Hari Raya and open house is like a tradition. In the Klang Valley, yes. But, absolutely unheard of in ‘kampung’ areas, where the house is always ‘open’ for friends, families and other visitors.

In the busy city like KL, giving a surprise visit anytime of the day to a friend is absolutely a no-no. Either you call them first to inform, or they invite you.

Privacy and peace are absolutely a big issue… he..he..he

So, during the month of Syawal.. almost everyone will host an ‘open house’. This is the only time visitors (read: the invited ones) are welcome to the house. That’s why every weekend in the month, traffic jam is so very massive. Huh!

Having an ‘open house’ is actually very good. The host only need to ensure that enough food for the feast on that ONE day only. Meaning, we will be tired of having guests at the house only that ONE time only, right?

So, we decided to held an ‘open house’ on 19th October 2008. It was a last minute idea, so we only invited close friends and families.

Initially, hubby want to do it on Sunday. But, I refused because the next day is a working day. We will become so tired with the event.

And, I was right. After the house is ‘closed’ at 9pm, the three of us were so exhausted!

I got my new office laptop already. It’s a Dell Latitude D630!

So, I’m saying good bye to the old pal’, IBM Think Pad T42. Thank you for being a good partner for 3 years.

The first day I received the lappie from IT, I was totally lost. It took me half-a-day to become familiar with the new Dell. And, of course I fall in love with it so much!

Dell Latitude D630 comes with a docking station, an adaptor and the new Windows Vista OS.

The Microsoft Office 2007 made me completely lost as I was so used to MS Office 2003. But, after toying with it for some times, I found MS 2007 is absolutely wonderful. I loike!

Hmm.. I must replace Window XP in my own laptop (Compact Presario) at home to Window Vista asap!!!

The company that I work as a “kuli”, provides each staff a laptop to do our daily tasks. It comes with the so-not-gorgeous computer bag which I ultimately throw away into my store at home. And, bought a Santa Barbara backpack instead.

Everyday, I brought two (sometimes three) bags to work!

The laptop backpack, my handbag and sometimes another document bag. Freaking heavy, eh?

Mind you.. the laptop & its accessories are not light weight. They’re as heavy as heavier than a newborn baby.

Since my old laptop is gonna be replaced with a new one, I was thinking of getting a new bag for the lappie, personal items in my handbag and some documents.

And, I bought this Gin & Jacqie Sleek Maria. I got 40% off the market price!

You don’t need leather to get a cool laptop bag. This microfibre nylon is easy to care for and is light weight. And, it can hold a 13″ to 14″ size laptop.

• Two exterior pockets for easy access
• Zipper top for bag opening
• Built-in padded (0.5mm) compartment for laptop
• Interior pocket with zip
• Multi-compartments for additional organization and storage of items such as pens, UBS drive, CD etc
• Nylon lining
• Comes with a detachable shoulder strap

So, only one bag to office from now on!

This year’s Hari Raya could have been so boring. But, with my little princess celebrating her first ever Hari Raya with us, even the most mundane day becomes much (much) more exciting!

You see, this is the third year in a row that I couldn’t ‘balik kampung’ to the East Coast to celebrate Hari Raya with my mom (dad passed away a year ago) and my 6 siblings with their families.

2006 - I was on a three month trainings in Singapore and was allowed to take the 1st and 2nd day to celebrate. But, need to fly back to Singapore on the third raya.

2007 - I was two months pregnant and was medically advised not to take a long journey (it took 8-10 hours car ride to get to my kampung)

2008 - I was only allowed to take the 1st and 2nd day leave for hari Raya. And, back to work on the third raya because early of the month is the closing of accounts time (furthermore, it’s year-end-closing in my company).

So, imagine how sad my mom was . It took a few calls to make her understand. Also, a strong promise to ‘balik kampung’ during Hari Raya Haji in December. Phew…

And, last weekend, to cover back our lost moments, we went ‘berhari raya’ to our siblings houses in Temerloh, Keramat, Rawang, USJ and Salak Tinggi.

Let’s see, where the little princess went.

Saturday - two hours journey to Temerloh, Pahang to her Pak Su’s house (my youngest brother-in-law). We have our lunch there (the usual rice with sambal udang, fried cabbage and fried chicken). Yum!

Then, we drove back to KL and visited her Pak Alang’s place in Keramat. There, we ate the typical nasi himpit with rendang ayam kampung (I loike!).

In the afternoon, we went to Kak Zaini’s house (my husband’s cousin) at Jalan Kedah, Bangsar.

Kak Zaini is the cook for Istana Kedah which is located at Bukit Persekutuan, Bangsar. And, her house is just below the palace. We need to drive into the palace gate and passed the majestic palace to get to her house located at the hill below.

The Istana Kedah is actually the ‘istana hinggap’ for the royalties of Kedah. Only during the cousin’s open house, we are allowed to pass through the palace gate. I only managed to snap the picture below - the palace is in the background.

Here, we have laksa kedah, bihun soto and some traditional kuihs. Oww.. my stomach was so very full!

Sunday - we brought Izzah to her Ayah Teh’s house in Rawang. Here, we ate nasi dagang which my brother claimed he cooked after learning the recipe from my mom. It tasted yummylicious, bro!

Then, my brother follow us to my eldest brother in USJ9 (baby Izzah’s ayah long). Here, we have laksa penang and home-made dodol from my sister-in-law kampung in Raub. The dodol tasted so good.

In the afternoon, we went to my younger sister’s house in Salak Tinggi. My sister cooked mi kari which is so very delicious. Can I order from you, sis? He..he..he

We arrived home at 4pm that Sunday. Left with so very little energy, the three of us ’pengsan’ til’ 6pm.

I’m celebrating Hari Raya here, in KL. Again. The third year in a row! No ‘balik kampung’ because I must be in office on the 3rd raya. This is a setback of being an accountant. It’s month-end closing of accounts. Huwa!