Ramadhan in KT

It is 4 days into Ramadhan now and I have got myself into a routine. This is the first Ramadhan that I don't need to stressed myself out deciding on what to cook for the breaking of fast (yeay..!). The kids are not around anymore (the reason I used to spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing favourite dishes around the fasting month), so it's about time we get the most out of this holy month. This year the hubby and I decided we'll break fast at the mosque and the one which we have been to, these past few days is the 'Masjid Putih' or the White Mosque (and why it is named so? because it's painted err.. white?) in the town centre. The meal served there is nothing extravagant, in fact it's very simple; rice, a protein dish, vegetables, a 'kuih' and dates. (reminded me of the meal I used to have when I was in boarding school - SMSNS Kuala Pilah). Here's one that we had yesterday:

It's ok by us though we supplement it by buying around RM3 worth of 'desserts' that we have after the tarawih prayers (they're sooo.. much cheaper than Klang!). Well, after the 'iftar' we pray maghrib and then stay in until isyak and tarawih. They have an 'imported' imam to lead the tarawih prayer; from Egypt. He recites one (back-breaking..) juzuk of the Quran per night. I have got used to it by now but shame on me... there are 'makciks' older than me who got through the whole thing and the hubby and I only do 8 raka'ats!

Free

Yesterday, a Friday, was the hubby's day off. So early in the morning (well, not so early), we drove around looking for a recreational area for our much needed exercise. And not 3 minutes from our homestay, we came upon a Park; couldn't remember the name though, but it was in the area called Pantai Batu Buruk (literally: 'Beach of the Ugly Stone'!). Anyway, many people were already hard at jogging and stretching and there was even a large group of people following an aerobic instructor. Here are some pictures of the Park:

The first and last pictures showed the aerobic activity already in full swing when we got there. Maybe next week, I'll join in the fun (they even had a lucky draw at the end of the session..!). We noticed that most of the participators were Malay ladies, with their colourful headscarves, kicking and swaying to the beat of the music.. By the way, what I find quite amazing in the East Coast, particularly the state of Terengganu and Kelantan is the number of Muslim women who wear the headscarves compared to some other places in Malaysia. The headscarves come in a variety of shapes and sizes, in a myriad of shades and colours and some could be tied in numerous ways that you can't imagine.. (pin it up, let it down and around it goes..my daughter is an expert on this). True, Islam ordains that Muslim women should cover themselves up at puberty and seeing the number of Muslim women in Malaysia doing just that is encouraging but sad to say not many of them actually abide by the exact law.. We see a lot of girls these days wearing short headscarves with short-sleeved T-shirts that are sometimes quite tight and revealing, too.. The T-shirts are usually short and then they wear tight jeans which of course show their curves. Not to mention those who wear see-through headscarves which do not cover anything at all! If you are going to cover yourself up then you need to do it properly - no showing of arms or feet, scarves covering the chest and loose clothing... I leave with a video-clip of the song Free, by my favourite singer, Sami Yusuf. It is about the wearing of Hijab for Muslim women..Happy listening!

Kuala Terengganu Here We Come!

We have been here for 4 days now. The hubby has accepted the post as Resident Engineer for a PERMINT (I tend to imagine the word 'peppermint' whenever I see the sign) project in the town. As for right now we are staying in a 'homestay' just 5 minutes from the project site. We live in a little room - air-conditioned, attached bathroom (with hot water), wi-fi, a tv set... There's a shared kitchen but no stove or 'fridge or washing machine. I'm not complaining - I don't have to do any cooking or a lot of cleaning! (only have to hand-wash our laundry - sigh..) However, I'm not sure how long we can stand take-aways. Breakfast is quite cheap, though these East Coast people eat a lot of rice even in the morning. They have nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, nasi minyak...in addition to nasi lemak. Not healthy, not healthy (apart from nasi kerabu..). We'll have to start eating home-cooked meals soon or else someone is going to put on some extra kilos...Well, we might be staying at the 'homestay' for the duration of the hubby's job - it could be for 3 years or erm... 3 months! (sigh...) It seems like a good deal. We don't need to bring a lot of furniture - just a simple cooker and a small 'fridge will do. The rent is RM500 a month; inclusive of everything (electricity, water, internet). And it's so near the town and where the hubby works. Anyway, let's see how things go after a month of homestay-living. I will either love it or hate it! (It's actually quite difficult to get a house for rent over here. I suppose it's more profitable to turn an unoccupied house into a 'homestay' rather than rent it out on a monthly basis). No pictures this time; next post, I hope.