My 17th Wedding Anniversary

Hmm… I am not sure what to write other than reporting that the 14^th of August was our 17^th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do anything to celebrate. Too busy with the kids! Who got time to celebrate anyway? God willing, there will be more opportunities in the future.

Yasmin’s 13th Birthday

Hmm... I wonder what tickled 'em

Yasmin has officially turned a teenager on 12 August 2009. Steve asked her how she felt being a teenager and she said “just the same”. That’s right! What’s a big deal anyway? I have turned a teenager several decades ago and still feel the same! Hahaha! Ooops, is there something wrong with me? Anyway, we celebrated Yasmin’s birthday at a pizza place in Mega Mall. Boy, the kids ate a lot! We ordered 5 servings of breadsticks, a plate of spaghetti, 2 large pepperoni and 1 regular veggie lover pizzas, soups, and a variety of soft drinks. All are disastrous for human health but we don’t do it everyday. I guess that’s ok. We also bought 2 novels as presents for Yasmin: Necropolis & Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. Of course, as usual, we had to buy a book each for the other kids too. After dinner, the kids ate some ice cream and then we went to see G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra. By the time the movie ended and we arrived home, it was too late to cut her birthday cake. So we did that the following evening.

Salam Ramadhan

Hello everyone. I am back! The last time I updated my blog was on 3 August. For some mysterious reason I lost my passion for writing while on a week “forced holiday” when our College was closed due to a few positive swine flu cases. I blame it on the pigs because their flu made me lazy! Two important family events have taken place during my absence from blogging: Yasmin’s 13^th birthday and my 17^th wedding anniversary. Anyway I would like to take this opportunity to wish Salam Ramadhan to all practicing Muslims around the Globe. Notice that I used the word practicing Muslims? Well, we all know that there are so many types of Muslims around. So far, I have identified 5 categories: born Muslims, cafeteria Muslim, confused Muslims, forced Muslim, and of course the practicing ones. For those inquiring minds out there, I will briefly describe each category. I think everyone knows what a born Muslim is. S/he is a person who happens to be conceived in a Muslim womb. S/he doesn’t really care about the nitty-gritty of the religion. The cafeteria Muslims are the ones who pick and choose which part of the Islamic teaching that suits their purpose. They refuse to take Islam in totality. For example they say “hey, wearing hijab is not compulsory. It doesn’t go well with the current situation. But Islamic banking is ok because it doesn’t seem to be affected much by the world economic turmoil. That’s good for our pocket”. The confused Muslims are the kind that would be easily persuaded by cult leaders to do things for the benefits of the leaders. The forced Muslims are usually involving those who converted to Islam for the sake of marriage. The last category is the practicing Muslims who constantly try hard to be good to themselves and others. I hope I am in the last category.

Anyway, I am glad that my writing mood is back. It all started 2 days ago when I read a few of my friends’ blogs. So, Norida, Zara, and Yani Yunus, this entry is dedicated to all of you.

Pigout Time!

Last Friday (31 July) and all the way through weekend were pig-out days! On Friday morning I attended a birthday gathering for my boss at the office. We had plenty of food such as “mee kari, soto, mee hoon, rojak buah, lai chee kang”, chocolate cake, cheese cake, and puddings. It was hard to resist those wonderful dishes so I didn’t even try. I just controlled the portions and skipped lunch. In the evening I attended another gathering at my neighbor’s house. It was their house warming party as well as hair cutting ceremony for their new granddaughter. Both Danial (who just got back from a guitar lesson) and Harris stayed home playing computer games and Steve went to town sending the girls to their art class, so I went alone. To lessen my guilt for pigging out, I jogged to the house, ate some “roti jala”, jogged around the block and all the way home.

The hostess (in purple dress)

They even gave us these souvenirs to take home

When I came home I saw tonnes of “keropok kering” (dried fish crackers) and “keropok lekor” in my kitchen. Steve informed me those were given by Juan’s dad (Roberto). He brought them to Steve’s office all the way from Terengganu. I fried some for Danial and Harris as an addition to their French fries dinner. I promised myself not to eat that night but as the saying goes, promises are meant to be broken! When Steve and the girls came home with a bag of sate, I ate some more! There goes my waistline. The next day, after Hannah and I attended our piano lesson, Steve, Najla, and I went to my friend Aida’s sister’s wedding at “Wisma Belia” Indera Mahkota. Yup! More eating to do. Wow! It was a huge wedding with the Sultan and Sultanah Pahang as the VIP guests. I met my “Harfiah” class’ teacher and an MCC alumna Amira, whom I haven’t met in ages. In fact, the bride is Amira’s relative. After the wedding my whole family left for my mom’s kampong in NS. We still have a bit of fruits left, such as mangosteen, “duku, langsat, and rambutan”. On Sunday Steve, Najla, and I attended another wedding! More food! Aaaaahhh, we can’t run away from them. They are everywhere! How lucky we are in this country. While many in the world are dying of hunger, we are dying of eating too much! The bigger kids didn’t want to go. They had more important things to do such as watching the idiot box! What a bunch of party poopers.

Both bride & groom are MCC alumni

Najla was having her dessert (chocolate icecream)

Delicious looking wedding cake

"Cermai Asamboi"

I love to eat “asamboi” (pickled fruits). One day I received a forwarded email on the condition of the factory making them. Gee, if any of you saw it, you would not want to buy “asamboi” anymore! The place was so indescribably filthy. I wish I kept the photos so I could show them here. Anyway, when my friend Zah taught me how to make pickled “cermai”, I was so grateful and started making them every time I get supply of the fruits. Last week, I got some from my neighbor’s house and of course I pickled them. They taste so good and they have no added coloring or preservatives.

Fresh "cermai"

Pickled "cermai"