Are You Women Enough?

I read this from another linked blog, and damn it I couldn't resist but to comment. People say women are the best in their 30's. Not too young, not too old. Just nice. Just nice allright for me to share my thoughts on the statements of the creator of this perceived difference. Here goes:

Girls vs. Matured Women (MW)

Girls leave their schedule wide-open and wait for a guy to call and make plans.
Matured women make their own plans and nicely tell the guy to get in where he fits.
The h*** you must fit in!

Girls want to control the man in their life.
Matured women know that if he's truly hers, he doesn't need controlling.
No controlling? In your dreams.

Girls check you for not calling them.
Matured women are too busy to realize you hadn't.
Well, sometimes a red alert need to be sent.

Girls are afraid to be alone.
Matured women revel in it-using it as a time for personal growth.
Provided you have the fund, or subsidized by hubby. Books, sauna, saloon, massage, etc do not come cheap for personal growth.

Girls ignore the good guys.
Matured women ignore the bad guys..
Huhu, sometimes bad guys are major turn ons. We can't spare nai'vety here, darling.

Girls make you come home.
Matured women make you want to come home.
That depends on the mood swing dear, and that time of the month.

Girls worry about not being pretty and/or good enough for their man.
Matured women know that they are pretty and/or good enough for any man.
Kumbang bukan seekor, I agree.

Girls try to monopolize all their man's time (i.e., don't want him hanging with his friends).
Matured women realize that a lil' bit of space makes the 'together time' even more special-and goes to kick it with her own friends!
Everything has a limit tho. Know the limit, everything's settled.

Girls think a guy crying is weak.
Matured women offer their shoulder and a tissue.
Shoulder and tissue? You've got to be kidding babe. I'll be touched tho.

Girls want to be spoiled and 'tell' their man so.
Matured women 'show' him and make him comfortable enough to reciprocate without fear of losing his 'manhood'.
I didn't quite get it. Losing manhood? Since when people care about losing manhood?

Girls get hurt by one man and make all men pay for it.
Matured women know that, that was just one man.
Yeah, that one man will pay for it. I'll make sure of it. But the deep scar will remain. Lessons well learnt.

Girls fall in love and chase aimlessly after the object of their affection, ignoring all 'signs'.
Matured women know that sometimes the one you love, don't always love you back and move on, without bitterness.
Kumbang bukan seekor. Couldn't agree more.

Girls will read this and get an attitude.
Matured women will read this and pass it on to other Matured women and their male friends.
Smart woman paste it in their blog and make her own comment. Hahaha...

Doing It The Ganu Way

I like to share a typical wedding reception for common people in Terengganu. This one was for Mr. X's cousin, which location was 2 houses away from her mom's house in Marang. It was during school holiday week and it was a Friday.

The canopy was separated into 2 - one for male, one for female, but both only had chairs for guests to eat. Maybe a surprise for some of us who used to have comfy table to eat.

Female guests were expected to come before Friday prayer, while men will swamp the camp right after the prayer. If you see both gender under the same canopy, they were either old men or small boys. Other than that, must be the very closest family member which entitled them to occupy close proximity seats.

2 types of rice were served - nasi minyak and nasi putih.
Nasi minyak with ayam masak merah and acar timun while nasi putih with ikan goreng and petola masak air.

It was really weird ok, compared to what we used to have down south here.

As simple as it is, the dish was complemented with air sirap.

To further prove that women indeed rule the world, the gang basuh pinggan consist of girls at puberty age, ever so ready to embrace the challeges of worlds manipulated by men.

Well, my wedding reception in Kuala Terengganu way back in February 2003 was as typical. The guests were greeted by some of the relatives, had their meal, and then the female guests were expected to get inside the house, shake hand with the bride and the groom's mother and then only a souvenir will be given. Any cash or gifts were to be transpired at this juncture.

One advantage of marrying people of different clan and geographical origin - learn the culture of others.

The Other Half

I've got a tag via Facebook, but I prefer to answer it here as a record.

Tag Title - How Well Do You Know Your Husband

(this respond is based on 6 years and 3 months marriage life).

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
CSI, Astro's Hitz, that's all. Mr. X doesn't really enjoy watching tv.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
He seldom takes salad. Ulam is also not in his list.

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
One food eh...anything masakan Jawa. Tempe, sayur masak goreng jawa, etc. I can't cook that at home.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
If at McDonald's - Big Mac meal. If at warong tomyam - tomyam is a must have, with vege dish like kailan ikan masin or mixed vege.

5. Where did he go to high school?
Form 1-3 at MRSM Kota Bharu. Form 4-5 at MRSM Taiping. Well, Mr. X was a bright student at high school which made Petronas sent him straight to USA after SPM (after he spent a few months learning English at MLA - Mara Language Academy).

6. What size shoe does he wear?
8 or 9, depends on the brand.

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Huhu...he likes to collect things which I always can't consider as collectibles...most of all is the IT gadgets and accessories. You name it, he has it. Modem, USB, earphones, and what not. I've allocated one section of the cupboard for this collectibles. Next is the CD - this guy is crazy about music.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Tuna.

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Nasi and Kuah Singgang.

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Anything meant for adults healthy cereal.

11. What would he never wear?
Any clothes resembling women's fashion he'll never touch. Mr. X's fashion sense is quite unique though. He also dares to be different in donning what he likes. Once, he wore batik jawa shirt at a formal dinner.

12. What is his favorite sports team?
None that I know of.

13. Who did he vote for?
Quite tricky, maybe any candidate from Pakatan Rakyat.

14. Who is his best friend?
A guy named Fuad Sameon. Close to that is Mohd Syahiid Sheikh Ahmad.

16. What is his heritage?
Pure Terengganu, as far as I know.

17. What is his favourite colour?
Maroon.

18. What is his habit?
Good habit is he is a very clean man. He loves tidiness and cleanliness. Bad habit - adalah, tak boleh mention. Kena simpan rahsia.

19. What is he proud of?
His work and our 3 kids.

20. Lastly, do you think he will read this?
I don't think so. He'd rather go to e-bay to check out new gadgets or jiwang.org to download songs.

Huda's 3rd Birthday

On 13th March 2009, we celebrated Huda's 3rd Birthday. After the big bang of Husna's celebration in January, the other siblings have to suffer by only having a cake at home and sharing among the close family members. Hey, it's the thoughts that count. :)

As usual, Husna was more excited compared to the birthday girl - Huda.

Huda was happy, but I guess she really has not understood the meaning of the celebration.

A simple cake from King's at Tesco Sri Alam.

Eusoff is 1!

Today is Eusoff's 1st birthday - 27th March.
Eusoff's life has been filled with a lot of turmoil and tribulations, but I hope he will grow to be a healthy, fillial, kind, responsible, generous and soleh son.

Today also I should get my new car - wah, what a co-incident.
Then the relationship shall go as this:
Eusoff - car - mama.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY EUSOFF!
Mama will always love you.

Eusoff' at a few days old.

Eusoff at almost 1 year.

Dream Number? Not!

I went to JPJ just now to buy the plate number for the Nissan (perhaps I should give my new friend a name, to tighten our relationship, maybe later). It's a whole new world for me OK. Normally we'd just leave this hassle to the runner appointed by the car dealer. But this time, I want to experience the process myself. My new friend treatment should be super special.

Since it is end of March, the plate number for JLM is still running. Hence, I could only take the 4 digit series. 687 has to be laid to rest, forever. If we still want it, we have to wait for next month for JLN series, which will forgo our opportunity to claim the fuel subsidy RM650 courtesy of Pak Lah's generosity. In economics terms - opportunity lost. Which one you want to gain?

The process for buying the car number is super duper fast. Less than 5 minutes infact. While filling up the form, my eyes were running while for the notice board. See how people dare to spend thousands just to keep their dream number. They divided the categories as below:

1. Golden Series - 1,2,3,4 up to 10. This has to cost a bomb I reckon.
   Popular Series - 2, 3 or 4 digits such as 767, 1212, etc. The unique ones.
   Menarik Series - 11, 12, 13, 111, 666, 7777, etc.

It must have been tiered pricing.

The cost depends on the bids. I'm lucky that for today, the number that I wish to have is available, then I had to only pay the normal rate since 2 weeks have passed for the JLM series.

Finally, JLM 7707 - welcome to the family!

Asta La Vista 687

Origin - need a number that sums up to be 21. Why? It is supposed to hinder you from any bad things to happen to the car, I guess. Well, so far it has proven to be not as helpful as I had expected.

Application - first was for my Proton Wira Aeroback JGH 687. Then it was traded in to get the Odyssey. Second was for the Myvi JJW 687. Now that this too will be traded in, there'll be no more 687. The cost to maintain the number will be RM700. Who wants to pay that amount?

Hence, farewell to this number. For me it's just a number. But not for Mr. X. He has use it as an identity, as shown in his primary email address. It is difficult to let go, for him. Unfortunately, it still has to be let go. Let's bygone be bygone. We turn a new leaf over ok honey (I'm writing this as if Mr. X would read this entry).

I may welcome 5565, or 6636, or 7707....or something to that effect. Why the sum has to be 21? Still a big question to me.

Geramnya!!!!

Aku paling tak suka...

Aku paling tak suka bila orang suka meminta-minta.
Sebab aku percaya, selagi diberi kudrat, kesihatan dan masa, setiap dari kita wajib untuk mencari dan berusaha keras untuk apa yang kita inginkan.

Ada orang kata, kalau ada rezeki lebih, wajib membantu orang susah.
Aku setuju. Tapi aku akan membantu orang yang aku nak bantu saja.
Siapa mereka? Sudah tentu lah orang yang tidak meminta-minta.

Perasan tak, biasanya orang yang suka meminta-minta ini adalah orang yang sihat, waras dan boleh berusaha untuk apa yang dia inginkan. Cuma dia ada satu penyakit - MALAS. Penyakit yang tiada ubat. Sedangkan orang buta boleh anyam buluh buat mcm2 mende. Ini orang yg terang dan nyata sihat dan waras!!!!

Untuk orang yang suka meminta-minta ni, nak jer aku kata - pegi ******. Allah bagi tenaga, fikiran, tubuh badan sihat, usaha lah. Sebab tu Allah kata Allah akan bagi pada siapa yang berusaha dan berdoa. Ini dah lah pemalas, suka mintak2 pulak tu. Lepas tu berangan tinggi. Bila orang tak nak bantu, kita pulak yang dia kutuk.

Well, for all that I care, kutuk lah berbakul bakul pun. Rezeki ada di mana-mana. Hanya perlu berusaha. Allah Maha Mengetahui dan dia Ya Razzak - sang Maha Pemberi Rezeki. Usaha tangga kejayaan. Zero usaha zero result la bang and kak oiiiiiii.....

Aku akan bantu orang yang aku nak bantu sahaja. Orang yang suka meminta-minta will be the first ones to be struck out of my list.

Azam Baru - Dapur Baru - Azam Baru

Lately, work at office has taken a toll on me. I have grown to be a person with less emotional connection to my work, and I have developed a habit of being cynical and saying some ruthless words to people who seem to slow down my work progress or go against the flow.

For de-stressing effort, besides writing in my blog, I enjoy spending time to prepare dish for the family in the new kitchen. I know that the look maybe exhilirating, but I have yet to get encouraging comment from reviewers, especially my favourite consumer. Very difficult to get a good review.

Ikan siakap masak masam manis.

Nasi Ayam Madu - close up

Nasi Ayam Madu - complete spread

I am in dire need for a dose of motivation at work, as well as at home, I guess. Perhaps the new car can serve as a short term injection for the motivation to go to work and earn a living.

Shift - The Future

I have to travel from home to work almost 45km per way every day. 1 hour journey in the morning and another hour in the evening. I have to commute via a highway most famous for road accidents, since the people in power have the thinking that there are other bigger matters to solve than to widen the highway. Fatalities are nothing. Serious injuries are nothing. Productivity lost is nothing. What more the traffic jam - doesn't even touch the tip of their cerebrum (or is it cereblum??). I guess they will only feel the importance and plight of the commuters once they are trapped in one heinous jam. Let's together pray now!

Lately, I've been experiencing a pain around my right ankle up to the knee. I really couldn't assess the real reason, but my guess is the longer hours spent on the road (since the advent of the new kitchen, I've been trying to reach home fast to cook for my dear Mr. X). Hence I have to go through the jam at its most peak hours. The pain started a few months ago, but has become excruciating lately.

After the cooking and bathing and praying, I have to again hop on the car to fetch our kids. Bring them back and only my nice Mr.X will reach home. In total, I have to spend almost 3 hours in a car daily. That's minus the unpredictable traffic jam should some stupid lorry break down, major accidents, minor kisses between cars, etc etc on the stupid highway. Why I am telling you this? Because the car is not merely a transport for me, taking me from one point to the other. The car is my mode of safe transportation and tool to maintain my sanity and health.

Besides the pain, the Myvi also has been through a lot. If refer to my previous entry, the car has suffered quite a few number of misadventure compared to its other siblings which I've owned before. Why I am telling you this? Because I've been searching for a replacement. I've visited a few numbers of showrooms and Mr. X helped me to surf the net in our quest to find the one which can meet my need.

Let me see. We have visited showrooms of Honda and Toyota. I've tested drive Vios and City and Civic. The sales people did not really treat us nice, cause maybe they were thinking that we were not serious enough. Normally Mr. X would just wear selipar jepun and me in my usual weekend outfit, maybe the image is simply not there. Actually we did that to assess the sales people skills as well. Remember Julia Robert's encounter with the boutique sales woman in Pretty Woman? Sometimes we like to do that for fun.

But last Saturday we visited Nissan. Nissan has quite a number of good cars, but due to its inferior image compared to media potrayal of the other 2 types of imported brands, it has been lying low. I remember going to see our children's paed and I really really envied her car. Someday I wish that I can own one. It was a Nissan.

The salesman was damn good. We got to test drive any car that we wanted and he really treated us nice. Due to the excellent treatment we got at Nissan, plus my good memory of the paed's car, I think that I am going for a Nissan next. Let me introduce it later. Meanwhile, it can be found at www.nissan.com.my.

The Fictitious Payung Emas

I was entrusted to guide a department to produce a reference book, for their use and for the future generations to refer. Despite their busy schedule, they have no choice but to think and draft this book. The big challenge is of course the thinking part. Thinking is such a tiresome activity mind you, that’s why not many people want to think nowadays. Nevertheless, after a few months they completed the first draft and I had to sit down with the Head to review. Since the first sitting over at their place, the Manager Mr. A has always been asking me to bring some goodies (as upah) to inspire and motivate his people and as a form of reward. Since I don’t subscribe to the idea of “produce this then you get this”, I have been ignoring his requests. Until for the 3rd time, I couldn’t take it anymore. I told him that if he wants me to treat the whole department, then please pray for my expeditious promotion (jokingly). He replied cynically, “Which promotion you want? If you become the 1st wife is also considered as promotion. I can pray that one for you”.

I was speechless.

I got a new neighbor in the office. Mr. C has almost reached retirement age, and he usually accentuates the point that he’s going to retire soon if we request him to do some improvement measures. That’s for the next person to do it, not him. I wonder what people nearing retirement age must be thinking at the moment, the long hours, the free time, the gardening, the traveling, etc. But yesterday was a shocker. Mr. C came over to my cubicle and expressed his need for a new wife to take care of him after retirement. As if my ignorance for his conversation topic yesterday was not enough, this morning he repeated that idiotic topic again. Yesterday I smiled and kept quiet, so he just passed. But today I couldn’t take it any longer. That’s it MAN!!! I told him off – “What’s your current wife doing? Isn’t she capable enough to take care of you? Or is it all these while you don’t take care of her, so she doesn’t want to take care of you?” Actually, those were my kind words. My superior words would have been – “What the h*** is wrong with you? Don’t you guys have nothing else to think? It’s time to get closer to God and menegakkan syiar Islam. Bukan menegakkan mende tu jer.” Huh, since this blog is rate “U”, I shall observe my writings.

What on earth is wrong with these people???

I did a minor research on the net. There’s no such thing as the golden umbrella aka “payung emas”. Sometimes, these idiots want to impress the women, so they use phrases like below to entice their female friends or wife to let them do what they think they can do.

“Bagus wife si anu tu, benarkan hubby dia kahwin lagik satu. Nanti dapat payung emas kat akhirat”.

“Eh, baik ko jgn menentang, nanti dapat payung emas kat akhirat, ko tak nak ke?”

There is no hadith sahih about payung emas. It’s called an Israeliyat, which is a very very weak source and shouldn’t be relied upon. Think about it ok.

Golden Umbrella.

Umbrella - at Padang Mahsyar, the sun will be a palm ahead of your head. You think the umbrella can protect you? The moment you get it, it’ll be already melted. Can you imagine? Agree with me?

Golden – what’s the use of having gold in akhirat world? Can you send it to pawn shop, get the money and then enjoy?? Can you trade it to get what you wish for? Dah takde maknanya. Then why gold? Agree with me?

The joker who created the fictitious hadith should be condemned. Those who like to repeat the words should be castrated and sent off to Galapagos, marry all the female giant lizards.

And for those men who say Quran encourage polygamous marriages, you’re damn wrong!! Allah permits, but never encourages. He permits because He knows that sometimes the wives cannot produce, fall ill, become mad women (mana tak giler kalau byk spesis mcm nih), and the sorts. Rasulullah married Khadijah and she was his only wife for 25 years. Subsequently Rasullullah married a few others whom were widowed, and he did it to protect Islam and with reasons connected to syiar Islam. He has basis.

Men in the modern world – what is their basis? Dare to call it menegakkan sunnah nabi? Tegakkan apa sebenarnya?

Huhu, such an emotional day. Mr. A and Mr. C are going to suffer after this. I will make them suffer.

Fairly Regularly

This place where I am working has got a new Chairman, beginning January 2009. He happens to be the son of the late Tan Sri Azizan, the former President of Petronas. Young, savvy and definitely a go getter, he paid a visit down south yesterday and share his thoughts with the eager citizens through a townhall session.

I've known him personally when I was involved in a special project way back in year 2001. At that time he was assigned to oversee this project and from the look of it, man, we're going to face a very tough man. Some people said that he has changed a little bit since, more milder as he ages. But I believe his fundamental in managing people will remain. No nonsense, fast response, gimme details, and fat chance you can escape should you try to talk your way out (BS for short).

At the age of early 30's, he was already the Board member, and now at 42 years of age, he's the Chairman of this place. Going at almost RM4b revenue per year, and also taking care of the parent company which happens to be one of the blue chips, hey, that's quite an achievement. Setting aside the reputation of being the "son", I believe he has what it takes, the merits. The relation and the name alone can't help him to survive and turnaround a company.

What did he touch on - the gloomy condition ahead, the ownership and pride in our work, the teamwork and the honesty. 1 on hard target and 3 on soft issues. People management is everything.

After the townhall, some people did post some questions but heck, I was really frustrated with the quality of the questions - mostly centered around more benefits. Don't they realize that they have further manifested that we have nothing else to think about except more benefits??? Human beings can't be satisfied, no matter how much you have given. Since everyone else posted questions centered around benefits, it would be awkward if I were to ask about the company's strategy moving forward. I would be totally out of place, and I almost heared the jeering, instead of cheering, if I were to post that sorts of questions. So I'd decided to say hi to him personally after the talk. He was swarmed by people, but nevertheless, I got my chance.

Here are the questions and his response (while smiling, mind you):

Q : In MISC's vision, it's for maritime transportation and logistics service provider, there's no mention on offshore business, so how do OBU and MMHE fit?
A : Oh, it's on energy. That vision is old already. It's time we change it.

Q: Can you share a little bit more on the defunct RTO? What was it actually?
A : They just have so much liability. When we did the study, the first valuation was at RM1.20-1.30. When we looked deeper into their company, we could see that they had so much exposure, under bidding, and the likes. It's just too risky.

Q : Now that they only worth 30 cents, are we planning anything or we just shut it?
A : Nope. There are just plenty of opportunities out there.

Q : Let say they go on auction later on, would we consider?
A : If it's only the land, we can consider. Not the liability (while trying to pat my back, luckily his hands did not touch my back torso. huhu.....).

Well, he's friendly in informal setting allright. But I'm sure if we were tasked to do a presentation in front on him, it would take me at least 2 days to practice alone. That should include the potential questions and all the pre-prepared answers. This is what it takes to make him satisfied.

He said that we form a major part of MISC's business, and for that, he will come down here "fairly regularly". What does it mean? It means trouble to a lot of people, I bet.

There's Gotta Be Somebody

Kepada anak-anak, cucu-cucu, cicit-cicit ku di masa depan. Ini mama/nenek/moyang nak bagitau yg mama/nenek/moyang suka sangat2 kat lagu ni.

Nickelback - Gotta Be Somebody

This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life
The one we all dream of, but dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing;
I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting
Will play out like a scene, straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my own breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when I find the one that I'll spend forever with

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
'Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street; out in the moonlight
And, damn it, this feels too right
It's just like déjà vu; me, standing here with you
So I'll be holding my breath, could this be the end?
Is it that moment when I find the one that I'll spend forever with?

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
'Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone

There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
You can't give up (when you're looking for)
A diamond in the rough (because you never know)
When it shows up, (make sure you're holding on)

'Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on
'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me, oh...Nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone

There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there (what you're looking for)
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares (you never know)
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
(start holding on)
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Think A Little Thing

Pernah tak agaknya kita terfikir kenapa minyak ada banyak kat Negara Arab?
Bayangkan, Malaysia hanya keluarkan minyak sekitar 840,000 tong sehari.
Bandingkan dengan:

Arab Saudi – 11,200,000 tong sehari (13 x ganda)
Kuwait – 2,800,000 tong sehari (3 x ganda)
UAE – 3,400,000 tong sehari (4 x ganda)
Iran – 4,000,000 tong sehari (5 x ganda)

Pernah tak agaknya kita terfikir?

Have you come across a verse in the Quran which means:

Tanda2 kebesaran Allah itu ada di langit dan di dalam diri kamu sendiri, hanya kamu yg tidak mengetahui.
And
Dan di antara tanda2 kekuasaan Allah itu Dia menciptakan langit dan bumi, dan ianya menjadi tanda2 bagi golongan yang berfikir ketika mereka berdiri, duduk dan berbaring.

If you go to ESQ training, they will showcase the whole built of the universe for you to reflect how little you are relative to God’s creation. If a person thinks that he/she is so great at the moment, he/she should try to find a dotting place in the universe. You are not even a peanut, a dust. You are nothing. One thing for sure, things will become clear that Mecca is in fact the center of the universe, not just the planet Earth. And realize it or not, all things in the universe are circling around and facing the great Kaaba. They are all indeed are zikiring (berzikir).

After being taken into a journey outside planet Earth and throughout the universe, you’ll be taken into a journey inside yourself. Zooming in from your skin, your bone, your blood vein, and the smallest element inside your body is indeed your DNA built. And guess what the DNA is doing? They are also circling around, zikiring (berzikir).

Pernah tak agaknya kita terfikir?

I’ve discussed this with another ESQ alumni and asked her the wonder of Allah and His creation, and why we are not the ones to discover all these things? Why not muslims? Why non-muslims who have created, innovated, researched, and revealed a lot of new things which by right is the responsibility of a muslim? The rich OPEC nations by right should have funded a lot of research on many areas for advancement of technology and human life but what are they doing? That day she said something which I will surely remember for life. She said:

“Sebab kita bukan dari golongan mereka yang berfikir”.

I got struck by her comment. That’s the answer. That’s why a hadith quoted that 1 minute of reflection is better than 1000 solat sunat. Have you ever thought about the greatness of Allah’s creation and reflect it on yourself?

Pernah tak agaknya kita terfikir?

So, kenapa agaknya negara Arab ni Allah bagi banyak sangat minyak dan gas? Jomlah kita bertukar2 idea. Get the brain to work a little.

AJIT - Revival

In August last year, Mr. X and I attended the AJIT program by Aziz CfP. Only today we manage to go to ASNB office and convert the ASB fund into a certificate. If you recall,
http://noraidalin.blogspot.com/2008/08/revolution-in-making.html, the foundation of the program is spending by using Overdraft facility. After the ASNB journey in the heavy rain, we straight away headed to RHB office to apply for the OD. Hopefully things will be all well.

I have great hope for this AJIT to succeed. Amanah, Jujur, Ikhlas and Telus. No funny business. Well, I've made it clear to Mr. X. Once things become funny, AJIT will collapse. There goes all our hope.

AJIT indirectly forces us to share the same goals for the family. I've made it clear that the savings belong to me, Mr. X and our kids. Should something happens to me, or Mr. X or both of us, the money shall belong to our kids. I don't want any dirty hands to mess with this fund. That's why any one of us especially can't afford to act funny here. How many times I repeat the word "funny" daaaa.....

Ya Allah, jika program AJIT ini membawa berkat kepada kami sekeluarga, kau tanamkanlah sifat disiplin dalam diri kami untuk mengikut program ini sebagaimana direncana. AMIN.

For those of you who wants to know about AJIT, Aziz is coming to JB on 11 April 2009. Refer to link on Financial Advise Made Easy as one of my linked blogs.

Empty Nest Days

I got to know that one of my seasoned ex-boss had ventured into the business of bakery cum cafe at the newly opened Jusco Setiawangsa. After retirement, he spent quite a lot of his resources on this business venture. When I went up to KL in January, I managed to drop by his cafe.

The written "Salam" on the green board indirectly distinguishes that this cafe belongs to a Muslim.

Yummy cakes on display, purposely put near the cash register to attract your eyes.

I like the organization and outlook of the breads and biscuits. He said should be as nice as Breadtalk but not as expensive.

Some of the creative design of the breads, really make them different from current ones found in other bakery.

I've known Encik Abdul Aziz Abdul Halim aka Tikus way back in year 2000. He had hold high posts in many different units. Eventually, he chose to venture into this business with his partner upon his retirement, among a few other businesses. Maybe this has been part of his life plan on what to do after retirement. Guess how much is the capital for this bakery? RM700,000!!! Monthly rental is RM6,000. Hence his business really needs to take up fast. But it's far from easy.

Hmm, what is my plan after retirement? Pejam celik pejam celik, tup2 dah 50 tahun. It's that time to review my financial goal - that's what the Financial Advisor would say.