kotak itu, saya mahu!

Accessories are a girl's best friend.

True.

But it was only at the age of 20+, accessories become my best friend. Before this, I always thought I didn't have the perfect skin tone to be donning all those girly accessories, be it silver or gold. In other words, I thought I was too dark and wearing silver would make me look hideous. Gone are the days when I felt insecure about my skin tone. Actually my skin tone is not that bad, why lah I felt like that before. Stupid me. Takde fashion sense langsung.

I have been tweeting about getting myself a jewelry box for a few times already. I am not sure how and when the craving came about, but I think it started when my dresser looked too messy with watches, rings, necklaces (not so much of bracelet/bangle girl) cluttering everywhere.  

I found the perfect one! Thanks to Oprah for her Oprah's Favorite Things show I watched yesterday. (It was so last year by the way, ketinggalan zaman sungguh)

Presenting.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

Sophie Jewelry Box from Pottery Barn

3 drawers and a mirror. How can you resist that?

But then came the moment of truth.

Me: OMG OMG! Must get that! (thinking of my dear friends in Rochester who's kind enough to get it for me. And of course I'll pay back..duuhhh)

Oprah: ...... It retails at $179......

Me: Alaaaaaa *^&%$*(^&

Sister: It's not like you have many things to fill the box with anyways.

Me: *In a defensive mode* But I can always buy more stuff!

In the end, Sister 1- Dila 0. Sigh

On a brighter note, I found some cheap ones in their website. Ehem ehem handsome boys and pretty girls at RIT who are reading this, if you happened to go to Eastview Mall, go check them for me, please? I belanja Teh Tarik when you guys are back in July. *wink wink*

Isabella Jewelry Box

I passed by Pottery Barn EVERY TIME I walked into Eastview, but never bother to check the store out. 

What a waste :(

makan tak habis

Salam,

I am sure a lot of you people share the same bad habit with me, which is 'makan tak habis'. Of course not all the time I do not finish my meal, it's only these two reasons: one, I am too full and my stomach can literally explode, or two, the food doesn't taste good. But many times, if the food is so yummy but I'm already full, I will finish 'em no matter what. Just that you will have to wait for me because I'm gonna take my own sweet time to finish the food. I have a friend who can finish her food almost every time, regardless of how full or how tasteless the food is. Now, that my friend, is an exemplary act. Jangan membazir. Lived with her for four years but still couldn't practice that good habit of hers. @_@

But, I am not sure if we were on the same page for this-'guna barang tak habis'. By 'barang' I mean, toiletries and skincare products. I just realized I have this habit, and I think it has been going on for a while now.

I bought these two when I was in the States. Body Shop had some promotion, I just had to buy even though I didn't really need 'em. It's been 9 months already, and why the heck they are still on my dresser?

Cheating rule #1: Don't use 'having sales/promotion' as an excuse, people are not gonna buy your excuse.

This is the answer to question above. Sometime in August last year, when I visited my mom's place in Jeddah, she brought us to the mall and asked if we wanted anything. Being a good daughter, I just kept quite. But when my mom insisted on 'belanja-ing' my sister some Body Shop things, I just had to put the 'taktahu-malu-daughter' cap on and asked mom for this travel set. So I used this set for a little while until.....

           Mom and I reunited again last February. That was when this travel set came on my dresser. I've been using the Vitamin E for so long, and didn't feel good changing to the Seaweed range. So, I changed back to Vitamen E. And yes, mom paid for it. 

Now, this one is the oldest of 'em all. I can't even recall when I bought it but it sure has made its way across two continents, in two years. Maybe three. 

Euw! Does this thing have an expiry date at all? Good thing it's not make-up. I hope whatever left in there is still sterile and no weird chemical reactions have taken place.

We have come a long way from my skincare products. Now, let's proceed to my toiletries.

Four lotions/body milk/body butter. Although they are used at different time (i.e body butter is usually applied when it's extremely dry e.g winter season. Lotion is good for daily use. Body milk..erkk need to research that), but essentially they serve the same purpose - to moisturize the skin. Now why do I need four of the same thing again?

If four skin-moisturizing thing is not bad enough, I have five different shower gels at one time. Three of them have been used to some extent, while two others are untouched. When one was almost finishing, I bought the other one. That sounds normal right? Thing is, after I bought that new one, I immediately used it and abandoned the old one. And the cycle continues. Just how do I stop the cycle from going on and on again? Help!!

See my problem? See? See?

Sigh.

Help me people! I need to have discipline when it comes to buying these things.
NEED-TO-FINISH-LIKE-REALLY-EMPTY-THE-JAR/BOTTLE-BEFORE-CAN-PURCHASE-NEW-ONE kinda discipline.

Anyone share the same habit?


p/s: Mom and I are fans of Body Shop. Now Body Shop, make me your ambassador already! Real beauty for real people, no?

me.time.

Salam,

Part of being an adult is paying bills. Since Boss left for Singapore this afternoon, I took the liberty of leaving the office early and went to Alamanda to pay my broadband bill. Earlier this morning, I checked that my salary cheque was cleared, right there and then I paid off the necessaries- rental, savings for the wedding, and being a good daughter, transferred some cash to my mom. 

Responsibility aside, being an adult also means you get to spend your own money in any ways you like. Yes, I've got so little to spend, but that doesn't stop me for being me. Haha. I was enjoying my independence by going shopping alone, and shops after shops I went it, I figured there were a lot of women who shop alone too! Way to go girls! I had very specific things in mind and guess what? I shopped according to my wishlist. The list was obviously not on paper, all was in the head yo! A 'head list' is more flexible than a 'paper list', you know. But trust me, I didn't change my list at all :) At the end of the day, all shoe shops failed me, but I got the two tops on my list. Yay me! I've been a 'shirt' girl for sometime now, and after reading some fashion blogs, I think I need to revamp my wardrobe..slowly that is. 

OK enough rambling. Girls out there, don't think twice about going shopping alone, ya? It's absolutely okay, it shows that you are independent. Those who think we are freaks and 'syok sendiri' because we choose what looks good on us and what to buy without requiring second opinions, they are FREAKS themselves. But I still need to learn how to eat alone in public :P Tried once, itupun at a place that's usually empty :P Any tips? Hi hi hi

Of Jane and Levain

Salam,

Another weekend passed by, and me being a 'Weekend Nomad' (I just coined the term for myself today), I slept over at Zaf's on Friday and my aunt's on Saturday. Something different I did this weekend was, I drove to KL! What an achievement! (I heard 'Yeay Dila' on the background. Tengs yo!) If you read my earlier entries, you would have known that I'm such a noob when it comes to driving. Noob no more, because I now have my driving mate called...JANE! Jane is actually a GPS, not some new friend I met. Our extended family is used to calling a GPS, Jane, so I guess changing the name to 'Anuar Zain' or 'Michael Buble' just won't cut it. (Excuse the lame me for thinking such names for a GPS)

Just after I got back from the States in June, I kinda annoyed the girls when I repeatedly said how GPS is really useful and that we should get it asap. Sorry girls for being such a spoiled brat :P But yeah, it is proven that I am a spoiled brat because I gain my confidence to drive in KL when I have Jane with me. Sungguh loser, nak ada technology baru nak ada confidence.

So right after work on Friday, I drove to KLCC because Zaf, Hana and I decided to meet there for dinner. My first time going through a heavy traffic jam, I almost fell asleep in the car, no kidding! The whole journey to KLCC, I was thinking of what to have for dinner, and Chili's came to mind. It sounded just perfect when the girls were craving for the same thing as well. Too bad for us, the waiting time was one and the half hours, so we decided to settle for Bumbu Desa instead. From American to Indonesian, such a big leap. Bumbu Desa was fair, but not a place I'd come for a second time. They have Es Timun, which I miss so much from my family trip to Medan last 2 years or so. Unlucky me, the Es Timun was not as good as the one I had in Medan. Guess I just to fly there again then. *When is Air Asia having sales again?*

Then came Saturday morning. I proposed to the girls earlier that we would have breakfast at Levain Boulangerie and Patisserie. Remember I told about it in this post? This time I went with familiar faces, therefore tak segan to camwhoring. We unanimously agreed that the breads/buns/danish were just A-OKAY. But I had something different this time, the breakfast set and macaroons! Well you know, not only shoes and handbags have their 'in' time, food has 'in' time too. Apparently, macaroons are so 'in' right now, I just have to try it. True what they say, macaroons are so sweet. If you didn't have a sweet tooth, you might want to think twice before trying it.

Nany had this octopus bun and some oreo-looking bun (sorry I don't know their names). I didn't try it because I was busy stuffing my face with the breakfast set. But Nany and Hana agreed that the octopus bun was good.

Zaf's. Again, I don't know the names.

My breakfast set. Beef bacon, sausage, scramble egg and toast for RM9.90.

The most talked about macaroons! Or in French they pronounce it as 'makarong'. Something like that.

Hana Banana's first appearance in my new blog :P

Cik Zaf and Cik Nany

Hana's outgrown us! What year were you born in again?

Overall review on Levain: Okay food, with good environment. It is actually a bungalow turned bakery shop. Nice interior decor and they also have car jockey. We missed it, we had to pay some random Indian guy RM 10 for two cars to park in front of Andalus (nearby restaurant). Cekik darah. Btw, the car jockey is just RM2. Price is affordable, the buns are between RM3-6 if I'm not mistaken. I was expecting a place like this to be more expensive than that. You can try Levain for a change. Leave the nasi lemak roti canai teh ais for a day and go for some oreo-looking bun and ice chocolate instead :)

p/s: Another 5-days at work, then I'm off to watch Lat Kampung Boy the musical on Saturday. Jom?

Cikgu..Mam..Kak

Salam,

Being a full time worker now, the only days I look forward to are Saturdays and Sundays. That's why you can see me sharing all my weekend plans in this blog because weekends to me are the peak of the week,the time I get to don on my nice weekend clothes, to doll up a little more than usual.

So, what had I been up to last weekend?

I was a Math teacher last weekend. A friend of mine, Hamidah, was the leader of this 'Jom Belajar Matematik' project. She offers free tutoring service at Pusat Makan under BELAMISKIN.ORG. You can google 'BELAMISKIN' and read up about the organization. Back to the project. So Hamidah gives tutoring on Monday nights at the Pusat Makan, and this particular project was held in conjunction with the school holidays. She was looking for volunteers, and I brought along Pao, Tira and Sal to join.

So there we were, being Math teachers to Standard 4-Form 2 kids from Section 16, Shah Alam. Majority of them join Hamidah's Monday nights tuition. Since they come from low-income families, they couldn't afford paid tuition. I don't want to stereotype, but in most cases, we can see chain of problems in low-income families. Parents don't really bother about their children's education, asalkan pergi sekolah, dah cukup. Most of them have at least 5-6 siblings, with only one parent working. They live in flat houses with only 1 room, 2 the most. With siblings that much, and house that small, the environment these kids are in is not conducive for studying. That is why, most of them underperform at school.

One thing I notice about these kids is they lack of motivation. I believe they very well know that education can take them places and do wonders to them and their families, but they just don't have enough motivation to drive them forward. This is where parents play an important role. Parents should always encouraged their kids to do well at school, as only with education they can change the fate of their families.

OK now, seriousness aside. Let me share my fun experience being a 'Math teacher' for two days. I was assigned the group of 8 Form 2 kids. If you asked me which group I would prefer teaching, I'd say all. I seem to have problems connecting to babies and toddlers. I just can't work my charm with them (cey 'charm' la sangat) Other than that, I am fine. The kids in my group are average students, they can do Math, but with a little bit of help. Erm maybe a lot of help. Yang geram sekali, they don't memorize SIFIR. Instead of knowing the sifir by heart, they would list down the numbers on paper e.g 7,14,21,28 and count from top 1,2,3,4 to get 7x4. They also struggle with positive and negative numbers. They just couldn't grasp the concept even after I gave them many examples. 

Apart of all that, I'm grateful that I got the chance to help them. A two-days program can't change much, but hopefully they gained something in that two days. Something is better than nothing, right? Yang comelnya, budak-budak ni panggil ktorg 'Cikgu', even though they know that we are not real teachers. Bangga sekejap jadi cikgu. I got to spend a weekend with my besties, and got to visit Taman Pertanian Shah Alam for the first time. Such a big park it is. Tak habis tour the whole park, though. I might come again later :) Oh oh, we went to I-City. Not too bad, at least for someone who love lights like me. The place was SO CROWDED. Sedih part is, camera cabuk I tak membantu dalam menghasilkan gambar-gambar cun melecun. Nasib ada DSLR Sal. Oh, and we got to visit Section 18 and took a stroll down memory lane. INTEC oh INTEC. Tira and I were singing 'Sandarkan Pada Kenangan' while reminiscing our memories. Great weekend with great company :)

Sedetik Lebih

One of the greatest Malay love song ever made.

Okay maybe I'm biased, because it's Anuar Zain.

But please, give it a listen first before you criticize my taste :P

One of my BFF said the other day to another BFF mase karaoke haritu, as I was choosing songs to sing she went, "Dila minat Anuar Zain dari sekolah kot, of course die nak nyanyi lagu Anuar Zain". Something like that lah. I can't remember her exact words.Bila teringat, memang zaman sekolah I gila kat Anuar Zain, especially when he had that gorgeous long hair. Oh meltness!

For the record, I also had a HUGE crush on Lah VE, first because of his stunning voice, and second, of course, his long gorgeous hair, at that time. Too bad VE dah takde. Sigh I even kept the newspaper-cut-out pictures of the two of them in my purse okay. Gila cheesy wey! Hahaha. Siap masuk BeatTV contest, ala yang Sazzy and Ashraf Sinclair host tu, and I won. The prize was to meet VE in person, while they were recording if I'm not mistaken lagu Party Like This or Message Girl. Too bad, my parents didn't allow me to go because they said it's a bad exposure. I was in Form 4 at that time. Nangis sampai mata bengkak, masa tu kat sekolah, curi-curi bawak hp. Penat convinced my dad how I'm getting there (konon-konon my brother would drive me all the way to KL) and where I'll be staying. Tak dapat jugak.

10 years passed by, I got to see, (read: see not MEET) Lah VE with his baby stroller in KLCC last December. Rambut dah pendek, dan tidak dengan VE lagi, jadi the HUGE crush now dah tinggal habuk je.

That is, by far, the craziest obsession I've had with celebrities. Now that I am 23, I have retired from all the obsessions, and I'm giving the chance to those 13-year-old out there to live their life and have crush on celebrities as they please, while I go save the world. Muahaha ayat tak boleh blah.

OK entry ni lari gila. Initially I just wanted to dump the video there, just so I have an update. I didn't have any ideas what to write on, sekali idea datang mencurah-curah ke ladang gandum. I got nothing to do in the office today since Boss is forever having meeting. Maybe I can only see him at 4, and there goes my plan for the evening. Dang it!

Enough Dila. Kthxbai!

What's cookin'? - Ep 2

Another simple hearty dinner recipe for y'all.

Made by my sister, I tukang sibuk amik gambar and tukang makan.

Salmon Salad, inspired by Black Canyon Coffee House

You need: Salmon fillet, or just any salmon cuts will do, green coral lettuce, egg, tomatoes, salt and pepper, Thousand Island dressing

The methods are pretty much self-explanatory.

In case you're wondering, my sister just add salt and pepper to the salmon before frying it.

How can you not love salmon?

What's cookin'? - Ep 1

This is long overdue. I made dinner last week and wanted to share the recipes with everyone, but naaaaah I was too busy being lazy. Haha. So I made baked potatoes and Beef in a Pocket (lame gila nama haha). Thanks to Annes for sharing how to make baked potatoes in her blog.

#1 Baked Potatoes

You need: potatoes, button mushroom, tomatoes, parsley, cheese, minced meat, salt and pepper (you can put literally anything you feel like having)

1. Bake potatoes in the oven. Temperature 180C-200C for 30 mins (depends on your oven). Kalau rajin wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and cucuk-cucuk the potatoes nak kasi cepat masak.

2. Cut whatever you want/have into small edible pieces.

3. Saute with some butter for maybe 2-3 minutes, especially when you add meat. Kalau just veggies takyah saute pun takpe. I like to add either parsley or cilantro because it adds aroma to the mix.

4. Once your potatoes are tender enough, cut them into half, and scoop the potatoes out, leaving the skin behind. Make you sure the skin is still intact, because you're going to fill it later. Then, mix with the thing you sauted just now. There are two ways to eat baked potatoes. Either you do like I did, or you just scoop out some potatoes in the middle, and stuff the hole with the topping of your choice.

5. After you fill in the potato skin, add cheese and bake again until the cheese melted. And then, voila! Ready to eat!

#2 Beef in a Pocket

It is actually like kebab, but since I didn't roast the meat macam abang pasar malam jual kebab, I had to give it that lame name :P This one is super easy to make. Tak payah I share recipe pun takpe. Tapi saje nak letak.

You need: Minced meat (in my case, I used beef patties), onions, BBQ sauce, salt and pepper, mixed veggies, lettuce, pita bread

1. Cook your meat with onions. Put just a little bit of oil at the beginning because beef patties are oily in the first place. Add BBQ sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

2. Cut pita bread into halves, stuff the lettuce in, followed by the beef. Add mixed veggies that have been mixed with mayonnaise. Last but not least, add more BBQ sauce on top.

There you go! Simple dinner on the table. 

Senang kan? Something different. Malam-malam tak lalu nak makan nasi, sebab tengahari dah makan.

By the way, the yellow thing at the bottom is instant cheese sauce, beli kat Tesco 60 sen sepaket. Hihi

HAPPY COOKING! 

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND PEOPLE!

Weekend with BFFs

I have just realized, in 2011, there is no full weekend that I sit still at home, potato-couching, munching tidbits and sleep like nobody's business. Every weekend mesti keluar menghabiskan duit. Sigh

We have planned for last weekend for ages. I bought the tickets to watch the musical theater "Terima Kasih Cinta' months ago. It's just one of the things me and BFF plan to do while we are still young and single. Muahaha. So we went, too bad Hana and Malya couldn't join us. I must say, I picked the best seat ever, well at least seats that we can afford la. It was the RM75 ticket, and we were thiiiiiiiis close to the stage! Siap boleh comment 'Eh besarnya kaki dia!' 'Eh kurus nya dia lepas pregnant kembar!'. Girls kan, well. Overall, the show was pretty good. Kalau I tak fell asleep tu you can say it's decent enough la. Suara Latif Ibrahim nyanyi lagu Korprotasa, fuuuh. And then Tony Eusoff nyanyi lagu Sejati. Terkesan sungguh.

Now comes the interesting part, FOOD! This time around, we didn't plan on where to eat, like previous time. We just randomly thought of a place to eat, and zaaaaaas we went. So allow me to give some reviews on the eateries we went last weekend. 

First stop - Mancongkam Chicken Rice, Gombak

Maaf ye gambar Nasi Ayam nye takde. We were so hungry! Service was TOO SLOW. That was why when the food came, we immediately terkam the meal sebab dah la lapar, kene tunggu lama plak tu. Nasi Ayam was decent, not WOW. Total price for 4 people, RM26. I give 1.5 out of 5.

Second stop - Restoran Kunang-Kunang, Gombak

Just look at the amount of food we ordered. Sume orang macam order two meals, sampai tak muat meja okay, sebab semua lapar gila. Yes, we are a bunch of constantly hungry people. Haha. The ambiance is nice, it's a restaurant-in-a-garden thing. Plus, they have a live band. We asked them to sing the birthday song to our lady Zafirah, she turned 23 last month. Sungguh super belated. Apa punya kawan. Haha

We were expecting to order ala carte dishes, like ikan masak tiga rasa lah, tomyam lah, because we were starvingggg but to our surprised, such big restaurant doesn't serve such dishes. Too bad. I mean, the ambiance tells you that this restaurant would serve those kind of dishes, macam Village View Restaurant and Yankies Hut in Bangi, but boy was I wrong. 

Lebih menyedihkan, the food we ordered were not that good. Our Bihun Tomyam was tasteless, sampai kene mintak kicap, sebab mmg tak boleh nak habis makan sebab tawar sangat. Same with the Char Kuey Tiao. But at least their Otak-Otak and Fried Calamari were good. Price is affordable, 6 orang makan, at least   4 orang ordered two meals, total was RM132. I give 2.5 out of 5.

Third stop - Hayaki, Setapak

I bet you gonna drool looking at these pictures. Yang ni banyak gambar because tak lapar sangat, plus presentation of the food is nice. Nicer thing is, the food was AWESOME!! Hayaki ni macam restaurant jual makan-makan authentic melayu lah. It's clean, and the ambiance is nice. We went there for breakfast. We had..*prepare to drool* Oh btw, total price for 5 people, about RM70 plus. I give 4 out of 5.

Nasi Ulam Ikan 

 I ordered this. Muak dah dgn ayam dan seangkatan dengannye. Ikan kering pun jadilah. Towards the end of my meal, baru Malya told me I had been cicah-ing my ikan with BUDU. OMG officially I dah makan budu. Punya la cakap taknak makan benda-benda exotic ni, skali naaaah depan muka. I still prefer ulam cicah sambal belacan, though.

Nasi Kukus Ayam

Ayam tu masak ape ek, ala-ala gulai kawah camtu kot. 

Nasi Dagang Ayam

Never had Nasi Dagang before. It's okay for a start. I like the chicken.

Nasi Kerabu Ayam Percik.

My favorite! Ayam percik dia besar okay, and tak kedekut gravy. Restaurant ayam percik kat Bangi tu kene tambah duit kalau nak extra gravy. Huhu. This one plate is RM 9.90. Quite pricey for the portion, but since ayam besar, boleh la.

Last but not least, Nasi Ayam

Sedap! See presentation die, menarik kan? Nasi Ayam dalam bento box.

Last stop - The Loaf, Pavillion

 I can't remember the name of these buns/breads. But overall, I would say they are just fair, both price wise and taste wise. Not the BOMB. I actually went to Levain Boulangerie and Patisserie, KL last weekend too, with another friend, tapi takde gambar. The Loaf vs Levain, I think Levain wins in terms of price. Total price, those breads plus 4 drinks and two cakes, RM80. Taste wise, both are mediocre. Ambiance, Levain wins! Levain 2 - The Loaf 0. Would like to go to Levain again, this time get my teeth to bite the tempting macaroons!! I give The Loaf 2.5 out of 5, and Levain 3.5 out of 5.

That's pretty much my weekend. Full of gluttony moments. Haha. Wait, chup! We also went karaoke-ing. Oh I have been craving for karaoke session for monthssss, only last week I got my chance to lontarkan my-tak-sedap-suara. Sorry besties, I hope I didn't rosakkan your ears.

Next meeting, April 16, InsyaALLAH. I smell 'roadtrip' yo!

Khusyuk.

Harus saya akui, saya seorang yang sukar untuk khusyuk dalam solat. Ada saja benda yang bermain di fikiran.Malam karang nak masak ape, kerja office tak siap lagi, macam-macamlah. Dalam solat yang kurang 5 minit tu, taktahu lah berapa minit yang betul-betul khusyuk. Masa pergi kursus umrah haritu pun, ustaz yang beri ceramah tu pun mengaku yang dia juga susah untuk khusyuk. Dia menasihati kami untuk membaca Al-Quran ketika di sana, katanya baca Al-Quran lebih mudah untuk khusyuk. 

Satu sebab kenapa kita susah nak khusyuk ialah bahasa. Malu nak akui, yang saya memang tak mahir Bahasa Arab. Muslim di bumi Amerika, rata-rata semua memahami Bahasa Arab, walaupun mereka asalnya bukan dari Tanah Arab. Ada cerita yang pernah sampai ke telinga saya, seorang Muslim yang berketurunan asing, bertanya kepada seorang rakan Muslim berketurunan Melayu, 'You are a Muslim, but how come you don't know Arabic?' Zaaaap di situ. Ya, memang ada kebenaran di situ. Medium kita berhubung dengan Allah SWT adalah Bahasa Arab, iaitu ketika solat dan membaca Al-Quran. Memang tidak masuk akal jika kita tidak memahami apa yang kita doakan, apa yang kita bacakan. Saya tahu ramai yang sedar, tapi entah kenapa kita tak ambil endah hal ini, termasuk saya sendiri. 

Jadi sebagai permulaan, saya kongsikan makna bacaan dalam solat, saya copy paste dari link ni. Dengan mengetahui makna bacaan dalam solat, lebih mudah untuk kita khusyuk, fikiran tidak melayang sampai nun ke London. Sekurang-kurangnya kita tahu apa yang kita sebut, yang kita doa. Pemahaman untuk yang lain-lain, misalnya potongan ayat Al-Quran, InsyaALLAH akan menyusul kemudian, dengan syarat kita sama-sama kita buka hati, buka minda untuk belajar dan faham bahasa Al-Quran kita.

Allah Maha Besar

Doa Iftitah
Allah Maha Besar dan segala puji bagi Allah dengan banyaknya.
Maha suci Allah sepanjang pagi dan petang.
Aku hadapkan wajahku bagi Tuhan yang mencipta langit dan bumi,
dengan suasana lurus dan berserah diri dan aku bukan dari golongan orang musyrik.
Sesungguhnya solatku,
Ibadatku,
hidupku,
matiku
adalah untuk Allah Tuhan sekelian alam.
Tidak ada sekutu bagiNya dan kepadaku diperintahkan untuk tidak
menyekutukan bagiNya dan aku dari golongan orang Islam.

Al-Fatihah
Dengan nama Allah yang maha Pemurah lagi maha Mengasihani.
Segala puji bagi Allah, Tuhan semesta alam.
Yang maha pemurah lagi maha mengasihani.
Yang menguasai hari pembalasan.
Hanya Engkaulah yang kami sembah dan hanya kepada Engkau kami mohon pertolongan.
Tunjukilah kami jalan yang lurus.
Iaitu jalan orang-orang yang Engkau kurniakan nikmat kepada mereka, bukan jalan mereka yang Engkau murkai dan bukan jalan mereka yang sesat.

Bacaan ketika rukuk
Maha Suci TuhanKu Yang Maha Mulia dan dengan segala puji-pujiannya.

Bacaan ketika bangun dari rukuk
Allah mendengar pujian orang yang memujinya.

Bacaan ketika iktidal
Wahai Tuhan kami, bagi Engkaulah segala pujian.

Bacaan ketika sujud
Maha suci TuhanKu yang Maha Tinggi dan dengan segala puji-pujiannya.

Bacaan ketika duduk di antara dua sujud
Ya Allah, ampunilah daku,
Rahmatilah daku,
kayakan daku,
angkatlah darjatku,
rezekikan daku,
berilah aku hidayah,
sihatkanlah daku dan
maafkanlah akan daku.

Bacaan ketika Tahiyat Awal
Segala penghormatan yang berkat solat yang baik adalah untuk Allah.
Sejahtera atas engkau wahai Nabi dan rahmat Allah serta
keberkatannya.
Sejahtera ke atas kami dan atas hamba-hamba Allah yang soleh.
Aku naik saksi bahawa tiada Tuhan melainkan Allah dan aku naik saksi bahawasanya Muhammad itu adalah pesuruh Allah.
Ya Tuhan kami, selawatkanlah ke atas Nabi Muhammad.

Bacaan ketika Tahiyat Akhir
Segala penghormatan yang berkat solat yang baik adalah untuk Allah.
Sejahtera atas engkau wahai Nabi dan rahmat Allah serta keberkatannya.
Sejahtera ke atas kami dan atas hamba-hamba Allah yang soleh.
Aku naik saksi bahawa tiada Tuhan melainkan Allah dan aku naik saksi bahawasanya Muhammad itu adalah pesuruh Allah..
Ya Tuhan kami, selawatkanlah ke atas Nabi Muhammad dan ke atas keluarganya.
Sebagaimana Engkau selawatkan ke atas Ibrahim dan atas keluarga Ibrahim.
Berkatilah ke atas Muhammad dan atas keluarganya sebagaimana Engkau berkati ke atas Ibrahim dan atas keluarga Ibrahim di dalam alam ini.
Sesungguhnya Engkau Maha Terpuji lagi Maha Agung.

Doa Qunut
Ya Allah, berilah aku petunjuk sebagaimana orang-orang yang telah Engkau tunjuki.
Sejahterakanlah aku sebagaimana orang-orang yang telah Engkau sejahterakan.
Pimpinlah aku sebagaimana orang-orang yang telah Engkau pimpin.
Berkatilah hendaknya untukku apa-pa yang telah Engkau berikan padaku.
Jauhkanlah aku daripada segala kejahatan yang telah Engkau tetapkan.
Sesungguhnya hanya Engkau sahajalah yang menetapkan, dan tidak sesiapapun yang berkuasa menetapkan sesuatu selain daripada Engkau.
Sesungguhnya tidak terhina orang yang memperolehi pimpinanMu.
Dan tidak mulia orang-orang yang Engkau musuhi.
Telah memberi berkat Engkau, ya Tuhan kami dan maha tinggi Engkau.
Hanya untuk Engkau sahajalah segala macam puji terhadap apa-apa yang telah Engkau tetapkan.
Dan aku minta ampun dan bertaubat kepada Engkau.
Dan Allah rahmatilah Muhammad, Nabi yang ummi dan sejahtera keatas keluarganya dan sahabat-sahabatnya.

“wahai tuhan ku,aku tak layakutk kesyurgamu …namun tak pula aku sanggup
keNerakamu.. ..kami lah hamba yang mengharap belaskasihan darimu .”ya allah
jadikan lah kami hamba2 mu yang bertaqwa..ampunkan dosa2 kami .kedua
ibubapa kami .dosa semua umat2 islam yang masih hidup mahupun yang telah meninggal
dunia”

Girl Power

We celebrated Maulidur Rasul two weeks ago. I have never joined 'perarakan sempena Maulidur Rasul'. There was once my high school organized the 'perarakan', but a lot of us, including me, 'fly', which means we went home without the warden's permission for the weekend. The following Monday, the wardens called out names of people who didn't attend and asked us to 'berarak' a few rounds around our renowned 'padang lecak'. The rest was history. Well, that is not the whole point of this entry.

I was watching a Maulidur Rasul TV program that morning. They were presenting the 'Anugerah Maulidur Rasul 2011', five of them. On top of that there was Anugerah Perdana Maulidur Rasul, and the winner is Dr Hayei Abdul Sukor, from University Malaya. One of the winners for the Anugerah is our beloved ex-Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-Raja. He had been announcing tarikh puasa and raya for 22 years, as old as I am. I'm gonna miss him this coming puasa and raya. OK I still don't get to my point.

Another winner is a Form 4 Chinese girl from Kelantan. She obtained an A in Bahasa Arab in PMR 2010. What I actually want to write about here is the other two winners, first Tan Sri Hasmah Abdullah, ex-CEO of Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri and Tan Sri Robaayah Zambahari, CEO of Institut Jantung Negara. I was amazed when I heard the presenter called their names. It made me thinking, 'Woah they are THE CEO of such big organizations. And they are WOMEN!' I'm not trying to be sexist here. I am just amazed. I don't really pay attention to Malaysian politics, let alone to the leaders of Malaysian big corporations. But when I heard their names, I was kinda inspired. I may be late in realizing this, but after the Anugerah I finally realized that Malaysia really opens up a lot of opportunities for women to flourish in their own expertise. Not only those two, I am sure there are a lot of Malaysian women out there who are CEOs of some organizations, or at least close to being CEOs.

It takes one strong individual to be a CEO, mentally and emotionally. People used to say that women cannot be leaders because of the emotional breakdown that we tend to have. Well these CEOs prove them wrong.

Point is, there's nothing a woman cannot do in this modern world. My mom always said, 'Orang naik ke bulan pun boleh, kamu nak buat tu skit je takut'. If she was to add 'perempuan' after 'orang', that will take the sentence to a whole new level (I've googled 'first woman landed on moon', but found nobody. I guess no woman has set foot on the Moon yet. If there is, then please ignore what I said above :P )

Let us all be inspired by the achievements of women around the world, and prepare ourselves to become one of them in the future :)