Nadiah Farhanah kena jail kat seat belakang Nissan...

Yes... this is what happens when you are too mischievous. Tarus kena lokap... sampai tertidur lagi dalam ini lokap. As you can see, I've come up with the best kid-control-kit.... light, mobile and stern. No kid will ever disobey their parents again once you put this gadget into practice. Hua hua hua! (Gelak shaithon....)...

Hehehe. Saya idok le sekejam seperti mana yg saya katakan kat atas tu. Actually, this picture was taken way back in January 2010. The base of my katil murah, the besi2 peng-support tu sudah patah lah. So ni sebenarnya gambar baru balik dari kedai welding :) And my daughter, she thought it would be neat for her to be able to sleep "behind bars"... kira a little bit of fun during the ride back to Taman Ilmu :D Hehehe... Gambar sebenar seperti di bawah.

Don't worry... this kid was not hurt during the making of this image... :D

The katil was ok after this. However, we ended up selling it to our rumah-sewa successors at No. 24, Lintang Ilmu 1, Taman Ilmu, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang :D I think I sold the bed for around RM100 (sekali dengan tilam...?). The apek welding did a good job at making the base solid again. Due to that, orang pun buleh la tidur nyenyak di atas katil murah berkenaan :D Alhamdulillaah. Ok. Time kasih kerna membaca post yg tak banyak sangat manfaat ini :D Assalaam aleykom WBT.

Early last month, I went back to my father's kampung in Bagan Datoh (Bagan Datuk/Datok), Perak. Aiyaa... brings back memories lah :) Especially during the time of Eidul Fitri, when me and my cousins would come together to celebrate the festivities :) Those were the good old days.

Anywayz... managed to snap a few pics. So kalau sapa2 berminat nak tengok, sila lah layan iye :D Tq for reading and looking then. Assalaam aleykom WBT.

The path to my late grand parents' house

Ni kalau pandang belakang time masuk. Kena naik titi seberang parit dulu.

This is typical among the houses in the area of Tebuk Mukmin.

Belakang rumah / dapur memasak dan tempat berkumpul sanak saudara

 Pandangan hadapan dari bawah. Mcm ada seni iya gambau ni :P

"Parking lot" - can fit in volvo ooo bawah ni. The preferred parking

place since terlindung dari cahaya mentari :)

Stair case leading to the front door

Water tank... sumber air utk semua aktiviti

Bawah rumah. Kadang2 lepak ngan sedara mara kat sini layan borak

Belakang ghumah lagi... tapi belah tepi sikit

Tingkap dapur. Dulu sekali pernah dekat nak terbakar

kat sini gara2 apek jual dapur terlupa nak tutup api masa dia demo...

Reban ayam :) My grandma used to rear quite a lot of chicken.

I was quite a bad boy back then as sometimes I fed them ayam masak merah,

ayam masak kicap etc. Menggalakkan cannibalism betul lah... But now dah insaf :D

This is the bath room. I mean, literally... the door on the right is tempat mandi,

whereas the one on the right is tempat membuang a.k.a. melabur a.k.a. melepas :)

Kolah... eh, kolah ek? Hantam saja la. Skg dah tak guna...

Eh, gambar tangki air ni lagik lawa dari yg tadi ye dok?

Ada pulak kuali lama tergantung lagik kat belakang ghumah :) Antik!

Bawah rumah. I have no idea what this was used for. Some sort of

make-shift stair case?

Penahan jendela... (if that's what they call it)

Depan rumah Wak Tonet :) Dulu dia dok rumah belakang... skg dah pindah ke depan

Depan rumah Wak Intong. Kesian, dia time ni operate kaki... amputate sikit sbb diabetes

The path ke ghumah belakang. I think time raya baru ada orang ghumah ni

since nak accommodate anak beranak yg balik kampung. Quite handy to have an extra

house I'd say :P

Rumah belakang :)

The cat... guarding stuff yg my father nak bawak balik Bangi...

Dalam rumah Wak Tonet... living room :)

Tingkap kat living room

Kat belah tepi ghumah

Pintu... ye la kan? Beh tu apa lagik :P

I am not photogenic... Need ubat kurap first...

Benda ni tembaga ghupanya (lepas dah polish baru nampak kaler tembaga dia).

If American Pickers were here, maybe they'd buy it for... $50? $55?

Ni buleh buat teghbey (lestik) neh???

Pohon kelapa. We got quite a number of these coconut tress in the compound

Other trees :)

Coconuts!!!

The banana's heart. Bahasa orang puteh apa ek jantung pisang neh?

Al Pisang Al Banana

The parit. Man, it used to be a whole lot deeper than this. Dulu kecik2 selalu dok tangkap either

haruan or puyu here... Now yg ada ikan kekecik je (yg rupa2 mcm todak tuh)

The road just outside the titi... Mmg dari kecik bapak tak kasik pegi pasal takut

kena langgar keter. So, even sampai skg I am quite phobia to even cross it. Hahaha!

Tempat duduk yg dah usang kat atas titi...

Tempat duduk yg kurang usang kat atas titi...

Pandangan dari titi :D

Kelapa lagi... green colored ones pulak this time

I have no idea why I snapped this...

For your information, this animal is called a cat :D

More coconuts...

Oh, and did I mention we had quite a few coconut trees?

I was browsing through my computer's desktop. Among all the useless (and some useful) clutter, I found my daughter's artwork :) She was playing around with MS Paint at the time... I think when she was 3 or 4? (now dah nak 6 y.o.). Anywayz, I just tot it looks kinda cool. Hehehehe... Not to say it's a Picasso or anything. Cuma kadang2 tu tengok, nampak mcm color combo dia ok la jugak :D Oraits. Selamaaat.

'Colored Lines' by Nadiah Farhanah binti Alfian

Now, me and the wife is in the stage of sleepless nights. Why? Of course due our lovely new addition to the family... Mr. Nadeem Farhan bin Alfian. Somehow, at this stage (~1-month old), he refuses to snugly sleep during the night. End up, mom or/and dad, has to try his/her best to make the little chumster go back into his slumber. He'd normally wake up at around 8-9pm... and then continue to open his beautiful eyes up until 11 pm or even 4 am! :] But what to dooo... kena la berjaga dan tengok camne mau kasik dia tidoq balik... hehehehe. Anywayz... of course it stresses us out (who won't be?)... but that's the way it is. And we always remember, above other things, that this little guy is the greatest gift from God and its our responsibility to take care of him... and of course, LOVE him. Alhamdulillaah.

Ayah and Farhan @ around 11-12 am kot? He finally slept at around 3?

Okes. Below are some of the ways that I've tried to coax him back to sleep (which most have failed miserably):

• Dodoi - at this point, he can't quite understand the whole 'tepuk bontot' thinggy :P
• Recite some Quranic verses - this seems to work quite well most of the time :) 
• Cradle him in my arms and slowly sway back and forth - works 25% of the time
• Sing - since I am no Michael Buble (camtu ke eja?), he responds with an awkward frown
• Kasik meniarap - sometimes, he looks uncomfortable laying on his back, I let him lie on his belly... sometimes this works... but only sometimes... :|
• Cradle him in my arms and walk around the house - while a good way to decrease fat, this method does not work since the little one has more opportunity to appreciate the surroundings
• Kasik susu - Haaa... this one seems to work most of the time. But the thing is, its usually only less than an hour before that he already emptied his mom's booties :P So, end up he gets angin and discomfort after putting him to bed (even tho kasik belehak/burp)

Anywayz, more tactics are available I'm sure :) Any suggestions? (other than giving him plain water... I don't think I'll subscribe to this... 100% breast milk for the first 6-months is the rule kan? ... of course ubat is exception la kot2 dia sakit... 'Aoodzubillaah). Okes :D Tq for reading iya :D

When I first saw the name on the box, Japanese Mandolin... my mind immediately pictured a small, semi-egg-shaped musical string instrument (like a mini gambus), the one that would be played by people from either Mexico or Spain (I don't actually know the origin of this instrument, but somehow my mind goes to these countries :P). But that's just the thing... A Japanese Mandolin? Kok bagimana? Ghupa-ghupanya... it's the kitchen utensil mandolin thinggy. Sebelum ni, I never knew it was called a mandolin, but a quick image search through Google confirmed it... A Mandolin Slicer!

The website hosting this image can be found here... (ni kira free advertising ke? Or am I simply committing digital-image-theft?)

This is the mandolin slicer... also rembatted.... from here...

Anywayz... my wife just bought this kitchen slicer utensil mandolin thinggy yesterday. At first I was quite surprised as it costs RM77!!! Tu dah nak lapan puloh hengget dah tu weh??? But since sometimes, my wife makes quite wise decisions, I decided not to pull a fit... and just berdiam diri. At the same time, I was very2 de excited also, because I liked the fact that something new was bought (doesn't happen very often in my household...)

Balik rumah, I opened the packaging. At first sight, I immediately agreed that the RM77 price tag was worth every penny. Most quality kitchenware selalunya mmg mahal-mahal, but the hefty price tag is normally justified by the quality and durability.

The product's name is BENRINER - Japanese Mandolin (Slicer). Japanese Mandolin, but with a USA patent... Ok la kot... I don't know how other countries' mandolins look like, but I reckon almost the same. I read somewhere that Rachel Ray uses this product (on her show I guess?) Anywayz, ini lah dia rupa benda alah tu. Actually it's the same brand as the mandolin pic above, only ours is white :) It's the new wide type also (dunno if the previous one was too narrow?)

64 m/m dia tulis... 

First impression... from the (plastic?) material used for the body, I was convinced that it had quality. I've used mandolins before and most of them had the normal, plastik-keras biasa body. But this one... Walaweh... it actually feels quite hard and strong! Like very2 susah to break one. It also has a textured effect, which I believe was intentionally designed to stress the sturdiness. 

 

Provided are three slicing blades, FINE, MEDIUM and COARSE. Each with their own unique slicing/cutting abilities.

  

  

The slicer blades of course, can be easily interchanged :D  The main blade... looks very2 sturdy, like can cut anything from onions to shoe-soles (I am exaggerating of course). The slicing thickness can also be easily adjusted. And I pretty much like the safety-holder (finger guard) thinggy... the design is quite nice aye?

 

 

 

  

And of course, they provide handling instructions and safety precautions so that you don't wreck the thing during use and keep your fingers in tact at the same time  :)

 

syok tengok mandolin dot com

I look forward to be using this thing ASAP. My wife of course, akan guna dalam jangka masa terdekat. Pasal kalu tak, takkan dia beli ye dok? (Kalau dia beli saja-saja, nanti aku upah orang karate dia... hehehe).  At the moment, I myself have too much work to do and little time to do kitchen work (hence using kitchen utensils). Alhamdulillaah, ada maid dah sekarang, so no need to headache2 thinking of household cleaning n joint kitchen management with the wife. Tapi takpe... sikit lagi PhD ni nak habis dah. When that time comes, insyaAllaah I will start using this thinggy. Lepas tu, another post pulak :D Orait... Assalaama aleykom!!!

[click the above image to view this item on Amazon.com]

AND... enjoy the demo video below. Don't work quite well on cucumbers I see... hehehe.