I spent the last weekend attending a lot of Eid open houses. It was tiring but fun since I got to meet relatives and friends. Among the open houses we attended were Uncle Ali’s (Abah’s former SS classmate), Uncle Khairul’s (Abah’s friend), Atuk Zakaria’s (Nenek’s Yunan cousin), Tok Mok (Jaddi’s [Abah’s father] younger sister) and Uncle Zaini’s (Abah’s friend).
I also attended YM Pak Engku Raja Ahmad Aminullah’s open house at the R A Fine Arts Gallery in Jalan Damai where I had the chance to speak to Aunty Siti Zainon Ismail. Renowned artist Tuan Syed Ahmad Jamal was also at her table. Aunty Siti Zainon’s 15th solo exhibition, ‘Angin Si Pauh Janggi’ will be held at Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia in Jalan Bukit Bintang until November 2nd 2008.
On Tuesday, I went to the ‘Preview Day’ of the Metrojaya Anniversary Sale at the Metrojaya in Jalan Bukit Bintang. Anyway there were not many customers at the store that morning; and even by 10 am the free breakfast prepared by Metrojaya for its card members was still aplenty. By the way, the fruit tarts and cream puffs served for breakfast were really delicious. The sale will go on until November 9, 2008.
The October 22nd 2008 was the first day of MPH Warehouse Sale. We reached the warehouse at about 10.00 am and spent over 4 hours at the warehouse sale. I really enjoyed myself that I almost didn’t feel tired at all even though I was standing for such a long time. It was a hot and sunny day and I was sweating; but honestly I could have spent the whole day looking at those beautiful books. I just love books and so do my siblings and my parents and we really enjoyed our almost half a day at the MPH Warehouse Sale. Even my little 5 years old blogging brother Ahmad Ali didn’t complain even though he was really tired after standing for hours. He read lots of books while waiting for mum and dad shopping for books. He wrote about the MPH Warehouse Sale in his blog. (Please click here to read his post on MPH Warehouse Sale.)
My parents bought us lots of books on Geography, Science, Arts, History, and of course storybooks. I was allowed to choose my own storybooks and I ended up with classic stories by renowned authors like William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Frances Hodgson Burnett. And I’m so proud that I only chose one Enid Blyton even though they had quite a huge collection of Enid Blyton’s books.
On a table, we saw a collection of ‘Herge’s Adventure of Tintin’ series. Mum was really excited as she used to read them when she was about my age. She has been looking for the books for sometimes and so was I, because I’ve been wondering what was so special about them. Well, mum had been telling me all about Tintin for years. They were rather expensive even during the warehouse sale; as what mum always told me. Mum bought us two books and said that once I read them, I’ll be asking for more… And she was right- not only that I want more but I wish that I can have the whole set! Now I understand why mum was so excited when she saw them and whenever she talked about Tintin.
And with all the books that dad bought us at the MPH sale; my siblings and I were kept busy reading. The books are so wonderful that it was hard to put them down. And that was one of the reasons why I did not update my blog for such a long time… Only my little brother was so disciplined and kept on updating his blog! He is such a good boy and I want to be a good girl; so I need to put down my books and write more often as I did before.
Semuda Aiman
Wajah tenangmu, anakanda
secerah senyum kecilmu
sopan dan malu
gadis bangun oleh kesedaran
lipatan sejarah terbuka
wanita mulia
lengkap ilmu di dada
cinta pada keluarga
sejarah dan bangsa.
Semoga BAHASa IBUNDAmu
juga perkasa seperti bait bahasa dunia
terjaga dipupuk kasih sayang
agar lidah tidak terpintal
bersilang ilmu
kerana warisan itu
adalah sejarah
kita dilahirkan dengan Penentuan-Nya
di Taman Melayu yang indah
menghirup pantai sejarah
langit aneka panca warna
bumi bercakaran ada nikmatnya
menghirup kopi pahit
juga kita segar
walau kerap ditipu oleh pedagang gula
manisnya kata-kata
kadang menggadai maruah bangsa.
Bangun puteriku Aiman
maya ini luas panca duga
bonda iringi doa restu
untuk meneraju
Bangsa dan Negara!
Bonda Siti Zainon Ismail
Kamping Bandar Dalam
Kuala Lumpur
2 November 2008
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