Merdeka tu apa? (BM entry)

Salam,

Setiap tahun anak-anak saya akan bertanya, "Merdeka tu apa?". Setiap tahun juga saya perlu menerangkan secara ringkas tapi setiap tahun juga jawapan saya perlu lagi tepat. Apa jawapan saya? Jawapan ikut buku teks. "Merdeka tu laungan yang menandakan negara kita tak kena jajah oleh mana-mana kuasa lain". Anak-anak saya tak puas hati  lagi sebab mereka tak faham. Setiap tahun juga saya nak kena cerita sikit sejarah dulu-dulu. Masalahnya mak diaorg ni pun tahu apa itu "Merdeka" pun melalui buku Sejarah. Nasib baik minat jugak belajar subjek Sejarah dulu. Cuma sewaktu kecil saya sempat dengar cerita-cerita dari arwah tok dan nenek waktu zaman Jepun dan sebelum merdeka. Adalah dapat dengar pengalaman mereka sendiri. Cuma macam tak boleh nak bayangkan macammana  orang dulu-dulu hidup dalam ketakutan zaman Jepun dan juga zaman British memerintah.

Kita zaman ni merdeka dari apa ye? Minda kita memang merdeka ke? Nilai-nilai murni kita elok ke? Adab kita? Apa nilai2 merdeka yang kita nak ajarkan pada anak-anak kita?

Macam saya pun, anak-anak hanya tahu bila sambut Hari Kemerdekaan, pagi-pagi lagu bukak tv dan tengok perbarisan. Dapatlah tengok kereta-kereta berhias dan orang pakai pakaian pelik-pelik. (kan ada pertandingan baju terbaik untuk yang menyertai perbarisan tu). Kat rumah memanglah kami ada kibarkan Jalur Gemilang untuk buat anak-anak rasa bangga bila sambut merdeka. Hari ini pun, diaorg buat perbarisan sendiri dalam rumah sambil menyanyi dan mengibarkan bendera.

Kalau anak-anak anda tanya Merdeka tu apa, apa jawapan anda?

Gangnam Style Phenomenon

Salam,

What is Gangnam Style? I'm sure you've heard or watched the video on YOU TUBE. Why it has been a phenomenon? What's so great about it?

Let's ask WIKIPEDIA:

Gangnam Style is a 2012 K-Pop single by the South Korean rapper and K-Pop idol Psy. It has been featured in broadcasting networks such as CNN and Bloomberg, mentioned by numerous celebrities, and has also led to various user-generated parodies and reaction videos from all over the world. According to the German national daily newspaper Die Welt, Gangnam Style is spreading like a "Lauffeuer (wildfire)" ^[1] and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation writes that millions around the globe have become "obsessed"^[2] Gangnam Style is widely praised for its humour, catchy rhythm as well as Psy's unusual dance moves that have introduced many people to K-Pop. First released on July 15, 2012, it entered the Gaon Chart singles chart at number one upon release.^[3]

"Gangnam Style" is a Korean language colloquialism that refers to a luxurious lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district,^[4] an affluent and trendy area of Seoul.^[5] The music video depicts Psy dancing at various locations in Gangnam.^[6] The song's theme is about "the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild."^[7]
In Korean colloquialism, "오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam style)" may be translated as "I am (loving) the Gangnam style." or literally translated as "I am Gangnam style." or "A Gangnam-styled girl is my style." because the Korean word 오빠 (oppa), which is a noun meaning "a female's elder brother" but can be also used as a first-, second- or third-person masculine pronoun to designate a male who is elder or older than a female, is used as a first-person pronoun in this phrase and 오빤 (oppan) is an abbreviation of 오빠는 (oppaneun) which is translated as "I am" when 오빠 (oppa) is used as a first-person pronoun.
The lyrics are by Psy, music by Psy and Yoo Gun-hyung, and it was arranged by Yoo Gun-hyung, who is a well-known producer in South Korea and also collaborated with Psy in the past.

Now to those who haven't watched the video, why don't you watch it here and then you can share your opinion too:




^{My personal opinion:
 Just because this video is so silly with weird dancing movements, many people have been entertained. They love it so much and so many people also made some parodies on YOU TUBE. The video which is actually a satire about the latest lifestyle in Gangnam, Korea managed to become so popular. There's even a parody video made by a Malaysian's family to show how they celebrate Raya in Gangnam Style. I don't even like to see the dancing movements as they look so silly and not suitable for kids to view it. You can say I'm a n old school person but sorry I'm not a fan of ridiculous phenomenon.}





 

Helpless but not Hopeless.

Salam,

Have you ever felt that you are trapped in the middle of difficult situation? Have you ever felt helpless? Sometimes your loved ones don't really understand your feeling and they make things become so difficult. You don't want to hurt their feelings but then you yourself feel hurt.

It's a tricky and unavoidable problem that we might encounter from time to time. The best solution is to forget about what had happened and move on with your life. It's not worth for us to mourn over the spilled milk.

What am I blabbering here? Well, this is just to let go of my frustration over something that happened to me during Eid. I chose to forget and forgive because that's the best way to deal with the problem. Nobody was harmed physically. It only affect me emotionally and I don't want to have the negative vibe to linger on. Thus, I'm convincing myself to think positive and move on.

New header.

Salam,

I've been meaning to change the header of this blog since I've delivered Husna in June. Only during first day of Eid, our small family managed to take a family photo. That's why, I've created the simplest header to show the latest addition of our family. I know that it's not so grand because I just used photoscape to make that header. Well, this header will just be fine for now.

Aidilfitri 1433H: Di KJ & KJB (BM entry)

Salam,

Hari ini hari keenam raya. Masih ramai yang beraya di kampung dan ada juga yang telah pulang semula ke bandar. Tahun ini kami beraya di Kelana Jaya terlebih dahulu dengan keluarga mertua saya. Petang raya pertama baru kami bertolak pulang ke (Kg Jal Besar)Tumpat, Kelantan.

Di KJ, kami beraya secara sederhana tapi meriah juga dengan kehadiran semua melengkapkan ahli keluarga. Susah juga nak berkumpul semua dan dapat bergambar bersama. Jadi inilah hasilnya:

Dari kiri: adik ipar saya & keluarganya, berbaju ungu: adik ipar bongsu, ayah mertua, bertudung ungu: kakak ipar yg sulung & keluarganya, bertudung hijau: mak mertua, saya & suami berbaju sedondon biru, anak2 kami dan juga anak kakak ipar yg sulung.

Kami sempat juga bergambar untuk keluarga kecil kami. Tahun ini ada seorang pertambahan ahli iaitu anak ketiga kami yang baru berusia 2 bulan. Jadi tahun ni kami bergambar berlima. Inilah gambarnya:

*Hafizah anak kedua kami seorang yang nampak berlainan kerana dia tidak mahu lagi baju sedondon dan sama dengan kakak sulungnya. 

Bila sampai di Kelantan (mlm raya pertama), kami agak keletihan selepas berada di dalam kereta selama 11 jam! Jadi, raya di Kelantan bermula pada pagi raya kedua. Banyak juga rumah yang dikunjungi dan sempat juga kami makan-makan dan berjumpa sanak-saudara. Petang raya kedua, sebelum senja kami dapat berkumpul dengan 2 orang emak saudara, ayah saudara dan sepupu-sepupu untuk bergambar beramai-ramai. Inilah gambarnya yang telah saya ambil di FB sepupu saya:

Antara banyak-banyak gambar raya tahun ini, saya paling suka gambar nenek saya memegang anak bongsu saya. Gambar ini sunggun bermakna buat saya kerana susah juga nenek saya mahu bergambar dan susah juga untuk anak bongsu saya tu untuk tersenyum bila bergambar.

*ini sajalah cerita raya kami sebab saya rasa malas nak bercerita panjang sangat pasal raya. Yelah raya maknanya berjumpa sanak-saudara untuk bermaaf-maafan dan makan-makan. Asalkan kita jangan berlebihan sangat dan kembali kepada fitrah kita.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Salam,

Maaf Zahir Batin dari saya kalau ada tersilap bicara dlm blog ini. Semoga anda semua berbahagia di hari lebaran nanti. Kami sekeluarga beraya di Kelana Jaya dulu dengan ahli keluarga di sini sblm bertolak balik ke Kelantan.

Traffic jam!!! How to keep your cool.

Salam,

Many people have been rushing to go back to their hometown since yesterday. My hubby was stuck in a jam at LDP for 2 hours. My FIL was also stuck in another highway. Guess what happened? Yup, massive traffic jam just because everybody wanted to go back to their hometown a.s.a.p.

Normally there's nothing much that we can do when we are stuck in a traffic jam. Most of the time we become frustrated with the uncontrollable situation. The honking and jumping queues make things worse. Then, the swearing starts and makes everybody to feel so stressed out.

Now, what if I tell you that you don't have to swear when you are stuck in a traffic jam? (especially when you are fasting).How to keep your cool?

Try these methods:

• turn on the radio and choose your favourite radio station to accompany you.
• whenever you feel the urge to swear, just change the negative words to something positive or funny like, "Oh my sweet friend", "What the frog", "Son of the bird".
• recite something that calm you down like quranic verse or 99 names of Allah.
• breathe in and breathe out when you feel like shouting at other people.
• imagine that you are actually in an island and having a good time.
• eat or drink something. (make sure you always have some food supply on the go)
• talk to your friend or your passengers in the car.
• chew a chewing gum.

Do you any other methods that you've tried before?

Antara lagu raya yang wajib kedengaran di radio. (BM entry)

Salam,

Ramai dah dalam mood raya kan. Mmg dah tinggal beberapa hari je lagi. Kat radio dah lama dah mainkan lagu-lagu raya. Dalam banyak-banyak lagu raya, lagu-lagu lama jugak mesti menjadi pilihan. Lagu2 dari Tan Sri P.Ramlee, Puan Sri Saloma, Sanisah Huri, Anuar Elina jugak yang menjadi pilihan ramai. Betul tak?

Jadi dalam entri ni, sajelah nak tempek lagu2 raya yang wajib kedengaran.

Lagu pertama:



Lagu kedua:



Lagu ketiga:



Lagu keempat:



Lagu yang mana satu pilihan anda?

Bad eating habits during fasting month

Salam,

Eid is just around the corner but it's never too late to change our eating habits now. I have to admit that I'm also like you making bad judgements when it comes to choosing food during fasting month. We feast with our eyes and the desire too much than our tummy can contain. The temptation is too high and most of the time we choose not to say no to sweet or oily food. Sometimes it's just part of our tradition and also the temptation to satisfy our greedy desire.

These are the bad eating habits that we (yup including me...sadly) have during fasting month:

• Fried and fatty foods such as french fries, sweets, greasy curries and many more. High-fat foods are high in calories and are nutrient deficient which will lead to an imbalanced diet, thereby increasing sluggishness and fatigue during Ramadan.
• Salt and salted food. Dehydration is a risk due to limited fluid intake during the day, and high salt foods can further increase this risk by drawing fluids out of your body.
• Foods containing too much sugar such as sweet glucose energy drinks. These are sources of empty calories with very little nutritional value. While they may provide you with instant energy, they will not sustain you through the day and night.
• Overeating especially at saher can cause further metabolic imbalance, like highs and lows in your blood sugar and dehydration.
• Too much tea or caffeine at saher. Both of these are diuretics when consumed in large quantities and the body can lose valuable minerals, salts and fluids that you need during the day.
• Sleeping immediately after iftar and saher meals, since your body will require time to digest the food. Wait for 2–3 hrs before sleeping.

Now, I reckon it's never too late to change those bad habits to a better eating habits. How? Well, just  follow the food pyramid, eat in moderation like what our Prophet suggested, eat more vegetables and fruits and drink more plain water.

You might be saying, "Easier said than done". Yup. I'm telling these to myself and those who want to join me in changing our eating habits.

Murder of English: Sick leave application.

Salam,

Just sharing this hilarious sick leave application today. Have a great weekend. I know most of you might be busy doing Raya shopping this weekend. Just be sensible and not going over your budget or you'll end up borrowing other people's money before your pay check next month.

Kisah Kasut Raya Tok Abah VS Cucunya. (BM entry)

Salam,

Kisah Tok Abah:

Sewaktu kecil, Tok Abah bukannya orang senang, Jadi bila suatu hari Tok Abah dapat peluang membeli kasut raya idaman, Tok Abah gembira sangat. Siang malam di cuba kasut tu dan dia tak sabar-sabar nak beraya dengan kasut baru. Apabila tiba hari raya, hujan turun dengan selebat-lebatnya. Impian Tok Abah seakan lebur untuk keluar ke masjid dengan kasut baru. Bila Tok Abah menjenguk keluar, lopak-lopak air sudah penuh di halaman rumah. Oleh kerana tidak mahu berganjak dari keputusannya untuk mencuba kasut baru, Tok Abah tetap keluar rumah dengan kasut baru. Tetapi Tok Abah tidak memakai kasut tersebut. Dia menjinjing kasut baru ke masjid kerana tidak mahu kasut baru kotor. Tok Abah sanggup berkaki ayam ke masjid.


Kisah Cucunya:

Bukan setiap kali raya cucu Tok Abah akan dapat membeli kasut raya. Hanya jika dia tidak ada kasut yang elok untuk dipakai barulah ibunya akan membelikan kasut baru. Tahun ini, ibunya merasa kasihan melihatkan si anak tiada kasut yang masih muat untuk dipakai. Jadi, si ibu mengajak si anak membeli kasut baru di kedai kasut BATA. Walaupun hanya kasut biasa dan bukannya berjenama, si anak tetap gembira. Siang malam kasut baru seperti dibelai. Dia seakan tidak sabar untuk beraya dengan kasut baru. Dia berharap apabila raya nanti, dia tidak akan mengalami nasib yang sama seperti Tok Abahnya.

Kasut raya cucu Tok Abah (a.k.a. Fathini)

p/s: Tok Abah tu sebenarnya abah saya dan cerita di atas adalah kisah benar abah saya semasa kecil. Saya kerap mendengar cerita tersebut dari abah saya apabila tiba raya. Cucu Tok Abah sudah tentulah anak sulung saya yang juga cucu sulung abah saya.

WW: Interesting sleeping styles.

Shoo Negative thoughts and Hello Positive thoughts.

Salam,

This is  a reminder to myself and it can also help the others to face any challenges in life. We always stumble upon some problems and sometimes we choose to ignore the problems and hope they will go away or we pretend that the problems never happen. But that's not the best way to deal with problems or challenges in life.

If we let the negative thoughts to linger around, we will let our self-esteem down and at the end we are more or less become passive. Then, we will feel so hopeless and demotivated. At last, it can affect our performance at work or even jeopardize our personal life. Of course we don't want that to happen right?

That's why, we have to say "Hello" to positive thoughts everyday. But how can we do that?
Simple. Try these methods:

• Start our day with a smile and let things happen but never let them affecting our mood.
• Plan our day but don't feel sad if it doesn't turn out the way we want.
• Make ourself busy with some work.
• Find friends that have positive thinking.
• Talk to other people that we can trust whenever we feel down.
• Think about your problems as challenges that you can conquer.

Now, what I've shared today comes from my own thoughts. If you would like to add anything, you're most welcome.

Salahke kalau hanya ada anak perempuan? (BM entry)

Salam,

Entri ini entri beremosi kerana saya dah lama memendam rasa. Bukanlah kecewa atau mempersoalkan rezeki yang Allah kurniakan. Cuma saya agak kecewa apabila mendengar komen-komen dari orang lain. Ada yang cakap, "Ketiga-tiga anak perempuan ye. Takpe boleh cuba lagi nak dapat anak lelaki"."Muda lagi, sempat lagi nak dapat sorang lagi ni kalau nak anak lelaki". Ada yang memberikan pelbagai petua untuk mendapatkan anak lelaki. Ada yang meneka saya akan dapat anak lelaki sewaktu saya mengandungkan Husna (anak ketiga yang berusia hampir 2 bulan).

Kami bersyukur dengan apa yang kami ada. Mungkin ada sebab-musababnya kenapa kami dikurniakan 3 orang anak perempuan. Apa yang saya nampak, sekarang pun, kerja-kerja rumah saya semakin ringan sebab anak yang sulung dan yang kedua rajin mengemas. Kalau diaorang sepahkan mainan diaorang, saya tak perlu mengutip dan mengemas kerana mereka sendiri yang akan mengemaskan mainan.

Suami saya sendiri tidak pernah sekali pun kisah kalau kami tidak ada anak lelaki. Yelah budaya kita bukan seperti sesetengah budaya lain yang memerlukan anak lelaki untuk mewarisi nama keluarga. Bagi suami saya anak perempuan atau anak lelaki sama saja. Tanggungjawab membesarkan anak-anak sama dan mereka juga memerlukan perhatian dan kasih sayang yang tidak berbelah bagi.

Ramai juga yang berpendapat kalau ada anak lelaki, kita akan dijaga apabila tua. Tapi saya tengok ramai je anak-anak lelaki yang melupakan ibu sendiri dan lebih mementingkan isteri. Kalau isteri tak suka dengan ibu mertua, dihasutnya suami supaya melupakan ibu sendiri. Mungkin ada yang akan berkata, anak perempuan pun susah nak jaga sebab anak perempuan bila berkahwin perlu mengikut suami. Betul tu. Kami tak pernah pun berharap agar anak-anak kami akan menjaga kami (jika kami panjang umur) apabila kami sudah tua. Cukuplah jika mereka tidak melupakan kami dan selalu menjenguk kami.

Jadi soalan saya, "Salahke kalau hanya ada anak-anak perempuan?". "Adakah jurang perbezaan yang besar di antara anak perempuan dan anak lelaki?".

English spelling spoken in Kelantanese dialect.

Salam,

If you can read and pronounce these words, it means that you can speak Kelantanese dialect. Give it a try. hehe

Kisah Puteri Fathini & Puteri Hafizah & Puteri Mandi. (BM entry)

Salam,

Tersebutlah alkisah sahibul hikayat yang tidak berapa lama dulu, (semalam je baru berlaku. hehe)
dua orang puteri teringin membantu ibunya membuat Puteri Mandi. Adapun Puteri Mandi adalah kuih tradisi dari tanah kelahiran ibunya dan kerana itulah ibunya mahu puteri-puterinya tahu akan kewujudan kuih itu.

Adapun kuih itu tidaklah sesukar mana kerana bahan-bahannya hanyalah tepung beras pulut, secubit garam, pewarna (ikut suka), sedikit air suam, kelapa parut, gula secukup rasa. Puteri Fathini & Hafizah suka akan proses mencampurkan pewarna dan sedikit garam ke dalam tepung sebelum memasukkan air suam sehingga boleh dibentuk. Proses yang seakan-akan bermain dengan "playdough" amat digemari dan agak lama masa yang diambil untuk membentuk Puteri Mandi.

Ibunya menyediakan air rebusan gula yang diletakkan daun pandan dan kemudian dicampurkan dengan kelapa parut sebagai air mandian si Puteri2 Mandi. Apabila siap dibentukkan, kesemua puteri bersiram di dalam air yang telah mengelegak. Siraman selesai apabila puteri-puteri timbul dipermukaan.

Puteri-puteri akan masuk ke dalam air rebusan gula yang telah bercampur kelapa parut untuk proses terakhir.

Inilah hasil Puteri Mandi dari Puteri Fathini & Puteri Hafizah:

Pre-loved blouses.

Salam,

These two lovely blouses are up for a grab. You can wear these blouses with your favourite pants or skirt. They are quite comfortable and the best thing is the price is really low.

Here are the details:

Length: 29"
Shoulder's length: 17"
Arm's length: 21"
Size: L

Blouse NR01

RM15

Blouse NR02

RM15

If you are interested, please send a private message to me at nuradyani_rosly@yahoo.com.