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In a galaxy far, far away... Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak and Selamat Hari Raya to everyone! This year, for the first time, Mak and Abah came to spend raya with us, so we had a nice quiet celebration, just the 4 of us. We had the raya breakfast of pulut (glutinous rice), rendang ayam (chicken rendang) and sambal tumis daging (beef sambal) but took no pictures of the food as we were too busy chowing down the morning of the 1st of Shawwal.

After the food, we then all got dressed in our Raya finery, took a bunch of pictures and then did the ritual salam-salam and asking of forgiveness of each other, as is tradition for a Malaysian Eid. Take a look of the pictures of Mak and Abah with us for the first time during Raya, and because it was quite cold outside and our Malaysian thin cotton materials, we only took pictures indoors.

In a galaxy far, far away... Part I

After Yope, Yong, Emma, Irfan, Wan Ngah and Aji sent Abah and Mak to KLIA, they embarked on a long, arduous journey where finally they landed in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.

Unfortunately, they arrived on a rainy night and due to traffic issues in the rain, Vin and I did not arrive at the airport right on time. Abah and Mak were waiting outside the terminal, and Abah was cold, so after a quick salam and kiss kiss, everyone piled into the car and we came home for dinner.

On To The Far Side Of The Planet

Tok and Opah Irfan boarded the flight that would take them to Singapore, then hopskip to Tokyo, Chicago and finally Cincinnati where Ayah Cik and Cik Dik would be waiting to bring them to their house in Middletown, OH for a month at the United States. This would be their second time in the US.

To prevent being late for the flight because of breaking of fast, we left after 6 PM from the Tenth Floor, headed for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) which is strangely enough a million light years away from KL, but maybe that's a subject for another entry.

We broke sawm driving through Putrajaya and ate dinner after Mahgrib prayers at the Dengkil R&R on the PLUS Highway. And no, I didn't need to pick my teeth en route.

Anyway... pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words:

Irfan at Centrepoint

Centrepoint Bandar Utama, that is. While waiting for his mother to finish work, Irfan took the time doing his usual thing, running about amongst the greenery and going up and down the escalators. I thought I'd put the camera phone to good use.

One thing I'll say for Centrepoint's garden is it's really well kept. Shame about the crap people throw into the koi pond, though.

The Sixth Year

It's been six years since Ain & I were married. More than 10 years since we first met.

Overall it's been a great six years. It wasn't a perfect six years. It's been one hell of a rollercoaster for this and that reasons. But I'm still in love with her as much as the days before we were married, and I feel some measure of pride over the life we've built. For that I am very grateful to the Almighty for His joys, including the one known as Irfan Shafiq.

There is probably many more years of riding this rollercoaster, but I hope we've learnt much and matured enough to allow us to determine what's important in life, endure the ride and make the right decisions.

Exactly Four Years Ago Today...

... Irfan Shafiq was born just before 5 p.m. in the maternity ward at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

He caused his mother to be stuck at the hospital for almost 12 hours before finally decided it was time to pop out.

I was right there with Ain when he popped out. When the nurse handed him to me he gave me his best "Hey... can you tell me what the heck's going on around here" look.

Atok and Opah arrived from Sitiawan today to celebrate the occasion with Irfan, after which Opah made nasi ayam for dinner.

There was cake with candles (a hit with Irfan for some reason) and the photos were taken by Atok. We had dinner when Mak Long and Ayah Long came a-calling. I noticed that Irfan was sleepy by 8pm but he fought his drooping eyes until it was after 11pm, because of the occasion.

I can't believe he used to be as small as the picture to the left. He looks like he's seven, and many people have told us they thought he was seven. Compare the photo with the ones below.

Makan Angin Puerto Rico Bab 4

OK So I realize it's been weeks since we went to Puerto Rico, but work is pretty crazy busy lately and I haven't been able to finish my final Bab of Makan Angin Puerto Rico. In fact I was planning to write this blog in Malay and publish it on August 31st (Malaysia's Independence Day). Since I have missed that deadline, I will just go ahead and write the entry in English so as not to show the world that my Bahasa Malaysia (or is it Bahasa Melayu now?) has really gone down the drain since secondary school.

This entry is a bit more random and rambly than usual. Sorry!

Kachow!

After months of using other vehicles as substitute of Lightning McQueen from his favourite movie when playing with his toys, Irfan will finally get the real deal thanks to his Atok & Opah. Atok took these pictures and emailed them to us and Irfan was really excited looking at them. (So I'm told, cause I was wiped out before 9 pm thanks to the fever I was wracked with last night.)

He's already got Mater and Snot Rod Rip Stick Racer toys in his collection. I guess Irfan can't wait to go to Sitiawan and get his hands on it.

This is the 300th entry for this weblog, by the way.

Makan Angin Puerto Rico Bab 3

Continuing our adventures in Puerto Rico. After our late night of kayaking and swimming in the bioluminescent Las Croabas lagoon, we had our late night feast and collapsed into bed. Unfortunately we had to get up pretty early to have a good breakfast before we head to catch the bus for the El Yunque rainforest tour.

Our tour guide/bus driver's name was Jesus (hay-soos) a.k.a. Chipi (seriously, this was his nickname, he said). It was a 45 minute drive to El Yunque. After Chipi made sure everybody who had signed up for the tour was on the bus, we set off. 2 of the guests were from Mexico (I think), so we had a bilingual English-Spanish tour, which was fun.

Abang Long's Wedding

Makan Angin Puerto Rico Bab 2

Now that we've covered the hotel we stayed at in Puerto Rico, we can move on to the activities. We planned to do 3 different activities:

* Night-time kayaking at a bioluminescent bay

* El Yunque Rainforest

* Walk around old San Juan

Because we ran out of time and decided to take it easy and relax rather than push the activities for the 3 days we were there, we skipped the walk around old San Juan (a reason to go back and visit Puerto Rico!). But we did do the first 2 things on our list.

Makan Angin Puerto Rico Bab 1

Now that I travel so much less for work, I have the desire to travel for pleasure - or as we say in Malaysia "makan angin" (literally "eat air"). So a couple of weeks ago, Vin and I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a long weekend. We left on Friday very early morning and got home again on Monday evening and stayed in Puerto Rico for only 3 nights.

I must say, it was a very convenient trip, especially for East Coasters - it was about 4-5 hours flying time (shorter than going to Hawaii) and you stay in the same time zone so there's no time funkiness to contend with. Travelocity had a really good deal for flight+hotel stay that ended up being only slightly dearer than just the round trip flight to Florida for that weekend. And, best of all, Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean which means that even tropically-bred girls like me can swim in the sea with no temperature issues whatsoever! I am incredibly susceptible to colds if exposed to cold water (freezing rain, the Atlantic ocean anywhere north of Florida, etc.) so if the water temperature is not above 70-75 F, swimming is completely out of the question for me. So the water temperature in Puerto Rico was just absolutely perfect for me.

Irfan Gets a Haircut

Today I acquired the means to extract the photos in my cell phone, which have been percolating in its memory for almost two months. Some time last month, we took Irfan for a haircut at the barber's. It was the third time for him at the place, if I remember right. He never goes first. I have to have my hair cut before him.

But when he sits in the chair, he's one docile kid, peering intently at his own reflection in the mirror as his locks come off.

Irfan In Pasir Mas Once Again

Irfan's grandfather was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago and we would have been there sooner to visit if not for work and exam (as mentioned in the previous entry). He's feeling much better now, although getting Irfan's Tok Bah to rest is next to impossible as he's used to being on his feet and running errands.

Meanwhile, Irfan was running about in and about the house, burning off but never exhausting his seemingly boundless energy reserves until near midnight.

European Adventure IX: Bournemouth

This is the final part of our European Adventure. After saying goodbye to Joanne in Leeds, we drove back to London. It was Friday, May 26th, and we were to fly home on Sunday morning, the 28th. The drive back to London was smooth until we hit the M25 (the ring road around London). It was about 2:30 in the afternoon but Monday was a bank holiday, so we hit the rush hour. Everybody left early in order to start the long weekend. So it took us about 2 hours to get from getting on the M25 to Surrey, and I was cursing under my breath the entire time.

European Adventure VIII: Return to England (Grantham, York, Leeds)

After almost a week of hot sunny days in Spain, we flew back to England from Malaga. We arrived at Gatwick and it was raining cats and dogs. What a welcome, eh? :)

We made our way back to Mei's place, and that evening we went to a barbeque with Mei and Colin and met a bunch of people from their diving club. Unfortunately no pictures of the barbeque because a) it was night time and b) it was still pouring rain. It's true - the English barbeque in all weather!!

European Adventure VII: Malaga - Departure

After a long delay of finishing up the chronicles of our European Adventure, finally I'm back to do the last few entries. After our fun time in Jaen, it was time to head back to Malaga where we would spend one last night in Spain before heading back to England.

Today The Light Switch...

... Tomorrow the world!!!

Earlier today Irfan realised that he has a new super power: the ability to reach any high switch on the wall with his hands (albeit on tippy toes). So all morning he's been all over the house flipping switches. Lights. Fan. Forcefields. Directed-energy weapons. Life support systems.

But the best thing all week has been his newfound skill of asking to use the toilet when required. Many thanks to Irfan's Tok & Opah for teaching their grandson while Ain & I were at work last week.

European Adventure VI: Hanging Out in Jaen

We spent a total of 5 days in Jaen, and the days and nights were filled with old friends (new friends for me!), food, and lots of conversations. I was very quickly introduced to doing everything on Spanish time, which is different from the schedule that I'm used to. For instance, when we checked into Hotel Infanta Cristina (Princess Christina) in Jaen, we were told that breakfast started at 8:00 AM and ended at 11:00 AM. I'm used to breakfast hours starting at 6:00 AM in the hotels that I stay at for work purposes in the U.S. Lunch doesn't even start until 2:00 PM (between 2-4 in the afternoon), and dinner isn't served until about 9:00 PM. The siesta hours are still observed in Jaen, and Vin and I found ourselves being just about the only people wandering around town during siesta. We did see a few tourists (yes, they were tourists - they spoke German) up and about during siesta, but almost no locals. I found it odd to find older people (folks in their 70s and 80s) up and about at 1:00 AM on a work night, eating out with their families. Everybody keeps late hours in Spain - and siestas are a necessity to maintain this schedule.

European Adventure V: The Castillo Overlooking Jaen

After we checked out of our hotel in Malaga, we took a taxi to the bus station. We would have to take the bus first to Granada and then from there a bus to Jaen. It was past noon by the time we checked out. In the end, we took the easy way out and just took a taxi to Jaen. We wanted to make it to Jaen before it got too late (no point burning daylight). Happily, we arrived in Jaen in time for a late lunch (lunch is late there anyway).