Ramadhan Is Here

Ramadhan is here again and these are the things that I look forward to in the holy month of Ramadhan:

- The sahur time - seems like I have more time at hand since I don't normally sleep after sahur. Very handy when one has to finish up a report or need time blogging and facebooking. Me likey!

- The food, what else? The endless variety of delicacies from the PaRams (short for Pasar Ramadhan) around. Our favourite PaRam spots include the one in front of Masjid Saidina Abu Bakar in Bangsar - look out for the killer Rojak Penang and cendol ; in front of Giant kecik in Kelana Jaya - try the Ikan Bakar Fend and murtabak from Man Bess; in Pantai Dalam - for my favourite cucur udang and of course, in front of Taman Tenaga, Puchong - various dishes from Q-Caterers. Nope, don't go to all of them before breaking fast. Pick one (or two, if you have the time) and go with that! :) (Sorry, Ayoi and Zara.. You all ambik bau je la... heh heh heh)

- The earlier release time of 4:30pm from work. Yeay! More time to melawat kawasan - kawasan PaRam.

- It's been a kind of a tradition for our household to spend at least ONE fasting weekend at my in-law's place in Kubang Kerian. The PaRam at the Kota Bharu stadium is just insane. Sooooo many stalls and soooo many GOOD FOOD! I just can't wait! Oh, we are going to KB this Thursday, y'all!! Yum Yum..

- The Ramadhan buffet madness in Klang Valley. I don't normally go to many, the few that I go to are carefully planned and serves as a catch up session with various groups of childhood friends. ;) (Yes, Amy .. I am talking to you.. Get that IKEA thingy going, girl!)

-Getting our Raya cards out. I believe in the snail mail. It's sooo old school, I know but I love receiving Raya cards too! I still have the list from last year, but if you have changed addresses since, and you wanna get a Raya card from the Azrul clan, drop me your address.

- Time for ibadat. Khadra and Khaleeq are excited to follow us to the mosque for Tarawikh. Khadra was with me at the Tarawikh tonight and she was just doing the motions. Of course, she did complaint that she was sweating la... her head is itchy la... But, at least she kept her telekung on until the last rakaat. Good enough for me.. :) I'm trying to get every Tarawikh night this year. Should also try to read as much Al-Quran verses as possible. I hope this does not turn out to be yet another one of my infamous HHTA plans...

Though my list does not seem to agree, but to me, it's not ALL about the food. Personally, Ramadhan serves as a little check point in my life.

In 2002, I had my first Ramadhan with my new hubby - adapting to a new way of Ramadhan and another place to call kampung. I was at the early stages of my pregnancy with Khadra then.

In 2003 and 2004, our family grew from 2 to 3 to 4. :)

2007 saw me carrying Khaleeda in my tummy while trying to maintain a sane household with Khadra and Khaleeq running around.

This year, my two kids are already big enough to follow us for tarawikh and start on their half-day puasas.

It just got me to thinking, you know.. Will I be there for them next year? Have I done enough? In all honesty, am I actually prepared? In the busy-ness of our day-to-day lives, I hardly ever think about the future. Always trying to resolve the now, firefighting.. The report I have to write, the bug that had the whole family vomitting and having diarrhea, Khadra's field trip, Khaleeq's haircut, Khaleeda's biscuits, Parmi's passport and permit, etc, etc, etc.. It just doesn't end.. Ramadhan gives me the chance to pause and prioritize. Beef up on the insufficients. Make ammends. Be calmer, breathe more..

So, maaf zahir batin and have a blessed Ramadhan y'all.. Make it count , this time round..

-dillz blogging out-

Seharian di Kedutaan

The place? Kedutaan Republik Indonesia at Jalan Tun Abdul Razak
Purpose? Had to renew my maid's passport

We were greeted with :
"Kami siap melayani anda dengan mudah, murah, cepat, aman, nyaman dan ramah"
So, here's my assessment on the whole process.

mudah?
From the gate, we were ushered to the officer in charge of all the formulir. (forms). He took a look at my maid's passport and gave us the correct form, PLUS, he reminded me to photocopy IC majikan.
Form was very very simple - I think I only had to fill in ; Name, Sex, Date of Birth, Name & Address of Majikan, Name & Address of someone to contact back in Indo. No unnecessary information required. :)
Went to photocopy hubby's IC at the photocopy kiosk. The guy went ahead and photocopied the recent permit as well as front and back cover of Parmi's old passport.
There's also a photo booth in case you forgot to bring 4 passport photograph with red background. (He only charged RM10 for the 4 copies)
Then, went to the officer to take our number.
Process wise, we only had to submit our application , pay the guy and the passport will be ready on the same day.
Easy enough? I think so. :)

murah?
The fee for a 24 page passport id RM22.00
Is that cheap? Damn right, it's cheap.

cepat?
Our turn was number 1441. They were currently serving number 1281. The time was at 11:27am. An hour later, they were serving 1376.

All in all we were done by 15:00.
3 and a half hours? Not too bad, la..

aman?
What does this really mean? Peaceful as in nobody shouting? Well, it was aman, I guess..

nyaman?
Definitely nyaman. The waiting hall is air-conditioned!

ramah?

Very the. The officer attending us at the loket lima was so chatty and nice. Even photocopied another page of the old paspor for me. Siap tanya kampung kat mana, you.. heh heh heh

All in all, we walked into the embassy's gate at 11am and walked out at 3pm. Four hours of my life was spent at the Indo Embassy that day.... Out of 5 maximum scoring, I rate them 4. Not bad, la huh?

-dillz blogging out-

An ANT Adventure

There is a boy by the name of Anthony. He is Ema's Actuarial Science coursemate from LSE. They have just completed their undergraduate studies and Ant is vacationing around South East Asia. He just came back from Kuching, experiencing the real long-house , complete with the several-hour rides on the skinny-planked boat. You see, he is not into the typical touristy places, shopping malls and the like.

So, when he came to our house for his next stop, we were under a lot of pressure to measure up and let him experience Malaysia off the beaten track. First off, my mom and dad took him to see our neighbour's Malay wedding - so, that's something he's never done before. (Good...) That night, we took him out for a satay experience at the R&R in Kinrara. Turned out that he's had satay before , in London, mind you.. ish.. ish.. ish.. (Not so Good..) Later, we promised to meet up with Ant, Ema and Ki at Hartamas Square for some late supper, so that he really understands that we are all about food, food, food here in Malaysia. Had some lala chilli which was a little chewy for his liking.. (Okay Good...)

Since it was a Sunday night and people actually have work to go to the next day, there's not much to show him that night. My hubby, however, had a brilliant idea of taking him to , where else but, Putrajaya. (btw, it was already 11.30pm by then) So, we did and the following photos kinda captured what we did there.. ;)

So, have fun and do take care wherever you are, Ant! Hope our little outing made it into your little brown exercise book. Oh, and please refrain yourself should you wanna comment on whether or not I am pregnant. I am not. :)~~~

-dillz blogging out-

Gallery of Pictures

Am done with excuses, so am not trying to explain myself here. :)~~

Here's a little pictoral gallery in chronological order (with minimum narration, of course) for your viewing pleasure.

1. My Baby Khaleeda's Aqiqah

She was almost 6 months old when we finally had the ceremony. Khaleeda had changed into 3 outfits by end of event and was such a doll the whole way through. Preparation wise, had a lot of help from Hubby who was doing the running around since I was away for an assignment in Melaka, Ziezi (event planner), Mak Anjang, Eno for the lovely decoration of the buai, and of course my mom and sisters.

The star attraction was, without a doubt 3 "kambing goleks" that tasted just heavenly. Yumm....

Got a beautiful black album of photos from KC of http://www.myshotswedding.com/

Cupcakes are from Zura who did excellently especially on the bootie cuppies. Me likey! (don't have her link as yet, will update later)

Check out Khaleeda's very own gallery here! And some more pictures in my facebook here: Majlis Aqiqah Khaleeda.

2. Phuket Island Vacation

Wonderful island getAWAY vacation with my family, ZZ's family, Boy, Ewa & Eski, Tilong & Harris and Feizy. We set base in Kantary Bay at Cape Panwa which had a wonderful restaurant with a muslim chef next door and an array of muslim hawker stalls lining the street towards our hotel. So, that kinda sorted our F&B issue. The place was a little while away (about 45 minutes, actually) from Patong Beach and Phuket. But, it worked for us as we kinda liked the peace and tranquility there, and there's always the option of leaving the kids while we 'experience' the night life in Patong. *evil muah hah hah*.
Highlights of the trip:
- went island hopping to the three Kai islands, with kids in tow. I had to leave Deeda behind with Parmi due to the boat trip.
- a little bit of shopping in Patong (btw, lovely nutella / banana pancake by the roadside *two thumbs up-a must try*)
- a brand new tailored suit for me, hubs, Nazz, Boy & Eski. Damn cheap at just RM400 per suit
- 10 of us (or so) crammed into a tuk-tuk coz we were damn tired to walk the 200m to be robbed in bright daylight by the Arab restaurant - bloody Ali Baba, hampeh betul!
-The 'night life' in Patong -- hmmm how shall we say it, a lil interesting? *sheesh*
- lots and lots massages

3. Khadra and Khaleeq's Pirate & Princess Party

We hosted the themed party by the poolside of Pantai Hillpark. Most of the kids came dressed as either a princess or a pirate. Since it has been a while since we last threw a party, this one was done in a lot of style. *perasan*

Activities for the kids include; face-painting (by Kira), nail art and tattoo (SLIMRED), games (hosted by MC Liyana) and jumping along in the bouncy castle. Oh, there was also a Wii/ Guitar Hero canopy set up for kids and adults alike.
Buntings were specially designed by bro-in-law Eski. He did it from scratch, y'all!! Just AWESOME!! Party planning overseen by Ziezi, of course.. Photography (professional) by Hafiz (Raff's bf) and (amateur) by Af's Sony Alpha A350. (I think Kira took most of it)
Food catered from Restoran Delima and additional satay from Satay Salam. Cake in the form of a castle ordered from Noresh of Baking with Passion , supplemented by pirate themed cupcakes from Zura, yet again.. I love them cute pirates.. (*yes, I need to get her link up here..*)

More pictures at my facebook page: Princess & Pirate party

4. Family Photoshoot

Yup, the Zaghlol's Photo Shoot is back again.. We had an additional 3 kids (Neyna, Laiqa and Deeda) and a brother-in-law from the last one done in 2006. Everyone was in their baju melayus and baju kurungs for the first session and we changed to a more formal outfit after. (Actuallynya, saja nak menunjuk suit baru buat kat Phuket *heh heh heh*) The boys even had a little session to boast their Guitar Hero skills.. Really... ;)

Thank you, Min from prettypeektures. Check out a selection of pictures here: My Favourite

-dillz blogging out-

.. and a series of HHTA plans were crafted

I was just minding my own business on one fine Friday morning when my next door cubicle-neighbour came in with his blood profile results. There was a health campaign running at LG1 level whereby a few of the PMCare panel clinics / hospitals set up booths offering tests and checks to gauge our current health conditions. Suffice to say that he sparked my interest, curiosity and a little anxiety to perform the RM5 blood test as well. While I was at it, I also queued up for the BMI / fat profiling, eye test, diabetis and bone density checks. (Phew, that was a mouthful!)

The results?

BMI / fat profiling -

Doing good at the BMI section, had an almost ideal 22.6 and VFAT count of 4 (Normal).

My BMR is at 1291 kcal daily (ie can only have that much intake per day)

Body Fat at 34% (Ouch!) and that entirely explains why people have been wondering whether I am pregnant now. *heh heh heh*

The 'adik' who interpreted the results was so sweet saying;

"Inilah badan yang diidamkan semua wanita (with regards to the BMI), tapi lemak tu , ada lebih sikit. Kakak jangan lah makan lemak ayam tu, ya... But, since you are still breastfeeding, jangan bimbang. Nanti, langsinglah balik... "

Thank you, 'adik'. You're sooo sweet, please..

Eye test -

Perfect eyesight (Alhamdulillah) but highly sensitive to allergents

Diabetis / glucose level test -

5.5, but I just ate 2 hrs prior. So, that's ok.

Bone density check -

Off the chart 113.5. anything above 92 was OK. So, that means I am in Excellent condition, bone density wise.

Blood profile -

will come in this evening..

So, what does this mean for me, personally?

Well, I reacted how I knew best, I suppose. A series of HHTA (it's hangat-hangat tahi ayam, btw for the uninitiated) plans were crafted to immediately address my major issues.

For example, to address my lack of exercise and 'lemak' 'condition' ;

HHTA Plan A : I shall either ; a) swim a minimum of 4 laps, or b) do a 30-minute cardio workout at the pre-paid gym prior to going to work in the morning. (a little ambitious, but CAN be done..)

HHTA Plan B: I shall walk up the stairs from Level 5 up till Level 9 after my breakfast at the office canteen at Level 3. (Yes, it does mean that i shall take the lift from Level 3 up till Level 5, thank you very much and VERY DO-able)

HHTA Plan C : To cut down on the sugary sweet, coloured drinks (especially Teh Ais and NO MORE carbonated drinks) and stick to warm plain water aka 'sky juice'. To only drink 30-minutes after my meals , as opposed to gulping it down every 3 mouthful of food.

Others are still being crafted as I type this.. *heh heh heh*

To make the heat last a little longer, I also got an accomplice in the form of Ms Adeeb "Inul" Mustapha to walk the stairs up with me every damn working morning. *heh heh heh*.. I hope it works (for at least a week!)

-dillz blogging out-