Iftar

Really looked forward to this annual iftar with the in-laws. We try to make it a point to iftar together once a year and I’m glad we had been doing this for a few years now. Alhamdulillah. Since I do not have parents-in-law, always and had been looking up to BIL and SIL as elders. The first few houses we would go to during Raya too. 

We’re almost halfway through Ramadhan and soon the last 10 days will be here. And the house looked far from ready for Raya. Oh dear. The curtains! Have not wash them. And seriously, I haven’t thought  of baking any cookies yet. Not even a single bar of butter in the fridge too. 😩 

Alhamdulillah for the spread of rezeki for our annual iftar. 😍

Ramadhan

Alhamdulillah reached 8th Ramadhan and we have survived without activating MacD. 🤗 Thanks to the husband who had stocked up on Dendeng (yay no need for Geylang just to eat them) and frozen satay.

This year I’m going minimalist for Syawal. Boleh ke? Insha Allah. Planned to have only 4 cookies, use the same regular daily curtain, tiny carpet (means to get a new one) and only 1 new baju kurung (tailored and settled). Well, last year did I get 1 or 2?? 

So many temptations on getting another baju but actually none caught my heart (jiwang ar). Will dig the wardrobe for more least used dresses or baju kurung. Gave up on having similar colours especially with M cos his baju settled by the grandparents every year. But will put in effort to pair up with the husband. Already have 8 houses to visit on the first day. Wish us luck on the Syawal marathon which will fall on a Friday - means got intermission for prayers in between the visits.

No plans on getting new deco but thanks to sis, the house could still have a fresh look. Will put up new runner from Kaison for the tv console, re-use the $99 table cloth from Crate and Barrel, rearrange some decoratives and put up last year’s colourful string of bulbs (pls don’t fail me like the previous one we got from Geylang). Couldn’t wait to show pics of the house deco this year but so far I only had my sofa cover changed! 😫

Not sure why but I don’t have any motivation to bake this year probably because there’s always leftovers. Decided to buy instead and see how it goes if I would still bake later on.

Lazy to go Geylang too but the husband can’t do without his annual visit. So gotta set a day to grab some money envelopes, Ayam percik, Apam Balik and can I convince him to buy me a new rug as well? Heh. 

2017 Raya shoes from a shop at Suntec.

Still pretty but with a wear and tear and now that my heel hurts, had to give the flats a miss.

Loves the satin shoebag that came with it.

This was not expensive think less than $40.

Paid the shop a visit before Ramadhan but couldn’t find any that I liked

2018 Raya shoes. The brand though, very auntie.

But pls take a look at the insoles!

So cushiony and this would be a rare pair for me cos I’m always and forever in flats but had to choose a wedge this time. This was RM139 ($43) from Parkson Paradigm mall

Almost wanted to choose a nude pair but decided to go for Boring black instead..

Mom’s birthday celebration and shopping spree at JB

Bismillah to a brand new week! So anxious that Ramadhan is just a few days away. Because gotta crack my head on Sahur and Iftar dishes, need to start to recite Quran on a daily basis (shame on me) and to do more good deeds. 

It was such a long but adventurous Birthday celebration for Mom yesterday. And probably the most times I went to toilet in JB (cos I’m very particular about toilets and can muntah if conditions are far off than Ion’s). Alhamdulillah, survived.

Started the day luckily straight to Aeon Kulaijaya. Driver lives in JB so he drove at the shortcuts and suddenly we’ve arrived. Skipped breakfast location as we reached after the shops opened. Mom went for her birthday massage while I spent the whole hour in Kaison! Bought quite a lot of stuff such as colour pencils for M’s birthday(in Sep only) goodie bags. And husband found the perfect display rack for my LV! Had quite a hard time to measure the width and after asking for assistance, the SA managed to confirm the measurement using a long ruler. So so happy and glad that it fits nicely. Was so tempted to buy a short stool only at RM34.90. Now I’m going to keep thinking about it. And it’s not avail at other outlets (we went to Paradigm too!). We spent a total of RM279 at Kaison!

Had really late lunch at around 1pm and M was already cranky. Mom’s main birthday meal held at Vivo pizza and lucky her, got a pink carnation after the meal. Their desserts were yummy too.

After Aeon, we headed to Paradigm and I got to spree on some clothes. The little girls’ collection were so pretty and cute especially the accessories. Went to Kaison again and saw bedsheets but I didn’t buy any. Bought Mango Passion from Starbucks and received free Latte. 

Last stop was at Amphawa Boat Noodles just behind Sutera Mall. The last time I went there was about 9 years ago. But the mall still looks old. By the time we’re done, it’s almost 7. Only reached home about 3hrs later. Bro bought us KFC, Hokkaido Cheese Tarts, Famous Amos and Sushi! 

Alhamdulillah pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves (except for Dad I guess cos he didn’t buy anything). JB family trip is definitely better than a Batam day trip. 

So happy that husband found this pretty rack!

Finally my LV has a home.

But need Dad to help to repaint it nicely.

This rack was from Kaison at RM125.90 ($43)!

My haul from Kaison!

They have these Pompoms and I couldn’t resist buying them.

Total damage RM279 which less than $100 for all these including the rack!

Realised I only bought 4 tops for myself.

But I got my Raya shoes settled!

It’s gonna be a wedge. 😆

This Aglio Olio was yummy! 

BBQ chicken pizza

Lava molten cake 

Terubat rindu makan Mango sticky rice.

First time trying Boat Noodle.

The aftermath of Boat Noodle situation for 7 people. ☺️

Mom’s Pre-birthday celebration

Mom’s birthday will be tomorrow, hence the day trip planned. But today we had to deliver her huge present over after M’s school event. This was the first event and I truly appreciate the staff’s efforts working on a Saturday. Half day event but it falls on a weekend and I had such events too back when I was with the institute. It was fruitful for me and the husband with the talk by the Children Society’s counsellor and the Malay workshop by NLB. The Parents’ strength talk was a bit dry and draggy but very relevant. Putting them into actions though will take quite a bit. Of effort. And Practise.

The Malay workshop though was more fun because the speaker was humorous and made it enjoyable to learn. The 3 types of story telling. 

1. Story-gami - Telling a story using a paper origami. This would take skills and practice before trying it out on the kid.

2. Draw and tell - More straightforward but can be very intensive storyline. 

3. Kamishibai stories - The use of big flash card like pictures to tell a story.

I’m thankful though that M is interested in story books because we tried to bring him to the libraries consistently. He would request for us to read the borrowed books sometimes repetitively. Hope his interest in books would stay. 

We went to Mom’s in the late afternoon. And glad that Bro could join and even better helped to get the cake. Surprisingly, this time the Swee Heng Mother’s Day cake was quite tasteful. He called to tell me of the flavors available and I chose the Strawberry Mousse with Chocolate Sponge Cake. 

 All lighted up by sis.

The greetings was cute too.

Best Mom Ever and I Love You Mom at the bottom.

Siap with border all.

I must share this. Cold Storage sells really affordable fresh flowers.

Bright colourful Gerberas as low as $2 per stalk.

You can easily get 5 stalks and put them in a cup and your whole living room could be so much prettier! Grabbed these lilies at $18 for 8 buds!

Planning to get them for Raya too Insha Allah. 😍

Quite bummed when I realised that we won’t be going to Padini tomorrow but will update on any spree done! Enjoy family time tomorrow!

Great weekend ahead

It’s going to be the last weekend before we welcome Ramadhan. And Ya Allah the weather. Scorching! Perspiring non stop at home and kinda jealous of those working in aircon now. 😬 It’ll be Mother’s Day weekend too and celebrating Mom’s birthday as well. Guess it saves alot as Mom’s birthday always fall near or on Mother’s Day every year. Looking forward to the family road trip this Sunday and going to visit my favourite shop, Kaison! 💕

So M came out of school yesterday with this.

He passed it to me and said,

“Mak, can you hold for me? Tmr I want to give nenek, not you.”

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Yesterday when Dad came over, he brought this along saying it was from Sis.

Haha. Totally didn’t expect any Mother’s Day gift from her as she has just bought me so many stuff from her London and Scotland trip.

Such a pretty in pastel light board! 

Something new for Raya decor this year! 😍

So blessed to have received so many gifts and presents lately although it was not my birthday. May Allah bless the givers with abundance more rezeki. 🤗

Of Girlfriends

These are the girls I ‘grew up’ with at work since way before 2009. We started off as colleagues and did not expect to have this bond till today. Back when we only had steadies and now, they’re blessed with 2 kids each. We’ve seen one another’s tears and laughters and witnessed the ‘happily ever after’ too. Couldn’t be more thankful, grateful and blessed to still be in touch and meet now that we have our own house. Couldn’t be happier that one of them moved quite near ( 20 mins away) to me and we have 1 straight bus to her place.

Belated birthday gifts for M and me. 

Always having ideas to give creative presents for M now that it’s almost 4 years.

We’re all of different age but so glad that we clicked so well. 😍

Another presents hunting day!

Now that the next meet-up with the favourite girlfriends has been set, I dragged the husband and M out to hunt for presents today! Mind you, I had to get a total of 6 sets of gifts!

But hey! It’s settled!

The kids will be getting H&M clothes while the Moms will get Bath and Body Works fragrance mist! Can’t wait to see them real soon!