Raya Comes Again

As a normal human being, of course I wanna celebrate with my family in Kedah as this year my sis and bros are celebrating here in Kedah. I called is as a "Check in" year and next year will be the "Check out" year as all of us will be celebrating it at in-law's. Anyways, in my case, this year will be the first year me and dear celebrate Aidilfitri together as a husband and wife.

Being a north-south married couple isnt easy. From the first day we got married, we have started to "discuss " about where to celebrate raya. "Raya tahun ni mesti la raya kat JB. I kan suami" "Eh, mane pulak. Mestila raya Kedah dulu, baru balik JB. Lagipon kita dah selalu balik JB". Plus when we go for a visit to friends' and families' they just cant stop asking "Gegaya sorang Utara sorang Selatan, raya ni balek mana?" and dengan pantas si dear menjawab "Ouh..mestilah JB dulu" and me memintas "Tahun ni kan KEDAH Double Treble, balek Kedah dulu.." and the "Disscussion" goes on..and on..

Well, just want to share something with the ladies out there. Few days ago, I got this email from a very concern friend. It's good to share this meaningful piece of thought. After reading it, I finally got the conclusion of our discussion straight from my heart. Can you guess?




Setiap kali menjelang ramadhan tergiang-giang suara ibu yang rasanya
baru saja saya dengar walaupun telah berlaku berbelas tahun. Diantara
tazkirah ibu yang amat saya ingat ialah ketika bulan puasa selepas
bersahor sementara menunggu waktu solat subuh ibu akan memanggil kami
semua (3 orang anak perempuannya - ibu mempunyai 4 orang anak
perempuan seorang dah berumahtangga dan dua orang anak lelaki) dan
akan bercerita tentang kebesaran Allah dan hukum hakam dalam islam
dengan menggunakan bahasa yang amat mudah difahami walaupun ketika itu
saya masih lagi bersekolah menengah rendah dan ayah pula meninggal
dunia ketika usia saya tiga bulan.


Ibu : Apa yang nak ibu cakap nie....dengar baik-baik lebih-lebih lagi
pada Ateh (anak no. 3) dan Acik (anak no.5). Ateh akan mendirikan
rumahtangga tak lama lagi. Apabila hampir penghujung puasa dah tentu
kamu suami isteri akan berbantah-bantahan untuk pulang ke kampong
siapa pada hari raya pertama. Betul tak??????


Ateh & Acik : Betul....mestilah ghumah ibu dulu.........


Ibu : Dengar dulu....contohnya jika rumah kamu di Tanjong Malim, rumah
ibu di Cheras dan rumah mentua kamu di Johor, rumah siapakah yang akan
kamu tuju dulu?


Ateh & Acik : Ghumah ibulah.....sebab dekat


Ibu : Tidak.......ibu tidak izinkan kamu balik ke
sini.........baliklah ke rumah mentua kamu dan jika mentua dan suami
kamu izinkan barulah balik ke rumah ibu........ibu tak kisah hari raya
yang keberapa sekalipun.


Ateh : Mengangguk.......(tanda faham ler tue...... dia nie banyak ikut
perwatakan ibu....penyabar, bertolak ansur dan mahir dalam menjahit,
sulam menyulam, memasak dan juga pandai mengurut....diantara kami
adik-beradik dialah yang paling dalam pengetahuannya dalam islam
seperti ibu juga).


Acik : Mana boleh macam tu tak aci lahhhhhh......kena gilir-gilirlah
baru adil. (dia nie memang kaki bangkang pun.....outspoken skit kalau
dia tak puas ati)


Ibu : Ingatlah......jika anak-anak perempuan itu sayangkan ibu bapanya
dan inginkan kebahagian ibu bapa nya di akhirat nanti...taatlah pada
suami dan mentua ........


Acik : Macam kaum h**** lak. Dah kawin tak boleh gi rumah emak bapak.


Ibu : Bukan macam tu......islam tu indah.......setiap anak-anak
perempuan yang taat pada suami di samping mentua mereka, ibubapanya
akan mendapat pahala di atas ketaatannya itu..... dan seperkara
lagi.....untuk menjaga suami tidak sesusah mananye... hanya dua
perkara kalau kamu nak menundukkan suami kamu mengikut
ISLAM......JAGALAH NAFSUNYA DAN JAGALAH PERUTNYA. InsyaAllah dia tak
akan ke mana.....kalau dia melilau pun dia akan kembali kepada kamu
juga. Pahala kamu ada di dalam rumah kamu tak payah bersusah payah
macam kaum lelaki di luar rumah mencari pahala.


Ditakdirkan Allah Ateh bernikah dengan abang ipar yang yatim
piatu......jadi setiap tahun beraya bersama ibu manakala Acik pulak
masih mempunyai ibubapa mentua . Hampir setiap tahun pada hari raya
puasa Acik sekeluarga akan beraya di rumah mentua di Melaka cuma pada
hari keempat atau selebihnya di rumah ibu (rumah Acik di Kedah).


Dengan takdir Allah ketika saya berada di tingkatan 6 rendah, dua hari
sebelum hari raya puasa Acik sekeluarga tiba di rumah ibu. Ibu
terkejut tapi saya rasa.........terkejut campur gembira agaknya ibu
pada masa itu. Selepas pulang dari solat terawih ibu duduk berbual
dengan abang ipar...


Ibu : Bila kamu nak bawa isteri kamu pulang ke Melaka?


Abang ipar : Kami akan beraya di sini dan raya ke dua nanti baru balik
ke Melaka (dia nie memang malu sakan dgn ibu).


Ibu : Adakah ini desakan dari isteri kamu?


Abang ipar : Tidak bu.......saya izinkan keluarga saya beraya di sini.


Ibu : Bagaimana ibubapa kamu adakah mereka setuju?


Abang ipar : Mereka tiada halangan.


(dalam hati saya rasa terkilan..........apalah ibu nie....biarkan
jerlah Acik nak beraya di sini)


Ibu : Izinkan ibu bercakap dalam talipon dengan emak kamu. (abang ipar
bangun dan mendial no. talipon kampungnya dan menyerahkan ganggang
talipon pada ibu....lama gak ibu bergayut dengan besannya).

Emak kamu tak ada masalah kamu sekeluarga beraya bersama ibu di
sini.(sambil menitis airmata) Terima kasih kerana membawa anak dan
cucu-cucu ibu ke sini.


Apabila habis bulan syawal seperti biasa hanya saya dan ibu saja
tinggal di rumah. Sebagai anak yang bongsu dan paling rapat dengan ibu
dan masih solo ketika itu, ibu mencurahkan perasaan dan berbangga
kerana dapat membimbing anak-anak perempuan nya kearah islam tapi ibu
amat kecewa dengan kedua-dua anak-anak lelakinya yang seperti lembu
dicucuk hidung menjadi pak turut kepada isteri mereka. Bayangkanlah
menantu perempuan ibu yang sulong tidak pernah bermalam di rumah ibu
apatah lagi lepas makan nak tolong basuh pinggan ke atau menolong
kerja-kerja rumah yang lain....(tak boleh cerita panjang.........dah
masuk bab mengumpat lak.......).


Semasa saya di tingkat 6 atas ibu kembali ke rahmatullah membawa
seribu kekecewaan di atas sikap anak-anak lelakinya. Alhamdulillah
apabila saya mendirikan rumahtangga......masalah pulang beraya tak
mendatangkan masalah pada suami kerana semua jenis cuti kami
sekeluarga akan habiskan di rumah mentua saya. Saya juga salah seorang
menantu yang disenangi.


Saya selalu bertanya pada diri saya sendiri......sempurnakah sudah aku
sebagai seorang menantu? Sempurnakah aku sebagai seorang isteri yang
solehah?.........berjayakah aku menjadi ibu sepertimana ibu ku
dulu???????? Ya Allah.....berilah aku petunjuk dan pimpinlah aku ke
jalan yang engkau redhai.....Aminnn


Renung-renungkan dan selamat beramal…



Moral: Jangan gaduh pasal balik raya la, pakat baik2. Buat anak
lelaki, tanggungjawab kat ibu perlu diUTAMAkan sehingga laa salah
seorang (anak tu atau ibu) menemui ajalnya. Buat para isteri, jangan
sampai jadikan suami anda anak yg derhaka kpd ibu bapa nya...


Well, I bet you can guess now where will I celebrate Hari Raya kan..Yes, we'll be going back to KEDAH. Having a newborn niece will be the perfect reason for me to choose my hometown for the celebration. =D Well I guess none of you give the correct guess..

Things To Consider Before Being A Wife~

I hafta say that life is unfair. If you look from the reality life, there’s no such a thing like “…and we live happily ever after..”. Girls, it’s waaaaaayyyyyy too far than that~ Believe me, living in a house with a stranger you barely know for few years doesn’t really mean that you know him well. Therefore, I think it’s a must for us to take a moment to have few thoughts before you make a big step into a new world..


Some of us may find it really hard when you wanna make the toughest decision like getting married, and some may take some period to think and some may simply say yes. To me, saying ‘yes’ to marriage is kindda difficult at first, it’s not because I am not ready enough *Er..may be a little..* but, saying “I DO” is like making a huge step into a marriage life. A lot of things you should be taking into consideration like er..no more Saturday Night Out with friends, no more lepaking at mamak stall till midnight, no more going for a vacation alone or with friends, no more shopping only for yourself *Hello…you have to do shopping for two people now..even the money is not really from your pocket, but hey, pick something for your hubby so you wont be seeing him in the same shirts or pants for the rest of your life..* A lil dramatic I must say~




Know Yourself Before You Know Others


There’s one question that has popped up in my mind. Do you really know yourself? It’s kindda funny question but hey it’s true. Before you think of accepting someone in your life, you should accept yourself in the first place. A lot of people don’t really understand this until they got married. The best question is to ask yourself “Who am I?” and start listing the good and the bad things about you.

Most of us will have a full list of their good things about themselves I believe. Well, be positive and honest about yourself. If you can’t really figure out what type of person are you, may be you should start to think to know yourself better before you let this lucky guy move into your life. Have a moment in a day and ask yourself about your relationship with Allah, your family, friends and your surroundings. Get to know your characters WELL.




Can you COMPROMISE?


After being asked a “Who am I” question, now you can move to the next question. “Can I COMPROMISE?”. A lot of things will change when you are in a serious relationship, more if you are getting married. When you love someone, you’ll tend to please them so much, until without you realizing it, you are trying so hard that you almost forget about your own happiness. And for man, don’t you take advantage on what she’s trying to do to make you happy.

God has created different kind of people with different types of life, different attitudes, which makes this world so wonderful. Sometimes things you love might not be the same as others.

Know his habits. Bear in mind, man and FOOTBALL are twins! Wednesday (sometimes Tuesday), Saturday and Sunday night are their NIGHTS! Nights that only spent on a couch, in front of the tv with a remote in hand. On the other hand, we ourselves want to watch our favorite serial drama from Japanese to Indonesian movies, from morning till midnight. That’s when both of us have to compromise *don’t think that having a second ASTRO decoder will solve your problem. Try to accept your love one the way they are so that both of you will be happy. Most importantly




Money..money..money..


While you plan for your wedding reception, you must be thinking about whether to have a expensive, extravagant wedding:

- in a super grand hall,

- limited guests, may be you don’t have much attention to them or worse - can’t even have a glimpse on them *perkahwinan grand-grand haruslah penuh dengan VVVVIP and tak lehla bawak satu kampung masuk hotel~

- delicious but limited food *you don’t think to have a buffet for your superb grandy wedding, do you?

- wearing a Rizalman’s dress that costs you the same amount of buying an apartment,

- Jimmi Choo heels,

- Tiffany’s wedding ring plus bracelet

- pelamin from Pak Abu

- honeymoon around the world

- and the list goes on…


OR just a simple, thoughtful and PERFECT wedding:


- Dewan KLIUC or buat kat rumah je..

- A lot of guests who you can treat them well, satisfy them

- A lot of food even you don’t have this rewang among your relatives or neighbours – feed the guests to the fullest!

- Dress by Aman Jauhari or Kimi Kajang or Man Kajang or even simple but DIVA-look dress from Sri Idaman Andaman

- Habib jer..

- Honeymoon kat Mesia jer..or at least Bali~

- And the simplest little thing for your wedding as the list goes..


When to have to think about it, having an expensive and grand wedding might cause a lot of money from both sides *unless you’re marrying a guy who thinks money is just a piece of paper which won’t guarantee you to have a perfect happy marriage life ahead. A lot of things should be taking into consideration like getting a house, buying furniture, fridge, washing machine, etc while on the other hand, you’re stuck in debt.

What I’m trying to say is don’t spend too much money on unnecessary things but save it for a bigger stuffs. Yeah..yeah..we only got married once in a life time, so we deserve something special~ BUT..there’s this old saying, "A Wedding is but a day, a Marriage is a lifetime." Which obviously give us a bigger picture on which one should we focus most!



Above all, I believe there are some other things that should be taking into consideration before you move into a new life. Marriage is not only about love each other but also living together as happy as ever. With all the responsibilities, think to live a happy life together for not only two, three, five or ten years ahead, but forever.

So friends, I’m expecting some response from you too. May you have the happiest life as a married couple, through thick and thin.

Percubaan

: Sakura :

House Warming vs Iftar

OMG!! I only have 3 days to prepare for the house warming and iftar at my new apartment. I've sent out the invitations to er...some friends (some = almost 60 of them) and start preparing for the menu. Since this is gonna be my first appearance as a husband and wife in front of my friends, I want this event to be the most memorable one (plus I've been planning to cook for my friends. May be not ALL the menus).

But the problem is my kitchen is not that complete yet. Well...you know...I only have cooking stensils that can only be used to cook for two, and I don't even have time to buy the new ones. So...instead of cooking on my own, I've been thinking of having a pot-luck iftar (huh, Sidang F ni memang terkenal dengan pot luck aje..pantang disebut..lajuuuuu....je~). So they agreed. We're gonna have a pot luck again.

As a host, of cos la I hafta prepare the main dish kan..BUT I only know how to cook some simple dish which I've been practicing for urm...few days after we got married. And I don't really have the gut to cook for about 60 of them. *My mom must be soooooooooooooo proud of me if she knows*. So, the easiest dish that I"M CONFIDENT ENUF to prepare is - Spaghetti. And maybe some nasi goreng kot..Takkan nak jamu spegeti je kan..like HELLO~ this is suppose to be a malay-themed iftar!

So, here it goes...My super duper yummy spaghetti's recipe:


Spagetthi (Bolognaise)


Ingredients (serve for 4 - 6 persons):


1 packet of spaghetti (boil - see the back of the packaging for the method)
1 can of button mushroom (cut into small slices)
1 can of tomato puree
500g minced beef (or chicken. As you wish)
Meat balls
Onions (cubed)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Oregano and thymes (you can used rosemary jugak..sikit..)

*Broccoli / Bunga kobis pon boleh
Carrot
Capsicum

*The vege should be cut into cube. You can use your own choice for the vege~


Easy-Cheesy Steps:

1. Heat the pan with some oil (medium heat). Saute onion until it soft and aromatic.

2. Fry the meatballs and then stir the minced beef until it becomes pale brownish and not so juicy. Add the veges inside and stir.

3. Pour the tomato puree and a can of water (depends on how thick you want the gravy to be). Keep on stirring (still medium heat).

4. After it boils, add the mushrooms and stir at a very low heat.

5. Add the sugar and salt to taste, 2 tablespoons of oregano and 1 tablespoon of thymes (I prefer more oregano and sometimes I put more oregano until I can smell the aroma). Little by little, add the cheese inside. Uhhh I LOVE MORE CHEESE~ I like it to be so cheesy. *And Diha too. *grinn*. Stir.

6. After it boils (and give the "pop-pop" sound), it's ready to be served!



p/s: if you like the gravy to be sweeter, add more sugar. I like it to be a bit more sour.


Well ladies..it's soooooo easy to prepare. It took me less than an hour to prepare this dish to serve my friends for Iftar. So, HAPPY COOKING~ Before I penned off, here are some piccas I got during the iftar. They're such a great bestest friends. We're family F! To all my friends, thank you sooooo much for coming, including my fren from office, Im and my best friend, Shood+Din.

Just A Piece Of Thought

I've been having the thoughts of creating my own blog since the past few years, but after trying to have one had made me realize it's not that easy. Yeah, you just need to do a few simple steps within less than 10 minutes to have your own, BUT the facts of having to update and maintain the blog really mean something. *I'm not just a dumb when it comes to write, but I totally can made up tell stories!!~

There are different types of blog - but mostly are like personal online diaries or journals in a textual base combined with photos, a touch of lil graphics here and there and sometimes they link to other websites. Apparently I hafta say there are also some people who monetize their blog through videoblog, photoblog, artblog and lots more. Some says making money from your blog is not as easy as you thought as only 1% is having million dollars while sleeping. And the rest? Fail to seriously generates money from blog! But it's you to prove whether I'm wrong. =) *You bet I'm daymn right! After all, I'm a smart type of woman, remember!

Well, ladies...Here's some good news for you to add some money in your shopping purse without having to get sweat!

If you really want to monetize your blog, there are a lot of ways (obviously without getting sweat but just a little breaking scratch on your newly polished fingernails. What? I believe in No-pain-No-Gain). After all, who will success without getting to sac-cri-fies?

But seriously, you REALLY HAFTA HAVE a serious intention, determination and effort too. Ladies, we're talking about millions dollars here and when it comes to making money, there's no easiest way but to work really hard on it. If you ask me, here's my lil piece:

1. Have your mind, body and soul focus on what you really want and strive for it. If you don't know what you really want, it's not gonna change a thing. (eg: er...like if you are dying for a Fendi B. Patent Leather Shoulder Bag in tulip? *winkwink*)
2. Create your mission and vision in details and write it down so that you will remember, plus it will keep you on track.
3. Have a Master Plan. When I say MASTER PLAN, it hasta be really deep and details as it's gona be your shopping-to-do-list guidance that explains every-single-thing about your strategies, the do's and dont's.
4. Have some back-up plans (so you will know what to do next if your first plan fails didn't work as you want it to be).
5. Implement your plan.
6. If you feel like your plan didn't really work, get back to your Plan Bs.
7. If you plan works well, Gain your money!

The most important part is, never quit your job until you get $1000 a day from your blog. =)

Till then, All the best and HAPPY RAYA SHOPPING ladies~

Life After Marriage~

It’s Ramadhan again. Thank God that I’m still alive to celebrate Ramadhan. This year is gonna be the first year for me and my dear to celebrate Ramadhan together. After a two-month of marriage, my life has changed little by little especially when we moved in a small yet beautiful apartment.

Since we moved in, kitchen has been my favorite spot *place I hardly go before we got married. Eheh*. I cook everyday. Yes. E-VE-RY-DAY!! Even I’m a working woman, I still cook for breakfast and dinner and also lunch (during weekend). Honestly, I’m a lousy cook. I only know how to cook some rice, eggs and some salad. *Sigh* It’s totally hard for me to adapt to my new life, as a wife. Some may say “Well, if you don’t know how to cook, don’t cook then” or.. “Just cook the instant food” or… “Go and eat outside”.  Which are totally right, but how far can you stand seeing your husband eating instant food, food being prepared in just a few minutes. The all-you-hafta-do-is-just-put-it-in-a-microwave kindda food.

I hafta say, the moment we open the new chapter in our life, I have this feeling that I wanna be a good cook, well at least for my family. I still remember the first dish I cooked for my dear was Sambal Tumis Tuna for his dinner. Apparently I only managed to prepare Sambal Tumis Tuna and caused us to have dinner at 9!! *Bet you know why* I’d say it was a moment that full with Uuhh-Aah-Ouch-Adeih till my dear comes ‘to the rescue’. And he said “It’s ok..you don’t really hafta cook. I can cook for you.” And believe me, man is always man. Today he says “you don’t hafta cook” and tomorrow he ask me to cook some special dish that he’d been craving for. Man!

So today, since today is the first day of Ramadhan, I think I wanna share the simplest recipe to prepare this Sambal Tumis which I learn from my mom. This recipe is really easy to prepare and I hope the young, newly married women out there who don’t really know how to cook, (like me myself~) will enjoy this recipe. \m/

SAMBAL TUMIS TUNA.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 garlic – shredded
5 – 8 small red onions – shredded
2 tablespoons of chili paste (blended dried chilies). You can add more chili paste if you want it hotter.
Some prawn paste (preferable)
1/2 cup of tamarind juice
Some sugar and salt (for the taste)
A can of tuna (I used canned tuna)
Some water

Method:

Heat a wok with oil and sauté garlic and onions till soft. Squeeze the prawn paste inside and add the chili paste. Leave until aromatic and the oil rises. Then, add the tamarind juice, some water (more water if you want more gravy), sugar and salt for taste. Stir the gravy until it boils.

Lastly, add some tuna and leave to boil. Dish out and ready to serve. YUMMY!!!



Tips and Thought:

Erm..this recipe is applied for any sambal tumis ie sambal tumis ikan bilis (the anchovies can be either fried or not before being add into the gravy), sambal tumis sotong, sambal tumis ikan kembung and lot more. HAPPY COOKING~

Before I penned down, I’d like to wish all of you to have a Blessed and Joyous Ramadhan ahead…