Graduation Day for Kak lang!

Our only daughter, Kak Lang, graduated with a bachelor's degree in Actuarial Science last week (1st December 2012). If you are asking yourself: What Science? Please refer to this entry... So, this is her second graduation day that we attended (we attended convocation only once for both her elder brothers: Bang Long just for his Diploma Degree and Bang Ngah just for his Bachelor Degree..) Alhamdulillah..she got the Vice Chancellor Award (thus the sash) for consistently getting CGPA above 3.75 every semester. Her father took this picture in the Hall where the ceremony took place (you're not allowed to take pictures actually...but we didn't use flash and we didn't leave our seats okey!).

Taken in the hall...we were in the balcony

Proud father and daughter

Sweet....

So many people..each graduand having whole family including extended, attending (poor Kak Lang..she has only us...all siblings living overseas..)

After-graduation celebratory dinner.... at Subang Jaya's Serai

Ordering...

My choice - the salad

Hubby's choice - Middle- Eastern..

Daughter's choice - the dessert..Pavlova!

As you can see I've got pictures..yeay! Alhamdulillah! I managed it at last with a little help from a techy young man (thank you Sufian!) But I'm still at the learning stage...it's quite a struggle to organize this entry.. See..the pictures wouldn't center (and I can't arrange them neatly..arrgh!) and the captions are not aligning somewhat...but I'll get the hang of it soon..in sha Allah!

Through the Rain..

It's raining this morning...just my kind of day...cooling and and just the sound of rain tapping on the roof to start off the day. And with the rhythm of the rain I usually start to hum my favourite tune - Through the Rain..by Mariah Carey (whoa...). Not that I'm a great fan of the singer (she has a great voice though) but the lyrics of the song is rather inspiring and motivating... Here it is:

When you get caught in the rain with no where to run
When you're distraught and in pain without anyone

And you feel so far away
That you just can't find your way home
You can get there alone
It's okay, what you say
I can make it through the rain
I can stand up once again on my own
And I know that I'm strong enough to mend
And every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith
And I live one more day and I make it through the rain
And if you keep falling down don't you dare give in
You will arise safe and sound, so keep pressing on steadfastly
And you'll find what you need to prevail
What you say is

I can make it through the rain
I can stand up once again on my own
And I know that I'm strong enough to mend
And every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith
And I live one more day and I make it through the rain

And when the wind blows, and as shadows grow close don't be afraid
There's nothing you can't face
And should they tell you you'll never pull through
Don't hesitate, stand tall and say

I can make it through the rain
I can stand up once again on my own
And I know that I'm strong enough to mend
And every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith
And I live one more day and I make it through the rain

I can make it through the rain
And I live once again
And I live one more day
And I can make it through the rain
( oh Yes you can)
You will make it through the rain

Yess... people! Stop being stuck in the rut and feeling sorry for yourselves! We can make it through anything - insha Allah! (Still picture-less I'm afraid.. *sigh* but..I'm going to make it through this..yes I am!)

Waterless in Kuala Terengganu

Dirty dishes are piling up in the sink, dirty laundry waiting to be washed..and the hubby is buying me lunch today (yeay!). It's nearly a day and a half now that KT is without water, the Water Department making repairs or whatever. We were actually clueless about it. I even did my laundry happily yesterday without suspecting that the waterless kitchen sink wasn't because of the usual lapse because of too many users. Our neighbour told us that we were warned about the water situation but it was supposed to start today, not yesterday. So, many people are in the same boat, apparently... Alhamdulillah there are only two of us (What about people with children and babies?) However, Alhamdulillah the day has been cloudy and the weather is rather cool so a quick shower once a day will suffice...

Pictureless...

I was going to write about my activities last Friday and Saturday which have some pictures to share. I love having photographs with my entries because they tell a lot more than mere words, don't you think? Well, what happened was I got this when I tried to upload some pictures:

Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos. Upgrade storage

Photos are stored in your Picasa Web Albums account and are included in your 1 GB free quota for photos. Additional storage you purchase is shared between several Google products and is in addition to your free quota. Learn more

Gosh..I didn't know that! So..until I got around this problem, we are picture-less... Well, just so that you'll know, I joined a peaceful Demo for Palestine in Kuala Terengganu on Friday and attended a wedding of my niece at Putra Jaya on Saturday. And...back in KT on Sunday.

Alhamdulillah we managed to collect about RM13,000 for Palestine during the Demo! And we got national media coverage as well...

The niece who got married is my brother's daughter, Afra whose blog is there in my Blog List (she has been neglecting it since turning into a Bridezilla prior to the wedding I suppose...lol) In order to attend Afra's wedding we had to spend 2 consecutive nights on a bus..travelling the 6-hour journey Friday and Saturday nights to and fro KT-Klang...! But Alhamdulillah, the seats were comfortable enough and we got enough sleep; beats driving anytime, I'd say!

Anyway...once I manage to overcome the picture problem I will post some photos, In sha Allah...

Maal Hijrah and Free Palestine!

Happy New Year everyone! A day late..but never mind; as it was yesterday, 15th of November is the start of the New year of the Islamic calender of 1434. Yesterday was also my first day home in Kuala Terengganu after spending about 6 weeks in Adelaide with my eldest son and his family. I'm missing the grand children already...

On clicking on my Ipad as I got home and checking my Facebook statuses, I was soon deluged in stories and news of the attack on Palestine by the Israelis.. I remember the last Gaza war, it was in 2008 and hubby and I were in Tehran; glued to the satellite TV for news and devastated at the many casualties of the war especially on the Palestinian side.  Now after 4 years, the Israelis are at it again... God, when are they going to stop terrorizing the Palestinians and remove their occupation of the Muslim Land! The death toll at the moment is 19 including 5 children!...may Allah grant them matyrdom.. What can we do to help? I can think of 3 things at the very least that we can do... 1) Donate money to the various organizations which are helping the Palestinians in various ways (for example Aqsa Syarif which banner I've pasted there at the top right hand corner of this blog) 2) Do wage a war on McDonalds and Coca-Cola; to name a few organizations which are connected to the Zionist movement and supporting it. Boycott them! 3) Make constant prayers and dua for our brothers and sisters in Palestine...:
 "Oh Allah, destroy the disbelievers. Put in them fear for our enemies, Your enemies and enemies of Your Deen. Oh Allah, raise the honour of Islam and the Muslimeen. Strengthen the bond of love in the hearts of them and mend the kinhood between them. Also, give them Your help in fighting your enemies and the enemies of the Muslims."
 

A video clip of a dua or prayers for Palestine:

And a nasheed dedicated to the Palestinian Cause by Maher Zain:

The Whispering Wall..(100th entry)

Yesterday all of us packed into the car and made about an hour's trip to the Barossa Reservoir to check out The Whispering Wall... It was truly amazing - I was at one end of the dam and Bang Long at the other end. We could really hear each other as clear as if we were standing side by side, MasyAllah! I was actually startled at first when I heard a "hello" that I checked whether there was someone near! For those of you who can't read from the picture below; it says at the bottom: 'The dam has surprising acoustic properties. Sounds at one end of the dam can be heard clearly at the other end. Its curved slender shape and quiet location induces conditions that contribute to the transmission of sound. Straight line sound waves reflect obliquely off the wall as they travel 140 metres to the other end.' Cool....have never seen (or heard) anything like it! The surrounding area is quite picturesque, too..

 

.

By the way, this is my 100th entry...pathetic really, if you considered I started blogging about 3 years ago, lol! Anyway, Alhamdulillah I made it this far..  The entries may not be that interesting or inspiring...but by writing about events in my life it preserves the memories and maybe when I'm dead and gone, my grandchildren can still read about their Jedda and her adventures...! .

Eid Carnival!

Last Sunday there was an Eid Carnival at the Islamic College South Australia School (which Kindy Umayr goes to). Bang Long was put in charge of the barbequing and so early Sunday morning off we went (minus Kak Long and Amru) to the school to set up the barbeque sets... It was a very fine day - as hot as Malaysia (temperatures reached 32 degrees, I think). It was a fun day for the kids especially Umayr and Ammar. I had to chase after Ammar all the time as he seemed to have boundless energy (especially when he got near the toy stall - he thought the toys were there FOC..). Here are pics from the day:

School grounds - we were early

School grounds..

The playground

Enterprising Malaysian ladies selling Malaysian food..

Aiskrim Malaysia (they call it ice-blocks over here) selling like hot cakes..

Bang Long and his friend hard at work

A number of BBQ sets to grill lamb chops and sausages..

Another Malaysian stall - the Swinging Bowl (read: Mangkuk Ayun - restaurant near Central Market)

Main attraction - the satay

Ammar loves the satay..

The Messy Eater strikes again!

They even had rides and bouncing thingies..(free of course -  kids only)

Umayr having fun.. (Ammar couldn't muster the courage yet)

He prefers the Bouncing Castle

There he goes..up the ladder

..and down he slides..

Playing with bubbles..(no no..the friend's name is Yaya)

Got his Dad to buy one..

Yeay..! Now I can make my own bubbles..

The older kids have bigger guns (sweet girls...)

Umayr is somewhere out there shooting water from his own gun that Dad had to buy..*sigh*

And this is a picture from the next day..in the backyard..

Hmm..apparently Dad wanted to have fun shooting water as well..(we must have missed giving him one when he was a kid..lol)