Raya aftermath...

What to update?

Raya lama sangat and I open my laptop just the last 2 days on the weekend. Itu pun just few minutes surf around then close it up.

It's definitely a Raya sakan for me this year. Note that my baju raya that I sent in July, out of three only 1 the tailor manage to handed over to me. And she sew it on Saturday itself day before Raya. I don't like to wear new clothe without washing. Never actually. Is just me...so my new baju raya have to wait and I have to use my old collection. The other 2 baju raya...I took the material back and ask for my money to be refund (the deposits). Seb baik I am the type yg tak kisah pakai baju lama since I am not a baju kurung fan anywany. My baju kurung is strictly for raya pertama dan kedua ..and also for majlis2 kawen di dewan2 sahaja.

Anyway first raya as usual I celebrate in Sijangkang first....after the mohon maaf session and makan2 yg sgt best, the neighbours will cross visit our house their house and we were like doing rounding. They are the elderly that has helped a lot during the early days when we move here to Sijangkang. I just need to go to important houses only cos next I need to rush to my mil house.
Is just half an hour away... so unlike most of you will be traveling a few days before raya...for us...first day raya will always be here.

Second day as routine we need to visit my relatives (mom side) in Sungai Besar to visit my grandma and other relatives. Most of them are elderly as well, have been thought by my parents since small that we need to pay our respect to them. And as I grow up, I can actually see how they appreciate when the grandchild, nieces, nephews come and visit and give some duit raya. Even tho not much but it's enough to make them shed some tears...I don't know yet why they are so touch with our visits..but soon when I am in their shoes (read when I am old) I am sure I would know why.

Third raya I actually should can just settle down at my own house as this year, Melaka is no longer in the agenda. My grandma (dad side) already permanently stays with us. So I already save one trip. But itchy me...and the facts that I already appreciated the Raya itself when you should be visiting the elderly and do some catch up. I and hubby decided to go down South. We stops in Seremban to visits hubby relatives. Stop at 3 house and each house took us 1 hour to 2 hours...Then we go straight to Singapore to visit my uncle. Stay overnight there as both my sons very fond with my cousin from Singapore. Not sure for what reasons but they love her so much...and makes my other cousins and even sister so jealous of her ...haha anyway the next day we went straight to Pontian and visit my other uncle and we only make a move out from Pontian around 11 pm at night. Reaching Sijangkang at 3pm where of course madam kartini is driving. Mr hubby went to lala land once he handed over the car to me at Pagoh.

So we jump straight to the 5th raya where my cousins arrive from JB to visit my grandma with his cute little daughter. Spend half day qada' tido, play with Qistina (my cousin's daughter) and kemas2 our new home.

Friday to Sunday we already start to chill at our new home. Some cousins and friends come over to visit us and they spend a good few hours to chat. We went out for some groceries and manage to finally get hubby his birthday presents. Spanking new HTC Touch Pro 2. Gosh he is one spoil hubby. Wonder if I have more than one hubby.confirm pakai..theheheh.

So 9 days holiday just went off in a blink. Somehow I wake up this morning feeling fresh tho lil bit tired. Get the kids ready, send them to kindy and I myself drove straight to the office. Maybe the spirits of new home help to energize me. Yeah...proudly to announce we have moved into our new home sweet home :D...
My grandma with my dad
My grandma with my 2 boys
My dad and my mom
My sis with Aariz
My lil bro
Me
Chubby hubby
My inlaws...aren't they pretty :D
My bil, fil and hubby
My sil and nephew and nieces
Not much picture of me among them cos many without my scarf...hubby will be rolling his eyes if I upload all of them :D

What is Hari Raya to you ?

For me, it has different meanings depending on what stage of my life are.

When I was little Hari Raya means that we are going back to our grandparents home. As far as I remember the first Hari Raya always in Melaka (my dad side) and the second will be in Sabak Bernam (my mom side). It's has been that way till last year as the responsibilities to guard the house and take care or my grandma (mom side) will false under my mom's shoulder as her siblings will go to the other kampung on the first Raya night. My parents have sort of system where, we are going to be at the kampung to give chance for other siblings to go back to their in laws too. This way both grandparents will not be left alone at least for the first few days of Raya.

OK back to what does it means to me when I was little....It means we are having a blast at Hari Raya. Both kampung have their own unique feelings. Back to Melaka means I get to see my cousins and since we are more or less the same age we get to play and gossip and collect duit raya and eat marvellous tart made by my grandma or finish kuih kipas that my grandpa never fails to buy for us that time. I will always remember my grandpa (melaka side) riding his stunning red motorbike going out to buy some groceries for us. He shower us with loads of sweets lollies and at night he will stay with us late just to accompany us watch horror stories (indon or chinese movie) that is really scary where all our parents falls asleep already. He will never fails to amuse us and make us gelak 'mengelekek' ( melaka terms for lol) with his funny joke. We play mercun and bunga api at verandah during day and night like nobody business. Buy ice cream malaysia from another neighbour ...and many more. Well it bring lots of memories at least for me.

Back in Sabak Bernam, they are lots of family visit that we need to attend. Cousin at my age is not many but we still have a lot's of fun... They will bring me to 'baraan' where all the woman in that area will go from one house to another and being served with all the yummy food. The guys will stay at home and be the host. The group are big ...maybe around 100 people going over maybe 40 house in one day. At the end of the day everybody will be so full and happy. Oh btw they firecrackers experience in Sabak Bernam is superb. But that time as we are very small we are just allowed to see from far. I can see my bigger cousins doing all the with the firecrackers that they have. By the time we are big enough to experience that...they banned firecrackers and we just left with not much choice.

When I was a teenager. Well you start to try and get some space by your own. Seeing your cousins is cool. But going to visit the relatives...it's a bit boring. My parents don't buy any excuse from us. We are force to go with them...It has been a tradition that we have to follow suits every year. I don't understand why at that time. But one thing for sure I can see how my nenek sedara tok sedara....my mom cousins are all happy to see us.

Later when I get married I notice that during my wedding days I have lots of guest and my oh my how all my relatives that I visit since my childhood are all there to help us during the wedding days. I note the importance of the visiting during Raya and how importance that we get to know our relatives, uncles and aunties, grandparents and their sibilings.

Now when I'm married Raya has become more and more meaningful. Even the tradition might be swept away with our modern culture. But I try to give my kids as much as possible the experience and the joy that I had during my childhood. Hence countless bunga api and mercun we introduce to them and of course with our supervisions. My parents place still in kampung area and my neighbours has lots of kids that play together with my child. I want them to experience and to know that Raya not just a long break or holiday. But it's a chance for us to go back and get to know our relatives and what's importance in our lifes. Get to see people, some are fortunate and some are not. Yeah my parents use to bring us to Foster Home as well during Ramadhan so that we understand that they are people who need more than us...Than us that wants toys and baju raya and duit raya endlessly.

You know the circle will turn around. We one will be old as well. I believe if we do not instill the right perceptions to our kids. Raya down the road will just be another holiday. When our turn to get our deserve visits from our grandson or others....we might not get that already. Nowdays the feelings of Hari Raya has changes as well. So I am doing all I can to preserve some of the tradition. How about you ?

Raya mode turn on Level 1

Seriously in Raya mode already. But work still need to be done. What worst my parents is not around. I am taking care of my kids and hubby by myself( means I seriously need to cook for them). Additional task as my grandma just arrive last Sunday, so have to perform better ( means lauk beli la :p) by making sure the food for Iftar is up to her standard... Not that I complaining but my grandma very picky on her food so seriously, we need to ensure that we are up to her standard :D. Her cooking was superb by the way...but she is too old to cook everyday for us. Besides, me and my sister need to take care of her now instead the other way round. Life is a circle after all.

I remember when we were young and my parents were travelling as much as we do. Maybe more (that is what I felt) and they always leave us with our grandparents. I still have the memories when she cooks for us and my grandpa send us from and to school. But grandpa don't have the chance to see what I and my other cousins turn up into. He passed away when I was in Form 3 I think due to lung cancer :(...Anyway this should not be sedih2 posting. The most important thing I had a great memory with him and now since I have my grandma with us, we should just make her happy. Last few weeks when I get my curtain on my house, she is among the first one who get to see it. Can see that she kinda happy to see my house. And I am happy too :).

So what am I up to? Last weekend we went for Iftar at hubby schoolmate house. Ok his dad house actually :). Very big house that when Aariz went in he ask me...Ma what is this ? Is this a house? I ask him back...hurm what you think ? You think it's a museum...and quickly he reply...yer la ma... Which I laugh out loud :p. I think he can't stop thinking why the house is so big that he ask me several time in between why the need of having a big house :p.

We had a blast there, esp the kids since they meet up with each other quite often. They played liek nobody business. I bake my choc brownies and bread pudding and both disappear very quickly. Maybe because they are not many dessert availables, but I choose to believe it is because my dessert was simply delicious!

Today they are few item should be delivered to my house. But some glitch from their side so both will be coming in tomorrow. It's pretty comfortable working from my home...yeah I started to spend more time here now and my baking utensils are all here. I can't wait to move in...

Tetiba

Tetiba jer ramai yg masuk blog ni. Rupenya cikdaun dah belog pasal rumah ku dan letak link sekali. cikdaun...cepat2 cket buat posting baru yer...makcik dah shame shame ni :">

Jangan Monyet .....

Anybody from my era should remember the advert on Jangan Monyet from our education channel ...

Let me refresh your memory.

Monkey saw red ripe chillies and wanted to eat them!

Sang Kancil: "Jangan Monyet, jangan!"

Monyet: "Aku tak kira! Aku tak kira! Aku nak jugak!"

And the rest of it's is history......

Last month I have my own version of Jangan Monyet....

There's a few chillies plant behind my mom house. My mom already warn my kids not to touch them. One fine day the chillies has ripen to a nice stunning red!

Aariz get's excited trying to touch the chilli and the grandma warn him again.....just like the monyet and the sang kancil.

Next thing...Aariz is jumping up and down...both his hand is practically burning!. He actually pluck the chillies and start playing with them.

I am not sorry for him cos we already warn him. I start to tell him stories about Jangan Monyet and it's make him more upset.... Well let's the picture does the stories.

Running inside my room while screaming hot! hot!

Tak tahan panas
Macam mane ni maaaaa
Fawwaz pelik tgk abang dia
Ok duduk depan fan sampai tangan ok yer ...lenkali ada telinga buat apa???dengar mama ckp!

Presenting my new home! with picca :p

I think I owe you guys the picture of my house. This will be a long entry so please bear with me.

I have been wanting my own house since very long time ago. As we both working pindah randah so it's difficult to really settle down. We tried once and we just waste the money to our USJ house. After a while I told hubby that I want us just to get KL project assignment only. I did and he did. Fortunate me no travel required except the one that I just had last few weeks. Once a while I don't really mind. But hubby, sigh...he still travel every 2 or 3 months once. I really hope no more long term assignment, but hubby said no promise.

It's a hard work to get the house ready. Now I understand why people take ID to handle all the hassle. Nak jimat punya pasal...and yeap we did cut the cost down to 50%. But we have to compromise on certain workmanship and just have to close one eye.

The good news is, the house turn to my liking lah. So now presenting my favourites area by ranking....'

No 1 : Master bedroom
For now I love this area the most. I like the colour, we use Prairie Dust from Nippon Paint. The curtain is from Elyza and it took 5 visits to the showroom just to pick the right curtain. It goes the same to my living area curtain. The overall concept of the house is more to woods, rustic feelings. We try not to make it look and feels so woody (betul ke ayat ku ini ...belasah la) so we blend in some modern look as well.

(kalau sape2 perasan ni hubby tgh sebok nak godek streamyx dia)

That is hubby working area. He works late sometime and I like to see him in front of my eyes hence the working table is in the master bedroom. So that I can sleep and still peek on him when he work late night.

The wardrobe...Obviously no room for walk in wardrobe but this build in wardrobe would do his job. I love it as it maximize the area that we have and they are many compartment for me to put our necessities. The wardrobe utilizing the alley to the bathroom, so it didn't messed up with my bed space.

No 2 : Kitchen
Of course I have to like my kitchen right!. If I don't I might not be cooking there. Still the wood concept...reasons being husband said it's easier to sell it off as wood usually will not be out of fashion. When we try to look for kitchen ideas, there is one makcik lend us Anjung Seri magazine from zaman tok kaduk. We look into the magazine and feels the kitchen cabinet design back few years were all looks yucky except the one that is wood base which looks pretty ok. So with our rational (kononnya) we decided to abandon the modern kitchen looks (high gloss or whatever it is) and just stick with the old wood looks. So this is my kitchen...with enough space for now....see no curtain kat sini...uhuk...it will be my later project lah.

The retro feelings hidden behind my cooker hood.

And this is my working area for my baking passion. Soon hubby need to get me my Kitchen Aid mixer. Perhaps for my coming birthday. As of now empty bottle on the shelf that suppose to be my cooking book shelf, and also my cute kettle.

No 3: Hall and Dining Area

Which is not 100% ready yet .... they are few more item will be coming in soon so this looks might change over time.Si kenit tu cam obses tgk tv besar and kalau boleh nak masuk tv agaknya.
Ni langsir dekat living area bahagian atas. The area still empty for now.
Lampu dekat dining area yg paling ku suka. Asik berangan jek tgk lampu ni :p



No 4: The patio / pagola area
This is the famous folding door that hubby were eyeing and thinking to get from day 1 house renovation. I disagree at first as folding door cost more then the normal sliding door. But space constraints makes the folding door looks more practical and here it is. The pagola and patio is not 100% ready as yet. They are some work need to be done and I am hoping the contractor can finish it by this coming weekend.

Gambar selingan dengan si kenit2 sebagai model main bunga api.

No 5: Laundry area
It's a bit messy now, but I love the effort by my hubby to buy the shelf and fix it into my laundry area. Those paint will go off soon after we touch up the house and I'll make full use of this area to store our necessities here. No picture...sebab terlupa

Gosh..I guess that is the update for now. Some other area still not complete yet. The kids bedroom will be sorted by this weekend. They are 3 rooms without curtain yet as my allocation for curtain used up for the living area and master bedroom. So pelan2 lah yer. Hubby didn't brought his lenses yg boleh adjust to take picture from far ke dekat ( I don't know the tech name for it) ... So that is why all the picture are close up picture. But nonetheless ...enjoy the picture ;)

Fawwaz is 3 and Hubby is 30

It's a very rare occasions that I'm going to get this number again on any of our birthday events. But this very month of this very year....Fawwaz turn 3 on the 1st of September while Hubby turn 30 on the 7th of Sept.

1st September to 7th of September is actually how long we celebrate the birthday events. Started with on the 1st itself where my sister brought some cakes from Secret Recepi and we sing him the Happy Birthday song...Then on the 5th of Sept I arrange an Iftar sessions with our close family at our new home. With a birthday cake specially from Baskin Robin. Fawwaz can't stop grinning with excitement as he understand how special birthday celebrations could be. Lot's of fun people and pressies too.

On the 6th we went to a friend house for Iftar. Even this doesn't have anything to do with the birthday celebration, the kids have fun playing with the 'bunga api'. And since the house is full with boys, they are having so much from start playing ultraman, pedang and whatever fighting action that they can think off. The parents having fun chatting and eating ...and I would comment that the dessert was marvellous.

7th Sept is a Public Holiday for Selangor and I decided to give a visit to KLCC while waiting for hubby to finish his work. My sister sent us to the KJ LRT station and we took a train to KLCC. Oh boy the kids were super duper happy and excited through out the journey. Lot's of question coming from Aariz and it's very entertaining. Reach KLCC at 3.00 pm and I start going around drag the kids to do raya shopping with me. Manage to get 3 blouse for me, 2 shirts for hubby one for my brother, shoes each for the kids, and Lego for Fawwaz birthday presents from us. We had our Iftar at The Apartment with a good spread of foods.

Well the shooping doesn't end there. Hubby inform me that they are Furniture exhibition at the Convention Center and we rush there for a while to grab a good deal for his overdue anniversarry pressie ...the long awaited Lazy Boy chair. The kids I manage to secure a bedroom set for them and that will be the closing for our Raya shopping and House hold hunting for now. And I still owe him a birthday presents! Sigh.

We are now officially super broke but full of happiness...will deal with the super broke later end of this month :p