Meeting at PCO...

Around 3pm on the 27th of October, I had a meeting with Kak Zainon at PCO...finalising the details for the Edufair programme on the 30th. Hafiz, who's taking over from Kak Zainon was also there. So, I warned him that if he wanted my help next time, give me ample notice. Kak Zainon said she did give me ample notice which I replied that less than 7 days's definitely not ample notice! I told Hafiz that the shorter the notice, the more they have to pay! Hehehe...

Anyway, the meeting was uneventful in itself. We discussed with the rep from the Malaysian Embassy about the coordination of the event itself. I was given the task to put up the poster at Block A. Near the end of the meeting, I was a bit distracted by the refreshment given to us. Bottles of mineral water and a bowl of 'morning coffee' biscuits...hehehe... in a bowl, ok!

For the life of me, I've never seen something so funny. Luckily, I had my camera with me, so I asked for permission to take the pictures. Hassan asked me to taste the biscuit which I had no intention of eating. But since he offered seriously, I 'tak sampai hati' just to leave the biscuits there...hehehe. I took a piece with me and nibbled on it until I finished it. It took me, the whole journey from PCO to B-G-5 to finish it...hehehe. I took pictures to prove it...hehehe

The bowl of biscuits...

Hafiz and Kak Zainon...

Kak Jas and Hassan...

I was more interested in the biscuit...hehehe

Eating it...

Pieces by pieces...

Until the last bite...

Prove that I pasted the poster at Block A's board...

Impressed with Amna...

When we first moved to the complex, we were assigned a cleaner to clean our house. In Block G, the cleaner had to clean only two houses each, so they not only clean but also ironed our clothes. In the complex, each cleaner had to clean 4 houses each and they just clean the living room and the kitchen area plus the guest bathroom. They would come everyday except on Friday, 6 days a week.

Recently, the management decide to cut cost and decrease the number of maids. Instead of 4 houses, now they have to clean 8 houses. So far, I've always had Asyur and I was glad to have her. I've heard stories about the other ladies who were not satisfied with the maid service. So many complaints... so much so that the management decided to have a 'rotation' system. 

Now, instead of having the same maid everyday, the maids would clean the whole floor (8 houses). They would also clean different floor everyday which means I'll get different maid every day. I truly do not mind with this arrangement because I do not have any preference on any particular maid. I'm just grateful that there's someone to help me clean my house...hehehe

I've always heard that people say Amna's a good cleaner. She used to work for Kak Anum in the old Block I and when we moved to the complex, she used to clean the second floor. Kak Anum was happy to still have her. Last year, I used to pay her to iron my clothes until I got Ros in January. She's very soft spoken and very trustworthy.

So, on the 27th, I got Amna...finally! I just left her to do the cleaning while I was busy downstairs. When I finally went upstairs, I was amazed! My house gleamed! My house finally smelled of rose (Ajax Fabuloso)! Hehehe. For over a year, even though I gave the same cleaning detergent to Asyur, I never smell the rose-scented floor, never...not until Amna. 

Even my husband realised that there was a marked difference when Amna cleaned. I'm not joking, ok. She practically cleaned everything, every surface available. She even cleaned the dishes in the sink! I'm totally impressed, to say the least. No wonder so many people want her to clean their houses. 

I definitely agree that the cleaners should rotate. At least everyone would experience bad and good cleaners. I understand that to those who used to get good cleaners, they'll make so much noise but it's not fair to those who always got bad cleaners. I do think that it's fairer with the rotation system.

Amna has since left the employment of NADA, choosing instead to work for private employment. Actually now she's working for Noni and Kak Siti and if she's free, she'll accept private work as well. Good for her! She's better off now, I think. But I'd like to thank her for cleaning my house on that day. Thank you, Amna!

Gleaming table!

Squeaky clean floor...

Shining stove!

A clean work top...sigh

Spring cleaning Day...

On the 27th of October, the ladies worked together to clean A-G-8 and helped moved all the plates, glasses, crockeries, pots and pans etc to B-G-5 and B-G-6 storerooms. It seemed that we could not use A-G-8 for our gotong-royong anymore...sigh. The ladies in Block B cleaned B-G-5 and also B-G-6. When we finished in Block A, we went to Block B to give them a hand also.

Sad to say that not all madames came down to help...sigh. I really appreciate those who came down and help in the clearing and cleaning up process. Actually, what we were doing would benefit everyone in the long run because the plates etc would be used for communal purposes not personal. Well, I do have to accept the fact that not many would be willing to do the dirty work but when it comes to using them later... that's another story...hehehe

Kak Jas and Nani...

Kak Jas supervising...hehehe

Much better, isn't it?!!

Stoves, pot and pans

For communal use...

After cleaning up, we held a brief meeting about some of the grievances about the maid service and also helpdesk and also the problems with certain drivers. We just discussed some of the common points for discussions with NADA. 

After that, Kak Adik invited us to her house for breakfast. She cooked mee bandung if I'm not mistaken. Thank you, Kak Adik...hehehe. Macammana tak gemuk?!! Buat keje sikit, makannya banyak! Hehehe. Enjoy the pictures...

Bulatnya mata Sh. Nayela

Runny pudding...hehehe

Ina Wahab and Kak Anum

Nicky, K.Jas, Nani and Kak Maria...

Ina Sakinah and K.Rohana

Ibadah Qurban 1430 H...

This morning, we performed sembahyang sunat Aidil Adha at the Laman Mesra Petronas. Many turned up to be together and I was glad that I went too... In one of the khutbah, I learnt that yesterday during wukuf was when Allah 'mengampunkan dosa dan membuka pintu syurga paling banyak sekali' in any given year. Wow, I didn't know that...Alhamdulillah, now I know...

My husband and me came downstairs without the kids because they were still sleeping. But after the prayer (before the 2 khutbah), Amir came down...still in his pyjamas. Kak Adik found him wandering around downstairs...hehehe. The weather was really nice, cool and breezy. Amir was shivery so I enveloped him in my telekung...hehehe. 

After the khutbah, I went to the playground area to have breakfast. This year, there's not much of a spread. There was nasi goreng, meehoon goreng and nasi impit and kuah kacang. Doesn't feel like raya to me... more like a birthday bash kind of food. But it was food nonetheless and we should feel grateful for that. There was quite a lot of guests but the food didn't look like it was enough for everyone. I found out that En. Kader was also responsible for the menu and the headcount... Kalau ye pun nak berjimat, idak le macam itu caranya... hehehe

After that I brought Amir upstairs to have a shower and change of clothes. Being Friday, people are rushing to the main event which is the ibadah qurban itself. This year, they're doing it behind Block A (which is actually right behind our house). We had the best seat in the house, literally. My kids, Amir and Aliah went downstairs to have a better look. Hadi watched from our living room and we witnessed the first qurban and I was really squeamish... 

This year, alhamdulillah, the total number of qurban increases. We have 9 cows and 48 khoruf. 20 of those khoruf are given to people outside of the complex to qurban while the rest would be done in the complex itself. Last night my kids kept their eyes fixed on the 9 cows because they were tethered at the back of our house. Hadi was worried when the cows were still not sleeping by 8 pm...hehehe

Last night, we went to Kak Siti's house for dinner. The food was really delicious. She cooked nasi briyani, spaghetti and also khoruf 'Kandahar' style... It was very well done and I ate a lot of the khoruf...hehehe. We came back only after 10 pm. Luckily I already cooked the nasi impit, kuah kacang and some kind of beef rendang (I still failed to make a good rendang...hehehe).

I'm sure by now you're wondering why there's no pictures...hehehe. Actually I lost my camera about two weeks ago...sigh. That's why I'm not very keen to blog about the current events...hehehe. I miss taking pictures and share it here...sigh. Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha to all... Eid Saeed, everyone! 

Selamat Hari Raya...

Dear Friends,

I would like to wish everyone, "Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha" or here we express it as "Eid Mubarak! Kullu Aam Waantu Bikhair".

To those performing their Haj this year, I pray that you'll have a Haj Mabrur, insyaallah.

Hopefully, we'll be the guests of Allah soon, insyaallah.

And I pray that badal Haji for my brother and my parents would be successful, insyaallah...

p/s: To those on the way back to Malaysia or travelling in Malaysia...be careful and drive carefully! To those travelling all over the world, have a safe journey! Take care and be safe!

Post-Raya Celebration...

On the 26th of October, Kak Rohana/Emi invited all of us to her house around 3 pm. It was for ladies and kids only because our husbands were invited around 8 pm. I was busy going for a meeting at PCO with Kak Jas. 

By the time I went there, the party was in full-swing. When I was about to eat, I was called downstairs to pick up the sticks for bunga manggar...sigh. I only had time to enjoy my food afterwards. Even then I was a bit of a rush and didn't enjoy my food properly. Kak Rohana cooked so many dishes. She cooked nasi beriyani if I was not mistaken, with lots of dishes, mee and a spread of cakes and biscuits.

Even though Raya was over but the spirits still lingered in Khartoum...hehehe. A month was definitely not enough to cater for all the open houses...hehehe

Kak Rohana in brown...

Biscuits...

Dessert table

They've taken down the grapes...hehehe

Bersungguh2 bercerita...hehehe

Some of the guests...

Some of the dishes...

Some of the spread...

More cookies and biscuits...

Wrapping gifts...

On the 26th of October, Nina came to my house to wrap all the gifts for the upcoming games during the Birthday Bash. We encountered one big problem though... We couldn't use the masking tape that we bought in Sudan. It didn't stick...sigh. We had to use the masking tape from Malaysia.

We tried our best to wrap the gifts... but some looked really funny...hehehe. One box had three different wrapping papers on it...hehehe. Well, in our defence, they'll be torn off anyway because we wrapped the gifts in groups. Just hope they'll like what's inside...hehehe

The glass chopping boards...

Beautiful, huh?!!

The gifts for kids...

Can you see at least 2 different wrapping papers on the box?

Lantak la...

Ready for the winners!

Hit by a train?!!

On the 22nd of October, Faridah Hashim and her two boys were involved in an accident. Her husband set out to Malaysia on the same day and left her to accompany the kids to their concert in KAS in the evening. On their way there, she was busy talking to the kids as they were excited to be involved in the school parade on that fateful night.

She told us that she kind of heard a wisel/horn of some kind but didn't take any notice of it. Until she felt that the van was pushed from behind. She actually thought that another car or van had smashed into her van. The impact of the crash left the door unable to be opened and she had to crawl out from the front door. Only then, she realised that they were actually on a railtrack and they were just hit by a train?!! What do you think? Incredible, isn't it? To be hit by a train and not even aware of the fact...hehehe...

The driver was unaware that he stopped the van right smack on a section of the railroad and didn't realised that a train was coming towards them. I think the train driver saw them from afar and applied his brake from far away because if not, they would certainly die...sigh. Alhamdulillah, nothing worse happened. Actually they stopped there because of the traffic jam but maybe it was fate, the van driver didn't realised it was a rail track.I know that they were very lucky to be unharmed but when I heard her story the first time, I just couldn't stop giggling... hehehe.

I told Kak Jas and Kak Maria about the incident a few days later and we went to visit Faridah on the 25th of October. She was understandably still a bit shaken but I managed to lighten up the atmosphere by lightly teasing her...hehehe. I mean, being hit by a train, ok?!! Not many people could say they have the same experience?!! Only in Sudan...

The best part was the fact that the investigators kept on asking her whether she was alert when she was in the van. Tell me, seriously, if I were to get on the van, I wouldn't be alert of my surrounding. It's not as if I'm driving the van, ok?!! Can you imagine yourself, get on the van and started looking to your left, right, infront and maybe behind you... at all times. Simply crazy! I guess the incident happened for a reason. One of them was to show clearly that some of the drivers provided by the management was clearly not to be trusted and not an expert in the roads of Khartoum to say the least! 

After the incident, Faridah insisted on going to KAS for the programme. Afterwards, she was kept waiting because the driver which was supposed to pick her up was nowhere to be seen. After asking the helpdesk, it was found out that the driver went to KICS and kept saying, 'madame ma fi'... of course ler madame ma fi (not there) because he went to the wrong school...sigh... sabar je la...

The driver who finally picked her up (maybe aware that they were traumatised) picked that night to drive slowly...so slow that they became the last van to arrive at the complex! Hehehe, kesian kat Faridah but see why I found it very hilarious to say the least. It was definitely not her night...hehehe. Mujur la she's okay.

Fadidah telling us of her ordeal...

Kak Maria...

Hj. Rozlan...

Faridah and her two heroes...

Shopping in Omdurman...

On the 25th of October, a group of us went to Omdurman. Kak Jas and me shopped for stuff for the Birthday Bash on the 30th, while the others followed us for the sake of shopping. I already have some things in mind for the presents. So, I straightaway bought the presents and loaded them in the van...hehehe

I was very impressed with Ismet, the van driver who recited al-quran while waiting for 'madames'...hehehe. The ladies went berserk in the souk...actually, Nor went berserk in the souk! She wanted to buy literally everything. Adoi! Gave me a headache actually, but lantak la, it's her money. 

We ended up filling up the van with a lot of stuff...hehehe. I even had to hold one of the water container on my lap! Anyway, I was glad when we finally reached the complex...hehehe. Enjoy the pictures...

On the way to Omdurman...

Kak Zila sempat posing ngan khoruf...hehehe

We're waiting for the others to come back...

Anak Nor...

Very cute baby!

Good boy!

The back was full of stuff!

Unloading our stuff...

Posing, jangan tak posing...

Some of the stuff we bought...