Kenduri Block A : The preparation...

At first menu for the kenduri was nasi putih, sup khoruf, daging padprik, fried chicken, butter prawn and ulam plus sambal belachan. But since we got the money quite late and many people went back to Malaysia, we had to cut the butter prawn and daging padprik. Instead we made udang masak sambal.

The ladies were quite unsatisfied that there would be no butter prawn but I told them that it was scrapped because of constricted budget...hehehe. They kept on badgering me about the butter prawn and I promised them that we'll make it the next time we had kenduri...sigh.

Working hard to 'siang' the prawns...

20 bags of prawn!

Ina, tukang buat air...

Tukang masak nasi...

After lunch we continued to prepare everything. We started to cook in ernest after zohor actually. By Asar, everything was ready. We had time to relax and joked around. When the OGP men finished their karipap and brought it down. I straightaway brought it inside the room, in the hope that nobody would start 'tasting' them (to get them away from the men...hehehe). But the next time I went in, Ina Wahab and Kak Siti were about to eat them. I told them that they're like 'pagar yang makan padi'...hehehe. That stopped them...hehehe. Cam mafia lak aku...

Relaxing...

Kak Maria, K. Anum, Ina, K. Siti & K.Jas

K.MekNa, K. Aishah Rohana and K. Rohana...

Then, it was time for us to serve the food and arrange everything. The men were busy posing, could you believe it...hehehe. We were busy with setting up while they were busy posing! Kinda cute too...hehehe. Hopefully, that'll be one of their sweet memories of living in Sudan.

 

Part of the AJK...

Tengok la tu... style senget pun ada wa cakap lu...hehehe

We were busy...

Macho tak karipap/doughnut maker? hehehe

The ice-creams here...

Kenduri Block A : Lunch...

A day after the morning coffee, Kak Jannah and Rahman came to our house and told us that they actually wanted to have a tahlil in their house during the weekend. I immediately agreed because for me it was really simple. Around 11.30 am, the men would go upstairs for the tahlil while the ladies prepared lunch and after tahlil everyone would eat together downstairs. 

Kak Jannah would cook dalca khoruf and black and pepper chicken sarawak style. We add another 5 chicken for Kak Jannah to cook and we used the Block money for vegetables and sambal sardin...hehehe.Brilliant, huh?! 

So, on the 15th morning, the ladies came down as early as 9 am, to prepare for lunch and dinner. The men came down to 'process' the chicken and khoruf...hehehe. I really like the 'kampung atmosphere'. Unfortunately the OGP people were working on Saturday, they only came back after lunchtime. But they promised us doughnuts and karipap... Yeay!

After tahlil, we all ate downstairs. The food was delicious! Just enjoy the pictures...

Hot, hot sun...hehehe

The food was still in their periuk...hehehe

The men...

The ladies...

Yeay! Yeay! Yeay!

I'm sorry because the title sounds so juvenile. Hehehe. But today is the 20th Ramadhan and I already 'khatam' the quran! Yeay! Yeay! Yeay! I'm so happy! 

It's been awhile since I khatam the al-quran. Since I have kids, I seldom could khatam the al-quran during Ramadhan. Normally I would only khatam during tadarus at the office but not as an individual, not for a very long time. Last year I was busy moping around and only managed to read surah yassin every night for my brother and parents. 

This year I really tried my best. I took the calculation in an email about how to khatam in a month, just by reading 4 pages every waktu solat. I took it a little bit further, if I had time on my hands, I read the quran and alhamdulillah, I did it today. Yeay! I want to sedekah to my mak, ayah and Ayang. Semoga mereka tergolong dikalangan orang2 mukmin. Amin...

I 'sort' of had a 'race' with my husband. I would normally lose to him for the past few years, when he would 'khatam' every Ramadhan. I'm a very competitive person even when reading the quran...hehehe. In the first week, we would read in the same room but the 'pressure' gets to me. I even secretly 'peeked' at his page number to make sure that I'm ahead...hehehe. I would also refused to go shopping for groceries because I would used the time to read the quran...hehehe.

It is so satisfying to 'khatam' this early. Now I could concentrate on other things, baking cookies and SHOP! I've been very good this Ramadhan. I haven't been going to the souks because I was also concentrating with the group tadarus of Block A. We're already in juzuk 25, alhamdulillah...

And I've been neglecting this blog for awhile. Now, I have the time to blog! Yeay! Hehehe... I'm really, really chuffed! Do forgive me if I sounded 'riak' or anything. I'm not! I just couldn't contain my happiness...Alhamdulillah. 

Bazaar santai...

On Friday the 14th of August, Petronita presented their first Bazaar Santai for 2009/2010 session. Everyone was looking forward to the event. Many people even came much earlier than the starting time, which was at 9.30 am. By 9.00 there were many customers already waiting at the cafe.

There was a good selection of food available. The kueh section was full to the brim with many kueh like karipap, doughnuts, kuih bakar etc. The 'heavy' section had soto, nasi lemak, nasi kerabu, mee bandung etc. 

It was a bit hectic in the beginning maybe because it was their first time, when the customers were kept waiting while the sellers were still trying to set up. Otherwise it was a successful bazaar. It was the time that at least for a day, we could hang up our pots and pans, even for a meal...hehehe. Enjoy the pictures!

The many selection of kueh...

Kak Aishah, Su and Kak Shidah...

Doughnuts by Kak Erlina...

Kak Jas and Kak Liza...

Amboi, busynya Kak Jas...hehehe

The queue...

Ina serving nasi kerabu...

Sarimah?!!

On the 11th evening, I was blog hopping when my husband called from the sitting room. He asked me to watch the programme on tv. Lo and behold, there was Sarimah, the actress on TV9, an arabic channel. 

And she was speaking in arabic?!! Hehehe, well, it was kinda funny because she was full of expression but we couldn't understand any of it because it's in another language. The first thing that I did was of course taking the pictures of the programme...hehehe. Well, somehow I felt proud that there are malay programmes being aired overseas. And somehow it lessened my 'homesickness' a little bit...

A clear picture...

A kampung scene...

Morning coffee...

Since the first day I came back, I've been involved in many activities, one after another. Even my husband was amazed...hehehe. When I came back, it was about two weeks before Ramadhan and I thought why not gave a gathering aka kenduri before Ramadhan. So, I started the ball rolling by having a discussion with a few people. 

I asked the opinion of a few people, namely Kak Jas, Ina and a few men such as Ipin, Hj. Yaacob and a few others. I even had the audacity to lepak downstairs and wait for Ipin to pass through the entrance while I waited for the van to send the kids to school...hehehe. The general consensus was really good, so we had a block meeting on Monday night.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that when Mazman went back for good, my husband became the warden for Block A...sigh... Anyway, during the meeting we agreed to have the kenduri on Saturday the 15th of August. They also accepted the suggested menu with an addition of sambal belachan, alhamdulillah. The objective of the kenduri was to welcome new members of our block, which were many as well as a farewell of a few OGP personnels and also a kenduri to welcome Ramadhan.

The next morning, Kak Jas, Ina and me invited the ladies for a morning coffee at Kak Jas's house. I only sponsored the chicken for rendang, fried the anchovies and boiled eggs...hehehe. Kak Jas made nasi lemak and sambal and Ina cooked the rendang. The purpose was to let the ladies know of the outcome of the meeting and also a get-to-know session. Actually since I was the last one to come back from Malaysia, I was the only one in the dark...hehehe

What Kak Jas prepared...

Some of the kueh...

Alhamdulillah nearly all came except for Liyana, Maziah (because of their babies) and  Asma. The rest turned up and we had a lovely time. I managed the introduction session and later reported the outcome of the meeting. The newcomers were a bit in the dark about how we organised things but I told them that they have to experience it first to get a grasp of the whole thing.

We decided to have the kenduri quite early, around 5.30 pm and we would also provide lunch for everyone. I divided the preparation for lunch into levels like level 6 cooked the rice etc. It'll be easier that way and more efficient. As usual Kak Jas, Ina and me had the market duty and all the preparation beforehand. I had to manage the coordination of events as well.

There were quite a few newcomers, Kak Rohana, Ina Wahab, Rina, Liyana, Zai and Kak Siti. We also missed the presence of Kak Rehana, Lisna, Kak Maznah, Sharifah Najwa and Rozie. I also met Nicky's baby for the first time, she's so cute...hehehe. I just hope that the addition of new faces would make living in Sudan more bearable and more colourful. 

Nicky's cutie...

Kak Jannah, Kak Erlina...

Kak Siti and Kak Hanum...

Enjoying the food...

During the introduction session...

Kak Shidah and Kak Hanum (in brown) might be leaving us this year...

I felt that the morning coffee was a success. We managed to get to know each other and I looked forward to have a wonderful time with the ladies in Block A. The more the merrier, insyaallah...

Farewell at Chinese Restaurant...

We arrived in Khartoum on the 8th and on the 9th, we had a farewell dinner for one of GNPOC staff in Obersea, the chinese restaurant. I've never been there before but it seemed that GNPOC had several farewells there already, especially during summer.

We went there in 4 vans if I was not mistaken. The restaurant was actually situated in a housing estate. Maybe it used to be a residence but later renovated into a restaurant. We were ushered into a smaller, more private section. But the thing was it was definitely too small to fit everyone. The room was enough to have three tables but at least we needed another 2 tables.

The kids and mothers had to sit at the back with no air-conditioned and it was hot. Luckily I already fed Hadi and Amir at home so it was not that bad. For me? I'd rather sit at home. We were given leftovers from the table infront of us and after eating a little bit, I just walked out. I met Kak Jas and her husband about to eat. I selected another table to relax with Amir. I ordered a cold drink and sat there reading my book. 

The rest of the group had the speeches and prize giving inside. I had a nice time outside. Rather than 'glowering' inside, I'd rather cool myself outside. The food was not bad from the little amount that I ate. But if they wanted to have a farewell there again, I'd rather excused myself. I'm better off at home and if I craved chinese food, I'd rather go with just my family. What's the use of paying if I did not enjoy the food?!! The organisers should have seen how uncomfortable the families were, instead of concentrating on their own comfort! Gosh, I was really pissed off!

Anyway, my rating of the evening...F+

Amir payed with the toothpicks outside...

Not just one, but many...sigh...

The group photo...