Our puasa so far...

Salams and Hi, you all.

I know, I know... This blog of mine has been ignored for the longest time. My apologies.

Even though I have been quiet on the blogging front, I've been quite active FB-ing. And those who are my FB friends have been getting updates on what the family and I have been up to for the last 3 weeks or so, which has been makan, makan, dan makan lagi...(Errrr, during berbuka, okay? ;))

Ramadhan has been smooth-sailing so far, syukur alhamdulillah. Hanna, Hasya and Hilman all have performed their Puasa dilligently, without any complaints at all. It helped that the first week of Ramadhan was during their school holiday, and the weather has been kind to us.

Sahur, too, has not been a war zone so far. Bibik Dar is indeed a blessing. She would prepare everything and wake all of us up at 5:00a.m for Sahur without fail. And surprisingly, we have not had much trouble waking the kids up. Even Hilman :) Every Sahur has been a simple affair so far. We only had rice once. Corned Beef Fried Rice, to be exact, courtesy of Meen's recipe.

The rest of our sahur have been either Toasted Sandwiches (Egg or Tuna), Half-boiled Eggs with Toasts, Campbell Soups (Chicken or Mushroom) with Bread, or Cereals. And of course, whatever kueh-mueh left from berbuka the night before. And I would make sure the whole family take their MultiVitamins, Scott's Emulsion, and Vitamin C every Sahur.

As for Berbuka, I think we've only broken fast at our home in SD maybe 3-4 times? The rest, we either berbuka at my MIL's, my parents', or outside - either at friends' place, or Hotels/Restaurants - the latter, mostly sponsored. I loike :)! Syukur Alhamdulillah. Oh ya, once Ayah's Heart Centre at TMC organized a Berbuka for his staff, catered by the hospital's F&B Department. Not bad at all (considering that they normally cook hospital food for their patients :))

Here are some reviews of the places we've been to -

Puteri Restaurant (Taman Tun) was so-so. I think I must have had quite high expectations after all the raves I heard about this place. I was a bit disappointed with the spread. I was hoping for more varieties and not just Traditional Malay dish. I know, I know... that's what they're famous for anyway, right?

Sari Ratu (Kota Damansara) was awesome. Puas makan :) We had Gulai Otak Sapi, Gulai Tunjang, Gulai Ayam, Gulai Pucuk Ubi, Gulai Nangka, Tenggiri Balado, Terung Balado, and of course their Sambal Ijo. Yummeh! Oh yes! Not forgetting their Chendol Durian! Terangkat I tell you :) Tapi, tak boleh makan selalu kat situ. Cholesterol-laden food, meh... :)

One World - they had an amazing spread. Memang tabik spring. But, the taste was a bit bland (at least to me, that is).

Le Meridien - I only tried the Chinese and Japanese spread. Very nice. I like :) They also have a Middle-Eastern and Indian Corner, and a Noodle Booth which looked good, but, I can't really comment as I didn't have any of those. Oh ya...their Burnt Coconut Drink was simply divine...

If we berbuka at home or in PJ or in KD, the wajib Bazaar Ramadhan dish would include Roti John, Otak-Otak, and Air Tebu. We normally go to the ones in Section 17 PJ (near my MIL's), Kota Damansara (near Ayah's hospital and my parents') and of course in SD itself.

There's one stall in Section 17 Bazaar which sells all sorts of kueh-mueh which I like. Their kuehs are tasty, and nicely made (comel) and clean. They sell very nice Kueh Kochi and another kueh which I don't know the name (made with tepung pulut and salut with gula - macam gula Kueh Keria?).

In Kota Damansara - there's one stall which sells Hot Soy Bean Milk which is a hit with the kids.

In Sri Damansara - one stall sells quite nice Otak-Otak. (Come to think of it, all the Otak-Otaks which we bought from these three Bazaars taste the same! From the same Johore supplier, maybe?)

Even though Taman Tun and Section 14 are within the radius of our lalu-lalang route, we have yet to go to the Bazaars there. Parking is madness, I tell you. And the jam... Gosh, pening kepala! I'd rather not stress myself by going there :)Some people sanggup queue for more than half an hour for the Popiah Basah in Section 14! Errrr, sorry no thank you...

For this week, we have two berbuka outside lined-up. Tomorrow will be at Baiti's in Taman Tun, and Wednesday night after the kids' piano class which ends at 7:45p.m, Ayah MIGHT bring me/us out for berbuka. This Wednesday 9th September 2009 will be our 15th Wedding Anniversary, by the way :)

And next Monday will be another sponsored berbuka for us. Venue yet to be announced :)

Will update you all on that, insya Allah ;)

Till then, I make do'a for the second half of this Ramadhan to bring more blessings to us, insya Allah.

Selamat beramal-ibadah :)

Oh by the way, as of 6:35a.m this morning, I've lost 2kgs this Ramadhan. A miracle - considering the food I've been indulging myself with all this while :)

* I will try to create a link to photos already uploaded on FB for your viewing and drooling pleasure soon... ;)

UPDATE - Okay, here are the links! Happy Drooling... ;)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2309711&l=c8bb864271&id=733039296

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101220&id=733039296&l=2138e37fbb

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100291&id=733039296&l=e6a6346e55

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99678&id=733039296&l=d709f8fbe4

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99451&id=733039296&l=2e28416f09

:)

Puasa Enam...

It's 9th Syawal today.

So far, including today (insya Allah), I have puasa four days of my Puasa Enam. Syukur Alhamdulillah. So far, so good.

Ayah and Hanna had managed to fast three days so far as Hanna only started on Tuesday, and Ayah had to break fast in the afternoon as he was not feeling well yesterday. But, as I also have extra days to ganti puasa which I plan to also do during Syawal, insya Allah, they can "catch up" and we'll get to "raya" together.

Hasya and Hilman - so far, two days. Hasya had a school trip to Dominoes yesterday, so she couldn't possibly puasa, could she?! What with all those yummy Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken pizzas beckoning her?! And because his Kak Ngah Hasya was not fasting yesterday, Hilman decided not to fast, too. So nanti, they, too, will have to "catch up" in order for us to "raya" together.

Apparently, Hasya's teacher asked her class the other day who amongst them Puasa Enam, and Hasya was the only one who put her hand up. And the teacher asked her if the whole family was doing it. And when she said, "Yes", the teacher asked, "Even your brother yang Standard 2 tu??!!" I think, looking at how montel and how kuat makan Hilman is, she couldn't believe Hilman would have the will-power to puasa outside a Non-Ramadhan month, especially when he would be surrounded by friends who would be munching away all the goodies foodies at school! Hehehe!

Ayah and I had never asked or forced the kids to perform the Puasa Enam, but syukur alhamdulillah, they wanted to do it themselves. It all started last year when they were curious as to why both Ayah and I were still fasting when it was already Raya! So, when Ayah explained what Puasa Enam was all about and betapa besar ganjarannya, insya Allah, the kids decided to puasa with us.

So, this year is the second year we all Puasa Enam together as a family, insya Allah.

The initial plan was for everybody to finish Puasa Enam by Tuesday next week. (Weekends tak boleh puasa coz' there are so many Open Houses to go to! Hehehe!). But, now that dah tak "synchronised", I will have to adjust everybody's puasa schedule so that we can puasa the 6th day together, and celebrate together - maybe berbuka at a place of the kids' choice outside on the final day?

Anyway, for sahur, I decided not to kacau Dar and so, for the past four days, I've been getting up at 4:45a.m to siapkan our sahur. Ayah asked me to just ask Dar to do it coz' he didn't want me to wake up and prepare everything. But, I kesian pulak kat Dar if she has to wake up just to siapkan sahur when she's not fasting sekali.

But, Ayah and I realized - after Raya, Dar has been slacking a bit. MAYBE, because she had spent too much time mingling with my MIL's and my SIL's maids in PJ over Raya, and dah berjangkit with their "malas" attitude. We (ourselves, my MIL and my SIL) had each given all the maids some Baju Raya and bonus raya. And we also gave Dar IDD cards worth RM60 for her to call her family during Raya. Maybe dah "naik lemak", kot ?

This morning, after sahur, I didn't go back to sleep, and tengok-tengok sampai 6:20a.m, Dar tak bangun lagi! Lawan tokey betul. Normally she would wake up at 5:45a.m. and prepare breakfast for Ayah. Ayah normally wakes up just before 6:00a.m and would leave the house with Hanna by 6:40a.m. And I suspect, when I leave the house to go to work, and send the kids to my MIL's place in the morning, she would continue with her chores, and then have a looooooong nap in the afternoon because we normally only reach home earliest at 7:00p.m every day. Nobody at home. Nothing much to do.

Hmmmm...maybe for the rest of our Puasa Enam ni, I should ask her to prepare our sahur kot? Tak boleh bagi muka sangat... And I'm sure I will not be depriving her of her beauty sleep as she would have the whole afternoon every day to sleep anyway.

Anyway, to those who are performing the Puasa Enam, selamat menyempurnakannya. Semoga ibadah kita diterima Allah SWT, and semoga kita diberi ganjaran yang berganda, insya Allah. Amin.