I am off to Jakarta. Again??

The last time I was in Jakarta, it was last year, for a relative’s wedding. I had fun back then, learning about the different wedding culture and tradition. The food they serve at the wedding slightly differs from what we serve here in our Malay weddings. In Jakarta, all the guests would have to queue to greet the bride, bridegroom and their respective families on stage, wish them happiness yada yada yada. Once the couple makes a grand entrance on the red carpet, everyone will be on standby mode to go up the stage. We, coming from PJ were practically at lost during that special event until my uncle who resides from Jakarta said "quick lets stand right in front so we can be the first few ones to wish them" and also be the first few ones to eat right after that…haha! True enough…we were the first to eat…Terukkan all of us? when it comes to food, semua jalan!

Food prepared is something like our normal buffet spread however without the normal tables for guests to sit, eat and gossip. You are expected to stand and mingle with the rest of the people. Food is in abundance and it is spread out and in a way that everyone is expected to stand and move from one table to another. For those who need to sit, you will have to look around for empty seats probably located at the corner of the ballroom.

This time round, I am heading for another wedding. Yes again! I am expecting the same thingy but then again it depends coz the last time we went the groom was from Bandung, so there was some elements of “Sundanese” culture and tradition in the ceremony. This time, it is our side, so more of the “Mandaling” culture I think. Will update with pictures when I am back.

Till then, have a good week all!

pic courtesy of www.fundraw.com

Mama..

Today is my arwah mother’s birthday, if she had lived, she would be 70 this year. Another year, another birthday but memories of her are still fresh in my mind and I still miss her more and more. It’s been a year and a half since she left us. The slight thought of her makes me all teary eyed. There are times when I just cannot believe that I am going thru life without her and most importantly without her love, guidance and wisdom. The toughest is going to places that reminded me so much of her and it makes me feel lost. Even now when I am heading for a change in my life, she is not there to see me through it. I know she will be happy if she is still around, I hope I will be like her – strong in many ways. She is very strong in facing any challenges in life.

What can say, losing a mom is never easy, but that is ketentuan Illahi, yang hidup pasti akan mati, and as a daughter, I am glad and thankful that my mother was always there for me, “Semoga rohnya sentiasa dicucuri Rahmat dan ditempatkan bersama orang yang beriman”.

Al-fatihah.

Happy Birthday Ma! I love you.

Another escapade.......Penang!

lil niece trying out her swimming skills..hehe

the swimming pool on the rooftop..the breathtaking view of the sea

from the penang bridge

We decided to spend our weekend in Penang last night. We drove there on Saturday after Subuh and reached there at noon, had a good session of food binging with Penang being famous for its nasi kandar, char kuey teow and seafood. I simply love Batu Ferringhi, love the cooling breeze and amazing scenery.

Have been waiting for this break....

I was in Awana Kijal for 3 days during the Deepavali weekend, spending some quality time with my close friends. At the same time I had an important issue at the back of my mind that was pretty much bothering me, an issue that I know would change my life in this near future.....in my mind, I was weighing all the pros and cons before deciding on something .....and nothing has been decided just yet even tho I am already back in KL....am still thinking hard. Oh well, let it flow, thot that being away from my life in KL, a decision can be made..Tough luck!

Anyways, talking about sandy beaches and good company....I can't wait for my trip to Penang next month.....:-D. Any suggestions where I can get good food, authentic Penang food?

The trip to Terengganu took us more than 5 hours. What would normally take us about 4 hours to reach Kijal, unfortunately for this particular trip, it took us girls more than usual, we left KL about 11am plus and reached Terengganu around 4pm. We stopped at the Temerloh R&R for some food and spent almost two hours talking and gossiping and we totally forgot about our trip. Haha! My friend drove half way and I took over and drove the remaining half. The weather was a little bit gloomy but I like it that way, as it was very relaxing.

Once we reached Awana, we checked in and went straight to the in house Spa and made our reservations. Talk about being soooo vain…hehe! What do you expect when it comes to girls, vacationing and Spa? However, I was pretty dissappointed with the facial because the face massage lasted only for a few minutes. Comparing it to my normal facial sessions here in PJ and KL, I would rate their service below average. It is supposed to have a Spa resort quality service right? Anyway, when the receptionist gave me a form to complete, I made a point to tell them how dissappointed I was.

We also went for a few rounds of beach strolling, walked about 15 minutes to see the jetty..told my friends...this is like walking non stop..penat giles, the beach is private, so that explains the clean and beautiful sandy beach. We also managed to check out the Jacuzzi as well as the huge swimming pool. After the pool and "hot" jacuzzi we then sat under the Kabanas for hours, chatting and laughing our lungs out. The sea was kinda rough in the mornings and evenings, but then again it is currently the monsoon season. I love the sound of the beach and rough waves when I am still in bed.....very soothing :)

The restaurants in Awana were closed for some UMNO makan2 and gathering on the first night, so we had no choice but to scout for food outside, we had our dinner at an authentic local warung with the locals (this place has the most pak ciks in kopia hanging around)....and food court in the new and only mall located within the vicinity called Mesra Mall.... they have Giant but it was not opened to public just yet. They were still doing minor renovations here and there.

But on our last night, we went to check out the live band in the club. They had a local band performing till about 12 midnight. I bumped into the male singer earlier when I was in the convenient store (located outside of Awana along the main road) buying my yogurt and he was at that time paying for his cigarettes. When he introduced himself to me in the club that night, he said “ macam pernah nampak je”…I just smiled…talk about having good memory eh :-D






Driving along the stretch between Awana and the other small towns can be a little bit spooky because of the almost non-existence of any street lights. Street lights were pretty much scarce along both sides of the road. The street lights will only appear when you reach a certain town. Imagine, having to depend on your car lights, which I find is extremely dangerous especially when there are only a few cars on the road. I really hope the Government can do something about this. Siapa yg ada problem with vision at night should SKIP driving at night. So taht explains why I ended up being the ONLY driver when night came..the rest were scared to drive...hmmpp.

We reached KL on Sunday at 7 pm…I think! Feeling rejuvenated and happy that we got to spend some quality time with each other. Oh and not to mention I have keropok lekor to keep me occupied. Hehe!

Salam Aidilfitri 1428H

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

&

Maaf Zahir Batin"

to all my blogger friends!


definitely a challenging Ramadhan for me, was down with gastritis..end up throwing up for two consecutive nights and as a result I am not able to enjoy the raya dishes....:(

Pictures snapped during Ramdhan that would be close to my heart!

Padamu ku bersujud

Ku menatap dalam gelap,

tiada yang bisa kulihat

selain hanya nama-Mu,

ya Allah

Esok ataukah nanti,

ampuni semua salahku

lindungi aku dari segala fitnah

Reff:

Kau tempatku meminta,

kau beriku bahagia

jadikan aku selamanya

hambamu yang selalu bertaubat

Ampuniku ya Allah,

yang sering melupakanmu

saat kau limpahkan

karuniamu dalam sunyinya

aku bersujud

Singer Afgan

(To check out the song , do click on the player on my left sidebar)

Have a good weekend y'all!

I am currently hooked on to this song by Agnes Monica, "Matahariku". I didnt know she is one "gorgeous" lady, been listening to a few of her songs but never bothered to check out how she looks like. Hahaha! Talk about being ignorant...I am guilty! May be because I always think Agnes Monica is Melly Goeslow :P

My close friend aka office mate just pop out the question - Lets go to Bandung?? I was speechless. Frankly after my second trip to Bandung in January'08, I didn't feel like going to any parts of Indonesia for the time being. I wanted to be Indo free for a year or so...:D But with this offer, I cant refuse..So here goes, we are planning for a trip in Novemberjust US girls InsyaAllah. Next month after Raya, I will be heading to Awana Kijal with my girlfriends for some Terengganu delights and "cuci mata" and after that to Penang with my family...Yippieee..definitely a nice way to end year 2008!

10th day of Ramadhan

credit to kuihraya.wordpress.com

Today marks the 10th day of Ramadhan. It is getting easier, I would say, I mean getting used to fasting. But what I am not used to is the massive and bad traffic jam every morning when I leave for work and when I leave the office at 5.15pm. I normally use the smart tunnel at Jln Tun Razak but amazingly by 5pm, there is already a long queue. Sigh, the traffic gets really bad year after year. Everyone is rushing to go home for breakfast. Oh well, what’s new in KL, local transport sucks big time during the fasting month and getting caught in jams just makes me wanna scream my lungs out. Ohhh and the KL drivers are also kiasu during fasting month, bagi signal je, dia ingat dia boleh masuk. Kita pulak kena buat emergency break BUT I do try to avoid confronting these sickos, coz they can be really nasty during fasting month. Hmm, I wonder, doesn’t fasting count? You are supposed to be extra sabar and bersopankan? Apa dah...

I plan to make a few changes this time round for Raya, mainly on the Raya cookies, I have cut down on my gila kuasa-ness when buying kuih raya! Last year, was bad, when I tasted the cookies during the sample period, they all tasted good. Unfortunately for me, when they were delivered to me, most of the cookies didn’t taste as good as before. So this year, I will only buy cookies from those who I trust and I know the taste will always be consistent. Oh and not to forget, the kakak who sells the yummy tarts has increased the price to RM30 for 50 pieces. Well, I do love her tarts coz they are normal bunga shaped tarts not the rolled ones but but but I mogok tak nak beli this year coz it is sooo bloody expensive, like hello …60 cents per piece? No way I am gonna agree to that!

This year’s Ramadhan is still not the same without my mom. I miss her so much! No words can describe how much I miss her. Having both your parents around for Raya is definitely what every anak wants but then again it is not for us to decide. Semoga rohnya sentiasa dicucuri Rahmat. Al-Fatihah.


On a brighter note, I have a new nephew…we call him Iz. I was hoping for my sis to deliver baby Iz Rayn on National Day but I guess lil Iz decided to surprise us a few days earlier. Welcome to the family and we love you so much. I thank God for all his blessings, Syukur Alhamdulillah that I have a family that cares.

Selamat berpuasa! Jangan puasa yang yok! Hehe :D

Till my next post, take care and selamat beramal ibadah!

Latest addition

My new lil nephew Izz Rayn...Welcome to the world!! :)

Born on 28082008
Weighing 3.14kg

Yesss......I just love babies!

A start to a new dawn for Malaysia?

The Permatang Pauh results is out:-

The PKR advisor won with a majority of 15,671 votes in the parliamentary by-election.

Anwar obtained 31,195 votes while Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah received 15,524 votes and the Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (AKIM) candidate, Hanafi Mamat, had only 92 votes.

Lets wait for September and see what comes next!

I was here, here and there

I was here last month for 2 nights, I loved the private beach, the traditional Terengganu delicacies served during breakfast & lunch, the spa, the HUGE swimming pool and the scenery. It was a good gateway but not really a private gateway and escapade as I was accompanied by more than 50 people for a team building session.

I love Awana Kijal to bits.. Will blog about the team building event in a later entry but enjoy the pictures for now.

Pics courtesy of a fellow colleague of mine, Shamsuri.


I plan to go there again with my galfriends....this time round, I will be spending most of my time either at the beach or the pool :)

Remember Rick Astley?

Wow, I was checking out youtube and I stumbled upon these awesome videos of Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up, She wants to dance with me and Together Forever. When the songs were topping the charts, I was probably in my teens...haha! I was very much into his songs and the last time I heard of him was when he made a come back with the song Cry For Help!

Check the videos below:-



Were you a fan of Rick Astley back then? I wonder what ever happened to him after all the success? Is he still singing??Hmmm...

backdated entry - birthday gathering for the June/July babies

We had a small birthday gathering sometime in late June for my brother and elder sis , sorry people lambat post. Life has been rather crazy, everything is asap for me, everything is urgent. Anyways, here are the pics and as usual the kiddos are the ones who are the happiest as they just love cakes, candle blowing, cake cutting and not to forget the birthday song.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UDIN & UMI!!

fishy adventure

Have you guys tried out the fish spa. I have, I tried for the first time....and all I can say is geeeeeeeellllliiiiiiiii. I am pretty much a ticklish person. As soon as the fishes gathered near my heels...I went all geli geliman. My lil niece was with me and asked me whether she could try it as well. So we lowered her to the pool, and put her small feet in, all the fishes started to gather...she went like tak sakitla...best best nak lagi....:D

I need a longer weekend

My weekend will be over soon, it was a relaxing weekend indeed where most of my time was spent on the Korean drama series My Girl...I think it was pretty popular back in 2006...as usual am always the last to watch.....Love the storyline and am still thinking of the hot main male character..heheh:D Mebbe it is time for me to migrate to Seoul and learn how to eat the traditional kimchi! :D

How was your weekend? Hectic?