I'm Proud Of You Irfan

This entry is specially dedicated to my dear grandnephew Irfan and even though it might be a wee bit late in being posted, it is nonetheless no less insignificant.

Congratulations to you Irfan, for not only getting 5As in the UPSR recently, but most of all for your courage, redha and tawakkal. Yes dear, you are brave enough and strong enough to withstand the exam even under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Circumstances that no one would ever want to experience themselves, circumstances that no one would ever wish for it to happen to someone as young as you. Only Allah knows how you felt on that fateful day, only Allah knows.

It could not have been easy entering the exam hall knowing that your dearest father had just died the night before. Thoughts of his jenazah being driven all the way from Johor must have intruded from time to time while you were answering the questions, yet you managed to hold on. The feeling of sadness, confusion, helplessness and perhaps anger too, must have been so overpowering, so great, it could have crippled a lesser person, yet you persevered.

The last two weeks before the exam was a difficult time indeed, ever since the tragedy of the small plane crash which resulted in him being hospitalised far away in Johor. The fact that the incident happened in the holy month of Ramadhan and so close to Hari Raya, somehow made it even worse. But you were strong, you were indeed a pillar of strenght to your three younger sisters. You had to... you had no choice... your dear mother had to be with your father in this time of need.

But your strenght crumbled the night he died, anyone would have too.... You didn't want to sit for the exam the following day, you didn't care anymore, you just wanted to cry. But people cared, neighbours, family friends and your own teachers all came to give you support and to talk to you, and you finally relented. That night, you slept with his kain pelikat as your blanket, hugging it close to your body, wishing that it was his warmth instead.

Dear Irfan, losing someone you love is never easy. How I know it.... But you did well, in fact you were able to bear it all and come out of it with flying colours. Your dearest father would have been so proud of you. I hope that you will grow to be a stronger person and be a responsible son your parents would have wanted you to be, insyaAllah.

Al Fatihah...

Tepat jam 8.50 malam, 22 September 2010, Zaini Bin Ramli (my nephew-in-law) kembali ke Rahmatullah, setelah mengalami kebakaran ekoran pesawat ringan yang dinaikinya terhempas di kawasan ladang kelapa sawit di Johor lebih kurang dua minggu yang lalu. Semuga rohnya ditempatkan Allah bersama orang-orang yang beriman.


Al Fatihah....

Jom Makan...

Raya kali ni agak suspense juga. Hmm.. nak masak banyak mana ya? Ada ke orang yang akan datang? Tahun lepas kami beraya di Amstelveen, agak jauh untuk orang kedutaan dan pelajar Malaysia nak datang. Kali ni kan dekat aje... Kami takla kenal ramai pelajar sangat, tapi words get around kan, risau pulak makanan habis... Malu !!! Dan kesian kat depa jugak kan !!!

Apapun, kami masak sebanyak mana yang muat dalam periuk dan kuali yang tak seberapa besar tu :))

DH pulak teringin nak cuba resepi "ayam beriani" dari Kak Hanieliza tu. Eh...Cik Abang, ini bukan masanya untuk nak cuba masakan baru tau. Apa jadi kalau kurang berkenan dengan selera kita? Memandangkan diri IA pun dah keletihan malam raya tu, jadi dibiarkan la saja DH masak resepi barunya dengan bantuan anak-anak angkat tu :))

Bagus juga ada anak angkat ni, depa la yang buat ketupat, potong daging untuk rendang, dan segala serai, kunyit dan apa2 rempah ratus yang diperlukan. Hmm... rumah kami pun depa vacumn kul 12 tengah malam tu, nasib baik jauh dari jiran kalau tidak jenuh nak minta maaf dari orang Belanda yang datang merungut. Dalam keghairahan depa mengemas ruang tamu tu, sampai terjatuh pulak rumah Spikey, hamster Ilham tu. Hah... kesian Spikey, pening seminggu agaknya :))

Jom kita tengok apa yang kami masak dan hidangkan untuk tetamu pada Aidil Fitri tu.....

Juadah kemestian di pagi raya - ketupat palas

Bertungkus lumus IA buat ketupat palas ni, bil talipon ke Malaysia pun melambung jugak :)) Alhamdulillah, rasa dan texture nya boleh tahan juge... Tima kasih mak. Tapi kalau boleh, lain kali mak ukur la dulu santan tu, sebelum diletak kat dalam periuk, agar senang Cheq nak mengagaknya :))) Yang membanggakan, kebanyakan ketupat tu di balut oleh anak angkat IA yang sorang tu, pandai betui IA mengajar dia, 2 kali tunjuk dah pandai he...he...

Inilah juadah yang tak seberapa tu, rendang daging, nasi impit, kuah kacang, ketupat, ayam beriani, pulut kuning, rendang ayam (TQ Ija), cheesecake(TQ M), rempeyek, kekacang, buah2an dan apple crumble(TQ W).

Niat di hati nak masak lontong bila balik dari solat sunat Aidil Fitri, tetapi memandangkan tetamu pertama kami sampai agak cepat juga, maka IA KIV dululah ... (hingga selama-lamanya he..he..)

Ramai juga tetamu yang datang selepas tu. Memandangkan semasa mereka sampai tu, kami baru saja nak ambik gambar keluarga, maka tetamu2 tu pun turut mengambil gambar keluarga masing2... Maka terjadilah sessi gambar bergambar. Hah.. riuh rendah jadinya....

By the time kenalan DH sampai dalam pukul 5.30 petang tu, ketupat, rendang ayam, pulut kuning, rempeyek, cheesecake & apple crumble semuanya dah habis. Tak pe la..makan je apa yang ada :))

Arnold (Indon) & Cora (Dutch), Ervan & Elisabeth (keduanya Surinam)


Inilah suasana Aidil Fitri kali ni, memang berbeza berbanding di Malaysia, tapi IA rasa kemeriahannya tetap ada walaupun dengan cara yang berlainan. Memang pada awalnya IA keberatan untuk memasak dan tiada hati untuk melayan tetamu, namun memandangkan DH dah lama menjemput pelajar2 tu dan juga kenalannya, maka dikuatkan juga hati ini. Tapi sesungguhnya hati IA memang rasa bersalah, ketika IA tersenyum tawa dengan tetamu, anak saudara IA beraya di hospital Johor menemani suaminya yang terbakar, manakala keempat-empat anak mereka beraya di Kedah. Sudah hampir 2 minggu peristiwa hitam ini berlaku, tetapi keadaan Z masih belum stabil, walaupun sudah keluar dari ICU. IA amat berharap agar dia semakin pulih dan dapat dipindahkan ke Hospital Alor Setar secepat mungkin.

Ramadhan And Aidil Fitri - The Joy And The Sadness

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI, MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN to my dear friends, family and also to those few who might still be reading my blog :))



It has been so long since I last updated this blog and since then, so many interesting and eventful things had happened. We had some friends who came to visit and together, we had travelled to Luxembourg, Brussel, Bruge and two more places that I, right at this moment, had forgotten the names (old age is catching up :)) Right after our friends went home, within 2 days we had packed and moved to our new house in Den Haag. Then after a few days of moving, I had followed the Perwakilan Ladies to Metlach in Germany for a day of "shopping". The next day, we had a bit of "kenduri masuk rumah". Three days later, we went to Stockholm, Sweeden where we had a chance to go to Riga, Latvia. Five days after we came back from Sweeden, we had gone back to Malaysia. Hurray!!



We arrived back in Den Haag on 1st September, after six hectic weeks in Kedah, KL, Klang and Melaka. To those family and friends that I did not have the chance to meet, we are truly sorry.





I had a long fever and a cold right after we got back to Holland, and to make matters worse the heating system was faulty. No matter how many times I adjusted the temperature control, nothing happened. The house was colder than outside!! For someone who had just got back from a hot country and having fever at the same time, the house was very cold indeed. It turned out to be the "boiler" was switched off. Apparently the house had 2 different boilers for hot water and the heating system.



The last 2 1/2 months had been truly eventful. It was interesting going and visiting new places, meeting and getting to know different people, it was even more wonderful meeting my elderly parents and other family members. My parents looked older and frail, I wish I lived closer, not in Den Haag and not even in KL. I would have written about the places but my mind is occupied on more pressing and worrying matters. The joy of travelling and meeting family in recent months was somehow overshadowed by the recent event that happened to our family during the last week of Ramadhan. My sister's son-in-law was involved in the small plane crash in Kulai, Johor recently. The young trainee pilot did not survive the crash (condolence to her family), but Alhamdulillah my nephew managed to crawl out from the burning plane but he was burnt and is now currently in the ICU in Johor. I pray that he will be well and go home soon.



In this trying time and need, I wish I was in Malaysia and I lament the fact that I had changed my flight ticket to an earlier date. I want to be there for my niece and her family. The four children must be very sad, with none of the parents with them during raya, and the eldest one is going to sit for his UPSR in the coming week. I am very close to my niece and her family, their house is like a second home to us. How I wish I was there to support them. May Allah give them the strenght and patience to go through this trying moments.