Home sweet home..

Salam..

Oh God, today is the last day of October & I suddenly realised that we haven't post anything this month.. the reason is that were in Malaysia from 6-24th of this month.. it was actually kind-of-a last minute plan.. at first we thought that we're not going back to Malaysia at all this year given that we have other plans made up.. but of course plans changed.. and we bought our tickets last month..

Luckily my dear hubby managed to changed his annual leave.. Alhamdulillah.. (adding another week to October, so we had nearly 3 weeks of holidays.. yeay!!).. we had planned our 3 weeks carefully to make sure that we would spent quality time with our family..

We left Ireland on the 5th October,departing from Cork.. my hubby finished work at 8am that morning and our flight was at 4.30pm on the same day.. (we were desperately want to maximise our time in Malaysia;p)..

Alhamdulillah our journey was uneventful.. we had a few ours of transit in Heathrow.. we were so tired - my dear hubby was up all night working the 12hours shift and I spent the night packing our stuffs and cleaning up the entire house.. it was a big relief when we sat in the MAS airplane.. with the 'Selamat datang' greetings by the flight attendants and raya song played in the flight,my heart was shouting "Malaysia,here I come!!".. how I miss home so much!!

We arrived an hour ahead of our schedule.. and I must say that the pilot was a very good pilot.. for the take off and landing,we didn't feel a thing!.. thanks Mr Pilot! ;)

We definitely had a blast back home!! there are so many things happened.. and I'll keep it short here.. the first weekend we had an open house at my home in Kundang.. and guess who did the cooking? my father!! (owh,i forgot to mention that my mum is still in mecca..).. he prepared the undeniably delicious beef curry to go along with the lemang and beef soup (sup tulang!!) for the bihun soup.. my eldest sister also came home over the weekend.. it was like a very busy nursery,with all of my nieces & nephews fighting with one another,nearly non-stop.. hehe.. but I guess it would be so quiet and gloomy without them!!

2 of my aunts came all the way from Perlis to spend some time with us.. they brought so much food ie pekasam & fresh fishes.. and they've cooked so much dishes (all were yummylicious) plus the traditional kuih as well.. thanks very much mak tam,mak njang & pak tam!! I was planning to bring them for a short getaway at a resort but unfortunately syamil had a fever.. plus the timing wasn't very good.. so we went to a picnic instead.. I can't remember when was the last time I went swimming (or rather bathing) in a river.. the water was ice cold! it was so much fun.. the next day we went for shopping at Nilai 3.. I didn't buy anything but just to accompany my aunts & uncle..

the second weekend, we went back to my hubby's side.. we spent a night in Batu Gajah, one night in Pangkor Island and a night in Taiping.. pangkor beach was really beautiful.. it was clean and the water was clear.. we stayed in coral bay resort.. and that night we had seafood dishes at a ikan bakar stall just outside the hotel.. the next day we left pangkor at noon and headed to taiping.. that night,we went to night safari at zoo taiping.. later on,we had our dinner at Doli kuey tiew goreng.. it was kind of funny of how we tried to find the restaurant.. it used to be a small stall.. but now it has become a fairly big restaurant.. they only serve 6 types of dishes but the restaurant was full!! and when we arrived there, there were on 2 types of dishes left.. wow,they really make a good business!! I was so amazed of how successful they've become.. in the restaurant,the put the pictures of their old small stall.. and now it has become a lovely restaurant..

the next day we went to the Maxwell Hill.. we went up to nearly the top of the hill in a jeep.. the drivers are well trained.. 93 corners with some sharp corners and small steep road.. i was quite afraid of the height- going down was more frightening than going up.. it was more than 1000++m over the sea level.. but the scenery, Subhanallah.. it was breathtaking.. beautiful & calming... love it!!

apart from the weekends, we also had dinner at acik Hisham's house & a BBQ dinner at acik nuar's house.. acik Yan said she hosted the BBQ specially to celebrate us.. thanks very much!! we also hosted an open house in Seremban for the TKCians.. we didn't expect that nearly half of the school would come over for the open house.. but understandable as they're students.. reminds me of my students years in a boarding school - almost always hungry..;p

There's so much more that I wanted to write.. probably at some other time.. will try my best to update my blog regularly.. insyaAllah we'll meet again in the next post..:)

Eid 2009

Salam..

As you may all aware at this stage, I have not blogged a word for quite some time.. Nevertheless, my lovely wife has been keeping this page rather active and alive over the course of my silence.. Enough said on our first ever open house, it was a memorable moment.. To my wife, Ina, I am really sorry I was no more of a help.. The only think I did was literally cleaned up the front (including vacuuming and mopping the floor) and did the trash.. I'll try to do better next time, when we plan another open house or similar gathering at our place..

Eid 2009 - What's Different

To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed so much of this Eid.. The reason was as simple as I had missed THREE Eids prior to this one.. In fact, I actually thought that I missed only two.. Not that one was not significant to remember, but all three were missed because I was working..

Eid Al-Adha 1429 - I woke up that morning in the smelly and stenchy hard bed of the Res.. Washed myself and bought a cup of coffee to-go and on with the post-call ward round.. When every Malaysian women in the hospital wore bright-coloured baju kurung and the men had looked fresh and smiley, I had to spend the day in my, possibly, MRSA-stained scrubs, until I got home that evening.. Of course, I missed the Eid prayer that morning..

Eid Al-Fitr 1429 - Waking up that morning was definitely different.. It was the the first day of October.. I had just finished my rotation in Palliative Care and was then back based in the Regional.. HR had called me and asked me to be on-call on that day.. Despite strongly declining and refusing, their argument was that I would be the only one in the rota for that consultant on-call to know the run of the hospital.. Two new colleagues came from Cork and had never worked here.. So, the best option was to have one 'oldie' to show the ropes to the 'newbie'.. It also meant that my own new team was expecting me to turn up at 9 o'clock that morning..

Eid Al-Adha 1428 - Honestly, I could not remember anything from this day.. Was I to preoccupied with work that I missed this one too?

This Eid

I had calculated the days and found out that I would be working that weekend of Eid.. And it was not as if I could turn up late for work as I had to relief the guy who worked the long-hour night shift.. It would not have been fair for him for me to ask him to stay for another couple of hours just so I could go for the prayers..

Alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me with an opportunity and I managed to break a deal with a colleague - I would do his 8-hour shift on Friday (when I was supposed to be off) and he would cover me on that Sunday for eight hours and I would come in to finish the last four hours of my original shift.. That turned out very well, despite me oversleeping and only left home for work just after 4 o'clock!

* * * * *

The morning breeze was cool enough to chill the so-thought semi-brittle bones of mine.. But the warmth from the bright ray, just peeking from behind the cotton-thin cloud was just about sufficient to counteract the coolness felt on skin.. The day was bright, the weather was perfect, the day was Eid again.. A small drop of tear pooled at the corner of my eye on the very morning takbir was humming inside of me, praising Allah for the opportunity to meet Ramadhan again, and meet Syawal again..

It was a perfect morning..

Though.. Deep inside of me, maybe I had dreamed of something better.. What could be better? Allah only provides the best for His servants, and what we deem better for us may not what He deem best for us.. And He is the All-Knowing..

I had hoped to celebrate and welcome Eid with my children with me.. But they are not with me today.. They are in Jannah, celebrating Eid.. I was here with my forever beloved wife, my soul companion, making the most of Eid here on earth.. Her love for me is undoubtedly the fulfillment and definition of love itself..

Maybe next year, maybe next time, insya-Allah..

O Allah, give us the strength to face the coming days together.. And maybe one day I will have my family with me on the morning when we would all gather and welcome Syawal.. As for now, this is the best for me and for us as seen by Allah, not as seen by me.. Ameen..

Salam..

Our first official open house for Aidilfitri..

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we managed to host an open house yesterday (26/9/09).. it was actually a last minute plan.. as I've written in the previous post, we celebrated 1st day of Eid at Ustaz Wan's house only.. I wanted to have the feel of Eid, like I used to feel during my student years.. went from to house to house.. meeting old friends and making some new friends.. so I suggested to my hubby, why don't we host an open house and invite all our friends?.. but somehow I got the impression that he wasn't too keen on my idea (maybe I was wrong).. but probably because we only have Saturday free and he was going to finish work at Friday midnight.. probably he was worried that I would be left alone to prepare all the food..

So I discussed again with my dear hubby and he agreed on my plan.. and on Thursday, I began to send invitations to my dear friends.. I realised it would be on me alone to prepare all the dishes so I decided to cook something simple with less work needed to be done.. so on Friday morning, we went out to buy the groceries.. we went to Harun's shop to get the meat.. when I walked into his shop, the first thing that he told me was that somebody broke into his shop the night before.. poor him.. he lost all his sales from the day before & all of the calling cards that he left in his shop.. when I got there, the police haven't even come yet.. hopefully they will be able to catch the culprit..

So that evening, I started to cook.. I started early coz I knew that I needed quite some time to finish my cookings.. firstly, because I was cooking alone and secondly, I was trying out new recipes.. I started off with baking the cheesecake and making the rendang.. and the list went on.. when my dear hubby came back from work at 1 am, I was still cooking.. the next morning, I had everything on my table - pulut kuning, rendang, mee, kuah bandung, sup tulang, baked macaroni & cheese and cheesecake.. plus my raya cookies... Alhamdulillah, I managed to cook the main dishes in time.. my dear hubby woke up early that morning to clean up the house.. thanks abang!;)

When I first sent out the invitations (through text and facebook), not many people could come.. but on the day itself, many of our friends turned up at our open house.. it was a bless!! some of them I haven't seen for months and many of them came over to our (rented) house for the 1st time.. Alhamdulillah, it was a great day.. I would to thank all of them who came over to our open house (especially those who came a long way from waterford, galway, ballinasloe, cork & nenagh) - abg zali ( k.kin) & family, khaironi (k.azah) & family, asyik ( k.lin) & family, hafis (azraa) & family, fitri (k.yulia) & family, syieza, zai & husband (rifqee) , syakira & husband (fendi), ustaz wan & k riza, fairus & asma', jamilah & the gang, kay reen, fadzrul.. thank you very much!! it was our first official Aidifitri open house.. we didn't get the chance to do it before as we were busy working and we were in Malaysia for our first Eid together:) after all the guests left, we went over to Ustaz Wan's house (for 2nd time this Eid) as abg amin & family were there.. it was quite late & they couldn't come over to our house, so we went over to meet them instead.. we haven't seen them for over 2 years as they were in UK.. we got to meet so many friends in a day! yeay!! Alhamdulillah..




Today, we extended our 'eating activities' to abg zali & k.kin's house.. they hosted a birthday party (Huda is 7 years old now!) plus Eid open house.. we met new friends there.. now I know, Limerick is not that bad after all.. there are quite a number of Malaysians here.. it just that we don't get the chance to meet each other that much.. hopefully there'll be more gatherings to come, insyaAllah:) after the birthday party, saadah & the gang from Cork came over to our house.. we had a few hours of chit chatting & a quick evening tea before they went back to Cork..:) thank you to them as well for coming over to our house.. I am blessed with bliss of friendship!!


I better stop now.. need to get a good rest tonight.. I haven't clean up my house yet;p will do that tomorrow insyaAllah.. till we meet again in the next post..

Eid Mubarak 1430H!:)

Salam..

Ramadhan has gone and now we're in the 3rd day of Syawal.. All praise to Allah who has blessed us with the holy month of Ramadhan.. I pray may we be given the chance to meet Ramadhan again..

We spent this Eid in Limerick.. my dear hubby had to go to work for 4 hours on Eid day, hence the decision to stay in Limerick.. as there were only a few Malaysian families left here (and many of them have plans on Eid), we had a potluck session in Ustaz Wan's (& K.Riza's) house.. so there were me and my dear hubby, Ustaz & K riza, Mas & K Aini.. and later that day, Fadzrul joined as well (after we left K riza's house)..

I cooked a few dishes - the usual dishes - soto, nasi impit, rendang & pulut kuning.. I also made a choc cake & few raya cookies - makmur, suji badam, almond slices & tart.. all of these dishes were my 1st try except for nasi impit & makmur.. God, I barely could stand on my feet on Eid morning after spending the last evening of Ramadhan in my kitchen.. now I know, cooking can actually be exhausting.. I don't know how did my mum able to cook ( in large quantity) by herself.. usually for raya, she would made ketupat daun palas, rendang, kuah kacang, and the main menu would be different from day 1 to day 7... I remembered when we were living in Kepong, mum's laksa was very famous as that was the main menu for the 1st or 2nd day of Eid every year (without failed!).. Arwah Uncle Safari (a family friend & my school van driver) was amongst the 1st to come over to my house.. he was one of the biggest fan of my mum's laksa.. He would make sure that he came over to my house on the right day;) I can't deny it was yummylicious! not only the gravy, but the laksa itself, she made it from scratch!! I would sat beside her, watching her making the laksa.. she used a special mould for that, and I liked seeing the laksa falling down nicely.. it was like playing with play dough;p hehe.. for me, cooking laksa is quite a hassle.. making the gravy is another long process.. we need to boil the fish first, then separate the bones before blending them.. sometimes they ended up in my mouth first;D hehe.. but the end result, is worth it! I guess most people would say mum's cooking is the best!! same goes to me.. mak is very good at cooking.. even until now, everytime I go back home, she will make sure that I get to eat my favourite dishes..

Usually for the open house, while my mum would be busy in the kitchen, abah would be busy tidying up the house.. making spaces for the guests, and taking out the serving plates & casseroles.. that was his specialty! and on the Eid night, he would be busy following the group reciting the takbir from house to house.. I miss to hear abah reciting the takbir & I miss to perform the Eid prayer with my family.. made me more homesick!!

Writing about Eid, I can't stop myself from reminiscing about the unforgettable memories of Eid.. there was one time when I spent my Eid with scars all over my face ( my forehead, my chin & some on my nose!).. due to my 'stunts' riding a bicycle without a brake! hehe.. I didn't realise that the bicycle actually didn't have a brake (or probably it wasn't working), not until I was riding it down a hill.. I was so terrified cause I was riding it in the middle of the road (which was quite a big & busy road).. and I have no idea at all how to stop the bicycle.. and I ended up hitting a tree (I would called it a 'head on' collision except that trees do not have head;p).. You can laugh about it but it was actually a horrible accident.. sore, a little dizzy and scared, I went home walking.. I didn't even remember crying probably because I was scared to death! when I reached home, my plan was to hide myself (haha.. of course it was truly a failed plan).. abah noticed I sneaked in slowly and ran upstairs, and of course he could sense something was wrong.. ;p so abah was the first to know about my accident.. it happened during Ramadhan and that Eid, I had a few extra 'features' on my face ;D hehe.. my mum was worried about the scars on my face, but Alhamdulillah as I grew up, they disappeared.. but if I touch my chin, I can still feel a small scar.. the scar that reminds me of how 'adventurous' (ie naughty) I was!

Another incident that happened around Eid was an injury to my big toe.. that Eid, my mum cooked satay-styled chicken (ayam masak sate).. and I was the only one who really like it.. there were lots of leftovers of that chicken.. so after the guests went home, as usual mak & abah cleaned up the table & kept the leftovers in the fridge.. then we all went for a quick evening nap.. but I woke up earlier than the others and I was hungry for that chicken.. I knew that my mum kept them in the fridge, in a beautiful casserole ( a white casserole with some small flowers decorations - I can still remember it!).. I didn't want to wake my parents up and I thought I would manage to get them myself.. so I went down to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out the casserole.. and suddenly.... pranggggg!!! the casserole fell onto the floor (actually onto my foot!!).. Oh God.. I didn't expect the casserole to be so heavy that it could slipped away from my hand.. my good intention of not waking up my parents obviously didn't turned out well.. my parents was shocked by the noise and they rushed down to find me standing in front of an opened fridge with pieces of chicken and shattered casserole at my feet.. haha.. but of course their reaction was more on concern rather than anything else.. and of course i wasn't scolded as I was hungry and was just trying to feed myself! pity me.. not only I didn't get the chicken, I hurt my big toe! I had quite a big cut just underneath the toenail.. it was so sore.. and the next morning, it got swollen and I could hardly walk properly.. so for the next week or so, everyday abah would put the gamat oil and massage my toe, to reduce the swelling until I managed to walk properly again.. both of these incidents happened when I was in primary school..

Hmm.. what a nuisance I was;p hehe.. but my parents have been so patient with me.. that is what we called parent's love.. A love that is given whole-heartedly, not asking for it to be returned.. and all I can do is to try my best to keep them happy, in every way that I can, so that they're not worried about me or my siblings too much anymore.. it's time for them to rest and enjoy their time.. they have done so much and I know anything that I do is not even close to what they have done for me since I was born (or even before I was born!).. but all I can do is to try my very best.. I pray may Allah bless them always.. and I pray may I be a good daughter to them..

All in all, this Eid has been a moderate celebration for us.. we spent the Eid day at one house only and we spent the rest of the Eid day on the phone, calling our families in Malaysia and my mum in Macca.. and on Monday, we all went back to our usual routines.. maybe this weekend, we'll host an open house.. to all of you, I wish Eid Mubarak.. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.. Maaf zahir & batin.. may the spirit of Ramadhan stays alive.. may we meet again in the next post, InsyaAllah..


A special thanks to mama (my mother-in-law) for the beautiful baju raya.. you really made my day!:)

Blogging..

Salam..

Today we broke our fast in the hospital as my dear hubby is working over this weekend.. I cooked chicken padprik with fried potatoes & egg and brought them over to the hospital.. it was actually a nice feeling going to the hospital neither as a doctor nor as a patient;p hehe..

There were 3 of us breaking fast together - me, my hubby and a colleague/friend.. we were having small conversations and we came to a short discussion about blog & blogging.. he asked us why do we write blog.. and I actually have a very long answer for him.. now my friend (you know who you're and I know you're reading this;)), I'm going to give you the reasons why I started blogging..

I don't remember exactly when I was 1st introduced to blogs but I do remember a few years back, when I was a medical student, I had a roommate who loves writing and owns a blog.. I probably knew about blogs way before that but she sparked my interest on reading blogs.. In her blogs, she put quite a number of links and somehow I ended up reading a blog written by a senior of mine from high school.. but sadly enough she passed away at a very young age in a car accident, leaving behind a son who was just a few months old at that time.. I was shocked by the news and I felt so sad and so sorry for her husband and her son.. Allah loves her more.. she passed away not long before I found her blog and her husband continued to write in her blog.. he wrote about their memories together and how he missed her dearly.. reading her blog from the start, she has documented her journey well.. and I know that someday, when her son grows up and learn to read, he will be able to know his mother through her writings... he will be able to read his mother's wishes for him.. he will know how much she loved him and how much she was loved and missed by her husband, families and friends.. and that's the beauty of writing..

We started this blog a year after we got married.. and my very 1st intention of writing this blog was no other than to write to myself.. I figured out that with documenting our journey together, I hope to live in the memories and to cherish the important moments in my life.. now and again I read my previous posts.. some of which I didn't even remember writing them! and I love reading my hubby's posts especially if it involves me in it;) hehe.. reading what he wrote about me makes me realise that he did notice the small things.. and the small things make things big! I would say reading them makes me fall in love all over again;) so I guess I can say it's a good therapy for married couples (at least it's true for me!)..;)

Another reason why I started to write is to express myself.. I can surely say that I'm not very good at expressing myself.. I like to keep things to myself.. and I think that a healthy way to deal with it is through writing.. it's not really in our culture to say 'I love you' to our parents everytime before we hang up the phone, or to our friends before we bid goodbye.. or to our spouse before we go to bed every night.. but we know that we love them and they love us too but we just don't say it.. why? I have no idea.. when I was little, my mum like to ask me, 'do you love mak (mum) or abah (dad)?' and my answer would always be 'I love mak & abah'.. and somehow as I grow up, the words are no longer mentioned.. I know action speaks louder than words but what harm can it do if we also say the words? So I guess my to go around it is to write.. I love all of you!!

So my friend, I hope you can find some answers in this post of why we started and continue to write in this blog.. as you can see, I didn't put any links or list of followers in this blog (although my dear hubby kept asking for it;p) and the reason is the same reason that I've mentioned earlier - I initially wrote this blog to myself.. but I'm more than happy to share my thoughts and my stories with all of you and as time goes by, we've put in a few posts dedicated to our readers.. I welcome all of you (with all my heart) to read this blog & to leave any comments.. and I'm honoured that I do have some readers:) thank you very much.. do visit this blog as you wish:) till we meet again in another post, insyaAllah..

The memories of Ramadhan..

Salam..

Alhamdulillah.. all the praise to Allah who has given you & me the chance to meet Ramadhan again..

This Ramadhan feels different to me.. maybe because I feel that I have more time in my hand.. more time that I hope I will spend to improve myself..

Ramadhan brings a lot of memories.. since my childhood until now.. Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me the greatest chances of spending Ramadhan in different environments & with different sets of people..

I don't remember at what age I started to fast properly.. I started fasting for a few hours a day, initially, just to practise.. all that I can remember is that I was so weak on the day that I managed to complete my 1st proper fasting.. towards that late evening, I just laid down, having no energy to do anything else.. and my mum asked me a few times whether or not I want to break my fast early.. but my determination was above all.. but there were also days that I sneaked up on the munchies & pretend that I was fasting.. hehe.. they're all memories that makes me smile.. how cheeky I was!!

Getting up for sahur was another story.. Usually my dad would wake us up.. abah had different ways to wake us up.. he would 'sing', he would tickle and he won't stop talking until we were up.. hehe.. and after finish eating, while waiting for the azan, he would teach me the niat.. everyday until I was able to mesmerise it myself.. I think I was 5 or 6 years old at that stage.. but of course, by the next Ramadhan, he had to teach me again;)

How time flies.. now I'm all grown up & married.. and seeing the pictures of my parents, I realised that age have taken its toll on them.. how I miss them! all the childhood memories of my Ramadhan will be remembered.. this Ramadhan, we celebrate it in different parts of the world.. I'm here in Ireland with my husband, my mum is now in Mecca until after Eid, while abah & the rest of us are in Malaysia.. that doesn't make this Ramadhan less special than the usual.. thanks to the technology.. they're all a phone call away.. but of course, I miss spending Ramadhan as a whole big family, together.. hopefully someday.. insyaAllah..

How is my Ramadhan so far? Alhamdulillah, everything is going good.. and hopefully it will stay good,if not better, until the end.. I guess I better stop now.. need to prepare for breaking fast..;)

Third Ramadhan..

Salam..

Since my last entry about the Riverdance, which was quite a week ago, nothing much has happened.. Yet, it would be ignorant for me to say that I did not intend to write about Ramadhan which has come to greet us again this year..

This Ramadhan marks my third Ramadhan since I became a husband.. We have gone through so much since the first one, back when we were up in Letterkenny - me not working and Ina was doing her first doctor job.. The cold and misty mornings and wintery wind of North were things I could remember from that Ramadhan.. Not that I have no other recollections, but I would rather keep those to myself.. In this entry, I would just merely share the commons.. We had our Eid prayer in Dublin (even though the Eid prayer in Letterkenny was one day early!) and flew home to Malaysia the same day..

My second Ramadhan was already in Limerick.. That was a tough one for me, not because of the longer fasting hours compared to the last one, but I could remember clearly that it started on the first day of September and ended on the first day of October.. The matter that Eid was on October 1st meant that I was oncall and had to spend the day in the Emergency Department admitting patients, not even having the chance to go for Eid prayer that morning.. I spent most of the fasting month when I was working in Milford, which was not a busy job.. I had the chance to write and distribute an article I wrote about Ramadhan to my colleagues in the centre.. It was a blessing and, indeed, was a da'wah opportunity for me as a Muslim.. 1429 was also the Hijri year that I was post-call on 10th of Zulhijjah, on Eid al-Adha.. I missed both Eid prayers that year..

Starting on the 21st of August this year, Ina and I welcome the third Ramadhan together.. Sadly, it is still just the two of us.. This year, maybe I will have the opportunity to greet and celebrate Eid with my wife.. Insya-Allah, God's willing, Eid will fall on Saturday or Sunday - both days of which I will not be working.. Ina is also not working.. Maybe I will take some time off later in October to go back home and celebrate the remaining of Syawal with our families..

O God, whiten my face with your light
On the day You would whiten the faces of those dear to You
And do not blacken my face with darkness
On the day you would blacken the face of Your foes

Salam..