BeaverTails in Toronto!

Last week, we set off for a Toronto touring day with family from the UK and we ended it off with a visit from Canada’s own – BeaverTails. They absolutely loved it, and would love to have this in London! .

We walked down Lower Simcoe street, and you can see the red building from far away, it was fun racing knowing the finish line were fresh Beavertails! 😋

Love this No.5 Avalanche Beaver tail my absolute favourite! This was my first time visiting their Toronto location. The decor was fun and really got the Canadian culture and even better part was the view looking out onto Lake Ontario. For once, It was nice to be inside enjoying a Beavertail! 😂 It’s a “requirement” to visit their Niagara and Trafalgar location whenever we’re in the area! Now since I know this is off the Highway it’s another reason to pass by this place more often 😄😁 thanks for the awesome visit! We had great customer service! The gentleman was so understanding and friendly. Thanks BeaverTails! We’ll be back again! .

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Search of the Holy Quran

As a revert I went to several stores and mosques to find different translations of the Holy Quran and after years of searching, I believe I have discovered one beautifully translated Quran. It is beautifully arranged and themed — that help new Muslims like myself connect with the words Allah swt. With it’s clarity perhaps it will create a peaceful understanding with non-Muslims as well.

Alhumdulillah for the opportunity to be able to read and learn more about #Islam.

Thank you The Date Palm for this wonderful addition to your shop and thank you Dr. Mustafa Khuttab (and team) for all the hard work with this Quran. May all your efforts be rewarded many folds in shaa Allah.

Authentic Chinese cuisine (Halal)

A few weeks ago we were feeling adventurous and wanted to try out other restaurants (from our regular food spots). Alhumdulillah we did because we found this lovely establishment with a great atmosphere, almost feels like you are teleported to China!

Being from the 🇵🇭 it’s quite difficult to find restaurants that offer authentic Chinese food, as we normally find offerings with a fusion/blend of Chinese cuisine – like, Hakka (Chinese and Indian). Orient express is a franchise restaurant, which has over 400 locations all over China. This is their first time venturing outside of the country. They offer refreshing dishes with cooking techniques and flavours all the way from China. It is also, HMA certified, so rest assure it is all Halal.

Alhumdulillah! It was nice to experience delicious meals with excellent hand pulled noodles-made fresh in their kitchen.

We had the Braised beef noodle, Spicy Chicken and Egg Fried Rice.

The portions and price ratio are excellent. They had a large of rice which can feed 3 adults easily. The noodles were perfect for 2 adults and a toddler (my daughter ate 2 bowls full)… we even had take home overs 🙂 We actually ordered the Egg fried rice for my daughter, as we were hesitant she would not eat the spicy chicken and noodles dish, but we were clearly wrong! She had 2 full bowls! She was asking for more. Alhumdulillah.

Their noodles were great. You can really tell they were handmade as each string of noodles were all unique in shape and size! If you don’t fancy the regular noodles, you can opt for different ones.. they have a range of flat, thinner or thicker offerings. It was our first time so we went for the regular. The servers gave us a pair of scissors and were dumbfounded when it arrived at our table. He courteously smiled at us and said, the noodles are long, it will be easier if you cut them. We politely smiled and said, sure! Well, we’ve eaten noodles at before, like your regular instant Maggi noodles or your Hakka noodles etc. But never had we experienced hand-pulled noodles before, but let me tell you! It’s genius to cut them! They are so much easier to eat and you can enjoy the soup without thinking too much on how you’re making mess, slurping or splashing. Trust me! Servers new we were “new” noodle eaters.

The Spicy chicken dish was quite flavorful. It came in a self heating wok. It was awesome since we love fresh hot food. We quickly dove in and partnered the dish with rice. It was quite flavorful and too spicy. It was spicy enough to enhance the dish, but not overwhelming. If you fancy spicy food, ask the server to amp up the heat.

The only draw back with this Chicken dish was the amount of bones. I’m not sure if they leave the meatier parts of the chicken for their other soup dishes, but this dish had a lot of bones and hardly any meat. Perhaps it was the portion we received and others had adequate meat to bone ratio, but I guess I’ll only find out when we order again.

Overall, the restaurant was nice and we would definitely visit again to try other dishes. It does get busy in the later part of the night so a high recommendation to make reservations.

🍜

Visit them today and get your noodle game on!

Oriental Express

4271 Sheppard Ave East

Scarborough

(Midland and Sheppard)

Fitness with children

Being a mom, we can neglect ourselves for the betterment of our families. To make sure our children are fed and well cared for, our homes somewhat at a presentable manner, fridge stocked, cooked meals, attending classes, appointments and so forth…

It can be difficult to fit in exercise while caring for children. Sometimes you’re exhausted from the days’ activities to fit in that exercise when kids are tucked in for the night. But there are days when you’re kids are awake and you have that “I-crave-for-the-rush” feeling. 💪🏼

Getting your kids involved and having equipment just for them to imitate you works out perfectly (well, sometimes 😂). At the grand scheme of things, we’re also placing a foundation that – fitness is an important aspect of our lives. Making exercising fun and not a chore is so important! I struggle with that thought at times…and what keeps me going is the, “lead by example” mentality. Insha’Allah it would nice to harness that fitness habit from a young age… in the meantime, enjoying these exercising moments with little ones and using them as “weights” is fun!

What do you all do to make fitness fun with your young ones?

#fitnesswithkids #exercisemotivation #exercisingwithkids #fitnessmommy #excercisedaily #exerciseswithbaby #fitnessinspiration #fitnessmotivation #fitnessisalifestyle #muslimfitness #healthylifestyle #homegym #homegymlife #homegymftw

Yay! Muslim Subscription Box!

For years I’ve noticed a rise in subscription boxes and was always skeptical to sign up for one. I’m not the type of person who needs the latest makeup or next leading body products. But I wanted to give it a try. It was nice to see the promotional ads of different boxes and the surprise each month was exciting. Quite frankly I inputted my information a few times but after completing 85% of my details, I had always backed out. Always. Perhaps another month.

End of December of last year, I was casually scrolling through my feed, I saw ads about a new MUSLIM subscription box called In-T. I clicked and saw their content, and was quite excited for their reveal. I’m all for supporting Muslim businesses and helping them be recognized here in the western world. So I read on for a bit and pondered over it. End of January I was seeing reveals by others and thought wow this is a well-curated box, with sincere considerations on the well-being of their customers. Hmm, I gave it a go and surprisingly I registered so fast that I had to double check if I competed all the fields correctly 😆

I was eagerly waiting, what could be inside this time?! Checked my mail tracking details (I’d be lying if I said only once). Alright today’s the day! After the kiddos nap we went for a stroll to our mailbox 😁

It’s here! A surprise gift to myself! Absolutely adore each item. This box, is crafted well from great Muslim businesses. The best part is, if you decide that each month is not for you, there are various options when you’d like to receive the boxes. Another awesome part is, your hubby can also enjoy the brother’s box…. it’s like a couple’s rejuvenation box! Keep you both happy in shaa Allah. Perhaps, you would like send it as a gift? Perfect for friends, mom, sister, aunt, brother, father, uncle, list goes on! I’m sure it will be loved!

If you’re on the edge like I was, take the dive and try it out! Bonus, they have the BEST customer service, if you have any questions send them a message and they’ll respond like a flash of lighting ⚡️😆

Beware, you’ve been warned the chances of falling in💗💖 are quite high.

The MOM moments that tug on my heart strings

June 2016

First of all, thank you.

Thank you for making me a mother. Thank you for the kisses, the hugs, the smiles and the laughs. Thank you for the screams and the cries. At my lowest and tired moments, I become unappreciative for what you’ve given me… And that is the gift of, motherhood.

There are days, when I want to trade those minutes, hours for my old life – my office life. Where I remember the routine: sitting down at my desk, catching up on emails, attending meetings, writing training manuals, designing programs, socializing, strategizing on how I can move up, get my adrenaline pumping for next idea for the next project…and essentially, care about-myself. I know it’s selfish. It feels illusory when I type the words, but it was all about me and that was rewarding to me. There was a numerical value on the work I do and knew that every pay check day I was rewarded for my hard work. And every few weeks or months, I would accomplish my goals and see numerical results for my successes. It was tangible. It was what I was taught through life… to study countless hours to attain the diploma(s) so I can have a life-supporting career that will define me and make me a better person that fit with society.

So I thought…

I never knew being a mom would be a game-changer. To me, Life and Work is like chess. A competitive game with different levels of hierarchies (like society) and situations are put each time you make a decision or move in your life. Life/Work/Chess is playing strategically to get to the next reward, next project, there’s no manual (if you do this, and this, and you will guarantee a win), there is no equation that will land you to the same answer. Motherhood, NO. Nothing. Every situation, every single child is different. However some children manuals are starting to pop up now– sleep guidelines, or what to do for toddler tantrums, or how to potty train your child etc. You can follow them, but the end results are never the same and vary for each child.

Motherhood is not an equation where you’ll get the same answer each time, for every child and for every mom.

…and that’s okay…

Stepping into this 10-role-in-one is nuts but rewarding at the same time. It’s difficult to recognize at times but it’s there. Getting through the day tear-free, tantrum-free, regardless of an untidy home with a mountain of unfolded laundry, it’s a complete utter victory! It’s even a big reward when you hear laughter, see smiles, and your child says, “mommy, thank you for playing with me, I had a nice day today!” “Mommy I love you SO much!” “Mama, sit with me, I miss you.”

Developmental milestones are the pay checks I get in motherhood and these heart-felt words are the bonuses.

At times I forget the meaning of the word “career” so here’s a reminder.

ca·reer kəˈrir/

noun

1 1. an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.(Oxford dictionary)

The hard work at home in moulding a human being and being able to create a happy and loving haven for them is the (unconventional) career I’ve chosen for the time being. It’s mentally and physically taxing but the positive benefits outweighs everything else.

I wouldn’t change it any other way.