It Irks Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know why this memory of me being kicked really really hard at the back of my head while I was lying down on my belly, reading to my toddler son back then keep coming back. It was the hardest abused that I got, not the first or the last but the hardest. The kicked caused me to be nauseated and I was blinded for a couple of minute, all I could recall after that was looking for my toddler son. I was aware of his little hand holding mine when another blow of kick landed on the same spot of my head. I thought I could die, or maybe I wish I was dead. I don’t remember how long I was gone, but when I woke up he was gone, the main door was opened and oh my toddler son was still there next to me. I forgive but I will never forget, and it irks me now to read when people recalled childhood memories of my kids and posting about them, which were mostly mere fabrication. STOP please.

No Amount Of Bureaucracy Is Going To Put Me Down

If you can’t beat the odds, then just stop, pause and reflect. I’m almost to my giving up point with the medical systems here. I have been in and out of the hospital, being directed here and there and repeating the same processes again since Monday. Holding my cool is a real challenge, there were moments that I told my little angel I will start break dancing in-front of the nurses room for them to know the urgency of the matter or to just attract their attention. I wanted to call it quit, seriously, I’m spent and done. But, when I took the time to inhale and think of the Lord Almighty, a lot of calmness comes to me again.

Today, I’m walking out smiling because yes I did not even get to past the registration, so be it. The sun is so bright, the weather is so me, hot and feisty and sweaty too. I’m loving the hot sunny weather in every way, and yes, no amount of bureaucracy is going to put me down.

Believe in the will of the Lord Almighty………… smile. Pictures........... smelling the roses in front of the foyer on the way out of the hospital, it is such a beautiful moment.

Hair Lice

A couple of times we received letters/emails from the school informing us not to send our kid/s to school until further notice. This is because one or two of the kid/s in school was infected by hair lice. Hair lice are considered a very serious health issue by the government here. Besides the letters/emails from school we will also be given information announcement from the government too.

I remember when I was in school, every day we will be asked to lineup in assembly before going to our respective classes. The weather back there is always scorching hot and our uniforms were thick, we will be sweating from head to toe before even entering the classes. The assembly would normally be quite long, and once you are in line you have to stay that way and not change in line. I noticed back then, there were so many kid/s with hair lice. When the weather was that hot, the lice will be crawling out of the hair on to the neck, on to the uniform and everywhere on the shoulder of the kid/s. It was so scary, just remember this make me squirm. It was a horrible experience.

Teachers never pay any attention to this health issue back then and I am not sure if they do now, but my grandmother was very strict in taking care of this problem. If she noticed any of the girls in the family being affected by hair lice, she would never stops treating each and every one of us (it does not matter if you have or have not). There is this special two edged comb that she used to comb out the hair lice. She would do this ritual at least a couple of times in the day, and make sure that we washed our hair every day. Thanks to my late grandma (may she be happy there).

It is summer now, I love the sun ok the heat too and the sweat and the stickiness that comes along, but I cannot help thinking about the hair lice, as most of the people are out of the house 98 percent more than staying indoors.

Lavender Garden And Organic Ice Cream

and so..................... the summer comes calling in

Plain Dosai

My appetite is playing yo-yo with me all the time. Yeah, I cook all the time because that’s what I love doing and enjoy knowing that hubby and my little angel are there to savor the cooking. I would sit at the dining table and be happy listening to the compliment that they made or the critics that they have. My food cravings are for things that I know it is not impossible to get here but can be super difficult. A couple of weeks back I was craving for plain Dosai, called a girlfriend in Singapore to check with her how to cook this, and also Google the internet for the same reason. Though the recipe was easy to follow but I have no clue what ‘urad dal’ (split black lentils) or ‘methi’ (fenugreek seeds) or ‘poha’ (beaten rice) is all about. Therefore, I carry on my craving for Dosai until one fine day, when I came across a picture of the very thing that I wanted to eat on the wall of a small Indian café. Again the cleanliness was my biggest concern, but then my craving took the better of me. In the tiny café, as sticky as anything that you can imagine in this hot summer weather (no air-conditioning at all), together with the smell of people and the aroma of the food, I queued and got any Dosai. It was nice but nothing to shout about. That evening I had one very angry stomach…………..

Where Do I Go From Here?

The serious situation of my indigestion and the painful burning sensation up my throat is turning me off of food. I don’t like eating anymore; it is too much the pain that I am experiencing sometime is not worth the amount of food that I took. I am now turning more and more to liquid intake; even simple vegetable soup can also give the same effect on me. I discard totally the intake of gassy drinks, and spicy food but then these may not be the only caused of the bad reflux, the amount of medication that I’m on now also created the same effect. Where do I go from here?

Nutella Cupcakes

This is a late entry as usual, anyways, it was hubby’s birthday. We don’t do much. It is enough just having quality time together. He likes blowing candles though, so I bake something super simple for this purpose. Like I mentioned before, I am experimenting with cooking with whatever I could find in the pantry of my kitchen. For his birthday, it was Nutella cupcakes, with nutella and cornflakes frosting. Here’s how I did my nutella cupcakes if you are interested to try:

Ingredients: 1 cup of nutella, 2 large eggs, 12 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and ½ teaspoon of salt.

Method: In a large bowl just mix all the ingredients together but be careful as not to over beat the mixture. Line a cupcake tin with the cupcake paper lines, and bake in a preheat oven of 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The above recipe makes 12 cupcakes. For the frosting: melt ½ cup of nutella in the microwave, once the cupcakes are cool, just deep the top of the cupcakes in the melting nutella and sprinkle with crushed cornflakes.

Something so simple can make him so happy. It was worth the effort.

Not To Forget Her Roots

my funny little angel

Prayer times are getting to be very late here at this season of the year. The Maghrib will start at 2052 hours while the Isha prayer will start at 2307 hours. My little angel finds it is quite a challenge to stay up for her Isha prayer as the next day; we will have to wake up at around 0300 hours for our Subuh prayer, and to top that she will have to go to school. I am giving her extra pampering just to encourage her to get use to the timing. Anyways, her room is situated a bit of a distance from mine so we always keep our google chat on; this is the way we communicate when anyone of us is too lazy to walk to each other’s room. This was what happened yesterday night:

Me: baby, go and pray before they pray on you

LA: uhh, who prey on me?

Me: (laughing to myself) pray, when you die the people will pray on you or for you.

LA: oh ahhh, okies……….. I will go now.

Me: good girl

A few hours lapsed and she was busy with her school assignment and I noticed that the Maghrib praying time was nearly midway already, so I sent her another reminder.

Me: baby, go sembahyang, sebelum kamu disembahyang kan (literally the meaning is the same as my earlier message)

LA: hemm……… I did my prayer already and I beat you to it: P

Me: oh ok, good girl, that’s my darling.

I will do anything to encourage her to know her roots and the responsibilities of a good Muslim. Living out of her country for a good many years now, I don’t want her to be totally disengaged with what she should know, though sadly I noticed that she is having difficulty understanding some ‘bahasa-bahasa lama’ (old slang of the bahasa).

Kuih Kasturi Or Kuih Rengas

It has been raining nonstop here and the wind was ever so strong. Going out now you have to be dressed like as though it is back to winter again. Therefore, we are spending most of our time indoor during the weekends. I do like staying home but am missing the walks that I normally take in the spring and summer. Anyways, being in-door I decided to entertain myself by cooking with ingredients that’s available in the pantry. Last week I managed to make ‘kuih kasturi or kuih rengas’ don’t know what they called this in English, but basically it is green bean paste fritters.

Ingredients for filling: green bean, palm sugar, a bit of salt (I do not use any coconut for the filling at all). Put to boil everything in a pot until the green bean turn to a thick paste.

Ingredients for batter: all-purpose flour, rice flour, water, salt and some turmeric (to give the yellow color). Combined everything together to make a thick batter, just make sure that your batter is not too watery, otherwise it will not stick on the green bean paste.

Method: once the green bean paste is cool, make them into small sized ball and pressed to flatten them, deep the ready pressed paste into the batter and deep fried for a couple of minutes.

It is very nice to go with hot green or fruit tea on a cold rainy spring day.

Do You Have A Will?

Last Sunday, my little angel came to my room with a very concerned look on her face.

LA: mama, if you die, who will take care of me?

Me: Shadi (that’s my husband)

LA: hemm, but I mean if both of you suddenly died together like in an accident or something, then what will happen to me?

Me: Oh, ok, if that happens then maybe, hopefully you can go live with your sisters or your brother, why?

LA: I was just thinking because things happen you know.

LA: but I don’t think I can go and live with my brother because he has got his own family, so I will live with my sisters but I don’t like living in the ‘kampung’ (village). Do you think Kaklin (her eldest sister) will live there like forever?

Me: I don’t know, but giving that kind of situation you will have no choice right?

LA: (nodding her head) but it’s sad, do you have a will?

Me: will? Why, why should I write a will? I believe that the Almighty Lord got reasons for everything and I’m sure you will be taken care of you. Do you want me to write a will?

LA: don’t you think it is better to write a will?

Me: even if I write a will and if none of them wants to take care of you, there is nothing you can do right?

LA: ya, and that is sad

Me: why are you thinking of all these? We believe in our fate right, and you should put your trust in the Almight Lord always ok.

LA: ok mama, but still if that happens I will be very sad.

Me: (laughing in my head), ok I will write you a will then

LA: nahhh, it’s ok (and left the room)