Ramadan spirit

This year, is the second Ramadhan I had while freelancing at my old company. The feeling was different.... this year, during Iftar I was surrounded by many Malaysian.. meriah.. i felt like home. Lame tak rase camni. This was the result of many Malaysian colleague who has been absorbed from our KL branch late last year. Now, the company who used to have very few Malaysian in Doha branch have got so many that I can't even catch up the number anymore. Even on my desk, they are 4 now.. best. Working with Malaysian, you'll feel much different in quality.  :) and of coz bleh 'speaking' heh heh.


Another year, another Ramadhan.. the company didn't failed to provide free flow of Iftar and Sahoor for us hungry employees. Temporary but well carpeted and air-conditioned tents are set up just like last year, the only different is the caterer.. Alhamdulillah. So many varieties of foods, endlessly being top-up. There is even a Shawarma stand (kalau kat Malaysia orang panggil kebab laa :P)

This is another one of the good thing with the sheikhs.. come Ramadhan, many are providing free Iftar-tent all over the country, mostly for the labourer. It's good to know that there are many kind-hearted rich sheikhs, looking for sadaqah jariah, Alhamdulillah. Only one thing about the iftar, it might cause pembaziran.. which is really not good for your book-of-deed. Well, nevertheless, may Allah accept their kindness and good intention and shower them with many more rezk. Aminnn..

Ramadan datang lagi

The best time of the year... enjoying life without evil.. so any act of evil is no-one but yours alone. (Think about it! hehe).. Ramadan Kareem all!

Myra's first Bazaar Ramadan

So you think Malaysia is the only heaven place for bazaar? You shall think again! Yesterday was the first day of bazaar ramadan in Doha organized by the embassy & MAQ. But due to summer, it was organized indoor- in Hyatt Plaza where the General Manager is a Malaysian himself. Bes la.. tak panas nak shopping and tak panas nak jual ;). Memang buat macam negare sendiri jek masing2.. hehehe.. There were sooo many food around, which make us feel right at home. Ade laksam, ayam percik, ikan percik, rendang tok, sambal udang petai, kueh-kueh, air asam boi, air jagung, pendek kate, mostly sume yang wajib ade kat bazaar lah. And if you notice the pic above, the rows of guys are the penjual air-airan.. (plus few kaki pantang-ade-chance-nak-aje-enterprem, which includes my husband.. hehe..) And do notice the shocked-face of my lil princess.. hehehe.. i dunno why, perhaps she was too tired or just too curious about something?

This time, I even took a tiny part by selling off some kek lapis sarawak. I made 3 trays of kek lapis, and sell them in smaller pieces, so that people won't be too shocked to see such a pricey cake. Well.. to those who didn't quite familiar with the cake, it has to be that way since it is not that easy to make and involved many expensive ingredients ;).

It was such a relief to see my last piece sold that day. Alhamdulillah, ade jugak sikit duit raye. Next week, ade lagi bazaar, but I'm not sure if I could sell more of the cake, cam malasss je nak buat, tapi rase cam nak.. hehehe tengok jela camane. Kalau tahap kerajinan saye tinggi, nampakla nanti a new entry about it, insyaallah. Kalau senyap je, paham-paham jela labuuuu..

After the bazaar, the three of us ran home to berbuke, then waited after ishak to go to Villagio, doing some present-hunt. That's when we first make our way to the new HighStreet side of Villagio. Man, feels like we are in Milan! Look at this pic, ain't it just grand? Hurm.. syoknye.. rase peaceful je jalan kat situ, terubat rinduku kat London.. hiks.

Iftar-miftar

Thank you Allah for every rezeki of nikmat. Although i had a very boring first day of ramadan; having to break fast all by myself (yeah... si kenit ade, but that's different feeling, she's all germanish-talking-main-sendiri self, plus tak pose pun, so mane kire! hehe), hubby's doing late shift from 1pm to 1am, so as boring as it is, i didn't cook anything for iftar! Tapi rezeki tu ade kat mane2, my kind neighbour keep passing me foods, (she is very the rajin dalam hal-hal buat kueh, hari2 i'll get something different, sampai naik segan saye, bile la saye akan serajin dan seterer tu dalam hal memasak agaknye?) hehehe...

Second day, we (We here refer to me n si kenit, hubby still on shift) went to Ija&Cheles villa; for a very fulfilling potluck iftar. Soooooooo many food, mengalahkan buffet 5 start hotel! And yup, you've guessed it rite, that ayam pic is my dish that day, my 3rd attempt of Ibu's slurpilicious ayam percik recipe, which you can get the recipe from my older post labelled ''Golden Recipe''. Memang meriah la kalau buat potluck iftar; the very idea of everybody coming and contributing their own lil specialties dish memang menarik. Mule2 berbuke everybody had a light appetizers then ramai2 jemaah solat maghrib; lead by the tuan rumah. After that, sume serbu makanan. Time Isyak, again ramai2 jemaah, siap terawikh (except me- becoz Myra was already out of control; screaming on top of her lung, looking for me! memang pantang toknenek kalau Mommy die ilang! adeh..)

Despite Myra's drama.. things still terase amat meriah, dah lame dah i didn't feel this kind of feelings. Last year, our ramadan was surrounded by new alienated environment; was very new to London; moved to new home, knowing no one (except few kind friends of a friends); we constantly felt weird and lonely at times. Memang jauh panggang dari api compare to here; but then again, baru sangat kat sane, that's why the feeling is different. Well now that we are here, opening another new chapter of our life, ramadan seems brighter than ever.. Insyaallah, will even organize our own potluck iftar next weekend, so we could again share the friendly-warmly gathering with those who care.

Happy iftaring peeps! ;)

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... ;)

Ramadhan datang lagi

Hurm.. the most sought-after month of the year, used to be very happening - that is when I was in Malaysia. Bazaar Ramadhan, Iftaar, Terawih is just everywhere.. so you can really feel the spirits and enjoy the holy month. But being abroad.. we hafta puase sendiri2 je kat sini. If we are lucky, we'd get invited to buke puase to some friends we met here.. but dunno.. still too early to tell. And if we (we; as in me, aizal and i don't think myra would?) crave for some kueh, I hafta do it from scratch. Thanks to internet - any kind of recipe is just one click away.

Time time puase ni la.. we feel the urge to go home to Malaysia.. rindu family.. kawan-kawan and suasane. Nak nak raye nanti.. huwarghhh.. lucky you Myra.. u're not missing out anything (yet).

Hurm.. The few of the many sacrifies that one need to commit when being abroad.

Anyway, just here to wish you all Ramadhan Kareem.. just appreciate the time you have with your love one.. you never know when it'll end.

Just got this link from my hubby.. (maybe a hint to cook more of his favourite food? hehe) http://www1.bharian.com.my/Misc/RamadanAlMubarak/Puasa/resipi_html