Wonderful and Favourite 'Medals' of 2016

2016. What have I done? Was 2016 eventful, suspenseful, wonderful?
I don't like year end. It's a reminder. Masa yang dipinjamkan kepada kita, semakin singkat. Dengan masa yang semakin singkat, and with the coming year of 2017, will I spend it wisely? Can I complete anything, something, everything in time? Before..you know.. (*serious & thoughtful face).
Pffttt...same question every year..boring makcik.
Got so many 'medals'. Thankfully, those 'medals' do help me to look back and recall.

Dragon Back run medal, Rinjani Trek tag, Boh Eco Trail run medal, Crystal challenge run medal, SCKLM medal, Umrah tag

Dragon Back Run. Lousy run hahahah. Flag-off was really close to masuk waktu subuh. I did my subuh prayer first, in the canteen's prayer room (flag-off at SK Meru 2). And so, I was a lone runner in the dark, yang lain dah jauh ke depan (harapkan lampu henpon je). Sweeper cop followed me since I was the last runner. When you ran alone in the dark, it was quiet, kampung road some more, you entertained baaad thoughts. A lottt. I was suspicious of incoming cars, cyclists. I even had a crazy suspicion about the cop. Haru tak? Aisshhh..toksah buat dah. Tobat. But the medal..hahahha chantekkk. Paling artistic in my medal collections. So trauma terubat.
Rinjani..hah. Once upon a time, I told myself I could never climbed Mt Kinabalu (which I did climb). And yet, I managed to conquer Mt Rinjani. Bucket list item. Wrote so long about this one.  http://kembara4dia.blogspot.my/2016/11/gunung-rinjani-sudah-ku-daki-tapi-tasik.html.
Boh Eco Trail run. Run kee? More like sight-seeing, ran a bit, walked a bit, stopped and took photos a lot. 2 bucket list items stricken off at the same time. Running in a tea plantation and won a photo contest. First time in a run in which organizer provided air kelapa muda. Terbaik!  http://kembara4dia.blogspot.my/2016/06/dream-came-true-twice-boh-eco-trail-run.html
Crystal challenge run. Errr...I could not recall much about the run. Frankly speaking, it was all about the crystal medal which was shown in the online registration page. Sejujur2nya, kalau tak kerana medal tu, tak register makcik. My one and only crystal medal. Quite heavy, you can turn it into a paper weight or toss it to somebody's head.
Standard Chartered KL Marathon. Why was it so special. Because it has been a while since me and hubby ran together, finished a race together. And also I improved my 10K timing compared to previous year's event.
Umrah and ziarah. Ohhh...umrah. Termenung seketika. Hati sedih tapi berbunga-bunga. Jiwa meronta-ronta mahu ke sana. Rindu pada ketenangan sudah melanda (sounds mengada-ngada pun ada). I want to do and will do this again, insya Allah.  http://kembara4dia.blogspot.my/2016/11/umrah-awwal-naam.html
So, that was my 2016 in a nutshell...which..actually was quite eventful, suspenseful and wonderful. Ran a lot, did a number of bucket list items, and yes, arrived at an important milestone in life as a muslim. TQ medals, for helping to remind me.

Kegemilangan Emas di Paralimpik Rio 2016 - First Day Cover

Something must have messed up my mind, I was so confident that the FDC will be released on the morrow. Until I saw the extra-ordinary and happening crowd in front of the Stamps and Philately section (Pejabat Pos Besar KL), as I was heading to my office building.

Starting to doubt myself then, 'Eh? hari ni ke, esok?'. Another event was also launched recently ie Stamp Fair and National Stamp Exhibition. Maybe that event kot? Soo..just to be sure, I went for a look-see-look-see. And I saw...

Yikesss!!! I firstly saw Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (shot put), him being the most sado. Then I registered the rest of the gold paralympic athletes: Abdul Latif Romly (long jump) and Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi (100m). Hahahaha! OMG!

I quickly bought the FDC, thankfully the line was non-existent. I guessed everybody was still hovering around the celebrities athletes. While sticking the stamp onto the FDC envelope, they started to walk out from the press conference area. At this point of time, I noticed KJ. I totally did not register him when I took the photo (slap forehead..). Tu laaa..lain kali, pakai tshirt Harimau Malaya.

After press conference group photo, the crowd went to the breakfast buffet area. And I decided to take the opportunity to get my FDC signed by all the athletes, even if I had to loiter around the area the whole morning. So I ran into my office building, dumped my laptop and bag, let my colleagues know where I'll be loitering. Then ran back to Pos Malaysia. Hohohohoh.

Nice eh? Isn't that cool!! (scream!!). Got four signatures, I wished I could get 5, including KJ hahahah, but he had to leave early. The left signature with the red block was the FDC designer himself En Shahrul Izhar (World Comm).

I pointedly asked the athletes to write down their names. While queuing, I saw they just signed the FDC. How to know which signature belongs to whom, right? Ridzuan was exceptional, since he has cerebral palsy and has difficulty signing. The person in charge told me just to have Ridzuan's signature. But when Ridzuan signed my FDC, he really put the effort and struggled to write his name. I guessed he heard my request while taking Latif's & Ziyad's signature. Sebak sat... 

You guys are exemplary..terbaek lah..really make my heart swells with pride, eyes watery some more. Everything is possible kan! Usaha dan kesungguhan je, insya Allah tercapai. Semoga hidup korang diberkati...aamin.
For details of the event : https://myfdc.me/2016/12/21/gold-rush-a-celebration-of-rio-2016/

Umrah Awwal? Na'am...

'Umrah awwal?' Saudi immigration officer's question to me. Terkelu sekejap, nasib baik masih ada saki baki ingatan belajar bahasa arab (Umrah pertama?).
'Na'am (yes),' perghh gedik sekejap rasa, menjawab dalam bahasa arab walau seciput itu. Tekaaan sikit 'ain tu...hohoho. Dah lama berhajat nak buat Umrah. Dah lama brainwash husband. Our turn for Hajj is supposed to be in 2017, with registration done back in 2007. Wanted to do Umrah first for familiarity, so that we would not feel overwhelmed during Haji. Akhirnya sampai juga kami ke Tanah Suci for umrah, 14-23 Nov 2016 via Tabung Haji Travel.

Photos : Masjid Nabawi and its gorgeous umbrellas, Kaabah post tawaf, Sa'ei and Bukit Marwah

We brought my mom in law. Earlier we thought to bring the kids and bibik along. Ish..ish..it was a wise decision not to do so. Nak uruskan diri sendiri pun agak terkocoh2, nak kisah kan my MIL lagi. I knew MIL will slow us down, I kind of expected we will end up using wheel chair (which we did). With the kids in tow, it would be more challenging.
Umrah went well Alhamdulillah. Nak dijadikan cerita, my mom texted me while we were in Madinah- both of us received Haji 2017 offer letter. Syukur ya Allah.

Photos : Indicative distance walked (iPhone Health app) and Tawaf (Runkeeper app). Sempat lagi tuu merekod...ahahahah.

We stayed in Madinah until 17th, Hotel Anwar Al Madinah Movenpick which was close to Masjid Nabawi. In Mekkah, we stayed in Hotel AlShohada which was almost 1KM away to Masjidil Haram, hence the longer distance recorded from 18th onwards.
We opted for muassasah for our Hajj. Hotel would be even further away from Masjidil Haram. So have to be mentally and physically prepared from now on. 

Gunung Rinjani sudah ku daki, tapi tasik tak dituruni

This is a looooOOOoong overdue entry. Almost 6 months...gaaaaahhh!

Friday 8th April 2016
There were only 17 of us plus. Half of them, geng sama2 mendaki gunung Kinabalu in 2014. Half of them, kira kawan baru la gitu. First time jumpa, no problem though. Amazing huh, how common interest can make us bond faster. We started our hike after a 1 night stay (7th Apr) in a quaint village in Sembalun. Niceeee village..nyaman, surrounded by the mountains.

 

First stop, was registration at the Sembalun Rinjani Trek Center (RTC). We walked from the guesthouse to the RTC. Started to get nervous (betul ke aku ni... haa..gitu). I was ill in Dec/Jan, so I was a bit worried. Only 3 things gave me confidence : 1) I was lighter by about 9kilos and 2) no foot/ leg injury. Had a bad plantar fascia during Kinabalu. 3) Me and hubby persevered for 21 hrs ascending to Low's Peak and descending to Timpohon entrance. We have perseverance, loads of them.
We actually got a remark (twice T_T), 'Ooo..korang ler yg turun Kinabalu nak dekat pukul 12 malam ye?' We hiked Kinabalu and Rinjani with Danz Travel. So words got around within Danz Travel's circle. Macam legend lak. Legend haru biru...nasib baik CikDan tak pangkah kitaorg join Rinjani trip ni...huhuhu.

 

Our local guide herded us onto the back of FWD truck and took us for a jaunty ride to the Pintu Sembalun. Sakit la jugak tongkeng duduk kat belakang tu, melambung2 ;D
We walked first through undulating green fields, saujana mata memandang. Baru lepas monsoon, so the field was abundantly green. Had to watch our steps. Cow droppings was also abundant hahaha...jerangkap samar. Looks like Bukit Broga (minus the poop..). Rinjani savannah is much grander of course.

Mid morning and it got hotter on the savannah. We made a long brunch stop at one of the posts...tak hengat..Pos 2? Pos 3? It was really a long stop, 1030-2pm kott. Sempat tido, solat jemaah bagai.
Oh ye...oleh kerana kami couple slow, a specific porter/guide (mas Wan) was assigned to us. He carried our knapsack (satu je, tapi besar hohoho) and he was also the sweeper. Ye..yer..kami belakang sekali..Orang lain dah berdesup. Takpe, yang penting, slowly but surely.
Next phase of the hike, I braced myself for it. Bukit Penyesalan which many bloggers cursed. Bukit Penyesalan really looks like iklan Salem High Country (otai-otai je tahu iklan ni...). Cantikk.

 

It rained though in Bukit Penyesalan. Disposable raincoat did not help. Rainwater slithered down the legs. Wet shoes, wet socks, wet pants. My hands were cold and pruny. My toes cramped so many times I lost count. But somehow I was glad. Hahahaha. Not so menyesal? I think, the cold rain helped to lessen the hardship. Imagine if it were sunny and hot..confirm menyesal. Bloggers said 7 peaks, but porter said 5 peaks. I was too tired to count the number of peaks. I just asked 'Ada berapa puncak lagi, mas?' and dragged my feet in the squishy shoes.
Almost 6pm it stopped raining and we finally arrived in Plawangan Sembalun. Tents were already lining the path which leads to Rinjani's peak. You know lah what happened when you stop moving. Body cools down. Our porters were late, so no tents for us yet. We were cold, wet AND miserable! Freaking cold!! Cold wind, nightfall and temperature was dropping. Damp shirts, wet pants and shoes...gaaahh!
Luckily, Wan and our knapsack was with us ..that means we can dig up for dry clothing straight away. I put on a dry fleece jacket on top of my damp shirt. Ya Allah best nya...The others, had to wait for the porters to arrive and deliver their knapsacks.
Once the tents were pitched and assigned, we just stayed in the tents due to cold wind and light drizzling. We were the only khemah kelamin, dubbed as khemah Happy Ending. Tah apa-apa laa depa ni.

The tents were so closely pitched, we could eavesdrop hahahaa. We simply raised our voice to talk to the neighbouring tents. Even had dinner in the tents. After dinner...rest time..zzzZZZ. I thought I would be having trouble sleeping in a cramped tent, with thin mattress and sleeping bag. Pffftt..fengsan jugak...

Saturday 9th Apr
The Day. The morning itself. Cold and foggy morning. Most of the journey to the peak was manageable. The hard part was the last leg, about 1KM or so to the peak. We had to trudge the loose, fine volcanic sand. Again, I braced myself for the infamous '2 steps forward, 1 step sliding backward' moment. However, no back-sliding woooHOooo! The fine sand was damp and somewhat compacted, I think because of the rain yesterday. Even our guide was glad. I was mightily glad.

Both of us (couple kura2) reached the peak just before 10am. Last one to arrive of course hahaha..but not so bad, just about 15-20 mins later than the rest of the team. Frankly, Kinabalu hike was tougher to me. I think, for Rinjani trip, I was fitter (plus the damp sand helped a lot!).

I considered the easy path to the peak is like a rezeki. Once at the peak, takde rezeki pulak - tak nampak Danau Segara Anak because of the thick clouds. *Sigh* You get some, you don't get some. C'est la vie, bak kata sorang hiker. We did not stay long at the peak. After taking the group photo, we made our move back to plawangan. It lightly rained and this time the path was really slippery. Berapa kali tah jatuh terduduk...huhuhu...gelak je laa masa jatuh tu.

We reached plawangan around 1-2 pm. The original plan was for us to break camp after lunch and make our way to Danau Segara Anak. However, due to rain, slippery path and everybody was miserable with cold and damp clothing (again), it was unanimous - no Danau Segara Anak trip and to break camp tomorrow morning, going back to Sembalun village.

No hotspring, no waterfall trip, no Senaru village. Hubby was mightily happy, he was still jet-lagged (flew back just for Rinjani, all the way from his overseas assignment). I also did not mind, I've achieved my main aim of reaching Rinjani's peak. After having lunch in the tent (again), sambung tidorrrr.. I really enjoyed sleeping in the tent that evening. It was cool, sound of raindrops hitting the tent like music, kenyang..heaven.

Husband dah fengsan

In the evening, it stopped raining.The guys went to a nearby piped water source for a bath...errr.. about 20-30mins jugak ke water source tu. Ladies stayed behind, hurhurhur. That was the only time we stayed out of the tents and bersembang2 di luar khemah kakakaka! Nightfall came and we got into the tents back, had dinner in the tent. Sejukkk..it was windy that night. Soo windy, I thought some of the tents might flew off!

Around 2am, somebody called out - stars in the sky. Ngantuk2 tu, I looked up from the tent's entrance...oooo..cantiknya (the night before was cloudy, saw no stars at all). Kamera henpon je..I could not capture the enchanting views. The strong wind must have blown away all the clouds. Cold wind, could not tahan. I slipped back into the sleeping bag and stuck out my head. I laid on my back to look up at the stars. My head on the outside of the tent, my body in the tent. Heaven. After 15 mins or so, got back into the tent. Sambung tidorrrr.

Sunday 10th Apr

Truly a SUNday. Best nya Ya Allah. Hahaha! Not seeing the Danau Segara Anak and crater lake for the past 2 days and finally seeing it before we break the camp, I felt truly blessed. It was a photography session for most of us, finally. Everybody was whipping out the cameras and handphones, posing and all.

Lion King pose

It was a beautiful day. Everybody was in a good mood to head back to Sembalun village, even with such a major change in the itinerary ie no Danau Segara Anak, hotspring, Senaru village and waterfall visit. Sporting lah korang2 ni.

Although we've ascended the Bukit Penyesalan and the savannah, we truly enjoyed the second passing. The sunny day exposed us to its utmost beauty, which was denied to us on our hike up. We reached Pintu Sembalun, managed not to finish last...hahaha! What an achievement XD

We stayed one night in Senggigi. Tak hengat dah apa nama resort tu..

Monday 11th Apr

The rest of the group continued the trip to one of the Pulau Gili. Which Gili pun tak hengat. We have planned earlier not to join the trip to the island. We had to fly back to KLIA in the noon, since hubby is catching evening's flight back to his oversea's assignment.

However, sempat jugak laa we rent a bike and rode the whole stretch of Senggigi. And found this one cute Pura Batu Bolong. Small attraction - has a beach, has a small Pura, has a short passage/cave and has a geological formation (volcanic rock).

Rinjani trip was a beautiful experience.  For me, Rinjani offers more scenery than Kinabalu. One Rinjani trip is enough though, a bucket list stricken off. Kinabalu on the other hand, I do  feel the urge to re-visit. Of course lah I feel Kinabalu is more special being a Malaysian. Biased heheheh.

Lunch at Sangeetha @Lebuh Ampang

For weeks, we were dreaming of having lunch at Sangeetha. Finally..
Had ourselves a Chennai thali, mushroom manchuria. And I had the heavenly badham kheer.

A pregnant colleague, was still hungry. Mushroom manchuria was aplenty. So we ordered a paper tosai.

Hungry and preggy colleague, so happy when the tosai arrived

Nampak je besar. It's thin and crispy...nyam nyam

I was so sad when the badham kheer glass was empty. Could not order another glass, done that before and I was so bloated and gassy afterward. I am getting intolerant to lactose lately..dah tua. Plus the beans/ legumes/ spices from the dish...lethal combo. So, had to tahan from ordering another badham kheer.
Until next visit yaa..

Tazkirah Zuhur di bulan Ramadhan

Nah, this is not a blog to share what tazkirah Zuhur I've gotten during the holy month of Ramdhan. This is about the ambience and experience of attending tazkirah recently in my workplace. Hohoho..
The surau committee in my workplace is very diligent in planning tazkirah. Tazkirah will be about 1 hour during lunch time. The committee will post a 1-month schedule on the bulletin board and they do this every month. Kudos to them. Terima kasih banyak-banyak. Moga diberkati..amiiin.
Once you attend these tazkirah frequently, you would develop a certain knowledge of the ustaz-ustaz typical tazkirah content and their style of delivering them. Naturally, the well-attended tazkirah would be those delivered  by the famous, well-known and entertaining ustaz.
I rarely attend the whole full session and rarely I pay attention to the tazkirah schedule. Ikut nasiblah, ustaz mana, dengar je lah. I usually turn up midway of the tazkirah. Even then, you can immediately judge the tazkirah's level of interest by the numbers of people in the surau and how many of them flock to the front of the surau. Large number of people, means well-known and favourite ustaz. Significant flocking to the front of surau, means celebrity and famous ustaz, heheheh.
Last Monday, we had one celebrity ustaz. Ustaz Azmil Mustapha. Pergh...Tipah tak tipu. Otai2 je kenal dia ni. He was really famous when I was in primary school. Made reallly famous by movie Ali Setan. For the first time ever, I decided to attend a tazkirah from start (Ya Allah, harap2 tak kurus pahala hadir majlis tazkirah ni..).
I had one expectation. I expected to hear how he made the turnaround. From a famous actor to an ustaz. 5 minutes into the tazkirah, my expectation went out of the window. I had no idea what's Azmil Mustapha like, as an ustaz. So his style? Keras and kasar, my opinion. Raised voice, arms flailing, looking straight into people's eyes...*peluh* I felt like we were being scolded...hahaha. He talked about how Islam in Malaysia is in sad and dire condition and you can really feel his sadness and frustration. The next day? We had another tazkirah. All smiles and laughter bacause the ustaz was very funny and full of humor. I felt cleansed and soothed afterward. Totally different from Ust Azmil's session.
The thing is..I totally do not like Ust Azmil's style and I love attending lighthearted and funny tazkirah. But honestly, most of the time I will have a difficult time recalling the gist of lighthearted funny tazkirah. Yes, there were messages delivered during that funny tazkirah, but apparently the messages did not hit hard enough. Not enough staying power, not sustainable. Whereas, I was really affected by what Ust Azmil said, terngiang2 suara dia citing the ayat-ayat Quran yang menusuk qalbu tu. Sentappp...takuttt..depressed..
Will I go to his tazkirah again? Hahahaha...sentap tak habis lagi ni. Maybe, once the sentap has somewhat being managed and addressed. Not ready for another sentap.

Dream came true, twice! Boh Eco Trail Run 2016

I have dreamt of running in a tea plantation. No more dreaming, coz dream came true when I ran in Boh plantation in Bukit Cheeding, Banting. I did not run much though. More like sight-seeing with lots of selfies and photography.

I have also dreamt to win any photo contest. No more dreaming also, I was one of the lucky winner for the run photo contest.

Makcik happy..2 kali.
Ramadhan Kareem and keep yourself hydrated.

Health Resolution for 2016

Recently, I was bombarded with many illnesses, one after another.
It started with a frequent stomach ache and watery st**l. Then I got a serious bout of diarrhea for a week, complete with stomach cramping and bloating. It got more eventful after the diarrhea passed. I got a yeast infection down under. I was generally tired most of the time, even with sufficient rest and sleep. I noticed I 'zoned' out, while eating, while driving, anytime. Brain fog? Dizziness started to occur, sometimes headache. I noticed an ear ache as well (left ear). The worst and worrying one was the sense of unbalance, like I was in a rocking boat. I would be nauseous when this hit me. Crossing roads and driving made me anxious cause it involves lots of head movement (which made me dizzy..). Vertigo?
Went to the doctor, BP was normal, blood test normal. Urine yes, slightly contaminated. Doctor noticed a 'fullness' or maybe swelling in my right abdomen. I did feel the pain when she was pressing it, otherwise I only felt a twinge or minor discomfort.
I was only prescribed with anti-fungal tablet for the yeast infection and antibiotics to reduce the swelling. It did cure the yeast infection. During the follow up visit, doctor noticed less swelling and she suspected it was stomach gas rather than inflammation. So I was prescribed probiotics.
All those happened within mid Dec to end Jan. I still have the dizzy spells although less frequent, no vertigo so far thank god. Bloating still. New symptom is itchiness on my neck and back shoulder, and sense of creepy/crawliness (not really itchy) on my inner elbows, back of my thighs, under my chin, sometimes in the left ear, even my eyes itch. My energy is returning, still zone out although at a lesser frequency.
I have a feeling that another visit to the doctor will not fully resolve this so I am self-diagnosing myself...candida overgrowth? I am self-medicating with probiotics, yoghurt. Take a lot of tempe. Eliminating food with gluten, reduce sugar. I do wonder if I overstressed myself with running & yoga thus wreaking havoc on my immune system? I'm tuning them down a bit for now.

Lacto5, so called locally derived probiotics. Lemon-infused drink, using extra lemon from last week arabic salad..ngehehe

That's it, my health resolution for this year, to work on having a healthy gut. I've been reading blogs on treating candida the natural way, it can be a slow and long journey. Tabaaaahh!

BGRC Revisited

Last CNY, we had a kenduri kahwin in Kuantan. Husband's niece got married. So off we went on early Saturday morning around 815am. Traffic jam was horrible as expected, started from Middle Ring Road (T.T). The traffic only cleared after Bentong. We had to drive 2 cars, cause or parents tagged along. Tak muat satu kereta...hahaha. Husband had a plan to book MPV. The plan remains a plan...all MPV booked perhaps due to CNY. Book lambat pun ye jugak...So akibatnya, he drove 1 car with the elders and I drove another with the kids and bibik.
We checked-into a homestay in Gambang after the kenduri around 4pm. The homestay is very close to BGRC (cheaper lah...ramai2 ni). Rehat je dulu...
Next day, we went to BGRC early morning. Long queue was already there at the water park. We simply bought the entrance ticket only, no rental of floats or cabana whatever. We hardly used them last time...bazir je.
The fish bucket apparent filled up fast that day hahaha. Husband counted, every 5 mins or so, it toppled. Last time it took like 30 mins or so to fill up and topple.

Wargghhhh !!!! Feel my wrath! Splash! Splash!

Umar dah berani main air. During the last visit, he refused even to budge from my lap. Main tepuk2 air je. This time, he sat by himself in the pool, baring2 kat section yg cetek, sempat curi2 minum air pool. He finally got hooked playing the water slide. That's it lah. After this, I'm sure I'll have a headache chasing him around water parks/ swimming pools.

Superman style

The day was overcast and it rained around 12noon. Those who were properly dressed and dry, scrambled for shelter. Hayaa has this rain-phobia (takut kilat/ guruh). So when she ran out of the pool, adik2 dia pun ikut laaa lari keluar. Thankfully husband brought a big umbrella and I was also not keen to move all the sandals, water bottles, towels, bags etc. So we ended up huddling under the umbrella.

Sempat wefie

Maka kami pun menggunakan alasan hujan to cut short the water park trip, with no objections from the kids. Yehey....hahaha! Balik! Cari lunch pulak.

Gara-Gara Air Reverse Osmosis sales talk

Had a friend came over to my house, to promote a Reverse Osmosis filter for drinking water. Never like to drink RO water anyway (all minerals have been filtered out), always prefer mineral water.

Tapi...saja gatal nak check alQuran, and here what I found :

Characteristics of the Rain water

Now lets reckon some of the characteristics associated with the water descending from the sky i.e.: rainwater.The rainwater is considered exactly as distilled water, resulting from the vaporization of the water from the seas and its condensation in the form of clouds then it descending as rain . Therefore it is thoroughly pure water. The rainwater can remove the dirt on the human skin more than the regular water, thus this water is considered a disinfectant used in medicine .It is free from the viruses and bacteria, also possessing the feature of the absorption of metals, gases and dust particles and any substance that comes into contact with it on a large scale, therefore it is an antiseptic to the atmosphere as well. 

After knowing these attributes we find that they meet accurately the single worded expression in the Qur'an about the rainwater, where Allah says: (And We send down from the sky pure water) The criterion, 48. The word "Tahura" (purified) in the language means the removal of dirt and impurities and the abstinence from it as stated in the dictionary.

The Fresh (Sweet) Water

It is noticeable that the Quran differentiates between the word "Tahur"/pure and "Furat"/sweet in its verses for Allah says: (and have given you to drink sweet water.) Al-Mursalat, 27. The water we drink from the rivers, springs and wells is acceptable and taste sweet because it contains quantity of the minerals like iron that causing the water to taste sweet. This definition suits the expression "Furatan"/sweet. The term "Furat"/sweet water in the language is the water with acceptable taste as described in the linguistic dictionaries .While the descending water from the sky is distilled water which possesses the characteristics of sterilization and cleansing and carries not taste! Therefore the Divine described it as "Tahura". So is there repetition in the Quran or is it a miracle?

The water as it descends from the sky is pure but when it mixes with the minerals and salts present in the land and become "Furatan"/sweet. Even though, the Qur'an speaks about the river waters, we find it using the term "Furatan"/sweet and not "Tahuran"/pure.

- extracted from 'Kinds of Holy Water in Holy Quran (http://kaheel7.com/eng/index.php/earth-science/77-kinds-of-water-in-holy-quran)

Sorry friend. Yes, there's a risk of our water contaminated with unsafe pollutants. For now, I'll take my chances with the municipal water and their adherence to WHO drinking water standards. In future? Who knows. Wallahu'alam.

Another Office-Mate's Wedding

Indian wedding...but we missed the ritual, walk around the fire and all...allaaaaaaaaa. We were soo looking forward. There were 5 of us and this was the first Indian wedding that we attended. It was done in a Hindu temple right in Ipoh. The driver blamed it on the traffic lights in Ipoh (lame...yeaa..). Hema (the bride) did warn us to come early since they have to be very punctual with the ceremony. For them, the auspicious time is between 9 - 1030am,
We got to the temple at 1045am, had to remove our shoes at the temple gate, which we done hastily and awkwardly. Walk bare-footed to the temple building and saw the bride and groom was already on the pelamin, di tepung tawar oleh sanak saudara and rakan2..alllaaaaaa....
So kitaorg mempacakkan diri di tepi pelamin, watching the tepung tawar (renjis air mawar, tabur beras kuning etc2). One of us remarked, 'Eh, lebih kurang je macam org Melayu nye wedding.' To which I reminded..'Kita yg tiru adat diaorg'.

To Hema & Jeevan, may you have a happy and everlasting marriage

After ber'wefie' and renjis2 Hema & hubby, makan time ehehehe. We were told not to worry since the food will be all vegetarian. This is to accommodate fellow Hindus who are vegetarians, but most importantly to respect the temple and its samis.

Nyummm! 

Sayur dhall, kentang masak merah? peria goreng, kari bendi, mangga masak apa tah and tauhu kicap. I don't know what the bubur's name is. Got dhall, raisins, macam cendol (tapi kuning), sagu. It was sweet and rich with herbs.

Hmmm...takde rezeki tgk ceremony. But it was sure an enjoyable daytrip/ road trip. Oh well...kena tunggu office mate Indian yang lain kahwin. 

Human watching at BGRC Water Park

Bukit Gambang Resort city, we stayed there for 2 nights last month during Deepavali holiday. Safari park was ok-ok. Water park was also ok-ok but kids enjoyed themselves so much at the Water Park, no surprise there.

Me & husband? We spent half of the time watching the kids. The other half of the time, we did human watching. Of particular interest, watching the people waiting for the big fish water tank to tip over, so that they can be washed over with this HUGE amount of water.
There were 3 fish water tanks. Fish 1 too small, it was ignored. Fish 3 is the biggest and takes longest time to fill up and tip over, it was also ignored. We saw a bunch of people sitting patiently in the wading pool under the Fish 2, the middle sized tank. And we saw more and more people joined in and sit close together. All facing the Fish 2 and looking up with expectation.
We watched them for like 10-15 minutes and finally we did see Fish 2 slowly tipping over. Every now & then somebody would shout excitedly when the tank inched an angle. Then Fish 2 stopped, it was stuck. The human bunch waited a bit more (just in case it WILL tipped over) and getting frustrated, making some noises 'Alaaaa..' or such. Hahaha ! Kesian, frust..kitaorg pun frust tak dapat tengok diaorg di simbah air.

Biggest Fish

Then one by one got up and switched to Fish 3, the biggest one. This time the crowd was even bigger than before. More and more people joined in. Like before, they sat facing Fish 3, looking up excitedly. 20-25 minutes or so, seriously...I did check the time. Then it finally happened. Fish 3 tipped over and everybody shouted, screamed and laughed excitedly while being washed over with the gush of water (we also laughed). Good for them! After waiting more than 30 minutes, they finally got washout out. The crowd then got up one by one and dispersed. Sekian, terima kasih. That was it...rasa lawak pun ye. Me & husband actually had fun watching them.

Finally running PBIM2015

Three years I've tried to run PBIM. Year 1 - got a last minute 1 month overseas assignment & hubby ran alone (sob!). Year 2 - confinement with 2nd baby but at least hubby ran with several friends. Year 3 - got foot injury after running BSN Putrajaya and Standard Chartered KL back to back (padan muka...lesson learnt). That year I only chauffered hubby and friends, the least I could do. 3 tahun tak dapat2 lari PBIM, finally I ran it the first time on 22 Nov.
I carpooled with an office mate (also a runner). Hubby could not join, due to overseas assignment. It was a long drive from KL, about 6.5 hrs. Heavy rains and many cars were heading to the north. South bound looked lonely though. Sumer org pergi PBIM ke? Hubby texted while I was in Tapah  R&R for lunch and solat, asking if I could make it collecting the kit in Queensbay Mall. Panic set in when I realized that collection closes at 6pm (tu laa...sapa suruh self collect..sapa suruh tak baca race kit notification betul2). Waze predicted 505pm arrival but kept revising the time..later and later. Luckily, a friend in Penang called me to meet-up tonight and she helped to collect the kit. Sayang ko Yat oiii! We met-up at Subaidah, had an early dinner.

Me, my opis mate & Sarah (hubby's niece).

I was hoping I could nail 3hrs15m or less since I clocked 3hrs17m during the recent 2XU HM. Hmmphhh.. 3hrs33m sudahnya kakakaka. Maybe I was still tired driving from KL. Maybe I did not have a good night rest. Sleep was elusive after the Subaidah dinner (kept waking up). Also, I was due for my period. Supposed to get it on the day of the run but got it today. Or maybe I did not fully recover from 2XU. Whatever...I'm still glad. 3 tahun penantian kutt..
After the run, of course tak sah kalau makcik tak pekena nasik lemuni kat pasar Taman Tun Sardon. Sempat jugak laaa singgah Padang Kota Lama for Hussein pasemboq before our drive back to KL (after tidoq 2-3 jam).

 

Good thing about this run, I noticed that my knee pain was gone. Core strengthening & yoga helps I guess. My foot arch and plantar issue was also manageable (less) thanks to taping. But I always have this hip pain especially on the left side, where the thigh bone connects to the hip joint. This time it hit me at KM15 and forced me to walk to the end.

My run:walk was out of rhythm, nearing 15KM

Need to figure out ways to manage/ reduce/ eliminate this pain. Kalau ada hajat nak lari FM in future, must resolve this one dulu la kann.

Yoga aha aha

Sedar tak sedar..dah nak dekat 11 bulan I've been taking yoga class. It's all started when I took a long break from any physical activities after Kinabalu. Knee and foot arch pain. I was contemplating swimming but such a hassle to go to the swimming pool..lagipun makcik ni tak tahan sejuk. Memilih sikit pukul berapa nak masuk pool.
Yoga was in the contemplation list and for weeks I browsed the net for any suitable yoga studio. Lo and behold...out of the blue..my office mate (Huda, jiran office cubicle) asked whether I would be interested to join a private (!) yoga class. Eeepp..! Ni la orang kata...your prayer came true! Alhamdulillah...
Rupanya her neighbour has this roomy and spacious attic and she doesn't know what to do with it. They had a girl talk I guess and both of them thought of yoga. So the private yoga class project began. Some criterias were being laid down. The attic can fit up to 6 people (or yoga mats) with 4 being the optimum. Since we are all mommies, the preferred time is 7am-8am on Saturday so that (younger) kids belum fully bangun dan mengacau2 or meracau2 cari mak. Done Saturday morning yoga, then we can do anyhting else for the rest of the weekend.
Through network, Huda found a potential teacher, Nabilla. Fees were discussed, schedule/ timing were agreed upon and the class was on! Huda even managed to find another yoga mate. First class was on 7th Feb. But preparation started wayyy before that. Nak pakai baju apa...yoga mat nak beli kat mana..headband cool ke, or ikat je rambut. Or yes, since all are ladies ehehehe...suka hati laa nak sarung apa, seketat mana. Tapi kami orang2 baik je. So memasing pakai baby tee, long tights and headband. Dah mak-mak kut..segan laa nak pakai sports bra & shorts jee.
Maka bermulalah our yoga journey. First day class, baru tahu yg Nabilla is practising Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga (hahaha...yoga pun byk jenis rupanya). We were asked about our general physical fitness, any injuries, sapa2 tgh pregnant ke etc. Then...apa lagi..to the front of the mat :)

Yg ni baru Primary Series

Dah leerr baru tau that we will be practicing Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Rupa2nya, AVY ni pun ada bersiri2. That first day, we grunted and puffed doing about a quarter of the standing sequence and only about 5 seated poses. We closed off doing the last 5 of the poses in finishing sequence. Pose yg last tu..dead man pose (savasana)...favourite pose. Anybody can do savasana kannn..
Perghhh...I know the poses are going to be challenging. But trying to maintain the pose itself pun termengah2, menggeletar2 sampai peluh menitik2. Tup...tup..tup...haaa bunyi peluh menitik atas yoga mat tu. Our tees were soaking wet. Had to wipe off the sweats with towel in between poses. As warned by Nabilla, all of us had body ache 3-4 days. Soreness kat tempat yang tak pernah2 sore..haishh.
Initially, I was skeptical and worried looking at the diagram, thinking that I could never do some of the poses. I cannot help comparing it to my running experience. For example, once upon a time, running a 5K was so scary but now...full marathon is even possible. Not yet..but maybe in 1-2 years time. Same like yoga. Bit by bit, you'll get there.
I've experienced runner's high...and hahahhaa..dunno what to call it yogi's high? Got that yogi's high last week...when I finally got to do the headstand (sirsana) without the wall support yeahaaaa! After 11 months okayy...2-3 hari la jugak dok high. Rasa sebijik macam runner's high.

No..that was not me..makcik nye belum straight cantik macam tu. Working on it :)

Rinjani, Kami Nak Datang

After Kinabalu Dec 2014, semangat membara2 nak menjelajah puncak yang seterusnya. Entah kenapa, rata2 akan target Gunung Rinjani, Lombok. Kitaorg pun terjebak jugak laaaa..Konon2 nya nak pergi Rinjani awal 2015. Tapi tak menjadi pulak plan tu.

Kinabalu takut..Rinjani pun takut...apa ni makcik?!

Thanks to the same travel agency that we engaged in our Kinabalu trip (Danz Travel), the desire to conquer Rinjani was rekindled. We've been keeping in touch with our fellow Kinabalu 2014 hikers, no doubt made possible with Whatsapp.
Naturally when En Dan proposed the Rinjani trip 7-12 April 2016, everybody started to dare each other. Hence a group of 30 peoples or so committed, including me & husband. I would say, out of those 30, 7-8 were from the same Kinabalu 2014 trips. It's really nice to reunite with the same cool company for Rinjani.
Gunung Baru Jari (near Rinjani) erupted recently circa end of October and the airport had to be closed. However the hikers2 otai in the group were cool about it and assured that situation will be ok by the time of our trip. Ok lah..kita pun (try to be) cool lah.
Looking forward...with suspense...

Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....FDC style

I am sooo excited about the Star Wars movie this December. Trailers were out but I purposely did not watch it, tak nak spoil the suspense and also I don't want to develop high expectation after watching the trailers.
Anyways, I've been collecting first day covers (FDC) for quite some time (sampul surat hari pertama). On a whim, I checked the net if there's a FDC issuance to commemorate the movie.
Ada!! By UK Royal Mail. Ooooo makcik happy. Hoh...apa lagi. Purchase online made it easy, and received it yesterday.

Ala-ala Star Wars opening crawl

The Force Awakens...May the Force be with you.

Haze ohh Haze

Malaysian Air Pollution Index is calculated based on 5 air pollutants ie Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and PM10. PM10 measures concentration of particulate matters with diameter equal or less than 10micrometers.

'API system includes 5 major air pollutants which could cause potential harm to human health should they reach unhealthy levels. The air pollutants included in Malaysia's API are ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 micron (PM10). - FAQ section, http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/faq.html.

While Malaysia is using PM10 in its API, its neighbour Singapore is using PM2.5 instead (particulate matters with size equal or less than 2.5micrometers). PM2.5 is known to be more dangerous since it can travel deeper into our respiratory system (eg. lungs) and PM2.5 is also known to contain higher percentage of hazardous material (eg. heavy metals, toxic organic).

The concentration for PM10 is alsways higher than PM2.5 concentration, since PM10 measures particulates with size less or equal to 10micron which includes particulates of 2.5micron size or less. However when converted into air pollution index, API based on PM2.5 is usually higher than API that is based on PM10. This is due to different breakpoint values used for PM2.5 and PM10, to calculate the index. That's why when 'Good' or 'Moderate' API is given, I do question if the index is correct coz when I gaze outside, I still see the haze.

Source : Guidelines for the Reporting of Daily Air Quality – the Air Quality Index (AQI), USEPA

Agak pening jugak lah kalau tengok calculation. Just need to remember that PM2.5 is more dangerous than PM10, hence giving a higher index number. Too bad Malaysia is still measuring the API based on PM10. They can say the API is Good/Moderate but bottom line, trust your eyes & nose too.

'DOE is in the midst of finalising the new Malaysian Air Quality Guidelines to include the standard limit of PM2.5 in the ambient air which based on World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006 Guidelines. Subsequently, we will need to come up with PM2.5 Air Quality Index System and data integration with the existing system in Environmental Data Centre (EDC) prior to including it in API calculation. 

- FAQ section,  http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/faq.html.'