Al-Fatihah

Our beloved PM's wife, Datin Seri Endon, passed away this morning just before 8.00 a.m., after a few years of battling cancer. Allahyarhamah's twin sister passed away a few years back, also from cancer.

May Allah's Blessings be on Allahyarhamah.

You may post your condolence message at the following link:

http://www.pmo.gov.my/doc/takziah.nsf/blog?OpenForm

Hari Raya.... Baju Raya... Kuih Raya......

Dah masuk 3rd week puasa but still having problem to wake up to prepare sahur every morning. Yang lepas-lepas, I only need to rely on the alarm clock only during the first week of puasa. After that I will be awake before the alarm sounds. Tapi kali ni lain pula, still susah nak bangun sahur. Kadang-kadang tu bila alarm dah bunyi rasa macam nak 'snooze'kan dia dua tiga kali lagi. After sahur, if I allow myself, I can even go back to sleep. Kenapa ek? dah feel the age agaknya. Tapi biasanya as you get older you don't need much sleep, yang I perhatikan la....

Am taking a break from my sewing project.

I am a slow stitcher. Kalau nak jahit apa-apa tu kena jelujur dulu, kalau tidak result dia jadi senget. Tambah pula my machine is only a light portable one, so the stepper foot tak ada grip sangat. Kalau nak rely on pins saja, sure senget punya. Tapi dah banyak jasa tu.. bertahun dah I guna. Dapat juga la save me money on the tailoring costs.

Early in the fasting month, my daughter yang kat UIA asked whether I can sew baju kurung for her friend. Most tailors dah tak nak ambil cos dah mula puasa. I said I can't cos at my pace, tak sure boleh siap or not for Raya. Maybe next year boleh consider kut, lepas juga la duit raya untuk all the anak-anak buah nanti... ha ha ha...

Now working on my daughter's 3rd baju raya... hari raya punya pasal. Finished four already (mine and my two daughters altogether), at least the machining part, tinggal nak kena siapkan yang jahit tangan. Normally, I will leave this to the individual owners. So my youngest one dah siap three-quarters dia punya. My other daughter belum lagi cos dia kat UIA lagi, next weekend baru balik.

Kuih raya belum tengok lagi, kena buat juga tu nak bawa balik kampung. Masa kerja dulu beli saja. Tak payah bawa balik kampung pun cos my mum-in-law rajin buat biskut raya. And when time for us to return to KL, she would pack the biskut for us to take back. Sekarang dia pun dah tak sihat sangat, so the anak and menantu pula la yang bawa balik. Maybe buat sikit dulu, kalau tak cukup buat pula lepas raya, sendiri punya (as if.....).

Balik kampung nanti ikut lebuh raya......Jaaaaaam......

Old Friends and other memories ...

It really is great hearing from you again, Maton. Sure, we have heard and read the stories about your family, and we were quite concerned. However, knowing what the media can be like sometimes, we took it all with a pinch of salt and have given you and family the benefit of the doubt. We hope and pray for your happiness and well being. And we look forward to your homecoming and, like Hafiz said, we hope we can all meet at a reunion of the Class of 74! And hopefully, with Puteri too, as well as all the other girls whom we had not been able to locate after all these years.

Hafiz, you really have such good memory! Aah ... the summer of 76! (Sounds like a Movie!). I remember that summer! It was such a joyous one month that Midah and I spent, mainly in the company of you and the friends from Exeter (did I get that right?). Actually, my cousin, Najib was supposed to be our host but when we told him we wanted to meet our friends from TKC, he took us to Malaysia Hall and all we had to do was hang around there and pretty soon all these familiar faces started popping up! You, Mazrah, Fetty, Atel, and all the rest. Really wonderful! Those were such carefree days. And after that, you, Mazrah and Ani reciprocated with a surprise visit to Cairo! That was really crazy! At that time, English wasn't too widely spoken in Cairo and these bunch of girls managed to make their way to our apartment. Really brave and rather cool!

Hmmm ... a bit sad that at this stage of our lives, we do not have that much time to spend with our old friends. Recently I went to Dillot's house and it was really fun! Dillot is still very much the cheeky girl with whom we shared a room on the ground floor of Block F. Believe me! That Mak Datin really rocks! If any of you remember the swimsuit parade in that room in 73, you get the picture. Hehehe ... jangan marah Dillot.

Anyway, still wondering what happened to Ju (Gopeng), Liza (Norhayati), Desna, and others we have not seen in quite a while. Anyone know their whereabouts?