Opening Back Soon..

Assalamualaikum all,

After the long absence, this blog will be opening back soon..
Please stay tuned..

Photo Collage

Assalamualaikum all,

I have a new passion. Playing around with photoshop and making photo collages. Thanks to my teacher, Mrs Syawaliza. Very good teacher, one class with her and I can do all the basic things with photoshop. Kind of satisfying making these photo collages and a good way to destress.hehe. Now i can understand why some people loves to make scrapbook. Mine is the digital version of scrapbooking which i think is simpler ^_^ Still 'saya budak baru belajar'. Art is never one of my talent but I love to develop new skills. Never mind the artistic value, the most important thing is I can at least make photo editing/collage based on my skill.
I was taught (and reminded always by my ummi) that to acquire new skill and seek knowledge is obligatory to every Muslim. It's a sacred duty. In fact the first word revealed to Rasulullah was " Iqra' " which means READ. Seek knowledge. Educate yourselves. In Quran, Allah also states that He raised up the degree of those who have knowledge to high ranks [al-mujadilah :11]. Thus, I am also a firm believer that we become a muslim not through birth but through knowledge. Do you agree?

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. ~Chinese Proverb

Nurturing 'Adnin to love knowledge and learning is one of my priority (and challenge.huhu). I know that she can learn and excel in maths, science and every subjects taught to her if she studies (or if she gets very good teacher). However, if I instill in her the importance of knowledge and develop her thirst/love for new knowledge/skill than i am truly confident she will never get bored studying and she can be successful in her life no matter what she does. Sky is the limit. This is the true concept of seeking knowledge not just for exam, right? So any of you have ideas (tested or not) on how to incalcute this value in a child kindly share with me ok ^_^ Really appreciate it !
Oh by the way, here is my latest creation (click to enlarge). Sort of my family tree. What do you think ?

Beeelated

Assalamualaikum all,


On 16th July 2009, 'Adnin turned 6 years old. We are so blessed by Allah with this gift. A sweet daughter. More than 24 hours in labour was a small price to pay. For we pray to Allah she will be a good muslimah who is successful in this world and the hereafter while carrying the torch of Islam, never letting it go. May you be like the star-bright and high..

The Faithful Star

Once I looked up to the sky
in the night and I saw
bright star sparkling there
in the darkness of the night
and I said who are you?
what are you doing over there
tell me please,
tell me who put you over there

she looked down at me
with a smile on her face
like a rose in the shadow of the bush
little one don't you know?
why it is that I am standing over here?
it is Allah who made me
and made you and the earth

then I said pretty one
tell me please tell me how
how to be just like you
very pure, very high, very nice
once again pretty face shined again

little one listen well
little one take good care
fear Allah every where

worship him night and day
then I said pretty face pray for me to Allah
I thank you pretty face
I love you for your care

-from islamicpoem.com-

On a lighter note, 'Adnin spent his birthday by bringing a cake to her kindergarten (made at the shop the day before.hehe..). Sharing the joy of her birthday with fellow friends and teacher. In the evening, after i came back from work I had to go to Parit Buntar. So, i took her along with Mc Yatty as our companion. Killing two birds with one stone. We had prawn noodles at Bandar Baharu which was delish. At the end of the day, i asked her how did you find your birthday. She answered " Best. I got to eat prawn noodles, sightseeing, eat cake and so many people wish me". Simple and straighforward answer yet very meaningful to her. Me? I'm happy if she is happy = )

ps: thank you to all the birthday wishers. You've made 'Adnin's day...

The Love Muffin

Assalamualaikum all,

I love baking! Making muffins, cakes, pastries and pies but I still got a lot to learn. Yet, i love it. My favourite part of baking is that i can share my passion with my families and friends. Mixing the ingredient together, filling the muffin cups together and the best is the small talks we have through out the whole baking process. This hobby creates quality family/friend time and serves as a great bonding session. Even though you can also cook meals for dinner etc. together but i think it is a bit fast and hectic. You don't get to do it leisurely like baking.

Me and 'anak usrah'

However, in my opinion cooking activities are very important for kids. Be it cooking meals or baking. We would want to teach them the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. Child obesity is on the rise and it really scares me looking at the junk foods and fast foods consumed by children nowadays. Cooking also build their self confidence as they can contribute something to the family. Children will learn to work together as a team be it with siblings or parents to get the job done. Of course cooking also nurture their creativity (ours as well!) and they can express their imagination. Most importantly, cooking is a life long skill. Everybody needs to eat right? As parents, mother especially, we do cook. Might as well take the opportunity to prepare food with the kids sometimes. Even if we don't teach them, our children have been making up 'something' in the kitchen right? Filling pot with water, putting in flour, sugar, in Adnin's case talcum powder and pretending to cook. Hehe..

'Adnin loves to cook/bake together. She learned maths by measuring the ingredients and enjoy reading the recipes. Children learns a lot actually while cooking, refer here.

This muffin recipe is a simple one but i've made it with my daughter, my sisters and my 'anak usrah'. Hence the name, love muffin. Simple as it may be but it tastes delicious! 'Adnin, Hannan, May, Syuk and Fatimah can attest to that right girls? I'm posting this recipe due to Syuk's persistent request =) Oh my, I'm passing down recipe now, feels like a mother. Oh wait, I am a mother +_+

The Love Muffin

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter (melt it)
4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla essence

1. Sift flour and baking powder
2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt)
3. Mix liquid ingredients in a separate bowl (butter, milk, eggs, vanilla essence)
4. Make a hole in the middle of dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients.
5. Mix batter well (do not over mix, lumpy is ok).
6. In each muffin cup fill 3/4 of it with batter and bake at 180 degree Celcius for 20 min.

This recipe produces plain vanilla muffins. I like to put in filling like strawberry filling. To put in filling, just fill 1/2 muffin cup with batter. Put in filling and top it with batter again. Sometime I use fruit jam as the filling. You can add in decorations or any other ingredients like choc chips to your liking.

*Pictures courtesy of talented photographer Hannan using 'Alfi'.
*Oooh, I also love the aroma of oven baking... Yummy...
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Happy Birthday to my dearest brother, Miqdad. May Allah bless you and we all missed you here..sob sob.. Have a great day !

'AhFlurry' - 61 tahun Nakbah

Assalamualaikum semua,

Hari ini 15 Mei 2009 genaplah 61 tahun secara rasminya tanah umat Islam, Palestin di rampas dengan tertubuhnya negara haram Israel. Hingga detik ini ramai penduduk Palestin masih memenuhi kem-kem pelarian di sekitar timur tengah. Pasti merindui tanah tumpah darah hak milik mereka. Serangan besar-besaran ke atas Gaza awal tahun ini merupakan salah satu episod-episod keganasan dan kezaliman zionis ke atas penduduk Palestin. Namun mereka tetap tegar dan teguh mempertahankan bumi umat Islam malahan terus berusaha membebaskannya. Subhanallah!

Bagaimana dengan kita?
Semangat menyumbang kepada Palestin masih diteruskan setiap bulan?
Memboikot produk yang membantu misi zionis tetapkah diteruskan?
Solat hajat dan doa kita khusus buat pejuang di Palestin tidak pernahkah lekang dari bibir?

Alangkah malunya kita andai sekadar berkorban keselesaan dan sedikit wang ringgit tidak mampu kita lakukan. Sedangkan nun di tanah suci Palestin umat Islam berjuang dengan darah dan kudrat mereka untuk memastikan maruah Islam dan umatnya tidak dipijak-pijak begitu sahaja. Ayuh sama-sama kita pertingkatkan iltizam dan semangat untuk istiqamah dalam perjuangan ini. Bukannya naik turun seperti liputan media yang sekejap sunyi sekejap heboh tentang Palestin. Isu ini bukan hanya isu rakyat Palestin, isu ini adalah isu kita. Ya, kita sebagai umat Islam, umat terpilih...
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Sebagai seorang ibu, saya turut mendidik anak saya untuk menjiwai isu Palestin ini di samping membina jati dirinya sebagai seorang muslim. Jadi kami selalu menceritakan tentang apa yang berlaku di Palestin dan memastikan dia faham kenapa perlu memboikot barangan-barangan tertentu.
Alkisahnya, 'Adnin sangat teringin hendak menikmati aiskrim McFlurry buatan McDo**lds.

"Ummi, boleh tak nak makan aiskrim McFlurry. Sedaplah ada biskut dalam aiskrim"

"Ingat tak apa ummi cerita tentang McD? ", soalku pada 'Adnin

"Oh, duit yang kita bayar dekat dia nanti dia akan guna untuk beli peluru. Lepas tu tembak orang Islam dekat Palestin", jawab anakku.

"Jadi 'Adnin nak beli juga ke aiskrim tu?" dugaku kembali

"Tak naklah tapi atuk dengan che su ada buat sendiri aiskrim tu di rumah. Jomlah kita beli aiskirim dan biskut cream-o. Patutnya pakai oreo tapi boikot juga sebab amerika yang buat", panjang-lebar 'Adnin bercerita.

Hatiku berbunga-bunga, bersyukur kerana apa yang ditanamkan sudah berakar di hati anak sekecil 5 tahun ini. Jadi kami pun terus ke kedai membeli barangan yang diperlukan. Sampai sahaja di rumah 'Adnin terus meluru ke dapur dan memulakan projek McFlurrynya. Ummi nak tolong pun tak dibenarkan. Hai, kanak-kanak umur 'Adnin ni memang suka nak buat semua sendiri. Dipendekkan cerita, aiskrim buatan sendiri ni memang hit! Sehinggakan selalu diminta oleh atuk, nenek, makcik, pakcik dan ummi abah 'Adnin. Si kecil tu apa lagi, seronok sangat jadi tauke aiskrim yang kami beri nama 'AhFlurry'. Nama ni sempena panggilan manja terpendek 'Adnin. Ah.
Bukan sahaja 'Adnin dapat menghayati isu Palestin malahan dapat kemahiran memasak, berjimat-cermat (satu cawan aiskrim tu jika dibeli mencecah lebih RM4 termasuk cukai.Kalau beli bahannya cuma dalam RM10 dan dapat dirasa satu rumah. Bercawan-cawan) dan meningkatkan keyakinan dirinya sebab hasil tangannya sungguh laris =)

AhFlurry guna aiskrim perisa Raspberrry Ripple

Syok makan, lupa nak ambil gambar sampai dah cair +_+

Ah Flurry

Bahan-bahan:

Aiskrim Vanila (nak guna perisa lain terpulang pada kreativiti masing-masing)
Biskut Cream-o (ganti oreo)

Cara membuatnya:

1. Tumbuk/kisar beberapa keping biskut hingga hancur. Sejauh mana hancurnya biskut tu bergantung pada selera masing-masing.
2.Gaulkan biskut yang telah ditumbuk tadi dengan 3/4 cawan aiskrim.
3. Sedia untuk dimakan.

*resipi ini boleh diubahsuai dan direka pelbagai rasa mengikut keinginan masing-masing

(M)issing (I)n (A)ction

Assalamualaikum dearest readers,

After a long absence I finally manage to start blogging again. Life has been pretty erratic these past couple of months. The main reason is that my other half i.e dearest hubby was diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Both of his kidneys are permanently damaged due to chronic kidney failure. Yup. We were shocked. Traumatized was more like it. At first we were worried sick due to lack of information on this disease. We don't know what will happen next, how is he going to survive and what should we do. After meeting with a few nephrologists (kidney specialist) we begin to understand the illness and know the options that are available to us. For the time being he is on dialysis and the best option actually is to have a kidney transplant.
However the hardest part is coping with the emotional and mental stress. The feeling that he is still young, mind you he is still in his twenties. This disease normally affect the old people due to wear and tear of the kidney. Then there is the uncertainty in life, how is he going to continue his work while undergoing dialysis. The restriction on travelling outstation because dialysis need to be done 3 times a week, four hours each session. For a young blood to have his life restricted at the time his life, career is on the rise is very heartbreaking. At the end of the day, we just have to adapt and adjust our life while hoping we can find a donor for a kidney transplant.
So, now we are settling down. Accustoming to the changes in our life. Getting the best out of our situation for our life, our dakwah and deeds to Allah. We strongly believe Allah tests us with what we can handle. He is our creator the most merciful. We still have a lot to be grateful. This bump on the road makes us closer to Him the almighty. At the time when young people like us are very busy establishing their life, have little time to get closer to Allah, we are reminded of Him. Only to Allah we depend on, hope and pray for strength.
Beside as a Muslim, we should expect trial and tribulation in our journey of life as this is a way for Allah to test our iman. When i feel down, i recall the test Prophet Ayub a.s went through. It humbles and gives me strength as Allah's messengers were tested with far greater ordeal and never compaint. Please make doa for us +_+

"Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false." (Al-Ankabut:2-3)

Write VS Tulis

Assalamualaikum all,

I have this dilemma of writing my post in english or malay. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I'm really torn between those two choices. Or should i mix both languages? Perhaps you can help me decide? What say you?
Thank you in advance..

Saya sedang menghadapi dilema sama ada hendak menulis blog saya dalam bahasa inggeris atau bahasa melayu. Kedua-duanya ada kelebihan dan kelemahan. Saya betul-betul berbelah bahagi antara kedua pilihan tersebut. Atau perlukah saya campur kedua-dua bahasa tersebut? Mungkin anda boleh membantu saya membuat keputusan? Apa kata anda?
Saya dahului dengan ucapan terima kasih..

(huhu..macam skema je ayat BM tu.direct translation..)