Monday, September 28, 2009

Keeping it off

One of the best thing about Ramadhan is the almost assured weight loss. This is especially so if one does not splurge on the delicacies at the Bazaar Ramadhan.

I managed to shed some pounds.

... thats the easy part...

.... after a week of Aidilfitri, the question is whether I can keep it off...

Friday, September 25, 2009

Eid Mubarak


Two Days Before

We started our journey back to Hutan Percha, Melaka at around 10am (despite my earlier plan of leaving no later than 9am, in order to avoid the traffic congestion on the highway). My sis-in-law who is studying in Terengganu arrived in KL early in the morning and joined us for the drive. Traffic was amazingly clear (even at the usual Nilai, R&R and Seremban exit) and we arrived around 11.45am. Everyone were already back home except for my bro in law Azlan who would only be coming back tonight. Along got in on thursday, so too did Suhada. It was also the first time I met Along's son Raziq, whom Kak Ana gave birth in July. Haris now has another cousin to boss around, hehe!

In the evening, Along, Kema, Suhada and I went to the Pasar Ramadan in Alor Gajah. Talk about an IT savvy town, even the Medan Selera has frew WiFi. I can picture the UiTM Lendu students typing on their laptop at the Medan Selera, while savouring the cucur udang the town is famous for!

For the most part of it, everyone was fussing around Haris, who is happy to show his newfound mobility and his vocal cords. Haris somehow takes a bit of time to warm up to people but with Great grandma, he seemed to hit it off immediately.

The Day Before Eid

Early in the morning, I followed Along and Mak to Selandar to pick up the beef for the rendang. Selandar is about 15 minutes drive from Hutan Percha. Mak told me that the meat supplier has his own cattle farm and usually during festivities like Eid, he only takes orders in advance. Oh, and he also drives a brand new Mercedes E240 :)

The rest of the day is spent with the normal spring cleaning and cooking preparation. The menu for the Eid would be as follows:

1. Nasi Himpit & Ketupat
2. Rendang Ayam (Mak bought lotsa chicken at Mydin MITC)
3. Rendang Cili Padi
4. Lemang
5. Kuah Kacang
6. Sup tulang

The BIG day.. Eid

Everyone woke up very early. Luckily there was no mad rush for the toilets and bathroom. After one month of fasting, its time to celebrate the "victory", as prescribed by Allah in the Holy Al-Quran. Haris, Honey Dearest and I put on our matching maroon baju melayu and baju kurung and Haris looked extremely cute in it. It was off to the mosque for the solat sunat aidilfitri and after the performing the solat, we went to the Tanah Perkuburan to recite the tahlil for Arwah Datuk. The community here has this Mass Tahlil and in no time, it was full of family members visiting the grave of the departed.

My classmate from MCKK, Jani, hails from Hutan Percha and his house is not far from ours. Kema and Suhada joined us but unfortunately Jani had to stay back in KL because her mother in law was admitted to the hospital.

The whole family then headed to Tampin to have our family potrait taken at the photo studio (this so reminds me of the Lat cartoon, heheh) and imagine my surprise when almost all the phot studios are packed. We had to wait for about 45 minutes before we were ushered into the studio and had our family potrait taken.

It was then visits to relatives houses. More food and drinks. Darn, I need to maintin my weight loss!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin to all !


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Menjelang Syawal

It has been an interesting Ramadan for me this year.

First and foremost, I was down with viral fever for most of the first half of Ramadhan. It was quite a harrowing experience, with me being on bed most of the time. It started before the fasting month and I guess I officially recoverd on the 15th Ramadhan. Luckily it wasn't H1N1 but just as precaution, I was prescribed the the anti-viral alternative to Tamiflu and I believe I became one of the statistic for ILI (Influenza-like illness), heheh! Alhamdulillah, I have recovered (and lose some weight too!)

The thing about not being well is that I miss a lot of Tarawih prayers at the mosque. I confess, I am one of the Gang of 8 (read: lepas 8 rakaat, cabut balik!) and instead of performing it at the surau near my house, I opt for the SS19 moque (for obvious reasons, you should be able to guess!).

Monday, September 14, 2009

Fatherhood, the First Year.

On the 10th of September, my son Amir Haris turned one year old.

It also means that I have completed a whole year of fatherhood.