Last Entry for 2012

Today is the last day for 2012...and it's been raining non-stop from this morning. We got back from Klang at about 1 am this morning after spending about a week away from home. While we were away, some parts of Terengganu was flooded (Alhamdulillah our home is on higher ground). It had stopped raining a couple of days apparently but a second 'wave' has started and well, it's still pouring... Anyway, the hubby was away in Melbourne for a Corelle Shopping Spree while I stayed in Meru having an alone-time... He was taking advantage of the Boxing Day Sale at this time of the year. In Melbourne, he stayed with our second son and the first son coincidentally arrived from Adelaide around the same date bringing along his family so the hubby got to see our grandsons, too.. (and I just got to see the pictures only...*sigh*). They came in a motor-home so the hubby had no problems with transportation for the boxes and boxes of Corelle that he bought! He had a grand time in Melbourne indeed...(went fishing, too it seemed). And me...what I did in the meantime in Meru was cleaning up the place (and going on a shopping spree of my own actually...lol!) Yup, too busy dusting and scrubbing...that not a single picture was taken! Okay, not to worry, I have other pictures to share... here goes:

Taken on our way back to Klang: rain all the way from KT but dried up once we reached the Kuantan-KL highway

Raining all day today...

Flooding of a friend's home...

A school in Kuala Berang.. those kids will be having extended holidays!

Google image: Flooding in Kuala Terengganu...

Next, pictures from the the hubby's camera taken on his holiday in Melbourne:

Umayr showing he wanted 3 of something or rather... (he can be very insistence if you take him shopping!)

Ammar looking pretty grown up with his hand in his pocket!

And little Amru oblivious to the frenzied shopping probably going around him..

Corelle Sale!

The motor-home parked beside Bang Ngah's 'cabin-house' which is not much bigger...lol

Here's a picture of what hubby bought for me from Melbourne:

Summer fruits - nectarines, peach, apricot and cherries... yum!

But this one I like very much..thank you so much my hubby ya habibi..!

Daughter green with envy...but hey, her daddy bought her THREE pairs of Cotton On shoes!

So...here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Resolutions? Always think positive, act positive and be positive... (Law of Attraction okay?)

PERMINT Family Day

It has been raining and raining these past few days... (I do believe the Monsoon season is here at last!) But... life must go on, Monsoon season notwithstanding. So, yesterday we attended PERMINT Family Day (as usual; just the two of us - the family...), a supposedly an out-doorish programme held at the Telaga Batin Scout Camp. Of course the organisers were ready with plan B in the event of a downpour so... eventually all activities were carried out in the 'open hall' (read: dewan terbuka). There must be about a thousand participants including children and babies... and every one of us were given a red t-shirt and a cap... Here are some pics:

Raining cats and dogs...

Filling in the card for the lucky draw...

First activity: aerobic exercise everyone!

Next activity: breakfast - adding back the calories lost in 1st activity...

Of course, speeches...

The Lucky Draw...yeay

One lucky lady won the Bonanza prize: a motorcycle

Time for games: coconut bowling!

Ladies' teams. Have you any idea how difficult it is to bowl with a coconut? (I didn't hit a single pin...lol)

This is what we won at the Lucky Draw...another camera...*sigh* (Alhamdulillah)

We didn't stay long because we had to attend a wedding in the afternoon. The activity for the afternoon was for the kids, anyway...fortunately we didn't bring any! There is also an Annual Dinner coming up for PERMINT staff on the 25th of December but we wouldn't be attending as I will be spending the week in Meru (we are driving home tomorrow in fact) while the hubby goes on a little business trip to Melbourne (to buy more Corelle, what else?)

Stressed...

I haven't sat for an exam for ooh.. ages but yesterday I had to sit for one. For about a year now I have been attending a Tajweed (which is the knowledge and application of the rules of recitation of the Quran so that its reading is as the Prophet Mohammed's [peace and blessings be upon him]) class almost every week. I missed a lot of classes though when I went for that holiday in Australia a couple of months ago... and also when we went for the umrah and the Cairo trip last April. Thus, for a day or two before the exam (always the last minute cramming..) I was almost stressed out - trying to understand and memorise the rules and their applications... And talk about being super-stressed; yesterday morning at the start of the exam, I found myself staring in horror at the question paper handed out... OMG, I couldn't believe my eyes, it was in Jawi! (By the way, Jawi is an Arabic alphabet for writing the Malay language.) I don't remember ever learning Jawi at school because my late (Allahyarham) father sent me to English Medium school (at the time..eons ago..) and everything is 'Romanised'. But somehow I did learn how to read Jawi somewhere along the way, Alhamdulillah, (usually takes me about twice the time to read things in Jawi...) though writing it is certainly out of the question! I'll make a mess of the spelling (and the fact that they kept changing the rules didn't help) Anyway, as I was about to pass out, I gathered my wits about me and consoled myself to the fact that they were multiple-choice questions and I wasn't required to write any Jawi! Well...anyhow, I think I did all right, Insha allah, even though I didn't get all the answers correct! I think it's a good thing that we have exams for this subject because it makes you study and learn seriously and thus remember the rules... So... stress is not always bad, people!

The Jawi script..

Pictures of my classmates and I doing our exams at the Institut Quran (IQ): 

Snails for Lunch (yikes!) and the recipe, too..

The other day we went grocery shopping and I found some siput sedut sold at the supermarket. I was delighted because we have never seen this delicacy sold in this part of the world (Kuala Terengganu that is) One of our favourite food which I haven't cooked myself for quite a long, long time; though we did buy some cooked one for lunch about 3 weeks ago when we were back in Meru.  What is siput sedut you might ask (if you are not a native of Malaysia). Siput is snail in English and sedut means suck. I suppose the name came about due to its edibility and the means to eat it is by sucking through the wide end of the snail. However, its scientific name is actually: 

 Cerithidea obtusa is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Potamididae.^[1] The Obtuse Horn Shell also known as "Mud Creeper" is a relatively common snail found in muddy coastal areas. It grows to around 5-6 cm. It is used as food in Southeast Asia where it is known by the name "Siput Sedut" or "Belitung". (thank you Mr.Google)

There you go.. So how do you cook them? Usually masak lemak cili padi (cooked with hot chillies and coconut cream). Of course, we normally eat them with rice... So, here's what you need to do for a yummy snail dish:

This is what it looks like after cleaning with lots of water. What I got from the supermarket was a muddy mess (they are mud creepers?) of about half a kilo (enough for about three people..or two if you are really into snails..!)

To make sure the snails are really squeaky clean swirl in cut lemon grass leaves..

Next, you need to cut off the tip of shell of each snail (this is going to be quite tedious if you are feeding an army..). You can either use the kitchen scissors or smash with your stone pestle). If you don't do this bit, you will not be able to suck out the flesh.

The ingredients, from top: chillies (you don't need much because if the dish is too hot, your throat and lips will be on fire with all the sucking that you need to do, believe me), lemon grass, turmeric and dried asam gelugor.

Two 200ml boxes of this - coconut cream

Crush and grind the chillies and turmeric until fine..

Also crush the bottom part of your lemon grass stalks

Put everything (pounded ingredients, lemon grass, coconut cream plus a cup of water) into a pot and cook over  medium fire for about 20 to 30  minutes. Stir once in a while so that the coconut cream wouldn't curdle AND don't forget the salt okey!

Ta..da..enjoy your erm..snails! (tip on eating these: if you're squeamish, don't  peek at what you are about to swallow..lol)

Belated 30th Anniversary Dinner

We usually go out to some fancy place for a dinner date on our wedding anniversary; can't remember exactly, since when we started doing it. But I do remember leaving the kids at my sis-in-law's in Shah Alam with KFC food and going out for dinner... Anyway the 11th of last month was our 30th anniversary (whew.. can't believe we're such an old married couple already!) but unfortunately we weren't together to celebrate it - I was still in Adelaide at the time. And when I came back about 3 weeks ago; what with this and that...we didn't seem to have the time to go out. However last Thursday (6th December) we decided to make it a date at Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa at Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu. We've been there last Ramadhan for iftar on the invitation of hubby's friend at work. We chose the Thursday because we usually fast on that day so we'll be starving then and would be able to enjoy our dinner...lol! (as we don't usually dine heavily...) The 3 pictures below were taken from the Resort's website...nice huh? 

That is so peaceful...

This is where we had our dinner

We..well, I, prefer dining inside where it's air-conditioned

Here are pictures that I took:

Patiently waiting for the food..(the poor dear looks so tired..)

Very nice.. a smoked salmon dish

This is 'Healthy Warm Salad'..healthy maybe but too sour.. and yes, warm...(not recommended..)

Mushroom soup. They actually served the food in the order that I posted the pictures! Luckily we're not fussy! We had to skip the dessert though..

While we were there, there was a filming going on...a food programme on TV1 (hmm...sorry, we don't usually watch that channel...) I can't seem to remember the gentleman's name who's hosting the show but he used to act in some comedy series on TV and films too, I think.

Anyways, thank you hubby...for a lovely evening and for putting up with me all these years! May our marriage be blessed by Allah and our love and respect for each other grow stronger each day, insha Allah..

Belated Pictures...

Here are some updated photos that I promised on my 26th November's entry:

1) The day I attended a peaceful rally in support of Palestine at Kuala Terengganu. National media reported that 1000 people came out (even though there was a slight rain at first... hubby said they were raining bombs in Gaza)

Walking the streets after Friday Prayers at the 'White Mosque'

The sisters all ready to participate... umbrellas and all!

Speeches from NGOs' representatives: IKRAM & ABIM and then a prayer by the Imam of 'White Mosque'

One family support for Palestine...

PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!

2) The next day ( 24th November) we were in Putra Jaya attending my niece's wedding. Met some old friends from school (Sekolah Tuanku Ja'afar or Sekolah Menengah Sains Negeri Sembilan as it was called then. I was one of the 'Pioneers' of the school and my brother was also from the same school).

King and Queen for the day..

A photo with immediate family - my brother and wife on right

Met other family members - my sis' family

Catching up with an old friend from secondary school

Daughter having fun at the photo booth set up for guests