When Old friends Met ........

See this beautiful bride ? If I had bumped into her anywhere in Miri town or in any place for that matter , I would never have known that she is the daughter of a childhood friend . That is if I had not been introduced to her by .....of course ...her mother .


And of all the place to meet , hug and be in physical proximity ......it was not in Miri Sweet Miri , but in this new town , Sg. Petani which is home to me for the past two years .





I have known the bride's mother since we were seven years old . We were in the same neighborhood , we went to the same school and in the same class , too......and that kind of make us as close friends . being close meant we made a kind of history between us ...what we used to do together ...and boy !! we were terribly naughty !!! If only my mother had known what I did especially on the way home from school ( note : I walked to and from school ) , I sure would have gotten myself a good hiding !

Anyway ...this childhood friend of mine ....Aminah Taha ...we drifted apart when we were 13 years old . We grew up , made new friends and these friends come in and out of my life . Many I had not seen anymore nor in contact with .

I can't really remember , perhaps Minah ( that's how I called her ; she in turn called me " Cy " ) and I did cross paths now and then over the years when we were in our teens . I'm sure we greeted each other ...picked up where we left off then went on our ways again . The relationship was there though life took us in different directions .

Years passed ......we finished schooling ...married and raised up our children ...both too absorbed in our family world ....that we just didn't have the time or is it energy to get in touch . However in my case there is lurking in the back of my mind ...flashes of old friends ...asking myself and wondering how they are doing .


Its hard to believe it but somehow ...thru the meeting of another friend with Aminah ......and this friend passed my cell phone number ...Aminah did not waste time to contact me . I in turn was surprised to receive her text message and called her immediately . Aminah laughed out loud when I told her I was in this place ...Farmer's River ...and she said ..." I am heading that way this weekend . Its my daughter's wedding !! You must come !! "


So that was how two old friends met after 34 years down the road . GOD surely is looking and watching us .....and GOD blessed our friendship ...that was why we were able to meet , ny friend . Alhamdullillah ......


Make new friends but keep the old ,
New are silver , Old are gold .


We may be two different people but we did not allow the past to bother us ; we picked up where we had left ...a kind of fresh air breathing into our friendship , in and out in a healthy way .

Some more Raya Pictures .

A picture speaks a thousand words . So here , I just want to share the few selected pictures that I hope will create memories for my children . These pixs means a lot to me ...what Hari Raya is about .



Going home to Miri for Hari Raya means the meeting up of Yasmin and her bestest cousin , Nadine Yan . She and her family came down all the way from Bintulu just to meet ....up close . Sure they are in constant contact but via the cyber world . Now that they had met ...there were so many things to talk about .


As for Amir he finally get to spend raya with Mira , my brother's daughter . They last met when they were nine years old . Its like " Ahhhh....there you are !! " Its amazing to see how they could " connect " to each other .



Meeting first cousins are a blessing ....especially from their father's side ....That's Yvonne Yan ...Nadine Yan and daughter Yasmin . Extreme right is my grand niece Fadillah .



For the boys its visiting and spending time at my aunt's house in Kuala Baram . This is the first time in 7 years that another picture of my sons and their first cousins was taken. .How all of them have grown .

My boys on the left ....and my nephews ....Sopian in red baju melayu and Mamat ( using the songkok ).



Family relationship means a lot to me . while visiting my Aunt's house at Kuala Baram , I met my cousin . Being me I just have to introduce Yasmin to her second cousin , Fizah , less Yasmin forgets . They rarely meet as this second cousin resides in Kuala Belait . So such meetings with each other is deeply cherished . They exchanged email addresses and I do hope both will stay in touch .



As for me , I visited and finally met my late best friend's mother ...........after a lapse of 18 years . Though we stayed in the same kampong , I never was able to make it to her mom's house . So a call from her sister , Halimah ( below ) prompted me to go and she didn't mind that it was 10 o'clock in the night .


It touched me that they were so welcoming as ever . So genuine in their smiles and it enriched me ...the one who received it; thus strenghtening our friendship further . A friend once said , among the best ships is ...Friendship .........yes I do agree with that . May it always be so .

More pictures of Amir and his second cousins ...Sheetel and Rahul .



This raya was so blessed . It was not that often my sons crossed paths with their third cousins . So there I was explaining to them how so and so are related to them . My brother termed it as " Kissing Cousins "...hehe..whatever it means .

So , How Was Your Raya ?

When I'm home at the kampong , blogging is the least on my mind . A good excuse is I have no work station . There is the dining table but its quite a hassle having to pack and unpack as the table is needed for " berbuka puasa " time . Its not that I am hibernating ; I'm there to savor kampong life , of its simple life ...where neighbors took the time to smile and greet you and we catch up on each others news . At that time , kampong life does not stimulate my mind to write in my blog .


Now life is back to normal . For a start , I'll share some photos of my family taken during Raya with the family .



Family photo with my brothers and sisters who were able to make it home . A time for forgiveness , of excitement , joy and of shedding tears . A time for bringing the family closer .



A time for my father to hug and get close to his youngest grandson .


We were one of those thousands of Malaysian people who made a bee line for home . An " anak perantau " , mind you . No matter where you are , home sweet home beckons you .



That includes these two twins . Making their way home to Indonesia . Most took advantage of the long holiday to meet old and make new friends , of visiting friends .....



and meeting the family .....a picture must be taken of first cousins together ( above )....for those who are able to make it home this year .....




...........of asking for forgiveness..................which a must activity on early raya morning . That's my sis Bibi and my father .


........of bonding with the family again ......like this picture of my son Amir and my elder brother , Elwi . They look alike ...an uncle and nephew reunion .



..........again a reunion with the girls first cousins only .



Nor forgetting a pix of my growing up children .............



plus a pix of Yasmin hugging my father .To my father, Yasmin is known as " Amoi " , he never could call her by her name .



of showing off new baju kurung and new sandals .........



which belongs to this little girl ....my father's great grand daughter ...who was in a foul mood that morning . I dont blame her ...she was just irritated by the constant kissing of her chubby face .......touching her hair etc. etc ...she was just so cute ............!!



Then there's another of father's great grandchild who just loves having her photo taken .

Then there were four days of full swing activities , of stuffing yourself with food ....goodilicious food .....cakes and biscuits ...before leaving for home at " Farmer's River "