A series of unfortunate events.....

Weather for Te Awamutu today

Season :
Autumn
Forecast :
Chance of Rain
Temp : 30°C | 13°C
Current :
Calm & Clear
Temp : 17°C

Salam, Kia Ora to all my beloved blogger friends ;)

Sorry I've been away again....this time for a very long time and even worse I don't even have a chance to reply to all the comments and shout out...haizzzz.  Thank you all for the care and concern, I haven't forgotten anyone *smiles*.  Really miss u guys loads and miss putting up entries in this blog too.

What happened to me?  Why haven't I been blogging and or blog walked all this while?  Just like the title said I've met with a few series of unfortunate events :(  Nothing big like what is happening in Japan right now.  Haiizzz I really sympathise with all in Japan who are facing 4 different disasters in a mere 3 days.  May Allah bless us always....amin.

My last entry was dated 22nd February, the 3 of us were sick for almost 1.5 weeks.  I had to take Jannah to the doctor bcos she had very high fever.  I really hate the medical centre in Te Awamutu bcos its always full and we cant just walk in as there's always no doctors available haiizzz.  I've made up my decision to re register with our old GP.  The trip is abt 45 mins from where we are but at least we get attended by him.  Due to there wasn't any doctor available in Te Awamutu, I had to take Jannah to see a doctor in Hamilton's medical centre.  I wasn't feeling too good myself on that day.  Was coughing as if I was a TB sufferer.  I got everything prepared in the car in case Jannah was to throw up.  In the end it was me who threw up while driving....ish ish.  I had to pull over and clean up as there's vomit on my lap....yuckksss.  Jannah was even commenting "Mama berak eh??  Busuk lah"  duh mulut tersangatlah laser.  How can I berak in a car....hahahahaz :D :D

Then, there was cable upgrading by our broadband provider.  That's what happened when u live in a mountainous region.  For almost a week, we can only surf the internet with dial up speed.  It was the slowest dial up speed that I've ever encountered.  Imagine me trying to load the blog page while we were on 'turtle' speed....unbelievable!!!  I gave up!!!  Arggghhh!!!  Boy am I glad to be surfing on broadband speed again. 

Lastly my beloved camera is out of action......I cant put up photos anymore :(  I tried to go on the camerarepair.blogspot to fix my camera but it was to no avail.  I simply cant repair it at all.  I am really at hb's mercy to buy me a new one.  I hope he's gonna pocket out some money soon for me.....hehehez.  Not asking for a dslr, just something cheap that can snap quality photos and I'll be a happy freak.  He even said that my camera was my life....wahahahaz.  Whatca waiting for then hb?  Shall we shop for one tomorrow??  Weeeiiiiiiiiii!!!!

Ohhh before I go, there's one gd news to be shared.  Finally, we upgraded our car....yeay!!  No more driving a manual for me.  Before we bought our old car, I was the one who told hb I wanted a manual, he totally agreed with me :p  I got sick of driving manual cos it really can get tiring u see.  Thank God hb agreed to buy an auto.  He hates driving auto though.....hehehez.  He said that the mechanical cost will be higher to repair an auto.  Btw we bought a 7 seater MPV.  I know that there's only 3 of us and buying a 7 seater is selfish towards the environment but....It's just more comfy I reckon.  Its also good for when my family comes and visits us again.  They will definitely be more comfy in an MPV rather than a sedan.  *hint* *hint*  When are u guys coming again??  Hehehehez.....

Buying the new car leaves us with nothing to splurge on a new camera...Boooo.   Maybe I should create a donation box...hahahaz.  Otherwise, I supposed I have to wait for awhile.  Haizzz, for now only us can feast our eyes on my bakes and cooking.  I'll probably will be back once in awhile to share my ramblings with u guys.

Once again thank you for taking ur time to pop by my humble blog.  Really appreciate the care and concern.  Toodddllleeessss and take care everyone ;)

PS : 1st of March was officially autumn in NZ.  2 more months to go and we will be experiencing freezing winter.....BBBbbbrrrrrr.

It could be bcos of a 'sticky' shutter.  The pictures are over exposed when I take photos during day time.

But appears fine when I take photos in a dark room :( sob sob

Me Te Aroha...With Love,
Anie ;)

Hi...Ho..Hi..Ho!!!!

Weather for Te Awamutu today

Season :
Summer
Forecast :
Chance Of Rain
Temp : 28°C | 20°C
Current :
Starry Night
Temp : 19°C


Salam, Kia Ora...


First of all, congrats to NZ sevens rugby union team for winning the Wellington sevens rugby tournament and Gong Xi Fa Cai to all that are celebrating Chinese New Year, ushering the blessed year of the rabbit ;) Huat arh!!!

Its exactly a week that I last posted an entry.  Sorry for being away again.  Hb had another short break from work for 5 days.  Had a few ups and downs moments while he was on his break.  More ups than downs though ahakkksss....alls well, ends well ;) Alhamdullilah.

I suffered from an eye infection for the past 3 days.  First the right eye was swollen then the left one got infected.  Both eyes were half opened or half closed was it?? Hahahaz.  My vision were obstructed by the swollen lids and both eyes kept on producing yucky discharge!!  All I wanted to do while I was suffering from the swollen eyes was slepppzzzZZZzz.  Urrggghh....I don't know how I got them infected but both eyes are ok now, the swelling has gone down but they are still a little puffy.

Anyway, we played 10 pin bowling last Wednesday.  It was hb's first time playing 10 pin and he did well with a few strikes and spares ;)  Not bad for a first timer as he won the 1st game and got frustrated when I started over taking him on the 2nd.  He said I was hustling him during the 1st game, letting him win and showed my true colours on the 2nd game.  Hmmmmzzz all I can say is that he's just being a true blue sore loser kiwi (don't tell him I said this ok, otherwise he's gonna get upset with me....ahakkksss) :pppp

For those that missed me...enjoy these few pictures ;)  Hope to catch up again tomorrow, insyaAllah....

The Bowlevard - Hamilton SkyCity

Our pathetic score ^_^ and who the h*ll is Amie??  Those ppl spelled my name wrongly......

Love these money eating machines....ahakkksss :D

View of Waikato River from the bowling alley.



Jannah wanted to ride on this out of order horsie. 

Her hair was trimmed when she was 7 months old, she had her fringe cut by the hairdresser a few times and butchered by me a few times and she cut some of her once herself @_@.  I couldn't be bothered to have her fringe cut anymore, just gonna keep them long...

Going off to bed now...nitezz everyone.

Me Te Aroha...With Love,

Anie ;) 

Just an Update...

Weather for Te Awamutu today

Season :
Summer
Forecast :
Clear
Temp : 33°C | 11°C
Current :
Rain With Late Fog 
Temp : 20°C

Photo Source : Drama Wiki

Drama Title : Bread, Love & Dream Kim Tak Goo / Baking King Kim Tak Goo 

Episodes : 30

Salam, Kia Ora...

Oooppss no recipe today, just wanna update that I'm still alive and kicking after watching a 30 episodes Korean drama marathon ahaakkzz.  Oh me oh my, I finished watching that 30 x 1 hour per episodes in 4.5 days.

Review of the drama....a very slow start but I was hooked from episode 5 onwards.  I've been wanting to watch this drama since last year but didn't have the time to do so.  Not only its a romance, comedy but full of sad scenes too.....booohhhhoooo :'(  Just imagine me watching this drama crying my eyes out and not having enough sleep, I look horrible!!! Wahahahaz. :D :D

I finished watching the last episode yesterday around noon time.  I had my afternoon nap together with Jannah and was surprised that she fell asleep together with me in the scorching hot weather.  Dinner for the past 3 nights was simple.  We had Indo Mie Goreng, sandwiches and last night dinner was cheese and onion toasts which were prepared by hb.  I slept around 8pm last night and only woke up at 10am today nyehahahaz.  For dinner just now, I made briyani, beef korma & spiced pineapples but couldn't be bothered to blog abt them.  Next time I supposed ;)

Oh well, I'm gonna catch up with my beauty sleep again now.  Will blog walk tomorrow, once I regain my strength~~as if I've been doing laborious job :p.  I used to be able to go on without sleep for 2 days but the old age is catching up on me I reckoned.  Have a great time blogging peeps, I miss u guys.....but I need to shake off this tiredness 1st ZZZzzzz ;)

Me Te Aroha, With Love...
Anie ;) 

I'm sad....very, very sad :(

Weather for Te Awamutu today,
Season :
Spring
Forecast :

Partly Sunny

Temp : 24C | 16C
Current :

Partly Cloudy With Very High UV(9) Warning

Temp : 23°C

Salam, Kia Ora...

Checked my email today and this is what I got in the inbox :(.  I'm just gonna isolate myself to a corner today and mope the whole day......uuuuwwwaa!!!

It was a kick in the guts email and took them 6 days just to inform me that there was no stock @_@

My drama queen reply.....saying that it was for someone else ~~~nyehahahaz~~~~



Haiiizzzz......I knew that its too good to be true. *sob* *sob*

Me Te Aroha...With Love,

Anie ;)

Just a short hello & goodbye ;)

Weather for Te Awamutu today,
Season :
Spring
Forecast :

Chance of Rain

Temp : 27°C | 15°C
Current :

Light Air With Fog

Temp : 18°C

Salam, Kia Ora.....

Have been busy today and will be busy tomorrow too.  Just came home from a bbq a couple of hours ago, we had a great time today.  Tomorrow, I've a birthday party to attend to.  Will update what I brought to the bbq today and for the birthday party tomorrow.....hmmmzzzz, actually, I haven't planned what I'll be bringing to the party yet...hehehez ;)  I hope ideas will pop up in my head before I go to sleep or hopefully, I'll dream of what I should bring to the party tomorrow >.<

Till we meet again, InsyaAllah....God Willing.  I will try to post an entry tomorrow if I am not tired.  Otherwise, I'll will do it on Sunday.  You gals/guys take care ok and have a rolling good weekend.  Play hard everyone........

Me Te Aroha...With Love,
Anie ;)

BBQ Mussels & A Little Weekend Entertainment ;)

Weather for Te Awamutu today,
Season :
Spring
Forecast :

Clear

Temp : 30°C | 13°C
Current :
Light Breeze With Extreme UV(11) Warning

Temp : 29.5°C

Salam, Kia Ora...

We had a family bbq yesterday, only the 3 of us.  By looking at the amount of food we have, people might be thinking that we must have invited some guests over....hehehez.  We can't finish all the food of course.  Hb took some to work for his lunch today and the rest was finished by me and Jannah :D

It was quite a windy afternoon yesterday and we had to bbq at the side of the house, instead of on the deck to block the wind.  Anyway, enjoy the photos ;)

Just gonna share an easy, peasy, japanesy, bbq mussels recipe.  You will need...

• Live Fresh Mussels
• Your choice of grated cheese (I used Edam)
• Garlic paste

Clean mussels and shuck them open but do not remove from the shell.  Add a little garlic & grated cheese.  Close shell & bbq till cook.  Do not overcook them.

The chicken was marinated with store bought, Nando's Peri-Peri Sauce.  There's also beef patties, beef & chicken sausages & corns ;)

Should have listened to hubby when he said that the peaches are still not ready.  Did I listen?  Of course not......they weren't ripe, sour and hard....hahahaz :D

Our desserts......
Been wanting to have an ice blended drink for a long time.  There's no Starbucks in Te Awamutu and I've to settle for McCafe.  It was Saturday night, the queue was till outside the door, what a wrong time to go to McDonald's.  I wanted Mocha Frappe but it was sold out :(  Got me Choco Frappe instead and look what happened to my slippers LOL!!  Luckily, it happened after I walked out of McD and reached the car.  I have to walk on the pebbled driveway & walkway before getting into the house.  Ouccchiieee......it wasn't worth it...hehehez.


Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.

Me Te Aroha...With Love,

Anie ;)

My Wednesday

Weather for Te Awamutu today,
Season :
Spring
Forecast :
Chance of Rain
Temp : 21°C | 10°C
Current :
Dry with late fog
Temp : 16°C

Salam, Kia Ora.....

I'm back ;)  Wednesday was a busy day for me as I had to run a few errands and it was also my grocery shopping day.  I had planned to go and meet 2 of my Malaysian friends, go to Scullery (a special store selling quality cookwares, bakewares & cake decorating items), pay bills, buy halal meat at the butcher and buy groceries at the supermarket.   

I wanted to go to Scullery to get me the Wilton cake decorating set....but to my dismay :( they have sold out on that.  What luck do I have....haiiizz, the other time I went there to get me an angel cake pan, it was also sold out.  When I asked if the stock will be replenished, the sales person said no.  Hmmmzzz, last Wednesday, I saw there were 2 angel cake pans on display, it was $38 each, liar, liar sales person hmmmph!!  I was over that cake pan anyway....hahahaz.  I didn't even bother to get it bcos I've already bought one somewhere else.

I was drooling and ogling at other bakewares, when the sales person came to me and asked if I needed any help or was I just having fun at the bakeware corner....hahahaz.  I told him yes I'm happy just looking at them and do not have any intention of buying any.  Next time when I go there, I'm so gonna get that Chicago brownie pan with cutter.  It cost $40 but its so heavy and the pan quality is superb, hmmmzz maybe its just gonna be a dream..hahahaz.  Anyway,  I didn't leave the store empty handed, bought me the Wilton colouring gel......red, yellow & black and measuring spoons.  I wonder why do I keep on losing those measuring spoons.  This time I got the stainless steel ones, there's a chain keeping the spoons together.  I'm sure they are gonna last me a lifetime.  Left the shop $33 poorer but still didn't get what I wanted in the 1st place :(

Since I was in the town area, I decided to go to Living And Giving & Stevens (the same kinda speciality store).  Living And Giving doesn't have the Wilton set either instead they tried to sell me another brand.  I left the store empty handed and went around the town area to look for Stevens.  Haizz...I wonder how come I didn't know that Stevens doesn't exist in town.  I wasted an hour of my time in town and I've promised hb that I will be home before 5pm as I've left Jannah with him and have promised to take her to the supermarket with me. 

I drove all the way to Chartwell shopping centre, just to go to Stevens.  There I still can't find the Wilton set!!  Why is it so hard??  I wonder....hmmmzz not my day I supposed but as I was scanning around the shop, I couldn't resist not buying this particular cake stand.  It was 50% off, cost $25 after discount and so, I bought it...hahahhaz.  Ish ish these specialty stores are just too 'spooky' it makes me spend unnecessarily :D  I then went to the supermarket in town to get some halal chickens,sausages, meat patties and fresh crabs.  Got some meats at the halal butcher and made my way home.  In the end, I bought the Wilton set on Trade Me (an auction website like Ebay).
On the positive side, I managed to reach home before 5 and suggested to hb to just have bbq for dinner.  I got given a bag of charcoal from one my friend that day.  Another reason is so that I don't have to cook...hahahaz.  Told hb to bbq the sausages, meat patties and the marinated chicken that I bought from the supermarket.  As I've promised Jannah that I will take her out, I went out again to the local supermarket and our journey to the supermarket begins.

80% of my conversation to Jannah is in Malay.  She can name all the colours in Malay except for the following colours that I couldn't be bothered to teach them in Malay like....purple, orange & pink.  Never heard any Malays calling these colours ungu or jingga or merah jambu anyway.  So, I also macam tak kuasa nak ajar lah kan....LOL!  She can name some veggies and fruits in Malay & English.  She recognises bawang, timun, coconut kelapa, jagung, terung, kobis, broccoli, pumpkin, tomato, strawberries, oranges, apples, lemon, pineapple, I think that's about all.  Of course she also knows udang, ikan, daging, ayam and b*b* tak halal :D  Other than being cute and bubbly, she also irritates me.  Whenever she saw something she fancies, she will repeat herself like one million times.  Haiiizzz I feel like taping her mouth....hahahahaz ooopppss is that considered child abuse?  When she saw a Ben10 book she will repeat this a million times "Nak Ben10 buku lah, nak Ben10 buku lah."  Saw Dora "Nak Dora lah, nak Dora lah"  Yiiiikkkesss I can go bonkers....the answer from me is always NO.  To stop her from pestering me....I just grabbed a Dora tissue box and gave it to her.  It cost me $2 but that $2 is gold!!!  Arrrr peaceful isn't it???...........hehehehez.

Anyway, I better stop here....its getting a little too long winded.  I saw u yawned while reading the 3rd paragraph....hehehehz.  If I'm not lazy, I will share a recipe in my next post later.  Stay tuned ;)

Me Te Aroha...With Love,
Anie ;)

I've been contemplating for 2 years.....

Weather for Te Awamutu today,
Season :
Spring
Forecast :
Sunny with a chance of rain
Temp : 19°C | 11°C
Current :
Sun shower (Sunny, windy & drizzling)
Temp : 17°C


Salam, Kia Ora..........

Greetings from the land of long white cloud, Aotearoa, New Zealand.  Welcome to my blog ;)  Yes, I've been contemplating for the past 2 yrs.  Don't know if I will be able to maintain my blog if I were to start one. Furthermore, there are millions other bloggers out there, sharing their life experiences, recipes and etc, etc.  With my conservative kinda thinking.....hmmmz, I always have this thinking that I won't be able to make it blogging as I do not have good photography skills nor cooking or baking skills.  I am actually a very lazy person....hehehez.  It's true, those who have lived with me will vouch for that.  But.....I'm learning and really trying my best now.  Some days it's successful cooking or baking for me.  Some days....haizzz not worth mentioning hehehehz >.<

Cooking or baking is not my forte, I actually do not like doing them but I have to, since living in NZ makes it impossible for me and my family to have take outs every night.  My hb always said that I'm a different person in the kitchen....I turned evil, the kitchen is an evil place whenever I'm in there....hehehehz :D.  Anyway, over the years, (almost 6 yrs here now) I've developed a 'what can I do / I've no choice' attitude and just cook and bake cos when I want to eat certain asian delicacies, I've to drag my lazy bum into the kitchen and cook.

The 1st 2 to 3 years was very hard for me.  Some nights I just couldnt be bothered to cook.  We have to resort to eating junks or instant noodle or toast...hehehehez.  Since my daughter, Jannah, has started eating solid food abt a year ago, I'm trying my best now to cook every night for my family.  Yeap, I only cook once a day, dinner only.  It's always left over for hubby's packed lunch and our lunch at home.  Or if there is none, it will be toasties for lunch....hehehehez.   

To my guests......my cuzzie, my bff and family in SG who have been here before on a long stay, I would like to say sorry if I haven't been a good host or cook when u guys were here.  InsyaAllah, the next time u are here.....I will cook some scrumptious, delicious, yummylicous, meals...hehehez

Ok that's my ramblings for now.....I will try to figure out what blogging is all abt and then post some of my successful and unsuccesful dishes and bakes that I've tried.  Take care everyone.....kia kaha.

PS.  To the season bloggers out there, I appreciate any tips on blogging.  Thank u ;)

Me Te Aroha....With Love,
Anie ;)