overwhelmed overall

Today was kinda weird and overwhelming.

Taufik had to leave for work at 5:30am, so I was left to wake up the kids for school. Somehow they knew they couldnt fool around with me coz they were all downstairs having breakfast by 6:45. I even had time to french braid Anis' hair. We hung out in the living room playing with Izani while we wait for 7:15, when they have to go to the bus.
After they left for the bus, I did some housecleaning, then checked the blogs.
That's when it all started.
First it was pizzo.
As you've read in my previous post, he's been down in the dumps lately. I was getting worried reading his posts these past few days. This morning's was like a huge bomb. I mean, prior to this, he seldom reveals anything personal about himself. He always seemed whacky and out there. It was quite shocking to read about what he's currently going through. He seemed like that guy being swallowed by the city. I mean , i understand how easy it is to feel marginalized in a huge city like KL. So my first mission for the day was to cheer this guy up. I wish I could do more to make him feel less alone. Do go and give him your support.

Then I smelled Izani and decided to give him a bath. He didnt want to get out of the tub , so I let him play around in it (empty of course) for a bit. I went to read the rest of my alerts and I got to Lollies'.
Dayum. that was another bomb. And it wasnt even 9 yet.
If you haven't heard, her younger brother passed away. You don't hear her talk much about her brother, but that does not mean that she didnt love him. I consider her as family now, so hearing that news was like hearing that one of my relatives had passed away and that my sister needed some comfort. So after I dried Izani up and got him dressed and smelling like a baby should, I gave her a call. The moment she answered the phone, I cried. Gawd I am so bad at comforting people. That's why I prefer sending my condolences via text messages. Coz I know I would be bawling. Even when the folks at MSRI invited me to go see Dr. Alijah when she was sick, I declined, coz I know I wouldnt be able to stand it. We didnt talk long. I think she couldnt stand hearing me cry.

What was so weird for me is that today is my nephew Arif's birthday. So I had to call my sister up and wish the boy happy birthday. So even though I was a bit mellowed by the above, I had to put on a cheery tone when I spoke to my family. Hearing their voices did lift my spirits up a bit though. I had arranged for them to get these really cute cupcakes (hopefully rotidua will post pictures) and they seem to really like it.

Then I replied some emails and dished out some financial advice (based on my own experience coz I'm really not a qualified financial advisor). Then the kids came home and I had to deal with their homework, feed them lunch, listen to their civil disputes and their 'what I did at the playground today' stories. Then I tried to play a bit of linerider to cheer myself up more. It kinda worked.

By the afternoon I was so emotionally drained that I craved for cake.
So I made cake. from scratch.
Now that's a first.

me no think but me like award

Thankyou Lollies, for awarding me with the Thinking Blog Award, which originated from here.

I think it's just a really sneaky way of tagging someone by disguising it as an 'award', but hey I've never won an award before, so what the hey. I like!!!
*rubs hands in glee*

So in the spirit of spreading the love, coz that's the theme for this blog, toasting our life and spreading the sweetness, I am passing the baton to these 5 folks (in no particular order):

1. Kimmi the Lamma Lady
Anybody who has ever read Kimmi would agree with me that she is an extraordinary woman with extraordinary love. She has gone through alot in her life, but she still keeps on going with a smile on her face and a skip in her step and her joy is just infectous. She is a lover of animals and her dedication in breeding sheep-dogs is just so admirable. I don't know whether I could ever have her level of patience.
When I read her posts on her husband, it makes me think about whether I could ever do the same to mine. She truly inspires me with her sincere and undying love for her other half.
She is truly a testament to how the human spirit can survive with the right attitude.

2. Ben the Bushwacker
Ben (I am so used to calling her this, I can't bring myself to call her by her real name), is a person who makes me think about how I write. Her style is effortless, with a side order of sarcasm and humour. Her posts really challenges your intelligence. Even her "I'm listening to:" sections are funny.
She used to work with a local newspaper and is a stickler for puctuations and stuff, so sometimes I check my apostrophees and spelling and make sure I have enough dots in my ellipses just coz i think she might read me, but at other times, i couldnt be bothered. tee hee.
She is an extremely cool mum who currently misses her only son who's gone off to college. Reading about how well-rounded person her son has turned out has inspired me to raise my kids as best as I could with as much love as I could.

3. Tony the c0ndom supplier
HA HA HA. (You'd have to go scour thru his posts to understand the joke)
Tony, is my british politics commentator. He doesnt do much of it nowadays, but he used to, alot. He gives the man-on-the street point of views on things happening in his neighborhood and around the world. I really like the way he looks at things. He is very rational and makes a lot of sense.
Aside from that he also has a lot of bizzare stories that he can tell. Like the time he met Stephen Fry. It was so surreal I actualy thought he was lying. Did you know that Tony spent a few months in a coma?
His posts make me believe that everyone's life is interesting if you tell it the right way. I can even make my life sound interesting if I tried!

4. The Ghost Writer
The ghostwriter has been down in the dumps these past few days. (Do drop by his blog and cheer him up). Prolly because his employers are squeezing every drop of blood, sweat and tears from him, which required him to take redbulls intravenously, and to top it all off, it looks like his monkeys have run away.
He thinks he's a freak, but underneath that freakiness, he's actually a very very talented and imaginative writer. His earlier works (on modblog, i don't know whether he managed to transfer them to efx2) really amazed me, for I never knew such talent existed in my home country. . His writings are nothing like you've read before. It's fantasy, it's humor, it's animated feature material. Everytime I read his work, I can always imagine what it'd look like, on graphic novel panels or on the screen.
Pizzo is my anime guru and link provider. He actually introduced me to other talented writers like him. He had opened up the internet for me, introducing me to his many interesting haunts. And you better believe that he haunts quite many places. Even the famous Dina Zaman knows him.
His posts makes me think about what is possible. What stories are possible if you really push the boundaries. What achievements are possible if you really go for it.
My only wish is to meet him in person and shake his hand one day, for I see a bright future in him.

5. Nadia the nut cracker
Nadia makes me reminisce my younger days. When I read her posts, I often wish I was young again and wish that I had done things that she's doing right now. Who wouldnt want to kickbox, juggle and play the guitar? She's gonna make a kid be so proud to have such a cool mommy one day.
Her posts, though she may think is mundane, actually reveals a lot of heart. Sometimes you see glimpses of a person who are wiser than her age.
Like Pizzo, Nutty Nadia makes me think of the bright possibilities in the future of Malaysia.

Now Kimmi, Ben, Tony, Pizzo and Nutty, should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think;
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme;
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking!

Living in Ar@bia

Reading imolie's query in my chatbox, I just realized that people ask me that question a lot. "Is there life in Kh0bar?" (or Jubail, or Riy@dh, or S@udi in general).

So let me tell you a bit about my life in s@udi.

When I first came here, just like any other woman from a country that allows women to work and drive, I was apprehensive.
I wondered how I was going to get around, since I'm so used to driving myself anywhere I wanted to go, anytime I wanted to go. I also wondered whether I was going to feel helpless since I'm so used to being so independent. I wondered whether I was going to feel bored since I heard there's zero entertainment in this country. I wondered if I was going to be able to cope with just doing housework. I wondered if I was going to make new friends, those that can be as close as the ones I had left behind. I wondered whether my kids are gonna enjoy their life here. I wondered how we were going to grow as a family in such a seemingly constrictive environment.

I must admit, the first few months was a little tough.
I had to content with wearing black abaya all the time. My kids had to learn to recognize me by looking at my face, not by looking at my clothes. Not being brave enough to venture out with the bus provided by the compound, I had to wait for my husband to come home before I could go out anywhere. It was summer and it was scorching, so I was sequestered in the house during the day. Then i discovered that they do not have warungs here. Shops do not open all day. They are closed from 12 to 4! Good luck buying anything during the first 30 minutes of prayer times. Some shops literally kick you out!
Our computer had not arrived, we had no internet connection, which made me feel so much more isolated. Some days I felt like I had totally dissapeared off the face of the earth.

Then summer ended, and school sessions for the kids began. I saw their eager faces every morning and it really motivated me for the rest of the day. I listened to their stories about their teachers, their new friends and their activities when they come home from school every day and it re-affirmed why we decided to move here in the first place.

I started taking the compound bus to go shopping. I guess I am lucky that my compound has a very good bus service, I didnt miss driving at all. I just greeted any ladies I find on the bus and ask to follow them. I made a few friends, and I discovered a few new shopping spots. Through my shopping trips, I found out that there are abayas with different patterns (and colored patterns at that) on them, so even in black, you could still distinguish yourself from other black-abaya-clad women.

I found the housework to be bearable, if I don't set my standards too high. tee hee! Since we had already survived with taking care of our house without any help for 2 years prior to moving here, my husband and I already had our duties worked out. Now that my kids are older, they too have been roped in into doing house chores :) They needed motivation of course, so we came up with a star-reward chart: one star can be earned by doing one chore, and the stars can be translated into spending money any time they want.

There is not much entertainment here, but I wasn't really a movie-going, disco-dancing, concert-loving person in M@laysia anyways. Taufik and I love nature, so a drive out of town somewhere would usually suffice. So far we've explored a little bit of the natural wonders that this arid country can offer, and we have not been dissapointed. We've discovered that you can find beauty in anything if you look hard enough.

In my limited travels, I have also accidently found an advantage in living in S@udi instead of any other country in the middle east. Since it is very difficult to get a visa to visit this country, we are considered lucky because we can easily get visas to visit other countries (most of them award it upon entry), whilst people who live in other countries would find it difficult to visit me here.
eh wait, that's not such a good thing, coz that means it's difficult for me to get people to come over! :(

Suprisingly, I also found that living here is also very secure. Because I live in a gated compound and because some of the foreigners here are so paranoid that they warrant an army checkpoint at the gate, I am not scared of letting my kids outside to play every afternoon. I don't worry that they'd get lost. Because alcohol is banned here, I am not afraid that some drunk driver will run over my kids when they're cycling around. Most suprisingly, I am less harrassed here than I was in my home country. Apart from a supermarket worker who tried to pick me up the first week I was here, there hadnt been much harrassment from men. People don't honk or make kissy noises at me when I cross the street. Taxi drivers do not try to chat me up. Maybe arab men are more discerning and I'm not attractive enough for them or something, I do not know, but I do find that refreshing. :)

But I guess the best part of living here is the free-time that we have. Because of the proximity of his office to our home, my husband doesnt have to go through 2 hours of traffic jam to reach us everyday. That leaves him more relaxed and mentally available for the children once he is home.
I, of course, have more free time than my husband. Apart from having more time to write (read: blog) and read (read: blog summore), I also have more free time to explore things that I had not had time to do before. I discovered that I can cook, and that I am pretty creative at it :) I discovered that I can bake, when I would have never even attempted baking before. I discovered that I can sew a little bit. I discovered that I can, actually, do almost anything I want, once I put my mind to it (and once I found the materials for it).

As a family, I think living here has brought us so much closer together. Prior to Izani, I only watched my kids grow up when I came back from work. With Izani, I got to observe every single minute of his progress. It's priceless.
My kids had always been open with us, but them trusting that Taufik and I will always be around for them, to watch them sing, run, perform in plays, recite a poem or receive an award in school, has given them tremendous confidence in themselves, which made them open up even more.

So I guess, the next time someone ask me if there is life in s@udi, my answer would be that life, is whatever you make it, wherever you make it, and so far, we have made a satisfying life here.
:)

Watching TV

Hey hey..!
Now I can watch malaysian TV from my home!
Thanx to this bit of news that I got from my friend Ellie (Thanx kak ellie!!)
So I subscribed to WorldIP.TV and am now watching Buletin Utama (the nightly news bulletin show).
wah, sekarang heboh pasal orang my@nmar pulak ke?? kenapa lah suka sangat menakut-nakutkan orang...

anyways. another thing to keep me in front of the computer.
tee hee.

p/s too bad they don't have astro.. kalau tidak, boleh lah aku tengok akademi fantasia...

small but

Anis borrowed a book called "The Halloween Play" by Felicia somebody.
I read the book aloud to her after dinner.
It's about Roger and his classmates of mice putting up a play for halloween.
They had been practicing everyday for days, had made and sent out invitations to parents, and now came the day of the performence.

Me: "the auditorium was packed"
Me: "when the curtain came up, sixteen mice came dancing on stage"
Anis: I want to count! one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.. Hey there's only seven!
Me: the illustrator proly got tired of drawing mice.. tee hee
Me: "Roger stood back stage. He had a small but important role"
Anis: Where? Where is his small butt?
Me: What small butt?
Anis: Roger's small butt
Me: *ROTFL*
Me: "He had a small, [pause] but important [pause] role" That means, even though his part in the play is small, it was also important.
Anis: coz he's the pumpkin!!
Me: hey, how did you know??? *flips through the pages to the page where Roger's part is revealed*
Anis: See. He's a pumpkin.
Anis: with a small butt. (coz the pumpkin was so big on Roger's head)

The book was really cute.

---

This reminds me:
Do your kids crack up during Shrek 2 when Donkey sang 'tomorrow' but never got to finish it before passing out, so all he sang was
"The sun's gonna come up, tomorrow, betchyour bottom.." ?

My kids would crack up and say "betchyour bottom" all day long.

*pun is not intentional.

urm

Takde mood to write lah today.
Lotsa lotsa things swimming in my head.
and izani poo-ed for the 3rd time today. I think he has too much fibre (from the rusks, no doubt!)

sick of watching the VT shooter's face on TV. Think they should've just done a proper background check before selling him a gun.
Then got sick again watching a documentary on internet predators. I think they shoud also do background checks before giving out internet access. boleh tak?

thinking of writing a children's book.
tapi don't know where to start. How to pitch to publisher? Do i write it first then send it out, or what? (Any tips, Les?)

a lot of people are requesting for a recipe book.
hello? biar betul korang nih.

izani sometimes shakes his head.
I don't know whether he's doing it for fun or if it's something he can't control (turrets?). He grins everytime he does it. And he only does it when he knows I'm watching. Mintak2 jauhkan lah ya..

parmesan rusks tastes really good with bolognaise sauce.

i want to buy white dishes!!!! i hate my chipped gold-edged dishes.
well hate is a strong word.
i just wish they're not chipped.

my kids' room are never ever not messy.
how?

i like living here.
I want to write why, but I'm afraid of coming off as preachy and boastful and showing off and ... bleagh.
so there is the post, sitting there in my drafts, half-finished.
till i get the courage to finish it.

I think i put too much thought into blogging.

i want to write fiction again.

hey maybe that's what i should do.
I've been wanting to write about involuntary pee-ing.

tomorrow then. see how my mood is lah.

Parmesan and Basil Rusks

Yesterday I made a savoury version of the Sarf African Rusks.
I made it with Izani in mind. I think it's a good way to sneak in some fibre into his diet.
okay, first the recipe, even thought it's not really that different from the sweet version.

Parmesan and Basil Rusks

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups wholewheat flour
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried chopped basil
a pinch of salt

125grams cold butter
1 egg beaten
360grams Labneh or sour cream

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Rub butter into the dry mix to form breadcrumbs.
Beat the eggs. Add eggs into the crumb mix bit by bit. Then add the Labneh/sour cream into the mix, a spoon at a time, making sure it is well mixed each time. Mix/Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl.
Turn dough into a 5" by 8" cake tray and press to form a uniform flat shape.
Bake in a preheated oven @350F for 45 minutes.
Take out and let cool, then cut into finger sized pieces.
Arrange on a flat cookie sheet (or line your oven wire rack with aluminum foil and arrange right on the rack). Set oven to the lowest heat possible and let fingers dry out overnight.

The house smelled so yummy when the rusks were in the oven!
It turned out yummy too. The parmesan taste wasnt so strong and once in a while you'd get a taste of the basil which give it a little kick. Next time i'm gonna try with different savoury ingredients and herbs.. Maybe add chicken stock granules and parsley?
Today I had these rusks dunked inside a bowl cream of mushroom soup. Say it together now: Yummeh!

---

The little amateur entrepeneur in me is wondering: would this be a saleable item?
Kalau buat business, rasa-rasanya laku tak? Ada ke orang nak beli roti keras ku?
Would you buy my rusks?

B@hrain F1 GP 2007

Forgive me if I was too excited about getting to go to the B@hrain GP.
Every year, even when we were in Malaysia, Taufik had gotten tickets because he has to bring clients to the event.
Prior to this, I had never wanted to go, because Sepang was hot and crowded and the traffic jam is awful, and I'd rather be sitting in the comforts of my living room in shorts and t-shirt. Last year, however, fearing that I'd never catch Schumy in action again, was the first time I felt the desire to go. Unfortunately, I was 8+ months pregnant with Izani (or did I just give birth, then? I can't remember).
Aaaaanyways.
When Taufik asked me whether I'd be interested this year, of course I said yes. Kimi + ferrari = WOO HOOOOOO!!
It was also a bonus that it happened to be Izani's Birthday. It's be sorta a birthday present for both him and me. For me: because I had managed to take care of him on my own (almost lah) for one whole year!
Since the kids had school, they couldnt go, so I had asked a good neighbour who really likes my kids and whose son is real good friends with Ihsan whether she'd take them in for 3 hours or so.

All set, we left for Bahrin at 11am. We arrived at the circuit by 12:30pm but we stopped for lunch at Fuddruckers first. We met up with Taufik's colleagues there and when it was closer to 2pm we headed to the circuit.
Traffic into the circuit was bad because they diverted roads for god knows what reason and people's confusion of where to go made it worse. We finally got to our parking lot which was almost full so we had to walk quite far to our stand.
The weather was nice. It was sunny, but not scorching. There were strong gusts of wind and it felt slightly cool, not hot. We didnt even sweat.

Okay, so here's where the drama started to unfold.
Taufik didnt bring Izani's stroller, so he had to carry Izani in his arms all the way from the car to the stands. He handed the ticket to me for me to hold. I put it into my small 'purse'. It 's just a tiny sling purse, enough to hold a credit card, a picture ID, a copy of our iqama (residence permit), a pair of socks and sleeve-sock thingy (for solat) and my phone. The tickets were kinda big, so it stuck out.
You know what's coming, don't you?
So we were walking across the car park towards the stands and as we got closer and closer to the entrance, I was going "omygod omy god i can't believe I am really going to get to do this" in my head. Then, I looked at my purse and gasped.
"where are the tickets? Did you take it from me, taufik?"
Taufik had this look on his face that spelled death for me.
Before he could say anything, I had turned around to look for the ticket.
I retraced my steps, going "omygod omy god i can't believe I lost the ticket what a stupid idiot why did i put it in my purse i should've shoved it down my bra or something" in my head.
I looked e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. but no sign of it. in between cars, under cars, even at places where I hadn't walked through. A guy in a moped rode by, he worked for the ciscuit so I stopped him and told him "I had lost my ticket, can you help me look?". he just pursed his lip and shrugged, meaning "what can I do?" and I said "just ride around and see if you can find it. please" and he just said "I will tell my friends". and prolly laugh about it saying a stupid idiot lady lost her tickets. at the entrance. stupid idiot lady.
So I walked back to where Taufik was with Izani and asked him whether he found it and he started to ask me how I lost the ticket and all I could say was I was so so so sorry I want to kill myself.
He gave me Izani and went off to try to find the tickets himself.
I stood there, watching him go where I had gone, feeling so bad. and kicking myself (on the head, in my head). perhaps I was too excited that I got borderline boastful and this is my punishment? How in the world could I lose the ticket? and so close? I thought maybe my hand accidently knocked it out of my purse or something. I kicked the dirt as I saw a mcDonald's McChicken wrapper being blown by the wind towards the right of the lot.
wrapper. blown. wind. right of the lot.
I ran towards the right of the parking lot and saw the ditch that lined it. I walked along the ditch, saying please please please, this time to Izani. i walked pass several cars, I don't know how many, almost falling into the ditch at times. A lot of mcDonald's wrappers. some soda cans. empty doritos packets. a long rectangle white thing.
Please please please, I said louder as I walked into the ditch as carefully as I can so that Izani and I don't fall on our heads. I picked the thing up.
It. was. our. tickets!
Alhamdulillah! masyaAllah! Subhanallah! YAY!!!
I called Taufik up and told him the news and he came back to me.
As we walk quickly towards the entrance of the circuit (we had missed the airshow by then), the tickets firmly in my hand (i gripped it so hard it was a little crumpled by the time we reached the gate), I asked Taufik if he would ever bring me again if I had lost the tickets. he just laughed and said "Nak buat macamana?" (What can we do?). He didnt really answer my question.

Anyways, back to the race:
We were seated on the bleachers at Turn 1, which I think, are the best seats to be in, because you get to see the mad scramble to overtake at the start, and you get to witness the excitement of waiting to see who gets to overtake who when cars come out of the pit lane.
I found the engine noise ('The Buzz' as The Elusive Mr. R had pointed out) to be bearable at first, but after a while I found it to be quite annoying.

The little durian shaped f1 fan

We put on earplugs for Izani, and covered it again with his pointy hat, but I thnk he could still hear the noise a bit, because towards the end he tried to fall asleep but keep waking up every time cars pass by.

Even though there was a point in the race when I felt the urge to take a nap (like I always do when I watched it at home on my sofa), I found watching the race live to be quite exciting and fun. When I'm at home I would be the only one who would be jumping out of my seat and punching the air and screaming YES YES YES when a particularly good overtaking maneuver happens, at the stands, the whole lot of us would be applauding and going "yeahhh!!!" and cheering the drivers on. I guess it's the same as watching any organized sport, the crowd feeds on each other's adrenaline and makes the event more exciting.

I was so dissapointed with Kimi's performence in this race. I thought he had a lot of opportunities to overtake Hamilton but either his car or himself wasn't up to it or something. Hamilton, on the other hand, I am VERY impressed with.
I'm sorry Alonso fans, I cheered so loud when Heidfeld overtook him. heh heh.
Padan Muka.

okay, so that's the story, balamory.

D0ha, Q@tar (April 9th to 13th)

WARNING: VERY LONG!!

okeh, yang ni boleh tengok gambar mak-mak :laugh:

Initially, we wanted to leave on Sunday, the 8th, right after the Mal@ysian GP. And we did leave right after the GP. One third of the way, I overheard Ilham ask Taufik about the passports and what all the stamps mean. Taufik then made a stop at a gas station and checked our passports, because it just occured to him that maybe our multiple entry visas might have expired. The visa is only valid 6 months (muslim months, that is) from the date of activation. The last time we activated it was when we went to Farah's place in Bahrain for iftar. That was Ramadhan (the 9th muslim month). It is now Rabi Al-Awwal (the 3rd muslim month).

"uh oh" went Taufik.
"aaaarrrrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" went I.

Taufik called up his secretary and after being told that he will do his best to help us get the visas by noon tomorrow, we turn back to Kh0bar to give our passports to him.
I reluctantly sms-ed lollies the bad news, and sulked in the car. We ended up spending the afternoon at one of the malls (Taufik's attempt at appeasing the burning embers of my anger) (it worked).

[cut to next day]

We got our visas slightly after noon, as promised. After having lunch, we headed down highway 10, again. The weather was kinda weird. There was a sandstorm, then it rained, then we drove through a sandstorm again. Taufik complained coz he just washed the car.
We arrived the border after driving for only 2.5 hours, but the immigration procedures took a very very very long time, slightly more than an hour. Perhaps because this was our first time crossing into Q@tar, they had to enter our data into their system (all 6 of us) first. I was told that the second time would be easier. (So bolehlah pegi lagi, ek?) The visit visa for Q@tar cost QR105 (about SR110 or RM110) per person and it's given upon entry.
From the immigration, it took us another hour to reach lollies' place because by that time it was already dark and we were in an unfamiliar place and we had to drive through so many roundabouts.
We had a yummy dinner, then pavlova for dessert, then chit chatted, then we headed for bed. We were given the 'entertaining' room to sleep in, but all the kids wanted to sleep together so they dragged 2 of the mattresses into Haziq and Sya's room. Since they were playing instead of sleeping and were so noisy, we decided to pull some of them out. I think all of us finally went to sleep around midnight or so.

Day 1:
... started late... heh heh.
We had cekodok (banana croquets) and curry puff for breakfast, then we headed for JungleZone but was dissapointed to find out that it would only open at 1pm. So we headed to the Corniche road instead for a bit of sight seeing. The kids zipped so fast to the playground that you'd think they were play-deprived kids.

Kids at the playground and at the park on Corniche road
As you can see, D0ha looks like a city under construction, but the the buildings that are already done are quite amazing. If you're into modern architecture, you'd have fun walking around D0ha looking at the mixture of european and middle-eastern influences on its buildings. I don't have pictures, but there was this building under consruction that was going a little zigzag, and a building that looked like three cubes stacked on top of each other thanks to clever window treatments. Taufik's favourite building is the Four Season's hotel which had a filligree dome on top of it's towers.

There was a dhow, the qatari traditional fishing boat, that was giving rides along the corniche, and since we had time to kill, we decided to take a ride. While we waited, the kids wanted to jump in the water and kept asking if they could have a swim. :confused: I don't blame them, coz the water is really clear and clean (unlike the water in Kh0bar :P), we could even see colorful fishes swimming about.


Waiting for the dhow boat

After the boat ride we started getting hungry (actually we got hungry on board of the boat, luckily we had bought some fries for Izani before getting on), so we returned to the mall and had lunch before entering JungleZone.
JungleZone is basically is a small amusement park with a jungle theme. We were lucky because they were having a 'buy 2 get 1 ticket free' promotion for the school holidays, so that basically covered all 6 of our kids. A ticket gives you unlimited access to all the rides, so it was well worth the money!
The kids had fun on the rides, but their favourite was the 'freefall' ride. It's basically seats around a pole and the seat go up and would free fall in spurts, and it would repeat for a few times.


Sya and Anis on the freefall ride

Anis and Sya were particularly cute on the freefall ride coz you could hear them shriek in delight from across the park everytime it falls. Anis was even brave enough to go on the ride alone several times.
They also enjoyed the bumper cars. They kept coming out and getting back in line for it time and time again. Even Lollies went on the bumper cars two or three times, wrestling with an arab boy for a car at one time!

That evening, we were brought to Souq Waqif, an old market that is restored/preserved in its original condition. The market is quite popular, for we had to park a bit way off and had to walk to get there. Yazid brought us to a store that sells falcons, something we had never seen up close before.
The store owner was so friendly and accomodating. He offered us tea, and showed us how the traps work. He even took out one of the falcons and put it on his arm so that we could take pictures. The kids were scared (because of the bird flu) but they were still intrigued.


The falcon and closed shops in Souq Waqif

We then walked into the souq to check out the wares. The smell of spices greeted us and made us feel hungry. After checking out the stores, we had dinner at one of the restaurants. It's refreshing to be able to sit in an open space and eat, without the abaya or a cubicle.
By the time we finished eating, all of the stores had closed even though it was only about 10pm! I guess I'm getting used to S@udi timing, where their stores close around midnight.
Walking through the souq after closing time was really a different experience though. All the shop doors were closed and covered by these 2 huge doors made of wooden planks and huge brass hinges. Combined with the mud walls (faux or not), it's like suddenly you are transported through time to olden days. Lollies and I agreed that we suddenly felt like we were in an old P. Ramlee film, and felt a sudden urge to cross every door with a chalk. I had that song "Aiya Cik Siti, pelempuan manyak mudaa.." going on in my head for the rest of the night.
We slept at around.. erm late.

Day 2:
We had pancakes for breakfast. So yummy, that Lollies had to make a second batch!
Yazid had planned to come home early so that he could drive us to Wakrah beach, and the kids are all pumped up to get some time in the water. But before that, we had half a day to kill. So Lollies brought us to the port, where there were fisherman selling fish. The fish were SO fresh, that they were still flipping around!


The port at corniche road

Then we headed for CityCentre, a mall right smack in the middle of D0ha city. After lunch, Ilham, Haziq and Sya got to try some ice skating, while I brought a sleepy Izani out for a walk till he fell asleep.


Ilham ice skating for the first time in his life

Lollies bought some KFC and after joining Yazid at home, we drove to Wakra beach, which was only 45 minutes away. The sea was, unfortunately, not as clean as the one at the corniche, so the kids just played in a tide pool a little bit away from the beach. By my standards (which is very high, since I come from Trengganu), the beach wasnt much, but the kids enjoyed themselves immensely nevertheless. I guess it's the company that counts! ;)


Kids + water + sand = FUN FUN FUN

After having a picnic dinner, we brought the kids to a nearby rest area to rinse themselves off and we headed home and called it a day.
But, not before we ate more chicken tikka and had more tea and chit-chatting.
Another night of sleeping late.

Day 3:
We were supposed to head home on Thursday, but Taufik's friend from the Sm1th office in D0ha invited us over for dinner so we decided to stay an extra day.

Lollies made yummy nasi lemak with fried chicken.
We decided to re-visit Souq Waqif to purchase some souviners.
The Souq has a different atmosphere during the day. There are more locals than tourists, and more of the shops are open. Taufik bought a reproduction painting and i bought a dress for Sya and Anis, each.


The traditional and colorful Souq Waqif during the day

If i can ever give you a tip for shopping, it'd be this: Always try to shop as early as possible. The shop owners are usually more receptive to bargaining and are usually more willing to lower their prices if you are their first customer. ;)

That afternoon, Lollies brought me to the "Thursday-Friday Market", which despite its name, opens everyday. I had a goal of buying a nice abaya for under QR120, even though Taufik had given me more than that. So after checking out most of the stores and looking at the time (We had to leave for Taufik's friend's place by 6pm), I settled for a nice embroided, fitted abaya and managed to haggle for it for QR100!! woo hooooo!!! (sorry, no pictures as of now)

That night I went for dinner to Taufik's friend's house with 6 kids (4 of mine and 2 of Lollies) and then came home for maruku and tea and more chit chatting. What was supposed to be an early night to prepare for the next day's journey home, turned out to be another late night. tee hee!

So we headed for home on Friday. We intended to leave by 10:30am the latest, but after having yummy fried noodles and yummy soy fried chicken, the kids insisted that they should finish watching Iron Giant and then we had a photo session and after all the goodbyes, we finally managed to make a move at 11:15am.
We reached the border by 12pm. Fortunately the immigration points took less time than before, so we were in Saudi by 12:45pm. Aside from a stop for gas, and another to buy a huge and long runner (for just SR120!!) from a streetside merchant, our journey was smooth and uninterrupted. We got home by 3:30pm roughly.

-------------------

As I said, we had a really really good time. The drive wasn't that bad, and it was well worth it when we got to D0ha. Lollies' family's hospitality is tremendous and indescribably generous. We felt like family and not just internet buddies, and even our husbands, who had never met before, clicked together well. Even though Yazid wasn't around during the day because of work, Taufik never did once felt uncomfortable or out of place, because Lollies was such a friendly, approachable and chatty person.
I don't think I need to mention how my kids clicked instantly with Lollies kids. When we were at the playground, one of the mothers that was there with her daughter asked me whether they were all mine! She said they look and act like really close siblings. I had to point out to her which were mine. Even then, I mistakenly pointed to Sya and said she was Anis.

Lollies, anytime you want to come to Kh0bar, you are most welcomed!! I would be honoured to return the kindness you've shown me the 5 days 4 nights we invaded your house!

Black day in Bl@cksburg

From MSNBC: Worst U.S. shooting ever kills 33 on Va. campus

When I went to UIUC, the worst thing that I thought would happen to me would be I'd oversleep and miss a class.
Or fail a paper. Or forgot to do my homework. Or not have enough money for lunch.
The ugliest thing I saw was a blond girl driving the porcelain bus, squatting on the floor of the toilet, puking into the bowl, because she had had too much to drink.
The most violent thing I saw was someone hitting a squirrel at the Quad, perhaps coz it had run away with his sandwich.
The scariest moment in my life there was when a boy came into my room (drunk) and threatened to sit on my Quran.
Never ever did I fear that I would get hurt. Never did I fear I would get shot.

Something is terribly wrong.
People get angry all the time, but to be able to express that anger in such a violent degree, something is wrong somewhere.
It is becoming waaay too easy to kill someone these days.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims.



:@

Izani is One today!

I have updated his blog with his progress.
Go and visit him!

look out

... for us if you watch the B@hrain F1 on Sunday.

I'll prolly wear red with a colorful headscarf, and Izani will wear his pointy hat.

i hope kimi wins this one!!!

Edge Of The World

The weekend before we went to Qat@r to meet lollies, I joined Sunflora in a trip to a place called the Edge Of The World.

The Edge of the World is a point in the Tuwaiq Escarpment with breathtaking views of the plains below. The rocks of the escarpment form a window frame. It is possible to climb one of the jebels, but care must taken as there is a lot of loose rocks, and the sheer drop would be fatal, it has been reported that an expatriate actually fell off the edge and did not survive.

We drove to Riy@dh on the evening of the 4th of April, and spent the night at my friend Zura's house. Early the next morning we met up with Sunflora's family and 4 other cars (there were 8 families altogether) and drove off towards the north. We came to a small town which name escapes me. Outside the town we drove through a date plantation. The date trees resembled palm-oil trees so much that it reminded us of driving through a ladang felda in Malaysia, especially when we even saw a stall selling fresh vegetables on the roadside.



Several kilometres after the plantation we started going off-road, and entered what the locals call "Acacia Valley", because it had a lot of acacia trees. Being Mal@ysians, we couldn't resist stopping to take pictures. tee hee.
Just like the iris fields in Tum@yr, the acacia trees stretched for miles, but in a strip, surrounded by the desert and hills of rock. It is amazing to witness how fertile a desert can be, even if it is given the minimum amount of water.



The terrain started getting very rough from then on. The kids had fun going "aaaaaaaaa" and listening to their voices vibrate. Even Izani joined in. At some points we had to go up and down steep slopes, which made us thankful that we were in a 4by4. Even though the distance we covered wasn't very far, because we could not travel more than 40km/h, it took us almost an hour to reach the first site of the escarpment. But oh was the ride worth it!



The view from the edge was spectacular. It was probably not as deep as the grand canyon (I suppose, because I havent been to the grand canyon), but it was still deep enough to give me vertigo. We had to hold on to our hats because the winds were strong enough to blow them off our heads. In fact, Anis and Izani lost theirs several times, but thankfully they didnt fly off over the edge and we retrieved them quite easily.
Before going off to the second site, we decided to break for lunch. So we went off to look for a suitable spot among the acacia trees. We found one that was in what looked like a dry river bed, and we were not the first ones there. Apparently the Acacia Valley is quite a popular spot for picnics. I could understand coz it was very shady and the acacia trees were beautiful.
We laid out our picnic mats and took out our flasks of teh tarik, tupperwares of rendang, nasi lemak, sambal tumis udang, fried chicken and quails, roti canai, sandwiches, sausages, chocolate cake and balang of rusks. (No prizes for guessing which one was mine). The picnic was more like a gastronomical feast! (and a photo session). I got to know some of the other ladies besides Sunflora. There were 2 Kak Nors, Fiza, kak nora, kak zaitun and Annie, who was from Makkah and was in Riyadh visiting her brother.



After the picnic, we drove to the second site, which was similar, but this one had a hill that you could climb up for a more aerial view of the whole valley. I didnt climb up the hill because the rocks were kinda loose and I didnt want to risk slipping off it with Izani in my arms. So I hung around Ihsan and Anis, who started picking up and examining rocks. Ihsan showed me a rock that had weird looking spots on them and I was suprised to recognize them as corals. I asked Sunflora later and she confirmed that that area used to be underwater and she showed me a fossilized seashell that she found.
Masya-Allah!
We headed for home (Riy@dh) at about 1pm or so, and after telling Ilham about the fossil discovery, we made this riddle up:

What is the dinosaur found in Saudi?
A Rabianosaurus.

:D



As usual, I am still amazed at the things that we can find on this land when we dare to go a little bit off the beaten path.

---

After the Edge Of The World, we headed towards Jeni and Rizal's house, where She treated us with nasi ayam and her homemade keropok lekor and baked macaroni which Anis absolutely loved!
That night we just relaxed in Zura's house.
The next day Sunflora treated us for a steamboat lunch and then we headed to IKEA for some shopping. Tee hee!
We headed home on Saturday afternoon, after another round of shopping for souviners at Dira Souq. I would recommend Dira Souq to anybody visiting Riy@dh, but don't ask me for directions...

Nak lagi!!!! (i want more)

picture courtesy of Lolly Q

Suffice to say, I had a great time in D0ha, Q@tar. :)
More stories tomorrow. Now I have to unpack and buy groceries. Tomorrow is the first day of the 2nd term of school.
:@

Sarf African Rusks

Rusks are really hard bread/cake that is usually dunked into tea or coffee.
Kak F made this for us during one of our picnics and the kids loved it so much. It was crunchy and deliciously creamy. Kak F got the recipe from one of her friends who is from Sarf Efrica. (I immediately thot of bloo somehow. :) )

The recipe she gave me stated 'All purpose flour' but she asked me to look for amer1can or br1tish flour. Somehow ar@bic flour doesnt work too well with the recipe, she said. Not being able to find any Amer1can or br1tish flour, I decided to use wholewheat flour after googling for the same recipe and finding out that most of them used that. The result was a fibrous, chewy rusks that I found to be very very delicious.
I also modified her recipe a bit by adding sliced almonds ( heh heh me and my nuts!) and some vanilla for added yumminess. I also made a second batch, but this time with cocoa powder, to make chocolate rusks. Yum yum yummeh.
This recipe is actually quite easy peasy, but it takes a little bit of work and time at the end, so I decided not to put the 'easy peasy' prefix on them coz some people might find it easier to spend a few minutes driving tot he store and picking up a bag of rusks than making it themselves.

Sarf African Almond Rusks

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups wholewheat flour
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
0.5 cups sugar
0.5 sliced almonds
a pinch of salt

125grams cold butter
1 egg beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
250ml (1 cup) Labneh or sour cream

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Rub butter into the dry mix to form breadcrumbs.
Beat the vanilla into the eggs. Add eggs into the crumb mix bit by bit. Then add the Labneh/sour cream into the mix, a spoon at a time, making sure it is well mixed each time. Mix/Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl.
Turn dough into a 5" by 8" cake tray and press to form a uniform flat shape.
Bake in a preheated oven @350F for 45 minutes.
Take out and let cool, then cut into finger sized pieces.
Arrange on a flat cookie sheet (or line your oven wire rack with aluminum foil and arrange right on the rack). Set oven to the lowest heat possible and let fingers dry out overnight.

yummy dunky crunchiness

To make the chocolate rusks, I omitted almonds and added 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and used only 1 teaspoon vanilla. Next time I'll leave the almonds even with chocolate because it added an extra crunch to the rusks.
I used my hands to mix everything and erkkk it took quite some work. I'm sure it's easier if you have a good mixer.
Izani just loves these rusks too, and now that he's very adamant of eating on his own, I am seriously thinking of making a savoury rusk.. maybe cheese or chicken flavoured. Would be interesting , eh?
I'm gonna save up for a proper mixer, then!

---

In other news,
I will be travelling here and there starting tomorrow. Taufik has taken leave next week, so our holiday has officially started. We're going to riy@dh this evening, then we'll head for Q@tar on Sunday (Lolly Q, here I come!). I don't know if I will get a chance to blog in between.
In case I don't, See Ya!

p/s kak long, Anis tengok amerikan idol and cakap lakisha looks like Aiysha, cuma gemuk. I prodded further and she said she's got pretty eyes like aiysha. and kebetulan harini rambut dia pun straight macam aiysha.
:D

Clay Play

Yesterday it was raining and I wanted the kids to take a break from playing with the PS2, so I had to appease them in some way after hogging the TV to watch The Biggest Loser.

I had some flour that had some weevils in it, so I decided to put it into good use.
We decided to play with homemade clay.

To make homemade clay:
2 cups flour + 1 cup salt, mix thoroughly in a large bowl
rub in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Add 3/4 to 1 cup water bit by bit, till it reaches a clay like texture, i.e. it's not crumbly, it's pliable and it's not too soft.

We laid the picnic carpet by our sliding door and laid a plastic mat on that, and I gave the kids a chopping board each where they can shape their clay.



At first the kids made simple stuff: balls, flat discs , snakes and stuff. When I got Izani to take a nap, I got a chance to show them the 'possibilities'. I made a rose, then a starfish and an octopus. I helped Anis with a snail and she made another two of them (one daddy and a baby). She made a heart, a worm, another snake and i coiled it up for her. Ilham made 2 dinosaurs and spelled out his name. He also made a gingerbread man. Ihsan made a dead fish, a person and another coiled snake.



We layed them all out on a cookie sheet and put it into a 250 degrees farenhite oven and baked it for an hour.

Today we went to the art store and bought some acrylic paint and spent the afternoon outside in the backyard on our picnic carpet to paint the figures, till Izani woke up. (Notice that the rose in unfinished and the octupus and starfish are unpainted)



They're not really masterpieces, but what the heck, it got the kids occupied and out of my hair for several hours, so I'm happy. I told them that I'm gonna keep the nice ones in our display cabinets. They are so proud of themselves!

Ilham is brimming with ideas.. he wants to make his own chess set someday. I think that's a brilliant idea! :D

Easy Peasy Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Dedicated to nina and naim.

This is a variation of the Spaghetti Bodoh recipe I posted earlier.
Again, this recipe does not include any meat or veggies, you are free to add them if you like.

Easy peasy pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

250gram pasta (cooked per instructions, al-dente)
half a head of garlic (about 5 to 6 cloves, chopped roughly)
4-6 tablespoons of tomato paste
4-6 tablespoons of sugar
half a cup of stock (I used beef stock)
1/4 cup cream (I used whipping cream)
dried or fresh herbs (optional, I used dried basil and fresh parsley)
extra virgin olive oil
vege oil for sauteing

Saute garlic in abit of vegetable oil till fragrant and nutty. Add stock and dried herbs, bring to a boil. Add tomato paste and equal amount of sugar (or, to your taste), stir to mix, bring to a boil. Add cream, stir to mix then toss in the pasta. Toss till pasta absorbs the liquid.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of finely chopped fresh herbs.

Sorry, no pictures, Taufik brought the camera to work.
I made this with spaghetti coz that's what the kids wanted. But I've made this with macaroni before and it was equally edible.
You can turn this into a yummy bolognaise by browning the mince meat before adding the stock. You probably need to add more tomato paste, though.
Basil could be replaced with the ready mixed Italian herbs (Kat giant ada jual, McCormack), or just oregano, if you like. Parsley could be omitted, or replaced with mint, fresh basil, whatever you like, the herb police wont come to get you.
To cheat, you could replace the tomato paste + cream with a can of cream of tomato soup (and add more cream if you like).
If you want to add veggies, add it towards the end, before you add the cream. The cream needs to be added last so that it doesn't curdle.

bon apetit!

---

Hey what happened to zan and famygirl? Something going on in FSL?

Easy Peasy Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Dedicated to nina and naim.

This is a variation of the Spaghetti Bodoh recipe I posted earlier.
Again, this recipe does not include any meat or veggies, you are free to add them if you like.

Easy peasy pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

250gram pasta (cooked per instructions, al-dente)
half a head of garlic (about 5 to 6 cloves, chopped roughly)
4-6 tablespoons of tomato paste
4-6 tablespoons of sugar
half a cup of stock (I used beef stock)
1/4 cup cream (I used whipping cream)
dried or fresh herbs (optional, I used dried basil and fresh parsley)
extra virgin olive oil
vege oil for sauteing

Saute garlic in abit of vegetable oil till fragrant and nutty. Add stock and dried herbs, bring to a boil. Add tomato paste and equal amount of sugar (or, to your taste), stir to mix, bring to a boil. Add cream, stir to mix then toss in the pasta. Toss till pasta absorbs the liquid.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of finely chopped fresh herbs.

Sorry, no pictures, Taufik brought the camera to work.
I made this with spaghetti coz that's what the kids wanted. But I've made this with macaroni before and it was equally edible.
You can turn this into a yummy bolognaise by browning the mince meat before adding the stock. You probably need to add more tomato paste, though.
Basil could be replaced with the ready mixed Italian herbs (Kat giant ada jual, McCormack), or just oregano, if you like. Parsley could be omitted, or replaced with mint, fresh basil, whatever you like, the herb police wont come to get you.
To cheat, you could replace the tomato paste + cream with a can of cream of tomato soup (and add more cream if you like).
If you want to add veggies, add it towards the end, before you add the cream. The cream needs to be added last so that it doesn't curdle.

bon apetit!

---

Hey what happened to zan and famygirl? Something going on in FSL?