Farewell & Goodbye

Everyone had witnessed the sad episode of the death of our First Lady last Thursday. When I first heard of the news, all I could think of was how Pak Lah was going to deal with the loss. It was never a secret how affectionate he was with his wife. I almost shed a tear today, after reading a story about how Datin Seri Endon had contributed so much to Pak Lah's career. It might not have been something that she would have bragged about. However, even the little small things that she did had touched her husband deeply. That is what we can call True Love. I pray that Allah will give Pak Lah strength to persevere and carry his wife's fighting spirit with him throughout the future. -Al-Fatihah for Datin Seri Endon Mahmood-

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Our entire household received a shocking news last Wednesday when Ema, our maid of 4 years, had suddenly declared that she is married! The girl was barely 21 years old and is still 'mentah'. How can she be married all this while and not tell us?

According to her, she got married last year, during her trip back home for hari raya. At that time, she was suppose to go back for good. Her 3 years contract was up and she really wanted to go back to her hometown and settle down. However, a few weeks after raya, she called Mom and asked to come back to work for us. Her reason being that all her friends back home have their own set of families and doesn't have any time to hang out with her. Due to boredom, she would rather come and work with us for another year.

For the past 1 year, we didn't notice anything peculiar about her (i.e: no overnight trips of any sort). All that we noticed was that she now owns her very own mobile phone. She tried her very best to hide it though. However, who would not notice the loud late night conversations coming from her room every single night (tak pandai cover langsung). Apart from that, the other thing that prompted us to think that she has a boyfriend was the fact that she frequently ask for a day off every weekend.

Last Wednesday morning she walked up to Mom and declared herself married. She even had the surat nikah as a proof. However, Mom didn't actually look through the document to verify the date and place of nikah. Hence, we don't actually know when and where did the lil' girl get herself hitched. She told Mom that she would not be working for us anymore and asked to not terminate her permit because she still wants to stay in Malaysia with her husband. Of course Mom was a bit reluctant to do so because...

1) Mom didn't buy the whole nikah story and made a few calls to Ema's hometown (there was no ceremony last year).
2) The whole thing sounds so fishy that Mom told Ema that if she really wants to quit, Mom would send her back to her hometown, doing it the proper way (because she's still young).

Late that night we got a call from her husband, asking Mom not to terminate the wife's permit. That was another shock for us. But Mom stay rooted to her decision for she was worried about the lil' kid's future. Manalah tau kena main dekat the guy or something like that kan... Nauzubillah...

After Sahur on Friday, Mom found the front door and gate unlocked when she went down to take the morning paper...

Mom: Binx.. I think Ema dah takde..
Binx: Huh? Are you sure?
Mom: I think so laa.. the door and gate was unlocked..
Binx: I didn't hear the door pun.. I was studying the whole time after sahur.. mesti dengar..
Binx: Did you check her room?
Mom: Yeah, ada one big bag with her stuffs.. but she's not there..
Binx: Maybe she went out for awhile kut Ma..
Mom: Please round the area later on your way to class ok..
Binx: Sure, I will..

During the morning break in class, I texted Mom..

Binx: Ma.. so Ema balik tak?
Mom: Ema dah lari..
Binx: What?
Mom: Yeah.. She left a note in the postbox..
Binx: Really?
Mom: Yeah.. So now I'm the official babu.. hehehe..
Mom: So nak makan apa for berbuka today?

Came back home and found the note that she left for Mom...

Assalam mualaikum wr. wb.

Kak, Ema minta maaf ema terpaksa ikut suami Ema, karna lebih besar tanggungjawab ema dengan suami dan gaji terserah sama Kak je. Kak nak kirim kat kampung ke tanak kirim kat kampung terpulang pada Kak. Ema pun dah ikhlas kerja dengan Kak, dan Ema mohon tolong jangan cari Ema lagi. Ema minat maaf yang sebesar2nya sama Kak dan keluarga. Halalkan makan minum Ema selama kerja sama Kak. Kalau Ema ada menyakiti hati Kak dan keluarga, Ema minta maaf.

We didn't feel any anger towards her. We didn't hold any grudges for what she did. However, we do feel sad because she chose to live her life that way. What we can do now is just pray to God that the husband will take good care of her and that she will be in good hands. May you find what you are looking for, Ema. Thanks for everything that you have done for our family.

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Since we are left to mend for ourselves now, the 3 of us just make do with what we have. Berbuka pun makan simple-simple aje. No more lavish dishes like the ones Ema usually prepares for us.

However, I memang usually prepare my own sahur spread. I can't take rice so early in the morning. Hence, I usually take bread with either egg (half boiled, scrambled, sunny-side up), toast with garlic spread, sausages ot just plain dunk it into my coffee.

This morning, I felt like trying out something new (thanks to cik_dee for the idea - during class *hehehe*).



East Meets West Pizza ala Binx




Ingredients:

Bread (white or wholemeal)
Butter / Garlic Butter Spread
Serunding daging (meat floss)
Cheddar Cheese (didn't have time to run to the store for mozzarella)


Method:

1) Spread butter on the bread (you can opt for garlic butter spread for the Italian taste)
2) Sprinkle some serunding daging on the bread
3) Add a layer of cheese on top of the serunding
4) Pop it in the oven for 5-7 minutes
5) and walaaaaah! Pizza is ready for sahur..






Selamat mencuba!




binx: yummmmm