Surah At-Taubah

Nik buka puasa kat luar so I pun malas nak pi surau sorang-sorang.Baca Quran on iPad (if you count letting it run on its own as "aci", I dah masuk surah ke 9 malam ni).

Surah At-Taubah ni pendek dari surah Al Baqarah so I managed to follow with meanings the whole surah.Alhamdulillah! If there's one good use of technology, it is this! Boleh khatam cepat cara begini.And kita dapat meneliti dgn lebih setiap makna ayat-ayat Allah ni.

Yang nyata in this surah, Allah tau tipu daya kita! Ada satu part Allah kata jgn ingat cukup hanya beri org buat haji minum dan sedekah ke masjid sebab yang paling baik ialah berkorban jiwa dan harta benda kerana Allah.Also tipu daya menggunakan agama nak mengkayakan diri sendiri pun dah lama Allah tahu:

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Sesungguhnya banyak di antara pendita-pendita dan ahli-ahli agama (Yahudi dan Nasrani) memakan harta orang ramai dengan cara yang salah, dan mereka menghalangi (manusia) dari jalan Allah (agama Islam). Dan (ingatlah) orang-orang yang menyimpan emas dan perak serta tidak membelanjakannya pada jalan Allah, maka khabarkanlah kepada mereka dengan (balasan) azab seksa yang tidak terperi sakitnya.

Yang nyata dalam surah ini, tiada kompromi dengan orang musyrik kecuali mereka kembali beriman kpd Allah.

Tazkirah mee rebus

Malam ni moreh dia mee rebus jawa. Ustaz depan mata pun tak nampak.Haha. Ustaz ni dari Jakarta sedang mengaji postgraduate studies di sini.

Yang saya ingat tazkirah dia, dia cakap adapun kita ini dilarang makan minum and buat sex semasa berpuasa sebab Allah pun tidak ada semua itu.Bahwa sa-nya kita ini dari Allah (Allah tiupkan rohNya ke dalam kita agar ada juga sifat ketuhanan itu dlm diri kita dan inilah sidang hadirin sakalian, yang membezakan kita dan haiwan). Itupun Allah suruh buat separuh hari je masa puasa.

Tak pernah terfikir begitu.

Ada 3 perkara kita perlu buat jika mahu mendapat taqwa: belajar dan mendapatkan ilmu yang betul; lepas tu amalkan dan akhir sekali mesti ikhlas.Bila dah capai taqwa..kita tak perlu fikir apa lagi..semua sudah terletak.Bila dah ada taqwa, kita tak reti nak marah, tak reti nak jeles, tak reti nak buat khianat sebab kita telah ikhlas.Semua yang berlaku ke atas kita, kita bersyukur.

Wow.

Tazkirah malam Ramadan 11

Semalam yang impressive tazkirahnya was this account on Dajjal on an island off Yemen.
Tengok sini http://youcush.com/watch/5CCWwjfbP2M

Yang ini pun interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktXO1g7Wc8o

Cooking time

It's been a while since we last invited students home for makan. I decided to invite 4 postgraduates to iftar.Kita tak pernah ajak Bangladeshi students so I invited a former student and told him that he could bring two others.My RA came early to look for some lost papers so that's 4. Temanya Indian cuisine.I tak kenal pun ingredientsnya even if I could follow the recipes so pagi buta rang up my Indian neighbours Minoo ( she is truly from India but married to a Msian) and Sasi.I just wanted them to accompany me to the market to show me stuffs but they ended up offering to cook for me some dishes.Wah...baiknya jiran2 I ni.I wonder if I would have done the same if they wanted rendang or satay.Rasanya tidak sebab I pun tak reti (everything is frm Brahim).

Anyway, I cooked the mandy rice (paste dah siap..letak je beras dlm air yg mendidih tu), prepared the salad dish and masala ayam.Sasi kata chicken masala tu had to have tht dry look.Mine berendam dlm kuah so we had to keringkan the air and alhamdulillah, my guests kata sedap..the lamb dish and dhal yg dibuat oleh Minoo and Sasi.

Malu tak kita akan jiran-jiran I ni? I hope Allah bagi diaorang pahala sebab tolong kasi makan org berbuka puasa.

KO

Hari ni pun no tazkirah sbb I had a long day.Balik pening.Bibik baru ni bagus mengurutnya.Tangannya mcm tangan robot.

Dr. Amani and I pi attend an NGO meeting on community-based social enterpreneurship.Patut kejap je but there were a lot of brainy people offering solutions so the meeting went on till 5 pm.Mmg exciting and we were in a room in which we shared the same passion and fire for stuffs we believed in. Pas tu I had to drop Dr. Amani at the lrt station.Jam giler but I made it before berbuka.

Am having an early night, folks.Selamat bersahur.

Iftar at Langgak Golf

Alhamdulillah I found a shorter route to Langgak Golf from IIUM.I was already late.Didn't want to miss the pre-iftar talk by guest speaker Prof Samina Yasmeen from Perth on Islam and Muslims in Australia.She's the Director of Centre for Muslim States and Societies at Uni of Western Australia.

I enjoyed the talk.Liked wht she said about how democracy could not always be the ideal solution at all times.Mcm July 4 list, tetamu yg dijemput pun ramai haluan kiri.Sebenarnya mungkin hampir satu negara berhaluan kiri. :D but spotted were also Tan Sri Hamid Albar, Tun Haniff Omar and young leaders of Air Asia (the CEO of Air Asia Berhad), Marina Mahathir, that DAP girl Dyana, Dr Musa Farouk, wakil Sisters in Islam, academics and VCs (or former VC). I tak pi pun berborak dgn dia orang sbb sibuk dgn gang lama (we would be among the regulars..table pun sama!) and seated next to me was Bar Council Prez, Steve Thiru.Entahlah..dia ckp 1MDB ni a private company and not really encroaching on public interest.Ternganga I dengar.I may have interpreted wrongly wht he said.I kata apa kejadah - depa dok ambik public fundings..he said no proof.Apa ke jadah! (nmpklah kita betapa licik segala kerja2 merompak ni yek sampai tak leh nail perompak).But he did say they are monitoring.But he's nice to offer me assistance with my penjara project.

My real joy was bumping into two young men as I walked to my car.The two young men pun nak balik.Our cars parked sebelah menyebelah so dalam gelap tu sempat berbual2. Sorang Naib Prez Pemuda ABIM dan seorang tu event management owner (offices dia di Canada, US, UK and Msia).Google punya google..anak aruah Razali Ismail, Timb Menteri Pendidikan. Baik sgt orangnya (both of them).Di tepi jalan dlm gelap tu kita bercerita ttg anak2 muda Msia.Mudah2an ada peluang bekerjasama dlm projek belia Islam.Saya percaya setiap pertemuan itu aturan Tuhan.

Sorry folks...takda tazkirah mlm ni.

Kasihnya ayah...

Tazkirah hari ni a bit off.Ustaz yang tak suka bersantai bawah khemah tu was on.So we all had to stay inside the surau to listen to him.Speaker tak clear sangat so I pun tak berapa dengar but I heard he said tunggu imam balik tu besar pahalanya ie buat witir with him. Ramai juga lepas terawih just blah tak tunggu tazkirah.

But something I heard on radio IKIM on my way home from work tadi made me cry in between teraweh.Ceritanya begini.Seorang mualaf India shared his story mcmana dia masuk Islam.Kisahnya bermula bila dia tanya sami dia mcmana mrk tahu rupa tuhan mcm kat temple tu semua.Sami kata dari asap..apa yg kita nmpk, itulah rupa Tuhan.Hamba Allah ni tak percaya so he kept looking for truth.Kebetulan dia sekolah ramai Melayu.Dia tanya cikgu BM dia ttg kiamat..mcmana rupanya.Cikgu dia pun cerita.Dia puas hati tapi tak nak masuk Islam lagi till he rasa sgt resah.Lama2 dia doa pd Tuhan jika benar Islam tu benar, berilah dia kekuatan nak masuk Islam in 3 days.Resah dia makin terok in the next couple of days so hari ke 3, he called his BM teacher ckp nak masuk Islam.Cikgu dia ajar mengucap on the phone.Dia rahsiakan perkara tu frm his family but one day, his dad found out (cikgu dia bagi songkok and he wore it at sch.Ada org reported).Kau pakai songkok di sekolah ya, asked his dad.He said yes.Dad said jgn buat apa2 lagi.Lepas SPM, ayah akan hantar kau sendiri ke jabatan agama.

And he kept his word! Lepas converted, bapa dia yg made sure anak dia solat 5 times a day, observed Friday prayer, suruh pi belajar agama etc etc.Kasihnya ayah dia kat dia.I mula terfikir..ini baru ayah kpd anak...apatah lagi Allah dgn makhluk yg diciptaNya...mesti lebih lagi kasihsayang Allah kpd kita...kita jahat pun Dia kasi kita rezeki, kesihatan dll.Tulah yg I sedihkan sgt.Even then, tak dapat segelas airmata menangis so not easy to cry a glass thinking about kekerdilan kita.Segan kat makmum sebelah lagi (takut org ingat ni mesti lepas gaduh dgn laki ni...haha).

I doakan ayah saudara baru kita ni mendapat kasihsayang Allah sebagaimana dia memberi kasihsayangnya kpd anaknya.

Air mata segelas

Ini ilmu baru.Air mata segelas.Yang diserahkan oleh malaikat kepada Rasulullah tatkala api neraka datang bergulung-gulung menghampiri umat Rasululullah s.a.w. di akhirat.Lalu baginda simbah api itu dan api itu undur..makin jauh dan makin jauh.Maka terselamatlah umat Rasulullah.

Tanya baginda kepada malaikat,"Air apakah ini wahai malaikat?"
Kata malaikat,"Itulah airmata umatmu yang menangis mengingati Allah dan menginsafi dosa dan kekerdilan mereka sebagai hamba Allah."

Jadi kita mesti byk menangis dan jgn kesat airmata itu sbb ia menjadi saksi di akhirat dan menggelakkan kita dari api neraka.

Berbuka puasa fesyen baru

It was a pact we both agreed to do but hari ni I lapar semcm.I think it's cara berbuka fesyen baru mooted by my husband.

Caranya: sebaik azan, makan sebiji atau dua biji tamar (bukan kurma...sebab kurma ada berbagai...kurma ayam, kurma daging..ahaks..a bad joke gone viral which got into my WA group).Minum segelas air and mkn kuih2 or/and fruits.

Lepas tu segerakan solat Maghrib secara berjemaah.Imam baca doa panjang2.

Lepas tu berbukalah mcm biasa.

I think I ate more that way than before (usually I don't take kuih-kuih..semlm bkn je kuih, buah tapi bubur lambok!). By teraweh time,mmg rasa berat. Nak tidur pun mcm food belum selesai being digested.And I ate very little at sahur sebab masih kenyang!

I put up an official complaint.Haha.I think I will just eat fruits and some bubur lambok (hari ni frm Kg Baru) and no rice after Maghrib.Ustaz kata di akhirat nanti, hanya org yg sentiasa lapar di dunia boleh duduk sebelah Rasulullah pbuh.Cuba fikir kenapa.Org yg dah biasa lapar tak tamak duit nak mkn sedap, tak mencuri/cakap bohong nak selesa hidup yg berkaitan dgn cukup makan yada yada.

Also org lapar ringan tenaga..senang beribadat.
Semoga transformasi kedua ini berjalan lancar today.

Selamat berbuka.

*****

Tazkirah Puasa 5

Ustaz (student from Jordan) said di Syria org berbuka takda makanan so they would look for cats di celah-celah bangunan, sembelih and eat.

I googled.Berita March last year, ulema keluar fatwa boleh mkn kucing, anjing dan keldai di saat perang begini (cos' people had been eating them anyway)

Allahuakhbar! Marilah kita doakan agar dunia Islam dilindungi Allah.

Menghidupkan hati

Tazkirah mlm ini disampaikan oleh ustaz dari Pattani.Beliau menekankan betapa perlu menjaga hati sendiri. Ini kerana jika hati sudah mati, tiada apa yang dilihat, didengar boleh menggerakkan kita kepada membuat kebaikan dgn tulus ikhlas kerana Allah Taala.Hati yang bersih terpancar di wajah kita.Cahaya iman.

5 perkara (setengah ulema mengatakan yang keenam itu makanan halal) yang membersihkan hati adalah:

1.Sentiasa membaca quran (dgn makna dan lakukan apa yang sudah dibaca)
2. Mengamalkan qiyamulail..ini sangat efektif untuk cuci hati.Bykkan menangis menginsafi diri dan kurangkan ketawa.Ketawa yg berlebihan mematikan hati.
3.Mengurangkan makan.Lebih mkn, badan jadi lemah.
4. Merendahkan diri semasa sahur yakni sentiasa ingat kita ini hamba yg hina di sisi Allah, Allah Raja segala dan kita amat berkehendakkan perlindungan, bantuanNya dll.
5.Bergaul dan berkawan dgn orang2 soleh (yg tulen bkn yang dibuat2 atau yg mengaku2 dianya soleh tapi sebenarnya cuma Salleh) kerana lama2 kita pun terdidik dgn kawan2 yg mcm ini.

Sekian, wabillahitaufiqwahidayah.

Planning your good deeds for Ramadan:tazkirah day 3

Our ustaz tonight was from Aman Malaysia.It was the usual stuffs we often heard at Ramadan till he told us about a regular ahli masjid when he was working in JB.This guy was a retired clerk who lived in Larkin.Because of the distance, he would come only at Zohr and would stay on till Ishak before going home.Every night that masjid would provide bubur lambuk for berbuka for Msians working in Spore who would singgah at that masjid to break fast.So they got bubur lambuk (sedapnya!).

Tak lama kemudian this old clerk pun meninggal dlm bulan Syaaban.Menjelang Ramadan his son came to hand over satu envelope yg tertulis di atasnya "wang untuk berbuka puasa"

Rupa2nya this old clerk dok ngumpul duit every month and put aside sejumlah duit for buka puasa expenses e.g kalau RM600, RM600 lah jumlahnya.MasyaAllah..marilah kita contohi dia and sedekahkan alfatihah untuk dia.

Put aside money for sedekah sebab bila pahala deeds kita tak cukup di akhirat esok, our pahala sedekahlah yang meng-top-upkan yg tak cukup tu.

Teruskan menyucikan hati kita.Yang tebal karatnya, nipiskan.Yg nipis, nyahkan.Jgn tidur after sahur cos' you will get cancer since all organs will be working extra to nyahkan segala bacteria from rotten food and kurang oxygen menjadikan badan kita berasid tinggi - prone to cancer.Na'uzubillah min zalik.That I got from viral message on WA group saya. :)

Buka puasa at Pusat Aktiviti Kanak-kanak

A few of us decided to berbuka puasa at the Pusat Aktiviti Kanak-kanak.Dr Latif led the prayer for the boys and for lack of a female imam, I had to do it for the young girls.Makmum budak kecil, a few je yang dah akil baligh.Dr. Amani and Mai came and helped out also.Kami bergilir-gilir bagi tazkirah/motivation talk.Bdk2 cerdik.One autistic boy about 9 years old tanya Dr Latif kalau kita tak solat, sahkah puasa kita.We all went wohhhh.Dr. Latif (English-speaking ustaz who is also a Psychologist and a fiqh-ist) said solat tu ibarat tiang, puasa tu dinding.Mana nak bersandar kalau takda tiang (ustaz punnn...bercakap dgn budak 9 tahun..tinggi benor falsafahnya).. but! bdk yg bertanya menjawab from belakang Dr Amani (malu la konon but he's so bright) "Tidur je kat longkang!" (Tak kelain selalu nmpk homeless people in the neighbourhood selalu tidur kat longkang tu). We were so amazed by the conversation.So humbled as well.But cerita belum selesai: ustaz jawab ha kalau mcm tu, puasa pun ke longkang.Haha..we all laughed termasuk budak yang bertanya.So bonding.Gitu.

Nik pun came along and we ate with a group of young boys (sekitar darjah dua).Cute giler.So manis.Rasa mcm nak bawak balik.

As Dr.Amani spoke of her aerospace work, she was saying kita jgn gagal bla bla.A kid later on asked Mai apa makna gagal.We analysed that question then we concluded that hanya affluent families or those exposed to successful people would stress on jgn gagal...whn you are trying to survive from day to day, that vocab does not exist.

A lot to learn from and a joy to share your Ramadan with these kids.Air yg kami minum pun terasa tersangat sedap.Dan kari ayam dia..out of this world lazatnya...walhal kalau kat rumah, kari berbuang! Berkat Ramadan yang suci.

Tazkirah ramadan

Dato Shakir gave a passionate tazkirah on why our lives should centre around reading, understanding and implementing teachings of the Quran. He said we must feel excited about Ramadan.Ada org told him semlm dia tak rasa apa sebab puasa ni bkn payah sgt, he said.DS said mesti rasa excited, syukur kita masih hidup this Ramadan untuk membaiki amalan kita etc.Kita mesti minta dgn Allah agar kita dirahmati, diberi hidayah, tergolong dlm ahli syurga, terlepas dari siksa kubur etc etc.Kalau kita tak minta, mcm mana Allah nak bagi.

He also said amalan sunnah Nabi s.a.w. di bulan Ramadan termasuk memperbanyakkan sedekah.Sedekah mmg Nabi ckp penolak bala, penambah umur bagai.Ini kita dah dengar last couple of Ramadan tapi ada kita buat tak? Dato Shakir kata nak tunggu ikhlas, sampai kiamat..paksakan diri supaya ikhlas.Ada RM10..kasi semua jangan kasi RM1 sahaja. :)

Bangun mlm solat pelbagai then terus sahur dan subuh.Makan jgn berlebih2 sbb ni bulan nak perbanyakkan ibadah.

Selamat mencuba semuanya.

Ramadan Kareem

Walaupun tengah tensi over too cautious people yang takut nak bertindak sebab takut kena tangkap la, kena saman lah..saya dan keluarga mengucapkan Ramadan Kareem untuk semua.Semoga kita dapat menawan nafsu jahat dan menjinakkan jiwa liar kita termasuk cepat nak marah, sifat2 kedekut, suka menganyam ketupat sebelum Raya dan sebagainya.

Part 2 (18/6/15 - Puasa 1)

Berkat bulan yang penuh baraqah ini, project di atas mungkin dapat dilaksanakan.Semoga Allah permudahkan urusan ini.

St. Giles joy

We checked in St Giles at The Gardens,Midvalley yesterday afternoon after Azian's wedding reception at Menara DBP.My God,I still can't get over her dendeng dish.Sedap betul,alhamdullilah.

A special check in at St.Giles.We took a corner room on the 26th floor.Pemandangan constructions but the river view is great.At the Skyview Exec Lounge (29th floor) cantik sikit viewnya.The sungai looks great.

We went swimming immediately.Habis semua orang putih lari.Haha.

Then we went to the launching of two Msian artists' exhibition at the French gallery at Jln Bruas,Dsara Heights.Dah byk kali Patrice jemput but only this time,I have time.Great works, great company.U-Wei gave a tribute speech which was telling of him as an artist,a reborn Muslim,a sincere friend (he was the one who pushed Mansoor to draw again and I guess helped them to exhibit at Vallette Gallery).Bumped into Khair as well.A thinking session for me as I tried to understand some of the pieces.They were not abstract but still.

Dinner was French at Sage.Very nice walaupun chefnya bukan French.Ada element Cina in the dishes but still delicious.

Nak tengok wayang midnite cerita Romeo and Juliet..tengah queue,Nik perasan it's actually cerita Tamil.Haha.

That's the end of our romantic eveninglah.
To my best friend and confidante who's been with me in my moments of weakness and strength: happy 28th wedding anniversary (today).Semoga terus dirahmati Allah hubungan ini.

Time out

We all work hard.Today, a good samaritan took us out to an early dinner at Tony Roma's..iyalah...dia dapat discountlah sbb company ada share kat situ so I tanpa malu ordered la my kegemaran..lamb ribs.Dr. Shukran mmg tak sentuh meat dah since his last scare.Disciplined betul dia.Prof Rahim pun mkn ikan je.I'm bad.But I shared dgn host kami.Muak juga lamb ni bila mkn byk2.

Very destressing meeting, really.Shukran told us his family bwk his dad (yg baru kehilangan isteri some months ago) pi umrah.They are hoping he'd marry their aunty (yg ikut sama pi umrah). Kita semua doakan agar stg good will happen in Makkah.At this age, all he needs is companionship.
Pastu kita semua cerita kisah anak2 kita...lawak gila gen y ni.Mcm2 pe'el.Everyone's prepared that the kids might marry early.Prof Rahim's dah selamat (tahun dua at uni).I yg berharap sgt ni takda nmpk bayang menantu pun! Gal is in Munich at the mo, holidaying after exams.Mudah2an jumpalah jodoh yang Allah redhoi.

Missing at the dinner was Dr. NurAnisah..was supposed to come but got hal elsewhere.Kalau dia ada, mesti lagi meriah. :)

Sat for Prof Ratna for the Lean Management meeting.Interesting juga but it's not something new.For us, it is. http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/dotcom/client_service/Operations/Lean%20management%20compendium/PDFs-Lean%20Management%20Enterprise/2_Cultural%20change%20at%20Direct%20Line%20Group.ashx

Andai kata...

...kita bangkerap as a nation..how?
Segala petanda semua dah ada:

1. PM kita mengelilau cari duit nak bayar hutang.Kata Idris Jala some years ago, kita akan muflis in 2019 if hutang cecah RM1 trillion. A dream gone wrong...hendakkan status developed country 2020, muflis in 2019.Manalah Tun M tak menggelabah but AI did warn..mega projects dia akan bawak bala di kemudian hari.But according to inside sources, projek2 ini dibayar mengikut schedule - tak jadi masalah.Tapi sikap boros Tun tu yang jadi ikutan PM sekarang.Spend, spend spend tak ingat hari depan.

2.Kita semua mengalami tekanan inflasi ..what with GST ni.Duit RM50 tak jadi apa sangat dah.Beli minyak kereta ..tak sampai seminggu dah kering tangki.

3.Dalam pada kering2 tu, kita masih berfoya-foya..beli jet, beli macam-macam..pi holiday overseas lagi..tapi it's a Catch 22 thingy..tak spend karang tak jana ekonomi pulak kan? Kerja keras macam nak mati..takkan nak jadi macam orang Jepun? Mana duduk, situ le tertidur tersenggut-senggut keletihan.

4. Tadi I heard on BFM depa discussed pasal biofuel dari kelapa sawit (kot nanti kita semua kena paksa pakai minyak sawit ni.BMW dah awal2 cakap rosak engine mereka kalau pakai minyak sawit ni.Tak sesuai)..konon nak jaga environment (compared dgn fuel sekarang) tapi betul juga kata broadcaster tu...tanam sawit tu anti-environment..kita hancurkan hutan yang biodiverse utk kelapa
sawit yang akarnya pun tak cukup kuat utk cengkam bumi.Hutan dah habis kena tarah. Mana mau lari, bai?

5. Yes, mana mau lari? Bumi yang sama.Sakit sana.Sakit sini.If you look at earthquake stats..sehari ada 82 quakes.Tengok sini http://earthquaketrack.com/recent

6. Akhir kalam...sediakan rumah akhirat kita.This Ramadan - give our best!

Part 2

Something funny happened this year.Mcm biasa, I got invited to the July 4 celebration by the US
Embassy (gamaknya atas capacity Fulbright la tu). Tahun ni depa celebrate awal sebab menghormati Ramadan (July 4 dlm bulan puasa.Sweet, kan?).Nik was once invited atas capacity dialah but we didn't go that year.This year I tanya if he's on the list cos' I thought I saw satu jemputan with spouse.Kedutaan said no.It's just me.I suruh chk sekali lagi.Jawabannya I sorang.Nik pun malas pi function2 mcm ni.So oklah.Then dua tiga hari lepas Kedutaan kata depa issued another invitation...dgn nama Nik.Weii...baik juga ya?Mmg takda sapa bawak spouse..even Tok Pa who came on behalf of Msian government.Syukur alhamdulillah..I don't feel safe driving malam2. I sebenarnya dah nak kensel tak jadi datang cos' malas nak pi sorang.Malas nak bersosial-sosial. :D Nasib Nik came.Dia yang bersosial lebih.Haha.I bumped into two other Fulbrighters (yg lain tak nampak)- Dato' Gendeh, pakar ENT and zoologist friend kita tu.Kita sosek-sosek pasal exchange rate, politik semasa.Bumped into Nurul Izzah at the surau.Salam2.She knows Nik and Z well but she does not know me.Tapi tetap mesra bila jumpa.While waiting for our car, bumped into her again.Told Nik.Nik went over to say Hi, then she saw me and asked is she your wife? Nik said yes.And she went (ini kena blog...haha), "MasyaAllah, she's so pretty! Best kept secret ya?" Keh keh..secret ke hapa...

Duta US ke Msia ni Korean-American. Cuisine tahun ni sgt bebas..he said celebrating diversity..makanan Arab, Latin, Cina...roast dia yg sedap dah takda.Someone said tak sesedap last year.I pun fikir sama but org Kedutaan said budget tak potong.Inflasi bang.Orang dah kasi makan free, say thank you la ya.Syukur, Malaysia masih aman.

Melihat siapa yang datang, I rasa gusar. Adakah saya sudah tersenarai? :))

Lobby JW Marriott

Tok Pa doing the toast on behalf of Msian government

Cocktails before dinner

The toasts and exchange of national anthems

US Ambassador

US Navy band, The Orient Express, based in Japan

Tak kenal but berebut nak ambik gambar kat sini

Never this close. :D

The card