Monday, 29 September 2008

Eid Mubarak!

Baju kurung
 

Dear friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Muslim friends "Eid mubarak" or in my language:

"SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI"
- maaf zahir & batin -

In Malaysia, the sighting of new moon will take place tonight after the sunset. If the new moon visible, Eid will fall on 30th September, otherwise it will be on 1st October.

For the first time, I'll not be celebrating Eid in Malaysia! Insyaallah, tomorrow I'll fly to England and will celebrate my first Eid with Herb on 1st October! Normally on Eid day we will cook special dishes for family members and guests. Therefore to ensure that I will not miss home-cooked Eid meals, Herb has promised to cook some special dishes and I will also bring some biscuits (we called it 'biskut raya' - special biscuits that we serve during Eid) and not to forget 'lemang' and 'serondeng' (beef floss) . In the picture below, Herb observing my brother in-law making lemang when he was here last year.

Lemang by you.

before giving himself a try - adding coconut milk to the glutinous rice inside the bamboo (while little Farah watched attentively)

Lemang by you.

Other than special Eid dishes, normally during Eid we will wear traditional clothes (doesn't matter whether it's old or new clothes). It's either 'baju kurong' or 'baju kebaya' for ladies and 'baju Melayu' and 'songkok' (headgear - traditional Malay cap) for men. In the picture above I was wearing 'baju kurong' made of silk with 'batek' pattern.

In the picture below, my nephews were wearing 'baju Melayu' and 'songkok', while my nieces were wearing 'baju kurung' and 'tudung kepala' (head scarf).

nephews & niece.jpg by you.

kids @ raya.jpg by you.

 

Friday, 19 September 2008

Fall down!

 

time to go by you.
::
Larra,
Go ahead.
Fall down.
The world looks different from the ground!
::
[note: this little weed added beauty in my sister's garden ;
the early morning sun beams its rays on it, it looked even prettier]
 
 

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Pleasure ....

 

fighting!

Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
~William Wordsworth

(note: What do you think - is the bug and the ant having a fight or friendly conversation? Check the bigger picture on flickr (click at the picture and it will take you to flickr, on flickr choose 'all size' and then choose the bigger size if you like, and you'll get to see what those two creatures were doing! )

 

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

It's the hump of the week!!

 

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

Happy hump day everyone!

Today is the 10th of Ramadhan - the 10th day of fasting and another 20 days before Eid celebration. Time sure flies!

I don't have much physical activities in this fasting month. Most of the time after work and over the weekend I'll be reading the Qur'an and other books. I have just finished reading 'Places Between' by Rory Stewart and have started 'The Cave of the Yellow Dog'. As I said before in one of my blog entry, when I picked a book I just follow my hunch. Normally there will be something that attract me to the book, I am not sure what it is. I was looking for "Ghosts in Spain" last weekend and found this book 'The Cave of the Yellow Dog'. Picture of the girl on the cover was the first thing that caught my attention.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

This book is about the life of the last Mongolian nomads. I started reading it on the train this morning and enjoying it very much. It is about a young girl finding a cute dog which she takes under her wing, to the strong objections of her father, who is worried that the dog has lived with wolves and will encourage attacks on his herd of sheep. When the girl loses the dog while her father is away she encounters an old nomad woman who tells her the legend of the cave of the yellow dog, based very much on the belief that dogs are always reborn as humans.

There are several pictures in the book, which I kept go back while reading the story. Pictures of the mountains, the valleys, drinking milk tea beside the stream ...... ahhhh, Mongolia shall be my next holiday destinations

Cave of the Yellow Dog girls Nansaa (6 years old) , the main character in this book with her little sister Nansalmaa (4 years old)

Cave of teh Yellow Dog Family Family photo - Batchuluun (father), Buena (mother) and the kids Batbayar, Nansaa and Nansalmaa.

It was first a movie/film with the same title, made by two young film graduates from a German film Hochschule, whose breakthrough film, The Weeping Camel (2004) also celebrated the life of Mongolian. Here's the trailer on Youtube . I just love watching Nansaa collecting dung!

I have not seen the movie but will be placing my order for the DVD on Amazon shortly

Monday, 8 September 2008

Welcome back to the world!

 
 
 
I close my eyes and see the black,
I open them again and I see the world,
I've hidden from fears,
and that knife sears,
so welcome back to the world.
Don't close your eyes or you will miss the storm,
and you will miss what follows after,
the beauty o
-- anonymous --
 
 

Friday, 5 September 2008

What do you call this?

My working life started 18 years ago. After getting my First Degree, I continued with Post-graduate Diploma and later got my first job at University X where I worked for eight years. Never thought I will leave the job because I almost buy a house there. But then chances knocked my door.

Being young and workaholic I grabbed the opportunities and moved to Kuala Lumpur to work at University Y. It shocked most of my family members and friends (I was shocked myself with my own decision. LOL). I was actually among the pioneers that set-up University Y. When I look back, it was such a wonderful experience which I treasure much. We started from scratch and being a small team we were very close like a family, working day and night to get everything ready for the first batch of students. I remember each of us was only allocated a cubicle, except for the President and Vice President. When I left University Y 10 years later the total number of staff was nearly 200. It was while working at University Y I completed my Master Degree (part-time) at University A.

When the first President left University Y and new Management took over – there were mixed feelings among us who started together with him. 10 years working in University Y I never looked for another job elsewhere. But when the first President left and I was contacted by the headhunter for a Vice President post in Company B, I went for the interview without much hesitation. I attended first and second interview and got the job. But I only last for 1 year and 2 months at Company Z. It was a newly set-up company and it seems that the organizational structure was done by the consultant and I was given 2 pages job descriptions (which I was very impressed at the beginning). But when I was there not much I can contribute since my department was not yet a priority in the Company B strategic plan. I have no complained about the salary, but I did feel bored with not much works to do (except for sitting in various committees - most of the time ad-hoc!) and not many plans can be materialized with a limited budget allocation.

February 2008 I left Company B to joined University Z. It has been almost 7 months now and I don’t find working here as enjoyable as I wanted it to be. I am not sure what’s wrong! I don’t have the feeling of ‘looking_forward_to_go_to_work_everyday’ anymore! I don’t enjoy having to write reports or papers or attending meetings anymore. It is more fun ‘working’ around the house or chatting with my flowers on the balcony or walking in the park with my camera or wandering around the nursery without buying any flowers or plant.

What's wrong with me? Help!

First Fig (Edna St Vincent Millay)

my candle burns at both ends;

it will not last the night;

but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --

it gives a lovely light!

Thursday, 4 September 2008

If you love someone?

 
 
 
 
I remember this saying:
If you love something
set it free,
if it comes back to you
it is yours,
if it doesn't
it was never meant to be.
Ouch!!!!