A WEDDING AND TWO HOUSEWARMINGS

The last school break went by like a lightning......

At the beginning of the break, we were so busy furnishing our new condo. Mak Uda and family then 'officiates' it by being the first one to spend the night there. They came home for Abg Long Anas's wedding, who got hitched to Kak Izza, adding yet another MD in our family. Mama and Abah were terribly busy, but, Alhamdulillah, with so many of your cousins balik kampung, you were occupied and happy read didnt bother us.

The condo not quite ready yet as the front grill need to be altered. It may take another couple of weeks before we could hand it to Ridel Hotel to turn it into service apartment. Good news for you as you would still get the chance to use the swimming pool, just in time before Ramadhan. We did the 'housewarming' our way. All four of us did our sembahyang hajat individually and Abah then recited Surah al-Baqarah. It took him over 1 hour to finish it. That's it. May Allah bless this house. (Rasa sayang pulak nak turn it to a rented place. The Kelantan river flows gracefully infront with a breathtaking view and from our window we get the magnificent view of Masjid Muhammadi and Padang Merdeka. Very nice indeed. The bonus is, the mosque is walking distance. It would be nice to do the tarawikh prayers there. Hemmm, I might pujuk Abah to delay the handing over.......)

The wedding took three days, the aqad nikah, the kenduri at Kak Izza's and finally the hectic one at Ayah Mat's. Abg Long and Kak Izza make a handsome couple, bagai pinang di belah dua. Hectic it was because the invitees turnout was overwhelming. Abg Long, being so active in many NGOs and whatnots, have soooo many friends and almost all came!! As for Ayah Mat and Cik Ma, they are known for their very courteous way in dealing with people, thus respected by many and people came to honour them. In droves!!! By 5.30 pm all the food were gone and guests were still pouring!! Mak Uda and Cik Jae the Prof took over Cik Ma's kitchen and emptied the freezer and larder. They expertly turn everything into edible things....Mama, Abah, Kak Aishah, Abg Ngah and many others,one after another, ran to the nearby restaurants and took away their gulais and ayam pedas and tomyams in the big pots and pans. It was hectic alright but no one minded because we all love Abg Long. Yes we did joke about it and warned him not to get married again as we couldnt bear to go through this again.....Abg Long is loved by all uncles and aunties for his good manners and for always being helpful to others.

Here's a picture of the happy couple....

Abg Long Anas Karimi & Dr Nurul Izza

We then took off to KL for yet another kenduri. The housewarming of Cik Lah and Ayah Pa. They are so lucky to get a big bungalow with a stunning view of hills and waterfall!! Imagine sitting on the front porch while listening to the sound of waterfall....blissful!

 Breakfast al fresco in Cik Lah's garden.

                         Drunken sailors in full bloom

 At the nearby waterfall...with Nana.





The kenduri was of the opposite end of the wedding. Lots and lots of food was still there by 7pm. Ayah Pa, always the generous one, ordered too much. There were nasi biryani, nasi dagang and bihun goreng for main dish. The desserts were bubur kacang, tepung pelita, slices of watermelons , jellies and the neighbours brought many others. Almost all invitees turned up but most of them didnt eat much as there were also few other kenduris nearby on the same day. Alhamdulillah, it didnt get wasted just like that as Abah happened to know an Ustaz at the nearby Bukit Beruntung Madrasah. A call was made and some students came over and took the food back to their madrasah and saved us from membazir.

The best part was the gathering of mama's sibling. We got to meet the newly promoted Brig Jen Ayah Long...dah lama tak jumpa dia. Ayah Az just sent Cik Ti as he is on his routine 3 days a month of learning deen. We met Ayah Chik Ju, Pak Uda Firdaus and Ayah Ngah ......it was fun,fun, fun....Mak Tok was ferried from one child's house to another while we spent 2 nights at Mak's and the rest at the new abode of Cik Lah's.

We came home on sunday, meaning you two ponteng 1 school day....and now we are gearing up for the blessed month of Ramadhan. May Allah give us the the taufiq to do as much ibadah as possible to get the 70x rewards for the fardh and the reward of fardh for the sunat ones.