Aidilfitri is brewing

How is it possible that you're so excited about Aidilfitri but at the same time you just want to skip it?
But for my munchkin I shall remain excited.

Because peony looks good with army gears, got problem?

Her mommy was in KL for a few days, attending a course at Intan Kiara; and amidst the New York minute, she squeezed in some shopping (some is an understatement!). We spent good times shopping, watching Dark Knight Rises, sipping Chatime and mauling cupcakes. And that's her devouring tenpayaki dish at the Pepper Lunch.

Because frills go well with polka dot

Heroic paper bag

Chatime

Carnivour

You can tell she went back to KK with a big smile on her face and a thinner purse, no, yes?

A day later hubs and I drove back to Alor Setar to visit mama and abah since yours truly is celebrating hari raya in Kuching. We are midnight travellers, probably hubs is Batman in his other life. *funnyonot*

Nothing much to do in Alor Setar though, it's a quiet town, humble people...nothing much to prattle... 

During a visit to Pasar Ramadhan on the first day we were there, I have developed new cravings;

Face-sized curry puff, because they can

Why are theses cockles so sedap?!!! why? why?

Just when I thought I'll pack new kurungs for Raya, I brought these home instead. 

Giant Hypermarket & Nutella conspiracy

And on the day we returned home, I made these for sungkei; 

Gone in 60 secs

You see, the day before my MIL had taught me how to make hot dog rolls so I improvised and spread Nutella instead. *patback* We had these for sahur too.

Back to Aidilfitri excitement, my staff is so efficient that he had taken orders for our raya money exchange about a week ago. And mine are denominated by these, but being a hoarder that I am, I want to keep them, not for distribution. Sorry niece.

RM20 is for keeps

And now, awaiting for my cookies.

Baju kurung.

Shoes.

Handbag.

Fragrance.

Counting days to be back in my sweet, serene hometown. I shall remain excited.

Of Ramadhan and sparklers

Today marks the 10th day of Ramadhan.

Alhamdulillah.

Yours truly, however isn't fasting. Aunt flow decided to pay a visit today and I got so flustered about it for I've enjoyed my Quran reciting during this holy month. In addition to aunt flow, my nose has decided to be all runny and itchy too! And did I mention of my abdominal agony on the 5th through 7th of Ramadhan? I was sure that food poisoning was the culprit but then again the diarrhea didn't stop. So I self-diagnosed with the help of webmd and to my horror my symptoms depicted those of of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)!

Yiiikes!

What caught my attention was the fact that IBS is triggered by stress and it gets worse with stress.

It's totally believable that I am suffering from IBS because of late I'm experiencing nothing but problems. I wonder when will the dark cloud will shy itself away from me. Please don't leave me wondering.

Anyhow... I remain optimist because Ramadhan is a holy month. It's a month full of forgiveness, purification and cleansing of one's soul. I must chase the every wholesomeness of Ramadhan. Every good deed is rewarded multi-fold and I for sure refuse to miss this chance and so do you. And I'm not going to let mr.IBS, aunt flow or even miss flu to get the best of me.

Hence, allow me to share some advise on Ramadhan that I've acquired from http://www.qul.org.au

"Your fast days should not be like other ordinary days. when you fast, all your senses - eyes, ears, tongue, hands and feet - must therefore fast with you" - Imam Jafar Sadiq

And here's a special doa on the 10th of Ramadhan

Ya Allah, on this day, make me

among those who rely on you

from those you consider successful

and place me among those who are near to you

by your favour, o goal of the seekers

You can get the rest of the doa here.

Another thing that keeps me insane is the fact that both hubs and I got our plane tickets sorted out. Mine was all free of charge as I finally utilized the government servant plane ticket privilege, (which I never knew for the past 4 years!). And this year is a little bit different for we don't have to crack our brains thinking of the boarding fees for our furry friends. Since this year my sisters and I are celebrating in Kuching, Mak has assigned us on what to sponsor. (Mak is so efficient!) Hubs and I are in charge of biscuits and drinks, as to date I have ordered a few jars (of which the bill will certainly  put me in a state of shock soon!) I thought of attempting on baking my own cookies but the confidence went out the roof the moment I went through the recipes. On top of everything, we have not bought our Raya outfits though, probably because we are so used to getting ours at the very last minute, like Raya-eve-last-minute kind. We even haven't decided on the matching colour. I'm thinking magenta and amber.

And this Raya will surely mean something with the arrival of this sugarball;

I iz going to squeeze everyone's raya $$$
 with I cute face!

She'd be 3 month then! Wa Biena can't wait! Let's play dressing up shall we? And don't forget the sparklers and firecrackers too! Be nice!

Till then, Salam Ramadhan peeps!

Wordless Wednesday

Laksa Sarawak

... a nose for scrumptious food that is yet to perfect.

The thing about being away from home i.e from your comfort zone, most of the times will force you to learn how to cook your hometown dish. Simply because the restaurant outside of your town would just temper the delish out of these dishes and charge us absurdly!

So we have just got to take matters into our own hands, not? Mine is of course the ever legendary Laksa Sarawak, been cooking it for years now, I think I have perfected my own version.

And just today my pregger sis texted me asking for the recipe,

..

..

Laksa legend , okaaay!

I guess it's about time now I share the recipe with all of you, Laksa Sarawak ala Biena.

..

..

The core ingredients:A packet of beehoon (i love Jati's)
chicken breast
tiger prawns
eggs
laksa paste (Hj Manan is my fav)
lemon grass
coconut milk (it has got to be Cocolin but M&S is equally as good)
Chicken stock cubes

:::

**for 2 packets of laksa paste, my ratio is to 6 stalks of lemon grass, 2 parts of chicken breast, 20 tiger prawns and a packet of coconut milk & bee hoon. 6 hours before preparing the gravy, soak bee hoon with plain water.

:::

Firstly, boil chicken breasts and the smashed-tip-lemon-grass together. Add 2 cubes of chicken stock or a 2 big spoon of bottled chicken stock (optional) .
Boil until tender and until the broth turns cloudy. 5 minutes before you take out the chicken breasts, put in the prawns.
..
..

Once the prawns turn red (about 30 secs), take everything out;
the broth and lemon grass are to remain in the pot, still boiling.
Put them aside.

 ..

 ..

Put in the laksa paste into the boiling broth. Stir slowly. Gradually decrease heat.
Maintain heat to simmer, need not boiling.
After 20 mins, pour in the coconut milk. Stir gradually. Salt to taste.
Gravy is ready after another good 20 minutes.

 ..

 ..

While waiting for the broth to set, you can prepare the omelette.
It must be really thin. Crispy thin!! 

 ..

 ..

Bee hoon, blanch for 30 seconds

..

..

Shred chicken breasts to chunks, peel the top part of prawns, slice omelette into rolls.
Slice lime and add sambal to perfect the combo
(mine is ready made in a jar, got it from Giant!)  

 ..

 ..

There, there, legendary as claimed by sis (pffft). 

All the best people!! Hail to Sarawak favourite dish!

**as I'm typing this, my tummy is growling mad!