Al Fatihah

I awoke suddenly last night ....looked at the clock ......0143 am and fell asleep again .


At about 0815 this morning a friend smsed me . Our close friend, she said had passed away . She asked ....was she ever sick ?


I called her .....are you sure its our friend ? She found it hard to believe too but that was what she heard .....who had received the news from my late friend's neighbor .


I made a few calls here and there ...and finally managed to get thru my late friend's husband . Yes .....he said .....we are preparing her for the prayers now. She passed on before 2 this morning . I knew he too was in shock and feeling the loss of a love one ...I did not want to know more but just one more question " was she ever sakit ? " She died of low blood pressure ......he said .


No.........I was not able to attend her funeral ........I'm sorry that I missed yours , my friend .


In my mind ..scenes of us growing up together .....attending the same primary , secondary and college together played in the pages of my mind . How we climbed their " cermai" tree to get the sour little fruits . How her parents looked on in amazement at us but never saying a word and say " not to climb ". They sure do have lots of confidence in us .


When she was young her dressing had always been clean , neat , prim and proper .Her hair at shoulder length and neatly combed or tied back . She would have ribbons in her hair . Most of the time we sat next to each other in class . She had always been the smart one ......very good in her English and other subjects too . And she had this appetite to read.......read and read .


She had this infectious laugh ; she just loved to laugh .......and she loved to smile too ; showing off her set of perfectly set , white teeth . I remembered once ........both of us receiving prizes for .........a set of good teeth !! I remembered she was not the kind to simply participate in the crazy things that me and other friends did . She would be at the side and looked on and laughed at us .


Rest in peace , my friend ...........you will always be in my memories . Thanks for touching my life and thanks too for being my friend .


Al Fatihah .


" Jamilah Binti Piee ( !961 - 2008 ) "
bersamaan
20 Rejab 1429 H .

I'm Not Your Friend

It was once one of those days when my only daughter felt chatty enough to tell me about her friends . During the course of this conversation she was telling about a particular friend whose relationship with her mother is not like the normal .........yunno a mother and daughter relationship. My daughter said , " They treat each other as friends "


I was asking ' What sort of friends ? "


" I don't actually know ," said daughter ." But I think friends like me and her ...she and her friends . That kind of thing lah . "


That certainly had me thinking for a while . I heard of this before where there are certain parents who thought that their approach in raising up their chidren is more of " as friends ". That's fine for me after all that is their way ....if they are comfortable with that and it works for them ...that's fine .


Me ? My hubby ? Honestly we never discussed about the sort of approach we should raise up our children . There was never a parenting talk that we attended . It was more like ...we brought these children into this world .......so it is our responsibility that they grew up with proper food , clothes and shelter .......plus education and to be counter balanced with a very good dose of Islam values in them . Most parents would like their children to be good citizens .......to contribute to society and the country . I mean how many parents out there want their children to be gangsters and rob and kill people along the way ?


I can't imagine how I would be like if I treat my daughter as a friend .


A friend ? Gee ........aren't friends are supposed to be like .......we can borrow each others clothes ? We can talk and gossip about that particular person ?...and if I go partying and drink and if my daughter do that its okay ........after all we are friends ? What if both of us had a tiff and called each others names plus the bad mouths ...gosh every Tom , Dick and Harry plus Minah and Timah and Piah will know about my household . Perhaps we will never talk to each other .......and that will make my daughter as .......motherless ?

Then where and who is her mother ? Who is going to guide her .........? Where is the respect I deserve ........after all my blood and her father's runs in those veins of hers and not her friend's blood .


No .....I can never be my daughter's friend ....I will face whatever squabbles both of us will encounter along the way ...I will not shrink my duties as a mother .


I hope .....Insyaallah .....I will get my daughter's respect and guide her. Definitely there will come a time when we both will go separate ways and when that time comes she is ready to face the world and be on her own feet .

The Chase .

Ok ....I need this break . The laundry is out in the sun : I have washed the two stairs at the back , scrubbed the small washing area , washed two floor mats . Had scrubbed the kitchen towels but still need to soak it for a while with detergent to give anither boost of cleanliness to it .....so that when it is dry it looks white and clean ; ready to be used again .

As I was preparing ingredients for my fried yellow mee .....I heard squeels .....as if one is in pain and in fright . I looked up ...horrors of horrors ........indeed she was scared . How she ran for her life ! He was bigger then her and the long legs ........wow !! He easily closed the gaps between them . In no time he toppled her down . She was scared and fighting back .

Well......me being the busy body must not stand and look and let things set its own course . I stood at the back door and cried out ....Hey you !!

Both looked up . He paused ...looked at me in the eye ....and if looks could kill ..I would be dead by now .The short distraction was enough for her to scramble on her feet and off she ran for sheer life . There was no place to hide . Its all grasses ...shrubs here and there ...and in broad daylight .....you are a goner !! He gave chase ; toppled her down again . They were at a corner of my back neighbor's yard . Quite far to distract him again ......even if I did attempted he would pooh pooh me off .

She .....was still on the ground ......trying hard to save herself ........he was looking down at her ....now and then stalking around her ....looking for the perfect moment to pounce on her again .

She moved too ...not going to give up to him ...she spat ......growled .......yunno in a more feminine way . Atta girl !! At least you are fighting back . She got up .....ran ...ran ..and ran, He gave chase ..he was enjoying it ...I bet .....you dirty scum !!


Then I heard another back door was being opened . Finally help is on the way . Out came my neighbor .......with a stick in her hand ...a big meter long stick .

I saw her walked up to my neighbors fence .........and with a loud " Shoo !! " plus harsh words in her Tamil language .......it scared the shit out of him !! He darted off .


Our young back alley beautiful cat is safe .......for now ...from predators .....their own species .

Had seen two of them lately in the back lane . Eyeing the beauties in the alley ........though standing a safe distance away . I could see the gleam in their eyes .......and what transpired in his mind ......well!! I know what he is up to !!

He Ain't Heavy ......He's My Brother.......

Do you ever sit back and recall of years gone by and during that time..you had a fleeting moment of remembrance of life with your dearly departed family members ?


Yes I do .I do remember for a fact that this year ...and to be exact comes 13 Shaaban , it would have been 20 years my eldest bro left us .


I remembered the day it happened ....it took everybody by surprise ....his own family and my mother and father plus us siblings . That was 1988 . He was 40 years old when he passed on .



We called him Bang Long ..the eldest son for my parents . I don't remember playing with him as a child though ...... I am the eight in the family .......and by the time I was born he was a teenager .

But I do remember the jokes we shared ...the teasings .......his smile ...I would like to think of the golden aspects of him and he had lots .......like he was my mother's chauffeur .....could easily get him to give a helping hand when my mother wants to do her marketing . He was the one my mother would turn to to help pick up a relative . He was the one who was very much at ease with relatives and the friendliest .


Being the eldest , I'm sure my parents had that special feelings for him ....so did my grandparents ....how they must have dotted on him....after all he was the eldest grandchild . As for me we could get along together ....we could converse , we could poke fun with each other without getting mad ..... Come to think of it , my bro had this light brown eyes ......and I always wondered where my daughter inherited hers . Those were the days and how I treasured those times .

I could write more about him ..but let that be in my memories for now .....

Al Fatihah . Rest in peace , brother . You will always be in my prayers .

What A Temptation !!

Hi folks !!

Had always wanted to learn how to make that ever mouth watering Tiramisu Cheese Cake .





Well ..I finally found out how its prepared ....hehe......had always thought that this cake originated from Japan as that Tiramisu name sounds like it originated from there . Although I do found it strange and odd that cheese is from Japan ?





I must say one must be full of confident to do it .....plus to read the recipe over and over again ....plus ensuring the ingredients are measured accordingly and exactly . After all ...ingredients used such as the mascapone ( spelling correct ? ) is not that cheap here in my town . Over all cost in making it is relatively expensive too . It is a waste if it turns out to be a failure .


It cost quite a bomb when I eat a small slice of it at the shop. The whole cake , when sold is about RM95 . Whew !!




The chef was friendly and shared a couple of tips in making it . Like how to remove the cake from the mould .......another tip is when putting in the well mixed cheese in the mould ...one is to bang the cake tin on the counter top two or three times so as to let out the air ...this will allow more fillings to be put in .




In addition to the cake he prepared another two types of biscuit . Both were yummy ......hmmmnn.



Okay , now that I have seen it ........I must try to do it . But before that I must get myself a good mixer ..........had always wanted to buy one .

Presently , I get by with my ever handy hand mixer . Now ..which brand should I choose ?

What A Beginning !!

It is a beautiful morning out there . Its a great great day .


I love the sun to help dry my laundry ....a free service from mother nature . I used the sun's rays too to give my cushions and pillows a whiff of freshness by exposing them for hours in the sun .Yunno what I mean .......sometimes pillows and cushions give a kind of musky smell when used for long . Some people just replaced them and get themselves new ones . As for me its not that easy to detach myself from my pillows as new ones need time to acclimatise.


So just when I am so full of energy this morning and had planned to do most of the laundry ( yesterday's weather was bad ) my washing machine broke down . BOO HOO !! A broken down washing machine is a broken me ; that I can tell you . Anyway had called the technician and hopes he gets here fast .


Whoever invented the washing machine ....i just want to say ......Bless you !!

What ? Insane ?

You heard me ......I am going insane ......soon .


Life for the past five days was horrendous . I dread evenings . At six pm , I found myself closing my sliding doors and pulled the curtains . The front door would be closed too . Things that are not the norm of this house .


My house has and is always wide opened ...by that I meant ....doors both front and back are opened ....windows too and curtains are tied back ; all these to let in the fresh air into my house . I am not one who survived on stagnant air . Alas ! All these will come to an end if the present situation persists .


Hey ...I am one who is not that prejudice kind of person . I accept people whoever they may be ..regardless of race and religion . I have always believed in respecting other peoples religion and tries to tolerate and understand their believes ......and I do expect them to do that to my believes too .


However it can't be denied that at times your tolerance level is being tested and when it reached that certain limit ......you kinda feel like you want to storm up to that guy and give him a piece of your mind .


You see ........my new neighbor just moved in . Being Hindus they have their own rituals that goes along with it . Bells would be rung .....that's fine for me .Then they would burnt their incense which was so far fine with me . Nothing strange as I do have some other Hindu neighbors . The incense they burnt so far is tolerable .The smell would linger in the air for the most 10 minutes or so and would soon go away .


But its not so with this newbie on the block . Must he made his presence felt by burning an incense that pollutes my environment ? Can't he use an incense with a more subtle kind of smell ? Hey ........don't get me wrong ........he can burnt any number of incense if he wants too........but please lah ......try to ensre the smell stays within your territory and your environment . Ensure that the atrocious smell that make me puked and gave me a terrible headache stayed within your compound and house too . Do you have to burnt that particular atrocious and bad mother of all smells incense outside your house too ? Must you put that incense at the corner of your backyard which happens to be the corner of my wall too ? Of course the smell enters my kitchen ..you ....you........senseless out of this planet neighbor ? ( Pardon the expression ...I'm insane , remember ? ) . Must you burnt it for the whole evening and whole night ? Goshhhhhhhhhhhh.......how insensitive and brainless of you .


Ok ......I hope our paths will cross soon .....and I will tell you how I feel .....I will tell you I am going insane over your incense !!


I hope you will cooperate ......well if you don't .......I will join in in this incense burning thing ......I will not burn what you used . I have my own concoction too....and if my memory proves me right .....you will be coughing away and sneezing non stop over this recipe of mine ......dry skins of red onions and garlic ...and dry red chillies with its seeds .


Old folks said .....this heart burning smell can drive away the hantu pelisit too .


I hope you will not be my neighbor from hell ..............

What's Up ?

I know ..I know ...I have done it again .....not that I have been thattttttttttttt.......busy and working round the clock .Its one of those days when you just find it hard to put words onto paper......oops !!


I don't know how many readers there are who dropped by and read my blogs ....whatever it is .......thank you for the time . Really appreciate it .


Here's for you :D




Yes , how time flies ..its July now . Back to the days when I was a career woman , June and July would be the month to assess the progress and performance of the school .......the mid year review .


Its been a while since I last used these words . The budget would be scrutinized ...the teachers performance and the children' s capabilities were assessed .....questions I would ask myself would be ........... is the school heading in the direction we had planned earlier on ?


Yes , at times I missed the working environment , the stress and tensions ....the good friends and colleagues you met and were able to work with . Of course you do happened to come across some who were just sour grapes .......at times there would be head on collisions with colleagues ...one of those times when you don't see eye to eye .......and the ex- communication and the cold shoulder they would give you . Those were the days ........ I felt the heart ache when faced with these problems but one persevered and pushed on . Along the way ..I discovered myself ........tested my limits and the tolerance level that I allowed myself to have . Yes ....some people are heartless and cold and would not hesitate to stab you in the back . Working life is no sweet roses .



However it was through this working episodes of my life that my life is enriched .....the tremendous experience I garnered , the trust that your boss gave you ( and they know you can deliver ) and their belief in you ......that matters a lot . Yes , there are some good people there who just want to get their work done as what was trusted to them . Decisions had to be made .......whatever ......there would be unhappy faces as your actions would be misconstrued . At times I would take the time to explain and at times I would not be bothered and hope that the decisions I made served the purpose and it had worked and the results showed . Sometimes ....like the song goes ...you say it best when you say nothing at all .


To my friends who had touched my life ...........thank you once again .....