Darul Izzah - Thank you!

First, On behalf of my family and I, my sincere appreciation and thank you to everyone at the Darul Izzah for having us and spending a good part of Sunday 12th August with my fellow friends and families.
Second, I really appreciate the presence of my friends both those known via blog and my friends of old. PB & Family, Onde-Onde & family, Ibu & family, Fynne & daughter, Rad and Banji - many thanks!
Umie & Hubby, Hj Anwarul and Family, Tn Hj Syed, Hj Ali & family - your presence added significance to the occassion.
A special mention to Amy ( Anwarul's daughter ) for sportingly and ably taking the role of Master of Ceremory for the games, Tn Hj Syed for leading the Dzuhur prayers and the majlis Tahlil, Umie and Fynne for contributing kueh2, Wani Onde Onde for the secret recipe cake, RAD for compiling the tags and ibu for the Cola and other contributions.
Here I also want to THANK YOU all who have done the meme / tag so sportingly. Bloggers united! and for a good cause too......I am proud to be known as a blogger!

I went to Darul Izzah today to give love - and I received lots of love and happiness back in return. A smile like this one below is priceless!
Pictures below tells a story......a story written not by a pen on paper, but by smiles on faces.

Posing with bloggers. No names for the ladies to respect their request........... The gentleman at far right is Banji.
The Boys at the Darul Izzah meeting guests. And below a briefing by Amy on rules of the games....

Lunch, eaten in communal way - the nasi putih with sambal udang, fried chicken and mixed vege - taste even better when had together as one big family! I was seated next to a ten year old during lunch, and after some warming up ...he shared his story with me. His father died of cancer at a young age and his mother left him with his grandparents and dissappeared. He thinks his mother is still alive but he does not know where.....His ambition is to be a Doctor so that he can treat people who suffers from cancer. During school holidays he goes back to stay with his grandparents and visit his dad's grave. When we finished our lunch, he said all of a sudden, "Saya suka makan bersama pakcik....boleh kah pakcik datang lagi. Anak2 pakcik tu bertuah ada ayah macam pakcik....". I had to look away....hiding my teary eyes. With a tap on his shoulder, I could only say, "InsyAAllah....panjang umur kita dapat bertemu lagi". I do realize, to him it could have been any pakcik.....what he yearns for is to have an occassional meal and a decent talk with a father figure he misses so much. To have a conversation which showed interest in who he is, and how he is feeling.......When I was leaving, he came to the door and kissed my hand.

Last but not least, I want to say thank you to my organizing team below who has put in lots of love and passion into this project. I love you all.......

Also read here (Rad's )& here ( Banji's )& more picture here (UMie's) & Here ( OndeOnde's )

Important and urgent - Darul Izzah

Baru selesai minum pagi bersama GaB and JoKontan.....tetiba dapat satu panggilan dari Puan Raziah dari Darul Izzah.

"Encik Idham, kami minta maaf - pihak sekolah baru bagitau yang hari Sabtu besuk ada class ganti untuk the boys from Darul Izzah. Kami minta Encik Idham tunda ke hari Ahad boleh ka?"

Lantas hati terfikir kepada kawan2 blogger dan bukan blogger yang telah membuat rancangan untuk datang bersama. How inconvenient this change will be to everyone. Kemudian hati terfikir pula kepada anak2 yang harus pergi ke class gantian tadi. Memang lah the last minute change ini cukup merumitkan semua rancangan dan melibatkan ramai orang. Namun.......tidak ada pilihan!

So, it is with regret that I am announcing
"The visit to Darul Izzah di tukar kepada hari Ahad Aug12th, 2007".
Harap maklum dan maaf dari pihak pengurusan Darul Izzah dan juga saya sebagai penganjur di atas pertukaran last minit ini.

Banji, Syana, Onde onde, F, Umie, Marina, Lidya, Fiona, Mad Redo1, Dr R, RAD, dlt dan sesiapa yang planning nak datang tu, maaf dan harap maklum.
Mungkin juga ada yang dapat datang setelah hari tu telah di tukar, seperti Noha dan pB....yang baru jer confirm akan datang. Kepada sesiapa yang dapat bersama nanti, saya tunggu kedatangan semua!

There is only one Kelantan...

Tanam jagung di atas batas

Selasih ku cari...padi ku galas

Balik kampung hatiku puas

Kasih kau beri...budi tak terbalas

"Abe....abe cari gappo? Keropok ko? Sambal daging ko?"

The voice soft...and melodic. The smile enticing. Her charm nearly made me purchased what I did not really need. And her smile broke into a little laughter when I replied....

"Abe dok cari keropok....abe cari kakok ilae nie...".

I was in Pasar Khadijah in Kota Baru Kelantan. There is only one such scene, one such charm, and one such enterprising group of women in this wide world. Found LiL later on amongst the stalls selling clothes....below!

That was during a brief stop over from the Pengakalan Cepa airport to our kampung.

A real joy awaited us when we arrived to the welcome of my sisters, and nieces and nephews. Aunties and uncles came the next day......for the Kenduri Tahlil. I felt the warmth of kampung style love and caring.....a tradition of old which thankfully, has not faded. Their conversation was genuine, their interest deep, and their care was not for your wealth but for your health. I drifted into my comfort zones......with my kain pelikat, walked along the batas of the padi fields......went deep into the rubber plantation....enjoying the fresh air and captivated with rustic village beauty.

A bunch of banana.....

Above is Duku...and below is rambutan....

From preparing the goat's meat above to the gulai kawah below.....Only in Kelantan do I feel this way...."Adequate with little, Blissful with nothingness, and love so real!"