For Kazim : Facebook Bday Wishes

i do this every year. with every kid. collect all the birthday wishes they got through my facebook page. this is a selfish posting, because it’s really just for me and the boys. hihi. like i always say – 10 years down the road, it’s just nice to know what people say or wish on your birthday.

this was from the day before :

 

 

 

…and on THE day :

 

 

…and this was a few hours past his birthday :

 

 

this was from kazim’s mak long, my eldest sister and my mom’s sister auntyna :

 

from my dubai buddy, my cousin rini and my mom’s youngest sis, cik :

 

..and from my sisters-in-law; tina and teh :

Kazim Completed 365-Day Mission On Earth

congratulations my young padawan. today, 1st april 2011, you have officially completed your 12-month mission on planet earth. from the moment you landed in dubai at 1.30pm on that 1st april, i know that the force is strong in you. i see that you have mastered the art of walking on two feet, and knowing that the cockroach trap under the kitchen cabinet is NOT a toy.

well done!

 

 

enjoy this day, for tomorrow, a new mission begins.

your mission, should you choose to accept, is to learn the primitive language of these earthlings in the next 365 days. they’re far backwards in technology and linguistic capability, so use sign language first. try to be patient with them. be careful not to let them understand our baby talk, so you must learn their language.

try to spill food, leave lego blocks all over the floor and slobber on their precious items (camera, xbox controller or notebook) every once in a while to experiment on their reactions and counter measures.

if there is anything in order – like a neatly stacked folded clothes, or books on the shelves arranged alphabetically or pillows on the bed placed according to color – your mission is to MESS them up, and THEN put on an innocent face. this is to ascertain their level of patience, the capability of anger as compared to the power of love.

this interesting commander in chief called Bapak seemed to be the head of the House, and yet most decisions in the House where you are stationed, are made by the home minister called Mak. you must comprehend this perplexing reversal of role and report back to me.

agent khaleef and agent kahfi are both experienced agents who had been on countless successful missions, especially agent kahfi who had been driving Bapak and Mak nuts. that’s the kind of agent we want! you may seek them for guidance and help.

remember, should you be caught, we will deny any knowledge of this mission.

this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds.

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*)

Welcoming Dr. Safira to Dubai

it’s a small world after all!

safira was my schoolmate back in MGS ipoh, and her husband was mr. khairul’s classmate back in penang free school. and here we all are, 2-3 kids after – in dubai!

they were here on transit from london, meeting another ‘gang member’ of ours; niraku!

 

us in front of atlantis

 

after a hearty nasi mandi meal at my place, we brought them jalan-jalan at the usual places in dubai; burj al-arab, jumeirah mosque and of course – the palm jumeirah – world’s biggest man-made island. we took pictures in front of the atlantis, where paklah stayed during his visit here in dubai.

 

penang free boys – ashraf & khairul (..or acap and kay!) catching up

with dr safira, her eldest ainul mardiah, and my 2nd kahfi in front of burj al-arab

 

* * *

 

our eldest kiddos – ainul mardiah & khaleef khairul

 

and of course, a trip to dubai is incomplete without seeing for yourself the world’s tallest building – the burj khalifa! we took pictures, had ice-cream (thanks safira for the treat!) and visited dubai aquarium as well.

 

ice-cream time! courtesy of dr. safira. the last lower right photo is of safira & her youngest daughter ainul munirah

 

us @ the dubai aquarium – yes, one of the biggest!

 

* * *

 

KHALEEF & AINUL

 

interesting fact #1 : my eldest boy khaleef, and safira’s girl ainul are of the same age.

interesting fact #2 : they were both born on the exact same date : 15th november.

interesting fact #3 : they were born just 1 hour apart.

*smile* safira, if they’re both not married by the age of 40, we just hook them up lah! hahaha.

 

* * *

 

it’s so nice when a girlfriend drops by, and not just any friend – and old friend from school. hope you guys had fun! next time stay longer ok! and suruh niraku join sekali from london!

Kazim’s Early Birthday Bash

kazim is turning ONE! but not yet okay. his birthday is 1st april actually but we’re having an advanced birthday bash to include mr. khairul’s mom. her flight back to malaysia is in a few days time so she can’t make it if we did it on the 1st.

happy be-early birthday, special agent kazim!

* * *

here’s 10 fun-facts happening during kazim’s birthday bash :

fun fact #1 : first guest to arrive was fauziah and hubby fairoz. i think during a raya makan-makan, they’re the ones to arrive first too! i was very glad because she’s a close gal pal here in dubai and it’s nice to warm things up with chit chats with the lovely couple; someone i can consider a sister rather that ‘just’ guests.

take it as a compliment, fauziah dear!

 

with fauziah and the kiddos singing the ‘happy birthday song’

 

* * *

fun fact #2 : what’s with the ‘special agent kazim’ nick? special agent oso is kazim’s favorite cartoon! when he was much younger, he naturally joined his brothers in watching whatever’s on at disney channel or cartoon network. we noticed he only reacts when ‘special agent oso’ is on!

he boogies to the catchy theme song. and watched with mouth open the rest of the ‘spy’ show. ouuuuttttstanding!

 

 

 

fun fact #3 : as usual we ordered a ‘special agent oso’ cake from our regular dubai baker, fida! what flavor? nothing else – it has always been carrot almond cake with cream cheese! we requested for simple deco fit for a boy and she delivered it perfectly!

well done, fida! click here to see her other creativity, and order your own cake from her homemade bakery.

* * *

 

fun fact #4 : we ordered delicious briyani from najaf, together with its signature dish, the mutton dry fry. excellent.

mr. khairul’s mom made a yummy bubur kacang, and the green agar-agar. yum!

 

briyani

 

mutton dry fry – a big hit of the day!

 

complimentary veggies

 

bubur kacang

 

green jellies

 

* * *

 

fun fact #5 : there were more than 50 guests who came, and we appreciate it very much. nothing gives us joy than watching empty tummies filled with yummies we served, and hearty conversations with loud laughter filling the air. the best quote i heard from a guest was :

lady 1 : eh, lama tak jumpa kan? bila last time kita jumpa ye?

lady 2 : kat sini lah. kat rumah khairul la. mana lagi kita jumpa kan. khairul kan suka buat makan-makan.

that alone made me smile. it just gives me a warm feeling knowing that this humble home is a meeting place for old friends. *smile*.

 

 

* * *

 

fun fact #6 : cendol? in dubai? well, thanks to the popular kelantanese couple abe nik and eiyda, our guests enjoyed cool cendol that day! so sweet of them to bring their homemade cendol all the way from their sharjah home to dubai marina.

it was really a sweet surprise, and we welcome more in the future! haha. we can never thank them enough!

 

 

yes, the green cendol bits? they made it from scratch! impressive!

 

* * *

 

fun fact #7 : mr. khairul’s most amusing story for his guests that day had to be his story about being in iraq, yet not quite. haha. yes, i still can’t believe that he had actually flown to iraq and back!

 

 

mr. khairul entertaining his guests with his infamous iraq story!

 

* * *

 

fun fact #8 : as usual, one-on-one pose with the ladies before they went back. i didn’t get a picture with kak zaida, kak mira, kak misbah, rosma, srija and feeza – but you’re in my heart, ladies! thanks for coming!

 

from top right : fida (who made the ‘oso’ cake), eiyda (who brought the cendol), elisa, kak nani and kak riri, with kak su & her japanese-anime daughter, with kak linda, kak nani, with dear fauziah and my dear kak muna

 

THANKS FOR COMING, EVERYONE!

 

* * *

 

fun fact #9 : the day is incomplete without a de-boxing of presents – AKA opening of presents! kazim’s big brothers abang long khaleef and abang ngah kahfi gladly volunteered in tearing out wrapping papers to find out what’s inside.

 

 

mind you, although the boys seemed rough and eager, they were being very very gentlemen about it – they asked permission to open presents every time they grab a new wrapped presents. they were very excited, but they were very polite too.

well done, boys.

and as usual, only 3 of the toys were actually allowed to be opened and played with. the rest will be for keeps, until further notice. hah, in fact, there are still some more of khaleef’s presents from his november birthday bash that are unopened!

make it more priceless to them, people!

 

* * *

 

fun fact #10 : with all the new toys around him, you would think he can’t wait to get his hands on one of them. and yet, at the end of the day, what did birthday boy play with?

 

 

an empty toy BOX. yeap. a BOX. no toys inside. just an empty box. sigh. sometimes they prefer the simplest things…

oh, well. we’re continuing the countdown to your 1st birthday, kazim. 1st of april is drawing near!