Friday, April 11, 2014

Al-Fatihah Ayah

In loving memory of:
Raden Alwie bin Raden Yusop
10 May 1944 - 10 April 2014. 
10 Jamadilakhir 1435H.

Having planned our trip to Tokyo (the trip was planned to coincide with hubs birthday on the 12th of April) for many months,  we've decided to pack Alexa's bag first, considering she'll need more stuff than we do and also to ensure that if we've forgotten anything, packing the bag would definitely help us to remember what else we need for her. So, we've packed her bag on Tuesday night and set Wednesday night for us to get some of the stuff that she needs (i.e. socks, toiletries set, extra wet wipes etc). 


We decided it would be easier for Alexa's stuff to be in one bag so that if we need anything for her, we'd can look for it here.


A friend of ours, Nur Syarfeeza mentioned that Tokyo would be slightly chilly (according to the weather app in my iPhone the temperature in Tokyo is somewhere between 8 - 14 degrees celcius) and reminded us to pack warm clothes, so we prepared her travelling outfit with the weather in mind. Having been to London during spring a few years ago reminded us not to underestimate the cool weather so we prepared an extra jacket for her. 

On Thursday morning, 10th of April, at almost 6 am, we received a phone call from hub's sister, and the sound of her voice is one that I will never forget. The painful anguish of a daughter calling to inform her elder brother that their father have passed away. Indeed the whole world came crashing down on us at this one single moment, we cannot believe that someone who is as active as he is, had suddenly left us, leaving us to go back into the arms of our creator.

Shaken with shock, we quickly got into action and went to hub's family residence to help out with the funeral arrangements.


We are definitely thankful for the help from the committee of Surau Kampung Surabaya Hilir, getting ready to clean and cloth the deceased's body for the last time.


Yassin recitation for the deceased. 


Solat jenazah. 


His final resting place at Tanah Perkuburan Islam, Samariang.

In Islam, we believe that everything we have are borrowed from Allah. We do not own anything, we borrow them from Allah and Allah is the rightful owner, our body, our life, our family, our wealth, our health, all are given by Allah and should Allah wills it, all can be taken away in the blink of an eye. That is why we are accountable to all that have been given to us, we are accountable as to how we behave to others, we are accountable to our body (ensuring our health), we are accountable for our wealth and how it has been spent, we are accountable to the relationships that we have with others, in short, we are accountable for every single thing that we say or do. 

In the same manner, as we are living on borrowed time, Ayah's (this is what we call him) time with us is up. No matter how sad I am at his passing, knowing that we have lost him, knowing that Alexa will never get to know her Atok (as he calls himself), knowing that the future now will be different, how he has left such a huge gap in our lives... In a way I am glad and thankful. I am thankful to Allah for giving me the opportunity to get to know this amazing man, this person who has taken me into his life as his daughter-in-law, this quiet person who has been such an amazing father to my husband, who has taught him the values and principles that has made him what he is today, this simple man who adores that simple things in life and is eternally grateful for the little blessings that he has been granted with. I am eternally grateful to Allah for the time that has been granted to us in having him in our lives.  


Hubs and his parents and siblings during Eid 2012.


The grandfather, Raden Alwie bin Raden Yusop and his granddaughter, Raden Alexa Iqlima binti Raden Chekra Muda in January 2014, a few months after his operation, removing tumor from his brain.


Al Fatihah to my father-in-law Raden Alwie bin Raden Yusop. May Allah grant you Jannah and when the time comes, we will join you in the afterlife.



xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Fashionista's Travels: Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia

[This post have been edited since I last posted it on the 2nd of April 2014]

Two months ago me and some of my fellow colleagues decided to go for a short trip to Jakarta and Bandung as a way for us to take time off from work and also spend time knowing each other's families.

This trip consisted mainly of Bandung (except on the last day which we spent the morning in Jakarta, we had driven from Bandung to Jakarta right after breakfast). I have been to Bandung a couple of times before, my last one being about three years ago (you can read the entry [here]) with another colleague and I have always loved the place. It's a great place to shop (there's plenty of factory outlets for bargain hunters), there's also plenty of fabrics to choose from for those fashionistas who's keen on designing and making their own clothes (like my friend Sherry from Sherry Says is among one of those talented creative people who can design and sew her own clothes), or even those who are passionate about food (like yours truly).

Despite some concerns over the eruption of Mount Kelud which could hamper our trip and also have adverse health implications but we decided to wing it anyway (the volcano is about 600km away from Jakarta so we decided that the mountain might be quite a distance away).

So here are some of the photos that we took while in Bandung and Jakarta:


Tangkuban Parahu, a dormant volcano (it last erupted in 1983) about an hour's drive from Bandung.


Tangkuban Parahu is considered as one of the tourist attractions in Bandung, thus you can find many vendors selling their wares near the parking lot next to the volcano.


Tourists at Tangkuban Parahu.


Wooden idols, anyone?


The row of stalls were set up strategically right next to the volcano's crater. I guess that unless the volcano display signs of volcanic activity, it would be quite safe doing business next to the crater.


Me and Alexa. As usual, she prefers the Ergo baby carrier compared to her stroller. I guess she just loves to snuggle next to me or hubs .


A lady selling grilled corn on the cob. There's actually plenty of stalls selling these around Tangkuban Parahu.


So this is basically how Tangkuban Parahu looks like.


Alexa, having woken up from her nap.


Hubs and Alexa. Weighing around 7 kgs, she's quite heavy to carry now.


For Muslims, there's a musolla for those who'd like to perform their prayers.


Post Tangkuban Parahu, we stopped by at a tea plantation for some tea.


Burnt grilled corn on cob. A word of caution though, most sellers use kerosene to light up their grill, therefore I do not recommend the corn. We took a bite and immediately we can smell the kerosene from the corn. Yuck!


Hubs and Alexa.


Next we stopped by at Sari Ater for a short dip in the hotspring


You can sit at the benches and enjoy a short dip in the hotspring. The water is almost boiling hot, so enter at your own risk!


You can see the steam rising out of the water. I must say, the water from the hotspring is definitely very, very hot.


Hotspring.


There's also a mosque within the area.


We also stopped by Paris van Java for a lil' bit of shopping.



Those who are looking for exotic food could try sate biawak (monitor lizard sate), rica-rica sate (spicy sate), or sate kelinci (rabbit sate). And in case you're wondering, nope, I did not try any sate when we were in Bandung. I am a foodie, but exotic food are definitely not my thing.


Nasi Uduk anyone? For those who are interested to know what is nasi uduk, you can click [here].



We ended our trip with a short stop to Hard Rock Café Jakarta for Alexa's first Hard Rock t-shirt. Hopefully she's be able to wear them for our next holiday trip which will be to Tokyo, Japan, next week.

It's a tad unfortunate that I'm pressed for time, there's still a few more photos that I'd like to add to this post. Will try to edit this post later so that I can add some photos of Jakarta. Am looking forward to our next trip which will be to Tokyo, Japan, next week.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista