RAJIN-RAJIN EXERCISE OTAK

Hmmm... What an interesting topic! 

How many of us rajin bersenam otak? Senang saja. Satu cara is to write out semula timetables... 2 x 1 = 2, 2 x 2 = 4, 2 x 3 = 6 and so on. Paling bagus lagi, buat calculations yang besar-besar sikit like 274 + 317 = ? and so forth.

 

This sort of exercise is inspired by Dr Kawashima in his book entitled "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day". There are just simple Mathematics exercise that small children do. I asked my kids to download simple Math apps in their iPad, so that each of them spend at least 10 - 15 minutes a day, training their brains. Doing sudoku is also an excellent one. 

Besides feeding your brain with good food and good supplements such as gingko biloba and Omega-3, doing exercises are also good. Sambil duduk di office buat kerja, exercisekan kaki, dan dengan sendirinya, we are exercising our brain. 

Another advice is look at nice pictures such as these:

 

Bunga seperti tangan yang sedang berdoa 

  

This is my favourite brain refresher! Sedang kita menikmati keindahan bunga-bunga yang cantik ini, kita akan ingat kepada Allah SWT dan betapa syukurnya kita dengan kehebatan ciptaanNya yang tiada bandingan ini.

Jom sharing time. This is my favourite Bingka Telur. No picture, lupa ambil gambar. Next time ya...

Bingka Telur

6 biji telur

2 cawan air pandan

2 tin santan (400ml x 2)

3 cawan tepung gandum

1 sudu kecil garam

2 cawan gula

4 sudu makan mentega - dicairkan

Bijan secukupnya untuk ditabur

Pewarna hijau (I seldom use, sebab lebih suka original colour pandan juice)

           

Blend semua bahan-bahan hingga tidak berbintil-bintil. Lenserkan Loyang dengan sedikit minyak dan masukkan dalam oven. Bila Loyang sudah panas, baru masukkan adunan dan bakar hingga bewarna perang.

Selamat Mencuba!

~ Sinar

AGAIN MY AFFAIRS WITH THOSE HUGE CLOUDS ...

Assalamu'alaikum. Watching clouds is my hobby. Something I love to do, where I always feel warm inside, safe and very contented. 

I realised that I need to acquire and learn a new skill - Photography! Please my dear Cahaya, can you enroll us on a good Photography class? Whooohhh, that will be great!

Enjoy these pictures. I took them on my way back home from office recently:

It shows "Allah" at the end of the white mass

Subhanallah.... Maha Suci Engkau, Ya Allah....

Dan aku akan selalu mengintaimu awan... Kerana aku kagum dengan keindahanmu. Semoga kita sentiasa menjadi hamba-hambaNya yang sentiasa bersyukur, aamiin ya Rabbal 'alamiin.

~ Sinar

IT'S NEW YEAR AGAIN!

As we always hear people say, “Let this new year be better than the years before”. Big grin….

That is so true, right? Semua akan mengharap benda yang sama. Persoalannya, how much better? Sikit, banyak, lagi banyak, banyak banyak baaaaaanyak sekali? Nah, biaq masing-masing pikiaq noh…. La ni I pun tak tau nak habaq tahun baru 2014 ni nak bentuk lagu mana?

Happy New Year 2014! Happy New Year, my dear Cahaya, Kaka, Abang, Maya and Fatima! Happy New Year beloved Nenek Boy, Nenek Girl! Happy New Year to all my siblings yang dikasihi ... Wo ai ni semua. Hao le!

 

Semoga kita semua sentiasa mendapat Lindungan Kasih Allah SWT, dipanjangkan umur dengan badan yang sehat dan keberkatan serta dimurahkan rezeki yang luas, aamiin Ya Rabbal ‘alamiin.

~  Sinar

There You Go Babe...

Assalam everyone. Yeeehhahhh!

Indah kan, bila yang sekian ditunggu sudahpun tiba, haaa... dia sudah mari maaa..

And haven't I promised darling? I tak kan bawa banyak!

~   Sinar

My Love Affair With Clouds

Bismillah, dan assalamu'alaikum.

What do you see in clouds? You can look and dream what you can see there. They resemble many things, it depends. Some are obvious, some need little imaginations. I want to share with you what I have seen in the clouds recently. I have never seen anything beautiful than these before.

On one fine day in September, while riding in Jerudong with my cousin

Picture take from my car 

Subhanallah. Allah Maha Besar, memperlihatkan kekuasaanNya. And look at this one -

On my way back home from work, I saw this 'little lamb' in the sky, and that was just 3 days after 'Aidiladha. The amazing fact about clouds is that they are ever-changing, pretty quick, almost every second. Once you saw a cloud formation at any given moment, that's it, it is unique to that moment only, and once it changes, you will not get it back.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me the path to look at some of His fascinating blessings in this world. Allah created us with eyes, ears, hands and feet and intelligence so we can accomplish great things in life. So just one simple question we can ask ourselves, have we thanked Allah enough and appreciate his creations?

Since then, I started inculcating myself to always appreciate and watch clouds. Because I know I can see wonders in there. I have not seen any formation that is specific, after the 2 encounters, but to me every time I see clouds, I see happiness.

Bright shining mass of cotton balls, seen above the padi fields of Kedah

Early morning rise, while Cahaya and me were brisk walking

Heading home

Beautiful twin rainbows di kaki langit, bila senja hampir berlabuh

Awan berarak megah diatas bumbung rumah kami

Take time to appreciate the beauty in the clouds. 

~  Sinar

Eat That Dark Grapes

Grapes are the last food which you may want to consider eating before you sleep. They come in green, black or red. I always prefer the black ones, they are crunchier and taste better. 

Photo courtesy of masshealthy.com

Photo courtesy of  freshngreen

Dark coloured grapes contain anti-oxidants that are beneficial to our body. They are said to make you sleep well as they contain the sleep-regulating hormones. They are good for reducing cholestrol, the risk of heart disease and prostate cancer. 

Have grapes in your diet!

~  Sinar

Pink and Red? Yes, Pink and Red

Last Saturday was a happy little shopping day for me. Went to the Yayasan Shopping Complex with cousins and aunties. Had a quick Dim Sum lunch and then did our ronda-ronda. 

I treated myself with a nice pair of red wedges... Something nice to wear for work or jalan-jalan. Cheap, but yet stylish and comfortable.

Hmmm, that's not only it! I bought new lipsticks too. Well, I have always wanted to get shocking colour but too nervous to try them on me. But i just headed for it. Bought them from Face Shop, one dark pink and one dark red colour. They were really gorgeous and my cousin said they looked good on me. Awesome.

What a great day, I had!

Now, let's have a peep into my recipe file. Today I'm sharing with you my Nasi Tomato. It's almost the same as other nasi tomato recipes, but this is my own version, and I call it Nasi Tomato Sinar. Menu ini adalah favourite my Cahaya and permata-permata hati kesayangan kami. Selalunya nasi tomato akan dihidangkan setiap dua minggu sekali, dan akan dihidang bersama paceri nenas dan ayam masak merah. And this is what yang sering kami hidang waktu Hari Raya Open house :-)

Hidangan kegemaran sekeluarga dihujung-hujung minggu

Resipinya:

Untuk hidangan 5 - 8 orang:

5 cawan beras Basmathi (Nasi akan jadi cantik jika dicampurkan sedikit dengan beras wangi.

Saya campurkan  1 1/2 cawan beras wangi dengan 3 1/2 cawan beras basmathi)

Air secukupnya - Mesti dilebihkan sedikit kerana beras basmathi agak kering.

Bahan-bahan Tumis:

2 - 3 sudu makan campuran tumis 5 sekawan*

Daun ketumbar

Hirisan buah tomato

1 sudu makan penuh rempah serbuk ketumbar - (Boleh gunakan serbuk kurma sebagai pengganti) 

1/2 - 3/4 cawan sos tomato puri arau tomato sos

Kayu manis & buah pelaga

Garam secukupnya

Serbuk MAGGI secukup rasa (Boleh juga gunakan kiub stok ayam)

Minyak sapi (Ghee) untuk menumis - Saya campurkan minyak jagung dan sedikit minyak sapi (dalam sesudu makan penuh)

Lada hijau - belah empat

Hirisan halus bawang besar

Daun pindan diikat (Jika tiada daun ketumbar)

Nota:

* Campuran tumis 5 sekawan adalah nama yang saya panggil untuk bahan tumis dalam masakan harian saya - Bawang besar, bawang merah, bawang putih, halia dan serai yang telah dihiris dan diblender halus.

Saya memasak menggunakan rice cooker, lebih mudah. Panaskan minyak yang dicampur dengan minyak sapi. Bila sudah panas, tumiskan semua bahan-bahan tumis sambil digaul rata. Masukkan lada hijau, hirisan bawang besar dan daun pandan/daun ketumbar. Gaul lagi hingga tumisan naik bau dan sebati elok rupanya.

Cuci beras dengan bersih, dan toskan.

Masukkan beras yang sudah dicuci, gaul rata. Masukkan air - sukatan airnya: sama dengan jumlah beras (ikut cawan) tapi perlu ditambah lagi sikit airnya, supaya nasi tidak mengering. Biarkan hingga masak nasi tomatonya. Titis dengan sedikit air mawar jika suka. Hias dengan kismis dan gajus goreng, hidangkan.

Selamat Mencuba!

~  Sinar

Every Second, Every Minute

I miss you, Cahaya.
I miss you, Kokomi.
I miss you, Abang Luq.
I miss you, Baby Fatima.

They are in Kedah for cousin Aiman's wedding.

Kids enjoying the sleeping cabin on journey to Kedah by train

Woohh tunjuk skill...

Woittt! Jangan lupa mummy ngan Maya, hangpa jangan buat leceh no..

~  Sinar