Chronic Hunger

Tell me have you ever experienced chronic hunger?
It is the month of Ramadan and I am fasting daily, but in all honesty I have not felt the feeling of chronic hunger. I have a substantial breakfast before dawn and break the fast at sundown with enough food to satisfy my family of five's appetite. Although I admit I may feel a bit peckish during the day sometimes but it seems to me that it is nothing compared to the real thing...
You see I am reading this book called "A small corner of hell, dispatches from Chechnya" written by a Russian journalist, Anna Politkovkaya, who documented the plight of refugees and people of Chechnya at the turn of this century. One account is of Khazimat Gambieva, a 51 year old woman whom she described is the first person she encounters that is swollen from hunger, an image she can't dispel from her memory . Khazimat is a grandmother who used to work as a nurse for twenty years but as a refugee fleeing from the atrocities of war, she gave most of the food that came her way to her eleven children and grandchildren, and now the disease dystrophy or chronic hunger has turned her in Politkovkaya own words, "into a living woodcut... Woodcuts , as everyone knows, are drawn in one color. Khazimat Gambieva, a withered old refugee with swollen joints and an inflated stomach, looks exactly that way-- as if she had been drawn in black and white , with her black wrinkles standing out on her parchmentlike skin. "
Politkovkaya goes on to explain that there isn't really enough food for everyone in the Chiri-Yurt settlement, as they only receive humanitarian aid called a '3 day ration' every couple of months. How could a person, let alone a family with 3 cans of evaporated milk and 1 can of processed meat each, survive for a couple of months at a time?

Kitchen Helpers

I now have two lil kitchen helpers as my sons have volunteered to help me in the kitchen. Toddler is quite independent and likes to cut and eat his own food like cheese or fruits. At first I was a little apprehensive about him using a knife but he is coping beautifully (I only let him use a butter knife). Apparently, there is nothing unusual in letting them use a knife, as my neighbour, a qualified teacher, also mentioned that her toddler uses one to cut his food up.
His older brother, ds likes to help me stirfry veges, adding the bits and pieces enthusiastically into the pan. He can also make his own omelettes. I think it might be because he is used to baking cookies at school that he is not adversed to the idea of helping in the kitchen . He tells me he wants to learn how to cook so he can cook stuff for me when his older. How thoughtful! I think he might have a knack for cooking when he growns up.

Ahlan Ramadan

Ramadan Mubarak! Kul aam wa antum bikhair!

Friendly Aussies II

I went to the gym as usual this morning to work on my upper body. As it was a week day, there were slightly more people exercising before going to work. I could not help noticing a vivacious young guy walking and talking loudly (about Olympics etc) on the treadmill with two oldies who were also on treadmills beside him. He was wearing the sports centre's blue-green polo shirt. Almost the whole time I was there he was chatting with them. Then the oldies decided to move to the other stuff in the gym. So the bubbly guy went to sit on the rowing machine next to me. Apparently, he is the new gym manager! And he asked me if I'm a member and if I would fill the gym's questionaire. So this new gym manager is going round the gym chatting and actually helping people to use the weights and machines properly! I never seen anything like it , at least not at this particular sports centre. The previous 2 gym managers either sat at their desk or were not really present in the gym!

Another bubbly Aussie is a pretty shop proprietor in the suburb where I used to live. Everytime my toddler go into her shop she would call out to him and try to(mis)pronounce his name. I think she takes a shine to him even though he always hide from her when she says Hi . She had given birth to a cute baby boy this year and is always comparing him to toddler. I always have to stop and chat with her at the checkout even though I am in hurry to pick up kids at the school nearby. Btw, she is originally from Vietnam.

Ekka

The whole family went to EKKA on Wednesday. I think nearly 100,000 other beings decided to transcend upon the RNA Showgrounds on the same day too. It was jam packed! We didn't go last year as there was a serious flu virus flying around. Maybe we should have gone then because of the smaller crowd . (I don't like crowded places.) But get this, the dh and kids wanted to go there specifically to get SHOWBAGS! The kiddoes got 2 each. (Dd insisted on going again this Saturday to get more!! but I object. ) Hubby wanted to get the Pepsi bag and I was wandering what is so fun about getting 3 pepsis and freebies in a bag ? Anyway, I should of let him get it if it makes him happy. (Btw, I asked him to get me one bag too with 2 mags ie Woman's Weekly & Good Health plus some healthy snacks , for a bargain at $10 as not much choice of bags for oldie like me.)
The kiddoes also liked to play at the fun fair as they get small stuffed animals as prizes. I think the game arcades there are rigged though as not a lot of people seem to win the big plush stuffed ones.

I come from there

I just learnt of the Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish passing. Innalillah wainnailaihirajiun. Below is just one of his excellent Arabic poems translated into English.

I come from there
and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.
I come from there.
I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland.....

Charity Drive

Heads up from DrBubbles . Ramadan is fast approaching and if you are in a charitable mood, please direct your monies/in kind to Islamic Relief (M'sia) to help make the "Feed the Fasting " Campaign a success.

Friendly Aussies

Well, after living a couple of years in Oz, I thought I'd capture the spirit of the Aussie people from my day to day dealings with them.

Did you know that before you could pay your merchandise at the counter, you have to follow the ritual of the cashier saying "Hello, How are you?" and you answering "Good, thanks. How are you?" before you can actually pay for anything?? Many a times, I'm at the cashier counter and I forget what was it that I wanted to do there in the first place coz the cashier are so darn friendly... This lil ritual of saying how are you blah blah blah... can even last a bit longer than you'd expect. I mean I've seen cashiers and customers happily chit-chatting like they are old chums from waayy back...

Aussies also like to make jokes. When I was stuck in a lift with an Aussie family, one guy had a look at my supermarket trolley which was full to the brim with groceries and said, "You have enough food in there to last you for 12 months." I had to grin and say that I had a big family (if you can say having 3 kids is a big one). And the guy quipped back, "That is your fault!"
... ..ummm, I guess it is the fault of my husband and I for having them in the first place, lol.

Kite Runner vs Da Vinci Code

I'm suppose to do some outdoor activities this week but unfortunately it rained a couple of days. So my plan got derailed momentarily. Sometimes the winter is miserably cold , sometimes warm. Nonetheless, it is perfect weather for a bit of reading under the warm duna and watching movies. One of the books I just read was The Da Vinci Code. I had to read it to see what the fuss was about (my sister had read it last month and sms- ing me that she was engrossed). To be honest, the book was quite good and well researched/informative. After reading it, I had to see the movie too so we rented the DVD of the same name. It was soo predictable. I could say it is mildly entertaining, you know, the run of the mill Hollywood action film ie police chase supposed fugitives until at the end they realise that the supposed fugitives are actually the heroes of the day. *yawn*.
Last year, I read The Kite Runner during the winter months and I wrote it in one of my blog entry. It has to be one of my favourite books by far. (Blogger Tasmiya also read this book and sobbed all the way through the book). I also read the other book by the author titled, A Thousand Splendid Suns, a heart wretching story about 2 Afghan women bound by a common destiny. (Usually, I steer away from stories of battered women syndrome but the more you read the book , the more you had to finish it.) Well, anyway, my hubby rented the Kite Runner DVD for me to watch. A few minutes into the film , I was already sobbing, and nothing was happening yet , it was just the opening scenes of Afghan kids playing with their colourful kites in the streets of Kabul. **sob, sob** (I guess I am a softie where children are concerned) .
Verdict: The Kite Runner wins over Da Vinci Code , hands down!

Update: Dh just watched kite runner movie and he said it was a good movie (coming from a guy who loves action packed movies like Rocky/Rambo says a lot).

Survived (school hols)!

School hols is coming to an end , woohoo. Let me see. What did we do. Went to 2 libraries (almost got kicked out of the first library, boys were NAUGHTY while we were waiting for dd to finish her course), went to the mall twice (quick visits mind you), picnic, parks, went to the movie (cool movie, kungfu panda) and they also met their school friends so they can redirect their energy some place else.................................
Next week I'll be so happy to shoo them to school.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

As requested by Swahili (I'm sure you have a couple of them up your sleeves!), here is a simple recipe of a chocolate cake that I usually bake for my kids (taken from a basic cookbook). My family prefer I bake this choc cake as opposed to buying the ready made mixture from the shops. I think it might taste better as they always finish the former but not the latter.

Recipe:

125 g butter (room temperature)
125g caster sugar (half cup)
40g icing sugar (one third cup) sifted
2 eggs , lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (fresh vanilla pods would be exquisite if you can find them in the shops)
A quarter cup/80g blackberry jam
1 and a quarter cups self raising flour
Half cup/60g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1 cup milk (full cream preferably if it is for a special occasion, skimmed milk if you're on a diet.)

Chocolate buttercream:
50g dark chocolate
25g butter
3 teaspoon cream (I usually add milk if no cream in stock)
A quarter cup /30g icing sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease the base and sides of deep 20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.


2. Beat the butter, caster sugar and icing sugar with electric beaters til light and creamy. (They don't tell you this but the butter has to be at room temperature, not straight out of the fridge.) Add the eggs gradually, beating after each addition. Add vanilla essence and jam and beat til combined.


3. Fold in combined mixture of flour , cocoa and soda alternately with milk. Stir until mixture is combined and almost smooth.


4. Pour into cake tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave in tin for 15 mins , then cool on a wire rack.


5. To make the buttercream, combine the chopped chocolate , butter , cream and icing sugar in a small pan. Stir on low heat til mixture is smooth and glossy. Spread over cake with a flat knife.

Wallah!

Semolina Cake

I made a semolina & lemon syrup cake today- right after I came back from cycling- (ouch! my legs still hurts). I thought I'd do something with the semolina I bought ages ago when I wanted to try to make them. This cake does not contain wheat flour whatsoever, only semolina, grounded almonds, butter and sugar. (Good heavens, didn't think that was possible). Thought I'll do some baking as school is out and I have been requested to bake a chocolate cake for a picnic in the park this week. Hopefully, I still remember how to bake one !

Winter blues

(Sorry I haven't been updating my blog lately. I was a tad distracted with a new forum I 'm currently on, (my old secondary school forum actually).. well, it is down today so no chitchatting with old schoolmates today.. )
Anyways, it is winter in Oz and I am feeling the chills. It is freakin cold especially in the morning/evening. Thus, I haven't been going very regularly to the gym as the warm duna/duvet seems more than tempting. Having said that, I have managed to rid of all the holiday weight gain by using the treadmill regularly now. (Should thank the hubby for investing in one.) Though I wonder if it is all going to stay off, as I am also baking muffins again and gobbling them up at alarming rate. I made some plain muffins and also banana and oats muffins. Dd and ds seem to like the plain ones best so I might do some more tomorrow and probably give some to the extended family.

Update

Went back to KL and came back in one piece, Alhamdulillah. Kinda hectic living at my mum's place for a few weeks (though we have our own place but not much furnishing there unfortunately). Tis a bit rowdy having our 3 kids and their cousins in one place. Seriously.. not much rest at home as they keep barging into our room. I think the nephews equate us with fun and pleasure of some sort! But the good thing is someone else is doing the cooking, washing and cleaning up. :) Now back in Oz, no more nephews to contend with but have to do own ..you guessed it , cooking, washing and cleaning. :(
I also have to work on my exercise routine again as all that M'sian food did a bit of damage to my waist line again although I did go to to the gym a couple of times a week there, even on vacation in PD and Melaka, I think it wasn't enough , I still suffered from all the fatty nasi lemak and roti canai (dh's favourite breakfast btw.. he took 1 hour to finish with his buffet breakfast (I was timing him)whereas I only took half hour, yet it doesn't do any serious damage to him except perhaps his wallet). I am so glad to be far away from all that food , tis a blessing in disguise teehee.. Although dh will miss his roti canai , he says I make better nasi lemak than the M'sian stalls. How nice of him to say that .. Too bad I don't make it as often as he'd like.

Pink ribbon for a friend

I learnt about H's condition a few months ago and tried to find out how she was coping then and whether her health was improving. However, information about her was still rather vague at the time. So when I went back to KL, I called a friend who was a doctor at the hospital treating H's condition. She told me H had received the all clear bill of health and was able to return back to work a month ago . This seemingly meant that her health was improving for the better... but the very next day , I received an sms that she was back in the hospital. So I arranged to visit her the next day with my old schoolmate friend.
It was harrowing to see her again after all these years, as her health was deteriorating before my eyes . How frail she had become and the excruciating pain she was suffering from... what could I say to make it better? Not a darn thing, as tears welled up in my eyes that very moment...
At the end of the visit .. I said my formal goodbye saying I will be going back overseas but assuring her I will ask of her wellbeing from our mutual friends... wishing and hoping in my heart she would recover for the sake of her diligent and loving husband by her side and her two lovely children, but at the same time thoughts crossed my mind whether I could see her again.. alive.. before the end of the week....
The next day my schoolmate friend sms-ed me that she passed away...

I didn't have the nerves to write on the tribute placard the names of people I knew who suffered from cancer when I was running for breast cancer research last month. So this lil blog entry is dedicated to Era, the pretty and fair-skin girl from the East Coast, who always had a sweet laughing smile and not one mean bone in her body, not one! That's how you'll be fondly remembered by your old schoolmate friends. Dear Era, may you rest in peace now in the kingdom of tranquility. Aamin.

Mother's Day / Funrun 2

I did another charity funrun in conjunction with Mother's Day while dh and kids did the 4.5k walk. I think the kids enjoyed it a lot. The atmosphere was electric and they even met their school teachers who did the longer 8k walk.
Anyway, I'm quite happy with my time AND I also managed to jog all the way even though I felt like stopping especially at the first k. I had a stomach upset the day before eating too many samosas at a fete/carnival. I didn't really want to go to the fete for fear I might overindulge. Thankfully, I was okay the next day otherwise I don't think I could have run the race.
The kids also gave me lots of cards/mugs they made/bought plus ds picked some tiny wild flowers and dd presented me with her marigold flowers she grew herself! They also made toasts and fruit salad for dinner for me on a tray. My lower legs hurt badly after the funrun so when toddler and his brother started playing with lotion, I just let them smother it all over my legs etc while I had a snooze. Bliss!

1st Road Accident

My car was involved in its first road accident in Oz a couple of hours ago. It was at a T junction near our house. We were coming back from the park after feeding ducks in the pond. I was waiting at the T junction to go to the right. A car from the left wanted to turn right into the road I was coming from. I don't think he stopped even though cars were streaming down from the opposite direction so he collided with a car. Oh my god , both the 2 cars looked really screwed up in front of me. My car was lucky ... actually very, very lucky to sustain only a dented number plate as the guilty party's car bumped into the front portion of my car. I came out to assess the damage and as I saw there was oil leaking from one car , I asked one guy in the front seat to come out of his car as I was afraid his car might catch fire though he looked like he had severe chest pains. Poor Guy! His daughter was in total shock , (poor girl!) as she went on about that she was on her way to swim class etc so now how is she going to go if her car is looking like that? Her mum was getting the swim bag out of the car so I helped carry her daughter across to the road side ( I think she forgot about her partner who was in pain! and I had to remind her to help him.) The guilty driver was on the phone calling RACQ etc. I don't think he lended a hand other than that. There was one passerby who came and helped with the parties involved and he even helped by directing traffic flow (bless him!) before the fire engine and ambulance came. The police were the last to come. I had to wait for them to give my details and then we were free to go. We met dh on the way back as he was working on a Saturday and it took him a while to come over. Hmm.. he missed all the action!

ANZAC cookies

I guess I'm writing too much on sports these days and less on cooking coz I haven't really done any great recipes lately.
Well, it is almost ANZAC day in Oz which is a very important memorial day here and older son kept pestering me to make ANZAC cookies from a recipe in a kid's mag his friend gave him. So I baked some last weekend with his help. It wasn't that difficult and it is rather nutritious with rolled oats, dessicated coconut and honey. I could bake more cookies if the recipes are not that cumbersome. (you know many cookie recipes need to use cookie cutters and rolling pins etc ).

Cross Country

[ So okayyy.. I missed my weekly update last week. I also missed a very important dinner this week. I might as well inform everyone on the blogosphere as EVERYONE in dh's dept knows that I had toothache due to to wisdom tooth plans to emerge out of my gums. (So who's big idea was it to call it wisdom tooth? I can't find any wisdom in it except intermittent throbbing pain!) ]
Back to the real world. The kids had a lil cross country at their school this week. I missed ds' event as had an appointment with the dentist to reevaluate my wisdom tooth but I came just in time for dd's event. I was quite pleased to see her run, She was about position number 5 or 6 in her age group. When I asked her what position she got , she said third last. I guess there was only 8 girls in her age group. Oh well , I think this was an improvement from 2 years ago, when she got last or second last was it? My friends' daughters , wow.. they were really good getting placing between 1st to 3rd. (Amazing when you see some of them running with gutso in their lil hijabs.)
I like to see schoolchildren enjoying sports and playing in the field at the school every time I pick my kids up. School isn't just about sitting down and looking at the blackboard in the classroom all the time. Fitness and character building is important too.

Blur Week

It has been a bit of a blurry week. My head was spinning from a slight cold coupled with some other factors. My 2 lil heroes weren't well either, with older son receiving the full brunt of it with a nasty cold/cough. (I think it might have something to do with him eating too much ice cream.) The weather had changed decidedly cooler during the evening and early morning. With ds at home most of the week, I couldn't do anything much except care for him and his bro and appease their appetite (or lack of.) Ds even in sickness, couldn't even stay in bed like one would expect a sick child should do. Always out and about!
His sister had to go to a music camp at the high school nearby so sick or not , all 3 of us had to pick her up each day after camp. At the end of the week, we let ds go to school (as school break starts next week and he would be wondering why he hasn't been to school yet). When I went to pick him up, I noticed more kids than usual were riding bikes back to their house. (I like to watch them pedal their lil feet up the hill with zest!) I realised they were doing this as it was bike week and they were encouraged to ride to and fro school. This in turn reminded me that I had a 10km bike ride to do with dd and ds on Sunday. I vaguely remember this due to too much things going on.
Well, the time came this morning. We were late or shall I say very punctual, as we rode to the starting line from the carpark , the wave of riders from the starting line came from the opposite direction! We let them past. Went to the startline. Talked to some marshalls. Decided to follow suit with no numbers stuck on the bike. The boys were a bit behind dd and I, so dh said we could go ahead to catch the masses so we did. I must say it was a bit of an art for me trying to ride slower than dd and some other lil girls. My seat was lowered at first so I could put my legs on the ground if I had to stop suddenly etc and then I brought it up at a higher position half through the course so I could ride better wthout my feet feeling cramp but ehem.., this wasn't a good idea as there was once/twice I stopped some other people on their track behind me. It was such a tight space there next to the cliff and I was trying not to collide with dd in front of me. Oh well!
We came back to start/finish line where dh and boys were waiting - they went back after riding to/fro the goodwill bridge.- only 2km ride while we did about 10km. I think dd did quite well for her first attempt at riding by the masses. Her dad said he'll like to do this again next year after the boys become better at riding (and also wake up earlier in the morning). I was a bit surprise that he wants to enter again as he was all excuses- weather, sickness etc before the event.. while I am not to sure I want to do it again!