KENDURI KAHWIN @ MERU

'silat' live in action

the man of the moment

the kompang boys and girls


special drinks for the celebrated couples (dragonfruit juice)

Me taking a break and trying the karaoke set

The temporary kitchen

The 'makan' place

The king and queen of the day

In English that will be a wedding ceremony and it’s my sister in law turns to celebrate hers. It has been a culture especially for Malay of Javanese descent to conduct such an event by involving almost everybody in the neighborhood. All task from chopping the beef, arranging the table and chairs, cooking the dishes and others are being done by working together.

For me personally, it is the time where I have the opportunity to meet with relatives and friends that I have not seen for a while. The ‘kenduri’ especially for Malay- Java people normally held 3 days and 3 night , so you can imagine the amount of works that involved to ensure that everything is running smooth and this is done without any professional assistance from a wedding planner or catering services. It’s tiring but satisfying especially when everything runs according to plan.

Looking forward to another ‘kenduri’ in a very near future, in fact it’s this coming December.

HARI RAYA IN BLACK AND WHITE

RAYA @ SEKINCHAN

MULTI PURPOSE

MY NO 2 ENJOYING THE RAYA COOKIES

RAYA @ JALAN REBUNG


ANOTHER VIEW FROM A TRADITIONAL MALAY HOUSE




OLD STYLE KAMPUNG HOUSE

BABY WAFI

This year Hari Raya gave me the opportunity to test my DSLR camera and I've decided to explore the monochrome mode which focus on delivering B/W photo. I've selected some of the best moment including few from Sekinchan (with padi field as background).

Probably for some B/W is outdated but for me it's classic but yet refreshing and some of the photo is better in B/W mode compare when in color mode, I'm not sure why but as long as it 'cantik' it's ok for me.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

ME AND MY DSLR

Got style la ......

Photo outing trip @ FRIM , Kepong

Discussing on the next shot

Shooting the small waterfall can be very tricky

From my garden with my house as the background

One of my favourite shot

Baby Wafi in black and white

I was introduce to the term DSLR ( digital single lens reflex) camera by few friends that have been involved in this hobby for quiet some time. My first photo shooting trip was at FRIM. Kepong with a Sony DSLR borrowed from a friend. That trip was very addictive that I've decided to have my own DSLR camera.

After few consultation and calculation of the budget ( I just bought a BBQ Grill remember...) the decision is to purchased the entry level unit from Canon ..the EOS 1000D and I'm loving every bit of moment using it. Still the are millions of techniques to be learnt and lots of room to be improved. Planning to take a proper photo shooting class next month and from there we'll see how is the progress.

Looking forward for the next outing probably in Taman Pertanian Bukit Cahaya.

BACK TO JALAN TENTERAM

Serve with Honor

This road will lead to the main school office


The teachers room

My good friend , Ustaz Ijat

Blok A, where my hostel room was located.

The basketball court where the morning gathering will be held

New school song

This is where parents will meet their son during visiting hours

Like the good old times ...hmmmmm

One of my fondest memory was secondary schooling days at ALAM SHAH from 1986 to 1990. It's a place where I was trained to be a matured citizen and it did. Life in an all boys school is not easy but I survived and loving every minutes of it.

So after quit some time I'm back at my old school, although the name has been change but the memory remains. I was visiting an old friend who's teaching at the school and with his help I have all the access available.

Overall the school ave not change that much , the scenario, the feel, the aroma is more a less the same like when I was here 20 plus years back. Glad to bump into my old teacher who still serve the school... you still look great Cikgu Arif Saniran. Was a bit surprised that the school song was not the same (probably since the school name has been change ..so did the school song).

It was a very sentimental moment and I'm looking forward for another visit probably the next time with my family.

MY BBQ GRILL

Installation in progress .......

After 2 hours and several uncertainty ...finally it's ready

Mr BBQ at your service

The next Robert Rainford

Not bad for first testing ..need improvement on the marination

Every time I saw Mr Robert Rainford in his show "License to Grill", I always thought that BBQing is one of the coolest thing to do and I remember during my stay in Canada long time ago, my friend will always have a bbq session at their house especially during weekends. I've bought a very basic BBQ grill set few years back but having problem every time to start the fire because is not a gas burner grill.

So this month when I saw one advertisement in the newspaper showing affordable gas burner grill with good discount at HOUZ DEPOT in Mutiara Damansara, I've decided to buy it (the smallest/cheapest model). After 2 hours of self installation (I've should have ask them to install it ...) my BBQ Grill machine is ready to grillllll ...

The first thing I noticed is how quick to start grilling since it's using gas burner (no hassle) and secondly this grill is equipped with thermometer which makes it easy to check the temperature. My first attempt was 2 sirloin steak and 4 chicken drumstick (marinated with black pepper and honey). And it was really good.

Looking forward for the next BBQ sessions .....

A GREAT WORLD CUP AND A NEW BABY !!!!!

Getting ready for new family member

The big brother is the chief installer of the day

WAFI HANANI BT SHARIZAL

It has been nearly 2 months since my last posting. And it's nothing related to lack of imagination or ideas but more to giving extra attention to Wafi Hanani , our latest addition to the family. Probably due to the football addiction of the father , she decided to come out from her hiding during the first day of World Cup where vuvuzela was dominating the scene in South Africa.

My last newborn experience was 8 years ago and the 'sabbatical leave' means that baby Wafi is like my first baby (8 years is a long time ...). Waking up at 2 am consistently taking care of Wafi is an interesting experience and doing that while enjoying the live football from South Africa is PRICELESS.

I can't wait for the time where baby Wafi is big enough for us to continue our traveling activities which will be very different since the member count is now 5.

BUKIT TINGGI (MALAYSIA) 2010

Bonjour .....!!!!

Enjoying the scenery ( 3 plus 1)

If you minus the stall ...it really looks like somewhere in France

The swan was really big ...at first I thought it was a robotic swan

The donkey ride ...not really sure if the kids enjoying it ....

The botanical garden , attracting the dslr people with huge lens ...really huge

The Japanese Garden ...the ladies in Kimono are Malaysian ....

The shuttle bus ....free of charge taking visitor to Japanese garden

This is our first visit to Bukit Tinggi, probably among the top 5 highland retreat site in Malaysia. I've a working assignment nearby so decided to take the whole family to experience some of the attractions.

Firstly, it was a not so easy journey driving to the peak since the road (was not bad) but very steep. I can feel my MPV screaming each time we hit the steep road. t took us an hour to reach the central attraction which is the Colmar Tropical which is actually a resort built according to 16th century French Castle.

From there we went to the Rabbit Farm and the Japanese garden, the good news for me is ...transportation is provided via shuttle bus (or it looks more like a shuttle truck...). The Japanese garden was really interesting because this garden is one of the first to be made according to the garden in Japan..outside of Japan, and the low temperature indeed provides the cooling effect to the surrounding.

Overall it was really good. The price especially for food was a bit expensive but the attraction provided for visitors was really worth it.

RIZAL