Lovely Idstein

After several times we had postponed our trip to Idstein, finally last Sunday we managed to be there. Thanks to our dear friend, Kak Liza who made the initiative to drive us there. Otherwise I didn't know when we will actually get there because with this cold weather, it makes us so darn lazy to go out. And some more knowing that Idstein is not that far, we just wait and wait....

Idstein indeed is pretty close to Raunheim when you travel by car. It takes around 40 minutes to get there. Since Kak Liza has been there before, she said she would like to take us there to visit Kak Na and family and see how beautiful Idstein is. And the weather on that Sunday was very nice, with bright sunlight (although it was very cold, - 1C) so Kak Liza said she wouldn't worry on driving back after dark because the road wouldn't be so icy.

But the morning we wanted to start the journey, apparently one of Kak Liza's car tyre was kaputt so cik HB had to change it first. And to change a tyre in a cold weather was actually very challenging. Since it was very cold, all bolts and nuts became so painful to the touch.

Seksanya nak tukar tayar.....

Journey to Idstein was so pleasant with beautiful scenary of Deutschland countryside. And as Kak Liza said, Idstein as beautiful as it is.

Countryside view

View of Idstein town taken from Autobahn

Kak Na's place is located in this small village called Wallrabenstein, about 6km further up from Idstein town. A very old village with buildings as old as more than 300 years. After lunch we went for a stroll in the village area.

In front Kak Na's House

Rombongan cik kiah kat Kg. Wallrabenstein

New kids on the block

It's so peaceful strolling here

And we found a horse ranch not very far from Kak Na's house. Even Kak Na and her husband didn't know the existence of this ranch. The kids so excited to see the horses especially Nabihah who loves horses very much.

Isn't it so beautiful?

What was more exciting; we were allowed to go to the horses' barn and touch them but of course, we were warned not to make noises, not to feed the horses, and not to hit them (you know kids, they tend to poke the horses with sticks). The horses were beautiful and so friendly. When they saw us, most of the horses came out from their barn, and approached us. And they acted like they wanted us to pat them so we all did. And boy! the horses reacted so affectionately. Make me feels like having one as a pet :)) (of course if I'm rich enough).

Nabilah yg takut nak dekat ngan horse

Nabihah yg x takut langsung nak pat horse

Jenuh nak pujuk Nabilah sentuh horse..

Since it was very cold and getting dark, we had to go back because the kids started having running nose and being outside in longer time was not good for them. On the way back we found a small waterfall in which the water had turned into ice. Looked so beautiful with sword-like ice. The boys took some of those and played with it but of course it crashed instantly.

Spikes of ice

Nabilah yg merajuk sbb dia nak didukung....

We had dinner at Kak Na's house and headed home by 8.00 pm. I want to go there again next time because I haven't seen enough of Idstein. I saw some of the historical buildings in Idstein town but since we didn't have much time, we didn't explore the place. And when I surfed the Internet, apparently Idstein is a tourist attraction town (check out this link). Probably when it is warmer, we would go there again.

Salam Maal Hijrah

Sekejap aje masa dah berlalu dan satu lagi Tahun Baru Islam dah tiba. Sepatutnya smlm Tahun Baru disambut dgn bacaan doa akhir tahun dan awal tahun tp dek kerana smlm aku bersukaria di Idstein, maka aku terlupa. Astagfirullahalazim....

Anyway bulan Muharram ada byk perkara2 sunat yg boleh dilakukan sebagaimana aku petik dr sini:

Antara amalan yg sunat dilakukan pd bulan Muharam:

1. Berpuasa. Maksud Hadis: Barang siapa berpuasa satu hari dalam bulan Muharam pahalanya seumpama berpuasa 30 tahun.Maksud Hadis: Barang siapa yang berpuasa tiga hari dalam bulan Muharam, iaitu hari Khamis, Jumaat dan Sabtu, Allah tulis padanya pahala seperti mana beribadat selama 2 tahun.

2. Banyakkan amal ibadat seperti solat sunat, zikir dan sebagainya.

3. Berdoa akhir tahun pada hari terakhir bulan Zulhijah selepas Asar sebanyak 3X

4. Berdoa awal tahun pada 1 Muharram selepas Maghrib 3X

14 perkara sunat dilakukan pada hari Asyura (10 Muharram):

1. Melapangkan masa/belanja anak isteri. Fadilatnya - Allah akan melapangkan hidupnya pada tahun ini.

2. Memuliakan fakir miskin. Fadilatnya - Allah akan melapangkannya dalam kubur nanti.

3. Menahan marah. Fadilatnya - Di akhirat nanti Allah akan memasukkannya ke dalam golongan yang redha.

4. Menunjukkan orang sesat. Fadilatnya - Allah akan memenuhkan cahaya iman dalam hatinya.
Menyapu/mengusap kepala anak yatim. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengurniakan sepohon pokok di syurga bagi tiap-tiap rambut yang disapunya.

5. Bersedekah. Fadilatnya - Allah akan menjauhkannya daripada neraka sekadar jauh seekor gagak terbang tak berhenti-henti dari kecil sehingga ia mati. Diberi pahala seperti bersedekah kepada semua fakir miskin di dunia ini.

6. Memelihara kehormatan diri. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengurniakan hidupnya sentiasa diterangi cahaya keimanan.

7. Mandi Sunat. Fadilatnya - Tidak sakit (sakit berat) pada tahun itu. Lafaz niat: "Sahaja aku mandi sunat hari Asyura kerana Allah Taala."

8. Bercelak. Fadilatnya - Tidak akan sakit mata pada tahun itu.

9. Membaca Qulhuwallah hingga akhir 1,000X. Fadilatnya - Allah akan memandanginya dengan pandangan rahmah di akhirat nanti.

10. Sembahyang sunat empat rakaat. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengampunkan dosanya walau telah berlarutan selama 50 tahun melakukannya. Lafaz niat: "Sahaja aku sembahyang sunat hari Asyura empat rakaat kerana Allah Taala." Pada rakaat pertama dan kedua selepas Fatihah dibaca Qulhuwallah 11X.

11. Menjamu orang berbuka puasa. Fadhilat - Diberi pahala seperti memberi sekalian orang Islam berbuka puasa.

12. Puasa. Niat - "Sahaja aku berpuasa esok hari sunat hari Asyura kerana Allah Taala." Fadilat - Diberi pahala seribu kali Haji, seribu kali umrah dan seribu kali syahid dan diharamkannya daripada neraka.

Malas..

Dah dekat seminggu cuti, dan selama tu la jugak xde apa2 yg produktif berlaku. Aktiviti hanya berkisar di rumah.....makan, tido, layan internet, kemas rumah (ini mmg on going process, cik kak berdua tu asik buat sepah aje). Kalau keluar rumah pon sbb nak beli barang. Nak pulak cuti krismas ni kedai2 semua tutup sampai weekend, lagi la malas keluar.

Ni la cik kak 2 org yg suka buat sepah

Sebenarnya kitorg plan nak gi Idstein then nak gi Siegen, seterusnya Aachen. Idstein, rumah satu famili Malaysia yg dah 2 kali berkunjung ke rumah kami. Tak jauh pon, still dalam state Hessen ni....tp still kena tukar 2 trains, and naik bas lagi in order to get there. So we are still contemplating when to go. Sejuk2 cam ni malas sungguh nak keluar.

Siegen and Aachen pulak we are planning nak pegi next week with Liza and Razif. And probably nak sewa kereta memandangkan kalau naik train, kosnya for 6 of us sama mcm travelling by car. Tp kalau sewa on weekend la. Memandangkan rakan2 di Aachen skrg sedang bercuti di Turki, dan hanya akan pulang selepas this weekend, bermakna kami kena pergi on weekdays. So we have yet to decide whether to go by car or by train.

By the way, cik HB dah abis download Heroes season 2 & 3 and aku ngan dia tgh cari masa sesuai nak tgk. Lagi la malas nak pi mana2 kan....Teringat kat Dal, asik citer kat blog pasal tgk tgk citer tu or citer ni...hahahaha, nampaknya aku dah berjangkit jugak.

Anyway, thanks Dal sbb bg aku link Torrent tu semua. Mmg syok la....cik HB dok asik download ntah apa2 lagi....

The Cold Saturday

It's very cold today. It's cold everyday actually but today it feels colder and gloomy. And makes me feel so lazy. I was so supposed to go to flea market in Frankfurt with a group of ladies friends (outing without the twins!) but my friend called and said that outing is cancelled because some of them couldn't make it. Besides, I'm relunctant myself, with weather like this, it feels much better to be at home.

Made nasi goreng for breakfast this morning and I'm thinking what to cook fo lunch. I have this urge to just get the frozen pizza baked rather that cook a complete malay dishes for lunch. But I still have to cook something for dinner later. So it's better I get myself up and start cooking lunch with extra for dinner.

Been thinking about making karipap too....rajin ke?

Tajuk apa ye?

Masa xde internet itu ari, perasaan nak blogging berkobar2. Macam2 benda rasa nak cerita kat blog. Siap taip kat Word, konon2 bila dah online nanti boleh cut n paste kat blog. Tp skrg perasaan tu xde la pulak. Bila baca balik mcm x kena aje nak paste kat blog ni. So rasanya baik citer balik semua2 tu berdasarkan perasaan skrg.

Family n kwn2 asik tanya camne life aku kat tempat org. Well, ada yg best, ada yg x best. Dulu pon masa aku belum dok oversea ni, aku rasa cam best aje dok oversea. Kalau dgr org nak pi oversea, mmg aku rasa jeolous. Tp bila dah dok ni, rasanya x la best mana. Betul la pepatah Melayu "Hujan emas dinegeri org, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik di negeri sendiri". Apa pon aku tetap bersyukur, sbb aku diberi peluang merasa hidup kat negara org.

Masalah paling besar kat sini, of course la masalah bahasa. Sebab tu la gak kot Internet amik masa berbulan2 nak dpt. Kalau aku pandai ckp jerman, rasanya aku dah sound dah company telekom ni. Tp sbb x reti ckp kan, terima la seadanya. Byk jugak la masalah2 lain. Ari tu visa kitorg renewed just nice a day before expired. Kalau tak aku dah bungkus kain baju balik Mesia...hehehe.

Dan kat sini merasa la jalan kaki sebyk2nya (tp aku tetap x kurus2!!!) Ari tu aku call mak aku, aku ckp 'susah mak, xde kereta kat sini'. Mak aku gelak aje, sbb mak ayah aku pon x penah ada kereta selama ni, biasa aje pada diorg. Padan muka aku, kat Mesia, nak gi sejengkal pon naik kereta. Tp nasib la public transport kat Jerman sgt la reliable dan punctual. Mmg diorg kena punctual, kalau x sejuk beku le nak tunggu bas or train time winter ni.

Masa salji turun for the first time (dr tingkap dapur rumah aku)

Kembar dan Frau Katarina (babysitter diorg)

Classmate Deutsch course aku. Yg pegang bunga tu cikgu aku, Lukas. Masa ni birthday dia.

Ni waktu pagi tunggu train nak gi kelas bahasa. Masa ni belum sejuk sgt

Gambar neighbourhood aku. Diambil dr balkon rumah. Masa ni penghujung autumn.

Sorry la gambar2 aku x susun ikut perjalanan cerita. Sbbnya dah bape kali aku try drag gambar2 tu, x berjaya jugak. So aku malas nak layan. Ke ada cara senang nak susun2 gambar dlm blogger ni, cuma aku je x tau? Kalau ada sapa yg tau, tolong ajar aku ye!

Si kembar dah bgn! Aku kena stop dulu. Macam2 nak kena layan dua princesses tu. Hari ni cuti krismas dah bermula. Boleh lah aku bermalas2an. Walaupun ada byk keje rumah yg menanti....hehehe.

Finally!!!

Ladies and gentleman.....

I now have Internet at home. Today. Finally!!!!

We've been waiting more than 2 months to get the Internet installed in our house. I guess we had more than 5 appoinments with the telecom company and none of the appointments actually succesful. It was either they cancelled it beforehand or the technician failed to show up. Something that I didn't expect in a so-called developed country, do you?

I'm so excited to update this blog, but in between house chores, childcare and my language course, I doubt there would be much time left to spend on the Internet. Tomorrow there will be A1 test, and I should be studying now. I've done this test before, it was a trial one, and I barely passed. Hopefully I would do better this time.

There are so much things to share in this blog, but at the moment I need to give priority to other things. Besides the language exam, I need to reply all the messages from friends and family members asking how I'm doing in the e-mails and Facebook. So blogging has to wait for a while. Starting next week I'm going have long breaks for Chrismast holidays and that probably the best time to blog. Unless we are planning on travelling....but we don't have any plan at the moment.

Ok, gotta go......

Hello!

Hi folks!
It's been quite sometime since my last post. I'm now blogging in my friend's house. Internet has yet to land in our home. It was supposed to be last week. But when the telecom man came to do the setting, he figured out that there was no telephone connection from the MDF box to our apartment. We need to make new appointment with them again after we sort out the connection problem. The landlord has promised to look into the matter. But it is really a hassle to us.

So, what's up with me? Long story but to sum up; we now live in our own apartment in Raunheim. It's not very far from Frankfurt, about 20 minutes ride by train to Frankfurt Main Haupbahnof. Things are good so far.

I've also joined Deutsch class since 2 weeks ago and the good thing is, the centre provides child care services so I have no problem going to the class. The class starts from 8 am to 12.30 pm every weekday. Learning Deutsch is really a challenge to me. Deutsch is one complicated language for me. But the class is fun.

I have so much things to share on my every day's life routine but I can't do it now. Let's see whether I can write more when I have internet at home.

Till we meet again............