HINDU BLESSING

Sharveen who had come to help me on the day I officially moved into my new house brought along a container of holy water containing saffron that had been blessed by a Hindu priest from the temple near his house. He told me he went to get the holy water at around 6.00 a.m.

After I had installed the deities onto the altar, Sharveen went into action and did a blessing ceremony with the holy water. He sprinkled the water using mango leaves around the house beginning from the gate. After he had done sprinkling, there was some more water left which he said was for me to take bath.

I was really touched by Sharveen's sweet gesture. As a teacher I feel truly blessed to have such a considerate and thoughtful student.

INVITING DEITIES INTO NEW HOUSE

Some people would invite the deities into their new homes a few days before they officially move in. In my case I officially moved in the moment I invited the Goddess of Mercy and the other deities into the house. If I am not mistaken, the Chinese in Taiwan does the same as I did.

SCATTERING COINS FOR WEALTH LUCK

Before I invited the deities into my new house, I scattered coins at the entrance of my new home to symbolise lots of wealth luck.

Yalah, I too want to have lots of money. Heh! Heh!

HANGING UP THE RED BANNER

On the day I officially moved into my new house, my sifu told me to hang a 9 feet long red banner over my front door. This is a sign that a red occasion is taking place.

I was supposed to hang up the cloth early in the morning at around 7.00 or 8.00 but then I had to go to school and I did not want to take special leave as I wanted to carry out my class with my Form 5 students.

At around 10.00 a.m., I asked for permission from the principal to go home to get some repairs done for the house. I also took the opportunity to go hang the banner up.

I was actually having trouble to hang the banner up and then appeared the Maintenance manager and the contractor for the toilet doors, Mr Lee. He was the one who helped to hang the red cloth for me. According to the maintenance manager, Mr Chong, it is usually a male who is given the task of hanging up the red banner. Hmm ... I think that Heaven must have sent me help. After the banner was hung, Mr Chong reminded me to give a red packet to Mr Lee for good luck. I gave him RM11.00 as to the Chinese this amount represented Chut Tow or forging ahead.

THE 8S ARE STILL THERE

When I went with my mum to buy titbits and snacks from the Kacang Putih Village in Buntong last weekend I stopped by at a house in First Garden with pots of bougainvillea plants fashioned into the number 8. The plants have been there for a few years and each time I happen to be around the vicinity I would go and have a look to see if they are still there.

I am happy to report that the plants have been well-kept and are thriving. This happened to be the first time my mum saw the number 8 plants.

KACANG PUTIH VILLAGE

I went to the Kacang Putih Village in Buntong on Sunday to buy the snacks for my housewarming. This small cottage industry has been in existence for many, many years and the kacang putih and other snacks are very much cheaper when bought at the village.

ROASTED COCONUT

I bought roasted coconut while I was driving back to Ipoh. I had spotted the roasted fruit on a makeshift stall by the roadside and being the curious me, I stopped to make enquiries. The man at the stall told me that roasted coconuts are good for health. People drink the juice to treat backache, hypertension and diabetes.

MOVING HOUSE WITH HELP FROM FRIENDS AND STUDENTS

Quite a number of people commented that they were pleasantly surprised to see that I had so many people who were willing to help me move house. In the above picture you see my students Izzulis, Razin and Mior who had helped me for 3 days already. The picture was taken when they had finished helping to move the furniture from my old house to the new one. With them is my friend and neighbour, Cikgu Jalaluddin. He had wanted to come and help me move house and arrived at around 5.00 p.m. However, we started earlier and by he time he came, all the necessary moving had been done.

The boys helping to move furniture into the lorry. The furniture maker had kindly offered to help transport the furniture for me.

Izzulis and Mior moving the sofa from my old living room.

Haji Hasnin and Lai Yoong helping me to check the house after most of the renovation work had been done. Here they were talking with the contractor for the electronic gate.

Lai Yoong and Haji Hasnin having a discussion about what to do to clean the stained tiles in the bathroom.

Thanks to Haji Hasnin who used a special cleaner that I had bought from the shop, the tiles in my bathroom are now stain free.

Haji Hasnin checking the wiring work done by the man who did the wiring for my television set.

Khairiah came to help carry some of the things from my old house to the new one after school on Monday.

MAKING RICE POWDER

The rice that I have been soaking for some time have finally dissolved naturally.  Now I can go about making them into tiny beads of powder.  The good thing about Rice Powder or Bedak Sejuk is tht they are are made of rice and are chemical-free.
Some people can't wait for the rice to dissolve naturally and they only soak it for two days or so and then the water is drained and the rice is rinsed.  They would then grind the grains using a machine until they become flour-like. 
In my case, I only need to drain the water and rinse the dissolved rice.  Next, I use a white cloth to sieve the flour to remove the larger particles. The smooth, fine powder is used to make the bedak sejuk. It is mixed with water to form a batter and spooned into a funnel cloth or tracing paper. 
It takes some practise to dot the tear-sized blobs onto a paper-lined tray.  After all is done, the rice powder is dried for two days in the sun and can be put into containers.  I add pandan leaves to give it a nice, fragrant smell.

TANJUNG UDA RIVER RESORT

A group of students from my school attended a motivation camp at Tanjung Uda River Resort over the weekend and I went with Kamariaha to visit the students and our colleagues who were there to look after them.
The camp site was next to a river and the students slept in tents. The students would be listening to motivation talks by invited speakers and also taking part in some activities organised by the resort.