Things I'm grateful for in 2008

Assalamualaikum and Greetings

In a day or two we will be celebrating Awal Muharam (somehow I still could not bring myself to refer it as Maal Hijrah, oh well!). And a few days down the road we will usher in 2009.

Soon we will bid farewell to 2008, which incidentally marked the 20^th anniversary of my father’s passing and. It was also 10 years after my youngest brother Azmir’s death. It has been a long time, but I can still vividly remember those days when everything suddenly stopped, and my life was never the same again.

Anyway, what a year 2008 has been. Looking back this past one year, a lot had happened and for that let me apologise in advance if I become a little melancholic here. But I figure this is the time and place for me to put in writing what 2008 means to me. A sort of a little reminder that I need to constantly “bersyukur” with what I have been bestowed, regardless.

Things I am thankful for in 2008
Being Alive. I’m still alive, I have a decent job which allows me to enjoy my life, and I am quite happy with how things are turning out. It can be better, of course, but you cope with whatever life has to offer.

Being Me. As cheesy as this may sound but I quite like being me. Really. Of course, there were days when I dreamed of becoming someone else who’s more successful, wealthier, and more good looking (still do... hehehe). Having said that, I know I am not perfect but I am still the best version of me. And I really need to be better at being a son, husband and father and definitely a better Muslim. I must keep reminding myself that I have been lucky and fortunate, so I should be grateful.

My wife Azian. She is my life. Period. For that, I’m eternally grateful.

My two mothers. My own and my MIL. Two amazing and wonderful women and I’m thankful that they are in good health. Alhamdulillah.

My daughters Alia, Asma and Arissa. Come 2009, all my daughters would be in secondary school (and effectively making us look much much older). But the three girls give me a reason to get up each day and get through life. There is never a dull day with them around. Watching them grow up has thus far been a wonderful journey. As they grow older, all three have of course develop their own distinctive characteristics and personality. But in many cases they are also alike. Like the fact that they are very much enamored with anything Japanese and The Cullens.. which still baffles me endlessly! And oh.. did I mention that all three are also the three most beautiful girls in the world (of course I would say that), and I love them with all my heart.

The rest of my family. I thank God every day that they remain healthy and alive. Apart from the occasional fever and flu, we are in pretty good shape. InsyaAllah.

My friends. I must say that the year 2008 is definitely my Jejak Kasih year. Thanks to the advent of technology, primarily the mobile phone and Facebook and also this space, I’ve managed to rekindle long lost friendships – some of those that I have not meet for over 27 years since we left school. I didn’t realize that I’ve lost touch with so many friends over the years. I guess it was just one of those periods when everyone was too busy getting their life in order, and getting ahead in the rat race. I regret not being in touch with a lot of good mates from the past, but I am not too sure if I can do much more than that. Sometimes I just feel like the stuff at work and at home take most of my energy anyway, so there is very little left in the tank to do anything else. And it is certainly very pleasant to be able to finally get in touch with my UM brothers namely Ishak, Hanafi and Halim (we are forever bound by a common experience all those years ago and yes we need to look for Salleh); my school buddies especially Adzman who came over for Raya this year and Roshazmi as well as Harman and Man Hon (and Man Hon, yes I’ve seen the pictures of our reunion last August, which of course I missed – that was really a blast from the past.. can't wait to meet with all of them soon); and friends from work especially the awesome Azwan (I’m saying this because I could not thank you enough for belanjaing me the chicken butter hari tu) and many more like Chandra, T2 and Michelle. And it was also wonderful to make new friends over the last 12 months specifically Hafiz ( you are one good guy, bro!) I would like to think that all my friends have accepted me with open arms and without prejudice. For that I’m forever indebted.

My new job. I’ve changed jobs thrice this year and I cannot even begin to be thankful for the current job. I’m enjoying it very much. Alhamdulillah. It is not a room with a door, but a normal workstation. But I’m happy. And it is close to everything I’ll ever need to get my job done – the photocopy machine, printer, surau, and washroom.

The bookstores. The place I go to whenever I am stressed out and needed to spend some quiet time. Apart from my favourite like Kino (which I must frequent more often) and MPH, there’s a new cool haunt – Book Axess in Amcorp Mall. Brought my daughters a few weeks ago and they too fell in love with the place. Expect to see us there more often. And at Borders too (especially now that some nice good hearted PR practitioner had mailed me Borders’s discount card – Thanks).

My home. It’s not big but it’s cozy. And its home!

My TV. My primary source of entertainment. Thanks Astro (but can we go slow on the celebrity weddings, please?).

My PC (at home) and the Internet connection. Thank God, otherwise I'll be lost.

Amazing Shots!!

These pictures arrived at my inbox yesterday... and it's pretty amazing, don't you think?

Although this looks like a picture taken straight from a Hollywood blockbuster, it is in fact a real photo taken near a South African coast during a military exercise by a British navy. It has been nominated by the National Geographic as "Photo of The Year."

And you think you're having a bad day at work?



and here are several more amazing shots...

Holding a Sun

Hurricane coming!!

Beautiful Lightning!!!

What a Cloud!!

p.s: Thanks Edina, for these amazing shots..

Kisah Satu Tag

The last 10 days have been quite miserable for me. I was down with a high fever and although I no longer demam, somehow the flu that came with it has refused to go away. I've lined up a list of topics to post in this blog but I simply could not heave myself to sit down and try to write something intelligent. Too stressed out. Which bring me to this tag.. tagged by my daughter Alia, I've decided perhaps I could do this one instead .. just for fun... let's the tag begin..

1. Do you think you're hot?
Smokin' (okay, just let me berangan)

2. Upload a favourite picture of you.

Obviously, the pix was taken many years ago. But it remains my favourite. I just came back from work and my three little angels were fighting to sit on my laps... aaah heaven (funny that nowadays they try to not be seen with me.. hahaha)

3. When was the last time you ate pizza?
What kind of question is this? Suddenly asking about food... now I'm hungry!

4.. The last song you listened to?
Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up ( I accidentally typed Rick Astley on youtube and he was there... gyrating away! honest mistake)

5. What are you doing now besides this?
Actually, am trying to do some work but I'm using my flu as an excuse to wander off into this blog.

6. What name would you prefer beside yours?
Tengku Aaron Iskandar Ariff! Can?

People I tag...
I really don't want to tag anybody, but seeing that my cousins have not been updating their respective blogs, I'm tagging all four as an incentive. And I tag one best friend whom I was told actually blog too.

i. Anom
ii. Meor
iii. Yone
iv. Cha
v. Azwan (yes you! and give me your blog's urls please)

7. Who is (i)?
My wonderful cousin who has an amazing looking garden!!! Courtesy of her husband.

8. Number (iii) is having a relationships with...?
Azri. (and bilalah Azri nak datang USJ17 ni. Cuti dah nak habis ni..)

9. Say something about number (v)?
Awesome friend. The most prim and proper person in the whole wide world.

10. How about number (iv)?
What about her? She's so single mingle... I think..

11. Who is number (ii)?
My daughters' Ayah Ungge!!!

School Holidays …. que sera sera

The current school holiday is half-way through. Unfortunately, we have yet to go anywhere. And it looks that we aren’t going anywhere. Sigh!!!!

Apart from several sojourn to the nearest malls with friends and us, my daughters have been pretty much cooped up in the house. And most of the time, they are surfing the Net. Doing what teenagers are supposed to be doing online... you know chatting, downloading, uploading and lots of myspace-related activities.

Which bring my equally restless mind back to yesteryears when I was at their age. However, try as I might, I only have vague recollections of my school holidays. God! I‘m old. Either that or I led a very uneventful life.

But one thing for sure, most of the stuff that we did during our school holidays were outdoor activities. And more often than not, it can be seasonal too.

For instance, when Mohamad Ali and Joe Bugner came to KL to box in 1975, most of our holiday activities were.. well.. boxing related. I remember my late father even bought us a boxing glove. Unfortunately, he only bought a pair. So my brother and I had to be resourceful and we boxed with only one hand (it helped that I’m a right hand person while he’s a left-hand person). Oooh! Now I geddit, perhaps that’s the reason why Bapak bought only a pair in the first place!!!!!! Jimat!!
A year later, it was badminton fever siang dan malam. The reason? The nation’s 1976 Thomas Cup emerged first runner up to Indonesia in Bangkok. And the whole country went wild (never mind that we were trashed 9-0 by Rudy Hartono and Co) with excitement. Don’t ask me why?

But suddenly make-shift badminton courts sprouted up all over the country. Including one in our own backyard. So like many others we played badminton. Luckily, this time Bapak bought two rackets!!!

But our activities were not necessarily events-related. But somehow, one major activity was usually preferred over the others. Like one holiday season, everybody (and I mean everybody) would be playing galah panjang and when the next holiday season rolled by, it’s police and thief (I called it polis entry, don't ask) fever.
And sometimes, in my household, our activities can be influenced by the most popular TV shows of the day. Case in point, when Vic Morrow and his Combat team ruled the airwaves, my brothers and I became soldiers and ... err.. communists (once my elder brother and I got into a huge fight as both wanted to be a communist. Why? Because to our young ears, communist sounded so much more sophisticated than soldier.
Luckily, I don’t have a sister. I firmly believe that if I had one, we would definitely become Donny and Marie... hehehehe.

Bila bulan dan bintang tersenyum....

Tadi malam kami memandang ke langit dan terlihat bulan (sabit) dan bintang tersenyum.. Mahu baca lebih lanjut sila ke sini.
Melihat kejaiban sebegini memang bagus.. memang menginsafkan. Lalu teringat bahawa beberapa bulan lalu ada "download" beberapa gambar menarik tentang bumi dan alam semesta ciptaan Allah ini. Maaf saya sudah lupa dari mana saya "curi" gambar ini namun saya mohon pada tuan punya untuk memaparkannya di sini - agar sama-sama kita beringat... sama-sama kita menginsafi.. Sila "klik" pada gambar untuk paparan lebih nyata lebih jelas.

What's with the Twilight? .. or is it Edward Cullen?

For those not keeping track, Twilight is the first of the four book series by Stephenie Meyers. The tale of teenage girl Bella and Edward, the handsome vampire who loves her, has found a wide audience beyond the young adult (and women, may I add) category.

As a matter of fact, just like the Harry Potter series previously, this too is considered a new pop-culture phenomenon.And what a phenomenon it is! Pre-teen and teenage girls (who have read the books) around the world are swooning over Edward the vampire. Yes, really!!!

My two girls Alia and Asma are no exception. And don't let me start with how fanatical my niece Safia is with all things Edward. In fact these three girls join millions other girls obsessing over a fictional vampire. Hmmmphf!! (wonder if Soraya and Sabrina are into this too???).

How obsessive can they be? Very. Why, just the other day when I just mentioned in passing that an 18-year old girl had won a very sleek silver Volvo driven by Robert Pattinson (he who plays Edward) in the movie during Tyra Banks talk show over the weekend, in Los Angeles (and very very far away from Malaysia, mind you), my girls simply burst to tears. Haiya!!!

Anyways, for those keeping track would know that the movie adaption of "Twilight" premiers in local theatres this Thursday. And the excitement at home is, I have to say, palpable. Extremely tense. The girls have been calling me at the office and my mobile every so often just to give me updates on Twilight screening. Yeah, like why?????

They too have been monitoring GSC and TGV websites waiting for the reservation windows of the movie to be made available. I think they became among the first few to reserve the seats. With nothing else occupying their conversations but Twilight these past few weeks, it is only natural that both Yan and I are now quite keyed up too. Macam nak tunggu Hari Raya umpamanya.

And like a good bapak, of course, I'm obliged to bring them over on the first day of the screening. They even demanded that I take a leave from work. Haaah!

I must say it's not really going to be a sacrifice since I've also read the book (just recently finished it) and, despite certain problems with some of the plots (the conversations in the meadow is kinda long winded, no?), rather enjoyed it. Hehehehe.

Okay, the truth is, I'm glad that I'm playing chaperon because it gives me a good reason to be there without looking like a total loser for being so excited about a teen movie. So, now that Thursday is beckoning, we’ll be at the nearest cinema for some Twilight psychotherapy. And most probably, I’ll post an entry to share my totally unimportant opinion about it later. Yeah, maybe!!

Padamu Azian Hasan ..... terima kasih!

Kalau tidak kelapa puan
Tidak puan kelapa bali
Kalau tidak padamu Azian
Tidak Azian siapa lagi?

Sekapur sirih seulas pinang
Adat berkunjung budaya Melayu
Terjunjung kasih tersimpul sayang
Terikat terkurung kasih nan satu

Hilang sepi diraut wajah
Usah terlerai nilainya budi
Setia janji takkan berubah
Kasih tersemai tetap abadi

Fikir memikir sama lawak
Jangan dibawa ke Tanjung Jati
Sindir menyindir sesama awak
Jangan dibawa masuk ke hati

Tuan puteri meminta cawan
Untuk diisi air kelapa
Amat tulus kasihmu Azian
Sampai ke mati kanda tak lupa

Hijau nampaknya Bukit Barisan
Puncak Tanggamus dengan Singgalang
Terbang nyawa dari badan
Kasih di hati takkan hilang

Anak campuran Cina-Melaka
Pulang ke rumah di Bukit Pekan
Andai kena dengan caranya
Nyawa dan badan saya berikan

Indra Giri pasirnya lumat
Kerang bercampur dengan lokan
Ibarat Nabi kasihkan umat
Begitu saya kasihkan Cik Yan

Buah jambu disangka kandis
Kandis ada di dalam cawan
Gula madu disangka manis
Manis lagi senyumanmu Azian

Sayang Laksamana mati dibunuh
Mati dibunuh Datuk Menteri
Azian umpama minyak yang penuh
Sedikit tidak tertumpah lagi

Hujan panas turun berderai
Guruh menyambar pohon jati
Kasih sayang tak boleh bercerai
Bagaikan rambut bersimpul mati

Orang berhuma di Pulau Balangan
Asap apinya tabun-menabun
Tuan laksana bunga kayangan
Kuntum Kasturi tangkainya embun

Buih kuini jatuh tercampak
Jatuh menimpa bunga selasih
Biar bertahun dilambung ombak
Takkan ku lupa pada mu kasih

Layang-layang terbang melayang
Jatuh ke laut disambar jerung
Siapa bilang saya tak sayang?
Kalau bunga rasa nak kendong

Layang layang terbang melayang
Jatuh di laut melayang layang
Siapa bilang saya tak sayang?
Siang malam terbayang bayang

Indah nian bulan mengambang
Keliling pula bintang bercahaya
Wajah puan bila ku pandang
Bagai melihat pintunya syurga

Surat ku layang untuk berkata
Penyampai hasrat kata di hati
Kalaulah sungguh kasihkan saya
Jangan dibuang sampai ke mati

To Azian,
Happy Anniversary! Thank you for the past 15 glorious years, babe!!!! Many more wonderful years to look forward to... you and me!!

Mari Beringat: The Cure for Everything

Imam Bukhari, who was one of the greatest compilers of ahadith, became blind at a young age. He had recourse to many famous and skilled doctors of his time but their treatments made no difference.
His mother was a pious worshipper and a righteous woman. She cried out for help in the court of Allah the Almighty, for her child and begged for the restoration of his eyesight. At last, "the river of mercy flowed over her," and Almighty Allah accepted her invocation.
One night, she visited Ibrahim alayhis-salam in a dream and was told, "Allah has restored the sight of your son because of your intense and beautiful invocations."
In the morning, as Imam Bukhari got up from his bed, glimmers of light reached out into his eyes. That is, his eyesight was fully restored.

Mari Beringat: Make use of solat and doa to solve any problem that even the best experts of this world cannot solve. Unfortunately, the Muslims are turning away from these deeds today when they need them the most. We pray for Allah to give us the true understading of Islam.

(Source: From the biography of Imam Bukhari (ra) located in the beginning of Sahih Al Bukhari 9 Volume English Translation. Additional details were provided by Shaykh al-Hadith Allama Ghulam Rasul Sa`idi.)

My baby is now 12!

She will always remain my baby... forever, although she hates it when I call her that. But does the Bapak care? Nooo. Of course not. So I will continue calling her my baby... ye haaa!
Anyway, my baby turned 12 last on Nov 8, 2008.
And she had not one but two birthday celebrations. In my household, that is considered lavish. We organised an early birthday do on Thursday as the girls followed me to Cyberview Lodge in Cyberjaya as I was attending a seminar. That evening we celebrated in the hotel room with a chocolate mud cake with blueberry (baked lovingly by her Mak, of course) and lots of satay kajang (courtesy of Opah Kampar). Bapak provided the Coca-Cola.... hehehehehe.
Then on the day itself at home, since Arissa loves Italian food so much, we decided to throw another small celebration - this time with simple butter cake, spaghetti bolognaise and delicious Domino pizza. Among kami-kami aje.. (actually another excuse to eat and eat some more).

Peace from Arissa.

With her cake at home

Arissa and her two sisters in Cyberview

Arissa cutting her cake with her sisters fooling around on her right while Opah Kampar (on her left) mendoakan kesejahteraan cucu. Amin.

Obama Mania

Barack Obama is finally elected the 44th President of the USA. The first person of colour to do so. Such a historic moment. For some odd reason, I was glued to the CNN (and BBC and Al-Jazeera too) all day long. It does bring back the March 8 memory in some ways. But I was mighty impressed with the CNN coverage - from the technology used right up to its oh so eloquent celebrity news anchors.
But in between hard hitting (and poignant moments) news coverage of the presidential election, there were some "light" news too. Interestingly, it is Obama mania the world over and why not when, especially the man himself possesses some form of connection to African and Asia.
But I do feel "kelakar" watching the non US citizens celebrating away, some were seen more excited than the American themselves. I guess, its human nature to feel good about the election of Mr Obama as the US president especially if you have some kind of connection (no matter how remote) to the man himself... but to celebrate melampau-lampau... that's silly and funny.

Here are some of the silly moments that I managed to watch:

1. The celebrations at Kogela, Kenya, Obama's ancestral home (the father hailed from there). Apparently, they are having a carnival to celebrate the momentous occasion for days, mengalahkan the Americans. And the Kenyan president declared a public holiday for Kenya the day after the win. Reaaalllly!!!
2. Kids at Fransiskus Asisi Catholic School, in Central Jakarta, Indonesia were seen screaming and dancing in the school courtyard after the results became official. Okay, Obama studied there in late 60s for three years but for the life of me, I could not not even begin to imagine why this young kids should be so over the moon. They are barely 12 years, in fact most look much much younger.
3.Apparently there's a small town in Japan called Obama. And of course one very creative musician wrote a song entitled "Obama loves Obama" and then he got a few residents from Obama to sing the song in his music video.

I rest my case.

My brother becomes a blogger ... and my wife creates another blog

a) My eldest brother, Mior Azli, has finally succumbed and now he, too, is a blogger. It's long time coming for him though as I always believed that he should have one (the blog, I mean) a long time ago. Although a trained engineer, he also dabbles in self awareness, team awareness and leadership awareness and development programmes. designed by himself, I must say these are very interesting programmes. And with the blog, now he can share his thoughts and takes on those issues which are very dear and close to his heart. To know more please visit Mior Azli.

b) My wife (mrsgoodthings) has came up with another blog. The existing blog is more like a lifestyle blog where she writes about stuff she likes, primarily cooking and baking. Now that she's venturing into Internet business of her own, she decides that she needs another blog - a more business-centric one. Hence, the new blog at AzianHasan.

Happy Blogging and Happy Reading!

Our Syawal Annual Visit

This has turned somewhat into an anual event for us. I'm talking about a Raya visit to Anom and Nasir's place in Gombak. For the past years, it seems we only visited them during Raya...(fortunately they do come over our place more often than that). And for the past years, it seems its the only time we bumped into my uncle Ayah Chik and Achik and family - either at Anom's place or their place yang tak jauh dari situ..Apa punya anak sedara ler nihhh.
And yesterday, we drove over to their place for our annual visit.... hehehhe beraya di saat-saat akhir. And what a feast awaiting us... the mee kari and rendang prepared by Anom were simply delicious. A+ la, Anom.
And both Nasir and Anom had quite a few tetamu over as well --- sedara mara, friends and neighbours... ala-aa open house. AyahChik came with his MIL, Mek, whom I have not seen for like bertahun-tahun. And there's Mima (Anom's aunt) and her family too.

Sorry gambar blur... but the tuan rumah having a laugh with Ayah Chik and Mek.

Ayah Chik and Achik watching their family makan ....

I am so going to be killed by Asma for posting this pix but I am the bapak......hahahaha
Asma duduk dengan santun di samping Mak and err mak mer...eh ...silap Mima.

After realising who Mima actually is... Alia and Asma larik duduk dalam bilik kahkah kah...

I'm having so much fun yesterday hik hik hik.... we left Anom's place around 5.30pm and sped to PJ towards MPH Warehouse Sale. Semangat... semangat...semangat.. Arrived there around 6.15pm and the girls went wild and brought back one basketful of books. Then we went to Ikea (lama tak pergi and Yan's kind of rindu the meatball and all) Had our dinner there and then jalan-jalan somemore.

Weddings!!!!

I was going through my old boxes earlier and stumbled upon these two vintage photos.... and had a good laugh with the girls.... Its the wedding pictures of their grandparents. I must say their weddings looked much more happening than ours. Hmm.

1961 - My father in law with mother in law. In their western garb... a must for many Malay weddings even back then. And there's a typewritten caption at the back of the pix: Perkahwinan Antara Suami & Isteri. Ia-Itu Si-Hasan Dengan Si-Siah. Hahahaha... how very 60s.

1962 - My bapak and mak. In a more traditional getup fit for Raja Sehari. I noticed too that in those days, the pelamin(dais) usually would be decorated with plants or pokok bunga yang ditanam sendiri di rumah.
1993 - Our wedding. we didn't do the bersanding and therefore no pelamin for us. And this picture is the closest thing that we have to the bersanding ceremony.


Three weddings different decades... wonder how my daughters (panjang umur and murah rezeki) weddings will turn out?
By the way, one trivia question.... The three weddings above had one thing in common. What is it? Take a guess....

It wasn't an open house.... but it feels like one..

Raya mood is still in the air!!!That's the three of us feasting on the many Raya delicacies - from mee hoon soup, ketupat and kuah kacang, pulut kuning, rendang ayam, daging masak hitam, ridiculously delicious lemang (courtesy of my neighbour Rushdi), a hugely popular brownies, ice-cream cake (which I somehow, sadly, I didn't get to taste), and a variety of home made cookies. Looks like we are enjoying an open house do, right? The only thing is, it was not an open house really and we are eating merrily at home. Yesterday.
No, we didn't hold an open house... it wasn't suppose to be one anyway, but it ended up feels like we are hosting one though.
It started on Thursday or Wenesday when my daughters brilliantly invited their friends to beraya at our place. Although she pledged that she'll keep it simple this time, Yan, being her usual self, still whipped up one dish after another. Not that I'm complaining.
Anyway, since we are having people over, we figured that it was good to invite our two brothers and their families over to beraya bersama-sama... since we haven't done it as yet.

Kak Zai (Yan's sister-in-law) and her daughter Nisa (yang berdarah manis .... kwang kwang kwang)
Aidil became the fisrt cucu to make it to our place....here's with Wan Yan fussing over and pakcik Fudhail seemingly contented after eating
My brother Chor and his kids Safia and Adam having it a go at the dining table. (Safia, Ayah Ngah just got this one pix of you if you want to post it on your blog ler... suitable meh, makan dengan penuh kusyuk.)
A handsome young man with his Wan
He came, he parked himself in front of the telly and let his mama makan in peace. Good boy!
While ayah and Mak watched SiBadol over TV3. It's a comedy film but somehow these two anak-beranak look positively sombre..hahahaha
The surprise of the day was when earlier in the morning I've received a call from Adzman. He is my classmates from Form 2 right up to Upper 6. In fact, when I was in Form 4 and 5, we were the only two Malay boys in the class. So we became firm friends. I haven't met him in 25 looooong years since we left school. God, I feel old. Naturally, I promptly asked him over. And he gladly obliged.
Asma was over the moon too as her bff (from primary school and now went to different school) Amira also came over. They have not met for say... about 8 months??? hahahah
Alia and her best gal-pals Maryam and Elfa.
I didn't realise they have had quite many friends... (it's always the same three or four girls who came over but they were many more laaaa. like yang amat pemalu like that girl in purple who goes by the name Iman)
More friends. They only invited their girl friends. And one point there were about 20 female in the house and one male -- me!
Asma and her friend Farha sprawling on the sofa after makan..
Adzman and his family... one more to come in December. He was surprised to learn that Yan is the daughter of our Form 2 BM teacher. "Patut ler kau selalu dapat A," he quips.Yan was equally gobsmacked upon learning that Adzman's younger brother, Azhar, was her classmate in school. "Kiah and I always bully that poor boy lar," Yan remembers.
More friends....apart from makan-makan, the girls went around the condo complex snapping pix of themselves... even in an elevator. Girls!Some like the regulars to our place (like Farha and Atin) here, helped themselves to the food many times....isn't that swell?

Aaaah manusia!!!

Lumrah alam
Adat dunia
Resam berzaman
Tabiat khalayak

Kala hidup diulit susah
Kala jalan ditabur duri
Kala mentari terik membakar
Kala bulan kelam gelita

Baru ingat pada
Yang Esa
Minta bantu ... mohon tolong

Itulah manusia ... hanya sang hamba..

My 2008 Raya

My Girls Moments Before We Drove Back to USJ.

I’ve been meaning to write something about my Raya this year (just like in previous years). However, somehow I felt something was amiss during this year’s festivity. Sure, we did the usual balik kampung and cooking, eating, and visiting families and relatives stuff but it just didn’t feel like Raya as in previous years. Perhaps I was simply tired (still am) – who wouldn’t if you have been following the political and economic saga of Malaysia a tad too closely. Very unsettling... The truth is my mouse kept on gravitating towards Malaysiakini website and a few popular SOPO blogs. Sigh!
Having said that, Raya 2008 was still a happy occasion though... maybe this time around, when we went visiting, a couple of our relatives were feeling under the weather. Even my mother was down with high fever on the second day of Raya (alhamdulillah she’s better the next day). It’s kind of a reality check for me though that we are all getting older...
And I haven’t even met and beraya with my eldest brother and his family yet (as they balik kampung to Dungun this year). We missed out on meeting each other as they visited my mak at the tail end of Ramadan enroute to the east coast. We came back one day before Raya
Then on Yan’s sides, my two brothers in law too didn’t come back home too(fortunately the Cheras kids came back on Raya pertama minus their parents). And Yong our eldest sister celebrated Hari Raya in her baju kurung Kedah at home in Simpang Pulai jaga her new cucu.
But Raya this year’s also had its fair share of “drama” for our household.

* First was the incident at Jalan TAR – on a Sunday before Raya. You can read it here

* Then on to the eve of Hari Raya, soon after we settle down after buka puasa, suddenly a cicak out of nowhere accidentally landed on Asma’s lap. That’s kampung life, girls. Deal with it! And she screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed.... It’s rather funny, I must say. But Asma really was scared so much so that her Opah Temoh offered her wheelchair to Asma, now that she won’t touch the floor no matter what. So for the remaining of malam Raya, Asma sat on the wheelchair and wheeled her way around the house.

* Then a certain niece who happen to be an engineer brought back her kek batik for all to share only to find that the cake turned rather hard. In the end, with semangat Raya still lingering on, a certain resourceful aunt brought out a hammer to help cut the cake. Yes, we used a hammer to cut the cake. Instead of feeling offended (I know I would) the said niece was such a good sport that she joined in the fun. But I‘ll still give the niece an “A” for her effort (as opposed to another certain niece who did nothing whatsoever considering that she’s a stay at home wife -- hint hint!). And the cake turned out quite tasty, I must say.

Anywaaay, the highlight of a our Raya, unfortunately, was when all five of us trooped to Sunway Pyramid TGV on day 5 to watch the delightful Mamma Mia The Movie. Meryl Streep was simply glorious in the lead role. And the ABBA songs? Need I say more????? Go watch the movie....
And enjoy the Rumah Terbuka!!!!

Gambar Raya...

Juadah Raya Tahun Ni

AidilFitri 2008 berlalu sudah. Seperti tahun-tahun lalu dan seperti kebanyakan orang, kami balik kampung. Tahun ini kami berhari raya di Temoh. Tetapi dek kerana dekat, emak mertua serta kakak ipar dan keluarga datang beraya di pagi raya. Tak jadi hal. Mereka sampai tatkala orang kampung datang bertakbir raya di rumah Mak di Temoh. Meriah sungguh suasana.
Setelah itu kami berombongan beraya di rumah saudara mara di sekitar Air Hitam Labu, Bukit Pekan, Malim Nawar. Kemudian kami juga ke Ipoh, melawat ibu-ibu saudara yang demam di hari raya dan anak saudara yang terpaksa berpantang di bulan Syawal. Saya mencipta rekod pada hari raya ini --- buat pertama kalinya (seingat sayalah) saya tak tidur siang di hari raya pertama.... hahahaha.

Alia

Asma n Arissa

Cousins

The mothers, the wife, the daughters and me.

Puteri-puteri bersama Opah-opah.

Yan melayan Dania

My Asma, Arissa and Alia infront of Opah Temoh's place (Raya Ke4)