Walimatul-urus

That's the arrival of the pengantin. The wedding was meriah. That's the word to use. Ramai orang datang and receded only when it rained. Maybe it is a blessing that it rained?

Because we ALMOST ran out of lauk. The ayam panggang-air asam pair was way too appetizing for a wedding I think. Sebab tu cepat habis (moral of the story is kalau kenduri masak lauk ala kadar je sebab nya kalau tak, orang makan banyak!! Dah sedap, kan..? haha).
But seriously. Mungkin niat baik ibubapa pengantin nak menjamu. Berkat, InsyaAllah.

We missed the akad - as usual the children had got to work. But it was meriah as well from the stories we heard. It was a niece's wedding di kampung.

The 5-tiered wedding caked looked pretty and so much fun. The best thing is, it is made by the bride herself! She is after all the owner of a bakery.

There were actually three pretty little flower girls. The third, a 3-year old cried on the red carpet and refused to let go of her mum's hand and therefore had to be uh, dropped. Arent these two cute?

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Last Call For Raya Stories

Feel like I must squeeze in another update on raya. Yeah, yeah - that's a done story I know but this is a must.

We had our office raya do only today. It was fun. Lots of food. Good food, must emphasis that. With laksam (yumm..), satay Keting (or is it Urat Keting (?) from Bangi), rendang negeri etc etc. Nice people. Basically a good day.

The paparazzi boys came out of their shells with techie cameras.

The nicest gambar I took was of the satay actually..

Satay testing di dapur..

The children had also invited friends for raya makan2 recently. Luqman had 10 or less friends around. Iman a few. Kaia invited 30 friends (which made me feel like pitam) but told me not all will come. Trust me he said (I should have known better because more than that thirty friends showed up). And when asked if Ilyas had invited like 10 friends or so he said mesti lah tidak. I thought (or hoped..) less. He said more. Twenty? I asked. He shook his head and said maybe twice that number. Wow.

But trained as we are at the office to accept all hurdles as challenges, I thought hah, what is 80 or so hungry young men/women who wanted to eat? I made pizza (with ready-made crusts) just to add a different flavor to the kids' raya; and with the usual stuff like mee curry (thank you Fahmi for the recipe and the last minute tutorial! haha), bakso and lemang-rendang-nasi impit trilogy. I suppose the whole event went rather well. It rained (but it didnt ruin the parade), what's a little rain - actually it rained quite a lot - to a bunch of hungry boys?

Unfortunately I got no at all photo as I was too busy in the kitchen.

And last but not least, I have some (more) raya di kampung photos I simply must share.

Eirfan wore a pair of swimming goggle to protect his eyes from the smoke while making the rendang.. what can I say? They are all budak2 pekan..

That's the dearest oldest lady I love.

He is a town boy who had NEVER EVER belah kelapa (when asked if he sees a rabbit or a rat face at the top of the coconut - coincidently my dears, do you know this? - he said ma I dont see anything..) I gave up and said ok, ketuk je lah kelapa tu sekuat hati! And he did just that.

So there. I suppose that is a wrap on the raya stories this year.

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Give It A Hug!

I have much to update but so little time! Like the raya invites we had, Ana's wedding, some old photos, bead updates etc etc.

But for now I've got to tell you about my new laptop handbag! Yes I know - doesnt that sound like a dream? Laptop handbag. Photos below.

They are called Hugger bags because you will hug it to your body (maybe because of your precious laptop inside). For a while I thought it seem like Huggies.. (God forbid that anyone should think I am carrying a diaper bag!)

For many years previously I've been carrying a Microsoft backpack (let me emphasis a FREE backpack). And it had served me well that backpack.

Now (at least until last week) I lug around a FREE backpack from Basis Bay (yeap, I love freebies). That bag is pretty handy with many pockets. But somehow felt heavy and bulky for my fragile (you are allowed to substitude that with aged..) shoulders.

And I have a feeling I'm outgrowing backpacks too.

I was looking for wedding presents when I saw the bags at the mall. They looked good, so to borrow a phrase from Delinn, terus rembat satu.

If you are looking for a laptop bag, read here for tips for getting one. Like the size of your laptop, material etc etc ; http://alimbag.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-choose-laptop-bags.html

And more photos of the bag options here - http://www.huggerbag.blogspot.com/

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Books, Books And More Books Part 23

Salahudin Ayubi Penakluk Jerusalem, oleh Abdul Latip Talib

Masya'Allah (that is my comment on the book). This is a very good book.

It is Eirfan's actually. I bought books in this series when his B Melayu teacher remarked his karangan is limited in ideas and his sentences are too simple for his age. Thankfully he likes these books and are asking for more.

As usual I read stuff that the kids read - their comics, books, websites, their fbs - just so I can gauge what they are up to and if they are reading suitable materials (and I also read what the kids read so that I dont get lost when we converse and that we are somewhat on the same page) - not just in terms of content, but also dalam tatabahasa, spelling and other important things like that (somehow I sound like a skema mum for a bit here..) I hate books where words are misspelt, inconsistent, bahasa tunggang-langgang. But not this one. You can tell care was taken during writing and by the editor. Printing was of high quality also. Semuanye disusun cantik.

Anyway.

As I said, this book I really like. I suppose it is not too young for someone old like me.. And not too old for someone like Eirfan. Buku ni best sebab it tells about sejarah Islam, namun dicerita dalam gaya yang tak boring (pardon me please for saying this, but I usually find buku Melayu uninteresting. Bukan salah penulis2, tapi salah saya yang tidak begitu gemar membaca buku Melayu - saya yang tak nak berkenalan, maka mana lah nak bercinta.. but I hope to mend my bad habits.)

And history is a boring subject anyway, unless you have a good teacher who can draw your interests. It is all about memorising facts with no visuals or a story line - maybe I should rephrase that, the story is mostly about war. But this novel sejarah paints a very clear picture of the battles, of the wira Salahudin Ayubi pejuang Islam yang berjaya menakluki Jerusalem from the Crusaders after 80 years of the Christians rule of Jerusalem (if you've heard of King Richard aka Richard the Lionheart, then yes, Salahudin defeated him too at the Battle of Hittin).

Seronok baca gagah rupa nya pejuang Islam Kurdish yang berasal dari Iraq ni. . You can borrow this from Eirfan if you like. On a scale of 1 - 10, it is definitely a 10 for young teenagers to get their mind thinking about deen and the serious stuff. And of course for adults too. Bacalah.

ps - after reading this I tapped my son on his shoulder (he is soo busy playing his war game on his laptop) and said yang, orang pergi jihad, pergi fisabilillah. Jadi ke kita main game je kat rumah? He hmmed his response (whatever that means). And I thought, susah hidup anak2 kat pekan ni bila emak mula baca buku jihad..

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Getting Creative

And I hadnt done anything much this long raya holidays. Ziarah friends and family here and there. Cooked my mum's rendang - tasted nothing close like mum's of course. Tried out a new recipe called daging masak hitam - which turned out unsuitable for public consumption..

I have sworn off baking cookies for now, but my sister insisted. So I need to make some, but am putting this off until I can do so no more. On top of that mintak semprit lagi - which I have no clue of making..

I bought stuff for pie tees but no pie tees so far. Bought carrots too - konon nak buat carrot cake - no sign of a carrot cake either..

But I did a couple things I am proud of. I finally finished this kurung for a mother of a bride-to-be. She had asked, dah siap ke baju tu? I replied not yet (the wedding is less than 2 weeks away - she must be anxious!) I tossed and turned over what to do with the kurung as it is pretty colorful and comes with flowers and finally did this. I think it is very-de-pretty. Hope she likes it too.


More pix at my a-glitter aka bling-bling blog here (I know I said I am closing this down; but my own limitation makes me think I need to continue posting photos here.. It's okay if you dont get me, I dont 'get me' myself sometimes.)

Anyway.

While sorting out my kueh raya the same thing came to my mind this time like it did every year - are my containers air tight? I hate taking the kueh in and out of the containers everytime and I also hate having the biskut all masuk angin dan lemau.

I had earlier gotten some pretty decorated bottles made by Haslina at the office (using those plastic bottles yang tudung merah tu she had cleverly transformed them with ribbons and renda). I gave these bottles to my mum and unfortunately do not have any photo to show. But I did a copy cat of Has' creativity and came up with this which I love!


And these.. I wanted something fun.


I was pleased with the results actually. I have more photos here, the same page as above. What did you say - what to do kalau comot? I figured I will get new bottles and decorated them all over again. The key thing is that the biscuits stay fresh for LONG while looking pretty.

Enough of my mundane thoughts. I am actually counting down the last hours of a great long couple of weeks break..

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Selamat Hari Raya

And how time flies. It is already the 4th day of Syawal. I didnt have the window for any blog update at all between here and the previous post. Seriously. But thankfully the company enforced mandatory leave all week this week (yeay..) and I am taking things slow. Very slow in fact.

And how's your last ten of Ramadhan and raya? Blissful. Peaceful. Fruitful. And joyful I hope. We went back to my mum's place this raya. She insisted on having raya at her own home this time. We had celebrated the last couple of raya with her in KL. This time we did all we can so that she can have a raya the same like those she had always prepared for us, nothing less. Biar lah mak rasa seronok raya kat rumah sendiri - berapa kali sangat pun nak beraya dengan mak lagi kat kampung..

I have here some raya photos that I love..

Our home-made ketupat (next raya I can make these myself too); cute Kinah & Safiyyah, nieces; Scrooge! aka Syazwan, nephew; an unbelievable bright red lily in bloom from my mum's garden.

Raya feast in the best wares (Mum: bawak keluar semua pyrex tu - nanti kat akhirat pinggan tu kata dok simpan dalam almari je.. Me: Ye mak!); ayah cu and family; mum (she was seriously tired tapi masih berkeras tak nak baring. She said, hampa semua balik mak pulak nak pergi tido!); bangsal at the back of our house (it looks so kampung. Love it).

We made the rendang in the kawah (I wondered how folks cook on this fire with all the smoke going on in the long ago days.. actually the thought that came to mind was how my mother and late father went through all the rayas cooking everything from lemang, rendang, dodol, wajik on this fire.. kasih nya mak-ayah); Kak Zah and Syadah, sis-in-law & niece; Umar, cucu yang amat comel; and woo-hoo! the gorgeous vehicle on my mum's lawn - to die for!).

If I had the time, I'd love to read in the shades of this bamboo tree in mum's backyard; unlike any previous raya, this year we wore the same color although in diffrent tones (malu le nanti orang kata beli kain sepapan bawak balik buat baju.. I had a HORRENDOUS time looking for material in all the different shades of purple though); Kinah & Syuhaib, niece & nephew; juadah raya sepanjang nye meja..(Mum: kueh raya dah bubuh dalam botol? Kek mana? Wajik dah ada? Sirap dah buat? Tambah lagi lauk2 yang dah habis tu. Letak cawan2 semua nanti orang nak minum senang.. Me: Ye mak! Bila lagi nak melayan mak? (actually these are the questions she asked / her instructions every raya; but not as many this time. Dah tak larat. But old habits die hard, we did what had always been done every raya. She looked and nodded).


This gambar is one of the many I seriously love. Three generations (I wanted to get a photo like this for quite some time..) I was pleased to see mum wore the baju I bought for her (actually I bought that like two years ago - ? - masa nak kenduri Ina / Aing or some other cucu when she said she wanted to wear something new. She was hospitalised instead; langsung tak buat pun baju tu then)

And of course I love this too. I think five is a good number.

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Tales of Ramadhan

A Full Moon
I noticed that the moon is full this morning at dawn. It was luminous, its light illuminating the skies around it (although we know that's the effort from the sun, not the moon itself). Anyway, must be mid month already - without realising it do you know we are already into the 15th day of Ramadhan? Hope you are having the most peaceful Ramadhan ever.

The Wonder of Nature
And as I was driving today I saw amazing blue/pink hues across the early morning eastern skies. Masya'Allah, it was a wonderful sight. I didnt stop to watch it turn colors; although I did the last time I saw that same wonder. I took photos too that morning, from the car; above.

Funny
Funny. Or was it unfortunate? Anyway. A couple of days back, while coming home from fetching the young man from school and stopping to get some keuh for iftar my hubby saw a car that broke down in the middle of the street. Helpful as he was (chewwwah.. siapa lagi nak puji?) he stopped and dua beranak tu tolong tolak kereta, with another guy who also stopped to help. Even pushed, the car refused to start. My hubby said the wife and a couple of young teenagers were in the car. The kids were maybe aged 10 or so. Sehat-sehat belaka. I said dalam kereta? Cant believe anyone can sit in the car while others are pushing it. My elder son who was also listening to the story said, Gila diva..!!! (at that point I went like, what the..? And gave a big laugh.) That was the funny part. But now our hero has sprained his ankle/foot sebab menolak kereta (dengan penumpang nye sekali..) Unfortunately. Ingat lah kawan-kawan, kalau kereta rosak tolong lah keluar kereta. Kalau tak nak tolong tolak pun berdiri je lah kat tepi. Lagipun orang berpuasa. Kesian.

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Salam Ramadhan

And we are already into the second week of fasting. How's your Ramadhan so far? Mine is sluggish at best, at worst - I dont even want to go there!

And Masya'allah, the kids have been wonderfully kind, behaving themselves, berterawih, mengaji. Allah has been benevolent indeed this Ramadhan. I want to ask for more, but realising at the same time things could be worse. I have so much already. Namun masih juga berdoa untuk rahmat Allah.

And Alhamdulillah for a very supportive husband (puji hubby tak boleh banyak2 because men always let praises go to their heads.. hehe)

And Alhamdulillah also that city traffic has not been bad at all this Ramadhan (surprise, surprise). I got home latest by 6 which still gives me ample time for iftar preparation.

Would love to write some profoundly inspirational, motivational words on 'amal, ibadah here but I concur that I wouldnt be able to write anything that big.. (siang2 lagi dah surrender.)

But I hope our Ramadhan this year will be better than our best Ramadhan to date - whenever that was (mine was like 2 years back. It was a most wondrous Ramadhan ever. Tenang.)

All the best to you my darlings, in search for rahmat Allah. Keredhaan Allah. Keampunan Allah, di bulan Ramadhan kali ini.

(photo from http://www.boston.com/)

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When in Rome..

While in Penang attending Luqman's convo last week we took the opportunity to visit some recommended mamak stalls. What's a trip to the island without nasi kandar? In fact, come to think of it, all our meals were at one mamak stall or another throughout our three-day visit.

First we went to Padang Brown because Luqman swore by the soups served there. He was right, the soups were scrumptious - light and has an aromatic smell. I think it is the rempah they use - served with rice or roti banggali.


If you are interested to go, the stalls are somewhat behind the Balai Polis at Dato' Keramat. Guna GPS lah senang.. we didnt have one but we survived on the couple of quick calls Luqman made to his Penang born and bred friend.



And as usual, we definitely had to visit Nasi Kandar LineClear - there's just something about the kari.. We got lost in the afternoon traffic in the city. The one way streets definitely is a maze (and please tell me again, what is it about men and asking for directions? *I wonder if my hubby reads this post as he occasionally reads my blog to check what I've been up to! haha*) but we finally found the place after we (he decided to?) asked for help.

Their signboard has changed - this is a photo from our previous trip..


We also went to try the Nasi Kandar Beratur. It only opens at 10pm every night. And before 10 the queue is already building. The funny thing is the same place is being used by another mamak selling nasi kandar also. The earlier guy will clean and literally wash the stall (like you wash your car) before the the night Nasi Kandar Beratur officially opens.


The restaurant is old - operated since 1943! - I wasnt even born then. The street is lined with kedai emas. I remembered when I was young my mother would take me to the island and we'd ride on the beca to the jewellers. I wonder if this is the street we went to (forgot to ask my mum the other day).

Anyway. That night we had our dinner at about 1045; we got there way before 10 but unfortunately although the line was reasonably short the first few patrons had many orders. Letih menunggu. The nasi kandar was good and different from LineClear, but I dont think I'll go again because of the late hours and the FRUSTRATION (!!!) of waiting.


That's the queue. While queuing a guy came up and said loudly, sesiapa ada park kereta di tepi jalan, ubah kereta tu. We discovered later ada balai polis bergerak dan operasi saman-menyaman sedang berjalan. There was a few who left the queue to save themselves their hard earned money.

To get to the Nasi Kandar Beratur all you need to look for is the Masjid Kapitan Keling. The place is just next to the masjid. The masjid seem like nice from the outside; quaint (sebab masjid lama kan) and well lit in the night. I managed to get a few photos while waiting to be served.


.. unfortunately we were not in Rome and cant do whatever the Romans do; therefore we just ate what the mamaks do..?

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A Lovely Occasion

So Luqman graduated. And I told my husband that this is another milestone in our lives..



When we got the letter from his university about the convo, Luqman gave me a long hujjah why he didnt want to go for the ceremony. I was rather concerned initially. Nevertheless, he nicely ended his long reasoning with kalau mama nak Luqman pergi, Luqman pergi lah. (Sejuk hati mana-mana mak pun kalau dengar anak cakap macam nih.) I compromised and said, why dont you send me the link and I'll read up on this subject. (But obviously his mum had said pergi..)



I actually like convos. It is like an achievement day and everybody was recognized for the (hard?) effort they had put through the years at college. I like to see my kids go on stage and receive their scrolls (are they still called scrolls? Because that flat thingy they received arent scrolled anymore..) - anyway - take pictures, watch the kids laugh with friends. It is something nice to see. Maybe a day where all parents feel proud. I dont know - but it is nice.



The ceremony that day went through efficiently. Since I am already a veteran at this (haha) I didnt experience any prickle of tears.. that is, not until the pro-chancellor gave his closing speech when he paid tribute to the sacrifices all mothers make and said, graduan2 USM sekelian, renunglah ke mata ibu anda. Lihatlah.. I dont remember all he had said, but they were beautiful words in a very meaningful speech (walaupun speech dibaca dalam Bahasa Melayu yang penuh dengan slang dan tonggang-langgang..)



That evening at the hotel room I sat on the balcony and looked out to the horizon where the vast sea meets the (even more vast) skies and thought, Masya'Allah. Life is surely short, where have all the years gone by? It didnt feel like almost 22 years since he was born. I pray for the best future for him. For the best di akhirat. Untuk rahmat Allah. Untuk keampunan. Robbana atina fiddunya hasanah, wafil akhiroti hasanah..

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