HANZKY

Since today is the last day, I'm just going to write down the most important information from first!. Mommies Daily and Bodrexin is throwing a blogging competition. The Prize? Three Kate Spade goodies!. If you don't have enough time to write down a full entry today, you can still participate in sending your kids' fingerprints into Bodrexin Facebook page and they will turn it into a batik motif. How cool is that?



Above is pictures of Jehan with her favorite batik skirt, lined with a white tutu that makes her feel like a ballerina. Ballerina in a batik skirt, why not, right? :D. Batik now is no longer associated with the boring brownish color that is worn to formal events. Wherever we turn now, we always see people with colorful and stylish batik clothes that make us even more proud of our traditional heritage.  The people in the industry is getting more and more creative in producing different kind and style of batik. Kids clothing are not an exception, proven by the skirt that Jehan wears in the picture. It's indeed a good and easy way to introduce batik to kids and to make them proudly wear it on a daily basis. They look much better in colorful batik than they do in Spongebob or Dora t-shirt, don't you think?

I bought a few books for (and during) my umrah trip and since it's a spiritual journey, I only bought ones that I can learn more about Islam, its history and way of life. I haven't had much luck when it comes to buying Islamic books. Most of them are hard to understand and the writers seem have their own stance that is too extreme to my perspective. A sure way to make me closed the book and throw it to the trash. Need to pay attention to the author and publisher first before buying one.




Thankfully, the ones I bought recently are truly an enlightenment to one soul. They put emphasize on the beauty of the religion instead of what it prohibits and the punishment ones have to endure in the afterlife. Looking back to my childhood and teenage years, I think I was taught more on what God doesn't like instead of what He likes.

My favorite book is 'Doa Harian' by Quraish Shihab. It's full of essential and practical prayers that relates to our daily life, written in beautiful words yet easy to understand. Some of the prayers never crossed my mind before, I should have been reciting them since a long time ago. The basic/general ones are also included so it's nice to have them all in one book. I read this one cover to cover when I was in Medina and the other one when I was in Mecca. Here are some of the variety of the plea in the book:

"Perlindungan dari kemalasan, dari sifat senang menunda, kejemuan, kekikiran, pemborosan (!), dari hal-hal yang tidak bermanfaat, dari amal yang tidak diterima, dari kalbu yang tidak khusyu, dari kenikmatan duniawi yang menghalangi kebajikan ukhrawi.

Permintaan untuk diberi rasa aman, kelapangan rezeki yang halal, keberhasilan yang diikuti oleh kebahagaian, untuk dimuliakan dengan takwa, dianugerahi dengan hidayah al quran, mental yang indah dan budi pekerti yang luhur, untuk memiliki kerelaan menghadapi ketetapannya, ketulusan dalam beriman, rasa takut yang dihiasi dengan kekaguman terhadapnya.

Kemampuan untuk bekerja yang giat, untuk menikmati segala anugerah dalam batas yang digariskannya, untuk puas dengan yang halal tanpa menyentuh yang haram dan mensyukurinya dalam jalan yang sudah ditentukannya (zakat, infak, dll), untuk merasakan kepuasan setelah usaha dan kerja keras, kesabaran dan keikhlasan saat sedang gagal, dan juga kemampuan untuk bersikap adil baik saat rela maupun marah, sederhana baik saat kaya ataupun miskin, rendah hati dalam ucapan dan perbuatan.

Permohonan untuk menjadikan awal hari sebagai rahmat, pertengahan hari sebagai nikmat dan akhir hari sebagai kehormatan, untuk disempurnakan apa yang kurang, dan untuk menjadikan sebaik-baik usia adalah akhirnya dan sebaik-baik amal kita adalah kesudahannya serta sebaik-baik hari kita adalah hari pertemuan kita dengannya :')."

And one of the ones that strike me the most:


Such a simple yet strong statement that has so many meanings!. A beautiful reminder for me to go easy with the 'sharing' activity in social media.

Trying out this ipad blogging apps, who knows it would help me blog regularly? :D Yea, the same exact wish I blurt out everytime I find a new way of blogging :). Oh well, what else is new?

I came back from my Umrah trip last Monday. Took Tuesday off and went back to work on Wednesday. I havent been back on full speed yet, I'm still trying to recover. Umrah is definetely not a day by the beach. We did a lot of walking and very minimal sleep. I sleep about 4 hours a night in average during our trip. But it was one memorable journey, the one that opens our eyes, heart, mind and soul!. The whole experience was that captivating that Oki insisted we should go back for Hajj in 2 - 3 years time. Amin ya rabbal alamiin :')