The Wedding (& Photos)

As promised, here are some photos of the wedding.

Iman wanted the pelamin white (she wore pink for the akad and a gorgeous deep plum for the bersanding). With pink and purple flowers. With lots of pillows. I said we must have a cleopatra chair. The mak andam came up with this. I thought it looked amazing (I actually cannot believe this photo is really taken in my house).

We made the hantaran ourselves. I actually scout around to outsource the hantaran but they all seem very price-y. I also made the bunga dip for the hantaran. I had to make numerous trips to the kedai riben to get the perfect ribbon colors and then spent days getting the ribbons twirled right (!) - namun masih tak nampak being twirled right dalam gambar nih.

I like this photo. One of the bridesmaids was our unofficial photographer (thanks Sakinah). I wonder when we can get our photos from the official photographers we had engaged. The first time we put up the curtain in the bilik pengantin, I thought oh no, I have yellow curtains! For a while I toyed with the idea of running to Ikea for ready made curtains. Thank goodness I didnt - I thought the curtains look perfect (in this photo anyway).

The men got down to the serious business..

The father of the bride performed the akad. He had jitters all morning, the day before, the day before that (and everytime he thought about the akad). I had thousands of butterflies swarming over me. Alhamdulillah the men did a splendid job. They sailed through the ceremony (the jurunikah became one of my favorite persons for conducting the most perfect wedding ceremony..)

Fatin is the mak andam responsible for the clothes and the pelamin. I find that her taste is impeccable. And I thought her fingers could create magic too. She also did decorations for the stairs and the walkway outside with the pintu gerbang. I thought all that were gorgeous too. I'd recommend her for any wedding (call me if you want her number.)

Iman wore a pink multi-layered dress for the akad. She refused white / cream / beige (she thought she'll look fat). Kurung is a no-no too she said (me, on the other hand had thought a beige lacy kurung moden is just the thing). We found a demure grey dress which I thought was perfect. But she had set her heart on the pink. Luckily Fatin had a grey baju melayu for the groom to wear (I cant bear a man in pink baju melayu).

She wore a deep plum baju ala kebaya for bersanding. Unfortunately I have to wait for the pros to share a photo of that.

We made the bunga dip for the pelamin / bunga pahar. I had to put up this photo also as a compensation to my poor fingers / arms that twist and turn who knows how many wires for the flowers (I lost count after the hundredth, I think). Thanks Has for tutoring and spending valuable time coaching. May you find light in taking this skill to the next level.

I truly, truly love this cake. It was a present from Aida. To tell you the truth, I have never seen a more amazing cake than this before. Seriously. Thanks Aida. Very much. Unfortunately we didnt get to eat the cake (with the edible flower). As it is the prettiest of all the cakes that we have, we gave it to the rombongan pengantin.

Alhamdulillah the day went well. It rained and rained the evening before the wedding. The chairs, the table, the carpet (everything, in fact) got wet. I was worried. But the new day dawned somewhat sunny and bright, with some patches of clouds in the sky to fend off the hot sun.

The wedding somehow reminds me of the verse, Maka nikmat Tuhan kamu yang mana kah yang kamu dustakan?

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Owh, Look At What We've Been Up To Lately

(I was at a gorgeous wedding a couple of weeks ago. Our friends' eldest son got married.)

..... He was sitting at the piano, putting final touches to his face with the compact powder. I thought rude pulak tak tegur – he was the nicest neighbor when he was living on our street. Tak pernah sombong. So we chat up a bit. My daughter hovered at the back, tangkap gambar.

He then put the compact away and said mari kita tangkap gambar kat atas pelamin - biar padan muka orang tengok! (in his typical drama queen / artistic way). So that was how I ended up like in the photo below (ps - my husband went whoa! when he saw the photo).

After that he asked anak you tak nak tangkap gambar? Iman pun duduk tangkap gambar. Dia lagi best, siap pegang kipas macam artist jugak!

Azwan was the emcee at his nephew’s wedding. I must say he did a superb job at emcee-ing. Memang ada natural talent. Semoga dilindungi dan dirahmati Allah selalu.

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It Is Fall Again

I suppose fall colors, especially in the mountains, will always make me feel melancholy in a way. Weepy sometimes. Definitely nostalgic every time.




Not surprisingly I have posts on fall almost every year, like here and here (and guess what? - I hadnt realised it until now, but they were all posted on the same date too).

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The Big Day ~ Thank You

So life is (almost) back to normal now that the wedding is over - in the sense that the mind and time is free from the plans and preparation for the big day and all the (inevitable) worries that come with the package.

Alhamdulillah the day turned out fine. Sesungguhnya Allah maha penyayang. I couldnt (and shouldnt) ask for anything better (in fact, what good have I done to deserve anything like this?)

In a way the whole experience has been humbling. You start to appreciate again things you have somehow taken too much for granted. Like the support of family and friends. Not to mention the precious eco-system of a close knitted neighborhood.

This thank you post goes out to family members, to friends, to neighbors. To suppliers. Everyone who had cared enough (to continue) to build the silaturrahim. For any shortcomings - we know there are many - we apologize for them from the very bottom of our hearts. Do tell us how to make it up to you. Thank you, thank you. You are all the dearest.

ps - I do not have even one photo to share at this point. I will post some once I get a few decent ones.

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Things I Tell Myself (& Sometimes The Kids)

Hidup ini hanyalah semata-mata untuk mencari keredhaan Allah.

Tiada tujuan lain kehidupan kecuali untuk mengumpul bekalan bagi perjalanan pulang kepada yang abadi.


(The challenge is matching actions with these words.)

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Makan2 at Al Rawsha

We were in city center to fetch Iman and somehow without conscious planning stopped for (late) dinner at Al Rawsha. It's a mid-eastern restaurant located at the very edge of Bulatan Kampung Pandan heading towards Maluri as you come from city center on Jalan Tun Razak.

Boleh baca ke map ni? You can if you are familiar with the area, me think (namun pakai lah GPS or Garmin or whatever your preference, especially if you are from out of town).

The place has this facade that looks like a castle from outside. The insides are pretty too with typical mid-eastern motifs on the walls (but the interiors at Tagine on Bukit Bintang is much prettier).

Reading the menu was a piece of cake; understanding it is totally another matter.. (sebab tu semua orang concentrate semacam masa baca menu tu, haha) Kabsa or hanith are a snap. We can also safely figure out falafel, shawarma and tabbouleh too. But anything else is beyond me.

We ended up ordering the lamb kabsa in a big plate (the boys went wow, when they saw the plate). With some vege flavored in olive oil and wrapped in vine leaves (I dont know what those are called though). Baklava. And typical mid-eastern malt drink. The lamb was good. So is the rice. I think I made better baklava during my years at college, nak cakap jugak tu.. (although I have lost that skill somehow. The last time I made baklava, recently, the phyllo turned out soggy).

On a scale of 1 - 10, I'll give the place a 7. I'll gladly go back to Saba in Setiawangsa for a meal anytime. Tapi nak buat tukar angin, Al Rawsha isnt too bad at all. They are open - believe it or, 24 by 7. Visit them here.

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A Family Wedding - Najwa & Akhi

This is a good time to attend weddings where I am concerned. I have a lot of checking out to do. The pelamin, the wedding cake, the bride's gown. The bunga telur. Bunga pahar. The flowers. The food ~ of course. The location. Make up. Rombongan pengantin. Lauk pengantin. You name it, I will put them all under the microscope.

Last weekend Najwa, a niece, got married. This time I include the pengantin photos, supaya puas hati dapat tengok pengantin - the last wedding I had the bridesmaid photo only.. haha.


Anyway, I thought the pengantin both looked bagai pinang dibelah dua.

This is the groom's parents. Kak Zah is the nicest person I know through work at the office. It is indeed a very small world (yes, you may sing the small world song..)

The wedding was held in Shah Alam. One evening some time ago we spent close to an hour in the pouring rain trying to find our way out of Shah Alam (so it is safe to say that Shah Alam is not my playground at all). In fact I had called up 4 friends to get directions to Monterez for the wedding. We did get to the club in one piece though.

Nieces (with their mum aka sister) in charge of the bunga telur.


Pengantin & bonda.


ps - please make us some doa that the wedding we'll be having will be sempurna in every way, InsyaAllah.

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