Al-Fatihah...

On 22nd of January, my uncle (mom's side) passed way due to serious head injury from a motorcycle accident. He was admitted to the Putrajaya hospital and was in the ICU for a couple of days. I visited him during the 1st day and recited Surah Yassin. Due to maximum swelling in his head, we were told that the chance for survival was slim. He owns a Jaguar, but he still wants to ride the Honda Cub. I straight away drove to Bukit Setiawangsa from my office after receiving the news that my uncle had passed away.

Fondly known as Pak Sidki, he is very popular among his nieces and nephews. He's always jovial and likes too smile. Very seldom I've seen him frowning or complaining about anything. Many of us considers him a bit 'strange' even by his kids, but that's his unique personality. He lives in his own creative world.

One time, when we visited him during 2nd hari raya, it was raining. I couldn't find him. Then Mak Cah told me that he's outside of the house scrubbing and cleaning the wall in his kain pelikat and t-shirt. "Pak Sidki buat apa raya2 ni kat luar?" I asked him. He said "Tengah hujan..rugi tak basuh tembok..air free!!"..hahahaha... this is just one of his 'weird' character. One other thing that I never forget is how his family never failed to be the last to arrive in Muar on the eve of Hari Raya. That's because Arwah always drove back to Muar via the old trunk road and he likes to do this at night.

When I was small, I was very close to Udin, his eldest son. So whenever there's opportunity, I would stay over my uncle's place in Cheras. I envied Din at that time because Pak Sidki bought him many toys for him to play with. Myself and Din loved to play with Lego and we would be building things including Airwolf and the Millenium Falcon. Arwah was an architect, so I like watching him building scaled model houses.

the last picture taken together during last Raya at our place. Arwah is seated next to me. This picture was taken using a tripod bought by Arwah way back in 1976 in Glasgow!!

Arwah will certainly be missed. His smile, his laugh and his antics, he will always be remembered. Semoga roh Arwah dicucuri rahmat dan ditempatkan dikalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Al-Fatihah..

I'm 33, he's 7 and she's 80....

I'm tiga puluh tiga...

Zidani's 7 years old...

My grandma, she's now 80!!

In my family, the month of January means birthday to many people. Too bad we couldn't go back to Kluang to celebrate my grandma's birthday. I heard they all had a great time together. Siap main mercun!

As for my own celebration, Ayu took us out for dinner at the Al-Rawsha restaurant. They serve delicious middle eastern dishes. They brought along a secret recipe cake and I get to blow out candles together with Zidani.

And thank you everyone for the birthday wishes...

The Aryani....

Ibdil wanted to go for a holiday in Terengganu. He specifically asked me about my previous stay at this particular place 6 years ago. Of course based on my own experience, I would recommend this luxurious malay style Aryani resort to him (or to anyone else for that matter).

The thing that I like most about this place is the resort itself and the service. I've been to many places before and The Aryani holiday is by far the most memorable. It's located in a very secluded area in Merang, next to a stunning beach.

The hotel staff were lovely, from the reception, chef, grounds and housekeeps they were all pleasant and friendly. With only 20 rooms/villas available, probably, the place won't ever be busy. Very peaceful and I like this kind of place. The resort is a little gem to recharge your batteries for a few days.

Some photos for proof....btw, these photos were taken recently...last weekend!! Hahaha.. I cannot tahan after talking to Ibdil about this place on Thursday/Friday. So I decided to take the family for an overnight stay at the The Aryani, some 6 hours++ drive away from KL!!! hahahaha..Besides we haven't really gone for a holiday during the school break. So I have to thank you Ibdil (check out his blog later on. He's in Aryani as I'm blogging this..and he's there for a full week!!!)

the villa where we stayed..overlooking the south china sea
it was really windy! check out the hotel staff behind us, in traditional malay outfit..
I wanted to stay at this Heritage Suite initially, but the place reminded me of my grandparents place in Muar! hahaha

our room....with over size bed!
killer view from the bed....
breakfast with a seaview...

indoor bath tub??
or outdoor sunken bath??
outdoor!!
yummyy....
I had to drive 20kms to get these...sedap gila!! seafood goreng tepung!!
time for spa & massage anyone? of course Ayu couldn't resist it...the beach house entrance...
Zidani can't wait to mandi laut! I guess he has to wait for another 6 months for that!
looking at this picture...I know Zidani's future is in good hands..Raidi is ever so reliable
so sad to leave this place...when will we come back??

We enjoyed this quick getaway very much, although it's only for a night. It's also the monsoon season so it was very windy and the sea was very rough. Raidi was on the mend (from food poisoning). So he stayed indoors most of the time. Pity him really. But we'll be coming back here soon, I'm sure of it.

After checking out, when we were driving out of the Resort, Zidani said one of the most unexpected thing to us..."Thank you Abaaaahh...Thank you Mamaaaa...." .....and that is priceless.

Raidi's antics..

We were at the Berjaya Times Square shopping mall couple of weeks ago. There's only one reason why I took the boys and Ayu there. The indoor amusement theme park!

Raidi wants to ride the roller coaster but due to his height, he has to wait for another year I guess. I admire his courage though as he got the stomach to go on the looping coaster ride. Zidani of course likes to play with the arcade games very much.

Ayu went into the haunted house with Raidi with another group of kids. I knew it was bad idea. All the kids were walking closely behind Ayu shielding themselves from the preying 'ghosts'. When they came out, I saw Ayu's traumatic face while Raidi was grinning from ear to ear while saying "takuuutt...takuuttt"..hehehe.

What I remember the most from this trip was what Raidi said while riding this ride called Dizzy Izzy together with his mother.

"Ooohh..aaahhh...geletek.. geletek... hahaha..hehehe.. geletek..geletek...geletek"

Hahahahah. I know he was trying to express this tingling sensation from the ride but geletek would be my last choice of word! I corrected him "It's geli la raidi..not geletek!" Hahahahahah

Welcome 2009...

Despite the economic slowdown, despite the expenditure cut down from various agencies, this year's firework display to usher in the new year is way louder!

We live very close to the Curve shopping mall. The mall operator organises this new year's count down cum street party. By the stroke of midnight, they lit the sky with fireworks. I can't really describe this fireworks display simply because I've never seen them before! Every year, I do plan to see the fireworks with the kids but each time, I'd find myself watching TV at home instead.

So judging from the loudness of the fireworks, the number of cars and house security alarms being triggered and from the vibration that I felt, they definitely fused more gunpowder this year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!