The Maysaa Snood

I stumbled upon a blog not quite long ago and was immediately locked to it. It was something I always imagined I would do at some point. A blog on style, fashion and design but at the same time modest and covered. Anyway, the writer was also a designer and she had her own label just recently launched. I pre-ordered the snood and it arrived yesterday. I was not expecting it as it was a Saturday but ..Yipee! Anyway, the design of the snood is perfect~ stylish and functional. I thought it was a normal 'anak tudung' with a stylish satin fold in front but this was even better, besides the satin wrap, it was attached to a neck covering. This is going to be perfect for the Malaysian weather I will be going back to where layering is always the last options so I don't have to wear a layer of turtle neck to wide necked blouses. At the back of the snood is a zipper, so this is the secret to the polished shape of the snood, I thought. It eliminates the bulkiness around the shoulder area. I can't wait to wear it to our London trip! Will put up some photos.

Rojak Pasembor/Mee/Mamak/Singapore

After Ibiza I had a 'cooking block'. I classify it as cooking block which was like writer's block but in cooking. Everything I made seemed bland and I didn't feel like eating. Kesian Imran. However, I think my cooking block is over, thank God it lasted only a couple of days. Today I made rojak. What kind of rojak? Hmm, it has so many names to it so I'm really not sure but definitely the savoury rojak and not the sweet and sour rojak buah. As I googled, all recipes were different here and there so I made up my own by gathering info from gooling so I'm not sure how to credit this so thanks all for giving me the inspiration. Here's the recipe to RojakPasembor/Mamak/Singapore. I'm just estimating because I didn't really measure.

The Sauce (Resepi Kuah Rojak)

8 Dried Chillies (boiled)

1 Onion

1 tbsp Dried Prawn

4 small Potatoes (peeled and boiled)

3 tbsp Peanuts (I used the ready to eat, snacking peanuts)

1 tsp tamarind paste

Salt and Sugar

Blend the chillies and onion, fry in pot. Blend potato, prawn and peanuts, pour in pot, cook. Add in salt, sugar and tamarind paste.

Fritters (Cucur Keras)

1 cup normal ap flour

2 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp desicated coconut

1/2 chopped onion

salt and sugar

mix and fry

Fritters (Cucur Lembut)

1 cup normal ap flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 cup beansprout

1/2 grated carrot

water

prawns

1 egg

salt

mix and fry

Serve with egg noodles, beansprout, grated cucumber, hard boiled egg and boiled potatoes.

Ibiza, Spain

We went to Ibiza and came back, Alhamdulillah safe and sound. As usual, we were checking out any discounted flight rates and we found out that we could get cheap tickets to Faro, Portugal. We started researching on Faro and Albufeira. We could work this out, we thought, we could even get a 4 star room located in the middle of a golf course. The only problem was the timing to come back to Glasgow was at 6 am. Hubby left for the library as he still had his exams to get over with and I was in charge of further research if we decide to book. Then, I came across Ibiza and knew that hubby would prefer it because it was listed as one of the Adidas cities. We booked the flight almost immediately as we found out the hotel and apartment rates were really good and images of the Formentera island was breathtaking. A few days after that news of the Icelandic volcano eruption effecting flights started and we made ourselves worried by looking at aircraft problems and effects due to volcanic ash. We almost cancelled our plans of a holiday in Ibiza, that was how scared we made ourselves.

Day 1

We stayed at Apartmentos Lux Mar at the Figueretas Beach close to Ibiza Town. We arrived around 10 am and took the normal bus to town which cost us 3 euros per person. Luckily we didn't pre-pay or hire a shuttle service that costs more than double at 8 euros per person. The town was so near, it was approximately a.. say 15 minutes ride. We had lunch at a kebab restaurant and walked around the Ibiza town waiting for time to check in. I was soaking in the actual Mediterranean architecture. It's a famous style to copy but this was actually looking at the real deal. As I was admiring the buildings I didn't look where I was going and suddenly I felt myself falling to the ground and our heavy knapsack I had on didn't actually help and I felt that I was dragged to the ground even more. In other words.. 'tergolek dock'. Hubby was worried, he thought I fainted. I still have the bruise, it has yet to fade. We have classified this as my bimbo moment, as our friend Raja calls situation like these. We checked in to our self catering apartment and went out strolling by the beach and got some food supplies at the near supermarket. As we strolled, we found a Halal butcher and bought some chicken.

Day 2

We spent the whole morning playing at the swimming pool and by the beach. In the afternoon we walked to Dalt Villa, the old town and fortress of the Ibiza town. It was quite a climb but so worth it. The view was amazing. We walked along the fortress and discovered that the locals were still staying there and the houses were of what I would imagine dwellings on the Grecian Island would look like. We walked around and took as much pictures as we could while chasing happy Nabila running around. We found the exit labelled as Sortida and the exit part looked a bit Al-Hambra-ish with stoned walls, arches on columns. I was so in love with Dalt Villa. I was also happy with myself for choosing to wear my summer maxi dress and having Nabila wear her white summer dress. We continued walking to the port and had our Pizza Margherita while watching the view of yacht and boats docking at the Marina.

Day 3

Full day at Formentera Island. Absolutely stunning! We bought our boat ticket at the hotel the night before. We were a bit worried Nabila might get cranky if we were stuck at the island until evening. At first we opted for the more expensive ticket that we could come back earlier at any time but the hotel staff assured us we would need the whole day and there were restaurants and a small town at the island for keeping Nabila busy. Our return ticket was 20 euros per person. The journey was about an hour. There were many options to move about Formentera, we wanted to hire a car at 35 euros but luckily the lady there could speak english and told us to try the bicycle which we wanted to try since Amsterdam. We asked for a trial with Nabila, guessing that she might be scared or bored and wanting to climb out like every time in her car seat. Guess what? She loved it! She was immediately clapping her hands and laughing. We paid 6 euros each, the child seat was free. We rode from the port to Playa Illetes (the nearest and the most beautiful beach there). It was about 2 kilometres but I was starting to feel my legs fall. Talk about lack of stamina. It was ages since I rode a bike. Playa Illetes was magnificent. the water was clear, the sand was soft and white, there were not many people, no obstructing buildings except for a small restaurant. Lovely. We played by the beach and rode our bike to a couple of sides of Playa Illetes, which did remind us a bit of our honeymoon in Koh Ngan Yuen at Koh Samui in Thailand. We had lunch at one of the restaurants at one of the sides of the beach. It wasn't that expensive for a restaurant so remote. We had fried battered squid and a bowl of ice cream sundae while facing the view. After taking pictures and riding back to the port, we realised that it was time to go back. We definitely needed the whole day. Nabila slept the whole journey back so she recharged her batteries and was active again at night. We took her out for more ice cream and coffee for us by the restaurant under the moonlight. As we strolled to the restaurant, Nabila bumped into an active Italian boy, they immediately hooked up and started chasing each other and playing about. The boy's name was Luigi Matteo. His mum was so delighted, she called out to 'Baci' but as Matteo wanted to kiss Nabila, she ran away. Good girl. We then had our coffee at a place called Marco's. Everyone was quiet, enjoying the food and the music, and suddenly came this couple with a toddler... noisy and naughty, haha, sorry folks.

Day 4

More beach, sand, pool and walking about the town. We tried to look for the 400 year old mosque we read about but the hotel staff didn't know where. We were greeted by the president of the Islamic community there on the second day. He told us how to get there by pointing to a direction with a heavily Spannish accented accent. We thought we could reconfirm with the hotel staff. He was helpful, trying to google the place but there was not much detail on the internet.

Day 5

Not ready to go back... but we had to. Ibiza was a wonderful trip.