'Melenggang Perut'

Attended a very fascinating Malay ceremony today at the Seri Menanti Palace in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. Its called 'Melenggang Perut' - literally means 'to swing stomach'. It was performed on Tunku Myra who is 7 months pregnant. The whole idea behind this ceremony is to determine the gender of the baby and to bless the mother-to-be for a smooth delivery.

There were 2 stages involved where the first was only witnessed by female family members and friends. Myra was lying in the middle of a holding room and was surrounded by 8 midwives. Each midwife took turns to feel and rub her stomach. Once that was done, the head midwife used a scarf and wrapped Myra's stomach and was swingging and cradling it before she threw the scarf up in the air. Women who are married and plan to have children meant to be catching the scarf - it is very similar to catching the bride's bouquet. There were 7 scarfs all in all and I caught one as well... :-)

Then, all of us adjourned to another ceremony outdoor where the men were already seated. Myra was escorted in and the midwives performed another ceremony where she was bathed in water. The highlight of the whole ceremony was when a coconut was being slash opened, this was meant to determine the sex of the baby. If the coconut juice squirts upwards, means its a BOY and if it goes sideways, its a GAL. They are expecting a boy, we all knew that already, from the scan... That concluded the 'Melenggang Perut' ceremony.

Lunch was served and of coz, lots of protocols involved as the former king was there. A band was playing and everyone seem to be having a good time.

Glad that we went, it was quite an experience.


PS: If you have not noticed, the husband and father-to-be was not being mentioned and has nothing to do with the whole ceremony at all.

Eye On Malaysia

I am sure most of you have already knew that in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007, a giant ferris wheel has been installed at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. The Eye On Malaysia is 60m-high with 42 gondolas, located by the bank of the Titiwangsa lake itself is quite a sight.

It cost 3 of us RM31 to get on and we stayed in the gondola for at least 20 minutes, not a bad deal at all and we did not queue for more than 10 minutes prior (compare to the launch day, people lined up for an hour just to get on it). We were able to see quite a few parts of KL and a good view of the KL Tower and the Twin Towers but nothing beyond that unfortunately. The SkyBar at Traders Hotel will give you a better view of the city.

Well, I have done my bit to support the country for the rest of the year.

Now, lets see...

According to Wikipedia, New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set... Hope that does not happen to me though.

Well, I have been giving a lot of thoughts to this (not an easy task mind you) and my new year's resolution is to be focus and persevere in whatever that I am doing and to stick to a particular project(s) of mine for as long as I can.

Having said that, the abovementioned is very generic and broad and I am trying to identify a few areas that is more significant to myself for the time being and that includes:-
My personal and family life
- Married life has been a real bliss for the past 1 year plus and of coz, there are still more to improve and learn personally. I need to be more patient in general.
- And I think I am ready to take the next step towards planning for a family. Again, this is not entirely up to me, so fingers crossed.
- Spend more time with my mum. We are going on a holiday some time in March, just the gals and it will be fun.
Business
- Hope the business will take off this year and of coz, we are prepared to put in the hard work. Although it is a bit of a trial for us at the start, I somehow got the feeling that this might just be it.
Friends
- Good friends are hard to come by, we knew that already, so the commitment to spend more time together and keeping in touch is vital. To my friends out there, I want us to see more of each other this year.
Self improvement
- To widen my horizon, read more about wines especially and anything under the sun that might or might not interest me.

Good luck to me in achieving all the above. Not that difficult really, a little patience and perseverance might just do the trick.

Happy New Year everyone... xxx

Angie's bday @ Nerovivo

Celebrated Angie's belated birthday cum our xmas gifts exchange/ get-together (whenever we can) today. Food was yummy, again... Really need to lose some weight once all these holidays are over.

New Year's Eve @ 7ate9

Checked ourselves into The Ascott on new year's eve so that we don't have to worry about getting home after the new year celebration (you know, the usual road blocks and contemplating to drive or not after a few drinks). The rooms are pretty good for what they are charging.

Had dinner at 7ate9, the restaurant/ bar just located at the ground floor of Ascott, very convenient indeed. Food was good and there was lots of alcohol available. The place started to fill up at 10pm. Did the usual, like everyone else around the world did... countdown and watched fireworks from KLCC at midnight as we ushered into year 2007.

Happy New Year to all and hope this will be a better year than the last...

Boxing Day

Guests:-
1. The Ho's - Pat, June, Jamie and Mark
2. The Cranshaw's - Andy, Wai Quan, Meiyi, Ewen
3. Our neighbours - John, Irene, Raymond, Agnes and friend
And plus 4 Rodwells... Never have so many people in the house at one time before.

Again, Rich had decided to cook instead of cater, so we have been working in the kitchen since 9am before guests started arriving from 12 noon onwards. Can you imagine the mess we had in the kitchen?? Nevertheless, I think we have done a good job on the food front and managed to dish out Rich's signature lasagne, 4 different types of bruchettas, spicy sausage pasta, turkey porridge (I made that, for the kids mainly), salads and oysters.

A great fun having everyone around, almost... in the house but it was sure hectic as hell. I have not been doing so much grocery shopping prior to this before, our fridge was full of food that things might fall out each time when one opened the door. So glad that they all have been consumed eventually. And the washing up, oh my... Need I say more??

We were exhausted at the end of day and need another glass of wine just to chill and relax. Great having everyone around on Boxing Day though.

Christmas

Christmas Eve

We had a fabulous xmas eve dinner at The Oggi, Regent Hotel. An all Italian affair with a very good set menu. However, it was a little pricy for my liking, many thanks to mum and dad who picked up the bill.

Went off to June's for drinks after dinner and the kids had a blast opening their presents. Mark and Jamie performed their dances, very impressive I have to say. And of coz, not forgetting the hilarious guest dancer - Jack!

It was surely a tiring day for all of us. Slept through the whole xmas morning and finally woke up at 2pm.

Christmas Day


My husband have been slaving himself in the kitchen getting xmas lunch/dinner ready for all of us. He enjoys cooking during xmas and of coz, the food was delicious! On the menu were turkey, roast and mashed potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sprouts, stuffing and to top it all up with yummy gravy and not forgetting champagne and wines. We stuffed ourselves so much that none of us were having any dinner after that.

The most exciting was of coz the presents, which I have been dying to get my hands on, they have been lying at the bottom of the tree for the longest time. Done pretty well this year, received a pair of T&C earrings, T&C coffee table book (very interesting) and cosmetics from my in-laws, a digital camera and a clutch bag from my husband.