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Showing posts from November, 2012

Defeated By Cinnamon and Rock Salt

Salam. I've been looking for a spa with resdung  (sinusitis) facial nearby my place. Quite some time already, now that my friend whose place I've been getting treatment at has been closed. Then I decided to try Yoyoy Kamphora Spa in Melawati Square. The candles that they used didn't have much smoke, which was a pleasant in every way. I decided to try the aftermath Herbs Mask, which apparently made from a mixture of cinnamon. Alien to my skin, I felt like crying and my face was burning tremendously, it seemed. What came next did make me cry and shout: Rock Salt Scrub. Oh My God! Never before I felt so hurt while doing facial.  It took me two days not to appear red-faced. That's a detriment for someone with extra sensitive skin like me. It was back to normal on the third day, though. Alhamdulillah. True to what has been told, my face felt much 'lighter' after all the reddening process.  Then again, I do want to repeat my sessions there, actually. Minus the

Julia Roberts, She and Her Smiles...

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It's been a while... and I'm missing this pretty woman, her acting and of course, her smiles...

Happily Alive

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Salam. People keep asking me what am I so happy about. I'm alive, I said. That's why. So, if there's no other reason for you to be happy, at least don't forget the fact that you're still breathing today. You might lose one eye, be glad there's another one. I remember the moment I lost vision of my left eye and never once that I mourned it. I've always been so glad for the good right eye. Thankful that Allah has given me a pair of eyes, so when one is taken away, there's another one. Thankful that Allah has loaned me eye-sight to begin with. That when He Decided to take away half of the loan, I was embarrass to even complain.    I read a book by Dr. Aaidh Ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, Don't Be Sad a few years ago. Then I knew I was going in the right direction. Especially when he shared about the story of a pious man who had lost one of his fingers but never seemed to notice or mind about it due to his gratitude for other fingers. So I got mysel

All About Chemistry, Honesty & Loyalty

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Salam. We have been through thick and thin occasions together.  All three of us ~ Kak Liza, Kak Ros and I. One is hurt, the other two would feel the pain.   You just can't fake a chemistry. Or honesty. Or loyalty. Each one of them is a gift from Allah swt.  Each one of them is sweet. Pure. Divine. Thank you Allah, for this ukhuwah fillah.

Hot Sunday Wedding

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Salam. How was your weekend? Hope it was enjoyable, really. Mine revolved around family matters, marital affairs to be exact ~ an engagement and a wedding back to back. Here are two pictures I feel like sharing. It was a wonderful down to earth wedding but packed with love and hearts and souls... The bride was so happy, forever smiling ear to ear ever so generously. Well.. obviously having a blast, just like her sister did the previous day on her engagement. I was happy as well, looking at how happy they were. The weather was so bright all day long, which was a blessing to everybody. So bright that I couldn't take my shades off, being a 'vampire' in every possible way. Lots of other guests were seen wearing shades themselves, so much of the heat. I was having flu actually but never mind, managed to survive the ceremony pretty well. How I wish I didn't look that pale without any lipstick on. Quite an awful 'lipstick eater', as always. Then again, no on

And She Got Engaged... A Day Before Her Sister's Wedding

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Salam. I seldom go to engagement ceremonies, next to never, it seems. So today was one of the few moments recorded. An immediate cousin of Junior's dad, she's obviously another looker among the big families. A brainy beautiful young lady. Really love her outfit and make-up. She stayed up till 3 am last night, she said.. finishing up all the necessary things for her engagement day.   The ceremony was simple and straight forward. She's now a bride to be whose wedding is a few more months ahead ~ Just around the corner. She looked very vibrant and happy, which was plain and of course, glad to see. Her mom, whom we call Mak Long was struggling, though... must have been missing the recently passed away husband. Understandable, really.   We will be back to this house again tomorrow. This time is gonna be the cousin's eldest sister's wedding ceremony. Let's call it a pre-wedding and real wedding ceremonies back to be, shall we? I'm sure Mak L

Johan, Ain is still Am's wife.... Not COOL at all..!

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Salam. I'm crazy for Am, yes.. But still I've gotta write this. No offence, but I feel it's about time Malaysian script writers, bloggers or even novelists do some basic research about Syariah laws before coming up with their so-called masterpiece. As of date, let's clear some air in Adam & Hawa - a big-time hit tele-movie @ Astro Mustika HD Channel 134 every 10pm Mondays - Thursdays. Here goes:- 1- Taklik or the written conditions read and signed by a groom after aqad ceremony will only be officially enforceable by a court order . Meaning to say, a wife needs to go to the syariah court to duly endorse any breach of such condition(s) and get a validation from a judge that a talaq has actually occured due to the same. ~ So, even if Am had never sent any monetary maintenance to Ain for the past 8 years, a talaq would never occur unless and until Ain goes to the syariah court to have the matter confirmed and/or resolved. ~ And in some districts (like in Am's and

Latest Pashmina Updates

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Salam. Juz got a few pashmina shawls from Middle-East. Wore one of them to the office yesterday. The material is so silky-soft and I fell in love with it at the first touch. Which was a bliss, the weather being too hot to handle. It rained about 6 in the evening, which explained the extreme heat. Either way, the silky shawl was a darling to me. The tense around a bulk of workloads was apparently too much already. Comfy outfits did help. One way or another. 

Mezquita de Cordoba, My Heart Will Go On

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Salam. No sane Muslims wouldn't feel a sharp pain in the deepest soul when they set foot in the Mezquita  de Cordoba. Now even though still called mezquita for Mosque, it is the largest and the greatest church alive. When Muslims invaded Spain, they purchased a building from the Christians to make a mosque and let them have their existing church for their own use as it had always been beforehand. But when the Islamic Kingdom was defeated, no amount of tolerance shown to the Muslims. Not only the mosque was taken by force, not even a single amount of religious practice was allowed among the Muslims. The only reason Islam still survived until today was the Muslims would inherit the religion to their predecessors  successors by teaching them syahadah secretly at their death beds.  Now Christians are free to say their prayers at the Cathedral but no way a Muslim would be allowed to conduct theirs. Very understandable, in a sense, yeah.. for it used to be a mosque, but not anym

Medina al Zahra, History and Future

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Salam. Things are meant to stay for some reason. Some have been preserved by Allah swt as reminder and evidence of an existence, so that lessons are learned by later generations. That's what history is all about. Medina al Zahra is no exception. It is still there, as a what used to be the earliest modern and civilized city in Spain. Of an Islamic Kingdom in Cordoba. The kingdom fell apart due to disunity among the Muslim tribes and now it serves as a place must-seen in Spain for public at large. But for those who want to learn, open their eyes and minds and hearts, they would dive deeper to the essence of it. Allah must have had His own Agenda, obviously for so many hearts have opened to Islam and said syahadah at the remains of the once upon enormous Islamic city itself. The Holy Qur'an says in Chapter 14 (Ibrahim) verse 19 - 20: Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and earth in Truth? Were He to will, He could take you away and bring new cre

Zipper Blues In Masjid Tuanku Zainal Abidin, Putrajaya

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Salam. This happened quite some time back, about 3 years ago.  We went to Putrajaya for the hot balloon expo, but the organizers couldn't send any balloon up due to the rain. So we went to the nearest mosque, Masjid Tuanku Sultan Zainal Abidin for Asar and Maghrib prayers. I took a shower there before praying. And for some reason unknown to anybody, the zipper of my modern kurung chose to be faulty afterwards. Thank God I brought along my praying clothes to the bathroom. And thank God there was a shop at the mosque lobby that happened to sell outfits for hajj and umrah. I bought a sheer white tunic, which apparently was meant for a guy, but what the heck, so long as it would serve the purpose.. worked just fine with me! So as to make the sheer thingy beautifully hidden to all the public at large, I bought a pashmina shawl together with arms socks. Then I layered the shawl like the above picture, hooked with a spared brooch that happened to be inside my praying clothes bag. And

Bayt al Rihla, A Home All Away From Home

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Salam. Andalucia has been in my heart and soul for time immemorial. When I had the chance to actually be there in person last year, I just couldn't believe it. But I'm not gonna blog about it here, though. Not just yet, coz there was a very fateful event that I'm still trying to recover from. Let us begin with the sweet memories that worth sharing, shall we? Look at the scenery, Masya Allah.. Subhanallah... Alhamdulillah... La ilaha Illa Allah... Allahu Akbar! I almost choked when I set my foot at Bayt al Rihla , especially at the balcony where we were welcome with such a majestic view.     I could spend the whole day just watching the skies, the mountain, the trees... and doing nothing at all. But of course I didn't.. it was a freezing winter, for God's sake..! ^_^ Ever so romantic person, I felt like writing a scene of my long due novel based on the background. Plus, it doesn't take a romantic or genius to actually appreciate such a splendid venue an

One Convo, One Wedding & No GPS

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Yesterday was a packed Saturday for me. Earlier on was my brother's convocation at Sunway Putra Palace Hotel (formerly known as The Legend, KL). The ballroom was filled with lots of Chinese and some Indians and we were among the few Malays around. We were so proud of the grad brother, after such a hard work and difficult route that he had to take to get there. Really glad to see him smile after so many years of pain and suffering. The university management was kind enough to prepare loads of delicious refreshments. Mom said, it was all deserving due to its expensive school fees. Had to agree for once. But then again, still much cheaper compared to the fees in the London Campus. Anyhow, congrats to him for doing a great job there in the University of Greenwich. He graduated with 2nd Class Upper in Degree of Accountancy and would complete his LCCA ACCA soon. No wonder he was all smiles and I was a proud sister... I drove home and my sister volunteered to be at the

Colorful Abaya Turns Tunic

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Salam. It used to be an abaya from Middle East, before I sent it to my tailor for some make-over. Then it became a long tunic like this: Been wearing it with jeans for a casual look or two. Just gotta do that, or else it would have been left hanging in the closet. Since it has turned into a tunic, I always put it on every now and then.. Duly loved and cared. Take care..

My Chemical Romance In My Closet

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Salam. Of all the songs by My Chemical Romance, apart from I'm Not Okay (I Promise), this one has always been hiding in my closet: Disenchanted. And someone just asked me one day: Nai, Are You Okay? I said, No. I'm Not Okay. But I promise I Will Be. 

In The Name of Love, Everlasting Love.

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Salam. For the past few days I had been resting at mom's place with Junior. I hadn't been feeling very well since last week actually, must be the weather. But since I'd promised Junior to spend some time at kampung, I dragged my feet to drive all away to Temerloh. I asked Junior to tell mom over the phone that we were coming when I stopped at the nearest petrol pump, about 11.30 a.m. Then hardly 1.00 pm I was already hugging mom, who had been preparing lunch.  I fell so sick at mom's, pity her. But thank God it happened there, so that someone would be looking after Junior now that I was down. I had the best rest since the past 2 months, I guess. Junior for once listed down some special menu request from his granny, to which mom was happily obliged. He was having the time of his life, favorite foods and whole bunch of best buddies around.  And this evening I drove back to KL, feeling much, much better. It had been raining all away but thank God everything we

A Day In The Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

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Salam. Remember I told you guys about Junior's tooth-ache in Abu Dhabi? It was hard for us to really enjoy Ferrari World, not when he was in pain. But thanks to his passion for cars, we survived the hours there. The place was so massive that I felt like hiring a wheel chair for myself, literally speaking. ^_^ At least he could divert his attention someplace else. Had so much fun at the wheel from one section to another. Not really into cars myself, but still cherished the experience to actually 'drive' a Ferrari. I almost fell asleep throughout the fake drive, though. A little bit too slow for a grown-up. Well, I have always loved speeds, that's why.   Junior even got himself a Ferrari Driving License. Not bad for someone who was suffering from a bad tooth-ache, right? But we didn't snap much pictures because of that. Gotta take some time to just sit and wait for the pain to subside. Then again, it's not that we didn't have

Life Is A Series of Jigsaw Puzzles

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Salam. Have you ever felt tired of this life? Heck yes.. coz we are all humans. But that's how life goes. On and on. Let's take 5 and have a break or two. Then on we go again. For all we know, by today the pain doesn't feel as hurt as yesterday. Come tomorrow, we'd have better things to worry, if we might. There are times we just can't figure things out. Just like a box of jigsaw puzzles, one tiny little piece seems to be missing someplace when the rest of its siblings have made a wonderful picture. All but ONE. The picture is so beautiful but is not yet PERFECT. Why don't we chill out a bit and let it be.. give our own shoulders a good pat. What a great job we've done there, wow!  When we don't really think of the flaw, sometimes we would find the missing piece with a smile on our face. If it's not now, it might be later.  Be nice to ourselves. We deserve all love care and tenderness from our own selves THE MOST.  Because we are just WORTH it.

New Instant Hijab ~ Fish Bone Syria

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Salam. Last month when I went to Setiawangsa Jaya Jusco, I 'stumbled' into a new syria hijab by the name of "Fish Bone". It took me sometime to wear it, though. Turned out alright. I actually became FB friend with the lady I bought it from, Kak Ogy. She would always update her stalls whereabouts every now and then. You can find her here . I particularly love the pink inner, which I also bought from her. Do visit her stalls, if you happen to be nearby. Should you feel like ordering, feel free to ask her in the FB. Have a nice day..!

Flying Fish, Where Are You?

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Salam. I love Padang Cuisine, especially its signature dish, the Flying Fish. When the craving gets too much to ignore, I'd go to Sari Ratu Restaurant in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. Check out their website here .  Bliss...

Mom vs Maid, Not Even A Comparison

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Salam. I'd write in Malay and the English subtitle would follow in Italic. Masa aku sibuk kulu-kilir buat keja rumah aritu, Junior ada buat statement gempak punya sambil siapkan robot dan amenda ntah dengan Lego. "Mummy sorang je tak lari. Bibik mana pun sama je, semua lari". Aku nak tergelak pun ada. Nama pun aku ni Mummy, bukannya Bibik. "Ye la, sayang.. Mummy confirm takkan lari punya..!" Itu aje la yang aku boleh cakap. Tiba-tiba je minda aku buat matematik, siap dengan tajuk2 kecik sekali.. One day when I was busy with daily chores at home, Junior suddenly made one heck of a statement while playing with his Lego. "Only mummy stay. All maids (were) just the same, kept running away". I felt like laughing out loud. That was why I was called mom, not maid, I thought to myself. "Of course dear, Mummy will never ever run away, that's for sure!" That was all I could say to him. Then my mind started to make some math, together with

Cherish The Embroideries, Ladies

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Salam. What I love the most about Bawal or Voile Square Hijabs are the embroideries.  Something so precious should be put in the front row, right? So, I've always styled my voile square hijab like a shawl and made sure the embroideries would be in front instead of behind.  If we can cherish something, let's not put it to waste. Says who we should be wearing embroideries in special occasions only? The rule is, There Is No Rule.    ^_^ Bye for now.

Black Is Captivating

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Salam. Today I went to the office after M.I.A for almost a month. It felt good. So good that I couldn't stop smiling. Working from home was okay but being physically present at my workstation brought different kind of feelings, one way or another. This picture was taken in my prayer room, didn't realize how much I missed the place. It's where I've been resting and doing a lot of personal calls to whomever it may concern. And I made a point of having a brunch with one of my previous attachment students beforehand. I won't be at the airport when he takes his flight back to Al-Azhar University next week, so brunch was a good farewell time. And it felt so good to be home afterwards, knowing fully well everything would be in order.  That I had already made sure everything would be just fine. But I won't be cooking tonight, nope. Already asked my sister-in-law to pack some Nasi Kukus (Steamed Rice) for our dinner. That explained my all-

From Adele With Love

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Salam. If I were to write a song, I want it to be like this: Straight from the heart.  One who can shed so many tears from so many people must have had cried so hard herself beforehand. How hurt she must have been, this lovely Adele. Bye...

Arabian Cruise & Tooth Ache Blues

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Salam. December last year we went to Abu Dhabi , some of you might still remember. The following day after the adrenaline Desert Safari, we went to the Ferrari World and summed up the night with the Arabian Cruise.  Just like the Desert Safari, the cruise was dominated by tourists, most of whom were Europeans. I could see how the ladies dressed ever so elegantly and felt a little bit out of league. But never mind, I wouldn't trade my sweater with their tubes/neckline dresses or would've shivered to death. Winter breeze was too much for me at night. Pity Junior, he suffered from toothache that it took him a great deal of patience and tolerance not to ruin his parents' lovely time. I loved him so much for that, the sensitivity he'd always had even at such a tender age never failed to warm my heart. When he couldn't take it, he'd just lie down and tried to sleep, not that he was sleepy anyways.   Look at his right cheek, a little bit swollen.. W