Gone too soon :(

It's been 4 days since papa left us. I'm writing this on his bed,wearing his scarf(used to wrap his last serban)  I miss him so much and all I want is to see him in my dreams.

Papa, I really really hope I have been a good daughter to you. 

My du'a is that Allah will have mercy on you and place you amongst the best people who belong in Jannah.

I love you so much papa!

Hijrah

Those who followed me on twitter and FB should've known by now.
Alhamdulillah. Allah loves me & gave me the best Ramadhan ever.
I'm utterly impressed with the change that I've seen in skuirtgun and it really is little thing that matters.

On my birthday I prayed and wished that Allah will guide me to be a good Muslim.
After my dearest wished me Happy Birthday we both cried in each other arms and told him,
"I will not ask anything as a birthday present as the changes I've seen in you is truly a blessing and all I ever wanted. From today on I want to be a better Muslim and I hope I'll have your support throughout,"

At 31,birthday present is not something I look forward to. I'm truly blessed with a happy family. Happiness is more precious than anything. He kept apologizing that my birthday present will be arriving late. So I told him,it doesn't matter. All his love for me all these years is the best gift ever. Sheesh why there's tears on the corner of my eye while typing this ;P

A week after raya,the day finally arrived, my precious Redmoon handbag. If you know me and him,you'd know why Redmoon,why not Mulberry,Birkin (haha for real?)or Chanel. Because, that is so not me.

I had THE best celebration with the family and THE best raya. Alhamdulillah

Ramadhan Kareem

Alhamdulillah, it has been 4 successful days for all three of us. I'm quite amazed on how strong-willed Aresha can be this time around. Less dramatic than last year (read: waking up for sahur) but she managed to pull it off like an adult. She actually eats and drinks less than us to survive till dawn. Wonder how did she gets the energy to go for both schools.

We decided to do it like 2009, just a kurma,drinks & kuih before solat,saving carbs for after. Eating everything in one sitting is a no,no. We didn't lose weight at all last year. Time for a change and also a challenge to create low carb menu.

So nice to feel lighter and being able to do other things including tarawikh when you're not stuffing yourself silly like previous years :)

Sweet dreams are made of these

ETA December 2011.
His dream. My dream. Our dreams will be coming true end of the year,insyaAllah.
One is expected while I can't really speak for the other as we barely made any preparations for it!
Alhamdulillah,for new adventure/chapter/challenge,in a blink of an eye,we'll be ushering 2012. Bring it on!

El Mexicana!

I love Mexican food esp anything with tortilla and nachos. Loving the mojito recipe, just omit rum to make it virgin ;)

mojitos, chips, and salsa from rachelchew on Vimeo.

Retro cycle

Us,way back when ;)

Attack!

Alhamdulillah we've successfully reached targeted weight loss in just 3 days. He lost 2kg while I managed to lose 1kg from Pure Protein(PP) diet. PP means just lean meat/poultry/fish/seafood. We had rosemary chicken fillet, steak(thin cheap piece of beef) and balsamic grilled chicken thigh for dinner. AND not to forget 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran eaten with plain fat-free yoghurt and for those who can't, sprinkle 'em on your omelette,the way Skuirtgun likes it ;) I've just learnt that it's okay to have it with your favorite fruit flavored fat-free yoghurt(Dukan approved) as long as it's just a small tub a day.
It wasn't easy for me as I'm used to early morning orange juice,fruits & chocolates for snacks,pancakes for tea,well you get the idea. I was literally weak from lack of sugar which quickly subsides on the 3rd day.
On the 2nd day,had to go fill the fridge with more protein and resist on Kenny Rogers sidelines for lunch,only to find myself hungry again after supermarket check-out. Chuka lidako and sashimi never tasted that good though I have to admit, I'm drooling over Zara's sushi which she gobbled up like a pro! ;P
I've promised Juxy et Yani pictures and recipes from my Dukan experience. Guess you girls gotta wait longer as I'm yet to compile those pictures and post it soon k?

Dukan Day 1

We decided to start Dukan diet today. Check out http://www.dukandiet.com.

What's on the menu today;
Breakfast- omelette + no sugar added orange juice

Lunch- Pari bakar for me and grilled salmon for him

Dinner-Grilled rosemary chicken and fennel shrimp
Oat bran pancake and sprinkled oat bran on fat-free yoghurt for dessert.

Like any diet,we're encouraged to drink at least 1.5litre water and allowed to drink no sugar coffee/tea/diet Coke.

It's okay to have dairy intake such as skimmed milk and no fat cheese

In this attack phase, you should lose at least 1kg in 3 days. Amazing isn't it?

Skatefun

So we've been skating for a month now and kinda addicted to it. Woke up real early on weekends just to have Putrajaya Challenge Skatepark all for ourselves. We're no pro yet so it's kinda embarrasing to skate in the bowl and pool when there's so many good skaters flock the park in the evenings. Spotted Joe Ipoh and Pa'Din once. Also I do realized the guys are watching me because ,errm I'm a girl?
Aresha now skates with us and from sharing a deck we have 5 decks including a longboard. Thing is I need to master some skills before going on longboard. It's really really nice to sweat that much,soaked our tees for hours and go home feeling oh-so-good!
Gone are the days where weekends spent lazying around and going from malls to malls. We didn't miss that at all. In fact our kids love it as well.
Since last week,we woke up as early at 6.30am on Sunday/Saturday and started skating by 8.00am! It's gonna be a routine from now on. We even plan to skate in Bali in June. Globe skatepark looks awesome!

Reblog

I must admit I've stopped blogging since discovering twitter. Been a tweety bird,very chirpy one hence not updating anything since last year!
Can't believe it's March already and so much happened the last two months.
Highlight of 2011 so far would be Laneway aka Rainway Fest in Singapore on 29th January where we were soaking wet almost all thru the night but all worth it as we get to see Beach House (Victoria,you rock!),Deerhunter, Holy Fuck! (who claimed themselves as Broken Social Scene),Foals (trés awesome!) and the reason why we stood there shivering The Temper Trap!

I got goosebumps from Dougy Mandagi's falsetos. Feeling so foolish to realize that it was their last tour,even more after knowing that they've been to Indonesia last November,argh! The weather wasn't allowing us to have fun,all dampened by the heavy,non-stop rain complete with mud slides,you name it. Mat salleh jakun je yang enjoy lebih :P
Still regret that I didn't take any picture with him when photo opportunity came as we walk out of Fort Canning. Dougy was standing outside the band's tent ever so willingly to meet fans. If only I wasn't looking like a swamp thing (minus the mud) All I was thinking was to get out of this wet clothes!

So here I am hopefully skateboarding will get me to write regularly. For the past two weeks we've been swapping being mallrats to Putrajaya Skatepark go-er. The kids love it,Aresha been looking forward to go every weekend now :)

Longboard rocks!

I'm getting a longboard soon and can't wait to able to ride like these girls!

Longboard Girls Crew from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.

I'm NOT pregnant (so don't ask any irrelevant question)

Random questions from guys (they don't really know me, let's just say, these are acquaintances I've made for quite some time,10 yrs)

'Kak,if you're pregnant,better don't try,might have some effect to your pregnancy' upon husband trying some hologram bangle ;)

No need to argue I just smile.

Recently at IMC's 10th Anniversary party, As asked me, 'pregnant lagi ke?' while signalling at my belly.

Mannnnn! I quickly say NOOOOOO I'm not! He smiled sheepishly knowing that somehow he offended me in some way,heheh.
OMG! It's too obvious isn't it? Am putting too much weight recently and still wearing tight-fitting clothes, tak sedar diri betulll!
Lost merely 2kg in a 6 days stint in HK and quickly reach overweight scale once we return :(
Urgh!

Though I'm secretly happy that it can be mistaken as pregnant belly but it's frustrating that I can't fit most of my size 26 jeans. Pathetic.

What am I waiting for,sit up while blogging is not a too bad idea isn't it? ;)

It Works!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

From the Reza's with Love

Selamat Hari Raya!

Me love you long time!

Now where would you first heard that phrase? None other than Vietnam!
Strangely the first time we tasted the famous Pho' Bo was in Paris, near rue de Tolbiac in Chinatown.

So,yesterday,skuirtgun told me,he's going to Vietnam for a conference in October,few days after we return from HK. I quickly put on my sweetest smile and asked him, "Can I come along?"
He'll have a room for himself,would be a waste to sleep alone right? ;)

When he broke the news he teased me with "Looks like I'm going to Vietnam before you,"
I was like no wayyyy! I've always wanted to go there! Pretty please!

Come on darling,me love you long time, take me with you, promise I won't spend a single buck (err,not really, I can have all the croissants I want,right?)

We'll see,but I won't give up easily fo' sho' :P

Thirty and loving it!

He knows how much I love surprises, so he did just that, 2 days in a row!
Well 30 is no biggie, in fact I love who I am now more than who I was in my twenties.
Alhamdulillah I'm blessed with skuirtgun who loves me unconditionally and his joy is to make/see me happy, indefinitely, and two lovely kids I'd love to grow old and be with them :)
I'm overwhelmed with wishes from friends and family all over the world, thanks to the technology and social media.
What more can you ask, thank God for letting me see and experience all this.xoxo

Tokyo Vintage

Tokyo is a vintage haven! Skuirtgun and I are both vintage lovers, in fact we're kinda obsessed with everything vintage! Well, in his case he's into ol' school choppers, VWs and Vespas and I love vintage clothings ;) I'm not sure why I didn't shop as much when we were in Tokyo, totally regret some of the must haves and vintage Ferragamos that I found there for such (if not bargain) an affordable price.

My prized possessions would be a navy blue vintage dress bought at a flea market for 200yen! Yeah you heard it right, that's probably like RM7! If only I bought that vintage Ferragamo pumps at Koenji's vintage shoes shop, arghh. Menyesal pun tak guna, pfft. If you're into this and don't really have so much time to spend in Tokyo, look no further than Koenji, about 6 stations from Shinjuku, it's a small town full of vintage goods!

If we live in Tokyo we'd vintage snobs but when you live in KL you just gotta adapt, it's not easy to find vintage shoes/clothes without paying ridiculous price here (well, in Japan it's even more ridiculous if you don't know where to look for) I'm contemplating on real vintage Oxford boots/pumps or just a replica from Zara.

Anyway, looks like we're saving up for another vintage hunting in Tokyo rather than that Euro trip then ;)

Boots,heels, all vintage!

now where's my vintage Ferragamo?

He's rockin' the trucker look, Pendleton shirt and trucker cap :)

my Japanese bf ;P

Dust off and move onto our new Chez Reza!

Thanks to Reen, I'm not gonna dwell to my past and let emotions get the best of me.
So that chapter is closed and frankly it wasn't easy to know that apologies is not enough but I got better things to focus on right now.

So what else is new? Two of my girlfriends moved to their new home this year. When will our time come? Hurry 2012 or please let it be earlier than that! it's just freaking 28 units, shouldn't take that long eh?

We've decided (for now) to do the laminated flooring first, followed by the rooftop garden and kitchen. The rest, we'll do it slowly. Already envisioned my kitchen complete with a bench and comfy dining area where we'd all lounge on Sundays, having brunch facing ehemmm, one of our many balconies! Aresha had her own room design in mind, I guess we'll just let her choose then, it's her room anyway. There will be loadsa parties, entertaining and meetings. I wouldn't mind letting the IMG boys have their monthly meetings on our rooftop garden! Bolehla berangan SAMCRO, hehe.

Absolutely love this thekitchn. Even David Lebovitz's is featured here. Still looking for ideas on how our rooftop garden would look like. One's fit for outdoor entertaining and has an onsen + shower!
Mind you ours is a 3-bedroom townhouse. But there's a space for a room at the rooftop (if we make one, of course, a guestroom, perhaps) and I've always want a bath tub,the master bathroom would be wee bit tiny to fit one but it's kinkier to have it outdoor right? ;)

Ok enough of daydreaming for now, shall blog more for ideas and documentation of our new home. Ta!

Ramadhan 2010

Wow, how fast time flies. Suddenly it's 16th day of Ramadhan.

We're training Aresha to fast the whole day, well uhm I mean full circle, not half-day, not yang yang yok

Alhamdulillah she made it through the till today except for one day when she came home and said she's hungry and straight away grabbed a drink from the fridge without I even have the chance to say no.

That's puasa for a 6yr old. At least she didn't try to curi-curi makan while I'm not looking. Always ask before sipping a drink or a bite on that carrot cake ;)

Normally I'd scream NO but that would be too hard on her isn't it. I don't have to force her to fast she wants to do it herself. That's good enough. She's only 6 and I must say she's really strong for a kid her age. Normally her sahur would be a quarter portion than ours. Wonders how did she managed to not get too hungry by afternoon!

She naps more often since I told her so, to get her off thinking what to eat and counting the hours.

Oh yeah, my brother Erie starts his own business right before Ramadhan so if you're at PARAM in Kelana Jaya, look out for Mr Nasi Ambang, stall no 26. Business is good, syukur. Another stall is at Mutiara Damansara PARAM and right in front of TV3 guardhouse. Cheap yo, RM4.50! Complete meal of rice, serunding, sambal goreng & ayam masak merah. Scrumptious too!

Sadly big sister haven't got the chance to check out herself. Not much a pasar ramadhan frequent. Till this date we've been only to one at Jalan Daud, Kg. Bharu. The rest would be home cooked or mom's/MIL's cooking. 

We need to improve on tarawikh though. By the time we retire for the night, we're too lazy/sleepy to do so. Bad excuse, bad bad excuse :(

This year we've prepared early for raya celebration. Got the baju raya sent to the tailor a month before puasa. Aresha got her kasut raya already, still contemplating whether to buy here or online. Got my eyes on those Oxford boots/heels, would it be okay to wear with baju kurung though? At least I got my new hair cut, super easy maintenance (read, no maintenance at all) No need to comb, Nurse Jackie style ;)

Ooh I'll be 30 in 2 days! Also fell on Ramadhan last year. Wow thirty eh, skuirtgun would be so happy we're finally in the same age circle, heheh. He got all sort of plans for me. Even got the prezzie earlier than previous years. Celebration starts early, we'll have dinner on Friday,reminiscence of my last year as a twenty-something. It doesn't matter, no one would believe I'm thirty anyway.

Shall go back to  sleep now, this Barney Aresha's watching now is killing me. Cartoon time starts right away after sahur for her this month. 

Damnit, I didn't lose any weight at all this year, hmmphh

Last weekend before Ramadhan

A great last weekend before Ramadhan it was for all of us, hang out with Josh, a New York Times consultant we met at Koenji and his funny half Malaysian, half Japanese friend, 'interesting' North Korean dinner and yesterday picnic with IMG brothers. Love love the stream, especially at this kind weather. Kids loving it too, we're trying to introduce nature to them and appreciate it. Most urban kids don't even know that river exists. Sad eh? But these girls love love mandi sungai ;) 

A good start!