"There are some days when I think I'm going to die from
an overdose of satisfaction." - Salvador Dali


Celebrating Aidilfitri in style. Guess-lah our theme colour. Ngeh.

Soaking in the tranquility of Penang beach (and its glorious foods). Syok!

Getting lost in heaven on earth. A bit dusty, but what the heck.

Rocking the Penang Hard Rock Café. Penang is so damn cool.

Moving to our new (rented) place.

Suffice to say, it was a fun-packed holiday. I am exhausted but feeling very contented. Dreading to get back to work tomorrow and I’m missing my family back home oh so dearly. Shucks. Biasalah kan, all good things must come to an end. Tapi setuju with what Robert Frost had to say about happiness, that it “makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” How very true.

So yeah, thank you, Allah! You’re the Greatest!

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."
- Andrew Ross, Auditor/Writer.


Recently we were at my (version of) heaven.


Go on, peeps! Guess where we were!

"Hold to forgiveness, command what is right,
but turn away from the ignorant." Al - Araf [198-199]

Have a blessed Aidilfitri, brothers and sisters!
Warmest regards from Marliza Radzi and Daud Ismail.

"Once again, we come to the holiday season,
a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way,
by going to the mall of his choice." - Dave Barry

Tiba-tiba pada jam 5 pagi ini saya ada perasaan untuk menulis. It’s the last week of Ramadhan and whilst everyone else sibuk sama ada pulun beribadat atau pulun buat kuih raya atau pulun shopping, saya sibuk pulun bekerja. Come Friday morning, tatkala semua orang berebut balik kampung, I’d have to go to the Court for a Certificate of Urgency hearing; yeah, Raya or no Raya, legal problems never cease. Tiba-tiba telah complaint di sini. Sebenarnya mahu tulis tentang observasi saya sepanjang saya shopping untuk raya. Observasi konon. Nak membebel sebenarnya.

Di Johor Bahru, kami tiada Jalan TAR yang maha meriah itu. Tapi kami ada Plaza Angsana. Kanak-kanak STF pasti kenal tempat ini sebab ia adalah salah satu outing outlets kami. Why the teachers chose Angsana, itu saya kurang pasti, sebab Angsana sebenarnya tempat untuk makcik-makcik. Maybe that’s the point. Mereka tak mahu kami bergaul dengan kelompok remaja cool. Seperti di City Square. Ngeh. Ke mana kanak-kanak STF zaman sekarang outing, ya? Enlighten me, please. Well, sidetracked.

Mahu cerita, Angsana itu seperti beberapa kangkang kera saja dari rumah saya; so just imagine having Jalan TAR sebegitu hampir dengan rumah. Natijahnya? Traffic jam! Oh God, minggu-minggu terakhir ini terutamanya, the traffic has been so bad! Nak balik rumahpun susah. Geram betul. Not once saya ke situ walaupun begitu hampir; takut mahu berebut dengan keseluruhan kaum Melayu di Johor Bahru. Kah kah.

Walaupun lambakan Crocs tiruan itu ada di mana-mana, saya kagum sebab ketika Suami saya mahu membeli di butik Crocs di Jusco Tebrau, terlalu ramai manusia! Semua manusia yang appreciate Crocs asli walaupun harganya 2 hingga 3 kali ganda harga Crocs tiruan. I don’t know lah apa perbezaan tiruan dan asli tapi tentulah ada. I am pretty sure of that. Oh Crocs telah even changed their packaging; they used to bungkus the Crocs in a plastic bag kan, nowadays sudah ada Crocs canvas bag. Perhaps to distinguish dengan Crocs tiruan; atau mungkin juga they’re aiming to be earth-conscious sekarang.

I wanted to get myself another Alice in Ruby but all Crocs stores have discontinued the sale. Kalau mahu perlu beli online. Kenapalah they discontinue one of their prettiest, comfiest designs? Lily is close but not as cute. So I got myself a Clarks instead! Clarks over here is so expensive; my Husband tak habis-habis cakap, in UK boleh dapat for 50 pounds or less saja; should have just ordered from his brother yang tinggal in London. But 50 pounds itu, kalau convert to our Malaysian Ringgit yang menyedihkan, masih mahal. So beli sajalah di sini. But yeay! Walaupun memang tidak ranggi dan bergaya muda-mudi remaja, tapi kalian tahu kan, I’m the kind of girl who chooses comfort over style. Ngeh.

But I think they’re adorable. I love my kasut raya!

Geramlah. Sejak ledakan popularity tudung Ariani or better known as tudung Ekin, sudah kurang choices tudung bawal dan tudung Italy Donatella yang cantik. Kalau adapun, mahal. I don’t think that tudung Ariani suits my face. Orang lain pakai cantik, bila saya pakai, nampak macam pelakon sinetron Indonesia. And not in a good way. Huhu. Besides, I think they’re overpriced! I never spent more than RM60 for 1 tudung. My tudung usually costs RM25 to RM40. The one RM50 tudung bawal I have was bought by Ibu so that doesn’t count. And the one tudung Ariani I have that cost me RM60, saya beli sebab terpaksa pakai for one Firm event. So I decided to buy a good one; maybe I can use it for gym or jogging nanti. Uhuks. Konon.

Kedai perabot everywhere sangat on sale. Accompanied my in laws the other day cari new sofa for their house. Memang geramlah. Rasa nak get new sofa for our new place. Oh yeah, we’re moving after raya. The same building, just different unit. Senang kan pindah? Heh. Anyways, I think perabot from Homelife dan perabot seumpamanya sangat cantik. I was so in love with this one large L-shape sofa from Homelife; teringat-ingat sampai sekarang. Kalaulah dapat bonus. Sigh. How does it feel to make USD10 Million for merely an endorsement?! Damn you, Heidi Klum.

Oh yeah, my Firm did give out bonus but it was for 2008 service and since I only worked with the Firm for 3 months in 2008, maka tak dapatlah. Sedih rasa di hati. Hopefully next year’s Raya, dapatlah. But alhamdulillah for the increment. Sungguh syukur. Seronok betullah dengar di radio; hari-hari ada orang beritahu dapat 2 bulan bonuslah, 3 bulanlah. Mesti seronok boleh settle all debts and raya dengan tenang hati. Kah kah government-lah paling murah hati. RM500 for kakitangan sokongan? Pegawai tak kerja keras, is it?

Camera juga adalah sangat murah sekarang. If you have been thinking of getting yourself a compact camera, now is the time. I followed my friend cari camera today and I was surprised that a good Nikon Coolpix only costs RM599. Before tawar-menawar. Murahlah. But my desire for a good compact camera telah hilang sekarang sebab I think my N97 camera is adequate enough for now. For important events, we have our basic D40 DSLR.

I adore my phone. I do I do I do. Ngeee.

Speaking of which, my Little Brother’s rumah bujang got robbed today and he lost his precious camera bag; yang di dalamnya ada 1 D40, 1 D90, lens, flash and what not. Complete set! How heartbreaking is that?! Damn you, perompak! It’s Ramadhan, for God’s sake! Syaitan tak adapun boleh jahat lagi. Memang hardcore jahatlah maksudnya.

Di manalah D90 ini ketika ini? Kasihan dia. Sigh.

It seems that walaupun the economy is reportedly quite bad and what not, when it comes to Raya, Malays tak berkira sangat. Masih mahu beraya sakan. My dad cakap, my Maktok selalu pesan, macam mana susahpun, wajib belikan malah sehelai baju baru untuk anak-anak. And because my dad was brought up in such a loving, generous family, he is a natural giver. Jadi dari kecil saya tak pernah tak ada baju baru, malah berhelai-helai. Dan lebih seronok, sampai sekarang he will get new baju for me setiap kali raya. Kah kah. Comel betul, saya beli baju untuk dia dan keluarga, diapun beli baju untuk saya. Maktok passed sikap mulia itu to him and he passed it to me.

Anyways, we haven’t done with our shopping yet. Kah kah. Perangai macam budak-budak nak baju raya, kasut raya bagai. Wanted to buy Levi’s the other day but the store was so packed kami tak sanggup nak berebut dengan muda-mudi semua. Kah kah orang raya, beli kebaya, saya mahu Levi’s. it’s just that I don’t really beli barang di masa lain, rayalah time nak spend sikit. I’m quite stingy, ingat kan? Ngeh. And I want those bekas kuih from Metrojaya Living Quarters; they’re a bit pricey but pretty, tapi tak apalah, mahu juga! Beli sekali guna bertahun! Justification. Ngeh.

*UPDATED* Got the bekas kuih I wanted! Yeay!

I guess it’s a good thing-lah I didn’t get the bonus; kalau tidak, keseluruhan MJ Living Quarters itu akan kuborong. Kah kah. Perlu bersabar. Got to save up for pindah rumah and for another very important event. Not telling. Ngeh.

*UPDATED* Oh yes, we also finally succumbed to social pressure (kah kah) and went to Angsana at 12.30 last night. Managed to get Hubby's songkok tinggi warisan Johor (comellah songkok tinggi, he looks like a YB with it) and gasp! My Levi's! Yeay! Kagum kan dengan Angsana? Ia seperti tidak tidur!

So anyways, kawan-kawan, are you done with your Raya shopping?

Idleness is the beginning of all vices

For some reason unknown even to myself, I don’t feel like writing.
Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. Who knows?
Till then, take care, beautiful people! Hugs!

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

“Tuhan menguji orang yang baik tetapi tidak melupakannya. Tuhan membantu orang yang jahat tapi akan dihukumnya juga.” Itu kata-kata Rajnikanth dalam filem Baasha. Kah kah. Bocor rahsia saya tonton filem Tamil. Sila faham fakta bahawa filem Tamil sebenarnya sangat best. Dramatic. Although sometimes boleh jadi overly dramatic. Pening. Tapi nak juga buat justification kenapa saya tonton Baasha. Saya sebenarnya penggemar filem Padaiyappa. Sila gelak. In fact, my girls and I used to be obsessed with Padaiyappa signature move, the tabik. Lalu sahabat saya Mardzia arahkan saya tonton Baasha. Lalu saya menurut perintah. Cool habislah Rajnikanth. His body movements adalah sangat bergaya. Who else can make smoking in the Court looks so damn cool? Kah kah.

Well anyways, I wanted to use those lines of his as the mukadimah to this entry but I got sidetracked there. Tema kali ini ialah Jangan Putus Harap Dengan Allah. Memang ada orang jahat yang kaya-raya lagi bahagia dan orang baik yang papa-kedana malah berpenyakit pula. Memang, memang. Tapi Allah tak lupa itu semua. Allah tak lupa siapa baik, siapa jahat. Kita yang lupa. Kita yang lupa perhitungan sebenar ialah di akhirat kelak.

Syekih Ibn Athai’llah Al-Sakandari dalam Kitab Hikam pesan, “Janganlah kelewatan masa pemberian Tuhan kepadamu, padahal engkau bersungguh-sungguh dalam berdoa menyebabkan putus harapan, sebab Allah telah menjamin akan menerima semua doa dalam bentuk apa yang dia kehendaki untukmu, bukan menurut kehendakmu, dan pada waktu yang ditentukanNya dan bukan pada waktu yang engkau tentukan.” Baiklah mengaku. Saya tak pernah baca Kitab tersebut. Saya baca tentangnya dari satu blog yang sungguh bagus.

Perenggan seterusnya. Pernah tak dapat emel tentang kisah fiksyen Raja Zalim vs Raja Baik? Just in case you guys tak pernah, saya ceritakan sedikit kisah itu di sini. Abridged version ya.

Raja Zalim sakit. Ubatnya ikan yang jarang dan susah ditemui. Tapi dengan kuasa Allah, dengan mudah, ikan ditemui. Lalu Raja Zalimpun sembuh. Di suatu tempat dan waktu lain, Raja Baik sakit. Ubatnya mudah sangat, ikan yang memang sentiasa ada sepanjang tahun. Tapi ketika itulah tiba-tiba tak dapat temui ikan itu lalu Raja Baik mangkat. Kenapa, kawan-kawan, kenapa? Kenapa yang zalim dibantu Tuhan dan bukan yang baik itu?

Pengkarya (yang anonymous) senaraikan 4 Pengajaran Utama. Saya ingin reiterate di sini secara mudah dan dengan sedikit penambahan peribadi. Macam pandailah konon? Ngeee. Anyways.

(1) Kita perlu yakin bahawa ada kesalahan yang Allah beri hukuman di dunia, atau fondly known among anak-anak muda as balasan cash. Dengan demikian, di akhirat nanti dosa itu tidak diperhitungkanNya lagi. Kalau kita yakin, ini dapat kuatkan iman kita apabila sedang tertimpa musibah.

(2) Kalau tiada musibah yang menimpa kita, jangan pula kita lalai. Kalau kita sedar hakikat ini, kita tak akan terbuai dengan kelazatan duniawi sehingga terlupa tentang perhitungan sebenar di akhirat.

(3) Musibah yang menimpa seseorang belum tentu kerana orang itu telah berbuat keburukan. Ia mungkin adalah ujian dari Tuhan.

(4) Siapalah kita untuk tahu maksud Allah? Barangkali kamu membenci sesuatu, tetapi itu baik bagi kamu. Dan barangkali kamu menyukai sesuatu sedangkan itu buruk bagi kamu. Dan Allah Maha Mengetahui apa yang kamu tidak ketahui.” [Al-Baqarah (2): 216]

Sekianlah di sini perkongsian ringkas dengan tujuan utama mengingatkan diri sendiri. Sudah, sudah, kawan-kawan. Janganlah ditenung gambar Rajnikanth yang cool itu, sila jaga puasa anda. Ngeh ngeh.

"No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut. " - Channing Pollock

Rasulullah yang kita semua kasihi bersabda: “Bagi orang yang berpuasa akan mendapat dua kegembiraan: Kegembiraan ketika berbuka puasa dan kegembiraan ketika menemui Tuhannya.” Memulakan karangan dengan kemuliaan hadith sedangkan karangan bakal berunsur lagha. Kerana antara kegembiraan saya sebagai seorang yang berpuasa ikhlas kerana Allah ialah ketika berbuka puasa, hari ini saya ingin kongsi kisah berbuka puasa dari hari satu hingga hari sepuluh. Ngeee. WARNING: Mouth-watering foods mentioning ahead. Ngeh.



Hari Satu: The first day of Ramadhan this year falls on Saturday but it was a pretty wasatiah iftar. MIL made Mee Hoon Goreng and I made the sweetest caramel pudding. Back home, they had a feast (My Little Bro sent me MMS. Keji) and I couldn’t help but felt so jealous. Haha.

Hari Dua: One of Hubby’s cousins invited us over for iftar at his palace (we call his house a Disney palace simply because it’s astonishingly gigantic and the bumbung and finishing macam the castles we see in Disney movies. Heh). Tiba-tiba angin rajin datang and so I made approximately 40 pieces of fruit cocktail pudding. Kah kah. But the kerajinan paid off because everyone seemed to be enjoying the sweet, sejuk dessert. Oh and we had Nasi Briyani and KFC there. I didn’t enjoy the Briyani sebab jenis yang kering so I melantak the KFC. Ada juga Mee Kari and Yong Tau Foo but I don’t really like them so tak makanpun. Ok, I like Mee Kari tapi memilih. Old Town’s is the best! Drooling terkenang Mee Kari Old Town.


Hari Tiga: Hubby treated PIL and I makan Ramadhan buffet at Singgah Selalu. I still personally think that Singgah Selalu buffet is one of the best buffets I’ve ever been to. The varieties were good and the foods were delicious. Udang, ketam, sotong, all sorts of ikan, all kind of masakan ayam and spreads of lauk pauk, Mee Kari, Laksa Johor, varieties of desserts and drinks; it was heavenly. Too bad I have perut kecil (tapi buncit). Too bad.


Hari Empat: Ramadhan bazaar! Or commonly and fondly known as PARAM. Hehe. Cute. We actually made a pact untuk tidak jejak bazaar tahun ini because we didn’t seem to have any self-control last year. Kah kah. But we broke the pact dengan syarat we won’t overspend. Ngeh. So after work, we went to the bazaar in BBU; bazaar nya adalah kecil tapi semua yang kami beli memuaskan hati especially the Briyani Batu Pahat which costs us RM8 saja for Briyani Ayam and Briyani Daging. Cheap, huh? Oh and if you go there, make sure you buy T-Bone Soup ala Arabian. 3 for RM10. Different, but yummeh. And of course, kalau pergi bazaar, wajiblah beli Ayam Percik. Ayam Percik Idris adalah lazat.


Hari Lima: Menjadi wasatiah semula. MIL made Makaroni Goreng and we went there to melahap tanpa segan silu. I made nothing but in my defense, it was a hectic day at work and with all the traffics and what not, by the time I reached home, I didn’t have the time dan kudrat to masak anything. Heh. Oh MIL also goreng some seriously delicious Karipap segera. Ok, rupanya orang Johor panggil Karipap as Epok-Epok. Cute, huh?


Hari Enam: Got a case in Putrajaya and the office conveniently booked flight balik jam 9.15 malam, so I got the buka puasa with my beloved parents. We buka puasa at Concorde KLIA and I must say that RM50 (nett) is kind of cheap for Concorde, lebih-lebih lagi sebab the buffet spread was good. Lauk pauk, kambing and ayam golek, satay, nasi ayam, all sorts of mee, ABC, salads, western foods dan banyaklah lagi. And I didn’t feel guilty at all because Hubby also buka puasa di hotel that night, with his colleagues, courtesy of the boss. Hehe. But I was so dahaga because the day was spent ke sana ke mari, so I minum sangat banyak. Maka, rugilah sebab perut kembung sebab kenyang air. My favourite thing about the buffet is the selections of dessert. The Moist Chocolate Cake, the cheesecake and kuih-muih Melayu; simply divine! (Desserts = Stress spell backwards) Which results in me sleeping all the way home like a baby. Heh.

Hari Tujuh: Another sepupu of Hubby’s invited us for iftar at his place. I’ve told you about this and yes, they did serve home-cooked Briyani Kambing. Yeay me! He makes one of the best Briyanis, I tell you. Sebab itulah saya begitu teruja. And his wife made Soto. Pedas dan lazat. Makanan sungguh mewahlah. All sorts of kuih-muih lagi. Yummeh! We ended up tidak berterawikh dan tonton Nur Kasih beramai-ramai. Oh Nur Kasih, Nur Kasih.


Hari Lapan: Went back to KL! Kah kah arrived in KLIA just in time for iftar so my dad arranged for another iftar in Concorde KLIA. The spread masih lebih kurang sama with slight changes on the drinks and jenis lauk-pauk. Tapi masih scrumptious. I particularly enjoyed the Rendang Burung Puyuh.

Hari Sembilan: My favourite iftar of them all. My mom cooked! And like I have eagerly tweeted, masakan ibu jugalah yang terpaling tersedap di dalam dunia. She made Asam Pedas Ikan Duri, Sambal Tumis Petai Udang Harimau, Ketam Masak Lemak Cili Padi and Laksa Penang. Ok, the Laksa Penang is for her menantu sebab I tak suka Laksa Penang walaupun dilahirkan di Penang. Weird, I know. Oh Ibu also made delicious Lopes! Lazat lazat lazat terpaling lazat. And I had a blast teman my parents shopping earlier that day even though I didn’t buy anything for myself. I’m cerewet and that’s one trait yang sangat menyusahkan. But good for my wallet.


Hari Sepuluh: My mom made her famous Daging Goreng Cabai and bungkus for us to bring home. Agak berdebar tak lepas for hand-carry (Sebab takkan nak check in foods? Dicampak-campak nanti) tapi alhamdulillah, lepas. MIL picked us up at the airport and we went straight to her place where Mee Goreng was already waiting for us. But not before stopping at bazaar, the one in Ayer Molek for Ayam Percik and some kuih. Earlier the day, perut Hubby and I sangat meragam, ibu kata because of the petai the day before. So sangat lega bila dapat masukkan makanan dalam perut, mengambil tempat angin yang telah memenuhi ruang perut.


So there you have it. 10 hari of nikmat berbuka puasa. I will update more mengenai the next 10 days of buka puasa on the 21st day of Ramadhan, insyaAllah. Heh. Maaflah mengganggu your puasa with the cerita and the gambar makanan lazat from We Heart It. Irwin Van Grove was right. Hunger is one of the few cravings that cannot be appeased with another solution. Foods foods foods and more foods. Ngeee.