Bila jumpa balik.....!

29 years later. (from left Ooi Lee, Nora, Sumawati, Salina, Azizah, Adzman, Mior , Amran, Azhar and Harman)

For some reason, I never really fancy myself going to reunions… be it school or college reunions. Numerous American TV shows that depicted reunions as a painful experience somehow contributed to the feeling. I could feel my stomach curdle just thinking about it. Why would anyone subject themselves to secondary school or college again, even just for a day or night? Surely the only people who actually go to those things are the wildly successful with something to show off.

Don’t get me wrong. Secondary school wasn’t that bad for me, compared to some of the tortured stories I’ve watched from those TV shows. I had some good times, made some good friends (which, unfortunately, went separate ways once we got our SPM/STPM results), and tried to be under the radar most of the time since I was devoid of any talents whatsoever. And I also tried not to fail exams (which I was not very successful at, though). I think I learned a few things in school here and there, but math DID turn out to be useless just like we all contended. I definitely had my insecurities and embarrassments, but I got out relatively unscathed.

But last weekend, saw me attending my very first reunion (more like a mini reunion, really) in Ipoh. And you know what, I enjoyed it tremendously. And I want to do this more often now. I realise I have lots of friends and I want to stay in touch and be friends all over again. Life’s too short not to be cherished this way.

Masih muda

Catching up

A Reminder for Self!

JANGAN
terlalu susah hati dengan urusan dunia. Akhirat itu lebih utama dan hidup di sana lebih lama dan kekal selamanya.

JANGAN
sengaja lewatkan solat kerana perbuatan ini tidak disukai Allah swt.

JANGAN
tidur selepas solat subuh, nanti rezeki tersekat kerana di waktu pagi itulah pintu rezeki dibuka.

JANGAN
makan tanpa membaca Bismillah dan doa makan, nanti rezeki kita dikongsi syaitan.

JANGAN
keluar rumah tanpa niat untuk membuat kebaikan, takut kalau-kalau kita mati dalam perjalanan.

JANGAN
biarkan mata liar di perjalanan, nanti hati kita gelap diselaputi dosa.

JANGAN
menangguh taubat apabila membuat dosa kerana mati itu boleh datang pada bila-bila masa.

JANGAN
ego untuk meminta maaf daripada ibubapa dan sesama manusia kalau memang kita bersalah.

JANGAN
mengumpat sesama rakan taulan, nanti rosak persahabatan kita dan hilang kebahagiaan hidup kita.

JANGAN
lupa bergantung kepada Allah swt dalam setiap kerja yang kita lakukan, nanti kita sombong apabila berjaya dan kecewa kalau gagal.

JANGAN
bakhil untuk bersedekah kerana sedekah itu memanjangkan umur dan memurahkan rezeki kita.

JANGAN
terlalu banyak ketawa, nanti mati jiwa.

JANGAN
biasakan berbohong kerana ia adalah ciri-ciri munafik dan menghilangkan kasih orang kepada kita.

JANGAN
suka menganiaya manusia atau haiwan. Doa makhluk yang teraniaya cepat dimakbulkan Allah swt.

JANGAN
pertikaikan kenapa Islam itu berkata JANGAN, sebab ianya ada hikmah tersendiri. Allah swt lebih tahu apa yang terbaik untuk hamba ciptaanNya.

JANGAN
baca saja coretan ini. Sebarkan kepada saudara sesama Islam untuk kebaikan bersama.

Me and my trifle

I love food. No question about that. And because of that I enjoy being in a kitchen. Though I don't cook that much, seeing that the wife is somewhat an expert there, I do have one or two dishes where I think I can make it as good as she does. One of which is a fruit trifle. Yeah, I know.... it's horribly easy to do a trifle but still.... (there's a reason for this and I tell you why in a minute).

Anyway, for the uninitiated, a trifle is an old English dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruits, sponge cake, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge cake on the bottom, and custard and cream on top. See, how easy it is to make a trifle... just put all the ingredients on top of one another. I learned to make trifle from my very close cousin Iza (herself a wonderful cook) when I was still a bachelor.

Once, when I was still engaged to my wife many years ago, I brought a specially made trifle (prepared with love,of course) to her mom's place when I went visiting. Apparently that was the first time the wife ever encounter a trifle. I felt so pandai then (though I was told later that she wasn't that crazy with the trifle but her niece Faizah and nephew Zaki polished it off from the casserole).

However, over the years, the wife has acquired the liking to trifle (she even shared the recipe with her sister and relatives) but for some reason she always prefer me preparing it. It's always: "You make it much more delicious la!". Always. Even when I ask her to do it instead. Always that same line. Hmmm.... now I wonder why!!!!!

Trifle, anyone?

And we went out..... what else is new la...

It's Mother's Day yesterday, which if you ask me, was quite apt as it gave us good enough reason to go out and partake in one of our favourite things - makan-makan. Yes, despite the pervasive influence of commerce on the observance of Mother’s Day, we do take our time to ... urm... celebrate the day but of course in our own way la... not the fancy and lavish and expensive kind of celebration.

So off we went to this makan place that we just discovered, right after my SIL and MIL left our place around 3pm.

Here're some of the pix:

The Mother waiting for her....
... awesome platter of grilled lamb, beef, chicken
Both Asma and I were having sizzling steak... and it sizzles in our mouth, I tell you.

and I find even its Iced Lemon Tea was sensational... can you imagine that?

And this Iced Milo was nice to look at...

The eldest and the youngest went for their mandatory pastas, of course. Here's Arissa enjoying hers. Btw, that gentleman sitting in the background.... that's Mazlan --- our sub-editor at Malaysian Business where I work.

AMCORP MALL
After stuffing ourselves, we then decided to jalan-jalan ke Amcorp Mall - now one of our favourite haunts especially on Sundays. For those who do not know, Amcorp Mall literally comes alive on Sunday because of its Flea Market. We can just walk around aimlessly looking at all the wares and knick-knacks on display.

See, the girls walking around tanpa arah tujuan... (that's after their mother successfully haggled her way to buy some Pokok Daun Kari at one of the stalls)

Oh by the way, one of the traders at the Flea Market is Halim, Nisa's husband (our niece). So naturally, we went up to his stall. Halim sells all these stuff for hobbyists.

That's Halim (with cap) - his stall is located on the top floor of the mall. Do drop by as he has quite a selection of stuff that will surely be of interest for you hobbyists out there.

This is the boss' wife - Nisah and my wifeThe best thing about Halim's location is that, it is fronting this book shop. Book Xcess is definitely the place to go for cheap good books....and mags too

... where Alia went crazy buying all her foreign fashion magazines at real low prices.

All in all, Amcrop Mall is really a cool place, in our book la, as the girls also bought some dresses at dirt cheap prices.

As for us, we were just happy to walk-walk with the girls. Aaaah, life!! Alhamdulillah.

The Boys of 2010!!!

This past month or so.... our family welcome two more new addition - both boys.

Just recently, my cousin Anom and husband Nasir became proud parents to Muhammad Zikri Mohd Nasir. This is Zikri...

And a few weeks before that, another young cousin Razif and wife welcome their second boy - Aisar Marzuq.

Well, if you ask me, they do look somewhat alike, no? But then babies tend to resemble each other kan. But then again, they're second cousins anyway!!!

Congratulations to both parents and enjoy the ride!!!!

(Trivia: the two boys are cicit number 22 and 23 to Allahyarham Tuan Haji Mior Mahmud and Allahyarhamah Hajah Yang Kamariah -- whoa that many already!!!!)