new experiences at different places :)-part 2

The continuation of previous post. ok. where did we stopped?

(The next morning i woke up at nearly 9am. took shower, breakfast and went to the bride's house. then we were served with breakfast again..OMG where i want to put all the food ive eaten??my stomach cant afford them anymore. i chose to sit in the house coz it was very hot outside)......

as it was very hot : according to car reading, it's 3+ degree celcius outside. i was called by my aunt to take picture inside the house. as i was the only one who brought camera, i've to though i feel that i didnt want to do it. lol. but, nvm, it's cold inside the house with airconds. sit there for 30 minutes before the bride came in and sit at the 'pelamin' . then, more people came in. all of them are my family members. then the 'tepung tawar' ceremony started. it's very different from sarawak's malay wedding reception. in brunei, only the bride sitting on the 'pelamin' where as in sarawak, both of the bride and bridegroom have to sit on the 'pelamin'. as the 'tepung tawar' ceremony went on and i as the photographer, one of my uncle approached me and told me to join the ceremony. i was surprised and resisted to join. but at last i gave up and did what he asked me to do. it's my first time to join 'tepung tawar'. cool!! it's around 10am and i had to move outside the house as inside were getting pack with people. i sit with my uncles and cousins. talked with them, observed people and so on. it's very hot. the bridegroom only came at around 12pm. can u imagine how long we have to wait under the sun? there were 6 to 8 vespa or scooter escorting the bridegroom's car. unique!! after the bridegroom entered the house, we had our lunch. it's in buffet style. after lunch, i followed my cousin went back to miri while my uncles use another car and went straight to bintulu.

Beside the pelamin

With my beloved grandma

Aunties and uncle and myself inside the mirror

Aunties and grandma

The Bride

After Tepung Tawar

bored

The Bride's house

In miri, i stayed at my cousin's place. in Permyjaya, miri. we chilled for a while before he brought me out to paintball centre. he was busy preparing for paintball match in kuching this weekend. he gave me a try to use new paintball gun. awesome!! later he brought me out for dinner.

Ngah mali's arowana

Haze in Miri

at marina bay

Seahorse

Open burning

the next day i was alone at home coz he is working and so do his wife. luckily he left his laptop and ps2 with me. in the evening, my uncle called me to bring me out. at 2 he fetched me and brought me to his house before he drove me around miri. we went to bintang megamall. we been there until 6pm. he sent me to my cousin's house at 7 before i went to see my dad. he arrived in miri that day for a 5 days work. we had our dinner with my cousins. then, that night i stayed with my father in mega hotel.

us

We

Me, E'on, E'e

Yesterday-tuesday, once more i was left alone. but now, in a hotel room. woke up before 9 coz i slept early a nite before. went out at 9.30 to have my breakfast. after breakfast, i walked to imperial mall which is within a stone throw from the hotel. arrived there at 10am. i set the time that i must arrive there by 10 bcoz most shopping stores will be open at 10. however, in miri it's different. not all stores are open at 10. some of the stores are open around 11.30. i walked around the mall until i received a call from my uncle. 30 minutes later, he fetched me and brought me to marina bay before he fetched his children from school. we had our lunch at boulevard shopping mall. the in the evening we went to petroleum museum at canada hill before we had delicious cendol and abc. around 5, my dad came and we walked back to the hotel and then went to bintang megamall once again. we walked..walked..walked..coz we didnt have any transport plus it's not too far to walk. i got some 'souvenir' from miri as i seldom shop in sibu. sibu has very limited choice :) at night, i joined my dad and his friends for dinner. we went to muara restaurant and had nasi lelapan. very delicious and spicy. those who like spicy food and know how to eat belacan MUST try nasi lelapan. after finished eating, we went back to hotel and i packed all my things coz i'm going home the next day which is today.

at muara restaurant

Muara restaurant

Today-my uncle fetched me at 7.15 and then we went back to sibu. arrived sibu at 11.30. and now, i'm very tired coz i didnt have enough rest for 4 days..one thing i get from this family trip is i found tat brunei's girls are beautiful :) XD lol

new experiences at different places :)

i'm in miri now. staying alone at my cousin's house as both of them are working. luckily the laptop is here to accompany me. :) . just came back from brunei yesterday. i attended my cousin's wedding in brunei, in Kuala Belait-a part of brunei. before that, as i wrote in earlier post, i used bus to go to Bintulu. yes, i did. 10pm bus was good enough. the bus provided 3 seats per row. so, the seat was cozy and big enough for me to fall asleep in the bus along the 3 hours journey from sibu to bintulu. oh ya, i went to bintulu with my uncle. i represented my whole family to go to brunei as my dad was busy with his works, so do my mom. she had to look after my little sis. little sis??haha. besides, my sister is still schooling. tat's why my dad ask someone who are not schooling anymore as his representative to go to the wedding.

The journey to Bintulu took about 3 hours or shorter. it was at midnight, less people travel at night and the bus driver drove the bus with speed around 280km/h-160km/h=120km/h. lol. We arrived in bintulu at roughly 1 o'clock in d morning. then, my uncle who's staying in bintulu fetch us from the bus station to his house. oh ya!!at that time, the bus station looked creepy at night. it's my first time to see the bus station at time. usually, at daytime, the bus station is pack with local people and people from other places. my uncle and i slept overnight at my another uncle's place. we slept at 2 in d morning. 5.30 in d morning, we woke up and had our subuh prayer together. we had our breakfast and then, at 6 he sent us to my another uncle's place. confuse? i have two uncles staying in bintulu. hehe. and for ur information aka FYI, my dad has 13 siblings, so i hope u wont be surprise if the phrase 'my uncle' and 'my aunt' are keep on repeating in my post. the phrase are the same but they are not for the same people..haha

At selangau, transit place in between sibu and bintulu. it's 11.05pm now

arrived in bintulu at 0123 hours

Never see the bus station like this before. humanless..haha

I spent 1 hour at my uncle's house before we start our jouney to miri. played with my cuz and had another breakfast at his place. lol. at 7.30am, we left bintulu for miri. there were 4 of us in d car, my uncle and his wife and my another uncle from sibu. my uncle drove to miri by using coastal road. another road to go to miri. it takes shorter time to reach miri by using coastal road compare to the road that most of us used to go to miri. by 9.30am, we arrived in miri. we went direct to permyjaya and had our breakfast there-an indian food coffee shop. it's also the meeting point for us. why? my uncle fetch 4 more passengers to go to brunei. they were uncles with their wives. My cousin and his wife were also there as their house are very near. then, at 11 something, we went to brunei.

Miri and brunei is not so far. tat's y mirian and bruenian can easily each other country. usually, from miri, it takes only 20 minutes to arrive at sungai tujuh checkpoint. then, from there, after we got into brunei land, it takes only 2o minutes to arrive in kuala belait-where te wedding is held. our journey to brunei also took 40 minutes before we arrive in kuala belait. then we went to Seria, another district of brunei to check in hotel. after unloading our luggage, we went to Bandar Seri Begawan, the heart of brunei which are known as bandar among the brunei's citizens. it took one hour plus to reach bandar. then, the adventure started..all my aunts had the same quest SHOPPING!!

At Sarawak-Brunei border

The mosque with gold dome

Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddin

Me with the mosque

Shopping time n met with other family members from Sibu, Kuching and Brunei

Bargaining the songket

My uncle drove around bandar and then we went to our first stop,omar ali saifuddin mosque. we had our zohor and asar prayer there. but, for my 3 aunts, they went straight to yayasan mall. the mosque is very beautiful. very hard to explain by words. lol. after we finished our prayer, my 3 uncles and myself walked to yayasan mall as the distance is not so far. there, i could see lots of branded clothes and etc which are sold in malaysia's market at a very expensive price, are being sold at very low price. for instance, i could see camel jacket for 2++, levi's jeans for 1++ to 2++, and lee below 1++. but of course, they are sold in B$. if the price are converted in malaysia, there will be almost the same. however, the standard of living in brunei is very high-you can see lots of imported luxury cars there-audi, brabus, jaguar, volkswagen porshe-just mentioning some. at the same time, the bruneian are very hygenic and they have very high civic minded. my experience : 1)i hardly can see any rubbish, tissue paper, can or sweet wrappers on the road, pavement and public places 2)when i walked by using the zebra crossing, they will immediately stop to let me walk first though they were very near :) after yayasan mall, we headed to central point and the mall. there, again, it's for shopping purpose. as i'm not working yet, i didnt have enough money to spend. i've change rm100 but it turned into B$40. not fair :( haha. luckily i can control myself from shopping. i'm saving money for other purposes. haha we had our lunch at 5pm. is it still can be called as lunch??around 6, we went back to seria where the hotel is located. took shower, had maghrib and isya prayer before we went to the bride's house.

There, i started to see differences in between the malay culture in brunei and sarawak. we are served with lots of food. there were at least 4 stalls at that night where we can get different types of food. mee kolok, burger, roti john, malay food and etc-just name what u want and they are all there for u. later at that night, they organized a game. bingo!!it's a simple game but the prizes were not that simple. let me to name several prizes for that game. there are all simple prizes for the bruneians. television, freezer, handphones, fan, oven, air purifier, water shower and so on. impress??great aite??but i didnt get any of them. we went back home at around two. i stayed at my uncle's house. i cant afford to pay for a hotel room :( slept at 2 again :(

My grandma and aunt

Bingo game which is also known as lotto

Family from Sibu, Bintulu, Kuching and Miri

Family from Brunei

Me in Jaguar woot woot

The V8 Engine

Inside jaguar-the meter can reach max 280km/h

i'm driving jaguar woot woot woot

The next morning i woke up at nearly 9am. took shower, breakfast and went to the bride's house. then we were served with breakfast again..OMG where i want to put all the food ive eaten??my stomach cant afford them anymore. i chose to sit in the house coz it was very hot outside.

having breakfast

me

Uncle's place

Sibu-Bintulu-Miri-Brunei

once again, goodbye sibu. this time is for real. at last, i'm going to bintulu. although it's just for a night and the next morning i will be going to miri n brunei. i'm attending my family wedding. my second cousin's wedding to be precise. i'm going to bintulu by bus tonite with my uncle at 10pm. and tomorrow i will follow another uncle to brunei. will be away for a week. i'll be back on next wednesday!!see you later!!

Maulidur Rasul 2010-1431Hijrah

Past 1500 years, our prophet Muhammad S.A.W was born in Hijaz area named Mekkah al-Mukaramah. He was the only child of Abdullah Abdul Mutalib and Siti Aminah. However, his dad passed away when he's still 2 months old in the carriage. The orphan grown up very well as he was taken care by his beloved mother, uncle and grandfather. He lost his mother at a very young age, at 6. Then, Abdul Mutalib, the ruler of Mekkah took over to look after his beloved grandson. Not to forget, Abdul Mutalib was the one who chose the name for him-Muhammad means 'yang terpuji' . After the birth of prophet Muhammad, Abdul Mutalib went to Masjidil Haram where Ka'aba is loacated. He walked around the ka'aba several times-tawaf to show his gratitude of getting a grandson. At the moment prophet Muhammad was born, there were some weird incidents happening around Mekkah. One of them are, the fire that is used to be the main ritual for kaum 'majusi' or Zoroastrianism suddenly put off by itself. Prophet Muhammad faced lots of problems and difficulties in spreading Islam. But now, muslim, people who take Islam as the religion and live based on syariah Islam, can be found all over the world. Sadly, lots of people always think that Islam is a mean religion. Their opinion about Islam always be related with terrorism. terrorism dont have any relationship with Islam. Don't be confused about that. Prophet Muhammad himself didnt allow war to spread Islam. He always stress on about our responsibilities to keep the world in peace. please dont misunderstood Islam. Malay proverb said, "tak kenal maka tak cinta" . know islam first before you critic.

Today, the whole world are celebrating Maulidur Rasul a.k.a Maulud Nabi. This event is known in different name in other countries. It is to remember the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. In Malaysia, there will be parade and salawat, talks about Prophet Muhammad, Forum and etc.

In Sibu, Sarawak, Maulidur Rasul for this year was held at Sibu Town Square Phase 1. I joined PERKIM contingent for this year. actually, i went into SMK Methodist contingent but i'm no more the student of the school. so, that's why i joined PERKIM. no matter which contingent i joined, the most important thing is, i took part in this annual event. here are some picture taken during the event and parade

SMK Methodist's poster

we

the crowd

The VIPs

PERKIM's Poster

3 years old children performing nasyid

ME!!

ex-methodist students

Good weather

with my friends

The biggest event so far

wohoooooo!!!!today in history, i performed silat in front of YAB Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak Malaysia 6th Prime Minister!!!!!!!!it was the biggest event so far for me to perform silat. before this, i just performed during wedding ceremony, events organized by the government or Non-Government Agencies but today, YAB Dato' Seri Najib himself saw me performed silat. actually there were 3 of us. i myself with my 2 friends. before this, around early february, three of us were invited to perform in front of YAB Pehin Seri Taib Mahmud at Kemuyang in conjunction with the opening of Permata Sarawak. today, he arrived at around 12pm. the day was so hot. as we saw the helicopter coming, all of us were very excited. the wind from heli was very strong till all the pebbles, sand and small rubbish thrown away. after the helicopter landed, and the door was open, YAB Dato' Seri Najib stepped out from the door, lots of people, mostly are reporters, rushed to the helicopter. there were more than 5 bodyguards around him. cool rite? then, he stopped at the red carpet to see us perform silat, here is the video of us performing and some pictures. stay tune!!

it's me!!

Abb, Abg Apes, Me

again, us-the warriors

with the helicopter used by PM

Crowd 1

crowd 2

crowd 3

crowd 4

Helicopter

car used by PM

Helicopters

Great time with friends..

Hey!!Hey!!tis is my 100th post..wohoooo!!!tis is also my first post after chinese new year..my chinese new year holiday was packed of lots of activities..went for CNY visiting n helping my uncle's family whose dad in law just passed away last week on CNY eve :( on d first day of CNY, we had tahlil at my grandma's house.. wat is tahlil??it's a function to remember our late grandfather or any family members tat already passed away..there were prayer conducted during tahlil..then our family will gather n have meals together..after the tahlil session, i followed my father to his friends house..we started visiting at 1.30pm and we went to 5 houses. on d same day, again, there were tahlil at my neighbour's house. but i wasn't coming..at night, went to my uncle house coz there were tahlil for 7 nights in a row..it's not a must for muslims to do it..but if u can afford it..it's better..if not, it will be a burden to those who cant afford it..

then, on d second day, i went for visiting at 10am..went to my friends' place..thanks to ashley, cheery, ruth, andy and jasmine teng as the host. went visiting with karin, flora, andy, ashley, hazirah, hanani, ming han, timothy n lawrence. we had great time together. andy who went for National Service (NS) came back n we could meet him. he didnt want to take off his cap as he's bald..pity him..lol..when we were at jasmine's place, hanani came up with silly idea..went to sarawak house for a movie on second day of CNY..lol..the reason was she will be leaving sibu on the next day to kuching n she wont be able to join us for a movie on wednesday..lol..we went to sarawak house by her car..thanks to u uncle!!when we arrived there, the building was empty..only at d second floor there were lots of people.. queuing to buy tickets..we wanted to watch percy jackson n d olympians but it will only start at 7pm..tat time was 3pm..will u wait for 4 hours just for a movie??so..one by one of us were going home..leaving hanani n hazirah..they bought two tickets to watch wolfman..lol..just two of them..

on d third day, my great day continue as i joined more friends to go visiting..i went to 14 houses..the visiting organised by timothy started at 8 in d morning till night..but i only joined them till evening coz at night i have to go to my uncle house..

on d fourth day, watched movie with my friends-ashley, albert, ming han and hayati..only four of us..sadly karin, flora, nurul and amyrul couldnt make it..karin didnt come though she was the one who hardly plan it..we watch percy jackson n d olympians : the lighting thief..it's a nice movie.. :) after the movie..went to ashley's house..planned to watch sherlock holmes..but..the dvd has poor visual..so we cancelled our plan and just chatting around..

the pics for CNY visiting are HERE and at timothy's page while the pics during our movie outing are HERE