Friday, 9 June 2017

A Mother Celebrated ...

International Women's Day 2017. March 8. When I was actively working, usually I would make it a point to celebrate all these special days just to appreciate myself. Usually I would bring a cake or something home-cooked for my friends in the exam room or my examiners group to celebrate together. Since I retired, there was no such occasion anymore. Thus, it was a sweet surprise when Ikram (who had completed his studies and looking for a job) suggested we watched a movie I had always wanted to watch. My boys and I love to watch movies. Thus, we went for an afternoon show during school hours. There were so few people and I really enjoyed the movie - LOGAN - and cried at the ending when Logan died. A good day ... :-))


Later, he decided to make banana walnut muffins as a special treat for International Women's Day. I loved it and it was a great, satisfied simple day of bonding and being celebrated.


15th May was Mother's Day. Syafiq was home too for mid-semester break. The two guys suggested a movie marathon. Akmal gave his support from afar. But I have an agenda planned for that day - to visit an ex-staff who had given birth to her first child after seven years. She kept asking when Tok Teacher was going to visit. Thus, in honouring her first Mother's Day celebration, the two guys accompanied me to visit her. They waited patiently while we chatted and she showed me her beautiful baby girl. A seven year wait. Alhamdulillah. SubhanAllah. After that, we stopped at the famous Simpang Empat ABC Snow. The difference were in the homecooked red beans and fine ice shavings. It was a hot day so it was much welcomed. This was my treat as they gallantly accompanied me to visit a friend.


After that we went straight to Aman Sentral to catch the first movie at 5:50pm.I had wanted to watch "Beauty and the Beast" as I loved fairy tales. The guys had to humour me. Since they wanted to give me a treat, I got to choose the movies. I enjoyed the movies although Ikram fell asleep halfway through it. Syafiq would be a good movie companion as he enjoyed watching anything !!!


The next movie was at 8:30pm. It was a choice between 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2" or "Fast and Furious 8".  I'd rather watch Baby Groot and the annoying, over-confident Quill and his friends than watch the senseless fast driven cars. Since we all had watched the first part, the three of us had so much fun laughing and enjoying the movie. Marathon watching reminded so much of my university days where my friends and I would go and watch during matinee as the tickets were cheaper.

 
It was a fitting end of a good day. A mum-sons bonding and sharing the same interest. It was almost 11pm and the three of us went for a late dinner/supper still talking about the movies. An awesome day for a mother. Being appreciated and celebrated. SubhanAllah. Alhamdulillah.
"Which grace of Allah do you deny?"


Wednesday, 5 April 2017

ETS - Gold Or Platinum?


I have written about my train ride in an earlier post. I like it as it is punctual, smooth, silent, clean and fast. Recently, I had the experience of travelling on both the Platinum and Gold trains. As Ikram and I had to go to KL for a couple of days, we decided to take the ETS. As it was a sudden decision due to an unexpected event, tickets were sold out even though it was a weekday (Monday). The only available tickets were on the Platinum schedule. We decided to take it. It was the first time I used my "Kad Pesara" (Pension Card). A friend informed me that I was eligible for a discount for my ticket. Thus, we bought Platinum seats for departing and Gold for returning KL-As and AS-KL. I was delighted to know that I got 50% discount for my ticket with the "Kad Pesara". We calculated the difference and it did not merit the 50%. Could it be due to GST???

PLATINUM - It is quite expensive. A difference of RM23 from GOLD train. The discount was much welcomed ...
This was what was served as refreshment on PLATINUM ... ;-((
Thus, we were hungry by noon. So, off to the cafe and I thought it was like the old train where a whole coach was the cafe but it seemed that only a section of the coach was a counter for the cafe. We bought fried meehoon (RM6) and cheese sandwich (RM4.50) and ate it at our seats. It was edible and okay.


The fried meehoon and cheese sandwich ...
The only difference between the two train was the refreshment served by a steward and a stewardess. The coach was the same one. The ETA (41/2 hours - give and take) was almost the same. Another difference was the number of stops made by the trains. Platinum made 5 stops while Gold made about 11 stops. I lost count after a while. Anyway, I like the stability and silence of the train. I managed to complete reading the rest of my book ... ;-)) since the night Gold train that we took (11:20pm) was brightly lit and they did not switch off the lights.

GOLD tickets - the discounted"kad pesara" ticket and the actual fare


I thought the "Kad Pesara" was only for hospitalisation benefits ... the discount was quite substantial .. this would encourage me to use the ETS again ... if only I do not need transport while in KL ...


Saturday, 25 March 2017

Mother - His First Love


How does one honour and pay tribute to a mother? A single mother no less. She who takes care of you and your siblings while she herself has to cope with her own loss? An unemployed mother. She has to give up a lot of things to make sure of a future for you.

I am referring to Noor's nephew who got married last fortnight. What made the wedding remarkable and memorable was how his nephew, Afif, paid the highest tribute and homage to his mother.

After the solemnisation ceremony, usually the groom would head for the bride to claim her as his wife by going through the dissolution of ablution. The bride would kiss his hand and received a ring and dowry in exchange. That is the culture and way of things that I had witnessed in countless weddings' solemnisation.

Afif, instead, made a detour and headed straight for his mother, kissed her hands and gave her a hug. He kissed both her cheeks. It was so sudden that not only was his mother was in tears for being so touched, most of us had tears rolling down our cheeks to witness such devotion. Then, he headed for his grandmothers - maternal and paternal. He has no father or grandfathers. Even Afif had tears in his eyes. Finally, he straightened his baju Melayu and headed towards his bride who was sitting demurely on the special dais and claimed her as his lawfully wedded wife. Even the bride had tears in her eyes witnessing her groom paid his respects to his mother first. It was a very touching and moving scene. Unplanned and spontaneous. Full of love and sincerity.


I have three sons. When it is their turn, will I still be the love of their lives? Their first love? I am just happy when they are safe and happy. My prayers are that they will be graced with partners who will be not only their wives but their friends and guide to take them closer to the Creator. Dear Afif, may you be blessed as how you have been blessed by your mother.




Thursday, 16 March 2017

Going Home - Back To Reality ;-))

All too soon, a month had passed by. Immediately after the London trip, Ikram prepared to go home to Malaysia. Since his flight was in the afternoon, they took him for a heavy English breakfast. It was sufficient for Ikram until he had his next meal during the flight. They gave him a grand send-off. Everybody was there to see him off at Manchester airport. I guessed even Ikram felt a tad sad and a mixture of feelings.


What Ikram brought with him was a hand luggage. As we usually travel light, as minimal as we could, that bag was a check-in bag. The ladies were so dissatisfied with it that they gave him one of their bags and filled it with as much goodies as they could to comply with the 23kg free luggage allocation. They certainly surprised me!!!!

The brown bag was Ikram's luggage and the green one was theirs ..
What they had bought to fill in the bag ...

What was meant to happen, would happen. Everything happened for a reason. The solo trip helped to prepare Ikram for what had happened. He missed his flight to Kuala Lumpur. There was a delay in Manchester which caused him to arrive late at Heathrow Airport, London. Since the gap between his Manchester flight and KL flight was only one hour, he missed his flight. He kept his cool and went to enquire at the British Airways counter. They realised it was their mistake and made it by giving him a refund ticket to KL with MAS. It was a two hour delay. When he called to tell us about his delayed and changed flight, I was amazed at his cool and calm demeanor. He took it all in stride and I was very proud that the experience there had taught him how to handle his situation calmly.


He finally arrived. We were waiting for him at KLIA to welcome him from his adventure through the generosity of the two ladies who sponsored his stay there. As Sherry said when she saw his photo .. Ikram looked liked a seasoned traveller... ;-))


I was pleasantly shocked and surprised when we opened the extra luggage that Hanee asked Ikram to take along with him. I was touched that they went all out to get the little gifts which meant a lot to us. Especially the chocolates because Ikram said he did not know what to buy. How much to buy with his limited budget. Their generosity made everybody managed to get a taste of Manchester ... ;-))

A whole bagful of surprises !!!!

Dividing what could be divided so that everybody got a taste of Ikram's visit

The simple goodie bags from Manchester ... courtesy of Hanee and Sherry 
Besides the chocolates, shortbread and biscuits, there were some very special momentoes too ... I was just so touched and least expecting it. It was enough to host Ikram for a really amazing and unbelievable holiday but to receive what they had given was a bit overwhelming. How can I ever repay their heart warming welcome of a young man whom they hardly know ... making him so much as one of their own ... SubhanAllah. Alhamdulillah.

Sherry gave Ikram a pair of formal Clarks shoes for his future interviews ...

I had been looking for the paperback version of this final book  - I cried towards the end because both Emma and Harry died ..

I am a tea drinker and these are so much welcomed ... 

I was speechless ... 

Ikram talked about his trip and the many new friends he had made there. Being an easy going person, he got along with them irregardless of age and gender. He had made his own impact on them by being who he is. They hardly know each other. They met as strangers and parted as friends. More than friends. They were like sisters to him. They accepted him and he accepted them. Ikram thought I was crazy to let him go to a stranger's place in a faraway land on his own. I trusted them. I would not want people thought I was taking advantage of them. They offered and invited him. I was glad he decided to go and ventured into the unknown because he became a much informed, knowledgable and better person because of them. He grew up and matured faster because of his experience. He doubted if there would be another visit but for now, he was grateful and thankful for being given the chance of a lifetime. Thank you Hanee and Sherry ... for being you. All I could do was saying thank you the old school way - by sending a card - manually. ;-))


Thank you and yes, one day ... I will accept your invitation and be there.


A Weekend Treat To London


After the Edinburgh and a football game in Old Trafford, the ladies presented him with a ticket to London for a weekend before Ikram was due to fly back to Malaysia. They had arranged for him to stay with Bobby, a Malaysian friend of theirs who had moved to London when he got a job there. Ikram had to download an apps for his ticket. It was an e-ticket and was activated when boarded the train to London. It was a weekend of really walking around London and taking in the sights of London from morning until the last tube back to Bobby's rented room. Even though Bobby had moved there two years ago, he had not really ventured around London as he was caught up with his busy schedule. Ikram was a good excuse to act as tourists in London. They took loads of photos but I could only share those where their full faces were not in them.


One of the mosques in London

The London Bridge facing the Big Ben ...



The Eye of London ...


Olympic Stadium which is taken over by Westham Football Club 


London at night ...
And especially for his mother, a fan of Harry Porter and who filled their minds with the series of Harry Porter's books ...

Harry Porter's souvenirs ...  Ikram knew I would adore these ..