In loving memories...

It has been a week now ever since my grandfather kembali ke rahmatullah...And it was just a few weeks ago that I could recall talking to him...remembering him asking what was Ridhwan's name as old age was getting to him and memory loss was quite bad...but no matter how many times he forgot our names or who we were whenever we visited him...he was a wonderful host to his guest...making sure we all had enough food and drink at the table....was always asking about our health and was even teasing my grandma whenever he could...he also looked forward to our visits everytime we came as if we never visited him for years when it was only a week ago we came to see him...

His death is much felt for the whole family as he was always the leader among the menantu(s) on my grandma's side...as my grandma being the eldest of the family, it was natural that my grandpa was the eldest menantu(s) and the person all the other menantu(s) and sisters look up to whenever they were in need...he was also very hospitable and well respected because of his character and how he treated everyone around him....even during his career as the director general of customs malaysia and when he was a normal custom officer, he was one of those who did not hesitate to defy the english when the english were here...yup, during the old english occupancy era..as a matter of fact, there was one story my mother always told me which is still very fresh in my mind was when he was a customs officer, can't remember his position at that time though..anyway, being a customs officer, my mother's family had to move around Malaysia a lot, and they had just moved to one state, can't remember which one, and within 24 hours he was asked to moved to a new state as he bravely defied one of the english officer there...my grandfather was a man with high principles and was not afraid to fight for the truth..and being so brave and bold ended him up being transfered to another state within 24 hours...wow!...but he proved even being a local custom officer or a malay officer at that time when the english were reigning, he was not afraid to speak up and that is something I admire till now...there was even a time, my mother may have not existed because of his courageous act!.. during one of his roundings with the customs officers at sea, he was actually captured by the pirates!! mind you, there are pirates out there in the sea betul2x sebenarnya!.. and he was actually thrown from the boat into the middle of the sea by these pirates as they refused to be taken into custody by the customs...tapi tu lah, ajal arwah datuk tak sampai lagi .. alhamdulillah he was rescued but when they rescued him, he was already blue and was not breathing...tapi ajal semua di tangan Allah kan...he survived the ordeal...and became an even greater man...

They are many courageous stories of him my mother would always tell me as a child and even when I am now a mother to a wonderful little boy...and the stories never stopped to amaze me to this day....and so the news about him passing away really shocked me, especially when I was the one who had to tell my mother of the news..it just broke my heart into pieces....the call my mom made to my auntie after hearing my grandpa was unconscious was passed to me as she couldn't hear clearly what my aunt said...and when my aunt told me to tell my mom that my grandpa was gone..i didn't answer anything to her and just placed the phone down...and looked at my mom and stared crying badly...my mom was then in a panic and asked what was wrong...and i told her the news....

However, alhamdulillah arwah datuk was a man who was always consistent with his amalan harian and ibadatnya and was always very generous in giving and sedaqah, and so alhamdulillah, his rezeki, pengurusan jenazah was very fast and without any hiccups at all...by 2.30 pm he was buried at the Tanah perkuburan bukit kiara near my grandma's house ....

It was a solemn day that day and for the very first time I could see my grand-uncles actually breaking down and crying their heart out and some of them are actually great men during their younger times and I have always admired them... and seeing them crying really made me weep even more and broke my heart and realised how much my grandpa was really admired and looked up to all these years...

But as muslims, we must not weep too much as we would only cause the jenazah to be in more pain and aggravate him...cause as we leave this world, what is important is what we have done before our time is up and the 3 main things are, our amal soleh, ilmu yang manfaat and anak yang soleh...and my arwah grandfather have always had these things with him throughout his time here in this world...

Therefore, semoga roh arwah datuk dicucuri rahmatNya dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang mukmin...I loved you very much datuk and your courage, your passion, your love to your family, your love to your spouse, your sense of humor, your generosity and most of all your amalan ibadat is something I would always remember and try to follow so I may one day be a great person like you too...wallahualam...

Arwah datuk and nenek at my house before my aqad nikah in September 2003

Kembali ke rahmatullah...arwah datuk...

Tan Sri Hj. Daiman Bin Jamuluddin telah kembali ke rahmatullah pagi ini lebih kurang antara pukul 9.40 ke 9.50 a.m.....al-fatihah....

The only grandfather I had... since my paternal grandfather died even before my mom got married..so I only knew my mom's dad as my only grandfather... he was a great man...was a man who loved his wife very much and loved to tease her...a man who was always very concern of his guest...who loved his children equally...who loved his grandchildren very much...was a man who touched many hearts ...the brother, the uncle, the family turn to and went to in time of needs...was a man very well respected and looked up to...that was my grandfather...my dear grandfather....

Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas arwah datuk...you will be missed very much...

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak!

Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadhan yang penuh dengan keberkatan...Insya-Allah...Semoga segala amal ibadat kita di bulan yang mulia ini akan mendapat berkah dan rahmat dari Ilahi...Insya-Allah..

A trip to the bridal shops..

Oops, eh, no, no, don't get me wrong ya everyone, I'm not getting another wedding gown for some anniversary bash or anything....hmm..maybe for my 10th anniversary I should do some majlis besar-besaran ya and wear back my nikah or reception kebarung or whatever they call it...hehee, naaah, ya rite, wonder if I'll even fit into it pun...hahahaa....never mind, I think a solat jemaah with my hubby on that special date and a romantic dinner for two would be just fine...insya-Allah...semoga perkahwinan kami sentiasa diberkati Allah..amin...

Anyway, last two weekends, I had a chance to actually visit some bridal shops in SS2, PJ, which I've always seen whenever I pass the SS2 main road but never actually get to see what were inside those bridal shops. I only and really had the opportunity to actually look for a few minutes from outside that is, the huge and beautifully decorated bridal shops in Ipoh whenever we go back to my hubby's hometown. But of course I just get to look from outside, the gowns and large wedding pictures hanging outside the shop from where else, but inside the car, whenever we pass them to go to the town or pick up my sis-in law wherever she would be at that time. And whenever we pass by, curiously I would be thinking, it must be really nice to try out all those wedding gowns one by one, and they are such lovely gowns being displayed as they were white and had lovely laces on them....waaah...hehee, yes, even though I am happily married for nearly 4 years now, a wedding or the thought of wedding gowns be it malay songket or english wedding gowns, it makes me awe with smiles.

So, lucky me, one of my best friend is getting married next year and she invited me to accompany her so she could try out the wedding gowns in the shops at SS2. Yippeee!! At last, after months of watching on channel 77 a show called Dress of your dreams, eh ke gowns of your dreams..anyway, one of it lah the title...I just got so excited that I finally could see an english wedding gown live! Well, I actually did get to see one when Loges got married but I was so preoccupied with taking care of Ridhwan and I couldn't get involve much in her wedding preparations and all, that I missed out the visiting wedding shops part...so this time, I am definitely making time to see the actual process of selecting wedding gowns for my other best friend...umm..should I mention your name here? hehee...the date is confirmed right? so, its all finalised right?? okaylah, won't mention yet your name here but will do it soon..hehee...

So, off I went with hubby and Ridhwan to SS2 to meet up with the gals and have some female bonding time and also some wedding excitement time too ;o) hehee... However, smart me, never been to SS2 in ages and conveniently was smart enough thinking, I know those shops, which ended up, I was so wrong of the locations of the shops (thank god, hubby knew the shops locations, malu aje), instead of arriving on time I ended reaching half and hour later after driving around SS2 in circles as the shops could only be accessed from a certain road...gosh, people driving in SS2 have no mercy in driving slowly or stopping for awhile...but finally I reached the first shop the gals wanted to check out.

Now...this is the best part, as it is I was upset that I was late, and having a headache with all the driving in circles in SS2 and was partly exhausted carrying Ridhwan around...as I was about to actually have a sit on the sofa in the bridal shop to finally see a gown my dear friend was trying out, Belle said to me..."..umm...i think he poo poo lah...smells a bit.." Darn it! Ridhwan, noooooo! Not here! Not now! Nooooooo!! ...yes, it's not a no... Ridhwan actually poo poo-ed in his nappy..of all the time and place to let it out...he had to let it out at the first bridal shop we entered....hahahaa...again, lucky me, I made sure I stocked the so small baby bag that I brought along that day with some cotton wool, one nappy and a liner...and to think that I was going to lenggang aje not bring those things thinking hubby is just around the corner somewhere in SS2 so I could just call if Ridhwan was hungry and needed to change his clothes...yup, lucky me allright...and so with much difficulty, as being a lasak 2 year old, even when not walking yet nie, it could be quite hard sometimes trying to change his nappy especially if he poo poo...but no sweat, this mother has gone through worse hurdles, I shall embrace this situation with a calm manner....ya rite, the gals didn't know how i was freaking out in the bathroom, while ridhwan was wriggling away in his soiled nappy and wanting to touch the nappy..I shall not describe that in detail lah yea...hehee...but, mission accomplish, after much pain-staking changing nappy ordeal, Ridhwan was happily changed into a new nappy, clean and nice smelling...and at lassttt...i could actually sit down on the sofa to see the trying out of the wedding gowns...but then, as I was just going to sit and relax....the gals said, okay, moving to the next shop now....whattt??!! here I am baru nak take a breather and we have to go off already...okaylah...so, obediently, I followed the gals out of the shop, dah ler we were on the 2nd floor and there was no railing on the stairs to hold on to while juggling Ridhwan...hehee..and truthfully I was quite out of breath already at that time...and was, oh heck, just bring me to the next shop so I could find some sofa to seat on...hehee...
what an experience that was...

Though, we did finally go to one shop so my dear friend could try out the gowns, and there I finally could sit down and enjoy the moment seeing my dear friend selecting her gown...her dream gown...she looked so lovely in the gowns she tried on...and they were very lovely gowns...laces, satins, silk....oh I just love weddings....but she didn't find 'the' wedding gown and of course there were KL shops to look into..but all in all, it was a nice experience for me to finally actually enter into a bridal shop with wedding gowns that I've only seen displayed near the windows and actually touching and seeing them live with my own eyes, was a wonderful experience and made me think about my own wedding 4 years ago....

Of course the preparation for my dear friend's wedding is still a long list but I was very happy to be a part of her 'entourage' accompanying her to see and select the wedding gowns and time spend with you gals is always looked forward to for this mother of a 2 year old boy who is improving and progressing day by day..time off from reality world occasionally really helps this mommy to relax and enjoy time with friends....so my dear friend, thanks for the lunch and most of all, thanks for having Ridhwan and I to come along with you that day...I hope you'll find your dream gown and you're going to look great on your wedding day!! and I will try my very best to be in every part of the way towards your wedding day ya..insya-Allah....I cried a tear when Loges got married a year ago, wonder if I will too when it is your turn...hehee....aaah, weddings...don't you just love them...