Opah Khaleef, Kahfi & Kazim, Thanks!

the last guest for the first half of 2011 just left. really, from january till now, we’ve had 7 guests who came and went – non-stop, without a day-break in between.

• early january, we had my abah and umi as guests for about 10 days.
• immediately a day after, we received a ‘refugee’ from cairo – mr. khairul’s sister teh. she planned to stay for a month, but extended her stay for another month because of the unrest in egypt at that time.
• a week before she went back to cairo, mr. khairul’s mom and younger brother arrived with his family, to stay for about 15 days.
• mr. khairul’s younger bro went back to malaysia after 2 weeks, but his mom stayed on for a month. to quote from her anak manja; “mak kalau nak datang dubai seminggu je, takyah. kalau mak datang, stay sampai sebulan!”

and so she did!

 

at the airport : puan norazian with her most manja kid; the eldest son!

 

now a month had passed, and we just sent her on her flight back to malaysia just two days ago. including this trip, it’s the 4th time she’s been to dubai in all our nearly 3 years here.

1. she came when i had kahfi to take care of me during pantang.
2. she came for cuti-cuti dubai with mr. khairul’s dad and siblings.
3. then she came again when i had kazim, again for my confinement.
4. and now she came to see teh and make sure everything is fine with her.

 

she’s been on the abra (water taxi) countless times – alone, walked along naif road all day, all by herself, and shops at the souq single-handedly. she sometimes takes the bus from dubai marina to deira; takes the metro from jlt to burjuman all on her own.

without a doubt, she would know the dubai roads – every nook and crannie – better than i do!

 

with her youngest cucu; kazim. thanks for taking care of him when we need a time out on a date hihi

 

with her eldest cucu, khaleef. thanks for sending khaleef down to his bus every morning, and picking him up every noon after school. for all his breakfast and bekal for school. thanks!

 

her most mischievous cucu, kahfi. thanks for putting up with his aggressive antics – from feeding him medicine to tucking him in at night.

 

 

for me, and yes – i speak for both of us – our special thanks is definitely for that wonderful night with stevie wonder. it was made possible since mr. khairul’s mom was here to take care of the boys. there was also one night where we were able to join a friend’s housewarming party without the hassle of bringing the boys.

a rare opportunity that’s greatly appreciated!

* * *

thanks again! i was telling my mom-in-law, the way she speaks of the roads and places; also her experiences using all the public transportations in dubai – from the red bus, metro to the abra, i bet one day someone would ask her, “berapa tahun dah duduk dubai?” haha. come again, please! (preferably during the next big must-see concert! *wink wink*)