THE SEOUL STORY

So, we sent Abang to the madrassah on the 1st of Nov and braced the loooong journey home in almost complete silence. Adik fell asleep almost instantly and stayed that way( switched herself off) until we stopped for prayers and thereafter continued sleeping. I sobbed silently. Abah had only one hand on the steering wheel as he hold mine with the other.....


We reached home and Grey kept trying to get into the car, looking for one missing member of this family.....

We then found Adik sat stone-faced in front of the opened wardrobe in Abang's room, looking at Abang's clothing. And I joined her. We then hugged each other and cried openly.....and loudly! Abah came in and tried to say something funny ( as usual) but stopped midway and walked away...

Adik was so down for the next few days that it worried us....


Then, the journey to Seoul came on the 14th of Nov and it saw Adik smiling again...what a relief!! Thanks to the fact that Kak Bibah was joinging us in this trip. Kak Bib, along with many other nieces of Abah and Mama, are absolute addicts of Korean dramas. But she got lucky as her mum decided to reward her dilligence by paying for the airline ticket....needless to say, she was in cloud nine leaving Kak Aminah, Kak Basyirah, Kak Syida, Kak Maryam, Kak Syifaa and Kak Tim green with envy!!

Seoul was approaching winter, so it was -2 C when we arrived. It went lower in the evening and Adik prayed that it went lower still so that she could see some snow....As it was, she just had to be satisfied with some frost on the treetops in the morning.

Adik and Kak Bibah ( very knowledgeable with all things korean) enjoyed Seoul very much. Personally, I dont really fancy it. For one thing, everything is much more expensive than in our own country and we do have all that they offer over there. Anyway, Abang and Grey were not forgotten, Adik kept trying to buy knick-knacks for them...

Here are some pictures of Adik and Kak Habibah in Seoul....( Mama and Abah are not photo-friendly!)




Waiting for trains that comes in every 3 minutes ( Yet the Korean still running towards them as if it is thelast train of the day....they really value every second of their time...No, I dont wish to have to rush everywhere like that))Kak Nana( in blue) is Cik Jae's daughter who is studying engineering in Seoul. Without her we would be loss. She was such a great help....and her friends too. And all of them speak Korean fluently.






@ Namsan Tower where lots and lots of lovey-dovey couples 'locked' their love using all kinds of padloocks. Hic!




At the Bear Museum

We went up the tower, which is quite similar to our KLCC, in the evening and saw Seoul bathing in lights.At the famous market with Kak Alin (in red) and Kak Farah (in black). ( Adik and Kak Bibah were smitten with Kak Farah whom we first mistook as Korean as she looks, dresses and acts like one) We went to Dongdaemun and a few other markets as well...cant remember the names.


Nana brought us to this humble Korean eatery frequents by Malay students. I LIKE!! A dish of three types fish (barbecued outside the shop in using special coal) served with four tpes of kimchii and a bowl of rice and vegetable soup for each. Cost the four of us 18000 Won . And that's the cheapest food here.... On the day we arrived, Ayah Long's and Ayah Mat's friend, one Col. Aziz who is serving in Malaysian Embassy came to pick us at the hotel and brought us to a seriously luxurious Korean lunch. But all of us was so hungry that we forgot the camera!! It was at a gourmet restaurant where we experienced all those exotic Korean dish. I shuddered when I glanced at the bill....it was paid by the good Colonel of course. Thanks Abang Aziz....


The only mosque in Seoul...and we stayed in Hamilton Hotel which is a walking distance to it. Alhamdulillah, Abah got to say all his five prayers in jamaat. We saw a group of local preparing to go out in 'khuruj' when Abah brought us to visit the mosque. It was awesome. We were told that Malaysian students brought the work of tabligh to Seoul and spread it around....



p/s thanks to one miss fadzila for lending the winter clothings...all have been dry-cleaned, dun worry ya! and i only bought you a humble brooch...huhuhu,told u , everything else is not worth buying!!

OCTOBER TRAGEDY…

I didnt post any entry last month not for the lack of ideas to write on or because nothing ‘interesting’ happened . It was quite contrarily so!!

The month of October began with Mama getting one year older, and wiser hopefully…. We then took off to Penang for two days and then resumed the journey to celebrate the last days of Syawwal with relatives in KL. Oh, we enjoyed ourselves so much! We went to Mak Uda’s and gobbled up her many types of kueh raya and Adik joined her cousins beraya to their friends house. Meeting aunties and cousins at Tok Zam’s open house and eating her delicious offerings was the next agenda. From there, we tagged Tok Su’s entourage beraya sampai ke Tanjung Malim. By the time Kak Long Fazrin and Kak Chik Illa dropped us at The Royale Chulan, we could barely open our eyes. Off we were to la la land. Oblivious to something sinister taking place in our home at the very same time.

By 10 am the next day, fully rested and fed , we started our east bound journey home. Planned well by Abah so as to avoid the morning traffic congestion. So far so good….

As we reached Bentong, the phone started ringing and we got the news.

Our neighbour just discovered that our home had been broken into . And the car that we parked on the porch was not there!!

All of us were like, oh oh….and automatically recited Innaalillaahi wainnaa ilaihiraaji’un.

And the next question on everybody’s lip was, “ What about Grey? Is she safe??”

When Uncle Azman assured us that our beloved Grey is fine and fat as usual, we were able to breathe normally again…..

To cut the story short….we reached home around 6 pm amidst heavy downpour that reduced the visibility almost to zero especially in Kuala Krai.

We started counting not what we lost, but the things/blessings that we still have. Mama, house-proud as usual, was very thankful that the house is still very much in order, unlike what she had been picturing in her mind all along the journey. The bad men seemed to be in a hurry to leave the house after they saw the car keys, thus leaving our house almost intact . (Mama didnt need to count the golden ornaments lost as she doesnt have much of those to begin with.) Abah was thankful that our passports were not taken as we are going to need them for our overseas trip soon. And so relieved was him that the other car’s ( the one we brought with us) spare key was not taken. We have been greatly spared. Abang and Adik of course mauled Grey and kissed her repeatedly. Abang checked and found his duit raya still intact in their packets and Adik was so happy that her diary was not taken!! It was beyond us to understand why the thief would want to take her diary…..

We are so thankful that we have caring neighbours.. Almost all of Taman Syifaa’ s residents turned up to console us….and the good thing that came out later was, a meeting was held and a committee was set up to beef up the security in our area. The YB who stays in our neighbourhood pulled his weight and summoned MPKB to come and clean all the bushes and tall tress in vacant lots which had been providing perfect hiding spots for those drug addicts while they spied/planned to attack our homes. Its about time actually….most of the homes in Taman Syifaa’ had been broken into and the police actually did nothing significant to counter it or to solve the crimes though the clues were all there.

All in all, what we should be thankful of, was the taufeeq given by Allah that prompted us to seek His help with sabr and solaat soon as the bad news reached us . Abah stopped at the next mosque we passed and all of us did the Solaat Hajat , asking for His assistance and strength to face this test. The rest of the journey was filled with our reciting Istighfar and Innalillahi……with full conviction that everything is from Him and belongs to Him alone and what is meant for us will be ours if He ordains it. We also recited Allahumma’jurnii fii musiibati wakhluflii khairumminha after checking the correct pronounciation with Ayah Chik Razif. We talked about how Allah has been keeping us and our properties safe for so long that we took it for granted. We looked back on our ‘amaals and found loopholes here and there. Adik even pointed out that we didnt do the full sleeping ‘adaab the night before. Oh, how neglectful were we. The comfort of a 5-star hotel had robbed us from our routine. It just goes to show how weak our imaan is and how much harder we should strive to better ourselves. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah, for putting us through this test and woke us up…..and for letting us see the beauty of your promises that came true sooner than we expected. The car turned up at the Kelantan riverbank after went missing for only two days, minus all tyres.

So, that is the tragedy, if you could call it one…..

The other tragedy is….No, its not a tragedy…its a good thing actually. We finally sent Abang to the madrasah….Abang is now, huhu.... almost 400km aways from us…..

I must stop here lest the keyboard be drenched………….

Till then.

(will write up a piece on Abang soon as I overcome this feeling of emptiness…..)

GREY (herself…)

For most of you who frequent this blog ( i really cannot see why though), you should know me well by now…..

Mama, head still fuzzy with overdose of ketupat and such, has been ignoring this pitiful space….

I, the cat with, ahemm, quite a few talent….have decided I should take over for at least, this one time. (depends though, if you guys like my style, I might consider writing again).

Since Syawwal is still here, I might as well recount my experience during the festive days. Alhamdulillah ( for I am a muslim cat), I am thankful that this year, I was much spared compared to the year before, from molestation that is. (oh no, not sexually, just physical attack I mean). The little girl who used to pull me by my tail while walking the opposite way of my direction, didnt come this year. People seems much more civilised this year. They still look at me admiringly, but, they just ask the usual questions and stroke me gently. Quite a few fell in love in me, which is, well, totally understandable( smug look)…..For the few little rascals who tried to suffocate me, I have learned the trick or rather have found some strategic locations for refuge whenever I smell them kids.

During the last few days of Ramadhan I got really sick and discovered how much love this family has for me. All three of them ( Abah was out of the picture for he was away, doing the usual last 10 days Ramadhan i’tikaf ), were worried sick. Adik and Mama cried a lot while Abang, trying to be macho, (part of his psyching-up to be away from home soon), blinked away the tears. Oh, by the way, Abang is still home. Mama, hemmh, as expected, has asked for a postponement for the registration date . Reason, she couldnt bring herself to part with her son yet!! So, Abang will leave home by the end of October….InsyaAllah, by that time, both of them will be ready. Judging from the way they talk about it and NOT crying anymore, I think, they’ll be okay. Dont worry Mama, I’ll be here for you…and I’m quite sure I am far more adorable than Abang, and as a bonus, I do not talk back…..

Alhamdulillah, I was my healthy, rotund self by 1st of Syawwal. Not without drama though….When Mama first noticed that I’ve not been eating like usual , she was puzzled, she thought I finally took her advice to cut down on my food and slim down a bit. Mama is a bit off here…I am not overweight, I just look big because my hair are long and fluffy. Plus, I do eat very healthily, I dont just eat anything, in fact, I just eat what I perceive as healthy. I read all the small prints on the food packet y’all!! Look at this pic;

….and weight myself right-away after eating!

Back to the story, after two days of not eating AT All, Mama made a frantic call to Abah. ( i have an appointment with vet a week ahead for my vaccination booster, so Mama tried to avoid bringing me to the vet just yet). Abah, thinking that I resemble his patients in cuteness and sizes ( No way!!, I am cuter!!! ), prescribed some pcm after enquiring about my weight, in his paediatrician manner. It took turn to the worse. I got sicker!!! Ran to the vet….mama got scolded by the vet for giving human’s medication to non-human. Mama, in turn, called Abah and scolded him. Abah, just laughed it off....huh! I have decided to love him less for it!!

The vet even told a scary tale about how just a week before, a cat died from some sort of renal failure due to its owner playing doctor and fed it with human meds. Shudder!! Mama should have listened to her cousin cum eating comrade for any cats advice.( I am convinced that she is actually a vet disguising as auditor so that she can work in a company which provides free meals of fried chicken and pizzas to its execs)

All in all, I think I have a good life…..as a matter of fact, I do think that everybody SHOULD be a cat. It’s a blissful life you know. Take me for instance. Unlike dogs, who have masters to obey, I have a staff of four, serving me. The oldest one, goes out to work everyday so as to ensure I got my premium kibbles, my supplements and other stuff which are quite pricey. The lady of the house, owner of this blog, is the one making all the purchases. She’s quite good in that department and has a good taste I might say , wink*! She makes sure I got all the beautiful and nice quality stuff. The tall lanky boy in the family is the most gentle one with me. He is in charge of cleaning after me. I really dont know what I’ll do when he’s not around soon. The girl, who is a bit of a bully, is the tukang sikat diraja , whose job is to comb my hair until it shines, feed me supplements and play hide-and-seek with me. She’s the only one in this house who has had the mark of my claws on her body as she keeps wrestling me….Collectively, they love me as much as I do them.

On the eve of Eid, Abang n Adik, filling up the raya packets for cousins and friends.

At Mak Tok’s after Eid prayer…..(they left me home alone,sob,sob.....)

With cousins, Dijah, Nabil ( who has a new baby brother on malam raya) and Haikal.

1 Syawwal 1430H ,7 pm on the ride home….. (they slept like a log that nite)

p/s please ignore other pictures and look at mine only…honestly though, i look far better in ‘person’. Mama, poor lady, has no camera skill whatsoever and cant be bothered to read the manual. Miss illa, can you testify to this?? I’ll be grateful!!

signed,

Dr M.Grey

ANTICIPATING…….(more like bracing myself up)

I have noticed that nowadays Abang talks to Abah more than to me. Gone are the days when he asked me just about anything…which used to irk me sometimes, especially when he asked medically-related questions which clearly could be answered better by Abah. I never thought that I would miss it now that its gone……Silly me, now I feel a tinge of envy whenever I saw him having a low-tone conversation with Abah. He looks so grown-up, speaking in that manner…..

He used to come home from school and regaled me with the words of praise from teachers. Always a model student ( in akhlaq matters, not academic!! he got 5As in UPSR trial though), he was once crowned ‘Pelajar Mithali”. But, he is reluctant to indulge in that kind of talk anymore, though, from Adik, I could still hear the good words on Abang in school, and amongst his many admirers!!

Up to now, the 6th Ramadhan, he is still maintaining the 20 rakaats of taraweeh plus 3 of witrmasjid ( and wait for the ‘moreh’). Abah would come home right after taraweeh as he prefers to do witr on his own and to partake dinner as he has been having iftaar of dates and drink at masjid and would only have dinner after taraweeh to avoid sleepiness. While we are eating and chatting, we could hear him coming home, closing the gate, opening the door with his own keys, gives salaam and lock up the door, checking the bolts and all. Abah and me would smile to each other. I, for one, cannot help having this swell of pride inside me. You are so brave, matured and responsible……. at the

From the deepest of my heart, I thank ALLAH for giving you to us…..you came to us after 10 years of waiting, hoping and praying. Indeed, Allah answers the prayers ( in HIS most mysterious ways) after we have reached the stage that we were certain that nothing could make it happen except when HE ordain it to happen. We have resigned to the fact that we might never have children, and strangely, were feeling okay with it. But, you came and Subhanallah, you were everything that I always dream in a baby!!

Growing up, you have fulfilled many of our dream. When you were just a toddler, Abah would say, “lambatnya Habri besar, nak bawak naik motor pegi masjid”. It soon happened…and when we moved to our own house, the mosque is nearer, so Abah and Abang would either cycle or walk together to the masjid. In manners too, you are what we always hope in a child. Our many relatives will testify to it!! Getting bigger and taller, you take over many of our tasks at home, making life much easier, more so as you would do it willingly on your own accord. Almost everything that we hope you would do, Allah has given you the taufeeq to do it…..

And now, is the biggest dream of Abah….and you are about to embark on the journey to fulfilling it. MasyaAllah, though we never impose it on you, you have finally decided by yourself to embrace it fully and happily. The nightly readings on the virtues of ilm and Qur’an( among others) has once again proved to be fruitful.

This melancholic writing actually came out of this……

I have been feeling sad and have been crying from time to time. Sometimes alone and sometimes with Adik or Abah when they care to layan an emotional me…huhuhu…my beloved boy will be gone from home a few days after Raya!!! The madrasah he is going to attend will start on the 10th of Syawwal. I am now imagining life without him….no more tens of daily kisses from him. He kisses me before and after every solat. Going to the mosque, kiss-kiss, coming back, kiss-kiss and hug, going to school, going to bed and going anywhere, must kiss Mama first…No more massaging, no more extra hand in household chores, minus one taalem reader at night, no man in the house when Abah goes out-station, the list is endless……

I A.M S.O G.O.I.N.G T.O M.I.S.S H.I.M !!!!

O Allah, in this month of barakaat, I ask Thee for the strength to face the separation…and please accept our beloved son, the apple of our eyes, to become the hafeez of Your Holy Book, the ‘alim that will benefit many and the da’ie that follows the path of the holy companions r.a….

As Anne with an ‘e’ from The Green Gables would say…..
“Abang, your coming to our life has made our cup of happiness to be full, and Adik, when she arrived two years later, has caused it to overflow……”

(must mention Adik too,nanti ada yg merajuk)

Alhamdulillah….(feeling a bit relieved after writing this….)

HYPER-PARENTING

….is something that I am guilty of. Sucked into the black hole of endless improvement along with many other parents all over the world, some being worse than the others.

BUT, from today onwards, I solemnly promise to you, Abang and Adik, to correct myself . I dont want to fall into the trap where each accomplishment is eclipsed by another apportunity, thus subjecting the child into never-ending pressure. I checked, and Alhamdulillah, I havent been that bad, but am surely going that way if I didnt wake myself up now. And thanks to Abah too who has always been the level-headed one, making sure all along that you two grow up to be a fine, balanced kids. Left to me alone, I’m quite sure you two will become a bit like robots…hehe.

I have known for sure now that I cant control and shape my childrens’ lives, tried as I might. It all had been pre-ordained, written in Lauhul Mahfuz, maktub.

‘Abdullah ibne-‘Umar Radhiallahu’anhuma narrated that Rasulullah Sallalahualaihiwasallam said: Everything is destined, even mental weakness and intelligence. ( Muslim)

Over-managing and over scheduling you stems from the belief that I, as a parent, should do all those things in the names of giving you, my children, the best chance to succeed in life. How stupid I have been!! I even thought that I could produce a super-achiever!! hahaha… Please forgive me if all those hyper-parenting treatment you have been receiving all this while have subjected you two to enormous amount of stress…. ( and to think that how Abah is always trying to do opposite of what I was doing and how I always got angry with him for doing exactly that….well, u know the scenario!) I will make amends, promise!!

From now on, we will have quality time together where I wont have this nagging feeling to fill you up with infos and infos….. I will have no goal in mind beyond the pleasure of spending time together. We dont have to have a clever conversation every time. I dont have to correct your manner of speaking, point out the grammar error,point out better choice of words, the intonation etc etc….Urgh, did I really do that? Unfortunately yes….(shudder!!)

If I ever find that at the end of the day, I feel exhausted, angry and stressed up because of what I have been doing with you all day, I know that I am hyper-parenting again…..And I promise to avoid it like a plague!!!

IMPERFECTLY NATURAL pt 3

I have successfully convinced Abang to completely stop using hair-shampoo. No, we dont let him goes around with a headful of foul-smelling hair….. instead, he is now going around smelling like….. tomyam!! hehehe…its limau purut darling. Yes, he’s replacing chemical shampoo with a natural, healthier and cheaper substitute. Plus, no plastic bottles involved….The environment is smiling at Abang! As for Mama and Adik, we are slowly following suit….the thing is, we need the conditioner to deal with the tangles . Well, actually we wouldnt need the chemical-laden hair conditioner if we strictly follow the sunnah of our beloved prophet of oiling the hair before sleeping, alas, due to the weakness of our imaan, we’ve been neglecting this practice. InsyaAllah, we’ll try to be more steadfast in following the sunnahs in future.

We are now using more plants from our garden in our cleansing routine, the limau purut( kaffir lime), hibiscus leaves, bunga telang and santan to name but a few. Adik sometimes has a mandi bunga session which she loves, loves, loves…..We picked up flowers in 7 colours, put in a basin of water, let them soak up some energy from the sun prior to using it.

The limau purut which are in abundant in our backyard, they make good shampoo and leave behind a fragrance bathroom.

Abang and Adik, please forgive me for drilling into you to use shampoo every other day, or everyday if you come home with your hair soaked in sweat after an evening of out-door games with your friends. I was a bad mother, ignorant and selfish. I just want my babies to always smell fresh like babies, thus the enforcement. My ignorance has exposed you two to those harsh chemicals which, Na’uzubillah, could lead to many form of skin disorder/disease. From now on, I promise to make amends. So, please bear with me while I experiment with this and that….

Food wise, we have been cutting down on the usage of white flour. No more white bread now and I thank you Abang for always reminding me whenever I touched any white-flour based products. (much to my annoyance sometimes…especially when I have this craving for something not- so -wholemeal ) I’m so happy that all four of us are in this together. Everyone seems to like the changes I’ve introduced. I thought Abah would be sceptical, but turn out, he’s giving me full support, even commending me….with a reminder though. One that I absolutely agree….which is, whatever those scientists/nutritionists are discovering or recommending, we shall only follow them if they do not clash with the sunnah of our beloved prophet. No matter what their arguments are, there’s no better way than the way of Rasulullah SAW which will guarantee the success in both world. So, whatever information I came across, we make sure they are not contradictory to the sunnah before applying them.

The more I read, the more I see that we should go back to the ways of our grandmothers. Eat what they ate, use what they used. I still remember my own grandma ( passed on before you two were born) painstakingly made her own cooking oil from coconut . The by-product of which would be used to ‘shampoo’ our hairs. Nowadays, nutritionists all over the world are praising the coconut oil which was once deemed as the bad guy. See, science changes all the time, but the sunnah stays….so. remember Abang and Adik, always follow the one that always stay true from the beginning to the end….

I CAUGHT A SNATCH-THIEF!!

Yes I DID!! But, errr…only on camera , hehehe..And it wasnt even me who snapped the pic. It was Fatihah (the girl I’m training to replace me at the shelter home) who did it. I was too astounded to do anything. It happened right smack in front of my eyes!!

We were walking towards my car, having finished the day job at the office. I didnt get to see the actual ‘snatching’ action, but I saw the snatcher being chased, caught and handcuffed . I was amazed to see the three guys chasing him, moving swiftly amidst the traffics and ended up tackling the snatcher face down in a nearby petrol station. And the fact that one of them produced a handcuff….(it was like watching a scene from Gerak Khas ) . Apparently, they were plain-clothed policemen who were actually patrolling that area. Unknown to me, the area in front of our office is actually one of the most targeted area for snatch-thief, thus the patrolling.

We actually had a lot of pictures and even one with his face right on camera but I dont feel right publishing it. And, oh, this guy was wearing a t-shirt with an " Impossible is Nothing" written boldly on the back....the other guys seen here (except the one in helmet) are the policemen.

I just cannot forget the guy’s face. I always have this image in my mind that a snatcher is a scruffy-looking, thin with an unkempt appearance…..but this guy totally did not fit into that. He couldnt be more than 20 years of age, have a strong body and surprisingly good-looking. He looked just like your typical college-goers…..When he was caught, he got the gut to smile at people crowding in to take a look at him!! People were saying that he was lucky the police were there, otherwise he would be beaten to a pulp by the people.

I felt uneasy for the rest of that day……I told Abang And Adik about the incident, showed them the pictures and as usual, poured my heart out to them. I told them how sad/ashamed his parents would feel should they get to know of their son being caught snatching……

Two days later…….

Adik and me were browsing the aisle of children clothing at Billion supermarket and it happened again!! And I saw the snatcher again. This time, surprise, surprise…..it was a teenage girl! Dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. I actually saw her when she was running away after snatching a necklace from a 6-year-old girl who was trailing behind her mother. The little girl cried out of pain as her neck was bleeding from the snatching and it was only then her mother realised and shouted for help. One of the sales attendant gave a chase but lost her in the midst of weekend shoppers.

Nowadays, Adik’s hand is always firmly in mine whenever we walk in the public places. Not that Adik is wearing any golden ornaments, but , still, I dont feel safe anymore. I feel suspicious to all youngsters hanging around in malls, on the bikes at the traffic lights and everywhere….

I know we are reading/hearing about this snatch-thief almost everyday in the media, but when it happened right in front of you, you get some sort of rude awakening…..All I can think of is, all of us must double our effort in amr maaruf nahi mungkar works….this is the only sure-fire way to combat all these bad things happening around us……

p/s yes, i have a new template, thanks to Kak Cik, the petite lady with many blogs, talents and professions....