Interesting Iftar

First, let me explain to you why I did not post the picture of my raspberry cheesecake:

1. There was no raspberry cheesecake. I thought I had bought raspberry topping, but it turned out to be strawberries in syrup (Note: Never shop while you're hungry, coz the lack of glucose affects your eyesight and brain capacity). There is nothing uglier than un-fresh stawrberries. It tasted okay though.
2. I had procrastinated so much (I played Sudoku!! *hangs head in shame* I think I have a problem. Dr. Phil help me), that I was late in baking the cheesecake. By the time the cake had cooled down sufficiently for me to slap on the whipped cream and arrange the strawberries on top, it was time to leave for my friend's house. I did not get a chance to take any pictures before it was all cut up and eaten.

So there you have it. No raspberry cheesecake pictures.

Yesterday we got an invitation for iftar with the folks at Sm1th at Le Meridian Hotel (again). Taufik had wanted to go to the Holiday Inn this year, and I was excited about it coz from the outside it looked like they erected traditional bedouin tents or something (or maybe it's just the entrance? *shrug*), but then Holiday Inn couldn't accommodate the whole office+families, so they bought tickets for Meridian instead.
Food was okay, same like last year. I ate lotsa salmon (so did Izani). I had these yummeh grilled eggplants, and a stuffed eggplant baked in tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella. I so want to eat that again, but i'm afraid if I make it myself, no one else would eat it, coz no one else in my house likes eggplants. Maybe I should try to make it at the next gathering, whenever that may be.

Just like last year, they had a lucky draw at the end of the evening. Last year we didn't win anything, so we weren't that hopeful this year. The prizes were mostly crap anyways (electrical items, lotions from a neighbouring spa), except for the final grand prize, which was one return ticket to Abu Dhabi. That never stopped the kids from being excited about the possibility of winning something though. Ihsan and Anis eagerly held on to their tickets and checked their numbers every time. Ihsan kept asking me, "if I win, I can go up there and take my present?" and I would exasperatingly answer "Yes....".

So we were listening to the guy announcing the winning numbers, and he said "Four, Wahid, Two, Sifar", but the mixture of english and arabic numbers confused us and I thought it was 4127. We waited for the announcement again but somehow the guy went on and on about the rules and regulations for entering the lucky draw for a car pulak dah. At taufik's table, one guy had 4119, the other had 4121 so taufik thought, "the winning ticket must be among us". I asked him what the winning ticket was and he said "4120".
I asked Ihsan what his ticket number was and he said "4120!".
"4120! You won, Ihsan!" I said excitedly.
"I won? So I can go?" , he was equally excited and unsure at the same time.
"You won! Go!" I urged him, coz they were about to pull another number.

You should've seen the way he skipped to the stage and take his prize. It was just a small portable cassette recorder FM/AM radio thingy, but he held it like it was gold. He brought it around everywhere he went. He only put it down when he went to get more dessert (He said my cheesecake was better than the hotel's cheesecake. *wink* such a charmer), and even then he asked me several times, to seriously, look after his radio.

We went home and tried it out. Ihsan was so happy as he danced to Sultans of Swing in the living room.
We pointed out to him that maybe this is Allah's way of rewarding him for fasting for 15 days straight.

"What's a 'cassette'?" he asked me. :D

*rolls eyes*
I feel old.