Selamat Hari Raya!!!

I would like to wish family and friends a

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin!

Have a great holiday and enjoy the lemangs, ketupats and rendangs! I sure am looking forward to them! :)

From Amin, Fara and Nazim

picture taken Raya last year..

5 more sahurs...

This morning when i woke up for sahur, i counted that we have 5 more sahurs to wake up to..and then..it's Raya!! yaayy! the last ten days have been rather tiring for both amin and i. we try to make it to the masjid for terawih for these last ten nights. and by the time we get home, it would be around 10.45pm and then if there's anything good on tv, we'll sit down and watch for a while, if not (like last night, we'll hit the bed). every day, we'll have sahur around 5 while catching and episode of 'syahadah' on TV1 and then 'jejak rasul' on TV3. we like to see where these people go on the shows..and every morning, we have the same drink - warm honey water. it's good for the empty stomach and supposed to give you more energy. anyway, after sahur, we'll wait for suboh for a while and then hit the bed again for a couple of more hours of sleep...and the cycle continues..

on some nights, i would be awake till 1 am to do 'stuff'. i'm becoming a clean-freak and organize-freak lately and it's really nothing new. i experienced this during my first pregnancy too. it's just the urge to organize and rearrange something..they call it the nesting instinct, where a mother-to-be would have the urge to clean up, decorate, and organize things. like last night, when both amin and nazim are sound asleep, i cleaned up my dresser, organized my jewelry box, took out new bedsheets to be changed in the morning, took out a new curtain for nazim's room...and i did this till i felt sleepy..oh and before that, in the afternoon, i reorganized my entire spice rack!! i changed the old fat bottles with cuter size plastic containers....anddd..labelled them! :) i also put our kuih rayas in the cookie jars while i was at it. i was going to reorganize my closet too but i was too tired and the thought of separating which clothes i can and cannot wear would be devasting for me because i would end up with more clothes that i cannot wear!!!! so i thought i'll come back to it later..maybe after i have delivered..when i get back into shape..of course..i am soooo daydreaming laaa if i could still fit in my size 2 petite clothes which i bought when i was in the US...(what?! i was a 2 petite?!) now i'm like a 6 or something..God knows..i always contemplate..should i give away these nice suits from Ann Taylor??? will i ever fit again in this tiny and sleek black pants? these are the thoughts that i didn't wanna go over last night..so i said..later lahh...

aaahh..the weekend's here..looking forward to go back to kl to see my family...and taking a break from the kitchen..hehe..come wednesday, we'll be on our way to Perlis, to celebrate Eid with my husband's side of the family. this would be our first time back with a kid..hope it's not too bad, since we're flying. as usual, me and food are like monitor and keyboard (is there such analogy?) ..we go together, like rama, lama, lama, kadingy, kading-a-dong (a song from Grease)..i am thinking of my favorite raya dishes. here are some of them:

1. Ketupat and rendang (i miss my grandfather's rendang! it's the best rendang i've ever tasted my whole life..he's too old to make it now..but i will always remember growing up with that heavenly taste of dark, tender, beef. when i first heard the term 'rendang tok' i really thought my grandfather's rendang has become famous!)
2. my mom's rendang ayam and lemang
3. lontong (a soupy-dish with lots of vegetables like aubergine, carrots, bean curd, tomatoes, turmeric) served with nasi empet (compressed rice)
4. nasi dagang (i seldom get this..only when i go to a kelantanese relative's house)
5. soto (ok laa..since i always have this, it's not really a specialty anymore)

what's your favorite raya dish? ;P

taste of travel

my husband and i are avid travelers. unfortunately, money doesn't grow on trees, so we cannot go for as many vacations as we want. but during these travels, one of the things we look forward to is tasting the local cuisines. of course, being muslims, our selection is pretty limited, but nevertheless, we still managed to try out some of the authentic delicacies..like in florence, we tasted this really yummy fruit tart which was drowned with berries and sprinkled with icing sugar.. and then in paris, we got a strawberry tart which that had a really nice custard underneath the strawberries...












and then..in cyprus...we had the best lamb shish ever!!! we liked it so much, we went to eat there for three consecutive days..ordering the same thing! the lamb is served with yogurt, lemon, salad and bread with a little bit of fries on the side..the nicest thing about the shish lamb is the burnt taste of the fat...too bad we don't have any picture of it..

and then..in paris..we tried a really nice creme brulee..which is something that i have yet to master (i'm still looking for that torch to burn the sugar on top..anyone know where i can find it?) i tried broiling it in the oven but it didn't turn out as nice..this is not the actual picture of the creme brulee i had..but just to put a picture to the description..here how it looks like..

ohhh and then in turkey..our favorite dish was iskander kebab..this kebab is different from any kind of kebab because it's not served in a skewer..instead, it's pieces of meat laid out on a piece of round naan-like bread and soaked in tomato-based and yogurt sauce..and the taste is uuuhh sooo nice..besides that, i also love the apple tea which you can pretty much get anywhere (they even offer you when u are shopping in their shops! now that's what i call customer service!), the baklava (lovely), and this candy floss called pismaniye..but once you open the box, make sure you keep it in an air tight container or your cotton will turn to stone in just a matter of hours!


in bangkok, it was the glutinous rice with mango and coconut milk..and of course love Thai iced tea..and tom yum gung..

in saudi, kebabs were generally good but i had the chance to taste the autentic pakistani chicken kerahi at a restaurant just outside masjidil-haram.

hmm...in jamaica, it was jerk chicken..which is basically like ayam golek in malaysia, grilled in a tong (how do i explain this?) that is cut in half..

in new orleans..it has to be the beignet and coffee..at the cafe du monde..which is now left to pieces as i caught a glimpse of it on Oprah recently.

ohh and last but not least, my fav ice cream has to be the one in michigan..it's just from an ice cream parlor at the mall..but i loveee how the waffle cone smell permeates the whole mall..my all time favorite concoction would be chocolate/vanilla/coffee/cookies and cream with chocolate syrup topping and lotsa nuts!! yummy!!

rather unhealthy selection of food we have, don't u think? do you have a food you like on your travels?

Ramadhan coming to and end..

We're already approaching Syawal in just a matter of 10 days..and this last ten days..is supposed to be special, for one of these nights will be the Night of Power or Lailatul Qadr. Click on this link to learn what can you do during these last ten days. Personally, i hope i can do more than i have been doing, like pray more or read the Quran more. The recent demise of our Prime Minister's wife touched many hearts. May her soul rest in peace and is blessed by Allah S.W.T. Coincidentally, a former colleague also lost his wife on the same day and even though i only knew him very casually, the news of him losing his wife left me thinking of how death can sneek up on you at a time you don't even expect it.

For the past few nights i've been trying to think how he or anyone who has lost their spouse could ever gain that strength to live again. Especially when the death is so sudden and you're not given any signs that it was coming. When you're both still young and have all these plans that you made...when you feel that you haven't spent enough time yet with your loved one. How does one cope? I personally do not have the courage to think about this..but sometimes my mind does wonder...and then i just abrubtly stop it from continuing..

As a helpless servant of Allah, all i can do is just doa and ask Allah for the opportunity to grow old with my husband and children.

Al-Fatihah to both women who returned to their Creator on that fateful day.

which disney princess are you??

This is from Zetty a.k.a Belle...

wow..i didn't know i could be ariel!


Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

anyone else wanna try this? go to this link...

the scary thought

i was going to write about this in my previous entry, but figured it was going to be too long..so what's my scary thought? after watching that movie, i was trying to fall asleep..and was about too..when i felt my baby turning in my stomach..and that feeling led me to the night when i was in the labor room, about to give birth to my first baby. the thought of me going through labor again kept me awake for a good 40 minutes...and the thought that i am planning to have 4 kids kept me for another 20 minutes..then i started to remember every little detail of that fateful night on the 12th of February 2004...

11 pm: amin and i were in our rented house and i was wondering when am i going to feel anything..(i was told by my doctor that i was going to go in labor that night)..still no feeling..but i had some signs..(not the water break kind of sign...just some spots..)

11.30 pm: we went over to my parents-in-law's place and just hang around in the kitchen..and suddenly i felt something..(i thought this must be a contraction...i was not sure how a contraction felt like since it's my first time!) so i looked at my watch and noticed that the contraction came every 10 minutes...i was sitting alone in the living room..and my father-in-law came to me and asked me if it was time...i just nodded and tears started falling down my cheeks..

12 am: amin and i went to the hospital to check me in..(hoo hoo..sounds like checking into a hotel..NOT!)

12.30 am: a nurse came by and checked if i was dilated yet...and she said i'm only 2cm..i need to be 10cm before i could deliver and the rate of it widening is at 1 cm/hr. the doctor was said we can either go back and sleep or just hang around in the hospital as he expected me to give birth only at 8 am the next morning. i decided to stay..as the contraction was coming on stronger..

2 am: i changed into the hospital robe (more like a piece of square piece of cloth) and was given a pill to "take care" of my bowel.

2.30 am: frequented the bathroom every 10 minutes as i thought i had to do number 2. at this point, amin was sleepy and tried various spots to sleep including the cold floor in the labor room, under the stairs of the hospital (which he complained too many mosquitos) and in the car...even though i didn't have the energy to make any conversation with him and was too busy making my visits to the toilet, the sight of him around gives me great comfort..at last...i was feeling sorry for him and told him he could go back first and get some rest and i'll call him when anything happens...

3.00 am: i was strapped down on the labor bed with the annoying baby heart monitor thingy on my stomach. since it's 3 am...i was naturally feeling sleepy but could hardly sleep as the contraction was now coming every 5 minutes...and i was not allowed to sleep on my side as this would stop the baby heart monitor from hearing the baby's heartbeat. so i had to sleep staight on my back and every time the contraction came, i would cringe..in the labor room, it was just me, and some machines...and every now and then a nurse would pop by..

6.00 am (from 3.00 am- 6.00am i think i managed to catch some sleep but with a lottt of waking up in between) : the nurse said i should call amin now as i was almost 8cm..and the pain...oh my god...was undescribable..i remember at this time, the nurse had introduced to me a device that would help ease my pain a little: the laughing gas..she said to use it only when i feel the contraction is very strong..but it became my best friend and i held it to my nose every time i had the contraction..which was not advisable..as you tend to go a bit cuckoo if you inhaled too much..but i didn't care i just needed something to sooth me down..

6.15 am: amin was back in the picture and he brought some kind of water that was supposed to facilitate the process of giving birth. i now had his hand to squeeze for the contractions :) and boy did i squeeze his hand!

from 6.30 am - 10 am: i just had a lot of contractions and still not fully dilated..and i was beat!..just needed to sleep..

10 am: this was the time the doctor put on his plastic robe (like a fishmonger) and boots and placed himself at the receiving end. i was fully dilated and i began pushing..i was trying to use the breathing technique form the pre-natal class, but i dunno..i think when you're in that kind of situation..you just have to DO whatever you can to adapt..after pushing for the first time, there was no sign of the baby's head..and after the second try, still no sign...everybody in the room, the doctor, the nurses, amin all shouted "Push!!!" and i did...but i guess my push wasn't good enough because i was tired from not being able to sleep..and all the energy i had before was totally drained out..so after a few unsuccessful pushes..the doctor said he could help me..with a forcep..but i had to make another push..oh noooooo..not another one..

10.43 am: my last push and with the help of a forcep and with Allah's grace, i felt a warm thing gushing out of me and saw my baby for the very first time when they put him on my chest. he was purple...as the poor thing had to wait a looong time in there to get out..because mommy couldn't push hard enough..his eyes were closed..he didn't cry..his skin was crinkly and pruny..and he felt warm..the doctor gave amin the scissors and he did the honors of cutting the umbilical cord of our first born..they then took nazim out of the room to wash him up..amin followed them and cited the azan in his ears..

and just like any mothers would say...the pain just goes away the minute the baby is born...and with that thought in mind..i was feeling less scared and managed to go to sleep...inshaAllah, this time around, it would be easier...



Nazim 1 day old..













...and two months later..

a good movie and a scary thought

watched a really good movie last night on DVD called 'Red Eye'. it really got my adrenaline pumping and i even tahan to go the toilet because i didn't wanna miss anything..it's about a woman who is being threatened on a plane by a high profile assasinator sitting right next to her! he had asked her to make a phone call to the hotel that she works with and change the room for a politician that was about to arrive. (the politician is the target for the assasinator)

thoughout the movie, she tried to make her escapes but the SOB was too clever and watched her every move...until...she courageously poke a pen thru the guy's throat and left it there!! hahahah good for you man! and while the guy was frantically trying to get the pen out of his throat, she makes her way out from the aircraft and ran for her life...

of course, the story didn't end there...she had to make sure that her dad was safe (as the assasinator had his hit guy stationed outside her house to "take care" of the dad just in case his plans didn't go the way he planned it) and she also called the hotel to tell them to evacuate as there was going to be an attack..and everything just happened at the nick of time..and the guy with the whole in his throat..yeah, u guessed it..he appeared at her house..and tried to kill both her and her father..the scary part was when they played "hide and seek" in the house..and you didn't know where the guy is until he appeared behind the door holding a knife!! aaaaaaaaaaaa...in the end..she shot him in the chest but was not enough to kill him and then the father put another bullet and he was gone...thank God...phew...

7 things....

I've been tagged by Zetty..

7 Things to do Before I Die:
1. Perform the Haj with my Hubby
2. Open up a spa or a cafe
3. Go on an exotic holiday in Morrocco and watch the sunset while sipping tea
4. Go back to US and visit places i used to stay
5. Understand the Quran
6. See my kids get married and have children of their own
7. Grow old with hubby

7 Things I Cannot Do:
1. C, C++, or any type of programming
2. watch a foreign movie without subtitles
3. be away from my kid too long..
4. read a novel (used to when i was a teenager)
5. drill a hole in the wall without making a big crack
6. climb mount kinabalu or any other mount lah..
7. swim properly

7 Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex:
1. Nice teeth
2. Height
3. Smart but not cocky
4. Nice smile
5. Nice smell
6. Knowledge possessed outside of his common knowledge (medicinal, historical, etc.)
7. Nice ass (hahah no lahh i don't really look ok..)

7 Things I Say Most Often:
1. hello sayang mami....
2. sit down nazim...sit down..(meal times)
3. bie you kat ne??
4. shit..(applicable anytime)
5. idiot betul la..(referring to the astro reception)
6. yeah
7. bismillahirrahmanirrahim

7 Celebrity Crushes:
1. val kilmer (only in top gun)
2. tom cruise (in all his movies)
3. that guy in pearl Harbour..josh i think..
4. scott baio (popular in the 80s...hahaha...)
5. richard gere
6. rosyam nor
7. ako mustapha (hahah)

7 People I want to do This:
1. Joey
2. Evelyne
3. Nadya
4. Hani
5. alamak...no idea lahh..the last three, any volunteers!!
6.
7.

what's on the menu?

We're on to our 6th day of fasting and all this while (with the exception of yesterday) we've been having rice, rice, rice and rice..for both buka puasa annndd sahur..so, for a person like my hubby, who likes variation in food, this trend is getting rather boring..(even for me, who love to eat rice). Don't get me wrong, i do make excellent western dishes (i.e. seafood spaghetti, spaghetti bolognese, lasagna, shepard's pie, fish pie, lamb chops, quiches, etc., ) before the Ramadhan on a weekly basis, but somehow, i've gotten lazy to whip up these dishes lately. so, as my hubby was watching a cooking show on the travel and living (guess where he got the bug from? hehe) channel on a sunday morning, he was inspired to have a nice western meal for buka puase. more specifically, he wanted to have Beef Wellington. so, there i go rushing up the stairs to find my 1000 recipies book and there it was! the recipe for it..and he also flipped a few more pages to find what to have for starters. so, he picked tomato soup and mozzarella salad...and he said he'll help me out with the dishes. :)

so, off we went to the pasar besar (wet market, because we thought the local supermarkets' beef were too thin and small for the recipe) in search for the right piece of meat to make this beef wellington..basically, it's just a lump of meat, wrapped around a puff pastry, with some kind of paste in between the meat and the pastry. we finally found the right kind of meat and bought a slightly more than a kilo of it ( i think it's terdeloin) but in malay, they call it daging pejal. it was both our first time at the pasar besar and it's really not that bad...(i thought it would be so unbearable with the wet floor, etc.) but it's ok..so i managed to get some other things as well, like crabs, prawns, and two types of fish. gosh, my freezer is bursting out like crazy now!! i better cook them fast before they go bad.

after about an hour slaving in the kitchen with my hubby and i constantly flipping thru the recipes, our meal was ready (we even had time to watch Gol and Gincu) just in time for buka..and once again, i forgot to take out my camera to get a shot at the fruits of our labor. *sigh* but voila!! here is how it kinda looked like...

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

It's the second day of this blessed month of Ramadhan and it feels good...And since yesterday was the first bukak puasa session, my hubby and i outdid ourselves by buying all sorts of goodies at the pasar ramadhan. :) There's this place in melaka, (for all you non-melaka residence), called peringgit, and they have the best pasar ramadhan, by melaka standards, and my husband loves this particular bbq-ed chicken called "ayam pano or a.k.a ayam bangsar". it has a sweet tangy taste and even nice to eat it on its own. he bought 2 sticks of it, (3 pieces per stick)..and then we bought roti bom (which looked really appetizing when i bought them but didn't taste that good), murtabak (this one was nicee!!), sayur ubi masak lemak (nice), daging ketetel (my hubby's fav, it's actually masak asam pedas with loads of beef and its fat), nasi kerabu ( i had a craving for this), laksa (also my craving - which wasn't so good either), karipap pusing (from my fav stall because the karipap is sooooo crunchy, and looks soo good - no lumps or air bubbles like some karipap has, and the inti is just soooo good.chicken or beef), and a few more sweet kuih muih which i had to literally force myself to eat so not to waste it...didn't we outdo ourselves??!! and, as u guessed it, we still had leftovers, so we had them for sahur this morning..Today, i think i will cook the main lauks for bukak puasa and just buy the kuihs and drinks..
Coincidentally, yesterday was a public holiday for melaka to celebrate the first day of ramadhan. We went to the KLIA to send off my parents-in-law for Umrah and before that, stopped by at the beautiful KLIA mosque, and i took the opportunity to snap some pictures of the beautifully architectured mosque.