Am Now At Home, Just Back From Home

Yes...I am back from a long awaited holiday in Malaysia. Too many things to write about but will try to sum it off with these pics I have below.

The first few days in Malaysia were so dreary and wet that Mr S commented that 'no wonder our bags were so heavy - we carried all the rain and dark clouds all the way from London back to Malaysia!'

But the weather turned 'normal' after a few days.

We spent our time mostly in Seremban and Melaka and got to spend some time in KL too. Spent Raya Haji in both Seremban and Melaka, as usual. The kids were delighted to celebrate raya in Malaysia.


Here's a picture of the kids with their Atuk and Uwan in Seremban.



Went to the beach - as promised to the children.



Went to the pool a few times too.





The kids got a few days to play with their cousins who came back to Melaka for Raya too.

Saw the long awaited movie The Golden Compass at the cinema.

Ate most of the things that I dreamt of eating whilst we were back in London.

Got to spend some time alone with Mr S (a luxury!) while the kids spent some quality time with their grandparents.

Spent some time with my very good friends - went for a karaoke session no less!

Ate satay kajang.

Visited the compulsory aunts and uncles.

And the list goes on..(but I'm afraid not long enough!).

The 3 1/2 weeks in Malaysia were definitely too short especially for the kids. Little H was nearly crying(!!) in the shuttle which took us to the Departure Lounges at KLIA, saying "Now I really, really miss everyone..!"

Had to comfort him with a really big hug - poor Little H!

Big H said he wished London is Malaysia.

Sigh.

But our rezeki at the moment is here, so had to do my best to try and comfort them. God knows it was hard for me too, to leave my loved ones behind.

It was indeed a wonderful, wonderful time we had in Malaysia, especially, I think, for the kids who are always a little bit lonely here in London without too many friends and family.

As we rode in the black cab from Heathrow through the city of London which was still quiet in the early morning hours on the last day of 2007, heading back to the place we call home in the East of London, Mr S suddenly sighed and said, "bosan..."

And I understood his feelings completely as I feel the same way too. It's boring and dull here so far away from one's parents, family and friends. And it's winter now - the worst season of all (in my opinion) for people like us who hail from the wonderfully hot and tropical countries of the world - when 3pm is already so dark and gloomy that you can't help to have the weather reflected in your moods too.

Still. STILL. It is good to be home now - to be able to sleep on my own bed and to watch my own TV, and to cook in my own kitchen.

But only, if only home is somewhere else...

Happy 2008 Everyone!

I think it's not too late for me to wish everyone a happy new year..

Here's wishing my readers a wonderful and prosperous new year, Amin!

Stitches For Mr S

Mr S announced that he had a lot of things to do at work on Friday last week, just before he left in a rush to catch the bus to the tube station.

Not 5 minutes after Mr S went out the door, there was an urgent knock on it.

Through the misty glass window on the door, I saw a man standing there - from the silhouette it looked like Mr S but he was standing awkwardly so I hesitated, uncertain. Then he knocked again, louder, so I opened the door slowly to peek out..

Mr S was standing there, his mouth looking raw and bloody, while his left hand was cupped at his chin, trying to catch the blood drops and his chin look like somebody swung a strong right hook at it. His bottom lip had begun to swell and his teeth were bloody too.

"Ya Allah..What happened? Ada orang pukul kau ke?" I asked, totally and utterly shocked.

But Mr S just kept quiet and walked straight into the kitchen.

"You should have seen the other guy.." was what Mr S was supposed to say but it turned out that the story was not so exciting after all.

Mr S was running for the bus. He just turned around the corner and saw the bus coming so he ran as quickly as he could towards the bus stop about 40 metres away. There was a very old granny walking slowly in front of him and Mr S was just about to overtake her when suddenly the old lady uncharacterisctically turned and swerved very suddenly and very quickly to the right, straight into Mr S path.

Mr S, being the good man that he is, immediately tried to swerve too, in order to avoid a collision with the old lady which can only spell disaster for such an old veteran - to Mr S's own detriment.

He lost his balance and fell face first onto the pavement!

Poor Mr S!

He felt a little dizzy after that fall and he just lied down while I tried to clean the wound with some warm water. Nothing works better than butter on lip wounds so after a few minutes, the swelling receded and we saw how bad the wound really was.

We ended up going to the hospital and Mr S had to have 6 stitches on his bottom lip on top of a tetanus jab which is advisable for such wounds, according to the doctor who treated him.

Suffice to say, Mr S didn't get to go to work and do all the things that he planned to do at work on that day after all!

I thank God that it was just six stitches and not a concussion or anything more serious than that!

But still, poor Mr S!

Pasembor

Craved for a rojak pasembor during Ramadhan just like the one our pakcik kantin at school used to make during the weekends. Got this recipe from myresipi.com - tried a few times already with wonderful results and praises from Mr S and friends. Just had to share it with you!

p/s: Our pakcik kantin left out the cucur kelapa and added things like tempe and kacang panjang rebus...so that's exactly what I did!

Bahan-bahan

**Bahan cucur udang**

• 1 1/2 cawan tepung gandum
• 1/2 cawan udang
• 2 biji bawang kecil
• 1 sudu besar cili boh
• garam
• air untuk bancuh tepung
• 1 1/2 sudu kecil baking powder

**Bahan cucur kelapa**

• 1 cawan tepung gamdum
• 3/4 cawan kelapa (saya guna kelapa kering jerr)
• garam
• air untuk membancuh

**Bahan kuah**

• 1 biji keledek sederhana besar (direbus hingga empuk)
• 2-3 biji bawang kecil
• 1 sudu besar cili boh (terpulang pada citarasa masing2 kalau nak pedas)
• Sedikit kicap
• Air untuk kuah
• 1/2 cawan kacang tumbuk
• minyak untuk menumis
• gula merah & garam secukup rasa

**Bahan lain**

• 3 biji kentang sederhana besar
• 4 biji telur
• 4 keping tauhu
• 1 biji timun
• 1 biji sengkuang
• sedikit taugeh
• Minyak untuk menggoreng

Cara-cara

1. Bersihkan kulit kentang kemudian rebus kentang bersama kulitnya sehingga empuk. Kemudian goreng kentang tersebut bulat2 sehingga kekuningan (tak payah potong2).
2. Telur direbus (hard boil), kemudian buang kulit & digoreng bulat2 sehingga kekuningan.
3. Tauhu digoreng sehingga kekuningan.
4. Sediakan cucur udang. Gaulkan semua bahan cucur udang. Bancuhan seperti nak buat cekodok. Kemudian goreng dalam minyak panas sehingga kekuningan/ masak.
5. Sediakan cucur kelapa. Satukan semua bahan. Bancuhan jgn lembik sangat, agak2 boleh kepal. Buat bentuk leper, kemudian goreng sehingga kekuningan/ masak.
6. Sediakan kuah. Tumis bawang sehingga wangi, masukkan cili. Blend keledek dengan air, kemudian masukkan dalam tumisan. Masukkan juga Kacang, garam & gula. Masukkan juga sedikit kicap (just nak bagi color jerr). Masak hingga mendidih. Kalau nak pekat, boleh letak lebih keledek.
7. Cara nak hidang, potong semua bahan2 yang telah digoreng tadi. Timun & sengkuang dihiris. Gaulkan semuanya. Taugeh dicelur sedikit. Tuangkan kuah ke atasnya.

Until We Meet Again

I have always dread going to visit the sick or going to a wake or a funeral.

It is because of the fact that I cannot help myself from crying or feeling very, very sad from watching other people's loss or other people's grief and agony - I am very sensitive and soft at heart you see and I cannot stand to see other people, especially my friends and family suffer.

But isn't suffering and death a part of this life after all and thus we cannot escape from them?

I have not been in the mood to blog for a long time. It has been partly because of Ramadhan and all that but even before that I was in no mood at all to write about anything in this blog because ever since a blogger friend in Coventry had reported in her blog that her husband was at the last stages of cancer, I felt that surely everything that I have to report is so trivial compared to what she has to go through from now on everyday of her life.

We read each other's blogs, you see, and knowing this, I could not with a clear conscience write about anything happy or cheerful, when I know their family is going through a difficult time every day.

You might ask, if she is my very close friend then, for me to feel that way?

The answer to that is no, not really..she is not a close friend although we have met once (and now twice) and I slept over at her house for one night and our families had a wonderful day out together, but that's nothing, really...

I guess when one blogs, one's readers feel that they know one well, even though they really don't (not by a long shot in some cases) and even though they have never met you or they have met you just that one time, they feel like they have known you forever...

But now (Saturday 27/10/07), I feel that I can go on blogging as I have been to visit my friends in Coventry again and as expected, I came back very, very sad but also, I have to say, relieved.

Relieved not because I saw my friend's husband getting better, on the contrary, since the last time we saw him, just less than two months ago, he has changed so very much, no more bubbly and funny but instead so very thin, almost skeletal and he has become very weak and quiet. He was in pain - and such pain it was that he had to be given morphine consistently and as drugs go, he was sleepy and not in the mood to talk.

But still I was relieved.

Relieved because I saw in my friend a very strong woman who would not give up and would not let go without a fight, and a fierce and vicious fight she would put up too. I myself had to fight to put on a happy and 'normal' face while talking to her and later to him in the hospital room.

And all that time she spoke calmly, and it was easy for her to smile.

But still, I could not help from crying when we said our goodbyes at the hospital entrance. Her eyes had welled but she did not succumb to tears and I said to her what my thoughts were exactly at the time, "You're a strong woman..."

How brave and strong she is.

But if she was not, then, who would be for their family?

Thus, the reason why I was so relieved.

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I had started to type this entry on Saturday but did not have time to finish and post it and last night my friend had sent us a text - a simple and short one;

"He's gone..."

And those words drove me to tears - for her loss and for her children's. They are so young to understand death and the responsibilities that their mother has to carry now, all alone. But I did not cry for him, as indeed, I think he is in a better place for surely, Allah knows best.

I remember when I last saw my father.

It was on the day that he was scheduled for a by-pass operation, which was on the same day I was scheduled to fly off to the UK to do my A-levels. It was pretty last minute and I could not change my flight date and I had asked my father then whether it was okay or if he wanted me to insist that my sponsors postpone the date of my departure to the UK.

He had said, "Tak apa lah. If anything happens..I go my way, and you go your way..." and he smiled, his usual calming smile.

And I hugged him and kissed his cheeks - which I don't remember ever doing. And I'm glad I did, for even though he passed away a few months later, and I was in the UK at the time and could not kiss his cold forehead just before he is wrapped in white cloth for his burial, at least I did kiss him while he was alive and smiling and his arms had come around to hug me and to pat my back to comfort me and say that it would be okay.

Yes.

After a while, it will be okay, InshaAllah.

After all, the living must go on living.

And life is short after all and no one lives forever.

We just have to be brave and carry on.

Until then.

(*pic taken when we were walking towards the cancer wing in the Walsgrave hospital at Coventry to visit our friends.)

First Day At The Madrasah

Yesterday was Big H's first day at the madrasah.

He went to the mosque with the neighbours' children and came back two hours later sucking a sweet given to him by his teacher. The classes are conducted Monday to Friday in English and Arabic.

"How was your class, H***n?"

"It was alright."

"Your teacher's a man or a woman?"

"A man." Pause. "He said kef."

"Huh? What's that?"

"He said kef, not Kaf and he said hemzah, not Hamzah."

"Oh."

Salam Raya

To everyone out there...

Berhati-hati di jalan raya

and

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir dan Batin.


Sorry for the long silence.

Hopefully will be be able to pick up where I left when Syawal arrives, InshaAllah. Till then, here's wishing all of us a good holiday!