Martin Buber

Mitsui Park, Osaka is the first place I stopped over in Japan. This is the shopping mall where I got a pair of sexy wedges as my hubby was too eager and fervent to buy something for me, I don’t know why but perhaps he upheld the intention to redeem a few months of separation, he’s like forcing me though I refused to grab any at first because it’s expensive thus I didn’t want to waste his money for nothing. Ah-ha, trust me, sometimes; women just couldn’t resist the temptation of nice clothes, nice shoes, anything nice! I took one then. Right at that very moment, I took off the old mine by shoving it into the new-shoes box, and put on the new one. It’s not easy to put on this shoe hence I needed my hubby’s fingers to hook the sandal string on my ankle. pOp! It felt like a pretty Cinderella walking down the street and losing one of the wedges on the steps of the escalator unexpectedly, then waiting for the prince to come and put the lost one on my feet, and then married me! (day-dream) Whoa! It’s true what Monolo Blahnik, who’s a founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand had ever once said “Yes, only a shoe, but if I provide escape for the woman who wears it, if for only a few minutes, it brings a bit of happiness to someone, well, then, perhaps, it is something more than a shoe”. Agree? I always believe that good selection of sandal always looks pretty on every girl’s feet.

Hey there! "The foot is an erotic organ and the shoe is its sexual covering," wrote William A. Rossi, a podiatrist, in The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe.


At that time, the mall was offering women, men and kid clothes, sports equipment and etc at low prices, there was a big sale as discount tags were flaunting all over. From the 3rd to 5th floor, all sorts of fashionable skirts, gowns, blouses, heels and many else occupied each corner; this terribly tested my unfathomable desire of having all those stuff in my closet! It looked like an ordinary mall that failed to attract me a great deal, probably because my purse contained not even a penny which is really good actually! I was able to restrain my shopping habit. We did spend neither much time nor money at that mall since there’s a lot more places of interest were waiting for us.


My husband told me that one of his friends did his ‘akad nikah’ here and the imam was an Arabian. My memory flashed back the moment I was declared as a wife in Masjid Kanchong darat in a small town of Banting, it’s bigger and lots of muslims stream down the arch. Unlike Kobe Muslim Mosque, not so many people inside. Every time my eyes met a few comers, they greeted me with “Assalammualaykum”, something we should have practiced in Malaysia. At the entrance of the mosque, there was a picture, black and white, beautifully framed, yet not so eye-catching. However, it defined the history of the mosque in a very unambiguous image. It showed the picture of mosque which obviously remained strong and well-built, surrounded with ashes of collapsed buildings after been attacked by bombs during World War II. The building survived in fact most of the nearby buildings turned into ashes. I was completely impressed. MasyaAllah! I left the mosque with an introspective kind of feeling deep down inside; I don’t know how to describe it, tongue-tied.

This picture of Kobe Mosque was taken in 1945 after the bombing of the Second World War. It was considered a safe haven by the Japanese military who would shelter in the basement during Allied bombing raids. (http://www.kobemosque.org/)


Alhamdulliah, countless praises be upon HIM, the Almighty One for allowing us to delight in the bounties from God.