It has been quite awhile indeed. In fact, it’s been far too long. My sincerest apologies for ignoring this blog, comments, and emails.

You see, the last couple of months have been really hectic. A lot has happened. Both my maternal grandparents passed away within weeks of each other, I performed Umrah with Fai and his mother, turned 27, contracted bronchitis which led to asthma, did epi-lasik and watched the last Harry Potter instalment.

So, let’s start from the beginning shall we? I was down and out with a very bad cough since May. It evolved later on (two months later) and I was told to use the ventolin inhaler.

In the midst of the very bad cough, one of Fai’s good friend got married and so we were busy with that.

That same week, my maternal step-grandfather passed away. We buried him the next day. The atmosphere was sombre and it didn’t get any better.

Right after we buried him, I received a call from my mother informing me that my maternal grandmother (Ustazah Chik S. Othman), who’s been suffering from Alzheimers, cancer, and later on we found out Parkinsons disease, was in critical condition. My heart sank.

The timing couldn’t be any worse. We were just days away from our Umrah trip. I thought of cancelling my trip but my parents advised me otherwise.

During our whole umrah trip, I prayed that my beloved grandmother stayed a little longer. I prayed that she waited for two of her eldest grandchildren to come back before she blew her last breath.

My prayers were heard. I received good news from my mum and uncle. Her condition stablised.

I was happy once again. But it was shortlived.

Upon our arrival in Singapore, the first news I received was a condolence text message from a colleague at work. I thought it was over the passing of my late step-grandfather and I brushed it aside.

The next message that I read came from my sister. My beloved maternal grandmother passed away that morning (exactly two weeks after the passing of my step-grandfather).

I was crushed and couldn’t function properly. I just wanted to be with her.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to see her and even managed to participate in her last bathing ritual. She was 74.

Sadly, my fourth sister who was in the US, working, could not make it.

I shall forever remember the date of her passing. She left this world exactly a day after my birthday.

Yup! So this year, I turned 27 while still in the holy land – Makkah. And due to unforseen circumstances, my birthday celebration was postponed.

It wouldn’t look nice celebrating my birthday while everyone else around me was grieving. On top of that, my cough became worse and I was down with fever. How to have fun? This lasted the entire month of June and the first week of July.

I completed at least four bottles of cough syrup and drank only warm water with honey.

When I finally recovered, I decided to take the plunge and go for an epi-lasik surgery. Initially, I was afraid I might regret that decision, especially during the first couple of weeks.

So my last few days was spent recuperating.  But I still managed to catch the last instalment of Harry Potter with my sisters, mum, and husband — even it means going out with bloody eyes.

And now, we’re here! We’re into our second week of the holy fasting month. Alhamdulillah.

I promise, I shall be more hardworking when it comes to this blog.

To those people who have sent in press releases, press kits, and samples, I am truly sorry for not updating them. I’ve been really busy, sick, and sad.

But I promise you, they will be up pretty soon. So stay tuned!

Until then, chat with us via our Facebook page and Ramadhan Kareem to all! :)