Ad: Food Experiment: Home Made Teh Tarik Ice Cream

Hey all, so so sorry for being away for so long. You know how it is, everyone's been crazy busy with Ramadan, and then Eid (and you know in Malaysia we celebrate for like an entire month!) and of course our dear Farhana just got married (a post will be coming right up - promise!) - so yes, it has been very busy!

Annnyyway, so a while ago I mentioned that I was working on something, but wasn't sure if it was going to work? Well the thing I was trying to make was teh tarik (milk tea) ice cream! I had this crazy idea when Far said to me "OMG Ad! I tried to make ice cream at home and it worked!!" and so she was telling me all about it, even gave me a link to the youtube video. I was craving for teh tarik and I figured, hey, why not make teh tarik ice cream!! I was so so excited! Two of my favourite things in one!

This was the Youtube video that Far gave me:

You basically need cream, milk, sugar, and whatever ingredient you want your ice cream to taste like, and also a blender! So if you wanted strawberry ice cream, then you add strawberries; if you wanted chocolate, you can substitute milk with chocolate milk and also add chocolate bars I suppose! So I figured I'd add in teh tarik. So I rounded up the ingredients and also had to make teh tarik for the first time (the teh tarik turned out fine thank god). 

Here's what I did:

I mixed some of these:





with the teh tarik I made (sorry, no photo!) and put them into a blender and then blended everything together. I decided to leave out the milk because It would've been too watery and the teh tarik already had milk anyway! When everything was well blended, I put the mixture in a container and popped it into the freezer overnight. You cannot imagine my excitement! The next morning I woke up and went straight for the freezer, took out the container and saw this:





So I took a spoon and put a little bit in my mouth, and let's just say it was a BIG FAILURE. It did not taste like teh tarik because the cream had floated while it was in the freezer, so the cream and the teh tarik separated (boo!). It did not taste good let me tell you that :( Then I remembered Far's tip about trying to put it in the blender to get a more ice-cream like texture. I tried, with hope in my heart.



That didn't work either :( Oh well. I'm sad to say that my teh tarik ice cream experiment was indeed a failure, but at least now you know and won't attempt to do what I did! If any of you are willing to try using a different method and ingredient, do share with me in the comments! Thanks for reading everyone!

Much love,
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Victoria's Secret Accessories @ One Utama

Hey guys!

If you've been following our blog, you'll know that my usual subject covers arts & crafts and not shopping or retail. Well, let me just say that I feel like I have to reviews the new VS Store since there isn't a single review I can find online! They say necessity is the mother of invention right? Well here's living proof of it.

Firstly, I have been so excited for the opening of this store for months now. I can assure you a hundred percent that so many Malaysian women are happy to know that there is another VS store in Malaysia besides the one in KLIA. Driving to the aiport is never fun, and I wouldn't do it just for a single bottle of lotion. So here at One Utama, you can finally sniff, touch and luxuriate your senses in their beauty products, all first hand~

VS Fantasies

First off, the products. I'm not quite sure, but I do think you can find the same items here as in the store in KLIA- body mists, perfumes, lotions and body butter, all from the VS Fantasies collection; VS totes, travel essentials like luggage and toiletry bags, purses and clutches; accessories like bangles and sunnies, some make up and a small selection of panties, mostly from the PINK collection.

Next, the setting and personnel. The look of the store is gorgeous; it;s brightly lit with lots of black & pink accents, and the main highlight is the huge digital screen made up of smaller screens next to the counter that shows you clips from VS photo shoots and runway shows ^^ Their staff are friendly and welcoming, with black mesh totes to help carry your purchases... they don't hesitate to let you test every single scent there is on the shelf! When me and my friends came back for a second time, they even remembered us and the stuff we bought ;)

So you might be asking by now, what did we buy? So two main stuff were bought- underwear and beauty products. As of now, VS is having a buy 5 for RM 150 promotion for their cotton underwear (RM 40+ per pair), and buy 3 for RM 125 for their gorgeous undies (RM 50 or RM 55 per pair). As for the body mists, they retail at RM 53 per bottle (250 ml) and the set of 4 lotions retails at RM 60+ (they were about 60 ml each as it was the travel set).

VS Bombshell.. their best-selling fragrance

All in all we were really happy with this first experience at the VS Store in One Utama. Since this is only their second day opening, we've got more to find out at their store and more future promotions to look out for! :D If there was any downside, I would say that they don't have a gift packaging service like in other beauty or accessories stores. So for those who are interested to experience the sights, sounds and scents of Victoria's Secret, head on down to One Utama, First floor at the New Wing (across Delicious cafe). 

Hopefully we will see more new products arrive and not forgetting that much-awaited time of the year... Merdeka Sale! Have fun at the new VS guys!

My bags of VS goodies~

xo
Haneesa

Aiysha and Far : Make your own burger buns! and MASSIVE YB burgerz

Hellos! Aiysha has been baking crazy again! and just look at the awesome photos of her home made burger buns! yum.. Just think of all the preservatives they choc up supermarket burger buns in order for it to stay fluffy and last for  weeks. Have a hand and making your own to really impress your guest this eid/ raya!

Make your own burger buns!

For the recipe click here!

Check out this massive burger I had for dinner yesterday, AHMAIGADS! A friend had taken the trouble to get this for us:) Its from Shah Alam and its called 'resepi YB burger'. That is one KG OF MEAT YALL! Sedap gilo. You can choose your own filling, bread and what meat you prefer and they have quite an extensive range! go ahead and google it up and order one for birthdays and events or just for fun like we did:)

                                      That my friends, is a cake box, a cake box I tell ya!!

Check out my fiance's hand next to the burger, and he has long fingers.. i dunno, i just didnt know how to emphasize the hugeness that is YB Burger.

Our burger had pepper sauce, mustard and mayo! with green apple slices and FIVE slices of cheese. I swear the meat was as thick as 5 iphones stacked.

xoxo!

Far and aiysha

Eid Family Tradition: makmur Raya cookies or Biskut Arab

Eid is upoun us!

Are you ready?

I know I'm not seeing that my wedding is like a week after Raya! hamaigads!

But there is comfort, and the comfort is in tradition, things that don't change no matter how old you are, and what year it is. And for me it is making melt-in-your-mouth Makmur Raya cookies. My family doesn't have many traditions, we are "modern" like that. We dont have a kampung to rush to, no "lampu pelitas" to light, we dont play with fireworks (anymore), so this one tradition, plus taking raya family portraits are something that I truly cherish.



Here we assemble all the ladies; aunts, nieces, and cousins; and make the Siru family secret recipe makmur cookies!

This is the dough, or what's left of it.

And with well trained hands we fill the douch with crushed salted peanuts

Like so...

I broke tradition and made heart shaped ones, hehe

and we bake!



Cooling down by my aunt's window

Then my other aunt ices them with sifted icing sugar, and I went crazy snapping pics

And done! yumms..

Since this is a secret recipe I can't share it! hehe sorry, but here is a recipe for makmur cookies and maybe you can start your own tradition!

love,
far

Special Eid Shoutout! RAYA CLOTHES!!

Hi everyone! 

Interested in something different this raya?? Check out this cool blog we found selling a delicious array of colorful kaftan gems! There is something for everybody, don't believe me? check these pics out!

Pastel Beauties....

This yellow one is mine!! muahahahaha!

I know baker Aiysha has grabbed two of these!

Rainbowlicious

Is it just me? or is this piece sexay

This pink beauty was bought by our Makeup guru Lina!

I want to post ALLLLLL of rainbownistas beautiful kaftans but there must be a limit darlings!

want to see more and see how to get your hands on these colorful gems?? click HERE!

Here are me and Lina posing with some of our new buys!

We call this green one the magic dress! look how tall and sexy lina looks! I am sure it has the same effects on every wearer! it is such a flattering cut and with so many colours you are truly spoiled for choice!



Here I am wearing the yellow kaftan Top, exuce my mak datin pose! was trying to figure out the best way to show neck and sleeve details!

Far: Hijab Wedding trials!!

Salam and hello all!

I have been having my hand at a lot of other things besides hijab, mostly food and craft related.... this is probably because I have been quite lazy and find that a good pashmina and the easy style suits me well:) check out my new favorite styles here. BUT I know how many of our readers luuurrvvee hijab styles! so here you go!

these pics are from my trial nikah make up and hijab :)

The red hijab was the perfect length and size but is red and wont go with my all white dress. The white hijab is a more suitable color however the size is too big, that's why girls you must always give yourself a trial run :)

enjoy!

My friend Dina does my hijab and make up! she was also responsible for my engagement makeup and hijab:) please check her website out!

http://irnalaperle.com/

ps: my dad doesn't like my diamond headband so that is out. How disappointing.

see you girls soon!

xoxo: far

Ad: The Bracelet That Changed My Life

Hi everyone! How's everything going? To those who are fasting, how's Ramadan? :) Everyone and everything is well I hope! Today I would like to share a beautiful encounter that I had faced many years ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember some of the details, but that doesn't change the story in any way so it's alright. I know the title sounds dramatic, but it really did change my life :)

Some years ago, my family and I went to Egypt for a holiday while it was winter there. We were there for about ten days or so. I must've been around 14 years old then. We went on a cruise on the Nile river for several days and stopped many times to visit ancient Egyptian temples and other places for sight-seeing. Anyway, on one of those days, we arrived a little later than scheduled at one of the sight-seeing spots. Because it was winter, the sunset was rather early and it got dark quickly. We usually get back to our cruise ship before dark, so we were rushing to get back. Believe me, it was really, really dark lol. I honestly could not really tell where I was going and was trying hard not to lose sight of my family and the tour guide. While we were rushing, some children selling hand-made souvenirs followed us, asking us to buy whatever they were selling. I smiled and said to them what I usually said, "No it's ok, thanks". Most of them stopped following us but this one girl kept insisting that we buy bracelets from her. The bracelets each had a painted scarab beetle on it. She said, "Please, buy some". I said to her gently, "I'm really sorry, but I don't have any money", which was true. My parents did not let us hold any money back then.

The little girl asked, "You don't have any money?" I said, "No, sorry" and just smiled apologetically. Then, I thought like the rest of the children, she would just say "bye bye" and leave. Instead, she pulled one bracelet out from the bundle of bracelets that she was holding and said, "You take this" with the biggest smile on her face. I was completely shocked. I said "no no no no, I can't take it. I have nothing to give you". She shook her head and said, "take it. It's from me". I was so touched by this gesture, so overwhelmed by the kindness she showed me. I took the bracelet, held it tightly and said "Thank you so much. I won't forget this. I won't forget you". She just smiled before proceeding to ask where I was from. We didn't get to talk much because we had almost reached our ship. My heart was aching when we said goodbye. As I was going down the hill, I turned back to wave at her again and say goodbye. She was just standing there, a few feet away, still smiling and waving. I'm still so moved by the warmth and kindness she showed. The thing is, unfortunately the reason why these children were selling us tourists these hand-made souvenirs in the first place was because they mostly came from poor families. Selling these souvenirs help the family earn some extra income. So think, the little girl herself probably had little money, and the moment she knew I had none, she gave me something that she could've sold for money, without any hesitation! God bless her kind heart!

My beautiful bracelet

I'm really glad I still have it with me after all these years :)

This was one of my fondest memories of Egypt. This was one of my fondest memories ever. Sometimes I wonder what did I ever do to deserve meeting such a beautiful soul. I wish I got her name. I wish I can recall what she looked like. It was so dark though, I really couldn't make out her face. I do remember that she had dark, round eyes and of course, a beautiful smile. Alhamdulillah, fortunately I still have the bracelet that she gave me. I pray that one day, God-willing, I can meet her again :) I had already fallen in love with Egypt even before I met her, but meeting this little girl made me love it even more. I really hope I will get the chance to visit Egypt again some day, inshaAllah (God-willing) :) Wherever this little angel may be, I pray that she will always be happy, always be successful in whatever she pursues and always blessed. Let's remember to always, always give. "If we are not entitled to receive charity, then we are rich enough to give it"* :)

Hope you enjoyed this post. 'Til next time,
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*Not sure where this quote is from, but if I'm not mistaken, I read it on @IslamicThinking's twitter