2020 Year of the Mask - Part 2

Another 'first' for Malaysians began on 1st April 2020. And it was definitely not an April 1st joke! Most of us learnt a new word. A word that brought joy to many of us. A word that we never heard before in our whole life.

'Moratorium'.

And it was implemented beginning of 1st April 2020.ok laaa..got extra money for 6 months. 

Plus point for Abah govt for helping the rakyat at the time of need.

And this date is very very special in our life. It marked the birth of our first child. He is everything in our life. He is like a glue for me and my wife. Always keeping us together even when there is a misunderstanding between us. Maturity beyond his age. His parents brought him up well I guess..hahaha..

And my wife used the time she had during MCO to bake a very special cake for him Just as he likes it. Kerja dari rumah does has its benefits.

Working from home might have it's benefits but sometimes we still had to go to office. The journey to the office is like a love-hate relationship. The love is because the road is mostly empty. At most places you won't be able to see cars at all with the exception of the road blocks. Haiyo...people would be stuck for almost an hour especially at the Sg Besi highway. In total I had to pass by 3 roadblocks to reach the office. But oklaa, the sacrifice we do for the country and company. 😢😢

And then the weekend comes. The dreaded time of the week when we had to endure the long queues at the wet market.Most of the times, you can't even see the market from where you are standing. We Malaysians braces the new norm like a hero. Expensive Mask and social distancing  became our lifestyle.A lifestyle that the whole world will never miss once.we are out of this pandemic. The only positive out of this is now I have two strong biceps by carrying all those purchase and carrying it to the car. Both my hands would be like Vijay Sethupathi's hand in the movie Master. 💪💪💪💪

I'm pretty sure during these times, a majority of us would be glued to the TV around 7-9pm watching the news. We did. It was a blessing in disguise for all news channels. There were little to nil reports of politics. We loved to watch the news during the first MCO. It was very informative and people were eager to her what the PM and DG has to say. How we wish the time never ends.

It is at these times we slowly to be hooked to Malay dramas on TV3.  Budak Tebing was the first drama to catch our attention. To tell the truth, we haven't watched any Malay dramas in a very long time. Opah, Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu was the last I could recall laa. But, this drama was different.Good story, good acting and casting. We loved it. Rindu Yang Terindah follows suit.Once both these dramas had their finale, we got hooked to the next one.The Gadis  was not only about pretty ladies. It had a good family stories about sisters and father. My elder son totally loved Kampung People. He would literally laugh out loud each time the series airs. Over the top acting with funny attitude really lifted the story.

The cream on the top was Leftenan Zana. It was a combination of drama and documentary if I may say it. We got to see the inside life of army cadets and their struggle in the academy. It was really a fresh story entwined with the usual love angle. All 3 of us would be in front of the TV to watch these drama...Family bonding time. Sadly, this was the last drama I have watched as the next one failed to grasp my attention. Forgot the name of the drama laa.

One fine day or maybe it was night.... I can't recall. It doesn't matter anyway. I just had an idea to do interactive quiz for my son. I used MentiMeter. We used this app a lot in our office and I kinda missed it since it's been more than a month since people have set their foot in the office.  It started with only my son and slowly snowballed into a few of his friends and my friends kid. I believe the kids enjoyed as much as I did. 

May 2021 - The birth of ShiniesKitchen website and YouTube channel.

It was indeed a proud and happy moments as we got learn into website making and video creation. It was not an easy task. I really loved my wife's creative take on food photography. Checkout of page and surely you'll love it. 

Yup, it's that time again. Time for me to boast about myself and my passion for cooking. The above are some of my cooking for the family. 

'Goreng-goreng' seems to be my specialty as the kids and my only wife acknowledged. 

Finally in June 2020, we headed back to my hometown in Sungai Petani. The last time I went back was during Deepavali 2019. As MCO was implemented, we were all stuck in Kajang la. Besides my mom and her cooking, the next thing I missed most was local food. Mamak Mee, Koewteow basah and Char Koewteow are one of the best you can find anywhere. Northern states are a food haven that no one can deny. If you want to deny it than you don't deserve to live in Malaysia. Hahaha...just kidding.

Yup, I do gardening in my apartment's balcony. So far the most successful is chilli Plant,Aloe Vera, curry leaves and mint leaves.Hopefully, the tomato will grow soon.

To be continued...