Sujud As-Sajjadah

Masa aku anak dara dulu tu aku selalu jadi drebar pada mak aku. Ye lah sapa lagi yang dia nak ajak ke sana ke sini kalau bukan aku. Sebabnya, masa aku masih belum berkahwin, adik perempuan aku dan kakak aku dah berkahwin. Nak ajak anak-anak lelaki susah sikit, nak ajak ayah ke setengah tempat lagi lah dia tak mahu.

Mak ni dia suka belajar agama, selalu saja dia cari guru-guru yang boleh mengajar kitab untuk belajar. Masa aku kerja atau tak senang, dia naik bas dan bila baliknya ayah ambik dia kat tempat bas. Kadang-kadang kena jugak dia berjalan kaki dalam sebatu dua untuk sampai ke tempat mengaji yang susah nak ada laluan bas. Hari-hari yang aku boleh hantar dia, ambik dia aku akan lalukan walaupun selepas aku berkahwin dan ada anak. Sebabnya kami tinggal dekat dengan rumah mak, kalau hari ahad tu dia akn telefon aku untuk tujuan tu. Kadang-kadang kalau ada mood atau tak berapa sibuk nak buat kerja rumah aku ikut dengar kuliah tu. cari ilmu sikit-sikit.

Satu acara yang dia suka sangat ialah bersolat sujud sajadah. Solat ni nak buat sendiri pun boleh cuma kena lah tahu surah yang ada ayat As-Sajjadah tu. Actually solat ini, ialah solat subuh di pagi Jumaat, solat subuh macam solat biasa, cuma surah yang dibaca selepas surah Al-Fatihah ialah surah As-Sajjasdah. Bila sampai kepada ayat yang mengsunatkan kita sujud, kita turun sujud dulu sambil baca doa dalam sujud tu. Aku pun dah lupa doanya. Lepas tu bangun semula sambung habiskan ayat kemudain baru ruku' dan sambung solat sehingga akhir solat subuh tu. Kalau buat secara berjemaah tu senang lah sebab kita ikut je bila masa nak sujud dan seterusnya.

Kat kampung ni adalah dua tiga tempat yang buat solat ni zaman aku muda-muda dula lah ni. Sekarang aku tak pasti ada yang buat lagi. Aku pun tak tahu pasal apa. Yang pasti pengamal-pengamal solat ni dah meninggal dunia. Yang aku kenal lah ni. Yang tak kenal tu tak tahu pulak. Kut depa la ni kata benda tu bidaah ke apa tak tahu pulak aku. Belum dengar lagi cerita tu.

Ada dua rumah yang mak selalu akan ajak aku pergi solat ni. Rumah tok guru Man Nahu dan rumah Pak Long Man. Tok Guru Man Nahu tu dia mengajar kitab, adalah hari-harinya yang mak akan tumpang aku semasa aku nak ke ofis untuk pergi mengaji. Pasal apa orang panggil dia Man Nahu aku tak pasti, nak kata nahu bahasa melayu atau bahasa arab pun aku tak boleh cerita. Anak dia ada sorang yang dulunya sama satu kelas dengan aku masa aku sekolah rendah. Nama dia tu Kasim. Kira-kira rumah Tok Guru ni first choice lah kalau nak solat tu. Rumah Pak Long Man tu hanya kalau Tok Guru sakit atau tak ada rumah dan selepas dia meninggal dunia.

Yang paling aku tak boleh lupa masa aku bawak mak pi solat tu, ialah pada satu pagi yang lembab. Malam sebelumnya hujan lebat. Pagi tu masih renyai-renyai hujan. Jadinya tanah memang basah dan berlumpur. Pagi tu, kereta aku ada kat bengkel sebab entah apa sebab, jadi aku drive pick-up truck Daihatsu untuk pergi solat dengan mak. Nak seribu daya kan, aku punya prinsip ialah, aku nak buat ibadah, apa nak malu. Jadi Pick-up truck, pun pick-up truck lah. Lagipun masa tu subuh, selasai solat tu, keaddan sekeliling masih samar-samar, sapa nak nampak aku bawak pick-up pun.

Mungkin kerana hujan yang lebat, jalan depan rumah Tok Guru Man di korek untuk menghindari air memasukki kawasan rumah dia. Ataupun ada kerja-kerja peparitan sehari sebelumnya. Taklah dalam parit yang digali tu. Nampak macam dah kena timbus,, cuma amat berlumpur. Ada diorang letak dua keping papan melingkaui tanah berlumpur tu.

Masa pergi, tak ada masalah, senang saja aku jalan atas papan tu. Masa nak keluar tu, mungkin papan pun dah tak elok kedudukannya, tayar pick-up dah "terpeleot" hehehe, tergelincir lah tu dari papan tu. Maka masuk paritlah tayar tu, makin di tekan minyak makin dalam jadinya tayat tu masuk ke dalam lumpur. Habis tu nak buat macam mana, nak suruh mak drive, sementara aku cuba lepaskan tayar tu dari lumpur, mak mana tahu drive. Jadi aku terpaksa ajar mak macam mana nak buat. dia letak kan papan kat bawah roda dah aku akan undurkan truck tu. Nasib lah mak masa tu kuat lagi, boleh lah dia ikut arahan aku tu. Tapinya berlumpur jugak kami anak beranak terutamanya mak lepas aku dah berjaya lepaskan tayar dari lumpur tanah merah tu.

Yang aku bengang masa tu sebab, si Kassim ada dekat situ. Entah apa dia buat, aku pun tak tahu nak tunggu bas nak pergi kerja lah kut. Bukan dia nak tolong kami, siap cakap macam-macam lagi. Naik hangin jugak aku tapi malas aku nak layan masa tu. Aku cuma nak lepaskan diri secepat mungkin. Alhamdullilah dengan sekali usaha sahaja kami dapat lepas. Tapi, bukan saja tayar dan pick-up truck yang kotor berlumpur, kami dua beranak pun sama. Telekung mak pun dari putih dah jadi merah.

Walau macam mana pun kejadian tu tak lah melemahkan semangat kami nak bersolat di situ lagi. Cuma aku dah bawak pick-up truck dah selepas tu. Naik kereta sajalah. Bila ingatkan balik lucu pulak jadinya. Pick-up truck tu pun dah lama ayah jual, aku pun dah tak ingat nombor plet dia. Kalau ingat dulu-dulu nak berblog mungkin aku siap ambik gambar masukkan dalam blog kan hehehe...

3 Imams

I can't quite remember when I started to frequent the mosque for the tarawikh prayers during Ramadhan. For sure it was before I got married. Back then the visit was more frequent as when I was busy being a wife and mother to young kids.

As far as I could remember then, Arwah Pak Long Lah was the imam for the tarawikh prayers. He was the imam until his death. Pak Long Lah was my grandfather's friend. He was not a haji at the time of his demise although he dressed as one i.e with the headgear (serban) popular at that time. My grandfather, Pak Long Lah and another friend whom we called Tok Aad (short for Tok Saad) were 3 friends who would be going to pray for the jenazah whenever there was one aroung the whole state. During those time, in the 1980s era, when someone passed away, there were congregation from outside the community which would be doing the prayers for the date. They would come in drones of cars just to perform the jenazah prayer. The tradition has no longer being practised now.

At the time when phones and handphones are not as widely used as now, communication on where and when to do the prayer was successfully communicated. It baffled me as well, but I did not, at that time thought of asking my grandfather of it. I believe it was through the word of mouth. A lot of the times the dead was not anyone related to those who come to pray for him or her. But those who came to pray were given some token wrapped in a newspaper as a sign of gratitude, I guessed. There were no green/yellow/red/blue packets like now. If the dead was someone who was quite well to-do then the token would be more, if not then the wrapping would only contain a ringgit or 2. But then, at that time that was considered a lot of money.

There was a time when, there not enough transport to ferry these people to the jenazah prayer. My grandfather, although knew nothing of how to drive a car bought a second hand morris minor car for their convinience. The driver was Tok Aad. Besides going for the jenazah prayers, the car was also used for their recreation, like when my grandfather wanted to take my step-grandmother back to her kampung etc.

Back to Pak Long Lah the imam, he had a melodious voice when he recited the ayats during the prayers. His voice was firm and for his age that time he had a lot of energy toperform the 20 rakaat of tarawikh + 3 witir. It was the tradition in this kampung that the tarawikh would be performed using the ayat-ayat lazim (the short surah). It is normally over by 10.00 pm. Until now it is being practised that way. I still could come back and watch CSI after the prayers hehehe. (Luput pahala tarawikh sikit ekk..)

Pak Long Lah after his demise was succeeded by his son, the one popularly known as Ustaz Mad. His real name was Osman. I have no idea how he became known as Mad rather than Man. Maybe, when he was young the name didn't suit him. So that his parents had to give him another name to call eventhough his I/C registered him as Osman. Although he was not an ustaz at the school, he was working as a goverment officer in the Pejabat Ugama Penang, but he was popularly called "ustaz", maybe as a sign of respect to him and his father.

Ustaz Mad had a softer voice than his father, his recitation of the ayat was not a melodious as his father. Since his house was just behind the mosque, his younger sons would also frequented the mosque during the prayer. I used to resent their visit because of the noise they made, especially by the youngest son who would be running in and out of ladies prayers' saf. He was there on the ladies site because his mother was also performing the prayers.

Ustaz Mad was at one time responsible for me being elected into the PIBG of the primary school. That year was the year Ayin UPSR exam year. I had never attended any PIBG meeting because of the fear of being elected into the committee. Why? I didn't think I could be committed to the work, due to my own pressures at work.

Ayin insisted that I attended the meeting saying that the principal had asked all parents of the exam year student to attend. Not wanting to be in trouble with the school against my better judgement I attended the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, Ustaz Mad spotted me amongst the parents (although, I tried to sit well on the far end as possible). He came to ask whether my name was "Aminah". I said Nom Aminah is my older sister. Aminah is not even my sister's name, but it is her pet name given by our grandmother. The whole kampung actually known her as Aminah and not her real name. I also have a pet name, so I guessed Ustaz Mad could not be using that name because, it is not appropriate for me to be nominated as "Adik Besar" for a PIBG committee. ( Now semua orang tau nama glemer AN ye...hehehe)

So when the nomination started, Ustaz Mad nominated me as Puan Aminah, and knowing that he was refering to me, I had to make the correction for my name. I got nominated and serve the committee for a year.

Ustaz Mad had 6 sons. I had a feeling that he was hoping to for a daughter too. He didn't get his wish and he passed away about 2 years ago. His eldest son is 25 years old and his youngest is only 7 years old. Incidently, his widow has re-married this year. She is just one year younger than me.

The 3rd imam is Ustaz Mad eldest son, Faiz. I knew him when I was helping out with the bilik gerakan pilihanraya ke-12 last March. We were on the same party. He was one very active youth, techno-savvy and a teacher in one of the primary school in Butterworth. I once referred him as ustaz but he refused to acknowledge that title, saying that he was only a teacher.

Incidently, this young imam has a voice almost as firm as melodious as his grandfather and I would say his late grandfather and father wpuld have been proud of him for being elected as a assistant imam in the kampung at that young age.

Cerita Raya 1429H

Mula-mula sekali aku nak mintak maaf pada sapa-sapa yang datang rumah tapi tak jumpa, yang nak datang rumah tapi tak berani sebab tengok ramai sangat kat rumah aku atau sebab aku tak balas sms diorang yang tanya aku ada kat rumah ke tak. Ataupun yang telefon tapi aku tak angkat sebab tak dengar, bila dah tengok miss call tu dah larut malam dah, masa dah lalok gitu.

Semua sms yang dihantar wish aku selamat hari raya pun aku tak sempat nak balas. Nanti esok atau lusa aku balas jugak lah, kan raya tu sebulan jugak macam puasa jugak.

Tahun ni, macam biasa ramai yang berkunjung ke rumah aku. Tak putus-putus orang datang selama 3 hari raya pertama tu. Kawan-kawan aku dari zaman sekolah yang sudah puluhan tahun tak datang rumah aku pun datang. PS yang dulu kerja dengan aku, sekarang dia kerja kat KL macam selalu dia datang dengan adik dia. Sekarang ni setahun sekali saja kami dapat jumpa dan bersembang "of the good old days", gossip sikit itu ini. Seronok jugak dengar cerita kerja dia, one one hand aku rasa aku miss jugak masa kerja, stress kerja tu, on the other hand aku rasa syukur jugakj aku dah tak payah dok sakit kepala riau pasal kerja. Sekarang ni perlu risau pasal rumah tangga saja kan..

Kami tahun ni tukar style sikit. 2 tahun dahulu tu kami buat BBQ raya pada malam raya pertama. Tapi tahun ni, kami buat open house pada raya ke-3. Sebabnya, Abang Lang tahun ni balik kampung selepas solat raya dan menziarahi kubur Nora, arwah anak dia. Dia terus ke rumah mak mertua dia dulu. Raya ke-2 baru dia datang ke rumah aku. Lepas tu anak-anak aku ada nak ajak kawan-kawan datang beraya di rumah, kalau tak raya pertama tu hari lain pun tak apa kata diorang, jadi aku syorkan raya ke-3 sajalah. Sepupu-sepupu aku (anak-anak, menantu, cucu-cucu kakak, abang dan adik mak aku ) pun cakap nak datang raya ke-3. Jadi dah lah raya pertama pun orang ramai yang datang, raya ke-3, lagilah ramai. Dari lepas Jumaat tu sampai ke malam.

Tahun ni pun menu pun ada sedikit perubahan. Raya pertama selain dari yang biasa-biasa tu, iaitu rendang ketupat, lontong, ayam serai lengkuas, kuah kacang tu, kami masak laksa penang. Aku suruh adik aku S datang buat kuah laksa di petang akhir Ramadhan tu. Tapi semua persiapan aku dah sediakan. Dia memang selalu buat laksa kat rumah dia. Anak-anak aku pun mula tu tak confident dengan kebolehan mak dia nak masak laksa. Siap tanya "mama reti ka buat kuah laksa?" Amboi, depa ingat mama depa tak reti nak buat kuah laksa no.. Mana tak nya, depa bukan pernah tengok aku buat kuah laksa kat rumah ni. Aku pernah sekali sahaja masak laksa kat rumah ni. Itu tak bererti aku tak tahu nak masak kuah laksa. Sebab aku tak masak kuah laksa kat rumah ialah sebab selalu tu asyik beli sebungkus 2 bila nak makan. Walaupun terlebih pedas kuah yang adik aku buat hari tu ( siap aku kena tambah 2 periuk air, asam dan garam untuk mengurangkan kepedasan kuah tu). Laksa beras aku beli kat pasar 10 kg, hampir habis semua laksa yang aaku beli tu. Jadi tahun depan menu ini agaknya akan di kekalkan InsyaAllah kalau ada rezeki dan umur panjang.

Raya ke-2, walaupun kurang sedikit yang datang tapi ada jugak yang datang, kebanyakan sedara-mara yang nak melawat mak aku. Bila dah petang sikit aku dan hubby pun ambik kesempatan rehatkan badan kat atas sofa kat depan. Tak sedar ada orang datang dan tinggalkan nota kat situ. Hari ni baru aku ternampak nota tu. Maaf ye Atenah. Apasal tak ketuk pintu tu, AN ada kat depan pintu tu je masa tu rasanya. Tak pun, pusing rumah tu, sure ada yang nampak korang datang tu.

Raya ke-3 memang havoc. Lepas solat Jumaat tu, rumah kami macam kena serbu. Mula dari kawan-kawan anak-anak, sedara mara, kawan-kawan adik beradik aku, kawan-kawan anak sedara pun datang. Sepupu-sepapat yang tak pernah datang pun muncul. Kawan baik mak aku pun datang dengan anak dan menantu dia. Janda adik aku dengan mak serta adik beradik dia pun datang. Diorang datang dengan baik, aku sambut dengan baik. Sampai malam baru reda.

Mula tu aku masak nasi minyak 2 periuk saja, bila dah ramai tetamu yang datang, aku tengok dah habis 1 periuk, yang seperiuk lagi pun dah tinggal setengah, aku kena masak 1 periuk lagi. Lauk ayam, raya ke-2 aku masak sekali lagi, bila dah tengok dah tinggal sikit, aku pun masak lagi se-kuali. Rencah-rencah memang dah ada semuanya, tinggal nak tumiskan sajalah. Sempatlah jugak masak ayam tu, rasanya sedap ke tak tu, aku tak tahu lah dah. Memang kami dah plan suruh adik D untuk goreng char koawteaw. Seawal pukul 3 petang dah dia mula menggoreng. Hingga ke malam tu 100 biji telur habis, maknanya 100 pingganlah yang digoreng tu. Aku makan 1 pinggan saja, hubby pun macam tu. Tapi, ada jugak yang aku tengok 2,3 pinggan yang diorang makan tu. Kena beratur jugak lah dok tunggu charkoawteaw tu.

Tahun ni rasanya, kelam kabut sedikit. Tak berapa kemas perancangan tu. InsyaAllah kalau dipanjangkan umur dan murah rezeki aku dan hubby dah plan nak buat macam mana, supaya kami tak kelam kabut dan kepenatan macam tahun ni. Imagine, punyalah penat, kaki hubby sampai bengkak, badan kami tu dah tak payah cakaplah sakit-sakit tu. Sampai aku rasa jari-jemari aku pun dah nak lucut dari tangan aku. Yang paling aku kesian, hubby akulah, bukan setakat sakit tubuh badan, kocek pun sakit jugak. Sebab dia yang menanggung semua perbelanjaan, walhal yang dijamu tu kebanyakkannya sedara mara aku. Aku tak dapat nak menyumbang sangat 2 tahun kebelakangan ini. Aku cuma dapat doakan rezeki kami dimurahkan lagi supaya kami dapat mengekalkan tradisi kami meraikan tetamu di tahun-tahun yang mendatang.

Sekali lagi kepada semua aku nak ucapkan

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

MAAF ZAHIR BATHIN

Puasa 6 belum buat lagi ni. Mungkin Khamis ni nak start. Aku ada banyak hari jugak nak Qada' ni gayanya tahun ini.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Sekejap sangat rasanya Ramadhan tahun ni. Tak sempat nak rasa penat dah nak raya dah kan. Tak sempat nak betul-betul menghayati tarawikh, dah nak habis dah. Masa berlalu terlalu pantas. Kadang-kadang entah apa-apa yang kita buat dah nak habis sebulan.

Tahun ni tahun kedua aku berpuasa sebagai full time "desperate housewife". Jadinya awal-awal aku berazam nak berdisiplin sikit tentang solat tarawikh. Nak tunaikan sebanyak mungkin. Jadinya sejak malam 1 Ramadhan aku dah mula ke masjid. Ayin kata, esok je lah mama kita start ke masjid dolat tarawikh, tapi aku cakap kalau tak start malam ni, nanti dah naik malas. Macam tahun lepas, memang aku malas nak ke masjid. Bila dah tak ke masjid, kadang-kadnag tu miss jugaklah kat rumah tu tak buat pun. Tidur yang banyak.

Jadi tahun ni Alhamdulillah, aku paksa dirii aku ke masjid. Ayin dan Syia ada juga ikut aku. Kadang-kadang masa aku uzur atau tertidur, diorang sendiri yang pergi. Diorang kalau pergi tu buat 8 rakaat saja. Aku buat 20 + 3 rakaat selepas 15 Ramadhan. Sebelum tu ada yang 20 ada yang 8.

Hari ni dah 28 Ramadhan. Tinggal 2 malam saja lagi nak tarawikh InsyaAllah. Harap-harap malam LailatulQadar tu aku lalui sebaik mungkin.

Persedian raya tahun agak awal jugak. Baju raya anak-anak dara aku tu sedari hari pertama Ramadhan dah di beli. Baju kurung sorang sepasang je. Seronok budak-budak tu dapat beli baju awal, tak macam dulu-dulu yang last minit baru nak pergi beli. Susah nak mencari yang sesuai sebab dah nak habis baju kat kedai tu di pilih orang.

Sebenarnya bukan pasal apa yang terbeli awal tu. Kak Longdengan Angah, balik nak sambut Ramadhan dengan kami. Dapatlah berpuasa 1 hari di rumah. Hubby kata elok pergi shopping terus, jadi diorang anak-anak dara tu ikut je baba diorang pergi shopping baju raya. Aku tak pergi sebab tak ada orang nak jaga maktok kalau semua sekali pergi. Jadinya tak lah berkedai-kedai memilih baju, sekadar masuk satu kedai je, borong 5 pasang baju kurung. 5 Pasang le, sebab 4 anak dara + 1 mak dara hehehe. Kak Long tolong pilihkan untuk saiz aku. Sebenarnya aku ada cakap tak payah belikan sebab aku baru beli sepasang baju kurung Pahang bulan 7 dulu. Elok lagi sebab baru dipakai 2, 3 kali aje, tak nak membazir lah konon. Tapi orang dah sayang katakan, dia beli lah jugak sepasang kan hehehe. Alhamdullillah.

Tu bab baju, tudung belum lagi, kadut belum lagi. Bab ini, hari ni baru aku bawak diorang pergi beli. Tudung 5 helai pun dah seratus lebih. Lepas tu bawak diorang ke Jaya Jusco yang baru buka tu untuk beli kasut. Setiapp kedai kasut diorang ni masuk. Setiap kasut di beli di kedai berbeza. Kak Long dan Angahsiapp dengan kasut tinggi diorang. Angah siap yang ada "bling-bling lagi. Ayin pulak cerewet sangat nak buat pilihan. Last-last dapatyang paling murah. Syia, mula tu memang tak nak beli sandal baru sebab sandal dia elok lagi, tapi dok tengok kakak beli kesian pulak nanti dia pakai sandal lama tu, aku belikan jugak sandal yang baru. Dia ni sandal BATA je lah selalu sesuai dengan dia. Habis tu beli tudung dengan kasut habis jugaklah RM400 duit aku tadi tu.

Siang nanti, hubby ajak pergi shopping barang-barang dapur lah pulak. Rumah kami ni kan selalu jadi tumpuan, jadinya setiap tahun kami kena berbelanja lebih dari adik-beradik yang lain. Fridge pun akan jadi sesak dengan barang-barang yang nak di masak nanti tu. Aku pun sehari sebelum raya tu seperti biasa kena start acara memasak. Kadang-kadang nak jugak ajak je adik aku tu datang tolong masak kat rumah aku ni.

Tadi aku dah bahagi-bahagikankerja rumah kat anak-anak aku. Kak Long kena bersih dan susun atur almari kat dapur tu. Angah kerjanya memanjat dan membersihkan kipas-kipas kat dalam rumah, Ayin dah ambik tugas mop lantai dan Syia pulak volunteer nak cuci tandas. Betul dia volunteer. Aku cuma cakap apa tugas yang kena buat dan diorang yang pilih apa nak buat tau. Sepanjang bulan puasa ni ada anak sedara aku duduk dengan kami, dia buat masa kerja kat kedai minyak sebelah rumah aku ni, yang ni aku belum berikan kerja kat dia lagi. Mungkin nak suruh sapu laman esok rasanya. Hari Isnin atau selasa, nak kemas bilik-bilik sebab nanti Abang lang dengan keluarga dia tidur kat rumah aku. Tahun ni diorang balik selepas ziarah kubur Nora di raya pertama tu. Aku boleh agak yang ini akan menjadi rutin baru diorang setiap tahun. Mungkin Athirah akan jugak ikut bersama diorang. Bapa Athirah aku tak pasti, walaupun aku ada jugak invite dia sekali balik beraya di sini. Walaupun Nora dah tak ada, hubungan dia dengan kami akan tetap seperti dulu, sebabnya ada Athirah sebagai penyambung silaturrahim tu.

Kat sini aku dan keluarga nak ucapkan Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri dann Maaf Zahir dan Batin kepada semua yang sudi datang baca blog AuntyN. Selama dok baca-baca ni mungkin ada bahasa yang menyinggung perasaan atau terusik hati tu, harap dapat dimaafkan. Sesiapa yang lalu kut rumah atau kut kampung ni silalah singgah AuntyN. kalau rendang dah habis pun, insyaAllah air teh kosong masih boleh dihidangkan hehehe.

Yang nak balik kampung berhati-hati di jalan raya. Ingat Allah dan orang-orangyang tersayang yang nak anda jumpa nanti tu, Jadi pandulah dengan berhemah. Kalau ngantuk, tukar drebar ke, berenti kat station Petronas ke minum kopi free OK.

Bila dah seronok beraya tu, jangan sampai lupa amalan seharian kita, nanti dah pakai baju cantik, muka make-up lawa-lawa, dah lupa pulak nak solat. Habis pahala 1 bulan puasa. Tak pun dah mula melantak sampai macam ular kekenyangan tu, asyik pulak dok melengkar depan TV, sampai tak sedar waktu solat dah nak habis.

Sekali Lagi

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

DAN

MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATHIN

My Answers Part 2

I really don't know how to get in touch with the "blogger analyst", so I just hope that he/she reads this and comment again. I know that I don't owe anyone any explaination but after the "commotion" in the comment box, I can't help but respond.


The blogger analyst said :

When a blog is left unblog for quite sometime, there are few possibilities;

1. The blogger is sick?

Well, except for some sore throat a few week back, Alhamdulillah, I am not seriously sick.

Unless of course I have some other sickness in me which I have no idea about. I have not had a medical check-up for years now. Bad, isn’t it? Especially a makcik my age. I am supposed to have pap-smears, mammogram, blood cholesterol, blood sugar level, all those regiments right? !!.

But so far, I am fine thanks.

2. The blogger is dead?

Alhamdulillah, I am still alive and kicking. Maybe not as high as Dato Michelle Yeoh but still can kick lah. So don’t try to cross me OK. Hehehe.

Reminder : Need to buy the Anlene Concentrate tomorrow.

3. The blogger is detained by the authorities?

Why should I be detained by the authorities?

My kampung blog contain nothing that may have caused harm to the national security. Tak glemer pun. The police may not even read my blog. It's so harmless.

Apart from some unpaid traffic summons, I have not broken any law. I am such peace loving and law abiding makcik, so why should I be detained.

A few years ago, I even discover that some of the traffic summons, although they were in my name and my car number plate, they were not committed by me. How come? Well, supposedly, my car plate was photographed at places that I had never step my foot on. Somewhere in Kuantan. I don’t know how it happened but, lucky the police believed my story and I didn’t have to pay a single cent.

4. The blogger is having menoPAUSE?

What Menopause got to do with blogging anyway? Have you got any data that relate menopause to blogging ? It would be nice to know.

There are so many lady bloggers out there, who are already menopaused or near to menopause who are happily blogging. The eldest who I have come across was 72 years old lady, from Brazil, I am quite sure that she is already menopaused.

I am not into menopause yet but maybe I was having a “blogging perimanopause”, hehehe. Perimenopause is a period prior to menopause, when one would experience some symptoms of menopause.

So don’t underestimate the menopaused ladies blogger out there. They are doing a great job with their blogs. Some are even better than the younger ladies.

What about male bloggers ? If I am not mistaken there is a term as male menopause too. Are those who pause in blogging can be considered as having a male menopause syndrome?

I don’t know, why don’t you tell me.

5. The blogger interest in blogging has fizzled out?

My interest in blogging has fizzled out? Hmmmm, it is kind of subjective really. I still like to read blogs, I still like writing blogs. But, I am the type that can easily be bored with repetitive tasks. So I need to cool off a bit in between.

If my interest has fizzled out I would do one of these two things.

Close down the blog or keep it open but I would announce that I would no longer be posting any entry. InsyaAllah, there would be a “farewell” entry prior to that. That is, if I don’t suddenly just drop dead before I could that.

Why keep it open? Well, this blog is supposed to be for my children to read when one day, I am no longer around and they may want to reflect on our lives together. Kind of, like a legacy to them or something similar. Not just a framed photograph of me, but something that may rekindle their memories of yesteryears.

Reminder : I need to improve my writing, then. Need to write more of the kampung lives.

Now, you tell me which one?

I have written so much, the answer must NONE of the above.

What about you? Are you a blogger yet? If yes, why not announce it to the world. Or are you into one of the above categories ? You must give us a chance to analyse your blog. How about that hmmm...? Only then it would be fair right?


Last word.

Thank you so much for coming to analyse my blog anyway. I am so touched that there is a blogger analyst who care to come by and analyse my blog.

p/s pssst AN dah taruh resipi baru kat blog Dapur AN. Pergilah skodeng.

My Answers Part 1

Entry ini dan yang seterusnya adalah jawapan kepada "Wake-up call" dan "Blogger Analyst". Sebelum tu, terimakasih kerana telah meninggalkan komen yang begitu "memberangsangkan". Kawan-kawan yang selalu datang baca blog ni dah faham sangat dengan fe'el aku. I feel that these 2 gentlemen/ladies (whatever is your gender) have given me a kick in the butt. So, aku terfikir untuk menjawab. Terpulang lah untuk diorang untuk menilai. Yang baik tu ambiklah jadikan tauladan, yang tak elok tu buat sempadan.

Wake up call kata :

S : Susah ke nak update blog?

J : Ada kala susah, ada kala senang. Lebih susah dari senang.

Bila aku mula berblog dulu tu, masa tu aku memang berkobar-kobar semangat nak berblog. Sebab utama masa tu, adalah, aku nak isi ruang masa yang aku duduk kerja goyang kaki menunggu masa untuk berhenti kerja. Masa tu perasaan/emosi terlalu berkecamuk dan aku tak nak rasa stress menghantui diri. Aku tak suka ”hover negative thoughts” Jadi aku turn to blogging.

Bila dah berhenti kerja, lain pulak emosinya. Banyak rasa rendah diri atau inferiority complex yang masuk ke dalam fikiran. Maklumlah, kalau kita baca blog orang ramai yang cerita bagus-bagus. Sedangkan cerita apa yang seorang makcik yang duduk kat kampung ni boleh cerita?. Tak kan nak cerita rutin aku seharian sepanjang masa. Dari mula aku bangun, buat kerja rumah yang tak habis-habis, sampai aku tidur. Aku boleh imagine betapa boringnya korang nak baca. Asyik-asyik cerita itu je lah.

Tak kan nak cerita pasal ayam-ayam aku, kucing-kucing aku. Pokok-pokok sekeliling rumah. Walaupun kalau aku cuba ceritakan setiap satu, boleh agaknya jadikan kajian ilmiah. Kena pulak lah aku ambik gambar, cari nama scientifiknya dan cari semua manafaat pokok-pokok tu tak? Mak oi, jenuh aku nak buat research untuk beratus-ratus jenis pokok kat halaman aku ni. Kalau aku buat macam tu, baik aku buat thesis PhD.

Memang ada benda yang aku nak tulis, misalnya, sejak aku tak kerja ni apa business yang aku dah cuba, macam mana berjaya ka atau tidak?. Aku pun rasanya boleh tulis macam mana cara aku cari business yang sesuai.

Tapi topik tu belum boleh aku tulis lagi sebab aku belum menjadi usahawan yang berjaya. Aku tak ada track record nak tunjukkan bahawa walau pun aku ni dah lanjut usia masih belum terlambat untuk berjaya.

Masa mula berblog memang banyak idea, tetapi lama kelamaan idea pun dah kurang. Terutamanya kalau orang seperti aku yang jarang keluar rumah berinteraksi dengan orang kat luar sana tu. Aku tak nak lah korang kata entry aku ni crappy. So lebih baik rasanya diam saja. Kalau terlalu meluahkan perasaan nanti yang datang membaca pun asyik tengok aku mengeluh saja. So it’s better for me to be quiet.

Kata Wake-Up Call lagi :

Asyik kata nak update tapi tak terbuat.

Hai, dah 50 tau. Takkan masih berkelakuan bagi janji Melayu aje.Sesibuk macam mana pun, kalau hati rela, semua pasti boleh bikin.Kan dah bilang yang kau ni dah cuak sampai ke umur nie. Habis, masih tak sedar ke? Jangan hanya bilang aje, aunty. Kan sendiri yang akui pintu kubur dah dekat. Masih nak bagi janji manis yang tak dapat dikotai. Lebih baik jangan janji, aunty.

Memang aku akui, aku cuak dengan usia sekarang. Aku memang sedar pintu kubur dah dekat, sebab tu aku sekarang dah banyakkan masa untuk muhasabah diri. Solat taubat, zikir lama sikit, cari tempat mengaji dan lain-lain. Itu pun tak kan aku nak cerita kat semua orang. Karang di katakan pulak aku ni riak. Amal aku tak banyak mana tapi ceritanya yang lebih. Biar Allah saja yang menilai.

Kadang-kadang memang aku janji nak cuba berblog dengan lebih banyak, tapi 3 bulan kebelakangan ini memang aku terlalu sibuk. Aku kerap tak ada kat rumah. Internet langsung tak sentuh. Mula dengan kenduri kawin anak sedara aku, ada program latihan USAHAWATI-MPC. Kena bertungkus-lumus buat persiapan sebab event tu besar lah jugak. Lepas tu Nora pulak sakit, aku ke Langkawi dengan USAHAWATI, kemudian hadiri perkebumian Nora, kemudian balik sehari ke Penang dan ke Melaka berkursus pulak. Pada masa yang sama terpaksa membuat persiapan terakhir untuk program latihan. Balik dari Melaka, ada pulak AGM USAHAWATI,walaupun aku ni AJK je, tapi sibuk jugaklah. Tak kan metting tak hadir etc.etc. Siap lah aku jadi MC/Pengerusi majlis tu hehehe. Kerja yang tak pernah aku buat pun.

Lepas dah reda pasal persatuan, dah pulak Permatang Pauh ada by-election. Famous or rather infamous jadinya kampung aku masa tu. Aku tak lah berkempen tapi ada help out kat bilik gerakan sebab masa pilihan raya bulan Mac dulu tu aku diajak oleh ketua cawangan untuk mengambil alih tugas arwah ayah aku dulu. Untuk cari pengalaman aku pun setuju. Seronok jugak aku buat kerja tu, ada jugaklah peluang aku tahu masalah penduduk kampung aku sambil meninjau keadaan politik setempat. Bila ada pilihanraya kecik ni, kira sambung kerja sajalah.

Ni dah bulan puasa banyak aktiviti lain aku nak kena buat. Masa tidur aku pun dah haywire sebenarnya. Minggu ni ada tadarus kat mesjid, aku pun nak join sama.

Jadi nilailah sendiri pasai apa aku tak berblog sejak aku postkan birthday entry hari tu. Memang janji aku manis, tapi, aku ingatkan tak ada lah sangat orang nak kisah dengan blog makcik kat kampung ni.

Tapinya, terimakasih kerana beri aku ” a wake-up call”

Happy 21st Birthday

Dear Kak Long,

Today being your special day, mama would like to dedicate this entry to you. I have not written any birthday entry to any one of your sister this year, but since today is your 21st birthday, I thought I would write something. I hope that I would be able to able to do this to all your sisters when their time come. Itu pun kalau mama masih sihat, tak nyanyuk atau masih ada di sini.

It feels like it was just yesterday that I have given birth to you. Time flew too fast, and now you are already 21 years old. Baba and I had watched you grow from small until now.

I remember your birth because, Baba had hoped for a girl at that time. So it was the one and only time Baba had bought me flowers. Maybe after that he was dissapointed for not having a son. But to me having daughters or sons are the blessing of Allah. I love all of you just equally. You know that Baba loves you all as much as well.

When maktok saw you one the day you were born, she said you were as fair as "kapas". See how fair you were? :-). I thought that you were anaemic when she said that, since you were already 10 days overdue. Now you are still fair but probably not as fair as that.

I also remember that when you were a baby, Baba would look forward to come home from work to play with you. I know he likes children, but it was unexpected confession from him, since when we discussed the subject of having children, he said that he felt that he was not ready to have one. But seing and holding the small feet and hands of a baby had soften him.

As you grow, we see changes in you year to year. You have never been a problematic child. It was easy to raise you, even now you are still the same. Being the eldest, you seem to have "mengalah" more than "mengarah" Your pleasant personality have made it easy for people to be around you. You seems reserved and shy and at times not very confident of your self. You would need someone to accompany you, whenever you wanted to go some where.

But now, I see a more mature you. You have turned from a timid girl into a more confident person. I was not sure that the study course would suit you at first. Although I helped you choose the course, I was worried that it may have suit you, that it may have burdened you. But, I was suprised that you have adapted well, and seem to have liked the course. You have shown that you are able to carry yourself well, where ever you are going. I am not sure what you have planned for your future, we will be here for you to guide you along.

Being 21, to some, is like coming of age, a freedom age. Now you can register yourself as a voter even hehehe. Who knows Permatang Pauh may need to have another by-election in the near future hehehe. What ever your age may be, please don't loose the mischevious glint in your eyes, please know that we love you as our daughter, our first born, till the day we die. There are times that I have regretted not planning better in my life, so I hope that I would be able to guide you and your sisters along as you all grow.

Seing you now, also makes me feel at ease that, if ever anything happened to me and Baba, you would be able to take care of your sisters well.

So Kak Long, on your 21st birthday today, this is mama's prayer for you.

May Allah guides you into the straight path

May you have the blessing of Allah in your future undertakings.

May you always have success in your life

May you be a person that you wanted to be,

A person who is confident to enter the world, meeting the challenges of life with smiles and courage.

We love you Kak Long and have a great 21st Birthday.......

Mama

Nora - Dalam Kenangan

Oh yes, I have been neglecting my blog for a long time.

Thank you for visiting, comments and wishes but, Sorry to all who have been coming here without any new content. I didn't even realise there had been a "war" going on on the comment page. Hehehehe.

Kak Mutiara, thanks for coming to my defense. I appreciate that very much. But again, what happened there may have given me a good idea for a blog entry. Before that, let me just post an entry, a sad one by the way as a tribute to my young niece.

InsyaAllah, I will tell more why I had been busy for the past few months. July and August were the busiest months for me and September is Ramdhan. A full time house wife job is a never ending job, but then again I do have time to satisfy some "addiction". So just wait and see ( I hope iit would be NOT too long...).

Here is a story on Nora.

Although this happened 2 months back, I could still remember it well. I was on my way back from Langkawi, that day. It was a trip with the committee members of USAHAWATI, for a 2 days, 1 night road show trip. On the way back that evening I took a lift from Kak Zaini and her family.

As we were approaching the Kuala Kedah road, I received a call from Abang Lang, a distressed voice on the other end of the phone could only reflect his emotion at that time. I could understand how he felt but unable to console him as much as he needed it. He was telling me the worsening condition of Nora. Her kidney had totally failed and the doctor was contemplating doing a dialysis for her.

Not much later, about an hour later, I received another call from him telling me that Nora is no longer with us. I could not say much except for “Innalillahiwainailaihirajiun…” She passed away at 9.15 pm on 8 July 2008, without regaining consciousness after being in a coma for more than 3 weeks. She was only 26 years old.

I remembered carrying her, and playing with her whenever I was down in Shah Alam, years ago when she was a toddler. Watched her grew up into a boisterous young lady, later a wife and mother. I remembered her wedding, I wrote about it in this blog too. I remembered her stay at our house when she was pregnant with her daughter, the first time after her marriage, and the last time stayed at our house last raya, with her husband and daughter. She was supposed to come and stay again on the 31 May 2008. That date was the last date we see her “alive”.

On 31 May 2008 was the wedding of another one of my nieces here in the north. Abang Lang came back with only Kak Lang and his daughters only. Nora was their eldest daughter. At one time we thought that she might be the only daughter, because Abang Lang has 5 sons after Nora. But Allah has planned that Abang Lang would have 2 more daughters besides Nora. Being the eldest and the only girl in the family for a long time, she was rougher and hard headed than the brothers. I used to remember Kak Lang having such a headache over her.

Abang Lang arrived late on the 30th night. Nora and her sisters were having high fever. So instead of staying at my house, they decided to stay at my younger sister’s place, which is nearer to the vicinity of the kenduri. They never did stay at my house on that occasion because Abang Lang took them to Sungai Petani after the kenduri. Apparently it was Nora’s last visit up north.

She never actually recovered from the high fever. When they went back to Shah Alam her conditioned worsened. She was hospitalised right after. She came home for a short while because she wanted to see her husband, back to Kuantan, where he is working. According to Kak Lang she was so weak and delirous that they had decided to admit her into the hospital. She was conscious for about a week and then she slipped into a coma. Up until the end the doctor could not tell us what was wrong with her. They suspected a form of virus attack, but what virus and where it came from was a mystery until today. The doctor was asking the family if she had been to overseas lately, Nora had never stepped out of the country at all.

I visited her once when she was at the hospital, taking the trip down with my mother who wanted to visit her sick granddaughter. All we could see from outside the room was her stiff body lying there with life support machine wired to her. It was sad to see her in that condition.

Hearing the doctor’s report on her condition and seeing her body system “shutting down” one by one was the saddest thing for the parents and us the families to undergo. After the high fever, the brain was swollen and when they sedated her to the maximum level after which she could not be revived. The doctor decided to sadate her because her white blod cell count was high. If she had survived, she would have been bed-ridden. After that you could see other organs starting to break down. Her kidneys were malfunctioning and the lungs were infected. It was like that until the end.

She left behind a young daughter just about to celebrate her one year old birthday when Nora passed away. Athirah now called her grandmother (Kak Lang) “mak”. Nora had a good and pious husband who was praying for her every step of the way when she was at the hospital. I could not have found a more “sabar” nephew-in-law than he is. It was heart wrenching to see the parents bury their eldest daughter, albeit submitting to Allah's will.

Hanya redha dan sabar sahaja yang dapat mengubat hati yang luluh.

Now, all we have of Nora was her memories. She short-lived us all, her grandmothers (my mother & her maternal grandmother), her parents, uncles and aunties.

Walaupun Allah hanya “meminjamkan” Nora kepada kami hanya untuk 26 tahun namun, kami redha dengan ketentuanNya. Semoga Allah mencucuri Rahmatnya kepada Nora dan menempatkan dia bersama orang-orangyang beriman, InsyaAllah.

This is the last smile from her.

I am 50 Today

Terharu jugak aku ni bila tengok ada jugak orang m asih menjenguk blog yang dah sunyi sepi sejak Feb 2008.

Terima kasih lah pada yang masih ingat pada AN ni. Especially to jokontan, kerana dia blogger yang pertama yang sms birthday wish to AN this morning.

So nak cerita sikit lah macam mana aku lalui birthday hari ni.

Sebenarnya weekend baru ni memang sibuk habis.

Maklumlah anak sedara kawin pada hari sabtu. Kemudian ahad kena pulak menghantar mempelai ke Yan (rumah pengantin lelaki). Asyik makan kenduri ajelah. Sabtu pun ada 3, tapi yang mampu pergi 2 ajelah sebab 1 rumah sepupu hubby. 2. rumah kakak sendiri.

Malam ahad tu pulak dah kena pergi mesyuarat program Hari Keluarga yang nak di adakan pada minggu depan. Hampir-hampir aku miss mesyuarat tu.

Jadinya, balik dari mesyuarat, tidur terus. Masa anak-anak datang wish happy birthday (at midnight) pun aku dah tak buka mata. Just say thanks saja.

Pagi tadi, lepas dah tutup pintu pagar semasa hubby keluar nak pergi kerja, macam biasalah rutin aku tu. Sapu laman sikit, keluarkan kain baju untuk di ampai, gitu-gitu lah. Hari ni memang aku cakap dengan anak-anak dara aku tu aku tak nak masak, nak suruh diorang yang sediakan makan pulak. Nasib baik mak ke rumah adik bongsu aku sebab abang lang ada kat sana. Abang lang balik makan kenduri kat rumah kakak M.

Pagi-pagi aku biasanya melayan aku punya "addiction" yang terbaru. Masih juga melalui internet, tapi bukan blogging atau chatting. Dah lama aku tak buat benda-benda tu. Sebab tu lah sepi saja blog ni. I will make an entry on the new "addiction" tu. Baru ada idea nak tulis nanti tu. Kak Long pun ada suggest aku tulis pasal tu hehehe.

Aku memang dah plan nak keluar hari ni. Tapi tak lah terlalu awal. Jadinya, dalam 11.00 lebih, aku terfikir ank ajak hubby pergi lunch. Konon, romantik lunch just the 2 of us lah. Bila call, kena tanya dulu dia sibuk ke tak, nasib baik jugak dia tak berapa sibuk. Jadi aku kena pergi dulu kat restoran tu, order food for 2, dan tunggu dia datang. Ambient memang romantik sekali, background music pulak lagu-lagu Engelbert Humperdink lah pulak. Menusuk kalbu betul lah tu hehehhe.

Yang spoilnya walau pun makanan nampak sedap, tapi sedikit masin, dan saladnya terlebih cuka. Hubby memang tak gemar makanan yang masam. Masa desert tu kami share banana split sebab desert aku terlambat sampai. Bila dah habis bana split tu baru diorang hantar desert yang aku order. Jadi share jugaklah desert yang kedua tu. Romantik habis nooo...

Lepas makan, aku pun pergi Carrefour seberang jaya, shopping groceries etc. Tup-tup Kak Zaini (one of my mentor) telefon ajak ke KL sebab ada SMIDec Convention kat KLCC on 4 June. Tayar kereta dah botak, memang dah plan nak tukar, hanya menunggu hari aje lah. Lepas aku discuss dengan hubby terus lah aku ke kedai tayar tukar 4, 4 tayar kereta tu. terbang RM900. Investment yang terpaksa, dan diperlukan. Kena jugak tukar, Takut nanti meletup dalam perjalanan pulak. Jadinya agak lewat aku sampai balik ke rumah hari ni.

Sampai di rumah, fish and chip yang anak-anak kata nak siapkan tu masih lagi ikan dan ubi mentah. Jenuh nak kerah budak-budak tu, suruh cepatkan sebab nanti baba nak balik makan. 4 sekali kerja, jadi cepatlah sikit, tapi penuhlah dapur tadi tu, asyik berlaga b*nt*t ajelah. Tapi tak apa, tak ada terasa apa-apa pun. hehehe.

Dah malam baru boleh nak post blog entry ni.

Sebenarnya cuak jugak aku ni sampai ke umur ini. Terasa diri dah dekat dengan pintu kubur dah, tapi rasanya persedian masih belum mencukupi. Uban di kepala pun dah tak larat nak di cabut dah. Nasib lah pakai tudung, tak nampak lah uban tu. Masih lah boleh orang dok kata aku ni tak nampak macam makcik 50 tahun. Alah, diorang tu just trying to be kind I think. Dah aku mekap tebal-tebal, tak nampak lah kedut-kedut kat muka tu kan. kan sekarang ni pun banyak produk yang boleh "rasa muda, jadi muda" tu kan. Telan je setiap hari, jadi "muda" lah nanti. Walau rupa nampak muda, umur tak "muda" kann....

InsyaAllah, aku nak aktif semula berblogging. Cuma mungkin tak se aktif dulu. Tak kan setiap entry nak cerita pasal kegiatan harian aku yang dah jadi "desperate housewife" ni kan? Nak jugak value add sikit. Kut nak bagi pedoman ke panduan ke, ke arah menjadi seorang usahawan or something. Baru lah ada isi yang mantap untuk blog. Buat malu aku je lah kalau asyik dok melalut tak kena gaya.

Lepas aku balik nanti aku cuba ceritakan apa ada pada convention tu, OK.

Yang masih ingat pada aku, terima kasih. Sebenarnya aku pun ingat kat semua. Cuma kadang-kadang terasa rendah diri bila nak cerita kegiatan aku yang dah tak berapa menarik ni.

Salam to all.

Travel & Tragedy

It's been a long time that I had a chance to travel on my own (without hubby). Eversince I stopped work, there was no necessity for business travel. The last time I had that was when I was taking the entrpreneural course.

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel without hubby. Not that I don't like to travel with him, but at times I do want to meet my friends whom he can't really relate to or feel shy to relate to. I had to attend a certification course, Kak Long and Angah were starting a new semester. My course was during the weekdays, Ayin and Syia would not be able to follow unless they were willing to forgo (read : ponteng) 4 days of schooling. Hubby would of course need to stay back with them. Since Angah had just acquired her driving licence, she and I would be able to drive alternately to KL and back.

So we travelled south on Tuesday, and we planned to come back home on Friday. We went straight down to Malacca to send angah and I drove to Shah Alam with Kak Long. My course were on Wednesday and Thursday, so early Wednesday morning on my way to the training venue I dropped Kak Long at her campus. Since I was "single" and able to move more freely, I did make some plan to meet some friends. First was the taggers from Joe Perantau's blog. Six of them came to meet me. Sudi jugak diorang ni jumpa makcik ni.

It was about 9.30 pm when I arrived at Abang Lang's house in Shah Alam. They were having a BBQ. What was the occasion? I guessed it was just a family reunion since his eldest daughter, son-in-law and grandaughter were at their home too. I didn't know that they were having the BBQ, so for the whole day I had too much to eat. What with the training menu, the dinner with the tagger at Secret Recipe and then the BBQ. My tummy had quite a jolt that day.

Angah smsed to tell me that she would have class until rather late on Friday, (Kak Long was free the whole day Friday), Angah said that she planned to a give (ponteng) Monday and Tuesday classes a miss for the Chinese New Year week (this week). Most of her classmates are Chinese and they are skipping class too. Wednesday class had been cancelled anyway. That would mean that, if she followed me home, she would be able to stay for a week. Our original plan was, for them to follow me home (as to keep me company during the journey home bound) and they would go back to campus on Sunday by bus and then would be back again for CNY. Hubby had already bought tickets for them to come home from KL to Penang on Wednesday. Kak Long was OK to with the idea. Therefore, I was free on Friday without any plan.

Early morning Friday, I called a few friends to see if they were available. My best friend from STF was availablle. Her hubby was outstation, and she is a full time house wife. Just my luck. I spend 1/2 a day at her home catching up with news. Sadly to know that her elder brother had passed away about a year ago. We knew each other family quite well actually.

Originally, I wanted to visit Kak Yan , who had recently undergone 2 operations. When I called, she told me that she and her husband were planning to go back to husband's kampung for a wedding. Suprisingly, while I was at my best friend place, she called to say that she had managed to persuade the hubby to go by himself. Caya lah you Kak Yan hehehe. So, after leaving my friend's house, I went to pick up Kak Long, had a late lunch with her, tapau Mee Goreng for Kak Yan and off we went to Bangi. Kak Yan was suprised that I managed to find her house just based on the address she sms to me. Not bad huh, for some one who always lost her way hehehe.

Actually, I wanted to see another school friend in Putrajaya, but she was getting ready to attend a niece's engagement ceremony in Lumut, so had to give it a miss. Angah informed us that the bus ticket from Malacca to Shah Alam had already sold out so I advised her to take what ever mean of transport on Friday evening to meet up with me and Kak Long. She ended up taking a bus to Pudu Raya. Her friend picked her up from the bus station and delivered her to Abang Lang's place that night. That saved me a trip to Pudu Raya.

The 3 of us travelled back to Penang on Saturday. If it was a Friday, I would have stopped at Sungai Buloh to meet up with a blogger. Belum ada rezeki nak jumpa ME lagi ni. Hubby had called up to say that he had bought tickets to see a movie that evening at the Sunway Carnival Mall. Since my mother was still at my youngest brother we took the opportunity to see a movie that evening with the whole family, something of a luxury nowadays for us.

The mall was quite packed, it being a Saturday evening and all. While we waiting for the movie to start we all went down to Popular Book Shop. It was about 9.00 pm when suddently there was some commossion going on in the mall. The Popular bookshop and all the other shops doors were lowered. We were not allowed to get out of the shop. I heard a guy was telling someone that there was a robbery at the ground floor and a guard was shot dead. It sounded too fantastic to be real. I spotted a former colleague and re-confirm the news with her. After a few minutes we were allowed to get out. We went up to the cineplex floor and were at first being asked to leave. Hubby and I at first decided to leave, but on second thought, we decided to stay with the other movie goers. The movies were not cancelled. We decided to stay because, at that point if we were to leave, there would be only a few leaving, we had no idea what would be in store for us at the parking lot. If we were to stay, we would be in a crowd, so it seemed safer that way. We watched the movie with the other and came out with the crowd.



I don't know what to say to this, but very early that morning, after the Subuh prayer when I went back to sleep I actually had a dream that, we were in the mall watching a movie, when someone got killed right in front of our eyes. In my dream, I lost my hand bag in the process of rushing to get out of the theater and although I did recover my bag, all my belongings were lost. I told Kak Long and Angah about it and when we were put in the situation at the mall, I recalled the dream. I didn't bring the handbag and Alhamdullillah we were all safe.

Innalillah... our condolence to the gaurd's family.

2008

Rasanya baru saja kita menyambut 2007, tapi sedar tak sedar dah 1 tahun berlalu. Banyak jugak peristiwa suka duka yang kami alami dalam 2007 tu. Tak tahu pulaklah macam mana 2008 ni. Kadang-kadang rasa takut jugak nak menghadapi hari-hari yang mendatang tapi, apa boleh buat, masa tak boleh nak diundur ke belakang.

Yang paling bermakna kepada aku dalam 2007 adalah aku telah kehilangan pekerjaan. Terpaksa berhijrah dari employed stage ke semi-retirement stage. 9 bulan yang lepas ni nak kata aku comfortable tak lah jugak. Mungkin semua orang ingat, aku jadi orang kaya baru sebab dapat pampasan dari company sebab kena lay-off. Tak lah jugak sebenarnya. Duit, kalau setinggi gunung Himalaya pun kalau hari-hari di korek sikit-sikt, lama-lama tu habis lah jugak. Unless lah kalau kita ada passive income yang boleh tambah duit tu jadikan gunung yang lebih tinggi. Setakat ini, aku hanay boleh kata, adakala aku jadi stress jugak bila ingatkan kedudukan kewangan kami. Sebab terpaksa bergantung pada hubby dalam banyak hal. Aku kesiankan dia yang juga sedikit tertekan, sebab kena menanggung perbelanjaan keluarga secara total sekarang ini.

Walaupun aku tak regret yang aku tak cari kerja lain, sebab aku nak cuba suatu yang baru. Nak cuba menjadi self-employed, my own boss lah kononnya ni kan, tapi, most people yang dah pernah lalui stage ini akan tahu the first year adalah yang terperit bagi orang-orang yang macam aku ni. Banyak benda yang kena fikir, apa nak buat, macam mana nak buat marketing produk/servis kita, macam mana nak bersaing dengan orang/company yang dah establish tu. Macam-macam. It is NOT easy. Jadinya ada jugak kadangkala aku pun macam rasa nak cari kerja semula. Tak tahulah kalau tak ada apa-apa bila aku dah sampai 12 bulan dalam semi-retirement ni, mungkin aku terpaksa cari kerja jugak kut. Walaupun berat hati aku nak fikir yang aku mungkin kena cari kerja lain tu. InsyAllah, aku boleh bertahan.

Yang paling menggembirakan bagi kami sekeluarga dalam 2007 ni adalah kejayaan Ayin dalam PMR. Dia dapat 9A. Ayin sememangnya anak aku yang paling berdisiplin dalam hidup dia. Nak kata dia tu intelligent or a genius tu tak lah jugak. Tapi dia hardworking. Aku tak perlu banyak nak bantu dia nak set matlamat atau time table untuk dia. Sikit-sikit saja aku kena guide dia. Dari UPSR lagi aku dah nampak potential dia. Dia sendiri set goals dia, dia sendiri disiplinkan diri dia, bila nak pergi tuisyen, apa subjeck nak ambik, bila nak study dan makanan apa yang dia boleh makan atau kena pantang. Jadi bila exam year tu, dia pantang dari memakan makanan yang masam-masam, yang bergas, kepala ikan dan lain-lain.

She was quite plump masa darjah 6, tapi sekarang dah kurus kering dah, macam model, hehehe. Sekeping je badan tu. Takut dia nak makan makanan yang berlemak-lemak. Kalau dia boleh tahan lepas maghrib dia tak makan dah. Diet tu diet jugak tapi, it does not mean that she doesn't enjoy food. Susah tak nak makan kat rumah kami ni hehehe. Alhamdulillah rezeki kami masih boleh dikatakan murah lagi so far.

Anyway, this year 2008, aku tak ada anak-anak yang exam. Ayin dan Syia akan sama-sama exam (SPM dan PMR) pada tahun depan 2009. Jadinya relax lah sikit tahun ni. Syia akan jadi tension nak keep-up with Ayin's success, dan Ayin is so happy sebab dia akan sentiasa maintain top scorer dalam PMR. Sebab Syia hanya mungkin akan ambik 8 subjecks sahaja berbanding Ayin yang bersekolah Agama (9 subjecks termasuk Bahasa Arab). But it is a healthy competiton. On her part Ayin akan mula merancang untuk SPM 2009, dari tahun ini lagi. Sekolah dia adalah one of the best in Penang in PMR, so the teachers dah mula plan untuk SPM 2009 bagi budak2 yang baru lepas PMR ni. Walaupun Ayin is "eyeing" a better school, tapi pada kami sekolah dia yang sekarang ni memang dah cukup bagus. Record sekolah tu memang so far selalu meningkat saja. Batch Ayin ni 70 students dapat 9A & 8A, out of 100 lebih candidates.

Apa-apa pun, aku banyak berharap dalam 2008 ni aku akan lebih bersemangat untuk berusaha untuk kejayaan diri aku dan keluarga. Tak kiralah apa juga bentuk kejayaan itu. Umur aku dah makin meningkat. Tahun ni aku akan menjangkau setengah abad. Aku kena dapatkan something yang meaningful sebelum aku rasa aku di panggil Allah. Banyak yang aku kena usahakan ni. Banyak sungguh angan-angan aku yang aku perlu jadikan kenyataan. InsyaAllah dalam 2008 dan 1429 H ni, Allah beri keberkatan kepada semua usaha-usaha murni kita semua.

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT TAHUN BARU 2008 dan MAAL HIJRAH 1429H