Getting life back on track

I have a problem juggling work and home. I'm swamped. Not just with the new job, but also from my post as the Honorary Secretary to the Mr. and our club, and of course being the Home Administrator too. After having done almost half on the list, I still have some complaints to get sorted, minutes of meetings  and some leasing agreements in my pile, and to put the house in order besides more crisis at work! I hate deadlines! Sigh. I'm already so exhausted thinking about it! Transition process is not easy! I pray for more hours in a day! :'( If they say any women can multitask, then i must be a man trapped in a woman's body.

I've been focusing on the store so much, i need to balance it with home and other stuff. Now that the major works at the store are finally done, i'm now left with waiting for the Unifi guys for 5Mbps speed of net browsing at work! Hooray! Goodbye lousy broadband! Some had told me to sign up for yes, but i need a land line for mobile cctv viewing. (Siti, if you're reading this by any chance, BEWARE! Muahaha!)

At home, i have been training myself to rise earliest possible and sleep as early as possible too, so that i can spend a few hours for laundry/scrubbing/dusting/organising or whatever that needs to be done before work to make the place more live-able and i have been quite successful so far. *Grins* The only thing left for me to do is, get my LIFE back! I've been neglecting myself. I've been skipping facials, swimming classes and even meals! I've lost 4 kilos since December. Needless to say it's so not healthy!!

But for a more current update, I have managed to keep my facial appointments-twice now and meeting friends for a social balance for starters (though, i admit, i have been late on most occasions), i have also been making time to catch up on reading as well. So there's progress. I just need to get my swimming slot back and find time to cook healthy meals! (..and complete the above-mentioned tasks. Ugh).

But C'est la vie. Everybody's busy with their own thing. So, can't complain, right? I just need to plan my time better and learn to take things easy (this is even harder!). Let's hope i can keep things the way i plan to and de-stress a bit. Do i hear Angel Spa calling?? I need to go make a phone call.

A very busy year end.

Wow, January is almost over. I have been super busy since the last post. Well, even before that, actually. Sampai demam2, it was crazy! Why people always assume being a housewife is easy, is beyond me. You have MORE social obligations you can't run away from.

My mother in law went for haj last October, so the Mr. and i played host before the send off. I was already running here and there for my December project. So, knowing that we don't have any help especially when it was a weekday and time is always an enemy, we catered for about 20 pax, but catered in the sense that we ordered food. So picking up, setting up, cleaning up and all was all basically DIY :"( (Thanks to Cik Lili who got herself busy as she arrived). The very next night was the time we welcomed  my lil nephew, baby Hazir into the world (wrote abt it in my last post). I went to sleep over at my brother's house to help look after my sad nephew whom the parents had to leave for the new arrival. Brought him to the hospital the next morning and helped my brother with his stuff the next day when the wife got discharged from the hospital. Penat being a host pun still tak hilang lagi...

Before sending off the mum-in-law, makan-makan at our place.
Not even a small picture can spare me the eyebags.... :'( 

 
Then i went for a hide-away (from life outdoors) to prepare cakes for 2 occasions. In which i received a phone call for order when i was asleep after the haj send off. MIL was called in about 1.30am. So by the time i reached home and done cleaning up, i slept about 3-4am. I remembered talking gibberish on the phone and finally offered a call back soon because i realised i was scaring my customer away. Hehehe.

I made a simpleThomas birthday cake as requested for the birthday boy to bring to school (but fyi to those who are not in the know, a simple cake does not mean simple to make. Just in case you are wondering WHY a simple cake can cost so much sometimes. Kalau tak percaya, i suggest you try make one. Yes, i sound annoyed don't i? Because that's the truth). And made another 50 cupcakes the day after for the party at home. Complicated lil cuppies that requires a head start on colouring, cutting, shaping and moulding. Days ahead. So you can imagine the lack of sleep and all. I never look good attending these birthday parties whenever i have to come with my own cake in my hands! lol (And i don't think i ever want to do this kind of cuppies ever again!! :'( Unless of course, someone would really want to pay for all the pain and hard work).

(But in between, i still manage to squeeze some time pegi Angel Spa ;) Wanted to write about it but haven't had the chance to. So this will have to wait).

After that came Raya Haji. Since the mum-in-law was away for haj, my hubbs being the eldest son suggested we had the makan2 pagi raya session at our place. It was our turn to spend raya with his family anyways. So we once again played host for the celebration but this time, yours truly did the cooking (of course). Thanks to mum and ayah for dropping by to offer help. You guys are the best!!! Oh yes, u too, Harris! :D I managed to get the kari ayam, kuah lodeh, sambal goreng, rendang daging, (ketupat plastic, no less :p, and lemang (beli) too) all ready on time! In fact, the cooking was all ready way ahead of schedule! An accomplishment for me. Tak pernah masak full course for a large pax on my own for pagi raya so far. This was a first for yours truly :) (Though i got some help but mainly things were done by myself la. Thanks again mum n ayah... i couldn't have done it without you!!! Well, can la tapi takla siap by 5pm! Hehehe ;) )

 Table all set in the morning of Aidiladha :D
Waiting for the guests....

Next came dad's birthday. I made him a cheese cake since i know how much he loves them. It was my first time attempting a cheese cake and i was quite surprised how simple it was to make! But the ingredients aren't cheap, though. Then, i was down with fever :( I can't remember for how long. But it was not very long before my next order that was long booked by the cousin. I had to forego the one before that, though-the quite last minute order for a friend. (Pix below). Because i still had to squeeze in time to go meet people for my December thing.. so ampun, babes. Tak larat. Hehehee.. Health comes first, considering our age now.. :P

Us sharing a tiramisu @ twentyone

Finally November was coming to an end. Made the 2-tiered Barney cake for the cousin's son 1st birthday for the 27th November party. She was getting nervous when she got to know that i was not well, worried that i might not get the baking done for her but all was well, alhamdulillah. Tee hee. Luckily she wanted an exact design of a Barney cake i've done in the past, so i was able to skip the head scratching part to think about designs to come up with. But just when i thought i have the remaining 3 days to breathe before December comes, the Mr. fell sick! Can you imagine that?!!

Of gardening, the garden and the bloody annoying gardener

I adore beautiful gardens be it small or big. When we were checking out our place before moving in, i told the husband how much i loved the back yard. I would never extend the back for a bigger kitchen or room because we would then lose that small area. We haven't done anything to it ever since we moved in except cutting the grass (that's almost 5 years now) until earlier this year. I have the idea of a herb garden but what can i say, after a few miserable attempts, i have to admit that gardening is just not my forte. God knows i've tried!

We finally decided to change the grass for both front and back lawn (when my eyes could no longer take the sight of weeds growing happily in the "garden"). I had been tending to the front lawn a couple of years back with much love and well, some care even with very little knowledge in gardening. You have to give me some credit for the effort, right?

Then one day, after we got back from travelling, one of my favourite plant (sorry, i have no idea what it's called) got attacked by these white stuffs (Dad says it's "benah") so i had to throw them away. The weather hasn't been gentle to the plants too so some of them were already dead by that time. And then more plants went dead. Ugh. I was so frustrated.

Anyways, after changing to pearl grass, the garden looked nice again and less panic but then some old grass (the thinner and taller ones) started growing back in the back yard. And they are back with a vengeance. Called the gardener but i suspect this guy only appears in front of our gate only when he is in need of cash. 

A day after completing the first job, he came to our house to borrow some cash. I don't know what he told the Mr. but he got the money and said he would come back the next day to return the cash and to trim some branches that i now suspect he conveniently had forgotten about. Days passed, nothing. The husband tried calling him several times, no answer. When i called, he answered. Only because he didn't have my number. He told the Mr. that his wife was sick and has been in the hospital for a few days. That he would drop by our place once she's better. Fine.

Then one day on our way back home from some errands, i saw him working at one of our neighbour's house. We turned back and spoke to him "nicely". He came by our house later that afternoon to look at the backyard and (again) said would come the next day for the grass and branches. He did this time. But had told me to pay him for the grass he had to get from the nursery. I told him he has to wait for my husband for that and that we would pay AFTER the job, thinking that we wouldn't have to pay him since he did a lousy job the first time and the fact that he owes us money. But after everything was done, he still got paid and left us with the sweet promises that the unwanted grass won't be back. The Mr. paid him because he said he needed the money and that we can call him to do work for free the next time. Yeah right. 

Now guess what? The bloody grasses are back again. Sigh. I'm thinking of doing something to that particular area as some parts are not badly affected and also perhaps hiring a proper person to help upkeep the garden. One that wouldn't cut our throat or get on my nerves. I have the urge to do it myself but given the history, i'm not sure if that's a good idea.

Oh yeah by the way, he also told me that he hasn't been well and has been in the hospital before started working at my neighbour's. Familiar? First the wife, now him. Hmm. When i asked, "sakit apa?", he answered, "sudah mau mati lah saya rasa..". I'm sorry, but all i have in the back of my mind was, Baguslah tu, John!

Recent bakes

For mum's birthday.
Rich Buttercake with pink and ivory buttercream rose swirls.
(This is not that recent, though. Done in January).

3D Lightning Mc Queen.
Chocolate chip cake with buttercream plus, a candy bar.

A girlish theme for a 16 year old.
Done in 3 flavours,
Buttercake, Buttercake with choc chip & Chocolate cake.
This was challenging and time consuming.... i was so relieved when it's all done! :D


A gift for a relative's engagement.
This girl is mad about these classic roses.
Done in chocolate cake with buttercream.

A separate box for her own consumption :)

Big Bro's Birthday

Happy Birthday, bro!
Another year older, another year wiser.
Hopefully.
:P


The cake and the maker :)
Visual edited and provided by the wife.
I absolutely adore the candle!
When i first saw it, i thought.. "That's just so cute, I have to have that!".
It's not just about the cake, yes?

And this is not an attempt to promote, but my adorable nephew couldn't stop saying YUMM YUMM... (SE)DAPP... MMM... NYUM NYUM NYUM.. through out eating his cake! And i, of course couldn't resist staying glued in front of him, in awe, feeling all touched and amused at the same time and took photos of that sweet moment.

Not sure if he was just trying to pull my leg, but you know what they say about kids,
THEY DON'T LIE ;)

Tak puas pakai tangan, pakai garpu!
Glad someone enjoyed it :)

[Yesterday, was my late Tok Bak's birthday. He would have been 83. Al-fatihah].

Goodbye...

How did December ends so fast?? A lot has happened this year..
Let's see...

It was definitely a year of travelling.

France in January (where we manage a short one to Manchester) and Andorra too.
A 2-day trip to Hong Kong (this was purely business & Dimsum :)) and a 6-day trip to London & Chester in March,
and the latest being Saigon last month.
All in 1 year!
And i realised that i don't have updates on any of them except for Toulouse and the short trip to Hong Kong.
There are lots to tell! Perhaps i shall put them up later. So to close 2009 :)

***

Started learning to play tennis..
...aaand have not been playing for 2 weeks now!
Jeremy (our instructor) said there is still hope for us, ladies can still be trained to be a pro before we turn 35. But if this keeps on, i doubt that that's gonna happen! As if! We just learned the backhand swing last lesson. Looks like it's back to forehand again after this.. sigh.

***

Took up beading class (or was this last year?) - and almost went blind!!
It was a full day basic course. By end of the lesson, i feel like my eyes were gonna explode! The SIL had kindly offered her clothes as guinea pigs and to date i've done 2 of her baju kurung. Suppose to do another 2 or 3 eh, Ilie? I pun dah lupa. I guess, i prefer baking to this lah. 

***

Got a part time job to occupy my time.
Working fulltime at the office and working part time from home certainly has its pros and cons. And to tell you the truth, it's a lot easier to work in the office (fulltime) and i am not sure how long i can keep it up.
Flexibility can have its downside, i must say.
But i sure met some new people from many different areas (and became good acquaintances/friends with some of them) and that is a big plus about the job.
Being out there.

***
Learn to bake and took up cake decorating class..
(not to mention made some $ to boot! Woo! Though, not up to the point where it can turn me into a millionaire, but still).
This, i have elaborated enough in my previous posts. But i do plan to go for cookies deco class and fondant cupcakes too. God willing :D

***
Started another micro (read very small) side business while going travel.
This started only recently. It's pretty fun.
I'm supposed to go to Saigon again last Sunday but the husband and i are still feeling a bit under the weather. (I'm still down with fever as we speak). So the trip will have to wait.
I have another destination in mind for next month but since the Saigon trip is being pushed, we'll see.
At least there's a plan.

*********

And therefore, i shall conclude that it has been quite a productive year for me.
But aside from all the good events that has taken place, sadly, there are unfortunate ones too...

We lost 2 cats.
2 cats in a year. What are the odds? :'(
Lost Aslan while we were in Toulouse earlier this year after almost 3 years caring for him.
We had planned to bring him to the vet once we get back from Toulouse.
The last time i saw him was through the car window when we were leaving for France. He was sitting near his feeding bowl, looking at us leaving.
Aslan actually belonged to a neighbour of ours but loved staying at our place instead of its owner's. The owner calls him by the name Chocho and visited him whenever they pass by our house. They were saddened by the news too and gave us some of his photos to remember him by :')

And recently, we lost our litttle Scabby to leukemia.
We were already at the vet, trying to find a space to park the car when we received the phone call telling us that he had passed on.....
We picked him up when he was about 7 months old. He was a very playful one. That was what attracted us in the first place. He was busy chasing after a lizard when we saw him.
I'm not so much into cats, but i love kittens.. especially lively, playful ones.
Scabby was only about 2 years old when he died (that's only 14 human years).

***
Lost my dearest grandfather.
A great loss for me.
After being in and out of hospital, he finally succumbed to gastrointestinal bleeding on December 8th at 2.50pm. He was buried on the same day, died at the age of 82.
I'm just glad that i get to be with him that last day. It's weird since we (the husband, my cousin and i) were having breakfast together that morning and decided to go to visit him at the hospital right after instead of in the evening like we had planned. I guess God has his own way in laying out plans for us, don't u think?
Well, i'd like to think that he's in a better place now, insya Allah.

*********

So anyways, what's your new year's resolutions?

I have a few of my own..
Stay healthy (no matter what the weighing scale says), Live more, Try to make babies (of course :)) and Spread more LOVE!
Have a great new year ahead, everyone!
God Bless!

[Oh btw, if anyone interested in donating blood, please give me a buzz. Our family could really use your help. Thank you!]

Mission accomplished!

The nephew's birthday celebration finally came. Elmo was the lucky (or not) character the mother had chosen for my task. These are what i came up with:

Initially the plan did not include the dialogue box. But when i saw the birthday candle the mum had bought, i knew i needed a change of plan. Either that, or we needed new candles. In the end, the mishap i had was what saved the day.

What's worse, I only realised that my oven was not working properly when i saw the outcome of the first Elmo. It was a DISASTER!! It was distorted, lopsided. I had to turn the next one the other way round after half baking time and prayed hard for the cake to rise nicely. Lucky for me, it turned out okay.

I would definitely hate to see the first one goes to waste (stuffing myself with it was obviously not a solution, and to serve it to any guests would be a disgrace!) so, the Mr. suggested that i do something with it. I needed a new plan anyways. That's when i thought of the dialogue bubble. And so i did damage control. Reconstructed the whole thing, improvised a bit here and there and voila! With not much expertise, i manage to salvage it! Hahh! Thanks to the beauty of frosting, it helps to conceal all the flaws :D But i admit that it wasn't my best effort. I was too drained to make it any nicer.. bolehla, kan? I hope the birthday boy liked it anyways..

Side profile of the (still edible) lopsided Elmo.
It was taken out of the mould by utter frustration, hence the bad complexion.
(I also had to warn the mother as to which part can be cut for the guests given the nature of its construction :p).

Happy 2nd Birthday, kid!
Aeeaeyyouuu!! (he knows what it means :))

A Token of Appreciation

A gift of 5 to 5 helpful friends.

Life goes on..

I lost my dearest grandfather 10 days ago. I told my uncle that day that i still can't believe the fact that he's gone (i still can't!). I've so many memories of growing up with him. Then the uncle replied,

"We all live with memories, just make the best of them. And live your life so that he would be proud of you if he were still around".

That gave me the support i needed at that time as i was in no mood to do anything, let alone to bake. but i'm glad i did. These happy faces made my day :)

Happy Birthday to the sister and a Happy Anniversary to the couple! :)

Spring in December

What i'd like to say is that i am proud to be the first one to leave class this time.. heheh. I know, it's not a competition but it's a big achievement for me :D What motivated me? Well, i was running late to fetch the Mr! :P

Learner vs. Teacher
This is how the chrysanthemum should look like.
Mine, of course is the one looking like a tepee..

And here are some i've made for a friend.. (she was asking me why i didn't put them up on my blog. Honestly, i'm uber shy :)).
Here goes nothing..

For her mum in law's birthday.
Dadi translates mum in Pakistani.
Trying out mini hydrangeas.

For the sister.
Experimenting with bright hues.
Note to self: To use the bright colours for the lettering background next time.. i think it will look nicer.

And this is a simple one i made for the lil kid who "helped" me bake for my friend's order. Sorry you only got 3 pieces, Naufal. Next time, perhaps when Aunty Azra is able to work her hands faster!

Funny how it never occurred to me that i'd be doing this for a side income - especially given the fact that i don't bake. I actually went for the class because i received a request to make my nephew's birthday cake from the mother. I have another order this week, Alhamdulillah. It's true what they say, sometimes the best things happen when you least expected it ;)

Warning: High sugar content - Fondant fun 101

Went to another cake decorating class at Cake Connection last Thursday. This time, it's working with fondant. Like the Cupcake fun 101 class, we were provided with the recipe and given points on making the cake they prepared for us but the decorating part was hands on. Everything was breezy at the beginning. I was working pretty fast, kneading the plain white fondant by adding Kelly green mixed with Electric green, splitting the cake into 2 and filling it (i have to get one of those cake leveller. It's so easy to work with!) and icing the cake with a thin layer of buttercream but when it came to the decorating part, i got delayed.

First, because i had produced an oblong shape of fondant to cover the 6" round cake. So i had to start kneading and rolling all over again. It was quite a task i tell you! After several minutes had passed, i stopped rolling and asked Lynette, the instructor if my fondant was ready and she said, "it's still quite small for your cake". Sigh. Yeah, my patience was running thin at that point. "Please avoid re-kneading your fondant too many times, please", cried Lynette after checking one of the other girls. Obviously i wasn't the only one. Hehe. Fondant dries very quickly, so we had to work fast to prevent it from cracking due to dryness. You can't tell from the picture below, but my cake actually has some kind of (slight) "stretch marks" because it took me quite a while to work my hands on it. Huhuhu...

Lynette also demonstrated the crimping technique, which i didn't apply, not wanting to risk having ugly holes because i think it requires some practice and of course, time is of essence. In fact, none of us actually did any crimping on our cakes. She also showed us how to create borders from fondant cut outs, making sugar flowers from modelling paste and the quilling technique. We were given the chance to work with royal icing too. But the fact that we were instructed to make a stem and leaves for our sugar flowers using the white royal icing, i thought i'd continue when i get home. Reason being, i think it kind of spoils the look. (If this was a test i would obviously fail.. haha). Well, time was running out as i was just about done with my sugar flowers (Lynette told us to make 15 of 'em) when i decided to stop anyways.

When i got home, i realised that i had accidentally left the flowers behind. So i only had sebijik of the little pink sugar flower on my cake. Yep, one sad little pink sugar flower. My brother's maid sempat tanya, "bunga ni satu je kak?..". -__- However, the husband was kind enough to drive me to a place nearby to get the tools to make new ones from the leftover modelling paste i brought home. (Thanks, sweetness!). Here's the upshot(s) of my very first fondant cake (one, with a fan :P):

I thought the shade of green was rather too pale at first, but i kind of like it after it's all done :)

Have a sweet week ahead, everyone!

Making connection with (cup)cakes - Cupcake fun 101

I went for a cupcake decorating class at Cake Connection last week. It's located at Jaya One, PJ where you can find almost everything you need to make that cake of yours extraordinary all under one roof - sprinklers, toppers you name it! And i simply love the setting of the place. It's simple yet so chic!

We were taught and given tips on how to make basic vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting that will hold in our nice, hot weather. It was all exciting but i was pretty nervous as i have never attempted any kind of cake decorating (heck, i've only baked once in my lifetime!) and i know the underlying challenge for me particularly will be the TIME as time is (always) jealous of me and in this case, wars against my rosettes & my hydrangeas & swirls :)

Nancy, the instructor told us to treat the class therapeutic, but of course, i was all stressed out come end of the class! Struggling in between the messiness of putting in the icing into the piping bag, practicing the techniques on the board and working on the cupcakes to finish on time. But i guess it somehow did have that therapeutic effect after all as one of my colleague said my energy was different that day. "You look happier than usual!", he said. Haha! Here's a visual of some of my finished product:

I've always loved the classic swirl. I would have done more swirls but due to time constraints, i was short for a refill.
And as for the purple Hydrangeas, it went straight onto the cupcake! 
(no time for trials!)

Mussy. The kind of work i get when i do things fast!

(But mussy sometimes adds character, no?)

What's cooking??

Before we got here, we were kind of worried that it would be difficult for us to cook our own meals because we will be staying at a hotel (for 3 weeks) instead of the apartment the Mr. had stayed the last time he was here. But luckily enough, we got an apartment room at the hotel. We did some grocery shopping on the very first day we arrive, stocking up all the basics to at least sate our hunger in between meals.

The first meal i cooked for dinner was supposed to be Chinese fried rice. We bought a box of rice. Inside, were 4 packets like those u get for instant nasi impit in Malaysia. I boiled 2 packets (as there were 3 of us) according to the cooking directions with the assistance from babelfish (because obviously it's in french). It says to boil for 10 minutes. But after 10 minutes, i saw some grains that still seemed uncooked. So i boiled it for another good 5 minutes or so.

After it has cooled, i surveyed the rice packets and poke it with my bare forefinger. It was hard! Dang it! I panicked for a while... thinking what i should do.. i put it up on my fb status and some of my friends suggested to make kuah kacang. One even said they have lots of pistachios here, maybe i should use that instead of peanuts for the sauce, try something new. (But i thought, takkan dinner makan nasi impit and kuah kacang je.. unless i can make juicy satay to go with it! Memang tak la kan). If only i can make rendang.. but that would be too much as i don't have the right ingredients and i couldn't waste the rice. It's time to get creative. I made chicken soup to go with the "nasi impit" like the Malaysians eat their Soto. It seems doable since i have got some chickens from the Halal store we stumbled upon while we were out exploring the city. Plus, it's much easier to make chicken soup! It was of course improvised with whatever i can get from the fridge, and no rempah Soto or bergedil lah.. So, goodbye Chinese fried rice and hello "French Soto"!! It turned out to be okay.. (Nobody had stomach upset or worse, diarrhoea, means ok la tu ;)).

Some of the stuff i used and dishes i prepared..

Tomato Basil Farfalle, Chicken Paella ala moi, Not-so-french Fish & Chips (this is of course due to laziness) and yes, the "French Soto" (bottom right).

Wife @ work.

Where we get our halal supplies.

No rice for dinner

This was announced by my Mr. the other night while having our usual staple food during dinner lately. He told me that he wanted to start watching his weight. I could not believe my ears! I thought it was all a dream because i have been trying to get my point across all this while but he said the expanding waistline was a sign of "PROSPERITY" and that i've been feeding him well (pandai,la kan). So when his heart had finally opened to go on a diet, as a good wife, what am i to do but support his WISE decision, right? ;) (i didn't wanna make fun of it because i was afraid that he would change his mind). I need to be more creative now, i thought. So the next day i started googling for recipes to add to my existing collection.

Today, i took the liberty to prepare one of his favourite dish, Roti Jala for dinner (and not to waste the curry i've cooked earlier). Mum-in-law got me the pan and the err.. yellow plastic scoop not long ago (i don't know what it's called, that yellow thing made of plastic with holes at the bottom and a handle to scoop the batter to form the jala) because i once told her i wanted to learn to make them (very thoughtful of her, or could it be that she wanted me to walk my talk.. kekeke). Called mum for the recipe this morning and this was how it turned out the first few attempts:

(i know, i know, it's not suppose to look like this. The batter was a bit too thick at first.
Imran said it's more like roti bintik2. Hahaha)


After the ball's rolling, i finally get them to look the way they are supposed to.
Well, more or less.

(My brother came by with the wife and his brother-in-law, Imran to get me help babysit his son - which i love doing by the way, and i'm not sure whether to say it's langkah kanan or langkah kiri for them..hehehe)

Imran came in and wanted to try his hand at it and this is his product.
Slightly off, but not bad. Haha!

But the STAR of the evening was this guy, not only he loves eating them, he actually knows the technique to making them! Impressive!

Ingatkan tau makan je...

Learn from the pro!

I now know that not only the batter should not be too thick, you shouldn't hold the yellow scoop too high up, and swirl it slow and steady in order to get that Roti Jala look. (Well, it was my first time and was nervous too, hence the speed).

Hullabaloo in the kitchen over the Roti Jala


Almost done now..


Voila! Served with chicken curry.
(Not bad for a first time, eh?)

I'm glad they enjoyed it. Everything was gobbled up. And therefore i think it was a success. :D

Thanks mak for the the apparatus and mum for the recipe!

On Going Domestic

After four years of employment, hubby and i decided for me to opt for a premature retirement. I finally waved goodbye to secretarial practice. Think i’m done with that for now. To answer those who are wondering what i’m up to these days (for whatever reasons) well, I cook, clean, garden, run errands, read, (blog) and whatever that qualifies me as a homemaker.

It has been about four months since i left work (after having gone thru a dreadful surgical episode), and the other day i suddenly find myself in the position of a shrink. Friends started coming to confide in me for problems regarding career, relationships (particularly this), health, even financials and i thought, Wow! Maybe i should start charging!! Haha.. There are days gone by where i exclusively attend to the free advice-dispensing and view-exchanging activities via the instant messaging with my usual comrades simply because i CAN :D. But the days are often filled with purely domestic chores such as cooking meals, ironing and cleaning the house. I definitely enjoy to finally having the time to read, going to the movies and travelling when hubby is off duty. We didn’t get to do much travelling before (even to the nearest mall) as we don’t always get the luxury of having weekends together.

Anyways, i think i have been procrastinating to apply for a part time job long enough now. Need to update that CV and get it going (before more questions come deafening my ears from the parents). And hopefully i get to earn some bucks soon to at least fulfill my shoe cravings among others :)