Raya Visiting Part 1

Every Raya, we will go visiting to Hubby’s side of relatives with my in-laws. This somehow strengthen our ties, not just between me and my in-laws, but also with Hubby’s relatives.

My in-laws came to my house first before we proceed to other houses. Since we only get to meet Hubby’s uncles and aunties once a year or so, we stayed quite late in each houses. So end-up we could not complete all houses for visiting.

After visiting six houses, we called it a day. InsyaAllah, we tend to continue our visiting tomorrow.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri!!

The month of triumph is finally here!

My personal goals being set for Ramadhan has been achieved. Maybe not 100%, but at least there’s achievement in reaching the goals. Alhamdulillah!

The house and the food – lontong, ketupat, ayam masak merah, sambal tumis telus, lemak lodeh and daging masak kicap, are all ready.

Right after our Subuh prayer, we went to perform the Sholat Aidil Fitri nearby our neighbourhood. Had our scrumptious meal once we reached home and we were all ready to meet the clan.

  Grey and pink for this year Raya theme. Selamat Hari Raya!!!!

Day 2 : Enjoying The School Holidays

I had a very hectic day today. From the time I woke up till late night.

After Afrina left for school for her class, it’s Afiqah and Affandy’s turn to go for their Qur’an class. I love it if they can reach their Ustazah’s house 15 or 20 minutes earlier, so they will be the first to recite. In less than one hour, they will reach home already.

I started to cook very early today. I congratulated myself as by 9.45 a.m, the dishes were all ready. Actually I only cook Lemak Buncis with fishballs and fried Chicken Fingers. There’s some leftover of Ayam Masak Merah and I just reheated the dish. Sebab tu lauk cepat siap!

When Afiqah and Affandy reached home, I rushed them to get ready as I had a meeting to attend at school. The time went by so slow. I was anxious to wait for 2 p.m. That’s when the highight of the day began.

My trip to JB with my KSS sisters!! Love it and love them!!

This time round, Afiqah and Affandy had to tag along since I couldn’t leave them at home for long hours. One of my KSS sisters picked us up and off we headed to JB. Our first stop, Giant!! A place where I just took a trolley and picked and dumped anything I want in there. I went shelves by shelves and took the things that I need/want. There were mostly titbits and food actually. There’s some groceries too.

Oh! Besides the things in the trolley above, magazines, DVDs, Baulus, Cup Corns, Kaya Balls, Milo Ice Blended and shoes were included in the shopping spree too. How can I not love to go to JB?

After the shopping spree, we went to one of our sisters’ house at Permas Jaya. I always envy those people who bought a house at JB. But I have no intention to own one as I know how taxing it is to travel to and fro and to take care of two houses. Rumah yang satu aje tak terkemas!!

When we safely reached our hometown, we went to Jalan Kayu for supper. One of my favourite food, Tose Masala….

I have to say again that my KSS sisters and their families are one bunch of fun and gerek people. I may be the youngest among them, but they unofficially appointed me as their “secretary” as they know that I am a very detailed person.

By the time I reached home was almost to 11 p.m. Hubby was still at work. Even after the fun that I had earlier, I miss him. I really do.

Blessed Friday

It’s indeed a Good Friday and a blessed one, too.

Since it’s a public holiday, Hubby treated us breakfast at McDonalds, which was a very rare occasion. I wish we have more public holidays fall on weekdays so we can do this more often. Having breakfast outside is simply different from having lunch or dinner. Maybe it’s because of the morning sun, I believe .

While waiting for Hubby and Affandy got back from their Friday prayers, the girls and I watched DVDs.

After asar, we headed to Masjid Omar Salmah to attend the gathering organized by Darul Fikrah. We had barbecue and durians extravaganza! Not a fan of raw durians but I enjoyed watching my fellow brothers and sisters eating them.

Some pics to share…..

I really heart the Anak-Anak Cinta Rasul. Love their performance tonight. Full of love for Rasullullah S.A.W and full of energy.

Family Time

It’s a Saturday and we had no specific plan for today. We drove all the way to Ang Mo Kio for our lunch at Popeye’s, window shopping and ate ice-cream at Bishan Junction 8, and lastly since the weather was great, we went for a evening stroll at the beach. Simply bonding and quality time.

 

Lower Seletar Reservoir

Having fun with fun people doing fun thing – Photography.

It’s an impromptu decision to meet and shoot. We decided to go to Lower Seletar Reservoir. Though the weather was hot and occasionally cloudy, we still had our fun. Some shots to share…..

Finally I Had MACS

What is MACS? Find it here.

Hubby and I had date to JB again, but this time we went to apply for MACS. We had the approval within less than an hour and can be used on our next visit to JB. This is very useful for those who travelled frequently to JB. We no longer need to fill in the white cards. Just show our passport to the Immigration Counter, they scan and off we go. No worries on whether our passports have been chopped or not.

As usual, we had lunch but this we went to City Square. I always wanted to shop here but no chance yet. The killing part is the car park. You’re lucky if you can get an empty slot during peak hours. Hubby rode his bike, so parking was not a problem to us today.

I bought this Durian Cream Puff from Papa Beard. It’s sinfully delicious and creamy. But I had heart burn after eating it. Too heaty for me, I guess….

 

My KSS

I have wrote about a group of people that I refer as my Hajj brothers and sisters. We became very close after our Hajj trip together. From today onwards, I will refer them as my “KSS” – don’t ask me what it means. It’s a long story on how we got this name. Only those who belong to this group will know.

Anyway, we have not met for almost a month due to our tight schedules and our Ustaz was not in town for that period of time. We usually meet twice or thrice a week as all of us attend the same religious classes. While myself was busy preparing for my kids’ schools and so on.

I had a call from one of them, Kak Mas, when I was about to send Afiqah to her tuition class. I was truly happy when I saw her number appeared on my phone. Kak Mas is the one who always organize our outings. She will mention a place, after a few calls and sms-es, off we go to that destination. I was thinking she might have a plan for our next outing. So I cheerfully answered her call.

But I heard a crying voice instead, not the usual cheerful voice. Her father passed away. :’(

So I sent out sms-es to all my KSS, stating the address and time to meet to visit Kak Mas. After for not meeting for so long, we met at a funeral.

We hugged and kissed one another  (the sisters, I mean), feeling so happy that we finally gathered, but at the same time, feeling sad for Kak Mas.

We left the funeral closed to 11 pm, and knowing them, we would not go home straight away, we had supper at East Coast instead. I am not a supper-person. But I love this company so how could I resist them? The brothers sat at another table, and we the sisters, another. What a bliss when we sisters gathered again! We ate, we talked, we joked, we laughed till one of us realized that it’s already 1.30 am! Time really went so fast when we were having fun.

InsyaAllah, our classes will re-open as Ustaz is back. This means that we shall meet again at the garden of paradise, seeking knowledge to fulfill our soul.

The supper that we shared…..

 

Lunch Date

I can’t remember when was the last time I had a lunch date with Hubby at JB. It seems like so long ago.

Well, today we make it happened. After sending Affandy to school, Hubby fetched me and off we went. It might be nothing special, just lunch, bought some groceries, filled up petrol and went home. But  it meant so much to a homemaker like me. I get to go out; better than idling at home doing the normal routine and wait for everyone to be home. I get to lunch out; even though I’ve cooked. Kind of wanting to eat other people’s cooking. And I get to do my grocery shopping, peacefully .

I hope that this lunch date thingy will be a weekly outing, just like it used to be. As I enjoyed everything single moment of it.

These are what we had for lunch today :

Hubby's Rice

My Mee Hoon Goreng Pedas with Chilli Padi

Jam-Packed Sunday

Today was one of the days where we went out and go to places from one end to another end. Tiring but I felt some kind of accomplishment and satisfying. The beauty of having a husband who drives and what I need to do was to tell him where’s the destination and I duduk diam-diam kat kreta…

First stop was a wedding invitation by one of our Hajj friends at Jurong West. We met with lots of our other fellow Hajj friends there. We went out from our house at 12 pm exactly and the weather was scorching hot. Even if its rain or snow, I still want to fulfill every invitation that I received. So the hot weather will not stop me from going out. And I had these to cool down the heat….

Some delicacies and cold Cheng Teng.....

Since we were already at Jurong area, Hubby suggested to go to the cemetery to visit some of our relatives’ graves. I think it’s a good idea since our kids are with us, might as well bring them to see their grandparents’ graves. With two big umbrellas to shelter us from the heat, we walked from one lot to the other. We only managed to visit my mom’s, dad’s, aunt’s who recently passed away and my brother-in-law’s graves. Hubby asked the kids to give salam to all the occupants of the cemetery, saying that each of them can answer our salam but we cannot hear them. Afiqah and Affandy asked lots of questions pertaining to the graves – why are there plants and flowers on the graves, why there’s different colours of graves, why we must recite Al-Fateha to them etc. We also showed them the cemetery where children are buried. An innocent question was raised by Affandy : “Budak-budak pun boleh meninggal?” Yes, Affandy. Allah can take the lives of any of HIS servants when it’s time…..

My Mom's....

My dad's....

From the cemetery, we drove all the way to Jalan Bilal to perform our Zuhur prayer at Masjid Al-Taqua. All of us, except Hubby, dozed off in the car with the air-condition on to the full blast. The beauty of having a husband/father who drives, yes?

Next destination – Metro Sale at Expo!! Some retail therapy is good for the body, I believe. Anyway, not much damaged were done, just birthday gifts and some basic stuffs, mainly for Hubby. I managed to grab a grey pants for myself, love the colour, love the material and love the price – $19.90 only. Usual price was $42.90. So worth it, right? Like a close friend once said, “It’s a sin not to buy.” LOL!!

After our shopping spree, we went to visit my aunt and uncle again at my cousin’s place at Sengkang.We don’t need reasons to visit them. We just want to spend time with them, especially my beloved uncle. My kids also had fun playing with my cousin’s two-years-old daughter, Nisa.  I just feel that as we grow older and wiser, we tend to appreciate our precious knitted relationship more. Moreover, I have lost some of my loved ones. Hopefully, my children and my generations will value the loves for one another and continue and make effort to know and love their relatives.