Mummy Nana

Forgetful Mummy

2011-11-25T21:31:00.000Z

Compared to my relationship with my other two kids, with Hisham, I always forget and constantly mix up his age and date of birth. Last month, I was pretty sure and had been telling everyone that he is 2 and a half years old already. I even told my husband that it was about time for me to stop breasfeeding him. If my memory serves me well, the Prophet SAW also stopped at that age so, I suppose there's no better time.

Hmmm, I'm still struggling to do it (to fully stop breasfeeding Hisham) and got all frustrated but over the last few days I just realised that he's only 2 and a half today. I've always thought that he's a big boy but masks his real age with his cheeky baby face and petit baby figure. He still breastfeeds. Seriously, the milk is he's life, energy as well as nutrition and it comes exclusively from me. He refuses to eat or drink anything else. Emmm.. OK to fair on him, for the past week he has started to eat small bowls of cereal with milk but that's it. He doesn't want to eat any meat or poultry or any other solid food. He would eat only 3-5 spoonfuls of plain rice or pasta. Oh, and he want to do it all by himself without any help.

He still speaks in his baby language unlike his brother who could speak fluent English at only 1+ year, full sentences, correct past/present tense and all. But yes, I do understand most of what Hisham says so that's OK.

Despite all that, he is one healthy baby, cheerful and a clever boy. As much as I want him to be independant like his brother and sister, I know I will miss all the moments that spend with him so much i.e. waking up at night to breastfeed him, cuddling and hugging him, and doing all that I'm doing with him now.

Happy TWO and a HALF years old Hisham. You will always be my baby. Muaahhhhh!

I Can Turn

2011-11-20T23:06:00.000Z

Usually when I visit our local Leisureplex with my kids, I'd normally let the kids play for a few hours while I enjoy some coffee by myself. On this particular occasion, I could hear them from afar, repeating the same thing to each other:

Husayn: Ameera, look, look at me. I can turn!

Ameera: Look at me too. I can turn.

The conversation went on, I was smiling at the fact that the two of them were enjoying playing together but at the same time I was more than a bit surprised (and teruja) and almost had a heart attack when I saw what they were doing. After making sure that they were safe, I managed to take a video of what they were doing. Well, just look at it for yourself...

Remember: Do not do this at home kids!

Bike to The Beach

2011-11-18T11:19:00.000Z

That's just what Hisham says every time he wants me to give him a ride on my bike. He pretends that we're going to the beach by bike. Yeah right.

Believe it or not, 5 years ago I went to a particular bike shop in town and saw this particular bike. It was like love at first sight but I never thought of buying it because it was so unbelievably expensive. Well, it is absurdly expensive for me as I don't work full-time plus, it's quite an unnescessary thing so, even though I wanted it so much, it had a big N-O written all over it.

But, I guess you never know your luck. Rezeki jangan di tolak. Along came the Bike to Work Scheme in Ireland which made bikes more affordable and my dearest husband managed to stretch the budget (well, he was actually nice enough and settled for a cheaper bike for himself) so that I could get my own dream bike - complete with child seat for Hisham of course. Now, I have to be forever indebted to him for his kindness! What ever... I still love you Yang! Hehehe...

As everyone in the family have got bikes of their own, whenever we have some free time, we would get to ride together around the area or at the nearest park. A good, healthy activity, isn't it?

Anyway, as my husband needed to use the car to work yesteredy, I decided to ride my bike to pick up the kids on their way back from school, at the bus stop. Isn't it cool?

School Break

2011-11-16T14:45:00.000Z

Last week was the school holidays for the North Dublin Muslim National School. While other national schools had finished their mid-term break a week before, my kids just had theirs last week to coincide with Eid.

On top of the Eid celebrations on the weekend, we also had a small birthday celebration for Husayn as his birthday this year falls on the same day as Eid. I didn't officially send any invitations out to my friends as I know it's Hari Raya and in truly Malaysian open-house style, people were most welcome to come and join in the party.

Anyway, here's a few pics of what we did for the rest of the week...

We went to McDonald's. A must to keep the kids happy and entertained.

We went spent most of the day at our local Leisureplex.

We visited a few bike shops and finally got helmets for all (except dear Mummy - boohoo!).

We made Cupcakes together. That's Husayn holding up his specially-designed cupcake for Daddy.

And, we just had as much fun as we could...

Now that the kids' break is over. It's time for me to finally get a break!

Husayn is 5 today!

2011-11-06T23:51:00.001Z

Hope it's still not too late to wish all my family and muslim friends 'Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha' and Happy Birthday to my big boy Husayn.

Mummy, Daddy, Ameera and Hisham love you so much. Be a good boy ok.

Hope each and everyone had a Barakah and fabulous one.

A Month of Change

2011-10-25T21:25:00.000+01:00

It's been 2 and a half years already but he still looks like a baby. With his petit size, his pelat speech and constant cries to be breastfed, people definitely think he's barely 1 year old when they see him. Other than the breastfeeding, he only takes one tiny pot of fromage frais and little bit of plain pasta per day, he refuses to eat anything else. Not surprisingly, as the milk he gets also doubles as a source of food and liquid, he doesn't drink any other form of liquid.

To be honest, I'm a bit worried but thankfully, he is one active ~~baby~~ (ahem...sorry - I get confused myself sometimes) little boy.

When he does something bold, it's just so hard to be mad at him. The way he acts, he looks like he doesn't understand a thing but the truth is, he's a big boy now and understands full well when he's done something he's not supposed to do. He can sing, is extremely good at using an iPhone and iPad (as is the norm with most kids these days), can identify lots of different things and he can even differentiate most colours. The most important thing is he can make cheeky face and your heart will melt away. I know I've said it repeatedly at this stage but, I constantly find it hard to think that he's going to be 3 soon.

Oh dear, I really hope this baby-ish thing will be over soon. If it doesn't, I'll be in big trouble as I'd be too soft and let him get away with everything under the sky. Help!

I'm Just Too Busy To Write...

2011-10-13T22:54:00.003+01:00

But, despite being extra ultra busy lately, I still felt that I had to post this today. Hahaha. As my husband would say, Ntahapahapalah you nie. Ahaks.

OK, let me explain why this is so important. I went to city centre with my sister in-law earlier today and I met this dude. He was right in front of my own eyes (the dude in the red jumper, not the mat salleh pak cik in the leather jacket).

There was a really huge crowd as everybody was busily watching a dance scene being played out in the middle of a pedestrian-only street. I'm pretty sure most of the people watching didn't even know who the fella and his female friend were (with the exception of a small Asian crowd that was there too). One thing's for sure though - everyone that was there definitely enjoyed the whole thing. I was only a meter away from the famous actor.

Unfortunately, security around the set was quite tight and as the security personnel kept chasing away people from the area, the picture above is the only proof I have. Well, I'm happy enough though.

All the hassle was for shooting a scene out of a new movie that will be due out in cinemas June 2012. The movie is called Ek Kha Tiger.

Could You Survive a Tiger Attack?

2011-09-25T21:58:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of being invited to a birthday party which was held at Dublin Zoo. A party at the zoo was definitely something different for us and I do think that it's a brilliant idea - lots of space for the kids to run around and extremely educational too (even for the adults!).

As we were part of a group, our tour/party host brought us to see a not too often seen tiger feeding session. It's kinda scary now when I think that the only thing that separated us from the tigers was a wall of glass...

Pretty cool isn't it? It also made me wonder whether I'd be able to survive if I was lost in a jungle and I just happen to come a cross a very hungry tiger? Climbing a tree is not an option then isn't it? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Well, we had so much fun and my friend (the host) made all the food and goodies for the party herself. She's so multi-talented.

Happy Birthday Neelakshi and thank for inviting us. We hope you'll have many happy birthdays to come.

My First Homework

2011-09-13T22:58:00.000+01:00

It's been a week since Husayn started school and he seems to be fine. No complaints or whining about it except for his now routine morning request where he will try his luck and ask whether it'd be OK for him to miss school for the day. It's not that he doesn't like it, it's just that he would love to stay home a bit more, climbing on my bed and cuddling up to me while at the same time, do away with his early morning shower.

Anyway, after a week, he excitedly told me yesterday that he finally got his first piece of homework from school.

As usual, when his Daddy gets back from work, Daddy will ask how he did in school and such. Yesterday, the conversation went like this...

Daddy: Husayn, how was school today? Mummy said you have homework today. Did you do it already?

Husayn: School was fine Daddy. Yup, I did my homework. It was too easy and boring. Just joining the dots, Daddy.

Maybe Mummy and Daddy should have a word with Husayn's teacher. Let's give him something more fun and a lot more complicated to work on! Or maybe, Husayn should start colouring in the pictures as well as joining the dots.

Back to School

2011-09-06T21:14:00.000+01:00

It was Monday yesterday. After a week of being busy with Eid and everything else remotely related to the festivities, the kids returned to school after their long summer holidays. This time around, it was Husayn's first day at big school. He was so excited and because he didn't want to miss his big day, he was on his bed from 8 on the previous night. Unfortunately, he didn't actually sleep until 10. I think he just couldn't stop thinking about the day to come.

He settled down very well in class and refused to let me pick him up after school as he preferred to go home by the school bus with his big sister.

Time certainly flies, I guess. It's time for my baby boy to be a bit more independent. I'm a bit shahdu but equally happy at the same time. Mummy prays for the best for you kids. Mummy loves you.

Eid Mubarak from Us in Dublin

2011-09-02T01:16:00.001+01:00

Alhamdulillah....just want to wish you and everyone a...

Egg Fried Dried Tofu and Vegetables

2011-08-25T14:13:00.000+01:00

Ever since the start of Ramadan up to this very day, when we're hungry, we tend to think about different kinds of food to eat when iftar comes along. Unfortunately, there are no Bazaar Ramadan and such in Dublin so having meals home-cooked is the only real viable solution. Since it's only the two of us (my husband and I) who actually eat a full meal, every alternate day, I'll try to cook something different such as an appertizer or a dessert to add to the main meal so that we won't get bored with the same dish. For example, i've made sardine rolls, Roti John, Prawn fritters, etc. etc.

And, this is Dried Tofu with Eggs and Vegetables that I've been making for most of the past few weeks. It's so simple but yet so tasty. A relatively healthy source of protein to sustain you for the remaining fasting days ahead too...

To make it, you will need:

Fried Tofu (about a handful will do)
Eggs (or leftover egg whites from making all those Raya cookies) - the amount of eggs depend on the amount of tofu you have.
1 Carrot finely chopped
1 Spring Onion finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

And this is how you can make it:

Combine all the ingredients except for tofu in a bowl. Cut the tofu in the middle with an "X" shape. Take out all the tofu "flesh" and put it in the bowl with the rest. Turn the tofu inside out so it's shaped like a flower cup.

Heat oil in a small pot or deep fryer. Make sure you have enough oil to completely submerge the entire tofu. Put 2 teaspoons of egg mixture in the prepared tofu and deep fry until golden brown. Toss the tofu to rain any excess oil and serve with sweet garlic chili sauce.

PS: Feel free to add meat like minced beef or chicken or even shrimps/prawn in the mixture - for an added difference.

This Year's Kuih Raya Sale

2011-08-19T22:48:00.000+01:00

As soon as Ramadan started, few of my friends started asking me whether I was going to sell any kuih raya this year. Unsure of whether I would be selling any myself, I just said InshaAllah. One day, somebody actually just went straight to the point and made a request that I make some for her, if possible. So, I guess that's when this year's journey began.

Alhamdulillah, since last weekend I had started taking orders for a selection of kuih raya. I still don't know whether I can handle so many orders as I don't have anyone to help me with the preparation and the baking of the kuih. To make things worse, my loyal "bibik" isn't around this time to mind the kids (Oh Nani, this is when I need you so much...ahaks). But, as I plan to keep my promises to so many people, I'll just have to put in the effort and get it done. Yes, get it done, Nana. Just do it and all that...

Anyway as promised in my previous post these are some pics of the cookies I've made for sale:

"Nana" Carries: My favourite and undisputed #1 hit in the house (the portion I baked for the home was gone as soon as they were ready!). I blame the kids. It just means that whoever plans to come over to my house for Hari Raya won't get to savour this. Hehehe...

Mummy Nana's Colourful Kuih Suji

Nutty Mocha Cookies for the coffee and chocolate lover

There's also a few others that I like but just haven't gotten around to making. Wanting to offer something unique this year, I even made some special Limited Edition treats for customers who fancy something different to bring as buah tangan to a friend's house during Hari Raya. When I say Limited it really is quite Limited as I only have 10 Jars of these special treats available. Hehehe Mummy Nana's so lazy lah...

A special home made treat by Mummy Nana which was designed in collaboration with my little brother.

Thanks to everyone for buying and supporting me to date. Don't hesitate to contact me if any of you are interested to order before or even after Raya. I'll definitely try my best, OK?

A New "Baju Raya" for Mummy Nana's Blog

2011-08-18T20:06:00.000+01:00

It's been a very busy few days for me of late. Due to popular demand (OK, a few requests from friends), I've decided to take orders to bake Hari Raya cookies once again. I'll write about it in the coming days, InshaAllah.

Seeing that it's Hari Raya which regularly involves the purchase of new items of clothing, why should this old blog be left out? So, as of today, I can proudly present my new ~~Baju Raya~~ logo for the Mummy Nana blog and side business. The logo was specially designed by my little brother (he's not that little anymore though) who along with a close friend (ahem...) had recently set up his own design and printing business.

Personally, I think the logo is simple yet very nice. Just the way I like it. So, if you're like me and might be interested in having something professionally designed (I've been told to stress professionally - my bro holds a degree in the area so, this is a serious business for him and not something he picked up after watching a couple of videos on YouTube) or printed e.g. logos, business cards, labels, tags, invitation cards, etc. you can contact him directly at firdaus[at]graphikr[dot]com. He has promised to cater to your needs accordingly and of course, as he's just starting out, will price himself as competitively as possible.

Just tell him Mummy Nana sent you. Do check out his website for more information, ideas an inspiration.

Ameera and Ramadan

2011-08-17T13:07:00.000+01:00

The hours can be too long here to fast this year especially if you're just learning to fast. Alhamdulillah, Ameera still manages to do it with minimal complaints. To be honest, we don't actually force her to fast every single day and have settled for every alternate day instead. So far, she's managed to fast for 6 full days. I think that is more than a great achievement. Even we as adults, struggle ourselves to do it this time around.

For some reason, she doesnn't look too tired and can be found playing outside with her friends or riding her bike with her "bike gang" and to top it all off, she can also be seen jumping up and down in our back garden. But, as soon as she's stuck indoors without anything to do, she'll start to complain. Oh Ameera...If I were you, I'd rather just stay home and if possible, take a good long nap. Hehehe...

Well, this is what she had for last night's iftar.

With her request of rice and chicken curry with four different types of drinks

Well done Princess! Mummy and Daddy are so proud of you.

Cream Caramel Pudding Cake

2011-08-13T23:20:00.000+01:00

I thought Ramadan is the perfect time to make a different type of dessert or kuih for iftar. While waiting during the long period to break my fast, I started blog walking and searching on the internet for anything interesting and easy to make.

I've always wanted to make Cream Caramel Pudding and this one in particular has a twist - it comes with a colourful cake base. I made one when I had guests a few weeks ago. They loved it and even took the recipe home to New Zealand. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a whole picture of the cake but hope this is more than enough to show how it looks like for those who have never tried it before. On the other hand, I'm sure most of you already have or will do so soon enough :-)

Oh, and it's been a long time since I shared a recipe here so what better time than now...

Recipe

Caramel
60 gm Sugar
1 Tbsp water

Cream Puding
4 Eggs
500 ml Fresh Milk
70 gm Sugar
1 Tsp essence vanilla

Cake
2 Eggs Separated
70 gm Plain flour
60 gm Sugar
20 gm butter (melted)
Food colouring as desire

Caramel: Melt sugar in a sauce pan, stir until golden brown. Once it starts bubbling, stir in hot water then remove from heat.

Lightly grease a baking tin (I used 8" pan) and fill in caramel above. Swirl the baking tin to completely coat bottom while the caramel is still hot. Set aside for later use.

Custard: Combine milk and sugar. Bring to boil on a low heat then stir in vanilla essence. Turn the heat off and set aside for later use. In a mixing bowl, lightly whisk eggs then stream in milk then, whisk rapidly until well blended. Strain the mixture then fill baking tin with mixture.

Cake: Beat egg yolks with half of sugar and leave the rest aside. In another dry empty bowl whisk egg whites with balance of sugar until firm foam peaks appear. Put 1/3 of foam egg whites into a yolk and flour mixture and gently mix it. Gently fold all the mixture into the remaining egg white foam mixture with a spatula until fully combined. Then, gently stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into two or more desired colours. Pour them in a marble pattern into the caramel mixture. The cake mixture will float on top of it.

Place baking tin in a tray then fill tray with water or a water bath. Cover the tray with aluminium foil. Bake in a preheated oven, 170ºC for 25-30 minutes or until cooked. Turn the heat off, let it stay in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Chill before serving. Flip over on a plate to serve.

Note: You could double the cake mixture if you want to have a bigger cake layer.

Animal Lover? Not.

2011-08-11T12:31:00.002+01:00

While browsing all the pictures in my phone's memory, I just realised that I have lots of pictures and videos that I didn't upload or share with others. When Husayn's good friend came over for holidays a few months ago, he couldn't just stop talking about it. They spent time as much as they could and had so much fun.

If I have all the time and if I wanted to, I would do the same thing (like I am prone to do) and tell you all about Husayn and how he misses his friend. But, I think that should do it (for the moment). Now, the only other thing that Husayn keeps on saying and asking is...

When are going to go back for good to Malaysia and can't Daddy just find a job in Malaysia instead of working here in Ireland?

Hmmm... well, InsyaAllah it'll be soon dear. We just don't know when yet.

Anyway, this is a video when we went to the park not to long ago, trying to feed the birds. Yup, all my kids are scared of birds...and cats and and rabbits and definitely dogs. Oh well, pretty much any furry animal. Here's Husayn trying his luck by throwing bread at Auntie Sarahah...

My Foster Family from NZ

2011-08-08T22:26:00.000+01:00

It's been such a long time since we've been in touch with each other but when June came along, out of the blue, I received an email from my long lost foster family. They mentioned that they were coming over to Europe on holidays and would love to stop over in Dublin to pay me a visit.

I used to be active with the Girl Guides when I was in secondary school. I never failed to attend any camping activities or pretty much anything remotely related to it. So, when the opportunity aroise to join an International Jamboree all the way in New Zealand, I was so excited and was so happy to be part of it. That's when I met this nice couple who took me in for a whole week while I was there.

Two years later, they even came to Malaysia and visited my family. Now, after 18 years, we meet again in another part of the world. Unfortunately, the last two days of their visit coincided days with the start of Ramadhan. Being such cool people they even said that they'd join in the fast. Of course, they didn't do the full day but they definitely surprised my husband and I by waking up early in the morning (at 3 am) to have sahur with us and refused to have a big meal during the day.

I managed to bring them to a few places around the city but for the rest of their stay, they just stayed at home being a very nice grandma and grand dad to my kids. The walked with the kids in the park, read the kids story books and played all sorts of games with them. They were just so happy and got along really well with each other.

I know you're probably not reading this Ann and Peter, but I do hope you really enjoyed your stay over here and really hope we can meet again maybe at your place where The Last Samurai was filmed? Yup, I was on that farm where the Tom Cruise film was made.

Hehehe... So my dear hubby now do you believe my story...?

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

2011-08-04T15:21:00.000+01:00

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak everyone. Hope it's not too late to wish you. I was so busy for the past few days with my guests who came all the way from New Zealand. We had a very busy weekend but we managed to start our extra-long fasting month this year without any problems. Alhamdulillah.

Oooppss.. for my dear friend Rina, I still owe you a tagged entry but for now, I made this using your recipe first. So, I think that should make up for the absent tag as its something from your blog...hehehe. I didn't have enough strawberries to spread them evenly on the dish so I had to cut them into very small pieces to cover my pavlova. Oh, I did tell you Rina that I think I like original one more compared to the improvised chocolate one. Strange for a chocolate lover such as myself but still yummmm... To my guests' surprise, I managed to finish almost half of it by myself!

Mmm...so, what shall I make for dessert today? I'll think about it later as we can only start eating at around 9.30 pm anyway. The fast over here starts from as early as 3.45 in the morning. That's almost 18 hours. Yikes!

Well, I hope all of you have many more good and barakah Ramadhan days to come and pray for us so that we can do it without any hassle. My sincerest apologies for any wrong-doing over the past year (and even before then) and may we be rewarded by Allah. InshaAllah Amin.

A Sunny Day at the Beach

2011-07-23T23:48:00.000+01:00

It's summer here in Ireland, but we hardly get really nice hot sunny days. But when we heard on the radio that today was going to be a nice one, we instantly decided to go to the nearest beach in Portmarnock to celup celup kaki (my friend's definition of lounging at the beach without getting ourselves wet). Yup, I personally have no intention of swimming in the ocean but it doesn't mean everyone else would have the same view.

Usually, even it is a hot, sunny and bright day, the water can still freezing cold by Malaysian standards. Playing with the sand and getting a feel of the water would be more than enough for the kids. Or so I thought...

My husband who is a keen swimmer, tested the water when we arrived and to our surprise, said the water was just nice and not too cold to swim in. Not exactly lukewarm but at least you wouldn't walk out of the water with a head that was numb from the cold.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring any spare clothes and towels for the kids. Well, that wouldn't stop them from getting themselves wet, would it? In a space of a few seconds, everyone was soaking wet and covered with sand.

Ah well, it's OK I suppose - once in while. We won't get this kind of weather too often and to promise the kids that we'd come back another time isn't a good solution. So, dip in kids and enjoy yourselves. Mummy will always be here on the mat watching you guys from afar. Honestly, I don't really like to do the cleaning process afterwards, so I rather sit still and wait.....

Art Activities at Dublin Mosque

2011-07-22T10:50:00.000+01:00

Before the school holidays started, Ameera handed me a form about summer activities that will be held during holidays. Basically, by paying a small, nominal fee kids can attend a summer camp of sorts while at the same time, Mummy can get some much needed time off from minding the kids. Great idea.

Unfortunately, the place where the camp would be held is quite far from our house. So basically, if I wanted to send her to the camp, it would mean that I would have to sacrifice my day dropping her off and then picking her up within the space of a few hours. It doesn't sound like a big problem but having to drag around my two relatively active boys in town while waiting for Ameera to finish is not something that I look forward to.

Hmmmm...but being a good mum (well, I do try) and as I had sort of promised Ameera, I went anyway and surprisingly, even though Husayn was not yet old enough, they accepted Husayn as well. He gladly decided to go along under the impression that he would have his big sister to mind him all the time but unfortunately, that was not the case. The two were separated into their relevant classes and Husayn was less convinced of his initial decision.

Well, too bad for him. I had already paid the non-refundable so, reluctantly he stayed. So, that left me alone with Hisham. A much more manageable arrangement.

As most people might know, over here you can see huge red SALE signs everywhere in a shop. Very tempting indeed but, being a good girl, I decided to stay away from all the shops even though I did see a few things that I really like but weren't actually that necessary to have. So, I decided to chill and get some coffee instead.

With hindsight, it wasn't actually the best of ideas when I had my little cranky Hisham with me. He was in the buggy for only the first two minutes and soon after started screaming and climbing on the table like little Tarzan running amok in the African jungle.

When time was up, I went back to pick up the kids from the mosque and they were both so excited, especially Husayn.

He "survived" the day at camp and even made some friends. He did lots of arts and crafts and still can't stop talking about it until today. That's his version of the Ka'bah in the pic above. Ameera was kept busy too and was excited about her old-school string phone (it actually works!).

Inter-Cultural Day at the North Dublin Muslim National School

2011-07-15T21:20:00.001+01:00

Before Ameera finished her school this year, lots of things happened. From Healthy Eating week, school-arranged tours and the biggest event in her school's calendar, Inter-Cultural Day.

The event itself is a sight to behold as the school truly is a melting pot of nearly all the Muslim cultures around the world including Malaysia and Ireland, of course.

As usual, the day would start off with some performances from the kids. Then, it was on to the most important item on the agenda - food! Parents from the various countries were asked to work together and were asked to bring along a sample of dishes from their country of origin. Not surprisingly, as national pride was at stake, there was never any question that the kids, teachers and visitors to the school would go hungry. In fact, it did get a bit competitive...

So, not wanting to lose out (and maintain Malaysia's pole position at the school) this year, I opted to make some yellow glutinous rice (pulut kuning) with sambal ikan bilis. I was too lazy to cook rendang which, would have been the more appropriate accompaniment to pulut kuning. But, I prefer a good sambal over rendang when I was little kid back home so, I certainly thought it was an acceptable alternative. Of course, the sambal ended up being too spicy so not many people liked it. Boohoo.

Fortunately, the minute I got home, a few of my friend decided to come over and in a few seconds the rest of the dish was finished. Phewww...I was seriously beginning to doubt my own cooking abilities right before then.

Food-related things aside, one of the school teachers asked me to help out with the arts exhibition on the day. Not being to great on the subject of art I volunteered to my bit by applying some some henna for the girls in school. I was told I was quite popular during the day and had queue of girls waiting to avail of my services. Here's one that I did for Ameera. I'll let you judge my work for yourself...

Oklah, I suppose. Not too bad, hahaha...Well, the kids can't really complain especially when you say that the henna looks absolutely gorgeous on them.

Food Market in Farmleigh

2011-07-12T12:43:00.000+01:00

It's been long time since we've paid a visit to a food market as a family. My husband and I used to go to gourmet-style food markets when we used to live in the city centre, a long, long time ago.

As most people would've guessed, the food markets here aren't exactly like the food markets in Malaysia so you people back home, don't even try to imagne a scene with Nasi Kerabu, Chicken Rice or even Keropok Lekor. It's an Irish food market that we visited so it's basically local people (and some not-so local ones as well) selling their home made produce like bread, juices, pies, flowers, jams, etc.

All I wanted to buy at the market was a simply gorgeous baby mozarella and sundried tomato combo (with a dash of olive oil) but luck doesn't always seem to be on my side these days. By the time we arrived at the market, the seller had sold all that he had for the day.

After a quick round of the market where we scanned each stall for anything of interest, we decided to get this wood-fire baked vegetarian pizza. The thing that attracted me the most was the fact that the owner had put all the effort in bringing his giant traditional oven to the place. Isn't it cool?

We ate the pizza straightaway in the nearby park while the kids enjoyed the open space. They were just so happy to be doing a simple thing like this with Mummy and Daddy. To my Mr. Hubby, how about going there again before Ramadhan starts, OK?

Good Bye to Ana-bella

2011-07-10T23:03:00.000+01:00

I've known her since Ameera was in my tummy and since then, we've been quite close as she's in a way, been like a younger sister to me.

Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to her yesterday. I wish you all the best and good luck with your future back home in Malaysia. I know with your friendly, bubbly personality and style, you will have no problems of making it in life.

At Dublin's old Terminal One

I hope will meet again soon. Most definitely...

Talent Show

2011-07-09T15:51:00.001+01:00

Ameera: Mummy, do you have a minute to watch our show?

I didn't know what to expect but playing the role of obliging mother, I went along, took my seat and enjoyed the show...

Aren't they just full of ideas?