"My Life" by Aliza Mansor

OK...

2011-06-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

WHY IS IT THAT POSTS WITH PICS CANNOT BE PUBLISHED?????????

WHY??????????

2011-06-03T01:44:00.003-07:00

Why can't I publish my posts??????

Mencandat 2011

2011-05-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

Before I start rambling, photo credit goes to my nephew, Fahmi (in black) for the pics, since I stayed on land at sis-in-law's house :-)

Okay.

This trip took almost a year of planning. Reason? To get all the busy people in the family together for a fun-filled trip :-)

In the end, one still got called off at the last minute for a meeting in KL, and so was replaced by his son, a novice at candat. A total of seven guys were on one boat, ready to tackle the challenge of mencandat, a challenge that only those who've gone will be able to relate to (I've NEVER been, ahahahhahaaa....) And so, here are the six guys (one had to be behind the camera :p), our 'sotong heroes' :-D :-D :-D

These guys are 1. my hubby 2. my bro-in-law and 3. my nephews and four out of the seven made the same trip last year, and plan another one next year. Yep, it's become an annual event for them :-) Hubby's been bugging me to join, but with Aina still so young, I am hesitant as the weather can be pretty unpredictable, and I do not want to risk Aina getting sick just for a bit of fun... We'll see when Aina is slightly older.

It seems hubby was the 'sotong sifu' this time around, having caught almost 60% of the total catch (which supposedly was almost 30kg). At least this was the info related to us on land who weren't there, hehehehee...

This was just hubby's lot!! And the size of the squids were very long i.e. quite large. After dividing the total loot into the respective portions, we still had a bit to shar with our immediate neighbours. Hubby had gone on a trip once and the total catch was close to 70kg, and once he came back with a whole Coleman tub full of squid!! So, in comparison, this trip was just decent and some contribute the recent tsunami in Japan affecting the movement of the squid.

For next year (yes, the ball's already started rolling on THAT trip), we'll see if choosing certain dates will have an effect on the outcome :-)

Cheers!

Another "First" for Aina....

2011-05-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

Yup! Took her to the dentist!!

Actually, it was me who had a chipped tooth and broken filling, so I decided to include her in as well, just as a sort of practice session for her to get used to the place.

But, as you can see, it wasn't really a sucess!! ~ LOL

She was fine for about 1 minute, but suddenly just jumped up and climbed over the top of the dentist chair and into Mama's arms!! It was hillarious!!! This was the only pic that Babah could get from Aina's first 'dental appointment' .

Anyway, doctor said her teeth looked fine and healthy, nothing to be concerned about at the moment...

After the (failed) appointment, we took her to Summit since she was asking to go "jalan-jalan". We just walked around a bit (LG floor only) and then had lunch, then headed home. She fell asleep on the way home... :-)

And so ends another "first" for Aina.... ehehhehehee

Cheers!

Ushering in Aina's THIRD year....

2011-05-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

A very simple affair for family and immediate neighbours, Aina's third year was ushered in while she was not feeling very well.

She actually woke up that morning with a fever, so I fed her her meds and she was so co-operative since she knew we were having a party for her that afternoon.

I couldn't decide what type of cake to get her, and finally decided on a 1.5kg chocolate sponge with buttercream and jelly icing with her favourite character on it i.e. Strawberry Shortcake. Thanks to Yatt Hellikonia for making the wonderfully delicious and yummy cake, and thanks to Aunty Cik (i.e. my sis) for sponsoring the cake :-D

On top of the usual fare of fried noodles, curry chicken with roti jala, kuah durian with lempeng (courtesy of Kakak Raihan) and the like, I also made chocolate sauce to go with the mini marshmallows and ciggie biscuits :-D

And here is the birthday gurl :-D :-D :-D

She couldn't wait to blow out the candles since Babah had filled up her mini swimming pool, and she was itching to jump in :-p

All in all, it was a great party for Aina with all her family and friends, and she got to do (almost) everything she wanted without getting into too much trouble. It was a shame that soon after everyone left, her nose started to bleed and her fever came back (even tho I made sure to give her her meds when it was time), so she couldn't attend her friend, Qistina's birthday party that night.

Aina did go over to Qistina's the next day to give her present :-)

She'll oficially turn 3 on Thursday, and I hope by then she will be free from her fever and then we can take her out for a treat, just us (plus kakak raihan if she's around.... ehehehhehe).

Cheers!

My Labour Day Program

2011-05-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yup! Attended The Concert :-D

I think hubby is still trying to understand the woman he married.... LOL LOL LOL

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself tremendously and at the end, I was as hoarse as Awie, Mus and Mel... :-p

Cheers!

p.s. oh yeah... will be having a small family gathering next week for Aina's birthday. No grand do... she's still young. Hope all will go well :-)

Aina @ Bagan Lalang

2011-04-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

Aina wanted to play with 'samm' (i.e. sand) and make sam-castles, so we made a (very) short trip to Bagan Lalang recently.

She was Babah's assistant, picking up (flinging around?) sand and providing Babah with the right 'contruction tools' to build the castle...

When she was bored playing with the sand, she'll run on the beach, chasing waves and running from it :-)

She enjoyed walking and running in the sand, flinging sand around and generally running free...

"look at me, world!!!"

Cheers!

Cameron Highlands - Miscellaneous

2011-04-11T19:53:00.001-07:00

first light from my balcony

The Orang Asli community While they reside in the jungles in the area, they do come out and sell their wares by the roads leading up and down Cameron Highlands. It is now the durian season, and you'll find many of the huts selling this much sought-after fruit :-) They also sell honey collected from the forest, as well as bamboo shoots.

Honey Bee Farm

There are many places of interests ~ the Butterfly Garden, Rose Garden, Cactus Valley and of course, MARDI. A great place for a family holiday :-)

Cheers!

Cameron Highlands Resort

2011-04-11T19:21:00.001-07:00

We arrived at the Resort around 8.15pm, and it was too late to sample the Hi-Tea, which includes scones and pastries with local tea and homemade preserves. Walk-ins are also welcome, and at the time of our visit, the Hi-Tea rate is RM60.00++ for 2 persons. It would have been nice taking pics of the Resort at night as the lights were almost festive! But... 1) I couldn't be bothered to stand in the middle of the road to get a good pic, and 2) I didn't carry my tripod with me. That would have been a bit over the top since it was a working trip for me!! If you've stayed at the Merlin way back those years ago, then you'll know where the Cameron Highlands Resort is.

The cascade breakfast served at The Dining Room starts with your choice of morning pick-me-up hot beverage and juices, with a plate of fruit and bread basket with homemade preserves. The preserves are strawberry (of course!), marmalade and pineapple. The choices from the hot kitchen include eggs with beef bacon and the workd, omelette with salmon and chives, waffles, buttermilk pancakes and noodles. For walk-ins, the rate is RM70.00++ and if you really feel like splurging on a good breakfast, it really is worth it :-D

The bedroom

the welcome platter of fruits and chocolate & strawberries

they can actually fold towels in the shape of an elephant! adorable, rite??

The Japanese Restaurant, Gonbei

The Spa ~ greeting area

the signature tea bath, comes complimentary with all spa packages

the waiting area

the treatment room.

there are also rooms for couples.

The Resort sells rooms and meals separately so if you want to look for a package that includes breakfast, then head up to a local travel agent who can help.

Cheers!

Cameron Highlands - Tea Plantations

2011-04-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

As the signage shows, the factory is only open for visits till 4.30pm. There's a cafe also, and that closes around the same time as well. The scones set is supposed to be quite nice, and costs RM12.00 per set. And of course at the BOH cafe there's BOH tea :-) A whole variety of it! Take your pick and enjoy....! BOH TEA SG. PALAS PLANTATION

BHARAT TEA PLANTATION

Cheers!

Kuala Kangsar ~ Culture & Heritage

2011-04-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

The team from Lonely Planet India also covered a bit of heritage, and so our route included Kuala Kangsar...

Perak Royal Museum

Ubudiah Mosque

Kg. Kepala Bendang

~ home of the Labu Sayong

Who would have thought that our great-grandfathers had grasp the concept of purified, mineral water way back then... :-)

I remember the time when I was a child and I'd sit in front of the TV watching documentaries on how the labu sayong, wau, keris and even sulam tekat was made. If only they had the videos in DVD form today, it would be a great giveaway to visitors.... :-)

(maybe someone reading this knows someone who knows someone and can mention this....?)

Cheers!

Penang - Where to Stay : Boutique Hotels

2011-04-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

There are many, MANY choices of accommodation in Penang, and this time I'm going to introduce some other alternative choices that may appeal to some who wants something different. CLOVE HALL http://www.clovehall.com/

MUNTRI MEWS

http://www.muntrimews.com/

HOTEL PENAGA

http://www.hotelpenaga.com/

the Hutton room

ALL rooms come with jacuzzi and shower

lap pool

hotel grounds

up to the Transfer Suites

Penaga Spa waiting area

We only visited Clove Hall and Muntri Mews, and stayed at the Hotel Penaga. Room rates at Hotel Penaga are inclusive of breakfast and mini bar refreshments, internet is also available at no charge.

Cheers!

Penang - What To See

2011-04-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Siamese Temple

Penang Town Hall

Masjid Kapitan Kling

St. George's Church

Khoo Kongsi Snake Temple Jetty to Penang National Park

Penang National Park Entrance

...more of the jetty....

take the ferry at least one way :-)

...the view is great!

And so you have it... just SOME of the many sights to see in Penang :-)

Cheers!

p.s. nope, i was not on holiday, it was strictly business which is why there were no pics of me or even Aina....

Aina... :-)

2011-03-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

First of all, apologies as I've been crazy busy lately. Hence the absence and silence :-p

Also, apologies as lately I couldn't be bothered with lugging around the D90, and the P&S is officially dead. HP camera it is.... LOL

Aina has been busy in the kitchen with me lately, and she's even gotten to the stage of browsing through recipes and pointing out which ones she'd like 'us' to make :-D :-D :-D

It is usually cookies or cakes, by the way... :-p

Here, Aina is making 'soup'. She'll drag her (IKEA) step ladder to the stove area where I usually stand, take the laddle and ask for the pot. SHe'll then ask Ana to fill the pot with water and put in a slice of onion. Then she'll happily 'cook' away until I'm done cooking, and once we're seated at the table, she'll ask about her soup. I tell her that I've poured her soup into the one I've made :-)

Last night, we did our bi-monthly (sometimes only monthly :p) shopping at Tesco Shah Alam, and as usual Aina will head straight to Chicken Rice Shop once we reach the end of the walkalator. We've all had our dinner, so I just ordered a plate of rice with a bowl of fishball for her. Babah ordered a plate of the tofu :-)

At the end of the meal, she enjoyed her 'jus black' (i.e. Pepsi) and then we left. Babah stopped to buy his favourite kaya ball first. Aina had a few of those in the car as well....

Aina loves it whenever we eat out. I mean, which kid doesn't right? But Aina, she can eat double the amount she usually eats at home! We love taking her to our regular Arab Restaurant as she loves the rice there, and of course there's Chicken Rice Shop :-p Fast food? She's not really partial but when she does want it, it's usually beef burger or chicken nuggets. AND ICE CREAM OF COURSE! ~ LOL

Anyway, Babah will be working this weekend so we'll be at Tokmi's on Saturday. Dunno about Sunday... Will just have to wait and see... :-)

Cheers!

Kursus Penataran Bahasa Melayu 1/2011 @ Gambang Resort Kuantan

2011-03-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Oleh sebab kursus pun dah "Penataran Bahasa Melayu" maka biarlah entry ini pun mengikut tema :-)

Kursus diadakan dari 13 hingga 17 Mac 2011 di Bukit Gambang Resort, Kuantan.

Tempat macam menarik tetapi sebenarnya kena banyak belanja. Kepada sesiapa yang berminat nak pergi ke resort tersebut, jangan risau kerana ATM pun memang disediakan di kawasan lobi.

Takkan nak berkursus sepanjang masa kan? Ada juga program product update yang membawa peserta melawat tempat-tempat menarik seperti Cherating dan daerah Kemaman.

Ini di Kg. Cherating (kalau tak silap) di mana kami disambut oleh Salleh (bukan pakcik tu yang bernama Salleh) yang sangat gigih menayang gigi seolah-olah nak menakutkan orang :p

Salleh sedang gigih bekerja, mengikut arahan pakcik... :-)

Ini pula di pusat anyaman mengkuang. Memang sangat menarik tempat ini, malah barang-barang yang dijual di sini pun murah harganya berbanding dengan tempat lain. Kalau singgah ke sini, belilah sedikit hasil kerja tangan penduduk di sini sebab hasilnya akan diberi kepada mereka juga. Tempat ini merupakan pool tempat mereka mengumpul semua hasil kerja tangan penduduk untuk diagihkan kepada kedai-kedai dan juga dijual di premis tersebut.

Kemudian, kami bergerak pula untuk minum petang di gerai Che Wan. Makanan yang disediakan memang sangat sedap. Kami makan pun tak pandang kiri-kanan dah, semua bedal sampai licin ~ lol

Kemudian kami dibawa ke Pantai Telok Mak Nik untuk sedikit taklimat berkenaan dengan isu penyu yang mendarat di sini. Isu ini mungkin boleh dikongsikan nanti.

Selepas itu, kami dibawa pula ke turtle sanctuary di Cherating. Maaf, tiada gambar yang diambil di sana sebab masing-masing sibuk mencari tandas :-p

Kemudian, kami dibawa untuk melihat kelip-kelip @ kunang-kunang. Saya memilih untuk menunggu di atas bas memandangkan lutut saya mengalami sedikit kecederaan dan saya tidak mahu mengambil risiko menaiki bot.

Gambar di atas menunjukkan lokasi makan malam kami bertemakan BBQ pada malam terakhir di sana. Bukan... bukan yang di tepi kolam renang tu, tetapi yang di tingkat bawah yang tersusun meja dan kerusi :-) Selain daripada makanan yang banyak sampai tak termakan, acara karaoke juga diselitkan sekali. Sempat juga saya pegang mic untuk empat lagu :-D :-D :-D

Sekian dulu entry saya yang bertemakan mood kursus.

Terima kasih.

Healthy Living....?

2011-03-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

AHahahhahahHAhahahaa... THAT would be a first!!

Actually, I was suffering a bit since Monday from the *HUGE* lunch on Sunday. Not food poisoning, but it was probably gastric since I ate late (compared to my usual time), and the portion was huge!!

As I was suffering all day Monday, I decided to have this for dinner.... LOL

This is Aina, seated nicely in her high chair. She's found a way of climbing into the chair by herself, and that is always followed by me yelling at the top of my lungs!!! She'll push my chair closer to her high chair, then climb onto my chair and from there climb into her high chair!! She even uses the same method to get off her chair when no one is around to carry her out. Like I said, I'll scream my head off, because it's dangerous. She can easily fall to the floor and hit her head on the side of the table or dining chair, and I have cautioned Ana to be extra tentative and cautious during the day.

And yesterday when I got back from work, I saw 2 bananas already bruised from being overripe. And so I made these.....

BANANA & OAT MUFFINS
you need:
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
* 3 large eggs
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 tsp. vanilla essence
* 1 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda bicarbonate
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2/3 cups instant oats

how to:
pre-heat oven to 170'C.
in a large bowl, use a whisk to beat the items marked *. sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and cinnamon. add the sifted ingredients into the egg mixture and beat to combine. do not overbeat, though. fold in the oats and mashed bananas. pour into muffin liners and bake for 20 - 25mins, depending on size and individual oven.

Aina's verdict? "Yummy Mama!" And she ate 3 mini muffins while they were still warm :-)

Cheers!

From Saba to Sana'a to MARHABA (finally!)

2011-02-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

And this is the elusive restaurant that we were trying to get to on Sunday...

My niece called up and asked if we'd liek to join them for lunch at Saba Cyberjaya. Since we're just 10mins away, we of course said "Yes". Then a second call came in to say that the location has changed to Sana'a. Ok. It was not far from Saba, and we knew where it was. And according to her, it was near the Arab Mart where we usually go to buy our supply of Barbican :-p

So, we met another niece with her hubby and baby at the Street Mall and headed to the Sana'a we knew. We didn't want to wait in the car since the weather was broiling, so we sat and decided to have a look at the menu. I had called my other niece earlier to inform her that we were already there. Turned out, as we were looking through the menu, she called and told me we were at the wrong place!

I asked what was the name of the restaurant, she really couldn't say since there was no signage outside the shop! Now, where on Earth did they pick out the name Sana'a from? LOL LOL

So, we picked up our stuff, apologised to the waitress at Sana'a and headed to the correct restaurant located within the grounds of Cyberia Homes.

For seven adults and 2 tiny kids, we ordered 4 dishes ~ 2 Mandi Lamb, 1 Mandi Chicken and 1 Chicken dish which was new and I cannot recall the name but it starts with a "Z" :-D

For some reason, Aina was extremely cranky yesterday, so she refused to sit with everyone else. First she wanted to go home! But she finally settled sitting with me at another table... She was actually a bit sleepy, and so her mood was horrible! I had to take her to the convenience store there, and I had to buy her a feeding bottle to pacify her. OK, it was either that or the plunger, so obviously I chose the feeding bottle!!! Who in their right mind would want to be carrying a plunger all through lunch??!?!

This is the "dug out oven" used to cook most of the dishes. I think the concept is similar to a tandoor... But since it wasn't me who went in the kitchen to take pics, I wouldn't really know :-p

And this is the shop, from the outside. Yep, no signage.... So, for those who'd like to try it out, it's within the grounds of Cyberia Smarthomes and the restuarant is located at the end of the row. of shops.

Cheers!!

When Babah Is Not Around....

2011-02-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

Babah had to work. Well, he's planning to go on his annual fishing trip so whatever job is pending MUST be completed before he leaves. And so it was just us girls at home on Saturday. I tried making Apam Eno for breakfast, but it didn't turn out so good ~ it was not soft and fluffy :-( I followed the recipe to the letter but I guess I'll just have to try again some other time...

Then lunch was a simple affair of noodle soup. I used the air-dried-not-fried noodles sold in supermarkets, and the soup was made of home made fish stock, a little bit of chicken stock cube (had to add a hint of familiarity for Aina's sake), enoki mushrooms, chinese cabbage and an egg. The way I cooked it was pretty much similar to making instant noodles, and the reason is, Aina is a total stickler for instant noodles! So, we change the ingredients to make it healthier and present it to look like instant noodles :-D

After her afternoon nap, to make sure she did not go back to sleep, I asked if she wanted to play in her pool. I didn't have to ask twice :-D

For dinner, I decided to make spaghetti carbonara. I had fresh button mushrooms, and I had pasta, so it was basically a no-brainer. Babah was not home so I didn't really feel like slaving in the kitchen on a hot afternoon.... :-p

My carbonara sauce is the simplest (read: laziest) version and uses only stuff I have at hand. I left out the heavy cream and egg yolks since Aina would be eating it anyway.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA ~ SHORTCUT VERSION
you need:
enough pasta for 2 persons
2 cloves garlic. minced
2 sausages, sliced
3 - 4 button mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
1/2 Tbs. flour
handful of cheese (I used pre-packaged pizza topping mix)
salt and pepper, to taste
how to:
you need to start cooking your pasta first, and time it to be almost done by the time you're done making the sauce.
heat olive oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic is fragrant, not burnt. add in the sausages and mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are soft. add in all other ingredients except the cheese, then bring up to a boil. simmer gently, and as it
starts to thicken, drain the pasta and add into the sauce. stir in the cheese at
this point and stir till sauce and pasta are well combined and cheese has melted. check seasoning and serve.

Shortcut enough? :-D

Cheers!

Aina's Spa Experience....

2011-02-22T04:35:00.000-08:00

...at home :-)

She saw Mama, and was fascinated. So, after Mama's time was up, the eye pads were passed to Aina..... ehehehhee...

I am planning to take her for a haircut soon, but dunno how THAT will turn out! LOL

I'll see if I can actually manage to take pics/video if that ever happens.....

Cheers!

Weekend...

2011-02-20T03:58:00.000-08:00

We stayed in on Saturday, all day, since Babah was at work. In the afternoon, he went to pick up Raihan, since she had stuff to do, and we had planned to go see Mak on Sunday.

Since Raihan was at home, I cooked the last ikan tongkol in the freezer. I made a simple gulai, which recipe I'm posting without pics as I totally forgot to snap a pic with it! I am putting in the recipe anyway because it was my first time making the dish, and it turned out quite well :-)

GULAI IKAN TONGKOL
you need:
1 whole tongkol, roughly 1kg ~ sliced and pre-boiled with a few pieces of tamarind pieces and salt. reserve the stock for the gravy.
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
5 - 8 whole cili padi
salt, sugar, to taste
grind/blend to a smooth paste:
5 small red onions
2 cloves garlic
1/2-inch piece galangal
1/2-inch piece turmeric root
small piece of ginger
10 dried chillies, soaked in hot water

how to:
heat oil and fry the spice paste till fragrant and slightly dry, and the oil has surfaced. add in the stock from the boiled fish pieces and the cili padi. bring up to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. add in the fish pieces and a bit of seasoning. add in the coconut cream and simmer gently, stirring constantly so that the cream doesn't split. check seasoning and serve.

Sunday morning, we headed to Sg. Besi to see Mak. Since Raihan had stuff to do on campus that evening, our visit was short since we also wanted to go visit my brother-in-law who's been in and out of hospital. That visit was also "touch and go" as it was already 1.30pm, and we REALLY had to move....

We stopped somewhere as Raihan needed to get some infor about her assignments, and that was when Aina decided to monkey around a bit in the car....

Her sunglasses even became crooked but she just grinned and had the time of her life pretending to drive us. No worries ok, the car was stationary, put in "P" and hand brakes were up. I NEVER EVER let hubby put her in his lap while driving, NEVER ever did that myself, and I think parents who did this either had temporary insanity or are totally devoid of common sense. You may be going at 25kmph, it can still cause serious damage to a child if you were to crash!!!

Anyway.... we got home by 3pm, and rested for a bit while Raihan finished what she had to do, then I went down to prepare dinner, and Babah sent Raihan immediately after dinner.

And THAT was our (boring) weekend....

How was your? :-)

Cheers!

Prawn Mee @ Penang Hokkien Mee

2011-02-15T01:37:00.000-08:00

I think the meal should be the entry title today considering how long I've been waiting to make it. To make these noodles, there're a few levels of patience one must endure, and it is all worth it! Let me enlighten you :-)

1. to 'save' enough prawn heads to make a decent stock is no easy task, not when there's only 3 adults in a home, short of risking high cholesterol and sinus attack if we should consume the required amount in one go!!

2. to slowly boil the heads (2 hrs, gentle simmer) until you achieve a beautiful full-flavoured prawn stock.

3. to cook the compulsory chilli paste that goes into the stock/gravy and also as accompaniment to the final dish. it takes a LOOONNNGG time for the ground paste to be a rich, deep red colour and dry enough not to be considered as additional 'sauce' to the stock/gravy.

And so.... I first took out the prawn heads and cleaned them and put them in a bowl to simmer. That was at 11.45am (we'd just got back from Tesco with the other ingredients). After Zohor prayers, I proceeded to make the chilli paste and to blend the strained prawn heads to add to the stock. I finally got back upstairs at 4.40pm.

PENANG HOKKIEN MEE @ PRAWN MEE
you need:

for STOCK
1kg prawn heads ONLY, rinsed
2 sticks celery, chopped in large chunks
1 large white onion, quartered
small garlic clove, smashed lightly
1 1/2 ltr. water
~ combine all in a stock pot and bring up to a boil. lower heat and simmer gently for 2 hours. strain and set aside. reserve heads for later; discard the celery, onion and garlic.

for CHILLI PASTE (to blend)
5 shallots
1 large onion
15 - 20 pcs dried chillies
1 small piece ginger
2 Tbs. dried shrimp
5 - 6 Tbs oil
3 - 4 Tbs water
~ blend to a very fine paste and fry in oil (make sure you use enough oil) until the mixture dries up and is a rich, dar red. make sure not to burn the bottom though, so you need to stir regularly. you may also wish to season with salt at this point.

for SOUP/GRAVY
reserved stock
prawn heads + 1 cup water, blended and strained
extra 1 cup of water
half of the prepared chilli paste
salt and sugar, to taste
~ bring the stock up to a boil, then add in the strained liquid and extra water with the chilli paste. let it come to a boil again, then simmer gently about 2omins. check seasoning.

to SERVE:
1 pkt yellow egg noodles, blanched lightly
1 bunch water onvulvulous, cleaned and cut into manageable lengths;
blanched
enough beansprouts (I did not use this)
1 pkt fishballs, blanched
hard-boiled eggs
pre-cooked prawns (I ran out and Tesco didn't have large ones, boo-hooo!)
shredded cooked chicken breast (too lazy to add this one as well!)
extra chilli paste on the side
~ place enough noodles and condiments of choice in a bowl and laddle over the hot soup. add more chilli paste if preferred. ENJOY!

Yes, yes... I know. Going through the 'rituals' above, I should have added the prawns and the chicken but honestly, to me it isn't really necessary as I enjoy the noodles with the veggies as is anyway.... :-) :-D

Yummmmyyyyy.....!!!

Cheers!

Aina's Pool :-)

2011-02-15T01:12:00.001-08:00

On our recent trip to Toys R Us, we'd gotten Aina a mini swimming pool. Well, at least she can cool off on hot days right there under our porch :-)

Last Saturday, I'd jokingly asked Hubby to blow it up since we can't locate the pump we'd gotten awhile back for the air mattress and her floatie. When we (Aina and me) got back from TokMi's on Saturday afternoon, the pool was all set to be filled, smack in the middle of our bedroom!

aina just HAD to test it out, even though it was empty and in the middle of our bedroom!!

Thanks, Hubbs!!! **muaaaahhhhhsss**

Anyway, hubby moved the thing down to our porch, reversed the car to the side of the street and filled it up.....

Babah even indulged Aina by being Aina's very own bubble making "machine" making sure the bubbles kept coming, much to her delight! :-D

Cheers!

Sunday Dinner

2011-02-13T03:37:00.000-08:00

The whole of Sunday was spent watching TV (by Aina) and editing pics and updating FB & blog (by me) since Hubby was at work all day.

After lunch, I'd started to prepare the ingredients for dinner ~ pounding the chillies and turmeric for the masak lemak, and prepping the chicken to be grilled in the oven. Yup, the Ayam 'Goreng' Rempah was grilled in the oven to make it a little healthier :-D

GULAI LEMAK IKAN MASIN & BELIMBING
you need:
2 pcs med-sized salted fish, soaked in hot water for about 15 - 20mins,
rinsed and cut into smaller pieces
10 - 15 cili padi, up to your own level of tolerance! :-p
1 thumb-sized (and my thumb's not so large) fresh turmeric root
1 piece turmeric leaf
6 belimbing buluh, cut into chunks
1 small piece asam gelugur
1 cup thin coconut milk
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
salt, sugar ~ to taste

how to:
pound the turmeric and cili padi to a fine paste. combine the paste with the coconut milk, asam, and belimbing in a pot and bring to a boil. lower heat to a simmer, add in the salted fish and turmeric leaf. simmer gently, stirring regularly, until fish and belimbing is tender. add in the coconut cream and bring up to a boil, again stirring regularly so that the coconut cream does not split. check seasoning and serve.

AYAM GORENG REMPAH
you need:
6 pcs. chicken wings
1 small piece turmeric root
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. white peppercorns
1 Tbs. light soy sauce

how to:
rub the soy sauce into the chicken and let rest about 10mins.
pound all the spices coarsely, then rub into the chicken and leave to marinade for about 20 mins. heat oven to 160'C and drizzle vergetable oil over the chicken pieces and mix to combine. lay the chicken pieces on the grilling tray and cook for about 40mins, till done.

This is another dish that goes perfectly with the gulai lemak, and any other gulai that you may cook at your home! :-D

IKAN PEKASAM GORENG TELUR
you need:
3 - 4 small pcs ikan pekasam, rinsed well
sliced onions, quantity is up to you
sliced cili padi, quantity is up to you
1 egg, beaten lightly
lime wedgesm, to garnish and squeeze over the dish

how to:
heat a bit of oil and fry the fish pieces gently over low heat. as the fish browns, add in the onions and cili and fry till onions are soft. pour in the egg mixture and let set a bit, turn over and cook the other side. it is basically like an omelette, only you have the fish as the filling. when egg is cooked through, squeeze lime over and serve hot.

It's Monday morning, and it's busy, busy, busy..........till tomorrow, I HOPE!

Cheers!!

Fish! Fish! Fish!

2011-02-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

A fishy entry?
I guess.... :-)

There's one more fish dish, but I'll save that for tomorrow, ehehehhee...

And yes, I still have a few more belimbing entries since Mom's tree is still fruiting and we've been raiding the tree on a weekly basis now LOL

This asam pedas was our dinner dish last Friday. I added in brinjal and tomatoes on top of the belimbing, and it was a yummy dish to say the least.

ASAM PEDAS IKAN KEMBUNG
you need:
2 - 3 whole kembung fish, cleaned
1 med-sized brinjal, cut into chunks
1 tomato, cut into sections
5 - 6 belimbing buluh
1/2 Tbs tamarind paste + 1 cup water
* the amount of tamarind really depends on the type that you have. some are sweeter, some salty and some are really sour. so, you need to taste to be sure.
1 ginger bud (bunga kantan), halved
a handful vietnamese mint (daun kesum)
salt and sugar, to taste (if necessary)
to blend:
10 - 15 dried chilies, soaked in hot water for about 10 mins and
seeded
5 small red onions
1 large onion
1 small clove garlic
1 small piece galangal
1 thumb-sized piece fresh turmeric root
a bit of roasted belacan

how to:
heat oil, a large amount. the access can always be scooped out later. fry the ground ingredients until dry and fragrant, and oil rises to the surface. the oil that comes up should be a rich red in colour. then add in the brinjal and add half the tamarind juice. when the brinjal is slightly tender, add in the fish and belimbing. bring up to boil, and then simmer gently, adding the remainder of the liquid. cook slowly until fish is nearly done, then add in the ginger bud and vietnamese mint together with the tomatoes. finish cooking the dish and check seasoning. serve HOT.

For our Sunday lunch, since Babah was at work, I raided the freezer and found some fish fillets. And so, it was fish and chips for lunch :-)

LIGHT & CRISPY FISH BATTER
you need:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vinegar
how to:
mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly whisk while adding the water. the batter should still be a bit thick. just before you start dredging the fish, stir in the vinegar. the batter should look bubbly. dip the fish slices/fillet into the batter and deep fry in 180'C oil till golden brown. drain and serve with chips and choice of veg.
note: i found this recipe in recipegroup.com and it has a beautiful light and crispy texture that we may also use to make our most revered pisang goreng!!

Needless to say, we had the best lunch and Aina is now lounging in bed, watching Little Eisteins :-D

Till then, Cheers!!

Mama's Little Model :-)

2011-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Aina wearing a dress Mama made :-)

It's a bit droopy on her, even though before making the final stitching I'd already tested it on her...

Haaaiihhh.... she's TINY!!!

Aina was in the mood of becoming a duck and so she was 'quack-quacking' the whole time I was trying to get a decent picture of her in the dress ~ LOL

She didn't really eat during dinner, so after her argument with Babah about the TV channel, we went out to the nearest 'Golden Arches' for a plain beef burger. Aina eats it without ketchup, pickles & onions. She asked for ice-cream but since I didn't want her awake till all hours I told her they'd ran out, so she had to wait till tomorrow, ehhehhehee...

Mama and Babah shared a box of 6-piece nuggets, which Aina hijacked the last piece :-)

She finally went off to sleep at almost 11pm, after having her bottle. Tomorrow we'll be spending the morning at TokMi's. Original plan was to go to IKEA but since a neighbour had invited the family over, we might have to make some adjustments....

Have a good weekend ahead! :-D

Cheers!

Swimsuit Model?

2011-02-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Seriously?? LOL

This is what happens when a 2.5 year old goes to the wardrobe to take her favourite nappy, and finds her swimsuit instead...!

And, as soon as she had finished 'wearing' her suit, she said, "mama, swimming hotel....." read: Mama, let's go swimming at the hotel!! LOL LOL LOL

The hotel idea I believe started when we took her to one on New Year's Eve. And that notion has stuck with her since then.

adorable? i think so!!

I really didn't know what to say when I saw this, except run to grab my camera!!! :-D

It's a good thing I managed to retrieve the suit safely without any incidents!! :p

I guess I really do have to take her somewhere to swim... or maybe Babah can pump the pool we'd just bought.............?

Cheers!

More of Cheeky Aina

2011-02-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

See!!!

Cheeky right??!

All these pics were snapped while getting ready for dinner. These days, she LOVES to mug for the camera, but thank God most of the time it isn't too bad LOL

The lighting is a bit "urrrggh!" because the built-in flash conked, and I was too lazy to put in the speed light :-p

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I still have a small bag of belimbing in the fridge so I came up with this very simple dish.

sambal sardin dengan belimbing

Sardine Sambal with Belimbing

you need:

3 - 4 pcs belimbing, halved lengthwise

1 small clove garlic, minced

3 slices ginger, julienned

2 shallots, sliced finely

1 - 2 tsp. sambal belacan

1 small tin canned sardines in tomato sauce

how to:

heat oil in a saucepan and fry shallots, garlic and ginger till
fragrant. add in the sambal and belimbing. when the mixture starts to simmer,
add in the sardines together with the tomato sauce and simmer gently for about 5
mins. Check seasoning and serve hot.

Braised Pumpkin with Spinach

This is another simple recipe that I prepared for our dinner.

Braised Pumpkin with Spinach

you need:

1/4 small pumpkin, cut into large chunks

small bunch of baby spinach, cleaned

1 fresh red chilli, cut roughly

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

2 Tbs, dried anchovies, washed

salt, sugar to taste

how to:

in a medium sized pan, place all ingredients EXCEPT SPINACH, and
add enough water to cover. bring up to a boil and simmer over medium heat till
pumpkin is tender. stir in the spinach and bring up to a boil before turning off
heat.

Anyway, I have some funny pics of Aina which I'd like to share, but maybe tomorrow. Tonite, my face is already practically hitting the keyboard!!! :-p

Cheers, everyone!

Cheeky Aina :-)

2011-02-09T16:09:00.001-08:00

She looks all grown up in this pic....

When I got home yesterday, she was getting ready for her bath. I cooked while Ana bathed her, but Ana came down alone as Aina wanted to stay upstairs to watch TV. It was her favourite Pororo on TV so obviously that was more appealing that Mama in the kitchen, LOL

Ana told me that earlier, Ana had gone to take her wudhu' and when she came back into the room, Aina had hidden under her blanket and peeked out and yelled "Surpriiisse!!!" Ana laughed her head off!

Aina LOVES to play hide and seek and sometimes after dinner while we're watching TV she'll ask me to close my eyes and she'll go hide somewhere and giggle excitedly when I start calling for her... ehehehhee. And when she huddles behind a couch or behind the TV and you ask her what's she doing, her reply would be "hide and seek, mama!" :-D

And last night, after cooking I made my way upstairs to call her down for dinner, and the little imp was hiding quietly under the comforter! She giggled like crazy when I went looking for her, pretending not to know she was right there... :-D

I took out the camera to take pics of our dinner, and Aina posed and said "smile!" so I knew she wanted me to snap her pic.

Ikan Siakap (barramundi is it?) Tiga Rasa

Kerabu Belimbing

Kerabu Belimbing
you need:
1/2 cup belimbing buluh, sliced
1/2 cup cucumber, sliced or diced (your preference)
1 med-sized red onion, sliced finely
1 Tbs. dried anchovies, washed and deep-fried till crispy
salt, sugar to taste
1 - 2 Tbs. thick coconut cream (I used from the box)
1 - 2 Tbs. grated coconut, optional
sambal, to pound:
3 red chillies
1/2 tsp. roasted belacan
a little squeeze of lime

how to:
mix all ingredients and stir to combine well. leave to stand
about 15mins. before serving.

There's another small batch of belimbing left in the fridge, and those will probably be used for sambal and asam pedas for today and tomorrow. We'll see... ehehehhee...

Till then, cheers!!

Averrhoa Bilimbi

2011-02-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

....or more commonly known as belimbing buluh.

Not many people like this fruit, but to those who love it, it is definitely most precious when one can get hold of it. Thank God for me, it's right there in Mom's garden so when it's in season, we can harvest basket loads of it. Mom's tree is not big, but when it bears fruit, there's an abundance of it!!

So, since I'd gone to Mom's last weekend, and thanks to Aina who was climbing the window grilles overlooking her garden (which was how we saw that the fruits were ready for picking!), she gave me about a large colander full of the fruit.

And so our dinner menu the last two days has incorporated the fruit into our dishes. Only the truly brave can eat this fruit raw, with a little salt. I've done it a few times, but it's not my most favourite thing to do, so I usually cook with it.

On Monday, I used the freshly sliced belimbing in my sambal belacan, and savoured its tangy freshness as is. Yesterday, I tried out a recipe known as Sambal Hitam Pahang. This is my first time attempting it. I'd heard of it, and was curious to try it.

daging goreng kunyit, pucuk keledek goreng pedas, sambal hitam & ikan pekasam goreng

Sambal Hitam
(my version ~ after numerous versions read in the internet)
you need:
a small bowl of belimbing, boiled in its own juices until dry
and browned, then pounded slightly
2 handfulls ikan bilis, washed and pounded slightly
pounded finely:
a handfull cili padi
5 small red onions
1 small clove garlic
2 - 3 Tbs kicap manis
salt, sugar ~ to taste

how to:
heat oil in a wok and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant.
add in all other ingredients and cook until slightly dry. check seasoing;
ready to serve.

Laying in my fridge also is an abundance of ikan pekasam in a few version ~ from small little ones to good palm-sized ones. And so, with the belimbing available these few days, adding the pickled (?) fish to our dinner menu is only natural and inevitable :-D

Ikan Pekasam Goreng
you need:
1 large fish or 3 -4 small ones, washed and patted dry GENTLY
sliced red onions, quantity is up to you
sliced cili padi, quantity is up to you
a bit of oil for frying
a squeeze of lime
how to:
heat oil. i use a small amount since i was using the small fish. the fish will breakdown while frying so you basically have to dish it all up and serve it kind of like a mish-mash :-) anyway, place the fish in the hot oil and use a low heat. when you see the fish starting to crisp up on one side, turn it gently (as much as you can) and add in the red onions and cili padi. when the onions are soft, turn off heat and scoop the whole thing into your serving plate. squeeze lime juice over it and enjoy with a (large) plate of hot steaming rice.

On our recent grocery-shopping trip to Tesco, we also managed to get some sweet potato shoots. These are delicious in a simple spicy stir-fry dish.

Spicy Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Shoots
you need:
1 bunch sweet potato shoots (pumpkin shoots can be used too)
pounded coarsely:
2 - 3 red onions
1 clove garlic
3 - 4 fresh red chillies
salt, sugar to taste
how to:
heat oil and fry pounded ingredients till fragrant and slightly
dry. add in the shoots and cook until just wilted. check seasoning and serve
hot.

Hubby actually came home late last night but since he knew I'd prepared the dishes, he asked for his dinner even though it was already past 11.00pm. I obliged, but gave him only half portion of his usual serving since it was so late :-)

Anyway, tonight will be our last dinner incorporating the belimbing since I'd distributed almost half among my neighbours and friends. If I remember to snap pics, then there'll be another entry on that tomorrow :-)

Till then... Cheers!

My Little Miss Helpful :-)

2011-02-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

Aina.
My very own Little Miss Helpful (??).
Or is she??
LOL LOL

These days, she'll come into the kitchen when I start cooking and insist on helping me. We'll pull the wooden step bench to the counter so that she'll be able to see 'help' me, and she'll start to help me stir stuff or arrange stuff, or pick up stuff, or wash stuff.... it can be QUITE stressful actually, with knives and hot pots and flaming stoves within reach!! :-s

But, I figure that if I get her interested and organised from now, then later when she starts schoool, following instructions should not be too hard, should it?

I'm getting her to stir muffin batter, spoon the batter into the trays and she's even helped make pizza so I guess she's well on her way :-)

She spends most of the time going through my baking drawer. It's where I keep muffin liners, baking trays, whisks, etc. and I usually just let her familiarise herself. Recently, I wanted to make steamed fish, so I mixed the sauces in a small bowl and wanted a small whisk to stir it all up. I went to Aina's little corner and 'borrowed' her mini whisk which I'd gotten for her from IKEA. The little minx chased me all the way to the kitchen, screaming that it was hers and she wanted it back!!! LOL LOL LOL

It's perfectly fine for her to ransack my cabinets and drawers but I can't even borrow her little whisk??!!? Haaiiihh.... We, Ana and I, had a good laugh about it though, because it was just too funny!!! She actually ran after me from the sitting hall to the kitchen, the whole time going "No! Mama... No! Mine... Aina punya!!". LOL LOL LOL

Oh yeah, on Friday, I nearly got a heart attack when I saw her sitting on my kitchen floor, Ribena cordial bottle in hand. Why? Because she'd opened the bottle and was drinking the cordial STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE!!!!! UUUrrrggghh!!! Imagine how sickeningly sweet that was??? Her face was also a bit scrunched up so I guess even Aina thought it was too sweet! I grabbed the bottle from her and told her that I had to mix it first, demonstrating to her what should be done.

Anyway, so far we've not had any serious mishaps, and maybe one of these days I'll get Babah to snap pics of Aina being my Little Miss Helpful, then you can all judge for yourselves :-)

Cheers!

Chinese New Year 2

2011-02-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

It's the second day of New Year, and as promised, we're taking Aina to Toys R Us today. Yups, she's been practically chanting in our ear that she wants to go there, and since Babah is free today, might as well get ot over and done with. She's been browsing the Toys R Us catalogue and telling me what she wants "mama beli, baby nak"!!

And so, decked out in her Tesco-bought cheongsam, Babah made her pose for a few pics while I organised stuff to bring and got ready to leave.

The poor thing was even given props for the 'photo shoot'!!! LOL

And her posing session did not end at our front gate, as Babah saw the stage set in the concourse level of the mall, and decided to get Aina to pose there as well!! LOL LOL

We'd arrived IOI Mall a little early, 5mins. to 10:00am to be exact, so we had some time to kill before the store opened. Turned out that the toy store only opened at 10.30am so we went to ACES Hardware to kill time. Aina had fun going through the plastic containers, but she kept them all back where she got them. I bought some seeds to plant, herbs. I chose coriander, sage, dill and marjoram. By the time I finished at the cashier, the toy store had opened its shutters. Aina grinned all the way to the store!! ~LOL

After testing almost all the items at the "Learning" corner, Aina finally steered away only to find the skateboards and scooters section, where she insisted that she wanted a skateboard!! Yup, a SKATEBOARD!! It was a very firm "NO" so Babah steered her towards the "bubbles" area. She finally settled on buying a bubble-blowing battery operated gun which set us back by approx. RM20.00!!! ahahahhahaha.... compared to all the other stuff she asked me to buy in the catalogue, I had no complaints that she ended up with a RM20 toy!!! LOL LOL

I asked her what she wanted for lunch, but she said "No, mama.... tak nak. Balik!" Ok. She was anxious and impatient to try out her new toy. We remembered there was a J.Co there so we bought her donuts, which she happily agreed, while me and Babah had our lunch at Wendy's.

Aina, enjoying her Oreo Donut while we were having our burgers :-)

When we got back, she immediately ransacked her shopping bag to get her toy. Needless to say, she wanted to test it out. And so, Ana took her out back to play since she couldn't possibly blow the bubbles indoors.

a mini 'fight' with Ana resulting in a temper outburst!

She was so engrossed playing, I managed to sneak off upstairs to change and finish Aina's dress which I'd cut out ages ago....

For dinner, since Babah was off to help prepare for tomorrow's event (Mama and Aina decided not to go for fear of spreading germs! Bad enough we were going tomorrow!!) I made a simple dish of fried rice with shrimp and peas. Then, I had the sudden hankering for a bowl of hot soup.

And I managed to get that in 5 mins. flat!! And since I didn't have time to grab my camera or my phone, I had to google this image to accompany the simple recipe :-)

PEA & CORIANDER SOUP
you need:
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup hot water
1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules
2 tsp. lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste
a handful of chopped coriander

how to:
place the peas, water, lemon juice and stock granules in a pot and bring up
to boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. as soon as peas are tender,
add in the coriander and turn off heat after 1 minute. process with a hand
blender until desired consistency, and serve hot!

The soup definitely qualifies as comfort food, and now I have something to add to my list of midnight express snacks :-) Honestly, I was inspired by Nigella Lawson whose programme I was watching earlier, only she used fresh pesto in her pea soup. I think you can actually use chinese parsley, spinach or any other personal favourite you like and experiment. This is definitely a satisfying and healthy item to have at hand :-)

We have an event tomorrow, and hopefully my cough would have subsided a bit by then....

Cheers!

Chinese New Year 1

2011-02-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

Our breakfast was 'golden' croissant and pumpkin bread pudding, which I'd made before and decided to do again, just because of it's 'golden hues' that is suited to usher in the first day of the New Year :-) Only this time, I used honey and butter to make the caramel instead of butter and sugar. The end result, for me, is slightly better as the sweetness is slightly muted.

The pizzas which Aina helped make. She arranged the sausage slices (while tucking away a few safely in her own mouth!) and topped with the cheese, all the while chattering and smiling proudly :-D

For lunch, since Hubby was at work, Aina and I made wholemeal pita pizzas with beef sausages, tomato (mine) and topped with cheese. I had made the pizza sauce earlier. The sauce also has grated carrots, a very sneaky way to add veggies in a fussy child's diet!

SNEAKY ENRICHED PIZZA SAUCE

you need:
1 large can whole tomatoes
1 large garlic clove, minced finely
1 med-sized dried bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried ground oregano
1/4 tsp. ground stevia leaves (or 1/2 tsp. sugar)
1 small carrot, grated
optional ~ other veggies you might want to consider:
zuchinni, spinach, asparagus, etc.. it's up to you, really! just be
sure to cut or grate finely.

how to:
heat a bit of olive oil in a sauce pan and add in the bay leaf. add in the
minced garlic as well. fry till fragrant, then pour in the whole can of
tomatoes, oregano and carrots and bring up to a boil. if using ground stevia,
add in now, then lower heat and simmer about 10 - 15 mins on low heat till
almost dry. add salt, pepper to taste. cool slightly before using.

THIS SAUCE CAN ALSO BE FROZEN AND USED TO MAKE YOUR PASTA SAUCE.

For dinner, we had steamboat. Yup, it's usually eaten during the big feast on New Year's Eve but I was working yesterday and since Mom didn't have any plans last night, I decided not to take leave on New Year's Eve.

And no, to those who're thinking "what the....??", I have not gone mad. Our family does acknowledge the New Year, and even Christmas for that matter, since my Mom's side of the family are Chinese Catholics :-) We've been having steamboat on New Year's Eve for as long as I can remember, and only recently that Mom has 'merged' the steamboat tradition with the celebration of Dad's birthday since his birthday usually falls a few days after New Year. Mom isn't quite as sprightly as she used to be so she saves her energy for just one big prep!! :-D

Anyway, since I'm 50% Chinese, making Aina 25% (is there such a thing??!?! LOL), I thought I'd keep the steamboat tradition going in my own family..... My version is just that much more complicated!! LOL

Little Aina extremely anxious to start!

No, not really....just takes a slightly longer prep time :-)

Aina's little crockpot steamboat, with chicken balls, carrots and one mushroom

to try, which she ended up not touching at all.......

STEAMBOAT STOCK
you need:
1 lemongrass, bruised
1 1/2-inch piece galangal (lengkuas), bruised
1 1-inch ginger, bruised
1 whole garlic bulb, cleaned and cut in half
1 large white onion, quartered
optional ~ chicken bones, smashed lightly
(i added in the chicken bones leftover from where i took the fillet)
1.5 - 2lt water
salt and pepper

how to:
in a large pot, combine all ingredients EXCEPT the seasoning, and bring up
to boil. simmer for about half an hour, check seasoning and leave to simmer an
extra 10mins. Turn off heat until ready to use.

MARINADES:
Chicken fillet : Oyster Sauce, Minced Ginger, Minced Garlic and a bit of
sugar
Beef fillet: Soy Sauce, Minced Ginger, Lea & Perrins Worchestershire
Sauce (just a small amount)
Squid: Soy Sauce, Minced Garlic, Minced Red Chillies, Minced
Lemongrass

DIPPING SAUCES:

Soy and Garlic
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 Tbs. chopped garlic
1/2 Tbs. minced ginger
1/4 tsp. sugar, or more to taste (i used honey)
- mix all ingredients well. stand for about 15mins before using.

Hoisin Dipping Sauce
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce
2 Tbs. tomato ketchup
1 Tbs. oyster sauce
4 Tbs. boiled water
1 Tbs. light soy sauce
1 Tbs. sugar
- mix ingredients weel, check seasoning and adjust accordingly.

Thai Dipping Sauce
2 large red chillies (or chilli padi if you prefer fiery hot!),
minced
1 small garlic, minced
2 Tbs. fish sauce
2 Tbs. sugar
3 - 4 Tbs. lime or lemon juice
2 Tbs. chopped coriander
- combine and mix all ingredients and check seasoning to preferred
taste.

Special Steamboat Sauce
1 large onion (approx. 1/2 cup) finely diced
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
2 Tbs. oyster sauce
2 Tbs. light soy sauce
4 Tbs. water
1/2 Tbs. sugar
1/4 Tbs. vinegar
4 Tbs. olive oil/vegetable oil
- heat 2 Tbs olive oil and fry the onions till brown and caramelised. add
in the garlic and ginger and fry till fragrant. add in the sauces and
water, sugar and vinegar. simmer about 1omins, then check seasoning. turn off
heat and stir in the remainder of the olive oil.

note: i found this recipe a while back, and have tweaked it to my
preference. as the onions and garlic may add a bit of texture to the sauce, you might want to use a hand blender and smooth it all out.

And so... after a most satisfying meal, it is good nite for now, until my next post :-)

Till then, eat well and be jolly!!!

Cheers!

Fever Again.....

2011-02-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

Aina had the fever again....

The pic above was taken at TokMi's on Sunday when she first had the fever. Poor thing curled up on the sofa while watching her Mickey Mouse DVD.

This pic was taken last nite (Tuesday). She fell asleep waiting for Mama to switch on the Dibo DVD. She was exhausted really, because she woke up that morning with a VERY high temperature ~ 39.5'C ~ and so I gave her a cold shower after giving her her meds. She cried in protest since it was only 5.00am but I didn't have a choice because her high fever was already making her nose bleed.

We went off to SJMC at 5.30am as I wanted Aina to have a blood test since she's had the fever on and off for three days.

It took a LOOONNNGG time for the lab tech to get to the emergency room/outpatient clinic, that we almost gave up. It doesn't make sense to make patients wait that long since it nowadays the danger of dengue and H1N1 is most apparent! We waited for the tech about 15 mins (the time which the doc said will take for the tech to arrive), then hubby decided to cross over to the other side of the building to go to the ATM machine. And yet, aven after hubby returned (from the same building where the lab is located), we had to wait a good 10mins more before the lab tech arrived!! Did the tech crawl on all fours from the building across, which was why it took him that much longer to arrive??? Weird!!

Anyway, alhamdulillah.... Aina's blood test was good ~ no signs of any danger. So, she was presribed meds then we went off home. We had exactly one hour before we had to leave for the appointments at DEMC. AppointmentS, because it was for both me and Aina.

I decided to take Aina to the ENT to see if there was any specific reasons for her frequent nosebleeds. I was a bleeder too as a child, but lately Aina's nosebleeds have been a bit worrying.

Alhamdulillah... nothing serious, just maybe some extra sensitive capilaries. So, since there was a bit of blood in her nose where it was a bit damaged, doc gave her a course of aitibiotics to finish, and some flu meds for her runny nose. Oh yes, she was also prescribed nasal spray to help keep her nose moist :-)

This pic was taken before she fell ill at TokMi's. TokMi was clearing away some festive baskets which were decorated with fake sakura flowers, and Aina wanted to play with them. TokMi took one small piece and placed it in her hair, and when Aina went to see the mirror, she grinned and said "princess!". And so she gave TokMi a few more pieces to add into her hair... and so in the end, she became (in my opinion) Rudolph's cousin!!! LOL LOL LOL

Last Friday I was asked to attend the above briefing. It was interesting to say the least. We'll see how the actual grading goes when we start the program....

Oh, and this was our breakfast yesterday morning, before going off to DEMC for the appointments ~ tuna, crabstick and sweetcorn with mayonaise on wholemeal bread :-) Well, this was actually mine. Hubby's version was without the tuna and sweetcorn and he used croissants instead :-D :-D :-D

Tomorrow we usher in the year of the Rabbit, and so I wish all my immediate and extended families and friends a Most Prosperous New Year and to all, Happy Holidays!!! :-D

Cheers!

TWO WEEKS????

2011-01-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

OMG!!! Has it really been two weeks since my last entry?? It can't be!! REALLY???

Time seems to have just whizzed by that even though I have a gazillion things to rant about, I can't seem to fgind the time or energy to write them all down! LOL

On this wet, rainy Sunday morning, with Aina asleep by my side (she has a fever) I am now writing this down, hoping to be able to jot down the few memorable moments I've had the last few weeks... :-D (really, memorable??? hurrrmmm)

I think that only Aina's antics are worthy to put in, since she has managed to make us all laugh each time she opens her mouth or discovers something new! :-D

But, this blog is also kind of about MY life, so I guess a bit of that (boring) part will have to be put in as well.....

1. Work
Things have been crazy-busy with a whole lot of programs for the first quarter falling into place and taking shape, and lots and LOTS of planning and paperwork need to be done. I am due to travel again soon, but the actual date is yet to be determined since it's not even finalised yet as to which program I'll be going on!! We have a few planned, including a trip to Goa but Goa is already out from my to-go list since I've already given that up for my colleague. So, it's either Delhi or Mumbai for me then.....

Other parts of my work, I'd rather not even start to rant for fear it'll take a hundred entries before you even see some resemblence of the end of my ranting!! ~ lol

2. Life (in general)
Is pretty good. I am still trying to conceive so in a way it is a good thing that most of the travelling will take place in this first quarter. Hubby is also unbelievably busy with work so our long-intended family vacation up in the hills will have to take a back seat for now. I'm also thinking of taking Aina on an overseas trip, although a short one since it'll be her first, but destination is yet to be determined ~ Singapore? Indonesia? Thailand? hurrrmmm.... Malaysia, Truly Asia is still strong in my heart so it might be a trip 'overseas' but the South China Sea instead... ehehehhe!

3. Aina :-D
The light of my life, reason for myu existence! Seriously, I cannot imagine what life would be like without her.... Her vocabulary grows everyday, sometimes surprising us with the way she puts things together. For instance, she knows what a coconut is. And she knows what trees are. BUT, she totally surprised babah when he was driving with her in the car, and they were passing some palm trees by the road and she said "tree..coconut". And when she was with me in the car, we passed by an area full of trees and she said to me "mama....forest".

Just yesterday, she made all of us laugh like mad when she was looking for TokMi's 'pet toy' guinea pigs (you can find it at major departmental stores) and when Tok Yat found it she actually said to Tok Yat "Oohh! You found it!!"

And again last night when she was looking for TokMi who had gone upstairs. When TokMi came into the room "Tokmi! I found you!" It was totally hillarious!!!! LOL

Last week, Ana's room door got jammed up and we could not open it. We tried using the key, a hammer and dear hubby even took the door knob apart and yet the door still could not be opened. We finally called the contractor to help do the deed, and when the door opened, Aina who'd been following our progress dilligently suddenly said "Yaaaay! It works!!" Imagine how hard we were rollng on the floor then!!!

Anyway, Aina is asleep now since she has a fever. Maybe because she got caught in the drizzle yesterday evening when we went out for dinner. Our lunch plans for today has to be changed since Aina is in no position to be going out (in the rain, again!) so instead of going to try Hadramawt @ Chulan Square, TokMi will tapau lauk from a new Minang restaurant in Uptown.

Yup, no pics in this entry as I did not bring my card reader back from the office, and we're now in TokMi's house since Babah is working outstation.....

Cheers!

Aina's Wings....

2011-01-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Early Saturday morning (well, not so early... it was after our yummy bread pudding breakfast), we left for Puncak Alam/Puncak Perdana to go pick up Raihan. Aina wanted to wear the wings which I'd gotten for her the day before LOL

She didn't even mind standing up the whole way!! Just so she could show off to kakak Raihan :-p

Then, we decided to head to IOI Mall as I wanted to search for donut pans at Daiso. Unfortunately, there were no donut pans, but we did manage to try the frozen yoghurt from Tutti Frutti. Very pricey, but I guess it IS a healthier alterntive to ice--cream every once in a while...

Aina obviously liked it :-D :-D :-D

Oh yeah... Saturday night we attended a kenduri near our house. Aina of course had fun befriending the other kids there. There was ONE child, a boy, however who was extremely overbearing. Initially, as his mom was around, he and the other kids played well together. But when his mom stepped away, he and Aina got in a tussle of sorts, and he pushed Aina to the floor, used his feet to kick at her and even pressed her to the ground. I was watching the whole thing, making sure things didn't get too far out of hand. Aina, although smaller in size and stature, manaed to keep her own quite well. In the end however, the little tyke got very violent and slapped Aina HARD ON HER LEFT CHEEK! I've seen her get smacked by other kids before and she's always managed to keep her cool but this time she screamed her head off.... Her left cheek turned a crimson colour and it stayed red for the next hour or so....

We got home, changed and got out again to take Raihan out to practice a bit of night photography. That will be in another entry I suppose... :-)

Anyway, with reagrd to Aina, I usually let her just play and fight her own fights. Helps build character, I believe! LOL Her babah did tell her though that the next time a boy hits you, smash him in the nose, HARD!!! LOL LOL LOL

Till then.

FRUITful Saturday :-)

2011-01-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

It was definitely an ambitious weekend which I'd planned, and thankfully almost all of it was carried out. The list was as follows:

1. To paint loft (hubby) and wall (me)
2. To finish Aina's dress
3. To make lasagna
4. To make bread pudding
5. To make tacos
6. To make donuts

Review:
1. Could not complete as hubby had to go in to work, so paint time cut short, postponed to next week.
2. Kind of completed it, but it was too small after making adjustments! Project scraped, starting a new one soon....
3 - 5. COMPLETED!!
6. Due to overload of food, item no. 6 was postponed to another week :-)

And so here is my simple bread pudding recipe which was inspired by an entry in MADE, using pumpkins. I tweaked the recipe and used croissants instead of bread, and it was DELICIOUS!

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING
you need:
2 pkts of mini croissants from Bread Story
to make caramel:
50g butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
egg mixture - whisk together:
200ml low fat milk
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
2/3 cups mashed pumpkin pulp
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

how to:
lightly grease baking dish and pour caramel mixture on the bottom. tear the croissants in half and arrange tightly in the dish. pour the egg mixture over and leave minimum 8 hours, or overnight. Pre-heat oven to 175'C and bake for approx. 45 - 50mins, depending on your oven. Exteremely yummy served warm! :-)

LASAGNA
(using a 6 x 6 aluminium foil pan)
you need:
6 pieces instant lasagna sheets
1 pkg. pizza topping cheese OR mozarella cheese
meat sauce:
1 large onion, diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 large piece dried bay leaf
1 pkt. RAMLI minced meat
1 large tin canned whole tomatoes
1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
salt, pepper to taste
white sauce:
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
300ml milk
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
white pepper, salt to taste

how to:
meat sauce:
saute the onions, garlic and bay leaf until the onions are soft. add in the oregano and minced beef. let the beef cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, then pour in the canned tomatoes with the juices, and stir while crushing the tomatoes. Add in the cocoa powder and seasoning and simmer about 10mins. Set aside.

white sauce:
melt butter in a saucepan and add in the flour. stir using a whisk or wooden spoon until the paste thickens and form lumps. add in the milk and whisk/stir until smooth, then add in the seasoning. taste and adjust accordingly. the mixture whould be thick and creamy. turn off heat and set aside.

to assemble the lasagna:
spoon 1/3 of the meat sauce into the base of the pan. arrange 3 sheets of lasagna over - it's okay to overlap :-) Then pour 1/3 of the white sauce and top with a handful of the cheese. repeat, finishing with a layer of meat sauce, then white sauce, and a whole lot of cheese and bake in a pre-heated 180'C oven for approx. 35 - 40 mins, till bubbly and nicely browned.

This is the Mexican Taco which hubby had been craving for, and I will not be putting up the recipe since you can buy the taco shells in a pre-packaged box complete with the spice mix to cook the beef and the salsa sauce that goes on top of it.

As for my other projects, I'll update as and when it's all done :-)
Watch this space! :-P

AM

Happy New Year..........

2011-01-01T22:34:00.000-08:00

Totally unbelievable that it's already 2011!

Dunno where 2010 went, as it seems to have just whizzed by :-p

Anyway, I had decided to take leave on Thursday and Friday to finish off the last two days of leave I have left in 2010, when the football team had to 'ruin' it all by leaving me one measly day balance to carry forward to 2011 :-p

Kudos and congrats to the team :-D :-D :-D

On Friday, hubby sent Ana to the train station for her to take the LRT to Kg Baru since I'd promised her the weekend off. She had friends to see, stuff to do I guess... being so young, I guess it's only normal.

I was thinking what to do the weekend since due to the last minute unexpected bonus holiday, I'm sure many would have abandoned their original plans and decide to do other things. In the end, I called up my favourite place up in the hills in Putrajaya and they still had room available!! Yaaayy!

So, I packed while waiting for hubby to come back from Friday prayers, then got Aina ready. Hubby made a side trip to the hardware store, so he came back a bit later than expected, but since we were all packed (I'd also packed his stuff) all he had to do was to tload the stuff in the car and go where we wanted to go.

We decided to make a stop first to tapau our dinner since we figured it'd be mad to go out on New Year's Eve, no matter where you are!!!

We checked in at the hotel almost 6.00pm, and Aina was all psyched about being in a 'nice' place which had a huge tub and a swimming pool, so three guesses where she headed first?? ~ LOL

Yup, the swimming pool. Since the pool at Putrajaya Shangri-La does not use chlorine, I was more than happy to allow Aina to play as much as she liked. But, the pool was a bit crowded, so Aina had a short dip then we went back to the room where she continued playing in the tub, where she had more fun playing with the bubbles :-D

On a side note, I noticed that the hotel had changed their toiletries, and the bath salts were missing :-( But, it was still nice anyway, and the most important thing was that Aina had fun.

We showered, then decided to go to the lobby lounge as they had their usual complimentary sunset cocktail for their in-house guests. FYI, the cocktail's from 6.00pm - 7.00pm daily. By the time we got there though, it was about quarter to seven. Aina was more interested looking down at the table setting @ Azur (the Mediterranean retaurant) and Palm Hill (the Coffeehouse) as they had placed hats and gift packs, and Aina kept saying "er-pise, Mama... er-pise" i.e. surprise :-)

Babah was not feeling so good as he had a sinus attack so while he went back to the room to rest, I took Aina around the hotel for a short inspection, ahahahhahaaa... I'd been there many times before so I knew my way around :-p

When we got back to the room, Babah was already re-heating the food we'd bought for dinner and so we sat down for a nice meal of Chicken Mandi and Lamb Madghout, from Al-Barakah @ Neo Cyberjaya :-)

(sorry, not many pics of food and the like as Babah was more intent on taking pics of Aina at the pool and playing in the bath tub!!! ~ lol)

Aina must have been really excited about our little getaway because she didn't nod off to sleep till after 11.00pm and woke up early in the morning, at 6.30am!!!

She went to the bathroom, saw the tub and 'volunteered' to take her bath, ahahahhaaa... We all showered and were off to breakfast by 7.00am!! :-D

After breakfast, Aina changed into her suit and we headed to the swimming pool again. This time, it was just us so it was obviously MUCH more fun, ehehehehee... Babah joined us, but only to take pics.

We actually wanted to check-out at noon or a little after but considering Aina woke up extremely early, and to top it all off, she was happily playing on the bed when she suddenly 'disappeared onto the floor', you can imagine that the fun was all over for her that time, LOL

And so we packed up and left around 11.30 and headed to Taman Warisan Pertanian for our lunch. We weren't in the mood for anything really heavy so we decided to go for Hj Samuri's satay.

After our early lunch, we headed home to rest.

Aina had already nodded off in the car, on the way home. And the journey was only 15 minutes!! LOL

Raihan called when we were on our way home and told us she was coming back that evening so all we had to do was to wait for her call to pick her up at the bus terminal. Unfortunately, when we got there that evening, she SMS'd to tell us that the driver had decided to go to Klang first, so we had about an hour to kill before she arrived! We had dinner at a nearby restaurant while we waited, and turned out the food there was yummy :-D

Anyway, that was our activity for the New Year, and we wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Madghout anyone.....?

2010-12-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Some time last week, hubby and I went to Al-Barakah again for dinner.

Surprise...surprise. They had added some new stuff in their menu, so we decided to try the lamb and chicken madghout.

Then, hubby went to the grocery store a few doors away to see if they had restocked their Strawberry and Apple Barbican, and he was also pleasantly surprised to see a new flavour added ~ Pomegranate!!

Verdict?

We were extremely happy with the meal and well as the drink :-)

I only had a bit of taste of the new barbican, but ordered mint tea at the restaurant as I was nursing a bad sore throat at the time...

Yes, I would recommend anyone to try the lamb madghout at Al-Barakah @ Cyberjaya as the rice is nice and fluffy and the lamb protion was more than adequate :-D :-D :-D

Double Trouble

2010-12-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

It was on Friday that I received the call from my niece, asking if I'd be interested.

OF COURSE I WOULD!!!

But, I was planning to bring Aina to her 2nd cousins' birthday bash so I opted out.

On Saturday morning Aina was still feverish and coughing so I asked my niece if I could change my mind... :-p

After a whole day of giving Aina her meds, her fever was gone but her cough was getting worse so I decided not to attend the party for fear other kids would catch her cough, and so it was Double Trouble that evening....

Special thanks to hubby who agreed to go with me even though it wasn't really his scene.

DT was not to be missed. I couldn't not go as I had been to the first one FIFTTEEN years ago at the Stadium Negara, and believe me, it still plays in my head!! LOL

And since I read somewhere once that this mayor may not be the last time the two legends will be on one stage together, I figured I HAD to go to this one.... :-D :-D :-D

No need for long exhaustive words, just these pics to share....

We did leave immediately after "Gemuruh" though because they usually team up towards the end, and to wait till the end would mean traffic-death!! LOL We didn't miss a lot though because the long walk from the Surf Beach to the main entrance allowed us to still hear the band even though we'd left them more than halfway behind :-) :-p

One thing for sure, this MIGHT well be the last time I go for an open air concert LOL

Virus....

2010-12-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

Yup... it's been THAT time of the year. What a way to mark the end of 2010!

Aina, hubby, me and even our maid was not spared.... :-s

Mine started on Saturday, after we got back from Seremban. But, even though I was already feeling sore and kind of woozy, still went ahead to catch the movie date with hubby.

my little Imp, with her painted "bunny" face at the birthday party last Saturday

I still tried to make it to work on Monday but left around 8.40am to go to the panel clinic @ TTDI since I had to drop by to pick up something from Mom's anyway. Turned out, temperature was 38.5'C and throat was already inflamed. Doc gave the required meds and I soon made my way home. Poor Aina. She was so happy to see me home but she was baffled as to why I was not really into playing with her. So, I took her hands and put them to my forehead so she could feel my fever, and I told her, "Mama pain.....". So she agreed to go play with Ana and let me sleep for a bit....

Tuesday I was still not well so I had to go to the panel clinic near our house to get another MC for Tuesday. If I had gone to SJMC on Monday, I would have gotten 2 days off immediately. Good thing too that I had the extra day because by lunch time, Aina had developed a fever. I gave her the meds we already had at home, but it didn't seem to work. At 5.20pm hubby and I were in SJMC waiting our turn to see the doc. Turned out, Aina had a fever of 38.3'C and so she was immediately given supp meds (i.e. inserted from her bottom). She asked for a burger on the way home, and impressed us by finishing it :-D

That night though, her temp was still high and around 1.00am I stripped her and gave her a sponge bath. She cried, protested, but I didn't really have a choice as she was HOT! I gave her another round of supp med, then put her back to bed. By Wednesday morning, she was still just slightly warm to the touch so I told Ana to call me at work if her temperature goes sky-high again. Alhamdulillah....... Aina has been fine the last 2 days, just slightly warm in the evening so I just stick to her paracetamol.

Anyway, we are all feeling better now and hope that the weekend will bring us something more fruitful than just laying in bed, pumped with meds!!! LOL

Happy weekend, and to those who are celebrating, "Merry Christmas!!"

AM

Aina Visits Land Before Time?

2010-12-22T23:33:00.000-08:00

The National Science Centre is having a Dinosaurs Alive exhibit till end of May 2011 so if you or your child is a dino-freak, then by all means, do stop by and have a look-see. Admission is RM10 for adults. I don't remember if there's a child's fee, but I do know that Aina's admission was FREE :-D

As we entered the Centre, Aina was immediately awed by the 'fish tank' around her.

But as soon as we stepped into the dino area, Aina's awe turned to fear a bit. She was hesitant to take a step and had to be persuaded....

this one above REALLY scared her, especially when it did this.........

The two dinos greeted guests as they came into the exhibition, and then we moved on to see the other exhibits.

I kind of regretted not bringing my flash; I forgot the built-in one was not working. The whole exhibit at the top floor was shrouded in darkness with minimal lighting!! I had to keep checking my speed setting, and without a tripod, obviously most of it was cr*p!! :-s

It was actually scary for a lot of kids! A boy quite a few years older than Aina was seen crying as he exited the exhibit area.... Poor thing! Aina was considered brave since she only refused to go near the dinos but was ok walking through the exhibit.

I think the sound effects and darkness scares kids.... Even TokMi was complaining that the sounds of snarls and growls were to loud....

After exiting the dino exhibit, we went round and visited the education and activity centre.....

All in all, Aina had good fun so that was important.

Couples Weekend

2010-12-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, hubby and I headed to Seremban...

Aina was with TokMi as Aunty Cicik was throwing a birthday party and wanted Aina to be there.

"Selamat Bertunang" to Idyr & Aishah

Since we were done by 1pm, hubby and I decided to go browse for a new laptop at Low Yat but first, we made a stop in Puchong to drop of the camera and change into more comfy clothes :-p

Mission accomplished :-D

Yup. I now have a new laptop............. Yiippeeee!!!!!!

Next, we had promised ourselves to go watch a movie, and I had planned to at least have a nice, quiet (maybe even romantic?) dinner first but earlier hubby had received an SMS informing him about a small gathering of old friends later in the evening around 9pm.

So, considering it's been almost THIRTY years since he last saw some of them, I told him that we could cancel dinner and just go for the movie. He was ecstatic I think, but he made sure I was really ok with it first, LOL

What movie....?

"Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah"

Why?

Because it honestly seemed like a fun movie to watch ~ no expectations, no jolts....

Verdict?

A REALLY REALLY fun movie worth watching :-D :-D :-D

In the end, I was rather grateful that our 'date' ended a bit earlier than expected as I had developed a slight fever and was so looking forward to sleep.

Hubby finally came home at 2.30am ;-p

Back On Track

2010-12-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

After my appointment with Prof yesterday, we are now back on track.... For what, you may ask? Well, for me to get pregnant again of course!! LOL LOL LOL

Seriously though, Prof has given his OK and has started me on metformine and prescribed fert pills to help along. I now have to maintain a constant sugar reading of between 4 -5 to minimise any risks related to my diabetes.

It was a surprisingly short wait at the hospital, so we managed to get home before the peak hour traffic, and since hubby was going back into the office leaving us girls at home, I only made noodles for dinner.

BEEF & VEGETABLES NOODLE SOUP
you need:
3 - 4 'pieces' of mee suah, rinsed briefly
200g beef slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1-inch piece ginger, sliced
1 Tbs oyster sauce
500ml water
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
veggies of your choice - i used frozen corn and peas
how to:
heat both oils in a pot and fry the garlic and ginger. add in the beef
slices and brown well. add in the oyster sauce and water and bring up to boil.
if using carrots, then add in now. as i was using frozen corn and peas, i only
added them just before i added in the noodles.

once the broth has boiled, check seasoning and add in the veggies and
noodles, and simmer briefly until noodles are done. the noodles i used i.e. mee
suah tend to get mushy really fast so i only cooked them for about 2 minutes,
then quickly served.

Aina was being her cheeky self yesterday so she only ate a few mouthfuls, then only slurped the broth. After dinner, she asked for a box of (Mama's) low fat milk and drank that :-s

Saturday at The Curve

2010-12-12T16:16:00.001-08:00

It was unplanned.

Aina was making a fuss about going to TokMi's (something she's started to do every weekend now) and since Babah had to work so he said he'll send us and come pick us up after his stint at PWTC.

It was off to The Curve with Mama, TokMi and TokYah...... :-)

After the photo stop in front of e@Curve, we headed to Tao located inside e@Curve for our late breakfast of coffee (iced chocolate for Mama & Aina) and croissants. The patio was a nice place to have coffee (or even iced chocolate ;-P) but not very child friendly as the seats were high, set with high tables. Yes, the place was a club/lounge in the evening, but I think alternative seating arrangements should be made available for the 'day crowd' which will obviously mean families bringing in kids. At the moment, they are having special promo on the coffee & croissants which claim to be the 'cheapest in town' for only RM5 per set. You can choose from latte, cappucino, etc. I am not a coffee person, so I stuck to my iced chocolate which was a wonderful not-so-sweet concoction with a nice dollop of vanilla ice-cream on top :-D

Aina has fascination with all things Christmas I think, and she loves to touch the sparkly decoration and ornaments (which kid doesn't right??)

TokMi bought her a cute Christmas 'sock' with a candy cane and bittersweet chocolate in it. She seemed a bit overwhelmed at all the deco around her, so in most pics she kida looks 'lost' LOL

see what I mean.............?

TokMi took Aina into one of the kiosks selling ornaments and deco, and bought Aina a small set of deco to play with

in the second pic above, Aina is seating down with Mama's huge shopping bag on her shoulder. In the huge bag is her sock of candy & chocolate, and her little box of tree deco, LOL LOL

Our lunch at Sakae Sushi :-D Aina shared Mama's Beef Ramen
I have just one comment about Sakae Sushi - the servers should make it a point to check if the customer is familiar with their way of ordering i.e. vie the individual computers set up at the tables. Good thing I'd been to one of their outlets, or else we'd be so upset that no one came by to take our orders, LOL LOL LOL

Nicely decorated tiny Christmas Tree

The red decorations were the ones TokMi bought for Aina to play with.

And before someone goes of ranting about that little tree, please just think of it as just a toy! Besides, duit raya, ang pows and Christmas presents have always been a part of our family since we come from a mixed parentage. Half of our family are Chinese Catholics so we observe almost all major holidays in the calendar just for the sake of enjoying the spirit of family and merriment :-D

And.... while Mama was Facebooking while watching TV and TokMi took a short nap,

after Aina's 'handy work' of opening up the 'presents' LOL

Needless to say we had a huge shock, not to mention a very comical moment when Aina proudly told TokMi to wake up to see her 'surprise' for TokMi! LOL LOL LOL

She's opened up all the 'wrapped presents' in red paper to see what were the 'gifts' inside, only to find small blocks of styrofoam which she proceeded to breakdown and scatter all over TokMi's room.... :-p

feigning ignorance after the damage

We all soon got ready again to go out for dinner at Aina's favourite place. As soon as we got up the escalators to the ground floor of 1 Utama in front of the Supermarket, Aina confidently led the way, LOL LOL LOL

what's left of Aina's dinner @ Chicken Rice Shop

On the way home, we stopped by Cake Sense to buy Aina's donuts....
Aina enjoying her donut while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD

...and this is how she looked when Babah came to pick us up :-D

Babah decided to go to the Drive-thru to get Berries McFlurry and a Large Coke, both of which was also enjoyed by Aina... LOL

pssst... she'd actually rubbed her face on TokMi's back when she hid behind TokMi during a suspenseful scene on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (yup, MICKEY MOUSE!!!), and TokMi had jsut poured powder on herself. Hence, Aina's 'powdered look' LOL LOL LOL

Menu Makan-Makan....

2010-12-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a simple menu made up in my head along the way home as I was stuck in the crazy after-rain traffic jam. It was also due to the crowd visiting the KL International Motor Show. Imagine, it took me a full 20 mins just to clear the parking ramp and get onto the road!! I only managed to reach hubby's office at 6.05pm, by which time we'd usually already be at the toll plaza nearing our home :-s

Anyway, in the morning I'd asked Ana to take out a container of beef from the freezer. I was supposed to go buy veggies but I was too lazy to cross the road during lunch to go visit Cold Storage, then I was too tired from traffic to stop at the shops on the way home. In the end, we ended up with an impromptu peas & carrots dish LOL

Beef Curry
you need:
200g beef slices (I used tenderloin)
2 Tbs sweet soy sauce - marinade
1 tsp thick soy sauce - marinade
1 pc cinnamon stick
1 stalk curry leaves
to blend:
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small piece ginger
1/2 pkt meat curry powder (I used alagappa's)
1 Tbs. Nek Nor prepared
sambal tumis (optional - I used this in lieu of chilli paste!)
1/4 - 1/2 pkt santan (I used the reduced fat M&S brand)
1/4 tsp stevia leaves (or sugar/sweetener) - optional
salt, to taste

how to:
heat oil in a pot and bring up to almost smoking. add in the cinnamon stick and reduce heat slightly. add in the blended paste with the sambal and curry leaves. fry till fragrant and almost dry. add in the marinated beef together with the sauce. cook until beef is almost done, add in the santan and seasoning and finish cooking, making sure to stir the sauce so that the coconut milk does not split.

It was a most satisfying meal, and since I used beef tenderloin, it didn't take long to prepare.

Oh yes, the latest craze at the office is this...... LOL LOL LOL

Yup, it's crazy!! And it aint' cheap ok!!! It costs RM0.80 per piece and that's daylight robbery if you consider the fact that you can buy a whole solid piece for RM1 (RM0.60 sen if you know where), cut it in half and just make a little batter, add some spices and deep fry to get the same results!! LOL LOL LOL BUT, I guess laziness and convenience prevails, and thus our Cafe gets to make a huge profit on something that costs basically nothing :-D :-D :-D

Aina Visit Tok Nek Kedah.....

2010-12-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning, we left Penang for KL but had a dozen stops along the way that it took us 7 hours to reach home LOL LOL LOL

Our first stop was of course Tok's house in Bandar Baharu. Well, it's actually in Lubuk Buntar, but since the exit we take is at Bandar Baharu, it's easier to just say that LOL

Aina had a great time exploring Tok's house ~ playing on the swing, gallivanting in the yard, playing other people's toys.

After Tok's house, we back tracked a bit to go to my Mak Su's house as Mom wanted to get some roselle buds to make syrup for Qesha. We had an early lunch there before continuing our journey back to KL. No, we did not eat at Mak Su's house, we just went to the nearby warung.

We made a dozen more stops along the way, and finally reached home around 4.45pm. Dinner was takeaway from Penang Village as we were all too tired to do anything LOL.

Tuesday morning, Mom took Aina to 1 Utama to go buy Aina's trucks and tractor which she'd promised from the day before. Mom just LOVES to buy stuff for Aina, which I always tell Mom is a waste of money because Aina has the attention span of any typical 2-year old!! LOL

Anyway, Aina had fun looking at all the "Mismas" decorations, and if you see the pics below, she'll make sure to pose with an ornament in her hand LOL LOL LOL

I have asked Babah if he'll be free this weekend as I plan to take Aina to go see more "Mismas" decorations near our place.We'll just have to wait and see if that works out.....

Till then, take care to all....

Aina Goes to Penang..... :-)

2010-12-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we left for Penang at 7.00am with a pit stop of sorts in Ipoh to visit Grandma (maternal). When we arrived Ipoh, we were shocked to see that her water pipe had been stolen, leaving an impromptu water fountain in front of her house, threatening to flood her entire front lawn.

Fortunately, she'd called my uncle to come over and Dad made the initial call to Syabas to make the necessary repairs. Good thing her water meter was left behind, or else we'd have to make a police report :-s

After ensuring that all was in order, we continued our journey to Penang.

Dad had targetted to arrive Juru in time for lunch, so that we could have lunch at his favourite stall which served piping-hot deep fried pomfret with a whole lot of other kampung dishes. Needless to say, we were all stuffed! Even Aina enjoyed her rice with fried chicken :-D

It was onward to Penang after lunch, and traffic was not as bad as expected on the Bridge. We arrived around 12.30pm, dropped our stuff in the apartment and left Ana with Mom's maid before heading to Tesco to buy some basic essentials.

After resting for a bit, we headed to Tg. Tokong, Mom's favourite seafood place. Aina, who'd fallen asleep in the car on t he way there, looked totally lost when she woke up!! LOL

We ordered two plates of grilled prawns, 1kg of baked crabs, 10 sticks of chicken satay (Aina's menu) and 2 pcs of grilled stingray. Needless to say, it was all gone by the end of the meal :-p

This is the name of the restaurant, located by the sea next to a Chinese temple. To get here is a bit tricky, and the only reason we know of this place is that Mom used to come here as a child LOL So, you can imagine how many generations have been running this place....

After our meal, I had Aina pose with Ana since she didn't get the chance to play by the beach as it was drizzling lightly. The retaining wall that the two are perched on is new. It was damaged previously during the tsunami.

This is the view of the carpark from the restaurant :-D

On Sunday, our breakfast was from Jelutong Market ~ nasi lemak and murtabak. Aina had a bit of kuih as well. Then, we headed to Alor Setar to visit Dad's uncle. Mom wanted to stop and have her bowl of laksa and beehoon soup in Town but since it was still too early, we gave that stop a miss and headed straight to my granduncle's place.

Then, it was time for lunch. We left the house in Bee Bee Park and headed to a nice, cozy under-the-shade restaurant in town which served a lot of dishes ranging from gulai to ikan bakar, to kerabu and masak lemak. Great! Imagine, there were 5 adults who had all things imaginable in one plate, plus drinks... and the bill was (approx.) RM37 :-D :-D :-D

We then left for Kulim to visit my Tok Su who'd just gotten back from his Hajj, then detoured to Junjung to visit my Tok Cik who also just got back from the same trip. By the time we reached Junjung though, Aina had fallen asleep so I waited with her in the car while Mom and Dad went down to chat for a while.

That afternoon, we arrived back to the apartment at 4.30pm and rested a bit before our next gastronomic adventure... :-)

We left the apartment around 6.00pm and headed to the insudtrial area opposite Pulau Jerejak. There's a small stretch of beach there where Aina can play for a bit before we head for the Ikan Bakar place not far from the beach area.

Dinner was a simple (??) fare of grilled siakap, grilled pomfret, grilled stingray, 1 bowl of tom yam soup, 1 bowl of mixed veg soup and 2 plates of white rice divided among us...

I am really sorry that there aren't that many pics of our plates and food but honestly, it was much more fun to just dig in and enjoy the meal that I'd only remember to snap the pic when my hands were all stained with food or the plate was already empty!! LOL LOL LOL

Yep, our trip this time did not involve the visit to Line Clear or even Kassim Mustafa as this time around we were looking for the 'other' stuff to binge on :-D We only managed to sneak in a trip to Chowrasta to buy the compulsory jeruk jeruk the morning before going to Alor Setar.

In my next entry, I'll write about Aina's visit to Tok's place in Kedah.........

Take A Break....

2010-12-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

Nope, not with the familiar red & white choc wafer bar but with these.........

a steaming hot mug of MILO

(accompanied by my purple gloxinia and CD of popular hindi songs)

MY HOT MILO:
4 tsp. MILO
3 tsp. milk powder
1 pkt. stevia (or sugar/sweetener of your choice) -
optional
150ml hot water
~ stir well and enjoy!!!

a hot cup of mushroom soup

(with wholemeal bread if I am too lazy to go out for lunch!)

Work has been piling up, so these are 'reinforcements' to keep me going at work. It'll be crazy-busy until April/May 2011, after which we will start to slow down again....

Pray hard for all of us, and let's hope we make our upcoming projects ROOCCCKKKK!!!!

p.s. BORNEO, here we come!!!

Aina Rides the Train...

2010-11-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning, as planned, we took Aina for her long-awaited train ride. We decided that since it was a Sunday, the commuter might not be the best choice since the wait might be too long. So it was just the LRT from Kelana Jaya to KLCC.

As expected, Aina was excited. But as soon as the train started moving, she immediately became quiet. She slowly ate her MILO cereal one at a time, eyes focused straight ahead, moving only to feed herself. It was so weird!!! And she only looked around by sneaking side glances...! Really weird! And her Babah oculd not stop laughing at her.... :-p

We arrived KLCC, and Aina got back her spunk, happily jumping and running. We looked around to buy me a pair of sandals but nothing caught my eye, so we headed over to Chilli's for lunch. For starters, we had the beef queso with chips; Aina had the hotdog from the kids menu; Babah had grilled lamb; Mama had the smokehouse steak; and for dessert, we had the molten chocolate cake. The cake was yummy, but SO BLOODY SWEET!!!

During lunch, we told Aina that we'll be going back on the train after lunch to go home. She immediately frowned and said "no... no...". We burst out laughing, not quite knowing what to do if she decided to scream when we got on the train.

Before leaving, I stopped at the baby room to change her diaper, then made her formula in case she'd want it later. She was tired and sleepy by then so when we wanted to leave she was grumpy and started crying as she was happily playing with the things in the baby room. So, to keep peace, we took her to Toys R Us. Babah was not too sure about my choice but I said that Aina will only take what she wants, IF she wants something. She'll not grab everything in sight and throw a fit if we say "no". Aina will play with everything she can play that is on display, but if you ask her if she want's it, she'll say "no..." and move on to another toy. If and when something catched her fancy, she'll take it and say "bayar Mama", so you know it's check out time :-)

Thank God, so far she's only wanted toys that can fit Mama's 'pocket' LOL LOL LOL

Anyway, after purchasing her baby set, we left and safely got on the LRT. She immediately dozed off in my lap, and all the way, it was raining heavily. We were worried, since we didn't have an umbrella with us, but I did have Aina's raincoat in her diaper bag. Thankfully, by the time we reached Kelana Jaya, the rained had subsided a bit, so Babah went off to get the car while we waited under a bit of shelter. Aina was already awake by then and she looked around and told me "Mama, raining". Yes, I acknowledged that it was, then she asked me "um-bey-ya?" No, I told her we had no umbrella so Babah had gone to take the car.

We arrived home safely around 2pm, and Aina immedaitely told her Kakak Ana to open her new baby's packaging and started to play with it. Needless to say, that occupied her for hours after that.... ahahhahahhaaa....

Next weekend, Aina might be going on a trip so watch this space :-)

Pots And Pans...

2010-11-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

...for Aina :-)

On Thursday, I went to IKEA during lunch and bought Aina the small set of stainless steel pots and pans, which I think were part of the children's kitchen collection. The kitchen set costs around RM390, but I just bought the pots and pans for her since I knew it'd give her such a kick to have some REAL sets to play with instead of having to raid the kitchen cupboards and play with mine! :-D :-D :-D

When I got home and gave her the box, needless to say her eyes danced and sparkled with excitement, and she immediately took it all out to play.

She's always 'cooking' for us to eat, and she'll plate the dishes into her plastic plates and serve them to us. Memang sangat rajin anak Mama sorang ni kan??!

Oh yes, we did go on our little train adventure on Sunday, but that will be in another entry. Till then, keep safe......

Weekend Activities

2010-11-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

Babah has been so busy with work, but I insisted that we at least spend a few hours with Aina, take her out for a bit and DO stuff as a family. It was then decided that if Aina wakes up early on Saturday, then we'll take her for a little picnic. She's been mentioning "nic-nic" the past few days anyway, from watching her Mickey Mouse videos. Good thing she's not asked for a luau!!!! (It's also in one of the Mickey DVDs).

Anyway, come Saturday, she did wake up early so we decided to take her out. However, with the weather being so unpredictable these days, and grey clouds could be seen looming in the horizon, we decided to make it a short one just by the lake in Subang ~ the one near Holiday Villa, if you know which one I mean.

Just before arriving at the lake, we bought nasi lemak for the adults, and a piece of sausage for the tiny tot :-D Next stop was 7-E for drinks, then it was straight to the lake.

While having our picninc, Aina had fun watching the birds, enjoying the peaceful morning and seeing the trains pass by (the rail line was very close). Oh yeah, speaking of trains, that will probably be our next weekend activity with Aina.

Our picnic was cut rather short with the threat of rain, but then hubby wanted to go to GM Klang to get some stuff. We only spent about half an hour there as he was in a rush to get to work. Aina got colouring books ~ 6 books for R12.50, complete with stickers.

When we got home I prepared a quick, simple lunch since hubby was going in to work immediately after.

Sunday morning, we decided to go to the morning market near the Puchong toll exit, just to see if we could get some nice veggies. I was getting bored with the veggies available in Cold Storage!! It was a HUGE disappointment, and we ended up going to a shop somewhere in Puchong that had great fresh veggies and other stuff, and we also bought some fresh ribs and tenderloin. When we got home, I obvously rushed into the kitchen to prepare the ribs and got out the pressure cooker to cook the ribs. Our simple lunch consisted of stir-fried kailan (chinese broccoli) with garlic and oyster sauce and sup tulang, the extra-spicy sambal kicap being the perfect accompaniment :-D

That afternoon, I decided to finish a project I'd started for Aina, and never quite completed it for some reason. It used to be mine, a size 16, and now it fits Aina as a cute minidress :-) Thanks again very very much to hubby for the sewing machine which made the hemming super-fast!!

Yup. I know it's super-blurry. I will try and snap a pic of Aina wearing it soon. I was too lazy to take out the dslr, so I just used my fone camera again.... :p

Happy Birthday, November Babies.....

2010-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

...especially to the Queen, Mak :-)

This year, it was decided that we made a collection so that we could have this very special menu... :-D :-D :-D Yup, it was catered. Not the whole event ok, just the roast lamb and its side dishes of mashed potatoes, salad, garlic bread and a variety of sauces.

The kids were happily jumping on this platform while waiting for the main event, and we were so worried the platform would collapse!!

Two cartons of Barbican ~ strawberry and apple, to quench our thirst, together with home made ice kacang and fizzy drinks.

And here are the dishes that were contributed by various parties...

rojak buah and ferrero rocher chocolates
the BEST char kway teow

muffins, fried meehoon and mushroom soup

some leftover cuppies from a recent hen nite :-)

One of my nieces, waiting to pop :-D

She's due in December. Who knows, it might decide to make an early entrance and join the group of November babies :-)

Baby Humaira's birthday jelly cake, although the Barbie legs were in a very (scarily) weird position......

The 5kg vanilla butter cake for Nenek... the first round of birthday song :-)

then it was Humaira's turn.....

and Aina???? Well, she was excited to see the cakes and kept on clapping and singing "yu-yu" and cried when I took her away... in the end my wonderful sisters-in-law suggested that we indulge Aina and sing for her as well. Do you see how her face is bursting with excitement? You can actually see her face light up as if we turned on a switch!!!

I was a bit embarassed that Aina threw such a fuss. She just has a thing for cakes, and will even force us to sing "Happy Birthday" even if she sees a picture of a cake. You can imagine her excitement to see not one, but TWO cakes in front of her!!

Thank you very much to all who indulged Aina... it definitely made her week!!! LOL

Clowning Around...

2010-11-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

Babah decided to take some pics of Aina while she was happily jumping and running around in our room. She'd occasionally stop to pose for Babah :-)

It's actually almost her bedtime, hence the jammies.... but she'll only go to sleep (or drop off from sheer exhaustion!) when she's ready to, and not before. It's getting to be quite a challenge to get her into bed these days...

Her expression!! A little drama queen isn't she?!?!!?

At home, Babah prefers it if I just let Aina's hair down and free like this because he says:

1. it's MUCH cuter

2. he loves to see her flip her hair away from her face/eyes.

I tie her hair up usually just so it doesn't bother her when she's playing.... :-D

This is one of the few occasions that I actually let her hair go wild!! LOL

Oh yeah... she's somehow linked the conical trees with ornaments to a particular holiday and when she sees the pics, she'll tell me "Mama, miss-mas". I really do not know where she picks most things up, but I guess the safest (and more accurate) guess would be the TV!

Ana recently reported to me that Aina had taken her WORDS book out to read with another girl who's already started kindergarten, and she was surprised that Aina knew more words to the pictures than the other girl. Aina actually can't wait to start to make friends and each time we pass by a kindy she'll point and tell me "Mama, friend!" and grin excitedly.

I am thinking of sending her to playschool, but we'll see how her 'sharing skills' develop before I make a final decision... LOL Since she's an only child (for now) she really has a problem with sharing and I am having a tough time teaching her. She is quite independent that she can go to the playground and ask for what she wants (if a particular toy interests her) and usually these 'conversations' turn into screaming rows with one or all parties ending up in tears.

I've told Ana to just watch and stay away because kids will be kids, and as long as no one is seriously hurt, leave the kids to play. They'll learn to sort things out emong themselves, and they usually end up being friends again. It is when the adults get involved that both kids and adults end up not speaking for ages and ages.... Ridiculous isn't it???!! I mean, who among us have never had that 'confrontation' at the sandbox, swing, etc. with both parties still being best of friends at the end of the school day?

So, it is best to leave kids play (and have the occasional 'debate) among themselves and we just keep a watchful eye to make sure nothing goes out of hand....

Qalesha Visits Aina

2010-11-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, Aina was jumping excitedly when she saw her Aunty Cicik and Qalesha at the front gate :-D :-D :-D

She started runninga round in circles and jumping up and down the sofa... LOL It was actually quite a hillarious sight!!!

Anyway, Aunty Cicik and family came for lunch on Saturday, after the other kids' swimming session at the club. They arrived while I was finishing the last dish i.e. veggies, which I only started cooking when she called to say she was already leaving the club.

As we were about to sit down for lunch, Qesha was sleepy and soon fell asleep.....

Not long after we finished lunch, with Aina contantly running over to Qesha, she eventually woke up....

..but she was still sleepy anyway! hahahahahaa..

Her most enjoyable thing to do these days, I guess... ehehhehe :-D

..and STILL yawning... poor Qesha...

Not long after that though, Qesha begin to fuss as it was her feeding time, plus she was still a bit sleepy from her interrupted nap.

Anyway, for my guests I managed to prepare grilled fish which was a huge one which hubby brought back from his recent fishing trip, a squid dish, mixed veggies and fried tempe.

Grilled Ikan Merah
you need:
Whole fish, cleaned and rubbed with a bit of salt and turmeric powder. set
aside while you prepare the sambal sauce that goes in and over it.
Sambal Sauce:
shallots
garlic
turmeric root
2 Tbs. pre-made sambal tumis (I used Nek Nak*'s brand ~ it's seriously
good!)
1/2 Tbs. tamarind + 1/2 cup water
how to:
blend the onions, garlic and turmeric till fine, then mix with the sambal
tumis. heat oil and fry the sambal mix till fragrant and slightly dry. add the
tamarind juice and season with sugar and salt, to taste. cool slightly then pour
a bit of the mix into the fish cavity, and spoon over on the outisde. grill
until fish is cooked through. you may save some of the sambal aside and spoon over the fish towards the end of grilling to keep it moist.
note: i know the pic above looks scary as the sambal looks black i.e. burnt,
but it's honestly not burnt, and the colour was a deep, deep red.

PS: ahahahaha someone already noticed the brand of the sambal... eheheheh it's actually Nek Nor but a colleague was referring to it as Nek Nak, the character in a local horror-themed TV series... and I thought of using that just for fun... :-D :-D :-D

Fresh Fish!!

2010-11-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

Yup!! Hubby went fishing again and this time he brought back a bounty of ikan tongkol and a few kerapu, ikan merah and God-knows-what fish which was *huge*!

So, since he came back on Monday, I only managed to cook the fish (one of the few we kept for ourselves) on Tuesday, for dinner.

I was prepared to steam the grouper a.k.a kerapu, but hubby requested for it to be prepared sweet & sour, so sweet & sour it was. However, since Ana had prepared the ingredients for steam fish, I adjusted the recipe to make it into sweet & sour, LOL LOL LOL

Hubby helped fry the fish while I prepared the sauce and prepped the veggies for our stir-fried veg dish.

Aina? well....

The fish dish.....

Sweet and Sour Grouper
(or whatever fish you like)

you need:
1 medium sized whole fish, cleaned
- sprinkle with salt and cornflour and deep-fry till golden and crisp.
drain well.

1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 inch ginger root, julienned
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
2 Tbs osyter sauce
3 Tbs chilli sauce
2 Tbs tomato sauce
1 Tbs white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cornflour mixed with a bit of water, to thicken
1 tsp sugar (i used stevia powder to replace sugar)
1 - 2 pieces preserved plums (asam boi), sliced
coriander leaves and spring onions, for garnish

how to:
heat oil in a wok and fry the first four ingredients till fragrant. add in
water and mixed sauces. bring to boil. add in seasoning and cornflour mixture
and bring up to boil again. turn off heat and pour sauce over fish before
serving. sprinkle on garnish and ready to serve.

Since hubby brought back quite a bounty, I had to go round and ring the neighbours' bell to see if any of them would like some fish, ahahahhahaa. Good thing my neighbours were more than happy to oblige, or else we'd probably have to go sell the fish to the local market or mini mart near our place LOL

Oh yea... my previous post had triggered an interest in confinement recipes, so I guess I can dedicate some entries on it, but it may not be accompanied with pictures :-) Hope that is ok. I'll start with one recipe today.... I'll start with a simple tonic drink that can be consumed throughout the day :-) and also a drink that help cleanses the uterus.

Lemongrass Drink

you need:
1.5lt water
5 stalks lemongrass, bruised
2 pcs thumb-sized old ginger root, crushed
1 Tbs black peppercorns, cracked lightly
2 pcs. screwpine (pandan) leaves

how to:
combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring up to boil. simmmer for
about half hour, then turn off heat. cool slightly. you may add honey or
sugar/sweetener to taste.

Turmeric Drink

you need:
a handful of ibu kunyit
a handful of temulawak
a handful of old ginger root
2 Tbs black peppercorns
1 Tbs tamarind + 1 cup water
gula melaka

how to:
combine roots and peppercorns with a bit of the tamarind juice. blend until
smooth. pour into a pot with the rest of the tamarind juice and the gula
melaka and bring to boil. cook for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously. cool
and store in a bottle, and may be refrigerated. re-heat in the microwave before
consumption. the way i drink this is to pour about 1/2 cup (100ml) then add a
bit of hot water. you have to drink this warm. note to remember though, if you
are still bleeding heavily, place some protection on your mattress!! this
recipe really helps to cleanse the womb!

Anyway, I do hope this two recipes will inspire me to share more confinement recipes regularly! It's not much I know, and it's not even that difficult, but I just think that it is more fun to have the recipes accompanied with pics, ahahhahhahhaaaa...

Aina @ Her Cousin's Wedding

2010-11-03T08:59:00.001-07:00

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Siti Amira Bashir & Fahmi Ramli on their recent wedding. Both are now happily (I hope!) honeymooning in Korea :-)

I've posted their wedding pics in my FB, and here I am sharing mostly pics of Aina at the wedding :-D :-D :-D

Here, Aina is with her cousin's young daughter.............. cute naa??

See! As if ready to give a flying kick...!!! LOL

The groom, obvious ly very much relieved after the akad ceremony :-p

And I'll bet this is the most bittersweet moment in any bride's life, right?
The moment you realise that you no longer 'belong' to your parents.........

a family snap with the happy couple............

This was at the reception the next day. The theme was lilac/purple so the whole family came decked out in the theme colour :-D :-p

Nope, Aina was NOT the flower girl. One of the flower girls gave Aina the bouquet to pose with. And...Aina being Aina.... you get to see the attached pics LOL

The clan pic was taken on the ground so to speak, as Mak's wheelchair could not be wheeled onto the stage. And even with the huge number you see, it's still not complete ok.... there are still some missing :-) :-) :-)

The third day, reception on the guy's side in Shah Alam.

Weddings (or any gathering for that matter) always includes lots of photo opportunities as the family NEVER misses the chance LOL

Anyway, it's Deepavali today so it's a relatively relaxed Friday and I go back to work on Monday. Not really looking forward to it after 2 weeks solid with Aina but admittedly, I was getting kind of bored at home. It's different when under confinement with a baby to care for, and yes it was fun doing things with Aina, but then well..... a break in routine once in a while is fine, so long as it's not forever!! LOL

Actually, I thought of sharing some confinement recipes here, but since I didn't ake pics before eating, I figured I'll put in the recipes later or at least find some time to re-do the recipes and then it'll be more fun to put in the recipes, ehhehhehehehheee....

Hope I'll have more time and stuff to update soon.

xoxo
AM

Missed Abortion??

2010-10-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

I hate the term!!

It may be medically correct, but politically??? Seriously??

The term "abortion" on its own is always dubious and riddled with dilemma and question marks, and when your MC reads "post abortion" it really looks horrible....

BUT, that is the term used to describe my condition, and I guess that's what I have to get used to and accept :-s

I was admitted into HUKM on Friday morning, and the first pill to induce the abortion) was put in at 8.15am. I started experiencing cramps around 10.00am and Prof put in the second pill around 11.45am.

By 12.30pm, with me all alone in the room, the cramps became worse and soon grew into mild contractions. Hubby went out for Jumaat prayers, Prof was also out. And besides, I was only just in pain, not bleeding, so there was no urgency yet.

The pain got worse and worse until finally when Prof came in around 2.45pm I couldn't take it anymore and I was also bleeding by then. Prof took a look and said that he could feel the fetus already so he did what he had to do and got it out.

Honestly, I REALLY appreciated the fact that I had a c-sect when I delivered Aina!!!

Anyway, fetus came out whole, with placenta and all, so Prof just scanned to make sure everything was out and I was clear, and decided that a D&C was unnecessary.

Seems development of the fetus was also abnormal, which means it would not even survive even if I did manage to carry it to full term.

Alhamdulillah.... I thank Allah that He spared me the grief and trauma one would definitely go through when experiencing the loss of a child. At least, taken at this point, the loss is not as great and we can try for another baby once I am healthy again.

Prof reminded to take care of my sugar level if I do intend to conceive again, and that if of course a definite effort on my part. For this pregnancy, I was not even aware that I was pregnant, so I was still taking my meds and not really watching my sugar which probably led to the complication.

I am now recuperating at home with a confinement lady taking care of me this one week.

To all my friends and family who's left messages on my FB, thank you very much for the words of support, the messages and the SMS's. It's helped me through, and kept my spirits high.

Thank you once again :-)

It's Just Not In the Cards....

2010-10-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Fate.

I guess it's easier to just put it all on fate and destiny.

Aina's sibling is just not meant to be... at least not now.

I went for my monthly check up on Monday, and there was no longer any heartbeat or movements. Prof tried to be positive, but in my heart I knew. I think I'd known all this time because I just had that feeling... of foreboding, of uncertainty.

One could say that the timing was also not right for us since we had some issues to iron out, and there were some other things weighing on my head, among which included the fact that I had received my transfer around the same time I found out I was expecting.

Yes, my diabetes may have also had an effect on the pregnancy. But to be honest, I've managed to keep my sugar levels within the 'safe' zone and I do watch what I eat as mush as possible, as much as I can.

I guess at this point what we can do is just move past this as quickly as we can and focus on another baby as soon as possible. Easier said than done, I know but what else can one do?

I am expected to meet with Prof tomorrow, then we'll see how to proceed. I really don't know what to expect, and I hope it won't be too daunting!

I do hope to be able to blog more after tomorrow, but it'll depend on my access to laptop and internet :-p

Wish me luck, and please pray for me.....
Thank you!

AM

First Step....

2010-10-14T23:11:00.001-07:00

...towards 'filling up' our home :-D

Took us months and months and months to finally find something we liked for our living area. This is more of the "formal living hall", and the entertainment section is still pending. It's in our list of long-awaited projects, but not second in our list. I'll leave that as a surprise for future entries, ehehhehhehee...

The teddy is not Aina's, at the moment he's just like a permanent fixture in our house... LOL

Rupa Budak Sakit....

2010-10-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sakitkah???

Anyway, these are some shots of Aina that Babah took, while she happily posed with her own pair of "shaan-gashes" LOL

She's all covered in calamine lotion, which was during the early stages of her chicken pox. Three days after her first spots were discovered, she would throw a HUGE tantrum each time we put the lotion on her!! Haaaiiihh..............

Just look at her poses!!! I really don't know where she picks this all up!! LOL

Her spots are drying up, so she should be out of quaratine soon. Poor girl has had to play indoors the past week... just another week to go, and she can go out and play again.

Last night, she did the MOST entertaining thing...

She was watching her Strawberry Shortcake video when we (Ana and me) realised that she was following every word and acting out all the actions!!! LOL LOL LOL

When the ball in the scene fell into the river, the character would say "Oh no!" and Aina will do the same, and drop her own ball onto the floor!!! :-D

When Baby Custard rolled on the ground, giggling... Aina rolled on the floor and giggled like crazy as well...

Seriously, it was so entertaining that we had to stop eating otherwise we'd all choke to death!!!

I tried to make a video but as soon as she saw me holding up the fone, she stopped and grinned... haaaiiihhh... never mind. We'll see if she'll do the same thing watching other cartoons, then I'll try to record her then.

Aina has the Chicken Pox!

2010-10-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Puncak Perdana to pick up Raihan, then for dinner.

UNFORTUNATELY, traffic was horrendous so it took us forever to get to Puncak Perdana!! By the time we stopped for dinner, it was already past 9.30pm... Since we took the looonnngg, scenic route from Puncak Perdana to go home (i.e. via Meru), we decided to have dinner at/around Muara @ Port Klang. Muara was jam-packed, so we decided to have dinner at the stalls nearby.

We'd ordered, and the drinks had arrived, when suddenly the sky opened up and it RAINED CATS & DOGS!!!! Believe it or not, they did not have any covered area at all, so we cancelled our orders and went back to the car, thinking of a new place to go for dinner.

before the heavy shower, aina looking intently into the candle

babah took this one, with aina smiling and the candle light illuminating her features

In the end, we went to BK drive-thru and had our dinner in the car, in the BK carpark at the Extreme Park in Shah Alam.

What a night!!

All of last week, I had to take leave from work since there was no one to watch Aina, and it was a good thing too, since Aina developed spots on Thursday! Yup, she got it from Qalesha.... I'd been waiting for it, and now that it's finally here I am relieved!

see, the little girl watching TV :-)

For the first two days, she was fine with the calamine lotion. But on Saturday, when we went to the LCCT to pick up Ana, Aina saw her reflection in the mirror, and that was IT! She asked for her wipes each time I smeared her with the calamine lotion, and cried her eyes out every time I applied it to the spots on her face!! Haaaiihhhh............... :-s

I finally went over to TokMi's and got the balance of Qalesha's meds and bath oil for Aina. So, now she's fine with the calamine cream, just so long as it's not the lotion :-p

Anyway, I'll update more as her chicken pox progresses, and will put in pics which her Babah took of her recently... Till then, Take Care :-)

Bila Aina Tengok TV....

2010-09-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

Aina has been watching TV (sorry to all of those who do not agree to the TV nanny!) for most of her short life, from educational videos to box office movies. Her favourite is of course the Disney Playhouse channel, and I am more than happy to accommodate her as she also learns while being entertained (and occupied so that I can do other stuff!).

Lately, she's also learned to enjoy more 'grown up' (NOT "adult" mind you!!) movies like Jurassic Park (she loves dinosaurs!) and anything that has animals or children in them :-) On Sunday, TokMi went to Speedy Video and bought 2 cartoon DVDs (Upin & Ipin and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and 1 movie entitled YETI. It had a scary picture of Bigfoot with bloody teeth on it and when Aina saw it, she immediately said "unster!" (i.e. MONSTER).

Anyway, after her bath, she gave the "monster" DVD to TokMi as she wanted to watch it!!!

So, we all sat down and watched the movie...

Through out the movie, we were most entertained by her antics ~ she'll climb and hide behind us (during the scary bits), she'll go stand in front of the TV (during the not so scary bits) and she even resorted to this.......

...climbing behind TokMi's sofa and hiding between the cushions, but peeking out to watch the screen anyway.... LOL

standing up when it wasn't so scary

and hiding again when the part got scary for her

At home, she'll climb behind us and peek over our shoulders if the scene was scary or full of suspense, and then when the bad guy (or thing or animal) dies, she'll clap her hand and go "Yaaaayy!!" :-D :-D :-D

Oh yeah... I just thought I'd share some thoughts in here, since it is kinda related to Aina, and what I am going through now i.e. pregnant with diabetes, also the fact that I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague this morning.

The simple trigger was Vitagen.

I was telling my breakfast mates about Aina and Vitagen, and how I'm always opting for drinks that have "no added sugar" or "less sugar" for Aina since both me and her TokMi are diabetics when one of them mentioned that her daughter drank Vitagen like it was water. In 10mins flat, all 5 bottles would be gone! Another friend and I immediately cautioned her on the danger and risks of that as there have been numerous reports on how kids as young as FIVE can be diagnosed with diabetes from consuming too much of such sugar-ladden beverages. On top of that, her daughter could also wipe of half a dozen donuts in one go!!! I told her to watch her child closely because if this has been going on for a while, she should really get her child checked.

I remember a while back when I was really conscious of my food intake (NOT dieting, but more organic and natural, healthy stuff) and I decided to not allow my own kids to fall into the trap like most other kids. All the processed, sugary stuff that goes into their bodies have to be controlled! My sisters were kind of making fun of me, and saying that my kids would only have fun at TokMi's because there's where they get to indulge in all the forbidden stuff at home...

Now, with Aina, I have to admit that to stick to a 100% healthy eating regiment is not easy BUT I try as much as possible even if we do go out to eat that we do not end up at the usual fast food joints. Yes, we spend a bit more on "real" food, but at least I get to have a bit of control on what goes into her body, and yes... I also do let her have the occasional ice cream, chocolates, sweets and even junk food... but only after she's had her proper meal. Only occasionally she'll throw a fit, and to avoid her NOT eating at all, I let her have her chocolate cookie but with a bottle of milk.

In my perfect (dream) world, I'd be making batches of home-made all-natural chicken nuggets and fish fingers at home for her, but she has yet to develop a palate for all that, and so for now I am happy just giving in to the occasional sausage or french fries.

Ana has also taught her to eat properly (since I have told Ana my preference) so when Ana is with her, Ana will ask her if she wanted rice or noodles for lunch/dinner. Aina will respond according to her mood, and it usually has to be accompanied with a bowl of vegetable soup with fishballs. Here I do trip because I only make my own fishballs once in a while. Fresh ones do not keep very well, and the fresh fish necessary required to make the balls are not always available.

Anyway... these are just a few concerns which are constantly on my mind... and I do hope that more of my friends will be aware of the hidden dangers lurking on the supermarket shelves that beckon and call their kids at every visit!! :-)

Till my next rambling session.... take care every one :-)

Sembang Sembang Open House 2

2010-09-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Tuan Rumah : sembang-sembang dgn tetamu
Sang Ibu : menikmati makanan dan biskut raya
Sang Anak : makan-makan sambil tengok2 keliling... "aunty, rumah ni takde carpet ye.....?"

Tuan Rumah : A'ah...senang aunty nak mop/sapu.... sekali harung aje. tak payah selak2, tak payah angkat2....

Sang Ibu : Issskk budak ni, mulut tu cepat aje
Sang Anak : sengih2... sambung makan

So, Tuan Rumah nak kena beli carpet kah skrg ni? Kalau nak ikut, theory senang mop/sapu tu mmg sangat sesuai kan.... apa kata survey?????????? LOL

Sembang-Sembang Open House 1

2010-09-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Isteri : asyik menikmati mi sup, sambil sembang2 dgn jiran2 yang jarang2 jumpa.
Suami : asyik bersembang dengan Pakcik yang duduk di sebelahnya.

Suami : menegur anak kecil yang berlari tak hengat dalam rumah orang
Pakcik : "Cucu ke?"
Suami : sedikit terpinga-pinga, tapi masih cover line, "errrkk tak, anak saya"

Isteri : sudah geli hati, geli perut. dah nak tersembur kuah mi sup, nasib baik tak tercekik. Cuit sikit Suami, terus ketawa terbahak-bahak.........mi sup diketepikan sbb dah kluar2 airmata sbb gelak kuat sangat....

Pakcik : Terkulat-kulat; muka sedikit bersalah....

note: Maaf ye pakcik, sbb saya gelak kuat2... bukan gelakkan pakcik sebenarnya, tapi gelakkan suami yg finally dpt reality check from a total stranger :-D

AM

Salam Aidilfitri to All...

2010-09-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yup, I know it's been almost two weeks since Syawal but I really have not had the time to update. Plus, since my lappie is still 'dead', I am depending on hubby's (at home) and my work station to update, which really does not give me much of an opportunity to write and compose long and interesting entries... LOL

With Ana back in Semarang, life has been CRAZY-CRAZY busy.... my two weeks away from work was MUCH busier than when I had to juggle work and home, as of course I had to do everything around the house plus care for Aina. It's been ages and ages since I've done all of it alone, and to get hubby to help like he used to was also a challenge as I think he's even more comfy now with having Ana around.

I remember when hubby was not so keen on the idea of having a maid as he was worried about issues of privacy and other stuff like maids running off, etc. but I convinced him that since we were planning on moving to a (bigger) new house, we needed the help as well as to have someone to watch over Aina. I was not so keen on sending Aina to a nursery, especially after just 60 days (our pathetic compulsory maternity leave), and the fact that most (not all) nurseries and kindies are 'breeding grounds' for infectious diseases.

Speaking of which, my niece little Nur Qalesha is now down with chicken pox! Poor baby is only just past her 100 days if I'm not mistaken. And with Aina at her TokMi's on weekdays, I am prepping myself to care for Aina if she catches it. Mom was asking me if Aina had been vaccinated but honestly, I don't mind Aina getting it now, rather than later. At least when she starts school, I have one less worry! She's had her MMR shot so that's also a few less stuff to worry about... and while Aina is still taking formula, it'd be much easier to care for her if she has it now. We'll see.........

Oh yeah... Aina has been over-over active these few weeks, almost impossible to handle! Over the weekend, we went to our neighbour's for Raya and while walking home, Aina decided to make a run away from us and see how far she can go. As soon as I said "no running", she sped up and since it was on the road, she quickly lost her balance and fell! She scratched her chin a bit and her bottom tooth hit her top one and caused her tooth to puch slightly into her gums, making her gums bleed... Needless to say, there was much crying and screaming.... :-s

To help her sleep, I gave her a bit of panadol syrup and a wee bit of benadryl to help with the swelling.

Oh yeah... here is a pic of Aina, playing with the remote controlled cars at Jusco Seri Kembangan. Apologies that the quality is cr*p but I just used my fone camera for a quick snap.

And here is a snap of Aina, totally passed out from exhaustion! LOL She'd followed Babah to the shop and bazaar during Ramadhan, and as soon as she came home, she gave me her kit kat and landed on her small couch and zonked out!! LOL LOL LOL

huduh sangat anak dara sorg ni tido kan..............!!

I took a video of Aina on the remote controlled cars, but since it'll take forever to load from my workstation, I'll put it up another time (or during lunch time). The writing is not an issue as that can be done in word and cut & paste into the template, ahahahhahaha...

Till then....

Our Menu....

2010-08-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been a while since I last put in an entry on food, and I miss updating my daily Iftar menu BUT since I still have not got a laptop, I can only do what I can, when I can.... :-s

Yesterday, we had Nasi Ulam for Iftar, with Solok Lada and Ikan Pari Bakar (bazaar mari, ok!). I love nasi ulam and/or nasi kerabu and will gladly have it repeatedly through out Ramadhan. The greatest diff between hubby's nasi kerabu and my nasi ulam is the absence of the kuah tumis as those of you from the North of the Peninsula will concur that we have our nasi ulam pure :-D

Anyway, for those who'd like to try, my version is as follows:

Nasi Ulam
you need:
2 cups warm cooked rice, fluffed up with a fork (some prefer the rice cold,
it's up to you)
1/4 cup fresh coconut (white part only), dry-fried and pounded fine
sufficient fried ikan kering of your choice, pounded fine
salt, to taste
a variety of finely sliced ulam:
- cekur (leaf and bulb)
- daun salam
- pucuk gajus
- serai kayu
- bunga kantan
- daun halia
- halia muda
- pucuk kemangi
and more if you can get it from your local
market

how to:
in a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients and give it a good stir.
Done!
you may add sliced lemon grass and even small onions as well, it is
entirely up to you :-)

Now, solok lada is traditionally from the East Coast, and since hubby saw the green chillis at the market, he thought I should give it a try. This is my first time even attempting this, so it was done with crossed fingers!!

Solok Lada (my version, after browsing and Googling
practically all day!)
you need:
6 - 8 pcs green chillis ~ specific type is used to make solok but i guess the
normal green ones are ok if deperate!
sufficient flesh from fish of you choice (hubby bought tenggiri from the
market)
about equal the amount of grated coconut (white part only)
salt, pepper
about 1-inch sliced ginger
2 - 3 small red onions, sliced
1 cup coconut cream

how to:
combine the fish, coconut and seasoning in a large bowl and set aside.
clean the chillis and make a slit. remove seeds and stuff with the fish
paste.
in a large pot, pour in the coconut cream, sliced ginger and onions, and
arrange the chillis making sure the paste side faces up and is not covered in
the coconut cream. basically, you need just a small amount to start to
create steam to cook the chillis. place over a gentle fire and cook slowly,
covered, until the coconut cream is dried up.

I found quite a few versions on how to make Solok Lada and I went along with what I thought was easiest for me. Next time, I might try another method :-)

Overall, the taste was ok, but I guess I will need to experiment again to make sure I find the right method and recipe for ME :-p Hubby said the taste was OK, too... just that maybe next time he won't buy the tenggiri paste from the market because it made the filling more like yong tau foo rather than the authentic solok filling which should crumble nicely.

Oh yeah.... Ana is going back to her kampung this Saturday, so I will be on leave for 2 weeks, until Eid. I go back to work on the 13th, but hubby will be around to watch Aina that week. After that, we have not decided what to do but for the time being, I guess I should just look forward to be able to spend all my time with Aina, especially now that she's learning and picking up so much!!

She amazes me sometimes as to what she's learned, and that's so far only from watching her educational videos. When she feels like it, in the evenings, she'll ask me to read with her, and sometimes she even asks me to sing with her :-D :-D :-D

She's speaking a smattering of words, more than half of it we have no idea what she says LOL BUT, she's a fast learner and even though she still speak baby-babble, she does make sense when she wants us to understand her.

She's developed quite a bit of a rebel character as well, and she usually has disputes with her Babah, especially during TV time! LOL LOL LOL

Anyway, we'll see how next week goes, and who knows.... I might even find time to update my blog with all the craziness I expect the next two weeks will be :-p :-D

Admitted

2010-08-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

For this pregnancy, my sugar levels have been ridiculously high, and so after my first appointment with the OBGYN at DEMC, I was immediately referred to a Consultant Physician to help me with the diabetes.

Obviously, I had to start insulin shots.

It was immediately decided that I had to be admitted so that my initial insulin dosage can be monitored, and they also wanted to make sure that I had to adverse effects or allergies to the insulin.

The scan which showed strong flickering of heartbeat :-)

On the last day (I was admitted for 3 days), doc ordered for my blood to be taken for the final tests, and since my arm was already bruised (as in pic below) from previous sample-taking, the nurses finally had to use a butterfly and take the sample from my hand (as shown above).

So anyway, Alhamdulillah.........with the insulin shots, my sugar has now been regulated and I have had no problems with fasting so far :-) I have a follow up appointment with the doc tomorrow so we'll see what doc says.

Happy (VERY BELATED) Birthday To Me!

2010-08-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the wish may be late, but we did celebrate it early.

Pardon the late entry as I have been tied up with other more pressing matters lately that has not allowed me to update this blog as much and as often as I'd like.

Anyway, the evening of August 7th @ Chilli's IOI Mall we celebrated mine (Aug 8th) and Raihan's (Aug 9th) birthday and also our wedding anniversary :-)

Since I only used the camera phone, please excuse the exclusion of our food pics ok, because seriously, the pics suck!!!

Here are pics of Aina, and the birthday girls :-)

Aina's order was the kids meal of chicken tenders and fries, while kakak Ana had the Chilli's Cheeseburger. Hubby dearest had the special menu of ribs, and I chose the chimichurri sirloin, also from the special menu. Raihan had the sirloin.

And, since it was our birthdays, we had the 'special entertainment' by the crew :-D

And for our anniversary, we received a VERY SPECIAL gift indeed :-)

Though it's late (well, at least this entry is), I'd like to wish Hubby dearest "Happy 4th Anniversary!"

xoxo

Down, maybe but not quite out..........

2010-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

The other day, I felt sorry for a friend who had to endure crap in the office, and today it's my turn to rant and rave!

In my single days, where I used to work 12 - 13 hrs a day, my mom would tell me that one day, when my priorities change i.e. married with kids, then maybe people will think bad of me if my commitment to the job seem to diminish.

I used to laugh it off.

Now, I am not so sure. Maybe what mom said was true.

BUT:

1. if putting my child's needs above all else will cost me a piece of negative comment on record;

2. if planning quality time with my family would mean missing out on certain perks; or

3. if putting forth my own health and well-being means being selfish......

then so be it because a very smart lady once told me, "put yourself and your family above all else because that is all you'll have when you're old and grey. A company is an entity, and will always remain just that".

To those who find it pleasurable to create waves and ripples in other people's lives, I wish only that you get just as good as you give, if not more.

Wassalam.

Craaaassshh

2010-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

My Lappie finally died..... :-(

So, for the time being I am unable to edit pics from the camera to upload.
Pics here are taken from my fone.

Two weeks ago, we went to GM Klang with Ana as she wanted to buy stuff (in bulk) to take home when she goes back for a holiday in August.

To distract and keep Aina occupied, Babah got Aina some stick-on tatoos :-p

Last weekend Aina and Mama went up to Cameron's with TokMi and Tok Ayah ~ just the four of us.

The hotel screwed up as they did not give us an adjoining room, even though we'd requested for it since the time we made the booking, and ended up with rooms 2 doors away. It was not the best of arrangements as Aina kept looking for TokMi.... :-s

The 2 pics above were taken on the first evening there, where we had our ikan bakar dinner. Aina had rice with chicken soup.

On the 2nd day, Aina was tired I think, and refused to eat the whole time. She just had a tiny bit of roti telur for breakfast, and that was it.

That night, she suddenly started vomitting. I had to call TokMi for assistance, and it was almost 11pm! Had to clean up Aina, turn the comforter and place extra towels on the sheets so that Aina can sleep.

The next day, she still refused to eat, and even our stop at Tapah did nothing to entice her to eat her fishball noodles. She even refused her chocolate milk!

Anyway, I'm glad to report that yesterday (Monday), Aina has started eating as usual again, and I guess her bout of not eating was due to the fact she was on holiday and was more interested in playing and immersing herself in her surroundings!! LOL

I hope to be able to edit some pics from the trip on hubby's lappie, or at least get him to resize them so that I can upload in here since my access to FB in NIL at the moment (only status updates via fone)

A Full Weekend

2010-07-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

in terms of time, as well as tummy LOL LOL LOL

Saturday's breakfast was scones with butter and strawberry jam. Could not find nice strawberries at the supermarket, so just made do with jam :-)

you need:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda bicarbonate
115g cold butter, cubed
160ml buttermilk (i used milk + vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla

how to:
pre-heat oven to 190'C.
in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and whisk together to combine.
cut or rub the cold butter into the mixture until mixture resembles coarse
breadcrumbs.
in a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and vanilla and pour into the butter
mixture and incorporate batter until just moist and
combined. DO NOT KNEAD OR WORK THE DOUGH TOO MUCH.

turn the dough out onto generously floured surface and shape into a round,
then roll out with a rolling pin to about 2.5cm height. cut out using round
moulds and place on baking sheet.
bake about 12 - 15 mins, until top is browned slightly.

serve warm with cream or butter and strawberry jam.

For dinner, dessert was a bread & butter pudding, but forgot to take pics LOL LOL LOL

Oh yeah... nowadays, either once a week or at least once a fortnight, I'll make spaghetti for dinner. I still use my usual basic recipe, but have now tweaked it here and there for variety :-)

My 'new' bolognaise sauce recipe is as follows, and feel free to try :-)

you need:
1 pkt ramli minced beef, browned and set aside
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, cubed
1 pc. dried bay leaf
1 tsp. mixed herbs (optional)
12 - 15 pcs. ayamas chicken balls
1 large carrot, cubed
2 x 240ml canned tomatoes
1/2 Tbs. cocoa powder (YES, COCOA powder!)
salt, pepper and sugar to taste

how to:
heat olive oil in a large pot and fry the aromatics including the bay leaf.
when onions are soft, add in the carrots, chicken balls and herbs. add in
the browned beef and stir to combine. when mixture is slightly dry, add in the
canned tomatoes and cocoa and leave to simmer about 10mins. season and serve
with your favourite pasta :-)

Initially, my maid's eyes almost popped when she saw me adding in the cocoa, but now she's used to it and she herself enjoys a healthy serving of pasta these days.

Then on Sunday, we had a birthday party to attend @ RSGC, and it was supposed to be a pool party for the kids. Unfortunately, it rained..... non-stop! So we spent the whole time just going back and forth to the buffet table LOL LOL LOL

Will upload those pics, as well as pics from our outing on Thursday later, after editing and resizing :-)

AM

Food Entry, after a LOOOONNNGGG time -p

2010-07-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

yup! finally an entry on FOOD!!

This week, I've been fasting to pay of my 'debts' and yesterday, I decided to have rice porridge with condiments for buka puasa.

I usually have 2 ways of enjoying my porridge ~ either chinese style or berlauk a la Kg. Baru :-)

Last night, I decided to be greedy and have it both ways!! LOL LOL LOL

The first side dish was Stir-Fried Oyster Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce.

you need:
1 med-sized pkg oyster mushrooms (white or grey)
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup oyster sauce + half the amount of water
ground white pepper
a wee bit of sugar, to taste

how to:
heat oil and fry garlic till fragrant.
add in the sesame oil and stir. quickly add in the other ingredients and stir well.
cook till mushroom start to wilt, then turn of heat. Check seasoning.
Serve hot.

Another favourite is Spicy Black Pepper Beef.

you need:
250g beef slices (approx.)
marinate with 1 Tbs dark soy sauce and 1 Tbs oyster sauce.
pound:
3 cloves garlic
6 - 7 cili padi
2 shallots
2 Tbs. black peppercorns
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
sugar, to taste
coarsely chopped coriander leaves
* veg of your choice i.e. carrots, capsicum, spring onions, etc. (optional)

how to:
heat oil in wok and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant.
add in the beef slices and fry till half done. add in veg, if using.
add in water and simmer till done.
season (no salt is added due to the use of soy sauce & oyster sauce), and stir in the coriander leaves just before serving.

We also had Ginger & Tauchu Chicken.

you need:
1 pkt chicken breast, sliced
1 inch ginger, sliced thinly
2 - 3 shallots, pounded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pc. lemongrass, bruised
1 Tbs. oyster sauce
1 Tbs. tauchu
water
sugar, to taste
chopped chinese parsley and spring onions, for garnish

how to:
heat oil and fry all aromatics till fragrant and start to dry out. add in the chicken strips.
fry further till chicken is cooked through, then add sauces and water. simmer till chicken is tender, and season. no salt required due to the use of tauchu and oyster sauce. sprinkle with garnish just before serving.

And these are my must-have condiments ~ pickled lettuce (or so it says on the can), preserved peanuts and chopped spring onions.

THREE other crucial condiments are missing but since I ran out, no choice :-s Had to just make do. What are the missing items?

Salted Egg
Fried Onions/Shallots
Fried Peanuts :-)

However, it was a very satisfying meal indeed........... :-)

And this "Bare-backed-then-Stuffed Cencaru" was a dish from the previous day.

you need:
2 pcs cencaru (or kembung or whatever fish you fancy)
salt & turmeric powder ~ rubbed into the fish
2 Tbs. pounded shallots
1 Tbs. pounded garlic
2 Tbs. chili paste (chili boh)
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup tamarind juice (using 1 tsp. of tamarind)
sugar to taste

banana leaf/foil
olive oil

how to:
in a wok, heat a fair amount of oil and fry the pounded ingredients & chili paste until fragrant and slightly dry. add in the sliced onions. cook until onion is soft, then add the tamarind juice. simmer and stir, then check seasoning. set aside.

pre-heat oven to 200'C - 220'C.

line a baking tray with foil or banana leaf.

scoop the sambal mixture into the fish cavity (if using whole fish) or on top of fish slices (if using fish steaks), place fish on the banana leaf and drizzle quite generously with olive oil. top with a layer (or TWO!) of banana leaf and place in hot oven. cook for approx. 30 mins. serve hot.

I don't really fancy cencaru, but hubby seems to be partial to it, and he's the one who usually buys them at the pasar borong. I'd usually go for senangin, siakap, kerapu or bawal (both the white pomfret or the 'black' version). Sometimes I get a hankering for certain types of fish, then I'd go from stall to stall to look for it.

And while on the subject of fish, if the fish is bought, I would eat it, but not really devour it even if it was my favourite fish prepared the way I like it. If however, the fish was caught fresh by hubby on his trips, I can gobble up a whole good-sized kerapu on my own LOL LOL LOL

While on this subject i.e. food, with Ramadhan coming in close, hubby mentioned yesterday that he'll soon need to go out and look for crabs :-D :-D :-D

OK OK.... he will not be our crabbing, but will call up his 'supplier' in Pulau Ketam and get it there.

Wonder when, if ever, he'll go and start fishing for tiger prawns again.............
(that was his thing when I was pregnant with Aina)

AM

Aina is 26 months :-)

2010-07-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Haven't been gallivanting much lately so pics of Aina are mostly from my cellphone camera ~ really bad quality LOL LOL LOL

Aina is now officially in her Terrible Two's and it's not something she takes lightly :-p

In the morning when she wakes up, and Ana comes into the room to get her, she'll sometimes slam the door in Ana's face. Then, when Ana prepares her bath water in the tub, she goes running round the room like a cheeky monkey, giggling and climbing all over the bed just to make it that much harder for Ana to bathe her!

She's gotten round to calling out for Ana, (or Mama or even Babah) like this "Kakak Annaaaa... where youuuu.......?"

She still cannot speak properly yet, but I think that's just because she wants to shock us later with full sentences with perfect grammar and all LOL LOL LOL

She recognises stuff and you can even ask her to get something for you ~ she knows perfectly well what it is and where it is ~ but she just hasn't gotten around to pronouncing it yet :-D

Last night she made me laugh my head off when she went "Kaaaa.....where yoooouuuuu.........?", walking round the whole room. Guess what she was looking for......... :-)

Her COLOUR PENCILS!

When I asked her, "Aina, what are you looking for?"

She replied, "Kaa-yee."
(That's her pronounciation for 'colour')

Before I could help her though, she'd managed to locate the box of colour pencils and got on with her very busy schedule :-p :-D

Out in the morning, so the sun was bothering her. Hence, the shades and hat!

her favourite snack (at the moment) ~ popcorn

Aina wearing a simple dress hand stitched by Mama
(nak wat camner, mesin jahit takde, ehehehhehhee)

Aina with the Giant Bear that Mama & Babah are selling @ RM120 each
Interested? Please drop an email to zazook@gmail.com :-)

Aina also has learned to use the words "NO!", "No Way!" and "Go Away!" rather effectively!!
Bath time is also a very testing time for me because sometimes she's ok and other times she wants to hold the shower head and spray the whole bathroom with water, and screams "NO!" over and over again if I even attempt to shampoo and soap her........

Yup, bath times can be a very chaotic affair now......... :-s

But, on another note, she's also really cute and smart ~ if she does something she knows she's not supposed to, she'll grin and come kiss me. Or hug me. If i sit on the mini couch and she's on the floor (she LOVES sitting and lying on the floor, I don't know why!) she'll make her way to me and settle herself under my legs!!! Haaaiihhh.............

Anyway, from the pic below you can see that Aina is learning to be a good 'kakak' these days, thanks to my Sister for baby Qalesha :-D

Perfect, because if I ever have another one, at least Aina is already used to the concept of sharing (she'll be 'sharing' TokMi this Ramadhan and part of Syawal as Aina will be staying with TokMi on weekdays, with Qalesha ~ kakak Ana balik kampung)

And here are more pics of Qalesha :-)

notice her birthmark on her hand?

in this pic, she looks exactly like her Mommy :-)

OK... enough for now.

Must remember to take more pics of Aina this week, PROPER pics. Not just using the c****y phone camera!! LOL

AM