Teaser

I have been away for a while unintentionally. Life just got really busy. My family visited me from Singapore for two weeks so I was busy before, during and after the visit. Back to work for a little while then our anniversary came around and we went away for a quickie in Melbourne. I'm finally on school holidays but I'm still very exhausted and a bit sick. Stomach's been playing up from eating too much take away and sinuses are sore from the ever changing weather.

But I am getting better and over the next few weeks of my school holidays, I will catch up with my blogging and post regularly. Below is what I plan to blog about:

1. Knitting with wire
2. Family holiday
   
3. Trip to Melbourne
4. Knitted dishcloths
5. Christmas
6. New Year
   
7. Vegetable garden update

So my apologies for disappearing but do stay tuned!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Another Eid spent away from Singapore. It was hard leading up to it. When my friends and family in Singapore were busy with Hari Raya preparations, I was doing nothing. I wasn't even sure I was going to cook a big meal for it. I was feeling too low and lacked the energy.

But on the last morning of Ramadan, I threw all caution to the wind and rang up my close colleagues and invited them over for lunch the next day. I had not prepared a single thing so it was a mad dash to the shop and non-stop cooking till lunch the next day. I did manage to catch 6 hours sleep in between.


As usual it was well worth the effort. The Florentine Biscuits I baked were a HUGE hit. You can watch the video on how to make it here or get yourself the November issue of Better Homes & Garden.

I also baked Marble Cake using this recipe. I omitted the icing and the fine breadcrumbs. I found that the colours did not swirl as much as I wanted and I think it's because I used a ring tin. It was a little ackward to swirl around the tin. But nonetheless, it was moist and just sweet enough. I've forgotten how much I loved them growing up. No doubt I'll be trying other marble cake recipes.

And for the very first time, I baked vegan cupcakes! Specifically, Vegan Lychee Cupcake from the 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World' cookbook. Richard loved how moist it turned out and the subtle lychee flavour but I couldn't stand the flaxseed smell. I think it just needs some getting used to but I'm willing to give another go at making vegan cupcakes.



And I also cooked a proper lunch meal of lemon rice, tandoori chicken, satay chicken and sayur lodeh. I didn't take any photos of the lunch this year. I was too hungry and forgot! I will make the lemon rice again and post the recipe. It was also published in the Berita Harian together with the tandoori chicken recipe. But it needs a little modification before I post it.

PLUS, I made ice cream for the first time -Roasted Coconut Ice Cream! The recipe is from 'The Cooking of Malaysia & Singapore' cookbook. Again, I didn't take any photos. Sorry! Anyway, the ice cream was not as creamy as I hoped. I think I made an error while cooking it. My colleagues loved it though and was very appreciative of all my efforts.

I had a really good day with them all. It was much better than last year's Eid celebrations. I felt they understood the importance of it to me as they saw me fast for a month in school. And they've asked a lot of questions to better understand my religious beliefs and they were not judgemental towards me. It is hard for non-Muslims to understand why we fast and celebrate Aidilfitri. But I'm glad they got to share the entire experience with me this year. Alhamdulillah.

Cake Wrecks

I was recommended Cake Wrecks by another blogger and it's one of the funniest websites out there! Even made Richard laughed looking at some of the tragic cakes! Anyway, this video was posted on Cake Wrecks and I thought I'll share it with you. I've been feeling like I need to laugh more and this one is pretty funny!

Splinters & God

I'm diverting from the regular craft post to share with you a touching moment I had at work today. As some of you know, I'm a Teacher's Aide at a local high school. Today I was in Scripture with a year 7 class. The Scripture teacher, Scott, is a very passionate, down-to-earth, young surfie and he said some things today which really moved me. I am a Muslim and I think it doesn't matter which higher power you pray to, the message in this story applies to everyone.

Scott prays to God every morning and asks Him how he can show his students how much God loves them all. This morning he did the same thing and as he held his hand up, he saw a splinter. He then realised how significant that splinter was. He shared with the class, whilst on his knees in the middle of the group, that splinters are like hurtful words that people say to all of us. They get stuck under our skin and they hurt. Sometimes we forget about the splinters and they get infected. Just like how in life, we forget about those hurtful words until an experience reminds us of them.

The splinters hurt us and cause us much pain. Similarly, the constant put-downs, criticisms and insults festers in our minds and we slowly start believing them. We get depressed and think that we are just not good enough for anyone to love us. This pain, like the splinters, will continue to hurt us until they're removed.

He then invited students who share this pain to kneel down with him and pray to God together. He said, "God, I give you this pain! Take these words that hurt me! Show me how much I am really worth. Show me how much you really love me. Show me how much I deserve to be loved..."

I was deeply moved. I thought that his analogy of the splinters and the criticisms was just spot on. I never thought of it that way and then to release them to God, to surrender it to him, was just so... simple. Psychology books tell me to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Others say to forgive the people that have hurt me. It felt like a big weight on my shoulders as I struggle to shift my mind into a happier place.

Instead, I was enlightened today by simply saying, "God, I give you this pain! Show me how much I am really worth." I invite you to do the same.

Santa's Counterstrike!

This post has moved to:

http://salihan.com/2008/02/santas-counterstrike/

I was tagged!

When I first read about tagging, I thought to myself, "I hope that doesn't happen to me. I would hate to tell the world seven things about me." Now that Robyn has tagged me, I feel rather different about it all. I feel really proud that someone's reading my blog and now actually tagging me! Ok, so here it is.

SEVEN THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I have a boy's name. There was a misunderstanding between my grandfather who named me and my parents who had to fill out the birth certificate forms. My name should be Saleha, instead of Salihan. I like Salihan a lot better!
   
   
2. I used to really hate vegetables to the point where my brother dared me to eat a piece of lettuce at a restaurant, in front of a few people, and I just couldn't do it. I was so stressed and embarassed, I cried! I was in my 20s by the way! I eat my veges now.
   
   
3. I married my internet boyfriend. :) Best decision I've ever made in my life. Now I just have to teach him to speak my mother-tongue, Malay.
   
   
4. This one is a little autistic. I must be on the left side of the person when walking, sitting or talking to them. I feel really uncomfortable to hold a conversation with someone on my left side. I would even swap seats to rectify this!
   
   
5. I have a fear of falling over the edge to the point where I get anxious playing computer games that needs me to jump from one mid-air platform to another.
   
   
6. In my teens, I lived on ice-cream just because I was too lazy to cook something for myself. I have learnt that sultanas, nutella, peanut butter and chocolate biscuits goes well with ice-cream. And if you scoop this on a piece of bread, it is rather filling.
   
   
7. I refuse to wash the dishes. I hate putting my hands in dirty water and scrubbing gunk off pots. I will do them if I have to, like when Richard is sick, but I'll have to wear gloves and do it regularly so the food doesn't cement itself to them.

SEVEN PEOPLE I'M TAGGING:

1. Teresa at Butt Naked Baby
2. Jolene at Inoriz
3. Mike at Mike's Lalaland
4. Wati at World of Wati
5. Hannah at Bittersweet
6. Lulu at Knitology
   
7. Claire at Falling Up

THE RULES:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Happy 24th, James!

James, my brother-in-law, turned 24 today and Mum invited us over for lunch. And as usual, the two brothers goofed off. I just love their sense of humour!



And you can't have a birthday without good food, especially homemade luminous green ones!


I chipped in and made almond agar dessert with fruit salad. I used a packet of agar mix and it was ready to eat in one hour! I didn't used to like the strong flavour of almond agar but I really got into this!

Click here for more birthday photos

Australia Day 2008 @ Woy Woy

We walked to the waterfront last night to check out the Australia Day celebrations and boy, were we glad we did! I had a really good time watching the live band perform and they really set the mood for the entire night.


This is a short video of the '5 Lands Band' who performed. They gave me goosebumps! They were THAT good! Such an electrifying performance!


Lantern-making classes were held all week and the handmade lanterns were proudly marched down Brickwharf Road. Such a beautiful display of creativity!


And of course, the fireworks!

Click here for more Australia Day 2008 photos

Photogenic

We went to Simon and Meg's for dinner last night. Kyle and Linda brought their cute baby son, Ewan, along and I had lots of fun photographing him. He just kept staring into the camera when I pointed it at him! But it still wasn't easy capturing a bouncing baby boy!

I'm a tinge disappointed at how the photos turned out. The Panasonic Lumix camera is crap at low light. I hate using the flash but I just have to put my pride aside from now on and use the flash more often indoors. I'd rather capture the shot then worry about colours!

Warning! Cute baby photos ahead!

With flash:


Without flash:


P.S. Dinner was very nice, Simon, especially the panna cotta.

"Make My Logo Bigger!"

One of my ex-art directors, Mike, blogged about this very funny website: http://www.makemylogobiggercream.com/

"We always hear this from clients. "Make my logo bigger. I need my logo bigger. I pay so much money and you make my logo so small!" Finally, someone invented something to make everyone happy." - Mike

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve fixing things up around the house. I oiled the sun damaged outdoor chairs and Richard was putting up shelf brackets in the garage. It may not be exciting for New Year's Eve but it sure was rewarding! We spent the rest of the night having a big long chat on the front patio till the fireworks came on at midnight. It was a sweet, romantic and simple New Year's Eve. Just the way I like it.

Flowers

Richard went out for a walk around the block and he came home with the sweetest bunch of flowers! He picked them along the way and arranged them into this sweet little bundle of love. He knew I was feeling a bit down that day and the flowers sure brought a smile to my face. *smiles*

Red Bull Gives You Wings...

Except at a red light!

Boxing Day

Boxing Day was different this year. We had it at Emma's, instead of Dad's. Dad was nice to have provided all the food and drinks for us. It was a lot of hard work on his part to have to move his entire roast lunch to Emma's and I do appreciate all the effort he's put in. And he gave us all an awesome picnic hamper too! Thanks Dad!

Click here for more Boxing Day photos

Christmas Lunch @ Mum's

The temperature was unusually cool today and I think it made a big difference on how the lunch went. Everyone seemed more comfortable and relaxed. As you can see from the photos below, everyone got a little bit silly too!

Click here for "normal" Christmas Day photos

Plus, this year's presents were heaps good too. Mum bought Emma and us a Wollemi Pine each, which Richard had wanted for a long time. And Emma made us all yummy fudge. They were gone before we even left mum's! James got Richard a soldering iron which he had needed for a while now. So it was an all round good day!

Kevin07 on Christmas Eve

No, it's not Kevin Rudd. But Uncle Kevin whom we have not seen in 2 years. He dropped by Dad's place for Christmas Eve and as usual, it was a very pleasant experience. You look at Kevin and you probably think that he is scary. He has a mullet and a big beard for heaven's sake! But he is one of the most soft spoken, easy going man I've ever met. He drives a super fast jet boat and he is currently 8th fastest in Australia. I've been on his "slower" boat and I almost spewed. He wasn't even revving it full ball! But he sure gave my brothers and I a very memorable experience!

Synchronised Christmas Lights

This is sooooo COOOLLL!!! *hail Grodq*

To All Muslims

Selamat Hari Raya Haji
May all Muslims doing the pilgrimage in Mecca return home safely to loved ones. Insya-Allah.

To my gorgeous hubby, R

Happy 3rd Anniversay! I can't believe it's been 3 years already. My life has completely changed since you've entered my life. Thank you for being the best husband a woman can ever ask for. You're just perfect for me. Love you so much!

Anti-War, Pro-Art

My 14 year old bro, Hakiim, introduced me to the OBEY site. The posters with it's anti-war messages are right up my alley. Have a look here! Respect to the young lad who showed this to me.