Cabaran Tag

Was tagged by Anira since... so long ago that I've forgotten when it actually was.

Anyway, here goes...

Do you think you are hot?
Yes, at least to my hubby, hehehe...

Upload a favorite picture of you


Why do you like that picture?
I want to remain as cheerful as the girl in the picture seems to be ;-)

When was the last time you ate pizza?
Hmm, last month when we had this 'buy 1 and buy another for RM1' coupon.

The song you listen to?
Anything played on MuzikFM on the way to and fro office
(I prefer IKIM.FM but the car's radio being a Japan-spec, could only play channels which are up to 90.00Mhz, and IKIM is 91.6...)

What are you doing right now besides this?
Waiting for calls from other department, editing a paper prepared by subordinate, thinking about things to do tomorrow...

What other names do you prefer besides this?
(Besides A.Z.? or Azra? or Haida?)
Haizra Azida

Now I would like to tag new victims to do it
1. Zarin
2. Jaja
3. Hanis

Who is number 1?
One of the Labbies - the first batch of language lab assistants in our former school. We've been in touch with each other since leaving school back in 1992. Used to be my buddy to attend other friends' weddings (but he missed coming to my own wedding! He thought it was going to be held on Sunday, but it was held on Saturday, so there). Cool and fun to hang out with.

Say something about number 2
Sweet despite her 'ganas' appearance. Vulnerable despite her 'tough' look. Contradictory in so many ways, yet honest-to-goodness in her own way. One of a kind.

What about number 3?
A kouhai (junior) who's been mostly a silent reader, and now I'm her silent reader pulak. Ahah - baru aci, ye dak? Here's a light entry suggestion for her mostly-filled-with-heavy-entries blog.

Simple pleasures in life

I owe Kit two tags and Anira one.
Let me begin my 2009 entry by answering "Kit's Simple Pleasures in Life" tag.
I'd written a similar entry sometime back in 2004, so this is more like my additional list...

Here goes - in no particular order:

- watching Huzaifah and Humaidi sleeping - the only time they look calm & oh so at peace
- a kiss on my bulging tummy by Huzaifah, Humaidi, their Ayah or a combination of all three
- waking up early and found out that I could still sleep for another hour
- unexpected hug/kiss from the kids
- being pampered by hubby
- 'seeing' baby for the first time through ultra sound scan
- mental-stimulating discussion over meals with Mak and Ayah
- finding long lost stuff I thought never to be found again
- smell of crisp pages of a book I would like to devour
- dog eared pages of favorite books that had been re-read countless times
- great service by a Sales Assistant
- short queue at service counter
- elevators working efficiently during the rush hour
- unexpected phone call from long lost friend
- unexpected compliment
- unexpected gift
- rhythm of falling rain, especially when one can afford to nap
- sound of waves hitting the beach, coupled with kids' squeals of glee and delight
- breathtaking sunrise/ sunset
- smell of yummy favorite food/drinks
- perfect dessert - especially ice cream or cheese cake - after a good meal

So there Kit, hope it has been of help in your attempt to dig deeper in my (sometimes "weng") head... hehehe

Anira - I'm passing this tag on to you... (Faizly & Ahkak Zurr, feel free to do this if you are up to it...)

4our things...

As tagged by Kit.

Four things about me that you may or may not know…..

Four jobs I have had in my life
1. Babysitter - for my cousins during balik kampung time, and for children of post-graduate students when I was an undergraduate...
2. Cleaner - part-time job as an undergraduate
3. Bakery assistant - another part time job during my days in Leeds (and later Manchester, a couple of months before returning to Malaysia. It was during recession period 1998, so Mak advised me to make as much money as possible even if it was just by doing 'kerja kilang')
4. Writer for a research company

Four movies/ TV series I could watch over and over
1. Star Wars
2. Bujang Lapok
3.While You Were Sleeping
4. Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (this is because I have no choice when Huzaifah insisted "nak Thomas")

Four places I've lived in
1. Kelang Lama, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia
2. Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
3. Leeds, UK
4. Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

Four places I have been to
1. Mount Kinabalu
2. Mount Fuji (although I didn't get to climb it)
3. Not far from Swiss Alps
4. Siem Reap

Four main sources of e-mail
1. Those on ex-schoolmate's mailing list
2. Geng usrah
3. Friendsters/FB's notifications
4. Air Asia on promotions

Four of my favourite food
1. Laksa, especially made by Mak Tam
2. Chicken rice
3. Cheesecake
4. Ice cream

Four places I would rather be right now
1. At home with hubby and the kids
2. At a nice beach with hubby and the kids
3. Enjoying a chit chat at a nice restaurant with close girl friends
3. Discussing good books with fellow book lover in a bookstore

Four people kena tag
1. Dakwanie
2. Faizly aka Sabah
3. Ahkak Zurr
4. Zarin

7 facts about me

Ahkak Zurr tagged me last month. I'm supposed to share 7 facts about myself, some random, some weird. Here goes...

• Perceived differently by different people

Some told me I'm one of the most kelakar persons they've ever known while others have asked me to be less serious. Personally, I think I am usually more on the merapu meraban side than serious because those who told me that I'm funny (ha ha, not funny weird) usually are those I consider to be rather close to me and know me better...

• Hate folding and ironing clothes

A mountain of laundry waiting to be attended to was nothing extraordinary in my household (and Mak's household too, when we do not have any helper around) I suspect that a lot of people shares my sentiment about folding and ironing clothes. I mean, I've heard a lot of people declare their love for cooking, baking even vacuuming, but I have yet to hear someone enthuses, "Oh, I just looovvvveee ironing. It's so soothing/relaxing/calming..." Back in Japan, the iron was rarely used - only for hubby's jubah (for Friday prayer), baju raya and on several 'special ocassions'.

• Used to have a diary named Ricky Alden Chan

Ricky - from Richard Dean Anderson (of MacGyver), Alden is the middle name of Tommy Page (yeah, yeah, so I used to like Tommy Page, so what?) and Chan is after Jackie Chan.

• Could take ages to decide whether or not to accept someone as a friend on FB

Partly due to the fact that Facebook is banned in the office, but sometimes I do take my own sweet time deliberating on whether to accept or ignore some invitations. Like that guy from high school who caused a terrible heartache when I was 16 (who was finally accepted because a girlfriend said that his asking to be on my list might be deemed as an apology of some sort - besides we are both married with kids now) or a senior from college who deemed I was not 'good enough' to be 'introduced' to her hubby's anak usrah (who happened to be my ex). Despite being forgiven, that was a little harder to forget, so her request was finally ignored. By the way, I can be bad at remembering names and faces, so usually invitations with some introduction messages get the clearing faster than those with none.

• Love trying out new dishes.

So long as they are halal, of course. Been trained by Mak to develop an adventurous tastebud - so food is seldom a problem for me if I need to travel overseas since I am not a masakan melayu-reliant person.

• Not a fan of shoes or handbags

I know, I know, if they can afford it, most women are expected to like and owe several pair of shoes and handbags. Preferably branded ones. I 'owe' some nice ones on FB, but am not really 'into' them in real life. (Yeah, yeah, hubby is indeed one lucky fella, hehehe...)

• Not quite as quick at adapting back to the job scene

I wish I could pick things up faster, or get the hang of things more easily - but after 3 years of study leave and was more like a stay-at-home mother than a studious graduate student - I found myself not as quick at learning stuff at the office as I expected. And I miss being able to spend all day long with my boys... (I know I should be grateful for having a stable job and all, alhamdulillah, but oh well...)

Should I tag others? Most seem to have already done this tag, but in case they haven't, I am passing this on to Theta, Hanny, Ina, Faizly, Zarin, Kit and Kakaq.

Islam Inspires Meme

Tagged by Kak D

Rules:

1) Answer the following questions

2) Post on your blog with link to who tagged you

3) Tag a minimum of three other bloggers and include links to their blog in your tag. Make sure to let them know you’ve tagged them too.

Meme Questions:

1) What Qur’anic verse do you find most inspiring and why? What does it mean to you personally?

The first verse that comes to my mind is verse 256, Surah Al-Baqarah

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا‌ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡہَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡ‌ۗ

"On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear; it gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns"

Time and time again, whenever I faced some obstacle, I found solace in reading this ayah, knowing that I am only tested with what I am capable of handling.

Every time I felt I was ill-equipped for a particular position, I read this ayat to find the strength to give it my best try - be it when I was 19 and asked to be the Vice President of Islamic Student Council in my college, or when I was in my early twenties and asked to lead the Muslimah in my vicinity, or later in my mid twenties and asked to be the Penghulunita for my fellow DPA attendees. I felt reluctant to fill important positions because somehow I've always fared better as a follower than being in top leadership position. This verse propelled me to give my best because it is Allah's promise that I would never be burdened beyond my limited capability...

So every time I felt weak and helpless- like when I had to leave Huzaifah in Malaysia and came to Japan 11 days after I gave birth, or when I had my miscarriage earlier this year - this verse comforted me like no other.

It is a very empowering verse - to know that one is only tested with what one could handle, to be reassured that any test sent one's way is always never beyond one's capacity to handle...

2) What Hadith (Qudsi or Sunnah of the Prophet salallahi alaihi was salam) do you find most inspiring and why?

Okay, I found this to be a little bit difficult, because nothing hit me immediately like the answer to question no 1. But after giving it some thought - among the hadiths that I found inspiring is the one on giving salam;

Abu Hurairah (ra) related that Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wassalam said, "Let the one who is on a vehicle give salam to the one walking, let the one who is walking give salam to the one sitting, let those who are small in number (or alone) give salam to those who are in a larger group, and let the younger one give salam to the elderly"

Salam normally refers to the greetings Muslim shower upon each other, meaning "May peace be upon you". It is a sign of love and brotherhood, as Muslims pray for Allah's blessing on each other. This hadith went further to explain the etiquette of giving salam. And 'giving salam' here is not limited to just the greetings "Assalamualaikum", but also in giving salam by other ways.

Here in Japan (or in the UK for that matters) drivers slow down or wait patiently for pedestrians to cross the road at traffic lights and zebra crossing - the one who is on a vehicle give salam to the one walking. Sadly, in Malaysia - pedestrians often get honked at for crossing the road a little bit slowly, as if they are in the wrong if they try to cross the road when there is a car passing by (with the bonus of "oi butakah?" yelled out the window by the driver/passenger of the car)

There are priority seats for elderly, disabled, pregnant ladies and people with small kids on buses and trains - so that the one who is more able of walking can give salam to those who deserve the seat more. There are also priority queues in certain governmental offices - especially for the elderly - perhaps so that the younger one can give salam to the elderly.

So the hadith is not only about showering each other with greetings of peace as a sign of love, but also a lesson on giving priorities and good manners...

3) Other than the Prophet himself salalahi alahi wa salaam - what Muslim man do you find most inspiring and why?

I checked Kak D's and Nadia's (the one who tagged Kak D) answers and they both chose a companion of Rasulullah for this. I guess I will go along with them, and one sahabah that I found most inspiring is Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl.

Why?
a. He proved that sometimes it doesn't matter who your parents are - you and your parents are not necessarily of the same kind. Abu Jahl was a staunch opponent of Rasulullah, Ikrimah became a staunch companion of Rasulullah. When Ikrimah approached Makkah to say his syahadah, Rasulullah advised his companions; "Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl shall come to you as a believer and a refugee. Do not insult his father. Insulting the dead causes grief to the living and does not reach the dead."

b. He always gave his all - as a non-believer he was instrumental in obstructing the spread of Islam, but as a Muslim, he spent twice as much and fought twice as much too in Allah's way. Ikrimah, despite Khalid ibn Al-Walid's advice against it, penetrated deep into the ranks of the Byzantine in the Battle of Yarmouk. "You have fought with Rasulullah earlier. Leave me now to atone for what I have done in the past. I fought Rasulullah on many occasions, shall I now flee from the Byzantines? This shall never be!" Under Ikrimah's leadership (without the leadership of Khalid), this daring Muslim attack paved the way for a decisive victory

c. He was a selfless friend. At the crucial time in the Battle of Yarmouk, there were three warriors lying on the battleground, one of them Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl. Someone offered him some drink, but upon noticing Suhail bin Amar lying next to him and looking, he asked the war aide to pass the water to Suhail first since Suhail might need it more than him. When Suhail was offered the drink, he noticed Haris bin Hisham lying next to him and looking at the water, so he declined the drink and asked for it to be offered to Haris first since Haris might need it more than him. When the drink was offered to Haris, Haris asked for it to be offered to Ikrimah since Ikrimah might need it more than him. All of them refused to drink before the other, insisting that their friend might be more in need of the water - until in the end all of them became shahid before taking a single sip.

(update)
d. Because I am a sucker for 180 degrees changes - and Ikrimah was a great Fighter against Islam who turned into a greater Fighter for Islam. Too often people are quick to judge another - "oh, he is a terrible person, he is so rough, no manners blah blah blah", never stopping to think for a moment that we never really know the inner hidden qualities of a person, and we never know the extent of Allah's mercifulness... Who knows if the so-called terrible person might change into a religious, gentle and generous being the next day?

4) Who is the most inspiring Muslim woman to you and why?

Sharing the sentiment with Kak D and Nadia, for all the reasons that they had already stated in their respective blogs, I agree that Saidatina Khadijah is the most inspiring Muslimah. Thus, I'll take this question as "Other than Saidatina Khadijah - who is the most inspiring Muslimah to you and why? "

There are so many prominent figures to choose from - Saidatina Aisyah, Saidatina Fatimah, Rabiatul Adawiyah, Zainab al-Ghazali.... but I'll go with someone close to me - my Mak.

Mak gives her all to support Ayah all the way.
Mak gave her best in attending to both her late mother and mother-in-law.
Mak gives her best for her siblings even when it is not reciprocal.
Mak gives her best for her kids even when we broke her heart time and time again, and even when we know she gives more selflessly and generously than our own biological mother.
Mak gave her best to the rakyat when she was a civil servant - never afraid of any political master, not even when she was demoted of sort.
Mak is still giving her best to the society by voluntary works.
Mak gives her best to Allah by giving her all

5) What CONTEMPORARY (i.e., living) Muslim do you find most inspiring and why?

Well, it's hard to name just one person since I get inspired by lots of different people with lots of different things for lots of different reasons.

A new Muslim revert is inspiring - the courage to change, the risk they take, the willingness to study and adapt to a new way of life. A practising Muslim in a non-Muslim country is inspiring.
Any Muslim - reverts or otherwise - who could inspire others to turn to Allah is inspiring too.

Muslim philantrophists like Yusuf Islam who build Islamic schools in non-Muslim countries are inspiring; so are those who take time off and devote their time and sweat for such school (like Brother Abdullah who spend his summer holidays annually organizing Islamic summer school in Gyotoku, Chiba). Wealthy Muslim businessmen who provide scholarships are inspiring, just like not-so-wealthy Muslims who support students by giving their zakats to them.

Muslim scholars and thinkers like Harun Yahya aka Adnan Oktar and Dr Zakir Naik is inspiring, so are Muslim musicians the likes of Dawud Wharnsby , Sami Yusuf and Zain Bikha.

A stay-at-home mother who homeschools her children is inspiring, but so is a working mother who is successful in raising up good children by conventional means.

Since I get inspired by so many people for so many different reasons - if you are a Muslim and you ask me this question in person, I might answer "you" and I'll find some reasons to substantiate it too...

6) How has Islam inspired you in your daily life?

Being a born Muslim, raised in a practising Muslim family, and now married to an Imam of a mosque in a non-Muslim country - I have to admit that while I may not be a good Muslim, Islam inspires me in so many ways. Islam is about love and compassion, faith and trust, good manners, hope, strive for excellence, care for the environment, world peace, etc, etc, etc...

7) If you could do anything at all to inspire others through Islam, how would you do it?

The truth is I wanted to answer "by being good at what I am" - but then I am very ordinary - average student, average officer, average wife, average mother, average daughter, average sister... But one thing I know is that I intend to get involved with some charity/voluntary organisations, and I hope it could provide me a way to inspire others through Islam, insya Allah...

#####

Tag 3 persons? This tag has gotten me thinking long and hard, so this might not be the best time to pass it over to the super-busy-with-her-PhD Rad - but Rad, I don't mind waiting until after July to read your take on this, hehehe. Anyway, I hereby tag:

1. Mrs Jemain - an ex-schoolmate

2. Zarin - another ex-schoolmate

3. Theta - an articulate blogger

Little tag of horror

In order to do the Islamic tag as per Kak D's request, I feel it is only fair if I attend to the one requested by Zarin a long, long time ago. Sorry aah Zarin - I am a great procrastinator... and not a huge fan of horror flicks. Besides, like I've written before - I used to have vivid imagination which affected my bathing time - I was so scared of hands suddenly appearing on the wall wanting to choke me, or the pipe water turning to scarlet red blood, or some monster suddenly came out from the toilet bowl... Many times Mak had to wait patiently at the toilet door while I had a shower because I simply refused to lock the toilet's door for fear of something bad happening and nobody could save me because I was locked inside, all alone. Yeah, I know, vivid imagination could be hazardous too...

Anyway, 10 Scariest movie I've ever seen (or partly seen, whether by peeking from behind hubby's back or through some small opening between my fingers when my face is covered by my hands) in no particular order, are:

1 - 3 Nightmare on the Elm Street series - three of them, if I am not mistaken. Freddy Krueger is one really mean fella.

4 -Indonesian horror flicks starring Suzanna - can't remember any of their names though. Usually included some sickening scenes of water turning into blood, hands appearing from the wall to choke someone, poisonous animals appearing out of nowhere...

5 - Chermin - one that I don't have to watch behind hubby's back since the ghost at least doesn't change from a beautiful mam one moment into a typical Asian hantu rambut mengerbang, but the suara mengilai element is still there...

6 - Hantu Bangku Kosong - new teachers should learn from those who have been around longer, and try to get more background on certain 'customs' before easily dismissing anything as 'karut'

7 - Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam - watched this on the bus, and the hantu head appearing on the ground as seen by one guy was really shocking... Maya Karin could play a much more believable hantu than Deanna Yusof

8 - Dorm - not really a horror film, but well, like I said I don't watch that many horror flicks. Hubby said I should try watching Nang Nak, but just listening to him telling the story is enough to know that I don't want to watch it...

9 - It - yet another not-really-horror flick - but for a while I started to give clowns second closer looks, just to make sure whether they look funny ha-ha, or funny eerie...

10 - The Eye - the HK/Thai one, haven't seen the Hollywood version (and have no intention of doing it). Contains some poignant moments - like when the girl cried the village was burning after she tried warning the villagers but none believed her, or when the blind-again heroine confessed that she does not want to see again...

The meaning of kids' names

The tag on the meaning of one’s kids’ name (and the history of naming them) reached me over a month ago, courtesy of An, an old schoolmate… Sorry for the late response, ye An...

First, some background. Long before I was actually married, I thought that when the time comes, it would be cool if I could be given the right to name the boys and the father to name the girls. I wished to share my initials with my sons, and there were two names that really took my fancy – Azmi Hakimi and Azri Hafizi. No, I had never known any individuals with these two names, but I just thought they sounded cool, with nice meaning.

As it happened, I married someone with the initial MA. After some discussions, we finally agreed to share responsibility in choosing names for our kids, regardless of gender. The rule of thumb is simple – for a boy, the initials would be MAH, the M for Muhammad and a girl’s initial would be AH – as a combination of both parents initials.

1. Huzaifah

In the case of our first born, since we were expecting a girl, we thought of naming the baby Aliyah Hanani. (Aliyah – noble, Hanani – mercy). As it turned out, we got a boy – so the baby remained unnamed for a few days although I was fixed on naming him Azmi.

Why Azmi? Mainly to honor my Ayah, the same way he honored my late Tok Ayah by naming his first son after my Tok Ayah. Azmi (determination) is not Ayah’s formal name, but it is a name used by the family to refer to him.

Hubby had no problem with accepting the Azmi part – but was quite unsure about the Hakimi part. So he referred some kitab, and seeked his uncle (the current Mufti of Negeri Sembilan, who also graced our wedding by reading the khutbah nikah) for some help. Hubby presented three choices of names beginning with H – Hakim (wise), Haziq (intelligent) and Huzaifah – and his uncle quickly chose Huzaifah.

Huzaifah is taken after a sahabah’s name, Huzaifah Al-Yamani. He was one of the select few Rasulullah entrusted with the knowledge of identifying Munafiq. It was said that during his time as Muslim ruler, Saidina Umar would observe whether or not Huzaifah Al-Yamani attend one’s funeral, before deciding whether or not to lead the jenazah prayer for the deceased, as Huzaifah’s absence from a funeral was taken as a sign that the deceased was a Munafiq.

So we named our first son Muhammad Azmi Huzaifah, and I hope, like his namesake, he will grow up to be highly trustworthy too. I already know that he is highly determined －with his gambare spirit obvious…

2. Humaidi

There was no surprise with the gender of our second child. We had been expecting a boy all along, so hubby prepared a list of possible names.

The H part was easy – it was either Humaidi (of praise, commendable) or Husaini (after Saidina Hassan and Hussein, the grandchildren of Rasulullah). We both prefer Humaidi.

The A part was a bit tricky. Hubby thought Aqil (intelligent) would be nice – and so did most of our family members. But I thought Akif (one who iqtikaf in mosque) would be more appropriate to commemorate the fact that we were living in a mosque when he was born. Another point is that since we are in Japan, both the ‘ain and qaf pronunciation of Aqil would be lost when the name is written in katakana – it would end up being pronounced Akiru. However, Akif would not sustain much injury through its katakana pronunciation – Akifu. We even asked our visitors at the hospital as well as friends through emails for a vote – in which, to my delight, Akif eventually won. (Pokcik, who voted for Aqil said that I must had won by extortion, to which I smilingly replied, “tak guna paksaan… guna pujukan je”.)

So there, that’s how we end up naming our second son Muhammad Akif Humaidi

Shuffle My Music - Part 2

Since I got less than half correct answers for the music shuffle tag thingy, I thought why shouldn’t I post another entry on the answers (nicked this idea from Theta’s blog, actually, heheheh)

So here goes nothing – where possible, clicking on the song’s title will link it to the video clip at YouTube.

1. Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi/ walau seribu kali kuulang sendiri/ aku takkan tempuh lagi - Mirwana x Jay Jay, "Aku Tanpa CintaMu"

2. Oh Allah the Almighty, protect me and guide me / to Your love and mercy – Sami Yusuf, “Hasbi Rabbi”

3. Kimi ga ima koko ni iru koto/ tobikiri no unmei ni/ kokoro kara arigatou – SMAP, “Dear Woman” (Tsubaki syampoo advertisement song)

4. Agar terlerai kesangsian hati ini/ Sekadar air mata tak mampu membasuhi dosa ini – Hijjaz, “Sebelum Terlena”

5. Cause who used to hold you, and clean you and clothe you? / who used to feed you and always be with you? – Yusuf Islam and Friends (Rashid Bikha) “Your Mother” (as often heard on RTM - who next? Your mother, who next? Your mother…and then your faaather…)

6. Shinjiyou/ futari dakara/ai shiaeru - Ito Yuna, "Precious" (theme song for Limit of Love, Umizaru 3)

7. Boku no me wa/ kimi shika utsuranai – Kinki Kids “Hakka Candy” (theme song for Moto Kare)

8. Diciptakan manusia sebaik-baiknya supaya menjadi insan berguna/ agar beriman dan bertaqwa – Hijjaz “Zapin Kesyukuran” (aka nasyid terkejut because its starting “Subhanallah” could actually made some people terkejut)

9. Now I ‘m alone filled with so much shame / for all the years I caused you pain - Sami Yusuf, "Mother"

10. Tangan yang disangka lembut menghayun buaian/ mengoncang dunia mencipta sejarah - Hijjaz, "Sumayyah"

11. Atsui namida ya koi sakebino/ kagayakeru hi wa doko e kietano – Keisuke Kuwata “Ashita Harerukana” (theme song of Propose Daisakusen aka Celebration Love)

12. Ku harap dia adalah yang terbaik buatku / kerana Engkau tahu segala isi hatiku/ Pelihara daku dari kemurkaanMu – InTeam, “Doa Seorang Kekasih” (our wedding song – played during the cake cutting ceremony)

13. When you find that special someone/ Feel your whole life has barely begun/ You can walk on the moon, shout it to everyone – Zain Bikha x Dawud Wharnsby “Allah Knows”

14. Sabishii toki wa/ato sukoshi tsukiatte/ umaku hanashi o kiite kurenai ka - Hirai Ken, "Kimi wa Tomodachi" (theme song for Wonderful Life )

15. Kokoro no koe wa/kimi ni todoku no kana/ chinmoku no uta ni notte – Mr Children, “Shirushi” (theme song for 14 sai no Haha)

16. Kekasih sejati teman yang berbudi/ kasihnya bukan keterpaksaan – In Team “Nur Kasih” (my cousin Azman’s wedding song)

17. Dosa-dosaku bagaikan pepasir di pantai/ dengan rahmatMu ampunkan daku Oh Tuhan ku – Raihan, “Iktiraf”

18. No you can’t take your big screen TV/ nor your variety of DVDs/ No you can’t take your designer shoes - Zain Bikha x Dawud Wharnsby, "Can"t Take it With You"

19. Arigatou to kimi iwareru to/ nandaka setsunai/ sayonara no ato mo tokenu mahou/awaku horonigai - Utada Hikaru, "Flavor of Life" (song often played in Hana Yori Dango 2)

20. Iman tak dapat diwarisi dari seorang ayah yang bertaqwa/ Ia tak dapat dijualbeli/ Ia tiada di tepian pantai- Raihan, "Iman Mutiara"

21. Hontou no yume wa itsumo soba ni aru/ hateshinaku hiroi sekai hitotsu dake kagayaita – Arashi “We Can Make It” (theme song for Bambino)

22. Omoi dashita keshiki wa/ tabidatsu ni no kirei na sora dakishimete - Shuuji to Akira, "Seishun Amigo" (theme song for Nobuta o Produce)

23. Bahagia itu ada di jiwa/ mahkota di singgahsana rasa/bahagia itu adalah suatu ketenangan – UNIC “Hakikat Bahagia”

24. You, you’re not aware that we’re aware of your despair/ don’t show your tears to your oppressor - Sami Yusuf x Outlandish "Try Not To Cry"

25. Diam-diamlah sayang, jangan menangis/ doakan ayah semoga diterima - Ae-man (Originally by Nadamurni), "Di Pondok Kecil"

See Zyrin, I told you I mostly listen to a lot of Japanese dorama’s theme songs…

Tag for charity

Found this on Idham’s blog.

Got so excited over it that I quickly spreaded the words by mailing to mailing lists I susbscribe to, accidentally pronouncing that it had to be done by 26^th June when in fact the original dateline is 26^th August. Heh. Oh, but there's a new announcement saying that the tag mustbe completed by end of July because they will be visiting Darul Izzah Orphanage on 11th August

Anyway, here's the rules:

If you are tagged, you need to write an entry related to the meme. At the end of your entry you just need to tag as many persons as you like. You will then leave a comment in their blog to let them know they have been tagged. And to include this message, "By doing this meme you are contributing rm127 to the Darul Izzah Orphanage".

Then please copy and paste this rule somewhere in your entry.

The meme is about completing at least seventeen out of the following twenty seven sentences........ *These can be copied and pasted to your entry*

1. A person is only as good as... both his words and actions.
2. Friendship is always ..something to treasure
3. To love is to …accept the loved ones as they are
4. Money makes me ...pening!
5. I miss …being able to curl up in my own bed reading a favorite book without having to worry about anybody else
6. My way of saying I care is by ...showing I actually do care
7. I try to spread love and happiness by...not forwarding junk mails
8. Pick the flowers when..it is the right time, at the right place
9. To love someone is to ... be together, stay together and grow old together
10. Beauty is..often overrated, sometimes understated
11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was...feeling oh-so-grown-up being sent to a boarding school
12. When I was twenty one, I remember ...understanding what "broken-hearted" means for the first time.
13. I am most happy when ...everything goes well
14. Nothing makes me happier than ...making my loved ones happy
15. If I can change one thing, I will change ...the current president of USA
16. If smiles were…given more freely .then I..believe it could be the beginning of attaining world peace.
17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could…be more tolerant and accepting
18. If you want to ...get results..then you have to ...work at it
19. Money is not everything but..it is a necessary evil.
20. The most touching moments I have experienced is…kissing my parents’ cheeks right after I was pronounced a wife, since I was no longer just their daughter, but also daughter-in-law to others.
21. I smile when… I see a stranger voluntarily assisting an old/pregnant/disabled person
22. When I am happy, I..hum a favorite tune while I carry on doing houseworks
23. If only I don't have to ..write a lot of academic papers, then..being a post-graduate student would be a lot more fun.
24. The best thing I did yesterday was …being able to entertain my sons’ needs even when we were entertaining some guests
25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title,…"Life is not all about getting all As"
26. One thing I must do before I die is...perform hajj with hubby
27. Doing this meme, I feel like ...asking every other blogger I know to do this too for charity.

The originator of this tag is aiming to collect at least rm10,000 worth of meme/tags from bloggers by end of July, so to support his noble cause, I in turn am tagging:

Kit
Zyrin
Kak Pia
Dikja
Kak Lela
Theta
Dakwanie

and all those who feel up to doing this

Once this tag is done, please leave a comment in Idham’s blog to inform him that you have done the tag. Many thanks and hope this small tag could contribute towards making some orphans happy, insya Allah...

Shuffle my music

As tagged by Zyrin

I already confessed to her that I mostly listen to nasyid and JPop - so this might be a rather odd mixture. Anyway, the J-Pop I listen to are mostly J-Dorama's theme songs (one that appeared in the list happens to be a song often heard during commercials here in Japan), and I think are quite popular at karaoke halls. I personally think Cik Kieli - yes, you my dear silent reader - might be able to guess most of them correctly.

As for the nasyids - well - it's a mixture of Malaysian and international; with songs meant for children, young adult and general public. I have a feeling that not many songs would be guessed correctly (if at all), but enjoy guessing anyway :-)

"Shuffle your music.

* Take the first 25 songs that come up and post a line or two of lyrics from each one. Try not to make it too obvious by posting something from the middle of the chorus or that has the name of the song in it.

* Post it to your journal and let your friends try to guess the songs. No one likes a cheater, cheater pumpkin eater.

* When a song is correctly guessed, strike it out and put the title and artist next to it."

1. Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi/ walau seribu kali kuulang sendiri/ aku takkan tempuh lagi - Mirwana x Jay Jay, "Aku Tanpa CintaMu" (Zyrin)

2. Oh Allah the Almighty, protect me and guide me / to Your love and mercy

3. Kimi ga ima koko ni iru koto/ tobikiri no unmei ni/ kokoro kara arigatou

4. Agar terlerai kesangsian hati ini/ Sekadar air mata tak mampu membasuhi dosa ini

5. Cause who used to hold you, and clean you and clothe you? / who used to feed you and always be with you?

6. Shinjiyou/ futari dakara/ai shiaeru - Ito Yuna, "Precious" (Cik Kieli)

7. Boku no me wa/ kimi shika utsuranai

8. Diciptakan manusia sebaik-baiknya supaya menjadi insan berguna/ agar beriman dan bertaqwa

9. Now I ‘m alone filled with so much shame / for all the years I caused you pain - Sami Yusuf, "Mother" (Theta)

10. Tangan yang disangka lembut menghayun buaian/ mengoncang dunia mencipta sejarah - Hijjaz, "Sumayyah" (Hanis)

11. Atsui namida ya koi sakebino/ kagayakeru hi wa doko e kietano

12. Ku harap dia adalah yang terbaik buatku / kerana Engkau tahu segala isi hatiku/ Pelihara daku dari kemurkaanMu

13. When you find that special someone/ Feel your whole life has barely begun/ You can walk on the moon, shout it to everyone

14. Sabishii toki wa/ato sukoshi tsukiatte/ umaku hanashi o kiite kurenai ka - Hirai Ken, "Kimi wa Tomodachi" (Cik Kieli)

15. Kokoro no koe wa/kimi ni todoku no kana/ chinmoku no uta ni notte

16. Kekasih sejati teman yang berbudi/ kasihnya bukan keterpaksaan

17. Dosa-dosaku bagaikan pepasir di pantai/ dengan rahmatMu ampunkan daku Oh Tuhan ku

18. No you can’t take your big screen TV/ nor your variety of DVDs/ No you can’t take your designer shoes - Zain Bikha, "Can"t Take it With You" (Theta)

19. Arigatou to kimi iwareru to/ nandaka setsunai/ sayonara no ato mo tokenu mahou/awaku horonigai - Utada Hikaru, "Flavor of Life" (Cik Kieli)

20. Iman tak dapat diwarisi dari seorang ayah yang bertaqwa/ Ia tak dapat dijualbeli/ Ia tiada di tepian pantai- Raihan, "Iman Mutiara" (Zyrin)

21. Hontou no yume wa itsumo soba ni aru/ hateshinaku hiroi sekai hitotsu dake kagayaita

22. Omoi dashita keshiki wa/ tabidatsu ni no kirei na sora dakishimete - Shuuji to Akira, "Seishun Amigo" (Cik Kieli)

23. Bahagia itu ada di jiwa/ mahkota di singgahsana rasa/bahagia itu adalah suatu ketenangan

24. You, you’re not aware that we’re aware of your despair/ don’t show your tears to your oppressor - Sami Yusuf x Outlandish "Try Not To Cry"

25. Diam-diamlah sayang, jangan menangis/ doakan ayah semoga diterima - Ae-man (Originally by Nadamurni), "Di Pondok Kecil" (Anonymous)

UPDATED 24 June 2007

I am not sure who I should tag next since personally I found this one to be rather difficult. Nevertheless, I hereby pass this on to:

Kak Pia
Dikja
Theta
Rad
Dakwanie

Thanks!

The layered me

I have a feeling that this tag was started by an adolescent. It’s rather obvious isn’t it, what with questions on having crush, going to school, age to get married, yadda yadda… But hey, who says tags have to be perfect? So dear Theta, here’s my answer to your tag…

Layer One: On the Outside
Name: Azra Haida. Formal name Azra. Casual name A.Z. (as in ae zack, not ae zee). Kak/Kak Eda/Cik Kak to family members. Haida to hubby and some blogging friends in the blogging world.
Birthdate: May 10^th, 1975.
Current status: Married, mother of 2
Eye color: Dark brown. (Hazel during my wedding though)
Hair Color: Black. It’s been ages since I last nicked leftover of Mak’s DIY dye kit.
Righty or Lefty: Righty

Layer Two: On the Inside
My heritage: Malay – Pattani. Ayah is from Kedah with Malay – Pattani blood, my biological mother is a Wan from Perlis with Malay-Pattani blood. If I use Javanese phrases, I got it from Mak.
My fears: Straying from the true path, losing family members unexpectedly, medical operations
My weaknesses: Sleep, procrastinating, teh tarik
My perfect pizza: Used to be Domino’s Chicken Tandoori, then there was a brief spell with Hawaiian Chicken at one small pizza stall in The Store mall, Bukit Rahman Putra, and although I usually order Super Supreme at Pizza Hut, am actually still on the lookout of that perfect pizza…

Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
My thoughts first thing when I wake up: Dah habis Subuh belum, hah?
My bedtime: Depends on Huzaifah (and Humaidi too sometimes); ranges from 10.30 p.m. to 2.30 a.m.
My most missed memory: Good times in high school and University.

Layer Four: My picks
Pepsi or Coke: I dislike both straight, but don’t mind Vanilla Coke or Pepsi Twist.
McDonald's or Burger King: Used to favor Burger King Vegetarian Whopper back in UK, but it has to be McDonald's in Malaysia
Single or Group Dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: Nike for shoes, Adidas for clothing
Tea or Nestea: Nestea
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappucino or Coffee: Kopi Kampung, preferably home-made. Otherwise I don’t drink coffee

Layer Five: Do I
Smoke: Never
Curse: Not really, not habitually anyway.
Take a shower: Not as much as I'd like to, since I don’t shower daily here. (Sometimes it’s just way too cold to do so)
Have a crush: Not now, unless Kimutaku counts, heheheh.
Think I've Been In love: I am now.
Go to school: But of course!
Want to get married: Already am.
Believe in myself: Definitely – sometimes adequately, sometimes excessively. Heh.
Think I'm a health freak: Nay

Layer Six: In the past month
Drank alcohol: Never.
Gone to the mall: To buy baby stuff, yes. To shop – or even window shop - for myself, nope, unless you consider a 7-storey 100 yen shop a mall…(no!)
Been on stage: Nope
Eaten Sushi: Yup, when my brother was here
Dyed your hair: Nope

Layer Seven: Have I ever
Played a stripping game: Not yet. Heh (evil grin while batting eyelashes at hubby)
Changed who I am to fit in: Not really. Like I said - I could be overconfident sometimes...

Layer Eight: Age
I am hoping to be married: Was hoping to get married by the age of 30 and did so too, alhamdulillah…

Layer Nine: What was I doing
1 min ago: Talking to hubby
1 hour ago: Feeding Huzaifah
4.5 hours ago: Bathing Humaidi
1 month ago: Resting a lot because Mak was around
1 year ago: Busy packing to move to Asakusa (From Gyotoku)

Layer Ten: Finish The Sentence
I love: reading... Wish I could do more than I am able to right now.
I feel: blessed with what Allah has given me now, even if they are just on ‘loan’
I hate: being blamed when it's not my fault.
I hide: my resentments during crisis and try to look for solutions first.
I need: a long old-fashioned massage from a makcik bidan/tukang urut

Layer Eleven: Tag 5 people
Ok, as adolescent as this is, I hereby pass this on to Dik Ja, K.I., Zyrin, Kit and Kak Pia.

6ix weird things about me

Was tagged by Kak Pia some time last month – sorry ye Kak Pia for my late response… This is not an easy tag for me because I have been called weird by different people for different reasons at different times in my life – so I am not exactly sure whether or not what I am going to list down could be considered weird – but here goes nothing anyway…

1. Before I had my crowning done in 1999, I usually appeared unsmiling in photos although I smiled a lot in real life. I had a lot of a’la Marlboro Man ad (not-looking-at-the-camera-directly) photos though.

2. I could be oh-so-serious one minute and buat lawak bangang the next.

3. I could remain friends with my ex, which baffled many people. Once we had a huge row, and I actually tried stopping all communications with him – but he threw my words back at me “you said that we are friends and friendship never ends, right?” That, plus the fact that most mutual friends had no idea about our fight back then, glued us to remain friends after all these times…

4. I would burp when I massage another person - it is as if the person’s trapped air would travel through my touch and exit through my mouth.

5. I don’t do any taste check while cooking – which is no problem if I’m cooking in a small quantity since my estimate amount of salt/sugar is usually sufficient. If I’m cooking for a big group though, someone else has to taste it.

6. As a child, although I don’t remember having any imaginary friend, I used to act out different scenes by different characters using different voices on my own. Yes, I had a very vivid imagination – and the big buaian in front of my Tok’s house was the main stage for most of my self-directed-and-self-acted drama.

School Meme

Thought this meme initiated by Nik Nazmi is an excellent one to reminisce lots of bittersweet memories – and to kill my time before the rombongan Cik Kiah arrives tomorrow, insya Allah…

How many schools did I go to?
A few. SRK Tunku Abdul Malik in Kulim in Standard 1. SK Sungai Petani a.k.a Sekolah Jalan Sekerat in Standard 2. Both SRK Tunku Abdul Malik and Sekolah Jalan Sekerat in Standard 3, because that was the year my brothers and I kept bouncing from one parent to another during the custody battle. When Ayah finally won custody, my biological mother still picked us from the school in Kulim, often by force, with some help from teachers who had no clear idea of what was going on. We hopped in Ayah’s car happily every time Ayah picked us back in Sungai Petani though. After about 2 months of this bouncing here and there, Ayah stopped sending us to school altogether, so my younger brother and I had a lot to catch up when we re-entered school the following year, in PJ, SRK Damansara Utama. Two years there, and my last year of primary education was spent in SRK Kampung Tunku. I only attended one secondary school though – joined the first generation of the then newly built and newly re-named SMAP, located in the middle of a rubber estate plantation in Labu, Negeri Sembilan.

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?
Nerd, maybe. Studious, almost never. While not a hero, since sloth is one of my biggest downfall, I usually procrastinate studying and doing assignments until last minute. And yes, it’s a habit that lives on until today.

Was I the class ‘taiko’ or the teacher’s pet?
Never a taiko, but when I was in upper secondary, I somehow became well known enough among the juniors. Probably because I was part of this Looky-looky Gang (which had the aura of taiko, but not quite) or because I was one of the co-opians (who tended the school’s co-op store, hence known by many)

Never been a teacher’s pet – unless anybody counting me as my Mathematics teacher in Form 5, Pak Chat’s pet, because he almost always inquired about me whenever I was not in class (I was very busy with lots of clubs and societies and since he wasn’t a great Mathematics teacher, I usually used his periods to attend to club/society’s matters)

I might score as an anti-teacher’s pet though – had this big clash with my Form 4 Science teacher, who actually shooed me away from attending her class for no clear reasons. She was a lousy liar – told my parents that I was a nuisance in her class and always bothered my friends, where else prior to denying me entry to her class, she had been making disdainful remarks about me being a Pembimbing Rakan Sebaya who could not even bimbing my own close friend, taunting whether or not "mak bapak tak ajar ke". Not long after my parents met her, she started another rumor, telling my juniors that I was having a lesbian relationship with a classmate. To date I still had no idea what she wanted to accomplish by making up absurd stories about me and a few others, but one of my fondest memory was getting A1 for Science in SPM despite her curse the previous year that I would never score an A in her subject.

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?
I’m yet undecided whether it was bringing or aiding and abetting in bringing in and distributing prohibited items such as walkman, cassettes, romance novels, etc. But, no, I was never caught for those.

Together with a few friends, I did got 'caught' not attending one ceramah though. We were busy working on some exhibits in conjunction with the school’s 10th anniversary and decided to give one ‘ceramah wajib’ a miss. The next thing we knew, we were tipped off that some ustazs were going around the school checking on who was not attending the ceramah. We quickly switched off the lights and ceiling fans. But the fans were still moving as the ustazs entered the room, while we hid under the tables, too afraid even to breathe. One of the reknown garang ustaz made remarks along the line of “Aikk…kasut tersusun. Aikk… kipas berpusing. Tapi orangnya mana?” a clear hint that they knew there were people hiding in that room. Another ustaz switched on the lights, revealing all of us crouching under the tables, chuckled and asked how were we supposed to continue working on the exhibits in the dark. They inspected the stuff we were working on for a while and then went on their way, asking us to carry on with our task. That was really embarrassing, but at least we got away with it.

Three subjects I enjoyed

History. Been a big fan of history even when I was still in primary school. Mr Jega, my history teacher from Form 1 to Form 3 also was skilled enough to make the class interesting all the way.

English. Having missed almost a year of schooling plus the fact that I used to school in rural area where not many cared much for English made me an ill-prepared new student in SRK Damansara Utama, where almost everybody seemed to speak the language well. I once got only 19 marks for an English test. Mak was the one responsible to introduce me to the wonders of English through great tutoring and introduction to Enid Blyton books in English (I’d been reading her stories in BM prior to that). I studied hard enough to get an A in my Penilaian Darjah 5 a year later. I first learned to enjoy writing in English when I was in Form 4, greatly motivated not by own Set teacher, but rather my class teacher, Miss Bernice.

Nihongo. Attended a basic communications class in 2003, but what I’d learned in that class is almost nothing compared to what I’d learned in Nihongo 1. People might say that girls have a thing for learning foreign language and are more likely to be good in it, but since I got a P8 for Arabic in SPM despite learning it for 5 years, I can vouch that we don’t necessarily enjoy or become good in just every foreign language that we learn. Not that I'm good in Nihongo as yet - but this is one subject I really enjoy learning.

Three teachers that inspired me

Hajah Jessimah. The Headmistress in SRK Kampung Tunku who, despite being single back then, was looked up as a second mother by most students in the school. She was both gentle and firm in leading the school to be one of the exemplary schools in Petaling Jaya at the height of its times.

Miss Bernice Chauly, my class teacher in Form 4. She taught English in set 2, but I used to keep two journals when I was in Form 4, one for Miss Lucy, my own English teacher, and the other for Miss Bernice, because I liked her allowing the students to be creative in our writing. She was the first to recognize my ability to write and was the one responsible in enrolling me in a district level writing competition. I did not do well in that competition, but it was the beginning of bigger things to come. She was a fresh graduate then, but she showed a lot of understanding, compassion and extended her friendship to many of us who were seeking such teacher’s figure back then.

Mr Ghazali Shafie. My wacky songkok-wearing English teacher in college who would talk freely about his days as a student so that we could learn from his experiences. His wife used to teach in the same college, but not my class. They used to live in the college compound and I remember how they sometimes spent time strolling around the college with their kids, looking very much the picture of a happy Islamic family.

And I hereby pass this on to:

Zyrin (yes, again…)
Jaja (you too)
Doc (because she's my schoolmate)
Nisah (because she went to the same school with hubby)
Kakaq (because she was in Sarawak)
Sabah (because he went to a Chinese school)
Marinadelrey (because I think you might like this one)

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1... Tagged!

Tagged by Zyrin. Again.

I know this was supposed to be done in 5 minutes, to make it a spontaneous thing… but being old forgetful me, I stumbled here and there, thus it took me more than 5 minutes

10 FIRSTS
first best friend: alamak – can’t remember. Probably Ajim, when I was 5 or 6 years old, but he was more like my Paksu’s best friend. Or Ismarita Ismar, Std 4.
first item you stole: some money from arwah Tok Ayah’s pocket to buy Chickedees at kedai Makji Nah next door
first pet: again, can’t remember. But most cherished would be Bulat and her litter – Cumi, Ciki, Comel and Comot. (Mak had even named some of our cats Baghdad, Najaf, Tikrit…)
first piercing: never had any
first school: Tadika Kemas, Kampung Syed Syeh, Kelang Lama, Kulim, Kedah
first house location: Kg Syed Syeh, Kulim, Kedah
first crush: Standard 6 – on someone who is now working in CIMB, married with one kid
first kiss: Yeah, I have to go with the common one on this - by my parents on the day I was born ;-)
first car: Green Kancil, WHC 6341 (which now is an orange sporty Daihatsu Mira look-alike driven by my sister-in-law-to-be)

9 LASTS
last time you smoked: never. Amaran oleh Kerajaan Malaysia: Merokok Membahayakan Kesihatan
last food you ate: Strawberries
last movie you watched on dvd at home: Madagascar
last movie you watched at the cinema: Star Wars II (because Celcom gave me free pass for its preview. I don’t normally go to cinema)
last text message: (c-mail actually, which is more common in Japan) to Hien, asking her to remind her friend to e-mail me details of a 29 inch Sony Bilingual TV she’s interested to sell for 9,000 yen
last music video u saw: ‘Wish’ by Arashi
last song you listened to: ‘Mr Traveling Man’ by Tokio
last words you said: “Oyasumi nasai” to Kylie as we departed from the lounge, right after Desperate Housewives was over

8 HAVE-YOU-EVERS
dated a best friend: Nay, don’t think so, unless people consider my ex to be my best friend
been arrested: Not yet so far.
been on TV: Briefly on Malaysian TV news and briefly on Japan TV, as part of Kawaguchi sensei’s class when he was featured in one documentary
eaten sushi: Sure! I love sushi!
cheated on your BF/GF: Not that I remember.
been on a blind date: Nay
been out of the country: Yes, as a student, as well as on job assignments
been in love: Yes, and hope to remain being so...

7 THINGS YOU ARE WEARING
1. Earth coloured sweater
2. Long johns
3. Contact lenses
4. Wedding ring
5. Engagement ring
6. Headphone-and-mic
7. Vaseline on my chapped lips

6 THINGS YOU HAVE DONE TODAY
1. attended International Negotiation class
2. acted as HR manager in an "unhappy at work" negotiation scenario
3. fasted
4. bought Nelson DeMille’s The Gold Coast for 100 yen at a used bookshop
5. closed a deal with someone who’s leaving Japan to buy her household appliances for 17,000 yen
6. watched Desperate Housewives

5 FAVORITE THINGS
1. Huzaifah’s baby smell
2. ice cream (just tried the new Haagen Dazs Cheesecake ice cream yesterday – yummy!)
3. falling leaves in autumn
4. all shades of blue
5. Syawarma kebab in front of the smaller Kamdar at Jalan TAR

4 PEOPLE YOU TRUST THE MOST
1. Mak
2. Hubby
3. Mak Tam
4. Masni

3 THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
1. Performing Hajj/Umrah with hubby
2. Paragliding or hand gliding or parachuting at least once
3. Clearing all debts

2 CHOICES
vanilla or chocolate: chocolate
rock or rap: err… pop?

1 PERSON YOU WANT TO SEE RIGHT NOW?
Huzaifah

Okay, and I hereby pass this tag on to:
Jaja lagi
Ahkak lagi
Kakaq lagi
Dakwanie (yang dah lama tak berbelog)
Dr Boring (come on doc - this is not so bad whattt...)

8ight Points of A Not-So-Perfect Lover

Tagged by Zyrin. So here goes nothing.

A. 8 Different Points of a Not-So-Perfect Lover*
(and alhamdulillah I found him in my hubby ;-) )
* since according to DrB, we are only human kan...

1. Pious practising Muslim. Maybe this has something to do with my upbringing and being a former student of a religious school – but yes, previously I’d always fallen for guys who could be considered ‘ustaz ala-ala’. I ended up marrying a real ustaz though. Talk about dreams come true

2. Offers me a lot of love and affection… to borrow Robbie Williams’ lyric. And not shy to be open about it. Unlike my Ayah who once scolded Mak for kissing his cheeks at the airport when she bid farewell before she went overseas, hubby has no qualms about PDA. He kisses my forehead or cheek in public all the time. We both enjoy holding hands and sometimes, he even hugged me in public. Yes, if not for Huzaifah, some people might have mistaken us for being unmarried dating couple.

3. Biggest critic yet strongest supporter. He has to be able to tell me where I went astray and guide me to the right path. Criticism is not necessarily a bad thing – we all need to be reminded from time to time of our own weaknesses. On the other hand, I also need him to respect, understand and support me – which so far he’s been doing rather well, alhamdulillah.

4. Intelligent, inspiring and all other universal qualities of leadership, making it easy for me to look up to him as my numero uno hero.

5. Shares a lot in common and enjoys our differences. Too similar is duh, dull. Total opposites on the other hand could be lethal. So, we should have enough in common to enjoy each other and enough differences to learn from each other. And yes, like many, I agree that it is vital for couples to share common goals in life.

6. He makes me smile. Yes, even if he sometimes has to resort to goofy lame jokes - the bottom line is - he makes me smile. He lighten things up when I need lightening up. He makes my day with his compliments and praises. Some days, he makes me smile just by grinning at me via the webcam.

7. He gets along well with most people. "Boleh dibawa ke tepi ke tengah", or that was how my friend Sue used to describe it. He knows how to carry himself well - be it when dealing with superiors or subordinates, friends or foes.

8. Attractive. Like Rin, I (used to) have a weakness for tall guys. Maybe because I am often considered tall for a Malay girl and just to prove to my Tok that it’s not impossible after all finding a taller Malay ‘gu’ (partner) for me. So yes, I love the fact that not only is my hubby taller than me, but he is also so very huggable – with his broad shoulders, cute butts and all. In short – he’s yummy and he’s mine, heheheh…

B. Sex of Target
100% male. Tulen bang, tulen.

C. Tag 8 Victims
1. Jaja (bulan kene tag semanjang, heheheh)
2. Ahkak
3. Kakaq
4. Dr B
5. Marinadelrey
6. Fatihah
7. Sabah
8. Keng

5ive

Dear A, here’s the answers to the questions – only that I’ve shortened them to 5ive because 5ive is my favourite number (and it cuts down the thinking time to do this). By the way dear, I think you should start your own blog…

5ive things I plan to do before I die
1) Performing hajj with hubby (he’s already performed it – but I need my mahram…)
2) Settled down in a mortgage-free home, surrounded by loving family and great friends.
3) To be seriously involved in at least one charity group - to promote Islam, women’s rights, children’s rights and would love to get to know some Orang Asli community better.
4) Paragliding/hand gliding/parachuting at least once (Actually I really want to try bungy jumping – but hubby has already stressed that it is not permissible).
5) Competing with hubby in buying lots of books and kitabs and has a large, organised private library.

5ive things I can do
1) Make ‘lemonade’ when life sends me ‘lemons’
2) Listen to other people’s problems and not be judgemental.
3) Climb mountains (maybe not now – but I know I can and I had)
4) Make nice mee bandung and laici kang
5) Sing a few songs quite well (yeah – easy and safe songs like Man Bai’s “Kau Ilhamku”)

5ive celebrity crushes
1) Hizairi Othman
2) Aaron Kwok Fu Sing
3) Kimura Takuya
4) Keanu Reeves
5) Fujiki Nauhito

5ive things that attract me to the opposite sex (traits that I found in my hubby, alhamdulillah)
1. Iman – someone I can look up to as my Imam.
2. Patience and tolerance – someone who can bear with me at all times
3. Honesty – someone I can trust and able to tell me the truth even if truth hurts
4. Shares a lot in common with enough differences – so we can agree on principal things yet still learn new things from each other
5. Inner strength and beauty – the kind that lasts, as I want us to grow old gracefully together.

(Him having beautiful soulful eyes, great figure with the right height and a great sense of humor is a bonus for me, of course, heheheh…)

5ive victims I can tag
1) Dakwanie
2) Kit
3) Zyrin
4) Maknenek
5) Dr Boring

Personality Meme

Okay, nobody asked me to complete this one, but I thought it's kinda interesting

So, here goes nothing

1. Nervous habits – resort to extra hand movements while talking or explaining things
2. Are you double jointed – No
3. Can you roll your tongue – No
4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time – Not really, not the way The Rock could do it though
5. Can you blow spit bubbles – No
6. Can you cross your eyes - Yes
7. Tattoos – Have none and never will. Haraam maa…
8. Piercing – None
9. Do you make your bed daily - Yes - an old habit from boarding school

CLOTHES

10. Which shoe goes on first – Right
11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone? – Never
12. On the average, how much money do you carry - RM50 or less in the normal cash compartment of the wallet. But normally I have some extra RM50 tucked in some smaller compartment in the wallet or in the handbag
13. What jewellery do you wear 24/7 – Wedding and engagement rings – but not quite 24/7 because sometimes I forgot to put them back on in the morning. I’m not much of a jewellery person. Hubby has nothing to worry whenever we pass by Habib, Poh Kong, Wah Chan or Tomei outlets.
14. Favourite piece of clothing – Used to be my Puma maroon pair of corduroy jeans – oh-so-comfortable to wear. But hubby prohibits me from wearing it since he found it to be a tad fitting... Since I’ve also gotten rid of most of my Vietnamese suits, I don’t really have any favourite right now…

FOOD
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it - Twirl it
16. Have you ever eaten Spam – No
17. Do you use extra salt on your food – Occasionally when the food seems tasteless
18. How many cereals in your cabinet – Currently it’s Cookie Crisp. Often I opt for Koko Krunch or Gold Flakes, sometimes for any of Posts’ line-up.
19. What's your favourite beverage – Soya bean and plain water.
20. What's your favourite fast food restaurant – Used to be McDonald’s. And Burger King when I was in UK – I simply loved the Vegetarian Whopper back then. But I no longer frequent fast food restaurant that often nowadays.
21. Do you cook – Sometimes, but not much since I got pregnant. Used to love entertaining friends during Raya and birthdays, preparing my signature dishes of Mee Bandung or Mee Jawa along with Len chee kang and Mixed Fruit Trifle on the side.

GROOMING
22. How often do you brush your teeth – twice a day, in the morning & at night.
23. Hair drying method – With towel under the fan. Hairdryers damage my hair rather easily.
24. Have you ever coloured/highlighted your hair – Used to do some highlighting using balance from Mak’s dye after I finished applying the dye on her (using dyes that are not waterproof and approved with Halal sign). Was noticed by my sister-in-law when I was a newly-wed, who commented that only Muslim men going to war are allowed to dye their hair using henna so has never highlight my hair since then. By the way, she also made a fuss over my pair of hazel contact lenses (disposable pairs which I only wore during the month I got married) when my hubby was silent on it.

MANNERS
25. Do you swear – Almost never.
26. Do you ever spit – Only when I have to

FAVOURITE
27. Animal – Rabbit. Maybe because I was born in the year of Rabbit according to the Chinese calendar.
28. Food – Laksa, Chicken Rice, Tempura, Sushi.
29. Month – April/May – birthday months of many dear & close to me
30. Day – Raya
31. Cartoon – Samurai X, Kim Possible. A big fan of Transformers as a kid
32. Shoe brand – Hush Puppies, Bata (yes, they are cheap – but could be comfortable too)
33. Subject in school – History. Was really upset when I didn’t get distinction for it during SPM…
34. Colour – Shades of either Blue, Green or Purple
35. Sport – Ping-pong, Hockey. I love watching all kind of games (especially World Cups and Olympics) except for golf – inherit this habit from Mak, I guess.
36. TV shows – Fond of AXN stuff such as Alias, CSI and Lost yet also fond of girlie shows like Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives. Err, and not to mention all kind of Japanese dramas.
37. Thing to do in the spring – Breathing in the fresh air and enjoy the daffodils. Looking forward to enjoying the sakura in Japan.
38. Thing to do in the summer – Enjoy the tulips and summer fruits – strawberries, nectarines, peaches, apricots, etc.
39. Thing to do in the autumn – Walks in the park amidst all the colourful falling leaves
40. Thing to do in the winter – Enjoy the snow

IN AND AROUND
41. In the CD player – (or rather in the Real Player playlist) Quranic surahs and various nasyids. Sometimes alternated with J-pop songs by Hirai Ken, SMAP, Chemistry, Utada Hikaru etc.
42. Person you talk most on the phone with – Hubby
43. Reading – 1515 by Faisal Tehrani. Can’t wait to start on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince since Kit has agreed to loan it to me. Also re-reading Questions and Answers on Pregnancy.
44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows/mirrors – Not really.
45. What colour is your bedroom – Pink, but I would paint it lavender if I could
46. Do you use an alarm clock – Seldom.
47. Window seat or aisle – Window normally, I enjoy watching out of the window during take off and arrival.

DUMB
48. What's your sleeping position – Lying on one side
49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket – Usually yes – another old habit from boarding school.
50. Do you snore - Sometimes, especially when I was too tired.
51. Do you sleepwalk – No
52. Do you talk in your sleep – Girls in my dorm when I was 16 swore I did just so once – but no other incidents had been reported since.
53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals – Sometimes.
54. How about with the light on – Yes. I can’t sleep properly in total darkness. Used to sleep under glaring fluorescent light, but now can handle sleeping with just a small dim blue bulb on
55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on – Could fall asleep anytime despite any noise going on if I was too tired. Actually I could fall asleep anywhere at anytime - most of my colleagues/classmates can testify to that, even during meetings and classes.
56. Last interesting person you met – Everyone's interesting in their own way, so can't say for sure.

So, now I'm passing this over to Kit, Kak Teh and Zyrin.