Musings on a blessed Friday

Dressing up for work, a line from a song by Aishah on my cd player caught my attention,
" Hasad dengki usah di hiraukan, bersabar lah menempuhi..." (Don't be bothered by jealousy and treachery, be patient and face them). Mmm, easier sung than done, especially when such uncalled for attention came from the least expected source! Anyway, it's a blessed Friday, God bless us all.

Got a forwarded sms from an old friend thanking everyone for the good wishes and prayers for her recent major surgery. For some time now she is not allowed any direct contact with me. For heaven's sake, we are both in our 60s now and I grew up admiring her like a sister due to her great command in English and very broad unconventional outlook, which inspired me to master the language as well and seek beyond the confine of our small town. My prayer for a speedy recovery my dear friend and sister.

I brought home yesterday, from my office, a large framed photo of my beloved parents since the silver frame has gone all stained and dark and I have silver polish at home. During my sleep I dreamt of both of them separately, mother seeing me packing for a trip and a phone call from father telling me it was OK to be myself and not to worry about what others think. May Allah SWT bless them, amin. And Al Fatihah...

A long phone call from Marion in Zurich complaining about the snowy cold weather and announcing that she had already booked her three weeks stay in the Cherating for July. Ah Yong, also in Switzerland and I were also 'sms ing' back and forth all night! Ah, the comfort of friendship. And today HP will arrive from JB to spend the weekend with me. It was also good to catch up with Wen and Mariam yesterday, and also Syed who I have been trying to see for some time. He alternates living in Florence, Italy and in KL and we finally met up and will have lunch together next week.

It's been such a busy week and thank God a scheduled weekend workshop at Genting had been cancelled. I can now attend the Committee Meeting of house owners of our community of 46 houses tomorrow. And I am going to raise among other things, dog owners letting their dogs' barking disturb our serenely peaceful community. I think half  of the currently occupied houses are tenanted by foreigners and many of them have dogs! My Mat Salleh neighbour who moved in two days after I did on 31 Dec has not once switched off their half a dozen or more aircons (wish they'd give me a break when I am working in my garden - all that eternal buzz and humming of the aircons!) and they hardly ever come out of their house when they are home! Aiyo, why live here if you can't live a normal life like the rest of us la!

So much for my musing, have a blessed Friday all.     

2.35pm - Just came back from Friday prayers at a very modest nearby neighbourhood mosque and for the second time in a few months DYMM Agong (His Majesty the King) himself came to perform the prayers too, without the pomp and ceremony, arriving with with his small retinue of staff and with no special treatment. Daulat Tuanku! 

Of 'mujopahit' the fruit, Yogyakarta etc

Just got back from a most pleasant 6-day break in Jogjakarta. Last time I was there was in 1978 and God it has grown so much, and so has Solo. And Borobodur and Prambanan are so well restored and facilitated for visitors, though unfortunately there were hardly any the days I was at each places (perhaps 20 at Borobudor and a few more in Prambanan, also a small handful of visitors at the kraton in Solo). When I visited them in '78 they were undergoing restoration by UNESCO and visitors were only allowed to see designated parts of the monuments. Now I saw them in their full glory. The Merapi volcano eruption has all but driven tourists away though there was no danger whatsoever.

The hotel I stayed in at Jogja had but a handful of guests. A pity but perfectly agreeable with me. I had an absolutely fabulous time and really pampered myself. Had to buy another suitcase for all the batiks and stuffs I bought.  People were so kind, friendly, polite and service orientated. Now why can't spoilt, over privileged Malaysians be a bit like that! I shall henceforth try not to get too annoyed with the Indonesian workers here as they are only to eke a living given the situation back home!

Anyway more about Borobodur, Prambanan and Solo later (sorry Evert I gave Imogiri a skip this time, I am sure I look better in that rented batik sarong bare-chested in '78 than I would today!). I just want to share photos of some fruits I took in Nasirun's garden. I am sure I had seen them in Malaysia but they don't grow on trunks like these. Nasirun said they are called 'mujopahit' because they are bitter though not edible. Anyway, really fascinating as you can see! Anyone has further info about these fruits?