My Sunday activities

30th March 2008

Today is Sunday and we stayed home since today is the wedding of mummy's cousin in Brunei and daddy has promised to let us witness the ceremony live via the web cam.

In the morning though, being playful as I always am, I had a race with nini laki at breakfast; who finishes eating sweet corn first! And the winner is... hmmh, who do you think won?

And the competition begins... Look at me and my mouth full of corn!


Ohh, the concentration and hard work...


And the winner is... ME!

Especially for mummy's cousin, happy wedding day!

In the evening, mummy realized that we were out of cookies to munch on, so mummy made some shortbread biscuits. They were soooo very easy to make, and they taste delicious. Certainly a winner to me! Check out the recipe below.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Ingredients

100 grams butter
150 grams plain flour
50 grams sugar
Vanilla (optional)

Directions:

1. Chop flour and butter together and rub into small crumbs.
2. Add sugar and work together to form a firm dough.
3. Wrap in plastic and rest in fridge for 20 minutes.



4. Roll out onto a sugared bench top.
5. Cut shapes and bake on a dry baking tray for approximately 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
6. For chocolate shortbreads, replace 40 grams of the flour with cocoa powder.





Enjoy! Recipe obtained from www.bestrecipes.com.au

Mummy's flowers bloomed

29th March 2008

This morning when we woke up, we were delighted to see some flowers that daddy gave mummy bloom... They look so beautiful that Safiya and I could not help being mesmerized!

These flowers bloomed this morning... What a beautiful sight.



Afterwards, nini laki took us for a morning stroll. Nini laki also bought some groceries.

The groceries that nini laki bought.

My music video

Want to see me in action during music time at school...?
Watch my video here!



In case you were wondering, in this video I am wearing a green shirt and dark blue pants.

Happy wedding anniversary mummy and daddy

28th March 2008

Today also happens to be mummy and daddy's wedding anniversary, but sadly daddy is not here in Brisbane to join us in the celebration...

Looking back at mummy and daddy's wedding day in 2003.
They are wearing a traditional Malay wedding outfit made of 'Songket' fabric.

Just as mummy and I was about to leave my school today, a delivery man came with a lovely flower bouquet... Oh! Mummy almost shed some happy tears receiving the lovely flowers from daddy... Mummy said that she was not expecting to receive any bouquet like last year since daddy is away and might be busy at work, but he managed to arrange with a florist anyway...


To mummy and daddy, we love both of you with all our hearts. Five years and still going strong! Hugs and kisses from Syafi and Safiya.

Our picture in Hyde Park, London last November 2007.

Mummy was all day at my school today

28th March 2008

At my kindy, the parents have the choice of doing 'daddy or mummy roster' for one day in every school term. This means that the parent on roster will attend school for the particular day and help out with any necessary works at the kindy. Today, it's mummy's turn and I was very delighted!

Since mummy was at school with me the whole day, she took lots of pictures of my activities... just look at these lovely pics below!


My first activity today, trying to connect colourful beads. I did it, and shaped it like the letter 'S' ; for Syafi


(From top) I put on a fireman's hat. I was still holding the beads that I connected.
Playing at the water tank... Yup, I got very wet indeed!



(From top) My friends and I helped put a ladder back to the garden shed, pretending it to be a train ride at the same time. My teachers sang a song about riding trains too.
Enjoying morning tea with my friends.



Story time. Miss B sang nursery rhymes about spiders, "Little Miss Muffet" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider".



(From top) Painting time. My painting was all blue like the ocean.
Helping my teachers scrub the verandah... Well, more like playing with water!



I also played with some Play-Doh. Look at what I made, an anemone!



Music time. I had a blast dancing and singing with my friends.



Lunch time with my friends. Today mummy prepared for me egg fried rice with soy-sauce salmon and snow peas. Yummy!

Mummy and nini laki went to Chinatown

27th March 2008

It's cold and rainy today, but I don't really mind because today is my school day. Mummy took advantage of the weather and put on Safiya her new turtle-neck shirt and sweater.



Apparently, when I was at school today, mummy and nini laki together with my sister, Safiya went to Chinatown (in Valley). When I finished school, mummy picked me up. Along the way back home (we walked), she told me the whole story of her journey...

First, they bought some halal meat and chicken; they bought some chicken wings, chicken feet (hey, it's a delicacy) and some goat meat.

Nini laki picking parts of chicken to buy.
Safiya dozed off and slept throughout the whole journey.


Then, they went to a Chinese shop (Yuen's Market), an importer and wholesaler of Asian food products. There, mummy bought some Asian food supplies. The Chinese shop also sells fresh seafood, so mummy and nini laki bought some fish and prawns, and as a treat for nini bini, we bought a large mud crab. That single crab costs AU$23.39 but it's definitely worth it!

(Above) Nini laki watching the fishmonger clean up the fish.
(Below) Hmmm... the mud crabs, alive and fresh!

(Above) Some Asian food products that mummy bought.
(Below) These are the fresh seafood... Hey, the crab is looking at the camera!
Ohh, mummy's story made me hungry... At home, nini bini cooked the crab and we enjoyed it. Wish daddy was here!

I was so hungry, I didn't even want to smile to the camera... Silly me!

My painted 'easter egg'

Hi guys, as promised, below are a couple of pictures of my easter egg that I painted myself and is now exhibited in my school. I think mine looks like the earth except that it is not round in shape! I am sorry if the close-up picture is a bit blurry but I'm sure mummy tried her best; it's difficult to get a good shot since the eggs are high up on the ceiling!

As a preparation, mummy had blown some eggs at home
(basically, she made one hole on each end and blow out the contents).

Banana cupcakes

26th March 2008

Today is Wednesday, that means tomorrow I am going to school again. It has been a routine for mummy that every Wednesday, she will bake something for my morning tea tomorrow, and if possible, for Friday as well.

Well, this week mummy made some banana cupcakes. I wasn't around to help her since I was enjoying our afternoon stroll as usual. As soon as we arrive home, we were welcomed by the smell of freshly baked cakes, and oh my gosh, it was wonderful.

The cakes... wow... they are really delicious. They have a crunchy crust on the outside but very soft inside, almost melts in your mouth! For those of you who likes to bake, give it a try... won't you? Check out the recipe below.


Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 cup mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla essence / extract
(mix together)

1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
(Sift together)
Note: Mummy used self-raising flour so she did not put in any baking soda

Directions

1. Mix the first ingredients together.
2. Then add the sifted flour and beat well.
3. Fill greased cupcake tins 2/3 full of batter.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cupcakes.
5. (Optional) Frost with powdered icing sugar, top with chopped nuts.

Enjoy!

For more recipes like this, visit http://www.cooks.com

Groceries shopping time

25th March 2008

Today, mummy and nini laki brought Safiya and I along to the nearby grocery store to buy some stuff. Well, actually the main thing that mummy intended to buy was Safiya's nappies which was almost out. When we went shopping last Saturday in another shop, the nappies that mummy prefers was out of stock! I guess everybody went shopping during the long Easter holidays. This time, nini bini stayed home because the local store is quite a walk and her knee pain will make it unbearable for her to join us. Poor nini bini...


We sat down after we're finished shopping. Look at all the stuff we bought, and don't forget mummy's trolley on my left, it's also full of our groceries!




We arrived home at exactly the right time for lunch and nini bini had prepared for us her delicious soy sauce curry beef with rice. Opps, sorry we didn't take picture of the meal this time because it all went into our hungry tummy...

In the afternoon after a long nap, I did some colouring with my sister, Safiya. Afterwards, we went for a stroll to enjoy the cool breeze with nini laki.

Safiya was happy sitting on her box full of nappies.


(Above) Safiya and I busy producing new additions to our 'art collection'.
(Below) Mummy took our picture from the balcony before we went for our afternoon stroll.

Overall, it has been a day full of fun and joy.