It's Been Awhile

Ebi, I know you thought I have stopped doing this but actually it it just so that you would think I have forgotten. HAH!
Check out those abs!!!

Pak Samad -- AL Fatihah

We lost a great veteran journalists last night, Tan Sri A. Samad Ismail. He was a great journalist. I personally never worked with him but when I was at the NST, he was still in and out of the office. I remember reading most of his work and of course hearing horror stories of him. He was very garang they say. I used to tiptoe past his office even if I was not there to see him. Stories of him and how he would yell at reporters was well passed around the news room.

Kak Aina, his daughter and also my "boss" at one time or another was a good friend of mine when I was at the NST. She used to give me a lot of good advice about work, life, family and marriage. God Bless you Pak Samad and to the family and Kak Aina, please be strong.

AL Fatihah...

Oh Yes ... This One Too!!

My good friend went to London recently and you know what I told her to eat for me? The soft serve ice cream they sell at the sidewalks. The one where you can put a flake in it. It was cold but she had it for me anyway. She said it was delicious. Sigh......

This is mengidam big time rite! The closest I can find here to it is at Ikea. McDonald's soft serve is ok when desperate but a poor comparison. I remember the one in London is soft and creamy and oh so milky....

I Suddenly Remembered

Just before Ramadhan me and my BFF's went to have Dim Sum at a new haunt that we found, China Treasures at Sime Darby Convention Centre. We go there quite regularly lah and we have our favourite dishes already. Recently they started offering buffet at RM35++ I think. But the food is good. Their dishes are a bit limited compared to Mei San at Quality Hotel but the quality is a top notch higher.

Our favourite there is the egg tarts, they serve it hot cause they cook to order. The egg is really soft and the pastry just melts in your mouth. Seriously, if you are an egg tart fan, this is a must there.

Nazlin all smiles after the meal. We were so hungry I forgot to take pictures of all the food lah!

Another dish I like is the egg's nest shrimp stuff. It looks like kuih karas. It is all crunchy on the outside and so soft inside. The chicken feet is another favourite of mine. Fara and Nazlin don't like chicken feet but I got Fara hooked on them too. It ain't that bad. It is sweet and soft and the "lemak" is yummy. The fried carrot cake with special sauce is really good too. The yam cake is also delicious. As I said the best thing about this place is all is served hot.

Service tends to be a bit slow because of the hot food delivery but its worth it. I haven't tried their other dishes other than the dim sum but from what I reckon, they are doing pretty well.

Dessert is nit bad either. My personal favourite is the pamelo with mango sauce. The mango sauce is hot and creamy and you get bits of biji selasih and sweet/bitter pamelo in it. Nazlin likes the dragon fruit with ice cream. This is really a fantastic creation. They mix the dragon fruit with bubur hitam and put a dollop of vanilla on top. Fara ordered this pudding dessert and it was horrible. Actually when the waitress was taking our order she was on the phone with a supplier I think so she simply pointed at the menu. Her dessert really sucked that day....

Nazlin tried it and tried hard not to spit it out! She said it tasted worst than ubat!!

So early on a Ramadhan morning and I am thinking of Dim Sum already. Oh well ... I can just imagine the tastes!!

What's cooking??

Today looks like a good day so far. It does look like it is going to rain but I feel much better today than I have over the past few days. Since Sunday I have been suffering from a migraine and am not allowed to take panadol or other medicative help. Finally, my one and only "urut lady" came and she took with her all the pain. I feel much better today. Thanks Ida!

This fasting month has been very kind to us considering as to how it has been raining almost everyday. The worst is to be fasting and its blistering hot. But I did hear that the temperature in Mekkah is as high as 46 degrees. God help our pilgrims performing the umrah. We are very blessed, each one of us, in many ways. It is just sometimes we forget and take things for granted.

*******************************************************************************
A thought to ponder...

My friend, Sherie, sent me an e-mail earlier about this lady in China and how she lived with a broken pot which was used to fill water in everyday. After years of living with the broken pot, the pot finally spoke up and apologised for being useless to her. She said no such thing and explained how much the pot had actually contributed in its own little way. Let the lesson be to us that appearances alone do not matter and no matter how small a role it is, we all have a role to play in life. Of course there was another morale to the story but I can't remember what it is now. I only remember that part of it which I think is quite relevant too!

********************************************************************************

I have not visited any of the Ramadhan Bazaar's yet due to my not being well. I wonder what the spread is like this year. One of my favourites is the one in Subang Jaya and the one in Kelana Jaya. The one in Subang Jaya has this stall that sells the best Laksa Johor in KL that I have found so far lah. Last year I think it was selling at RM4. I wonder how much this year and I hope its still there. My other favourite dish is the char kuey to dip with bubur gandum. Yummy!

Of course we must not forget the popiah basah at Seksyen 14. GGG's have been raving on about it because some of them only now got to try it. It has been there for years babes! In fact it used to be stall in Lucky Gardens a long time ago when I was like 5 or 6 years old. Now they are at the Seksyen 14 pasar every year. The thing is, the queue is endless! Even as early as 2pm!

Since I feel a bit better today, maybe I will make my way there. But it does look like its gonna rain....hmmmm....

What else is cooking in your kitchen?

This is a recipe for steam fish, courtesy of my friend and GGG Adeen:

Put garlic oil, sugar,chicken stock, light soya sauce, water, ginger, thai fish sauce.
All mix together with the fish (suggested fish here is bawal putih)
Then steam about 10-15mins before buka puasa (or makan time) It takes slightly longer for a bigger fish ya....

Nak kuih recipe? Baca buku lah!!!

Musings for today

My daughter, Najihah, the eldest, is attempting to fast today but I told her to open half day cause she goes to afternoon school and I don't want her to faint. As it is, she eats like a bird anyways. But both she and Nadiah did a good job and fasted the whole day on the first of Ramadhan.

I however, have failed miserably. I fasted on the first day and am suffering until today. Guess this little baby growing in my tummy doesn't like not being without food! I still have a bad headache and now can't do much. It takes so much to even lift my head. Oh well....let's pray I feel better tomorrow.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What affects our lives most of all? Is it our loved ones, family or friends? For me it would be a little bit of all of course. Over the past few weeks, several things have happened to me and I have received all kinds of reactions from loved ones and friends. And also long time friends (or flames!!). Sometimes I wonder why things happen the way they do and what God is trying to tell us by bringing those things to our attention.

Who knows? But we have to take everything with a little pinch of salt, not too seriously but not too lightly either.

In this good month of Ramadhan, to all my friends and loved ones, I seek forgiveness for anything that I have said or done that has hurt, offended or upset you.

God Bless...

Today's Musings

I have been out of action these past few days. Explanation is simple, not well. HAH! and also feeling out of it. There are times when you just feel blah!, know what I mean? And these past few days have been like that.

For one, I have been fighting nausea quite badly past few days. And number two, I got into a little situation with one of my GGG. The second one was a bit of a shocker really. Only because it was unexpected, or was it?

I told a friend this morning that friends come in all shapes and sizes and also characters. We take them for what they are right, good and bad etc. There are times when these friends tread on your toes, irritate the daylights out of you or simply made you angry at one time or another. So, when this happens, what do you do? DO you ignore it, throw that friend away or do the big thing and forgive and forget.

Me, well, I like to forgive and forget. I value all of my friends, no matter how small a part they play in my life. But I believe we crossed paths for a reason. Of course I have friends who have hurt me tremendously, but that is part of life rite? That is when I evaluate how much they contribute to my life as a whole, in the past and the present. Then I decide to keep or just change their categories. There has yet to come a time where I throw them out. Usually I just change them into different categories. I don't believe in keeping enemies. You never know when you may need them and vice versa.

But there is this one friend I used to have (NOTE: USED to have). I think she is the only one that I don't consider an acquaintance even. Simple because, she started it. Sounds childish I know but its true. She was the one who did all kinds of crap to me (and there are other friends who got the same treatment from her too) and she was the one who chose simply not to call me a friend anymore. Well, that hurts cause we went through a lot together but she chose it that way. And knowing who she is now and what she has become, we are all better off without her.

What I want to say here is, kiss and make up lah. There is no point sometimes in keeping bad vibes. Yes, sometimes what a friend has done to you is the worst thing ever and you don't know if you could ever trust them again. But don't have to throw them out. Just change their categories and keep them in your list of Facebook friends. Don't ignore their request to be your friend. That is downright mean. You don't have to be bosom buddies anymore but still call them a friend.