Kak Lina, my childhood friend

We knew Kak Lina and her family when we were in Penrissen Camp, Kuching. That was way back in 1978 when I was in standard four. At that time, my father (who was an army officer then) was transferred to Kuching to lead the Calvary unit. So, my mum and I followed him there and my two elder brothers stayed behind since they were in boarding schools.

Kak Lina's father or Pakcik Mat worked in the same unit as my father and her mum, Makcik Mah was together with my mum in BAKAT (a group of army wives). That's how we came to know their family. They are Johorian from Batu Pahat. Both Kak Lina and I have two elder brothers and we are the youngest and the only girl in the family. Although she is a couple of years older than me but we were good friends then. Makcik Mah is a very good cook and her speciality is the johor food especially nasi beriyani, soto and lontong. Kak Lina's elder brothers, Abang Kamal and Abang Zahar are great artist. I still remember some of their drawings and sketches in my autograph book!

Anyway, when we returned to Semenanjung, we lost contact for a while until my parents moved to Pekan, Pahang and at that time Kak Lina and family have settled in Bukit Setongkol Kuantan when Pakcik Mat retired. I hardly see Kak Lina since I was in boarding school and later went to UK to further my studies. When I came back and my parents moved to Kuantan, our friendship resumed. I remember going for double dates with Kak Lina at Pantai Batu Hitam. Kak Lina married to Abang Taslim few years earlier than me and they now have twelve kids, the eldest is waiting for the SPM result and the youngest is just 4 months old!

I am always amazed with Kak Lina having so many kids to take care of. She used to work but later quit her job to take care of the children. Every time when I see her, there will definitely be a new addition to the family until I lost track of their names! They came to visit my parents on Sunday, 7 February 2010 and this time I managed to capture a photo of the whole family. I finally met Abang Zahar after so long, he is now married with two kids. I have not seen Abang Kamal for the longest time, he is now married with eight kids!

To Kak Lina and family, hope our friendship continues...

Kari daging, Masak Lemak Rebung, Ikan Siakap Sweet Sour, Kerabu Pucuk Paku, Gado2, Ayam Masak Kicap, Sambal belacan dan Ulam

Abang Zahar, wife dan Kak Lina

Abah dan Pakcik Mat

The Long Break...

We decided to stay home for the first time this year over the long Chinese New Year break. We normally either balik kampung or goes for holiday and ended up joining the crowd in the massive jam on our way back to the city. This year we finally decided that we should take a break from travelling and spend quality time at home with the kids.

So, what did we do during the 4-day break?

On Saturday 13 February 2010, we went to do some marketing at Pasar Tani, Taman Melawati early in the morning and bought some fresh prawns, crabs and cockles. We had ketam masak cili Pak Ngah's style,masak lemak rebung, butter prawn, sayur taugeh kasar (Dini's favourite) and kerang rebus for lunch. Instead of 'makan' at the dining table, we decided to eat kampung style, bentang tikar sambil bersila. The kids enjoyed Ibu's cooking especially Dini and Faiz who have been eating hostel's food...kesian! Later in the evening, we all went to Jalan Tar and Pavillion to get the kid's stuff. That night, we ended up at one of the Tom Yam stall at Taman Melati for dinner...makan all the time!

Sunday, 14 February 2010 was the Chinese New Year...we wished our friends happy new year and reminded them that this is a tiger year and not a tiger woods year!! We had American breakfast with beef slices, chicken sausages, scramble eggs, saute and baked mushrooms with baked beans. Abah and Thaqif went to play football earlier in the morning.

After breakfast, the kids did their own things, did their homework, played computer games/play station and packed their stuff while the parents were busy cleaning the house and doing some gardening. We had lunch at Bukit Indah with Tok, Tok Wan and Aunty Yah's family who came to visit them. IQ attended majlis aqiqah at a neighbour's house. Immediately after lunch, we rushed to Pavillion to watch AVATAR 3D....since we have not seen the 3D version. The movie was 2.5 hours long and Thaqif doze off half way! Not much 3D anyway....Later that night, we had supper at SAS Corner, our usual lepak place just beside Petronas with McD Drive Thru at Taman Melati Utama. The burgers are nicer and so much cheaper.

Our breakfast on Monday, 15 February 2010 was Nasi Berlauk Ikan Tongkol. After several attempt, the gulai ikan tongkol was almost as good as the one we always eat at Kedai Mak Wan at Pasar Keramat except that the fish was not salty enough. After breakfast, Dini did her last minute packing and we sent her off at Greenwood around 10.30am. She went back by bus with a few other girls from MTS. We decided to have lunch outside before sending Faiz back to IQKL. We went to the Curve for the first time and was looking for a place to eat when we saw mushroom promotion at Marchie Movenpick. The concept is very interesting where you get to choose and select what you want to eat. We had roasted lamb leg, saute mushroom, fried vege, baked potatoes, roast chicken and some sausages. The food was nice and good...makan lagi! After looking around, we left for IQKL and said goodbye to Faiz. When we reached home,Pak Long and family called to say that they are on their way to our house to drop our favourite Puding Di Raja. After they left, we started to do our "filing" project. There were just too many papers, documents,certificates,receipts that we have been keeping waiting to be filed and we sorted all the documents until after midnight.

The last day of our break, Tuesday 16 February 2010, Thaqif and Abah played football again in the nearby school field early in the morning while Ibu prepared breakfast. We had pulut, ikan kering and sambal tumis ikan bilis for breakfast. That was yummy....but just the 3 of us!! Ibu later rushed to the Specialist Hospital Al-Islam for her ENT appointment. The three of us had lunch at Bukit Indah again but this time with Pak Long and family. After lunch, we brought Pak Long and family to IKEA and had dinner at Rasta, TTDI. Later that night, Ibu as usual went for her last tilawah class at UIA and she will sit for her exam this saturday!

That was how we spent our long break. Managed to get a lot of things done and at the same time enjoyed quality time with the kids.

Novel Sejarah Islam terbitan PTS

Antara buku bacaan kami sejak akhir-akhir ini adalah buku-buku yang diterbitkan oleh PTS (http://www.pts.com.my/). PTS adalah sebuah syarikat penerbitan yang telah beroperasi lebih dari 10 tahun dan menerbitkan berbagai judul buku yang kebanyakkannya berlandaskan islam. Kami berpeluang berkunjung ke pejabat PTS yang terletak di Batu Caves pada hari cuti umum Wilayah yang lepas kerana telah membuat temujanji untuk menukar buku yang rosak yang dibeli secara on-line di Book Cafe.

Judul buku yang menjadi pilihan kami adalah novel sejarah islam mengenai tokoh-tokoh dan pahlawan Islam terbilang yang ditulis oleh Abdul Latip Talib. Antara buku-buku yang ditulis adalah mengenai empat orang Khalifah Islam, Abu Bakar As Siddiq, Umar Al Khatab, Uthman Affan dan Ali Abi Talib. Lain-lain tokoh termasuk Khalid bin Al Walid, Abu Ubaidah Al Jarrah, Tariq, Bilal bin Rabah, Ikramah, Salahuddin Al Ayubi dan Hulagu Khan. Yang terbaru adalah Umar Abdul Aziz, Imam Shafie dan Imam Hanafi.

Karya yang dihasilkan oleh penulis dapat memberikan gambaran mengenai kehidupan yang dilalui oleh tokok-tokoh Islam bersama dengan Nabi Muhammad SAW dan selepas kewafatan beliau. Jalan cerita yang mudah serta tidak membosankan membuat kami begitu teruja untuk membaca kesemua koleksi buku penulis. Cerita mengenai kepayahan Nabi Muhammad SAW berdakwah setelah menerima wahyu pertama dari Allah SWT sehinggalah tamadun Islam berkembang luas sehingga dapat menakluk Empayar Rom, Parsi dan Baitulmaqdis begitu memberi kesan dan menyentuh jiwa. Pengorbanan umat terdahulu yang sanggup syahid hanya kerana iman dan islam menyedarkan and menginsafkan diri.

Banyak lagi judul-judul menarik yang diterbitkan oleh PTS seperti buku-buku motivasi, bisnes, komik dan buku kanak-kanak, resipi, tokoh dunia dan novel-novel. Buku-buku ini boleh diperolehi terus dari bilik pameran PTS di Dolomite Business Park, Batu Caves yang menawarkan diskaun sehingga 25%.

"Jadikanlah umur ibarat wang yang diberikan kepadamu sekiranya engkau tidak suka apa yang engkau belanjakan hilang begitu sahaja maka hendaklah engkau tidak menghabiskan umur engkau dengan sia-sia" ~ Saidina Ali Bin Abi Talib

Kepada penulis, semoga apa yang anda usahakan mendapat ganjaran dari Allah SWT, insyaAllah. Selamat Membaca.