Most unusual occurrence. The song How Could I Live Without You played on the soundtrack of Mojo Restaurant as I was about to leave. I listened to it, mesmerized Than began to weep, the heaving ones with no regard for the eye makeup I immediately reached out to a new Muslim friend.
Me: How Could I Live Without You played on a soundtrack. I wept. But not for a mere mortal but how could I live without Allah???? Impossible.
No response from him as yet. He is traveling from Malaysia to Canada of all places. Hahaha Last texted with him when he was in the Doha airport
He had asked what my plans for the day were.
Me: It was an IN day that turned out perfectly which has shown me that Allah is totally with me.
He: ❤️
I told him of how my day had turned out perfectly, giving him some of the details. Then added.
Me: Sometimes Allah has plans for you and you j just have to listen. Hahaha
He: Allah beautifully said Alexis. Allah is there for you truly. We can create our own plans but He is the best of planners
Me: Oh my goodness yes. I weep as I write. Tears of joy and gratitude. Wish you were around to talk to about this. A friend sent me a video of I Just Called to Stay I Love You.
Now that is a story and how I began my day. It was a photo of me, a selfie taken at breakfast, with the following caption.
Me: Good morning. At the Lyf breakfast catered by Mojo which is consistently delicious an varied. The soundtrack is playing I Just Called to Say I Love You is perfect. Come to think of it I am calling in the new fangled phone called Whats App.
What happened next?
My friend Ann responded sending me a video of Stevie Wonder singing I Just Called to Say I Love You.
Me: What a gift!!! Thank you. I will send it on . Well to certain people. Hahahaha
I have another example of a gift to be shown later in the blog.
There are strange and unusual happenings here at Lyf which are rather, in a way, unbelievable. I spoke of them to a WhatsApp friend.
Me: I was run down in the lobby by this in the Lyf lobby. It moves quickly. I said, what is this??? I was told it was a robot who delivers things to your room. “Oh, Can it deliver me a husband?” The techie did not have an answer to that. More was said. Stay turned. Whose idea was this anyway?? I am trying to find out.
I am writing this twenty-four hours later. I still have no idea whose idea this Robot was. Nobody is taking the credit. Hahaha. I decided it would be a good idea to name the Robot, make it feel more at home. There was much agreement to this suggestion by staff and the robot techies. I did come up with a name – it is a reindeer name. There was Rudolph and then Donner and then Blixen. I suggested Blixen, some staff approved but it did not, shall we say, pass inspection with the GM. Oh well.
Some further discussions with the two young technical geniuses in charge of this example of advanced technology.
Me: This is all rather incredible. Do not know what this can do as yet. However, please remember this. I am on the cutting edge. This, you must remember, is my home. How many 83 year old women, the world over, have a white robot in their home?
They. I do not know. Hahaha Not many.
Me: One. It is me. Hahahah
Instinctively I used an idiom, as usual I will define it. The idiom “cutting edge” refers to the forefront of innovation, progress, or development in a specific field. When used as a noun phrase (“at the cutting edge”), it means being in the most advanced position. When used as a hyphenated adjective (“cutting-edge”), it describes something that is highly advanced, modern, and state-of-the-art., I am on the forefront, having a robot in my home that can deliver things. I have yet to see it in action, however.
I have not spoken about the events that transpired on Monday, the Floating Mosque day, At first it seemed EVERYTHING was going right. Sandman arrived, driving the black limo. They ran out of ‘ordinary’ cars so I got the limo – for no extra charge. Everything going great. A photo taken of me and the limo and then at the entrance. These will be shown for your viewing pleasure. Hahaha. But then it all turned to the worst.
Lina the wonderful woman who I was yearning to visit was not there. She was vacationing in Vietnam. I was able to speaker to her via WhatsApp – I did not have her number but one of the staff was able to reach her. Then, while at the mosque there was one of those torrential downpours that Malaysia is famous for.
I decided to wait it out, talking to staff. I had taken my precious book Above Penang to show them the roof, convinced they had never seen its beauty.
They: No we have seen the roof. It is painted blue now.
There were right, it was. I had not noticed it before. Wonder why they took a roof of sheer beauty and painted it blue? Hmmmm, Sort of the color of my eyes. Hahaha
Although the downpour continued Sandman I decided we would brave the storm, so to speak.
Thought I was safe as I had a Lyf umbrella. Nope. Wait until you see a photo of what happened to the umbrella – I sent a photo to all, getting a number of caring responses, and some funny ones.
He: It looks like a kite.
Me: I know! I said to the GM – you are a four star hotel – could you possibly get a five star umbrella – at the very least.
I did not receive a response to that message. Hahahaha
You know that expression, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade? I knew I had written about it before. Went to the search engine, found had indeed, six times. Here is one from five years ago, January 22, 2022
Borowitz Humor Appealing Only to USA Readers; Optimism When Life Gives You Lemons Make Lemonade; NEFF’s Poetry Based on the Qur’an; The Concept of Ummah Discussed; Eon Defined; Photos from the Louvre”s Phoenix and the Dragon Collection and Me at a Louvre Lunch.
This is what I said at that time.
“One has to admire the optimism of Harland. I am reminded of the saying: “When life gives you lemons – make lemonade. Of course I Googled it to learn: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life; making lemonade is turning them into something positive or desirable. And just in case you wondered where the phrase came from, I have the answer for you.” The proverbial phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” was first coined by writer Elbert Hubbard in 1915.” Along the same vein, do you not you love this from George Bernard Shaw? “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” I guess one could say that I have led a honorable and useful life because goodness knows, I do make mistakes. I am not known for sitting around and doing nothing.
Taking our leave from the Floating Mosque, Sandman and I went to the five star Shangrai-La for lunch. It was delicious. So much food, did takeaway and enjoyed it again at Lyf as there are microwaves and plates, and cutlery.
Sitting nearby was a table with women having a thoroughly enjoyable time. As they left I congratulated them on their joy. They asked the typical question, one I have been forced to answer thousands of times.
They: Where are you from?
Me: My mother decided, not me. I should have been born in Malaysia but when I was born it was not a country. I was born in 1943.
She: You are right it was Malaya at that time.
Me: Now I am a Malaysian with a visa I am studying the history of my new hone. So I knew that.
The group consisted of four young women and an older woman, who spoke to me.
She: I am 83 tool
Me: Oh my goodness and you are a Malaysian
She: Yes. I live in KL. My father was a Judge.
Me: Oh my goodness. I was a lawyer.
I am learning more and more about the history of Malaysia. I did wonder if a man of such stature might have played a role in the formation of this democracy. Posed a question to Artificial Intelligence but I did not know the Judge’s name. However, I was able to download a document: https://library.help.edu.my/merdeka-exhibition/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Pages and pages of Malaysian history now rests comfortably on my computer. I might never find the answer to my question, but who knows? I gave the group of Malaysian women my blog card. In Shaa Allah, perhaps they will reach out to me.
The lemons (no Lina, blue Floating Mosque roof, the torrential downpour, the umbrella that turned into a kite) turned into lemonade ( a black limo driving to Shangrai-La for lunch, encountering five women who sparked my interest in Malaysian history and resulted in greater knowledge). And the rain stopped. Alhamdulillah.
Going back to the beginning of the blog I used the search engine to see if I had mentioned How Could I Live Without You. Several blogs emerged. This relatively recently.
A prior blog speaks of a time, just a few months ago which speaks of the same sort of situation
News of the Hour; An Elephant in the Room; March 13 2026 Confirmed and Reliable News Media Reports Inform The Era of Israel’s, the US and Its Allies’ Security Lies is Over; When Empires Die They Do Not Go Easily: I am in Peace Because I am an Observer; Withering Economies the Fate of Millions Whereas I Have a Storehouse; The Islamic Faith Which is Now Benefitting Me was Begun in Horrible Hardship; I am a Survivor, Guided and Protected By Allah (SWT); Now a Refuge; Photos of Things Left Behind Without Regret
Do link the blog, if only to look at the things I left behind when I fled in order to practice my faith in peace.
The gift mentioned in the beginning of the blog was a photo of KL at night, finally haze free. It was sent by a South African man working in KL. I met him one morning breakfasting at Mojo.
A strange and varied collection of photos follow. A robot, an umbrella that turned into a kite, a black limo. A KL night scene. Photos depicting my strange, varied and inspired Malaysian life.
The US midterm elections are upon us. Pollsters are predicting. I am on the mailing list of the Pew Research Center. Their newsletter was most informative speaking of the reliability of polls to predict elections. Subscribe to Pew Research Center to learn what I learned. Hahaha
