The aura of Rose...

It has been a tradition that before a festival especially an auspicious one like the Eid Fitr or the Hari Raya, folks would give a touch up to their home. In fact it is a sort of a soft spring-cleaning of the house. Giving it a new look. As for our home since both my spouse and I love interior deco we would spend times together introducing new ideas to refreshed our interior decoration, thus giving it a fresh look in the culture of fine living.

As usual fresh flowers would grace the living spaces of our home awaiting the arrival of Eid Fitr. Rose has always been our favorite flower for it always brings joy and happiness. A day before Eid Fitr my spouse and our youngest daughter went shopping and they bought a bunch of roses. My spouse who is good at flower arrangement had it done and displays it in a crystal vase on the coffee table. In that instance the area radiate with the glow of the roses. It does in a way lightens up the atmosphere; the mystic of the rose. It is said that rose has the ability to produce the positive energy to the surrounding. It is therefore that one is never unhappy with roses. I guessed this is the reason folks love to receive roses as a gift. As seen in the image above it does brighten up the space. Have a nice day.

A joyous Eid Fitr @ Hari Raya...

Indeed it was a joyous Raya. Hectic though but it was a great day to celebrate the end of Ramadan. We had organized an Open House so our friends and relatives could come over to celebrate this auspicious day with us. The Open House started at 11.30AM Sunday September 20, 2009. From that time onward friends and relatives start streaming in and the house soon warmed up to those wonderful guests. We had laid out a special treat of Biayani and cakes for our guests and we are indeed happy that they enjoyed the spreads.

The guests kept coming with a lull of some minutes between before another group came. Among those that came are The President and Deputy of the Kelab Volvo Klasik, David and his family and Col. Lee and his spouse. Two persons that I had only known in cybersphere are among the guests; one is this Blogger and the other is a visitor to my Blog from Bahrain, whose parent lives nearby. She came with her spouse and her dad, a close friend of mine, a charming lady indeed. The top image shows the Blogger and the lady who work in Bahrain posing for the camera with my spouse and our youngest daughter. The other images show the guests enjoying themselves at that Raya Open House.

The Open house which started at just past eleven ended at eleven in the evening. It looks like it was a marathon of some twelve hours we hosted those wonderful folks. As I had said earlier it was hectic for us as the host but then it was also an enjoyable occasion where we get to entertain our friends and relatives on this once a year festival, the Hari Raya.

By tradition one need no invitation to visit an Open House on Hari Raya. But nowadays because folks no longer live in one vicinity or Kampong; to make it easy for people to come over it has became a norm to organized an Open House and tell others of the event. For that purpose a day is chosen for such an event. It has now become a norm to organize an Open House during the Hari Raya. It need not be on the first day of the Eid Fitr but could be on any day from the first day of Eid Fitr. So Open House could be on any days throughout the whole month after Ramadan. Even the government nowadays organized an official Open House for all the major religious festival and it is open to all. If you happened to be here during that time you could just attend the official Open House and enjoy the tradition which only happens in Malaysia. Have a nice day.[Please click on image to enlarge]

Happy Eid Fitr @ Selamat Hari Raya...

Happy Eid to all. May we all continue to prosper and enjoy life.

Have a nice day and take care.

A Birthday bash @ Buka Puasa...

When I was growing up there was no such things as a Birthday Party. Birthday comes and goes, at time without notice. And then when we had kids we did it for them and now the kid did it for their kids. It is when the grand kids grow up that they decided to celebrate grandma and grandpa Birthday with cakes and candles and all the trimming of a party. It was fun to see the young grand kids waiting to blow out the candles as thought it was their Birthday Party. But then it was truly fun to watch the glitters in their eyes enjoying the Birthday do of their grandparents. Of course we the grand’s did enjoy that moment in time. Indeed a beautiful moment in our golden age that we would cherished forever and ever.

Last Monday was our eldest granddaughter nineteenth Birthday and she wanted to celebrate that special Birthday, the end of her teenage years with her friends from the college. She starts college last year and this year her younger sister joins her there. They both decided to do Medicine in the steps of their Mom and Dad. This is our eldest granddaughter first Birthday Party since been in college. Been in the month of Ramadan and to make it easy for everyone she decided to have it done at the Buka Puasa session on that evening at their home, not that faraway from ours.

So that evening just before the time of the Breaking of the Fast we drove to their home and on arrival I notice there are many cars parked at both sides of the roads. At that moment in time I was wondering why there are so many cars. I quip to grandma that there must be another party around but grandma quip back saying that it must be those friends of our granddaughter coming for the Buka Puasa cum Birthday Party. I was actually taken aback and indeed very surprise that all of them came driving on their own. The last time I met them there were just kids and it was their parents that send them and later pick them after the party is over. But today it was different in that they all came on their own driving their cars, perhaps borrowed from their parents and excited of getting to the party on their own. I even overheard one or two of them saying that it is their cars. Just like us they must be really fascinated with cars, the toys of our species.

I was indeed surprised and lost for words seeing the friends of our granddaughter all have grown up into adult in such a spans of times like a fast-forward scene. Indeed as seen in the image above they all have grown up into adults and on their way of becoming professionals in a few years time. These are science students who are now starting college in Year One at the MARA IB College at Banting. By this time next year they would leave to further their studies in Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Accounting and other disciplines at various universities overseas. What an exciting moment that Birthday was to us, for we are seeing the generation of our grandchildren growing into adults with ambition beyond our wildest dream. These are the cream of the generation of our grandchildren and I am sure they would make it in whatever they are studying. Before we know it they would return with knowledge beyond the imaginations of their forefather and would contribute further toward the development of the country in fields beyond the thoughts of my generation.

In those days it was already great to get an Art degree and got a job in the MCS or the other Government services. Before that it was the out of the world experience to be selected and trained as teacher at Kirkby or other institutions in the UK. The return of those trained teachers brought much advancement in the level of teaching in our schools; which in turn produce many fine graduates at the local University especially the University of Malaya where most of our present leaders got their tertiary education. Now the generation of our children educated both at local universities and overseas are at the helms of many institutions and the country continue to progress. I am glad to get to see the generation of our grandchildren is again in the fore pursuing knowledge that would eventually bring up the country to another level. In that short period that I had interact with the group at that Birthday Party I am more optimistic then ever that they would made Malaysia proud in their achievement at the Universities. Where they would learn and experience the reality of living.

Folks it is only through good education that we would be able to prosper to a level like those in the west and with that the society would be able to enjoy a better quality of life then ever before. It is no longer a dream but a reality that would bore result in the making of a successful society. I told those young lads the road toward success is education and knowledge. And that they must continue to acquire knowledge to the highest level; for it is knowledge that allows a nation to be in control of its destiny. So to go ahead and acquire knowledge for their success would augur well for the future of this beloved country of ours, Malaysia. Have a nice day and take care.

[Please click on image to enlarge]

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Do have a nice day and take care.

New York Summer 2008...

Last year on our way back home from the US we stop over at New York and one of the places that we visited was Ground Zero.

On that day September 11, 2001 while sitting watching TV in my home in Ampang Jaya I saw the two towers collapsed in front of my eyes. At that time I just could not believe it for I was there just a month before. Some time in August 2001 I was in New York on a day trip with a student who drove the car around the city. We had lunch of Biryani at Jackson Corner before returning back to New Haven. I was then living in New Haven, Connecticut in 2001 and left for home on mid August, 2001 just about a month before the September 11 happening.

So during last year visit to the US we decided to stop over for two days in New York before boarding the plane at Newark for home. We stayed at Newark and did a day trip to New York to see Ground Zero and other places of interest. These images show us at Ground Zero and visiting the Museum that was specially set up for visitors to see some of the damages and things recovered at the sight after that incident. Before I left the place I said a prayer to all those lost soul in that incident and hope that it would not happen again. But then in the history of our planet things just continue to happen when we least expected. That happening has indeed changed the course of the world history. Anyway let us works for peace, for it is only through peace that we could share prosperity and continue to enjoy life. Have a nice day.

Delicious Crabs @ Buka Puasa...

That folks is Crabs fried with chilly and eggs. We think it is one of the best ways to enjoy the Crabs. For us there are two ways we would enjoy Crabs. The other way is to make Crab Curry, the same way one cook a Fish Curry. We do not eat Crab often for one thing it is rather expensive and another reason is that Crab is not always available in the market place. Thus we would enjoy it from time to time only. Just last week we managed to get some fresh Crabs and this time my spouse just fried it the way we like it as shown in the image about. With her culinary expertise she got it done perfect. The whole family did enjoy it at the Buka Puasa [iftar] session that evening, to go with that steamy white rice. Have a nice day.

The Moth...

The Moth yes that flying insect of the butterfly family that one often sees in the evening. It is not that colorful as its cousin the butterfly but like the butterfly it is as elegant an insect; in that it could fly, hover and land wherever it like. Unlike the butterfly it only appears in the evening and attracted to light.

The other evening while our grand kids was playing at the patio after the Buka Puasa session, I notice Azib the youngest grand kid holding a long stick trying to make the insect move. He was just playing and when I asked him what he was doing, he said there is an insect under the rattan lampshade. He was amused and asks me take a look toward the hanging lampshade and that there is an insect there. I took a closer look under the lampshade and was delighted to see a Moth clinging to the inside of the woven rattan lampshade. I ask him and his elder sister to have a look as well and after telling them that it is safe to watch they both peep under the lampshade. Happy with what they saw yet another insect at close range they continue to play around it. Without wasting any time I went to get my camera and took as many shots of that insect before it fly away. It eventually flew away and then landed on one of the decorative lighting in the shape of a dragonfly that hang from the ceiling. It was attracted to the light and stayed there for a while. It is not always that one gets the opportunity to get a shot of this beauty of the night insect and this evening thanks to my grand kid Azib, who alert me to it, I got that opportunity to take the image of this night insect.

Rumi that great Sufi master has this to say about this magnificent flying insect "Judge a moth by the beauty of its candle" True, how elegant it look beside that 'candle' the lighted dragonfly, a decorative lighting at the ceiling of my patio. As we all know too well that Moth is attracted by the light, thus the two elements of nature that gave one the pleasure of been one, for it was the light that got it to be one; such a beauty. By itself it would not glow but with the light it was just magnificent, the magic fusion of the two elements, the insect and the light. Indeed a mystic of sort for us to wonder and appreciate the greatness of nature. In the images above it clearly shows the role of the 'candle' as expressed by Rumi; a beauty in the night. The two images above are a moment in time that I had managed to capture with the macro lens. Indeed a wonder of nature for us to enjoy. Have a nice day.

[Click image to enlarge]