Such commitment ...

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

AlhamduLillah syukur ... laman kecik dah semakin naik seri ... walaupun tuan laman pula yang makin gelap semacam ... hehe ... okaylah tu ... Vit D penting kan ...

~

nak story sikit about keperluan bercahaya matahari ni ... bukan pasal ianya sumber Vit D semula jadi ... tu sume tau tak hal lah ...

ni ha ... back into the country, initially i was still in niqab ... then tak pasal pasal my belakang around the pinggang sakit selalu ... lama juga tahan ... last last pi jumpe my favourite dr in private practice ... checked this and that ... x-ray gitu gini ... finally she said ... eh tulang you dah nipis ... tengok ni banyak lompong ... wahhhh tulang reput ... what's this man!

so cakap cakap cakap ... cakap cakap cakap lagi ... sampai this part she said you tak kena matahari ... ohhh ... okay okay i angguk layan je ... i tak dr kan ... all the while Dr suami yang bukan dr orang sakit dengar je patiently ... okay lah tu faham lah kut ... hehe

dr recommended itu ini ... ikut je lah ... sakit kan ...

ingat okay je ... but masuk kereta Dr suami tiba tiba cakap ... she's hinting that your wearing of niqab caused your lack of sun exposure and thus lack of Vit D required for calcium absorption ... laaa jauh nya conclusion nye tu ... sikit pun saya tak fikir ... 

sangka baik walau pun dr tu Chinese ... saya pun jawab ... no lah i didn't think she meant that ... walau pun tidak dari Kg Ulu Bendul ... lurus bendul lah juga saya ni ... hehe

okay je ...  

susu memanglah tak putus cuma sekarang tambah ambil Vit D ... 

niqab or no niqab anak orang miskin ni dulu dulu mana lah banyak calcium intake kan so tulang tak bina kuat lah agaknye tu ...

alhamduLillah syukur checked in time ...

~

story dua pula masa di Brunei Abode of Peace ... 

department kami tu banyak stations ... agricultural stations and centres ... tanah pertanian, sawah padi, training, research and development ... 

one day Pengarah datang lawat our centre and i saw that he was very tan ... not his usual self ... 

and budak lurus bendul ni commented to another local colleague ... 

rajin Pengarah making his rounds of the various stations and centres ... sampai sunburnt tu ...

kawan tu gelakkan saya ...

itu sunburnt main golf ... huhuhu ...

~

have a good weekend all ...

:)

Tomat ... and ... Indonesia ...

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

entah di mana saya mula jumpa perkataan ni pun dah lupa ... tomat ... which led me to sambal tomato dari jawa ...

sebelum cerita tentang sambal tomat saya cerita ni sikit ye ...

~

first time ke Jakarta ... dari brunei nak balik kampung ... detour ke jakarta ... sebabnya ... rakan seperantauan di brunei telah berhijrah ke sana ... so saja nak ambil angin and also to visit her and family ... a surprise of course ...

zaman bujang AlhamduliLLah ... ada pasport, ada credit card will travel ... lenggang lenggang kangkung ... no hotel booking, no visa requirement - indonesia kan saudara kita :) so easy kan jalan (eh terbang) je lah ...

~

dalam kapalterbang tu night flight ... dah merancang rancang dah nak tidur kat airport hotel je that night then baru contact sahabat tu ... takndak nyusah lah tu ... sure ada hotel kan ... atau to book a taxi (ingat macam kat KLIA tu kan ... senang je booking) to take me to the hotel ... first thing i noticed some bruneians were on the plane ... so saya pun tanya (kalau berani berjalan sendiri jangan malu bertanya) to confirm about the airport hotel ... i always assume airport hotel is the safest ... (dah terbiasa naik keretapi ... setiap stesen ada station hotel kan :)

... the bruneians were surprised and concerned that i was alone ... maksudnya macam unsafe je ... saya ni memang tawakkal saja ... niat nak lawat sahabat yang i missed tu je ... so rasa takut apa semua memang tak ada ... indonesia kan ... negara Islam kan ... macam sedara lagi kan ... in fact arwah datuk (May Allah SWT ampunkan dan rahmati ruhnya) sebelah emak born in what was then called Betawi ... jadi tak ada risau pun ...

pendekkan cerita ... the bruneians kata ikut kami, nanti kami hantar hotel yang selamat ... AlhamduLillah kebetulan mereka tu dari diplomatic service so keluar untuk immigresen check pun ikut lorong diplomatic saja AlhamduLillah di permudahkan Allah SWT ...

dan dengan baik hatinya mereka yang memang sudah ditunggui driver ... hantar lah kehotel di tengah bandar raya ... mereka berlalu and there i was having happy thoughts about this visit ... esok paginya baru called sahabat that i was in jakarta and in the hotel ... terus kena marah sayang lah kan ...

 thank you Norlin for a memorable visit ... among others makan di satu restoran ni yang setiap satu dish ada sambal tersendirinya yang sangat nyaman yum yum yum ... this is my memory of indonesia ... the land of sambal :)

~

so bila terjumpa sambal tomat ni baru baru ni ... teringat semula that old bachelor way of life ... 

~

mula tadi dari rumah Sham sini ... nampak tomato tuan rumahnya di Fiji Island ... sini ... ni belum nak puree ... but rather sambal tomat (tomato in bahasa indonesia sure semua orang tau kan ... saya je baru tau :) ...

i found this recipe ... Sambal Tomat ...sini ...  brought to me by google through this lady ... sini

saya adjust je resepi tu ... for the same amount of cili padi ... lebihh bawang (i prefer bawang besar) ... lebihhhh tomato ... no belacan ... no msg ... gula garaam adjust according to taste ... simpan dalam fridge guna sikit bila nak buat itu ini ... 

itu ini define sendiri ye hehe ...

AlhamduLillah such a simple tasty and useful sambal ...

yang ini heirloom tomatoes ... 

saje je ... tak de kat hypermarket sini ... image source ... here 

yang macam ini (takde tampuk dah) tengah banyak sekarang ... boleh cuba buat sambal tomat :) sambil potong potong nak tumbuk buat sambal ... sambil masuk mulut hehe ... 

image source ... here

 

Cerita Kak Nor ...

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

AlhamduLillah the MIAs have been found safe and sound ...

initial story here  ... and ... update here ...

there are key lessons learned for sure ...

~

too much disturbing news items online ... ni meh nak share a delightful story from Kak Nor ...

kak nor was a senior member of our malaysian community in brunei ... 

she was a matron attached to Kementerian Kesihatan Brunei ... Ayah kak Nor (Arwah - may Allah SWT rahmati ruhnya) was an Arab. Emak kak nor Melayu ... mereka tinggal di sebuah kampung di utara tanah air ...

so satu hari ni ayah kak nor ada tetamu just as they were about to have dinner ... a special dish for the family that night was ikan masak masam manis ... bila tetamu sampai kak nor adik beradik dan emak tak jadi makan ... mereka served the fish to ayah and tetamu dulu ...

kak nor ni macam anak sulung juga ... adik beradik ramai ... ikan masak special macam tu tak lah selalu ada ... so mereka said to mother alah tak dapatlah nak rasa ikan masak masam manis ni ... mother said don't worry tak habis tu ada lagi sebelah tu karang ...  

ayah dan tetamu makan di ruang tamu rumah ... kak nor adik beradik mengintai dari belakang pintu and bagi progress report ikan masam manis tu ...

mula mula okay je ... tiba tiba adik kak nor jerit ...mak ikan dah terbalik! ... 

hahaha ... ayah dah balik kan ikan tu ! ... begitulah kita dengan tetamu ... masyaAllah ... sentiasa kita dahulukan ...
masa tu pasti saja kak nor and siblings sedih sungguh ...

begitulah ... :)

~

kalau terasa nak masak sweet sour pula ... image source and recipe ... here

Ramadhan 8am - 2pm ...

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

antara lain yang membuat brunei ni sentiasa di hati ... ni ha ...

kalau bulan puasa all civil servants kerja 8 to 2 with no break ...

ramadhan was always the best working month there ... especially for ladies yang selalu terkejar kejar nak siap itu ini for iftar ... bangun awal prepare sahur ...

juga beri lebih ruang untuk ibadah bulan ramadhan ...

hmmm boleh kita buat?

~

dan di bulan ramadhan ni macam macam ada di pasar tamu brunei (di sini kita panggil pasar tani) ... but yang sangat berkenan di hati ialah terubuk bakar mereka ...

meeemang banyak ...

Image source

boleh je tambah sambal kicap ni ...

Image source

maaf belum waktu buka ni ... pekap mulut ye :)

My grandfather got the PhD ...

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

dah alang alang terkenang ... sambung je memori manis ... :)

one of my earliest memory in the states university was a phd student from jordan ... a sweet lady, blonde, complexion and feature more of orang putih than arab ... in fact i initially thought she was orang putih since she was not having any hijab on ... one day as we queued for lunch i heard a salam and i turned to find her behind me ...

and when she finally received her phd award it was addressed to Dr Yahaya ... her grandfather ...

look ... she said ... a phd for my grandfather ... 

her surname being that of her grandfather and her middle name her father ...

me ... binti is my middle name ... :)

~

malaysia celebrates a person by her or his name ... so when citing references for malaysian authors ... we are required to cite by their first names (at least that is the standards in my present university ... other universities i am not sure) ... so sometimes one can expect different names cited for the same author ... sometimes nama sendiri and sometimes nama abah nya ...

~

and one more sweet memory ... no more i promise ... for now that is ...

cycling was common in the university ... in fact separate cycling paths were constructed especially for them next to the pedestrian pavement ... we would see signs to be aware of cyclists  ... yang kalau bila menurun sikit menjunam junam je lajunya ... kalau tak berhati hati memang nahas je sipejalan kaki ...

we had one professor who cycled daily ... 

and one day he passed by as i was leaving the faculty building ... he stopped and offered me a ride on the bar ... bersungguh sungguh dia ...

remember i ni kocik je ... macam kuih koci kurus dulu tu ... so boleh je duduk kat depan dia tu ... and he was a very gentle elderly big professor ... so macam anak dia je kita ni ... but of course i said no thank you ... i'll walk ... the hall where i was staying was about 10mins walk ...

... and bila cerita kat Oghang Besar Dighumah ni zaman sweet muda muda ni  ... hai menyampahnya dia ... he's a man he commented ... he just wanted to hug you ... cisss ado ko :)

gambar asal besikal ni kat sini ...

Macam kambing dah ni ...

... once in the united states i was in a university yang jauh dari halal meat source ... initially bersama malaysian students yang lain ... yang semuanya ikutlah usul imam di islamic centre tempat malaysian students berjamaah ... imam tu dari Jordan ... katanya boleh makan ayam dan daging yang beli kat supermarket tu because they are ayam daging slaughtered by ahli kitab ... so the arabs and the malaysian muslims kat universiti tu more or less makan ayam daging supermarket tulah ... halal kata imam so okay je tak payah sibuk nak ke another city about 90plus miles away to buy halal meat ...

the problem is i am orang kampung ulu ... konsep "geli" nya sangat mendalam ... ko cakaplah apa ... kalau tak sembelih macam mana orang kampung kito sembelih ... tak totolan (tertelan) kito do ...

so makan sayur jelah sepanjang almost one year ... tak susah juga sebab a lot of vegetarian options in the states ... i especially loved the vegetarian spaghetti ...

kadang kadang kakak seniors buat gathering masak lah sedap sedap ayam daging ... they knew i tak makan but one kakak friend said ... ambil lah kuahnya toksah ambil daging ... la cam mana tu ... daging tu berendam dalam kuah tu juga ... mana logiknye ni ... haiya ...

they said to me ... m.. ko ni dah macam kambing dah ni makan sayur je ... hahaha ... i said tak pe tak pe ... kalau makan termuntah karang lagilah susah ...

but by end of the year dah rasa semacam teringin sangat sangat sangat nak makan daging then i susahkan emak minta tolong hantar serunding daging ... alhamduliLLah hilang kempunan ... then tak lama lepas tu ada lah local muslim brother tu supply halal meat yang dia  bawa from that other city yang memang ramai muslims and muslim shops selling halal meat and supplies ...

~

kenapa pula terkenang kenang cerita lama ni ... alah sejak buah hati ni diserang gout ... apa lagi penuh lah dalam refrigerator tu sayur segala macam sayur dan ulam ... dah macam mini kedai sayur lah pula ...

sawi bunga, 

kailan

brocolli

bundles of lettuce

petola
bendi

red and green pepper

local parsley ... i am not sure why the label says local parsley ... nama sebenar not sure nak kena selidik ni ... i cakap to sidia tu, Prof Hasanah said coriander leaves good for detoxification ... so he bawalah this parsley ... but i am not sure if this is the same one ... tapi sedap je ... so hari hari lah makan ulam ni  ...

potato - bukan sayur - but dah macam part of sayur dah we all ...

lots of fresh young ginger

lots of fresh young turmeric thinly sliced je tak payah nak tumbuk tumbuk bila nak masak ... macam ulam lah kan ...
and oh yes ... asparagus ... he said mahalnya ... rm11.99 per small pack ... dalam 50 small stems tak tulis pun berapa gram kat pack tu ... sedap dan bagus khasiat okay lah ...  

begitulah ... dah macam kambing lah ni ... hahaha 

kalau suka kambing banyak lagi gambar di sini ... saya sangat suka kambing especially yang sudah mandi :)

~
update ...
i've found out that asparagus is rather high in purine that contributes to gout ... so tak beli dah ... although i love to eat it ... untuk saya sikit sikit je okay but not untuk Oghang Besar yang sakit ni ... ha bila cakap padanya about asparagus ni ... terus lah he said that's why i think the pain is not reducing ... la sikit je makan pun :)

Cikgu ku ...

hari ni

... terima message selamat hari guru dari rakan sekuliah - seorang guru yang sangat cemerlang ... i am not a cikgu but i appreciate all teachers ... teacher tu official name je ... but sesiapa je yang darinye saya mendapat ilmu dan kemahiran cikgu saya lah dia tu ...

~

... snapshots of my fond and sedih memory of some teachers ...

Cikgu Maimon Darjah 3 

i love this one day yang teringat sangat ... CM bagi classwork ... kita semua pun diam diam buat ... tetiba CM panggil me ... 

m------- (nama penuh ku tu hehe) meh tolong tumbuk belakang cikgu ... darjah 3, 9 tahun masa tu bayangkan besar manalah penumbuk ku yang memang tak besar mana ni pun ...

but ... that warm feeling of tolong tumbuk belakang cikgu tu sampai sekarang masih terasa ...

~

Mr Ng Form 1

Cikgu ni memang saya selalu kena ... cikgu sains ... masa tu belum ke asrama lagi ... me suka potpet tak habis-habis ... agaknye kan budak kecik memang suka celoteh ... kejap pusing kanan kejap pusing kiri kejap kejap pusing belakang ... entah apa-apa ... ada je

agaknya dah puas kena warning tak juga faham faham ... MN panggil nama T------- berdiri atas kerusi ... hehehe ... tak malu ke ... masa tu kat all girls school kawan kawan tolong gelak je ...

 but see this MN he called me by his particular special name for me ... so agaknye itu yang buat i always feel special in his class ... and sampai ter over pula ... ha kan dah kena berdiri atas kerusi ... 

padan muka (favourite phrase of my kecik niece Tina) :)

~

Miss Kaur Form 2

Ni cikgu BI ... yang ini saya kena lagi ... kita tu dulu orang kampung ... sekolah kampung tu in BM. Bila masuk menengah Sekolah BI so we went through the Remove Class and mula everything in English here. And zaman dulu the streaming in the school was that sekolah kampung ulu ulu pergi ke Remove B, yang dekat bandar Remove A (what an expectation !) ... Remove A went on to F1C, Remove B to F1D. I was in Remove B so F1D. MK taught us English in Remove and F1. Form 2 i was in F2A (dah nampak pandai sikit kut hahaha) and no longer taught by MK.

satu hari tu waktu latih sukan petang she was in charge and she queried me... why didn't you come for practice yesterday ... and i ... saya budak baru belajar (BI) ni jawab biasa je ... I was lazy ...

and she chided me ... wah now you are in F2A, you think you are so clever ha! ...

terdiam diri ini because masa tu belum lah se articulate sekarang ber BI ... kununnn hehe ... kalau tidak mungkin bersambung juga perbicaraan tu ... :) tak ape MK i tak terasa pun ... what you didn't realise was i was practising my English hahaha ... thank you very much for your good BI training that set me to appreciate this language ...

~

 Guru Besar Sekolah Rendah

  ni masa darjah 6 ... kan kita ada peperiksaan penilaian sekolah rendah tu ... kita kena beli pensel 2B kan ... nak hitamkan bulat bulat dalam kertas jawapan tu ... so i minta emak tolong beli ... masa tu sama lah dengan emak ke pekan KPilah yang sangat maju tu cuma ada 2-3 buah kedai buku dan alatulis ... so emak mintalah on my behalf ... and nyonya tu kata oh pensel 2B dah habis ... tapi 4B ada ... 4B lagi baik lagi hitam (read this macam nyonya cakap) ... so saya budak kampung yang ulu dan emak yang tak pernah pergi sekolah ni terimalah ... ha ah yelah tu kalau 2B tu hitam, 4B lagi hitam lagilah baik kan jelas bulatan ku dalam kertas jawapan ku nanti ...

maka pergi lah sekolah seperti biasa gembira ... bawa pensel kena confirm pagi tu dengan GB ... end of morning assembly GB tanya semua murid darjah 6 dah beli pensel 2B belum and tunjuk kat dia ... ada yang tak beli lagi (maklum jauh pekan tu and semua ni miskin-miskin belaka) ... dan kita pun confident je showed kita punya pensel ... nah terus kena marah sebab salah ... 2B bukan 4B ... so dia suruh beratur semua yang tak ada pensel lagi tu termasuk kita yang salah pensel ... then dia dengan pembaris panjang guru bagi satu satu hayunan pembarisnya kat kaki kita orang ... aduhh ... nak jadi cerita saya punya kena kat buku lali ... luka lah pula dan berdarah ... tapi GB tu tak perasan ... nangis tak? ... takkkk diam je ... (Sham nak nanges ... nanges lah :)

balik tengahari emak kat rumah dah balik dari noreh dah ... abah tak ada ... kita pun tunjuk kat mak buku lali yang luka kena sebat ... tak ingat lah apa reaksi emak masa tu ... meleleh agaknya air mata nya ... tapi kita pun meleleh air mata tak pula perasan tentang emak ... mak terus kata meh pergi Pilah beli ... and kami pun pergilah and got the right one ... itu je ... panjang nya cerita ... catharsis le ni hehehe ... terasa hiba sangat dengan cara GB tu ...

 ~

banyak lagi but cukuplah takat ni ye ...

to all my teachers ... i love all and appreciate all ... yang sudah keRahmatuLLAH ... al-Fatihah

macam ni lebih kurang sekolah rendah kat kampung ulu tu ...

but this is in Mexico tak banyak beza except kita ber uniform tu nampak smart le sikit ... but this one looks more ceria

~

In labour ...

 andddddddd

 ...

exhausted ...

 

 Allah SWT gives strength ...

...

Labour Day is for children and students ...

for adults it is a Laborious Day indeed ...

keep sabar my dear heart ...

Allah SWT gives strength :)

~

 ummmmph sweet ... a size 5 shoes for a pair of tired feet ...

Image Source: Here

~

Every First of May I remember the joy of walking ... all the girls and Miss Hair and a few other teachers ... 

from St George's Girls School (where we were temporarily boarded) at McAlister Road ...

 through Scotland Road and Youth Park ...

 to Penang Botanical Garden ...

 

Image Source: Here

 

this trip was etched in my memory because of Miss Hair ... our Biology Teacher from Ireland ...

Thank you Miss Hair wherever you are ... :)

Deep in the heart of Texas ...

... to saya anak malaysia in texas ...

~

...and what i remember of Dallas ... that globe-like structure ...
 

 Image Source: 
http://adm2372x-group07.wikispaces.com/Dallas+Landmarks

~

ilal liqa' bi izniLLAH

to practise my arabic lah ni ... since Chegu Sham dah start bagi sikit-sikit ... :)

~

Troglodyte ...

Taunton

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andywebgallery/sets/72157624709719093/

sambung ... (macam minta connect tel pule ... he he )

nak balik dah ... but this time kite ikut jalan tengah balik ke liverpool ...

dalam route ade Bandar Taunton ...

ape sepesialnye ... nothing maybe to most ... 

but here resided the Walking Dictionary of Taunton ...

and 

he called me a TROGLODYTE

... a cave dweller ...

he he ... sebabnye?

kami share room ... 3 of us in the big office ...  (ni di brunei ye)

... my place was facing the window ... so it was a bit silau ...

so i kind of tutup window blind tu ...

beliau masuk ... pegi buke ...

and i said i like it tertutup sikit ... and he said ... you are a TROGLODYTE ...

this Englishman was as senior as my ayahande ... orang rumahnye dari Sarawak ... but he being English ... i did not need to open my dictionary too much ... he provided me with instant answers ...

he has already retired masa adik dan akak menghayau-menghayau ni ...

but i had his address ...

so akak sughuh adik caghi juge ghumah nye ... pusing-pusing sampai jumpe ...

hmmm ... jumpe dah ... ketuk-ketuk ... tak ade oghang

so i left a note ...

nahhh ... punyelah jauh kannn note tu datang ...

:)

~

love and salam

~

Troglodyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodyte

Troglodyte may refer to: Troglodytae or Troglodyti, an ancient group of people from the African Red Sea coast; Troglodites, a fictional tribe described in .


 Troglodyte - Merriam-Webster Online

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troglodyte

a member of any of various peoples (as in antiquity) who lived or were reputed to live chiefly in caves. 2. : a person characterized by reclusive habits or ...

Jelama ...

Image Source: wanitamelayu.com

hmm ... beghunai lagi ... 

kite kann ... kalau kite di negeri oghang ... tak pule paham dialek tempatan tu ... memang lah selalu diperkene kan kannn ...

... satu hari sambil-sambil tea break dengarlah ceghite kawan beghunai ni ...

dia tinggal di Kampong Ayer (ni ejaan sebenar kampung tu ye) ...

kecik-kecik suka lah beghenang ... mandi dalam sungai tu ...

kite pun respon lah ... banyak ikan tak kite tanye ...

banyak jawabnye ... kami suke tangkap jelama bini-bini ... jawabnye sengeh-sengeh ...

ei seronoknye tangkap ikan dengan tangan je ... (dalam bayangan ikan gelama lah ye ...)

kemudian mereka gelak-gelak ...

ada yang hati mulia tanye ... hajjah tau ke ape jelama?

kite jawab ... ikan gelama ye ...

tak ... jelama tu bahasa oghang brunei  ... maksudnye OGHANG ...

... ei ... baik jugelah dah dipanggil hajjah ... kalau idak ape lah agaknye yang terkeluar dari mulutku ...

rasa nak tempe kan ... dan keringkan buat ikan masin je kawan tu ...   

~

Love and Salam

 :)

~

 

Otak udang galah ...

 it has been a long time ... mungkin banyak dah lupe ... so sebelum lupe ... i will update some of the things i enjoyed in Brunei Darussalam ...

... sikit sikit ...

 first thing ni ha ...

kat malaysia barat ni tak jumpe lah ... hanya orang di borneo (Sabah, Sarawak MP sayang, Brunei) yang telah dikurniakan nikmat Allah  SWT yang satu ni ... durian otak udang galah ...

omak, saye cube jamu mase ziarah anaknye ni di sana ... langsung tak berani ... betul ke durian ni soalnye ... he he ...

but it is the best durian in Brunei and I love it ...:) ... as red as the Lobster's Brain ...

 

Image source: http://durianon.tripod.com/id39.html

banyak cerite durian kat blog seorang Dr (dr oghang sakit) disini ... yang ini di Sabah
 http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/blog/red-coloured-durian-only-in-sabah.html

Image Source:
http://holidaysinmalaysia.org/tropical-fruits/red-durian/

ini pokoknye ... capai-capai je kan ...
hal-hal pertanian ini oghang di Kementerian Perindustrian Dan Sumber-sumber Utama di Brunei lah punye ... particularly oghang di Kilanas ...

Image source: http://durianon.tripod.com/id39.html

p/s: my own interpretation of the taste ... melekit di jari, tastebud dan hati ...
(tak tosobut lidah tu ... kang salah interpretasi pulak ... adoiiii) 

~
Love and Salam
~