Raya 2009 - Family Potrait

This pics were taken when we came back from Batu Pahat, the 4th Raya and we had this Raya gathering @ our house in BSP. All of us were there, the first pics were everyone is in the picture.

My parents, my 2 brothers and their family and of course my better half with the cuties.

And this is all the grandchildren my parents have. Of course there's Anis's mother(Iwan's wife) to hold Anis.

Now you know why I did not blog at all during Raya. I was really enjoying myself and this is one of the best raya I ever had!

Hari Raya 2009 - The Snapshots of theme colour

It's a norm for us to have 2 colour theme for each Raya. Once for the first day and another one for the second day. We would usually let the cuties decide what colour they would want as the theme and this year they had chosen green and pink.

I love how all the baju raya turn out. Love the colour combination our family had, similar yet with distinctive difference.

Hope it's not too late to wish Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin!

Kentucky Fried Chicken - My saviour!

One thing about malay culture, they felt they should not inform when they want to drop by friends or relatives houses as they don't want to inconvenient them to prepare food or snacks for the guest. Truth to be told ; as the host, I don't really like surprise visits. I would prefer to be given at least a day notice so that I can make sure the house is clean and I have food to serve the guest. I feel real bad if guests start coming to my house with nothing to eat and house is a mess.

That's what happened last Friday. My brother who lives in Melaka and now working in Kuantan pending his transfer approval back to Melaka wanted to drop by my house before making the journey to my parents house. I got to know about this at 4pm when he text me while I was in a meeting. Akak apa lagi, ribut huru hara and stepped out from office to get some snacks at Cold Storage. Since I only had one hour lunch break compared to 2.5 entitled hours, to go down for 15 minutes, made the guilt go away.

And on the way back, dropped by KFC drive throught at Sungei Besi to buy the family combo enough to cater for the crowd.

My brother has four kids though he got married much later than I did. His eldest daughter is the same age as my youngest aka my baby.

It was really a fun feast despite the last minute arrangement. Food was enough to feed everyone and the kids were happy.

Moral of the story - if you want to drop by your friends or relatives, bagi ler notice. Kesian kat tuan rumah, ribut nak prepare segala bagai. And look at the positive, Insyaallah, you will get better food..........

Anti ISA Protest Demo

Nope, I am not gonna start to blog about politics, nor am I gonna tell you which side I am on.

As being portrayed in most of the newspaper, much spoke about in the TV news as well as as the coffee shop talk, the demonstration in KL went on. My opinion on this is - I don't I have the right to have an opinion. None of my family members have been ISA'ed hence I would be able to feel the pain and suffering that those whose loved ones have been detained without hearings. My dad has always been around compared to those kids whose father was not there to attend to them through their joy and pain. And I was really kind of upset while watching the news last night about this pakcik who complained he was stuck in the shopping for 2 hours and of course those traders who claimed they have experienced a loss due to this scene. Why don't we stop and think the feelings of those directly effected by ISA and how many years they have been stuck in detention and the loss of income while they are being detained. You do the maths. Those ladies must be happy to know they are not alone and they are alot others who is feeling their pain. Hence, I don't think I have any opinion as I don't have the right to have an opinion.

Anyway, feeling this, made me appreciate my family more and one person who I always looked up to is my mom in law. She is one tough woman and have been through many things in life. She still managed to smile though her heart is aching inside. And one of her strength is in business. She has this small boutique which she started several years ago and every time we come back to kampung, it seems getting bigger. Her customer based have been increasing so do her collections. In fact, I am one of her loyal customers.

She inspired me to be a better mother, wife and Insyallah, a good business women.

Mama, Selangor won the League Cup!

I had a good lunch today, with my fellow blogger friends, one of them just came back from study abroad, hence a good lunch indeed. Will tell you all about it later. For now, I just want to update my blog since K Red siap zass kan diriku ini dgn statement "Bila ko nak tutup blog ko?". So, dengan mata yg terkulat2 ngantuk, ku gagahkan jugak menghapdet ini blog.

One event that I have been meaning to blog about was the nite last Saturday where we went to watch a football match between Selangor and Pahang. Me, being a football freak, was so looking forward to this considering I have not got the chance to watch football match at home let alone watching it live from a stadium. My dad managed to secure 3 VIP passes for us and off we go to the game.

My hero shared the same excitement as I am while my better half just go with the flow. He is not into football, remember? My 2 girls just love the thought they got to get out of home.

The match was oklah, what can you expect from Malaysian football, they are just not there yet and honestly, not sure when they will ever be there. Amri Yahya, the guy who scored 2 goal against an EPL team whose name shall not be mentioned, scored more goals to add to his long list of achievement. Cayalah!

Selangor won 5-1 though the results don't really made any difference to the fact Selangor is this season champion

The cuties got some part of the action. They got their pictures taken with few players and most importantly, their pictures with the winning cup.

The nite did not end just yet, we then went for supper at Jalan 222 PJ for the awesome Nasi Lemak Panas before headed back to BSP. Though it was a tiring nite, but the excitement was really something I wouldn't miss. Looking forward for the opening season of EPL and to watch more Selangor live matches! Abah, nak tiket VIP lagik!

The cutiess birthday party - The tahlil and doa selamat

Last Saturday was the cuties birthday bash. This was the event that we have planned for weeks.

The cuties were not born on the same day, and not on the same month as well. My baby was born in March, Princess in April while Hero in June. Hence, every year, we will have a big celebration in May to be fair to all 3 and to be fair to the parents as well..Bankrupt ler kalau nak buat birthday party every month kan?

This started with tahlil and kenduri doa selamat started around 12pm. The main crowd would be the neighbours and orang surau. We thought since we are going to cook for a large crowd, better take the opportunities to have the tahlil and doa selamat as well. Insyallah, lebih berkat and much more convenient.

This is my niece, Iwan's daughter, Anis. She will be 1 year old this July and is the apple of my eye.
My dad and dad in law ; 2 of the most important man in my life.
The crowd divided to muslim and muslimah....
Alhamdulilah, all went well. Now, need to turn the house around for the birthday portion pulak.

Mom's birthday celebration

Ever since I was very small, I remembered we will always have a double celebration for Mother's Day. Why? Cause my mom's birthday falls some where around Mother's Day.

This year was not exception. However, it was not a big celebration like before because my elder brother who is in Malacca couldn't make it and Iwan has to work late. Never mind, we shall have another celebration when everyone is around.

We brought mom to Swensen at Subang Parade. My dad is quite paranoid with this halal issue. Whenever we need to take him out for dinner, we have to do our research to ensure the place is halal place. Halal by definition with the halal certification. I know he meant well as he always reminds me if we ever consumed non-halal food, it will blackened our heart and later cause lots of harm to the body.

We ordered a little bit of everything in the menu. From pasta to pizza to salad and some snack like chicken wings and fried mushroom. Dad had fish and chips which he complained was not that tender and the crumb was too hard. Did I mention to you he was a chef hence he loves to criticised whenever we eat out.

The cuties love this place. I love this place too. The service is excellent and the food is simply delicious.

We wanted to order Earthquake but everyone was too full. But, what's a trip to Swensen without having the ice cream. So, I ordered the sticky chocolate ice cream, my favourite! Actually, that was the only food I had, did not want to have too much cause I have plan to have supper with my better half. Nak dating lah!

To mom, happy birthday and love you sooooo much. Thanks for everything that you have done and that definitely make me a better person. And Happy Mother's Day too!!

Happy Mother's Day Mak!

We know we won't get to celebrate Mother's Day with Mak on the day itself. We have to celebrate it that weekend itself. So, we bought a cake and some pizza for that purpose.

Most of the cake shops were closed in Parit Raja. There was only one shop opened and they are out of Mother's Day cake, hence we just bought whatever available. They don't have a cake where you can write Happy Mother's Day on it, we ended up putting the Happy Birthday sign instead. Takpe ler, asal ada kan?

Started with doa recital, baru lah berkat.

This kind of ceremony, of course the kids would be the most excited ones! My cuties and nephew were crowding the cake and food from the beginning. Macam ler nak celebrate childrens' day kan?

Mak being Mak, would not allow us to serve. She was the one serving us instead. She insisted to do that and gave reason cause we have bought the food...Mak...Mak...

If I haven't told you, my mom in-law aka Mak, is a great lady. She loves me unconditionally and she treats me like her own daughter, not like a menantu. Whenever we balik kg, she will insist for no one to disturb me and let me wake up late. She told them, I have been taking care of her son and her grandchildren and also working at the same time. She reiterated many times I need to have a break as well, so when I am in her house, she will pamper me and would not allow me to help her in the kitchen. Mak is a great lady and I know she worked hard raising all her 5 kids. I am so lucky I have 2 great mothers in my life ; my own mom and my mom in-law.

But, I feel sad.....when her own children(ada ler sorang dua) don't know how to appreciate Mak. They don't know how lucky they are....Jangan bila mak dah takde, baru nak terhegeh2 menangis meraung panggil Mak macam dalam drama tu...

How I manage my weekdays

I don't have much time everyday. Though I wish sometimes there are more than 24 hours in a day but a wish is just a wish, and this wish is one impossible wish.

So, I manage what I can. Weekends will be utilised to plan things for the whole upcoming week.

I do cook, everyday. I cook for breakfast, for the cuties take out food(now, it's my take out food, I tapau food to work since last week). I cook for lunch to be delivered to my mom's place and then I cook for dinner. That's a lot of cooking and how I save time is by having menus of the things that I will need to cook. Not to bore the cuties, the menu has been segregated to week one and week two. At least, there's a gap before they eat the same menu again. And one important rule, I won't cook the listed menus during weekends. Weekends would be something special.

And I iron the clothes for the whole week. Not only for the cuties school uniforms, for my office wear as well as my better half's. At least, in the morning, I don't have to figure out what to wear as all has been pre-arranged.

I don't complain about my life. My life is good, and better than many others who have to live with limited resources and financial means. There will be of course bad times when things don't go as plan, but in life without this on and off hiccups, life would be pretty boring don't you think.

But, what I hate, those who complain about their life to me and then drag my life into it as well. Classic script :

Ms A : Aku penatlah, ada maid pun still aku kena buat memacam.

Me : Hmm...

Ms A : Nak kena manage anak, keje lagi

Me : Hmmm....

Ms A : Ko lainlah, senang, anak dah besar2, ada mak pulak tolong, your life must be much easier than mine kan. Aku nie dah lah mak jauh...kena buat semua by myself...

Masa nielah darah start menyirap. Apa lak kena mengena my life and yours. Well, you manage your life and I manage mine. If I don't comment about your life, please don't comment about mine. That's the fair thing to do.

I know I have been nagging about this here for quite sometime, but this is the only channel I know to let off some steam and it doesn't involve me buying shoes...

I love my life and I hope those who think my life is easy, they better start being grateful for what they have before it's being taken away from them.

Family United!

Yup, our family took the word united to another level. For sickness and health, together.

We were all down with fever and flu. Our trip to clinic got us this, the accummulated medication for everyone.

Guess unity is a good thing if the timing is right huh!

A delayed and advance birthday celebration

So many things going on in our life. So good, some bad, and that's how life should be.

With all this going on, sometimes things just could not happen as scheduled. Just like the celebration for my 2 little girls birthday.

We celebrated their birthday not on time. Baby's birthday was celebrated more than a week late and princess's birthday was a day early. We combined this 2 celebrations in one since it's only over a week apart.

We had the celebration back at my parent's place in Kelana Jaya. Just a simple celebration with take out food like sate, fried mee hoon and other delicious stuff. Iwan and family was there as well to join the fun.

My hero led the doa recital. He is really getting better at this.

We planned another big celebration later in May Insyallah to celebrate the cuties birthday(my hero's will be early June). It ala again depends on the "B". With "B", the event may be bigger.

Having dinner with family is simply priceless.......

My hero's big day

For those who have been following my blog, all the preparations done earlier was actually for this event...A kenduri doa selamat especially for my hero. Why?

Cause he will be circumcised tomorrow. In my family, circumcission is a big thing. And usually it will be bigger than what we have prepared. On a contrarary, circumcission is just another routine for my better half's family.

So, to respect my dad's wish, we decided to have a small kenduri for my hero. If you are wondering why you did not receive any invite, please jangan kecik hati. As I mentioned, we did not want to make it a big event as we just organised Kenduri Masuk Rumah earlier. We just invited our relatives, neighbours, qariah masjid and some close friends. And we had this kenduri to respect my dad's wish.

The kenduri started at 12pm. We have notified the qariah masjid much earlier to make sure it won't clash with other events that they need to attend. We also did a tahlil considering most of the attendees are family.

Just capturing the above picture where the cute and adorable Luqman meets the...well, how should I put this....the senior Luqman lah!

Alhamdulilah, the event went well. The weather was great, it only started to rain around 4pm which was not a problem as the kenduri ended at 2pm. However, some only arrived later which again was not a problem, we were very happy they can still make it.

To my hero, jangan takut sayang. Macam Papa cakap, macam kena gigit semut jer...(somehow, it's hard for me to believe that!)

Another birthday celebrations

Yup, spot on. Another birthday celebration. This time is Iwan's wifey birthday. Unfortunately I have to work late. So, did not get the chance to prepare for anything. Lagipum suaminyer ada kan...suaminyer lah kena sibuk prepare, tak gitu Iwan?

My parents cooked spagetti, the improvised version that is. The spicy and malay version. Nice, sedap mami dgn abah masak.

And Iwan bought the cake. American Chocolate that is. But the cuties were the excited ones mengalahkan the birthday girl. And if I forgot to mention to you all, I don't like chocolate and I don't eat chocolate tapi gemuk gak kan?

Next birthday to be celebrated...my better half...nak gi mana yer...

Macam2 Makan Raya

Raya, any Raya is the day where you eat and eat and eat, nothing else but eat. I am so thankful I did not over do it this time around. In most circumstances, memang makan macam tak hingat!

I have to keep on reminding myself, I have lost about 3 kg and that took a lot of effort, let's not spoil it just because I can't overcome my temptation.

My mom in-law cooked the normal ketupat nasi impit and other food related to this. I am so thankful to have a very understanding mom in-law who loves to pamper me. Whenever I go back to Batu Pahat, she usually would ask me to rest, she keep on saying I have worked hard to earn a living at the same time maintaining the family, so bila balik kampung she insist I rest. So, she will do the cooking and serving. But, rasa bersalah gak kan, I will still be in the kitchen. Dah nama pun duduk kampung, harus ler ada yang mengata kalau menantu tak jenguk dapur.

Right after the Qurban, my mom in-law cooked sup tulang. This food suited with the weather, it was cold as it rained non stop satu hari satu malam. Memang sedap makan dgn sambal kicap. Terangkat!

The next day, when we were back at our house, we woke up early to beraya at my mom's house. No prizes for guessing, of course there's more food involved. Apa lagik, makan ler...My mom cooked ketupat, kuah kacang and rendang. Sedap!!!

But, the weird thing about our family, usually during Raya, we would want to eat something else besides the typical ketupat rendang. So, we had some food at a Mamak place at Parit Raja. The cuties wanted western food so they had chicken chop and lamb chop to be shared. Myself and my better half just had a drink. I wanted maggi soup, ada ke patut kedai mamak tak de maggi soup, very the not so mamak kan?

Raya oh Raya, nasib baik ler setahun 2 kali, if sebulan sekali, sebesar belon ler badan nie kan?

The family celebration

Mobile Ringing....(Song - Big Girls Don't Cry)

"Assalammualaikum, akak Mami nie, Mami tau akak busy but today is your birthday...Please make sure you come home early for family dinner.."

How can you say no to your mom...especially when you know she is cooking a feast just for your birthday. I guess I can let go of my no-dinner-diet for just one night, that is my birthday night.

The traffic was not kind though. Like the traffic knows it's my birthday. Like the whole world need to stop just because it's my birthday(though i secretly wish for that to happen)

I arrived home right after maghrib. After solat, the family dinner started. Iwan was there to recite the doa and thank God it was a short one cause I know the cuties are starving. My parents cooked siput sedut masak lemak, ikan masak cili(ikan gerut2, have you heard of this), sambal tumis ikan bilis, ulam with sambal belacan and fried chicken. Of course, there's a birthday cake.

The cuties were very sweet. They actually bought birthday presents for me(fully funded by my better half). My hero even explained to me why he is giving 2 presents. He said it was buy one free one...hahahaha!!!!

What did they get me? Next entry lah yer...All and all, I had a great time!