Happy New Year 2010

How time flies!! Pejam celik pejam celik..2009 is leaving us already. Well, usually, come the new year..most of us would come up with a list of new year resolutions. Of course every year, we want things to better for us and we would promise to improve ourselves . As for me, my new year resolutions would be the very same thing every year..I promise myself to be a better person, a better wife, a better mother, a better friend, a better teacher, everything better...plus one more...a better BLOGGER!

...found a lot of cool calendars, planners and diaries for 2010 at ETSY and this one is my favourite

Unfortunately, some of the things that you would expect to be better..turned out to be worse sometimes. One example, this year (2009), I thought of losing weight and promised myself to lead a healthy lifestyles (to take less fatty food and do more exercise) but it turned out that I gained more and more kilos instead!. Hah! Nevertheless, I won't give up on this..I'll try again in 2010..and to all of you too..if you don't achieved your goals or dreams..don't you ever give up.. OK!

Well, finally, I want to wish Happy New Year to everyone.

A Relaxed Mind

A Peaceful Soul

A Joyful Spirit

A Healthy Body and

Heart full of LOVE..

All these are my prayers for you...

Have A Promising And Fulfilling New Year....

Dainty Cupcakes

If you ask me where is my favourite shopping place..my answer would be Bukit Bintang area especially 'The River Of Money Plaza'....or known as Sungei Wang Plaza. It might get a little bit crowded during the weekend but it's not really a problem to me. Many tourists love Sungei Wang Plaza too because you can get just everything you want there. I think, if you go to Sungei Wang, you should bring a lot of WANG.... cause there are so many things to see and buy...

Actually, I wanna talk about this cute little cupcakes cart at the newly renovated Parkson Store on the ground floor of Sungei Wang Plaza. I love the new look of the Parkson Store especially the ground floor where they have many booths selling cute and beautiful stuffs including this Dainty Cupcakes cart. As cupcakes enthusiast, I just can't resist cupcakes..

Dainty Cupcakes At Sungei Wang Plaza

The cupcakes menu . Everyday they have special cupcake of the day..

Bought some cupcakes that day...sedap sangat especially the cheese cake

There are many cake decorations for you to choose..so you can decorate the cupcakes you purchased..The box is cute too...By the way, Dainty Cupcakes has a website and here's the LINK.

Shopping For Batik

Ever since I moved to Terengganu where Batik is very popular, I have started to admire authentic hand painted Batik. I like to visit Batik shops around Kuala Terengganu to see the latest designs and especially love contemporary Batik with abstract motif. I am always impressed by the many beautiful designs and the creative ideas of Batik designers. There are many Batik shops in Terengganu but my favourite Batik house is 'Nor Atikah Songket' where I got most of my Batik fabric for Baju Kurung.

Kelantan also has a lot of Batik manufacturers. As Kelantan is near, I do buy Batik in Kelantan as well. Just recently, my mother in law brought me to a Batik House which belongs to a family's friend in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan. It's a two-storey shop and there are lots and lots of choices of Batik. As we know the owner, we got everything for cheaper prices-it's really worth it! If you go to Kelantan, you can find this Batik House in Pengkalan Chepa. They'll give you very good prices if you buy in bulk..If you are interested in selling Batik, it is just the right place for you to look for your materials because the price is really really reasonable.

Malaysian batik often displays plants and flower motifs

It's very hard to choose when you have sooo many choices.....

Ready made baju kurung, blouses and men's shirts on the first floor

My kinda design -abstract motif

Holiday In Bandung Part 2

On my second day in Bandung, I got to meet Dita , a blogger friend from Bandung. My husband and I went to Dita's office in Astana Anyar, South Bandung to pick her up. I was really excited to meet her.. Dita invited us to her house but it was already dark so I had to turn her invitation down. Sorry Dita ! Maybe next time, ok! Then, the driver brought us to a restaurant nearby to have BATAGOR (fried fishball tofu), one of Bandung's favourite food. The driver told us that the restaurant serves the best batagor in the area.

We had Batagor and Teh Botol drink. Batagor is Indonesian fried fishball tofu dumpling. It is made of snapper fillet mixed with tofu and tapioca flour..and served with a bowl of spicy sauce with a sprinkle of lime juice. The sauce is quite hot to me but tastes so good..


While having the Batagor with Dita...

The Batagor are packed in those boxes


Me and Dita a blogger friend from Bandung.
Till we meet again..Dita...

Amazing Photos By Dome

I just love to browse for wonderful photos wherever I can find them in the Internet. I see photography as an art and to me a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures tell stories just as well as large amount of descriptive texts...Hence, I think photography is also the best way to capture the world and seize a moment for us to treasure forever!

Just recently, I was introduced to a very talented photographer from Terengganu. His websites DIGITALDOME and Infrared Park@ Digital Dome have collections of amazing photos and have now become my favourite sites.

An infrared photo depicting a fisherman in Terengganu

Infrared Digital Dome has collections of amazing infrared photos. I love infrared photos because they are colourful, mysterious and 'otherworldly'.

Another infrared photo by Dome


As I am such a 'nature' person, I find his nature photos and the reflections of the countrysides that he portrays as the most appealing, touching and inspiring. He also explores and experiments with all the natural elements in his environments. His photos also depict the colorful lifes of Malaysians particularly in his hometown Terengganu.

One of my favourite photos - the children are so cute!

Visit Dome's websites and you'll be amazed with lots of wonderful photos..

Holiday In Bandung Part 1

Just last week, I made a trip to Bandung..my favourite destination in Indonesia. We did not really plan for the trip...We thought of going somewhere else but made a last minute plan. I just love Bandung so much..I dont mind going there again and again..It's so near, the weather is good, the food is awesome, the people are friendly and it's very easy to find halal food. I actually bought the ticket just a day before the trip! The best thing about it is that I got to meet my blogger friend Dita from Bandung! (I'll write about our meeting in my next post).

Just wanna share with you some photos of one of my favourite cafes in Bandung..love the place because it is cosy and nice.. The name of the cafe is Java Bean just outside Rumah Mode ( a popular outlet in Bandung). The coffee and the butter cookies are so delicious...My trip this time around was more of jalan-jalan cari makan..

just infront of Rumah Mode

simple but nice deco

fresh flowers...birds of paradise, one of my favourite flowers


The coffee is so GOOD..



Love the butter cookies..the best I've ever had..


outside the cafe...

One of the reasons why Bandung has a special place in my heart is because of the people who are very friendly and polite!! They have touched my heart! The food is also very very good!!!! They have lots and lots of good restaurants..and lots and lots of cake houses!

Batu Burok Beach

It's good to see the sun again..

Batu Burok beach is the nearest beach to my house...After days of non-stop rains and heavy downpour, we have 3 beautiful bright sunny days here in Terengganu and the situation at Batu Burok beach is back to normal again..Floods have also subsided in most areas in Terengganu.

It is really good to see the sun and the blue sky again and to feel the sunlight... Makes me appreciate this beautiful and bright sunny day..

The bright sunny days enabled kite flying, a popular activity at Batu Burok beach..

The sea is as calm as it was before...

Nevertheless, the second wave of floods is expected to persist while the third wave of floods is expected to hit East Coast in the middle of December .

Below are photos of Batu Buruk Beach during the second wave of floods

Debris washed up the shore...

Chinese Muslim Restaurant

It has been raining for a few days and we are now experiencing the second wave of floods. Due to the cold weather outside, this afternoon, I decided to have 'something hot' at a Chinese Muslim restaurant which belongs to my next door neighbour, Ridwan and the wife Wati..

The restaurant named AlHijrah is only about 5 minutes drive from my house!! Ridwan is actually a Chinese convert who married a local and resides here in Kuala Terengganu. He was actually a chef in many hotels around the world before he opened the restaurant. It is of no surprise that the food at his restaurant tastes so good!

This is one of my favourite dishes -Herbal Soup with beef and mushroom

Actually the restaurant-Al Hijrah is quite famous here in Kuala Terengganu. It's not really a big or fancy restaurant but the food is undoubtedly excellent. Everyday during lunch or dinner you will see a lot of cars parked along the roadside near the restaurant because it is one of the favourite restaurants here in this area.

Stir Fried Chicken In Ginger

The restaurant serves a wide range of tasty dishes but I think the most popular menu are the chicken rice and the fried rice set which are served with tasty soup and delicious chili sauce . What I love about the dishes is that most of them have spices (a lot of them) like peppers, gingers and chillies which are best taken when the weather gets cold...

If you go to Kuala Terengganu and would love to try the delicious menu, do stop by at Al Hijrah restaurant which is situated in Bukit Bayas. If you are from Kuala Terengganu town, the restaurant is about 5 minutes from the Bukit Bayas 7-Eleven convenience store on the left of the road.

Black Pepper Beef

Sweet And Sour Chicken

Confessions Of A Chocoholic

The cat says "I AM FULL!!!!!"

The school holidays starts tomorrow. Hooray!! One of my students, Annie, gave me a chocolate today and she is going for a holiday in Italy. How I envy her! ..'Thanks Annie, for the chocolate'. Have a wonderful holiday and hope that you will come back with more chocolate...

..coincidentally, my husband came home with my favourite chocolate too. What a chocolate day!!..I am so grateful for the chocolate I got today. My favourite is in the yellow packet. I love the crunchy cornflakes inside it...yummy..

At the moment when I am writing this..I am actually craving for chocolate..Part of me wants to just run downstairs, open the fridge and grab those chocolate but part of me says ' No!! I have to watch out my calorie intake because I keep on gaining weight!!!! I've had too much chocolate for the week. So, here I am ...depriving myself of chocolate...

Well, I have a few questions to ask all of you...

Do you love chocolate?

Do you truly believe that everyday is a better day with chocolate?

Does the mere thought of chocolate make you feel warm and fuzzy inside ?

If your answer to those questions are yes..yes and yes..then you can consider yourself a 'chocoholic' and I am actually one of them...

Why do people love chocolate anyway?

I love chocolate simply because it gives me that 'melt -in -your mouth' feeling every time you pop a piece of chocolate in your mouth. It tastes so good!

It also calms me down..after consuming chocolate I always feel happy and lively...

Just wanna share with you some facts about chocolate (http://ezinearticles.com/) :-

Ever since the time of Aztec people believed that chocolate has 'aphrodisiac' properties......

Dark chocolate especially contains flavonoids and antioxidants that lower risk of cancer and heart disease.

Chocolate also contains chemicals called opioids. Opioids are also found in Opium and they serve to dull pains and give a feeling of well being to people who ingest them.

Chocolate stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure

Chocolate contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant

Nevertheless, chocolate does contain fats and sugars that you shouldn't’t eat a great deal of it—but as long as you eat it in moderation, the science suggests you can add as much as a year to your life.

To chocolate lovers, enjoy chocolate !

Floods and Cholera Hit Terengganu

Terengganu during monsoon season...

Hi everyone..It has been about 3 weeks since my last post..The weather is quite gloomy here in Terengganu and so is my life... As we all know.. it's now the monsoon season and the east coast of Malaysia especially, is experiencing heavy rains. The rain sometimes continues for days and it's really cold and windy here in Terengganu during the time of heavy downpour. Last week floods struck Terengganu after 4 days of continuous rains and forced evacuation of people in some districts especially those staying at the low lying areas.. I was on my way to Kuala Lumpur when the first wave of flood struck Terengganu early Friday morning. We saw the water rising somewhere near Dungun along the Jerangau - Jabor route and the road had to be closed for light vehicles. .

Unfortunately, the second wave of flood is expected anytime as it is reported that we will again experience heavy rain starting tomorrow. Just today, I read in NST on the CHOLERA outbreak here in Terengganu-another effect of flood during the monsoon season. So far, a death has been reported plus 4 confirmed cases and 98 suspected cases. The cholera outbreak is expected to worsen after the second wave of flood which is expected to take place soon. Today it's really dark outside and definitely the heavy rain is on it's way ... To those who are coming to Terengganu, my advice is to be aware of the cholera outbreak and be prepared for heavy rains!!!.. We should avoid consuming contaminated food or those which were not well prepared, avoid drinking unboiled water and stay away from DIRTY food stalls. Honestly, this is really not the time to visit Terengganu..

Somewhere in Kuala Berang, Terengganu

Somewhere near Dungun

Driving through the flood ..........

It's rainining outside.........................and I am hungry when it's cold........

Umbrellas are badly needed here all the time...