Hello2, Angguk2

Alysa has this habit of forcing herself to stay awake. So, now she doesn't take a nap in the afternoon unless she's very sleepy or she ate too much..:-) If she nodded off while sitting & I tried to lie her down, she'd immediately sit upright & acted as if she was not sleepy..sigh..The best solution is to let her sleep soundly, baru boleh baringkan dia..

Notice how chubby she is..sampai berlapis dagu..hehe.. Dah le rambut depan dia kena potong by Cik Jun while we were in Jakarta..:-( Papa dia dah le pantang kalau rambut the princesses kena potong. Mesti ngomel! So, bertambah le nampak kebulatan dia. Nak kena put on diet ni..:D

While Alysa was nodding off, Baby was playing with the phone. Jenuh le nak sembunyikan phone tu & larang dia. But she kept climbing the sofa to get to the phone & yakking on the phone. Selalunya terdengar la "pa..pa..pa". Konon2 call papa le tu..Budak2 zaman sekarang!

Adik pulak as usual le tiap2 petang ikut Cik Jun ke rumah dia. If she's around boleh le dia melayan Baby main. Dia ni very attentive sikit. Kalau Baby poopoo, dia le yang bagitau if we were not aware of it. Siap pegi cium kat that area just to make sure..wakaka..

The past few days were pastry time! I made apple pie to clear our apples yang tak sedap tu.. Ntah jenis apa le Hubby tersilap beli. Dia pun tak selera nak makan. I lagi lah..since I don't like apples. After apple pie siap, Alysa makan pastry je..Last2 topping yang dia tak makan tu masuk cik tong gak.. The following day tekak ni rasa macam nak makan sardin roll lak. So, I made for dinner. Malas nak makan heavy for dinner. Hubby ate sardine sandwiches & roll as well..

Apple Pie

Refer here for the recipe. Tapi pastry tu i buat tak cukup so tu yang jaring2 macam jarang2 sikit. But tastewise, oklah since 1 mmg tak suka apples pun. Hubby pun kata pastry tu nice..

Sardine Roll

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

125gm butter ;chilled & diced

1/3 cup ice water

sardines for filling

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour & salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in a plastic & refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Roll dough out, cut into 4cm x 10cm. Put in sardine & roll the dough. Make cuts on top of the pastry. Brush with egg. Repeat until all dough is used.

3. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes.

To all, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha. Maaf zahir batin.

For this raya kitaorang balik Kedah. But, qurban buat kat Penang. So, wakilkan je la. Will also have a family day next week. Looking forward to meet all uncles, aunties, cousins, & other relatives. See u all in Pendang next week.

Cuti-Cuti Jakarta- Finale

We woke up early..berkobar2 nak ke Spa. After pusing2 cari spa yang dah bukak at 9am on Saturday, at last we settled at 1 spa. Lupa le nama dia. We did lulur badan coklat & totok wajah. Murah..Less thanRM50. Memula ingat nak wat cream bath.. Tapi tak jadi coz kesuntukan masa. We later found out that cream bath tu basuh rambut. La...ingatkan mandi/ lulur cream..:D

Berposing kat our '5-star hotel' before ke spa.

Di Spa, after lulur lulur coklat & totok wajah..para suami jalan2 kat boutique outlets berdekatan..

After the refreshing treatment, Pak Supir hantar K.Mas balik. Lepas solat zohor at 11.45am, We headed to Blok M, Pasaraya. Pesan kat Pak Supir to meet us in 2- hr time. Tup2 punya tunggu tak datang. Call dia, silap no. lak. Call K.Mas, dia tak angkat coz tgh kat gym..

Meanwhile, kat Pasaraya ni banyak barang kraf but mahal la. Telekung je harga RP3.2 juta! ( = RM1K +). Tak de la sulam penuh telekung pun! May be the material kut..Initially we planned to go to Sarinah ( byk gak craft / batik kat sini..), but since Blok M kat Jakarta Selatan gak, so, stop sini dulu. Just bought some souvenirs & had lunch here. We ( Actually Ila bought it) ate the nicest dessert here which is 'Pisang kutho'. I dok cari resepi tak jumpa2. Nak kena reka sendiri ni..:p. Hubby & Syukur had nasi padang. Terliur tgk kari cartilage le tu..

At Pasaraya, Blok M

The crafts at Pasaraya

Having lunch at Pasaraya

Back to cerita Pak Supir ie Pak Ariff, After tunggu dia tak muncul2 kitaorang pun jalan2 le kat area sekitar tu. Sempat lagi shopping. After over 2 hours waiting for him, At last, we managed to talk to K.Mas. So, cancel je la dgn Pak Arif..miscommunication rupanya..Kitaorang amik cab je. Nak ke Sarinah dah tak sempat, Dah tutup. Lepas tanya cab driver tu, we finally went to Pasar Melayu Prumpuk ( Betul ke nama ni.?.:p) . This is a haven for kids with lotsa toys. Ada orang tu macam nak peluk je cab driver tu coz happy sangat..hehe.. Ingat nak beli brg utk anak2 la tu..hilang le segala bebal/ berasap kat Pak Arif..:-) It was a blessing in disguise. Punya la syok borong toys utk the kids..

Then, we headed to Nasi Padang Garuda. Memang Sedap..Thanks Din for the treat. Penuh 3 meja dgn food. Klau makan semua food tu, nanti ada le yang tak balik..kekenyangan..haha..

At Nasi Padang Garuda

On our last day, we woke up at 4am. Yelah, flight was at 6.55am. Tak machet langsung. The traffic was so smooth. Beg pun tak excess. Cuma ada orang tu je yang xs 2kg.hehe..Nasib tak kena bayar xs luggage.

Soekarno Hatta Airport.. Good Bye Jakarta

Thank you so much to Din, K.Mas & family for a 5-star treatment & hospitality. Panjang umur, jumpa lagi..

Model2 mukenah..

Cuti-Cuti Jakarta- Part II

On Friday morning 13th Nov we headed to Tanah Abang, the biggest shopping mall in Southeast asia..( Betul ke ni? Ni le yang taxi driver bagitau..:-) ) Basically, all the malls that we went offered the same stuff. Over here in Tanah Abang, the prices are a lot cheaper than Mangga Dua provided skill tawar-menawar tu bagus banget!haha.. Since asking the guidance from 1 of the taxi drivers, he told us to bargain 3-fold less that the listed price. So, mmg pulun tawar le. Ada yang dapat & ada yg tak dapat the price that we bargained. Biasak le.. Didn't buy much here, sbb barang2 serupa je. But, I managed to buy kebaya yang my nephew pesan utk wat hantaran. Punya le pusing baru jumpa yang berkenan dihati. Got some gowns for the princesses. Hubby at last found the leather jacket that he was looking for. Since datang sini, beg kitaorang dah beranak everyday..muahhaha..yesterday we bought 1 at Cipulir. We bought another 1 at Tanah Abang. So, nampak sangat lah bertambahnya barang2 yang kitaorang beli..

Kat Tanah Abang Mall, u can find imitation branded handbags, telekung, kebaya sulam, shoes, blouses, leather jackets, & macam2 la..

On the way to Tanah Abang..Just next to Tanah Abang Mall, they are selling stuff normally exported to Mecca. Kiranya orang pegi haji beli brg2 from here la..:-)

The best thing about the Indons, cukup time mmg diorang pegi solat. U can see all the traders went to the musholla to pray regardless of their outfit. Even kat Tanah Abang, they have a mosque at the top floor of the shopping mall. So, boleh tau le which traders yang muslim. Rasanya kat Malaysia tak de lagi masjid kat dalam shopping mall... But, we do have great & beautiful mosques in Malaysia.

At the mosque, on top of Tanah Abang Mall

Another thing, In Indon u have to be careful about halal food. At some outlets, they claimed their dishes were halal, but when we asked whether they served pork, they said yup..there's pork in mee, fried rice etc.. ??? Sometimes they used lard in their food. So, to be on the safe side, pick nasi padang coz insyaallah halal.. In term of food, rasasya food kat Malaysia lagi meriah...:-)

At Tanah Abang Mall..Sorry ye, tangan amateur photoghrapher ketaq..so gambar blur..haha..

On the way home from Tanah Abang, there was a flash flood along the road. Seriau je takut taxi terkantoi kat tgh jalan..Dah le air tu colour dia coklat menarik je. Sure macam2 ada dalam tu..huhu..Alhamdulillah, kitaorang selamat sampai without any mishap. That nite after a nice dinner prepared by K.Mas, kitaorang layan 'Nur Kasih' sambil berborak..

Tgh layan 'Nur Kasih' with K.Mas & family

Cuti-Cuti Jakarta- Part I

We departed for Jakarta on Wednesday morning & arrived there at noon. Everything went smoothly. K.Mas met us at the airport & dropped us at ITC Mangga Dua while she brought our luggages home. So, that was a start to our shopping spree. ITC Mangga Dua is a huge shopping complex with variety of stuff to choose from. Memang rambang mata. We later found out that things there were not cheap! ( Compared to other places.. ) Like any other malls in Jakarta, the shops closed at 5.30pm. Since kitaorang dah rambang mata, we didn't realise the closing time. Hence, we got caught in a massive traffic jam! ( machet as they call it ). Unluckily, we picked the wrong taxi. We thought it was from the Blue Bird Group ( as recommended by travellers in Jakarta) since it was blue as well. The taxi driver claimed that he was from ' Baby Bird Group' ( He was just kidding!)

Our lunch: Kue Teow Siram Sapi & Set Nasi

Memang terkena le coz dia pusing ikut jalan jauh to Kemang where K.Mas & Din's house is located. So, when we realised we were tricked, we asked him to drop us at Plaza Senayan half-way to Kemang. So, tak le terkena sangat! We had dinner there. After the traffic jam settled, we headed to K.Mas & Din's house. This time using a taxi from Blue Bird Group. The driver was very polite. I tak pernah jumpa taxi driver yg tersangat le berbudi bahasa like this taxi driver! :-). We arrived at K.Mas & Din's house at nearly 9.30pm. What a day!

At Plaza Senayan

The next day, instead of going to Tanah Abang as planned, we headed to Cipulir as recommended by the taxi driver from ' Baby Bird' hehe.. Ada jugak guna dia..There are 2 sides of Cipulir shopping centre. On 1 side is the wholesalers part. Another side is the retailers. We started with the wholesaler side. Masa tu tgh blackout. So, panas giler! Punya le tak selesanya! Then we headed to the retailer side just accross the road. Kat sini ada air-cond. Fuh! lega..Over here the blouses were very cheap. Telekung ( or mukenah) okay le if pandai tawar. This time we beat the traffic jam. So, cepat je sampai kat rumah. Hubby & Syukur then went swimming with the kids ie Yasmin, Hilman & Zafri at the back of their house.That nite we just stayed home.

Cipulir Wholesalers Mall

Chilling out with the kids

Meanwhile, the princesses were left with Cik Jun. According to Cik Jun they were doing well except for Baby. Memula tu dia macam terpinga2 gak coz she had to sleep with Cik Jun..

No 3rd Birthday Celebration..Yet..

On 13th Nov which is Adik's 3rd birthday, Hubby & I won't be home to celebrate it with her. So, we'll celebrate her birthday when we got back home which we'll pick a later date. Cian princess mama ni...Since mama is away on her birthday, tak dapat le nak blogging..May be sibuk shopping kut at that time..haha..

Nearing her 3rd birthday, she's done a lot of stuff & learned new things. She doesn't wear diapers anymore..(well, except at nite coz takut terkucil :D), She can recite alfatihah which surprised me last week when I heard her recite the surah. But, according to Hubby, she knew the surah way be4 last week! I tak perasan le pulak coz Adik selalu ikut Cik Jun balik rumah.. She also loves to recite selawat syifa & zikir taubat which she learned from astro oasis. She's also very helpful. Kalau nak suruh ambik benda2 cepat je dia tolong. She likes to help me clean the dishes, standing on a chair. ( But, of course le i kena cuci pulak later..). But, she's also veeery manja. Kalau kat Cik Jun tu asyik nak suruh dukung je..

To Adik, my sweet princess, ' Happy 3rd Birthday' on 13th November 2009. May Allah bless u always. Stay sweet & lovable. We love you..

The soon-to- be Miss 3

Yesterday,Hubby's friend from high school; Nizam came over with his family. The last time they met was over 20 yrs ago. Actually they've been in Penang for over 5 yrs. Baru nak jejak kasih wakaka.. 1 of the food that i prepared was American Chocolate Cake. A recipe cedok from dapur K.Ummi. Very nice & moist. I think this was the best chocolate cake recipe that I've tried.( Perasan la pulak..haha..but honestly, it was very moist, yummy & simple to make..)

American Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

*2 cups flour

*3/4 cup cocoa powder

*2 tsp baking powder

*2 tsp baking soda

2 cups castor sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup corn oil / melted butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp nescafe, added to 1 cup hot water

Directions

1. Sift items *.

2. Beat eggs, castor sugar, melted butter and vanilla essence together.

3. Add in the sifted items alternating with the water mixture and milk . Mix well.

4. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Bake at 170C for 45 min. ( I used 180C for 70 min)

Ganache ( I made half of this )

Ingredients

1 can condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup oil

1/3 cup cocoa powder

Directions

Mix all ingredients and cook at low heat. Mix well. Cook until thickened & shiny. Cool & pour onto the cake.

Girl or Boy?

When we met new people, they always guess that Baby is a boy..Some people said that we might have really wish for a boy that she looks like a boy. Now, with her being so active, well.. she almost behaves like a boy..:-) Memanjat everywhere.. even when I was lying on the sofa, she'd climb over me just to grab a phone or have a look outside thru the window. If she's left on her own in our room, she'd make a mess in our wardrobe! If we let her near a bookcase, there must be books & magazines strewn all over the floor afterwards..Sigh..Penat weh dgn princess sorang ni..But, we definitely didn't really wish for a boy when I was pregnant with her. In fact, Hubby said another girl would be nice..:-) Yelah.. seriau dia tgk boys yang lasak2..haha.. No offense to anyone. Perhaps we might get a boy for our 4th kid..:D

Baby boy? Of course not!

On another topic, the princesses would be left behind in a few days time coz Mama & Papa are going for a much needed break. We are staying with some friends since they insisted ( Betul ke ni??..hehe..) that we stayed with them. It's good to have friends all over the places. Kalau holiday, boleh le ada orang jadi tourist guide..:-). This is the first time that Baby is going to be left behind for a few days. Last year we left Alysa & Adik for a few days when we went for a holiday. Kalau cuti2 kat Malaysia ni of course la diaorang ikut. But overseas ni susah sikit bawak small kids. With travelling & food hazards..seriau le pulak..

Muka2 nak kena tinggal..hua..

The past week ni memang malas giler nak masak! Just prepare simple lunches..Since we are not fussy with our food, something filling is enough for us. Sometimes, I just made roasted chicken or mutton steak. So, simple...Desserts lagilah malas. But yesterday terajin le pulak wat Banana Cake which I've done before. CMG's recipe..

Banana Cake

Last week we attended Hazeem, our neighbour's 5th Birthday. The theme was of course Ben 10. Even Alysa loves Ben 10 now. She's glued to the TV if Ben 10 is on air. Luckily we picked Hazeem's gift which was Ben 10 related stuff. Unfortunately, the princesses didn't get to mingle around coz there was a clown..and they are scared of clowns! So, they were stuck by my sides..

Hazeem's Birthday Party