Baking Experiment II

i made chicken curry bun this afternoon. my first experiment after many many years, i used to make sausage bun and cinnamon roll during my teenage years, but i've discarded the idea of baking sebab i don't have an oven in my kitchen before.

i omit the dough enhancer from the recipe, jadinya bun tu tak lah selembut mana. makan panas2 sedaplah, dah sejuk agak keras & dry. next time i'll add the dough enhancer.


saw the brown spots? tu sebab sapu dengan egg yolk


Bahan:
500 gm tepung, 30 gm susu tepung, 50 gm gula, 1 paket ibu roti (mauripan), 1 biji telur, 1/2tsp garam, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 250 ml air & 80 gm mentega (lembutkan). klu letak bread improver 1 tsp only.

sift together flour, milk powder, salt & bread improver. in a bowl, combine together with sugar, yeast & egg. add softed butter and water, mix well dalam 10mins. leave the dough for 15mins-20mins to rise. bulatkan kecil2, put it aside to rise. leperkan dgn jari, letak inti & bulatkan semula. panaskan oven to 200deg, and let the dough rise sementara oven panas. bakar for 20mins.

Bedtime Stories

i used to dream that if i have children one day i'd make time to read them stories before they go to sleep. i like the idea of parents (mum or dad) reading stories to put their children to bed. in fact i wanted to do a lot of things with my children like turn baking into fun time with them, build sand castle bila balik kampung, etc but none had ever materialised. okay maybe i exaggerate, some i did do but there are still many many things that i plan to do but never did. like reading bedtime stories to them, i have never do anything of the sort until recently. very recent, just 2 nights ago i've started reading them bedtime stories.

alhamdulillah, they enjoy it. and i enjoy it too. we (me & hubby) always had problem to put them to bed. we never put them to sleep at the same time every night. we just let them linger around us, watch tv with us until they started to yawn or until they beat us to oblivion. it is always either they fall asleep first or we fall asleep. but alhamdulillah after 2 nights i can see the difference. but i would have to read them at least 3 stories and had to make all the sound effects that i can, the moo moo, the buzzz buzzz, and etc or else they would not be satisfied. my bedroom turn into a kindy at night. after i finished reading the 3rd story i'd told them that mama will tell them more stories tomorrow night if they'd listen to mama and go to sleep. which they did eventually.

so now takdelah anak2ku tido lewat sangat. sedikit improvement...

Counting The Day

everyone is counting the days towards Malaysia's 50th Merdeka Day.
i'm counting the days as well, looking forward to the days off from work inconjuction with the merdeka celebration.
me & hubby is in dire need of rest... we thought of going away, nothing far or luxurious. as long as both of us can rest peacefully... away from the house, and from the children for one day. maybe we stay overnight at a hotel nearby... still i couldn't imagine leaving the children for a whole day and night. we might chicken out to the last minute.
plus hubby haven't said anything yet. he's the one who had been talking me into it.
wait and see...

Pajama Hunting

i wanted to buy new pajamas for yaya. she has certainly grown up, grown taller thou in my eyes she appears no difference from the little midget she was masa 2nd birthday party dulu. i noticed recently when i pulled out her last raya jeans, the jeans came a few inches above her ankle. so does her pajamas, she has outgrown them and in need of new ones.

instead of taking my own daughter for shopping, i asked my niece, farah to tag along with me today. apart from needing someone slightly older than my own children to accompany me shopping, the other reason for bringing her along was because i promised her sometime ago that i'd buy her something that she'd like. so i let her choose to her own liking. she choose a few activity books and a very cute girls sleepwear bought at f.o.s.

i bought 4 pairs of very cheap mix and match pajama selling at the price of rm9.90 each. one of it is very eye catching and very very cute indeed. it is a cat stripe printed pajamas, it makes yaya looks like a lil kitten in disguise. and she purrs like a kitten everytime i tease her about it.


the cat girl is sleeping


the pink pants ada renda trimming kat kaki seluar, soo girlie & sexy ;-)


i bought 2 pairs of cartoon printed pants for fahmi. he's not in dire need for new pajama to replace his old ones.


limited sizes for yaya's age, had to take the ones for a 4yo, it fits anyway, besar skit je

What Would I Do This Weekend?

hubby had a very busy schedule this weekend starting from tomorrow, leaving me and the kids with nothing to do. he'd be leaving to johor tonite, attending to the necessities for a 2-days worksyop for the secondary students which he organised together with his long time buddy.

i'm a bit unhappy that he had chosen the dates without considering that it will be my off day from work. which means we could have quality time together with the children. ughhh i'm too clingy kan? with an ever busy schedule on weekdays, who wouldn't be. okay enough and grow up big girl :-P

so tomorrow i'd be sending fahmi for his last TT class. i'm not sure about the arrangements thereafter, despite whatever plannings i've drawn up, i haven't made any visit to the nursery or smart reader centre yet. mama fahmi ni pandai planning jer, bab execution tu hancus! kehkehkeh...

afterwards, i plan to take my children to their grandma's home. we'd stay overnight there, and let the children run loose sambil tu mama boleh lah catch up with some more shopping. uhhh it makes me sounds like a terrible mother. but honestly, kalau nak bershopping, biarlah all by lonesome self, habis semua section boleh cover in 3 hours. if i bring yaya along (only yaya) would that make me sounds less terrible? ha...ha...ha...

i still haven't forget that we have a birthday bash invitation by azie. thousand apologies to azie & co, we might not be able to turn up, faham2 jelah berdua dengan hubby pun kami sesat jalan, apatah lagi me alone driving. nak sangat pergi, maybe next time ye.

and another invitation for a wedding reception adik rosyam nor, dekat jer seberang jalan di subang. this one also i'm not sure i'd be able to go, not without hubby. tengoklah dulu.

so that's it. i hate to leave my house for the weekend, but with hubby not around i'm afraid i'd slipped into boredom.

Ikano Shopping Spree & The Story Entail

i am no angel
i'm not 'immune' to temptations

it was supposed to be a 'survey' jalan session because we've never been to ikano before despite the close distance from our place.

so one fine sunday evening when we have no idea where to go for our usual outing with the children, i suggested to hubby why not we go to ikea, just to survey jalan je (konon!). it was already late, around 6pm kalau tak silap. hubby was reluctant to go, but as usual i used my persuasion power to make him agree to it. at least my communication studies dulu ada juga guna nya ye?

once there, i told hubby why not we take a quick peek at the 'brands' outlet yang sally dok sebut2 tu. hahah hubby gave me one kind of look "memang tak leh caya bini aku nih" hehehe

akhirnya, the result of saja2 survey jalan is these

there were many selection of kidswear, semuanya cantik2 belaka especially for the girls. rambang mata dibuatnya, if only i had tonnes of $$$ i'd buy each design offered. but price wise, not as cheap as i expected... i bought a pair of 3/4 pants and 3 blouse/t shirt for yaya from various brands i.e. oshkosh and tks. as for the boys, the selection were not as 'meriah' as the girls', i bought only 1 oshkosh t shirt for fahmi.

i'm supposed to save some money for the 'balik kampung' trip, instead ku hamburkan my saving for that month untuk baju2 si comel. godaan...

dek kerana sakan bershopping, we couldn't figure out which way to take to reach home. yang peliknya why every turn we took we'd never get back to where we come from? *frown* any answer sally? it took us an hour plus to reach home, we went from damansara to kepong and selayang, we almost emptied the petrol tank in search for the correct route if not for the petronas station in the middle of nowhere. seronok bershopping semua terbang, i'm tired, the kids were tired too... hubby pulak gelisah mencari jalan.

we reached home anyway, it was very very late, the kids were asleep. i myself could barely open my eyes to climb out from the car. we decided that next time if we ever go to ikano/ikea again, we'll makesure that we'd go during daylight. hubby tak puas hati, he said he'd be able to figure out jalan balik if only we went during the day.

so right after the picnic at tasik perdana last 2 weeks we went to ikea again. the funny thing is that even in the broad daylight he still couldn't figure out jalan balik. macam mana tu? :-) me and hubby, we laughed at ourselves.

moral of the story:

1. i'd stick to my usual shopping place, that is subang parade, confirm tak sesat!
2. kalau dah tak tau jalan tu, siang ke malam ke, tetap sesat!

Ti's Wedding

as i mention in my previous entry, this month we have a wedding to attend. it is Ti's (my cousin) wedding in KT.

came saturday morning, we left subang quite early taking the karak hi-way and LPT heading to pantai timur. alhamdulillah the traffic in kl was very smooth considering it was an off day for most people. since it was still early, i decided not to bath both fahmi & yaya, they'll be freezing, yelah our house takde water heater... heheh, we'll let them take their bath masa berhenti kat r&r temerloh nanti. that's our usual r&r spot, and there is one wakaf berhampiran surau & men's washroom that we always take our claim setiap kali berhenti rehat kat situ for breakfast. and yes as usual juga, i'd pack something for breakfast. samada sandwiches or nasi goreng or our all time favourite spaghetti, we never buy our breakfast from any of the kedai makan kat sana. lebih selesa sebab to have our meal kat kedai would turn the whole thing into a havoc dengan dua kanak2 riang ni. moreover, with my mum and my two nieces tumpang our car, it will create multiple havoc.

going back to KT means i'd be able to pamper myself with lots of sweet delicacies, mind you i have a sweet tooth. sesampai je ke bandar KT, pasar batu 6 yang kutuju dulu... hehe akok nesan, putu mayam (different from the putu mayam kat kl ni), jala mas, buah tanjung etc. ni sesi lepas geram lah kiranya. and the result of 3 blissful days of kuih2 manis is i add another 2kgs into my ever mengembang tummy. well done, myself!

as for fahmi and yaya, they had their own sesi lepas geram bermain pasir dan 'berumah' di reban ayam!

sesi lepas geram hubby pula bermula di pasar payang (i know hubby wouldn't agree with me, hahah coz i'm the one who dragged him here) haha. he got himself one batik shirt and a songket benang perak for his raya sampin, which means altogether now he had a collection of 3 pairs of sampin songket. and me? i bought a pair of handcrafted batik sutera to match hubby's batik shirt.



pengantin and my aunties sumer with me meng'interframe'


3 in the pics are my cousins and the remaining are my anak2 sedara


with my cousins & niece

and now we are back in subang, with piles of baju kotor untuk dibasuh, our kitchen is out of stock, i need to rush to the market for our weekly supplies, plus i'm not yet cured from cold, sorethroat and cough. aduiii sakitnya badan.

The After Effects

i just got back from the appreciation dinner, i don't know why but i couldn't sleep. surprisingly coz i didn't take coffee, just some tea which i would normally skip (i don't drink tea or coffee or any or the sort) but i made an exception this time partly because i was suffering from diarrhea since morning and partly because i was hosting the dinner.

so i thought maybe i can get a quick catch up with pcm. been neglecting the forum for quite sometime, plus i wanted to peek more snapshots of the recent gathering. adalah sekeping dua pics of myself and the kids.

i felt guilty leaving my children to attend the dinner. fahmi pleaded me not to leave, his usual line "mama janganlah kerja..." selalunya i would give him the usual explanation like mama kena kerja cari duit, this time it really tugged my heart. poor my baby, he's too young to understand why his mama have to work all day long and night. he can tolerate the days but not the night, i think. moreover with daddy not around (he's on outstation and only due to comeback hours after i leave), both of them had nobody to turn to except bibik. once i reach home, i quickly wash my face, solat and cium fahmi & yaya. i didn't know who put them to bed, hubby was asleep, i'm sure he had a tiring day driving all the way back from jb.

hosting the dinner was no picnic for me. pelik kan for someone with a background in communication studies. but that's me, i don't talk much especially not with strangers (yes i still regard the guests as strangers, i've never met them before). i express myself better in writing. perhaps that's the only part of communication that i master (yelah tu!). i guess i'm not cut for this job, i don't quite like meeting people and talk about business as if there's no end to our life but work, work, and work and money. there's something that money can't buy, that's eternal love. i am a family woman, i think most librans are. i've met ramai jugak librans yang sangat family type, men or women both are alike. having said that doesn't mean that others are not (family type), i'm merely comparing myself with other librans that i've met.

i would rather stay at home with my children. but i had to put up with the occasional dinner (entertainment) with the clients/bankers etc as part of the package kerja. not to mention the once in a while thrashing from the bod. like what my colleague said the other day "they give you a car, good pay, your own office, so you have to put up with whatever thrashing that comes with it."

this is the price i have to pay ? for... for what actually? kesenangan hidup? masa depan?

fahmi,
if you ever had the chance to read mama's blog satu hari nanti (if this blog still exist until then) i want you to know that bukan fahmi aja yang ada masalah to accept this situation we're in right now, mama rasa mama sendiri pun ada masalah to accept it, and it has been 6 mths now. please bear with me, bear with me... sayang.

I Feel ...

i feel worn out.
there's always something bad happen to me in august.
it's nothing personal... it's all begin at my workplace.
it is a curse?

Gathering Cum Picnic

gathering or i would rather call it a picnic at taman tasik perdana, kl.

it has been quite sometime since we spent our time leisurely by the lake side like this. the last time we went to a place like this yaya was barely 9 months old. she was learning to walk, fahmi was learning how to ride. our house is so crammed, so we decided to bring them somewhere with lots of space to move around. so we brought them to the lake garden in pj, nearby amcorp mall.

it's about time we bring them to the lake garden. asyik2 shopping mall je, mama sorang yang syok sendiri. so i decided to join the PCM Mommy & Baby Gathering pagi tadi. i'm quite surprised myself that i could wake up early on a rest day, this is really an exception. selalu nak buka mata pukul 8am pun susah! hahaha .... we arrived behind the schedule (gathering time at 9.30am, we reached there at almost 10!)... for someone who never saw the green grass of tasik perdana before, dapat sampai tu pun dah kira rekod lah tu!


packet drinks sumbangan one of the member... i presented my cheeky lasagna ;-)


mischievous Iman is on a mission


stay away yaya... 'faris wood' nak tee off ni. nampak tak 'bola' golf tu? miniature teddy jadi mangsa ... asal boleh


nad & baya & misz hazel




fahmi meets his new friend, faris


dania blowing up bubbles... sooo cute in her mini skirt

we really had our fun eventhough we had to move from one place to a better spot seeking shelter from the sun. we definitely not into sun bathing kan nad? that is sooo not melayu.
i have to mention this, we had a lavish breakfast dengan nasi lemaknya, bihun tom yam, triffles pudding, tepung pelita, lasagna etc.

we enjoy the company of other mommies and daddies and the kids too were having fun playing and making new friends. i like to see fahmi bonding with other kids of his age. as for yaya, with her boyish attitude, she played with who ever her bro make friends with or just playing by herself. is she a tomboy on the make? just like her mama used to be?

The Upcoming "F" Week

what's the point of doing the list for the "F" word when fahmi won't be attending the class next saturday?
yes, he won't be able to make it, he'd have to skip the class because by the time his class begins we'll be somewhere in dungun or marang heading further up to KT.
tapi no harm kan buat list tu? hehe

fire
fox
fountain
forrest
fish
fence
feather

Our Plan

hubby and I had been making plans, for our children.

although our current maid still have another year plus to serve her contract, we foresee that she might not live up to the 2yrs contract. and, though we don’t think we can afford to burn more holes into our pocket for new maid fees, we may not be able to hold our patience with her anymore. I have this feeling that she might want to leave after 1 year of service, which means that she’ll breach her contract and if we let her go we’d be the one yang rugi. even if we deducted the money that she owe us, that would not be enough to cover the cost I had to spend to bring her here. that money would not be enough to spend on new maid. sungguh menyakitkan hati. how come having a maid becomes a burden to the employer? when the maid is supposedly to ease our burden, help us to take care of the children, take care of the house while we’re out cari makan. in return we provide them tempat tinggal, food as much as she want/can eat, we pay them for doing all that.

okay back to our plan. we plan to get a local maid, it is if it can be arrange by my auntie, which during our trip to KT nanti, I’d discuss this matter further with her. I know the chances are very slim, as what my mum said. but why not to give it a try.

we also plan to stop sending fahmi to tumble tots. I can’t see much progress from the classes he attended. maybe it’s due to the language factor. who can I blame? me and hubby don’t speak English at home, we don’t speak English with the children. so their English vocab is very limited. we thought that by putting him to an English spoken environment he’d be able to pick up the language and finally speak the language. cerdik sangat mama fahmi ni… so we now thought of sending him to smart reader instead. let him learn to speak, read and write in English the proper way.

for his social development we plan to send both fahmi & yaya to a nursery. this arrangement would not be on a daily basis. they’d be sent off to the nursery for 3 days in a week. hubby fall in love with this nursery. thanks to sally, her testimonial caught hubby’s attention. which I think not a bad idea. the kids would enjoy the company of other children. i’m only worried of yaya, she’s a bit bekeng kata orang ganu. I hope she wouldn’t bite other children’s cheek.

I definitely need to pay a visit to the smart reader centre nearby our place. Most important thing I need to confirm is whether they do organize weekend classes or not. If fahmi have to attend the daily classes, there might be a problem. Unless if they provide pick up service.

So when can we start?

1. by the end of this month fahmi may not need to attend tumble tots classes anymore. the fees been paid up to the end of august.
2. which means I have to pay a visit to smart reader centre asap!
3. however, local maid arrangement will have to wait until after … we found one, of course!
4. after that we can ferry bibik home. Am I ruthless?

Hectic Month

hmmm looks like we have quite a hectic schedule for this month... apart from the weekly saturday class for fahmi benefit banyak lagi aktiviti2 lain yang dah ambil tempat. our weekends have been taken up.

12 aug - PCM gathering cum picnic by the lake side (i hope so not... harus my lil kitten bertukar jadi ducklings!)

15 aug - dinner organised by my office to appreciate our banker support (sounds weird right? when the one who should be throwing such dinner would be the banker instead to appreciate us their customers. ahh whatever, its the chairman wishes, we as the grateful employee humbly succumb to please him).

the only thing that's been bugging me is that attendees must bring their spouse. i don't want to go, but there's no way to escape. can't see myself sitting among these bankers, what do we have in common to talk about? and to bring my darling along?... i wouldn't drag him into something that i know he wouldn't like. ahh another headache... i have to think of an excuse if people (read my chairman) start asking me why hubby does not come along. with all these headache would i be enjoying the dinner? i think not *sigh*

18-21aug - we'll be off to KT for my counsin's wedding. yihaaaa! suka sangat balik kampung. but i find it weird that she choose to hold the reception on sunday which is working day in the east coast. whatever... as long as the bride is happy, we'll be happy for her :-)

26 aug - tentatively blocked for a birthday bash. haha sooo tak malu we haven't even get the invitation yet *wink *wink kat azie

with our hectic schedule, we might not be able to satisfy all other invitation. harap2 jangan ada yang kecil hati ye.

It's a BOY!

finally my sister's wishes comes true when she gave birth to her 3rd child last Thursday, 2 august 2007. after having 2 daughter she longed for a baby boy and she gets what she wishes for. i am happy for her.

for faiz akmal semoga jadi anak yang soleh dan make your mama & babah proud of you!