mak akak's wedding reception

salam, remember the entry for mak akak's 'nikah' day? well, this is the continuation of that entry, mak akak's wedding reception. the reception is one day after eiduladha, 27th october 2012 (saturday). it was held at putrajaya lake club hall. the hall could only fit ca 150 persons, so it was quite a small reception. only family and close friends attend. the theme is turquoise. mine was sponsored by one of my aunt, mak wang. she volunteered to sponsor my cloth after i joked around with her that my small salary would not allowed me to buy a new dress, haha..

as usual, there were the flower boys and girls. this time, they got to wear masks. there's also karaoke involved. every family must send at least one representative. so, on eiduladha me and some of my cousins went practicing at superstar karaoke, wangsa walk. eventhough, i usually went karaokeing with friends, it is  very different when going with people from another generation. the song's choices said it all..

our family sends four lovely ladies, my two sisters-in-law, kak intan and kak ani, kak ala and me! kak sya didn't joined because she had sore throat. our performance closed the karaoke session that night and we sang 'bunyi gitar - p. ramlee.' it was fun! and only my voice was heard according to my uncle, the mc. i'm the only one that sang loudly and held the mic closed. my other lovely sisters just danced to the beat. we also had lucky draws that night. we were asked to buy the gifts for the draw. all and all it was fun and entertaining...

emergency telephone numbers (detailed)

You Are Sad

You Have Sinned

You Are Seeking Faith

You Are Seeking A Friend

You Are Sexually Discriminated

You Are Racially Discriminated

You Are Seeking Love and Tranquility

You Are Depressed

You Are Yearning For A Close Friend

You Feel You Are Not Appreciated

You Feel Like A Loser

You Feel Underpriviledged

You Are Tired of Hardships

People Picks Fight With You

For Deliverance From Fear

For Assurance of Forgiveness

For Double Assurance

ps: resources from Quran.com

emergency telephone numbers

a touching story of a mother's love (copied from FB)

My mom only had one eye. I hated her... she was such an embarrassment. My mom ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell... anything for the money we needed, she was such an embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school, I remember that it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school..."Your mom only has one eye?!" and they taunted me.

I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world so I said to my mom, "Mom, why don't you have the other eye?! You're only going to make me a laughingstock. Why don't you just die?" My mom did not respond. I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I had said what I'd wanted to say all this time. 

 Maybe it was because my mom hadn't punished me, but I didn't think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.  

That night... I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away. Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful, because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty. 

Then I studied really hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I'm living happily as a successful man. I like it here because it's a place that doesn't remind me of my mom.

This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when someone unexpected came to see me. "What?! Who's this?!"... It was my mother... Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom's eye. 

 And I asked her, "Who are you? I don't know you!!!" as if I tried to make that real. I screamed at her "How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" And to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared. Thank goodness... she doesn't recognize me. I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn't going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life.

Then a wave of relief came upon me... One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. I lied to my wife saying that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house... just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand.... it was a letter to me.

She wrote: 

My son... I think my life has been long enough now. And... I won't visit Seoul anymore... but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school... For you... I'm sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you.

You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... so I gave you mine... I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. The couple times that you were angry with me, I thought to myself, "it's because he loves me." I miss the times when you were still young around me.

I miss you so much. I love you. You mean the world to me.

My world shattered!!! Then I cried for the person who lived for me... My Mother

Different kind of horoscope, well sort of..

[SONG] Crystal Kay ~ Konna ni Chikaku de (Nodame Cantabile ED)

 

Koi ga setsunai to 

Sugu soba de kizuita ano yoru 

Datte hoka no dare yori 

Anata no koto wo shitteru kara

Love is so sad 

I realized it that night you were next to me 

Cause better than anybody else, 

I know you so well

Itsumo no sarigenai 

Yasashisa sae kono mune wo shimetsuketeku

Even your casual kindness 

Makes my chest tighten

Konna ni konna ni chikaku de mitsumete mo 

Doushite doushite tada no tomodachi na no? 

Donna ni donna ni tsuyoku omotte itemo 

Tsutaerarenai you don't understand 

I'm so in love with you

This, this close I'm watching you 

Why, why are we only friends? 

No matter how, no matter how strong my feelings are 

They don't reach you. You don't understand 

I'm so in love with you

"Genki nai yo ne?" to 

Anata kara iwareta shunkan 

Namida kakusu AKUBI de 

"Nebusoku ka na?" tte ii wake shita

"You're not feeling too good?" 

you said, and in that moment 

I yawned to hide my tears 

"Lack of sleep, maybe?" was my excuse

Ichiban taisetsu na 

Hito ni uso wo kasaneteku... ima no watashi

The lies to my most important person 

Keep piling up that's the current me

Mainichi mainichi mune ga kurushii kara 

Ikutsumo ikutsumo nemurenu yoru wo koe 

Hajimete hajimete deatta ano hi ni mata 

Modoreru no nara ii no ni... 

I'm so in love with you

Every day, every day, my heart is in pain 

Countless, Countless sleepless nights overcome 

That first, that first day we met 

It'd be so great if I could return to it 

I'm so in love with you

"AISHITERU" to tsugetara kitto 

Mou nidoto egao ni wa modorenai kamo shirenai 

Keredo mo tomodachi no mama tsukuriwarai wa 

Kore ijyou, watashi dekinai kara

If I confess that "I love you" 

I probably won't be able to smile again 

But to continue as friends, with fake smiles 

I can't take take it any more

HONTO wa HONTO wa zutto suki datta no 

Itsudemo itsudemo aishi tsuzuketa no 

Anata ni anata ni dodoketai kimochi wo 

Aoi sora he to sasayaita 

I'm so in love with you

The truth is, the truth is I always loved you 

Always, always, I kept loving you 

To you, to you I want to send these feelings 

I whisper them to the blue sky 

I'm so in love with you

Konna ni konna ni chikaku de mitsumete mo 

Doushite doushite tada no tomodachi na no? 

Donna ni donna ni tsuyoku omotte ite mo 

Tsutaerarenai you don't understand 

I'm so in love with you

This, this close I'm watching you 

Why, why are we only friends? 

No matter how, no matter how strong my feelings are 

They don't reach you. You don't understand 

I'm so in love with you

 (Lyrics from Animelyrics.com)

vietnam trip 2012

salam, remember i mentioned that i'll be going to vietnam with my friends? we got cheap ticket from airasia promotion. we went there for three days starting on 29 october 2012 until 1 october 2012. so here how's it go...

29 OCTOBER 2012 (SATURDAY)

after asar, i drove to precint 9 to meet liza and A. we went  to LCCT by liza's car (her boyfriend is driving). sophie went with her boyfriend. since we already checked in via web, we just dropped our bags. the plane arrived on time. we had a smooth flight, well maybe a just a little bumpy since it's raining and arrived 1 minute early than scheduled. our guide, kevin (friend of ateng's friend) was already waiting.

excited faces

he took us took us to hour hotel, it took about one and half hour from the airport. kevin told us the traffic would be heavy since that day was children day festival in vietnam. we checked in and promised to be ready by 8.30am tomorrow.

our hotel, saigon mini hotel 6

done with the check in, we started exploring the city of ho chi minh city on our own. since we didn't ate on the plane, we were all very hungry. luckily for us we found a halal hotel only 2 minutes walk from our hotel. the restaurant, baba's kitchen serves indian cuisine. it was delicious and the price is totally reasonable. we even got a 10% discount.

first dinner in ho chi minh city

done with dinner, we continue exploring. here, you have to be brave to cross the road, since there is no pedestrian light. kevin gave us tips for crossing, move forward slowly. don't turn back. the motorists will avoid you. sound easy right? well. it wasn't, huhu.. everytime we had to cross the road, we had this queasy feeling in our stomachs with thoughts like can we make it, is it safe, what if the motorists didn't avoid us and so on. alhamdulillah, we survive!

A and i were planning from the beginning to purchase vietnam traditional's costume, ao dai. that night, we found a shop that can make these ao dai in 24 hours time. we grabbed the opportunity and ordered three dresses. one for me, one for A and one for hawa. i even asked hawa's measurements and the results are shown below. we went back to the hotels at about 11.00pm, local time. there is 1 hour difference from malaysia.

A, hawa, me

30 SEPTEMBER 2012 (SUNDAY)

we started the day with breakfast at this nice little cafe called sozo. this cafe provided employment for the disable such as deaf or dumb. it also employed students who want to improve their english since a lot of tourists come there. we had toast and omelet with coffee. kevin told us that vietnam coffee is special and he was right. the coffee was magnificent. the only problem is waiting for it to fill the cup since i ordered drip coffee.

breakfast at sozo

kevin and the driver arrived exactly at 8.30am. we made our way to mekong delta. kevin bought us the boat tickets and we were treated with fresh coconut drink on the boat. there are four big islands in mekong; unicorn island, dragon island, phoenix island and turtle island. our first stop is the unicorn island. here we were entertained by the locals by singing folk songs. we were also served with fresh fruits.

great experience here!

after that, we hopped to another island to see how coconut candies are produce. the process is mainly manual meaning little machines is involved. it's not like the things done in a factory. even the packaging is done manually. we also started buying our souvenirs here.

coconut candy process

we walked around the island until we reached boating area. oo, we walked only halfway and the other half was by horse carriage. i really felt sorry for the horse for it had to carry six persons with our belongings. when we arrived at the boating area, we took a small boat to ride along the mekong river. we the experience is priceless. when we arrived at the end or our boat journey, our previous boat was already waiting.

mekong river

we went to the mainland and kevin took us to a special restaurant that served elephant ear fish. the fish was freshly caught from a pond nearby. after lunch we went back to the hostel to put our things away. then, kevin showed us the way to our anticipated place that is the ben thanh market, saigon square and the night market so that we could shop till we drop!

special lunch

the ben thanh market is closed at 6pm. we only got about 40 minutes by then. so we expressed shops. we bought souvenirs such as keychains, fridge magnets and bookmarks. we also bought vietnam silks here. after that we rushed and i mean rushed to saigon square because it will close at 8.30pm. for me, saigon square is just like our petaling street. it sold counterfeit products so we didn't bought much here. after that, we waited for the night market to be open which is on 9pm. here, in the night market, we lose lots of money to things we bought. we had to carry heavy stuffs back to our hotel, walking! it was about 15 minutes walk! our feet and hands ached for several days, huhu..

bargaining is a must!

some of the souvenirs on sale

1 OCTOBER 2012 (MONDAY)

we checked out early on our last day. we went to cu chi tunnels, the historical parts of ho chi minh city. here we were shown some interesting stuffs such as traps used during the war, tunnels dug for the purpose of moving unseen and weapons used during the war. we experienced walking a short distance through the tunnels.

pose people!

war traps

done with cu chi, we went back to the city to have our city tour. kevin brought us to the independence palace, notre dame, post office, lacquer factory and war museums.  we were quite in a rush since we had a flight to catch. A and i spent a long time at the museum war. it was tragic and upsetting to learn about the vietnam war and the orange effect for me was totally devastating. we said goodbye to kevin at the war museums and the driver took us to the airport. overall, i was very satisfied with this trip! hope to have more trips like this in the future.

independence palace

city tour

lacquer factory

at the war museum

our bags doubled!

ps: btw, we were obsessed with the helmets worn by the locals. motorcycles are the main transportation here in vietnam. cars are soo expensive.

courtesy of liza, the most obsessed of all..

introducing my furry lil' friends..

salam, remember the entry regarding yuki and heiji? my two furry bedtime companions, well heiji is not that furry but still.. both of them received new friends in times. after them is the london hardrock cafe bear which i named yumi. my sister bought it for me when she attended a meeting there. after yumi, i got dora (short form from doraemon) in a lucky draw at tokyo street, pavillion kl.

and recently, i bought a bear on airasia flight (during my trip to vietnam, which i will tell all about it in another entry later). he is a plane engineer and i named him jiro! yesterday, i got a new furry friend after signing up for memory lane card membership. i named her, yuri which means lily in japanese. 

in Islam, we are not allowed to keep flush toys or dolls as display. the angels would not come in your house if you used them as display. but it is okay if you used them, like kids playing with them and such. in my case, those furry friends of mine have different functions.

• yuki : acts as my hugging pillow
• heiji : acts as my extra headrest, when i'm reading while lying, the pillows are too low and it made me uncomfortable, so heiji came it and made the pillows higher and more comfortable
• yumi, yuri, jiro : these three are smalls in size, so i usually use them to entertain my little nephew, alif by doing some puppet shows
• dora : this is alif favourite friend because it has a bell around his neck. he always play with it when he's in my room

yuki and heiji

yumi, the londoner with japanese name

the famous doraemon

the 'kakkoi' plane engineer, jiro

cute little yuri