In No Random Order…

My Self Reminders…

Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power) is described in the Quran as, “better than a thousand months” (97:3). Any action done on this night such as reciting the Quran, remembering Allah, etc. is better than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr.Allah’s Messenger used to exert himself in devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any other time.” (Muslim). Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet.Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, related that the Prophet said: Look for Laylatul Qadr on an odd-numbered night during the last ten nights of Ramadan (Bukhari).The Prophet said: “Whoever prays during the night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his previous sins forgiven.”

(Bukhari & Muslim recorded from Abu Huraira)

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Have you paid your zakat fitrah?

Zakat Al Fitr Zakat al Fitr is an obligatory charity on every Muslim at the end of the month of Ramadan. Ibn `Umar said: “The Prophet, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, enjoined the payment of one Sa’a of dates or one Sa’a of barley as Zakat al-Fitr on every Muslim, young and old, male and female, free and slave.” (Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim) The purpose of Zakat al-Fitr is to purify the one who has fasted from any type of indecent act or speech he might have committed while fasting. It also helps the poor and the needy. Ibn Abbas said: “The Messenger of Allah, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, enjoined Zakat al-Fitr on the one who fasts to shield him from any indecent act or speech and for the purpose of providing food for the needy.” (Related by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah.) The Amount of Zakat al-Fitr As the first hadeeth indicated, the amount of Zakat al-Fitr is one Sa’a. Sa’a is a volume measure corresponding approximately to the volume of 5 lb of good wheat. The material of the Zakat can be either dates, barley, wheat, rice, corn or similar items considered as basic foods. Abu Saeed said: “We used to give for Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every child, aged person, free man or slave during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, one Sa’a of food, or one Sa’a of dried yogurt, or one Sa’a of barley, or one Sa’a of dates, or one Sa’a of raisins.” (Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.) The Time for Zakat al-Fitr Zakat al-Fitr has to be paid by the end of Ramadhan. There are two times to pay Zakat al-Fitr. Either one or two days before Eid as ‘Umar used to do, or the day of Eid before the Eid prayer. Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, ordered them to pay Zakat al-Fitr before they go out to perform the Eid prayer. If Zakat al-Fitr is paid after the Eid prayer, it will only be considered as regular charity. The Prophet, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, said: “If one pays Zakat al-Fitr before the Salat, it is considered an accepted Zakat, if he pays it after the Salat, it is considered an ordinary charity.” (Related by Abu Dawud.)

Zakat al-Fitr is to be given to the same eight categories or people as in the other types of Zakat. Some scholars say that the poor and the needy are the most deserving ones since the Prophet, sallaallahu `alayhe wa sallam, said that it had “…the purpose of providing food for the needy.”

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I’ve got nothing much to share at this very moment of time, but anyway I wanna take this opportunity to thank someone. Kak Emi, if you’re reading this, thank you..thank you..thank you so much for making me the wonderful customised jewellery set. I simply love it! Beautiful pieces they are

I simply adore how this lady seriously crafted her pieces with much love, interest and sincerity. Well now at least I’ve been made aware too of the different names of the beads, thanks to her

Do visit her beading biz site at Beading n Beyond to take a closer look at some of her beautifully crafted pieces and the Eid sale she’s currently promoting now.

The necklace and earrings set for me and the 2 cute lil flower bracelets for my lil girl…

Baby Bloom…

I knew that this came a tad too late but nevertheless I wanna congrat my ex poly schoolmate whose also another one of my gerek tarian members back then, Azizah on the arrival of her bundle of joy, Muhammad Haziq Danish on the 1st Ramadhan 13/09/2007.

The new mummy and the handsome baby boy

On another note, I’d like to wish the neighbourhood belated birthday boy yesterday, Amir, a happy 25th.

“Amacam 7-11 jom?”

Yeah kinda missed those young, single & carefree times yonks ago, when we could just go to the 7-11 shop at Eunos, buy junk foods, hangout by the void deck and start yakking the night away. Lol. The person I could rely on whenever I had hunger pangs in the middle of the night. :p

Ahhhhhh….speaking of birthdays in just a couple of months, I’m gonna hit 25!! *gasps*

 

(Kebab)bom!!!

Ibu’s top 3 favourite food from the bazaar ramadhan…

- prawn vadai

- kuih jongkong

and last but not least the ultimate (kebab)bom!!!

Ouh by the way, let’s not forget about the drinks….kathirah! kathirah! & more kathirah!!

Looks like my Ibu will never get enough of the bazaar Ramadhan sprouting islandwide….from Woodlands, Jurong West, Bussorah Street and all the way to Geylang…arghhhh!!!!!! Somebody please save me!!!!!

(p.s- to the Squad Team aunties and uncles, Laila can’t wait to meet up for Iftar! See you all soon!! Muah! Muah!)

The First Week of Ramadhan…

Alhamdulillah, I’d successfully survived the first week of Ramadhan for the second time of this holy month as a mummy. For during this same holy month last year, I was still in my confinement period (I’d only managed to fast for the final 15 days, Ramadhan last year), and my premmie daughter Laila Auni Qistina, was only 2 weeks old. For those who’ve yet to know, my lil girl had decided to make her big debut into this world on the 31st of August 2006, 3 weeks earlier, than the expected delivery date (EDD) which was on the 28th of September 2006. The agonizing period of 10 hours undergoing labour pains were both physically & mentally draining as I’d made a very strong vow of experiencing first-hand, the massive contractions, the labour pains and giving the epidural a miss. It was indeed a blessing for me too that I’d successfully underwent the childbirth through normal delivery and receiving the gift of life whom brings out the joy in me and the family.

Brothers & sister they are not, but uncles and aunt they are.

A year went on and now Laila’s all bloomed becoming a fast growing and learning lil “monggel” toddler. She loves to be around the big company of people entertaining her and of course being the definite lil attention seeker she is.

One night in Ramadhan over at grandma’s…

Laila’s been my faithful wake up “alarm” every day for my pre-dawn (sahur) meals. She’ll have her milk-session period with me first before I go ahead with having my own sahur. It’s not much of a problem to me for her waking up during my sahur time as usually she’ll be back sleeping after each milk-feeding session. It’s a good sign that she’s giving so that I can have my sahur, eating the meals calmly and quietly.

We’re into the second week of the fasting month and I’m pretty much sure that many of us will be starting and getting busy for Hari Raya preparations soon. Till that time comes, I’ll try as much as I can to update regularly this blog of mine ;p

Happy fasting peeps!

 

 

Ahlan wa sahlan Ya Ramadhan….

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Kindly take note that for the next 30 days of Ramadhan please observe and act upon the following :

1) Renewal of mouth,tongue & speech license

2) Servicing of the heart

3) Control of the eyesight & hearing radar

4) Powercut of the stomach engine

Let us all strongly take advantage of this holy month of Ramadhan , to do inner soul self-reflection and carrying out of good deeds & ibadah throughout this month. Insya-Allah, God bless us all. Amin

I Still Remember What You Did Last Ramadhan…..

Happy Birthday!!!

I should be posting this yesterday… but anyway,

It’s Laila’s favourite uncle’s birthday on 10th of September, my younger brudder Faizal.

Happy 23rd Uncle Lele!!!!!

The Ultimate Decision..

28 September 2007,

 

A Rush of Blood to the Head.

 

 

(to be continued…..)

 

Out Damn Spot(Corn)!!

A callus (tyloma) is an area of skin that thickens after exposure to repetitive forces in order to protect the skin. A callus may not be painful. When it becomes painful, treatment is required.

When a callus develops a mass of dead cells in its center, it becomes a corn (heloma). Corns generally occur on the toes and balls of the feet. Calluses occur on the feet, hands, and any other part of the skin where friction is present.

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For the past few days, I had to endure the extreme pain from the corn which had formed underneath my left feet between the fourth & the fifth toe fingers. It was really bad for the affected area was all red and watery around it, it felt “bumpy” and circling in the middle, lies a thick and hardened dead skin cell. It was almost impossible for me to walk bare-footed, and even the attempts of putting medicated plasters wasn’t enough to ease the pain. Water makes it so painful that I dreaded each time I had to make toilet visits or even a short shower. OUchhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

And so yesterday I’d decided enough was enough and I couldn’t take the pain anymore, I’d made a trip  to the clinic to meet up with my family doctor. Even Dr Lim looked kinda shocked when he found out that I’d procrastinated for 4 days before seeing him as the swelling was already bad. He even wondered how could I walk in that kind of condition. Anyway he did warned me that if I were to procrastinate any longer, the condition of the corn might get worst if there’s a sign of pus and other further infectious signs such as redness and swelling.

For the treatment, Dr Lim removed part of the corn with a scalpel and using a local anesthetic on my left foot. Darn it was so painful and ticklish at the same time that I was that close to shedding tears and giggling at the same time. Lol. I can’t really describe that sensation when the doctor was “scraping” off bits of the dead skin cells.

Dr Lim prescribed me with some painkillers and a medicated cream for my corn treatment. He briefed me with further advice as well as precautions so that the infected area doesn’t get worst  and to seek immediate attention if the condition gets worst. (with this he meant that I’ll to go through a day surgery to completely remove the nasty corn..*GASP*!) Now, I’m praying real hard I don’t have to go through that kind of situation.

I’m very much tempted to put up an image of how the corn on my feet looks like, but then again its too gross and gory to look at. Lol.

Let’s just substitute that gory corn image with this shall we? LOL.

As monggel as ever…

Laila Auni Qistina

The Big One!

Just 12 short months ago

I made my big debut into this world…..

 

 

 

 

 

So now I’d like to celebrate

My 1st Birthday with you!

 

31st August…

Merdeka!

Merdeka!!

Merdeka!!!

&

Happy 1st Birthday to me!!!!

Lots of love & wet kisses..

Laila Auni Qistina

Save Our Last Kampong…Preserve the Kampong Spirit

Several days ago, The New Paper featured an article about Kampong Lorong Buangkok, near Punggol which is perhaps the very last standing kampong which  still exists in Singapore.

Hidden away in the middle of a small dense forest behind Lorong Buangkok, this kampong has miraculously survived for almost 4 decades, from the government’s continuous and active project mission of transforming Singapore with  more sophisticated high-rise housing estates. With the increasing housing development plans to jazz up island-wide especially the area around Punggol, this kampong will no doubt be threatened by it. Only time will tell.

The kampong comprises of about 30 families of different multi-racial backgrounds living in harmony. This kampong has survived through the generations and the people here, Chinese and Malays live like a very big family, all warm and friendly which is very true to the good old kampong spirit we’d seen in Singapore back then in the early 60’s, but sadly we seldom see now . There are no cases of theft or robbery and they all trust one another with their belongings.

Stepping onto the grounds of this kampong, you will feel as if you’re taken back into our foreparents time.  Here on the grounds of about 3 football fields, you can see the whole place filled with wooden zinc roofted houses and dirt roads. The surrounding air here is truly fresh and crisp, dense forestation, chirping of the birds and the crickets contributes to the serenity of this place. At least that’s how i feel for this place still, my “secret” hideout of about 5 years and it has never fail to impress me each time whenever i make a visit. Well, now then that its not so secret anymore.

The people living here are all simply amazing. For someone like me whose been raised up as a kid to not talk to strangers, its totally different for them living in the kampong. Visitors coming to this place are given the same warm welcome with a smile and even impromptu invitations to have a cup of coffee with them. Something that we’ll never see in our own HDB estates.

My only vague memories of kampong houses was that of my aunt, my late father’s sister, whose family used to stay in the Siglap area. I was a very young girl then and all I could remember was how big and spacious her house was, how I’d loved to play on the outdoor swing which was hung on my aunt’s rambutan tree and my uncle the musician who loves to play on his piano to entertain us whenever we’d visited them.

Finally in the mid 80’s their kampong house had to make way for the development of private housing estates and were thus demolished completely. As all of my aunt’s children had all grown up and have families of their own, she has since moved out of Singapore to reside in JB, following my uncle who works with an events company there. And no, she’s not even living in a kampong area now but instead in a double-storey bungalow in Taman Perling. Well perhaps still the memories of her Siglap area kampong house can still be remembered each time when we watch the old Shaw brothers production movies like the still famous and loveable black and white movies Bujang Lapok. Those were the days when Singapore used to be like a mini ”Hollywood”, a hub for the production of malay movies and the then very famous Jalan Ampas studios. Besides the areas in Balestier, Siglap was also one of the hot spots for the movie directors to shoot their movies.

Its really sad and pitiful that the kampong houses which used to sprout almost everywhere on our tiny island had been long gone and forgotten. It won’t be surprising if one day our future offsprings will have no solid ideas what a kampong is.

As for my opinion, a kampong is a place where one can really relate to nature, sit back and ponder (very important element to my secret hideout), appreciating of the simple life without any stressful complains of the fast-paced metropolitan living. The peacefulness and quietness you’ll get living in a kampong..it’s priceless.

(p.s – I’m missing the great taste of Ayam Lemak Cili Api with ulam as well as Gulai Tempoyak Ikan Kembung by a relative living in a Malaysian kampung. Makes me wanna scream “Aku nak balik kampung!!”)