A REMINDER?

It is already June..how time flies..didn't write anything in May...wanted to but....ok no excuses...

As I am writing this I am actually listening to a song "You're my Everything"..don't remember the original singer but I know it is a very old song but still touches the heart whenever I listen to it..why the song? I saw a video clip of the song sung by a different singer..again cant remember his name..it brought back memories of past times..nothing in particular but there was a period in my life when this song made its relevance...

A few days ago I visited a teacher at my children's school who is suffering from breast cancer..she is now at home..taken care by her mum..seeing her serves as a reminder to me that the end of the road is not very far....the questions who we are, why we are sent to the world and where shall we go back to at the end of this life's journey come back knocking and of course reminds me that I have not done enough..thus, I should do more...pray harder, give more..do everything that is necessary...InsyaAllah, I pray that Allah will guide me through this journey..

Women-only coaches

I am all for this move by KTM though I am not a regular user of KTM commuters. I could relate to the uneasiness being in crowded coaches from a few occasions when I had to take the commuter and especially during peak hours..oh my..the sardine packed coaches were simply..beyond words..you have to experience it to know it..lucky those who do not have to depend on such public transportations (not to mention the traffic jam though)... Should try it one of these days..

Kak Mala

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a childhood friend of mine who is actually six years older. Despite the age difference, we could get along well..and way into our forties..of course with keeping silence for quite a while in between... with our own busy lives with family and kids..

This friendship started when I was still in primary school..can't recall exactly when..probably when I was 7 or 8 and she was already 13 or 14 then..

She had just welcomed an additional member of her family..a grand daughter..thus, my visit..

I am happy that we are still friends for I can truly see the real person in her..such a humble person..despite all the worldly things that she has..

The two hours that I spent with her taught me a few things..some of the things she said made me really think hard of life..she made me see things in a new perspective...made me reconsider a few things that I was planning to do...

Life is not a material thing..especially at this age..May Allah bless this friendship..and guide us till the end..

Quintillian

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Quintillian) was a theorist whose thoughts thousand years ago were still in practice. He emphasized the science of correct expression. He was concerned with the practice of virtue through speech i.e the science of good speech instead of the art of clever speaking. To him to be a good orator one should be a good man. In addition, one needs to have linguistic expertise which is acquired through a good programme of linguistic studies. A good orator is not only a gifted speaker but also a trained speaker.

Quintillian was of the view that persuasion in itself is not a noble goal. He posited that evil men can persuade more effectively than good men (how true). To him the practice of Rhetoric (a verbal persuasion) could lead to a corrupt educational system, a corrupt society and corrupt leaders. Hence, he emphasized on the importance of acquiring good habits of conduct and good speech in the very earliest years of one's life (this is actually very islamic..Islam emphasizes on this..so, I would say his thoughts were actually based on Islamic values). Any pedagogic programme that survived from the ancient world is said to owe to Quntillian's contributions. Many of his thoughts on pedagogy were still relevant in present context. That I find interesting.

HK

Alhamdulillah..praise be to Allah for making our trip to HK possible..also zillion thanks to my sister Nora for sponsoring the trip..I at least saved 50% of the expenses..and all for the children but I guess they deserved the trip..Ameer and Anis..it was for you..as for Adam..you must be grateful for being able to "tumpang sama"..

I have not been out of Malaysia after coming back from the States..so kira excited like the kids as well..have to admit it though initially I had doubts of going..money does matter..but I kept telling myself..do this for the children..they have shown you something..this is not like I do it often..so ok..off we went..

HK..very crowded..sooo many people but very efficient MTR...we could actually go anywhere..even Adam found it easy at the MTR stations..he was actually faster than us...halal food was also easy but mostly Indian food..beriani and naan stuff but we like them so it was okay..the garlic naan was definitely delicious..very soft and the curry, masala etc..they were just marvelous so much so we just had to have it the last night we were there..

I was actually looking for halal chinese food..got one address from the web and also from reviews by others..found the address on Ashley Road Kowloon but..the restaurant was not there..there was another brand new restaurant..I guess they had closed shop..so I thought there goes my chinese food..would not be able to taste the authentic chinese food I thought..we were to leave for home the next day...

On the day that we were to fly home we went to the airport early to send off my SIL as she was taking MAS..ours was at night..so we had a few more hours to enjoy HK and to my delight my dearest other half said that we were going to Wan Chai to have our chinese food lunch..so we got to experience HK airport express as well which cost us HKD450 for a round trip for the five of us..tak pe chinese food punya pasal..

Got to Wan Chai..found Ammar Mosque..found the canteen..got to solat there..got a pair of NIKE, shin guard for Ameer, socks for Adam....got a taste of another part of HK island..alhamdulillah..then off to the airport..the MTR and airport express made it possible within a few hours..

Forgot to mention the hotel...verrrry small..beyond imagination..no place to solat so had to solat atas katil..luckily only for subuh..others we performed at the mosque (Kowloon Mosque)..but the loacation of the hotel was verrry convenient..very near to Yau Ma Tei MTR station so we could easily go anywhere we like without hassle..no transportation woes..and verrry near to the ladies night market..we went there every night..to get stuff..hehehe..traveling with a tight budget gitulah..but we managed to go to Cityget outlets too..got a pair of reebok and Ameer's chelsea jersey..good buy kira oklah..other than that things are expensive...

All in all 4 days is not enough..kalau boleh nak pergi lagi..hehe..

Immigration Dpt

I haven't been to the immigration department except for one time when I had to do things regarding my maid's permit. I did not even go there personally for my international passport as the matter was handled by the moe then. I had to go last Saturday.

I just could not imagine how things would be there so I was quite surprise to see the scenario..people everywhere..it turned out I could not even get the number..my my..so I went down looking for the rest of the family members who went down earlier after seeing the crowd..oh..I was at damansara ok..and came this woman..cik nak buat passport..ada nombor..nak nombor..RM70..what!! that would be RM280 for 4 people..of course I was not that stupid to take up the offer..mad..yes I was mad..senang-senang je nak cari duit..and as I was having my tea (after meeting the rest of the clan) I related the story to my hubby and an indian man who was sitting nx to him overheard our conversation and interrupted..he said someone tried to sell the numbers to him for RM150 per person..perrgh..

My experience at wangsa maju yesterday was not that bad..except for a few not so friendly utterances and gestures from the staff and the looong queue (rather than paying Rm280 just to get the numbers) I found that the idea of having the registration department just next door was an excellent move as I had two unforeseen circumstances (in my case and of course others as I could see people from the immigration dpt were also there) where I had to go and (1) renew adam's birth certificate (2) renew ameer's ic

We reached the department before 730 and accomplished our mission at around 1pm and that was because we had to deal with both the immigration and the registration departments.. and of course the children had to sacrifice school..

Off to KLCC for lunch as the father wanted to c us and have lunch there...and they asked for subway sandwiches..argh..memanglah sedap but..tak pelah..once in a while..the father was a bit late and said ingat nak ajak mkn nasi goreng ikan masin sedap kat atas tu...nx time tell me in advance ok..(called him earlier, didn't anwser, in a meeting)..

Reached home at about 615pm...thanks to duke..bayar toll mahal tapi cepat sampai..but kalu x yah bayar tol lagi bagus..from kl to my house taking duke I will have to fork out RM7.6o one way..

KRK SMKBS2

I am contributing a small part to the success of the KRK activities for my daughter's school...It seems with the mum's involvement the girl is more motivated..oh..she has had her whines, grunts, ooh, aah, hate this, hate that...and yes the word is "HATE"...

That was rather a challenge which I did not antcipate earlier on...the disappointment in her was rather scary..really had to counsel her, motivate her, remind her of qada n qadar as well as rezeki from Allah...alhamdulillah, she has moved on...looking ahead optimistically..though..a little ooh..aah..sometimes...guide us ya Allah..