Babah bagi kucing makan

I love my husband for crying while watching Bersama Mu. I love him for never failing to give money to those blind people who approached us while we ate. I love him for being compassionate to other beings.

A stray momma cat with her 3 kittens just took in residence at the area. Last week, the momma came to our kitchen looking for food. I love cats but dare not feed it because it is not my house and I know my in-laws do not like cats. Therefore if I feed it, it will move in with it's family and it will be my entire fault.

But if they decided to move in due to Babah’s actions, it’s okay because it is his family’s house. Anyway, Babah took pity on the starving momma and looked around for food.

Mula – mula he gave her biskut cream crackers. Of course le dia tak nak. Pastu came kerepek kacang hijau. She turned her nose to that one too. Then Twisties which she sniffed and decided not her thing as well. Then he gave her something else. She didn’t like it either because I heard him berating her.

“ Itu pun tak nak ke ? ”

“ Makan lah !! ” and things along that line. I went to have a look.

“ You bagi apa ? ”

“ Tu.. ” he said and I saw a few fish shaped biscuits. Budak – budak punya.

“ Itu pun tak nak makan ke ? Kan ikan tu ? ”

I laughed. I was so tickled pink by my husband’s errmm… ingenuity. I can’t stop.

“ Oi….” Said I between laughs. “ Itu biskut bentuk ikan …… warghh ha ha ha… Bukannya ikan !! ”

“ Yelah… okay lah tu…” He said. Punya tak nak mengalah. Tapi muka dah merah padam.

After I ceased my laughter, I gently suggested him opening a can of tuna or sardines to offer the poor cat.

Wa ha ha ha.

Which she accepted with gusto.

Wa ha ha ha.

My lovely salad

I made a lovely dinner last Friday. I had warm crusty garlic baguette, pasta with mushroom neopolitan and crunchy ceaser’s salad with lovely ceaser dressing. As we sat down to eat, Abang failed to appear and when called he asked us to proceed because he was watching a movie. He promised that the movie is coming to it’s end and will join us soon.

We started to eat but it was rather boring because Abang was not around and Babah kept calling for his son. After awhile, Babah who apparently couldn’t eat without his boy, left the table to get him. Adik and I stopped eating.

After awhile we heard them talking and laughing and surmised that Babah waited for Abang to watch his movie. Adik kept calling his father. “ Bah, hurry up Bah !! We are eating…! “ When Babah didn’t appear she became restless and wanted to be excused to join them.

I forbade her from doing so and told her she can only leave the table when her plate is clean. So she wolfed down her food, announced “ Dah !! “ and ran to be with her father and brother.

So I was left alone at the table, devoid of my family members and my lovely salad limping at every passing second. I sat there, a solitary figure, waiting. Just as I was contemplating to go and haul them back to the table, they came back. Babah picked up his fork again and resumed eating. I filled a plate for Abang and Babah passed him the garlic bread. Adik demanded for beverage and nibbled on a piece of bread.

Hmmm……..

So apa masalahnya ? Entah.....

A very emo day for me

This is my Yana, my niece. She is the loveliest thing on earth. I love her to no end because apart from her loveliness, she looks like me !!

See ? He he.....

This is my Isya, Yana's elder sister. She doesn't look like me but I love her to oblivion, too. Just because I do.

I love this photo, the love of my life and my baby girl, my future bestfriend.

And this is me with my boy, my son, the first one that made me went crazy with love.

Duit dalam Quran

Not long ago I chanced on a very interesting question in a Soal Jawab Agama column in one of our dailies. The question went about something like this,

Bolehkan saya menyimpan wang di dalam al-Quran untuk mengelakkannya dari dicuri oleh toyol ? Bagaimanakah caranya untuk mengelakkan duit dari di curi oleh makhluk tersebut ?

And the brilliant answer was something like below,

Al-Quran adalah sebagai penunjuk dan menjadi pegangan hidup umat Islam, oleh itu ia lebih wajar di baca dari dijadikan tempat menyimpan wang. Untuk mengelakkan dari wang di curi oleh toyol adalah lebih baik ianya disimpan di dalam bank atau Tabung Haji kerana belum pernah ada cerita wang di tempat – tempat tersebut berjaya dicuri oleh makhluk terbabit.

I am so sorry but I find this immensely amusing. I do not know which part is funny, the question or the selamba answer. Wargh ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Restaurant Review : Café Naluri Seksyen 9

This is a new café, next to Khalifah rasanya. It is Kopitiam concept with food like mee kari and roti bakar and nasi ayam.

The food is quite nice actually. I had the mee kari and it was okay. Babah loved the nasi lemak. I tasted my kids’ nasi ayam and it had my approval.

The limau suam was kinda weird, though. Macam ada honey. But all and all, we would definitely singgah again when we are stumped for food.

We went again last week and Babah again ordered nasi lemak. Tak sedap pulak katanya. I had mee hailam which I hardly touched because I actually ordered meehoon. Not a big fan of mee, myself. Didn’t notice the kuah though. My children had meehoon soup which was rather good.

Oh, Babah also ordered ubi kayu rebus which was kinda yummy. One problem though apart from the not so nice nasi lemak, the meat was a bit off when I ate it. Macam dah masam which is rather off putting.

One thing I like about the place is that they offer magazines dated from the 90s for us to read while waiting for the food. I really appreciate that effort because my children busied themselves with the reading materials and were quiet for a change.

Hmm………….

Movie Review : Beowulf

I read Beowulf during my teenage years, at that time very much intrigued by all the classics after my father went to Australia and brought us books by Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and Hugo Bauchamp. And Dickens too, of course.

Sadly, Beowulf was hard to read as it was a poem, and a long one at that and was so hard to understand. Therefore I was very much curious to see what the story is really like and went to see the movie with my husband.

It is a nice enough story, very much a classical one filled with dragons and battles and witchcraft. Sadly though, it is an animation and I suppose only Disney could do animation ( although they have never attempted to really draw all actors that lent their voices ) as it was rather dreadful. Although Anthony Hopkins is easily recognizable ( and Angeline Jolie too… It was rather obvious that they spent more time drawing her than the rest of the casts ) but until today I do not know whop played Beowulf. I recognized Robin Wright Penn ( whom I especially love after watching her in The Princess Bride ) only because I knew she was in it.

Their faces was so badly drawn, John Malkovich looked like a sniveling drug addict instead of a warrior. All of them, and I mean all of them looked like they indulged in a tad too much Botox injections that rendered them totally expressionless. So sad when something as epic as Beowulf is destroyed by…. bad illustration ?

I just hope that it is a true and direct interpretation of the poem, of which author remained unknown till today, as I have no intention of attempting to read the very lengthy poem again.

Mind what you do in the car

I had a lot of fun with my Rihanna CD. I especially love the song she sang with Ne-Yo. So sexy and lively with beautiful melody and gorgeous lyrics.

I was driving and listening to it and of course when a song really fills your soul and a lively song at that, you just have to groove, baby. I was busy shaking it all up at the red light ( not red light district ) in Bangsar for god knows how long when I turned to look at the car beside me. And there he was, a bloke driving a silver BMW looking at me mischievously and was dancing. He was shaking his shoulder, copying my moves as my eyes widen and keep on widening. Luckily the light turned green and I gave him a happy wave and drove on, all coloured up.

How long has he been waiting for me to look at him ( as enquired by my colleague ) ?

Somehow, I did not learn my lesson as after awhile, the music’s allure was too great to resist and soon I started to get jiggy with it again. After awhile though I noticed a white car was cruising next to me and I began to realize that it had done so for quite some time. I turned to look and was greeted with an elderly gentleman who smiled at me. He beamed and raised his brows, sort of saying “ My, my what a fun time you are having… ”. Ha ha…. I smiled and waved and again accelerated.

I don’t know why it is unexpected as I have done that quite a few times to my fellow drivers. Well, not boogieing with them in a separate car but looking out at other drivers, snooping what they were doing.

Anu and I delighted in dramas that unfold in the cars. Couples fighting, some hot love action and of course our favourite, people making a fool of themselves, listening to the radio and singing heartily, pretending they were on stage entertaining millions. Well, sort of what I was doing yesterday….

Oh, malunya !!

Apa ada dengan baju kurung

Aku buat baju kurung lagi !! Ya Allah, help me !! I have to stop buying/making/ordering baju kurung !!

Yesterday I had to do some errands at Ampang Park and because malas nak biar my colleagues wait for me, went alone. I went with trepidation because Ampang Park has so many delicious stuffs on sale.

As I waited for my thing to be ready, I had a walk around and that was my biggest mistake. I should have stayed put. Because when my feet wanders, it wandered into SML, a boutique selling kain and baju kurung. And I of course picked up a kain and ask them to turn into baju kurung for me. Hai.....

I tell you, it is a gorgeous blue batik number and I so love batik. But why did I buy it since I have so many ? I still have loads of kain yet to be turned into baju kurung and there I went and bought another one.

Apa aku nak buat dengan baju kurung banyak - banyak ? In fact I have one kebaya waiting for me at another tailor in Kelana Jaya. What is wrong with me ? Since I started working, I sort of went crazy with baju kurung. I love them really. The play of colours, the design... well sebenarnya I love the kain lah and what else can I turn them into selain dari baju kurung ?

I remember attending a meeting in Singapore. I was to meet Mike Smith ( a lovely bloke from Scotland ) for the first time after talking on the phone and e-mailing each other for months. He knew it was me somehow when we first clapped eyes on each other ( chewah ) and the second thing he said to me was ( after the customary hello, you must be Myra ), " You should be standing next to the flower pot. What a beautiful and colourful outfit !! ". I beamed happily because I was wearing my lovely yellow baju kurung with the most delicious blue flowers with pink middles. What an ice-breaker. My baju sealed our friendship after months of being boring engineers ( he hates me now because whenever he comes over I will take him shopping and well because ... I managed to persuade him to part from his money to buy a gorgeous diamond ring for his lovely Julie at Habib, a new camcorder, shirts, ties and what-nots. So he swore never to go shopping with me again.... he he ).

So... maybe that is why I keep on kitting myself with baju kurung because it will make good ice-breakers ? Really ? Or aku sememangnya kuat belanja....

Nope... I have to put some blame on Amelia because I owned two pieces that she bought for me... Or maybe I should point my fingers to my colleagues who mostly wear baju kurung and making me felt oddly masculine in my shirts and trousers ? Is that it ?

What ever you do, don't put the blame on you, blame it on the rain... yeah yeah.....

He he....

Restaurant Review : Paddington Pancake House, The Curve & One Utama

For pancake lovers, this place is heaven !! I first stumbled upon it while out with my sisters, trying to locate a Thai restaurant in One Utama. It was next door to it actually. Since we were already salivating at the thoughts of Pad Thai, we had no choice but to have Thai main course and then went straight across for dessert. Oh, malunya !!

We didn’t know what to choose because the menu was so extensive. They have different kind of pancakes and each type has sweet and savoury menus. We liked what they featured on their banners though and ordered that.

Oh wow !! It was coin pancakes ( normal pancakes only bite size ) with loads of bananas, strawberries, peaches, plums and variety of nuts. Topped with ice-cream, of course !! Plus a small pitcher of delicious maple syrup. Ohh……

The pancakes are fluffy and gorgeous. And when you add a fruit, some nuts, a little ice-cream that has touched a little syrup… well no words can describe it.

Yesterday took my family there for dinner. The kids each had pancakes with bananas and ice-cream and babah and mummy ? Well we shared the same sweet pancakes I mentioned above and one savoury one. The savoury one includes pancakes that have been baked pizza like with beef bacon and cheese. Golden fried egg on top and mashed potato on the side.

Can’t finish them though as the serving was kinda huge. Furthermore the sweet one arrived first and we found out ice-cream and eggs go disastrously together. So next time will just share one plate….kay, Bah ?

Restaurant review

Nachos Nachos, SACC Mall

We love this place !! It is really good. The nachos are lovely ( if you like nachos, of course ). I love the fish and chips because they tasted like the frozen ones Dan and I used to bake for our dinners in England.

The tortilla sandwich is also rather good. We had loaded potato skins ( quite heavy though ) and chicken wings too. The only problem is that the chilli for the nachos was not coarse, pureed instead which is kinda funny. I like my chillie to be coarse really for easy scooping with the nachos but they are tasty nonetheless.

Haven’t tried the desserts though. Don’t be disappointed with the very small menu because what little choice of food they offer is good.

So go and give it a try. Support them because kalau tak ramai orang nanti tutup !!!! Jauh ooo nak makan nachos kat KLCC….. Lagipun it is a Muslim’s establishment. So give your support.

Next to it is Only Mee restaurant. Yuck !! That is all I can say. I only had soup because I was unsure of its halalness as when I asked the waiter told me their application is still under process. O-kay. Kat depan kedai ada gambaq perempuan pakai tudung ajak masuk....

I had wanted to get up and leave but then Elsa suddenly showed interest in food after a few days of traumatised meal times due to her ulcers. I had to stay. Fine. I had only soup and I could actually feel the ajinomoto rolling on my tongue. I tasted Umar's mee and yikes !! I tasted Elsa's and I felt like they murdered my senses.

Book Review : 2 books

Buku 1 : Pleasure Trap by Elizabeth Thornton

Not pleasurable. Mediocre book. Boring !! Menyesal beli. Will have to stop attempting to read Avon romances for awhile as they could be very similar.

Buku 2 : French Relations by Fiona Walker

Best !! I love Ms Walker. The book is so thick but it was worth it. It is actually a re-run. I’ve had it for years but it so lovely. This is actually a sequel to… well I have forgotten the title but it still lovely.

I started reading Ms Walker’s Snap Happy and was hooked. I have read them all and enjoyed all immensely even though their thickness rivaled my Engineering books. The other thing I love about her books is that they are all connected. At least one character from other books will make an appearance.

Re-reading Lisa Jewell’s Ralph Party now and enjoying it. Will re-read the pre-quel to French Relations after finishing this.

PS : Note that all are re-reads. Lepas raya.. no money. Nasib baik collection banyak and boleh baca mana yang dah lupa… Hmmm if only I was this studious and interested when I was studying….

Beraya di rumah Amelia

Amelia invited me to her house yesterday so as soon as Dan arrived home from work, we went straight to her house ( Dan wanted to go quickly as he hadn’t eaten yet ). Belasah kuih kaw-kaw sementara tunggu and we were invited to eat first. As soon as we were done and I brought our bowls ( Sib makan sate like me. Dalam mangkuk with sudu so that we can get maximum amount of kuah kacang with every bite… yummm ) back to the kitchen, Kamalia and hubby arrived with their little Ayesha.

The kids were left shrieking and caterwauling upstairs while the parents sat down for much needed adult conversation ( which also means conversation with few amounts of “ kan….” ).

Things that I learnt from our very intelligent conversation

1. Kelantanese eats sate during pagi Raya. The might have the odd ketupat palas manis too.
2. Tambun Waterpark is rather nice but smaller than Sunway Waterpark. Can’t compare or imagine as never been to either.
3. There is a guy called Alwi who lives near the zoo, a colleague of Sheik.
4. Sheik also has a colleague that commutes from Tanjung Malim to Shah Alam every single day…. Amazing.

5. Dan witnessed a jemaah got hit by a motorcyclist before sembahyang Jumaat. He also said the mob were angry with the injured mkotorcyclist and was more interested in pummeling him ( but they didn’t, thank Allah ) than giving him some much needed aid.
6. Ayesha eats sate perut… Bravo !! Now, if only my children are not as fussy. Umar only ate 1 and a half sate….

7. Ada orang jual Char Keaw Tiaw Penang sedap giler kat seksyen 7. Rasa sedap macam juai kat Penang. Tukang masak memang mai dari Penang and most of the sauces he bought from there.

Have I forgotten anything ? Anyway, when I got home, I got an sms from Amelia who found her son’s room clean and tidy. According to Amir, his friends helped him clean up before they left.

Good children…. We are proud.

Oh yeah.. Kamalia asked the most sensitive question to Elsa… “ Elsa bila nak pergi sekolah ? ”. Dan and I discreetly shook our heads and held our breath for her response. “ Belum lagi…, ” she said. “ Nanti… ”. We were relieved. Glad to know that she finally understands. Thank you Kamalia for the test… he he….