A Homemaker’s Diary

I’m doing this as favour for a friend. She bought this tepak sirih for her engagement in April and now she thought it would be good if she rents it out for others to use. After all if you don’t have anybody else in the family getting engaged or married anytime soon, it would be a waste of money to buy the whole tepak sirih set just to use once or twice for your ceremony.

If anyone is interested to rent, please leave your email address and contact details in the comment column and I will let the owner of this tepak sirih set deals directly with you. Oh, one important details, she’s based in KL so I’m not sure whether she wants to rent to outstation customers. But you could always give it a try.

*This post is written for Abt Electronics, Inc.*

If you are planning to renovate your kitchen and implement a built in kitchen cabinet, maybe you should check over the range microwaves selection at AbtElectronics.com.

I know most of us already know about the countertop microwaves since they are the least expensive and come in all sizes, but wouldn’t it be much nicer to have a microhood that fits nicely in the cabinet space?

Of course when it comes to choosing your home appliances, you have to know what you actually need for your cooking regime. Do you bake often? Do you only need the microwave to reheat and defrost food? There is no point of buying an expensive gadget but hardly use it.

This GE 30″ Advantium Over The Range Microwave-Oven Combo In Black is really great. It bakes, browns, broils, grills and roasts - All with No Preheating and when you are done with its capability as an oven, it can be converted to a fully functional 950 Watt sensor microwave oven.

But if you just need a microwave to make popcorn for your movie night or to reheat a leftover food from yesterday’s lunch, this LG LMV2053SW Over-The-Range White Microwave Oven is good enough.

If you buy it from Abt, the price is only $ 282.00 which is like 1/5 of the price of the GE Microwave-Oven combo as described above.

Hopefully with the new appliance, you will have a greater motivation to cook dinner for your family and loved ones!

Since a blogger friend requested that I write tips on preparing for Malay wedding, I have been thinking about all the usual checklist that people should come out with, whether they are the parents, the siblings of the pengantin or the bride or the groom themselves.

So in the spirit of Malay wedding, I’m going to write a few tips in Malay language, just to give a more deeper meaning to the joyous occasion..haha! If you need translation, do tell me later, ok!

Tips yang pertama:

Paling penting pastikan bajet yang mampu dihabiskan untuk perbelanjaan majlis - resepsi makan, belanja untuk barang hantaran, harga cincin, baju pengantin dsb.

Tidak ada gunanya merancang itu dan ini kalau fulus nya tidak ada di poket. Keinginan utk mengadakan majlis sehebat fairy tale pon cuma tinggal impian kalau duitnya tidak cukup.

Utamakan apa yang penting, jangan sampai pengantin pompuan share duit hantaran sebab nak cover malu, biar jiran kata majlis hebat tapi lepas kawin tak mampu nak sewa rumah sendiri.

Kedua:

Pastikan jenis majlis yang ingin diadakan, adakah ia majlis ringkas, atau sederhana tetapi meriah, adakah pengantin akan bersanding, atau cuma majlis cukup syarat. Jika ada keinginan utk bersanding, berkompang, bersilat, menepung tawar dan sebagainya pastikan persiapan awal telah dibuat.

Pelamin mesti ditempah lebih awal, survey dan pastikan pasukan kompang dan silat masih available utk tarikh majlis anda. Kalau tidak, pasang saja mp3 kompang semasa pengantin berarak..apa nak buat semua kompang dah habis di booking masa cuti sekolah..haha! Ada kompang atau tidak yang penting dapat kawin.

Itu semua cuma kenangan dan memenuhi adat, yg penting akad nikah berjalan lancar. Jangan sampai pengantin lelaki kena mandi bunga sebab gugup tak ingat doa qunut!

Ketiga:

Pastikan orang-orang penting yang menjaga majlis berpuas hati. Kalau ada yg mmg semulajadi cerewet, cuba buat persiapan dari awal. Jangan last minute semua tangkap muat, sudahnya sampai ke tua diungkit sebab suami tak sewa kereta kuda mcm yang di idam utk berarak.

Selalu terjadi bila majlis anak, tapi mak nya yang beriya-iya nak buat ikut citarasa sendiri. Anak tak nak bersanggul lintang, tapi mak kata kena jugak baru la berseri atas pelamin.

Tapi selalunya keputusan muktamad terletak pada tangan pemegang saham terbesar..money talks! Jadi kalau pengantin ingin bersanding dgn baju ala punjabi dan sari walaupon pengantin tak ada darah India langsung, pastikan cukup bajet sendiri, bukan pakai bajet mak..melainkan mak mmg tak kisah dan ikut saja apa hajat anak yang nak kawin. Itu pon belum tentu mak tak berbunyi tak puas hati…hehe!

I think that will do for this Part I. I try to make it practical but if anyone need a more thorough tips, please consult me personally. I need to know what type of person you are, how much you plan to spend and what kind of preferences you have. No two events are alike so just because your neighbor managed to throw a lovely wedding for her daughter, or your friend had a lavish wedding at the hotel, it doesn’t mean you have to follow her through. Life after wedding needs more attention and sacrifice than those kenduri preparation, trust me!

*This post is written for DesignDivaFabrics.com*

For Hari Raya celebration this year, I am thinking to change the slipcovers of my 4-year-old sofa. My sofa are the cheap type, the covers come separately but those sofa were among the first furniture we bought when we first got married so there is some kind of nostalgic feeling to let them go and buy a better and more expensive one. I thought I would only buy a new sofa set when we celebrate our 10 years wedding anniversary..haha!

So, this morning while checking my emails, I was browsing as well for upholstery and recovering topics for sofa and found one website that sell designer fabrics very suitable for drapery, upholstery and bedding. What is really great about them is that their fabrics are normally available exclusively to designers and architects and yet they sell them at a fraction price of what those interior designers normally would pay.

Check out their page on discount Kravet fabric by the yard. The retail price for this “Ricamo” Silk and Velvet Raised Design is $159.80/yard and yet they are selling it for $69.99/yard. Plus for their sale price, it is only $55.99 per yard. Hurry up as their sale will end within 4 days.

As I have read through the item details, I noticed that this kind of fabric is only suitable for lightly used upholstery, maybe a small chair by the window not something like my daily use sofa set. But don’t worry as they have a lot more choices. You can choose by designer labels, by type or by design. Maybe an English floral design like the above picture would help to cheer up your bedroom bedding set. This Kravet Couture “Cameron” Grand Floral Cotton Sateen would really complement all your Old English ceramics collection if you use the fabrics as drapery in your living room.

I went out to KL (finally!) on Tuesday. It was really hot and fortunately I managed to settle everything on the same day. Though if I know that things have changed, I should have brought all the necessary documents to renew my IT company license so that I would not have to go to the SSM office again next week.

I stopped by at my friend’s office and sent those kaftan she wanted. In return I took keropok, asam jawa and belacan she bought for me..haha! I could only put 3 kaftans in my mengkuang bag since I did not want to look too shabby while at the government office. (Usually if I go out and intend to do some shopping or items swapping, I will carry a bagpack to stash everything inside..hehe) Actually there are something else that I have to give and take from her so since I was tight on space and time, we made dates to meet again next time.

So next week I will be going to KL again to settle everything else. I hate KL, the traffic jam and the people who seem to have no patience for anything but themselves. They don’t even care for people trying to cross the road…and damn the pedestrians signal which did not seem to work on most of the traffic lights..too much abuse maybe..huhu! I have to follow other people when trying to cross the road and most of the time I have to run because I was afraid of losing my life to the crazy, out-of-sudden-turning-to-right bikers.

If you give me high salary and ask me to work in KL, I would just say no thanks! I think it’s not worth it for my sanity and peace of mind.