Busy...

I've been busy as a bee for the past few weeks. Trying to settle in (well, actually trying to settle back into) my life in Khartoum. There's been a lot of news as well (among my circle of friends) ... My friend, Nora, just lost her mother a few days ago. Anne's husband lost his grandmother. Condolence to both families. June was in hospital for a week. Fezzy's husband was also in hospital for a week. Zana's awaiting the arrival of her fourth child soon and I pray that it's a girl...hehehe... so that i could go crazy buying all those cute baby dresses...hehehe

In Khartoum, I'm busy with some of the activities, cooking classes for example. Now, I'm trying to join in the taichi sessions every morning (I attend 2 and miss 2)...hehehe... Been baking muffins and cupcakes to my heart's content. Sometimes just baking for the pleasure of it. There was a farewell for my husband's colleague. Last night I made dinner for some of my husband's colleague and boss. So, today I just want to relax... hehehe

Not to forget that I've been to two souks in two days (Souk Shakbi and Souk Bahari). It was a lot of fun but very tiring. But, I fell in love with the fresh products (vegetables and fruits) in Souk Bahari and I'll definitely go with my husband to shop there in the future. I hope I have the time to update all my activities when I was in Malaysia soon (I have it all in my head, already). I just need to spill it out...sigh... too many activities, too little time...

Replace an 'X' with a 'Dot' ?!!!

Yesterday, we went to change the dressing on Amir's head. At first, the doctor opened the plaster partially to see how's the cut and after that we were asked to change the dressing next door. Unfortunately, there were quite a few people infront of us, so we had to wait. But you should have seen how funny Amir looked running around with that half-opened plaster...hehehe...

The dresser was a different one from before. This one's a bit rough and Amir whimpered when he was cleaning the wound... But, being a tough 'cookie', he didn't cry and after that ordeal (for the parents, not him!), he was running around with his siblings...sigh... But I was a bit shocked to say the least when I saw the plaster for the first time. It was a small 'dot' of a plaster. I had to wait until we're out of the hospital to laugh my heart out... hehehe... It was really funny, okay?!! I've never seen a plaster so small like that and it was round, exactly like a little dot...hehehe... just see Amir and his little 'dot' in the pictures below...

Amir posing with his little 'dot'...hehehe

Another picture of the 'dot'...

I cannot imagine what's going to be next! Just have to wait and see tomorrow...hehehe, well, what can I say, it's never dull in Sudan!

'X' marks the spot!

Last friday, around 6 pm, we had another 'scare'. Amir fell from the dining chair and cut his head. There was a lot of blood and he was crying so he was undoubtedly in pain. Normally, he would not cry if it was not that painful. So, we hurried to a hospital nearby. It was deep enough to warrant one stitch...

My husband commented that I didn't talk a lot after the incident... not until we came out of the hospital...hehehe... in my case, if I'm quiet, it means that I have a problem... Come on, he was bleeding in my hands, okay?!!! The 'dresser' just put an 'X' plaster on his head (I don't know how painful it would be to take off later today...sigh... we're in Sudan, what do you expect?!!)

Anyway, my husband started saying. " 'X' marks the spot"...hehehe... I'm calling him a 'walking treasure map'...hehehe. But he's very robust, the only concession he makes about his condition is the fact that he now sleeps on his tummy or sideways... it's probably painful to sleep on his back...But other than that, he's his usual self. Still playing rough with his siblings and can't sit still...sigh... Alahai Amir...

When we came back from hospital...

Sleeping sideways...

A tribute to Ayah Wa and Che' Wa...

Che' Wa on the 9th of December 2009...

Ever since I got married in 1997, I always have this fascination with the Trengganu side of the family. 2 people that I loved seeing were of course Ayah Wa and Che' Wa...now both are not with us anymore... Ayah Wa passed away several years ago while Che' Wa left us on the 5th of January 2009. Al-fatihah to both of them, may Allah bless their soul. 

Anyway, let me share some stories about them. I don't know why but I always have this fascination and respect for the both of them. Ayah Wa was my father-in-law's cousin and they were very close. Daddy called him abang while che' wa was called abg' Yah. Daddy used to go to school with Ayah Wa.

Let me tell you about Ayah Wa first. Since the first time I met him, I was enthralled by all his stories... he was such a character... a real story-teller... from him we heard about Daddy's exploits when he was little...hehehe... We of course had fun laughing at Daddy...hehehe. Ayah Wa used to work for the government and he was quite successful. He was happily retired by the time we got married. I remembered him being able to 'massage' people with natural skills and he knew many natural remedies.

I remembered once he asked all of us to try sniffing some sort of medication for resdung. I was of course in the clear, while my husband failed miserably...hehehe, he was sneezing for a few minutes... And he was very active in politics too, I remembered him going to political rallies as this was during Anwar's time in jail. He was very passionate about life too. Even though he was quite small for a man but his stories made him taller in my eyes. I loved hearing his tales, normally we would listen to his tales open-mouthed...hehehe

When he was hospitalised in Selayang Hospital, we visited him. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he was instead regaling his grandchildren with a lot of jokes. He even joked about all the wires that the nurses put on him...hehehe... I even remembered a time when he drove all the way from Trengganu to Johor Bharu with only his grandson as company. If I'm not mistaken he was driving that green satria... just like a young man... 

When he died, he left Che Wa fending for herself in that big house. Whenever we're in Kuala Trengganu, we would not fail to drop by. She's another character that I loved, she was very 'Trengganu' with that 'Dah nak wat guane' attitude. She used to be very beautiful, was actually a 'ratu' in her heydays. She's very pretty when she smiled (evident in the picture above, right?). 

She talked very fast but I would normally understand...hehehe, not like my husband...hehehe, though he would smile as if he gets the joke! Anyway, she loved the present King, Tuanku Mizan. I remembered when he was made the King, she was glued to the television, referring to Tuanku Mizan as 'raja kita'...hehehe... Her fascination with Tuanku Mizan was heightened by the fact that the royal entourage would have to pass her house everytime Tuanku was in town.

The last time we were there, I suggested to her that she should replace the carpet as it was wet and it'll leave a musky smell after the flood, but she said to the effect that whatever she had would remain like it was until she's gone. What do you know, she left soon after. But she was very happy when we were there, kept on teasing Mummy and Daddy and the rest of our family. She also referred to herself as being 'comel' coz she lost a bit of weight...hehehe

I also remembered that since we're the lazy type and don't really care about the appearance of our car (it was dirty, okay?!!), but she said , " Takpe, kita buat dia, bukan dia buat kita"... or something to that effect... I would really miss my trips to see her, but I really do feel that she was prepared to see her maker when we met her last. 

They left behind three sons and scores of grandchildren. We're closest to the youngest, abg Na (who's currently working in Jeddah). To Abang Na and family, don't be too sad for her, I think she already prepared herself for the hereafter when we met her last. She was already redha with what Allah have in store for her. 

I think I feel the lost so much because there'll be one house less to visit whenever we're in Kuala Trengganu. I would miss all the laughter that we would share when we were there. I would truly miss the company and I think I know why I loved them so much. When I first got married, they accepted me into the family right away, always making me feel right at home... I'll miss you both but I know that Allah love both of you more than all of us put together... may you rest in peace, Ayah Wa and Che' Wa... may Allah bless your souls...al-fatihah...

A trip to the east coast : from KT to Kemaman...

On the morning of the 9th, we went to Hiliran Masjid or 'Lerang' for short. We went there to see Che' Da and Ayah Da 'Sin. Had breakfast there and after that I bought some keropok lekor. Had to wait because there were so many customers. I bought the ready-fried ones, really hot as they were just out of the fryer, but so delicious, full of 'fishy' taste...hehehe

Then we went to Che' Wa's house. She was a bit frantic because her house was flooded with water. The day before, the water rose about a few inches inside the house. The front carpet was still wet when we were there. But we assured her that it was okay and we ate the keropok lekor at her house (and finished it as well!). We had fun chatting with Che' Wa because she liked to laugh and liked to tease my in-laws...hehehe (Kitorang tumpang gelak je la, especially since she spoke Trengganu very fast). Little that we know that would be the last time that we would meet her. She passed away on 5th of January, a day after we arrived in Khartoum. Al-fatihah buat Che' Wa... May Allah bless her soul...Amin...

Amir enjoying his keropok lekor...

Abg Long, Che' Wa and We'

We were enjoying the food and the company...

Daddy managed to wear the house slipper to protect his feet, while sri made sure her feet were forever aloft...hehehe

Then we drove to Kemaman to meet Daddy's brother, Ayah Su and his family. We met them in McDonald's Kemaman because they were visiting their friends whose house was burnt down. Their house was actually in Dungun, somewhere behind UiTM Dungun. The McDonald was full of people and after a brief chat, we continued our journey. I'm quite close with che' su because she's about my age and a teacher and I discovered that she's also a fellow blogger...hehehe. I felt that the visit was too short. I wish we could meet somewhere more quiet and probably spend more time to catch up...sigh... What to do? We travel as a group, so we left as a group...sigh... In the confusion, mummy left a pair of black shoes in the parking lot... hehehe, we saw them on the road but since we did not recognise it, we just drove off... 

Ayah Su looked a lot like Daddy and he's just a year or 2 older than my husband...

Catching up with news...

Daru -Ssa'adah, somewhere in Kemaman...

Finally, around Asar we arrived in Kemaman, at Auntie Maznah and Uncle Muda's vacation house. They're my in-laws's long time friends. And we had a late lunch there... the most memorable dish would be the beef soup (from the qurban). So, it was really fresh and yummy!!!

A trip to the east coast : Eid-ul-Adha 1429 H

On the 8th of December 2008, we celebrated Eid-ul-Adha 1429 H. In the morning, Sri and me stayed behind to take care of the kids while the others went to the nearest mosque to pray. Aliah went with them and did something embarrassing during the prayer...hehehe. My father-in-law was a bit disgruntled with the Sultan Kelantan because Tuanku was late. They were unfortunate enough to be in the same mosque where the Sultan's praying...hehehe. They came back around 9.30. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and went to Mak Anjang's house.

The cousins...

At Mak Anjang's house we ate nasi minyak...delicious! There we met our cousins Abg. Pian and family and Man and his family. It seemed that Man was 'expanding' his family. Congratulations, Man. Anyway, we made our move to the next destination around 11.30. 

The whole family plus Mak Anjang!

Mummy with her sister, Mak Anjang... they look alike, huh?!!

On our way to Kuala Trengganu, we had a little bit of a detour. Actually, my father-in-law missed a turning (well, turned in to early, actually) and we were 'lost' in the middle of kampung roads. Because of that we had to use this little rickety bridge to get across. I was a bit squeamish when I saw the bridge but alhamdulillah we made it across. I'm not being overdramatic because as we were crossing the bridge, I could see the raging Kelantan river underneath! I also saw that people were taking the monsoon season quite lightly. I saw a lot of kids playing near the water (with no adult supervision!).

On the bridge...

Some of the kids (braving the weather) along the coast...

Somewhere in Batu Burok, we had a brief stopover at my father-in-law's ex-colleague. He was involved in an accident and broke his arm and hurt his feet. After that we continued our journey to our accommodation in Kuala Trengganu.

Amir was busy playing...

Our accommodation was situated right in front of the KT airport. It's a row of houses which had been turned into a 'homestay' concept. 4 bedrooms at rm300 a night was quite cheap if compared to staying in a hotel. The only problem was because of Eid, not many shops are open to buy food. At least we had dinner at Che' Rah's house, my fahter-in-law's sister. We ate nasi dagang...Hmm, what can I say... yummy!

KT airport...looked very different from a few years ago...

The kids watching TV...

They had nothing better to do, so played under the stairs...sigh...

Angah and all his kids...having fun...

That night we just relaxed while watching TV... the kids amused themselves with so many games. The adults tried to enjoy the movies but for the life of me what that 'anak halal''s all about? Very confusing because as usual malay movies lack the continuity of the plot to make much sense...sigh...what's new, huh?!! 

Uncertainties Abound...

Today is the 8th of January!!! My birthday! I don't feel like a 36 year old woman, still feeling young...hehehe... My friend, Ella said that being 36 means that we're nearer to being 40, instead of being early thirties...hmm, for me, it's just a number. I intend to use the days that Allah's giving me to enjoy my family, spend time with my little ones, enjoy being with friends and learn to improve my ibadah, insyaallah. 

On another note, we were notified last night that there'll be a massive demonstration about what's happening in Gaza today. It seemed that the flyers were sent down using helicopters yesterday, so, they're expecting a big march to the presidential palace (which is on the same road as our complex). 

Early this morning, Kak Shidah called telling me that her kids won't be attending school today. I called Najwa and she and I agreed to keep the kids away from school, too. This is just a precaution because we're afraid that they'll be caught in the traffic jam coming back from school later. 

Another fear is the rumours that JEM will be attacking Khartoum again sometime this month. So, we're supposed to avoid going to places where the expats spend their time like the Ozone and Amwaj...sigh... I could hear the helicopters above, going back and forth... normally, there's something going on when they do that. Anyway, we're just being cautious and I've also packed our essentials, just in case of any emergency. So, pray for our safety and also for those innocent people all over the world, especially in Gaza. May Allah protect them all.

I'm back in Khartoum...

I'm back in Sudan! We arrived 2 nights ago, but I had a terrible flu, along with my husband and Amir. We arrived around 8 pm, after sorting the food stuff, I straight away went to sleep with the other two patients...hehehe...only to be awoken by Aliah around midnight (Hadi was finding it difficult to sleep, but by the time I woke up, he was fast asleep...)That means the two of them had fun watching TV without supervision...sigh...

Anyway, my husband declared that he's on MC. Actually, in Sudan there's no such thing as MC...hehehe. I was also groggy from the medicine, only managed to cook chicken rice for everyone. After a long hiatus of not cooking, I'm back to 'cooking territory'...sigh... Anyway, we received news that che We, one of our relatives in Kuala Trengganu passed away yesterday...al-fatihah... may Allah bless her soul...

The kids are away in school and Amir's pestering me to sleep with him, so au revoir...