Uthmaan cooks his first full meal!!

TA DAAAAAAA!!

                   Mince, roasted vegetables & pasta bake


I guess when your mother spends most of her spare time in the kitchen, it's bound to rub off sooner than later. My kids love pottering around in the kitchen, but lets face it, cleaning up afterward can be such a mission :D


During the week I had such a hectic day that I decided to ask Uthmaan to help out with the making of supper. Since starting with his Haafithul Quraan program this year, he doesn't attend madrassah during the afternoon any longer. With a fast tutorial from me over the telephone, on what was to be made, I let him get to it. 


I couldn't wait for the day to end so that I could make my way home to see what he had come up with. As I disembarked the bus, my hand phone let off a beep. Incoming message from Uthmaan!!


"Mom, the food's almost done!!"


Waaaaaahhhhh! I almost ran all the way home! :D


What greeted me as I walked through the door was the aromatic smell of grilled cheese, YUMS! We quickly set the table and everyone sat down to dig in. Now, mind you, meal times can be quite raucous at my home. The girls were reminding Uthmaan of the first time he helped out with the making of food. Poor Uthmaan! I don't think he'll ever live that experience down :D


I made some brown lentils stew and asked him to watch the pot for me as I had to run an errand. When I returned, he had added uncooked macaroni to the stew, LOL! It wasn't a train smash though, it was still edible, hehehehe.


This time around, he proved his sisters wrong, hehehehe! The food was delish! Just a bit short of salt and the bottom stuck a bit to the oven dish because he had forgotten to spray it with cooking spray.


There was a bonus though! While he was cooking he cleaned the kitchen too! Awwww, such a sweet boy is he!

This is my attempt at luring...........

all the international readers of my blog to visit CT!

I'm sure all of you know by now just how much I love the Mother City, not to mention it's most beautiful tourist attraction, Table Mountain! I have mentioned this on occasion here, here, here, here and here.

Yesterday Caroline sent me this link and I was mesmerized once again!!

The link shows a panoramic view from Table Mountain during the full moon. There's a group of hikers (anyone can join) who trek up every full moon to experience this most spectacular sight. I have yet to hike up at night but I've never been brave enough :D


Go on! Have a look!


But don't blame me if you find yourself suddenly yearning to visit ok :D

PS : Don't forget to drag your mouse to get the full effect!

What's wrong with this pic??

En route to the bus stop every evening, I walk pass this building. Can you spot what's wrong here??

Come on...... I know you see what I see :D

If you believed that one person............

.... couldn't make a difference. Then you hadn't met Dalilah Tamrin / Raden Galoh!

I started blogging just over two years ago and Dalilah's blog was one of the first I stumbled on. This courageous woman was the epitome of strength and perseverance! Every post she wrote brought to the fore every emotion you could think of. But what struck me the most was her faith, her strong sense of belief that whatever came her way were Allah's blessings. The more He tested her, the more she pulled closer to Him.

Dalilah had been diagnosed with breast cancer in her thirties. Not one to let her situation get the better of her, she set about educating those around her. She did this by means of her blog, motivational speaking at various universities and seminars, and later publishing her book recording her journey fighting the big C.

When I visited KL last year, one of the highlights of my trip was meeting Dalilah face to face. She had the most endearing smile. As I look through my pix of her and those posted by fellow bloggers, that's what stands out most. She had touched each person differently, all the blog posts written after her passing bears testament to that.

I had been texting Sis D during her Umrah to the Holy cities. She wasn't doing too well and was eventually confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her visit. I was glad that her husband had decided to take the journey with her. Though her health was deteriorating, when asked how she was doing, 'Alghumdulillah', would always be her reply. No complaints whatsoever!

The weekend before her passing I had this unsettling feeling that I just couldn't shake. I had just come home from visiting my mom and was standing in the kitchen. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a lady wearing hijab. It happened so quickly, like these incidents do and nearly scared me half to death in the process. The unsettling feeling grew with intensity and as I crawled into bed I hoped that sleep would come.

But I tossed and turned the whole night not getting any shut eye. Around 3:30am local time I received a text message from Yani. I knew before I opened the message what news it would relay. You have no idea how much I wanted to be in KL at that very moment! But all I could do was say a du'a and cry.

And cry I did, when I saw the tributes pouring in on Sis D's blog, her FB page and the status' of mutual friends. That one person could have such an effect on those they made contact with, no matter how brief, was just miraculous. I was so moved, I don't think I've seen anything like it! Sis D had certainly raised the bar. May Allah have mercy on her soul and may she be placed amongst the pious, Insha-Allah Ameen!

I shall miss you terribly!

Al-Fatihah..........

Just when I thought I was an Anuar Zain fan......

....... I happened upon this video on youtube. My kids were so tired of me listening to Lelaki ini that when they saw this video they kept wanting to watch it. She's so adorable and the facial expressions are priceless!

Enjoy!

I have been tagged.....

by Naz and since I've never been tagged before I thought I'd give it a go! So here goes.....

The rule:

• 1. Go to your photo files… select the 8th photo folder
• 2. Select the 8th photo in that folder
• 3. Post that photo along with the story behind it
• 4. Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same.

As fate would have it, the picture I have chosen is this one!! Strangely enough, it's also a scenic pic.

It was taken one afternoon after leaving the office. I walk through the Company Gardens every afternoon to the bus terminal. I love the walk because I get my fix of the awesome sight of Table Mountain! Not that I can't see it from any other point, it's quite hard to miss, hehehe.

Being one to always have my camera in my bag, I couldn't miss the opportunity of catching a pic of this landmark in all it's glory, being covered by a 'tablecloth.' It's truly a remarkable sight to behold. A travel to the top of the mountain by cable car is a must for anyone visiting CT.

During summer one can see the car windows glistening in the sun as many people queue to take a ride on the cable car. The cable car rotates a full 360 degrees as it makes it's way to the top of the mountain. The view is mesmerizing and there's nothing like it!

These are the bloggers I am tagging:

• Yani
• KT
• Shaheema
• Tina
• Dalilah
• Elisa
• Ida
• Saya

Have fun!!

The passing of an angel

I received the text message Sunday afternoon just before Asr prayers. When I saw her name on my screen I didn't think the message would deliver bad news. I was expecting, "Hey, when are you going to pay me a visit??"

But as the message opened, the words on the screen screamed at me! It took some time for my brain to register, but the look of disbelief on my face said it all! I burst into tears. My mom looked at me, completely taken by surprise, "What's wrong?"

NH's five year old son had passed on to Raghmatullah. Z had been diagnosed at the age of 2 with a rare form of cancer. Shocked by the news, NH and hubby took everything in their stride. Z attended regular visits for the next 2 years at the Red Cross Children's Hospital. Z's ill health prompted NH to give up her job to look after him full time.

He recovered fully until late last year when the tumors returned. Sadly, this time, the tumors were spread throughout his body. NH kept this news to herself until about a week ago. Perhaps it was her way of making peace with the fact that her son was dying, I don't know. What I do know, is that as a mother myself, I would not have the strength to bury a child. The loss would send me over the edge into an abyss of sadness.

I am in awe of her strength, her acceptance and her patience. What was even more amazing for me was that her patience had spilled over to Z. He accepted his condition with such maturity. Mother and son would never complain and it was as if they were in-sync with one another. She never left him alone and would see to his every need.

One thing NH remembers very fondly was that Z loved the way his mom smelled. He would often tease her by saying, "I love the way you smell mommy, I'm going to eat you up." And NH would offer in return, "But then you won't have a mommy any longer." Z would then say, "Then I'll just have to have one bite!"

Z died in his mother's arms just after Thuhr prayers on 7 March 2010. May Allah have mercy on his soul Ameen!

Al-Fatihah......