Oreo Cheese Balls & Pops

As I making an order for a friend, my son who was not fasting, kept nagging me. He wanted to know whether he could have some of the cake pops I was making on the kitchen counter. As this was my first ever order of cake pops, I couldn't really estimate the exact amount of raw ingredients to get the exact amount of pops ordered.

Fortunately, the mixture was just enough to make the whole order. Pheww.. but the ufortunate part was that there were no more left for us at home. So, I kept telling my son that he had to wait until I was finished with everything else. Poor Husayn.

As I didn't want to re-start the whole process one more time i.e. baking the cake, making the crumbs, mixing the frosting, freezing and so on, I came out with and idea that didn't involve the baking process. Thanks again to Bakerella for the idea. As I always keep a few packets of Oreo cookies as well as Philadelphia cream cheese constantly stocked at home, I used these ingredients to make cheese balls and pop. But not any ordinary cheese balls/pops, Oreo Cheese Balls and Pops.

Seriously, we just couldn't get enough of those things and to be honest I love these Oreo Cheese Balls and Pops more than the normal cake pops I had just made. I coated them with nice white chocolate (try to buy pure white chocolate instead of merely the flavoured one - spend a bit more to get a nicer taste). Mmmmmm...it's so yummy. You should give it a try.

So, anyone in Dublin interested in ordering these yummy balls and pops? Give me a shout. You won't regret it!

My Cake Pops for Sale!

Last week, I  got a phone call from a friend saying another of our friends wanted to order cake pop for her son's farewell party. Minutes later, the friend in question actually called me. After negotiating on a few things, I happily agreed to do it. As this is only  my second time (first one was for my own son's birthday party) making cake pops, nervously but proudly today, I managed to complete the task.

As she didn't have any specific preference for the cake pops I came up with this idea. Not bad, huh? Hehehe... I certainly think so. The last time I did it, I left the packaging part to my sister and her friend. I didn't know it could be this renyah and time consuming. Arghh.. but a promise is still a promise especially when its an actual business transaction. Even though I'm not that much of an arty type of person, I can safely say that I'm happy with the outcome of the decorating part.

The day before yesterday, the same friend called me again and made a last minute order of cup cakes for her friend's birthday party. As she knew I could make cuppies too, she asked me to do her a favour and make her 20 or so cuppies (yesterday). I thought of Never Saying No as a life motto and said yes. Again, she asked me choose the colours and decorations myself. To be honest, I am no too good at this. I love to play with colours but for the design, I'd be limited to something like this.

As this is an experiment of sorts, I gave her some complimentary cupcake balls as she is officially my first customer.

I should  do this seriously as I have no proper job at the moment.  So, anyone out there living in Dublin interested in ordering? Let me know. I am taking orders from now on. Prices are negotiable and can be discussed.

Thank you and wish me luck!

Secret Project!

Today, right after Husayn had a shower, he went straight to the cupboard and chose his own clothes. He chose this - a very old t-shirt which personally, I wouldn't have him wear anymore as it was a bit faded and tatty-looking. So, at first, I wanted to ask him to chage but then...

He just looked at me and said

But Mummy, Nadeen has this same t-shirt. Like this.

I guess he still misses his little friend.

Anyway, I'm so tired these past few days. You see, I've been busy working on my secret project... Ssshhhhh...don't tell anyone. If  things go well enough,  I'll let you guys know. But if not, I'll write about it anyway, some time soon. Thanks for reading. Hehe. Whatever it is, I hope everything will go as smoothly as planned. Plus, I'm all excited even though I'm very, very tired. Till then, just enjoy this video...

Bowling for the First Time

Back home in Malaysia when I was in college, I used to go bowling with my friends. I'm no expert but I like it. My husband went to the same college as me, but some reason he has never tried it before. Even when we moved to Ireland, there were a few times where I tried to persuade him to go bowling but he still refused.

Well, like the saying goes, there's always a first time for everything. A few weeks before Ramadhan, a friend of ours celebrated their daughter's birthday. To move away from the boring old kiddie parties, they had this party at a nearby Leisureplex with bowling included (among other things) as one of the events for kids and for Daddies too. Yup, only for kids and their Daddies. Mummes had to look after the smaller kids and the others.

How unfair and I was clear about this when I told my friend but it's fine for me as my kids had been begging us for ages to go to this place and go bowling. So, when the opportunity came along, I immediately RSVPed on behalf of my husband. This time he won't have any excuses...

The scores. Not bad huh for first timers with no help from adults?

Overall, my husband didn't do too well wth the bowlng as this was his first time but I can see he enjoyed it so much. As Ameera had been nagging about going bowling, she took this oppurtunity to show-off her Nintendo Wii-obtained skills. For the kids, they were given this special slide for the ball to roll safely and surprisingly, Husayn managed to carry the ball all the way to the slide by himself.

After the mini tournament, we headed to the play centre and straight after that, to my friend's house for dinner. Such a tiring day but the kids enjoyed it so much. Thanks for the invitation Alany And Happy Birthday!!!

Cooking Kuih Cara

 I always like to have dessert after my meals. Hmmmm... as it's the fasting month, I wanted something light and traditional. My husband's not very fond of traditional Malay kuih. It's not that he doesn't eat them but when compared to me it seems that his not very fond of them. I can eat a whole plate of kuih keria in one go or bubur pulut hitam in a minute. Really.

So, during the week, before my hubby leaves his office he'd call me as usual and let me know that he's on the way home. Before he hung up the phone I asked him what he wanted for dessert. After discussing it for a few minute he said

OK Yang, you just think of something and surprise me. See you in a while.

Errr... the reason I asked was because I had no idea as to what to make that day especially since he doesn't really eat what I wanted to make. Hishhh...tak suka tau!

So, browsing the internet and remembering when my Mum visited last where amongst many things, she bought me a kuih cara pan. I never tried to make it before as I was afraid the batter would stick to the pan and won't come out as nice as it should. Unfortunately, without even give it a try I gave up and the pan was left at the back of my kitchen cabinet gathering dust.

 I like it well-done, it's crispy.

But that day, having ran out of ideas, I finally decided to give it a go. I found this simple kuih cara recipe from this blog or if you're too lazy to visit here's my version of the recipe, adjusted to what I had in my kitchen that day.

100g flour
1 small can of coconut milk (160ml)
1 can of water (using the same coconut tin)
1 egg
Green pandan essence
1/2 tsp salt
Sugar to put into each kuih cara
Butter to grease the pan

Method:
Put all the ingredients except for sugar in a blender. Blend well.
Heat the special pan. Put a tiny bit of butter in each hole/mould of the pan. I even tried using Planta as well and it definitely adds to the taste. Pour the batter into the pan. Insert 1/2 tsp of sugar in each mould. Leave it for a while to cook. Make sure the stove is on a low heat though. Cover the pan if possible. When it's cooked (the batter will become more solid with the edges browning slightly), try to take it out with tooth pick or something similar. Makes 12 pairs of kuih.

 My Santa's Little Helper. She insists to help all the time.

Having cooked this traditional kuih, I'm a bit proud of myself and as usual I ate most of it. Seriously. I  told you so. It's really quite easy when you know how and... they didn't even stick to the pan. Give it a try. I finally did.

I love a real 50% off SALE!

Last weekend, we decided to go to a garden centre which was only 10 minutes away from our house. Oddly, there was no intention to buy any flowers or trees or plants, whatsoever. Since the day was so long (i.e. the fasting period is too long), to kill the time, we decided to go somewhere and the garden centre turned out to be our choice as we hadn't visited the place in a while. Naturally, we were bored of going to the same places again and again.

 The kids are always happy to go there

As I browsed around the shop, I came to the back of it where there were a few items being marked for clearance that were being sold at 50% off their normal retail price. Seeing the Sale sign up, alarm bells in my head started going off and I went straight there to see if there was anything that I needed (or wanted).

All half price...if only I ......

I eventually got this for myself. Of course seeing that I'm not working at the moment, my other half had to foot the bill. Hehehe. Thanks, Darling.

Macam nak pi meniaga, nak timbang ikan kat pasar pulak.. tapi cun wooo

The timing was just perfect as just last week, while I was busy baking a cake and what not, out of nowhere my kitchen scale broke. First the cup and a few days after that, the machine itself. I've always wanted to buy myself a retro looking kitchen scale in green but it has always been expensive and way overpriced.

Unfortunately, the one I've wanted is no longer in the market. So, as this Typhoon scale was half price, I thought to myself, why not? It obviously isn't in green but in Buick Red but at least, it'll add some very much needed colour to my boring kitchen. Oh, and I grabbed a other few things along the way as well. Lucky me.

PS: I saw this KitchenAid stand mixer in Shocking Pink last weekend too. Drool...

When Ameera gets bored

How are you today? It has been a week since we started Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah... Allah blessed us with lots of energy and good health to fulfill our duties. The same applies to my daughter. So far, she's only missed one day. That's all, because I thought she needed a little break anyway. That day, I could see that her mouth was really dry and she kept on complaining that her throat was sore. I didn't want to make it worse so, I asked her to break her fast.

That's €1 off the Ramadhan total, my dear. Hehehe.

She cut her sunflower from the garden

On one of her days fasting, while waiting for iftar, Ameera kept asking me to do something with her. As she has lots of energy (I don't know where she gets it from) I have to keep her occupied. We watch movies, do art work, etc..etc...

As an example, just today I decided to bake a few cuppies for her. She asked for chocolate cupcakes and I found this recipe from the  Joy of Baking site. The only difference to the recipe was one of the ingredients. I sort of needed to bake the cuppies in a hurry so didn't actually have the time to wait for room temperature butter. Without giving it a secod thought, I substituted the butter with normal sunflower cooking oil. To my delight, the taste was surprisingly superb and the cuppies turned out really moist and soft. When I was done with baking, I let Ameera do the decorating instead.

When it the time came to break our fast, she couldn't wait to taste the cuppies and grabbed one straight-away. Yummy were the only words that came out of her mouth that meal time...

Ameera - just trying to entertain herself

Conversations with Husayn and a letter to his BFF

Usually, when I cook or am up to something in the kitchen, my second child, Husayn prefers to stay in the kitchen with me. He would either just munch away on a snack or draw on the dining table. He pretty much entertains himself without bothering me too much.

So, as always, while I was cleaning some dishes, Husayn was around. He asked me about his little best friend, Nadeen.

Mummy, when's Nadeen coming back? I don't want her to stay in Malaysia. Can we call her today and asked her to come back?

After what seemed like long silent spell (deep in thought obviously), I told him that Nadeen might be coming back but I don't know when. In the mean time, she has to follow her Mummy and Daddy in Malaysa.

Disapponted but understanding the situation, he replied...

I want to write her a letter. Can you spell out her name for me, Mummy?

So, while he was sat at the dining table and I was at the kitchen sink, I spelled out the letters to Nadeen's name even though I knew that he doesn't even know how to properly write yet.

Mummy: N
Husayn: How to draw N, Mummy?

He charmingly refers to everything done using a pen or a crayon as drawing.

Mummy: (Similing). You just draw two number ones side by side and draw a line from the top of one to the bottom of the other.

There are probably easier ways to write the letter N but that was the best solution I could think of at the time.

Husayn: Is this right, Mummy?
Mummy: I can't see.

Seriously, I was wearing my glasses but I still couldn't see from where I was standing.

Husayn: Mummy, is this right? This.. this..

Husayn was getting impatient and I wanted to get the dishes done so, I sort of cheated. OK, I cheated. Without looking at what he had done, I said Yes.

Husayn: OK, next Mummy?
Mummy: A
Husayn: How to draw it?
Mummy: You draw a circle and beside it beside it you draw a number one. Get it?

Again, that was my best solution for a small A (if you hadn't figured that out already...)

Husayn: Ok.Is this right, Mummy?

As you might have guessed, the conversation went on the same way until we finally finished spelling his best friend's name. When this was done he declared out loud

Husayn: OK Mummy, it's done. Mummy, can I put a heart at the end of her name because I miss her?

Awww...Seriously, how sweet is that? I just smiled and of course said Yes. How could you say No to that request?

Can you actually read it? It's all over the place

Well, the picture above is Husayn's first letter to his best friend. He just misses his friend so much and still talks about her even though she's been gone for a good few months now. I'm not sure when he will get over her.

Second letter. This time, with a little more supervision from big sister Ameera

Mild Alzheimer's or am I just getting older?

Last week, on the 6th of August I posted an entry about my son's 15th-month progress. A few hours after I published it and updated my status with a new profile picture of my son I just realised that I'd made a mistake.

Oppppsss.... forgive me! He's not even his 15th months yet. Errr...I get easily confused with my other two kids' birth dates, both of which falls on the 6th. He will be 15 months soon though i.e. next week which is the 25th. Haiyoo.... am I getting older and can easily forget something or is the case which lots of people say, the more the kids you have the more of your urat saraf becomes unplugged which eventually makes you forgetful. OMG... jauhkanlah... Amin!

Anyway, another thing happened a day after I posted the entry. Guess what? His first ever tooth finally came out. Yayyyy! At long last... Maybe he just wanted to prove that Mummy was so wrong to doubt his teeth-growing abilities. Hah! You want teeth? Well, I'll I give you one. Unfortunately, until this day, the tooth has yet to fully show itself. It's just like a sedapkan hati measure to keep Mummy happy...

Can you see it? Can you?

I can't really take a clearer picture as it's only a tiny bit that pops up from his gums but it's funny, when my two other kids had their first tooth or teeth, two of them come out at the same time. Not for Hisham though. It's only the one for him and it makes him look like Popeye! This is a first experience for me as well. You see, I've been told that when the first tooth appears babies tend to get very crancky, tired, restless, cry all the time, feverish - you name it. His got it. Never happened with my two other kids. I suppose, there's a first time for everything.

For a whole week, we didn't get enough sleep at night. Alhamdulillah, these days it's back to normal. With more teeth to come, I hope it won't be as bad as this...

Salam Ramadhan

Everybody in the house is not feeling that well at the moment... but hopefully, in this Holy Month of Ramadhan, Allah will give us the strength to fulfill one of our duties as Muslims.


Today is the fourth day of fasting. It's 17 long hours from dawn (Fajr) to dusk (Maghrib) this time around in Ireland. Amazingly, my 7 year old daughter managed to complete her first few days of Ramadhan without looking too tired and complaining too much except for the boredom that set in because she had nothing to do during the day and the constant questions on whether or not it was time to eat. 


Alhamdulillah. She did the full fast anyway. I'm just so proud of her especially since she did it without having the same environment and support (as well as peer pressure) that I used to have when I was a kid in Malaysia. If it was me, I would have given up and ponteng but she did it. 

First berbuka - Brown Sauce a.k.a. kurma daging, her favourite

I hope it's still not too late  to wish all Muslims around the world a good Fasting month. InsyaAllah with Allah's blessing, we will  be able to finish the month without any hassles, give us strength and good health Ameen...!

A few facts about Ramadhan in Malay or you can go here for English version

SELAMAT DATANG RAMADHAN AL MUBARAK 
Sejarah Ramadhan 
1) Ramadhan: ertinya panas terik
2) Bulan di turunkan Al Quran dan disebut (syahru ramadhana) 
3) Berlakunya perang Badar Kubra dan mendapat kemenangan.
4) Bulan dimana nabi mengambil balik Mekah dari tangan Musyrikin dan berakhirnya penyembahan berhala. 
5) Di dalamnya dipilih ada malam al-qadar yakni lebih baik drpd 1000 bulan. 
6) Di pilih untuk ibadat puasa.
7) Di pilih untuk ibadat2 lain (tadarus Al Quran)

Kelebihan Bulan Ramadhan 
1) Kamu akan di naungi Ramadhan. (bagi yg telah meninggal dunia terlepas dari siksa kubur) 
2) Bulan penuh keberatan
3) Di malamnya ada lebih baik drpd 1000 bulan
4) Amal sunat sama dengan solat fardhu
5) Manakala solat fardhu mendpt 70 kali ganda
6) Bulan sabar dan pahalanya adalah syurga
7) Bulan menambah rezeki 
8) Memberi buka banyak pahala
9) Bulan keampunan
* doa yang paling makbul iaitu doa sebelum berbuka puasa.
* juga doa pada sepertiga malam.
10) 10 hari pertama adalah mulanya rahmat, 10 hari pertengahan - pengampunan, 10 hari terakhir - kemerdekaan api neraka.

 Amalan-amalan di bulan Ramadhan

1) Mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadhan
2) Menempah pakaian untuk Ramadhan
3) Niat puasa sebulan pd permulaan Ramadhan
4) Hendak tidur bacalah 4 ayat terakhir Surah Al Kahfi supaya dapat bangun malam 
5) Berazam melakukan Terawih 20 rakaat (bukan 8 rakaat)
6) Bertadarus secara bersemak (bukan sendirian)
7) Solat berjemaah setiap waktu
8) Solat jemaah di masjid/surau
9) Amalkan Qiyamulail walaupun pendek 
10) Sahur diwaktu akhir
11) Sahur - utk mengelakkan makanan tidak hadam elakkan makanan pedas dan tutup sahur dengan air susu
12) Mandi Janabat sebelum Imsak
13) Kurangkan tidur
14) Tunaikan Solat sunat fajar (Solat Sunat Subuh) 
15) Tunaikan Solat Dhuha
16) Tidur waktu cuti (satu jam sebelum Zohor)
17) Tunaikan solat Rawatib
18) Jaga pacaindera
19) Elakkan gosok gigi pd waktu petang
20) hadiri majlis ilmu
21) Buat baik pd ibubapa 
22) Isteri hendaklah taat pd suami
23) Banyakkan bersedekah
24) Berbuka dgn 3 biji kurma dan air yg belum dipanaskan oleh api
25) Berbuka bersama org tua
26) Jemput tetamu berbuka
27) Kurangkan berat badan 
28) Banyakkan i'tikaf di masjid (lelaki sahaja)
29) Baiki hubungan suami isteri
30) Baiki hubungan jiran
31) Isteri jauhi drpd keluar memakai mekap & perhiasan
32) Elakkan berbelanja berlebihan
33) Kuatkan kesabaran
34) Banyakkan selawat,istighfar,bertasbih
35) Berazam beramal (pada malam Lailatul Qadar)
36) Mengejut anak dan isteri di mlm Lailatul Qadar
37) Elakkan menonton TV yg mengandungi nafsu
38) Elakkan mendengar radio berunsur hiburan
39) Berdoa dgn nada lembut dan merayu
40) Jauhkan bercumbu dgn suami/isteri
41) Mendoakan ibu bapa samaada hidup atau yg meninggal dunia
42) Melazimkan solat waktu
43) Elakkan sebelum berbuka bersiar2 yg menjadikan pandangan liar
44) Elakkan banyak berhutang
45) Melepaskan perasaan sedih melepaskan Ramadhan ditakuti tidak bertemu lagi dengan Ramadhan akan datang
46) Tunaikan zakat fitrah 
Cara Beramal Di Malam Lailatul Qadar (Malam 21-30) 
1) Kepada Orang Tua Lemah Cara beramal solat Maghrib, Isyak dan Tarawih berjemaah di masjid/surau, ini sudah dikira beramal Al Qadar
2) Orang yg tidak sanggup solat malam yang panjang 
* Baca ayat akhir surah Al Baqarah
* Baca ayat Kursi
* Baca surah Yaasin
* Baca surah Al Zalazah
* Baca surah Al Qafirun
* Baca surah Al Ikhlas

3) Bagi orang yamg kuat dan cergas
* Bangunkan isteri dan anak 
* Mandi
* Solat malam - Tahajjud, Taubat, Tasbih, Hajat, Istikharah, dan baca Al Quran
NUZUL Al QURAN ( 17 Ramadhan ) 
* Tarikh turunnya Al Quran
* Beramallah di malamnya dengan solat malam dan amal2 yg baik 
Cara Sambut Hari Raya 
Jangan sekali2 disambut dgn hiburan, mercun, pesta lampu dan berbagai kemungkaran dan kemaksiatan
Pada petang akhir Ramadhan org2 yg meninggal(sudah mati) menangis kerana peluang untukberehat telah berakhir. 
Adalah di cadangkan semoga keluarga menziarahi kubur pada petang akhir Ramadhan atau jika kuburnya 
jauh, hendaklah dibaca doa Tahlil selepas solat Asar. Semoga mereka diampuni. 
Ibnu Abbas r.a pernah mengatakan bahawa roh orang yg meninggal dunia dibenarkan pulang ke rumah anak2nya 
dan berdiri di pintu rumah memohon belas kasihan drpd anak2 mengirimkan bacaan doa, sekurang2nya Al Fatihah 
sekali utk mereka. Oleh itu janganlah terlalu gembira dan ingatlah org2 tua yg sudah meninggal, semoga nanti sampai giliran kita 
maka anak2 akan ingat kpd kita.Takbir Di Malam Raya 
Takbir sebenarnya mempunyai cerita di sebaliknya. Mengikut riwayat, bermula dari peperangan Ahzab. 
Peperangan berlaku di dalam musim sejuk, kemudian Salman Al Farisi mencadangkan supaya di gali parit (Khandak) di
akhirnya peperangan ini di beri pertolongan oleh Allah dan kemudian dirakamkan di dalam Takbir. Kesimpulannya 
Bulan Ramadhan datang setahun sekali dan ia sebaik2 bulan, penuh 
keberkatan, pengajaran, mendidik mempunyai ketahanan dan penuh dgn amalan-amalan
untuk mendekatkan diri kpd Allah dan hubungan sesama manusia. Oleh itu bersiap 
sedialah dari awal supaya ia benar2 mengubah sikap yg baik dan seterusnya 
menjadi insan yg soleh/solehah. Semoga dipertemukan di Ramadhan yang akan datang. *Doa utk menghilangkan baran, maklumlah waktu lapar memang lekas naik angin.... 
Rujuk kepada Surah Al-Anbiyakk ayat ke 69. Sebelum minum baca doa dan
tiupkan pada air (utk diri sendiri,anak,suami dll). Insyaallah cuba amalkan.

Wallahua'llam. 
SELAMAT BERPUASA

Cliffs of Moher

When my friend said she was coming over we kept thinking of places to bring them while their stayed here. As there were four of them naturally, they had a car rented for their own convenience.So, we planned to go somewhere a bit further but still close enough so that it would still be a daytrip.

I can say Ireland is such a beautiful country but somehow, we haven't had a chace to fully explore it. Now that we've got aan excuse, we decided to go to the famous Cliffs of Moher in County Clare (nominated as a finalist as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature) which theoretically, is meant to be a three hour drive from Dublin. I've never thought of going there myself as I'm a bit afraid of heights and I would imagine my kids running around near the edge of the cliffs, trying to jump into the ocean. OK, maybe I'm more than a bit gayat. So, if you asked me, the Cliffs certainly wouldn't be at the top of my list of places to visit.

But, seeing that it was my friend's visit over here, it was a good enough reason for us to go. Plus, here's another reason to go. Have you ever heard of Westlife? Well, the boy band shot one of their videos for one of their songs here. And, I think it was also in a scene in that movie PS I Love You.

On the way there, my husband kept on saying

Yang, aren't you excited to get to see the Atlantic Ocean!?

Looking blankly I said...

What? Atlantic Ocean?  

D'oh! Well, pardon me but my geopgraphic knowledge is VERY bad. I don't even know where Ireland is if you asked me to draw a map. Seriously, I don't know. I need to get a globe or a world atlas for myself some day but for now, just enjoy the pictures. I can give you directions later...ahaks!

Apart from the longer than usual journey (the directions given were completely wrong), there were a few other incidents that happened along the way, just to spice up our lives. Our petrol ran out in the middle of nowhere on the top of a hill on the way to the cliffs, the weather was not that good and when we finally got there, it was close enough to sunset. But despite everything that happend, I  think the trip was still a very memorable one.

Being 15 months old

We decided to shave all of Hisham's hair off. Look at his new hair style now.

It has been 15 months since he was born now but he still doesn't have any teeth. Not a single one. I guess I'll just have to wait until...errr...I really don't know when. I do realised though that different kids have different growth rates so, I'm not complaining as long as my kids are healthy, teeth or no teeth.

Nothing much else to report on though but it seems that apart from the missing teeth, he's growing up pretty well. He (baby) talks so much, walks, runs, kicks footballs, waives his hand, dances, sings and understands pretty much most of the things that is said to him at least, when he wants too.

The nurse at our local health centre said he's still under weight but I think he'll be alright as I don't think I'll manage if he's any bigger than he currently is. I have to carry both my sons most of the time and just imagine if they are as big as their big sister was, I don't think I can do it these days. Hmmmm...

Visit from a very close friend

What a busy bank holiday weekend. Let's start from the very beginning...

A few months ago, I received an email from a very close friend of mine (and also my ex-housemate, roomate and college mate) who was planning to come over and visit us here in Ireland. We were so excited and couldn't stop counting the days as it has been such along time since we had last seen each other. Needless to say, an opportunity like this one doesn't come around too often in our lives especially since we live so far away from each other.

So last Thursday, my husband went to the airport to fetch them. We've known each other for more than 10 years now and they are still the same. Very much like us. Yes, we're a little bit grown up (sideways if talking about my dear husband), have our own lives, careers and kids. As all of us went to the same college even our circulation of friends are almost identical.

To be honest, we had planned to do plenty of things but as always, there was so little time. Invitations to other friends' houses and eating non-stop were our main activities for the weekend. I do hope they enjoyed their stay over here. The most important thing really is I'm glad that they came and was really happy to see them again after such a long time.

My kids were so delighted and seeing my son smile again (after his best friend left for Malaysia a few months ago) and enjoying the company of my friend's son made me feel so happy. They couldn't pronounce each other's names but adorably called each other My Friend instead.

To... Ida & family, I know you don't even know the existence of this blog. But if somehow you do,  I just want to let you know how over the moon I was to have you guys here. I really hope you enjoyed your holidays even though it was not that great. You are more than welcome  and I really, really hope to see you again. It has been many years, I hope our friendship will remain the same and last forever. Thanks babe!