It Is Our 5th Anniversary

In 2003, on the same date, on the same day and in the same month, I became the husband for my lovely wife. The solemnisation of our marriage was done very smoothly. With just one aqad, I became a husband. It was totally a new world for me, just like other newly weds. More responsibilities for me. I have to guide my wife to walk in the right path. I was then, became a leader, not only for myself, but also for my other half. I felt complete.

This was done after about 2 years courting. Going back to those days before our marriage, I must say it was not an easy relationship. It was not because she or I was difficult, but the surrounding circumstances made it difficult for us. We were sort of “boycotted” by our close friends for quite some times before they could accept the fact that we were meant to be together. It was quite a sad and hard moment when our very close friends kept their distance from us but we kept telling ourselves, this is about us and not about them. If we want to be happy, we have to listen to ourselves alone and not others, as, if we were to follow what they said, they might not be there if we were in trouble. The options that were available to me then were either I choose my friends or the girl that I want to share my whole life with. Well, it was not really a tough decision to make and in the end I made up my mind and I am glad that I have made the correct decision. To me, I could still afford to lose my friends at that point of time, as I knew that I can always make new friends but I just could not afford to lose the girl that I love, as it was not easy to find one.

The best part was that, in the end our friends could accept the fact that we were meant to be together and everything went back as it was. So, I got it all.

To my lovely wife: -

Our love is the long lasting kind;

We’ve been together quite a while;

I love you for so many things;

Your voice, your touch, your kiss, your smile;

You accept me as I am;

I can relax and just be me;

Even when my quirks come out;

You think they’re cute;

you let me be;

With you, there’s nothing to resist;

You’re irresistible to me;

I’m drawn to you in total trust;

I give myself to you willingly;

Your sweet devotion never fails;

You view me with a patient heart;

You love me, dear, no matter what;

You’ve been that way right from the start;

Those are just a few reasons whyI’ll always love you like I do;

We’ll have a lifetime full of love;

And it will happen because of you.

My Eldest Son Turns 4 Yesterday, 28/5/2008

It was my eldest son, Iman's 4th birthday yesterday. The celebration was held at Mc. Donald's Bandar Tun Hussein Onn. My son had been talking about his birthday party days before his birthday. He was so eager and excited to have his birthday celebrated at Mc Donald's. Even his two cousins, Aizat (7) and Aleef (6) had asked me few times about the party. Though Aizat lookd excited with the party, I was also told by my sister, Aizat's mother that at the 11th hour, Aizat chose not to attend the party simply because he just could not stand looking at Iman receiving many birthday presents. Aizat in fact asked my sister to go to my other sister's house in Putrajaya instead of attending Iman's birthday party but when he was told that my sister in Putrajaya was also attending the party, he had no choice but to attend it. But all the kids, Aizat (7), Aleef (6), Raziq (10), Rai (8), Iman (4), Azam (3) and Kamil (1+) really enjoyed the party. Aizat's envy about Iman getting many presents was very obvious when Iman started to open all the presents. He just could not hide it. We were all laugh looking at the way Aizat reacted everytime Iman opened his presents. But in the end, all the kids played together. They even went to my house after the party finished at 10.30pm for cuppa coffee and the kids played the birthday presents with Iman happily.

But I suffer a bit because one of the birthday presents (from Aizat and family) was actually a car racing track and Iman asked me to assemble it. Well, it was not an easy task to assemble the track at 11.45pm when I was tired and sleepy. But it was my son's birthday, so I have no choice and not to let him down on his birthday but to agree to assemble the track. It was a try and error process for me because after so may attempts, I just could not get it right. I almost give up but Iman insisted of having it assemble before he went to bed. Finally, at 12 something, I managed to assemble it and Iman gets to put the race car on the track and raced with me for few laps before he agreed to go to bed. He was so happy.

To those who presents last night, thank you very much for your presence and your precious time spent to cheer up my son on his 4th birthday. Thank you also for all the presents.

Few birthday photos to share...

Happy Birthday to Iman. Semoga menjadi anak yang soleh dikemudian hari. Amin...

A Birthday Wish for My Lovely Wife

To my lovely wife, Liza...

If not for you
I wouldn’t know what true love really meant
I’d never feel this inner peace
I couldn’t be content

If not for you
I’d never have the pleasures of romance
I’d miss the bliss, the craziness of love’s sweet, our wonderful memories

I have to feel your tender touch
I have to hear your voice
No other one could take your place
You are my special one

If not for you
I’d be adrift
I don’t know what I’d do
I’d be searching for my other half
Incomplete, if not for you

Thank you for being my lovely wife

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SAYANG
MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU ALWAYS

Aku Terima Nikahnya...

Another best friend of mine is getting married. He is none others than Hasnizal aka Longkai aka Seni. Well, this Longkai is not the tow truck operator type of person who purposely spilt petrol on the road to cause accident and then come to tow the car (for the benefit of those who do not know, the tow truck operator who purposely spilt petrol on the roas to cause accident is called Longkai). I know it is not nice for your name to be associated with crooks but it is too late to change his name, as we all known him as Longkai ever since we knew him way back in 1995 when we were all sent to KUSZA in Kuala Terengganu. He was the easiest to spot among 120 of us, as he was the tallest among us. He is 6' 3" height.

Among my closest friends, he is the last one to join the married man club. Well, finally. At last, he is getting married at the age of....I am happy that he is getting married. At least after this, he has no good reason to ecape everytime we have gathering like buka puasa, as he told me, he was shy to join us, as he was the only one who was not married. I didn't know that until he told me yesterday when he gave me his invitation card.

As much as I want to attend his wedding, I have to go to my sister in law's place in Perak on his wedding day. What a sad coincidence. I can't attend the wedding that I have been waiting to attend. The wedding of my best friends, as I expect him to marry only once in his lifetime.

Whatever it is, I take this opportunity to congratulate my best friend, Longkai on his wedding and I pray that he will live happily ever after with his Mrs. Right. May Allah bless his marriage.

I Believe in what I Believe!!!

I have posted on issue surrounding Karpal's statement. I have also commented on other blogs about the same issue. In doing so, I made comparison about what happened in Terengganu and the issue surrounding Karpal.

I have also criticised the BN government on a lot of issues.

I received responses both on my posting here and my comments in other blogs. There may be people who misunderstood my posting and comments in different context.

I am called to clarify on this matter.

I have never been a fan of Karpal and used to be the fan of Anwar Ibrahim (not anymore). But I believe in the truth and fairness. If in my humble opinion I feel that what BN is doing is wrong, I will criticise.

I just could not imagine what the country will be if Anwar (in his present state of mind) becomes the PM. I do not want that to happen. Nonetheless, what Pak Lah is doing at the moment is actually helping Anwar to be in power.

Pak Lah kept saying that UMNO need to reinvent itself and win back the heart of the Malays but that was just the words that came out from his mouth. The BN leaders as a whole and Pak Lah in particular, up till now, they do not walk the talk. So, how are they going to get back the people's support. The damage that he and his cabinet members had done since 2004 was great and the least that they can do now is to show their sincerity in winning back the people's support. Sad to say, so far, I have not seen that and in fact the situation may become worse.

To mention just a few: -

(a) The double standard practised by UMNO leaders surrounding Karpal's statement as opposed to the issue surrounding the appointment of Terengganu MB.
(b) The use of Sedition Act against Raja Petra when it is actually a personal matter between Najib and Raja Petra.
(c) Pak Lah's instruction to AG to expedite action taken against Karpal when Pak Lah is supposed to stay away from AG's business and that AG is supposed to act freely without fear or favour.
(d) The issue surrounding the usage of indelible ink.
(e) The reappointment of some arrogant BN leaders as Cabinet members.
(f) Pak Lah's statement on the "accusation that UMNO leaders are arrogant" when it is "a fact" and not "an accusation". Pak Lah may still be dreaming about all these and cannot see the actual situation. In other words, he does not acceot the fact that most, if not all UMNO leaders are arrogant.

Having said that, I am not saying that Pak Lah has not done good things to the nation but he must realise one thing that when people are not happy with him, people tend to look at his mistake and blunder rather than his contribution. So, the least that Pak Lah can do is to minimise the new mistake and rectify the previous mistake.

Ikan Bakar. Simply Delicious!!!

Have you eaten ikan bakar?…I mean the real ikan bakar in Melaka, my home town…for those who have not, my advice, go and for all you know, you will get addicted…you will want to go there more and more. If Kajang is famous with its sate and Terengganu is famous with its keropok lekor, Melaka is not getting any lesser…it is famous for its ikan bakar and masak asam. Hmmm, now I am hungry.

A lot of outsiders come to Melaka to eat ikan bakar especially those from KL and Singapore. The price, I would say very reasonable, if not cheap. Imagine of fresh fish, fresh prawn, fresh squid, everything is fresh there. This is the taste that we normally won’t get though everyday we eat fish, prawn and squid.

You can have variety types of fish, various size of prawn and squid…o ya! Forget to mention, they have crab too. All that we need to do is just to choose the seafood that we want and ask the restaurateur to either grill, fry or make sambal or tomyam or anything that we want. It is like, “you name it, they have it”. It is a seafood heaven. The best of all is that you eat the ikan bakar of whatever seafood of your choice with nasi lemak…oh my God! Simply delicious. Simply irresistible.

Well! I am not really good in describing food (on how good it is but I can describe food that tastes lousy). So, reading my write up, you might not find it really interesting or worth it to go to Melaka to taste the ikan bakar but one thing I can tell you, if you find my writing on food as not interesting, it means the food is really good and if you find my writing is interesting, then the food is not good. As simple as that.

Last night, a group of five gentlemen drove all the way from KL to Melaka after work just to enjoy the freshness of ikan bakar and the prawn. It was worth a journey for all of us. It was an all-paid-for trip for me…hehehe…thanks a lot guys. Having to enjoy the seafood is one thing, having to spend time with my friends is another thing. We talked about a lot of things in the car as well as before and after we enjoy the food. But when the food was served, everybody stop talking and enjoy the food. Really, no heavy conversation. Even if we talked, it was about asking others to give us the ikan or the prawn. That’s all. There was no such prior arrangement (like no conversation while eating) but everybody understood it very well.

We reached Umbai around 7pm and we were there until about 10pm. As we were about to make our move back to KL (suddenly made us realize, ooops, we have family in KL and we need to go back, after all I have to work today), we could see a lot of cars from outside Melaka especially KL and Johor had arrived. They too, like us drove all the way from outstation to enjoy the freshness of the ikan bakar.

So, when is next?

Dilemma

Dilemma is defined in dictionary.com as "a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives".

I hate to be in a dilemma, which I am currently facing. I am, not to say really happy with what I have right now and at the same time not to say that I am not happy, it is so so, the right word to describe is I am comfortable with what I have.

However, I was approached by someone, who, to my surprise, have put me in a dilemma. I have to decide whether I want to remain status quo or move forward. While I am comfortable with what I have right here right now, there is an irresistable offer that I have to consider. I have to crack my head to make my decision. There are pros and cons for both options and they stand to be equal on both sides. See? A real dilemma.

Finally, tired of thinking the pros and cons, I made up my mind. An option that, at the moment, I think is the best for me. But then, I do not have the final say as it is a "subject-to" decision.

At the moment, I am not prepared to disclose what is my dilemma, the two available options and my "subject-to" decision.

Pernahkah kau bermimpi
Seketika
Berada di tempatku
...
Biarlah rahsia

Marriage & Engagement

They are married!!!! At Last...Two of my school best and good friends got married last week and now left with another one, who told me that his engagement will be this coming Saturday and wedding, InsyaAllah, this August.

Well, at last!!! I have 4 school best friends. Those days, when we were students, I always go to their house to lepak-lepak and mengisi masa kosong. Our house not that near. I would say the nearest from my house is about 3-4km (Semabok) while the other three were staying in the same area (Ayer Molek) which is about 10km (i guess) from my house. Before I have my driving licence, I used to cycle to their houses and there was one time, another friend of mine came to my house during Ramadhan and we cycled to my friends house at Ayer Molek and it was Friday. We were okay when we reached Ayer Molek but we had very big problem to cycle back to my house for Friday prayer. Another 10km? Fasting month? Thirsty? Under the hot sun? Make me more thirsty. But we managed to go back to my house before Friday prayer and we did not break our fasting...believe me.

The first time my friends came to my house, same transportation...they were cycling from Ayer Molek and Semabok to my house for raya...they did not know where my house was and they used Masjid Al-Azim as the landmark. So, they ended up ikut sawah at bukit piatu and reached my house like orang baru balik sawah...

Those were the days.

But now one tradition that we still continue is gather at my house during raya eve. That, without fail except when I celebrate my raya in Kelantan.

Now, all of us except one are married. So, Congratulation to all my friends, tak kiralah, yang dah kawin or yang nak bertunang. Welcome to the Club.

Most Awaited Night

Tomorrow night is the night that my colleagues and I have been waiting since end of last year. Reason being? Because tomorrow night is our company’s Chinese New Year dinner. It is not a normal dinner like our Deeparaya or Christmas dinner that we had end of last year. While we can afford to miss both Deeparaya and Christmas dinner, we just can’t afford to miss the CNY dinner. Like what my boss said, even if you are not feeling well, you must attend the dinner.

Simple reason. The door gift is simply irresistible. Last 2 years, the door gift was 3G phone voucher worth RM1500 and last year, the door gift was vacation voucher worth RM1000 and AstroMax decoder. So, What’s for this year??? Can’t wait for tomorrow nite.

People come and people go

People come and people go. When you have people around you and when the time comes, the people around you leave you (of course for a good reason), somehow or rather, you will have this one strange feeling…sort of loneliness (not that real loneliness). You can feel the different before and after. I am not sure whether everybody will have this feeling, but at least for me, yes.

I mean, when they were with me, I can really feel their existence. We had dinner together, talked about so many issues, we had good laugh, etc, etc. But when they go, I need to adjust myself. Going back home after work, look at the room they used to occupy in my house, I can feel some sort of…

Since my first year of marriage, my mother-in-laws will come to my house together with my bro and sis in laws during the year-end school holiday. They will spend their school holiday at my house. So, every time I come back from office, my house is already lively. I will see my eldest son playing and enjoying his time with his uncles and aunties and not to forget, his grandmother. They will run here and there and it is noisy. But I like it. I cherish the moment. But I miss those moments after they go back to Kelantan to start the new school term. The feeling is unexplainable. Just imagine, everyday when they were at my house, every time I reach home from office, the door is already open, there are people in my house. Suddenly, I reach home, nobody to welcome me. No noisy. Nobody run here and there. Oh! I miss those moments. But it last may be for one day only lah. So, it is not so tragic.

Last year, as usual, they came to my house for three weeks. After they went back to Kelantan (just before Aidiladha), I pity my eldest son. He was so sad. On the day my in-laws went back, after we reached home from office, my wife asked my son, as he looks sad, whether he was thinking of his uncles and his reply was something like “jangan sebutlah mama”.

Yesterday, after spending almost two months at my house, my nephew officially “check-out” from my house. He has rented a house on his own. When he “check-out” yesterday, I was not at home, as I was in my sister’s house in Putrajaya. So, last night, I told my eldest son that since Abang (my nephew) is no longer staying with us, you can now using this toilet and his reply to me was, “tak lah papa, abang syahir belum balik lagi lah (as my nephew always come home late). I told him few times that his cousin is not staying with us anymore. Finally, I showed him my nephew’s room, which was already emptied. I do not know whether he understood or not but tonite, I am expecting a question from my son, “where is abang?”.

A year ago, after spending almost one year at my house, my niece also “check-out”, as she went to UK to further her studies. I had the same feeling.