Ticking the checklist..

Or at least about half of it, alhamdullilah ... As I said, our schedule is quite hectic so we tried to make the best out of time that we have.

:: The very first drink that came to mind ha ha ha. What Malaysian without Teh Tarik eh? This is basically our  national anthem ::

:: Yong Tau Fu. My pasar malam must-have-item ::

The next day, we made a move to Lumut as my husband's training started on Tuesday. We stayed at Swiss Garden Damai Laut for all those 4 days although my parents did owned a house at Sitiawan. Simply because the company covers the lodging, easier for me to get a lunch by staying at hotel rather than home because I'd be car-less during the day, and because I felt like having a short holiday. So why not? 

:: On the way to Lumut via old Kuala Selangor route. I made my husband stopped and buy me this he he he. Along the way we kept making a stop because of me. Let's see, there's goreng pisang stop, air kelapa pandan stop, fruit stall stop and I even tried to make her stop when I saw pau panas stall ha ha ha ::

:: Jambu madu with petis.. Blisssssss ::

:: Char Kuey Teow near Pasar Warisan, Manjung. Kerang is his and prawn is definitely yours truly's. New favourite! We had this two nights in the row ::

:: He bought me a kilo of this after training one day so that I can have it in room if I felt somewhat hungry during the day ::



:: My mum whatsapp me this photo of the girls feasting on siput sedut like they don't have any care in the world and I really thought they would be devastated and missing us dearly ha ha ha ::

Most of the time, we ate outside the hotel but during one of the night, he had set an appointment for massage so it was more convenient to eat in the hotel restaurant. There's few restaurants inside hotel for us to choose from and I chose their BBQ and seafood restaurant by the sea called The Gayam. 

:: OOTD.. Lycra dress from PTB-chiffon cardigan from PMJTAR-tudung Ariani.. If you was wondering, PTB stands for Pasar Tani Bangi and PMJTAR is Pasar Malam Jalan TAR ha ha ha. Baju pasar malam je ade jugak hati nak OOTD !! ::

:: At my 30 weeks. I indeed looked very very 'healthy' don't I? Heheheh perkembangan yang sangat memberansangkan ::

:: They had buffet style that costs RM 76 per pax. As for the seafood stall, we arrived slightly earlier so it wasn't ready yet as the chef just started the grilling bit so he made an effort to sent few plates of a little bit of this and that to our table after he's done with the first batch. If you like a second helping, you may request again or just take the grilled one from the buffet counter ::

:: Fat, plump and juicy.. Their chicken bbq also very very tasty and totally recommended ::

We left Lumut after his 4 days training is complete. By then, my mother and father in law has already arrived in Bangi from Terengganu to meet and spend few days with us considering that we have only few days left. I knew it was going to be short term balik kampung but never expected time to flew this fast.

That night, my husband decided to treat his family to a nice meal so we picked Perantau Hill restaurant at Sg Merab. Neither any of us have tried this place before but the place always jam packed every time we passed by.

What we ordered that night. Nothing unusual, just normal typical menu we always order during dine out..

:: Siakap sweet and sour ::

:: Siakap masak perantau ::

:: Sotong masak curry, chef recommendation ::

:: Kailan Ikan Masin ::

:: Telor bungkus ::

:: Ikan selar bakar for father in law because he didn't eat siakap or any type of big fish ::

We also ordered sate willy. My opinion is, sate willy is the only thing that worth recommendation. The rest was so so tapi abes la jugak ha ha ha.. Tak baik membazir.. Sighhhh...

:: This is taken at Wangsa Walk, during our yearly sushi fix. The only makan makan part I don't really enjoy hahaha ::

:: Unagi and raw salmon. Urghhhhhh I've been married to him for 8 years by now but I still can't stand the view of him chewing raw salmon and unagi. And worst, now I have 2 kids with exactly same liking for raw stuff!! ::

:: Old Town ABC. Our staple food. We had this all the time, day and night, without failed ::

:: Another thing that we couldn't afford to miss is ayam kampung. We usually had ours at Restaurant Tuan Faridah Puchong, or Velodrome Cheras. This one however, was from another restaurant near Tuan Faridah because Tuan Faridah is closed that day ::

:: My plate ::

:: Erin and siput sedut, tak bleh dipisahkan ::

:: Alis opted for nasi ayam instead ::

The night before we left for Kuwait, we brought my family to Dagang Avenue for Burger Bakar Abang Burn. Honestly, since everyone is talking about burger bakar almost everywhere, FB, blog and whatnot, the visit to their stall was merely out of curiosity. I really want to see what was the hype is all about because based on experience being Malaysian, sometimes certain stuff tends to get exaggerated especially when celebrities got involved and again, this time I wasn't all wrong. 

In all honesty, personally I don't really think burger bakar was really that great. But considering this coming from someone who doesn't eat meat, so I can say that my view is biased because I had tasted only their chicken burger. The patty was too dry and nothing really stands out that makes me crave for more. On another note, according to my husband whom tried both beef burger and meatball, he said the taste was not really bad but not impressive either. We certainly had better! However, their effort in coming with something different and innovative totally deserved a mention.

:: Beef burger double layer ::

:: Beef burger single layer ::

:: Meatball with cheesy wedges ::

So long Malaysia.. 'Five' of us will see you again next year, Insya Allah. 

Hellooooww desert!

Prenatal massage at Poise

We went back to Malaysia last 2 weeks. It was adhoc and last minute decision since we're actually planning to go back on November, after I give birth. However, Allah has better plan. Unfortunately, our trip was only for a very short length of time so our schedule was a bit hectic and thorough plan was needed in order to get everything on the list done.

In short, the reason we came back to Malaysia was because of.........

1) Nasi kandar

2) Nasi kandar

3) Nasi kandar

4) Nasi kandar again

5) Hubby got training!

Ha ha ha ha ha...

Okay la, to be fair, I also need to take some of Erin's old baby stuff. Considering that the 3rd one is also going to be a girl, Insya Allah, I foresee a lot of hands me down hehehe.. 

:: At the airport. Switching from hot summer mode to tropical mode ::

:: Isi perut before boarding ::

Flight went smooth although I couldn't close my eyes for even a single second. Definitely not because I'm nervous or excited or whatnot. It just that travelling while being 7 months pregnant, during summer holiday, which well known as favorite season for Arabs to fly out country to somewhere cooler to avoid the extreme heat, is not really a good idea. I am beyond uncomfortable and felt miserable the whole journey. What's with the jam packed flight where there's no room  to breath or extra leg room. Even going to toilet is an obstacles because flight is full and people were dozed off in various pattern and some were even blocking the pathway. I don't feel comfortable disturbing flyers whom deep in sleep so I had to wait for meal time to make my toilet round. Try being heavily pregnant, leg swollen, no position of seating can offer you comfort, leg down, leg up, on your right side, on your left side -nallaaa... and then having had to hold your pee for 3-4 hours! I can't even begin to describe the torment ... :(

We arrived slightly late than schedule because of 45 minutes delay at Qatar Airport. My family was already at KLIA, immediately transfer the girls's bag into my father's car and off they went to Johor Bahru to attend my cousin's wedding. I couldn't join because I'm in no position to make another 5 hours trip by road and we're going to Lumut a day after since hubby got 1 week training so for the whole next week, it will be just me, hubby and lil bun in the oven. Therefore I decided to treat the next whole week as babymoon and short getaway while hubby attend his training.

Anyway, before leaving for Lumut, there's another thing I've been wanted to do. Put nasi kandar aside, this is  way more important and vital at that moment. Prenatal Massage!

There is number of spas that offered prenatal massage in Kuwait but it was more expensive and lacked of option. I googled a bit and found a few that I really like. Ohh I made a profound discovery too. I just knew that Clarins did offer prenatal massage. Never had thought of that as Clarins is more known for it's skincare products. Among many spas that offered prenatal massage, I picked Poise Organic Wellness Studio, simply because the location is the nearest to my house, reviews is good, they had empty slot the next morning and they're by far the cheapest ha ha ha.. 

Hubby dropped me off and went to Mid Valley to kill his time during my 2 hours treatment.

The spa is located at Jalan Klang Lama, behind Pearl Point. They rented the whole 2 stories bungalow and turned it into spa. Direction wise, quite easy to find because the spa is located by the main road side.

While waiting for my masseuse to get ready, I was served hot herbal tea and presented with a tray of various oil for me to choose in my session according to my preference. 

:: I picked Relax Rub as recommended by the masseuse because pregnant lady is not advised to take scented oil ::

Well, as for the package, I chose Mother To Be package which cost only RM 99 per hour and I opted for 1 hour 1/2 treatment which cost me RM 148. The most well spent RM 148 I ever made during this trip, I must say. Beside this package, they offer many many more treatment you can pick up to your liking. They even has massage package for babies.

My masseuse named Wani and she's very very good. She knows exactly what she's doing and dealing with and unlike other massage treatment I went before where I can't feel any different before and after treatment at times, I can actually felt relieved, my muscle loosen and soften and I actually felt lighter. Her massage was spot on and pleasure at the same time. The amount of pressure was just nice but effective. Seriously, she was that good.. Like I said, the most well spent few hundred bucks during the whole trip!

After done with my treatment, I was served with another cup of hot spicy ginger-ish herbal tea that tasted and smelled exactly like kuah ikan siakap steam.

The owner, a young chinese lady came to me and called me by my name despite we're not being properly introduced earlier and we had a light casual  chat. She wasn't there when I came in the morning. There's just something about good and warm hospitality beside good services because warm welcome and hospitality that's usually produces repeat and regular customers. 

So yeah, am one satisfied customer and I totally recommend them for both excellence service and price wise. 

12 June 79

Happy birthday to me he he he..

I turned 34 today, alhamdullilah.. Been through so many bitter sweet things, been going to places and learned a heap of lessons to which I could never imagine experiencing in my such short span of life and for all that matters, Alhamdullilah is the only appropriate things to say to conclude what I feel today. 

My FB and Ig was flooded with wishes, prayers and kind thoughts by families, peers and friends and some of them were from of those friends whom I haven't really got in touch on daily basis. It made me realized that friendship doesn't need to be grand or publicized and we certainly don't have to put label on it. And it appeared to me that among many many friends I have today in life, some certain person made me realized that even when we don't meet up or we don't correspond often, our friendship remain unscathed.

For that reason, I put up this status on my FB today, to express my gratitude towards my lovely family and all those kind being around me..

"Today marked 4 years since I joined the 3 series wagon. 

I am full of RVC .. and of coz, gratitude.. 

For hubster and my girls.. Though I don't say out-loud many times, I've thanked you a hundred times in my heart for everything.. 

To family and friends..
Thank you for taking the time wishing me, praying for me and the thoughtfulness..

Even if every flower in the world had a voice, I couldn't send as many as it would take to say thanks enough!

May Allah bless us all .. Amiinn "

:: Wish from hubby on my birthday eve. He and Alis went extra mile to get me Red Velvet Cake from Wow and a bouquet of roses for me although he's working on night shift. I couldn't asked for more can't I ? ::

:: A handmade gift from my darling Alis. Definitely a keepsake ::

So, yeah happy birthday to me.. A year older and hopefully a year wiser :)

Kampung enough?

Being Malaysian's Malay, I believed everyone would agree with me on this. No food gives us satisfaction more that  rice. Just like Korean cannot live without kimchi and Indian without curry. For sure, I can substitute my meals with noodles, western and such but usually, at the end of the day, I would turn to rice. On the contrary to my better half, I have not much appetite for western. I would agree with western food depends on my mood but I always have appetite for rice, given any situation, any time of the day, any season of year or any climate which drove my husband crazy most of the times ha ha ha. 

During normal day, I would asked earlier what my family wanted to have for lunch and dinner so I can plan my work but if they didn't come up with anything they feel like having, the answer will always rice, rice and nothing else but rice unless something else was suggested.

And this is what happened if the decision is solely up to me - full course of kampung style lunch. 

:: Lemak Cili Padi Ayam with Kentang. The second best lemak cili padi I've ever taste ( the best will always be my mum's of course) was at Restaurant P.Ramlee at KLCC. I think the restaurant has been closed not long after but the taste of it's lemak cili padi lingers until now. Well, actually what I wanted to share is that they fried their chicken before putting it into the gravy and I was hooked since then and started doing so each time I make Lemak Cili Padi ::

:: Must have every time I cooked lemak or curry. The saltiness from ikan masin compliment the santan-ish meal well. As I've mentioned in many posts before, my husband and I have a very different palate and that includes our preference of ikan masin. I preferred sepat or talang more but he loves tenggiri jeruk so  we just had to have both usually ::

:: Famously known as jer jer or jarjel in middle east. I think the other or rather the westernized name for this green thing is arugula. You'll find this ulam abundance in Arab's world. This is ze main side dish to go with almost everything here. Rice, grilled, bread and whatnot. Hubby usually bought our stock after every Friday prayer from the hawker outside mosque.

:: I called this Udang goreng belacan with kangkung instead of Kangkung Goreng belacan with udang because udang is more than kangkong he he he.. ::

Visit Malaysia Year 2014 launching and promotional event in Kuwait

Husband received an invitation by embassy to an event called Malaysia Gala Dinner for launching of Visit Malaysia Year 2014 on 13th May, and we are more than honored and happy to attend. The event took place at Marriot Courtyard Hotel, Kuwait.

Since I'm into my 28 weeks as we speak, looking good is least of my concern because I don't look good in no matter what I put on at this stage ha ha ha. Whatever could fit me would be fine, I'll take it.. 

:: There's an official photographer roaming around the lobby to take a photo of you and you can request to get it printed in a hard case frame like this. Makes a really good memento ::

:: Ours ::

Tourism Malaysia rent out all three ballrooms I think. One is to cater booths for all hoteliers and travel agencies which participating in this events. The other one is where the launching took place and another one is allocated for dining. 

There's also one booth prepared outside for all guests to have a hands on batik chanting's experience. I think  if there's only one product that can presented Malaysia's best, than batik it is.

In overall, the event went smooth, entertaining and in relaxing mode. I mean no lengthy speeches whatsoever. The Master of Ceremony of the day is no other than Mr Mahathir Lokman and I immediately got star struck hahaha. He spoke well, very charismatic and funny at the same time. It's so easy to see why he was the best for the job. 

We were entertained by series of traditional dances that represented Malaysia's multiracial cultures by dancers from Istana Budaya and also famous quintet before the launching and during dinner. Listening to Ct Nurhaliza's song - Nirmala and other songs performed that night really trigger those homesick feeling. I'm sure most of us can't be helped but feeling thrilled and sad at the same time.

:: Familiar face right?? I believed they're indeed the face of Malay traditional's music ::

The launching was done by Malaysian Embassy to Kuwait H.E Dato Adnan Hj Othman after a brief presentation on what Malaysia has to offer by Datuk Azizan Noordin, Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director General - Planning and the dinner follow suit. Wide extensive spread was prepared that night with a mixture of Arabic, Malaysian and western style.

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Akhir kata, to both Malaysian embassy and Tourism Malaysia, thank you for letting us be a part of this wonderful event and and to others, come and visit Malaysia he he....

:: Malaysia bolehhh !! ::

P/s : Most photos used taken from Megat's FB, unless stated otherwise :)