Friday, January 22, 2021

Zaim is married!

 Hi! A major life thing happened on the 10th January 2021.

My brother, my one and only baby brother, got married to the love of his life. 

I didn't think I'd get emotional because the whole event took only 48 hours worth of planning. They were supposed to get married about 2 weeks later but because of the MCO, they decided to bring forward the event. That meant a lot of things: it was only going to be just for family, that my grandparents couldn't come (sad!!!) and we had to get things settled the day before. They decided on a Friday that they were to be wed on Sunday!! That only left little of Friday and a lot of Saturday going around like mad. Ok, not us sangat lah. All of it was by Hanis' family doing to which we are always so grateful for. Thank goodness we had sent our kain to Foong Ling (ye ol' trusted tailor) much earlier but even then, we were surprised she managed to pull it off for all four of us ladies. Given, it was a very simple baju and we just added lace later. Zaim requested we wear grey and although Mama was meh about it, I thought it looked quite nice on camera! Some pearls and a silky shawl, and we're set! 

Zaim had to go buy his baju the day before! I had to call up the hantaran lady (I highly recommend her because i) she has the NICEST flower arrangements ii) Aunty Linda is the SWEETEST person you'd meet this year, seriously!! Bar none, 11/10 for service.) on Saturday morning to ask if she could do another 4 more hantaran dulangs! Zaim initially said because it was just going to a small ceremony, he'd be ok with just one dulang. But they must've changed their minds and asked for all 5 of the dulangs. Called Aunty Linda up and she was more than accommodating and said yes, sure, no problem! Ugh, love her so much. Such a saviour. Iman and I went to her place to pick it up that night itself (!!!) and she had done it SO beautifully, it was so painful to see it come undone much later. Like so sayang to touch it cause it was just so beautifully arranged. Even my dad loved it! My dad!!! My dad who has no affinity for these things at all! 





Our first run was to buy door gifts for the event. We went to this artificial flowers/door gifts place nearby my house called WH Floral (it used to be SSF) and scouted for some things before settling on this cuteeeeee little thing (ain't a box, ain't a bag so I don't know what it's called) to put some Patchi chocolates in. Some bits of ribbon and a whole lotta stuffing and they came out pretty cute! Someone even asked Hanis where she got these door gifts from haha! And this was so cheap too! Last minute events actually make you work more efficiently, I've realised.


Then we went to make a quick TudungPeople run at Ikano. I've worked with them for KL East Mall and they're just about the nicest people to work with so naturally I'd only want to support them! I actually got myself a grey shawl from Naelofar the day before but I couldn't resist TP's silk one so I got that and gave Iman the Naelofar one. As pictured below. Cute kan, macam muallaf.



This was at about 11pm? We went to collect the hantaran's quite late because understandably, under super last minute circumstances, she could only finish it by 10pm. Her place is about 30 minutes from mine so took us a bit to go back and forth. And I was driving so slow because these hantaran's are so delicate that a bump or a swerve could jeopardise its original arrangement! But came back safe and sound, phew.





Please, please check them out if you're looking to do your dulang's or some flower bouquets, they're the nicest people to work with and they're super accommodating to all your whims and requests! They're @pretty.bunga on Instagram and you can check out more of Zaim's dulangs here

Ok photo time!


How cute are Zidan and Naim!! They became our dulang boys unknowingly!


Fun fact: My brother's sampin was my dad's during his nikah day! Full circle, enough to get my grandmother sebak sikit.


One with his sisters. Zaim grew up very, very naughty. Like drive-you-up-the-wall-mad kind of naughty. He was also like an Energiser bunny, my parents can tell you all sorts of stories about him when he was young. If you watched our old videos, you can almost always hear my mum or dad yelling out "ZAIM!!!!" "ZAIM DON'T DO THAT!!!" "ZAIM COME HERE!!" hahahaha he was just notoriously buas. Like, cannot duduk diam. Then he grew to be the sweetest boy (and a lot calmer) and I am just so proud to see Zaim where he is now - he's such a great guy, love him so much. As an older sister, you can't help but feel so... motherly I guess?? So to see him grow into the man he is now is just so... heartwarming and wonderful.




Hanis here is so cute, wanna push her.

I didn't cry here, though you think I would. I cried when Zaim hugged me. I hugged him bit longer than usual and he just hugged me tighter after that, kissed me on my head and all that. Cried like shit after that. Love himmmmmmmm 






Ok a quick one on my baju. It was a simple baju kurung modern with lace borders at the sleeves and baju. I got the kain from Jakel and the lace from this place on Instagram called Lace Mewah. My mum went to the place to buy laces for all of us and they're pretty affordable too! I liked that they had an array of options. I find Jakel to be quite limited in their border laces and they're super pricey too! I just added some of Mama's long pearl necklace and some earrings on and I was good to go. I absolutely love wearing baju traditional! Wished I wore it more often.

Hanis with both her mums. (She calls my parents Mama and Papa too now which is so lovely)

And my mum's selendang is off, everyone. Hahahahhaa



One with all the cousins who came! Missing is Amelia, Mikhail (both in the UK), and Mia Sara (in Penang with my grandparents, aunties and uncles). Would've been extra sweet if we had the full quorum but this will do for now! 


Why are these cuties always just so darn cute! 

And one with the family.

Anybody who's on my Instagram would know this as I had it on my caption but I'll tell it here anyway. 

Zaim has only ever told me about one girl ever in his life. That girl is Hanis. It happened over lunch at home and he mentioned that he had went out with Hanis the day before and something happened between them that made him so incredibly happy. So happy that he just had to tell someone. He never mentioned just for how long he had liked Hanis but I think the date that he had just gone probably reaffirmed his feelings. That was the first time he ever indulged me about his love life. Hanis was the only one for him. Zaim is the kind of person that if he wants something, he'd go get it. No matter how long and how troublesome the journey may be. He'd find a way and he'd work to make it happen. Hanis was the only one for him and he knew it from the get go. So alhamdulillah with his prayers and those of everyone who love him, the Almighty granted his prayers and on the 10th of January 2021, despite the circumstances, they were pronounced husband and wife.

Hanis is such a wonderful person and she has the sweetest of hearts so we're only very happy that she is now part of the family. It's also pretty nice to have a friend as a sister in law! I used to go to her apartment unit in college and hang out with her. At the time, it never occurred to me she'd be calling my parents as her own and my brother as her husband! It's so wild if you think about it. Alhamdulillah, Allah is so great and has blessed us with the loveliest and most kind Hanis as our sister and daughter in law.

We love you both so much and we are boundlessly happy for your union. I'm so glad you seek comfort and warmth in each other and may Allah continue to bless you endlessly with rezeki, happiness and love now and forevermore. Sayang you both always and always.

xx

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Dear 5 Year Old Me,

Dear 5 year old Nadia,

You've got it so good, darling girl. You'd have a bit of a difficult time in your first years of school but it gets so much better. You'd meet friends that would quite simply change your whole life. You're a shy little girl with undeserving insecurities, like that birthmark on your elbow. Your inability to speak fluent Malay and getting scolded for it in school - painful times and you'll remember it for life. Getting made fun of it only made you a much better person because it plants empathy and sympathy within yourself - something you'd still have at the fun age of 27. Yes! It's fun. You'd walk around seeing these 20 year old's at malls and wonder how cool it must be to be of that age - to be free, to drive around anywhere you want, to buy all the Barbie dolls you want without having to tug on Mama's baju to cautiously ask if you could get one at Toys 'R Us. And a few minutes shy of being 28, I'm going to tell that that's all true - it is cool to be in your 20s. They'd become some of your best years. But dear girl, you've got it good throughout your whole life. It gets freckled with some harder nights but you've done well, anyway.

Your dreams have come true; one at a time. You'd get your straight A's in UPSR and PMR. You got your pink Motorola Razr and your first Mac laptop from these achievements. Your high school crush in turn, had a crush on you too and although that didn't work out, take solace that you went on a date with him and it was still one of the loveliest days you've had. You also went to the college of your dreams and met people that have grown to become more like family to you. And all the conversations in the car with Mama about her days as a student in the UK, you'd also get that. That came with a lot of prayer and Pak Tok and Mak Tok's help. Pak Tok is, btw, doing well. He's not as quick as he used to be but dear God, are we happy that he is still here with us. You spent 3 of your best years in Bristol learning so much about yourself and the type of independence you had only imagined of before this. It would be the experience of your life and you'd come back with a newfound love for your country, for change, and for yourself. 

So although you'd have tough days in between, you'd wake up the next day a bit better. And it never stops. It's never stopped. You'd be a romantic and you look at life with rose coloured glasses. You're all the better for it. You'd meet people who would come and go but a gentle caution to not be sad about it for too long for they were all hard earned lessons for you - lessons you'd only make sense of later in life and be thankful for regardless.

As for family, your love for them grows tenfold. Zaim, Tania and Iman have grown out of their phases and blossomed into the sweetest and kindest people you know. They're also very funny. They're your best friends for life and you'd share some of the most important moments ever with them. And Mama and Papa, they're doing well and they've gone above and beyond for you over the years and worked so hard to get you to where you want to be. They've realised your dreams for you so never doubt their love and care. Your priority in life now is to exercise your rights everyday to become the person that would make your family happy. From all the love they've showered generously to you, you owe them at least that.

You'd do good. You'd grow out of your shell and you'd eventually find your footing in life. It's a bit wobbly of a beginning but it steadies itself soon, I promise. Don't be swayed by anyone who tells you you're too nice or you're too generous with your laughs. Be nice anyway. Be generous anyway. I don't have all the answers yet to your questions but stay prayerful, dear girl, for all that is yours will be called to you in good time. The clock has struck 12 and I'm bound for sleep so I'll end this post here. Dear 5 year old Nadia, in the instance of a parallel universe where we'd meet, I hope you'd take a good look at me now and think to yourself "what a cool girl she has grown to be."

You got this. Love you always.

xx