best, to the person receiving the product of your job. In the end, it will bring satisfaction to yourself. Especially bila kerja tu.. kita buat lillah, kerana Allah SWT - it's even more noble.

U know, I can sometimes see or even TASTE the difference in the food of a cook who loves his job, and the one who is preparing the food, just for the sake of earning. Serious!
U'll be able to see/taste it, especially if you frequent the particular foodstall.

Therefore we shud give our best in whatever it is that we're doing. And I'm not just talking about our jobs.. even our other tasks lah - apa2 pun. masak ke, mop rumah ke, kemas katil ke, cuci toilet ke... InsyaAllah, we'll be more contented and happy. I'm reminding myself too!!

There is a saying (which was quoted to be a hadith, but I really cannot find or confirm the source. One mentioned that it's from Imam Muslim - I cannot locate it. Then on another article it is said to be from Imam Tamadhi - whom I've not heard of so far, Imam Tirmidhi, I know. If anyone knows of the exact source of this saying, please inform me).

It says "Allah loves a person whom when he does a job, he does the job dilligently and to the best of his ability. " The arabic word used is 'amali tuqinah' which means 'does a job diligently and to the best of his ability'. Some arabic words are just so rich in meaning.

Allahua'lam.

Happy working!

can you please listen faster!

while I was typing an email to pink, i heard someone on the phone saying, "aiyah.. can you please listen faster!" Ok, that's weird. I don't know how anyone can LISTEN faster - i guess she meant, digest the information faster or respond faster or stop asking questions. OR I shouldn't care.

Then, there was this one time, when i heard someone said "I'm not being rude, i'm just saying that you're fat." I don't know if I heard that wrongly or if she mispronounced the words - anyway that's what I thought I heard.

And at that time, I was on YM with pink. So I was telling her what I heard. At the same time also, I was doing a repetitive task - closing all long pending problem logs in the system - with standard remarks like "Closed based on meeting dated XX.XX.XX". So I'm copying this remark, pasting into the system remarks column, save, close log window.

When it comes to doing repetitive things, I can work like robot, and fast. openLog-paste-save-closeLog. openLog-paste-save-closeLog. openLog-paste-save-closeLog.

But I was also on YM with Pink kan.. in my robotic-speed tu.. I accidentally copied the "I'm not being rude, I'm just saying that you're fat"
OpenLog-paste-save-'OOOH Shit!!'-closeLog. Eeeeshh!!..I was too fast to even stop myself. And in that system, there is no way to edit or delete the remarks. Bagus kan?

Sometimes, I think I should slow down.




Happy Thursday!


:)

eema's birthday party

actually we didn't plan for a bday party.. so it was all sort of last minute jugak ah.. suddenly we thought.. why not just ask the relatives nearby to come, since cik alin planned to make a bday cake for eema. but what do you know.. nearby relatives pun.. memang da cukup untuk mengkecohkan. :D

from the last minute thingy we still managed to have...

face painting from previous face paint pen.


a famous (only among us) guitar strummer and hummer,
with two beautiful backing hummers.


a....clown?..an entertainer?...err..something.


a sweet, pretty, beautiful, yummy, delicious cake by cik alin.
so pretty, sue said, "i think i'm going to cry".


a birthday song and cut-caking.. i mean cake cutting.


fun..


and games


and water bombs!




In the end, eema said.. "I think this is the best birthday ever!"

death by scrabble

My life has been a rollercoaster this past 2 months, when it comes to my favourite gadgets.
1. lost my hp and olympus camera in KL. :(
2. came back and cannot find my smaller lumix camera after the children played with it. :((
3. got a new hp, after about a month, when hubby suddenly said, 'come let's go and get your new hp'. :D
4. And then I FOUND my lumix camera at home, stuck behind the daybed. :D :D
5. And then, I accidentally spilled water all over the laptop at the office. :(

All efforts to revive it proved futile:

fanning

dabbing

bbqing

dismantling

eating

i know.. not related. food are all fake.


The laptop is now just waiting for a qualified doctor/technician to declare it officially dead. I don't mind if they give me a desktop to work on instead or a 2nd hand laptop, cause it's my fault :(

Oh.. the title has got nothing to do with my laptop. No lah.. it didn't go dead because i played scrabble ke apa..

Just now I was looking for some short stories to read right after lunch, and I came across this cruelly funny story. Somewhat 'roald dahl'

Death by Scrabble - by Charlie Fish.
Charlie Fish probably plays scrabble all the time too.

enjoy.

to stop thefts

I read about the increasing crime rates in Malaysia today, especially thefts. And I can't help thinking that the best way to overcome this problem, would be to apply the Islamic Syariah Law for thieves. That is to cut off their hands.

As to the thief, Male or female, cut off his or her hands: a punishment by way of example, from Allah, for their crime: and Allah is Exalted in power.

Al Quran, Al Maidah 5:38

When they are caught by the police, the cutting off, of their hands, should be publicised in the newspapers, as a warning to others.

And NO, it's not cruel AT ALL - compared to the injury and misery they inflict on their victims. They don't feel as much pain as their victims, when they slash the victims faces, hands, stomach, whatever. Their pain will be more concentrated, and controlled in a single place compared to those people they hurt. Plus, there would be qualified medical officers around, during the execution of the punishment to ensure that they don't suffer more than is required. They'll survive.

The 2 major advantages of this method ordained by Lord, who knows his creations best, would be :

1) When their hands are cut, they will be less able to repeat the same criminal act.
2) The government need not use people's money to build more jails to feed and house these people, only to let them repeat the same offence again, when they are released. And like.. WHY on earth must we use people's money to feed and house the same ones who stole from the people??

And I truly believe, the government will not have to cut too many hands, after the first few are publicised. InsyaAllah.

Since Malaysia has basically Muslims running the country - it would be possible to implement - compared to, say.. Singapore.

And the Government shouldn't care about what infantile-nincompoop-bushok and the western press have to say later. Saudi - is practising that, and they don't say much, because Saudi has oil/money - so seriously.. it's not REALLY about humanity.

It is the most logical, economical, practical, effective solution.

Don't you think?

What I know about the hijrah year.

Salam Ma'al Hijrah 1429

1. Who established the Islamic Year and when was it established?
Saiyidina Umar Al-Khattab established it, marking the year of the hijrah as the start of the Islamic calendar, because it was an important turning point for the Muslims. It was established about 17 years after the actual hijrah, with the consensus of his scholars and advisors.

2. What should we do at the start of the new Hijrah year?
We COULD reflect on the event of the hijrah and together try to understand the REAL meaning of Hijrah.

3. What about that do'a awal tahun akhir tahun.
As far as I know, and can (can't) see, there isn't ANY hadith mentioning this. Especially on the 'fadhilat' of doing the supplication 3 times and so on. So, doing it with the i'tikad that you'll get the fadhilat is bid'ah like concocting a new ibadah in your religion, not instructed by Allah SWT or Rasulullah, and this is forbidden. I believe it's only among the Malays.

I imagined how it may have started. Maybe some fella asked his ustaz.. what shud we do on the start of the new islamic year. Like the Westerners, they celebrate the New Year.. can we?. So maybe the ustaz said.. we shouldn't celebrate like the westerners especially with booze and immoral behaviours. If you want to do something.. why don't you just supplicate, doa - that the past year and the coming year brings good to you.. etc.. PERHAPS when you read it, the syaitan will 'blah blah blah' (see the 'fadhilat' baca doa). And so the man did.. and passed on this to his family and children.. and VERY soon, it became a die-die-must-do tradition. MAYBE. Yes, I have wild and great imaginations.

Anyhow, if you want to continue reading the doa, just because you want to doa - not for any specific reasons, I guess it's ok to do so, but NOT because you THINK it is something expected of a Muslim on the Muslim New Year.

4. Anything special about the month of Muharram?
It is mentioned by the Prophet, to be one of the 4 sacred months, mentioned in the Quran. On the 10th of Muharram, day of Asyura, we are encouraged to fast for 2 days, 9th and 10th. This is to differentiate our practise, from the practise of Jews and Christians.

*********

The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred: that is the straight usage. So wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.

Al Quran, At-Tauba 9:36

**************

Narrated Abu Bakra:

The Prophet said. "(The division of time has turned to its original form which was current when Allah created the Heavens and the Earths. The year is of twelve months, out of which four months are sacred: Three are in succession Dhul-Qa' da, Dhul-Hijja and Muharram, and (the fourth is) Rajab of (the tribe of) Mudar which comes between Jumadi-ath-Thaniyah and Sha ban."
(Sohih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 54, Number 419)

****************

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

When the Prophet came to Medina, he found (the Jews) fasting on the day of 'Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram). They used to say: "This is a great day on which Allah saved Moses and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. Moses observed the fast on this day, as a sign of gratitude to Allah." The Prophet said, "I am closer to Moses than they." So, he observed the fast (on that day) and ordered the Muslims to fast on it.
(Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 609)

****************

Narrated 'Aisha:

The people used to fast on 'Ashura (the tenth day of the month of Muharram) before the fasting of Ramadan was made obligatory. And on that day the Ka'ba used to be covered with a cover. When Allah made the fasting of the month of Ramadan compulsory, Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever wishes to fast (on the day of 'Ashura') may do so; and whoever wishes to leave it can do so."
(Sahih Bukhari Volume 2, Book 26, Number 662)


Sources :
IslamOnline : Umar Al-Khattab
About.com : Islam : What is the Hijrah Calendar?
IslamOnline : Can we celebrate Hijrah
IslamOnline : Fasting the 9th and 10th of Muharram

ps: This is as far as I know. Correct me if I'm wrong, advise me if I miss anything. But please provide authentic dalil and/or sources with it.
Allahu'alam.

Have a great day!

sunday morning at the hospital

This was Sunday morning, at KKH - hospital for women and children. It's quite nice.

The night before, Nadhrah had asthma. We brought her to the clinic at 10pm, for the neubilizer. But it didn't seem to make that much of a difference, and it only got worse after midnight. It was hard to see her having difficulty breathing, so tiring. kesian. I couldn't wait till morning. So at 3am, i decided to just bring her to the A&E, at KKH - for perhaps a stronger dose.

She was awake, but weak and very tired. She vomited just as we were about to reach the hospital. I got a wheelchair from the entrance and wheeled her in, thinking about her soiled dress.. mana nak cari baju seh pagi2 buta ni. I took our queue number - not many people around and it was immediately our turn. The nurse checked nadhrah's pulse and oxygen level, and then told us to proceed to the resuscitation room.

Once inside - I asked if they had any spare t-shirt of something, and the nurse let Nadhrah change into the hospital's top. Then onwards, it was like a scene from ER or Greg Anatomy..2 doctors came in and 5 nurses started to busy themselves around Nadhrah. They gave her oxygen, put a needle in her hand and started to give her 2-3 different injections through that, and taking her readings from her body and fingers. And all the while, Nadhrah kept her cool - just like before. She just wanted to hold my hand.

Then the doctor said, she has to be warded for 2-3 days. "Is it that serious?" I asked. "Yes it is. I am even considering to put her in high dependency unit for close monitoring, if her condition does not get better in the next 30 mins.".



Alhamdulillah, Nadhrah's condition did improve. She was put on the puff every 15 mins. An hour later, after handling her admission papers and all, we were at her ward already. And now they are giving her the puff every 30 mins. The doctor said, they will be monitoring her up to the time when she can get on 4 hourly puffs. And her oxygen level was low, so she had to be on oxygen until she can get enough of it, on her own.

MasyaAllah and with the very regular puffs and constant oxygen and timely medicine, she was recovering quite fast. By Monday afternoon, she did not want to use the oxygen mask already and seem comfortable. She also started to enjoy herself, going around the hospital on the wheelchair with her sisters, watching tv and playing games. She actually said, "best jugak eh tinggal kat hospital..." Oh ya, and the hospital food was not bad at all.



After 3 days, just now, she was certified well enough to be discharged. Alhamdulillah again, cause i was getting tired of staying at the hospital also, and sharing Nadhrah's bed for the last 2 nights. (The first night i slept on the chair). Actually diorang adalah kasi a simple reclining chair as a make do bed, but it's too low and tak selesa, compared to the bed. Luckily Nadhrah is small size, and so am I.

But when we were about to leave the hospital, macam sedih sikit. The staff there were very kind and helpful and prompt and friendly. Including this robot, it brings our meals daily.



It had been a very pleasant stay for me and Nadhrah.

And thank you to all your doa's and all those who came to visit and made Nadhrah's day brighter. We love you all!


cute bear from Sue's girls. Nadhrah said, she likes the card very much. :)




Nadhrah's ward and bed.


Gang yang ni pun datang.


On the last day, Nadhrah finally made acquaintance with the girl across our bed, Shania.


One last ride before we leave the hospital.

wireless@sg

after i think,1 year or more after it's launch, i am finally trying out singapore's free wireless internet. trying out from a hospital (more on this later, hoping to come home today).

im trying fm wifi phone, not as complete as when using the laptop, but workable. like this post. not bad.

ok lah, more updates later.

Blossom E's surprise win

ADVERTISEMENT : A more meaningful and informational entry was posted earlier today (scroll down). Read THAT first if.. 'masa mencemburui anda' i.e. you don't have much time.


Facebook, 2nd Jan 2008.


Blossom E atoned for the frequent defeat to Anis D in Scrabulous, by scoring a late winner, in a game ending this morning.

Blossom E started to get behind Anis D from the earlier moves in the game. The point difference between Anis D and Blossom E, only got bigger as the game moved along. On the 2nd last move, Blossom E was 124 points behind Anis D's 325 points. Both sides were certain of Anis D's clutch on this game's victory.

However, at the last minute, when there were 0 tiles left in the bag, Blossom E miraculously whipped out a bingo on her last 7 tiles, and on a triple word square at that, scoring a whopping 95 points with FLUTTERY.

With Anis D's 16 points worth of tiles left on her, Blossom E won the game, with a final score of 312 to 309. A close one indeed.

Blossom E was very elated with the win. "I feel like jumping on my seat!" she exclaimed. "I am trying to contain my stupid big grin, so that people around me won't think I'm crazy or something. woooooweee!".

Ten minutes after that however, Blossom E sobered up, reminding herself that it's ONLY an online Scrabulous game, with no prize money whatsoever. No, not even free lunch.

But still, it was the happiest 10 minutes of her life day.



Disclaimer: Blossom E is not a facebook fanatic.. meaning, she does not poke or superpoke people. She does give occasional growing gifts and write on people's wall. She seldom accepts and adds applications.
But.... Scrabulous is fabulous!
And yes, she's talking to someone qualified about this addiction.

looking forward to the weekends

ahem.. sorry - if you came here after skipping 'Blossom E's surprise win' entry, due to my smart aleck advise on 'if masa mencemburui anda', i'd have to apologise. I didn't realise how super long this post is! it must be my longest post EVER. So.. err.. yeah.


I can't remember the last time I arrived VERY early at the office - like 15 mins before office hours. But today I did! Thanks to having to send my daughters off to school on their first day. All 3 girls are in the morning school this year.

I must say, this morning went smoothly. I sent Eema and Nadhrah to school. Hubby sent Hanaa.

Eema arrived at school JUST on time, thanks to the traffic. Nadhrah was also... sort of on time, because I had to check on Eema's books in school. Anyhow, kira kan Nadhrah arrived on time jugak lah.. cause when we arrived, some kids just got off the school bus (even though it was 10 mins after school hour was suppose to start) - first day hiccups.

Yang paling kesian-kelakar.. Hadi.

Alhamdulillah, Hadi was accepted to Singapore Sports School , a boarding school kat Woodlands - for... err.. sports. He has to stay there the whole school week and comes home on Fridays after school. Report back to school on Sunday nights.

We are totally FIRST-TIMERS when it comes to boarding school. Last weekend, I packed Hadi's school uniforms, training attires, pyjamas, 1 set of golf attire, undies, prayer mat, toiletries, golf stuff - he is all equipped, so we thought.

Yesterday, when Hadi, hubby and I reached the sports school, the place was quite packed with students and parents, siblings and luggage bags and some of them I saw, with pillow, bolsters, teddy bears (girl lah..) - then I told hubby and Hadi, "look.. ada yang sampai bawak bantal semua..".

After the registration and what-not, we proceeded to his room.
His room is actually not bad at all, shoe rack, cupboard, bed with nice thick spring mattress, study table, book racks, ample storage area, a window with a nice view and window ledge on the inside, so wide, you can sit there and read a book while looking out the window. Very nice.

His room mate, let's call him B, and family was there already. And B's family's maid, was with a pail of water, detergent and towel, wiping his whole area clean, siap dengan mop lagi.
Woah.. i thought.. shutz..I didn't even think of THAT (not pasal bawak maid - but pasal bawak kain to wipe his area).

OK.. now.. what do we do first. Luckily, Hadi got a few face towels for golf. So we used one to wet it and I started wiping his study table and book racks and arranged the school books.

Then we checked the cupboard - found 2 sets of bedsheet + pillow cover. I spread his green bedsheet, which reminds me of some hospital bedsheet cover. Suddenly, I noticed kat sebelah, B's maid was spreading a nice dark brown coloured bedsheet, with matching bolster and TWO pillows. Eh?

"Is that the school's one or your own (referring to the nice bedsheet)?" I asked the mother.

"Oh, our own. Can use your own one."

"Ooooooooooooooooh..I see." alaaaaaa kesiannyer anak aku.

Then I looked for the pillow. Hubby checked again in the cupboard - not there. Then B's mother said, "Pillow, they don't provide. Must bring your own."

WHAT?!?!?! "Ha? serious??.. we didn't know." shutz again. What we DO know now, is that we are REALLY REALLY under prepared. No pillow, no bolster, no nice bedsheet, no bookends, no.... and meanwhile, B's maid has already hanged all his clothes on the hangers nicely in the cupboard. On B's desk, there's a tissue box, stationary tray, calendar.... and Hadi has no hangers, no calendar, no tissue box, no pictures, no pen holder, no hooks to hang stuff. The wall beside his bed is a bit dirty. And NOW I am really distressed.

Apparently, B's elder brother has just graduated from SSS. No wonder the parents were ALL prepared.

"Ok.. tak boleh jadi. I want to go back NOW and get some stuff and buy some stuff and come back here to finish up his room." I told hubby. I asked Hadi, if there is anything I can bring from home that would make him feel like home there. "My blanket", he said. OK.

So we left Hadi, who looked a bit sad, for a while - more like 2-3 hours. I called my father, and asked if he would like to come see Hadi's room, and surprise Hadi. He was already at my place and wanted to go.

So at home, I got a couple of pictures, calendar, alarm clock (didn't remember that also, just now), hooks, a tidbit container, Hadi's blanket and his grandfather. Then we headed to Causeway Point and bought a pillow, bolster, a rug, bookends, hangers, a STORY BOOK - i forgot about what he may do during his free time..no internet, no TV (except for in their recreation room). Oh, and I also bought 4 sheets of very big coloured paper to paste on his wall, to cover the dirty wall a bit, and make it more livelier.

By the time we reached his school again, it was nearly 8pm. Luckily, parents were still allowed in the room till 10 pm that first night, although, when we arrived, there were no more parents in the rooms. Hadi was very happy to see his grandfather, Nadhrah and Eema who came along also.

I started to work on Hadi's room, arranging and putting all those stuff we brought and bought. Then, I told him what to do - how to hang his towel straight, how NOT to chuck his clothes, but hang it etc etc etc.. By the time we're all done, it was about 9pm already.

I didn't get the new bed sheets and pen holder - I figured, maybe we can go out shopping (oops.. i told myself no shopping this month - but in this case it's for a valid reason)..this weekend, and he can choose his own. I told him that, he agreed.

I asked him how he felt about the room now..if it's more cosy, more equipped? He said, "Yes! cosy, and a bit like home". I can't tell you, how relieved I felt then.




And when we left him, he was all smiles. His friends were already bugging him to play some game with them.

Phew!.. masyaAllah.. what an experience. But it was fun!!

I wish I had a chance to experience boarding school, in a nice boarding school like SSS. But then, even if they HAD SSS back then, I wouldn't have gone in, cause I'm not into sports in the first place. Hah.

Oh well.. Alhamdulillah...in the end, it all went well.

With Hadi, not at home during weekdays, I should be able to spend more time on the girl's academic and ukhrawi progress, at night. I hope. I need to set up a new routine. And the girls need to be in bed 930pm every school night.

I'm looking forward to a new routines in 2008 and perhaps, to more changes. We also look forward to weekends, much more than we did before.

Birthday Party, food, cakes and magic show

We were at Durra's cukur rambut/Rushda's birthday party on 1st Jan 2008.

Maklumlah.. takde camera sendiri.. pinjam2 phone hubby amik gambar.. so...hmm..pathetic.

cake cute.. courtesy of cik alin, AGAIN! Barbie's dress can be eaten! and under Barbie's skirt, pun cake jugak. But forgot AND no camera anyway, to shoot earlier, before barbie turun dari pelamin. gambar birthday girl yang cute2 pun tak amik. :(



The greens on the brown cake looks nice eh? even when cut.

Ada magic show semua..



Oh! and blueberry cheesecake!
sempat makan.. tak sempat amik gambar.

FUN!