Way Too Much Food!

Ok, the hubby arrived home safely. Alhamdulillah, lugging with him, along with the usual bits and pieces, about like 20 kg of food alone!

There were like half a talam of lamb mandi, chicken rice (my personal fave), deserts - kunafah and taromba. Plus all the food my mum bought as well for the doa selamat - kelupis udang, daging, baked cheesy potato skins, cheese cake, curry puffs, malay kuehs; talam ubi, rangin etc, etc. Plus sedekah food from my aunt, I had the pandan chicken, then my brother's in-laws were having a barbeque that evening, so more food delivered to the house; grilled squid, BBQ chicken wings, fried rice, beef tongue stew, prawns etc, etc. Rezeki....Oh boy! I think I ate enough food for two days! But it was lovely, so I refuse to feel guilty about it! Hehehhe!

Anyway, safe to say, I decided against getting that mango strudel. Wasn't enough space in the fridge anyway after the onslaught of food. Masya-Allah, kalau di bagi arah orang miskin, banyak lagi faedahnya.. Alhamdulillah.. you always pray dimurahkan rezeki, this is one prayer that was answered. Amin..semoga berkekalan.

New Year's Resolution - lose weight? Nah!

Retail Therapy?

Obviously not me...

Received following SMS from Sis around 5.30am today, but still managed to read it in my barely conscious state;

'Today was Boxing Day Sale...got u STUFF! Bought u purple strappy heels wit diamantes n matching bag, n silver heels wit diamante brooch'. Heeeheeeeheee! *extreme glee*

Aren't I lucky to have a shopaholic sister who has 2 incomes! Everytime anyone comes home from UK, she'll always have sumthin for me. And that's not even my mum yet! There's always tops, bags, shoes and when I request it, food! Hehehhe! So, I'll probably get hold of the STUFF in March or April when my parents fly back to Brunei. Plus STUFF she also got me from her work trip across the pond to Washington, Boston and LA last week. Bliss!

Anyhoo, I have been posting regularly this past week. That's cos I've been staying away from the gym! Heheh! Bukan apa, I think the whole country's received thier annual bonus this month, cos this is the first time government servants have received their bonuses the same month as most private sectors. So, not wanting to risk not getting any parking spots at The Mall, thought I'd just stay home this week. Hopefully, I'll get fired up about going back to the gym next week, especially since hubby is flying back from Haj tomorrow afternoon.

Speaking of which, really must remember to get him that whole slab of mango strudel from FDL tomorrow lunchtime.

BONUS!!

Yup! Got me bonus today! *glee*

That's the most I've earned in one paycheque since, what? 2002!! Wow... has been a long time indeed. Nobody got their bonus when I was still with BT last year. Bummer!

Ach! But what to spend my moolah on huh? Lunch? Dinner? Definitely short on my daily essentials... must go around The Mall sometimes too.. shoes? I'm sure all the good ones have been snapped up by now. Definitely need to get birthday presents for January and February..

Tsk! Tsk! Shopping really is stressful for me most times...mainly cos I can never find anything that fits, within budget, my colour, my style etc. etc....

Well, hubby's gonna be back from Haj day after tomorrow. Definitely gonna get him a whole slab of his favourite Mango Strudel from Fleur De Lys. Then lunch on Sunday? We'll see....

Three Wishes

Here's another clip of the 2 set to my new fave song by The Pierces.
Loving it! Episode 11 is already available! So watching it now!

My Latest Obsession

Yes! I am officially hooked on GOSSIP GIRL!! Tee hee!
Check out my fave scene with my new fave couple... Chuck and Blair! Who cares about whiny Meredith Grey and Can't Make Up His Mind McBoring!
Can't get enough of this series!

I Effing Love The F Word

Ok, I think Gordon Ramsay has just moved up the scale on my top chef meter. First time I watched him on Hell's Kitchen, I thought he was an angry, conceited, typical chauvinistic chef who thought way too much of himself...and all the swearing just got on my nerves.

But his other show is just so cool. It's real funny, it has interesting and unique topics and I like that they show the more human side of him especially when he's around his kids... awwwww... real heart warming. Not such a w****r after all, and all the swearing actually brings back memories of my time studying in the UK, I mean it's just all so typically British. It's more a jokey type of swearing here, Hell's Kitchen was definitely just angry swearing, more to impress the US audience really.

Anyhoo, talking about cooking and kids, had my review with the doctor this morning. Talked about finally baking that bun in my oven, heheheheh! Blood results definitely look good. Hb is keeping strong at 13, Urea and Creatinine are well within range, BP 110/70. So got the go ahead, minor changes to my meds, and next review has been brought to next month. Doc says I will need to come in more regularly, maybe every month now, instead of the 3 monthly I've gotten used to and probably every 2 weeks around the last trimester, as my uterus grows, it'll be pressing against the ureter, so will need to keep a closer eye on my kidney function. Oh boy, guess it's back to being 'best friends' with the needle again then.....yecchhh!

Kinda excited actually! Hehhehehe! Don't know how to break the good news to hubby yet. A bit scared too....really hope everything will go well. Realistically, this will definitely be a high risk pregnancy. Expecting hypertension to set in, but doctor in Singapore has already advised on which med to be put on. Crikey! I'm really nervous now as I am writing this...Hoping to start blogging regularly once we start our 'baby project', I want to document as much as possible...

After my New Lease on Life 3 years ago, it's high time to start a whole new life! The perfect expression of how our 2 shared kidneys will create another human being...Insya-Allah.....

Looks Ominous...

Looks like rain again....Contemplating whether to go to the gym tonight. Especially after getting stuck in the floods on my way home last night! Seriously! I've never taken such a long time to reach home on the same 'supposed to reach home in 10 minutes' route! I must've left the Mall before 8.30pm and only reached home around 9 pm.

Everyone was driving really slowly, saw a few cars stuck in the middle of the road, one car smoking whilst the driver kept stepping on the accelerator and the car not budging, a few cars reversing when they realised the road in front was just in too deep. I just kept following this car in front of me whilst we made numerous detours, but finally got stuck on the road leading from STPRI to St. Andrews. I was shaking a bit, but managed to not panic, since my dinky car was on relatively dry land. So I just parked my car and waited with everyone else, for the rain to stop and hopefully the water to recede soon. Felt a bit better when I noticed there were kids in the next car, don't know why, but, I guess we all felt we were in the dilemma together and gave each other silent support.

Unfortunately, this inconsiderate fool behind me just keep beaming his highlights every so often, almost made me blind, stupid A-hole! How the bloody hell is anyone supposed to move idiot! Obviously the cars in front don't dare drive through the god knows how deep the 'puddle' is in front of them. Then he resorted to blaring his horn. God damn it! Then everyone started reversing as it seemed the water on the road between SOAS and SMJA had receded slightly, so decided to do the same, but big bully driver in 'ok, so he is driving a 4 wheel monster' decided to show his balls and just drive through. (Huh! Good luck buddy! oklah.. I'm sure he made it through, but us mere mortals in normal height cars didn't want to risk it ok!!)

However, driving through the SOAS/SMJA road wasn't as easy as I thought, it was actually quite deep still, felt the water beneath my car, prayed to god my car wouldn't die on me, or float away or whatever, felt as if I was in a motorboat or something cos I can only see water! and waves! from cars coming from the opposite lane. Then the car in front braked a bit too quickly, to avoid water gushing out from this huge hole(?)on the road! Stepped on my brakes, but felt the car sliding instead, thought I was gonna hit the car in front! But luckily, managed to stop just in time. Only when I got on the road leading to the gas station did I feel relieved. Omigawd! What a drive!

And, oh yeah... skipping the gym tonight. It's pouring.

Happy Birthday Kidney!

3 years today... and still going strong....
Blood test Monday...
But, first, celebration tomorrow!

Bread and Butter Pudding

Ingredients :
Butter for greasing
4 thin slices of bread (100g/4oz)
25g/1oz butter
50g/2oz sultanas or currants
A pinch of ground nutmeg or cinamon
400ml milk
2 eggs
25g/1oz granulated sugar

Recipe :
*Allow finished pudding to stand for 30 minutes before baking*

1- Grease a 1 litre (1 3/4pint) pie dish.

2- Cut crusts off bread, and spread with plenty of butter, then cut into squares or triangles.

3- Arrange a layer of bread, buttered side up, in the bottom of the dish, then alternate with currants/sultanas until your have used all the bread.

4- Sprinkle each layer with nutmeg or cinnamon, to taste.

5- Finish with a layer of bread, arranged attractively, then put to one side.

6- Gently warm the milk to 65°C/150°F, DO NOT allow to boil.

7- Put eggs in a bowl, add most of sugar, then beat with a fork and stir in warm milk.

8- Strain custard mixture over bread, sprinkle with nutmeg and remaining sugar and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

9- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

10- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until custard sets and top has browned.

'Diet' Brownies

Ingredients :
170 g dark chocolate
4 egg whites
160 g sugar
120 ml water
1 teaspoon powdered vanilla, or vanilla essence
160 g self-raising flour

Recipe :
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt slowly in a bowl over boiling water.
Mix the egg whites, vanilla and melted chocolate.
Add the sugar and flour.
Pour the mixture into a greased brownie tin, lined with greaseproof paper.
Cook in a medium oven for 20 minutes.
Leave to cool for a couple of minutes once out of the oven and cut into squares.

Advice :
110 calories per 100g