Rain More Rain

The sun shied itself today. All I am seeing is gloomy skies and I can almost bet that the sky is going to cry later, just like it did this morning. The pre-dawn downpour kept me indoors and caused me to miss my walk. And if it rains again at rush home later, I can almost anticipate the long queue and the tortoise speed crawl that awaits :(

The downpour this morning

Anyway, I kinda enjoy the cool weather. It makes walking to the lunch place next door more pleasant; such a contrast from those sweat drenched scorching hot days a couple weeks back. But yesterday, a few of us were left stranded after our hefty meal. It was pouring so, so hard and neither of us had cared to carry with us the brolly. So...lunch extended to coffee and cakes....as we prayed hard that none of the bosses noticed our temporary absence. But then, there is BBM & YM, avenues that they could reach us if they really, really need to.

And this gloomy outlook makes staying focused at work slightly more challenging.

Ahhh...time for a fresh cuppa now....before I slip into near slumber........

Sent via Kay's Berry

Online With Santa

Whoever is my Santa, I want him/her to notice this posting. I have found what I want for Xmas. This slick shinny toy is still very, very fresh from its makers. And I am already head over heels falling in love with it!!

Perhaps Santa has not received news about this latest entrant in the already widening tablet race. If you haven't yet Santa, here it is.....

Introducing the new PlayBook - unveiled by the makers of BlackBerry this week.

So why do I need this tablet?? What can it do??

According to BlackBerry maker RIM - Research in Motion Ltd. the PlayBook a sleek tablet computer, is both an amplified BlackBerry and first professional tablet. It syncs to a Blackberry phone allowing users to stream data from the phone to the tablet.

Reviews have raved that the PlayBook sounds like it packs a punch. RIM says the machine will run the new BlackBerry Tablet operating system on a 1 GHz dual-core processor; in addition, the machine gets front- and rear-facing cameras (both HD), Flash support, a 7-inch screen, and a HDMI-out port for linking up content with external displays.

Hu hu...I loikeee!!! But exercise patience I must still as the PlayBook will only be in the scene early 2011 in the US and mid year to rest of the BB crazee people in other parts of the world.

BBM-ing Santa
Ping-Santa.....
Ping-Santa.....
Help!!!!

BO Trails

I must say I am struggling with patience. It was almost at the tip of the tongue to go tell this someone that as he moves around our work stations, he leaves his "trails" of such unpleasant BO. I know this is a very delicate matter of contention and must be addressed in the most artful manner.

My overly sensitive nostrils is able to detect his loathsome odor the very moment he steps into the office. Initially I thought it was just me. Later when the other girls hinted to me their discomfort, I knew it wasn't just my hallucination.

So now the bigggg question is how best to get the message across - loud and clear. Someone advised me to go get a deodorant, wrap it nicely and get someone else to pass it to him. Another suggested that I start spraying the work stations within reach of the smell with lemony air freshener whenever he emits his fetid stench.

Oh....what a chore and I so hate having to do so. Such a dilemma I'm in at this present moment....


Sent via Kay's Berry

M&D Chilling

All the eating during Raya is now showing bulges at the most nonstrategic places. I noticed it wasn't just me. Nissa too had gained a few kilos and face is more round then before.

With some free time to spare today both Mommy & Dotter went sweating it out in the pool. Much to our delight, the place was deserted and we had the entire pool all to ourselves - guess folks are still out beraya.

I must say the warm and refreshing ripples from the water had given us so much enjoyment during our otherwise laborious workout :)

Sent via Kay's Berry

A Week Ago

Dah seminggu dah Raya? Time surely flies. Macam baru je sibuk-sibuk in the kitchen getting things ready for Raya celebration. Macam baru je rasa, membuka periuk at Mom's house yang isinya penuh dengan rebusan tunjang and daging. Macam baru je berebut lemang and rendang. And macam baru je rasanya having to organize the 4 maids' kitchen duties at Mom's house during the Raya preprations. (of course after I did this, I became the most unpopular Maam in da house, but ada I kisah??? Sudah tentu tidak...)

This Raya we came back rather late. Only after the rendang making, the cake baking, the storage space cleaning (this not moi's doing - it was a "boys only" affair....) and doing the meticulous packing we headed for our kampung in Seremban. Bunyi macam jauh kan....

Nissa and cousins Nadhira & baby Nasiruddin

The Zuls, Shah Feisals & Al-Bakers and their Uwan

Nasiruddin & Aunty Kay

Yes...both Abe and I are from Seremban. And I am so thankful and greatful for that. Every time I hear friends' stories about their long haul travel balik kampung, I cringe. Imagine traveling 12 - 14 hours on the road. Aduhhh sakit pinggang wooo. But visit the elders and the loved ones we must, no matter how far is the ride, no matter how long is the journey. I guess I must have hung onto my late grandmother's words of asking me not to go look for orang jauh. Mau nya tak; she drummed it into me ala-ala lagu P.Ramlee and because of this too I extend my sincere apologies to that Penang guy (siapa dia??? Tak boleh reveal identity woo...biar pecah di perut, jangan ter-blurt out di mulut!!) whose wanna-get-serious friendship I had turned down masa kat UW dolu...hu hu... Kalu tak harus I'd be stucked on Penang Bridge this year, figuring out how to get to the other side since the bridge was closed due to the cable explosion!!


So how was our Raya this year? I'd say, okay je. Nothing fancy, spirit beraya pun suam-suam kuku je. A few matters-of-the-heart incidences have been bugging me prior to the big celebration day and that I must say had dampened my Raya mood too. I take everything as a test from God Al-Mighty. Indeed Ramadhan was a month of muhasabah diri, but it's now time to pick up the pieces and move on. InshaAllah....I'll pull through this test.

Crawl up Bukit Putus despite the new straight road...guess that's how it will be during festives - cars by the throngs, chocking up state roads

Perhaps the other reason why I wasn't into Raya this year was because the dear ones whom we have not missed visiting each Raya year are no longer with us. Our dear Mak Lang in Juasseh passed away Shawal last year, followed by Abe's Pak Ngah not so long ago and the most recent one was my Mak Lang in Batu Kikir.

The majestic old Seri Menanti Istana - minutes drive from Abe's kampung house

With a heavy heart we still went back to Seri Menanti on the first day of Raya and visited the family of Abe's Pak Ngah. I was so touched when Mak Ngah hugged me so tightly and held my hand so long when I was exchanging greetings with her (even MIL doesn't make me feel this close...I don't know, perhaps it's chemistry...) The mood was somber but I could see that everyone was coping pretty well....Alhamdulilah. Yang pergi tetap akan pergi and the best we could do is to pray for them. After that visit, the mood was just not there to go to Juasseh, so we headed back to Seremban.

The Tadin-Ambons - 4th generation

The Tadin - Ambons 3rd generation with 2nd generation Induk, Uncle Kassim, Aunty Shidah & Mom

Makan berselerak at Mom's all 57 of us

Induk (arwah Abah's youngest sister) and Moi at Mak Yan's house during our visit. Induk's rendang tastes exactly like her late mother's - ghondang orang Josseh!!

Well, the rest of the Raya days, macam biasa. Relatives came to visit Mom and us girls took turn to help prepare the dishes. On the second Raya night, my cousins, nieces and nephews came and Mom's house was packed to the brim. Farah counted the number of pax and there were like fifty seven of us. Macam family day jadi nya.....

And that's it, pretty much in a nutshell how we spent our Raya. I'd say we can close beraya di kampung chapter and soon about to kick off the beraya di kota episodes starting with the open house invites this weekend. And this will be another set of interesting tales to tell.

The trio

Our own MizzNiss (when asked where is her kampung - Juasseh or Seri Menanti, she picked Shah Alam..... Apakah??)

Lastly, welcome back to those who have returned from kampung. To those who will be traveling back to the city, drive safe.

Salam Aidilfitri from all of us and Selamat Menyambut Raya in the city :)

Sembang HACKED!!

Dear All,

If you saw a funny posting on this blog with a rather fishy title, many apologies from me. Just a while ago there was an attempt to hack Sembang. Hence, I'm increasing all my blog guards. Please bear with me till things are back to normal.

~kay~

Test Mobile Blogging

Let's see this works ;) OREN BOTOL
Sent via Kay's Berry

Eid Mubarak

Minal Aidin Wal Fa'Izin.
Selamat Menyambut Aidil Fitri to all Sembang readers.

Berakhir Nya Ramadhan

Corat Coret Nak Raya

Some people are saying that Raya will fall on Thursday. Ohhh...no!!! How?? Bila nak start cooking ni?? Panic...panic...panic!!!

Kalau betul lah Raya falls on Thursday, looks like I'll be heading back tomorrow night sans rendang and the other juadah raya I planned to cook. Switch to plan B - pack and head back to Seremban and cook at Mom's place instead. And that would certainly upset some of our Raya plans. But tak kisah lah....Thursday or Friday, celebrate Raya we will for sure.

Faris came home last night and hardly three hours at home Mommy has started giving him list of things to do. He must be still wondering with disbelieve the amount of running around he has to do in the next 36 hours. At the rate I am going, I'm going to need all the extra pairs of hands. And the kids know never to cross my path during these busy times. Pitty them juga, kena kerahan paksa. But no chipping-in no makan nice food yar.....

Ahhh talk about nice food. Last night I became rather adventurous and got my baking stuffs out. My experiment this time was kueh Samprit as per the recipe provided by Lyana in FB. It was the pictures of those flower like cookies Lyana posted on FB that motivated me to get started. I must say the end result was very rewarding. The samprits turned out really, really "samprity" (if there is such a word...). They are so lemak and had such fine texture. The moment you put it in your mouth, it melts!!! Dah lama tak makan samprit such as these. Anyway, I gotta improve a bit more on its appearance. These first badge had the 3G look - gebu, gumuk and geram-milicious. If I baked another round, I must try make it more lady like (just like Lyana's...cantik je samprit dia, ayu macam dia jugak) Last I checked, only a few pieces left; the guys sat and popped samprits after returning from Terawikh a while ago. Sah kena buat second batch ni.

I also saw the maruku made by Naz and ada juga cita-cita nak try buat. But looking at the many ambitious things that I want to accomplish before Raya, I think I'd best try save maruku for some other time (emmppp...Raya haji maybe)

Yahhhh....my hour count down to raya has started. It's time to bersilat and sweat in the kitchen!!! Haaa...baru lah dah terasa nak Raya kan :)

Last Days of Ramadhan

It felt just yesterday that we ushered Ramadhan. It's about to leave us soon. MashaAllah time has flown so unnoticed. Juggling between work demands and family expectations all have made the clock tick faster. And it's already September; enter the last quarter of 2010 and soon it will be time to wrap up 2010!!!! Cepat nyaa....and what happened to the whole 365 days???

Anyway.....by now many are doing their last minute preparations for raya, I'm sure. Saw updates on traffic in the city on FB earlier. Many reported that roads heading into the city are packed - a sure test on drivers' patience on this humid fasting day. Nope....no going out for us today. We are staying away from any malls, Jalan TAR and even Kompleks PKNS which is less than 5 mins drive from home. As Abe put it....dari April shopping raya...tak kan tak cukup lagi?? Of course dah cukup...and if tak cukup pun kira dah cukup lah tu.

Like the previous years, our Raya preparation is always modest. Nothing much on the house. Since the curtains are still nice we felt that it was of no necessity to get new ones. Got the maid to bring them down and washed them. Dah bersih, gantung semula....settle.

No new furniture addition to the house too. I feel we already have enough and certainly do not want to clutter the space that we have. I just need the girls to clean up their room and the house is ready for Raya.

Ohh.....yes the other important thing I need to do is apply my Raya leave. Berapa hari nak cuti??? Emmpppp....macam biasa lah, a day before raya and will probably add one more day on Monday. Kasi chance pada budak-budak cuti lama di kampung....boss start kerja awal tak pe. Boss every two weeks pun balik kampung ;)

And I must remember to bring out the Raya money packs. Tak mau jadi like last year, last minute isi pack in the car while traveling back to Kuala Pilah. This year no can do that coz the journey heading back to KP will be faster (hopefully) with the opening of the Seremban - Kuala Pilah straight road.

Have a good week ahead folks. And to those who are already traveling home - drive safe, have ample rest and exercise safety at all times. Have a terrific time di kampung masing-masing.

Wishing you - Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin (if I don't get the opportunity to bersiaran before raya again).