Long lost friend

Ok.. this is weird.  For the past few days I've been thinking about someone.  Whom I havent met close to 20 years.  Its all started when I stumbled upon her wedding invitation card when I cleared up some space in one of the cabinets.  The wedding dated back to 10th January 1993.  And the card was posted alot earlier than that.

The card was from a girl who lived in Singapore whom I knew when I was alot younger.  She was a pen friend of a colleague at my previous post.  They wrote to each other for a while and decided to meet when we were sent for a computer course in Singapore.  He met her with all of us in tow, haha.  Then we met regularly after that, we went places and she even invited all of us to her house for dinner and met her family.  We became very close in that short period of time.  I got a feeling that she fell for this guy.  I was not sure if the guy had a mutual feeling but they did look so cute together.

We remained in contact for a few years after that although in the end, it seemed life had other plans for us.  Everyone drifted apart until one day I got her wedding invitation in Singapore and she also wrote that she was sorry she didnt keep in touch more regularly and promised to write more.  Havent heard from her since.  And I didnt attend the wedding.

Fast forward, its almost 20 years now.  And here I am thinking about her.  Wondering how is she doing, how she looks like after all these years. How many kids she had.  I wish I knew how and where to find her.  When I told hubby about her, hubby asked me to check FB, who knows she might be there somewhere.  But then again, I guess most people dont use their real names in FB so the chances are still slim.   We gave it a try nevertheless and unsuccessful.  We even went further to ask someone who had the same name as her if she knew my friend but to no avail.

We tried to look for Singapore website for long lost friend as well but no luck yet.  I know this not an easy task but wouldnt it be great if our path crossed again?  I would love to see her again.  I still can remember how she looked like.

Its even better if I knew how to contact her soon since we will be leaving for Singapore in less than 3 weeks.  Wouldnt it be great if we could meet and reminisce about the old times on this trip?

So I am looking for pointers.  Or tips on how to look for a long lost friend.  I wonder anybody out there know Hamidah Bee Abdul Wahid from Beduk North Road, Singapore.

Happy Birthday Bro!

Many happy returns!  May Allah blessed you with abundance of good health, wealth and long life!

Our daughter Khatam Al-Quran

So Congratulations Ayang, for reaching this far.  Yesterday Ayang and 66 of her schoolmates had the Khatam Al-Quran ceremony organised by her school.  It was a joyous occasion, apart from finishing their exams and hoping for flying colours, this is another important milestones in their lives.

The stage where the ceremony took place at her school.

The screen/slides at the centre of the stage, very useful to show any caption and all the Surah they recite.

The students  - all of them who took part although I didnt know where Ayang was!

Focusing on reciting the Surah

After the Khatam, they all lined up to receive their certificates.

My daughter with her school principal.

Happy faces!!!

The "menabur bunga rampai" ceremony with the students parents.



Ayang with some of her classmates who took part.



So what are we gonna do now??? LOL.

Me and my daughter

Ayang and her bestie

Enjoying the food.

Her certificate.

The ceremony wont be complete without food haha..

I am free!

Thats my daughter!  LOL...

She finishes her exam yesterday, after having it for the past month.  Her last paper was Bio, her favourite subject and she went home with a big smile on her face!

She said she and her friends screamed out loud right after the exam ended.  Such a big relief for everyone.  And she said - NOW I AM FREE!

She will be free for the next 2-3 months before the result was announced.  So for now she's gonna chill and relax.  Anticipating the result will be another matter, haha.

I will let her relax for a bit.  Afterall she deserves it, its been a long and tiring road to be at the end of this.  She has done her best to study and did what she was supposed to do.  I think she has done everything in her power to revise and answered all the papers.  Its all passed.  And the future is there and now. 

I asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate? She looked at me in the face and asked me back. What? Celebrate?  I will celebrate when I know my result! What a sensible thing to say, lol.  She said she just want to release the tension of the exam, maybe go for a movie with her friends or something.  And she said she wanted to go to the latest Harry Porter movie with me tomorrow.  Well.. not a big HP fan, but why not?  Hubby said it the movie would be ok to watch, with the affects and the wizards and all.  We'll see about that.

Still a long time before we know the result.  So for now, its a down time.  A lazy time for her and I am gonna let her do her things for a while.  Its going to be fun for her.  She's gonna be busy with lots of things I am sure.  And the first on the list is she will be doing her Khatam Al-Quran at her school next week,a and will be involved in rehersals few times.  Too bad parents were not invited, I sure want to see her khatam. 

With all these commotions behind us, I just realise again that my daughter is growing up.  She will be in Form 6 next year and will be off to Uni for the next 2 years.  She flies of the nest, eventually.  She will be on her own most of the time very soon, and I am gonna let her live her on life.  I am not looking forward to that but has to be done.  Its so sad but she is a grown up now.

(Update : We received the Khatamal Quran invitation for my daughter today for tuesday so its on!)

Salam Eid ul-Adha

I have a very low-key Eid ul-Adha this year, in fact we didnt even celebrate it, which is such a pity.  Last year, we had an open house for family.  But not this year. I went to work instead for 2hrs.  Never in my working life have done that, but this new job requires me to do so.  Its fortunate that the office is only about 20 minutes away and I have said my committment to perform my duties.

Another reason why there was no celebration was because our daughter was having her exam today.  The exam has been fixed and since Eid ul-Adha was pushed back one day later, then the exam still had to go on.  She and the rest of her friends have Physics today despite the celebration.  But I think its ok, its not really a big deal. 

Spent my afternoon browsing the internet for some pictures of Hajj this year, and came across this website with really amazing pictures!  Just look at these, there are really brilliant, make me proud to be a Muslim.  I took these pictures from this site : http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/11/hajj_2010.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed4.  My blog here doesnt do justice to these pictures. Go and see, you'll be amazed!

Royal Wedding of England - Coming Soon

Ahh... I just love wedding!  The engagement announcement of Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton sent lots of anticipations all around the world.  Its about time!  They have been together since 2004 and as friends before that.  How romantic Prince William gave his fiancee his mother's ring, thats lovely.  And the ring looks really nice too.  Its huge saphire surrounded with diamond.  I wonder how much the ring worth?

What a nostalgic time.  Reminded the world of Princess Diana wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, 30 years ago. I was just 12 years old that time, and still vividly remember how extravagant the wedding was.  It was being telecast as live all round the world, including Brunei.  Unbelievable.  And I loved Diana's dress too.  The wedding drew grasps from people and taunted as the fairy tale wedding.

So I am looking forward to witness the wedding of Prince William and Kate next year, Insya Allah.  I am sure its gonna be a grand affair too.  I want to see the wedding dress, the venue and most important of all, those glorify smile and happiness from the couple.  After all its been 30 years since the fairy tale wedding and it was even ended with bitter divorce.  Lets hope for a better future this time!

3D Movies in Brunei

Now that my daughter almost finish her exam, well.. another week to go then she will be free! (her words, lol), she is planning to release the tension by going to the cinema and watch the 3D movie at the Mall Cineplex.

3D movies are so new here in Brunei.  Although we have seen 3D twice in KL but never done that here, not because we didnt want to but there was no 3D movies here yet.  Until recently.  The Mall Cineplex has gone 3D!  I would say, better late than never because 3D movies have existed since 1950s (according to Wikipedia). 

What is 3D movies actually?  According to Wikipedia (again), a 3-D (three-dimensional) film or S3D (stereoscopic 3D) film^[1] is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception. Derived from stereoscopic photography, a special motion picture camera system is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives (or computer-generated imagery generates the two perspectives), and special projection hardware and/or eyewear are used to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the film. 3-D films are not limited to feature film theatrical releases; television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, primarily for marketing purposes.

So there you go.  Its a totally new experience for the people of Brunei.  Wonder how is it like at the Mall?  What are the people reactions?  Was it well received?  Since I heard the tickets are more expensive than normal tickets.  Which should be the case since the technology and the equipments must be quite expensive. 

So we might give it a try.  Although the Mall is not really my preference because of the crowds but my daughter is eager to watch and since its in conjunction with her finishing her exam soon, it might be a good idea to go.

Although I have another reservation.  About the 3D glasses.  How do they do it?  Do we have to share the same glasses with the rest of the patrons?  My daughter told me her friend told her that they will discard the used frames and only take the glasses out and use them on another new frames.  If thats the case, then its alright.  Anybody knows?

And here is the costs of the tickets for reference I copied from Ranoadidas.com.

The ZamZam water

Very fascinating.  I have the urge to do a bit of browsing on zamzam water and astonished with the findings.  I always know how special this well water is, for the fact that it has appeared for thousands of years and have been drank and brought home for millions of pilgrims every single year, and never dried up!

We drank quite alot of this water too when we were there for Umrah, there are so many cool containers lined up in Masjidil Haram and we could just stop by and drank the water with a plastic cup as many times as we want.  It simply readily available any time at Masjidil Haram, Masya Allah.

It is indeed a very special water.  There is nothing ordinary about it. The miracle of how it came to being in the middle of the desert, its consistency throughout thousands of years, the beneficial qualities it has, the fact that it never dries up. This water is special.

Below some incriptions i copied from the internet.

Zamzam water:

The fact is, this small 5 ft. deep well is far away from any other source or body of water. It is self-replenishing. It is constantly replenishing itself in order to produce gallons upon gallons of water for consumption of thirsty pilgrims plus the additional amount that is bottled and also the amount that is taken as gifts distributed worldwide to millions. Zamzam water has scientifically been proven to contain healing qualities due to its higher content of Calcium and Magnesium Salts and also the natural fluorides that encompass a germicidal action.

It is also an established scientific fact that pools or water wells tend to grow vegetation such as algae—especially in warm climates. Amazingly is not the case in the well of Zamzam. It has remained free from biological contaminants.

Zamzam Water is pure water, without color or smell, has a distinct taste, and its hydrogen exponent is 7.5, indicating that it is alkaline to some extent.

A study conducted in American laboratories showed that traces of thirty elements were identified in Zamzam water by means of energizing neutrons. Some of these elements scored less than 0.01.  According to various chemical analyses, dry weather make: Zamzam more saline through evaporation, which is, with Allaah's might, good for the human body

As we all know, its all started when Siti Hajar (raa) searched desperately for water in the hills of Safa and Marwa to give to her newly born son Ismail (pbuh) As she ran from one place to another in search of water, her child rubbed his feet against the sand. A pool of water surfaced, and by the grace of God, shaped itself into a well which came to be called Zamzam water.

Below some amazing pictures of this special water.

Rare picture of zamzam well, from the source

 

Another picture of the well



From the top or from the surface

See, the well is not very deep.



Zamzam water is kept in cool container and ready for consumption all over Masjidil Haram.



The Month of Hajj

Its that time of year again!

So for this month and for the celebration to come, I just wanted to blog about this month, especially on the first 10 days that lead up to the 10th of Dzul Hijjah where all pilgrims in the holy land gather at Mount Arafah to get their "title".   How I wish its our turn, but we are redha its not our turn just yet.  Although at times, I feel so uneasya and impatient, I dont want to be left behind, to do this obligation.  I dont want it to be late for us.  Well.. Insya Allah, with Allah's will, we will be there too.

As all Muslim know, Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Hajj takes place in the twelth month of the Islamic calendar and every Muslim who is physically and financially able must perform this pilgimage at least once in their lifetime. It is a rigorous journey - a reminder of the purpose of life and man's ultimate end.

We have to be ready to embark on this journey, try to discharge ourselves from debts, seek the forgiveness of anyone and try to re-establish good relations with all.  Its not an easy one, but as everyone was saying, its the most fulfilling and exciting journey for every muslim.  Masha Allah. 

If we look at these pictures below, we couldnt help but feel the longing to be there.  How I wish, I was there too.  Our last trip to Mecca was in 2002 for our Umrah, and that was almost 10 years ago, a very long time and as we all know there are already so many changes to Mecca.  New building, the biggest clock, the new hotels, improve infrastractures and transportation.  Although this is merely not the reason to go again.  The ibadah will be eased with all these facilities I am sure.  Although these days the cost of the trip increases too.  But as I said, Insya Allah, Allah will give the rezki when we become his guests in the holy land.

Look at these pictures.  One word - beautiful.



The new Excapade Sushi in town

We tried the new and latest just opened Excapade restaurant in town, in Jalan Bunut to be exact.  This is I think their 6th or 7th branch?  Not sure, but their business really flourishes.  The actual name is Excapade Teppanyaki and I think they specialised in Sushi steamboat.  But we dont like steamboat so much so we still ordered the same dishes every time, hahaha.

The main entrace to the restaurant.

I was looking and making order while hubby taking pictures hahaha

Yummy

Hubby's favourite

Another hubby's favourite

This is my favourite

Hmmm..

Green Tea

Interview

What an ironic condition I was in the workplace today!

I was being interviewed at the same room just a month ago and got the job, yay.... And today I was there again but this time as an interviewer! There were a few candidates who interested to take over my old job (about time! Can we move on already and I can be in my new job full time?) and we conducted the interview to see their suitability. Very important for me since I have to ensure that my potential successor is the most suitable for the job . Pity those folks in the office if we just choose randomly without looking at what they can do and offer for the job.

Anyway, it went well, we basically have identified who should be sitting in there. And I cant wait for her to take over. Though there are still some paperwork and documents to be finalised but I am positive someone will be chosen.

But what I wanted to blog about was the irony of it all. Being an interviewer as opposed to the interviewee was a better position I think. I didn’t feel nervous because I know its not me that was being scrutinised so its all good ;). And I did understand what the candidates must feel. Its very nerve wrecking of course, you are sitting in one corner and being asked with all sorts of questions, even the interview room is very intimidating with tables and chairs with no windows. It sure felt like you are being interrogated or something. Whoever being interviewed here sure feel like a criminal one way or another, haha.

Ok, thats not even funny when you went for an interview.

View from my new office

The best thing of my new office is the view, from the 12th floor.  We could see almost 360 degrees of Bandar Seri Begawan, which is awesome.

Sungai Kianggeh leading up to Sungai Brunei.

Kampong Air from afar

Another view of Kampong Air

The motor tambang, graceful image of Bandar Seri Begawan

Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddin from different angle of my new office

We could also see the Bangunan Alat-Alat Kebesaran Diraja

Post Office Building at the fore front and Ministry of Home Affairs at the background

The water fountain at Padang Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin

"Dang Ayang" Mosseluem

 

Tamu Kianggeh



My new office!