Ramadan - and the baby's back!

It's Ramadan again - and already halfway through. How time flies! We've been in KT for a year already! We still continue with having the iftar at the mosque, only this time around we go to another mosque which is nearer to our 'new home' - 'Masjid Terapung' or the floating mosque:

The first time we prayed there on the 4th of Ramadan; surprise, surprise, the imam was the same one that led the prayers at the mosque we went to last year! It was certainly a pleasant surprise as we really enjoy his recitations.. Anyway, another thing that's making our Ramadan pleasant this year is that the baby has come home for the summer holidays! Adik came back to Malaysia after 2 years in Cairo, arriving on the 2nd of Ramadan. We met him at the airport:

Having his favourite spaghetti bolognese for breaking fast at a Petronas petrol station.

New Residence

Lots of things had happened since I wrote last. For one thing we've moved out of the 'homestay'. Just when we were getting comfy living there (despite the cramp conditions) we were asked to move out as they were going to do some renovations. At first we were quite upset (not knowing that it was a blessing in disguise) and spent a couple of days just driving around looking for homestays which would want to rent out on a monthly basis (not many, especially suited to the taste of yours truly..). We scanned adverts online and we got lucky when someone posted a house to be rented furnished for RM650 per month (we got it for RM600 later on). And what a blessing in disguise it was! It's a terraced house but a corner lot. A new housing estate and wait for it.., we have a river right on the doorstep (almost!). Yes, a river! (though the Terenganuans call it 'tali-air', whatever). Even though the garden lacks landscaping, having the river there makes up for it. Here are a couple of pictures:

Hopefully I'll be writing more. When we had to move out, we had to uninstall our streamyx and for about a month we were streamyxless. But now we're back in business! Yeay!

The Homecoming

At last, the day I'd been waiting for had arrived! Last Monday found us at the airport awaiting the arrival of our son and his family from Australia. We thought we might be late so the hubby stepped on the gas and we are going to get a ticket for speeding, yes we are! Anyway we had to wait about half an hour before they finally came out... :

It was a very exciting day indeed! Umar hadn't been home for about 4 years and this is his son Umayr's first time in Malaysia. Here's Umayr with grand-dad at the airport (you have to carry him or hold him or else he'll just wander off by himself!):

Here's one with the doting grand-dad again (showing off with his toothbrush):

By the pond after overfeeding the 'sheesh'

With his favourite toy plane, deep in thoughts...

They'll be here for about a month. At the moment they're up north in Kedah with the daughter-in-law's family but after two weeks or so they'll be coming to join us in KT for a few days...

What I did Last Friday

Yeah.. Freedom for Palestine! Down with Zionist Israel!!

I'm back!

OMG, looks like I haven't been writing for ages! I knew once I started working I would have less time to update my blog. On top of that we had unstable internet connection. Sorry Celcom, your broadband is terribly unreliable; I don't know, maybe it's just our location. So last week we installed telephone lines and got streamyx - and our lives are changed forever... It's strange how I couldn't imagine how life was like before computers and internets and that for the first 20 years of my life I didn't know the difference between motherboard and keyboard! Now I can't imagine life without computers... Not that I'm that tech-savvy, but at 50 I think I'm savvy enough, haha! Anyway, the latest news is, our son, Umar and his family are coming home for a month holiday in about 2 weeks time and I'm about as excited as a cat on a hot tin roof (am I getting the right idiom here? whatever) Just can't wait to get my arms around our grandson, Umayr! The last time I saw him he was about 3 weeks old. Now, he's about 2 years 6 months. Ooo I'm so looking forward to see him...

Not much having to do with what's written but I love this song (by Sami Yusuf, of course) and the video that goes with it. It just never fails to bring a tear into my eye everytime I listen to it and I'd like to share it and the message it brings...

50 Years Young

I am 50 years 10 days young today... Yes, celebrated my 50th birthday 10 days ago. Well, not exactly celebrating it as such because birthdays are usually quiet affairs in our family - maybe a home-baked cake or a special home-cooked meal or sometimes eating out; when the children were younger... Anyway, coincidently, 12th January was also an Open Day at the colllege and there was a blood donation drive by the local hospital at the same time there. For 50 years of my life I've never donated blood so I thought it was about time I did and so there I was, the first person to register... The fact that I haven't done it before isn't because it scares me but the opportunity just didn't arise. And I was right, it was no big deal and not very painful at all; so for all of you out there - donate blood and save a life! Here's a picture of the memorable event...

And below is a picture of the cake my colleagues bought to celebrate those of us whose birthdays fall on the same month - for 3 of us: Am, Nita and I (thus the 3 candles... it would have to be 50 if it's just for moi - would probably melt the whole cake lol) Thanks - appreciate it!

New Year Happenings

We went home to Klang New Year Eve - reached KL just in time to join the traffic jam caused by New Year revellers.. The main reason for us making the journey even though 1st January is not a public holiday in Terengganu :( (I had to apply for leave) was because a niece was getting married that day. She's actually my brother's stepdaughter, and I had promised to bake a blueberry cake for her. We were late for the 'nikah' ceremony though, because we had to visit another niece first (my sister's daughter), who was warded for dengue in Seremban Hospital. Her father had actually caught dengue - twice - before this! (they should declare Seremban as a 'dengue-hazard' zone or something) Anyway, she seemed fine and was released the next day. The wedding reception was at a hotel on Saturday night but we had to leave for KT Saturday afternoon as we had to work on Sunday... (still can't get used to the fact that Sunday is a working day, well... can't get used to "working" actually!) The students at the college were sitting for their finals on Monday and I had a class on Sunday for last minute revisions...

At the 'nikah' ceremony "someone" wanted to give us a surprise but what he hadn't realised yet was the fact that a mother always knows everything (after God, ie)... The second son came back from Melbourne without telling us intending to give his mom a heart attack but his uncle (my brother) unwittingly let the cat out of the bag just before we arrived at the 'kenduri'! He'll have to get back to Melbourne in a couple of weeks time, though. Anyway, here's a pic of the happy couple on their wedding day:

And below is obviously not the picture of the blueberry cake that I had baked... (forgot to take a picture; in fact I baked 2 blueberry cakes, arrgh..!) anyway, this is a Terengganu's 'bubur asyura' which one my colleagues brought to share in the staff-room. It's a traditional dish but this one's particular to Terengganu (never tasted it before). Not bad though, only you couldn't decide whether it's meant to be sweet or savoury!