Such a hectic week I'm having and it's not quite done yet but I'm all ready!
Just to share with you guys, after so many date postponements since last year, I finally had to agree (willingly, nevertheless) to my 2 dearest Journalist friends' requests for a home-based photoshoot & a cookery video for 2 latest interactive online magazines, to be launched soon. Being chosen as the 1st Celebrity Chef to grace the issues was a great honour, indeed! 😊😊
Didn't have the time to plan for the menu until it was time for a last-minute grocery shopping which only started at 11.30am and ended exactly an hour later. Rushed home to mise-en-place for 5 recipes of my choice. Lucky the ideas emerged as soon as I saw the ingredients at the wet market closeby my home. I guess experience & passion count a lot, ey?
Immediately got onto the 'beast mode' of peeling, cutting, chopping, sautéing, boiling, etc. in order to complete nasi minyak Terengganu, beriani ayam Johor, opor daging Pahang, acar rawit telur puyuh dengan limau kasturi and pineapple & date crumble for the dessert in time. 6 guests arrived while I was still gracefully 'ballet-dancing' with my ever-so-loyal-but-iliterate maid. Received them, sat them down with a glass of iced fruit juice in their hands and a bowl of muruku trying to amuse them on my Philips' 47" flat screen.
Understanding my business in the kitchen, my 79 year-old mom played her part very well with her ever-so-sweet smile & non-stop chattering to kill the time.😉😉
Done with the 1st 4 dishes, food styling phase was next and Alhamdulillah the results were pleasing to our eyes!
After entertaining them to a satisfying late lunch, the 2nd team proceeded with a video recording and in the end, everyone was very happy, full and smiling their way home with a bag-full of Awang Brand products at 8.45pm or later, leaving me three-quarter dead! 😰😰😰
This morning started early too, sending my mom to UMMC for a thorough check-up. She is due for a surgery to replace a stent in her dysfunctional right kidney on Monday. Due to her diabetes, weak heart condition, hypertension, a careful screening & clearance from multiple medical consultants are imperative coz' her safety is paramount. This is going to be the 3rd year and I pray to Allah SWT that she will pull through it fine just as she always does. Considering what she has gone thru in life raising me up, a real fighter is what she is! 💪💪💪😍😍😍😍
After checking her into the hospital comfortably, I rushed to my culinary college in Puchong for endless meetings & discussions with a fellow partner & staff members alike. The topics ranging from common management issues to our upcoming convocation ceremony, marketing, man power, etc. You name it, we discussed them....well...almost all! 😜😜😜 (in between solat, lunch & snacking included, of course 😇😇)
Done with work at about 7'ish pm, drove quickly to UMMC again to be with my mom. The traffic was horrendous + sudden heavy rainfall + PJ road reroutings + exhaustion = total chaos! Fortunately I survived them all and made it fine to my ever-smiling mom sitting in her pink/red hospital pyjamas. That was my daily dosage that I really needed today...her sweet smile with her 'sepet' eyes looking at me walking towards her ready for a warm hug & kiss. We chatted for a while before I had to bid her good night 😊😊😊
Driving home with my maid sitting securely in the back seat like a Big Momma from Kalimantan, the traffic was yet again almost unbearable. But we made it to Kota Damansara safe and sound. Right before reaching home, she 'whispered' that it's that time of the month again starting with 'a heavy flow' and she ran out of 'cushions'. In my 'half-asleep, half-driving mode', I felt like stuffing her mouth with my smelly socks! Sooooo geram! She always does this to me...telling me when she had already ran out. I really wanted her to use our floor rugs to stop the 'heavy flow' just for tonight but I couldn't! So we stopped at Guardian Pharmacy and the best thing was I had to go in asking the young, cute Salesgirl for 'a suitable brand'. And as an icing on the cake, she HAD to ask me "Chef Zam, with or without wings?" I just felt like flying away for good!! 😲😲😲😲
Reached home, fed my 3 hungry cats, showered, solat Isyak, had some left-overs for dinner well after 9pm and thinking what to wear for my live RTM1's TV appearance at 11am on 'Apa Kata Wanita' with Zamzarina Zambri tomorrow morning. Btw, don't forget to tune in, yea? 😆😆😉😉😊😊
After the TV thingy done, gotta rush to AEON One Utama for my Awang Brand's cooking demo in conjunction with its Chinese New Year promo starting at 3pm. Luckily my culinary students are highly intelligent & reliable. Love them! 😙😙😙
Oh well, I'm feeling soooo good after pouring it all out! Doing all these alone making me really wish that I had 3 dozen of brothers or sisters to shoulder some of my sometimes-unbearable-burdens. But unfortunately I don't 😕😕. I guess being 'Chef Zam' ain't as easy as it may seem, afterall.
But again, I'm very thankful for whatever 'wealth' I may have and most of all, very grateful to Allah for being given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to care for my ailing mom coz' not everyone has this priceless luck!
For that, ALHAMDULILLAH. May Allah bless us all with His mercy. Aameen 😇😇😊😊💪💪👌👌
