Last two nights, as I was about to actually start studying, I suddenly got a call from Kubis.
"CHECK YOUR WHATSAPP !!!" she said right after I answered it, couldn't even get to Assalamualaikum,-yes-why-are-you-calling-do-you-miss-me and all but okay, that will do to.
I turned my WhatsApp on, and sent to me (by her) were photos of blouses and dresses on sale. . . Girl meant serious business when she called.
Trying to avoid the urge to browse those online shops, I typed, "But I just bought 2 pairs of heels last night. Can't afford to shop for two days in a row," torn between hitting send and opening the site of the shop. I eventually hit send but ended up at the site anyway. Just because, ye know. I needed a break. I cannot be stressed when I'm about to study and ... okay, stop judging me.
The thing is, I JUST CAN'T CONTROL IT. How do people even do that ?!
I mean, how do their brain talk to their heart ? Just, how ? What sorcery is that ?
If some people are more specific on what they spent on, like, "Oh, I only spend more on food" or "I am willing to starve for Lego" which for them, can be sinful too at times.
Sir, behold ,
for thou is not as sinful.
This woman here enjoys everything.
I like books ,
I like stationeries,
I like shoes,
I like clothes,
I like scarves,
I like handbags,
I like movies,
I like food and the list goes on...
and frankly, this is not something I am proud of.
I have been telling my friends to keep me away from simply buying things but as you can see, instead of keeping me away, they notify me on EVERY sales possible. It is not peculiar at all to see me running to them after hearing the words, "Anis, **** is on sale!"
And yes, I am fully aware that sometimes, the shops just put on the tags '50% off' although they're actually selling at normal price. Yes, I have those tricks in my pockets and I should crawl away from it. But, no . I just kept on running back to what I wish to avoid the most.
There's this one recent event, we just got back from a midnight movie and walked past Jelly Bunny with huge "50% off" sign.
Uncanny
The shop was closed, so we went back there the next day (the effort). Turned out, it was just a clearance sale on certain shoes only and, obviously most of them are not in my size.
However, since we're already there and I already have my card in my purse, why not?
I ended up buying 6 pairs of shoes, was feeling generous enough and bought 2 for my sister. As far as I can recall, the shoes which I bought, only a few pairs were on a-few-percents-off (not ALL were 50% apparently. LIAR !) and the rest were with normal prices.
Not to mention that a few days before that, I just spent another hundreds on ... if I'm not mistaken, inner wears and Goodness knows how much those devils cost.
Yes. I am an idiot. And this is a call for help. SOS.
I got a lot of suggestions from concern friends.
"Only bring like RM10 in your purse every day."
But ... what if , there's an emergency ? I can't be walking around unprepared, knowing I am not ready for what the world might smack me with. Nooo. Should I ? Noooo. Nope.
"Decide your priorities."
THEY ARE ALL IMPORTANT.
Also, "Every day, set aside RM5 and keep it in a container."
Yup. Did it. Spent those too.
"Record the expenses" and starts recommending me a list of wallet Apps.
Worked. For a few days.
Another interesting one is, "Try not to shop."
Duhhh. Thank you? I didn't know it's an option.
However therapeutic this is for me , deep down inside, I pray hard enough, hoping that this is only one of those 'this-is-just-a-phase,you-will-get-over-it' because dang, mama gonna be broke if mama dont stahp.
I seriously need to find the way out, because only I can help myself :(
At first, I didn't think this is bad at all because you know, I'm helping our economic growth. Your welcome, Malaysia *blows nails*
However, when I realized that most of my chats with my friends consist of , "So today I bought this.." and "Maybe you should check this out" and "Isn't this cute?" followed by hundreds of photos. Okay that 'hundreds of photos' is a total exaggeration but guys, I am in deep mess.
That is when it hits me, 'Boy, I am sick and I need help, don't I ?'
Kubis found her way out, or well maybe not completely out but I can say she's halfway there. Whenever the urge hits her, she finds something REALLY cheap and only buy like, one or two. Hmmm maybe I can try that too. But ... but
I believe that everyone has mental illness looping inside them and mine happens to be this. Since it's happening inside, no medication would work unless I'm determined enough to make it stop.
And therefore,
Starting from today onwards, I have decided that I will try my best to control my behaviour.
I promise that if I ever do anything stupid and go spend my money like a crazy woman,
I just discovered this one male poet and most of his writings are about standing up for women!
How cool is that ?
And no, he's not gay. Haha
Nevertheless, I can't seem to find his books, 'Born to Love, Cursed to Feel', and 'Whiskey and Shovel' in the bookstore. Maybe they're not here in Malaysia yet.
Saw him posting a sneak peek of his poem and it led me to this drawing
She was a beautiful savage
unapologetic but sweet
delicate but tough
brave enough
to walk through hell
in search of her own piece
of heaven
unafraid of the flames
-r.h. Sin-
Okay first of all, that past tense in the beginning of paragraph sparked my curiosity the most, I don't know why! And the way r.h. Sin ended her endurance of hell to find her piece of heaven that once belong to her, was just ... liberating.
And don't even make me start about the oxymorons of her characteristics. Haih. Loving it.
Poems with the manifestation of tenacity and perseverance are always my favourites :)
So last year, we had a micro teaching class (well we have it almost every year haha but last year was more specific on lesson plan). I have been dying to upload our activities in my classes and found this one photo of our activity last year. If and only I am as determined as those people on Pinterest, I surely have a lot to share !
We focused on the topic 'How To Write a Process & Procedure Essay' last time... and what we did was, we actually brought the real ingredients to the class and taught them on how to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls live.
I don't wanna bore you with the hum drum part of how we conducted the lesson but here goes, our own recipe of the rolls and ah yes, I made our own signature sauce .
Ingredients for one roll ( frankly, you can just put the amount of the ingredients up to your liking. Sorry la. Saya melayu. Takda measurement) :
Vermicelli Noodles (hydrated/boiled until el dente)
Leaves Lettuce (1 or 2 leaves per rolls)
Mint ( no need to chop. Put a few leaves )
Sliced Carrots (1.5 tbspoon)
Chopped Coriander/Cilantro (2 teaspoons)
Chopped Basil (2 teaspoons)
Boiled Prawns (3 or 2 slices per rolls)
A few Rice Paper
1 or 2 dollops of Aioli (Can buy from the stores but we made our own. I will share below just in case) - aioli will act like a jam, so if you would like to have more savory taste in your rolls, you may put extra aioli :)
Aioli Recipe :
Click here
OR
Into 2 tbspoon of mayonnaise , put these : a garlic clove ( finely chopped), sprinkle some salt and grounded black pepper, and squeeze a lime juice and sprinkle some of the mint
Steps for Rolls:
Boiled your prawns (with shells on) on the stove until its is cooked. Do not throw away the prawn water as we can use it later.
Slice the prawn into half , then you can peel of the shell and the dirt.
Wash your greens and start preparing a bowl of warm water.
With your warm water ready, dip the rice paper into it for 1 second and gently lay it on a flat surface.
In a row across the centre, put down your sliced prawns first, followed by lettuce and hydrated vermicelli noodles on top of the rice paper.
Spread a dollop of aioli, place the mint, carrot and cilantro.
Fold the corners (the two sides) inwards and roll from the bottom over the ingredients. Make sure to be super gentle as you don't want to break the rice paper.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
You may refer this video on how to roll your rice paper :
Well , some people like to have the rolls with the peanut butter sauce but I don't really like peanut butter haha so here's another way to make the sauce ...
Ingredients for dipping sauce :
1 cup of boiled prawn-water from before
3 teaspoons of fish sauce (my ultimate secret ingredient haha)
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 spoon of sugar
5 nicely chopped chilli
2 lime
Salt (accordingly)
Steps for sauce
Reheat your prawn water on the stove and add the sugar.
Pour the garlic , chilli and the fish sauce.
Add sugar according to the taste.
You may want to add some finely chopped shallot but it is not obligated to.
Turn off the fire and squeeze your limes.
There is no harm in modifying the sauce according to your taste :)
Okay I guess that's all for the time being. Will try my best to post more recipes but knowing my inability to write down specific amount of ingredients, I don't think I'll be able to do so quite often 😂😂😂 This is why you don't ask a Malay girl about recipe. We like to 'agak-agak je' haha
I
know that it's already 2 months late but here's my post on our Umrah from last
Ramadhan :P I will make sure to jot down every single detail I can recall
, I promise !
Initially,
I planned to make a comparison between the normal umrah and the ramdhan umrah but to
think again, apart from:
it's a
little bit more humid,
more people
and
more tiring
(with fasting in the weather),
Both
are quite similar, for me. After all, it goes back to your niat and
determination to perform ibadah and not vice versa.
However,
I think it is better for me to give you guys the heads up of what are the do's
and dont's there, mainly during Ramadhan and it's last ten days. Just an
exposure, so that you don’t make the same mistakes like we did hahaha.
Medina
was okay. I had a fever because of the dust (I'm allergic to smoke , dust and
etc, so yeah. Total bummer). I forgot to wear the mask/niqab for once and boom
there you go , runny nose and dizziness. So make sure to prep you mask, peeps. People in Medina are more friendly and
kind (shopkeepers mainly hahaha) , and I like the atmosphere there better. The
breakfasting was nice too. Besides, my fav qari, Ziyaad Patel was sometimes on
duty, so yeah. Bonus!I almost screamed when I heard his voice leading our prayer for the first time (but of course I didn't because I was praying MashaaAllah). All this while, I only listened to recordings of him but to be able to listen it live, it was an unforgettable experience. But in Mecca , of course they have more qaris on
duty , sometimes Mishary, sometimes Basit, and of course , everyone's fav for
Taraweeh and Qiamullail session, AsSudais T_T .
This
is based on the hadeeth narrated by Ibnu 'Abbas, according to the ustaz who
guided us there. He added, "Since Allah is providing us with more rewards,
expect more challenges and just be patient, for Allah love those who are
patient."
The
Ustaz couldn't be more accurate as after our trip from Medina to Mecca, there's
a roadblock about 2-3 km from our hotel. The bus stopped there for hours. Later
on, we had no other choice but to walk as the prayer time was
approaching. Not only we had luggageS to carry, two of my grandmothers were on
wheelchairs. Allahu. It was really challenging.
We
were told that there will be people coming to take the luggages but turned out,
it was the opposite. We had to carry those heavy bags and boxes of 'kurma' and
other fruits by ourselves. Luckily, amidst of our trembles, some people
offered the service to send those things to our hotel.
The
morals of this incident are :
Make sure to
arrive at Mecca before 2 p.m . Earlier is better.
Do not get mad
or blame anyone as you might be in your ihram. It is a complete
no-no.
The closer your
hotel to Masjidil Haram, expect more crowds especially around praying
hours.
Remember why you
are there. The major reason.
Be patient
Another
incident which I think I should highlight here is to show your gratitude
towards the Arabs. Unlike Umrah in May or Dec-Feb, Ramadhan season is just
dominated by non other but them. THEY ARE LITERALLY EVERYWHERE. Befriend them.
Show how much you like them. I only
realized about the importance of it when it's already too late T_T . My
bad. Did not kipas them hard enough, looking for seats to put my prayer mat was
nearly impossible. Every. Single. Time.
When you finally got to sit. My sister and her endless selfies.
We
tried our best to enter Masjidil Haram like 1-2 hours earlier than the prayer
time, so that we could sit in the proper saf and not at the
corner or on the stairs. Still, people were EVERYWHERE. I was not sure whether I
should be glad that those many are performing umrah or the contrast.
Haha.
Nonetheless,
approaching the last days, we just used our charming smile and tried very hard
to keep it, even when they said , "La" which means No. Sobs. If
you're persistent enough, they will give it to you.
I
am small hahaha, so most of the time, after the conversation ended with my
"Jazakillalh (thank you)" , they would call me back and let me
squeeze in. Sometimes, they squeezed their big bodies just to let me sit. Those
people are nice, really. Being able to converse in Arabs is a total bonus, if
you can. Those people like talking so much haha. And as for Pakistanis, Indians
or Africans, their English are fluent. Grab the opportunity, guys. Get to know
them :)
Normally, the air conditioned areas were the most oddly crowded, super crowded you can't
imagine how THAT many people can put their butts on the floor and pray. Areas
which were more humid (still under some construction, I think) had less people.
It's okay. You decide. Probably they will have the whole mosque air conditioned
by next year. I dont know. I tried both and was okay with both.
And
oh, speaking of, don't forget your water spray. Going
in and out just for wudhu' will waste your time. Please. Don't. Haha. Just use
the spray. Don't worry. You can't eat or drink anyway , so Number 1 and Number
2 would definitely appear on rare occasions only.
Also,
on the same note, take as much time as you can to do what you're supposed to
do. We don't wanna miss the chances and rewards, aren't we ?
p/s
: If you go to Al Haram after they've blocked the entrance , go to the
6th floor inside the Hilton hotel. It is still considered as the waqaf of the
masjid. You will rock the ma'mum job from there. Lols. We stayed in Hilton and
I only prayed there once , for Eid prayer. They blocked the Masjid's entrance
by 2 a.m. Just imagine ! 2 AM . And the Eid prayer would not start until 8 AM
!
Okay.
Done with the ibadahwise.
We
didn't go for ziarah as we had specifically picked the package without Ziarah.
Would prefer to go ziarah during the not-fasting season. Haha.
So
we just ziarah the malls there. Lewls.
During
my May Umrah trip a few years back, there were people selling things on their
wagons or mats along the streets. It was super cheap , you can get a black abaya (robe) for
only 20 SAR coz normally, abayas are sold for 100-200 SAR. However, this time around, they didn't have it. I was not really
sure whether it's because they have applied some rules or it's because the
streets were always packed with humans that they couldn't spread the mats.
Also,
the shops down the road were quite cheap too, if I recall it correctly. But we
just went to the malls around our hotel this Ramadhan. It's scorching, and we're
fasting, and with my gramps, and the wheelchairs. Totally zero energy to go
down the road.
Staying
in Hilton which is just in front of the main entrance was a MAJOR RELIEF. Thank
God we had heard stories from our relatives about them not going back to the
hotel and just spend their days just in the masjid. Well, I felt bad for them
but after going there, only then I could relate.
Hows
the Eid?
The
Eid prayer began after Subuh prayer. We brought some biskut raya from home and
shared it with the people as the imam chanted the takbir. They liked it ! Some
asked if we got it from 'Bin Dawood' (like a Giant/Tesco there). Hahaha.
Like
the rest of Ramadhan nights, the Eid night was also lively and the day went by
with people doing their tawaf and prayers like other days. If people labeled
New York as ‘the city that never sleep’, they surely have never been to Mecca
during Ramadan.
Also,
sleeping on the floor was a normal thang. You could literally pick any spot, even on the
streets and no one wpwou give you the judgemental look. It was really
lively.
And
oh I forgot to mention. The people were so generous. When it’s time to sahoor or
breakfast, you will see a lot of people giving away free foods and drinks. It
was really nice. I caught some in the camera.
If
you would like to sadaqah without facing the hassles of distributing food, you
can go to any shop and they have their packages provided;- for how many
people, with drinks or without drinks, yes or no yoghurt and a few more. I liked how they operate the whole sadaqah thing. Kinda cool. Coz by 6 o'clock, you would be able to witness many people
doing honourable things. But after the iftar, you would see a lot of garbages on the street. The 'terharu' phase would definitely be replaced with annoyance at
that moment. haha.
In
conclusion, it was very calming and peaceful there despite of the crowds. Plus, our main priority of going there is to enhance our prayers and improvise our ibadah. You will find
yourself feeling a lil bit jealous of the people who can go there every day, of
those who have the tasbih with them all the time, of those who can understand
Quran and the kids who have the chance to perform tawaf at a tender age. And
thus, you will realise how small you are and still, Allah provide you with so
many blessings which you take for granted. Just be glad that Allah has invited
you to His house, among His other servants. Good luck in performing yours. I
pray that Allah will ease your journey. Ameen.
Jazakallah.
Here's
a video which I managed to record from my camera. Apparently, videos from my
phone couldn't be compiled due to some reasons. And yeah, I don't have the scenes
of people praying or As Sudais's recitation, because I was too, praying. I only
recorded the bits when we go out to malls after Asar . Hahaha.
And
hence, here's a video of our Umrah shopping spree... :P
I don't really post about my trips in here but since it was my first trip with my cousin, Ipah and my former primary school friends, I think it deserves a post :) . Primary school bunch, after 9 years and still going strong .
Ipah was on her summer break and due to some unfortunate events, I couldn’t join her Indonesia backpacking the last time. Thus, we decided to make it up and go for a short getaway in Perhentian Kecil after she came back from her Indo trip. T’was very considerate of her to let me bring along my school friends hahaha.
This was my second time here in Perhentian but hmmm in my defence, the scenery was better last few years. I remember Perhentian being my most fav island all these while because of the colourful corals. But coming here again, I couldn’t recollect the same memories. I wonder if the tour guide guy forgot to take us to a few places or maybe, it’s not in the package. Too bad.
On another note, it is still the most clean, compared to other islands in Peninsular Malaysia. Of course those in Sabah are undeniably more scenic, couldn’t even compare them. Hehe.
unfastened the life jacket and went deep to greet the fish
Jump and Dive.
Another attraction here is the windmill. We asked the locals for the shortcut and saved a lot of time hiking and the view was indeed breathtaking. I could stay there for hours (only those people wanna go down early because the Gopro ran out of battery. All jumpy when theres no camera. Poor lads.)
What I love the most about going here and there with Ipah was, she never really cares about taking selfies like the rest haha. If it’s time to snorkel, let's snorkel. If it’s time to swim, let’s swim. And early in the morning, she would drag me to watch the sunrise together. No one wanna miss sunrise by the beach or a sunrise on a hill. They are two of the best things in the world. No camera can capture the serenity and the atmosphere :).
Breakfast on Day 2. All burnt
One of the tourist near our chalet climbed the coconut tree and offered us some. Siap kupaskan terus for us! haha