Recent Food Craze.

Tong Pak Fu's shaved ice.

Planet Popcorn.

YOU. MUST. TRY. THEM.

Eid 2011.

All set for raya :)

A family I call my own ♥

Khaisah was 2 months old.

A pinch of my family. Okay maybe not even a pinch.

1st, 2nd and 3rd generation.

In laws.

Raya in Johor.

Top by Mimpikita.

Khaisah with Mummy & Daddy's best friends - Aunty Nunu & Uncle Acad.

Khaisah with her Godmommas!

Better late (update) than never, yes?

So this year's raya was extra special. Guess you don't have to figure out why it is cause it's def a no brainer there. 

Khaisah. Simply Khaisah.

We (Hashley and I) were excited to get baju kurungs, baju kebayas, dresses, headbands, shoes for her. We in fact went out for shopping only for her cause clearly I didn't, except for the pre-tailor made attires which were not meant for raya but since they hadn't been worn, instantly became my raya outfits. Okay long sentence there but I believe you do understand what I was trying to say right? :)

Hashley bought all the dresses, leggings for Khaisah and I on the other hand got her those traditional clothes. Cute kan? With the heart-shaped and butterfly buttons etc I can't hardly resist! I ended up buying 4 in total. Kalau ikutkan hati nak beli semua. Haha. 

Since Khaisah was too small and my confinement period ended just around the corner, I didn't get to tempah matching baju kurungs for me and Khaisah just as yet. Perhaps insya Allah, next year we get to do that.

Anyways, this time we celebrated with the in laws since last year was my side's turn. We were in Johor for the second till the fourth day of raya, visiting quite a number of Hashley's relatives. It was good fun and I get to eat Mum's awesome laksa johor! And Alhamdulillah, Khaisah has been such a wonderful baby that she only cries when she wants milk or when her diapers is wet/she did her poopoo. She was just sleeping on the way to Johor and the same on the way back to KL. 

To my baby,

This was your first raya and I hope we get to do this forever more, Khaisah. I can't wait to dress you up for the next raya! :) 

Love you endlessly.
Mummy (and Daddy too!)

Le petit déjeuner à Levain.

And so finally I set foot for breakfast at Levain, Boulangerie & Patisserie yesterday with Hashley, mom, aunty and cousin.

We arrived at 11 and boy oh boy the place was jam packed! I never knew a pastry shop (more like a pastry bungalow) can be this full! The queue was massively long, right up to the entrance door. Had I have known this, I would have gone earlier than 11 cause apparently they open as early as 730 am.


There were plentiful of pastries, sandwiches, cookies, jams, cakes - you name it. They're all there. But when I was selecting mine, quarter of the trays were empty! So it was more of what you see is what you get and what you get, just grab it before someone else takes it. Hehe.


Therefore, these were what we had for our hearty breakfast. A tray full of sweet and savoury pastries. I have always loved croissants so that's a must try. Went to the cakes & macarons section only to find that the only flavours available were green tea, durian and ONE piece left in Ghana chocolate! Uwaaaaaaaa. I wanted to try everything else but to no avail. Boo! But that Ghana chocolate macaron was delish! It was so tasty and I'm actually salivating while typing here. Lol.


Surprisingly, all of their pastries including meals & drinks are reasonably priced. I thought these pastries were going to cost me a bomb each but in average, each ranged about 3-5 bucks. For this sorta kinda place, safe to say that it won't burn your pocket (unless you decide to eat 2 trays all by yourself hehe)

So for pastry lovers like me, you should go to Levain and give yourself an off-calorie treat day! I can assure you that it's worth the sacrifice and of course, long queue hehe!

No, Not The Bridal Shower Yet. Lol.

Our second last meet up with Fara before she left for Belfast. Of course I brought them to Fat Spoon hehe. I ordered the Moo Moo Burger this time and boyy, it was yummeyh!

Spicy beef macaroni soup. Sedap.
Moo Moo Burger.
Ems hehehe
My fav Fat Hot Chocolate :)

Fat Spoon.

It's been a couple of months since I heard about Fat Spoon. In fact, I always pass by this place on the way home from Damansara Toll but never made it there, yet.

And so I set foot last Friday with Pam and Nurul for dinner. We three ordered the same thing which was the Spicy Beef Macaroni Soup (always my fav dish which Bibik cook for me at home) It was tasty, spicy to my liking (which is not too spicy) and suffice to say the portion was adequate for my tummy (which is a lot hee). After the dish, we ordered a slice of their red velvet cake and I ordered the Fat Hot Chocolate that people have been gushing about.

Guess what? Rasa nak cry sedap sangattttttttttttttttttttttttt.

I kid you not that this is one of the best hot chocolate in the whole of KL. Beat that! Now I know where to go whenever I need my choco fix. Oh I am super happy, wait, beyond super happy!

So since Hashley and I were on leave, yesterday got me there again cause I was craving for the Fat Hot Choco! This time, I dragged my husband to come along and he ordered the Nyonya Popiah and Iced Chocolate with ice cream and I tried their homemade chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream besides the hot chocolate.

Ratings? 5 stars baby!

I'll be going there every now and then I believe. Don't be surprised to see me there again and again and again and again haha!

Hubby's 26th on 26th.

On 26th February was Hashley's 26th birthday. This time around we celebrated at Carnaval Churasscaria at Damansara Jaya with both sides of the family - along with two little darling nephew and niece of ours. We decided to try out the Brazilian buffet which I pretty much heard that it was all meaty and nothing else and it was perfect for Hashley's taste cause he's one helluva meat eater! They serve lamb, ginger beef, rolled beef, beef this, beef that and so much more! The buffet was about RM50 ish per person and I reckon you should really go with a hungry tummy. Not only that they serve meat dishes, their buffet selection included Malay dishes (lauk-lauk), Chinese Fried Rice, Mango salad and salads itself.

I didn't take pictures as to how the food was served cause I practically was busy eating and entertaining Zabran and Zara. To sum up, basically you just have to sit and wait for the waiters to serve you the dishes available for the night. For example, the first waiter will come and ask if you'd like to have the lamb and you'll say yes. They cut a slice for you and put it on your plate. Then the next waiter comes but this time, he'll be serving the ginger beef and again, your take to consume that or otherwise. It's entirely your choice whether to eat them all or eat a portion/selection of the meat but for a first timer like me, I suggest you should give everything a shot cause you'll never know how good or bad a meal is till you try it out yourself, yes?

My take would be the ginger beef, lamb, sausages, garlic bread, salad and chinese fried rice. For small eater like my mom, she finds the place serves good food but too much for her liking. But for my husband, it's the total opposite. He loved it! He ate them all, maybe double dose of everything! I'm glad that he liked it cause it was for him and it was his exception night hehe. I have been making him stay away from meat for a month so this particular night was a treat for his tummy :)

So for you food hunters like me, do check them out. Apparently the restaurant's been there over 7 years but I only got to know of it since last year. Must read food blogs more often lah like this.

Happy bday again Sayang, I love you always ♥

Yang excited lebih is them. Hehe. So cute kan.

Vegetarians should really stay away from this place or else they'll end up going all frantic and crazy mad :D

Moist Chocolate Cake.

I did it! Double layer moist chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate ganache! *jumps of joy*

Last night we went to Lala Chong, Ara Damansara for my best friends' bday dinner. Usually, we'd go to fancy places but Dot (of PLT) and I decided that we should venture out and go for something simple albeit with very good food so we were torn between two - Fatty Crab or Lala Chong. Since Lala Chong offers more option as compared to the former, we decided on Chong's.

If you've been there, tell me that you go back with a hugeeeee and happy tummy cause I know I sure did :) We ordered lala masak sup with cili padi, fried kailan, chicken with spicy lemon sauce, another type of chicken dish, crab (alamak, I don't remember what was the exact name) and not forgetting the sole reason of why I love coming to Lala Chong - the fried man tao! It's really good, I can bet you on this.

Anyways, instead of buying them a cake and/or presents, I decided to bake a cake for them. This time, I finally tried to make chocolate cake. All this while, I always have this feeling that it's not that easy to bake chocolate cake - being that the ingredients are quite a number and people's expectation of a chocolate cake is that it MUST be good. But with a bismillah, I faced the challenge! I was anxious at the fact that the cake is actually for someone, or rather some people so of course lah nervous gila.

So when the time for cake cutting came, I was already being all apologetic and putting up my disclaimers etc but ... they loved it! They even complimented that it tasted like the reputed Jenny Hong's moist chocolate cake. Boyy, I was relieved or what! Hehe. Legaaaaa! I must thank all of the people who gave me the baking tips cause this time I really did it according to the mistakes I've learned and the tips I received. Thanks dears!

I'm now a more confident bakerella in the making and in fact, mom said .. "If you're really serious in baking, I'd get the Kitchen Aid mixer for you." OMG GILA TAK NAK SERIOUS? "Serious ma? Serious, serious! Nak pleaseeeee!" Hopefully this hobby will make a good outcome for me, insya Allah. Maybe I'll try baking cheesecake or red velvet cake next. So many recipes to try out but I believe that we have to master the basics first then venture into a more advanced level :) Wish me luck!

And to Nurul and Sakinah, happy 26th birthday again. May Allah shower you with His Grace and may you achieve success in everything that you do. Love you both xx

Spaghetti Bolognese.

C'mon, I can't just be baking and not cooking right?

Hence, not so recently - in fact before all the baking hype started, I cooked spaghetti bolognese for my family - my own and in laws. It was one of the days that I was on medical leave but I felt like eating spags for dinner that I asked my husband to get all the stuff for me to cook.

As he got back from work, I began cooking. Well, this type of bolognese is not your typical spaghetti bolognese that you eat at the restaurants but rather, it is a family own recipe. I don't use oregano or that range of spices but instead I just used tomatoes, chilly and tomato sauces, tomato puree, tomato soup, chilly powder, a little bit of salt, added with celery, carrots, button mushrooms, and sprinkled cheese in the gravy. Not forgetting, the whole load of mince meat (this isn't the proper recipe guys).

Once it was ready, I served them hot, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and voila! Bon appetit!

Now, did I just strike your hunger pang hard? Peace!

* But I should really get started with Malay dishes. Bibik nak balik dah! Uwaa!

Butter Cake.

Right. I know I said I was going to write about me in the next post (i.e. this post) but I have so much to share that I decided to kiv that and write about something else here.

This might bore you non-food lovers but just to tell you that I did bake the butter cake I told you about!

Honestly speaking, the cake was awesome! Not to brag or anything but the taste was absolutely right - sweet enough to tickle your taste buds, it was fluffy and moist. Though the cake cracked again (yes, I know I wasn't supposed to pour the entire batter into the tin and have learned my lesson to lower the temperature once the batter is in the oven), it didn't ruin the taste.

So to cover up the cake a lil - since I didn't quite like the brown top, I dusted icing sugar and voila, my very own butter cake!

I can't wait for my next baking session. I intend to make either moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache or victoria sandwich.

If you have any baking tips, do let me know! I'm more than happy to hear some! xx

Banana Cake.

So last week I checked off one item on the baking list. I baked banana cake!

Not to boast or anything but I think it tasted quite good *phew* (although the cake cracked much). My cousin and husband - being huge fans of banana cakes, became my very own food critiques and they too confirmed to what I tasted. It was "sedappp" as said by them. In fact, Hashley ate most of it. Hehe. Thanks for being such a good sport Say :)

Maybe I'll try to bake butter cake next. Once I've mastered this, cupcakes will follow suit. Wee.

Signing off,

Bakerella :p

Hadramawt.

Nothing beats a last minute dinner plan with amazing food and great company. Thanks Nurul and Arsh for the *cough*overdued*cough* treat to Hadramawt hehe. I had lamb haneeth, quoting the menu: "tender and juicy lamb wrapped in aluminium foil, slowly cooked under charcoal stove. Served with mendy rice and chilli sauce." We also shared the hadramawt mixed appetizer (1st picture) apart from our own dishes. Alhamdulillah, my tummy was filled to the brim that night :) By far, the best yemeni food I've tasted.

Bday Open House.

Remember when I said I wanted a birthday party with a candy buffet/dessert table?

Guess what? I got it! Yays!

And so I had a small open house/housewarming/belated bday do (with the dessert table *clap clap*) at my mom's new place last night. It was kind of last minute to the extent of inviting people at the 11th hour whilst running errands from 10am to 5pm collecting cakes etc and preparing the place from 5-630pm. Guests started coming as early as 7 and I was still in the shower, but thank god for having a good host/friendly husband, he managed them well :) The whole deco was done by myself. Got those labels made by Alin. Thank you dear! It's exactly like what I imagined.

White eustomas, fresh baby blue hydrangeas and artificial pink hydrangeas (recycled from my wedding, remember?) for dessert table deco.

Blue on yellow checks table cloth.

Wedding centerpiece recycled. Hehe. Those leaves were left over hydrangea leaves.

Pink on white.

Buffet table deco.

Menu that night: Spaghetti bolognese, garlic bread, roti jala and kuah kari ayam, potato salad (thanks mel and haiks!) and fruit punch.

My very own dessert table! Don't you just love it? :))

Red velvet cake, macaroons, moist chocolate cake, red velvet cupcake with chocolate ganache, milk chocolates and rainbow birthday cake (thanks mom!)

Cindy, Shanee (and Aril) hehe

Thanks for the potato salad guys! *love*

Triplets. Agus (7th Sept), Ija and I (6th) :)

Thanks for the bday props Alin!

Nadine, Zehan, Nurul, myself and Sufiz.

Reena (Suri bukan nama sebenar? haha) Evana, Syazna and Fel.

Jo (brother in law - 16th Sept), Ija and I celebratin' lol (rugi Agus balik awal)

Sherry, Nurule and Tt *UiTM dihatiku hehe*

Ija, Reena and Faiza. Suri, asal happy sangat? Hehehe.

Nadine and Zehan. Aimi m.i.a.

The "mafia" boys (we go wayyy back) hehe. Adam, Aizat, Alan, Hafiz and Aizat. Haz m.i.a.

Hilmy, Reza and Jo.

Sha, Dot and Didi.

Nice picture of Faiza and Nurul (my best friend) kan?

Nurul, Sha, Didi and Fara.

It was a nice makan-makan since the people who came were the old and new friends I had been close ever since and those that really matter to me. In fact these people stayed on through out the night and some chilled out till late, giving each other ample of time to catch up. Thanks to Arsh and Nurul for stayin over to help me clean up the after party mess *hugs*

Above all, thanks Sayy for being an awesome co-organizer! Couldn't have been this much of fun without you :)

*Of course, thanks to mom for the cake and canopy, bibik for cooking, bakhtiar for everything!