moving out

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go.. I'm standing here outside your door.. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye..

The jukebox-in-my-head been playing this song again & again since last week.. I know people are now either busy preparing for raya, packing to go home, on their way home, or already sampai kampung halaman desa tercinta.

Now I also have some packing to do.. no, not to go home for raya, I'm moving out of the flat.. have to be out by 10am tomorrow. Where to? to the office!

I decided not to get a new place to stay for just 3 weeks. Buang karan having to go all through the procedure.. so I'll just live my life in the office & and spend some sleeping hours & cooking at a friend's place. Basically, there'll be no place to call my own (except the office!), also means that I don't have to play host for any guests for raya. No need to cook.. maybe I'll just prepare some simple dessert to bring to raya gatherings.

Now, kerja banyak.. but have to attend so many raya do.. so how?? Can skip raya or not?

raya fever

‘Orang’ asked me to stop at Teoh’s Fish Shop before we go home from Riccarton Mall. Didn’t plan to buy anything since I already have so much chicken & beef to finish in the fridge. But after her first step in Orang said to me ‘kak ubi, ketam!’ My face must have glowed that moment because the kiwi girl behind the counter commented ‘wow, you look so happy to see the crabs’. Yes, I was delighted! I’ve been craving for crabs since I read Atok’s and KakTeh’s posts few weeks ago. Went on crab hunt in the fish shops in the weeks before but found none. But today is definitely my lucky day. Yeay! sampai jugak hajat...

Went home and rush to get things ready before Maghrib. Took out the crabs from the plastic bag and realized that I’ve never cook crab before, and I didn’t even know how to clean 'em.. so I called Mak and asked her about the crab, but Mak first lectured me that I shouldn’t be eating crabs since I have mild allergy to crustacean… I told Mak that I’d be ok. I never really follow Mak’s rules when it comes to eating, I follow Ayoh’s principle-‘kalu rasa nak makan, makan je, lepas tu kita beli la ubat’
Following Mak’s instruction, I managed to clean them up and get ketam masak lemak done just before Maghrib. At 8.11pm, ketam was the first thing I reached for after having a tiny date.. perghh..when I eat ketam, jangan kata mak mentua lalu, Brad Pitt lalu pun I tak nak pusing..

ketam masak lemak, bokchoy and not-so-fresh-oyster

Had a small advanced birthday party after prayers. The birthday girl is going to catch a flight back to M’sia tomorrow with two others. I was being ‘tak sedar diri’ and forget that I have a lot to do at home. Then off we went for firecracker galore at rugby field.. got this from PakNSave..NZD15 altogether, Orang had to show ID when paying for it.. and yes, they are LEGAL here and now is the ‘dam dam dum season’ for Aotearoa.

to any kids out there, don't go buy any of these in Msia, they're illegal, ok

I don’t act my age tonight.. feel like I’m 8, enjoying the sparks and colours of the mercun & bunga api at midnight. Gosh, I never knew that most of them are so afraid to handle mercun. The adiks were growing up during the years when mercun & bunga api are totally banned in Msia.. so this ketua budak jahat had to coax the gang to lit up mercun.. at last they got over their fear factor. .. but I also freaked out when one of the big blaster gone wacko and sent fireballs towards us.

my camera battery went kaput and only get to catch this

Now the crabs started to show their effect on me.. I'm itching all over, scratching like a chimp. . aarghh.. now where's my ubat gatal?

To my bukit merbah gang, remember those junior years when we had salam-salam & mercun party before raya hols? That was my best mercun experience.. ya lah, kat rumah mak tak bagi main!

Salam Raya

Sempena ketibaan Syawal ini, Ubi akan berbelog dalam bahasa ibunda. Ubi rasa macam lama lagi nak menjelang raya, tapi memandangkan ramai yang akan pulang ke kampung, Ubi kirim ucapan ini awal sedikit.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Kepada semua pembaca, sama ada yang Ubi kenal atau tidak kenal atau kenal secara maya sahaja, maaf andainya ada terkasar bahasa dalam penulisan Ubi yang Ubi rasakan termasuk kategori 'hampeh'. Terima kasih jua Ubi ucapkan kerana sudi menghabiskan masa kalian melawat belog ini. Kepada yang terliur melihat mana-mana gambar makanan, harap maaf, sekadar menguji kesabaran Ramadhan, tapi Ubi pasti kalian berpeluang menikmati makanan yang lebih lazat dan enak pada Hari Raya ini berbanding yang ada di sini.

Kepada teman-teman lama yang menziarah belog Ubi ini, ampun maaf dipinta andainya ada lagi salah silap berbaki dari masa-masa lalu. Andai ada terhutang apa-apa yang masih belum dilangsai.. hubungilah Ubi dengan kadar segera. Jika tidak dituntut, minta dihalalkan.

Kepada yang beragama Hindu, Selamat Hari Deepavali.

Akhir kata.. Ubi akhiri dengan ucapan 'kenang daku dalam rayamu'.

final week of puasa

mushroom+ surimi fried rice and ayam semalam

It’s a hot day.. very hot one.. feeling dehydrated.. not drinking enough water and drinking coffee last night made it worse. I almost pitam when I walked home this afternoon. Everything suddenly turns black, but lucky enough I already reach my front door. Terjelepuk at the sofa for a while.. .

Haven't keep up with NZ news for weeks now. I'm home early today.. came back right after meeting with both SV… so I got to catch the 6 o’clock news and Campbel Live before my bukak puasa at 8.07pm. Who stole that Pania of the Reef statue from Napier? Ek ele.. kat sini pun orang curi ‘besi buruk’ jugak rupanya..

Am losing my appetite again.. I went terkulat-kulat to finish my portion of fried rice. To YY, I know I promised not to put up any food pic.. but I’m sure you won’t drool over this one.

Less than a week to raya. *Note to self: make full use of the magical nights of Ramadhan*. Everyone would be busy at home preparing things for raya or do the last minute shopping for the little rascals. Ayoh would be the most busy this week having to collect the zakat fitrah. He would spend most of his time in the masjid so that ppl can easily find him to pay. My sisters & I used to not to let him spend too much time at home because if he does, ppl will come flocking to pay zakat at our house, meaning that I cannot lepak tergolek depan TV! Some last minute zakat payer can be so annoying that they come to pay after midnight, even at 2 or 3 in the morning.. and Ayoh patiently would welcome them in.. hish.. give that old man a chance to sleep lah!

Now.. I have this itch to main bunga api.. firecrackers are on sale in most supermarts now. I think I’ll go and buy some tomorrow.

Merenung Bulan

moon from bedroom window-13 Oct 05

Entah mengapa mataku ini

Halaman orang nampak berseri

Laman sendiri berwarna warni

Tak bererti

Terlalu asyik memandang bintang

Merenung bulan tinggi di awan

Bumi dipijak

Rumput yang hijau kulupakan

Entah mengapa sering terlupa

Rahmat yang tiba berbeza-beza

Untuk semua kurniaan Nya tak terhinggga

Janganlah asyik memandang bintang

Merenung bulan tinggi di awan

Bumi dipijak rumput yang hijau

Dilupakan

-song- Merenung Bulan-singer-Aishah-(3rd & 4th verse only)