Ramblings of a Mami of Two

SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER AT THE PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE AT MERDEKA STADIUM, KUALA LUMPUR ON 31ST AUGUST,  1957  Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies, People of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.   I am indeed proud that on this, the greatest day in Malaya's history it falls to my lot to proclaim the formal independence of this country. Today as new page is turned, and Malaya steps forward to take her rightful place as a free and independent partner in the great community of Nations-a new nation is born and though we fully realise that difficulties and problems lie ahead, we are confident that, with the blessing of God, these difficulties will be overcome and that today's events, down the avenues of history, will be our inspiration and our guide. It is therefore with a feeling of particular solemnity that we have listened to the eloquent words of His Royal Highness and in particular t...

In my last entry I told you that I like personalised stuff, stuff that tells stories. Charm bracelets do exactly that. They tell stories that only the owners can tell.  Earlier last year I stumbled upon Pandora & Thomas Sabo, and I fell in love with both ever since. I imagine each charm to represent something special in my life. They will look like ordinary charms to you but to me, they are more than just charms. They are stories. The reason I did not get them was because they are too expensive. Tooo expensive for a cheapskate like me. Fortunately, dear husband tau perangai aku and gave me one for my 29th birthday. I was happy. He gave me the "starter kit"; the bracelet, 2 spacers and 1 charm. Dia kata, the rest isi sendiri.  Baiklah! Sebelum cari my charms, I must first set the criteria: Since ada 3 column (2 spacers), my charms must fall in either one of these three categories: family, for family stories. One for each family member, signi...

I have always been a very sentimental person. I don't show my emotions on a daily basis but seriously, I am sentimental, to the point that it gets mental sometimes.  I adore scrapbooks - I keep things that may seem meaningless to others but tells  a thousand stories for me - I keep movie stubs for most of the movies I'd watched with Ach in RPI, I still have a piece of a Fall leaf from Prospect Park, when Ach and I did nothing but baring-baring on the grass, back in Fall 2004. I still have that piece of  receipt on which  Ach wrote "New York Spring 2003".  I am a sucker for personalised, handmade cards and craft projects - they show how much you care about someone, well enough to spend some time designing the cards. Bila ada celebrations coming up, I would be busy thinking what kind of card am I going to make. Beaded? Quilled? Felt? What design? What is the celebration? What does he like? What do I want to tell in the cards? I'll incorporate all of th...

In my last entry, I wrote about how my raya is defined by three days - the day before 1st Raya, 1st Raya, and 2nd Raya. Day before Raya because of the cooking, 1st Raya because of the emotional salam session and 2nd raya because of the Annual Idris Clan Gathering.  Selit sikit with the compulsory tidur petang on the first Raya.  So when I celebrated my first Raya away from Mak, it kinda, redefined the meaning of Raya to me. Everything that I had experienced about raya all these while was totally different that what I experienced on the Raya of 2008. Which, I still remember second by second until today. Not that it's a bad thing though. You see, my MIL is a super efficient lady who can get all the raya cooking done on the morning of 1st Raya itself. The first time, I remember I kept asking my husband, "Bila mak awak nak start masak rendang ni?" And I was very surprised when he said, "Esok pagi kot". True enough, when I woke up on 1st Raya ( whic...

Raya is only two days away, and I can't wait to go home and eat mak's raya food. It's Gombak's turn this year, babeh! Somehow, at 29 years old,  as much as I want to be excited about raya, even the hippiest raya song of all fails to get me hyped up about raya. As hyped up as I used to be kecik kecik dulu. Haih, age does wonders you know. Anyhoo, I still love raya. The food, the family gaths, the salam-salam peluk-peluk (probably the only time in the year when I would peluk-peluk my siblings). Based on my conversations with colleagues and friends, raya in KL is unlike raya in kampungs. Ours is... short. But meriah nevertheless. Here is my raya routine for 24 years (tolak 3 raya in the States and 3 yrs raya in Johor): A day before raya: Masak rendang Masak kuah kacang Masak nasi impit Kemas rumah, tukar all stuff that can be tukare-d Malam raya When abah was still around, I would help mak prepare tapai for that night's takbir guests. Where I live...

I am hungry. I have three more days to go, have only skipped one day so far. Bravo 2.0! Anyways, as the tradition goes for women during buka puasa, by 1.00 pm masing2 dah terfikir nak masak apa for buka.  Today i'm cooking nasi goreng sadin. Because I want to eat sambal sadin. I think my sambal sadin is the bomb. Sadin + piping hot rice + telur goreng + kicap. I am in sadin heaven. Here, since aku lapar, lemme share my sambal sadin recipe with you, with the hopes that my laparness will go away: Sambal Sadin Mak Hanisah Ingredients: 1 tin sadin Bawang besar (potong bulat) Bawang putih (chopped) Cili kering (blended) Kicap manis Tomato sauce Potatoes (wedged and fried) Method: 1. Fry all sardin. Remove from kuali. 2. Tumis bawang, bila layu masukkan cili, goreng sampai garing.  3. Masukkan kicap (dalam 1 tbsp) and tomato sauce (1 tbsp), goreng lagi.  4. Masukkan sadin + potatoes.  5. Serve hot.   Awesome ...

Ayah, kenapa moon tu boleh terbang terbang sana, situ, sana, sini? Taklah, moon tu besar. Dia tak terbang-terbang. Dia stay je situ. Kalau kita pergi mana mana pun dia ada je. Tadi dia dekat rumah. Sekarang dia ikut kita? *Note: we're Travelling in the car

As usual. Of all the things I want, there will be 1 that is totally unattainable.  Chilli Fries Nasi lemak bungkus daun pisang Lepat pisang mak Soda bandung Kuetiau goreng sogo Kuetiau goreng mak buat Nasi ambeng Gulai labu mak masak Baskin Robbin's mango smoothie Chicken biryani level 7 Shalimar , TROY, NEW YORK Chicken vindaloo Shalimar. And shalimar only.  Source Shalimar Troy Ha, amik kau. Mana nak cari chicken biryani Shalimar??? Omar Khayam tak mau. Tak sama.Tak samaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  Sekian, terima kasih.