Random Rambles of Lotfi

1st day of the new Islamic calendar year. 1st day of the month of Muharam. Alhamdulillah, sempat baca doa awal dan akhir tahun semalam. So, I thought I won't wait till January to make some new resolutions. New year came early for us, so why not? Let's see... what resolutions shall I make. 1. Be kinder, have kind thoughts of people. More often than not we have , I have pre-conceived notions of people. Dia ni nampak sombong, tak mau tegur..dia tu poyo, yang tu kerek, that one too quiet, this one too noisy..hahahah. I am a kind person, but I aspire to be kinder this year. I have always practiced good thoughts of people, even if some of the things people do are less than kind, or almost spiteful. I just hope to be given the strength to be even kinder to them. 2. Give more often. Today I started by donating. No details necessary here. I just want to give more often, whatever I can afford, maybe monetary, some days materials, other days..my time and also, my energy.  3....

Went for a quick walk this morning with #therunningkaki , despite the coccyx episode. Every step is painful but still bearable. I hope moving around will improve the blood circulation and speed up healing no? I'm taking it easy...Hope this will heal before 1st November's Viper Challenge! Hub's at work so just me and the kids at home. Trying to finish off some articles for a client. Taking this quick break. So, we did a quick compost box just now.My main reason for composting is to reduce waste. Ever since I quit full time job, each time I clear the fridge or wash the dishes, a lot of food waste gets thrown away just like that. So I figured the waste has got to be put to good use instead. A meeting with PPSPPA (Perbadanan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal & Permbersihan Awam) under the Ministry of Local Government, a while back while I was still working, opened my eyes to the possibility of composting. They used a very simple technique for doing it using a Japanese...

We hiked up Tabur West last Sunday. The earlier planned re-hike of Mount Irau had to be cancelled as we found out there would be a big group of hikers going up the mountain. We settled for Tabur West instead. Tabur West is located in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur. A hill quite notorious with reported falls and deaths recently. We heard about the tragedies, but I figured if we are careful tragedies can be avoided. Out of habit, with runs and hikes, I never read anything prior to the day.  Spiny Quartz Ridge Hills, I found out AFTER the hike. It was challenging, alright..Hubs had to bail out because of work. So I went with the rest of the gang. A little apprehensive but being with experienced hikers who have scaled the hills reassured me. Tabur West is so different from it East neighbour! To compare the two, ascending Tabur West felt easier. The climb brought us up to more than 10 hill tops (at least it felt that way), connected by ridges. Tabur East was steeper and we...

As a typical self-proclaimed foodie I always post pictures of things I cooked onto Instagram which most of the time gets linked to my facebook and twitter timeline. A lazy cook, I usually cheats my way around recipes I like, adjusting and adding based on what's available at home.  Except for my youngest son, everyone in the house are not fussy eaters. I cook, they eat. Youngest son must have rice, everyday, all meals preferably. Sometimes, I can get away with feeding him bread and eggs. Most of the time, not. Lunch yesterday afternoon, was leftover day, which means we eat leftover from the fridge. I try not to waste food and will upcycle leftover pastas into fritata, some days we'll have fried rice, or just sandwiches from leftover chicken. I try not to waste food but of course some stuff just get thrown away. I'm trying to revive a compost box so that I can make better use of my food waste. That's for another post. Yesterday's dinner was CHICKEN PI...

Exactly 5 months since my last post. Exactly 5 months since my last day in full time employment. How has it been?  I am still busy...I keep myself busy. There are lazy days. There are productive ones. But, I'm more relaxed these days, more than I like though.. Alhamdulillah, last Ramadan was wonderful not having to go to work 9-6. And Raya was wonderful, not having to think about going 'back to work after Raya holidays'. I get to see Mak in JB more than before :))    I get more time with Aisyah before she leaves for the US. Daily, I see more of the kids. I plan my outings and meetings around non-peak hours and avoid the traffic, so much so that driving at peak hours irks me now. I take on projects I like and I say no to those I couldn't spare time on. I get to cook more often, I read more books, I get to spend more time on spiritual practices. I ran a full marathon last month cause it's just nicer not having to go to work the days after. I water th...