Friday, April 11, 2008

Summary of two weekends :)

Have been meaning to write a couple of postings on how we spent our last two weekends, but -

(i) have been caught up with this and that,

and

(ii) didn't have the time to transfer the pix to be downloaded here

So sorry!

Anyway, just to summarize -

We had a surprise birthday celebration for my Abah who turned 79 on Sunday 30th March that day. But, since my nephews would not be around on that day itself as they had to go back to their Unis, we decided to have it on Saturday 29th March instead.

We thought of having it at my parents' place initially, but, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? With Abah around in the house, and us preparing stuff and all?! So, we decided to have it at my sister La*a's place in Keramat. It's our usual weekend hangout, anyway.

The thing about La*a's place is - it is ALWAYS full of people. Come Saturday night, our side of the family and my BIL, Abang Ros*i's side of the family would have a Potluck Dinner there. We have 6 siblings, while he has 7. So, you can just imagine with all the spouses and anak-anak buah segala. But, of course, sometimes a few would not be able to make it. But still.

Anyway, back to Abah's birthday do.

We nearly could not persuade him to join to go to Lala's place that night. One thing about Abah, he prefers to stay at home, enjoy his own TV, sit on his own chair, sleep on his own bed, use his own toilet, use his own mug to have his coffee, etc. And we told Y*ng (my other sister who's staying with my parents), "If Abah does not want to go to La*a's house, you will just have to tell him that we're having a "surprise" birthday do for him..." Hehehe! Nasib baik la pulak that night Abah was in the mood to go out of the house.

For the Potluck - back by popular demand, yours truly masak Kuey Teow Goreng and Spaghetti Olio. Sorry, tak sempat take photos of the latter :)

HAPPY 79th BIRTHDAY, ABAH! WE LOVE YOU!

(There's a pix of my Abah and Mommy together in one of the slides below :))


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Last weekend pulak, we all berkampung at Mand.Or KL. Ayah was a Committee Member involved in organizing NHAM's Scientific Meeting at KLConvCent, and he was given a room (or rather a huge suite!) at Mand.Or throughout the course of the Meeting.

Ayah started staying there since Wednesday night last week. And the original plan was for us to join him on Saturday afternoon after the kids' Chess class. On Friday, I took a cab from PJ to join him there for the NHAM's faculty dinner at the exclusive KLCC Petroleum Club. The food was excellent. The beef that Ayah had...it just melted in my mouth. Very nice indeed.

However, we decided that the kids should enjoy the hotel room more than one night and after dinner, we rushed back to SD, packed all the stuff needed for the weekend, rushed to my MIL's place in PJ to send Daryati and fetch my kids, and off we went back to Mand.Or. We reached the hotel about 12:25a.m.but, I think the kids only went to sleep around 2:30a.m!

Our room was on the 21st floor, facing the Twin Tower, Suria KLCC and the fountains, and on the right we could see the park, the wading pool and the playground. Ayah and I were just thinking, maybe, we could book the room and stay there on New Year's or Merdeka Eve to watch the fireworks display and all from there. But when we found out that the total bill (which was footed by the organizers) for the whole 5D4N was in excess of RM13k, we decided that it would be much better watching the celebrations on TV in the comfort of our own home...Hahaha!

The kids missed their Chess and dancing classes that weekend. While Ayah was busy attending all the NHAM sessions, the kids and I were busy carrying our shopping bags to and fro Suria KLCC and Mand.Or. When we were back in our room, the kids would either be reading, playing PS2 or watch DVDs. Oh yes - Hilman also brought a few of his Hot Wheels cars to play with (WAJIB for him! Hehehe!)

Ayah had his NHAM fellowship Convocation on Saturday evening. And for the rest of the time, we just enjoyed the hotel (AND Suria KLCC, of course! :)) I'm dreading the day when the credit card bills arrive through the post...But, Ayah DID say that we could spend on whatever the kids and I wanted, didn't you, Ayah? (My eyes fluttering - flutter... flutter... flutter... Hehehe!)

THANK YOU, AYAH!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

All in all, it was a great weekend. Thank you NHAM (and our hotel room sponsors!)

Enjoy the pics!




12 comments:

Kmar said...

Shana...

Nice hotel!!!... Looks so luxurious and very comfortable. And the view... wow... tak payah keluar bilik.. he.he..

Can´t help to notice the CAT at your abah´s birthday. Nampak gebu.. he.he.. geram. Our cat is turning 14 next month.. really Grandpa. Your father doesn´t look that old compare to the age. I bet kerana anak-anak dia are ´go lucky´ type and always happy, betul tak? Semoga dipanjangkan umur dan dimurahkan rezeki.

wanshana said...

Kmar,

Amin. Thank you :)

Syukur alhamdulillah, my Abah is quite healthy, except for his high blood - which is very well controlled. His eyesight is better than mine, mind you! But he's losing his hearing bit by bit now.

The cat's name is BERUANG a.k.a AWANG. He's only 8 months old, but SOOOO BIG! They had a cat name LEMBU a.k.a ABU before, but he died a couple of months ago - attacked by 7 stray dogs outside their house! Sobs...

Yes - MO is a VERY nice hotel. Even NICER for us coz' FOC...Hehehe!

Formerly known as Superwomanwannabe! said...

seronoknya kat mo!!! RM13k???!! Mak OI!!

Happy belated birthday to your father- semoga sehat sehat dan happy sentiasa...

wanshana said...

Superwomanwannabe,

Amin. Thank you :)

Yes - memang EXTRA seronok when sponsored ni...Hehehe! Meaning there's RM13k which we didn't have to fork out to enjoy our stay there.

Hmmmm... If only our "unspent-RM13k-on-hotel" can ALL be used for shopping money at Suria KLCC, huh?

I wished... Hehehe!

P/S :- This is my sister who's interested in one of your Tom kittens, by the way. Have all the kittens been weaned off mommy's milk now?

MamaEta said...

Shana, Happy belated B'day untuk Uncle W.A.A. Jaffri....see..I still remember the short form...still handsome and cool with your mum by his side....
p/s:..Own mug for coffee...familiar la...
Seronok kita tengok such a big wonderful happy family..but awatnya tuan doktor dok peluk bantal?..and Of coz..your kue teow..alamak..buat kita terliurg..aduhai!!..

And your kids nampak so comfy kat hotel tu....bestnye.....and I cdn't help gigle at the "... to and fro with shopping bag tu!..."..depa tak grumble ke shana?..oo..oo..lupa...dapat yang dihajat..penat belakang kira la..

best..best posting..ta.ta!

Anonymous said...

Hi Kak Shana,

It's been a while since I last visited your blog. Wow....so many to read and respond to. Anyway, firstly....belated birthday wishes to your Abah, Abang Haizal and dearest Hasya!! Semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki and dilindungi Allah swt senantiasa.

Must say something about your lavish weekend....wow again. Would love to do something like that one day.....but sposoredlah of course. Where got 13K to spend on hotel alone!

And I enjoyed the pics, I miss family get-togethers....uhhmmm remind me what I'm doing here for so long??

Love from Sheffield to all in Malaysia (I forgot my password hence anonymous....Murni/Iqbal)

Anonymous said...

salam,

dear kak shana ...

happy birthday to your dad ... may ALLAH bless him with good health and happiness always ...

gosh ... your nephews and nieces have grown so much since the last time i saw them at the birthday bash in hartamas ... and the food!!! you just have tola kan! heheheh ...

congrats to abang H! he deserved it and you and the kids deserved the break too! everything looks great! don't worry about the credit card la ... heheheh ...

our love to all :)

wanshana said...

Eta,

Thank you :)

I know - you're among many friends who just memorize/remember the short-form of my "handsome" Abah's VERY long name. Jimat nafas... ;)

Unfortunately for Ayah - he had to lafaz MY name PLUS my Abah's name masa nikah dulu. Nasib baik sekali lafaz aje dah sah...Hahaha!

Penat tau, Eta... Ke hulur ke hilir bawak shopping bags tu... The kids could only take it for about an hour or so. Normally bila dah dapat his/her barang, terus nak balik hotel room. Bukan kira if the rest of us still terkial-kial nak membeli!

Doc had a pillow, either -

(i) to hide his tummy after a heavy meal,

OR

(ii) tengah nak cari tempat nak landing after a heavy meal!

Hahaha!

wanshana said...

Dear Murni Iqbal of Sheffield :),

Amin. Thanks...

Good to see you here again. No worries - I know just how busy you are over there. Kids and work must have kept you pretty tied up!

Why don't you spend a weekend at the MO next time you guys are back in Malaysia? You can shop til' you drop (for shoes!) at Suria, and the kids can go to Aquaria, and enjoy the KLCC wading pool and playground, etc., not forgetting all the eating places within the vicinity.

Instead of using the RM13k to pay for a suite, you can use the RM for REALLY serious shopping, and opt for a normal (deluxe?) room instead. Good idea, no? ;)

And I know what you mean... One of the things which I also miss whenever I'm away is family get together (tambah-tambah pulak I have a very big family!). But, it's okay...kejap aje lagi tu, and Insya Allah you all will be back for good.

Take care, and do convey our salam to Iqbal, and hugs to the kids, please.

wanshana said...

Dear Motley a.k.a Murni Hilmi of South Shields (Hehehe...)

Amin. Thanks.

Ha-ah, they have REALLY grown since that time. And everybody says that Hanna looks very much like F*hmi now especially when she wears her glasses. Those who don't know might think that they all adek-beradek! (Ye lah, kalau dah cousins tu, mesti ada iras-iras jugak kan? But, they look SO MUCH alike!)

Food?! What food?!! Hehehe!

And Abg. Haizal was just counting all the abbreviations from his fellowships so far - kot-kot his name is longer than mine dah now...Hahaha!

Take care, you - and enjoy your two weeks Southwest Easter Break with Hilmi ;)

Love to all.

Lee said...

Hi Wanshana, wow! Nice party and place too. Love your pics.
Your dad looks good for his age. And love your cat.
I celebrated my 65th birthday on January 26th, and few days before that date (its also the age of retirement,as well when we become 'senior citizens' and receive all the benefits from the government.
Anyway, my wife had discreetly informed our MP, local councilor re my birthday.
And a day before I was surprised to receive their beautiful birthday scrolls as well one from the Prime Minister himself.
The MP had informed his office. (Posted the pics of their scrolls in January)
Bet you guys had a real blast of a party for your dad.
You have a nice day, Wanshana, best regards, Lee.

wanshana said...

Dear Uncle Lee,

Thanks. Yes, it was a nice party/get-together, and I think my Dad did not really expect it as his birthday was not until the day after. So, that was nice :)

The cat's not mine actually. It belongs to my sister n fmly. It's a very beautiful cat and it has quite a rare coloured coat, and it has a pair of very pretty blue eyes.

Yes, I read your posting about your 65th birthday. You must have felt REALLY thrilled and excited when you got the scrolls from the VIPs I'm sure. I bet you have put them in gold-gilded frames now? ;)

Take care, Uncle Lee :)