My First Raya Guest

Today I got my first guest for Raya. This year we don’t do any Raya open house as hubby is not around. My friend Oja and her family came to beraya as she will be going back to Doha soon.

I planned to go to the market in the morning but it was quite heavy rain since early morning. I thought of waiting till the rain stop but till 8am, there was no sign at all that it’s gonna stop. So redah je lah dalam hujan gi market.

As requested by dear Oja, I made for her Mee Udang. My first attempt actually and it turned out not bad. Huh.. bertambah makan semua. Beside that I also made Rendang Ayam Kampung Negeri Sembilan to eat with ketupat.

After the meal we continued with juicy gossiping session over tea n kuih raya.. There were lots of things to talk about especially the moments we had together during our stay in Oman.

The children of course though they had not met for so long, the bonding is still there. They were so happy playing together. I hope to see them again. Well maybe next year or probably soon.

Thanks for coming Oja. Have a save journey back to Qatar.

Home Sweet Home

Gosh.. it is so good to be back home – my home sweet home. I arrived back home from Malacca yesterday evening. The traffic was excellent. I’ve been so lucky as this time Raya the traffic had been so good to me. My entire journey from North to South and back to KL was smooth.

Once reached Shah Alam, we straight away went to fetch our cats. We boarded them at one of the Vet Centre nearby our place. Normally we just left them in the cage at home but since this is a long stretch holiday, kena masuk hotel lah kucing2 ni…

AND because it is a festive season – RAYA, the rate of the ‘hotel’ for the cats too increased from RM10 to RM15 per night! So three cats for eight days plus ubat kutu + vaccine which is a compulsory before the cats were allowed to be in, I had to fork out RM490!! Warggghhhhh…. When I wanted to claim from the kids and hubby who are actually the ‘owner’ of the cats – semua buat kering je!!

Anyway the moment I drove thru the entrance of my crib – what a relief.. to see my house still intact there! Hahahahahaha.. Everybody was excited to be home especially the children. Hakeem straight away went up to his room looking for his toys and Nabila started taking out her books.

The excitement didn’t only happen to the kids but to our three cats too! They were running around here and there. Among of all the three cats, Tiara the ‘girl’ yang paling lasak and adventurous. She and Timor (kucing jantan yang paling senior) would normally climb up till our roof top to enter our house thru the balcony. I had a few times caught them in red handed!

Yesterday this adventurous Tiara climbed up to the roof and she got stuck up there. We could hear her voice but couldn’t see her as she tersepit di celah2 atap genting tu.. My maid and Nadira had to take out the pieces of the roofs to let her out. Huh.. memang nakal betul kucing seekor ni.

Kacau je orang nak rehat… So last night I did nothing but just relaxed.. Slouch on my couch like a bear watching TV which at that time showing ‘My Name Is Khan’ – 3 hours glued watching the movie and I had no regrets! Huh… memang kelas SRK berlakon.. even Hakeem pun ternganga and sent a cute sms to his dad!!

My Days Of Raya

My days feel so long and bored without hubby around. Honestly it feels so empty! My first day of Raya filled with activities till night. When it came to second day, things were getting slower. We went out having pizza for lunch.

My aunty came later after that and that was it. I don’t have many relatives in Kedah as my dad is from Negeri Sembilan and my mom was from Johor. My mom came to Kedah brought with her, my aunty and cousin and my dad has his brother with him. All of them have been staying in Kedah for 35 years.

Nabila asked me why we don’t go around to people houses like when we were in Malacca (nak kutip duit raya ah tu.. ). I said I don’t have many relatives here so kutip je lah duit raya from my brothers, tok ayah, aunty and people who came to our house.

On the second day we had dinner at my favorite place yg lain tak bukan… Nasi Royale. Huh.. it has been so long mengidam and I was so lucky that it was opened on that night. Though it was very long queue, I didn’t mind at all.

Nak makan punya pasal.. sanggup segalanya! My brothers who were complaining Nasi Royale dah tak sedap nengok makan licin gak!! The next day punya terkejut perut after a month fasting.. makan nasi mamak.. I had to visit toilet for so many times..

On the third day of Raya, I just stay at home except in the afternoon went to my cousin’s open house. In the evening – bosan tahap cipan!! I brought my children to the Mall. We just wondered around and had light snack there.

That was it.. I didn’t say my stay in Kedah was bored. It was just me – bored without company. My brothers were busy with their activities and I just had no idea what to do and where to go. It was so pathetic of me in my own lonely planet.

This morning at 8.30am, I drove all the way till Malacca to visit my mother in-law. I arrived at 3.30pm and once stepped out from the car, my feet felt wobbly and shaky. I will be staying here for a couple of days before heading back to my home sweet home.

Tomorrow will be another Raya activity in Malacca.

Selamat Hari Raya

Today is Raya!! I woke up as early as 5am cooked nasi briyani – our old time favorite when my mom was still around. We used to have this every raya. This is my first time celebrating raya, I mean first day of raya in Kedah since almost 10 years ago. I am really looking forward especially when all my brothers too are here back in Kedah.

In the morning after solat raya, all of us went to ziarah my mom’s kubur. The place was very crowded and meriah sungguh. I was bit frustrated as I couldn’t visit the kubur (women’s reason)so just stay at the wakaf and looked from far.

After kubur was the sesi salam menyalam and kasi duit raya.. So it started from me till my youngest bro salam raya with our parents. Then my turn, my brothers yang banyak dosa salam raya with me.. hehehehhe.. After that it followed one by one of my brothers and the nephews and nieces. Bab nak kasi duit raya semua mukadimah masing2 tu yg tak leh tahan..

We received non-stop visitors till night who mostly were my bro’s friend. Habis licin my nasi briyani.. This year my dad is very happy as he has all the children and the grand children around. Except hubby is not around.. warrghhhh… All of us really miss him..

Selamat Hari Raya to everybody and Maaf Dzahir Batin.