Things I Love About Syawal 2014

 

cuddly cousins on malam raya. the boys with their cousins on mak’s side : from left kahfi, sufya, kazim, icha & khaleef

 

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what goes on instagram – and what actually happened. haha. our family potrait at abah’s front lawn in ipoh on 1st day raya morning. father and son both donning the unmistakable quad-colored mckk sampin.

 

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..when kids line up for duit raya!

 

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siblings fight! normal scene. keep walking. nothing to see here.

 

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 5 hulubalang berkaca mata yang berjaya menawan bunga-bunga dari taman larangan haji sharifuddin. huhu. sitting down : faiz and din. standing behind them is eldest son-in-law abg mat, nash & my mr khairul. you’ve got good taste dudes. haha.

 

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2nd raya : think green!

 

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ipoh family! complete set of 5 daughters & 5 sons-in-law, 10 cucu. alhamdulillah!

 

kg lalang family! we’re missing ateh who was celebrating raya in cairo with newly-wedded hubby pawi. 5 kids, 2 daughters-in-law & 5 cucu. alhamdulillah!

 

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love this photo! the boys with their cousins on bapak’s side. each character shining through – the serious no-nonsense big bro. the loud 2nd-born kahfi. the cheeky kazim. the princess-y wafa. and the ever adorabs khairy.

 

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…and to top it all, the cherry on top – a classic shot of us in our raya best, on an old wooden staircase back in time. selamat hari raya aidilfitri 2014, maaf zahir batin.

Borong Kerepek @ SS Kacang Putih, Manjoi

aku suka kerepek dan keropok. siapa yang tak suka? bole makan kudap-kudap sambil tengok tv. bole makan sambil tengok wayang tgv (seludup je dalam handbag). bole jugak hidang kat org datang ke rumah. laku weh.

bercakap pasal hidang kat orang, masa raya, kerepek memang laku kan. ye la ko nak bersembang pungpang pumpang dgn acik pipah ko yg dah setahun tak jumpa mesti la lama kan. banyak mana la london almond ko nak telan masa berborak tu. jadi kudapan paling best masa datang beraya dan tak muak semestinya kerepek.

masa kat ipoh, yong aku bawakkan ke satu kedai ni – SS kacang putih kat manjoi. katanya kedai ni memang super famous, org jauh pun tau tempat ni.

 

kahfi, cousin adam & kazim

 

kalau nak tau owner dia start bukak kedai ni dalam 10 tahun lebih kot. berbekalkan rm10K simpanan sendiri je buat kecik-kecilan kat rumah dia sampai la dapat bukak kedai yang popular ni. siap ada kilang kot.

mula-mula dia ade 15 jenis je kacang putih – sekarang sampai dah berlonggok-longgok tak tau nak pilih yang mana satu. memang bermacam jenis – nak yg klasik kacang putih ada. nak yang macam jenis keropok macam keropok roda tu ada. yang manis-manis untuk bebudak pun ada. semua sekali dalam 50 jenis dah sekarang.

sempoi je letaknya. takde penuh kabinet pun. kacang-kacang dah siap pek bior je dalam kotak tu atas lantai. ade saiz kecik dan besar. ok je tak nampak serabut pun. asalkan ada sistem, kemas dan orang ramai senang nak lalu-lalang pilih kacang.

 

 

btw kome takyah was-was ok. insyaAllah, muruku, kacang-kacang ngan kepek ubi pisang sume ade sijil halal. pegi la manjoi nak borong kerepek. takyah tunggu raya pun. bila-bila bole pegi borong untuk kudapan harian. huhu. tengah tergendala dalam traffic jam pon kome bole makan kan?

satu lagi fakta menarik, owner SS kacang putih incik sandera juga adalah pengerusi persatuan kebajikan penjual-penjual kacang putih perak! fuyyoh. .

 

 

kakak sulung aku yong yg comel bertudung pink gigih beratur sambil menjinjing bakul yg penuh dengan kerepek dan kekacang. kalo teringin, silalah ke manjoi!

‘Malam Berinai’ is Malam Bergambar-Gambar

there’s a specific way of doing an ACTUAL ‘malam berinai’, but to us, it’s simply the night before the nikah or solemnization, when the bride has had her fingers, palm and toes painted with henna or inai – a night of fun, laughter and taking lots of pictures!

on that night of 19th dec, my youngest sis was about to get married. before the nikah the next day, she wanted to have a light, fun night of malam berinai. she was just so resplendent in this heavily beaded beautiful jalabiya I got for her from dubai. she was breathtaking. sob sob.

 

at the time of writing, she has already been whisked away by her husband on their mini honeymoon in penang. this is her on OUR version of malam berinai – dressing up just for pictures!

 

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she had her fingers, palm and toes painted earlier that day, and I was so fascinated that the inai-painter had her ipad on with pictures to guide her in painting the inai. hello technology!

 

before…

 

…after!

 

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azi looking gorgeous in cream-colored jalabiya, flanked by umi and my aunt cik. thanks for joining us in our craze and happy-fun-time!

 

…and then there’s US! azi, my eldest yong, me and syidot. we’re missing one more sister syimot who was still in confinement in her home in sri kembangan. she did manage to travel all the way to ipoh on the day of the reception, but we missed her during this malam berinai photoshoot, and the nikah too.

 

…and later that night it got even more crazier…

 

me and my boys : khaleef & kahfi

 

malam berinai is not a necessity, not wajib, not a must – to follow the procedure to a T is just following adat, and you’re welcome to do so if you like. for us it’s plain and simple – a gathering of close family members to just look pretty (or trying to haha) and take lots of pictures amidst lots of laughter and noise!

Malam Berinai, Tunang, Nikah & Kenduri All in a Weekend!

I’m in malaysia. woohoo!

best :

1. makan makan makan.
2. of course, the biggest news is – my youngest sister azot got married! habis dah anak-anak haji podin dipinang. abah bole rileks ye abah!
3. got to meet my new nephew who was born on the awesome triple date 12-12-2012, he is finally named Miqail Syafi! super cute!
4. my 2nd boy kahfi turns 4 today! so nice to celebrate it in ipoh surrounded by his cousins. aunty da bought him a yummy chocolate cake with his favorite angry bird perched on top. thanks sis! super ecstatic! balloons, bubbles, toys, oreos and chocolates – a perfect day to turn FOUR!

 

tak best :

1. since my sis syimot had just given birth, so she was still dalam pantang on the wedding day. she was cleared to travel with the-just-over-a-week old baby miqail syafi and was able to go to ipoh, but didn’t join us at the banquet hall for the wedding. she stayed at abah’s. we miss her in all the photographs during the reception, and through the wonderful celebration and merriment, felt a tinge of emptiness. tak cukup korum!
2. sigh, I came back to ipoh to celebrate the LOVE and union between two hearts – but I left my heart in dubai! sob sob. mr khairul couldn’t get a leave so it was just me and the boys flying back to malaysia. I miss him terribly. thanks SKYPE!
3. my eldest boy khaleef wears glasses. and I just bought him his 4th pair. nasib baik dapat reasonably cheap in ipoh. I hope this one last longer!

 

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full report coming real SOON!

 

the cake-topper for azi’s wedding cake!

10 Things I Love about Raya 2012

eid mubarak everyone! selamat hari raya, maaf zahir batin. how’s everyone’s raya so far? in a nutshell – i spent 1st syawal in my hometown ipoh with abah, umi and my sisters. headed on to kampung lalang, kuala kangsar on the 2nd of syawal.

i’m rolling up 10 days of syawal in one posting. senang. eazy pizzy lemon squeazy. presenting : 10 things i LOVE about 2012 raya!

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1) TAKBIR MALAM RAYA

 

my dad with his grandkids. minus 2 girls spending raya at their other atuk’s house

 

as usual, every year, the pakciks at the surau would go from house to house to do the takbir raya. this year our house is the first stop. we prepared a simple supper for them – lemang and rendang of course!

this year it was just the 3 of us sisters on the eve of syawal – me, yong and my youngest sis azi. syima was spending 1st syawal with her in-laws, and syida was spending her first raya as a wife.

 

 

 

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2) RAYA BREAKFAST : NASI LEMAK + LEMANG & FRIENDS

 

 

yong brought nasi lemak from home in the morning of 1st syawal. i mean, raya is all about lemang, rendang, ketupat, kuah kacang and the works, but having hot freshly made nasi lemak was just so satisfying as well!

thanks yong!

 

 

 

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3) LINE UP FOR DUIT RAYA!

 

this is just the cutest. my boys and my nephews and one niece lining up to get duit raya from atuk. from the head of the line is the eldest : haiqal, haqeem, khaleef, nuna, kahfi, kazim and adam.

 

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4) FAMILY PICTURE AT IPOH

 

as usual, this is as good as it gets when it comes to photographs that includes the boys. well, at least they’re sitting still. and i still have hopes for future photograph shots!

 

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5) NEW BROTHERS-IN-LAW

 

this year raya is extra special as we welcome a new member to the sharifuddin clan when my sis syida marries nash last april. this dec, we’re getting another brother in law. so double celebration!

 

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6) FAMILY PICTURE IN KAMPUNG LALANG

 

spending 2nd raya at my in-law’s place in kampung lalang. i love it that my sons are still able to experience kampung lifestyle when they’re here – wooden house, icy-cold showers, chasing chickens and picking up rambutan.

 

adik-adik ipar : from left is diyana, kay, tina, mr. khairul, sofia & asrar

 

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7) BERAYA in TAIPING : TOKCIK’S HOUSE

 

 

haven’t seen tokcik since last april during syida’s wedding. miss tokcik so much! i came to taiping to precisely to see tokcik AND for ketupat daun palas – unfortunately dah habis! uhuk uhuk. well, aunty shila (tokcik’s youngest menantu) swiftly cooked up some kuey teow hailam and it was simply delicious!

 

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8) ENJOYING DURIAN on HARI RAYA

 

 

on the way back from taiping to kampung lalang, we stopped by a DURIAN stall!

still weairng sampin, my durian-freak husband ate a whole bunch right there and then, and bought a lot more to bring home for later. i couldn’t eat any because of sore throat, but later that night my mom-in-law made pengat durian which was just indescribable. burp, alhamdulillah!

 

 

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9) MANDI SUNGAI on HARI RAYA!

 

this was just amazing. we took a dip at a river. on hari raya! i wrote a whole posting on this, so check out this space sometime soon, ya!

 

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10) POST-WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT?

 

we had a photoshoot. post-wedding. post-3 boys. post countless anniversary. suka-suka. coming soon jugak!

 

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enjoy the rest of syawal!

Atuk’s 9 Grandkids @ Ipoh : What They Did

it’s ramadhan and i’m spending it at my dad’s place in my beloved hometown ipoh. last weekend my sisters in KL came back too – so all NINE of abah’s grandkids were around -

which means chaos. but happy chaos. haha.

 

 

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1) we celebrated haqeem’s birthday!

my nephew haqeem (my eldest sister’s 2nd kid) turned NINE this august. so my youngest sis ordered a rainbow cake specially for this occasion. it was just so right – bright, colorful cake for 9 noisy kids with colorful personalities that brightens up the house!

happy birthday haqeem! next year tak payah birthday cake lah. tahun ni je dah dapat 3 kek dalam seminggu! hihi

 

birthday boy haqeem kidding around with bff cousin khaleef

 

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my boys : anong khaleef, kazim & kahfi

 

2) kids and firecrackers!

yes, i let them play. yes, they had fun, i had fun. yes, we were being very careful. do you let your kids play bunga api? read my opinion about that here.

 

cousins : nuna & kahfi

 

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3) atuk-lympics and games

we had games – from charades to kotak beracun to whose line is it anyway!

the kotak beracun was supposed to be a box filled with folded paper with funny instructions, but in our version, it’s actually a present wrapped with countless layers of wrapping paper.

a song is played, and while it’s playing, the present is passed from one player to another. when the song stops, the player holding the present must open one layer of wrapping paper. each time a player opens one layer of paper, a note is attached to it with funny instructions – from downright silly “geli ketiak orang di sebelah kanan” or funny “sing twinkle twinkle little star while pinching your nose”.

anything for a little (or a lot!) laugh!

 

 

and since it’s olympics, we played charade ala atok-lympics – pick a folded paper, in it names of sports in olympics like boxing, swimming or taekwando, and the player must act out the sports while the rest try to guess.

fun!

 

 

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4) help with baking biskut raya

yes, they helped – and then they ate them all! hihi

 

 

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5) help mak su pack goodie bags for the kids who comes for beraya

on hari raya itself, a lot of kiddos will roam around the kampung area looking for friendly houses to visit and beraya – including my abah’s house.

anyhow, let’s get real – the house-hopping kids just want the duit raya, and maybe a couple of kuih raya (even then, after the 12th house, who had the tummy to eat anymore right?) so as always, every year, my youngest sis would go out and get snacks, sweets, drinks and mini cakes in bulks to be put in goodie bags.

when the kids come for beraya, just pass them the goodie bag and send them off to the next house! saves our time and theirs! lagi banyak rumah bole cover, dik! hihi.

 

 

..and who’d better to help mak su pack all these goodies? our happy helpers and mess-makers of course. my boys khaleef and kahfi with their cousins abg haiqal, abg haqeem and lil nuna helped out, and couldn’t help taking a few packets for themselves too! haha.

within minutes, all goodie bags are ready to be ‘shipped out’ come syawal!

 

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6) …and after a hard day’s work, nothing else left to do but sleep!

Zzzz – sweet dreams my little babies…

 

the only girls in the clan : nuna, cuya & ica

 

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