Syafi and Safiya in wonderland

29th January 2011

We spent our Saturday with daddy today. The RTB Media Carnival 2011 is being held at the International Convention Centre and we heard that they have interesting displays there. The original plan was for us to go there with mummy during her lunch break but mummy had only a little time. This is due to mummy's new commitment as a part-time lecturer and her class starts at 1.30 pm every Saturday.

Anyway, we then went to the carnival with daddy alone and it was no less fun getting to spend quality time with him. Frankly, he's busy on weekdays and spending the weekend with him more or less makes up for the lost time when he's not around.

Coming back to the carnival, we are very amazed with what was in store for us. I think lots of visitors agree that the "Once upon a time" displays were enchanting! We had the chance to experience being Alice in Wonderland, right here in Brunei!

Congratulations to RTB for hosting a successful event. As for our fellow blog readers, enjoy these pictures:

Cupcakes, anyone?

28th January 2011

Here is an easy recipe for great-tasting fluffy cupcakes:
(Courtesy of Azli Razali)

Ingredients:
250gm butter
240 gm caster sugar
240gm self-raising flour
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Put in a few drops of imitation vanilla essence (not too much as it leaves a bitter aftertaste) and mix well. Put in eggs alternately with flour. Bake in a preheated 180 deg C oven until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

This recipe is actually for a cake but mummy bake them in cups instead and added some raisins as requested by daddy. Delicious and easy to make!

"Makan lagi!"

23rd January 2011

Hehehe... Food again! Our cousins Adam and Sasya and their parents (we call them wawa) was away on vacation to London since last week and arrived back today. Understanding that the travellers must be tired and hungry, we invited them over for lunch, together with Ngangah who was in charge of their pick up from the airport.

Daddy was the chef today and he prepared two dishes; lau si fun and yong tau foo.

Cousin Nazrah didn't want to smile for the camera. Her exact words were "Ani mulutku panuh ah"

P/S: Thank you wawa for the souvenirs and hope you enjoyed the lunch...

Unplanned but successful

22nd January 2011

We had a special dinner just a few hours ago although it was unplanned. Daddy went to the fish market in the afternoon and as a coincidence, nini laki, nini bini and bungsu Hazim came by to drop our maid who had been helping them out to entertain a [catering] reservation yesterday. Nini bini brought some dishes as well for us that she had already cooked beforehand.

In addition to that, nini bini was also excited to pick some lamiding leaves - a fern-like plant that grows wild at the edge of our land - and wanted to cook them as well. As such, the dinner table was set and we had lots of varieties of food to enjoy.

On top of that, we had ambuyat too. We are proud to say that our parents have now mastered the skill of making ambuyat and their teamwork usually ends up in "deliciousness". Hehe!

Our dishes ~ from the top; fried "geronggong", salted fish in coconut milk (gulai lemak ikan masin), sayur pakis, sayur batang pisang and last but not least, the freshly-picked lamiding. Not in the pictures are udang galah rebus, ikan rebus, sayur bayam and Malaysian-style sayur lodeh.

Superheroes on a mission

21st January 2011

It was an interesting school day today. JIS Junior School hosted a "Superhero Week" in celebration of welcoming [Alan Gibbons], an award winning children's books author who came all the way from the UK for our Bookweek, 2011.

The climax of the week was today when all children were allowed to come to school dressed in superhero costumes. We were also invited to create our own superhero costumes ~ which we didn't manage to do. Nevertheless, we still had lots of fun! Just look at these pictures!

Safiya created her own superhero cape, mask and belt in class yesterday with the help of her lovely teachers.

I had lots of choice but finally declined the temptations to become Superman or Ben 10 and became Batman instead (Hahaha... I know, since when did Batman wear grey, right?) Safiya was adamant to wear her "Supergirl" costume with the addition of her self-made belt and mask.

Painting

9th January 2011

We have been nagging mummy for the past few weeks that she buy painting utensils for us. At last, our wish was granted on one condition; that we only paint when either mummy or daddy is around to monitor us. Hehehe... if we were left all alone, we might finish all the water colours in one go!

Thank you mummy!

Bruneians start the new year with the welcoming of a new princess

7th January 2011

~ Photo courtesy of [infofoto] ~

As was reported all over the news, we would humbly present our congratulatory message to His Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah (the Crown Prince) and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah on the birth of a princess

Her Royal Highness Pengiran Anak Muneerah Madhul Bolkiah
born on Sunday, 2nd January 2011.

We would also like to express sincere congratulations to the family of nini Pg Hj Salleh Ab Rahaman on this occasion.

A family celebration night in Lumut

2nd January 2011

Last night, we had a great time with daddy's side of our family. It was our first family gathering this year and it was held at a cafe in Lumut, close to NiniBoy and NiniGal's home. The information given to us was that it was for a doa selamat or thanksgiving in celebration of Mama Usu being conferred a Masters Degree recently. As it turned out, it was also a celebration of Babu Liza & Mama Usu's belated birthdays and a 4th wedding anniversary of the Warya Family couple.

After reciting our prayers and a cake-cutting session, we had a barbeque dinner. In between, we also had some fun playing and dancing to some music. The night also saw the usual singers in our family singing their hearts out, including bungsu Diana who seldom sings (in front of us, that is... hehehe...).

Before heading home, there was a photo session time for us, the 9 cousins. Unfortunately, Syahmi was not really in the mood for smiles.

To our delight, we were all given souvenirs from Mama Usu, NiniBoy & NiniGal from their recent trip to the UK to attend Mama Usu's graduation ceremony in Keele. There was a present for everyone; a tie for daddy, a handbag for mummy and clothes for us three.

In addition to that, Safiya also received her belated birthday present from NiniBoy & NiniGal since they were not able to attend Safiya's birthday party last month.

Thank you NiniBoy, NiniGal, Warya Family and Mama Usu for the lovely night. To Babu Liza & Mama Usu, happy belated birthday for the both of you. Not to forget, happy wedding anniversary to Babu Liza & Uncle Zam. And especially for Mama Usu, congratulations on your graduation and we hope that your career will kick off soon.

Let's all hope that 2011 will bring us more happiness, and we are also looking forward to welcoming a new cousin in April and hopefully another one in July. Who knows, there might be another cousin by the end of this year? Hehehe...!

Happy New Year

1st January 2011
(1.1.11)

Especially to family, friends and blog followers / readers
Let's all make this year better than the years before, filled with love, warmth and care towards each other. Together, we can make this world a better place!