Kisah puasa

~Ahni~ tagged her readers, I blog when I can't sleep, so let me do the tag.

First time, aku berpuasa.
Standard one.. mostly sekerat hari. Weekends je puasa penuh satu hari tapi tu pun satu hari melepek macam sayur terlebih celur. Satu hari pernah pitam kat tengah laman after chasing my cousin.

First time, aku berpuasa penuh.
Darjah 4 kot, tak pun darjah 5. Yang pastinya darjah 6 penuh.

First time, aku berpuasa jauh dari family.
Kat hostel, starting form 1. Nasib baik semua sekolah semua pompuan, so asal tak ade air liur basi meleleh dah kira boleh pegi sahur, tak payah nak tengok-tengok cermin. Tudung pun main selempang aje (pasal ada Pakcik dining hall), tak pun pakai hoodies. Pastu kalau 'cuti' boleh pegi ambik nasi lunchtime kat dining hall. tapi nasib le, lauk yang lebih2 dari sahur je. Silap hari bulan lauk tu dah start nak basi. Itulah nasib kalau bercuti di bulan puasa. Makanan lain tak ade, maggi aje le.

Masa form 1 we had this cerita hantu during Ramadhan. Camna pulak bulan puasa berhantu.. well, not actually hantu, he was a prowler. The rumour was this fellow menuntut some ilmu and had to put it into practise. That Isabella (yes, we gave him a glamourous name) made strange noises and ppl said he was a "manimal". Donno la betul ke tak, all I know, I was 12, penakut gile and semua cerita hantu I percaya. Oh yes, we had some macho looking policewomen guarding the school at nights during that Isabella attack.

We had tadarus in the afternoons, on those hot humid afternoon memang mengantuk. Asyik tersengguk time baca Quran. Those who cannot puasa will have prep in classrooms. I cheated a few times, tak pegi tadarus, tapi lepak kat kelas. There was one year when our school decided to use our 'tak puasa labour' to raise fund for something. Sapa yang tak puasa kena kerja- buat rubber glove quality checking, tuang air dalam gloves, picit-picit make sure gloves tak bocor. That was kinda forced labour!

During my final year in school I sometimes had special meal for sahur, masak Brahims or one of those prepacked 'army ration' with my partner in crime, Fidie. You see, we had a rice cooker but we were not allowed to use it and we had two very-strict-school-rules-abiding-prefects, Tim & Nan in the same room (they were just doing their duty la, very good prefects you see, tak pilih kasih punye). So Fidie & I buat konon2 tak nak pegi sahur, the minute the 2 prefects stepped out for sahur we'd quickly cook whatever we had in store, makan & cuci everything siap before the prefects balik, destroy all evidence la konon, but the curry smell of course la tak hilang in an instant! Fidie in Atlanta, Tim in Germany & Nan in Stockholm (global siot!), I really miss u all!

First time, aku bayar zakat fitrah sendiri.
2001, tak pun 2002. Tak ingat. Nak bayar pun tak payah pegi jauh-jauh pasal Ayah yang kutip zakat fitrah.

First time, jatuh sakit semasa berpuasa.
Pernah ke? Entah, tak pernah kot.. takat demam-demam biasa tu ada lah. Tapi ikut pengalaman, dah 3 kali jugak pitam time puasa (masa tak puasa pun ada jugak pitam). Tapi yang nasib baik, I have early symptoms bila nak pitam, I'd start to get blur vision before everything goes black, so bila dah nampak blur satu macam tu, I sit and bersandar somewhere, tak kiralah kat mana, janji I don't go tergolek dork and injure myself or terhantuk kepala kat mana2.

First time puasa sebagai seorang suami/isteri.
Haha... itu tungguuuuuuu... ntah bila la tu!

First time puasa sebagai ibu.
oh bila la la la la...

First time puasa di oversea.
2004, sampai my current Uni bulan puasa. Malays tak ramai, yang undergrad dah balik cuti masa tu. Menumpang kasih for a week kat satu family ni. Lepas tu masuk flat sendiri, but flatmates semua tak ada, duduk sorang2, bukak puasa sendiri, masa tu tak kenal lagi kedai halal kat mana, I only know one supermarket. Asian shops pun belum jumpa. Asyik lauk telur or canned tuna. Memang tak lalu nak makan, and makan sekali time buka puasa tu je, lepas tu dah malas nak makan apa-apa. The family I mentioned memang jemput bukak puasa kat rumah diorang everyday, but then, segan la beb hari-hari nak gi makan free kat rumah orang.

First time bukak puasa kat ofis.
Masa belajar dulu2 biasa bukak puasa kat studio, we took turns masak nasi & beli lauk. Masa belajar sekarang pun, kekadang bukak kat ofis jugak, kalau balik rumah pun tak ada housemates puasa.

First time berpuasa terlupa sahur (tahun ni).
Tahun ni.. tak de lak lupa, malas sahur tu ade la pasal tak rasa nak makan.

I'm not gonna tag anyone, feel free to do it if you want to.

killer beriani

Praises, praises and praises... and everyone looks so berselera having the Saturday buka puasa with the menu beriani +ayam madu+ kari dalca+ acar+cocktail jelly +muffin+sirap bandung. Everyone tersandar kenyang, including me.. and one mat salleh who joined us for iftar siap tergolek while trying to clean his plate. Dah makan bersila... agaknya dia kata, alang2 dah duduk, golek2 la terus.

I'm so glad that all 3 rice cookers of beriani + all lauk habis. Alhamdulillah, so glad everyone's satisfied with the iftar. I went home happy coz I loved it when people makan habis & enjoyed what I cooked with my friends.

An hour later I received a testimonial on Friendster for the briyani... walla!

but that was not the end....

The next morning I received text, and went on balas2 sms. (vodafone free texting on weekends!)
"kakUbi sakit perut tak?"
"tak, naper"
"saya kena crt brt, W, X, Y, Z pun sakit perut"
"ha? teruk ke?"
"berlari-lari jugak la pegi toilet"

So I went YMing others.. checking who's ok and who's not..
Half of us had diarrhea the next morning.
Thank God nobody needs to be rushed to clinic/ hospital.
My tummy was a little bloated that night, I thought it was normal because I had a little more than my normal portion.
I guess my tummy is little bit tougher.

Ya Ampuuuuunnnnn!!!
I apologize to all victims, I had no idea what actually caused the diarrhea.
Could be the frozen chicken nibble.

Ppl, get your health insurance ready the next time I cook, ok.

See, I really am a bad cook!

Moon fetish

Moon, moon, moon.. my full moon obsession again!

9.46p.m. I thought I was going to miss this full moon. It hid behind dark clouds but the reflected lights gave a magical display in the sky. My novice camera failed to capture the cloud formation, it came out dark. Night view setting or slow shutter mode could produce a better pic but I didn't have a tripod, my shaky hands just could not handle it.

9.58pm. The cloud finally dispersed for a few minutes before it went daaaaaarrrkkk again.

I hope I'll get the chance to see the full moon from Malaya next month.

Previous moon posts: here, here & here.

Geli girly

You Are 16% Girly

Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world. And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment.

How Girly Are You?

I can't sleep so I did this.
Not surprised with the results.

Girly girlie? GELI ok!

The instruction: "Check all that apply to you or that you agree with"

My answers/comments are in red

• You get manicures regularly. (No, I potong kuku sendiri, tak de masa nak file/buffing bagi kilat2, no I don't go to those nail salons... worse, my nails kuning kena kunyit!)
  
• There's no way you would ever go camping. (The opposite! I loooooooove camping! I tak geli pacat, ulat, cacing and I don't make big fuss if I get bitten by mosquitoes, so tropical rainforest is IN)
  
• You own at least five pairs of heels. (Heels? How high? I left all in Msia. I have pumps, but I donno how to walk in 3 inch stiletto. )
  
• You dye your hair. (Never!)
  
• You at least wear a little mascara or lip gloss to the gym. (Lip balm only! Never mascara)
  

• You own at least five skirts and five dresses. (I forgot how many of them.. all in Malaysia, so technically I don't wear them anymore)
  
• You have something pink in your room, car, and cube at work. (Only one pink scarf, and a pink duvet cover, I have no idea why I bought that pink duvet cover. Who said girls have to wear pink?)
  
• You love the Gilmore Girls.(This one, I agree!)
  
• You go shopping at least once a week (groceries don't count!) (I only do groceries-lah!)
  
• You have so many beauty products in your bathroom you can hardly find the sink.(Well, I have a lot on my dressing table but I don't use them, yes, jenis suka beli malas pakai!)
  

• You aren't athletic, unless you count yoga and pilates. (Agree, but I don't do pilates or yoga)
  
• You aren't ashamed of singing along to Britney Spears and Hilary Duff. (Duh!)
  
• You get very scared when watching horror movies. (Terkejut on some scenes, yes, but scared, NO. I have no problem watching horror movies alone.)
  
• You are a sucker for puppies, babies, and kittens.(OK, I'm a sucker for babies)
  
• You did gymnastics, ballet, or cheerleading as a little girl. (What??)
  

• You would never ever shop at Hot Topic.(I donno what's HotTopic, but I wear men's jeans!)
  
• You don't have many guy friends. (I have many, but now all are married, have to hang out with their wives la pulak)
  
• You love to read gossip magazines.(If there's one lying around, I pick em and read. I wont buy)
  
• You sometimes cry for no reason. (On my pre-MC days, yes, only when no one's looking)
  
• No matter what you weigh, you have the occasional day when you feel fat. (Not even once!)
  

• You like to be tan - whether it's fake or real. (Tan? muahahahaa... I just don't care, and I don't use whitening thingy either)
  
• You take care of your feet and toes all year round. (Take care means..? I use lotion if I remember to.. which is not so often)
  
• You own a ton of jewelry - bracelets, necklaces, and rings. (I buy them once in a while, most of the time they end up as gifts to others.)
  
• You often will wear more than one outfit in a day, if the mood strikes. (No, unless in Msia.. dah peluh-peluh kena la tukar baju)
  
• You practically have your cell phone attached to your ear. (No)
  

Ok, now I'm sleepy. Nite!

kempunan

I woke up on Sunday, the first day of NZ daylight saving with two things in mind- crabs and mussels. I am on monthly MC so tak boleh marah kalau pagi pagi I dah ingat pasal makan, ok. Slept a friend's place, got up early and made some risotto for her sahur, I pun konon-konon sahur jugak.

Green-lipped mussels

Mussel & mushroom tomyam (both pics taken last month)

I bought a huge bag of fresh green lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus), cousin of our local kupang (Perna viridis) for $5 at Sunday Market 2 weeks ago. It was damn cheap, I would have to pay more than $15 for the same amount in supermarts. The only difference is that they have cleaned the shells of the ones in supermarket, for the one from Sunday markert, I had to spend almost an hour brushing off barnacles and dirt. Anyway, yesterday at Sunday market, the truck and the guy who sold me the mussel a fortnight ago were nowhere in sight. There was an empty space on the spot where he laid a table with bags of mussels on it. Tak pegi kutip kupang ke hari ni bang? Kecewa saya. Oh for your info, ppl claim that these mussels contain high levels of glycosaminoglycan (saya bukan doktor, tak reti nak explain benda tu ape), useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. They are selling the extract in the form of capsuls for food supplement. I would say, dont take the capsuls lah, have the real thing, sedap weh!

After touring the whole site of sunday market and frustrated over the musselman no show, my friends and I headed to a fishshop. I toured and looked at the display.. Arghhhhhh! crap! NO CRAB!

Double kempunan in a day.