M is for...

 Me...

Mimi...

Meringue...

Macaroons...

Yes, that's right!

Aside from the fact that I can read, write, crack a joke and many more wonderful things that I am fully capable of, I can bake too! Big surprise there huh? Bet you didn't think I could. Pretty soon, Jamie Oliver will need to move aside and create a segment for Naime!

Oh yeah, the thick skin is back on track!

So, as you know, my blocked leave is coming to an end soon. I am somewhat looking forward to it. I actually love long leaves and just not have any specific travelling plans. It makes me eager to get my feet back and do something. Then again, I probably do more when I am on leave.

Anyway, I decided to start baking today. 

Ratna said it's too early to bake for Eid. Normally, I would only start baking in week 3 of Ramadhan. Well, I blame this on Masterchef US Season 6. Seriously, I have been watching it and rooting for Derrick Peltz to win. I mean cute guy, plays the drum and he cooks! 

So today, I made macaroons!

My first round was a disaster. The batter became stubborn half-way through and refused to turn itself into a magically fluff. It wasn't till my mom pointed out that I added vanilla oil instead of vanilla essence to the batter that caused the batter to be upset.

So round two. I was super careful. Gotta have resilience.  

Added all the ingredients, folded in the crushed cornflakes and chocolate chips.

Placed a small amount in the cups so that it can bake well.

Add in some rainbow sprinkles...

In my case I added in stars and circles as well.

Not only did the testers (my parents) survived, they said these are sooooo good.

Oh yeah, now you wish you're my neighbour right?

Next round, I'll top them up with dinosaur sprinklers instead.

If you are wondering if they will stay fresh till Eid? Mom prepared me Tupperware containers. She said whatever that is kept in them can stay fresh up to 6 months due to their air tight design. 

It's not the freshness that I need to worry here. It's the monster in me that might finish them before the end of fasting month instead. 

Self-Prep

My blocked leave is coming to an end soon. 

It has been a good rest indeed. 

I have been trying to get the Eid preparations done as early as I can for the family. This is perhaps my way of trying to not be passive this Ramadhan. 

Alhamdulilah, the preparations have been running smoothly. I am quite glad that I need not rush much and concentrate on what is important; fasting itself. I am thankful that I can fast. Some people can't even fast due to their medical condition. I heard of some who make their way to Mecca to seek in Allah and pray in front of the Ka'abah, the ability to experience fasting in this holy month, Masha Allah. Such sheer determination. Such stories inspire me and I am trying to be better than before. 

I do envy those who strive for the sake of Allah in their daily lives.

Not an easy task for me I tell you, not complaining though. Preparing for hereafter is something that needs a lot of hard work. Maybe, this does not apply to everyone, but it does to me. The ever-widening gap between myself and The Creator is something that needs to be mended. The more I work on it, the more questions popped into my mind. The more scared I feel. How prepared am I to face Him when my time comes?

There were things that happened in my life. Unexpected things, disembarking from euphoria, jumping off the bandwagon, healing from hurt and many more. How does one overcome all these? There were times that I questioned myself, doubting, being in disbelief and more. Then I try to spend many more moments talking to Him and convincing myself that His tests were meant to develop me and prepare me to be closer to Him. In shaa Allah.

This entry may sound a little solemn. I know I do not sound my usual chirpy self. I probably misplaced the thick-skin mask somewhere, revealing a lil more of my vulnerable side tonite. I know there are people out there who are in a much more unfortunate situation than I am. 

I still try to count my blessings and thank Allah for the good and everything else. He's got my back, I believe in that. He loves us all.

Somehow tonite, I can't seem to shake this feeling, not too sure why. Someday, maybe even tomorrow, I know I am gonna look back at this entry and laugh for feeling this way. 

For now... Let me divert whatever energy I have to bring back that happiness and positivity back.

May Allah smoothen our load this Ramadhan. 

Have a blessed Ramadhan.

Dear Ramadhan, Here Are My Goals

This post should have been posted before fasting month started. Since it has started, I am gonna go ahead with this post anyway, just a lil behind schedule.

Every year, after the end of every Ramadhan, we often say,

"Dear Ramadhan, it has been a good month. Hopefully, we meet again next year."

Then the next year comes and it's another new cycle again. 

How will we do it differently?

First and foremost, I would like to seek forgiveness from everyone. 

Regardless whether we are family, friends, acquaintances, et cetera. Please forgive me for pretty much everything that I have done to have hurt any of you, whether it was on purpose or by accident. I am no saint, I have my flaws and I am human. In shaa Allah, I am working on myself to be a better person, a better daughter, a better sister, a better friend, a better employee but most of all, a better Muslim, for the sake of Allah. In the event that my expiry date came sooner than expected, I do hope that you will be able to find it within you to forgive me for any wrongdoings that I am done to cause any of you any hurt with or without me realising it.

As mentioned before by my ustaz, he talked setting goals this Ramadhan, making this Ramadhan better than the years before. Treat this Ramadhan as though it is our last. Make every effort we can for the sake of Allah. Masha Allah. Do it, not because we have to, but it is the very reason that we are put in this world, to make our way back... to Him.

I am perhaps among the many who constantly gets swept away with the many distractions of this world. Oh God, please forgive me.

So my ustaz keep emphasising on the goals we need to set and make sure we work on it. I read on some other students pledges and targets they have set for themselves. Some pledged to complete the Quran by the of Ramadhan. Some stated they will memorise some surahs from the Quran. Many many more targets were set for the sake of the Creator by these beautiful people. Masha Allah. 

As mentioned above, I am pledging to be a better Muslim in my everyday life as well as taking that step closer towards Him.

Quite frankly, this is not an easy for me.

So dear Ramadhan, here are my goals. 

Well, just some of it which I hope might be considered do-able in my books. 

Bismillah hirahmannirrahim.

1) Praying On Time

This has always been an uphill task for me. Yasmin Mogahed talks about planning our schedule around our prayers instead of vice versa, which I am guilty of. When we are in Mecca or Madinah to perform our Hajj or Umrah, we put our prayers and ibadah first. We make that our top priority. When we plan to meet someone to do anything there, we work those plans around our prayers and ibadah. I have been guilty of fitting my prayers in between my other schedule, such as work, meetings and other stuff. Let's work on this, in shaa Allah.

2) Non-obligatory Prayers

Ustaz Amin Yusuf mentioned in class once that our 5 daily prayers alone does not mean it completes us. The 5 daily prayers does not qualify us for An A in our report book when we face Judgment Day. It is only 50% of our prayers. This is further strengthened by Ustaz Saif-Ur-Rahman who mentioned in his class that we should not underestimate the power of non-obligatory (sunnah) prayers. If we make it a habit and part of our way of life, it can be one of the loopholes for us to avoid being called for judgment on Judgment Day. 

3) Counting My Blessings  

In the book, The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, it talks about stating down everything you are thankful for every single day. Start with 10, work from there, everyday. Being grateful has been stated in the Quran. Many of us say we count our blessings daily, but the minute something screws up, our blood pressure just shoots over the roof and we look for something or even someone to blame it on.

One of the things Ustaz Saif-Ur-Rahman taught us in class, when faced with any adversity or good news, connect with Allah, say Alhamdulilah, first. Everything happens because of Him. What I do plan to do here, after my prayers (the challenge would be when I am in a rush), I hope to be able to constantly raise my hand and count my blessings, thank Him, for as many of His gifts for the day. 

Let me keep it to three goals for now. 

In shaa Allah, may be in the future, I will state down other goals which I have lined up. 

What is your Ramadhan goal?

When Lycra Meets Dessert

I have been planning to work out again after Eid. 

I know, why not start now right? 

Fact is, I do not have the right hijab. I swear this is not an excuse. I used to work out at an all-ladies gym where I am free to wear anything I want, away from any male presence. But the disadvantage is, whenever I head down to my favourite outlet, it is always dinner time and finding parking there usually makes me cry. It is usually full, and the alternative parking area is quite a distance away. By the time I reach there, the classes have already started for a while and I just end up feeling less motivated than the time I left home. Then I realised that some classes were conducted by male trainers. Another turn off. Eventually after a while, I just lost the motivation. 

Part of my to-do list is that I plan to start working out again after Eid Festival, in shaa Allah. Don't laugh, the nawaitu is there, ok. There seem to be quite a bit of all-ladies fitness classes opening up lately. I noticed some are hijab friendly as well. This got me excited. 

Part of the attire that I was preparing for is looking for a suitable hijab for the workout classes (in case I need to). I am biased. I think chiffon material makes any lady look amazing on them. Style them well and you can even walk down any aisle like you're on any runway. 

Hellooooo Naime, we ain't going shopping at Orchard Road. We're talking towel, sweat, water, more sweat. Chiffon scarves are NOT suitable for working out. 

That is when Neen came to the rescue by getting me lycra material from Naelofar Hijab. It's known as the Babes and Basic collection. Today I decided to test it out.

Looking soooo demure rite? 

This is normally the look of any girl when she first dons her hijab at the start of the day. Ok, maybe it's just me. Kindly note gfs, I corrected myself before any of you decides to throw your shoe at me.

After a while of running errands, attending to various stuff, meeting people... 

this is how I behave...

Not so demure as the start of the day, huh?

hahahhahha.

What I can say is, I am definitely loving this hijab and do I look forward to the start of the fitness classes. 

In shaa Allah.

Hello sweat, challenge accepted.

*praying hard I will survive this*

But before we head there, let's indulge in the last few kopeks of dessert before we welcome the holy month of Ramadhan. 

Meet this really rich chocolate cake from Lynn Cakes.

Alhamdulilah. I love it! U should try it!

I was pretty surprised with the number of patrons at this cozy cafe. I figured there might not be many considering the location, but boy was I wrong. I am guessing they too think the same as I am. 

Oh we great minds who think alike. 

But hey, it's Monday tomorrow! 

Let me see which cafe I should check out next. 

Challenges

Fasting month is coming soon, Alhamdulilah.

I have been slowly trying to pay back what I missed last Ramadhan. I wish, and every year, I always wish the same. I wish I had followed Ratna's advice to do it early. This year, I do hope for it to be different though. To be able to repay them within the first few months after the month of Ramadhan.

I am not sure how others do it, but fasting on other months after Ramadhan, is quite a challenge. I am probably like a 7 year old when it comes to fasting outside Ramadhan. If the 7 Deadly Sins are widely recognised by the world, I think there ought be another version, 

The Many Different Deadly Nafs.

Water

Food

TV

Bed

Wasting Time

Whine

Excuses

The list goes on.

My ustaz says that we should try to set a challenge for ourselves this Ramdhan. 

Like memorising a longer than usual surah from the Quran. Masha Allah.  

My challenge would probably be different. I have not reach THAT stage as mentioned above. Hopefully I will in the future.

Last Ramadhan, I made it a point to ensure that I work on my family time. To spend more time with my parents and broke my fast as well as sahur with them for the entire month. It was a record breaker. Usually every year before that, I was accepting invitations to iftar at different places with different group of friends. Oh dunia... You are so tempting me...

This year, I plan to continue on the family time. What I also wanna do (although I have been slowly trying to work on this aspect) is to further strengthen my faith. Work on building my relationship with the Almighty. Take another step closer toward Him and maintain it. I wrote down my plans down in a book and hopefully, I can achieve this plan.

May this be as smooth as possible.

In Shaa Allah.

Over the Years

Neen and I have been friends for ages, since the good old primary school days. It has been quite a while since we plan to catch up. If I was free, she was busy. If she was on half-day leave, I had a long day. Finally, the blocked leave happened for me and Neen took half day leave from work to meet up. Gosh I feel so loved whenever my friends are able to make time for me. *blush*

We decided to check out this roadside cafe which we noticed was always crowded pretty much all the time. If you are a local, you would have noticed this place too, I am Cafe at Haji Lane. Pretty cool name I must say. But due to the humid Singapore weather, I wished the place was air-conditioned as Neen and I were perspiring all over. 

This beautiful friend of mine is now a mother of three. Gosh how time flies! 

While I was busy deciding on which module to choose in school, this lady pretty much had her life figured out. And I guess due to her better experience in the kitchen, she actually picked a tastier dish than mine from the menu.

I did wish we can exchange dishes, yes, hers tasted better than mine. But my drink choice tasted better than hers. Not that Neen cared, hahahha.

We then walked down Haji Lane and checked out some stores before heading to Wonderland for desserts. 

Oh my god. 

I love x infinity the desserts here at Wonderland. 

Even Neen agreed that their desserts were simply yummylicious.  

I appreciated the time Neen took to spend some time with me. We had years of catching up to do. She told me how she met her hubby, stories of her kids, her life, wow. Seriously, I admire her ability and strength in being a daughter, a wife, a mother of three wonderful kids, an employee as well as running her own online store and a few other stuff I don't even come close to. 

Her amazingness makes my amazingness look... pale. 

I am not jealous, I admire her strength and ability.

I felt like Neen was Super Woman. The Super Woman of our era. I wonder what battery she uses to be able to manage all these. And where does she find the time to be this Super Woman? 

So recently, Neen is trying out something which I pray and hope will work out, in shaa Allah.

What is this something that Neen is working on? 

Let's not jump the gun, I'll save it for future entry :)

naimefied look

Scarf: Sufyaa

Innerwear: Mango

Outerwear: Capital T

Pants: Mango

Shoes: Studio

Trio Empire

The Trio Empire consisted of Ayu, Ratna and myself.

ARN

RAN

NAR

ANR

RNA

NRA

You get the picture.

The trio empire has been growing over the years. They got married. They got pregnant. Earlier this year, Ayu and Ratna gave birth to 2 beautiful babies, Alhamdulilah. I am thankful for their safe delivery as well as being privileged to witness and be a part of their joy, Masha Allah.

Since fasting month is around the corner, (and since Ayu is still on maternity leave) we made it a point to meet up before the fasting month. 

I find it to be simply strange that being at this age that we are today, with technology pretty much conquering every waking minute of our lives, we just can't seem to run out of things to say. The three of us are in contact with each other pretty much everyday via all usual social media platforms, we yack on our whatsapp group pretty much every other day. And when we meet, we still have tonnes to talk about. I know what some would say, 'Girls!'

hahhahahahahha.

We usually meet at Ayu's place coz it's pretty easy for the hot mamas to nurse their newborns as well as for us to pray. This time, we thought of heading out to somewhere and chill. 

Thank god one of our usual chill out places have cushioned chairs for the babies to rest and was cool enough us, considering the Singapore weather was pretty warm. So while the hot mamas were nursing their babies and pacifying them, what was I doing?

 

Checking out the menu and deciding what to eat of coz.

When the food was served and enjoyed, I could finally snap a pic of the newborns.

Let me introduce to the world...

Babies A&E (from right to left respectively). 

Pardon the 2 people in the background, they are part of the package deal that came with the babies, hahahhahaha. 

Baby E was born first, ahead of schedule. Baby A was delivered 6 weeks later. I love how chubby and amazingly cute these 2 babies are. I can't believe Ayu dressed A up in pink rompers. PINK! 

Baby A, when you are all grown up and stumbled upon this picture, let me tell you, I told your mom that boys do not wear pink. But your mom says just from the look of your face, people will know you're a boy. Please forgive her.

Check out Baby A's facial expression. This is what happens when you dress your boy in pink rompers, Ayu. They rebel. See how quiet Baby E is in his blue rompers. hahahhaha.

Catching up with my dear best friends was a priceless moment. They have been there for me through good times and bad. More good than bad in shaa Allah. It is easy how we can just say our minds with one another and not take matters to heart when a joke is a joke. 

May the friendship last till jannah, in shaa Allah.

As always, we would always end up at Ayu's place somehow. Her place is like another one of our lepak corner. We all love being there. But before heading there, I forced them to take a picture of me.

One pose, that was all Ratna could help me with. Baiknya kawan!

Better one than none right? 

One more pitstop...

We just had to get some dessert from The Royals Steakhouse. 

I gotta say, The Royals never failed to put a smile on my face when it comes to desserts.

Meeting up with these 2 bffs of mine is usually on my priority list. I would clear my schedule or drop whatever I could just to meet them. Why? Because that is what best friends do.

Till we meet again babes...

naimefied look

scarf: satin silk from dUCk

top: Nichii

Skirt: Poplook

Shoes: Studio

Bag: Sofina by Sometime x FV

The Repeat Offender

Online shopping is on a serious rise these days. There seem to be quite a number of multi-label online retailers these day which offers worldwide shipping. The ones which offers FREE worldwide shipping would generally attract more attention than those who do not. Even if the shipping charges are just a mere few dollars extra, consumers (such as moi) would look for online retailers who do not charge shipping charges at all.

I am a huge fan of online shopping.

It's hard work you know. Sit, browse through, look for certain designs, check measurements, get off the chair, make my all-time favourite tea, sip it while I browse through different designs. Then after deciding, I realised my size is out of stock. Shucks!

Then I gotta look for another design and decide in my mind how I can mix and match them up with what I already have or when would be ideal to wear it.

Online shopping can be fun.

It saves my time, parking charges, ERP charges and a whole lot more.

Lately, there has been a number of collaborations happening across labels, icons and online retailers. Names I have not heard of suddenly came to light. Thank god I have wonderful friends who would explain to me who they are. My bad.

Most of these collaborations happened due to the upcoming Eid festival. I do admit, many of the collaboration pieces look stunning and I wish I could get them all. Then reality sets in.

What about the ones I already have?

Some of my clothes are worn only during the Eid festival. Some are still untouched. When it is time for the quarterly wardrobe spring cleaning, all the untouched ones are given away to my niece or Ratna's niece due to our similar amazing size.

As part of my to-do list, I shall mix and match the treasures in my wardrobe and see how I can make it work without repeating the same look as I had before. Can I pull this off? Would this work? 

I think this would be a fun idea, no?

Oh what the heck, let's just do this!

MAKE IT WORK!

Time to Relax

It had been a really really hectic and tiring week after week.

Endless work, errands, rushing around the country getting things I need and many more. I barely had time to get myself some flowers and do an interview with Opera. 

See, I kid you not, I was being interviewed by Opera at Madame Tussauds Museum. 

hahahahhaha.

I am finally on my blocked leave period. I had plans to leave the country for a vacation in Europe a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was too close to fasting month and I thought this time, I shall look for things to do in my own country. I hope I do not regret making this decision. 

I have so many things I wanna jot down here in this realm for future me to look back and laugh, but lately by the time I am home, I decided to tell them to the Almighty in my prayers instead. 

I am learning to strength my faith. Some things that comes to someone, may not come easily to others. Trials and tests occur to everyone in different ways. At the same time, we gotta learn to look at the blessings that comes in disguised instead, that is something that is not easy to many.

I have been crying alot to Allah for all He has bestowed. Alhamdulilah. I chose to see that He's got my back in every situation and He is always there for all of us. We just gotta take that step towards Him. 

During this leave, I have some things which I plan to achieve before fasting month.

Time to head to the to-do list.

Hello list...