Mandi Sungai on 3rd Syawal

while some kids their age are still goin from house to house collecting duit raya, my boys took a dip in the icy-cold river or mandi sungai on hari raya!

 

my boys @ air terjun batu hampar @ kampung paya lintah, padang rengas, perak

 

i haven’t been to any river for the LONGEST TIME.

my last memory of swimming in the river was my siblings and cousins on my mom’s side splashing in the river in kulim, kedah – my grand-uncle’s home which is right next to the river! i was barely 10 years old, i think!

the funny and wise tok njang has passed away for so long, and we haven’t been to kulim for a very long time too. however, the memory of swimming at that river remains one of the most adventurous times of my life!

 

khaleef was ecstatic in the water, kahfi was surprisingly NOT scared of jumping into the icy-cold waters while kazim just loved splashing around. they were SO at home at the river!

* * *

we went to batu hampar, in kampung paya lintah at padang rengas. it’s a place near my in-laws’ house in kampung lalang. there’s a small stream that leads to a lovely little river that is so cold and just so refreshing!

i can safely say is kids-friendly too :

• it’s easy to get to – you don’t have to climb huge slippery rocks to get across
• also most importantly, it’s shallow, that even my 2-year old kazim can safely trod slowly through the flowing water at knee-high
• the ground under the water is soft sands, and they’re not uneven so kids can easily walk without fear of toppling down
• although there is a part where there’s raging water flowing from upstream, the rest of the water in the river is fairly calm so there’s no worry of the kids being swept downstream

 

my boys khaleef, kahfi & kazim enjoying themselves to the fullest under the watchful eyes of bapak.

 

this was the ‘raging waters’ from upstream that i mentioned. haha. not so raging la but boleh tahan! if you stood at the top of the stream like mr. khairul and slide downwards, it would be a very fast and bumpy ride down the icy-cold river!

 

my mom-in-law actually cooked nasi lemak and packed up everything from the rice, sambal, crunchy ikan bilis down to the telur mata kobau and kacang too! her nasi lemak, especially her sambal was simply delicious – and was even more tantalizing when you eat it after a cool dip in the river. yum!

 

thanks to my sis-in-law tina for all the pretty pictures of our time at the river!

 

wanna go again, boys? do i really need to ask?

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!

* * *

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.

 

 

 

* * *

 

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!

 

 

 

* * *

 

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.

 

* * *

 

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!

 

* * *

 

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!

 

* * *

 

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

 

* * *

 

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!

 

* * *

 

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!

 

 

* * *

 

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!

 

* * *

 

10) POST-WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT?

 

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

 

* * *

 

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.

 

 

* * *

 

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

 

* * *

 

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

 

* * *

 

 

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!

 

 

* * *

 

4) help with baking biskut raya

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

 

 

* * *

 

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!

 

* * *

 

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

 

* * *

Gol & Gincu : Cuya, Nuna & Ica

my nieces in red football outfit. cute!

 

nuna (aisyah husna), cuya (sufiyya syafiqah) & ica (marissa marha)

 

bff!

 

 

future mia hamm?

* mia hamm is a retired football player for the US women’s football team and reported has scored the most number of goals, for male or female player, in the history of soccer. wow.

Kids & Firecrackers : To Let Them Play or Not?

do you let your kids play with firecrackers? mercun? bunga api cap kucing?

many unfortunate mishaps that we hear or read happened to some who suffered burns and serious wounds (lost of limbs too!) from playing firecrackers are caused by

• the misuse of firecrackers,
• wanabe scientists with failed experiments using potentially hazardous materials,
• and of course, no adult supervision (sadly, some who misuse ARE adults)

so should i not let my kids play firecrackers?

 

my boys with their cousins : note kazim’s lack of fear for the bunga api!

 

let’s rewind. further back. 1986. ok stop.

i had an extremely fun experience with firecrackers when i was a kid which became one of my best memories of ramadhan with my siblings. i played with the exact same type of firecrackers – bunga api cap kucing, bunga api asap banyak yang pemegang dia belang-belang merah putih tu, dengan pop-pop bila baling kat lantai bunyi meletop!

i stayed away from mercun – the big huge one shaped like a rocket, or even the small weird ones shaped like a frog. yes, i admit – i was afraid of lighting up firecrackers that will emit extremely loud noises and huge explosions!

my best memories of playing firecrackers during ramadhan :

1. my sisters and i would play bunga api in the front lawn right by our front door, lit them up with the lit-up panjut (oil lamps) that we hung on the fences.
2. and mak would even let us ‘cook’ something using a pot, water and hibiscus petal. making flower tea?
3. and when we balik my dad’s kampung teluk intan for raya, abah’s youngest sis mak cu would be the one supplying bunga api for all of her nephews and nieces! here i enjoyed the loud, explosive mercun, but left it to the older cousins to light them up, while i looked from far behind!
4. i tagged along with my eldest sister and her wacky friends to a ‘firecracker showdown’ with the boys! we went to a very very dark field – a team on each side, and then take turns to light firecrackers and see who lights up the brightest, and loudest!

so i see no reason of depriving my boys and their young cousins of the same fun that i had when i was their age!

 

cousins : nuna & kahfi

 

we just all need to remember and be reminded – SAFETY FIRST, and ALWAYS HAVE ADULT SUPERVISION!

alhamdulillah, the kids were well-behaved – extremely curious and highly excited, and needed a few reminders – but generally careful when they handle firecrackers.

it was fun just watching them, while reminscing my own childhood…

 

my boys : anong khaleef, kazim & kahfi

 

my boys just went out of this world with excitement. hihi.

khaleef the big boy was able to play all the time, lighting his own bunga api, and do all sorts of silly stunts with the bigger boys abg haqeem and abg haiqal.

kahfi was a little apprehensive at first – just watching to see whether it’s safe enough for him to handle on his own. slowly, he started to get more curious. soon he was able to hold his own bunga api after i help light it up.

unlike kahfi, kazim was NOT scared at all. he went very close to anyone holding the bunga api. he was very curious from the start, and if i hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve wanted to hold the firecrackers himself. i didn’t let him, until the VERY LAST one, and even then, i was holding his fingers along as he held the bunga api. he was ecstatic!

 

* * *

 

i’m glad they had fun. fun in a safe environment! most importantly, this would be one of the things they would remember doing with their brothers, with their cousins, and with their mak and bapak during ramadhan. priceless memories for keeps.

MCOB Dubai Iftar 2012

the malay college old boys (MCOB) of dubai cannot call themselves just MCOB this ramadhan. they’re also seasonal members of PST – persatuan suami tunggal!

most of their wives are like me – home in malaysia for the summer holidays plus spending ramadhan with family in malaysia, plus waiting for hubbies to come home for raya. so their husbands spend iftar and berbuka sessions with each other until the day comes when they fly back to malaysia to reunite with their wives and kiddos.

but in the meantime, they’re Suami Tunggal. uhuk uhuk. so sebak.

 

shon v84, shamsul v86. kay v96, zaim v82, suhaimi v00

 

as always during ramadhan, the mcobs of dubai get together for berbuka. this year, they had it at this awesome thai place called ‘papa junior’ near dragon mart. click here for my full review including tantalizing pictures of the delicious lauk of our choices.

 

 

far into the night, they were joined by another mcob – bro kazan from batch 86 who was on transit in dubai on his way back to malaysia from london. click here for his last visit to dubai, last year.

hmm, memang dah jodoh. the one day that he was on transit to dubai, was THE day that the mckk boys had their get-together for berbuka, and can all hang out with him at the same time. the speret koleq has an aura that even i can’t understand! hihi.

well, welcome home to those already on their way. bon voyage to the rest, and may you arrive safely to your loved ones.

the boys miss you, bapaknye!