Selamat Hari Raya Eidul Adha

Muslim Community Association (MCA) of San Jose have decided to hold this year's solat Eidul Adha at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It was good of them to do that as the MCA prayer areas are too small to 'house' the large number of muslims praying all at once. So they have to do two rounds of solat each time, - either for Juma'at or even for the Eids. Santa Clara Convention Center saw a multitude of muslims this Eidul Adha. I think the pictures below speak for them selves. As with every Raya day, I would be the one to 'move' everyone in my house. From the mandi sunat Raya...to solat sunat Hari Raya, and not forgetting the cooking!. I know they are all 'sunats'...well, not the cooking ( rasa nya 'wajib' tu.. he..he..). But to me those are the basics.. the must-haves for a Hari Raya... or Raya day. I remember when my elder sister, my younger brother and me were toddlers arwah Cikgu Zainal would wake us up early- early morning of Raya day and bathe us in COLD water! He would tell us to niat dalam hati mandi sunat raya kerana Allah Ta'ala. We didn't mind it at all sebab excited nak pakai baju baru, which he has crisply ironed and laid out for us. Oh ya, right before Cikgu Bastiah knows how to jahit baju, he was also our tailor! He sewed all of our baju kurungs and baju melayu. Senang jer dia buat, jahit macam 'baju kedah' with leher bulat.... kain & seluar semua pakai getah! That was our father - a very practical man! Langsir? huuh.. dia jugak yang jahit. Rumah kat kampung dulu-dulu used to have glass shutters and rumah we all had PLENTY of them. Cleaning those window shutters was really a chore! Life was 'better' for my two younger sisters as Cikgu Bastiah could then jahit baju and WE took over the bathing tasks! :-) Before Globe Silk Store was around my parents did all their shopping in Penang but after Globe became the 'in' thing for them, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman became their favourite spot! I think, that street holds plenty of memories for many..... I don't know about yours, my parents were always 'budgeting' and 'saving'... tahu saja la gaji cikgu back then! But because of them and their ways we always had 'just enough'. Tak berlebeh dan tak kekurangan... I could go on and on writing about my parents for there are so much to tell about them. But I think I'ld better not! My tears are now running faster than I could type..... sigh! I suppose each of us have our own sweet memories of our childhood Raya days and that of our parents. And I also think that we should create fond memories for our children too, then they would remember their Raya days like we do.. As for the solat sunat Raya, I appreciate it even more now that I am older... and living life overseas. And I assure you... there is no takbir Raya like the kind we do in Malaysia. Memang Syahdu...
That I missed the most! Tried to do it in the car on the way to the Convention Center but got no response from either my son or his father... sigh! Oh ya, my son is back for the holidays so I have him with us to celebrate Eidul Adha. Having him makes my cooking worthwhile... :) I believe food is a unifying agent. Jadi memasak la I the night before: nasi impit, kuah kacang, masak lemak lodeh, nasi minyak, kari daging, ayam masak merah and acar... sedap ke tak sedap belakang kira... he..he.. The areas around San Jose celebrated Eidul Adha this year on Dec 19th, which is a day after Arab Saudi declared 'wukuf'. There are also muslims from a few areas here who celebrated Eidul Adha on Friday Dec 21th; which is 10 days after the sighting of anak bulan Zulhijjah. And, Eidul Adha in Malaysia fell on Thursday Dec 20th! For whatever reason is beyond me.. Thank you to Haniza for bringing over her karaoke set which we belted on, just us anak beranak with Haniza and Kevin after all our other guests have gone back ...he..he..


Anis with Nana - anak Pak Mat .

The best part of Raya day was talking and seeing Cikgu Bastiah via the webcam... :)

Nicki Botswick's Wedding Reception... 12/12/07

Nicki Botswick is my daughter Anis's violin instructor. We got her through the internet - Craigslist to be exact. Alhamdulillah she turns out to be a very nice lady. With Bachelor in Music from Oxford, Masters and PHD from Stanford U, her playing makes my living room feels like 'the philharmonic' every Friday afternoons. Nicki is originally from Canada and has been playing violin all her life. But of course, with all the fine credentials under her belt her fees are a little bit more than Peter Kryssa from Boston whom we left behind in September. Nicki got married again on December 12th and was really nice to invite us to her wedding reception. Most of her students were there. Even her ex-husband (the tall guy half seen in the picture on the right ) and son, Russel were there to share her happy moments. But was there a 'hint' of occasional uneasiness in him seeing her all 'snugly' and 'smoochie' with her new husband... :) Even Russel was constantly 'acting up' ! Buat hal and meragam.. wanting attention maybe. But, Nicki looks very happy.....and she knows what's right for her!

One of Nicki's students playing for the wedding couple.....

Nicki & Moasses cutting a piece of cake for Russel.

We didn't have any problems with the buffet since Nicki included some vegetarian dishes and 'sushi'... Of course, 'margaritas' were flowing but since it was a weekday and most of the guests had to drive back home, most turned down the offer....

Moasses relatives fix up the backyard to become a 'disco' with all the spotlights and revolving lightings....but we had to leave before all the fun even begun!... sigh.... he..he..

May you have a happy marriage Nicki Botswick...

Arabic Class for Beginners

Last Friday Dec. 14th, I completed my 7-weeks course in Arabic for Beginners organised by the Islamic American University - Arabic Language Institute. It was held twice a week on Thursdays & Fridays from 6pm till 8pm. The purpose is just getting to know a few conversational phrases like how to introduce oneself, how to ask questions, how to answer questions, nouns , pronouns , adjectives... and once a while Sr (sister) Fadia Rayyan - the teacher, will throw in hadiths and du'a for us to translate. She also covered a bit of 'science' in the Al Fatihah within half an hour of the last class. Which she said it took her at least one semester. So that was just a tip of the iceberg! She has gotten her Masters in I think.. Usulludin & Hadith, can't remember, and she's now in the midst of her PHD. Seronok dengan orang banyak ilmu nii... Parents from Palestine but she was born and raised in Jordan. As a mudarrisah or mu'allimah (teacher) she's rather firm and strict - a trait she says comes from her Palestinian blood. Classmates? Ooo..all over the world..he..he... at first there were 14 of us but towards the end only 10 were left. Above is Ammar an engineer from India, beside him Abu Sattar (cannot see his face in the picture) a pharmacist from India as well. On the left here is Ahmad an engineer from Kenya, beside him Amir, forgot his profession but he's from Pakistan. Back of the class in the bottom picture is Hussein an engineering technician from Sudan. He is still studying to get his degree. In front of him is Hassan a chiropractor originally from Lebanon but now his parents are living in Canada and beside him is Ahmad Othman a student from Malaysia. He is currently staying here with his parents and 2 sisters in Sunnyvale. Ahmad or Ozy as we call him here is the youngest in this class...and of course, I am the oldest. But, I am also the best student! he..he.. We were missing a few others on the last day, Tasneem a teacher from

Somalia and Rahmatullah an engineer from Pakistan.
Tassannam an architect, born and raised in US but parents originally from Pakistan and Johan an accountant from Singapore were not around after a few classes. All these people have been in the US for quite sometime now...ooo, last but not least "Ana Ainaalfadhilah min Maleyzie, kuntu muhandisah wal'an ana rabbatu bait". Which means... I am Ainal Fadzellah from Malaysia, I use to be an engineer but I am now a house wife... And it was all and more of it captured on tape! Which Fadia says she'll get them up on youtube...so watch out, you'll soon see us introducing ourselves and our families on the internet...in Arabic!

The course cost us 100 dollars for 14 classes which means about 7 dollars for a 2-hr class. Ok la tu...ilmu ni kalau tak kena bayar tak berkaaat....he..he..
I hope to enroll in the full program which starts next year...

"masaa unnuur"

The Most !!

Thought of sharing something sent by a friend. Some of you might have read it somewhere but I think it's okay to be constantly reminded.
1. The most useless thing to do ...........Worry
- those who really know me knows that I do this .. a lot!! :o

2. The greatest Joy...............................Giving
- saw Oprah Show on TV today.. it was one of the series where she gave away her favourite things to the audience. Menjerit2 la semua macam nak giler, mana tak nya dapat samsung camcoder, kasut, baju, cosmetics, perfume...lots more, but the best was LG's latest 2-door refrigerator with a built-in TV & computer! Wish I got one..

3. The greatest loss.................Loss of self-respect
- if we don't respect ourselves then who would? I always advised by children to have in them 'jati-diri' then they won't get 'lost'. I really hope they heed to my advice.

4. The most satisfying work................Helping others
- anak 'mat salleh' kecik2 dah diajar volunteer work...subjek civics ada lagi tak?

5. The ugliest personality trait......................Selfishness
- I think 'selfishness' adik beradik dengan 'opportunist' but according to the Thesaurus 'opportunist' means entrepreneur. However, I believe 'opportunist' used to be a bad word! The Encarta Dictionary says Opportunist is somebody who takes advantage of something, especially somebody who does so in a devious, unscrupulous, or unprincipled way. Aa..Ha!! So.....don't call yourself an opportunist. And... don't call yourself an entrepreneur either... he..he..

6. The most endangered species...................Dedicated leaders
- when you are living outside your own shell, you get to 'see' how your 'shell' really looks like. I don't know why but NOW I somehow tend to relate the word 'leaders' with politicians. I better not get into that! Leaders are heads of nations & organisations...be it big or small...We even need them in our families. They unite, make or...break!.

7. The greatest "shot in the arm"..................Encouragement
- I don't mind giving others "shots in the arm". In so doing, I feel I am giving it to myself, too. My elder sister Ainal Kamalia is very good at it. Her way of encouraging or motivating oneself is by 'cheating yourself into believing' you CAN do it!

8. The greatest problem to overcome.............Fear
- I think most of us have heard of the saying " there's nothing to fear but fear itself.." I used to remind myself 'that' whenever I had to do presentations to management. Well.. ages ago..!

9. Most effective sleeping pill..............Peace of mind
- when there are no worries, no problems....you don't need to count sheep! :)

10. The most crippling failure disease.........Excuses
- what I know is procrastination will lead to excuses.

11. The most powerful force in life......................Love
- so ... love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't!
12. The most dangerous pariah..................A gossiper
- this is something new to me!
13. The world's most incredible computer......The brain!
- yes, but if the BRAIN is not used often it will rot and as slow as 16bit processor!

14. The worst thing to be without...................Hope
- if there is FAITH then there is HOPE

15. The deadliest weapon.......................... The tongue
- it used to also be " The pen is mightier than the sword!".. these days, it's the missile launcher!

16. The two most power-filled words..............."I Can"
- I think it is also " I Will " ...

17. The greatest asset.................Faith
- a few weeks back, we got a chance to listen to a ceramah by an African-American brother at the masjid MCA ( Muslim Community Association). He talked about how Islam have uplifted the prestige of the African-Americans (blacks/negros) in the US. By having a muslim name they have become more 'international' to others' eyes, especially to the 'Mat Sallehs'. The gist of his ceramah is Faith Over Fear. By having 'Faith' one can overcome 'Fear'. Good, right? :)
- if everything is lost..na'uzubillah...at least we have our FAITH.. Reminds me of Nalil, a friend in Buckfield, Maine.

18. The most worthless emotion................Self-pity
- no one can make you feel bad but you yourself! I am reminding myself actually..

19. The most prized possession................Integrity

20. The most beautiful attire....................A SMILE!

21. The most powerful channel of communication........Prayer

22. The most contagious spirit...................Enthusiasm

23. The most important thing in life...............G-D
- Atiqah says the muslims these days don't spell God with an 'o' because if spelt backwards it's Dog...and OUR god is different with other people's gods. It is spelt G-D in order to show due reverence (respect) to the Name of G-D Almighty. It's true in writings of Muslim Journals handed out by the masjid.

Believe that every thing happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, TAKE IT!
If it changes your life, LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy ....
They just promised it would be WORTH IT...


Cheerios!
'Life is short. Enjoy the journey.'

San Francisco again....

Last Sunday December 9th, we went again to San Francisco but this time with Salbiah, Faizal, Yazmin and 2 ladies from my husband's office back home. Daiana & Oni completed their meetings & whatever business they were here for on Friday, sent their boss off to return home on Saturday and then spent a few more days here with us for some sight seeing and shopping. I on the other hand rasa seronok ...dapat bercerita-ceriti with both of them. Rindu pulak kat Rusminah and her family. Since they left, the house seemed even quieter - sunyi!. Anyway, we brought Daiana & Oni shopping the whole of Saturday afternoon and evening at Gilroy. There are many shopping centers here but if you want factory outlets then Gilroy is of course the spot to go to. With Christmas and the holidays around the corner, banyak la 'sale' going on. 'Langkah kanan' betul Daiana & Oni. :) Seronok tengok the 2 ladies doing their shopping. Me? I was just being a good chaperone! he..he.. tapi geram juga tengok baju budak2 yang comel2 in stores such as OshKosh & Carters - the kind of places that these feet have not stepped into in a long, loong time now.... San Francisco seperti melambai-lambai 'chirpy' Pn Daiana and 'cool' Pn Oni - jangan maarah ya .... Seperti biasa first stop in San Francisco is Pier 39. We parked our cars at the Pier 39 Parking Center across the street. It costs 7 dollars per hour but by showing AAA (Triple A) card...parking is free! We found using the overhead pedestrian bridge, which we did not notice in earlier visits, much easier than crossing the street to Pier 39. It's connected to the Parking Center at Level 3. If you are staying in a hotel in San Francisco, you can also take a trolley or cable car and it stops right at the entrance. All your souveniers and gifts buying gets done at one place! The rest is just seeing the sights and taking in the sounds....so to speak. If you have time, go on up the cable car. You see one in the picture on the left below, where the driver stops just in time for his passengers to take snaps of Lombard Street from the top of the hill. Our trips to San Francisco were always a one-day affair so we don't get to see more than what I am writing about it here. ANyway..my children love Lombard Street... and it's still as crooked as ever! Notice the car parking at an angle in front of the houses. Imagine living in an area where it is most photographed! And we got our fair share of 'glamer' too, when we were met by a group of 'paparazzis' at the bottom of the hill. Actually, they were tourists taking pictures of cars coming down the hill of Lombard Street. Hmmm...maybe I'll join them in our next trip. Funny... even a crooked street can be one of tourists attractions. I think we must start learning how to make 'something' good, out of a bad situation. I bet orang tak nak tinggal pun kat tempat tu dulu...dah la nak masuk rumah pun susah! Kena parking kereta senget pulak tu....he..he.. Do you know why San Francisco streets become the way they are? Earthquakes of course! The other day it was shown on one of the programs on TV, ( dah tak der kerja..asyik tengok TV jer laa...LoL ), how the old city of San Francisco was mostly destroyed and the earth shifted after the massive earthquake about 100 over years ago. Thus, creating this undulating land. The city, houses & roads are built along the slopes.. memang cantik! People say driving in this city guna banyak minyak...Well, what do you expect! .. Naik turun, naik turun bukit. It is forecasted that a major earthquake will occur in year 2008. They say it's not a matter of 'IF' it happens. Definitely, it will happen but only they don't know 'WHEN'. Walaubagaimanapun, Allah lebeh mengetahui dan menghendaki. Yang kita mampu buat hanya berdo'a supaya dijauhkan sebarang musibah. That is one of the risk that we have to take living overseas....Kalau nak di fikirkan, quakes are now beginning to occur in Malaysia too! Kita berdo'a supaya no harm is in our way....insyaAllah. Another fact that I am getting to know is that this city is the 'gay' capital of the West. Like I have story-ed in one of my previous postings, the 'gay' capital of the East Coast is ProvinceTown, Massachusetts. Note the picture of the 'gay' center on the right which we happened to pass. Them... in their own world! Mereka, dengan dunia mereka sendiri...

Picnic-ing at Chrissy Fields last Sunday was a bit better than the previous time we went with Rusminah & family. It was not that windy but it was still cold. Each picnic table comes with a barbeque grill and there were quite a number of other picnic-ers as well in the area. Tak sanggup pulak nak guna the common barbeque grill. Don't know what was grilled before.. Orang yang jalan kaki & jogging pun ramai. There were also those with their dogs... Dia orang ingat kita bekenan sangat dengan anjing dia orang tuu. Imagine picking up after their dogs.. sanggup tu! Ramai kat sini yang lebeh suka binatang dari anak. It's funny at times seeing them with their dogs... dia orang layan betul2 macam budak.. We were on Twin Peaks around dusk. Sejuuk ya amat la kat atas bukit tuu and everyone was too tired to get out of the car....

Yazmin feeding the pigeons out of her hand at Pier 39. Ooo..she is really something. Seronok betul tengok anak comel ni...

Guests from back home...

Masa berjalan begitu pantas sekali sehingga kita tak perasan seminggu dah berlalu. Kawan kami dengan 3 orang anak mereka memandu balik ke LA awal pagi Selasa November 4 untuk kembali ke Malaysia selepas lebih 2 minggu berada di Amerika. They arrived in the US on November 21st following a tour group, visiting famous sites in LA and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Even my family and I haven't had the opportunity to visit all those places mentioned by them.... Universal Studios, Disneyland... Grand Canyon National Park...jealous betul! Like me, Rusminah (whom i fondly call Rose) have always wanted our kids to gain most of life's experiences.. so this is the one-time experience that Muzakkir, Nisya & Husna will never forget. I repeatedly say to them that they're so lucky to have parents saving up just to let them travel - see places other than our own. Like Cikgu Bastiah (my mom) always say dulu2, when she was younger and had the opportunity to travel....dapat tengok tempat orang, dapat saksi ciptaan Allah yang menakjubkan, dapat melawat sedara seislam. Now there must be some 'pahala' in that! Anyway, on November 27th the family decided to rent a car & drove up north from LA to San Jose and alhamdulillah they reached our doorsteps safe & sound. In fact, they were early! Surprising me who was then in the midst of cooking rice & lauk kari for them. I have said before that Melayu..(or Jawa) hee..hee.. memang tak boleh lari dari makan nasi! Pictures on the left were taken during the 'makan-makan' held in honor of visitors from Malaysia as well as Jina & Eddy leaving for Hajj, scheduled on December 4th. Amir's parents from Kuantan are also here visiting. It seems my husband remembers Pak Cik Razlan & his brothers from younger days in Jerantut. Well, it's a small world after all! Pictures of Rahim & Muzakkir picking persimmons or pisang kaki in our backyard. Bila dah gugur daun baru nampak banyak! Persimmons ni sedap..so I purposely kept the fruits on the tree for them.. however, the oranges are not ready yet to be picked. Buah nya masam pun... I browsed in the internet and came across an area called Brentwood where there are lots of fruit farms. Of course, by now most of the fruits are out of season but we still wanted to try our luck. Story in my next posting... read on...

Rose giving tips to adik2 di sini...

;)

Fruit Farms in Brentwood... with Rose's family

It was nice of Haniza forwarding me her recommended website links to fruit picking, when I voiced my search to her. The best is http://www.harvest4u.com/ where it brings us to the farms in Brentwood - a bountiful agricultural region home of almost 40-something local farms. Of course, most of the fruits ( except oranges & nuts) are out of season at this time of year and Pick-your-Own is definitely out of the question. The place would be lovelier in the months of May onwards, during Spring and Summer, but we wanted to try our luck with picked fruits and I thought it would be good experience too for the children to view the countryside... kampung la tuu! And besides, Brentwood is just about 1 hour drive from Cupertino... jadi tak la jauh sangat. It is north of San Jose and located between San Francisco on the West and Stockton on the East. Smith Family Farm is busy with Christmas Trees and creating Christmas gift packages this time of year. They only have tomatoes, corn and nuts in their shop. It is here that we can see and meet ramai 'Mat Salleh'... tapi pekerja am nya pulak ramai Mexicans... hmm, macam kita jugak, terpaksa ambil outside help! Gursky Ranch is run by Mr Gursky and family. Pictures on the left is him and his daughter entertaining us at the counter. Cucu dia comel sangat... Mrs Gursky is somewhere in the shop. Their shop is filled with honey, apple cider and nuts - almonds, walnuts, raisins, pecans, pistachios. The Gurskys were nice enough to give us directions to another farm - peterwolfe.com, when I enquired about oranges and limes and even call them up to inform of our arrival. The local farms here are mostly family run and I guess they know their neighbours very well. I also understand that they are members of Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust which is like their own Persatuan Petani. Bersatu teguh! Remember..? :-) Alienation and unhealthy competition would definitely kill them! Their logo is Buy Fresh, Buy Local. The idea is for customers to come and buy at the farms, meet the farmers and enjoy the delicious variety of seasonal fruits. That way the fruits don't have to travel a long way, no need for middle-men and of course price would be cheaper! They also cater for deliveries if any individuals, markets or restaurants call up to order in advance. I believe our Pasar Tani used to have a similar concept..but what happened? Take Pasar Tani kat Stadium Shah Alam for example...sayur layu, ikan tak segar and harga mahal! Tahun lepas la...tahun ni mungkin berubah. Teringat masa-masa menyusuri jalan-jalan Ulu Selangor, Ijok, Banting dan kawasan sekitarnya... tak kurang dengan pokok buahan dan hasil tani. Kat sini belum jumpa lagi Dragon Fruit..alaa, buah yang isinya warna merah, didalam ada biji halus-halus warna hitam...rasa macam buah kiwi dan kaya dengan vitamin C. Sedap...tapi mahal! Bentuk pokok macam kaktus. Hish..nostalgia pulak. AnyWayy, ..... We didn't get to meet Mr Wolfe, however Mrs Wolfe and his daughter were around at the shack. We were not allowed to pick so we just took pictures, under the watchful eyes of a worker! I don't really know the difference between orange / tangerine / or mandarin. I simply call them 'limau'!

Anak bujang Rose yang 'pemalu'....

Trip to San Francisco... with Rose's family

We're back in San Francisco again, but this time with Rose's family. I browsed the internet for sight seeing in San Francisco and I came up with amongst others, Pier 39 & Fishermen's Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge - Chrissy Fields & Battery East Park, Lombard Street, Twin Peaks - the highest point in SF, Alamo Square - where 'The Painted Ladies' sit in a row and boat cruise to The Alcatraz & Angel Island. Since it's a one-day affair we just managed to visit the sites that my daughters and I visited earlier and those that are within reach. Of course we did not take the cruise as it would take us at least half a day on the boat. And we also couldn't find The Painted Ladies - a row of Victorian style houses which are made famous by the sitcom Full House, even though we use the GPS - which we call 'mak cik'. She can be annoying at times when we missed a turn and she is forced to 're-calculate'. Well, maybe next time. Our first stop was Pier 39...like I had mentioned before, it's a place for souveniers and photo taking of The Golden Gate, The Bay Bridge and Alcatraz in the background... and not forgetting the sea lions.
Muzakkir, anak bujang Rose who has begun mellow-ing with us by now... at Magnetron - The House of Magnets
As Christmas is approaching, Pier 39 pun tak ketinggalan with its Christmas and holiday decorations. A big tree with wrapped up boxes underneath, - presents lookalike - is spotted at the entrance. The potted plants are shaped into deers, elephants and other animals. I believe most of the shopping malls in KL dah meriah by now...kadang2 tu perhiasan untuk Hari Natal lagi sakan pulak daripada Hari Raya. Sebesar2 nya pokok kat Center Court di Mega Mall, Mid Valley tu! Jangan segan2 ambil presents kat situ kalau Santa Clauss 'mata sepet' or 'kulit gelap' offer.. They say celebration nie its all in the giving.. so ambil, jangan tak ambil. After all, semua nya datang from the money we shopped there. Staff Telekom, Tenaga & RTM.... he..he... I am not being sarcastic, but its the truth, right? .. :) Picture of us sederet, getting the background of The Golden Gate in the far distance... at Pier 39.

Sohaimi's and Rahim's girls fooling around...at Pier 39.

Masing2 tunjuk gaya, oblivious of those around them! Tak kisah dengan orang sekeliling... & orang pun tak kisah dengan kita.. :)

Our next stop, after missing a few turns was an area somewhere below San Francisco Bridge. A place known as Chrissy Fields, where many jog, picnic and even fishing or crabbing. But that day seemed to be extra cold and windier. We tried to open up our picnic stuff on one of the picnic tables but gave up... sebab semua kesejuuuukan!! So we ended up eating in the car instead. You might say why take all the trouble, pergi jer la Mc D or any restaurants. Well, its fun this way! There's always plenty of food and, I think the children will never forget the memories of eating with jari-jari bekuu...
The jetty in the pictures on the right are used for fishing and crabbing as told by Carlos during our first trip here with him.

Next stop was Battery East Park or the Golden Gate Park. Full of tourists ...everybody was trying to get the best angle of the bridge. There is even a Japanese Tea Garden somewhere nearby but we were pressed for time so we opted that out.

The bridge has got pedestrian walkway if one feels like walking across to the other side. I even saw couples pushing strollers just to get the feel of the iron structure and the water underneath. There is no toll charged for pedestrians but automobiles will have to pay the bridge toll of 7 dollars on the way back. Our GPS - 'mak cik' can be very usefull at times of total lost. Just punch in Muslim Community Center or Masjid and she will direct you to the nearest one. Alhamdulillah, at the time of our arrival Bro. Abdul Rahim, the caretaker and bilal was about to open up the door to the MCC at 850, Divisadero Street. The African-American has been a Muslim since 1965, and he was so excited to be imam-ed by my husband for the Asar prayers. On Sunday mornings the center is being used for Arabic classes. It's good to know that the place is being made full use of. Being right in the middle of the city, the rental must be exorbitant! Abdul Rahim says that there are many who travel, musafir like us stop by the center to pray. He has met many Muslims from around the world. Too bad we did not have a chance to meet the jema'ah there. He also provided us with a list of Masjids around Western States of US... those that are in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Huih.. banyaak! In San Francisco itself there are 6 Masjids.
Seen on the right is Rose talking to Abdul Rahim, the caretaker and Bilal of the Muslim Community Center, San Francisco...
Lombard Street or the Crooked Street was our next destination. Cari punya cari, tiba2 sampai jer to that unique street which slopes at an angle of at least 45 degrees! Turning & winding downhill, our car was filled with oohs and aahs made by Anis, Atiqah & Nisya. They are also excited whenever we went down the sharp slopes of San Francisco streets. Rasa macam roller coaster pulak!! The sides of Lombard Street are flanked with beautiful homes and if put up for sale, those houses must be fetching millions! If you want to see downtown San Francisco at a higher elevation then Twin Peaks is the spot to be at. The structure in picture below is not an information booth as I first thought, it's actually a public toilet! The door opens whenever a quarter is inserted. Convenient indeed, since there are no other buildings there! .

We had dinner at Shafinaz & Aziz... kind of her to

comply to my wish for her delicious Laksa Johor... :)

We went back late in the night. I trust their

hospitality, and WII will always be remembered... hopefully their neighbour downstairs did not cause any problems for them.

A snapshot of downtown San Francisco...from Twin Peaks

We hope Rose, Rahim, Muzakkir, Nisya & Husna enjoyed the trip to San Francisco... and also their stay in San Jose ..

Illal li qo'