Celebrated Aidiladha in Abu Dhabi

this year, 2013 is our 6th year celebrating aidiladha (hari raya haji) in UAE (united arab emirates). wow. 6th.

I still remember clearly our 1st ever aidiladha when we’re still a one-kid family. just the 3 of us; and I had just arrived in dubai the month before. I remember making popiah daging the night before hari raya haji 2008 to bring to the potluck breakfast at matrade building after the eid prayer (sembahyang raya).

6 years later, here we are. another aidiladha in the middle east! alhamdulillah!

 

berkorban apa saja untuk lelaki-lelaki ini.

 

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this year is interesting as we spent the whole day in abu dhabi, beraya with mr. khairul’s fellow bikers.

we first went to manx and zira’s house. they prepared a scrumptious spread of various malaysian delights. I was so excited to see so much food, especially one coveted food of mine – pulut kuning! haha. thanks zira, thanks manx for having us!

 

with tuan rumah, the spunky zira

 

my favorite and long-coveted pulut kuning (yellow glutinous rice, eaten with chicken curry) and on the side is the garnishing for curry mee.

 

sempat pulak menjala! that’s the soft roti jala with the delicious chicken curry.

 

garnishing for noodle soup. yum.

 

 

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this is one awesome drink. lime and asam boi. sugar and lots of ice. perfection. good job, zira!

 

oh my goodness – there’s even tapai!

 

mr. khairul in green sampin hanging out with tuan rumah manx in red, and another good friend wak.

 

spoilt for choice!

 

kiddos have the most fun during raya gatherings!

 

gorgeous malaysian ladies of abu dhabi & dubai; after such delicious variety of aidiladha lunch from manx and zira’s crib. there’s even laksa from zuraidah (along’s wife). burp, alhamdulillah! thanks so much you guys!

 

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the next house we went to for dinner – don and jaja’s place. don is another fellow biker, and I SO enjoyed talking to their daughters. smart and chatty! being a mom without daughters, I tend to be that one creepy aunt who likes to talk to little girls at gatherings. haha.

 

don and jaja served another fantastic spread for raya haji – malaysian style still! chicken satay complete with tasty peanut sauce. lontong (not a fan) and nasi tomato (HUGE fan!).

 

It was heavenly when I saw the nasi tomato complete with tomato-ish ayam masak merah (chicken cooked in chilli and tomato ketchup). love love love! my favorite nasi perisa aside from mandi rice!

 

from left zira, zuraidah, hostess jaja, balkish and me

 

from left : my mr. khairul, along syamsulfaiz, wak, host don, manx & bro razali

 

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another memorable aidiladha in the middle east – especially grateful for all the delicious malaysian dishes that we still get to taste all the way out here, jauh dari kampung halaman. thanks so much to manx and zira, and don and jaja for inviting us to beraya, and for that moment of borak-borak and makan-makan, aidiladha felt just like home.

Rare Night Ride : Murtabak Jumeirah, Creek Pictures & Movie Date

my sis-in-law was here last february. so we had a babysitter. who loves my boys like crazy. doesn’t mind doing the job for a place to stay and free food. haha. so that their mak and bapak could go out. just the two of us. date-night!

thanks teh!

 

going out just the two of us meant that we could take the harley! vroom! zooming through the night across jumeirah road…

 

..stopping over at a small restaurant that says MURTABAK up front!

 

the place is along jumeirah road, called ‘murtabak masoub’. turns out to be a saudi-owned restaurant selling arab food, along with (the owner said) a ‘healthier’ version of murtabak.

 

 

when we said we’re malaysians and we have murtabak in malaysia, she said yeap – acknowledging that it IS from malaysia and that they’re putting a healthy spin on this favorite malaysian pasar malam dish.

 

how healthy? for starters, I miss that super OILY feel when I eat our malaysian murtabak – this jumeirah-road version is not oily! haha. this one has that capati feel but crispier. the filling has that distinct curry-onion-egg taste that I recognize, but the wrap is a lot different.

 

a good dish, but not great. then again, I’m not even a fan of our malaysian murtabak so who am I to judge, eh?

 

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after the light supper we took a ride to dubai creek and took some pictures by the sleeping dows and arab abras. the late night sky looks amazing. and purple!

 

my mr khairul by the dubai old souq station for water-taxi

 

me~

 

..and we caught a midnight movie at ibn battuta mall right before heading home. it was a simple outing of light supper, jalan-jalan on his bike and movie – such normal outings for a lot of other couples out there with nanny, maid and opah to take care of the cucu – but to us, such precious once-in-awhile moments to treasure.

Journey to Kalba : Padang Pasir Musim Sejuk!

it’s winter in dubai. and winter in dubai can be really, really cold. especially on a windy day! one great way to spend winter in dubai is to hang out at the nearest desert spot!

our pick? the sandy stretch along the road to a place called kalba. kalba is one city in the UAE (united arab emirates) in the state of sharjah, very close to fujairah, another state of UAE.

 

my boys gone nuts. they’re like 3 hooligans in the biggest sand box ever!

 

why kalba?

 

kalba has a special place in mr. khairul’s heart (and bike) as this is one of the many routes he takes on his usual weekend bike-ride. he has burned the rubber many, many times along this familiar roads, but this was the first time for me and the boys.

though the slopes and sharp corners made me nervous thinking of mr khairul speeding on his harley, but the landscape is beautiful in its simplicity, that it was just so serene for me.

 

oh kazim, i just LOVE the feel of soft desert sand slipping through my fingers. i could do it again and again.

 

that SKY!

 

my boys hitch-hiking a ride home. haha.

 

no cars. as far as the eyes can see. so mr khairul took this shot.

 

 

we took TONS of pictures, but i’ll save it for another day. this – right before the tunnel – is one of the many memorable spots for mr. khairul and his riding buddies. here they would stop on the side of the road for a brief rest, before continuing their journey into the open road.

 

the superbike riders in kalba. mine is the one in white. hihi. speed smart if you must, and be safe, love! ingat orang tersayang!

Biker Dads Meet Over Tempe & Sambal Petai

banker, lawyer, and professionals by day - biker dudes by night (sometimes early morning too on weekends! haha) what I like about their passion is that it’s not only just bike-talk and its parts, but the camaraderie and brotherhood that comes with it when they ride together side by side on the open road.

to me they’re just a couple of hardworking dads finding great escapes, speeding on metal horses with the wind in their face!

 

from left : helmey, abg ezam, manx, syamsulfaiz and my mr khairul

 

it’s time to have a meeting again for these biker dads, and this round they had it in abu dhabi, hosted by manx and wife zira. we started with an absolutely delicious dinner of lauk kampung – gulai ikan, sambal udang ngan petai, daging masak halia and one rare dish in the arab emirates – sayur kacang, sohun dgn tempe!

even writing about it now made me drool!

(they had one meeting in our place last few months. read about it here.)

 

 

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dah kenyang, tummy all filled – let’s get serious – meeting time!

 

 

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thanks to the lovely couple manx & zira for welcoming us to their new nest, and the yummy food too! and we even got some tempe to take home! thanks!

(bila la aku nak masak tempe ni..)

Bday Bike Ride to ‘Up on the 10th’ Jazz Club

it may be waaaay past 24th june, but in this blog, it’s still my birthday! haha.

after that deliciously romantic wagyu steak birthday dinner at MJ’s steakhouse, we drove back home. however, the evening was not over so soon. mr. khairul had another surprise!

we changed quickly – transformed into zack-azura almost-looka-likeys hihi, and off on his harley-davidson into the night! vroom!

 
this was a really rare moment for me to go on a ride with mr. khairul, since usually i have noone to leave my 3 boys with. thanks to my sis-in-law who is here for a LONG transit from cairo back to malaysia, i finally had the chance to hop on an exhilarating bike journey with him!

it was just for a while, but still so exciting!

it’s currently summer in dubai, when even the night can get really hot. however that day, the weather was on our side, alhamdulillah. it was a cool night, welcoming us in its breezy embrace!

we just hang, while watching the brightly-lit dhow passed by across the dubai creek

our destination : this fantastic jazz club at ‘radisson blu’ deira, overlooking dubai creek. it’s called ‘up on the 10th’ because well, it’s on the 10th floor of the hotel.

it’s well known to be one of the finest jazz bars around dubai, with it’s simple yet chic setting alongside the LIVE jazz performance that is the crowd-puller for the place. this was another romantic setting for my birthday! oh my, there’s nothing more sensual than jazz music playing while you’re with your loved one.
thank you honey!

it was just nice – me, him, and jazz. just us. in the moment. sometimes speaking without uttering a single word, and still having the best times. we just hang, while watching fancy, lit-up dhow passed by the peaceful creek down below. and that jazz.

oh, i LOVE jazz music!

birthday girl me, and all that jazz!

had fruit-mix smoothie while enjoying the smooth silky LIVE jazz sounds. khaleef, kahfi & kazim were *there* too. hihi. once a mom, always a mom lah.

it’s not called a JAZZ bar for nothing – they’ve got LIVE jazz shows with live music and all. the in-house jazz talent can play the guitar, piano, and was singing all things jazz from the classic sinatra to even oasis’ ‘wallflower’ in jazzed-up style! awesome! i love his voice!

there was another hoopla when suddenly the jazz singer broke into an announcement, “we’ve got a birthday girl in the house..” in his cool jazz voice haha. wah! *mata berkaca-kaca* full of excitement! hihi. thanks honey for the surprise!

and to that suit-up dude on the piano, thanks for crooning the jazzed-up bday song for me! yay! here’s the clip of that birthday song. sweet!

thanks honey! this is just so sweet, and i can’t stop saying it - me, you & jazz. just phenomenal.

and after we left ‘up on the 10th’, we rode along dubai and mr. khairul headed on to another surprise location – a pit-stop on this clearing, where you can clearly see dubai skyline, including the magnificent burj khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

that long bright dots heading upwards is that skyscraper burj khalifa!

thanks for the birthday steak, thanks for the ride on your harley, thanks for the romantic birthday song on a piano, and all that jazz. thanks to my honey cookie mr. khairul! alhamdulillah, what a perfectly planned birthday celebration.

it’s gonna be difficult to top this next year! love you!