Charity Works

To those who like to do charity works, please have a time visit this blog http://drbubbles.blogspot.com/. This man called himself as Dr.Bubbles now raising fund to create a mini library in orphanage houses.

With a current collection nearly RM 9000.00 he had targeted 2 orphanage house to be equipped with these mini library.

Please visit his blog and give our support either morally or in materials. InsyaAllah, Allah will pay your good deeds with his "jannah".

Tips and Preparation to new Malaysian Yanbu

Here are some tips for the new comers before they come to Yanbu KSA. All these tips are from our experiences in KSA.

1) All certificates shall be translated to Arabic language (from Bahasa Malaysia to Arabic) These certs are:

• Marriage Certificate
• Birth Certificate (yours, spouse and children)

2) Child Immunisation Record - don't forget to bring it

3) Chilrdrens school assesment record - Translate to English if you wish to enrol your child to International School.

4) Apply International driving licence. Previlage was given to Malaysian when applying Saudi driving licence. We're not required to sit a driving test but just convert our licence to saudi licence. That's good huh.

5) Cellphone / Handphone Charger: This is essential to man nowadays. Make sure the charger is compatible with local voltage requirements i.e 110V.

6) Performed all internet banking in Malaysia before you leave. If you have multiple bank accounts, make one as a master account.

7) Make sure you have allocate sum of money to pay all bills and mortgage for at least 3 month period.

8) Money transfer from KSA can be performed through "internet banking" and "Western Union" to any bank in Malaysia. It is best to create a master account so that you only dealing with one account when transfering money. Make a photocopy of the front page of that account book which contains information about your bank address, account number and etc.

9) There is no entertainment outlet in Yanbu. No cinema, big shopping mall, food court and other entertainment outlets as we have in Malaysia. Yanbu is a quiet and small town. For those "kaki pancing" Yanbu is a heaven.

10) Groceries are extremely expensive compared to Malaysia. Allocate enough money for your daily expenses.

The above tips are only for information to the new comers based on our experiences in the Kingdom. Readers may find our tips not relevant and not consistant with other information they gathered from other blogs or websites. Therefore, we advise the readers to gather as many as information they could before coming to the kingdom.

May Allah bless you

Used Car For Sale

MITSUBISHI GALANT 1997

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

SOLD !!

We have to let go our car. It feels so sad after we have been together for a year. With "her", we explore Saudi Arabia. We went to Mecca, Medina and Jeddah and not forget Yanbu downtown. The children love "her" so much. "She" took them to Al-Baik, Mc Donald, Pizza Hut, Kudu, Hyper Panda, Star Market and not to forget, the one they like most "Play ground".

There are good and bad memories with "her", but somehow memories teach us to be a better person in the future.

Tomorrow, I will start post the advertisement on the board. Hopefully the new master will take care of "her" as much as we do.

Adios.

Searching a New Car

We are in a process of searching a new car. New but used "family car". With 4 children and one maid at the back, they look like a can of sardine. We need a 7 seater car said my wife one day. Yeahh I agree.

We went to Madinah Haraj (used car centre) last week and Yanbu Haraj today. We need to be very carefull when dealing with these salesman. All cars are in good condition says them, although our eyes didn't agree with them.

We did found a good Mazda MPV model 2000. Low mileage and good engine condition but the body have a lot of scratched. My wife and I like the car very much and also the children. We put aside the scratches as it will not effect the car performance. Anyway, car in Saudi Arabia is usually like that. What we regret was, the price was too high. It is SR30,000.00.

My friend saw the same car last week and had told me about it. On that time, the price was only SR25,000.00 and yet still can be negotiated. Now we wonder why the price suddenly increase.

We will go to Jeddah Haraj next week.

Kingdom Finds Itself in Icebox

Kingdom Finds Itself in IceboxRaid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 13 January 2008 — Go outside this week and you are likely to hear the sound of knees knocking and teeth chattering because it is c-c-c-cold out there.

Riyadh, typically one of the world’s warmest capital cities, is not so hot now with temperatures plummeting to near-record lows. Even though temperatures during daytime in the capital last week hovered around 13 degrees Celsius; during the evening it was another story when the city officially reached the freezing point: 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).

When people all over the Kingdom thought this year’s winter could not get worse, meteorologists are saying even colder weather is on the way.
Hassan Al-Qahtani, spokesperson for the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment’s Central Forecast Office, said the cold spell, which has gripped the Kingdom for the past month, would continue through next week.

Al-Qahtani attributed the cold spell to high pressure in northern Saudi Arabia, which is unleashing northwesterly winds flowing toward lower pressure. The holy city of Makkah was inundated on Friday by heavy rains, and showers are expected to continue in many cities, particularly in the Eastern Province.

“Many media reports are saying that this is the worst cold spell that had ever hit the Kingdom in the past four decades,” Al-Qahtani said. “That is not true.”
The capital, according to him, has had colder days. In 1992, Riyadh recorded its coldest temperature ever: Minus 4 degrees Celsius. Jeddah also has had colder days; it recorded 11 degrees Celsius in the evenings in 1992. The coldest temperature for Madinah was minus 1 in 1973. As for the Qassim region, the coldest temperature recorded was minus 4 in 1992.
The Central Forecast Office reports that the coldest recorded temperature in Saudi Arabia in the past 40 years was in Turaif, where in 1973, it was minus 11 degrees Celsius.
Northern parts of the Kingdom have been worst hit by this winter’s cold snap. The cities of Tabuk, Arar and Hail witnessed snowfall for the first time in many years. Several schools in those cities halted youngsters’ morning exercise, according to local reports. Some mosques also combined prayers due to the cold weather.

The chilly weather, however, has had no adverse effect on the enthusiasm of Internet users, many of whom took the opportunity to record the images of northern cities covered in snow on YouTube.com.

So bundle up; stay warm, and have a good laugh about it next July.

EDISI KHAS BAHASA MELAYU

Edisi ini juga khas ditujukan untuk suami saya tanda appresiasi saya dengan kehadirannya.

Gambar ini diambil masa dia kerja kat Riyadh tahun 2006. Dulu sblm kawin pun dia macam ni slps kawin pun tetap macam tu.Dan diapun nak saya macam dia jugak. Maknanya saya pun kena maintainle jugak.

Hari ni genap UlangTahun Perkahwinan Kami- 9 Tahun. Dikurniakan dengan 4 cahaya-mata. Masya allah semuanya baik-baik belaka. 1 Muharram 1420H adalah tarikh yang dipersetujui oleh kami berdua. Oleh kerana Awal Muharram di sambut di Malaysia dengan " public holiday" makanya mungkin akan datang tiada alasan untuk melupakan ulangtahun perkahwinan kami pada tarikh ini. Kebiasaan orang bila cuti mereka akan mula merancang aktiviti hari cuti. Secara tidak langsung apabila ada "event" istimewa jatuh pada public holiday, so tiada alasan untuk terlupa merancang aktiviti istimewa untuk hari tersebut.

Pertama, syukur ke hadrat Allah kerana memakbulkan doa sedari kecil supaya ditemukan jodoh yang baik, beragama dan tegas membimbing saya ke jalan yang benar. Terima kasih kepada Ustazah Azizah( atau K. Zah merangkap kakak angkat(1990) - sblm ni ketua pengawas yang sangat ditakuti, tup2 tiba-tiba nak ambik kita sebagai adik angkat) yang memberi inspirasi untuk sentiasa berdoa untuk jodoh yang baik. Walaupun ketika itu tiada sesiapa pun dalam senarai kepala tetapi tetap memohon supaya apabila bertemu dengan yang diharapkan agar dibukakan pintu hati saya, pintu hati keluarga dan seterusnya dipermudahkan urusan.

K.Zah - (Terima kasih namakan anak akak dengan nama saya. Saya tak sangka budak nakal macam saya mendapat tempat di hati akak. Sejadah yang akak bagi saya masih pakai dan simpan walaupun dah lebih 15 tahun)

Apabila usia mengenjak dewasa, sudah mula mengenal erti kawan,teman dan relationship

dan melihat persekitaran saya mula menetapkan ciri-ciri yang ingin dicari.

Syarat pertama, dia mestilah tidak merokok, bukan bekas pelajar sekolah agama tetapi mempunyai kemampuan mengatakan yang haq itu haq dan yang batil itu batil(kerana bagi saya individu yang tidak disogokkan dengan ilmu tetapi mencari ilmu adalah individu yang lebih kuat pegangannya. Maaf kalau pandangan ini salah. Tapi ini personal views).

Syarat kedua untuk mengelakkan cinta monyet, dia mesti bukan teman sekampung, bukan teman sekolah, bukan teman se-program(untuk ijazah) even satu universiti. Ini adalah peraturan yang saya telah tetapkan dan saya cuba patuh dengan peraturan itu. Mungkin saya orang yang tidak suka mendengar kata, atau pendapat orang yang tidak ada pertalian dengan saya kecuali mereka yang layak dihormati seperti orang yang lebih tua atau guru. Dan saya juga tidak suka dengan perkahwinan sesama ahli keluarga kerana tidak bagus untuk perkembangan genetik. Jadi ini adalah rahsia pilihan saya. Minta maaf jika tidak jelas satu masa dahulu. Ada orang bertanya kalau tidak jumpa pilihan hati bagaimana ? Jawapan saya : Mungkin saya seorang aktivis atau volunteery. Orang yang tiada komitmen lebih mudah menjadi sukarelawan.

Tapi kuasa Allah Maha Kaya.. akhirnya jodoh saya kuat dengan kenalan cyber yang jarang2 saya berhubung. Mula kenal tahun 1995. Berhenti, kemudian bertemu di arena cyber semula penghujung tahun 1997. Saya di utara Universiti Sains Malaysia, dia di Universiti Pertanian Malaysia a.k.a Universiti Putra Malaysia. Bersua muka pada tahun 1998 dan saling suka-menyukai( I guess ;)) kerana dia serius menghantar rombongan selepas 3 bulan bertemu dan tiada halangan dari keluarga saya maka kami bertunang selama setahun. Akhirnya berkahwin setahun kemudian 1999.

Kadang2 suami mengusik, apa kata kalau dia pelajar USM, will you choose me? Saya beritahu kebenarannya mungkin tidak. Dia kelihatan sedikit kecewa. Tapi saya beritahu dia juga. Kalau saya bukan pelajar Sains Komputer, saya pelajar perubatan(kerana dulu calon medic) kita mungkin jugak tak bertemu. Medical student is not his choice. Jadi apa yang Allah berikan ada hikmahnya.

Syukur dengan ketentuan Allah. Walaupun berkahwin dengan pilihan sendiri, asam garam kehidupan, pedas dan pahit tetap dilalui. Maklumlah kita berkahwin dengan orang yang different background, berbeza cara dibesarkan, berlainan pendapat dan pandangan. Kadang2 adakalanya bertembung pendapat tetap terguris hati. Tetapi percayalah, kalau agama menjadi tunggak atau rujukan hidup insya-Allah hidup akan harmoni.

Untuk mendapat penghormatan dari seorang isteri dan ahli keluarga, tidaklah sesukar mana. Seek for knowldge, istiqamah what have been learnt.

Apabila ada contoh dalam diri sendiri tidak sukar bagi pengikut(ahli keluarga) to follow.

Mahu isteri/anak bicara dengan lemah lembut, suami harus mula dahulu.

Mahu isteri/anak solat awal, suami/bapa harus solat awal terlebih dahulu.

Mahu isteri/anak jadi penyayang dan sabar, suami/bapa harus tunjuk sifat penyayang dan sabar.

Mahu isteri/anak berbudi bahasa, suami/bapa juga mesti berbudi bahasa.

Selepas itu tugas isteri tidak sukar apabila suami telah menjadi tauladan yang baik,

kerana hidup yang bahagia adalah " Radhitu billahi rabba" . Mengharapkan keredhaan mu Ya-Rabb.

Dan untuk mendapatkan redha dari Allah, para isteri mesti mendapat redha suami.

Apa itu redha suami? Patuhi apa yang dia suruh kecuali dalam perkara yang bertentangan dengan syara'.

Syurga bagi isteri jika suami mengatakan aku redha denganmu.

Jadi berlumba2lah suami untuk membantu para isteri kalian untuk mendapatkan syurga.

Terima kasih kepada suami yang dikasihi SHAH APANDI ANJANG DAIM kerana sentiasa bersama dalam keadaan senang dan susah, thank you for helping me during my master study, thank you for taking care the kids while I am not at home and thank you for being tolerate, understanding and always put me and family as priority in your life.

"Jazakallahu khairan kathira alaika ya zauji li ikhtari ana bizaujatika."

(Sekarang hubby tengah ambik kelas bahasa arab dan berusaha memperbaiki tajwid tilawah al-quran. So hopefully dia dah boleh terjemah ayat di atas.)

Rain in Yanbu

It was a little shower in Yanbu last Thursday. The rain only took 20 to 30 minutes but yet made some streets flooded. The last rain in Yanbu was on October 2006.

Here rain was greatly welcomed by the local as it is unusual phenomenon in this country. We can see children going out to the street and playing in the rain. We can see smiles and happiness on their faces if there is rain pour.

Since now is winter season, Yanbu sometimes has it temperature goes down as low as 10-12 Cel in the morning. According to weather forecasting this year, kingdom will experience unusual temperature. Like Hail, the northen region above Riyadh even is predicted to have snow during winter this year.

1. Al-Qâri'ah (the striking Hour i.e. the Day of Resurrection), 2. What is the striking (Hour)? 3. And what will make you know what the striking (Hour) is? 4. It is a Day whereon mankind will be like moths scattered about, 5. And the mountains will be like carded wool, 6. Then as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be heavy,7. He will live a pleasant life (in Paradise). 8. But as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be light, 9. He will have his home in Hawiyah (pit, i.e. Hell). 10. And what will make you know what it is? 11. (It is) a hot blazing Fire!

[Al-Qariah(101:600)]