Happy Birthday Luv 🤍

finally

Alhamdulillah, Anwar Ibrahim has finally been sworn in as the country's 10th Prime Minister.

and today officially, the reforms must begin from the inside. hopefully. inshaAllah.

 R-4-M-C !

2nd September 1998 - 24th November 2022

nkc was there @ once upon a time

Octi stories

 1^st Oct

It’s Nia’s and Ida’s Birthday today. But since they both aren’t around, I send each a birthday greeting thru whatsapp je

 2^nd Oct

Together with Arief n Lisa, thought of fetching Nia at school n taking them three for lunch at Kuale Kangso but Nia’s school doesn’t allow any outing nor visitors because of recent covid cases there. Sabo je la. So I leave all the stuffs I bought for her earlier: lepat pisang, tepung bungkus, kebab n a birthday cake at the guard house for her to fetch later. Hope she will like the cake.

 7^th Oct

Abil receives the news that he has been accepted to pursue a degree course at USM. Alhamdulillah

 8^th Oct

Right away after class, I drive down to Msu to fetch Abil since he is going to register at Usm soon. letih beb!!

It is a Friday nite. Except for Nia, everyone enjoys their dinner at Strawberry before leaving home to embark on a new journey in their lives for Abil n Arief soon, and for Lisa, she will be in her second year in days to come.

 9^th Oct

We, my wife and I, + Lisa n Arief, leave for Kuantan around 10am, stopping for lunch at Batang Kali, and finally reaching our hotel some time at 4. The rooms are not so great but the location is. At nite, going out for dinner, we chance upon an alley which has beautiful painted murals on its wall. After a stroll there, we come upon a flea market @ Paso Dinda, specializing for women’s stuffs. I buy a heart shaped tattoo for my finger. And just around the corner, we have our dinner at a food court, entertained by a band of buskers. What a lovely nite it has been. Kuantan is actually a great place if you know where to find the entertainments are.

10^th-11^th Oct

After breakfast, and after hugs and kisses, Lisa joins her friends again at UIA Kuantan. By noon the rest of us are heading to Salak Tinggi to park our car and take the ERL to KLIA. We have a plane to catch at 950pm. Destination? Kota Kinabalu, since Arief will enroll at UMS on Tuesday. Our plan and journey for today have been smooth when we are informed that the flight is delayed to 1250 am. Adussss.. sabo je. But thing becomes worse when the flight is delayed again, not once but twice, till 215 am. But the unexpected happens when we could not check in our luggage on time and so, we miss the plane. It’s not our fault, but a matter of miscommunication. It is not only us, because there are another two families in the same boat. Nevertheless I will make a complaint to the relevant authorities after the dust has settled. Feeling a sense of panic, I book another flight, the earliest available which is at 730am. Groggily we board the plane and Alhamdulillah by 1130 am we are already at our apartment in Api Api after an early lunch. Being tired, everyone dozes off soon. Only at 3 pm we are awake. At 4 we start to buy Arief’s stuffs. Once we have found everything: pail, pillow, toiletries etc, we walk half a mile to pasar Filipina for dinner. Dinner is superb. Since my wife is craving to have lobster, squids, prawns and grilled fish, it is the best place to be. After a walk around, we go back to our apartment to call it a day.

KK sunset

 

pasar filipina 

 

12^th Oct

We reach UMS at half past nine. It is not far away from KK. After Arief has registered and placed his belongings in his room, we say our goodbyes. Hope Arief will be okay there inshaAllah. My wife and I head to the airport to catch the 230pm flight back to KLIA. Everything goes well and we reach Salak Tinggi to get our car. After solat and a bite, we head home around 7pm. Since it is a working day, the roads are jammed with people heading home. Once I reach Rawang interchange, I drive faster than usual and reach our place at 945pm. It is damn fast actually because the goggle map initially stated that we would reach Lekio around 1015pm. My body is weary and I feel so sleepy that I doze off straight away after bath and dinner.

13^th Oct

Today we are sending Abil to USM. We leave at 7 and stop somewhere near the campus for breakfast at 9am. After Abil has found his hostel and leave his things there, it seems he does not have a white shirt for today’s activity. Mind you, Abil registers a few days later than the other new students because I have to send Lisa and Arief first. So, he does not know what is expected at that moment. So the three of us head to Parit Buntar old town to find ghis shirt. And you know something, Parit Buntar old town is a charming place, with rustic shoplots and pre-war buildings. The shop we buy Abil’s shirt also sells other branded merchandise. Though probably they are imitation. After lunch and prayer, we wish Abil all the best and hope he can cope up with life there.  Around asar we reach home. I may be tired physically n mentally but I feel a great sense of relief. Alhamdulillah

21st Oct

Happy birthday Alisya 🤍 

23^rd Oct

Finally after many moons, and since Bak and Mak passed away, the Khans are having a gathering at Bak’s place. Since Ida is around (she came back a couple of weeks ago) the siblings decide it would best to have a get-together @ tahli and yasin session. Except for Nazam, the rest of the siblings are around. It is wonderful to be back together again and everyone catches up on everybody. With nephews and nieces present too, though not all, it turns out to be a merry occasion. I personally feel that this is something we should do every year. inshaAllah. At 2.30 pm, my wife and I and Nia reluctantly leave for Banting to attend Yop’s children’s wedding. And as planned by maghrib we reach home sweet home.

some of the ladies in Khan's family

the Khan's family

24^th Oct

It is Deepavali today. As such it’s a public holiday. I use this opportunity to drive up to usm to catch up on Abil. It seems he is finding difficulty to cope up with the subjects there and feels a lil stressed. We discuss the matter and look upon options to take or to do. He feels like quitting but at the same time he is still 50-50. I ask him to seek opinion from the students’ advisor @ counsellor. Perhaps the person could shed some light on how to lighten the burden and to find solution to ease everything. inshaAllah. Personally I feel sorry for Abil because as a parent, I want him to get the best opportunity available. Now that he is offered to do a degree at usm, he encounters problems. I am not sure how things will turn up but Allah knows best.

Coming back from usm, I stop at Tirasa’s place for Deepavali visit. Guna n wife are around too, as well as Munirah @ Devasani. Munirah is Yoges @ Eman’s daughter. Now that he is behind bars for his crime, the grandmother @ Tirasa takes care of the child. Initially the child is a muslim but as it is, I’m not sure of the current status. Hopefully when Yoges is released, he will take care of his daughter.

mY wife n Munirah

30^th Oct

It is almost the end of October. Today I visit all three kebun sawit: Mandah, Pulau Juar, Sg Tiram, to fertilize the trees. Being at three separate districts, my travel and work will normally take me around seven hours to settle everything. I would usually walk 9-10 km around my kebuns. And I do this all alone coz I like to be alone, to spend time in the tranquility of nature. Mind you, my kebun is a few km from the main road so I barely hear any sound of vehicles. And I love it. I feel so at ease though the fertilizing session is tiring. Alah bisa tegal biasa. Layan jee… 

paddy fields along Seberang Perak

Since the PRU is around the corner, flags and banners of respective parties have spruced up all along the roads. While driving from Parit to Kg Gajah to Lekio, BN flags win the contest of which party has the most flags. But hopefully in the PRU, they do not. Ahakss

Next week which starts tomorrow, the form fives are having their trial. I am hoping the Teknik Menjawab sessions and Teknik belajar conducted earlier will help the students to do better than their mid-year exam.

And tomorrow too, October comes to an end.

Merindu

 Kiranya kau adalah lautan

Biarlah aku karam di dalam

Kiranya kau mentari

Ku rela terbakar dek panasnya api

Dan kiranya kau bintang bertaburan

Di langit malam

Izinkan aku terlena dalam keindahan

 

Sungguh kehadiran mu

Di merata dan serata

Indah tak ternyata

Merangkum segala kata

Hingga tak terkata

 

Dan akhirnya engkaulah pelukis

Melukis senyum di wajah ku

Tatkala menatap wajah mu

 

-nkc-

poem for you

Poem for you

 

I told your secret to the tree

And the sun and the moon

At night and at noon

Coz I can’t keep it in me

 

Your stubbornness

Makes me sad

But not as bad

As your thoughtlessness

 

But the wind whispers

Go along with her whims

For soon she will hear

Truth that comes in a hymn

 

So

Now

I

Rest

For

I’ve

Spoken

What I’ve

Suppressed

I only want

You to have the best

And forever feeling blessed

 

C’est la vie

nkc

rtm

 petang2 keje gua adalah melayan pokok bunga: sapu daun, trim pokok, menyiram, membaja, mesin rumput, pruning dahan dan macam2 le.

memang udah lama jugak le, sejak 20 tahun yang lalu, sejak pindah rumah ni. asalnya idak le gua minat nak layan seme2 ni tapi tu la dia, tiba2 rasa seronok je bila bercanda dengan nature ni. alhamdulillah.

dan biasanya kalau dh siap keje seme, n takde benda nk layan, gua pun round kampung, amik angin bak kata deme. sebab dh lama jugak dok sini, ramailah kenalan untuk bertegur sapa.

satu petang tu bila gua ronda2, gua terserempak dgn bro zali. mamat ni udah pencen citenya tapi time terserempak tu tak tau lg kisahnya. bila nampak dia, n kebetulan tidak pernah berbual mesra sebelum ni, hanya sekadar angkat tangan n bagi salam je, gua pun berhenti motor n nyembang2 kosong. celah2 nyembang tu gua pun tanya la dia,

"abang zali la ni dok buat apa?"

"oh saya ka? saya dok rtm la ni."

jenuh gua memikio kt mana rtm sekitar sini sebab lebih duapuluh tahun gua dok manjung ni le, tak rajin hayat tau ada rtm kt sini. last2 gua pun tanya dia,

"rtm kat mana bang zali?"

"rtm? rtm tu rehat tunggu mati."

adussss sabo je la. jenuh gua dok pikio tadi rupa2nya lain cite nya la pulak.

layan je la..

 

itulah kisahnya -

 

happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday –

 
Nia & Ida

Luv, nkc

walking home

 

Gambar Lama

 Gambar2 lama

Yang aku temui

Tika menyelongkar almari

Mencetus berlapis rasa

 

Bersama

Kenangan dan cerita

Gambar2 lama

Membawa

Aku kembali

Pada hari hari

Yang aku rindui

 

Gambar2 lama

Menyimpan teramat

Kisah2 yang sarat

Dengan suka n duka

 

Dan gambar2 itu

Aku simpan dahulu

Kerna aku tak mampu

Kembali pada kenangan lalu

 

Ku simpan

Dalam lipatan perasaan

Segala gambar kenangan

Kerna musim2 yang berlalu

Tiada lagi hadir walau

Selamanya ku menunggu

 

Guala! @ Lumut - sept 2022  

kain kafan

 

malu apa bosku -

 

Akhirnya sireh pulang ke gagang.

Sepandai2 bosku melompat akhirnya berjaya ke dalam Kajang Inn juga

 

Penantian selama empat tahun berakhir hari ini setelah bosku berjaya mendaftar diri di Kajang Inn untuk pertapaan selama dua belas tahun susulan keputusan mahkamah persekutuan yang meluluskan dan mempercepatkan kemasukan beliau. Walaupun selalunya mengambil masa dua minggu hingga beberapa bulan untuk mencapai keputusan, hakim2 yang amat arif telah bertindak dengan arif sekali membuat keputusan sepantas kilat.

Maka sekitar jam enam petang tadi, bosku alias pendekar bugis ataupun nama manjanya jibby dengan bangga melangkah masuk ke Kajang Inn, walaupun pada mulanya ramai menyangka beliau akan ke Bamboo River Resort n Spa.

Penyokong2 tegar dan bengong bosku telah berkumpul di luar Kajang Inn dengan kompang dan bunga manggar dan juga sepanduk dan kain rentang bagi menyambut ketibaan bosku yang disayangi. Mereka telah menyanyikan lagu khas untuk bosku yang berjudul ‘Malu apa Bosku’. Sorakan ‘malu apa bosku’ juga berkumandang selama hampir sepuluh minit untuk menyemarakkan lagi hari yang akan dikenang dalam hidup rakyat Malaysia.

“Inilah hadiah Hari Kemerdekaan yang begitu bermakna tahun ini,” ujar salah seorang pecacai tahap dewa bengong yang dibawa khas dari kampong bosku.

Sekian sahaja lintas langsung dari Sate Kajang Pak Mentol© baik punya dok ada!

Juli stori

It shouldn’t be entitled Juli Stori

It should have been juni juli ogosti stori. But who cares, right..

Well, anyway, when June appeared, the school’s sports activities would be around the corner. So that first week, I prepared the 400m running track with the help of Mizi, the school utility guy. Managed to complete it after four consecutive mornings being in the field for four hours daily. By that time, my skin was starting to get tanned. The following week was a school holiday, and after much cajoling from my wife, I took her and three of my children to Dungun for mencandat sotong session. Mencandat sotong or catching squid has been my wife’s dream for so long now, and so she was delighted when I gave in to her persuasion.

getting the boat ready..

Missus n Ilya at Kg Jambu Bongkok

by the beach

Picturesque

Kg Jambu Bongkok

akhirnya dapat seekor

sotong bako

having tea at Jln Pantai Sura 

lunch at UIA cafe

We left home on Monday morning and took a leisurely drive. At Batang Kali we stopped at Dek Non Café for her special Soto Ayam n Nescafe Tarik. By four pm we reached our destination. We stayed at a hotel along Jalan Pantai Sura exactly in front of the South China Sea. Since it was still early, we went  for a drive looking for local delicacies to savour. And we found a cozy place which served kerpok lekor, udang salut tepung, fishball at reasonably cheap price.

soto dek non

The next morning, after subuh, or not really after subuh, around 645, we left for Kg Jambu Bongkok. My wife’s friend’s parents lived there. The place was acclaimed to be picturesque and many tv dramas and even films did their shooting there. And true to its word, the place was idyllic especially so in photos. We took a boat heading out about 5km to the sea. But before that, to make sure that nobody would be seasick, everyone gulped down a pill to stay sober. Being at sea waiting for squid to catch the bait was actually a long wait. I was told that it was almost at the end of candat sotong season. Thus the long wait. But once the fishing rod started to flinch, everyone was excited. We stayed at sea for a lil more than an hour. We didn’t catch many squids but luckily our host took the effort to buy some from other fishermen and so when it came to the membakar sotong session, we ate to our heart’s content. Squid caught fresh and grlled immediately tasted so deliciously tender, to be frank. At noon, since we were close by to Marang, drove up to the town to see how it looked like up close. As everyone was tired, got back to our hotel and dozed off for an hour. At nite, strolled by the pasar malam and bought stuffs for the children.

The next day, on the way back, stopped at UIA Kuantan to have lunch with Lisa, who’s doing her degree there. Before six pm, reached home sweet home.

And for the following three weeks, almost every morning I was in the field getting things ready and running sports events. Eventually, on the 1^st of July the big day appeared and everything ran smoothly and I was so thankful for that. A sigh of relief I must say. Alhamdulillah. the next day i went to Mira's wedding in Serdang Kedah. i met up with cousins and nephews and nieces on my mum's side. MakCu was there too. it was nice to meet up with them after such a long time.

kenduri kt Serdang

seusai sukan

me mizi n en usop 

July came and the first weekend was Raya Haji. I busied myself at the mosque with the community to slaughter the cattle and distribute the meat. The following weekend, I drove to Perasu and Limau Kasturi, after a lapse of almost three years. So glad that I could come back to the place that enriched me with life experience. I even went for a boat ride along the Nenggiri river with my wife and my brader Mat Chok. That night after dinner consisting of ikan kenerat, petai celor and sambal tempoyak, headed to our hotel in GM. The next morning after breakfast with Zakiah, headed home.

super moon

my home when i stayed in Limau in the early 90s

me n my brader mat chok

limau kasturi revisited

after dinner with kaum limau

Weekdays were filled with me preparing the form five students for the upcoming mid year exam. The third weekend, I went to Kg Pahit in Gerik to visit our foster parent. Every time we got there, the family never failed to delight us with kampong traditional cuisines, and normally I would be spoilt for choice looking at the dishes laid in front of us. Since it was still the durian season there, we brought home abundance durians along with rambutan and manggis. Alhamdulillah.

When I thought I could relax during the coming weekend, I remembered that I hadn’t visited my kebun sawit for more than a month for the standard fertilizing session. This time around, I went to all three kebuns in one day. I left home that Saturday morning quarter to seven, reached Mandah and at around ten left for Pulau Juar. Mandah is in Parit and Pulau Juar is in Kg Gajah, if anyone cares to know. By zohor I was already at kebun Sg Tiram which was about 5km away from home. All in all I managed to tend to my trees as planned. Alhamdulillah. The next day took Nia for her outing. We went to Kuala Kangsar for lunch and some shopping. Kuala Kangsar is further away from Nia’s MRSM compared to Seri Iskandar town, but I prefer to go to KK for its rustic and nostalgic ambience.

in between all these activities, i did take my family for dinner now and then, especially when everyone was around. the latest cafe we went to was Marmalade, situated at Pundut. it happened to be Abil's birthday too, so there's a reason la for the dinner. it was a nice place: great food n drink with reasonable price too. Most probably we'll come again next time. 

abil masa toddler

my bobber @ virago: new facelift

steps beside my room at school painted in between my busyness

the freshly painted door  of my room at skool, with Ayang at the foreground

And now August has come. The students will have their exam soon. I don’t have to teach for a while but there will be bundles of exam scripts to assess. Hopefully they will do well. Hopefully Nia too will do well. inshaAllah. As for the rest of the children, Arief is waiting for a place at the local varsity, Lisa is waiting for her sem exam results, Abil will have to decide soon where to continue his studies if no suitable job offer comes along, and Alhamdulillah Iliya will start her HO next September. inshaAllah.

So much that He has provided for me, bestowed upon me, that sometimes I can’t help but to wonder is this how He is testing me. Testing to see how I appreciate and be content with every little thing that happens to me. Be it good or bad. inshaAllah I hope to remain steadfast remembering Him with every breath that I take in this journey of going back to Him.

Quite a number of friends passed away too these couple of months and made me realize that being mere mortal my days would be numbered soon. And for that reason, I’m doing my level best to fill my time with quality chores and moments. And along the way, trying to be kind to everyone because the way I see it, that is a way of trying to please Him, as long as you do not expect anything in return lah.. kannnn

What say you?

Life is short. Live it up. ~ nkc ~

Gotta go now, so see you when I see you, and take careeee –

Ciao!!