Blogging From The Beach

Not.

Well, I DID go to the beach with the kids, three days ago. It's our lokasi wajib to go to whenever we go back to my MIL's house in Terengganu.

And I could, actually, blog at the beach...but I didn't want to be busy with the blackberry when I could admire the open sea in front of me. Also because me (and hubby) had to keep an eye on our 4 kids and 2 nephews.

*Cakap je taknak ber-blackberry tapi ada jugak letak gambar kat Facebook & Twitter masa tu. Not so good.*

Back to the present moment.

It's past 1.00am now, we just reached home a few hours ago. After 6 hours of being in a car from Kuala Terengganu (after tea at hubby's cousin..we haven't seen her second home yet, which was really beautiful), with me stepping on the invisible front-passenger-brake-pedal half of the journey...I suddenly don't feel that sleepy now.

Anyway, back to the beach story. It's just a 5-minute drive from my MIL's house. A simple, un-commercialized, non-resort beach...where fishermen come to shore with their catch...where teenage boys from the nearby kampungs play football at during the evening.

"Papa...too-gooo!!" Zuleyka has shown much improvement in her speech. Though still blabbering most of the time time, she now knows how to ask for a drink, her nestum, her milk, declining this and that, calling out to me & The Papa, her brothers, her grandparents..basic things like that. Alhamdulillah :)

And I was trying hard not to be the crackberry on the beach :P

*referring to the man in background*

Must be one of the boys picking on her. Disadvantages of being the only girl. But she throws a mean punch, I tell you. The Mama has trained her well in that area hahahahaaa....*dush!*

One of their cousins, Abdunnur. But he calls himself NorNor. I call him NuNu.

Sometimes they play with kites, but this time they wanted to build this and that. And I was always calling out, "Not too close to the water!! Not too close to the water!". Jangan main-main laut kat pantai timur ni. One of the things I remember from lessons in school..I just err don't remember which subject. :P

Every time we go to the beach (tak kira pantai mana la), I cringe at the thought of getting sand out of the kids' shorts, t-shirts, hair, ears...but what's going to the beach without having fun in the sand? Jadi kita bersabar saja, and I *again* remind myself that's one of my gazillion duties as a mom. To let the kids have fun. And to clean them from all those sand.

Nunu & Armand. If you were here with me on the beach you would probably hear my voice *again* shouting "jangan dekat sangat dengan airrrrrrr!!"

Eh siapa ni...? :P

Elok jugak ada telaga kat situ. Sebab:

1) The kids can rinse their feet etc to get rid of all those sand. Nobody likes clunks of sand in the car.

2) The kids can practice getting the water from the well (mana nak jumpa telaga kat kawasan-kawasan perumahan kat Kajang ni kan..?).

They ended up playing Who Can Fill The Pail And Get The Water Up The Fastest game. Yang mencekak pinggang tu ialah Puan Pengadil who had to be very stern as they didn't want to let go of the pail even though it was nearly 7pm.

They did a lot of other things around their grandma's house also. Macam-macam lah. Budak-budak...the best things for them are the simple, free ones! As it was school holidays and we didn't go to any swanky resort or anything...we're happy that the kids still had fun.

And we were in good company, with family, whom we don't get to see all year round.

So, mission accomplished :)

Wordless Wednesday *ye ke?* - Random Photos in my Blackberry (that I want to delete but still want to 'store' them somewhere)

Broga Hill trip with family last weekend..will blog about it later.

My long white tunic which always look like h-a-n-t-u thanks to the fan in my room.

Me, in 1973..about to turn 1 year old.

I normally will find the missing ones..but I think this one will go missing forever. *naughty Zuleyka*

Armand with my camera (which if can talk will probably say, "I'm kinda tired taking photos of gift baskets most of the time...")

My ex-college roomie snapped this one day when she was at Pusat PosLaju Cheras. It's been more than a year since hubs left them. *but I still have a soft spot for PosLaju*

The Tank - off duty from Family Car, on duty as AZ Gift Baskets' bulk delivery vehicle.

Tried to find more of these last year...tapi asik jumpa yang untuk letak lilin je, bukan lampu. Sigh.

It's One of Those Days..

...when I'm not sad, I feel upbeat today actually..but still feel some'thing' is missing.

...when my other half feels down (which rarely happens) and it seems to affect me, too (again, which rarely happens).

...when I relaxed a bit more than usual eventhough kain baju banyak tak berlipat lagi..and I don't feel guilty about it..which is a bit strange because I always feel better if I'm super busy (walaupun stress tak hengat kadang-kadang)

*one of my seniors from school once asked me if I view Work as Worth..and I actually thought yes I do..until he questioned me and I went hmmmm..*

...when I still feel lemau even though I've had enough rest.

...when I don't feel guilty of not exercising when I think I should.

...when I have other things to blog about but I posted this entry instead.

...when I think I dah melalut entah apa-apa so I better stop here.

So..What To Do With All Those Baskets..?

1) So a friend/business associate gave you a gift basket. *yayyy*

2) Or your spouse got a few (especially during festive seasons).

3) Or both of the above.

Then surely you would have some lovely/pretty/normal-looking baskets or boxes lying around. What to do with them? Sayang pulak nak biarkan berhabuk. Nanti semak pula mata memandang :P

OR you're like me - a fulltime home-based gift basket business owner.

*AZ Gift Baskets is just a small, cottage-industry-like business setup...there are many other big home-based gift basket businesses out there :) *

Due to space constraints, I don't keep a lot of stock at home. I do have some in my small office, a few on IKEA book racks at the kids' study corner, some in boxes on top of my wardrobe, some shrink-wrapped and arranged on top of my upper kitchen cabinets (macam hiasan jugak la lebih kurang).

Whichever your reasons are, allow me to share with you on what I do with some of those baskets....

This was from one of my Hari Raya 2006 creations. These bags were new that year. Pastu ada lebih la 2-3 kat rumah ni masa tu. I hang one bag at the kitchen door...mainly because this is the first door that will slam itself shut if there's strong wind coming from outside. Rumah ni ramai budak kecik so the bag is sort of like a door stopper. Betul, it works. Betul.

Moving on to baskets..

I think many of you have seen these white baskets on my website and also on AZGB's Facebook page. I use these a lot during Christmas, for baby gift baskets...also for baked goods and fresh flowers. Jadi bila ada lebih-lebih yang macam reject sikit (mungkin ada senget benget sikit), I letak kat bilik, macam yang ini jadi tempat letak sejadah.

What about those smaller boxes? Like doorgifts that you get..?

These rectangle wooden boxes were from our Ramadhan 2010 range. We put date candy in these. It was quite a favourite among corporate clients that time. A corporate client said that once he attended his customer's Raya open house...and saw this at one of the tables in the house, as deco. Jadi nya corporate client I tu pun sangat suka dan gembira sebab apa yang they all bagi, penerima guna semula.

And hey, I actually did the same thing too at home! Mix and match it with another 'leftover' wooden boxes, stuff that my husband got for Raya gifts, a vase that my MIL gave to me yearssss ago when I just got married etc etc...

Kotak kayu tu I gantung kat dinding, masa tu ada rajin sikit nak mengetuk paku sana sini.

Sometimes I buy some nice basket to do up as a sample...only to find out that it was sold out so quickly (at my supplier's), making it impossible for me to offer it to my potential customers. Bekas cantik sebiji dua sayang pulak nak simpan dalam kotak atas almari kan? So it became a place to store some coffee table books.

I probably have to rename those books as they are no longer on the coffee table. Not since 2009. Just so you'd know, the replacement that I used for that year's Hari Raya creation was like this:

(warna je lain, design lebih kurang sama)

My husband gets gift baskets too (and I don't get any..seriously). And yes, I use some of them untuk hias rumah jugak:

That basket on the floor is very nice but a bit narrow/slim jadi nak letak barang-barang besar agak tricky. The box on the big brown vase was actually what he got from a tailor - there's this tailor that many go to untuk tempah baju melayu hitam untuk istiadat tertentu..and the baju melayu along with his sampin songket, butang & tanjak came in that nice box. Now I use it to store extra artificial peonies from those Chinese New Year festive orders - jadi hiasan & tempat simpanan. '2 in 1'.

I even have baskets in my kitchen.

This type of basket has saved me countless times from going over to IKEA. "Going all the way there just to get a few (not even urgent) stuff? There must be some basket here that you can use, Millie" is what I tell myself every time I get wow-ed by pictures in their latest catalogue.

And sometimes I buy baskets/boxes/tins for some new creation that I had in mind...only to not even touch it later on. Mari kita salahkan faktor kesibukan dengan hal rumah, anak-anak dan sebagainya. *asik la kena 'excusitis'*

So I use them also. In this case, I asked Izzo to keep all his baking-related stuff in this nice cupcake tin I bought (but never got into my website):

So what do you think? Bakul/kotak/tin ni banyak jugak kegunaannya kan..? There are a lot more that I re-use, actually (tak boleh letak semua gambar kat sini nanti you guys tak larat nak tengok). "I sell gift baskets thus I must believe in them. I believe that it will serve a purpose long after the food contents in it are safely digested in the tummies of the gift recipient." Okay melalut.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I sell those baskets..so I must embrace it, must use it. So actually, that's what I think about when I choose a certain basket (or box or tin) for a certain creation. I always hope that the recipient could, and would, re-use it later on. Kalau tak fikir macam ni, adalah lebih baik I ambik approach tradisi orang Jepun - gifts are wrapped in Japanese cloth. *it's quite nice also, and there's a shop in KL specializing in this*

So the next time you or your spouse or your parents get a gift basket...think about what you can do with it later on. Hope this entry will help you with that :)

*Not really a* Wordless Wednesday - Bila Menjemur Baju....

...suka bila nampak creepers dah berbunga semula...

...kadang-kadang ada belalang singgah di pokok limau purut...

...nampak daun baru dah keluar kat pokok yang kena cantas beberapa minggu lepas...

...selalu juga Izzo & Kaka duduk tepi longkang...

...sebab diaorang nak tengok sesuatu kat laman belakang rumah jiran...

...anak kucing rupa-rupanya...

...dan ibu kucing...she has four kittens.

Hmmm...kinda reminds me of myself.

Sorry, STILL no cats in this house, kids.

Izzo knows why - "Because Mama will sneeze a lot."

And I'm not comfortable with pets around my work i.e. gift baskets.

Also, with 4 kids and no live-in helper...lagi mau jaga kucing? Oh tidak.

:P

Gastronomic Trip to The Historical City

The Historical City = Melaka Bandaraya Bersejarah.

A state that is close to my heart.

I was born there.

I have lived there, in army quarters of Kem Sg. Udang and Kem Terendak about 4 (or 5, lost count) times throughout my life.

I went to school there, in MRSM Jasin..now known as MRSM Tun Ghafar Baba.

I also worked there for over 3 years.

I first met my husband there at Plaza Tol Ayer Keroh (well that was our agreed meeting point after a month of calls and emails).

Oops sorry this is supposed to be about my jalan-jalan-cari-makan-di-Melaka with my schoolmates. Not about How I Met My Husband.

About 8.35 am 18th February 2012, I was at Kajang Toll Plaza with Funt, my schoolmate. We were waiting for Azzad, Irene, Inda & Onna. Then the 5 of us were on our merry way. Perut sudah agak berkeroncong waktu itu.

First stop: Nilai R&R for nasi-lemak-sedap-sangat.

I still remember how all of us looked like in 1985, when we were in Form 1. Not all of us kept in touch throughout those years but Facebook emerged and that helped a lot (I'm guessing this is what Mark Zuckerberg had in mind when he created Facebook..? Before it went on to be other things. Okay I'll just stop at that :P)

Second stop: Another friend's house in Melaka, Qunie (I knew her since 1988...wow, EIGHTIES man..). With our official Melaka Makan Place Tour Guide with us, we went into town, not sure whether to go on the boat cruise down Sungai Melaka or jalan-jalan kat kawasan bangunan merah.

We ended up having Cendol Jam Besar instead. Third stop.

Me with Qunie, Irene, Inda and Onna. Back in 1985 who would thought one of the above is about to be a PhD holder and one is a 'Madam Lawyer'.

I had 2 bowls of cendol. One with pulut, the other one with red beans. (Irene was the one who had to restrain me from having a third bowl).

After a good doze of 'laughing gas' (we kept laughing about anything and everything...tapi jangan risau we were not high on anything :P) and taking photos and walking back to the car..we went to our fourth stop. For lunch - Restoran 35.

The weather was nice that day, alhamdulillah. Not sunny and just the right amount of rain. If it was the normal sunny Malaysian weather that day, we would have wilted. Or melted.

Eat eat talk talk laugh laugh...lunch done. Went for solat at Masjid Selat Melaka. Really reminded me of the mosque in Jeddah. Also above the sea water, the waves crashing the shore also sounded the same. I felt an urge then, of wanting to go to Mekah, Madinah and Jeddah again. Rindu rasanya. Irene pun mungkin terasa begitu. InsyaAllah.

By then we all unanimously thought that the delicious asam pedas/telur ikan masak lemak/sambal belacan kuinin/sayur ulam lunch has settled in our tummies already...and we were ready for our tea treat i.e. the highlight of the trip - Keria Limbongan!

Only to discover that the famous keria (that I last had in 1999)....were SOLD OUT. What?? And it was not even 4pm.

Aaaarggghhh. Frusttttttt. We all wanted the kuih keria so bad. Yes, really!

Takpe, ada satu lagi stop - Coconut Shake in Klebang. And it was superb. The small pack of nasi lemak + 4 pcs of kuih muih that I had along with the shake were good, too. Makan, Millie, makan. Macam tak biasa pulak ye.

We went into town again after that...the girls decided to let someone massage their feet for an hour while the guys went for teh tarik somewhere in Melaka Raya. Qunie brought us to this place (was in Lonely Planet, I think). An hour of foot massage was RM28. Cheap! With ginger tea & a hot-sand-pillow-thingy at the back of our neck..we all dozed off during the massage. Glorious.

*I think Azzad and Funt silently regretted their move to not get that foot massage*

It was a day where we were all geared up for lots and lots of food. But we had to be back in KL by 10pm. So early dinner was at the Portugese Settlement. How many stops have we made? I've lost count.

Crazy-good mango juice. I had 2, of course.

Masa meratah ketam ni, tiba-tiba ada 2 mangkuk nasi 'bergerak sendiri' ke arah ku. Hahaa...Azzad was trying to get me to finish all the leftovers. Ya saya sedar, saya agak kuat makan.

We were all glad that we made the time to go for this trip. Qunie was going off for umrah a few days after that so it was good to see her before she went.

I have long realized that usually good times need not involve posh, expensive places. For a merely RM60 each, all 7 of us were provided with good company, good food, good & comfortable transportation (always good if I don't have to be behind the wheel:P)..and lots of good unrestrained laughs.

*I think Azzad spiked the a/c in his car with some laughing gas*

The next day, to balance out my food intake the day before *konon!* this was what I had for lunch and dinner:

Capati + lettuce + scrambled eggs. Roll it up..and ngap.

Pesanan Khidmat Masyarakat kepada para wanita terutamanya yang umur seangkatan dengan ku juga kaum ibu yang selalunya sedar akan perubahan bentuk badan setelah melahirkan anak:

Jangan takut nak makan :) We must eat, as long as it's in moderation and has the required nutrition that our body needs. Tak salah nak makan kuih-muih, kek dan sebagainya..just don't eat it every day la kan? Also don't forget to exercise. Kalau tak sempat nak berjogging atau pegi gym dsb...do house chores in an active manner biar berpeluh habis gitu. We don't want to be skinny, we want to be fit and strong, lean and mean. :P