Selamat Tahun Baru Hijrah 1433

KAMA & KELUARGA MENGUCAPKAN SELAMAT MENYAMBUT AWAL MUHARRAM KEPADA SEMUA PEMBACA BLOG "KATA KAMA" YANG DIHORMATI. SEMOGA ALLAH SWT MERESTUI HIDUP KITA.

A 'Retro' Wedding

A Vespa on the dais next to the pelamin makes the setting so charmingly 'retro'.

When Yaya Weds Yeep

Weddings, a gathering of kith and kin near and far. These are folks you don't get to see much otherwise due to the demands of everyday life. But come weddings, they would dutifully turn up to partake the celebrations and renew old ties.

It was full house at the wedding of Yaya (Puteri Ernie Suraya), youngest daughter of my eldest brother Megat Yusof, and her beau Yeep (Sharifudin) in Gombak two weeks back, after a year-long engagement (story here).

Yaya's a final-year student of multimedia at a local university. In the indie music circle, however, she's better known as the singer-composer-guitarist who frontlines indie band Static Emily. Yeep's an engineer with a local firm.

Yaya's the last of her dad's lot to get married. I'm sure both he and wife Sarah must be heaving a big sigh of relief. To Yaya and Yeep, Selamat Pengantin Baru from Mak Yong Kama and family. Cepat tambah cucu Abah & Ibu!

My nieces Puteri Davina and Puteri Arieshah, elder daughters of my brother Megat Muzaffar... Next in line.. ?

The bride's nieces (my teenage grandnieces) living it up in '50s tog. They later put up a musical show with the band in attendance.

The siblings (from left): Fouzi, Kama, Yusof. Phew, aren't we oh so chubby...

Father of the bride (flanked by his sisters Idah, Izah and Kama), masuk 'spital for breathing difficulties. He had neglected his sneezes and coughs for three weeks so as not to interrupt his daughter's wedding preparations.

Turned out he had bronchitis and water in the lungs. Tak pasal-pasal jadi tetamu kehormat Hospital Ampang Puteri for four days. Thank God he's on the road to recovery.

 

Bradley

Absolutely adorable Bradley Yip Kuppusamy, all three months of him, came a-visiting his 'Nana Puteri' over the weekend. It was Bradley and Nana's very first meeting since his birth.

That's my cutiepie latest 'cucu' Bradley in the arms of his proud daddy, my adopted son Dinesh. Bradley's mom, Rachel, was away on a flight (she's with the national carrier).

Dinesh and my eldest son Naj have been best buddies since childhood and the friendship has endured to this day. The boy grew up before my eyes, and now he has presented me with a child of his own... 

May you one day be a good, responsible, loving man just like your dad, Bradley. And always remember, Nana loves you very much...

PS: I kept telling Dinesh how auspicious the name 'Bradley' is to me, for the simple reason that my late (maternal) grandfather hailed from Kuala Krai where the famous Tangga Bradley is.

This well-known local landmark has been renamed Tangga Krai since the '80 but to oldies like me, Tangga Bradley it will always be. 

For a bit of Tangga Bradley history, please read here. I have sat on these very steps once, as a child of five or six, on my one and only trip to visit my late grandfather's hometown.

Tangga Bradley leading down to Sungai Kelantan

Straight From The Heart

Apologies are due for the apparent neglect of this blog. The knots in my life are unraveling, for the good of all concerned, I hope. 

To be frank, I have been fighting a lot of personal demons lately, that writing had somehow become a chore and not the passion it used to be.

I'd like to say (and believe) that I'm back on an even keel. Let's just hope the statement is the whole unadulterated truth, for the sake of sanity and peaceful existence.

There really is no need to elaborate; suffice to say there are times in one's life when one has to take stock of what ails one's relationship with the people closest to one's heart.

Reality check is important to keep such relationships intact. The channels of communication should always remain open. No one is better than the other and everyone have equal rights to be heard. 

My dearest wish is that with the end of 2011, a closure of sorts will prevail and that 2012 will begin with hopes anew and love afresh. I reckon that is not too much to ask ..... 

Post-Raya Blues..

The head throbs a bit. Still able to function normally, though (boleh blogging lagi :-D); the consequences of having  one cupcake too many yesterday, polishing off the icing as well. I think I'm a sucker for punishment.

And for the first time in, well, a very long time, woke up groggy, with an aching back, and worst of all, at almost 7 am terlajak big time for subuh prayers (dang!)

I wish I could smother the fajar merah in the distant horizon with an eraser to push back time. Missing the first prayer of the day is so upsetting, even with the kadho provision..

What made it worse was the realisation that nobody hissed bangun! in my ears, or yanked the blanket off, or tickled the sole of my feet this time. What has happened to 'the keeper' or did I tidur mati?

On a more cheerful note, yesterday was a busy one; the earliest visitors arrived at noon and last guests left around 11pm. Pooped but happy with the turnout, I was.

Nasi dagang's turn this year, as authentic as it could possibly be with gulai ikan aya (with loads of cili padi) and acar timun. 

Couldn't leave kuzi ayam out of the menu even if I wanted too. But no nasi minyak this time, instead kuzi was eaten with milk bread sprinkled with sesame seeds. 

Serunding daging paired off with lemang and ketupat pulut; a perennial favourite in the Abu household...

For dessert there's english trifle (cupcakes arrived later in the afternoon). As one guest puts it: "The trouble with trifle is that it looks nice and inviting before you dig your spoon into it. The moment you do, it collapses into a pile of mishmash.." Well, at least it's still a delish mash..eheh..

Thank you to our guests for gracing our home with your presence and syukur syukur syukur Alhamdulillah for the bountiful food when some of us elsewhere in the world were not so fortunate...

Selamat Eid Adha

Kami sekeluarga mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha kepada semua pembaca yang di hormati, khusus Muslimin dan Muslimat di mana jua berada. Semoga kita semua sentiasa di lindungi Allah swt.

Singing Spook..

If you are into karaokeing, do take heed whenever you feel like letting your hair down, alone or with the gang, at some karaoke joint.

Try not to be by yourself. Always have someone to keep you company, even if the person doesn't sing. A solo crooner in a darkened room is receipe for disaster, believe me.

It gave me the heebie jeebies when my daughter Ann related this tale over lunch today. Eeee, the hairs on my neck still prick....

Ann and her gang occasionally de-stress at karaoke lounges, if they don't bungee jump or parasail or scuba-dive, or do some other physically lasak activities, that is. 

She told the story of a friend's aunt who recently went singing with three friends at a well-known karaoke joint in town.

They decided to call it a day after a few hours and rang for the bill. To their annoyance, they were charged for five persons instead of four.

The management insisted there were five people in the group. They stood their ground and refused to pay for the extra person.

To prove their case, the management showed them CCTV footage of the room. There were indeed five people; the four friends and a long-haired woman dressed in white, sitting next to one of them with her head bowed, swaying from side to side to the beat of the music!

The four friends were spooked speechless. I think it will be quite a while before they pluck up enough courage to go there again, if ever. Talk about creepy karaoke ...

[previous posting on spooky k-lounge here...]

Antara Anyir dan Jakarta, it's Seoul..

Like they say, one can only plan...

I was looking forward to making that planned trip to Jakarta with my sisters Saturday last, to attend the wedding of our niece Miranda (from our Indonesian side of the family).

Somehow, the unexpected cropped up. Firstly, the package that the agency had worked out for us was a bit on the high side.

That put me off a bit, because I knew there were cheaper alternatives and I didn't want to be hasty when the difference was quite substantial just by switching carriers. 

Then one sister opted out because her granddaughter suddenly got sick. Thankfully, little Zura has recovered from her viral infection, after a week-long hospital stay.  

Another sister decided she wasn't going to leave her young ones to battle their year-end exams sans Mak, even if Mak's mind was already feasting on the batik textiles of Tanah Abang.

It's the moral support thingy, if you wish, and I certainly didn't want to share the burden of her guilt as well, as we gallivanted in good old Plaza Senayan... :-))

Yet another sister (the ever-practical one) decided, in one stroke, that "If you guys are going to take forever to decide, I'm off... to Korea!" And so she did!

That's how I end up with the pretty decorative plate above. Made of porcelain, the gild-edged plate shows a Korean woman in hambok playing the samisen.  

정말 감사합니다 (kamsa-ham-nee-daa/thank you) sis Hanizah, for your thoughtfulness. It's truly a charming piece and I love it..

As for the Jakarta trip, we're rescheduling to November end. Never mind the kenduri, although I would have loved to see how they do weddings over there.

The proposed trip will be to ziarah Mir's grandma, our aunt Ibu Khadijah, who's now in her 80s and judging by pictures, rather frail. Pray that the planned visit will materialise.

As it were, the postponed jaunt saw me getting a copywriting and translation job instead. Ah, rezeki comes in so many different ways, syukur alhamdulillah. Thank you Kay for trusting me with your project. Much appreciated, that.