Hotel Thanh Thu, Saigon

I have booked a hotel in Ho Chi Minh way early before departure. Nevertheless, when we were closer to the trip date, one of my colleagues who has visited the city suggested to me the Thanh Thu Hotel.

And fortunately, our decision to change the hotel from the previous booking was worth it! The hotel is located approximately less than 30 minutes drive away from the airport. The premise is surrounded with shops, halal restaurants, 5 minutes walk away from night market site and Benh Market.

When we arrived here,some parts of  the hotel was undergoing the renovation process which somehow has disturbed our good night sleep. Hmmpph..

 

Anyway, that was only minor issue if compared to the hospitality offered by the staff. The receptionist and other hotel staff were really friendly and ever ready to assist us with relevant info about the streets, main attractions, market and etc.

And the facilities offered in the hotel room is also commendable with the price that we paid. It was very comfortable stay, and most important of all, the location is very strategic for tourist especially who aim to get there for SHOPPING!

 

City tour in Vietnam

It has been ages since I wrote my last entry.  Ok, let`s get something updated now.


13th Oct 2012

Zaira and I  together with Zamani and Sean went to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam err wait.....two months back! (O man! how time flies) Let's wish my memory is strong enough to recall everything to be written in this entry. We arrived at HCM city quite early to have our breakfast for the day. Our decision to stay at Ben Thanh area was not dissapointing. Apparently it was not that hard to find the halal restaurant around Ben Thanh area. The choices are there, it just that we have to be wise enough to find one with reasonable price.

We had a stroll afterwards for a city tour when we were approached by a man with tricycle smil greeting us. The day was getting hotter, and with little information about the city in hand, we decided to hop on the tricycle. Ah well, stupidity at its best began.

For the record, a friend of mine who went here gave me word of advice before my departure. 

Never ever take a ride by the tricycle on the street, or you will be cheated.

 I don't know what was I thinking, I mean, even in Malaysia,people don't ride tricycle to go to  anywhere leisurely, it was definitely too rare to happened, wasn't it? Perhaps we were too carried away with the fatigue from the long hours on the go, I guess.

We were brought touring around the city for 3 hours, with very little time was allowed for us to take the pictures at the city attractions. It was nice tour tho, even though at the end of the day we were caught by surprise upon knowing that they charged us up to RM250 per person. And it was the time when the sweet big teeth smiling faces were all gone and replaced with samseng face asking for the money. *fainted* .

Just so you know, all attractions in the city are just walking distance away from Ben Thanh area. Total lost. Total lost.Haiyoo.

We went to the War Remnants Museum whereby all pitiful photos and information about the Vietnam Civil war were displayed.  Informative and yet distracting.

                                                                                           War Remnants Museum

Alhamdulillah, despite the poor incident with the irresponsible tricyclists,  we managed to have another round of city tour on our own and captured the pictures as memento, with endless curses along the stroll. Ha ha.

                                                                   Reunification palace

                                                                 Notre Dame Cathederal

                                                               General post office

                                                                      City Hall

Shoppingwise, I`m telling you Ho Chi Minh city is shopping paradise for cotton cloth and scarves lovers. I was not into both of them, but for the sake of benefitting the super cheap price with competetive quality, I bought myslf a readymade baju kurung made of vietnamese silk and some souvenirs to bring home.

One of the halal restaurant which is close to our hotel, Kampung Melayu.

 

One interesting about HCM city is that, the city is crowded with soooooo many motorcycles. The cars were also seen on the road, but the motorcycles has outnumbered them much more.

And if Thai female are tall and slim, I saw many vietnamese ladies are shorter than average height, petite with little legs that skinny jeans fits them so nicely. And one thing for sure, vietnamese ladies are very exquisite and silently, I can't help from adoring them while bargaining stuff with them . Santteeek...Ha ha.

PIE Teambuilding 2012 at Bukit Keluang Resort, Besut

4-6th October 2012

I just joined my new department, PIE  in July 2012, and it happened that PIE Teambuilding 2012 was planned to be held in October.  Well, I was having a hard time to actually get myself agree to join the event. A few attempts were made with excuses to boss but he was too wise to buy in my tricks. Hehehe. I found no way out but to join the 3-day retreat at Bukit Keluang Resort, Besut.

Before we left to Besut, our group were brought to visit the PDK Kemasik, an educational center for disable kids which is a bit isolated from main road. I never knew the existance of this welfare activity center until we were brought here. And of course we didn't come here for nothing, but for lending hand in Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activity which is part of the agenda in the team building too.

Some of us cleaned the kitchen, the living room which were quite dusty. The kids were also present during this session. Some of our group were divided to entertain them with games and other fun activities. I, as always preferred to do cleaning tasks.

 This is the duty roster that attracted my attention. It reminds me of the duty roster once published by class teacher when I was in primary school, but no pictures of us were pasted in the duty roster back then. Seeing the innocent faces, I wonder how actually this lucky fellas were doing in the class, mingling with the friends and teachers. I believe they were having fun doing the assigned chores.

We were done with cleaning part, now it is time to join the deco team. When we arrived at the premise, I saw there were so many things to paint, what with the floor, numbers of murals that were waiting to be painted, I doubt how we can complete painting all the murals in 1hour or so with less than 10 of us did the painting. Surprisingly, all painting were complete when we left to Besut!

Silently, I was amused...

We arrived at Bukit Keluang Resort in the evening and wasted no time to check in our room. And the room definitely was not dissapointing!

Each room accomodates 3 persons. I love the interior deco especially the ceiling of the challet which makes  the room looks larger and luxury.

We freshed up and resumed with the indoor team building for the day. *yawnn*

Every lot of the challet is connected with pathway which eventually lead to the musolla. Nice one!

 

The teambuilding continues to develop via group presentation, group war cry, fun ice breaking and many more activities that never failed to keep my heart thudding of nervous. hahaha

The following day, we kicked off our day with getting ourself wet in the sea. Wheeeeee~~ Of all activities, this part I like most. In the session we underwent the water endurance, where we were required to float ourselves on the seawater in a group of circle. Afterwards, we, female-only group built a raft and sailed in the sea! And by option, I didn't miss the chance to do canoeing when most of the female friends already tired and surrendered in the sunny day.  And despite of being the lone ranger in the crowd throughout the retreat,  I was having a blast! =)

This picture was taken early in the morning on the last day. Apparently this is the Bukit Keluang that have been talked for past few days. We were having short of time to hike it, tho. Nevermind. We wrapped the outdoor activity with CSR again, kutip-kutip sampah by the beach.

Lontong, anyone?

Another cooking attempt in the kitchen with Mak was to serve pressed rice with  vegetable gravy , or we call it as lontong.

For the past decades, Mak has been serving the pressed rice with peanut sauce, or kuah kacang. So, I suggested to Mak to try another way of enjoying the pressed rice with lontong gravy.

Here are the items used for the lontong gravy..

1. cocunut milk 
2 . Garlic and shallots
3. Spices i.e anise, cumin

4.Galangal
5. Long beans
6. Cabbage
7. Tofu (to be fried beforehand)
8.Tempe
9.Soohun
10.Turmeric, to add  natural yellow to the gravy
11.Carrot
12. Lemon grass,
12.Salt


 This is the how.

1.Blend the shallots, garlics and galangal together into a paste. Fry the anise and cumin and followed with the  paste. Put the lemon grass to get the aroma comes out.
2. Add the coconut milk and insert some water, followed with the tumeric, let them boil.
3.Add the vegetable i.e cabbage, long beans, carrots until they are softer.
4.Add the tempe, fried tofu, and soohun and lastly, some salt.
5.Now the lontong is ready to be served!

And voila!~Some boiled eggs are also nice to have, with sambal tumis, and definitely with all-time family favourite, peanut sauce! Slrrpp~!

Eid Mubarak!

I pray a blessed  Eid al-Adha to all of us and our family. Amin,.. =)

In celebrating the holy Festival of Sacrifice, my family decided to participate in Qurban activity organized in our neighbourhood.The event started as early as after Eid ul-Adha prayer, which involved almost 30 cows to be sacrificed.

                                                                       Muiz, the drama boy

Some sacrifices submitted obediently, while some of them were rebellious to surrender that easy. It was quite a show seeing how the Qurban committee people handled it very well. Subconsciously,I imagined if they were women who handled them, I guess the serene morning might turn out chaotic!Hehe

Alhamdulillah, finally it was safely sacrificed. And next thing was to proceed with prep in the kitchen for the tahlil  in the nighttime.

May Allah swt accept the hajj of those who are blessed with the divine invitation to Holy Land this year,and accept the fasts, prayers and sacrifices of those who take the advantage from the blessed days of Dhul-Hijjah. Aminn..

PRM1 Raya celebration and suprise farewell!

6 Sept 2012

*This post has been loooonngg overdue.Oh how time flies sooo swiftly..*

Organizing 'open office' during festive season, especially in Syawal has been the yearly ritual at my office.  Days like these, we are invited to  the 'makan free' ocassion at neighbouring department almost everyday, until the last day of Syawal.

The section where I worked was no different. There were so many varieties of foods being served to the guests. But this time around, I was just one of the guests, not one of the host team anymore.  =)

As usual, before we were invited to eat, surely there will be speach from the host, welcoming remarks, opening remark, and whatnot, you name it. Well, this is just to add some flavour of formality to the event.

And..!! to my little suprise, it was not only a event for raya, but also to bid farewell for us who left the section recently, including myself.

I was unprepared with farewell speech, but do I have any other choice? Nada.

Even though it was celebrated in a small gesture, but I can't deny it,  I felt a sudden glow of appreciation.Alhamdulillah..

On the other hand, I was just transferred to the neighbouring department. Speaking of current job scope, I would say, it has changed my routine in work and life at 180 degree. Haiyooo. Gratefully, I find this change is exciting!

Mee Soto for Beginner

It was one of my fasting days when I suddenly craving for mee soto. Normally I had the dish only in certain occasions at office. Surely I can't wait that long to enjoy another delicious bowl of mee soto. Driven by the hunger, I decided to make my homemade mee soto.

Nevertheless, it was not complete without inventing some catastrophic incident by an amateur cook like me. I was carried away in the conversation with my Mak while the other hand was frying the sliced onions. And it was Mak who noticed that my kuali was hangit! Haiyoo!~

                                                                  Complete disaster!


The ingredients are as follows:


-1 chicken, boiled in water and and shred it when it is cool
-noodles, boiled until they are fully cooked
-100g bean sprouts, boiled and tossed them from the water
-spices, as in ketumbar,jintan putih, bunga lawang and kulit kayu manis
-red onions, garlic(to blend)
-salt

Methods :

- put the chicken into pot with water and boil until it is cooked
-toss the chicken and use the remaining boiled water for preparing the soup stock
-fry all the spices with blended items until the smell of the spice comes out, and pour the soup stock

Almost two hours racing in the kitchen, and tada..this is it!~

Eid Mubarak 1433H

I guess it is never too late to wish a blessing Eid Fitr to the muslims out there, especially for those who happen to read my blog.

This year Eid Fitr marks a significantly awkward moment to my family especially during the morning of 1st Syawal. When all of my family members gathered to exchange forgiveness, the feeling of missing our late father was so apparent all over the faces. May  Allah s.w.t bless his soul. Amin..

                                                                          The girls

 After we had had our raya dishes, the nasi impit and satay, we visited the graves of the departed father and other relatives.

                                                                       The boys


People we love come and go, that is absolute rule of life. What most important is that the family bonding that we have in family will be strenghten over time, through thick and thin.

Steam Moist Chocolate Cake

It was a few days before raya, my Mak repeatedly asked me to bake a chocolate cake for raya. She knows me well that I wouldn't lay a hand to bake any cookies, certainly. 

I don`t see any point to refuse, chocolate cake is family favourite after all. As always, I googled the recipe from the internet and this is how my chocolate cake was made!

The ingredients are as follows:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• cocoa bars (or cocoa powder)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup of boiled water
• 1 cup of oil
• 1/2  cup of fine sugar
• 3  eggs
• 1 cup of evaporated milk ( I used Ideal ) 

To start it off,

1) Mix the sugar, baking soda and baking powder using the electric mixer.
2) Add the flour, followed with eggs, milk, boiled water and oil. And last with cocoa bars.
3) Apply the butter to the surface of the bakingtin, and pour the mixture onto it.
4) Heat the water in the steamer, and put the cake tin with the mixture after the water boils for 45 minutes or so.
5)The cake is done when the toothpick inserted come out clean.

 

At the first attempt, I promise you, the cake looked so horrible, it was only the taste that remained edible. Nevertheless, the cake was finished by my big eater siblings in one day despite its horrible look. I  did it again for a few times and the outcome was getting better! Pheww!~

A little notes about me and Ramadhan 1433H

Fasting month is like an idle month from active days and it is definitely a looong day for me. But it turns otherwise in the night time. I barely had good time for surfing the internet, watching series or even getting updated on E! news :P  and speaking about updating the blog? Ahh.., just forget it.

Since I moved in my new house, I rarely cooked, despite the well-equipped kitchen that I have set earlier. Back in my mind, I had planned to cook the proper meals throughout the upcoming fasting month. Yes, I hate to be in the crowded places, and bazaar Ramadhan is one of them.

Ramadhan appeared, and little that I expected, for almost three weeks of working in Ramadhan,  I was invited for iftar  at numerous restaurants and hotels almost everyday. (Kudos to Pae to be generous enough to seret me with her). Praise to Allah s.w.t. =).  Unfortunately, I didn't snap any pictures of them as usual. It is so apparent that I was too occupied counting the ticking clock rather than snapping the different iftar atmospheres and meals at the different places. Hmmph. What a loss.

                       The only meal that I snapped at Awana Kijal and after that- I was lost savouring the scrumptious meals

Nevertheless, towards the end of fasting month, I cooked my meal - for once and after ages . And the result was not so satisfying,tho. Huhu.

One of wonderful things during this Ramadhan is that I managed to fulfill my wish to complete the terawih prayers for all days that were allowable. Praise be to Allah s.w.t, another wish was granted by His Mercy, at last I managed to complete (khatm) the Quran in the Holy month. When the last 10 days approaching, I prayed hard that I would get the opportunity to 'meet' the night of Lailatul Qadar.

 For that matter, I made some readings to understand how the night of Lailatul Qadr is like and the signs of it. Guided by the readings and  the talk by ustaz, every morning after the odd nights, I looked at the sunshine. Until one day, when I opened the door for work, I could feel that the air outside was colder and the morning was extraordinarily soothing. It was on 27th of Ramadhan. The sun shone unusual than other day. Indeed, it was a fascinating view, wasn't it?

And more interesting when I found this hadith which reads

I thu asked Ubayy b. Ka'b (Allah be pleased with him): Your brother (in faith) Ibn Mas'ud says: He who stands (for the night prayer) throughout the year would find Lailat-ul-Qadr, whereupon he said: May Allah have mercy upon him; (he said these words) with the intention that people might not rely only (on one night), whereas he knew that it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) is in the month of Ramadan and it is the twenty-seventh night. He then took oath (without making any exception, i. e. without saying Innsha Allah) that it was the twenty-seventh night. I said to him: Abu Mundhir, on what ground do you say that? Thereupon he said: By the indication or by the sign which the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) gave us, and that is that on that day (the sun) would rise without having any ray in it. - Sahih Muslim

Allah knows best if it was the morning after Lailatul-Qadr happened. All I wish was that my prayers and all amalan are accepted which in results, turns me into a better muslimah. Amiin~

Hidden Awesome Sceneries at Pantai Kemasik

17th July 2012

After work, usually I spend an hour or so to do some workouts to get some sweat out of the body. Nothing rigorous, though. Well, at least to convince myself that I lead a so-called healthy life. *teehee*

Usually, I go out jogging with Pae around KGRP football field for three rounds or more, alternately with walk, talk and laugh. Ramadhan was just around the corner. Thus, before we idle from any physical exercise during fasting month and not to mention after sick of putting up with the weird glances  from the driver of passing cars (You know, ladies which were seen jogging around Kerteh is a rare scenario), we decided to jog along Pantai Kemasik.

We jogged for about half an hour to reach the end of the shoreline, and to our great amazement, as we were closer to the beach, the scenery is more beautiful! The place is very isolated, and it was hardly to see anyone except for a few fishermen hanging out under the hut. It was a bit scary for us to stay longer, thus we snapped the pics and left.

The day was getting darker, and the dusk sceneries were too breathtaking to waste any snap of pictures!

 

 

I have seen the best  pose with sunset when I went to Manila early this year. But after finding out this beautiful sceneries with the sunset, I have a feeling that Pantai Kemasik will be recommendable for wedding outdoor photography someday. *wink*

Weekend with the BFFs

13-14th July

It felt like ages that I haven`t been to KL since my trip to Umrah. So I decided to go to KL during this weekend for two primary reasons. 

1) Meeting Ju.Z and family who came back from Australia for a brief holiday in KL

2) Getting some new stuff for my so called shopping raya. *ka-ching!*

As always, it was never been a straight-forward visit when it comes to meeting this couple in Ampang, for I was brought to Ezam's family home, having some meals, which no less like jalan-jalan beraya. Hihihi. Only when it was almost midnight, we reached Ju Z's home, having some conversations with her family and followed with again -(slrrpp) makan! :)

On the next day, it happened that PC fair has just started at Convec.While the couple did the shopping, I, on the other hand, enjoying our-time to babysit the lil boy, Kimi. *uninterested with those gadget thingy.*

                                            apparently he found  everything in his hands is edible. Haishh~

We had a stroll together around KLCC park while waiting for Ezam who was still inside dealing for a new Samsung SII. *winks*

 

 

And afterwards, we proceed to Pavilion,my shopping-craze spot! Zara blouse, pairs of Charles & Keith footwears, M.A.C stuff were just enough.Nothing much. Mission accomplished! :))))


On Saturday, Ezam and family were holding a majlis to welcome their new in-law sister. Zaira and I went together, and ah-ha with her new ride~ VW!

And surely we won't let the chances to pose with red hot volkswagen slipped as simple as that,no?

And that`s how we fulfilled our weekend together. Meeting and catching up!!