Monday, December 11, 2017

New Friends and New Places (uncovered)

Assalamualaikum and hyee.
Sollu alan nabi😊

Last Saturday I went to stay at my new friend house. Yes. A very brand new fresh friend, Ummi and Hanifah. Haha. But the one where her house I stayed at was Ummi. Ummi and Hanifah already friends. But I'm not the third wheel guys. We met at MRA another volunteering for orang asli. Both Ummi and Hanifah had joined many of MRA programmes and I just started to be in the big family. It was my third time with them. This time we went to Kampung Bawong in Sungai Siput. The night before I stayed at Kak Ida's mother's house. Kak Ida was the first I felt kinship to. She is friendly and talkative. Wihout her (and her daughter) I think I would have a difficult time communicating and socializing with the people.haha.

Let's get back to Ummi and Hanifah.

I was surprised to know that we share almost same story (in my instagram). I consider myself a late comer in the field of volunteerism and works like helping the poor, improve the society, change the policy etc etc. So do them. And all three of us had funny moment finding the right platform and finally found the one that suit our heart most. Haha. Because of this, we became close on the first day we knew each other and Ummi took us to see the beautiful historical city of Ipoh (Hanifah is from Taiping. I mean she is working in Taiping but both are from Kelantan).

Since I don't have much time because I already made a promise with my sister, we just went to New Hollywood for breakfast and Ipoh Heritage Trail where Plan B is located. It is near Masjid Negeri and only 5 minutes from my maklong house😒.

I had Roti Telur and White Coffee. The bread was good but a little too plain. I like how the egg was halfly cooked but there is no taste that can awake me. The white coffee was soooo good if it was not too sugary. I like the bitter taste because I always think coffee should be more bitter than sweet. There was another food but I can't recall the name😅. It was like 'keropok' but with filling inside it. Ummi said the skin actually made from pig but to make it halal they used meat instead so I ate comfortably😁 and it was deliciouss. Maybe you can try New Hollywood but for me I'll go when there is not too many people and not crowded which means impossible😔😂

Ipoh Heritage Trail is beautiful place to have photoshoot so we do early maternity photoshoot haha. There were many shops where tourist can buy souvenir but I was in tight budget so I just looked around but seriously I love the handcrafted purse bag keyholder and any handcrafted material aghhh..they were so nice to see and hold but once broken considered sold (sound familiar tak😜). I also wanted to see the tea house. A place where you can know all about tea. But you need to book place first and wait for your turn. We came so late that waiting might make us see the moonlight first😌 so we just went away but I wish to go again someday.

At 12.30 we slowly walk our way from the place and I was an hour  late to see my sisters (we promise to meet a 12). Although I made a notice that I will be a little late they still gave me a monster face. Maybe because I used the word little😂🏃

Come to Ipoh guys. It's a good place. I always like a place like Ipoh. A city but not so busy with historical characteristic. Yeah, I'm traditional and born wih that nature. Vintage and old is my all time favourite. I still like kebaya and baju kedah😇 tetibee

P/s: Lets meet again Ummi and Hanifah. Had so much fun with you😘


Sunday, November 26, 2017

Royal Masak Merah

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and hyee
Sollu alan nabi :)

I'm not so into cooking but that does not mean I can't cook. Although I'm not a pro in kitchen, I do pretty well in cooking or at least my foods are palatable (well... to my tongue haha).

When it comes to preparing meal, I always make it simple and nice. Reasons are...
1) Cooking is time consuming and I don't find cooking worth giving hours to. Haha. When I was a student, I meticulously count the second and spent less time on cooking. At first, I cooked once a day which is dinner and in later months of my studying time, I cooked once for a week long foods (I kept them in freezer so they last longer).

2) I was (yes was) a busy person. Shorten the making food time is a must because you can give more time to meeting😪😴 *joke*

3) I'm not so into cooking. Told ya😝

As I mentioned, I can cook lot of things, try new recipe or even create my own recipe😎 and I have slightly high confidence to present it. However, of all kind of 'lauk' I seriously don't (might as well use didn't) know how to make 'masak merah'. It is my primary weakness in cooking therefore I as much as possible avoid this type of why-you-taste-like-no-others (negative way) all the time I need to cook.

So, to be expected, I haven't cooked 'masak merah' for ages and I don't feel bad at all. Haha. Howeverrr...tadaaa

As of today, I asked my mak what should I do with the sardines that already cleaned by tok (tok perempuan so that no one confuse here). And I was like whattt... when mak asked to fry them and make some 'masak merah'. It was war inside my heart 'ah sudahlaa aku tak reti...' but I still obediently went to kitchen to prepare for the ingredients. Tok was still in the kitchen which increase my wary more.

As I finished 'menumis' the onions, garlics and blended chillies, I pour some tamarind juice to decrease the hotness and spice intensity. Looking at the color and thickness of the sauce, I had instinct that this time it will be good so I prayed (at time like this you should never forget god) for the 'masak merah' to turn well even if this mean first and last time. Suddenly tok said 'patut letak last sekali (tamarind juice) bila dah masak cili tu'. Yeahh, there stoop down all my esteem😔

And tadaa... finalized the 'masak merah' with three fried sardines to give some taste.

We don't eat together (nevertheless we stay together😇. When this trend (trend pun boleh ye) started is a question for me even tok wonder why we didn't eat together anymore. Probably because all the people in the house is working at different times too. However during long holiday we do eat 'berjemaah') and I usually eat at the end of the day so I don't know the fate of my 'masak merah'.

Later on at night, while renovating my blog and felt hungry, I went to kitchen to get some snack but ended up eating a plate of rice😒😪 while mak and tok was watching the television there.

'Sedap kamu punya masak merah. Esok boleh buat lagi naa'.

I was awed kejap with the comment (by tok ok thats mean something because she is senior in masak merah haha) but couldn't hide feeling amazed with myself haha think I can serve the royal (ok overr) and suddenly remembered what I prayed that afternoon then 'menyesal' eh why did I prayed it to be first and last now I got request how mehh😅. Now on, I need to change my prayers. God is forgiven😊

So that is the story of my 'masak merah' after years. I got the hand huh😎





















Monday, September 11, 2017

A movement of heart by aunty

Assalamualaikum w.r.w.b
Sollu alan nabiy

Last Sunday, my aunt asked me "don't you want to go there helping them?" (referring to Rohingya) while we were watching a documentary about the current issue. That question had left me deep in thought. 
It indeed had been my dream all long and that dream still alive in my mind and heart. And that is also a reason I delayed going into marriage. Hikhik. I feel like something is undone. I hope if I were to marry someone one day, he is super supportive and a real #creativeforce. I remember watching a news about muslims in Kosovo where they were denied a place and chased out of the country (and I actually can remember it clearly). I was around 5 years back then and I couldn't understand it when my mom said they were driven away from their own country. How was it possible. I just couldn't brain it with my 5 year old logic mind.  Why must one be banished from one's country?
At the same time, there was (is) also problem in Palestine. Now you know how long Palestine had been an issue. 
Although the 'volunteer' feeling did not appear right away, I always wanted to help those people until my secondary school years, I wish to go to Palestine to offer help eventhough I did not know how. 
And now, I already know the mean I can help but I could not raise my hand just yet. I realize that volunteerism is good but no volunteer is good without knowledge (and experience). I read 'Menghayati Kerja Sukarela' written by Azizan Bahari and that book did taught me a lot about the field of volunteerism. I admit that I feel stupid, so helpless and such a loser but I'm quick at consoling myself that even improving myself is not a bad thing. I'm fully aware that reaching the top at fastest speed is good but continue climbing (even slowly) is no lesser. I admit that sometime I became envious with few friends who can go anywhere freely but I'm sure being here and do good to ordinary people is also 'pahala'.

Picture credit to: Google and owner

I will be there. I will be where my mind had been. I will be where I dream to be. It's just matter of time and I'm working on it. 
Pray for me, aunt :')


'So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it' 

Al-Zalzalah 99:7

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Merdeka. 10 Zulhijjah. Cinta

Baru-baru ini (31/8/2017) Malaysia telah menyambut Hari Kemerdekaannya yang ke-60. Mashaallah long live Malaysia in peace and harmony. Ameen. Dan baru-baru ini juga seluruh umat Islam menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

Samaada sesetengah kita menyedarinya atau tidak, kedua-dua hari yang bersejarah ini mempunyai persamaan yang sangat dekat sekalipun mereka adalah entiti yang berbeza. Salah satu persamaannya ialah, ini kali pertama saya menyambutnya di Malaysia selepas 6 tahun. Hehehe. Tiba-tiba rasa kena buat two separate post. Hiks.

Tanpa perlu menjelaskan definisi pun, ramai memahami maksud kemerdekaan dan hari raya korban. Tapi, memahami maksud sahaja tidak cukup. Yang lebih penting daripada itu adalah memaknai pengertian kedua-duanya. Sekalipun merdeka dan aidil adha adalah perayaan yang berbeza, keduanya adalah natijah (result) daripada kerja keras air mata dan darah ramai orang sebelum kita. Kemerdekaan negara dikecapi kerana adanya pengorbanan daripada para pahlawan, pemimpin negara, ulama serta ramai lagi orang terdahulu. Sementara Aidil Adha sendiri adalah bukti pengorbanan Nabi Ibrahim dan keluarganya saat diperintah oleh Allah untuk menyembelih anaknya Ismail melalui mimpi (mimpi para nabi adalah wahyu Allah. Mimpi kita syiton je lebih yee).

Apakah yang mendorong pengorbanan?

Tidak ada yang lebih besar mampu mendorong kepada seseorang untuk memberikan harta atau tenaganya bahkan nyawanya melainkan cinta.

Cintalah yang meneguhkan hati dan jiwa.
Cintalah yang menolak jasad bekerja keras.
Cintalah yang selalu membuat orang menghulur tanpa syarat.
Cintalah yang membakarkan semangat.
Maka cintalah yang membuatkan pengorbanan itu seolah mudah.
Sekalipun itu amatlah sukar.

Pengorbanan adalah hal terbesar yang dilakukan cinta. Seseorang belum benar cinta sehingga dia sanggup berkorban untuk perkara yang dicintainya.

Nabi Ismail membuktikan cinta kepada tuhan dengan mempertaruhkan nyawa anaknya walaupun itu sulit bagi seorang ayah sehingga Allah menggantikannya dengan hari besar umat Islam. Aidil Adha.
Jika orang sebelum ini adalah manusia yang mementingkan diri, penuh kebencian dan bermalas-malas, pasti keamanan Malaysia seperti hari ini tidak akan terjadi. Cinta kepada tanah air lah yang melahirkan pengorbanan yang tidak sikit hebatnya.

Semoga pengorbanan-pengorbanan mereka tidak disia-siakan generasi hari ini. Semoga kita sama-sama hidup harmoni dalam kepelbagaian etnik, bangsa dan agama. Saling menghormati, bertoleransi dan saling berbudi. Kerana itulah sekecil-kecil yang boleh kita lakukan.

Sedangkan kehidupan kita sendiri memerlukan kepada cinta dan pengorbanan seorang ibu. 

Sebenarnya banyak lagi persamaan pada dua tarikh ini, tapi takpe, I leave the rest for you to figure. Hehehe

Salam Kemerdekaan dan Salam Aidil Adha (walaupun dah lambat ekeke)
#SayNoToRacism #NegarakuSehatiSejiwa




Thursday, August 24, 2017

Amni vs my way to 'good mother'

Almost 3 months since my bfg (back for good) and here is my first post since then (what an 'amazing productive').
My sister stays with us most of the time (she goes back and forth Ipoh-Gerik) and that means here is Amni with us and her just-turn-1-year-old brother. And we know now we are in SEA Game feverrr. Kaitan? Later.
Amni has been all good (she is still good btw) and very talkative too. She just started her school and always trying to use new words, which is good but sometime in wrong time and place. Haha. I remember in my early days home, she acted all good showing me this and that but as times pass by, her love faded away. Well I'm not her favourite in the first place (and am not dreaming to be one pun). 
Since my sister is working, once in a time I have to look after her two children. It kinda challenging to take care both but I keep thinking that this is chance for me to practice and improve my knowledge in raising kids. Who knows if the future is near. Cewwahh. (Please make it very near, god).
Along the process, I realized some problems and actually we (the mothers and aunties) got headache how to overcome it. 

1) Amni is no easy child. She wants what she wants. And she directly throw tantrum every times we didn't grant her wish. We tried to use let-her-cry-her-uvula-out-she-will-be-calm method but it totally FAIL. Her shout was too loud until one of us had to say 'just give her already' otherwise all of us become deaf *sigh*. One day I remembered one tip but I cannot recall the source which is 'time's up method (rebrand by me ahaks) and it worksss. So happy I think I can be mother now. Haha. How I did it? Amni was so preoccupied with smart phone and it was Maghrib at the time. So I just said to her 'after I finish my prayers you have to give me back the phone,'. Make sure she understands say yes to the agreement. Then, after I finished my prayers she easily hand me the phone although she first said 'solat la lagi,' hahaha acting like ustazah pulak. So happy I think I can be mother now. Hikhik.

2) Sometime we could not avoid using 'that is not nice Amni' in order to tell her that she is doing something wrong. You know..children learn very fast. Very very fast. Until the time I'm writing this, she keeps using that sentence to smash us back. However in very wrong way. For example there is one time I asked her to pray but she refused and continue playing with her toys and she was like 'Tak baik tau macam tu' with some additional words 'jangan la ajak Amni solat..' How mehh? So what do you use in replace of this poisonous word? We can't get backfired all the times :'D

3) Since I'm not her favourite, Amni always show that bias. It must be her Makteh opah or Anik. One time, I went to pick her at school. And it is very unusual for me to do so. As soon as she entered the car there she asked 'where are Makteh and Anik?' I answered nicely thinking that she just want to have a talk 'makteh and anik at home' to which she replied 'I don't want you to pick me. I want only Makteh and Anik. I was so angry (first because I left my movie to fetch her, second how dare she said that when I abandoned my movie for her. Grrr) and intended to teach her how to 'bersyukur' haha. So I stopped my car by the roadside and said 'get out and I'll send this car to Makteh and Anik. They will take you,' and she instantly gave me her crying face ekekeke main-main sangat dengan your most garang aunty (she rated me with that. Fine!). Do you think I did the right thing? Now I guess there is still long way for me :,D

4) As Fateh entering his phase knowing people and strangers, he is becoming difficult to handle. Always looking for her mama mama mama. He didn't want me to cuddle him and when I put him down, he cried. How mehhh. Because I enjoyed SEA game, I tried to lure him to cheer the athlete with me. 
'Look look at the uncle playing'
'Look wahh that auntie so good la..'
He stopped crying when the crowd make some noise but after a while cried again for her mama. But one thing for sure, he knows how to cheer already. Yayy.. With his hand waving up and down he shouted 'ya ya (Malaysia)'. Wahhh proud aunty. Good boy. You grow up faster we will watch match together ok. And I think I know my fate in next SEA Game :,)

Thank you for reading my nonsence. Actually I'm just warming up again. And every times I write it's a warm up session. Hahaha.

To Amni and Fateh and Maryam too and Muhammad (banyak pulak anak sedara I) I love you so much. May you grow in good health under His blessings. #WeLoveYou #WeMakeDuaForYou

Assalamualaikum (I forgot to say salam and sollu alan nabiy :))





Saturday, May 6, 2017

Success. Redefine. Very fine :')

Bismillahirahmanirrahim..

Allahumma solli ala muhammad.

Assalamualaikum and hye gorgeous, handsome, beauty🙆


Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan is my favourite noww (almost hari hari tengok video beliau tanpa jemu haha) because he can explain Al-Quran in simple way and through him (and few other scholars) mashaallah I can really feel the beauty of this sacred book of muslim. May Allah bless him and other scholars and give them a long life to teach☺. So recently, I watched a video on definition of success (now stop and define your success). Done?

It's a norm that people look at the million dollar in saving, gigantic house, enormous company, various titles or even seven-zero followers as a benchmark for success. It is all over the world. Most of us. Me.

But that is so narrow and shallow minded (I mean me but you can 'terasa' if you want hikhik) of a muslim to put such meaning on success. A muslim should be different. Indeed, Islam is very different. So, a muslim at heart should be different in thinking and giving perspective. Successful in Islam is not about how much you have or what you have achieved so far. Successful in Islam is all about you and god. The relationship between you and Allah.

We may see someone is lower than us in term of wealth or health, but beyond what eyes can see, he/she is more successful than us at another angle which is his/her commitment towards Allah. On the thing that matter most, he/she is superior than us, a better muslim and better in his/her taqwa.

But if we fail in dunya and fail also in akhirah matter. Double failure. Naudzubillahi min zalik😢😢

So, every time we want to compare ourselves with others, let it be our akhirah. Not a mere temporary dunya. Of course, we can have all the things we want and dream this and that. It is not against the rule of Islam. In fact, we can have the whole world (or universe if you like😍) but all those anything or everything should make us closer to our creator. That is how Islam teach us about being successful. Even in the Rasulullah era, there were so many sahabahs that can be considered millionaire in todays life. However their faith were not swayed by all the glories. They kept their standard of living only to seek Allah's blessing. Right?

So, in conclusion (my opinion), at the end, successful is not in this dunya. It is something closely related to akhirah. Let's be the people of akhirah, where Allah is the only reason and purpose.