congrats Yeh & Gja

my cousin Farez or better known as Yeh is a married man now.

how time flew.. my photographic memory of him is he in his school uniform, going to primary school in Subang Jaya when i was staying with him & his family for the first few years after i returned home from Glasgow.

parents pengantin - ayah cik & cik zah, the ever so loving couple

and this is another 'pasangan contoh' - uncle jamm & aunty amoi glam (macam P Ramlee & Saloma)

the akad & wedding at Gja's side was held on 16th Jan, the menyambut menantu at my uncle & aunty's house was on 23rd Jan (same date as aliyah's 3rd birthday).

mama & papa's ever so efficient assistants - Noreen & her hubby Jazmi (i was chatting with her on fb one night at 2am - meluahkan perasaan/sharing time)

hasil 'keras tangan' Noreen (Nik Ying)

my cousins - noreen, suzie and edi been uploading pics on fb; my uncle nik aman did a really nice video of the nikah. the wonders of technology - i got to share the big day from the other side of the world almost immediately.

Suzie & Din - pasangan photographers of the day

the atmosphere at the kenduri menyambut menantu was cool..very santai, garden theme and the guests look so relaxed and seemed to enjoy themselves, eating and chatting (gossiping...apa lagi??)away.

my 2 uncles - Ayah Pin & Uncle Jamm - mesti Ayah Pin tengah bagi nasihat tu..

Aman, jaga sikit makan, jangan makan banyak sangat kambing guling tu, simpan kan Noni sikit... berhenti la hisap rokok..

i miss not being able to attend the do (very seldom that i feel this way as i dont normally like attending wedding cos i have to behave...) , mingling with relatives and of course, the most important part, tak dapat makan kambing guling. these people made sure they captured the pix of the kambing and dedicated it especially to me..

nice of you guys to think of me when you were gobbling the yummilicious food..

the gediksss teenage cousins...

Congrats to Yeh & Gja,..may you both be blessed with good life as man & wife.

the next wedding will be Abe Iwan (Yeh's elder brother) and followed closely by cousin An

she is 3

our little girl is 3 today..and she's rather excited about her birthday, not that we're having a party or any kind of celebration. when i asked her what she wants for her birthday, she said 'chocolate cake' and she can say it well now.

kesian adik, tak ada big birthday celebration macam kakak masa kecik2 kat msia dulu. tak apa lah.. who needs a big do when she has all her loved ones around.

We went to Toysrus and let her choose what she wanted and her Aunty Yan bought her a 'Princess Kitchen' complete with pots and pans. i bought her the Leapfrog Fridge Words and also Sponge Painting Kit. she got the green dress from my friend Yan, a nice hoody from Lauren & parents and a pair of pyjamas from Gill.

last nite my sis in law, kakak or Aunty Yan to the kids, arrived safely at 10pm at stanstead airport just in time for aliyah's 3rd birthday. the kids were so happy to see her after 10 months. her luggage was full of the usual stuff to stock up our pantry and kiriman from my mom & sister and also from my friends Ti and Yan. terima kasih semua... happy dapat kopi cap kapal api, Ipoh White Coffee, Teh Tarik Aik Cheong, all kinds of asam, ikan bilis and keropok ikan etc etc..kamar was beaming with joy getting a BIG packet of cashew nuts from my mom.

thanks Nik Ming (my sister) for the UGG boots for me & Aisyah..

birthday girl had enough excitement for one day and dozzed off at 7.30pm and my foodstuff dah masuk pantry & kitchen cabinet and some to be stored in the shed tomorrow.

conversation

tuesday, 8am in the bedroom..

mummy was getting her almost 3 year old girl ready for daycare..

aliyah: mummy, your hair is curly
mummy: you have curly hair too, just like mine..
aliyah : YES INDEED ..mummy

i couldnt help bursting out loud!!!

wooow..where did that come from? and she used it in the right context too.

i didnt know how to use the word 'indeed' till i was in secondary school (maybe)..ye la, primary school kat kampong je kan, mana la nak reti sebut those kind of words.

i gather she picked all the 'bombastic' words (for her age dah cukup bombastic la tu..) from tv.

being domesticated..

i know lots of people who knew me since i was single would be (pleasantly or otherwise) surprised to see how domesticated i can be these days. i suppose it comes with age and also for the fact that kamar and the kids prefer home cooked food to eating out. 'meals out of the box' are normally limited to pizza, chips and breaded/battered fish.

Nigella macaroni cheese

chocolate based bread & butter pudding...

eating out is not cheap here, at our usual place Le Petit 4 would cost around £5 per person - thats for set lunch of soup, cheese & mushroom croissant/cheese tomato pizza baguette with salad/chips excluding soft drinks/coffee. nasib baik sedap...

kalau sesekali tu ok la but not too often. seems like i'm so 'berkira' with spending on food but definitely not on our weekly groceries. ye lah, rasa ralat jugak especially bila tiap2 hari nak spend at least £2.50 on sandwiches/baguette, kalau hot meal would cost £3 minimum, tu belum masuk drinks lagi. so i dont really mind preparing packed lunches for kamar & i . at least ada jugak variety - dinner left over, pasta, nasi goreng etc. aisyah has school dinners 3 days a week, that costs only £1.55 per day but she gets main meal & vege salad and dessert/fruit salad and drinks. the other 2 days she brings packed lunch.

i find it quite daunting sometimes, juggling mom/housekeeper duties and work but it didnt turn out that bad. the house is not in tip tp condition especially when you have a little girl who spreads her toys on the floor and refuses to let us put things away. kadang2 rasa nak jugak jadi ma'am macam orang lain ada maid to do the housework but i dont really see the need for a maid and we've never had any. i've heard lots of gory stories from friends about their problem with maids and i dont think i want to be in their shoes. biar la penat sikit janji hati tak sakit.

for kamar & i, we've kind of divided our household chores - he cooks 3 nites a week on the days that i teach cos i finish at 6 and only get home at 7 pm whereas he gets home at 5.30pm. and he cooks weekends too (upon request) and prepares breakfast on sundays. my chores - the dishes (with aisyah's help as well), laundry, hoovering, cleaning the bathroom and cooking 2 days a week and sometimes on weekends too.

Somehow, we find that sharing the domestic duties bring us closer and strengthen our relationship. Amin...

something for the weekend

i was 'working from home' today; initially planned to go the office after sending aisyah to school but since it was raining and miserable and i couldnt find aliyah's pushchair raincover, i abandoned the plan, stayed at home and baked this lovely chocolate brownie. recipe from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chocolatebrownies_90193.shtml

i shared this with my friends and relatives on my wall post in facebook as well.

my ever so faithful cake tester.. "mummy can i lick from the bowl?" sehingga menjilat jari!

it was easy to make, simply delicious. kamar said its moist but not dense and the best i baked so far.. uwaaa.... bagus punya compliment.

i baked it in a 9" x 9" cake tin, tak sempat apa pun dah tinggal separuh. best to have with coffee after dinner.

4 tahun lahh...

remember that tv advertisment? i do, vaguely...

well, its been 4 years since we left the home country, family & friends and our comfortable home on the hill for a new life here. whether or not it was worth it, its very subjective how one evaluate worthiness..

as the saying goes 'the grass is always greener ..' or pepatah melayu 'hujan emas the negeri orang...' and i was not spared of some negative remarks from some quarters when they heard of my (our) decision but i was tired of pleasing other people, tired of working long hours and the office politic, arse kissers, hypocrites.. my last job paid me well, good enough to live a comfortable (not extravagant) living but i guess i had enough of the nonsense.

when i found out that i got this job, kamar was all for it. the moment i accepted the job, he tendered his resignation first before me! when we first arrived, we were renting a 2 bed apartment at the city centre for a month which was paid by the uni as part of the relocation plan before moving to the suburb. kamar had to look for work which wasnt easy but rezeki di tangan tuhan.. my boss helped kamar got a job at his friend's company; initially on 6 months contract basis (kat sini tak de probation period) which then turned to permanent post and the rest as they say it is history..

aisyah completed her kindy year and was supposed to start std 1, but when we came here, she had to go to Year 2 as she was already 6 yrs old. (kids start year 1 when they turn 5 in autumn). she didnt have any problem at all mixing with other kids or with her lessons.

me ?? i had to work slowly building my confidence and know the stuff that i teach..i like to think that i have improved a lot over the last 4 years with more challenging years to come....

orange juice in white cup..

not pedas....

thats how my kenit would order her orange juice. (not pedas = not fizzy)

she insists on having her juice in her white plastic cup..

kalau mintak susu, it will be 'susu in small bottle, warm'.

this morning we had chappati with last nite's salmon head curry. aliyah only had plain chappati while reading the alphabets on her plate and she said A is for Aliyah. then her kakak said A is for Aisyah. adik was not happy and said 'No, there's only one A on the plate'

frozen

this is the picture of frozen britain taken today from above (NASA satelite)

that explains why its damn cold tonite, -6 deg C at the time of writing. kalu kat tempat kami di midlands dah macam gini, other places ??? photos taken from www.bbc.co.uk

bapak borek..anak rintik..

i'm in the mood for baking

this morning, it just crossed my mind that i've got some 1 week old orange & sultana loaf in the bread bin and i could turn them into bread & butter pudding.

i've tried nigella's choc croissant pudding before but i dont have croissant & no double cream in the fridge. so i decided to be a bit creative - bread & butter pudding with choc spread/nutella. it turned out yummylicious!!

i've shared the recipe on fb on my cousin suzie's request. suzie is doing her phd, while 'stir-frying' she loves cooking for her hubby din @ danger san & their 6 yr old son, haris.

thats me & baby haris .. tak ingat pun ada gambar tu; and i think that was taken at cik aman's house..

i think suzie takes after her mom, my aunty yam who's a good cook & a retired cikgu sains rumahtangga. our youngest uncle whom we called cik aman aka uncle jamm (he's one year younger than me & was one year above kamar in SAS) complained 'budak2 ni tak de kerja lain, makan je..pas tu kalau gemok, bising pulak!!' mmm... bapak saudara borek, anak saudara rintik !!

while i'm still on leave, i'd better make full use of my time at home before going back to work & chaos next week..

big freeze

heavy snow is forecast across midlands on thursday, frequent heavy snow showers predicted everyday for the next 5 days in nottinghamshire and lincolnshire.

it started snowing on monday nite and temperature remained sub zero since...

met office said the prolonged cold period was the worst the county had seen for more than 20 years. i spoke to few parents at aisyah's school and they said that the last time winter was this bad was in the 80s. so far, the schools near our area are spared from being closed. schools in scotland never opened since the new year, temperature up north could plummet down to -20 deg C over the weekend. that's really bad..

just when i thot we would be having a mild winter...

note of thanks

buying presents has never come easy for me because i always wanted to make sure that the gifts are practical and something that the recipients like, appreciate and use. and thats the reason why i prefer asking kamar what he wants for his birthday and vice versa. surprises dont work for us anymore. and kamar knows that i prefer chocolate to flowers anytime...

last xmas, i bought books for presents - cookbooks for 4 admins ladies at the office (hardcovers by celebrity chef were selling at an average price of £5 each), story books for steve's twin girls, hannah montana 'secret diary' for lauren, horsey story books for eloise, britain wildlife in hardcover for our neighbour brian and david attenborough life stories hardcover for richard, kamar's immediate boss. for his wife jane i got her a kitchen calendar/organiser.

we got this thank you note from richard & jane (written by jane) .. they are quite conservative (kamar said old fashioned..) in the sense that they still write a note of thanks in appreciation of the gifts... most people these days dont do that anymore.

i'm glad richard & jane love the book.

our family friend Gill (kamar's late parents' friend) told us the other day that the tradition was to write a thank you note to the host of a party after the occassion. she said this after i told her about the dinner/xmas party hosted by my colleague Andy. ( i never got round to do that!!)

and yes, i received a thank you note from Elizabeth & Graham after they came to our house for the raya makan2.

i suppose thats why 'thank you notelets' are still available for sale in the shops...

clean bill

last month when the dental practise near our house opened up registration for new NHS patients, tanpa berlengah lagi, i made appoitnment for the check up for all the 4 of us. this dental clinic has always been fully subscribed, thats why we had to go the dentist on the other side of the city for treatment all these years.

the kids teeth are ok, their next check up due in june but both kamar & i had to get a filling and that cost us £29 per person. ok lah kan, not exactly burning a hole in the pocket tapi kalau kat msia, our young dentist in setiawangsa would just charge us RM 15!

i was pleased when the nurse said we dont have to come for another year unless kalau ada problem lah.. i've always been anxious sitting on dentist chair but i'm lucky to get quite good dentists..

ada budak kenit tu muncung sebab tak leh jumpa dentist !!

mummy.. i want to work too

i'm still on leave till 11th jan when the students return after the term break. cuti pun buat kerja jugak - students had a test on the last week of last term and i want to return the marked script next week. then i want to concentrate on my courseworks (law & project planning) to be handed in on 29th jan. - kena start going back to library this coming weekend.

when i was working on the dining table in the kitchen (rumah ni tak de separate dining room, which we are not bothered at all..), ada budak tu sudah menyibok.

aliyah: 'mummy, can i have paper & pen too?'

mummy : 'aliyah, mummy nak work, pergi main dengan kakak'

aliyah: 'mummy, i want to work too..can i have the calculator?' (with sulky face & mulut dah muncung)

begini la jadinya ... tak lama lagi boleh la tolong mummy mark students' scripts kan?

world curry day

hari ni ditabalkan 'hari kari sedunia' in our house.

pagi ni (or menjelang noon), we had brunch at around 11am -roti tampal telur satu! kari kambing, teh tarik satu! rasa macam order kat restoran mamak wangsa ukay near our place on the hill pulak.

last nite we had mixed beef/lamb stew for dinner, ada left over so kamar modified by adding curry powder maka jadi lah kari lambing.. aisyah memang suka makan roti canai with curry, aliyah prefers roti to rice and suka roti canai, kamar made for both of us - roti tampal telur.

reminiscing the good old days when i was pregnant with aisyah - every sunday morning mesti pekena paper tosei dgn horlicks ice sambil baca gosip artis dalam mingguan malaysia..

for dinner, i grilled the chicken which i marinated last nite with rempah kari & garam kunyit, then masak potato, aubergine & mushroom curry - recipe jumpa kat dalam bbc goodfood website, cooked pilau rice, goreng popadom and to complete the set - patak's mango chutney & pickled lime.