Ramadan Sana Sini

"Eh.. ada tahi lalat di tapak kaki.. bila besar ni mesti kuat berjalan dan merantau serata dunia" kata orang tua-tua dulu lah.. Entah betul atau tidak tapi yang nyata saya tak ada tahi lalat di tapak kaki! Lebih dari 10 tahun saya mengikut suami berdagang mencari rezeki di luar negara. Pada awalnya memang sedih dan perit kerana berjauhan dari ibubapa dan sanak saudara. Dulu-dulu paling jauh pun saya bekerja dan tinggal di Kuala Lumpur manakala ibubapa di Kedah. Kalau nak balik naik kereta dalam 5jam je dah sampai.

Ini bila dah jauh beribu batu seberang benua, nak balik selalu pun tak boleh. Banyak faktor yang perlu diambil kira dan banyak pengorbanan yang perlu dilakukan. Kalau rindu atau sedih tahan je lah. Kerinduan dan kesedihan ini akan lebih terasa bila tiba musim puasa dan raya. Masa ni mula lah terkenang macam-macam kan..

Berpuasa dan menyambut raya di perantauan memang lah tak akan sama di negara kita sendiri. Kalau tak, takde ah keluar peribahasa "Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik di negeri sendiri" Walau sehebat dan best macam mana pun, hati pasti akan terkenang-kenang kampung halaman yang nun jauh di sana.

Bertahun menyambut Ramadhan di perantauan memberi banyak pengalaman pada saya. Saya masih ingat lagi pada awal tahun permulaan kami di sini komuniti rakyat Malaysia tidak lah besar. Kelompok rakyat Malaysia berdekatan kami hanya lah sekitar empat keluarga. Namun kami tetap mencipta kemeriahan suasana berpuasa sesama kami. Setiap minggu pasti kami akan bergilir mengadakan jamuan iftar di rumah masing-masing. Kadang-kadang kami akan menukar juadah makanan dan kuih muih. 

Mengadakan jamuan iftar bersama rakan-rakan dah seperti tradisi kepada saya dan suami di mana kami pasti akan mengadakannya setiap tahun di bulan Ramadhan. Dalam banyak-banyak tahun di sini,  jamuan iftar tahun lepas dikira agak istimewa bagi kami dan rakan-rakan. Kenapa ye... :)

Crew TV9

Tahun lepas di mana giliran jamuan iftar di rumah saya, kami dikunjungi oleh crew TV9 untuk pengambaran rancangan "RAMADAN SANA SINI". Wah.. ni memang mengejut. Apabila diberitahu oleh seorang rakan kami tentang ini, saya lah yang lebih menggelabah sebenarnya! Ye lah.. rumah kami tak lah sebesar mana.. selalunya setiap kali buat jamuan makan, jemputan adalah dalam sekitar 30 orang sahaja. Saya tidak lah risau sangat dalam bab makanan kerana saya yakin, Insyaalah makanan cukup. Yang saya risau ni takut ada yang tidak selesa bila dah ramai nanti

Hmm.. upacara apakah ini? Macam keluar TV je nanti..

Tok Kadi dan saksi dah ready tu. Habis lah kalau orang kampung nengok ni! Hihihihi

Tapi alhamdullilah rakan-rakan saya memang best dan sporting! Sehari sebelumnya kami dah war-warkan pada jemputan untuk memakai baju melayu/baju kurung and dress to kill for the show! Dah nak keluar TV kan... hehhehee.. Saya dan suami pulak telah ada 'watak' masing-masing yang disediakan untuk kami  lakonkan. Pada hari yang dijanjikan satu jam sebelum berbuka puasa, rumah saya dah dipenuhi dengan setting lampu dan camera.

Pengambaran bermula dengan rakaman tetamu masuk ke rumah - part ni pun dah 2-3 cut tau... hehehhe dan kemudian diikuti dengan 'lakonan' saya memasak juadah untuk tetamu. Pada hari tersebut saya sediakan "Gulai kari ikan talang" Orang Kedah.. kena ah promo masakan Utara kan.. So berlakon lah saya mengacau menumis lauk dengan pot pet pot pet bercerita kisah lauk ni.. Dah perasan macam ala "Ketuk-ketuk Ramadan" lak ni.. hehhehe.. Pengacara Faiz tu pulak orang Utara maka rancak lah lagi kami berborak.

Setelah selesai berbuka puasa dan solat maghrib, suami saya dan rakan Encik Fauzi bersama pengacara Faiz berlakon pulak dalam sessi bual santai. Hmmm tak sangka pulak suami saya depan camera tetiba rancak bercerita ye.. Kami yang lain-lain ni duk keliling melopong nengok sessi temubual mereka. Hehehe.. 

Setelah selesai majlis ini, saya lah orang yang paling gembira. Saya sangat gembira dan bersyukur makanan yang disediakan cukup untuk semua tetamu. Risau sangat takut tak cukup atau terkurang rasa sana sini kan.. Terima kasih untuk rakan-rakan yang membantu menyediakan juadah. Segala penat lelah hilang bila melihat tetamu seronok menjamu selera. Semua rakan-rakan gembira berkumpul walaupun rumah dah dipenuhi dengan set lampu dan camera. Ini belum lagi dengan set sofa yang tetiba perlu dialih untuk memberi ruang yang lebih luas untuk pengambaran. Walaupun rumah saya ni tidaklah sebesar dan se gah rumah "Tuan Anas Mikael", alhamdullilah tetamu masih selesa. 

Ini kisah tahun lepas... setahun sudah berlalu tetapi rasa macam baru je duk sebuk2 glemer menjadi artis segera! Setelah selesai pengambaran soalan setiap orang sama je bertanya "err.. bila keluar TV ni ye?" Al maklum lah... bukan senang nak dapat sessi macam ni. Orang2 yang duk hantar ucapan tiap tahun 'ucapan salam perantau' kat Utusan Malaysia dulu2 pun belum tentu terpilih tau.

Bila jawapannya "ini untuk Ramadhan tahun depan" semua mengeluh... lamanya ni... lagi setahun sure dah basi ni.. hehehhe... Tapi setahun itu terasa cepat sangat. Masih saya ingat setiap saat kekalutan dan keseronokan pada hari itu. Dan tahun yang ditunggukan itu telah pun tiba. 

"RAMADAN SANA SINI" kini telah bersiaran di TV9 pada setiap hari Isnin-Khamis, 6:30ptg sepanjang bulan Ramadhan. Ia adalah program travelog Ramadhan di Indonesia, Oman dan Turkey dari perspektif pengacara Adzriefaiz Adzlan  bagi merasai adat dan budaya berpuasa di luar negara. Sekarang ini sedang bersiaran pengambaran di Indonesia.

Untuk episod di Oman, ia dijangka akan bersiaran pada 15Jun, Rabu ini. Hahh... abang, adik, kakak, pak long, mak long, kak chik, kak lang, mak bapa saudara semua..  kalau ingin melihat budaya dan suasana orang Oman berpuasa, setiap hari kul 6:30pm tu duk lah depan TV ye.. TV9 tau.. Selain dapat melihat budaya Oman, mungkin juga dapat melihat kami orang Malaysia yang merantau di sini. Kut ada yang rindu rinduan pada kami, jangan lupa ye.. duk depan TV9 tunggu kami keluar.

Jangan tanya saya hari apa kita orang akan keluar TV ye. Kami pun tak tau.. mungkin part kami 1min sahaja.. atau 5min? atau sekali imbas laju2 keluar sampai tak cam muka semua... Wallahuallam. Kami pun kat sini akan tunggu je nengok hari2.. hehehhe 

Err... Ramadhan tahun ni kami semua tak dapat lagi offer shooting di mana2.. Kalau ada pasti saya akan beritahu nanti! Selamat menonton dan berpuasa semua. 

Fashion Looks Better When You Feel Good On The Inside

Everybody wants to dress pretty and so do I! I love to dress-up, ever since I was little. When I was small, I always loved to play dress-up, berangan posing in front of the mirror. My mom's clothes, scarves, accessories and shoes were always to be experimented with. At that time, I thought I would grow up to be either a model or a fashion designer. Hahaha... memang berangan sungguh kan..

Being the only girl in the family, I always had the special privilege of having extra clothes and shoes. As far as I remember, my mom would always buy any clothes or shoes that I wanted and I ended up having all kinds of seasonal up to date fashion at that time. (miss my mom so much...) She always wanted me to dress up neatly and pretty. That probably is how I have a bit of fashion sense and is always finicky on how I dress up. 

Till now, I am very particular on how I dress up including my children and husband. Sounds so poyo and perasan celebrity ahh?? Well.. not that I have to have an expensive or branded clothes on my body and also not that I have to always dress up luxuriously, it is just that I want to make sure I put on a cloth that looks decent, neat, pretty to my eyes and suitable to the occasion. All of these actually represent yourself and confidents.

Most of my clothes are all ready-made bought from the stores. I am more confident buying ready-made rather then to hunt for the material to send to the tailor. I have a very bad sense of choice when it comes to hunting material. That is why sometimes I just prefer to buy a ready-made baju kurung or jubah. 

Over here in Oman, there is where when I learned started going to the material shops. It started with accompanying friends who were so good in choosing materials. What ever she picked, it was always nice. If I wanted to buy one, I always got her to pick for me. Years I've been following them, still I did not pick up the skills.

Seriously, I don't know why I am so bad at it and have a lack of confidence in choosing the material. Everything looks pretty to me and sometimes everything looks messy and ugly to me. If I really need to buy it, I will bring along my friend for her second opinion.

Sometimes I have a request from my AbayaOman customer to pick a nice material for the abaya. Fuhhh... here comes the challenge. Frankly I don't like it as I am afraid I'll pick the wrong one. I will usually choose a few samples and get them to pick by themselves. There was also a situation where they got confused on choosing colors and asked me to pick for them. They said that I have the material live in front of my eyes where as they just see it thru the camera picture. OMG.. how am I suppose to know which color that suits you? I don't even know your skin color and your personality.

But because of the trust that my customer gave me, I had to wisely choose with confidence. Alhamdullilah so far they like it. Maybe without realizing, I have slowly pick-up the skills on this area. Nowadays, kedai kain over here seems to be one of my favourite place! I even have a few shops that (unofficially signing MOU) always update me with their new upcoming materials thru whatsapp with a special price. Kalau masuk area kedai kain tu dah macam YB melawat kawasan atau Kak Long nak check area. Hahahaha.. Semua orang kedai kenal. Nampak sangat selalu gi kan... 

With a bit of skills on choosing materials, I gained confidence in designing abaya for my AbayaOman online business. Of course not like those typical fashion designers that sketch nice slim models on the paper. My version of designing will be like scribbling a design on paper and more on explaining and arguing with the tailor to make him understand.

I guess with the love of fashion that I have and my need to look presentable and nice that my mom always taught me, it truly describes who I am now. Though I did not end up to be a model or a fashion designer, I am happy with who I am now. "Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak - Rachel Zoe"

Memory of Ramadhan - Cekodok Pisang

I've been away from my homeland for more than 10 years. Experiencing fasting in this special Ramadhan month has taught me lots of things. From the successful, devoted career woman who has her life revolved only around work and more work, now I've changed into a multitasking woman who wants to do almost everything that she can do.

I can actually cook- in other words, I am quite a good cook. My husband told me when at first he met me, he thought that I couldn't even cook by judging me on how modern and 'urban' (this term still didn't exist at that time) I was at that time. He even said to himself that he didn't mind eating or buying food outside as his love towards me overcomes everything else. (He confessed this to me after a few months we got married.) Wow.. isn't he sweet... :) To cut the love story short, we lived happily ever after till now as I proved him wrong!

My skills on cooking are more on lauk-pauk and baking cakes/cookies. I always helped my mom in the kitchen and that gave me lots of experience and tips on this. I enhanced my skills in cooking after being away as I have no choice but to explore, trial and error as here we don't have shops selling our local cuisines. Only after a few years back, a few Thailand shops and one Malaysian cafe opened here in Muscat. Once in a while we go there to lepas our gian on homeland cuisines.

I love eating our traditional kuih-muih Melayu but it is not beyond my expertise. The challenge started when the urge of eating these kuih-muih happened during Ramadhan. Back in Malaysia, we can see varieties of kuih-muih sold at the Pasar Ramadhan and you can just pick and buy what you want. Over here... if you want, you have to make it on your own. If you don't know how to make it, then learn how to make it! That is how I started slowly learned making these kuih-muih Melayu. 

Cekodok pisang - this is my first kuih that I've learned to make. Yeah.. don't laugh at me. Who wants to make cekodok pisang when you can always buy it right? but that's in Malaysia... During Iftar, besides the main food I always want to have one kuih. Yeah.. no matter what, one kuih is a must walau masa tu tak tau langsung nak buat kuih.

10 years ago our first Ramadhan in Oman, I wanted to make one type of kuih. At that time with the limited source of ingredients and knowledge and skills that I had, the only kuih that I could think about was cekodok pisang. Bananas are sold everywhere here and are easy to get. At that time there was no Facebook or any kind of media social used so that I can google on how to make this kuih. I called my cousin back in Malaysia asking for the recipe. 

From the recipe she gave me, I challenged myself to make this cekodok pisang. On the first day, the cekodok pisang turned to be mushy and oily. Still my husband and me ate it. On the second day, I tried again.. it turned up that I've put more flour that it became tasteless and hard. Still we ate it.. Third day it improved a bit but still the taste was so-so. I kept trying everyday for a week untill I got the perfect rounded cekodok pisang that was crispy at the outside but soft in the inside. Yeah..... I did it! Believe it or not, the cekodok pisang had been our only kuih for the first 15days of our Ramadhan until I moved to the next challenge of making karipap. 

Only God knows how excited I was at that time on the achievement of this cekodok pisang. I was so happy... 

Yesterday on our first day of Iftar, I made cekodok pisang. Sekarang dah terror lah.. hehehe.. sap sap sui dah siap! It brings me back the memory of how struggling I was to make it 10 years ago. Alhamdullilah now after being away for so long, I managed to learn and make varieties of our traditional kuih-muih. Besides of having no choice as no Pasar Ramadhan here, it also gives me  the pleasure and satisfaction to make it for my family and friends.

The tradition of Acar Buah

Today is the first day of Ramadhan in Oman. Unlike the other GCC countries and even back in Malaysia started fasting yesterday, we start fasting today. It is summer time here and the duration of fasting is longer - 15hours. I feel sorry for my kids, Nabila and Hakeem as they still have to go to school with this hot summer day and fasting at the same time. The activities at the school runs as normal like P.E or swimming but the teacher give the flexibility for those who are fasting to skip it if they feel tired. Dugaan besar pada mereka ni...

Talking about "acar buah", it has been a tradition in my family to have it during Ramadhan. I've growing up eating and seeing my mother made it for this special month. I don't know why my mother loved to make it during this month but it did taste good to eat during sahur. Now I've carried the tradition by serving and making it for my family every year for Ramadhan month.

Last night I finally managed to make the acar buah. It has probably been 4 years that I've not making it. Every year I planned and talked about it but never fulfilled it. The last time I blogged about this acar buah was in the year of 2007! Wow... so long..

My version of acar buah must always contains the luxurious and rich ingredients. Nak makan sendiri kan, mesti lah nak yang sedap dan best. I bought all kind of dried and pickled fruits from Malaysia and add up with local dates and some dried fruits that couldn't be found in Malaysia. 

After an hour cooking it, taraaa.. here is my delicious acar buah is ready to eat. As usual.. buat tak reti nak sikit. It is more than enough for our house as it only me and my husband eat it  and some I will give to my friends. 

Last night we had our first sahur with the acar buah. Nyummmm...

To all my relatives and friends - Ramadhan Kareem. May Allah give us all strength and sabr to undertake the fasting and fulfil our obligation of this Holy Month in good health. Ameen. 

Candy Crush

Like seriously.. candy crush?? Hahaha.. yes.. I am a die hard fan of this game. My daughter introduced this game to me. At the beginning we were so hooked into it. Be kind of each other by giving 'lives' and tips sharing on how to solve certain level of the game.

After awhile I guess they just get bored and stopped playing it except me who is still keep playing struggling moving up from one level to another. It is probably now over a year I've started playing it and I am not at LEVEL 446. 

I have no idea what is the end level of this game but to be at this far level is already good for me. Cewah.. self satisfaction achievement! 

I've also installed the siblings of this game - "Soda Candy Crush" and "Jelly Candy Crush". The method of the game is more or less is the same. When I've no 'lives' in candy crush, I will play the other sibling games. Kalau dah start memang tak bleh stop! Well at least you stimulate your brain! 

To prove that I am a die hard fan of Candy Crush ..

:)

Kisah Tudung

Tudung kepala atau nama lebih sedap glemer disebut - shawl, selendang, scarf dah menjadi sebahagian dalam hidup saya. Saya mula berhijab sejak 12 tahun lalu. Ketika itu saya menetap di Miri, Sarawak dan tidak mempunyai ramai kenalan rapat yang boleh saya rujuk nak memakai tudung. Pada masa tu mana nak ada media sosial seperti - facebook dan instagram.

Keterujaan nak berfesyen memakai tudung pada ketika itu memang cukup tinggi, taknak lah pakai tudung2 biasa kan.. Nasib baik lah terjumpa buku "panduan cara memakai tudung". Semangat gi beli dan tiap malam belek. Kelakar sangat kalau ingat.. 

Tudung yang tengah 'in' pada masa itu adalah tudung bawal dan juga tudung square. Kalau diikutkan dalam buku yang dibeli tu, takde lah banyak sangat cara fesyen yang diajar. Kalau ada pun macam pelik rasa dan tak berkenan. So at the end, kena ah explore trial and error sendiri.

Lama kelamaan saya pun dah mula terror memakai tudung, Tambahan pulak ada anak kecil dua orang. Sap sup sap je dah siap.. ala takat tudung bawal pakai pin kat tengkuk dan brooch kiri kanan.. siap dah kan.. Kalau nak melawa lebih sikit, cari tudung bawal yg ada batu2 tapi cara pakai tetap sama gak. Pernah gak try square scarf dari kain satin lembut tapi stress sangat pasal licin!

Bertahun juga lah memakai tudung bawal ni. Segala warna dan jenis saya beli, dari yg semurah2 dan semahalnya2 pun ada. Lepas tu keluar lak trend "tudung ikin", Tudung fesyen ni memang menjadi fenomena. Ia penyelamat buat saya pasal senang je nak pakai. Sarung je dah siap. Dah menggila lak saya membeli tudung ikin ni... Tudung bawal tu sebahagian saya beri pada orang dan sebahagian saya simpan. Simpan pasal sayang tapi tak tau ah bila nak pakai lagi.

Tudung ikin ni dari yang kain plain ke kain bercorak, awning satin atau awning lembut.. haih.. semua saya ada ni. Nak matching dengan baju lah kononnya. Pantang nampak kedai tudung, pasti singgah membeli. Masa ni masih takde lagi orang menjual online, jadi memang akan nak je ke kedai tudung membeli. Parah kan...

Dah lama2 memakai tudung ikin, tetiba rasa macam tak cantik dan sesuai lak dengan muka saya. Boleh? Bertahun memakai baru nak sedar! Hahahahha... alasan ah tu kut.. ini pasal bila dah duk di bumi Arab ni, nengok orang pakai tudung/shawl lilit lawa sangat. Teringin nak memakai tapi tak pandai dan selalu selekeh. Longgar dan senget benget. Last2 give-up.

Sehinggalah dua tahun dulu, barulah saya mula belajar dengan tekun dan betul cara nak memakai shawl lilit ni. Lama-kelamaan dah jadi pandai ah nak berfesyen. Tambahan pulak ramai seller yang rajin ajar dan tunjuk cara nak memakai shawl ini.

Maka bermula lah koleksi segala warna, jenis dan jenama saya ada. Celah2 tu ada gak keluar instant atau semi instant, dua muka, tiga muka. Wah.. ini lagi memudahkan hidup saya dan juga mempercepatkan duit saya habis gak! Sesekali balik ke Malaysia, pasti saya borong tudung. Pernah ditegur suami, setiap kali balik asyik beli tudung je.. berapa banyak tudung nak ada? Hehehhe... oh suamiku.. andai kau faham jiwa seorang perempuan.. tudung kena ada banyak warna.. banyak corak.. banyak jenis material and banyak banyak lagi lah sebabnya.. hehehe

Di oman pun ada menjual shawl cantik2 yang menjadi koleksi saya. Sekarang ni bila balik ke Malaysia, saya dah jarang menapak ke kedai tudung. Kenapa eh..

yang beribu tu tak taulah siapa yg sanggup beli!

It is because I am a smart shopper! I shop online! Hihihihi... Oh sungguh mudah hidup saya. Walau tidak tinggal di Malaysia, saya tidak pernah ketinggalan mengikuti perkembangan fesyen tudung ni. Ini sebenarnya amalan tidak sihat untuk saya.. Nak kena unfollow ah ig jual tudung ni.. tersangat meruntun jiwa kalau nengok hari2..

Tidak tau lah berapa lama saya akan bertahan dengan trend shawl lilit2 ni.. harap ia berpanjangan.. 

Jika Ia Milik Saya

Saya selalu percaya jika itu milik saya, ia pasti akan menjadi milik saya.

Ini adalah kerana saya percaya pada ketentuan Allah, percaya pada rezeki Allah berikan dan percaya pada Qada dan Qadar.

Telah berlaku pada banyak situasi yang saya terlepas beberapa peluang. Sedih, putus asa dan pasrah. Puas berusaha dan tunggu punya tunggu, apa yang dikehendaki tidak juga dapat dicapai. Maka hati terus berkata, ini bukan rezeki saya. Ini bukan hak saya dan Allah ada sebab kenapa Dia tidak berikan kepada saya.

Kadangkala perlu bercakap berulang kali pada diri ini supaya hati menjadi tenang dan redha. Kadangkala setelah berhempas pulas berusaha dan yakin akan dapat apa yang diusahakan, namun di penghujung ia terlepas jua. Memang kecewa..

Saya kadangkala macam budak kecil juga. Kalau mahu sesuatu yang diidamkan, berhari2 duk teringat siap berangan lagi. Lepas tu kalau tak dapat rasa macam nak menangis. Dada sampai jadi ketat dan berhari pulak lah memikir untuk terima hakikat. Hehehehe...

Saya bercakap begini sebab dah macam2 lalui.. Usia pun meningkat dan menjadi semakin matang untuk menangani apa yang datang. Kalau zaman muda2 mungkin ah lain jadi ceritanya..

Apa apa pun, saya bersyukur atas segala yang saya mahu dan mohon dari Allah, Allah berikan. Tersangat rasa bersyukur dan berterima kasih. Saya kena sentiasa mengingati diri sendiri untuk tidak menjadi tamak. Jangan selalu meminta tetapi tidak tahu bersyukur.

Hari ini kita mendapat apa yang kita ingini tetapi mungkin apa yang kita nak sangat tu, belum tentu baik untuk kita atau akan menjadi hak kita selamanya. Belajarlah untuk bersyukur dan redha atas segalanya.