Us @ Sentosa

Its been a year since we went to the beach as a whole family... and after 1 month of not going to the beach i just realize what a maasive amount of weight Faris put on. He can't even fit into his vest!!! ahahahhaha.. he's 31kg by the way!!!

Sentosa & Goodbyes

Before Fai left we managed to squeeze in a day in Sentosa as well as lunch in JB earlier that day... weird huh.. people celebrating syawal and we are at the beach... Faris wanted to go to the underwater world but it was pouring when we were in JB during lunch so we thought we'll just dilly dally till the rain stops.. went to Pelangi and managed to eat my Penang Laksa with extra petis at Uncle Jo's. Then had another petis overdose when we stopped by Clementi for my Cuttlefish Rojak at Brother's...

@ underwater world, Faiz was not afraid of feeding the stingray!! I was so surprised and he even touched the albino snake! I was intrigued by the dragon-seahorse like creature with leaves attached to its body and the beauty of the jelly fish.. We chilled by KM8 as usual saw this arab woman in her bikini.. she had huge boobies!! With an even bigger tummy!!! eheheheh

At the airport, thankfully Faris was sleepy so he didn't create a ruckus with his teary dramas.. Faiz just hugged and said BYE nonchalantly...

Recap - Not too good...

My heart still feel a little weary... somehow i cant get used to the fact that Fai is gone.... and yet he's enjoying himself over there.... somehow i got a little irritated when he said he was going to see Black Eyed Peas in concert on Saturday when here I am at home with the kids feeling exhausted & frustrated! I can't even lavish myself on anything new and there he was enjoying himself! Is it fair that I have so much more responsibilities than the 'so-called' man of the house??

I think NOT! Yet i can't express my frustrations cuz he's out there alone and bored... and I'm supposed to be that 'understanding & supportive wife'..what am I to do?? Why am I sacrificing more than him... then again he feels he's sacrificing a lot by leaving us as well..... I dunno how much can my patience stretch....

The weekend was a blur... Fai left on Friday night and throughout the weekend i kept getting this throbbing headache.. went visiting again and am totally exhausted... maybe my migraines & headaches come from the lack of rest and getting my period at the same time totally wasn't a big help either.....

I realize a lot of people were giving $2 ang paos this year... are these people earning less or are they just too stingy to give more?? I thought the standard is at least $4.. goodness even when I was a kid getting $4 was a norm.. Somehow I just don't have the heart to give $2 to a kid.. but I'm getting shortchanged.. so if this family gives $2 to my 2 boys.. we get $4 in total... and yet i give $4 to 5 of their kids.. they get $20... so thats $16 loss to me!!!!!! uurrrghhhh

Rainy Wednesday

It was hot one moment and it started pouring the next..i drove home to see the boys and have lunch cuz mama just boiled fresh lontong to eat with sayur lodeh.. it was my least fave menu but somehow this eid i cant get enough of it! Plus i had to sent the chicken wings home to defrost!

After work i rush home to cook spaghetti goreng & my black pepper wings.. again the wings were wiped out.. Marziah & family came.. I gave Ferina my pink kitten heels pump cuz she was wearing a pink top.. i cant believe she can fit into my shoes! She's 12!!

Went visiting to 2 of Fai's uncles in Woodlands after that and got home at 11pm.. took a long shower and gonna go to bed....

Mundane Tuesday

Sob sob.... i'm back at work!! The only thing that i looked forward to is to go home and being with my boys! Also the fact that Wati, Lina & Linda is coming sort of made the clock ticked faster... What's the menu? Tomato rice, sambal goreng pengantin, my famous black pepper wings, salad, daging masak merah & sambal telur & eclairs...

They came slightly after 8pm and stayed till 10.30pm... every year we look forward to them coming.. dunno why.. maybe cuz they are just as noisy as we are!

Picture of the attendees..

2nd Day of Syawal

We spent the 2nd day of raya visiting Fai's side of the family... the kids had a blast running around the open space at Jalan Binjai.. They looked so pure too in their white outfits! Suddenly so angelic instead of the usual brats that i have~ we did a record of 9 houses! 2 from my side,5 from Fai's & Jainal & Yusoff's place... Faris's girlfren came and she to wore white! awwwwww

The highlight of the evening had to be the 'lovers' tiff between liyana & faris.. but i dunno how to attach videos to this blog yet... heheheh...

They Start Young!!!

When i was over at Jainal's place i was very surprised when Faiz came out of Liyana's room carry a naked Barbie... then i caught him in action!!... undressing EVERY Barbie doll that Liyana has!!! Gosh! They really start young these days!!!

Do we look alike???

Here's me and my mom.... do we even look alike?? I don't think so... people used to tease me and say i got picked up at a rubbish dump!

Finally... Aidilfitri !!

Finally the day has arrived where i can eat to my hearts content!!! This year i am not glamourous at all so therefore no pics of me will be uploaded! ehehehhe

Took the kids to Al-Huda mosque at 6th Avenue for prayers in the morning and i was so excited as I haven't been for Aidilfitri prayers for such long time!!! Not since i was single!! Alas.... Faiz was uncomfortable and started bawling so i ended up in the car... boo hoo

Our agenda is the same every year.. visit Fai's parent, my uncles, my grandma & my great grandma!

More Raya PIx...

Here's more raya pix... we wore a sombre brown this year.. Fai wore this sarong-like bottom which was very soft and comfy... My cuz Hanan & hubby RZ, my paternal side cuz Lina who's birthday fell on raya itself and Faiz looking at Rabbits...

2 more days of fasting!!!

I am so tired.... There's so much to do... and i can't decide which bedsheet to use for my nights of fornication!!!! Finally settled on my 370 threadcount brown bedsheet with suede spots to match my beige curtains with black circles.

Decided to pop by Ikea for a bit and when i got home the lights were switched on!!! Fai came back early to surprise me!! Thank God the bedsheet's changed!!

Pistachio Cookies (ang moh version of kuih makmur)

Its crazy how i've been in search for the perfect kuih makmur and the one that was nice was from some complimentary goodie bag with no brand!!.. hiaz.... but i finally found a pretty darn good recipe ... with a twist..

INGREDIENTS
225 g butter, softened
10 ml vanilla extract
65 g sifted confectioners' sugar
0.8 g salt
255 g chopped pistachio nuts
190 g sifted all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Cream together the butter and salt while slowly adding the powdered sugar. Add the nuts, vanilla and flour and mix until well blended.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough in the shape of logs about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Roll cookies in powdered sugar when they are still warm. Let cool on wire racks.

All Grown Up

With a heavy heart i decided to paint over my opulent & sexy maroon-raspberry walls to a more grown up Lily White... plus the paint was free so i thought well its finally time....

Faiz was off to JB with mama anyway so it was a good time to do it without little hands 'helping' me out. Faris was 'uninterestedly' playing his PS2 until he got stoned by the paint smell and went to bed... dun worry.. i'm not that sadistic... i kept all the windows open and had the fan at the speed of the typhoon..

While painting, i was distracted by the crayon markings Faiz made on his mural so i decided to let my artistic flair take over... i painted white bubbles over it... i digged for anything circular i could find... wok coves, tin covers & milk bottle covers... the end product wasnt too bad.. my room looked more spacious and 'arty'

Looking around right now i still miss my opulent raspberry walls but i consoled myself... when i hit 30, i'm painting the walls a deep sexy red! To convince myself myself that turning 30 is not that bad after all.... it means a sexy, new me..... eheheheh

Monday Blues

Came back pretty early today.. at lunch time i just sat at the car listening to Air Supply and talking to Fai.. somehow i felt self conscious having him read my irrelevant rantings ..

He was reading my blog and he couldn't even recognize if it was Faris or Faiz in the pix!! Unbelievable!
Cik Ija bought the same phone today and she texted me challenging who's will last longer!!

Brought Faris & Faiz down to play bike (ON TWO WHEELS!) and clown around taking pix... its a nice cool weather.. haven't decided if i should bake one more cookies or paint the room... with the boys around its always such a dilemma.. i want to spend as much time with them but THINGS NEED TO BE DONE!! I am husband-less these days you know!

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Mama cooked my favourite today... Ox tail soup...yuuummm...

Fai mentioned that Lordess didnt have the lace material that he liked... after all its him who need to see me in it... and off it... lol

More Pix of The Boys

Ok... here's for Jeslyn who's bored to death at work and always bugging me to upload more pictures of the boys!!!!! Jes.... go make your own la!! I'm not a baby factory le....

more pix...............

Hawaiian Cookie Recipe - The Myth

I tried the famous cookies recipe last night.. you know the email that went around about how this person was charged for a recipe at Famous Amos... this email that i got was for this Malaysian lady.. the recipe cost her RM250.. but very weird cuz many many years ago there was this story about this lady being charged US$250 at Neiman Marcus! So how come from US$ change to RM250!!! And the original email required Herseys chocolate bar but the current email required Cadbury!! ahahahha After trying it out, it tasted and looked more like Mrs Fields cookies or Neiman Marcus.. have not tried that yet) than Famous Amos... (trust me.. i'm a cookie connoisieur!! hahaha)

Farid & Mak came over so yesterday's iftar was fun & noisy... mama cooked roti jala with beef curry & salad.. simple & nice..

I made the cookies until midnight!! At first i dropped spoonfuls and the cookies turned out huge!!! so after trial & error, i dropped 20 cent coin sizes.. i made about 400 cookies!! Its a little pricey cuz instead of the normal cocoa powder, the recipe required Cadbury bars to be grated.. i bought 2 bars ($9!!!) chuck them in the freezer first helps in easier grating.. Here's the recipe...

2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal &
blend in blender
to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
18 oz. Cadbury bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with
flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips,
Cadbury bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a
cookie sheet.. bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 122 cookies..

Other so-called Famous Amos cookie recipe that i've encountered are as follows:-
Happy Baking!!

Famous Amos Cookies recipe
2 sticks (1 cup) margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 level teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
18 ounces chocolate chips
2 medium size eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl, thoroughly adding pecans and chocolate chips last.
Drop spoonsful of cookie dough onto a baking sheet making sure dough is not too close together.
Bake cookies between 10 to 20 minutes depending on size of cookies.

And another one......

1 c. butter, softened3/4 c. packed brown sugar3/4 c. granulated sugar1 tsp. vanilla1 tsp. ????2 med. eggs2-3 1/2 c. flour1 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt2 c. macadamia nuts12 oz. chocolate chipsMix together. Add flour, soda, salt, nuts and chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

The Two.. Emails....

The Cookie That Refuses To Crumble
The Neiman Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe

The Claim: A woman, claiming to have been ripped off by upscale U.S. department store Neiman Marcus, distributes a $250 cookie recipe far and wide for revenge.
The Truth: Neiman Marcus has never sold a recipe, much less a $250 cookie recipe. In fact, until recently, they didn't even serve cookies in their restaurants.

The story goes like this: A restaurant patron orders a dessert, and likes it so much that they ask for the recipe. After being told that the recipe is for sale for a nominal cost, and agreeing to it, the customer ends up with a shock when he is charged an exorbitant cost. He tries to resolve it with the restaurant without success, and distributes the recipe as widely as he can for revenge.

The story goes back as far as the 1930s, when a customer was charged $100 for the recipe for the (now defunct) Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's "Red Velvet Cake." Versions of the story have circulated since then. Now that the chocolate chip cookie has become the unofficial national cookie of the United States, recent versions of the story involve cookie makers, such as Mrs. Fields and Famous Amos.

The latest incarnation of this story involves the upscale U.S. department store Neiman Marcus. For those not familiar with NM, their merchandise is of the highest quality with prices that match; some people call them Needless Markup. In any case, the story has NM refusing to refund $250 to a person who asked for a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

My daughter & I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas & decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie." It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not." Well, I said, would you let me buy the recipe? With a cute smile, she said, "Yes." I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, just add it to my tab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00" That's outrageous!!

I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two- fifty," which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any *POSSIBLE* interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point." I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas, I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't give a crap, and we're not refunding your money." I waited, thinking of how I could get even, or even try and get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you ripped me off," and slammed down the phone on her.

So here it is!!! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this...I don't want Neiman-Marcus to *ever* get another penny off of this recipe....

(Recipe may be halved)

2 cups butter, 4 cups flour, 2 tsp. soda, 2 cups sugar, 5 cups blended oatmeal**, 24 oz. chocolate chips, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated), 4 eggs, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. vanilla, 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice).

** Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

Have fun!!! This is not a joke --- this is a true story. Ride free citizens!

These are the facts:

NM has never charged anyone for a recipe.
For those dishes for which recipes are available, they are free of charge and available on request.

There is no Neiman Marcus Café at any of the chain's three Dallas stores.
The restaurants at those locations are called Zodiac, Zodiac at North Park, and The Woods. (Dallas, by the way, is home base to NM.)

NM hasn't served cookies in their restaurants until quite recently.
That's when, in a very classy way, they developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe specifically to act as a counter-hoax. The hoax itself has been circulating for longer than that.

NM's name is no longer hyphenated.

NM does not take Visa, contrary to what the letter states.

As I alluded to above, prices are upscale at NM.
The letter claims that the person bought a scarf for "about $20." According to the Los Angeles Times, scarves at NM start at about $40 and quickly work their way into triple figures. I seriously doubt that scarves would ever sell for as low as $20, even at a sale price.

So, if you ever receive this recipe in your e-mail box, do not pass it on. At the very least, don't represent it as Neiman Marcus'; it never was theirs. Nothing prevents you, though, from saying it's your mom's not-so-secret recipe. From what I understand, it makes a pretty good cookie.

And now the Malaysian version...

My daughter and I had just finished a muffin at Famous Amos Café in
Bangsar & decided to have some cookies. Because both of us are such a
cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Hawaiian Nut Cookie".

It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown "I'm afraid cannot". Well I said, "Would
you let me buy the recipe?"

With a cute smile, she said "YES". I asked how much and she responded,
"only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "Just add it to
my bill"

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Famous Amos and it
was RM285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent RM9.95 for
two muffins and about RM20.00 for a pie. As I glanced at the bottom of the
statement, it said, "cookie recipe - RM250.00". That's outrages!!!

I called the Famous Amos's Accounting Dept. and told them that the
waitress said it was "two-fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred
and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Famous
Amos refused to budge.. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point."


I explain to her the criminal statues which govern fraud in Malaysia. I
threatened to refer them to police for engaging in fraud. I was basically
told, "Do what you want, we don't care, and we're not refunding your
money." I waited for a moment, thinking of how I could get even, or even
try to get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you people got my
RM250.00, and now I'm going to have a RM250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in Malaysia with an
email account has a RM250.00 cookie recipe from Famous Amos...for free.
She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this" I said, "Well you should have
thought of that before you stole from me", and slammed down the phone on
her.

So, here it is!!! Please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly
think of. I paid RM250.00 dollars for this...I don't want Famous Amos to
ever get another cent off of this recipe.....

Reminiscing

Ramadhan always make me reminisce about old times....my mind would wander over the smallest trigger.. bypassing certain roads, songs & even the smell of certain foods!

So while going through old photos i found pictures of Faiz & Faris ... i truly miss those times where i can cuddle & kiss them without running after them!

Kekasih Gelapku

Lately i've been paranoid about Fai....maybe cuz i've been listening to to much Indo songs which always have promiscuity or whatever it is in their culture...so this song has been ringing in my head....

Ungu - Kekasih Gelapku lyrics

Ku mencintaimu, lebih dari apapun
Meskipun tiada satu orang pun yang tahu
Ku mencintaimu, sedalam-dalam hatiku
Meskipun engkau hanya kekasih gelapku...

Ku tahu ku takkan selalu ada untukmu
Disaat engkau merindukan diriku
Ku tahu ku takkan bisa memberikanmu waktu
Yang panjang dalam hidupku

Yakinlah bahwa engkau adalah cintaku
Yang ku cari selama ini dalam hidupku
Dan hanya padamu ku berikan sisa cintaku
Yang panjang dalam hidupku...

Ku mencintaimu, lebih dari apapun
Meskipun tiada satu orang pun yang tahu
Ku mencintaimu, sedalam-dalam hatiku
Meskipun engkau hanya kekasih gelapku...

Ku mencintaimu, lebih dari apapun
Meskipun tiada satu orang pun yang tahu
Ku mencintaimu, sedalam-dalam hatiku
Meskipun engkau hanya kekasih gelapku...

Ooh...

Ku mencintaimu, lebih dari apapun
Meskipun tiada satu orang pun yang tahu
Ku mencintaimu, sedalam-dalam hatiku
Meskipun engkau hanya kekasih gelapku...

Riverside & Geylang

Broke my fast with Yati at Riverside... had the grilled platter .. and it was quite yummy if only they provided proper sambal to go with the items!

Geylang is no longer as festive as it used to be.. i remember walking last time and getting the 'feel' of ramadhan.. now its just like any bazaar like the one in woodlands! nothing special. I bought a telekong for $20 and a simple white baju kurung (to stand by .. in case) and the lady insisted that i get the one i tried.. lucky i looked thru... there was a brown, coffee-like stain.. so she opened another packet and this one the stains were worse!!! The lady said "oh sure can wash" ! Why would i take the risk! So i told her if she's not giving me another new one, i won't be buying!! Picked up my bags and she opened another one... unbelievable!!

Walked through the food sections and all i see are the same old stuff! Bought takoyaki (which tasted like burnt plastic) and the dendeng... i really woonder why processed meat cost so much!! (100g - $4!)

Well that would definately my last one & only trip for this year!!!