The Perfect Wedding Gift?

Hunting for the perfect wedding gifts are on top of my list this week. mainly because i have 2 weddings to attend; both on sundays! how i wish both wedding are on seperate days so i can enjoy the reception and linger little bit longer without having to rush from one reception to another. i should be thankful though coz the timing does not coincide with one another or else i would feel torn apart between the two. but both are at different location seperated by the elite highway! satu siang & satu malam... still i would be rushing. ohh... i know i'm ranting.


the first one is going to be the happiest day in my best friend's life. using the word 'best' somehow sounds a bit strange to my ears especially when i know i haven't been playing the role of a good friend to anybody for a long long time. i really am not good at keeping in touch with my friends, always blaming the miles apart between us; despite the invention of email and mobile phone. whatever, faisal, the groom still and forever will be a dear friend to me. he was my first ever male best friend whom i can opened up to(hubby falls second to him ;-)). i was a prim & shy girl; i didn't mix (fits) quite easily with the boys unlike my other girl friends. one of the reason i became so close as a friend with hubby was because i missed having a male friend whom i can opened up to; who gives different perspective of life, different point of view from what i'm used to with my girl friends. the friendship with him is really a treasure. and i wouldn't miss his wedding day. i've been waiting for this day for ages, been counting for it since before i met my soulmate. you see, how come i always beat those who already been dating since our school days to tie the knot?


okay enough pondering around the memory lane. wedding gifts...i still haven't had a clue what to buy. the other wedding invitation comes from my boss... his sister in law's wedding in a hotel at subang jaya. and it sounds formal cos i heard a VVIP is attending... something i can do without but couldn't pull the escaping act this time, dah banyak kali turn down his invitation. that left me with 2 wedding gifts to look for. kitchen appliances? macam dah basi je. electrical goods? adeh skemanya! photo frame? pun basi. pinggan mangkuk lagilah dah lama aku buang dari list. i received tonns of pinggan mangkuk on my wedding... kebanyakan masih tak pakai lagi sampai sekarang... sayang jer. pasal tu tak suka kasi hadiah pinggan mangkuk kat orang.


speaking of wedding gift, have you ever had someone pulling a prank on you on your wedding day/night? i had one. a friend of mine (except i don't know which one) pulled a prank on my wedding night; in the form of his/her wedding gift. i kept all my wedding gift in my room, which is a normal thing to do. we didn't expect that on the struck of midnight masa sedara mara semua dah lena kepenatan; and me & hubby pun dah tertidur masa tu tetiba dengan kuatnya buat azan comes from one of the gift boxes dalam bilik kami. me & hubby jumped out of the bed frantically selongkar all the boxes. we were so desperate to find the source of bunyi azan tu sebab tak mau sedara mara semua terbangun and somehow it made us feel embarassed as if we were doing something wrong. we didn't do anything wrong, we hardly did anything at all ;-P. masa tu memang dah agak mesti ada orang bagi hadiah alarm clock. siot betul... lu punya timing memang cantekkk!wakenabeb!


so, would i be daring enough to pull such prank? i'm tempted to... :-)

Fruit Cake

my kitchen is back in operation!

bila mood masak2 tu dah datang balik mulalah sehari suntuk sampai tak cukup hari siang sampai ke malam tak berhenti memasak.

i made mee rebus for dinner yesterday. since semalam was my working saturday so tak sempatlah nak cook for lunch. unless hubby is willing to munch on keropoks & biscuits while waiting for lunch to be served... err in time for tea agaknya? so forget the hassle and bought ready cooked lauk instead.

semalam ada project baking which will keep me in the kitchen for the longest time. so i decided to prepare kuah mee rebus awal supaya by the time nak dinner boleh panaskan kuah & siapkan condiments nya aja. our dinner is normally around 8 to 8.30pm on weekends and slightly earlier in certain days in the weekdays. but hubby dah tak sabar2 nak makan mee rebus, he had his the instance i finished preparing the kuah. tuan tanah dah minta makan so celur lah mee & siapkan condiments. pastu malamnya merungut lapar sebab dinner dah jadi hidangan tea time. duh!

ok move on to my baking project. i've been planning to bake steamed fruit cake for my abah since last weekend but since i had this withdrawal syndrome last week so tangguh ke this week. yang tak tahan tu nak mengukus kek ambil masa berjam2. whatever, i'm sure abah is going to love this cake... abah memang suka fruit cake :-) and this one taste simply divine. i delivered the cake petang tadi, the same time i fethced my mom who's going to spend the whole week with us. mama rindu sangat kat cucu2 dia, aku pulak memang tak sempat nak balik lama2, so alternative is get mama to stay at our house for one week.

When Pre Is Over, Here Comes Post

i really am in no mood for cooking, thus i haven't been in to the kitchen this weekend hatta untuk prepare breakfast sekalipun. so you won't be seeing any food entry this week. tiba2 ada semacam withdrawal syndrome pulak... ni bukan pms as in pre tapi pms as in post... yang pre part tu selalu buat selera makan membuak2 tu yang idea memasak mencurah2. yang post ni selalunya wash away my appetite & buat mood hilang. kesian kat mr hubby... herot berot mulut dia muncung tak dapat hidangan istimewa father's day.
i made chicken salad jer for dinner... bukanlah buat pun setakat potong2 iceberg lettuce, sliced purple cabbage, shredded grilled chicken & gaul dengan thousand island.
oh ya, for father's day, i get the kids to present a card untuk daddy. and also daddy dah dapat hadiah dia in advance kan...a new bonia wallet ;-)

sebab mama takde mood nak masak, belanja daddy makan kat luar je

fahmi is progressing well in his tutorial class. i suspected that he must be the most annoying student in his class coz he told us that teacher milla (the one that replace teacher intan when she goes on leave) suruh dia 'zip mulut' sebab banyak cakap dalam kelas. i bet he is... dia banyak tanya and paling aktif dalam kelas. and he has 'rakan subahat' dalam kelas dia; a cute no-name girl yang sama2 duduk semeja dengan dia but now being seperated sebab fahmi dah upgrade satu level. bila tanya siapa nama kawan fahmi, mulalah dia tersengih2 malu2... isyyy casanova in the make ke nih?

Pheww!!

pheww!! rasa lega akhirnya jejak kaki kat rumah semula jumaat malam sabtu baru ni. i was away for a one night trip to KT... bukanlah lama sangat pun, just one night jer tapi aturcara sangat memenatkan. the first night away from my kids, i couldn't sleep. i was only able to shut my eyes pukul 5am... pastu kol 6am dah bangun solat, mandi & bersiap2 coz 7am somebody from site office came to fetch me. aduhhh rasa macam tak boleh buka mata tapi apakan daya tanggungjawab belum selesai. pastu berkumpul kat primula hotel ( i stayed at my grandpa's house), meet the bankers & proceed to our site office to board the dredgers. huargh! sakitnya badan turun naik 2 dredgers pagi tu. rentung kulitku...i refused to tempek2 sunblock ke or pakai long sleeves bagai, akibatnya tanggung sendiri lah kan. nasib i made the right decision to wear sport shoes, there's no place for sandals or high heel or fancy stilleto's atas dredgers, you'll ended up causing injuries to yourself. apapun, sport shoes or no shoes kaki ku tetap jugak sakit. i manage to ignore the pain the whole day, putting a though face in front of our visitors (read bankers) sampai semua orang ingat aku keje atas kapal sebab cool aje... tapi balik malam tu adehhh sakit giler. ni pun tengah berdenyut2 sakitnya... hampeh betul, ntah bila nak baik agaknya.

yaya weep in her sleep the first night. fahmi tried to calm her down but to no avail. hubby didn't succeed either. aku & yaya tak pernah berenggang 1 malam pun sejak dia lahir. malah when i was hospitalised 2 tahun lepas sebab remove my tonsils pun she slept with me in the ward 2 malam. to be honest, i couldn't stay away from the children, i have been keeping my outstaion travel short... day trip normally. but this time around had to stay lil' bit longer. bayangkan lepas hubby & the kids dropped me at the airport tiba2 boleh terdengar suara fahmi... it wasn;t him of course. it was some other boy talking to his sister. cepat betul rindu kat anak2.

emm... rasa nak demam ni sebenarnya. penat lagi rasa badan & kaki yang menjadi2 sakit ni doesn't help either. esok father's day... kena lift up my mood by tomorrow morning. i don't want to spoil the day just because of kaki yang sakit & badan yang masih penat lagi ni.

Nasi Tomato

yang ni pulak today's lunch. asyik makan western jer today kita tukar selera pulak. dah lama tak masak ayam masak merah, so lawannya nasi tomato & veggie dhall. masak nasi tomato kali ni lain sikit, kugoreng dulu beras basmathi bersama bahan2 tumisan dalam kuali sebelum transfer dalam periuk nasi. hasilnya nasi masak sekata dan lembut. so far dah 2 kali cuba kaedah ni, alhamdulillah memang terasa perbezaannya. atau maybe sebab nak tidur malam tadi memang dah asyik terbayang2 nak cuba kaedah baru masak nasi tomato ni tu yang turns out perfect tu... hehehe i am mad! but i believe if you put your heart in to cooking memang semuanya serba menjadi.

ni resipi nasi tomato versi ngada2

3 cups basmathi rice (washed & drain)

1/2 onion - blend

2 garlic - blend

2cm ginger - blend

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 fresh tomato - quatered

1/4 cup fresh milk

1 stick cinnamon

1 tsp cardamon seeds

2 star anise

2 bay leaves

2 tsp salt

water (to your own adjustment)

Fish 'N Chips

yesterday's lunch was salad, mushroom soup (again! ni kes nak habiskan stock mushroom dalam fridge) eaten with garlic bread for appetiser & fish 'n chips served with mayonis and baked potato wedges.

sebelah petang pulak i made butter cake... again sebab ada permintaan daripada fahmi yang mengamuk2 sebab butter cake that i made yesterday habis dimakan farah. amazing sebab before cameron highlands trip nobody cares about butter cake tapi lepas masing2 hirup boh tea sambil makan butter cake it become a hit pulak. mangsanya, mama kena buat butter cake 2 hari berturut2... hehe my pleasure. i topped the butter cake with lemon curd yang dah 2 bulan dok dalam fridge... ada juga gunanya lemon curd tu ye.
i made them extra special for the kids, i baked them dalam love-shape silicone mould courtesy of madam lemongrass. tengok tu the cakes popping out from the mould. yaya had hers with my homemade strawberry jam. the rest i baked dalam loyang bulat jer untuk seisi keluarga.

sambil2 prepare lunch tengahari semalam, sempatlah buat strawberry jam. ni mix of cameron highlands sour strawberry dengan driscoll's (californian) strawberry (yang debab2 tu). sangat2 mengecewakan sebab driscoll's strawberry musim kali ni tak manis macam tahun lepas... *sigh*. last year strawberry tu semua habis dimakan begitu aja tapi this year semua berakhir dengan jam.
merah gelap warnanya tapi rasa tak manis pun...

Cameron Highlands Day 2 (Last Day)

surprisingly bila sampai cameron ni walau penat & tidur lewat macam mana pun boleh pulak bangun awal... hehehe excited pulak mr hubby siap snap a few photos suasana sekitar hotel di waktu pagi.

pastu pagi2 kami keluar nak pi shopping sayur, ingatkan sini pepagi buta orang dah menjual sayur rupa2nya kat pukul 9.30 baru celik mata buka kedai. emm price takdelah murah pun rm10 3 jenis.


time ni dah check out from hotel, pi ronda2 mana2 tempat singgah on the way turun dari highlands

susah kalau budak2 kecik ni perasan model... asyik nak bergambar je. yang jelik tu posing dengan biskut penuh dalam mulut!

ni kat english garden, taman agrotek mardi... destinasi yang ditunggu2 sebab mama nak beli pokok english herbs

teringin nak cantikkkan garden umah dengan bunga2an kat english garden mardi ni... hee berangan je kot?

pokok sweet basil yang dibawa balik from highlands. tak taulah berapa lama boleh hidup kat lowland. before this pernah beli dalam mini pot tapi seminggu jer tahan duk kat window sil. kat belakang tu pokok thyme.

Cameron Highlands Day 1

penat berjalan masih tak hilang lagi. malas nak bermukadimah, so let the pics do the talking. ada orang gatal tangan tukar resolution camera hence the pics taken pecah2... tak cantik sampai je kat Sungai Palas's Tea Plantation kami pun posing berlatarbelakangkan pokok2 teh
ignore meja yang bersepah tu... lepak kat cafe for morning tea dengan butter cake sambil hirup udara segar, dari cafe ni boleh cuci mata tengok kebun teh. crowdednya cafe ni maklumlah musim cuti sekolah


ni kes kemaruk nak petik teh, orang lain pikul guni, kita pikul anak...hehe

lepas check in hotel kat equatorial, kami melawat raju's strawberry farm yang dekat sangat dengan hotel kami. memula nak strawberry picking tapi farm yang sebelah hotel tutup, so pi kat raju's jelah cuma sini tak boleh pick strawberry ye, tengok aje

tengok cik mek yaya tu suka posing kepala teleng, oh ya yang sorang lagi tu farah my niece saja ajak dia join, school holiday ni kan

ni muka orang puas hati sesangat dapat makan strawberry salut coklat sampai kembang lubang hidung...nyampah, selagi tak dapat dia punya merajuk nak pengsan!

Short break

we are leaving to cameron highlands tomorrow morning, for a short holiday. i would say that this trip to cameron is more for the benefit of the children than for mama & daddy's rehat2. i've been there once masa sekolah darjah 6 dulu and now planning for the 2nd trip with the children. it is a small place hence not many attractions in store. but it would be fun for the children to be in the highlands; pi strawberry farm, tea plantation (if we ever get there), butterfly garden etc. looking back at the list of tourist spot i can safely say that we'll be visiting the same places i went to 18 years ago. oh wow sebut 18 years tu rasa macam berzaman lamanya. kalau dapat duduk kat smokehouse ke, lakehouse ke or YTL resort tu ughhh bestnya. i'm tempted to book ourselves kat situ, would be good for relaxation. nonetheless i look forward to see if there's any differences this time. the temperature perhaps?
but i can see from the weather forecast that it is pouring almost everyday in cameron just like it is right now in kl & subang. well suits the other half right coz dia yang beriya2 sangat nak pegi cameron. anggap jelah macam pegi london musim salji. i can understand his passion for the higlands coz he has never been there, but in this weather i'd rather be somewhere sunny... like terengganu.

Beef Moussaka

i finally made this last 3 weeks' during my saturday off. instead of lamb as mention in the original recipe i replaced with beef mince. i layered plenty of grilled eggplant selang seli dengan beef bolognaise. topped with bechamel sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, bake & voila!

i made the bechamel sauce differently this time around; i add one lightly beaten egg to the recipe so the topping moist sikit.