Fossils...

Elina, Sham and Naz, just arrived from the airport...on the background are what used to be rows of Standard 2 and 4 classes...
Another one of my goals this year is to have more downtime, where possible. So, yesterday, after some planning by Naz and Sham, Elina and I decided to fly back to Alor Setar to visit our old school St Nicks and the girls...
Naz and Sham fetched us at the airport and we headed straight to St Nicks...what used to be the school premises then are now rows of kopitiam...tempat orang makan....so sad... We had breakfast and chatted and walked round the school...the pictures below will tell the story....sedih, sedih..

Kelas 2 Hijau and other classes are now tempat makan, the locals call this place kopitiam..

Appam lenggang...saya suka dari dulu sampai la ni...

Nasi lemak, sambal sotong and ayam rempah...sedap..

I made double choc brownies for my lovely friends...

Naz, Elina, Timah who took time out from office and Sham.

What used to my Standard 6 class, 6 Hijau...

Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St Nicholas Convent...where I learnt poetries such as Cats...oratory skills, leadership skills...ahhh lots that have made me what I am today...

The staricase near 6 Hijau, we girls loved to take pictures here...

This used to be where I practiced my netball...

Secondary school punya Bilik Guru...

What's left in the Bilik Guru...

The then library....

This is a common sight amongst the classes now...ada botol arak, ada bangkai anjing, ada tilam...so sad...

The mural in the Arts' Room...still cantik....

Pagi 5 Bakti, petang 2 Cekal...

Tangga besi where I used to rush down to jaga girls after school, near the bicycle shed, on the the greens used to have bicycle shed..

Powdered colours left outside a classroom....

Where the standard 4, 5 and 6 classes where...

Bilik Guru, the sign is still the same from those days....

This used to be the padang where I did my 100 metres, 200 metres, high jump and long jump....

We girls loved to take pictures here....

This used to be the Primary School's office and Miss Sibert's office.

Ayan and Elina...

Then, we had lunch at Attap Rembia, nasi campur, one that I have not come accross before, the spread....vast, and I didn't know what to choose..Ayan and Billie came to join us.

Timah took time off again to join us at Attap Rembia.

Then, we adjourned to the sekolah gemilang, well, compared to the relics of St Nicks, Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid looked much better than before....hmmm, is there anything we can do to save St Nicks....in KSAH we met Shafiza who is now teaching there, we shed lots of tears, tears of joy and sadness meeting an old friend and looking at a beautiful school KSAH....

Bilik Guru KSAH...

Elina, first time meeting Kak Tan Salfina, after all these years....

Kak tan and Shafiza...both are now carrying a noble task as teachers...

Kak Tan and Naz....

Moi, Elina, Sham, Naz, Kak Tan, Shafiza and Ayan, posing next to KSAH's hall.

This used to be the spot where my Pandu Puteri team and the Scouts' team of KSAH organised our kawat and other joint activities.

The corridor where the Bilik Guru is..

Hmmm, got a pay-phone, so I supposed there is no need to carry a mobile phone amongst the KSAH's students...

After KSAH and since the Menara is closed, we left for tea at Oldtown Kopitiam.Bazlina came to join us at Oldtown Kopitiam, I escaped vertigo Naz, ha ha...

At the airport...

Well, after a day with the loved ones, we had to leave....we had to go back to reality, but being with the girls and especially at the "Fossils", it is as if time stood still.......I could almost see the faces of my friends, the teachers, smell the grass, hear the noise from the classes and teachers teaching and bell rings......

Bakes and cakes of the week..

While I have at the back of my mind the "change" that is much needed, baking somehow occupied the most part of my brain! So, I have started taking orders but this year it will not be so intensified, I have decided to devote my time to growing up kids' school work. I will also be attending a few courses on baking and cake decorating soon. And, I will also start my baking classes, after so many requests, also soon, wait for the announcement ya!

Back at home, even though it has only been two weeks into the new years (Muslim and orang putih calendar), I think the children are doing pretty ok, so far. Khadijah had started her pure science stream schooling in her old school, and the boys in ADNI. Ibraheem is a school prefect and Yusof has on his own accord signed up the tahfiz program in school, alhamdulillah. And I am beginning to see the positive changes in Yusof already, I can't ask for more, can I. Umar is now in standard one, but he's having all the traits of his elder brothers when they were his age.....all the excuses when asked to finish school work, what is new! Hajar is more clear and vocal in her conversations, calling the morning walkers who pass by my house..."atuk, atuk, good morning"....she is much influenced by Upin and Ipin. And Muhammad has two teeth, and he is still very sensitive to the weather, but he's health is improving...

And here are the cakes of last week...
Rustic carrot cake ordered by Noni, thanks Noni for your support all this while!
Vanilla cupcakes ordered by Zunika, tqs Ika!

This is supposed to replicate Mak Ngah, the kindy teacher! Thanks Gina MTT No More for this order!

Vanilla cupcakes with caramel buttercream topping!

Steamed fruit cake, Gina's mom's favourite! Wiz, recipe will follow sooon....

Ultraman cake, ordered by Marwati, thank you dear!

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache, with Ultraman edible image...

Vanilla cupackes with Ultraman edible image, thank you Kak Lea for the fast delivery of the image!

Thank you Alida for this order, may you be happier in your new venture, inshaallah!

And thank you also to Aisyah for your endless support in ordering, I missed the photos of the cupcakes as I was stuck in traffic when you came...

Change....

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, I have....and I think I need to "change to grow". And it's amazing when you talk to yourself in this manner, things started to happen...Two weeks ago I was assigned to represent my company for a KL Bar Legal Career Fair, and next to my company's booth was the big oil company's booth where Tireless Mom is. I decided to jalan-jalan and visited that booth and, guess what, I was interviewed on the spot and was asked to submit my CV. I have done so, and waiting for some positive feedback....

Then, last week, my company's Syariah consultant dropped by my office. He is attached to one international university near my house! I asked him about furthering my studies in Syariah Law, he suggested I embark on reading Master and PhD in Communication and Islamic Financing, hmm, both caught my deep interest!

And last night, my old friend, neighbour and Superwomanwannabe toyed with the idea of a book cafe, while I want to raise enough money to take over her house to transform the ground floor into my kitchen and studio.....wow! There are so many interesting things in store, I just have to jump into them!

Now, I have to decide and make sure they gel together and hit it!

Carrot Cake With Banana and Dates...yumms!

Wired rose that I learnt in December......

And the Carrot cake that I made over the weekend... it is different from the version that you usually find! This one is rustic, dense, rich with the crunch of carrots in it. My entire family loved this encluding my children, my children only love va va vanilla cuppies! No, this hasnt got golden syrup in in, but it has bananas and dates! Here's the recipe....

2 cups plain flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt, I used himalayan rock salt that has been rocking my entire kitchen :)

3/4 cup finelychopped walnuts, I used 1 cup which makes the cake richer!

125 g butter, heated just to melt

3/4 cups dried dates, chopped finely

3 ripe bananas, I used 1 1/2 cups pisang emas yang masak ranum, mashed well

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cups Greek yoghurt, I used buttermilk that I made myself, because I think the concept of having yoghurt and buttermilk in the recipe is the same ie to stabilise the baking powder!

2 large eggs, whisk lightly

200 gm cream cheese

125 gm butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice, if you like, I loike!

Preheat the oven to the temperature that you usually use, line 2 8x8 cake tin with parchment paper and butter well.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. stir in the walnuts and raisins if you want, set aside.

Stir the dates into the melted butter, spreading the dates, add the sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine the bananas and carrots. stir in the date, sugar butter mixture. whisk in the buttermilk and eggs. add the flour mixture and stir until everything is well incorporated. Divide into the 2 cake tins, bake for about 50 minutes. Serve with cream cheese....

Tell me if you don't like this one!

She Who Must Be Obeyed!

Alhamdulillah Azura had completed her first cycle of chemo. As of Friday, when the medicine was taken off, she complained that she was really exhausted and mentally down.. I reminded her to forget all that and it is a path that she has to go through...Saturday, there was no readings whatsoever on her white blood cell, and yesterday there was some reading....it is a sign that her body is recovering, alhamdullillah! She needs that before the next cycle of chemo! I attribute all these good signs due to a lot of faith and doas and doing the do's and don'ts as a cancer patient. Tq Dalilah for sharing the path that you have been given in your book, it is indeed very helpful!

Okay, some cake stories....
Doing these two cakes brought back memories of how I have gained my knowledge as a legal counsel! Not that you have to have those skills in order for you to bake, ha ha! But, the above cake was a Carrot cake ordered by L who was a secretary to my previous boss Datin RAR. You see, before I joined the legal fraternity, I worked in a bank which shareholders are predominantly armies. Then, my path changed when I decided to join this organisation, but at that time it was anchored by a different management.

From Datin I learnt to read between the lines, be meticulous, know my law well, know where the full stops and comas should be, work long wee hours...I also got a taste of a boss who has a penchant to scream, in fact it was after the last howling from her that could be heard throughout the entire division and the very demanding hours, I decided to take a sabbatical for two plus years...now, Datin is still my friend, when I threw in my letter that fateful day, she called me for two weeks without fail to persuade me to stay, and that trend of asking me to return hasn't stopped ever since. Datin is a very kind person at heart, I figured her strange behaviour is all due to work pressure, yes Datin I can teman you for teh tarik (she loves teh tarik) or coffees at Coffee Bean or nasi lemaks at Madam Kwans, but let's just remain this way! Being your prodigy has somehow made me to behave a milder version of you when I deal with technical guys now...but I do it with a smile! Thank you L for the above order, inshaallah next year I'll do more cucu figurines with a nicer background...at the time of doing the cake, I was battling an emotional meltdown you know due to what.

And this....well, it has been many months that my present boss Pn S has been hinting that she wanted to order cakes from me, but I sort of thought that if at all I will bake for her, it will be when I no longer work for her. But, last Monday she text ed me (so, I can't avoid anymore, avoiding her text message would mean that I am very rude!) wanting me to bake a Devils Food Chocolate Cake with Valrhona chocolate for her husband's birthday. She didn't want anything fancy, so I threw in the teddy to spice up the cake........I wouldn't want to talk much about my present boss, but suffice to say that I am still working with her...and tempting her with my cakes :-) and the knowledge and experiences gained from my previous boss made my work a breeze......