Happy 53rd Merdeka Day

Happy Merdeka to everybody. It’s a holiday and I didn’t go out anywhere as I am fully occupied with my baking. Furthermore its fasting month and the children just prefer to stay at home. Last night after came back from school, Nabila was asking about Merdeka and what was it all about. She seems to be interested in this as I believed she was talking about it at school.

She asked whether I could bring her to see the Merdeka parade as she never seen it before. Well.. me too, I never been to any parade and I would probably did not want to especially at my age now! I told her maybe one day we could go there together with her daddy. So this morning I asked her to watch the parade showed life on TV. She was very keen and interested watching it. I watched it too and it was an awesome event.

This year we celebrate our 53 years of being independence. God.. I am proud to be Malaysian. We live with different cultures and lifestyles but still happily under one roof. Though there are bunch of ungrateful groups out there who still trying to memporak peranda each other, but still lots of people unite for the harmony and peaceful of our country.

No matter what shortcomings we faced in our country, be proud of being a Malaysian. Trust me.. when you introduce yourself as Malaysian to the outside world, they will look up high on you as being Malaysian.

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! 1 Malaysia Menjana Transformasi.

I Hate You But I Need You

This afternoon while I was stuck in the traffic as usual rodek2 my phone, I noticed that my phone suddenly couldn’t be used. I couldn’t log in to my YM and my BBM was not functioning. I called Maxis hotline and I got a message “Sorry.. your line has been interrupted at the moment. Please pay the outstanding bill” – lebih kurang mcm tu lah bunyi nya..

I was shocked to hear that as far as I am concern my husband makes an auto debit monthly payment from his credit card. Damn.. I wanted to call him to check out but I don’t have any other phone with me. I have no clue at all why this happen. Berdetik gak dlm hati.. kut2 takde duit dlm bank suami aku!!

Well.. I just have to be patient I told myself. Wait till I get back home and check on this. Once home, I quickly buzz hubby but he was not available to answer me. I then called Maxis Call Centre. I told the staff that my phone line has been suspended. I told him too that my husband makes an auto debit payment using credit card and all this while we have no problem with this.

After given my details and checked by him, he told me that there is a problem with HSBC as my husband is using HSBC credit card. I asked “what do u mean by problem? Is it my husband’s credit card or what?” He replied that Maxis is having problems with HSBC regarding master card/visa card holder.

I said “So.. we customer jadi mangsa ke? We are the good paymaster. If Maxis has problem with the bank, we customer shouldn’t have to know and being affected. I said again “I want my line back as it is not fair to me as a customer to receive this kind of service as this is definitely not my fault”

After checked with the supervisor, he came back to me said sorry and will activate the line back in 2 hours. I said “What… 2 hours… that is so long” Maybe the staff takut kut I buat bising.. he quickly said “ok.. I have activated your line now and you can use it now” He asked me to reboot my phone and waaallaaa.. I got my ‘life’ back.. Huh.. bole pun.. nak kena tunggu 2 jam pulak.. bukan tak bayar bill.. bukan salah kita..

Of course after that I am so happy to be ‘connected’ back but the damaged that Maxis had done to me for almost 4 hours – miserable and disoriented!

Birthday Wish For My Husband

Today is my dearest hubby's birthday. He is far away and not with us here to celebrate this special day. In the morning me and my children sent a birthday wish to hubby. Nabila made a birthday card for her daddy.

To my dearest hubby, another year of getting older! Though we are not with you at the moment, you are not forgotten.

To my hubby whom I love with all my heart, I wish u a happy birthday. Semoga panjang umur, diberi kesihatan yang baik dan sentiasa dilindungi Allah SWT.

Good Luck To Piqah

My dearest cousin – Afiqah or panggilan manja.. Piqah is leaving for Canada today. After a year doing prep in Taylors College under JPA scholar, she continue her first Degree in Economy at University of Alberta.

Piqah is very close to me. When I was pregnant for Nadira, she was 3 years old and I always brought her around with me everywhere I go. Now she and my daughter Nadira are not like aunty&niece but they are BFF. They are so very close.

Now my baby cousin dah besar panjang and is going abroad. Her flight is at 9.15am but she has to be at the airport by 5am. My uncle left the house as early as 3.00am. I was not able to send her off as I have to send my children to the school.

Nadira was at the airport and she took some pictures. By looking at the pictures, my aunty was very sad sending off her youngest daughter. Piqah has to be there for 5 years but I am sure with all the internet thingy things we would always be in touch with her. Furthermore she already planned that she wants to come back home the next summer holiday.

To Piqah, Take a good care, study hard and come back as an Economist. I know you are a survivor and would be able to face the world out there. All of us will definitely miss you. I am sure especially my children.

Iftar Gathering

Today I invited my brothers and cousin iftar at my home since my aunty came from Kedah. My dearest cousin, Piqah is leaving for Canada tomorrow so we just gathered around to be with her. I cooked a few dishes and of course my aunty and brothers bought more and more extra foods.

Roti Mc Gyver Murtabak Rafi

It was definitely meriah bila berbuka ramai-ramai. Plus with the children who some were fasting too enjoyed themselves with the cousins. My bro, Amil brought the famous bubur lambuk Kg Bahru and also the famous ‘roti McGyver’ (my bro ckp roti ni tgh ‘hot’ kat Kg Bahru).

On top of that my aunty bought my favourite Rafi murtabak yang tebal dan padat and also a few dishes. My bro, Paul brought kuih muih and my cousin, Jaw – ayam percik, golek (though she was late tapi ayam licin gak!!)

After dinner was the children session. My bro Amil and Pak Ngah brought bunga api and mercun pop. Huh… apa lagi… macam nak raya rasanya. The children were very excited. Pak Amil jadi ketua kampung layan budak2…

While everybody lepak2 having tea suddenly my bro took something out from his car. Sempat lagi tu… jualan mega hari raya!! He had girl’s dress with him and my cousin Jaw, terjebak gak beli… Hahahahhaha.. but it was a good deal.

I am very pleased to have relatives or guests around at home. If hubby was around too he would as much enjoyed the company too. Beside that my children who used to have only them in the house could get to play with their cousins. The Iftar gathering was success and thanks to everybody who came with lots of foods.

Back To School

Here I am back to my normal routine. My children started their New Year calendar of school yesterday. Nadira is in Year 11, Nabila- Year 3 and Hakeem - Year 2. All of them were excited and looking forward on the first day.

When reached school, Nabila and Hakeem were so excited meeting their friends. It seems that they had so many things to catch up. Nabila has been fasting from the day one of Ramadhan. I told her to try to fast if she can and in case she feels tired she can always break her fast and have a drink.

As for Hakeem, he already told me that he might not be able to fast while his friends eat in front of him. And with lots of reasons from Hakeem, I said.. OK.. but when it’s a school off day you definitely has to fast. As for Nabila I cross my finger as I know it could be tough for her as this is her first year.

At the end of school when I fetched them, I saw Nabila smile and ran towards me. She waited for me to ask her “So.. Did you manage to fast today?” With her big grin she nodded and proudly said ‘Yes’. Wah.. I was so surprised and at the same time proud to see her so determine in doing this. As for Hakeem, masuk dalam kereta dgn selambanya makan depan kakak dia! Today the 2^nd day of school and Nabila still continued fasting.

My routine during Ramadhan is quite packed. I have to run around in between tasks. I am currently busy with my kek lapis, the whole day baking plus with cooking for Iftar. In the evening after fetched children from school I would normally pengsan! I was totally exhausted. Last year I have hubby to be the ‘chauffeur’ and now I have to do all by myself. Warghhhh…..

As for Nadira, she is now busying in her preparation for her GCSE. She just got her result for Bahasa Malaysia paper and it was excellent – A*. Well done my girl. Keep it up and I pray that you will succeed in other papers as well.

Mean while.. here I am the busy mom not the superwoman but trying her best to be one.

Laksa oh... Laksa

Laksa.. never been my favorite. Though I was brought up in Kedah which is so famous with its trade mark of laksa.. everywhere you go, you can see people selling laksa. Still I don’t really like to eat laksa.

Until one day… when I was in Miri, I didn’t particularly remember why and how it started but that was the first time I really enjoyed and started to eat laksa. It was my first homemade laksa. I guessed it was because I wanted to try out the recipe and it turned out to be tasteful.

Since there.. there is no turning back! Laksa does not only like by me but also by everybody in the family including the little one, Nabila. I don’t know when and where did she learn to eat laksa but it seems that every time when there is laksa, she would want to order that.

Here in KL, it’s hard to find shop selling good laksa unless if it’s Penang Laksa . Penang laksa is different from Kedah laksa. There was once I went to Pasar Ramadhan at Shah Alam and found one good laksa stall. It claimed to be Laksa Jitra. Tapi serius… memang sedap.

When I was in Kedah recently, I bought laksa at the Pasar Ramadhan there. Sadly it was so tasteless. Cair, too masam and didn’t taste the fish at all. Memang tak puas hati.. sedap lagi yg kat Shah Alam tu.

Today because of the dissatisfaction and disappointment of not getting good laksa back in Kedah, I made and cooked my own laksa for Iftar. Furthermore kids requested to eat laksa! Huh… bukan nak masuk dalam bakul or naik lif picit sendiri naik atas… haahahhahaha… but my homemade cook laksa tasted so super duper yummyyyy..

Everybody enjoyed it so much except Hakeem… he wanted different menu – mee sup! So for him I cooked mee sup while the rest of us oh la la… laksa..

The Story Of My Son

Hakeem.. my only son. He is a jovial and fun-loving boy. Being the youngest in the family, he is always the favorite one to be hugged n cuddled. Also not to forget sometimes spoilt as he is always being pampered by his sisters n me!

Hakeem is so close to his dad. They are buddies as he always claims that they are the only ‘man’ in the family. This back few days my little ‘man’ had been very depressed. For the first time I saw him cried and asked for his dad.

Last two years when hubby was in Kazakhstan, I had a tough time to comfort Nabila as she was always cried asking for her dad. Hakeem was so cool just like nothing happen. For the last one year hubby was back working in Malaysia. The children were so used to see him every day. Manja2 and gurau2..

Last two weeks hubby went again working abroad. Nabila of course during the first week she was very depressed. She cried and kept holding hubby’s picture and t-shirt. Hakeem still looked fine. When I asked him ‘do you miss Ayah?’ he answered YES of course.

Last Tuesday when I was in Kedah, while lying on the bed Hakeem said that he felt so sad. I asked why and suddenly he burst into tears. He cried and wanted his dad. God I was panic at first as I never saw him like that. I tried to comfort him and Nabila was being nice gave hubby’s photo &t-shirt (that she have with her all the time) to Hakeem.

Hakeem fell asleep after that with the photo in his hand. Since that day every night Hakeem cried longing for his dad. I know this separation is hard for Hakeem as he is now matured enough to understand what is going on. I just hope that it won’t affect him further.

Tonight I got him to talk to hubby as he cried again. After talking to his dad, he felt a bit cheerful and fell asleep immediately. Poor my boy… my heart goes out to him.

Prayer For My Father

The day I arrived in Alor Setar, I went straight to the hospital to visit my dad. At that time my dad still had not went through the operation. My children were very excited to visit their Tok Ayah but unfortunately kids were not allowed to go in. They were so frustrated.

Since they couldn’t went up to see him, my dad went downstairs to the lobby to meet them (culik pesakit sat…) My dad had two solid days resting and did some checkups before his operation day.

Today at 7.30am he went to the operation theatre and was back to his room around 10.45am. Alhamdullilah the operation went thru very well. My dad had an epidural and was awake during the operation. He could see on the monitor what was going on. He just watched for a while as he felt scared.

According to the doctor, they scrapped something like ‘fat’ (’m not sure what the medical term is) in the prostate which was the one caused my dad having frequent urination. The weight of the ’fat’ was 27gm which was a mild case. The doctor said she had a case which the weight was 50gm.

My dad looked fine and relieved after undergone the operation. He started to drink water at 12pm and followed by solid food. In the evening at 5.00pm when I visited him again, he complained of having pain. I guessed the anesthetic subsided and my dad started to feel the pain.

My dad has to stay at the hospital until his urine color turned to normal. As for now it was full with blood. It would probably take around two days. I just hope that my dad could endure the pain. Looking at his face yang menahan kesakitan just make me felt so bad as I couldn’t help much.

I pray that he will be fine and speedy recovery. After this my dad can sleep like a baby as he doesn’t have to wake up so many times at night to go to the toilet.

Back In Alor Setar

I am in Alor Setar, Kedah now back to my dad’s house. I am here coz my dad admitted to the hospital. He has to undergo an operation which has been postponed for the past 3 months. I arrived Alor Setar in the evening and went straight to the hospital to visit my dad.

My dad looked fine except I think he is scared to undergo the operation. He has to be in the hospital two days earlier for the normal checkup routine like blood pleasure, sugar and etc. He said his blood pressure reading went up.

Yesterday we had our iftar at my aunty’s house. Huh… seronok berbuka ramai2. Big feast! Normally it was just us – my small family and sekali sekala berkumpul memang terasa kemeriahannya. My kids too enjoyed the crowd and food which of course superb.

Today I will go again to visit my dad. He will has his operation tomorrow morning and I pray that everything will be fine.

Go Western...

Today in the morning Hakeem came to me and said that he was craving of eating pizza. He wanted to have that for our Iftar. When I asked Nabila and Nadira, they cheered agreed happily. Hmm.. so today I decided to prepare ‘western’ iftar.. memandangkan semua tekak nak jadi orang putih… :)

Pizza… well that surely ordered from our favorite Dominos. The pizza package came with chicken barb-q. Beside that I also cooked grilled salmon and mash potato. I always stock fresh salmon in my fridge as my children love to eat those. The salmon I bought fresh from Shah Alam market which only available on the weekend.

I made simple grilled salmon – just marinate with salt & pepper then grilled with butter. As for the mash potato – mashed and poured with mushroom black pepper gravy.. Yummy.. yummy…

All of us enjoyed the meal so much. As for the desert.. my homemade jelly which Nabila had those non-stop. Now.. for sahur… I am still thinking what to cook?