Happy

I feel very happy today for numerous reasons. Some of them:

1) I have finally done the e-filing! With the help of a LHDN officer. The server was getting to be terribly slow, and after awhile it simply refused to move to the next page. A call to the helpful person and it was done. Alhamdulillah.

2) So, this means I can hop to the MPH distributors sale in Section 13!

3) I'm also glad that Lat is being feted. Many articles and activities revolving him and his sketches are being featured. Even the MPO are having a special performance this weekend on Lat's Kampung Boy. Sometimes Malaysians will give recognition when the deserving person is long gone.

4) I'm happy that I have learnt to create 'group' in Facebook. I'll try and get family members to facebook. I'll be doubly happy if my 'link' practise works. I'm trying to link Lat and MPO in number 3. And facebook too . Hope it works.

Jabbal Qubis, Makkah

As I had written in my last post, I have a couple of weeks' breather. When it was hectic, I didn't even have the time to lurk into other blogs, let alone pen a few words in mine.

Much has happened in the last month or so -- birthdays and deaths, plus the ubiquitous weddings. Alhamdulillah. Many of my colleagues took the last school hols to do some globetrotting with their children. Who says there is an economic slowdown? Quite a few friends and family have gone or are going for umrah. Heavenly! What I'd like to do is go for ziarah; ie: umrah in Muharram, right after the umrah season. My brother and sis-in-law went early this year and they got to visit Mada'in Salleh -- where Prophet Salleh and his people settled. There are still traces of their civilisation, which was quite advanced, with underground water tunnels and such. Amazing. Of course, his people did not accept Allah's orders and were wiped out from the face of the earth.

I'd love to travel to Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world; but I heard from friends who have lived and are living there by choice; it's beautiful. Not just in the scenery, but in its people who are more than welcoming. AHS and I, however, have not taken the opportunity to visit them. What a shame, I feel, but we have to prioritize. From those friends, we were told that the remains of Queen Balqis' (Sheba) reservoir can still be seen. How long ago was it built? It was Prophet Sulaiman's time!

Travelling is interesting, especially if one has the luxury of staying in a destination of choice for, I feel, longer than a week or two. Then, one is able to have meaningful exchange with the locals, rather than do the touristy rituals.

A colleague was quite excited to embark on her maiden umrah journey (15th April), asking for tips on what to do and bring with her. I also shared with her this snippet about Makkah; namely Jabbal (Mount) Qubis. Jabbal Qubis is an incline just outside of Masjidil Haram. If you face King Abdul Aziz entrance of Masjidil Haram from outside, it is that hill to your right. It used to be bereft of vegetation or building, but now it houses the King's Palace. I suppose it was very much higher than it is today. It's got, what to me is very exciting history, which keeps me amazed every time I think about it.

Well, Haj was not ordained first to Nabi (Prophet) Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) and his people. In fact, Nabi Ibrahim was earlier ordered to do so. Whether the rituals were similar to Nabi Muhammad's, I'm not certain. Nevertheless, Nabi Ibrahim was asked to get the people in the whole world to Makkah to perform the Haj. How Nabi Ibrahim did it was by calling out to people from atop of Jabbal Qubis. Just by using his voice. And everyone heard him! I honestly do not know whether people heard his voice physically or spiritually -- but nothing is impossible to the Messenger of Allah.

Oh, the reason for building the palace on Jabbal Qubis was to halt khurafat (practices against Islamic teachings).

Breathing again

It was a pleasant weekend, partly because (this part of) my work will soon be complete, and I can look forward to less hectic schedule for a week or two. I brought some work home and managed about 5% of it. It felt good. Completion was not my aim; but I met my KPI.

It was a good weekend because the weekly couldn't come. So it was less hectic for me for if she had turned up, I would have found myself something to do as well. I only did the vaccuuming. I decided to let things 'rot' so to speak.

So, AHS and I had a leisurely breakfast on Saturday, at a stall in Keramat. I had mee hoon rebus while AHS, roti canai and sugar. We then headed to pasar Keramat -- AHS to the meat and poultry section, while I, the veggies. Next, it was storing time at home. By about noon, we drove to the LRT station in Jelatek to go to KLCC, which we hadn't been in several months. Lunch was at Chilli's. It was teeming with patrons; many were young families. There was a good mix of nationalities, I would say. While waiting for the food, I found peace and calm in watching from the restaurant's windows the different formations of the fountains outside KLCC. AHS found peace and calm in the billiards shown on tv.

After the good food, we traipsed upstairs to Kinokuniya. AHS was looking for books on Islam or Islamic thought; while I headed to the Arts and Craft section, looking for a belated birthday present formy niece. This time, I thought I was going to get her interested in craft. The books in that section cost a bomb! In the end, I bought a book on Bonsai for my mother for RM19.90 and a collection of essays and articles written by the late A. Samad Ismailfor RM 25.00.

We then headed towards Galeri Petronas one floor down, but AHS was distracted by the tvs in the electrical shop. So we spent around 20 minutes till I got bored and said goodbye to AHS and started walking away. We were then back on track to see Eng Tay's exhibition. It was good, and he'll be making more money in this economic slump. His paintings have got his own style to it; that't one of the secrets. Straightaway you'd know it's his piece. His paintings are of more vibrant colours than those I've seen before. His etchings are what I adore. I must find out more about this technique.

Sunday's breakfast was fried mee hoon; which I had not made in quite awhile. I broke a little sweat after breakfast working in the garden. Then it was a quick hop to the daughter's. When we arrived, I, 2+ was having a picnic with her toys under the porch, while K, 4, was in the kitchen, helping mama with the butter cake. The rest of the clan was still either asleep or in their different stages of waking up. Our legs of lamb properly thawed, we started marinating them. A couple of weeks earlier, we had an aqiqah for baby R; so the lamb.

AHS and I left the lamb for daughter to roast for dinner, while we drove home for lunch. Dinner was a delicious Algerian affair and the grandchildren were well-behaved. I had bought balloons earlier: two types: the normal ones and those that darts away making the farting noise; which was a hit with the children. We left at close to 9, leaving the parents to settle the already hyper children. It was a pleasant weekend.