Happy 64th Birthday Mak!

 Yeap, 64 and still going strong!

That's my mom. Her name's Hanisah Idris, but for some reasons that my mom has narrated to us like a hundred times but i never managed to remember, she is fondly called Ara (after Zahara) by our relatives. Abah used to call her Ani. I call her mak. There was a time (wayyyy back then) that I tried to sound manja by calling her mama but tak  pernah melekat.

Mak was born on 18 May 1946. She went to King George V School in Seremban. According to mak, she was a very smart girl in school (ye, mak saya sebenarnya pandai puji diri sendiri). To her cikgu's and friends' surprise, mak got married to Abah after she left school (saya selalu cakap mak saya gatal sebab kawin awal teehehe).

Mak, in my opinion, is a very sopan and lemah-lembut lady on the outside but is a very-very strong lady in the inside (why ohhh whyy god dont i get that from mak?). When Abah passed away, I know Mak was very sad but I never saw her cry let alone wept or wailed.. She was very-very calm. I dont know how she did that.

Mak is also a very friendly person, I believe the whole surau clan and jiran wanita clan, or Taman Melewar clan even, know her. Sebut aje Hanisah confirm orang tau. She's reliable, dependable, kind-hearted, ringan tulang and all the good adjectives that i cant find due to my limited vocabulary.

Mak is very careful with her money. I guess that's because Abah was careful with his money too. Mak would never, ever, everrr buy anything expensive when there were cheaper, generic options available; I used to eat the dry and crumbly cheap roti putih cap kunci emas (kot) when I was small, gardenia was a luxury back then. And Mak would carefully kira chicken pieces before cooking, so that each of us get one piece each.  Aiskrim, cikedis, jangan harap. Kasut sekolah ada satu pasang je for the whole week, there was one time my only kasut tak sempat kering that I had to skip my KAFI class to buy a new pair of shoes, ended up aku kena rotan dekat depan assembly. (sampai sekarang I'll never forget that ()*^#$#&;* ustazah)

I know mak loves us very-very much. I know Mak must have her favorite (I dont know who it is, but i suspect it's my little brother), tapi most of the times it feels like she loves us all equally.

Kalau kakngah sakit badan, she'd drive to kakngah's house and offer her a bottle of Lingzhi. And mak will go to Kakngah's house if she didnt hear from her for 2 days, just to see kakngah (and check out what's in her fridge).

Kalau banglang nak datang rumah, she'd be very excited to make kuih and masak nice dinner. If banglang's children are sick, she'd volunteer to stay at banglang's house just because she wants to be there. And time raya she will, without fail, buat semperit sebab banglang hantu semperit.

Kalau Mak masak sambal daging, mak mesti hantar satu mangkuk to Bancik's house, because that is his favorite. Dulu before bancik pindah rumah, mak will add paru to our rendang raya, because bancik likes his rendang with paru. Even tho mak sebenarnya tak boleh makan daging or paru sebab her teeth are weak.

When I was in boarding school, mak and abah would come on Saturdays and Sundays. On Fridays I'd call her and request for, say, ayam masak serai, and I'd have ayam masak serai for lunch on Saturday. Oh did I mention that mak would bring my dirty laundry home and bring them back the next day? I know, mak spoilt me.

And Apit. Hmmm. Kalau nak tulis sampai minggu depan pun tak habis ehehe. To sum it up, he gets pretty much whatever he wants.

Thank you to Mak for her awesomeness mothering, now all of us her children can afford to buy that huge Gardenia loaf without much hesitation. =) Alhamdulillah.

To Mak, I love you very much. I know I never said I love you, but you know I do kan? =D

Oi panjangnya tulis. Padahal I actually wanted to write about Mak's Birthday Party. Takpe lah, I'll just show you pictures then. Toodles~

 my attempt at baking cupcakes. I printed the pennants myself. Each pennant has a story, this one is focused on tapai sebab mak suka masak tapai. If you squint your eyes abit you can see ppl doing tai chi, that's because mak goes for tai chi every morning. And maybe you can see a vintage singer sewing machine at the back, that's because mak loves to sew. =D

mak cutting her birthday pulut. we're all pure negeri sembilan-ners, we love our puluts and rendangs.

that's bancik explaining the pictures on the cupcakes.

mak, my siblings, in-laws, nephews and nieces. Apit wasnt in, sebab dia hantar gf balik.

mak and her 14 grandchildren. Kimi dah lapar, he was running for his susu.