SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI KEMERDEKAAN KE-52
31 OGOS 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Ladies Nite Out
What's this London double-decker doing here in Melaka? About a month ago I suggested to the ladies in my Taichi exercise group that it would be fun to end our session (the fasting month of Ramadhan is coming, see?) with a makan-makan (dinner) at the famous ikan bakar (grilled fish) restaurant in the outskirt of town. Of course they unanimously approved, well anything to get out of the house I suppose :) And to make the trip more fun, they wanted to ride on the red, Melaka tourist double-decker bus - the Panorama.
Boarding the bus.
Since the bus could accomodate more than 20 of us, we invited other friends as well. At the end, the group became 46 in number. On Friday, 7/8/2009 at 6.00 pm sharp, we started on our Jalan-jalan Cari Makan adventure. Since it was still too early for dinner, I asked the driver to drive around the villages in Merlimau and Serkam. The villagers were surprised to see the red double-decker passing through. The ladies waved to them and they waved back, much to the delight of the ladies in the bus.
Happy faces in the double-decker.
After performing the Maghrib (evening) prayers, we adjourned to the restaurant located at Umbai, right next to the jetty to Pulau Besar. It was such a picturesque spot.
I managed to snap some scenes around the restaurant before it got dark.
Well the ladies had their dinner - grilled fish cooked in 3 styles, stir fried kangkong, 2 packets of nasi lemak each, 2 otak-otak and sugar-cane juice - all ordered before hand. I could see the smiles on their faces, no complaints. That made the job of the organiser smooth-sailing.
Enjoying dinner . . . .
Then it was time to return to home base. Everyone was very happy and thanked me for arranging the outing, suggesting that they want to do it again another time. We'll see, ladies, we'll see . . .
Friday, August 7, 2009
Me Choir Girl
It was in 1975 when I was teaching in the Teachers' College in Kuala Lumpur. Occasion - The National Quran Reading competition held at Stadium Merdeka. Watching the 51st International Quran Reading Competition on TV last night brought to mind the time I was a choir girl, joining the student teachers singing religious, motivational songs during intermission. I was young and inquisitive. How did it feel to be part of the choir? Well, it took a lot of my time for practices but I remember feeling young at heart when I joined the rest of the group. At least I can say now, I did involve myself in this prestigous competition albeit in a teeny-weeny way - A Chorus Girl.
1975 - Choir with En. Nadzri Ahmad, our Music Lecturer cum Conductor.
In another change of costume. Can you spot the young me?
Monday, August 3, 2009
A Night at the Mosque
Why not, I said. If they can have "A Night at the Museum", I'll have "A Night at the Mosque" .
Thus last weekend, I managed to gather about 40 ladies from my Islamic Ladies Club to spend a night packed with religoius activities at the beautiful 'floating' Melaka Straits Mosque right by the edge of the famous Straits of Malacca.
We started with dinner before the evening prayers - rice with chicken curry and veggies, sponsored by one of the members in the group. It was lovely sitting with the group and enjoying the sea breeze. Then it was prayer times, Maghrib and Isyak, with the Imam of the mosque. In between the Imam gave a short talk on the arrival of the fasting month. That being over, the ladies pair-off for the "Tadarus Al-Quran" session whereby one would read a page of the Quran and her partner would check her reading and vice versa. It was about 11.00 pm when the 30 chapters of the Quran were read by the group. Before tucking in to sleep, we had a late supper also sponsored by several kind-hearted souls. When it was time to slumber, it was quite difficult actually. No. 1 , we had to lie on the hard floor of the mosque covering ourselves with whatever coverings we brought along. And No.2, someone would crack a joke and that would cause some laughter. I couldn't get a good night sleep but sleep we must because we had to be awake at 4.00 am for the special night prayers (Qiamullail) led by one of ladies in the group. The night was very still and quiet and that helped us to focus in our prayers. The praying session ended with Suboh, the obligratory early morning prayer. After that, I led the ladies outside in the cool, dawn air to do some stretching exercises and the Tai-chi.
Well, we did achieve what we wanted after "A Night at the Mosque". The group agreed that we should do it again next year.
Checking the reading of the Quran
Prayer time in the wee hours of morn
Let's stretch . . . .
Finally, breakfast before departing.
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