kebaya pageant, originally uploaded by izadd.

google ‘kebaya’ and you’ll land on an entry in – where else – wikipedia..

“History

The name of Kebaya as a particular clothing type was noted by the Portuguese when they landed in Indonesia. Kebaya is associated with a type of blouse worn by Indonesian women in 15th or 16th century. Prior to 1600, kebaya on Java island were considered as a sacred clothing to be worn only by royal family, aristocrats (bangsawan) and minor nobility, in an era when peasant men and many women walked publicly bare-chested.”

*cue chuckles at last line*

“Modern Innovations

Apart from traditional kebaya, fashion designers are looking into ways of modifying the design and making kebaya a more fashionable outfit. Casual designed kebaya can even be worn with jeans or skirts. For weddings or formal events, many designers are exploring other types of fine fabrics like laces to create a bridal kebaya.

Modern-day kebaya now incorporate modern Western tailoring innovations such as clasps, zippers and buttons- zippers being a much appreciated addition for ladies’ requiring the bathroom, without requiring being literally unwrapped by a helper- to the extent the true kain is near unanimously rejected.

Other modern innovations have included the blouse baju kebaya worn without the restrictive kemben, and even the kebaya blouse worn with slacks or made of the fabric usually for the kain panjang.

Modern kebaya blouses are also zippered at the back- for practicality and for larger frame women’s busts not to literally burst out the front of their blouse.”

seriously, WHO WROTE that last part??

and also… would anyone care to edit that wiki entry with an even more updated ‘modern innovation’? ;D

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every day i pose the same question to the both of them: “what did you do in school today?” and so far, the girl has been more forthcoming with her replies, varying them each day, sometimes answering “play toys”, or “i sing”, or “i draw”, or “i eat”, or “my friend cry” (nothing to do with what she did but a reply it is).

one of the things she readily picks up is the singing part. there’s this one particular song they sing in centres before every meal, a merry little ditty that mixes english and chinese and which i have NO IDEA half of what it means, other than that it asks all their teachers and friends to join them in the meal and to enjoy the food together… or something. obviously her so-called chinese is all rubbish, and i should probably rectify this with a proper ‘doa sebelum makan’, but… oh well.

i’d video-ed her for fun and simply suggested she say “thank you” at the end of each song, and out of the blue, she amended it herself with a “thank you everyone” (!) AND a bow, so that just… tickled me.

ohhh, little girl.

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BFFs slumber party, originally uploaded by izadd.

do NOT be fooled by the appearance of these girly girls.

they’re little cili padis, is what they are. :D

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aniq & auni, originally uploaded by izadd.

wanted to write down something brief about their sibling relationship.

i’d sometimes get angry at the little one for not putting away her things (toys/pencils/books) and would threaten her with The Naughty Corner, with the usual ‘countdown’ – “i’m going to count to ten… ONE! TWO!…” – ok, that’s more of a ‘count UP’, isn’t it? – at which the big brother will invariably, for some unknown reason, jump in to rescue his sister – “never mind! waitt… i help auni!” – and proceed to put away her things for her.

i’m not sure WHY he does it, when he himself gets into hot soup for forgetting to put away HIS things and i’d threaten him The Naughty Corner + ‘count UP’, with plenty of protests and resistance from him.

(disclaimer about The Naughty Corner: it is not some dark, dingy dungeon or anything that i banish them to, really. it’s just a corner at the balcony where the Punishee is sent to remain and reflect – in loud teary wails – till he/she decides to rectify themselves.)

however heartening it is to witness his sense of empathy for his sister, i’m wondering if it’s a good idea to let him clear up after her every time, because the other day she nonchalantly responded to my nagging at her mess, “wait abang help me keep.”

!!

***************

there were other caught instances of sibling affection:

- i’d scolded the little one for something (again!) and she went all drama and wailed to high heavens, and the brother, who was watching tv, called out to her – “come, come,” and she trundled over, where he hugged her… (while still watching the tv ha ha.)

- i’d be distracted with something and the little one would want to pee, so off to the toilet her brother would go with her, instruct her out of her pants and pullups, hoist her up her stool and training seat on the toilet bowl. (at this point i’d come in chuckling.)

- little one was napping on the sofa the other evening and he sniffed her face and smooched her.

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P9101770, originally uploaded by izadd.

and for every good picture (or as far as good pictures go when it comes to getting a bunch of kids in one shot – near impossible, as many may attest), there are even more candid ones with silly faces, expressions, gestures and… wardrobe malfunctions.

spot the flash of pink…!

(courtesy of hazrin. to archive as source of future embarrassment.)

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current obsession.

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DSC_0340, originally uploaded by izadd.

… a lot about their personalities, really.

my nephews in the middle there – yeah, the ones that look all smart, serious, well-behaved – they’re all that.

and those other two at the sides – well… you can pretty much guess.

lol.

====

i had to add this one in. TOO CUTE. (again, those two grinning monkeys… i don’t know whose they are.)

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DSC_0271, originally uploaded by izadd.

what is it about this culture of colour coordinating with your family during hari raya?

i suppose the practical purpose would be to ‘identify’ members of a family/clan, and cut down having to repeatedly point your kids out to relatives whom you only see once a year. or perhaps as a show of harmony… solidarity… aesthetics… lack of colour-blindness? :p

i try (try being the operative word here) to resist going all ‘boria’ with the family for, err, vain reasons (Queen Mommy’s gotta stand out), but… i guess, with a little compromise, and since the kids are still small and cute and GREAT AS MATCHING ACCESSORIES FOR ME HA HA – plus, can you deny the aww-factor? – i should make the most of it while they still find the whole baju kurung thing such a novelty that they forego their own personal tastes and inclinations, for this festive period, at least.

coz there may be a point in time when they would be the ones dictating what colour we should all wear (goodbye to Queen Mommy’s reign), or worse, resist going all ‘boria’ with us – their dowdy, boring, old-fashioned parents – and prefer to wear “sedondon” with their friends/boyfriend/girlfriend instead. *gasp* :D

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DSC_0042, originally uploaded by izadd.

not much room for mummies and daddies to be laid-back when it comes to raya – gotta make it worth the kiddies’ while, primping and prepping them up before the big day, with the baju kurungs, songkoks, sampings, and accessories we subject them to, the constant reminders to salam and wish elders “selamat hari raya”, the millions of pictures we make them smile for. so we ply them with sugar-loaded cookies, salty crisps, sweetened drinks, and thrust into their hands colourful packets filled with money. and not to forget, get together with their favourite cousins.

what’s there NOT to enjoy during hari raya when you’re a kid, i ask you??

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DSC_0050, originally uploaded by izadd.

raya is probably the most photographed time of the year, and often we flip through our past raya albums and reminisce over how cute our babies were when they were small or bald, how much they’ve grown since the last raya, how so much or so little has changed over the years – deaths, births, relationships… even hairstyles, fashion, makeup. :D

eid mubarak to all from izadnhana!

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How time flies! In just a couple of hours, we will be celebrating Aidilfitri. I remember playing with sparklers during Hari Raya with my cousins when we were small, really enjoyed the gatherings we had at my late grandma’s shophouse at Pahang Street. Raya back then was one of the major highlights of my childhood. I tried to relive it by giving Aniq sparklers to play, he seems to enjoy it, but I bet he will enjoy it more when he plays them with his cousins tomorrow :)

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in about 3 months time, this will be where i’ll be spending my 33rd birthday.

OMG I’M SO EXCITED.

no, i will not be watching football or rugby or whatever that sports stadiums are originally intended for.

a group of us had planned a trip to brisbane for the end of the year and bought the flight tickets at a good price a few months back, not knowing that something of extreme interest to me was brewing in the horizons down under and would take place during our period of vacation there.

and so, when news broke that a particular irish rock band i’d idolised for, like, forever, will be touring in australia in december and performing in brisbane THE DAY AFTER our scheduled flight back, there was no thinking about it – extend my stay!

i mean, they’re not likely to ever come to singapore, we’d already be THERE in that state/city, my aunt has offered to babysit the kids for the night, it’d be a fan dream come true, and a rare experience for an enthusiastic concert-goer – AND IT’LL BE MY BIRTHDAY.

serendipity, yes?

and so the tickets have been bought (imagine us, a tiny dot on the right side of the stadium stands there), everything is almost set, save a few tweaks in our itinerary.

i hope that nothing gets screwed up and the universe will be on my side till the day comes…

but in the meantime, COME ON, BE EXCITED WITH (OR WITHOUT) MEEEE!! :D

(ps: i have to admit that my fandom had an arrested development after the disastrous affair of their Pop album and almost revived with All You Can Leave Behind which thankfully churned out Beautiful Day, but interest sort of petered out with subsequent albums. everything up to the Zooropa album was the zeitgeist of my youth (!!), and in my mind, i’ll always have the romanticised versions of bono in shoulder-length hair (not yet balding or greying as it has since), smouldering and brooding in his leather pants circa Joshua Tree, or ironic and campy in his pitch-black sunshades circa The Fly.)

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Nasi Ambeng, originally uploaded by izadd.

four more days to the end of Ramadhan.

blessed to be surrounded by loved ones.

… and blessed with an abundance of food.

thankful for everything good in our lives. :)

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