seize.the.day

When we do something impromptu

always be there

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in an attempt to find some suitable songs which can be played in class, i found maher zain. and i have to say his songs are good, music and lyric wise. just today i had to teach about friends and being there and relating to a qudsi tradition, i thought maher zain’s always be there is the right song to play along. and i’m hooked. for the time being.

on side track, i had the chance to watch Julia and Julie out of bored-ness, and it’s such a good nice feeling movie and i have all these ‘awww’ moments in the movie! marriage, a husband, a house, cooking for the husband….they make it look so simple and fun~ and i have this “gee-i can’t wait” feeling. hehehe:)

so am a certified couch potato, only for today, tonight. am on to night at the museum ii. got to enjoy this!

signing off,
seri @ her random

hari hijau

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green day was superb!

that was six years ago and they still rocked the concert 6 years down the lane. for being in the scene for 2 decades, surely they have fans from two generations at least. i cant help noticing fathers and sons bonding @ a concert.

and listening to green day is just not the same anymore after listening and watching them live.

cut the tree

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now perhaps in seven habits we have what we know as sharpen the saw… simply said practice makes perfect. but all i’m thinking is to start sharpening the mind with these on the list:

childhood education
best teaching methods
religions
be up to date to news (i have taken for granted and not watch or read the news properly for the past year!)
sharpen my fiqh, read up my tauhid, and everything related to it
and yes, definitely read up those books unread as of yet!

and as have learnt, assert: I HAVE TIME

and yes i will start today.

heart made of lego

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i wanted to blog, but actually, i couldnt stop myself from reading The hour i first believed. i started reading the book weeks ago, but had to put it away because time doesnt allow me to and now that today, for once, i got a whole sunday and i just cant stop reading it.

there’s a number of storyline in the novel but am now at the part where the main character caeluhm’s wife was in the library when columbine high school shooting rampage happened. and then it went to how maureen the wife had to deal with the trauma,(while at the same time, caelum was mourning for his aunt’s death who practically raised him and the loss of his friend who was one of the victim of the shooting rampage)….and i had to pull myself away from the book.

just one week into 2010, first day of madrasah was better than what i expected (i had imagined worst) and although there a glitches, those are bound to happen, has there been perfectness in anything? so i’m learning. always.

like how we need to constantly be in communication with parents because one whole month of holiday and they got disoriented….i feel like we need to have newsletters now. i really think so, and with three fulltime teachers, this should be some work to do.

and if last year i experimented with group agreement, which really worked at some point, this year i’m trying out ‘trainer’s expectations’ and i hope this can create better learning experience. and i had a spiritual awakening yesterday when i shared with my students my expectations from the classes this year. it’s like a zap of light in an instance the moment i mentioned the word. it goes straight to the heart.

there’s a lot of things to improve. and plan. and decide.

it’s going to get busy definitely.

oklah, maghrib oredi…signing off.

and a whole sunday rest…i’m loving it.

and no i did not forget Y*una

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and after the whole load of burden taken off and the excitement of checking out the very very competitive industry of wedding services.

we get to finish off the week with Y*una LIVE. so much for going for a 10th anniversary m*occ*a performance, we’re there @ SAM for Y*una~ and we love it! there were four local performances to start off, well good to know we do have talents, and apart from the drums and guitars, i don’t really understand what is it they were singing. it’s either the music’s too loud or they don’t sing clear enough (redundant seh seri) but anyway….

…you’ve got to love this girl! she sings real well (and clear at that), down to earth and her band members are all talented guys~

although it’s a bit unusually different to have a mini concert at an auditorium albeit smaller than expected, and the room not even half full!!

of dresses and dais

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for once, after a whole series of reminders and…well…naggings from your highness, i am officially headache-d by the many bridals and catering services. our initial plan to just go checkout less than three services, but it expanded that now, i can’t decide which to choose!! it’s like from one service to another~~ but one thing is, we can’t really compare between these services. each has their own strength and specialities. and every single detail is important~ the dresses of course, the dais(!!) and even food is utmost important!

although i’ve ruled out some bridal we’ve went to, i’m still left with one, or two, or three choices..

i never knew it had to be this difficult!! almost like a lifetime decision seh~

so amidst the meetings and work, i have these to think of, but i actually ENJOYED it! 😀

and i did one thing which i’ve always wanted to do and although it brought a lot of courage and i really felt a huge relief after doing it! and i say, a huge relief. almost like a big stone taken out from a load i had to bear. i’m happy it happened because for all that was in the past, they are good people. one was a very good friend. and i’m just glad i got to share a glimpse of joy.

of songkets, lacy affairs and stomping rebana

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last weekend was probably one of the weekends that will remain in memory for quite some time.
for the first time ever, in a gathering with delicious scrumptious food, i wasnt able to enjoy them as much as i would have imagined. macaroni medley, bread and butter pudding, sate, brownies and just everything nice! if you’re wondering what event? it’s a teachers’ day cum eid gathering at begonia downtown!

i happened to be the so called floor coordinator where i oversaw that everything is on time (or at least try to, when we started 30 minutes late!) and alerting the emcee-dj warna of what comes next and all. by the time it was lunch, i was just so exhausted i couldn’t care what was on buffet~

i guess things went well except for a few glitches, like our video clip couldn’t play out nicely with the music, since the laptop was lagging, and the few minutes undecidedness of whether to continue with the performances or continue after lunch and whatnots. people might not noticed, but at the ‘floor’ its not that organized. i don’t know if it’s just me or instructions are just coming from everywhere! i was just glad it was over! still, i enjoyed it all the same. everyone did work hard for this.

so afterwards, went to the lacy affair of red and pink at the majestic with the bride’s maids and the bride aka the devil in manolos! the place was fantastic! i love the place and i love spending the day with them girls! managed to catch two movies the proposal (although we didnt finish it) and bride wars. tabooing the words ‘wedding’ and the groom’s name and anything related to it was the funniest, apparently most of us seems to forget the taboo rules and unconsciously mentioned them words couple of times! penalty? spanked by the devil’s fork-

and scrumptious pasta, chips and dips, chocolate fondue with marshmallows and strawberries ~drools~ and yes, cameras and pictures of us!! and for once, i got my ‘wish’ of being in america’s next top model~ 😉 the pics made my day~ but well, restricted to only 7 of us, not for public~




and if being there during your wedding marks a sincere friendship, i will want to be there, it won’t make up for the years and part of your life i’ve missed but i hope it shows how much your friendship is important to me and a big chunk of my school memories revolves around you, i mean, there’s roswell, and endless notes we passed during lessons in class just so we’d stayed awake and rave about max and liz and whatever comes to mind and introduced me to local bands and was it Big O mag that was our supplement english readings? i have always admired your intelligence and confidence and unique creativity like a personalised invitation card for studygroup, birthday cards and whatnots. and it’s not dyan if it isnt chuck palahniuk’s books…

it’s just sad i couldnt stayed for the night, and i hate to give the reason that i had to work on sunday mornings!! i hate saying it becuase i shouldnt be working on sundays~ *sigh* i would love to jump into the pool!

that was what happened on saturday…
sunday was about stomp, ear thumping and clappings and amazing beats out of cans, rubber tubes, plastic and whatnots. entertaining much! i love it!
still having the drums ringing in my head, and guess who i get to see just at the concourse?
maman of teacher’s pet singing live!!! and playing the last song: Kasihku pinjam wajahmu!!!
and our music adventure doesnt end there, when we went out and saw there’s a malay cultural performance at the outdoor stage @ esplanade (or was it called outdoor theatre?) it was riau cultural music with much drums and kompangs, i can’t understand a word-songs and dance performances.

as much as i was exhausted and tired last weekend, i enjoyed everything. 😀
thank you to the bride and bridesmaids(!) and dearest, for my weekend felt almost like a getaway from the word ‘work’ and anything related to it (although i did bring along some paperwork, albeit ‘unseriously’ read)…

and thank dearest you for being there for me.

raya 2.9 and its even

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so i’ve been browsing so many raya pics from the (part of your life and updated every single second!!) facebook. what makes me happy looking at them photos are the smiles of the family members, the babies(!!) of so many acquaintances and their many firsts (first raya, first dress, first shoes, first time moms and dads and first whatevers) and yes i love the colours! i love looking at purple, green, brown, blue, pink (yikes!!pink???) pretty dresses! (it’s becoming a hobby nowadays..especially…. :P)

raya this year has been simple, like i mentioned before, but with a difference…we are even numbers this year! :)) all those years taking the public transports and mam would always say i’m always the odd one out because sometimes i ended sitting alone on bus journeys :/

i must say we are all happy to have you with us this year. who would have thought, last year i was just a simple independent naivete who’s always been ‘alone’…..i am still a simple independent (in times of need) naivete but…yours. and it seems my blogging nowadays always referring to you. well, i don’t think other people are reading mine anyway~

one year can make so much difference. unexpected but pleasant, or otherwise, unexpected and heartbreaking. i mean really, it felt like such a short time when a year has gone by. and countless changes, experiences, feelings have i felt. and as always, there will be some i took as some learning journeys of my life, and while others part of the many beautiful colours which paint my memories. but anyway, this post is not about life.

it’s about taking everything in a day and make a picture of it in my mind and heart and appreciating the blessings i’ve had so far. i feel like i’m becoming a greed at taking it all in. i felt every single thing and moment in this life must be captured and treasured. every smiles and laughters must be remembered. but of course, giving my trust to the One and Only. Forgive me Lord. we always forget.

but i’m loving my life now and let’s have a look at the purpled family.(and of the blue and maroon-ed)



hmmm…..if ramadhan is full of iftars every week, now it’s open houses and invites to raya gatherings… apart from the food, i don’t think i care that much anymore, i just want to spend some quality time with my family or read and do laundry!!

Raya 2.9

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hecticness beyond description. working weeks no end. no proper rest. working long hours. coming back home and rushing to clean the room, clear the mess, bake some simple cookies just so it ‘felt’ like raya-ness and hey, actually shopping much less this year! which is record breaking.

why? because i’m working, mom’s working (which is terrible) and dad’s home and had to do a lot more, we had quite a last minute shopping last saturday. really, rasa sedih pun ada because of my younger sisters and brother so looking forward to raya, and wearing nice clothes, looking pretty and handsome….it really was nice to see them sisters getting dresses they like and wearing heels this raya~ all in all, our shop for raya is quite minimal but i like it! haha.

and one disappointment is we couldn’t get to rent a car because simply we think it’s a bit too much to spend 4-500$ for a 3-4 days rent of car and pretty much most rentals are fully booked.

like my mother kept lamenting, sebab kerja ni…mematikan mood raya betul!

raya mode is not in by now, maybe because of the tiredness and all i want is to have some proper rest and enjoy food. erkkk…

oh yes, working on the eve of raya, albeit half day but still! and semi working on pagi raya. i don’t think i can be used to this!

but let’s look at a brighter and better angle. at the least, we have fasted for a whole month (of course minus 7 days for us ladies), volunteered time at the mosque and spent nights terawih and managing to read (although managed to read only half of it), still i don’t feel i did enough. sometimes i hate myself for that. but the past cannot be undone. i pray for His mercy. for His forgiveness.

a nice eidul fitri to all. may all blessings be upon us insya allah.

and what matters is being with my family. my beautiful family. my life my joy.
and then there is you. 🙂

time and heart

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one week of ramadhan has passed and suddenly it’s all going to pass in a short while. and the challenges has been more difficult the first week. mostly with time. rushing to finish reports, rushing to do this and that, pressures from so many sides. although there are times my brain feels numbed to all work.


been somewhat exhausted with everything that is going around, sometimes i woke up with a huge headache instead of a well rested sleep. biological clock is truly truly tested this month.
still, it has been a good start. it might be one of the perks of working at a mosque. alhamdulillah.

it’s a serene joy to have the opportunity to help the volunteers preparing the meals for iftar, and day after day, the prayer hall is filled all four floors with jemaah every night. the tiredness is forgotten for a while. serving the Creator while serving the servants, insya Allah.

and my teens joined a value added programme which, at the same time, joining the camp the youth wing organized. barulah nampak ramai..but it was all in good cause, since there’s a well-known company who are conducting some teens activities, pretty much related to the theme we are doing for this term which was on relationships and sexuality. only one setback was my misunderstanding of one activity. initially thought their wonderwalk is just around the mosque, it turned out to be an amazing race around Sengkang!! kesian my teens as surprised as their trainer about this but they have been super sporting!! and joined in all the same. my heart goes to them, although the whole time they were out, i was restless and kept praying they are all ok.

they reached the mosque at around 5.30pm, and i couldn’t properly congrats them, because we were on to the next mosque programme with LPM and all. hopefully they got to have some good rest. i realized i’m caring for them just as i cared my two not-so-little siblings. 🙂 trusting them but not willing to fully let go.

but anyway, all went well…and another week to go through…

it doesnt help that you are super busy too…i miss you.