Random Rambles of Lotfi

When I chose to step out of full time employment more than 3 years ago, I didn’t have any plans of what to do, to at least make some sort of income for myself. After months of total chilling and panicking , a friend (who also left his job before I did) asked me if I would like to cook with him for small events and parties.   At the risk of turning into a couch, I told myself “Why not?”. After all, I was already cooking more at home and I just needed to cook in bigger portions. Akak bukan la hebat sangat pun masak-masak ni but I have always had the inclination to try out new recipes and taste plus suka makan..hehe. So we started an informal set-up, where my fried, Sid bought all the necessary catering equipment needed like chafing dishes, plates and glasses, and other cutleries. Orders started coming in through word-of-mouth of friends and acquaintances. At the same time, I also thought it’ll be interesting to learn a related new skill, which is baking. I started goin...

Salam and Good morning! I've been awake since forever ..5.30ish.. So Tuesday was my first day in the office. I work twice a week in a brand strategy and consulting company in Subang Jaya. So yeah, Tuesday being the first day of work in 2017 and during huddle (Every start of the week, there's taichi in the morning, lead by the CEO (how cool is that?!!) followed by a standing meeting (the huddle) which could be as short as 45 minutes or somedays could run longer depending on the agenda of the day. So during this particular huddle, after all the acknowledgements, focus of the week, personal and work gratitude, Patrick, our CEO announced the reintroduction of the 5am club, to a few groans and some enthusiatics cheers. You see, some of the team members are already on this (like it was some kind of a feel-good drug hehe).  So it's official and everyone bought the idea of waking up at 5.30am daily (with 5am being the ultimate goal). A whatsappp group was set up ...

Salam, and Happy New Year! How's everyone doing on this almost the end of the second day of the new year? Did anyone decide that they are gonna get fit this new year, lose some weight, gain some, eat cleaner, start a new hobby,or maybe work harder this year? I didn't make any specific resolutions this year.  I just decided that this year my goals are to be kinder and have more good thoughts of people, of situations, of things that happen around me. InsyaAllah, with these in mind, other good things will follow.  We served food at 2 parties in Blokke on the eve of new year. I took care of the brunch session and Liyana took over for the afternoon tea one. I think I am liking this new arrangement. We get some time off, not having to be on site for both parties. And Imran, my second child treated us to a late lunch at Mozer's in Subang Parade. We have always loved middle-eastern food, and this time we ordered the 3 different types of rice, the Chicken Mandhy Rice...

We had a family lunch of Dim Sum and Chinese food today at Unique Seafood, Petaling Jaya. Hard to find Halal Dim Sum and when I found out about this one; and 50% discounts on Dim Sum during lunch, I have to go! After we dropped off my son and father in law at home, we went around looking for a big rice cooker for me to use for cooking big batches for catering. After a few shops, we finally found one at a shop in SS2. Well, made a deposit but hubs would have to collect the pot tomorrow. Then when to get some baking supplies at Bake With Yen in Taman Mega, PJ. Cake orders coming in for year-end parties annd such. Alhamdulillah! When one go to Bake With Yen in Taman Mega, one must not NOT drop by Joy Bakery  just beside it for old fashion, home made cakes, I'm a baker that enjoys discovering and eating other people's bakes. Senang cakap suka makan laaa. All that eating and then dinner...Haih makan lagi. So I thought ok lah let's settle for a simple dinner. Brough...

4 November 2014- 2 tahun tak menjenguk dan menulis di sini. So much has happened since I last wrote.  Some signifcant happenings which did not make the blog ( in case I turned senile and needed to be reminded) 13 March 2014 - Aisyah married Jeremy, after a short 'courtship', if you call it that. September 2014 - Ran River Jungle Marathon. I am officially an ultra marathoner hahah the route was more than 42km! 1 October 2014 - Aisyah moved to San Jose, California. October 2014 - I started a small home baking set-up under Bakerific Kicthen Ent. (which reminds me I have to renew my license eeek). Check out @bakerifickitchen on IG. Such messy, sedap bakes!! April 2015- Travelled Paris, Brussels and London and ran the Paris Marathon yeehaaa!! May 2015 - end July 2015 - Travelled to the USA to visit Aisyah and Jeremy annndddd welcome my grandson, 8 June 2015 - Abuboo arrived, that's my first grandson, btw. November 2015 - Reunited with the K...

I tried running today. Just 3 km. After more than 2 weeks of inactivity after the fall while hiking at Tabur West . As expected, my legs felt heavy and the hills near home that I used to just run up to felt hard, I had to stop 3/4 of the way before continuing again. Hubs hasn't been running for about a month, what with events organising,  the last few weeks. The coccyx felt ok, no major pain. Tunggu esok and look out for any pain.   Am taking it easy but we decided we have to try and run daily till our trip to Turkey to get at least 15 to 20 km mileage done. Yeay!! Turkey! That's finally happening! Some of us from the runningkakis will be running the 15km at the Istanbul Marathon . A run-cation like our Hong Kong Marathon trip in February and Kuching Marathon in August. I figured why not combine a vacation with running? And Turkey in November will be awesomely...cold? We will be running at a possible start temperature of 12-13 degrees..brrrr... ...

The coccyx is still sore. No Viper Challenge for me tomorrow...boohooo!! :(( I was looking forward to swing from rope to rope, climb endless walls and falling into muds!! And 20km of running.  And being with my runningkaki brothers. Good luck , guys!! With no training, except for a few measly kms of walking in the last 2 weeks since the hike up Tabur West, let's hope I can finish the Istanbul 15km in one piece. That, I'm looking forward to! ;)) The coccyx pain is also bothering the upper right back. I should pay the acupuncturist a visit soon. Fear of needles on my butt! Lol! Not a good sight! I'm holding up for a bit, for the next few day.  It's one or the other, since I have no choice it has to be one that my behind can bear Since I am not going to the race tomorrow I have decided to register myself for a workshop, instead. it's a social media workshop for business. The quest for knowledge is never-ending. I love meeting like-minded, positive ...

I haven't had Monday blues in a while. The perks of working from home. Well, perhaps the only blues I get on a Monday, these days is ironing Zaim's school uniforms. When the two kiddos and big bro leaves for school and Uni, the house will be quiet and peaceful. Time for that cuppa OR... perhaps get that extra shut-eye, most of time the latter wins.  Today, we had brunch outside, and I settled some paperwork i.e invoicing. And then a client whatsapped to get advice on copy for their outdoor ads, which thrilled me. I love looking at creative ideas and  how they will materialize on all the medium, outdoor, TV and prints. Btw, invoicing is something I have to remind myself to do regularly. One month, I overlooked invoicing and realized that I wasn't about to get paid that month and panicked. The downside of working for yourself...have to keep up with all the paperwork on your own. So I downloaded an apps called invoice2go  . Have yet to exp...

1st day of the new Islamic calendar year. 1st day of the month of Muharam. Alhamdulillah, sempat baca doa awal dan akhir tahun semalam. So, I thought I won't wait till January to make some new resolutions. New year came early for us, so why not? Let's see... what resolutions shall I make. 1. Be kinder, have kind thoughts of people. More often than not we have , I have pre-conceived notions of people. Dia ni nampak sombong, tak mau tegur..dia tu poyo, yang tu kerek, that one too quiet, this one too noisy..hahahah. I am a kind person, but I aspire to be kinder this year. I have always practiced good thoughts of people, even if some of the things people do are less than kind, or almost spiteful. I just hope to be given the strength to be even kinder to them. 2. Give more often. Today I started by donating. No details necessary here. I just want to give more often, whatever I can afford, maybe monetary, some days materials, other days..my time and also, my energy.  3....

Went for a quick walk this morning with #therunningkaki , despite the coccyx episode. Every step is painful but still bearable. I hope moving around will improve the blood circulation and speed up healing no? I'm taking it easy...Hope this will heal before 1st November's Viper Challenge! Hub's at work so just me and the kids at home. Trying to finish off some articles for a client. Taking this quick break. So, we did a quick compost box just now.My main reason for composting is to reduce waste. Ever since I quit full time job, each time I clear the fridge or wash the dishes, a lot of food waste gets thrown away just like that. So I figured the waste has got to be put to good use instead. A meeting with PPSPPA (Perbadanan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal & Permbersihan Awam) under the Ministry of Local Government, a while back while I was still working, opened my eyes to the possibility of composting. They used a very simple technique for doing it using a Japanese...

We hiked up Tabur West last Sunday. The earlier planned re-hike of Mount Irau had to be cancelled as we found out there would be a big group of hikers going up the mountain. We settled for Tabur West instead. Tabur West is located in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur. A hill quite notorious with reported falls and deaths recently. We heard about the tragedies, but I figured if we are careful tragedies can be avoided. Out of habit, with runs and hikes, I never read anything prior to the day.  Spiny Quartz Ridge Hills, I found out AFTER the hike. It was challenging, alright..Hubs had to bail out because of work. So I went with the rest of the gang. A little apprehensive but being with experienced hikers who have scaled the hills reassured me. Tabur West is so different from it East neighbour! To compare the two, ascending Tabur West felt easier. The climb brought us up to more than 10 hill tops (at least it felt that way), connected by ridges. Tabur East was steeper and we...

As a typical self-proclaimed foodie I always post pictures of things I cooked onto Instagram which most of the time gets linked to my facebook and twitter timeline. A lazy cook, I usually cheats my way around recipes I like, adjusting and adding based on what's available at home.  Except for my youngest son, everyone in the house are not fussy eaters. I cook, they eat. Youngest son must have rice, everyday, all meals preferably. Sometimes, I can get away with feeding him bread and eggs. Most of the time, not. Lunch yesterday afternoon, was leftover day, which means we eat leftover from the fridge. I try not to waste food and will upcycle leftover pastas into fritata, some days we'll have fried rice, or just sandwiches from leftover chicken. I try not to waste food but of course some stuff just get thrown away. I'm trying to revive a compost box so that I can make better use of my food waste. That's for another post. Yesterday's dinner was CHICKEN PI...

Exactly 5 months since my last post. Exactly 5 months since my last day in full time employment. How has it been?  I am still busy...I keep myself busy. There are lazy days. There are productive ones. But, I'm more relaxed these days, more than I like though.. Alhamdulillah, last Ramadan was wonderful not having to go to work 9-6. And Raya was wonderful, not having to think about going 'back to work after Raya holidays'. I get to see Mak in JB more than before :))    I get more time with Aisyah before she leaves for the US. Daily, I see more of the kids. I plan my outings and meetings around non-peak hours and avoid the traffic, so much so that driving at peak hours irks me now. I take on projects I like and I say no to those I couldn't spare time on. I get to cook more often, I read more books, I get to spend more time on spiritual practices. I ran a full marathon last month cause it's just nicer not having to go to work the days after. I water th...