Satu hari di Hari Raya

I know I should make an entry about my second Raya. But I have this story to tell that superceeds my need to regale you guys about how I spent my second day of Hari Raya. That I can do tomorrow.

Anyway people, yesterday is Tuesday and therefore a pasar malam day for residents living this side of Shah Alam. As usual on a pasar malam day, the protagonists of this story, a set of husband and wife would be calling each other to discuss if they are going to pasar malam together-gether or indeed if they are going at all.

Wife : Dah nak balik ke ?

Husband : No, still kat office.

Wife : Oh. Err… pasar malam hari ni. Nak pegi ke ? Should I wait for you ?

Husband : Well, I baru nak keluar.

Wife : So, I wait for you ?

Husband : Ha… you balik dululah, then tengoklah macamana nak pegi ke tak nak. I am having a bad day here….

Wife : Okay then. Tell me later lah….

Tapi this wife as soon as she switched off the phone, baru teringat the pot of beef broth burbling (supposedly) on the stove (as per her sms to her maid in the afternoon), to be turned into minestrone soup for dinner.

She also then remembered that she needs a few veg to complete the soup and so decided that since they are definitely not buying dinner at pasar malam, she might as well just swing by to get celery and tomatoes. To wait for hubby to come home first would delay her dinner preparations and furthermore, hubby’s voice and proclamation of a bad day could make him a bit malas to go out of the house again.

All options weighed, she decided to go ahead with the plan.

And that is when it happened.

She was cruising along the main road of Seksyen 6, passing balai polis, Petronas and nearing the pasar when her calm reverie was jolted by the sight of a man clad in a very familiar t-shirt. She recognized it as her husband’s own company t-shirt that he frequenly wears to work, black with grey sleeves.

Then she saw what promised to be a bald patch attached to the body, and she suddenly found her nerves jumping, her heart beating faster and accusations creeping in. "Kata tadi baru nak keluaq office. Awat dah sampai dulu dari kita ?" The figure now looked so much like that of her husband that her crazily beating heart almost stopped when she noticed her supposed husband was talking animatedly with a woman who walking beside him.

“Is that my bloody husband ?” She asked herself.

The bald patch, the t-shirt, and although only the couple’s backs were in her view, she could see that the guy was wearing glasses. And he certainly was thin enough. The bald patch was the tell-tale sign, really. And the t-shirt.

She slowed down, trying to get a good look, her heart now was threatening to jump out of her body from the start and stop and start again actions. Her hand was gripping the wheel so tightly, her knuckles went white. She knew because she saw them.

“Sapa lagi orang CC* yang duduk kat Shah Alam ? Botak pulak tu ?” She started accusing, convinced enough that she is seeing her husband. Her head could not compute anything else. As per her temperament, her head started playing one after another impossible and sad scenarios. One of it involving her husband lying on the dirty pavement, her leg on his chest while the blasted woman he is having an affair with was conveniently sprawled inside the very polluted longkang, while the bangaus pecked at her, the result of a very violent slappings and pushings.

The sad one involves her wailing, heart-broken children and her husband again on the floor, hands clutching her legs in an act of repentance, trying his darnest to stop her from leaving while she stood with defiance, body ramrod straight, very much sombong one.

A car honked from behind, taking her back to present day and the problem at hand. She was driving too slow and there was a trail of disgruntled drivers behind her. So she sped up a bit, trying to maneouver her vehicle from knocking the cars parked illegally at the side of the road while craning her neck to get a good look.

“Cilakak punya Kamil (name had been changed to protect indentity) suruh aku balik rumah dulu. Rupa-rupanya sebab nak pegi pasar malam dengan pompuan lain…”. Tears that was threatening to come, finally trickled out. Her face was flushed and she was going crazy by the minute. She imagined ramming the car onto the couple . Baru puas hati.

When she finally managed to get ahead of the couple and saw their faces, no words can describe her feelings. Bukan laki dia lah ! Hawau ! It was actually her husband’s colleague, walking with his wife. She met this guy and his kind wife when they visited her husband in the hospital when he was in to take his appendics, eh bukan… appendics tu laki aku, ini laki orang lain, to get his stones out…. And she had forgotten that this guy lives in Seksyen 6. He he…

She went from relieved to happy to down right mortified. She laughed out loud. She was flaming in anger not 2 minutes ago, but now she was flaming with embarrassement. Keh keh… She looked again to make sure, and there it really was, her husband’s colleague whose name had left her memory was walking with his own wife. Nobody was having an affair. Everything is actually right in the world. Pheww….

The wife went dizzy a bit, what with trying to calm her nerves and stemming the explosion of emotions inside her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to collect herself. She never felt so foolish. Especially when she thought about the scenes that played in her head. Sorry....

She suddenly felt tired.

She called her husband to tell him of this story and really, just to hear his voice. Alone. In the car. With no one beside him. She just have to check. The husband predictably laughed out loud. “Karim tu lagi pendek dari I lah ! Dia pendek giler….” Again, name had been changed to protect the identity of the character.

Really ? She mused. Looks tall to me.

She went red in the face again when she turned around after paying for the celery and daun ketupat palas and saw En. Karim leaning against a tiang (damn it, I still cannot think what is tiang in English. Somebody actually furnished me with the right word last time, but it has slipped my mind again).

She can’t escape from talking to him as their eyes met and she smiled despite her vow to run away if she saw him. Tak sanggup cek.... Segan... “En Karim ye…” He looked at her with a puzzled look. Probably he didn’t remember me, being we met only once, she thought. “Perempuan Kamil (ai… why all the character’s name start with a K ?)..” she said, pointing to herself. He smiled in recognition, but his face still has that funny look. Why, ye ? Since it was Raya, she invited him and his wife over to the house and quickly left, seeing that she had started to go red with embarrassment again, and he for some reason, looked uncomfortable.

When her husband got home, he laughed at her face happily. “ I mana pakai t-shirt company weekdays. I only wear them weekends aje. I kan pakai tie ….” He he… sorry darling, jealousy overrode logic and experience. “ And besides, Karim tu pendeklah dari I. Pendek giler....” Husband said again.

Wife was very confused. He looked tall enough to her and told the husband so. “Ohh…. Itu Khairul lah…. Yang duduk kat Seksyen 6 tu ?”

And the wife flamed up again. “I called him Karim !!! Patut le muka dia semacam bila I panggil dia Karim !!! Waaaaa !!!! You kata nama dia Karim !!” Husband bantai gelak berdekah-dekah and berguling-guling. Damn !

“Dahlah nama aku dekat-dekat dengan merah…. Merah memanjang muka aku hari ni … !!” She wailed to her puzzled children (as by that time she cannot tahan kena gelak by the husband and ran to seek comfort elsewhere….).

“Please Ya Allah, don’t let En Khairul took up my invitation and actually come over for Raya. I cannot face him again !!!!” Was her fervent prayer that night.

Bini sapalah yang bangang tuh ? Ish, ish ish….

Ha ha…

PS : Pada malam itu, bini tersebut tidur tak lena bila masa dan ketika terlepas pegangan laki dia. Kena pegang jugak.... Dakap erat-erat.... Kah kah

First Raya

Woke up with a start. Raya !!! Wee !!!!! Ran down and saw Mum and Neti busy with the morning preparations. Woke up the kids and hubby and start to bersiap. Before that tolong-tolong lah apa-apa yang patut.

Left the house to go to the in-law’s first. Aku makan sikit je sebab nak belasah mak aku punya kuah kacang yang sodap. I love kuah kacang, okeh ? My favourite way to eat my raya dish ? Himpun palas/lemang and ketupat and tuang kuah kacang on top. Then some timun. Kalau aku ada hati, ku letakkan lah rendang.

After that, raced home and aku pun start makan. Kuah kacang ibuku adalah sangat superb, okeh ? Oh, terkenangkan rasanya yang sungguh indah itu.

Pastu makan soto lak. Neti made the bergedil and I have to admit, it was really nice. Makan kuih raya buatan sendiri dulu seperti semperit yang jadi melt in the mouth selepas masuk angin, chocolate chip cookies and the very crispy oat cookies.

Kanak-kanak rinag - ria. Ada dua yang tak posa tu. Abang Alhamdullilah start posa umuq 7 tahun and tak pernah tuang. Adik tuang 11 hari. Kebanyakannya adalah kerana cirit-birit. I will blog about her hilarious puasa..

Meh Abang tolong Mamu...

Posing anak aku...

Tapi posing ini lebih dahsyat.. Abang keeps saying that Ana looks like she comes from the 60s... he he... Macam Beetles lah Ana ni..

Kami tak sempat bergambar raya kat rumah tahun ni. So many things happened. First, Marlin lost her handphone. Handphone pulak boipren bagi. Because they stayed over at my house and kept going back to Mom’s house for stuffs, Marlin went back and forth to look for her phone. Daniel and Ita helped too so a lot of time was wasted there.

Then, I asked Mail to hang the ketupat around the kitchen. Aku pun tak taulah macam mana ia boleh terjadi because alih-alih dengaq “Prangggg !” and Mail masuk rumah bau gasoline. Pulak dah. Bukak lah pulak baju tu untuk aku cuci bagi hilang bau. Nak bergambaq pakai baju besa tak mau, nak ndak jugak baju melayu yang had tu jugak..gatai… ! Sudahnya, bila dah kering and berbau harum, sudah tiba masanya untuk kami bertolak ke Seremban, to visit Daniel’s parents. And I tell you, the kuah kacang made by his mom was super duper delish, too. Had laksa, and tonnes of candy kelapa and kuih makmur. Must remember to order from Aunty next year.

Aku suka pergi rumah mak bapak Daniel ni sebab dia orang layan adik aku macam anak sendiri. Daniel’s mom is a great mother-in-law to my sister and for that we are very grateful.

With Daniel's family.



Mula-mula makan kat luar.. (Awatnya buat muka gaya huduh boipren aku nih)

Pastu Aunty ajak sambung kat dalam pulak. She said untuk makan kek. Kami pun kalau pasal makan, ikut ajelah. And memang betul, meja penuh dengan cakes yang Aunty dah slice cantik-cantik. Ini style orang Sarawak, she explained. Dia orang tak dak kuih raya, cakes aje.... Okaylah... belasah aje. The chocolate cake was superb. Adik mintak tambah to our relief sebab kami segan nak mintak.. kah kah. Itu tengah gelak besar sebab gumbira guling-guling nengok kek banyak2..

Ini posing "Eh ! Apa tu ?" bodoh favourite abang aku.

Gaya bebas. Oh yang warna coklat tu segan nak berposing... nyampah.

Sementara nak assemble semua orang Nak kena buat head count gak dah tua-tua ni.


Balik from Seremban, we straight away went to Bab and Mami Ela’s house in Bangsar. I love my Bab and Mami and seeing their happy faces when they saw us, made me teary eyed a bit.

Menu : Ketupat palas and bloody gorgeous rendang daging and kuih raya

Mami’s rendang daging was oh so good, Hubby forced me to ask for the resepi. Sama je bahan-bahannya, it is the jumlah of the ingredients yang membezakan the taste. Kena berguru ni ngan Mami.

A bit of tragedy happened when we were about to leave. Bab is not well, and walks with a cane so we were much surprised when we got up to take our leave, he hurriedly went upstairs. I proceeded to peluk, cium and salam Mami when we we heard a loud crash. Zuri, my cousin and Bab’s eldest son, raced upstairs with his niece Zafira.

Note : Zafira’s parents, my cousin Zaf and his wife Kak Zu lives in Dubai now plus their 3 other children (Zarifa, Zaid and Zaim. Seriously when Kak Zu was pregnant with her third child, I was nervously waiting to see if it was a girl as my head computes they only have Zirafah left to name a girl. Luckily Zaid came out… he he…). Zafira has to stay in Malaysia to take her SPM.

They took Bab downstairs again and put him on his favourite chair and we queued to kiss his cheeks and salam his hand. My brother Syafiq who was first in line however found his hand had bled. He had managed to cut his palm when he fell. Luckily we have 2 doctors with us and Marlin advised Zuri to take Bab to the clinic as it will be needing stitches.

Awat dia kalut naik ataih ? Sebab dia sebek tengok kami nak balik. He cannot tahan to see us leave, so dia nak teriak kat ataih. Awat lah Bab ni….

So aku balik rumah sedih sebab kesian kat Bab. Kesian kat Mami sebab takdak kuih semperit for raya. Aku buat kuih semperit belajaq kat Mami. Kuih favourite Bab ni. Last year we went, Kak Hanim yang tulung buatkan sebab Mami dah tak larat nak buat. Tahun ni aku memang ingat nak bagi sikit for Mami to rasa tapi aku segan lak sebab rasanya tak sesedap yang Mami punya. Tapi bila tengok tak dak pulak semperit dalam balang, aku jadi sedih bebenar.

Sayang Bab nih.

Turn aku ngan Bab..

Us..

Raya kan, senang buat orang teriak.

WAAAAAA !!!!

Pre-Raya

Selamat Hari Raya !

I do this in batches okay ?

Pre-Raya Eve

My family stayed over at the house since mom’s house is under renovation and berabuk berbagai. Dah ramai-ramai tu what to do except mengukur jalan ? At 1 am after making sure the kids were all tucked in safely in bed, we adults hopped in 2 cars and made our way to Jalan TAR.

I was a bit apprehensive for some reason so when I heard a lot of commotion as we walked to the famous street after parking our car, I was jumping with nerves. I heard what sounded like, “Lawan ! Lawan !”, asked out loud, “Wei ! Ada perang ke ? Macam orang gaduh aje…” In my head, I imagined a bloody clash.

Nobody heeded me and walked on. Oh… “Lawa ! Lawa !” Cess !!

Ha ha… The pictures. Mail and Ijat nak beli baju Melayu…

Masa ni aku ngan Ita dok check dresses for our 3 little girls

Nasib baik ada Daniel nak tolong... Kalau mintak Hubby tengok kan alamat kena kutuk dulu sebelum dia buat... Itupun belum tentu dia nak buat.... he he....

Penat menunggu jantan2 itu menerai baju... Tengoklah betapa ramainya orang pukul 2 pagi...

Mail dok try baju. Ijat dah siap bayar dah... Warna putih lak tu. Gatal..

Cover muka... Dah tak larat ngan papparazi yang dok mengekor kita orang..

.

Balik dari Jalan TAR adalah dalam pukul 4. Stopped by PJ to buy nasi lemak and sampai rumah terus sahur. Bagus betul. Then tiduq and tiduq and tiduq… He he…..

Raya Eve

So work started early since mummy is in residence. If it was up to me.. well… ha ha cengkerik pun berbunyi lagi, since we slept at an ungodly hour kan. Hubby kept saying that he is not meant to have a night life. This was further cemented when he suffered from a slight flu and stomach bug, due to him being out of the house past midnight, he said. The flu I could agree, but the stomach bug ? More the nasi lemak then then embun pagi, if you ask me.

Anyway, left mum and Neti and my many, many siblings to do all the work as I was on a mission… He he…. We came back victorious and I was soooo happy. Singgah Tesco for green apples for our traditional apple cake. I do not fancy it myself. Actually last year I suggested banana cake but it didn’t work out too well as the bananas made the cake a tad too moist. So back to apples this year…. Yuck !

Started menganyam ketupat at 2, so you just can imagine what time it was all done, nearly 7 pm. Ordered pizza for our last buka as no one wants to eat the rendang and kuah kacang as want to save it for the big day tomorrow. The kitchen was abuzz with activites and excited chatters.

At 3 am, mum woke me up and ordered me to my own bed. I was asleep on the sofa, waiting for the ketupat to be done. I was a bit reluctant sebab kesian dekat Mummy but Ijat and Mail promised that they will stay with her, so I went up and snuggled close to my hubby (had to as all the rooms were taken, including my children’s. So the bed was a bit full already.. ha ha...)

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya, people.

Please thread the traffic carefully and plan your travels wisely. Jangan lah balik kampong masa dah dekat-dekat nak raya, sure jammed up the jalans.

I started getting busy yesterday. Made the kuihs with my sister and hopefully other family members will join in the effort tonight. Dah pasang pelita, which I really love.

Sat lagi nak cari cd lagu raya. Every year beli.

Baju raya siap esok, as per usual. Sebab sayang kat tailor, tak pe lah. Dia buat baju lawa. And kemas. And also Jubei dah cut queue. Jaga ko Jubei.

Maybe balik Batu Gajah, maybe not. There are issues to be weighed. Knowing my mom, it is gonna be a last minute decision.

Already in raya mood and therefore there is no space for work mood. Nada. Dah hilang.

Hubby bising macamana nak tengok conclusion Kasih Iftitah being tomorrow is the last day to bangun and watch the telly at 5 am. Last year, Qasih Sesuci something something aka Eja series came to its conclusion at the same time as the last sahur. He he… Tahun ni hubby tengok Kasih Iftitah and Nur Qasih. Kasihan, kekasih ku hubby.

Keh keh…

Selamat Hari Raya, again.

Take care.

Kantoi, okay ?

Last Monday was one of the best days of my life. Nothing much happened but simple things can make me feel warm and fuzzy and loved.

No wonder I never want to leave Shah Alam. I have everything I need here, my family and friends.

Semalam lunch time, hubby ajak pegi test drive kereta. I need to change my car and we have been going round and round the showrooms in the Klang Valley. Guess who found out and wanted to come too ? Ian lah. And I am glad he came, because I welcome his 2-cents worth and seriously, enthusiasm.

When it came to the nitty gritty, of course these 2 boys gave the poor sales lady a hard time, asking questions that made me blink rapidly and scaring her with their knowledge. Well, they are from the same line aren’t they so they know the trade secrets.

Ian made the necessary phone calls when it came to pricing and I am grateful for the effort. After that went to Audi to admire the Q5 then to Porsche where we were treated with the sight of 2 Panameras entering the vicinity. Lovely, lovely car !

At night, we went to Shah Alam Mall to meet Amelia, who has kasut raya for me ! Yeay ! She was waiting for her Amir to finish his class so hubby and I settled down with her on one of the benches to keep her company.

This is the time when I love my husband the most because he is okay with my friends. I know some guys would be fidgeting, wanting the conversation to end ASAP but hubby sat with us and talked and gossiped. Punya berapi-api hubby bila ber gossip sampai I cuit dia sikit. Ha ha...

The funny part was I went to see Amelia with Adik first, leaving hubby and Abang at the pharmacist’s. I didn’t want hubby to see the shoes… ha ha… biasalah. We sat on a bench, while I tried them on. As I was admiring them on my feet I saw Abang coming from the left. I panicked and quickly tried to take them off.

“Dah mai dah Amelia. Mai dah… Mampuih I.. Bukak, lekaih-lekaih…” Said I in alarm.

Amelia dah start gelak and tried to help me. Actually you know when you watch horror flicks, the victim’s means to escape is always hindred by the car that refused to start and the door that refused to open ? And you will be shouting in frustration of the bloody cliché of it all, because before the crazy loony murderer appeared, the car could start just fine and the door never worked better ? But at that very crucial, life and death moment, they didn’t ? And we cry foul because almost all horror flicks incorporated that scene in. No more ideas ke ?

Actually whatever it was, things do fail to work properly in real life at that very crucial, life and death moments. There I was trying madly to undo the clasp of the lovely, lovely shoes before my husband sees it but it didn’t happen. It remained stubbornly ..errr… clasped (ha ha). I kept looking to my left where Abang came from, anticipating my husband when Amelia who was trying to help me gave a shout of laughter.

Hubby appeared on our right, not from the left like Abang, saw everything (our kelam kabutness to sorok whatever were doing), stopped in front of us with his arms folded and raised eyebrows, looking at us from his height.

Amelia and I just grinned at him. Kantoi ! Kantoi !!

I recovered quickly and showed him the shoes that were still on my feet.

“Cantik tak ?” I asked brightly, faked one okay.

He gave a small nod and remained impassive before offering Amelia some chewing gums. We sighed in relief. Ha ha….

As usual, my weekend

Nothing much to tell about my weekend. It was bo-ring.

Ha ha…

Seriously, there was nothing to tell. So maybe… this entry would be very brief…

Let’s try.

Okay, Saturday hubby had to work full day. I malas balik while waiting for my kids, so went to the car wash. Not 5 minutes driving my clean car, it started to rain. I tell you, if there is a drought anywhere, just ship me and my car there, give my car a good wash, and 5 minutes after the job done, rain will definitely come. Even better, treat me with an expensive wax job, as it will be pouring as soon as I start the engine.

Picked my kids up, picked my nieces up and ensconced ourselves in the house. I locked myself in the room and had a luxurious time with the internet, facebooking and all. Started baking chocolate cake to take to my sister’s when hubby got home. While waiting for the cake to bake, bathed the girls (Abang bathed earlier, around 5 pm. When I asked why, he answered “Saja, sebab saya panas sangat…”), battled with Ana as she didn’t like the outfit I chose for her, waited for Tia to come, iced the cake and got ready myself. Hubby watched the telly all the while.

I know I sound bitter but it is okay really as he was tired from working the whole day. Ha ha…

Went to Ita’s house for iftar. She served nasi briyani (very good okay, the one on sale at Bazaar Ramadhan Kompleks PKNS. Especially as the nasi came with complimentary sirap limau.. It was utterly delicious, okay.. Tak masam sangat, just a hint of limau…), murtabak, roti jala, karipap and cara berlauk. Tia generously brought Big Apple doughnuts with her.

Abang, hubby and myself did our Maghrib membelakangi kiblat. Baguihlah tu.

We left for Subang Parade after Isyak, in search of baju kurung and baju melayu for Abang and Adik. Tak jumpa. Dah last minute memang lah tak banyak yang cantik. However, while at Ita’s house, Apek suggested going to Anggerik Mall.

We started Sunday very late as hubby and I talked and talked in bed for like 4 hours before we drifted off to sleep. So we slept until very late after soq and Nur Qasih re-run. Err… 10 am… ha ha…

Anyway, so that was where we went yesterday. After going to PJ on a mission, stopped by Anggerik Mall and my brother was right. There were plenty of shops and stalls selling stuffs for raya. Bought Adik’s baju kurung at the first store we visited, the same brand we found at Subang Parade. But 30% cheaper.

For the first time ever, hubby bought Abang baju Melayu with stripes. It was cotton and again we bought the baju at the first stall we visited. Hubby was too lazy to look around. I knew him too well to argue. I did make a feeble protest though, stating that we should really look around, but I know a lost case when I see one. There is no point.

Nak jadi cerita, lepas beli, baru nampak kedai Bak’s. Could you believe it, the famous baju Melayu tailor opened up a branch in Shah Alam ? My happiness was two-fold because after this, we do not have to go to Jalan TAR and because I get to say my I-told-you-so’s with a good dose of triumphant looks. Ha ha… What a day…

My boss En Azman loaned me a lot of cds to occupy my weekend, so we settled upstairs watching Red Cliff, a bloody good Chinese movie by John Woo. Tony Leung and that Japanese guy Takashi something were in it.

Finally made carbonara for iftar, to the delight of my children. Want to know what they say ? Visit their blog, ha ha ! Plus garlic bread, cucuk udang and cokodok.

The kids buat fashion show, trying off all their baju rayas. Adik looked super lovely in her baju kurung, macam wanita Melayu terakhir, gitu. Very demure. Sopan anak mak jalan malu-malu. But as soon as she tried on her jeans and what nots, out came the pout, the strut, the dramatic pose and the lenggang. Funny girl.

Went to pick Neti up, then to Mum’s to pick up sup tulang and sambal kacang and ikan bilis kering for soq, pegi kedai to buy minyak tanah for lampu pelita and a secret Slurpee. Nak jadi cerita, buleh habih penutup Slurpee tu kat 7-11 sek 8. Ada ka ? Dah tuang baru tau penutup tu dah habih. Patut lah banyak abandoned Slurpee keliling. Bila aku merepek kat cashier dengan, “Macamana saya nak sorok Slurpee ni dari anak saya sekarang ni ?”, she put it in a plastic bag and tied it up. Okay lah. Hubby raised his eyebrows when he saw me trying to camaflouge it but at the end, he was the one who slurped it to oblivion, to nothingness.

Tidur…

Pendek kah ? Pendek kot kalau compare with my previous entries.

Sapa-sapa yang penin kepala lepaih baca, sorry...

This is another long one... Sapa-sapa yang tak larat, tak yah lah baca... Sorry...

I am soooo exhausted today.

Late night yesterday. Buka puasa at home was nice as mum had to cook in my kitchen because hers is being renovated. Kelmarin was meehoon goreng Singapore which hubby commented after the first bite, “Ini baru meehoon…”. He hates my meehoon goreng. Ibu ku yang sungguh baik itu jawab, “La… dok sibuk belajaq… mana nak sedap meehoon dia…” Thank you, Mummy… But my laksa, and mee kari and mee bandung good you know… Just my meehoon goreng ntah apa-apa. Hubby said dalam bab goreng-goreng ni, aku memang fail. Poodah.

Yesterday Mum cooked mee goreng which was superb. Hubby said my mee goreng sucks too. Ian apparently had never had mee goreng, gave his thumbs up. It was lovely. Tia, my cousin who also was present yesterday, yang tak suka mee goreng pun suka Mak Long dia punya. She and Makcik Idah joined our club yang tak makan mee goreng, tapi makan Mak Long/Mummy/Aunty Norli punya saja.

I baked butter cake with chocolates which didn’t exactly turn out as how I imagined it should be.

My siblings all came of course. Ha ha.. Makcik Idah, my mom’s maid however refused to come. Merajuk ke ? Entah. She usually buka with the family so mum is fretting, worrying about her. I suspect she just wants to clean the house as she is a clean freak. I am sure she hates the thought of all those dusts that are scattered all over the house. Tackling that is more important that eating. Ha ha..

As iftar goes, it was a noisy one but I am used to it, coming from a big family. The kids buat perangai, refusing to eat what was offered and insisted on cabanora. My fault that one really as I promised them I would whip out a mean one since last week. Adik started the revolt and Anna and Esya followed happily. Abang luckily just ate whatever although I could see he was sulking a bit.

After my family left, I quickly prayed and got ready. “Let’s go…” I ordered, pointing to my husband. That is the only way to get him to follow my orders. Catch him off guard so he could not refuse. I was on a mission okay to find a piece of furniture. Nothing big, just a small cheap one to make cooking easier for my mammy.

Went to sek 9, then the other side of sek 9 then Tesco Extra where I found an okay piece. Bolehlah.

Then 7-11 sek 11, 7-11 sek 3 and then finally at 7-11 sek 2, I got my Slurpee. New flavour people, Dragon Juice. Yum-mee.

Funnily enough, Ian had never ever tasted Slurpee. So he was a bit excited, asking questions as he made his cup. Large, pulak tu. His verdict after the first sip ? “Feels like sex for the very first time…”

Hmmm….. I really should get him to prepare my Slurpee next time.

Going to sek 2 always makes me feel weird. Weird is just putting it mildly. It is more like a rush of a myriad of emotions. Happy, love, quesy, sexy but I think lost and sad are the most poignant. For my youth ? For carefree days ? For one hell of a good time ?

As I walked to 7-11 (Hubby pulak pegi park depan sekolah), I felt like I was tracing my steps during my youth. As I crossed the small drain, I saw me, Zaza and Amelia giggling while making our pact. Oh the pact was stupid. Shows what kind of a mind we had when were 14.

Our pact was that if ever any of us fell into the drain (jatuh longkang yang kita orang risaukan... ntah apa-apa ntah) while everybody who was anybody was in plain sight, the victim will crouch as low as she could to avoid recognition, or even better to avoid notice; one would stand guard to ensure minimum crowd awareness (do not know how to achieve that) while the other one would go and organize transportation. Discreet lift off from the longkang is of utmost importance.

However since the three of us were joined at the hips at that time, I am sure people would have guessed who was in the bloody longkang by doing a simple deduction. Kah kah… Tak payah deduction pun, one look and the masses would know.

Ha ha… bangang.

Standing on the sidewalk next to the shop reminded me of another incident that showed how stupido de dodo I was at that age. You see, I love Ginger Ale/Beer. My absolute favourite. Usually after school right we would troop off to 7-11 to hang out or be seen and socialise. Me, I just want to get my drink. Sometimes I go alone. I don’t care. Other kids would be going with their mates and their cliques, well not me. I just want to get my hand around a can of Schwepps’ Ginger Beer.

Don’t know why yeah, most of the times when I open the can, some bubbly liquid would burst out and hit my face. Hai... Why me ?

.

I always, always forget to pull it away from my face. Amazingly though, I always got away with it as nobody ever saw me. Or I would like to think, since it is so bloody impossible for people to never witness it since it happened like a lot of times and in plain view, that people did see but they like and respect me enough not to make a fuss about it. Ha ha.. Allahualam. Perasan… Okaylah.. Maybe I was that lucky..

Apart from this one day, really. The last person that I want to witness me in my wet face glory actually was in the vicinity and saw everything. Everything ! He saw my tightly closed eyes when I realised what was happening, my expression as the cold liquid hit me right in the middle of my face, me colouring up while my eyes still closed, me looking tentatively around to make sure nobody saw me. As I wiped my face, I heard a hoot of laughter and looked up and my heart sank when I met my brother’s widen eyes. And very much amused face which turned into uncontrollable sniggerings. My mortal enemy, my eldest brother.

He was there with his cool friends and I was so mortified. I couldn’t think of a way to look nonchalant. I was at fault. I never learnt ! However I must say, the worse part was not his mirth, my friends. It was his pity.

.

Arrrghhh ! After laughing, he came over to me, took out his hankie and wiped my face for me. And took a huge gulp of my drink. Damn ! Him buttoning up on the incident from my family didn’t help my monstrous ego either as I didn't want his pity. Him re-enacting the incident in front of my puzzled family and refusing to share the joke was well, what made me jumped on him to scratch his eyes many, many times. Those were dark times indeed.

Sigh… nostalgia.

Went home, slurping my delicious Slurpee. Watched a bit of telly while cooking for soq. Hubby was too knackered to wait for me so he bid his goodnight and went upstairs.

So alone in the kitchen, watching the telly at 11.30 pm, waiting for my pasta to cook. Not 5 hours ago the house was filled with people, I had to turn my 6 seater dining table to accommodate 8. Even all the seats at the kitchen table were taken up.

The house feels so empty.

Come back, family !!! Even you too, big bro.

My merajuk story...

Don’t know why I suddenly remember satu incident aku merajuk. Punya teruk aku punya merajuk tu, 2 tahun kot baru aku terpujuk.

Merajuk ngan Jacket Potato kat Beeston, Nottingham.

He he…

Kat England, gerai-gerai juai makanan tak banyak.

Sometimes you could see the odd burger van, or vendors selling hot dogs or hot chestnuts and my favourite, caramelized peanuts. But those vendors are only special to London. Tak dak pulak aku jumpak kat Nottingham or Leicester. Or kalau pi car boots sales there will be vans selling hot sugared doughnuts, or coffee or ice-cream. Tapi kat tepi-tepi jalan tak dak. Tapi yang selalu ada is jacket potato stands like below.

These jacket potatoes memang wonderful. Hot, baked potatoes in aluminum wrapper taken out fresh from the portable oven. Especially in cold winter months, it will fill your belly AND warm your hands. Amazing kan ?

Kebanyakkan Brits suka makan ngan beans....

Mula-mula kita beratuq, pastu when it comes to our turn, kita habaq berapa kita mau. Pastu nanti makcik tu (well, masa kat Nottingham our local is this makcik and 2 assistants kat tengah-tengah Beeston Market Square) akan tanya, “Butter ?” (kalau ikut slang Nottingham, butter disebut sebagai boot-ter) and kalau aku jawapannya sudah tentu, “Yes, please.” She will cut the butter from a huge block (Farmcows yang 500 gm punya size...), put it on the potato that was cut in the middle and lenyek-lenyek a bit. I love watching the butter melted from the heat. She will then close the box.

Pastu kita habaq lah filling apa kita nak. Kalau aku, my favourite is cheese and corn (aku akan tunggu lama sket sebelum I open the Styrofoam box bagi cheese tu melt sungguh-sungguh. Kat Leicester pulak macam style sikit so depa ada garlic mushrooms. I will eat it with corn, too of course.. (and minus the cheese kay, melampau lah tu kalau tambah cheese lagi…), Dan, Tasren, Ishraf and Zul selalunya corn and coleslaw, pun yummy gak.

Pastu bawak balik rumah makan or belasah kat situ gak or makan sambil jalan-jalan like most people do.

Anyway, one day while we were still in Nottingham, hubby said dia teringin nak makan jacket potato. I wasn’t that hungry so I asked can we share ? Sebabnya hubby ni jenis tak nak makan sorang. If I tell him I wasn’t hungry, sure dia pun tak nak makan punya. Tak sampai hati, kan.

However he replied, “I nak makan sorang… I lapar…”

Okeh, no problem as I wasn’t that hungry anyway. So I said, never mind lah, I will just go without. For some reason he took it as I merajuk when honestly, I wasn’t. I wasn’t hungry, kalau share okaylah. But tak nak share pun tak pe because aku tak lapar. Paham ?

But apparently he didn’t understand. He made such a fuss during the 10 minute walk to Beeston town, pestering me with, “Makan lah…” and “You mesti nak punya…” over and over again. I refused all the way because aku tak nak makan lah ! But dia ni tak reti-reti.

I thought he would stop after he bought it but he didn’t. In fact while queuing up he was literally begging me to get one for myself too. By that time I was darn tired and rimas and annoyed but aku sabar je lah kan.

He resumed his entreaties when we retraced our steps back to the house. This time, he had wanted to share. Ya Allah, I was out of ideas to make him understand without being rude and seriously the energy to keep up and then the inevitable happened. I just couldn’t take it anymore ! So I snapped, “I tak nak makan lah ! I tak lapar, faham tak ?” And I started crying. Aku rasa masa tu I really resisted because I had wanted to make a point. Jangan paksa ! Haa.....

Only then he became quiet. I looked at him and said, “I don’t want to eat jacket potatoes ever again !” and stomped my feet the rest of the way, hiding my now very cold face because of the wet tears behind my scarf and shoving my hand in the deepest recess of my lovely red coat… he he… sempat tuh.

Anyway I didn’t eat anymore jacket potatoes after that. Not from that makcik anyway as setiap kali aku tengok jacket potatoes and makcik tu, I got all rimas and annoyed. It was like my own time machine that transported me back to that very minute, to that very incident.

As time goes, my anger gone, and my resolves faltered a bit. Truthfully I just plain missed it. But pride… ahh….the root of most heart breaks (and war) did not allow it. I tak pernah curi-curi beli and makan sorang-sorang pun even.

Hubby of course tried to entice me many, many times. He went for jacket potatoes a lot after that, trying to break me but no can do. A few times he threatened me with, “If you love me, you will eat it…” but no way Jose… no can do. This is super merajuk, mother of all merajuks, okay ?

Until I got pregnant with Abang, that is and cannot tahan anymore. Out of habit he offered to buy me one eventhough for the past 2 years I politely (or impolitely) declined. I finally said yes. I remember that day so well. We were at the Leicester City Park, the sun was up and the day was cool. Winter was approaching fast and the day was dim and short and the night was.. well even dimmer lah I suppose, kah kah… and definitely longer. So the sun brought the population out, including us.

So there we were, Hubby and I. Me very much embarrassed, blushing unnecessarily and him with widen eyes. But he quickly schooled his face to normality and asked me cautiously if I wanted the usual. It was the best day of my life. Actually when I said yes, it felt like saying yes to him on bended knee. Malu-malu bagai. My ego was of epic proportion, kay.

With flared nostrils sebab segan kan, bodoh kan merajuk lama-lama sebab aku yang rugikan, I quickly explained only because sebab pembawakan budak. Abang yang nak… not me. Kalau tak bagi karang, meleleh je air liur dia nanti…

Hubby sengih and decided to believe me.

Ha ha…

Damn it, I cannot write short ones. Sorry…

My weekend...

Okay since I had a three day weekend, this is again gonna be a long one. Sit tight.

Friday night hubby took me out for anniversary iftar. Plus 2 more. Yup, the kids tagged along and decided to be extra noisy and boisterous, like they knew what the occasion was and were deliberately being romance killers. Well, I suppose any notion of a romantic dinner was dispelled at the very beginning since we took them with us.

I had expected this weekend to be extremely boring indeed as hubby had to work. Pusing-pusing SA Mall while waiting for the kids to finish their classes when I remembered inviting my sisters over to make kuih raya. Pegi Giant to buy the ingredients then called them and pleaded boredom with the very insignificant mall, asking “Can you fetch my kids before you come over ?”, went home and waited for them to come.

Marlin came with Mail and my nieces. The kids played, Mail did his homework while Marlin and I made semprit. Hubby arrived home about 5.30 and us 4 watched telly together. I am still amazed that the kitchen sofa can fit me, hubby, Marlin and Mail. Besaq jugak no sofa tu ? Ha ha..

Piping the semprit. The one I bought from Giant keluaq bentuk bunga dahlya yang terencat. Nasib baik Marlin bawak yang real punya... kah kah

My semprit aka dahlia... Bentuk semprit asli kami tak buat sebab tak lawa and tak leh letak ceri.

Anyway, they went home about 6, we got ready, by 7 Ian arrived, 7.15 my family arrived and by 7.19 we walked to Intekma for buka puasa, courtesy of my brother-in-law Daniel. Makan….

Berjalan waktu Maghrib nak pi berbuka.

Sejak pindah aku tension dengar orang berkaroake bulan puasa. Kuat tau boleh dengar sampai my house. Tapi tahun ni as Dan puts it, "Kita pun join buat benda yang kita tak suka...." Ha ha... Mail and Daniel's sister Nina singing Kuch Kuch Hota Hei... Mail banyak orang bagi bunga masa dia nyanyi solo... Belajar dulu Mail !! Jadi doktor dulu kalau dak Ala pok sebijik..

Balik and tried the semprit, not quite happy with the result, though. The taste is there but the texture is not up to expectations. Will call my Mami Ela, the semprit master and ask. Ha ha…

The walk home was nice as it was full moon. Aku of course bukak cerita pasal werewolf and my children started howling to the moon. Esya unfortunately got spooked and started wailing. Sigh...

Planned to make the fillings for chicken pie for next day, but was too tired. So trudged upstairs lazily after Ian went home to catch some snores. Luckily had done my Isyak first when I tucked the kids into bed. I know myself too well to never lengahkan my solat, especially Isyak…

Woke up at 4 am, bundled the kids inside the car and sped off to A&W. Finally ! The rest of the gang arrived soon after. Funny, eventhough the crowd was little, A&W staffs still failed to deliver. At 4.30 am, they were still lembab nak mampus. Maybe it is the company policy to work at such a pace, I dunno.

Mum and Ijat.

Mail, Ita, Daniel and Marlin. Daniel is very generous. Dah lah belanja kita org buka, sahur pun belanja lagi... Sayang adik ipar aku yang sama umur ngan aku nih... Ha ha...

Abang and hubby. Why hubby looked so good...

while I look like this ?

Went home, sleep and woke up hubby close to 10. He had to be at work like right now. Pity him. Took out the chicken to thaw and peeled potatoes, while watching the telly. Adik who was playing computer games with Abang upstairs suddenly was next to me, face a bit pale. She asked me to lie down with her. I complied when a few minutes after that, the most awful pong escaped and disturbed my deria bau. I sat up with a start.

“Was that you, Adik ?”

“Yes…. My tummy hurts….” I urged her to the bathroom and that was the first of my many visits there with her. She purged and vomited and purged again. It was worrying to see such a small body hacking out that amount of liquid from her body.

Gave her a warm cup of tea and dry toast. “Saya tak puasa ke ?” She asked.

It was horrible. She kept running to the toilet with me tailing behind her. I kept forcing liquid down her throat to keep her hydrated. Called hubby and he had wanted to come home but I told him not to. By 3 she had stopped purging and the vomiting happened within longer intervals.

I had forgotten all about my annual iftar buka with my friends so quickly sms-ed the hostess to inform of our absence. I feel really sad because this tradition we started last year is my favourite. Every household will contribute a few dishes, then we buka together, then maghrib, then eat some more, then isyak and straightaway terawikh before we polished off the remaining food. Then pictures !!

I fondly call it my Pesta Bersuka Ria Sambil Beribadah and I had to miss it. Called Mum to moan and being my mother, she offered food. By that time, Adik was already very clingy and pining for her Babah. I had never left her side so cooking was off.

Hubby arrived home near 6 with mangkok sia from Mum and took over taking care of his precious princess. At that point, Adik had managed to keep down her cookies and chocolates.

“Wow ! Chocolates and cookies ni macam ubat bagi baik sebab saya tak muntah pun…” Banyak le kau punya ubat.

About 6.30 Kamalia arrived with her laksa and black pepper chicken from Jubei. I was so touched to be cared and loved by my friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Around 9, Adik pleaded boredom for being stuck in the house the whole day. Babah took pity on her and took the family out to PKNS. Saja jalan-jalan. Mummy armed herself with soap and wipes and was immensely relieved that she didn’t have to use it all. Ha ha….

I was tired from taking care of Adik and hubby was tired from no rest at all during the weekend so we slept after sahur until about 9. It wasn’t that good, as far as sleep is concerned as we woke up with headaches. Too much sleep, I suppose. Badan pun sengal-sengal. The kids were already up and about, doing their own things. Abang barged in our room after 5 minutes we were awake, demanding us to get out of the bed. Hai….

By 11 am we were already in Ampang Park to order new specs for hubby and I found a beautiful kebaya sulam for my Adik. But Adik tak nak ! She looked gorgeous in it when we put it on her but she didn’t want it for some reason. I was disappointed but also secretly relieved as the whole outfit costs RM 149, a bit too much to be worn once. And don’t think Ustaz Naza approves it for mengaji. I however did find a gorgeous kebaya for myself, though. Ha ha…

After that we headed to Kajang, to well…. there was something we had to do there. Got lost a bit and after 30 minutes of going round and round Kajang, we got to Ian and the thing that we had to do. It was okay, I am glad we went and well… we’ll see.

Sampai rumah about 3 then Mummy came about 5 to cook for iftar. She is having her kitchen renovated so for a few weeks, she will be cooking at mine. The best arrangement ever !

Adik woke up at 3 am to vomit which worries me so no puasa for her for awhile. She had been good, my little girl so takpelah. Sakit, kan ? Then I had to wake up for work. What a let down.

Sigh…..

10th Wedding Anniversary

Sungguh tak lawa tapi ini aje yang ada... ha ha...

What is today ?

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. Me and hubby. Hubby and I.

After 6 years and 5 months of being together, today 10 years ago, he took the akad to take me home.

You know… there are a few things that I don’t like about our wedding. Sometimes, and I know this is bad, I still get annoyed about it. Well…you can see the lack of past tense in my sentences.. ha ha…

But, whatever grouses I had about that day, the most important thing is what I get from that ceremony, my hubby. I get to be with him. I get him as my bedmate. I get to have beautiful (albeit merepek) children with him. I get to eat, and bathe and watch telly with him. I get to hold his hand when we walk. I get to tuck my cold feet under or in between his’ late at night. I get to hear him call me Yang (which amuses me to no end….).

I get to hear him ask, “What’s for dinner ?” every day between 4-7 pm every day.I get to him hear sigh when I announced I am making mee hoon goreng for dinner and a hint of excitement when I say we are having carbonara. That is special to me.

I get him…

All in all, I love him, I do.

He has his idiosyncrasies but so do I.

There were times when I imagined wringing his neck, but I am sure he daydreamed a far more elaborate scene to top me off. Ha ha..

I love him and that is it.

When I think about it, he is actually not bad. To be honest, he is rather wonderful.

And so very pleasing to look at.

He could be couture in the Husbands Department.

And so I love him, no matter what.

I just do.

Pembantu rumah ku

I want to talk about my maid, Neti today. Bukan apa, rasa tak best kalau besok-besok I mention her nama dengan perasaan amarah. Masa dia dok elok tak mau cerita, cerita buruk mau pulak canang kat orang. So not nice lah kan...

Neti ni is only 1 year younger than me. She is divorced and childless. She did mention to me that she wishes to marry because she wants to have children and I accept that. She is young still with plenty of opportunities to start a family. So well... I won't be having her for long then. Never mind lah..

Anyway, truth to be told, I like her. I really do. She is not the best housekeeper in the world, well… neither am I really but I she is a loving bibik to my kids and a bloody good cook.

She can make santan-less curry beautifully. Her asam rebus is to die for and her tom yum is much coveted by my children.

One thing I really, really really appreciate though (and this I say with my hand on my chest, eyes closed with so much emotion and feelings..) is her inability to gossip. Sure she can participate when instigated by me, but never would I come home and she would be having kittens waiting for me with a piece of juicy news..

This trait to me is important as well… my first one was such a gossiper, sampai hal aku sekali dia pi cerita kat orang. My mummy memang dah pesan, maid kalo rajin cerita pasai orang, pasai kita pun dia rajin cerita jugak. Pok sekali baru tau. Menyampah. Kalau semua true stories, well… walaupun sakit okay lah jugak but kalau 99% cerita merapu yang direka-reka untuk bagi orang ternganga, itu yang buat my blood go upstairs, okeh ?

.

Dah lah tu punya tak puas hati, dah balik tanah tempat tumpah darahnya, she still stirred things over here by writing a letter to the orang jahat to further stoke the fire. And orang jahat being orang jahat, well... percaya aje. What to do. My stance is, kita jumpa aje di akhirat, na ? Habih cerita.

My second maid, which is actually my first really because I employed her as soon as I returned to Tanah Malaya but then I gave her to my mom after a few months sebab we do not really like having a maid. But she worked with me again after I sent the sort of first maid home. So all in all she worked with us for a bout 5 years. Anyway, number 2 ni was treated like family. Handphone hilang, mak aku ganti. Kena demam denggi kita orang ke hulu ke hilir bawak hospital. Siap muntah dalam kete and atas my sister’s lap lagi tapi tak kisah. Kalau bertekak ngan kita orang, nombor satu but we took her as family so tak kisah lah.

Dia ni pun kuat bergossip gak and 5 tahun duduk dengan kita orang langsung tak dikenang after kena hasutan for 5-6 months. All our kindness was forgotten. If we truly were bad, why you stayed with us for 5 damn years ?

In my time of need, when I needed support the most, number 2 turned her back on me and feed the orang jahat stories about us. Motif orang jahat tu toksah ceritalah… dah namanya orang jahat kan ? I do not know cerita apa yang keluar, but I was ostracized, well not to my face but you can feel it and stories do get out.

After she was sent back, she did attempt to see my mother once but my mom refused to see her as according to my mom, number 2 hurt her precious and oh so angelic daughter. Aku le tuh.

Ha ha.. sorry… Masuk bakul suruh hubby angkat… kah kah..

Insya-Allah, Neti won’t do the same. She’d better not. I could be wrong but oh please, don’t lah Neti.

Once I came home early, about 12 I think and found the house empty. I wondered where she had gone to but thought nothing much of it. Soon I heard her talking outside. I was at the kitchen sink, washing my hands when she passed by from the outside and almost went into cardiac arrest when she noticed me.

“Saya dekat sana kak… Sama pembantu orang sebelah….” She stammered.

“Err… okay….”

“Saya pergi kedai kak, beli top-up….” She added nervously.

“Err…. Okay….”

Her guilty look irritated me more than anything.

“Neti… kalau awak nak pegi kedai… pegi lah… Saya kan tak apa-apa… Awak mau cakap-cakap sama orang sebelah pun okay… Asalkan majikan dia benarkan…. Takkan lah awak nak ke kedai nak berkawan saya tak bagi, Neti… Awak kan tahu.. ?”

Sengih je dia.

People always asked me why I give my maids so much err… muka. Well, coming from a worker myself, I would go bonkers if my boss banned me from talking to my colleagues or talk on the phone. And I would definitely go nuts if I am not allowed the liberty to merayau sekali sekala.

If she ever decided to go to the other side and be the source of my heartache and anger, well that is her choice. I cannot stop her.

But for now, she is okay and I like her. But if later on you hear me raving and ranting, well at least, I had been fair and acknowledge her plus points first.

Here is hoping for me to like her forever !

Ha ha.

My very looonnggg essay about my weekend.

To recount about my weekend is gonna be loooonnggg people…. Brace yourselves and get your reading glasses ready… I am not doing this in installments …

Friday first. The Bs and girls went for buka at Sahara Tent. We have been going there for years for our annual buka thingy until last year that is when we, hubby and I suggested Planet Hollywood instead. Good food and at RM 35 per head, very cheap.

The initiated loved it and we were glad but alas, this year we reverted back to Sahara Tent because Planet Hollywood KL is no more. Luckily the food was still good although a bit pricey this year at RM 45. The falafel was amazing, okay ? I foolishly called it wade because it tasted almost like one. Luckily Anu knew the right name but the damage was done. Amelia kept calling it wade… he he…. Sorry….

I love my friends so eventhough Anu did a naughty thing by taking my picture on his iPhone and pasted it in a boxing game so my friends (including my very excited hubby) could hit me and watched my face get bruised and swollen after each punch, I smiled beatifically. Although the sight of Shazmi concentrating with his tongue out threatened my calm reverie, but love them I do … so… I endure… with revenge not far from my mind. Jaga korang…

Amelia, Anu and hubby. Look at the gorgeous falafel on Anu's plate.

Shazmi, Nadia and I. I do not want to sit next to Nadia for pictures again as this lady is so gorgeous, she makes me look extra frumpy and plain.

Amelia left at 9.30 but we stayed on for mint tea and shisha, the only time my hubby allowed nicotine to pass in and out of his mouth. Anu informed me it was just burning molasses, not nicotine … Is it really ? Hmmm… Will google it later. The B’s chose orange this year, leaving me smelling of Tang… which is not a bad thing.

Us enjoying the cool night air, mint tea, orange shisha and our friendship.

Don't want to disturb the very busy waiters and waitresses again so took this on our own. Can see a little bit of hubby on the right hand side (and apparently my set of chompers too....)

Left the premise at about 11.30, very much happy. And oh, they served the best lime juice ever. Sweet and a bit tart with chopped mint leaves floating about… Yummm….

Saturday was easy as no piano classes. Slept till about 9 am… he heh…. Sent the kids to their art class, parked my car and hopped on to Amelia’s. Where to ? SACC Mall for reflexology of course. Bliss.

Went home, waited for Babah to come home. Waited again for Babah to sleep then off we went to KLCC for baju raya. Met up with Ian and Haziq but before baju raya, can we nip to Pesta Buku ? Babah grudgingly agreed. Mummy shopped first.. kah kah…

What is nice at Pesta Buku was they took our temperatures first before we were allowed in. Quite reassuring really especially since Adik started coughing as soon as we parked our car.

Mummy loves Esprit for her children so we trooped there first after pesta buku. And after watching Adik cried pitifully for her Babah who went to the car to deposit the books first. And after watching her clutching the railings mournfully, waiting for her Babah to return while Mummy, Uncle Ian and Haziq looked at her worriedly first. She has separation issues, that one. Unfortunately, I only found a pair shorts for Abang and a cute top for Adik. Not much choice there this year. While we paid, Ian sat with the children, minding them.

“Hmm…..” I observed, “Bagus jugak bawak Ian, ye hubby ?” He he…. I need not yell for them to stay within my eyesight. I need not widen my eyes whenever they misbehaved, while trying my darnest to keep my eyeballs in their sockets. I need not… well bother… Kah kah… A novelty indeed.

Went straight to Chakri Palace after that and waited for buka. I am glad we went there as it was lovely. The food was excellent with generous offerings at RM 39.90 for adults and RM 19.90 for children. The tomyam was filled with prawns and squids, the tako was oh so lovely with a hint of vanilla which surprised and delight me, the fish cakes were a treat for the tastebuds and I who loves pineapple almost swooned at the sight of pineapple fried rice.

The mangoes were lovely too. So lovely in fact that Ian took the whole serving plate and put it on our table. He even did the same with the takos. Again, another plus point to have Ian around. Ha ha..

I can’t abide wastage and therefore made sure the kids finished off their plates. Even I only took 2 plates. You wouldn’t find me paying RM 60 for a buffet.. that is too much and not in the spirit of Ramadhan at all. There must always be a limit.

Went around some more and bid our goodbyes to the MacQuistans around 10 pm… I think.

Sunday we woke up late again. Nice…. Since we only managed to get 1 item of clothing each for the kids, we went to Mid Valley at around 11 am. Where else but Metrojaya, the best shopping department ever. Found loads of stuffs for the kids. I found stuffs for the house, found Krispy Kreme for buka, found more stuffs at Marks & Spencer and went home.

Went to my mom’s for buka. She made delicious nasi lemak. It was heaven. Abang had 3 plates of nasi and ikan bilis goreng. My mom is a wonderful cook, sigh. After much hype, Krispy Kreme is a disappointment as well… bukannya sedap sangat pun… Biasa aje…

Went home to mandi (I can’t imagine why hubby and I didn’t bathe before we go to mummy’s. It wasn’t like we did anything apart from lounging around the house…). My siblings fetched me around 9.30 for a spot of window shopping at SACC Mall. There is nothing like late night window shopping during Ramadhan. Loads of people were out of the house, the shops opened till late, the stalls offering goods available only during this holy month and the air crickled with festivity. I love it.

We didn’t buy anything, hence the window shop. Just looking at the wares offered, especially the very, very expensive baju kurungs off the rail. I am so lucky that I had mine made way before puasa.

Balik and tidur, excited at the prospect of sahur at A&W with my siblings. Promised that I would call them at 4 am but we woke at 4.30 ! Put all the blame on hubby, the official alarm clock keeper. It was too late already as the nearest A&W is PJ. With no food at home, we went to McDonald’s… yuck…

At McD.. Urgghh.. not my cup of tea. Hubby snapped a picture of me and Abang but I didn't put it in. Although Abang looked lovely, I looked like a fright at 4 am. So no can do. Do not want to scare the masses.

I didn’t call my siblings though as they were very sceptic about driving to PJ at 4.30. Hence was surprised that Mummy called at 7.30 to check on my health. Apparently, despite their misgivings none of my siblings had a good night sleep, waking up every few hours to catch the 4 am call ! Kah kah ! When none came, they called me repeatedly but I as usual had misplaced my phone.

But why oh why oh why didn’t they call hubby ? They know the drill.. I am hopeless keeping my phone near to my person during the weekends. Hubby is the best way to get to me. Do they never learn ? Or I should learn to keep my phone near … ha ha….

Marah-marah pun… they followed us to Subang Parade. It was filled to the brim, my Subang Parade, but we soldiered on as Abang only has 1 pair of shorts. After a strict instruction not to buy anything else for Adik (ha ha… but girls clothes are soooo lovely and fancy and cute….) Hubby took Abang to the boy’s section while my sisters, my daughter, my niece and I chose some clothes for Esya. Managed to persuade hubby to buy a cute top from Benetton for Adik and then….it was time for the ladies to shop.

Eleh, bukannya beli apa pun… just one top each at Dororthy Perkins well…. because hubby is there as financial controller. For that, we give our Alhamdullilah…. Seriously. Because if left to our own devices, we would have maxed out our cards and emptied our bank accounts. A gaggle of girls out shopping is a serious matter indeed. Alone, we are manageable. In a group, we are a force to be reckoned with.

In the car, Ita raved and raved about nasi briyani on sale at Kompleks PKNS bazaar Ramadhan. Therefore hubby gave her money to tapau for us and his parents. I baked while waiting and by 6 pm, she came to deliver the goodies. It smelt sooooo good …. The last few minutes is the most agonizing part of Ramadhan… he he… Speaking from the tummy of course. And indeed the briyani was good. Not at all sweet like most Johor briyani gam.

Buka with the PILs, stayed awhile to sembang-sembang then went home.

And cried inside because well… I have to go to work the very next day and the kids have to go back to school. No more staid and relaxing day. No more sloth and gluttony (which isn’t a good thing it being Ramadhan and all). Back to being a bee…

Hmmm…………