Iftar 26 June 2015

Dad came yesterday.
We were hoping that he would, and he did but he does have history of not keeping to his promises. We iftar-ed at my sister's place. I brought roast chicken and my dad and stepmom brought home cooked chicken rice. Not to mention pengat durian, which was so out of this world. We had a wonderfull time, and although there was not a lot of food, the variety more than makes up for it.

The whole gang. During Iftar.

Setting things up. And look who was most interested!

Mummy, my sis, the host.

I think it might have started with me, but somehow we aimed for 7 different types of drinks before each iftar.

Today, it looks like it will just be us. Simple affair I presume. The clean for Hari Raya has begun. My wife is busy with rags. I am here, trying to look busy so that I won't be drag into doing the cleaning up. It always fails.

Pictures taken using EP2 and Olympus 17mm 1.8

Iftar with most.

Yesterday
Yesterday was one of the most fun day for this Ramadan. Yesterday, my two sisters and their family came to break fast with us. It was awesome! There was food, not too much but there were gigantic chicken drums!

Anyway, here are some pictures. Taken with my Olympus EPL2 and the 17mm 1.8.

The cousins. Having a great time.

Kakak Wawa playing with Idris.

With Tante, expecting Amirah Nadine this August.

The whole gang, at the dinner table.

Cant wait for today! My dad and step mom will be here to break fast with us! More food! Better company. And this time, we will be having it at Tampines. In sya Allah!

No posting of food pictures.

Huhh?

I have come to realise that there seems to be a mind shift in the posting of food pictures onto Facebook during Ramadan. This is in line with the many other Muslims in other parts of the world whose fates are much worse than yours. 

I am all for it. I mean ok, that there are people who does not have enough in their daily meals and I should respect that. In all and as many ways as possible, I do. I do respect that. But I post what I eat for iftar nontheless.

Why not?

Why can't I celebrate the rezeki that Allah has given me and my family? Why can't I show my appreciation to Allah S.W.T for what he has given to me. So I did. I post pictures of the halal food I was given to consume. I really do not see how not posting pictures of the food that lay in front of me can in anyway helped those more needy than me. I may be more needy that the guy next door, and he has no qualm about posting pictures of the restaurant that he owns or he went to.

There is a limit.

Yes, it lies in your intention. Why do you want to post those pictures up in the first place? Some people may think that one is bragging when one post those pictures. My question for those people, how do you know? Am I bragging when I post pictures of my children collecting book prizes? Am I bragging when I post pictures of the books that I have in my collection? How can one tell? One can't. So stop it.

It is fine.

Yes it is fine if one decide not to post pictures because one is afraid one may be "bragging". But its not fine if one were to judge others for doing so. Its just not right. Have I been judged by the "friends" I have on facebook. The answer is, I don't know. Should I care? Maybe. If its somebody close, I would care. But I won't stopped. My wife, me or my domestic helper toiled in the kitchen and produces something extraordinary, something halal, someting pure, for consumption by everyone, is something worth celebrating. An in doing so, one way is to post pictures on facebook. I want to let everybody know, if you work hard enough, Allah s.w.t will provide, in sha allah.

Salam.

Ramadan Mubarak

Fifth Day
Today is the 5th day of the Ramadan. Alhamdulilah, I am still going strong. So are my wife and my eldest son. I must say that this year's Ramadan is most trying for us. Maybe its because its fell partly during the June holidays. Thus we spent most days indoors.

I specifically remembered that I did not last fasting on the third day of Ramadan last year. Because of pain in my legs and also my acid reflux. But Alhamdulilah, I am still going strong.

Prayers and Al-Fatiha to my brothers and sisters who are struggling to go through the Ramadan.

Bismillah.

Bandung

Bandung
Before I bore you with the details, here are some pictures.

At Changi Airport, boarding gate 13.

Choosing whether we wanted our meat grilled or fried.

Rows and ros of garnishes.

At the hotel swimming pool.

Lembang Floating Market.

Balls.

An unnamed eatery where they served gorgeous kway teow goreng.

At Alas Daun Restaurant. Sunda styled cooking.

At the Bandung airport lounge.

Prior to boardimg the flight to Bandung.

The locals called it Pempek, I just called it delicious.

Beautiful blue sky.

On the tarmac. Going home.

Easton dining. At Rumah Mode Factory outlet.

Lembang floating market.

Seller. Lembang Floating Market.

Blue Skies.

Boarding the plane.

Some of the foods that were being sold.

Padang dishes.

SIL and MIL. Happy.

Two of the various sambal sauces.

At Sapu Lidi Restaurant. Where one can choose to eat in a gazebo.

Signages at Lembang Food Market.

Hotel swimming pool.

At De' Ranch

SIL with cream soda.

Still could not rearrange the pictures properly, so they are not in order.

Information
We went to Bandung for a total of 4 days. More like 2 days and 3 nights actually as we arrived late in the evening and left early in the morning. Took AirAsia and had to disembarked onto the tarmac in Bandung. Its a small airport, I think they have about 4 immigration counters only.

Stayed at favehotel cihampelas which, to me was a good choice. Its just across the street from Jeans Street. If you are looking for big sizes for jeans, the biggest that I can find is size 46. Sidewalks are not well paved. So if you have a 2 year old son sitting in a stroller, you would need some assistance.

My take
Traffic is horrible. If you intend to go to several places for sight seeing or shopping, I would recommend that you space them out with only one location per half a day. If not, you will spend much much time in the vehicle travelling at a slow slow pace.

But do not forget to eat. Let your driver bring you around for your meals. The food is cooked in a predominantly two style of cooking. One is the Sunda way, while the other is the Padang way. Padang food is richer, usually contained coconut milk. They are both fantastic. We had our meals at Restaurant Sederhana (Padang), Alas Daun (Sunda) and Sapu Lidi (Sunda / Bandung). I could not fault any of them, ok, maybe if they have a less undulating floor.

Because of the too many places that we wanted to go, we could not shop to our heart's contend. If you do decide to go to Bandung, you need to prioritise, and also, go during the weekdays.


Pictures taken using Fujifilm x100s.

Slim. And happy Ramadan everybody.

Acupuncture

Went to a TCM clinic two days ago. For my back ache. Was poked with needles. And left in the room with a heater lamp aimed at my back. Su was in the other room having her knee looked at.

After about ten minutes, the doc came and remove the needles. Told me to stand up and lo and behold, the pain has subsides.

Was very happy, that is until I reached home. Came out from the car and my back was hurting just as bad.

A day later my sides was hurting. Its as if there was something poking at my sides and it was spasming. I could not sleep as it kept waking me up. Finally at 2 am, took a sunitorn and the spasm stopped. I am so happy. Don't know if I will go to a TCM clinic again.

Sent from my Mi phone

Finally, I am home.

Just came back from dinner, one of the last activity of an event packed Sunday.

First of all I was up and ready since 8 in the morning. The rest were not. We finally left the house around 11. Heading to the national museum. Have never drive there and were worried about the availability of car parks. Fortunately there were ample parking.

Went to take a look at su's colleague installation. Not bad. Mainly on family and settling down themes... My late mom's wool and yarn was used as one of the props.

After that we spent almost an hour on the third floor. There was a play area and idris loved it there.

Lunch we went to the Mackenzie chicken rice stall at prinsep street. At first there was no lot, but just as we were about to leave, a car pull out from a lot just in front of us. Allah s.w.t works i n mysterious ways. Alhamdulilah.

Had a fabulous lunch. How fab? Well, almost everybody was asleep in the car on the drive back home...

Reached home around 3, left for dinner after maghrib, which is around 7.45. I had fried kway teow, Adam had nasi goreng pattaya and Su had mee rebus. A bit jaded lah, we felt eating there, but its the one place where we felt comfortable and familiar with.

So, its almost ten now. In the process of putting Idris to sleep. Adam has already knocked out and I am sure everybody is tired.

This is a picture of Adam photo bombing tari while I am taking a picture. Taken on the lift lobby, second floor to the third floor. Used my x100s.

Sent from my Mi phone

At dad's place.

An impromptu trip. Only decided to go about half an hour before we got into the car. Trip was smooth. No traffic jams along the way. We went via Tuas. And then we hit pasir gudang highway. Reached dad's place around zohor.

Su brought the portable swimming pool. Laid it out in dad's garden and filled it up with water. It still works. Used it first and last when Adam was 3. Now it fits nicely for both Adam and idris.

Planning to make our move back home soon. Looking at the traffic cams, it should also be smooth sailing. Don't want to reach home too late.

Pic shows idris in the swimming pool in dad's garden.

Sent from my Mi phone

The second chair.

This was, as it was the second one, was done in a much faster fashion. Furthermore this one is less complicated. After assembling them, I think they won't fit under the study table. I am now contemplating if I need to remove the handrests. Still contemplating.

Sent from my Mi phone

Chairs.

Got my chairs delivered today. Both blue and cost me less than a $100 each. Bought them from qoo10. Came in boxes and were unassembled. Pained my heart when I realized there were so many parts but I managed to assembled both of them in less than an hour.

Quite proud of myself.

The picture showed the first of the two that I assembled.

Sent from my Mi phone