Wasurenaide ne

"Nihonggo o wasurenaide ne... Wasurenaide kudasai."
(Please don't forget how to speak Japanese. Please do not forget)

She pled at the end of our meeting that night.
Sara-san, wife to Brother Nazeer earlier commented that my nihonggo is rusty. Brother Nazeer affirmed her claim, saying that I was a lot more fluent back in Tokyo, and while I still understood what they were saying, I had to take some time recalling words in Nihonggo before responding.

"Wasure wa dame. Dame!"
(You can't forget. No. No!)

Yes, I can understand why she feels strongly about it. One of the biggest hurdles for dakwah to Nihonjin is overcoming the language barrier. (I may not live in Japan anymore, but there are many Nihonjin currently living in Malaysia and who knows if one day I may be asked about Islam in Nihonggo?)

#####

The guests from Japan

It's good to meet up. No, I didn't make any request for omiyage (souvenir) although Brother Nazeer already asked us to let them know if there's anything we would like to get from Japan. Knowing Brother Nazeer and Sara-san, we knew that they would not meet us empty-handed. Since we were not prepared in advance, hubby and I dashed for some last minute Malaysian-souvenir shopping at Isetan (which was terribly costly and with not much choice, we might as well shopped for souvenir in Pavillion) before we met them for tea, followed by dinner at Pavilion (thank you Anira for your assistance with our order that night)

Hubby with Brother Nazeer (that Isetan paper bag contained the newly-bought Malaysian souvenirs, both edible and non-edible ones)

Brother Nazeer excitedly shared about As-Salaam Masjid in Okachimachi with Sara-san chipping in here and there. As-Salaam Masjid is relatively new - just opened in Ramadhan last year. But a popular masjid due to its strategic location, or so according to the couple.

"Benri, benri. Kaimono mo, eki mo..."
(It's really convenience as it's near to both shopping area and railway station)

In Tokyo, the more popular masjid/musolla are strategically located near the railway stations and it is a plus if it's near to shopping area (think Otsuka, Shin-Okubo, Yoyogi-Uehara...). As-Salaam is located near to Okachimachi station - which is near to both Ueno and Akihabara, two hot shopping/tourists spots in Tokyo.

"Last time, I must admit that I didn't always pray Fajr. Not anymore. Alhamdulillah, now that the Masjid is there, my wife always wake me up for Fajr. And even for Fajr, there will be about 2o people there."

Impressive. I remember it was difficult to get even one makmum coming to Asakusa Masjid for Subuh. And good for Brother Nazeer to have a strong motivation to wake up in the morning, alhamdulillah.

Nasi Bojari for dinner

"Jumu'ah is a busy day - usually we get about 50-60 people. Khutbah is in English, so it's really popular with tourists or businessmen. We can receive up to 200 congregations in one time, insya Allah."

50-60 pax for Jumu'ah congregation is no small feat in Tokyo. I assume those who used to travel to Asakusa Masjid - from Ueno, Okachimachi and all - would now go to As-Salaam Masjid. Plus the tourists and businessmen on short trips. Yeah, 50- 60 pax makes sense.

Brother Nazeer had plain rice, Otak-Otak, crispy fried chicken wings and beef rendang (not in picture)

"Insya Allah we're going to Makkah for Umrah and will do some Ziarah in Turkey. I would like to get some chandeliers for the Masjid as well as some stained glass windows. Sara-san would like to get some headscarves there as well as some nice clothing which cover the aurat."

Sara-san nodded enthusiastically.
I was happy to hear that she's going to start dressing in 'proper' aurat-covering clothes for good. It takes a lot of courage to do that and I pray that Allah will grant her the needed strength and guide her all the way.

Banana fritters with ice-cream for dessert

Banana boat which melted while we went to perform solat Maghrib for hubby and tropical fruits for Brother Nazeer and Sara-san

"When we go to Makkah, we are going to make du'a to get one son. We would like to train our son as a practising Muslim to be a multi-lingual Hafeez who can help spread Islam in Japan one day, insya Allah"

Hubby raised his hand and started making a du'a there and then. Brother Nazeer already had two sons from previous marriage. Sara-san has never said much about getting a child, but this time around it was obvious that she's looking forward to getting a child. When asked who was taking care of our children while we went out for dinner that night, I told her that we have an Indonesian helper. "We would like to hire an Indonesian helper too, one who is a good Muslimah, to help us raise our child Islamically," she confessed.

Omiyage (until then, I didn't realised I miss Karintou)

The next day they were scheduled to have a meeting with representative of RISEAP and 4 other Japanese Muslim reverts.

"We wish to get more Nihonjin Muslim active in dakwah in Japan. To be done and over with the bad publicity of Muslims and Islam and to start showing true peaceful colors of As-Salaam..."

(Brother Nazeer once discussed with the Japanese Muslim Association on his plan to develop a mosqe and then hand it over to JMA to be managed by JMA. Unfortunately his plan was not warmly received by JMA, instead he was told that they were content with the small room they rented from where they operated in Yoyogi)

Here's making du'a that his (and Sara-san's) wishes for the good of ummah will come true, insya Allah.

Some notes on Team Strenghtening Course

Ok, ok, I know that I probably should move on to another topic by now, but... I still want to share some personal notes made during the 3 days/2 nights course.

1. I'd been hoping that there would be some Islamic value-add of sort, given that it's a common knowledge among us that our Numero Uno is quite religious and the fact that all participants are Muslim. I thought there might be some Islamic elements woven into the "OBS flashback" course. Now that we are in our 30s/40s/50s, we have less time in this world to make ibadat, so we would like to ensure that every little things count, hence why we prefer engaging in value-added activities than merely doing the same old, same old.

2. Unfortunately, no such thing happened. It was a 'normal' team building course. We had lots of laughter, light moments, some dramatic and melodramatic moments - but there was no serious pondering of stuff in Islamic light.

3. I miss a'la usrah team buidling course when every activity that we did was analyzed in regards to our duties and responsibilities as "hamba Allah" and "khalifah" on earth. That the basis of team building in Islam is already explained out as 'habluminallah" and "habluminannas". That there are things that we can do as a team, but there are also things that are beyond our control, but whatever it is, following a decision after musyawarah as one team (jama'ie) is always better that following merely one's head.

4. I couldn't help noticing that while the instructors were adamant about everybody putting in effort for poco-poco as part of team building, the same instructors said it was okay to perform our solat individually. I mean, seriously, surely ensuring everybody to perform solat jemaah is one way to strengthen the team? And one way that guarantees added 'pahala' too, insya Allah.

5. What's with this craze for poco-poco? The instructor said that it's a form of exercise that is suitable for those who only exercise moderately. The steps are not that complicated, the movement not as intense as aerobic, still... never mind that we were entertained by certain individuals with their 'over' excitement in poco-poco

6. There were so many things that could be said about the activities more than stressing on mere teamwork. Stuff like building and maintaining trust, being selfless instead of selfish, giving more than taking, caring for others, emphatetic and not just sympathetic, to ponder on own weaknesses and more importantly, to be in awe of a Greater presence and when all is done - to let it go and tawakaltu 'alallah...

7. There were bruises, stiffness of joints and pain all over the body right after the course ended. Had trouble sitting properly during solat on Sunday, so much so that I almost wanted to perform solat while sitting on a chair now that I know how painful it is for those who have knee problem. And all those pain merely from attending a team building course. Wonder what it might be like to live in a real distressed situation like living in the war zone. My heart goes out to all those who live through nightmarish life and deeply humbled by my own physical weaknesses and limits (a reminder to take serious action to increase my fitness level) drive oh drive, where ever art thou?

P/S: BookXcess is having their Moving Out Sale beginning tomorrow, February 26 to March 10, 2010. There are over 200 selected titles going on sale at 3 amazing prices: RM3, RM5 and RM9.90.

Kit, let's have lunch in Amcorp, ok?

Team Strenghtening Course - the pics

Welcome to ALIM - Akademi Latihan Inovasi & Motivasi, Jugra, Banting.

Day 02 - Obstacles

My knees wobbled uncontrollably - I kid you not - out of fear of falling into the water.

It was so bad that the instructor had to still the wooden plank for me...

Balance beam - smaller than the first one but easier due to no water waiting underneath, I supposed.

I had really bad experience of crawling during Battle Innoculation when I was doing my DPA back in 2001. Alhamdulillah, this time around it was quite a breeze

We were supposed to "meniti macam anak dara" (walking on just one side instead of both) on the second stair - but nobody dared to

Monkey rack - ladies were allowed to get assisted to do this. As the instructor put it, "Kalau macam ni, sampai ke Lukut pun boleh"

Ayn splashed down from the swing and did not surface out of the greenish moldy 'pool' for a few seconds, causing a short-lived panic

6ft wall - of course I climbed it with some assistance - I am not a Superwoman...

Day 02 - Jungle trekking

Briefing before trekking began.

We climbed up Bukit Jugra

Permanent Forest Reserve signboard

Mind the steep steps

Ujai could probably slide down the hill gleefully...

Take 5 - one of our "R&R" stops

This stretch was so steep that we had to hang oh-so-dearly to the fence (which was not that strong)

The "High Flyers" (feeling pasukan khas TUDM gitu)

From then onwards it was not that difficult...

muka-muka berpeluh metalik Posing in front of Bukit Jugra Lighthouse

Clearer view of the lighthouse

The breathtaking view of Banting from the lighthouse area (don't mind the two cameramen - we were taking photos of each other a'la "draw"-cowboy-style)

Just our luck to witness someone in the process of paragliding take-off

Weeeeeee.... - I would really like to try this out one day, insya Allah...
(sangat cemburu dengan pakcik itu)

Had a scare when the bus shrieked and something snapped loudly...
Everybody went out of the bus except for the driver

Walked down a bit before asked to board the bus again

Pak Mat, the driver, explained what happened to Numero Uno

Lunch - everything seemed delicious when one is physically exhausted

Day 02 - Rafting

First - get 4 barrels, 5 pieces of kayu bakau, 3 pieces of wooden planks and 12 ropes...

Next - use your creativity to assemble them all to create a raft that may load all team members (9-10 pax)

Put on the life vest before entering the lake placid.

This is especially important for those who don't know how to swim like yours truly

Enter the lake

Start paddling (each group was given one paddle each) or use whatever you can, your bare hands for intance to make the raft move until it reach the cliff

Watch out - collision means higher probability of the raft being 'terbarai' in the water

Disassemble everything once you reached the ground and put everything back where they belong

Day 02/03 - Flying Fox

The cliff a.k.a. Bukit Dagu (since "kaki naik ke dagu" to climb up to the starting point)

First person to go - Encik Zainal - who then had to rush back home due to family bibik emergency

Drama on Day 02 - as Pak Mat the driver got stucked in the water after he descended

Since he weighs more than 90kg, a lot of people have to pull the rope so that the instructor could rescue Pak Mat

Briefing in the morning session - when the rope was already loose and probability of participants made contact with the lake higher

Before ascending the Bukit Dagu - no spectacles watches, rings or dentures allowed to minimise risk of things falling down into the lake upon braking of the descend

Among the spectators (khusyuk macam tengok bola)

Day 03 - Closing ceremony

Laughing heartily as Numero Uno mentioned funny incidents during the course

Participants together with the instructors from Azami Entertainment

The High Flyers with the instructors

(Encik Azami, Encik Sharif, and Encik Azami's daughters Ika & Izza)