Aku & Pandan

nak tau apa pewangi keretaku? ... daun pandan hehe. awat lah kedekut sangat nak beli car perfume. oit bukan kedekut tau. tapi disebabkan lobang hidungku cukup alah dengan bau pewangi artificial yang dijual kat kedai tu terpaksalah aku mencari alternatif yang lebih alami (ikut istilah bahasa indonesia), cakap melayu semuladi cakap omputih natural.

nak buat macam mana dah hidung aku jenis yang sangat sensitif dengan bau-bauan yang kuat. kalau terlampau kuat (strong) sangat bau dia memang perit tangkap kat hidung bawa ke kepala sampai sakit kepala ku. akibatnya aku telah mengharamkan pewangi kereta dari memasuki both my car & hubby's car. kalau orang duk dalam kereta ku tentu bau kereta semata2.

sehinggalah aku mendapat idea untuk letak daun pandan dalam kereta. daun pandan ni masa dia tengah fresh belum keluarkan bau, masuk hari ke 2 dan seterusnya bila dia makin kering barulah kuat keharuman dia. disebabkan aku tak kuasa nak menghirisnya halus2 macam bunga rampai tu maka aku ikat je dengan getah.

pernah sekali anak buah kat ofis aku bagi car perfume pandan... tapi bila dah habis tak kuasa aku nak pergi cari. lagipun pokok pandan aku tengah kembang setaman selepas berbulan dia mengecut sebab merajuk di tebas2 oleh kakak. nyaris pokok pandan aku mati. alhamdulillah sekarang dah kembali menghijau dan beranak pinak sampai 3 rumpun selepas dibelai2 oleh ku. tengoklah tangan siapa yang membelai nya kalau tak tangan aku ni...kehkehkeh
few weeks ago masa my parents datang, my mom helped me to transfer beberapa anak pokok pandan to two small pots. i did this in preparation of our impending move to our own house which comes with smaller yard on the left side of the house. with limited space to grow plants i can't possibly bring all the fully grown edible plants i have at my backyard to our new house.

aku ni bukanlah an avid gardener. kalau tengok laman depan dan belakang tidaklah cantik sangat or sarat dengan pokok. tapi aku suka jamu mata dengan kehijauan. jadi walau tanah sekangkang kera tetap akan kuusahakan.

so sad to leave behind pokok pandan ku yang dah makin segar bugar tu, nak aja aku angkut semua sekali tapi takut pulak bila dicabut dan tanam semula kat tanah lain mati kering pulak nanti. so untuk permulaan kutransfer dulu anak-anak pokoknya.

and there's my pokok galangal (lengkuas) yang comes very handy bila sesekali nak masak gulai ikan tongkol . nak beli lengkuas kat kedai terasa membazir sebab jarang pakai and pakai pun in small quantity. and there's my pokok cekur yang selalu guna untuk buat kuah pecal yang aku guna untuk buat kuah pecal. yang ni semua akan ku transfer beransur2 ke pasu kecil.

Noritake Tak Halal?

now, who can confirm this?
baru je nak teguk air mineral untuk basahkan tekak pagi tadi aku received call dari hubby menyampaikan khabar that he heard over the ikim.fm radio a debate over bahan yang digunakan untuk menghasilkan noritake's fine china tableware adalah dari sumber yang tidak halal. terus je aku hilang selera nak basahkan tekak.

terkedu sekejap sebab kat rumah kami memang ada tea set fine china noritake. bukan aku beli pun (tak mampu sih) tapi sedekah (pemberian orang yang dia tak mau terima tapi tak sampai hati menolak) dari bos, dah quite sometime dapat tapi tak pernah guna, masih elok dalam bungkusannya. maklum jelah nak guna pun segan sebab kami ni orang 'kebanyakan' je duduk rumah pun tahap pipit je.

it was said (over the radio) that noritake's tableware was made from animal's bone termasuk tulang babi. eiii geli geleman aku mendengarnya. but since i didn't hear it myself and when i ask over and over hubby pun not quite sure what he heard, i guess it is left to me to find out. so i goggle up and found an article yang sangat berguna.

the thing is aku tak pasti tea set yang masih kemas tersimpan dalam kotaknya tu adalah fine bone china atau fine china atau porcelain biasa. i dread to find out. terasa so ignorant sungguh aku ni, macam mana boleh terlepas pandang, tak ambil tahu. dah namanya pun fine bone, it should have triggered me to find out sooner except i am still naive when it comes to tableware. maklum jelah kat rumah masih guna pinggan mangkuk percuma colgate & darlie untuk kegunaan harian!

kalaulah benar then i had to part with my precious noritake so be it. yang haram tetap haram.
lebih kurang beginilah corak tea set noritake ku... entahlah aku pun tak pasti sebab dah bertahun tak membeleknya!

My New Bakeware Set

i got these baking dish set at 50% from living quarters warehouse sales last month. so i made two sets of chicken lasagna for dinner malam khamis lepas. one set for hubby & me and the other one for fahmi to share with yaya & kakak.

Menu Orang Malas

i'm suffering from 'cooking withdrawal syndrom' (if there is any such thing). aku jadi tak tau nak masak apa when weekend comes. i become too absorbed with baking sampai lost touch with cooking real food for real life eaters.

so, my escapism adalah pizza! sebab buat pizza sangat mudah dan sangat laris dalam rumah kami ini, jadi buat apa aku nak spend masa berpanas di dapur bila all i have to do is menguli tepung, tabur inti dan bakar selama 12 minit. siap!

BBQ pizza, potato salad & strawberry itu sekadar penyeri ;-)

Man U : Asia Tour

nope, i'm not about to write an extensive entry pasal the Man U vs M'sia match, coz i don't even go and watch the match. mintak mahap bebanyak, aku tak minat nak berasak2 pergi stadium bukit jalil semata2 nak tengok orang main bola atas padang yang cuma sebesar batang mancis kalau dilihat dari tempat duduk stadium. dan walaupun once upon a time dulu aku memang minat giler sama itu Man U, tapi alhamdulillah aku dah tak gila lagi, jadi lupakan pasal writing an entry memuja muji Man U. it isn't the same team that i used to puja puji dulu.

sungguhpun begitu, aku takkan sekali2 menolak kalau ditawarkan tiket match Man U vs M'sia. sebab sungguhpun minat aku terhadap Man U sudah luntur, tapi minat hubby masih kental. pun begitu minat dia tu tak lah sampai mendorong dia membeli tiket match tersebut. kerana itulah, aku tak tolak langsung bila di offer dua keping tiket match tersebut. semuanya kerana incik hubby. owh sungguh bertuah kan dia kerana beristerikan aku? ;-P nasib dapat bos yang duduk kerusi panas FAM, dapat merasa tiket hasil sumbangan dia... hehe.


dan aku dengan rela hati menyerahkan tiket tersebut kepada hubby yang mengajak kawannya incik zul untuk menemaninya menonton perlawanan tersebut, sungguhpun aku sebenarnya lebih suka dia membawa fahmi kali ini (fahmi begitu teruja nak menonton football match dengan daddy selepas daddy tak mengajak dia tonton match chelsea dulu).

apapun, tiket ini bukanlah tiket pertama yang kuhadiahkan buat hubby. tahun lepas kuhadiahkan dia tiket perlawanan chelsea di stadium shah alam. punyalah isteri mithali aku ni dengan rela hati menyerahkan tiket yang aku dapat daripada celcom (sampai hari ni aku masih confuse kenapa celcom mail me the tickets walhal aku bukan pelanggan celcom, owh whatever!) kepada incik hubby yang membawa bersama kawannya incik kimball yang sangat meminati chelsea.

ok, enough of my rantings about ke obsesan incik hubby terhadap bola. i better get some rest before i go out again to buy a birthday present untuk anak kawan hubby. we are going for the birthday party tonight sebaik hubby balik dari bukit jalil.

Sapa Nak Urut?

... bukan maksudku bertanya siapa yang ber urut, tapi siapa yang boleh/mahu/sudi meng urut ku? aku penat, tak cukup tidur & sakit badan. dah 2 hari 2 malam kerja keras dan tidur lewat. kesan tidur lewat pertama pada malam khamis, hari jumaat aku macam zombie di opis, otakku beku, respon agak slow dan mengantuk yang amat. meronta2jiwaku nak balik cepat, duduk kat ofis rasa macam dalam detention class.

dan kesan kerja lebih keras serta tidur lewat the following night buat aku nyaris tak bangun pagi tadi. kalau tak kerana aku tengah 'mens', dah tentu aku miss subuh tadi. pagi ni tengkuk ku sakit, gara2 malam tadi terlalu tekun meng 'ice' kan kek. pun begitu ketekunan ku masih tidak membuahkan hasil kerja yang memuaskan hati. ye, aku tak puas hati dengan hasil kerja ku sendiri. i cannot help to feel kalaulah aku ada lebih masa untuk menggarap idea deko...

my mum stayed up late juga last night. menemankan aku bekerja. owh i am so thankful to her but at the same time i feel really bad coz i spent more time with my toys rather than with her. i thought of taking a break from baking today so that i can entertain her but heck i just remember that i have to go to usj to collect the edible image and then a quick trip to top up my baking supplies. uwargh... tentu ma serik nak datang lagi rumahku lepas ni.

so, selepas membaca keluhan ku ini, ada sesiapa yang sudi mengurut aku? i really and terribly in need of a good hour of massage.

cuci mata dengan gambar2 ni

Fahmi's Report Card Day

we (me & hubby) were invited by the school to collect fahmi's report card and to discuss our son's first half semester progress at school on wednesday. i went alone as hubby had urgent inspection of goods at his workplace.

fahmi tagged along as his class teacher (teacher lilies suraya) briefed me on his progress. he seems to be doing very well in his half semester exam and scored 99.94% to finish 3rd in his class of 17 pupils. the other two top student in his class are girls, one by the name lydia ( i reckon fahmi mention her name a couple of times) who grabbed the no. 1 trophy and the other i didn't quite get her name. he scored 100% for all other 5 subjects except for spelling which he made 2 mistakes to earn 96% only. he spelled the word 'bola' wrongly. apparently my boy has no patient to sit and check the spelling that he wrote before he hand over his exam paper back, it is not the case that he doesn't know how to spell the word 'bola'.

i am relieved that he did so well in his exam, because knowing him and based on the feedbacks given by the teachers before this, i know my boy is such a naughty and playfull at school. it is a wonder that he pays attention at all in the class. owh, and according to teacher lilies, he has a new partner in crime, an indian boy who is slightly smaller than him.

when teacher lilies mention the boy's name, i quickly reckon that this is the boy that fahmi used to bully before. owh well, bukanlah bully pun, it's just that one day i saw fahmi giving the boy his killing stare i believe to scare the boy away because he was having fun with a bunch of friends when this boy came over, attempted to join them. so, finally the boy became his new partner in crime uh? teacher lilies had to make fahmi as the 'ketua kelas' just to make him more disciplined. i admire teacher lilies approach and think i'm going to apply the same approach at home whenever he & yaya starts getting into their mischievious act.

i told fahmi just now, that if he maintains his result until end of the school semester, i'm going to get him a present, something that he fancy most. another transformer toy, fahmi ask. we'll see my son.

Sudden Hectic Week

the rest of this week going to be very hectic days of the week. i have 4 orders yang perlu disiapkan - 2 pre-order, the other 2 last minute order, and my parents are coming and will be staying with us sehingga hari ahad ni. now, i'm cracking my head organising and re-organising my schedule to fit the orders yang perlu disiapkan and entertaining my parents at the same time.

kalau nak diikutkan my parents memang dah plan nak datang this week and we are ready to accept them. cuma secara tiba2 dekat2 penghujung minggu begini bertambah-tambah pulak order. dengan rumah sewaku yang kecil ni, ruang makan yang bercantum dengan ruang tamulah tempat aku menyiapkan kerja. kesian pulak my parents nanti, dan aku semestinya tak terlayan mereka sebab sibuk melayan baking! heheh

hubby is going to fetch them after maghrib malam ni. and i bet that mum mesti bawa nana tag along. when i mentioned it to hubby, hubby mengomel, aku faham 'ngomelan' dia sebab aku pun mengomel pasal benda yang sama dalam hati aku, iskkk. i jokingly told hubby nana umpama 'bantal busuk' mesti dibawa ke mana2 je pergi. and i also add that kalau dulu kita tinggalkan fahmi terus bawah jagaan my mum, tentu fahmi juga jadi 'bantal busuk' ma. sebagaimana farah was mum's 'bantal busuk' suatu masa dulu, but now farah dah dibela semula oleh my sister farah dah tak jadi 'bantal busuk' ma lagi.

apa persamaan ketiga-tiga nama (fahmi, nana & farah) yang aku sebutkan tadi? all three of them adalah cucu-cucu yang pernah (dan masih) diletak bawah jagaan my mum untuk satu tempoh yang panjang. except for fahmi yang memang cepat2 aku ambil semula selepas aku pertimbangkan 'implikasinya' in the future.

ehmm, since nana pun akan ikut sama, memang enjoy sakanlah anak-anak aku sebab 'kekuatan' diaorang bertambah... mmm banyak2lah bersabar ye dengan jerit pekik diaorg, jadi kapal karamlah rumah aku.

Pics of The Week

My 'Twin' Angels
both were born three days apart, yaya being 3 days' older than nana. but nana address herself as 'kakak' to yaya, because she was taller and bigger.
see the vast different in height between yaya & nana. haven't i mention my fears of yaya's development growth? owh i really shouldn't compare these two girls. it is unfair to yaya. nana has my bro's & his wife's genes - both were tall, while yaya - she sure inherits mine & hubby's dark complexion and perhaps she gets more than just complexion from hubby. she gets the small built from hubby's side. owh i've spoilt this entry by going on and on about height and all.

these pics were taken last saturday. we were at a wedding reception of our dear neighbour and close friend of my parents (the father of the bride being a policeman himself just like my dad, dulu) di seremban. yaya stole the limelight with her pink gown, one lady photographer swarm her, taking her pictures. she was wary of stranger or should i say irritated sebab dia baru je nak bermesraan dengan cousin2nya tetiba kena serang. hahaha

Mild Asthma Symptoms

this article was published at this page http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_185.shtml

A persistent, chronic, nighttime cough is one of the most common symptoms of mild asthma. It also can be a symptom of several other pulmonary problems.

If your child coughs often at night, how do you tell if it's asthma - or something else?

Without a medical evaluation, you really can't. Even doctors find it difficult to diagnose asthma when its only presenting symptom is nighttime coughing. In general, an asthma cough is a non-productive cough - one that doesn't bring up any mucus. It may sound as if something is rattling, or have a wheeze at the end of it. More often than not, there's a spasmodic quality to the cough - it may continue until the child is completely out of breath and gagging, or even until they actually vomit.

What if your child is coughing up mucus and sputum?

Well, say doctors, chances are that it's not an asthma cough if it's productive. In most cases, a productive cough accompanies a cold, or lingers for a week or two beyond it. It may also be a symptom of other seriously lung problems, though, so if a cough persists more than 5-7 days, be certain to contact your doctor.

Treatment of a night-time cough obviously depends on the underlying cause of the cough, but most doctors agree that if a cough is productive, treatment shouldn't suppress the cough, since the body needs to bring up all the 'junk' that's clogging the lungs and airways. In fact, if there's obvious congestion that isn't being brought up, an expectorant can help break it up and allow it to be coughed out.

Asthma coughs, on the other hand, are most often dry coughs caused by bronchial spasms.

Since there's nothing to bring up, there's no way for an asthma cough to be 'productive', though you may hear rattling or 'crinkling' sounds if you listen to the chest of a child when they cough. Most doctors now believe that the actual cause of an asthma cough is an irritant or allergen of some kind that sets off an excessive immune reaction. The airways swell as histamine is produced, and the muscles around the bronchial passages go into spasms to attempt to force the irritant up through them.

When dealing with an asthma cough, productive treatment should include regular use of a bronchodilator to help loosen up the muscles around the bronchial tubes. Those muscles put a stranglehold on the airways and make it almost impossible to force air in and out of them. Relaxing them can soothe the most evident symptom of childhood nighttime asthma. Productive treatment often also includes the use of an anti-inflammatory - most often inhaled steroids - to reduce chronic swelling of the bronchioles and make it easier for them to empty.

You can also try a few 'natural remedies' to help reduce episodes of night-time asthma coughing - as long as you keep using the treatment your doctor gave you.

Some herbalists suggest a cup of hot black or green tea with honey before bedtime - the theophyline and caffeine in the tea are both older treatments for asthma, and the honey can sooth a dry, irritated throat.

Add a banana or two to your daily diet, or make sure to eat plenty of magnesium-rich vegetables and meats - magnesium helps control muscle contraction, and many people with asthma have low magnesium levels.

Finally, avoid having irritants in your (or the child's) bedroom. No pets, no stuffed animals, nothing that might trap dust mites or dust - major causes of allergic reactions in childhood asthma


P/S: Our house has been carpet free zone for a long long time since fahmi first had eczema. Was thinking of getting a few for our new house, but with recent development (since now we have 2 kids with asthma symptom) guess I have to scrap the idea.

Asthmatic Or Not?

yaya demam lagi, kali ni hanya panas badan belum ada tanda2 selsema dan batuk. i prayed hard everytime dia sakit biarlah ia kali terakhir or at least the last for a long long time. dah kerap sangat dia tak sihat sekarang ni. batuk2 dan selsema dah macam mainan pulak setiap bulan. disebabkan dah terlalu kerap, sekarang kalau dia batuk aku dah tak bagi dia ubat batuk tapi kuberi dia minum madu dengan perahan limau kasturi je. melainkan kalau tekak dia naik merah baru kubawa jumpa doktor.

bukan demam, batuk & selsema dia aja yang buat aku risau. saiz badan dia yang kecil & kurus halus juga buat aku risau. semakin kerap dia sakit semakin lama aku rasa aku harus akui satu fakta yang selama ni aku cuba tepis. the fact that she may have inherited my asthmatic. maybe sebab dia ni aktif jadi aku tak realised yang dia ada asthmatic symptom, aku pun kurang ambil peduli as long as aku nampak dia aktif, keletah, banyak mulut.

i brought her to see a doctor tengahari tadi. confided to him my fears, had him to look through yaya's past medical records, he asked me few question related to yaya's coughing pattern and other siblings health condition. his conclusion is that yaya could have what the medical term classified as mild asthmatic with the symptoms such as dry (without mucus) persistent cough in the middle of the night which continues until the child eventually vomit. this is very true in yaya's case. tengah malam kalau dengar dia batuk teruk secara tiba2 mesti cepat2 bangunkan dia coz in most times dia akan muntah. masa mula2 dulu kami (me & hubby) pelik juga tak pernah jumpa orang batuk sampai muntah. lama2 bila dah terbiasa kami put it down to maybe yaya ni lain dari orang lain. but now we know better.

in fahmi's case pulak the symptom is more physical sebab dia kena eczema. sekurang-kurangnya jelas dan terang untuk kami tahu yang fahmi memang mewarisi asthmatic aku. dan eczema dia sekarang tak teruk sangat, well at least tidak seteruk masa dia baby dulu - sampai melecet dan bernanah hijau kat keliling leher, pelipat kaki & celah kangkang. kesian kat dia dulu.

dalam usaha aku nak memahami apa itu mild asthmatic symptom aku google and found this article. i'm going to paste it here, hope this article can help all parents out there yang berhadapan dengan anak2 yang ada mild asthma to undertsand it better. at least now aku dah tak rasa bengang lagi bila tengok yaya batuk teruk sampai muntah. and i know how i can help her go thorugh this phase.

Craving For Cheese Cake

i have this craving for cheese cake this week. not just any cheese cake but oreo cheese cake. this craving comes with the wanting to bake my own oreo cheese cake. walaupun kami masih lagi ban US product but because of this nagging craving, i had to make an exception to lift the ban on oreo biscuits, temporarily (bleh caya ke? ;-P) until my craving subsided.

i was never a fan of cheese cake, couldn't really stomach them because it is too rich with cheese. thus, i never keep a cheese cake recipe. but having tasted oreo cheese cake from secret recipe few weeks ago, i kind of like it but just a little at a time. am getting tired of making the trip to secret recipe just to get a slice of oreo cheese cake, so i baked them last night according to a very easy peasy recipe i found at myResipi.

ignore the slightly burnt marks on the far side of the cake, it deosn't effect the taste of the cake anyway. 3 kuntum fondant roses nak menginterframe, which one paling cantik? the one in the middle ke? hehe roses tu interframe untuk tolong tutup burnt marks hahaha. but i'm baffled to see the burnt marks how the heck does that happened when i used bottom heat only from start to finish. owh whatever, next time just for precaution i'll cover the top of the pan with aluminium foil.