patience

sometimes, you will face people that treat you like trash. to some people, your values are too cheap that you can simply be kicked and thrown away whenever they want. sometimes people think that you are nothing but just an extra beggage and they will get rid of you although you have done nothing wrong. when you come across this kind of situation, you will feel that you are being used, being stepped, being discriminated and you will feel so stupid. stupid for being too kind and too giving. stupid for being nice to selfish people. maybe Allah is testing your patience...

breaking dawn part 1

something that i've been looking forward to!! i went to see the movie on the first day they show it in malaysia. tq so much to my better half for being such wonderful and sporting company. sighhhh... at last they got married, got a baby girl and bella became vampire... the movie ended so fast lah! can hardly wait for part 2. hmmmm... *berangan mode*

apam gebu

salam ma'alhijrah semua.. long weekend for me. i really enjoyed the break. i went outing with the family to catch some movies. and besides that, i get to spend some quality time in my kitchen to try new recipes i got from the internet. this time i googled for apam. cerita dia macam ni.. weekend haritu pergi orang kawin, rumah jiran kat depan rumah. dalam barkat dia bagi apam. very nicely coloured, gebu, halus texture dia. so i googled to find out how to make those irresistibly yummilicious apam.. ada orang panggil 'apam gebu', ada orang panggil 'apam mekar' & ada jugak orang yang panggil 'apam halus gebu'. macam-macam.... but i prefer to call it 'apam gebu'.

apam gebu

here's the tested recipe. texture apam ni halus, gebu & lembut.

the ingredients:

250g caster sugar (kalau tak suka manis sgt, cut down to 180g-200g)
2 biji telur
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ovalette
300g superfine flour (i used 'blue key superfine flour')
200ml fresh milk
Food colouring

1) Panaskan kukus
2) Beat telur + gula sampai kembang (approx 8-10 mins)
3) Beat in vanilla
4) Beat in ovalette
5) Beat in tepung & fresh milk selang seli
6) Devide batter into 2 or 3 & letak colourings
7) Kukus 10-15 mins

my kids love it. i love it!

kesyukuran

bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

betapa aku bersyukur kepadaMu ya Allah di atas segala ujianMu yang memberikan aku keinsafan. aku panjatkan segala puji-pujian ke atasMu dan aku bersyukur kepadaMu ya Allah di atas segala rahmat dan rezeki yang Kau turunkan, menjawab segala doaku, memberikan aku kebahagiaan, kesihatan dan ketenangan. Kau turunkan cahaya, Kau turunkan hujan dan Kau turunkan keberkatan di muka bumi ini untuk semua hambaMu mendapat manfaat.

.....syukur alhamdulillah

deewali 2011

nope, i didn't celebrate deewali but it was a public holiday and my mode button for baking and cooking turned on again. boy! i'm crazy. i spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday. i made pancakes for breakfast. the recipe that i tried was so good! my kids loved them. we had them with maple syrup, strawberry jam and chocolate syrup. my kids sprayed some whipped cream on their pancakes, they love whipped cream up to an extent where they will spray it straight into their mouths!

i love pancakes!!

i cooked lunch. i'm in process of improving my skills of cooking malay dish. masak asam a.k.a asam pedas is our old time favorite lauk. so yesterday was my 2nd trial of making masam asam. almost there... with a little bit of improvising, i think i'll make the best masak asam in my taman perumahan (cewah!! perasan!).

jenak masak asam, sweet sour chicken & fried spinach.

a meal is never complete without desserts. well, that's what i think because i can't resist desserts. i love them (and that explains why fat keeps on piling up inside of me, gulp!). anyway, i made oreo ice cream cake for dessert. thx for the recipe, laura.. this is a good and simple recipe. the taste, out of this world!! ok lah, maybe i'm a little bit exaggerating here. the taste is good and i want to share the recipe with all of you baking moms out there.

smooth texture. milky and sweet. irresistible.

oreo ice cream cake recipe:

ingredients
1 pint vanilla ice cream (i prefer nestle's bcoz of the milkiness)
1/2 cup caramel sauce (i omit this bcoz it's too sweet. u can half the quantity if u want)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 large pack oreo cookies
1/2 cup walnut syrup (optional)

preparation
1. take ice cream out of freezer and leave at room temp for 10-15 minutes
2. line a pan with parchment paper.
3. line the inner edge & the bottom of the pan with oreo halves.
4. place the rest of the oreo in a zip lock bag & smash them with a rolling pin until the oreo
become coarse crumbs.
5. in a large bowl, mix together ice cream, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, walnuts and oreo
crumbs (reserve 1/4 of the crumbs for the topping). mix everything together well to combine
and pour the mixture to the pan. top the cake with the reserved crumbs.
6. place the cake in the freezer for 6 hours (i freeze my cake overnight to make sure it sets well).

moon halo 09.10.11

i didn't witness this with my own eyes but, wow!! subhanallah...

"Gambar fenomena fenomena lingkaran 22 degree lunar halo paling indah pada 9/ 10/ 2011. Mesti ramai yang dah melihat fenomena ni pada malam tu. Lingkaran yang mengelilingi bulan seperti cincin ni dinamakan 22 degree lunar halo. Ia terjadi apabila terdapat awan sirus yang mengandungi kristal ais, pantulan cahaya dari bulan membiaskan cahaya tersebut lalu terjadilah fenomena ini."
- http://www.melvister.com

bliss

Last week i had a really relaxing session with my sister buttercup at keyside spa. We had mani pedi & body massage. I love spas.. The aroma & scents that manage to ease tension. Mmmmmmm... Bliss!

iPhone vs blackberry

i've been using blackberry for more than a year now and i juz love it. it's really handy. one thing i like about it is the fact that i get to open my emails anywhere i go and take action immediately even when i'm not in the office. but the best part of using my blackberry is when i get to keep in touch with my family & friends thru blackberry messenger (bbm). no matter how far i go, or my family goes, i will feel so near to them by communicating thru bbm. thank god for great information technology!
i heard many people say that apple products are superbly awesome. i never understood how it can be categorized as awesome bcoz the fact that its touchscreen only respond to the tip of your finger and not to your fingernails, i find that hard to accept due to the not-so-petite fingertips of mine. until recently, when my kekasih decided to get an iPhone4, he offered to me his iPhone3Gs. and i thot, well... why not? one thing about me is i'm crazy about gadgets. when i get new gadgets, i will explore them. and the mission to explore iPhone began immediately when i insert my sim card into the phone.

O M G !!now i realized how interesting iPhone is and i am starting to lurve it madly! access to facebook is so much better thru iPhone than blackberry. i can download many many applications thru iTune apps store. picture viewing is so much better thru iPhone.

however, i don't to sms or email thru iPhone though bcoz of the touchscreen keypad. blackberry still gets to be in my top ranking when it comes to emailing and text-ing. other than that, when it comes to multimedia, iPhone rocks!!! thanks kekasihku for giving me that wonderful gadget. the more i explore the iPhone, the harder for me to take my hands off of it.

and since apple has started to set foot in my heart, i considered to get an iPad and now i'm so anxious to wait for my iPad to arrive!! woohooo....!

the unforgettable memories with evo

5 years ago, my kekasih bought his dream car, a mitsubishi evolution 9 that he named MQ22. evo became his baby, his toy, his heart and soul. with his 6 years experience of modifying his previous car, he extended his knowledge and passion for motor-sports by exploring the modification of his new baby since the day he possess it. evo had gone through many phases of make ups and upgrading that finally turned it into being the furious killer 9 with 500 horse power. the speed has the ability to create such adrenaline rush that i definitely can't cope.

evo then became an important part of our family. mukhriz & haziq enjoyed being wow-ed by friends when papa send them to school in evo. zarif doesn't really enjoy the roaring sound of the exhaust but he enjoys riding in evo. driving evo makes me feel youthful and sporty.

next week, the killer 9 is going to be handed over to it's new owner. my kekasih decided to sell it off and use the money for other plans and dreams that we have in mind. evo will have a new name, new owner, new garage, new surroundings & new journey.

my kekasih is quite sad to let it go but he knows that something more exciting is waiting for him and our family. he has new dreams that he wants to possess. however, the memories with evo will forever remain in our hearts.

thank you evo for being our ride.
thank you evo for being an exciting entertainment to my kekasih.
thank you evo for the wonderful memories..

2010

2010 is reaching towards its end soon. so many things happened. some, good and happy but some are not good and sad. some targets and resolutions are achieved but some are still unachievable and maybe need to be carried forward.

family: 2010 brought so much love, passion, care and togetherness in the Nordin clan. we got closer and closer everyday. i am so blessed to have such loving parents, and great siblings with wonderful children. 2010 brought zarif to me, to my other half and to my 2 big boys. our home became merrier, happier and filled with lots and lots of laughter.

luck: in perspective of business, i would summarize 2010 as one of the unlucky years for our construction company. i had to face many challenges, dirty politics, failures and downturns. with continuous effort, i do believe that sooner or later this dry season will end. however, Allah is great and fair. in despite of the unlucky season of the construction company, Allah sprinkled some luck to our maintenance company. the company started blooming towards the 4th quarter of the year. we got new jobs with new clients, more equipments to add to our existing assets and more workers (that gives a big BOMB to our account every end of the month!! Gulp...) *nothing to be complained about, syukur alhamdulillah. :)

health: just a little bit of mild sickness sometimes but most of the time, i'm perfectly healthy throughout 2010. but somewhere in the middle of november, my other half's family was so sad and shocked when we discovered about my mother in law's sickness. she went for an operation and a few other post op treatments and now she is recovering bit by bit.

2011: resolution. i don't like that word. never had and never will. it somehow gives some kind of vibration to my brain, i don't know why.. but i know that one needs a resolution to be specifically clear about what needs to be achieved and what needs to be done. so i set for myself a resolution and keep my brain focus on achieving what i want.

with all the tests that Allah gave me in 2010, i accept them with gratitude and hope for a better luck in 2011. goodbye 2010...

scones

hi blog. hmmmm, harini aku ada satu cerita pasal scones...
segalanya bermula last weekend masa aku lepak minum petang kat rumah kakak aku, blossom. scones yang blossom buat, OMG!! OMG!! setaraf coffee bean, or maybe better actually.. blossom dah dikira tahap sifu dalam baking scones & many other things lah, so dia takde exact measurement utk ingredients. dia main campak2 je ingredients. terror kan dia?

maka aku pun mencubalah... dengan ingredientsnya iaitu tepung, brown sugar, butter, raisins and fresh milk. uli punya uli, canai punya canai, akhirnya terhasil lah scones yang kemudiannya aku masukkan ke dalam ovenku yang kemetot ini (oven all in 1 noxxa amway, aku beli dari faizah, staff kakak aku.. *sempat aku promote kau, pekzah. tuan penasihat, 25 persennnn*) :-

20 minit berlalu, dengan hati yang besar, excited & riang gembira, aku offer dak haziq bawak scones utk bekal sekolah hari ni. haziq setuju & dia nak rasa. kata haziq: can i try and taste the 'cones'?
namun malangnya, indah rupa tapi isi dalamnya bentan. aku heran, agaknya terlebih butter ke apa? atau oven aku yg kemetot ni hampeh ke? dengan hampa aku pun keluarkan balik scones yg aku nak bekalkan utk haziq tu daripada tupperware. kang cikgu dia rasa scone bentan aku, buat malu je.. :(

alkisah rupa2nya, blossom lupa nak pesan pada aku, tepung tu kena pakai tepung MFM self raising flour. mana lah aku tau, aku buat tadi main beduk je pakai tepung gandum.
ishh ishh ishhhh...... silap tepung daaaaaa...

so kesimpulannya, percubaan pertamaku gagal tapi ini tak bermaksud aku putus asa. percubaan kedua ku akan menyusul.... (entah2 petang kang.. heheheh....)

raya ku yang meriah

hi blog. dah lama aku menyepi. puasa dah berlalu. nak raya, dah raya. dah celebrate sepuas2nya. dah naik dah pun kilo kilo yang dah hilang sekejap masa puasa haritu. hishh!! walaubagaimanapun, padahnya terpaksa lah aku tanggung sebab aku yg makan tak ingat dunia. sekarang ni, pelahan2 diet la balik. anyways, raya haritu mmg best sgt. semua adik beradik aku balik. kitorang enjoy sgt masa bagi2 duit raya & tukar2 presents (aktiviti tahunan yg dinamakan 'ali baba bagi harta').

well, ni serba sikit snapshots di hari raya..

mak & apak yang tersayang..
tanpa mereka, tiadalah aku

meriahnya raya. inilah the nordins yang asal. apak, mak & lapan beradik


inilah the nordin group of families..


ini pulak, tak lain tak bukan... the azizis

ni petang raya masa kitorang buat sessi ali baba bagi harta
( mak ai, gemoknya aku! )

itu saja lah yang dapat aku ceritakan kali ni. selamat hari raya kepada semua..

salam aidilfitri

hi blog.. raya is coming real soon and i'd like to wish you & all my relatives and friends, selamat hari raya. maaf zahir batin. hopefully this year's raya will bring more joy, happiness, health and wealth.. amin..

merdeka

hi blog.. semalam hari merdeka & aku habiskan masa kat rumah dengan kids tanpa maid sepanjang hari. so, aku pun buat macam2 aktiviti yang bermula selepas sahur.. zarif kena flu, so dia terkejut masa aku bangun sahur then dia tak nak tidur balik sampai subuh. by that time, mata aku pun dah wide open & aku dah fully downloaded. so aku pun teringat yang aku ada beli pisang & terasa macam nak buat banana cupcakes...

percubaan pertama membuat banana cupcakes.
tak cukup satu bahan (ie: sour cream 4 tbsp) tapi aku beduk je..

senang je buat dia rupa2nya.. so lepas masukkan dia dlm oven, terdengar suara budak2 berbunyik. dah bangun tidur la tu. bila aku jengak diorang dalam bilik, mukhriz & haziq tgh buat bising & zarif tgh main2 sendiri. then mukhriz kata dia nak pizza sbb dah lama dia tak makan homemade pizza. so, aku pakai apron balik semula & buatkan pizza untuk diorang. nasib baik ada le jugak bahan2 utk buat pizza's toppings.

main belasah je apa yg ada.. ie: sausages, crab sticks, mince chicken & carrot.

zarif pun leka tgk aku buat pizza. dia dok dalam baby chair dia sambil main2 dgn dia punya teether & toys. cukup time, dia ngengek nak mandi...


petang aku masak for berbuka. buat pertama kalinya aku masak utk berbuka tahun ni sbb selalunya maid aku yg masakkan. aku buat ayam masak kicap, sambal telur & masak lemak kobis. so itulah aktiviti aku sepanjang hari.. penat jugak jadi suri rumah/maid sebenarnya. tu tak buat laundry tu.. kalau laundry pun aku buat semlm, mau naik sawan aku agaknya. nasib baik aku bukan suri rumah/maid... fiuhhhh!! ;p

cuppies for a friend

hi blog! tomorrow's the birthday of a good friend of mine & i thot that it would be nice if i give her somethg that i make with love. she's special in my heart bcoz of her sincerity in building friendship with me and my PPG sisters. no matter how busy or tired she is, she will spare some of her time to attend to me whenever i need her help. i really hope that this friendship will last forever... so these cuppies are specially for you, my friend & i hope you like them.

happy bday in advance my dear friend !!
thanx for being such a wonderful, understanding & helpful friend...

ramadhan

assalamualaikum..
hi blog. selamat berpuasa...

semalam 1st day puasa. lepak2 at home with kids. they all semua ber-hibernate in my room. mukhriz didnt fast yesterday bcoz he is just recovering from toothache & he was under medication. but today is his first trial & i hope that he can make it until berbuka time..

our sahur is simple. we eat bread or oatmeal with drinks like milo, soya milk & water. no appetite to eat big so early in the morning.. but i really hope i'll lose some babyphats during this holy month..

this year, my big sister marlin suggested 'the biggest loser contest', where we're gonna pool money by collecting entry fees of rm50/participant & the one who loses the most kgs will win the pool money. so exciting! i'm participating but not putting any hope to win, just for the sake of having fun with my family..

di bulan ramadhan yg mulia ni, i'm praying semoga Allah membukakan pintu rezeki seluas2nya untukku & family ku & limpahkan kurniaan & rezeki yang melimpah2nya, amin...

ok blog.. have a great ramadhan!!

last weekend

hi blog! last weekend i had a really special quality time with my darling & my kids. we spent a nite at Gardens, we did window shopping, a little bit of shopping and makan makan makan! after a few visits to coach for the past 2 weeks, i finally ended my temptation & indulged myself with the brand new Alexandra...

thank you my mr. cheerleader, without your "go go! buy buy!", i might not have bought it and maybe i would still be drooling for it rite at this moment.. but now, not anymore!! yeaaahhoo....

well actually the main objective of kl for the weekend was bcoz of my sister's kenduri on saturday. we checked out from Gardens on saturday & ZZ wanted to take a quick peek at his car in a workshop in bandar sunway. peeking done and we were just about to push off to jelatek until somethg happened! i opened my window to throw a cotton bud with zarif's snot and the power window was stuck. it was wide open and then rain drops started to fall! talking about bad lucks.. (maybe Allah's mad at me for overindulging myself with handbags..)

nasib baik we are still in bandar sunway & there's a shop that can fix that darn power window. so zz dropped my kids and i at sunway pyramid so that the kids wont feel uncomfortable while the power window is being fixed. so... only me and my 3 lil heros wandering around, up and down sunway pyramid. but the big boys had fun playing bumper car (3 rounds) and went for a ride in ferry's wheel. and little dimples behaved himself well, sleeping & drinking milk & sleeping again.


that was my 'last weekend'... tiring but exciting (especially the alexandra part!) :)

**to my dear kak mas, sorry to miss your kenduri & congrats to your new office set up! go go azamas!!

cupcakes

i love cupcakes (well, who doesn't??) & it's an 'in' thing now. it's suitable for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and many many other occasions. i normally order them from full time cupcakes makers for my kids' b'days. until recently, i felt like i wanna try bake them myself. so i baked cuppies and muffins. then i thot that i should try decorate them myself, juz for fun. and i so enjoyed it!! so this is my first attempt....

~ butter cream frosting with colorings ~

~ work in progress ~

~ ta-daaa...... ~

well for a first timer in cupcakes decorating, i consider myself... 6/10. (perasan!!! hahahah...).
by the way, thanks to the sophisticated world of IT, i learnt to make the butter cream from you-tube. <3

bali

sunday lepas me & my team members pergi bali. stayed at 14 roses hotel legian kuta for 3 nights. bali sememangnya satu tempat yg sgt sesuai utk bersantai, relax, honeymoon & snap wonderful pictures.

our activity everyday full from morning sampai malam. we all pergi uluwatu temple, jimbaran beach, tgk barong & keris dance, batik factory, kintamani volcano, tanah lot & yang paling luarbiasa yg aku buat adalah scuba diving kat tanjong benoa nusa dua. satu experience baru yg aku tak pernah terpikir pun nak try sebelum ni. best gile rupanya, tapi at first takut gila, macam nak lemas pun ada, almaklumlah baru first time mencuba...

bali is an amazing island.. buildings dia banyak yg nampak ancient. semua low rise, not more than 4 storeys. byk temples, arca2 & patung2 yg agak scary & dewa dewi kinda stuffs. 90% of bali population are hindus. food yang halal is limited. banyak tourist mat saleh kat situ. the beach takde lah cantik & bersih sangat. tapi ada a lot of water activities. overall, i love bali..

me in twilight mood.....

seriously! dah lama gila aku tak sakbi kan blog aku ni. well, nothing much to talk about actually.. besides being a super lazy preggy mom, of coz. that's the main reason of this long silence actually.

well well well... lately, aku terjebak & terpengaruh dengan kakak aku, buttercup. dia mmg tgh menggila gila read and watch twilight and new moon. at first, aku terpikir.. amenda lah yg dia ni dok syok sgt melayan twilight ni? orang kata, cerita ni cerita utk teenagers. mcm mana lah arkitek tersohor pun boleh melayan kisah cinta kanak2 ribena?? ramalan, kutukan, sangkaan aku amat meleset sekali lepas aku sendiri tengok dvd twilight yg buttercup pinjamkan to me. mmg best lah jalan cerita & sceneries dia. the hero & heroin pun begitu mengancam sekali, terbayang2 mcm aku lah bella & zizi lah edwardku... (ni pembawakan budak ke apa ni?? funny & feeling so childish).


thanks to my personal version of vampire (zizi la tu..), rajin sungguh dia melayan aku tengok dvd twilight tu 3 times and tgk new moon at gsc dataran pahlawan last saturday. thanks to the kiddy vampires yang refused to follow us and chose to stay at my in-laws' place, dapatlah aku bertenet dgn zizi berdua-duaan tgk new moon! (^-^)


now i feel like reading the book! buttercup have been trying to get me to read the books bcoz dia kata baca buku lagi best and detail, but i'm not a reading kinda person actually. looking at the book.. it's as thick as yellow pages! it would take me years to finish reading it... gegegeegeeggggg.. but i'm so tempted!! arrrgghhh...