Ramadan and Birthday

I'm writing from Coffee Bean, KL Sentral. Well you might be wondering why was I at Coffee Bean on Wednesday during office hour. Actually, I'm on leave today and my hubby too. Both of us decided to spend the day together and sort out whatever things we need to do before the fasting month started.

Taken at Masjid Al Hasanah

If you don't know, fasting starts this Saturday, and I'm ready for it. In fact, I can't wait for it. So are my kids who told me that they can't wait for Ramadan to come. It is a special month.

This Ramadan, I would miss my oldest son, Syafiq, who is staying in the hostel at his college. This is his first year away from home. He would be missed during the iftar, sahur and Terawih. Normally, Amir would be going to Surau with him. Maybe this year, Amir and Zaki can go together, and Syafiq would join them during the weekend.

Talking about Syafiq, he will be celebrating his 18th birthday this Friday, a day before Ramadan. I told Zara that Syafiq's birthday is on Friday, and she told me that she wanted to draw something for Syafiq.

Last night, she showed me a picture of a sport car. I asked her who draw the picture, and her responds were "Ya lah." She was not happy with the drawing and wanted to draw another picture. This time, she wanted me to do it together with her. She has been calling me twice today, demanding that I come back earlier to help her paint the picture using the watercolor.

The other two boys didn't bother to get anything for the big brother. Maybe they will do their K-POP dance routine for the big brother. Well for me, I already gave him his present last Thursday. He got what he wanted, the iPhone 4s, and I also converted his line from Prepaid to Postpaid. Our dear friend was very happy.

Okay here something from me, actually from Syafiq. Enjoy! Safe and Sound - Taylor Swift

Tale of The Land of No Name - Final

The king of The Land of No Name was very busy making friends with other countries. The once barren land  was now very prosperous land. There are a lot of activities happening, mining, farming, trading and so many other things. These made the people of Land of No Name very happy, and it also attracted people from far and near to migrate to land of no name.

The rulers from the neighboring countries near and far were eager to make friends with the king of the Land of No Name. As times went by, the once empty land were now crowded, and there were shortage of land to build houses.

Even though, the king looked friendly and approachable, he was a shrewd man. He would not entertain anybody who tried to cut him out. The neighboring countries were careful not to upset the leaders of the Land of No Name. They were careful who they sent as an ambassador.

The prosperous land now needs more workers. The current people were not enough to meet the demand from the other countries. There were lots of demands from other countries for the quality goods produced from Land of No Name. To overcome the manpower shortage, the king has asked his generals to hire and encourage other people to migrate to the Land of No Name. So many people took up the offered.

The generous king also welcome those people who left the Land of No Name to come back, and a special treaty was signed between the King and the Prince from the Down Under to bring back some of the skillful people. When the people of Land of No Name heard about the news, they were very happy.

"Hey Jacob!" called Henry. "Micah is coming back. He would be staying at his old place."

"Really? Who else is coming back," asked Jacob, who was hoping that his neighbor would come back.

"I don't know, but I heard there were offers made to them."

"Hmmm... I need to find out. I want my old neighbor back. My new neighbor is not friendly," whispered Micah.

"I know what you mean."

The newcomers to the land of no name brought along their own cultures. This didn't go well with the true people of Land of No Name. The friendly, united and helpful people of Land of No Name tried to welcome these people, but most often they were looked down.

"When are they coming back?" asked Jacob.

"Not sure. I heard lots of negotiation were taking place to bring them back," said Henry.

"I hope they come in soon. I can't wait for them and for this place to be like the old day."

The negotiation between the chosen people and the Ministry of Homeland continued. Finally, the negotiation was settled, and the offered were made. The offers were very good, and most of them didn't turn it down.

When the people of Land of No Name heard this, they were happy for their friends and former neighbors, but deep down they felt that they had been betrayed. For the few years that they had been living under and serving the old Queen and the new King, they didn't get any special treatments. Well, once the chosen and elite group were now no more special. They were just an ordinary people now.

John and Matthew who have been living for years in the Land of No Name were frustrated, but they keep to themselves. One day, John and Matthew were sitting under the tree, near the town square, and  watching the new people working on the field.

"What do you think John?" asked Matthew.

"What do you mean?" replied John.

"Well, those people who coming back with higher pay than us,” said Matthew.

"I'm happy for them," said John, but Matthew could feel the tinged of sadness in John's voice.

"Me too," said Matthew, "but I wish that they consider us too,"

John was silent for quite some time before he answered.

"Nah! If they want us, they would have considered us long time ago," he said. "Well, look at it this way. Few years ago, when they were forced to go with the Prince they suffered, whereas we didn't. So maybe this time, it is our turn to suffer."

Matthew looked at John with horror. "No. No, I don't want to suffer. I must find a way out.”

Well, this is part of life. One moment you are up, and the next moment you are down," said John looking far towards the oats field.

Matthew couldn't accept John's explanation, but he didn't say anything. They continued to sit in silent under the tree looking at the oats fields which were ready for harvest.

"Don't you think we work as hard as those friends of ours?" asked Matthew who still not happy with what happened.

"We did, but others might not see us that way."

John got up and wipes his backside. "Let go. I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

He walked towards the oat fields. Matthew quickly got up and joined John. Both of them were walking towards the field not knowing what to do. As they were passing by a big tree near the edge of the field, they saw a poster. They stopped and read the poster, and then they looked at each other, grinning and together they said, "Yes!".