Random Happenings

Thursday: Pre-Eid

On Thursday, there was an akikah for someboddy's baby. Coincidentally, it was the same day before Eid. So, after all the eating and most of the people left, me, S, and some of our friends helped decorate the masjid for Eid. We put up the lights is the musalla and the hall. We put streamers over the windows. It was very hard work. While me, S, R, and Keela were doing the lights in the hallway, Keela's brother Zak came and helped a little bit. He got a sticker (goat head) stuck in his sock and he told me to get it out because he was too chicken. Then he asked me if I got henna. I said not yet. But then I saw S getting it, and so I did too. After I got it, I continued with the lights. It was hard 'cause I didn't want to mess up my henna. My hair was all messy and I had to ask Ummi to tuck my hair back inside my tudong. When we were all done, we played in the musalla. R, Keela, and Keela's sister Nabeel were gliding and sliding in the musalla with their socks. Keela's mom took a picture of us (S, me, R, Keela and Nabeel). Then, we left. We went to Albertsons and bought some food for the visitors. We got ice cream, cookies, and Go-Gurt.

Friday: Eid

I woke up like a few minutes before Fajr and I was like wondering if I could go back to sleep or not. Then, after a while, I heard the water being turned on upstairs, and so I knew that daddy was awake. Then, I got ready t'go. I couldn't find the dress, btw, so I had to be tradishunal, much to your disappointment. Then, when we were all ready to go, we went outside. Ummi told us to stand in front of the garage so she could take pictures. We were all worried about the cars passing by and wondering why ugly people in nice clothes were standing in front of a garage like poor peeps, and a ninja was taking pictures of them. XD.

So then we went to the masjid. People were fillin' up the masjid like ants to crumbs. R wasn't there yet, and Mnr wasn't either. So we sat fatly, watching people hug each other and listening to the takbir. And watching the weird, smelly kids. Pretty soon R came in. Her clothes were so JUICY. They were white and turquoise with millions of sequins. Even her socks matched.

(Unfortunately, I couldn't find my pink socks, so I had to wear my blue ones, and they didn't match at all with my pink baju krong.) Then, it was time for the salat. Me and Z went to the kitchen so he could eat, and we watched R's mom Sry do an activity with the little kids. They watched Take Me to the Ka'aba. Then they played a game. Then, my long lost friends came late for the prayer. (Their names are Nr and Hb.) Then I took Z out to the playground.

Pretty soon the prayer was over, and people came pouring to eat. Me, S, and R played at the playground and talked about henna and stuff like that. While I was waiting for Ummi to be done talking and for Abi to be finished drinking tea or something, I sat in the van with the door open and listened to a nasheed that I recorded on my camera. :D Then we went home.

Sandy's dad was supposed to come to our house so we could follow him to the farm. He took like a million years. He finally came. He led us to  place where there were millions of potholes and loads of flying dust. At the farm, nobody was there to supervise us. We took a look at the sheep and the pigs (blech!) and the chicken chickens. There was this teenage chick that escaped from the coop by a hole in the wire door. Abi tried to get it back through the hole by opening it more and saying, "Sini, sini, sini!" But of course chickens don't understand human language, and Malay at that, so it just ran away in fright. Pretty soon all the men came and they chose some good sheep. The only sheep there that wasn't scared of humans was the big black one with big horns. Sadly, we slaughtered it. I took a video of the first sheep to be slaughtered. S thought it was sick and nasty. But me, I could watch without wincing a smidgen, like I said twelve posts ago. I was planning to take videos of the other ones being slaughtered but then I changed my mind.

Finally, after sitting in the van being cold, Abu Yaz (Sandy's dad) said to Abi, "You can go now, F. You have kids." And I silently said, "YAY! Thanks, Sandy's dad." and S chuckled. So we went home, and I slept on the way.
Abi and Ummi cut the meat for a long time. I saw Ummi smashing chicken with the flat side of the knife to make it look more appetizing, as that's how they do nasi ayam in Maleesia.

Then the guests started coming after Maghrib. Auntie Saleem and Kylie came first. Kylie had a broken arm because of his daftness. Then Amunay came. Amunay is one of the coordinators for the Muslim Girls Club. Amunay left early 'cause she was scared about leaving her kids (Suheidi, Lulu, and Yasser) at home alone. Kylie played with H violently. After a while, Muhee, Hal, and Akeely came. Then Tonio, Noha, and Mstfa came. Me, S, H, Z, Kylie, and Mstfa played on the carpet. Mstfa tugged H's hair and pinched Kylie's nose. It was hilarious. Then everyone started to leave. Muhee, Hal, and Akeely left first. Then Auntie Saleem and Kylie left. Lastly, Tonio, Noha and Mstfa left.

Saturday: Post-Eid

I was the first to wake up. The living room was all nice and yellow, and everything was silent. I ate some cookies. Then Z woke up and we made bracelets. Pretty soon Abi woke up and said, "Siap Z! We're going to Chucky!" I told Z to get ready, but he said he didn't wanna go. Pala HOTAK n'kau! (That's Malay. I dunno what it means, but mommy says it and it's funny.)

I ran into my room and said to S, "Wake up, S, if you wanna go da Chuck!"
I ran into H's room and said to H, "Wake up, H, if you wanna go da Chuck!"

Next thing I knew we were in the van driving to the mall. We played at Chucky Cheeses for a bit 'cause H had a soccer game at 1:00 or something. The first thing I played was a bowling game. Then I played a football game.  I was slightly good at it. Then I put two tokens in a basket ball game that was broken and I had to ask the people to get it out.

All too soon, we three used up all our tokens. Boohoo! We fed our tickets to the ticket thingy and got prizes, then left.


The End.

Potluck, Fish, and Cake

I have three posts to make today. One for Saturday and two for Sunday.

(PS: The title obviously says Potluck, Fish, and Cake. The words 'fish' and 'cake' just don't sound right together. It sounds nasty.)
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~The Potluck~

On Saturday, there was community iftar, as always, and that was the night I THOUGHT they were gonna announce the winners. After Maghrib I thought they would announce it, but no. So we ate our iftar and all, and it was really good! There was serving this time because usually when people take their food by themselves it's so slow. And there were less people this time because the Pakistanis had a party. So yay! The quietness. I didn't know there were so much Pakis.

S told Sandy that we brought a smoothie (made by me of course) and then Sandy was like, "Dude. Where's the smoothie?" So I showed her where it was, and she asked me what was inside it, and I said, "Blueberries, yogurt, soymilk, and lemon." So she drank it, and she was like, "Wow, N! This is so good! The lemon makes it so good!" Then she blubbered about how she used to hate lemon and all. And then, GUESS WHAT?! Mom showed me off to some of her friends named Myr, Joycie, and Umm Yaz. She told me to get the smoothie and some cups. And so I did, and then they were like, "You should make a smoothie shop called 'N Made It.'" And I'm like, ":D." Then Joycie looked at me and said, "I love your scarf. It really brings out the creaminess in your skin. You know, the lilac color." I was wearing a light purple tudong. Everyone went like 'Awww'! Well, mom and Myr and Umm Yaz did, but S and Sandy went like "Mph!" and "Hahaha!" Then mom said, "You're embarrassing her!" But Joycie said, "No, really! I wish my skin was like that." Then it was dessert time. It was oreo cake, I think. Then it was Isha time.

Sandy asked when they were gonna announce the winnahs, and I said, "I don't know, maybe after Isha?" And when they didn't, I thought, 'maybe after tarawih, then?' But no. Then I thought, 'Fine, maybe after witr.' And no.

So I asked mom why they didn't announce it, and she said, "I think it's 'cause they're waiting for the women."

Apparently the women's judging was on Tuesday, so bleep.
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~The Fish~

On Sunday we went shopping. Abi said we had to go shopping before the last ten days of Ramadan. Before we went we were like 'should we go or not' and then I asked mom and she said, 'Haa, boley lah!" So we went.

First we went to Petco while dad went somewhere else, I forgot.

S and I immediately went to the betta fish place. I went to where the rainbow rocks were, but they weren't where I saw them last. So I just went to the betta bowl decoration aisle. S said she wanted to buy a skull, but mom was like, 'ish, jangan lah!' S had olso said she liked my plant, so I got to choose a plant for myself. I was just about to get one when S changed her mind like Z.

"Actually, I'm going to buy my own plant."

BLEEP.

She took a very long time choosing. Then she changed her mind again! BLEEP x 2.

So I took a nice red silk plant, and a blue bridge. Then after I walked out of the aisle I noticed the rainbow rocks. I took the last pack of red, pink, and purple rocks.

S, apparently, got a castle for her fish to swim through. Then she got the water purifier. Then we joined mom and H & Z in looking at the other pets. We looked at the mice, the birds, the chinchillas, and the kittens. The kittens were so bleeping cute and so were the chinchillas. And of course mom thought the dumb old guinea pigs were cute. *BARF*

When we were done browsing we went to go pay. The cashier man was very odd. He was jolly.

"Hello! What've we got here today?"

"Hmm, I'm gonna wrap this up in a bag so it doesn't break." (Wraps up the bridge in a plastic bag)

"Would you like to donate a can of food to help the cats?" (Picks up a can of cat food and swings it around)

"Thank you, do you have a Petco card?"

"Thank you, have a good day. Hello sir, what do you..."

LOL.

So after that was done with, we went to the hated Ross, and then the disliked Marshalls, and the hilarious smelly Big 5. H needed cleats for his soccer. In a certain place mom found fresh shields for H. S was laffing like cra-Z about them. So much so she was even laffing after we left the store.

At home before Zohor, S got my bowl cleaned and decored. First she took the fish out, then the water, then put the gravel on a tissue to dry. Then she put in the decor and poured some smelly apple cider vinegar on it. Then she put in the water, and then the purifier. Then my fish's bowl was done. It was Fish Kid's turn. Fish Kid aka Iceblaze aka Sharkbait.

Sunset on the bridge.

S did hers and then when it was done we went to go pray. I made waz and when I lifted up my right leg to wash my foot, my best knee banged into the sink counter. I noticed later on in the shower that I got a bad bruise.

IceBlaze and his castle.

Sunset's bowl is beautiful now. ↓



H claims he told me to buy the bridge. Well, he didn't. I chose it for myself and that's that. I'm the one with good taste here.



Staring in rage at each other.

Here's a little video I took of Sunset biting my finger. I always make him bite my finger before I give him food. It's a little trick S invented.

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~The Cake~

That same day, H wanted to make sponge cake with fruit and cream. He got into a little argument with mom about folding. :D

So after dad came home from Shahit's store with the berries, H started the cake.

"Who wants to help me?" he said.

"Me," said me.

"M'kay."

So while he got everything out, I went to go look at Sunset. Suddenly H came in my room and said, "C'mon, Nar, let's go make the cake!"

I followed him to the kitchen in most grudge. He started making the cake.

Sifting the flour.

S holding eggs over flour.

(fast forward - I don't want to tell all about how we made the cake - I forgot anyway)

...I remember using the hand beater to make the cream. It required patience and it hurt my hands real bad. Then I remember H pouring the strawberries in a bowl and putting them in the fridge because he left them out too long and they melted.

Then the cake was ready, and it was too short (thanks to H's geniusness), so S made another one. Then it was frosting time. H decored the first layer with cream and the strawberries. Then he put the other cake layer on top and started frosting the whole cake. It was very messy. Then he decorated the top and the base with the remaining strawberries. It looked wunnerful. Then he poured the remaining strawberry sauce over the cake.

The end result.

Then when it reached Asr time, we woke up mom and prayed asr, an then we went downstairs and H said to show mom the cake so I showed her the pictures I took of it. She said to give it to the bleeping neighbors!! >:O I was like, shouldn't've showed her the pictures!

So H was sent out with a plate of cake to give to the neighbors. But they weren't home, so yay! XD

When it was time to break, H and I ate the cake pieces that were meant for the bleeping neighbors.

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Well, those are all the stories for today.

N

The Competition

It wasn't how I expected it to be.

It was cacat.

Well, first of course, we went to the masjid. On the way, we picked up Abi and he sat in the backseat with me and Z. Then we got to the masjid. Abi took some time to get out of the van from the backseat.

Ummi, S, Z and I went into the women's side and sat down in the musalla. In a few minutes people came, and after the khutbah we prayed, obv, and then people started getting ready for the judging. It was in the cole ole classroom. Me and Sandy were participating. My other friend R was not in because she decided to let others have a chance. o_o

So first, a girl went, and then another girl went, and then it was Sandy's turn. Apparently after some tussling, it seemed to me she was nervous. So like, she went, and then it was my turn. I read the surah while sweating quite badly. Then I was done and went to mom and S and Joycie who were all grinning.

"You did good!" they said.

"Not my best," I said.

After that it was the little kids' turn. Hl went and read Surah Ikhlas, and then another kid named Dani read Surah Lahab and Nas. They were quite good, actually. After that, me, Sandy, and R went outside. S came out later with Z. S and Sandy talked together under the tree and me and R went on the swings. Then it was time to leave. We had some trouble thinking if we should leave H there or not, because he was being judged after Asr...so S called Abi and Abi said to just leave H there. After a bit mroe confusion we did leave him there. Then we came home.

And now my tummy is churning and growling. And my arm is still fuzzy.

N

Credit

Well, as you know, yesterday was my last day of massage class. Whoopee!!! People kept calling me 'sweetie' and 'dearie' (like my grandma) and they kept saying, "Good job! For a little girl, that's a great job!" I'm not a little girl! So I was extremely offended and I was like 'hehe'. Then we had to leave at like 7:45 pm so we could go to the masjid to break fast. Before we left, we had to get out certificates. And guess what? We both got eight credit hours! Oh and BTW, 'we' refers to me and my dad.

I was like the first one there, well, not really, someone named D was there with her kid named Hl. Hl was drinking and D was getting the dates and drinks ready. Then D sent Hl to the men's side to do some errands, like getting soup and all. Then people came, and someone brought rice. She saw me and asked, "You're alone?"

And I said, "Yeah."

Then she said, "Where's S?"

I said, "She's gonna come later."

Well, at least she didn't ask for my mom. Grr, I hate when people ask for her even though I already tell them she is at home doing things!

Anyways. After the Maghrib prayer Abwadab took me home to finish up iftar and then S and mom got ready to go. Btw we ate our Mexicans and they are really good! No I'm not a cannibal dummy, I'm talking about the brownies! No I'm not racist either. Well maybe I am a little bit. :P

So while S was getting ready, H came in the room and I showed him my certificate. For some reason they were both really amazed that I got eight credit hours.

So we got Z ready to go n then we went to the masjid. We prayed Isha, then Terawih, then we got to stay a li'l longer because Abi asked me if I wanted to and I said yes. So S and I went outside with our friend Sandy (well that's not her real name but I wouldn't really tell it to you would I?) to the masjid's playground.

H and his friend M came and played while we talked, and then they left after women came out of the women's side to leave.

N

Ramadan Day #1

Hold on. This is yesterday's post. Read it before today's.

THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012
Today was a big day. I had to go to the masjid for a Girls' Club meeting. We were gonna talk about preparing for Ramadan, our Ramadan goals and our duas. The girls were all bored to death, which was annoying. We all had to say what we liked about Ramadan, and they all mostly said, "because of the food." Seriously! The fatties these days! At least there was one girl who said she likes Ramadan because her mom doesn't force her to eat. But that's still bad. The point of Ramadan is not just about eating, as you know. Anyway, then we wrote down our goals and dua on paper (well what else would we write on?) using Sharpie markers. Then we played with H's hefty friend named Kylie in the men's side. It was fun! Nobody was there, practically. So then we went home and ate dinner, and then we went to 'The Hill' for moon sighting. So we found out that Ramadan was going to be on Friday. Tomorrow. Then we prayed Tarawih and Witr at the Masjid, and then S and I went to the masjid's library to practice Surah Al-Mulk for the Ramadan Quran competition. The End.

N
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And now, here is today's post.

FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012
Today, after Fajr, we listened to H read Surah Al-Kahf. His reading was SO horrible, I slept through it!!! Just kidding. He just read it, and I nodded my head. I hate that. Anyway, then we listened to a lecture about Surah Al-Kahf. Then we discussed our Quran schedule. I was going to read two pages of Quran a day after every prayer, starting from Al-Fatihah. So I went downstairs with my bazaar bought Quran, and read the first two pages. Then I had to go find the translation for the two pages that I read. This is what I got.

Surah Al-Fatihah translation. From this website. Dar-us-Salam.

1. Surah Al-Fatihah

1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

2. All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).

3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)

5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).

6. Guide us to the Straight Way

7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).

And for Surah Al-Baqarah. First five ayahs.

Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow)

1. Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings].

2. This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].

3. Who believe in the Ghaib and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakat , spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause - Jihad, etc.].

4. And who believe in (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him ) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).

5. They are on (true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful.

N

Partayy!

Today I went to my sort-of-friend's house for a party because someone is leaving for Singapore. S and I went there early to set up. Then people started coming. We ate, then Ummi and S left because H and I wanted to stay. So we stayed, and then we played.

Eid Al-Adha

On Eid Al-Adha this year, we went to the masjid to pray. Then we ate. I ate a donut. After that we went home and changed our clothes so we could go to the farm. At the farm, we slaughtered four sheep and a ram. There was a nice cat there, a white cat with a ginger muzzle and tail. I think it was partly Siamese. There was a Siamese kitten there, and I think it was the cat's kitten. Anyway, after that we went to visit people. We went to a Singaporian's house. A boy there scared my little brother with a Halloween mask.

Hiking

On Sunday I went hiking up a mountain. It was a Girls' Club event, and there were six girls (including me and Skina) and two adults. We went into a hermit's cave, which was nice and cool compared to the outside weather. At one moment all the girls decided to hide from the adults, so we hid in a nice chair-like part of the mountain. I ate a granola bar. Climbing down the mountain was pretty steep, and one time I fell. I was holding a thin tree branch, and you can guess it broke. I fell and smashed my face into some rocks and plant junk. (Don't worry, I'm okay!) My left leg hurt slightly for a while. When we finally got to the bottom, at the parking lot, we ate. I ate two cheese sandwiches, pineapple chunks, a banana, and something else that was really good, I can't remember what. Then we went to a girl's house to see her new baby sister. We ate pizza. We played soccer, and twice the ball got kicked over into the neighbor's yard.

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Picnic!

On Saturday the masjid held a picnic at the park. There was a jumping balloon. One looked like a dog and one looked like Spongebob. There was chicken, salad, donuts, cupcakes, and lots of other yum-headed things. I rollerbladed with Skina and our friends. There was ice cream. I had an ice cream sandwich and a popsicle. I was quite sweaty. But it was fun and we left at about 5 o clock.
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