sekitar open house fabmom...

Just some pics at last Saturday's open house.

As luck would have it, it rained all day. Nothing you can do about it. Anyway we had a good time.

Thank you to all who came.

BBQ party

Last night we had a barbeque party. What a blast time we had.

Hubby's relatives arrived Friday afternoon and the house got crowded and noisy and fun. The gotong royong started Saturday morning. 6.00 am , we were off to Pasar getting the main ingredients. Started marinating stuffs right away while the tent is being put up.

We had 'ambuyat' for lunch with the side dish of nangka masak lemak cili api, sayur pucuk paku, sambal mangga and ikan goreng. And that's enough to fuel us for the workload ahead. 4 pm, the buzz is on. Karaoke people start setting up the system. BBQ equipment ready to fire. Women in the kitchen cooking away. There was heavy rain around 5.30pm. We're undeterred. The tent is up. Anyway it stopped before the first guest arrived.

Our menu : 1) for masakan kampung : ikan bakar, udang bakar, sotong bakar, chicken wing bakar, ulam dan sambal belacan, nenas masak lemak dengan tiram, sayur labu dengan sayur manis, sambal mangga and by the kids' popular demand-nasi himpit and kuah kacang .

2) for western food : spaghetti with bolognaise, lamb chops and chicken salad.

And then, hubby's Mak Su made a last minute addition of bubur kacang with durian. They bought this succulent sweet durian by the roadside at UMS roundabout when they went out in the afternoon. The intention was to bring home and serve right out but their kids gobbled a good portion while in the car and there wasn't enough left for everyone when they got home. Feeling guilty, her aunt made it to a bubur so that tiada yang kempunan.

Hubby's cousin came with some buah tangan of kek lapis kukus, kuih talam and kuih apam that are just hot from the kitchen and seriously sedapp.

The karaoke sound system was excellent. No lack of able singers. And I can say the older guys got the run for their money by hubby's little cousin. An 11 year old girl who could carry any tune beautifully. Then midway, a slot of poco-poco dance lead by the teenager nephews and nieces which got the party going.

The last guests left around 1 am. Yes no kidding. Well they live just a few meters away so no worries. Great fun. Tired and beaten but it was great.

poco-poco

what's in my handbag

I'm tagged along with the others by Sharon, a long long time ago.
Anyway, here goes.

At the moment, this is my favourite handbag.

And what's inside?

Just these :

1. Purse with the usual contents - cash, credit card, membership card, discount card, ID and driving licence.

2. Handphone

3. Camera that took this photo

4. Wet tissue, dry tissue

5. A note pad and a pen

6. A mini measuring tape

10. A little vanity case to hold these :

a) lipstick pallette

b) mini hair brush (mainly to tidy daughter's hair)

c) nivea lip care

d) face blotter

e)some handyplast

f) some medication for migraine and gastric

And that's it !

1. Nope, nothing illegal.

2. Nothing embarrassing

3. The most important items would be purse and handphone.

4. The smallest item, I guess the pen.

WHO TO TAG?

Lets hear from bakermin, shall we?

blooms

Lately I develop an interest in flower arranging. Once I got started I became a bit addicted. Every week I go out and buy vases and flowers.
Orchids. This was done today.
Another type of orchids.
lavender
wild roses

tulips
some modern creation to match the vase
don't know whats the name
daisies

Well, have a blooming day everyone !

Fabmom's Raya

This year's 1st Raya we gathered at my place. Every year the venue is rotated between our homes.

At 10 am everyone started coming. From Inanam, from Likas, from Penampang. That’s the best moment, the excitement, seeing your brothers and sisters arriving one by one with their broods, all gleaming happy with the outfit to match.

After bersalam-salaman and complementing each others new dress, we proceeded to the food with gusto. Feast time! After a month’s fasting, this is the time. Everyone brought something. All the Raya staples, rendang , kurma, kuah kacang, nasi himpit, paceri nanas, sayur lodeh, sate.

After satisfying our buds, we followed with sesi bergambar. With defined categories. First, all sisters. Then brothers. Then sisters and sis-in-laws. Then brothers and brother-in-laws. Then sisters and brothers together. Then nephews. Then nieces. Then each one of us with spouse and kids. Then everyone, the whole house.

That took about 1 hour, after which, all felt the need to return to the dining table. (erm..cepatnya lapar balik..).
Then it was time to give ang pow to each others’ kids. Between us, we have 19 children.

Finally, after the last drink we drove off together to our hometown in Papar.
The first place is always, my dad’s sister which is also the meeting point of the other aunts and uncles. And then, to dad’s brother's house in another kampung. This uncle had passed away and we are visiting his widow who is nevertheless dear to us. Lastly, visiting the cemetery before heading back home.

We got back to KK after 4pm and made a stop at my eldest brother’s house in Petagas. He missed the gathering at my place earlier as he was off to Papar early morning. Anyway, we stayed till maghrib there, scouring their tasty Raya cookies. By this time, everyone started feeling hungry again. So , knowing there were still plenty of food at my house , all returned to my place again for the final supper, eventually leaving after 9 pm.

So much for the month-long 'dieting'. Diet ka juga? Everyone's waistline seemed to expand by nightfall. Baru hari pertama! There's puasa enam, my hubby suggested. Yeah..right.

On the second day, everyone off to their spouse’s hometown to continue Raya. For me, it's Labuan. We arrived Thursday afternoon and stayed till Sunday. We’ve only been arrived 1 hour before it was time to get changed and start be'raya'. A little insight into Labuan's Hari Raya - the amalan kunjung-mengunjung dan beraya there is serious business. We visited like 6 houses in a day before getting back home before maghrib (and that's calling it mild, I once counted 10!). And people come to the house endlessly, from 10 am to 10 pm. If we wanna go out beraya, we had better get dressed quickly and go out straight away. Often the plan is halted by people coming just when we are closing the door. Some 40 minutes delay and sometime we are not lucky we didn’t get to leave until after hours by which time it was too late or started raining or things like that. Way back when my kids were still small that used to irritate me. You know it disrupt their nap times, feed times etc and they don't want to be near anyone except mummy. Well those were the days. Nowadays, my kids don't join us beraya anymore. No thank you. They'd be happiest left behind with their cousins, crowding the playroom and burned the playstation games, PS2, whatnot all day long.

Back here in KK, it is open house invitations fiesta. Yesterday there were 2 invitations. Today, 4.

Hopes to do puasa enam seemed..erm..dashed?











Selamat Hari Raya all !!!!!