Duck Meat Rendang ... ;-}

When I was young, I had a Chinese neighbour who reared ducks. I used to send whatever left over rice we had to this lady and would get ducks' eggs in return. I never imagined that we could eat duck meat. I meant we saw the ducks everyday and they were part of our young lives then. When I got married, I was exposed to all these exotic foods. My mother in-law liked to prepare something different for Hari Raya thus we had rendang from goose meat. I did not really took to it and very seldom tried it. I was not really very adventurous about food. More often now we had rendang from ducks since they reared them. I did tried when I did not realised what it was. I was wondering why it tasted different and did not gave it another try. Noor liked to play pranks on me. He has an uncle whose house always serves exotic meat like porcupine, mousedeer, wild fowl ... this uncle of his loves hunting. I hardly eat whatever was on the table and settled for cookies.

During Chinese New Year holidays, my sister in-law came and brought us frozen duck meat from kampung courtesy of my mother in-law. Well ... I asked why didn't they sent the cooked version? ... heh..heh.. :-}   So, I would have to cook it just to appreciate my mother in-law's thoughtful gesture. I am always very appreciative and grateful of whatever people gave me. I knew Noor would want me to cook it.

When I was at my youngest sister in-law's housewarming khenduri last year, I helped out in the kitchen and observed this man (a cook they employed just to cook this dish) cooked rendang from duck meat. I learned and helped. Thus, I tried to cook the duck meat given today. Well, there was nobody home last week. Since Ikram was home for this weekend, I cooked the rendang from the duck meat. It was delicious, if I may said so ... :-)  This time I tried a piece or two because I did not see the duck's cute little face. Not bad ... since the two guys finished off a bowl of it. The rest was reserved for tomorrow's breakfast to be eaten with bread. Something new to experiment and learn. The last time I learned to cook venison (deer meat) which my brother in-law sent to us. These people are really very adventurous where exotic food is concerned. Including the three boys. I usually did not eat what I cook. I'll stick to the normal chicken fare.  :-D  

Tonight's dinner of duck meat rendang, fried tiger prawns (Ikram's favourite) and broccoli

The duck meat rendang - it took almost 4 hours of slow cooking so that it is tender. 

An honour and a privilege ... ;-)

" Ilmu "laduni" ialah ilmu yang diberi secara terus daripada Allah swt. Ilmu yang dikurniakan oleh Allah swt yang tidak diajar oleh seseorang.Orang yang bertakwa sahaja yang akan mendapat ilmu ini seperti ahli Kahfi. "  

I first heard this word from my Tafaqquh-Din class back in December 2009 through a class lecture by Uztaz Datok Fadhil Awang, our Tauhid lecturer. This word was always at the back of my mind and I had always wanted to meet such a person who was special and chosen by Allah swt to be granted such privileges. Somehow, I never forgot this word.

MasyaAllah. SubhanAllah. Alhamdulillah. Finally, Allah granted what was in my heart that only He and I knew. I was introduced to this chosen person through the mishaps that had happened to me all this while. A friend told her mother, who was a Syifa' healer about me. She wanted me to come and see her. She did not know why but she felt an urge to help me. It took three visits for her to massage me and healed me through zikir, doa, air tawar and a few things that I have to do to cleanse myself of whatever is ailing me. On my third visit which was last Sunday, I went with every intention of interviewing her.

I started by asking her how she knew about massage and her ayat used in her healing. She told me that she did not go and study it. I asked her if what she had is "ilmu laduni". She was surprised that I knew of this 'ilmu'. I told her that I knew about it in one of my classes. Thus, she was happy to talk about it. She said very few knew about this "laduni" and she shared her experiences in getting this knowledge directly from Allah swt. She was just a simple kampung housewife, taking of her children and doing kampung work. In the dream she was also asked to search for three Tok Guru, including a female from Thailand to verify her dream and learned from them. In the dreams that spanned seven years, she was given ayat by ayat that she knew as she herself was a Quran teacher. BUT she did not know the meaning of the ayat as they were in Arabic. YET, in the dreams and upon waking up, she knew not only the ayat but the meaning as well.

I asked her a lot of questions pertaining to her knowledge. She was very opened about it and I learned a lot from her. I was honoured that I got to meet someone who was chosen to be given this special and privileged knowledge. It was not easy yet she persevered not because she wanted it but as the Tok Guru told her - even they who dedicated their lives to Allah were not chosen. She should accept even though there were some strict rules and taboos that she had to adhere to. It took her seven years of perseverance, patience and strength to be able to accept and practiced it.

Thus, I finally realised why I faced all these mishaps. I had a fall, slipped and finally being bumped by a car which was reversing (A cycle of threes). It hurt, it was painful but in the end, I found her....it was worth it. I felt much humbled, honoured and privileged that Allah had given me this opportunity to meet and get to know her.

She now stayed at pondok Penanti in Penang which I had heard before from one of the ustazs); in between coming back to visit her children or going back to her kampung to practice her healing. I did not expect to meet her but Allah had arranged it such that I met her. She chose to meet me. As she said..."usually she never took along her minyak ubat kayu with her on any of her visit back to her children's homes. Yet, this time, she brought back a bottle of it without knowing why. She asked me to come and see her through my friend. Now she understood the reason why."  

We never planned. It was meant and fated to happen. I, who was apprehensive of another bout of painful massage, was pleasantly surprised that it did not hurt and was actually healing, It was, as she termed it, an emergency treatment but she wanted to do it. She did not know why, Usually she would take a span of 3 weeks. A week rest after each massage. As for my case, she wanted it to be done 3 days straight as there was no time. I did not know what she meant by that.

Alhamdulillah, ya Allah. Dalam dugaan dan ujian Mu, Kau beri ku kenikmatan untuk memulihkan ku dan menyenangkan hati ini. Semoga setiap usaha yang ku lakukan dengan petunjuk dan izinMu membantu meringankan dugaan Mu ini. SubhanAllah. Maka nikmat Allah manakah yang kamu dustakan?

Slow, painful walk to health ...

After two weeks of taking a break from doing my walk, I started again yesterday with Ikram as my companion. MasyAllah, my legs were so stiff especially the left leg. This time the fall affected me badly. I slowed my pace and managed 2 rounds. Ikram had already jogged 3 rounds. Hmm... how I envy the vitality of youth.  ;-)(-;   

I had been regularly doing my walk all this while as it helped to maintain my weight. The doctor said as long I managed to control my weight and if possible, lose a few kilos, I would be able to manage my glucose and cholesterol level. So far so good. Last check-up was a week ago and my readings were satisfactory. I would like to maintain them so that I only had to worry about my hypertension. School seemed to stress me out and I was seriously thinking of early retirement.

Anyway, I had a few falls over the years and each time it seemed to get worse. As my staff who were around when I had the recent fall told the others - "..... she just collapsed. Her legs just gave way and she fell." The doctor said maybe I should go for bone density test and check for osteoporosis. She gave me some pain killers and 2 days MC. So, I went for traditional massage and do I HATE it !! It hurts ... ;-(((  Yet, I went through the pain hanging on to the thought that I would get better, insyAllah.

Well, after a week, I was much better but my legs were so stiff. When Ikram came back for his mid-sem break, he followed me to the park. Just in case something should happen, he would be around. So, yesterday, I started my walk so that I exercised my joints and made my legs a little supple. It was painful and  tiring that I slept liked a log that night!

Today, we went again and Ikam was worried when I took some time to complete my rounds. I slowed down as I could feel the stiffness in my legs. The weather was so refreshing for the first time in weeks. Instead of the blazing and scorching heat, today was cloudy and very windy. I would not want to miss this - the strong winds blowing against your face, the lovely cloudy day to do your walk ... it would be a bonus had it rained !!! :-DD   Ikram would have enjoyed the rain too !!! So, until the next walk .. may I have the strength, patience and tenacity to continuously do this simple yet torturous exercise.  ;-)

Tirai Kehidupan

Aku belajar diam dari banyaknya bicara.
Aku belajar sabar dari sebuah kemarahan.
Aku belajar mengalah dari suatu keegoisan.
Aku belajar menangis dari kebahagiaan.
Aku belajar tegar dari kehilangan

Hidup bukanlah satu tujuan..,melainkan perjalanan.

Dan satu hal yang membuat kita dewasa adalah MASALAH.

Ingat,kita bukan satu satunya manusia dengan segudang masalah..

TERSENYUMLAH Kerana senyum mampu membasuh setiap luka.

MAAFKANLAH..
Kerana maaf mampu menyembuhkan semua rasa sakit.

Ada airmata dibalik SENYUMAN,
Ada kasih sayang disetiap AMARAH,

Ada pengorbanan disetiap KETIDAKPEDULIAN­,
Ada harapan dibalik setiap KESAKITAN,
Ada kekecewaan disetiap derai tawa.

Hanya ada ALLAH tempat segalanya bermuara,

KepadaNya kita berserah atas segala pinta.

(Facebook : Mutiara Kata Santapan Rohani)