Missing My Husband

It's been 6 months since the death of my beloved husband. We miss him a lot. Even though it is not easy, I have to accept whatever that has happened. I hope I and especially my 3 kids, will be able to go on with our lives. His was a good, loving and a responsible dad, husband..occasionally spoiling us with gifts & treats. He is the smart one in the family, always giving us quiz, talking to us about the latest tech news and he loves to talk about historical events. Although some topics are boring to us but I miss it so much. I miss his jokes, I miss the way he use to bully us.
Sometimes when we have no where to go, he would just drive us around in his precious Matrix car. We sing, joke and laugh a lot.
It seems so unfair...he was my friend, cousin, husband and I lost all that in a day. There isn't a day I do not think about him. I pray that God gives me and my children strength to go on.
Al-Fatihah to my husband. May Allah Taala bless his soul. Ameen.


Another Eid Gone By

We just celebrated Hari Raya and now Hari Raya Qurban just passed. The year 2007 just flew so quickly and in another 9 days, we say hello to 2008. Hope it's a good year, the world really needs more goodness in it.
Raya Qurban was so quiet this year. I cooked rendang, sayur lodeh and we had it with ketupat. My mother in-law cooked 'dam briyani' and it was so delicious.
On Raya Puasa, we went to M'sia. As usual we went on our 2nd day Eid ritual, where we visit our relatives, giving out 'duit Raya' and my kids receiving $$$. All i love about this is visiting my aunts and uncles, we see like once a year and of course trying out all the yummy cookies.

This picture is of my girls and my nieces at my dad's elder brother's house in PJ. The others are taken on the same day at Club K, we were invited by my brother in-law's elder brother for 'Eid' Celebration.

Be Thankful

Been away from my blog for some time...well this is not the first time though. Many things happened these past few months, nothing extra special. I'm just feeling thankful for the life that was given to me. However, i just can't forget about 'some' unspeakable incidents that has been happening in my hometown, KL. All i can do is pray that people who are creating nuisance will repent and change to a new leaf.

Be happy and be thankful for what we have, life is just too previous to waste it away on petty things.

A Very Upsetting News

I have been so disturbed about the news on Nurin Juzlin's brutal murder. Probably because she is so young only eight years old and the way she died. So gruesome and very sad. I keep imagining her suffering, crying and hoping someone would come to save her. She waited for a Month! Since she is dead now, praying everyday that the Beast will be caught soon and he suffers maximum punishment in Earth and in Jugdement Day! More on dear arwah Nurin in 'In Memory of Nurin Jazlin', a blog by Jasni(Nurin's uncle).

Happy Fasting

It's been soon long since i entered my blog. The holy Ramadan month is here again, can see the lack of energy in my kids faces. I planned to start baking cookies yesterday but just too lazy! By hook or by crook i have to do it today. I shall start with Cornflakes cookies then Hazelnut London cookies then Melting Moments then Coconut cookies then Sugee cookies, more other cookies if i have the time. I will post the pictures when i have done it. Good luck to ME.

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea?

I think our favourite cartoon character would always be SpongeBob SquarePants!! So it wasn't a surprise that Raziq wanted to see the SpongeBob show at the Singapore Expo. My hubby bought 2 tickets online for the 31 May show. I had time to be with my girls while Raziq was with his daddy. My girls and I went to Guardian Pharmacy warehouse at the Expo where they were having sale on every item. Bought some stuff there then we went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, ordered a delicious slice of caramel cheesecake, a cranberry & cinnamon apple muffin and a house blend coffee.



I had time to read one of my favourite Chicken Soup book.

Haneesa was just too happy to have her favourite seaweed snack all to herself.

Haseena ransacking my makeup bag!

Two hours later, the show was over it was time to go back home. Met Raziq outside the hall...he looked a bit disappointed. Found out that the characters showed their human face which was not good, coz he wanted to see SpongeBob like how he is in the cartoon shows...and not a human face sticking on top of the yellow sponge. He did tell me it was fun, though. That's good.

PCF Telematch 2007

During the last day of school just before the start of the one month long school break, Raziq attended His kindergarden's Telematch held at Innova Junior Collage. It was a very, extremely hot day...well i must be greatful at least it was not raining. All of us came to cheer for him. His centre was the 'Blue Fish' team. He only managed to get consolation prize for th 2 games he played which was 'Bouncing Tigger' and 'Easter Egg'. I hoped he would not be disappointed that he did not get a medal as some of his friends did. However, during the parent and student game, we managed to obtain 3rd place, so we walked away with a bronze medal!

Mommy's Day

Sunday the 13th was Mother's Day. Called my mom in M'sia, then my mom-in-law, then sent out a bunch of sms not to mention e-greetings the day before. This year's mother's day was different, exhausting but a nice day for me. We left home early around 10am to Boarders. I told my kids and hubby not to get something that i don't need...i just wanted a book "Humor for a Mom's Heart" or "Chicken Soup for Every Mom's Soul". Unfortunately, we couldn't find it. Hanee, Raziq and my hubby found a book they liked and was queuing to pay when i came across a book that caught my eye, Azar Nafisi's, "Reading Lolita in Tehran". I grabbed the book and passed it to my hubby to pay for it. Read the first chapter and already loving it. We had lunch at McDonald's...not my favourite but it was alright. Then, we went to Lido to catch the "Spiderman 3" movie. My hubby told me it was a bad idea to watch with Raziq as he might get restless sitting down for 2 hours. I reassured him with a smile and said he will be fine as i really wanted to go to the cinema as it's been like ages since i last went. Let me go back and recall...the last movie was 'Happy Feet'! Okay, that was in 2006, not that long ago. My 3 kids finished 3/4 of the popcorn and the movie haven't even began yet! Just when the movie started the intro, Raziq said that there's a popcorn stuck in between his teeth and it's was painful. Can't see with the lights off so brought him to the washroom..thank God not outside the cinema room. He got that cleared. An hour later, he said he was hungry then he said was sleepy, so i made him sit with me. There was no stillness in this kid. This is nothing new to me, so accustom to it. He did laugh aloud during the funny moments of the movie and talked loudly to given his opinion abt the show. Then he said he needed to go to the toilet. KIDS! I could hear Haseena complaining abt Raz...ya like she was any different! I did enjoy the movie though not as much as the 1st and 2nd Spidey...with tears at the end. Haseen and Hanee had the same thought as me. They could have done a better script with more action and trills. Should have listened to my hubby and waited to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" which will be on May 24.
We were back home by 3.30pm, had time to tidy and clean up my home and to flip open the first chapter of "Reading Lolita in Tehran". Stopped half way through chapter 2, to get ready to have dinner at Sakura, a Thai/Chinese Cuisine in North Point. My sis-in-law, Samsat, reserved a table for 15 at 8pm. We were there first then the rest followed. We realised we ordered too much..we had 'Tom Yam Soup", "Garupa Fish", "Sweet & Sour Fish" (my fav), "Kangkung Belacan", "Baby Squid"(not for me pls), "Prawn Fritters"(too oily), the girls had "Seafood Fried Rice" & "Chicken Fried Rice". There was good humor and laughter, a splendid time. The last time we had a similar meal together was last Mother's Day at the same place...we really needed this day.
This poem is for all mothers' to read - A Mother

Earth Day 2007

"Earth Day is the first completely international and universal holiday that the world has ever known. Every other holiday was tied to one place, or some political or special event. This Day is tied to Earth itself and to the place of Earth in the whole solar system". - Margaret Mead, comment from her presentation at the United Nations Earth Day Ceremony held on March 20, 1977.

How did Earth day came about?
"The story goes that Earth Day was conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson after a trip he took to Santa Barbara right after that horrific oil spill off our coast in 1969. He was so outraged by what he saw that he went back to Washington and passed a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth." Then in January 1970 the Environmental Teach-In decided to call their one-off event held on April 22, Earth Day.

In Singapore, we had several events to celebrate Earth Day 2007. The National Environment Agency (NEA) together with the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the major supermarkets launched the first Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) on 18 April 2007 which i feel is so looooong overdue.
This is nothing new to me. Sometimes i bring my own bag and if i forget to bring, i try to fit most of my groceries in one or two plastic bags and later reuse it to dispose my garbage. I became aware of recycling and minimizing electricity usage when i was in my aunt's place in Sydney, Australia 19 years ago. I also have a 2 hour video tape on ways to save energy given by my aunt. Knowing my mom, she is still keeping the video after 19 year! It surely be infested with fungus! Must ask my mom about this. Back to days in Sydney, my aunt uses a Big plastic bags when throwing rubbish instead of many small plastic bags. They use paper bags in supermarkets and of course for wet stuff we use plastic bags. Thankfully, technology is catching up with the need for a replacement for polythene bags. It was recently reported that supermarkets in Australia will introduce biodegradable bags made from tapioca starch in April 2003. These bags will look and feel like polythene bags but will decompose in three months. My aunt doesn't use bleach to clean toilets. Most ingredients in chemical cleaners (incl. laundry detergents) break down into harmless substances during treatment. Others, however, do not, threatening water quality or fish and other wildlife. When water-softening phosphates enter waterways, they act as a fertilizer, spawning overgrowth of algae. This overabundance of aquatic plant life eventually depletes the water's oxygen supply, killing off fish and other organisms.
My last note, we should choose our household product with ozone friendly, biodegradable labels to save our uniquely beautiful blue planet. We wouldn't have a home without our planet Earth. So we have to look after our planet to keep our home.

~ Article on "Why Are Plastic Bags Such A Problem?"
~ Notes on Ways to Save Energy, Water and Ways to Stop Global Warming

(from mylittlenotes blog)

Stop Canada’s Annual Seal Massacre

The Canadian government permitted the slaughter of more than 330,000 harp seals. In 2006, at least 354,344 seals of which 98.5% of them not even three months old, some as young as 12 days old were clubbed or shot to death off Canada's East Coast. Veterinary reports indicate that many seals are skinned alive for their fur and able to feel pain. These animal are the victim of the fashion industry. I love animals especially cats and rabbits. Like hugging and touching their soft fur...but i don't want to WEAR them!
I opted not to embed a video clip of the gruesome massacre as it would be too much for people to bare. I for one stopped watching it half way 'coz it was too 'sick'. If you want to witness the 'act', go to www.peta.org, if not, please visit the same URL to sign in the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) international petition to send a message to the Canadian Prime Minister and urge him to put an end to this horrid tradition. In addition to it, please join the fastest growing community of seal activists in the world at stopthesealhunt.org.
Together with a powerful alliance of like-minded organisations, Humane Society International (HSI) is organizing a boycott of all Canadian seafood. Pledge not to buy Canadian seafood.

Watch Rebecca Aldworth, HSUS director of Canadian wildlife with Paul McCartney(The Beetles) and Heather at the 2006 Baby Harp Seal Slaughter in YouTube.

My Brother's Wedding

My brother, Khalid's wedding with Zarinah was on 24 & 25th December. We all had a great but busy period during the entire wedding preparation. I would like to share his wedding with sweet Zarinah. Can view the pictures here : The Nikah Pictures and The Wedding Reception Pictures.

The best part in weddings are, you get to meet people you have not seen in YEARS! At my brother's engagement in August i met my niece, Azizah who i did not recognize at all until my cousin introduced me to her daughter..taller then her. Azizah is 15 years old now, i met her when she was just a little girl. She resides in Ohio, US and am glad that my girls are keeping in touch with their cousin since they met at the engagement. During the nikah, i had a good chat with my cousin's wife, Sharifah whom i have not really 'talked', just a casual 'hi' is exchanged between us since they got married 5-6 years ago. Mine and my sister's girls were the flower girls at their wedding. My daughters were only 6 and 4 yrs old then. Glad that we got to know each other, she's a wonderful person, i made a new friend. Then i met a friend whom i have known since i was 18 when we worked in then 'United Asian Bank'. Wondering what's his connection with the bride's family. He told me he's the bride's uncle! Also met so many of my cousins with their so grown up kids, not to mention my uncles and aunties, who are now grandpa's and grandma's. Just had a thought..in about another 15 years time..in a wedding..i would be a' g......'?? Feelin' kinna ..'sad'.

Red Red Wine...

It's all about hand phones again. Raziq has been insisting that i should buy his favourite hand phone, LG Chocolate KG800. First it was the LG Chocolate in black, then white, then pink. All looks so glossy and smooth.

In my opinion the new LG-KV6000 Black Label II is the ultimate svelte look for men. It gives a person a style look, even though they don't have 'it'.

MY personal favourite is...LG Chocolate Red Wine. The LG Chocolate Phone has won the 'DFA Grand Award' in Product Design category from the Design for Asia Award 2006 competition. This would be their 4th Award..not surprising. Had a good look at this handphone when i was in Sungai Wang Plaza in KL. Simply beautiful. It has it's pros and cons, design wise it's perfect.