Jalan Masjid India

I have been keeping in the office my "kain baju kurung", waiting for the others to bring theirs for a couple of days now. The idea is to get matching scarves together at out favourite tudung shop in Jalan Bunus, around Masjid India. Somehow, whenever I go with her, we seemed to be able to get discounts even on normal priced items. Today, our "A" Ambassador did not bring her "kain baju kurung" again, so was reluctant to go. When I heard that "A" was having sales, hmmm I thought, why not. Plus, the weather is just beautiful outside, so very cool (well, Malaysian Standard Cool), and cloudy. I thought today would be the best day to go, I expect to be really swarmed next week anyway. I do want to get this scarf business out of the way as soon as possible so that I can tick it off my To Do checklist.

So off I went, alone armed with my face mask and my RuMe bag! I went straight to the shop, held out my 3 pieces of kain to the Sales Assisstant and asked for her help to find the right sizes after deciding on the right colours. One thing I have to say about the SAs in this shop is they are really attentive, helpful and efficient, unlike another famous scarf shop that I used to frequent, where you are almost scared to ask for help because they look at you with utter contempt as if we were there to create extra workload for them! So, I was done in half an hour, would have been sooner, had they had the right sizes on display.

I then ventured off to the shops along Jalan Masjid India just to feast my eyes upon the other stuff on sale.

Check out this guy wearing "Tudung Siti" that he was selling, he was not the only one, wearing the scarf ok. I find it hilarious. A couple of years back, when we came here the night before Hari Raya, some of the sellers(guys) were putting on complete Baju Kurung attire with scarves, and there were those who wore Telekung too! Now that was really weird!!

Telekung Raya anyone?

Lots of people, masks and all.

More people.

Last stop is the luggage shop at the end of Wisma Yakin. Got a bag for my maid, an imitation North Face, not sure how many gallon capacity, but it was for an amount that I was willing to part with. Not bad! Then back to office via LRT with my packed full RuMe bag. Good day! He!he!

Favourite Buka Puasa Dish!

My favourite buka puasa dish every Ramadhan for the past 3-4 years is this Rojak Singapore in Pasar Ramadhan - Wangsa Maju. I just love it, can't seem to get it at any other time of the year. Perhaps I should finally ask the owner where they sell during non-Ramadhan months. For those living around neighbouring areas, this is a must try.

Sajian Tradisi bersama...

Read about the launching of this new Recipe book by Chef Wan at Avon outlets in the papers.

This book won the Best In the World cook book Award in the fund raising cookbooks category.

Zila bought one for herself. We all oggled over the beautiful pictures of the many many traditional recipes compiled. She was kind enough to go to the Avon outlet across the street again to get us our own personal copies each. Hmmm so now, we are flipping the pages over and over again trying to find some inspiration for our buka puasa meal this evening, myself excluded. Why? Well, because yours truly here is still staying at mom's. Zaim is not 2 yrs old yet, so we are not moving out just yet. In the mean time, I am enjoying mak's home cooked meal daily a.k.a no cooking for me. Less headache especially during Ramadhan! I have never bought any of his cook books, though I have leafed through his other books at the book shops but always ended up putting the books back down. Don't know why. Perhaps I should start collecting, to add to my Nigella's & Jamie's books. After all, he is now the Best Celebrity Television Chef in the World!!

So, since I am not gonna be cooking this coming few days, instead of me coming up with a checklist of what I plan to cook, I'm listing a few dishes here that I wish to have for my buka puasa one of these days...

Gulai Lemak Siput Sedut

Sambal Goreng Kacang Botol

(maybe minus the prawns, since I am no fan of prawns)

Kerabu Pucuk Paku bersama Kerang

Urab Nangka dan Tempe
(before buying this recipe book, I have never heard of this word Urab.
But I love nangka muda and tempe, I'm sure it tastes as good as it looks)


On the last page, there's like 10 handy cooking tips from the great chef.

As for the rest of the recipes in the book, PGYO* to find out!

Pictures courtesy of Zila's wonderfully amazing but really not cheap Nokia N97, thanks babe. I surrender to your 5 megapixel camera! best giler!

*please get your own

Fadhilat Terawih

Ramadhan Mubarak all! Here's the list of "Fadhilat Terawih for each night" for your reference. Selamat beribadah semua.

Sayidina Ali Abi Talib ra. meriwayatkan sebuah Hadis (yang panjang) daripada Raulullah s.a.w, iaitu jawapan baginda ketika ditanya oleh para sahabat mengenai fadhilat dan kelebihan solat Tarawih pada setiap malam di bulan Ramadhan. Baginda bersabda bahawa:

Malam ke 1
Diampuni dosa-dosa orang yang beriman sebagaimana keadaannya baru dilahirkan.

Malam ke 2
Diampunkan dosa orang-orang yang beriman yang mengerjakan solat Tarawih, serta dosa- dosa kedua ibu bapanya.

Malam ke 3
Para malaikat di bawah 'Arasy menyeru kepada manusia yang mengerjakan solat Tarawih itu agar meneruskan solatnya pada malarn-malam yang lain, semoga Allah akan mengampunkan dosa-dosa mereka.

Malam ke 4
Orang-orang yang mengerjakan solat Tarawih akan memperolehi pahala sebagaimana pahala yang diperolehi oleh orang-orang yang membaca kitab-kitab Taurat, Zabur, Injil dan Al-Quran.

Malam ke 5
Allah S.W.T akan mengurniakan pahala seumpama pahala orang-orang yang mengerjakan sembahyang di Masjidil Haram, Masjid Madinah dan Masjidil Aqsa.

Malam ke 6
Allah S.W.T akan mengurniakan kepadanya pahala seumpama pahala malaikat-malaikat yang bertawaf di Baitul Makmur serta setiap batu dan tanah berdoa untuk keampunan orang-orang yang mengerjakan tarawih malam itu.

Malam ke 7
Seoalah-olah ia dapat bertemu dengan Nabi Musa a.s serta menolong Nabi itu menentang musuhnya Fir'aun dan Hamman.

Malam ke 8
Allah S.W.T mengurniakan pahala orang yang bersolat tarawih sebagaimana pahala yang dikurniakan kepada Nabi Ibrahim a.s.

Malam ke 9
Allah S.W.T akan mengumiakan pahala dan dinaikkan mutu ibadat hamba-Nya seperti Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.

Malam ke 10
Allah SWT mengurniakan kepada kebaikan dunia dan akhirat.

Malam ke 11
la meninggal dunia didalam keadaan bersih dari dosa seperti baru dilahirkan.

Malam ke 12
la akan dibangkitkan pada hari kiamat dengan muka yang bercahaya-cahaya.

Malam ke 13
la akan datang pada hari kiamat di dalam keadaan aman sentosa dari sebarang kejahatan dan keburukan.

Malam ke 14
Malaikat-malaikat akan datang menyaksikan mereka bersolat Tarawih serta Allah S.W.T. tidak akan menyesatkan mereka.

Malam ke 15
Semua malaikat yang memikul Arasy dan Kursi akan berselawat dan mendoakannya supaya Allah mengampunkannya.

Malam ke 16
Allah S.W.T. menuliskan baginya dari kalangan mereka yang terlepas dari api neraka dan dimasukkan ke dalam syurga.

Malam ke 17
Allah S.W.T menuliskan baginya pahala pada malam ini sebanyak pahala Nabi-Nabi.

Malam ke 18
Malaikat akan menyeru: Wahai hamba Allah sesungguhnya Allah telah redha denganmu dan dengan kedua ibu bapamu (yang masih hidup atau yang sudah mati).

Malam ke 19
Allah S.W.T akan meninggikan darjatnya di dalam syurga firdaus.

Malam ke 20
Allah S.W.T mengurniakan kepadanya pahala sekelian orang yang mati syahid dan orang-orang soleh.

Malam ke 21
Allah S.W.T akan membina untuknya sebuah mahligai di dalam syurga yang diperbuat dari cahaya.

Malam ke 22
la akan datang pada hari kiamat di dalam keadaan aman dari sebarang huru-hara pada hari tersebut.

Malam ke 23
Allah S.W.T akan membina untuknya sebuah bandar di dalam syurga daripada cahaya.

Malam ke 24
Allah S.W.T akan membuka peluang untuk dua puluh tahun ibadat bagi orang-orang yang mengerjakan solat Tarawih pada malam tersebut.

Malam ke 25
Allah S.W.T akan mengangkat seksa kubur darinya.

Malam ke 26
Allah S.W.T akan mengurniakan pahala empat puluh tahun ibadat bagi orang-orang yang mengerjakan solat Tarawih pada malam tersebut.

Malam ke 27
Allah S.W.T akan mengurniakan kepadanya kemudahan untuk melintasi titian sirat sepantas kilat.

Malam ke 28
Allah S.W.T akan menaikkan kedudukannya seribu darjat di akhirat.

Malam ke 29
Allah S.W.T akan mengurniakan kepadanya pahala seribu haji yang mabrur.

Malam ke 30
Allah S.W.T akan member penghormatan kepada orang yang bertarawih pada malam terakhir dengan firman-Nya (yang bermaksud): Wahai hambaku!, makanlah segala jenis buah-buahan yang Engkau ingini untuk dimakan di dalam syurga dan mandilah kamu di dalam sungai yang bernama salsabil serta minumiah air dari telaga yang dikurniakan kepada Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. yang bernama Al-Kautsar.

Selain daripada fadhilat-fadlulat yang tersebut di atas, terdapat banyak dan berbagai lagi fadhilat dan keutamaan solat Tarawih atau , Qiam, Ramadhan ini bagaimana yang disebutkan dalam hadis-hadis Rasulullah s.a.w.SELAMAT BERPUASA DAN BERTARAWIH.

Source: http://www.mail-archive.com/hizb@hizbi.net/msg31109.html

Shopping for a cause.

I discovered this really interesting kiosk just outside Village Grocer at BVI, selling all sorts of nylon bags last weekend. I had to have a look because I am such a bagaholic. I love bags, any size, any brands, and materials, expensive, designer, cheap, free, reusable, disposable, paper or plastic. I always buy a bag, or keep free bags shopping bags and find a reason to put it to use and not the other way round.

Pictures courtesy of : http://tinytapir.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/bangsar-villages-village-grocer-goes-plastic-bagless/

What caught my eye was this RuME compact reusable bags, that come in many great designs and colours. Isn't this a beautiful reason to go green, reduce collecting the disposable shopping bags at the supermarket and use this lovely bags instead. It comes in a variety of designs. Click on this picture below to check out the prices and designs. Another design that caught my eye was this Short-Handle String Tote. When I saw it at the kiosk I was like, this is so cute! What can I fill this with? And I thought, yes, why not. I have been thinking about buying a netlike bag to fill the kids's soccer balls etc etc when we travel, and it would also be a great beach bag.

Another product range that they carry is this collapsible water bottles. Do you need another water bottle? I know, but this one is collapsible!!! Isn't it so cool? Usually, when I am out and about with the kids, we would be bringing a bottle or two of their water bottles of varied sizes, but at the end of the day, we would be lugging around empty water bottles. If we have the baby stroller in hand, then it's ok, I would just chuck them in the basket, but what if it's a day out without a stroller and we have to hand carry everything, wouldn't it be a nuisance to be carrying and empty water container? With this Platypus thingy here, an already empty container could easily be rolled up in my handbag, together with the rolled up RuME bags (logically, not quite rolled up still! At the end of a day at the mall I would much prefer to have used up a RuME bag or two), neat huh?

They have so many other products that are catered for women, babies & travelling. Check out their website at http://www.tinytapir.com/.

A big big plus for me is that they have a shop at Ampang Park. How convenient is that??? Lunch time at Ampang Park, will no longer be cost saving for me. Sigh! At least, I will be carrying my shopping in an Eco-friendly bag.

2009 Stampede Breakfast & Family Day

On the 8th August, it was our annual Stampede Breakfast & Family Day. The kids have been looking forward to this day ever since I told them that it's coming. At first we thought of leaving Zaim behind, because of the H1N1 thing going around, getting from bad to worse. However, the night before the big day, we thought, it was quite a pity to leave him behind. We knew he would enjoy it, whatever it is he will not appreciate being left behind. So off we went the all 5 of us, and I also brought re-inforcement back-ups, in the form of my maid and my brother. Yes, it takes 4 adults to handle 3 kids!!

Here's JW giving his speech to start off the event.

Poco-poco! Yes at a Stampede! Very Malaysianised!

This way and that!

The event was officiated with a pancake toss!

Whoppaa!!

The Mini-Carousel

Ooops! yup, guilty! That's me. I was just accompanying Zaim, ok!

Yeehaa!! I love this things! I mean, I'm sure Zaim will grow to like this things!

Smile for the camera Zaim...

Zarif on the wall!

Nayli's turn.

Mr Clown.

Pony Ride time.

Zarif being a bit dramatic here, it's a poney not a camel boy!

Nayli 's turn on the white pony.

At the petting zoo.

Cute huh?

What is this animal, the Maurice character in Madagascar right?

Hamster squeezing time...

MJ

MJ Jr Impersonator 1

MJ Jr Impersonator 2

What's going on here?

MJ Jr Impersonator 3

Q-ing for a telematch

One after another.

and another.

and another. my kids continously played one game after another. as long as they did not come in 1st or 2nd the organiser made them stay in line to play another game. That's really bad, coz in the end they didn't win anything, but were really exhausted... kesian...

the things people do... muahahaha! I'm glad it's not me there in the seat.

what's so funny here?

Even this little one is mesmerised.

Puppet Show!

JW trying his luck on the bull.

Finally Nayli managed to get her face painted.

Nice!

Talisman's Got Talent - Yana and Hanis.

Cowboy Zarif.

A bit of a Hanna Montana act here.

Won another Lucky draw this year. Careful Zarif, it's FRAGILE!!!

Ta-raaaa!!! It's a floor lamp from IKEA. I was quite relieved that it was not a casserole set or a dinner set.

A post with the Lucky Draw gift unwrapped - since I didn't have a picture receiving the gift. (Have to wait for the official photo, hope it turns out well).

So, here it is the gift all assembled. Nice, looking forward to next year's Lucky Draw!