Tale of Cooking & Tale of Sites

Yippedeeduu! I'm done with 9 modules of our compulsory e-learning thingy.

Anyway, I am not a TV addict but when I was in Manila, I got no choice but to just watch TV while waiting for the shopping outlets to begin their operations. I got hook up with their Living Network which has lots of cooking and decorating tips and tricks and recipes and such. Almost all chefs or living 'guru' has their own sites so do check-out the list below:-

1. Rachael Ray

2. Bobby Flay

3. Emeril

4. Giada de Laurentiis

5. Tyler Florence

6. Barefoot Contessa

7. Wolfgang Puck

8. Food Network

9. DIY Network

10. Martha Stewart

Oh, by-the-way, I've added a few recipe on me and my Tebby's food-blog. Do check out our new entries: -

1. Garlic-Butter Prawn

2. Tebby's Nudle

3. Nasi Rempah Ber-Ayam

4. Garlic-Butter Stick

5. Fried Apple Pie

Tale of Viva, Tale of Tebby

Salam to all.

Updates on my ViVa. Got the undertaking letter at 45 after 5 on Monday and sent it to Pero2 in Kajang the next morning. (Thanks a lot to Kak Pah from HR, tho she may not be reading my blog at all! I pestered her all day) They're keeping the car for me until they get the cheque from T*. I don't know if they bluff. They told me the car would be available in 1.5-2 months time when there was in fact ready-stock and when it did arrived in their showroom much-much earlier than expected, they insisted that payment be made within 3 days. Gilo apo? Kalau duit saya berbakul-bakul, tidaklah saya membeli ViVa itu okay. At this point, kalau ada jodoh saya dengan si ViVa Kajang tu,.. adalahhh... kalau susah-susah sangat, anggaplah dah tak ada jodoh... sob! sob! Yang pasti kalau tak dapat ViVa, saya akan pinang yang lain pulak he.. he..

Anyway, semalam Tebby tak sihat. At 33yo, he's still very much a child in certain aspect. He ordered McD delivery of a Quarter Pounder, 2pcs of Fried Chicken. That were, in fact, normal in my household, we're gastronomic-disasterous when it comes to eating. When I asked him about soda drink, he just smiled guiltily. That earned him a spank. You see, Tebby had 'Gastritis Haemorrage' (spelling?) atau dengan kata mudahnya gastric berdarah and that is not not not good. He's been postponing appointment with Dr Mazlam and having hard time not to consume the 'donts', soda included. See, I have 3 babies to take care of. All manja one somemore!! But sorry guys, I am all Iman's at night. He'd wrap me around in his little embrace until he falls asleep.

Anyway, Achik and Che De (my SILs) came over last weekend. Kakak went shopping with them in Alamanda and got herself Twyla. Twyla is a cat in Barbie's Twelce Dancing Princesses, btw. [Excerpt from wiki ~ A cute kitten in the palace, who tries to act tough in front of her enemies. She is very proud and brave and does not get along with Rowena's monkey Brutus. She believes that she is a tigress (the reasons behind this belief are unknown and not explained in the film, though she seems to truly believe it), as shown when she tells Brutus that she is descended from "a line of fierce tigers from the jungles of India"] She knew well she would not be able to get one had she gone with us so... Achik and Che de were definately better targets. Achik brought along some food-stuff for us. A few boxes of cookies and a few more of 'instant' things. Thanks Achik.

Tale of Work & Tale of Kids

My hands are often full these days. My boss is on a-week-holiday so that gives me some space to sort things out on my table. The supposedly-arrived-last-week appointment letter did not make it for some reasons that were not known to any of us. I doubt the effective date is going to be 1st June. I just hope and pray that the new scope will give me other insights of things and that things will go on smoothly. Unlike my current scope, which suffered hiccups right from the beginning for some reasons I do not wish to share here. But as they say, beggars cannot be choosers right. It is not what is forthcoming from the new appointment that worries me most. It’s more like what I am doing right now. The scope is gone for good from this office but the reporting and analysis will still need to be submitted. It is accepted that during the transition period of 1-2 months, I’ll still have to contribute but I hope it won’t go any further than that. Okay, enough ramble about this matter. It gives me the chill.


Anyway, in conjunction with my boss taking leave, I have the privilege to finish off 4 parts of the online learning that all executive needs to finish off. Phew, I have like 20 module, each has about 20-40 pages and a test at the end of every module. Passing marks 80%. I almost fail the second one to be frank! So dear colleague, buck up and start now. Keeping it to the last minutes won’t do you good.


Oh btw, we went to Atfal Excel this morning to pick-up Kakak’s report card and to get some insights on how she’s doing. According to her teacher, Kakak is a fast learner ONLY if she can concentrate. Her main problem is lack of concentration. If she’s able to do so, learning would be a breeze. She’s coping almost to the same level with her other friends after so many absence last year. As for Iman, he’s gonna start Kindy next year. According to the caretaker, Iman is maturing fast. He still throws tantrums and loves to be around older kids. He still lack in vocal communication. But to sum-up my kids, their problem lies in lack of concentration. I guess it’s really hard to sit still when there’s a lot to do and explore. Iman is taking his fish-oil on daily basis as per advised by his paed. Kakak, after much coaxing, still refuses due to the smell. In fact, even Tebby gets ‘mual’ with the smell. Someone needs to do the smelly job, huh.

And know what, latest research shows that the level of activity is in fact, heredity. Genes play some part also. No, it's not mine.

the car is here, the loan is not!

keta dah sampai!

masalahnya loan masih sangkut! mamat Perodua tu dan tak dan nak mintak settle everything within 24 jam. saya kata mana sempat, dengan orang tengah cuti nya apa nya. so, i got 3 days to get an undertaking letter as proof of my loan capacity. with that they'll keep the car for me. the letter is being prepared by HR. i just hope thing will run smoothly and i don't have to come to a point that i need to yell at anyone.

My car *ehem* is available already.

*hooray not yet* My loan is still pending. Submitted last week and the processing shall take about 2 weeks. Perodua is holding the car for only 3 days. If I fail to submit an undertaking letter of sort, Perodua will release the car for the waiter after me. And I, will have to start the Q again. So, there was I this morning sorting things out. Alhamdulillah, the letter will be ready today, InsyaAllah. And I, can get my car! *but not to be too excited yet until I see the letter in front of my very eyes*.

I have a lot to do after getting it, inclusive of pumping gas into the tank!

Exposed I Shall Be..

I'll be attending a workshop in Melaka tonight until Saturday noon. The first workshop for the new job-scope. Suratnya belum sampai tapi kerjanya udah! Exposure, as they call it. Whatever.. Bring it on. I am still very much positive about everything.. he.. he..

Standing Ovation once again to Tebby. He'll be alone caring for the kids while I'm away. God knows if Kakak will slap lotion onto Abah and does her little kiddy massage like she does on me every night lately. Ummi shall miss that Kakak. And Iman with his little dance as he 'sings' along with little-red-hairy ELMO from Sesame Streets on TV. Of course, my Tebby. I shall miss his quick morning-peck on the cheek.

I'll write again when conditions permit.

Good Luck Dear Tebby

Good luck to Tebby. He's among those people that has been called for an interview with one of our company's subsidiaries. I don't know about other candidates but for my dear Tebby, if he gets it, it'll be an upgrading for him.

What comes with it is the rumored, 10%-30% additional from whatever the basic earning is now and carry-along perks he currently enjoys. And not to mention the heavier responsibities and job-scope or whatever new challenges attached to it.

I am sure Allah will grant whatever is best for us.

As for me, I am still like I used to be. InsyaAllah I shall be doing other scope after the new structure is implemented. In fact, I already have an assignment for the post that I shall sit in, in two weeks time. InsyaAllah.

Macam-macam Kakak

Semalam Kakak tolong saya masukkan kain dalam washing-machine. Washing machine tu kami letakkan di bahagian belakang dapur, so kena buka pintu dapur. Abahnya pesan suruh Kakak tengok-tengokkan, jangan sampai tikus masuk pintu dapur yang terbuka. Lepas siap masukkan kain, cepat-cepat dia masuk rumah. That little girl invented her own way of not allowing cik siti sekalian masuk ke rumah...

Padi Dah Menjadi!!

kalau padi katakan padi

tidak aku tertampi-tampi

dah jadi memang menjadi

YESSS... VIVA ku akan sampai sebulan dua lagi

APSH102007, 112007 & 122007 and on 'Speaking of Which'

Speaking of hot weather nowadays, thank God it rained this morning. Tho I had to go through the hassle of bundling the kids into the car while it was raining, without getting them wet and then went through a bit worse traffic jam due to the rain, I’m loving every bit of the cold moment the rain had brought with it. I hope my surviving herbs and other plants will get some kind of moral encouragement from the rain. Please God let them survive.

Speaking of being thankful, I have a lot to say Alhamdulillah for. One of those is the KGT we just got for 2007. Another one is the completed repayment for one of my mini-mikro loans. (It seems like 'kacang' only when I mentioned mini-mikro right. But if you have 2 or 3 of those, they can be quite burdensome you know) Another being my repayment of JPA, which can be paid one-off, in full, using one month of increment. I am finally free off some debts.

Speaking of debts, I may be opening another chapter on that. Thank God I hesitated on buying Savvy or any other compact (and cheap) cars. In conjunction of me being free off some debts and the KGT, Perodua is launching its replacement model for Kancil and Kelisa. And the prices seem right with my budget. Lalalalalaaa… lepas ni senanglah makcik nak beronggeng dengan anak-anak. And the car will be fully utilized as Tebby wants to save money on petrol so Chevy will stay home after this.

Speaking of anak-anak pulak, Kakak is having mild coughing while Iman, selsema. Never ending episode eh? But to me, their health is improving. They still get it but on a longer interval. We brought Iman to APSH yesterday (our 12th visit in 2007 alone!). Alhamdulillah, after not rejecting the latest antibiotics, his right ear dried up completely. On our 10th visit, which was on 21st April 2007, he was prescribed antibiotics, which he later rejected. He vomited his stomach out after ½ hr or so after we administered the antibiotic. On our 11th visit, he was given a milder one, flavorful strawberry which he liked and accepted. Even Kakak wanted to have some. Dr said should Iman reject that one, he may have to be admitted or even to have a minor surgery to dry up his ear. I am so very relieved where Iman’s right ear is concerned. Did I tell you how the kids ‘duckling’ around during weekends? They minded their business with a small pail, a few small shovels and pebbles and whatnots and later turned themselves into somekind of choc-coated monsters from the soil they dug and plastered onto their bodies. They did. No kidding. Abess berkumbah lawn.

Iman is so obsessed with ELMO lately. That soft-spoken red cutie has been on screen for God-Knows-How-Many-Time already. I kinda like ELMO too. He's polite, he's funny and he pronouns himself as ELMO and not 'i'. While Iman is at that, Kakak found ways through tears and naggings to get her Lumpy (Heffalump from one of those Pooh's movies). I bought that in The Podium for one of my nieces actually. Looks like I need to find something else as replacement. Anyway, when comes bedtime, it's still kikkerrr and pah.

Speaking of lawn, semalam we happened to come across a booth promoting pergolas, gazebos, gates and grills (mostly wrought iron). His initial calculations, my dream pergola and wood decking will insyaAllah cost about 2-3K only (my calculation says 6-9K!). Left our contact and we will be contacted later for actual quotations when they actually come to measure everything.
(latest news - the person called Tebby and he'll come this Sunday for quotation.. yippeedeeeduuuu)

Now, I have a lot to smile about, right.

Manila Updates 2

If I were to list 4 things/events I shall remember most during the recent trip to Manila, my list will consists on the followings: -

1. 10 check-points upon exiting Manila via Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Yupp. There were 10 points!
i. Even to gain entry to the departure hall itself, we had to show our tickets and passports. Only visitors with label almost as big as 1/2 A4 paper pasted onto their chests were allowed. Even so, the hall was packed and hot.
ii. 2nd check was to scan our check-in baggages, hand-carry items, handbags or whatever you're bringing in. Of course, a body searh followed after.
iii. The 3rd one was to weight our check-in baggages and being reminded on what items could not be hand-carried.
iv. 4th, check-in at MAS counter.
v. 5th, showed our boarding-pass and passport to gain entry to the boarding area.
vi. 6th, have our pass and passport to be checked again and paid exit-fee of PHP500 and PHP250 for upgrading of their security control. (Divide that by 13.5 to convert to RM).
vii. 7th, we had our passport stamped.
viii. 8th, another security check. Again, hand-carried items were scanned. And followed by another body search. I mean, really really body search - your head, your chest, your stomach (she must have felt my flab btw), down your thights. No shoes, unbuckled talipinggang, put away metal items so forth and so on. After the 8th check-point, we grabbed some sandwich and a can of soda. To be frank, it felt to be in Miri Airport. Maybe they have other priorities than just to beautify the airports I guess. After filling in a bit, we adjourned to our gate, which was G2.
ix, x, xi. That time around, another 2 stops. of showing our passports and pass before showing our boarding passes for the final round to gain entry into the plane itself. All in all, it's 11 right. Alhamdulillah, the flight was fine except a minor turbulance as we approached KLIA.

inside NAIA - after 8th checkpoint.

2. Entry and Exit in Publicly Accessible Buildings
Yupp. They have special doors for entry and special doors for exit. In all places. At least those that I went to. From the upscale The Podium right up to The Greenhill where there was endless sales of the most original-fakes such as Coach handbags to Lacoste shirts, right up the fresh-water pearls and crytals. Most of the time, I had to open up my handbag and have the insides checked. The first night we were there, we entered via the wrong door i.e. the exit door. Heh, tercangak-cangak lah kami. After orientating ourselves for a moment, baru sedar kena masuk pintu sebelah. Time nak masuk tu terkejut when I saw a note: -
Please surrender fire-arm to the guards - at The Robinsons
You are welcome, your gun is not - at The Greenhills

Scary huh?

But after 2 days there, I concluded they are actually quite a friendly lot. Helpful where shopping is concerned. And they offer small talks also. Often, we were spoken to in Tagalog. They say, we look like local until we opened our mouth and started conversing in bahasa (or even English as their English is very American while us, broken!)

nightlife in Greenhill. makin malam makin ramai orang.

3. The Guards
Like in No.2, the guards were almost everywhere. In addition to guarding the entry and exit, they were also watching over the traffic and helped us and everyone else to catch a cab as it was getting late. Or even helped around in Food Courts, collecting trays and whatnots! They have my respect for that. No tips whatsoever. I guess they were just being helpful or trying their best to keep their jobs. I don't really know for sure. But they were sure helpful. Oh, when they got to know that we are muslims, some even gave us Salam. Some were not even muslims themselves.

4. Eateries
Tebby loves eating and souting around for food or even just to feast his eyes. Finding halal food is not an easy thing in Manila. They love pork! We had instant noodles for lunch for almost everyday. Dinner on Night1 was french fries, Night2 was Nasi, Charcoal Grill Squid, TomYam Gung, Holy 'something' (vege) and Sweet Sour Bawal. Blissss!! We had those at Banana Leaf. Night3, we had Nasi with Prawn in Salted-Egg and Sawi as vege. That was in Greenhill's Penang. They also have Roti Canai but God knows what made up the curry so, scraped off that idea. Night4 was the best-est. We had Singapore Chilli Crab, can't remember what we had for vege and Scallop Fried Rice. Best! We wore a long apron each (which I almost bring back to our hotel sbb tak perasan pakai benda tu) and were given a thing that looked like spana to me. Suffice to say, we really savoured over those sampaikan makcik meja sebelah tanya what we were having. Lam ya cha ya nun! Back to the eateries, they have a lootttttt in Manila. Judging from the numbers of eateries they have in SM Megamall and The Greenhills (and the number of patrons), I bet they eat out a lot. Maybe even worse than KLites. And even in one mall itself, there could be duplications like 2 or 3 KFCs, 2 Jollybee's, 2 McD's so forth and so on. And oh, the have Sbarro which sells Pizza with very thick crust and soooo-invitingggggg toppings (got ba alif ba ya as well so we just looked from their glass window). After drooling over photos of beef steaks and whatnots, we always got back to our room with a pack of pop-corn. What to do, kan.

they also serve other than crustacean..

yep, we were expected to eat using banana leaf as plate.
one of the dishES we had was this..
CHARCOAL GRILLED SQUID

5. In The Name of Islam
On the 2nd night we were there, we were a bit lost where eating is concerned. Then we met an Arab (a Palestinian to be exact) (Tebby terdengar Quran recitation from one of the cars so he went and looked and met that Arab). He showed us around. He looked at us up and down and then offered us some money! I must be so shabbily dressed. We politely said thanks but no thanks. He's married to a convert Philipino and has been staying there for 4 years. He speaks Tagalog as well.


6. Shopping - wot else!
I reserve this part for my last entry on Manila.

I went overboard, there's 6 already!

Post Manila Blues

Haiyaa.. I rushed back from a course in Jalan Gurney (so that I could go home early and have a back rub) only to be told Tebby has a meeting at 6.40p.m. Aiyohhh.. There goes my plan.

Anyway.

I really really need a back-rub or back-massage or something. Yesterday we had fun doing a bit of gardening while the kids jumped into lopak air they created on the lawn while we were at that, ended every bit looking like lost baby-ducks. Serve us right actually. As you know, we left the kids in the safe hands of my parents while we were in Manila. Friday we got back to Malaysia and Saturday went to fetch them. I greedily ambushed and looted my mom's plants! I guess I was biting a bit too much to chew. Dah ambik tu, kenalah tanam kan. So, Selasa went pot-shopping at Bt9. Bought about 5-6 pasu and tanah for RM65.00. Yesterday, we dragged ourselves menanam all those hijacked tumbuh-tumbuhan. One thing about gardening is that, it teaches me passion and patient, like does parenting. To see them grow slowly and later bloom beautifully. And they don't talk back! Anyway, I left the camera back home so I can't load photos of my project yesterday. But I humbly offer the old photos of my mom's plants back home. They say, ke mana tumpahnya kuah kalau bukan ke nasi, right. This kuah, came a little bit late. But it happens when it happens, kan. At least it actually happens somehow!

bunganya cantik, pokoknya berduri..

my mom's daisies

The kids are doing fine, back to life's routine. Kakak has found a new hobby of painting her nails and makes funny faces on the palms. Much to the irritation of Tebby. She nags these days and even asked me 'Kakak ni kepoh tak Ummi?' Yarright my dear. Her english is much better. She said she was 'serious' about something. And she told me to say 'Yesss' when she calls me mummy or mama, not the usual Ummi. And we repeated the process there and then. She called me 'Mummyyyy!!!!!' and I said 'YESSSSSS'. Then only she left me in peace. Oh, she had head lices last week! My God.. the day her caretaker told me, they'd found 13 kutu already! Tebby happily cari kutu for her everyday since she's back with us. Every week I had to apply that foul-smelling syampoo kutu just to get rid of those and its generations to be. And Kakak also informed us, the syampoo is 'racun kutu' and not 'ubat kutu' as it kills the kutu and not makes them healthier. Good point my dear. One step into critical thinking.

As for the other one, Iman, somehow a bit toned-down from his hyper-activity. But I don't want to dwell too much on that as we may get back to square one. He's still one active boy but a bit managable. Alhamdulillah. What worries us these days is that he refuses his formula. He doesn't take bottles anymore and happily drinks milks in cartons. I need to religiously give him his fish-oil everyday from now on to ensure he gets all those DHA, AA and whatever A there is! Badan pun dah susut sikit but as long as he is healthy, we are okay (still a bit worry tho). A bit on his health, his right ear, which is infected since Raya Haji, still is being infected. Not seriously but we need to be cautious. If he shows no improvement by next week, he may be warded for another treatment. Btw, he almost made me shed tears last night. I called him for his scott emulsion and he answered me 'yaaaaa'. For a boy who doesn't talk much, his 'yaaa' was among the most sweetest thing I ever heard. (I know your kids can tell stories at barely 2yo, please bear with me, this 30mo Muhammad Iman's 'yaaa' is so precious to my ears)

Here's a bit on his activities kat kampung

GET SET!

STEADY (posing dulu)

GO!!! (abesslah wan marah cucu dia punya pekerjaan..)

I have another 2 more entries on Manila trip actually. Boring kan. But what to do, this is my blog, my jurnal and I don't take vacations much, let alone overseas one. So every journey is so precious. Bear with me okay. I'll do those entries later. Have I mentioned that Manila was hot? It was, much more than KL. Hot and dry. When I got back in KL, even the flight was just 3.5 hours, I felt so tired and fell asleep so very easily, like having some kind of jetlag. Seoul was okay. I came back and behaved normally after. In case you are wondering, I am not pregnant.