Finally... Just "US"... ahhhhh...

(This is actually a long overdue post... but what the heck, to me it was just like yesterday... good feelings stay with you forever kan...)

We were separated in raya of previous 2 years for obvious reason/s. This raya was like a "reunion" raya for me and my FIL, MIL and the Pagoh clan...

It was nice, we had red raya just like the previous year... new outfits, but same colour theme.. some people actually asked if we didnt buy new outfits for this year's raya... :)

And I think this was really the first time that we had a chance to celebrate raya just "us", no "outsiders"... I checked photos of our previous rayas, and found that we actually never had raya photos just the 7 of us (or 6 of us, when we were only 6, or 5 of us when we were only 5..... or 3 when we were only 3... got the picture? *wink)... we always had unwanted pelakun tambahan... except this year... and that gave me a real good feeling... :)

On top of that, FIL and MIL were very nice to me, extremely nice I might add...

Ok, here are some photos of just the 7 of us...

The 7 of us plus FIL and MIL

Just "us"...

My body guards... don't mess with me...

MJ and me...

Busy...

Work has been almost impossible to catch up with... deadline upon deadline upon deadline... overlapping and queing like a row of ants to nowhere...

Oh well... no use complaining... at least I have a job... a good one too... *smile...

So... akhir kata...

Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted. --David Bly

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

 

Sumpah (not the sumpah org minyak kind...)

I spent my raya haji recently at my inlaws' house in Johor... as I wrote in my last entry, it was one raya that I will remember for a long time if not foroever...

One of the events that made it memorable is related to the title above...

My MIL and FIL have 11 children, all are married now. And between them I think they have more than 30 grandchildren. Recently they have been blessed with yet another grandaughter, a beautiful Putri something (I forgot her full name - ramai sangat anak sedara, susah nak ingat nama *grin).  As usual, adat melayu (and Jawa too, btw, my inlaws are Javanese), masa confinement we would stay with our parents ("we" mean the ladies). So, following the tradition, that was just what my youngest SIL did...

Unfortunately, during the stay, my MIL had an argument (more like a confrontation) with my SIL's husband which resulted in him swearing (bersumpah) to never set his foot in my MIL's house again... Adoi... itu lah orang melayu (Jawa pun sama)... suka sangat bersumpah-sumpah... consequently, during the raya haji recently, when he came he had to stay outside la kan... because he had to honour his sumpah... At first I didnt know about it, so I wondered why he was staying outside while my SIL was with us inside the house... It was another SIL that explained to me... hmm...

Suddenly I remembered another person in the family (one of my MIL's daughter in law) who once also did take the exact same oath (sumpah) some 20 years ago... she also pledged that she would never set her foot in my MIL's house ever again... tapi sekarang selamba badak je pulak keluar masuk rumah orang tua tu sesuka hati dia je... *grin **wink...

That's why orang tua2 selalu pesan... be careful with what you say... terlajak perahu boleh berundur, terlajak kata buruk padahnya... bersumpah-sumpah ni tak baik... kalau muka tak malu boleh lah selamba je jilat balik kata2 sumpahan sendiri... *grin... kalau tidak, kenalah selama hayat dikandung badan menanggung sumpahan yg dilafaz sendiri, samada secara sengaja atau tak sengaja... kan susah tu...

AidilAdha...

A very memorable AidilAdha indeed...

Inilah kali pertama seumur hidup aku tengok lembu disembelih betul2 depan mata... lembu tu pulaknya jinak, the night before they were to be slaughtered, MJ and the kids boleh main2 lagi dgn 2 ekor lembu tu... they must have known that they were going to do something for a noble cause...

And being a hypertensive patient myself, I shouldnt be eating so much beef... tapi that day, sebab the beef and bone were so fresh, I couldnt help myself... I think I drank up 3 bowls of soup and a couple of plates of rice to go with that... adoi... lepas ni kena go on a strict diet... cant go on giving excuse "ala sekali sekala apa salahnya..." because the sekali sekala has really turned out to be banyak kali banyak kala... *grin...

MJ and his family bought 2 cows for qurban this year... One was for the 7 of us (MJ, me and our 5 kids). And the other one was divided among 7 members of his siblings and parents. Even though this raya was extremely simple raya, (simple means no baju raya, no kuih raya, no visiting relatives), I felt utterly happy and contented... 

significance and insignificance

Life is short, life expectancy in Malaysia is about 74 years, and the age of the earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years. 74 vs. 4.5 billion years... if you take the ratio, it is 0.00000001644444444444...

That is the fact... life on earth is extremely short, so, make the most of it, by making yourself significant to those who are significant in your life.

However, there are some people who actually think that they are so significant, that everything in this world is about them. Everything everyone says is about them, everything everyone does is related to them and everything that everyone writes is also about them. And in the end, they get stressed up unnecessarily.

Well... life is too short, I just want to be significant to those who are significant to me. I want to be happy with my significant people... and indeed right now I am happy...

Perfect Sunday...

Even though it was a working Sunday... it was still a PERFECT SUNDAY... In fact it was a perfect weekend for me... Come to think of it last week was really a perfect week for me...

Work was abundant... deadlines were endless, which I managed to meet most of them... oh, one misfortune did happen... I lost a staff on 24 hour notice, but even that somehow did not spoil my mood...

I'm seeing many things with a new perspective now...

working weekend...

This is a working weekend for me... management retreat to review last financial's business plan and to present next financial year's activities... I'm not complaining, in fact I feel very honoured to be part of the management team of this organisation... though my part is actually very tiny...

The meeting yesterday ended at almost 11pm...

And today's session is about to start... perfect sunday...

Yeay!!

Yeay!! mission accomplished!!!

hahaha...

Some people are really over confident... and talk as if they are better than everybody else... and in this particular case that I am refering to, the person is still very young... which I cannot help but to blame the parents for instilling the values in her that cause her to have the annoying attitude that she has... she thinks that she is so pretty (and mind you... she is NOT pretty at all), so clever (yesterday proves that she is actually STUPID, well stupid may be too strong... she's not as smart as she thinks she is la kot... *grin), so rich (sebab family dia penyamun!!!)... OMG so annoying!!!

So, hey girl... if you're reading this... and I know you do follow my blog (you and your idiot sisters and cousins)... I hope that you feel that you are being squashed by the squash zombie!!!

Serve you right you little witch!!! for someone as young as you, you can really be a big bitch!!! 

So... the conclusion? I'm happy today... no matter how bad my day turns out today (I mean it can be really bad, because there will be a management retreat starting at 2.30pm today until Sunday, and everyday the schedule is up to 12.00am...yup.. it can be that bad...)... I will be smiling all day and all through the weekend too... :)))

Autumn in Beijing

My work has brought me to many places here in Malaysia as well as overseas... and last 22-25 Oct 2010, it brought me to China... Tianjin and Beijing to be specific...

I went there to accompany 59 students to complete their final project for their subjects Cross Cultural Management and Global Strategic Management. 

(this post is still in draft actually... when i have time i will edit... bz sangat sekarang ni...)

Tianjin-Binhai International Airport

It was autumn in Beijing, thus the panorama along the road on the bus ride from Tianjin to Beijing that took almost 2 hours reminded me so much of my student days in New England, US, in the 1980s... Autumn has always been my favourite season of the year... Cool and soft wind, golden leaves... syahdu...

Bus ride from Tianjin to Beijing took about 2 hours...

Our first stop - Niu Jie (Ox Street) Mosque, to perform Asar (jamak with Zuhr) and Maghrib (jamak with Isya'). When we arrived there it was after 5pm, and the bell (no azan) to announce the Maghrib time rang just as we finished performing Zuhr and Asr... Maghrib time was 5.33pm if I am not mistaken.

Niu Jie Mosque is the oldest and the largest mosque in Beijing, it was built in year 996 during the Liao Dynasty and was rebuilt, expanded and renovated many times after that, the most recent was 15 years ago.  The architecture of the mosque is a mixture of both Islamic and Chinese cultures, which is not unexpected at all - the bulding shows strong Chinese influence while the interior is decorated with Islamic decorations and Arabic scriptures/Quranic verses. As I walked from the front gate to the solat hall for women, I felt like I was walking inside an ancient Chinese palace...

Nui Jie literally means Ox Street and according to the our guide, the street was named as such because Muslims mainly eat beef and there are many restaurants and shops in the area selling food made of beef. And these halal shops and restaurants  are easy to identify - the colour of the front door or signage is green. The front door or signage for muslim schools are also painted in green.

There are about 200,000 Muslims in Beijing and some 10,000 (ten thousand) of them are residing and working in this area. Total population of Beijing is 16 million, by the way. And total population of China is 1.4 billion... phuh...

The chinese lady on my right (in the photo below) is the care taker of the mosque...


Outside of the solat hall for women...

By that time, our stomachs were beginning to sing some keroncong songs already... the last meal we had was breakfast on Air Asia X... the guide wanted to bring us to watch the famous Beijing Acrobat Show  as the show was scheduled to begin at 7.30pm. But the students were so hungry, I had to request from the guide to take us to dinner first.

The Beijing Acrobat Show...  

I was informed by the guide, the youngest performer was 5 years old, and the oldest was 19.

The highlight of the tour was on the second day where we scheduled to visit one of the 7 wonders of the world and the only man-made structure that can be seen from space - the Great Wall... 

 

  

Day 3 -  fresh water pearl culture center - Freesky Pearls Beijing.

I have already had a good collection of pearls from Sabah... and I thought that these pearls would not tempt me... hah!! was I wrong... I just couldnt resist those dangling ear rings and sparkling bracelets... oh well... takkan tak beli souvinirs kan... hahaha... nak rationalise konon...

Pasu... pasu and  pasu..... sigh....

Food was terrible... nasib baik the trip was only 4 days and 3 nights, 

if it were longer than that I think I'd die of hunger...

A beggar on the street - we were warned not to give beggars any money, tapi kesian pulak tengoknya.... Actually I didnt find that many beggar on the street - unlike in India and Indonesia...

At the Herbal Center - where we got a free foot massage...

IBM Beijing...

Bicycle Parking Area next to Carrefour Beijing... the government encourages people to use bicycles, many incentives are offered such as very cheap rental rate (150 yuan a year per bicycle...). Right now there are 4 million cars on the road in Beijing - that's 1 for every person in Beijing...

I didnt buy anything at this Silk Center - even though the price was quite reasonable (in fact cheaper than in Malaysia), the pattern was outdated...

Acrobat Show...

Wangfijing Street - where we bought most of our souvinirs.... but later we found out we could 

get cheaper souvinirs at Sony Market.... (cheated by the tourist guide...)

At the Herbal Center - where we got a free foot massage... ahhhh.... nice...

 

Marco Polo Bridge - at the Longevity Lake (Summer Palace) 
The temperature went down to -4 degrees that day...

Summer Palace - where the Dragon Lady liked to spend her summer...

The Birdnest (Olympic Stadium)

With Mr Tomson (owner of Olympic Stadium Gift Shop)

Water Cube

Young Imam Taufiq (Masjid at the Olympic Village... forgot the name of the masjid)

Masjid near the Olympic Village where we did our community service

Last day - before boarding the airplane to fly home...