senior model

not knowing what to do since had been idling and staying home, hubby had decided to be the model to chomel's camera. due to the uncertainties of the weather and most of his golf partners are outstation, he's forced to stay home with us. once aamal is back from the kenduri kahwin and in his worn pagoda, faded jeans and old cap, he'd made quite a pose with himself. being a senior, papa had directed the photographer and not vice versa as in normal circumstances. all the posts dalam our gate je and being a guy who has high sense of humour, papa had created few comical scenes and we really laugh thru the shooting. shown are few snaps in his serious mood cos yang lain tuu semuanya muka kelakar je ..

where the heart is

it's a long holiday, since we're not going anywhere and hubby tak pegi menebas kat padang golf, we'd decided to weed the grass ourselves, tak upah husin or suppaya as planned earlier. hence, on saturday, lepas kena nasi lemak kat ali's corner, hubby, hani and aamal headed for nurseries in sungai buluh. actually it'd been a while since we bought plants kat sg buluh as it's now easier to beli kat kedai jeffry in bch je; banyak kedai bunga dah berubah for new buildings ..

personally, staying home and gardening is where hani's heart is, we're looking for carpet grass, size is approx 3x30 feet, nak ditanam kat tepi sebelah kanan rumah yang dapat sunlight almost half the day. actually those are the questions being posed by ms liew masa kami nak beli rumput, siap ngan teori and khutbah yang berjela, well hubby was very impressed with the explanation then. we'd bawa balik 45 pieces of 1x2 feet philipine type, jenis yang daun kecik and tajam, cam kat golf laa jugak ..

we'd had spent the whole of saturday evening and sunday morning ngan menyangkul, buang the old cow grass and batu bata, menggembur tanah and finally bubuh pasir before tanam rumput. it'd been a hard job especially to aqeel yang jarang pegang cangkul, and no wonder suppaya quoted till rm4,000. aamal was helping us on saturday but she's off to be a photographer at a friend's wedding on sunday. the job was fully completed by 4 pm and we'd then left for kedai makan, hani'd been a gardener and dapur pun tutup for the day ..

over the holidays, kami satu family had upgraded tepian kolam ikan where hubby had simbah batu kerikil to avoid air bertakung and had added few pokok to it.

"where the heart is" by shirley larson, is the novel currently hani's hooked to and it's been sometimes since hani dapat khatam novel yang ada kat arkib ku ini ..

dekat di hati

had attended a wedding reception hosted by one of the smskel clan, az last saturday and was rather shocked since hani and family je kawan yang dijemput. actually az is a teacher in mrsm kelantan and menetap in kubang kerian but had buat jamuan kat rumah one of the sisters in bangi. syahdu bila terdengar jawapan why hani je yang dijemput, the answer is : hani masih dekat di hati

tomorrow, xmas day at 11am, we'll be going to kajang for sara's engagement; sara is the daughter of ani ayi, one of hani's buddy kat office dulu. was initially excited to see old colleagues after 5 months but she ended the invitation with : hani je yang dijemput cos buat majlis kecilan and kami nii sebagai family members ..

on the 14th dec baru nii, received one pos laju with a wedding invitation from arau perlis, it's from liza, who'd spent her maternity leaves kat kampung. she'd called hani few times earlier urging us to attend the reception but we'd to decline due to some urgent matters. she'd then posted the bunga telur

had recently attended pn has punya jemputan raya and again, we're the only kawan yang dijemput since the rest are family members. my immediate neighbour, kak ani had hosted hi-tea in shangrila, hani and family je kawan yang dijemput besides her family ..

jauh di mata dekat di hati - gaya, poram, risam, miton, aar and muhi are the clans and so is nik ming and nik noni. thank you so much to all since hani is still considered as kawan yang dekat di hati and part of the family members. do really pray that the coming new year will be a better and more prosperous year for all of us

friday nite out

we decided to give kak ani abang faizal a dinner treat last friday before they leave to europe for a month vacation. d'anjung restaurant in sungai choh rawang was the initial venue but we discovered that it's still closed for idul adha and we had to stop at one new restaurant in mutiara rawang for sate, tomyam, ayam merah, kailan ikan masin and udang goreng tepung. we'd ordered kerabu mangga and telur bungkus but till the end, these two dishes tak kunjung tiba. it's really frustrating especially bila kita dah janji nak bagi good dinner ..

aamal and aqeel had urged to singgah at secret recipe for their marble and newyork cheese cake; the adults agreed since we can have our latte and cappuchino besides the cheese cakes for dessert. aliff didnt join us since he'd a date with his friend. we were talking and laughing till almost 10 pm before adjoining the day with a promise of going out for breakfast the next day with kak ani since hubby and abang faizal are going for golf immediately after subuh.

morning coffee

at 9.30 am yesterday, hani had attended the morning coffee hosted by kak ani abg faizal in her garden since she'll be leaving to europe for a month. the minum2, makan2 and chitchat session lasted till 12.30 noon and only her closest buddies were invited. kak melini and kak mariah came with the cucu, kyra melissa, 3 months and aiyra qistina, 6 months. kak asiah, jamie, kak norlia, ita and hani were there earlier but kak tengku joined us after 12 noon.

it's a pot luck session and hubby had been busy cooking rendang ayam, kuak kacang and nasi impit for hani to bring along. tq z, it's delicious and mendapat pujian dari mak2 dara nii. most of them bawa kuih muih since hani had volunteered to bring the core menu and the host had prepared drinks and fruits. as usual the chitchat session was full of laughter since everyone is updating their current situation; sedar tak sedar it'd been almost 5 months hani being a full time homemaker and time flies so fast ..

yesterday aamal was so sad since her zifi, the hamster yg dibela almost a year had disappeared. zifi nii yg cerdik sikit compared to zifa yang tahu makan and tidur je, zifi and zifa are both male hamster and memang sengaja pilih same sex so that they do not breed. well, guess now she'll bagi zifa to pet shop since she'd decided to bela rabbit. hubby had beli 43 baby japanese carps untuk dilepaskan to his newly completed kolam ikan and aqeel had bought few more guppy to the aquarium. as usual, hani nii tukang kebun kat rumah ..

baby is 15 ..

15 years ago, when the nation was still busy looking for highland tower's victim, my youngest, aqeel farouqi made his way to the world. he was more than two weeks earlier since we'd anticipated him to be born early january the next year. from small, aqeel was an easy child to be taken care of and being the baby of abang and kakak, he was often been bullied when both of them came home for school holidays ..

those days, aqeel was more a round and shorty boy but now, he's lost lots of weight and is as tall as abang. as a baby, he's the fairest and cutest of them all and bibik had trained him cam budak indon, makan nasi kosong dulu, then only ratah lauk and till now, he'll cubit sikit2 ayam, daging or ikan and never gonggong tulang .. aqeel was always fussy and selective in choosing friends and alhamdulillah, till now he is in good company.

around 3pm, his boy friends were already at our pondok. hubby had been busy helping hani to cook spaghetti bolognoise, french fries and jelly. orange juice is to quench the thirst and earlier, kakak had bought tiramitsu cake. mama and papa's wish to aqeel, be cemerlang dunia akhirat and may aqeel the rich be a reality ..

sg klah hotspring

hubby is on leave today bersempena keputeraan sultan selangor and we decided to go to sungkai, the sg klah hotspring and spa. around 9am, we left bch to pekan rawang to have heavy nasi lemak at ali's corner. sungkai is just 45 min drive from rawang and it's not that difficult to locate the place since there are many signboards around. tho it's in felda, it's nicely done and the resort and spa was recently officiated by najib.

the entrance fee is rm10 for adults and not knowing that cars can go in freely, we decided to take a walk to the hotspring area. aamal is busy capturing images in the land of serenity. orang dah ramai, tak kira chinese, indians and malays. we saw few bus from majlis perbandaran selayang, it's confirmed that they are holding their family day there. we stopped and tried our feet from one pool to another, from a pool of 30 degree to a 50 degree celcius and there's a place where we can directly boil the eggs, eggs are sold there ..

among us, aqeel's tolerance level to heat is the highest compared to aamal, who's dry all thru and looking after the bags. the toilets and the pools are clean and well taken care. we then decided to swim in one of the pool which is just like the temperature of our heater back home; more than an hour later we're trapped in the heavy rain. it's a beautiful hideout and we decided to visit this sg klah hotspring and spa soon ..

hubby had decided to balik kot jalan lama since he'd missed the mee kicap and pau in tanjung malim. all of us had mee and tapau the frozen pau to be taken back home.

idul adha

yesterday, mon 8th dec umat islam menyambut idul adha and this year, hani and family tak balik beraya kat p'mas cos mum-in-law had requested us to beraya dengannya kat rumah kak long. kat kampung, the family had tumbangkan seekor lembu depan rumah and we missed that .. in bch, hani had cooked nasi dagang with kari ayam and jelatah nenas. trifle and agar2 was for dessert. lepas je solat sunat idul adha, dengan sedikit bekalan kami bergegas kat rumah kak long in desa jaya to see mak, all the sis/bro-in-laws tak sampai lagi. kak long had served us with bakso since currently, lily, the bibik hails from indonesia. we were there till 2pm only since had promised adik2 that hani'll be around after 3pm.

my lil bro, aar and family arrived shortly then, followed by hani's closest colleague, pn has and family. another bro, nd and family joined us later. meriah laa juga beraya haji kat rawang nii bila hani's little nieces and nephews berlari kesana kemari and when the elderly was into carrom .. kak ani and abang faisal came before maghrib and later, wati and sakri joined us for nasi dagang. by 11pm, when everybody had dozed off, hani masih in the kitchen doing the cleaning up ..

dinner treat

last nite, my closest neighbour, kak ani and abang faizal had treat us for dinner at d'chiengmai restaurant in sungai buluh, to say thank you cos had helped them out masa kenduri kahwin fara dulu. now, both the daughters had followed the husbands, ferlynda and the boys had left for france and the newlywed, fara had left for sydney, tinggal laa mereka berdua je.

aliff had reached home earlier for cuti raya haji, managed to join us for dinner. we'd ordered tomyam campur, sweet sour siakap, udang petai, tempura sotong and kerabu mangga. sirap longan is for dessert besides coffee and tea. yummy yummy ..

we went in two cars and anak2 had headed straight home after dinner but the old folks nii boleh singgah for another supper session at ghazali restaurant in bch. we came home around 11pm and another neighbour, kak tengku and abang khalid had requested us to join them at their newly completed pergola. had another round of nescafe before adjoining the day.

balik kampung

sorry since dah more than a week tak jenguk blog nii, actually hani had balik kampung in pasir mas since the 26th nov to 2nd dec. altho it's raining and banjir kat east coast, ianya tak jeopardise our holiday, it'd been a pesta to us .. sepanjang kat kampung, breakfast will be a-dollar of nasi berlauk ayam and a-delicious-50sen pulut pagi .. almost everyday, hani, cek and ayoh dok kat steamer cos it's so cold outside

wed, 26th nov
my lil sis, ayu had fetched us, aqeel, aamal and hani from the airport at 8.30 am; sengaja took the earliest flight cos nak singgah breakfast nasi kerabu kat kedai pak lah in seberang pmas. had nasi kerabu with ayam and daging bakar and siap tapau for cek, ayoh and atok kat rumah, yummy .. lepas je zohor, aya and ayu ikut we all to rantau panjang. the weather was good and we did a little shopping. managed to buy bunga telur yang murah and unique. on the way back, sempat jenguk moksu yam, my auntie who suffered a minor stroke.

thu, 27th nov
it had been raining cat and dog the whole day. we didnt go for a shopping spree but on the look out for delicious mee celup and coconut shake. we had it for lunch and tried mee cambo for dinner.

fri, 28th nov
had our normal breakfast but singgah for another roti goreng while waiting for my sis, ana and her daughter, byla who wanted to follow us to pengkalan kubur. all the while, ayu will be with us and by 11am, we had reached p'kubur, a tax free zone. it'd been a while since we were there and lots of improvement can be seen, it's more or less like petaling street now. we didnt do much shopping but ana had bought 2 5-litre corning casseroles. sampai je rumah, my auntie, mokcik sah and her daughter, cikgu yati came visiting and over the phone earlier, had promised another auntie, che ngah to visit her and dalam kepenatan selepas asar, we left to her house. she had prepared kuih muih ubi kayu based for us, buah salak from her kebun and the daun serai wangi for the steamer.

sat, 29th nov
had received a call from smskel clang, azman and he's on the way to visit hani kat rumah. he's used to coming to our house masa kecik2 dulu and he'd his way with cek and ayoh. he was there till 12 noon. had promised ana to have lunch at her place immediately after azman left. late afternoon, received calls from dr yati and kak nik, confirming on our meeting at moon kopitiam somewhere near pengkalan chepa after maghrib nanti. around 3pm, aya had celebrated madhirah nur aisyah's 1st birthday kat rumah cek; only ana and family dijemput. we had sate, kuihmuih and birthday cake. lepas je maghrib, hani and anak2 left to meet old friends; we reached the place an hour late due to massive jam kat jambatan sultan yahya petra, bus rosak kat tengah2 and dah tersesat jalan. besides dr yati and kak anik, azman had joined us. it was a beautiful nite and we left the place after 12 mid nite.

sun, 30th nov
it's a rainy day and had promised cek to visit an uncle, ayah long in kubang terap who had just completed doing renovation at his villa. they'll be hosting the youngest daughter's wedding, ismazarni, a pathologist in march next year. ayoh long and cek long are ok despite of their age and urging aamal to appear on tv soon. ayu had left for kl, she'd to complete the unfinished task ..
rantau panjang dah banjir, kami anak beranak still went out to makan mee celup and coconut shake kat kedai moksu, it's the best so far.

mon, 1st dec
immediately left to kota bharu after breakfast with aamal and aya looking for batik in bazar buluh kubu. managed to buy batik sedondon fo cek and ayoh before receiving a call from an old friend who owns an outlet kat situ. managed to meet her and terbeli another sedondon suit for hani and hubby, few pieces of batik, kain hantaran and samping songket for aamal's engagement; tho it's on the higher end, hani's happy with the purchase due to its exclusivity ..

tue, 2nd dec
received news that rantau panjang dah clear, with aqeel and aamal, hani had left early in aya's myvi. air masih melimpah di sepanjang jalan, but it's not dangerous and there are lots of people around, it's just like the old days, banjir kecil is just like a pesta to everyone. sesampai je kat kastam r'panjang, terpaksa turned back cos air masih dalam and takut2 myvi aya tak lepas. aqeel and aamal were a little bit frustrated cos masih banyak yang hendak dibeli and hani is supposed to collect the raga hantaran which were ordered earlier. anyhow, singgah kat kilang ayam percik before heading to pasar p'mas. had bought 2 kotak to isi barang2. lepas je zohor, aya and her daughters, enni and sarah had sent us to the airport. had given them a treat after checking in. around 6pm, we are already in papa's car ..

greens

the thought of having a pondok with lots of greens was hani's dream before. with no basic and background of plants and staying in terrace house with limited land area was the main barrier to tree planting those days. once we moved to bch 9 yrs ago, hani bought few bougainvillas which were full of flowers. 3/4 weeks later, the plant dah jadi botak since all the flowers had dropped.

thank you to abang rahim, was my neighbour in selayang, who had given me lessons in planting trees. once a while abg rahim and kak ani will pay us a visit in bch and monitor the plants progress. slowly, planting trees and looking after them had become hani's passion when more and more plants and trees hidup ngan subur dan hijau kat pondok. being a fulltime working nobody, hani cant hardly water them. alhamdulillah, the greens manage to survive and breed.

hani loved all types of greens, the helicornia, bird of paradise and all species of keladi is my interest. they are easily looked after provided with the right sunlight and water. dulu, the greens jarang dibaja but now, hani dah lebih rajin especially having ample time after being a pensioner.
not only kita tak berapa nak sihat during renovation progress, hani lost banyak plants during this period. being busy as the project supervisor and sibuk ngan lawatan luar kawasan, most of the plants were neglected and the leaves are covered with thick cement dust.

well, the renovation has finally come to a stop and hani has promised to give more attention to the plants and trees. hani is at peace with the plants and trees, they are a form of therapy to hani and really happy to use them at the wing kat pondok. always welcome family and friends who wanted anak2 pokok especially anak keladi gajah ..

finally ..

guess the job as the project supervisor is gonna end soon since the renovation of our pondok is almost completed. currently, hussin the contractor is focusing on the kolam ikan, which is the new addendum to the contract. all this while, hubby is so passionate to his japanese carps and had negotiated with hussin to make a new one bila the old pond bawah porch terpaksa dipecahkan to give way to the tiles. it was a pity, due to long hours of electricity failure, only 3 carps managed to survive and guess with the new pond, he'll start buying new ones back.

we had created an external living area, siap ngan bumbung, sink, fan and few chairs and table untuk kegunaan semua. luckily with ample pots and plants, hani managed to decorate the wing as cosy as possible. yesterday, together with the smskel clans, we had our makan2 and chitchat session here. last nite, nd my brother came for dinner and stayed back till late nite for carrom kat luar nii. lepas nii, kena shop for blinds since bila hujan tuu, tempias laa jugak ..

dari luar this is how hani's pondok looks like and there are still few small touch-ups yang hussin kena siapkan before the contract ends. after more than a month duduk dalam debu simen, finally hani and family will be free from all those dusts. tq to my chomel, aamal who had composed the view of our pondok in 3-diamensional, not bad for an amateur ..

old friends ..

friends are easy to come and go but true friends are difficult to find. actually, my smskel clan, cikgu ju had called the clans for lunch untuk majlis kesyukuran sempena her only daughter's engagement as well as kenduri doa selamat since they are leaving for mecca this 26th nov. since cikgu ju is just my neighbour at the next taman and teaching in kota bharu, ju had requested hani to cater on her behalf and hani had indirectly pelawa the clans for hi-tea at our pondok.

while cooking spaghetti and trifle for hi-tea, had received call from pn su in putrajaya enquiring whether we are able to fetch them (ha, su and az) at rawang train station since they wanted to attend ju's function. cant help imagining since they are 3 mak datins whose husbands are prominent figures in the country, belajar naik train to rawang. hani had agreed with the thought of sending my daughter, aamal to fetch them.

az, a teacher whose husband is the ketua pengarah in usm, kubang kerian hailed from kota bharu, is on holiday in kl and been staying at her sister's residence in bangi. both su and ha are home-makers and staying in putrajaya as their husbands are the ksu in the government's department. az had joined su and ha in the erl before taking the commuter to rawang. since it was their first experience naik train, macam2 incident happened and we really laughed to their stories. being mak datin from kelantan yang tebal ngan barang kemas, they managed to reach the destination without much hassle.

lepas dari rumah ju, all of them came for asar kat pondok hani before having the minum2. had served the smskel clans with spaghetti, trifle and tauhu ros with tea and strawberry juice. well, really blessed to have old friends who will not mind going thru thick and thin together ..

cooking ..

well, those were the days when cooking was very far away from hani. masa family hubby masuk meminang pun ayoh had hilited on hani's handicapped in the kitchen but hubby was ok with it. hani could hardly differentiate between halia and lengkuas, kunyit was easier since it colored the fingers. trying to run away when cek minta tolong untuk kupas bawang since all types of onions will make my eyes sore. tho anak sulung, but being in boarding school since age of 13, tak minat and a big M(alas) in the kitchen, it was hani ..

only learnt to cook after marriage and Allah had given me a husband who doesnt mind eating outside most of the times. we were in trengganu during our early marriage, hani only knew to bakar ikan and cicah air asam je. feeling like hani was just a kindergarden girl in cooking. as years passed and being a more matured wife, with the aid from cek especially and mak, more and more recipes were accumulated and tried successfully.

alhamdulillah, now approaching a golden age, hani can cook more varieties of rice and lauk pauk. being a kelantanese, nasi dagang and gulai darat is a must during festive seasons. nasi kerabu and laksa lemak will be alternately cooked during weekends. aqeel loves hani's nasi lemak while aamal prefers the sambal sotong. aliff will be ok with anything which is rice based. hubby used to complaint about hani's previous asam pedas but now, dah dapat pujian memanjang. altho' in laws are from the southern, they are ok with my pantai timur's cooking

both hubby and hani like to invite friends to our pondok and we'll try new recipes, tak kira laa melayu or western food to be served. hubby is a very good companion in the kitchen and his rendang is superb. being a pensioner and trying to cook most of the days, tak de laa nak nangis lagi bila dapat call that someone's dropping by. just felt i'd graduated with a PhD in cooking ..

beautiful saturday

15th nov, immediately lepas subuh je, sarung track suit and pegi jogging ngan hubby. lately hubby had changed his golf schedule to sunday morning since banyak kerja nak kena settle on saturday. since he is not into jogging and sekadar teman je, jadi tak laa dia keen sangat. tak sampai 40 mins, we had landed kat kedai mamak for breakfast.

then, hani had popped into the sauna space for more than 30 mins whereas hubby was discussing with the contractor for his kolam ikan. had promised him that we'll be going out around 12 noon to buy the decorative tiles kat jalan ipoh before pegi rumah smskel clan, en tora in bangi. aqeel had informed us earlier that he'll be joining his colleagues to town and wont be following us. being part of the secretariat for anugerah oskar untuk penggiat filem in nikko hotel, aamal had left earlier to get her new dress and hair-do in curve.

managed to get 4 pieces of beautiful tiles for the external sink and 3 pieces of water frame for the kolam ikan, we reached tora's house around 3 pm. ramai regular faces dah ada and we were served with delicious laksam, fried mee and satay kajang besides the other tasty delicacies. more clans started to arrive and the house was full of laughter and happiness. as usual, banyak topik2 hebat diperdebatkan ..

lepas je maghrib, we went to one of the lighting shop in rawang to enquire on the decorative fan which we'd ordered earlier. decided to change for another type cos dah lama sangat menunggu, then we masuk into one of the new kopitiam shop as recommended by aqeel and had a beautiful dinner. managed to see cerekarama played by umi aida and fahrin ahmad before sailing to the moon.

dulu dan sekarang ..

was just questioning aqeel on the rationale of him buying an expensive handphone. at the age of fifteen, aqeel is requesting to buy one sony ericsson which is almost rm1500. altho he'll be using his own money, to hani, at that age, guna je laa phone yang biasa2, macam budak2 lain. well, phone tuu memang laa semuanya ada, 5mpixel, wifi, 3g, etc, tapi with the psp yg sentiasa with him, he's able to access the wifi. bila mama bising requesting anak2 to save for the future, the answer is simple, ada banyak lagi. zaman mama dulu lain, trying to save ..

teringat early morning masa aliff was in alpha studies kat university, was shocked when he didnt attend class due to drizzle in melaka and quoting that he couldnt walk in the rain. bila relate the call to dear hubby, dia pun terkejut cos zaman dulu, kami nii panjat bukit shah alam tak kira dalam panas ke hujan untuk belajar. during his alpha, dapat laa aliff pakai 2nd hand kancil. now, aamal pun drive to setiawangsa to attend classes setelah satu semester full of complains bila kena naik train. alhamdulillah, we are now ok and looking back, those were the days ..

during the 26 years of working and hani being the tak berapa rajin nak masak, bila dapat masak once a week tuu dah rasa macam bagus sangat dah. most of the time kami akan makan di luar, tak kira di mana, cos hubby jenis yang rajin drive untuk mencari makanan2 yang sedap. dulu, bila ayah dapat gaji je, cek will pujuk the brothers to take the afternoon nap cos malam nanti kita nak keluar makan malam. all of us will be excited and berbaju paling glamour, maklumlaa sekali sekala je dapat keluar malam and there will be nites, kami terus masuk studio for family photos.

now, bila cuti sekolah, kalau tak pegi holiday, semuanya asyik terperap kat rumah je. the computer, ps2, psp, magazines and tv will be busy entertaining them. dalam sehari tuu, entah berapa kali dapur and fridge dikunjungi oleh aliff, aamal and aqeel. masa kami kecik2 dulu, pantang ada matahari je, everybody will be playing outside and tak hiraukan makan minum till cek panggil balik. now, after 5 pm hani will ask aqeel to go out and play with the boys ..

comparing dulu and sekarang, there are vast different. those days, we will happily walk to town but nowadays, anak nak jalan sorang pun parents dah risau. ya laa, now ozone dah nipis and air pollution at critical level compared to dulu ..

birthday present ..

last saturday, lepas je balik dari rumah tok rosed and tengah dok dressed up to le meridian hotel, magicboo lorry had delivered the infrared sauna space. dearest hubby had chosen the infrared sauna for this year's birthday present since dia tahu hani nii memang suka benda-benda cam gitu. lepas pencen nii, hani will habiskan masa either in the steamer or sauna lepas jalan on treadmill kat club.

hani used to have the steamer but bila ayah recover from stroke, hani dah bawa balik steamer tuu untuk kegunaan di kampung. cek will masukkan daun serai wangi, daun pandan, daun stroke and beraneka lagi ke dalam cooker of the steamer. kat rumah, the main difference between sauna and steamer is that kita boleh masukkan beraneka herbs, inclusive of the aromatheraphy in the steamer but not the sauna. sauna will be a totally dry and odourless agent untuk kita sweat.

guess, lepas nii asyik dok kat bilik je laa since the sauna is installed in the room. today, anak2 had tolong rearrange mama's room and hani had belanja pizza for dinner. tq abang for making my dream comes true ..

fara's wedding ..

it's been sometimes since hani had updated this blog of mine; been so busy with fara's wedding. fara is the youngest of two girls, anak kak ani and abang faisal, my closest neighbour. the nikah was held on thursday, the 6th nov in masjid alfaizin desa jaya, kepong. fara's groom is david, hailed from sydney australia. well, it's a beauty to see all the mek-mek salleh in baju kurung and tudung during the wedding ceremony. tuan haji ayub, hubby's uncle was the kadhi and he had read all the clauses in english. it was amazed since david had chosen to akad in malay. kak ani had catered a nice lunch from kampungku in her garden then.

my in-laws, mak, kak long and kak iza were invited and ramai laa juga geng-geng from bch yang lepak kat pondok hani after the kenduri. luckily had ordered carrot cake from kak long and tak laa malu sangat bila ramai orang singgah till petang. majlis merenjis was d0ne kat dalam rumah and we'd prepared the pelamin for this occasion. all the mat salleh, from australia and france (kak ani's first besan is from france) were impressed with the tepung tawar and bunga telur. the in-laws left pondok kami after maghrib.

on saturday, a bigger reception is held in kl's le meridian hotel and it is more for mat salleh. kami anak beranak were there despite of aamal having her viva. kak long came with aim and kak iza with abang tom had joined us at the table. the food and music were tremendous and so are the guests. food is a mixed of continental and western. kak ani's family je yang melayu and adik beradik abang faisal were in their best sarees. ramai kengkawan abang faisal, felinda and fara are non malays and thus, jarang je yang berbaju melayu. we came home almost 11 pm with a full stomach and satisfaction. it was an expensive dinner indeed ..

adinda ..

decided to buat laksa lemak (kelantan) for en zol and family. around 9 am, ngan aliff we went to pasar bch. on the way, had breakfast and collect baju2 kat laundry. lama jugak kat pasar cos terjumpa ngan geng2 hitea. bila dah balik rumah, kumar si wireman dah menunggu and there goes another hari2 yang berdebu ..

since petang baru nak masak laksa, hence lunch is home cooked black pepper fried rice. my youngest brother, g arrived shortly and joined us for lunch. g, who is self employed will always ada kat rumah bila aliff is on leave since still dok asyik ngan ps altho anak dah dua.

altho dah pencen, hani jarang take afternoon nap and bila dah lepas zohor, decided to cook laksa. tengah dok prepare, dapat salam from another brother, nd with his two sons, shakir and syauki. nd is also staying in bch and he'll singgah kat rumah hani as and when dia terasa rindu, in fact dia yang lebih monitor the renovation work. nd had helped hani in the kitchen since my dearest aamal is still busy in college.

had received call from zol apologising that they all tak dapat singgah kat pondok kita due to heavy rain. immediately laksa masak je, without waiting for hubby to come home, kami makan dulu since adinda2 ku berdua will be back to their nest sebelum malam. this morning cek dah bagi credit about my laksa since adinda2 ku had called her earlier ..

last nite ..

for what ever reason, my handphone was downstairs last nite, normally it'll be in my room since am not accepting calls after office hours (masih habit di zaman kerja dulu). finishing our dinner, the first call was from my 2nd sister, ana in p'mas. she'd invited us for the kenduri kesyukuran on the 10th nov, siap ngan khemah2 and catering lagi. being a couple of graduate teachers kat kampung and with the backdated arreas announced by the government, alhamdulillah meriah laa hidup adindaku ini. before ending the call, siap ngan "we'll c u in december, nak shopping handbags lagi"

tak sampai 10 mins later, the phone rang again and it's from mak arwah yusliza, my friend in f.r.a.n.c.e. well, syawal dah berlalu and dalam kekalutanku yang dah pencen nii, janji untuk menjenguk family arwah belum kesampaian lagi. the whole family is in kulim, rumah adik arwah cos zol, arwah's hubby ada outsation in the northern part. they'll be back today and nak singgah kat pondok hani cos anak2 arwah, syazwan, syahmi and sofea dah bersungut nak jumpa kawan lama ibu, actually they missed abang aqeel and his gadgets ..

bila dok tengok 'awan dania' ngan aamal, received call from another smskel clang, pn aar asking whether we'll be attending makan2 this saturday kat rumah another colleague, tok rosid. since they've other commitment and wont be going, minta hani tolong sampaikan something to tuan rumah. well, we've to be there early cos malam on the 8th nov nanti, kena siap cantik2 for farah's wedding reception in le' meridian hotel ..

ramblings ..

had received a phone call from an old friend, the smskel clang. had not met him since the mce days ie: more than 30 years and he'd not changed a bit. despite of not working and having 11 mouths to feed, his ego is still at his peak. initially, he'll brag of his harta kekayaan yang turun temurun and slowly and softly, baru laa cerita hajat di hati, nak pinjam duit sikit untuk downpayment rumah baru, cash yang ada tak cukup ..

early this morning received news from a colleague who had 'keguguran'. she was at our pondok last week and happily sharing the news that she is again pregnant after her last girl is 10 years old. well, ina has 4 girls and still hoping for a boy. hubby was lecturing and joking of her pregnancy at an old age. diharap ina bersabar dengan segala dugaan ..

well, the whole of last week was rather busy ngan tugasan sebagai supervisor projek. luckily aliff is still on leave, managed to go to bathroom gallery, jalan ipoh looking for beautiful sink to be installed outside. had managed to buy new tempat sidai kain which is now drilled kat the house wall. had bought barang2 untuk the new wet kitchen ngan hubby on saturday immediately after he's back from his golf tournament. new paint for the pagar dah dibeli. cant wait to see the end result of the pondok ..

as usual, hani tried to cook dinner since lunch tuu banyak makan kat luar ngan aliff and will always tapau for aqeel who had finished the pmr. aamal was rather busy with her assignment and shooting and she'll be back for dinner. hubby is doing his routine work and no outstation at the moment ..

on friday, mak, my mum-in-law and kak long came to the pondok since mak dah rindu sangat ngan hubby and siap bawak baju nak duduk ngan kami. lepas je maghrib, mak kata nak ikut kak long balik since pondok kami nii masih berdebu and she cant stand it. actually had invited my smskel clan, pn ju and family for dinner as they'are going back to kota bharu on saturday. had cooked sup campur comprised of tulang rusuk, tulang tengkuk and ekor, masak sambal sotong, ikan goreng, sayur campur, sambal belacan and ulam-ulam. yummy ..

terover laa pulak ..

alhamdulillah, at last our pondok dah selamat dikepong bila gate siap dipasang. the automatic wrought iron gate is ok to our eyes and the best part is, it comes together with bekas sampah, mail box and the house number. since the gate ada red roses with green leaves, so do the others and imagine, kat mail box and bekas sampah (luar and dalam) tuu ada sekuntum ros merah and daun hijau, terover laa pulak ..

really hope that our pondok masih mengekalkan kemelayuannya and tak confuse ngan rumah arumugam or chandran. guess, to friends yang belum sampai kat pondok kita, that will be our new landmark then ..

well done ..

just came from damans*** specialist center after visiting kak **m my friend in unexpected call. alhamdulillah, after my first visit, a week ago, she'd improved a lot better. her memory is back and she can recognized all the visitors. physically, her left side of the body is still very weak and needs lots of massaging and physiotherapy. kak z, our buddy had bawa makcik urut from puchong every day and guess, it helps a lot. well done, kak **m

the twins ..

3 months ago, hubby's friend, en mazni dapat twins and lelaki lagi, making it 5 boys semuanya, kira cukup for team futsal. last monday, we managed to attend their open house and see the twins. both aniq qhusaini and aqil qhuzaikel dah besar and pandai senyum. aniq, abang is bigger in size compared to aqil, adik. kami satu family tak kisah pasal makan sangat and lebih kisahkan the twins. seen is aamal with the twins and tak laa kekok sangat, guess dah ready nak kahwin laa kot ..

a good day ..

it's only 10 am, aliff and aamal masih ngan mimpi indah, hani had met 2 strong ladies since early morning. had breakfast in ghazali restaurant with pn ju, my smskel schoolmate who is a teacher in kota bharu. tak dapat lama ngan pn ju cos she'd an appointment with a travel agency untuk urusan haji. she had bought a house in tmn desa mas, jiran country homes when her daughter secure a job in kl. nowadays, bila mak berwang, anak dah tak payah sewa rumah lagi, parents will buy one ..

then, had an appointment with pn jamilah and en jamil, the upholstery couple, en jamil is an oku. pn jamilah will be going out looking for customers and despite of jamil's handicapped, he managed to produce chairs like a brand new one. hani tak de nak upholstery apa2 pun, it's just that they wanna say thank you since hani bagi banyak new business to them. mana taknya, bila sis-in-laws ku dah berkenan ngan the finished products, banyak laa dapat keje ..

melayu business ..

semenjak menjadi supervisor kat renovation pondok yg masih belum siap nii, few experience encountered dealing ngan contractor bumi yg kecik2. kesian ada and bengang pun ada. % project siap baru 70% tapi duit collected dah almost 95%. tak nak bagi, kesian cos pagi2 dah buat muka seposen kononnya nak bayar gaji staff. actually he was with us dari awal where bila ada keje sikit2, hubby akan offer dia. mungkin dia baru nak belajar jadi contractor laa kot cos selama nii asyik jadi kuli je ..

another case is bila tempah automatic gate ngan orang melayu, masa confirm tuu dah bayar 50% and janji the next 50% is upon delivery. aleh2, nak beli cat rm300 pun minta ngan kita. tak nak bagi, takut lambat laa pula pondok kita nii nak dikepung.

altho kita nii dah pencen, hani memang kurang gemar untuk melipat kain and mengemop rumah. hani'll subcontract that job to sorang pompuan melayu and it's gaji harian. everytime, bila sampai je kat pondok kita, she'll ask what is supposed to be done. laa, kena repeat the same thing memanjang ..

sabar adalah separuh dari iman and Allah Maha Kaya dan Maha Mengetahui

friendship remains and never can end

was not my normal self for more than a month when hani lost one of the best friend on 1st april 2006. yusliza's sudden death had left me terpinga2 cos all this while, pagi2 lagi will be receiving call ajak minum kat cafe bawah and around 12 noon, will be planning for lunch or shopping bila hari tuu kurang busy with meetings and appointments. arwah rajin drive and we'll be going to places yang didakwa dapat menyajikan good food. we were office buddies since '93 and before she left, kami berdua sempat tengok cinta, the movie during office hours. together with kay from bp and nasir from petronas we excelled in our master studies. semoga arwah yusliza ditempatkan bersama orang-orang yang beriman, amin ..




tersyahdu seminit when one of my closest friend, ani, wallpapered our photo masa pegi open house kat bungalow mereka in kajang. we were working together in taman petaling way 1986. it's only 2 years and most probably there were no other ladies or both of us hail from kelantan, we really clicked till now. altho' jarang ketemu, we'll be calling each other. alhamdulillah, masing2 dah nak dapat menantu.

towards the end of my working days, we're always seen together especially time minum and makan. pn has, a mother of two was initially closed to my sis-in-law, kak long before she left office and hani had taken over (???) the tie since then. nii case opposite attracts since we are from different background, hail from different states, work in different building and we differ in size and color skin. well then, love is blind and do hope that our friendship will remain in whatever situation ..

risam, my classmate since primary one and had been my neighbour in s.o quarters p'mas. both of us were doing the secondary studies and sat for mce in smskel. then, we went the separate ways, where risam took up banking studies and hani in engineering. now, risam is doing well in the insurance line, happily married with 4 kids and residing in subang jaya. we seldom see and call each other but in times of need, we are there for each other.

doa diiringi agar my other buddies, su, ti, kak jah, kak zila, kak z, aida, che daa and yg lain2 dirahmati selalu. to liza, warmest congratulations untuk cahayamata yg ke4 ..

busy sunday

dok terfikir nak masak apa for breakfast untuk cousins from singapore and immediately lepas subuh, manage to rendam beras nasi dagang to be eaten with kari ayam, jelatah and sambal belacan. by 9 am, breakfast is ready and alhamdulillah, the nasi is good and anas had eaten till 3 helpings. both mong's inlaws puji my nasi then and mong, hubby's cousin siap copy recipe to be cooked in s'pore.

once semua dah kenyang, we'd get ready to go visiting and the first place is to jenguk pokde, he's already back kat rumah anaknya and kami dijamu ngan nasi campur lagi. both pokde and mokde look so tak sihat .. then, had bawa rombongan to kak long's house where mum-in-law, mak is staying. she was with us in bch till kami buat renovation takut dia batuk with the debu2 renovation. mak looks good and still ingat mong, her niece. kak long then jamu kami with a very tasty pasembor. sempat tempah kek for the 6th nov nanti ..

just after asar had rushed to pn has's apartment in wangsa maju for the open day. it is a cosy one and meja penuh ngan food; tak sangka kawan kita nii pandai masak macam2. despite of not bringing any swimming attire, aqeel had gone down to the swimming pool, tq uncle rosli for borrowing the trunk.

alhamduliiah, jalan tak laa jam sangat and we managed to reach home before habis maghrib. our neighbour, kak tengku had forced us to her open house. ramai kengkawan in bch were present and luckily, we still managed to put a smiling face ..

cek

cek, my mum, my idola, a 64 kampung beau and a smart lady is in p'mas at the moment. altho belajar sekerat jalan, she managed to didik all the 7 of us to university and bila posed the question to her, ngapa cek tak abis belajar, her answer is simple - cikgu gatal and asyik nak ngorat dia ..

since day 1 of working, every morning will call her, cam punch card gitu, kalau tak hari tuu macam ada je yg tak kena. she'll wait kat telephone sampai laa hani call. now, after 26 years it's still like that and bila kita dah pencen pun, pagi2 she'll still be at the phone. bila phone kat rumah rosak, hp aya and ayu will be the medium then ..

main topic of the day will be apa nak dimasak and we'll normally share new recipes. she's a good cook and cucu2 memang prefer her cooking rather than mak masing2. hani will be receiving updated reports of adik2 and anak2 sedara and tuu laa, altho' kita kat kl kita lebih mengetahui some of the events compared ngan adinda2 yg kat kampung.

being blessed to have cek who will always listen to my kerenah and voices, tak kira kisah rumah tangga or gosip artis. she'll be lending her ears bila hani merajuk ngan hubby or bila dinda2 in k'lumpur buat onar. when aliff, aamal and aqeel tak nak dengar cakap mama or bila hubby asyik ke padang golf, cek will always be there for me ..

according to hubby, cek boleh buka consultation center cos ramai mak2 dara especially yang tak ada sedara mara kat kampung, will always datang bercerita and minta advice. being seorang yang amanah, the secrets will be safe with her. rumah kami kat kampung akan sentiasa dikunjungi oleh orang2 yang memerlukan cos cek seorang yang rajin memberi. those days masa arwah nenek masih ada, kami akan balik buat korban di kg to***an and bila kami balik ke p'mas, many people had awaited outside our gate ..

in may 2005, cekgu loh, ayoh telah diserang stroke yang agak serious but with his strong willpower and cek punya sokongan, ayoh is back to his normal self, still driving and jadi pengerusi kat dua tiga tempat. everyday, 2 x sehari cek akan rebus daun serai wangi, daun pandan, daun stroke and macam2 lagi untuk mandikan ayoh. at the moment cek is taking care of my atuk, who is almost 100 years old and alhamdulillah, tiada sekumit sungutan yang pernah keluar dari mulut cek ..

doa diiringkan agar cek sentiasa sihat sejahtera dan dijauhi dari sebarang penyakit. cek nii jenis yang rajin makan jamu and akar kayu not like us the daughters. will always tell anak2, mama will be happy and proud if only i'm given 10% of cek punya quality. look forward for cuti sekolah cos cek and ayoh janji nak rehat kat pondok kita ..

aku ..

well, for self introductory - the eldest to 7 siblings of 4 girls and 3 boys. born in p'mas kelantan almost 48 years ago. ayoh is a pensioner teacher and cek is a full time housewife, kat kampung kira medium class laa gitu ..

attended primary studies in p'mas and was selected to go to a co-ed boarding school for secondary studies. younger days were full of play, play and play. really gave me a shock when few guys confessed minat kat kita and labelled kita sombong and eksyen. till now, we're still a close-knit group and always go for makan2 and chit-chat ..

did diploma in engineering in itm then, punya laa susah nak pass and score tambah ngan tak minat. at last, grad laa juga. in mind, kalau nak buat degree pun, mesti courses yang tak ada kena mengena ngan engineering lagi. those days keje senang nak dapat, belum sit for final exam lagi, keje dah dalam tangan and bila dah puas relax, baru laa gi kerja ngan telecommunication company (till pencen actually).

jap je, pakwe (now hubby) dah ajak kahwin. a bubbly and cute boy, aliff came two years later and after 4 years, a small and petite girl, aamal cheered up our life. life was then good cos both hubby and myself dah dapat few promotions and dapat laa kumpul asset sikit2 .. 15 dec 93 we were happy to welcome another boy, aqeel who was so bright and chubby.

a year later, my employer had offered me a scholarship to study engineering, initially was reluctant to accept the offer but after much consolation from dear hubby, had taken the challenge. doing degree in electrical engineering was not that difficult, guess u'r more matured and experienced in life. graduated with an upper class, not bad laa ..

was so happy masa 40th birthday cos dapat buat house warming di rumah baru, ya laa altho kecik tapi rumah yang sebuah and till now, belum siap2 lagi renovation. had secure a scholarship untuk buat mba secara part time, enjoy sangat cos classmates pun cam kita je. am lucky to work in tm, my employer cos kita dapat award pelajar cemerlang siap ngan cash yg ribu2 lagi ..

lots of questions being posted to me, why do hani opt for pencen at an early age; well, it's just am getting older, dah tak larat ngan office politics and jalan yang jam. oh yes, another main reason is that, hutang kita dah abis, no more hutang rumah and hutang kereta anak2. now dapat merasa jadi lady-of-leisure, kita di kelilingi oleh ramai mak2 datin and glamorous mak2 dara. dapat buat amal ibadat dan ngaji quran yang lebih lama; anytime rasa nak balik kampung, boleh fly je tanpa minta approval dari employer, best oh ..

alhamdulillah, itu adalah nikmat yg terlalu besar buat kami sekeluarga cos kita dapat laa masak for dinner, tak de laa order kat kedai nasir everyday lagi. bila hubby sempat minum milo panas pagi2 pun dah cam suka sangat; dapat bye2 aamal before pergi college and prepare aqeel's cereal before ke sekolah was a wish. aliff dok kat campus in melaka and sekali sekala balik rumah cam now, his on 3 weeks leave, dapat masak lunch and makan sama2, that is a dream come true to me ..

open house

during lunch this afternoon had attended an open house hosted by one of the prominent lady in bch. ramai mak2 datin and glamorous mak2 dara were there. we were served with good home made food such as nasi beriani, laksa and varieties of kueh mueh. at last my puzzle was solved since was on a lookout for a lady, pn fa***ah who happened to be a friend's colleague in the states.

had received two invitations for open house this sunday. one is from the office buddy, pn has in wangsa maju and the other is from immediate neighbour. we'll try hard to make it ..

had received confirmation that hubby's cousin from singapore will be staying with us till monday, the deepavali. currently pokde, hubby's uncle is in ijn undergoing heart surgery. didoakan agar pokde cepat sembuh ..

unexpected call ..

had received a call from kak a**i yesterday, so shocked to hear that one of our colleague, kak **m kena very bad stroke and still in specialist center. still single at 51 and a fully energetic executive kat klcc before this, macam tak percaya bila paid her the visit since stroke had stole some of her memories. hoping that kak **m will recover soonest ..

memoirs ..

lots of things happened lately especially towards the end of my working days. tq so much to all my tm's colleagues who had garnished my life all this while .. beautiful telekung, tudung, brooches, vases, flowers, table runners and many more had been in possession then

alhamdulillah, managed to khatam quran during lunch on my last day of working. had been attending once a week class ngaji for more than 7 years and at last, managed to khatam (terasa cam convo masa buat masters dulu) and tuu yang buat tears tak berhenti mengalir. tq so much to ustaz mokhtar who had all the patience untuk mengajar kami ..

hubby dah assign to look after the workers yang buat our pondok punya renovation immediately lepas pencen and till now, kerja-kerja renovation belum siap lagi. few of my colleageus called nak datang beraya, but bila di inform that our pondok nii still in a mess, semuanya nak datang bila dah tak berdebu. will be inviting you all then ..

being a closeknit group masa secondary school dulu, we'll always get-together and during ramadhan, had attended majlis berbuka puasa and terawih kat one of the friend's house. his villa is so besar and cantik dok kat tengah2 bandar lagi. there, had met a long lost friend who'd been an expatriate kat bangkok.


had celebrated raya puasa kat kampung altho initially nak beraya ngan in-laws kat k'lumpur je since the kids will be sitting for their exams immediately after raya. bila teringatkan ayoh's 78th birthday fell on the 30th ramadhan, hubby decided to balik kejap and 2nd day raya, kita dah balik ke kl, thus dapat avoid the massive jam. immediately after sembahyang raya, ada cake-cutting ceremony and takbir anak beranak. well, it's full of laughter and tears as ayoh siap bagi amanat and wasiat ..

at last ..

had been admiring friends blog all this while and deep inside, when can i find time to express all my thoughts and experience. alhamdulillah, after more than 25 years of being a working nobody, 1st august 2008 marked hani being a full time home maker. it's so good to stay home, cook for hubby, aliff, aamal and aqeel as well as taking care of our pondok; should have opted out from work much earlier.

with the help of aliff, my eldest, nukilan hani was setup and will try hard to frequently update my blog, well it's not a promise though .. with syawal coming to the end, there are still many open houses to attend especially in my vicinity where am yet to introduce myself altho' had been staying in bandar country homes, rawang for almost ten years ..