Retirement age is going to be increased to 60?

Salam,

Yesterday I read about the proposal to raise the retirement age in private sector to 60. I definitely agree on that proposal. WHY? I can think of so many reasons and benefits for us if we are still working after the age of 55. Right now I can see my parents in-law are still working even though both of them have passed the standard retirement age. They are still fit and healthy.

My hubby and I have planned to keep working. Even if we decide to retire from the main job, we want to find another job or set up a business. We want to be like his parents who are still active until now even though they are at the age of 62 and 65. We don't want to have the boring life after retirement where the normal perception is the time to relax, play with the grandchildren and learn more about our religion. For us, we should be able to do all of those even when we are still young. We just need to find the way to balance our life.

What do you reckon? Would you like to work until the age of 60?

Stupid Cancer.

Salam,

I found this intriguing quote written by someone.  It's worth to ponder since we all have this kind of 'cancer'. The only difference is some people try to suppress it but some just do nothing about it.

Let's see the quotation:

Stupid cancer. We all want a new car, a new phone. A person who has cancer only wants one thing... to survive. 


I have to agree with that as I also have that kind  of cancer from time to time. If we compare that to those who have cancer or have been diagnosed with a serious disease, that person doesn't want anything else but to survive or trying very hard to be positive and finding the best way to cure their disease. Do you have the same cancer too?

And no more privacy in FACEBOOK.

Salam,

I was first introduced to FACEBOOK by my hubby in 2009. He was the one who helped me to register and open an account. I have to admit that I was so addicted to FACEBOOK during that year and I started to search for my long-lost friends. I also spent a lot of time playing the FB's games like Cafe World and Farmville. However, when I came back to Malaysia in June last year, I stopped playing the games. Now I only check my account whenever I'm free.

Over these few years, FB has been changed a lot. The management team has been busy updating and changing the layout of FB for users. So many users have realized that we are slowly losing our privacy in FB.  Now, almost everybody can read and find out about our activities even though they are not in our friend's list. What used to be on our wall and only for our friend's view can be easily accessed by anybody. To tell the truth, I don't really believe that our privacy setting can help that much since if we just make one bad decision like writing one bad comment, we are doomed! We will tarnish our own reputation and image with one slip of the tongue. Some jokes can be viewed as threats or criticism. Some comments on other people's photo can be viewed as a slander or bad-mouthing piece of comment. 

NOW, WHAT CAN WE DO? SHOULD WE GO TO THE EXTREME MEASURE WHERE WE JUST HAVE TO DELETE OUR ACCOUNT?

Peringatan: Taktik terbaru untuk menculik dan membunuh wanita. (BM entry)

Salam,

Terkedu, takut dan bermacam-macam lagi perasaan timbul bila saya terbaca tentang taktik terbaru untuk menculik dan membunuh wanita. Kawan saya dari FACEBOOK telah memyebarkan perkara ini dan berharap agar ramai wanita akan mengambil pengajaran daripada pengalaman seorang wanita yang terselamat daripada menjadi mangsa. Nak tahu kisah sebenar? SILA BACA DAN AMBIL PENGAJARAN:

Ini adalah sangat menakutkan, serupa dengan kes Ms Canny Ong. Pada suatu hari, terdapat seorang wanita yang berhenti di stesen minyak untuk mengisi minyak. Setelah selesai memenuhkan tangki minyak selepas membayar menggunakan kad kredit di pam dan ingin meninggalkan stesen tersebut, atendan di dalam kedai lantas bercakap menerusi speaker dan memberitahu sesuatu yang berlaku dengan kad itu dan meminta wanita itu masuk ke dalam untuk membayar tunai. Wanita itu keliru kerana dia telah selesai mengisi minyak dan pembayaran menggunakan kad kredit telah diluluskan. Dia menunjukkan isyarat tangan kepada atendan tersebut dan bersiap sedia untuk meninggalkan tetapi atendan tersebut sekali lagi menggesa wanita tersebut masuk ke dalam kaunter kedai untuk membayar tunai. Dengan perasaan sedikit marah, wanita itu terus masuk ke dalam kedai dan mempertikaikan tindakan petugas tersebut dan menuduh dia menipu. Atendan tersebut memberitahu supaya wanita itu bertenang dan mendengar dengan teliti Atendan memberitahu ketika wanita tersebut sedang mengisi minyak, dia telah melihat seorang lelaki telah masuk ke dlm kereta dan bersembunyi dikerusi belakang . Dengan segera beliau telah menghubungi pihak polis. Wanita tersebut terus menjadi takut dan segera melihat pintu keretanya terbuka dan lelaki itu telah menyusup keluar dan meninggalkan kereta itu dengan tergesa-gesa. Kes baru-baru ini didapati mempunyai kaitan dengan ujian untuk permulaan geng jenayah terbaru dimana memerlukan seseorang untuk membawa balik bahagian badan seorang wanita .. Salah satu cara yang mereka lakukan adalah dengan merangkak perlahan-lahan dan menyusup masuk ke dalam kereta wanita manakala sasaran utamanya adalah stesen minyak atau di kedai runcit pada waktu malam. Kemudian, mereka akan potong kaki / buku lali mangsa menculik mereka dan kemudiannya membunuh dan mencerai-beraikan mereka. Kaedah lain adalah dengan memaksa wanita itu masuk ke dalam kereta kemudian menculik mereka, Sila sebarkan ini kepada wanita lain, orang muda dan tua. Pertama, wanita seharusnya lebih berhati-hati apabila ingin masuk ke dalam kereta pada waktu malam. Kedua, Jangan letakkan kereta di tempat sunyi atau terpencil semata-mata ingin mendapatkan tempat letak kereta percuma! Ketiga, Jika boleh, elakkan memandu seorang diri pada waktu malam! Ini adalah situasi sebenar! Penculikan! Pembunuhan! Putus dan anggota badan dicerai-ceraikan! Ini semua berlaku di Malaysia !
... ...
Jadikan amalan : 1. Pastikan kereta berkunci setiap masa walaupun anda meninggalkan kereta sebentar.

2. Periksa sekeliling kereta sebelum masuk ke dalam kereta. 3. Sentiasa peka terhadap sebarang tanda-tanda pelik dari persekitaran anda dan individu lain di dalam sekitar umum, terutama pada waktu malam!!!

How to be popular overnight! (read in sarcastic tone)

Salam,

Popular? Famous? Don't you want to be like your favourite celebrities? Don't you want to be well-known? People will look up to you and you'll be rich as well. Do you think that you need some talents to become popular? Well...........maybe some people need some talents just to boost up the popularity but most of the time you need a lot of publicity.

So, are you ready to learn the TIPS ON HOW TO BE POPULAR? All right:

• find your niche. If you can sing, you should make a video and posted your video on YOU TUBE. If you are good in acting, you should also make a video of your best acting scene. You can be popular when your video receive a high hit like that 'Cikgu Shida'.
• produce or come out with a controversial issue or again video. Be as bold as you can like 'Namewee'. He just produced a film called 'Nasi Lemak 2.0'! Before this, he was the one who created his own version of "Negaraku".
• use some popular social network like Facebook or your own blog to write about something controversial.
• find one record that you can break so that your name can be included in Malaysia's World Book of Records.  

Now are you dare enough to do one of those? If YES, then I can ensure that you'll be popular overnight. BUT if you don't want to jump into this kind of bandwagon, you just have to ignore all the tips and go on with your life as it is. PEACE!

Amy Winehouse's voice for me.

Salam,

Pharyngitis or sore throat can change your voice to be like Amy Winehouse's voice. How? Well, when you have to strain your voice in order to speak to other people, your voice will be coarse and you will lose your real voice. That's what have happened to me today. It's not the first time as I lost my voice few months ago too. So, this morning when my students asked me about my voice, I told them a ridiculous joke. I told them, "Last night some aliens came to my house and stole away my beautiful voice". Some students laughed some were clueless to my explanation. Some even gave some advice by saying, "You don't have to teach today and we can just relax". Yup, they taught that they can just do nothing when I lost my voice. But it didn't happen because I still managed to teach them.

I've tried most of the tips to ease this pain. It will take few days before I can get my actual voice. For now, I can be Amy Winehouse or Ella (the famous Malaysian rocker).

If you are having the same problem or for your future reference, here are the tips for SORE THROAT.


The following tips may help your sore throat feel better:

• Drink warm liquids such as lemon tea or tea with honey.
• Gargle several times a day with warm salt water (1/2 tsp of salt in 1 cup water).
• Drink cold liquids or suck on popsicles.
• Suck on hard candies or throat lozenges. Young children should not be given such products because they can choke on them.
• A cool-mist vaporizer or humidifier can moisten and soothe a dry and painful throat.
• Try over-the-counter pain medications, such as acetaminophe

Minat dengan 'Tuah' dan 'Lekiu' laa pulak. (BM entry)

Salam,

Pg2 td bukak tv tengok perbarisan Hari Malaysia & Merdeka. Itu acara wajib tiap2 tahun walaupun tak pernah menjejakkan kaki ke Pdg Merdeka untuk melihat sendiri perbarisan dan acara sambutan Hari Merdeka. Dalam banyak2 acara yg kami tengok tadi, sy paling suka bila melihat 'Tuah' dan 'Lekiu'. Sungguh tampan, bergaya dan menawan hati.

TUAH? LEKIU? Untuk yg dah tahu mesti boleh agak apa yg sy katakan. Untuk yg tak tahu lagi, jgn sangka yg bukan2 ye. Sy bukan merujuk pd Pahlawan2 Melayu di zaman Kesultanan Melaka. Sy merujuk pd kereta Proton Tuah dan Lekiu. Nak tengok rupa 'mereka'?

Silakan: (diambil dr GOOGLE IMAGES)

TUAH

Lekiu

Ada juga yg gunaa nama pahlawan2  yg lain macam Jebat, Lekir & Kasturi. Cuma pg tadi 2 model je yg ditunjukkan. Sy ni minat je tengok sbb kalau nak beli tu rasanya tak mampu la lagi. Lgpun tengok je tak rugi apa pun.  Yg nak tergelaknya pg tadi siap ada model2 Melayu berpakaian ala2 pahlawan dan buat gaya bersilat di tepi kereta Tuan & Lekiu tu. Model2 tu mcm poyo je. hehehe.

Kalau nak tengok jugak model2 yg lain, silalah tengok gambar2 yg lain ni. Sekali- sekala sy saja je nak menulis mengenai kereta walaupun tak lengkap dengan spesifikasi kereta dan harga. Kalau nak tahu yg lain2 tu kenala cari pengedar proton yg sah atau blog2 permotoran. hehe.

Jebat

 Kasturi

Lekir

WW: Getting ready for Malaysia Day cum Merdeka!

Rapid KL's service disruption.

Salam,

Imagine this:

A lot of people was waiting for the train. They had been waiting for 20 minutes or so. More people came and the numbers were growing. When one train came, everybody wanted to get in. They tried to squeeze themselves in the over-crowded train. After few stations, they had to stop and changed to the other train. So, they had to queue up and joined another huge crowd. Some opted to use alternative transport but many still wait as it was not easy to get other transport as well. It was during the peak hour in the morning where many people were rushing to their workplace. To make matter worse, most of them were clueless as there were not enough personnel or staff who can help to explain what was going on. Some who were heading to KLCC had to stop at Kg Baru station again before they could continue their journey to KLCC.

Why am I sharing that?

I was one of those people who were stuck in the major service disruption of Rapid KL this morning. I arrived in the station (near where I live) at the usual time and I could only be at my workplace almost 2 hours after that. It was actually the first time for me to experience the major delay. Most of the time, the delay is not that bad. Rapid KL is quite reliable and dependable.  That's why I wonder what really happened this morning. I also wonder why were there not enough staff or police officers who can help the passengers to get information and explanation.

To RAPID KL: 

• Please provide us with more information if there's any service disruption. 
• Please place more staffs on each stations.
• Please update us with any changes clearly.
• Please upgrade everything in order to provide the best service as we know that you gain a lot of profits everyday.

"Phishing" sounds like 'fishing' but they're not the same.

Salam,

This month I'm teaching new class and a new level. There's a lot of interesting topics to be discussed in the subject called "Conversation". One of the topics that we are discussing now is about "All about Internet". Before I go deeper into discussing "Cyber Crimes" with my students, I have went through the slides and the lesson plan before tomorrow's class. Then, I found this new jargon for me. It's "PHISHING". I have to admit that I'm not so techno-savvy. That's why I'm still a bit clueless on certain jargon on the internet or if they are related to new gadgets.

Does anyone know what is PHISHING? Now, let me share what I've found from WEBOPEDIA.COM

phishing [View Webopedia Definition]
(fish´ing) (n.) The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information.

After checking the meaning of the jargon, now I know that it's quite common nowadays to see this activity. It's in fact part of Cyber Crimes. Everyday we receive a lot of junk mails through our e-mail account. Most of the senders are actually have to tried to phish you. A lot of people have become victims and a lot more will be if we are not careful enough. Thus, prevention is better than cure. I always transfer most of the junk mails into te spam box and then delete them a.s.a.p.

Okay, that's all for the lesson now. (hehe). I'm just happy to share what I have just discovered. If you knew about this, maybe you can elaborate more in the comment box. Thanks :D

Kisah Si Penjual Kuih (BM entry)

Salam,

Saya dapat kisah ni drpd FB kwn. Kisah ini mmg boleh menginsafkan kita dan sebenarnya saya berasa sungguh sebak sewaktu membaca kisah ini. Cuba baca dan hayati teladan yang  kita boleh pelajari dari kisah ini.

Kisah budak penjual kuih

by syahirul.com on Monday, August 22, 2011 at 8:37am

Hari itu selepas seminggu beraya di kampung, saya pulang ke Kuala Lumpur. Memikirkan highway PLUS sibuk, saya menyusuri laluan lama. Pekan pertama yang saya lintas ialah Teluk Intan. Terasa mengantuk, saya singgah sebentar di sebuah restoran di pinggir pekan itu. Sebaik memesan makanan, seorang kanak-kanak lelaki berusia lebih kurang 12 tahun muncul dihadapan.

"Abang nak beli kuih?" katanya sambil tersenyum. Tangannya segera menyelak daun pisang yang menjadi penutup bakul kuih jajaanya.

“Tak apalah dik... Abang dah pesan makanan," jawap saya ringkas.

Dia berlalu. Sebaik pesanan tiba, saya terus menikmatinya. Lebih kurang 20 minit kemudian saya nampak kanak-kanak tadi menghampiri pelanggan lain, sepasang suami isteri agaknya. Mereka juga menolak, dia berlalu begitu saja.



"Abang dah makan, tak nak beli kuih saya?" katanya selamba semasa menghampiri meja saya.

"Abang baru lepas makan dik. Masih kenyang lagi ni," kata saya sambil menepuk-nepuk perut.

Dia beredar, tapi cuma setakat di kaki lima. Sampai di situ, di meletakkan bakulnya yang masih sarat. Setiap yang lalu ditanya, "Tak nak beli kuih saya bang, pak cik, kakak atau makcik?"

Molek budi bahasanya! Mamak restoran itu pun tidak menghalang dia keluar masuk ke premisnya bertemu pelanggan. Sambil memerhati, terselit rasa kagum dan kasihan di hati saya melihatkan betapa gigihnya dia berusaha. Tidak nampak langsung tanda-tanda putus asa dalam dirinya, sekalipun orang yang ditemuinya enggan membeli kuihnya.

Selepas membayar harga makanan dan minuman, saya terus beredar ke kereta. Kanak-kanak itu saya lihat berada agak jauh di deretan kedai yang sama. Saya buka pintu, membetulkan duduk dan menutup pintu. Belum sempat saya menghidupkan enjin, kanak-kanak tadi berdiri di tepi kereta. Dia menghadiahkan sebuah senyuman. Saya turunkan cermin, membalas senyumannya.

"Abang dah kenyang, tapi mungkin abang perlukan kuih saya untuk adik-adik abang, ibu atau ayah abang." katanya petah sekali sambil tersenyum. Sekali lagi dia mempamerkan kuih dalam bakul dengan menyelak daun pisang penutupnya.

Saya tenung wajahnya, bersih dan bersahaja. Terpantul perasaan kesian di hati. Lantas saya buka dompet, dan menghulurkan sekeping not merah RM10. Saya hulurkan padanya.

"Ambil ni dik! Abang sedekah. Tak payah abang beli kuih tu," Saya berkata ikhlas kerana perasaan kasihan meningkat mendadak. Kanak-kanak itu menerima wang tersebut, lantas mengucapkan terima kasih terus berjalan kembali ke kaki lima deretan kedai. Saya gembira dapat membantunya. Setelah enjin kereta saya hidupkan, saya mengundur. Alangkah terperanjatnya saya melihat kanak-kanak itu menghulurkan pula RM10 pemberian saya itu kepada seorang pengemis yang buta kedua-dua matanya.

Saya terkejut, lantas memberhentikan semula kereta, memanggil kanak-kanak itu.

"Kenapa bang nak beli kuih ke?" tanyanya.

"Kenapa adik berikan duit abang tadi pada pengemis tu? Duit tu abang bagi adik!" Kata saya tanpa menjawap pertanyaannya.

"Bang saya tak boleh ambil duit tu. Mak marah kalau dia dapat tahu saya mengemis. Kata mak kita mesti bekerja mencari nafkah kerana Allah berikan tulang empat kerat pada saya. Kalau dia tahu saya bawa duit sebanyak itu pulang, sedangkan jualan masih banyak, mak pasti marah. Kata mak, mengemis kerja orang yang tak berupaya, saya masih kuat bang!" katanya begitu lancar.

Saya sebak, sekaligus kagum dengan pegangan hidup kanak-kanak itu. Tanpa banyak soal saya terus bertanya berapa semua harga kuih dalam bakul itu.

"Abang nak beli semua ke?" Dia betanya dan saya cuma mengangguk. Lidah saya kelu nak berkata.

"RM25 saja bang."

Selepas dia memasukkan satu persatu kuihnya kedalam plastik, saya hulurkan RM25. Dia mengucapkan terima kasih dan terus berlalu.

Saya perhatikan dia sehingga hilang daripada pandangan. Dalam perjalanan ke Kuala Lumpur, baru saya terfikir untuk bertanya statusnya. Anak yatimkah? Siapakah wanita berhati mulia yang melahirknya? Terus terang saya katakan, saya beli kuihnya bukan lagi atas dasar kasihan, tetapi kerana rasa kagum dengan sikapnya yang dapat menjadikan kerjayanya satu penghormatan.

Sesungguhnya saya kagum dengan sikap kanak-kanak itu. Dia menyedarkan saya, siapa kita sebenarnya!

Email dari hamba Allah :)

Impatient motorcyclists putting pedestrians in danger.

Salam,

To the motorcyclists that use Jln Yap Kwan Seng everyday:

You guys is so inconsiderate about other people's life. When the pedestrians are using the zebra crossing and the light is RED, it means that you have to stop and wait. It's not a long wait since the light will turn GREEN again in 10 seconds! There had been some victims among the pedestrians who were knocked down by some of you. Most of them were our students. They were not ignorant about the road rules BUT you are the ones who were at fault! The road is not built only for cars and motorcyclists. It's also for those who have decided to use public transport and then walk to their work place. SO..............please remember to use your conscience and be considerate to other people especially the defenseless pedestrians. I don't want to ONE of the victims and part of the road statistic just because you can't wait for 10 FREAKING SECONDS!!!!

Hari Raya adalah hari untuk menunjuk2 utk sesetengah orang. (BM entry)

Salam,

Sebenarnya dah lama terfikir nak menulis mengenai hal ini sbb bukan nak mengata2 sesiapa tapi nak mengingatkan diri sendiri juga supaya tak besifat riak dan bongkak. Bukan seorang dua yang saya nampak cuba nak menunjuk2 malah jika diperhatikan, memang sesetengah orang yg mungkin tak sedar atau sedar  tapi sifat riak sudah menguasai diri bilaa mereka mula mempamerkan kemewahan masing2. Masa yang terbaik bagi mereka untuk menunjuk2 ialah di HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI.

Apa yang suka ditunjuk2. Jom tengok senarai ni, kalau ada sesiapa yang nak tambah dipersilakan. Kalau nak cakap saya pun sama, suka menunjuk2 pun, saya tak kisah sbb mungkin saya pun tak sedar yg saya dah menunjuk2 kat blog sendiri ni.

Senarai barang2 yg orang suka tunjuk di hari raya:

1. Kerata baru yang mahal:Walaupun kereta tu dibeli dengan duit pinjaman bank, nak  juga berlagak dengan kereta tu sbb nanti bolehla kembang kempis hidung bila bawa balik kereta baru ke kampung. Lagipun mana ada orang beli kereta bayar terus (cash) sbb kereta import kan mahal kat Malaysia ni.

 2. Barang2 kemas baru: Ini kegemaran orang perempuan terutama yg sudah berumahtangga. Saya tak pasti dgn org2 perempuan dari negeri2 lain, tetapi kalau mek2 Kelate ni biasalah macam wajib ke ada barang2 kemas dari emas je. Emas Kelantan pula lain sikit dari emas 916. Sy ada juga mintak suami belikan tetapi setakat ni dia ada belikan yg biasa2 je sbb yelah dah banyak dok bayar benda2 lain. Bila dia cakap, "Kalau ada banyak2 nanti nak gantung kat leher, lengan tu sampai tak boleh nak jalan ke?". Mmg terus sy terdiam dan berfikir, "Betul jugak tu sbb nanti boleh mendatangkan perasaan riak". huhu. Macam Mami Pulau Pinang pun, mmg biasa ada brg2 kemas yg berlip-lap2 ni. Kalau sedang bercakap, kalau boleh nak tunjuk semua yg ada.

3. Baju raya paling cantik : Beberapa bulan sblm bulan puasa lagi, ramai yg sudah sibuk memikirkan baju raya. Kalau boleh nak yg paling anggun dan cantik. Tukang2 jahit pun 3 bulan sblm puasa dah nak tutup menerima tempahan. Banyak fesyen2 baru yg sekarang ni kat blog pun ada dijual. Sediakan duit je dan klik yg mana berkenan di hati. Sekurang2nya kena beberapa pasang utk beberapa hari di bulan Syawal. Lps tu ada banyak pula rumah terbuka utk melaram baju2 raya.

4. Perabot baru, langsir baru, karpet baru dan lain2 lagi: Masa rayalah masa untuk menukar kalau boleh brg2 dlm rumah. Kalau boleh nak serba baru supaya bila orang dtg beraya, bolehla kembang kempis hidung menerima pujian. Bukan susah pun nak tukar semua baru sbb banyak iklan2 sblm raya lg yg menawarkan tawaran2 menarik mcm tak perlu bayar dulu dan boleh bayar ansuran sehingga berthn2. Maksudnya hutang dan hutang lagi.

5. Jamuan rumah terbuka secara besar-besaran: Ini pun boleh jd pembaziran lebih2 lagi kalau ada banyak sgt rumah terbuka yg diadakan secara serentak. Kalau yg dijemput tu golongan yg susah, anak2 yatim bagus jugak. Ini jemputan pula org kenamaan sbb ada hajat lain. Kalau dah ada banyak sgt makanan pun, tak termakan jugak semua. Bila membazir, alangkah sayangnya terpaksa dibuang. Orang2 Somalia tengah kelaparan, kita ni terlebih makanan. huhu

Sy nak minta maaf kalau ada sesiapa tersinggung dgn entry ini. Niat sy hanya nak memperbetulkan niat kita apabila berhari raya. Sy sendiri pun mengakui ada terselit perasaan nak menunjuk2 tu. Cuma sejak2 dah semakin "muda" ni, sy lebih banyak nak bersederhana. Itu yg disarankan dalam Islam pun.

The forgotten photos................

Salam,

I just realized that I totally forgot to include the photos in yesterday's entry. Thus, to make it up, I'm sharing some of my raya photos here. There are more than 200 photos but I can only share some here.

The continuation of raya stories (with some photos this time)

Salam,

I know, I know......why do I have to write one more entry about raya. It might make other people feel bored reading it. Well, like the others, each raya is different so I just want to record my experience for Aidil Fitri 2011 here.

Wednesday 31st August

We plan just to visit few houses since we would like to receive some guests at home too. We only visited some relatives that live nearby in the morning. Then, after Dzuhur prayer, my siblings and I went to my uncle's house (Ayoh Mi) in Kg. Kota, KB. His wife (Cik Lah) prepared some delicious dishes like Roti Jala, Kuzi Ayam, Bihun Sup and the usual Nasi Impit and Kuah Kacang. Most of us chose Bihun Sup as we were already bored with any dishes made with coconut milk. In the afternoon, we received some guests at home and fortunately we still have some food that we could serve to them. At night, my aunt (Mok Ngoh) whose house is just across the street, organized "sembahyang hajat" for her daughter who is going to continue her study in UTEM. So, all of us were there to help her and also enjoyed her Nasi Beriani. The event after the feast was interesting especially for my daughters since my uncle (Pokcik Mahiri) organized the fire crackers and firework session. The noise was quite loud and all the kids and also adults, enjoyed watching the firework.

Thursday 1st September

We woke up very early since we had to catch the earliest flight from KB to Subang Airport. Our flight was at 8.45 a.m.  It was delayed for 15 minutes. So, we used that time to have a drink at thee cafe while waiting for the flight. By 10 a.m. we managed to arrive in KJ. My parents-in-law and my SIL were getting ready to set off the journey to the north when we arrived home. Since we were also joining them, we had to quickly get ready as well. By 11, we left the house to set off to Ipoh, Perak, Lunas, Kedah and Balik Pulau, Penang. It was a convoy of 2 cars. My in-laws in one car and our family with my SIL on another car. Our first destination was my MIL's sister's house (my hubby's Mak Ngah). She organized an "open house" on the third day of raya. She had been expecting us in the afternoon. However, only by 3 o'clock we arrived at her house. We stayed there for 3 hours before we continued our journey to Kulim, Kedah. My FIL booked 3 rooms at Seri Malaysia Hotel in Kulim because we didn't want to stay in his sister's house and impose some hassles on her  family. We went to her house (my hubby's Mak Andak) after dinner and chatted with her family members until midnight before we called it a day.

Friday 2nd September

Early in the morning, we had breakfast in Seri Malaysia Hotel first. The selection of food for breakfast was quite good because we could choose Nasi Lemak, Nasi Goreng, Kuew Teow Sup, Bubur Nasi, Toast and some fruits. We tried a little bit of each dish before we checked off. The destination for that day were Sg Rusa, Balik Pulau in Penang, Georgetown and maybe Ipoh again. The journey to Sg Rusa, Balik Pulau was an interesting one since I had never been there even though we've been married for almost 8 years! It was my FIL's hometown. He used to stay there when he was growing up. Since he had lost both his parents when he was young, he only had his late elder brother who still lived there. Our plan was to visit his elder brother's wife and children at their original village house. I loved to see the original houses there and the ambiance. It was so quiet and peaceful. My daughters had the chance to meet and play with their second cousins. My FIL decided to stay until Friday prayer because he would like to go to the mosque nearby. He seemed happy to be able to meet some people who could still remember him. By 3.30 p.m. we left that place to go to other destinations. However, after few turns around Penang island, my hubby decided that we had to go back to KJ. So, my in-laws continued their journey and we headed back to the south. The journey back that usually takes about 6 hours became 8 hours due to the heavy traffic that night. We arrived safely home by 11.30 p.m.

Raya 2011: 4 days in Kelantan and 2 days in Perak, Kedah & Penang.

Salam,

I've been so lazy to type out any entry here. I shouldn't blame the Raya Mood because other bloggers somehow managed to update their blog. Since I haven't been able to upload all the photos yet, I can only share the summary of our Raya 2011.

Sunday 28th August 2011

Our flight was as early as 10.30 a.m. My FIL sent us to Subang Airport and we checked in by 9.20 a.m. My daughters were so excited because they couldn't wait to see go back to Kelantan. They sang "Balik Kampung" all the way. Once we touched down in Kota Bharu, I realized how much I miss my hometown. My brother, Pein and her wife and daughter picked us up and we bought some fresh fish and squids on our way back. We planned to break our fast with our abah (dad) that day. I had plan to cook some special dishes for him since I didn't have the chance to do that last year. I prepared "Gulai Ikan Ayo (Ikan Tongkol)" and "Sambal Tumis Sotong" with fried vegetables. That evening, we break our fast together for the first time this year.

Monday 29th August 2011

Since it was the last day of fasting, I asked my hubby to accompany me to the Wet Market in Wakaf Bharu. I had expected to see so many people but I didn't expect to see that the number of people was double than usual! I just wanted to buy several items but we had to park so far that I canceled my intentions to buy some of the heavier items. My daughters got their bubble toys too because they saw them before I could sway their attention. Once we were at home, my aunts and my SIL had prepared some ingredients for "Rendang" and other dishes for the first day of raya. We prepared and cooked some special dishes from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. By the evening, I just prepared Fried Noodle for breaking our fast. We also ate our Chicken Rendang and Beef Rendang with the fried noodle.

Tuesday 30th August  2011

It's first day of Eid (Raya). I woke up as early as 5 o'clock since I wanted to cook some more "ketupat nasi". I also reheated Rendang, Lodeh and Gulai Ayam. Hafizah also helped me to fill in the raya cookies in the cookies jar. By the time everybody was ready to go to the mosque, we had ample time to eat some dishes.
After Raya prayer, we went to visit my late mum's, grandma's, grandpa's and great grandma's graves. When we arrived home, we had a nice photo session with all the family members. It's a very important event each year. Then, we proceeded to visit our relatives in 6 different houses in few different areas in Wakaf Bharu, Kota Bharu and Pasir Mas.

TO BE CONTINUED......................