Wa Tell Tales

After Ramadhan...

11:31 AM

I don't know about others, but I am actually kinda had enough of ketupat nasik, rendang, lodeh and all those so called " raya meals...

11:31 AM

I don't know about others, but I am actually kinda had enough of ketupat nasik, rendang, lodeh and all those so called "raya meals" and it's only have been like what? 1 week?. Geeeeeezzzzzz there were those days where I can still stuffed myself with rendang, ketupat, nasi minyak like there's no tomorrow even after second week of Syawal. Aishhhh dah tua gamak nyer.. takpun sebab kena masak rendang sendiri, lodeh sendiri, tu yang muak.. Foods cooked by other people will always taste better eh...

As the norm, lepas raya, mula lah menu cincai keluar. Even on 2nd raya I had started with my maggee mee ritual ha ha ha...

Well this post actually was point-less as I was actually clearing all those foods photo from my folder.

So lo and behold, my collection of cincai foods..

:: Alis requested for this. Man this girl can really eat roti jala I tell u. Pink Roti Jala Ya'a awww nama di beri.. Sesaje saje takde keja. Konon2 creative lah kan.. Sekali tuh, masa Hari Raya Celebration @ Emb@ssy the other day, one of Malaysian here bawak roti jala version color pelangi lagi. Her roti jala definitely made mine looked rather humble and un-attractive kah kah kah ::

:: Haaa tu diaaa.. Roti Jala versi Kak Lydia. Pic credit tu her FB.. Mintak halal yer Kak Lydia ::

:: Pelanggan pertama dah menghampiri ::

:: Home made burger. Ni definitely Alis's and Erin's burger just by looking at it. No vege ! Owhh roti tak home made yer, roti kedai-made. Patty yang home made. I've started making my own patties recently, since I think it's more healthier, juicier, tastier dan macam macam er lagi lah. Senang je pun rupanyer ::

:: Cer teka cer teka cer teka burger saper? Sudah semesti nya lah burger En Muddy. Inspiration from Sh@ke Sh@ck har har har. Imaginasi kena tinggi yer puan puan. Beef burger with caramelised onion yang sedihhhh, melted cheddar cheese, crispy lettuce dan yg paling penting sos cili Heinz. Walau rupa nan ado, tapi rasa nyer boley tahan yer ::

:: Di sebabkan ade extra patty and chef terebih rajin, maka terhasil lah Prosperity Burger. Dun worry, raya cina lama lg.. Nampak burger yang rendah, next to burger En Muddy in the background ? That's mine ! kemain ni masak kat orang, prosperity lah, cheese burger lah, untuk diri sendiri burger banjo sahajaaaaa... Kesiannn ::

:: Rusa Panggang. 2 days before Syawal, En Muddy brought back a kilo of this deer meat and it's liver from market. He even said he wanted to buy it's brain too but knowing I'll go all crazy about having to cook deer brain, he settled down with only meat and liver. This is exactly why I can never let him go to the market alone. Next, aper plak de bawak balik... Biawak dhob maybe... Resipi taken from here ::

:: Poor fella ! R.I P... ::

:: Sekaya ::

:: This bubur I made for Erin when she was sick the other day. She refused to eat anything, not even milk so I asked her what she wanted to eat. I offered to make rice porridge for her but she rejected. Instead, she requested for BUBUR ITAM MACAM NENEK BUAT. Kemain tekak ko eh dik, dalam demam demam pun demand. Bagi betis nak peha betul hahaha.. Siap mengadu2 kat nenek dalam skype nih, adik nak bubur itammmm koh koh koh * background effect yang di exxageratekan * koh koh koh... Kalau bley naik bas Transnational datang Q8 ni, confirm nenek ko terus beli tiket datang bawak bubur itam hehe.. Di sebab kan der dah mengadu, dan di sebabkan nenek dok tanye 80 ribu kali, "Ngah, dah buat kan Erin bubur itam? Buat kan lah, kesian kat der..." maka terhasil lah bubur itam cooked with tender loving care, siap complete with love shape santan lagihhh.. Bile dah siap, she ate about 3 mangkuk of this.. ehhh tak dengar batuk pun.. Auta sungguh ! ::

:: Nasi Minyak version Tok Wan. Menu ni tak lah cincai mana ha ha ha tapi kata nye nak clear folder kan.. Masuk la sekali.. Kira cincai lah ekk.. ::

:: Gulai Ayam Tganu style. My version definitely la pedas skit kan. Itu cili padi kalau makan sambil gigit gigit, memang mantoppp lah ::

:: Sambal Belacan . For those who not know, Tganu nasi minyak was eaten with sambal belacan yer ::

:: Pinggan saya ::

:: Bebudak ni suka sangat makan ice cream. Ehhh which kids don't ! So I've decided to make this strawberry popsicles for them. Recipe was from Parenting magazine, Ipad version. However, I didn't follow the recipe word by word since I don't have certain of the ingredients contoh nya yoghurt, so I skipped that ::

:: Strawberry + Mango + Fresh Milk + spoonful of honey ::

:: Taraaaa...Mangoberry popsicles ! Verdict : Mybudak budak dun like it kah kah kah. Mummy kamu kemain ala ala Nigella Lawson kat dapur nih, kamu bley euuwww euuwww jek ehh...Reason, sebab strawberry tu masam . Ended up bapak budak yang kena abeskan.. Takper, sekali gagal bukan bermakna gagal selama nyer.. Ngeeeeee.. Maybe I chose wrong fruits. Next nak try guna kiwi, avocado and watermelon pulak ::

Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, jom gi Susseennn centre beli buah !

Reason on why kids should stay away from computer

11:07 AM

......... untill at least after high school. In the old days, when I were asked the answer for 4+1, I would use anything around me to count...

11:07 AM

......... untill at least after high school.

In the old days, when I were asked the answer for 4+1, I would use anything around me to count such as fingers, pencil, colours, crayons and whatnot...

However, when I asked the very same question to Erin...

" Erin, 4+1 berapa ? "

This is what she did...

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SHE OPENED THE FREAKING CALCULATOR !!!

I certainly didn't know whether to call this as being clever or plain cheating. I just don't, sincerely.... I just knew that I may have reach a phase where all computers at home will be locked with passwords, for real. The one that they actually didn't know !

A Day to Remember

7:10 AM

Good food, good company and positive ambiance. 3 words that sums up my 1st Syawal 2011. Come to think of it, there's a moment wh...

7:10 AM

Good food, good company and positive ambiance. 3 words that sums up my 1st Syawal 2011. Come to think of it, there's a moment when I am quite hesitant of how my 1st Syawal will be like this year since most of my closest clan was away for summer + Eid holiday.

Nevertheless, this is the beginning of a new day, new month. I have been given this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. It's not up to anybody, or my kids or the weather or whatnot, how my day will ends. It's merely up to me, and of course, Allah s.w.t.

What I'm about to do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it, a day of my kids life for it, a day of my family life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that I have left behind... so whatever I'm going to do today, let it be something good. I want my kids to know this is the spirit of Syawal. The day to celebrate with friends, family and those who matters to you.

Simply put, my 1st Syawal 2011 has been nothing but personally fun, important and meaningful, and I had tons of photo to proof that. How I wish I could post every single of it.

Good ambiance

:: Kick start of the day. Solat sunat Aidilfitri. Any day started with remembering, being humble and thankful to Allah can never go wrong ::

:: Takbir raya never failed to bring tears to my eyes ::

:: While others were praying, this 2 girls had other better things to do.. Kejar semut! ::

Good Food

:: Ketupat Plastik aka Nasik Kapit aka Pressed rice @home ::

:: Chicken Rendang ::

:: Kuah Kacang aka Peanut Sauce ::

:: Ketupat Palas. Thank you Adabi. Although it's far cry from En.Muddy's grandma's version, this is the second best thing. Syukur ! ::

:: Kuah Lodeh. This is my breakfast portion. Lodeh+ketupat+rendang ayam = Happy happy happy ::

:: Coconut Jelly. My potluck portion to bring to embassy ::

:: Kueh mueh and other sinfully delicious meals by other mommies ::

:: Satay by Chef Raizzal ::

I've decided to only posted a few food photo here, just to name a few. Occasionally, what I posted here was just a tip of the iceberg. There's soooo much food that day I had hard time choosing what to eat. To name a few, there's Nasi Minyak terengganu version with Gulai Kawah, Nasi dagang, Nasi Kerabu, Laksa Penang, Laksam, Murtabak, meehun goreng, kueh2 raya, cupcakes and more cupcakes, roti jala dan bermacam macam lagi. We had 2 meters length of table full of irresistibly yummy foods. Aishhh they spoiled us too much lahh...

Good Company

I was being informed earlier by someone that we had new ambassador starting this year. I didn't get much chance to get to know our previous ambassador. Truth be told, I've never got a chance to meet his wife in person because every time we were at Embassy for an event, she wasn't there due to other commitment. So I sort of looking forward to meet new ambassador and his wife. After we were officially introduced to them, I must say that they're definitely the most humble, down to earth and warmest people I've ever met despite their high social status.

:: Mrs Ambassador aka Datin was on my left side ::

:: Mrs MAK's president aka Kak Mala and me ::

:: Menunggu dengan penuh kesabaran dan kekhusyukan. Menunggu for what ? ::

:: Menunggu for Dato' speech to end hahaha.. It was not that long to begin with. My expression was exaggerated. Anyway, meet Dato' Adnan, new Malaysia Ambassador to Q8 ::

:: My table mate. Ila in blue and another Wawa in white ::

:: Mrs Boss aka Kak Ana heheh. She's like mother figure to me cause I will go to her and mengada2 request for anything I am craving for haha. ::

:: Me & girls. After this photo, they're practically missing in action. Sooo busy playing with their friends outside I couldn't be bothered to ask them in for photo shoot ::

:: When your kids are nowhere to be found, what's left a parent can do. There's no one to chase around, there's no one to be scold so Mummy and Papa posing ! ::

:: Meet Inde-fondant cake. Why the name? Because there's more fondant than the cake hahaha. Joke aside, since our Independance Day fall on 2nd Syawal, we took a chance to celebrate it in advance together with our Eidul Fitri get together. Happy Merdeka Day to all my fellow countrymen. Tanggal 31, bulan 8, lima puluh tujuh..... ::

:: Berbekal kan semangat patriotik yang membara, we took a photo with Jalur Gemilang :). See those absurd-bored expression's from the girls? It is because they were forced to stop playing and joined the photo shoot. Erin's face said Me Not Likey ! ::

The embassy event done around 12 noon or so, but are we done celebrating Eidul Fitri? No we're not ! We konvoi-ed to Ina's residence in Salmiya after that. It's still way too early to call the day off isn't it?

:: There's delicious soto ready on the table waiting for us but there's something stopping us. And that "something" is AIS KRIM MALAYSIA ! Now tell me, who's in their perfect sanity would resist chill, cold Ais krim Mesia , flavor asam boi lagi, in this scorching summer? NIL !

:: It's like a drug u know. Everyone just couldn't stop sucking those sweet and sourish ais krim haha. No one is spared ::

:: Sedih sebab mummy x bg makan ais krim lagi ha ha ::

:: Lepas makan ais krim, kite serang main menu pulak. SOTO ! I had two helping to myself and my kids I think 3 and yet still asking for more. Blessed and bloated ::

After say about an hour plus, we excused ourselves to let tuan rumah had a rest and because we had another open house to attend which is Mr Muddy's boss's house. No photo there because I was too busy entertaining myself with another batch of satay, pineapple tarts and mini popiah.

We had another open house invitation at night so around 5 we went back home to freshen up, pray and short rest.

The next invitation is Kak Anis's home at Jabriya.

:: Since the open house was at night time, and the temperature has gone down, I let the girls wear their hood abaya I got custom made for them ::

There's a story behind their abaya. Around last year, while hunting for my abaya, the person that selling abaya asked if Alis could try on one kids abaya, belong to his Kuwaiti customer. Apparently, that lady's daughter was about Alis's age but she didn't bring her that day so she asked if Alis could model for her to see whether the abaya fit.

I took the abaya picture and decided to custom made for Alis and Erin this Syawal. Then during terawih this year, Alis made friends with few Kuwaiti kids and one of them always wore this Fulla abaya. I knew Alis love it so I decided to make their abaya, fulla theme. We show above picture to the tailor and I sketched where I wanted him to sew Fulla wordings. I even asked En Muddy to googled Fulla's image on his Iphone and showed it to the tailor so that he could imitate the wordings.

One wise advice when dealing with local tailor here is you're recommended to always go with their normal design, typical design, that they're specialized in. You can asked them to do things out of their norm. Just do expect the results to vary from your imagination ha ha ha. Don't have high expectation that they could meet up with your imagination, so you won't get too disappointed with the results later.

Sure enough I aimed low and the end product was just as I expected. To be fair, I'm quite happy with the abaya, the cutting and such. Small alteration needed but overall, it fits perfectly. Not really happy with the hood though and I'm a bit dissapointed with the Fulla wording as you can see in above picture, it's far cry from the real one kah kah kah. Takper, trial and error. Itu pun dah syukur takde typo error. Buat nye dari Fulla de jahit jadik Filla ker, Fullamak ker.. lagi satu hal. Nak tutup macam mana dah la menda tu tertepek atas kepala heheh. Next time I'll make sure to print the image and give it to them so they can refer.

:: My happening open house partners .. L-R : Kak Mala, Nazar, Me, Zaza, Seri and Azie. Such a lively and cheerful bunch of people ::

Below are another open houses I got to attend. Thank you so much from deepest of my heart for all the invitations. May Allah memurahkan rezeki tuan rumah dan semoga all the event mendapat barakah.

:: Ati's open house ::

:: Going to Ila's open house and also her daughter 2nd birthday celebration ::

:: Waiting for other clan at lobby ::

After all been said and done, I learned something new.

Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful. You can be happy only if you decide to be happy, and acts towards it.

Dalai Lama once said ..

"Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend or a meaningful day."

I've decided to be happy, to make my day wonderful and I acted towards it and as for the outcome, I had wonderful and memorable day.

Definitely a day to remember.