AlFatihah..

Last nite, ( or rather this morning) I received an SMS from Mak. It was a sad news. My cousin Bang Det passed away due to a heart attack at 12.30am. Arwah was 48 years old. Eventhough he had a heart problem, his demise was quite a shock. Just a few weeks ago we all met him at Alia's wedding. But, I didn't get to chat with him or K.Gee. Masa tu ramai relatives nak berchit chat to. He & K. Gee were also in a hurry to catch a flight home to KL after the kenduri. They went back to Kedah just for the wedding. Took a flight to Kedah in the morning, & got a flight home in the afternoon. Memang rushing..

Dr Mahadzer Mahmud was the President of KLIUC. He was at the peak of his career. He leaved behind a wife & 4 kids. Their kids are still schooling. Jenazah dikebumikan pada pukul 9 pg. To K.Gee, Afiq, Adibah, Afiqah & Adib, takziah dari Mak Teh & Pak Teh sekeluarga. Semoga arwah dicucuri rahmatNya. Alfatihah..

KIKOM family day 2007 in Merbok, Kedah. Arwah seated in the second row.

KIKOM family day 2008 in Yan, Kedah.

Alysa..From Skinny to Chubby

Alysa has grown a lot. Lately we have to constantly buy her new clothes coz she has outgrown most of her clothes. So, everytime shopping, mesti dia dapat baju baru. Currently she's wearing clothes meant for an 8 year old. And she's only 4 y.o. Tak tau le nanti dah sekolah nak kena cari baju sekolah size berapa.. May be when she's in std 1, she has to wear a uniform for std 6 kid! haru betul...

Still skinny..at Adik's 1 y.o birthday party.


With Adik & her birthday presents

Belajar nak bersanding in 20 years time, with Aliff our ex-neighbour

At a friend's birthday party..rambut kontot lagi.

With her cousin, Aminurdin Arsyad...Yang ni sama size le..

With Abang Aman on her 4th birthday

Rambut dah pendek kena potong sedepa ( Hubby's exaggeration!)

Si Chubby..

Stand up, sit down

This week Baby has been practising to stand up ( of course with the help of the sofas or anyone nearby) & sit down without falling backward. As of today, she can take a few steps with the help of the sofas again..:-) She turned 9 m.o yesterday. But still no tooth & she couldn't crawl yet.. Unlike her cousin Afif who is 10 days older & already has 3 teeth & can crawl like a bullet! Oh well, girl is different from boy right? Being a girl she should be more ladylike..so lambat le merangkak. Being toothless makes her more adorable! hehe..jangan mare ila. Afif pun cute sangat dengan gigi atas yang besar kapak!haha.

While practising to stand up, ada le a few times tergolek gak..but not so bad coz she fell sideway. kalau terlentang haru jugak..Alysa & Adik being watchful of Baby.. Boleh harap gak bebudak ni hehe.. Kalau diaorang nampak aksi menarik from Baby, diaorang yang heboh bagitau siap demonstrate lagi what Baby did.

Minggu ni konon2nya Hubby nak on protein diet. So, we had roasted chicken, then baked fish. Hari ni terpesong lak makan pizza for lunch. But, with heaps of protein as topping. Kira ok la tu.. I pun dah mati kutu nak masak. Tomorrow ingat nak wat meatloaf je.. Tadi, since the princesses tak suka pizza, I pesan kat K.Jun suruh masak nasi & goreng telur kat diorang. Pulun sakan diorang. Yelah dah banyak hari tak makan nasi..wakaka..kesian kat diorang. Papa nak diet, semua orang kena diet nasi..Alysa tak kisah le since she can survive on bread, but Adik since taste dia kampung style sikit, kalau tak makan nasi banyak hari mesti rasa tak puas! Aside from pizza base that I prepared last nite, I also made an easy peasy carrot cake. Recipe from allrecipes with a few modifications.

Our lunch today

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

1 cup castor sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

3 cups grated carrots

1/4 cup chopped cashew

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease the pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugars & vanilla ext. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in carrots & cashew. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake for 50 minutes.

K = C @ F

Adik has a problem in pronouncing several letters. One of the most noticeable ones is K. She'd say 'cacak' instead of 'kakak'. This always make Alysa rolls her eyes while trying to correct Adik. Adik on the other hand would say ' No... it's cacak!' Then the argument started..

If the K is in the middle of the word, she'd substitute the K with an F. For example she'd say 'cofelat' for chocholate( cokelat), 'feyiau' for keriau ( loghat kedah for crying ). Of course we could not correct her pronounciation coz as usual she's always right..sigh...Nasib le she can pronounce K at the end of the word eg Adik. Kalau tak, mesti jadi Adic or Adif..hehe...

Semenjak 2 menjak ni..tak tau le apasal I suka wat muffins. May be it's easier to bake than cakes. It took half the time to bake muffins compared to cakes. Adik pulak kalau I buat cakes, confirm dia tak makan..tapi kalau buat muffin makan pulak. Pelik betul! Padahal sama je taste dia tapi rupa lain le... Muffin comel..Easier for kids to eat. Yesterday since stock durian banyak kat rumah, & bau dia harum 1 rumah, I pun wat le Durian Muffin. Malam tu dah buat Bubur Jagung Durian jamu Bang Cik & family. Still, banyak lagi durian.. The Durian Muffin tu resepi CMG. Thanks Cik Mat. Memang nice & wangi. Sesuai sangat untuk habiskan stok durian..:-)

Durian Muffin

Ingredients:

125gm butter

100gm castor sugar

2 Grade A eggs + 1 egg yolk ( I used 3 Grade B eggs )

130gm all purpose flour + 3/4 tsp baking powder - sieve

20ml fresh milk

70gm durian ( flesh)

20gm hazelnut, chopped ( I omitted this)

Directions:

1. Cream the butter & sugar. Add 1 egg at a time until the mixture is light & fluffy. Add in the durian. Mix well.

2. Add the flour mixture alternating with the fresh milk until all is used.

3. Add in chooped hazelnut. Mix well.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until 3/4 full. Decorate with hazelnut on top. ( I used sliced almond )

5. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 25 minutes.

To Give or Not To Give?

A couple nite ago after our late supper ( by the princesses' standard) at McDonald's ( Alysa's version is just 'Donald'..), Baby got home having a sniffle. I told Hubby to give antihistamine to her. Hubby double checked 'Nak bagi ke?'. In the end, kitaorang tak bagi anything. This was due the current circular by MOH instructing doctors at Govt Hospitals not to give medicines for cough & colds to those below 2 years old. I forgot the articles, but it was something to do with USFDA findings.

That nite she slept restlessly, waking up a few times. By Subuh, her runny nose was so bad & she started having a fever. So, we gave her antihistamine & PCM. Only then, she could sleep blissfully until 9am. By this time her fever was gone & her sniffles got better. But, she later started coughing due to the accumulated phlegm...& vomitted in the process.

In conclusion, better give your babies the necessary medicines if they got sick. If the conditions are not treated, they'd worsened. It'd mean sleepless nights for parents as well. Give the medications adviced by your doctor or pharmacist. For me, if the benefits outweigh the side effects, I would definitely choose to give the medicine. Kalau nak biar baby baik sendiri from cough & colds, it might take 2 weeks to heal on its own. By that time I 'd have 2 weeks of sleepless nights...a walking zombie..uurrggh..Sesape yang keluar that circular mesti tak de anak or dah lupa zaman ada anak2 kecik...

Last nite kitaorang lepak2 kat Pantai Bersih.. to be exact kat R&R Bagan Ajam. Seronok the princesses main. Baby pun berguling sakan. Yelah jarang keluar picnic malam2 ni. Adik started main baling pasir with Hafiz. Sedar2 she got sand all over her body & hair! Balik tu kena le mandikan dia at 11pm! This morning both Alysa & Adik selsema lak. Either berjangkit from Baby or sejuk kena mandi tengah2 malam buta..:-) Both of course la lost appetite. Bagus gak Alysa lost her appetite...hehe.. Her weight gain worries me. Banyak baju yang tak padan. Kena pilih baju budak 7-8 yrs old... and she's only 4 yo!

Muka sakit..watery eyes & red nose..

Baby muka cranky je.. Alysa & Adik masa ni belum selsema lagi..tu yang ceria je..

A Wedding to Remember

Last Saturday we attended the last of the wedding ceremonies held by Pak Su & Mak Su. It was Alia's wedding. The 1st wedding in Pak Su's family. So, everything was done grandly...from the beautiful invitation cards ordered from Jakarta, to bersanding ceremonies. The ceremony started on Wednesday & finished on Saturday nite. Penat I dengar!!! It sarted with malam berinai ( On this nite alone Alia changed into 4 dresses with upacara merenjis also done..), followed by akad nikah the next day. Then came the grand dinner with the Kedah Sultan, Menteri Besar & VVIPs. The following day on Saturday they had another function for everyone. Malam pulak kenduri durian & maggis while bukak hadiah. Fuh... letih giler... We only managed to attend the Saturday events due to work commitments. I wonder in 20 years time when we host our princesses' weddings, how they'd be like... By that time mesti hantaran dah berpuluh2 ribu.. Pity all the future grooms...hehe.. ( Ila, better start saving now for your 3 princes!) Bagus jugak I have all these princesses. Tak payah bawak belanja kat orang!huhu..



With the bride, Alia & the groom hafiz




The princesses pun seronok pegi this wedding



Baby keletihan after tengok mama & papa makan & sembang...




Durians & mangosteen feast at Pak Su's place..Sedap je makan durian on cold night

Yesterday since Alysa & Adik suka creme caramel & Alysa has been requesting for it for quite some time, I pun since tengah rajin nak buat, I buatkan la ' Choc layer Creme Caramel'.

Resepi ni after modification from ila's recipe..

Ingredients:

* 3 tbs sugar

* 3 tbs cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 1/2 can evaporated milk

1/2 can condensed milk

2 tbs custard powder / cornstarch

Direction:

1. Prepare the caramel. Sprinkle sugar onto the pan. Heat on a stove until caraamelised. Turn off the stove. Spinkle water on top of the caramelised sugar. Put aside.

2. Blend all ingredients except for *

3. Divide into 2 portions.

4. In 1 portion add cocoa powder. Mix well.

5. Pour 1/2 of the cocoa mixture onto the pan. Steam for 10 minutes. Then add 1/2 of the white mixture. Steam for another 10 minutes. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

6. Refrigerate for a few hours. Serve.

Songstress Wannabe

Both Alysa & Adik love to sing. Any catchy song..Currently, Adik is in the process of learning the whole book of nursery rhymes. Her favourites are of course 'Lompat Sikatak Lompat' & 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. She always sing the lyrics jumble up in ' Burung Kakak Tua'. At one time she went by ' Burung Kakak Tua, Giginya tinggal dua..'. Now she goes ' ..Nenek sudah tua, hinggap di jendela..' She doesn't care about the lyrics. As long as she can sing, that's ok..:-). She is also trying very hard to memorise 'Kereta kecilku'. Of course mama jadi demo tape la..huhu..I pun dah naik jemu nyanyi lagu tu..sigh..

Alysa dah pro bab nursery rhymes. Dia pun dak muak jadi demo tape untuk Adik. Whoever is available, kena le jadi demo tape untuk Adik. Alysa has moved to popular songs. Any hit songs she heard on TV or radio, we will hear her sing later. Sometimes in her own lyrics! But she got the melody right, so we can guess the song. Sometimes, I pun tak pernah dengar lagu tu. Yelah jarang dengar radio. Dengar radio pun on d way pegi kerja which is 3- 5 minutes drive. Camna nak tau lagu2 baru hikhik..

Last nite I made Peach Muffin. Very yummy. Alysa tak mau tukar her pyjamas. Nak makan dulu. She finished off 2. Adik yang dah gosok gigi pun nak jugak. Normally bukan main susah nak pujuk dia makan. Ni boleh lak habis sebiji. I bagi je dia makan eventhough dah gosok gigi.. yelah mana tahan tengok Alysa melantak sakan...hehe..

Peach Muffin

Ingredients: ( 18's)

300gm all purpose flour

1 tbs baking powder

150gm brown sugar

20 gm castor sugar

120gm butter / margerine

2 eggs

120ml fresh milk

1/2 can peach slices, diced

Directions:

1. Grease the muffin cups. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, eggs until light & fluffy.

3. Combine the flour & baking powder.

4. Mix in the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternating with fresh milk, beginning with the flour mixture & ending with flour mixture.

5. Fold in the diced peach.

6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups at 3/4 full.

7. Bake for 30 min..

Splash & Swim..

Since 2 nearly drowned episodes, Alysa had a phobia of swimming pool. The first one was at a swimming pool in Merbok, Kedah during our family day. She was using a float, but the giraffe shaped float terbalik! tertelan air gak. But she was still enthusiastic when she saw a swimming pool. The next day we went to Penang. So, dia nampak je swimming pool terus nak mandi, this time being cautious duduk tepi2 je. Tapi ntah macam mana, she went down under walaupun tempat tu cetek giler. This time teruk gak tersedak air. Terus jadi phobia bila nampak swimming pool! Those incidents happened when she was 2+ y.o. Punya le lama phobia dia tu.. Everytime when we went to any swimming pool, dia tengok je Hubby & Adik mandi-manda. Kalau pujuk gak, maunye melalak tak nak. Hubby kena pegang je all the time dia dlm swimming pool.

During that time we thought it was still early to buy pool set for them. Adik pun kecik lagi. A couple of weeks ago we finally thought they were ready to splash at home. So, we bought a swimming ring for them. Now, tiap2 pagi spash le 2-2 orang depan rumah. Tadi, baby pun join sekali. Tapi K.Jun monitor le..

Adik posing with her bicycle & the swimming ring.

For lunch today I made sizzling yee mee which tak sizzle hehe..& not using yee mee. Tapi pakai spagheti. Rasanya dah bertahun we all tak beli mee kuning. Seriau bila baca the content of boric acid that they used to preserve the mee. Kuey teow pun tak pernah beli but we make do with fettucine. Apasallah these noodle makers like to add banned preservatives in food products! Tak sekolah betul..

Our fake sizzling yee mee..

Hari ni pulak my dear sister rajin la masak sedap2. So, dapat le merasa her nasi ayam berempah & dalca( first time she made...hikhik..). Murah rezeki for lunch today. Memang kekenyangan betul! Sedap nasi & dalca. Boleh wat lagi yer.. lepas tu pass2 la kat kami..:-) Tiap2 hari pun tak pe..Kami tak kesah hehe..

Balik Kampung

We had an early start on saturday. Planned to leave home at 7am but only managed to get out at 8am. The princesses were all in good mood. Senang je nak kejutkan mandi pagi2 buta... eventhough Alysa had mozzie bites all over her face & body. Banyak betul nyamuk...gemuk2 je kat tepi dia.

During the journey Baby blissfully slept all the way until we reached Ayer Keroh, Melaka at 1pm. She had her lunch there & a bit of her milk. Then slept again until we reached kampung. Adik pulak in between dozing off, she sang & berzikir. Ni time Alysa & Baby tido. Mati kutu le tu..hehe..Alysa pulak if she was not sleeping, she was munching on something or just talked to papa to keep him from dozing off.( Since she sat next to papa on the front seat..). Kira ok la tu gilir2 dengan I so that hubby tak ngantuk.


My MIL has improved. May be the combination of papaya leaf juice, sup ketam or just TLC. All her 9 kids balik kampung & went to visit her at the hospital. The visiting hours was shortened due to a few cases of H1N1 there. Number of visitors were also limited. Kids below 12 were not allowed in the wards. Kena gilir2 le. When we left, her platelet count has gone up from 32 to 58. Kiranya one of the above remedies worked.


Balik from the hospital on saturday we experienced every parents nightmare! well, almost.. Since tuan rumah ( a.k.a MIL & SIL) tak de, rumah jadi huru hara le. No fresh food. So, we decided to stop by at pasar malam to buy some food for the whole family. Ramai yang nak makan... Masa tercari2 kat mana orang jual chicken , tiba2 Hubby noticed Adik was missing. He was holding baby. I was supposed to hold Alysa & Adik. But I thought Adik was following K.Nah ( my SIL). Kelam kabut la we all patah balik. Phew! Just a few metres away, there she was, standing where we left her. Tak nangis lagi but muka dah semacam... But if she cried we might've noticed sooner. Lepas tu terus je balik rumah. It was a good idea if we brought our kids to crowded places to wear rantai as someone suggested. Tapi be4 this, kitaorang jarang ke crowded places with the kids. In fact diorang tak pernah ke pasar malam! That was the 1st time. We always avoid crowded places. Kalau terpergi kat crowded shopping mall, we won't stay long. We prefer spacious shopping malls where the kids can easily be monitored.


Yesterday, masa tunggu visiting hours kat hospital, we decided to kill the time at the famous Super bariani gam kat Bukit Pasir. That was the 1st time i went there. Previously, there were multiple reasons that prevented us to go there. Mostly, it was closed masa kitaorang pegi. Raya le katakan..The rice & mutton were superb. Ayam dia biasa2 je. But, the princesses had KFC. On the way there Alysa saw KFC & said ' Papa, look..that's the biggest KFC ever!' Yelah tu... tactic dia le tu nak suruh kitaorang belikan KFC kat dia. So, papa being the indulgent one, beli le kat diorang..


The journey back home was uneventful. We left the hospital at around 2 pm & arrived home at 7.45pm. Sempat le performed maghrib prayer at home. Dah buat jamak takdim kat Ayer Keroh for zohor & Asar. So, terus je balik rumah. The princesses pun tido. Malas nak stop merata2.

Ni gambar during one of our balik kampung journeys. I think kat R & R Tapah. This time balik terlupa amik gambar..

Papaya leaf Juice

Tonite's entry definitely is not about a new recipe for healthy people:-). A few months back, I read in a forwarded email stating that some kind of juice might increase platelet count. Since MIL's platelet count kept decreasing day after day, I think we have to try alternative medicines. Eventhough I'm in modern medicines, I do believe in alternative medicines. Her current platelet count is 32 ( The normal platelet count is 150 ). Yesterday was 40. So, hubby was worried. When he got back on wednesday the count was 90. The result for dengue was negative. He consulted a few doctors & getting more worried with their opinions. ( When it involves very close family members, have to ask for 2nd opinion or 3rd )

Tomorrow we are going back to see MIL. In the meantime, I started googling about the juice. ( Very convenient! ). Sure enough, I found about Papaya leaf juice. Have been tried and proven effective in increasing platelet count. It is very rich in vitamin A, C, E, K, B Complex & B17. In 1 case, the count shoot up from 8 to 300 within a week. So, I guess no harm in trying. Then, we instruct my brother in law to prepare the juice. The juice has to be prepared using fresh leaves. Blend and filter to get 1 tablespoon. Drink twice daily. Of course the taste is awful but if it works, who cares about the taste!( Of course i'm not the one taking it hehe..) .I pray that it'll work by the time we get there. At the moment, the treatment at the hospital is only symptomatic treatment.

The princesses don't know yet we are going to see embah or mak tuk. Malam ni tanak makan. Lunch dah puas makan.I made roasted chicken for lunch today. Senang je. Marinate with salt & italian herbs, Sapu margerine & bake. Bake tu K. Jun yang buat. I marinate je.. makan dgn potato salad. Kenyang. Alysa suka betul dgn white sauce which I prepared with a dash of italian herbs.