The Rose.

Did I tell you about The Rose in the family? She's everyones favourite. Recently, she turned two. So we bought a big cake for her in her favourite cartoon character.



Here she is with her birthday cake.



She was happy to have Spongebob with her on her birthday, but we had to rescue it from her to prevent Spongebob from being mashed to mush by a pair of cute but dangerous hands.



Because you see, although being the only Princess, she is not the girly princessy type. She's spirited, brave and prefers cars to dolls. But, alas, as you are the only girl sweetie, you have to adhere being dolled.



And so she was 'forced' to be a wee fairy, and she had to surrender to it, but very reluctantly so ;-)

But we had our fun, and she received a dollhouse nevertheless, chosen by the brothers for her (sorry hon, your brothers want you to be a proper princess). Hehe! Spongebob settled in our tum-tums nicely and The Rose looked so pretty in her Polka Dot dress. To her Mama & Papa, thank you ever so much for bringing her into this world. The Rose really made our world pretty and wangi!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY to my niece TWINKLE! We love you so much. Though your beloved Atuk is no more with us in this world, be sure that he is watching over you always, for he really loves you too....

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A little revelation...

2011 has proven to be a year full of ups and downs. Of joy, of sorrow, of pain, of hope. It started out pretty normal and then it started to spiral downwards. My Dad was sick, hospitalized, diagnosed as having end-stage lung cancer and fought with all his might and strength before he succumbed to it only 50 days after knowing. How it had affected us? In a million heartbreaking ways that you couldn't possibly imagine. It hurts to even put it down in words, the heart still pains from the memory of the heartwrenching 50 days. Three months have passed, and I still have tears in my eyes whenever I thought of my beloved Dad. The pain is still so raw. The heart bleeds, bleeds, bleeds.

Namun, akur dan pasrah dengan ketentuanNya. Semuanya sudah tersurat di Luh Mahfuz. Ini takdir Allah. Jika Dia mengkehendaki sesuatu, maka jadilah. Kun Faya Kun. Hanya doa yang dapat dikirim, moga Allah memberi rahmah dan kasih sayangNya. Sesungguhnya, Dia lebih tahu.

I love you for always, Dad. You have never, ever let me down. So lucky for the 36 years that Allah had given me you.

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Makes People Happy ;-)

Scots Clan Meet Up

Once we lived in a place wreathed in magic and mystery. A place of reality and fantasy. A place of castles, dungeons, lochs and firths. A place of medieval streets of The Royal Mile co-existing with the neo-classical and Georgian architecture of the New Town. It is a perfect setting where fairy-tales are made, mythical, inspiring and absolutely stunning.

So special and magical and mysterious Edinburgh is that it had inspired JK Rowling's Harry Potter, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

And it was at this place that we were fortunate enough to spend a few years of our lives, at an institute which is located right smack on The Royal Mile, next to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood and The Holyrood Castle. We were bathed in history and culture! Even now, after 12 years we have left Edinburgh, our hearts yearn to be there again. To revel in it's beauty, mystery and magic.

And so with thoughts of Princes Street, Edinburgh Castle and Scottish Highlands in mind, we met again, six friends who will forever have a wee bit of Scottish spirit in our hearts and minds.



Checkered theme to commemorate our Scots Clan meet up. Next best thing to wearing an actual Scottish kilt, we agreed. Talks of Haggis, Fish & Chips, Scottish harsh winter & Ceilidh were included. Hehehe!



There were food, plenty of food.



















And there were smiles, laughter, playful banter, happiness, tears, joy, sadness and lots and lots of love.



Until we meet again: Beannacht leat go bhfeicfidh mé aris thú.

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dr. Cafe Coffee @ Citta Mall

Where do you usually go for your 'designer' coffee fix eh? Mostly Starbucks lah ek for the frappucino, caramel macchiato and the likes. I am not really a cofffee person, I prefer tea, but once in a while, adalah rasa teringin untuk mengopi.

And so, after just passing by this one shop called dr. Cafe Coffee kat Citta Mall ni, I decided to check the place out. Bukannya apa, kalau ke Citta Mall tu, I usually go to Wondermilk (my kiddos suka) or Chawan (I suka) or Baci (family favorite). Entah kenapa tak pernah nak masuk dr. Cafe Coffee tu. Tapi at long last, masuk juga.



Hey, not bad, the place is real comfy and cozy. Perfect if u want a quiet time with a good book to read, sit at the corner with the armchair it's nice.



The place offers all kinds of fancy coffee and also an assortment of hearty sandwiches and pastries. The staff are friendly and helpful.



My Ammar really liked the Club Sandwich, he has two plates, or it might just be because he was ravenously hungry after Taekwondo training.



See? Tersenyum kegirangan sambil memegang the sacred sandwich.



But alas! None of us had any coffee! I decided on the Hazelnut Hot Chocolate instead. Hard to resist lah. It was good!



Owhhh sedaaaaaaap! Nampak sedap tak? Best woo!



dr. Cafe Coffee, will visit you again. I was told the first outlet in Malaysia is in Hartamas kalau tak silap. Dr. Cafe Coffee ni is actually a franchise from Saudi Arabia. Hmm apa lagi kawan-kawan, let's dr. Cafe! ;-)

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Empire Strikes Back! 151111

Darlings! So mesti u all tau kan what happened to Empire before this? Of course of course, EVERYBODY knows about it lah kan. As I was sort of disconnected with the outside world pretty much so these past few months, nevertheless, news DO travel back to me. Via technology of course. Thru my lappy & iP4, I get pretty much informed about what's happening with the rest of the world. Sometimes, I know more than my hubs who's out merata everyday. Teehee.

Oklah, I do digress a lot lah. Talking about Empire kan, yeap. So, 151111 is the re-opening! Weehoo! And I was there meninjau kawasan and got my eyebrows threaded at long last @ Beautique by Glitters. I don't know why I have to wait till Empire re-opens to get my eyebrows threaded. I could just go to any Indian bridal shop to get it done cheap. RM 5-7 je usually. Tapi perempuan ini nakkkkk jugak buat kat Beautique, nak jugak Sarala tu yang buatkan kening ni. Ngada much? Heeeee!

Since time was short, as I had to fetch/pick-up my sons from school and to elakkan dari terperangkap dalam hujan lebat, my Empire Strikes Back trip was a short one. I perasan Ole2 Bali, Serai, Suchan, Tarbush belum bukak lagi. WHISK dah bukak, ramai orang masa I intai tadi. I tak sempat singgah. My kids wanted to eat Gelato Fruity, so we headed there. And of course, I had to buy some pastries at The Loaf ;-) 

That's about it. Happy that Empire is back. Another lepak place for me and kiddies other than Subang Parade. Variety at last, haha.

 They even spruced up the parking lot!

Tangs Xmas Sale window display seem to attract my littlest so much.

 "When do I get to build a real snowman, Mommy?'

Err, u belajar pandai2, nnt belajar obersee eh.

 Knock2!

Who's there?

Ellie.

Ellie who?

ELEPHANT!

 "Brrrrr, so cold, Mommy."

Ye, lah tu.

 "Dreaming of a white Christmas."

Me too, my sons, me too.

:-)

 Nyums!

 Double Nyums.

Kopak!

Burung marah punya pasal.

Haih.

C ya again, soon!

Ta raaaaaaaaa!!!

Nearly Four Months of Absence.

Heya Folks!!

I have missed blogging! And blogwalking too, obviously. Rindulah nak baca cerita kawan-kawan semua, and admittedly, really miss all the photos that u people must have posted on your blogs during the past four months. Yeah! I love looking at photos in blogs. Suka baca content jugak tau, bukan merely tengok gambar aje. I got to know through Twitter that ramai yang tak berapa berblogging sekarang. Is that true? Orang kata many prefer updating their Twitter now instead of blogs and FB, and prefer to share photos through Instagram.

Yea, I pun actually dalam tak berblogging ni, memang active juga Twittering ni, and Instagram-ing. Maklumlah, benda tengah trending sekarang kan. Furthermore, Twitter ni you just have to post short messages with not more than 140 characters. Short & sweet gittew. 

But, seriously kan, not everything is best expressed through twitter tau. And some questions pun are not best answered through that channel. Tak puas, tak lengkap dan tak mendalam. Chewah! Jadiknya, the best platform nak berpok-pek is still through blogs. 

Now that I have somewhat recollect myself after what had transpired dalam masa empat bulan lepas ni, I think it's high time I'm back blogging. Banyak dah backlog nih! Memang macam-macam cerita yang mahu dikongsi bersama all of you. Suka, duka, masam, manis, pahit, semualah! Yang dapat dikongsi lah ye, cerita dalam kain still tak boleh kongsi lah kan. 

Anyway, today is the first day of SPM 2011! All the best to all candidates, especially to my cousin brother AA in Shah Alam. Best wishes to you!

Oh and, yesterday was also my beloved Bonda's _ _th birthday! Love her with all my heart. She is truly a gem. She instilled in me so many important values since childhood days till now. I admire her strength in overcoming adversities in life, and her warm and cheerful nature, but most of all, her ability to get things done fast, a trait I still have yet to master! Haha! I want and wish for many many more years together with my Ratu,  my mother.....

As my Mommy is popular, she was celebrated three times since last Friday. Her friends in school had a special cake-cutting ceremony for her during their annual dinner function. Her best friends also treated her to a birthday tea on Saturday, and we also treated her to a steamboat dinner last night. Hope she enjoyed it.

Also folks, end of year school hols is fast approaching. What are your plans? I have looked into some holiday programs for the kiddos but have yet to decide on which ones to register to. But intensive swimming for my No 1 & 2 dah decide dah. They have missed their training for nearly 4 months dah. So, will start again soon. 

Enough blabbering for now, I have to get my arse off this chair and start preparing to cook lunch. Easy-peasy aje, thinking of Sup Ikan Merah today. Till then, ta raaaaaa!

GOOD TO BE BACK! Much love from SHM ;-)

I'm still as chubby-licious as ever! Muahaha!!

Have A Good Day!

My Mom's Birthday Steamboat Dinner.

And I still love talkin' bout FOOD! Yeehaa! ;-p

Liverpool FC Asia Tour 2011!

Had the opportunity to watch Liverpool vs Malaysia in Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil last Saturday and boy did I enjoy myself! To the MAX I tell ya'! I have never watched a football game live in a stadium before, not even when I was studying back in the UK. (Dulu tgk dalam tv ada lah, mana boleh duduk UK tak tgk football langsung kan. Lagipun, masa tu David Beckham & Micheal Owen muda gila baru nak naik, handsome!!) I was always like, 'Ehh? Footie? Tak minatlah. Malas panas2 sesak2 tu.' Yeah, macam tu lah reaksi I before. But over the past few years ni, I started watching games on tv, most probably terikut-ikut jugalah dengan my sons and hubs kan. All boys team kan kat rumah ni. And lately, been following juga our Harimau Malaya's progress. Jadinya, when my sis presented us with those Premier tixx, we were terribly excited! Especially hubs lah, being a fan of Liverpool for years. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and I was happy to be able to share my first ever experience with my son. It was his first ever game too! =)

Enjoy the pics!

Nasi Roadblock 2.0

KL Crackdown/Lockdown and the illegal rallies plus massive roadblocks around my beloved Klang Valley deterred most of us from venturing out too far from our own homes. I am sad for my peace loving and beautiful country Malaysia, for the events that had to take place on the 9th of July 2011.

Not to elaborate on yesterday's bad memories, I just want to show what I prepared for my family yesterday for dinner.



This dish I named Nasi Roadblock 2.0 . One good thing resulted from yesterday's staying in the house for most of the day, when I cooked instead of eating out like my family usually does on Saturdays =)

Roadblocks deterred us from venturing out, so I made Nasi Roadblock 2.0 to commemorate the event. Hehe.

On a more serious note, it is my utmost wish, like most of my fellow Malaysians I believe, is for a peaceful Malaysia, for us, and for our children, Ameen.

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Adam's New Pet.

My Adam came back from school with a new 'pet'.



A BLUE hedgehog! Isn't he a cutie?

Adam carry it around ever so gently in his palm and made a home for it, in Ammar's Ferrari cap! He said the little hedgehog likes it there as it's safe and warm.

Wonder what he'll feed it with come tea time?

;-p

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My Autobots!

Baru dapat opportunity pergi tengok Transformers yesterday. Nowadays nak tengok wayang, mesti bawa all four sekali. Nak tinggalkan dengan my mom, kesian my mom pulak. Dia pun penat dengan her canteen and housework. My dad pulak tak berapa sihat. Nak tak nak, bawak jugalah si kecik tu.



Ni lah my Autobots! :) Bukan main seronok dorang posing dengan Optimus Prime tu. Mommy malu-malu pulak nak posing sekali.

Best, we really enjoyed the show. But me and hubs tak dapat concentrate sangat, cos take turns layan si kecik tu sekejap masuk sekejap keluar dari panggung! Aiyayai! Hahaha!




Habis semua nak set botol air and bekas popcorn Transformers. Layan je la.




Ni dia budak kecik takleh dok diam tu. Lepas tengok wayang, dia makan ais krim semangkuk. Pastu jadi ulat bulu lagi menggedik sini sana :-)

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