The guts (and wisdom) of saying No

I have been saying a lot of Nos this year because I'm prioritising my health and trying to reduce my stress level. Rupanya memang ada ayat Quran di mana Allah highlights how people sibuk bekerja sampai lupa adanya Allah (something along this line). When I saw that ayat for the first time, I thought wow..and kita lupa why kita solat 5 waktu di tengah2 kesibukan kita bekerja (supaya kita ingat Allah). Tu pun solat tergesa2 mengejar entah apa.So now when I solat, I tell myself, I'm going to have a conversation with Allah. Boleh focus better dan tak tergesa2 solat cos' we have to respect our conversation with Allah.

I hope once the Nov event is over, I have some space to go back to my Rawa research and write overdue papers. Dengan berat hati I said no to the asean gathering in Manila in Dec and no to the women's summit which Prof Ruzy had kindly invited me to be part of (and meet first ladies, katanya)

It was a struggle in saying those Nos but I feel less stressed out cos' I have fewer responsibilities while doing tonnes on-going ones.

I'm still looking for sponsorships for the Nov event.If you know anyone who wants a tax exempted event, the details are here https://asiapac2017.wordpress.com/call-for-sponsorship/

Terima kaseyyy!

and dreams are mine

I cuti sejak Friday. All I wanted to do I did then and over the weekends. Balik Raub and see my two sisters who are still living in Raub.Yang sorang in the hospital..in and out...even when she was in KL, I tak sempat ziarah..busy with guests from everywhere (which was also work).

Alas, balik Raub..my beloved hometown! Letrik pulak takda.Air pun takda. Hadoi. Called TNB HQ beritau mengapa bila time nak caj kita kemain mahal dan tak boleh terlambat bayar sikit pun..bila supply putus..kemain lama..di mana servicenya? Masa I called KL, dah ramai yang called. Janji 3 pm ada supply..4.15 pm baru ada. We checked into a hotel cos' both sisters were away..sorang in the hospital, sorang lagi walaupun baru balik dari haji..pi berjalan ke Melaka pulak. We ate at Angah's.Satay Harun yang dimakan oleh Obama masa dia dtg Msia.Wahhh..memang sedap rupanya!

Bonded with Umaira and Sophia. Senang sangat nak menipu budak berdua ni.Haha.They would tail me suruh cerita hantu.So I created a few. :)

On Sunday I woke up early to go to Pekan Ahad Raub nak pi cari tempoyak. The ones I bought were much questioned..kot campur pisang ke (since durian tak menjadi this year). I bought things yang susah dpt in KL..rebung...petai..makcik tu kata I kena tipu..org tu jual petai muda with no mata. Haha..lantak le..asal rupa petai. Tapai..we had breakfast at Kak De's. Tengok2 Fateh pun ada (cucu aruah Mek). Dia ni mmg bijak bdknya.Patut le aruah always mentioned him. Fateh itu.Fateh ini.He got up early..siap bermandi dan berbedak dah. So I gave him Van Gogh's chocolates (kasi sikit2 cos' simpan yang lain for others). He kept coming back for more. I gave more than others. Then I asked him: do you know me? He said tak. I said ohh lepas awak mkn chocolate saya byk2, awak rupanya tak kenal saya siapa. He said alaa..cokelat awak tu sikit sangat. I laughed mcm nak rak.He's only 4.Maybe 5. Then we went to visit kubur my parents and my sisters and other family members. Fateh pun nak ikut. He wanted to show a beautiful tasbih to his wan. Mmg sampai kat kubur he showed the tasbih kat wan dia: Wan...saya ada ini.. Luluh my hati.

And he got attached to me. I left Kak De's to Long's (discharged now). Fateh told the parents jom kita pi rumah Wan Dah. My sister said Wan Dah takda kat rumah.Fateh said kita pi tengok je if her slippers are infront her home..kalau takda, kita balik lah. Haha. I think I reminded him of her Wan Mek. Wan Mek rajin layan budak (and suka bergaduh with budak.Me and Fateh were like that..dia dok cerita ada momok sana sini..I said you ni asyik momok ..momok..he said betul..he saw a black momok at his house..warna hitam.Haha.Macam2 si Fateh ni)

Looks like we would be visiting JB more often now. I have a new pet.

Gombak-Melaka-PD-Gombak

End of 2nd week of the mobility prog. The week was busy with dining out and taking some students to buy books at Silverfish Books in Bangsar. By Friday, I started to have a sore throat and a bit of flu but rode on the bus to Melaka with the group.Only Amir came along. We stopped at Mini Msia..saw the show..Dylan and Brooke were at ease doing the Iban sumpit and dance. Then a few went up to joget. I tengok jelah. Dah tak terjoget dah at this age! We took the cruise down Melaka river and stopped at Jonker's. I went to rest at the 1824 surau.Dah penat dah. Then we shot off to the floating restaurant at Umbai to eat. Only a few of us ate. Tak tau lah dah kenyang ke takda duit ke.I tak daya nak fikirkan semua but we enjoyed our black pepper crabs, sotong tepung, ikan bakar and nasi lemak and sayur kangkung belacan.Some spotted ular laut.Entah iya entah tidak.

Then off to PD.Nik and Bibik had arrived.Thank God.4 rooms and the boys tidur bawah.The gals tidur in 2 rooms..berhimpit2.Biar dia belajar cara kampong but air-con semua working well and attached bathrooms.The best thing was the private beach! Sabtu show at audi museum tentera darat.Fun gila.The army guys were helpful and lawak. We all enjoyed being there.Malam we buat barbecue.Sal came to help.Siang tu she helped arrange a wonderful by the beach lunch.Pretty giler and so nyaman. I want to come again to PD.

On Sunday I terjun laut.Warm water. Oh heavens! Then we went to visit forest reserve and kg orang asli ..syok juga.Pas tu lunch at Muslim Chinese restaraunt Cik Salim kindly took us..he's from the Forest Reserve.Baik dia nak tunjuk kami jalan pi sana sini.

Nasib Nik datang.I jumped ship..balik dgn dia. Letih dah naik bas.Haha.Amirlah yang jaga dia orang pulak.

Today Monday they did the mosque tour.Dan belajar ambik wudhu. Then they went to see org solat Zohr from tingkat 3.I thought tonight was my dinner with Sreya. She said hari ni 2nd bkn 3rd Oct.That's how lost I am with time.

And a couple of people on campus are not helping me do my job.Kerja penat lagi rasa penat. if it's just to show your authority..not now, please. Forget control OK? Respect people's wish. We don't do things for fun.