Upclose & Personal With Dikny

Since I work from home, I have my own SOHO at home. My small office home office concept is just a little corner of the living room. Let's look at the following conversation between my sons (Darwisy, 4, Daim, 3 and I): Darwisy: Kenapa Mama pakai lipstick? Mama: Eh, Mama nak pegi work la.. Daim: Ha? Work? Mama: Yup, I'm going to my office to work... Darwisy: Mama pakai lipstick nak pegi work? Kat mana? Daim: Tuuuuuu....(pointing to my SOHO) Mama: (speechless)

A & B were best of friends. They had been friends for as long as they could remember. They shared many things together. They had seen the best and the worst of one another. They both felt their ups and downs with each other. When A was feeling terribly down, B would cheer A up. When B was having a really hard time, A was there to calm B down. Years passed by without noticed. A & B had become quite distant from each other. It could be due to the distance between them (they lived far away from each other after both got married) or it could simply be because of 'something that had happened' somewhere along the line when they were still communicating well with each other. Something that really broke A's heart and B was heart-broken too. A was busy with work and B was struggling in business. Both had been thinking of each other all the time all this while. Although both were not keen to make the first move to say hello again, both were wishing that things would be fine s...

I was blog-hopping last night when I came across my ex-colleague's blog here . In her latest entry, she wrote about her blog being reviewed by another ex-colleague, Jogger , whom she hadn't met for quite some time. When we were working at the same place, Jogger was my next-seat neighbour. At first, he was quite reserved but as I got to know him, he was not bad, quite a cool chap. He's easy to talk to and I could discuss many things with him, be it the current issues, women issues or anything that we felt like discussing. He's almost like a brother to me. In fact, he's of the same age as my own younger brother. I guess that explains how we could get along well with each other. Oh yes, he played paintball at that time and good at it. I wonder if he still plays it now. After I left the company, we didn't keep in touch. Therefore, I didn't know his progress in life, whether he had gotten married, his whereabout and also what he's doing now. So, when I came a...

I've been neglecting my blog, yes, I know.... Those who know what I'm doing professionally or even personally would understand how busy I could be at times. Well, to tell the truth, being a loving mother to three active heroes who are growing up too quickly, being an understanding wife to an extremely busy filmmaker, being an obedient daughter to wonderful parents, being this and being that....wow, just being me at this rate really takes up the full 24 hours a day to the max!!! But, I'm not here to complain. I'm writing diligently today to say that I'm truly blessed with a healthy body, a clear mind and a full source of energy, Alhamdulillah. Although I'm not working fulltime at the office anymore, I'm still working fulltime at home. Yes, I'm not a housewife. I am a work-from-home mom. On top of all the housechores that you could think of, I have my own professional work that I have to attend to at home too. I do translations, editing and proofreading wh...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all my readers out there. As some of you might have known, we take turns to go back for raya (Rembau & Johor Bahru). Since we'd celebrated the first few days of raya at Rembau last year, therefore, this year, obviously, we are going back to Johor Bahru. All of us got a week break and there won't be any connection with the internet at JB's home. So, I'll be only back in-touch with the virtual world a week from now. I wish all of you a safe journey home and enjoy the break!

14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th Days of Ramadhan updates: 14th Day of Ramadhan: Sorry as I couldn't remember what I cooked on that day. So much for not updating obligingly. 15th Day of Ramadhan: I cooked at my parents' place as a cousin of mine was coming over and my dear nephew was also around. My mom requested that I cooked Ayam Masak Merah, Ikan Sos Tiram, Masak Cili Api Ikan Tenggiri and Sup Sayur. 16th Day of Ramadhan: I cooked at my parents' place again. The dishes were Masak Tempoyak Pucuk Ubi and Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis. 17th Day of Ramadhan: I cooked Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis again and also Fried Fish. 18th Day of Ramadhan: My mom was cooking because I was tired after accompanying Danish to a casting session at Luncai Emas Sdn Bhd which is owned by Sifu M.Nasir. Too bad we couldn't meet him but we managed to hear his voice loud and clear from his office. My mom cooked a dish which she watched from a cooking show in the morning. The dish was called Ayam Kicap A...

MULANYA CINTA Tiada sesiapa dapat melupa Perasaan cinta pertama Akan ku ingat selama-lama Saat pertama jatuh cinta Kasih sayang Senyum mesra bersama Gurau senda pujuk rayumu Pasti ku ingati Apapun juga akhirnya Aku kan tetap Mengingatimu dengan setia Walaupun kau akan pergi Pasti ku ingati gelora cinta Kali pertama

12th Day: I cooked Ikan Kerisi Masak Lemak Tempoyak, Ikan Kecik (I didn't know the name, actually, hihi) Goreng Cili and Fried Spinach. 13th Day: I cooked Chicken Curry and Kacang Panjang Goreng. Very simple dishes for break fast but nobody complained, so, I guess, it's okay....

I was quite occupied with things in hand for the past few days, hence no update on the rest of Ramadhan in this blog of mine. Well, I guess it's okay to list everything altogether in one single entry of the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and the eleventh days of Ramadhan...here goes: Seventh Day: I cooked Ikan Keli Berlada with Fried Cabbage and Kuih Keria for break fast. We had the same dishes for sahur as well. Eighth Day: I didn't cook because my mom asked us to break fast with my parents at home. When we arrived, everything had been laid out on the table...hihii....sorry, Mak, didn't help you out this time.... My mom cooked Sambal Sotong, Gulai Lemak Cili Padi Telur Itik and Tauhu Sumbat. My younger brother joined us too and he brought with him Ayam Golek and the famous Bubur Lambuk Kg Baru (not the mosque, it's at a corner somewhere behind Maybank). My hubby went to the Bazaar Ramadhan which is just a walking distance from my parents' place and bought some Sardi...

Last night my hubby said that I had still not cooked for him Lontong ever since he mentioned about it few months ago...yes, you read that correctly....few months ago... So, I decided to cook Lontong for the sixth day of Ramadhan. Luckily I had all the ingredients in the fridge, therefore, I did not have to waste much time looking for things to accommodate the recipe. I started off with making Nasi Impit in the afternoon. Then, I prepared the 'rempah' for the gravy and thawed the coconut milk. At the same time, I prepared another of my first attempts in making kuih which was Kuih Lopes, also a request from dear hubby. After all the 'rempah' were ready, I started cooking the Lontong complete with its condiments like Sambal Tumis and Serunding Kelapa. When Lontong was safely put aside, I made Kuih Lopes slowly and steadily because there was still so much time to spare before the time to break fast. Since I managed to make quite a few pieces of Kuih Lopes, I asked Danish to...

For the fifth day of Ramadhan I cooked Chicken Soup+potatoes+carrots and Telur Bistik. I also made Pulut Serunding as requested by my hubby. It's my first attempt making Pulut Serunding but Alhamdulillah, it was not bad at all. Easy to cook and good to eat.... So far, we hadn't bought any food from the Bazaar yet...everything was homemade till this very day. Hopefully, I would have enough energy, time and ideas on what to serve and feed the family throughout the rest of this holy month, insyaAllah.

Today is the fourth day of Ramadhan. For break fast, I cooked Sambal Cencaru and Goreng Kobis+Carrot+Tomato. For dessert I made Ondeh-Ondeh or also known as Kuih Buah Melaka or in my hometown, Kuih Kolopong. Danish and I made Fresh Orange Juice where we used four oranges, a spoonful of sugar and three cups of cold water, blended everything in the mixer and it's ready to be consumed by Danish...heheh After eating, Danish had his other portion of 'Lengkong' and he finished it in just a few seconds. You really fancy such simple 'Lengkong', huh, Danish? It's ok, Mama would make more next week for you...

The menu for the third day of Ramadhan was very simple. I only cooked Ikan Bawal Sos Tiram (this is my own recipe, I created the recipe few years back) and Bayam Rebus. For dessert, I made 'Lengkong' or better known as Agar-Agar Merah which was Danish's favourite since small. For half of a packet of Agar-Agar Strip, I managed to make 10 small cups of 'Lengkong', not bad...enough for a few days' portion of dessert for Danish, Darwisy and Daim. At around 11pm, my hubby complained that he felt a little bit hungry. So, since at that time, I was quite busy with my own work, I requested for him to make Roti Gulung Sausage. Although he looked a bit reluctant to do it, he went on cooking the simple bread and voila! the bread looked appetizing enough and he looked rather happy at the end coz his tummy had been filled up adequately..hihi... For sahur, we had the same menu as Buka Puasa but I added Telur Dadar and I made hot drinks for each of us.

Second day of Ramadhan, I went to my parents' place in the morning to help my mom cook some dishes for my sis in-law, my nephew and my niece who just got back home from Abu Dhabi. We cooked Rendang Daging with Pucuk Ubi, Sambal Prawn, Masak Lemak Cili Api Chicken and Corn Pudding. That's quite a lot but it's been almost two years since my mom last cooked for them, I guess I had to give credits to my mom.... So, before going back to my own house, of course I packed everything and when I reached home, I would only need to cook rice...and relax...

The first day of Ramadhan went well for my family, Alhamdulillah. Danish was fasting too and he's determined to fast the whole month, insyaAllah. Since it's the first day, so I decided to cook special dishes (at least special for me la...hihi). I made 'karipap sardin', masak lemak cili api chicken with potatoes, fried kangkong and keropok ikan kering Sabah goreng. The chicken was Danish's favourite, therefore, without wasting much time, upon azan, he grabbed his drumstick and poured the gravy till 'banjir'..hihi...it's such an interesting sight watching him breaking fast wholeheartedly. For sahur, we had the same dish plus hot drinks for each of us.

A conversation between my youngest son, Daim, who is only 34 month-old and me just about 15 minutes after we had our dinner: Daim: Mama, aku lapar la...(he calls himself 'aku' and sometimes 'saya'). Mama: Ha? Daim: Mama, perut aku lapar la...(bending over to me while pressing his tummy with a frown) Mama: We just had our dinner kan? Daim makan 3 pinggan kan? Daim: Mama, aku lapar sikit jer....boleh la Mama...(with a very deep frown) Mama: (speechless)

Tart Nenas Mangkuk Istimewa Tart Nenas Gulung Power Chocolate Crunch Sedap Giler To my dear readers out there, I have actually started my Hari Raya biscuits business back in 2007. Ever since my first embarkment in the business, I have not looked back and it has been one of the things that I love doing. To tell the truth, I only sell three (3) types of Hari Raya biscuits namely Chocolate Crunch which I renamed it as Chocolate Crunch Sedap Giler, Tart Nenas Gulung which I renamed as Tart Nenas Gulung Power and Tart Nenas Mangkuk which I called Tart Nenas Mangkuk Istimewa. Chocolate Crunch Sedap Giler has been a big hit since it made its first appearance in 2007. People actually re-ordered many times after they have tasted the first bottle that they bought. I was truly glad and thankful for the great feedback not only for Chocolate Crunch Sedap Giler but from buyers of the other two biscuits as well. Indeed they were satisfied and craving for more....hihi So, come this Hari Raya which is ...

As the readers of my humble blog would notice, I always write in English. But this time around, I would like to write in my mother tongue which is Bahasa Malaysia. Why? The reason is because I think what I'll be expressing later on would sound better in BM (just like Myra, arwah Shera's sis-in-law..hihihi). Ok here goes... Kalau seorang pompuan tu perut dia buncit, dia mmg kena tgh pregnant ker? Asal perut buncit jer, pregnant la tuh....ada ke camtu? I was quite 'bengang' bila orang yang agak dah lama tak jumpa aku, mesti dia akan tanya whether aku ni pregnant ker. Aku tau la perut aku buncit, but does that mean aku pregnant memanjang? Orang tu tau tak yg kalau pompuan dah dekat nak datang bulan, perut dia akan bloated? Or orang tu tau tak kalau pompuan yang dah beranak tiga mmg perut dia akan nampak agak tak kempis lagi? Or orang tu tau tak kalau pompuan tu perut buncit ada kemungkinan dia tgh menderita ketumbuhan fibroid kat dlm rahim dia tuh? Aku mmg sensitif betul k...

At last, the night that we had been waiting for had finally arrived. The night when we would be the first amongst the Malaysians to watch 'Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen'. Like I mentioned in my previous entry, hubby and I were keeping this a secret from Danish. So, when I was dropping him off at his school in the afternoon, I told him to straight away wait for me at the guardhouse after school, no stopping at the canteen or at the ice-cream man. Obviously, he was curious. I told him that we were going somewhere later. So, as expected, I saw Danish straight away headed towards the guardhouse after the bell rang. I quickly ushered him to the car and asked him to take a shower and get dressed once we reached home. Then, at 8pm, we hurried off to the cinema in Ampang because our show was scheduled at 8.30pm. In the car, Danish kept on asking where were we heading to. I kept quiet and it's up to hubby to answer. Well, I guess, my hubby himself couldn't contain the susp...

Two days after watching 'Drag Me To Hell', we went to watch 'Angels & Demons'. Quite a heavy drama but not bad at all. I've never missed Tom Hanks's movies so far. I like his cool acting and this movie proves that Tom Hanks can still act. Well, the ending is quite unpredictable too. If you were to watch this movie, watch it with open minds because there are some sensitive dialogues (in my opinion, at least) that might offend some people, that much I can say... How come we have so much time watching movies at times when other people are busy working at their workplace? Hahaha...that's the beauty of working on our own, self-employed, where you manage your own time and job and still become successful at the same time...InsyaAllah and Alhamdulillah... Oh yes, I almost forgot! While buying the movie tickets, hubby noticed that there would be a sneak screening of 'Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen' a day before the daily shows....yup, hubby didn'...