Living with Sarah

Petang yang agak boring. Hujan pulak tu. Jadinya, Mommy and daughter buat projek di dapur - Banana Pancake atau juga dikenali sebagai Lempeng Pisang. Bukan apa, last week asyik tengok Chef Sherson masak Apam Balik Pisang kat AFC. Nampak deliciousnya... Tapi, tak lah minat sangat dengan apam balik. So, ikut recipe pancake Jamie Oliver, tambah sendiri pisang kat atas, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Seriously delicious... Aliyah buat sendiri batter. Dah pandai la sikit-sikit dia memasak :).  Simple batter: 1 cup self-rising flour, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 pinch of salt. Letak olive oil & butter dalam pan, masukkan 1 senduk batter. Bila dah half cook, letak la sliced banana. Then, sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon. Then flip over.  Chef ni terus makan the first pancake. Yang lain, Mommy dia yang kena masak. Tambah lagi 2-3 slices of fresh banana. Then a dash of maple syrup. Yummy! Abah dia balik from KL dengan laparnya telah menyebat dua keping terus, walaupun d

We already brought the kittens to see their "grandpa" - Sazali kat Vet clinic. Dia dan doctor pun macam heran the kittens are that big. Selalunya kittens start bukak mata day 10. Mimi's kittens bukak mata day 8. Today they are actually 15 days old. Still "gigil-gigil" lagi walaupun dah besar dari tapak tangan I.   Aliyah dah bagi nama semua. Nowadays dia tengah crazy tengok House of Anubis so nama semua ikut cerita tu.    Port masih lagi di bawah sinki bathroom downstairs... Yang ni girl - she named it "Amber". Ni yang grey (see picture above).  This is a boy. Namanya "Fabian".  Yang ni girl. Nama dia "Nina".  Yang ni girl kot. Tapi Aliyah bagi nama "Alfie". Memang macam Alfie cerita House of Anubis! These two are so cute! Yang multi-colour tu Marina my friend dah book.

1. Raya Haji I tak jadi balik Melaka. Demam lah pulak. Agak teruk juga. Must be the weather yang panas sesangat, then hujan lebat, then panas balik... Hubby pun tak sihat gak. Aliyah saja yang antibodi agak kuat. Dia gembira je buat hal dia sendiri. Apa-apa pun, dapat kiriman daging dan tulang dari MIL yang korban lembu tahun ni. Alhamdulillah... tapi masih di dalam freezer. Agak penuh jugak freezer dengan daging. Neighbour depan pun korban juga, so dapat satu plastik. Jenuh lah nak habiskan... 2. We finally got words on our grant. Their presentation to their committee was finally completed last month, hari ni dapat email nak meeting mintak a few clarifications. Tapi lepas tu diaorg nak present balik kat committee... Haiyoo... by the time approve, idea pun dah tak canggih lah... Doa banyak-banyak mintak mudahkan dan cepatkan. Cepatkan yang penting tu... 3. Insyaallah we'll get another tenant. Orang dekat-dekat sini juga. 2-3 more then cukuplah... Semoga suasana kekal harmoni. S

Itu advantage being an entrepreneur kan. Sambil merendang boleh bekerja or sambil bekerja boleh merendang. Rendang I baru je siap. Atas dapur lagi. Tahun ni Raya Haji di rumah sendiri. Esok petang baru balik Melaka. Oleh kerana buat rendang di rumah sendiri, boleh lah masak sesuka hati. So, tahun ni I masak Rendang Nyonya. Wahh... yang pasti bukan Rendang Nyonya Mansoor Ibu Mertua Kasim Selamat okey. Itu jahat punya orang. Rendang ni sebenarnya ilham dari tengok Florance nyonya tu masak Laksa Nyonya untuk Bobby Chin kat AFC. So, I pun try la buat (mana ingredient yang dapat tangkap) tapi I buat gulai ayam nyonya. Agak sedap la... Memang macam rasa Laksa Nyonya kat Secret Recipe tu - yang memang marvelous. Untuk rendang I hari ni, apparently memang wujud rendang nyonya ni. Recipe yang paling simple I jumpa exactly macam gulai I selalu buat tu. This time around I memang guna buah keras. I really don't know what difference it will make. Tapi nyonya style memang wajib - buah keras, b

Aliyah had her BFF over on Saturday. I took the opportunity to bake her a cake. Since her BFF's birthday was 2 days before hers, good to have a small celebration for the 2 girls. I have not baked for so long. My spring cleaning session last month saw me throwing out lots of baking stuff. The utensils are nicely arranged on the top shelves. Macam saja je susahkan aktiviti mengeluarkan barang. But then, for my little girl - I baked!  Bottom layer vanilla cake, top layer choc moist. Malasnya nak buat piping deco (malas nak mengemas sebenarnya), so I just put the choc moist cake crumbles all around. The taste? Yummy la jugak. But I should've cut the vanilla cake in half and spread more butter cream. This is supposed to be a 3 layer cake - tapi last minute macam malasnya... My little girl is on a school trip to Melaka today. I pray Allah looks after her.  

We actually went for a short trip to Bukit Mertajam on Thursday, and came back on Friday. Yup, very short trip. And very tiring. Hubby has an appointment to interview a company in one of the industrial areas in Bukit Mertajam. Since Thursday was the last day of exams for Aliyah, and Friday was her birthday, and not having her father around on her birthday was not acceptable, I suggested we followed. We reached there around 8.30pm. It rained heavily on the way there. I counted 6 weather changes throughout the 4.5 hours journey. We stayed at The Summit - the nearest to the industrial area. The next day, Hubby went off to work at 9.30am and what did both of us do? Watched TV and surfed the Net. The swimming pool was small - Aliyah tak ada mood nak swim. She then spent one hour in the bath tub - quite a big one. We didn't go to the island - weather was horrible (very heavy rain) and we need to get back. On the way back, we thought of stopping by at interesting places along the highwa

First glimpse at our little kittens. I took these photos last Thursday - 4th day. The grey ones are very unusual - their colours I mean. The vet said Mimi has good genes. That's why he didn't let us spay Mimi. Aliyah wants to keep one of the kittens. I'm still thinking...  Very unusual grey colour...  Aliyah loves this one... So tembam. Another grey. But the head is slightly darker in colour. Another one is the same colour as Mimi. 

Our cat Mimi gave birth to 4 kitties yesterday afternoon - her 3rd time. Mimi ni we all simpan dalam cage sebab after her 2nd birth, she got quite sick. Sangat kurus sebab anak 6 ekor and she was stressed out. Only 3 of her kittens survived. We only let her out once in a while. After a few months she got really healthy - bulu pun jadi kembang dan nampak sangat comel. Niat di hati nak cari menantu handsome biar dapat anak Pan-Asian. Sedar-sedar, a couple of weeks ago dia dah heavily pregnant. Adoii... sesekali dapat lepas sempatttt je dia! Yesterday morning I noticed dia dah start masuk dalam carrier yang memang dah sedia untuk dia. Masalahnya dalam tu si Boboi Blur tu tidur pulak. I masukkan Mimi dalam cage. Bila Hubby balik dia mengiau kuat. Sah lah tu, time dah sampai. So, masukkan dia dalam bathroom bawah dan letak carrier dia. By 4pm settle - 4 kittens - 2 kelabu, 1 macam colour dia and 1 white & orange. Semua gemuk-gemuk and comel-comel. In 1 month's time sure dah start

1. It's exam week for Aliyah. I pray that she do well in her exams. She spent the weekend studying with her friend at her friend's house. More fun and productive that way I hope! 2. We bought an advanced birthday present for Aliyah. Right after our meeting with our favourite agency last Wednesday, we straight away went to a Samsung outlet. To cut a not-so-long story very short, we bought her a present that at this moment we cannot really afford (... bills, loans, etc would have to wait...). But to buy her a lesser "techie" present wouldn't do justice to her intelligence. Our little girl is such a techie. Give her any gadget and she will be able to operate it in 5 minutes. A couple of years ago, her Mak Ngah just got herself a Samsung phone (I can't remember what model then - the first few earlier touch screen phone models) and still figuring out how to send a text message when she offered to take a look, touched a few icons and showed her how to do it. Anywa

Semalam saya telah dipoke di FB oleh seorang lelaki yang lahir pada tahun 1965 yang tinggal di Ipoh. Saya telah lama tidak dipoke. Rasanya aktiviti poke ini sudah agak ketinggalan zaman. Kemudian, saya mendapati terdapat PM darinya yang hanya tertulis "slm". Agak malas agaknya untuk menekan kekunci "a" untuk menaip perkataan penuh "salam". Saya pun meng-check siapa agaknya lelaki ini - mutual friends cuma seorang iaitu senior saya semasa di asrama sekolah menengah. Jadi, saya memang tidak kenal dengan beliau. Saya check out wall beliau. Public. Oh, tidak berapa bijak... Gambar? Nampak agak kabur. Mungkin gambar 10 tahun lepas. Nampaknya beliau agak baru dalam dunia FB - cuma sejak beberapa bulan yang lepas. Wall postingsnya pula? Setiap hari beliau akan mengupdate apa yang beliau makan semasa lunch. Tak apa lah... Saya hanya akan berdiam diri sahaja. Harap-harap beliau tidak poke saya lagi.

We just started our writing project with our favourite agency. Meeting to discuss the project was on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning we had to interview the Chairman of the first company. (note: sigh, selalu last minute...). At first rasa macam nak cancel and reschedule je sebab we didn't have much time to prepare - research, prepare questions, etc. But then, dah client suruh pergi, kena lah kan... I was so glad I went. I was so glad I followed the video crew (before our interview session). I told myself - this person is what God made human beings for. We met the Chairman of PSI Incontrol - Mr Harvinder Singh. Our piece was supposed to be more casual than the video. The office was in Sg Buluh in this dusty industrial area, nothing to shout about. The office was also quite modest (for a company making hundreds of millions!). The moment I saw the Chairman's office, I knew this person is someone special. His office was glass all around. He can see his staff, his staff can

Once, Hubby's ex-boss whom I know posted on his FB - who is your role model - someone you look up to? I responded = Prof Kamil Ibrahim. His book Travelog Dakwah touched my heart and soul. I still have it on my desk at work (sorry Abg Ben, the book is still with me) which I would open occasionally. I'm now reading Bersyukur Saat Diuji. I follow him on FB and read his blogs.  Last week, his postings were mostly on buka puasa at Masjid Nabawi - the simple food being consumed. On a Friday night I had a dream. I was at a mosque. It was Masjid Nabawi, Madinah. I just feel it in my guts. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It was nearing Maghrib and I was fasting. There was a door and I could see people queuing up to get food outside. Very long queue. There were delicious food of buffet spread. Then, there were the simple food offered in the mosque - on "saprah". I remember glasses of water and this big currypuffs (like the ones I bought a few weeks ago at the nearby pasar

Another day at the office. On the way, I had to bring the subject to Aliyah. I started talking. Her facial expressions changed. "Do we have to?", she asked. "I guess so...", I said. She looked straight to the roads. I turned to the small park near Vista and we sat down at one of the shades. I wanted a breath of fresh air. I know she needed it too. It is calmer this time around. I poured it out. She listened. I told her I am so sorry. "Do you understand why now?", I asked. She nodded. I gave her a tight hug. We both had tears in our eyes. I know we'll both be ok.

I actually lama tak masuk office. This week only one day on Tuesday. My staff is having problems with her back she's got to go for physio sessions 3 times a week. But she's armed with everything needed for an admin to manage the office from home - laptop, broadband, phone with free 250mins talking time, call divert from office to her phone... So, business is actually as usual. Since I spent the day at the office today, I got the chance to admire my plant - from just one shoot when we first moved here, now there are 6 and going to 7. This plant was originally given by my good friend Yatt. When it grows, I started to break it up and replant in 2 pots. The one at the office is the healthy one. The one at home has been divided into 2 where I replanted in one tall vase as birthday present to my nephew. I told him the plant symbolises rezeki. You work hard and you can see more shoots coming out!  Now, I hope this new shoot means murah rezeki because I so need it badly!

Kalau dah patah seribu, whatever heartaches that come after that are like being protected by an antibody. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt, I'm just saying the body is already broken enough to withstand another assault. The whole heart might collapse like a house of cards, but I collect each and every piece and put them back together. With all these "whys" in my head, I spent the day at the office, coaching Aliyah with her studies for her coming exams, not before taking her to the clinic as she was not well. You know she's not well when she couldn't finish half of her Hj Tapah roti telur. I promised her that if she studies and takes her medicine, she can have Sushi King for lunch.  And Sushi King it was. The place was packed for lunch so we took the two bar seats at the conveyor belt. Aliyah ate a few plates of her favourite sushi even though she ordered tempura udon. Then, a gentleman came and sat next to her - the only available seat in the house. I gl

1. Hubby turned 41 on Sunday. Aliyah bought this cute notebook of a cat on the cover. We celebrated with a blueberry and vanilla cake. Well, we only get to cut the cake after dinner. Hubby was in and out of the house due to his cycling buddies' cycling accident at a jamboree. Such yummy cake... 2. I finally finished spring cleaning the kitchen. Yeay me! It took me 3 days. Now waiting for Hubby to run through mopping the floor one more time. Spotless. Shiny. Not a speck of dust. Dunno how long this will last!   Every inch of the kitchen surface has been cleaned. Even the fridge. The counter top is so empty - as I like it. Everything is organised in orderly manner in the cabinets. An info-architect in action! The washing area. No more plain cement. And tak payah pakai slippers. Suka hati contractor tu susun tiles macam jigsaw puzzle. We are not fussy. We got a good contractor. Ada extra tiles dia nak pasang kat belakang - bila-bila dia free. Alhamdulillah... orangnya

One fine afternoon last week. One full hour of me time. Over one glass of cold hazelnut coffee. After a fruitful meeting with our Kuantan client. Armed with a note book to scribble my thoughts. One hour of just staring at the fountains and trees. And watching a lady feeding breadcrumbs to birds. A full hour of penning thoughts.

There's a blessing in disguise of having the washing area repaired - kitchen spring cleaning. The repair work was completed on Friday except for some paint work and touch-ups. The workers didn't come during the weekend, so I started cleaning, in between spending a night at my Kak Long's place on Friday and visiting my good friend Yatt on Saturday. It is a hard decision on what to start first because it's like a chicken and egg situation. Whichever part to start, there's always the possibility of doing the cleaning work again. I finally worked on the cabinets first - going from top to bottom. I spread a table cloth on the floor to put the stuff on. The table top was heavy with dust and grease. So, it was taking stuff out, clean up the shelves, clean up the stuff, wipe them clean and dry, rearrange the stuff and label the shelves. For food stuff - check the expiry dates, throw some out, repack others in more suitable containers, label them, rearrange them so that Al