TO SPEND OR SPARE???

When was the last time you visited Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)??  Or have you ever been there?  For some of us, maybe the only visit was many many years ago during our school trip.  You may want to visit at least once in your lifetime!

The last  time Haswadi and me have been to Bank Negara Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur was during our last year's Eid vacation to Malaysia.  We went there for one particular reason...checking our assets and liabilities!!!

A friend reminded us that it would be necessary if we could go to the BNM and have all our financial records and financial history revealed.  At first the word assets and liabilities have deprived our eagerness to go, as we both know that we do not have that much of assets other than a house and a couple of lands we purchased in Dungun.  What concerned us back then was the liability! However eventually those liabilities will turn into our assets though..
 

I am not sure you may get the service online because it requires you to physically scan your thumb print prior to accessing and printing out the record. Every transaction was self-serviced as you don't want other people to know how much you owed don't you?

Not only getting your record printed out, there are a few other services available at the center.  There is a money changer counter and also a counter for you to exchange damaged ringgit notes...if you have it.  So the next time you plan to visit BNM customer center, don't forget to bring along all your torn and worn ringgit notes you might get from the mamak stalls or Kedai Runcit Bakar. There were also some other financial-based information displayed for public view.

So for those who are planning to work abroad or leaving the country temporarily, you might want to pay a visit at BNM and have your financial record printed out. It would be a good start for you to plan and control your own financial situation.  With the money that you might be getting, will you be able to spend more and economize some for later use or to spare more than to spend???

Our visit was not a bad experience after all...in fact we enjoyed it so much.  Oh yes...Haswadi slept soundly that night..Alhamdulillah ;-)

JEDDAH...

Aidilfitri yang baru lalu, kami sekeluarga tidak pulang ke Malaysia.  Beraya di Saudi sahaja.  Alhamdulillah, kali ini, kami sempat menunaikan umrah pada 2 Syawal dan kemudian berjalan-jalan ke Jeddah.  After almost 4 years living in Saudi, our recent visit to Jeddah was the first.

Biasa dengar orang bercerita, kalau ke Jeddah macam masuk Kuala Lumpur atau tempat sewaktu dengannya.  Kalau pergi ke Riyadh...memang betul-betul rasa duduk Saudi.  Memang betul lah orang kata.  Norma dah biasa ke Riyadh dan kali ini ke Jeddah pula...berbeza.

Bila berjalan-jalan ke Jeddah tu tak terasa duduk di Saudi.  Macam melawat Dubai atau Abu Dhabi je suasananya.  Jeddah lebih moden, orang-orang Arabnya kebanyakan lebih 'open'.  Semasa kami berjalan-jalan ke Mall di sana, payah nak jumpa wanita Arab yang ber'niqab' (menutup muka).  Cara pakaian kaum lelaki juga sangat berbeza berbanding di sebelah Timur Saudi seperti di tempat kami tinggal...yang biasa kami lihat hanya memakai Thob (jubah putih lelaki), shugmah (kain corak merah putih penutup kepala), dan Igal (tali bulat hitam penutup shugmah atas kepala) ...pakaian rasmi Saudi.  

Di Jeddah mereka memakai pakaian biasa seperti kebanyakan orang luar.  Hampir susah untuk mengenali orang tempatan atau tidak...bab tu Haswadi cekap...beliau  mudah kenal Arab mana dan sebagainya... 

Antara tumpuan kami ke Jeddah hanya sekadar mengenali bandar atau kota terbesar yang pernah menjadi ibu negara Arab Saudi suatu ketika dahulu sebelum pemerintahan negara bertukar ke Riyadh.

Lokasi yang terletak di sepanjang pesisiran Laut Merah itu meriah...sangat meriah...sepanjang-panjang menuju ke pusat bandar kami melalui 'sea port' iaitu pelabuhan dagangan. Di waktu malamnya lagi cantik.  Sepanjang corniche penuh dengan 'pusat-pusat hiburan'...jangan salah faham...pusat hiburan di sini kebanyakan untuk seisi keluarga...kalau kita di Malaysia tu bila sebut 'fun-fare'...hanya sesekali sahaja jumpa...nak pergi selalu, kena ke indoor theme park di malls sebagainya.  Di Jeddah...'fun fare' sepanjang malam di sepanjang pantai...  Tapi kami tak pergi pun, puas dah ajak anak-anak ke tempat sebegitu...hihihi.Kami sempat juga ke Old City di Jeddah yang masih mengekalkan warisan bangunan lama, old heritage buildings.  Selain daripada itu, kami ke Mall of Arabia, yang terdapat restoran makanan Malaysia di situ. Kami ke Jeddah Souq yang dikenali sebagai Bab Al Makkah. Kami juga menemui tanah perkuburan yang heboh dikatakan terdapat Makam Hawa di situ. 

 The Old Heritage Buildings in Jeddah.  Masih mengekalkan ciri-ciri tradisi pendudukan awal di Jeddah semasa zaman Khalifah Uthman bin Affan, 26 Hijri...sekarang dah 1433 Hijri...lebih 1400 tahun dah tuuu.  Ada beberapa bangunan memang dari binaan asal iaitu batu dan kayu...bukan batu bata atau batu 'blok' tau...a real batu!

 Maqbarah Hawa (Makam Sayiditina Hawa-The Mother of All People).  Tetapi belum ada kesahihan akan lokasi Makam tersebut.  Terletak di daerah Al Amariya, pinggir bandar Jeddah. 

 Pandangan luar kawasan perkuburan yang dikatakan terdapat Makam Hawa.  "Tiada siapa pun sebenarnya tahu di mana Hawa dikebumikan"

 Kami tidak dibenarkan masuk...khusus untuk kaum lelaki sahaja yang dibenarkan masuk.  Norma dan anak-anak tak dapat masuk, jenguk atau intai pun tidak dibenarkan. Cepat-cepat Norma snap gambar ni dan terus beredar.  Selepas kami, ada sekumpulan 3 orang pengunjung, juga dilarang masuk.  Alhamdulillah, sampai juga kami ke sana...biarlah ada ke tak ada ke Makam Hawa di situ, "kalau tak ada angin, masa kan pokok bergoyang."  Bukan nak tengok sangat pun...cuma nak kumpul pengalaman ke tempat-tempat yang heboh diperkatakan oleh orang dari seluruh pelusuk dunia!

 Di hadapan Restoran Chapter (Makanan Malaysia) terletak di Mall of Arabia. 

 Sepinggan nasi lemak di Restoran Chapter berharga SAR55, lengkap dengan lauk sambal udang dan rendang daging.  Anak-anak tetap makan macam kat rumah...no fork n spoon for them...jari-jemari jugaaa...

 Ini tempat abah...lawatan wajib ke Harley D.  Layan kan aje...I tak suka dan tak gedikkss kat motor okay!

 Kami sempat kunjungi Souq @ Pasar di Bab Al Makkah (The Door to Makkah).  Masa kami sampai (usai Zuhur) masih banyak kedai belum dibuka...dan ruang legar di tengah-tengah itu masih kosong.  By the time we were leaving the souq, which was almost Maghrib....full house.  Just like a 'pasar malam' in Malaysia.  It was indeed an unusual perspective altogether.  Women were not wearing the traditional abaya costumes, lingering freely and some were selling merchandises at the souq.  I remembered the time we visited Dubai and Qatar ... it has almost identical view of the souqs there...wait wait...were are in Saudi still...hihihi.

 One for the pic...alololooooo

 and two....

ASSESSMENT WEEKS...

Kids have been quite busy lately.  Test weeks has started last week and will end InsyaAllah this Wednesday.  Ummi dan abah pun sama sibuk...but less load since Luthfil and Nadhrah are on their own.

Once a while they have come to us seeking for clarification on their subjects.  Here in the house, we specialized ourselves, abah with his Maths and Science field and ummi with the rests of the subjects!! huhuhu unfair la cenggitu. I have to learn for myself and later teach Arabic, French, Social Studies, and English!!  banyak tuuu


This is a picture what Nadhrah did for her revision...this time dia kata Social Studies dia dah susah sikit.Satu lagi white board dekat ruang TV penuh dengan French Vocabularies.  Teringat ummi masa kecil-kecil dulu, memang suka tulis-tulis nota besar-besar dan tampal kat dinding bilik.  Menurun kat Nadhrah nampaknya.

Dulu arwah atuk tak cukup duit nak beli white board, marker pens bagai...tulis atas kertas-kertas aje....hehehe

Di bawah ni pulak jadual test yang berjela-jela panjang...encik camel yang jaga...hikhikhik...

As for Haikal, Norma has to supervise and help him, yet at times he refuses a helping hand.  Alhamdulillah, Haikal has a tremendous memory span, Alhamdulillah...he remembers most of what the teachers have taught him in school.  He repeatedly narrates every single word from his teachers...amazing Haikal!  Tapi he is still lacking of revising techniques...habis semua benda dalam buku tu dia baca...so kena ajar dia how to tackle important points only (can also save some of my time..hihihi).

Ini pulak budak yang tak sekolah lagi...sibuk jugak...sibuk dengan sesi terapi minda dan mata.  Orang buat, dia pun nak jugak. Kebetulan stok mentimun banyak dalam peti ais...hikhikhik.  Like mother like son lah!!