MTR HK is amazing

I was in Hong Kong for a week recently. My first time there and the first time we have a family vacation after a long time. To me, HK is just okay but the MTR is something else.

We purchased an express rail line pass at the airport for easy travelling. It costs HK$220 per person. We are entitled to a single journey from the airport and 3 days of free travelling by train. There was a HK$50 deposit and any money not used will be refunded back to us. It definitely worth more than what we paid for.

For those of you who have to travel by train everyday in KL, MTR HK is a godsend. It is easy, quick, clean, punctual and not tiring at all. You do not have to walk a long way, like you did if you want to change station from Putra LRT at Masjid Jamek to STAR LRT at Masjid Jamek.

At some station , you only have to walk across to get into another train. The exit points is everywhere. You just have to know where you are going and just follow the exit points. It's as simple as ABC. That's it, no fancy names for the exits , just ABCDE or F.

There's no fancy names for the lines too. Just, red, green, blue, orange and pink ( Of course, this is the Disneyland line). The trains are big and long. There are queues but these are short and if you are not in a hurry, you can always wait for the next train.

Mind you, millions of people use the MTR everyday, so it is not easy to get seats during the peak hours. But the journey is short since the trains are very fast so you do not need a seat really..

Hong Kong MTR has been in existence for a very long time. Why can't our country adopt this system when we want to have the LRTs? We should have a mass transport system instead of a light one. Of course it is expensive.. but it is better, quicker and efficient and it works.

Any major transport system should be handled by the government..I know ..this system does not make money but it is for the benefit of everyone. If everyone use the system, then definitely the governement will make money out of it.

Then only we do not have any traffic jams since everyone prefers to use the MTR and travelling will be a breeze....

The Jews Did It Again

I have not read the atrocities of the jews for quite sometime. Most of all I cannot bear to look at those young faces in their 'kain kapan'. It just broke my heart. So I refrain myself from reading any news about the jews and the palestinians.

Until now...what had happened on the flotilla of aid.Mavi Marmara and Rachel Corrie..... I just cannot comprehend with what had happened. Those blatant arrogance of breaking the international laws... Soldiers abseilled from the helicopters in the wee hours of the morning....

If a stranger come to my house in the early morning without my invitation, I would have acted the same way as those peace activists did. If they have a peaceful intent , they would never behave the way they did. Any fool would not believe that they came with peace on their mind.Enough said. But then again.. they are jews, there is no element of surprise there.

9 lives were lost that day. At least now, the rest of the world have opened their eyes wide. The thing that saddened me most is the way Egypt closed their border to Gaza. If Egypt had opened its border, none of these things would happen. As a Muslim country, Egypt should help their muslim brothers in their time of need. The rest of the Arab world just keep quite. Believe it or not, they have lost the war with the jews. If only they are united, the jews would not be so arrogant like now.

But I believe in the Quran, there will not be a Jew state in this world. Even their 'holy men'...the rabbis believe so. They can never have peace of mind unless they give back what belongs to the Palestinians. In the meantime, lets send thousands of aid ships to Gaza from now on.....

Nabil is Coming Back

My son, Nabil, will be coming back for holidays in two weeks time. It has been 2 long years since he went away to further his studies. Both my husband and I have been planning a lot of things for this coming holidays. I have been planning the menu on the day he arrives. I was thinking of making his favourite dish, grilled lamb for the dinner.

The rest of the family are equally excited about food. Then came the bombshell, Nabil called and told me, he daoesn't want to eat ayam masak merah, kari ayam, ayam masak kicap, ayam masak lemak, barbecued chicken and I guess anything that includes ayam.

The first thing that he wants to eat is satay, the food that he actually not really fancy.. not the last time before he went away, anyway. So, abang, your papa and I will stop at Satay Shamuri on the way back from the airport to our house. How's that? with all your luggage and all. I really can't wait for the day when you come home...

Shopping In Bangkok

I was in Bangkok last week for a 4 days 3 nights shopping. I thought I could only last a day since I do not particularly like shopping at a crowded place. Let's say I'm more than happy with all the things that I bought.

It was my first trip to Bangkok and I hope it will not be my last one. From the airport, I was greeted with the famous Bangkok jam. Our group, 5 of us arrived at our hotel safely. After minor glitches we settled in comfortably. It was an Apartment Hotel, ours was a 2 bedroom apart'hotel. The cost was RM300++ per night. I would rate it as above average. I do not think that I can rent a similar place with such low price in Malaysia.

The ride on the MRT was something else. We did not have to wait long for the trains. Everytime, our group stepped in, a few young Thais gave up their seats for us. A culture that is almost lost in my own country. Even the not so young tend to give up their seat for us. Okay, okay, we are a bunch of old ladies.

Halal food was not a problem. The coffeehouse at our hotel serves Muslim food. Everywhere we ate, the food was tasty and reasonably priced. When there was no Halal sign, we opted for vegetarian food. Even the halal food at the airport was good. Everyone who visits Bangkok should try its famous coconut ice cream. It was delicious. Hmmm...

If you are a foodie like me, check out their dried fruits department. I only have praises for them. The dried mangoes, guavas, coconut, roselle just to mention a few were heavenly. Ridhwan, my son, finished off all the dried coconut that I brought back, while my husband loves the dried mangoes and guavas. I, of course, couldn't have enough of the roselle. I bought roselle teas, dried roselle, preserved roselle and believe me, roselle seeds....to plant when I have the time.

Things are definitely cheaper in Bangkok than Kuala Lumpur. They have wholesale market for everything.Of course they have expensive things too, but we can always buy those things in Kuala Lumpur. Its the cheaper things that we can't have enough.

Hopefully the riot will be over soon. I can't wait to return to Bangkok for another trip. This time I'll make sure that I'll do the sight seeing too...

Another Wedding, Another Heartache

I went to a wedding last weekend. It was hosted by my dear friend for her only child. When I reached her condominium, she was there to usher us in. In her frantic voice, she told me that her caterer had not arrive and there was no food to be served. I told her not to worry and that everything will be alright.

As I entered the wedding venue, I saw that everything was in place. The dais was very well made up, the plates and cutlery and glasses were placed nicely on the tables. The guests have arrived and since it was a ' come and go' event, I guess it would be alright if the food was a little bit late.

The event was to be from 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm. Imagine to my friend's horror, the food only arrive around 9.30 pm. Luckily some of her relatives went out to buy crates of drinking water and nuts to serve the guests. It took the caterer almost 30 minutes to serve the food. By this time the number of guests have swelled , since those who had arrived earlier were still around at this time.

What happened was clearly not my friend's fault. How could the caterer not be there at least 2 hours before the event started? And when they did come finally, why didn't they have the urgency to serve immediately? And why can't they clean the tables promptly after the first round of guests finished their dinners? instead it was the relative who clear the tables?

My friend and her husband kept on apologising to the guests all night long. I feel sad for her. In this case, no matter how hard we, her friends tried to console her, she said she was ashamed of what had happened.It should be a joyious occasion but it was marred by the thoughtlessness of the caterer.I for one will not give any business to this caterer.

The following night, my friend hosted another wedding dinner for her very close friends and families. She told me that she cried the whole night after the wedding at her condominium. Who would blame her for that? We are talking about her only child's wedding. She wanted it to be at least near perfect. But it was not meant to be.

But the wedding dinner that took place the following night was something else. It was near perfect. We enjoyed ourselves very much. And I sincerely hope that my friend will remember only of this evening instead of the disastrous one....

The Biggest Loser Asia

I watched the Biggest Loser Asia finale with amazement. King David lost a massive amount of weight within 5 or 6 months. As usual money [ in this case US$100,000] is the motivation factor . Yes, he won the prize but at what price? Now, not only he looks years older, but he also looks tired and hagard.

At the media conference, he said he wanted to put back some weight again. Can our body take a sudden weight loss without any detrimental effects? I am no scientist but I wouldn't want to lose my weight in that manner. And I would not allow my children to lose theirs in that fashion too.

I think this program is excellent in motivating people to lose some weight and be healthy again. But at least the participant should not look at the prize as a mean to an end. Being competitive is fine but there must be a limit to it. Even if David lose only 40% instead of 53% of his weight, he
could still win the prize....and look great.

He must show good example to all the people out there. Don't let them starve themselves and worse become anorexics in order to be thin. Among the finalists, I admire Martha the best. Nobody expects her to be in the top four but she did it by gaining an immunity. Her determination to lose weight took her to Thailand to train with Tony. She still has some weight to lose but as she said she will take her time and do it her way.

Congratulations to all the participants of The Biggest Loser Asia. You are all winners.

Mrs. Chai......my mother when I was thirteen

Last weekend, my friends and I went to Taman Seputeh to visit our former class teacher. It has been 40 long years since the last time I saw her. Yes, 40 long years [ I finally have accepted the fact that I am a veteran].

What a memorable visit it was. She was her typical self, very motherly and as excited as before.
We were still referred as my girls all the time we were there. She aged very well despite being a 70 year old lady. You would have thought that she's in her early sixties.

It was a pleasure to have met with her children and grandchildren. And the old movies of us ..dancing away in our innocence was really something. This lady is the first person we consider as a mother when we first entered this boarding school. She was the person responsible for our wellbeing and English Language.

She even paid the tuition fees of one of my friends. I remember some of my friends from different class were envious of us from Remove T. Mrs. Chai held some parties for us at her home. Taking pictures and movies of us. It was the time when we needed our mothers most and she was there for us.

Yes, Mrs. Chai...you taught us well. Whatever you taught us, we pass it down to our children. Your family must be very proud of you. I remember very clearly when you comforted me on the 13th of May. You dismissed all the negative reports from the newspaper so that I can concentrate on my studies instead of worrying for my family in Kuala Lumpur. I only realised the harshness of the situation when I went back for holidays. That's what mothers do to protect the children. And you are a mother to all of us.. ...

All is Fair in Love and War...Or Is It Really?

We heard it so many times before and never question it. Some of us believe it through and through. All is fair in love and war or is it really? I am not a pessimist by nature but I chose not to believe in this one adage.

Life is never fair. Take love for an example. It takes a small miracle for you to be in love with each other. You have to be in love with each other at the right time and at the right place for this miracle to happen. You cannot say that you are in love with Hugh Jackman when in fact you have never met him [ sob ]. You only dream to be in love with him. And when love fails? It will hurt both of you, no matter whose fault it was. All is fair does not apply here.

What about war? In my adult lifetime I have 'seen' so many wars. The Gulf war, USA vs Iraq, USA vs Afghanistan, Bosnia vs Serb, Palestine vs Israel and so forth. Can we sincerely believe that all is fair in war? What about those Palestinians fighting with stones against the Jews with machines? Or the raping of the Bosnian women in the ethnic cleansing? Is it fair to the victims who were attacked by the phosphorus bombs? Unless you are fighting with each other on the same and equal ground, then it is fair. To quote Radovan Karadzic ,' it is a just and holly war', makes me squeamish in my seat. When 100,000 bosnian were massacred just because they were Muslims...it definitely not a just war!

Otherwise do not give the pre-emptive, weapon of mass destruction and other lame excuses for you to go into war. I won't buy it. Nobody wins in a war. It only brings pain....lots of it.

Justice For All

For the last few weeks, almost everyone in Malaysia have been talking about the case of Saiful Bukhari against Anwar Ibrahim. This is the second time Anwar is facing the sodomy charge. The last one was years ago.

Even the Australians MPs are interested in the case to the extend that they asked the government to drop the case altogether. To some cultures, sodomy is not an offense. To me, anything against the act of nature, is detrimental to the humankind.

Anwar Ibrahim will have the court to prove that he is innocent to the charges. He will have all the courts in the country to appeal if judgement is against him. He is doing all those right now. He has nothing to be afraid of if he is innocent.

Being a public figure, a lot of people sympathise with him. They want the government to drop the case. If the government drop the case... what about Saiful. Have we ever thought of this young man? By the way, can the government drop the case? As far as I know, only the plaintiff can drop the charges. If the gavernment drop the charges, Malaysia will be the laughing stock of the world.. The only country with a government above the law.

My father once asked me who was telling the truth ...in the case of Anwar Ibrahim years ago. I told him only Allah knows beside Anwar Ibrahim himself. But I believe the truth will prevail. Anwar Ibrahim will get his justice so will Saiful Bukhari.

Future daughters-in-law

We attended a wedding in Taiping yesterday. It was a second marriage for my husband's brother. Therefore it was a simple wedding attended by only immediate families and his very close friends.

I do not have the intention to discuss the wedding itself, but my sisters-in-law and I, funnily enough were trying to scout around for our own future daughters-in-law at the wedding. Luckily none of our sons were present at the wedding..otherwise they will blow their heads off.

Sadly, there was only two girls that caught our eyes. Both were sisters and very polite towards all of us. Those are the characters that we are looking for as future mothers-in-law to be. To me, both look very sweet and good looking. When we asked them for their ages, their father (who was the qadi) told us that one is 16 and the other is 13.

All hopes went up in smoke for Erwan since he is 27, there's still hope for Nabil, Imran and Adib, since they are 21, 18 and 19 respectively. But still there is a question of 200km between them. And I doubt any of us will cross each other's path again. But then again, there's the question of jodoh. We will never know.

Are all mothers like us? Trying to match make our children? I for one do not mind if my children have their own choice. They are the one who is getting married. If their choices are good for them, then they will be good for me too. I'm sure the ones that they choose will be good and kind persons.

But it is fun trying to find a future daughter-in-law. You should try it sometime..

A sad looking old man..
A face lined with wrinkles
telling a long forgotten story

A sad looking old man,
with children all grown up...
who think the world of him,
They are part of the story..

The sad looking old man,
his soulmate has long gone...
leaving him behind
to finish the story..

The sad looking old man,
lying all alone in his bedroom..
Just waiting..
to end his story..

7th Feb 2010

Buck Up, Girl

I've been trying very hard to lose a lot of fats from certain part of my body. I never believe in dieting since I do not have the will power to refrain myself from all those glorious food. What makes it even more difficult is my other half is trying very hard to put on weight. He only weighs a miserable 65 kg.. he looks skinny since he is tall. Whereby I weigh just 6kg less than him and being shorter than him, I look almost like a barrel.



His favorite words nowadays is ' nak makan apa '...Hello?!!! I'm trying to lose weight here.. Doesn't anybody care anymore? To make things easier, I'm cutting all the sodas and chocolates from my diet. So far so good. No more goreng pisang for me. Actually, it was hard at first but after sometimes I do not crave for them anymore.

As for exercising, I have stopped doing it for one whole month. It started when I had a bad cold and I can't seem to start doing it again. Aaaargh...buck up girl, you have to lose all those fats..no excuse okay...

What makes exercise a pain in the a** is that I do not seem to lose any weight. I lose only 1 miserable kilogram after 2 months of exercise. So there is no motivation at all ( another excuse not to exercise).

Okay, okay, no excuses whatsoever.. I have to start again .. today. But the bread I made today looks so Yummy.....

Teach Your Children Swimming

As a parent, losing a child can really be heartbreaking. Whatmore when your child is at his prime age, still growing up. I wonder how the parents of those schoolboys feel when they know that they will never see their children ever again. I can only imagine their pain since I never experience anything like that. I hope I never will.

The issue here is that how can a club recruits a member who cannot even swim? Swimming must be a prerequisite for anybody who wants to join any clubs or activities that require them to be near or in any body of water. For that reason alone, anyone who cannot swim will not be accepted as a member. We can never know when accidents happen, we can only prevent them or at least minimise any harm should an accident happens.

My daughter Nadia can swim pretty well. But she will not swim in the sea for simple reason that she cannot predict the undercurrents. A strong swimmer will have a difficult time facing a strong undercurrents. So what are the chances when we cannot even swim. I remember clearly the advice given by our prophet(pbuh)... Teach your children swimming and archery. The desert has no large pools of water and yet we were asked to learn to swim (at that time). But nowadays people builds swimming pools everywhere, there are cruise ships and not to mention the flood.

I sent all my children for swimming lessons. Only Imran is still struggling with swimming. I try to make them practice twice a week. The irony is my husband and I cannot swim at all, but we know the importance of swimming. I'm still searching for a lady coach who can teach me during the weekdays. As for my husband I do not think he will ever swim since he will never have the courage to flaunt his body in a swimming trunk...

Rain Rain Go Away

My husband and I seldom go to the night market. I especially do not like crowded places and therefore seldom found myself at these night markets. But yesterday, we decided to go to this pasar malam in order to buy some apam balik. My children love apam balik. After parking the car, we started walking through the market and suddenly it started to rain. No it was pouring to be exact.

I have no choice but to take shelter under one of the traders' flimsy do-it-yourself tent. The owner was kind enough to let us in, so to say. All the traders started to cover their wares with sheets of plastic, but those who sell foodstuff were quite unlucky. Some of the food were soaked wet. Children of the traders started to cry since they were hoarded into the vans without their parents. Everything and everybody were soaking wet except for us. The traders were praying out loud so that the rain will stop.

To me, the rain means that I do not have to water my plants, I will not be stuck with hot humid weather and definitely I can sleep better at night. But to these group of people, it means there will be no income to support their family, to put food on their tables. But during the half hour that I was there, they never complained about the rain, they only pray that it will stop.

So the rain stopped not exactly stop but light enough for me and my husband to walk away from our shelter to go and buy the apam balik for our children.

A Happy New Year

It's that time of the year again. Time to make new resolutions and unfortunately break them time and time again. It has been a long time since I made any new year resolutions. I can only stick them for a very short period of time. So this year, instead of making new ones, I decided to make some wishes instead.

I wish that this new year and always will be filled with so much happiness. I wish to lose the extra pounds that I have and keep them away at all times. I wish my children will pass all their examinations with flying colours and I wish that they will have the will to study hard in order to do that. I wish to become a better person, a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter, sister, aunt and friend to my husband, children, father, nieces and nephews and also to my dearest friends. I wish to understand the Quran by the reading it more often[ that includes the translations too]. I wish to be a better muslim and be kind to everyone.

Above all, I wish Allah granted me the will power to be all the above. Without it, all the wishes will be just that..nothing more.

Happy New Year everyone