Eye issues.

I have totally accepted my condition. I have acute glaucoma on both eyes, that's a fact, no point denying it. I tried to do what the doctors advised me to do. Only one that makes me feel guilty - I play truant at going to the gym. Maz is not happy because she pays all the fees, including my personal trainer. Doctors advised me to do regular exercise for smooth blood flow to the eyes. I know it but...........Since I traveled outside the country in Dec 2010, fell sick when I returned, then followed by short visit to Kuching and going back to PD and the CNY holidays, I have not been to the gym. I have to drag my feet there with loads of excuses. I am sorry Maz, your mom is getting lazy. Thank you and Ika for pushing me but I have bigger excuse now for not going.

My eyesight is deteriorating, not because of glaucoma but due to cataract on both eyes. I stop driving when it's dark. Reading road signs is just impossible. I am endangering myself and others if I don't do something about this. I have consulted many eye specialist for advice on how safe it is if I go for cataract surgery with my acute glaucoma. Some are encouraging but many make me aware of the risks. One doctor suggested that I do double surgery - cataract and glaucoma at the same time. This frightens me. I went for another consultation and was advised to do one at a time as glaucoma surgery is very intrusive. It maybe more expensive but safer. I agreed.

I have given this a lot of thought but I have Hobson's choice. So, on 17 February I am going to do cataract surgery on my left eye at UMSC. Prof Mimi is going to do it. I trust her but please pray for me that I'll be OK and that my sight improves. I may do the right eye later if the surgery is successful.

One or two eye specialists have assured me that having glaucoma doesn't mean that I am going to be blind. This gives me hope. What I need to do is to take care so that my eye pressure doesn't go up. Question - how do I do it? Inspite of using 3 eye drops faithfully, my eye pressure sometimes shoots up. I found out only when I went for checkup. Looking at my visual field test, Prof Mimi said my pressure is not too bad and will consider surgery if the pressure cannot be controlled. Ya Allah...please help me and save my precious sights.

So I am taking time off from computer after 17 February 2011. I'll see what happens..

Tracing old steps

Kuching airport was closed on 11 January 2011 because AirAsia plane skidded and this is not the first time. So I have to change my flight to the next day, 12 January and back to KL 14 January. I have already bought the train ticket with Senior citizen discount and it couldn't be used for the next day travel. What a waste!
My humble apology to all my friends in Kuching particularly the lecturers of Counselling Department in Unimas. I didn't tell anybody I was coming. My visit was short and my objective was to trace back my steps while living there for more than 6 years. I have a very special bond with Kuching - the city, the people and the nature parks.
I wanted just to lepak at the waterfront, drinking tea and eating laksa Sarawak in the evening and enjoy the breeze and the tranquility. I used to spend time there, to lepak and to mark exam scripts. The waterfront and the river used to be very clean but before I left, it has become neglected.
I missed Orang Utan Rehabilation Center in Semenggoh. Delima, the resident orang utan, is a delight and so was Richie, the male orang utan if he graced the center by coming down. I just love this place and always brought smiles to my face everytime I saw the orang utans. I wanted to see this distant cousins of mine again.
A day trip to Bako was another destination I planned. Bako is a uniquely beautiful nature park with proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys, the bearded hog, the rascal macquats, the pitcher plants, the rock formations, the white sands and the breathtaking scenery.
Exploring the rows of shops near waterfront and at Jalan India would make me feel nostalgic. I wanted to do some shopping there.
When I arrived at Kuching airport, disappointment awaited me. It rained!! And it rained throughout the days I was there, imprisoned me in my hotel room.
I didn't get to do what I wanted to do though I braved the rain and walked to Jalan India and took a short boat ride across the river to visit the beautiful new building, the Dewan Undangan Negeri. I met a friendly Sarawakian Malay lady who was kind enough to ferry me in her car to the DUN and to the orchid garden. Thank you Haslinda, you are not a stranger anymore and I hope we could meet again one day.
So next time I must remember NEVER to visit Kuching before Chinese New Year. I forgot. It always rained before CNY.





At the imposing main door of Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak.


















The raindrops on orchids at Kuching Orchid Garden.
















I will see Kuching again, insyallah.

Baitul Mukaddas

The place I dreamed to be, especially to visit Al-Aqsar mosque and Dome of the Rock which are described in the Quran. But the presence of the Israelis soldiers turned me off. The news report about their abuse of Palestinians in their own land is a reality in my eyes. Hitler was condemned as a monster for genocide but he saw what would happened if this race is in power. The Israelis are worst than Hitler.






The separation wall built by the Israelis with powerful surveillance cameras at every corner.












One of the graffiti on the separation wall expressing the feelings of the Palestinians.










The Palestinians live in the biggest prison in the world, created by the Jews and the world powers (America and the likes) just ignored the blatant assault on human dignity. The Palestinians are robbed of their lands and their dignity. It blows my mind to know how the Jews could practice their life principles of legalizing shooting women and children (especially Palestinians) if they present the slightest threat to their position. I think animals have more compassion than they do.

I had no choice. Baitul Mukaddis/Maqdis is a holy city. Being Muslims, I chose to brave the threatening situation there. I was quite confused - was I going into Palestine or Israel? At the immigration point manned by Israelis, we had to wait for hours before we were cleared (because we were 19 Muslims). There were 46 non-Muslim Indonesians who arrived later but they were being
cleared quickly. We left Jordan at 5 am but by 2 pm we were still there, hungry and tired.

There was no such thing as special consideration for seniors and children. If you drop dead in front of their eyes, the Israelis couldn't care less.

Dome of the Rock from Mount Olive.








I am so very grateful to Allah for giving me time and allowing me to visit Al-Aqsar and Dome of the Rock in Baitul Mukaddas. Though a first my body was so tired and in need of rest I decided to join the group for subuh at 4 am at Al-Aqsar. It was a good decision. I might not be able to go there again.






Dome of the Rock took my breath away. I was able to see the hanging rock on which Prophet Mohammad stood before Israj Mi'raj. I was in awe to be able to be where Israj Mi'raj happened and see the stunning architecture inside and outside the Dome.










The exterior of Dome of the Rock.











Syukur alhamdullillah, praying in Al-Aqsar was a humbling experience. This is where the Qiblat for Muslims to pray was, but Allah commanded Prophet Mohammad to shift Qiblat to Mecca.
The visit to Hebron was unforgettable. It pained my heart to see so many children left orphaned and poor because of the war and the opperssion by the Jews. The Palestinians live poorly but the Jews live in palatial homes on Palestinian land. I pray that the Israelis will stop digging underneath the Al-Aqsar as an excuse to look for their lost temple which until now they had not found a trace of it. Or is it just an excuse to destroy Al-Aqsar?


The Ibrahim mosque is a historical landmark in Hebron, Baitul Mukaddas. This is where Prophet Ibrahim, his wife, Sarah, Prophet Ishak and his wife were buried. The 84 year old caretaker tearfully narrated to us the massacre in 1994 when an American Jew shot 29 people while they were praying in the mosque. The irony was that, since this was done by a non-Muslim, the incident was treated so coolly. But if it were done by a Muslim, the non-Muslim world would cry bloody murder and accused Muslims as terrorists.
I hope the Palestinians will get back their land and their dignity and hell go to the oppressors.















In the Chapel of Ascension at Mount Olive where Prophet Isa (Jesus) stood before he was lifted to heavens by God.

Lightning visit to Lebanon, Petra and Dead Sea,

On 22 Dec 2010 was a free and easy day for the group members but all of us opted to go to Lebanon fo a day visit. Though we started early, the border check took so long, more than 2 hours, and by then it was early afternoon. The drive in Lebanon was unique with scenic mountain view with houses tucked away in valleys and on hills. The roads are winding and the hills were still covered by thin snow.


We stopped at Jeitte Grottoes, the underground caves with stalactites and stalagmites. We were boating in the lower part of the cave to see more white shining stalactites and stalagmites glowing beautifully. I was impressed with the beauty of the cave but none so far could compare to the stunning formation of variety of stalactites and stalagmites in Mulu Caves, especially the King's Chamber. I informed some members of the group to make a point to see what our own country can offer so that we could appreciate and be more proud of our heritage. It's pointless to travel around the world but just disregard the interesting places available at our own door step. Gua Tempurung would take our breath away to see the two level of colours of white at the top and dark grey at the bottom - unusual combination in a cave.
What I appreciate about Jeitte Grottoes is that they are very strict in enforcing 'no camera' ruling and appropriate behaviour with no pushing or rushing. Everything is done orderly and the place is sparkly clean. The tour gyuides are mindful of the regulations unlike many tourist guides in our country who are not so mindful of the regulations and blatantly break the rules. I have seem a tourist guide in Putrajaya acting like a big boss raising his voice demanding the workers to let his group from China cutting Qs and became unruly. In the boat he just grabbed the microphone from the guide and babbled in Chinese, disrespecting other tourists in the boat. What did the guide do? Nothing!
By the time we reached Beirut, it was almost 5pm and getting dark. We visited the stunning Hariri mosque with amazingly beautiful interior. I could just stay there observing the intricate architecture and design but we had to move on. Just next to it is a church. From far, one of the minarets of the mosque seemed to be having a cross on top. It belonged to the church.













Hariri mosque, Beirut.











Nearby is the high end shops mostly selling original branded goods such Jimmy Choo, Channel, CD, Prada etc etc with half of the price you pay in KL.

Beirut is another experience that I would like to repeat with leisure, one day, insyallah.







PETRA, JORDAN 22 Dec 2010

I have been to Jordan some 10 years ago but missed visiting Petra. I read and saw a lot of pictures of Petra and it has heightened my curiosity. One of the attractions of this trip is Petra but the visit proved to be so disappointing. It was just ridiculous to go to Petra and spent about 2 hours there when there were so many things to see but that was what we did. The delay at the Jordanian-Syrian border cut our time for Petra a whole lot. We arrived at Petra just before 4 pm when the gate would be closed and darkness set in.















The walk inside to the Treasury is long, on uneven track. Noraishah and I decided to take horse carriage inside and paid US$40.00. Imran, the carriage driver was such an impatient man who was not friendly and not interested to entertain tourists' curiosity.










When we arrived at the Treasury, he demanded to be paid. We know if we paid him he would just leave us so that he could get more tourists in and we would be left on the lurch. So we ignored his demand and he scowled and yelled. We kept on taking photographs but felt uncomfortable at his loud yell for us to come in the carriage so that he could deposit us outside, at the starting station. What a rude Jordanian, so greedy.












All in all, I was really in awe of Petra. The rocky complex was so magnificent and majestic. Imagine having people living in the rocky hills a long, long time ago. No wonder my son-in-law, Justin, talked so much about the mystical Petra. Now I understand what he means exactly.









Entrances to their cave dwellings were still intact. The Treasury, intricately carved from rock is the ultimate attraction. How did those ancient people did it in such a skillful way. I felt fulfilled and humbled by the magnanimous structure which made me gaped with wonder. Syukur alhamdullillah that Allah allows me the pleasure of seeing this world famous Petra though the visit was short and didn't give me opportunity to explore the area more. Maybe, God permits I may see it again one fay.









At the Treasury, carved totally from rocks.












DEAD SEA, JORDAN 26 Dec 2010

Another lightening visit we did was at Dead Sea. The place has changed so much since the last time I visited about 15 years ago. They have landscaped the area and made it more attractive with modern facilities. None of the group member wanted to swim in the Dead Sea as it was already late. I swam and float in the Dead Sea years ago confident that I wouldn't sink even though I don't know how to swim. The sea is still calm and serene which pulled me to soak my legs in the very salty sea water.