2010, a year of fond memories

2010 left me with some fond, remarkable memories. One of it being:

Irsyad's birth at 3am, on 14 January 2010, through C-section.

Now I knew I am a scaredy-cat. My water broke at about 12am while I was asleep. When I realized that happening, I panicked. I tried to woke Aleef (my little bro) up who was sleeping on the floor in the same room. Seeing him snored and not moving at all, I climbed up the steep stairs and banged on my parents' door. At that moment, I wished my Syafie was with me. In no time, I was at the hospital already lying on the bed waiting for the doc to come. Unfortunately, I was told that my doc was out of town so his colleague took over. She asked me whether I wanted epidural or GA (General Anaesthesia). Only then I realized I was really really going to be cut open! My knees started to shake uncontrollably, and then my whole body, when I was wheeled into the operating theater. My body was shaking on its own and against my will. The coldness, numbness in my legs and the pain on my back - it was terrible and almost unbearable. I wished again that my Syafie was there with me. I was terrified. Seeing that I was unable to make any decisions, the doc decided to go for a GA. My body was still shaking even when the anesthetist said to me, "Ira, mengucap okay. Selawat banyak-banyak. Kita dah nak mula." What? Am I dying? He asked me to mengucap!

And then, somebody patted my cheeks and said, "Ira, wake up. All is safe. Your baby's safe." I heard the wonderful words and tried to open my eyes. But it was difficult. I tried to speak, but no words came out. Apparently, I was still under the influence of GA. I felt a stinging pain across my lower belly. And then I heard dad's voice saying to my mom, "Weh la Yah. Tgk ni cucu kita. Cerdiknya dia, dia bukak mata luas-luas. Tgk sekeliling." ("Yah, look at our grandson. He looks so smart, with his eyes wide open, looking around at his surrounding.")

I fell asleep again, with those words...

When I woke up, my aunty and grandma were in the room. I tried to speak but it was difficult still. And, my body felt really numb. All I could muster was, "baby... baby...". I wanted to know whether my baby was safe. My grandma told me that my baby is safe and healthy.

When I saw our baby for the first time, my heart felt warm. Was this how my Mom felt when she first saw me? Was this how a mother's love felt like? God is Al-Mighty, Most Generous, Most Loving. I felt truly blessed.

Syafie arrived at the hospital all the way from Jeddah on the same day, late afternoon with my mother-in-law, Mama. My dad made sure Mama was whisked away from us, to give us some privacy. Clever him! Syafie kissed me on the forehead and held our baby close to his heart. His eyes were tender. I fell in love with him again. It was a magical moment for me, him and our little one, Muhamad Irsyad Syahmi.

Irsyad: 1st day

Irsyad: too small to hold Papa's hand, so he held Papa's finger.

A Ferrari as A Gift

Got my first Ferrari One ever as a birthday present from Syafie. Thank you so much! I love it!

At a first glance, it looks very manly what with the emblem on top which is a proper emblem and not some cheap Ferrari sticker (as Sayang pointed it out) but am sure I can do something about it - I have already changed the interior into a purple colour.

As it is switched on, you can hear the vrroom which he loves so much. Yikes! I will have to do something about that too.

Thanks sweetheart for the gift. Really appreciate it. Now I can do my work anywhere I like and watch Irsyad at the same time.

A Ferrari is not just about speed. It is an expression of beauty, power, excitement and pleasure. A Ferrari exudes excellence from the original concept to the finished product and the Ferrari ONE offers the same sensations down to the finest detail.

Stars Avenue

I like Stars Avenue. The mall is not crowded, which makes stroller manouvering easier for me. There is only a number of restaurants and cafes. And thankfully, no food court! So it's less noisy and there's less irritating rude kids running around as well.

Normally, for lunch we would have gone for Goodies for its wide selection of food, a mixture of Western and Mediterranean cuisine (there's Goodies at the Tahlia Street as well). And the ice-cream is yummy! But on our first visit to Stars Avenue, instead of Goodies, we decided to try Olio, which offers Italian dishes. Prices of the food are reasonable, starting from about SR35 for a meal. If you're hungry, Olio will still be acceptable to you, because the pasta doesn't taste that good. Edible, but not that enjoyable.

:: The pasta that we ordered ::

:: The Olio ::

There's also The Crepe Cafe opposite Goodies, our favourite cafe. We love The Crepe Cafe because the crepes, waffles, omelettes and pancakes are superb! However, if you want to lepak2 and take your time to savour the mouth-watering pancakes, then The Crepe Cafe at the Roshana Mall, Thalia, is a more suitable place for you. Syafie and I, we normally lepak there. The cafe is more spacious than the one at Stars Avenue, where the tables and chairs are cramped in one corner.

Syafie's fave crepe is Philly Cheese Steak Crepe, and I normally order the Canadian Waffles, or American Pancakes or the spinach, herbs and cheese omelette.

Cooking Classes with Pretty Lasses!

Our Consulate-General's wife, Pn. Rosie Hidayat, invited us one morning for a cooking class-cum-morning breakfast at her house. And guess who the teacher is, yeah, Kak CT!

Had soo much fun with the kakaks learning how to make Laksam (a Kelantanese dish) and Tepung Pelita (my fave dessert, nyum!). I would never have thought of learning to make these dishes (and what more, from scratch!) if I was in M'sia. There was no need then. One could just order them anytime one wants.

Managed also to sell some of the Ekin tudungs which I brought from M'sia. Yeay, dapat duit!

~ Laksam ~

~ Tepung pelita in the making ~

~ Some of the pretty ladies who turned up ~

And upon my request also, Kak CT came over to my house one day to show me how to make Cendol (another one of my fave dessert). I was craving for Cendol for weeks then. The rest of the Faysaleyyah gang also joined me. That would be Kak Ju and Kak Sharifah who brought along their children.

Again, so much fun in the kitchen, laughing over silly jokes. Sayang came home from work and we were still in the kitchen preparing the Cendol while the kids were playing in the living room. He came in and was like, "Memasak pun boleh sampai gelak kuat-kuat ke?" And, being a sport that he always is, played/looked after the kids while we completed the Cendol. I also made lasagne on Kak Ju's request who wanted to learn how to make it. My only specialty, I suppose...

~ This is how you make Cendol ~

~ Having fun in my kitchen ~

Would never have thought I would be interested in cooking, recalling Mum's grunts & complaints over my lack of interest to learn at all. My interest in cooking was initially stirred by the necessity and desperation to satisfy my pregnancy cravings. I mean, where else can you get Ayam Percik, Laksam, Tepung Pelita, Kuih Bakar, Nasi Paprik etc in this town of Jeddah?

Plus, Sayang made me realize the great benefits of homemade dishes. At the restaurants, you won't know how the food is prepared, whether they use MSG and how much (ajinomoto - bad for your health and your baby's), whether the water is clean and boiled, whether fresh ingredients are used etc. But of course, as a treat to our ourselves, we do eat out occasionally. Jeddah, being a melting pot of races & cultures, offers an extremely wide range of mouth-watering delicacies.

Cooking is made simple for me with my mother-in-law's tips who's a great cook and a busy woman, having to manage 4 fashion shops and 2 young kids (7 and 9 years old). Believe it or not, she cooks for the family for every meal and does it effortlessly. According to her, when it comes to cooking, there must be an organized system, just like when you're at work. This way, cooking won't be such a chaotic, messy affair! Certain ingredients can be prepared way before the cooking time (like during your free-time while watching the telly). And if the correct cooking and storage methods are used, the cooked dishes can be refrigerated/frozen for up to 1 month. And will still taste good! Tried it and it's true!

Now, what shall be the menu for this week?

BAJ-Toyota Open House 2009

We stay in the district of Faysaleyyah. My Malaysian neighbours consist of 4 Malaysian families and 2 single guys. 4 of the men work with the Al-Jazira Bank and the other 2 with Toyota. Our houses are just a walking distance from each other. So when Kak Jue mooted the idea of having one single (alas grand) open house, it made sense and everyone instantly agreed. It makes things easier since we would be inviting the same guests anyway.

We decided to have it held at the hall of a hotel nearby. Food would be home-cooked, and served for approximately 200 guests. Some of the menus were: ayam masak merah, udang goreng, kerutup, kurma, laksam, soto & mihun sup, ulam & budu, kuih tepung pelita, akok and tapai pulut.

I felt daunted at first at the idea of having to cook for that big a crowd. What with my cooking skills being next to non-existent! I was tasked with preparing soto (thankfully as it would involve "merebus" only and I am okay with preparing the begedil). I also volunteered to make akok and was really proud as to how the akoks turned out to be.

I wouldn't divulge the details of preparing the akok though as it is quite hilarious everytime I think of it now. A lot of crying when the akok didn't turn out right, staying up at 3am and the backaches for having sat and stood for a long time in the kitchen. Not to forget, the tantrums I threw at my Sayang at 3am when I almost gave up doing the akok. He was such a sweetheart. He sat there with me on the kitchen floor, helping me stir the akok mixture while pujuk me to stop crying. Heheh... Okay people, too much details already!

In the end, everything turned out to be well indeed. We had a great time and received a lot of praises for the traditional dishes served. And I made more friends that night. =)

~ Yummy cheesecake prepared by our own Malaysian chef ~

(who is a chef with the Coffee Bean, Saudi branch)

~ Some parts of the soto which I prepared ~

~ Some of our Malaysian guests ~

~ Me at 5 months & my Sweetheart ~

A Hectic Eid

Eid was spent in Malaysia, for 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks were inclusive of the following traveling days spent flying:

1) from Jeddah to KL - where I stayed for 1 day at my in-laws'

2) KL to Kelantan - where I flew alone to spend 2 days with Mum who was flying to NZ for her PhD presentation

3) Kelantan to KL - where I spent 1st & 2nd days of Eid with in-laws (arrived on the eve of Eid so Sayang had to do the Eid shopping without me)

4) KL to Kelantan - where I spent the rest of Eid with my family. Arrived early morning to get the house ready for open house. So tired! (And so sedih without Mum around!)

5) Kelantan to KL - where I spent some more time with in-laws, meeting friends and am sooo glad we managed to spend a very lovely time with just Me & Sayang

6) KL to Jeddah - sob sob!

Sayang and I had to be content with what little time we had with our beloved family & sorely missed friends. I'm glad we came up with the who-to-see list earlier. At least we didn't miss out on that many people we wanted to get together with.

I was sad though as I didn't manage to visit Miera (who just gave birth), E'in and Muna whose babies must have been a few months older already. Although visiting them were part of our plans, unfortunately, we've had to change our plan at the last minute as I had to go back to KB to see Mum who was flying to New Zealand during that Eid period. So the gifts that I bought for the babies had to be KIVed.

~~~~~

At KLIA with Mak & Ayah. Mak was leaving for NZ. Muka tahan nangis!

Decided against visiting more relatives. Instead, spent a lovely time hanging out with my Sayang & siblings at KB Mall (where else!)

Went to Garndma's place. Then, made a detour to Asni's house nearby. Baby B was soo comel. And Asni was spoilt! (Aseb being responsible for that). Well, she deserved it after all the hardwork...

Open house at my house in KB.

With Aishah (my bestfren since primary school) & Sir Pasupathy (the English teacher who drilled me until I truly knew the difference btw all the grammar rules!)

Picnic by the waterfalls with family in-laws at Gabai, Hulu Langat.

Sayang with Jie jie and Adik having a gud time!

Celebrated Sayang's birthday. Ever so loving brother he is!

A meet up with some of the Law20 frens at Chawan, Bangsar the nite before flying back to Jeddah. From left: Sasha, Shue & Zaza.

From left: Hida & Nas. Thanks for the lovely 2-hour u guys!

A very brief karaoke session with ex-colleagues. From left: K. Tini, Zailan, Abg.Pol, Rad, Sayang & I, Aadli and Didi. Not in the pic are Opie n lovely wifey (Is)

Managed to also drop by the old office. Was happy to see several familiar faces! From left: Abg. Pol, Me, Aadli & Rad. Carol took this pic. The others seemed v.busy. Tak mo kacau!

Then, it was time to fly back to Jeddah, sob sob! From left: Sayang, Ayah, Aleef, Me, K. Wani.

Missing you guys oledi!

Cravings & Cuisine Change

Lately, I've been having cravings for Malay food. And since there's no way I can get them here except at the Asia Restaurant which serves only Thai food (limited menu thereupon), I've had to put an extra effort to make them myself.

Hence my frequent visits to www.myresipi.com.

I'm forever grateful for it's existence, for without it, I wouldn't have been able to fulfill my cravings. I've managed to cook a few dishes already, the current craze being "Ayam Percik" which is very easy to make and the ingredients aren't hard to acquire here (thankfully!). Here's the recipe to share with all of you, the chef wannabes. I've made some modifications to suit my lazy self in the kitchen:

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken breasts, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 crushed lemongrass, 2 cups of coconut milk, 1@2 cups of rice flour, dried chillies (blended), tamarind water to taste, salt & sugar.

How To:

- Blend together onion, garlic and lemongrass. Use the blended mixture to marinate the chicken breasts for 1hr. As for the balance of the blended mixture, sautee it in a pan and then, add coconut milk, rice flour, dried chillies, tamarind water, salt & sugar. Stir constantly until it's cooked.

- Meanwhile, grill the marinated chicken parts until they become brown.

- Once cooked, pour the percik sauce over the chicken parts. Serve while hot.

Yummylicious!