The blogger side of me

Life begins at (almost) 40

2012-02-03T08:00:00.002+08:00

It was Federal Teritorry holiday the other day and both hubby and I had the luxury of a day off from work while our kids were at school. Hubby suggested this really crazy idea of a holiday. Just the two of us.

We got in our car and entered PLUS highway south bound. At 10 am, we had breakfast at R&R Ayer Keroh. This restaurant is located on the overhead bridge, hence the name OB Restaurant.

I had this egg sandwich dish while hubby had a tongkat ali + ginseng drink.

Then we got in our car again and traveled further south until we reached this place.

Johor Premium Outlets.

From the highway, exit route 253 Senai (U). Immediately after the toll (RM40.90), take the 304 exit (Senai). Soon after the exit, you will see the JPO signboard and the building itself on your left. We arrived there at 12.15 pm.

JPO, the one stop center factory outlets for branded items selling items such as handbags, shoes, clothes, lingerie and watches at discounted price. The building and the landscape is beautiful. Even though nampak mcm tanah gersang sikit especially the surrounding area. Besides the shops, there's a police station, Maybank, praying room and kids' playground.

One can easily go gaga in this place. Too bad I'm not one of them. Honestly, we didn't go into any of the handbags or shoes or lingerie shops. Rugi kan... Travel jauh-jauh, tak beli. Well, there isn't a necessity to buy one, so better avoid. If not, nafs override needs. He he...

We only bought 2 items here. One of them are chocolates. For the kids.

We had lunch at the food court.

There are also other eateries such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Absolute Thai and few others.

I had this Chicken Ramen. Lebih kurang macam maggi kari je rasa dia.

Hubby had this fried rice from the Thailicious stall.

We left the place at 2.45 pm. It was a fine day. But very hot weather. And it was a challenge to my sleep-deprived hubby who was driving. Tu la, sape suruh stay up tgk bola the night before.... And he refused to let me drive coz for sure, we would have arrive much later then. We made several pit stops, mainly for hubby to refresh himself. These keris are available in Pagoh rest area.

We finally reached Sg Besi toll at 5.40 pm and arrived home at 6 pm. Ample time to pick up the smaller kids from the nursery.

Pheww!! Crazy eh? But fun. Well, they say life begins at 40. Almost la kan... And hubby had other crazy-fun ideas up his sleeve. :)

The crying birthday girl

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001+08:00

My 4th daughter, Syafiqah, enrolled in a kindy for the first time this year. She's 4. On the first day of school, I took leave from work and sent her to school. I was quite confident that she would be ok since we have been sending her to nursery all this while. And she was ok. She obediently followed her teacher inside. I remained outside the gate while she went to her class which is located on the upper storey of the kindy.

Seeing she was ok, I went back home and went to the school again before school ended. We have arranged for her to go back by bus and I just wanted to make sure she got into the (correct) bus safely. But I don't have to worry about her getting into the wrong bus since the school has their system to avoid that. So, there I was, outside the school's compound, trying not to be seen by her and at the same time observed her getting out from school.

Muka macam nak nangis. I can see that she was looking for me.

2nd day of school, I was back at work. Hubby reported that Syafiqah cried when he sent her to school.

3rd day of school, it was her birthday. I didn't apply for leave from work but I felt pity for her thus I sent her to school and, again, she cried. She refused to go inside unless I followed her. When I tried to sneak out, she started crying. Thus I stayed with her and celebrated her birthday there. I have already bought a cake to be shared with her friends at school and prepared food packs for the kids.

I got her a nice angry bird cake.

Despite the lovely cake and me being there, she looked so distressed and unhappy. What a traumatic experience for her, I suppose.

The teachers and the 4-year-olds singing the birthday song.

Blowing the candles. I think the kid who sat in front beat her to it.

The principal, Mrs Sheila, cutting the cake.

Comot masing-masing. Ada yang kena baju. Sure the moms bising bila tengok baju anak2 kena kek... Mujur it was a Friday so school uniforms dah memang kena basuh. Quoting Breeze tagline, 'Biar terkena kotoran, demi pengalaman'. He he... Peace moms!

After staying with her in school and making sure she got back to the nursery, then only I went to work. Phew....

Later, we celebrated her birthday and the birthday of Syahirah aka Angah at home. They share the same birth date.

I got another angry bird cake for Syafiqah

and a Spongebob cake for Syahirah. She's 10 and is catching up with me in terms of height (and waistline too...).

Throughout the weekend, I slow-talked with Syafiqah and made her promise not to cry again at school, and that I will buy her toy if she don't cry. Monday came, and the drama started again. Isk..isk..isk...

Anyhow, I'm proud to announce that now she goes to school tear-free and is so excited in her showing her artwork from school. Alhamdulillah. And yes, I kept my promise and got her the fishing toy that she wanted. Let's just pray that I don't have to write a sequel to this story next year.:)

The Alexis experience

2012-01-16T17:00:00.000+08:00

RCK strikes again last month. This time, the rendezvous was at Alexis, GE Mall. It has been quite a while since our last meet and it was timely indeed to have another lunch date. Besides, Linda Omar, who resides in UK, was back in town for a while.

Us... Sitting from left: Zaira, Mas, Hemy (yg bukak kasut tu....), Sheila and Linda. Standing: Yus and yours truly.

The food.

Appetiser. Deep fried school prawns. Macam rupa udang geragau pun ada jugak...

I had carbonara.

And cranberry soda. Macam secoet je dia punya cranberry...

Yus had seafood spaghetti.

Mas had pizza.

Sheila had the lamb dish.

Hemy ordered garlic bread and button mushroom. Seddapp... Tak tau berapa banyak Hemy dapat makan sebab jari-jari yang lain pun tumpang sama.

I think that's why Hemy also ordered lasagna. Dia dah tau kawan2 dia macam mana. But again, looking at the portion size of this dish, tak tau Hemy kenyang ke tak.

Zaira yang slim melim itu had Caesar's salad and her daughter had Laksa Sarawak, no vege. Hmm...mcm familiar je script no vege tu...:)

Linda had Tumeric Rice.

Can guess la kan which ones lidah melayu yang dah jemu makan nasi and which one lidah melayu yang rindu nasi. :)

And of course, we had mouth-watering desserts.

Pavlova.

Blueberry cheese cake.

Chocolate mousse.

And apa ke nama ni ntah... lemon meringue pie??

Sensational lunch definitely, and ber'sen-sen' la jugak bil dia. Masing-masing hulur duit and we ended up having extra money which everyone refused to take back. Thus, tabung RCK is launched for future RCKs... Oh btw, RCK stands for Rombongan Cik Kiah. But Alexis kot... Cik Kiah kena upgrade sikit and tukar nama jadi Miss Kay...;)

Masterchef Malaysia?

2012-01-02T18:20:00.000+08:00

This is a recipe sharing entry again. While I'm at it, I'm sharing 2 recipes in this entry. Bread pudding and steamed moist choc cake. I got the recipes from the net.

Recipe 1: Bread pudding

6-7 pieces of bread

Butter

650 ml fresh milk/evaporated milk

3 eggs

Sugar (agak-agak dalam 6-7 sudu)

1 table spoon of vanilla essence

Pre heat the oven (170 degree Celsius).

Prep the baking tin. Spread butter evenly on the bottom and the sides of the baking tin.

Spread butter on the bread. Cut each bread into 4 pieces.

Placed the cut bread into the baking tin.

In another container, beat sugar and egg until the sugar is dissolved. Add in milk and vanilla essence.

Pour the milk mixture on top of bread.

Put aside to allow the bread to absorb the milk mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Vanilla sauce (to go along with the bread pudding)

300 ml evaporated milk

8-10 table spoons of sugar (ikut sesedap rasa)

Corn flour (pre-mixed with water)

2 egg yolks (placed in a separate bowl)

Vanilla essence

Simmer milk and sugar in a pot.

Add in corn flour (letak sikit je, if not, pekat sangat)

Scoop a ladle full of the milk mixture and add into the bowl containing the egg yolks. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the egg yolks mixture into the pot. Add in vanilla essence and mix.

The mixture is prone to lumpiness so for better results, sift the mixture.

Sorry, no pic. I remembered taking a pic of the bread pudding but that was aeons ago. Now could not find the pic. I may have accidentally deleted the pic.

Recipe 2: Steamed moist chocolate cake

250 gm butter

1 cup castor sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1 cup warm fresh milk

1 1/4 cup self-raising flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

Grease a baking tin with butter and flour.

Heat steamer on a stove.

Sift flour with cocoa powder.

Beat butter with castor sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.

Add in vanilla essence and mix.

Add in eggs one at a time and mix again.

Add in milk and flour alternately and mix thoroughly.

Pir the batter into the baking tin and cover with aluminium foil.

Steam for 1 1/2 hours.

Once cooked, let it cool on a plate before decorating it with chocolate ganache.

How to make chocolate ganache:

150 gm cooking chocolate

1 table spoon condensed milk

1/4 cup hot water

1 table spoon butter

Cut the cooking chocolate into small pieces and put them into a bowl together with condensed milk and war water. Heat the mixture the double boiler way. Turn off the stove and add in butter. Stir until the butter melt.. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the cake and decorate ikut kreativiti masing-masing.

This is the outcome. Very the comots.

I had enough batter to make these too.

Sedap kalau dah disejukkan dalam peti ais.

The bread pudding is my eldest's favorite. Once, while having the bread pudding, she mentioned, 'Kenapa mak tak masuk Masterchef Malaysia? Kalau masuk, mesti menang.' Ha ha... first round pun tak lepas kot. Anyhow, to be the Masterchef for my kids is good enough for me. :)

The door to Ulul Albab

2011-12-30T15:51:00.000+08:00

In the effort of giving the best education to our kids, hubby and I browsed the programmes offered by MRSM or dalam bahasa omputihnya Mara Junior Science College. We are keen to enroll Syakila, our eldest, in the Ulul Albab programme, offered by only 3 MRSMs (Besut, Kepala Batas and Gemencheh). Not willing to separate too far from my daughter and tak sanggup berombak rindu di kemudian hari..., we chose Gemencheh. The closest to our home.

So we applied for that and she was scheduled for an interview in MRSM Gemencheh couple of weeks ago. The interview was set in the morning thus we traveled to Gemencheh the day before. From PLUS highway, exit at Simpang Ampat (toll price RM13.60), head towards Tampin. Gemencheh is located between Tampin and Gemas. We stayed the night at Gemas Golf Resort. In reaching the place, you will pass in front of MRSM Gemencheh.

Gemas Golf Resort is located quite near to Gemas Railway Station but the road leading to the resort is a bit confusing because there's a lot of constructions going on and lack of signage caused us to go in circles before finding the right way.

The entrance and registration counter.

We took 2 adjoining rooms.

The master bedroom with a queen-sized bed.

The kids' room with 2 single beds.

The rooms are spacious but quite ill-maintained. The usual amenities are provided but no room service (the cafe is not even opened) and no house keeping service after 7 pm. In fact, there is no phone at all in the room. The water heater in the shower does not seem to be working. But the surrounding and the lush green of the golf course is lovely. The pool is adequate to satisfy my kids yang amat suka berendam dalam pool.

The resort is 3-storeys high. The rooms are on the 2nd floor and there is no lift. Good exercise though.

View from the 2nd floor.

Kids enjoying the pool.

Jalan-jalan cari makan in the area of Gemas. Tak de le jauh sangat jalan-jalannya. Pekan kecik. In terms of fast food outlet, KFC je yang ada kalau tak silap.

We had dinner in one of the restaurants nearby.

Breakfast in one of the stalls. Not bad. Sedap sambal nasi lemak dia.

Lunch at Nasi Ayam Gemas Mustafah restaurant. This eating place is quite famous. Ramai orang. And when I surfed for Gemas previously, the shop is listed in the 'where to eat' category in many websites.

One turn-off thing about Gemas-Gemencheh area is that there are lots of flies. Irritating betul. There must be chicken farm somewhere.

Anyhow, we went to MRSM Gemencheh that morning for Syakila's interview and test.

Registration table, with all the info on the interview process. Helpful and friendly students of the school are available everywhere to assist you in any way that they can.

Briefing by the principal. Can't remember his name but he declared 'Saya bukan ustaz'. I suppose lots of parents called him ustaz.

Well, we have approached the door and knocked on it but whether our daughter will be let in, we have yet to find out. And in case this door remains shut, I pray for more doors to open wide for Syakila in future. Amiinnn....

To friend or to unfriend

2011-12-12T09:15:00.000+08:00

Few months ago, I had to go to Kuala Terengganu for a work trip. And my family went together, thus became a holiday trip for them. Well, kena ponteng sekolah la tapi...

Anyhow, usually, during trips like this, my kids would buy souvenirs such as key-chains and fridge magnets (by the dozens at times) to give to their friends and teachers. And the Kuala Terengganu trip was no exception.

A few days after the trip, I asked Syahirah aka Angah, my second daughter, whether she has given the key-chains to her friends.

She said, bagi kat cikgu je. Tak nak la bagi kat kawan Angah.

I asked, kenapa pulak macam tu?

Dia jawab, Nanti bila dia tak kawan Angah dia pulang balik key-chain tu. Pas tu bila dia kawan balik, dia mintak balik. Tak nak la Angah.

Dalam hati, dah gelak berdekah-dekah, but I controlled and said, Boleh pulak kejap kawan kejap tak kawan.

Instead of answering, dia pulang paku buah keras kat mak dia and said, 'Alaa... masa mak kecik dulu, mesti mak pun pernah tak kawan dengan kawan mak...'

Adeiihhh... tak terjawab mak dia. Coz it's true. Ha ha...

Well, now, the art of friendship has evolved. She is yet to discover that there's a simpler way to friend or to unfriend someone. It is as easy as a click of the mouse. :D

Image from here.

UPSR Results Day - Sek Keb Taman Selasih

2011-12-11T18:53:00.001+08:00

The UPSR results day was over, almost a month ago. Both hubby and I took leave from work that day. Since it is our first child, semangat berkobar-kobar nak tunggu results. The news said that the results can be obtained from the school after 10 am. And being the over-anxious parents, we were already at the school gate as early as 9 am. The guards didn't allow us in and told us to come back at 11am.

Too nervous to go back and wait at home, we went to Bangi Kopitiam nearby, trying to kill the time as fast as possible ;). While waiting, I had this drink which is too sweet for my taste. But with the adrenaline running high and nerves all tense, I supposed I could use extra sugar.

About 10 minutes to 11, we were back at the gate. And since the results were not out yet, we managed to collect the RM100 education assistance money for our 2 younger kids who are also schooling there.

Finally, the results were out. One of the teachers put up the results on a notice board.

Parents and kids started to crowd in front of the notice board, even before the teacher finished his job. Nervous...nervous...

Hubby, wishing he has supersonic eyes to be able to see. But frankly, his eyesight is wayyy better than mine.

Eventually my daughter managed to see her results and conveyed the good news to me. Alhamdulillah, syukur yang teramat sangat.

Syakila with the beaming parents.

Syakila with her class teacher, Cikgu Fuad. Jasamu dikenang cikgu.

I was smiling from ear to ear however, I was deeply saddened to see some students crying because they did not get the results they were hoping for. I hope they realized that there's still a long way to go and failing to get good grades in UPSR does not mean it's the end of the world.

Speaking of a long way to go, I have a long way to go with my kids too. Next nerve-wrecking UPSR moments, in 3 years time. Phewww....

The end of the 3-series

2011-12-06T09:22:00.001+08:00

I celebrated my birthday almost 3 months ago. And only now I'm writing about it??? Duuhh... Malas + perasan busy. Nothing to do with aging, I hope. ;)

Anyhow, my birthday was on a Sunday. And normally we just have a simple celebration, going out for lunch or dinner. Kek pun tak beli selalunya. Dah tak kuasa pulak nak berkek-kek. But we make exceptions for the kids' birthday though. They usually look forward to blowing out candles.

So, we planned to go out for lunch that day. And I was enjoying my 'no cooking' moments. Then I received a call from my brother, Kamal, saying that he and our parents will be coming over to my house that afternoon. Waahh.. surprise visit from my parents... Rupa-rupanya both my parents just finished their puasa 6 and nak beraya kat rumah anak-anak diorang. He he... cool... They had lunch at my other brother's place, Faisal, and had tea at mine. I prepared a simple dish of curry and roti jala.

And since it was my birthday, I asked hubby to buy a cake. Dah ramai-ramai tu, ok la jugak beli kek. So this is the cake that hubby bought.

Our plan to go out for lunch was postponed to dinner. We had dinner at this place, Restoran Labib, near Taman Melati. Why this place? No particular reason. Saja nak cuba sebab belum pernah cuba.

We picked these from the menu.

On paper it looked like this.

In reality, ok la, ada resemblance.

We also had this, the kids' favorite, butter prawn.

And yg jadi mangsa tukang kopek kulit udang, no other than hubby.

The kids utilizing the family zone in the restaurant. Tengah wan tu som...

Kebab stall outside the restaurant.

On top of receiving prezzies from hubby and the older kids, my youngest surprised me with a gift as well. She managed to roll over on the eve of my birthday. She was 3 1/2 months then.

The birthday gift from Angah. Two red pens. Dia memang tau mak dia banyak pakai pen merah nak tanda kertas jawapan students...:)

And 2 months after my birthday, I received the most wonderful gift from my eldest, Syakila. Alhamdulillah, she obtained 5As in her UPSR and mumtaz for her PSRA.

I enjoyed the last of my 3-series birthday very much.

Well, they said 40 is the new 20. And if that is so, happy 19th birthday to me. :P

UPSR butterflies in the stomach

2011-11-16T17:59:00.000+08:00

Wow!! It has been over 2 months since I last updated this page. Teruk betul... If ever this blog applies KPI (key performance index) score, I'll surely fail. Silap-silap yearly assessment less than 85% thus no annual increment. Nak naik pangkat pun susah. If la kan...:P

Lots of things to write, lots of things to tell but so limited time, or rather malas and tak kuasa sebenarnya. Now, since I have a few minutes to spare, I'd better write a few lines.

Tomorrow, the UPSR results will be announced and my eldest is one of the candidates who is waiting anxiously for the results. And of course, I'm one of the mothers yang tak senang duduk jugak.

This situation reminds me of the time when I was waiting for my SRP and SPM results years ago. I remembered how determined I was to be the first person in the family to know my results. Sendiri punya results kan, so I'm entitled to know first. And I remembered how pissed I was when I found out that either my father or my sister called the school to find out about my results BEFORE ME. Gila bengang masa tu. Siap merajuk-rajuk, berkurung dalam bilik. Serious, ntah hape-hape. Buruk perangai betul.

And now, having my own kid, I think I finally understand my father's action. The anxiety for your own child, the worry over your own child, the fierce feeling trying to protect your own child from bad news and the eagerness to share the good news with your own child... all mixed into one. Those are the butterflies that I have in my stomach right now.

Mudah-mudahan it's good news tomorrow. Even if it's not, I'm still proud to have a daughter like my Syakila Nor Alia... (tiba-tiba rasa nak nangis...isk..isk...isk...)

Blues Hari Raya

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000+08:00

Seronoknya berhari raya

Pulang ke pangkuan keluarga

Di desa nun jauh di sana

Tapi hampeh, ni highway ke apa?

Dah jadi slow-way dah gayanya

Kalau tak memotong, ikut kiri la!!

Bangun tidur di pagi raya

Tak sabar nak pakai baju raya

Digayakan pulak dengan henbeg raya

Tapi keluar je bilik mulut ternganga

Ramai dah tunggu giliran bilik air rupanya

Kak Long, Kak De, Kak Cik semua ada

Ayam dan daging dibuat rendang

Sedap dimakan bersama lemang

Tak boleh miss ketupat dengan kuah kacang

Dah sebulan berlapar, sekarang makan kenyang-kenyang

Tapi kut ye pun, bawak-bawakla bertenang

Bila perut meragam, kan dah terlentang

Cantik berseri di pagi raya

Tudung matching pelbagai gaya

Merah, ungu, kuning, hijau muda

Kus semangat, tengok baju kotor anak yang lima

Menggunung macam Gunung Fujiyama

Mujur panas terik, kering jugak semua

Berakhirlah sudah cuti raya

Meredah lagi highway yang jam gila

Pulang semula ke kotaraya

Tapi raya tetap raya

Jamuan ofis, di sini sana

Raya sebulan tak cukup gamaknya

Open house tu, open house ni

Tak pergi kang tuan rumah kecik hati

Walaupun dah pergi 3 rumah tadi

Anak-anak seronok tidak terperi

Melihat duit raya yang diberi

Nak simpan ke nak beli MP3?

Ziarah menziarahi kaum keluarga

Sahabat handai sanak saudara

Diucapkan Selamat Hari Raya

Salam dihulur maaf dipinta

Blues Hari Raya sekadar suka-suka

Macam tak de kerja lain pulak ya...

Pic of my kids on 1st raya. Bila buat pantun ni, teringat diorang sebab diorang suka sangat dialog pantun Jarjit dalam cerita Upin Ipin. And they will always create their own pantun which usually starts with 'Dua tiga kucing berlari'. And sometimes I chipped in:

'Dua tiga kucing berlari

Cepat pergi mandi!'

Degil yang amat time suruh pegi mandi....

Berehat dalam ibadah

2011-08-28T08:00:00.001+08:00

Ramadhan dah makin sampai ke penghujung. Mudah-mudahan ibadah seperti solat terawih masih diteruskan sehingga malam terakhir (reminder to myself sebab selalu sangat tak tercapai).

Bercakap tentang solat terawih ni, pernah dengar satu ceramah ni, 2-3 tahun yang lepas. Ustaz tu kata terawih bermaksud berehat-rehat. Maksudnya, boleh laksanakan dua rakaat, kemudian berehat, then sambung lagi 2 rakaat dan seterusnya.

From my reading (yang tak berapa luas ni), it is so-called berehat-rehat sebab di zaman Rasulullah SAW dulu, baginda mengerjakan solat terawih dua atau empat rakaat dan kemudian berehat sebentar untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan sahabat baginda.

Konsep yang sama boleh digunapakai, lebih-lebih lagi di hujung Ramadhan ni. Sambil bakar biskut raya, solat dua rakaat, berhenti rehat kejap, tengok biskut dah masak belum, sambung balik solat dua rakaat. Sambil pasang langsir raya, solat dua rakaat, berhenti rehat kejap, pasang pulak langsir kat tingkap dapur, sambung balik solat dua rakaat. Sambil jahit bling bling kat baju raya, solat dua rakaat, berhenti kejap, jahit pulak bling-bling kat lengan baju belah kanan, sambung balik solat dua rakaat. Sambil tengok Grey's Anatomy kat channel 711, solat dua rakaat masa iklan, berhenti kejap, tengok balik McDreamy buat clinical trial on Alzheimer patients, sambung balik solat dua rakaat.....errr...NOT!!! Terus tak khusyuk solat terawih dok ingat McDreamy, McSteamy dgn Avery yang macho itu. ;)

Anyhow, I have been applying konsep berehat-rehat dalam mengerjakan solat terawih. Not that I have to consult or give advice to anyone like the Prophet, but as a mother to a baby, kejap-kejap nak menyusu. And as a mother to a 4-y-o kid, sekejap nak susu, sekejap BO (atau dalam bahasa kasarnya, nak gi jamban). And as a mother to 3 school-goer kids, sekejap kena leraikan diorang bergaduh, sekejap ada yang nak tanya pasal homework.

Thus, there's no excuse whatsoever to not perform solat terawih. Islam itu mudah. Tepuk dada tanya iman la kot...(reminder untuk diri sendiri jugak). Lastly, sempena Syawal yang akan tiba, jari disusun maaf dipohon, andai ada terkasar bahasa, tersilap bicara dan terguris perasaan. Mudah-mudahan dipertemukan lagi dengan Ramadhan yang akan datang, insyaAllah.

A business idea (from a 9-y-o kid)

2011-08-23T18:01:00.000+08:00

1. Open your internet browser

2. Search for song lyric

3. Copy the lyric

4. Write it nicely on a piece of A4 paper

5. Decorate the paper with ribbon

6. Sell it to your school-mates

That's what my daughter did. She sell it for 10 cents, 20 cents if the paper is decorated with ribbon. Songs that are high on demand: Aishiteru and Cinta Muka Buku. (I myself have never heard these songs until my daughters view it on youtube).

I'm amazed that my daughter came up with this idea. And what even more amazing is that ada pulak orang nak beli tu....considering her handwriting yang ber'seni' itu...:)

p/s To date: dia baru je jual sekeping. Ada 2 orders lagi tapi dia belum sempat buat. Ha ha... baru 2 order, dah tak menang tangan..;)

Iftar cum birthday dinner

2011-08-20T08:00:00.003+08:00

Two of my love ones celebrate their birthday in August. My eldest daughter, Syakila, and my dearest hubby. As usual, we celebrated by dining out.

Syakila's birthday at Riverstone Ecoresort.

The place is located in Sungai Tua, along the road to Ulu Yam, within the green beauty of nature. Definitely not Celcom territory, because no signal at all on my phone...:(

The restaurant is quite big and can accommodate more than 100 patrons. The resort also offers camping facilities, recreational activities and seminar/training packages.

We had the Ramadhan buffet. RM40 per adult, RM20 per child.

Some of the menu.

Asam pedas

Pecal

Nasi ambeng set

This was what I had: white rice, some daging masak semur, pecal, some kerabu, ayam panggang, ayam masak kicap and the tempe dish. Plus the sagu gula melaka dessert. I passed the asam pedas and patin masak tempoyak.

I had a taste of laksa.

Some of the cakes on the menu.

ABC pun ada.

The drinks.

Overall, the food is quite good. My kids suka. Syahidah had a few rounds of ayam masak kicap. And Syahirah love the curry puffs. Having dinner very close to nature might have something to do with their appetite.

Praying room is available but one has to go up a flight of stairs to get there. So, a bit inconvenient for people with knee problems like my mother-in-law. Luckily, our house is not that far so we managed to rush back for Maghrib prayer.

For hubby's birthday, we made reservations at de Templer. Have to pay RM50 upfront, in case of no-show.

Located near Taman Melati, this place offers Muslim Chinese cuisine.

Complimentary dishes: dates and this crispy and crunchy fish. Very nice, macam keropok. And not salty at all.

We ordered tom yam (medium size)

Buttered prawn (small size)

Boxing chicken (small)

Sweet sour sea bass

Alhamdulillah, the food was nice. The kids makan bersungguh-sungguh. Syahidah even said that she wants to have her birthday dinner there too. Well, that's about 7 more months to go.

Belum cuba belum tau

2011-08-10T08:00:00.002+08:00

My kids can be considered choosy eaters. They dislike vege. If I were to fry noodles or rice, they would ask for no vege. I have been trying to persuade them to try and eat the vege, and failed. I used to say, eat your vege, so that you will have a smooth skin. Well, it worked for a while. Then they started doubting, tak licin pun kulit...? Mana nak licin, baru sekali dua makan...:P

There were other times when they would ask, sedap tak mak? when they saw me eating something they have never tasted before. Instead of answering them, I said, try la, baru tau sedap ke tak. So they tried. And sometimes they like it, sometimes not.

So, over the years, they have developed liking for lots of foods. Recently, they had a taste of otak-otak. And they love it. Siap berebut-rebut. During this Ramadhan, they would be able to put their taste buds into practice. Bazaar Ramadhan pun sejengkal je dari rumah. Macam-macam ada so boleh try makan macam-macam.

This 'belum cuba belum tau' concept can also be applied to everyday task. I have a staff in the office who is supposed to head a unit in the department. The staff was reluctant to accept the task. Reasons: not sure how to do it, afraid will be blamed if anything goes wrong, age factor - better let the younger ones do the task (more skills, more knowledgable). Well, no one is born with all the skills and know everything. You just need to go for it and learn along the way, even if it involve making mistakes. And who says being old put a standstill to gaining new knowledge? Belum cuba belum tau...

Going back to 'trying the food' story, I should pull myself together and go try some sushi! Errr.... Berani ke...?? :)

Apam Polka Dot - the amateurish way

2011-07-24T11:43:00.001+08:00

Ever since I saw pics of apam polka dot that people uploaded in FB, I have been intrigued and teringin nak buat. So, I surfed the net for its recipe. Most sites displayed the same recipe so credit to all the sites that posted a recipe that works.

Here's the recipe:

275 gm wheat flour.

I translated this to 3 cups of flour. Sebab tak kuasa nak keluarkan weighing scale dari dalam almari setiap kali nak buat. The cup which I used is this Claytan cup. So, may not be the same size as your cup.

220 gm castor sugar.

Using the same cup, it's 11/4 cup.

180 ml fresh milk.

If you don't have a measuring cup, you can always use your child's feeding bottle or drinking cup. That's what I did.

3 eggs.
The sites that I refer to mentioned that the eggs should be the one chilled in the fridge. The reason? I have no idea. Follow je la.

3 teaspoons of baking powder.

1 tablespoon of ovalette.

Few drops of vanilla essence.

Filling.

These are my options. Nutella for filling eh? My kids love anything chocolatey.

Food colouring.

Ikut suka nak kaler apa.

Here's how to do the apam:

Mix flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, ovalette, milk and vanila essence in a bowl using a mixer, at maximum speed, until fluffy.

Divide the batter into few portions (number of portions depend on the number of colours you have).

Add in a few drops of colour in the batter.

These are the colours that I have. Nice eh... Feels like in an art class.

Using a piping bag, pipe the batter into paper cups/mould until half full.

Since I don't have piping bag, I use these plastic bags nipped at one corner.

But if things got too messy, just spoon the batter into the paper cups/mould.

Put in the filling and pipe in the batter until full.

Then do the dots. Since my hand-made plastic bags-cum piping bag were a little bit out of control, I resorted to the use of syring instead.

Finally, steam for 10-15 minutes.

Note:

The choice of what color to use for the apam and its dots is entirely up to you.

And of course, not necessarily dots. I saw pictures of apams with smiley faces and names written on them.

I still need to look for the perfect filling. The Nutella sank to the bottom instead of staying put in the middle of the apam.

Some sites that I refer to gave these tips: When steaming the apam, use medium heat. Or else the apam will crack and ternganga. I have a few yang ternganga macam tu. Sungguh tak comel. And also wrap the cover of the steamer with cloth to prevent the evaporated water to drip back onto the apam.

Here's the end product. In terms of looks, hodoh la jugak. Ha ha... But in terms of taste, not bad. The kids love it. Dah bawak pergi sekolah and their friends like it. Dah siap pesan suruh buat lagi...

The maths of maternity leave

2011-07-08T23:31:00.000+08:00

One of the perks as a government servant, is the fully-paid maternity leave. However, there's a catch. (There's always a catch, huh?) One can only take maximum 300 days of maternity leave throughout service. So, considering 2 months of maternity leave, the maximum no of kids you can have to be able to get full pay during your maternity leave is 5. Ok la kan... 5 considered big family dah tu.

I had my first kid in 1999. I was a student. So, basically, no maternity leave at all. In fact, as a postgraduate student, I was allocated only 2 weeks of leave every semester. However, with kind consideration from my supervisor at that time, dapat jugak la cuti.

Then I started working and had my second child. 60 days of maternity leave and I still have 240 days remaining.

3rd child - 60 days of leave again - 180 days remaining.

4th child - another 60 days taken from the bank - 120 days remaining.

Recently, the government decided to allow its servants to take maternity leave up to 90 days. But the catch is, the maximum total days remained 300. So, maximum no of kids reduced from 5 to 3 if someone fully use the 90 days allocation. Well, of course you can still opt for 60 days maternity leave. Pilih la, nak anak banyak ke nak cuti lama...:)

My timing was just perfect because I had my 5th kid soon after the government made the decision. Since I still have enough maternity leave remaining, dengan sukacitanya I took 90 days. Well, as of now, 1 month already gone. Time sure flies.

Doing simple maths, I still have 30 days remaining. Maybe just enough for another kid. Not!! :)

A tale from the labour room

2011-06-14T23:20:00.001+08:00

Today is supposed to be my expected delivery date. Well, it is just an estimate and you never know when the baby decides to say hello to the world. In my case, it was decided for the baby, 2 weeks ago. I was 38 weeks into my pregnancy and my obstetrician advised me to came in and go for labour induction. The main reason is that I had placenta abruptio in my previous pregnancy and since the recurrent rate is high so it is best for me to deliver earlier.

The best thing of having a pre-determined delivery date is that I can be prepared and not having to go through the panic of rushing to the hospital and had my water broke in the car (that's what happened in my 3rd pregnancy).

Anyhow, I was admitted to UKM specialist center on the 2nd of June, 12 days earlier than the expected date.

One of the first things that I did when I was admitted: selecting the menu.

One tablet of Prostin was administered intravaginally at 10 am and uterine contractions followed soon after that. I started to have quite strong contractions at noon. From 5-7 minutes apart, they came faster until I barely had a rest in between. The pain jangan cakap la. Almost unbearable (but still managed some FB activities during that time...:P).

The cardiotocograph (CTG) reading during contraction-free period.

During one of the contractions. See the difference?

Being the 5th pregnancy with 3 normal deliveries, I should have been tolerant to the pain, shouldn't I? But this time the pain was phenomenal. People did say that the pain due to induction is greater. And I was lucky to be the living proof of that.

I was in and out of pain throughout the whole afternoon. I finally asked for analgesic and they gave me a pethidine jab which did not help at all. The pain was still there, worse if not the same. The jab only made me sleepy, and on top of that it left a nasty bruise on my right arm. Why not epidural eh? Well, I'm not the expert here but I supposed the risk of uterine rupture during induction, esp with previous Ceasar scar may have something to do with it. Having epidural may mask any pain along the scar that can be one of the signs of uterine rupture. Again, I'm no expert.

Earlier my obstetrician informed me that if the induction failed to soften and dilate my cervix, she would call it a day and insert another Prostin tablet the next day. She won't take any risk and continue for fear of uterine rupture due to my previous Ceasar scar. Oh no!! The thought of going through another agonizing day was too much for me to handle.

My water finally broke at 7 pm. I was 6 cm dilated then. Dari pukul 12, baru 6 cm. Biar betul... I was wheeled to the labour room at 8 pm. Sempat jugak la abis tengok cerita Nora Elena kat TV :D.

Almost another hour of agony in the labour room (and I'm greatly thankful for Mr Hubby's presence throughout the whole thing), I finally delivered a perfect baby girl at 8.56 pm. Her angelic face is definitely worth the pain. Alhamdulillah. Welcome to the world Syamila Nor Akma. *kiss*kiss*

Another grandchild on the way

2011-06-01T08:00:00.002+08:00

This is a sequel to an earlier post. The nephew who got engaged few months ago, finally got married last weekend. I managed to attend the event since I won't be able to make it to the groom's reception which is on 11th June. I'll be in my confinement then.

So, we headed to Seremban 2 early that day. The nephew and most family members were already there from the day before. They stayed the night at S2 Hotel and we met the rest of the family there.

Arriving at the bride's place.

The marriage vow. Sekali lafaz je.

Approximately at 11.03 am.

The tok imam/tok kadi was funny. I supposed tok imam/tok kadi must have this funny streak in them. At least can reduce the anxiety of the groom as well as the bride during the akad nikah ceremony.

When my nephew gave the dowry to his wife, tok imam said to the wife, 'Tak do apo nak cakap? Cakap la terimo kasih. Ekau ni buat malu orang Mambau je la...'

When the ceremony was over, i.e. the vow, bacaan taklik and the dowry,

the tok imam said 'Haa... lepas ni ekau nak buek apo pun, buek la'

Well, they did this.

And this.

Annnd this.

After that we had lunch, yeah quite early for lunch, but makan jugak la. Then we went to a surau nearby, rested for a while and waited for the next episode of the event: bersanding.

After a change of clothes, the groom arrived.

With the accompanying tune from the kompang boys. Err...yang sorang tu bukan kompang boy.:)

The bride met the groom halfway.

And the procession continued to the bridal dais.

But before entering the house, they scattered candies and coins around for the kids to collect. Berebut masing-masing.

And the groom was incurred a toll before being allowed to enter the house.

Bersanding.

Tepung tawar. I chipped in.

Hubby pun.

Group photo.

Credit to my brother Ahmad Faisal for this photo.

Then, makan beradab.

And I had another go, makan lagi. But the difference was, we had a couple of lauk pengantin dishes, fish and prawns. Yang tak acinya, hubby dapat ayam golek tu...Isyhh...

Dengue during pregnancy

2011-05-27T14:02:00.000+08:00

At 36 weeks of pregnancy, this was something unexpected. But, it happened. And boy...., I wouldn't want to experience this ever again.

1. Fever

It started with fever and headache. Which was temporarily relieved by acetaminophen. And I was wary of taking drugs during pregnancy even though acetaminophen is considered safe. But I had to take or else I could not function. And high fever is not good for the pregnancy even though the effects will be more detrimental during the early months. Anyhow, I experienced frequent uterine contractions during the feverish period and that was scary. In case I go into premature labour.

2. Lethargy

This was pretty bad. Towards the end of pregnancy, fatigue often overwhelmed me. And being down with fever, the fatigue came in double dose. Really drain the energy.

3. Muscle and joint pains

This was another intolerable symptom. My pregnancy is also associated with muscle pain and back pain. Thus, the fever-induced muscle and joint pains drove me crazy with pain and discomfort.

4. Loss of appetite

One express way to reduce weight. But with the baby inside, I sure don't want to jeopardize the baby's growth.

5. Low platelet count

The count declined from 227 to 224 to 108. Then thank God, it increased to 119, 141 and the last check was 260. Pheww.... Because of the multiple blood tests, my arm still bear the black and blue bruise due to phlebotomy. Friends gave lots of tips in order to increase the platelet count such as crab soup, guava juice and 100 plus. And of course, lots of plain water.

6. Dengue antibody

The low platelet count was suggestive of dengue. However, virological test further confirmed the diagnosis and I was found to be positive for dengue IgG and IgM. Nyamuk kat area Batu Caves/Gombak memang ganas...

7. Dehydration

I was thirsty, BIG TIME. Which was good, cause I need to fill myself up with lots of fluid. But the setback was, the frequent trips to the toilet. The trips are already annoyingly frequent during pregnancy but with the extra fluid filling the bladder, the trips were unbearable. With the muscle pain and lethargy, getting up to go to the loo was torturous.

Anyhow, thank God the dengue fever did not deteriorate into a haemorrhagic one. And I don't have any rashes nor do I experience nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Alhamdulillah, I am fully recovered and back to my normal self. Well... as normal as I can be as a pregnant woman :). May the remaining of my pregnancy weeks and the delivery itself go well and uneventful. Amiinn...

What we did on Mother's Day

2011-05-25T13:41:00.001+08:00

WE BAKED.

Strawberry Jam Muffin. A recipe I got from the net with slight modifications. I purposely searched for a recipe with strawberry jam since I had an unopened jar of strawberry jam bought during our trip to Cameron Highlands months ago. Mujur tak expired lagi.

The recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup fresh milk

100 g butter

Vanilla essence

Strawberry jam

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine together egg, milk and butter. Add egg mixture at once to dry ingredients. Add in vanilla essence. Stir mixture well.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake liners, filling one-third of the liners.

Using a spoon, drop strawberry jam into the center.

Spoon the flour mixture until 2/3 full, covering the strawberry filling.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Junior chefs hard at work.

The outcome.

The taste: the kids love it. For me, ntah la, muak pun ada jugak. Overdose of butter maybe. My youngest avoided the strawberry center so she ate the top part and gave it to me to lick the filling and she would consume the rest. Isyh... macam-macam...

WE DINED OUT

That night we had dinner at Rasa Rasa Satay outlet, located in Taman Sri Gombak.

I had this kungfu noodle. Boleh la...

The kids had fried kue teow. One with prawns.

I ended up exchanging my dish with one of the kids. She thought mine was more appetizing. I supposed I was already full because I don't really like the kuey teow taste.

Hubby had mee hoon Singapore. He said, boleh tahan.

We also tried the satay. Kuah dia kurang ummpphh..

In terms of service, the place need improvement. We had our dishes mistakenly sent to another table and other people's food got sent to us instead.

Earlier that day, I cooked lunch. We had fried chili crab which the kids love. And guess who had to crack the shell and extract the crab's meat for them to eat? After all, a mother's work never halt even on Mother's Day.

Good food with great company

2011-05-09T16:56:00.001+08:00

I received comments from friends recently, 'Apesal kurus?'

Well, obviously, at 34 weeks period of amenorrhea, they are not referring to my bulging belly, but more on my face. Hmm... not that I'm not eating even though I admit that I have to limit my food intake due to tendency of reflux when I overeat. And as a proof that eating is not last in my list, these are the recent dining activities with friends. I sure hope all the fat from the food find its way to the fetus, instead of depositing itself in unwanted areas of my body.

It has been quite a while since I met up with friends from school. Thus, when Hemy suggested having lunch at Doli Kue Teow, I grabbed the chance. The place is located in Taman Tun.

Thank God for the GPS, I managed to reach the place without missing a turn. Hey, I'm getting used to this GPS thingy..as compared to before.

There were only 3 of us, Hemy, Mas MS and I. Hemy dubbed us as Datin T. The difference is that we don't have any x-rated video to expose.

Credit to Hemy's FB photos.

Kue Teow is incorporated into the name of the shop implying that it is a must-try dish. So, all of us had kue teow.

Hemy with the no-vege dish. Standard la tu utk dia.

Credit to Hemy's FB photos.

Mas MS having the special one.

Credit to Hemy's FB photos.

Mine was just the normal dish. Boleh tahan sedap.

Not long after that, we had another get together at Little White Cafe, located in Bandar Baru Bangi.

I didn't have my GPS that day but I have 2 guides which are better than GPS. One, is this excellent map from Hotel Amani website. Little White Cafe is located exactly next to the hotel.

And another landmark is Masjid Al-Hasanah which is opposite the cafe.

Two, my mobile and talking GPS, Hemy. She called me and gave further directions.

The place is nice and comfy. And nicely decorated too.

Part of the menu.

The people behind the mastery of food preparation.

I had this Grilled Chicken Breast dish. A bit funny though, ada sebijik red chili.

And I had this cranberry drink. Sedap...

The others had spaghetti and meatball

Roast chicken

Roast beef sandwich

Garlic bread and onion soup

Chicken noisettes

Some of the drinks the others had. Raspberry juice.

And orange juice

We also tried the cakes.

Red velvet

Choc fudge

And cheese cake

We also shared this chicken pot pie.

And in case you wondered how to eat this dish.

Frankly, the price is a little bit on the high side for me. Tak padan dengan portion. However, the portion is finishable, so tak la membazir. And because of the small portion, I think, everyone finished their own dish and tak offer pun nak share dgn sape-sape. Having said that, the taste of the food is good. And the juice is excellent.

Before heading home, we had a group photo taken together with the owner of the cafe (on the right most).

On another occasion, Hemy, Ruzaina and I had lunch at IOI Puchong. I have never been there before nor know how to get there. And again, I was saved by my GPS. I'm beginning to love this thing . And you can trust the GPS to guide you through the shortest route but the most expensive one. Banyak tol kena lalu.

Met with Hemy and Ruzaina at Secret Recipe. I was late, and both of them were already into their desserts when I arrived. However, feeling quite hungry, I ordered Prawn Macaroni and Cheese. Ok la, those who like cheesy food would like the dish.

And I had frosty lemon tea. Sedap...

We were joined later by Iderk who just ordered a slice of cake. Apa ntah namanya, carrot cake kot.

And she also had this whatsitname drink.

Then since everyone had things to attend to, we ended our get together earlier. A very rare occasion indeed. So, when I BBMed my hubby saying that I'm going back, he replied 'Aik..awalnya...' Perli la tu...

Facebook friends or foes?

2011-05-03T16:17:00.001+08:00

In the beginning of my venture into Facebook, I accepted all friend requests, regardless of gender. Then, since I share lot of things on FB such as photos, statuses and my whereabouts, I became more selective on who I accepted. And friends list spring-cleaning was performed some time ago.

The first thing that I consider upon receiving friend requests is 'Do I know this person?'. This sometimes include viewing their photos if available. If I know the person, will accept right away. If not, will move on to the 2nd stage of filtering.

I scrutinize mutual friends that we have. Who do we have in common in our friends' list? Students? Ex-school/university mates? This will require some checking out of their info page. I will definitely accept if it's from students or ex-school/university mates. If they don't belong to this category, I have to put on another filter.

I click on their walls and check out their activities. Kalau semua aktiviti perniagaan which most probably I'm not interested in anyway, sorry to say, I will have to turn down the request. If the activities look benign enough, I will consider accepting.

Recently, I received a couple of messages via FB, from abroad I assumed.

Message 1: You are so beautiful that I really believe when our creator thought of beauty, He saw only you.I would be coming to your country soon if you don't mind can we meet up and get to know you more...Nate

Huiyo.... boleh cair bila baca ni.. Well... at least for people who are naive enough la.

Message 2: Hello Dear…..i know this email will meet you by surprise, my name is Richard Mark I’m a Canadian but presently working in United Kingdom as a contractor. from Richard

Who knows, maybe the intention is genuine but since he did not pass the above filters, I chose to Ignore.

And thank God for this filter coz I have previously received a request from someone who called himself Ranjang Perkasa. Isyhh...baca nama je pun takut.

Thus, choose your FB friends wisely or they may turn out to be foes instead.

Chill out at Sungai Congkak

2011-04-11T09:00:00.001+08:00

One fine Saturday, we had a picnic at Sungai Congkak with a few family members. My youngest brother, Fairoz (who is single and available), initiated this gathering. There were also my brother Faisal and his family (Amie, the wife and Qistina, the daughter) plus one of my nieces, Ika. We were joined later by my sister-in-law, her children Alin (with her family, Wis the husband and Rayyan, the son) and Muqriz.

We went to Taman Rekreasi Lembah Congkak. There is a very narrow bridge connecting the main road to this place. For our Naza Ria, ngam-ngam je lepas.

Credit to Amilia Ali for this photo.

The place offers chalets for rent. RM30 for the whole day.

The chalet is not much, tapi boleh la, somewhere to put your things, a place to change clothes and to solat. And believe it or not, uncomfy as it looks like, I managed to have my afternoon nap.

The place is beautiful. And not too crowded thus we still have some privacy.

The kids enjoyed it very much. Tak penat-penat and tak sejuk-sejuk. Their energy is amazing but of course, on the way back, everyone was flat.

Each family brought something to eat. We had chicken and lamb BBQ, noodles, nuggets and sausages. Tak abis pun makan even though I think I had a few rounds of eating.

Over there, for those who fancy extreme sports, may want to try Darwish Xtreme Motorsports offering ATVs and scramblers.

For the ATV, it's RM60 for 1 hour. My husband gave it a try and the others took turn in riding. Err... not me though...

I may have over exerted myself because the next day my body ache all over. Tu la, tak ingat badan tu dah berat.

Where to eat in Bangkok

2011-04-05T12:56:00.000+08:00

The hotel that we stayed in during our Bangkok trip is located on Ratchadapisek Road. The hotel is within walking distance to Carrefour and Robinson shopping complexes. However, no choices of halal food outlets nearby (or maybe we failed to find any because of our ignorance).

Before the trip, I surfed the internet for halal eating place in Bangkok and most of the restaurants are located on Sukhumvit Road and Petchaburi Road. Sukhumvit Road is a long stretch of road. I overheard a guy (presumably a tour guide) telling his group that the distance of Sukhumvit Road is like from America to Pattaya. Well, exaggerate of course, but some truth to it. And it has lots of streets branching out from the main road, with each street designed a number such as Sukhumvit Soi 4 or Sukhumvit Soi 7.

We tried out a few restaurants on Sukhumvit for our meals.Most of the eating places there are Egyptian, Arabic or the likes. We first tried this Egyptian restaurant.

We had the briyani which came in a very large portion. Luckily we just ordered 3 plates. Tu pun tak abis. But it was delicious.

The kids also ordered fries.

We also tried out one restaurant, Al-Hussain.

One of the dishes that we ordered was keema parata. Yummy.

And chicken tandoori.

Another restaurant on Sukhumvit that we went to was Alif Laila.

The kids had fried rice.

We also ordered garlic nan bread

and this chicken kebab. I think so... Lupa dah nama dia.

And we were supposed to eat what with these dips? Ntah... tak sentuh langsung pun benda ni.

On Petchaburi Road, we went to Hayati Restaurant.

Same thing with Sukhumvit Road, you need to know which Soi you're heading to, or else the taxi driver won't know. But then again, dah bagi tau Soi berapa pun, some taxi drivers don't know and refused to take you. The most common reason, bad traffic jam.

Ok, Hayati Restaurant is located very near to Darul Aman mosque.

We had quite a hard time finding the place and the taxi driver was kind enough to call the place and asked for directions. We had white rice and dishes such as seafood tom yam

fried beef with oyster sauce

fried chicken with cashew nuts

mango salad.

Another restaurant located on the main road of Petchaburi is Kedai Mak Yah.

The owner can understand and speak Malay. We had deep fried prawns with garlic and black pepper

kale with salted fish

chicken soup.

And this dish was sent to our table initially. Looks like squids and hubby and I were wondering, bila pulak order sotong ni. Apparently, it was a mistake and was intended for the other table. Mujur tak makan.

We also visited Mah Boon Krong shopping complex, better known as MBK. Well, typical shopping complex la, macam2 ada.

There's a food court in MBK with halal food outlets such as this.

However, we did not have our meal there instead we went to a halal restaurant located opposite the food court, Yana Restaurant.

I had pasta with Thai sauce.

The kids had chicken burger

fish and chips

fried rice egg

Hubby had Thai fried rice with shrimp

On our last day in Bangkok, we visited Hayati Restaurant again and tried new dishes.

Chicken Thai curry

fried beef

black pepper beef

Nangphaya fried prawns.

Memang terlebih lauk. Actually, we were still considering whether to order fried beef or black pepper beef but the waiter misunderstood us and thought we were confirmed with both dishes. Adoii... se'eh perut nak abiskan lauk. Tak abis, membazir pulak.

At Chatuchak market, there are lots of stalls selling food especially in front of a shopping complex next to the market, the JJ Mall. I noticed one stall selling halal food.

Generally, there are lots of choices of halal food in Bangkok. You just need to know where to look. I recently found this website that may become handy. If only I found this website earlier...

Taxi fares from Emerald Hotel to Sukhumvit or Petchaburi were almost the same. Ranging from 80 to 130 bahts. Depending on the drivers (how fast they drive and which short-cuts they used) and depending on the traffic condition.

I also noticed there are a lot of 7-11s outlets. Sometimes there are 2 on the same street. Some items on sale are halal such as bread, biscuits, cereal and snacks. Knowing my kids, who seems to be hungry all the time, we bought some items and stock up in the hotel room, thus no need to have breakfast in the hotel which definitely tak ada sijil halal.

As far as prices of the meal are concerned, some quite pricey, some ok la. Lebih kurang mcm kat restoran-restoran besar kat Malaysia jugak. Around RM50-RM80 sekali makan. As I have mentioned in my earlier post, we spent quite a lot on food and taxi fares. Shopping tolak tepi, makan first priority .

Venice of the East

2011-03-26T08:00:00.001+08:00

I went to a conference held in Bangkok, Thailand last week. And whenever possible, the family goes with me. We went there by MAS. Somehow, AirAsia had no promotional offer during the dates and MAS fares were lower than AirAsia. Thus, my kids got to indulge in the Malaysian Hospitality served on board; Ferrero Rocher and Haagen Daaz.

At Suvarnabhumi airport Bangkok, your photo will be taken during passport check. My kids were amused and excited going through the procedure.

In Bangkok, we stayed in Emerald Hotel on Ratchadapisek Road. The hotel is also the venue of the conference.

The room is quite spacious but we had to ask for an extra bed to accommodate all of us.

Bangkok was once dubbed as the Venice of the East due to the activities that transpired along Chao Phraya river. And Bangkok has several floating markets attractions. We did not get to see any of the floating markets but we went for a cruise along the river. It was windy and wet the first few days we were there. So, boarding on the boat was quite a freezing adventure. There's a tour package available in the form of one day river pass for 150 baht (RM15). You can hop in hop off the boat via specified piers all day long.

Along the river, there are several wats which are located quite close to the pier.

We stopped at Tha Tien Pier which is in the vicinity of 2 wats: Wat Arun and Wat Pho. Wat Pho is within walking distance from the pier but to get to Wat Arun which is located on the other side of the river bank, you need to take a ferry which cost you 3 baht. Well, that's 30 cents. We spent some time in Wat Pho but did not proceed to Wat Arun nor did we proceed to the other piers. It's getting late and it's cold. The other piers also offer other wat attractions as well as Anantasamakom Throne Hall.

We also went to Lumpini Park. At the entrance of the park stood a huge statue of King Rama VI. I noticed some Thais bow and gave respect whenever they pass the statue.

The park is huge and have lots of facilities. Taman Tasik Titiwangsa just cannot compete with this park. It has a lake with paddle boat service, swimming pool, kids playground, hall, youth center with courts and other facilities.

Bangkok is also famous for its night markets or bazaars. We dropped by one night market, Patpong night market.

Besides the night markets, the weekend markets are equally famous. One of it is Chatuchak Market. Jatuchak? Chaktuchak? All refer to the same place. We managed to go there before we went back. It is a very big market. With Zones A, B, C and D and numerous gates. One can easily get lost in it. And can easily lost your money to the vendors as well . Frankly, we did not shop much. Ada la beli sikit2 je. Most of our money were spent on taxis and meals.

But actually, it is a common scenery to see vendors and stalls along the roadside. You don't have to go to any specific markets.

Things on sale vary. Food, clothes, home deco etc. And being a pharmacologist, I can't help but noticing them selling Valium and sildenafil in the open .

In certain areas, I saw this signage by the roadside. I don't know what it means but this may be what it would look like if ever PAS merge with BN .

There are many means of transportation around Bangkok. Taxis are everywhere and easy to get. But some drivers refused to take you due to bad traffic condition. Yeah... traffic in Bangkok can be very bad or always bad it seems to me. Some taxi drivers may refuse to use the meter but instead fix the fare beforehand. Jangan la naik teksi tu. We met some taxi drivers with interesting (or scary) characters. Most of them drive like mad. I guess it is a required skill to be able to survive the congested traffic. One taxi driver laughed and mumbled to himself while listening to the radio. Mujur sampai jugak ke tempat yang nak pergi. Lots of drivers can't understand nor speak English so most of the time we rode in silence. And kalau nak kutuk2 driver pun ok, dia bukannya paham... he he... Anyhow, you'll be able to identify vacant taxi by the LED light displayed on the windscreen.

And of course, the famous motorized rickshaws or nama manjanya tuk tuk are also available. All 6 of us managed to squeeze into one tuk tuk for one short trip from Lumpini Park to Patpong night market. I don't think we can tolerate longer trips with our uncomfortable positions inside the tuk tuk as well as the risk of over breathing in engine fumes.

We also tried the BTS, the sky train.

And also the MRT, the underground train.

These two transportations will get you to your destination faster during heavy traffic flow but for a family of 6 like mine, using the BTS or MRT might not be cost-effective.

For a more adventurous way of traveling, motor taxis are also available. Those who are available for hire usually wear colored vests such as these motorists. So if you are traveling solo, doesn't have lots of baggage on you, you may want to try and ride on these motorcycles.

One of the concerns when being in Bangkok is getting in the middle of red shirt protestors. We witnessed the protest on our last day. Luckily, it was very peaceful but it did cause traffic congestion.

Alhamdulillah, in terms of health, I was fine throughout my stay over there except for the usual grouches of a pregnant woman. However, my kids, (except the youngest) had a few episodes of vomiting but Alhamdulillah, they recovered. I don't know what trigger the vomiting. Maybe the food or the reckless taxi drivers or the thick smell of fried and grilled food by the roadside. The smell can be nauseating. Luckily I'm now past my 1st trimester or else I would be the one who vomits . Talking about food, we had some interesting experience. Will write about it in the next post.

A compilation of chow down

2011-03-14T16:54:00.000+08:00

I had lots of dining activities for the past few months. And here's a compilation of them.

Sekinchan Ikan Bakar

I went to this outlet located in Setiawangsa with a group of my students. It was supposed to be a lunch get together but due to unavoidable circumstances, we reached the place at 3 or 3.30 pm. But still, we had the lunch spread.

The place specializes in grilled seafood. You get to choose the fish (a variety of fish to choose from),

squids (either small or large). And other seafood too like prawns, crabs, etc.

The cooked dishes of what we chose that day.

There were assorted sauces provided.

And of course, ulam-ulaman.

We also had this large drink. One to be shared amongst us girls

and one for the guys. Between 5 of us females, we failed to finished this drink.

And a group photo, before going home. PBL group 5 of semester 1 2010/2011: Madhaavi, Aimi, Amyny, Sarina, Qamarul, Aiman, Aman and Danny. Unfortunately, 3 of the group members, Yuen, Grace and Joanne could not join the late lunch.

All in all, I enjoyed the food. And suprisingly, not that expensive too. Well, the students pun takut2 je nak pilih ikan banyak2 kot...

Restoran Tempoyak

My family and I went to Putrajaya some time ago. Husband's colleague's family has a new house being built over there and we were having a look in preparation of our own dream house in future, InsyaAllah. After taking a tour around the house we had lunch at this place which is situated in Seri Kembangan.

As the name indicates, most dishes are prepared by using tempoyak. But there are other choices too if you dislike tempoyak (like my husband). We had fried chicken, beef rendang (which is very yummy), gulai telur itik and few others.

BBQ Chicken

On another occasion, we went to Wangsa Walk and had lunch in the BBQ Chicken outlet.

We had these dishes.

I don't remember the name of the dishes above. But I did remember I was too full that day. Mengah nak abiskan the dish.

Ani Sup Utara

We also had a taste of the menu at this place, located in Taman Sri Gombak. Boleh kata setapak je from my house.

Lots of kinds of soup are on offer. Sup ekor, sup perut, you name it... But if you are allergic to Ajinomoto or similar taste enhancing substance, like my husband, better avoid the soups. My husband will suffer a bad headache when he eats dishes with lots of pak aji tu.

I had kue teow soup.

My kids had chicken rice.

Sakura Kristal Cafe

On the birthday of my kids, Syahirah and Syafiqah, we went to this restaurant located in Taman Melawati. A restaurant with nice ambience.

I had this drink

and this dish (the name I have already forgot). In terms of taste, not bad at all.

CoffeeBox

On yet another kid's birthday, Syahidah, we went to a place called CoffeeBox. The place is located in Taman Sri Gombak.

I had soya with grass jelly drink.

And this bowl of noodle with sausage and turkey loaf. The noodles sebijik macam mee maggi. The taste of the soup pun lebih kurang macam rasa maggi perisa ayam.

One of my kids had char kue teow.

And another had sizzling chicken yee mee. Then masing-masing berebut2 nak abiskan.

That's it for now. More culinary experiences in future, I'm sure. So watch this space...

Bontrot

2011-02-28T16:15:00.000+08:00

I attended a majlis tahlil held by Tunku Muna for her late father, Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, last weekend. It was at Masjid Wilayah which is not that far from my home. It was the first time I set foot in Masjid Wilayah. It is a very beautiful mosque.

Credit to Asni Abdul Samad's FB photo for this pic

Few other friends from school also came. There was a tazkirah after Maghrib. Please don't ask me the details of the tazkirah. All that I can remember was that it is about Prophet Muhammad and how we should follow his examples and sunnahs. The rest, mcm masuk telinga kanan, keluar telinga kiri. And who to blame, kalau kejap-kejap ada yang keluar camera, kejap2 keluar BlackBerry, kejap2 keluar iPhone to snap pictures. And how can I concentrate with these 'cute' antics?

Credit to Asni Abdul Samad's FB photo for this pic

But I enjoyed the gathering. Reminds me of my school days, having jemaah prayers in the school's madrasah and reciting Yaasin together.

The tahlil was performed right after Isya' prayers. And we had dinner afterwards. Alhamdulillah, rezeki, I did not just enjoyed the dinner but we were given a 'bontrot' each to take back home. When I first heard the word, I was like, Huh?? Bontrot?? Later I found out that it is a Javanese word, for take-away food especially after a feast when the hostess packed the food for the guests to take home. What a funny word, but nonetheless, new knowledge for me. Here's a pic of us with 'bontrot' in view.

Credit to Emma Sharmila's FB photo for this pic

Err... you have to make sure you pronounce the word properly...

Hantu Kak Limah Ngangkung

2011-02-20T15:34:00.000+08:00

My family went to watch a Malay movie entitled 'Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah' some time ago. It is a comedy ghost story which happens in a village called Kg Pisang. There was a movie named Zombie Kg Pisang previously. And the Kak Limah movie is not a sequel but rather another extraordinary tale that happened in the same village.

The story is about Kak Limah who was claimed to be a ghost and was seen terrorizing and terrifying the villagers. Lots of funny scenes transpired when the villagers went all out in trying to solve the problem and banish Kak Limah's ghost. One scene I liked best is when the ghost-buster or 'bomoh hantu' tried to summon Kak Limah's spirit tapi alih-alih yang datang Hantu Neng Nak pulak...

Another movie that we watched with the same genre was Ngangkung. A movie about 3 friends who took a short-cut to be rich by using black magic in order to get a winning lottery ticket. Lots of funny scenes and slap-in-the-face scenes when finally they realized there's no short-cut to riches but instead maybe a short-cut to hell.

One scene that amused me the most is the scene in a GP's clinic. The GP was trying to dissuade a couple from having an abortion. Well, obviously, the couple was having an extra-marital affair. However, the methods of abortion that the doctor exlained were grossly funny and out of the world. Understood, it is a funny movie and the scene is supposed to be hilarious. But still, having a doctor who gave such a consultation.... Ok... I'll accept the scene for the sake of its funniness .

Anyhow, my kids enjoyed both movies so much.

Favorite dialogue -

From Hantu Kak Limah movie:

- Husiinn.... Husiinnn...

- Ce cerita... ce cerita...

From Ngangkung:

- 'Atuk, nenek... cucu tumpang kencing...' 'Bila masa pulak aku kawin dgn atuk kau..'

And thank God, my kids were not spooked by the nursery rhyme 'Enjit-enjit semut, siapa sakit naik atas' which was frequently sang by 'hantu' Kak Limah in the movie.

Tangan-tangankan anak

2011-02-14T23:50:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, there was a meeting between the parents who have kids taking UPSR this year and the school's principal. And being one of the parents, off to the school we went on that Saturday.

The event started with a motivational talk by an ustaz who resides in Jerantut. It was a very interesting talk about parenting but unfortunately I can't remember his name. Nor can I remember the consultation company that he's attached to. This memory failure is so frustrating. But I still remember the gist of his talk and would like to share it here.

'Sayangkan anak, tangan-tangankan'. We often heard this phrase. And usually we refered 'tangan-tangankan' as memukul in the name of educating the kids. The speaker gave different perspectives to that phrase:

1. Tangan-tangankan as in parents using the hands to work and cari rezeki halal in order to provide shelter, food, clothes for the kids.

2. Tangan-tangankan as in parents using the hands to guide the kids and facilitate them to the right path.

3. Tangan-tangankan as in parents using the hands to lift up the kids when they fall or when faced with failures or obstacles in life.

4. Tangan-tangankan as in parents using the hands to spank the kids when necessary. However, this must be done appropriately and has its limits.

5. Tangan-tangankan as in parents put their hands together and du'a; pray to Allah that the kids will grow to be a good muslim/muslimah.

So, next time you consider this phrase during your parenthood, remember its many facets .

Hmm... can't help myself, but that is only half the phrase, the other half goes like this: Sayangkan bini, tinggalkan-tinggalkan. Considering from different perspectives, tinggal-tinggalkan does not always mean leave the wife behind while the husband goes to work but can also imply: tinggal-tinggalkan duit sekepuk dua, or kereta 2, 3 bijik or emas berlian sepeti dua... Ok, kidding...

Anyhow, in living our live, we have an individual with exemplary behavior and character that we can follow i.e. none other than our prophet Muhammad. Mudah-mudahan.

Wishing all readers salam Maulidur Rasul .

Another grandchild in the making

2011-02-08T23:14:00.000+08:00

I am already a grandma when my niece gave birth to a son a couple of years ago. And recently, one of my nephews, Megat Firdaus, got engaged. Hmm... looks like this road of grandmotherhood has no stopping.

It was a 2-in-1 event that day, merisik (asking? spying?) and engagement. All gifts or hantaran were beautifully aranged and decorated. Nine trays altogether.

Nice arrangement of tepak sirih.

We set out to Mambau, Negeri Sembilan shortly after noon. This is the nephew. Aikkk... bawak tepak sirih sendiri?

Upon arrival.

The discussion and negotiation process.

Well, frankly, not much of negotiation occured. Most of the terms of the engagement period have been pre-discussed and agreed ahead by the 2 lovebirds. But still, the interaction between the representatives of the 2 families was interesting to listen to. Especially when there were pantun involved. Such as this one... well, if my memory (and auditory) still intact, that is...

Gendang bukan sebarang gendang

Gendang dibuat daripada kerisik

Bertandang bukan sebarang bertandang

Bertandang berhajat untuk merisik.

Hmm... something not right with the pantun I think. Gendang dibuat daripada kerisik? Well, that's what I heard anyway.

This is the girl or the 'bunga yang nak disunting'.

Then the highlight of the event, putting on the rings (one for merisik and one for engagement) by my sister-in-law. Aisey.... I can only see the fingers but no rings. Salah angle la pulak snap gambar.

We then had lunch, courtesy of the host. Orang Nogoghi la katakan, so tak sah kalau tak de masak lemak cili api which was yummy...

More photo shoots ensued following lunch.

The bride-to-be and her MIL-to-be. Now, you can at least glimpse the rings.

The bride-to-be and her cousins-to-be.

A photo of the couple.

And this story will have its sequel in 4 months time, InsyaAllah.

Thirst quencher

2011-02-01T23:12:00.000+08:00

The kids had been bugging me for home-made chocolate ice-blended. After buying some time with excuses like "Nanti mak buat" or "Ok, nanti ya..." or "Hari ni tak sempat la..." I finally granted their request.

5 table spoons of Milo

2 cups of chocolate milk

2 cups of ice cubes (or was it 3 cups?? Try and error je la ya..)

Blend the above together. (Enough for 4 glasses, just nice for my 4 kids)

Pour the blended mixture into a glass. (Note: the above ingredients were enough for 4 glasses)

Squeeze a generous amount of whipped cream on top.

And sprinkle some colored rice candy.

Walla!!

Flashback to Bali

2011-01-19T16:28:00.000+08:00

I have only been in Bali once. Few years ago. And I wrote something about the trip in my other blog space which has been long-abandoned.

Another episode related to Bali was a few months ago. Hubby and I happened to be in Bangsar South City. The only reason we were there was because the headquarters for Takaful Ikhlas is there and we have some matters to settle over there. Killing 2 birds with one stone, we finished our business in Takaful and we had lunch there.

One of the outlets is a restaurant called Bali Feel. Small but nice restaurant. And we had these:

Kenangan Balifeel dish. Did I imagine I'm in Bali while eating this dish? Nope. But it was a nice dish. Well, with the price of RM12, kalau tak nice, tak tau la...

Nasi Goreng Kitamani. Well, it is stated as Kitamani in the menu but I think it should be Kintamani, the name of one of the villages in Bali.

Es Teller, a mixed fruit dessert, but this served as the drink as well. Tak kuasa nak order air lain. Kenyang air pulak nanti.

Es Cendol. Hubby ordered this but I ended up finishing it. I liked it better than the Es Teller .

Couldn't write more about the dishes. This was a few months back and I suppose I need to go back to Balifeel again to refresh the feeling .

Sketsa Anak Darjah Satu

2011-01-14T12:39:00.001+08:00

My 3rd daughter, Syahidah, enrolled in Standard 1 this year. She has no problems in terms of separation anxiety or first-day-of-school-induced anxiety After all, she has been going to pre-school since she was 4. But one thing which was obvious, it was tiring for her . Previously, she only went to morning school from 8 am which ended at 11.30 am but now, she went to school as early as 7 am and only back at home at 1 pm. Then at 2.30 pm, off to the Islamic school, back at home again at 6 pm. Poor kid. But I guess I have to rely on kids' super ability to adapt to things and to adjust their mind and body to the daily schedule.

One day, back from the Islamic school, she related this story:

Syahidah: Mak, tadi cikgu tanya siapa nak jadi penolong ketua kelas.

Mom, the teacher asked us who would like to be the class leader's assistant.

Me: Syahidah angkat tangan ke?

Did you put up your hand?

Syahidah: Ha'ah, Syahidah pun angkat tangan, jadi la penolong ketua

kelas.

Yes, I did, and I became the class leader's assistant.

Me: Syahidah sorang je ke angkat tangan?

Were you the only one who volunteered?

Syahidah: Tak la. Ada lagi yang lain angkat tangan. Tapi tak ramai

yang sokong diorang.

No. There were others. But they didn't get enough supporters.

Me: Ooo... ramai yang sokong Syahidah ek?

Ooo... lots of people supported you then?

Syahidah: Haah, semua kawan Syahidah sokong.

Yes, all my friends supported me.

Moral: Cronyism is important, even for a 7-year-old kid....

The girls with the same birthdate

2011-01-06T15:23:00.001+08:00

On 6th January:

Syahirah Nor Ain was born 9 years ago with the birth weight of 2.56 kg. But now, she has grown up, in fact taller for her age. Just short a couple of inches from her 12-year-old sister. Looking at her, I can't believe that she was the tiny baby which I once hold in my arms. It is quite an amazement to see her growing . Soon, she will be even taller than me .

She has the love for food and when it came to her favorite dishes, she would definitely ask for second helping (and sometimes for third). And I often teased her by rubbing her full stomach each time she finished a meal. This year, she started the countdown to her birthday way back since December. And she already made up her mind what present she wanted for her birthday. I just love to tease her by saying that this year, her birthday is postponed to next year or this year, there's no 6th of January .

On 6th January as well:

Syafiqah Nor Aisyah was born 6 years after Syahirah. During her first year of life, I had a maid who take care of her while I'm working. Then when we terminated the maid, we send Syafiqah to a nursery. She changed a lot following that. Initially, she's too clingy, fearful of unfamiliar faces (including my parents and other relatives whom we don't meet frequently) and reluctant to mix and play together with kids her age (such as her cousins). But after being sent to the nursery, her social skills improved and I'm very glad of the positive changes.

Well, of course, there are a few setbacks of sending a kid to a nursery such as prone to infectious illnesses and the vocabularies that she picked up from the others in the nursery. Once I heard her singing (in her 'pelatness', of course) this modified birthday song:

Happy birthday to you,

Cikgu panggil kamu,

Kamu buat tak tau,

Cikgu lempang kamu.

Yikes!!! Kids absorbed like a sponge eh?

Anyhow, wishing my dear girls a very happy birthday. They may share the same birthdate and have a special bonding between them but each has her own uniqueness and characteristics. May they grow up to be good muslimahs. Amiinn...

In Giving, We Receive

2010-12-29T11:27:00.001+08:00

Every year, for the past few years, my hubby and a few of his colleagues (mostly Citibankers), organized a fund collection for an orphanage. The choice of orphanage varies from year to year. The fund collected is usually used to buy necessities for the kids in the orphanage. This year, it was Rumah Silaturrahim Nurul Qana'ah, Greenwood, Gombak. In conjunction with the 'Back to school' theme, quite a handsome sum of money was collected and the money was efficiently managed to buy school uniforms, shoes, socks and stationery. In addition, the kids were treated to lunch at Sekinchan Ikan Bakar, Sri Gombak. And still got extra money which was also donated to the orphanage. Well, what do you expect from bankers eh? Money management is their forte .

Below is the full story of the activity plus pictures. Credit to husband's colleague, Faizal, for this special bulletin. Actually, this piece is good enough to be included in Kosmo .

For a bigger and clearer images, do click on 'em.

You don't have to be in any NGOs or societies to perform an act of kindness such as this. It is just a question of whether you want to or not. May this effort continues in years to come. And may more people lend their hands in any way they can. Because it is in giving, we receive . InsyaAllah.

Healthy vs Hazardous

2010-12-23T12:47:00.000+08:00

Received a sad news the other day about the death of a younger brother of a colleague. He died of a heart attack at the age of 36. Oh dear... that's young. I've heard similar stories and news for the past few years now. It seemed that the people who suffered from these attacks are getting younger and younger, especially the males.

And being a female, should I breathe a sigh of relief? I know females are somewhat protected from these cardiovascular diseases (for a period of time). I know, having the female hormone estrogen is the main factor why the females can avoid these diseases (again for a period of time). But this protection has its expiry. Once the menopause knock on the door, the risk of getting the diseases is comparable to the males. And menopause is such a misleading term. It is not a pause at all. It's permanent. Should call it menonomore.

And this morning, while I was drinking SoyRich drink, I thought to myself, ughh... this drink may be rich in soy, but so not rich in taste. Of course, with no added sugar, low in fat, no cholesterol... that equals to bland in taste. So, how to change this way of thinking (and attitude towards food)? Yang berlemak, yang bergaram, yang bergula tu la yang sedap. But those are the ones which are hazardous to the health. Tepuk dada tanya jantung?

Al-fatihah untuk arwah.

I O U

2010-12-16T15:55:00.000+08:00

Oh mann... This is a very long-due blog entry.

It started with my birthday which coincided with Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration months ago. So since I celebrated 'together-gether' with the whole family, there was no 'me and hubby' so-called celebration la.. And I said to him, you owe me a treat.

And we finally had a lunch date not long after that. In the Wadi Hadramawt Restaurant, located at Jalan Ampang.

A 2-storey eating place serving Arab cuisine. The low level was quite full of patrons so we opted for the first floor. Tak de orang, we were the only people who were willing to climb the stairs to the upper floor.

We shared this dish of Chicken Mandy. The serving is huge. The rice was excellent.

We also shared this Lamb Kebab

which came with this large bread. We barely ate the bread, not because of the taste but too full with rice already. Furthermore, tekak Melayu, bukan pandai makan roti masa lunch.

And we had this dish of grilled prawns.

with its accompanying sauce.

For drinks, we had iced lemon tea. Definitely different in taste as compared to teh o ais limau kedai mamak atau gerai tepi jalan.

The dishes were truly delicious. Or should I say sedap maut? Well, it's Hadramawt Restaurant isn't it?? Anyhow, I like this kind of IOUs. I need to have more IOUs from the hubby la. Can I just have IOUs for no reason at all?

On another episode but related topic, the whole family went shopping in Ampang Point one weekend. And we tried one of the Arab restaurants over there, Tarbush.

But we did not dine in, instead we tapau.

We had nasi briyani with chicken,

fish fingers

and grilled prawns.

Conclusion: Hadramawt memang maut.

Ipoh and Tambun Chapter

2010-12-14T10:06:00.002+08:00

Coming back from Cameron Highlands, we stopped by Ipoh which is quite close if you exited via Simpang Pulai. Since the kids were denied the opportunity of splashing in a pool at Cameron Highlands, we decided to make a stop at Ipoh and paid a visit to Lost World of Tambun.

We had reservations for 2 rooms at Impiana Hotel, Ipoh and we were able to get the adjoining rooms.

The hotel's rate was RM180 per night per room and with that, we were entitled to free tickets to Lost World of Tambun for 2 adults and 1 kid. I think that was a good deal indeed, considering the tickets' price are quite pricey.

We arrived at Lost World quite early the next day. A very short drive from the hotel. Plus minus 15 minutes. Not many people yet, maybe because it's a weekday. The Lost World of Tambun is owned and developed by the Sunway Group thus the setting and the concept is similar to Sunway Lagoon of KL.

There are water parks which include a sandy bay area and kids' pool.

There are also hot springs pools, a pool which is moderately hot and another pool which is slightly hotter. And of course for more extreme water experience there were rides such as cliff racer and tube raiders. We skipped that.

After a dip into the pool, you can take a tour around the park by riding on its train or can simply stroll along the way. There are a range of activities that can be enjoyed by the kids, and adults too.

Petting zoo: for up close and personal experience with small animals like rabbits etc

The tiger valley, watch out for its feeding show schedule. And other shows as well. We didn't wait for any of the show. The kids' priority is getting wet, wetter and wettest.

Can also opt for activities like paddle boat, fish feeding, geese feeding and pony ride.

And there are a few rides ranging from the mildest one such as the carousel

and the more extreme ones such as this swinging thing. The kids declined the extreme rides and I'm happy with that decision...

In addition, there are also booths akin to funfair kind of activities where you have to buy tokens to play.

After the second round of splashing around, the kids had ice-creams and I tried the waffle.

We headed back to the hotel not long after that. But I do feel somewhat lost. Because in the brochure, there's a mention of activity like cave excursion but we did not see the entrance or any signage to that direction. But there is one Kepura Cave which can be used for a meeting room or any other group's event.

So, if you ask me, which one is more happening between Lost World of Tambun and Sunway Lagoon, I suppose Sunway Lagoon is more fun. But Lost World of Tambun can be developed further and more rides and activities can be added.

Besides a taste of Tambun, we also experienced Ipoh a bit. Unfortunately we did not have the chance to taste the infamous Mee Rebus Ramli but we had dinner at Dataran Ipoh, close to Ipoh Municipal building.

We tried the Char Kue Teow with prawns. Ok la, not bad. And memang happening la tempat ni malam-malam. Lots of stalls to choose from. Kalau nasib baik, dapat tempat yang sedap. Kalau tak, well, telan je la.

And of course, Lost World of Tambun is just not enough for the kids. They again had another splashing episode at the hotel's pool.

After all, kids will be kids...

Experiencing Cameron Highlands

2010-12-03T17:20:00.000+08:00

Syakila, my eldest kid, went for a trip to Cameron Highlands some time ago. She had fun. And had fun spending some money as well. Her father gave her RM100 initially. But at the last minute he added another RM50 thinking of the expensive items and food over in Cameron.

She bought a packet of strawberries. Even though I know she does not fancy eating strawberries so much but I guess, this is a must by item. Tak sah tak beli kalau pergi Cameron.

I sort of hinted to her (well, no hint at all actually, I told her directly) to buy something for her sisters and this is what she bought. A bracelet for each of her sisters.

And she bought these lovely flowers.

This bouquet of flowers reminded me of my school days, during the exam week of SRP. One of the assessment for the Home Science subject was cooking and flower arranging. I remembered we had a special outing to town before the exam just to buy fresh flowers. But of course, we were all multi taskers, we did not just buy flowers. Dah alang-alang keluar. It was fun buying the flowers and cracking the creative side of me to arrange the flowers as nice and as pretty as possible. And I'm sure, the florists in JB had a very good fortune that day. Untung besar...

Anyhow, following Syakila's trip, hubby and I planned a school holiday trip for the family, going to Cameron too. Both of us have never been to Cameron and we were looking forward to the experience.

We headed north for Cameron on a sunny morning and exited at Simpang Pulai. Another alternative is through Tapah but we heard the roads through there are quite windy and might be cruel to my kids who are prone to motion sickness. Thus, Simpang Pulai it is. Even though the exit is further north than Tapah. Toll price: RM23.30.

Map from here.

We stayed at Heritage Apartment located in Tanah Rata, Cameron.

Tanah Rata: 4921 feet above sea level.

The apartment is a 3-room apartment which accommodate my whole family + my mother-in-law nicely.

The master bedroom with bathroom attached.

The corridor leading to the second bedroom

The third bedroom.

The kitchen with fridge, stove, microwave oven, kettle, cooking utensils, plates, cups, mugs, forks and spoons.

The living room with Astro reception and quite a nice range of channels available. Movie takde tapi AXN ada. Ok la...

The apartment is individually owned by a guy and only rent out to Muslim tenants. For RM280 per night, I'm satisfied with the apartment despite limited basic amenities. Only 1 towel and 2 bars of soaps were provided. Tak de shower cap...he he... And of course, no housekeeping. Kemas bilik sendiri. The kids just had to ask, tak de swimming pool ke? No one in the right mind akan berendam dalam swimming pool in Cameron Highlands. Even the rooms don't have any fans or air-conds.

The apartment is close to the Tanah Rata town thus dining is not a problem. The weather was nice with cool, refreshing breeze. So, it was just perfect for sight-seeing. No sweat!!! But kids will be kids.... Gaya mesti lebih. They just love to put on their jackets with the hoods up and even with the gloves on... Layan je la...

Upon arrival and checking-in, we went to a tea plantation, Bharat plantation.

Nice view.

You can also go down and walk through the plantation.

But careful with the steep hill and almost treacherous steps.

And later can enjoy a cup of tea (various of tea to choose from: fruit-flavoured tea such as blackberry, orange or strawberry, mint tea, lemon grass tea)

or can try this strawberry smoothie.

Can shop too.

During school holidays, there's a daily night market at Brinchang, a short 10-15 minutes drive from Tanah Rata. And again, no problem at all to satisfy your taste buds with the range of food available.

The next day, we went to the Time Tunnel Gallery. A museum of memorabilia. To enter, you need to pay an entrance fee of RM5 for adults and RM2 for kids.

Indeed, you go back in time when you're inside. Especially when you relate the items and collectibles to your childhood.

We also stopped by a Strawberry Farm

which is located close to Cactus Valley.

Besides the strawberry plants,

can also see other plants such as these salads.

Picking strawberries is also allowed, for a price of course. We skipped that but we spent some money at the gift shop.

In the afternoon we went to another tea plantation, Boh. There are two Boh plantations in Cameron, one in Ringlet area, another one in Brinchang. We went to the Ringlet one. It is located quite far from the main road and the road leading to the plantation is very narrow and windy. Drivers are advised to press the horn when approaching blind-corners to alert drivers coming from the opposite side.

Besides sipping tea and biting into a scone or a slice of cake at the Ummph Teashop, visitors can also go for a tour into the factory itself.

The staff will guide you through the series of tea processing which ended with sorting and grading. The tea leaves for making teh tarik is different from the leaves for making plain tea.

After the long windy road, we stopped by a play park and just enjoyed the evening breeze. While kids played, we bought some hot banana fritters from a stall nearby. Makan dgn teh o panas, memang nyaman. Err... the cool weather did wonders to one's appetite.

On our last day, we visited an arcade which is a heaven for plant/flower lovers and those who have passion for garden accessories. Aiyaa.... no picture...

We also entered Butterfly Garden. Note: there's an entrance fee.

Besides observing the colourful butterflies,

there are also other amazing small animals displayed such as this leaf frog. Can you spot the frog?

Finally, we stopped by a bee farm

where you can actually walk through the apiary and see the hives up close.

Or you can have some fun going into the bee maze

And received a gift if you succeeded in completing the maze.

With that, we said our goodbyes to Cameron and hope to come back again in future. And we moved on to our next phase of holiday. (to be continued)

Home-made ice cream

2010-11-18T16:48:00.000+08:00

Got this ice-cream recipe from the net. Simple and the kids love it.

1. 2 cups of coffee-mate

2. 200 ml fresh milk

3. 1/2 cup sugar

4. Chocolate emulco flavour

The how:

Beat items no 1 - 3 until well-mixed.

Keep in the freezer for 1 1/2 hour.

Take the ice cream out and beat again (at least 10 minutes). This step is quite important. If not, the ice-cream will not be soft and akan jadi liat macam tanah liat. Believe me...

See...one mixer ada berapa tangan yang pegang... This is teamwork.

Freeze again. At least 8 hours.

Can simply freeze in a container or use ice-cream mould like this one.

Slurrrppp.... yummy...

*Note: Can also substitute fresh milk with chocolate flavoured milk. And thus no need for chocolate emulco.

Bunch of Friends at Bouquet Garni

2010-11-14T09:00:00.002+08:00

We had another RCK recently. It was Hemy (the mothers of all Cik Kiahs) who suggested the event and the place was Bouquet Garni in Shah Alam. Located on the ground floor of RISDA building to be exact. As usual, I went there with Elin. Managed to arrive at the place after some confusion over the exit and the roundabouts.

There were 11 of us. From left: Hemy, Elin, Yus, moi, Ein, Sheila, Arm, Mimi with her extra handbag (her cute son), Reena and Nor. Another member was Mas MS who has already left when we took this picture.

Arm was my classmate from Form 1 to 3. In fact, she sat beside me during Form 1. She was a school debater and her talent memang terserlah since Form 1. Her Malay vocab jangan cerita la.. Memang excellent. I learnt a thing or two from her in Malay subject. Since she was a debater, it is no surprise she's a lawyer now.

Reena and I went to the same school during primary years. And coincidentally, we enrolled in the same secondary school. However, despite being from the same hometown, we lost touch after school days. And we were recently connected via Facebook.

Yus was the school hockey player. We have never been in a same class. The only connection that I had with her was that we were once SM/JM in a popular SM/JM game often played in our school. Well, that's another story for another day I suppose. Kalau rajin...

For the rest of the clan, tak yah cerita la. Dah appear in few of my entries before this.

We had a pleasant culinary experience that day.

I ordered Chef's special pasta. The pasta is cooked with prawns, slices of cili padi and curry leaves. Yummy. The taste of curry leaves is just nice. You can either choose fettucini or spaghetti for the pasta. I chose fettucini.

For something different, I ordered this drink called Mapple. A cocktail of green apple, wild mint, basil leave and soda. The taste? Hmm... well, a shock to my taste buds. Tapi boleh la telan. Not my kind of drink though. Padan muka, nak sangat try something different.

The rest of us ordered macam-macam. From Arrabiata pasta

to carbonara

to lamb on the rack

to steak

to fish and chips

to salad (hmmm... diet sungguh cik kiah sorang ni)

and char kue teow.

Oh yes, Bouquet Garni boasted of western dishes, but they also have Malaysian delights such as fried rice and char kue teow. Quite a range of list to choose from. And don't bother to ask the waiter. Bila tanya mana sedap, dia kata semua sedap.

And to top it all, we had desserts.

Pineapple delight. With a layer of cake at the bottom, butter cream in the middle (rasa macam aiskrim pun ada gak) and ntah apa ntah for the upper layer. And yes, such a delight.

Creme brulee. Yummy. Err... imagine having this small dish of dessert to be shared among 10 of us. No wonder, ada sorang tu sanggup bangun dari tempat duduk dia and terjah this dish...

Chocolate fondant. Sebut betul-betul.... bukan chocolate 'pondan' as was mispronounced by one of us. This is super yummy. Tangan siapa la yang enterframe ni...

And macaroons, complimentary from the chef-cum-owner of the cafe. Super duper yummy. Not too sweet. Unfortunately they did not have much for sale that day, or else I would have buy some to bring home.

In addition, we have an extra ingredient that day. Garden fresh cili padi brought by Sheila. Well, let's say it's a trademark of the RCK. Cili padi = mulut laser. The one yang menongkat dagu tu was foreseeing her mouth being chillied...

But that's the beauty of a friendship. Laser macam mana pun, I'm blessed to have them as friends because they made my day. And I'm double blessed to have a generous friend such as Arm who paid the bill. Oh yes, not forgetting the mothers of Cik Kiah, Hemy, who paid for the after-meal drinks. Lain kali belanja la lagi.

p/s I had to 'cilok' a few pics from Ein (Azreen Ahmat) FB photos. Thanks Ein...

If FB existed years ago

2010-10-29T16:51:00.001+08:00

I got this via an email from a friend (thanks Atuk!) This is cool and hilarious. Well, if Mark Zuckerberg travel back in time, this might just be possible.

Credits to this guy for these images.