THE 22ND DAY OF EID 1445H

   1ST MAY 2024    ~ It was Labour Day holiday. I was invited to an Eid Open Hosue held by an ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti, Puan Hamimah Hanafi. Her Open House was different from others as it started as early as 8:00 a.m. so people came to her place for breakfast.

I tried to be as early as possible at Taman Mutiara Rini and I was the very first guest to arrive. It was my honour to officiate the event that day. 😃

The second guest to arrive was Puan Zahrah Ab. Karim, another ex-colleague of the same school, accompanied by her husband and sons. I was happy there were other people I could talk to.

The first to arrive and the first to leave. Thank you Puan Hamimah for the invitation. Hopefully I would be invited again for more open houses after this.

ATTENDING THE WEDDING RECEPTION OF SHARIFAH SYAHIRAH

Today it was the wedding reception of another ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti, Miss Sharifah Syahirah Syed Mustafar. The event was held at the Community Hall of Jalan Jasa in Mutiara Rini.

As usual, there were a few ex-students and an ex-colleague attending the reception.

the bride's elder sister

the bride's younger brother

Wishing Sharifah Syahirah and her husband a blessed life filled with love and joy.

ATTENDING THE WEDDING RECEPTION OF FIRDAUS AND TAUFIK MAZIN

The wedding reception of another ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti, Mr. Firdaus Mazin was held today at the Community Centre in Mutiara Rini.

The reception held was also for his elder brother, Mr. Taufik Mazin.

I met a few ex-students when I arrived but they were already leaving. I am still waiting for the group photo from anyone of them.

VISITING A FRIEND FOR DEEPAVALI LUNCH

24TH OCTOBER 2022 ~ A friend of UPM TESL class of 1993, Puan Aishah Aboo Bakar, was in Johor Bahru will her family members to celebrate Deepavali with her husband's family this year. And I was invited for lunch at their house in Mutiara Rini.

The house was full of joy and laughter of family members and friends. I wanted to take photos but they were just too many strangers in the house and I was a bit shy to do that.

The food cooked by Puan Aishah was delicious and festive environment had brightened up the day. Thanks my friend for inviting me to join in the fun and I wonder when will this happen again.

DRIVING OUT OF THE 10KM PARAMETER TO GET THE SNAKESKIN FRUIT

I drove out of the 10 kilometre boundary to Taman Mutiara Rini today to get the snakeskin fruit from the husband-and-wife ex-colleagues[of SMK Taman Universiti], Mr. Hisham Abdullah and Puan Nor Hafizah. I was invited inside the house which is a common courtesy gesture and it would be inappropriate to say "no". A few minutes later, two more people arrived, the recently wedded couple, Mr. Reynullah and Pn. Wan Nor Azrin, to share the food served by the hosts.

I just miss the moment when we can simply our friends a visit and gossip over coffee - without being worried people would find out you have done something taboo during the pandemic. Let's just pray that things will get better real soon so we could have our old lives back.

ATTENDING THE WEDDING RECEPTION OF MS. NURFAZWA ROSLY

I was invited to a wedding reception of another ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti, Ms. Nurfazwa Rosly - and I could not remember exactly from which batch. The event was held at the Taman Mutiara Rini Community Centre. It was raining when I arrived there at about 3.00 p.m. and there were not many guests under the tent.

This time I did not get to meet many ex-students or anybody familiar. 😀

the bride's elder brother, also an ex-student

Congratulations to the newlyweds and may your lives continue to grow in love and happiness together. 💖

ANOTHER SHORT SUPPER SESSION AT McD WITH EX-COLLEAGUES

This was just another short supper session with two ex-colleagues of SMK Taman Universiti at Taman Mutiara Rini's McDonald's. It was a rare chance to do this with Puan Yusidah Md. Yusof and Puan Mahnum Ali. We ust came back from visiting another ex-colleague in Taman Damai Jaya whose husband just passed away and it was the right time to stop for coffee.

We just had hot coffee/Milo and cakes, which should be something light enough after 10.00 p.m. But the cakes were good. I could not remember when was the last time I ate in at McD.

There would always be someone who would recognized us wherever we went. 😀 Miss Nurul Fathiyah Khairuddin [of SPM batch 2012] was there too with her two younger brothers. It was a pleasure to have an ex-student who would just approach you and say "hi". And she even sat down with us for a while for a short chat.

We had to part ways as it would be a working day for us the next morning. I have not been in direct contact with friends from my old school for a long time since MCO was imposed in March this year so it was good enough to see at least two of them. Hope I would be able to see more people real soon.

OF AN INJURED FRIEND AND STEAMBOAT/BARBECUE LUNCH

26th JUNE 2020 ~ A friend met with an accident last week so I decided to visit him at his house in Taman Mutiara Rini. The house visit turned out to be a superb lunch session with steamboat/barbecue spread served on the dining table - and I am not complaining. This was even bigger than the regular Eid visit.

Another friend, Puan Rumaiah, was also there. She must have known earlier of the food that was going to be served so it was not a surprise at all. 😁

Get well soon Mr. Khir and I am sure the wife, Puan Mazzelina, is doing great in making sure he will recover real soon. Thanks a lot for the food and the hospitality. For one thing, we don't have to go to Seoul Garden anymore after this.

FINALLY GETTING MY BURASAK ON THE 27th DAY OF EID

19th JUNE 2020 ~ I was at Puan Jainah's [an ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti] house in Mutiara Rini to get the anchovies I ordered a long time ago but was invited to come into the house. The hosts were kind enough to serve me Burasak and its accompanying dishes and eventually my craving for this particular food was sated.

Burasak is a traditional cuisine of Bugis people and it is something that I could not easily get at my place. I used to go to Pasar Tani [something like a morning market held once a week] just to buy Burasak and another type of food called Lepat Lui, and the market has ceased operation since the spread of COVID-19 virus.

Thanks Puan Jainah and family for the hospitality and it still felt very much like Eid, even it was already the 27th day. Looking forward to eating more authentic Tawau food soon at their house. 😀

VISITING MR. WOLF AGAIN

29th MARCH 2019 ~ Mr. Wolf was back in town. This should be my fourth time visiting Mr. Wolf, the first time in Kuala Lumpur back in 2012 [READ HERE] and the second and third time when the book sale was held in my hometown, Johor Bahru, in 2013 [READ HERE] and 2014 [READ HERE].

This time round, the event was held in Mydin Mutiara Rini which is about 20 kilometres away from the city, in the parking space of the mall.

Unfortunately, I found there were less books to choose from and there were not many books of contemporary fiction writers I could find on the tables, unlike last time. After some time, the place got real warm (READ: very hot) so I had to do my shopping quickly.

met SMKTUN's ex-student SPM batch 2018
Mr. Mohd. Iqbal

It is now time to start reading again. And I think there are still a few books that I bought from the last Big Bad Wolf sales remained unread *SIGH*.

AQIQAH EVENT AND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT MR. HISHAM'S AND PN. NORHAFIZAH'S PLACE

En. Hisham Abdullah and Pn. Norhafizah Zukifli threw a birthday party and "aqiqah" ceremony for their first and second daughter, Hanna and Huda, respectively. The event was held at their house in Mutiara Rini.

As usual, I got to meet some ex-colleagues of SMK Taman Universiti, especially the men teachers as there were "solat hajat" and "tahlil" [prayers] too.

Thanks Mr. Hisham and Pn. Norhafizah for inviting. Hope will still be invited for more events in the future.