A Mum's Rambling

I was quite pissed off. It has been a few entries now that the photos I attached simply couldn't load correctly.

Anyway, I have tried to "re-attach" the photos. Hopefully this issue I much dreaded is by now settled.

These few days have been quite a busy one for me. I am in the midst of completing my proposal for application to secure a place to pursue my Doctoral Degree. Completed one earlier but after giving a deeper thought, I do not think I can bear living with the topic for the next three years. Such I am now on a new topic. Quite a new one with less ready material - hmmm.... I like to suffer don't I? Hopefully I can complete it by next week...

As I wrote this piece I was actually under a very shady tree by the beach somewhere in Pulau Indah. The sea breeze pulling and tugging ...ohh... so peaceful.




My husband was somewhere with his friends checking the net which a few of them had set early in the morning. Hakim, Damia & Aqil were somewhere in the beach - swimming and making sand castles. Danish? Under the tree somewhere beside me, revising. Well, shall I tell him that all work and no play make Jack (or Awang or George or Lim for that matter) a dull boy?

Well, Danish is worried. So worried. We came back in February this year. He started schooling in March. And eventhough he was already in Year 10 (equivalent to Form 4) in England, since he has yet to reach his 15th birthday, he was placed in the 3rd Form. Of course he has to sit for PMR this year and knowing that PMR covers lessons for the past two years as well. He was devastated! Freaked out.




So, Danish has been studying from Day 1. His dream is to get into a boarding school next year. We set a plan. He has to take all eight compulsory subjects. He has to concentrate on these. We bought books from a few publishers for each subject, practice on past years questions, identify the favourite topics and of course - send his for tuition for BM. God! BM is difficult nowadays. Not just for Danish but also for his younger siblings. If I were to take the exam, there is no doubt that I will fail. I am pretty sure of that. Slowly Danish made a progress. A painful one for him.

A week after he was registered at school, he has to sit for the 1stTerm Exam. We put no pressure on him. He managed to get only 1A,  2cs, 3ds &2es. He was so down. We told him that result didn't count. What do we expect? He's only at school for a week. But that didn't cheer him up.

"Mum, some of the subjects are so strange to me - kemahiran hidup (life skills?), I never do geography and of course not Sejarah (history). And to think that I have to learn in these few months three years worth of syllabus for 8 subjects?"

Slowly we look at the subjects. We marked the favourite topics and we read the answers to the subjective questions. There is no time to figure out the answers ourselves. With answers from  a few publishers on the same question, there must be one better answer. Deep in me I know he will somehow try to do his best. And to be honest, I am not worried nor am I expecting miracle for him.

His journey must be quite terrifying for him. He is the eldest and he is very determined in setting a good example to his siblings. And we support him. His mid-year exam, he managed 2As, 3Bs, 2Cs & 1E (history) and his recent (PMR trial) he managed 3As, 4Bs & 1C.

"Do you think I can managed 8As Ibu? For the real exam? I want so much to get all As."




Well, I know he will be heart broken if he couldn't. But looking at the way he work himself each day, I hope he will. I can only provide him with some guidance and prayers. Whatever he gets he is still one of my beloved sons.

Happy Monday everyone :)

Our Day Out

Alhamdulillah...! As mentioned in the previous two or three entries (on Brecon Beacon), I have totally resolved my "picture attachment" issue. And so happy was I with that! Now I am wishing if ipad will have "paper artist" apps... I am so in love with it.
Anyway, I am not here talking about my "love life". We are one happy family who always have short trips and most were unplanned. Of course we read about it one day and either by chance some times later when we were within the vicinity of the area, we will like "there is a fruit farm around this area, let's check it out!" Or, "my colleague said there's a park here somewhere" or "Baba, my friend was here last week. There is a fair somewhere around..". And our visit to Leighton Buzzard Railway was a result of this.




I think it was one of the Bank Holidays. A very fine summer morning. Normally there will be car boot sales on but if I remember correctly we gave it a pass. Way when Danish and Hakim were around 5 & 3, we went to Pickering to visit the North Yorkshire Moor Railway. They wanted to see the real steam engine. We went there but unfortunately as we arrived there a bit late, we managed to just take photos of the engine but couldn't managed to get on the train. It was said that the engine itself appeared in the first Harry Porter movie.




Anyway, the engine that we embarked on at Leighton Buzzard is a 70 minutes light ride, passed the fields,








Village roads, (the gentleman wearing the cap? He was the driver that day as well as the signal man . Multi-tasking eh?)




village residential areas,








not to mention bramble hedges from Page's Park to Stonehenge Works.












"Are we there yet?"
For information the ride takes one from Page's Park to Stonehenge Works through Marley's Loop, Leedon Loop and Vandyke Junction ( steep gradient!). During the First World War the rail is used to transport sands from Belgium for the ammunition factories. This continue during the Second World War.
Among the locomotives that can be witnessed at Stonehenge Works.




To be honest we do love train. For leisure that's it. I don't even mind my daily trips using the First Capital Connect or East Midlands (not during winter though when there are always signalling problems!). But I sure do not always like the tube!

Happy Friday everyone :D

source of pictures 1 and 12 : Wikipedia

Location:Leighton Buzzard Light Railway

Happiness.... (The River - Sg Lopo Hulu Langat 2)

Happiness.... (The River - Sg Lopo Hulu Langat 1)

Brecon Beacon

Late summer last year we went to Wales. As our trip there was quite a last minute decision, instead of going to Snowdonia (most accommodations fully booked!) we decided to go to Brecon Beacon instead.

At last! The matter of including photos for my blog is resolved! Coming to think about it, I guess it is stupidity on my side. Let's not rub it in, thanks to Blogpress, I can now happily attach all the photos that I want! Huh!

In fact! I will have less writing in this entry but more photos! Yes!

Errr... By the way, Llyn Y Fan Fach is located in the area of Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons. It is so....breathtakingly beautiful, MasyaAllah. I may add notes later on but at the moment, let the photos do the talking...














































Till then. Happy Friday Everyone! ;D

Location:Llyn Y Fan Fach?

The Lost Boy....And Found!

"Ibu, I met Hakim at the Surau in Section 2 and he said he will be back around six. He said he will start walking from Section 2 at around 5.30." Danish informed me as he came back from Friday prayer around three weeks ago.

But Hakim didn't reach home even when it's nearly time for breaking our fast. I was worried. Since 7.00 p.m. I have been asking Danish again and again what exactly did Hakim said. I was getting more and more anxious. I called my husband but he simply said that Hakim will be back.

Unlike Danish, Hakim hardly mentioned his friends' names. He never brought any of his friends home. I only remembered that we sent him to one of his friends' house in Section 2 for their English project.

It was nearly 7.45 - no Hakim. But at least my husband was back. "Is he home yet?"he asked. I shook my head. I managed to contact his friend. The only no. that I have which at that time felt like my life line to Hakim.

"Auntie, he's not with me but I will check with my other friends." Came the answer. Ten minutes later the text came in.

"My friend's Dad sent him home before the Friday prayer." Oh God!

"It's alright Sweetie, he actually was not home then. He went to Section 2 for prayers. But thank you."

A few minutes later, my phone rang.

"Puan, saya dengar Luqman (the name his friends call him) belum balik lagi. Saya nak hantar dia balik rumah tengahari tadi tapi dia kata dia nak singgah Section 2 untuk solat Jumaat dengan kawan2 dia. Tak apa Puan, kalau dia belum balik lagi, saya tolong pergi cari dia. (M'am, I heard Luqman is not back yet. I wanted to send him straight home but he said he wanted to perform his Friday prayers with his friends at Section 2. If he is not back yet, let me go and try to find him."

"Terimakasih Encik. Tak mengapa. Kami memang nak keluar cari dia sekarang. Memang tadi dia solat Jumaat di Section 2. Abang dia ada jumpa dia. Dia kata nak pergi rumah kawan lepas tu balik rumah pukul 5.30. (Thank you. It's alright. We are going to look for him now. He was in Section 2 for prayers. His brother met him there and he said he will get back around 5.30).

"Ok. Kalau apa2 tolong beritahu saya.(ok. If anything, please let me know)".We were already in the car by this time.

Having decided that we will break our fast at home and go for dinner after prayers, none of us have anything yet except for a glass of water. Mia and Aqil have grown very quiet wondering what happened to their brother. Danish was somewhat angry judging from his stormy face.

"Where shall we go first?" Asked my husband.

"Section 2. The house which we sent him for his English project about a month or 2 ago."

"Do you know which house?"

"Just go to Section 2, first. I vaguely remember. All I know the house is painted green." Somehow, we managed to find the house.

"But Luqman was not here today, Auntie." said his friend. "Probably he's at Syed's house."

"Do you where Syed's house is Darling?"

Hmmm....!

Hmm... I am hoping that life will be back to normal. I have packed the children to school this morning. Their homework, packed lunch, uniforms nicely ironed, shoes - everything ready for them. Though it is quite difficult to wake Aqil up, we managed to get to school earlier than usual today.




But, as soon as we started walking, Mia said "Ibu, my shoes are tight now. I have to curl my toes to fit in."

"Oh Dear... We thought your feet won't grow during the fasting month..."

"I know. But it is alright Ibu. I will go through today but can we go and buy a new pair when Baba gets home? It hurts..."

"Of course Darling. We do not want you to suffer. I am very sorry you have to go through this today."

"It's ok Ibu. Don't worry."

I felt guilty. Seriously I did. But Mia being a very thin kid (her cousin even said that the banana tree is "fatter" than her) even though quite tall, I never thought anything will change within these two weeks. how wrong I was.




A different story with Aqil. Well, since we came back, Aqil has been putting on weight which worries us. We do not want him to be obese. But, seeing him still as active (as he is when much thinner) as though his increasing weight is never a bother to him, we are quite relieved. Anyway, we still monitor his weight - as of now, he is still within his age group normal weight.  And due to his "continuing growth" we bought him new school shirts and trousers. (Oh my goodness me! He's two sizes bigger from his last!).

So, when we reached school this morning, I have to explain to the teachers that Aqil has no school badge and name tag yet due to the new shirt and I thought he is the only one not in complete uniform today. But, as I turned my back to leave, I saw a girl in her baju kurung. I heard one of the teachers asking:

"Kenapa pakai baju Raya ni? (Why are you in your Eid attire?)