HIGH-TEA AT ROYAL SCOTTS SLIDE SHOW

CAROUSELLING OVER HI-TEA

The cousins from all over the globe flew to their nest

Half of us were title holders of Ex-Miss World

We celebrated Yatee's (from Copenhagan) birthday

Syukur chatting up with Maz who hails from Vegas

The good, the bad and the handsome... Pick your choice!

The birthday queen pilling her plate

Thomas and Isa - Compare the size

Yatee looking glam with Datuk I, brother of Datuk K

Another work of art waiting to be discovered

Suck in the tummy and do the lipo

Shell fish to whet your appetite

Fresh dessert to be displayed for the sweet tooth

Mira giving her tightest cuddle to everyone

Meerah wants peace and love all over the world

Cheese....you're on candid camera

Calories and more calories...

Ice cream for me from Mirah

Now it's your turn Mirah....

It's show time for Amirah

Dance preety lady.... dance...

Nana from England (right) and Nani from KL

Mazy with Ros who just touched down from the Carribean

What? Are you sure the bill is $448?

Ferhad's brother, Burn from Sydney looking for brownie

Nana with me

The fourteen of us present at Carousel was enough to give a migraine to the waiters

Look Ma...I can use the chopsticks now, says Teepah from Santiago

Yusuf (from Bahrain) with Rozee from Seoul

Arigato! Isa just flown in from Tokyo with Yus

The Datin Diaries ladies are meeting in Paris for a shopping spree

Daidah had to rush to Auckland after this to close a deal on her new office

Nab (left) from Hawaii making faces at Fizah who just arrived from Dubai

The Lola trio plan to meet at Rio Janeiro in 2009

LOVE BITES

Recipe for a Happy Family

Ingredients:

1 jug of humour

1oog of play together

100g of committment
5 beds of patience 1 Tbsp. of patience

A room of care and concern

1 tbsp. of understanding

1 bowl of prayer

1 tbsp. of forgiveness

3 cups of love, packed

1 cup of kisses

A basin of thoughtfulness, care and concern

Method

Mix throughly and sprinkle with awareness.

Bake in moderate oven of everyday life, using as fuel all the grudges and past unpleasantness. Cool.

Turn out onto platter of cheerfulness.

Garnish with tears and laughter and fond memories.

Add in large helpings of charity and love.

Serve Allah, family and community.

I like the Hawaiian definition of family. "Ohana" is the meaning of family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. The crazy bunch had a reunion with cousins from Kuala Lumpur, England, Sydney and the rest of the globe filling Carrousel Cafe at Royal Plaza with hilariety and gaiety, bursting the walls of the gathered venue with cracks of laughter. Yatee had started the reunion rolling and we touched base with the rest of the cousins for the madcap gathering, with Nani from KL and the rest giving a big surprise appearance to all of us.

A group of fourteen of us from all over the globe were present for the evening outing and it was super fun to see all of us coming as one, with some dragging their spouses. The moment we met for high tea, we hugged and kissed each other because we were very closely bonded and missed the time we used to spend during our teenagehood days. Though the myriad of food sections were there to distract us and pull us from our chair, but we were too engrossed in updating each other with our latest table conversation and news back home.

We used to grow up in the same area, same kampung and spending weekends at Changi and Punggol Beach during our school holidays. I also would not forget the sleepovers at our grandma's house at most weekends where, we girls would roam and strip the forest nearby of jambu, rambutans, kuini, mango and tapioca.

Chair-hopping to maximise face-to-face interaction to everyone around the Madar Round Table was the game we played for the two hours we were there. We ate from each other's plate and exchanged news on our children growing-up antics and holidays photographs. The wide choice of food which, I had difficulty in deciding on what to put on my plate, and the right warm ambience gave a perfect setting for the crowd of cousins to seal the absence in our hearts.

The rest of the evening was spent on group photo-taking and hopping to Hyatt Hotel where Nani and family had been staying. There we were entertained by Superstar Amirah who took centre stage with her song and dance item.

The evening was well spent and the prresence was much appreciated. Our lives are make up of moments shared with family members and friends. Let us always remember to appreciate our family members the way we do so for our friends, acquaintances and relatives. Gratitude is when we are so happy to have our loved ones in our lives and making us feel special and wanted.

For us to want the secret recipe for a happy family life, let us all cover ourselves with a blanket of love for ourselves and our loved ones. If we only have one ingredient, let that ingredient be love and that is the recipe for a happy family life. For us to have love, let us first love ourselves and then love our loved ones. The choice is ours to make and the recipe for a happy family life can be our legacy we leave with our loved ones.

Thanks folks for the love bites over the high-tea errr.... I mean the unromantic version of love bites over the food, folks!

EXTREME BUDGET CUT AND NEW OFFICE POLICY

HOPE I DON'T HAVE TO WITNESS
THIS WHEN I REPORT TO WORK NEXT WEEK

NOR WOULD I WANT TO COME ACROSS THIS NEW OFFICE POLICY:


Dress Code:
1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.

2) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will
assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.

3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better,
so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.

4) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore
you do not need a raise.

Sick Days:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work .

Personal Days:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sundays.

Bereavement Leave:
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin boa rd under the 'Chronic Offenders'category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:
* Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that
they can look healthy.

* Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal
to maintain their average figure.

* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed
to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere - TO THE WASTE BINS, PAPER SHREDDER AND RECYLING BIN!

NAAN BEST TO NONE

The fluffy naan with kheemah and kebab

The RM 2 kebab - though cheap is worth a try

One generous size is enough for me

Get six pieces of naan ready now, bayah!

Kneading the dough once order is made

Cooking naan in the tandoor

Using a long hook to take out the naan from

the hot tandoor

Relishing every bite and mouthful is Haikal

Finishing the mee rebus of Hj Wahid

Thanks Kak Long for bringing us here!

I thought of bringing this back to Singapore

but chicken out

But we did bring home all of these red bags -

real glutton and greedy!

The famed Hj Wahid Mee rebus

Nasi Lemak Berkukus (Steam Nasi Lemak) stall

Side dishes to go with the nasi lemak - sambal cockles,

fried chicken, rendang, tomato prawn

All types of soup to choose from

Murtabak Tomok is popular here

Hot plate to burn no I mean to tickle your tastebud

Caught you in the act Lat!

NAAN BEST TO NONE -

WHERE DATUK SHARUKH KHAN MAY COME SERVING YOU

Any one who drops by at Pandan City should head for the best naan and chapati sold in town. It’s run by Nasseb Khan, the ever smiling chap, and his family members who hailed from Pakistan. Even if you don’t love naan, just pop in at his stall because you may find Sharuk Khan, Abishek Bachchan, John Abraham or Hrithik Roshan look-a-like who assist Naseeb at the stall. My husband’s face and mine form a permanent image in his mind and he never fails to smile at us when we drop by at Pandan City for our healthy choice of dinner.

Naan resembling pita bread, is usually leavened with yeast to achieve the fluffiness in texture. Modern recipes sometimes substitute baking powder for the yeast. Milk or yoghurt may also be used to give greater volume and thickness to the naan. Typically, the naan will be served hot and brushed with ghee or butter. Ours came uncoated with none of these oil.The naan soft and voluminous in texture is fired in a round stone oven or a tandoor. Unfortunately, due to overwhelming demand, they had turned to gas to fire it rather than using charcoal or wood, which, takes a longer time to prepare. Nevertheless, you can’t detect much difference in the way the garlic or plain naan is cooked as the result in tasting and eating is similar.

According to my brother-in-law, Latiff, the chapatti he tried that evening was the softest and thinnest that had even gone into his cavernous mouth. Fizah commented on the naan being as soft as cotton and pliable to your tear. Little wrestle is needed to break the portion into bite peices for scooping with the mince meat kheemah cooked with some black pepper.

The naan and chapatti are freshly rolled, kneaded and toasted once an order is received. The prepared naan dough is smooth and elastic. The dough is kneaded for a few minutes, then set aside to rise for a few hours. Once risen, the dough is divided into small balls which are flattened and cooked. You can have a choice of beef kheemah or chicken curry to dip and soak the bread in. For side order, try the beef kebab which has a tinge of green chilly, egg, diced onions and tomatoes. My brother-in-law from Sydney, Bakar fell in love with this the last time we brought him here. He easily finished three pieces of it sold at RM2 each.

You can find two naan stalls run by Nasseb, one in the newly renovated hawker centre and the other alongside the carpark area. Both are within walking distance. Our dinner and ‘taupo’ came to RM35. Latiff and Fizah nearly went into convulsion on hearing the price. It was cheap yet you got good food and quality service. I only wish they could add some vegetables or legumes like chick peas to come with the naan for those who are keeping red meat away from their diet. i brought home some pieces of the kebab to be stuffed into the pockets of the pita bread. Just add some lettuce, tomatoes, ring onion and voila another version of the roti family is done!

There are other stalls you can visit while there too. The famed Tomok Murtabak of Kampung Melayu and Haji Wahid Mee Rebus are also available. How about trying the porridge that comes along with sambal kangkung, peanuts, salted fish and egg and sambal? Steamed nasi lemak is another option you may want to try. Seafood, satay, otak-otak, western food and varieties of mee and rice could also be found here.

The Pasar Borong Pandan City or the wholesale wet market (along Kota Tinggi Road, before Carrefour) and pasar malam are situated behind this eating area. I will kill four birds with one stone every time I visit here – do my marketing, grab dry items from two supermarkets there, scan for some pasar malam stuff and gorge on the food as a closure of the trip. This place is also a haven for CDs and DVDs lovers. Name your titles and the runners will give personal service in getting them for you. However I’m not advocating this as you are infringing on copyright issues.

Pandan City is opened from 5pm till the wee hours of the morning. A favourite port for Singaporeans during the weekends.

Watch how to cook naan at home: