Salah siapa?

Tempat: Surau Central Market, tengahari

Scene: Di saf pertama beberapa orang wanita sedang bersolat, manakala di saf kedua seorang wanita telah selesai bersolat dan sedang membaca Ma'thurat. Aku pula baru masuk kedalam surau setelah selesai berwuduk. Sedang asyik aku mengenakan telekung, terdengar suara wanita yang membaca ma'thurat menegur wanita yang baru selesai bersolat dihadapannya, "Kaki nampak tadi, tak sah solat tu" wanita tersebut terdiam sebentar seraya menjawab "tapi saya dengar kalau tak sengaja tak apa", dan dia berlalu untuk membetulkan rambutnya di cermin, meninggalkan wanita yang menegur tadi terdiam.


Persoalan: Siapa yang berdosa dalam hal ni? Wanita yang tak sengaja terselak kainnya semasa sedang bersolat ataupun wanita yang duduk dibelakangnya membaca ma'thurat sambil memerhati tanpa membuat apa-apa?

Pandangan peribadi: Kalau dah nampak perbuatan tak betul tu, tolonglah betulkan (mana yang sesuai ikut keadaan). Kalau dah kain orang tu terselak, sanggup tengok aje kaki orang tu terdedah sampai dia habis solat, sedangkan kita tahu hukum mungkin solat orang tu tak sah. Kalau dah ada ilmu tapi tak diamalkan dan dihebahkan, tak berguna juga - baca ma'thurat seribu kali pun tak dapat faedah. Dan tunggu sampai orang tu habis solat baru nak tegur, pada saya, bunyinya macam riya' dan macam sengaja nak memalukan orang tersebut. Ini tengok saja benda yang tak betul berlaku tapi tak ada kata nak tolong, semua pakat-pakat tengok lepas tu pakat-pakat melepat.

Kesimpulan: Lain kali kalau ternampak saudari seIslam yang sedang bersolat terselak kainnya, tolong lah tarik kain supaya kakinya terlindung. Tak payah tunggu orang tu habis solat baru nak tegur. Mungkin kita yang memerhati tanpa membuat apa-apa pun dapat dosa sebab mendiamkan (no action) perkara tersebut.

Wallahu a'lam - Allah lebih Maha Mengetahui

Wardrobe Malfunction!

When I think about wardrobe malfunction, the Janet Jackson incident at the Superbowl a few years ago comes to mind. Be it intentional or accidental, these incidents can be very embarrassing indeed, both to the "doer" as well as the onlooker!

Opppsss!!!

I think most of us will experience wardrobe malfunction at least once in their lifetime. Personally I've had a few of those mortifying moments but the one that stuck out the most from my memory was the one I had at the office a few years ago.

The story goes: a bunch of us were on Friday break and was just killing time before we commenced our duties. I was standing at the entrance of my cubicle while some of my office mates (which included one male immediate supervisor) were sitting on a sofa in front of my cubicle. We were yakking away when suddenly *poof* my black sarong skirt suddenly went down to the ground. I didn't even feel that the skirt was not on my hips anymore because I was wearing one of those corsets that covered my tummy down to my thighs and stops just above the knees. Fortunately, I had that on, else it would've been a more "exposed" free show for my colleagues. Anyway, my colleagues were screaming and pointing at me then I realized what had happened and bent down quickly to pick up my skirt. I was mortified because my MALE boss was there and wished that the floor would open up and swallow me so I could avoid the awkward moment. However, with my colleagues laughing I forgo the thought and joined in the laughter. 

We were perplexed as to how the skirt came off. For one, I was standing and not doing any rigorous movement that could warrant the skirt off. And secondly, my skirt was the zip and hook type. How did it became unzipped and unhooked, thus falling down?? My theory was that, because I was wearing the corset, my waist could've been smaller than the measurement of the skirt thus with some movement, somehow could've unhooked the skirt, and probably unzipped it too. And because of the corset material was made of some kind of spandex covered with satin, I couldn't feel the movement of the skirt when it came undone. I think the satin layer may have contributed to expedite the velocity of the skirt downwards.

Anyway, I was stuck with my male boss for the evening as we had to go to some emergency meeting outside. Embarrassing moments aside, I had to maintain my professionalism and just do my work. I guess the situation forced us (ha!) to overcome the incident. Of course, we never talked about it, ever. So that kind of helped, too :p

Garden stool for indoor living

I love this lime green garden stool. I first saw it in snippets of Samantha Pynn's tips on Astro HD channel 706 Lifestyle on how to refresh a living room. This stool is multi-function and can be used either for indoor or outdoor, as a stool or coffee table - put two of these stools side by side and voila!  it can become an instant coffee table, replacing the conventional coffee table. A fresh and modern idea that I can easily adopt for my (future) home.

More ideas on how to use these garden stools indoor, here and here.

Buying a home or just a house?

Appalling! That's what been going on in my head when I surfed the net for prospect home to buy. I do not get the mentality of home owners that feel the need to showcase their house in very messy conditions. Do they think that prospect buyers would want to see how messy can a house get - with clothes lying around, helmets in the house, dining table full of clutter?? I do understand that some of the houses are rented out but if the home owners or agents are planning to snap pictures, I would highly suggest that they inform the tenants to clean up and clear the room of unnecessary clutter.

I don't need to mention the atrocious curtains and furniture coz its a matter of style and taste, and furthermore we are not buying the house fully furnished! The bedroom and bathroom is none the better - beds unmade, clothes on the bed & floor, dirty bathroom, tiles missing on wall in the bathroom. Just makes me want to gag thinking about it.

Another thing that bothered me was that some houses have really, really loud color. I get it that they may want to have a feature wall or a splash of color in the house but some of the colors are really bright that they are almost fluorescent that I think you would need wear a Ray Ban inside the house. I always thought that this was just a mistake on the part of home owners that they may think of some color but ended up with a totally different colour. Maybe the tone of colour that they bought was a tad too bright and ended up with fluorescent paint all over the house. And maybe they think that "oh well, since I already bought buckets of this paint might as well finish it off" and proceeded to paint the rest of the house in similar colour. That's how home owners ended up with a fluorescent house, in my opnion.

When you see makeover shows like Flip This House or The Style Department on Astro, the house is given a makeover a simple as giving it a fresh coat of paint, de-cluttering and re-positioning furniture to emphasize the space so that prospect buyers can see the potential of a home.

Meanwhile, I am still searching for my dream home in this challenging time and budget :p

A Day in Sepang F1 Circuit

Being someone who is involved in the meetings industry, we are required to source out for unique venues to organize events or to recommend to clients. We had the opportunity to inspect the venue with the H.H Tham, Head of Commercial, Sepang Circuit, and was pleasantly surprised that the F1 Circuit is not only selling race track but now they have expanded to selling facilities available on the venue. This circuit is highly suitable for incentive groups - to do activities on the circuit such as tour of circuit, driving lessons, race-off, special tour & tailor made events.

The Grandstand overlooking the F1 Track

Perdana Suite overlooking the rooftop

Roof top

The Race Control room is normally off limits to people not involved in the race, however, we got special access into it. We were told that during race period, owners and race managers would be sitting in this small room (can fit about 30 pax) to monitor the race going on at the tv screen. Owners/race managers can contest the outcome eg penalty to drivers, accident, emergencies.

Paddock Club has 4 large air-conditioned walls with attached tv panels on the pillars. Ideal for product launches, cocktail events even sit-down dinners.

Paddock Club overlooks the grand stand

VIP Suite at the Grandstand

The Paddock Suite is situated above the car garage

Media Centre - can fit 400 media with overhead TV screens. It can also be converted to a lecture hall or if for seminar hall for briefings

A view of the grandstand from the recer's view

Space behind the paddock is large enough for 3k pax with stage built. Again cost for staging outdoor event includes marquee, catering, stage, AV, lightings, etc

The Helipad where the Rain concert was held could hold 100,000 pax or more. Great for outdoor events eg carnivals, concerts. Equally big budget needed to stage the outdoor events for tenting, platform, sound system, etc


And the winner is.......yours truly!

Childhood daydream

When I was little, I always daydreamed that I could fly, literally. Back when I was in Kelantan when I was 9 years old, we used to live in a bungalow house surrounded by a small orchard overgrown with bananas and red and yellow rambutan trees. We used to see foxes crossing the lalang field on the side of the house or get the occasional house calls from small snakes or a crossing biawak, whom I think were confused with this house in its path to the other side.

We didn’t have many friends outside the house. So we had to amuse ourselves with our toys and made up games. I used to climb the railing on the second-storey building which was near the balcony, and it was quite a climb as there were no safety net below but we were determined to go to the front part of the house  which was actually the roof for the porch below, and then we would play and probably had some sort of picnic there. Or I would stare out the windows to look at orchard the below. I’d always dreamed that if I jumped out the window, then I’d be able to fly. God’s angels would break my fall and bring me to safety. I was tempted many times to jump out the window from the second story bungalow, each time the temptation was bigger than the last. But each time I grew more cautious of the inner voice, I didn’t know if that was my conscience urging me to be more sensible or was that my fear, preventing me from jumping out the window. Maybe it’d be a different story if I’d jumped. 

I guess the imagination of a child is boundless, but as the years passed they grew up, and that's when they gradually lost the magical feeling of dreaming and thinking that they could doing anything. They had to make the decision whether to jump or not to jump...      

The Kampong View : Kedah

Gunung Jerai, Yan, Kedah

Wouldn't it be nice to have a view of the mountains when you wake up everyday? 

This view is picture perfect from my aunty's house in Sg Petani, Kedah, where it is surrounded by paddy fields. You can almost breath the mountain air, and let me tell you that the clean air was refreshing to the point that it made me dizzy.

Kellie's Castle - Part 2

The Castle is indeed grand and eerie at the same time. The rooms for the children were quite sizeable and there were connecting passages behind what was supposed to be the bathroom and there were (what I think) is the escape or emergency stairs in the connecting passageway. It is quite an interesting architecture with its hidden nooks and crannies - especially on the lower roof top. Another unique feature is that the rooms are connected by an outside corridor - much akin to the hostel corridors, and one can really feel the eeriness when walking thru the corridors.

The daughter's room Proposed bathroom in the daughter's room The connecting passageway between the daughter's & the son's room and there's a staircase in the middle

Visitors were warned not to make much noise when entering Kellie's daughter room as it was said that her spirit still roams the place. I was told that there were strange happenings in the castle, when foreign film crews came and erected camera on a tripod to capture any supernatural activities during the night, they found in the recordings that it was knocked down by a white being - presumably Old Man Kellie himself. Paranormal crews from local and overseas have been coming in droves to study this phenomenon.

Prayer altar with imported stones & marble from India A favourite place for wedded couples to take picture - where the picture was taken was on the lower rooftop, the couple are on the third floor and people can still go up on the upper rooftop, above the third floor (albeit the "gayat" feeling you get on top of a high building without security partition on the sides)

The elevator shaft for the 1st bucket list in Malaya

If you are a fan of history & paranormal sightings - then a visit to Kellie's Castle would not disappoint.

Kellie's Castle - Part 1

I was in Perak last June for work and one of the tourist spot that I have been wanting to visit was Kellie's Castle. It is situated in Batu Gajah, Perak, and roughly takes about 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, and only 20 minutes to Ipoh town. I was fascinated with the historical side of the castle. It was built under the commission of the Scottish planter - William Kellie Smith in 1915 but was never completed due to his death when he succumbed to the pneumonia during his visit to Lisbon.The house was designed for his family to live in - wife, one daughter and one son - but after his death the project was abandoned and the family moved back to Europe.

Kellies Castle, 31000 Batu Gajah, Perak, Malaysia

The castle is surrounded by a moat and is on top of a hill - perfect for sightseeing and defending against enemy attack

Bear figure emerging from the batai tree at the compound of Kellie's castle. This tree was said to be 40 years old and the bear figure only emerged in 2006 and was the source of mystery to many who visited the castle

Castle is divided in two parts - front part is the new castle which is six stories high with 24 rooms and suppose to be installed with the first elevator ever to be brought in Malaya. It also has a wine cellar. At the back of the unfinished castle was the old house where Kellie and his family used to stay - ravaged by war and time.

Kellas House - built in 1905 but damaged due to war

The proposed living room on the ground floor

More pics & stories on Kellie's Castle - Part 2

Sydney

I was in Sydney in June for work. Winter has just started and the weather was around 16 degrees. Not too cold but a bit chilly in the mornings and nights. My visit was brief but as it was my first trip to Australia, so I was considerably excited. I only saw the Sydney Opera House at night (no pic as my camera quality wasn't so good) and just missed the week where they had colourful lights on at the opera house. One of my regrets was not doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb because of time factor and any visit to Australia is  complete without looking at pandas and kangaroos. Australia is a melting pot of culture, races, religion, food - and its interesting to observe this in Sydney. I was told by one of the Melbournian in my office that Melbourne is much more diverse than Sydney and have more interesting to visit.   I am partly making it up for my Gold Coast trip in April next year and surely want to cover interesting activities while I'm there.

Sunset in Sydney

Seafood galore! Crab, lobster, prawns, clams, squid, huge fries. This order was for 2 persons. There were 3 of us and still we couldn't finish it....

Under the bridge overlooking Darling Harbour

Our main aim was to look for Paddy's Market

View of Darling Harbour

Paddy's Market to buy souvenirs and local produce - being the tourist that I am, needed to buy fridge magnets for friends and family. Cheap and reasonable prices too. The sellers are mainly outsider eg Chinese, Singaporeans, Vietnamese - hardly see any real Mat Salleh selling the souvenirs.

Abundant of seagulls at the harbour - they are considered as pests - as do kangaroos (shocker to us non-Aussie)

I really liked this artistic feature - real whale bones in transparent casing - it looks almost alive - a reminiscent of the whales' lives once upon a time

 

Traffic light for bicycles to Go! Bicycles is one of the main transportation for the people in Sydney - a good way to travel minus jam and you get some exercise too!

Gastronomic adventure up North

I was up in the northern state for a 3 day trip. Of course any trip would not be complete without a food hunt. Feature here some of the food that I sampled on my short trip:

Cucuq udang & tauhu goreng - marvellous!

Proprietor of the cucuq udang stall next to Chowrasta. The stall is located in the bazaar right next to Chowrasta Penang

Interesting signage for food stall branding. Unfortunately, I did not manage to sample the Nasi Kandar due to time constrain

Highly recommended by Ms Fantaghiro. This stall in located in Padang Kota Lama foodcourt next to Fort Cornwallis

Mee sotong goreng. Basically mee mamak fried with sambal sotong. In my opinion, this taste like mee rebus. If you like mee rebus, than you will definitely like mee sotong.

Next to Hamid Pata stall, is the drinks stall selling fresh cocnut drink at RM2 for a tall glass. Good match with mee sotong.

Yummy coconut drink with fresh coconut flesh

A bit detour from Penang, this was found in Kuala Kangsar town near the river. We were looking for laksa but found this interesting looking apam manis instead

Cost RM2 per pair and was advised by the makcik who sold this to eat it with shredded coconut flesh and sugar for added taste

Bersantai di Salak Denai

Pertama kali saya ke chalet Salak Denai adalah pada 2006. Chalet ini terletaknya di bandar Yan Besar dan dibawah kaki Gunung Jerai. Konsep chalet adalah setiap chalet mempunyai kolam mandi sedalam lebih kurang 4 kaki. Setiap kolam ini akan dipenuhi dengan air dari kaki gunung dan apabila pengunjung telah puas bermandi, air kolam itu akan dilepaskan dan dipenuhi semula untuk pengunjung yang seterusnya. Harga chalet beserta kolam amat berpatutan dan tak mengikut kepala (seperti hotel) asalkan dapat tidur didalam chalet tersebut.Sila lawati lama blog Salak Denai untuk tempahan dan info lain di sini. 

 

Pandangan hadapan kolam

Setiap kolam disediakan gelongsor, sesuai untuk kanak2 dan dewasa!

Pancutan air untuk melicinkan pengelongsoran turun dan memaksimumkan keseronokan

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Tempat barbeku disediakan

Ruang tamu dengan pakej Astro

Sampel salah satu bilik tidur

Dapur dilengkapi dengan tempat memasak, periuk nasi, peti sejuk, etc

Bilik air dan bilik mandi yang bersih dan kemas

Verdict: Chalet Salak Denai amat sesuai untuk percutian keluarga terutamanya bagi kaum Muslimah untuk enjoy mandi sungai tanpa risaukan kehadiran orang lain kerana chalet tersebut amat private. Bagi saya, keseronokan mandi air sungai yang sejuk dan nyaman ini ditambah pula dengan rasa selamat kerana tiada batu-batu yang licin yang boleh menyebabkan kaki luka atau tergelincir mahupun haiwan yang tidak diingini di sepertimana mandi di sungai yang biasa. Sangat disarankan untuk percutian keluarga dan pastikan tempahan dibuat awal, terutamanya musim cuti sekolah kerana chalet in biasanya penuh. Saya dikhabarkan ada pengunjung yang booking satu tahun in advance untuk pastikan mereka dapat mengunjungi tempat ini.