The 'Cik Kiahs' - Hemy, Mas and I met again for lunch the other day. We had lunch at Ole-ole Bali, Empire, Subang. 

I wrote about our first visit to Ole-ole Bali here. We still have not had enough of the cuisines there, hence the second visit. Furthermore, Mas could not make it then.

I ordered this Cumi Metumis dish.

Cumi is actually squids. But I was reminded of a children's TV show from light years ago, Cumi dan Ciki... ha ha... Yes, that's how 'ancient' I am....:P

Hemy ordered this Siap Bumbu dish. Main component is the roast chicken.

Some of the other dishes on the menu.

We recommended Nasi campur dish for Mas, the dish that Hemy and I shared during our previous visit.

Mas had this mocktail lemongrass mint drink. 

Tengok berapa punya bapak serai dia letak...

And we topped it all with this incredibly, yummy, delicious dessert dish, Pisang Bakar. Came with ice-cream, pieces of kacang bipang and slices of coconut flesh. (Ye kot kelapa bende alah tu...) But it was heaven. Cukup-cukup ada 3 biji pisang for the 3 of us. Tu pun ada yang berebut...;)

Rasa-rasa mcam dah cukup kenyang la kan... But no.... we retreated to Serai after that. 

And we shared this pistachio creme brulee.. Sedap... 

Sampai ada sorang 'Kiah' tu bukan main scrape lagi the bowl... 

And oh... for your information, tu mangkuk bukan sebarang mangkuk. Bukan jugak mangkuk hayun. Ramekin nama dia... Well, even though you are already 40, you are still allowed to learn new knowledge, hatta ilmu berkenaan pinggan mangkuk sekalipun...:))

Hubby and I celebrated our 14th year of marriage today. We rarely exchange gifts during anniversaries. Partly maybe because we just celebrated our birthdays, his in August and mine in September. But we still remember the date and wish each other. 

So this year, I did not plan or buy anything for him. But I was surprised with a very nice practical gift the night before. A blue Samsung. 

Well, not actually a surprise because I have been talking about getting a new phone before that. UKM has this mobile phone policy which enables its staff to buy a new phone every 2 years and it will be such a waste if I don't use it. I was discussing with hubby on the options of smartphones available yesterday and Samsung has a very nice range of smartphones. And I said, we should go to the shop together and to decide later whether I should buy it or not. But I did not expect him to buy the phone there and then. So it was a very nice surprise.

In return, I thought of doing something nice for him. Something to surprise him. So, in the very narrow time frame, I managed to surf the web for online gift delivery service. And I came upon this website. Ordering and delivering is as easy as a click of the mouse.:)

I went out for lunch with hubby and had the data from my Blackberry transferred to the Samsung. While we were waiting for the transfer process, hubby received a call from an unrecognized number. He did not answer. Alasan, nombor tak kenal, malas nak layan. I half-guessed that the call must be from the delivery people. So when the call came again, I answered. It was the delivery guy. So I forced my hubby to speak to the guy. My hubby membebel, 'ntah ada parcel apa ntah. Tinggal je la kat receptionist tu...'  And all those while, I acted like I don't have a clue what it is all about. He he...

So surprise menjadi... This was the gift basket. 

 

It came with a nice anniversary card. 

At the end of the day, I got a new toy, hubby got his surprise, the kids dapat banyak coklat. Siapa yang lebih untung ni??? :-D

At the moment, I'm still occupied with my surprise gift. Still getting used to the functions and swiping and whatnots of the phone. I do miss some features from the BB though. But to be technologically advance, kena la jugak move on. Ha ha... A friend asked yesterday, pakai phone apa pulak sekarang? I said, tukar yang samseng sikit. He he... samseng la sangat... Daripada bebiri ke samseng...:P

Hmm.... maybe I'll write something about BB vs Samsung. Tengok la, if sempat and rajin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ramadhan berlalu pergi. Apabila dikenang kembali bulan Ramadhan, pasti teringat akan umat Islam yang budiman dan dermawan di dalam  menghulurkan derma dan bantuan kepada golongan yang memerlukan. Contoh terdekat, member sebelah katil dan kawan-kawan CTbanknya yang telah menjadikan agenda utama setiap tahun untuk mengadakan kutipan derma untuk anak-anak yatim.

Tahun ni, anak-anak yatim dari Darul Qanaah, Gombak, dibawa ke Ampang Point untuk membeli belah dan seterusnya berbuka puasa di Hotel de Palma, Ampang.

Memang macam-macam ada menu berbuka puasa kat situ. Tak tercuba semuanya. Mana yang sempat dan mana yang larat nak masuk perut je.

Plus point, surau kat situ memang luas dan selesa. 

Antara anak-anak yatim yang diraikan.

Cabarannya: Ramadhan dah jumpa noktah untuk tahun ni tapi tak semestinya bantuan dan derma turut dinoktahkan. Mudah-mudahan istiqamah, insyaAllah. Semoga Allah melipatgandakan ganjaran atas semua niat baik yang diusahakan.(Reminder to myself)

Syawal menjelma. Tahun ni beraya di Raub, Pahang dulu. Seperti biasa, bergambar itu mesti.

Posing tanpa anak-anak.

Posing dengan anak-anak.

Dah lebih seminggu bercuti, kena kerja la pulak kan. Gila penuh jadual kerja lepas raya ni.

28/8 - Mesyuarat bincang soalan

30/8 - Mesyuarat lembaga pemeriksa (pagi) /Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Etika Penyelidikan (petang)

4/9 - Minggu Mesra Mahasiswa (pagi)/Mesyuarat lagi (ptg)

5/9 - Jamuan raya PPUKM

6/9 - Taklimat kem PPD clash dengan Postgraduate Day (mana satu nak pegi ni...?)

7/9 - Taklimat fasilitator PPD sem 3

10/9 - Mesyuarat lagi

11-14/9 - Kem PPD

Cabarannya: kena kuatkan iman dan ketabahan nak completekan puasa ganti + puasa 6 (kalau sempat) di bulan Syawal di masa-masa jadual sarat dengan mensyuarat dan taklimat-taklimat yang semestinya penuh dengan hidangan-hidangan minum pagi/petang dan makan tengahari....Belum kira weekends yang banyak jemputan open house tu... Adoiii....... 

Akhir kata, Salam Aidilfitri. Selamat menyempurnakan puasa 6. (again reminder to myself)

I had iftar with some friends recently, namely Hemy, Mas, Iderk and Ruzaina. I usually avoid meeting up with friends at night since it is difficult to leave the kids at home unattended. Especially the youngest since she is breastfeeding. But recently, my baby has started consuming the formula milk so it's quite ok for me to have girls' night out with friends... And the most important thing, big boss kat rumah dah bagi green light. He he...

The outing started earlier for me and Hemy. We met at Subang Parade and window shopping. There's quite a variety of clothes and baju kurung on sale, tapi harga boleh tahan mengancam jugak. So tak beli apa-apa pun.

We then walked to the Empire shopping complex which is just opposite  Subang Parade. Mostly window shopping jugak. And seeing the choice of eating places in Empire, we have started to plan that next RCK should be in Empire. We stopped by at Whisk. I bought 10 of these macarons to bring home. 10 pieces, RM20. 1 piece for RM2.20. Hemy also bought 10, 1 from each flavor, to eat during iftar.

At about  4 pm, we headed out to Citta Mall, the venue for our iftar. We have decided on Chili's. We went to Chili's just to see the place. The outlet does not allow reservation but we had an eye on a suitable table for the 5 of us. It's still very early for iftar thus we killed our time by going to the book store and read some hollywood gossips...Boleh..? Bulan-bulan puasa baca pasal gossip. 

Finally, dah tak tau nak gi mana, lepak kat Chili's je. 2 jam melangut kat situ. The other girls did not arrived until after 7pm... Adoiihh...Hemy and I dah menguap-nguap tunggu. 

Then when the other girls arrived, we placed our orders and went to perform Maghrib first. Tak de la kelam kabut nak makan and then nak solat.

What we ordered:

Mine - Monterey Chicken. Sedapp... love the mash potato.

Hemy -chicken and portobello

Ruzaina - mushroom jack. It also came with pita bread, not shown in the pic. If I were to order this, I'll surely don't know how to eat this dish with all its condiments.

Iderk - lamb shoulder

Mas - ribeye

Drinks are bottomless, well, for some drinks la..

Chili's also has this Ramadhan special menu. The dishes came with soup of the day and vanilla ice-cream.

A pic of us smiling contently. Sebab dah kenyang.

Then we moved to PappaRich, and ordered drinks and sambung sesi sembang. Sembang pun bukan semua sembang kosong. We talk business too...

Sampel kuih raya from Mas.

It was almost 10pm when we called it a night. Kedai pun dah banyak tutup. One of the girls teased me by saying, dapat lesen besar hari ni eh.. dari siang sampai malam keluar. He he...sekali sekala...

Anyhow, Chili's memang lebih hangat dari biasa that day. Not just because the 5 sembang-tak-ingat-dunia friends but also because two of them dah menghangatkan kerusi kat Chili's since 5.30 pm. Duuhhh...