My cerita Raya

Since everyone I know posted something about their Raya celebration, I think maybe I should jot something down as well.

I went to watch Bourne Ultimatum for Raya.

Seriously.

Ma and Pa decided that they couldn't be bothered to drive back to KB this year. Travelling can be really taxing when you get to my parents age. Furthermore, a 6-7 hour journey to KB can easily be a 12 hour nightmare during the festive season.

So I decided to fly back to KL after the Raya prayers. Prayers was short but very crammed; seriously, someone should get my FIL's kampung a new mosque and quick! Some people even prayed on mats on the ground outside the building. Then followed by a visit to mulah Mek's grave before the routine jaunt around the kampung, starting with Mok We's house, then to Pok Nik Kadir's, Tok Su Bidah, Tok De and Tok Choh. By 12 noon we were out of the house, making our way to KB to visit Tok and Tok Ayah.

We found the house quiet. Only Che' Han and Makcik Siah was around and they only managed to arrive at 5 am that morning! Kesian Tok. Everyone else has decided to celebrate at the other side's house this year.

The flight was about half full. There were only about 8 malays on board. As usual, I kept myself amused by watching the nyonyas and apeks antics of kiasuism.

Arrived home at about 6. Stuffed myself with about 6 helpings of my mum's food and went to bed with stomach cramps. Padan muka!

The next day we - hubby, me, sis Yaya, bro Pian and bro Wan - went to 1 Utama for some sibling bonding. Again, we were the only malays in the theatre. In fact, afterwards, we barely saw malay faces in the whole shopping mall. Even managed to do some shopping: bought my favourite perfume ever, Gucci Envy (kedekut punya SA, bagi aku compact mirror je! Haha) and some clothes for Safwan. and lunch was at TGIF before we headed home.

Dinner? A barbeque.

How typically unRaya it was.

But we had fun and that's all that matters. Ma was saying I shouldn't have wasted money on flying back but I can see that she was pleased that we came home.

So, how was YOUR raya?

Itchy feet

Hopefully, in about a week's time, I will be on board one of these....


staying here....


then travelling to see this...


and buying lots and lots of these.....


*last two pics courtesy of Kinokuniya from cari.com.my

A heavy heart and a bleeding tongue...

..is what a wife has.

I have never considered myself a patient person. I speak without thinking, which is why I don't talk much in unfamiliar surroundings. On top of being impatient, I'm also very brash. and crude. and tactless.

I still am, but at a much lesser degree now. Being a wife teaches you that.

At the beginning of my marriage, I used to speak my mind all the time. and my mind tends to speak very loudly and harshly. I knew it hurt Abg a lot, yet, in a bizarrely twisted way, I was enjoying seeing Abg that way. It was as if I was testing him, bending him way backwards to see how much he can take before he breaks; and trust me when I say I can bend a lot.

Not once has he broken.

He has stood there, silently, waiting for my temper to subside and he picks up the thread as if nothing had happened - making that face that he knows will make me laugh, pull me into his arms as we lay in bed- and things are alright again.

So, I am shamed and humbled and will repeatedly make that promise that I will never ever do that again.

And I am getting better. My lashings now stay in my thoughts and my temper stays in my heart. Even when one escapes, I can still bite my tongue and hold it in. Afterall, it is better to have a bleeding tongue than a bleeding heart.

Confession...

Doctors make the worst patients.

Seriously.

Take me. I have been sick for the past few days (since Friday, hence no masak-masak entry as promised, boo); fever, sore throat (seriously sore, bukan gatal2 je tau) and runny nose. It continued till Saturday when the right side of the throat started to get painful as well. On Sunday I had to attend a court hearing which was AGAIN postponed (kalau kes asyik tangguh, lawyers nie buat apa agaknya huh?) but by the afternoon, my condition worsened and I thought there is no way I could go to work tomorrow. So I went to HTM and showed my throat to my senior MO.

She diagnosed it as Peritonsillar Abscess.

Eww.

Nevertheless she prescribed me some antibiotics and gave me a day off provided I get other MOs to cover my duty.

Incidentally my monthly migraine (which usually precedes my menses by about a week) was not helped by the long journey I had to make into Peralla (jauh gila ok!) for something I had to do. By 6 pm I was in bed, head feeling like being eaten from inside and nauseous (I had to Google for the correct spelling of this, can you believe it!) like anything.

Crawled my way for iftar, had yoghurt (couldn't swallow anything else) and then went straight to bed.

However, miraculously, my pounding headache disappeared about half ten.


Anyhow, I've taken only 2 doses of my antibiotics and throat is already feeling much better. I can hear my mother's voice pestering us to finish the course of medication whenever we were ill enough to require them. In fact I myself repeatedly tell my patients to never waste their antibiotics, yet here I am already doubting that I'd finish the 7 day course. Teruk, kan?

No, Suriana, you WILL finish those antibiotics. You WILL finish those antibiotics.

My pre Raya rant

Bubu yang semakin gemuk.


Latest addition to the family. Lil Blue Eyes (but no, that's not his name).

In one of the rare moments when he is still enough for me to take his picture.

Can you believe that Raya is next weekend? I barely can. This fasting month has simply whizzed by!

As usual Kelantan is experiencing a noticeable influx of cars on the road. It's taking me longer to get to TM than usual. And don't even get me started on KB! If you're not in KB by half nine - ten, jgn harap la nak dapat parking. Last weekend, I'd promised my two nieces, Amila and Asilah that we would get baju rayas for them. We had planned to leave by quarter past 9, but somehow we had a family emergency which held us up till about 10. Nevertheless we went, since we already promised the two kids. It took us 30 mins to get from the junction at Jln Telipot to Billion (about 1 km road)! Arrgh, tension! Rupa-rupanya, Billion happened to be holding a massive three-day sale on its clothes. I tell you, how do parents do it, I don't know.

Everyone seems excited; one of my specialists even had his week long holiday at his kampung all planned out. In fact all of my specialists have decided to take the rest of the week post Raya holidays off. I think the four-day holiday will be quite sufficient, thank you very much. Ma and the rest are highly unlikely to be staying in KB for long.

We have a weird concept of Raya, our family. Maybe it's not so much the concept but the family itself kot. We've always considered our family to be different compared to my aunts' and uncles'. When we would be laughing (loudly, if I may add) and joking with each other (almost often with some slightly inappropriate anecdotes thrown into the mix); my cousins are most likely to be sitting QUIETLY and demurely in one corner of Tok's house. I can't help wondering whether they are just shy or something else. I go to other people's houses and I envy those cousins who have relationships more akin to good friends rather than strangers you meet once or twice a year.

My Tok and Tok Ayah have always been very......hmm, what is the word I am looking for here? Proper? Conservative? I've never seen Tok laugh loudly and in fact, I've never seen Tok Ayah laugh! I see grandmothers kissing their grandkids and I know THAT doesn't happen in my family. Everything has to be done according to what Tok said. Tok Ayah just stays in his office and comes out when his presence is required. I'm not saying this is bad; after all this is how it has always been so I do not know any other Tok and Tok Ayah.

***********************************

I've been having a cold for the past week. This is weird for someone who barely gets ill. It started with Abg getting his URTI which then transferred to me, but just as I am about to recover, I developed another round of itchy throat, runny nose and fever. It got so bad I had to break my fast to take some paracetamol. This morning my throat is so sore I could only drink a couple of glasses of cold water with my medication. So there goes my weekend of baking cake. Today I'm on standby for any emergency caesarian section so I'm not sure if starting a baking project would be wise.

I do, however, HAVE to complete my last beading project for Che' Su, my SIL. Since the stupid tailor at Kiosk DiRaja in Wakaf Che Yeh completely ruined my baju raya, there won't be any beaded baju for me this year. Ho hum.

Well, anyhow, in case this is my last entry before Raya, Selamat Hari Raya everyone!

p/s: last night I shone a torch into my own throat and discovered that my tonsils are the size of small mountains. Ho hum.

Unsettled

I feel like I should write something but I'm not really sure what I should write.

Something happened to day that me feel unsettled. I tell myself to brush it off and that I will most likely feel differently in the morning but the feeling is there just the same.

Nama saya Wan Nazmi Hariz.



Saya sangat suka panjat stroller.



Walaupun saya tak banyak berckp,....



orang kata senyuman saya sgt kiuttt.....