Satu Hari Di Hari Raya - Nadia's place
I went beraya to Nadia's house last weekend. What interests me when I go there is the kek lapis (literally translated as layered cake). Nadia works in Bintulu, Sarawak - land of the kek lapis, where everybody there loves it so much. Somebody once told me that the standard serve during raya time in Sarawak, are carbonated drinks & kek lapis solely (can anyone confirm this?). I'm not really an ardent fan of kek lapis but when it comes to Sarawak kek lapis, I like to see the beautiful fusion of colors in one single slice. Unlike the Indonesian kek lapis which are layers of brown shades, the Sarawak kek lapis fusion are bright rainbow colors zig zagging or criss crossing each other. Simply fantastic! Imagine how tedious it is to make this cake. Oh, wait till you learn the names of these cakes like kek lapis Astro, kek lapis jesnita, kek lapis tulip, kek lapis bumi, kek lapis semarak hati etc. Interesting...
And guess what? Nadia's father read my blog! And it wasn't even Nadia who told him about it!! He was simply surfing the internet and simply searched for his daughter's name in one of the search engines. One of the results churned out was my blog - I did mention Nadia's name before in one of my previous entries. Nadia's father, a retired professor from UMS is very IT savvy like my father. My father ni really likes IT gadgets... He likes to buy these stuff and set it up at home. Let's just say I did manage to see the Apple green screen computers, 5 ½ floppy disks, joystick, dot matrix printer, wordstar, word perfect, dBase III when I was growing up. When I was studying IT in Uni, he had expectations that I could fix the computer! Setakat format PC tu I can lah - take out the hard disk , change master to slave, transfer data (now aren't we glad for memory sticks & cd +cd writers?), reformat, reinstall etc etc , but to troubleshoot errors coming from the OS / why the modem is not responding / change IP lah that I dunno lah. Lets just say I'm more towards an Application person than an Infrastructure person. So when I married Khairul he was glad to have a 'partner in crime'.
These days they gang up for projects at home - my father as the know-what guy - one with the new ideas & financial resource, while Khairul as the know-how - one with the understanding & skills of implementing and maintaining it. Together, they have successfully installed LAN between all the computers at home, wireless internet connection, 24 hours access to Internet without dialup, two or more computers simultaneous accessing the Internet, shared printer, and etc. I think more projects are coming up. My father says he does not mind spending for these things as he says they are 'educational toys'.
Wah, this is already a story about my father pulak instead of raya at Nadia's. So anyway, Nadia will be coming tomorrow for raya. Wonder what I'll cook for her? (me? Cook?! Kenapa, tak percaya?).
Friday, December 05, 2003
Supposed to be yesterday's post - 4.12.2003
This morning when we were getting into the car to go to the office, we saw our neighbour Rozani on his handphone & squatting near his satria car which was parked outside. A closer look revealed that the passenger seat window was smashed to bits and pieces. Apparently some thief had broken the window that night. I did not manage to ask him what was missing because he looked traumatized and was still on the phone when we left... we were late already.
Actually the exact same thing happened to my sister's car about 2 or 3 months ago. Both my sister and I are married with one kid each and still living with our parents. So due to parking space restriction in the porch, both our cars are parked outside. So anyway, this one morning we found the front passenger-side window of my sister's car smashed. What was missing was the Smart Tag which was attached to the windscreen and something really expensive - 3 Mont Blanc pens which totaled up to RM 4000! Initial intention was to take the Smart Tag I think, but the pens which he/ she took from the dashboard was a definite bonus. I'm not sure though if he / she knows the real value of those ridiculously priced pens. For all you know, he / she sold it for RM 100 each. But still...out of nothing can still gain a couple of hundreds. Those pens were supposed to be my brother in-law's office gifts to clients. Luckily he got away with only scolding from his superior.... Nasib baik tak kena ganti!
This is actually a syndicate according to the police when my brother in-law went to report the incident. An office mate of mine told me that a friend of his staying somewhere in the neighborhood also experienced the same thing. I'm not sure what car that guy has but looking at the incident that has befallen my brother in-law and my neighbour, looks like they aim for Malaysian cars. There were other cars parked outside that night i.e Prado Cruiser and Opel Ventra as well but why did they pick Proton cars? Probably because the alarm does not go off when you break the window whilst other cars the alarm system lagi canggih kot.
Anyway, to those who do not have the privilege to park within the boundaries of the house gate, do be careful. Never never leave anything in the car like plastic bag / coin purse / anythinglah. It could be something worth nuts but if the thief finds it interesting, you'll end up paying for a new window. Also, please keep your Smart Tags when you park your car. And of course practise locking the gear and the steering wheel. With all these security measures in place, next thing to is to Tawakkal. Bismillahi Tawakkal tu alallah...
This morning when we were getting into the car to go to the office, we saw our neighbour Rozani on his handphone & squatting near his satria car which was parked outside. A closer look revealed that the passenger seat window was smashed to bits and pieces. Apparently some thief had broken the window that night. I did not manage to ask him what was missing because he looked traumatized and was still on the phone when we left... we were late already.
Actually the exact same thing happened to my sister's car about 2 or 3 months ago. Both my sister and I are married with one kid each and still living with our parents. So due to parking space restriction in the porch, both our cars are parked outside. So anyway, this one morning we found the front passenger-side window of my sister's car smashed. What was missing was the Smart Tag which was attached to the windscreen and something really expensive - 3 Mont Blanc pens which totaled up to RM 4000! Initial intention was to take the Smart Tag I think, but the pens which he/ she took from the dashboard was a definite bonus. I'm not sure though if he / she knows the real value of those ridiculously priced pens. For all you know, he / she sold it for RM 100 each. But still...out of nothing can still gain a couple of hundreds. Those pens were supposed to be my brother in-law's office gifts to clients. Luckily he got away with only scolding from his superior.... Nasib baik tak kena ganti!
This is actually a syndicate according to the police when my brother in-law went to report the incident. An office mate of mine told me that a friend of his staying somewhere in the neighborhood also experienced the same thing. I'm not sure what car that guy has but looking at the incident that has befallen my brother in-law and my neighbour, looks like they aim for Malaysian cars. There were other cars parked outside that night i.e Prado Cruiser and Opel Ventra as well but why did they pick Proton cars? Probably because the alarm does not go off when you break the window whilst other cars the alarm system lagi canggih kot.
Anyway, to those who do not have the privilege to park within the boundaries of the house gate, do be careful. Never never leave anything in the car like plastic bag / coin purse / anythinglah. It could be something worth nuts but if the thief finds it interesting, you'll end up paying for a new window. Also, please keep your Smart Tags when you park your car. And of course practise locking the gear and the steering wheel. With all these security measures in place, next thing to is to Tawakkal. Bismillahi Tawakkal tu alallah...
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI 2003
Eid Mubarak - the sacred day which we get together with the nucleus as well as the extended family and relatives. The day we seek forgiveness from each other for all wrong-doings. The day our parents smile receiving our long-awaited presence. The day children jump in joy upon receiving their green angpows. The day of food festival. The day of VICTORY!!!
This is our second raya as a married couple and following the true tradition of round-robin, our first day was with the Othmans this year as it was with the Arifins last year. Usually the Othmans alternate between Johore and Terengganu, but this year the we celebrated the first day here in KL as my late grandfather had recently passed away and my great-grandmother has been transferred to live with my grand-aunt here in KL earlier this year. It has indeed been a long time since we celebrated in KL, think it was like 10 years ago... I remembe it as being a bit boring because we couldn't collect as much "duit raya" as compared to going back to more family & relatives in either Johore / Terengganu to collect our fair share of the 'cake'!
Surprisingly our first day of raya here in KL this year was great and full of festivity mood! We received a few guests and also we visited a few houses. It was just great to see a big family reunion at my uncle's house. There were up to 5 generations gathered under one roof with my great-grandmother being the matron and Idlan and Nurin being the 5th generation.
Bersalam-salaman... Bermaaf-maafan.... Festivity... Celebration.. Colors... Food.. Togetherness.. Family values... Love... Bonding... Keinsafan..
Our second raya was spent with the Arifins. Our first destination was the old kampung house in Linggi which used to be the house where En Arifin himself was brought up in. This house visited only once a year was the "pot" where the family gathered during raya. The rest of time it is left without occupants and visited by Khairul's aunt for monthly maintenance. It was constantly raining during that time and thus prawns were cheap at the market. We had an udang galore with udang masak lemak cili api & udang masak kicap that day. We went back to KL the next day as Khairul and I had to work on Friday.
So that was basically our Hari Raya celeb this year. Simple but still full of Hari Raya spirits just like the good old days. May be modern... May not sound like the TV advert raya.... May not be like the kampung raya... but it still the semangat raya tetap ada. The spirit of celebrating our victory. The spirit of bonding with your loved ones. The spirit of togetherness and cohesiveness. The spirit of seeking forgiveness and forgiving.
Although I do not receive anymore duit raya, (infact I'm handing it out) it is the first raya for Idlan and first time receiving the duit raya. I'm the one excited receiving his duit raya on his behalf and counting 'em. Hee... Guess my spririt to "receive" the duit raya has not died down!
Selamat Hari Raya folks... And remember "Kunjung-mengunjung di Hari Raya..Kesibukan kota bukanlah alasan..kita beraya hingga sebulan!!".
Eid Mubarak - the sacred day which we get together with the nucleus as well as the extended family and relatives. The day we seek forgiveness from each other for all wrong-doings. The day our parents smile receiving our long-awaited presence. The day children jump in joy upon receiving their green angpows. The day of food festival. The day of VICTORY!!!
This is our second raya as a married couple and following the true tradition of round-robin, our first day was with the Othmans this year as it was with the Arifins last year. Usually the Othmans alternate between Johore and Terengganu, but this year the we celebrated the first day here in KL as my late grandfather had recently passed away and my great-grandmother has been transferred to live with my grand-aunt here in KL earlier this year. It has indeed been a long time since we celebrated in KL, think it was like 10 years ago... I remembe it as being a bit boring because we couldn't collect as much "duit raya" as compared to going back to more family & relatives in either Johore / Terengganu to collect our fair share of the 'cake'!
Surprisingly our first day of raya here in KL this year was great and full of festivity mood! We received a few guests and also we visited a few houses. It was just great to see a big family reunion at my uncle's house. There were up to 5 generations gathered under one roof with my great-grandmother being the matron and Idlan and Nurin being the 5th generation.
Bersalam-salaman... Bermaaf-maafan.... Festivity... Celebration.. Colors... Food.. Togetherness.. Family values... Love... Bonding... Keinsafan..
Our second raya was spent with the Arifins. Our first destination was the old kampung house in Linggi which used to be the house where En Arifin himself was brought up in. This house visited only once a year was the "pot" where the family gathered during raya. The rest of time it is left without occupants and visited by Khairul's aunt for monthly maintenance. It was constantly raining during that time and thus prawns were cheap at the market. We had an udang galore with udang masak lemak cili api & udang masak kicap that day. We went back to KL the next day as Khairul and I had to work on Friday.
So that was basically our Hari Raya celeb this year. Simple but still full of Hari Raya spirits just like the good old days. May be modern... May not sound like the TV advert raya.... May not be like the kampung raya... but it still the semangat raya tetap ada. The spirit of celebrating our victory. The spirit of bonding with your loved ones. The spirit of togetherness and cohesiveness. The spirit of seeking forgiveness and forgiving.
Although I do not receive anymore duit raya, (infact I'm handing it out) it is the first raya for Idlan and first time receiving the duit raya. I'm the one excited receiving his duit raya on his behalf and counting 'em. Hee... Guess my spririt to "receive" the duit raya has not died down!
Selamat Hari Raya folks... And remember "Kunjung-mengunjung di Hari Raya..Kesibukan kota bukanlah alasan..kita beraya hingga sebulan!!".