8.12.11

hello again

it's been a while since i've blogged! i feel like i've been caught up in a work related bubble, which is rather fun and new for me as it's been a while since work has become a big component of my life. it's been going so great, and i love the job. i'm so lucky to have a wonderful (and vast!) group of girls to work in my store. so many different personalities in one place doesn't always work out, but thankfully it is.

a brief update - i am 5kg away from my goal weight. friday will be my 10 month anniversary of my 'new' stomach. i would like to get to my goal weight by my 1 year anniversary, but i'm thinking of revising it by another 5kg or so. i can't believe i've lost 40kg. or 88lbs, it sounds so much better that way. it's been a lot easier to drop weight with little or no effort thanks to full time job which constantly keeps me on my feet and running around.

my husband and i celebrated our 1 year anniversary of our catholic wedding in late november. it was such a beautiful weekend and we had a few outings, which i'll go into detail at a later date. i was definitely very spoilt with presents from him. he bought me an ipad2 (which my dad kindly purchased a coordinating marc jacobs case for when he was in malaysia last week) and the most beautiful aquamarine (my birthstone) and diamond ring.



my 7 year old niece introduced me to the wonders of smurfs for my iphone, it's so much better on ipad



anniversary present with the bag that i carried to our reception a year earlier



i am so, so super excited for christmas! i have purchased the absolute perfect present for my husband, and i know he's going to love it. i did a heap of christmas shopping over my weekend and managed to find a stack of great gifts for my family and friends, including a few gifts for myself, from a great little shop near the suite called fly home.


i'm currently burning this in my room - it smells absolutely divine!





anyhow on that note, i probably should get to bed as i have to get up in about 7 hours. i have a long day tomorrow with work all day, then going to my nonnas/grandmothers for dinner, then coffee with some friends in leederville.

nighty night.

6.11.11

eid al-adha

eid mubarak!

today is eid al-adha, or the festival of sacrifice. it's another important islam holiday similar to the one that follows ramadan, eid ul-fitr, but follows after an optional two days of fasting, rather than a marathon month of fasting.

while i myself am not a muslim woman, i am in a muslim marriage and think it's very important for us to celebrate and embrace both our cultures, religions and festivals. and also if it means more celebrations and food, then why not?

the eid is about sacrifice, and i think no one in this world sacrifices more than a mother. my own mother has sacrified so much to make us happy. she is never too tired or busy or do anything for us. she's kind and helpful, always willing to give a hand with anyone, and she's amazing. i'm so proud to call her my best friend.


peonies i bought my mum yesterday - they're her favourite


i'm not one to generally quote any religious text, but i do really like this following islamic hadith:

A man came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother, The man said "Then who?" The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, "Then who?" The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, "Then who?" The Prophet said: Then your father. 

24.10.11

the suite life

aren't i clever with my play on words?

my first week in the real world of full time work has flown by. while on the most part it was great, it was also a mixture of exhausting, back aching and sometimes troublesome. nevertheless, i survived those first few uncomfortable days of employment limbo where you feel out of place with a twinge of regret for leaving your comfy comfort zone of prior employment for a brand new and scary adventure.

the girls at my old work took me out for small goodbye festivities after my last shift. we headed to the suite, which is another one of these small bar establishments that seem to be popping up all around perth. the more the merrier i say - who doesn't want a place where you can have a small savoury tapas-esque snack accompanied with a cocktail and even a little dessert? for us post-weight loss surgery folk, this is the ideal type of dining, where you feel like you've eaten a massive variety of foods without filling our tiny tummies to the point of no return.

another big reason why i like it so much is because the service is outstanding. there's a guy who works there who is fantastic! never forgets an order and is great at suggesting the perfect selection of dishes without being pushy, and is always happy to accomodate to my dietary requirements.

i also love the fact that it's open late! those of us who grew up in perth will remember there was nothing more to eat other than a macca's run or a pizza after 8:30pm in perth on a weeknight, so to see all these small bars opening so late mid-week and weekend is very exciting indeed.

on this such day we indulged in a delicious ploughman's board - a selection of charcuterie (french for deli meats deliciousness such as proscuitto), cheese, terrine, house pickles and chutney, served with bread and salad.

ploughman's board

the terrine was surprisingly delicious. i had had an awful first experience with terrine at the restaurant in the eiffel tower, le jules verne, so i was reluctant to try it. it wasn't too complicated in flavours and was quite nice. i don't think it's something you can eat a lot of. the proscuitto/coppa was so good, but then again i haven't quite met a piece of proscuitto i haven't liked (unless it's cut super thick - all good italians know it needs to be 'fino fino fino!') the cheese was delicious! from memory i think it was an aged cheddar, but i can't quite remember.

we also shared some of the chicken pate with sherry port jelly, served with toasted bread sticks and onion jam, which i didn't manage to snap a picture of. probably in my haste to eat it as quickly as humanly possible. i have a thing for pate at the moment, and this one did certainly not disappoint. it was whipped to perfection and super soft. i wasn't a huge fan of the port jelly ontop, but that's due to my dislike of savoury jellies. the bread sticks were thin crispy lavosh style crackers, which are the post-weight loss surgery patient's bread equivalent.

the ploughman's board and pate were decent enough of a post-work snack to keep us girls satisfied, but of course we had to add something sweet to complete our meal, as well as our daily calorie intake.


de-li-cious donuts

omg. these were so, so delicious i am seriously trying to think when is my next opportunity to go eat them. these churros/donuts were served in a lemony raspberry coulis with ice cream and chocolate sauce to accompany. thank goodness there were four of us to share so we only ended up with one each, otherwise i would have definitely eaten more than that! the raspberry coulis was thick and delicious, while the churros were fried to perfection.

definitely looking forward to returning sometime soon. even if it is just for the churros.


The Suite on Urbanspoon

12.10.11

enjoying lazy down time

i can't believe i got up at 8:30am on a day where my only commitment is to go pick up my niece to be my rent-a-kid for the day and get to a cafe by 2:30 to meet with a friend and her daughter. i will definitely miss this 'hard life' when i go back into the real world, but i do have an awesome job to go to so i'm sure it'll all turn out swell.

my husband is going back to visit his family in december and i've been looking at what flights coordinate best with me to book for his return. always the considerate wife! he will be transiting in paris, so i'm thinking a mid-week rendezvous a paris to pick up some ladurée and a christmas trinket for his adoring wife. perfect timing if you ask me.

husband and his adoring wife

29.9.11

change is a good thing...right?

this week has been interesting. the wheels of change have been definitely set in motion - perhaps by the arrival of my husband - i'm not sure. i've never been one to accept change so easily, even if you know it's for the better and for the greater good. it's weird because i'm generally pretty flexible and a go-with-the-flow type person with everyday decisions, but when it comes to changing something that's a constant in my life, i find it difficult to let go (read my earlier blog entries for further evidence of this behaviour)

picture credit


i have been working at my current job for over 2 years and i love it. i love the people that i work with, the job, the owner, the suburb it's in - everything. but another opportunity has come up and literally fell into my lap. it's a really great job for another great company, working right near one of my best friends, and pays a lot more, so i don't understand why it's so difficult to leave. i've been out of the 'real world' for a few years and haven't worked full time for a while. i'm sure that has something to do with my not wanting to let go of my safe, casual, easy job and move onto something more challenging.

i know what i'm going to do, but even that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to leave...

21.9.11

welcome home festivities

these past few days have been just perfect.

friday my husband came home after 6 long months. it's so silly to say, but i was almost a little bit shy when i saw him. it was a really nice feeling. i made one of those welcome home/name signs in arabic for him.

rami in arabic

i decided to have a surprise party for husband at kaza blanca grill in fremantle to show him that although he left his large, warm and wonderful family to come here just for me, there's another family here for him too. we had a whole mix of people, including my wonderful friend mademoiselle s, who was so kind as to round the troops, distribute party poppers and snap photos of the happy occasion.

customised banner
and, of course, there must always be cake. i ordered this one that i usually make rami share with me from greens & co in leederville.

delicious
i may have to make a trip to greens & co after work for more cake...

8.9.11

marhaba husband

in just over one week my husband will finally be in perth. finally! after 15 months of waiting for his spouse visa (yes i did type 15 that's not a typo) it's finally been approved. what a great ramadan and eid present it was for us both to receive word after so long. it's been almost 2 and a half months since we've seen each other, which is fine because i knew the next time we would it would be on a more permanent basis.

the last big stint we had away from each other is for 3 months almost to the day from march to june, which wasn't easy especially as i was dealing with the absence of many things - my nonno, husband, stomach, old lifestyle, energy. but i would almost do it all again to meet with him in paris as we did.

we stayed at the marriott champs-elysees, which upgraded our room to an amazing suite. we holidayed around europe together, visiting family along the way, enjoying every single moment together, celebrated our third wedding in algeria, honeymooned again in istanbul (i figured every wedding should be followed with it's each honeymoon - makes sense to me). it was wonderful.

people ask me all the time how is married life, but to be honest i don't really know. it's always been in limbo and now finally we can start it together.

i can't wait.

istanbul

6.9.11

nobu perth

i think my favourite pastime is dining out. i blame my mother - it was her enthusiasm for going out lunching and high tea she took me on as a child. i couldn't even guess how much money i've spent in my lifetime on meals not cooked at home. and it's all totally worth it in my mind. plus i love any opportunity to add to my personalised signed copies of cookbooks that i'll never actually cook from.

last night was the opening night of nobu perth with my mum, sister and friend (it wasn't the official opening but i'm hoping to get invited to that...!)


menu cover

the service was outstanding! our waitperson, yooki, was so lovely and helpful, and made great suggestions.

seafood soup


i started with a seafood soup, while the others all had miso. this had just the right amount of chilli in it, the mushrooms were delicious and the seafood was perfectly cooked.

entrees - tiradito octopus, tuna tataki with tosazu and shiromi uzusukuri.

since my surgery sashimi has been a very good friend to my new stomach. i tend to eat it everyday while at work so i was more than happy to devour these. the octopus has a slightly chilli and very lemony sauce. it was the definite winner for the entire table. my mum is usually squeamish with raw or 'squishy stuff' as she refers to it, but actually tried the white fish and liked it! i should have told her not to so that there was more for us...

salt and pepper squid

this was a part of the token cooked section of our dinner - just for mum. the squid was so deliciously soft and very flavoursome. it was just the right mix of salty and chilli (i love how everything was just the perfect amount of spice)
prawn butter ponzu


this was delicious, i liked the prawns were cut up into bite size pieces (the menu at nobu is too extensive to just order one dish each - sharing is the only way to go!) you could definitely taste the butter and ponzu sauce. nice, but i much prefer the raw.

pork belly miso caramel

oh. my. god. i don't even know how to describe how insanely delicious this was!!!! it was so super, super soft and just delicious. this is an absolutely MUST! pork belly for me after surgery (yes, i know it does defeat the purpose of having weight loss surgery in the first place...) is a little difficult to eat because it's a bit tough, but this was as soft as butter. and probably contained the same fat content as butter. but so worth it.

black cod miso


this was a late addition to our dinner after a friend of mine who'd just dined there ordered it and said it was to die for, as did yooki. i know it looks like a piece of chicken teriyaki or something, but i can assure you it was the most buttery softest piece of fish that i have ever eaten in my life! i have another couple of reservations coming up at nobu in the next month, but i'm thinking of going in just for this. and the pork belly.

wagyu beef tataki


now i am a massive fan of beef tataki (especially wagyu) but have stayed away from beef as it's quite acidic for my stomach. this was unbelievably delicious! the taste was perfect. even mum tried some and really liked it. i am literally almost salivating just thinking about this.

we did order some other things that in my haste to put them in my mouth, i didn't take pictures of them. such as the scallops with spicy garlic sauce - perfect amount of garlic and chilli. they came served with a bowl of steamed rice. my sister and friend also shared a serve of prawn tempura sushi roll. the desserts looked very interesting, but we headed to rockpool instead. i will definitely give them a go next visit though.

nobu perth is the perfect place to dine for any post-weight loss surgery patients too (as long as you don't order the fried stuff and pork belly!) everything was so soft and the portion sizes were decent enough to share, but still small enough to order a few items and pick a variety.

all in all, i loved my experience. the service was excellent, the food was outstanding and i can't wait to return.


Nobu Perth on Urbanspoon

1.9.11

spring cleaning

today is officially the first day of spring, and as i have the day off work and the quest to procrastinate my university work as much as possible, i've decided to resist the urge to go out and enjoy the beautiful weather and (yet another) spot of shopping, and stay inside and clean out my room.

exhibit a - evidence of hoarding


my husband will be coming home in 2 weeks so i want to make him feel like he married a great italian wife and clean our room, which has become a breeding ground for my hoarding habits. his bedside table is now home to my printer, so tomorrow will bring a very exciting trip to ikea with my friend miss hijabi. i love to ikea even if i don't have anything to buy, so it's even more exciting when there's a reason to go other than half price meatballs on tuesday.

30.8.11

eid mubarak

wishing all my muslim family and friends a very happy and blessed eid al-fitr.

blue mosque, istanbul
i've taken the afternoon off work tomorrow so i can prepare for my eid feast that i'm cooking for my mum and friends. i'll need those hours to work out exactly how to make those little delicious cookies.

19.8.11

high tea fashion

this is what i wore to my friends high tea birthday luncheon. ever since my weight loss surgery it's actually been quite a struggle to sort out what to wear every day, especially when it comes to going out somewhere special. i should be over the moon that my old fat clothes don't fit me, but really it's quite troublesome. at least a bonus is that i'm a hoarder so all the old clothes that didn't fit me for years that i kept in my overstuffed wardrobes fit me now.



bag - ysl red clutch
dress - forever 21 navy and green spotted
cardigan - country road green cardigan circa 2007

11.8.11

hello there...

...again.

i have decided to get back to my blog after a long, 6 month absence. i've also decided to mix it up and change it around a bit. i think like it. i think the drab, old simple black was a tad reminiscent of my past and my past posts. i have toyed with the idea of deleting them as they have become irrelevant. the name is a childhood name my mother used to call me.

i will update more very shortly. (not in another 6 months hopefully)

9.2.11

today is the day

indeed it is.

it's been such a difficult week leading up to this point. my grandfather passed away on sunday. it was an awful experience watching his rapid demise during the last few days, although it's somewhat comfortable to know that he was comfortable and his family were always by his side.

it's now less than an hour until my admission time, my bag isn't packed, i haven't had a shower yet and i'm blaming my procrastination on my hesitation for what's in store today.

i will post again after it's all over...until then.

1.2.11

old dog, new tricks

so as they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. i'm hoping they are wrong.

i know it's been a while between this blog and my last, so just briefly to update you of how 2010 finishing up: i got married last april in the registry, and finally got around to planning the 'proper' wedding in november.



it was fabulous.

i'm still working 3 days a week managing a store, and waiting for uni to start again, when i will resume my full time study of psychology.

on my last update i mentioned i was going to embark on a brand new health quest. well that didn't exactly work out as i'd planned, and neither did anything else i tried during last year. so i've made the decision to do something a little more drastic about it. a little more permanent.

in just over a week i'll be in hospital having my vsg - vertical sleeve gastrectomy - completed. it's a weight loss operation, similar to lap band, however with this they remove 2/3rd's of your stomach, including an area that secrets a hormone responsible for hunger. unlike lap band which is removable, this is permanent. and i am seriously shit scared.

i don't think it's the surgery itself that's scaring me. it's the entire lifestyle change. i'm not one of these fat people who eats buckets of kfc, or ice cream with m&m's and chocolate fudge. i'm someone who really does love food. good food. and perhaps just a little too much of it. i like nothing more than to go out to lunch or dinner at somewhere fabulous. and while i know that's still possible after my surgery, it wont be the same.

i've been googling 'second thoughts' or 'regrets' in relation to the surgery and there have been few, if not any. some posts mention the first couple of weeks being difficult, which i expect. but when i read about the massive amounts of change - weight wise, confidence wise, comfort wise - i can't help but want that for me too.

anyhow i will definitely try to keep this updated a little more. i will also add up a recent photo and weight soon before the operation.

until next time...