New food review coming soon: stay tuned~~

Raya 2014. Selamat hari raya peeps!

No, I haven't forgotten to write. Yes, I am still around. Although I eat out less now, because my husband prefers to eat at home. Anyway, a new review coming soon. Please bookmark this page/subscribe for updates. Just down there.

Stay tuned. Iallah by this Friday. Eaters.

Breaking News: Sham Visa to Open Top Notch Restaurant!!

From left: Chef Hanapi, En Zaini, Sham Visa, and En Norhazemi.
En Norhazemi is the owner of the well-known Nasi Ayam Gemas :)

This is an special entry because I am promoting a friend's soon-to-open restaurant :) Sham Visa, who probably rocked you to sleep on your walkman back in sekolah menengah (read: Untukmu Selamanya and Gerimis Semalam), is opening a restaurant soon and me and hubs were called in for the food tasting. We were thrilled and honoured, and had literally starved ourselves the whole day for the occasion. Sham and his wife Ila, practically served us the food themselves in a 5-star hotel setting in their family dining room. Good thing I didn't sign my name on the fan-mail I sent back in 1991 or I would be blushing bright red and choking on my food at the arrangement.

Hard Rock Cafe KL: for my birthday!!

(Click on pictures to enlarge. Credits to Mazlan Mahdi for the awesome pictures).

Checking out the (expensive) menu.

I guess I am penning this one down more for the memories than the food. Because definitely HRC serves great food. That goes without saying. 

I've been to all the HRC on the east coast of the united states, and several in Europe just for the sake of the hurricane glass (takder keje I know). But somehow when I landed in KL back in 2007, my HRC-glass collecting days were O-V-E-R. The adventuresome little voice inside me now sees life through more sensible lenses. Collecting HRC glasses doesn't bring any worthwhile benefits. Time to move on to more interesting stuff, -- like cameras. Or the hot PMO who's been sending me facebook messages. 

So, essentially, this is my first visit to HRC KL.

My Apple crumble. Which I wouldn't have ordered
if I knew there was cake coming...

Armand and Qayyums Burger. One each.

Mac and Cheese with Garlic Bread. From the kid's menu. Iman's

Fish and Chips. From the kid's menu. Shima's.
She thought she was on a diet. 

Here's what we ordererd: fish and chips (A-), beef burgers (A++), pasta (A), and warm sensuous apple crumble splurged with fresh vanilla ice-cream (soo good its sinful). 

Towards the end of lunch, after everyone had dutifully paid the restroom a visit and popped their balloons ---a kind little lady dropped by our table and made everyone balloon hats and balloon bracelets (I don't know if she's commissioned to do so or homeless)--- this pretty waiter suddenly appears carrying chocolate cake with lighted candles and asks me to stand up on the chair. 

Then he shouts really loudly: birthday girl in the house!!! (or something like that anyway) and suddenly the entire restaurant was singing happy birthday at the top of their lungs like I'm their best friend and they owe me money. I was blushing light peach under my BB cream; it was an extremely embarrassing moment. Standing on a chair reminds me of that day I didn't finish my maths homework, so it wasn't really a huge honour. And Mazlan recorded the entire scenario. But he's going to burn it on a DVD and keep it in a box under his bed because his wife looks too cute on camera on her 26th birthday.

My HRC birthday cake. Just the right size. Because we were STUFFED.

As we left Hard Rock Cafe, we stopped by the HRC souvenir shop and Mazlan got me a hard-rock glass as momento to this memorable afternoon -- adding one more glass to my collection. In return, I got him a Zippo HRC lighter even as my brain screamed you're encouraging him to smoke. Never mind. I love him just the way he is. In sickness and in health. Insya'allah.

Love ALL, serve ALL.
Makes me feel all warm inside.

So love all, serve all, is the catchphrase at HRC. Try going to Hard Rock Cafe KL in your yellowish bullet-ridden singlet and green quack slippers and see if they'll let you pass the door. Make sure you record the entire scene and send me a copy. That will teach them for making me stand on that chair.

Me and Balloon woman's friend.

Before food.

Hard Rock Cafe, 

Kuala Lumpur

Cleanliness: A

Food: A (all American-food)

Price: I am guessing approx RM400 for entire family. Thanks abang. If we went to KFC for my birthday I would still have been happy. Well maybe not as happy but still happy laa....

Satisfaction level: A (my family rocks!!)

Service: A (waiters were nice)

Atmosphere: A 

posted from Bloggeroid

Le Chouette Macaron: awesome cake makers~~

Mazlan's and Shima's wedding cake. May Allah bless our marriage. And yours!

I am an unconventional girl: I don't bother for sophiscated furniture if the room isn't comfortable. I won't fall for a rich fella if we have nothing to talk about and I don't really care for pretty fondant cakes if the inside tastes like a twinkie.

So this is one very extraordinary cake shop I am recommending, because I am very sceptical about cakes. A cake usually looks too good to be true but taste so mediocre you feel you've been ripped-off in broad daylight. Or they taste too good to be true but looks too mediocre to place on a tray for your future mom-in-law. But Le Chouette's seems to have got it covered. Our wedding cake was awesome. It's got breadth and depth ---like a good lecture on a good day.

Musings: the awesome Masjid BESI

Click on images to enlarge.

Main prayer hall.

Late congregation.

I love this masjid I really do. To me it is the perfect model of what a masjid should be: vast, airy, bright with sun-rays during the day and flooded with light at night. This masjid also reminds me of death in some ways. The grave is restricted and small, but we always pray to Allah to make our grave as wide and as far as the eyes can see. This masjid reminds me of that, because you can look past the non-existant walls and see the lakes and bridges and skies beyond; as far as the eyes can see.

School-holiday Destination: Genting

Genting Highlands :: We wuz here.

People who know me well know how much I love to travel. And I haven't travelled in ages. The last trip I went to was Bali last year for a conference and I've been a good girl and stayed within 100 km radius of home ever since.

It was drizzling and we were chillin'.

As a mom, I would just like to note this one trip down, mainly because the pictures that Mazlan took were awesome and, secondly, we could all use some travel tips. I am not sure if Mazlan wants to share the pictures but he'll have to put up with me because I rock his world and I didn't take any. 

My pictures have disappeared!! :(

Am sorry to report that I had accidentally deleted all the pictures in my smartphone. Because my phone is extraordinarily smart, it has deleted the pictures on this blog also, because, as I said, it is extraordinarily smart. As a result all of the pictures that I had taken as I went along with this blog is gone :(

I feel almost as if I have wiped the slate of my life clean and starting afresh. Again. (cause I have done it so many times before)

If you have a copy of any of the old pictures, please email them to me: shima.subari@gmail.com. Any picture. I can just re-upload them.

So sad :(

That Cafe @ Balai Seni Islam Kuala Lumpur

Hisham, KakShan, Shima & Mazlan! Selamat Pengantin Baru!

This entry is really about the cafe at the end of our visit to Balai Seni Islam. But to recap the highlights of the day, we first stopped by kak Shan's--my wicked Vandy cum Maxis sister's--nikah ceremony that morning. I ended up handing her mom ang pau in a Maxis Hari Raya envelope like a cheeky school girl, but that's because I accidentally left her present behind and it was the only envelope I could dig up in the car. Awfully sorry kak Shan. Will Poslaju your prezzie as soon as Mazlan signs the card. 

Next, we stopped by the Tugu Negara monument because the patriotic side of Mazlan had found out I had never been. In retrospect, I remember feeling a deep sense of appreciation for the warriors who fought for our country, something which you kind off miss out from the tiny picture in the textbook, no matter how long you drool over it. Why on earth didn't my teachers organize a school trip to Tugu Negara? Now I know the source of all this annoyance I've been carrying around my entire life. The weight is finally lifted off my shoulders.

An old hand-written Qur'an..

Chinese calligraphy of Bismillah

And finally, we stopped by Balai Seni Islam, an art gallery in Kuala Lumpur which had more pieces in the souvenir shop than the entire collection on all three floors. But, there were some really nice pieces that stood out in my mind: a beautifully hand-written Qur'an from long ago with only few verses on a each page, a Chinese calligraphy of Bismillah, a pretty kurung-like dress with enormous sleeves that would make me feel like a beautiful princess.

The daggers mesmerized Mazlan the most. He had a piece of steel he wanted to de-daggerized from since I knew him--so we were checking out all the designs from Mughal and Iran because that's where they all seem to come from. We do know the secret of an everlasting dagger-&-owner relationship though, thanks to his wikipedia friends. And since this knowledge may get lost in the modernization era of Malaysia, I am just going to put it down here for the reference of our children and children's children because its really important*: the length of the blade must match the distance between the two nipples of the owner. (Custom-make one would be your best shot). Surprising huh. Well, at keast now you realize why you're not so crazy about the coveted, ancient, priceless dagger your grandpop left you. You need to workout more. 

Shwerma and latte. A++

And final stop was the cafe, and oh was it serene. It became fun discussing the menu although there were only two food sets available to order: baklava or chicken schwerma. That's a 50-50% chance I would choose a dish I love, or regretted--the highest to date. There was definitely not enough data to plot out a probability density function and write code to make a decision. So I just ordered what Mazlan did: the schawerma and latte. It was delicious. It took ages to arrive but I was feeling really forgiving that day, mainly because I messed up with KakShan's wedding present. Thus the waiter received a smile f.o.c. and Mazlan didn't punch him.

So stop by the Balai Seni Islam Negara and then the cafe. And then shop till you drop at the souvenir shop next door. They have some pretty wild quality stuff there. Don't forget to drop by Tugu Negara too with your kids. You don't want to deprive them of the Tugu Negara experience like I was. I know they'll be overwhelmed by the size. It's gigantic.

That Cafe @ Balai Seni Islam, 

Kuala Lumpur

Cleanliness: A++

Food: A 

Price: ~RM35 for two. Thank you Mazlan :) 

Satisfaction Level: A

Service: B 

Atmosphere: A++ serene. I could spend the entire day there reading.

*if google can really look up this info from a food-blog!

Eating Etiquette of the Muslim

After the briyani excursion, we stopped by Masjid Negara for prayers and terawih.  The mosque was lovely.
My first terawih ever here. Alhamdullillah~~ 

Since the author of this blog is a muslim girl who is always on the path to self-improvement, she would like to stick in a special entry here as a reminder to herself and her little group of readers, with the hopes that some great benefit would come out of it. After all, the path to success is already well-defined. It is through the example of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). And may it be that the small effort that we put in through these small practices, will enable the Prophet (s.a.w) to recognize us as his loyal followers on the Day when we need every single help we can get.

From Salman, Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: The blessing of food is (received) by washing the hands before and after taking it. (Tirmidhi, Dawud).

Cleanliness is very important in Islam.

Umar b Abu Salalama said: "I was under the care of Allah's Messenger and my hand used to pick at random in the dish, so Allah's Messenger said to me: Invoke the name of Allah, and eat with your right hand, and eat what is near you". (Muslim)

Be grateful with what is presented to you.

From Abu Huraira: "Allah's Messenger never found fault with food. If he liked something he ate it, but if he disliked it, he (just) abstained from it". (Muslim) 

So you'll probably see from now on, me only recommending good food. But I will still fire the restaurant if I feel like it :P

Anas said that the Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: Allah is indeed pleased with His servant who, when he eats a morsel, praises Him for it, or drinks a sip and then praises Him for it". (Muslim)

Be a grateful servant of Allah-- always.

From Umar: Allah's  Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Eat together and do not separate, for the blessing is in the company". (Ibn Maja)

A family that eats together, sticks together. 

From Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Food for two is sufficient for three and food for three is sufficient for four".

Avoid waste. Share. 

From Ja'far b Muhammad, from his father: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) when he ate with other people, was usually the last to finish eating. (Baihaqi)

Put others first when eating.

Aisha said that Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: When any one of you eats, he should invoke the name of Allah the Exalted. If he forgets to invoke the name of Allah the Exalted at the beginning, he should say (when he remembers): In the name of Allah, in its beginning and it's end (Bismillahi Awalahu wa Akhiru). (Abu Dawud, Tarmidhi)

And that is the whole purpose of our creation-- worship Allah.

May our small efforts please Allah. Selamat berpuasa!

Out eating in Bali

Foodstall by Sanur beach. Pretty familiar huh..

The fact that I haven't blogged on food for a week does not mean I have been on a diet frenzy. Hardly. I was away in Bali for a conference and a spot of sight-seeing -- well perhaps more on the sight-seeing than the conference. And just to put this in before I forget the whole experience, Bali, I thought, was almost like going back in time in Malaysia. Perhaps only 200 years back..

Rice fields on the side of the hills. I can't believe I took this
picture. I can't remember which hill I stood on when I took it.

For one thing, the people all look like Malays: similar build, similar complexion, similar features. The language uses much of the same (formal) words, it just had a different twang to it. Can we walk to the conference place on foot? I had asked the B&B manager. Bisa, tapi nanti keringat. Was the reply. And for someone who is totally lost in Kelantan, I felt quite proud of myself for comprehending. The food was also the same. At the hotels they would serve continental breakfasts (mostly eggs and toast), but for lunch and dinner, if it wasn't hotel food, we'd go off find some nasi padang somewhere, which always tasted just like everyday home food, to me at least. 

Kecak dance. This guy was just kicking fire everywhere.
To my detriment

Go to Bali with an open mind, because the people look like you, dress like your grandparents, but have a different faith system. There are temples scattered everywhere, you get tired of avoiding them. They have this Pencalang system in place which is pretty cool (a law system above the police, where even stealing will get you killed and no one would be able to do anything about it). Their religious holidays all start with Hari Raya. Their rice fields are pretty, and the second place we stayed at was right in the middle of it (Ubud).

The dance shows were pretty cool too-- if you're into ancient culture. The Kecak (fire) dance was the most intriguing, and the one that we watched was performed on a mountainous site, on top of a really steep cliff falling into the ocean, with a backdrop of the wide open sea. At sunset. To get there, you would have to walk past the midst of some really crazy monkeys who'd grab at anything that was sticking out even remotely from your person. Quite a wild experience.

Children at local school, singing national anthem

In retrospect, I am beginning to understand why the Aussies, the Dutch, the Americans, the Japanese and whatever race is out there we bumped into all over the place--kept going back every single year. Regardless of the fact that the island is absolutely ancient and wi-fi was so ridiculously slow it was almost non-existent. It is also superbly hot out, and air-conditioned areas are so rare, I almost forced Syed to smoke when there was a breeze just so that I could find an excuse to stop and cool down. The nicest time of day is early morning --the sun rises at 5:30 am, and sets at 6:30 pm. At 12 pm, you would get oven-baked if you get out and thus the main reason of failure of the attempted bike excursion to the paddy fields.

I would recommend you to visit, simply for the experience of visiting a culture that would have been ours had Parameswara not open up his mind and became a muslim. If you do go---cause Air-Asia has these really cheap airfares to Bali from time to time, --leave the kids with the bibik back home because I don't really see anything there that is kiddie-enjoyable, except perhaps the little bird park, which costs $24 USD (~RM80) per person to get in. 

I can't remember the name of this place. Somewhere very south of Bali.

And in true foodblog style: 

Bali, 
Indonesia

Cleanliness: C the sanur beach was quite littered. And most places where there are Monkeys. 

Food: B+ (go for padang food. The Tutu chicken was OK too). 

Price: cheap (enjoy your millionaire status while you're at it)

Satisfaction Level: B (quite an adventurous trip, if I may say so myself)

Service: B+ (Bali people are so friendly)

Atmosphere: almost felt like home, very safe (pencalang and all I guess)

p/s Pictures of my entire trip here.

Status update

"Less than yesterday" from left: Sheemz, Shamz, Kyreelz 

This isn't exactly an entry about a restaurant I am eating at, but I'd still like to put it in nevertheless. Recently, I was involved in a weight-loss competition that, to be honest, I had only said yes to because Sham persuaded me (see that's my problem, I have trouble saying no). And though we didn't win inter-company, apparently, at MMU (the place where I work at when I am not out eating), we were no 1.. can you believe it? between the three of us, we lost 7.2 kg~~!

It was great fun. But when I look in the mirror, I see I am still as skinny as ever. And that trans-fat weight analyzer thingy needs new batteries. Yeah baby  :) 

And you, thanks for reading my little blog, for subscribing (MUAH!!!), sending me messages, comments, emails and just by being supportive. You guys are beautiful and awesome, regardless of how much you weigh  :D