The Azlan's Merdeka Day Weekend

In continuation of the wedding celebration we had last week, we managed to cram in a whole load of family activities during the Merdeka weekend. We did not plan to go anywhere this time around as we wanted to avoid the Merdeka/Bersih crowd, so our activities are mostly confined around the Selangor area.

Date: 30 August 2015 (Sunday)

The kids cooked breakfast for mummy and daddy. We made savory bread and butter pudding together. They had so much fun and have already requested for us to bake a cake next. I find cooking to be an awesome way to teach the kids in taking instructions.

Restaurant Review: Zawara Coffee
Been meaning to check out this cafe for ages since my Aunt reviewed the place a few months back. The restaurant is situated in Bukit Jelutung and is quite easy to find. Very spacey (with a in house surau/toilet etc). The place is quite laid back, a nice place to lepak with family and friends.

We tried a few dishes, the kids had the Spaghetti Arabiata (not in picture but taste wise it's spicy and nice but nothing special), I got myself the salted egg buffalo wings (nice but would have been better if it was spicier), two types of churos, one with ice cream & chocolate sauce and the other is with butterscotch sauce ( I prefer the chocolate sauce to the butterscotch, but the churos itself is very nice, crunchy on the outside and lighly dusted with cinnamon, super yums, we originally ordered one box but the kids loved it so much we  had to order extras:))

For drinks we had the Tinkerbell ice blended (super bland, I don't like it at all) and Lan had the Hazelnut Latte (he said it's ok) and two bottles of mineral water. We paid around RM85 for everything. Not cheap but the price is pretty much standard for cafe food in Klang Valley. 

Did we enjoy ourselves? A BIG FAT YES and I would totally come again to try out the other food items on the menu. 

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Date: 31 August 2015 (Monday)

We celebrated Merdeka by celebrating my little Malaysians. We treated them to rides, lunch at their favorite restaurant, shared an ice cream sundae, had a haircut, planted a tree and just spent loads and loads of quality time together. Alhamdullilah like Malaysia, my life is not perfect but there's more good than bad in it, and for that I'm thankful :)

Wedding Bells Alert

Last Friday, my cousin Mimie got married and I was there to celebrate with her and the rest of the family. My family is very big on gotong royong  and since the cousins on my dad's side is pretty close, we try to be there for her and my auntie to help out.

The munchkins had to attend their Merdeka Day school event on Friday so it was just my parents, Lan and I. Alhamdullilah everything turned out great

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Nikah Day: Masjid Negeri Shah Alam

Date : 28 August 2015

The beautiful bride and one with my cousin Amer, myself and the newleyweds.

No babies, means plenty of chance to camwhore with my husband :p 

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Reception : Dewan Jubli Perak, Shah Alam

Date: 29 August 2015

My gorgeous flower girls, doing their flower girls duties :) 

Trying to get a decent photo with all 3 is a MISSION of its own....

Mummy dah give up, so decided to take photos with other family members instead. Hahaha

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Mama Sue and her countless selfies :p 

Thank god for willing "wefie" subjects, with the exception of my husband yang on mode berserah dan redha. My anak buah and children are pretty much camera ready 80% of the time and will come running when I say "come take a photo with me". Yeah "vain" is part of our family DNA.

Alhamdullilah, it was a great time spent with family. Can't wait for our  next family gathering.

P/S: Kidzania Review Post is up --> Press Me

What Hari Raya means to me...

1. Opportunity to meet up and catch up with my beloved family :) 

I know people loves to complain about their relatives, but Alhamdullilah I have the best ones (plus minus a few odd jobs haha)

The Hanif Clan

The Malek Clan

 @ Merlimau 

Annual Family Open House @ Our Crib

2. The super stressful annual raya family portrait

Like I mentioned on IG, this semi "OK" pic took at least 4 hours and  6 different photographer (one semi professional) to achieve. No little models in making in this family for sure :p

3. Opportunity to seek forgiveness and spending time with my beloved husband (haha)

 Mr and Mrs Barney :p 

4. Yummy food???

Sadly I didn't manage to take a pic of my fave ketupat, rendang and kuah lodeh combo. Super yummy and  worth gaining the extra thousand pounds :p

5. My babies

Last but certainly not least. Hari Raya means nothing if this little munchkins is not by my side driving me insane but making me laugh at the same time. Love love them so very very much...

I know it is a bit late, but I want to wish my friends and blog readers a Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin. May our ibadah in Ramadan be accepted by Allah and hopefully we'll get the chance to have another Ramadan next year * InshaAllah*

There is no compulsion in Islam...

A post extracted from my FB...

"I don’t understand why some schools need to close their canteens to “respect” Muslims who are fasting. If it was my son who is doing the complaining, my answer would be “WTH are you doing in the canteen in the first place? Go hang out in the classroom/library/surau” 

When I was growing up, 80% of my “gang” comprises of non-Muslims, some are super polite who’ll hide under the table to have a sip of their drinks while the less considerate ones will openly drink ice milo right in front of my face. (Oh well, to their credit they did offer to buy me one if I want to break my fast earlier..haha). But past the age of 9, when I finally decided to sincerely fast on my own, nothing my friends can do or say will affect my fasting.

At the end of the day, If I (hypothetically of course *cough2*) drank the tap water while pretending to take my wudhu, was it really because I saw my friend drinking or was it because I had no willpower to stop myself from consuming unfiltered water? Just because my willpower sucks, that does not give me the license to impose my religious beliefs on others.

I walk in front of the cross every single day for 11 years when I was in MGS, read my friend’s baby bible when I was 10 and after I started driving even drop my friends at the church for their mass after our lepak session. Heck I even dated a Christian for 5 years at one point of my life. Did I ever felt the urge to change my faith at any point of these events? Alhamdullilah, it is a BIG FAT NO. You want to know why? Because I truly believe in my syahadah “There is no god other than Allah and Nabi Muhammad SAW is his messenger” All thanks to my parents, family and teachers guidance.

So to the paranoid Malays, maybe instead of pointing fingers as to how other people can ruin our Iman, maybe we can step back and look at our shortcomings and learn the way of Islam through Al Quran and Sunnah. Let’s lay the foundation of Islam in our children so deep that no matter what other people choose to say or do, nothing will easily waver their faith. And from this point onwards when we decide to force our beliefs onto others, maybe we can ask ourselves, is this how Nabi Muhammad will act? A real Muslim will know the answer…"

What brought this on? I'm just tired having to expain myself again and again due to the actions of some ignorant individuals. Salam Ramadhan everyone, forgive my wrongdoings (if any) and may all of us have a blessed and fulfilling month :)