Stomach Flu

This happens last Friday. Around 11PM suddenly hensem boy purge out all his milk. And the nightmare begins after that. He keep on vomiting every 15 mins even though no milk and food in his stomach. Kesian sangat...in the end dia tertido sebab penat but still, he vomit in his sleep. Can you imagine that? *cries*

My kids jarang sakit and when they do (normally fever or bad cough) I still can get my sleep, even tido-tido ayam but for the first time in my life, I couldn't sleep at all. Tak sempat nak tido Emir dah bangun muntah again. It was that bad.

So I took emergency leave on Friday and Zahra stays home as well. That was when I receive message from their teacher that some of the kids at the school also affected with same symptom. 

Kesian my hensem boy. I was cooking lunch this time and suddenly he was so quiet, tengok2 dah terpengsan atas lantai. No pant and shirt as all are covered with vomit. Tak larat nak salin dah.

And then the nightmare worsen when Zahra started to vomit in the evening.

They were so tired and just lie down the whole time

I was holding from bringing them to the doctor because they don't have any fever (which is good) and only vomit and very loose stool. From what I google2 and read, it might be stomach flu and somehow it will go away within 24-48hrs. So I just make sure they are hydrated. But during the evening it looks quite bad, so I bring them to the doctor.

At clinic. Both looks pale and tired.

As expected, doctor pun takleh buat apa sebab I just need to give them a lot of fluid. Doc checked both of them and since they still looks 'hydrated' no need to be warded, thank God! He prescribed them motilium to stop the nausea and omg, it works wonder. They stop vomiting like immediately and Emir starts to take another drink (vitagen, juice, etc). Before that he won't drink at all because after minum air kosong pun dia muntah, so he kinda traumatized even just for a sip.

Their appetite still not back throughout the weekend and just imagine, they don't eat anything AT ALL on saturday and sunday. Emir only took vitagens and plain water and as Zahra she had her milk (but with motilium beforehand). Kalau tak amik ubat tu, dia vomit balik.

Just a tip, milk will make upset stomach worse. So pls avoid dairy if u have diarrhea or loose stool. But since Zahra wants her milk, I had no choice (I dilute the milk a little bit though) and cross my finger it won't worsen her condition, and Alhamdulillah no vomit after that.

On Sunday evening, Emir's appetite starts to kick in and I gave him some fruits (without medication) and thank God the food stays in the stomach. So they are good for school on Monday!

Monday. Mommy pulak MC! Apparently the virus spreaded to me, gahhhh!

And the frist thing Emir did when he reach school, take placemate and fill up the bowl. Macam tak makan berapa minggu hahaha. He must be very hungry.

Phewww..that was one of the saddest moment, seeing him purging like waterfall. And tiring as well. I've been mopping and changing bedsheets and doing cycles of laundry due to the vomit.

It's kind of virus..like rotavirus but not that bad (I heard rotavirus is nasty) so I conclude it's a mild stomach flu. Not that mild though as it can spread to me just like that. And according to the teacher, even some on the aunties who directly clean up the affected kids also feel nauseated and not well during the weekend.

Anyway all is good now. Alhamdulillah :)

Delicious Cheated Pasta Bake

I've been cooking for dinner lately. Like all the time (pat on my shoulder). We no longer eat my MIL and mannn...it's tiring but less tiring at the same time! It's tiring because I reach home around 730, then rush to cook (and entertain the kids at the same time) but by 830 all of us will be couch potato in front of the TV while having dinner - best time ever! That's the time when I get to relax a bit.

As opposed to eat at my MIL, I don't have to cook and rush out but after the relaxing dinner, we have to get in the car and drive home (that will be around 930PM already) and then rush to ready the kids for bed. That way will be more exhausted. But the pros are, the kids get to see their grandma and grandma, and we get to eat better home-cooked food *cough* *cough*.

So anyway, we started to have dinner on our own and both of us don't really like the idea of buying outside food. Maybe because we don't find shops that we like. Most of the time we bought craps. So dinner is cooked by either of us, depending on siapa less tired (haha thank you hubby). Of course I would love to cook all the time, but sometimes the kids want their mommy. 

There was one time when I am folding the clothes, Zahra said "Mommy..lets play together, biar daddy yang lipat" LOL. 

Since time is the constraint, we cook simple stuff and most of the time will be one sauteed vege and telur mata kerbau haha! MrComot is not a fussy eater and he is fine with that. When I'm feeling fancy, I'll make grill chicken or daging masak hitam. For that kind of food, I have to be "more rajin" and plan for it, like turunkan the meat from freezer to chiller before going to work. Then balik sibuk nak kopek bawang la pulak. My mom taught me to peel off the onions and garlic in bulk during the weekend so I can use straightaway during the weekdays, but I'm too lazy to do that. Weekend is the "do-nothing" day hehehe.

Sometimes I make oglio or other simple pasta dish. But still require me to chop the onions, vege and whatnot.

And one day I was feeling to have something western and creamy like lasagna tapi malas nak buat and don't want to buy either. I went out to settle my groceries previously and while browsing the pasta section I found this:

Instant Pasta Bake by Leggos

I read the instruction and it only requires me to boil 3 cups of pasta and mix with the sauce, sprinkle some grated cheese and pop in the oven for 20mins. Easy peasy!

Kebetulan pulak that day I reached home around 8PM and too tired to cook so I was thinking this is the night to try it!

Tasty indeed!

*Forgot to take picture after bake it. Too busy digging in :D*

I always have this perception that instant food is not healthy and not tasty. Well, I can't vouch for the healthiness even it says no artificial colors, flavors and preservative but this instant pasta bake is tasty!!! Like really tasty!!

It doesn't have that "instant" taste which taste almost like junkfood and not too salty that I don't feel parch after that which is a good sign - less sodium and maybe no MSG at all. I always feel thirsty if I eat outside food that have too much salt and MSG.

So this is definitely will be a repeat for us!

And the best part is, it's not that expensive. The sauce is around RM12, pasta is like RM4 but u don't use the whole lot and that cheese is around RM12 and I just use half of it too. So total up is less than RM30 for all of us and should I repeat that it is yummy? And of course hygienic! I have this fear with outside food that the cook have long nails, and smoke, etc. But I do eat out if the food is nice =D

Going to try out more instant food after this. For convenience sake. But nothing beat old skool nasi putih, sayur goreng and telur mata kerbau with kicap =D

Cheeky Princess

Just a random babbling about my Zahra (sorry Emir, post about u will be up later!  )

She is 4 this year and doing well at school and at home. Still pretty much a fussy eater so I just let her drink her milk from the bottle. Don't really want to bottle wean her as she just need it before sleep, so no big deal. Totally diaper-less during the day, but not at night due to my laziness to train her. Maybe when she is 5 I'll think about it hehehe.

Pretty much a girlish girl, whom loves makeup and dress up. She won't go out if I don't do her hair nicely or not wearing a dress.

Look at the amount of her eyeshadow that she put on all by herself! And obviously in purple shades.  Very barbie-sh color.

Anyway, that's not about it. Thinking about he behaviour.

I think..4 years old is a cheeky phase for everyone. They start to talk well, they know what they feel and they have their own opinion. The best part is they started to have/expose to friends and have this kind of feeling towards others (other than mommy and daddy) which gives them a lot of emotion to play with.

There are few moments that brought me rolling-on-the-floor-laughing like this one moment:

(well, this isn't new, I already post it at my FB and IG, but want to fill my blog )

She was invited a friend's birthday party at school (it's kinda close party that day because it was on last school holiday) and the theme is Sofia the First. So she is pretty excited about it and ask me to wrap a gift for her. The invitation is kinda last minute (it was a day before!) so I didn't get the chance to buy any gift, luckily I have some Sofia the First FOE (foldover elastic) and I sew some hair tie for the birthday girl. Instead of the gift, Zahra insist me to pack this squarish thing, nicely with a pink polkadot wrapper and tie with pink yarn, and that squarish thing is..... a box of WET WIPES!

I don't understand her motive at first so I keep on telling her

"jangan la bagi wet wipes..it's not a proper gift, malu la mommy"

which she answered "it's okay, Yasmina suka wet wipes"

"no wet wipes la..sebab mommy nak pakai, Zahra bagi menda lain ok"

which she replied "it's ok, mommy boleh wipe pakai kain"

Okaaayyyyyy. Since she insisted, I was thinking, what the heck, bungkus je la and crossing my fingers that the birthday girl's mom won't find it weird that her daughter got a wet wipes as a present hahaha.

So anyway I asked her during the shower in the morning, right before we go to the party

"Why Zahra nak bagi Yasmina wet wipes?"

"Becauseeee I want to tell her that I give her princess castle and when she got home, she open...HAAAAHHHHH wet wipessss??!?!?! and I laugh"

And then terkekeh-kekeh dia gelakkan Yasmina. Siap action with hands wide open, sign of surprise.

I was stunned at first with the answer because it's unpredictable and then... burst out laughing. 

My Godddddd...this lady! Kecik-kecik dah pandai kenakan orang! Siap nak cakap bagi princess castle tu! Where she got all this idea! I was thinking to brush off the idea, but it will break her spirit so I just play along with her. After all, nothing harm for a girl to get a box of wet wipes right? It's useful!

Anyway, I don't really know what happen after that day. I  mean, betul ke Yasmina terkejut? Or she just think "apahal dapat wet wipes?" LOL.

And the second incident is this morning. I packed some princess fabric (I've been hoarding a lot of designer cotton lately) for my friend's viewing to turn it into pillow then suddenly she said

"Mommmmyyyy...mommy jangan la bagi kawan mommy kain princess ni"

"Ok...mommy nak bagi kawan mommy tengok je"

"Nanti mommy bagi dia tengok tapi lepas tu kawan mommy suruh jahit, mommy jahit yg OWL ok! Nanti dia terkejut!"

Ewahhh ewahhhhhh..kawan mommy pun Zahra nak kenakan eh?

Hahaha if you look at her face and listen to the tone, so funny ok, bersemangat ni nak kenakan orang.

Kids...

My cheeky princess!!

Last but not least, if you like to follow my IG - aanandes

Well, nothing fun..just a random thought there 

My Ohsem 23

Somebody turns 23 last May (well..if you can count properly, you may want to flip the number *cough cough*, I won't be able to do this trick next year!! gahhhh) and the day fell on Friday, working day it is. It was years ago when we had our last quiet dinner sans the kids so I hinted my husband "bestnyaaa if we can have our dinner just two of us. Possible tak if we ask mak to pick up the kids from school and we pegi dinner kejap?"

He just kept quiet so I think not possible la. I don't really mean it though because I never leave the kids just to go out mcm ni and I miss them like crazy. But at the same time, I miss trying out new place *without kids* because it will be too distracting if I bring them along. Such a dilemma. 

So anyway, that Friday I didn't expect anything special so I just wear my casual jeans and shirt and suddenly on our way home MrComot turn on the GPS and ask me:

"Ok, so where we are going?"

I was like, whaaaaaat? If I knew earlier I would have worn a dress or skirt hahaha.

Apparently he asked his mom to pick up the kids and arranged for this quiet dinner. Knowing his tight schedule, I'm quite surprised and feel alaaaa syahdunyaaaaa haha.

So alang-alang takde budak2, I said, let's try Gyu Kaku!! 

Gyu Kaku in Publika

Grilling pit. There is real charcoal underneath and the pot is designed to suck in the smoke so you won't be smelling all smoky. It's quite hot but the temp is controllable and the staff will occasionally check it for you and adjust the heat. Or maybe the staff adjust the sucking air? I'm not really sure though

The Harami. Highly recommended! The slices is so tender that it melts in your mouth.

Forgot the name...but ok je la.

Three dipping sauce

23 *ahem* me with beef tongue! Highly recommended! The tongue is tender and chewy at the same time. Sooo sooo good! We had 2 servings of this.

In case you wonder ;)

We had some miso soup, assorted veges, squid and scallop as well but counldn't care less to snap the pic as we were busy grilling haha. Anyway stay away for from the garlic scallop! It's priced at RM25.90 and for A PAIR came in neatly tucked in aluminium foil, sans shell. Only 2 pieces! I find it rather expensive and not that nice pun. If you like scallop, just go ahead enjoy it ;)

All and all, it's quite interesting dining. But it's kinda expensive to me..the bill came slightly above 200 for 2 of us and looking at the diners there...mannn..ini memang tempat org kaya. Everybody dress branded stuff from head to toe! Kidding I don't know what brand their tudung is hehehe. But I spot a lot of Chanel that night! And this one mom with small kid wearing that quilted Chanel handbag and Chanel espadrilles. Pheww..definitely not my circle ;-)

Anyway, if I go there again, I'll definitely order the harami and beef tongue!

We took a small walk after that wandering inside Publika but nothing much to see/shop. I pun dah tak ingat ada butik apa...but not my cup of tea la.

Very spacious

Found this touch screen directory, which is NOT working. I tried two machines which stands at each ends and both are out.

After a long walk, finally we found our place!! Ben's Independent Grocer! Duh...typical married couple hahahaha. This is my first time browsing stuff in BIG (ye la..selama ni Giant, Tesco, Jusco je hehehe) and their stuff is amazeballs! I think the market is more to the expat instead of local. Local2 mana nak beli menda2 pelik ni sangat. Hmm... come to think, I will!! If I have extra cash hehehe.

Red mango!! Wonder how it tastes like.

Look at the eggplant, so shinyyyyyyyy!!

Kale!! Most fav vege in US food blogger. One of the superfood. I haven't seen this in normal hypermarket. Quite expensive but forgot how much though.

Arrays of tomatoes! My fav fruits!

Apparently this is is how white onion looks like, when a recipe calls for it.

Because I always thought the white onion is the one I'm holding LOL! Ok yg I pegang tu dipanggil golden onion rupanya.

Pearl onion. So....cute?

Golden raspberries

Fancy schmancy spread

And sauces

And peppercorns! Ada rose peppercorn okkkk. Does it hot and smell rose?

Extra fresh hydroponic vege. You can cut it out straight from the planter. Woww... I wonder if it works that way at home.. I mean, will it grow if I do this hydroponic thingy? I looks easy..but nothing is easy right hehe

Volcano rice, whatever it is

Condensed milk out of a tube. So convenience! Practical for whom use it like a few times a year (like me!) hehe. 

Abundance of cheese goodness. I can stand and stare this section forever!

Didn't get any present for my birthday (well, I already bought something though and will post it later when it arrives hehehehe) and believe it or not, se-posh2 Publika, ada Daiso ok!! So apa lagi..Daiso la tempat I lepak and I chose this two cute notebooks and declare it as my birthday present can? Hehehe!

It's for me to jot down my random thought on craft ideas.

Thank you MrComot for that lovely outing!! :-*