Picnic with kids & friends

July 3rd, 2013

My friends and I had been planning to have this picnic for a long time but there was always something going on that we kept postponing it until today. I was glad we made it because it was such a beautiful day out there. 

We decided to go to Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck. It took us 30 minutes to get there.

 These were some of the views that we saw along the way.

I guess I was busy eating that I didn't even remember to take any pictures of our picnic table so I went to search for old pictures of this place. This one was taken way back in Aug 2010. I still remember it was our first time here and we were fasting in Ramadan. 

 I was eating (again) when I saw this sail boat passing by and quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots of it.   

It was low tide while we were there. The boys had a great time in the water.

Amazing view of the Olympic mountains.

Sarah loves the water. 

I had to take Sarah out of the water after awhile because she started to shiver a little bit. Her brothers follow suit not long after that. The two ladies in the picture are the only Malay friends that I have in this area. 

Meanwhile Ezzat kept swimming for a long time. The water was just nice but once you get out of it, you could feel pretty cold due to the breeze.

Sarah is easy to warm up to new people. She had a short stranger anxiety moment when she was younger but now she can be pretty friendly.

Finally Ezzat decided that he had enough swimming for the day and Sarah gave him a hug.

My sweet little girl. Thanks Grammy for the swimming suit. Finally she's able to wear it.

Pot Luck Lunch With Friends

Last year I got to know quite a few Malaysians who live in greater Seattle. We've been in Silverdale, WA for almost four years now and for the first three years, I've not met any of my fellow country mates except one, and she lives in Lacey, WA, which is about 60 miles from here. Part of the reason was definitely because of where we are. The Malaysian community in Washington is mostly concentrated on the other side of the water. Although I have this love-hate relationship with Facebook, but thanks to it, I was able to make new friends that I would otherwise, never would have known or met.

My friend Farina and I got invited to a pot luck get together last Thursday, at one of the Malaysian girls' houses. Farina just moved from California three months ago. I was introduced to her by my high school friend via Facebook a few weeks before her move so it was great to have someone from home that lives nearby (it's only 10 minutes away from my place!). It certainly does alleviate a little bit of that homesick feeling that I  always have.

We rode the Bremerton ferry to Seattle. It took us an hour to get there and I think it was too long of a ride for my squirmy baby.

It was a pretty foggy day. It got worse towards the evening. 

Meeting Kak Rossie for the first time. She's my latest friend from Facebook and it was such a pleasure to meet her in person.

Sofia and Sarah are buddies! Sofia is our host Niza's youngest daughter.

The pretty ladies. From left: Farina, Niza (our gracious host) and Rossie. All of us are from Malaysia, except Rossie. She's a Singaporean. 

Our lunch spread. These were so delicious! FYI, I didn't make any of these. I brought steamed caramel pudding, some fruit and rojak sauce which I made with Farina the day before. I totally forgotten to take pictures of them though. 

 Close up of our main dishes

One of my favorite Malay desserts - Kuih Sagu made from pearl sago. It has been years since I've had this.

Some serious discussion is going on here.

Sarah is infatuated with Sofia.

So sweet!

Thank you so much Niza for inviting us over. I had a great time hanging out with you, Farina and Rossie. Looking forward for our next meeting!

Another good bye...

July 9, 2010 - AM

We met another good friend of mine, Reena and her daughter, Zaharah to say good bye to each other.

Zaharah playing on her own

 Zaharah and mommy

Awwwww, loving moment :-)

The boys with their gadgets

Hope this is not going to be the last...

Once upon a time at Keeaumoku St...

July 8, 2010

I meet my friends, Rozie and her daughter, Shafiqah and Isabella with her children, Nayrose and Melvin, for the last time before leaving Honolulu.  We had a great time together and I wish we could have hanged out more often before. Thanks for letting me put up your pictures here. I'm surely gonna miss you guys.

This is Isabella and her son, Melvin.

With her daughter, Nayrose

Rozie and Shafiqah

Melvin, concentrating on his games. Poor boy was probably so bored  hanging out with us.

The girls, otherwise, had fun with each other!

Sssllluurrrpping all the way!

Sweet girl

Gorgeous mommies :-)

Mothers and daughters

Great friends!

Eid-ul Fitr 2008

This post is long overdue. The next Eid which is Eid-ul Adha is coming up on Dec 8th, and only now I am putting up pics of Eid-ul Fitr. The pic above was taken the day before Eid, last day of fasting month. It was raining in the morning and I love rain especially when I drive pass by the padi field on the way to office. The padi has been harvested in September so all one can see at this time around is just water. But it's a good time to catch fresh water fish inside these plots!

People busy buying fresh meat and chickens at last minute. One can find many makeshifts stalls like this one here around the villages and town. They're mushrooming especially towards the end of the fasting season.

I love this candid shot. It's a test shot prior to the real one taken by Najib and plus we're so late for prayer at the mosque.

And hence, this is the only proper Eid family picture for this year. Not so great, plus Nabila is still in New Zealand.

Here's Farhan all smiling.

And Ezzat is happily showing his wallet full of money!

Another test shot. And this is taken at the boys' great grandparents's house at the village. They've passed away so many years ago but dad's sister and brother and his family live here. And one family is missing, another uncle who lives in Kuala Lumpur. Eid is not that fun when the Mukthi's fam are not all together. Otherwise we would have another 10 additional people in the pic!

2008 family picture.

The boys are pretty restless actually. It's probably around 3.30pm and is way past their nap time.

Next stop - Uncle Sharuddin's house. And met my cousin, Nizam with his wife and kids. Actually we visited another uncle, mom's oldest brother - Nizam's father. But I didnt get to take nice pics there. Anyway, Nizam is the one sitting next to Ezzat, and his wife is on the very left. We're all tired by this time, coz it's already late afternoon but it's still fun and plenty of yummy food!

Just hanging out, watching cartoons.

Oh dad, so busy replying text messages wishing Happy Eid.

Here's Uncle Sharuddin, on the left, with his parents - my Tok Ciks, and his wife. Tok Cik - the one in blue is mom's uncle. That makes him hmmm..my 2nd grandfather? I also call his wife Tok Cik. Heh..so it can get pretty confusing sometimes. So there's a male Tok Cik and the female Tok Cik. Get it?

Aahh the lovely ladies. The 3 younger ones are Auntie Jah's daughters and that makes them my 2nd cousins. The one at the very right in light purple got married 2 days ago. Pictures to come later. Mom, u're closing your eyes!

And here are the gentlemen. From left, my 3rd brother Najmi, 1st cousin Nizam, my 2nd bro - Nasfi and Najib, the eldest son in the fam.

Hmm I think this is taken on 3rd day of Eid. This is my friend Laila and her daughter, Aleesha. And they came all the way from Kuala Lumpur coz Laila's hubby's hometown is in Alor Star.

One happy family.