Good Bye to Ana-bella

I've known her since Ameera was in my tummy and since then, we've been quite close as she's in a way, been like a younger sister to me.

Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to her yesterday. I wish you all the best and good luck with your future back home in Malaysia. I know with your friendly, bubbly personality and style, you will have no problems of making it in life.

At Dublin's old Terminal One

I hope will meet again soon. Most definitely...

Another Goodbye to Acu (...and Claypot Chicken Rice)

It has been more than a month since Acu arrived (and 3 weeks of missed lectures). So it was about time to say goodbye (once again) this year. We'll miss you so much Acu. I know this time was definitely the last time she'll be here but who knows, miracles do happen and hopefully, Acu will be back soon.

Thank you so much for all your help Good Luck with your final year exams. Graduate, get a job and get rich soon so you can belanja us all airline tickets to go home to Malaysia...Ahaks!

For now, it's back to square one for Mummy Nana. All alone with the kids once again...

Oh, but the day before she left, Acu had requested that I cook her my speciality of sorts, Claypot Chicken Rice. Well, it's supposed to be cooked in a Clay Pot (hence the name) but as an improvisation, I merely cook it all in a normal rice cooker.

When I hear about a certain dish or taste something I like and it's hard for me to buy it, I usually try to experiment at home to get the dish that I like. Apart from Googling for a recipe, I would try to adjust the recipe according to my own tastes, capabilities and whatever it is that I have in my own kitchen.

It's in this spirit that I came across a particular Chicken Rice recipe but somehow, after trying it so many times, I couldn't get the same taste as the first time. You see, I have my own fanbase for this particular dish hahah... She's been asking for the recipe (my version not from the internet version because she said mine is easier to cook) for ages but I just couldn't find the time to write down the recipe for her. So, as I cooked this dish again yesterday for my sister and of course for the small party we had, I finally got around to writing it down. SO, here's the recipe FARAH!!! :-)

Not such a good looking picture but it tastes Nice!!!

Mummy Nana's Claypot Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

For the Rice you will need...

1 large chicken without skin and cut into small pieces
5 cups of rice (I normally use the Basmati variety as it's less starchy but has more flavour)
A handful of mushrooms or 5 pieces of dried shitake mushrooms soaked in warm water and sliced
8 Tbsp of Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp of sweet soy sauce (kicap pekat manis)
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp coarse black pepper
1 Tbsp grind white pepper
2 Tbsp sugar
1 onion, sliced thinly
1-inch ginger
5-7 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp sesame oil

Note: Blend Garlic and Ginger into a paste.

For the Chilli Sauce you will need...

5 Red chillies
2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp water
Finely blend

Salad and Cucumber for garnish.

Method:

Wash the chicken thoroughly with cold water and in a big bowl marinate the chicken with all of the ingredients (for the Rice). Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Make sure it's really, really hot to get the brown-claypot-cooked effect.

Pour in the chicken but do not allow the chicken to be well done but merely sautee the marinated chicken for 5 minutes. Remember to put aside a portion of the chicken (anything up to half of the portion) for separate baking (see below). In your rice cooker (as I don't have any claypot here) put the rice in and pour all the sauteed chicken and stir well. Add the adequate amount of water (according to type of rice used) and leave to cook automatically in the rice cooker.

Bake the rest of the chicken in the oven for an hour. Serve with home made chillie sauce and sweet soya sauce.

Farewell to Acu Nani.. this could be your last time?

I  meant to post this two weeks ago. But somehow I was super busy with a few smaller things, relatives visiting from Malaysia and Ameera's last week of school.

It's exactly a month since my sister had to go back home to Malaysia, this Saturday. She missed two weeks of lectures at that stage but I was hoping that she could extend her stay even more. I can be such an evil sister! Muahahaha...

I hate saying goodbye especially when seeing my kids cry at the same time. Living far from our home makes us feel even more lonely without any relatives visiting. Last time around, Ameera was the only one who showed some emotion but as Husayn grows-up he's showing that he can be as sensitive. He won't show it openly though. Added to that it's just so hard to explain to him every time he asks me

When is Acu coming back?

And...

Why does she have to leave us?

The sadness of seeing his best friend gone has still not cured and now Acu's leaving makes it even worst. When he sees an aeroplane in the air he'll keep on saying

Mummy, Mummy it's Nadeen there, eh it's Acu... eh.. maybe it's both of them. Are they coming back Mummy? Sigh...

My sister was so lucky. Being the youngest in the family and the fact that she's still studying, she gets the opportunity to fly over here free with MAS every year as my big brother works with airline. But this could be her last chance as she will finish her studies very, very soon. I don't know when she'll back. Maybe we'll pray that we'll visit home soon instead.

To Acu, Thank you for all your help during your stay here. Thank you for everything. As you grow older you will have more things to plan ahead for in your life but do remember about your beloved niece and nephews. If you're rich don't forget us.... Hehehe... You will be missed, so much!

Husayn: Mummy, why does Acu have to go home? I want Acu to stay with our family.... Tell Acu to come back...

I have to stop

If I had my way, I won't actually stop writing about Husayn from the day after his best friend left. But I have too. I don't want to think about it so much, but I just can't help it.


As usual, early in the morning when I was preparing breakfast for Ameera and hubby, Husayn will ask some for himself too - bread with chocolate spread, cut into four small squares or triangles and placed in a plastic bag. This time, the minute I handed over his breakfast pack to him, he said

Mummy, can I go to Nadeen's house after this?

I just ignored him but he didn't stop asking the same question. So, I reminded him that Nadeen wasn't at home anymore. She's now in Malaysia. The conversation went on and he started to cry, asking when she would be back, who lived in her house now, etc. etc.


The whole day, everytime he did something, ate something or saw something that could be related to Nadeen (no matter how remote), he would relate it and talk about her. At one point, it just broke my heart when he asked me,

Mummy, is Nadeen coming back tomorrow so I can go to her house and play with her?

I tried to explain again and not surprisingly, he started to cry again. This time, he asked who was going to play with him since Nadeen was no longer around any longer. It's just so hard for me. I can't exactly explain how I feel right now but whatever it is, it really, really, makes me sad. For Husayn, he still thinks that some time soon, Nadeen will come back and be re-united with him.

I know it will be the same for the next few days, but I promise to post no more sad stories. Somehow, during a break from this whole episode, I just smiled to myself. What will it be like in 10 years time or more, when both of them are a bit more grown up and after a while of not meeting each other (because I know with this current financial situation, I don't see us going home even for holidays)?

Will Husayn still miss his little best friend? He might feel embarrased reading this, but I think it will be the sweetest moment he will have in his childhood.

Another sad story

I don't know how long this will last, but I hope my kids especially Husayn, will get over this really soon.

A few days before the departure of his best friend for good to Malaysia, he has been even crankier than ever. He wanted to see his best friend everyday but at the same time, gets into quarrels with her. I think he knows that he's going to miss her so, that's why he's been acting so weirdly.

Yesterday, I woke him up early in the morning and put him straight in the car wearing the same pj's he was wearing when he met his friend last, without even bothering to brush his teeth. With both hands holding two packets of his favourite yogurt (one for him and one for his friend), he excitedly ran into Nadeen's house to give the yogurt to his best friend. Unfortunately, she was too busy playing with Ameera in the house who had ran faster than him towards Nadeen.

Leaning backwards towards the wall, he just held the yogurt and refused to give it to her. With tears welling up in his eyes, he walked back to the car and stayed in there until we headed to the airport.

Arriving there, Husayn just sat in his buggy keeping a distance from the girls, Nadeen, Ameera and their other friend, Alyssa. He just watched the girls playing and was being extra clingy with me.

He refused to give everyone hugs and kisses and refused to cry or even say goodbye.

At home, there was still no sign of crying or anything. Just a sad face and short but meaningful sentences that came out of his mouth once in a while. Ameera didn't go to school that day and Alyssa stayed with us to play for the day.

Later in the evening, I had a feeling it was about time everything came to a head. Suddenly, Ameera screamed out loud...

Mummy! Husayn
pushed Alyssa and didn't even say sorry!

I asked him why but instead of answering me, he just burst into tears and didn't stop crying even after Alyssa told him that it was OK.

Last day out with Nadeen

I've tried to talk to him and he said while crying continuously,

Husayn: I want to play Hide and Seek with Ameera but she doesn't want to play with me!
Mummy: It's OK Husayn. You can play with Mummy?
Husayn: I don't want to. You're not a kid. I want to play with Ameera.
Mummy: It's OK Husayn. Don't be sad OK? I'll talk to Ameera. Why are you crying? do you miss Nadeen?
Husayn: NO!!! I don't. I just don't have my best friend anymore and nobody wants to play with me. I don't have friends anymore!
Mummy: Please Husayn. Don't cry. It's OK. Mummy's here, Daddy's here and Hisham too.
Husayn: No! Hisham is not grown enough and I want to play with Ameera!

The conversation went on and on until he fell asleep with tears still coming out of his eyes. The rest of the evening, he was so gloomy. After we had our dinner he just asked to go straight to bed. Before he dozed off he said again,

Mummy, can we go to the airport tomorrow? I want to play with my friend.

Obviously, it's impossible to record the original conversation...

Good Bye

Just dropped off my dearest neighbour at the Airport. Somehow, I felt SO sad. Another good friend who I consider as family has gone home for good to Malaysia. My kids were so attached to them as I often dropped them off to be taken care by Kakak Ija. The kids played with Nadeen who is the my friend's daughter, ever since Husayn was small and untill Hisham's nearly a year old now.

I don't know what to say, seeing my kids sad, make me sad too. I know they will miss Nadeen and Ija a lot as they meet each other almost every day. I just don't like this moment. It breaks my kids' hearts and mine too. Looking at Husayn's face make me even sadder. He might have acted all cool and composed - not crying or even showing his sad face.

But I know, very soon he will ask me to bring him to his best friend's house to play and I just don't know what to say. I don't want to think about it. The saddest point today, was on getting home after sending them to the airport. Husayn walked straight to the kitchen looking very sadly at the toys they were playing together for most probably the last time yesterday and he said in soft and sad voice...

Mummy, Nadeen's not coming back......

I was like..................................................................

We've had enough of this. Maybe it's about time for us to plan for our going home sooner rather than later. Maybe. But I just don't know when.

To Sarahah, thank you for the friendship, thank you for all the help you gave, thank you for the time we spent together and last but not least, thank you for all the nicest things you've done for me.

To Ija, you are like a sister to me. Thank you for everything. Tak dapek Kak Nana nak balas jasa Ja..huhuhu.... Tak sempat jugak nak celebrate besday Ja ngan Hisham sama-sama..heheh sapa suruh balik awal??


To the whole family, I'm sure Malaysia you'll get the warm welcomes you deserve back home. Thank you for everything and you guys will definitely be missed so much. InsyaAllah, we shall meet again soon.