Nordin Family Raya Gathering & Olympics 2009

Brainstorming the night before the event at Danau Kaseh

What a GREAT day we had on Wednesday! Every year we look forward to the Nordin Family gathering for Raya & this year was extra special as we had the family sports day too - we call it our Nordin Family Olympics ;) 

Score Board

Azam preparing the lines

Getting ready for the Briefing

Hanani is the GREEN house mascot - so sweeeet!

With Apak & Mak's 8 children, 7 menantu & 24 cucu, we had enough people to make the event a real Blast! The day started with breakfast (have to fill up for the BIG event!), then team members started preparing their mascots & Team cheer-song (4 teams - Red, Blue, Yellow & Green - all cucu-cucu). 

Ateh Eda helping out the Blue Team Cheer-song

"Biru! Biru! Baik Jaga-Jaga Kamu!" (Sing to "Beat It" tune)

Andak Win with the YELLOW team - check out the headgear!

Each Team had their own Coach to guide them during the cheer-song performance (which was hilarious!), then the games started. 6 games altogether & points were collected for each team: 1. Passing Getah with Straw, 2. Ping Pong Ball in a spoon, 3. Empty water bottle on a Plate, 4. Filling up water in a Bottle with Sponge, 5. Sweets in Tepung, 6. Treasure Hunt. It was so much FUN!

Hakim - run, run, run!

Ngah strategizing with the RED team members

Peace Hadi!

Anas filling up the bottle

Then we had 6-a-side Soccer: KL vs. Melaka. BL, BN, Azam, Danial, Izzat & Amir (KL) lawan AZ, Aswad, Zizi, Andy, Adlan & Hakim (Melaka). Apak was the umpire & both teams were so good! Ended with a tie: 2-2. We took a break for Lunch: Berkelah makan Nasi Lemak bawah pokok asam. After zohor, we gathered for the family meeting. This is the most anticipated event of the year for everyone. It is our tradition every year to have this gathering during Raya: Apak & Mak will give a speech to wrap up the events which had happened throughout the year, we give thanks to Allah for our blessings, we doa for the coming year, we exchange gifts with Apak &  Mak, sisters & brother, and give angpows to nieces & nephews. 

Beloved Apak & Mak

For me, Raya is complete only when we have this family gathering. It is just so special that I can't describe it in words. We reflect on what we had achieved for the year in our lives, our careers, our children's education; we talk, we laugh, we cry - it is a time for sharing, and reinforcing our love and commitment to the family. The warm & fuzzy feeling is so overwhelming during these gatherings that I can feel the love for days later.. 

Thank you so much Mak & Apak, Kak Long & Bang Long, Kak Ngah & Bang Ngah, Kak Mas & Azam, Eda & Aswad, Win & Zizi, Jerd & Ery, & Andy for all the wonderful presents & the Angpow for the kids; And most of all thank you for the precious time we shared together. We love you all - & look forward to our next gathering..

Selamat Hari Raya 2009 & Maaf zahir batin (^_^)

Happy Raya & Happy 40

Mama's darlings

The residents of Danau Kaseh celebrated 1st Syawal in Raub & Jerantut this year. It's always special being with Mak in Raub, and every time we go back, I always wish that we had gone back more often throughout the year.. Must make extra effort in future..

Santai di bawah pondok :)

2nd Syawal this year falls on 21st September, my 40th birthday. We headed back home to Melaka and on the way, we stopped in KL to have Mama's Birthday lunch at Chillies, Mid Valley. I will remember this day for the rest of my life - it's just so precious spending the quiet lunch with AZ & the kids - all warm & fuzzy feeling. Thanks to all mama's darlings for the lovely presents. Thanks baby for the personalized iPod Nano - love it!

20.09.2009 - my last day of being 30-something

40 is like the new 30 :)

Mug from Adlan, Lotion from Hakim,

Notebook from Adlina & Piggy Bank from Anas

Turning 40

I have to admit that I've been rather malancholy these past few days. You see, I will be 40 in a week. Somehow the BIG 4-Zero seems to be such a daunting number and I feel so afraid of facing it! 

A friend said (obviously to comfort) that Ustaz Shamsuri in a lecture actually quoted a hadith which essentially said that a woman is most beautiful at the age of 40. I looked in the mirror and can safely confirm that this is not true in my case! Yelps!

Self reflecting, I try hard to focus on the positive. What are the lessons that I have learnt in the past 40 years? The real lessons that count. Not the ones that you learn in college to get a degree. Lessons in life, of life. There are just too many to list down, but perhaps for me, the most compelling (this may sound cliche) is the importance of Family. I believe that everything revolves around having a good and stable family relationship. It affects all other aspects in the life of a person: his self confidence & self worth; his attitude towards life; his relationship with God & the people around him; everything on the outside of a person is a reflection of how he is on the inside - and this is determined, mainly by the way he has been brought up and his relationship with his family.

I also learnt not to take things for granted and be thankful for what I have. The little things & the big things. The miracle of life and the gift of health by Allah. Having a close-knit family who loves me unconditionally. Being with my soulmate and having 4 beautiful children with him. Having a roof over our head and food on the table. Having special friends who are supportive and encouraging. Being in control of my career and having my own business where I can share Allah's rezeki with my staffs and their family. There are just too many to be thankful for. Ya Allah, You have been so generous to me beyond comprehension. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Turning 40 is a blessing from Allah - it means that I have been chosen to continue walking on this earth with all the wisdom and lessons that I have learnt in the past, and to share these lessons with others. I have also been given more time to prepare myself for the next life as I know I am not ready.

Looking back, there is no reason for me to freak out when I found a grey hair on my head 2 weeks ago... (^_^)

Our Oldest Koi

Dragon 

Our Koi Pond was infected by bacteria last week!! Yikes.. The kois looked so dizzy, grouping together at the corner, mostly gasping for oxygen. A few were already swimming sideways! Literally Nyawa-Nyawa Ikan :( 

Dragon, our oldest Koi succumbed to the disease last Thursday when I was in Kuching. It's so sad because we had it for 5 years & it had survived many-many Pond-Mishaps like when the pump broke down 3 years ago & almost all our kois died (about 25 of them). Adlina was really sad but I told her that Dragon is in a better place now..

Dragon saying goodbye to Brownie (Adlina's favourite soft toy)

AZ intervened on Saturday & poured in the Ubat to kill the bacteria & the water is all luminous green now. But it looks like the ubat is working well. All the fish swimming sideways suddenly dah tegak balik! Phew!

Really hope that the rest of the fish will survive this trauma..

The Familiarity of Home

It's been a whole week of rush, rush, rush for me. Had to fly in to Kuching & then Sibu in the middle of the week to get 5 sets of Agreements signed by 4 different clients. It's been utterly stressful. This was especially painful for me because it's fasting month and I just hate to be away from home. I missed the sahur, berbuka and solat Maghrib berjemaah with AZ and the kids..

Being away from my family for just a couple of days was enough to make me really appreciate being home more, even if it's just doing nothing particularly special. The familiarity of home, the love and acceptance, precious moments with the kids and the comfort of being with AZ, all adds up. I guess I'm not cut out to be one of those high flying people who live in a suitcase, going for business trips from country to country. I think I was born to be a housewife :)

I sound so sappy here.. please excuse the ramblings (^_^)