Selamat Hari Raya 2011

Salam, Eid Mubarak 2011.  Alhamdulilah, we are in the midst of celebrating Eid in Brunei.  The announcement of the sighting of the moon was made yesterday evening over Radio and Television Brunei (RTB) by the Chief Judge of Syariah High Court, State Judiciary Department, Prime Minister's Office, Dato Seri Setia Ustaz Awang Haji Muhammad Zaimi bin Haji Talip, thus Eid/Shawal 1432H in Brunei falls on wednesday 31st August 2011.

I was amazed on how fast the time flew.  I feel we just celebrated and embraced Ramadhan and now its gone and over for this year. The one month just slipped away!  Although Hari Raya is always an anticipated festive time, I also feel so sad that Ramadhan wont be here again until the next year.  I find Ramadhan was such  a blissful time, for the fact that its such a holy month, a month of restrains, and a month where it taught us on how to be a good muslim, to reflect and to think about our own existance.  Its not all about all these worldy possessions, but also to think about the afterlife.  And I love the fact that I didnt have to worry about breakfast and lunch, and snack and drinks in between, lol.  I break the fast everyday and control my in take of food and I must say its all worth it.  I didnt expect to lose any weight but I did!  I really did, 2kg, in fact. Wow!!!

Anyway, salam Aidil Fitri to all.  We are happy to celebrate Eid this year.  We waited for the announcement last night although we came to know about it a bit earlier than everyone else, from reliable sources.  The day just flew by again, gatherings with both my parents and my inlaws and visit to the cemetary is a must.  Done that for this year.

Ramadhan almost over.

Hari Raya celebration will be here very soon. And as the norm, everyone was so busy doing all the preparations to welcome the festive season. Everyone must buy new stuff!  A must?  Thats how it is here.  And new paint of the house?  New curtains?  Although as for some people, I know this for a fact.  They dont really practice Ramadan but when it comes to Raya, they are the one who spends so much and prepare so much.  I guess they dont really know what Ramadan and Aidul Fitri are all about!

Anyway, during my few outings, I can see the town areas are packed, traffic jams were two folds, much worst than anytime in the whole year. Most shopping complexes are offering good bargains (thats what they say but I don’t know). Whist as much as possible I try to reduce my outing to the shopping complexes during this time, but there are times that I had to. Unless it is absolutely necessary then we will venture out and we prefer to go to less popular and smaller ones as opposed to bigger places like the mall. I just cant stand the crowds!

Last Saturday, our daughter wanted to buy some nice and beautiful shoes.  So we went to the Mall, very early in the morning before most shops were not even opened, lol.  Just to beat the traffic, less people and good parking spot.  My daughter, for the first time ever in her young years, she wants to wear heels!  She said its about time, she usually wear flat shoes and sandals hahaha, so why not??  I feel its time too. Afterall she is now 17. She should act like the young lady she is and I have no objection. So far, our daughter hasn’t ventured into adulthood just yet. She doesn’t wear make up, she wears flat shoes and has no boyfriend, lol. I am gonna let her to ease herself up, bit by bit. I know its going to be a slow transition for her but I don’t have any problem with that. In fact I want it to be slow since I still couldn’t afford to lose that sweet child into adulthood.

Coming back to the Raya celebration, I cant help but feel sad that Ramadan is almost over. In 2 days! May Allah bless us with long life so we all could meet another Ramadan in another year. I am not sure if I have done lots of good deeds during this time but I do hope all my amalan will be accepted by Allah SWT, Amin.

The traffic along the road where traffic jam is seldom.

Where did all the cars go to?

At night along Jalan Gadong

At the mall when the shops just opened and no body around.

Look, isnt it nice to shop like this?

Some really nice shoes on display and my daughter had hers.

Still a bit deserted when we arrived.

Haha.. even during Ramadan?  Do you still have to do this?  Where is your respect, people?

Birthday wish

Especially to hubby on the ocassion of his birthday today.  May Allah bless you with abundance of good health, wealth and happiness and always be under His Rahmah and Hidayah, Amin Warabbul Alamin...

Us on holiday

My dream of Ramadhan

One of the things I want to do during Ramadhan is to perform Umrah in Makkah.  Thats my ultimate dream.  Its the best of time to be infront of the Kaabah and to be in the holiest place on this earth.  I envy those people who were there during this holy month.  I am longing to be there, especially during Ramadhan.  I performed Umrah twice before but never during Ramadhan so I wish I could be there at this time.

Below pictures were taken very recently from someone's blog, right about now.  Thats how the situation is in Masjidil Haram and in the city of Makkah at the moment.  So many pilgrims.  So many people want to be there.  Its just look like the time of Hajj.  Millions of people, Alhamdulilah. 

Sungkai at Taurean Cafe at the Arch

Another outing last night. This time at Taurean Cafe at the Arch. Lovely place and I love the ambience although the cafe was a bit small in size. We got the outside tables under the shades (inside was full) and we all felt like in a resort with the big umbrellas and all. Something different for a change. The day was breezy but it was very near to the main  pasar gadong road so we could see lots of traffic. The food was ok, similar to the rest but I liked their bee hoon goreng better, its a different taste from what i’ve tasted before, emm..

Now the down side or shall we call tips if you want to go for this restaurant. You have to pay a DEPOSIT if you want to book for tables. What? A bit unusual and we’ve never encountered such a system anywhere else. My brother argued with them but to no avail, sigh. NO drinks for the sungkai except provided by the waiters/waitresses. So a bit troublesome to keep asking for more refill. As you all know, we all could be so thirsty after the fast. You could order different drinks of course with different price. And no dates (the fruit)! I always break my fast with dates but none was provided here.

Anyway it was still a good outing with the family so its still ok!

The Arch, my first time here

Our tables under the shades, I liked it here

Sad and surprise look!

The drink provided to break the fast.  No other drink was provided except you asked for it from the menu with a price, of course.

The heavy traffic at Jalan Pasar Gadong heading to Kiulap roundabout.

Join the queue!

Almost there!

Now we are into the food!

I like this bee hoon goreng.

ABC anyone?

While waiting to break my fast.

Sungkai at Kaka Restaurant

My 5th sungkai outing this month with the clan.  Found about the buffet of this place from  LFHW website, our local food directory initiated by a few bloggers especially for Ramadan Sungkai Promotion, and I was interested to try it out after reading the good review. I was not dissapointed when I saw the buffet spread.  Not too bad for B$8.00 per person.  There were lots of food but then there were lots of people too and you know what happened when thats the case?  Tight space and long queue!  But seriously, there were lots of choices and I specially love the lasagne. 

But my tip if you go to this place.  Make sure you didnt miss the spread INSIDE the restaurant because this area has NO REFILL.  Try to get there early because once its finished, its finished.  They only refill the main course situated outside the restaurant.  And its where the lasagne was located, and it was all gone by the time the rest of us tried to get some.

Kaka Restaurant, at Jalan Jerudong

The appertiser area with chocolate fountain.

The chocolate fountain at close range, but we didnt know that we took this with fruits.  My nephew was looking for the missing mashmellows!

Another appertisers inside the restaurant, this has no refill.

Sambal belacan, sambal tahai yummm.........

Nice!

The fast vanishing lasagne

The salty ones

Samosa, popia and tofu

Malay traditional kuehs

The main course area, this area would be refilled if they run out.

My beautiful niece with new look.

While waiting for the beduk

Cant wait to dig in? hehe

My brother just arrived

I need a very cold drink

Look at our table!  So many food!

My brother with wife

Hahaha.. kesian Alif.  Must be so tired and sleepy

Right before the sungkai when it got chaotic.  A long queue has formed.

People trying to get to the main course area

Hehe.. Ejun got to break his fast earlier than everyone else.

Kaka at night by time we left.

Birthday Sungkai at Pemodo Restaurant

We celebrated my two nephews birthdays at Pemodo Restaurant at Jalan Telanai.  This is my brother's favourite restaurant to go for lunch or dinner and he booked the upper floor for us to have sungkai here.  It was very nice to have the place to ourselves, we didnt have to squeeze between people and ran the risks of not getting any food if we were late!  We even could take our time to consume food and no need to rush.  I must agree the food were really not bad, and we might want to drop by here in the future.