My simple breakfast.

Truthfully if I don't have to rush to work so early in the morning, I prefer a simple breakfast. This is what I have been having daily growing up before leaving for school. I only started on cereals and milk when I was studying abroad. My breakfast diet changed drastically when I started work of course when stall food became accessible and choice became somewhat limited. Then there was no turning back as my usual simple diet became boring and unappetizing. Oily fried noodles, nasi lemak and the likes became the staple! Nowadays, once in a while I do go back to my old simple breakie like today, with no kids and hubby to cook for, I settle for the good old slices of toasts (wholemeal of course), slathered with margarine spread and slapped with some jammies, to be washed down with a cup of coffee. Simple yet divine, don't you think?

Cookbooks.

Love them.

Love browsing through them.

Love reading them.

Love collecting them.

Love using them.

My cookbook shelf #01 which contains some celebrity cookbooks.

I tend to get them as birthday treats for myself on my birthdays.

Okay, so sometimes I don't necessarily wait for my birthday to treat myself.

Got a couple too from hubby on my birthday a few years back.

Cookbook shelf #02.

This shelf has recipe books from unknown cooks, from a friend's brother's vocational school, mini cook books, online recipes, my mother's recipes from her cooking/baking lessons, old books bought way back when I was studying at uni... 

Notice the yellow folder on the very right? It contains loose sheets of recipes.

The full scape paper book in blue, well that contains my highly used recipes, either hand-written or pasted from online print outs. Precious! Have not gotten to beautifying it yet. Will get to it soon. Shall definitely blog about it, once I've done it.

So, if you have no idea what to get for me for my next birthday... now you do! :-D

They are going to a new home.

I finally did it, I am finally saying good bye, and shall be looking out for a new home for my hijabs! I have not been using them for quite sometime, eversince the evolution of  hijab "styles". When I discovered the fuss free Syria Hijab, I quickly stopped using my Cotton Bawals and also the high maintenance "awning-ed" Lycra Hijab. I even gave away all my tiny brooches to my mum who refused to succumb to trend. Here's what I am letting go:

These...

 these too.

these ones however... I am keeping for just in case cases...

Anybody interested? Actually I have a candidate...

The important thing is, they are going where they will be appreciated.

Spinning time is here again.

After spending so long working out on the cross-trainer machines, and diligently following My Super Sweet 16 or Teen Cribs on MTV while trying to workout a decent amount of sweat, I thought I'd give my Monday workout a change.

I spotted a couple of weeks back that the gym has placed a spinning bike outside the spinning studio next to the other machines. So, finally yesterday I remembered that I should get on the spinning bike again. I cannot remember the last time I was in a spinning class, must have easily been 4 years ago!

So, without a trainer, I had to come up with my own routines. Managed to find a great site that provides some information and some track suggestions... http://spinningmusic.wordpress.com/.

I thought I had a great workout. Must do it again with increased intensity next week. Here's my track list yesterday:

Warmup

If we ever meet again (Timbaland Ft. Katy Perry)

Climbs

Come on Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners)

Don't stop believin' (Glee's Lea Michele & Cory Monteith's version)

Sprints

Gonna Make You Sweat - Everybody Dance Now (C&C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams)

Obsessed rmx (Mariah Carey Ft. Gucci Mane)

* I think I skipped Lifts/Jumps cause I have no clue what the routine should be for this one, (must read up more on this) and went straight to...

Lead/Single Lead

* It's suppose to be longish songs with a steady beat and are particularly suited to single leg training - I missed the single leg bit, but went ahead using A (yes, only one unfortunately) longish song which I found with

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough (Michael Jackson of course!)

Cooldown

I reduced the resistance and paced with

Virtual Insanity (Jamiroquai)

Whataya Want from Me (Adam Lambert)

Did some stretchings while listening to

Hands to heaven (Breathe)

and just managed (barely) to do sit ups on the exercise ball throughout

With You (Chris Brown)

So there, my workout regime yesterday. Got any track suggestions?

Adios to my little cube.

I have been spending at least 8hrs daily on work weeks here at my little cozy alcove for almost 5 years already. That's almost half the time I've been in this company. Surrounded by my constant "organized clutter".

Surrounded by my lovely colleagues, Fid (that's her head, she's camera shy), Zila (posing like craaazeee), Zack (peek-a-booing), Leen (in front of me) and Mr. Z - the thorn amongst the roses. Yes, I'm at the end there waving frantically as if this was a candid shot!

Bye you guys! Gonna miss you all (as if I'm leaving the company!)  I'm not even changing dept. Just relocating to a different floor, boo-hoo!!! Gonna miss our usual banter and our loud, loud, moments, so how am I gonna throw insults to Mr. Z now??? Oh, yes there's the email and FB eh? Please, please, please, don't forget me, 2 floors down during lunches, "last night's leftover" breakfast and Fida's to die for Nasi Lemak. Yes, I still take orders for chips and such from the Saturday market, but it's at a fee now! Hi!hi!

This is how it looked like at 5 p.m today!

All packed and ready to go...

Terribly Terrific Thursday!

I made it in the papers! Okay it was just a dot of me, but still ME!!! ha!ha!ha!

Here's the online link if you missed it: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/3/2/central/8158802&sec=central .

Kids Eat Right With NATUREL - Bento Workshop

 As a working mother of 3 children (aged 10, 7 and 3) I am always faced with a challenge when preparing meals at home. I need to ensure that what I prepare first and foremost would “look” appetizing in their eyes but of course contains all the nutrition required by growing up children and well balanced, and not to mention does not take forever to prepare.

When I got the invite to attend a NATUREL Bento workshop at Bayan Indah with the knowledge that there would also be a Consultant Dietician who would be discussing Eating Right Meals for Kids I was estatic. Firstly, it would not be my first experience at Bayan Indah and cooking “with” Rohani Jelani (read: learning to cook with RJ). I attended a bread making workshop at her lovely home about 4 years ago, and fell head over heals in love with her whole house, especially the kitchen and pantry.  Therefore, an opportunity to join a cooking workshop at her place, I would be crazy to say no, wouldn’t I?  Secondly, it’s a BENTO workshop, bearing in mind I had no clue whatsoever what BENTO is, apart from a tray like boxy meal that I have come across in food courts at the mall. I’m guessing something Japanese! I like Japanese cuisine, so yeah sure why not. Finally, since there will be a discussion thrown in about ensuring cooking the right meals for kids I was ready to have a wonderful learning experience last Tuesday… and learned I did (with loads of fun and goodies brought home)!

The lovely  Indra and  Rohani Jelani with us the early birds:  yours truly and Pat (of onabentofrenxy.blogspot.com)

I was the first blogger to arrive, hi!hi! That’s enthusiasm for you… plus I also checked out the location of Bayan Indah 2 weekends earlier to ensure that I would not get lost on that day! Since I was early, I had a good look around at Bayan Indah, after 4 years, a lot has been done to the place, I even managed to say hi to RJ beforehand and to declare to her I’m a returning fan to find out from herself  the major upgrades that has happened to Bayan Indah since I was last there. So, the kitchen just got bigger and jaw dropping better, and the pantry just left me speechless!!! She has also turned what was previously her living quarters upstairs into a B&B (as she modestly put it), but it’s a resort standard for your information!!! Right, for those who are not familiar with RJ, she is a food consultant & founder of the Bayan Indah Culinary Retreat. She has been writing recipes for publication for over 20 years. After graduating from the London Cordon Bleu Cookery School in the mid-eighties, she worked in commercial kitchens as a pastry cook before pursuing a career in journalism, cooking for and styling the food pages for a leading English language women’s magazine. Now, RJ provides recipe consultation and food styling services to food companies, restaurants and magazines.

This Bento workshop is a product of RJ’s collaboration with NATUREL, where she has designed some creative but simple (read: simple yet divine J) recipes to provide solution for mothers to help children eat right through a healthy and balanced meal.  NATUREL Blend Cooking Oil is a blend of canola and sunflower seed oils. It contains Omega 3 and Omega 6 which are Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) that cannot be produced in the body and must be obtained from food. EFA is essential for normal growth in children, and in aiding regular cardiovascular and neurological function. The food prepared using NATUREL oils (NATUREL Cooking oil, NATUREL Olive Oil and NATUREL margarine) do not lose its taste and texture even when kept refrigerated for a few days. This makes it ideal to help mothers (like me) to prepare hassle-free meals.

Before we started the hands on cooking session, there was a 30 minutes interactive presentation by Indra Balaratnam, a consultant Dietician who touched on “ Healthy Eating Habits, Meals and the right portion sizes for kids”. Indra currently runs her own dietetic practice, based in Kuala Lumpur which she started 10 years ago. She specializes in dietary counseling to patients on how to improve their diets to better manage their chronic diseases and she also undertakes special projects consulting multinational food companies, industrial caterers and private schools on nutrition quality and menu planning. Indra stressed on the importance of good nutrition for kids which are :
1) for energy 
2) for physical growth and 
3) for mental development .

Essentially mothers like me should ensure our children also have a balanced diet (in the right portion sizes) that consists of a variety of different food from the 5 food groups as presented in the The Malaysian Food Guide Pyramid as shown here in order to get the most vitamins and minerals.

NATUREL worked with Rohani Jelani and Indra to come up with wonderfully simple yet divine recipes NATUREL-ly using NATUREL cooking oil that we had a chance to prepare during the workshop. The recipes that we tried were Baked Doughnuts, Prawn & Spring Onion Omelette with Rice Cakes, Rainbow Cake and Pasta bows with chicken and tofu patties.

Rohani briefing us on the recipe that we will be working on before

we started our culinary experience in her kitchen.

This is her lovely open plan kitchen, only a portion of it.

You must try one of her cooking lessons at Bayan Indah one day.

My Workstation - all manners of kitchen gadget and essentials to work with.

NATUREL cooking oil and NATUREL Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Our key ingredients for our meal preparation.

I am preparing the prawns for my Prawns and Spring Onions Omelette – Bento Style.

My cooking partner Shasha – preparing the batter for Baked Doughnuts.

Rohani giving us tips and tricks to preparing our recipes.

This is the way you prepare the omelette – slow and easy.

The omelette is then place on a bamboo (sushi-making) mat, to roll the omelette in.

Let the omelette cool before cutting into slices. 

Leave the omelette to cool before cutting into slices.

Like so...

My NATUREL Bento done!

Shasha’s finished doughnuts… yummy!

Even though, each person prepares one dish, we all get to take home

some dish prepared by others.

All neatly BENTO-ed in these lovely Rubbermaid food containers.

Group picture at the end of the cooking session.

NATUREL-ly I had a divine time at the workshop learning lots of new things, getting new ideas about meal preparation for my children and not to mention making new blogger friends. Bringing home a huge goody bag was of course a welcomed bonus – NATUREL-ly!

I hope I have been a good person to you!

Something happened that makes me question my EBA with everybody around me.


Have you heard of the concept of EBA/ Emotional Bank account?

According to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People programme, an EBA is a metaphor for the amount of trust that exists in a relationship. Withdrawals breaks down and lessen trust in a relationship. You may read up more on this in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits book: In a nutshell, for those who think I am not writing in English…

For one to have a strong EBA:

- we are told to remember the 5:1 rule that is it may take 5 deposits to make up for one withdrawal

- the other person’s “currency”: What constitutes a deposit to one person may be a withdrawal to another

- to be sincere and consistent in your deposits. Small deposits over time build large account balances.

I hope I have been a good person if not a friend

- that if you bump into me at the corridor you’d lift up your head to say hi, instead of trying to look occupied and trying to be concentrating on your non-existent new emails on your BB

- that if I have not reached the office by 9, you’d text or leave a message on my wall asking where the hell am I, don’t I know it’s a work day!

- that if you’d think of somewhere to go during your lunch break and you need company you’d look up for me

- you saw me passing by looking like I’m about to faint you’d stop me and ask what’s wrong

- that if you saw me sitting down on the floor in my office even if my chair is just a foot away, you’d knock on my door and ask if everything is ok

If you will not do any of the above for whatever reason,

- do let me know now why I repulse you that badly for I am consciously trying to improve myself as a person and I do welcome your honest opinion.

I’m praying hard right now that I don’t make anybody feel that way and my presence in your life has made your life quite pleasant, if not at least no major impact until you’d hate me so.

*** I’m writing this as a reminder to myself to be a good friend, a good colleague, a good neighbour and a good human being to all. This is a lesson learnt when at the office the other day somebody was found to be almost fainting and nobody bothered to ask what was wrong. Somebody at one point even found her/him on the floor of her/his office even though she/he had a chair a foot away, but dared not ask what was wrong. The question is are the people who saw her/him in those conditions that bad of a human being and so insensitive to others in need. Or has she/he not deposited enough in the emotional bank that people do not have the heart to care. I surely do not wish to be like this. So again I’m asking if my emotional bank account is in the negative in your books do let me know. I shall start depositing now.

My respect to WAHMs and SAHMs everywhere.

I am that affected by my current maid-less situation that I found these funny...

A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.

Help keep the kitchen clean - eat out!

Housework done properly can kill you.

Countless numbers of people have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead normal lives.

My next house will have no kitchen — just vending machines.

I'm on Crisis Mode.

Since last Saturday, I am currently existing on "CRISIS MODE". My maid suddenly announced on Friday evening when I came home from work that she needs to go home because her father was involved in an accident and her mother has been asking her to come home even if for two days only. Her home is in Sabah, a two day visit is just not worth is it? So I said go on, take the whole week off! I have the whole week off anyway, so it should be alright. Well, that's what I told her! Am I alright??? 

From this I have switched to...

This!

My day starts with washing, preparing breakfast, clearing breakfast, preparing lunch, clearing lunch then it's time to prepare dinner!!! From never ever using the vacuum cleaner to vacuuming every other hour!!! (Okay, that's a little exaggeration there, but seriously the amount of dust that settles on the furniture... it is just endless!!!) OMG, is there no end to this household chores!!! I swear I need a spa manicure and pedicure by the end of the week! Give me deadlines and endless meetings anytime!!!

My darling husband is at work so I am left alone at home with my darling 3 kids! 

You get the picture?

Ana... please do come home this Friday as promised!!!

Chick lits for less.

Last Saturday, I actually drove all the way to Amcorp Mall to get my hands on some new chick lits. The reason I would go to all that trouble is because I can really get them at such a reasonable price.

How reasonable?

Well, check this out: RM19.90 and RM17.90, how reasonable is that?

Plus, I can purchase this adorable Book Thong here.

So which book store in Amcorp Mall? None other then at BookXcess. Check it out if you haven't. The only issue now is which book shall I read first? Hmmm...

I get this monthly!!!

No, ladies it's not what you think....

What were you thinking?

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:-)

Ha!ha!ha! Sorry to dissapoint, it's just that I wanted to share with you the magazine that I'd never miss every month.

Yup, Harper's BAZAAR Malaysia Edition.

Ever since they started with the Malaysian Edition, I have been hooked.

Love it.

It's as good as window shopping, even cheaper.

So what do you get at your newstand or bookstore monthly?

Another Public Holiday???

I cannot believe that I am actually moaning the fact that there is yet another Public Holiday! That's really insane right? Who doesn't want a holiday? Okay, of course I love another holiday. Additional day to add to my measely 21 days a year of annual leave. It's just that right now, at this very moment , every precious work day is precious (Oh my god! Somebody just print this update and forward this to my boss okay!!!). I need MORE days!!! Up until this particular submission that is due sometime in March! Until then, I wish there is no public holiday, no long weekends and no long Chinese New Year break! Arrrrrghhhhh!!!!

Right, since it's a Public Holiday today anyway, I shall enjoy it (as much as I possibly can.. ha!ha!ha!). Taking a break before another crrrazyyy day at work tomorrow! Hope you all out there have a good day off today. Let's chill!

Happy Thaipusam!!!

Note: Another reason I'm not so happy with this day off is because hubby is away, so Boo!

I'm still alive and kicking!

It has been soooo long since I've updated this blog. I have been soooo very busy both at work and at home. So much has happened since my last update. I hope I would be able to upload as much as possible before year end. Not that I have much time :-) , oh well...

Well, as usual at year end Nayli's schools had their prize giving cermonies, both at the Sekolah Agama and also the Sekolah Kebangsaan. Nayli did well this year in both schools. Well done Nayli, we are so proud of you.

Nayli - 3rd position this year at her religious school.

In her primary school, she came in 2nd this year.

Keep up the good work girl, top of the class next year okay?

As for me, well this year marked my 10th year at my current employment! Imagine that? I never ever imagined that I'd be in one organisation this long. My 3rd job and obviously my longest! If you remember reading my update back in May , I posted about my dilemma of choosing my 10 years service award? Even though my 10 years anniversary falls in August to be exact, I just got the "awards" only a couple of months back. So, what did I choose? Well.... tadaaaa.... the biggest and bulkiest items in the award list.

A pewter frame and a vase. I quite like them actually. Now they are on my desk at work.