Family Ties

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." - Jane Howard.

I admire Mr E's close knit family for they always make effort by organising gatherings every month to promote family bonding.

Example:
December at Cousin Zahid's house...
January at Nenek Mary's house...
February at Mak Uteh's house....
.
.
.
.
.
.
This is way way overdue but better late than never right?!
2 Saturdays ago, Mr E's aunties/uncles/cousins organised a gathering for the February babies.

Mr E's brother...His dad... His cousin, Kak Ana.

Of course, all came with empty stomachs and those who came with the intention of dieting obviously were the ones who kept coming back to this table for more.

Usually, we'd all do pot luck.

Like Nenek Mary will bring sambal goreng...

My mom in law will cook assam pedas ikan duri...

Kak Wati will do briyani...

Busu will bring some kuehs...
Kak Noni will bring epok epok... Etc..

Apa dia kak?

Me?

Well I will enter the home, lenggang kangkong. (empty handed la tu!)

(Yes, I really tak boleh harap one. Gone case abis.)
The day I bring my own pot of food, I think all their muluts will ternganga.

Especially my mommy in law. Hee Heee!

But she's cool with it (I hope!) because she knows I am teaching during the weekends mah.

Happy Birthday Bapak!

I touch his lap. He hold my hand. Soooo schweet.

Sayang sangat pat bapak mertua I ni. He's sucha loving person.

Anyhow, amongst the many gatherings that were organised, last last Saturday's one was the MOST fun!

Before I tell you why, meanwhile, let me show you some more *outdated* pictures of us bonding at Nenek Mary's house...Ngah's...my in laws'....

October babies!

These baked cheesy chickens and potatoes here deserve special mention because they were SO SO SO yummy.

Unforgettable!

Chef Zahid very stingy one, kept mum everytime we asked for the recipe.

Finger licking goooood babey!

Okay, back to last last Saturday.

The kiddos (in pic below) were especially excited because they were going to have a slumber party!

5 year old Nyla packed her blue gentel and her dolphin.

7 year old Farysha packed her bantal busok (Nyla cannot stand the smell and will always gag when she smells it! lol. Actually, there's a bolster in between Farysha and Nyla. Konon barrier.)

On the other hand, 6 year old Syamirul packed his bantal busok, bantal busok and bantal busok. (Yes! THREE! One for in between legs, one for left armpit and another one for right armpit! KECOH OR WHAT!)

I did the 'putting the children to sleep' duty. (Because it's either this or cleaning up! HAHAHA!)

It was so so fun being in the room with 3 children listening intently to my bedtime stories.

Fuzzy feeling.

Farysha (Spot her lapok bantal busok), Nyla (spot her blue blankie and dolphin) and Syamirul (spot his 2 bantal busok for armpits. Another one hidden under the blanket)

So cute right!


This picture was taken before the older kids were chased out of the room because the younger ones wouldn't sleep if they were in the room. The kakaks and abangs went to the hall and watched DVD while taking turns to surf the Internet.

And what about the rest of us?

To REX Cinema we went at midnight to catch Khurafat!

We occupied the last 2 rows.



Syamsul Yusof of SKOP Productions must be so thrilled to see this kind of support for his film.

Anyway so glad I brought along my shawl.

Yeap, I had the whole shawl cover my head (and Mr E's) the whole time.

Sucha funny sight.

You see 2 heads covered with a zebwa pwints shawl during the entire movie.

Now, everytime we gather together gether right...we'd discuss where would our next June/December holiday destination be?

Suggestions would include Port Dickson... Phuket.... Kelantan.... etc

but somehow, we would always always always end up at Tanjung Pinang one!

I have no complaints because I love that place.

Like TOTALLY!

I do my hair....

Dye plus cream bath treatment =less than $35

Manicure and Pedicure = less than $15

Then foot reflexology....full body massage....(2 full hours of relaxation costs less than $30! Where to find in Singapore you tell me?!)

The moment we check into our hotel, we'd rush to the 'spa counter' to book our respective slots!

Usually few of us would get disappointed because they were not able to accomodate to so many of us.

So we'd split...

Some would go shopping at Ramayana....

Some would go to hair salon (A few of Mr E's male cousins came back botak head because their haircut so obiang! Morale of the story: Just dye and do treatment there! If you wanna cut, do at your own risk ah!)

On the other hand, the kids also love Tanjung Pinang solely for this reason: bumper cars. -__-

Can't imagine their reaction if they ever step into Disneyland.

Really man. The peeps manning the bumper car station...the spa peeps...the hair salon peeps sure work overtime come June and December when Mr E's family come to invade.

Do you know that the beach is beeee yoooouuu tiiiiiii fulllll?

Here's Trikora Beach, peeps.

Kids splashed around a lil bit...

We played beach volleyball, makciks and pakciks included!

Soccer too.

See my Cristiano Ronaldo in action?

Saaaaaaaap!

Lovely beach right?

And I love the 'batik' top I bought there! About 1 dollar leh!

WHERE TO GET AT THAT PRICE IN SINGAPORE YOU TELL ME?!

Baju butterfly pon not that cheap lor.

Mr E pushed his wife.RED CARD oi.

Of course no such thing because no referee what.

And the foooooodddd.

Mr E's busu has a house there so she'll whip up home cooked dishes.

Lemak ketam....pucuk ubi.....ikan pari.....

And we'd always go to Madong for some nice kelong food: Steamed/Fried Fish..gonggong...black pepper crabs....sotongs...

Love the ambience eating there.

Very windy...Very peaceful....Very quiet too because everyone just wanna enjoy the food.

So, wanna make a guess where all of us will be heading to this June holidays?