of ramadhan and food

It's here again! Often times when Ramadhan comes, what would be in the mind would be what to have for iftar, which pasar ramadhan to check out, any invitation for today and so on. Yes, it is basically about food. Luckily for me the question of which hotel to go for iftar is not that important here where I'm leaving now, as this seems not to be a craze over here although I do see a few banners advertising ramadhan buffets at certain hotels.

Is it the age or is it the environment? I'm not sure. It's the 7th day of Ramadhan and I still have no desire to visit any pasar Ramadhan although I drive through a number of them everyday on my way back from work. I would only have a piece of tamar and then rice or whatever for iftar. So far that has been my only solid meal for the day. The sahur which I've missed once would consist of a mug of milk/milo and sometimes a few pieces of cream crackers. (Liar!) Yeah OK I had once small piece of lasagna this morning - leftover from the weekend. Not complaining. Just that it's a change from the usual. I hope it's for good as my target for this year's Ramadhan, apart from becoming a better muslimah, is to lose some weight. Nothing to do with looking nice but my knees are hurting now due to my weight. Besides this would be the time to cleanse my body from the accessive fat.

Another 20+ days to go before Eid. Happy Ramadhan!

Getting together

Had some friends over yesterday. Although not everyone that I expected to come turned up but I was quite happy. These friends were my USM buddies. My "toksu angkat", makngah and Rina were also present.

I cooked carrot rice, roasted chicken with tomato sauce, dalca, meat in soya sauce (daging kicap!) and salad. Jelly for dessert. Pojiah's son commented that the jelly did not shake...hahhahahaha. I guess I put too much rock sugar it got a bit tough!

Anyway, many thanks to Intan and family, Pojiah and the kids and Toksu, Makngah and Rina for coming. Ida, Zach, Shaida, Cikbak, Cikwang, Kak Nor and Abang Li, sorry you people couldn't make it. Maybe the next time...

plants

Two weeks ago I planted kunyit in a pot on my balcony. Now I'm seeing a new leaf coming out. Alhamdulillah.

Next project - daun pandan, french bean and chilli. Got to get some new pots.

I never before understood why people got so hooked up with gardening especially when it's their own homes. But after watching my plants doing well, I get so excited that I'm already visualizing my balcony being filled with pots of plants especially vegetables...woooowww! Big dream!!

2ndfor 2010

The last time I wrote in the blog was more than 6 months ago. Gosh, it's been so long. A lot have happened since then but just did not get around to write about it.

Okay, so what have happened since January 12 2010? ( my last entry).

1. Semester started and ended. Nothing much to say about that only that I was given only 1 course to teach. Alhamdullilah.
2. Moved into my new home. At last, after all the hassle about the loan. Will upload the pixes when ready.
3. My family came over (all of them) to check my new home and we had a house-warming do.
4. Our Communication Program organised an international conference in Melaka. Not much to say about the conference just that it was the most "unenjoyable" event I've ever got involved in.
5. The new semester has just begun. Teaching two courses this time. Hopefully not as hectic as the previous semesters.

That's all for now. hope to be able to write more.

Hot and Cold

Watching the news on TV that reports about Europe currently experiencing severe winter with heavy snowfalls reminds me of my stay in the UK more than 10 years ago. I was leaving in Brighton, about an hour's drive to the south of London. Then, we hardly had snow during winter. Even winter was not that cold like it was in the US.

Btw I was in Boston in the early 1990's and had experienced some very cold months of winter. And the snowfall could reach as high as 4 feet! The temperature there was always in the red.

During my stay in the UK, I only manage to experience one heavy snowfall. It was late at night and by noon it's almost gone. If my memory served me well, the snow only fell two times during my three and a half years stay. The temperature was never below freezing. And London hardly had any snow!

The weather has changed so much since then. Heavy snowfalls and the very low tempreature. So many things have to be put to a halt. The schools, public transports, soccer matches...

I thank GOD the Almighty that I'm already back here in Malaysia, where the sun has, so far, never stop shining although it can be unbearably hot.

Alhamdulillah.

Salam to 2010

I'm not going to write about what I have done for the past year because I have already wrote about almost all of them in my previous entries. I only want to mention here that I am quite satisfied with my achievement thus far although I know I could have done better.

Okay, enough of 2009.

It is now 2010. A new year. Although I have no plans for anything special, no expectation or even a new resolution, I hope that this year will be a better year for me -- both my working life and my social life -- and I also hope to be a better person, InsyaAllah.

Y.E.S. and KPI

Not year-end sales but rather, year-end syndrome. At this time of the year everybody starts figuring out whether they have managed to achieve the targets that they have set last year. Then they'll start thinking of some new ones. Ni macam KPI lah jugak. Since now everyone is talking about KPI so maybe I should use those words jugaklah instead of "azam" because to me "azam" is more like wishful thinking while KPI should mean something that comes with a strategic plan to achieve your goals. Anyway, that's how I look at it walaupun my KPI is always tersasar... hahahaha

Have I achieved anything this year? Hmmm I guess 2009 has been a hectic year for me as far as work matters. Academically I have accomplished very little, or none at all as my time was mostly occupied with the admin work. But on the other hand, I was able to spend some time holidaying - something that I did not really manage to do in the past few years.

Apart from that, I made some new friends, also lost a few significant figures in my life. May Allah bless their souls, ameen.

And hey, I bought myself a "nest"! A "birdnest" is more like it since it's not really on the ground. Can't post the picture of the nest since I have not moved in yet. Maybe in the next entry which I don't know when.

So, what are my KPIs for 2010? Well I'd rather not say it although I have already set them in my mind. Just that I haven't figured out the strategy yet.

Anyways, let's welcome the new years - hijriah and 2010 - and hope that it will be better than this year, InsyaAllah.

HAPPY MA'AL HIJRA 1431 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010