update

alahai.. pejam celik.. pejam celik.. dah 5 raya dah.. tahun ni kan celebrate first raya kat Sg Petani.. raya 3 dah balik Klang dah.. sebab kan nak kena ngecat rumah kan.. so Ahad semalam bertolak la MM dan Cik Jijah dengan penuh berkobar jiwa dan raga untuk balik ngecat rumah yang sekangkang lotong tu..

Rasanya lebih kurang 3.30pm.. kami masuk exit Sg Petani Utara.. tak sampai 30 minit rasanya.. jalan sudah jem.. nak masuk tol Juru.. kuar tol Juru.. bertambah haru.. pasal jalan sesak.. sampai lah ke Penang.. issskkk.. Pit stop sat kat Petronas Bukit Merah dalam kul 5.30pm.. keluar aje dari Bukit Merah.. semangat berkobar nak mengecat rumah semakin padam.. traffic sesak sesesak sesaknya.. sehinggalah Sungai Perak!!!

Pelik bin ajaib.. kesesakan adalah disebabkan semata-mata ramai umat manusia nak berhenti kat R&R Sungai Perak. Ingatkan ke.. eksiden ke.. polis buat road block ke.. telahan Jijah salah belaka.. Rupanya sesak tu sebab orang dok queue nak masuk R&R Sungai Perak semata-mata!! Kome bayangkan la.. kematu tak kematu punggung akak ni.. kalau dari Taiping ke Sg Perak kami bergerak cuma 20 km/j!!! Apa la yang spesel sangat Sg Perak tu? Ce ngkome kabo? issskkk.. bukan punggung je kematu ni.. sakit leher tak baik2 lagi ni.. lama sangat duk dalam kereta..

Namun, syukur.. kami selamat sampai.. walaupun kali ni kami ambil masa hampir 9 jam instead of 4-5 hours usually.. tak pernah2 dibuatnya!!

Kerana itu jugalah.. tiba2 MM tadak mood nak ngecat rumah.. "culture shock" lagi dek traffic jam kelmarin.. kita ni.. orang perempuan... ikut aje kan? dia kata.. cat.. kita cat.. dia kata tak payah cat.. kita lompat2 lah girang.. sebab buleh berjalan sakan rumah sedara mara sambil tayang handbag baju baru.. hehehheeh..

*nota kaki : Cik Jijah sudah ada pemenang untuk teka teki songket hari tu.. Insya allah.. nanti Cik Jijah umum next entry ye :)

gucci pun kalah..

Bulan puasa ni rasanya paling banyak kali MM dan Jijah ke Mesra Mall. Tak tau lah tapi kitorang suka pergi sana sebab senang nak cari barang dapur. Semua ada albeit the price yang kadang² mahal.

So, last week ada pameran. For the first time dapat tengok orang tenun songket. Serius. First time tengok and was so amaze to see how it is done. Selalu tengok dalam tv je kan. Eh... pernah ke tengok dalam tv? Tengok orang pakai masa bersanding ada lah..

The machinery that is used in the process. Sangat tekun tukang tenun itu menenun. Juga sangat ramah dan tak lokek menjawab soalan. Do you know how long does it take to finish a piece of songket? According to the weaver lady, dia akan siapkan 4 inches every 8 hours daily. Tolak cuti weekend, to finish a 2.5 meter songket, it takes a month. 2.5 meter sebulan? and that is the standard measurement for a songket cloth.

Pattern yang akan dihasilkan. Every dot represents 5 threads. Every 5 threads akan diikat untuk memudahkan proses kerja. Errrr.. kome paham tak? Kalau tengok live baru faham kot.. Macam nak buat sulaman pun ada kan?

Mounds of white threads that bind every 5 gold threads can be seen in the picture above. Memang complicated gila tapi tukang tenun tu laju aje buat. Memang expert sangat. Akak kan memang as usual over peramah tanya la dia berapa nilai kain songket yang dia tengah tenun tu. Tau berapa? 5000! Akak ni yang macam tergamam kan, boleh pulak gi tanya, "5000 apa?" "5000 ringgit kak", jawab dia selamba. Fengggggsan akak....

Ce kome teka.. berapa hengget songket ni each.. I tell you.. LV ke.. gucci ke.. prada ke.. semua tak leh lawan songket ni. Songket sutera katanya. Kome teka la ye.. teka free aje ke? nak bagi hadiah lah.. hadiah apa? rahsiaaaaa.. eeee... best la pulak! Excited akak! Jangan lupa ye.. sila tinggalkan alamat email supaya Jijah buleh hubungi for delivery details. Till then.. toodles!!

munjung

My family has this one ramadhan ritual. Its simply called MUNJUNG. Its actually something that most of Jawa people in my hometown do during the fasting month. My mom is not a Jawa but my father is. She has adapted and well blended with the Jawa lifestyle anyway. So this is one of the Jawa's custom that we look forward almost every ramadhan.

Usually it is held when the raya is near. Usually my mom will cook with the help of us, the daughters and my brother will distribute them food from house to house nearby and relatives too. Being a proud Jawa, I have been wanting to do this ever since I got married. Only this year finally I have the chance to do it.. from scratch.. all by myself :)

The munjung dish consist of a few Malay delicacies. They are nasi impit, kuah kacang, kuah lodeh, rendang ayam or ayam masak merah or sometime just plain fried chicken or rendang daging and even daging masak kicap. As for me, I made nasi impit, kuah kacang with some meat, kuah lodeh and rendang ayam. I think I cook a lot. Among the main ingredients are 2 big fat chicken and 4 pack of santan (tak boleh masak selalu.. habis lah diet).

complete servings to be send to neighbours.

If you notice these are foods that usually serve during hari raya. I have no idea why the Jawa make it as their custom in ramadhan since the dish will be serve again during raya but I have fun doing it. I couldnt even believe myself to have cook a full pot of kuah kacang, a full pot of kuah lodeh and a whole wok of rendang ayam. Nasi impit was easy since I used the instant one. My mom, she made her own nasi impit. I just cant compete with her. Kudos to her.

Ramadhan is almost at the end now. I used to be so excited waiting for hari raya when I was a child. As year goes by, age increases.. its kinda sad that Ramadhan is leaving. Even though it is tiring, all the cookings and fastings but this is the only month that I feel so blessed. Less fights with the other half too.. hehehhe.. soothing and calming surroundings... but I dont want to wish anyone hari raya yet.. Lets us all do our best in our amalan before Ramadhan leaves us again which is just a few days left :)

berita terkini

How is your raya preparation peeps? Kak Jijah tahun ni, colour theme light brown. Asalnya army green or dark olive green tapi susah sangat nak cari kain baju melayu yang match with my kurung. Baju kurung akak dah lama dah siap. Before puasa dah siap... heheheh.. Sexcited kan? tak lah.. tak mo jadi macam last year. Last minute preparation. Now... baju dah siap, puasa pun senang hati aje (sebenarnya malas nak drive gi cari tailor bulan² posa).

Back to my colour theme story. Kisahnya yang jadi light brown sebab salah beli kain baju melayu MM. Ingatkan betul dah match dengan baju kurung Jijah tu. Siap bawa contoh bagai ke Jakel tu. Beriya sungguh adik SA ni menolong. Alih-alih sampai rumah, rupanya kain tu bukan army green tapi light brown. Masa dok matching kain dengan baju, ramai yang kata dah match dah tu. hmmm.. takkan nak return kain tu kan? Maka, ku tabahkan hati dan hantar kain tu terus ke tailor. It must be the yellow lights yang buat kain tu berubah warna. Notice tak? kadang-kadang ada certain outlets guna lampu gini. Masa beli warna lain, balik jadi lain. Nasiblah...

So dah nasib badan kan, akak la yang terpaksa tempah baju lain which has the same colour as MM's. Punya lah bersungguh nak matching kan? Sebab dah terbiasa since the first time we celebrate raya together even before we were married*wink*.. Itu je lah yang buat meriah pun.. Kalau ada anak-anak mesti lagi meriah kan :)

Lagi apa? kasut? hmmm.. tak ada istilah kasut raya sebenarnya tapi last month, akak secara tak "sengaja" dah terembat 5 pasang kasut Masa tu kan megasale baru je mula. Primavera, bonia.. isk isk isk isk.. sungguh tak sengaja tau.. sedar-sedar dah 5 pasang. So sekarang MM dok retain akak dari membeli kasut lagi. Tak aci sungguh.. dia kata sampai next year.. huwaaaarrrgggghh! Makcik telan air liur je tengok MM gi beli sandal scholl.. mujur scholl je.. kalau clarks? issskk.. tak acinyaaaa...

Pendam dalam hati aje lah kalau ada berkenan kat mana² kasut kan tapi to compensate my feeling, I have ordered something from a friend. My C**** C****a** (text encrypted sungguh la) which I believe is on its way here. Insya allah kalau sempat sebelum raya, tak sempat lepas raya. Janji sampai. Habis sudah duit raya yang gomen bagi.. ngggeeeee.. actually its sort of a self reward la gitu kan.. bukan selalu.. It was last December since I last bought any handbag which also the same C**** but different design. MM jugak lah yang racun, setiap kali lalu kat bonia, sembonia or carlo rino (ni je la yang ada kat east coast ni) mesti dia akan kata, "jangan.. better u save money for your favourite brand". Ada betul kan apa yang MM cakap? Baru puas hati to the max..

Lagi apa nak cerita? Mmmm.. new make up.. tak ada kot.. though my MAC compact sudah habis but I still have my MAC foundation, last blockbuster estee lauder set pun tak luak lagi so tepek itu je lah... Ingat nak pakai lenses semula. Yours truly have stop wearing any contact lenses for few months now since I put on my ala² "youthful and vibrant" glasses itu ( ye.. spec akak yang latest ni bikin akak perasan muda). So lenses is a perfect choice for an instant makeover for a not-so-old lady like me, dont you think?

Almost forgotten.. ingatkan nak sambut raya kat rumah baru.. but most likely tak jadi since belum siap cat lagi. Ada ke patut mamat magkuk a.k.a i***n itu mintak 2000 just to paint some walls of my tiny lil house? Rumah teres lah.. mostly interior je pun.. a lil bit of exterior sampai 2000 dia nak? gila.. so cancel terus and MM still in the process to persuade me painting the house together with him instead. So what say u, should or shouldnt I? Should je lah kot.. kesian lah kat buah hati pengarang jantung busyuk masyam hitam² si taik minyak ku yang seorang itu (harus setuju, mana la tau dapat kasut baru sepasang dua.. hiksss)

By the way, nih boleh masuk ripleys believe it or not. For the first time in 5 years akak tak order kuih or any biscuits or even munchies macam kacang atau maruku. Berdasarkan pengalaman lepas beraya di sini, tak ada sapa datang rumah.. huhuhuh.. and I bet after raya ni.. we will be going home to Klang almost every weekend just like last month.. So I cant let my fridge to be full of uneaten cookies which in the end I have to paksa rela my tuition's student to eat it or else buang je. Pembaziran... tak baik.. tak baik..

Duit raya.. adalah sikit². Every year memang allocate around 300 je pun. Ni tak masuk our parents and adik beradik sendiri. Biasanya MM and Jijah share. Selalunya berlebih sebab jarang ada orang datang rumah maybe sebab tuan rumah pun jarang nak lekat di rumah... hehehhe.. asyik berjalan aje keghojenya!

Itu saja lah persiapan raya tahun ni. Tak adalah se grand tahun lepas since tahun ni banyak nak pakai duit dengan kereta pun both kelisa and chevy kena major services. Not forgetting all the blacklist summons that we have to clear. Kalau dapat pindah Klang kena pakai duit sendiri since MOE tak allocate any allowances for pertukaran 2011 (ye... jijah nak minta tukar balik Klang, insyaAllah). Haihhhh.. pening bila fikir pasal duit ni tapi Tuhan kita maha pemurah lagi maha penyayang.. insyaAllah akan dipermudahkan semua urusan, Amin..

Lusa, the school cum raya holidays begin. Though it is holiday already but I have to standby kat sini dulu. Ini kerana MM masih bekerja. Selasa petang lah paling cepat kami pulang ke kampung. Will be going back to KL first, and on Thursday we will be going back to Kedah. Tahun ni turn Sg Petani. MM dah rindu sangat nak tidur bawah ketiak Tok Ayah dia yang seorang tu..

Panjangnya akak bercerita.. sekali sekala kan? terima kasih sebab sudi membaca :) Sorry lah if there are too much information. Saja nak share dengan kawan. Owhhhh!! on another note, I have one happy news.. I have lost 1.5kg!! hahaha.. takdelah kurus akak ni. Masih juga "sehat" , "semangat" dan montel macam biasa tapi yang penting mesti muat baju raya.. hehehhee..

Ok.. itu saja.. sekian terima kasih.