Post Eid al-Adha ramblings...

I am blogging from my bed!! Aaaahhhh... I pat myself on the back for applying for an extra day of leave... in this gloomy weather, you just don't feel like working...

There are a few things cramming my head, fighting for space and attention these days. Some things that need to be done and insya-Allah, I will try to resolve it. I pray He shows me the right way. Ameen.

Alhamdulillah, we were blessed to celebrate yet another Eid-ul Adha, kan... may He bestows his redha on all the sacrifices we make... ameen.

My family had a tahlil for all our beloved ones who've gone before us, Sunday night. You see, my dad passed on one Friday, eve of Eid-ul Adha in 2002. So, since then, we've always held a tahlil every 10 Zulhijjah... I hope all our efforts will benefit our beloved, ameen.

Like ms hart mentioned in her blog, the weather was so gloomy yesterday. But since we stayed indoors, I didn't really mind. The weather was cool, so tak lah berpeluh-peluh bila sibuk melayan tetamu...

We had a simple menu for Eid -- ketupat daun palas, nasi himpit, rendang ayam & daging and mom's original laksa lemak. I baked a choc cake and some cupcakes. SIL brought a choc cheese cake. Enough to fill our tummies from morning till night!! :-D

In the afternoon, the ladies from the nearby surau sent a periuk of sup gearbox from the korban in the morning. Alhamdulillah, our family ada rezeki lebih to korban seekor lembu. I pandang sebelah mata je sup gearbox tuuu... you can see the fat floating on the surface of the soup tauuu... eeeiieww

Did I tell you my camera went bonkers?? I dropped it about 3 weeks ago and it plunged from the third floor down to the second floor!! So angry at myself for being so careless. I now have a hard time using it to take photos (I have no problem reviewing saved photos though)... the lense macam buta... kena godek2 and if I'm lucky, I can 'see'... more often than not, the lense refuses to 'open up' and all there is is blackness... how laa...

So, since camera buat hal, malas nak layan dia to take photos... but I did my best in godek-godeking to capture the bakes I did for Eid and here they are... (alamakkkk malu la kalau wiz tengok!! ;-) -- Wiz!! I was inspired by you, you know!!) Am sure all of you know Wiz, kan... Wiz is THE Queen of cupcakes, novelty cakes, all the cantik-cantik cakes, lahhh... Maira's beeeauuutiful handbag birthday cake was baked by the Royal Majesty herself... I bow to you, my queen... :-D

Aaaahhh... even though it's my day off today, I still have to attend a work-related dinner + awards ceremony at S*hangri-La tonite. Bummer!! Malassss....

Guests for iftar

My SIL and her four kids came over for iftar tonight. I am aways enthused to cook whenever we have guests coming over for 'lil parties or mealtimes. Seronok sikit nak masak. On a daily basis, lauk for mealtimes at our home consists of 2 types only -- fish/meat and vege to cater for the two girls. And mommy will eat whatever menu picked by them. Tak seronok langsung kalau masak apa yang kita teringin, and end up makan lauk tu sorang-sorang. Tak best.

So, since SIL planned to come over, I got to cook something I like! Pikir punya pikir, I rasa teringin pulak nak makan sambal tumis udang petai and masak lomak pucuk paku with ikan kering talang. So, that's what I prepared. For Misha, it was lala masak sos and ayam masak kicap as requested. Also on the menu was anak mami Maira's must-have kari ikan bawal.

I had asked SIL if there was anything particular she or her kids wanted to eat, and daughter Fiqah said she wanted Maira & Misha's mudslide pie for dessert. So, the girls pun happily made some (nama je pie, but no need to bake ke apa, so easy as the recipe pun came out of a children's recipe book).

M&M's mudslide pie (melting away...)

And in the spirit of sharing what's on our iftar table :-D... here are pics of what we had tonight...

sambal tumis udang & petai...

kari ikan bawal...

ayam masak kicap...

masak lomak pucuk paku & ikan kering talang...

lala masak sos...

For dessert, we had...

fresh strawberries... to be eaten with



creme caramel pudding...



and we also had some Big Apple donuts as requested by Maira...

Kenyaaang... alhamdulillah!!

...the three cousins

Buka Puasa surprise

The office had a buka puasa do for the staff last night. Spouse and family members were invited to join. I brought my girls, of course.

Went to pick them up from school at 3pm and rushed back to work, arriving at the office at 3.45pm. I was going to join in a discussion with Angkasa*wan Negara (yes, that's what it says on his namecard) Major Dr F*aiz Khaled at 4pm.

We took the lift from the ground floor and it stopped on the first floor. Guess who was in the lift?? The Angkasawan himself!! (he was early for the meeting). That was a nice surprise for the girls. A couple of months ago, Dr F*aiz was at their school giving a talk and Misha had come home complaining that she waited in line forever to get his signature but when she reached Dr F*aiz's table, the big boys pushed her away and she fell on her knees!! Kesian :-(

Back to the scene in the lift -- my boss who was with him introduced me and I told the Angkasawan about Misha's incident and the friendly Angkasa*wan terus shook her hands. Malu pulak Misha time tu... haha... it was cute.

I later adjourned to my meeting (sans the girls, of course) with the Angkasa*wan and he later joined us for the buka puasa.

Dapatlah Maira & Misha ambik gambar with him puas-puas!

The friendly dentist also layan all the anak-anak yatim from two orphanages who were invited to the do. He was genuinely nice, that I can say.

In November last year I took the girls to meet with the first Angkasa*wan Dr Sh*eikh at one of the exhibitions. After a session of picture-taking and shaking hands, the girls (who were on cloud nine for the rest of the day) claimed they did not want to wash their hands forever!! Haa... penangan Dr SMS. I must add that he is really really good-looking (kalau tak bercakap le) :-)

Dr S*heikh with us in Nov last year.

Kuih Jongkong sebungkus!!

If there's one delicacy that our family cannot miss during Ramadhan, its kuih jongkong from Hulu Langat. And not just any kuih jongkong sold by the Tom, Dick and Harries of Hulu Langat. It must be from one particular makcik who sells her oh-so-wonderful jongkong in front of the mesjid. Hers tak boleh ditandingi!

You can only get this kuih during Ramadhan. So, come rain or shine, mendapatkan kuih jongkong akan diusahakan! I have not paid the dear makcik a visit since last Ramadhan though, but thanks to my mom's driver and my bro, our supply of kuih jongkong tak pernah putus!

My late hubby can have 3 bungkus in one go!! And I can have 2 myself!! Sedapppp, I tell you!!

For those who have never tried it, it's like a huge fat cendol in masin-masin manis gula melaka & santan syrup. The green 'cendol' part is not quite cendol, more like the soft green part of tepung pelita. Can imagine, or not??

Sedaaapp, sedaaappp... (the jongkong in this pic is a-day-old, making the santan a bit berketul2, but no change in taste. Nope, nope...)

Don't forget to serve it chilled!

The santan & gula melaka syrup is s-i-n-f-u-l!!

... mmmm... nak lagi!!!

Mencari ikan gurame...

We searched hi and lo around Jakarta to look for this ikan gurame (goo-rah-mee) goreng...

The story goes that the see-eee-ohh wanted us to have a taste of this specially prepared fish which he had had the pleasure of savouring during his last trip to Jakarta.

So, on our last day in the city, guided by the hired supir, we went from Senayan to Ancol to Menteng and then back to Senayan again to look for it... (Bapak see-eee-ohh can't remember the name of the restaurant nor the district it was located in!)

Akhirnya, pencarian ikan gurame yang dipengenkan Bapak see-eee-ohh sukses...

The fried fish tasted a lot like... fried fish!!!

Ms Hart-inspired asparagus goreng

One of the things I enjoy reading (read: drooling) on people's blogs are the gastronomic delights they offer!!!

Going through ms hart's blog one day, I can't help but drool at her pix of asparagus goreng belacan in one of her entries! (you would too!). So, off I went to the supermarket and got 'em asparagus and goreng them I did, ala ms hart!

This was the result!

Ms hart dear, not as menggiurkan as yours, but not bad, eh? ;-)

Maira - fasting and food preference

My firstborn Maira puasa sunat last Thursday. Her buka puasa menu? A simple cokodok pisang with crysanthemum tea and rice with daging dendeng.

This daughter of mine have a very simple taste in food. Her staple -- plain roti canai, Gardenia bread with no spread, white rice with telur dadar, daging dendeng and fish curry.

Her more sophisticated menu of choice? Chicken tandoori with plain naan. But only the famous Ampang tandoori uncle. Other place tak nak. She also likes nasi tomato and daging bistik, also a fav of daddy's (recipe Tok Mama).

She is so picky about everything! For fruit, she only takes grapes and oranges. Other fruits like watermelon and papaya, have to paksa and jegel mata before she finally takes one or two cuts. But she lurrrvessss durian!

Dessert? Only the plain agar-agar merah and cream caramel pudding (I make instant ones from WhiteWings). No kuih Melayu for her, even karipap! And she only eats chocolate cake and vanilla ice-cream. That's it.

Fast food? Only Nando's and occasionally KFC (where she'd go for the buns!).

This is just another of her trait that's so opposite from her sister Misha who'd wallop Fettucine Carbonara, Sashimi and Baba Ghanoush anytime!

Maira's tired face after berpuasa seharian...

The KFC buns

Some weekends ago, the girls and I had KFC for lunch in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman after ikut mommy jalan-jalan cari tudung.

I remembered (and will always remember) an incident in KFC about a year ago. I had just completed my period of iddah and took the girls out for an outing at a mall. We had lunch at KFC.

While the girls sat down at the table with the maid, mommy placed our orders at the counter and came back with chicken, fries, coleslaw (Misha's fav) and the drinks. Totally forgotten about the buns Maira wanted.

A while later after we started eating, Maira said something very very softly... "Mommy, buns tu mahal ke...?"

Ya Allah... nak meleleh air mata!!!

You know why she said that? It's because after their daddy passed, I had a small conversation with the girls on how things are going to be for us. And in it, I did mention to them that mommy will be the sole bread winner for all of us and mommy's salary is 'ciput' compared to daddy's and that we may have to somewhat change our lifestyle slightly.

And because of that, Maira must've felt that I was probably trying to 'save' money by not getting the buns!!! My poor girl!!!

Right after I heard that, I quickly got up without saying a word and got her 'em buns!!!

And, though shopping for clothes wasn't in our plan, we went over to Girls after lunch and I got them each a new t-shirt without them asking for it (my way of overcoming my own guilt).

I tell you, I felt really bad for Maira and I hope whatever statement I made about us being 'poor' now that daddy's gone will not seriously affect her and how she looks at life.

I hope it won't make her feel and think that she can't do or achieve certain things in life just because daddy's not around. If I were to only have one wish for them, it would be that whatever happens, they should follow their dreams and that dreams are not impossible!

Maira will be nine next month, which means I will be celebrating my ninth year as a mother!

But being a single parent is totally something else.

And I'm learning something new everyday.

S-U-N-D-A-Y

I invited Dr. Wan and Nesreen over for lunch Sunday for makan-makan and lepak-lepak. Sort of like jemputan balas after dinner at Dr. Wan's several weeks back.

Cooked nasi tomato, daging bistik and ayam masak merah as requested by the princesses of the house. Also made tomato and mint salad, just to add some Mediterranean flavour to it, instead of the usual acar timun and nanas.

The girls punyalah excited to meet Nesreen for the first time as I told them they could speak Arabic to her -- the very limited vocabulary and phrases that they have learnt in school, that is... But depan Nesreen malu-malu pulak... that's my girls for you -- pemalu macam mommy deruang ;)

Annie could not join us as she is off on some short course on 'relationships'. Annie -- I know you're reading this -- hope the course was beneficial and provided you valuable insight that you could put to good use *wink* *wink* ;)

Dessert was chocolate brownies, thanks to Dr. Wan -- I provided everyone with extra calories in the form of vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce! Yummy!

After lunch, we (minus my girls) went to catch 27 Dresses -- we walked to the movie theatre, which is just across the road to my apartment building.

It was a typical chick flick, a movie to be enjoyed with girlfriends (or drag hubby to!) No suspense, no unexpected ending... but a fun one to watch all the same. I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada (the screenwriter for 27 Dresses also wrote Devil Wears Prada) much better, though -- stronger characters and better acting there.

Orang punyelah ramai nak tengok wayang kat situ, mengalahkan TGV at KLCC!

Apparently it rained cats and dogs during the time the movie was showing, alhamdulillah by the time we were done, there were only tiny drizzles and we managed to get home without getting wet.

Before the guests left after Asar, the good host served some flavoured tea and cakes ;)

Tosai reminds me of...

Maira wanted to have some roti canai after the girls' C0mputert0ts class on Sunday and off we went to a mamak restaurant.

I ordered tosai for myself. Misha and my friend Annie who was with us ordered the same thing too.

While chatting and waiting for our food, the little drizzle turned into heavy rain. A little while later, our food came.

In the same exact moment that the first bite of tosai lusciously dabbed in coconut chutney enters my mouth, a certain person came into my mind -- my late mother in-law, Mak.

In that split second, I had a lump in my throat.

There and then, I suddenly remembered that the last time I had tosai was in Penang when we visited her in August last year. I had some work to do in Penang and took the kids and maid to see her.

I remember the last night we were there, we had supper at a mamak restaurant near her place and of course, she had her favourite tosai. Not one, but two!

Mak was a very special woman. And strong, too.

Mak was widowed at the age of 36 when her husband died of a stroke at the age of 42.

Left with six children ranging from the age of 17 to 2, Mak was now alone and had to fend for herself, her kids and an elderly mother. Being an only child, she did not have any siblings to turn to either.

I am still in awe everytime I try to imagine how she managed everything -- being uneducated, unstreetwise and all.

But she did.

You name it, she did it. Jual kuih, jahit baju etc. After awhile she finally landed herself a stabil job as a general worker in a university in that island state. She was now a gomen employee with medical and pension benefits.

Mak never remarried, though she was very much a looker (anak mami!) and had many suitors.

"Mak takut kalau mak kawin nanti anak-anak tak dapat kasih sayang", she once said. And with remarrying, there goes her late hubby's pension (I don't know bout now, but those days if a woman remarries, she can say goodbye to her late spouse's pension -- how unfair!)

She continued to work until retirement age, though all of her children (except for Zamri who was in uni) had already made it on their own. She just didn't want to be dependent on her kids, "Mak tak mau anak-anak susah, depa pun dah ada tanggungjawab masing-masing," she would say.

Not only did she bury her husband, she also buried her fifth child in 1985 when Achik Lan was killed in a motocycle accident.

And last year, she buried yet another son, her anak manja, Zamri, my hubby (I still find it weird to call him my 'late' husband).

You could say she's been through it all.

She also saw three of her kids graduate from foreign universities and even stayed for two years in the US when my sis-in-law did her PhD in the early nineties.

Mak passed away on 27 November last year, just 9 months after her youngest son's passing. And just 10 days after she left our home to go back to Penang.

The night before she went back, she told me, "Mak ni dah tua... dah tak larat nak duduk lama-lama di KL. Mak tak saaaabaaaaaq nak balik Penang...".

Mak left us dengan mata tertutup rapat. And rezeki dia, she got to be buried beside her husband after 35 years.

Tosai, among many other things, would always remind me of Mak.

Choc Chips cookies!

Misha promised her girlfriends in school that she'd bake them some cookies and bring 'em to school on Monday. Wonder where she got the great idea from!

Thank God I have a Betty Crocker choc chip cookie mix stored in the kitchen cabinet somewhere (all kitchen goddesses out there, I beg not to be ridiculed... heheh).

So that's what we did Saturday afternoon during the heavy rain...

DuriYum Yum!

My girls love durian, especially Maira. She had been pestering me to go get some durian for a couple of weeks now, but it was never the right time.

Alhamdulillah, we made time to get some today after our visit to daddy's burial place.

Yummy!