goodbye 2010!!!!!!!

As we bid goodbye to 2010 there must be moments and memories along the past year that brings back either  silent laughs and maybe tears for us to ponder.To me personally 2010 was a rather happy year with lots of memorable happenings within the family .......sadness yes maybe a  few teardrops for certain things but overall 2010  was a pleasant year..........

A little bit of sadness was seeing my beloved neice leaving us to further her studies in the UK  in mechanical engineering at the university of Cardiff for four years Inshaallah...... prior to that she was studying in the MRSM  in Langkawi .....but then it wasn't exactly difficult as the family is always within reach.... but now being overseas the separation is tougher for us to bear.........she's one tough girl so inshaallah she's in good hands and can't wait for the summer  holidays when shes coming home'

As we bid goodbye and as we  usher in 2011 there should be alot of countdowns  going on  in places throughout the country!!!!!
We  had a NEW YEAR EVE DINNER today at the BUBBA GUMP in Sunway Pyramid... it was a nice place with rustic ambience........  The food I should say overall ok cause have tasted the same kind of food  much better at some other  places!!!!!!! I shouldsay we just paid the price for the brand name !!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR  to  all and back again next year byeeeeeee

back again.......refreshed!!!

 Back again on the blog after a week long vacationwith the family. The resort was still the same as of our last visit,infact more merrier since it was the chrismas festive celebration.... ongoing.

It was relaxation for me all the way with a mag in hand breathing in the sea breeze on the two room family suit balcony looking out to the open sea and the surrounding scenery !! It was tapau food for us from the same warong assam pedas ......the place was still there with its heavenly kampong dishes.......assam pedas all the way for us much to the dislike of my two boys...... for them they prefer the hotel food ...room service....
but I mustsay the food are really worth the price !!! delicious.....

At night sitting on the balcony looking out to see the flickering lights of the passing ships on the distance is  such a sight.........The whole week was just heavenly. but I must say I did miss my home and my kitchen and nothing beats your own bed in your own room even in a 5 star resort!!!!

So back again to the usual stuff for me in the house but  much REFRESHED !!!!!

For the family meal today its bbq sauce fried chicken........tofu n vegy soup....... gulai daging  and sambal petai and bilis. till then byeeee

The assam pedas from the warong

 

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a longgggggggggggggggg week-end!

We will be making a trip to-morrow  InshaAllah....... to our favourite  holiday retreat by the sea at a very nice holiday resort somewhere in one of the southern states..........looking forward to a longggggg rest and a break from housework!!!!!
this time it will be our fifth time to this same resort........ almost every year...... we just like it so much for its clean beaches...... nice accommodation and ambience and most of all the nice typically kampung warong right infront of the resort!!!!! this place is where we use to have our meals........ just to think of the assam pedas .....its heavenly!!!!!run by a makcik and her four daughters ........this time hopefully its still there........you never know for sure though if its still there with all the developements going everywhere .....last we there was early last year.

This time the family's going and joint by my youngest bro  and his family..........InsaAllah we'll start the journey to-morrow right after the Jumaat prayers ............so got alot of packing to do meanwhile.....for today  our meals are fish-head curry.......sotong rempah.....rendang hati and honey chicken....
so till next week byeeeee

 

Spring cleaning!!!!!

The week-end was spent spring cleaning every knook an corner of the house top an bottom......and my goodness the rubbish that has accummulated over the years !.....things that once lost,  things that I don't even know existed suddenly popped up!!...The boy's room alone took nearly half the day ...with clothes which according to them are already outdated........unwanted!! almost half of what they have.... and the many that they thought they had lost was found among all the unkept things......under their bed ...things like little torches;  knick and knacks...just had to be thrown away.

My bedroom ........the very room that I thought was always tidied up everyday it was almost in the same mess; toileteries that had passed the expiry date ,,,,,,,,in the drawers was just pieces of papers newspaper cuttings of recipes .....bills....even clothes pricetags!!!

The wardrobes was another thing ..... with the steel bar bending with weight pressure of the hanging clothings!!  clothes that had just been worn once or twice and left there hanging for years untouched!! and at the same time adding more new ones making the  wardrobe pleading for mercy!!!.   The many t-shirts ... worn out ones and ....... the  outfitted  size.....I never knew  the size has grown........ha ha.... well at the end I had  filled up 3 large size garbage bags filled with unwanted clothings and thank goodness there is an outlet in the neighbourhood that collects  these unwanted clothings to be sent to relief centres like flood  and fire victims and the recent Merapi volcano victims !!!
At the end of the day although backbreaking tired from two days of hard work but  the end results was real satisfactions!!!!!!  everything was in place and the whole two days it was tapaud food for us.

Today it was back to the kitchen........ and  what I prepared today are pacheri terung....... pengedil daging.... and ayam masak merah.......till then byeeee

The inevitable.............

Not a good day!! I was jolted by the news that a friend was diognosed with the big C......at stage 3!! the whole night I could not sleep a wink , thinking how hard it is for her ! her three young kids.......her husband ,my heart goes out to her........but knowing she's a very strong lady I was told she has come to term with the whole thing......pasrah...atas ketentuan Ilahi...but I know deep inside she is frightened by the whole thing ,,, who wouldn't!!  having to go thru all the needed medication and procedures...... chemo and all!!!!

Its all in the hand of the Almighty........with all sincererity I pray to Allah the Almighty to give her all the strength and will for her to recover and I know she will ,,, InshaAllah!!
Our  meal for today....... gulai siam ikan tenggiri..........honey-chicken.....my boy's favourite.......and  tumis peria kambas.....till then byeeeee

December........ weddings......weddings

End year hols and December are always the time for weddings...........to this day we had received Four weddings invitations  and they are all in the coming two weeks....... and two coincide with one another!! one is the engagement of a cousin's daughter and the other is the wedding of an old friend's son.......now that put us in a dilemma... which one to attend .......both are equally important....on the same day and the location is far apart.......that makes it the more difficult otherwise  we can try to make it to both regardless if  we make it late and the main ceremony is almost over!!!!!!

To  those who had sent us invitations, thank you for the remembrance .....congratulations on receiving  new additions to the family!!

For today the meals for my family ..................Daging kicap pedas...........sambal sotong .......sayur lemak sawi and tahu........till then byeeee

1432....... Our Muslim calander

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT MAAL HIJRAH 1432  KEPADA SEMUA MUSLIM DAN MUSLIMAT
SEMOGA KITA MENJADI MUSLIM YANG LEBIH BAIK ,  DI KASEHI DAN MENDAPAT KEBERKATAN DARI ALLAH SUBHANAHU WATAALLA....... AMIN YA RABBALA'LLAMIN!!!

Married at 14!!!!!!

Reading the newspaper about the marriage of a 14 year old girl to a young teacher  and ,the various comments pro and against by the public really  made me remember the life of my own late grandma...... she herself was bethrothed to my late grandpa ...her distant cousin .. at the same  age of 14 and had her first child at the age of 16... her second at age 18 and her third and last at 20 years.... unfortunately her first child died at the age of 3 ... when she was at the age of 19.... such a traumatic experience she had to endure at such a young age!!!
I remembered she told me how  she was torn to pieces  and lost herself in sadness for  so long longing for her first born and at the same time having  her duty as a wife and mother and a household to care for.....life has to go on despite all her sadness.... she managed it all ...  bringing up her family  well..... she became a grandmother herself  at the age of  39!!!!

Now to the young 14 yr old who just got married .......I wish her well with agood married life ahead although deep down I beleive at this time and age her place  is still in school !! whatever fate has decided for her an she did it with the blessing of her parents and so be it!!!!

So for my beloved family 's meal today...........its chicken soup........ sweet-sour crabs and  gulai lemak udang and buncis!! till the byeeeee

foodstuff as usual

Don't feel like going out today but had to........... for the week ahead groceries and foodstuffs! so its just to the nearest Giant  and as usual foodstuffs and more foodstuffs.....for a week supply for a family of eight!!more so since its the school hols and the boys  appetite for snacks and drinks will be on the increase esp when lepaking infront of the tv with their games and soforth......

before heading for our lunch we  were  interested to see the GNC .Live Well promo going on in the lobby attractive promotion for  the bodies well being supplements for the eyes  Berry Clear... For the skin   firmness and radience its aproduct named Taut.....GNC . live well name are wellknown for its nutritional  products worldwide.......end up buying the BERRY CLEAR  for the eyes......esp formulated for tired eyes

Then before heading home we had our lunch at the  Kopitiam in the mall........ we had  fishball soups ........ nyonya curry mee and  a set- rice  ..hot  chilli squids..... vegy and fried dumplings + the hot dried prawn sambal .... the overall taste should give 8/10!!!!! not bad eh......   so till next byeeeee

Tiring Saturday

Very tired.....  from a day trip visiting  My brother  in N9......his house is in a kampong about 25km from Seremban..where he had settled after his retirement........ a very nice mordern kampung house surrounded by fruit trees.you name it  .....its all there  !!!! right now his rambutan trees are fruiting  in abundance so are the jambu trees so juicy and sweet ...planting  those trees are his past time now after  his retirement, something that keeps him happy  a kind of theraphy for him.

We had terrific time  plucking those fruits and had a   very  nice tasty lunch prepared by my sis-in-law who is a very good cook...... a typical kampung dishes with various ulams freshly picked from her garden.Life in the kampung  can be  such  a simple life  so iddylic with lots of activities to  keep us from being too laid up with no exercise like life in the city.......One whole day...... wonderfully spent!!!! tired but indeed happy.....  so till then byeeee

Remembering a friend

Today somehow  on waking up this morning my mind was filled with rememberance of a good friend whom I haven't seen in years!.....lost contact with her over these last four or five years. We became friends when we were all in Brussels, Belgium while my sis was with MITI and serving in Belgium.......and she was my sis's  steno while I was there accompanying my sis. She was a nice simple down to earth kind of a girl...... but  the kind that like to keep to herself  all the time  , avoiding  socialising  with people most of the time. I tried very hard to be  her friend  talking to her , getting her attention and inviting her to stay with us at week-ends  since there's only my sis and I in the house  and I know how lonely life can be away from your loved ones and all alone at that!! in the end she obliged  and from that day we became very close....me and her .....always sharing  our time and spending our time together ....the three of us ....week end ..shopping  or short travels since Holland , Germany , France is a matter of three hours drive  from Belgium! day trips to the nearby border towns  ...... seeing the quite life of the people their farmlands and picturesqe countryside..... only when she and my sis took long leave then we 'll  drive further into the  countries . we enjoyed the companionships to the fullest.

In the four years of our stay there  we managed to cover most of Europe for holidays frequenting London the most, since its our favourite city clothing and food-wise London is the best!
When my sis's tour of duties was over it was time to pack for home while my friend  still to complete her service there!
It was so hard to say goodbye , but we had to- among all the other malaysian there she was the closet to me, she was my special friend ...... the best I ever had!!!

Less than a year after we came back she was posted home too... we met again .. how lovely only then soon after she joined the foreign service .... Wisma Putra so she was posted again to various countries Like LA..The phillipines...... Bangladesh and Geneva and all these time we were still in touch via letters , tel calls and even when she came home for holidays, we met  and spent times together......... but somehow  when she was posted to Jordan and I beleive she is there now ---- we lost contact maybe for some reasons like our shifting house  and changed  address maybe I tried to get her e-mail add from friends that knew her but so far no words from her whatsoever----- and I'm still hoping that one day I can get to contact her again .

To my dear friend Fariyal Hamzah....where ever you are ..... you are still my dear friend one that I can never forget ........ sincerely hope to see you again  !!!!!!!!

What on our meal table today...........gulai lemak pucuk ubi...........ayam goreng black pepper and ikan cencaru sumbat goreng,,,,, till then byeeeee



My red velvet cake for tea today



Home alone

I am all alone in the house today while  my sisters are at work ,my boys  one in college while the younger one on a day trip outstation with his aunt......that left me  with all the leisure time on my hand  with housework aside all done up... I had the most blissful time with my favourite book  in hand  and snugly coiled up on the sofa! sometimes being alone in the house savouring the quiteness an having all the time to yourself  is  wonderful.

In reality all my life Iam so used to having people around me all the time since we have a rather big family with  seven siblings, myself being second  and the eldest girl so I am always look upon as THE BIG SISTER,life was never lonely but blissful with three brothers and four of us girls ,even now when the married ones with their familes ,are always around especially on week-ends since their houses are just nearby almost in the same vicinity, making the house more merrier !

So today, since being alone I don't feel like cooking much, so I just cook nasi lemak with sambal bilis and sotong with strawberry flavoured jelly as my dessert !!!!! till then byeeee

Dec.....the last month of the year

1st December 2010.......we are well into the last month of the year, soon enough a new year 2011 will dawn on us ..... meaning for most of us its another string of resolutions that we'll promise ourselves...... but truthfully how many of us does make good of our promises!! well anyway its just an obligations that we make to ourselves isn't it?..... no big deal...whether we keep or break it...only a little or so bad feelings within us not being able to make good what we promise ourselves and again another new year and another resolutions to make!!!!!!

Frankly, isn't  it better that we welcome each day as it comes and better ourselves and be more at peace at ourselves and the people around us, to give so much love to our loved ones and hope for the same thing in return!!!! Lets make whatever remaining God given days that we have ... days thar are beneficial  to the fullest  and try each day to make ourselves a better person that what we are now and be thankful to the Almighty for what we already have!!!

As usual what I prepared for my loving family today........seafood tom yam........chilli fried chicken and sayur lodeh!!!!  till then byeeee

HUNGER PANGS

The appetite of a sixteen year old  is always going hungry  at the oddest time and everytime .......this is his masterpiece  all alone in the kitchen just now!!!!!!at ten pm.




his own burger creation with hot peri-peri sauce!!!!



his titbits and snacks

 

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS....

Its well into the second week of the school holidays.......for some parents it can be a headache having to cope with maybe three four or five school going childrens all at home at the same time. for the full time stay at home mom  it will be quite a task having to be in the kitchen all the time seeing to their meals all throughout the hols!  For those who can afford it its time for holidays somewhere be it locally  or overseas.......or it can  also be the time to balik kampong to spend time with the grandparents!!! When we were young  school holidays are the timre we looked forward to, to spend time with my dear grandma!! she was an energatic lady.. who despite her age are capable of  good gardening planting all sorts of home grown vegies eps her jagung ... I can remember how tasty the home grown jagung was. She will take us to bathe in the river nearby which runs bordering the nearby estate.

Those were the times that I cannot  forget to this day!!  also having the times playing with the kampung childrens main guli  kaca ,konda kondi and flying kites in the nearby school fields. and back to the house for my grandma  tasty kampung dishes for meals.

Now my two boys are big boys  I don't have much problems coping with them one is in college while the younger one are happy to spend time with his friends , coming to the house or going outing to the various malls in the city. Personally for me its  more leisure on my time , I don't have to prepare breakfast for them , back to sleep again after my subuh solat, waking up well into nine or ten in the morning for the housework!!
seronok kan!!!!! what I have prepared for the family today........... its rendang daging  minang......masak lemak chili padi timun tua and my fav steamed broccoli with sambal belacan!!!!
Till then byeeeee

 

Love thy neighbours!

On saturday I had a pleasant surprise when  the door bell rang and there  stood my neighbour Girija with a tray full of food , theres muruku, mutton curry  n butter rice and a kind of sweet  Indian cakes when I asked whats the occassion, she replied that wasn't anything but she felt bad when last deepavalli she did not give anything to us.. u see she and her family did not celebrate the last deepavalli cause two of the aunts in her husband's family passed away a few months before deepavalli one after the other ...sad thing!!!I was  so touched by her  gestures...... she and her husband and two young children are such  a nice family.she a full time house wife and her husband is an engineer cum a very good cook .....a lovely young couple an d nice neighbours. Living in a neighbourhood with nice neighbours are a blessing and I must say that we were lucky in the sense that from very young when the first house  that I knew ...the govt quarters in KL when my late father was still in the govt service was in a very peacefull neighbourhood where everyone in the neighbourhood knew each other till my dad's retirement when we moved to sec 14 PJ a multi racial community..... where tolerance are always practiced that was in the early 70s .. we lived there for sixteen years upon my father's demise we bought  another house  and moved in Subang Jaya..... Here was also a multi racial community....... this time we lived  in a nice neighbourhood all throughout the 21 years  only  to be marred by one incident when the tenant who was renting the house next door  was  a problem lady.... she  lived alone;;;; and she can be away for days living her dog chained in one corner of her porch with just a small pail of water for the dog ..... you can imagined when the poor thing was hungry barking incessantly day n night  a pitiful sight !   we were very very disturbed by the howling and the barking  then she'll be back only to be repeated again when she'll be gone again until one day when she was home I confronted her telling her about the whole thing........ only to told back its none of my  business if the dog is hungry or not!!!!! and why I am the only one telling her this when none of the other neighbours did so and according to her dogs can lived only on water for days and survive!!!!! this got me  really on my nerve when I told her does it takes the whole neighbourhood to come before she do something  and I dont care if the dog dies or not but its the barking and howling that is driving us into insanity and if she doest'n compromise I have to report her to the authority she just gave me fierce look and dissapeard inside  and the next day the dog was nowhere to be seen!!! not long after that she moved away!!!. We moved to our present house in Shah Alam almost three years now and so far the  neighbours are nice and approachable they made up of mostly doctors, lecturers and   successful business people. Its true when they say that when looking for a house ..... beside the house itself. the locality its a must to find out the fellow buyers who are going to be neighbours thats important...... and thank God so far so good for us our immediate neighbours are indeed pleasant people!!!!!!!  till then byeeeee

Sunday outing!!!!!!!!

 Our outing today is at Sunway Pyramid ! the whole place is already decorated to the brim in the grandest christmas  decoration the whole shebang!!!! look lovely  with almost the shops having sales, we really spent quite sometime in Marks and Spencer  where I normally shop for my toileteries, also the food sections for their yummy biscuits... and jams etc.... after browsing around almost about four hours its time for the usual shopping for foodstuffs and groceries for the week ahead and when well stocked its to my youngest bro's house for lunch a rather late one .... we nasi kukus ayam rempah!!! yummy.   byeeeeee'

with my youngest sis