If by-the-book millennials run this place, these videos would not have been produced. We just don’t have the energy.
Thanks to our full-of-life colleagues who are in the younger age bracket of Gen Y and the older age range of Gen Z, we were able to participate in this fun video. All the ‘older’ us have to do is just follow their instructions. They do the recording and the editing.
I really appreciate their enthusiasm for taking the effort to include everyone in this annual fun activity.
A lot of social events happened this week and they all revolve around the celebration of Eid and Teacher’s Day.
This year, my kids are giving their teachers a regular cup of instant coffee. I bought these instant drinks from Ninso for RM2.30 each. They taste great and looked decent too. Quite stylish I must say. I just had to stick some stickers on it to make it look presentable. Even the cashier at Ninso was curious about the purchases. I bought at least 30 cups of assorted flavours such as Cappucino, Hot chocolate and Milk Tea. The store was out of Matcha. I even explained the content and my ratings for the drinks to them. They seemed influenced. Ha ha.
My daughter prepared goodie bags for her friends in kindergarten. It has the usual candies, sweets and duit Raya. I somehow feel that the school did not have a lot of main food during the event because there were no pictures. Maybe I should consider prepping for it next year. For my son’s Eid celebration, I am buying chiffon cakes from Tesco and bottled juices.
In the clinic, we also have our very own Eid celebration. It was a great experience for me to know what the process is behind the scenes. It’s tough to initiate and pioneer things. But it is good to know that things will get better in time. The medical officers changed their minds a lot. We settled on sponsoring sate, a photo booth and an ice cream booth for the jamuan.
Indeed, all these social events are draining my social stamina. It is fulfilling as a human being but very stressful as an introvert. I had to take steps to allay my anxiety just so I wouldn’t get too overwhelmed and become demotivated to accomplish my task. There have been instances, many years ago, when I couldn’t be bothered with all the social obligations as a mom and an employee at the workplace. So I try to take heed and be more proactive in subsequent years.
Some of the steps I took to reduce my stress include;
In an interview, Suga BTS was once asked if he was given a chance, which song would he like to record or again or remaster as they call it. Namjoon made an educated guess by saying that Suga would record none. To him, whatever was produced at the time was the best version and effort they have put into the piece. I understood his point.
You should always create an output, even in daily life, your best. The best meal. The best of yourself and others. Of course, there are times when you are not at your best but always do something that will make you proud in the future. It will not be perfect but it will showcase your personal growth in mind and matter.
There are plenty of tips online on how to grow your Youtube channel. The most popular one I came across from a lot of video gurus is to be consistent in your uploads. Some even suggest daily uploads of anything. I don’t think I could do that as it will compromise quality and what I hope to show on my channel. So, this is the best I can do – weekly or 2 weekly uploads.
hit like, comment and subscribe yahhh..
Malaysians depend on the kalendar kuda a lot. Eid was anticipated to fall on the 3rd of May this year. However, the formal announcement on television on the night of May 1st confirmed that Eid will be the day after, the 2nd of May. Needless to say, most of the moms panicked. I was calm simply because I had no plans to cook rendang or anything that night. My husband and my son changed into their baju melayu top and headed to the masjid as they prepared to go for their traditional takbir rounds.
Like previous Day 1 of Eid, it’ll be the visit to my MIL’s house first, to eat and perform solat raya. And then, we would go for visits to the usual elders. A few have passed away. Then, we’d usually shoot to where my parents live. Only this year, it’s just dad and my siblings.
The fam at my dad’s house also took their family photo (image below). My brother in law is not in the photo because he is still working. This time around, my little family checked into a hotel at Bangi, Le-Venue Hotel. So, we rested at the hotel first before we went for the Eid dinner at my sister’s place.
The usual Raya dishes for us are the ayam masak merah and daging masak hitam. I am not really a fan of rendang but my husband loves them a lot. My youngest brother brought his girlfriend to come and see us. We can tell that he was pretty smitten with this young lady as he never brought the other girls over to meet us before.
Day 2 Raya: Nice and easy. Had a lunch date with my dad and the other brother at Pak John’s Steamboat and BBQ place. We’ve been here once when I did this review under the butterfly project. I am forever grateful to Tammy for giving me the opportunity to do so even though I don’t have a lot of followers. I’ve kind of lost them when I stopped blogging during Ho-ship. Of course, after 4 years, the price per pax has gone up but it is still okay. I didn’t see any premium selection during our visit this time though. maybe sebab Raya or memang dah takde. The waffles were also not available but we have cendol instead.
Day 3 Raya: An early checkout because we need to arrive Segamat early. It’s my MIL’s side of the family gathering. I’ve always enjoyed the meet-up cause we have games and lucky draw prizes to be won. Almost everyone will most certainly walk out with a gift. Or a very full stomach at least.
The Son won coins worth RM5 in his roll the ball contest. The daughter did not win the colouring contest but like the other contestants, they get to keep the colours for free. Plus, at the end of the day, everyone gets packet money and goodies in a tupperware. I returned to work by Day 4 of Eid and honestly, I felt like a lemau cookie.
There were a few videos circulating of how some neighbourhood hosts their Eid party outside their home, eating on mats spaced out between each other to comply with the SOP’s of Covid-19. I was somewhat amused to see some comments saying how lucky the people in that neighbourhood are and how they wished to live there too with the friendly neighbours.
If you like to live in such neighbourhood, then surely you could try creating that atmosphere for yourself. I find that most people would reciprocate accordingly the energy, intention and gesture that they receive. Especially one with a positive influence.
This year, Malaysia is in another MCO. That means celebrating the festive season only with the ones staying in your home. I can’t even visit my parents in law who stays 10 minutes away. The police are patrolling the area, up to the extent of checking on houses with too many cars or slippers! The last thing we need is a compound from the authorities. Since we can’t really go anywhere, I find this an opportunity to send my neighbours a few Eid goodies.
I ordered a few bottles of cookies in advance. I don’t have a lot of neighbours to start with. So, I prepared 3 separate bags. My neighbourhood is a mix of generations. We have that sandwich generation like myself but it is mostly an area populated by senior citizens. Those within the age of my parents, in their 60s, if I may say so. In fact, we have old folks home in the area. We don’t see a lot of foreigners nor do we see people of the university student age. It’s a place where people have been staying here for a very long time. Even our current house is bought from another old gentleman who wanted to sell it off.
My first neighbour is a couple probably around the age of my parents. I see their children and grandchildren visit them from time to time but the frequency is getting much less with the pandemic setting in. I don’t see them much too since I go to work during the day and they own a business too. I see the uncle more than the aunty as he arrives home late in the evening with his motorbike.
My 2nd neighbour are of the same generation as us. We knew their father before but he passed away due to stroke. So, it’s his grown up children that’s staying at their house. We also don’t get to see them as much due to work. We exchanged food the other day for like, the first time. I gave them cookies and they sent us rendang for Eid. It was quite a huge portion, I didn’t have to cook my own rendang as I was also getting a ‘care package’ that included rendang and ketupat from my MIL.
My 3rd neighbour is actually a colleague at work. Funny thing is, we have lived near each other for so many years only to realize that we both work in healthcare. Luckily when I happened to work at this current clinic, his colleague was the one that highlighted the fact that we were staying a few houses apart. If not, we probably wouldn’t have noticed each other. And now since I know that we are neighbours, I have been paying more attention on who lives near me and all. He sent me some Chinese New Year goodies and I gifted him with raya cookies.
It felt good sending the cookies to my neighbours. We haven’t gotten to the stage where we can makan2 together outside our houses but I think to be nice, is always a good start. My eid was short and sweet this year. We ate and pose for a few photos, and then we just relaxed and watch TV for the whole day. It’s a rare opportunity to have a long holiday amidst the Covid19 season. I really hope that with the national vaccine programme rolling out, we would be somewhat free from Covid-19 by next year, InsyaAllah..
