Tuesday, September 16, 2008

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.

13 comments:

  1. tu belum vinyl lagi kan? baru cassette!

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  2. bebudak ni think vinyls are only used as a hand fan during blackouts. *lol*

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  3. takpelah.. yang penting the cheesecake sedap.. who cares about the toppings :)

    budak2, bila dapat gift, memang excited habis. tak kiralah how much it cost kan.
    Tapi yang tak tahan tu bila dia tanya cassete tu apa? hehee.. rasanya kalau Sophea and Coan pun, sure akan ask the same question. hehee..

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  4. tu baru sebut "cassette".

    cuba sebut "cartridge" kat dia (yang besar gila tu), lagi menganga. haha

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  5. i wonder what you meant by ugly-looking un-fresh strawberries.

    sure happy ihsan tu. was that the first ever lucky draw/ contest that he won?

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  6. congrats ihsan...
    hmm... boleh bagi recipe cheesecake? hahaha bila ntah nak buatnya... :-D

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  7. "Sultan of Swings" eh? Looks like Ihsan might share my taste in music.
    Big hugs.

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  8. neeza,
    Tapi memang buruk lah topping dia :P

    Alin,
    tu lah I terus cerita kat dia pasal the 8-track catridge yang besar bagak tu. Dia tak percaya!

    mosh,
    strawberries, bila dah dalam sirap or frozen, jadi all mushy and dark, so dah tak cantek.
    Hm.. i think this *was* the first time he won a lucky draw.. :)

    najlah,
    Click on 'culinaryJam' and scroll lah sampai jumpa 'blueberry cheesecake' :) selamat mencuba!

    Papa,
    We were using the tuner to find a non-arabic radio station and found the classic rock one. I think this was the first time he heard the song :)

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  10. is this the no-bake cheesecake? sayang takde gambar but nasib baik jgk..otherwise terseksa nengok delectable temptations masa tengah puasa hahaha.

    wow can't believe cassettes are out of date oreddy. i still use 'em! i'm a dinosaur.

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  11. hmm cheesecake. Havent had any this ramadhan!

    Kids can make the simplest things so fun! :)

    Selamat hari raya!

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  12. Anonymous9:54 AM

    I lurve stuffed eggplants. Recently had some at Al-Diafah in Sri Petaling (www.aldiafah.com.my). There were also stuffed capsicum and stuffed okra. Ohhh.. sedappnye, but the company we were with were not to keen on Middle eastern fare. But what the hey, I was in heaven. Bukan selalu dpt makan hummus, etc.

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  13. Anonymous6:16 PM

    I felt the same way when my son found my old albums and asked what they were. Can you imagine what they would think of 8-tracks??!
    I hate to break it to you honey, but we are old :P

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