Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Jamuan Raya Blok A : Preparations...

We planned to have Block A Jamuan Raya on Friday the 16th of October. Some of the preparations had to be made way before then. We even enlisted the help of those who went back to Malaysia for the holidays to bring some things back to Khartoum. We asked them to bring back instant ketupat, santan and also condensed milk. Our house became the collection centre...sigh

Alhamdulillah, we got the cooperation of those single men to bring stuff back. We reimbursed those who bought those things from Malaysia. But, most refused to take payment. About 80 percent were generous enough to just sedekah to the Block. 

Nazri was asked to bring back kerisek and rempah soto. Pity the man because one of the kerisek's plastic burst in the box and the oil seeped into the bottom of the box. Even though he was the first one out of the airplane, he became the last man out of the airport in Khartoum. All because the box was oily and the imigration officers had to call the agricultural officer to have a look and as usual, the waiting took forever. Kesian dia... Thank you, Nazri!
 
Some of the stuff!

Thank you, guys!

The dry stuff like tissues, paper plates, oil, sugar etc, I bought in Marwa with the help of Aseh. My husband and Ipin already ordered the khoruf from aljazar a few days earlier. I just went to Aljazar to add  a few items. We ordered 100kg of khoruf meat, 20kg (meat and bones for gearbox soup), 30kg of meat for rendang and 5kg of khoruf fat for the Kandahar style khoruf. 

On Thursday morning, Kak Jas, Ina Sakinah and me went to souk Bahari to buy the wet stuff, vegetables, onions, garlics, potatoes etc. We also bought the fruits in Souk Makazi. It was the first time that I went there and I was very surprised that instead of choosing the fruits outside, we were invited to went in their 'fridge' or cool room. I loved being inside...hehehe

We bought 10 boxes of grapes for the Jamuan as well as Sudanese oranges and Egyptian oranges. We also bought watermelon for lunch the next day...hehehe. To tell you the truth, the van was full of stuff. We bought 20kg of onions among other things...hehehe. If I'm not mistaken we bought all the spring onions and daun sup from the whole market! Hehehe... Thank you, Kak Jas and Ina for the lovely company and for laughing at me... 

Well, in my defence, I was the least skilled in conversing in Arabic and I did not know how to choose good vegetables. Normally, I would just let the seller pick for me...hehehe. So, Kak Jas and Ina ended up picking and choosing everything. I was the 'purse-holder'. I'll pay while these two ladies did the leg-work...hehehe. Look at some of the stuff we bought!

Some of the stuff...

The green boxes were full of grapes...

Some of the spring onions...

10kg of kacang tanah for kuah kacang!

Petronita's Farewell...

On Thursday, the 15th of October, Petronita's Social and Fundraising Committee hosted the Farewell party for several Petronita members who's going back to Malaysia for good. It was also a good platform to introduce several new members who just came to Sudan. 

We welcomed Liyana (Fateh's wife), Nadia (Hasan's wife), Nor (Bukhari's wife) and Yana (Ali's wife). Those going back were Kak Zainon, Faridah Hashim, Lin, Fuziana and Rahimah. Those leaving had to make a speech...hehehe. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what they said...hehehe, but I do remember Kak Non with her fashionable pin tudung...hehehe

I even forgot to take pictures of the spread which include laksa sarawak, nasi impit, rendang and kuah kacang (It was still Raya then, remember...)

I was so busy with the preparation of the kenduri, actually. All the meat came from al-Jazar in the early afternoon. But we just remembered that in order to make gear-box soup on the Thursday night, we had to start boiling the bones before maghrib. My husband was so busy in the office, he had to stay back while I had to hold the fort on my own!

Luckily, Ipin and Hj. Ayob was on hand to help. But, Ipin got so frustrated with me because I was nowhere to be found! (I was at the farewell party, remember!). Finally, I soothed his nerves by making sure we got the 'right' pot, the 'right' meat and the 'right' stove...sigh. To tell the truth, that was the first time I saw Ipin 'annoyed'...hehehe. Well, for someone who's used to handling pressure, I took it in my stride...muahahaha. How? Just buat 'bodoh', I tell you, it worked! Hehehe... 

Amir begging Kak Liza to cut the choc. cake...

Look, how grateful he was with Kak Liza...hehehe

Cantiknya sulam baju Bawang...hehehe

Liyana introducing herself...

Rahimah sharing her 5 year experiences...

Kak Non was giving her speech, Kak Zila?!!

Patut la Bawang lawa hari ni...hehehe

Fuziana's speech...

Kak Jas giving away the present...

Lin's speech...

Sebenarnya tak tau nak balik bila ni...hehehe

Faridah's speech...

Faridah's the current secretary...

Makan time...

Sembang plus makan...

So many of us, huh?!!

KAFA Raya Programme...

About a month ago, on the 14th of October, the Education Committee which organised the KAFA programme for the kids held a Raya celebration for the students. It showcased some sketches by the kids and parents were 'invited' to donate food for the event... (I know this post's a bit outdated but I finally have the time to write today...hehehe...sorry!)

I was quite busy on that day because believed it or not, I had to secure 50 pieces of chicken for the kenduri. How? Ina Sakinah saw the chicken van who sold the chickens to the cafe and called me. I went downstairs and when I discovered that they're selling the chickens for sdg 13.50 per kg, I just grabbed 50 pieces... If not, we had to buy all those chickens at souk Bahari. The only problem was where to keep all those chickens?!! I called all the ladies to come and keep the chickens in their freezer for 2 days...hehehe

After Asar, I went to KAFA to watch the sketches. Unfortunately, Kak Long's turn was finished by then...sigh. She was singing nasyid supposedly...hehehe. For somebody who's not very fluent in Bahasa to sing would be quite funny...hehehe. Afterwards, we were invited to 'taste' the spread. It was a feast! There were so many kinds of food prepared by parents (I just had enough time to make cupcakes). Just look at the pictures. Enjoy!

Aliah and Nadia

The KAFA kids...

Bulatnya muka Kak Long...hehehe

Nadia performing...

Asma' and Kak Jas...

They're enjoying it...

The dessert table...

Kueh and such...

So many parents contributed...

Meehoon goreng...

Saturday, 7 November 2009

From Arizona to Khartoum...

Yeay! Yeay! Yeay! All the things that I ordered from NekRock's Boutique finally reached me safely today! I am so happy! But, I couldn't jump up and down because the kids are about to go to sleep... they have school tomorrow...hehehe

I started adding NekRock's link sometime end of July but was happy to just 'skodeng' her shoppingblog...until sometime in October when she announced that she was going to Las Vegas. All hell break loose when my husband agreed to buy a t-shirt from Las Vegas. From one thing led to another...I finally stopped when I got my 'beg kek lafisssss'...hehehe

From then on, it's been a waiting game. The parcel had to travel quite far. From Arizona to Putrajaya (Nek's PA), from Putrajaya to Taman Tun, From Taman Tun to KL, From KL to Kerteh, From Kerteh to KLIA, from KLIA to Dubai and finally from Dubai to Khartoum. I'm sure you're wondering why it had to go to Kerteh first...hehehe... because a friend of ours had to attend a course in KL and brought his family along. Later, he had to send his family back to Kerteh before taking the flight back to Khartoum. 

I would like to thank NekRock for all the things plus the freebies as well...hehehe. Like this, can do some more business, huh Nekk?!! hehehe. Thank you Haslinda (Nek's PA in Putrajaya). Thank you to Angah who send the parcel to KL and finally to Azhar who carried it all the way to Khartoum...

p/s: Nekk! my husband insisted on having both shirts! So, you'll probably be hearing more from me...muahahahaha!

The parcel...

When opened...

Finally a coach handbag!

My beg kek lafissss...

I love it!

Sibuk enter-frame...hehehe

My two bags... yeay!

Lagi sorang enter-frame...hehehe

Thank you, Nekk!

Freebies... yeay!

My pink october keychain...

Dah siap letak kat fridge! Hehehe

An update on Aliah...

Last year, we decided to put Aliah in Year 1 to make sure she learns all her basics. This year she was happy to be in Year 2. But after a few weeks, she came home with the news that she was being 'promoted' to year 3. We also received a call from the principal telling us that Aliah was looking kind of bored in Year 2, finishing her work fast and absorbing the info very quickly. So, they decided to have her try to be in Year 3 for a few weeks.

At first, I was kind of anxious that she could not understand the Year 3 syllabus plus the fact that she just started learning the new maths. But, she looked really happy to be in Year 3. She loved the fact that she's learning more subjects like geography, science, history and also music. She especially loved history as she's learning about ancient civilisations e.g ancient Greeks. 

After trying for a few weeks, they decided to have her be in Year 3 for real. She was happy because one of her best friends, Ain's also in the same class as her. My husband and I also decided that probably being in Year 3 would make her strive a little bit harder in her lessons. So, now she's quite happy being in Year 3...

In her new uniform...

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Finally...

Finally, after waiting for 3 months, our supply from Malaysia arrived yesterday. I thought of having a restful day yesterday but it was not to be...sigh

After sending Amir, I thought I wanted to have a nap but I just realised that I haven't done the weekly grocery shopping, so I went to Marwa around 10 am. From Marwa I dropped by a pharmacy to buy cough medicine. Came back around 11 and started cooking, but as I was about to fry the vegetables, I discovered that the gas was finished...sigh

My husband told me that our things finally arrived from Malaysia when he came back for lunch. I rushed to pick up the kids because our regular van had a technical problem (the key was locked inside!). When I arrived home, I had to feed the boys. Around 2.30pm, The Subalipak people sent up the boxes, to the delight of the boys! They remembered that some of their things were inside...hehehe

We were told when we sent the supply to Subalipak that it'll arrive in Sudan in time for Aidilfitri. So, I put in all the ketupat segera in the boxes. Syawal came and gone without any news of our supply...sigh. I had to borrow from friends during Raya. It's not in time for Aidilfitri, but in time for AidilAdha...hehehe. Whatever it is, I'm glad that it finally arrived. Though I felt some stuff were missing but I couldn't be sure...sigh

When Kak Long came back just before 3 pm, she was also excited. At 3 pm, I left the kids to go to Bravo with Kak Maria and Nani to buy the present for Kak Anum. I left the kids with a warning not to open any of the boxes. By the time we came back to the complex, it was around 5 pm already. 

Around 5.30 pm, I started to open the boxes. We had 9 boxes altogether. To tell you the truth, I could hardly remember what's inside those boxes...hehehe. Anyway, the kids were so excited to read their books. As usual, my supply would always include new books... for me and the kids. When my husband came home after 6 pm, he had to help with the unpacking also.

We finally finished putting everything in their place after isya'. Alhamdulillah...So, that's an account of my day yesterday... hehehe

The 9 boxes...

Some of the stuff...

Ketupat segera, buttercup etc...

Rice dispenser, shampoo, tupperware etc...

Plastik ice-cream...yeay!

Ketupat segera for Aidilfitri?!!

Amir, the ever helpful...

Aidilfitri?!! Yeah, right... AidilAdha more like...

Amir's helping with the sorting out...