Yaasin

ni malam-malam jumaat macam ni Mumsie nak citer pasaal Surah Yaasin and how it has changed my life. Ini kisah benar tau!

For most of 2008 I had a very hard time at work. There was frustration and pent up anger. I had bosses who were (some still are!) very demanding. Very meticulous. Every comma, every full stop must be in place. Nothing i did was good enough. It was very tiring. Many mornings i woke up thinking of excuses not to go to work. I'll take leave just to be away from the office and i will cancel those leave if i find out the boss is away from office too! It was bad. Morale was low. Motivation was almost zilch.

Then, early this year, entah macam mana, lepas sembahyang maghrib one day tu I switched on Astro Oasis. There were showing orang mengaji and that prompted me to mengaji as well. I found a Yaasin booklet given by Bank Islam. Dalam tu it was written that whoever reads Yaasin first thing in the morning, all their wishes will come true. Insya ALLAH.

So I started. Everyday lepas tu I baca Yaasin EVERY morning. In the beginning, I baca and thought of the bosses at the same time. At the end, I baca doa minta ALLAH swt grant me a good day at work. Dalam booklet Bank Islam tu pun ada doa to be read after one recite the Yaasin. Among others, kita doa minta ALLAH swt "jangan jadikan kami berhajat kepada seseorang pun daripada kalangan makhluk-Mu dalam soal rezeki kami" and kita minta ALLAH swt "ikatkanlah lidah-lidah orang yang mempertuturkan keburukan kami..."

So, whenever I come to these portion of the doa, i will think of the bosses. It convinces me that rezeki i only comes from ALLAH swt. The bosses do not decide on my fate!

Alhamdulillah, it works almost immediately! My days at the office improved tremendously!! The bosses no longer screams at me. My drafts are approved almost immediately. Waking up and going to work is no longer a chore! Alhamdulillah! I told some colleagues about it and one of them started reading as well. She too claimed that she feels soooo much better at work (I wasn't the only one suffering, you know....)

I still read the Yaasin every morning. And i would like for you all to do so too! Insya ALLAH, berkat hari hari kita....

Putrajaya

when i first heard of Putrajaya, it was being built...and there were only criticisms. Biasalah, when something is made political. Tun Mahathir had then stuck to his gun and went on building. I never saw Putrajaya until we had to move here in 2003. Masa tu only a few Precints (i love that the areas are divided into "precints") existed. There were hardly any shops or restaurants. Quite dead, really.

But i loved living in Putrajaya even then. It is beautiful and more importantly, convenient. Everything is 5, 10 minutes from each other. So what there was hardly any entertainment then. KL is not all that far away. Traffic jams are almost unheard of for there are big roads leading to just about everywhere. I particularly love the fact that it takes me not more than 20 minutes to get to work each day! Malam-malam the city dimandikan cahaya. My mom kata it reminds her of Mekah!

We lived in government quarters. The grade I'm in allows us to stay in a semi-D. I love the fact it is gateless. It gives out a sense of space and freedom. In the beginning it was even grill-less but with development came crime - house breakings started and eventually Government puts up the grills. Although i must say that didn't deter the criminals. We still hear horror stories of break-ins.

When we came back from Geneva, we managed to secure another government quarters. This time in a newly developed precint. This time Putrajaya has changed much. There is now a shopping complex - Alamanda - complete with GSC movie theater, bowling alleys and karaoke rooms! And our house is a mere 10 minutes away (i don't how far in km). Kedai mamak tak payah cerita laaa....its everywhere!!

A couple of weeks ago my office shifted to our own building in Precint 4. I was worried that it would take a long time to get to work since i have to pass some 13 sets of traffic lights to get there! But being in Putrajaya, it means that there 3-4 alternative roads and I chose the the 3-lane hi-way that leads me direct to the office within 20 minutes tops without passing any traffic lights!!!

I love Putrajaya...now i only need to find RM .5 million to enable me to buy a house around here!!!

Ina pun suka Putrajaya, kan?!

weekends

I don't know about others, but for Mumsie weekends are often the busiest time for me! Dulu, masa kat Geneva weekends were all about spending time together. Yelah, mana ada orang lain lagi. And it was all about what we want to do...nak gi jalan2 ker...nak gi golek-golek dalam snow ker...nak gi bakar-bakar ayam and kambing kat park ker...or to just chill with friends. Whatever, its personal...semuanya plan dan execute sendiri.

Back here in Malaysia...banyak social obligations. More often, your weekends are not your own. Its all about, kenduri here kenduri there...get together here, get together there...its double when you are married, I suppose. Then there are the in-laws' kenduris and get togethers as well!

I don't suppose I'm complaining, really. What would life be without siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and in-laws? Sure lonely giler.

So, yes, I'm not complaining. I rather enjoy having my weekends booked until well after Raya! haha! Even it means that half the days after is spent recovering from the weekend!

Mumsie is in Love

With Anuar Zain.

Mumsie + MakSu +MakTam + Shelly + Shafrina had a girls' nite out to watch Anuar perform last nite at Istana Budaya.

Anuar was simply awesome. He sang effortlessly, sounding exactly like he does in the CDs, backed by a 55 piece orchestra. There was even a harp!

And Anuar was simply gorgeous! In well tailored suits, highly suspected to be that of Armani, dengan budak baik's haircut...he was the kind of boy you want to bring home to meet your parents if you are young free and single OR to play with if you are not so young but free and single OR to buat menantu if you're me ! And whats with allll that story about him being gay anyway? He looked perfectly metroseksual to me :-)

Lets not get started on his moves...he didn't have any silly dancers prancing around him. It was just him. He danced just a little but whatever it is, he made it soooooo sexy! siggghhhh...

I just wished he had sang more. He spent quite a bit of time bantering with the audience. The ladies were screaming and throwing marriage proposals at him. Understandable, actually but wished he hadn't reacted to each and every one of them!

Still... thank you, Anuar. For making me feel young again...

I had a really good time last nite...but despite falling in love with Anuar and all, I must say that I actually enjoyed Sheila Majid's performance more!

p.s. Pixes courtesy of MStar.

DIET

Garfield calls it DIE with a T.

For the umpteenth (how to spell this word arr?) time, Mumsie is on a diet. As of yesterday i started taking this thing called Juvanex which is supposed to detox your body. So far so OK. No extreme side effect. Pening-pening lalat jer sikit. Hopefully it means that there is not much toxin in my body to be rid of. hehe. fat chance ... pun intended!

Kejap tadi i had my dinner - salad! But, i ngelat coz i made the salad from lettuce, feta cheese, croutons and thousand island sauce!!! Tapi, justification nye- its a damn good start for someone who doesn't like vege to begin with! Once done with Juvanex (its a 7-day thingy), i will re-start on Herbalife. I bought the set already so that i cannot change my mind or dilly dally for much longer!

i have to lose some weight. For the last couple of months I've been feeling fat...bloated...sluggish..slow...malas... Some say its a sign of ageing...some say its pre-pre menopausal...whatever it is, its scary!

I must lose weight! Baju banyak dah ketat. Suits banyak dah tak muat. My watches are getting tight around the wrist!

Wish me luck!!

Hobi: Membaca

Am sure for most girls this is what they would write in forms that ask what their hobbies are. Mumsie semestinya. I've been reading for as long as i can remember! And there was a time that i read alllllll the time..tak kira masa and tak kira tempat! Ahhhh..those were the days!!

I read, still although not as much i want to. Al-maklum sibuk sekarang kaannn...hehe. No lah, like blogging, i now read bila ada mood. and i now read what i'm in the mood for. As a result, i have many unfinished books!! Oh, perhaps i should also tell that i also love buying books!! Currently i have a boxful of books, half of which belum baca and the other half is the half reads. This past week i've been in the mood to read romantic malay novels! hehe..some malay authors are quite good. Reading malay novels, i can imagine hero dan heroinnya! hehehe...usually they are the likes of fahrin ahmad....elly mazlein...hehehe!!

Alhamdulillah, anak-anak pun dah mula menunjukkan minat membaca. Especially KLong and KNgah. Sarah, not so. That one prefers the TV anytime. Soraya, currently is obsessed with Facebook, otherwise she would read too. From time to time, Abah would pick up a book but i doubt he ever finishes any!

Having said all that, i somehow feel the need to further explain that the one thing i don't read is those self help books. Never could hold any interest on those - the cynical pessimist that i am. And i read simply, which means i don't read those intellectual books, created by authors using big words. I don't enjoy reading and having to refer to the dictionary at the same time!!!

Anyhoo...nuf said. here's some pixes i took of us shopping for books and reading them!

in the last pix the girls were reading in the flight to Phuket recently. They read throughout the flite, prompting the stewardess to comment: "I'm impressed to see that your girls read so much. Did you read a lot when you were pregnant?"

Can arr like that?

Heellllooooooo...anybody there??

Hehe...helloooo...masih ada lagi ker orang nak baca blog Mumsie nih? Dah lama Mumsie tak hapdet..bukan tak der idea tapi tak der mood! Can't really explain it but i didn't feel like writing for the past couple of months...didn't think anyone would miss me and sure enough, no one did, actually. Ohh..except Zetty! Hi Zetty!!!

Anyways, am planning to resume writing in this blog. A lot has been happening tapi i mostly update my going-ons in Facebook. So, friends and family tend to know what i have been up to. Basically, Mumsie has been buzzy, buzzy, buzzy...at work and at home!! Yelah, semua orang pun buzzy jugak ye tak?! I suppose dunia sekarang memang macam tu...its as if, if you're buzzy you're OK. It means you're doing good. Is it really? I wonder sometimes...Mak ayah, tok nenek kita dulu tak derlah buzzy macam ni rasanya. I remember, my mom and dad always..and i mean always come home for lunch on a working day. and we always makan sama-sama. Now ni...we're perpetually pressed for time. So sapa nak, pegi makan dulu...sapa tak nak miss the TV, go makan depan TV (although this is prohibited -although not strictly-now if Mummy and Abah are eating with you!) This is why I don't really mind eating out more often. At least when we are at the restaurant we have no choice but eat together until the end of the meal! Betul tak??


But i digress...i just wanted to say hello again!

Girlie trip down memory lane...

If you haunt Facebook on regular basis as I do, then you would also be busy re-visiting your past! Thats what i've been up to of late - catching up with friends from yonder years!!



Through FB, I found friends masa sekolah menengah dulu...those from Sultan Ibrahim Girls' School (famously known as SIGS-JB) and those from SMS Muar.



I was in SIGS in 1981-1983. then halfway through Form 4, i succumbed to social pressure to attend boarding school..hence the move to SMS Muar.



Bapak was a civil servant who gets moved around the country every 5 years or so...hence i grew up in Taiping..Kota Bharu...JB...and Kuantan and so i attended banyak sekolah - i went to 2 sekolah rendah and 3 sekolah menengah!!



But somehow, the best memories are of my days in SIGS. Perhaps thats why i can remember more of my SIGS-friends. SIGS was a happening school back then. It had the best school band which won competitions around the country! Ahhhh...i can still recall the girls twirling in their mini skirts...In Form 2, my classroom was next to the field where the band would practice...needless to say i spent considerable time being told to stand whilst lessons was going on - as punishment for being more interested in the band's moves than the teacher kat depan tu! ahhh...and the crush we used to have on the drum major...i remember Wan Jay...hehe!



Anyway...after months of getting re-acquainted via FB...these friends and I have been "reuniting". I went to JB a couple of weeks back and met up with some of them - Sha, Orr, Nurul and Wan. We even took time to visit the old school...





But the meeting was too short..and there were too few of us...and so another one took place last weekend. Gempaq punya cerita! About 16 of us turned up and most have not seen each other since we left school some 25-26 years ago!! Some brought old photos and Prema brought the old school magazines. Bergolek-golek seme orang ketawa tengok gambar zaman dulu-dulu!! We were all so nerdy and geeky...so the 80s!!



Of course now most of us are a bunch of 42 year-old mums. Not so nerdy but definitely most of us has grown sideways! hahaha...Some had hardly change at all...some even wears the same hairstyle they've had since schooldays!! Like...OMG!!



Anyway..i'm ever so glad i found these girls again...and i hope this time we'll always be in touch..thank you FB!