:: selamat hari raya ::

Salam Aidilfitri

Eid Mubarak

from

us

:: bff iftar session 2011 ::

Our BFF annual iftar session was held exactly a week ago on Saturday, 20.08.2011 at the Gardens Cafe, Sunway Pyramid. The venue was selected by votes but we have intended to try their food while enjoying the ambience since few months back so the iftar session was one perfect time to do it. Gardens Cafe is a lifestyle store and cafe concept restaurant, but if you're not familiar with its name, you might still have noticed it in shopping malls like One Utama, Mid Valley or The Curve because of its pretty garden white-green concept deco. The one in Sunway Pyramid looks small from outside but I was surprised finding how spacious it was inside. 

It was baby Ady's first outing with Mama and aunties. We planned to gather at 5:30 pm so we could do some shopping but Ady and I arrived more than an hour later. As a new mommy, getting ready independently was quite challenging. Ady didn't like to be left alone and he preferred to be carried most of the time so when I had to leave him while applying makeup and wearing hijab (even lying on the bed next to the dressing table) he started crying continously. Hubby usually sat with him when I was preparing myself but he was at work so I had to either bear with him crying or prepare things (milk, diaper bag, etc) while carrying him in one hand. Lesson learnt: I have to prepare two hours before appointment time instead of an hour before, next time.


Nor, Fila, Rynn and her daughter Rayfa were already comfortable at their seats when I arrived. Apparently the booking that I've made 5 days earlier was cancelled because according to them, the restaurant tried calling me to reconfirm but it was wrong number. The guy who received my call didn't copy my phone number correctly and even worst, he also wrote my name wrongly in their reservation book. Pffffttt...! Luckily my friends arrived early and managed getting new table for us.

Rabby and her daughter Sophie arrived later. It was good to see everybody and it was even better because our friend, Rynn also joined us this time. Outing with my girlfriends is something I always look forward to because not only we could chat endlessly about everything, it also gives me one good reason to dress up. It was my first time wearing shawl that way after watching the tutorial on youtube few days earlier. Not sure whether it really suits me but I wanted to be more adventurous instead of wearing tudung bawal with the same style. I usually prefer wearing casual attire instead of shirt during weekends but since I haven't work for months, I missed wearing one so I wore that white shirt with a pair of jeans and made my son wore similar coloured outfit too. I like the idea of wearing matching colours with my baby because I think it's kinda cute. Hehe.

 

There's nothing much to share during dinner because besides catching up, exchanged stories and taking photos, we were also busy enjoying our food. Overall, the food is tasty and served in a reasonable portion, not so huge but not so small. I have tasted a better and creamier spaghetti carbonara at other diners but their caesar salad with smoked salmon was good to me. Fila had noodle (middle top pic), Nor had that chicken in pita bread (bottom left pic) and that barramundi (bottom right pic) was Rynn's. Rabby and Sophie ordered spaghetti carbonara and spaghetti marinara but I didn't manage taking the pics because they were sitting at the other side of the table. They also have kids menu so the two girls got themselves fried chicken if I'm not mistaken. They also served fruit juice in cute mini jug, but unfortunately they must have used all of them when they were preparing Fila's watermelon juice because she received hers in a plastic glass instead. Rayfa got hers in that jug but I forget to ask Rynn to snap a pic. I guess everybody was satisfied because nobody gave negative remarks about their food. Before I forget, I have to say that their hot honey lemon was the best I've ever tasted and that could be one reason for me to dine at Gardens Cafe again. If compared to their rival Fullhouse which we went 6 months ago, Gardens Cafe is much more better in terms of food and ambience. Ample space, nice ambience, good food, what's more to ask? Highly recommended, enough said.

Actually we were also celebrating Nor's success that night. She just completed her MBA and will be graduating in October so she kindheartedly paid everything. Thank you so much Nor - "semoga sentiasa dimurahkan rejeki hendaknya".


There wasn't much desserts selection in Gardens Cafe so we moved to Starbucks for supper. I don't know whether supper is the best term to use because we just ate dinner but whatever. There was this shop named Payless Shoes next to the Starbucks and we spent almost half an hour inside luring over massive shoe collection that were reasonably priced. Fila and I ended up buying a pair each. Mine was a beige coloured peep toe meanwhile Fila bought a houndstooth pumps. If you're a shoe lover just like us, do visit that shop because they have pretty shoes and they arranged them according to size. There are also shoes for children and those for girls were very cute and irresistible.

 

I didn't order anything in Starbucks because I'm still on coffee and ice probation, but I took two loOoOong sips of Nor's dark mocha frappucino which is my favourite drink (untuk tidak kempunan). We continued chatting until Fila started unveiling her 'Santa Bag'. Every year Fila never fail giving us Hari Raya prezzies and this year Nor and I followed that tradition by giving our prezzies too. Each of us received a shawl and body mist from Fila, and a bronze or silver brooch from Nor. Fila even gave the two girls pretty dresses and Nor gave them pink headbands, while Ady received a cute Pumpkin Patch t-shirt from Fila. I gave my girlfriends a set of Ecotools travelling makeup brush. Didn't have much time to prepare fancy wrapping so I only made small cards for everybody with an origami heart on the cover. We have noticed earlier that the three of us used Japanese theme for our packaging and when I looked at the above picture, I noticed that we also used similar colour shades which are pink and green. I guess we have been friends for too long until we could think into the same direction. Anyway, thank you so much Fila and Nor for that prezzies and hopefully all of you find the makeup brush set useful.

Shops were already closed when we left Starbucks except for Jaya Jusco. We stopped by at Jusco because I had to change Ady's diaper, then we bid farewell to each other. Later, Rynn and Rayfa followed me to my car because I needed help to dismantle the stroller. It was a bit difficult because my hubby usually handled everything so I didn't know how to do it. Luckily Rynn and Rayfa were with me because it is dangerous to stay out of the car for a long period in a parking area. Thanks so much dear!

Our iftar session was a success and I look forward to having more sessions with my besties. To my BFF, thank you so much for the wonderful time. I highly apologize for any wrongdoings and hope to see you girls later, perhaps during our Raya potluck? ;-)

*keywords: gardens cafe sunway pyramid review, recommended restaurant selangor, malaysia

:: sempoinya berbuka ::

This is an opposite to this "meriahnya sahur" post. 

I had to break fast alone yesterday because hubby had to settle some work. Thought of calling mcDelivery but when it was nearly 6:00 pm I suddenly got a better idea and this is the result:

Porridge with shredded chicken, tenggiri jeruk and Vegemite

During our trip to Melbourne last year we almost brought home a bottle of Vegemite but it was left at the airport because it was not allowed to be handcarried. I finally got it after almost a year through my friend Isma who just returned home and ever since that, I have been addicted to it. In case you're not familiar with it, Vegemite is concentrated yeast extract. I haven't found it anywhere here in Malaysia but we have Marmite which is the same thing but made in UK, while Vegemite is an Australian product. I have to admit that it has funny taste and smell; and some people may not like it but I like it (a lot).

It may sound a bit weird but my late grandmother was the one who taught me eating porridge with Marmite when I was still a young kid. I haven't eat it for ages and yesterday, I managed to bring back my childhood memory and I didn't eat one or two but THREE bowls of porridge! FYI, I love eating porridge and that porridge was also cooked similarly to how my late grandmother used to cook it as it was mixed with coconut milk. Having something that made me reminiscing my childhood is simply the best and it's more appetizing although it looks simple.

On another note, I really miss my late grandmother. She was the greatest cook ever and if you asked me who I really want to meet whether in this life or the next, without any doubt I'll answer "her". al-Fatihah to my late grandmother, Allahyarhamah Salbiah binti Suki and not forgetting my late grandfather too, Allahyarham Mohammed Farid bin Abdullah.

:: sneak peek ::

Here's a sneak peek of my Hari Raya dress...

We went to Jalan TAR on Wednesday night searching for hubby's baju melayu. Like last year, I let him chose his baju melayu and the theme colour first before I bought mine; and also like last year, shopping was done at the very last minute. The area was crowded as expected. We brought Ady together but had to carry him instead of using stroller as it was a lot more easier and our baby was asleep most of the time so there was no trouble at all. We walked from beginning to end of the stalls but hubby couldn't decide. Searching for his baju melayu was quite challenging because most small size tops was not that small so it didn't fit him well. He bought his baju melayu from KL Tradisional last year and it suited him so we hoped to find something from that brand but neither caught his attention.

After walking through long stretch of stalls that lasted more than 1 km, we walked back from the end and that dress caught my attention. It was a long sleeve maxi chiffon dress with a big bling-bling in the middle of the waist. It was love at the first sight because that dress really reflects my taste. At first I was quite disappointed knowing that the dress was in free size because I thought it won't fit me well, but surprisingly it looked good on my postpartum body. No alteration needed because the length fell nicely when it is worn with heels later. I was a bit concerned on the colour though because it would be difficult for hubby to choose his baju melayu that matches the tone but he said not to worry. There were few other colours in different designs but hubby knew my taste and my colour very well so there she is now in my possession. By the way, compared to its quality and look the dress was sold at a very reasonable price. Never mind that it was bought at Jalan TAR and not from fancy boutiques because as long as it suits my taste, looks gorgeous and reasonably priced... I'm more than happy :-)

That night we returned home without any baju melayu so we went to PKNS Shah Alam last night to continue our search. There were a number of stalls selling baju melayu but they were a bit expensive and most doubled the price sold at Jalan TAR with the same fabric and quality. We managed getting a small baju melayu Johor for Ady though at RM40 after discount (sold at RM48 at first). Have to do a bit of alteration at the sleeves and pants but he sure gonna look cute in it later. To cut the story short, we ended going to Jalan TAR again last night and to cut the story shotter, we returned home with two baju melayu.

It's going to be a memorable Hari Raya. Our first Raya with our son.

:-)

:: say uuuuu ::

 "Cheese" is so outdated. Now everybody should say "uuuuu".

Credit goes to the photographer, Fila for this awesome pic.

Taken last Saturday at Gardens Cafe Sunway Pyramid during our BFF Iftar Session. More pics and stories about the event will be uploaded soon.

:: meriahnya sahur ::

Hello semua. Tup tap tup tap dah 22 hari kita semua berpuasa kan. Cepat betul rasanya Ramadhan kali ni sebab rasa macam baru je start puasa haritu ni dah tinggal seminggu je lagi nak raya. Anyway, pagi ni saya tulis dalam BM je sebab nak cepat... tak tidur lagi since semalam tapi still nak update blog jugak sebab dah lama tak update pape. Sebenarnya ada je idea nak menulis tapi tak berkesempatan so pagi ni walaupun mata dah mengantuk saya gagahkan jugak menaip. Actually bukanlah story yang gempak sangat, just nak share betapa meriahnya sahur saya pagi ni. Ok, first of all nak tanya: "korang makan apa sahur tadi?" Sebab pagi ni kitorang makan...

Pajeri Nanas

Daging Goreng Kunyit

Ikan Pekasam

Telur Dadar + Sambal Belacan + Nasi Putih

Haa meriah tak uols??? List menu yang terakhir tu tak sempat nak snap pic sebab selesai masak pun dah pukul 5:00 pagi. Kang dok sibuk amik gambar bila pulak nak makan. Kang patut jamu selera, terus jamu mata je sebab dah imsak. Lagipun setakat telur dadar, sambal belacan dengan nasi semua orang pun boleh imagine sendiri kan. Hehehe. 

Sebenarnya sahur pagi ni bukan meriah sebab makanan je tapi meriah sebab ada tetamu jugak. Kawan kami, Isma dan Hairil yang sebelum ni bertahun dok Melbourne akhirnya dah kembali ke tanahair Khamis lepas, so sementara nak setelkan apa-apa yang patut sebelum balik beraya diorang dok umah kitorang dulu. Sejak jadi suri rumah sepenuh masa sementara ni memang jaranglah dapat bersosial so memang happy sangat bila dapat guests. Selalunya bff saya memang rajin menjenguk datang rumah ni tapi sesekali dapat guests yang dok 4 malam straight, seronok sangat rasanya. Selama ni dok bercerita kat Facebook, ni dah face-to-face senang sket sembang takyah menaip dah. Satu yang saya belajar, bila beramai ni suasana tu bukan je meriah tapi semangat pun bertambah nak masak itu ini. Sebab tulah omputih cakap "the more the merrier" sampai selera makan pun bertambah jadinya. Tapi sebenarnya bila dah hujung-hujung puasa ni lauk-lauk simple lebih menyelerakan. Dapat pulak pekasam tu.. perghhh memang pembangkit selera lah! Terima kasih daun keladi untuk bff saya, Rabby yang bagi ikan pekasam tu dengan ucapan "Beek, tu last stock... tak terasa ke nak tambahkan stock aku lagi?" Kuikuikui.

Okeylah, mata dah ngantuk sangat sampai nak susun ayat pun rasa dah tak mampu. Dah hujung-hujung puasa ni selalunya idea pun dah kureng untuk masak apa untuk sahur or berbuka kan, so harapnya entry saya ni dapatlah jugak membantu mencetus (*ayat skema tak hengat) idea apa yang dimasak. Kalau tanya saya, combination sahur pagi ni memang best sebab ada manis, masin dan pedas. Harapnya tetamu kami yang sekarang dalam perjalanan balik kampung pun happy. 

Kepada Isma dan Hairil, welcome home dan selamat beraya sakan dengan ahli keluarga. Maaflah kalau ada yang kurang kat memana tu ye dan terima kasih banyak-banyak atas ingatan uols untuk kami bertiga sebab macam-macam pulak yang dibelikan dari Melbourne. Insyaallah, jumpa masa raya nanti or kalau tak berkesempatan lepas raya pun boleh. Kepada semua pembaca blog saya ni, terima kasih jugak sebab sudi membaca apa yang saya tulis walaupun merepek merapu. Selamat meneruskan puasa dan selamat bershopping raya untuk semua yang beragama Islam. Jumpa di entry lain pulak... tatatititutu.

:: ady is 2 months ::

It's 17th of the month and our baby is 2 months old today. I hardly shared on Ady's development because there was not much to talk about, before. Now that he is already 2 months, alhamdulillah I'm proud to say that our baby is growing and developing very well. There are few significant behavioural development that we have noticed after he reached 1 month and one of it is his sight. Not like before, it is noticeable that he has better vision now. He likes looking around and when he looked at me, it really shown that he was looking at my face. Last two weeks I carried Ady outside and he had this curious expression on his face when he was looking at the sky. I then realised that we usually take him out at night so he rarely sees outside surrounding during the day so I continued carrying him for a little while. His eyes kept on wandering around and it was a good exposure for him to recognise and connect with the real world. Apart from that Ady did impress me when he enjoyed looking at the musical mobile toy moving around while he was lying in his cot. We bought that toy when he was 1 week old but obviously he was too young to appreciate it but now it's worth it. Another thing you have to know about our baby is the fact that he couldn't be left alone on his own when he is not asleep. Sometimes he is ok but not for too long as he will start crying so the musical mobile toy has helped me a lot in distracting him.

...amazed

Apart from eyes, Ady's ears seem to functioning well too. It was seen when he reacted at the sounds we made by moving his head or just his eyes. Not only that, Ady has started communicating since few weeks ago. I frequently made sounds while looking at him and after a while he managed making sounds like "ooo" or "auuu". Nowadays he even reply to the sounds that we made or started the 'conversation' first and we usually 'talk' to each other a lot after I gave him bath. Oh, I never shared that Ady loves water. I started bathing him since he was 2 weeks old and so far he only cried once which happened ages ago. Most of the time he just sat quietly while I was scrubbing his body. Such a good boy. 

Another development that can be seen is the way he is moving his feet these days. Previously Ady only moved his hands a lot but now he is active kicking with his feet as well so we are expecting him to start moving his body anytime soon. Watching a baby growing is indeed an amazing and a sweet experience, especially when the baby is yours. Small positive changes still count because it shows the baby is growing healthily and accordingly.

"hello"

By the way, the last time we weighed him two weeks ago Ady was 4.6 kg. We will take him to get his monthly jab within next few days and will update his current weight because as you can see his cheeks are rounder now if compared to before. Thankfully I can still breastfeed Ady until he is 2 months old although not exclusively. Continuing for another month will still be an achievement so hopefully I will be able to do so.

Ady Rifqi, we love you soOoOo much!

:: a celebration that will never be celebrated ::

On this date last year hubby brought home a box with an injured cat inside. I was having a nap on the couch when hubby came home that night with her. She was an ordinary cat with black stripes on grey and white fur; and she was still small. My heart straight away melted when I looked at her. She has a cute face and moreover I was feeling sorry for the injury. Her left back foot was broken so she had to rely on her other 3 feet to walk. Hubby brought her home because he wanted to send her to the vet on the next day and somehow I said to him, "just bring her back home again tomorrow."

KiKi's second day at home

That was it. On this date last year we had our first pet whom we named KiKi. We didn't want her to stay outside. We bathed her on the next day so she could stay inside and from that moment she became a house cat. KiKi cherished our life. She was smart because although she was living in the street earlier she never wrecked the house and even knew where her toilet was so she just signalled us when she wanted to do her thing. Days passed by. It was Hari Raya and because we didn't have any experience with boarding service, we brought KiKi celebrating Raya with us in Seremban and also to Sik, Kedah. Amazingly she just sat quietly inside the carrier and behaved really well through out the entire journey, neither peed nor pooed.

Our Raya pic last year :-(

We never separated with each other ever since day one but we had to leave her when we went to Melbourne. It was our first time being away and I even cried when we said goodbye to her. I never feel such strong bond with a cat before but everything changed with KiKi.

Nose to nose - that was what we did to say I love you

My most favourite pic!

From a box house we then bought her a proper cage. At first, KiKi was left inside the cage during the day when we were both at work but later we just left her inside our bedroom because we wanted her to be more comfortable. After 6 months we just left her roaming anywhere in the house because we knew she won't do anything. KiKi was special to us and I have to admit that we usually treat her more than a cat. We couldn't leave her alone for too long if it was already dark, we brought her to shopping malls, bought her clothes and at one point, we even installed a webcam to watch what she did in the bedroom during the day! We then knew how much she loved her pink fluffy bed because she only sat and slept inside it most of the time. Later in the evening she sat at the window pane, looking outside as if she knew I will reach home anytime soon.

I miss these moments...

There is a lot to talk about KiKi. She accompanied me most of the time until I was 8 month pregnant and I that was when she was taken away from us. I regret that she couldn't meet Ady. Even more, it was hard to believe that KiKi was stolen just like that. She was with us the whole time, only separated in few minutes and gone. It was tragic. No word could describe how devastated I am until this moment. It has been 3 months but I still can't let her go. I keep thinking of her and missing her, hoping that she is thinking and missing us too. Hopefully she is doing well and healthy, whereever she is right now. We should have a celebration today but too bad KiKi is no longer with us. No matter what, she will always be our first pet and our moments with her will always be kept as treasure.

 KiKi had a lot of her favourite food (chicken) during her last week with us

I really miss you KiKi.

:: happy birthday ::

To my wonderful soulmate who never fail providing endless support, love and care.
You're an awesome husband and a great father.

Happy Birthday.

Love, Hugs, Kisses
- your wifey -

:: freestyler(s) ::

I love watching my baby sleeps because he looks so cute and adorable in every different sleeping position. My BFF, Fila commented about him being a freestyler because he could sleep even in odd position. 

This is Ady sleeping on my lap today, one in the afternoon...

...and another in the evening.

In fact he is still sleeping like this while I'm typing this now.

Freestyler?

*

*

*

But he is not the only one.

 This is Ginger, our adopted cat.

:: trifle ::

Okay let's talk about food again. It's my 'Projek Dapur Ramadhan' (Ramadhan's Kitchen Project) #03 and it was done last Saturday. This time I'm writing in English because I'm talking about a famous dessert originated from England since 1596 which is trifle.

Trifle is one dessert that I've made the most in my life because of many reasons. It's easy, looks impressive, leaves no mess in the kitchen and for the obvious reason, delightfully delicious with a mixture of texture and flavour combined into one. I tasted a trifle for the first time 13 years ago when our family lived in Manchester and straightly felt in love with it. Trifle is the perfect dessert to impress boyfriend, girlfriend, friends, in laws or any dessert lovers because you can't hardly go wrong with it. You just need to know the basic steps while layering is open to own's creativity. Here I'm sharing with you the step-by-step guide on how I made my trifle.

Ingredients:

*Base
- Cake (people usually use swiss roll but this time I used cake from Apollo brand)

*Second layer
- 3 table spoons custard flour (Bird's custard is always the best)
- 2 table spoons sugar
- 500ml fresh milk

 *Third layer
- Fruit cocktail or fresh fruits
- Jelly (flavour of your choice. I used strawberry flavoured jelly - Nona brand, in box)
- 400 ml water


Steps:

1. Make the base - Arrange cakes to cover bottom of the container / casserole and sprinkle some syrup from the fruit cocktail to moisten them.

2. Cook the custard - Heat milk with sugar until dissolve. Mix custard flour with some cold water and pour slowly inside the milk. Stir continuously until mixture is nicely creamy.

3. Pour hot custard on top of cakes and leave to cool.

4. Arrange fruit cocktail without the syrup on top of the custard layer.

5. Cook the jelly according to instructions on box - cook water with jelly powder in sauce pan. Stir continuously until powder dissolves and mixture is boiling.

6. Pour jelly onto custard and fruit cocktail. Leave to cool for a while and chill in refrigerator until serving time.


As stated above, people usually use swiss roll for the base but any sponge cake can still be used actually. This time I experimented with original flavoured Apollo layer cake like the picture below and it was better than using butter cake like I once did before.

Luckily I tasted the cake beforehand because it was so sweet and therefore cooked the custard with less sugar to balance the taste. You may add another table spoon of sugar if you want to make your custard sweeter and also decide what to put in each layer but cake should still be the base. Previously I had jelly as the second layer on top of the cake, then custard, topped with fruits and it still tasted good. Whipped or heavy cream is also another great choice as a layer or as a topping. Please take note that it is hard to cut and retain shape of each slice so if you're serving big crowd it's better to make the trifle in small containers for everybody. Just use your creativity, explore possibilities and make a trifle today ;-)

:: pampered & rejuvenated ::

I should take a break from writing about food so this time I'm sharing about the postnatal treatment I had at Bella Luna Spa in Tropicana Medical Centre on Tuesday, 26 July. It was my 40th day in confinement and I purposely booked my appointment before the holy Ramadhan starts. After almost 2 months, I was back driving on the road because hubby couldn't send me due to urgent matters and Ady had to stay with his Opah. My appointment was at 3:30pm. I never been to Tropicana Medical Centre before and it took me around half an hour to reach there from USJ because I didn't trust the route shown in iPad's map. I took the route I'm familiar with which was longer but on the way back home I somehow trusted my iPad, followed the map and hey, it was not that far actually. Moral of the story: next time, just trust the map!

Anyway, Bella Luna is a small spa located on the ground floor at the back of the medical centre's lobby. I was welcomed by a young chinese lady who then briefed me on the 60 minutes treatment that came with that voucher. I was entitled to full body massage and a hot steam, which already sufficient but like other promotional strategies she then offered me an upgrade. By paying RM68 I could get another 30 minutes treatment which includes full body mask, full body wrap and a bottle of ampule oil which according to the lady could help vanishing stretch marks. Thinking and talking about my postpartum body (especially stretch marks) made me vulnerable so I agreed to upgrade the treatment and made that lady happy. Oh by the way, that lady told me something about my fair skin and I have heard that kind of remark few times before. Honestly, I don't know why chinese kept on telling me that I have fairer skin than theirs. Yes, my skin is fair but fairer than them? I think it is almost the same but not fairer...

I brought my camera but didn't get any chance to snap pics because my belongings were left in the locker. The masseuse started the session by massaging the ampule on my butt and thighs then massaged the entire back of my body. She was a nice, young lady and we had good conversation through out the session but I didn't like her massage as much as the traditional massage I had with an aunty in Shah Alam few weeks earlier, which was a lot more softer. After massaging the back part, she then continued applying the oil on my tummy as per my request. Due to laziness, I rarely applied oil on my tummy during pregnancy and it cost me stretch marks and dark patches on that area. Although I knew they couldn't be vanished with a blink of an eye, let alone a tiny bottle of ampule oil I still want to make an effort. After massaging front part of my body the lady then applied the body mask which was more like lulur or param in the confinement set, wrapped my entire body with cling wrap and left me inside the steaming blanket for 30 minutes. The steaming session was good because I didn't realise anything until that lady came back to inform it was already 30 minutes. It was relaxing and I didn't realise I was fallen asleep but too bad it was all over. I took a shower, came out of the room and met the lady who welcomed me earlier. She did her job again, promoting and offering good package deal if I'm interested to continue the treatment but that time my vulnerability didn't help her to secure the deal though.

I left the spa feeling fresh and rejuvenated. I guess I should pampered myself like that once in a while and appreciate my body a lot more. I was satisfied with the entire experience and one thing for sure, did not regret upgrading the treatment because that ampule oil really worked. When I looked at myself in the mirror at home later in the evening, I found some of the dark patches on my tummy were already gone. Even few light coloured stretch marks on my thighs became a lot lighter than before. It was efficient even with one small portion and imagine how the skin will look like with few continuous treatments. Well, thanks to Iza aka. thepinkstilettos who has chosen me as one of the winner for the giveaway in her blog, I was one happy lady :-)

On another note, I also checked my weight that day and surprise, surprise... I have lost 13kg! I was definitely one happy, blissful, contented (and other synonyms for happy) lady!

p/s: I hope that weighing scale worked properly.

:: zzzzz ::

This evening Ady went to sleep while sitting next to me. 

Ady just like his Mama. Any position can do when the eyes are sleepy. Cute.

Ady Rifqi @ 7 weeks

:: kerepek popia manis ::

Ok semalam cerita pasal kuih, harini cerita pasal kerepek pulak. Tak tahulah sebenarnya betul ke dalam kategori kerepek, tapi saya tetap panggil kerepek sebab dia krup krup. Ini projek kedua di dapur dan saya buat Rabu kelmarin. Kerepek popia manis yang dibuat dari kulit popia. First time buat jugak dan sebab first time, saya buatlah sikit dulu nak test power takut tak jadi kang membazir pulak. Kalau uols selalu baca blog ni, harap maklumlah saya suka masak dan kongsi resepi yang senang-senang je... almaklumlah takde bakat terpendam sangat kat dapur. Lagi satu, saya ni tak minat baking. Saya lebih prefer masakan atas dapur, even kalau tengok cook show pun kalau dia tunjuk cara buat kek saya kureng minat. Makan kek je saya suka. Anyway, kalau uols rasa Kuih Cara Manis yang saya cerita semalam tu senang, tengok cara buat Kerepek Popia Manis ni pulak yer.

Bahan-bahan:

- Kulit popia

- Tepung gandum

- Air

- Gula icing

- Minyak masak

- Gunting

Cara-cara:

1. Keluarkan kulit popia dari freezer sekurang-kurangnya 30 minit lebih awal supaya ia lembut dan gulung setiap helai.

2. Bancuh sedikit tepung dan air menjadi likat untuk dijadikan gam. Tampal hujung setiap gulungan dengan gam ini.

3. Selepas semua gulungan selesai dibuat dan digam, gunting kulit popia kecil-kecil secara menyerong.

4. Goreng dalam minyak panas sehingga kuning keemasan.

5. Toskan kulit popia yang telah digoreng dan biarkan seketika sehingga sejuk. Tabur gula icing dan bolehlah simpan dalam tupperware.

Kerepek ni memang senang sangat untuk dibuat tapi baru saya tahu nak kopek kulit popia sehelai-sehelai tu bukanlah semudah yang disangka. Kena berhati-hati sebab takut terkoyak dan menggulung kulit popia tu pun perlukan kesabaran so perlu spend masa yang lebih sikit. Popia yang dah digoreng tu memang kena pastikan ia sejuk dulu ye baru boleh tabur gula sebab nanti gula akan cair kalau ia masih panas. Untuk pastikan gula icing dapat cover semua bahagian dengan sekata, apa yang saya buat ialah masukkan popia dengan gula dalam tupperware dan goncang. Goncang tu jangan brutal sangat tau, takut kerepek pecah bersepai. Saya takde plastik ziploc, kalau ada rasanya lebih mudah kalau goncang dalam plastik.

Kerepek ni simple tapi memang sedap. Kalau makan satu memang nak makan lagi dan lagi dan lagi sebab dia rangup. Nak buat kuih raya pun boleh jugak so bolehlah uols cuba, try, test pulak yer.

*keywords: resepi popia sira, kerepek kulit popia, popia manis

:: kuih cara manis ::

Hello semua, amacam puasa harini? Semalam hujan petang, harini pun hujan petang... alhamdulillah kurang sikitlah dugaan. Sebenarnya nak update semalam tapi tak berkesempatan so sementara menunggu orang online groceries hantar order untuk lauk berbuka harini, sempatlah kot saya nak update sikit. Harini kita tulis dalam BM jerlah ye, biar sesuai dengan tajuk entry. Biasalah bulan Ramadhan ni topik utama yang famous tak lain tak bukan mestilah pasal makanan. Kita biasa dengar pesanan "jadikanlah Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik dari sebelumnya sebab kita tak tahu ini mungkin Ramadhan terakhir kita" so sejak tahun-tahun kebelakangan ni saya cuba juga untuk ikut pesanan tu. Walaupun perubahan tu tak seberapa tapi alhamdulillah ada la jugak sikit dari tahun sebelumnya. Bagi saya, tak semestinya kita jadikan Ramadhan itu lebih baik dari segi amalan ke akhirat sahaja tapi benda-benda lain juga dan contohnya macam saya yang biasanya malas ke dapur ni, masa ni lah nak rajinkan diri sikit. Memandangkan tahun ni saya tak kerja sepanjang Ramadhan, maka saya pun bertekad untuk memasak lebih rajin dari sebelum ni. Kalau dulu asyik nak singgah PaRam je, tapi sekarang nak keluar pun susah so duduk rumah buatlah apa-apa yang patut kat dapur.

Dah dekat 3 tahun beli bekas acuan (masa first time beraya as wifey dan first time balik kampung husband kat Kedah), Selasa lepas akhirnya saya berjaya juga buat Kuih Cara Manis yang dah lama saya plan nak buat (dekat 3 tahun jugak lah). Mungkin korang akan cakap, "teruknya" or "alaa buat kuih senang pun nak kecoh" tapi untuk saya dah kira satu kejayaan tu sebab seumur hidup ni saya memang tak pernah buat kuih melayu. Kalau kek or kuih raya tu adalah jugak 'once in a blue moon' tapi kuih melayu cenggitu memang first time so terasa bangga sikitlah dengan diri sendiri...hehehe. Sebenarnya boleh je buat dari dulu lagi tapi asyik bagi alasan benda ni tak cukup, benda tu tak cukup tapi kali ni tak cukup pun saya buat jugak! First, saya takde pewarna hijau pastu daun pandan pun takde jugak tapi kebetulan depan rumah jiran ada daun pandan, so saya ambiklah 4 helai buat syarat. 

Ok, papepun kat sini saya nak share resepi Kuih Cara Manis yang tak berwarna hijau. Alah, pewarna tu kosmetik je... tak kisahla tak cantik pun asalkan sedap, kan?

Bahan-bahan:

- 1 cawan tepung gandum

- 1 biji telur

- 1/2 cawan santan

- 1 cubit garam

- Air daun pandan (blend / tumbuk daun dan ambil airnya)

- Gula

- Air

- Minyak masak 

- Pewarna (jika ada)

- Bekas acuan

Cara-cara:

1. Campur tepung, telur, santan, air daun pandan, garam, beberapa titis pewarna jika ada dan pukul hingga sebati. Pastikan ia tidak terlalu pekat (nanti kuih keras) dan tidak terlalu cair. Kalau pekat, tambah air kalau cair sangat tambah tepung. Tapi ikut sukatan yang saya buat tu, memang just nice je. Panaskan bekas acuan di atas dapur dengan api kecil dan sapu dengan minyak untuk elakkan kuih melekat.

2. Tuang acuan separuh dan tabur gula di tengah-tengahnya menggunakan sudu kecil.

3. Kemudian, tuang acuan sehingga bekas penuh untuk tutup gula.

4. Tutup bekas dengan tudung periuk dan biarkan seketika sehingga masak. Check dengan garpu, kalau dah tak melekat dan kekuningan, boleh diangkat.

5. Siap!

So camana...senang tak? Kalau ikut sukatan yang saya buat tu, boleh dapat 30 biji kuih. Bayangkan kita dok beli kat kedai tu... bape biji dah bape ringgit, ni buat sendiri terus dapat 30 terus. Boleh makan sampai muak keyh...hehe. 

Woraitslah, nampaknya sampai sini je. Entry ni memang purposely untuk share kejayaan saya masak Kuih Cara Manis, tapi nanti saya share projek yang lagi satu kat entry lain pulak ye. Groceries yang saya order pun dah sampai so nak start masak untuk berbuka pulak. Sehingga bertemu kembali (eceyh) dan selamat berbuka puasa uols. Bye!

*keywords: resepi kuih cara manis, cara membuat kuih cara

:: raya shopping ::

It's only the second day of Ramadhan and I'm talking about shopping for Raya? Yes, but it wasn't for me but for my 2 lil sisters. Every year my family do their Raya shopping in KL and this year it was a bit earlier than usual. They came last Sunday, a day before Ramadhan. My father, who is the only man in the family didn't join the trip so my mom and 2 sisters took the commuter instead. There are massive discounts everywhere nowadays but they went to Sogo because as many people know, Sogo has varieties of children's wear and it is one of the best place to go when they're having sale. Thought of joining them at first but due to several reasons we ended picking them up from Sogo and we all went to Mid Valley. It was Ady's second visit to a shopping mall after our outing to Empire Shopping Gallery 2 weeks ago. This time, it was a longer car ride rom home but fortunately he was quiet and seemed to enjoy the ride while resting in my arms although he was not asleep. We concluded that Ady loves movement and car ride. In these past few days I even had to carry him while walking around the house to put him to sleep or he will stay awake for hours although he has started feeling sleepy. Well, at least we knew he loves riding the car so worst case later, we just take him for a ride out to make him sleep ;-)

"I'm mum's little monster" 

(thanks to aunty Rynn for that pretty statement t-shirt from Mothercare)

It was already 6 something in the evening when we arrived Mid Valley. I didn't do any shopping at all. My sister Atiqah was searching for her Raya shoe and after almost 2 hours she finally found it at Royal Sporting House. Both hubby and I were starving because we didn't eat anything since morning and since my mother's birthday was on the next day (yesterday) we decided to eat at Chillis so we could surprise her with their birthday brownie. We were a bit disappointed knowing that the customised menu is promotional and already ended so we had to order the New York Strip and Monterey Chicken individually. My family has just eaten in Sogo earlier so we just ordered Triple Play so everybody could take a bite. We never bring any children to Chillis before but since my youngest sister, Adibah was around she got the "child eats for free" dish, which is only valid for kids aged 12 years and below. There were varieties of menu for kids which come with bottomless beverage. Adibah chose cheesy quesadillas and it tasted ok although there were only tortillas and mozarella cheese in between. The service was a bit poor at Chillis Mid Valley that day although the restaurant was not full. Our food arrived a bit longer than usual. Hubby ordered his steak in well done but had to return it because it was still a bit red inside and it also took quite long for it to return. We even waited for almost 10 minutes for the bill so it was not the kind of service we usually had. Anyway, we still managed giving my mother a surprise with the birthday brownie and servers singing birthday song for her. Happy birthday, Ibu. Thank you for everything and we love you a lot!

We then left Mid Valley at 10 something and sent my family back to Seremban, while Ady quietly sleeping in his carrier through out the entire journey until we safely arrived back in USJ. What a good boy. Ady, everybody loves you but mama and papa love you even more!

:: smile! ::

Ady Rifqi @ 1.5 months

*This pic was taken by Ady's Papa and it is Ady's first smiling pic :-)