Goodbye Conakry, farewell Africa

Guinea launch at Novotel Hotel, Conakry

Dato Seri with the PM in Guinea

Prof Sano, Dato Seri and Msian Ambassador in Guinea at a Tunisian Restaurant

polis pengiring kita yang tak makan disaman

At the museum

From my hotel room in Conakry before I got stuck in the lift

I settled in nicely.Here in African dress with my bodyguard and driver (they look after me and Kaossar)

Selamat tiba di KL from Dubai (with transit in Casablanca again from Conakry.Flight from Conakry was at 3 am.But the Kedutaan chap and our alumni buat semua check-ins so I managed to catch 2 hours of sleep after the banquet at Saudi Ambassador's home.Beautiful home by the beach but malam so tak nampak sgt the beauty).Our stay in Conakry was a rushed one cos' of the one day delay in Dakar, Senegal.But media coverage was good sampai mana2 kita pi shopping (no shopping mall here cuma kedai2 yang mcm slums) semua org tau sapa kita : Malasie!Malasie! depa jerit.Nasib bukan Manohara! Manohara!

Becos' Prof Sano (our former colleague at IIUM) is now Minister of Religious Affairs and well trusted by both Prez and the PM (who we met and he's equally ikhlas..being a former banker at IDB ke world bank and called back to serve the nation), maka kami semua dilayan taraf menteri (I felt like Rosmah Mansor.Kita ada military personal body guard and ada driver.Pi mana2 ada org nak carry our bags and bukakan pintu.Heh heh)

We met many ministries and many unis.We are serious abt south-south ties.People have high regard for IIUM and jam 1 am on the day we were supposed to leave, I had to entertain a parent (org kaya) who wanted to send two of his boys to IIUM to study Business.In Gambia, one student cannot masuk (cos' we were not aware they had changed their uni entrance qualification.No more A Level.Kita dok pakai A Level lagi)so the mom came to appeal.Her sister buat bio-tech/pharmacy at IIUM so the sis mestilah cerdik juga kan?

At the Guinea launch each alumna came up to speak on how IIUM and Malaysia helped them with their personal and career growth.It was an eye opening for us (some of our colleagues want integration and islamisation of knowledge revised) Meeting and listening to our successful alumni in Africa made us realise that we had the right formula.We may have to improve to be better but not to discard the original formula.African alumni are self made,innovative lot.Millionaires and some in the making (yang tak tunggu nak kerja dgn org but they created jobs not only for themselves but others.Ini yang kita very2 proud and mereka tak leave the country for a better life mcm setengah org Msia yang gomen hantar buat Master's or PhDs then tak mau balik.African IIUM alumni said IIUM taught them love for the country and they wanted to return to serve and build their nations and help eradicate poverty)

Travel advice: Satu perkara yang perlu ambik perhatian if you are in Conakry, Guinea, jangan masuk lift sorang2 or with a man cos' electricity supply depa not reliable.Depa pakai generator and that often breaks down.I was stuck in the hotel lift a day before nak balik KL.My God..mcm cerita thriller! (I remember scenes from movies and acted accordingly.Mula2 frantically pressed all buttons.When that didn't work, kick and hit the lift door screaming help me!help me! Then think of the phone.Frantically dial any number.When you hear a voice, speak in English and say you are trapped.Of cos' English is no good in Francophone countries.Ni yang gomen dok sibuk kata English is a global language.It can kill you! So when I heard a voice, the man said receptio..receptio and hung up on me.Mana I ingat apa number reception.I called again.Dia ingat I bergurau so I thot how do I communicate to him I was a damsel in distress.I wailed! I betul2 nangis! By now I could not breathe well dah..fresh air takda.I thot nak buat mcm spy stories..climb up the lift but nak panjat pun tak da lobang.Then death images came to me and thots like "tak sangka mati kat Afrika dalam lift".Then I baca apa2 ayat doa yang I ingat..doa nabi yunus, doa nabi musa..and then lift jalan and terbuka macam laut merah)

I dok terfikir if I were trapped with a man..mampos aku kena raped! So syukur alhamdullilah ntg happened but an episode to remember Conakry.Just remember this: don't go into a lift with a man.It can happen anywhere (kat UIA pun ramai org got trapped in the HS Building lift.But at least we speak English/Malay)

I'm glad to be home, folks.Out of Africa, with much to remember and lots to learn from.I miss people we met there (I love our alumni and it was sad to leave them) but Malaysia IS my home.I can't imagine living anywhere else.Bersyukurlah kita.Bersatulah kita. :))

Greetings from Conakry,Guinea

we looked for the Imam who was pleased to meet with us

made of sands of different colours and origins

artist at work

Statue of Liberty on Goree Island

the slave house.Small rooms under the staircases for rebels

curious young minds, on the boat to Goree

Goree Island, Senegal where slavery in the West began

Our first flight from Dakar to Conakry was cancelled (technical prob katanya).So we spent another nite at Terrou-bi Hotel.Nasib hotel cantik dan tepi laut.The first nite we arrived, Duta Msia bagi tempat tidur kat rumah dia so breakfast was Malaysian. :) We were supposed to leave that morning but flight cancelled so we checked in Terrou-bi Hotel (takkan nak tidur rumah Duta lama2 kan?)

Then met a few people from local unis and an alumna who's willing to promote IIUM in Senegal.
Lepas tu sebab ada masa, we went to visit Goree Island tempat slaves dihantar ke America and Europe.Pics later.

Then the following day baru pi Conakry via Bamako (Mali) Haiya, siksa! Delayed lagi a couple of hours.Entah apa masalahnya.

When we finally got to Conakry, Dato Sano Koutoub (now Minister of Religious Affairs) and Duta Msia (Dato Wan) dah tunggu.Kita semua dapat body guards and naik kereta state diiringi polis.Kelakar sebab kat sini tak sapa perdulikan benda2 gini.Polis pengiring tu had a tough time suruh orang ke tepi.Africans do not believe in class/hierarchy.Bukan dia tau takut kat sapa2.I love that spirit!

I love Africa.Kejap lagi we may meet the Prime Minister or the Prez.Sano played a major role mengatasi the recent problem (takda benda pun..western media je kecoh to show tanpa mereka, third world cannot have stability.The French ambassador dah dipecat and a new one will arrive today)

Guinea ni kaya dgn diamonds dan lain2. Apa pasal Msia slow nak invest? They need experts to improve their electricity and water supplies (Spore akan masuk to cater to these needs). Telekom and BERNAS masuk kejap tapi angat2 taik ayam or their technology tak leh compete dgn British Telecom.

Salam from Banjul, Gambia

Minister of Justice, Marie is an IIUM alum

with some IIUM alums at the Gambian launch
(ramai lawyers and entrepreneurs)

the guys and Dato Seri Rector

some Gambian culture show
(breakdance came from Gambia)


Cherno is the chapter's Prez and CEO of Gambia Chambers of Commerce

lunch at a former Brit colonial building, now a hotel

lunch at eco-friendly Sandele (owned by Morris, a Brit in Banjul)

Lamin, a top notch Gambian criminal law lawyer (jutawan)

another Lamin, jutawan in the making (also a famous criminal law lawyer.Lamin and Lamin would be at each other's throat in court but outside, they are IIUM brothers)

I want this room at Sandele (overlooking the blue sea)

a corridor at Sandele (made of environment friendly materials)

Friday prayer at Banjul mosque.Joof wanted to be with the women.CEO of Takaful Insurance.

Banjul International Airport

Brussels Air

We touched down semalam on Brussels Air, the only international airline that flies to Banjul, Gambia. Air Asia/MAS patut look to Africa for its new market.Byk pluang sini.The Chinese do not waste time (they are flying by the thousands for all kinds of business.Malaysia lembab macam biasa despite African nations' readiness to do business with us).Hey guys, you nak biz opportunities come see us at Alumni Office.Kita punya alumni here are all holding important positions.Network depa luas (jenis angkat telefon and out we go).Masa imigresen tried to give me hard time (konon I takda clearance nak masuk Gambia walhal kita ni sesama Commonwealth countries..our alumni dah arranged kita masuk as VVIPs tapi depa lambat tiba so for a second I was in trouble but then the guys came.Angkat phone je and we had the officer apologising to us for his stupidity...direct line to some office mah.We missed meeting the Prez but the Minister of Justice, our alumna, came to meet us and took us out makan..got African music.Fulamak...my first break for 2009!)

I tell you this: budak2 Gambia ni belajar kat IIUM tak sia2.Depa balik and set up and founded so many things: Islamic finance system...sekolah utk professional courses like those for accountants (and the sch is reputable! the beauty is depa tak pinjam bank loan pun! Duit sendiri which depa kumpul dua-tiga orang and now sekolah depa dah into 2000 students dah...they are creating a middle class group in the country.One successful lawyer akan sponsor 30 students to go to schools every year ...giving poor students access to education) We are so proud of them.They don't make money for themseves but help build the nation. Something our rich Malaysians have forgotten to do.Depa ni jenis speak up their mind.Ada satu high ranked police officer kerana principle, telah di fire dari police force but he became a millionaire through his private legal practice.Yang sorang lagi tu kerja dgn Prez.Masa interview nak kerja dgn Prez tu, dia pun spoke his mind and just could not be bothered if he didn't get the job but the Prez employed him and memang bijak budak ni.Prez yang juga jenis gini tak pulak takut org yang berani criticise him.Tak macam Malaysia, eh? (despite the government coming to power through military coup)

Oh kat sini orang putih ramai suka dtg utk holiday.But they also bawak budaya neraka jahanam sebab yang suka dtg ni perempuan2 tua yang gatal (who like to pick up local african beach boys yang rata2 Muslims and jadikan mereka gundik2 mereka semasa mereka bercuti).But segelintir je (beach life here) sebab rata2 rakyat Gambia ni religious.

Ph connection tak guna ..I can't sms or ph home from my ph.They gave me local SIM card pun tak boleh.Neng and Papa, I'm safe here.Guinea ni tak pasti.We watched French news...it looked pretty bad tapi Kaossar kata ni semua propaganda France yang nak bagi tekanan to kerajaan Sano Koutoub.Kaossar said safe to go although France dah nasihatkan rakyat dia supaya tinggalkan Conakry.We'll play by ear.Kalau kita skip Conakry, we'll have to buy tickets from Banjul to go back to Dakar and then Casablanca then Dubai then KL.

Pls pray that we'll get home safely. Jooli: takda benda sgt kat sini except the warm hospitality of people and our need to grow together as an ummah.Banjul looks like Kota Bharu in parts and yet the mansions and huge homes by the beach macam kat Europe.Dakar pun macam tu.Gap between rich and poor besar banget.Kat Dakar pun kita masuk mcm taraf Menteri...tak payah queue for imigresen ke apa ke.Bags pun wakil kedutaan handled.Thanks Msian Embassy in Dakar!Bas pun bas VVIP from tangga plane to VVIP lounge.Takbir! Kalau tak lagi cepat spine I sakit.

Kalau tak jauh Africa ni, memang I jalan kaki hari2 for a break here. Kampung life dia is great! :))

Greetings from Dakar, Senegal

oooo..I love this pic.Fajr in Dakar (just outside my room at Terrou-bi Hotel)

Dato Ambassador in Senegal in a meeting with University VCs

beautiful dining area

at the hotel I stayed, nice waterfront

Salam from Africa,folks!

I'm in Leopold Sedar Senghor land, a great statesman, poet and intellectual.No one speaks English here and we travelled far (19 hours with stops in Dubai, Casablanca, Dakar and more in the next few days.My spine is behaving alhamdulillah)

The hotel we are at is so refined (French influence) tapi cicak africa is everywhere.Kalau termasuk dalam baju, I'm gone!

I must share with you stuffs we did at Casablanca and here tapi connection is bad and hence, expensive here.
To Neng (bibik's pet name for my gal) and Papa, miss you guys.

Of open houses, weddings and other kenduris

the bday boy

Playing a bday tune to the bday boy

Comel budak ni (Kamel's baby)

Me and Kamel: baru ini jumpa face to face (we met in Sang Kancil Forum, spoke on ph while I was in Ithaca and communicate via emails all these years, missed once or twice meeting in person..akhirnya 2009, in person!)

My detox prog failed.Simply impossible.Even at the uni, there are series of open houses (each office would do one).Ours will be on Tuesday.

It is now the weekend.Today je 3 (plus wedding reception and kenduri orang nak naik aji..my own sister's but I have to ask for an excuse.Someone in the family sakit mata..yikes! Z will have her SPM soon, Nik and me will have to meet so many people in the next week or two..nanti tergedik2 sakit mata, satu kerja pulak)

I met Yasmin Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia.Her parents are my in laws' best friends (in fact Ayah Mud, Yasmin's dad, told me they attended our wedding in Raub). Yasmin is a very pretty and humble person. Read her here http://www.mis-asia.com/cio_focus/profiles/the-femme-factor-yasmin-mahmood I should have asked for her card...nak invite dia dtg inspire our female students (and OK, male students too...nanti Shaukat baca ni, dia marah! I found your paper, dude.So you and your 2 friends tak payah di re-examine. The papers were in my bag all along.Phew!)

Pagi2 lagi pi jumpa Kamel to have breakfast with her (she's returning to California next week and we had to squeeze whatever time we had cos' nanti tak jumpa langsung.Today's breakfast was the only time.Met her sis Kak Lin.Nak jadi kecoh, I thought someone curi my purse while we were busy taking pics by the pool.Rupa2nya I left it in my car (all night!) Phew.Rushed life.Itulah pasal.

Lunch hours pi attend Z's SASA award giving ceremony at HELP.She got sch. leaver's achievement award (worth RM12K) to do A-Level at HELP.We'll leave our options open.If there are better offers after her SPM results, we'll re-assess this option.Ambik dulu in case tak dapat scholarship or awards lain (you know how competitive it is and Z does not want to do medicine.Sapa nak bagi scholarship kalau nak buat course yang not in demand, kan?) Kak Lin wants Z to join her youth prog (her son went to Uganda and Norway on this) but after SPM lah baru nak fikir nak buat apa.

I'm exhausted.

Malam ni nak pi celebrate Nik's bday pulak.Kalau delay, dia merajuk. :))

MacGyver Malaysia

En Zul tak kedekut berkongsi ilmu

Finally I got to meet him! The office invited En. Zulkifli Haron to help inspire IIUM Engineering students.I got in late (kena pi buat vaccination kat Ampang Point.Sakit nak mampos walaupun doctor tu kata pls cough and masa I pura2 batuk tu le dia injected me.Sakit juga!)

Anyway, I came in after an hour En Zul kita bercakap.I fell in love straight away with his sincerity and keluhuran budi and insights.He came tanpa charge but insisted only serious students attended his talk (crowd must not be more than 30).Kelakar gila but I was really, honestly, absolutely touched by whatever he said.I hope the students would be inspired as well and would be as innovative and creative as Zul.I hope he'll come again.One of those fun speakers who inspires.You can sit 3-4 hours tak berkelip2.Zul said no one can succeed without love for knowledge and his brain is like sponge: absorbing and absorbing.Lepas tu innovate, innovate.Simply amazing.He would only design things which would sell. Banyak cerita kelakar dia ni. The kids loved him too.

http://ligakampung.com/blog/genius-rekacipta-zulkifli-haron/

Strong tremor in Kota Damansara

I didn't feel it but hubby rang around 6.15 pm kata office dia kat Jalan Raja Laut bergegar kuat.I looked outside and yes, langit was pelik.Yellowish then nampak muram.

Nak kiamat?

Then our new Bibik told me at around lunch time, she felt a strong tremor too (dia terhuyong hayang) and the chandelier pun berhayun2.The cup in my kitchen cabinet jatuh (nasib tak pecah!)

I told Nik.Nik kata jgn percaya sgt Bibik tu (cos' all reports said semua orang rasa tremors jam 6.15 pm ke atas.Takda sapa reported strong tremor at lunch time) But I believed Bibik.Org macam dia takkan menipu (dia buta hurup).So pagi ni I googled to check on what time Padang punya earthquake and what time American Samoa punya quake.Samoa's came much earlier.So is it possible the tremor felt by Bibik was an aftershock of Samoa's quake.Kalau betul, kawasan rumah I prone to more tremors and kalau kuat lagi,mungkin boleh terbelah bumi! Masa tsunami 2004 pun the flats on the other side of the road pun terok kena.Fault line ke?

So I rang Jabatan Bomba and Jabatan Metereology to give my report.Told them to document reports made by callers like me of areas yang prone to strong tremors agar in the future, they can alert people to take extra precaution ke.We don't even know what to do if strong tremors happen.I dengar radio kata it's not safe to menyorok bawah meja (door frames are more secure).Ada juga kata stay in the car and don't go out sebab takut pokok or bangunan hempap (but kalau stay in the car, lagi mati katak if building/pokok jatuh atas kita)

Dalam keadaan sekarang, semua ilmu tentang conventional architecture/built environment mungkin kena revise.I dengar only KLCC yang dibina to withstand earthquakes.

Budak2 sekolah and the public must also be educated what to do when we go through what we went through yesterday (ada news I terbaca a pregnant woman terperangkap for 1 hour between her door and her grill door.Nasib she had her mobile ph.She was able to call her hubby who rang bomba to cut the padlock.If anything happened (fire or the building collapsed) she'd be a gone cookie.

Zaf's open house

taken from Rachel's blog

(my home looks good in this pic.Thks Rachel! )

Zaf made a special request that this Raya we organise a raya open house just for her friends seramai 25 orang.You know don't you that malam raya tu I masak macam2 cos' the new maid could not cook? : from rendang to peanut sauce to nasi impit to macam2 lah.That's why I looked so tired in my raya pics. :)

Nasib baik my good fren Shahril tak cuti raya so I oda saja nasi bryani gam for 30 people.Then masak lagi nasi impit and kuahnya.Then Z kata buat lagilah laksa Sarawak cos' I did it the day before depa semua kata sedap.Sigh...kalau anak I sepuluh..memang aku malas nak layan yang seorang ini! Lagipun I fikir next raya entah ke manalah dia.If still in Msia, memasak lagi lah saya...

Lepas tu I pi cari lemang kat Gombak.Jumpa satu spot.Dia baru bakar kayu api.Masa tu I dah bawak balik 2 IIUM students.Kita tanya pak guard mana nak cari lemang kat kawasan Gombak.Dia kata pi arah Ong Tay Khim ke hapa.I tak biasa kawasan ni.I just know how to go to work and come back.Nasib Ismail and Siraj ada.They showed me the way.Suruh depa turun tanya mana jual lemang (I kata kat Ismail just say where to buy lemang)..dia pi tanya kat orang India.India tu tak tau apa2! Lepas tu pi tanya Cina jual pisang..Cina tu tunjuk goreng pisang.Sigh.But akhirnya we found one spot.Siap jual rendang minang.Raya mana complete without lemang. I was willing to swim lautan api for lemang! :)

Meanwhile Nik pi service kereta.I mintak dia pi collect the nasi bryani.He went pakai kereta burok Cina repair kereta tu.Brek tak berapa nak makan. Hahaha! The things we do for Zaf.I harap bila kita tua, she will not be mean to us.

But Zaf's open house went well.Ramai kawan2 bukan Melayu dia datang berbaju melayu.Hensem pulak jadinya: Wai Meng pun ada (yang selalu baca column artis dan hafal semua lagu2 pop melayu.He and aruah Yasmin Ahmad sering bersms-sms sebab Yasmin suka sikap 1Malaysia Wai Meng ini). Lepas tu mentor budak2 debater ni Andrew Loh (from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania) pun datang siap bersampin dan berbaju Melayu.

Andrew ni bagus budaknya.Selalu bagi semangat kat his juniors still at school (Sek. Men Damansara Jaya) sebab dia jaguh debat.Kalau dia balik cuti dia datang tolong coach budak2 junior ni. He picks up Arabic and spoke fluently with my two guest students from Nigeria (pelajar Islamic Studies/Civilisation).Lepas tu depa semua nyanyi, tunjuk bakat.Ismail and Siraj nyanyi nasyid in Yoruba.Sedap juga bahasa Yoruba ni.Then Keefe and Nunu main gitar nyanyi lagu Rihanna lah..dan saya tak tau sapa lagi (gen. gap dah terlalu besar for all this).Andrew pun nyanyi.Dia ni semua boleh.Terkenanglah pulak raya kita di perantauan.Shef came to collect Alya.Dia pun teringat raya in NZ and how malam raya some of them tertidur bawah meja sebab penat sangat memotong bawang nak buat satay dan kuah kacang.

Nik and I left to beraya kat rumah Makcik Ma in Subang Jaya.I bawak lah Ismail and Siraj (they are Master's students, dah dekat setahun kat sini) but inilah kali pertama mereka encounter budaya Raya mcm ni.Surprisingly, depa ni taklah tertutup sgt pemikiran mereka (they admitted IIUM had trained them a lot in this).Mereka boleh duduk2, cerita2 dgn tetamu2 yang ada.Kita selalu ingat org2 pengajian Islam ni kerjanya nak haramkan itu ini, kan?Ismail and Siraj boleh enjoy lagu Rihanna lagi by Keefe. Hahaha.Siap dapat duit raya lagi.Makcik Ma gave them a lot!).

Gambar-gambar sekitar Raya 2009

Boys in Kuala Medang boat ride

Boys in the river

Zafirah enjoying her boat ride

Hassan at Mak De's kampong house

Kak De's pet, Benny

I love this pic sebab nyata nampak kurus! Hahaha

Well, I still look slimmer than last eid

Zaf and her aunty Lina

Zaf and her little cousins

8 boys I took home this Raya

Solat Raya.Macam kat Makkah.So packed so jumaah had to bercampur gaul! (men sebelah perempuan)

The boys solat jemaah after iftar, malam raya

Budak2 Afghan masak nasi Kabuli and salad depa

ada yang cat tangga rumah I

First batch ke Kedah

I got up very early to go to work cos' the bus to Pendang was said to leave at 7.30 am.When I arrived, not even its shadow was seen.The kids were all set to go with their backpacks on their backs.So exciting! I felt like hopping on the bus myself when the bus finally came at 8 am (the drivers said they were given 8 am as the departure time)

Some boys just came unregistered, hoping there would be cancellations of some registered participants.Gals who promised to turn up, did not so instead of 12 gals,only 9 turned up (3 wanted to withdraw but got the tongue-lash from me last nite so they turned up this morning). Boys who came with such hopeful looks got to go making the number rise from 8 to 17.How can one turn them away? Kesian.I rang Puan Hatiah and En Azmi (the organisers in Pendang) and updated them the dev.They seemed not to mind.Dah rezeki budak2yang tak registered tu.Kita nak buat macamana.

I also worry over their road safety but one of the kids baca doa selamat perjalanan and he's put in charge to do this on the way back too.Let's pray that they have a good Raya and help strengthen ukhwah with local people.Pendang will be so cosmopolitan! En Azmi is a special branch police officer (anak saudara my co-partner in Pendang) so I guess the kids will be OK.The government usually sends PTD trainees here for homestay.Shireen kata seronok giler.It was her connection la ni.Thanks Shireen!

Second trip will be this afternoon (I have to deliver one anak angkat who will leave for Melaka besok pagi).Deliver kat rumah I je (Gayah lives near my place)

Besok ada 3 stops, 3 families (out of 34 families.Last year we had 5 families only.I guess good words got around.Some families do their own pick-ups).Memang terasa macam agency anak angkat pulak.My partner Norasita dah bercuti today.Semalam so kalut.We were still making adjustments and changes to the last minute.Budak2 pulled out, kena cari ganti...so stressful! Last year's was better organised (but then the demand was not as great as this year's and also, we started early)

Hoboy,it is a huge responsibility.

Al Fatehah

Plans to shop on my day off today have to be called off (my wali passed away and we have to travel back to Raub to attend the funeral)

Wa Salleh was related to my dad and like family members on my dad's side, dia tak cakap banyak.Very pleasant man.His children are all doing very well (in bidang agama and dunia).Halim is the eldest and most impressive of all the siblings.He's the one who took care of the dad esp when he went paralysed after a stroke.Sampai his dad could move and pray on his own again.Over a period of 4 years, you know.The parents live with him.At the funeral,Halim took care of everything: from mandi jenazah to solat jenazah to I guess the burial (we didn't go cos' had to pick up Z from school at 2 pm).

If there's a living proof of anak yang soleh, Halim is one.His other siblings pun semua macam tu.

Wa Salleh died dalam keadaan berpuasa and dalam keadaan berwuduk (it was just minutes before berbuka) He made it a habit to be in wuduk at least an hour before masuk waktu sembahyang.Can you imagine berbuka dengan bidadari? (we pray this is so).I only got close to him and his family(like a visit once a year every Raya) after he became my wali for my marriage.We are closer to my mom's side.

At the funeral I saw more relatives I had not known existed.Quite exciting to see some connections to my dad.I miss my dad and his relatives pun pleasant like him.He died when I was 18 (lepas SPM results keluar.Tapi bukanlah mati mengejut cos' of my SPM results.He knew I did well so at least that's a comfort).

Balik from Raub, I terpaksa memasak.The new maid tak tau masak.Sigh.
The remaining days of this week will be very busy.I have to deliver anak2 angkat to my friends and relatives.Lepas tu the boys coming over eid eve (8 orang) I bought some paint to keep them busy.Some will cook for iftar (well, they gotta do something or else be bored, kan?I pun sibuk nak buat peanut sauce and nasi impit.The Afghan boys plan to cook nasi mutton for iftar.12 org semuanya plus me and my family)

I expect malam raya tu they will follow Nik to do the takbir Raya.Breakfast and lunch will be at my mom's in law.Then shoot back to Raub.I haven't figured out how to keep them occupied (am taking 4 back with me.Nak bawak all 8 tak muat kereta).

International university students for Raya

If you want an extraordinary Raya this year, we have international students for you to take home (mostly male students). You may host them between 1-3 days over the raya period. I participated last year and it was not just me and my family who enjoyed the cross-cultural ties but my whole kampong and hometown. The students also learnt Msian ways and I think they understand us better out of the homestay experience.

Please contact me if you are interested in hosting.
It'll be a different Raya, I tell you.

Last few days of Ramadan

So finally I get to host a group of students malam ni.Ali, Swabry and 2 of their friends will break fast with us kejap lagi.

I pun mula meng-goggle african dishes.Yang last year punya recipe tak tau letak mana.Got one pilau rice recipe and another lamb stew.So pi beli lamb kat pasar Taman Tun (sebab I was2 daging kat hypermarkets tu semua.Kadang2 tengok sijil halal dia dah expired/photocopied yang entah hapa2 je).Mamak India tu kata NZ lamb tapi I tengok lain macam je.Rupa2nya NZ lamb yang diternak di Selangor.Duh!

Alat tak cukup and I cooked based on memory.Nasib baik sedap! (er..yes, orang pompuan dibolehkan merasa makanan!) But the pilau rice.Disastrous! I dah lupa ratio rice to water.So mantah! I tambah air..lagi lembik.In the end my new maid (Nik found her last week.The old maid balik tadi so Asiyah, the new maid, sempat dibimbing oleh Bik Masroh selama 1 week) kukus.Then I tambah gajus and dried red cherries (tak jumpa raisins)..wah..very da sedap! Syukur! Rasa macam nasi Iran which Ibrahim cooked (he used wild berries in his rice) during our Ramadan in Stirling in the early 90s (good food I don't forget!)

Kejap lagi I prepare salad and the rest beli je lah.My spine nak patah berdiri lama2.Desserts will be from the can. Hoboy, I love doing this but these days, badan tak larat nak berenyah.

This Raya I dah nekad nak buat kek raya sendiri (from the box).I will use my skills in cake decorating to make my raya cake look nice. Ummi (my niece) kata ini semua projek menipu rakyat jelata.Hahaha.

Iftar with SHELL

We had a garden iftar with Shell last night.Pretty cool.It's nice to dine in open space with a nice view of the garden (depan office kita je!).I'll try upload some pics in a bit.

Raja has gone to head an office in the Gulf.En. Khairuddin is a fun speaker and Dr Khairil mcm biasa akan membawa team dia to inspire our kids.Maybe next year we'll hold the gathering at Kull of Engineering. Dr Wan dah setuju to slot them in their must attend lecture series.

I went for my therapy after that.Pretty late but it's better than spending 2 hours besoknya.

Raya shopping

Selangor has a long weekend this week so I thought we'd do our Raya shopping early.
I was also inspired by a group of people who were seen entertaining young orphans, buying them Raya clothes.They were from an NGO from Kampong Baru (who came all the way to PJ to shop..appparently the orphanage was from Sg Pencala) The kids were excited cos' they were allowed to choose their own clothes.

We picked up Najwa (Nik's niece) to join us.This year we changed our mall: Subang Parade.Mak oii...baju raya were ranged between RM400 and RM1000/= sepasang! Are we in a recession or NOT? And some families beli macam tak apa-apa! (for me RM400 pun dah kena fikir 2-3 kali) Where do these people come from? Entah2 from Spore or Brunei!

I tawaf satu Subang Parade looking for a nice bargain.Not only were they not nice, but costly (my mall yang I selalu beli lagi cantik...for the price offered at Subang Parade).Anyway, in the end, I found one outlet which had nice kurungs (chiffon lagi) at a price I thought was very reasonable.Bought one for Najwa and another for me. Z and her dad went separate ways (handling Z would be difficult so I told Nik, baik dia je pi with Z.Kang I end up quarrelling with her.She would always disagree with my choice.Bapak dia sabar sikit..)

Everyone was happy.My spine macam nak patah (too much walking around) and we ended up breaking fast at Nik's mom's.Malas nak masak..just buy at Kelana Jaya's pasar Ramadan.

Thk God besok cuti.But promised Mama to introduce her to Dr Lau, the acupuncturist.We want to needle2 ourselves to lose weight (I'm OK.She, now so inspired by my weight loss).Lepas tu bdk2 Iran ajak I berbuka puasa with them.I'll drop by kejap and balik after Maghrib.

Ramadan flies.