A BLISSFUL EID

One of the frustrations of working in a hospital is the high probability of having to work on a festive holiday. As the recent Eidul Adha was immediately a day before the encroaching new year, no non-muslim doctors was keen to replace the muslim doctors to do the festive calls. With iKelah working around the clock, I had no choice but to celebrate it with my kids. However we were very fortunate to be able to hang around at KKL's parents home and both KKL and OK and KKL's parents were gracious hosts. They entertained us (read: cooked for us, brought us to see their new house and played UNO, hehe) and made us feel at home. Lamb was the menu of the day. OK made roasted lamb with browning sauce on the eve of raya. Next day it was Lamb stew and it was superb. OK has now set a mark which he has to keep as everyone will be demanding him to provide the same standard of delectable cooking next raya!

On the second day, we drove back to KL to see my beloved parents. My dad, being the very thoughtful person he is, suggested that we visit an old family friend from our Malacca days, Uncle Rahman and Auntie Nab. They have known me since I was a cute and charming toddler, thus it was naturally a nostalgic visit. Uncle Rahman who is already 81 is still strong and about, showing no signs of ageing impairments. He was enthusiastically relating to us on how he finds pleasure in doing sunnat prayers like tahajjud and dhuha. He showed us his small surau where there's a 'giant' quran with big prints for the imam to read from.

Interestingly, he also managed to relate an unforgetful incident that occured when he last performed his Hajj in 2000. Losing shoes at Masjidil Haram is nothing strange but to get it back in a miraculous manner, after losing it, is! After losing a pair of loafers in a stringed bag, he had lost hope of getting it back. He had all forgotten about it when he left Mecca for Medina. On reaching the hotel, he checked in first and as he reached the room, guess what he saw neatly placed in front of the door?? The pair of shoes he had lost in Mecca! Subhanallah! Since that day, Uncle Rahman claimed that he had made a personal resolution to never delay his prayers. So now, he would either prepare his ablution before the adzan or immediately he hears it. Alhamdulillah. Let's pray that we would be bestowed by similar anecdotes that can prick our conscience and prop up our iman, insyallah! Ameen.

Next, we visited my cousin's daughter, an eight year old sweet girl, afflicted with Leukaemia. As most young children who suffers from the white blood cancer, they usually present with easy bleeding or bruising. In her case, she developed bleeding into her knee joints (haemarthrosis) which resulted from a slight fall. It was truly disheartening to watch her frail body. But Alhamdulillah that it's ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia), which has the best prognosis and long remissions. I pray that she recovers well and able to live a full life.

Although ikelah had to work the first day of raya, we still managed to celebrate it joyously, filled with spending time with caring relatives and visiting old acquaintances and ailing kins. Alhamdulillah.

Sorry no pictures to share because sekarang musim macro : semut, lebah, labah etc...

p.s. btw, we also spent Eidul Adha with my former maid who misses my kids tremendously and we miss her too.....

pps. my biras, Khin's wife, is passionate about Pilates exercise and we spoke a bit on it. For that, I am getting a pilates ball soon! (50 hinggit je! Tak le semahal accessories camera!) And by the way, exercise is not ONLY about getting the desired shape. Most importantly, it's about being FIT and HEALTHY. Isn't it Mas?? :-))

This is the ball I'm getting


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THE KINGFISHER AND I

I caught this bird sitting by the creek behind my house. Guess what bird it is.


This is a Kingfisher. Compare with the one I found. Similar ain't it?

One fine afternoon as I slid open the window at Sofi's room, my eyes caught this bluish bird-like figure perched by the banks of the creek behind my house. As I gazed at it, I noticed how vibrant its color was and how unperturbed it was with the surrounding, unmoving and looking serenely straight into the running water, perhaps waiting for a fish for its lunch. Suddenly I felt compelled to snap a picture of it and I ran to fetch iKelah's D50. When I returned, the blue bird was still there, maintaining the exact posture, looking intently at the flowing stream. I tried focusing but realized that the the camera was in a different setting. Not strange, I thought, because someone now is so into macro pictures. Woke ikelah from his post-call slumber. After snapping a few pictures of it, he decided to get a close-up shot later. That's if the kingfisher didn't decide to take off elsewhere.

Later after Asar, seeing that the bird was still there, he took off with Luqman in full gear. Taking the first route, they were disappointed as the bird was obscured by the undergrowth. Thus they decided to track down the path next to the creek itself. However, in a very shortwhile they came back looking annoyed! I was taken surprised as I had expected a longer photo spree. Anyway, they showed me a close-up shot of the beautiful kingfisher and I gave out a loud squeal!!!! Guess what??