Kelahiran : Cabaran #1 Contest iPad Mysuperkids

kelahiran. satu perkataan, seribu pengertian.

haleef, kahfi & kazim adalah putera-putera aku berumur 5+, 2+ and 1+. khaleef anak pertama, menjadikan aku mak kelam kabut yang baru nak belajar menyusu anak. hihi. kahfi anak kedua, dilahirkan tanpa suami aku dalam bilik bersalin. sob sob. kazim anak ke3 aku pulak lahirnya mudah sungguh – labor pain cuma dalam 3-4 jam. kelahiran mereka semuanya mencatit kisah-kisah suka duka yang aku simpan untuk diceritakan pada hari mereka pula menyambut anak sendiri, insyaAllah.

ntah kenapa menjelang tahun baru 2000, aku terus nekad memakai tudung sepenuhnya, dan sepanjang masa. bukan sebab mak abah aku bising. bukan sebab ikut member. bukan sebab undang-undang kolej. tiba-tiba terbukak hati. itu aku kira merupakan kelahiran baru aku sebagai insan bernama muslimah. doakan aku terus diberi hidayah. kisah tudung korang macamana pulak?

ama dah aku idamkan nak melahirkan buku sendiri. ntah apa yang aku nak tulis. mungkin pasal kisah-kisah aku, suami dan anak-anak di dubai. mungkin aku nak abadikan puisi-puisi yang aku tulis selama ni. mungkin jugak aku nak tulis novel fantasi macam cerita magika KRU tu. dari zaman sekolah lagi aku dah berangan nak tulis novel. ntah dapat tak aku realisasikan kelahiran tu?

ku memang sangat teruja bila tiba bulan jun. pasal aku lahir 24 jun! setakat yg aku ingat, kami sekeluarga tak sambut besar-besaran. cukup beli sebijik kek dan makan sesama adik-beradik. selalunya masa hari lahir adik beradik aku, aku tukang beli kek. jadi masa hari lahir aku pun, aku jugak la kena beli kek sendiri. haha. bila dah kawin ni pun takde surprise-surprise dari suami. memang aku yang google-google pilih tempat best nak makan, dan hadiah kalau aku nak pun, aku akan request sendiri hihi. dah biasa!

arus kita ingat, ade kelahiran, ade kematian. lumrah kehidupan yang sudah tercatit. circle of life. mak aku meninggal dunia sejurus sebelum kita melangkah ke tahun baru 2004. perginya mengejut, kenangan pilu yang tak bisa dilupakan. kami 5 beradik perempuan mesti tabah dan mesti kuat sama-sama. hikmah paling besar tragedi ini ialah menjadikan kami lebih rapat dengan abah. al-Fatihah untuk allahyarhamah noriza mohd. anuar.

barat badan aku terpotong dua. ibarat perut aku dikerat, kemudian kaki pulak ditarik-tarik. ibarat ada tangan rodok ke dalam perut dan menarik-narik isi. begitulah perit sakitnya saat melahirkan anak. dahi berpeluh, tangan terketar, lutut menggigil. mulut kumat kamit baca apa yang patut. suami genggam tangan pun dah tak rasa apa. memang mak-mak bersabung nyawa bila melahirkan. tapi dengan kuasa Allah, hilang terus sakit terlampau ni saat menatap wajah anak yg baru lahir ni. hebat kan? Allahuakbar!

asa rugi kalau aku lalui pengalaman di rantau orang ni tapi tak kongsi dengan sape-sape. jadi, lahirnya blog ni sebab aku nak cerita kat korang pasal kehidupan aku di dubai. pada tahun 2008, aku ikut suami yg bekerja kat sini, dan sejak tu bermulalah cerita-cerita potpet aku tentang benda-benda menarik di dubai, makan-makan best di dubai dan cerita aku, suami & anak-anak. silalah baca ye hihi.

ku sebenarnya tak percaya sangat pada ‘rahsia bulan kelahiran’ atau ‘warna dan personaliti mengikut tarikh kelahiran’ ke – tapi menurut dr. fadzilah kamsah, budak-budak june ni ‘berperangai lemah lembut’ yang buat aku nak gelak, sebab aku ni la yang paling tak feminin berbanding 4 sisters aku yang lain. tapi ade jugak disenaraikan ‘suka buat lawak’ – memang pun! tapi tu lah, terlalu banyak personaliti dan sikap-sikap yang disenaraikan sampai menjadi terlalu umum. ape-ape hal kalau korang nak baca, klik je sini untuk senarai penuh. just for fun, tengok lah mane yang kena dengan korang!

  ak menang ipad. nak menang ipad. nak menang ipad! okay lah. aku secara jujur mengaku yang aku bukannya tau apa-apa pasal ipad ni. betul! (mesti adik bongsu aku yang sifu IT tu geleng-geleng kepala hoho) yang aku tau, ipad ni best. ape yang bestnya nanti aku godek-godek la bila dah dapat (ewah!) jadi kasi kat aku je lah ipad tu supaya aku boleh jadi budak baru belajar. nanti lahirlah seorang syigim yang celik IT pulak!

 

“entry ini ditulis untuk cabaran #1 iPad MySuperKids yang direviu oleh alyrds a.k.a ally ardee simin”

Best Grilled Fish @ Aden, Sharjah

we’ve heard of this place a thousand times from other malaysians in dubai. it’s always ikan bakar aden, ikan bakar aden. is it a seafood restaurant in the middle of the desert? is it a grilled spot famous for its fish? it’s our time to check the truth of those stories.

it is said to have the best grilled fish you can find in sharjah, with very affordable price.

 

 

it’s opposite safeer mall, at al ittihad road. there’s a big clearing next to the row of shop houses and you can clearly spot aden restaurant from its bold red signage.

when we arrived and looked at the menu, we realized that all these while when our malaysian friends keep mentioning about ikan bakar aden, they never mentioned that it’s actually a mandi restaurant! we thought it’s a seafood place or something! it’s basically a mandi restaurant, which happened to have a good grilled fish as well.

hmm, kalau macam tu, my favorite mandi restaurant tawasol pun ade ikan sedap…

 

the table-chair area for singles and men; while the other door leads upstairs where the family area is

 

as usual, most arab and indian restaurants here have a separate section specially for family or ladies only.

 

* * *

 

the inside of the restaurant is just modest; nothing to shout about. i don’t know about you, but i am a bit skeptical with restaurants with bathroom tiles on its walls, no matter how clean they are. just me! hihi.

anyways, we were ushered upstairs to a more presentable sight – carpeted flooring, nice curtains to separate the tables, and what i love most is this elaborate wall decoration with quranic phrases. a lovely touch.

 

 

 

like many mandi restaurants, there would be small rooms for patrons who choose to sit cross-legged on the carpeted floor instead of at the table.

since we’re expecting abang shon, kak muna and uncle zul, we chose to sit at the tables. the sitting-down sections of this restaurant are all too small for more than two adults eating.

 

 

we went for supper, so it was way past the boys’ bedtime. the boys were asleep by the time we got to aden sharjah, so we just landed them on the carpet in the sitting-down area. the place was empty anyway! hihi

 

* * *

 

a usual accompaniment of a mandi rice dish : the salad. i like this one – cut up pieces of cucumber, lettuce, grated carrot and onions. crunchy fresh!

 

this is the most comot plate of mandi rice i’ve ever eaten, but it tastes just as good! also, it’s the first time in dubai that mandi rice is served on a normal plate, rather than the large silver dulang. the taste and texture of the mandi rice leans more to our chicken rice. a different taste for mandi rice, but different-good!

 

…and this is why we came here in the first place – the grilled fish. ikan ape ni ye? the look : inviting. the texture : smooth and juicy. the taste : sweet succulently delicious.

but, we see no reason over the huge fuss that this is THE best grilled fish. sedap tu sedap la. tapi sedap biase. in my opinion, you can get better grilled fish (and closer too, since it’s right in dubai, no need to go all the way to sharjah) at chalet jumeirah! wanna read my review, click here.

 

a sleepy khaleef with the infamous grilled fish

 

my dear kak muna, abang shon’s wife brought along her home-made air asam and cecah cili kicap for the grilled fish. these are the must-have dips when malaysians eat grilled fish. these two dips absolutely take the fish taste to another level.

malay cliche : memang terangkat! ‘nuff said!

the moral of the story is, malaysians who wish to enjoy the grilled fish in aden that’s been named best in sharjah – please bring your own cecah cili kicap and air asam to make the dish perfect!

 

 

kahfi and kazim were still in slumberland, so only khaleef was enjoying this late supper at aden sharjah. he ate a little bit of rice, and this huge nan bread. it’s really the biggest arab bread i’ve ever seen!

us 5 adults and 2 kids could not even finish the bread. but of course, we already had the rice…

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

we enjoyed the delight of aden’s grilled fish with mr. khairul’s mckk seniors abang faisal shon and wife kak muna with their daughter sarah, as well as uncle zul.

 

 

 

* * *

 

uncle zul, mr. khairul, abang faisal shon, kak muna and little sarah

 

for a taste of reasonably good grilled fish with slightly different-tasting mandi rice, head on to aden restaurant in sharjah. opens from 11 am to 11.30 pm.

the grilled fish and mandi rice are delicious, but i may not go again anytime soon – i can get very delicious mandi rice at my favorite haunt, tawasol, and bait al-mandi. and if we want to have grilled fish, we can just go somewhere close like the chalet in jumeirah.

but if you’re in sharjah, go ahead and give it a try!

What’s That Picture on Your Dirham?

daily; we see them, we touch them, we look at them to count them, we had them in our pockets, in our wallets, in our purses, in our socks (haha, eh aku pernah buat okay! kalau ape-ape hal jadi masa zaman naik bas ekspres kat puduraya). they are an important part of our life – our cash. the bank notes. money. the AED. the dirham.

we use them so often, that we overlooked the interesting bits on this valuable piece of paper. there are history engraved in those bank notes. what IS that picture on your dirham?

 

sharjah is one of the states in dubai, it’s right next to dubai. is the central market of sharjah also known as the ‘blue souq’? always wanted to go but never did get here!

 

honestly i never noticed the existence of this building that looks like the ugly brother of sydney’s opera house! hihi. i only saw it when we were up on the dubai cable car at creek park!

 

abu dhabi is the capital of the united arab emirates. we’ve passed by this fort, and took a couple of pictures. below is my eldest son khaleef in front of the al jahili fort in al ain.

 

 

 

been here! really beautiful fort with a deep historical past. the museum is simple, but i love the displays.

 

 

looks like our parliament building. if i’m not mistaken, long ago, before the concrete jungle of dubai came to be, this building is the only tall one along the stretch of sheikh zayed road.

 

 

 

when i first went to dubai on a holiday with abah and my sisters, we took a picture at this mosque. i didn’t know the significance of it back then. nampak biase je mosque ni… turns out it’s as old as i am!

 

 

this is a very commendable effort by the gulf news team. wanna see the actual article, click here.

so how bout it, my fellow malaysians? can you remember what’s on OUR ringgit malaysia? click here for a wiki info, but it’s not that comprehensive because of too much info, and it lacks clear images, and most are without image of the bank note at all.

i like this link here, it’s much better than wiki, because it has complete images and for me the info is easier to digest.

for the coming merdeka next month, malaysian news team should gather up images together with interesting facts stated briefly to come up with easy-to-digest infos like this. it would not only benefit malaysians, but tourists and expats in malaysia will learn a lot too. budak sekolah pun senang nak faham!

Mysuperkids iPad Contest : Grouping & Challenge

to those of you who did not even know about this contest, there’s no time to explain. for those who did participate in this contest a few months back, i’m asking you whether you knew about being grouped together with 9-10 other contestants in A – J groupings to complete a challenge?

i didn’t know until one of my teammates lissa left a comment in my latest posting. thanks girl! *high 5*

it seems that :

1. i’m in group A – you can check out which group you’re in by clicking this link ‘semak nama anda’
2. there are 10 juries assigned for each team – my team, group A’s jury is alyrds a.k.a ally ardee simin. to check the jury for your team, click here.
3. the first challenge is titled, ‘kelahiran’ which is a very fluid word – not just confined to giving birth, or being born. creativity is key. for information and rules on the challenge, click here.
4. i’m guessing this would be the first of many, many challenges since there are so many contestants; and ms lina wanna pick a winner ala survivor or AF – where contestants are voted out in a team, in pairs, or individually.
5. also, you may need to inform and remind your teammates of this challenge since there is a possibility that if one teammate didn’t submit an entry, the whole team might be eliminated!
6. leave your permalink here for jury ‘inspection’!
7. your entries are due 8th july!

i really didn’t know about all this, and ms. lina concurs when she wrote this posting to wonder why out of hundreds of participants, only four have sent in their entries? well, we had no idea!

anyways, i’m just doing my part as a fellow blogger in this big ol world wide web to inform participants of this first challenge, because i wished someone had told me sooner! i’m weaving words in my head already.

kelahiran.

hmm.

good luck to you people!

Red Velvet Mini Cheese Cake @ Magnolia Bakery

i’ve eaten cheese cakes. and i’ve eaten red velvet cakes. but this is the first time i ate ‘red velvet cheese cake’. absolutely divine.

 

 

for his birthday, i got mr. khairul two little cupcakes from dean & deluca. so for my birthday, he got me two mini cakes from ‘magnolia bakery’. this is said to be THE place to get cakes in dubai.

originally from new york, magnolia bakery first hit stardom when it was mentioned/featured in one of the episodes of ‘sex and the city’. this branch in dubai is the only branch outside of new york, as its other three branches are all in manhattan. that’s why when it’s first opened in dubai, the line was far out the door!

 

 

this branch of magnolia bakery is at dubai mall’s lower ground, and it is actually a part of bloomingdale’s ‘home’. it’s right at the entrance. look for bloomingdale’s home, and you’re there.

the bakery itself is absolutely adorable – squeaky clean beige cabinets with lines of cake stands and cookie jars on top. lovely kitchen-style. on the side, few staff are preparing cupcakes, squeezing on cream cheese or arranging them on trays.

it’s really a quaint little place.

 

 

mr. khairul really didn’t know what to order. he knows i wanted anything cheesy but there were so many choices! finally he asked what are the top choices of patrons? the staff listed three – one of them was the red velvet mini cheesecake.

it’s 12aed for each cupcake, but you pay a whopping 25aed for these mini cakes. hey, gimme a break ok. 1) it’s dubai. and 2) it’s my birthday! it’s not like every week i go and get these little expensive bad boys!

 

 

so mr. khairul got me that, and the classic baked cheese cake. at one glance they looked so plain and as basic a cake as you can get. crunched nuts on top. a plop of cream with grated chocolate. round. small. could these little mini cakes really live up to the hype of magnolia bakery new york?

 

 

i don’t like the lemony taste that some bakery put in their baked cheesecake. and this one doesn’t have that disturbing lemony taste. it’s – how should i put it – perfect. the taste of the cheese was just enough to drive a cheese-freak on a feeding frenzy. the texture was soft and compact; doesn’t crumble.

oh, it’s just that i’m not into too much peanuts on my cheesecake, so i gave the part with the huge chunks to mr. khairul.

other than that – well, let’s just say that i didn’t want the cheese cake to finish!

 

 

the red velvet mini cheese cake is definitely a numero uno with the customers. when i googled images of the magnolia bakery, i don’t think anyone went back without this delicious little devil in the magnolia bakery box.

it’s not baked; rather it’s chilled cheese cake i think, from the texture. topped with a generous blob of cream cheese with grated chocolate. the base is unmistakably crushed oreo biscuits. and in the middle – the star of the show – the red velvet cheese.

the vision itself beckons you. a color combination of cream, red and black. beautiful. the taste is indescribable. i’m lost for words. if you liked cheese, and you liked red velvet cakes, and you liked a thin strip of oreo – why haven’t you tried this mini delight from magnolia bakery?

go get one – dubai mall, lower ground, inside bloomingdale’s!

Syigim’s Bday @ Outback Steakhouse, Dubai Mall

i wanted lamb chops for my birthday dinner. big, fat, juicy lamb chops. i LOVE lamb chops, but the only place in dubai where you can get delicious lamb chops is at these steakhouses. kalau kat malaysia, gerai-gerai tepi jalan tu pun bole dapat lamb chop sedap kan. bestnye.

so after much deliberation, (and hours of googling) mr. khairul suggested ‘outback steakhouse’ in dubai mall.

birthday girl enjoying her lamb chops

* * *

‘outback steakhouse’ is an australian steakhouse restaurant. i guess even from the pictures you can see how ‘aussie’ this steakhouse is. the wind musical instrument, ‘didgeridoo’, a wooden replica of the aussie map on the wall, a picture of sydney opera house, chairs with boomerang design on the backrest; and of course – it can’t be aussie if it didn’t have kangaroos on the wall…

everything is so brown and earthy and yes – spells ‘outback’. outback in australia means those vast, remote area away from towns.

from top left – kahfi with the musical instrument ‘didgeridoo’, khaleef & the wall kangaroos, and khaleef on the boomerang chairs

* * *

there were mainly steaks and chicken on its menu, but there were also burgers, pasta and seafood too. think TGIF, or chillis with more steaks and chops in its menu. a little less mexican, and a little bit american. or in this case, a little more australian.

we begin my birthday dinner with this awesome starter :

the bloomin onion

i first saw this pretty dish during one of the assignments on donald trump’s ‘the apprentice’. the contestants were required to run outback steakhouse stalls at a college ball game. as ‘homework’, one of the teams ate at outback steakhouse, and had THIS!

i was already, “wah, ape tu!” and now i had the chance to try it out! it’s called – the bloomin onion. yeap. it’s NOT potato wedges. it’s not chicken fingers. it’s onion. deep-fried till golden brown. with a spicy dip in the middle.

the ‘bloomin' onion’ is a signature outback item. it is a one pound onion cut to 'bloom' open, breaded, deep-fried and served with mayonnaise-horseradish sauce.

i’m not a fan of onion rings, but the batter used to fry the onions taste really good. the texture? fantastic – crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. and the dipping sauce has a hint of spiciness that just brings up the flavor of the fried onions. hello calories!

if you like onion rings, this is like – the lamborghini of onion rings!

we ordered pasta & cheese for kahfi and kazim; and fish and chips for khaleef. pasta & cheese was well, what else but yummy. pretty straightforward dishes.

mr. khairul had the ‘slow-roasted prime rib’ – a very manly dish i would say! haha. big, bold, thick piece of meat ready to be devoured by a hungry primate!

…and the birthday girl got her lamb chops!

i took the ‘outback rack o’ lamb’, and was more than happy when my plate came. 5 racks of lamb upon one another in a beautiful intertwining of bones and sweet meat. gorgeous. they looked so deliciously juicy, with glistening fat calling out to me!

thank you outback steakhouse! (yes, you too honey! many, many thanks!)

both mr. khairul’s dish and mine were serve together with a bunch of cut-up veggies that should’ve included broccoli and baby corn! there were cucumber, carrots, and capsicum. i love that the vegetables were made to taste a bit sweet, and i will tell you why -

the brown sauce for my lamb rack was VERY SALTY! TOO SALTY! it was so salty that i can’t hardly have it with my lamb rack! oh man, what a turn off. what a spoiler. such a gorgeous dish spoiled by the very salty brown sauce.

the lamb was so delicious; tender and juicy but i just can’t enjoy it with the brown sauce…

another complain from me is – the fries. with our dishes, we can choose two side-dishes. we both chose the veggies for one of the side-dishes; but while mr. khairul made the WISE choice picking the mashed potato for the second side dish, i went for the fries. BAD choice.

the fries were over-fried that they became too oily and too crunchy with more than desired chalky bits, with too much salt. what’s with outback steakhouse and salt??!

guys, go for the mashed potato, or baked potato. NEVER the fries.

my sweet surprise

while we were enjoying our steaks and chops, i saw one of the waiters holding a plate of brownie-ice-cream thingy and lighting up a small little candle on top.

the first thing i thought to myself was, “hey, they do the ‘birthday thing’ too here?” because i thought only TGIF does this staff-singing-birthday-song-to-customer thing. also, i was thinking, “patut bagitau diorang it’s my birthday too..”

suddenly the singing troupe came to OUR table! haha. bila you bagitau diorang, honey? i was really genuinely surprised, because i didn’t know outback steakhouse would do the birthday thing too. it was such a sweet surprise. hihi. *blushing*

…however, in the end siapa yang habiskan the dessert? these two finished up my birthday treat in no time! it’s okay la boys – mak got my lamb chops! thank you honey cookiedough!

so, as the phrase goes in its official website – ‘let go of the worries of today, and go outback!’