It is my birthday today. A date which can be easily remembered because it coincided with the 9-11 attacks back in 2001. And to make it more special, I entered the 4-series today. Should I say Oh no...!! or should I say Oh yes..!!!

Credit to Faila for this picture. I think it was Faila who took this pic. Or was it Zie? Oh no!! indeed. Memory becoming more and more unreliable....

So, should I say Oh no...!! or should I say Oh yes..!!! But first, let's see how I spent the day with my family.

We had a nice dinner at Restoran Istana Bambu. Very nice place and awesome ambience. The deco are all made from bamboos hence the name Istana Bambu; Palace of Bamboos. 

It does looks like an istana and a befitting venue to celebrate the birthday of the queen of the family i.e me of course...ha ha...

We ordered buttered prawn (kids' favourite), tomyam and black-peppered beef.

We also ordered chicken thai style and brinjals cooked with minced chicken.

The food was great. Well, maybe the beef was a bit too spicy for the kids. The rest was excellent. And yes, a bit pricey but I supposed with the service and the nice environment, it does worth the money.

While we were there, we were entertained with Malay cultural dance performance. My kids especially the youngest really enjoyed the show.

There was another lady there who was also celebrating her birthday with her family. Her hubby arranged for a dessert plate to be sent to their table with a candle. The dance performers also sang the birthday song for her. My husband winked and smiled at me as if saying, 'Boleh jugak nak buat ni...' I gave him a look which says, 'Dahh.... tak payah....'  Ha ha... Dah lama kahwin, by the look in the eyes pun dah boleh paham your spouse nak cakap apa...

That's what happened on September 11th. But actually, I had an early celebration with a couple of friends the week before. Hemy and I share the same birthday month. Hers was a few days earlier than mine. So we arranged to meet for lunch at Ole-ole Bali located in Empire Subang. 

The deco does makes you feel that you are in Bali.

And of course, we did not forget to capture the moment. Mesti waiter kat situ heran dengan minah 2 orang yang suka bergambar ni...

We shared this Nasi Campur dish since I was not really hungry. Really nice..and memang ada macam-macam on the plate. Rice, prawns, chicken, squids, kangkung, kerabu and 2 types of sauce. Rempeyek pun ada...

And I had this yummy Hazelnut Fredo drink. It came with a small glass of coffee which you may add to the hazelnut milk. Ikut suka nak letak banyak mana. If you prefer stronger taste of coffee, boh semua.

Hemy had this alpukat drink which is actually avocado. I had my first taste of alpukat at Sari Ratu restaurant quite some time ago. And I don't like it. So dah tak berani nak order lagi.

Later we were joined by another friend Mas MS. We had drinks at Teh Tarik Place. I ordered Ribena. Boleh...? Kanak-kanak Ribena umur 40 tahun....

Mas brought fruit cake and mini pavlovas for us. So blessed to have friends who can bake like Mas. 

See how Mas labeled the box of cakes for us? And again so blessed to have friends with such a great sense of humor like Mas.

I brought home all the pavlovas and a small portion of the fruit cake. Unlike Hemy, I don't really fancy fruit cake so I gladly let Hemy have the big portion. If not, sure kena bahagi separuh...

We were not finished with Ole-ole Bali. And since Mas has not had the pleasure of tasting the food, we are going to have another round of birthday celebration there.

Anyhow, talking about 4-series, does life actually starts at 40? Or is 40 the new 20? A friend brought to my attention a very meaningful doa from the Quran, al-Ahqaf, verse 15:

"And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship And she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says:

"My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will)." (46:15)

Well, of course, the forty years mentioned in the verse must be according to Hijrah years. Thus I have already reached my 40th year few years ago. But the significance of the 40 years of age mentioned in the Quran must not be ignored. I suppose this served as a wake-up call for me, a turning point for me to improve myself. Semoga dipermudahkan... 

p/s Don't say Oh no..!!, neither should I say Oh Yes...!! But say Alhamdulillah. :)