Saturday, November 22, 2003

08:56 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Changing Eid

This will be the first time in five years that I've spent Eid il-Fitr in Malaysia. I think I might actually miss wearing tights and a turtle-neck under my baju kurung.

This year, we'll be returning to traditions abandoned for five years. We'll be going to Johore to celebrate the first day of Eid with my paternal grandparents. Then, on the second day of Eid, we will get into the car at dawn and travel up the peninsular to arrive in the evening, at the other side of the country in Kelantan.

I wonder how much will the Eid celebrations have changed among my extended family in five years? It makes me nervous.

It suddenly occurs to me, that if Mom has her way, it won't be too many Eids from now that I'll be celebrating the first day of Eid with Tariq's family instead. That will be a serious change....

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031122

Saturday, November 22, 2003

02:34 a.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

female supplements

Actually, as some of you may already know, it's just the acronyms for evening primrose oil.

Saying the whole phrase, "evening primrose oil," brings up my associations with cod liver oil and vitamin E lotions. Products with supposed benefits that have not truly been proven.

I've decided to give E.P.O. a try, though, because it might help with my bloody pre-menstrual syndrome, and I have yet to figure out exactly what else could.

Being female is difficult. It is good that males are there to keep misery company while females are suffering. My poor Tariq. You are a patient and tolerant man.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031122

Friday, November 21, 2003

12:20 a.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

mental charity

Zero Mostel - If I were a Rich Man

Lots of people fantasize about what they'd like to do if they get rich. Hey, I do it all the time. I got inspired by the comments on Irene's to do a little Ramadhan twist to my "If I were a Rich Man" fantasies. I'm gonna fantasize about what I would do for other people, if I were rich. After all, you get pahala (erm, brownie points?) for niat (intention), as well as for the actual deed.

So here goes my imagination, completely unrestrained. The things I would do for other people, if I had an unlimited amount of money, in the order of whichever pops up in my head first:

• I'd pay for Arthur & Young to do Mom's taxes, so Mom wouldn't have to frown over it all the time.
• I'd make sure Mom doesn't have any reason to do her I'm-worrying-about-money frown again.
• I'd fly my New York friends over to Malaysia so I can see them and treat them to a wonderful holiday.
• I'd fly my Malaysian friends to New York so I can show them what New York is like, rather than just boring them out of their minds with constant talk about it.
• I'd finance a religious school for women. Many Muslim women don't know enough about Islam.
• I'd have time to help organize events for cancer. It's not enough to just donate. You must have events so people become aware of the problem.
• I'd sponsor some bright kids to go to a school that encourages them to think a little, instead of just memorize.
• I'd sponsor a blog meet! Hee hee.
• I'd take my friends to Pangkor Laut Resort for a weekend.
• I'd drag Nina, Juli and Yu San for head-to-toe total makeovers!
• Establish or sponsor a place of financial and emotional support for abused women.

Wow. I think that's long enough, don't you? I know I could probably write more, but really, this is a highly time-wasting exercise, when I still haven't finished cleaning my toilet floor.

It's an evil floor. It cut my little finger. It was bleeding copiously for half an hour. I have no clue how floors cut fingers. All I know is that I was scrubbing a corner of my floor like a good Cinderella when my nice clean corner started showing up red spots on it. So I took a break from floor scrubbing. No point scrubbing floors when it results in red spots.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031121

Thursday, November 20, 2003

12:02 a.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Meesh Met My Mother

Apparently, we look and talk alike enough that Meesh could guess. Meesh is too smart for her own good. Now she will have to be assassinated.

But since I have no money for assassination payments, I'll just have to bribe Meesh into secrecy with coffee.

In other news: Blog Your Book, but if you don't feel it like it, you can always do a Minishorts and Book Your Blog instead.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031120

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

09:14 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Discovered: Dead Insect

I am pleased to report that there were no icky insects in my bedroom.

I found one on my bathroom shelf, however. It probably died of suffocation from the mountain of makeup on the shelf.

I haven't cleaned the bathroom. It is too icky, and will require several hours of mental fortification. I wish my boyfriend was here so I could make him at least get rid of the icky dead insect.

Today, the bedroom. Tomorrow, the bathroom!

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031118

Monday, November 17, 2003

10:03 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Trial-Run Praying

The wajib prayers are the prayers that you must do five times a day. Then there are the over thirty types of sunat prayers that you have the option of leaving out. The most common sunat prayers are the short ones before and after each wajib prayer.

It's okay to mess up a sunat prayer. If you get it right, you get brownie points, and if you get it wrong, there's no skin of your back. If your wajib prayer ends up being invalid, you'll have to do it over, or it's counted as wajib prayer not done, which obviously, is a sin.

Doing over a wajib prayer is not such a good thing for two reasons. Firstly, wajib prayers are mostly longer than sunat prayers, which means doing it over takes more time than just doing a short sunat prayer. Furthermore, if you're praying in a group (jema'ah) you get the collective brownie points of the group (or something like that), which you lose out on if you have to re-do your prayer all by your lonesome self.

So doing a trial run in unfamiliar territory allows me to become familiar with the unfamiliar. The heat of the room may be different, I may be wearing borrowed clothing, there might be a stone under the prayer mat where I place my forehead. There are so many variables in a strange place, so doing a trial run increases the chance that the real thing goes right.

This post does sound like an essay....

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031117

Sunday, November 16, 2003

03:55 a.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

The Dangerous Romance Novel

I was at the Midvalley MPH bookstore with Juli. As usual, I was attempting to bully her into my way of thinking by physically threatening her. I was waving around a romance novel, when suddenly the book flew out of my hands and hit a poor woman on her neck with a horribly loud thud.

I was horrified and worried that the woman was injured. Juli, the useless female, was laughing her head off.

The poor woman kept rubbing her neck. She'll at least bruise, for sure. She asked for my number, to call me in case the neck injury turned out serious. I pray the poor lady is okay.

Juli is a terrible, unsympathetic person who just laughed and laughed and laughed.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031116

Friday, November 14, 2003

07:50 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Best of Ramadhan

I love Dad's voice while he goes through the after-prayer prayers. What I like best is the mischievous look on Mom's face after all the prayers are done, and she deliberately touches Dad's palms with her bare hands to nullify his wudu' (cleansing ritual).

It's good that Mom is back here in Malaysia and no longer working in New York. Even though she won't let me go out alone at night just to buy some coffee.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031114

Thursday, November 13, 2003

11:47 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

First Day of Holiday

It was a highly stupid day.

I think I've been working so hard that having nothing to do has made me stressed.

This sounds familiar.

I think I wrote something like this at the beginning of last semester's end.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031113

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

01:34 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Semester Ends

I'm at college, killing time until my last exam of the semester begins at 3:30p.m.

I feel scared. I hope I won't fail.

But mostly, I just feel tired. I feel like I've been tired for a very long time.

I'm hoping my holidays will be recuperative in nature, and will infuse me with a little more enthusiasm for college once more. Dragging my feet is actually burdensome than bouncing around all hyper.

Well, at least, I'll be blogging again.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031112

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

01:36 a.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Boyfriend's Birthday

My boyfriend's birthday is on the 6th!

Feel free to wish him a happy birthday.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031105

Tuesday, November 4, 2003

11:11 p.m. Kuala Lumpur Standard Time

Wrong Due Date

So I confess, I decided to take a 10% penalty and hand in the exam a day late. So I rushed and stressed and generally abused my body to get some form of an exam in by today.

Then, I find out after having printed my essay, that the teacher too thinks that forcing us to work without the library's resources is unfair, and has postponed the due date to Thursday.

So I spent the rest of the day recuperating by watching a Sailormoon movie and Down with Love at TJ's. Hey, at least I have all day tomorrow to perfect my essay.

Be honest.
Link to the start of entry: #20031104