The Reader

Family Sunday walk..

I snapped these flowers on 9/12/2007 and love taking photos of flowers and landscapes especially sunsets and sunrises.Today,I am taking my sister and her family for a walk in Putrajaya and smell some flowers...Here is some tips

 

Thank you,Allah!

Today is my 34th wedding anniversay.Time really flies....Now,I have 3 sons and a daughter-in-law.No grandchildren yet but looking forward to it in not too distant future.Two of my kids are already working and the youngest has just entered a university a few kilometres from my house to do civil engineering like his daddy.

First and foremost,let me say my thanks to Allah for this long and blissful life and to my partner-my dear loving and caring wife,Norina for being with me through highs and lows,thicks and thins.First,we started living with our parents ,then we lived on our own and when we got married,we lived with our wives and children.Two of my three sons are now living on their own and in a few years time,it is my wife and me.That is the cycle of life...

To young parents with small children,I know it is very taxing and hectic to manage work and family but take time to enjoy the chaotic fun.When you are in your 50's and 60's like me,you will wish you have more children than you had.

One advantage of living longer lives is we may have deeper knowledge as we get 'meaning of things' over time.Experience upgrade our level of wisdom,insyaAllah.

A few of my friends died before they are 50 and a few had divorces in less than 20 year of married lives.I am very lucky and again,I thank you Allah for your rahmah on me and my family.

Weekend with family

During my morning walk with my wife at Taman Saujana Hijau,P11 ,Putrajaya yesterday I met a young man and his family(wife + 2 daughters) at a gazebo on the top of the garden as shown in the photo below.Besides the gazebo I saw two bicycles-one MTB and a kid bike.The wife was busy setting up the place for them to have family breakfast.I dropped by and said hello to Encik Junaidi and invited him to come to our PIPR #9 on 26/6/2011.I was so glad that he knew about it and he told me that he never want to miss PIPR.That made my day and I went away leaving the family to enjoy their weekend. As we walked down the hilltop,I told my wife this is a good example for young men to enjoy his hobbies with his family on weekends.We should not spend all weekend with friends and leaving family at home or on their own.Saturday is for my wife and kids.If we can't do every weekend,we should allocate at least two weekends  to be with family members.

By the way,how is your weekend?

Weekend with mothers..

I just called my mother and told her that I will be going home to be with her this weekend.I could feel how happy she was when we were having a family conversation.If you have not called your mom in the last two weeks,please do it now.I am sure she remembers you at least five times a day during her solats.

By the way,please do not keep her waiting!

Here is a note I wrote many years ago related to the above sentence.

My walks...

How about yours? I hope this log will inspire my friends to start walking..

 
 

They come and they go...

When my first son had to leave us to study in a full boarding school more than two decades ago, I was excited and equally sad.I was happy for him but my wife and me were going to miss him.We consoled ourselves that we could go and visit him every two weeks since his school is one hour drive form our home.At the same time,he could come home once every month.I told my wife we are lucky as compared to my friend who lost his son when he was much younger.

After his SPM,my first son came back to live with us for two years to get his diploma and later he left us again for another 3 years to get his degree.After getting his degree ,he started his working career and lived with us for one year.Then he got a better offer and moved to a new place some 300km away.After being there for about two years,he reported for duty yesterday at Putrajaya as a civil servant - a 15 minutes drive from my home.

Welcome back back my son.My wife and me are very happy to see all our kids are back home.Just like the old time when we were younger...

By the way,we know it is not  going to be that long when one or two of them will move out again-either for their career advancement/relocations or getting married.I told my wife let us make the hay while the sun shine.C'est la vie...

[the photo shown is a mug given by my kids some 15 years ago on Father's Day..]

Below is my favourite poem:

On Children
 by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Walking Sunday

Sunday is my cycling day for the last few months,but not this morning.I will take my wife walking this morning where the trees are more than 100 years old and 100 feet tall.As I walk,I will record the GPS locations and snap  a few photos of anything of interest to me.The route is called The Rover Trail,located at FRIM,Kepong.

How is your weekend?

 Do you look forward to your weekend?Most people do-just to have a break from their week days work.How do you spend your weekend?Everyone of us has our own answers.Before I forget,let me wish you a good and interesting weekend.

In general,many of us have 2-day weekend.That will be about 104 days a year.That is a big portion of our lives to manage.

Since I took cycling more than 18 months ago,most of my weekends were quite interesting.There is always some where to go for a ride.I am lucky because I have a lot of friends who share the same interest.Yes, we need friends.

Another hobby I love to pursue is photography.So far,I have not allocated sufficient time for it.And it is difficult for me to get a group of photo enthusiasts for a weekend photowalk.Most likely I have got to do it on my own,most of the time.

 Lately,after two of my three sons got bitten by cycling bugs,my wife has shown more interest to exercise as well.However, she prefers to walk and I think I should join her as my cross-training exercise.From my experience , to walk 10km is more difficult than to ride 20km!Beginning this year,my wife and me do go for our morning walk about once a week.I plan to make twice a week for our own sake as we grow older.I observe that  quite a number of my peers and my seniors suffered a lot of chronic illnesses as we grow old due to unhealthy lifestyles.

From my observations,during weekends,our shopping complexes  are full to the brims.Someone has described it so full that she has to step on other people's feet while shopping.People are coming to the city on weekends but it is the other way around in Jakarta( I was told).Most Jakarta city dwellers are moving out to the sunburbs for recreation during weekends.Libur di luar kota!

By engaging my family in weekend exercises and other social activities like meeting relatives and friends,I hope to enrich the life of my family members and at the same time it will enhance our health,insyaAllah.

A walk by the lake..

This morning I did not go cycling but I went for a walk with my wife at Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir.Wednesday is my mid-week break for just the two of us.Weekend is family and social events days-the older one gets,the busier his/her weekend activities.

While taking a walk I also do some exercise at a few exercise stations.Now,everthing looks nice and tidy.I hope DBKL should maintain this Taman Tasik as good as new all the time.Compared to Taman Tasik Titiwangsa,this is less the one quarter the size but it is good enough for family walks around the lake.

Here are a few shots that I took...

Tired but happy..

Last night I fell to sleep at 9pm and woke up this morning at 3am.I was dead tired but happy when the whole day we as a family went to my sister-in-law house to assit her in the wedding ceremony of her daughter.Alhamdulilah,the weather was fine and almost everything went smoothly and according to the schedule.Wedding event is just like any other short term project and anything can go wrong.

By helping and assisting in the event,one can learn a lot about what it takes to hold a wedding.This will help me later when my time comes to hold wedding events for my children.It is every parent's wish the best for their children in their lives...

May I wish Selamat Pengantin Baru to Yazlin and Badrul:-) May Allah swt bless both of you all the way...