Salam Aidilfitri 2021

Assalamualaikum.

Alhamdulillah, with His grace and permission, once again I am allowed to celebrate Syawal with my small family though it just 6 of us due to the implementation of MCO3.0 to prevent the spread of C19 pandemic.

This is my 1st year since my conversion 19 years ago, celebrating Syawal without my MIL. Honestly I have to say that I am upset because this whole pandemic situation really suffocating my sanity; wearing face mask at public place, physical distancing, constantly sanitizing and washing hands, no social gathering, cannot do this, cannot do that, must do this, must do that and the list goes on. All of those new norm overhelming sometimes but it's necessary to prevent further damages to our health sector a

However, I feel so grateful because I still have a place to sleep, I still able to afford foods for my family, I still have my job whereas lots of people affected badly by this pandemic (*sigh).

Wishing all of my muslim families, relatives & friends 'Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin'

During this difficult time, may Allah give all of us strength to stand tall and overcome any obstacle. Aaminn!

Family Potrait 😊

Eid Mubarak 2020 Amidst Covid19

Assalamualaikum..

Alhamdulillah, I am really grateful for being able to celebrate Syawal again although we are still under movement control order due to Covid19 pandemic.

This year we were only allowed to visit our relatives on 1st day of Syawal, only 20pax or less were alllowed to be in 1 house depending on the space and we were advised to follow SOP which is no hugging/no shake hand/no chatting in close distance etc. It's kind of awkward not to do all of this but it's neccessary to prevent the spread of Covid19. 

Like the past years, we spend Eid Mubarak with MIL and FIL.

Our color theme for this year is gray. I did all the baju raya hunting and shopping virtually since visiting a physical shop is not safe during this pandemic. I feel truly grateful because we still able to buy and wear new baju raya during this hard time where lots of people lost their job and source of income. I pray that cure or vaccine will be found soon so that this pandemic will end soon, Inshaallah...Aaaminn!

Wishing all of my Muslim families, relatives, friends and Muslims all over the world a blessed and meaningful Eid Mubarak. Follow the S.O.P and stay safe everyone!

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2019

Assalamualaikum..

Alhamdulillah, managed to complete Ramadan (minus 5 days of aunt flo), hoping that I was able to gain 'pahala' and sincerity of all our good deeds will get the attention from Allah S.W.T..InShaAllah..

It's already 4th Syawal.. This year, MIL and SIL (Kak Ngah) celebrated Aidilfitri with us because their siblings has to celebrate it with their in-law. We only have our signature dish; rendang ayam with nasi impit but to be honest, I think my MIL is happier because she can spend more time to rest. Me too glad that we decided to celebrate Aidilfitri at our humble home this year and not at MIL's house because I want my MIL to rest and just enjoy her off day from taking care of my SIL's kids. 

It's almost 18 years I been spending Aidilfitri with my MIL and FIL. No agruement from my side since most of my family back in Sabah don't celebrate Aidilfitri.. Pendek kata, kami tidak pernah masam muka pasal giliran tempat beraya (*smiling). 

Wishing all of my Muslim families, friends, relatives and all Muslims all over the world a very blessed Syawals. Lets spread spread love and peace! 

Every Second Count

Assalamualaikum..

Today is my youngest 10th birthday. I should be happy since he is growing up well but at the same times I am a little bit sad because I feel I haven't play with him enough. think I didn't spend much time with him and I think I missed so much in his life.

I am jealous with those mom who stay at home or working from home just because they can spend more time with their kids whilst I have to send my kids to day care center and spend 8 hours, 5 days a week of my life at office.. How pathetic is that.. Hurmm... 

However, looking from the bright side, I learn to appreciate every single second I spend with my kids and try my best to fill it with colorful memories, hoping that my children won't feel neglected or less love.

Dear Ilyas, 

Happy 10th birthday 'busuk'! May Allah bestow you the best of everything in life and hereafter.. InShaAllah.. (Aaamiin).

Youngest with his choice of cake: Chocolate Brownies Cake

Pulau Burung, Port Dickson

Once again mom-in-law invited us to join her at Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson. During our stay this time, while training for our upcoming running event, hubby and I found this nice place to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sea called Pulau Burung which located near the Cahaya Negeri beach.

Actually it is a small island which have only 1 building i.e the conservation tower where you can see a spectacular vuew from up there. I saw lots of people fishing here so I guess it must be a good spot for fishing activity.

2D1N at Johor Bahru

Beside attending the AIA vitality MWH Night Run,  we also took the opportunity to visit hubby older sister and exploring some place that I managed to google thru travelling blogger.

We checked in at Euro + Hotel that I booked thru Agoda which costed us RM150 per night for family room. It's new, comfortable enough for us and cheap family friendly hotel.

After lunch, we went to Johor's Zoo with sister-in-law family which is a must visit attraction according to travelling blogs that I read before our 2D1N trip to Johor Bahru. It is actually a mini zoo but I think it's better than Zoo Negara because kiddos really did have a good time here. Entrance fee is RM2/pax for adult and RM1/pax for kids.

Family Potrait is a must

The Fee Board

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The next day after night run, we managed to stop by at Legoland and took some photos. Nope, we did not enter legoland but wandering at the mall in front of it before we continued our journey back to Puchong. We reached puchong at 6pm after 3 hours driving, quite fast because of the smooth traffic.

Overall, this 2D1N trip to Johor is considered okay although we missed many hot spot especially nice foods spot due to time limit. Need to stay longer in order to venture all of the nice and recommended places in Johor Bahru.

Ear Piercing For Her

After countless time delaying, finally daughter brave up her guts and made up her mind to go for ear piercing. Oh ya, it was her decision to have an ear piercing, not mine. Le daughter really have her own mind in everything.

It only cost RM14 for the piercing services (together with pair of silver earring). I thought she won't cry but I was wrong because she was wailing after the 1st shot on her right ear. Hubby have to console her for few minutes and let her bite into his arm so that the piercing guy can proceed with the other ear.

Well, i think the process was painless compared to my experience 29 years ago. Mine was done by my grandmother (mom's side) with special made bamboo thread and a pair of gold earring as a gift from my grandmother. It was one painful experience but it didn't deter me from getting more ear piercing as I grew up, LOL!

Barbeque + Picnic At Sg Congkak

Assalamualaikum.

Picnic has been our family trademark activity for the past few years now. It's cheap, hassle-free yet my kiddos love it so much. They said, "macam di kampung." 

Last Sunday, we went to Sg Congkak again and for the 1st time we have barbeque lunch instead of pre-packed home food and make use of those mini barbeque/grill set that we bought months ago. Lama jadi perhiasan di rumah, hahaha!

As usual, the clean, shallow stream just perfect for the kids to play and swim without worrying about any danger. But still, we're cautious of our surrounding. I noticed that they upgraded the spot where we usually went. There are chalets and huts available for rent now. The fee is still the same; RM5/parking. We spent few hours here and left when we noticed the gloomy sky.

I am glad that my kids like this kind of activity because I don't want them to become one of those city kids who feel uncomfortable with nature, making 'ewww' , 'eii' etc sound whenever they surround with nature and preferring swimming pool over the adventurous river, hehehe. Mandi sungai lagi best dari mandi kolam air berklorin hokey, LOL!

Our favorite spot 

Semangat berbbq!

My life

Wefie :P

1st Family Run: Milo Breakfast Run 2016

Assalamualaikum..

2 weeks ago, on 29th May, we (kiddos, hubby and me) participated the Milo Breakfast Run 2016 at Putrajaya. It was our 1st family run and hoping for more in future because it's fun to run with your love ones.

My daughter and my youngest son never participated in any long distance running/jogging before, so we 'trained' them to jogging/walking for 30 min, 2 week prior to this event. Their brothers already experienced long distance running during their school 'merentas desa' activity, so I was confident that they are good to go.

When we arrived at the event location, it was super-crowded with people in green shirts! It was such a sight! Kiddos were nervous, hubby was nervous and I was nervous because the kids might lost among those sea of human, hah! 

3KM family run was gun off at 7.30am and we managed to reach the finish line after 45min of running and walking. We might able to finish it earlier but hubby, my eldest son and I have to take turn carrying my youngest son after he got this bleeding blister for not wearing his socks. Lesson learned; please wear socks if your shoe is brand new, ngehehe!

Regarding the event itself, I think it was a smooth, successful and merry event. The organizer should get an applause for organizing such family-friendly event where we can exercising and bonded with our family at the the same times. The volunteer/support team were superb and helpful, enough water station for all categories (including 3KM family run), generous goodies bag, free-flow of milo (bevearge), fun after run games and cute finisher medal for all. RM70 fee per family (6pax) definitely worth it! 

This event is going to be in my list next year! Family yearly event it is..lol!

Post-run & medal pic

Wefie

Harta saya, dunia & akhirat :)

Trying our luck with goal kick games

The only pic at the pic booth taken by hubby

Interesting fact of the event; 'ask me' person, signboard & goodies bag!

Youngest Son 1st Day At Primary School

Believe or not, it's last day of 2015 and my youngest son happened to have his orientation day on this day. He is excited but I am not because I feel like not wanting him to grow up so fast (*sobs). Moreover, I am worried because he seem too small and frail for his age although he is one active boy. He is a shy boy so I hope he will able to adapt with the new learning environment and expand his social skills. 

Year 2015 will be soon become a past and I will treasure every single memory especially those moments I spent with my kids. That's the end of my ramblings for year 2015. Until next year, Happy New Year 2016! 

Picnic At Sungai Kemensah

My eldest son said, "ma, tak payah pergi cuti mahal-mahal. Bawa kami pergi picnic mandi sungai lagi best. Jimat, tak membazir duit" A very mature and considerate words from my 13years old son. Dang it, tiba-tiba mata masuk habuk pula...

Oh well, couldn't say more since he is totally correct. Why spending $$$ money when we can have fun and quality time with our family with just $$. So 2 weeks ago we went to picnic at Kemensah River which located at Kampung Kemensah Ampang, nearby Zoo Negara. I just found out about this picnic tho, lol!

We drove off from Puchong at 8am and arrived there around 8.45am and managed to secure a strategic picnic spot with Celi Chalet/Campsite with RM15 fee. Yep, it's not free like Sungai Congkak but it's okay because unlike Sungai Congkak, the area is clean, well maintain and necessity such as toilet and changing room with shower are provided. There are huts and chalets priced between RM20-RM120 for those who want to stay overnight. Oh ya, they also provided Bbq equipment with reasonable price or you can make you own bbq table, ngehehe!

huts and chalets

We played and soaked in the water for almost 2 hours before the coldness beat me off and forced my youngest son and me to retreat and changed into dry clothes. Orang keding cepat kesejukan ba. By the time we were about to drove off back home, the place is starting to get super-crowded. Luckily we were early or else I might not able to join hubby and kiddos in the water since I tend to feel awkward and uncomfortable with crowd of people who normally 'stare', pheww!

breakfast at river side

we were freezing!

soaking like a hippopotamus, lol!

Compulsary wefie!

Hubby said, next time will set our 'date' here so that we can try those ATV ride adventure that they offered there (*finger crossed). Only adult aged 18yrs above allowed to ride ATV, so can't bring kiddos next time.

posing pun jadilah..hahaha!

Overall, it was one of our cheap but fun picnic trip for our family and I don't mind repeating it over and over again because it's one of method of exposing the kids to love nature. 

free advertising for Celi Chalet :P

Ilyas Kindie Graduation Day

Finally, after 2 years my youngest son graduated from kindergarten. Relief? Yeah of course because no need to pay hundreds ringgit monthly fee anymore and can save the money for kiddos future education. Mahal oh yuran tadika sekarang, lebih kurang macam yuran pelajar universiti (*sigh).

Next year he will attending the same primary school as his other siblings and start 2 session of school; KAFA in the morning and primary school in the afternoon. Knowing his habit of hard to wake up early, I wonder how in the world I am going to handle him next year, LOL!

Anyway, congratulation dear son on completing your 1st stage of education level and all the best to the new chapter of education that you will encounter ahead you. I hope you will enjoy the journey of learning and may everything you learn will guide and enlighten you throughout your life journey.

Family Day At Pengkalan Balak, Melaka

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Just want to share about family day (Mister family) that we attended last month before the draft become stale. Mister's sibling has been planning this family day/trip after the wedding of mister's brother on March. Although I am not part of their whatsapp group, my sis-in-law(SIL) always keep me on tabs on important news such as place selection, the date of execution and the theme for our family day. Pening ba saya ratus2 message come all in once bila on data/wifi. 

Our 1st choice was Desa Balqis Beach Resort but it was full on 29th and 30th August. So we opted for 2nd choice which is Pengkalan Balak and we choose to stay at Seraya Chalet. We all agreed to the blue theme and I am glad that my SIL heed my suggestion over using 'family day 2015' instead of 'family reunion 2015' on our blue-theme t-shirt. The T-shirt was cheap and I really like the material; soft and cool. It only costed RM68.80 for mister, me and kiddos T-shirt.

We drove from Puchong around 9.00am after having light breakfast of buns and milo and reached pengkalan Balak around 10.30am. Since the other family members just started their journey, we drove round and round looking for good stall/restaurant and choose this owned by an old man and have our lunch there. We ordered 6 plate of rice, 2 bowls of yummy asam pedas  ikan kembung (kuah is refillable), veges, fried chickens and 6 different beverage and it only costed us RM32. Super cheap and the food is delicious! Unfortunately I forgot the name of this stall (*sighed). 

The only pic I took at that time, LOL!

Around 2pm, the others arrived and we checked in to our room at Seraya Chalet. We booked 8 rooms in total at RM100/room which I considered cheap since it was peak season. We didn't start any games until 5.30pm because we were waiting for mister's eldest sister from Johor to arrive. Moreover it was scorching hot and  bit hazy that noon, jadi kami lepak-lepak, borak-borak sambil makan (lagi) makanan yang MIL masak dari rumah.

We are lucky because the beach was less crowded that we have the space to do all of those games created by SIL a.k.a the organizer. It was fun and hilarious games where we were divided into 4 group (adult+kids mixed). The guys cheated most of time (LOL) that the ultimate judge (MIL) find it hard to determine who is the winner. In the end, group who showed good cooperation won. Not much pic taken (by me) during games because I was busy having fun, hehehe!

Pics while doing games at the beach

Beside the games, I took the opportunity to do the banana boat rides with my sis-in-law and bro-in-law. The fee is cheap; RM10/pax with min 6pax per ride (approximately 15min). I was laughing hard for the whole ride because of my SIL keep screaming and 'swearing' every time we shouted 'fly' and 'terbalik' to the boat operator, hahahaha! Elan and Daniel also want to ride but mister didn't allow them to do so despite of green light from me. Hurmmm, kesian, nanti kamu besar sikit la baru main kio anak2.

Banana Boat ride

Incomplete 'us' - 2 is missing in action (sibuk mandi laut)

Mister's family

That night after Solat Maghrib and Isyak, we went for dinner hunting but end up with restaurant with terrible service and expensive with so-so foods, grrrrrr! We waited for almost 20min before the waitress took our order and have to wait for almost an hour before getting our food! Their excuses; short of staff. Duh, kasi tau awal-awal la ba kan. Lost appetite terus tu malam, grrrr!

Forced smile - Warning; Don't dine out at this restaurant!

After those horrible dinner, we continued with our family bonding time; random quizzes for kids, gift exchange for adults and lastly souvenirs/hampers for all of us. We keep chit-chatting after that and the others still chatting when I went to bed at 1am. Banyak betul gosip dorang, tidak terlayan saya mo dengar, kihkihkih!

Enjoying the night

The kids being asked random question about the family

Woke up early the next morning and have breakfast at nearby stall while kids went to play at the beach again. 3 bungkus nasi lemak kena bedal sebab terlampau lapar. By the time we checked out from Seraya Chalet, the haze was pretty bad so my family went back to Puchong while the others follow my MIL to her friend's kenduri. 

Overall, this family day was so fun and I think they will make this annual activity from now and hopefully will able to join it again (*finger crossed).

Family pic before bound back to Puchong + compulsory 'mikirayou' pose ;P

I heart this pic (^^) V

Oh well, hopefully this long post won't bore you all to death. Glad that finally I am able to publish this before my laziness strike. Until next post, peace!