Al-fatihah

There was a death in my family yesterday.

My dad's aunty, Tok Su passed away due to kidney failure and while it wasn't something so sudden, it still took us by surprise to know this great woman had left us behind. I guess that's what death does to us, no matter how well we prepare for it. I didn't even get to go to her burial, was in bed asleep when my parents got the news and they rushed off without me.

No one knew this but I cried for a minute for her when I found out about the news. I wasn't very close to her but I used to go to her house after school when I was younger, around 11 and 12 years old. She would always ask me after school, "Dah makan? Sekolah macam mana?" (Have you eaten? How was school?). Tok Su was always smiling, a woman who hardly hurt the feelings of others. It wasn't hard at all to fall for her kind-hearted nature.

But her death happened during Ramadhan so that tells you something, no? Only the most loved ones are taken away during the holy month.

May Allah bless her soul.

Al-fatihah.

Kittens

I never liked cats. Everytime a cat is nearby, I will move away or shoo them away. Yea, Zaffy is scared of cats. Heh.

Today, it was a cold day and when I peered out at the frontstep of my house, I saw this:


It kinda makes you go....awww. The black kitten saw me staring and it looked straight into my eyes, a little terrified, perhaps.

And I just looked back knowingly, as if to say 'It's okay. Go to sleep, little kitty'. And the black kitten yawned and slowly closed his eyes, bundled close to the mother.

The cat and its kittens found comfort on my doorstep.

What a profound moment eh? Cheh kononnya la.

Ramadhan's here

Ramadhan's here again. The month of patience, forbearance and perseverance is here once again to grace us with its presence.

It'll be a longer month for some of us, what with trials and all. Ahh well.

To my Muslim friends, Selamat Berpuasa.

May we become stronger Muslims after this. Insyaallah.

TRIALS and Tribulations

Ahh, yes, this IS it.

SPM trials.

34 papers. In one whole month.

This is where your sleep, sanity and everything else give in.

And this is where your tears, blood, sweat come in.

Good luck!

Anywhere BUT Here

*Just a random thought

I see myself up on the cold mountain of Himalaya looking down at the morning breeze.

I see myself curled up in my own cocoon, listening to Norah Jones rustic voice.

I see myself going away. Far far away to an unknown place, wandering mindlessly yet full of thoughts.

I see myself gazing at the sunrise across the blue ocean as the crashing waves compete with the exuberant yells of the seagulls.

I see myself frowning at the irony of life but smiling at the reality of it.

I see myself getting out of bed and thanking God for another fine day.

I see myself anywhere BUT here

Here it is....again

I'm sick. The virus is killing me. I'm exhausted but I can't seem to catch a proper sleep. Spent the whole night tossing and turning on the bed, my brain whizzing with unwanted details of the day. I feel like my oesophagus is being tied up and the peristaltic movement is being constrained making me feel that the food will get stuck in my throat. At least, that's what I feel. So now, I'm living on fluids, mostly water and fruit juices.

And I puked at school today, in Faiz's plastic bag. Heh. Tried to do some reading but my brain is hanging heavy on me. I probably got all this from my mum who was self-quarantined for suspected H1N1. But she's cleared off it and is back at work. Alhamdullilah.

It sucks being so unwell when your trials are just one week away. It'll be nice to skip them and all but it's very unlikely.

So I better get well ASAP or I'll have trouble for my trials.

Awarding Excellent Achievements

We had Majlis Penghargaan Kokurikulum in school today. I was there for English Language Society, Nostalgia Editorial Board and Wira debates. Oh and English Language Society won the Best Academic Club of the Year, 6 times in a row. How awesome!

The realization that this will be my last Majlis Kokurikulum came with a pang when I was gabbing and laughing away with friends today. But at least, we know we are leaving the school with achievements to be proud of and memories that will be remembered for a long time.

I'll definitely miss the debating team and Nostalgia Ed Board. So much time, effort and energy have been poured into these two and they have showed me there is life outside of classroom. If I were to look back at my years in secondary school later, my debate team and Nostalgia would be the first thing to come to mind.

And we cam-whored like no one's business too today. Ah well, after all there's no such thing as taking too many photos, is there?

SMKDJ's choir. They sang with such gusto

The energetic conductor, Rachel

Best Academic Club of the Year for English Society

And here we have the Prez of the club himself (Daryl) with the Vice-Prez =)

In deep thoughts, Keefe and I

AJK of English Lang. Society

I was trying to tie my own necktie for the first time. With Calvin's help

It's actually Syamir not Fadzil

Talk about Girl Power

Making the 'Fat People Are Happy People' pose with Daniel. That was the title of his award-winning public speaking speech.

Who else if not Miss ZharifZafran kan? Hah

Kisses for the trophy with Sophia

For memories' sake

Point of Information, Sir!

Awww!

Wira champs with the ever so lovely, Pn Mag

Great food and even greater friends

Amar and Amir, my good friends from my primary school years were kind enough to invite a bunch of us from DJ to their restaurant's opening, D'tandoor, an Indian cuisine restaurant. I've been friends with them for like 7 years and I've never set foot in the restaurant before. Huh, I wonder why?

But the food's good and the crowds were spilling on the roads for the opening. They have branches all over the world (Aus, Saudi, New Zealand etc.) and they're doing impeccably well now.

It was a good time to catch up with the twins (many are surprised to know Amar and Amir are actually twins when they look so different) and I miss those days way back when we were 10 year olds, keen on everything and anything that we saw. Remember the laughs and jokes we had during our agama class with Ustazah Faridah? We were such jokers la!

Here are some photos.

The inside of the restaurant

With Amir, one of the hosts

Yes, Fadzil dreams to be as tall as Amir. I believe Amir is close to 7 feet tall. Wow!

On the road

The flowers were not spared too. Hah.

Us

The other twin brother, Amar.

And this is my so-called 'twin', Syira. We are always mistaken as sisters. Righhttt!