Salam Ramadhan 2018

Hello everyone! *blows cobwebs away from the keyboard*

Sorry for the quiet hiatus. This pregnancy is making me have absolutely zero interest in anything and everything. Well other than work (cos that pays the bills) and family, of course.

How is your Ramadhan treating you so far? Alhamdulillah for us, it has been quite a breeze although I am bracing myself for the upcoming turbulent period when my helper goes for her annual balik kampung. (She initially wanted to balik kampung later in the year but with the baby coming, she decided to return home earlier cos she expects to have her hands full once baby AY is out!)

This is Aiden's 3rd time attempting to puasa penuh, so far so good. Last year he was extremely cranky during sahur - but surprisingly this time around we don't get so much drama. He doesn't want fancy food during the wee hours of the morning so it's usually ayam Bob, fried egg or roti boom for sahur. As for Ian, he's starting to show interest in fasting (from exposure at the kindy), but still doesn't fully understand the concept - especially since he insists on enjoying food and drinks in front of his brother, much to the chagrin of the latter! *chuckles* In one instance, Ian siap offer food to his Babang, "Babang you want some?" *giggles*

Spiritually, it's slightly different for me this year. Due to the pregnancy, I am already praying guna kerusi, so terawih is slightly challenging especially when the surau/masjid is packed. I've been doing my prayers at home but I look forward to walking to the surau as usual this week, as the crowd usually dissipates by the second Ramadhan week onwards. Other than that, this is my third year wearing a headscarf during Ramadhan so it feels significantly easier for me. The only tricky bit was managing perception at the start, especially as I am in a new role at work. My Upstream peeps are used to seeing me in tudung, but the Downstream folks have never seen me in one. But Alhamdulillah, so far Allah dah banyak permudahkan the transition for me.

In matters of worldly preparations, I am absolutely done with Raya shopping. *pats self on the back* Again, due to the pregnancy, we made it a point to head to Jalan TAR two weeks before the start of Ramadhan. Which was an excellent idea because we ended up making so many stops to eat and drink cos it was so hot! My bulging tummy did not make it easy to shop for clothes (and I didn't bother on tailoring anything to wear only once). In the end I settled on a simple batik long dress from Jakel in peach. Armed with that, we then headed to Masjid India to get coordinating baju melayu for the boys. Recycle songkok and sampin from last year. Settle!

Sneak peak of the boys' outfit - siap ada tag lagi! BTW Ian no longer cries at kindy - it took him a good 4.5 months to cultivate the love of school!

I also bought two new telekung for Ramadhan - one from dUCk (love the bag that comes with it) plus a very comfortable piece from Siti Khadijah. As for the kids, we bought for them new jubahs as well, plus a few pairs of casual baju raya. The only person that I cannot stop shopping for, is for this little princess in my tummy! Oh my gosh - so many cute outfits! I've even had to resort to taking flat lays of her outfits according to size just so I have an inventory of what I've purchased. *shakes head in dismay*

Our first Ramadhan was spent at my in-laws, and then they came over to our house for the second Ramadhan iftar. But the most memorable was the third day; I was so excited to head to Param Seksyen 13 but by the time we arrived, we all got caught in the most horrendous downpour. Even with umbrellas, we were soaked to the bone! Ian clung to Hubby like a koala bear while saying "I want to go home!!!" but by the end of the trip he ended up enjoying the whole affair, jumping into puddles and all. We climbed into the car with wet clothes and our shoes filled with rain water. Absolutely crazy, but oh so worth it - everything we bought (rojak, roti john, akok) was so tasty.

If you're ever in Shah Alam and a big fan of akok, this stall gets two thumbs up from me!

Last Friday, I had the SPK ladies over for iftar. Two couldn't make it while a third was late due to a last minute emergency. It was a potluck affair, so three families feasted over mee kari, daging dendeng, ikan kurau masak lemak nenas, ayam goreng kunyit and sayur buncis goreng. *nyum* This year, my helper's specialty was daging dendeng which was definitely a crowd favourite that night. For dessert, other than kuih melayu we also had a scrumptious birthday chocolate mud cake - interestingly flour-less but very chocolaty!

Birthday cake and present for the birthday girl. Unfortunately no pictures of the food - totally terlupa!

After that, we adjourned into the garden for our yearly tradition - our 7th year writing messages using sparklers! As usual, here is a compilation of our sparkler shots since 2012:

Seven years in a row... and counting!

Unfortunately we didn't get it right on the first try. My trusty Samsung camera is starting to give me problems *cries* so a lot of fiddling with the settings and shutter speed before we finally got it right.

A new try for us this year - writing in jawi! I nearly peed in my pants with this one. To write 'ya' we had to enlist a husband's help to do the double dots at the bottom - literally cium buntut bini! *rolls on the floor laughing*

Behind the scenes.

Phewww... that's a long enough update, I think. To my Muslim readers, I wish you all a blessed Ramadhan, and selamat berpuasa! And hopefully I get my blogging mojo yet again. *chuckles*

Saya Dah Raya!

Raya came early for me this year! *shakes head in dismay*

My goals for this Ramadhan were to practice on my hijab skills (check!), not miss terawih (of course) and to do terawih berjemaah at the mosque or surau for the final 10 nights. Aunty Flo allowed me to do only two nights out of the ten. Le sigh.

The kids marked a few interesting milestones during this Ramadhan. Aiden cultivated an interest in local food; dodol, semperit and even mee kari. Also, he used to get disgusted with squid (tentacles and all) but one day I made him try salted egg squid and he loved it. Siap mintak masak lagi the next day. And since then, he's been asking for squid cooked in any form or matter. Latest craze? Sotong goreng Bob, the ones always sold at the bazaar Ramadhan.

Ian on the other hand, can stand still during a full solat jemaah at home. He used to last for one, maximum two rakaats. But this time he can even do the finger thing at tahiyat akhir! I haven't had the guts to try this at the surau though, so he's been playing with his toys and colouring his books quietly at the back of the saf during terawih. Good boy!

Anyway, since I dah officially Raya, I might as well share photos of us during our photo shoot Raya which we took about two weeks ago. Spoiler alert... these are our outfits for the first day. I'll be bombarding my Instagram timeline with photos of us in these very same clothes, come Hari Raya!

Definitely our official Eid family photo for 2017!

Aiden telling Ian to salam him.

Where are the Eid Raya money packets???

Cheeky faces.

Mummy and Daddy pun nak posing jugak.

Thanks Hubby, for putting up with me in my dramatic moments, trying to get this outfit online.

I'll pause the barrage of photos, with a candid story about my outfit from Kree. I saw this beauty on Zalora, and as I was busy trying to purchase it (it was the last piece), it got snatched out of my cart. I was devastated. A week later, the very same piece came back online (I think the person who snatched it from my cart eventually returned it), so I attempted to buy it again. In my excitement, I forgot to include the discount code so I pressed the back button. Silap besar... terus transaction cancelled and it showed up as sold out. OMG I felt like throwing my laptop to the wall. I was soooo close to tears. Hubby was such a good sport; even though he didn't understand why I was being so overly dramatic, he did not get angry... he even offered to buy it for me on pre-order! *awwww* An hour later, the system released it and I finally bought it. Longest one hour of my life!!! But, so worth it! :)

Sporting kiddos.

My adorable two boys. Baju Melayu from Omar Ali and matching loafers from Mini by Dhea.

I loveeeeee this adorable photo of Ian, and of course - this handsome photo of Aiden.

Posing with the boys.

Amazingly, Ian cooperated well that morning. Aiden, memang a natural at posing, so no problem.

The boys in my life.

Anyway, in case I don't get a chance to get to my blog before Eid rolls in, Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir dan Batin to all my readers. Let's count our blessings this Eid ul' Fitri, and make it a time to cherish our loved ones, both young and old.

InsyaAllah, we will be celebrating Hari Raya in Teluk Intan (Hubby's grandmother's home) as usual, before flying out on the third day of Eid. If you happen to be in Teluk Intan (or even the airport on Tuesday morning), do come by to say Hello! :)

Annual Iftar Weekend

Oh my! Last few days of Ramadhan and I barely blogged about my Iftar adventures.

As usual, I simply must blog about the annual SPK and BBGS girls iftar. Similar as last year, both events were held during the same weekend. Purely coincidental in nature!

On Friday night, the SPK gang came over. This year, we were five instead of six. *cries* The other family moved to Kedah and couldn't come home for our annual affair.

Potluck style as usual, but a simpler spread this time. My helper made ayam penyek (special request from one of the gang). We also had daging salai masak lemak, sotong telur masin, sambal tempe ikan bilis, sayur campur, telur dadar, ulam and sambal belacan. For dessert I made kek sarang semut and the rest supplemented with murtabak, roti john and tepung pelita.

Glorious food!

No pretty baju kurung photoshoots this year, since some of us were in jeans (moi included). Perhaps a proper gang picture session is required in Syawal! We also took the opportunity to celebrate Ayu's birthday. Since we've all been severely Ducked, we decided to give her a Duck gift card. Beautifully wrapped too!

A dUCk gift card for a special person.

After terawih, we moved to the garden for our yearly tradition. This will be our 6th year writing messages using sparklers. As usual, here's a compilation of our sparkler shots since 2012:

Six years in a row!

Raya 2017! We got this right in the first try!

This year, the anak anak dara dah besar, hence we decided to include them in our yearly tradition too.

"Iftar" with an additional underline at the bottom, and then all the kids joined in the fun too!

Fireworks galore.

The girls' lepak session at the outdoor gazebo.

Past midnight, the men decided that they needed a lepak session at the local kedai mamak. In return, the ladies decided to leave the kids at home and crash the men's party. When we arrived, we quietly took a table mere meters from the men, but behind a pillar... kononnya nak do some sleuthing as well. It was good fun, cos we were giggling away while looking at our spouses. But to the rest of the restaurant patrons, we must have looked suspicious, ogling at men in the middle of the night. *chuckles* But I guess the joke's on us, because after just 10 minutes, our men stood up and walked to the car (to go home). They saw us, smiled, and instead of joining us as we expected them to, they drove off! We laughed so hard that night. Thank god one of us had the decency to bring her wallet, kalau tak basuh pinggan la kitaorg kat kedai mamak tuh.

Spying on our husbands... not!

On Sunday night, Fiza hosted the BBGS annual Iftar. Since the host decided that KFC was the way to go this year, we simply supplemented with desserts and such. I bought murtabak!

For the first time in a longggggg time, we managed to get everyone together under one roof.

Lighting up our sparklers, for our now yearly tradition...

Tadaaaa!

Kids in the garden, before they started throwing pop pops around.

The ladies then continued with our group photo shoot inside the house, while the husbands took care of the kiddos outside.

Formal shot.

Informal shot!

Thank you SPK and BBGS ladies, for a wonderful Iftar together. You know who you are! *smiles*

One Week Down!

In just a blink of an eye, we're done with a week of Ramadhan. One week down, three to go!

It is pretty quiet in the office. Surprisingly, I am not swamped with work, which is great because that means I can join my colleagues for their lunch escapades; visiting bazaars at various shopping malls, cuci mata with all the pretty baju raya, accessories, tudung, shoes yada yada. OMG but it's not easy to tahan nafsu! I kept telling myself not to shop, especially since my flight out for my business trip will be on the 3rd day of Eid. I managed to convince Hubby to make it a family trip so InsyaAllah it will be Ian's first trip to Disneyland. (We literally bought tickets just five days ago. If I have to spend Eid away from the family, I might as well bring them along!) But that also means that by the time we come home it will be the third week of Syawal. Nak buat ape baju raya banyak banyak??!! 

Anyway, how was your weekend? I spent Saturday buying Ducks (not the literal kind) in the morning, and in the afternoon we headed for KL for our first iftar buffet. We had a good time at Grand Hyatt KL; food was good especially since they had a pasta station which was a major game changer for Aiden (he turned down Impiana Hotel's durians in favour of Grand Hyatt's pasta). His favourite? Carbonara.

Grand Hyatt!

But in all honestly, our tummies are no longer programmed to have that much food in one sitting. When we first started eating, I was so confident that I could sample everything. Wrong. I was stuffed just after two rounds. On the third round I started with desserts, but itu pun dah macam nak muntah because I was so full. Then it occurred to me that I hadn't tried their famous nasi ayam, so Hubby and I made a pact to share it. I think we managed like two small bites? *sigh* Reminder to self, next year don't splurge unnecessarily on Ramadhan buffets.

Sunday morning rolled in, and we spent it by having a Raya photo shoot! It was a blessing in disguise that I decided that my store-bought kurung would be my official outfit for Eid, hence we were all dressed up in coordinated colours during the session. Kalau nak tunggu baju from tailor, confirm at least two more weeks baru siap. We got such great photos during the photo shoot - Aiden was understandably, already a pro at posing... but Ian surprised us all but cooperating too! Nanti gambar ready, I'll share, okay!

We allocated the afternoon for research on our impending trip to Europe. Finally booked hotels, trains and tickets to Disneyland, so the tough part of the journey is done. Need to start packing though, my helper is leaving in less than a week so my aim is to be done with both Raya packing and Europe packing before she leaves.

Disneyland, here we come!

Yesterday during lunch, I managed to visit Seloka Raya at Publika. Rambang mata! Since I can't buy, I'm sharing my top picks so we can salivate together *giggles*

I'm quite into batik but I just can't handle the price!!!

Love this kebaya flair paired with a batik kain. I especially like the red top contrast with the turquoise kain.

Mokara top, modern butang baju Melayu, and I've been eyeing the Naelofar sejadah for a few weeks now. Ah dugaan...

Till my next post! Ciao! *smiles*

Salam Ramadhan

Salam Ramadhan everyone!

Alhamdulillah, today is the 4th day of Ramadhan and it is going smoothly without a hitch. So far, so good. This is Aiden's 2nd attempt at puasa penuh (he did so well last year!) so I hope this year he'll nail it again.

We spent our first day of Ramadhan at Jakel Shah Alam and then Jalan TAR in KL. Hubby and I couldn't decide on a colour for the first day of Eid - grey vs dusty blue. We finally settled for the latter, so for the first time in a longggggg time, my 1st Eid outfit will be a simple store bought dusty blue kurung (versus a tailored triple lace grey modern kurung which has been relegated as a second day outfit). The entire experience was very challenging (and tiring!) for Aiden but he behaved well after I promised to buy him a 'fidget spinner' at the end of the day. After we found everyone's baju melayu, sampin and songkok, it was finally my turn to shop. I needed to find some anak tudung and magnetic pins. Just my luck, it started pouring cats and dogs. We decided to continue to the USJ Bazaar Ramadhan and then to our final destination; our first iftar at my in-laws' place.

In the end, I bought my anak tudung online - Naelofar's Warda inners are the best! Although I am salivating over the Duck inners... *sigh* And I really need to make a stop at KLCC to get Arzu magnetic pins... I read somewhere that their magnets are really strong...

As for my baju raya... I went quite overboard on Zalora. In the end, I managed to convince myself to return most of them. Especially since I have three outfits at the tailor (I completely forgot that I sent all my Sari material that I bought in India) and also because........ my boss told me that I will be flying for a business trip on the 3rd day of Eid, and away for two weeks! *cries* I digress...

The second day of Ramadhan was very laid back. Aiden and Ian had just recovered from a nasty fever/flu combo, so naturally poor Hubby and I were the next in line to be infected. Thanks to Cetrizine, right after sahur and Subuh we knocked off until mid-day! After Zohor, we went to the Shah Alam Bazaar Ramadhan, and three separate stores for groceries. Why three? Because none of the three had any squid nor tempe... the entire Klang Valley makan sotong goreng tempe agaknya? Nasib baik ade sikit lagi sotong in the fridge so we still managed to fulfill Aiden's request for salted egg squid for iftar. My in-laws' visited us for iftar too, so we had quite a spread that night! I also made some creme brulee for dessert - recipe here!

Aiden wanted to try caramelizing the sugar on his own creme brulee.

The spread for 2nd Ramadhan. Can you spot Aiden's favourite sotong telur masin?

The third day of Ramadhan (yesterday) was a working day. I signed Aiden up for a public speaking workshop, so I dropped him off before heading to the office. During lunch, my colleagues and I went to BSC to visit Hidaya International's booth (Neelofa's favourite jubah). Nak pengsan tengok the price... I just splurged on a pair of Ferragamo heels so lupakan sajalah niat nak shopping! Need to save for the Eid Duck too! *sobs*

After work, I fetched Aiden from his public speaking workshop. I am so glad I decided to send him to the two-day class! In the car, he animatedly recited his 'story' that he was going to present the next day (today)! He made so many new friends, and fasting didn't reduce his energy one bit. He even politely declined a biscuit that his friend offered to him! *so proud* Yesterday he practiced long and hard for his session today, and as I am typing this, he is in class, practicing for the parents' presentation, due to start in just under an hour. Johan Speaking Academy, thank you for such a wonderful program! You certainly boosted Aiden's communication confidence! *smiles*

So proud of my boy!

Anyway, before I run off to watch Aiden speak, I would like to wish my Muslim readers happy fasting. May we appreciate and make the most out of this blessed holy month. To my non-muslim readers, enjoy the scrumptious food at the bazaar Ramadhan. It's a once a year affair, so enjoy it while it's here!

Iftar Weekend with the SPK and BBGS Girls!

It was certainly a crazy weekend... we had to squeeze two major buka puasa events that same week!

As always, Hubby doesn't like to go out for iftar. He's willing to make an exception somewhat for the first half of Ramadhan; but the last ten days are a big no-no for him. That, plus the dateline of my helper leaving for her Raya holidays... meant that we had to squeeze iftar with both equally important groups, on the same weekend!

On Friday night, the SPK gang came over. Pot luck style as usual. Out of the six, one is always the designated cook. She is so good at cooking and efficient in the kitchen, that she usually ends up making the main dish. The rest supplements it with whatever we can. So that day we had ikan patin masak tempoyak, pucuk tempoyak, ikan talapia sambal, sup tulang (made using that famous Noxxa), ayam goreng, daging hitam, sayur campur... and for moreh, meehoon goreng, satay and murtabak!

Superb dessert line too - cucur udang, buah melaka (some people call it onde-onde), karipap, tepung pelita (Aiden's favourite), keropok (for Ian) and last but not least, I ordered an orange cake with chia seeds. Chia seeds are now all the rage for losing weight, so that night we used that rationale to justify our cake frenzy session!

Extensive spread.

Dessert area... oh my calories! And that's 10 cups of rice for six families. 

The men enjoying their food after solat maghrib. The ladies... lepas azan dah terus makan!

Moreh time!

Cheeky group photo.

After the group photoshoot, we moved to the garden for our yearly tradition. We've been writing messages using sparklers since we became friends in 2011, making this our 5th Eid together. In 2014, we realized that we had to start including the year within the message, so that we could keep track of the photos. So here's a compilation of our sparkler shots since 2012 till now. (Read about our past iftars here and here.)

From bottom to top, 2012 till 2016.

Here are the full shots from this year's attempt:

The full 2016 shot.

That's not PM but rather DM6 - the number signifies the number of ladies in the gang.

This one is a new one - one of the daddies eagerly joined in for the 'underline' at the bottom.

The next day was all about the BBGS ladies. Last year it was held at my house, but this year we decided to beralih angin to Dayang's house. Out of the 7, only 5 were able to make it. Since I was in charge of dessert (they were hoping that I would make pavlova), I took the lazy way out and bought cucur udang instead. #soontobemaidless #malasnakkecahrumah

Aiden was given a huge privilege that night. Since he was the only child fasting that day, he was allowed to sit at the big table with the other adults. I've said this once but I'll say this again - I am really impressed by his dedication at fasting. Hubby and I never expected for him to be able to fast full day, everyday, to date. He has exceeded our expectations!

Kesian Aiden gigit jari tunggu waktu berbuka.

All of us smiling after a full meal of nasi arab.

Then we moved on to desserts!

Meanwhile, the kids were busy in the toy area. Ian seems to really enjoy cooking! #realmencancook

Oh my, two anak dara flanking Aiden!

Ian finally came out to join the fun.

My BBGS girls have started adopting the tradition too!

Here's our shot for 2016. (Dayang, how come you can't even make a straight number 1???) *giggles*

Confident enough to hold it on his own!

While Hubby was taking shots of Ian holding his own sparklers, I was always just by Ian's side to ensure that he didn't touch the fire... or anything of that sort. Of course nothing happened while we were being vigilant. Just a few minutes later while the gang were doing our sparkler messages... as soon as the sparklers died out, I immediately walked to Hubby to review the shot, andddddd guess what happened.... Ian came up to me and grasped the end of my sparkler, in an attempt to take it. Although the fire had died out, it was still hot! He immediately let go and started crying. I was shocked... but thankfully nothing serious - only a slightly reddish mark on his palm. *sigh* Hard lesson learnt - always throw away your sparklers before reviewing the shot!

Last photo for the night.

As if one camera wasn't enough!

Thank you SPK and BBGS ladies, for a wonderful iftar together. You know who you are! *smiles*