Selamat Hari Merdeka yg ke 56

More Photos of Raya 2013

Just to share some more photos of our Raya celebration. We only took some more photos on the third day of Syawal as the fourth day, we were busy visiting other relative houses and also went shopping in Pengkalan Kubor.

3rd Syawal

Siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins

The happy kids

 My sisters and I

 Serving ice cream to the kids

 Husna with her cousins (last year's babies with different birth dates)

 

The Colourful Celebration of AidilFitri 2013

I reckon by now most Muslim bloggers especially on Malaysia have updated some entries regarding how they have celebrated Eid this year. So, just for sharing some insights of how we have celebrated Eid this year, I want to share some photos of our families in Kelana Jaya and also Kelantan.

1st Syawal (In KJ)

My own family members with parents-in-law and sister-in-law

We don't have a theme colour- hehe

2nd Syawal

My abah, my brother and some of his grandkids

My abah, my daughters and I

Husna's new favourite past time - Eating raya cookies

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

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Double celebration: Hafizah's 6th & Husna's 1st birthday.

I've been meaning to share about this celebration since last week but I've been busy. (cliche right?). So here, in a brief entry here, I want to share how we celebrated Hafizah and Husna's birthday on 16th of June. Husna turned 1 year old on 10th of June and Hafizah turned 6 years old last Saturday. We decided to celebrate both birthdays right in the middle.

I made all the simple preparations with the help from Fathini and Hafizah. We didn't invite so many guests as it was mean to be just a simple bbq- family event. Hafizah just wanted to invite her friends and her cousins who can join us that weekend. I made a banner using our printer, prepared party packs and also some games for the kids. The food? My hubby acted as the head chef that day when he and his brother, cooked the lamb, chicken, sausages and chicken balls on the bbq set. I prepared some other food like mashed potato, fried maggi and tomato rice. My sister-in law brought apple salad.

We started the party at 12 by asking the children to eat something first. When the guests arrived, I asked all of the children to make their own party hats by decorating the cardboard that I prepared. Then, we played the first game which was passing the mystery present. They listened to some music and had to passed the present until the music stopped. The last person who was holding the present had to open the first layer of the present. The cycle went on until they could open the present and shared the goodies. Next, the second game was being a statue. They danced freely until the music stopped and they had to be a statue. When somebody moved, he was out of the game. Lastly, finding treasure in a basin that was full with colored balls. I reckon that was their favourite as they had to be quick to find some jelly hidden under some colored balls.

The highlight of the party was of course the cake! Since Hafizah was really into having "rainbow theme" in everything, I ordered a rainbow cake for her and Husna. The cake tasted wonderful and the icing was not too sweet too. I thought after the cake, the children won't be eating anything else. But they were happily nodded their heads when I asked, "Does anybody want rainbow ice-cream?". So, their last treat was of course the Paddle Pop Rainbow Ice cream. Some even asked for second servings!

We had so much fun and the adults had their fair share of excitement by catching up and swapping stories. I always love a simple party where we prepared everything (of course with the help from our family members too). It can be tiring to prepare everything but we can save a lot  of money and also getting our family members to lend some hands too. (most of the time they are willing to help- Alhamdulillah).

Teacher's Day: First experience as a kindy teacher.

Happy Teacher's Day to all my ex-teachers. I know it sound so cliche' when everybody wishes Happy Teacher's Day on FB today but as long as they sincerely want to send the wish to show appreciation, there's nothing wrong with that. It only gets out of hand when some teachers tarnish the profession by asking and demanding certain kinds of gifts from their students. Parents who feel so obliged to their children's wish would feel uneasy when they have to spend extra just to make their children feel happy. 

I myself is a teacher who was trained to teach secondary school students. I taught in Maahad Muhammadi (P) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan for 3 months during my practicum. After I graduated, I taught university students in Engineering Campus USM in Nibong Tebal for 5+ years. in 2006, I moved to KL and taught in ELS, KL. Now, I'm teaching in my own kindy near to where I live.

There are also so many of family members who are teachers including my late mom. So, teaching profession is considered apart of our life. I grew up hearing so much about teachers' life. Yet, I still choose to be a teacher.

My first experience as a kindy teacher today?

It was a fairly simple celebration. I bought an orange butter cake for the teachers and the children. We shared the cake during their break time and then some students gave us some presents like a mug for each teacher, brooches and chocolate. I never expect anything from the students and just felt happy to have another kind of experience as a teacher!

Happy Teacher's Day to all of the teachers out there. Let's give more to our students without expecting them to give us anything back in return.

Aidilfitri 1433H: Di KJ & KJB (BM entry)

Salam,

Hari ini hari keenam raya. Masih ramai yang beraya di kampung dan ada juga yang telah pulang semula ke bandar. Tahun ini kami beraya di Kelana Jaya terlebih dahulu dengan keluarga mertua saya. Petang raya pertama baru kami bertolak pulang ke (Kg Jal Besar)Tumpat, Kelantan.

Di KJ, kami beraya secara sederhana tapi meriah juga dengan kehadiran semua melengkapkan ahli keluarga. Susah juga nak berkumpul semua dan dapat bergambar bersama. Jadi inilah hasilnya:

Dari kiri: adik ipar saya & keluarganya, berbaju ungu: adik ipar bongsu, ayah mertua, bertudung ungu: kakak ipar yg sulung & keluarganya, bertudung hijau: mak mertua, saya & suami berbaju sedondon biru, anak2 kami dan juga anak kakak ipar yg sulung.

Kami sempat juga bergambar untuk keluarga kecil kami. Tahun ini ada seorang pertambahan ahli iaitu anak ketiga kami yang baru berusia 2 bulan. Jadi tahun ni kami bergambar berlima. Inilah gambarnya:

*Hafizah anak kedua kami seorang yang nampak berlainan kerana dia tidak mahu lagi baju sedondon dan sama dengan kakak sulungnya. 

Bila sampai di Kelantan (mlm raya pertama), kami agak keletihan selepas berada di dalam kereta selama 11 jam! Jadi, raya di Kelantan bermula pada pagi raya kedua. Banyak juga rumah yang dikunjungi dan sempat juga kami makan-makan dan berjumpa sanak-saudara. Petang raya kedua, sebelum senja kami dapat berkumpul dengan 2 orang emak saudara, ayah saudara dan sepupu-sepupu untuk bergambar beramai-ramai. Inilah gambarnya yang telah saya ambil di FB sepupu saya:

Antara banyak-banyak gambar raya tahun ini, saya paling suka gambar nenek saya memegang anak bongsu saya. Gambar ini sunggun bermakna buat saya kerana susah juga nenek saya mahu bergambar dan susah juga untuk anak bongsu saya tu untuk tersenyum bila bergambar.

*ini sajalah cerita raya kami sebab saya rasa malas nak bercerita panjang sangat pasal raya. Yelah raya maknanya berjumpa sanak-saudara untuk bermaaf-maafan dan makan-makan. Asalkan kita jangan berlebihan sangat dan kembali kepada fitrah kita.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Salam,

Maaf Zahir Batin dari saya kalau ada tersilap bicara dlm blog ini. Semoga anda semua berbahagia di hari lebaran nanti. Kami sekeluarga beraya di Kelana Jaya dulu dengan ahli keluarga di sini sblm bertolak balik ke Kelantan.

Antara lagu raya yang wajib kedengaran di radio. (BM entry)

Salam,

Ramai dah dalam mood raya kan. Mmg dah tinggal beberapa hari je lagi. Kat radio dah lama dah mainkan lagu-lagu raya. Dalam banyak-banyak lagu raya, lagu-lagu lama jugak mesti menjadi pilihan. Lagu2 dari Tan Sri P.Ramlee, Puan Sri Saloma, Sanisah Huri, Anuar Elina jugak yang menjadi pilihan ramai. Betul tak?

Jadi dalam entri ni, sajelah nak tempek lagu2 raya yang wajib kedengaran.

Lagu pertama:



Lagu kedua:



Lagu ketiga:



Lagu keempat:



Lagu yang mana satu pilihan anda?

Finally.....it's worth waiting for.

Salam,

He was delivered after 41 weeks being in the womb. But finally he was born and the parents were so thankful for the beautiful gift. His mother had to be induced and then the doctor said had to go through caesarean surgery. He's been given a beautiful name too; Mohd Khalilullah.

NO

HE'S NOT MINE

BUT HE BELONGS TO MY FRIEND, EDORA

 I'm so happy because finally the was born. She was so worried when the baby wasn't born way past the due date. The baby is also her first child after 4 days of celebrating her first anniversary. The baby is a perfect anniversary gift for her and her hubby.

Now, I'm anxiously waiting for my turn to see my own baby.

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.

Happy International Women's Day 2011.

Salam,

Do you know what's that banner for?

On 8th March every year since 1911, it's a special day for all women throughout the world.

It's special because it's day when we have to stop and be happy to be born as a woman. 

This year,it marks the Centenary Anniversary of International Women's Day.

So, come on let's show some appreciations to all women including ourselves by rewarding them and yourself
a pat on the back and say that "We are great!"

Special graduation in conjunction of ELS 20th Anniversary in JW Marriot Hotel.

Salam,

    ELS Malaysia is celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year. For the special graduation ceremony this morning, a of the bosses, teachers, staffs and students from 4 different centres; KL, PJ, SJ BB centres had to attend it in JW Marriot. Though I've been living in Klang Valley for few years, I've never been to Bukit Bintang area. So, I was not really sure how to find JW Marriot this morning. I just asked around how to go from Dang Wangi LRT station to Bukit Nanas Monorail station before I could proceed to Bukit Bintang station. I managed to arrive in JW Marriot quarter to nine and I was very glad that I could make it just before the time.

   The ceremony started by 10 (originally it supposed to start by 9). There were a lot speeches from the Deputy Minister of High Education, The President of ELS from US and other VVIPs. There were even some speeches delivered by some chosen students from the 4 centres. The most interesting part was the musical interlude. Some teachers from performed two songs; one in group and another one was a solo performance by a talented teacher from PJ centre. By the time two more ex-students who passed the highest level- 109 gave their speeches, most of other students were so restless as they were hungry and sleepy. They were also anxious to get their Progress Report (their result for this session). By the time they received their result, some of them were happy and some were still unsatisfied though they managed to get CREDIT (score 80 and above) for some off the components. It was quite hard to explain why they didn't get the high mark as they expected. I guess I will have to face them again next Monday. huhu

 

After the Progress Report had been given away, all the teachers went to a nice place called "Eddy's Restaurant" (if I'm not mistaken) to have a nice lunch. It was a buffet and we really helped ourselves with the food as we were starving by 12 p.m. All of us had to leave the house so early and didn't had the chance to get a proper breakfast this morning. We ate and chatted until 2 before we made a move.

Tonight ELS is going to have a 20th Anniversary dinner but I'm not going to attend it because there's no one who can take care of my daughters and also I'm afraid to drive alone at night to go to JW Marriot in the heart of KL. Most of my colleagues will be there and I have heard that they are going to make sure to have a small party after the formal dinner ends at 10 p.m.(sebenarnya ada satu lg sbb, sy rasa tak selesa bila dinner tu diaorg akan bg minuman beralkohol dan bos siap bg amaran jgn minum banyak2 takut diaorg tak boleh nak ballik rumah mlm ni kalau mabuk sgt. isk3x)

P/S: Please forgive me for the bad quality photos as I only have a BRAND X camera and not one of the DSLR. And, I have one question: If you were me, would you go to the dinner?

Eidul-Adha Mubarak: What has been your biggest sacrifice this year?

Salam,

In Makkah, they celebrate Eidul-Adha today. But in some countries like Malaysia, Iran (just to name a few), we are going to celebrate it tomorrow. My students who are in the lower levels, don't know the word "slaughter", so they asked me, "Teacher, do you kill goat tomorrow?". I find it quite amusing and cute. I explain the correct way to say it- "We slaughter animals to symbolize our sacrifice", And yes of course I had to explain further about the meaning of "symbolize and sacrifice".

We (my daughters and I) are not going back to Kelantan to celebrate Eidul-Adha since I can only have one day off tomorrow. I love the Eidul-Adha celebration in Kelantan as we celebrate this more than Eidul-Fitri. After the slaughtering ceremony, we will cook the meat together and invite our neighbours and family members to have lunch together. This last until the third or sometimes the fourth day! If there are too many houses who become the hosts, they will pick their turn to invite others even for dinner. (late in the evening)

When I think again about the biggest sacrifice that my daughters and I have made, I can only think about the sacrifice that we've been doing for the past 4 years. It's related to giving our full supports and the helps to my hubby so that he can finish his phd. Hopefully by early next year, he'll be able to attend his viva and soon be able to get the doctorate title. NOW.....WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST SACRIFICE THIS YEAR?

Indigo- A Gathering of Cultures Festivals.

Salam to all,

Hamilton City Council with the help of Community Organisation Grants Scheme, Hamilton Community Arts Council, Trust Waikato, SkyCity Hamilton Community Trust and Wintec are collaboratively sponsoring and organising this special cultural festivals.

It has started last Sunday on 14th March with the street parade. However, we didn't go to watch the street parade because we were invited to our friend's house to celebrate his birthday (cum last BBQ before it gets too cold).

What is Indigo- A Gathering of Cultures Festivals?
It's a week long Festival with three main goals:

• To educate people about the diverse cultures within Hamilton.
• To celebrate the richness and colour of cultures in Hamilton.
• To communicate and strengthen understanding between all communities. (from Indigo booklet)

There are various programmes that have been running since 14th March but I was just able to see the Indigo Community Activities at Waikato Migrant Centre. There are programmes like Indigo Film Festival at The Hub Wintec (from Monday 15th-Friday 19th) at 7.30 p.m., Indigo Style (A fashion Show) at Meteor Theater on 18th March, Turangawaewae Regatta at Ngaruawahia on 20th March and the last one would be at Hamilton Gardens as the Finale Celebration. (I can't wait to see this).

On Tueday 16th March, my kids and I went to Waikato Migrant Centre to see what's happening there. We arrived at 2 p.m. (the event runs from 1-3 p.m. since Monday 15th to Friday 19th). At first we thought that nothing much was going on. But once we went to the designated room,we could see some interesting displays. We could see some crafts, photos and some people who were weaving a special kind of leaves. They said they were from Kiribati- an island nation in the Pasific Ocean. The products look similar to our traditional mat though we use different kinds of leaves. They used flax leaves and Malays normally use pandanus leaves or palm leaves. We exchanged some stories about the crafts and they even asked me if I wanted to try. But Hafizah was already tired as it was her nap time. (around 2.30 p.m.). So, I was just looking around and took some pictures. Before we left, we went to the other part where they put some displays of Korean War Photos and some posters, Philippines Traditional Clothes and some fish crackers too. Philip Yeung, the Ethnic Communities Coordinator (Hamilton City Council) invited me to come again the next day as it would a natural painting demonstration from a Taiwanese artist.

-18th March 2010-

I missed yesterday's event as I was quite tired by the time we left playcentre. Plus I didn't want to miss today's event as it sounded more interesting. I was right because there were plenty of things that I could try on today. There were origami (paper folding art), calligraphy (the ancient art of brush  writing), Ikebana (the art of flower arrangement), some Japenese cracker and sweets and Green tea was also served to visitors. I started of with the origami. I've tried this art before as it's not really new to me but I always never be good at it. Why? It's actually quite complicated unless you are the expert in folding the paper and manage to turn it into something like a paper bird, boat, windmill, a box and many more. Fathini and I were taught how to made cicadas and boxes. Though we struggled a bit, the

person who taught us was very patient and kind. We could brought our creations back plus with some other souvenirs from her. There were also some Japanese traditional games like a spinning top lain sikit dr gasing kita ye, board games, small bean bags game and two balls that was attached to a string and bowls. tak tahu apa namanya lps tu lupa nak tanya. huhu

I tasted the Green Tea when they offered me in a small cup. My daughters ate some seaweed and yam crackers. Half an hour later, the lady who was incharged of the Ikebana demo arrived. Some of the other visitors were waiting for her too. "Kado" or "Ikebana" was developed by Sen-no-Rikyu in conjunction with the tea ceremony. (there was no tea ceremony as it should only be performed by the expert). There are over three thousand styles of flower arrangement in Japan! The lady (Tokoki) told us she chose the basic three dimensions arrangement. That means, the arrangement should face up to

three directions. The key was to keep it as simple as possible. We (the other visitors and I) had our chance to try when Tokoki gave us each a wet sponge in a clean yoghurt containers. I chose only two long leaves, two plants and a peach sunflower. I didn't had time to try the calligraphy or it is known as

"shodo". I could see some other visitors tried to write some characters on "washi" (Japanese paper). Again Hafizah was already tired by the time I finished doing my Ikebana. We had to leave the place and thank all the Japanese ladies who were so kind to let us learnt and tried the crafts and their food. 

I just wish I could attend tomorrow's event as there will be some cooking demonstration from Middle
East Women. But we normally stay at home on Friday because my hubby will use the car to go to the mosque for Friday prayer and then do our weekly shopping.

Toy Story 3D & Nasi Lemak.

Salam to all,
                You might be wondering what's the relation between Toy Story 3D and Nasi Lemak right?
I was actually been busy since yesterday because we (my playgroup friends and I) had agreed to go out and watch a movie together. Since Toy Story 3D movies were the only suitable movies (there were Toy Story And Toy Story 2), we chose to watch them. walaupun kaum2 ibu dah menonton kartun2 tu, anak2 kami belum menontonnya. almaklum kartun2 tu kan dah agak lama. Why did we picked yesterday? It was my idea since it was my birthday and I wanted to spent more time with my dearest friends here. During the lunch hour today, I prepared Nasi Lemak for my playgroup friends. Last year,
cooked Nasi Kerabu and celebrated my birthday with my "twins" (one who's born in a different year and another one who's born on 24th but on the same year). mmg dah jd kelaziman pulak bila sambut harijadi, sy suka menjamu rakan2. mungkin itu cara sy mengucapkan syukur dipanjangkan usia
So, there you go some explanation about the relation between Toy Story 3D & Nasi Lemak.

23rd Feb. 2010
@10 a.m.

We chose to watch the movies at Sky City Cinema in Westfield Chartwell. The cinema was okay but for us the seats were really comfortable. It was the second time to watch a movie there for me and my kids but for my friends, it was their first time! We arrived at the nick of the time and we had few minutes to buy the tickets and get ourselves into the Cinema 5 before the movies started. At the entrance, we were given the 3D glasses. Our kids were so excited and when the first movie started, they really concentrated watching. While watching, we shared some prepared food that we brought in. iye kami boleh bawa masuk mknan dlm pawagam sbb kami bawa beg sandang. sy siap bawa cekodok dna kwn sy bawa sandwich yg dibuat di rumah. hehe They didn't really checked what's in our bags as my guess was they thought we brought diapers and some spare clothes! Which was partly true.

During the intermision, one of my friends E, went out to buy some popcorns for us. My friend, H&  her kids and my kids& I stayed inside waiting. While waiting, there were couple of trivia questions

appeared on the screen. Our kids started to explore the whole area because the other people had left too. As our seat were right at the back row, we were extremely confortable and even during the first movie "Toy Story", we could hear some comments from our kids. After 20 minutes of intermission, 

Toy Story 2 began. We noticed that some of the other people didn't came back to watch Toy Story 2. Half way through, we could hear that our kids had making noises. They felt hungry and tired. My friend H and kids had to left early. She went downstairs and waited for us at the foodcourt. My friend E & her son and my kids& I stayed until Tot Story 2 ended. 

Then, all of us rejoined at the food court and had our lunch there. There's one Halal shop there that sells fast food. I bought a huge plate of Fish and Chips set. My friend E also bought one and we shared the food. But I totally forgot to take pictures of our food. dua pinggan tu dikongsi beramai2 ye sbb bukan kedekut duit tapi kalau beli lebih mesti tak habis. satu pinggan diaorg besar giler. mcm 2 pinggan biasa kita kat Msia We (the moms) were not really hungry as we ate a lot before we went there. Our kids were the starving ones even though they ate some snacks while watching the movies. bukan sbrg "snack" ye sbb ada cekodok, teddy bear cookies, coklat dan sandwich. hehe After filling up tummies, we headed to the Dollar Store to buy some home supplies. By 3 p.m., we left the place. We almost got the warning for a long hour parking bcs we could only parked our cars not more than 4 hours there! OPPPS. sapa suruh wat movie back to back. 

24th Feb. 2010

Early in the morning, I prepared Nasi Lemak's component as I had invited some friends to come

over and had lunch. My friend E had agreed to make her famous Cheese cake and my friend Z would bring the ingredients for "Yee Sang". (yup the special food eaten during CNY). By 10.30 a.m., my

friend E arrived with her youngest son. We (my kids and I) were not ready as we didn't take a bath

yet. I asked her to make herself at home while my kids and I got ready. 1/2 hour later, my friend Z,

her mom-in-law and her daughter arrived. She prepared "Yee Sang" with the help of my friend E. 

We waited for the other guests to arrived and by 12 p.m., we could have our lunch. We had Nasi Lemak first as that was the main dish. yelah mana ada starters ye.hehe My hubby came back just in 

time and the last guest was H and family. We savour our lunch and chatted about so many things. 

The desserts were brought by my friend E and H; the Cheesecake and muffins. When everybody had

settled down, it was time to take out "Yee Sang". My friend Z kept the bowl of "Yee Sang" in the fridge as we planned to have it as our last dish. So, we gathered around the table to toss "Yee Sang"

and one of the hubbies said "Yam Seng!"(means let's have a drink esp. alcohol drink-like "cheers!").

I was so happy to share my special day with my good friends and I feel grateful to have them here.

I don't mind cooking and preparing food as they would bring a plate of something too!

Series of the unfortunate events....

I have this unprofessional organizational skill called "the-last-minute-plan or "the-spur-of-the-moment-plan". I came out with the terms myself. not sure if they are exist or not Most of the time it didn't really affect me and most of my plans went well. BUT not YESTERDAY! I had series of the unfortunate events that affected not just me but also my eldest princesses. honestly I was the one who can't deal with my frustrations.huhuMy eldest princess turned 5 yesterday. She has been so excited about her birthday since few weeks ago.

At first, we (my hubby and I) wanted to celebrate her birthday with the other Msian families here. The plan was to join WUMA (Waikato University Malaysian Association) trip to Raglan beach. It was supposed to be the first event under the new management. However, they postponed the plan during the last minute.jd berkecailah harapan nak bercanda ramai2 di pantai. huhu


As I didn't want to let her down on her special day, I baked a vanilla butter cake on Saturday afternoon and iced the cake at night. Thanks to my amateur skill in decorating cake, the M&M chocolate was melting on the sour cream icing! nampak comot sgt kek. huhu Fathini somehow was still pleased by my efforts and she still smiled when I took pictures of her with the cake.

Our next plan (more to my own plan bcs hubby just didn't really mind) was to celebrate her birthday by going to Minogue Park where we could ride a miniature train and then have a picnic. I've prepared some food for the picnic; some burgers, chips, kumara fritters and some fruits. When we arrived at the park, all we can see were the BMX route stadium and netball centre. After few turns, we finally saw the small road leading to the miniature train. The gate to the main entrance of miniature train was locked and we saw some cars. At first we thought they would open the gate soon. However, after 1/2 hour there and we talked to other families who were also waiting, they assume that it's CLOSED! sabar jelah sbb bila masa lain yg kami tak dpt pergi, diaorg buka My daughters somehow amused themselves when they just running around in the huge park and we managed to take some great photos of them there. Later, we found out that the place is run on the voluntarily basis, so if no one volunteers to operate the mini train, it wouldn't be opened. My hubby asked me where should we went next but as I couldn't decide, we had a small argument. Not to make things worse, my hubby decided to go back home. kepala saya dah serabut dan tak boleh fikir masa tu


This photo is taken from the internet. dah nak masuk tak boleh smlm, mana ada gambar.

 

 It was still early when we arrived home. At about 11.30 a.m. , I didn't want to dampen Fathini's spirit in celebrating her special day. Thus, I quickly gathered some simple decorations and get her not-so-lovely cake out. We had the simplest celebration ever and then we had a picnic at home. Again, Fathini looked happy. My assumption that she awas affected by all the unfortunate events on her birthday was absolutely WRONG.

Here are some photos of the simplest celebration:

In the evening, we let Tini and Fizah played in their inflatable pool. As usual, they had good time splashing, pretending to swim and screaming to each other. All in all, I guess it ended well.

Tiring but a meaningful celebration

It's been 2 days since my last entry. I was busy since Friday afternoon when I prepared some food for the first day of Eidul Adha. While I was busy cooking in the kitchen, my eldest daughter, Fathini had her own project. She cut her own hair using the scissors meant for cutting papers! I didn't realized what happened until she called me to see what was happening. "Mama, come and see me", called Fathini. When I went to the living room, I could see some hair laying on the carpet and she was grinning with a satisfaction look as if she had achieved something. Her hair looked like a layered hair but the hair-wired layered. (mcm kena tobek2). I was so furious at that time and I couldn't help myself but to slap her on her right cheek. maybe some of you think that I'm a bad mother. Then, I asked her to collect her hair and put it on a newspaper. I had to repair her hair afterwards i.e. cut her hair. The result; well let's just say she's now has a very short hair. When I wrote about what happened in the status box in the facebook, my friends shared some interesting views. Most of them said that that's normal.

All right I had to go back to my intention of writing this entry. It's about the celebration of Eidul Adha in Hamilton, New Zealand. We celebrated Eidul Adha on Saturday, 28th Nov. 2009.(well, a day after Msia and other countries). Early in the morning sesudah subuh, we woke up, dressed up and ready to go to Hamilton Garden. (solat raya kat tengah2 pdg kat garden tu). We were among the first to arrive there. dah hubby sibuk2 suruh siap awal2 sampai tak sempat nak breakfast The first thing I noticed was the gap between the men's and women's prayer spaces. They marked two lines with strings. We (the women) had to be moved few times before they finally decided how far the gap should be placed. susah betul nak pindah2 tempat sbb kita dgn 2 anak lps tu ada tikar lg. The prayer started about 8.15 a.m. and by the time we finished praying, I could see there were many muslims here. Most of them were the refugees from Somalia. The rest were from Saudi, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia (kwn2 kami yg belajar dan bekerja di sini) and India. My Malaysian friends were sitting at the second line as they arrived just before the prayer started. We (my daughters and I) sat beside an Indonesian lady and her 7-year-old daughter. She has been here for 9 years and her daughter was born here. She even shared some cookies that she brought along while we were listening to "khutbah" (the sermon). Some Somali women were chatting so loudly after the prayer until the Imam told them to keep quiet or get out from there. But they were so stubborn and the warning didn't affect them at
all!

Right after that, we went back home to have our breakfast before we headed off to Morrinsville (about 55 km from Hamilton). We went there to get one part of the slaughtered cow. (kami buat aqiqah untuk Hafizah). We thought that we were going to see the whole slaughtering scene there. However, when we arrived, we were told that the slaughter man had slaughtered the cow in a farm near Cambridge. So, we only saw the pieces of cow that had been slaughtered to few parts. The cow was a huge cow because when they weighted the parts; it was about 210 kg! The men had the job of cutting the cow into smaller pieces while the women became the photographers and the quality control managers. tukang arah2 We had the chance to taste the cow when they started to cook them on the BBQ set. Before we went home, we also had the chance to taste the yummy beef soup.

The second day; Sunday, we had two houses who organized a feast. We collaborated with another family to have a feast at their house. (niat aqiqah tadi). We made satay, bbq beefs, noodle with soto soup, mashed potato and gravy, special raya cake made by the host and fruit salad. The preparation began the night before at Dr. Sazali's house(the host) and I did ours at our house. At 9.30 a.m. on Sunday morning, my daughters and I went to the house to help preparing for other food. It was good to have so many helpers who didn't mind to lend their hands. biasala sambil buat kerja, borak2 dgn gossip2 sikit. hehe By 2p.m. all of the food were ready except for satay and BBQ beefs that would be done during the feast. By 3.30 p.m. the feast started. There were about 100 people who came and luckily we had plenty of food for everybody. K.Ija (Dr. Sazali's wife), was quite busy entertaining the guests and topping up the food on the table. I helped her around too since we were collaborating in having the feast. Throughout the event, we had nice time, chatting to our friends and cathching up with each other's latest news. The feast somehow ended at about 8 p.m. nasib baik skrg asar lambat habis sbb dah summer-hr makin pjg.We went back home first before we went to another house that served "Laksa Sarawak". It was the first time for most of us to try the dish. My daughters really liked it. kena belajarla mcmmana nak buat ni We stayed at the house only for half an hour because we were so exhausted by the end of the day.