My 2010 Raya

Today’s September 23rd, meaning that it has been two weeks since we’ve celebrated the first day of Syawal. Talking about Raya, what a wonderful Raya it was! And so tiring as well! It was Kedah’s turn this year and since there were 11 of us to fit into the MPV, we exported two kids and a maid via air to Alor Setar on the Tuesday before Raya. The rest of us had to travel on the PLUS highway a day after.

We managed to buka-puasa with my parents for two days. On the last day of puasa, we went to Stadium Darulaman for its Pasar Ramadhan and I was so happy that I got to buy the famous Nasik Ulam Aishah and the White Palace Cucur Udang! Too bad we didn’t have the time to go to Kuala Kedah for Laksa Telok Kechai... or else it would definitely be a perfect buka-puasa for me!

That night was Bunga Api night. What is Raya without Bunga Api, right? My kids, nephews, nieces, maids, and of course yours truly had so much fun that night. It was worth the money spentlah.

The first day of Raya was spent in Alor Setar and Kodiang. That morning, after Raya prayers and salam sessions, it was family picture time, where all 30+ of us had our family picture taken at a studio. Then off we went to my Mak Ndak's newly renovated house and later to my Adik’s house. By then, all tummies were full but we had to continue our Raya Journey..to meet the Queen, my dad’s mother – TOK!

The destination was Kodiang (pronounced Kokdiang ya.. it’s my Ayah’s kampong and the place I was born).

Bukit Keplu in Kodiang

It was a bit gloomy this year since my cousin just lost her husband, Abang Mat, in a road accident in Ramadhan. Kak Fauziah was in tears that evening when she told me how Abang Mat practically did EVERYTHING for her, and she stressed to me again and again – EVERYTHING! Now that he was gone, she was left clueless. What with her mother, Wa (my aunt), being bedridden after falling on the hospital staircase and broke her leg while visiting Abang Mat in the ICU on that fateful day. Listening to her relating her story of her Abang Mat made me appreciate life even more with my loved ones around.

Al Fatihah to Abg Mat who was such a jovial and helpful person. May he be blessed and placed amongst the Muqarrabin. Amiin.

Every second day of Raya will be Tunjang day. Tunjang, the place where my Mak was born and raised. She’s the youngest of 8 Jurau siblings – 2 deceased, now leaving her with 1 brother and 4 sisters. Tahlil session was held at Mak Chik’s house in the late morning and a small kenduri later in the afternoon. It was a nice reunion/gathering where the four generations of the Jurau clan exchanged their stories, and laughters were heard throughout the evening.

L to R : Mak Njang, Mak Ngah, Mak Ndak, Mak Chik and Mak.

This is my Mak with her siblings. It would be nice if their eldest, my Pak Chaq who lives in Pontian is in this pic.

And oh, later after leaving Tunjang, we went to Mak Njang’s house right before Maghrib prayers. Dalam kelam-kabut tu aku pi jugak rumah hang tau!

The third day of Raya was my parent's Open House day. It was Meehoon Sup Utara this year. Such joy melayan tetamu who came.. didn’t feel tired at all!

The fourth day was Raya @ Siblings’ day. Went to my eldest bro, Bemmie’s house in Alor Setar, then to Sg Petani to my 2nd bro, Benjie’s and later to my only sis, Kak Anim’s house. It was a fun day and.. *burp*.. filling as well ..hehehe.. Dear Hubby wasn’t feeling well that night, and since we were supposed to leave the next day, we decided to postpone the trip home to the 6th Raya, 15th Sept. I called MAS to reschedule Hanna+Hasya+Tini-the-maids’ flight tickets from the 15th Sept to the 16th Sept but couldn’t since we bought the tickets via Grab-a-Deal.

Oh well, we couldn’t leave on the same day with the girls on the 15th for sure since the girls would be arriving in KUL much earlier than us! So we had to stick to the original plan, us leaving on the 14th, and the girls flying on the 15th. Dear Hubby took paracetamol and hit the bed much earlier than us that night. He had to rest since he gotta drive us home the next day.

The fifth day was 14th Sept, my Hanna’s 13th Birthday! Hanna loved the beautiful birthday cake, and the younger kids the KFC!

Nice cake isn’t it? Tasted great too (TQ Zue)

We left Alor Setar at 3pm (I think). Reached home 4-5 hours later.

All in all, it was a great Raya for us all :D

Raya oh Raya.....

I hope it’s still not too late to wish everybody - SELAMAT HARI RAYA and MAAF ZAHIR BATIN! I hope everyone had a wonderful week of Raya with family, relatives and friends.

This year is Kluang’s turn for us. Since there’s no airport there in Kluang, we couldn’t ‘post’ the kids home via air thus we had to travel in two cars. My first time driving this far tau! I was lucky that the traffic was good to and fro. Alhamdulillah.

The Projek Bunga Api on that malam Raya was great. The nephews, nieces and my kids were the project members.. and don’t forget the project manager and directors too ok.... Tua-tua pun main Thunder Clap and Thunder King..hahahaha! Meriah betul main bunga api kat kampung! You could see and hear mercun everywhere! It took us around 3-4 hours to finish everything off. It was fun. My Haziq especially, had so much fun.

Haifa watching the bunga api

Haziq, Hasya, Hanna, Hanis, Haifa and the maids sempat posing sambil main bunga api at their nenek's house di malam raya

My Hanis celebrated her 4th birthday on the Raya day itself. “Hari Raya Happy Birthday Hanis” was her mantra a few days prior to the 20th. Brought her to Secret Recipe that morning and asked her to choose the cake herself, and she chose the one with cherries on top... what else, the Black Forestlah. That 'lil girl blushed when all her siblings, aunties, uncles and cousins sang her the birthday song. She was happy to add more Barbies into her collection. And this time Miss Barbie comes with Master Ken ;)
Nampak sangat muka nervous. Segan sebab ramai orang kot....

My five girls - Haifa, Husna, Hanna, Hasya and Hanis in their Baju Boria di pagi raya di rumah Nenek

We went to Pontian on the 2nd day of raya to visit my Pak Chaq, who is my mother’s eldest sibling. What was supposed to be a less-than-two-hour trip became more-than-three-hour trip. Traffic punyalah teruk near Ayer Hitam and Benut! But it was all worth it. The hospitality and company was great, and the food was A+++ I tell you! My Mak Chaq’s really a great cook. I’m sure if she were to open a restaurant, mesti tak menang tangan punya! I wonder why my cuz Che Uda doesn’t gain weightlah...hmmhh... Kena mintak petua nih!

My 86yo Pak Chaq. My Mak - his youngest sibling- would surely want to see this pic

This is my Mak Chaq yang terror masak!

Hanis with her Kak Asma'

Came back to home sweet home on Wednesday the 23rd. Oh.. doing the laundry took us two days to finally wash and dry everything, from the baju rayas to comforters. Lucky that those two days saw the sun in its fiercely hot state.

That's why I'm currently all tanned-up. No, not because of doing the laundry, it was due to the hours spent outside the house on the weekend. Hah, buat lagi gardening tengah panas!

My 2008 Raya

Raya in Alor Setar was a fantastic one. We went to Kodiang, Jitra, Tunjang, SP and houses around Alor Setar. It was such a tight schedule and Ayah made the what-to-do&where-to-go list that we actually followed (you’re soo good at that dear :)). We met so many people, relatives and friends. You see, there were 30 people in my own family (my parents, 5 siblings/spouses with kids). Add that with aunties, uncles and the whole clan of my father’s side, plus the clan from my mother’s side would probably made us meeting more than a hundred faces during Raya. How about that – what a lucky bunch we were!

The plan to go home to Alor Setar for Raya actually started in March08, when I had to purchase two flight tickets for my Hanna and my maid Nani. Since the MPV was unquestionably designed not to be tamped down with the weight of 11 people, and I was not going to drive my car (I never tried driving on a long journey before), we decided to buy the two tickets. So Hanna and Nani left earlier than us.

The journey home to Alor Setar on Sunday before Raya was a smooth one. Alhamdulillah. It took us only 4.5 hours to reach Alor Setar. Yay. But it took us 7 freakin’ hours from Alor Setar to KL on the Sunday after Raya (does that considered as swearing?). Talk about the heavy rain and the oh-ever-so-many-cars on the road! All the R&Rs were also jam-packed. I was praying that none of us would need to use the toilet.... but it was me who needed one! Isshh....

The most important thing was that we reached home safe and sound. That was all that matters, right?

So, today’s the 12th day of Syawal. Although everything’s BAU, the Raya mood obviously is still there. With open houses to attend to, I’m definitely still in the Raya mood. Perhaps I’m still a young girl at heart..hihihi...

Have a Wonderful Raya!

To all my friends, relatives, fellow bloggers, visitors and all Muslims in the world - SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI!

I take this opportunity to MINTA AMPUN & MAAF for any wrongdoings I've done, or for anything I've written here that may have offended any of you out there.

May this Raya be a wonderful one to you and your loved ones.

Again, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI & MAAF ZAHIR BATIN!!

Biskut-Dengar

Come Raya, we’d usually hear of Biskut-Tunjuk and Kek-Tunjuk. This is when - instead of making them yourself - you just Tunjuk (point) at the Raya Biscuits/Cakes and buy them.

Last week I managed to add one more entry into my vocabulary – BISKUT-DENGAR.

Have you heard of it? Biskut-Dengar (dengar=listen) is when you order your Raya biscuits via phone without you knowing the look/taste/names of them cookies. It is actually meant for those desperados out there (moi, one of them!) who realized at the very last minutes that they haven’t ordered enough Raya biscuits and wouldn’t dare to do a random Biskut-Tunjuk for fear of getting bland-tasted biscuits (Wipedia – add this in, capish?)

Every year, I’d religiously write down the ‘tunjuk’ orders I’ve made into my notebook so that I know what biscuits/cakes I bought. This year I was a bit laid-back thus the lack of orders made. I found out on Wednesday last week that there were only 3 orders I made via my officemates – biskut samperit, biskut makmur inti susu and kuih gunting! My kids are sooo going to kill me for this! They love Raya biscuits, especially those chocolate ones. In fact I had to order a few balangs of biscuits to be consumed during Ramadhan for them earlier on.

I was lucky when this colleague of mine, Yani had an out-of-town friend who was coming to visit her and bring her the Raya biscuits she had ordered earlier. I asked Yani to call her friend whether there were still some for sale. And the answer was YES! I asked Yani to let her friend bring whatever she thought were good. I was that desperate!

And when I got the biscuits... and Alhamdulillah... they LOOK and TASTE gooood! Nasib baik.... Not bad for a Biskut-Dengar!

So now, I’m left with the Raya cakes. I think I’ll bake them myself lah... Or maybe I should do a Kek-Dengar? Hmmmhh....

Mega Sale Marathon Shopping

A week before the school holidays:

Ibuuu, betis Hanna sakit lagi lah Ibu.

My God, after like 4 days, she could still feel the aching? The 7-hour of marathon shopping was last Monday, Hanna, how could you still feel the pain?

OK OK - I’m Guilty as charged. I admit I’m a bad mother. I was an inconsiderate mom who made her two children skipped schools just so that they could tag along with her to MidValley. But I didn’t blackmail them or anything. They were all full of smiles that day. They liked it, especially when the exam was just over and they wanted to spend some quality time with me - besides getting new shoes and clothes for Raya of course.

I don’t like to procrastinate when it comes to buying things for my children. I made a vow earlier this year that I won’t be doing what I had been doing all these years – go shopping for Raya during Ramadhan! This year, I don’t want to be caught in the throngs of people who seemed to like what I liked. In the end, it was very frustrating when you got hold of the one that you desired but couldn’t get the size that you wanted. Or you liked the one on the mannequin, but that was the last piece and the wrong size. Or worse, you couldn’t find anything for anybody at all!

That was why I took leave on Monday and went shopping with Hanna and Hasya.

There were a zillion things to buy. Imagine how many blouses, t-shirts, jeans, pants, skirts, gowns, sandals and shoes that made up the long list of my To-Buy things:

Let's do a simple math:

There are 11 people living under the same roof with me. Six of them are my dear children, another three my maids, my dahhling Ayah and moi!

1) Each of my maids needs 3 blouses/t-shirts, 2 pants/jeans, a baju kurung and a pair of sandals – that makes it 7 items for each. Total : 21 items altogether.

2) Each of my 5 girls needs 4 blouses/t-shirts, 2 jeans, a baju kurung and a pair of sandals/shoes – that makes it at least 8 items for each. Total : 40 items. Don’t forget the extra skirts/gowns and stockings for the younger three which equals to 6. So, the Grand Total for the 5 girls : 46 items

3) My only boy – 3 jeans/slacks, 5 shirts/t-shirts, socks, a pair of sandal and a baju Melayu. Total : 11 items

4) Ayah – TBD
5) Moi - TBD

(Post-script Correction):
The total amount of things to be bought was 21+46+11 = 78! Minus the Baju Kurungs and the Baju Melayu that I’ve already bought/ordered (all 11 of them), and minus Items 4 and 5 (which aren’t important), the Grandtotal of the things that needed to be bought was 78-11 = 67!

I'd never accomplish buying those even if I had 4 arms! Not while you’re fasting or got pushed and pulled during a weekend sale. So I know I made the right decision to buy them on Monday, with the Mega Sale going on especially.

What left, you ask me?

I’m only left with less than 10 items to buy now. Pretty impressive, huh?

Still too Early for Raya?

I was buying the Beef Serunding at my favorite Pasar Tani on Saturday when the serunding seller mentioned that the fasting month was just around the corner. Ayah and I went like “WHAT???”

The nice Pakcik got questions shot at him by these two Ignorant Fools...
Bila Puasa?
Bila Raya?

He explained that we have only 7 weeks to go before the Holy Ramadhan comes. Yeah, right!

The Zakat calendar was the first thing I snatched when we reached home. Holy Macaroni! The Pakcik was right! So the first day of fasting will be on the 1st of September and Raya will tentatively be on the 1st of October...

Okay, I know I know... some might say that it’s still a loooonnggg way to go before we’ll start fasting. But to this Ibu, it’s like a bit too late. I’m not talking about the Raya cakes and biscuits, I’m talking about the children’s Baju Raya!

The Baju Kurung for my five girls... my God, surely most tailors won’t be accepting any more orders! What should I do now? Perhaps the ready-made ones this year?

And how about Ayah’s and Haziq’s Baju Melayu?
First - I’ll have to buy the material at Nagoya Textiles
Then - mail them to Mak in Alor Setar
Later - poor Mak will then have to go to the shop in Pekan Rabu and (really) beg the tailor to accept the late order
Hope that will work (crossing my fingers here..)

My Baju Raya? Well, mine doesn’t matter. If I truly want a new Baju Raya, I’ll grab one later. Subang Parade and PKNS Shah Alam will definitely do wonders to satisfy a female’s yearnings... he..he...