Berbuka @ Dome

The residents of Danau Kaseh spent the afternoon at Mid Valley Megamall today & planned to berbuka at Chilli's. The kids always look forward to having a meal at Chilli's as we rarely get to go there. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Chilli's at 6pm, we were greeted by an unbelievably long queue! Looking into the restaurant, we knew there was no chance for us to get a seat before berbuka. Most of the seats were taken by other Muslim families who were waiting for berbuka. So grudgingly, we had to change plans... & went to Dome instead. It was the kids' first time at Dome & they were not so happy with this turn of events... Surprisingly though, this turned out to be one of the best berbuka we had this Ramadhan!

The service at Dome was excellent! The waitresses who waited on us were very friendly & we were given complimentary sirap bandung selasih & kurma for berbuka. The food was delicious & came just in time for berbuka. The Melting Moments & Tiramisu were perfect desserts to end our meal. The kids gave Dome a thumbs-up! Here are some pictures to drool over...

Grilled Chicken in Tumeric Sauce made to perfection

Papa's Choice - Lamb Stew

Adlan & Hakim waiting for Berbuka..

Anas passing time with his dinosours

Adlina, all smiles with her Tiramisu

Melting Moments - Seriously Yummy!

Viennese Coffee - perfect with the desserts to end your meal

Dome. We'll be back! (^_^)

Last working week before Raya

It's the last working week before Raya & everything is suddenly TOP URGENT. Everyone wants their matters resolved & agreements signed before Raya. Now, now, now!

But as I had written once before in a previous posting, somehow when you work under pressure, you can get a lot done. You stretch yourself & challenge your mental & physical capabilities. You will even surprise yourself! After the job is done, the satisfaction is enormous.

So, Monday was finalizing drafts & resolving issues. Tuesday was preparing a power point presentation for a talk I was asked to give on Thursday. Wednesday we had an Agreement signed (this is THE Agreement that have been giving me brain-freezes the past 2 months - & with this Agreement, we are getting an Aerorail system in Malacca soon - the first one in Malaysia). Thursday I had to give the talk to Company Directors (for State companies & agencies) about Corporate Governance & the Code of Ethics in a Seminar organized by the State Government. Today is Friday. TGIF! But I'm expecting a fully crammed day ahead as it's the last working day before Raya.

The silver lining is that we will be closed the whole week next week! Yaaa-hooo!!!

Can't wait for Raya...

(^_^)

Bread Pudding

Crispy at the top & soft on the inside

This is the easiest bread pudding recipe & the preparation time is less than 10 minutes. It's great for working mothers who haven't got much time to spare before dinner. If your kids love bread & butter, this is the perfect dessert for them. My kids love it!

You will need:-

6 slices of bread

1 egg

1/2 cup of sugar

2 cups of fresh milk

butter

2 tbsp raisins/sultanas (optional)

Method:-

1. Spread butter thickly on each slice of bread. Break each bread into quarters & put in a bowl.

2. Put egg, sugar, raisins & milk into the bowl. (I usually skip the raisins as Adlina & Anas do not like them!) Mix well & make sure the bread is totally soaked. (Jangan sampai roti hancur)

3. Bake in oven at 170C for 40 minutes.

Serving option:-

Can be served plain or with vanilla ice-cream or custard cream. Yummy!

Have fun trying out the recipe!

(^_^)

 

Officially Older

I'm officially in my last year of being 30-something. Feel so old today!

Self-reflecting on this milestone in life, I ask myself: what have I achieved in the 39 years of my life? Having established a law practice & leading a good team of people, living in a nice home that I love or being in control of my time to a large extent? Alhamdulillah, I am really very thankful for all these but personally, I would say that my greatest achievement is, above all else, being married to my soulmate & having 4 beautiful children; and having a close-knit family & very supportive friends.  All that I have is a great blessing from Allah.

364 days to 40... sigh...

(^_^)

Early Birthday Surprise

I always love Fridays but today was extra special! 

It started out with a meeting early this morning with Raha (a friend first, a client second!) and when she came in, she brought with her Birthday Cupcakes which are really sweet & wonderful! I was lost for words. Thank you ever so much to Raha & Noraini for being so thoughtful.. Rasa sebak pulak. Cantik sangat the cupcakes rasa sayang nak makan... (But of course, bila sampai kat rumah, as soon as buka puasa, all the kids attacked the cupcakes!). Note to my cousin Shikin: thanks for introducing the cake-maker to us..

The bear at the top is wearing a lawyer's wig :-)

Actually my birthday is not until Sunday. & I'm trying to make it as low-key as possible because it's my last year of being 30-something (next year, the BIG 4-zero will kick in. Getting old la..). Anyway, after our meeting, just as I was walking out of the office to another meeting at 11.30am, I received another birthday surprise from another friend. It's a beautiful Denni bracelet. Thank you Puan Siti.. I really didn't expect this. Rasa nak pakai tadi but it's not officially my birthday yet.. :-)

Rushed back home after my meeting. I was one of the 8 lawyers in Melaka who were invited to Berbuka at Istana Melaka this evening hosted by Tun & Toh Puan. I've never been to Istana Melaka, so it was with mixed feelings when I accepted the invitation: excited to be going to the Istana for the first time, but sad that Zaharim couldn't be with me for the occasion. It went quite well. Food was so-so but I was seated with the other lawyers, so the catching up was good. The Istana is built on a hill in Bukit Beruang & from where I parked,  I could see the lights from Jusco, Melaka Mall & the houses around Ayer Keroh. Very pretty.  I left just before Isyak prayers as I couldn't wait to go home..

Then came another surprise & this one was the most special. Zaharim bought a tiny early birthday cake for Mama, the kids sang happy birthday & they all gave Mama birthday presents 2 days early! 

Colourful wrappers! <3

I got a camera from my Kaseh! It's perfect for my blog entries!! He must have carefully chosen this gift as I've been borrowing his camera every time I needed to take pictures for my postings! :-D Thank you so, so much darling & thanks Adlan, Hakim, Adlina & Anas for the birthday gifts & card - I love them. Love you all so much. Tonight was really special..

What a perfect way to start my weekend... (^_^)

Raya Hampers

It's 12 days to Hari Raya & this is normally the time when I get the help of a very talented friend to pack up hampers for my clients. However, Linda is in confinement this Ramadhan & I didn't want to impose on her while she is recuperating. I was quite desperate as I didn't know anyone else who could do it for me. So, I decided to pack the hampers myself! I know this sounds too ambitious, but I didn't have any choice. Kes terpaksa la ni..  

I made a checklist of the things I needed:-

1. Fruitcakes - ordered from my neighbour Noridah

2. Baskets - from SSF, KL (see earlier post on De-Stressing)

3. Ribbons - also from SSF 

4. Kain Organza - from Nagoya at Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka

5. Flowers - from Kedai Bunga at Jalan Bunga Raya

6. Glue Gun - also from the same Kedai Bunga

So, this afternoon after office, I started packing the Raya hampers at home. Here are some of the hampers packed by yours truly. Linda, if you are reading this, please don't laugh ok? :-) 

The basket from SSF is really nice -

feel like keeping one for myself!

It was quite a struggle at first especially cutting the organza into the correct size! (Pakai gunting yang sangat tumpul that I took from Adlina's room!) But after a couple of hampers, I started to get the hang of it. It's really quite fulfilling after seeing the result. You gals should try it la. Quite therapeutic also..

Just hope that my clients won't realize that the hampers were packed by an amateur! 

(^_^)

Spring Cleaning

It's spring cleaning time in Danau Kaseh! Since Raya is just around the corner, the task of cleaning up the house must start from now! Fortunately, the kids were more than happy to help :-)

We started in the morning with getting rid of all the rubbish in the kids' bedrooms & this alone took almost 3 hours! Broken toys & crayons, candy wrappers, torn pages of magazines & notebooks, pen covers etc were all mixed up in the toy boxes! (Mothers, I'm sure you can identify with this...). Clearing the stuffs from under the beds...OMG! I need not explain further! Dust, dust, dust everywhere! I'm glad we bought the plastic boxes that fit under beds at Ikea a few years ago. They are so useful to organize things. Adlina & Hakim helped take off all the stickers which Anas sticked on his shelves (!!!). 

Meanwhile, Adlan & Hakim were forced to re-organize their bookshelves which looked like a hurricane had swept through the shelves. Needless to say, Mama's pot-pet-pot-pet didn't go down too well with the boys this morning. Somehow, the magazine organizers that were supposed to hold books were filled with everything else but books, & books were strewn everywhere else. Sigh...

Mawar, our maid (my PA at home!) took down the curtains at the living room for a wash. It was a nice sunny Sunday & all the curtains dried in no time. Took a break in the afternoon & then cleared the store room & re-organized things. It's unbelievable how much rubbish we accumulate! Nak buang sayang pulak... So, everything were put in storage boxes! Feel so much better now after Spring Cleaning Chapter 1 is over!

Spring Cleaning Chapter 2 will come next week...

De-Stressing

Everyone has a way of de-stressing when things get really, really stressful. Some sort of activity that you find to be "therapeutic" to calm down your mind and unwind. It could be listening to your favourite music, or watching your favourite show on TV, or walking on the beach, or talking to a good friend, or reading, or sleeping, or jogging, or playing tennis, or shopping, or baking.... the list is endless.

For me, it's either shopping or baking. I find both to be really therapeutic & would re-charge me for the next day. So, remember my stressful Monday? After having completed 2 of my assignments which almost gave me a brain-freeze, I decided to give myself a day off on Tuesday to go to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman KL, just to stroll around the famous bazaars near Semua House and to check out the latest stuffs at SSF. It was wonderful & oh so de-stressing!

Pretty cushion covers & table runners

For those of you who have not been to the bazaars behind Jalan TAR, this is a place that you MUST find time to browse around, just to experience the atmosphere. But try not to go on weekends as the traffic will be a nightmare & the whole area will be swarmed by thousands of people. Parking may be a problem & I would recommend parking at Semua House if you ever make the trip there.

 You will find so many wonderful things to look at, from beautiful soft furnishing for your home to clothes, both traditional & modern to exotic food. Macam-macam ada. Everything is priced reasonably & you can even bargain for a better price!

I was happy to see so many friendly vendors & stall owners who were helpful & wouldn't bark at you if you decide not to buy their product :-) Walking along the hundreds of stalls, I kept telling myself that there is no need for us to go to Jakarta or China or Vietnam to shop for good bargains when we can actually find it right here on our doorstep. What a fabulous place!

Colourful Baskets & Wall displays

Going to Jalan TAR would not be complete without dropping in at SSF. I haven't been there for more than 2 years & Wow, they have totally changed the whole ambience! 

They must have employed a qualified in-house designer as everything is arranged so tastefully according to different themes. Not the "carca-marba" of years before. Even the product range on display has expanded tremendously. Glassware from Turkey and China, crockery from India, furniture & gift items from Indonesia, all types of gift boxes & tins and of course, artificial flowers of every kind. This is also a one-stop centre for wedding paraphernalia. You will be spoilt for choice! All 5 floors of SSF have different themes & arrangement. 

I love the typical English country furniture, boxes, frames & crockery which were on offer, displayed in a section of the 3rd floor. All white. Very pretty.

Also adored an antique looking tea-set from India in beautiful pastel colours. I nearly bought the set but it was so heavy that I decided not to buy it as carrying it while fasting along the bazaar would be too painful & would totally defeat my whole purpose of de-stressing! Well, it would also give me a reason to come back to SSF some day :-)

Well, that's my story of a most therapeutic adventure. It worked like magic! Seriously. The next day, I finished a High Court Written Submission that has been on my table for the past 3 weeks in half a day! And who says Shopping doesn't help? 

(^_^)

Yummy Brownies

Yum Yum :-)

Just tried this recipe for Brownies, courtesy of my friend Tati. It's soft & moist on the inside & a little bit crunchy at the top. A must for chocolate addicts. Seriously delicious. 

Wanna try it? You will need:-

60g self-raising flour

180g castor sugar

100g butter

40g cocoa powder

2 eggs

50g chocolate chips

50g walnut (optional - I skipped this as my kids hate walnuts!)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:-

1. Melt butter in a pan on slow fire. Once melted, add the cocoa powder & mix well. Then put aside.

2. Whisk sugar, eggs & vanilla essence. Then add in flour & stir slowly.

3. Then add the cocoa butter into the mixture. Stir slowly.

4. Finally add the chocolate chips. I actually used Hershey's chocolate Kisses (broken into quarters) instead of chocolate chips.

5. Bake in oven at 170C for about 30 minutes.

Best served warm with Vanilla ice-cream (Yummy!)

Good luck! 

(^_^)

Monday Blues

Mondays are my least favourite days. Having had 2 days of lazy & wonderful, Mondays normally come as a rude shock! Somehow, last week's unfinished work will creep up on me with an attitude (with a capital A) come Mondays.

Today is no exception. There are 4 top-urgent assignments in my To-Do List & I've been inundated by calls from impatient clients since 8am! Help!! Unfortunately, I can't call out for help from Kopi Pearl Kacip Fatimah which would normally make Mondays more bearable for me. 

The clock is ticking & I just ticked off 1 item on my list. Long way to go. 

(>_<) sigh..

Ramadhan

Our fridge door: Berbuka Times & the Puasa tally

I love the month of Ramadhan for many reasons.

Waking up at 4.30am & looking out the window into the still, peaceful almost morning. Nothing seem to be stirring & everything is so calm. I rarely get to appreciate this until Ramadhan comes when waking up at this hour for sahur becomes a norm. 

It's always pleasant when your clothes feel a little bit more comfortable to get into, and this would normally happen during Ramadhan when you shed that extra pound or two. Your trousers become better fitted and the pair of jeans that seem tight before Ramadhan will be easier to wear. Well, I'm still waiting for this to happen - it's only the 4th day of Ramadhan, and my hopes are still high ;-)

Somehow more work gets done in the office as we stay in during lunch break. I only realized this today when I managed to finish so much, and upon reflection, it is actually due to the fact that during Ramadhan we would normally work throughout lunchtime. So, there is more time somehow as the 'morning' is extended. Further, you wouldn't feel sluggish in the afternoon as you would after having had too much food for lunch. :-)

Then there is the Bazar Ramadhan: So much food, so many choices! We would normally go to the Bazar at Bukit Peringgit. If you are ever in Melaka during Ramadhan, this is a place not to be missed. Come early, well before 5pm, otherwise parking is a nightmare. However, once you walk along the food stalls, it is all worth the trouble. Zaharim is a big fan of the Biryani Ujong Pasir & I love the Rojak Alor Gajah & kueh keria. The kids' all time favourites: the colourful apams, murtabak, karipap daging, buah melaka & tepung pelita. Yummy! It is only during Ramadhan that all types of dates are sold especially the very rare fresh dates (the yellow ones are delicious!). There are so many bazars around Melaka during Ramadhan offering so much varieties of food: kueh of all types originating from all over Malaysia, nasi macam-macam from nasi ayam to nasi dagang to nasi tomato, all sorts of lauk-pauk, laksa-mee-mee hoon-kuey teow of every kind, drinks of all colours imaginable: Food Glorious Food! (^_^)

Kueh Keria Limbongan (Sedapnya!)

Berbuka as a family is always the best. The time we spend at the dining table together is always priceless. Today, we indulged the kids as they wished to have Pizza & Big Apple Donuts for berbuka. I actually planned to try out a recipe for brownies given by my friend  Tati but I guess it will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Finally, my most favourite part of Ramadhan: the time for Maghrib prayers. We make it a point during Ramadhan to have our Maghrib berjemaah together as a family. This part of the day is just so special, so precious to me. Being together as we submit ourselves to Allah. Kissing our kids after prayers always make me feel so close to them. I pray that they will always remember these special times as they grow older. 

I love the month of Ramadhan for many reasons.

Family Day

Sundays are proclaimed as "Family Day" by the residents of Danau Kaseh. This means that barring any emergencies, the day must be spent as a family. We would normally eat out for breakfast (the kids would take turns to choose the venue), then we go jalan-jalan for the day (sometimes even to KL), eat lunch out (read - fast food) & come back home in the evening to spend the rest of Sunday at home (sometimes doing last minute homework!). Well, yesterday was the day before Ramadhan & it was the last Family Day out for breakfast & makan-makan!

It's Adlina's choice of venue for breakfast & she chose her favourite place which we call the "Roti Canai shop behind Jusco". Yesterday, (after having had breakfast there on many occasions for the past 2 years) we just realized that the gerai has a name: Its called "Brown Black Blues Cafe"! Haha :-D 

Many people frequent this place for the mee goreng which is famously known as "Mee Bodoh" because it is so simply cooked with just taugeh, but it is so delicious! (Mesti ada some secret recipe..). I'm a HUGE fan of the Mee Bodoh. SEDAP! The roti canai there is also one of the best in town. Light, soft & crispy. 

Papa had both the Mee & Roti canai... It is after all the last time we are having breakfast there for the next one month.

After breakfast, we all went to Mahkota Parade, straight to Meglio for haircuts. This is a monthly routine now. For the very first time though, Adlina had a hairwash in a salon & it was quite exciting for her.

(Actually, the hairwash was rather necessary as Adlina poured Johnson's baby oil on her hair the day before..) 

Anas is getting better at sitting still for haircuts. He now enjoys this monthly trip to the hair salon as he feels pampered by the hairdresser!

When it was time to go home, we made the mandatory stop at Big Apple Donuts. The kids are now addicted to these donuts.. If you've never tried them out, I would recommend these flavours: Chocoholic, Cuppocino & Alien... Yummy!

Selamat menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubarak & semoga amalan kita di bulan yang mulia ini diberkati Allah.