Hargailah Harta Orang

Mak Aji masa muda-muda dulu selalu pinjam buku (cerita, bukan buku sekolah) daripada kawan-kawan, dari perpustakaan, juga daripada cikgu yang merupakan guru tuition matematik. Sebelum mula membaca, biasanya Mak Aji gunakan surat khabar lama dan balut kulit buku itu, macam anak-anak kita balut buku teks masa baru nak mula sekolah. Gunanya, untuk memastikan novel tak lunyai di tangan Mak Aji semasa Mak Aji baca. Mak Aji nak pulangkan buku itu dalam keadaan yang hampir sama dengan keadaannya semasa Mak Aji pinjam! Selain itu, kalau baca sekerat jalan, guna penanda buku atau cebisan surat khabar buat penanda, tak ada main kelepet-kelepet kat tepi - sayang wei, lagipun harta orang! Bila sudah biasa buat, tak ada yang luar biasa dengan hal itu. Bila orang lain pula pinjam buku kita, biasanya dari buku yang baru, terus lunyai dibuatnya!

Kalau membeli barang lain pun Mak Aji sanggup beli yang agak berkualiti, biar bayar lebih sedikit tapi tahan lama dan susah rosak. Ada pulak orang yang kedekut sangat nak keluar duit tapi kalau bab meminjam laju saja! Sudahlah pinjam, dilayannya barang kita macam harga 20 sen saja! Mana tak berasap telinga! Macam-macam perangai manusia!

Kita ni nak kena hormat harta benda orang, namanya pun pinjam. Lainlah kalau harta sendiri, nak buat sesuka hati, silakan, tak ada siapa yang nak marah! 

Soal hormat harta orang ke, hormat orang ke, tak perlu diminta baru kita nak hormat. Hormat juga bukan secara automatik - asal lebih dari segala segi terus kena hormat. Macam orang putih kata, "We have to earn our respect!" Waima kita ni harta menimbun, bergelar ke, berpangkat setinggi mana pun, anak ulama besar mana ke, kalau tak tahu hormat orang, maka jangan terkejut kalau orang tak hormat kita.   Tanpa harta, tanpa gelaran, tanpa pangkat, tanpa keturunan yang baik pun kalau tahu hormat orang, maka orang itu patut dihormati juga, waima tukang sapu di tepi jalan.

Mak Aji sebenarnya tengah berasap telinga sebab orang yang pinjam kamera baru pulangkan - dalam keadaan rosak dan dengan kesan-kesan terjatuh! Bilalah lagi Mak Aji nak beli kamera, yang itu dulu pun sekitar seribu. Beli itupun sebab kamera lama rosak. Pertama kali nak ke Tokyo takkan tak bawa kamera, jadi beli yang all weather, takut beku. Sayang wei duit seribu down the drain. Ada sesiapa nak derma kamera DSLR yang baru untuk Mak Aji - manalah tahu kutlah ada dermawan di luar sana??

Hari Terakhir Syawal

Rumah terbuka sepatutnya berakhir malam ni. Esok dah Zulkaedah, bukan Syawal lagi. Namun begitu, kalau nak buat juga rumah terbuka, boleh aja ajak Mak Aji, takde hal, insya-Allah makan tak tolak! Kami kat ofis tak sempat nak buat pun, jadinya asyik makan kat rumah terbuka orang saja, rumah/bahagian sendiri tak buka pun. Bukan apa, hari tu dah rancang cantik-cantik, tiba-tiba Mak Aji perlu hadir kursus. Kursus kalau ditangguh, tak tahu bila nak hadir lagi, takut tak sempat saja sebelum pencen. Bila dah tangguh, tangguh sampai sudah habis masa. Takpelah, lain kali aja, mungkin boleh buka waktu raya haji nanti?! Waktu tu orang lain tak buat, kita aja yang buat. Sambutan tentu baik punya, cuma kena siap makanan biar lebih, nanti tak cukup pulak!

'Alone' Again

I'm almost (with only Pak Aji around) alone again. Madihah and Asyraf have gone back to Surabaya this afternoon. Got no one to harass, except for Pak Aji. The house is quiet again. Boy and Hanif have gone back to their rented houses for work tomorrow. 

I detected a tear from Madihah's eyes when we sent them to LCCT this afternoon. It'll only be sometime in February (Maulid celebration) that we can meet them again. Insya-Allah we plan on going to Surabaya then for about a week. They will be on leave/libur for about ten days. We both pray hard that they concentrate on their studies, realign their intention (niat) to study lillahi taala. Madihah brought back to Surabaya a few pairs of baju kurung to wear during Raya Haji. My poor children! It is hard for them to be apart from the family especially during such times. Anyway, I leave them both in Allah's care. A mother can only wish for the best for her children and this is what we think is best for them and also us, even if it means having to part with them! Mama only wish that Allah will keep both of you from  harm's way till we meet  in February, Insya-Allah!!

Madihah and Asyraf trying hard to put up a brave front! Pak Aji and Mak Aji with long faces instead!

Selesai Kursus

Alhamdulillah selesai kursus anjuran INSKEN selama seminggu. Kursus benar-benar membuka mata. Rupanya banyak peluang yang ada, tinggal lagi rebut sahaja. Kalau selama ni tak pernah terfikir untuk berniaga, sekarang adalah sedikit idea. Selama ni buat kerja penyuntingan dan terjemahan secara sambilan, sekarang dah boleh mula fikir untuk buat kerja-kerja itu secara sepenuh masa. Seronok berkenalan dengan peserta yang terdiri daripada bakal pesara, juga mereka yang memang sudah berniaga. Salah seorang peserta, wanita muda tiga puluhan usianya, buat bisnes katering, cukup berjaya. Beliau anak Kelantan, tumpang bangga, orang kampung! Kami siap kena buat pelan tindakan yang bakal akan dihantar semula kepada kami dalam tempoh terdekat ini! Wah, ini kena betul-betul buat ni, akan ada tukang check nanti!? 

Kenduri Kahwin

Pagi-pagi lagi petik cili api untuk dibawa ke kenduri kahwin di pejabat - kawan kahwinkan anak dan cili api 'segar dari ladang' untuk dibuat Miang Kham - sejenis makanan yang berasal dari Thailand. Kalau tak pernah dengar nama itu, cuba lihat gambar-gambarnya di bawah:

Bahan-bahan yang diperlukan

Miang kham yang siap dgn segala ramuan

Sudah siap, cantik bila dicucuk, ngap sahaja! Sedappp!

Yang seronoknya, selepas makan kenduri, sebagai pencuci mulut terdapat murtabak raja, jala mas, buah tanjung, asam manis, dodol berbentuk kun, rojak buah dan tentunya miang kham! Semuanya diterbangkan khas dari Kota Bharu dan selain itu yang berasal dari seberang - Thailand! Tetamu yang hadir bukan sahaja orang tempatan, malah juga terdiri daripada tetamu dari Indonesia. Mereka begitu teruja dengan makanan yang dihidangkan!  Sambil menikmati jamuan, kami yang menjadi tetamu juga berperanan sebagai tukang memberi maklumat kepada mereka!

My New 'Baby'

I made my first trip (been living in KL for about 30 years!) to Low Yatt last week in search of a new desktop. I told my husband earlier on that I need a desktop instead of a notebook because, as a pensioner, I do not need to carry a notebook any more, too cumbersome for an old lady. Most importantly, typing would be much easier on my eyes!

I went there straight from the office and was later joined by my son. There I was, probably the oldest person around, with all these young people and surprisingly of all creed (never knew that all these gadgets attract so much foreigners??). There were so much to see - all these computer stuff, be it laptops, desktops, Galaxy tabs (big and small - old lady using the tab, funny eh?), GPS (bigger screen - beats my GPS on my tiny hand phone screen!)..... The list is quite endless. Like we use to say - Mak bapak aje yang takde!  There I was looking and feeling quite lost before my son joined me. After about more than an hour later, with my wallet relieved of most of it's contents (a little over RM2000.00), armed with a few big and small boxes, we made our separate ways - he went back to his place with the desktop to do the necessary (whatever it is) and I went back home. A day later, tadaaaa (drumroll please!!), my new baby!   

Am writing my post using my new baby - feels good! It does not take much to make an old lady happy eh??!!

Six Ways to Steer Clear of Kidney Stones

There are worse things than kidney stones. They can cause a lot of pain as they pass through the ureters, the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder. And the number of Americans getting kidney stones is increasing, perhaps because of the increasing prevalence of obesity. According to the September 2011Harvard Health Letter, once you get kidney stones, the chances of getting them again are high, so it’s even better if you can avoid them in the first place with the following tips.

1. Keep your fluid intake up. Kidney stones form when certain minerals concentrate in the urine and form into crystals. Drink plenty of fluids (water is the safest bet) and you’ll increase the amount of water in the urine, so those mineral concentrations don’t get too high.

2. Eat calcium-rich foods. Calcium is a major component of most kidney stones, so it seems like you should avoid calcium in the diet, not seek it out. But most calcium stones are composed of calcium combined with a substance called oxalate. If there’s plenty of calcium in your diet, the calcium binds to oxalate in the intestine before the oxalate has a chance to get into your urine. Good choices for calcium-rich foods include nonfat dairy products, leafy green vegetables, and some varieties of fish (salmon, for example).

3. Reconsider calcium supplements. Results from the Harvard-based Nurses’ Health Study showed that postmenopausal women who took calcium supplements were 20% more likely to develop kidney stones than women who didn’t. Findings published earlier this year from the Women’s Health Initiative, a large randomized trial, echoed those of the nurses’ study. One explanation for calcium in food and calcium pills having different effects is that when calcium is consumed in food, it’s more likely to be present in the intestine at the same time as oxalate, so it can interfere with its absorption.

4. Moderate your sodium intake. Low-sodium diets decrease excretion of calcium and oxalate.

5. Moderate your protein intake. Protein can increase calcium and oxalate excretion. High-protein diets may reduce levels of stone-inhibiting substances in the urine.

6. Moderate your oxalate intake. Calcium intake and other dietary factors seem to be more important than oxalate intake in forming kidney stones, but high oxalate intake can occasionally be a factor. Oxalate-rich foods include beets, chocolate, spinach, rhubarb, and most nuts.

Read the full-length article: “In brief: Avoiding kidney stones”

Source: http://www.health.harvard.edu/