10 Things I Love About Syawal 2013

at the time of writing, aidiladha is just over – and here I am writing about syawal that happened about 2 months back. never too late to share a little happiness!

 

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1) dino raya cards

thanks to technology, physical holiday cards are things of the past, almost extinct. but speaking of ‘extinct’, thanks to my bro-in-law asrar, my boys and their cousin wafa received raya cards – but not in the conventional sense with pelita and ketupat. this one was with dinosaurs on the cover. thanks uncle asrar!

 

 

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2) teh's final raya as a singleton

first raya morning in puchong, and my siblings-in-law had their usual wacky raya photo-shoots. this would be the final raya my sis-in-law teh celebrate as single girl. she’s the one in cream-colored baju kurung. yup, somebody has put a ring on her hihi she got married on the eve of merdeka with cairo sweetheart pawi (who is, btw a malaysian ye bukan egyptian kih kih).

 

the anwars

 

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3) ipoh raya

an ALMOST completely perfect picture. all my sisters and husbands were in ipoh on 1st syawal except ME huhu. miss the awesome group photo! the amusing thing here was probably seeing all abah’s sons-in-law in specs. including son-in-law yg kat dubai tu!

 

from left my younger sis syima with hubby din holding baby miqail. my youngest sis azi with newly-wedded hubby faiz. my younger sis syida with hubby nash. my eldest bro-in-law abg mat with yong syimee. abah & umi in the middle. my nieces and nephews cuya, ica, nuna, haiqal holding adam, and haqeem. miss everyone!

 

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mr. khairul with his grandma & mom

 

4) the meeting of 3 generations at hulu langat

son, mother and grandmother. or mother, daughter and grandson. any way you look at it, it’s a priceless moment to be treasured. it’s amazing how strong the squinty cat-like EYE gene is in the family right? to me, it’s the day when I was forced to eat, eat and eat the lemang rendang and never leave the table until grandma is done borak-ing!

bangun nak basuh tangan pun opah umi bising, “nak kemana tu? makan lagi!” got no problem with that!

 

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5) raya photosession at ipoh with photographer faiz

my youngest bro-in-law faiz is a professional photographer. so it’s just ridonkulous not to ask him to take a few professional snaps of us as a family. hihi. this short photo session was at abah’s house in ipoh on 2nd syawal. I’ll share the shots in another posting yah! beautiful shots! thanks so much faiz!

 

this is us~

 

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khairy with anong khaleef

 

6) eldest & youngest cucu atok anwar

this is the first raya for their youngest cousin on bapak’s side – chubby wubby khir khairy. my boys absolutely adore and obsessed over him. picture below is evidence, thank you very much.

 

this is what poor khairy has to endure each day with his abang-abang cousins. sigh. sape suruh comel sangat!

 

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7) compulsory raya shot at kg lalang

syawal would be incomplete without a shot in front of this classic kampung house in my in-laws’ place at kampung lalang. eventhough we spent our first raya at puchong and langat, we made it a point to visit some relatives over here the next day.

 

 

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8) my in-laws beraya at abah’s house

after kampung lalang, my in-laws shot off to ipoh and spend a few hours beraya at my abah’s house. nasi lemak sikit, rendang semangkuk, kopok lekor, kuih-muih and kacang – simple tidbits to welcome the besan.

 

besan : abah & mr. khairul’s bapak

 

 

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9) beraya with laksa at mak keh’s house

thanks to my 2nd cousin kak tiny, I requested laksa and her mom made some delicious pot for raya fun time at mak keh’s house. mak keh is my mom’s very close cousin, dah macam adik beradik. it was such wonderful time hanging out with my 2nd cousins and family – it really reminded me of the time when mak was still around, and these are the group of people we would hang out with at mak keh’s place.

 

spent one awesome syawal with my 2nd cousins on my mak’s side. the yummy makan-makan was held at mak keh’s house and we just lepak borak and makan.

 

the laksa was so good, even a hardcore laksa-fan penang boy agreed and had 3 helpings! thanks so much kak tiny for making my laksa wish a reality! hihi

 

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10) classic shot at a wooden bridge

thanks to my sis-in-law tina (who has a good eye for interesting shots) for this awesome shot of us as a family crossing this old wooden bridge near their grandma’s house in langat. looks so classic when I turned it black and white.

one of my favorite shots of us!

 

 

 

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10 things I love about syawal 2013, but most of all, alhamdulillah I get to spend syawal in malaysia! here’s hoping for another blessful raya in 2014. amin!