8th Wedding aniversary

On the 21/12/10, it was our 8th wedding anniversary. Hubby told me days before ...that he had booked a table for us and the kids at Grand Hyatt's Straits Kitchen for dinner buffet....my jaws dropped when i heard that. It's been in my "wish list" for so many years now and finally i got to try it. He also surprised me BIG TIME when he gave me $100 Sephora vouchers...he said that this time i can really shop in Sephora store instead just walking around and walked out empty handed everytime.

I felt really bad that i didn't buy anything for him. I didn't even buy a new dress/outfit to look nice for our dinner that time because i had spent most of my money on necessities for KL trip. Just dressed plainly because i was a bit under the weather ..or maybe just tired from the trip. I will remember to put more effort and thought for his gift this May as a compensation(kindda had an idea already)

Ok, back to the interesting topic which is the FOOD! Well, what can i say....it was luxuriously buffet spread of local food like Malay, Chinese, Indian and Nyonya food. I was hoping to see cheesecake and sushi.....but Nope....they really strict and abide on the local concept rule.

In the Chinese section, the Black Pepper Crab is a must try...the crabs were fairly big and loaded with juicy tender meat enveloped with thick black pepper gravy. I also loved the Popiah (fresh spring roll)...and i think it was the best i've ever tried actually....also loved the briyani rice which not greasy at all but flavourful, also tried Ayam buah keluak for the first time and it was good..to sum it all (before my saliva dropped on my keyboard), i would like to say that most of the food were super nice and i wished i came with a bigger tummytank to try all of them.

We did not take a lot of pictures of the food because the lighthing were dim and we just wanted to enjoy the moment without worry about too much stuff...anyway we had a wonderful day and will keep on going to find ways to make the happiness in our marriage last. It can get a little difficult sometimes...that's why it needs love, patience, communication, compromise, sacrifice and doa.

Celebrating mil's 57th birthday.

Dh and i kindda forced net(brother in law) and yana who was already tucked into bed to go out with us again after 1/2 hr returning from Petaling st. The excuse we gave was to accompany us to watch football games (Man U vs Chelsea)...well we really wanted to watch the game actually. We also left the twins in MIL's care and i think it would be a breeze to take care of them because Dh left his iphone for them to play games...and believe me that they can suck into games for hours especially Aniq. Maybe due to my strictness that i don't' give them the freedom to play iphone games everyday...well it's bad for their eyes and their language development.

Went everywhere till we found a coffee shop with lots of mat saleh in it so we assume it must had got something to do with football so we asked the kopi boy whether they will show the game. Then he said with enthusiasm plus hand sign saying No Game (cross his hands repeatedly) because of heavy snow (his hand turned into claw and scratched in the air representing the snow kept pouring)...lol...do we look like we don't understand simple English...lol

I was glad that the game was cancelled because i prefer to watch it at home, the most comfortable place for me. So Dh asked his brother whether he knew about MIL's birthday which is that day (well it was midnight so technically it's already the 20th). He said he knew but he had no plan about it but Dh had one. Initially he wanted to get a birthday cake at Berjaya times square at Cafe earlier on but my MIL was always there with him so no chance of sneaking around to do it. So all four of us were on a hunt to get the "nicest cake" they had on 24hr convenience store...sadly we only got 2 chocolate swiss roll that we combine together and stuck some colourful candles on it ...on the picture it looked like Christmas log cake actually, hehehe.

We got back to the hotel and went to my room to grab my videocam. We lit the candles just outside MIL's room and knocked on the door and my sweet Aniq opened the door. As soon as we dimmed the room's light, we sang the birthday song. And she was caught by surprise, still able to remain calm and smiling and quickly asked yana to hand her cekak rambut. Aniq and Aliah helped her to blow the candles at the end of the song...kepoh kids!

Dh gave her some money (as money can become the best/practical gift for some) for her to get a handbag that she always wanted to get. And she ended up of getting two bags the next day..and she looked happy...Misson accomplished!...a happy person on a special day!

Day 2 in KL

Breakfast buffet..the food is so mediocre ..nothing special really! A little disappointing i must say because we felt that their standard has gone down. We stayed in this hotel many many years ago and many many times and we loved their breakfast buffet. We also disappointed in their service...the remote control in our room was not working and Dh need to call 2-3 times for them to replace it and they gave us ironing board but the iron was not found in the room so we need to call again and the ridiculous part is that they don't provide toothbrush and toothpaste!! Angsana hotel and spa is 4 star hotel, mind you!! Even the 3 1/2 star hotel in Bangkok gave us all the necessities. Guess Dh and i need to try other hotel the next time to explore...oopps ..did i complain too much...ok ok let's move on.....

Posed infront of Berjaya times square...

The kids were having so much fun at the Indoor Theme Park. We spent 3-4 hours in there. Dh didn't took part in any rides because he felt he will get dizzy very fast and i quite agreed with him. I accompanied Yana my sis in law to ride the DNA Mixer (the most scary ride i ever rode) and the roller coaster...and i already seeing stars after that..i even vomitted because i took 1 hot mocha drink minutes before that. My younger bro in law didn't buy ticket so he didn't enter because he don't want to thus no one accompany yana to have fun. Despite being a teenager, luckily yana didn't want to ride anything else after that or else MATI GUE!! hahaha

My mother, brother and uncle in law joined us for late lunch after that. Actually Aniq wanted to go back into the theme park which we still can but i know that mil anxiously wanted to go Petaling st so bad in the evening. It's hard to get taxi with meter during that time so we decided to take train to go and it was our first time! It was exciting to explore their monorail...though it was a disaster but it was fun nonetheless...

After struugling to get into the monorail, we took KTM (i think... i mean the bigger train) but we need to wait for my 2 bro in law because they didn't able to get in the first time...need to try harder to get into the next one! So we posed for some pictures to kill time...

I didn't buy anything from Petaling st but we accompanied Bro in law to buy his shoes and shirt.

Went back to hotel around 11pm and rest but later in the midnight we had some surprise for MIL. (later in another post)

At Central Market. On our way to the foodcourt for lunch cause we were famished or maybe just me...yeah imagine breakfast at 5 am and lunch at 3pm! My hubby and the rest had prata at noon so they got better energy...

The food we tried was not that great but still good to restore our energies..

We went to jln masjid india and i saw lots of tudung selling at cheap prices(most of them selling at 5 ringgit)..but i just bought two. Mcm segan gitu nak shop lebih lebih depan mak mentua..hehehe

Also bought a Quicksilver gym bag (imitation version) at 10 ringgit! and tudung hanger which has 18 slots for me to hang my tudung for 12 ringgit! In singapore they were sold around $15-18 singapore dollars. Got the kids a watch each because they were getting bored just following us around and kept persuading us to go back to hotel.

Got back to our hotel before 11pm and glad that most of them were happy with their purchases.

Set off to kl at night.

Amt of calories, fat, carb are all stated on the wrapper ...how convenient..


We reached KL at about 5a.m and the bus stopped just infront of our hotel (angcasa). We carried all our luggages to the 24hr McD which was just nearby to stop for late supper/ early breakfast. We saw there were some other travellers with luggages and big bagpacks were there too to have their meals or to rest their heads on the tables....maybe waiting for dawn before proceed to their hotel, i guess. We bought 2 happy meals, 1 big breakfast for DH and sausage mcmuffin for me...the kids got 1 mini barbie doll and 1 battle force 5 car from the happy meals set and i knew with that... they won't be bored for few more hours....phewww...what a lifesaver!!

After our meals, we went to hotel and registered at the lobby and the front desk promised us to give us at least 1 room first for all of us to rest by 7-8am. Performed our solat subuh at 2nd level air-conditioned surau at 6am and continued waiting at the hotel lobby and the kids were still not sleepy...At 7.50am we got 1 room out of 3 and at 11am we got the second room and at 1pm we got our last room(mine) at last.

It's been 4 years since i had cooked ownself meal (steamboat way) at Seoul Garden so i kindda excited. And i know that the kids will have free meal for 2 adult paying on Sunday. When we arrived at 4pm, the front desk person also the manager asked whether we make any reservation...my heart sank upon hearing that even though it was merely a question....we said no with a heavy heart and the manager asked around whether they still have available table and we heard the letter y.e.s......YES!! I guess we learnt our lesson....

I was embarrased to see that other people loaded their almost full container that's boiling with soup with lots of green vegetable while we barely had any...hehehehe
At about 5pm, we called it a day after stuffing ourself and went out from there.

We walked around a bit and before we know it, the HI-5 show scheduled at 7pm is about to start. We didn't queued for it because the queue was insanely long. So we went to the level 2 and we had quite a clear view of the stage from the glass pane...the kids really enjoyed themselves. It brought me back to memory lane when my hubby and i once brought the kids who were 2 years old to watch hi5 exclusive show at Expo. I remembered how they dance with their small steps among the big kids while the HI5 performing.

It was a good sunday...alhamdullilah....and now on friday afternoon i'm already done packing for all of us to KL and we're taking the bus tonight.

Passport-checked
Money-checked
Credit card for the hotel-checked
Skincare essentials-checked
Makeup essentials-checked
Clothing-checkedOintments esp yuyi oil-checked
travel prayer mats and telekung-checked

*excited mode*-checked

lol.............

Selamat menyambut maal hijrah 1432H. (6 disember 2010)

Doa akhir tahun (dibaca 3 kali)
Doa ini dibaca selepas fardhu Asar hari terakhir bulan Zulhijjah.

Doa awal tahun (dibaca 3 kali)
Dibaca selepas fardhu Maghrib awal tahun hijrah.

Semoga di tahun baru Islam ini, Allah memberkati kami iman yang kukuh, rezeki yang berkat, memelihara kami dan melindung kami dari gangguan syaithan dan kuncu kuncunya serta anak buahnya. Amin Amin Amin ya rab alamin.

Peristiwa yang berkaitan dengan
MUHARRAM (29 hari)

* 1 Muharram- Awal Hijrah

* 10 Muharram -Hari Asyura

* Hari kematian Saidina Hussen Bin Ali cucu Rasullulah s.a.w

Jawab mcm tak bersalah.....

Last night, the four of us went for to shops at the admiralty mrt after dinner at home. We bought some grocery stuffs and 2 water bottle carriers for the kids.

So on the way home, we played a little game/quiz to kill our boredom.

I asked them, "Who is the tallest?"....and the kids said "AYAH!!" .

I asked again, " Who wear pink pants?" and the kids said, "ALIAH!!"

and i asked again, "Who loves to cry all the time?",.....and we all looked at Aniq and Aniq innocently said " No one body!!" (NO ONE+NOBODY) hahahaha.....

Marina Barrage

Went to Marina Barrage for the first time ...it's not that difficult to go there actually. I alighted at Marina Bay Mrt Station and took a shuttle bus to Marina Barrage ....well actually i was waiting for BUS 400 but god has plan a better way for me when the shuttle bus arrived without my expectation!! hehe...

At first the weather was kind of nice then it was rather hot later in the afternoon...i can feel my cheeks were burning...Lucky for me i brought my umbrella with me..(what do you expect...i'm vain!! haha)

It was nice that Kamisah brought homemade foods that she cooked early in the morning. I brought Roti kari from the mamak stall, twisties and 2 packs of packet drinks..thinking that we might eat dinner at food court later in the evening.....I got back quite late from a birthday party the night before so i didn't plan to make anything from home.

The kids were having a massive fun flying their kite...they did everything in their power to bring the kite up in the sky....Aniq even ran so fast (thinking that's the only way to get the kite up up into the sky) that he almost fell off...but luckily a guy who happened to be there with his family able to catch him and land into his arms....

Didn't know that kite flying could be ssooo fun...for the kids and us ...

Healthy breakfast for the loved ones

Breakfast of the day.

Wholemeal pita+scrambled egg+diced tomato+a squirt of mayo(optional)+iceberg lettuce and VOILA!!

Something to ponder upon

Watch your thoughts
for they become words

Watch your words
for they become actions

Watch your actions
for they become habits

Watch your habits
for they become character

Watch your character
for it becomes your destiny

Raya 2010 ada lebih nikmatnya dan teristimewa...

It's almost coming to 3 weeks of celebrating Hari raya ...and up to now, i feel thankful to have family, in laws and friends...around us celebrating it.

I also glad that this time ..my in laws have made time to come to our humble crib to taste my homemade kuihs and lauk-pauk and took pictures with us and the kids...Glad to know that my MIL was impressed by my homemade kuihs..(kembang sekejap member..heheh)Seriously i really feel thankful to allah for perkenankan my doa. And this year..there no major sadness that usually would happened during Hari Raya due to misunderstandings and some other things(alhamdullilah)...except to bid farewell to my old friend's mum whom i knew almost my life. Al-fateha to Cik Bibi.

So tonight, i'll be visiting my sibling's place and seems like this week will probably be our last week of celebrating Hari Raya because my kuihs at home is running low..YIKES!!

Retake

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At my cousin's house Idayu.

The last weekend, we decided to retake all family photos with just my hp's camera since we all dress up to go to Along's house, cik milah's house and Idayu's house. The way we dress up is exactly the same as on the first day Hari Raya so that's the best time to retake all pictures.

Tomorrow, we gonna jln jln hari raya with his colleague starting at 11am. That means i can't sleep back after subuh tomorrow and the kids have to skip madrasah class again because the first house will be at Simei(11am). *slapping forehead*

I need my caffeine tomorrow for sure!

Vitamin untuk batin.

A quote from Mother Theresa:

"If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

Trajedi di hari pertama Syawal.

First of all, i was excited to be able to wear makeup all day on Hari Raya without having to wash it off and put it on again for pictures because my period came that day. But then again i was nervous because the night before i thought of performing solat subuh and read yaasiin after that. Yelah dgn harapan bahawa semoga urusan kita hari itu akan dipermudahkan.

But it didn't went that way when i received my period but i still pray for the best.

but we lost our camera which was carried by DH!! I was quite sad to know that the pictures we took at the comfort of our home were gone but i quickly attempted to calm myself down thinking that bad things do happen.Kalau Allah kata jadi, maka jadilah ia sebagaimana yang diinginkan. Dh was quite remorseful even though he didn't speak much so i didn't want to add anything to that.

Another thing that happened that day was when my friend, ana called me crying in the middle of the night saying that her mother had passed away. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon.

I knew Cik bibi as long i knew my friend which is 22 years long....She loved talking to me everytime i came to their house ...i always admired the motherly love she gave to my friend all these while. I'll pray that she will rest in peace and May Allah bless her soul.

I went to visit Ana yesterday but i can't come at the time when cik bibi dikebumikan because Aniq had fever while Aliah had diarhhea so i need to wait for Dh to come home and take of them. With that being said, i went there alone with the purpose to give emotional support and console her. We hug and cried together and we promised each other that no matter what may come or how busy we going to be, we will keep in touch...suffice with just sms if not on the phone.

She also told me how she rasa insaf when the jenezah dimadikan and when Ustazah Aminah menceritakan tentang alam kubur. I was glad that she willing to share all that with me even though she did it with tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

Salah satu hadis Rasulullah SAW yang sangat akrab ditelinga kita berbunyi :“Apabila meninggal anak cucu Adam (manusia), maka terputuslah amalnya kecuali tiga hal saja, yaitu sedekah jariah, ilmu yang diambil manfaatnya oleh manusia, dan anak yang saleh yang berdoa untuknya “ ( HR.Ahmad ).