Ohhhh.....Ahhhhh.....Wahhhh..

With only three days into the new year, running low on ideas, I must say I am left with limited titles to give to my postings. Although this posting is titled with such expressions of emotions, I must say this it most apt at describing what happened at the wedding reception last Saturday.

Both Abe and I "reported for duty" early for Amalina & Amrin's wedding reception held at the Seremban Golf and Country Resort. There were not many guests yet; it was just us - the family members. Weather was good that day, not too hot and rather windy. So being in fully lined baju kurung wasn't too bad. The theme was purple, but I didn't really have a purple, purple outfit, and I didn't have the time to go buy material and get it tailored. Hence, something somewhat purple would do lah....

Told him to go get a hair cut, but he fussed. Later I discovered that long hair is so in fashion now!!

Invited guests started to arrive around 12.30pm. Some I didn't know who they were, so tak pe lah, I greeted them, salam-ed with them and guided them to the area they were to be seated. Memang lah tak cut to be in PR line, jalan cepat je, sampai ader old folks yang mengah-mengah trying to catch up.

Colour theme....rainbow mix :)

When relatives from may parents' arrived, there were lots of "Ohhhhh...." Mana tak nyer, some tu I have not met for ages. "Ohhhh......budak ni rghupo eh!!", "Ohhhh...bosar dah anak kau!!!" - two very common lines mentioned to me as I received them.

Look...both Tuns pun baju matching-matching one....

So ramai peminat....so ramai paparazzis

After the "Ohhhhhs..." came the "Ahhhhhh...." and this I witnessed when our VVIP arrived. Everyone was so excited when the seven series beemer pulled into the driveway accompanied by police outriders. "Ahhhh....they are here, the Tuns have arrived!!!" When introduced to Tun, I held out my hand and he reached out to shake my hands too!!! Ahhhh....dapat shake hands with Tun M and it felt so lembut and very warm too. Ahhh...everyone was so delighted!!!

Then when the bride and groom arrived, it was "Wahhhhh...so pretty, so dashing and wahhh...what a lovely pair!!"

Tapai pulut balut dengan daun apa tah... But sedappp!

Haa...ni makcik yg tak lepas BB dr tangan. Kejap-kejap update status in FB

It wasn't till Tun left that the few of us at the main reception area left our post and head for the buffet line. Food.....ahhhhhh, what a relief!! And so, that was how the day went, fascinations aplenty, heaped with interjections of all array.

Congratulations to both pengantin, from all of us :)

Yak...Yak...Yeah!!

The first cucu of the Tadin-Ambon clan tied the knot after Friday prayers today. Yang nak kawin tak de lah kecoh, kepoh sangat. It's US the aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents yang excited lebih; first wedding lah kata kan.

I went back to Shah Alam to pick up the guys last night. Farah and Nissa opted to stay at Mom's together with TM's children. I didn't realise how exhausted I was from the Singapore trip until this morning. After Subuh, I had wanted to close my eyes for just a little while. Instead I woke up at 10.00am!! Punyer lah rushing nak drive back to Seremban. And today being a Friday, there was Friday prayers to rush to for the guys. Nasib baik sempat sampai Seremban on time....fuhhh...if not sure ader jugak yang kena pok pek pok pek!

Alhamdullilah, after a short tahlil prayer, the akad nikah ceremony was carried out by the bride's father, witnessed by close family and friends. A simple do, and in sekali lafaz my niece Amalina telah bergelar isteri to her handsome and dashing groom, Amrin. The off white colour theme was chosen to signify ketulusan hati and cinta agong them both. Cantikkkk....

Standing in line, Mom, my uncle - Datuk Kassim, US - aunties of the bride, happy couple Ayang & Amrin, my auntie - Mak Yan (late Abah's sister on wheel chair) and mother of the bride, Datin Jamilah furtherest right.

Congratulations to you Ayang and to Amrin, welcome to the family. To Datuk Zul & Datin Jamilah...relax yer, one ceremony down and one more to go. We know you both must be the happiest parents today :)

The basket full blue white bunga telur with lurv from Auntie Kay, TM & Uwan Timah

Mom and my other siblings made bunga telur for the pelamin. Mom yang very gung-ho at making them blue and off white flowers. Infact she started making them way back in October. I remember that time when she was in my home during my China trip, she brought along all the "perkakas" for her bunga telur making. Yesterday I helped her to isikan the telur and arranged them in the basket and later sent them to my auntie's house, where the akad nikah ceremony was to be held. Like I mentioned earlier, makcik-makcik nyer yang excited. Siap half load of the bunga telur, upload on FB!! Haa...how do you explain that, huh?

My youngest aunty - Zizah and her cucus - Alina & Nissa

We are bunking at Mom's again tonight. The reception is tomorrow at a club in Seremban 2. Faris had keyed in the address and got the location map to the venue on his mobile. I told him there is a map on the card, but he insisted on doing the GPS thingy. Okay....bagus lah tu, hopefully tak ler sesat esok. We have to be at the club early coz' both Abe and I have been given the kepercayaan by Datuk Zul & Datin Jamilah to receive guests at the reception nanti. Fuhhh...cuak jugak ni...coz bukan semua relatives yang I kenal. Nak-nak folks yang dari our parent's kampung. Tak kisah lah kan....if ever I'm in doubt, address je them by "acik", the most common and safest way to go. I know Abe will be depending on me to advise him on who's who. Wey...please lah don't put too high of an expectation on me. I pun blurrr gak most of the time..heh..heh.

My sister, TM and hubby have gone to test suara tonight as they will be the emcees at the reception. So nampak nyer...memang usaha sama kami "Adik Beradik and Co" and other cousins who will be frontliners at the reception tomorrow. Uuuisshhh.....suspence gak nih!!

Gotta sign off now. Nissa has been breathing down my neck wanting to use the notebook. It's serving time at Cafe World she says. If I read her facial expression, she really looked desperate, iyer lah kan, penat-penat masak and then food goes basi!! Oh yes, if anyone of you wonder what on earth is Cafe World, let me put it in these two words - Facebook game.

Enjoy the good weather and have a splendid weekend everyone :)

Merry Christmas Everyone

Wishing you "Merry Christmas" in many different languages.

Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Eskimo - Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo
Filipinos - Maligayang Pasko
Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Mongolian - Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye
Sardinian -Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Vietnamese - Mung Le Giang Sinh. Cung Chuc Tan Nien

Enjoy the holidays and have a delightful and magical Christmas!!

Rajuk Hati....

Never mind the title, but I'm going to be away for a few days. Merajuk ke?? Well, maybe I'm feeling just a little sad, upset and even sakit hati a mere bit. It's not with anyone though (read: ader sedikit with someone), but (more) with myself.

I could have kicked myself for being oblivious and not looking up for any holiday plans for the family. The initial idea of going to a destination "just around here" didn't materialize, of course. And now, after an exhausted year of pulling through work load in the office, I am in dire need of a holiday. The need to recover and recuperate for the new year and the challenges that come along with it was so apparent. Unfortunately, unlike the previous years, this year end had nothing to look to and that took a toll on my mood and all things that come with it. Even the cats noticed my hostility towards them.

And this rotten feeling obviously must not carry on towards the new year. There are so many things already lined up and I need to go fix myself; mood, emotions, motivation - the works!

Choice of destinations were pretty limited. And time was indeed a factor too. I've taken leave till Christmas but there's my niece's wedding to attend on Christmas day. I thought of the islands, but being out in the sun and appearing all tanned during the wedding, wasn't much of my fancy. I tried looking up Sydney, but most flights were booked. Bangkok was the same too. Unless I was ready to pay a bomb for the tickets. In the end.....I decided our down south neighbour, Singapore.

This holiday will be somewhat different coz' it will only be us girls, Mommy and Nissa & Farah. The guys?? Well, they have their own turf to go play at. Faris had already made plans and Abe?? Ahhh...malas nak elaborate lah, and hence, summarized in the title of this posting.

We'll be starting our journey in a while. I'm driving into the island. Our bags are packed and we are almost ready to go. We'll be there till Wednesday and then we'll head straight to Mom's in Seremban to help out with the wedding.

So take care all....will try and update if I get the chance to do so in the Lion City :)
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!

Salam Maal Hijrah 1431

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Raheem

Ya Allah, diambang hijrah yang barkah, kau muliakanlah dan sayangilah kami, bahagiakan keluarga kami, sihatkan tubuh badan kami, berkatilah rezeki kami, kuatkan iman kami, berikan kenikmatan ibadah kami dan jauhkan diri kami dari fitnah dunia.

Amiin, ya Robbal A’lamin..

Salam Maal Hijrah untuk semua muslimin & muslimat.

Curtain Closes on ASEAN Camp

Finally, the ASEAN camp came to a close; last Friday night to be exact. Happy moments for everyone - kids and all of us who worked day and night preparing for the camp, ensuring that everything went as planned.

Venue of the camp...apple crumble dia....adei boleh jatuh kerusi!!!

1 ASEAN community spirit

Joget dikkk...jangan tak joget!! Group performance for the Minister - ASEAN Joget Lambak

The closing was a grand event, no doubt. With this client of ours, "things" are always done in fashion and fashionably right. Anyway, I'm so, so glad that it's all over. My team is to do a post-mortem on our role during the ASEAN camp. Kinda difficult to get ourselves focused right now, as everyone is exhausted and we just want to lay low and spend the last two weeks of the year in peace (read: me as the boss wants to have some quiet time to myself!!)

I have somewhat caught up with my sleep. It was sleep and more sleep over the weekend. And I took off Monday to get stuffs for the girls for my niece's upcoming wedding. Again, my dear uncle has requested that I help him with the speech. Bolehhhh....saya suka buat kerja-kerja gini..heh..heh. It helps defuse all these office madness.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to cook up any holiday plans this year. Unlike the last two years when we had a family holiday to look forward to, this year there is none!! Sedih juga bila dah penat-penat and not going anywhere to chill out. Faris has gone camping with his friends and that leaves me with the two girls' holidaying needs to look into. Well, maybe I could still squeeze kan a few nights in some island somewhere, we'll see how lah.

Wonder who is the proud owner of this one? She's one of the beauties at the cat show.

And another beauty.....

Anyway, Nissa shouldn't have anything to complain about as we got her another kitten at the cat show last weekend. She was feeling down as the other little kittens didn't make it. I don't quite know what happened but many died; only Petra and Luna are still surviving. I suspect it was some kind of infection that got to all of them and made them weak and finally succumbing to whatever that they had. Nissa said that all of them had gone to heaven to wait for her. Yeah.....kucing tu memang lah gi heaven Cik Nissa....but if you don't work hard to go to heaven yourself, you won't get to meet them okay!!

This new cat that we got, Chitty (which means naughty in Burmese) is one very playful kid. Another girl about 4 months old, but she's kinda big for her age. The people from PAWS said that she's a domestic cat, but I suspect there's some mix lineage somewhere. But...gosh, Chitty is one very active cat, practically jumping and running all aver the house. She stays indoors as the others have not made friends with her yet. That would be Nissa's immediate task to "rapatkan" all of them.


So there you have it....just in case you've been wondering where have I disappeared to; the sudden silence in blogspace. It's chill and cat time for me as for now.........

Nobody...Nobody....

To my FB friends who have been following my status updates, I apologize for my past few days of merapu-ness. My day one and two@ASEAN Camp were my most hectic and crazy. First, the team had to deal with lousy Internet connectivity at the camp venue. Then there was our server that decided to behave funny. I was switching modes between content specialist to project manager to even a technical assistant.

Visualize a pressure cooker full with steam coming out; that was how exactly I felt. Rasa nak jerit ada, rasa nak cabut power supply cord pun ada, rasa nak belasah orang pun ada. Macam-macam rasa ada, and where else was the best place to do the curahan perasaan, if not in Facebook.

My FB status read like these:

Monday@5.02pm....DJ's spinning "I will SURVIVE" yeah...just what I need to keep on movin, moving!
Tuesday@12.59pm...status at lunch time "I wanna nobody nobody but YOU!!"
Tuesday@5.54pm...status at day two evening break..."hahh....senam tari cuti-cuti 1 Malaysia!!" Kasi kluar ittiew asap skit... :)
Tuesday@10.33pm....tak tau napa...bila dgr lagu folk dance from Vietnam ni...rasa macam nak book flight gi HCHC je!!! State of mind at the end of day two...WENG!!!

Kalau lah my Mom ada FB and read my status postings, harus dia dah pening memikirkan apalah yang has happened to her daughter. No worries folks, things are much, much better today. And that's why you don't see "crazy cries" in my FB status anymore. For those of you who saw my morning status today, I'm sure you felt it was less freaky coz it was "...day four of tshirts, khakis & crocs :)"

There's just one more day to go; am keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, before I sign off, enjoy this song from the Wonder Girls, a South Korean girl group. We've been playing this song off and on during the camp, to get the kids hyped up a bit. Imagine lah how kami-kami yang so under pressure ni felt...kaki dah goyang-goyang, lagu dah boleh nak lompat-lompat disco....tapi...tapi....had to trouble shoot. Geram jeeee.... ha..tu yang tercetusnya FB status "...more of "I wanna nobody, nobody but YOU!!!"

Day Three@ASEAN

Still at camp. Day three today.

Head very saturated with tasks to ensure that things are A-OK during the camp. Nonetheless....the show must go on. Spirits are high and I'm confident we'll pass with flying colours for the grand finale this Friday night.

Muka happy on day 3. Wanna know why?? Apple crumble for dessert did the trick :)

Camp ASEAN 2009

It's that time of the year again. The ASEAN Cyberkids camp is back in town. Day two today; and things are progressing well. Challenges are every where. It's all about perseverance and how to get the best out of things.

Muka control stress on Day 2

Whatever it is...I gotta get movin', movin'. And when is celebration time? F-R-I-D-A-Y is hoorraayyyyy day!!!!

Farming Therapy

From just a tiny piece of land plot, it has now increased double in size. Latest animal additions to the farm are turkey and reindeer and potted plants have started making their way as attractive decorations too. Red bright maple trees line up to add colour as if it's real fall one is experiencing.

Farming in Farmville@Facebook....

Yup...that's my farm. It's looking good now. Crops are growing well; thanks for industrious friends who have helped fertilizing them. You could tell the fertilized crops from those which were not. Size wise they differ - the fertilized ones are bigger and look more enticing.

Farmville strawberries, tulips and daffodils I planted...

There's even a turtle too :)

On one side, the farm animals are lined behind the wooden white fences. There are also chicken coops and two small cottages. Apple, apricot, cherry and plum trees prettily decorate my farm area. And the best part is....I have neighbours!!

Yup..that's my farm in Farmville, the very much promoted "farming with style" in Facebook. Contemplating to be involved it the beginning, I admit that now I am an addict to farming this virtual way.

In some ways, Farmville has provided therapy to help calm stressful moments both at home and the workplace. A game junkie I am now; planting and harvesting as much and as fast as possible to get more money and skills in order to obtain more stuffs for the farm.

My red chillies

To those who are thinking about starting "farming"...err my advice is don't do it!! Not unless you are the type who would run to your Facebook and start clicking on Farmville icon first thing upon waking up, just so that you could check on crops planted the night before.

Sungguh lah C-R-A-Z-Y nya kan....

Post "Pesta" Workout

It was a good break. The eating was even better. My festive cooking and merry eating started from Thursday, a day before Eid.

Ughhhh...now the guilty feeling has set in.

Was channel hopping late last night when having difficulties to doze off. Stumbled upon this P.Ramlee movie, a definite old time favourite.

Nampak nya kena buat workout ala-ala A Go Go & Twist Pak Maon lepas ni...

Salam Eidul Adha

What a beautiful day today!! The vibrant clear blue skies made its way to celebrate this big day.

Foreign workers amongst the many jemaahs at solat Eidul Adha in Masjid Negeri Shah Alam this morning.

Panas...dapat ice cream...sedapppp!!!

Nissa said to me. "Must we pose for your camera Mamaaaaaa!!!"

But of course, lil girl....Mama ni kan blogger..heh..heh :)

And another one...posing by the tree...ala-ala Shah Rukh Khan gitu...(perasannnnn...)

Eid Mubarak everyone.
Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Qurban from us :)

The Calling

By now, the many millions of pilgrims who are already in Mecca would have started their hajj journey. Clad in ihram, they will now head for Arafah; the plains located east of Mecca for Wukuf. Wukuf or the Grand Essembly marks the climax of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

The Prophet Muhammad SAW stressed that "Hajj is [the essembly at] ‘Arafah."

I remember very well, a few years ago, I was a part of that massive crowd traveling in orderly manner, heading to the sacred plains of Arafah. Talbiyah "labaik allahuma labaik, labaik la sharika laka labaik, Innal hamda wann’imat laka wal mulk, la sharika lak" was chorused by pilgrims in my bus during the entire 24 km journey between Mecca and Arafah.

View of Arafah plains from Jabal Rahmah (Mount of Mercy); the place where Adam and Eve met after being overthrown from heaven.

Wukuf begins from Zuhur prayers on 9th Zulhijjah until the fajar of 10th Zulhijjah. During the entire day at Arafah, from dawn until sunset, my time was preoccupied with continuous dzikir, doas and tasbih.

The Arafah experience was indescribable. Tears were shed easily when I performed my solats and during the intense moments of seeking forgiveness and mercy from God Almighty. That night when we did solat tahajjud, taubat and tasbih, the desert air was pleasantly cool. As we bowed our heads during our sujuds and rukuks, it felt as if, we might not see tomorrow anymore. Everything felt stationary, providing the solemn assurance of greatness of our Creator.

Vast Arafah plains in the background

Arafah was so sacred. I just wanted to be there forever, submissive to God AlRahman. As evening enveloped, after my solats, I raised my two hands asking from Him and praying for his abundant forgiveness. And, it was in Arafah that I saw the most beautiful sunset on the horizon far ahead. Subahanallah…….

Sunday...Sunday..Happy Day!!

Theme song of popular 80s sitcom "Happy Days" is sung in following manner.

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days,
Thursday, Friday, Happy Days,
Saturday, what a day,
Rockin all week with you.

My version, however would have only one day as my happy day - Sunday. The other days are work days, where got fun one!! Even my Saturdays are not free from doing work. There's always spill over from Friday's tedious undertaking that needed quick attention. Well..that's life in the fast lane. Like the saying goes, tak berani bermain ombak, jangan berumah di tepi pantai, iyer tak?

Today was not supposed to be very much of an eventful day. My plan was to do my routine visit to the market, cook and then rest. There was this naughty thought of doing RT. But didn't quite fancy the idea of going to KLCC to do repeat visit of that "something" I discovered last week. It's school holidays and the place was going to be so jammed packed. Dah masuk alam senior citizen ni...malas nak berebut parking and berlaga-laga bahu kat malls dah. Buat panas hati je nanti... So tak jadi lah berRT nampak nya.

Furry....doting Mom, even with the stomach flu

When I returned from the market, Nissa ran out to get me, causing panic yang tak terkata, telling me that Furry is lifeless!! Duh...kucing lagi?? She demanded that we took Furry to see the vet immediately. That was sometime around noon and the vet place was not opened till 2.00pm. I went and checked on Furry, and yes, she did look rather unwell. Hujan kot...plus orang dalam pantang kan...ade lah something yang tak kena agaknya tu.

Anyway, I thought of having my throw-all-in-spaghetti (macam-macam ada...meat, seafood, vege et all) for lunch. Then came visuals of creamy baked potatoes. Ishhh kucing yang dalam pantang, Mommy kucing pulak yang beriya-iya nak makan. Out the window went my four years in a row new year resolution; the all time favourite "nak lose weight" pledge. Five more weeks to the new year, what the heck, next year, it'll be the same resolution again..sigh.

I have stuffs for spaghetti, but didn't have the right potatoes to bake. I know they have those washed white ones in Te*co. So kena lari kejap la pulak ke situ. Told the girls, since I'm going out, might as well bring Furry along to see the vet.

The girls took Furry to see the vet while I waited in the car. Banyak pulak cats who were sick today, so the girls had to wait quite a while for Furry's turn. Obviously lunch was a very late one today. Nasib baik, breakfast was late, other wise sure kelaparan orang yang berada at home.

Crowd at Ike* today...ramai but still manageable

After that hefty lunch, I told Abe that we should go out, or else we'd surely doze off in no time, nak-nak in this gloomy weather. He asked where to and I answered "Ike*". I knew I won't go wrong with that place coz' there are lots of DIY stuffs that he could find there.

One of the compulsory stops - the lights department

Then off to have a look at the picture frames...
In serious discussion with Farah...which one to get, I supposed.

Yang ni...asyik suruh snap her pics every corner she went

Ohh...who does this bottle belong to? Mommy nye must be terlalu concentrate shopping...bottle pun boleh terselit kat picture frames!!

So menjadi jugak lah RT...walaupun not the RT that I wanted. That's okay....there's always that Christmas shopping...manalah tau I could get lucky again in two, three weeks time :)

Rain Watch

View from my window today - Friday 20 November 2009@3.48pm

Rain, rain go away......
You make my mind go astray
Thinking of my snuggly duvet.....

Melancholy on the Net

Uncle Google can surely do wonders to one who's melancholia and has been smoldering inside, dreaming of falling leaves, snow, and coffee sipping by the fireplace, and everything whatchamacallit associated to winter. It's the gloom and gray weather, I put the blame on. That lingering warmth from the tropical sun was no where endured; shying away, the sun hid behind the thick dark clouds.

Gray and gloomy KL sky

And today was no different. It was a little bright and sunny during first half of the morning. Later when the dark clouds rolled in by mid afternoon, Klang Valley saw sporadic rain all across town. The office is so cold that many seek comfort draping trendy Pashminas as wraps. Some one asked me if winter felt this cold. My reply was, "No...It’s colder." The poor thing must be thinking how one could survive in the wild winter of the West. Shaking her head in quandary, she slipped on her jacket, with hope that it would keep her warm for the remaining time at work.

So what does Uncle Google have to do with the rain, wet roads and cold office condition?? A whole lot to me actually. The looks of the skies outside remind me so much of my college days in this cold mid west city - Madison Wisconsin. It is as if I am transported back to the roaring 80s; that glorious era of Michael Jackson’s moon walk and glittering gloves (ahhh...mental note to myself: to go watch MJ’s This is IT movie before it disappears from cinema viewing)

My first apartment...Birge House on University Avenue
pic from Madison Campus & Downtown Living

How the living room looks now, very different compared to my tenancy days in 1982

Bucky is the official mascot of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Browsing the Net, if not careful, one could easily get carried away. One site leads to another. From my old apartment building, I preceded with inquiries on Badger’s football results. Apparently, last week during their game with Michigan, Badgers had a victorious win – Badgers 45 and Michigan 24!! Yeah…Go Red...Go Bucky!!! This weekend will be an away game with Northwestern Wildcats. I wonder if college football is shown on ESPN, must go check…..

Next 5 days weather check - chilly and wet

Next were the campus pictures.

Aerial picture of UW campus

Bascom Hall is framed by a view of tree shadows and foliage changing colors on Bascom Hill during autumn.

Camp Randall arch walkway

Statue of Abraham Lincoln, picture perfect contrast in the gold autumn setting

Fallen leaves gather among bicycles parked at a bike rack.
All campus pictures from UW-Madison University Communications website

The Regent – place where we once called home.

But the most noteworthy search was this…

the Maroon colored 76 Oldsmobile Starfire – the car I shared with Jupe during my senior year in UW. Bought it for $600 from a graduate student who was leaving for home.