Haze in an Empty City

https://www.flickr.com/photos/harisrahman/14587052618/

The City dwellers were still away. Might as well as overnight, the air quality plummeted. Visibility was down to less than 200m despite the City being almost devoid of its usual traffic.

Not a good idea for outdoor activities. At least that was what I told myself when I got up this morning and was too lazy to have my morning jog.

Now praying that it would rain, washing the haze particles away ....

Morning Groceries

My first day of leave, and being the last day of Ramadan, groceries were on top of the list.

The local mall was opened at 10.30, and we were there at around 10.15. We were away by 11 and the crowd were only just building up. The parking lots were already filled and queue at the entrance into the car park was already long.

I could do with one of these ...What did we buy? A couple of trolley full of stuff .... Don't ask me what they were. I just pushed the trolley ... and foot up the bill.

Spring Clean

I was lucky that I didn't have to pick up the mop to do the cleaning. Our maid had one of her friends coming along, and the two of them merrily got the cleaning done.

And they were efficient. Our maid originally came to Malaysian almost 10 years ago as a private cleaner. But her income were a bit up and down. The agency she initially worked for had a change of management and the new boss had been short changing them.

She came to clean my Mum-in-law's house for almost a couple of years, getting to know us. Our children really liked her. She then decided to quit the agency, return to the Philippine, got her visa in order and came to work for me full time.

She still had friends doing freelance cleaning and when we needed a hand with cleaning, she would call them up. Great arrangement ...

Selamat Hari Raya

Monday, 28th July. After 29 days of Ramadan, it was time for celebration. I celebrated mostly because I was tired with the errands the day before, and being away from the hospital.

I couldn't sleep well last night. We spent the evening at my Mum's place, with my boys playing with their cousin. As usual, Idlan started to sneeze and wheeze later in the evening and only fallen asleep at around 1 am. Anita slept earlier since she had to do the preparations early in the morning.

At the MosqueTime for makan ....The obligatory family portraitThe boys were still in bed when I left for the morning Raya Prayers. But they were ready when I got back.

The customary family portraits ensued while waiting for my brother-in-law to turn up at around 10 am.

Then came my turn to visit my Mum. Luckily it was 10 minutes away. My boys again got over excited with their cousins.

The afternoon slowed down a bit. We ended up watching TV, waiting for Anita's cousin to come and visit their Aunty.

As usual, I over eaten again. Might have to start jogging tomorrow. Still waiting for dinner but not sure when that going to take place. I didn't have much space left in my belly. More plans tomorrow ....

To all my friends and colleague, Happy Hari Raya and Happy Holidays. Thanks for all the warm wishes through social media and texts. Time to chill out for a little bit.

Energy Boost

I know that's today was going to be one of those aggravated long days. So, right after sahur, I duly took my dose of steroids!

It was none other than the essence of chicken. It worked for me before. Hopefully it would again today!

FTW!!