And then we turned 2..

Pejam celik pejam celik dah due tahun dah we've been married.

Of all the ups and down... you know me best.

We went through good and bad,

Shed tears together

Had our laughs

You are just the most amazing husband in the world.. and i'm the most lucky wife there is .. i hope it continues for years to come! muah muah muah!!!

And best of all.. thank you.. for the lil gift that I'd treasure for eternity....

My lil nottie-pie!

Favour Returns

For Melayu, in order to get to know each other better, they have to exchange their hospitality. The phrase 'jemputla datang rumah' is quite commonly used. So, like any other ordinary melayu.. I've invited people over to my house.. (ermm.. btw this pic is NOT my house..it's ibah's -lady in black)
I'm sure some of my friends (and my sister specially) who happen to know me from before would feel that I've changed.. A LOT! And yes.. indeed I did. Being abroad, far away from home has taught me a lot. More in London than Doha.. in Doha.. we were kinda spoilt, so we don't really feel the need to exhaust ourselves over for something that we could easily buy. In London.. it's all about getting things done by yourself. Jimat sket.. hehe
So, what happen was, Saturday we went to Ibah's house for berbuke.. (having had them over to our home before - quite good example of the melayu-culture that I was talking about.. hiks). Had delicious briyani, kueh2 traditional.. but not so much of intimate chat (although all of them were quite friendly and nice to talk to) as I was running around to chase the lil rugrat up and down the stairs!!! cobaan tul Myra ni..

And.. it's our turn on Sunday, but this time - we invited another two family over for berbuka - as their first time visit to our humble home... hiks
..The menu..

::Nasik Lemak sambal udang, sambal ikan bilis, telur rebus, some timun, kueh gulung (which lesson learnt- to make the filling using desiccated coconut, you need to add water to get the right texture!).. and as a side dish, AYAM PERCIK (from my-mother-in-laws-famous-recipe..thanks Ibu!)::

How on earth did I manage to pull this off, god knows! But that's me now.. living my life away from Mak.. Pasar Ramadhan and everything that make me life so simple before.

Then, on Monday, we invited another two more guests -my old colleague Karl and his aunt for some thai night in - there were tomyam, padprik, telur bungkus and fried veggie plus Aizal's famous cheese Samosa.. (but no pics taken- terforgot). Hehe.. boleh tahan jugakla rase..

So, there you go.. the new me- a mother and a cook (apparently.. hehe). By the way.. if any of my guest happen to read this, thanks again for coming! It's our pleasure to have you around.. and sorry kalau ade termasin tertawar and any other ter... ;)

Satu malam di bulan puase

Yesterday I dunno why, rase tak keruan.. it s'pose to be our day off together, but Aizal had to attend some 'Upfront' course - he even got a free night stay at Ramada Jarvis hotel, so that leaves me and Myra home alone (cam tak biase jek..hiks).

Actually my plan is to go out for lil bit of shopping raye, then maybe meet Aizal up in Bayswater before going to the hotel.. I've got myra all dressed up, but as if she can sniff the tension air, she too had her mood swing. Takmo tido, takmo duk lam pram.. asek jeritt jer when she can't get what she wants.. geramm tul!

So.. at last, I give in, and ended up couch-potatoing meself. It's a chilly day anyway. I even let Myra play on her own (at least most of the time.. until she scream her heart out for attention that i gotta layan die jugak hihiks..)

Until towards the very end.. there's no call from Aizal.. not until 7-ish pm that is. Almost time for berbuka. So, after all the waitings over, Aizal finally ring and said I so have to come and see the hotel.. it's beautiful.. rugi tak tido situ.. But since it's late.. and soooo after Myra's bedtime.. I contemplated. With her being cranky, plus Mommy yang malas tahap dewa.. I tot of cancelling. But then Aizal, as sweet as he always be called and said he'd be home to pick us up to the hotel.

So, dapat jugakla merase tido kat hotel that cost GBP250 a night..

Ramada Jarvis - Hyde Park.. niiiiice!

Wah Senangnye!!

Since yesterday, abah keep asking me to give him my IC photocopy so he can arrange for my road tax claim through pejabat pos. All these while I tot I'm not gonna get it since I'm away and all. Then, today my sis just shared this useful info with me.. from 1st of August.. you can make the claim ONLINE! how great is that? Malaysia sudah maju!
So, if anybody happen to come across my blog, please feel free to try out this link... there are few other pos-material stuff that you can access online too.

POS MALAYSIA SUDAH MAJU

Preeti darn good Iftar

We were invited to our very first Iftar majlis at Kak Preeti's house. I know.. I'm a bit blog-greedy, 3 posts in one day? takde keje ape yeen ni.. hehehe.. tapi since I'm still in my bloggin mood.. why not? Besides.. all that happened today worth a share ;)

We were last to arrive and 10 minutes past the break, due to some taxi-situation and me coming home late to swing by the festival earlier (I hope my boss won't find this blog and caught me going home early.. hehe).

Coming in, there were like more than 10 families in her house!! Mann.. i thought it gonna be small.. but then again, it's never small when it comes to Melayu gathering.. Kak Preeti was sweet enough to invite us so she can introduce more of her friends to us here, so we won't feel that home sick anymore ;)

The foods are great! We were served Nasik berlauk; ayam masak kicap, rendang daging, bihun goreng, kueh-mueh and best of all is Nazrul's special murtabak buatan sendiri...hebat!

To top it all up, so are the crowds. They are all friendly and nice.. most with small baby like ours. So, we blend in quite alrite... specially Myra; waving both her hands up and down excitedly.

Then when everyone started to leave, Ikmal n farah (which we just met) being so sweet to offer us a ride home.

So, here are some of the pics that I managed to capture..

Thank you Kak Preeti and Nazrul for the warmth & homely Iftar! Yum yum! Kenyang..

::Street paR-tay::

On my way from work to home, I bumped into Regent's Street festival (well actually was told by Aizal about it, so I'm all set with my camera! hehe) I have been meaning to go to one of these street festival in London.. and finally.. something is happening so close to my office.. hiks
So, this has make up my frustration for missing that infamous Notting Hill festival last month..

Apparently according to the brochure, the theme this year is 'A Great British Experience' (duhh..). There s'pose to be marching bands, fanfare trumpeters, pipe bands, live music, dance performances, a veteran car display, gourmet food stalls… and bla bla bla.. well.. where the heck is all that? As I passed through Regent Street, all I could see were some empty tents labelled 'face makeup' then some 'chokia' fun-fare wheels.. Hurm.. maybe I am too late after all.. it's 6pm and the festival was meant to last till 8. So, what left is some british band performances (which actually sound rather fab ..hiks.. talking lika brits already), pipe bands- which was surrounded by too many curious tourist including myself hehe.

I got to say, I am not at all impress! Maybe because my attention was more to the rows and rows of shops (Burberry, Hermes, Jaeger, Jigsaw, Banana republic- to name a few, in such a BIG block) alongside the street rather than the so-called festival. Yup, it was my first time to walk on this street.. usually I'd go towards Bond Street.

Anyway.. since I got the camera and all.. let me just share some of the onsite scenery;

And alang-alang tu.. why not I share also a lil bit of the street that i walk every other day to work.

Pic: Mind the statue on top of my office block entrance. That boy is showing off his fly!!! hehehehe

Resepi Tepung Pelita aka Flour lantern

Craving to eat tepung pelita (i.e: direct translation flour lantern..kekekeke). Got the recipe from my mom.. but u know how mom dunno the exact measurement n all and let we figure it out all on our own..hecks..

So last night when I came back from the office around 11:40-ish and still got a left-over energy, I decided to try it out. But I didn't quite have all the ingredients.

Mom said, senang je.. kacau je tepung beras ngan air pandan atas dapur.. Tapi orang takde daun pandan? perise pandan boleh? Bolehlahhh.. satu cawan tepung beras 3 cawan air.. Lepas tu kacau santan ngan tepung gandum.. kat bawah skali taruk gule... Hurmm.. sounds easy enuff!

So here goes.. the outcome of my own secukup-rase-recipe;


Pics: Proses-proses pembuatan: how do you know if its over-cooked? I think mine is a bit well-done cos it sticks even before i pour to let cool..hahaha
Since i don't have pandan leaves nor pewarne hijau, i used gule melake to make the bottom part colourish. Well people always say the key word to get a home cook food is to improvise! so jadila my kueh 'flour lantern' versi london kaler coklat hehe...
So what left now is the taste? The topping is just the right taste but the bottom is urghhhh.. yekk.. puhtuiii....hehe..maybe i put too much pandan flavour? haha
All in all the experiment is not a total success..although now i know it's really easy to make.I'd do it again, but next time I'd do it with the right ingredients!