Bonda

And I am posting this from CJ again.

This is a slow week for me. Sitting at home with mum, just making sure she knows someone is at her side. Although I do get some office work done. Bukan macam sesetengah orang; nak angio-kan orang macamana kalau kat kampung.. (a remark khas untuk adik saya)

Cooking. Reading. Watching a lot of tv. Taking things really slow.

The kampung road to Taiping (walaupun dah lebih moden dari dulu). Beyond those hills is the Maxwell Hill. As usual it is covered with clouds.

Pasar Taiping (it is in an old building. Sejak kecil inilah rupa pasar nya. And I like. According to my sister there were plans to demolish the market tapi dibantah oleh penduduk tempatan. As it should be!) Tak riuh macam dulu. Mungkin sebab dah banyak supermarket everywhere - and come to think of it I have never looked up at the ceiling before.

Balik kampung sekali ni saya jelajah semua pasar - pasar lama, pasar kota, pasar Simpang dan pasar di Matang! Saya fikir yang paling bagus pasar kota.

Bonda. Dah dua hari hujan. She feels the cold every morning. Pakai sweater, socks, selimut tapi masih lagi sejuk. Hari ni siap letak tungku bawah kaki.

Semoga dirahmati dan dilindungi Allah hingga abadi InsyaaAllah.






~ Ameen

Baby Photos Part 6 (The Parents)

(Technically they are not babies, but nevertheless will always timelessly remain a baby anyway.)

Kawan kami post gambar comel ini di telegram recently (we dont even have this photo in fact - what would we do without social media?) These are Iman & Ilyas taken close to thirty or so years ago (and where have all the years gone?)

Bila teringat cerita lama selalunya terasa sebak (dont you?) Hubs would always change the topic to less "bumpy" subjects when we get too far down memory lanes and Iman would always say, cepat cerita pasal lain.. (this would be one of those occasions, I'd say).

Semoga dilindungi dan dirahmati Allah sehingga abadi.





~ Ameen

Salam Jumaat

Muqaddimah ~
Pagi tadi saya "terjumpa" video tentang tanda2 kebesaran yang Esa and felt compelled to post something tentang yang baik2 dan yang terbaik.





Kadang-kala membaca tiada tergerak hati untuk berfikir tentang apa yang dilihat. Namun ada ketika yang dibaca itu amat terpahat di hati ~

Surah Ali Imran (14 ~ 17)

Dihiaskan (dan dijadikan indah) kepada manusia: kesukaan kepada benda-benda yang diingini nafsu, iaitu perempuan-perempuan dan anak-pinak; harta benda yang banyak bertimbun-timbun, dari emas dan perak; kuda peliharaan yang bertanda lagi terlatih; dan binatang-binatang ternak serta kebun-kebun tanaman. Semuanya itu ialah kesenangan hidup di dunia. Dan (ingatlah), pada sisi Allah ada tempat kembali yang sebaik-baiknya (iaitu Syurga).

Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): "Mahukah supaya aku khabarkan kepada kamu akan yang lebih baik daripada semuanya itu? Iaitu bagi orang-orang yang bertaqwa disediakan di sisi Tuhan mereka beberapa Syurga, yang mengalir di bawahnya sungai-sungai, mereka kekal di dalamnya. Disediakan juga pasangan-pasangan/ isteri-isteri yang suci bersih, serta (beroleh pula) keredaan dari Allah". Dan (ingatlah), Allah sentiasa Melihat akan hamba-hambaNya;

(Iaitu) orang-orang yang berdoa dengan berkata: "Wahai Tuhan kami! Sesungguhnya kami telah beriman, oleh itu, ampunkanlah dosa-dosa kami dan peliharalah kami dari azab neraka";

(Dan juga) orang-orang yang sabar (dalam menjunjung perintah Allah), dan orang-orang yang benar (perkataan dan hatinya), dan orang-orang yang sentiasa taat (akan perintah Allah), dan orang-orang yang membelanjakan hartanya (pada jalan Allah), dan orang-orang yang beristighfar (memohon ampun) pada waktu sahur.



Selamat berusaha untuk yang abadi. Semoga sentiasa di dalam rahmat Allah.






~ Ameen

Pizza-licious (Talk About Being Inspired!)

So I came back from Tim's Teapot Terrace thinking I must make (even) better lasagna. Learn how to make a decent chicken pie and a killer quiche.

And ended up making pizza instead today.. (there was co-incidently, this great show on pizza on AFC today).

Anyway. I blew the dust off my Jaime's Naked Chef cookbook and rolled up my sleeves for the dough. According to the recipe you must knead the dough for 5 mins. That might not be long if you are watching tv or on the phone, but 5 mins of kneading is one serious workout. Dah letih baru teringat my KMix actually has a hook that can knead dough for me (humpfh!) I will use that next time.

These days I only use plum tomatoes in my sauce. They make a whole world of difference, trust me.

I said, you look like you've got some muscles, please can you punch down the dough for me (the second time around)?

See how beautiful the dough look? I was pretty impressed myself.

And I have to have lots of mushroom on my pizza.

And olives for hubs (I seriously need to learn to love olives). Why oh why didnt I get those pitted ones?)

And anything with tomatoes has got to have fresh basil (from the garden - not that I have a garden come to think of it) on it these days.

Voilà! (But. Pssst - you can tell I have a problem with the oven from the uneven color of the baked cheese)

Anak2 kata sedap (I put lots and lots of cheese, salami and pineapple for them, mesti lah sedap). Personally I dont think I can serve this to any guests yet.

So no recipe at this point. Nanti saya pandai then I will share.

So what's your inspiration these days?





~ xoxo

Chill Out

Kata Aida dalam whatsapp, you must go have dessert at this place in Melawati. Tim's Teapot Terrace Cafe.

I thought I have not seen this place before. It is not on FB (well not exactly).. Setelah mencari2 dan bertanya, kata Zuf it's somewhere in the Damai Hospital area, on the smaller lorong. Hmm.. saya mencari lalu terjumpa. And made reservations for dinner.

The place is small; the back half of the Teratai Sari home furnishing shop. On the same row with Damai Hospital. So yes, you park on the street behind the hospital.

But it is so pretty. Tiny teapots adorn the shelves. The lighting was perfect. There was in fact, nothing to fault with on the ID.

 Love the pomegranate and orange tea that was served in colorful matching teapot and cup (drinking tea has never been this enjoyable in fact. I need to get pretty tea sets like this).

We love the quiche (sedap like it just melts in your mouth); chicken pie and lasagna (and here I am thinking my lasagna is sort of unbeatable..!)

 Beautiful decorated place (all teapot-themed. Love).

And I simply adore the way dessert was displayed. On various interesting cake stands. There was chocolate nutella cake, red velvet, trifle, dan lain2.

They only have the drinks menu. Seem like the food was cooked on whatever the chef felt like serving for the day (or so I think).

But whatever it is, you must come here and have a feel of the place. The food was quite good, and the ambiance even better. You might want to make reservations first (as seats are rather limited).

I came away thinking this is how I'd like to cook (talk about inspirations!).





~ xoxo

Kaia

Early in the year he sent us photos from Jubail -

Like how cheap the gas is. And how ribut pasir would engulf the town (and yippee - no field work for a short while)

And how orang Arab makan atas alas (years ago we were surprised that our roti dicampak ke atas alas kertas suratkhabar..)

He was home from Jubail for a couple of weeks of raya leave.

How did we ever survived without selfies?

We managed to squeeze in a few family get-togethers in between his very tight schedule. Dia pergi kenduri kawan kawen, kawan bertunang, futsal, bolasepak, gym with friends, movies (kat Jubail takde movie theaters..), kuliah Habeeb Ali (Subhanallah), etc etc.

And he loves to take photos with the babies.

And then left for work again.

(and totally forgot to change shoes. I thought he wanted to travel in these flip flops)

We'll see him in a few months time. InsyaaAllah.

Semoga sentiasa di dalam lindungan dan rahmat Allah (sila ameen-kan. Syukran).






~ xoxo

Al-Fatihah

 إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَ‌اجِعُونَ
.. indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return ..

Alhamdulillah jenazah arwah Kapten Wan Amran telah selamat dikebumikan hari ini. I was relieved for the family that he could finally be laid to rest. Takut. Dan kasihan jika pencarian dan identification berpanjangan.

Hubs and a few friends were at Masjid Negeri this morning -

We called him Wan at college. He was a classmate in a few of my classes. A shy guy; diplomatically correct and was always ready with a smile for you. Smart too. His afro hair was his trademark then.

He came back home late 80s and told us he was going for pilot training sebab susah sangat cari kerja masa tu.

And this was taken di rumah arwah semasa kawan2 menziarah keluarga arwah when the news of the plane was first aired.

Saya sengaja tidak memasukkan gambar keluarga arwah. I thought that was only apt.

Sungguh hiba when this happens to someone we know. Kalau jadi pada keluarga sendiri tak tahu nak bayangkan macamana.

Semoga arwah dicucuri rahmat dan ditempatkan bersama mereka yang diredhaiNya. Dan semoga keluarga arwah redha dan sabar dengan ujian ini. Semoga mereka sentiasa di bawah lindungan Allah sepanjang hidup ini hingga ke sana nanti.






~ Al Fatihah