Khaleef : Back to School!

new semester starts. year 2 awaits. are you ready for school, khaleef?

 

cool khaleef on his first day of school last wednesday. he usually goes by bus, tapi sebab hari pertama kan, manjakan sikit. hihi. bapak sent and picked him up from school.

 

it was actually amusing to see the school on its first day – mak bapak berpusu-pusu macam kat pasar malam, holding tight to their sons and daughters. teachers standing by their classroom doors waiting for their students to arrive one by one. security guards helping clueless parents to guide them to the classes.

I was one of the clueless parents kot. haha.

 

this was the weekend before school starts – we went to the designated uniform store to buy new school uniform for khaleef. ok tak sangka kedai ni besar gile! this was our first time here, because usually we buy the school uniform at his school. this time we missed the assigned date to buy from school because we just returned from malaysia.

 

uniform, uniform. you just need to tell the staff which school your kid is going to – and let him do the rest!

 

little brothers sitting patiently while big brother tried out the school uniform.

 

bapak looking for PE (physical edu) uniform. when we were in school, bapak was in red house and mak was in the yellow house. khaleef? blue house! we didn’t buy new blue-t-shirt since he can still wear the old one, but he needed a new track bottom – yang lama dah senteng! anak mak dah tinggi!

 

2 sizes bigger this time around. my eldest all grown up! sob sob.

 

the best thing about all this prep was that khaleef himself was pretty excited to start school. I don’t have to motivate him, he’s already psyched up about school.

he can’t wait to meet his old friends from year 1. he can’t wait to get on the yellow school bus again. he saw his new school books and he can’t wait to continue his arabic lessons. learn new songs. alhamdulillah. play hard and study smart, my son!

Like Karaoke? Jom Kota Damansara or Alamanda

i like to sing very much. while driving, while cooking, while blogging. I sing. so naturally, I like karaoke too. it liberates me. it lets me sing as loud as i want, with real music to back my singing. it lets me live an imaginative world where i am an award-winning singer at a LIVE concert. with fans cheering at the back. and by fans, I mean the people who came with me to the karaoke place. haha.

 

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my youngest sis azi knows very well how much I love singing so she and her fiance faiz treated me to a night of karaoke last few weeks. this has been an idea we throw about for weeks now, even before ramadhan, and only now did we really go out and do it.

the boys were with my in-laws, and mr. khairul out with his friends – so I was grabbing the chance to have one late night out and go nuts!

 

 

azi and faiz took me to ‘loud speaker karaoke’ at kota damansara. it’s a rather big, imposing place with bright lights and huge writings in chinese – terasa macam nak berkaraoke kat hong kong!

 

the touch-screen to choose songs is the one on azi’s left, in front of the sofa

 

the room is fairly spacious as it was just the three of us. very comfy and well-air-conditioned. plenty of space to swing around while you sing (nak buat breakdance pun boleh), with two small tables to put your drinks and food.

food is sold here, but we opted for the ‘just-drinks’ package which offers bottomless drinks till the end of our 3-hour karaoke session.

how to choose your songs?

a touch-screen is right in front of you where you can make your song choice as you sit watching your friends singing (like in the picture above). I like it because in some karaoke place, the touch screen is placed on the wall next to the tv so you need to get up to choose a song. and it can distract the person who is singing too!

 

guess which singer did I check out first? haha

 

though you can control the volume from the touch-screen, there’s also a small remote on the wall on the other side of the room to control the volume.

 

yay! i really let go and sang my heart out! over gile lepas geram punya pasal. songs of anuar zain, dayang nurfaizah, innuendo, jaclyn victor – I was having fun! it was just me, my sister azi and her fiance who had to endure my singing! haha.

azi and faiz even sang THEIR song – a love song that sort off explain their feelings for each other, michael learns to rock’s ‘I’m gonna love you’. eww. haha. faiz has a really soothing voice like an indonesian singer (bleh!) and azi’s soft tone of voice complements his. meant to be la tu konon. hoho.

thanks azi and faiz for finally putting your feet down, just got out and pulled me into this happy mess of loud songs and awfully great singing. one of the most enjoyable moments I’ve had. hope we can do this again soon!

 

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just a week after, my singing-crazy sis-in-law also suggested a karaoke place in alamanda called ‘superstar’, which surprises me as it looks very posh and polished. the black and white walls with bright white lights in lines remind me of something out of the movie ‘tron’. haha.

nways, this time it was a slightly bigger ‘crowd’ – I came with mr. khairul and his siblings – tina, asrar and his 12 year-old youngest sis sofia also tagged along.

 

 

we took one of the food-and-drinks package which includes a regular box of non-caramel popcorn, fries, kacang putih and 5-piece nugget. for drinks, it’s a jug of iced coke. not bad for a night of belting out songs of love and broken-hearted!

when I looked at the menu, I was amused – the menu not only consist of western food such as nuggets and chicken wings, but keropok lekor ngan cucur udang pun ade! this really is a malay-owned karaoke place!

 

 

for a 5-people group, the room we’re given is quite small, just enough for a long sofa, one small table and a narrow place for those who wants to sing standing up. however, the fun time spent is most important, and the siblings make the most of the time they have with their eldest brother yang balik bercuti dari dubai tu!

they were loud, funny, and really went all out when singing. ALL of them enjoyed karaoke-ing so after a few song-choice, I just need to sit back and enjoy the loud merriment and let these crazy kids hog the mic. hihi.

 

my bro-in-law asrar with his rock kapak voice, my sis-in-law tina with a LIVE recording-artist voice that suits any songs especially the ballads, and even my 12 year-old youngest sis can belt out beyonce songs with ease. these kids are not just karaoke-nuts – they actually sound good!

 

the touch-screen for song choice is on the wall right next to the TV screen

 

mr. khairul did not sing, you might ask? haha I broke the ice asking him to sing anuar zain’s ‘lelaki ini’ for me. hihi. and then I regret it. I had opened a door. a karaoke-craze person came out from mr. khairul and throughout the night went wild singing bon jovi, zainal abidin and even KRU. way to blow off some steam, tuan pengarah!

 

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err, is there karaoke place in dubai?

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!

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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.

 

 

 

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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.

 

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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!

 

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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!

 

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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

 

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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!

 

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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!

 

 

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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!

 

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10) POST-WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT?

 

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

 

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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.

 

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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!

 

 

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4) help with baking biskut raya

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

 

 

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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!

 

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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

 

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