Mama, Bapak; Kita Kena Bincang

Many times I told the boys, surely there will come a time when you'd say to me or bapak: mama/bapak, duduk sini; kita ada benda nak bincang sikit. hahaha (if you do not know, that is the time when they ask you boleh ke nak pergi rumah 'kawan' dan jumpa dengan mak-bapak 'kawan' tu.)

Of course most times I think I was the one prodding and asking, are you two serious? Bila nak pergi hantar cincin? (nak tunggu dia orang lambat..)

And so the other day kami pergi hantar cincin/bertunang untuk my last eligible bachelor (for now. Efan belum masuk category eligible yet).

Sekali ni saya take action agak lambat. Percaya atau tidak saya mencari bunga satu KL tapi tak jumpa bunga! (menipu lah tu..) In the end, desperate and out of time I went to see my florist and tell her what I need. She is indeed my savior. Setiap kali wedding dia lah yang buat apa2 flower arrangement I need, including sireh junjung.

 I told her I want white flowers with lily. And she did this. Lagipun saya cuma perlu tiga dulang.

My inspiration for the hantaran this time is this.

 Namun tak kesampaian kerana apparently peach flowers are not the in-thing at this time. Apa2 sajalah; saya fikir apa yang cantik tak kisah pun in ke tidak.

 And Aeda made us pretty golden cupcakes which we love.

And the men got down to the serious business.

Ada pantun. Kata Uncle Rahman, our spokesman saya tak pandai berpantun. Luqman ada prepare beberapa bait pantun tapi tak pulak dia share :
     Dua, tiga kucing berlari
     Mana nak sama si kucing belang
     Tujuan kami datang ke mari
     Membawa rombongan untuk bertunang!
(pada saya, jadi lah tu. Dah cantik sangat)

Anyways. The occasion went on quite well. Alhamdulillah. Allah amat pemurah.

So yeay, we will have another wedding soon. Time to bring out the ribbons and tepak sireh and invitations list out again. And on and on.

ps-kata kakak2 saya, what - another wedding so soon? Awat anak2 hang laku2 belaka? hahaha. Kata saya budak2 ni lelaki lah. Dia orang yang mencari (but then bila fikir balik, ada je anak2 lelaki yang membujang sampai ke tua..)

Alhamdulillah, rezeki sekeluarga amat murah. Juga rahmat Allah. We are so blessed.



InsyaaAllah di dalam lindungan Allah sentiasa. Dan sentiasa bersyukur akan nikmat2 Nya.


~ AllahuAkbar

Marvelous, Mabeles, Mabul

I have much to talk about. But so little time. Tersangat sibuk semasa Ramadhan.

We were in Tawau / Semporna / Mabul recently. Before puasa. Terasa sangat perlu ke luar kawasan. Macam being stressed bagai about leaving town even for a few days despite having a short break in PD earlier.

Macam2 tempat di recce tapi sudahnya sampai ke Mabul. MasyaaAllah. Mabul sangat cantik. Must thank Aeda for telling me about her holiday there.

Inilah gambar cantiknye Mabul.

To get to Mabul you must first fly to Tawau. Which is close to three hours from KL. Then you need to travel by road to Semporna; maybe one and a half hours. Then take a boat to Mabul - another hour or so.

 And voila, this is what you get.




We stayed at a modest place that is built on stilts in the water (it is non-peak season, so we had the place almost all to ourselves).



Which faces the most glorious sunset.

Mid-morning onwards the Bajau Laut will row their sampans kat bawah tingkap kami selling fresh fish, ketam and whatever they had caught that morning.



We bought what we fancy and asked the chef at the chalet to cook for us (I mean like wow!) Fyi these ketam that we bought masih hidup when we paid for them.


The best chili crab I have ever eaten. Sungguh, tak tipu.

Bajau Laut tu tinggal di sampan2 which is home to them di tengah laut, come rain or shine.

Pakai bedak sejuk kuning lagi, jangan tak tau...

And we went snorkeling in Mabul.

Saya sebenarnye tak pandai snorkel. Penakut. Mesti ada pelampung (walaupun pakai life jacket!). And I have to make sure the boys are close.. (sheepish) And I thought the sea in Mabul was bluer than anywhere else.

Kalau sampai lagi ke Semporna saya ingin terus ke Sipadan (chewwah) which is about 30min on a boat from Mabul (but you need special permit in advance) and to hmm.. apa nama kampung tu ya - it is a place where seaweed are cultivated. I read that the kampung is situated in the middle of the sea somewhere on tiny island with very basic facilities. With open sky and vast sea and wind blowing in your face. Sounds wild.

Ini antara nikmat2 Allah. MasyaaAllah.

I am most definitely preparing a photo book for this trip! Sangat cantik untuk tidak dibukukan.

ps - Selamat giat berusaha untuk kemenangan di hari2 Ramadhan yang sangat cepat berlalu. Sedar atau tidak, hari ni sudah ke-sepuluh (!).



~ AllahuAkbar

Salam Ramadhan (Kepada Pencinta2 Akhirat)

Ramadhan Kareem. Semoga kita semua telah membuat persediaan yang secukupnya untuk melalui Ramadhan dengan sabar. Tenang. Dan penuh kejayaan kali ini. InsyaaAllah.

Saya terima wa yang agak bernas, jadi nak share di sini. Kata ustaz:

1. Khatam alQuran dengan bertajwid. Paling tidak, sekali. Nota saya : dulu2 kalau khatam sekali pun sudah sangat gah. Now that is just a pre-requisite.
2. Baca terjemahan atau tafsir. Kalau tak habis semasa Ramadhan pun, sambung nanti selepas habis puasa.
3. Hafal ayat2 atau surah2 lazim. Paling tidak pesan ustaz, lima surah (reaction saya : ! )

Bila siap aktiviti di atas dilakukan, maka kita telah mendapat nikmat dan ganjaran yang sangat besar yakni:
1. Pahala membaca alQuran
2. Pahala memahami dan InsyaaAllah dapat beramal dengan alQuran
3. Darjat/Tingkat yang lebih tinggi di syurga hasil dari hafalan2 yang semakin bertambah

Bagaimana untuk mencapai target yang tiga di atas? Kata ustaz :
1. Kurang berhubung dengan orang ramai kecuali ibu-bapa
2. Kurangkan masa di fb/wa/etc
3. Kurangkan berjalan / berziarah
4. Kurangkan tidur
5. Kurangkan tonton tv (atau tidak tonton langsung)
6. Kurangkan masa di dapur. Berbuka di surau / masjid
7. Kurang bercakap
8. Jangan ke bazar Ramadhan; kecuali bila sangat perlu
9. Banyakkan masa di masjid

Itu yang ditulis. I am sure masing2 pun ada tip2 sendiri. Share lah. Kurang2 dapat lah sedikit pahala..

Selamat menjalani ibadah puasa dengan cemerlang sekali.


Coincidently, we just came back from Tawau/Semporna/Mabul. For now I just had to share a couple of awesome photos that we took. Nanti bila ada kesempatan I will post more.

Sangat cantik! (Namun semestinya tiada bandingan dengan yang abadi).



Selamat beribadah.


~ AllahuAkbar.