New Journey

Posted on September 12, 2022 by kau5ar

Everything happened so fast. From the moment I found out about UM remote learning. Honestly followed my instinct. In between istikharah and dhuha. Prayers. To the point I received the unconditional offer from University of Aberdeen. All in less than six weeks.

Throwback. I prayed hard everyday to be given a sign and gerak hati. Ultimately approaching Zulhijjah, I put the doa in my doa list – very general ie to be given the best for me and if its not the best pls make me redha and replace it with something better. Thanks to dhuyufurrahman friends and of course mak abah who ‘helped’ me with the prayers (too). I knew Allah answered my prayers through them for I am too sinned.

After few discussions with my dear husband, I decided to take IELTS (this was end July) and I said to my husband, let see where the results will take me – take it as a sign of GO or NO GO.

Got myself few days to practice for the test questions – will write more about IELTS later. Sit for exam and got the results few days after. Then I have less than 2 weeks to prepare my application – cv, personal statement and degree docs. Alhamdulillah everything went smooth masyaAllah.

And here I am. Day 1 of MSc. Well technically class starts next Monday. This week (12-16 Sept) is welcoming week.

Bismillah. “If He gets you to it, He will get you through it” InsyaAllah

Acute Bronchitis

Posted on September 6, 2022 by kau5ar

What we thought as a normal fever and cough was actually an acute bronchitis. Poor little girl.

Earlier, the boys had cough first. ‘Aaqil had it before we fly back to Cairo while ‘Arfaan got it few days after. Along with fever. But his fever only 38c+ and his appetite was normal.

So when ‘Atiyyah’s ‘turn’, she started with cough. Then the next day she loss her appetite and when the night came, she started to have some temp. It was Wednesday. So on Thursday we cont pcm and the temp didnt go down. So i start to do sponging and looking for the suppository meds. Unfortunately our suppository stocks were not in a good form – cant be used.

Later that night, doctor came and he said she has acute bronchitis and she will need to be on antibiotic – daily injection for 4 days and followed by 5 days of oral augmentin. Also few more meds for her cough and lungs.

Salbovent to open up lungs, Mucosol for cough, Dolphin (suppository- anti inflammation) & Ceftriaxone the jab she needs to take daily

After day 3 of jabs, she finally has appetite huhu. The most worrying was her appetite and the moment she gained it, we are all happy. Coz she finally became ‘herself’ hehe . She became more playful, responsive, active and no longer lie down all the time. Thats a sign of recovering insyaAllah. Her cough still there though. The phlegm and all. But the cough now less frequent. Its a good sign eh?

Hope baby girl we be out of the woods soooooon. As sHe will celebrate her 2nd birthday in less than 10days masyaAllah. amiiiin

First Week

Posted on September 1, 2022 by kau5ar

…of school is almost done!

‘Aaqil now in Year 6 and ‘Arfaan in Year 1. Surprisingly first day of school for Year 1 here in Cairo was really easy and laid back. Compared to if we were back home. People here take it so normal like just any other day. Haha

Kita pulak segan nak bergambar dgn anak. Ye lah Year 1 tu macam Darjah 1. Kita org Malaysia kena la rakam saat manis dan hari bersejarah kan. Lol. Walaupun I knew that this will be repeated when we moved back to Malaysia and ‘Arfaan will be Darjah 1 in 2024 insyaAllah. Dejavu. Funny but true.

Boys are settling well. With routines and friends. Although ‘Arfaan will be a bit anxious about swimming next week. Hmm. We’ll see about that. Also his bff is no longer in school (moved to Dubai) so he was quite sad. Hope he will get over that soon. ‘Aaqil is coping well as usual. I didnt get to take picture with him on the morning of first day. The moment I settled ‘Arfaan at his class ‘Aaqil already move to his classroom.

Well done boys. Lets make this ‘final year’ in NCBIS (Cairo that is) the best and full of fun memories insyaAllah

Goodbye Teachers

Posted on July 5, 2022 by kau5ar

A day before the last day of school, ‘Aaqil told me he wanted to get something for Ms Imam, his class teacher. But its already 3pm and we are on our way back home and he has yet to pray zohor yada yada… So I told him why dont you make something as a farewell gift like a card or something. He didnt respond back as he still thinking of getting that “Best Teacher Award” trophy that he saw at the Party Station shop few months ago.

Later that evening after maghrib, he was really quite in his room few mins later he showed me he made a ‘farewell card’ for both Ms Imam & Mrs Eman (teacher assistant). Awww melts my heart. It was a work in progress but i can already see his sincerity. He made it with all his heart. All the words came from his heart. ‘Arfaan also joined the bandwagon – he made one card each for Ms Elaine, Ms Hannah & Ms Sophia all his Reception teachers for REH class.

Back in the days, every farewell at school I would try to make it a point to give some tokens to the teachers – a sign of thank you for all the guidance and care and love they have showered our kids, semoga ilmu berkat. But this time around I truly feel something from the kids themselves would mean the world for them teachers. And also coz theyre big enough to make something special rather than some random gift at shop.

‘Aaqil made few pages – the first two with his wishes and the remaining pages with his doodles. And last page he said he managed to get some of his classmates to put their signature on, before handing it to his teachers.

The next morning i packed some chocs and oreos for them to give to their teachers, together with each letters.

One special thing about this school is the same teacher will teach all core subjects ie Primary – Maths, English ie Reading&Writing, Topic and same goes to Reception. And this teacher wont be teaching other classes. Their focus is on these 20 students for the whole year. Hence the bond they have with these kids and vice versa was very close. Anything they will mengadu to this class lead. For non core subjects eg Drama, PE, Music itll be the same teacher for all year groups.

Last day of school, ‘Aaqil cried so bad during pick up. He said he will gonna miss Ms Imam. Sobs.

Celebration of Learning

Posted on June 28, 2022 by kau5ar

Its the final week of Reception for ‘Arfaan and Y5 for ‘Aaqil. The reports of achievement also issued. Allahumma baarik alaikk. They both did great masyAllah. Well considering been absence for more than a month due to covid and unplanned homeleave last year. Amazing boys.

The school also been very thoughtful. They arranged amazing activities for them kids approaching the year end ie summer break.

Celebration of learning (or back home we called ihtifal) were done in separate session for each year group. So for Reception it was held on the 19th and Year 5 was on the 26th. It was a very short and sweet session, only 1-2hrs considering it is weekdays and parents are working so its great and meaningful.

For Reception groups, there was performance from all 3 classes. ‘Arfaan was very excited about his performance. His class performed some poetry basket and Rocky Mountain song. Afterwards, the whole were invited for Hokey Pokey song and dance. There were also short video of kids pictures for whole year. All were invited for a picnic at respected classes. Weather was quite hot so we just eat in their class hhehe

For Year 5, the kids have to select one scholar to be presented in their final year project. They did this under Topic subject entitled Baghdad the House of Wisdom. ‘Aaqil chose alKhawarizmi the father of Maths as his scholar. It s amazing to see them kids really put their effort and passion into it. Us parents got to visit and listen to their creations. MasyaAllah. Such an opportunity for our kids to experience this first hand. ‘Aaqil did amazing as usual. Couldn’t be prouder.

There also arab sweets and drinks served for the parents at the corner of the hall. The session last for only an hour, then we took some pictures and thats it. Short sweet and really intimate. We had fun get to know other kids and parents too.

This week has been very hectic. With water plays, birthday parties, kids bringing back all school stuff (hahaha). Good job my boys!! Now lets gear up for Year 1 and Year 6!!

‘Aaqil & Football

Posted on June 14, 2022 by kau5ar

‘Aaqil has developed an interest towards football since mid last year i think. The interest is soooo genuine that he would say no problem to staying up late to watch certain match. He’s a true Real Madrid supporter btw. To this date im still puzzled how one person intially select their football team and stick to it for the rest of their lives lol.

And everytime the TV airs a football match regardless of whatever cup or team or clubs either at home or restaurant, he would be glued and watch with full interest. By now he knows almost all the whatever terms in football rules. He has football friends at school i think that quite helps a lot. During breaktime he would join the boys for football. Its just natural for him. He doesnt care whether its super hot or chill, he.would.play.

Come back home he would paksa ‘Arfaan to play football together. We have one small ball in the house but space is limited.

One day he said he wants to ask Aarav and Yeho (his classmates who are living in the same compound) for ‘training’ at the lobby. Starting from that, every single evening he would ask to play football with them. Now he has new neighbour friends who also play along.

I knew that this interest is soooo genuine. And natural. So we search for few academies nearby our house. There is one called Barca Academy (within Hayah Sports compound) where most of his classmates went. But unfortunately the timing is daytime hence they will be closed for summer. Will only open again for registration in mid Aug.

So another option is Strike Football Academy. Just few minutes away from Hayah. We checked the schedule, itll be open during summer but the classes are 7.30-9pm 3 days a week – Mon, Wed, Sat. ‘Aaqil went for a free trial class and he loved it.

Half time training & half time match (‘Aaqil in white bib)

For now we gonna try for a month until summer break. So far he’s happy and looking forward for every single training. MasyaAllah. Everytime if i ask him are you okay? Are you tired? Because its a bit overwhelming considering extra activity added to his daily schedule. What more weekdays he needs to also focus on class. But he affirms that HE IS SUPER OKAY. Allahumma baarik.

One good thing that I can see is he became more matured, and his body looks a lot fitter. Before this he’s a bit chubby (well blame winter too #stayin lol) and all but now he seems leaner. And few shades darker ha ha. Its okay on your way to be tall dark and handsome 😝

Ilmu Akhirat

Posted on June 12, 2022 by kau5ar

Masih ingat lagi dulu masa nak pilih sekolah utk ‘Aaqil darjah satu. Kriteria penting kami letak mesti ada subjek diniyyah, ada selit aktiviti solat jemaah dan sebagainya. Persekitaran dan rakan2 yg baik. Alhamdulillah rezeki kami bertemu sekolah SRIAAKL ketika itu. Dan rezeki berpindah ke Kuching pun ada cawangan sekolah yg sama. MasyaAllah aturan Allah hebat betul kan.

Bila berpindah ke Mesir, saya cuba juga cari international school yg ada selitkan ilmu alquran, dan sebagainya. Memang sejak plan nak pindah tu terus actively searching for good islamic international school but unfortunately tak bertemu jawapan. Mungkin ada tapi jauh dari tempat kami tinggal dan ofis suami. Saya pasti ada tapi serius, mmg dalam goggle results tak ada. Kalau ada pun, mesti berbahasa lokal ie arab.

No doubt some of the teachers and students at the boys’ school now are Muslim. But their curriculum are purely academic. Takde islamic learning even as option. But the boys took MFL, Arabic as second language as one of their subject.

Cabaran utk kami sebagai parents utk kesinambungan ilmu agama utk anak2. Kat sekolah memang takde apape pengisian. Kalau di Malaysia ada juga kelas Kafa ke hantar ngaji ke, pendidikan islam ke kan. Sini memang zero.

Antara yg boleh diusahakan utk anak2 yg membesar ni adalah apabila di rumah,

Baca qur’an. Macam ‘Arfaan sudah habis Iqra’ sekarang dah masuk alQuran dan baca suku page selang beberapa hari. Alhamdulillah dah 2 juz and ongoing. Slowly but surely. ‘Aaqil pula sambung dari kelas Syeikhah last yr summer break dan kalau tak silap tinggal lagi 5juz nak khatam. ‘Aaqil punya KPI adalah 5page/week
Saba’ ulang. Yang ni utk ‘Aaqil. Masa di SRIAAKL ‘Aaqil ambil tahfiz sebelah pagi. So byk sebenarnya surah yg dia dah hafal. Sayang betul dia byk dah terlupa. So yang ni pun buat daily insyaAllah
Hafal doa. Doa2 yg saya kira lazim utk dihafal dan diamalkan esp utk ‘Aaqil yg semakin remaja dan banyak aktiviti di luar. Ayat 1000dinar, sayyidul istighfar, alkahfi 1-10 etc. Moga boleh menjaga dia
Amalan membaca doa. Terutama sebelum keluar rumah. Dan sebelum tidur. Ritual utk ‘Arfaan sebelum tidur dia akan bac alfatihah, 3x alikhlas dan doa “bagilah ‘Arfaan tidur lena dan jangan bagi ‘Arfaan mimpi yg tak best. Dan jgn bg ‘Arfaan kencing sampai subuh 😅 dan bg ummi walid abg arfaan atiyyah masuk syurga firdaus terus tq Allah jaga semuorg” Senafas je dia baca sambil mata dah tutup memang anak syurga niii 🥹 Nota : what i learned from Ustzh Asma Harun, amalan biasakan anak baca doa ni boleh tingkatkan kebergantungan kpd Allah dan aqidah anak, without them knowing. So they know Allah is watching Allah is protecting them always and not us parents.
‘Aaqil bacakan doa selepas solat jemaah bersama
Baca Quran bersama2 selepas maghrib, beserta terjemahan. Alhamdulillah dah masuk round ke2 juz 8 tak silap. Moga istiqamah 🤲🏼

easter break haritu ‘Aaqil habiskan buku aktiviti Musleh (aqidah akhlak seerah fiqh) darjah 3

Untuk ‘Aaqil , we only allow him 2hrs a week utk main game. Weekend sahaja. So weekdays he must complete 5pages of quran & 5mix of saba’ ulang & doa tasmi’ to ‘unlock’ his 2hrs . Sebenarnya in a way kita as parents pun kena istiqamah sebab apa yg kita nak anak kita buat/jadi, kita kena buat dulu. Huhu. Moga kami menjadi contoh yg baik buat anak2 dan bukan sekadar menyuruh dan mengatur masyaAllah. May Allah guide us all ❤️

Dog Man

Posted on June 9, 2022 by kau5ar

So the boys now obsessed with Dog Man comic series. Eversince ‘Aaqil got one of the Dog Man comic for his 10th birthday, the boys will repeatedly read that one book and literally memorized some of the phrase. They even did some quiz among them on which chapter does this phrase appears lol.

So when they saw Dog Man series were part of the Scholastic book list, they immediately ordered it. It has simple wordings so its quite easy for ‘Arfaan to handle. So now they have I think 7 of them – dah tak berebut.

Every morning and when they come back from from school they will be glued to this comic. Its a good thing that ‘Arfaan no longer watch Youtube everyday. He didnt even ask for tv. Thank you whoever created Dog Man.

Cucumber Sandwich

Posted on June 7, 2022 by kau5ar

Last week the boys had a non uniform day at school celebrating the 70yrs of service for Queen Elizabeth – Platinum Jubilee. So they can wear anything in red blue and white.

Also, the primary kids ie ‘Aaqil and friends had a ‘Very British Picnic’ whereby the kids were given a special cucumber sandwich treat during snack break at school. Hehe cool kan. I was wondering what is so special about this sandwich haha.

So apparently the Early Years kids ie ‘Arfaan & friends able to make the sandwich themselves! Of course by the help of them teachers. So ‘Arfaan said its a slice of bread, spread with cream cheese and then put slices of cucumber on it then put another slice of bread. And he likes it. Woww. Talking about encouraging kids to eat vege clap clap

Infact the boys loved it so the other day I made the sandwiches for their lunchbox. Senang dan sedap!

Fusion lunchbox : Pisang Goreng & Cucumber Sandwiches

Btw this cream cheese is so delish! The brand is named ‘Kiri’ . We got to taste it the first time during our stay in Dubai last month. They served this everyday for breakfast. Yum!

Boko Ubi Kayu

Posted on June 5, 2022 by kau5ar

Antara benda yang tak pernah jumpa dekat sini adalah ubi kayu. Ubi keledek ada dimana2 but not ubi kayu. Kalau di ‘pasar asia’ pun tak pernah nampak dijual.

So masa bercuti ke Dubai haritu kami masuk la kejap ke Carrefour nak tgk apa yg boleh diseludup balik hehe. So antaranya kami beli ubi kayu lah. Dalam kepala memang terbayang talam ubi . Faveret la kuih ni lama tak makan.

Alkisah beli sebatang je sebab tak reti nak estimate berapa perlu utk seloyang kan. Sebab tak pernah buat pun kuih ni. Selalu beli je.

Sekali bila parut tengok dpt satu cawan je adui. So tukar lah buat boko ubi. Rasa seakan talam ubi tapi boleh buat few smaller sizes. Dan mmg tak perlu risau kalau tak jadi eg lembik coz makan pakai sudu so lembik lg sedap. Hehe

Alhamdulillah craving fixed! Lapisan bawah – parutan ubi, gula melaka, gula perang & daun pandan. Gula masak sampai hancur, tapis and mix with ubi then kukus. Letak dlm acuan. Lapisan atas pula mcm buat bubur sumsum je – tepung beras, garam & santan, mix and tapis lepastu masak atas api til pekat sebelum tuang atas lapisan bawah tu. Sedappp!