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.

Weekend@Batu Pahat - The Kenduri Preparation

Last weekend, we took the trip back to Batu Pahat. It's been ages since we went back there, the last time was early May. I missed my mom in law and couldn't wait to come back.

It was also a special weekend, there will be a kenduri to welcome the month of Ramadhan. Yup, still early but in kampung you take turn to have this kenduri and there are many houses would want to have kenduri. To make sure no kenduri clashes with each other, they will come up with a schedule. I find that pretty cool, something you don't get to see in the city. Semangat kemasyarakatan ler kan...

The first half of the day was for the preparation of the things for cooking. The ladies of the kampung came "berduyun tiba" to help out. It's called rewang. They will each bring their own knives and started to do what's necessary to be done like peeling the onion, and other related stuff.

I was in charge of cooking hence was at the side of the house most of the time. I was accompanied by my better half.

Some of the lauk we cooked - ayam kurma, kari ayam and sayur kacang.

Next update - the kenduri time and how the cuties were in the berhempas pulas mode to help....

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...

Wedding hopping with the in-laws - Day Two

We survived Day One of the wedding hopping, now let see whether we'll make it for the Day 2.

This time, the wedding is quite a distance from my in-laws house. About one hour drive. Located at Labis, this place is called Felda Moakil. The journey was smooth. Not much traffic heading towards direction.

This family is relative to my dad in-law. The wife is his cousin. Previously, the family stayed at my dad in-laws kampung until the family was offered some land to be developed under Felda and has been residing here. Apparently, lots of the villagers also received the same offers in various locations in Malaysia as far as Pahang. My dad in-law also had the offer but declined as he already have a business, the mini market at that time.

The concept for this wedding was gold and white. The whole wedding was so beautiful and you can see was really well prepared.

Ingat Mawi je kawin ada sponsor, the mineral water for the wedding was also by this company. Siap ada Chef Wan lagik.

I love the bunga telur. The choice of colours were so meriah and very bright.

We did not stay for long. My better half wanted to leave early, wanted to avoid the traffic for our journey home to BSP.

Nasib baik just one wedding. The other one, we did not follow. Otherwise, memang tak larat tau.

Wedding hopping with the in-laws - Day One

I was warned by my better half, there's a strong possibilities we will be following my in-laws to attend weddings last weekend. So, better brings baju kurung. Not only for me, also for the cuties.

So, last Sunday was officially Day One of the wedding hopping fiesta. There were 3 weddings and one engagement that we need to attend. All were around the kampung areas.

I brought the cuties along so that they can learn to appreciate Malay wedding - kampung style as well as they can get to know the people in the kampung, I know I need to be doing the get to know part as well.

This reminded me of the 2 important frequently used or sometimes I classified this as over used statements why we have to attend weddings as per what I have been informed by my parents everytime I felt so lazy to follow them to weddings:

1. :"Nanti Liza kawin or adik beradik lain kawin, takde orang nak datang". Since they can't use this statement anymore, all me and my 2 sibblings are married, this have changed to, " Nanti anak Liza kawin takde orang nak datang". And my eldest child is only 11 years old...hhhhmmmm....

2. "Nanti kalau ada orang meninggal kat rumah nie, takde orang nak uruskan jenazah" and this never fail to give me the creep everytime this is mentioned and I have no choice but to oblige my parents order to attend weddings.

Back to the wedding hopping...

Let's look at the scenarios and the decorations of pelamin and the dining areas for all 3 weddings.

Wedding No 1

Located at Parit Sukor, about 5 minutes drive from my in-laws house. The concept chosen ; off white

Wedding No 2

Located at Parit Amil, the road leading to Yong Peng about 15 minutes drive from my in-laws house. The concept ; maroon and white

Wedding No 3

Located at Parit Lapis Sempadan, Parit Raja, 25 minutes drive from my in-laws house. Concept similar to House No 2 ; maroon and white.

By the time we reached house No 3, I can't eat, so full already and the cuties were exhausted. The third house was different for the other 2, the entertainment part. They have live band...ROCK KAPAK !!!!!

And I did not follow my in-laws to the engagement event. I was having bad flu and cough and my face was all red and need to get my nap after the medication. Only my princess still have the energy to follow.

Actually, over the past 5 years, I have developed a strong interest to attend weddings, mostly because of my dream to have my own wedding planner company. Not only restricted to organizing weddings, also to organize events. Like event management company but the forte will be organizing weddings. That explains why snapping the photos of the pelamin and stuff.

Bilakah impian ini akan menjadi kenyataan....

The gifts

After the celebration, it's the gift opening time.

For my mom in law, we got her a pair of Scholl sandals. She has been complaining of her aching legs when she walk, so we thought getting a comfortable sandals will ease the pain. Save the trouble of guessing what size fits her, we brought her to the shoes shop and let her choose which one she loves. And she chose this one.

However, she is not very happy when she get to know how much the price is. She felt it's too expensive but we felt she deserve even more than that!

And for Adik, we got her a pair of watch. Cost about RM150. Adik has always been the one being with us whenever we need extra hands. So, the watch was nothing.

Alhamdulilah, this 2 precious ladies love their gifts. And the best thing is we all had a good time....

The birthday celebration

It has been an annual event for us to go back to Batu Pahat at the end of January to celebrate the birthday of the 2 important women in my life ; my mom in law and Adik. This year is no difference.

We let Adik to choose where we will be having the birthday dinner and she chose Batu Pahat Mall. And the restaurant will be the Chicken Rice Shop.

Of course it was the weekend before CNY, what's a CNY celebration without the lion dance. We got to witness that on the way to the restaurant.

However, the service was very dissapointing. Not only the service was very slow, the food arrived in portions. We were about to finish our rice when the rest of the order arrived. Lambat sungguh!!

There were contest for kids and the cuties took part in this contest and they won 2 pai tees each. More food on the table!

After that, present time....You'll see what we get this 2 gorgeous ladies. It's so cool!!!

Addition to the collection

Last Friday, I went to Ampang Park in search of new sets of brooches. I love wearing big brooches especially if I am wearing office suit. It will look nice that way.

So I got myself this 2 sets of brooches. 2 sets for RM98. Not bad. This price is after 30% discount.

When we were at Batu Pahat for Raya Qurban, my mom in law was kind enough to give me another pair of brooches. This time is the dangling type. Thanks Mak!

Looks like the collection is expanding :)....

In Laws In Town - for the Raya thingy

My in-laws and of course Adik came over on Saturday and arrived around 5pm. We, especially the cuties were very excited and have been waiting for them to arrived.

We picked them up at the toll exit and headed home straight after that. Both Abah and Mak were not well but still insisted on coming as they also want to join the kenduri and Raya Open House. I'm so glad they did, the more the merrier. And of course, Adik is always a good help in the kitchen.

We bought dinner at Pasar Malam. My mom in-law is very adventureous about food and love to try new things. We bought quite a variety and they enjoyed it very much.

Makan banyak2 skit dik, banyak keje nak buat nie!

Raya Present for The In-Laws

Alhamdulilah, I have a good relationship with my mom and dad-in-law. Let's not comment about the strained relationship that I have with one of the sis-in-law, let's just not go there.

Every Raya, we will usuallu purchase Raya presents for both of my in-law and usually it will be baju Raya. However, this year, we thought to make it a little bit different (also the fact that my mom-in-law owns her own small "boutique" in the kampung, hence her collection of baju is much more impressive than my knowledge in cloth material!). So, I thought it will be cool to get her a handbag.

As for my dad-in-law, we got him a pari of sandal, considering the last one that he wore for Adik's convo was unwearable and so old.

Usually, I will get a pair of baju kurung for Adik as well, but this year, my better half told me not to since Adik is already working and has her own income...Sorry yer dik...

Alhamdulilah, they were happy with the presents, and my mom-in-law told me I have a good instinct, coincedently, she was looking for a handbag.

Hope this Raya will be a joyous celebration!

Time to go....

While waiting for Adik's convo to end, we checked out the hotel. We have informed abah and mak to pack up before they left for the convo. Then, we just need to put all the stuff in the car.

We sent my in-laws and adik to Puduraya. Their bus supposed to leave at 2.30pm

Such a short stay, but this is very typical for my in-laws, so far the longest they stayed with us was for 2 nites. It never gone beyond that.

Selamat Jalan, Insyallah, minggu depan kami balik...

Bermanja bersama atok dan nenek

The cuties are so lucky they have both of their grandparent still alive and kicking anf willing to melayan all the kerenah that even their parents cannot tahan. Especially my mom in law, who is willing to put up with anything that they do.

As mentioned earlier, we stayed at Seri Pacific hotel and our rooms are located at Level 22. We took 2 rooms, one for my family and one of my in laws with Adik.

After dinner, before going to bed, they decided to lepak for awhile at the atok and nenek's room. Reason given by baby, Dari bilik atok can see KLCC... Iyolah tu...

They started playing with the bathrobes and then started to kacau their atok.
Baby : Atok menung apa?
Atok : Atok nie ingat kat kg tu, pintu rumah tu dah kunci ke, kedai berjaga ke?

Baby : Kan angah ada jaga kedai

Atok : Angah tu selalu nak rilek je, takut angah lupa

Baby : Atok call je lah, menung jer buat apa

Atok : Ye lah, nanti atok call

Pandai baby layan atok yer...

In laws In town

My in-laws were in town for 2 days to attend adik convocation. They arrived around 6pm and we picked them put at Puduraya. We actually told them to come by bus as my FIL can't actually stand long distance driving.

The convo was held at PWTC so the most convenient hotel to stay would be Seri Pacific(formerly known as Pan Pac). Though the price is quite costly but it is so convinient and if you add all the travelling expenses should you stay in another hotel, it will come up to the same price. Plus the traffic and frustration so after much consideration we chose this hotel.

We then took then for dinner after maghrib prayers to The Mall, just across the road. We had our dinner at Medan Hang Tuah food court. Food was not too bad but the place was quite dead. My better half told me, maybe it's because it's late already.

We called it a night right after that since the convo event was scheduled to start at 8am, at least that's what they claim it will be starting....

More stories on the convo later!