Nor Your Typical Raya - Part 2

On the drive down to town from Baru Feringghi lar BIL whatsapp'd sebab MIL marah Husbie. Adalah reason MIL yang I thought boleh ajer easily resolved but because of it, my Husband and I got into a huge fight. Sedih sangat, both of us dah lar hungry. Now tengah 'panas' ngan each other. DI HARI RAYA! 

(Big NOTCH there)

Sampai bandar terus gi another relatives house. In-laws were already there but all the men have started driving out to the mosque for Friday prayers. Husbie was lucky that he bumped into one of his cousins and ikut sekali ke Masjid. So, I was left on my own to make my own way up to the flat where his relatives were. 

Masuk-masuk memang muka tebal. MIL was chatting up with her older brother whilst watching TV. Definitely don't want to interrupt. So, the relatives can agak-agak ajerla yer I siapa but of course I was gracious enough to beri salam masa masuk rumah and introduce myself. Masuk rumah orang kot. Walaupun bukan kampung and family sendiri, adab still ada yer. Ingat jaga nama baik suami. Lucky for me, some still recall my face from the wedding.

There, sedara-mara Husbie pelawa makan minum but I minum sikit and makan sebijik kuih dulu. Despite dah banyak kali dipelawa and with my continuous response wanting to wait for Husbie, they continued to invite makan minum. Rather than menyinggung perasaan these nice people, better makan minum sikit lar. Baik sungguh Husbie's Aunt and cousins. I am very lucky to have nice people around me for Raya.

A visit to the washroom, jeng jeng jeng, Bendera Merah berkibar! Lucky for me, I have the car keys, Tapi masa nak turun ke parking lot, time tu lar the men sampai. Husbie dah kasi jelingan maut suruh tunggu and tanya kenapa tak buat tadi. At this point, tahap 'panas' bini kena tamp down puas-puas and bini dok kena explain betul-betul that Laut Merah baru datang melanda and any further delay to take my pad from the car, lagi teruk jadinyer.

Double notch here in the "So Hate Raya" bedpost.

Just Husband and I at the dining table, we only started eating our first Raya meal for the day around 3 p.m. In-laws still kenyang from the first house so we makan lah dulu. 

Another "notch" there. Lebih setengah hari 'berpuasa'.

Masakan rumah Penang best. Ayam piru i.e. turkey masak merah and masak kurma. I find that kurma Penang pedas sikit and with Ayam Piru makan ngan Roti Benggali, perghh, the BEST! Aunty dia baik sungguh, even offered for me to bring some home. I had to graciously decline with many thanks. Dah kenyang and with the plan to visit other relatives takut tak termakan pulak. 

Few hours later, we decided to move on to the next relatives' house. Sebelum tu, sesi menyampaikan duit raya.

The other house is somewhere across the main Penang bridge. Tak ingat aper nama area nih.

It's here where I saw for myself that dua masjid yang berdekatan tapi sebab berparti berlainan dibina. So it's TRUE! I've only heard of them but never believed it. One painted green and the other blue. Supposedly if a person from the other party prays at the other mosque, tak sah! Isssh, tak elokkan tu! Masjid untuk Islam. Party politik set aside.

Sebelum tu, sempat bergambar in my Raya baju. Finally dapat a picture of my full ensemble albeit muka dah melekit and tengah tahan sakit and lenguh.

Please ignore the bag of cookies and focus on my ensemble. 

After makan-makan, smelling like ayam goreng, menahan badan yang lenguh, with my first day of the red flag kaki bengkak and feeling sweaty and sticky, we made our way to two more houses.

Sebelum tu, I got another nice picture with a rustic background. This time ngan suami. Muka sticky and sanggul memang tak ngam, but I don't care. Asalkan dapat gambar elok for options to choose from.

It was at the final house, I broke down. Like tears streaming down hidung merah and all. Cried in the car with Husbie at my side. Memang raya yang berbeza for me. No time to the point tak sempat call my own family pun to wish them Raya. So dissapointed with myself and current circumstances.

Dah puas nangis, finally made the call to my mum. Brief tapi sambil tu ngomel lar.

Kesimpulannyer- SERIK! It was such a stressful time for me. We only returned to the resort 12ish am! Itu pun gerak dulu leaving my in-laws at the final house which they've visited first thing in the morning. 

--------------- END DAY 1, PART 2 -----------------

Not Your Typical Raya - Part 1

Our Raya morning began with my FIL knocking on our door to wake us up.

Or so I thought...

They've actually showered, were all dressed up and ready to drive down to the Mosque in Dato' Keramat for our morning Eid Prayers. 

Looking at my phone, the time was early 6'ish. Say what now?!

So both husband and wife, rushed to get ready for Raya prayers and visits to relatives' graves.

Sampai-sampai, laaaaar, the prayers won't start until 9am. There was even time for us to visit Husbie's relatives' graves next to the mosque before prayers. 

Heading into the graveyard, it was a totally different and humbling experience for myself. Lining all the way along the inroads in the graveyard were plenty of homeless and poverty-strickened people begging. Of course, some you can distinguish from the usual scammers but most I see are genuine people in dire straits. Ya Allah! Aku syukur with what you have blessed me. Walaupun I complain or mumble a lot about my problems and kepayahan or kesukaran, I am still thankful that my family and I are strong and better off to deal with the ujian you've given us.

Done with prayers, and with a few hours to spare before Friday prayers, we went to another area to visit another plot of family graves. There, in a parking lot in front of this cute purple mosque, my in-laws took the opportunity to take pictures. I of course declined a few times with my non-matching tudung and zero make-up. Maybe since my in-laws have only sons, they don't really understand the need for a girl to be pretty on Raya for herself and her husband. Don't get me wrong. I took several pictures with my in-laws but it's not my best. Plus, they prefer taking pictures among themselves anyway and I am better off being the camera man/woman.

Our family baca lah Yasin for loved ones and I kumpul extra pahala by plucking the flowers off its stems in the plastic bag. After our bacaan Yasin and flowers strewn on the already tidied up graves, we made our way back to the parking lot.

We had an hour plus plus before Friday prayers. Everybody was hungry. I was sweaty with no make-up and was in urgent need to use the washroom. To boot, Husbie left the nicely packed Raya money packets at the resort. ADUUUHHH! Whilst getting ready, he mistook my queries about the Raya packets as verification that I've kept them in my bag. Padahal, he was the one in charged of it and I was not even aware of where he kept it the night before.

In-laws proposed that we used their money first but then we wouldn't be able to give the amount of money as planned. Plus, all those carefully laid out raya packets would be better off given to relatives on the day itself rather than main passing-passing for later. Especially when, as Husbie estimated, that the family plan to visit all Penang relatives on the first day of Raya itself. 

So, in Husbie and my case, we opted to go back to the resort...to freshen up and retrieve the Raya packets.

My in-laws went ahead to his cousins' house.

The pro here is that both of us had the chance to freshen up. Kasi jugak I chance berdandan and look pretty for our second Raya together as Husband and Wife. Throughout the rush, we all didn't manage to take a proper Raya family picture or picture of ourselves. Here, I had to put my foot down. By hook or by crook, I nak gambar of the two of us elok-elok and muka tak melekit. Tak kisah lar pun if SELFIE/WEFIE!

Cita-cita for a picture of the two of us on Raya morning/noon tercapai jugak. Albeit, a bit late and baju tak nampak full ensemble. I take what I can get.

*Read about how I cried on Raya evening from all the stress of Raya Day 1 in Part 2 of this post*

~~~~~ Jeng Jeng Jeng~~~~~

------------------------------------ END PART 1------------------------------------

Penang Mali

Alhamdulillah, 2015 is the second year of celebrating Raya as Husband and Wife.

This year it's Husbie's turn i.e. to balik kampung to his side of the family. His parents reside in KL but every year they will return to his mother's side of the family in Penang.

We pushed off somewhere 5'ish in the morning. We had our Sahur in the car on the highway. We weren't surprised to see many cars on the road but the good thing was that the traffic was generally moving.

The worst point in traffic was in Simpang Pulai I think, not sure what's the area called. It is where three lanes converge to two and with high car volume, there was no escaping the traffic. My fast almost went out the window as I was close to puking from being carsick.

Yay,dah sampai Penang. Awesome entrance!

We stayed at one of the Bank Negara resorts in Batu Feringghi. If you've been to Hard Rock Penang, the resort is just right next door. 

Despite not being a BNM staff anymore, having family whom are still with BNM definitely has its perks. Heheh.

A few hours before puasa and visiting his cousins in Jelutong, we made our way to one of the pasar ramadhan. Sorry, I'm not sure where or which road in Penang. 

Recalling my first trip to Penang, I found all the hype about Penang food overrated. However, this time around, I am not sure whether it was because of my fast or my mum-in-law having the know-how on where to go, my initial opinion of Penang food has definitely flipped to the bright side.

The pesembor as depicted in the picture was totally awesome. I was crazy for potatoes throughout my trip in Penang. Husbie's cousins also bought Nasi Kandar Din to break our fast. Writing about it right now makes my tummy growl. Awww maaan!

That night before bed, Husbie and I took some time to prepare the Raya packets. Huawei's raya packets for 2015 are definitely not the conventional cheery colour but I loved how the gold and intricacies of the pattern were nicely reflected against the black base colour.

Read more about my Raya 2015 in my next upcoming post.

Fake Sleeping - The Art of Gifting

On the eve of my birthday, I was determined to ensure that Husbie does not present me with any gifts. I've asked too much already with the recent expenditure for our new supplements (will share more info about our new supplements and its effects in another post).

Even if he plans to, no way will I be tricked with the usual "switch off lights and surprise wife with gift" routine. Nope, nope...NEVAAAA!

As I had it, luck was on my side. 

He had came home late due to evening meeting which only ended at 9 p.m. 

We had our dinner at home together LATE.

He looked super exhausted.

I was already prepared for bed but I forced him to get off the computer and sleep. Both of us have an early morning the next day.

His eyes were already droopy. He was dozing off and got irritated for every little movement on the bed.

It was past 12 a.m. already. Ok, a tad sad Husbie didn't even wish me "Happy Birthday". It's ok. I guess us wives have to understand there are days our husbands are super drop dead tired that everything goes out the window and sleep is KING. *Sniff* *Sniff*

On the other hand, my plan was a success. 

~~~~ SNOOOOOOOREEE~~~~~~

Ok, he's asleep. Another half hour or more to make sure then I can go to bed.

~~~~~~~~ SWITCH OFF LIGHTS~~~~~~~

Ahhh, blissful sleep.

"SURPRISEEEEEE!!!"

For those who don't know, I have difficulty sleeping. So when you actually just started to doze off and somebody interrupts your sleep, the feeling is so not nice.

So, my husband faked his sleep. Even had the gall to complain he had to fake it for a long time and was anxiously waiting for me to switch off the lights. 

"Lama giler I kena pretend berdengkur. Dok pikir biler bini I nak tido nih!"

Even more amazing was that he was able to replicate a very convincing string of routinely encored snores.

Hmmm...baguslarrr...Good for you! The Award for Most Convincing Set of Snores goes to you my love!

I was truly happy though albeit a bit disgruntled from my lack of sleep. 

I love clutches and at times whenever we pass a certain section in Isetan, I do browse the corner displaying Moniko a bit longer. To finally own one and add it to my collection is AWESOME! Thank god my husband has nice taste. 

This brand basically reuses vintage kimonos and turns them into gorgeous clutches. You can even go online and enter your Moniko code to get further details on the kimono used for your clutch. 

Isn't that an amazing concept? 

Mine supposedly originated from the 1970s.

I can imagine myself with a white top and jeans and just this clutch for a dash of colour.

Thanks Husbie! Mwaaks! XOXO!

Wow Wow

Wow WOW!

It's been over a week since my last blog. My fingers were itching to touch the keyboard all the while to post my entries for the day and week.

With the fasting month ending and the beginning of Raya, driving home to Husbie's side of the family, followed by plenty of stuffing our faces gatherings and events, my efforts to acclimatise my tummy back to our usual food and those of non-rendang/ketupat/lemang related food, then coming back to work with plenty of unread e-mails outstanding as well as corporate open houses, it's amazing I can even take the time to type this out right now.

I couldn't stay away from my blog too long.

So if you do see 2-3 posts in one day, please don't skip them. Have a read. It's just some backlog over the Raya break.

Holiday Mood

Harloo peeps...

Most of you would still be at work today, like moi'. Some dah balik Raya dah pun.

How's your Raya prep? Ok? So-so? Bolehlaaaaa...

Mine? Boleeeehlaaaa

Very important meeting this afternoon but my head is already in the clouds thinking of the things I get to do over Raya and my days off. Fuuuh! Aper-aper bab makan kena control sebab taknak perut mengejut. Also, taknak gemuk terus after Raya. There will be a whole month of feasting at relatives' and friends' open houses. Baru ajer text my Tok Muna. Since dah lama tak jumpa and dapat jumpa balik time kenduri Aunty Zah before Washington, mestilar nak visit Tok Muna and Tok Nyang. Tok Muna is my late grandma's stepsister and Tok Nyang pangkat great grandma lar. Ingat nak pay them a visit soon.

Pagi nih pulak, ada message from old school flame (gedik bebudak sikit time nih). Don't worry yer, no scandal here. Memang generally semua kengkawan and takder aper-aper. Masing-masing happy ngan hidup sekarang. I'm stupid crazy in love with my husband and he and the world know it.

Aper jadi nyer, masa zaman study kat college in Cambridge dulu, ada banyak gambar scenery cantik-cantik and of course, gambar ngan kengkawan college and bf dulu. Hantar balik kat Malaysia, photoshop hilang semua. Dengar kata Baba masa dapat tau, nak saman terus photoshop kat OU dulu. So pagi nih, entah kenapa, bf lama nih godek-godek album lama, jumpa gambar lama and terus message and share.

Masuk tahun nih...gambar tu 13 tahun dulu! Adoi, dah rasa berumur terus. Perasan ajer muda. Hahaha! Tunjuk Husbie, comment macam-macam!

"Macam Pinoy!" (Kughaang asaaam)

" Orang study you bopren mat salleh " (To which I responded and clarified I was TOP STUDENT in college yer... so don't play-play. Study tetap study)

Both of us came to the conclusion maybe my parents took one look at the pictures and just threw them away. Hahaha...sedeyyy...

Ini sidetrack sikit, a bit of a tip and sharing session to segelintir of my readers whom I know are sorting through some issues in their lives. I'm not talking about those yang ada everyday problems and stress situ sini sikit. Those yang faham, bagus lar yer. I hope by me sharing and how I deal with 'it', boleh membantu some of you.

Generally, Raya is not one of those holidays I'm excited for. Too many painful and 'perit' memories. Let's not get into that. My blog is supposed to be a living document of my happy and joyful memories kan? The memory of my late grandma's jelly keras, raya cooking and her famous bubur with different kinds of sambals gets me through. Tapi, memang time nih I akan solemn sikit. Of course, I will get wrapped up in all the excitement i.e. bab shopping, baju raya baru suami etc.

Yes, there are those more unfortunate. Ramai sangat! You can take the whole world and universe's problem in and compare it to yours. It doesn't change the fact that you are going through what you are going through. To each his and her own struggles. I have the right to feel what I feel and to deal with it. Key here, identify and DEAL!!!

Last year efforts to meriahkan Raya tak berjaya. Keluarga tak cooperative. Takper lah, we make the best of things kan. Sejak kahwin, Alhamdulillah Husbie adalar attempt to inject some joy and excitement for the holidays. Tapi macammana pun, memang deep down, ada that 'feeling'.

For those experiencing the same, for one reason or another, either a lost of loved one(s) or other negative incidents, tabahkan hati yer. Embrace that feeling tapi jangan lupa to make the effort to join in the festivities too. Memang susah and kekadang rasa liat, but better try than lay dead. You are still breathing and alive and well. I didn't watch the whole movie but I'd like to remind myself of the Yes Man movie, alaaaa..yang Jim Carrey berlakon tu. Bagus concept dia to make positive and drastic changes in his life.

The key to resolve this...TRY!!! Jangan buat derk and harap everything fall in your lap.

Insya Allah, the festive season will be good for you too.

To my readers, if ada tersalah post, terkasar bahasa or kekurangan, maaf zahir dan batin yer. Kosong-kosong!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Here's my favourite picture turned meme of last year's Raya! Hahaha! Enjoy! Stay positive and well!

Demam-ing

So today my fever had finally settled in. It began Friday and gradually became a full blown fever despite me guzzling bottles of water to flush out whatever it is that is causing it. My fast and cleaning chores still go on with the help of Husbie. Alhamdulillah and thank you Husbie.

Yesterday we've joined the masses and went to Ikea in the morning as well as the long queues at the check-out counters. Whoopieee...Ikea, please improve your service and counter systems. Mission to buy a nice table for Husbie for his turntable failed. However, we did not go home empty handed. To the tourists in Ikea, please stop going if you just want to tengok-tengok or buy one potted plant alone. We then went home for a power nap before joining the in-laws for the usual breaking fast session.

Today's schedule was packed as well. From one place to another, repairing my sis' iphone to going to the apple store to find out if my lappie is ok and going to the nearby pharmacy for some items. After sending sis to my dad's, went to one of the nearby Uncle furniture shop. Found a nice table, rack as well as a cabinet to store all my plates for everday use for the amount we would have spent for that one table we were eyeing initially as a potential for the turntable.

Just a filler for my blog today. Simple musings of everyday life and routine. Getting ready for the Monday blues and persevere to start the week with a stuffy nose, pulsing headache that my eyes throb in tune with the pulsing headache. Clean house checked. Organised home checked. Happy kitties checked. Happy Husbie checked. Feverish Wifey...urghhh...checked.

Happy Monday guys!

Very nice but we're not sure if we're up to entertaining this year yet...next time perhaps