It’s been a hectic couple of days so far this week for me. It doesn’t look like the situation will improve soon... so here’s looking at a hectic August.
It’s also the last day of Syaaban today; Ramadan will officially commence after Maghrib this evening. Am I ready for fasting? Am I ready for Ramadan? Honestly, no. If given the choice, I’d much prefer to perform prayers than fast the whole day and hence I cannot understand why some people skip prayers and yet don’t mind fasting from dawn to dusk. I would have thought fasting would be more challenging. Well, it certainly is to me. I get hungry easily and quickly due to my high metabolism and I have been known to get exhausted and weak if my body is deprived of sugar for a prolonged period. But of course that is no excuse to skip fasting. And I get very sad when Ramadan draws near to an end and Syawal is around the corner because who knows if I’ll get to meet Ramadan again.
I shall attempt and strive to be more careful with my speech and that includes writing in this blog and to be more patient (not easy) out of respect for the holy month. So wish me luck and help me God – and Arsenal, please perform your best because otherwise I’ll hold you responsible for my reduced Ramadan pahala. It should be easy to cut down on TV time – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s latest season has ended (only CSI: NY is still running its current season and I don’t care for CSI: Miami); the season finale for House is this Thursday and in any case, I should be done with my tarawikh prayers and Quran reading by 10 pm anyway if I want to tune in to AXN; there’s no Korean drama currently showing on TV8 (instead they’re showing some Chinese drama which genre/plot I’m not into); and there’s no reality shows (read: The Amazing Race) currently showing. Any other TV distraction would probably be due to football/Arsenal/Cesc (not necessarily in that order) and most matches will kick off after 10 pm anyway (oh, so that means I can still shout and yell at them). So I’m really glad of this limited TV distraction because I do want to perform my tarawikh prayers and read as much Quran as possible (to be honest, that’s probably the only time I’ll strive to finish the Quran. Last year, it took me until Eid al-Adha to finish the Quran. Tsk tsk tsk. Once Ramadan is over, I’ll get to my lazy self again). And I hate it if something happens that interferes with my tarawikh prayers (read: something that necessitates me staying back at work resulting in me arriving home after breaking fast and throwing my schedule into chaos. Even if I do go out for break fast with mates, I will perform tarawikh after I get home. Well, we only get to perform tarawikh once a year anyway).
It’s also the last day of Syaaban today; Ramadan will officially commence after Maghrib this evening. Am I ready for fasting? Am I ready for Ramadan? Honestly, no. If given the choice, I’d much prefer to perform prayers than fast the whole day and hence I cannot understand why some people skip prayers and yet don’t mind fasting from dawn to dusk. I would have thought fasting would be more challenging. Well, it certainly is to me. I get hungry easily and quickly due to my high metabolism and I have been known to get exhausted and weak if my body is deprived of sugar for a prolonged period. But of course that is no excuse to skip fasting. And I get very sad when Ramadan draws near to an end and Syawal is around the corner because who knows if I’ll get to meet Ramadan again.
I shall attempt and strive to be more careful with my speech and that includes writing in this blog and to be more patient (not easy) out of respect for the holy month. So wish me luck and help me God – and Arsenal, please perform your best because otherwise I’ll hold you responsible for my reduced Ramadan pahala. It should be easy to cut down on TV time – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s latest season has ended (only CSI: NY is still running its current season and I don’t care for CSI: Miami); the season finale for House is this Thursday and in any case, I should be done with my tarawikh prayers and Quran reading by 10 pm anyway if I want to tune in to AXN; there’s no Korean drama currently showing on TV8 (instead they’re showing some Chinese drama which genre/plot I’m not into); and there’s no reality shows (read: The Amazing Race) currently showing. Any other TV distraction would probably be due to football/Arsenal/Cesc (not necessarily in that order) and most matches will kick off after 10 pm anyway (oh, so that means I can still shout and yell at them). So I’m really glad of this limited TV distraction because I do want to perform my tarawikh prayers and read as much Quran as possible (to be honest, that’s probably the only time I’ll strive to finish the Quran. Last year, it took me until Eid al-Adha to finish the Quran. Tsk tsk tsk. Once Ramadan is over, I’ll get to my lazy self again). And I hate it if something happens that interferes with my tarawikh prayers (read: something that necessitates me staying back at work resulting in me arriving home after breaking fast and throwing my schedule into chaos. Even if I do go out for break fast with mates, I will perform tarawikh after I get home. Well, we only get to perform tarawikh once a year anyway).
Yes, I can be quite lazy actually. Well, I’m only humanI’m amused that some shopping centres have already started playing Eid songs as early as ten days ago and we haven’t even started Ramadan! I don’t understand this. We should be encouraged to look forward more to Ramadan, not Syawal, and yet over the years, the message has gotten from bad to worse. I may not be physically ready for Ramadan but it doesn’t mean I resent it.
Both Adek and Cesc (yes, he’s the stranger that Sheryl Crow fancied) wish everyone a blessed Ramadan.
‘Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment. I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me. I owe a lot to the Club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal. I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal. I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me. Maaf zahir batin (OK, OK, I added that last part).’
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