One Day After School...

Big H came back home from school one day and straight away sat on our blue futon...immediately, I saw that he was inexpertly trying to hide something behind his back..

Mama: What's that you have there?

Big H: Nothing.

Mama: Tsk...I can see that you're hiding something there....what is it?

Big H: It's nothing! (Sounding a little desperate..)

I looked at him...Ish budak ni...macam ada bawak something really 'wrong'...like drugs...or a porn mag...or something illegal??? But I shook my head to clear these crazy thoughts..for god's sake he's only 7!!

Big H: (Showing his empty hands to me confidently..) See...nothing!

And that's when I saw the small, glittering pink card hidden just underneath his jacket...

Mama: (Grabbing the little card..) Aha! What's this?




Big H: No..!!!! I don't want to go! (Really looking desperate now..)

Mama: Huh?? Oh..It's an invitation to a birthday party...pergilah. (I know the girl and the parents - nice people...)

Big H: But I don't want to! (Really adamant, really serious..)

Mama: Huh? Apasal pulak...Why don't you want to go?

Big H: Because...because..it's a girl's birthday party.

Mama: La....apa salahnya...doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy having a birthday party. If we get an invite to one we should try to go unless we really can't, you know? What if it was your birthday party and all the people you invited didn't want to come?

Big H: But..but..

Mama: But what?? (Getting impatient...)

Big H: But I'm the only boy invited!!

Mama: Ohh....

La...malu rupanya...he he he he

But it turned out that he had madrasah to go to anyway that particular evening so I went to see the girl's parents to give my apologies for not being able to send him to the party...

My little boy has 'grown'...he really has.

Aidil Adha 2008

It's been a long time since I've been to a masjid for solat jemaah.

Even for sembahyang raya.

It's either Little H was not ready.

Or Mr S wanted to be quick because he had to go to work straight after - so the kids couldn't go, therefore I couldn't.

Or we were all late, what with all the prep done the night before - which is a real shame...

But these are not excuses for me to skip the whole thing...I will always just do it at home if I couldn't make it to the masjid...

But that's not the same is it?



Anyway, this raya had been different.

Well, Mr S still didn't get any leave because too many people in his office were off already for some exams...but at least he got a few hours off in the morning for prayers.

And because I didn't prepare anything at all for raya this time - didn't bother because we had two invites that evening and even the day before and Mr S would be working the whole day anyway - I was well refreshed in the morning and was quite determined to go.

Yup...it's been so long that the beautiful voice of the imam reciting the verses made me cry.

It was good.

And I felt good.

There was no takbir raya before or after the solat. Just a quick explanation of the solat before we started and the peaceful sermon afterwards in which the imam encouraged us to recite the takbir as much as we can for three whole days..But I thought it was a really good sermon. It wasn't too long and it was clear and concise - about peace and humility.

I realised then that I'm parched for this kind of thing. I mean, really...I've not been to a majlis ilmu for a long, long time. Mr S is lucky as he gets his dosage from the Jumaat prayers.

So I'm thinking maybe I should just go to the mosque on Fridays...I mean, the kids will be at school, the mosque is a mere 10 minutes walk away...and I see women go there on Fridays all the time...

I'm just thinking...maybe I should.

But anyway, after the prayers Mr S went to work and I went straight to the kitchen - I had an order for some lopis and kasui for that evening and I wanted to bake a cake to bring to my friends' later after Mr S comes home - which was at about half six later in the evening and only then, we finally 'celebrated' raya haji this year with food and friends.

That's all.

But it was a good Aidil Adha to me nevertheless.

Don't Like The Cold

It's cold.

Yesterday it was hailing and during the weekend there was some snow. In between, there was rain, rain and rain and add the freezing wind to that equation....

That is why I only go out when I send and pick the kids from school and the madrasah.

Talking about the cold, I have a friend who I have always tried to persuade to come and work in the UK but he had always refused with the same reason...

Tak tahan, he said. The winter is too cold. The weather is so gloomy and depressing and you get so lonely that you just want to crawl under that duvet and let the tears come until you fall asleep..before you have to haul yourself up to go to work again and go through the whole thing again tomorrow.He's tried it before you see, and you can offer him any kind of money - he would still say no.

Money can only get you so much happiness but when the loneliness and depression hits...

He's a single guy so I guess I can understand how lonely it can get here when it's winter - when you don't really fancy going to the pubs with the mat saleh, when all you wanna do is to go home but there's no one to go home to..

Hey, the weather can really pull you down here.

Anyway, this cold season, I have an extra grief on my shoulders..or should I say, on my fingers.

The joints on my fingers throb. They feel cold to the touch and some parts feel like they are swelling a bit although truthfully I don't really see any increase in their various sizes. My mother had arthritis or something of that nature when she was in her 40s so I can say that this thing is in our family's genetic make up.

I guess.

Mr S said it's because of the iced drinks I failed to resist just the week before the throbbing came. As I really don't drink ice that much and the previous few weeks I have been trying to finish the bag of ice cubes in my fridge, I'm inclined to believe him.

So I'm not touching ice in the cold season ever again.

It started long before the piano came, mind. I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to play after all and it would just be one of those ironic episodes in my life - I save to buy a piano which fate suddenly rendered me unable to play.

Wouldn't that be just hilarious?

But alhamdulillah, it hasn't been so. Everyday now I take primrose oil, calcium and glucosamine sulphate - supplements, I have been told that can help me with my problem - but I need istiqamah, said my mum, to make it work.

And so far, thank god, so good. With my family history though, I don't think I should ever stop taking these pills. Ever.

Still, I am thankful to Allah that it is under control at the mo and even when I do feel the throbbing, I thank Him for small mercies.

Thinking about what my mother went through - believe me, it really could be worse.

Work Station Tag

A long over due tag...I think I probably have a few more somewhere that I should be doing but I couldn't find the details/links to them. Have never been a fan of tags but you know..it's one of those things you have to do now and again when you're a blogger....and the last time I checked, I was supposed to be one...he he he.

The pic below is the tag - and I've included the rules as well (as you should do if you're doing this tag). As you can see, I have purposely not used the flash to take this pic...for fear that you might see the thick layer of dust covering my monitor, that is...(due to neglect after the piano arrived..;))

As much as I am curious to see the place where my fellow bloggers out there pour their hearts out on their little laptop/pc...I will refrain from tagging anyone...feel free to show off your work stations by doing this tag if you wanna....


| @LiYaNNuaR | azza |suzi | aniza | halwafy

Rules:

* snap work station anda
* then... taruk link blog anda kat bawah gambar work station anda...
* iaitu bersebelahan dengan link-link blog yang ada..
* tengok contoh yang dibuat nih...
* begitulah seterusnya sampai bila-bila, ok...
* sekiranya tag ini berkembang... pasti akan ada banyak link-link di bawahnya...
* kalau tak... terencat la dia... ha ha ha...lastly...
* tolong pass tag ini pada tujuh (7) blogger lain...pass la pada siapa-siapa..

Sorry I've Not Been Updating But...

Trust me, I had my reasons...

But I'm touched that so many people were wondering where I went...it felt like I am (or at least my blog is) appreciated..he he he.

Anyway, here's some news..

Last Thursday 2 huge boxes arrived..

In them were items that were assembled by Mr S to make this...for me!
(A Yamaha Clavinova CLP 320)

Used the money saved from my little catering business to purchase my very own, brand new digital piano!

Yes, I play the piano...have always played but haven't played for a while - for 17 years, to be exact! But now I think it's time for this old love affair of mine to resume again.

Am a bit rusty, to be sure, but am loving every minute of polishing up again!

It really feels good to run my fingers across a piano once again...love it!

And Little H also enjoyed himself with the new arrival - by playing 'homeless boy' on the flattened boxes...he he.

The kids will now be taught by their mum to play the piano.


They've already had their first few introductory lessons using the same book I used when I first started playing when I was 8 years old. They seem to be enjoying it...


Just for pic's sake : the boys in their identical winter jackets sitting in a tube station...;)

Thank you Mr S for helping me to get the piano and in helping me to choose the best one for the money I had...love you!

Making Friends

Making friends is a skill kids learn at a very young age.

So as adults, we should be really good at it since we have had years of practice.

Agreed?

After all, after only 3 years of doing my own cooking and my own baking, I am getting pretty good and more importantly, pretty confident at producing edible stuff from my
kitchen. So surely at the age of 30+ I should be a master of 'friendship building' and a specialist in 'the art of making friends'?

No, not at all.

It's not the same when it comes to making friends, is it?

Back at home, where one is surrounded by people who speak one's language, practice the same religion and tradition and when one goes to work - surrounded by perhaps, people of the same level of education and skill, one might find it easier to make friends...

...as compared to here, where one is surrounded by people who doesn't speak one's language, doesn't REALLY practice the same religion and definitely not the same tradition and when one goes to work - surrounded by perhaps, people of the same level of education and skill, but have a different way of doing things, a different way of thinking and definitely different ideals.

Thus, the reason why, over here, one looks for people from one's own country and one's own religion and culture to make friends with.

Most of the time.

Anyway, I do it so that I can cakap Melayu. Bosan la asyik kena cakap omputih je ni..Dengan anak kena cakap omputih, keluar rumah cakap omputih, TV cakap omputih. Internet cakap omputih. Bloody fed up with cakap omputih ni.

I know I can write pretty well in the language but when it comes to speaking it...I tend to be a little bit formal.....I think. And that's no good when you're trying to make friends.

Mr S and I have been trying to increase our circle of Malaysian friends lately. We have a group of people that we're good friends with but we realised a long time ago that we weren't happy to be close to just a few people. We want to have lots of friends and know a variety of people and we want to socialise a lot. What we don't want to do is to belong to a little 'clique'.

The problem is, Mr S and I are both pretty shy and reserved people. I know, Mr S can be clearly seen as a 'shy-guy' but one would never guess that I am the shy type as well. Suffice to say, we have not learnt a lot about making friends at all, all this time.

But both Mr S and I have been 'forcing' ourselves to come out of our shells and honestly, it's been a learning experience.

In the pursuit of new friendships these last few months, we have met quite a few people. We have tried to open up and be friendly - paste a smile on our faces, ask polite questions, try to make conversations - even invited them to our home. Some of the things that we had to do weren't easy for us but we tried.

And it has been good.

It's funny though, how some people just don't want to make friends.

Not many, just a few people we met. These are the types of people, when you meet them at gatherings, they don't put on a friendly face, they don't ask questions about you i.e. they don't show any interest to know you..they just want to talk to their own circle of friends and can't even be bothered to maniskan muka at you. Some people are just satisfied with their own group of friends, I guess...

But I find it funny lah...

After all kitakan sama-sama duduk di perantauan...ramah2 kan lah mulut and manis-maniskan lah muka tu....It's not such a huge community, after all.

Tak paham sungguh. Tapi..entah2 depa pun malu kot....tak tau lah...

But still, it has been good. I don't know what was the perception of people about me but what's important is that I tried and I quite enjoyed myself.

All I wanna say for now is, bring on more people! I want to improve my lousy friendship making skills...

He he he..pathetic.

Raya has been good

Yup.

Although on the first day of raya - we celebrated raya on Tuesday - Mr S had to go to work as it was his last day in the office.

That's right. Mr S has moved to another company - into the industry, so to speak. But already he's complaining about his new job - boring, he said.

Men.

I myself would never complain if my work was repetitive or unexciting, IF my salary and perks were good. But not Mr S. That's the reason he ended working in the UK in the first place.

Anyway, thank God some friends came for raya while Mr S was at the office and some friends invited us over too and we went beraya as soon as Mr S came back from work - with lots of stuff and cards from his office mates - so it was a 'raya' for us nonetheless, alhamdulillah.

I made 5 types of kuih raya and friends from Malaysia gave 4 other types so we had plenty of kuih raya to go around and so I thought I really should invite lots of friends around this raya.

Plus, we had a sort of house re-decorating period during Ramadhan.

Suddenly I felt so desperate to make the house feel like a home instead of just a roof above our heads. Somehow I was contented all this while simply to leave the house as it is - alah..this is not our own place and we wont be staying here for long pun.. was the attitude.

Not anymore.

I was tired of living in a 'rumah sewa' environment. I reached the point where I felt that I didn't belong anywhere - not back in Malaysia and not in my own home. So we made some changes. Bought some furniture. Put up new curtains. Bought frames and hung up some pictures and a large mirror. Some plants and fresh flowers to spruce up the place a bit. Even dug very, very deep and dragged out what little talent I had for art and painting and produced some 'artwork' to be hung on my walls...ho ho ho. Couldn't find anything that we really, really like at the shops for the price that we liked so decided to just paint my own!

I married a generous man. To him, we were fine the way we were but still he acquiesced to my demands. Of course, it was his bank account that had to bear all these expenditures. And he was the one who helped me to hang the curtains, the pictures, the mirror etc etc Thank you Mr S - again! Love you!

So since the house was looking it's best ever since we moved in and we had plenty of kuih raya - we decided to invite friends over - not just the usual suspects but almost everyone we know on this side of London. I cooked loads of food and we had guests over from the early afternoon till about 1 am in the morning. I was tired for days after but it was worth it.

Just some pics for the people back at home...

Pagi raya

Budak-budak datang main Wii on hari raya

Just to show the pics we hung on the wall

And here's the result of 3 nights with paints and brushes - not great but I'm happy about them!

The kuih table during our 'open house' - the main dishes were served in the kitchen as usual!

Some of our guests...

Selamat Hari Raya

Sticky Buns

Tried this today. I absolutely recommend it! Yum!




Ingredients

• 1-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 eggs
• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)
  
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 
  
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts, as always!)

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add buttermilk, egg, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup white sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend 30 seconds with mixer on low speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed.
2. Stir in remaining 1-1/4 cups flour. Dough should remain soft and slightly sticky. Knead for 5 minutes, on a lightly floured board.
3. Form dough into a round and place it in an oiled bowl. Cover it with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place to rise until doubled.
4. Roll dough into a 12x7 inch rectangle. Spread with 1 tablespoon soft margarine, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Roll up, beginning at wide side. Seal well by pinching the seams. Cut roll into 12 slices.
5. Coat a 9 inch round cake pan with 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup chopped pecans/walnuts in each pan. Place 12 dough slices in each pan, leaving a small space between slices. Let rise until doubled.
6. Bake in a preheated 190 degrees C oven for about 25 minutes. Invert pan onto serving plate.

Summer Holidays 2008

As I reported in the previous entry, there was nothing 'summery' about the summer this year in the UK.

I think we had at most about 5 good days. The rest were just rain and clouds.

But Mr S and I managed to take the kids out and about, thank god. Mr S took 2 weeks off, the first week was spent around the south of England, the 2nd week around London and in the Midlands.

Below are some pics taken from our trip to the south.

First though, we went apple picking and strawberry picking at the farm in Esher.

We actually stopped here to see some old friends on our way to Brighton. Thus, we didn't do much fruit picking as we were travelling and all - I was just excited because there were apple trees here - the farm where we normally go to in Epping doesn't have apple trees.

Somehow the apples on the trees were mostly green..

..as most of the red ones have fallen onto the ground.

The strawberries on this farm were planted on the ground and the field where they planted them was huge. We didn't actually put much enthusiasm in the picking and just picked the ones nearby but I saw some people who went to pick at the far end of the field come back with really huge and juicy looking strawberries..we just picked about half a small basket - for tasting.

After going for lunch at our friend's place and meeting some other friends (some ex school mates) there, we went straight down to Brighton. It was only a 1 hour drive from Kingston where my friend's place was. We went straight to our hotel and had our dinner there and rested for the night - ready to go out and explore Brighton the next day.

Surprise, surprise it rained the next morning but it cleared up by about 10am and so we headed straight to the beach and pier.

Brighton's pebble beach

Fish and chips on the pier

Just a quick click of the camera when the sun came out from behind the clouds.

Also went to visit the Sealife Centre..apparently the oldest aquarium in the world (so u can imagine the condition of it!)

After 2 nights at Brighton, we headed for the Isle Of Wight.

Had to take a 50 minute ferry ride from Southampton to the island.

Went to visit an old windmill on the island. The mill man (a mat saleh) was born in Melaka and used to go to school at SFI in Bandar Hilir. We spent some time melayan him reminisce about his good old times in Melaka.

The day was cold and very windy so the kids just played for a bit at Sandown beach.

The next day, took the chairlift down to the beach on the west end of the island to visit a geographical feature - some broken cliffs nicknamed 'The Needles'.

Down at the beach.
You can see behind the boys where the chairlift ride ends.


The boat ride we took to see The Needles at closer range. It was pretty cool, I thought.

The boys on the boat - behind them is part of 'The Needles' and also the lighthouse to warn off ships at the end of the jutting rocks.

The boys 'picked up' golf there too! :)

The view from the top of the cliffs.

After that, since the weather was really very good, we took the boys to the beach as that was what they wanted to do all along.. This time we went to Shanklin beach.

Spent 3 days on the island.
We then took the ferry back to Southampton and on the way...

..our ferry passed by the QE2.
It was really a lovely sight and a really cool ending to our IOW trip, I thought...
(I've always loved ships!)

Hey, I'm happy lah...

(Warning: Below are my ramblings. Read to your own peril!)

This Ramadhan has been pretty tiring.

What with school just starting again, and sahur at 3.30am, and not being able to sleep any earlier than midnight. Not to mention berbuka at nearly 8pm at the beginning oh Ramadhan - what a big change from those 4pm iftars during my undergraduate days!

I think perhaps it's time for me to move down under now - they're having a grand time now that they're going to be having winter Ramadhans for quite some time..

But I have so many things to be thankful for too...

I just returned from an iftar gathering at a friend's place actually - these few months have been blessed really because I've made some new friends...yes, somehow we have made connection with some other Malaysians here in London as opposed to the usual suspects and I admit, I am glad.

And Mr S have been kind enough to layan me by buying a few stuff for me from Ikea and I am happy to say that my house now feels more like a home.

And we had such a wonderful summer holiday too. Well, the weather was 1 more thing for me to complain about but we went away for 1 week and a bit and alhamdulillah it was wonderful.

We went to visit some old school friends of mine - in Kingston and in Southampton and another friend from my 'pre-departure course' days in Fareham.

We went to Brighton - stayed over for 2 nights.

We went to the Isle of Wight - also stayed over for 2 nights.

Went to Stoke-on-Trent to buy some china - stayed over at Birmingham for 1 night just to take it easy on that particular journey.

It has been lovely.

Alhamdulillah.

And I am ever so thankful of course to Mr S who made it all possible.

Little H has started full time schooling (reception class) since last week and he has been truly amazing too. He settled in without any problems and in fact, on the first day, after a few minutes of 'helping' him to settle down, I was assured by Little H saying;

"Ok Mama, G-O-O!"

Oh how proud I am of my little boy, even though he still needs some help with his spelling...

And Big H has started his Year 3 and already getting pencil gifts from his teacher for getting the right amount of 'ticks' on his class' Tick Chart.

He is settling down nicely too...alhamdulillah.

And so I walk back home alone from sending the kids to school one day, happy and ready for some me time at home doing the things that I love - i.e. a long hot shower, reading and sitting in front of the computer - when I saw a group of mums - some people that I am acquainted with - standing together chatting.

So I stopped for a bit just to give them my salam and to ask how everyone's doing..

"..So you're free now and you can do what you like?".."

"Yes.." I answered.

"..I'm going to take up Reflexology..yeah..that's what I'm going to do.."
"..I think I'm going to take up a degree.."
"..I'm planning to find some work.."

"What about YOU??"

"Huh...?? Umm..I haven't really thought about it yet. Hahaha."

And I made my excuses but it was too late - the question spoiled my morning and certainly spoiled my peace of mind.

I regret stopping to talk to those women...

Nosy little ******s.

Kuih Cara Manis

Just wanted to share with you this recipe that I tried yesterday.

Cantik pulak gambar guna my Sony this time..

It's an easy recipe for kuih cara manis.

The recipe instructed to 'blend' the batter but I simply whisked it manually till my arm (nearly) came off. After all, orang dulu-dulu didn't need no blender, ye tak?

The kuih turned out really nice, if I may say so myself. Saying that, Big H didn't like it much, although Little H kept returning back to the kitchen for more and more.. :)

You need to get the moulds to make this one, of course. I think you can get these moulds easily back in Malaysia if you look for them. You can also, of course, use the mould to make bahulu or kuih cara berlauk as well so rest assured your investment in such a mould would be worthwhile...he he he..

They're cheap anyway.

Righty-ho..let's get down to the recipe!

2 cups flour
3.5 cups santan (coconut milk)
1 egg
Some pandan juice..or just the paste - you can easily get this anywhere.
salt

sugar
oil

Blend the top 5 ingredients all together. Mixture will be thick-ish. Sieve into another bowl or a measuring cup (easier to pour later). Oil the mould and heat it up - once hot, make sure to turn the fire down and keep it low. Pour batter into each mould and then sprinkle or spoon some sugar onto each one. Cover. It will be ready in a few minutes, when the middle is fairly dry and you can see that the sides have browned a bit. Use a spoon to scoop it out gently. Stick two together to make green eggs...or so my son called them..

Told you it's easy!

Try it! InshaAllah you wont regret it.

First Day Of Ramadhan

Big H wants to try fasting this year.

He woke up for sahur and had cereal with milk and some cake and fasted the whole day and also solat 5 waktu (normally he will miss subuh and isya' because the former is too early here at this time of the year and the latter too late).

He was pretty energetic the whole day up to about 5pm and he fell asleep by 7pm in front of the TV after mama promised some blueberry cheesecake at berbuka time.

He broke his fast with the cheesecake and then went on to eat (not a lot of) his dinner of nasi, sup daging, sambal telur and sayur campur..

He looked tired and went to sleep straightaway after isya'.

I told him not to fast today and he agreed after experiencing the tiredness yesterday..although earlier yesterday he was determined to not miss a single day!

I think for now, alternate days is best.

Tak sampai hati tengok dia.

Big H fell asleep at about 7pm...50 minutes to go before berbuka....

The boys' Autumn Term will start tomorrow thus am hoping that I will have more time for more blogging then...

Thank You Mrs V

Big H and his class teacher, Mrs V

Big H did very well in his Year 2 SATs exams (top in class) and it was due to his teacher who understood his needs and his perangai.

1 good thing about going to school here, the teachers are always aware of the kids' behaviours and characters and problems therein and will discuss with the parents about this and also will inform the next class teacher of what is required for each child (e.g. extra attention, extra encouragement..etc.).

Big H can be a little funny in his behaviour, I tell you that - no doubt he is an intelligent boy but being just pandai belajar is not good enough in life.

Big H was categorised as requiring 'special attention' when he first came to Mrs V's class, 2 years ago, just because he didn't know how to make friends and doesn't really speak in class.

The problem with Big H is that he thinks too fast and doesn't know how to articulate his flurry of thoughts. He used to get very upset when we couldn't understand what he wanted to say and on top of that is also very sensitive to everything you say to him.

But Mrs V handled his behaviour very well.

Throughout the 2 years that she taught him, I could see improvements in Big H's speech and behaviour and I am so very glad that Mrs V didn't just discard Big H as 'beyond help' or simply as a child with 'problems' or even worse, to categorise Big H's behaviour as 'just normal for his age'.

Instead, she always gave me encouragement and gave me suggestions on how to 'handle' Big H at home. She was always very helpful and at the same time her suggestions also comforted me too.

To show my appreciation to Mrs V, I will always go to help her in class (parent volunteer) on Thursdays and on the last day of school, I made some carrot cupcakes for her - couldn't show enough gratitude to her! She won't be teaching Big H next term as she will be staying to teach next terms' Year 2 children so I'm a little worried about how the new teacher, a 'Mrs H' will be handling Big H and how Big will take to her.

Mrs V said she will sit down and have a chat with Mrs H about all the students so, 'don't worry' - but I'm still feeling a bit anxious.

Have to wait and see and pray for the best.

The cupcakes for Mrs V

Cupcakes

Ok..here are my first efforts at cupcakes. The pics are not very sharp - I blame my Sony. You know, Sony cameras are not ALL THAT jugak...for anyone who's looking to buy a digicam, I seriously suggest a Canon or Nikon...NOT Sony! (And for a camcorder, JVC is always best.) Pics outdoors tend to be good but once indoors....without enough light the Sony camera cannot deliver!

In my not-so-expert opinion lah...

These were for a bbq at a friend's place in Hackney. It was gone in a few minutes.

Carrot cake and chocolate cake combo.
The top 2 are the carrot cakes. I enjoyed making those insects!

The order was specifically for Spiderman cupcakes..a major glitch though - the question mark is for one of BATMAN's nemesis!! Alamak..tersilap..I'm sure the receiver of those cupcakes will notice as she's supposed to be a real spiderman fan.. :(
(I haven't gotten the feedback yet.)

Ok..this pic is the worst...yellowish and blurry...seriously annoying. Not to mention getting a long lecture from Mr S who said "now the cake dah bagi kat orang, all you have left are these pics...after all your hard work, THIS is what you've got to show for it??!!!!"

Yes..Mr S was annoyed that I didn't move the cakes to a better lit area...bla bla bla
But funny lah Mr S, when he first saw the cakes he was so impressed that he gave me a hug and a kiss...and the cakes were not even for him!! He he he...

Well then..not that too many people read this blog but if anyone wants to order cupcakes for any occasion..just send me an email and we can talk shop... ;)

Another Grading

Big H went for another karate grading on Sunday. He was a red belt going up to orange.

This was taken during his grading. Thank god for the boy on the left - they were partners during the sparring test and he actually helped Big H a teeny bit during the test!

Results were announced - the sensei called out Big H's name to tell him whether he had passed or not and Big H rushed to the front but the sensei still couldn't find him - kecik sangat... :) Can you spot Big H? If you can, then you can see the smile on his face when the sensei announced that he passed his 8th kyu.

Right afterwards, Mr S bought Big H's new orange belt and he quickly put it on for a pic - together with Little H, of course - the white belt wannabe! :)

Congrats Big H!

Big H's 'Sports Day'

Just some pics of Big H's sports day earlier this week...

Remember our sports day when we were in primary school? We had all the real stuff like 100m sprint, relays, short puts, high jump, long jump etc. etc. right?

The kids here (Year 1- Year 2) normally have 'sack race' or 'three legged race' or 'egg on a spoon race' for their sports day more like our 'sukaneka' but this year, since the London won the Olympic bid for 2012, the kids were introduced to decathlon events, only, 'kids-style'.They didn't even care who wins or loses - so no medals or anything like that.

The whole thing was just for fun and to be enjoyed by everyone!

It was a cloudy a day but the temperature was warm all the same and I think the kids had a good time.

Little H feigned a tummy ache and wanted to go to Big H's sports day - instead of going to his nursery on that day. I knew his trick but just acquiesced - bagi chance lah.

Big H's shot put event was just about throwing a small and slightly heavy ball (a cricket ball??)

The colours of East London..he he he..

Big H getting ready for the bean-bag balancing race.

After all those Wii boxing sessions, Little H thought he should practice at the lamp post..haiya!

Jumping hurdles in one of the races.

Believe it or not - this was their 'javelin' event!

After the games, a pose with Little H.


And.....another one!