Iftar At Saloma Bistro

We had our Iftar today at Saloma Bistro. This is my treat for hubby’s birthday. We arrived at the place quite early n mingled around the area – MITC waiting for the Iftar. Taking photos n posing sana sini…

The place was pretty crowded with people. I could see there were also foreigners from Middle East joining us for Iftar.

The food I would say so so.. and not so many varieties. For the price of RM65 per person probably that’s what we get as mostly hotels in KL charge for Ramadhan Buffet from RM70++ to RM130++.

As for buffet if you really can eat a lot then it’s worth it. We left the place around 8.15pm n went to Pavillion. The place was so crowded with many people which I wonder what they were doing there. We just there for an hour as at 10pm the shops already closed.

We had a break, coffee with Icam n his wife. On the way back, Nabila n Hakeem were sleeping in the car tired hugging their newly bought toys.

Iftar's With Friends & Family

Today’s Iftar, hubby invited a few of his friends n my brothers – Paul & Amil. As usual I cooked rice n a few lauk pauk. I was so busy that I just managed to snap a few photos.

By the way, hubby seems to enjoy meeting his old school buddy. Nabila n Hakeem too were very happy n non-stop playing with their cousins.

We chatted till midnight n continued the session for teh tarik at our favourite Rafi restaurant.

Birthday Wish For My Husband

I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to my dearest husband. Semoga panjang umur, sihat sentiasa dan dilindungi Allah S.W.T.

He is 41 years old today. Though he is a year older but he is still the same man that I first met. My hubby has a small body frame n shorter than me. To me he always looks like budak sekolah – this is supposed to be a compliment ye bang…

He is a man full with humour n always make everybody laughs especially my children. I fell in love with him for this reason – always make me happy n smile.

I am proud n blessed to have him in my life. He provides the family the best out of the best. Like my son always said – Ayah is a hero. He is indeed a hero in our family.

On this special day I pray n wish that Allah will give a good health, happiness to him n our family. You are a wonderful husband n I love you in every way. Happy Birthday..

Iftar With Family

Today Iftar, I have all my in-laws at home. My hubby’s eldest sister to the youngest one – Along, Kak Ngah, Nazri & Liza. Kak Ngah & Liza drove down from Malacca n arrived in the afternoon.

When arrived, Maisara n Uzma were quite bored as Nabila, Hakeem were at school. When they came back, all of them were non-stop playing. Then in the night came Fatini n Emir joining them. They really had a good time.

I cooked rice with ikan talang lemak cili api, sambal udang petai, ayam goreng kicap, ikan bakar, sayur kangkung plus lots n lots of kuih muih bought at pasar ramadhan n some brought by the guests.

After iftar, the session continued with coffee, chatting while forcing ourselves to eat the foods that bought at pasar ramadhan. Surprisingly semua habis…

Back To School

Today is the first new term n day for Nabila n Hakeem. After about 7 weeks break they were excited n looking forward to go to school today. They slept early last night n alhamdullilah woke up in the morning easily.

My two little ones have grown up so fast without I realize. Nabila is now in Year 2 and Hakeem is in Year 1. The one who is more excited was Hakeem. He was so proud to be in Year 1 as he always claimed that he is now a big boy, no more in Reception n wear different color of pants which represent for primary grown up in his school.

We arrived at school quite early this morning. The kids were glad to see their friends. Some of the friends will be separated to different classes. The day started with briefing at the theatre by the principal. The number of students at the school has increased tremendously.

As I am typing this, hubby is on the way fetching them. I am sure they will have lots of things to talk about their school today.

The Temptation

Today it’s again… about pasar ramadhan. But now it’s about what to buy when we go there? For the last two days we went to pasar ramadhan near the stadium Shah Alam. Me n hubby always have our own favourite food to buy when we go there.

I love to buy murtabak. I bought at Malacca for the last couple days n it was so disappointed. No filling except flour that looked like roti canai. Hubby loves roti john.

At pasar ramadhan Shah Alam, there is one stall sells roti john that I saw last year had a long que. I am not talking about long just like long but this is really long mcm ular melingkar which had probably more than 20 people lined up. Serious… this people really mempunyai tahap kesabaran yang cukup tinggi. I really wanted to try but looking at the que n kesabaranku tidak dapat menandingi mereka mereka itu… maka terbatal lah niat tu…

This year I saw they had two separate stalls – probably because of high demand from last year. So today we were lucky to have the chance eating this famous papa john. There were about 8 people in front of us but hubby said – it’s ok.. I will que up. hmm… semangat yg cukup tinggi

They have a few types of roti john. We ordered special roti john – RM5.50. Huh.. very expensive. Because of the curiosity to taste how good it is plus nafsu yg tinggi… didn’t mind to join the que n bought not only one but two! Hehehehehe

We tasted the roti john first thing for iftar. It tasted good n delicious but very salty. I don’t know whether it was only today tasted salty or maybe it was supposed to taste like that. Anyway we have no regrets buying it.

As for murtabak, I still couldn’t find the one that really taste nice. Anyway.. still have another 25 days to go…

First Day of Ramadhan

My first day of Ramadhan was at Malacca. We arrived on Friday evening. We had our first day sahur n iftar at kampong – my mother in-law’s house.

As usual n planned hubby, me n Haziq went to pasar ramadhan. We went to the one at Peringgit. As expected the road to go there was jammed with cars n motorbikes. It was quite difficult to get a parking.

Tetapi dengan semangat yang tinggi dan berwibawa, we got a parking dan sanggup mengahadapi segala dugaan dengan sabarnya....

The place was crowded with people. The long stretched of stalls sold all kind of foods from rice, noodles, drinks n lots lots more. We bought mostly kuih muih.

I love to go to pasar ramadhan. Sometimes I can find foods that I never seen or eat before or the one that I couldn’t make. I love to see the excitement in everybody’s face looking at all the foods. Some of them don’t mind waiting or queuing for the food that they want to buy.

Well.. either it is ‘teringin’, ‘terliur’, ‘kempunan’ or ‘nafsu’ – that doesn’t matter. No matter where the pasar ramadhan it will always packed with people. Today we might venture to the different pasar ramadhan. Hmm..... bersungguh-sungguh....

Ramadhan Kareem

I would like to wish all my friends, relatives, family n readers – Selamat Berpuasa. I would like to wish everybody a very blessed Ramadhan.

This whole month of Ramadhan I will be very busy with my new project besides daily routine. Hubby is back n we wish that we could go for tarawih daily without missed. Insyaalah..

Ramadhan is a month of bountiful blessings and forgiveness. May Allah accepts all our efforts as an act of Ibadat.

Favourite Spot

Once in a while when I don’t feel like to cook, lazy or feel like wants to eat food that is not my specialties, I would eat outside. In Shah Alam there are lots of restaurants. You just name it – Mamak? Chinise? Malay? Thai? It’s just the matter whether the restaurant meet your taste bud or the service up to your expectation.

If Mamak restaurant our favourite spot will be Rafi Bistro. They have more then 100+ types of roti canai. So far we ordered the most common one. I just wonder whether the ‘chef’ could remember how to make all types of roti or will there be anybody actually order all kinds of roti there. I love the roti canai n tose here. The teh o ais limau is superb! Rafi has always be our favourite breakfast spot n sometimes for supper.

As for Thai food, my children love to go to the Thai Restaurant at Plaza Massalam. Everytime when hubby is back, they will drag their daddy to go there. The food is not bad here n the service is fast. The price is quite reasonable. Sometimes for a change we go to the restaurant near Tasik Shah Alam. This is also served a good delicious food.

As for the malay restaurant nearby our house, we found one behind Tesco Extra. There are many restaurants there including Upin & Ipin n the geng. Never try that before as I read comments the food was so so. Anyway I always see the restaurant crowded with people. We like to go the one nearby name Qaseh Bistro.

I love the satay over here as the portion is big n tasty. Last night I really wanted to eat satay. Konon2 last kopek before ramadhan. Unfortunately no people selling satay last night. So I just ordered bihun goreng which ok lah… Hubby ordered his usual one nasi goreng cili padi n Nadira had Cantonese kuetiaw which tasted corn flour.

When sometimes you had the food which didn’t meet your taste bud, u feel regret n the first thing popped out from your mouth will be – aku masak sedap lagi ni…. It’s true though but for people like me who cooks everyday, once in a while needs a break.

Well.. maybe some other time I will try to venture at another place.

Dinner With Special Guests

Hubby is home! He safely arrived on last Sunday night. This time around my children don’t have to worry their daddy will be going away again. Well... I hope at least for quite some time..

Tonight we have a special guest - our dear friend from Doha – Zaireen’s family. We also invited Pidin, Uci n Udik. Today is also budak tua punya birthday – Pidin. I made cuppies for him as requested. Happy Birthday Pidin…

I cooked rice with lauk kampong for dinner tonight. It was so good to have them around. We chatted n yakked till midnight. It seems that there were lots of things to talk n updated each other. Terkenang zaman-zaman dolu…

I will definitely invite them again for Iftar at our house.

Gula Vs Mask

Every time nak raya, gula always be the hot stuff. At the same time there are always the irresponsible people taking advantage on others by hiding lots of stocks. Padan muka n serve them right those that had been caught.

Couple of weeks ago when the matter arise, in front of my eyes I saw makcik-makcik like got panic n grabbed as many packets sugar as they could. Though it’s written there 2 packets per person, they still took more n even begged the cashier to let them thru. Some of the shops n stores were out of stock for sugar.

In my house, we hardly use sugar except when guests come n sometimes when I cook certain dish. The 1kg packet of sugar can last up to 2 months. Despite the fact that rumours of not enough stocks of sugar, the price is still being controlled by the government.

Not like MASK. Yes.. the surgical mask, mask or apa2 yg sewaktu dengannya also currently the hot stuff in market. The price suddenly increased to RM1.50 per piece. It is so ridiculous. At the moment when all of us need mask due to the H1N1 influenza, again the irresponsible people taking advantage on this.

Four days ago, I went around looking for the mask n it’s all out of stock. Finally yesterday I found at one of the pharmacy in Shah Alam. They sell one box (50pieces) for RM75 which the price normally less then RM50. According to the sales person, a few boxes that they have in the shop were purchased from other pharmacies.

She advised me to look around at a few places which I might get cheaper. She told me at Banting, her friend bought RM30 per box n my friend got at Seremban RM25 per box. Tapi takkan lah nak round satu KL?

My cousin who was getting high fever recently in Kedah went to the government hospital for check-up. She said there were many sick n having high fever. Those who only with temp 40deg celcius above got warded otherwise just take the medicine n rest at home. She has to pay for the mask – they don’t give u for free.

Though government n ministry has given warned about this matter, there is still somebody out there who is heartless n taking advantage on the situation. Beside mask, the hand sanitizer also out of stock. I went to a few shops n pharmacies – all out of stock!

I am very seriously concern about the H1N1 matter. Everyday there is always a report that somebody die. I avoid taking my children to crowded places. At most of the time they will just stay at home. If needed to go out, I will make sure they put on a mask. Hakeem loves putting on the mask but not Nabila. For Hakeem it’s like something ‘in’ n fancy where else Nabila complained difficulty of breathing. At the end they just prefer to stay at home!

Al Fatihah Buat Arwah Ibuku

Today is the 7th year my mom passed away – Allahyarhammah Hajjah Khatijah bt Mahmood. I will never forget the day, the last day I saw, talked n held her hands. It was two weeks before the day she left me. I was in the car going to the airport to go back to Miri n there was my mom sitting on the wheel chair waving smiling n looking at me – the look that will be on my mind forever.

Two days before 12th Aug 2002, I had a difficulty sleeping at night n felt uneasy with myself. I even cut my fingers twice while opening the can food. My dad called a day earlier n asked me to come back home. I took the afternoon flight from Miri n the connecting flight to Alor Setar was around 7.00pm.

While walking to the waiting hall my brother Boy called me “Kak Long, Mama dah takde. Mama dah meninggal dunia” I couldn’t believe n didn’t want to accept what I heard. I kept asking him all over again whether it was true. I was 7 months pregnant for Nabila. I was walking with Nadira n after I put down the phone I just walked fast n held her hand with tears in my eyes.

I was not beside my mom during her last moment. Even my two other brothers couldn’t made it except my dad n my younger bro, Boy. When I reached home I saw my mom’s body lying in the middle of the hall way with many people n relatives around.

I have a 33 beautiful n wonderful years with my beloved mom. She was the best n understanding mom. My mom always worried about me, just about everything from the moment she gave birth to me and even till I already had husband n children. If she could hear me now, Mama.. don’t worry about me. I am now happy n u should be happy for me too. I love u n miss u a lot.

Ya Allah.. Ampunkan lah segala dosa ibuku. Kau rahmatilah roh ibuku. Kau tempatkan ibuku di taman-taman syurga. Kau tempatkan ibuku dalam golongan orang yang beriman dan bertakwa.

Al-Fatihah buat Mama..

Hoping For Some Miracles

What I am gonna tell here is the same old story, promise n vision. I’ve not being going to the gym or doing any exercise for couple of months. Once you’ve been in that period for so long all the guiltiness had vanished n you will feel numb n don’t care anymore.

All the people I met gave the same reaction – I’ve put on weight n some of them dare to ask me, are u pregnant? Tak sayang mulut tul.. When I look at myself in the mirror – takde lah gemuk sangat. I am blessed to have a height n broad body frame. So it will not be too obvious if I put on weight. My jeans still fit me except kekadang mcm sesak nafas gak nak tarik.

These are just words to make myself feel better. But I know my body very well. I have managed to expand certain part of my body. It’s a lie if I don’t feel upset n frustrated but damaged has been done. Anyway to cut the story short – last week for 4 consecutive days I managed to drag myself to go to the gym. On the first day I took n recorded my weight – for some motivations of course!

Today after done with my session I took my weight again. With big hope after a week exercise I stepped on the weighing machine n SHIT.. it’s the same number kgs. What do I expect then? I was hoping for some miracles – at least ½ kg shed will make me feel better. But this kind of miracles didn’t happen to me. Sob sob sob..

Since I was small I always believe in miracles. Probably being influenced by the fairytales cartoon I watched so much on TV. There was one time I was hoping that my piano homework that was pending for a week will be completed by miracle. I even made wish behind the door then after 2 hours I sneaked to have a look at the book hoping for miracle. Silly me. Now everybody knows my childhood dumb secret. Hehehehehe..

I still have faith in this miracle phenomenon except now I am being more realistic. Miracles did happen to me. It’s probably not in the physically kind of ways but Allah gave me different types of miracles. I am thankful for receiving that.

I can have a dream that tomorrow morning when I wake up my body will be like Jessica Alba. However it won’t happen to me if I don’t work for it. Nevertheless hoping for miracles is harmless. One thing that make feel good now is my watch that I am currently wearing is a bit loose. Well.. don’t blame me but I need some motivations here :).

The 'Heat'

This morning I went out to have breakfast with kids n did some groceries at Giant. When I passed the entrance I heard a Raya song playing in the air. OMG.. it’s not even Ramadhan yet but they already playing the raya song..

Then I saw stacked of raya cookies n lots varieties kinds of dates from all over Middle East country. I don’t see people actually shopping for raya yet. Probably it was just a normal weekly grocery.

Deep inside me I felt so excited. I was smiling n I can feel that my heart feels with joy. Nabila n Hakeem have now started to understand n asked about Raya festival. Hubby will be coming back for good n yes.. this raya all of us will be together.

I’ve planned to make a few types of cookies. I am also looking forward for Iftar. Iftar always be a special month for me as I will cook n try out different kinds of dishes for the whole month. This doesn’t count the Pasar Ramadhan that we love to go n also shopping baju kurung raya for the children.

Hmm… I am now thrilled.. hehehehhe.. I can feel the heat already. This is the best part in life to celebrate Iftar n Eid in your own country. Believe me..

Oops Bersih

We’ve been living at our house for one half year. The house is all equipped with brand new furniture – totally new. I just have to bring in our clothes, books, kitchen items n a few others belonging including children’s toys.

Some of the toys are actually since when we were at Miri n also the one we brought from Oman. My children love to buy toys. My fault too as I in a way encouraged them. When they were small I prefer buying good branded toys. Some of them I still keep it till now. They all are still good n I don’t have a heart to throw or give away. One day they will thank me for keeping those as these will be nostalgic n value to them when they grown up.

Hakeem still has his original collections of Thomas Train. He didn’t want to play with that anymore but I still keep it. Nabila too has close to 50 Barbie which some were hand down from her sisters. Last 3 days I did spring cleaning in their room at the toy section.

I forced them to be around n helped me out. We sorted out old broken toys which mostly free from MCDonald. Before we moved in, these are the toys that were already being sorted out from our previous home. It’s quite amazing that after a year they didn’t actually made unnecessary collections.

I’ve told them that it’s not necessary to buy toy every time we go out. Nabila seldom buys toys as she is more into books. This is another problem for me as she reads books like she’s drinking water. Once she had the book in hand, she will start reading no matter where even while walking till it finish. So every time we go out she will insist buying books, not one but at least three pieces. I will spend just on her books close to RM100.

So the oops bersih went well. They helped me n arranged all the toys nicely. We ended up with 2 big bin bags of broken toys, books, rubbish n 1 plastic of toys to be given away. Well done kids n hopefully we don't have to this for another year.