we did an impromptu ‘photoshoot’ using just a sony cyber-shot last year, and we did one this year too. click here for last year’s photos!
may you’re blessed with the power of Laylatul Qadar in these last few days of Ramadhan, and have a great celebratory day of Syawal.
from all of us anak abah : syimee, syigim, syima, syida & azi. with love!
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ruler of Dubai & other royalties. notice the way they’re sitting?
the picture above shows the ruler of dubai, his highness sheikh mohammed sharing a plate of nasi arab with other members of the dubai royal family.
that is exactly what is practiced by Rasulullah SAW and his sahabah in the past. nowadays, it’s still practiced by many who wish to adopt this sunnah of Rasulullah which has many benefits.
1) reward from Allah
when we uphold the sunnah of Rasulullah SAW and make it a part of our daily life, insyaAllah we will be granted the reward from Allah.
Nabi Muhammad SAW pernah bersabda “barangsiapa yang menghidupkan satu Sunnah dizaman kerosakan Ummat maka dia akan mendapat pahala 100 mati syahid”
amazing! some people lost their lives to get ‘mati syahid’ but we only need to uphold at least one sunnah in our lifetime, to get 100 times more reward than that of those yang mati syahid.
2) blessings from Allah
when we share a plate of rice with chicken or meat – whatever is in front of us is shared equally and with so much gratitude. since the meal is so blessed by Allah, whatever is shared is always enough for everyone eating.
3) health benefits
when we sit just as prescribed in the sunnah of Rasulullah – that is down on our knee but with one knee pulled upwards to our chest – this would in return give such comfort to our tummy. interestingly enough (i read in one article) when we sit in that position, our tummy would automatically be divided into three sections – one for water, one for food and one for air.
the result? we would instinctively stop when our tummy is 1/3 full – and we would not over-eat. i should really try this!
4) sharing is CARING!
we always say this, hear this or even write this in our blog when we share information or stories : sharing is caring!
sharing a plate when you eat can build care and love amongst those sharing the food. automatically we would be concerned with who should get the last piece of chicken, or who hasn’t gotten his share of boiled egg. we would be passing around food, making sure everyone has his share and noone is left out.
everyone will make sure that the other person eats more, and in return – everyone gets to eat as much as they deserve. sharing is caring!
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to practice Rasulullah’s way of life is to obtain Allah’s blessings. it also proved to be very beneficial for us when we adopt it in our daily routine.
mr. khairul (with glasses) and his mckk seniors and juniors makan setalam!
Nabi SAW pernah bersabda “Barang siapa yang menghidupkan Sunnahku maka bererti dia cinta kepadaku. Dan barangsiapa yang cinta kepadaku pasti akan masuk syurga bersamaku”
maybe you can start sharing a plate with your husband? together with suap menyuap? macam kat meja pengantin masa hari kawin dulu? yay!
alhamdulillah i am celebrating ramadhan in malaysia. however, my other half is struggling in the heat of the summer in dubai. how hot can it get in dubai? let the picture speaks for itself!
laporan oleh encik khairul, lintas lansung dari dubai!
this is taken by mr. khairul in the daytime. temperature was a scorching 55 degrees! according to UAE labor law, anyone working outdoors will be banned from working outside between 12.30pm-3.00pm between 15 june to 15 september. companies found to be breaking the regulation will be fined 15,000 dirham (RM12,800).
…and if you think that THAT is hot enough, perhaps you’d also think that the night would be gentler to the people and gets colder – NOT! this was taken by mr. khairul just last few nights, and the temperature shown was 49 degrees.
49 degrees. at night! ouch, that’s pretty darn HOT!
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may Allah grant patience and perseverance to my mr. khairul and all our malaysian buddies in dubai in facing the summer ramadhan in such hot temperature. amin!
(time sahur minum air banyak dan jangan lupa kurma ok! pemberi tenaga!)
there were supposed to be THREE of us. me, irda and put. old classmates. BFF. we have something called the ‘pizza tradition’. every ramadhan since around 2005, we would meet up for berbuka, and it’s usually for PIZZA, hence the name of the ‘tradition’.
i missed the ‘pizza tradition’ last ramadhan, and this year it was only two of us. put is in london (enjoying the olympic games, no doubt – grr *envy*), while trying to get her doctorate in law.
and it was not PIZZA this time around, but we settled for chili’s. at KLCC.
me & irda. yay!
to give a summary of what we talked about would be impossible. you can’t summarize almost two years worth of stories! miss her so much! (and yes put, your absence is sorely missed!)
we shared sadness – of irda’s father passing because of cancer; we shared laughter – of old school tales; we shared stories of our kiddos – my 3 boys and she’s with 2 adorable girls – there was never a moment of silence (unless we were chewing hihi) and to me this meeting was one of the highlights of my trip back.
finally a girl-talk session over good food and great ambiance!
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…and speaking of GOOD food…
we had this scrumptuous starter. it looks rather plain but really packs a punch because of all the flavorful ingredients put into the eggroll. this is called the ‘southwestern eggrolls’ – senang cakap mexican popiah! hihi. crispy flour tortilla filled with smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeƱo jack cheese, red peppers and spinach. yum yum!
this is one of the 3 starters served in the ‘triple play’ plate. served with 3 yummy dressing.
this was mine – grilled lamb shoulder with chili's special marinade. sorry chili’s, if this is ‘special’, i’m afraid to try your ‘regular’ marinade! the taste is just OK when i expected it to be laden with herbs and spices. the texture is the most disappointing. not juicy, not tender, not soft. alhamdulillah it’s JUST OKAY, but when i order my favorite lamb, i want it to be more than *just okay*!
served with mashed potatoes with black pepper gravy, seasonal veggies and garlic toast. the mashed potato saved the day – creamy soft and flavorful.
i won’t be ordering this ever again. gimme lamb from tony roma’s anytime!
we ordered the main dish under ‘ramadhan combo or something’ which comes with a cup of soup of the day, and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. i took the ‘chicken and mushroom’ soup.
this was divine. delicious! generous chunks of chicken and mushroom combined together in a creamy gravy, served with two pieces of biscuits. i would order JUST this soup and still come out tummy-full.
irda got herself the ‘monterey chicken’. topped with BBQ sauce, cutp-up tomato and cheese. served with mashed potatoes with yummy gravy and steamed veggies. she finished it pinggan-licin-ly and effortlessly. says a lot about the dish. or about her! haha. *hugs*!
me no likey vanilla ice-cream. but anything cool after a hefty berbuka meal is always welcomed! and what’s more, irda brought along these rectangular pieces of red velvet cakes that are so smooth, cheesy and tasty. combined that with the cool vanilla ice-cream – perfect end to a perfect meet.
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i had such a great time with her. chit chat chit chat laugh laugh eat eat munch munch. hope we could meet up for raya, with our boys and girls. until then!
in full, it’s called ‘taman rimba kiara park’ or TTDI park. in short, it’s simply a jungle in the midst of housing area and concrete shop-houses. this really is a wonderful green place in taman tun dr ismail, catering for nature-lover, joggers, adults and kiddos alike.
it was a short walk from my sister’s place, and that morning was just wonderfully welcoming. fresh air, greenery that’s soothing to the eyes, and the coo-ing of the many migratory birds feasting on fresh fruits upon the trees.
i see loving old chinese couple doing tai-chi together, and families walking hand-in-hand. i see hunky jogger huffing and puffing along the pathway and one gorgeous mom bringing her 3 boys there (aku la tu. haha!)
what did my boys do here?
1) we brought a few slices of almost-stale bread from home and they fed the tortoise!
and there were A LOT of them! more and more were emerging from the deep murky pond to eat the yummy pinch of bread thrown by khaleef. there’s even a really big gorgeous orange fish with scale so fluorescently shiny that everytime it surfaces, we’d be so excited!
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2) they even fed the birds! and these birds are so incredibly tame.
kazim had fun chasing after the birds who did not even try to fly, and would just come back to the grassy spot where the boys had thrown the small pinches of bread. kazim would end up just standing in the middle of the birds, watching them enjoying their brunch. hihi.
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3) monkey-spotting!
as they were busy feeding the birds and the tortoise, a small group of monkeys started to creep nearer and nearer. MONKEYS! my sister said they were usually harmless. most of the time, the monkeys would amusingly stare at passers-by and joggers, and would do this as they enjoy the fruity meals – macam tengok show manusia pulak!
nevertheless, i could never take any chances when it comes to my young boys, so i was still very anxious when one of the monkeys braved himself to get near kazim.
spot the monkey!
kazim, being the curious cat, actually ran towards the monkey – possibly to pet him like a cat. at this point i was beyond paranoid – dah menjerit dah! haha. i was so scared that the monkey would react violent in response to kazim’s sudden excited screams as he ran – but the monkey ran away instead. phew!
my sis said what we saw was just A FEW of the monkeys! if we walked further down the jogging path, we’d pass by huge tall trees FILLED with monkeys! and yes they’re harmless and nobody, no jogger or visitor has ever gotten hurt or attacked by a monkey so far.
well, still – with my kids, better be safe than sorry!
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what else is there?
apart from all these simple, fun, free activities, there are more to do at rimba kiara, ttdi – there’s a nice playground for the kids, and there’s an ‘adult playground’ – an exercise area or outdoor gym with exercising equiptment build for exercising outdoor. really handy for people to use FOC and out in the sun.
there’s even a small, shallow stream somewhere in the park! i haven’t personally seen it, but i read it in one of the blogs. wonderful! kids can take a dip in the cool stream while a fish swim by. definitely gonna try that next with my boys!
also, some actually held wedding reception there! wah, this is no garden wedding – it’s a jungle wedding!
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dengar citer there are talks to shut down the park to make way for development. really? are we gonna be THAT developed without nature? without a place for animals to roam free? without a recreational place for our kids so that they won’t spend their days indoor with an ipad stuck to their face?
two great things about eating at italiannies :
1) yummy italian dishes AND 2) its HUGE portion. no wonder its tagline is ‘so good, so share’ – because the portion is definitely enough to be shared with 3-4 of you. so last weekend we went to italiannies at the curve to SHARE few dishes for iftar.
in fact, last few years we had iftar right here at italiannies the curve to with abah and umi. click here for my full review of the place.
thanks to my baby sis and her fiance faiz for the terrific treat! yum!
for starters, we ordered this tasty treat – our favorite, super-crispy fried calamari that’s arguably one of the best i’ve eaten. really. rugi takde nasik putih dengan air asam!
for my *italian* boys, this plate of spaghetti bolognese with two huge meatballs (meatballs that we CANNOT finish – tapau!) this plate of spaghetti will satisfy any spaghetti-lover. delicious as a good spaghetti should be, sweet-sour tomato-rich bolognese sauce without being too sour or not thick enough. highly recommended. my boys absolutely LOVE this.
what i came here for – beef lasagna at italiannies. i must say, quite disappointed with the texture AND taste. the texture is too thick and compact, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but personally i like my lasagna to be soft and melts in the mouth with all the richness of the cheesy bechamel sauce cross with tomato-ish bolognese sauce. yum. this one doesn’t really do that –
plus, i think there’s TOO MUCH CHEESE (yes, i’m actually complaining about TOO MUCH CHEESE eventhough i LOVE CHEESE) because this makes the lasagna so salty! we ended up not finishing this, and tapau it for sahur!
this is also my all-time favorite – fresh crunchy salad with all sorts of thingamajig that go with it. delicious. it’s got everything – veggies, meat AND fruits! green lettuce tossed with yummy grilled chicken and crispy croutons – and, get this : cut-up grapes AND mangoes! and they all danced so well together in the special italiannies salad dressing. i’d order this everytime!
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my cheeky boys : being their usual self. hihi.
thanks again azi and faiz for the scrumptuous italian iftar at italiannies!
oh, and did i mention that with every main course that you order, you’ll get a kid’s meal for free. so we got the boys an extra plate of spaghetti carbonara white sauce (which their ‘mak su’ so conveniently finished, hihi) and a plate of freshly fried chicken fingers. i’d highly recommend you guys get the spaghetti carbonara white sauce because the portion is huge for a kid’s meal, and is oh-so-rich-and-thick-and cheesy!
yay! so where to next?
one in dubai. surviving summer heat; surrounded by palm trees, hunky pak arab in kandoora, mountain of dates and delicious mandi rice, and camels walking by as you drive on the highway.
another one is in ipoh. surviving without her other half; surrounded by malaysia’s infamous traffic jam, glorious hawker food and irritating issues of awkward merdeka song with its ugly logo and inappropriate theme.
me in ipoh with my boys; and mr. khairul in dubai. bulan ramadhan pun kan mengajar erti sabar? hihi
as we’re enjoying our iftar in malaysia, in dubai he is waiting for asar. we’re living 4 hours apart, and thousands of miles away, so we have sessions like this : the boys eating dinner *with* their bapak – via skype!
oh my technology!
thanks to skype, the boys had the best time showing and describing what they’re eating. sometimes i just focus the camera at the carpet where the boys are making their usual racket, conducting wrestling mania or just being plain nuts!
i’m sure to mr. khairul, the noise makes him feel that they boys are right there in our dubai home! hihi.
at times, after updating each other on our respective activities, we just simply let the skype go on, our videos showing each other’s location – not talking, not chatting – just keeping each other’s video on.
it’s really comforting in its own way – knowing that your loved one who is so far away, seems so near, even just through a screen. even without uttering a single word.
thanks skype, phone bills pun tak melambung!
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…and speaking of keeping skype on and on without chatting…
when ipoh is ready for berbuka at about 7.30pm, dubai’s clock is only at 3.30pm. when dubai is ready to go to sleep at 12 midnight, ipoh is busy waking up to prepare sahur.
so just last night i woke up to prepare sahur in the dead of night. i was at abah’s house already in ipoh. i switched on notebook, logged on skype and just let the visual image of him stay there on the screen, accompanying me as i cook.
he just came back from iftar and terawikh at matrade. at times we just talked while i cook, and other times, dia cuma temankan aku masak sambil dia browse the net.
it was simply a nice feeling.
*smile*
(esok subuh teman masak sahur lagi ye…)
