Wednesday, December 19, 2012

December Favourites

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to share with all of you some of my favourite food/beverage/stuff for December.

1- Five Roses rooibos chai spice tea - Started drinking the tea that my parents bought from Capetown.
SOO good. The smell of this tea makes me think of Anna's ( my daily vlog leading lady) pumpkin spiced tea even though mine has no pumpkin elements to it. Maybe because its spiced, thats why.
She was really into this tea for halloween, and each time i watched her drink, i'd imagine the taste and smell of it.

2- POST Selects Great Grains Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal - Getting my breakfast is soo important. So besides the occasional karipaps, eggs and breads, i'm loving this cranberry almond crunch cereal. Last months favourite was the blueberry one, and before that was the Banana.
The cranberry is not as sourish and not as sweet as the others. But still love it though.

3- Wholemeal pita breads - Again as a result of watching what Anna eats for lunch. I'm opting for sandwiches or wraps whenever there's no rice dishes. Would make (if i'm home) barbecue chicken with salad or mashed boiled eggs with a dash of black pepper sandwiches. I dont cut the pita bread in half and stuff in the chicken n salad into the pockets, but i cut the pita bread into half forming 2 round flat breads. slap some mayo on the top n bottom n lay down the chicken n salad to form my sandwich and shove it in the toaster for 2 minutes. Yummy and i feel less guilty because its wholemeal.

4- Toblerone - Must have my chocs! Dad got a whole load of Toblerones from his numerous vacations this year. So for now this is my dessert after dinner.

5- Song - Dont Stop the Party by Pittbull.

6- Hairstyle - Ponytail and the high bun. Though i've been trying the fishtail braid on myself since my hair is longer, i've yet to master it. It leaves me with sore arms everytime.

7- Less trafic - Since its the school holidays, driving to work is a breeze. I leave home 15 mins later than i usually do, and still get to work early.

Anywhooooo (the way Judy says it; from Itsjudyslife), loving December so far.
December reminds me of the christmas festivity atmosphere in London.
Not getting my 3rd consecutive Europe winter trip this year; hubby said i'm pushing it - ingat dia chop duit?
So Jakarta it is!





All the pictures above are from Google.







Friday, November 30, 2012

Daily vlogs

I'm obsessed with Youtube's daily vlogs.

My current fav:
1) Leflooftv: A couple from Cork, Ireland have been vlogging everyday for the past few years. From being in a relationship to having a daughter. Everyday i watch how their daughter grow from a newborn to a 2months plus baby. Chubbier by the day. And when she smiles,my heart melts too. Sooo cute.
Anna, (the wife) has her own beauty channel on youtube: Thestylediet.
She's pretty! and they have not 1 but 6 maltese dogs. Crayyzy! Love watching them go grocery shopping, move house, set up the christmas tree.

2) Itsjudyslife: A couple from Washington. The wife, Judy is Philipino, the husband's mixed japanese / caucasian.
They also just had a baby named Juliana who's 1 month plus. Judy's separate beauty channel is: itsjudytime.



I seriously open up youtube the first thing in the morning to watch the latest vlogs, of course after subuh that is. Leflooftv is usually up with their latest vlog at 2am (msian time) since its now daylight saving mode, previously up at 1 am.

Its like reality tv, but daily on youtube.

Obsessed with Emilia : Jonathan and Anna's girl

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Beach Holiday

On Friday, me, B, and my fam will be going for a short 3 nights trip to the land of the white elephants; Thailand.
Phuket to be exact. Having been to Bangkok for 3 times, i'm pretty much excited to experience again the great Thai cuisine, and the Siamese culture. This is B's first out of country trip with my dad. Our 1st trip with mom was last years December holidays.

As a couple, we've never really favored beach holidays. We've always been the Bangkok type of people rather than the Phuket. But since brother no 2 is back for his summer hols, we thought we'd go somewhere together like they did (without me n b, b lah kecoh tanak ikut) last year, where they went to Bali. Just somewhere close to make it a short trip.
But soo sad that bro no 1 has been working in Jakarta on a work assignment since July and has yet to finish work there. So he's out of the fam troup to Phuket.



Phi Phi island


James Bond Island (The Beach: Leonardo Dicaprio)



Patong Beach


Pictures above are all from Goole.

We've booked a travel package which includes 3 nights accomodation, 3 halal meals a day, 2 days island tour, snorkeling, airport transfers n all. 
After doing some research on Phi Phi island  and James Bond island, i can admit that i am soooo excited to go swimming n snorkeling.


And of courseee makannn thaii food! B n i loved the thai food we had in Bangkok. Being the big eater that we are, we surely have planned  to go and look for a good halal thai restaurant even though we will be provided with breakfast, lunch, n a dinner meal while we're there.



Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Baked with love

Before Ramadan started, mom and i agreed that this year, we'd try and bake choc chip cookies.
Finally, we gathered the effort to start on it yesterday . Started at around 5 pm, to about 1/4 to 7 , 2 batches of choc chips were produced. The smell of baked cookies  lingered around the whole night.

Even though it's not as good as Famous Amos (not even close) . But i still thought i got an A+ for the effort and love poured into baking those cookies. My sweet and thoughtful brothers even suggested i sell my cookies because it was good to them. Too bad B had to go back to Melaka yesterday (after coming back to subang for the weekend + mil went to Mekah, so he'll prob be staying more in subang until raya), so he didnt get to try it , but he'll prob be back this evening, so i'll let him try it for berbuka. Good verdicts hopefully. Fingers crossed!



We still have left over choc chip dough from yesterday( had to stop baking coz needed to prepare for iftar) So this evening, my mission continues. I'm very domestic and hubby's proud of it.

Happy preparing for Aidilfitri everyone!


Love,
Diyana

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Crepes with nutella and banana

Last Sunday i made:

Crepes with nutella and banana!!
Yummy! B requested for it.
During our Euro trip last year, we had loads and loads of this street food.
Been promising him that i'd make it ever since.


Picture above are from google


I can say that it turned out great considering it was my first attempt.
Of  course its totally up to the person whether they like their crepes softer or thicker etc..

Ingredients:

1 cup multipurpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 spoon of melted butter
1 pinch of salt.

Mix it all together. 

butter ur pan.start dropping the watery batter in.
flip it on the other side after about 1 minute, spread nutella and cut bananas.



Friday, July 27, 2012

Makanan

Salam everyone,


Today is the 7th day of Ramadhan. This year i've developed an interest in making malay kuih's. Last month i made sago gula melaka which my husband loves. Last monday  mom n i made ondeh ondeh . I've been googling for a number of recipe's like the kuih lopes, cream caramel, kuih batik, bubur kacang hijau n a few more. Cant wait to try either the caramel, kuih lopes or the kuih batik this weekend. B also loves kuih lopes. So hopefully i get it right the first try when he's back.

For today's berbuka, i've requested my mom to make her delicious nyonya-curry laksa (it actually has no curry powder/leaves in it at all, it just looks like curry.

Picture above taken from Google.
Its something like this, but instead of the sliced omelette, we eat it with boiled eggs

The ingredients for this fab laksa are: mee/bihun,  tauhu- the spongey type?, fish/chic balls, kerang, chicken ,boiled egg, bean sprouts, mint leaves, bawang goreng,limau nipis or kasturi? - not sure, and an absolute must for this dish is the special sambal.
Of course i wouldnt know what's needed to make the gravy besides santan. 

Ya Allah, gets me drooling just thinking of it. Moga diberi rezeki and kesempatan to have it for berbuka today. Amin.








Friday, July 20, 2012

Selamat Berpuasa

Selamat menyambut bulan ramadhan..
Banyak kan beribadat n membuat perkara baik and bermanfaat.
Lets use this time to gain as much pahala as we can and continue to do so even after ramadan.



Love,
Diyana


Thursday, June 28, 2012

Mekah n Madinah 15 May- 28 May



Masyallah..
The most humbling experience



Our Kaabah

 
At masjid Tanaim (Tanah Halal) untuk pasang niat umrah and solat sunat ihram

in Mekah byk jual this ice cream (melon,mango,coconut) sedap, because of the heat (48 degrees one afternoon), so ramai orang beli


Nasi arab with chicken (boy tak suka kambing) for lunch after zohor sementara tunggu asar at the big mall opposite Masjidil Haram. Makan alas with plastic takde pinggan. thats how they do it there.




The day we left,
Dad couldnt send us to the airport because he had a meeting at work that day.So after Subuh, before he left for work,
we hugged and i couldnt stop the tears from flowing. Macam peluk masa pagi raya.Minta maaf for everything. Minta halal makan minum.
Dont know why but rasa very sebak that morning.

Over there your main objective is to solat 5 waktu berjemaah at Masjidil Haram, solat sunat , buat umrah and solat at Masjid Nabawi in Madinah


You see all kinds of people, different mazhabs,different races, different colors, so u see different types of cara solat..when i see orang buta yang pakai tongkat buat tawaf. orang naik wheelchair, orang yg tempang datang solat at the masjid. It makes me insaf and serves as a reminder that, even people with disabilities tak give excuse when it comes to beribadat.so we who are fit n healthy should not come up with excuses to not perform our solats and other ibadats.

When you see Malaysian's there u think of them as family.
I once sat beside a Malaysian makcik for subuh prayers, before the solat, we got to get to knw each other.
She was there utk berdoa kat tanah haram for her to survive through cancer. so after solat, we were hugging and she was crying,asking me to doa for her too, and we parted ways.
After that, i managed to bump into her once dekat tengah2 ribu2 orang at the dataran masjidil haram.
May Allah heal her and give her strength..Amin


Over there, we are all equal. kaya miskin, cantik buruk, hitam putih semuanya sama. we are there for one purpose ,untuk beribadat..


Mekah ni wangi sangat. people over there suka pakai their arab perfume (dont get me started, byk sangat kedai perfume arab in mekah and madinah) and burn incents. so tanah haram Mekah to me is wangi sangat.



The day we left for Madinah, after buat tawaf widak. i cried like a baby to boy.
I was so sad that we were leaving tanah haram Mekah.


 
Masjid Nabawi, Madinah

Before we got on the bus to go to Madinah, i sms'ed my dad . He replied and said that i'm going to love Madinah and not to forget to peek out the bus window and see miles and miles of desert.Masyallah..
On the way there our mutawwif (ustat) told us the history of our Rasulullah berhijrah to Madinah naik unta which took him 8 malam if i'm not mistaken. Once again rasa sebak because our Rasullullah sacrificed and went through hardships to sebarkan Islam.

We arrived in  Madinah just before Isyak.
Masjid Nabawi is gorgeous. The next day bila buat ziarah dalam and dapat masuk n solat di Raudah (after beratur almost 3 hours). Memang nangis automatically. Us ladies tak dapat tgk makam Rasullullah, but the guys boleh.
Dad was right, i fell in love with Madinah..Madinah is so lively and bustling with life. Its different than Mekah. People there are friendlier and nicer. 


Now i know why orang if ada rezeki memang nak buat Umrah selalu.
You dont worry about anything when you're there. 
When you pray , you get to see our Kaabah right in front of you.
Feeling yang susah nak describe.Very menginsafkan.

Kalau ada rezeki nak buat haji sementara masih muda n kuat ni.



Thursday, May 10, 2012

4 Days To Go - Insyallah

Insyallah will be flying out next tuesday..

Used to count down to the months, days and hours to our trips abroad.
Siapa tak excited kan bila pegi vacation.
But this time.. its a different kind of feeling..Rasa sayu..
Of course rasa tak sabar. and at the same time nervous.
Yelah, because i know i'm not the perfect muslim. and with the sins that i've commited in the past.
Risau... but  Allah is Maha Pengampun and Maha Penyayang..
Whats important is my niat in going..


Been preparing myself with all the knowledge, doa's and niats for umrah.
Do u know its berdosa besar if you enter Tanah haram without pasang niat untuk Umrah or Haji,except for people who live in Mekah . Correct me if i'm wrong yeah.
Its the time for me to buat ibadah and leave all my worldly commitments.
Going for the 1st time with my husband means so much. Since hubby is going for his 3rd time. I'm leaving it all to him . I dont understand arabic nor do i know the culture there.
Because on all our previous trips, i've been the one in charge of booking, planning the itinerary and researching on the culture, places to go,eat and etc..Hubby tinggal pack his bags and get on the flight.
This time i put my guard down and just concentrate on the ibadat part..



Heard a lot of stories from people about their challenges while being in Tanah Haram.
People getting lost, getting sick from spontaneous comment towards something, and the worst of all; not seeing the Kaabah even though its actually right in front of them.

Ya ALLAH..... Doakan semuanya di permudahkan for me...
Doakan i dapat cium Hajar Aswad dengan senang.
Doakan i dapat berdoa di Multazam
Doakan i dapat buat Umrah and tawaf sunat banyak2
Doakan i dapat solat n berdoa di raudah...
Doakan i dapat solat jemaah di masjidil haram and masjid nabawi everytime waktu solat..

Doakan segala yang baik for me k..
Amin

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Our Itinerary

Syukur last Saturday we managed to attend our lunch gathering and rush back to Melaka for our taklimat though we were there almost an hour late.

We received our free bags and ihram/telekung from the travel agent. Was briefed on the itinerary . Finally after much anticipation. We are leaving on the 15th of May with Saudi Airlines. Our return date is on the 27th but will be arriving on the 28th.

The challenging part is: We're flying to Jeddah and straight into Mekah. Usually, they will fly into Jeddah and will be taken to Madinah for 3-4 days (not in the state of ihram) before going into Mekah. That means: we must be in our ihram clothing from home. We will have to mandi sunat ihram, and solat sunat ihram at home before leaving for the airport. but we are still not bounded by the 13 larangan dalam ihram yet, until we fly and are about 1 and a half hours to landing in Jeddah. The pilot will then make an announcement that we are nearing the miqat/sempadan hence then we would berniat umrah and have to obey all the pantang larang until :

1- we land, go through customs, take our bags, get out of airport and into our bus.
2-bus journey fr jeddah into mekkah which takes roughly 1-1&1/2 hours depending on traffic.will stop by at a rest area for packed dinner and solat jamak taakhir for maghrib and isyak.According to travel agents we cant expect the rest areas to be like ours. we have to bersabar.
3-continue journey into mekah. check into hotel. rest for an hour and straight away perform our umrah: tawaf, saei and tahalul..After tahalul then only we are freed from all the harams in umrah.

All the while making sure that we tak langgar larangan dalam ihram.Tak boleh langgar ihram intentionally or unintentionally (not sure) or else would have to bayar dam.

 In a way its good because we are going to perform our umrah straight away.while the energy is still high and get the wajib's done then only we leave after 9 nights in Mekah for Madinah.so we can relax already by the time we get to madinah and just focus on our solat and ziarah. we will be flying back from there.
 Our target is to get our first umrah done before subuh which is around 4+am. we would probably be settled in the hotel past midnight since our flight lands at 7pm.taking into consideration time needed to get out of the airport with a big group of 65.

According to the travel agent who just got back from Mekah, even though its not the holiday season in Mekah, but the amount of Jemaah in Mekah right now is huge. The weather in May is a scorching 42-45 degrees during the day.
So much for me to learn. Doa sunat for every round of Tawaf is different. The niats.. Got to buy telekung, jubah and all the necessities. Of course i cant help but feel abit worried, but Allah is Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang.

As my dad said, you're not going for a vacation. so dont complain if u dont find things the way u like it.just accept, bersabar and redha..Reminding me that the reason i'm going is to go and execute my duties as a muslim and of course for Allah.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Another test

Taklimat umrah's time has been postponed to 3 pm on Saturday
How laaaa.
Howww..

How can i manage to attend both in that short overlapping amount of time.
Time to travel from kl to melaka taken into consideration would mean that i'd have to leave lunch latest by 2pm and that would make me arrive late, say 3.30pm.
By 2pm most prob baru my relatives semua arrive for lunch.

When i was feeling good about making an effort to attend both events, hubby told me the taklimat has been postponed to 3pm.
Sabarrrr...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Test

So remember i blogged about having our Mothers & Father's day lunch this saturday.
Well, yesterday hubs informed me that there would be a taklimat umrah on saturday morning, 8.30am in Melaka.

Attendance is compulsory.Well, hubs do understand that we've been planning for the lunch way before he got to know about the taklimat. So like it or not, hubs would have to attend, and he said he'll let the organisers know that i wouldnt be able to make it.

But, berattt hati and susah hati when i think of having a good time at lunch where else i'm supposed to prepare myself for Umrah. I actually have alot to ask about it. So many questions and its not like i'm going for a vacation.This is an ibadah.Why not throw in the effort, attend both and feel great about it at the end of the day.Even though i just went back to Melaka last week, and hubs had promise that he'll make time for the lunch. Like i always believe; kita mampu merancang, tapi Allah yang tentukannya.

So my solution is to drive back to Melaka and get there before 8.30am, and hopefully by 12 the latest, the taklimat would be over. Then i'll/we'll rush back to KL and straight to the hotel.If we dont finish in time, then its not our rezeki to spend time with my family and relatives.

I believe Allah is testing me.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Pre Mothers & Fathers Day Lunch


We're having an early Mother's & Fathers day gathering this saturday, since my aunt from Capetown will be back for a week.Just like we gathered last year, but this time we want to include our fathers too since we didnt gather for father's day last year.

We are going to Makan Kitchen at DoubleTree by Hilton for lunch.According to my cousin its different than the other hotels as it has separate stations for malay, indian, chinese, iban and peranakan cuisine.

Cant wait to indulge in the food and have a splendid afternoon with my family,aunts,uncles, and cousins; all 30 of us.
Seems that we've been having alot of cousinly love makan makan sessions lately.Fun!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Feeling neglected

Its so hard not to merajuk and turn mad when i'm always left to understand that hubby's bz.Resorting to the silent treatment is what i find i do best lately.
Even when he tries to rationalise and make me see the bigger picture and the outcome.
I still think he could do better in juggling between time for work/politics and quality time with his missus.

Especially when you dont live together and you soo look forward to every weekend to spending time and expect him to pamper and give his utmost attention to no one but you.
Yes you would think that during the weekends he would, but its not the case lately .
Even if he's in KL during the weekdays (of course for work/politic related, rarely because he misses me) he's out late and would only rest his head beside me in the wee hours.It hurts.

He tries to make it up, and when you think you're about to give in and undo the silent treatment, another urgent work matter would come up.
I feel that i come second to everything.

I'm really trying to understand, really trying to be a good wife.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Insyallah kalau ada rezeki



Insyallah.

If my time has come and it is really my rezeki.
Hubby and I will be going to perform our Umrah this May.
It will be hubby's 3rd time and it'll be my first.
As we all know, 'kita mampu merancang, tapi Allah yang menentukannya'.
We have been planning to go after our Europe trip last december. But hubby has been so busy that we couldnt decide on the time to go.
But a few days ago hubby told me that we can put our names in to go with his umno group that's organising for an Umrah trip next month.
Happyy..and nervous.

And again, if its really my rezeki, and Allah has called me to his place,
then Insyallaah i will get to perform my first Umrah.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Mini Pochette


Mini Pochette Illustre - Picture source from Google

I really want the Illustre
But too expensive



Purse Forum is a bad influence.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Sakit

Last Wednesday evening, my gums started to swell.
The swell was at the lower right of the wisdom tooth area.

So far this is the 3rd time in a span of 6 to 7 years i think that i've experienced this horrible swollen infected gum.
Since my wisdom tooth is impacted, the gums around it is considered a food trap.
I constantly have to make sure no bits of food gets stuck in the area everytime after a meal.
Rewind to Wednesday morning, i stopped over at the Petronas USJ 2 to buy nasi ambang bungkus to eat at work.I love the nasi ambang, because its like a complete meal that includes ayam sambal, sayur tahu, tempe, soh hoon, kacang panjang, and ikan masin with desiccated roasted coconut.
All of that for only RM4.

So the minute i got to my office, i ate it for breakfast. Remembered the chicken breast being quite tough. bits of chicken somehow got stuck in the gum near the food trap,immediately felt uncomfortable.
I managed to get it out but i guess it already triggered the swelling.
By evening, i experienced great discomfort and my gum started to throb.

On thursday, the swelling got worse and the pain started to get unbearable .
I left the office at 3pm and went straight to the dentist.
As usual, the dentist advised to extract the impacted wisdom tooth.
But whatever it is, i have to wait till i've recovered from all the swelling and infection.
Was given antibiotics and ponstan to relieve the pain. (the ponstan didnt help at all! just to show how intense the level of pain i was enduring)

Have been contemplating on the extraction.Hubby has been asking me to get it done so many times before this. I'm not afraid of the extraction, but i'm afraid of the recovery. I was advised to take the week off following wisdom tooth extraction. so i've got to plan for it.

Its monday today, my gums are still a bit swollen. Having difficulties in eating as i cant close my mouth properly. and to top it off, i got a sore throat on friday that developed to cough and flu. can u imagine my misery.
Didnt want to get MC though, so here i am at work.dreading the 2 hours left to 5.30pm

The recovery after an extraction: Minor surgery for impacted tooth.
do not drink using a straw, no spitting, and plenty of other donts to ensure u develop a blood form clot at the gum area where the tooth was removed.
If lets say u dislodge the blood clot too early, u will have to endure the painful inflammation called the 'dry socket'- exposed gum socket.This according to google is a nightmare. this can prolong the agony and the recovery period to 2 to 3 weeks.

From google:
With the clot gone, the extracted tooth's root space does not fill in with new tissue. The bone and nerves in the socket are then exposed to air, fluids and food. This can cause intense pain, not only in the socket but also along the nerves radiating to the side of your face.
THIS IS THE PAIN THAT I'M AFRAID OF.



I cannot imagine the pain as the painful swelling of my gum is already one my worst nightmares.




Pictures above are from google

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I Miss ....

I missss my blog...

 
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