We had guests...

On Monday night, we invited a few of my husband's friends for dinner. Actually, Mr Khoo wanted  to 'beraya' to our house on Sunday night, but we were going out to the Oversea's restaurant. So, I suggested that he should come on Monday. 

And since I planned to cook for Mr Khoo, we might as well asked Hj. Yaacob and Saiful who came back from Malaysia the day before and Che' Ku who came back on that day itself. At first, I just wanted to serve nasi impit and kuah kacang but later decided to serve nasi as well.

So, I cooked ayam goreng berlada, kurma daging, udang goreng and sayur campur plus nasi impit, kuah kacang and serunding...hehehe. I'm still not a good cook, so my kurma was a disaster...hehehe...

Anyway, they came before 8 pm and since I've fed the kids earlier, I just spent most of the time supervising their homework while my husband acted as the sole host. After dinner, they chatted a while and then left around 9.30 pm. I was actually amazed at how well Mr Khoo communicate in malay and how 'sopan' he was...hehehe. He even brought some 'buah tangan' just like any malay... Thank you, Mr. Khoo.

Gelak kat sape la tu...

A view from the kitchen...

Amir...

eighth day of raya... morning coffee 1

On Monday, the eighth day of raya, Lin/Midi, Hasni/Hed and Ina/Zaki invited all the ladies for morning coffee at Hasni's house in Block B. They shared the responsibilities of hosting the raya gathering...hehehe

The spread include mee udang and laksa johor. After that we took a long time in chatting and taking pictures...hehehe. Just enjoy the pictures...

Some of the ladies who stayed on...

Tak abis-abis posing...

The desert table...

Mee udang and laksa johor...

See?!! Still tak abis-abis lagi...hehehe

Seventh day of raya... the lack of any open house

On Saturday, the seventh day of raya... we were left with 'zero' open house! Nothing, not a single open house! Hehehe. So, I ended up cooking roast chicken for lunch and implored my husband to bring us out for dinner...hehehe

So, after maghrib we went out. Downstairs, we saw some students loading off a lot of boxes from the lorries. It was for Yana/Ali, which was supposed to arrive much earlier but was held up in the port of Jeddah for weeks. Their contena was the biggest ever, having more than 300 boxes. She's the record holder for the most boxes in a contena...hehehe. Normally, 2 lories would be enough, but this time, there were 4 lorries in all!

First, we stopped by at Miim to buy brown paper for Aliah to wrap her book. And after that we went to the Malaysian Chinese restaurant, Oversea Restaurant. It started operating early in the year but I only there once before (remember my F+ rating?!...hehehe). 

So, this time around, I set my expectation very low... just in case, it'll be a disaster. When we arrived, there's only one occupied table (maybe westerners from the UN). We ordered buttermilk fish fillet, chilli chicken and tofu. While waiting, we changed table (to a cooler table, direct path from the air-condition...hehehe). 

Just after we got our drinks, Noni and her family arrived. Not long after that the ambassador and his family arrived. I joked with them that we were all there because there was no open house to go to...hehehe.

Fortunately, the food was great and the kids loved the buttermilk fish fillet. We ordered that instead of prawns because the kids didn't like prawns...sigh. Anyway, Hadi enjoyed the meal which was a surprise. 

We arrived back at the complex around 9 pm and there were still more boxes being unloaded... I heard that they only finished everything near midnight and Yana slept at 5 am the next morning...kesian... FYI, Yana's staying right above our apartment...

One of the lorries...

The students who had to carry those boxes to the 2nd floor...

Oversea Restaurant...

Sixth day raya... at Su's house

That night, Su/Ruziean invited us to their open house. When we arrived after isya', the house was really full but I managed to find a corner to sit. The kids were entertained by an Upin and Ipin CD so the space infront of the TV was crammed with kids...hehehe

They had nasi minyak, with khoruf curry, ayam masak merah and kerabu. Su also cooked laksa penang if I'm not mistaken. We stayed on quite late, actually. The kids left us to go home earlier. Kak Jas and me had a nice time 'scaring' Hasni and Lin with scary movies...hehehe. We were laughing so hard that Kak Jas practically 'cried'...hehehe

I even borrowed Kak Jas's Congkak movie for the night. At first, I watched it on my own but later Aliah joined me and in the end, everyone slept in my room for the night...hehehe. It was quite a good movie for the malay market, though. Quite scary but as usual there were details that was not added up...sigh. Too bad, because it could have been a better movie.

Full house...

Su, Pn. Taha and me...

Those who stayed on...hehehe

The food...

Men had to stay outside...hehehe

We're scaring Hasni and Lin...hehehe

Kak Aishah, who just came back from Malaysia...

Accident...

On the way back from Marwa last friday, we were stuck at a traffic jam. Inching closer, we discovered that there was an accident involving a few cars. It was at an intersection so it involved all the vehicles from all directions...sigh.

Well, accidents happened, right?!! Yes, but instead of blocking the whole road, the vehicles should have been moved to the side of the road...sigh. Luckily, it was Friday and there were not many vehicles on the road.

They're in the process of removing the cars involved...

One of the cars involved...

Sixth day raya... at K.Zila's house

On Friday, we were invited to Kak Zila's house. The invitation said it was after jumaat prayer, so we went around 3.00 pm. When we arrived, the house was full, so I opted to eat outside. Kak Zila's famous for her cooking in Khartoum, she's one of the cooks for Petronita. So, abviously everything was delicious...hehehe

She cooked daging asam pedas, paru goreng, ikan masin, masak lemak udang and ayam kurma with nasi putih. A typical kampung lunch. I fed the kids outside and chatted with Puan Taha who was also outside. We left around 3.30 to go to Marwa for our weekly grocery shopping.

Packed inside the house...

Some of the dishes...

Asam pedas daging...yummy!

The desert table...

Kesian tuan rumah, kena mop lantai...

Those outside...

Winnie, Pn.Taha and Armi

Blood taking : Part 2

I just came back from the Immigration Office of Sudan. FYI, In Sudan, it's very easy to enter the country, but in order for you to get out of the country, you need an exit permit if you're staying more than a specified number of days.

Our last exit permit expired sometime in August, so in order for us to leave the country, we need to make a new exit permit. For adults, you need to have a blood test before your permit could be processed. This is done every two years. But because my exit permit was in the same group as my husband, I had to do it again today. 

Amir's not feeling well, so I had to carry him around...sigh. Actually the actual process was very brief, the waiting was the worst (waiting for the van, waiting for the person incharged etc...sigh). I've seen a lot of improvement inside the Immigration Office building, though. Now, there's a small and comfortable room for you to wait your turn (air-conditioned). 

I did one minor mistake of looking at my husband when it was his turn. I saw the big needle and I panicked a bit because I recalled some horrid stories. Actually, it depends on your luck. There was one kakak who got so bruised taking blood because they couldn't find the right vein to withdraw blood from... so, instead of trying the other arm, the person just change the direction of the needle around the same spot, leaving her bruised for days.

When it was my turn, I refused to look at the needle. I braced myself for the pain but it was hardly necessary... I guess, with the 'ample meat on my arms', he could put the needle anywhere and draw blood...hehehe. It literally took several seconds to fill the vial... alhamdulillah. Actually, I've had worst experience in DSH in Malaysia.

So, now we wait for the exit permit to be processed which could take days, weeks or even months...sigh. The application itself took more than 1 month...hehehe