Wa Tell Tales

.. of latest us circa June 2013

1:33 PM

Salam to all..

Hope all is well. As for me, besides the usual package that comes with pregnancy like back aches, muscles pain, coughing and drastic phobia of weigh scale machine, I am doing great in case any of you've been wondering he he he.

Anyway, I paid a visit to my favorite gynae while I was in Malaysia, Dr Raja, for routine checkup and also to get consent letter to travel since I'm already in my third trimester. She's the one who received Erin 5 years ago if you must know.

Without further due, presenting baby no 3... This is the best image we can get out of her because as per Dr Raja, there's too much ( too long?) umbilical cord and coincidentally, the cords were gathered in front her face thus it was difficult to get clearer image so we settled in with whatever we can get. Do not know whether it's a good or a bad thing, the long umbilical cords I meant. Nevermind then, I am going to meet her very very soon insha allah..

:: She was drinking air ketuban when this image was captured. Her mouth can be clearly seen mengunyah ngunyah and although this is like what, probably my 40th time doing ultrasound, the image never failed to amaze me. Subhanallah .. ::

On another note, Erin completed her pre-school session last 2 weeks and we attended her graduation day to which I will blog about it some other day. This got me thinking, by this September, Alis will be in her Year 2, Erin will started her Year One and my life as a mother of 3 will too begin. Phewwww please pray for our smooth journey..

Moving on to more delicious topic.. As far as I can recall, my post usually not complete without food story.

My girls are currently on summer holiday till early September so they're basically home 24*7. And since it's almost 40 degree C out there, we spent most of our times indoor rather than outdoor which could only mean 2 things. They don't have much to do and they got hungry ALL the time! I had to do triple the cooking than I usually did. Still, regardless the fact that they drove me crazy and pushing me to the edge of my patience every day, I couldn't imagine not having them with me, period.

So here's what we have for the past weeks mostly from my insta-feed with caption I used.. Hopefully I don't bored you too much :)

:: Nasi Minyak Terengganu - "All you need is love. But a little carbs now and then doesn't hurt"

I can smell self-denial here ha ha ha ::

#Simple cookies baking project to keep them busy... "I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find"

.......errrr with an exception for Famous Amos cookies :)

"And yet, I've been questioning where all those extra kilos came from!! Duuhhhhh "

We had late lunch few days ago so I decided to bake bread for dinner.

:: Sweet bun or roti naik ::

:: After ::

:: A must Red Bean bun before ::

:: After ::

Often when I baked, the result is either one or another. Awfully taste good looking bread OR tasty ugly bread. Miraculously, this batch I made looked and tasted alright. Alhamdullilah..

And as for today, I cooked Curry Spaghetti. I was coughing since 2 days ago and couldn't get much sleep lately. I was not in a good shape due to sleep deprived in the morning when my husband came back from night shift so he asked me to sleep in and he went out for some errand after quick shower. I only woke up at 10:30 am and immediately noticed that he had fried sausages for the girls's breakfast and tend to them while I was sleeping eventhough he himself didn't sleep much last night due to work. Of course I'm feeling guilty but at the same time grateful for having understanding and caring man as my husband. I wouldn't want anyone else.

It's 30 minutes before 11 and I don't have much time left to prepare for lunch so I decided to whip up something simple although my husband said not to cook today and just rest. He will ordered something online for our lunch. Since I had my rest, I decided to just cook and all my mind could think of is Curry Mee.

I substituted mee kuning with spaghetti because making a homemade mee kuning from scratch within 1/2 hour time sounded impossible. Just boil your spaghetti longer than usual and add a pinch of tumeric powder to create the mee kuning look alike he he he. Taraaaaaa.....

:: I bet one wouldn't be able tell the different if I didn't tell right? ::

:: Bumbu bumbu nya.. Mee Curry is best eaten with kerang and tauhu pok but I don't have any in stock. Infact, there's no kerang in Kuwait and I never have tauhu pok in my fridge ha ha ha so I just used whatever I have laaaa. Beggars can't be chooser eh.. ::

Ticking the checklist..

5:20 AM

Or at least about half of it, alhamdullilah ... As I said, our schedule is quite hectic so we tried to make the best out of time that we have.

:: The very first drink that came to mind ha ha ha. What Malaysian without Teh Tarik eh? This is basically our national anthem ::

:: Yong Tau Fu. My pasar malam must-have-item ::

The next day, we made a move to Lumut as my husband's training started on Tuesday. We stayed at Swiss Garden Damai Laut for all those 4 days although my parents did owned a house at Sitiawan. Simply because the company covers the lodging, easier for me to get a lunch by staying at hotel rather than home because I'd be car-less during the day, and because I felt like having a short holiday. So why not?

:: On the way to Lumut via old Kuala Selangor route. I made my husband stopped and buy me this he he he. Along the way we kept making a stop because of me. Let's see, there's goreng pisang stop, air kelapa pandan stop, fruit stall stop and I even tried to make her stop when I saw pau panas stall ha ha ha ::

:: Jambu madu with petis.. Blisssssss ::

:: Char Kuey Teow near Pasar Warisan, Manjung. Kerang is his and prawn is definitely yours truly's. New favourite! We had this two nights in the row ::

:: He bought me a kilo of this after training one day so that I can have it in room if I felt somewhat hungry during the day ::

:: My mum whatsapp me this photo of the girls feasting on siput sedut like they don't have any care in the world and I really thought they would be devastated and missing us dearly ha ha ha ::

Most of the time, we ate outside the hotel but during one of the night, he had set an appointment for massage so it was more convenient to eat in the hotel restaurant. There's few restaurants inside hotel for us to choose from and I chose their BBQ and seafood restaurant by the sea called The Gayam.

:: OOTD.. Lycra dress from PTB-chiffon cardigan from PMJTAR-tudung Ariani.. If you was wondering, PTB stands for Pasar Tani Bangi and PMJTAR is Pasar Malam Jalan TAR ha ha ha. Baju pasar malam je ade jugak hati nak OOTD !! ::

:: At my 30 weeks. I indeed looked very very 'healthy' don't I? Heheheh perkembangan yang sangat memberansangkan ::

:: They had buffet style that costs RM 76 per pax. As for the seafood stall, we arrived slightly earlier so it wasn't ready yet as the chef just started the grilling bit so he made an effort to sent few plates of a little bit of this and that to our table after he's done with the first batch. If you like a second helping, you may request again or just take the grilled one from the buffet counter ::

:: Fat, plump and juicy.. Their chicken bbq also very very tasty and totally recommended ::

We left Lumut after his 4 days training is complete. By then, my mother and father in law has already arrived in Bangi from Terengganu to meet and spend few days with us considering that we have only few days left. I knew it was going to be short term balik kampung but never expected time to flew this fast.

That night, my husband decided to treat his family to a nice meal so we picked Perantau Hill restaurant at Sg Merab. Neither any of us have tried this place before but the place always jam packed every time we passed by.

What we ordered that night. Nothing unusual, just normal typical menu we always order during dine out..

:: Siakap sweet and sour ::

:: Siakap masak perantau ::

:: Sotong masak curry, chef recommendation ::

:: Kailan Ikan Masin ::

:: Telor bungkus ::

:: Ikan selar bakar for father in law because he didn't eat siakap or any type of big fish ::

We also ordered sate willy. My opinion is, sate willy is the only thing that worth recommendation. The rest was so so tapi abes la jugak ha ha ha.. Tak baik membazir.. Sighhhh...

:: This is taken at Wangsa Walk, during our yearly sushi fix. The only makan makan part I don't really enjoy hahaha ::

:: Unagi and raw salmon. Urghhhhhh I've been married to him for 8 years by now but I still can't stand the view of him chewing raw salmon and unagi. And worst, now I have 2 kids with exactly same liking for raw stuff!! ::

:: Old Town ABC. Our staple food. We had this all the time, day and night, without failed ::

:: Another thing that we couldn't afford to miss is ayam kampung. We usually had ours at Restaurant Tuan Faridah Puchong, or Velodrome Cheras. This one however, was from another restaurant near Tuan Faridah because Tuan Faridah is closed that day ::

:: My plate ::

:: Erin and siput sedut, tak bleh dipisahkan ::

:: Alis opted for nasi ayam instead ::

The night before we left for Kuwait, we brought my family to Dagang Avenue for Burger Bakar Abang Burn. Honestly, since everyone is talking about burger bakar almost everywhere, FB, blog and whatnot, the visit to their stall was merely out of curiosity. I really want to see what was the hype is all about because based on experience being Malaysian, sometimes certain stuff tends to get exaggerated especially when celebrities got involved and again, this time I wasn't all wrong.

In all honesty, personally I don't really think burger bakar was really that great. But considering this coming from someone who doesn't eat meat, so I can say that my view is biased because I had tasted only their chicken burger. The patty was too dry and nothing really stands out that makes me crave for more. On another note, according to my husband whom tried both beef burger and meatball, he said the taste was not really bad but not impressive either. We certainly had better! However, their effort in coming with something different and innovative totally deserved a mention.

:: Beef burger double layer ::

:: Beef burger single layer ::

:: Meatball with cheesy wedges ::

So long Malaysia.. 'Five' of us will see you again next year, Insya Allah.

Hellooooww desert!

Prenatal massage at Poise

1:43 AM

We went back to Malaysia last 2 weeks. It was adhoc and last minute decision since we're actually planning to go back on November, after I give birth. However, Allah has better plan. Unfortunately, our trip was only for a very short length of time so our schedule was a bit hectic and thorough plan was needed in order to get everything on the list done.

In short, the reason we came back to Malaysia was because of.........

1) Nasi kandar

2) Nasi kandar

3) Nasi kandar

4) Nasi kandar again

5) Hubby got training!

Ha ha ha ha ha...

Okay la, to be fair, I also need to take some of Erin's old baby stuff. Considering that the 3rd one is also going to be a girl, Insya Allah, I foresee a lot of hands me down hehehe..

:: At the airport. Switching from hot summer mode to tropical mode ::

:: Isi perut before boarding ::

Flight went smooth although I couldn't close my eyes for even a single second. Definitely not because I'm nervous or excited or whatnot. It just that travelling while being 7 months pregnant, during summer holiday, which well known as favorite season for Arabs to fly out country to somewhere cooler to avoid the extreme heat, is not really a good idea. I am beyond uncomfortable and felt miserable the whole journey. What's with the jam packed flight where there's no room to breath or extra leg room. Even going to toilet is an obstacles because flight is full and people were dozed off in various pattern and some were even blocking the pathway. I don't feel comfortable disturbing flyers whom deep in sleep so I had to wait for meal time to make my toilet round. Try being heavily pregnant, leg swollen, no position of seating can offer you comfort, leg down, leg up, on your right side, on your left side -nallaaa... and then having had to hold your pee for 3-4 hours! I can't even begin to describe the torment ... :(

We arrived slightly late than schedule because of 45 minutes delay at Qatar Airport. My family was already at KLIA, immediately transfer the girls's bag into my father's car and off they went to Johor Bahru to attend my cousin's wedding. I couldn't join because I'm in no position to make another 5 hours trip by road and we're going to Lumut a day after since hubby got 1 week training so for the whole next week, it will be just me, hubby and lil bun in the oven. Therefore I decided to treat the next whole week as babymoon and short getaway while hubby attend his training.

Anyway, before leaving for Lumut, there's another thing I've been wanted to do. Put nasi kandar aside, this is way more important and vital at that moment. Prenatal Massage!

There is number of spas that offered prenatal massage in Kuwait but it was more expensive and lacked of option. I googled a bit and found a few that I really like. Ohh I made a profound discovery too. I just knew that Clarins did offer prenatal massage. Never had thought of that as Clarins is more known for it's skincare products. Among many spas that offered prenatal massage, I picked Poise Organic Wellness Studio, simply because the location is the nearest to my house, reviews is good, they had empty slot the next morning and they're by far the cheapest ha ha ha..

Hubby dropped me off and went to Mid Valley to kill his time during my 2 hours treatment.

The spa is located at Jalan Klang Lama, behind Pearl Point. They rented the whole 2 stories bungalow and turned it into spa. Direction wise, quite easy to find because the spa is located by the main road side.

While waiting for my masseuse to get ready, I was served hot herbal tea and presented with a tray of various oil for me to choose in my session according to my preference.

:: I picked Relax Rub as recommended by the masseuse because pregnant lady is not advised to take scented oil ::

Well, as for the package, I chose Mother To Be package which cost only RM 99 per hour and I opted for 1 hour 1/2 treatment which cost me RM 148. The most well spent RM 148 I ever made during this trip, I must say. Beside this package, they offer many many more treatment you can pick up to your liking. They even has massage package for babies.

My masseuse named Wani and she's very very good. She knows exactly what she's doing and dealing with and unlike other massage treatment I went before where I can't feel any different before and after treatment at times, I can actually felt relieved, my muscle loosen and soften and I actually felt lighter. Her massage was spot on and pleasure at the same time. The amount of pressure was just nice but effective. Seriously, she was that good.. Like I said, the most well spent few hundred bucks during the whole trip!

After done with my treatment, I was served with another cup of hot spicy ginger-ish herbal tea that tasted and smelled exactly like kuah ikan siakap steam.

The owner, a young chinese lady came to me and called me by my name despite we're not being properly introduced earlier and we had a light casual chat. She wasn't there when I came in the morning. There's just something about good and warm hospitality beside good services because warm welcome and hospitality that's usually produces repeat and regular customers.

So yeah, am one satisfied customer and I totally recommend them for both excellence service and price wise.