Eid Open Houses Galore!

Here's a compilation of photos we took during the various open houses we managed to visit throughout Syawal. Despite noticing the decline of invites during the first few weeks as Syawal (as opposed to the bulk we received last year), the invitations slowly trickled in and there was even a day when we had to rush to 5 open houses in total!

Second Week of Syawal
We received our one and only invite barely three days before the weekend. I guess the GST, price hike and declining oil prices really took a toll on everyone!

Rizq is Aiden's school friend, hence Aiden was actually counting the days to this open house. The minute we arrived, Aiden barely even looked our way. I felt like I was just chaperoning my son instead of going to an open house! *giggles* But we kindergarten mummies took the opportunity to take photos and gossip, while the kids happily played to their hearts content.

Real Kids mummies! Plus a teacher who is literally their mommy when they are at school.

Took the opportunity to also beraya with my 'neighbour' BBGS gang. I was wearing my Lily Tenun Kurung from Calice for Shopat22.

See how the Real Kids mummies and daddies automatically crowded around together?

Third Week of Syawal
Wow - the invites we received for this week picked up significantly. On Saturday, we had a grand total of 7 open houses. Out of the 7, we only made it to 5. Even with 5, we made an early start but only managed to get home late night.

First stop was breakfast at a neighbour's house. I thought her idea of organizing breakfast as an open house was brilliant.. so brilliant that I decided to replicate it too (more on that later)! Unfortunately no pictures as my sepet eyes are really unflattering in the morning! After a hearty breakfast of nasi lemak and waffles, I rushed to a close neighbour's house to set up a dessert table for Dafiya's birthday party. Remember Dafiya, Ian's girlfriend? This year she wanted (or rather her mum wanted) *chuckles* a Princess theme, hence I baked a princess cake and crown cookies for this party.

After that, rushed home to get the boys ready and after an early lunch at Dafiya's birthday party (sorry we couldn't stay for the cake cutting!), we left SPK for our next open house.

The princess dessert table I created for Dafiya. What do you think of the princess gown cake? I'll write a separate post on this dessert table for those who are planning a princess party soon.

Finally, a photo of the two kids (somewhat) looking at the camera!

On the way out of SPK to our third open house, with my oh-so-glittery ArtDeco Adalynn Baju Kurung by Jovian Mandagie.

Designated driver for the day, looking very glum at having to drive through horrendous traffic.

Our third, fourth and fifth open houses were thankfully centered around Shah Alam. Waze was a blessing too, as we managed to bypass significant traffic. Hence we had a late lunch at Hana's house, early tea at my uncle's house and early dinner at Dayang's house.

The matrics gang!

At the next house, the kids found multiple ways to keep themselves occupied! 

Kids goofing around while I was chatting with my aunt.

Aiden the wannabe Eskimo.

We stayed the longest at our last house ultimately because both the BBGS gang and Real Kids gang were under one roof.

The great thing about the Real Kids gang is that everyone's first child is 6 years old hence going to 'big boy school' next year. All of us are virgin mummies at the experience of primary school!!! Therefore our conversations always seem to gravitate towards homework, school assessments and such. It is so comforting to know that there are other mummies out there equally puzzled and worried about stepping into primary school!

Last house for the day! 

Finally got to beraya with one more person from the BBGS gang at Dayang's home.

The Real Kids mummies gang were at Dayang's house too.

Sporting daddies melayan mummies yang sibuk ber-posing.

The Real Kids daddies!

Selfie with Sofea while her mummy ate. Unfortunately, right after we took this picture she burst out crying!

Despite being in different classes this year, they are still best friends!

A combination of Real Kids plus BBGS!

Contrary to Saturday, on Sunday we had only one open house! It was a Marhaban Aidilfitri by another Real Kids' mummy. The minute we arrived, I immediately lost Aiden as rushed away to play with his friends. When he finally came to the table, he wanted to eat pulak before heading home. We got home so late that Aiden actually skipped school the next day as he was so sleepy!

 Aiden not in picture as he was busy playing. You can barely see it but I was wearing the Pearls Kurung in White and Black by Diana Rikasari for FashionValet.

Fourth Week of Syawal
The weekend started early for us, as we went for an open house as early as Friday night! It was our yearly open house ritual with the SPK gang. We all dressed up in our Raya traditional clothes. It was a potluck, so we contributed rendang to the spread. Other than that, we had mee sup, satay, lemang and KFC for the kids. During Ramadhan, ade jer lah gang yang tertinggal. But this time we managed to get all 6 of us under one roof... for what else... group photo lah!

My yellow Le Creuset in action. Tapi tuan rumah punya red Le Creuset lagi menonjol nampaknya. Hand carried from Germany, okeh! *chuckles*

Ian got totally obsessed with Dafiya's Baby Alive stroller. In the end they ended up taking turns pushing each other in the stroller. So cute!

Test photo. Since I was the only one with a timer-operated camera, I became the designated photographer for the night!

Probably the only decent shot out of the lot. It was no easy feat getting everyone to smile at the same time. Look at Aiden - busy watching TV, and Dafiya with her own solo move.

Freestyle shot! No, your eyes are not failing you. The picture is blur... but it was such a nice shot I couldn't resist posting it here.

Another freestyle shot, without (some of) the men. The men dah malas melayan the ladies who wanted to pose all night long. *hhmmmppphhh*

Don't remember who's idea this was. But apparently this is how Che Ta poses. Photographed from below, you can't look at the camera and your buntut must tonggek sikit (I'm soooo not kidding)!

I was wearing the Selma Kurung in Blue and Black by Malaque for Fashion Valet. It comes with a pareo-like skirt too, which can be worn with other tops. I love the skirt, but I thought the top was a tad too loose.

Last picture of the night.

The next day, we had three open house invitations to fulfill - which was really quite manageable if compared to the previous week. Surprisingly, all three invites were in the Shah Alam area again. Come to think of it, this year I don't think we had to venture far from home at all!

So the first invite was from our unit trust agent. And he is one dedicated agent too! He would continue to bug me again and again and again for my latest EPF statement, which is a godsend since I am getting quite forgetful these days. Must be the age factor *gasp*!!! So if you're looking for a good unit trust agent, you know who to ask.

Rerun of our clothes from the dusun durian.

Group photo with our unit trust agent and his beautiful wife.

Next, we went to a BBGS gang open house cum house-warming party. Incidentally, this friend is also an insurance agent! Aaaahhh what a coincidence, all the unit trust and insurance agents must have decided that Sunday was a prosperous day to organize makan-makan! *grin*  Lastly, we headed back to SPK for a neighbour's open house. At that point I was so full with all the food that I ended up only having some lamb and a drink of lemonade.

The next day, we had two open houses, both being Hubby's friends; and I think I must have left the camera at home cos I had no pictures of both events at all!

Four BBGS gang in line! Missing another three!

Final Week of Syawal
Since Saturday was technically the last day of Syawal, the Resident Association of Cahaya SPK decided to have their annual Eid gathering that night. I was responsible for the location setup and food layout, hence that morning I was stationed at the playground supervising the khemah people installing the tents, tables and chairs. After that, we rushed to an open house in Gombak (furthest open house location for this year!) and then back to SPK. And then it started pouring cats and dogs!!! *uuurrrggghhh* Spoil mood betul!

Despite the rain, we had a good turnout this year. The six tents (yes six!!) were absolutely full of people! Other than the common spread such as lemang, ketupat daun palas, rendang, roti jala, kari ayam, mee goreng, kuah kacang, lodeh, nasi lemak bungkus and desserts, we had various stalls too such as kambing, char kuey teow, laksa, cendol, otak-otak, apam balik and even coconut shake!

The only picture of the SPK gang for the night.

And that's the end of Syawal! So many open houses... so much calories!

Heh but that wasn't really the end of it. Remember that brilliant idea of breakfast? Well, I organized a Breakfast Aidilfitri on the first day of Zulkaedah. Technically not Aidilfitri anymore, but belasah saja lah. Separate post coming on that. Till then, toodles!