Saying goodbye...

This is by far the most difficult piece of writing that I've had to put together.

"Ma's finished baby,

Ma is gone..."

These are the words that will echo for a long time to come.

This past week for the first time in many years I lost an immediate family member, someone who actually played a vital role in my life - my granny. One of the closest people to me, more a wise best friend rather than a "nani". That brings me to her reaction everytime someone referred to her as our "nani" she would say, "Who's a nani? I'm their ma". Her witty, humorous personality and her love for fashion is something that we connected on. She would match her outfit from head to toe, matching shades of the colours with the perfect shoes, handbag, scarf AND accessories to match.

Ma was my knight, the only real piece of armour that protected me from my mother. Her pep talks after my parents' lectures always involved a light hearted joke and an understanding that my mummy is a little 'nuts' at times.

My ma was our travel buddy she accompanied us on almost every single trip we made and was not the average "granny", she was  one of us, keeping up and alles. Seeing her sick for just over a month wasn't easy yet we all thought she would bounce back as she usually did. I guess now her suffering is over... Saying goodbye was tough, but all i can do is make sabr and dua (pray) for her to be granted jannah, smile and be happy as she always wished for me. insha-Allah Ameen...

I will miss hearing "yes, aunty Saudaa" to my 'aunty Fathi', the Half English/ Urdu jokes, the hugs, duas and so much more.

I will always miss you my "Thandroost chicken" (strong chicken).

Love you always.

xxx

Saudaa

Playtime, Yay time

Hello hello. 

Have you ever sat down and just become nostalgic or thought about the things you did as kid? I guess we all have and it's often the time I wish I could relive. The time of carefree, no responsibilities and friend-full playtime is something we all want. The past weekend we (my sister, mum and I) got a snippet again!  A surprise visit from an old neighbour who hadn't changed a bit! Except he grew up ofcourse 😅.

The Tales of our antics and his destructive tendancies brought the mini us alive! So out came the make-up and i had my "NO makeup" make look done by what seemed like a professional 🙌.

The make-up kit 

1 Cleansed with Mac wipes

2 Cream

3 Thin layer of Clarins Everlasting Foundation applied with a make up sponge

4 Highlighter - from The Body Shop 

applied on the T and cheek bones

5 Mac Studio Fix powder 

applied with a buff brush from The Body Shop (the silver case in the picture)

And what's a girl without two the essentials?

6 Softlips no.15 bronzing lip ice

7 One coat of mascara - Elizabeth Arden,

which was also used to brush up my eyebrows 

And Voila all done!

Yes an unprofessional male did my make up and I loved it! So who said "adults" can't have fun?! 

We just get to use the real stuff now, which makes it even better.

I hope you get to a moment to refresh your childhood memories. Remember you're only as YOUNG as you feel you are 

That's all for now 😘 

xxx

The UBG 

Saudaa 

Waiting and waaiting and waaaiting

Ever been extremely hungry and you anxiously await your food in the promised 15 - 20min?

Well so have I! 

Except I think I've been jinxed  to "wait forever!"

Being a Hangry (angry when hungry) type of person, it is probably the most annoying jinx to ever have.

Working up an appetite whilst shopping has been the norm and over the past few days I've been disappointed with every meal I've ordered. I am a fairly patient individual and respect the fact that good food takes time. However, telling a customer that their food will be ready in a certain amount of time and then taking 45 - 50 minutes to present the food, after being asked twice where the order was and have other people who ordered 25 minutes AFTER YOU given their food is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. If you think that's bad enough, my sister was served the incorrect dish! 

Then there are the excuses for delayed orders. Bear in mind that these places are take-out OR sit down restaurants.

• "The restaurant is really busy, sorry for the delay" - oh yes ofcourse! The three families of four are making it SO busy hey?!

• "So sorry Mam, they prepare the orders in number order" - Okay. Is that why 208 already had their order and we are order number 197? Riddle me that! Oh and how long does it take to make a burger?

• The other one is no excuse at all, just tell someone to bring my food when I stare down the cashier.

But the best one this week was from a manager.

Waiter: Sorry Mam,the kitchen messed up,  my manager found a problem.

Me: What was the problem? 

Manager: "Sorry Mam, yours was a big order so it got delayed". THREE FULL MEALS is LARGE order? So I'm meant to come eat by myself to get my food faster? Does my payment have no value? Is it just the number of meals I order? 

I had to practice such self-restraint not to be rude. But saying "innallaha ma'as sãbirûn" in my mind and my ever calmed father helped. 

The best place to order at is Burger King - The Zone in Rosebank. They are ever so efficient, during one of my visits as soon as I'd entered my pin for payment my order was ready!  BELIEVE IT.

Another of my favourite spots is Ninos at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Friendly staff and beautifully relaxed atmosphere makes for a pleasant experience. 

There are others however these two places are the ones that stand out from the rest. May my jinx be over soon and hopefully just hopefully you don't experience the torture of "waiting, waaiting and waaaitng".

That's all for now 😘 

xxx

The UBG 

Saudaa

The Market Tales

Elooooo elooooo 🤗

I'm female as you all know... And one of the things we find most endearing is shopping! What makes it even better is when there's a sale or when we can get ourselves a good bargain 💱.

Being who I am, food plays an important role in my mood. Happy tummy = Happy Saudaa. Hence a combination of these two things and I'd be in a state of euphoria!

I was going to post on the Morning Trade Market but didn't get to fully experience it, so "Market Tales Part 2" shall follow soon enough 😊 for now its:

ROOFTOP NIGHT MARKET - MUSGRAVE

The first Friday evening of every month is where you can find the market in Musgrave Centre on the 4/5th level parking lot from ~17:30 - 20:00pm. This market has what others lack; a secure covered experience from rain and heavy wind (bonus points - you don't have an excuse not to get out of the house in bad weather) as well as secure parking 🅿 so can you can indulge with your mind being completely at ease!

My first trip to the market was with a good friend with whom I spent ~30 minutes in the parking lot trying to find a parking space, listening to what my friend called "Muslim-girl music" aka trance/ EDM kinda music😂.

Since my first visit I've overcome the parking battle and now have my "spot" - thank you for introducing me to this place!

 If you happen to visit the market you may come across a very happy Saudaa, this is because there's a huge variety of food AND the best part is, almost EVERYTHING IS HALAAL! 

I love trying new flavours and foods as well as the whole fancy serving of it. However, I find that many of the scrumptious looking restaurants aren't halaal leaving me without an opportunity to satiate my inner foodie.

So here at the Rooftop Market you can find clothing by local designers, thrift stalls, crafts including a beautiful African art collection and a little pet corner. It also boasts almost twenty food stalls ranging from wholesome foods to purely indulgent deserts. I can say with confidence that all of the stalls were created by cool people, my  reason?  The amazing use of puns in many of the stall names 😂.

These stalls are pop-ups thereby enhancing local SME's and entrepreneurs. Being opposed to brain-drain I fully support the saying "Local is Lekker" and this market allows me to follow through with that ideology.

Sketchy selfies

Although queues are long which lead to selfies (see above 😁), nonsensical comments, good company, AFFORDABLE great food and crafts compensate for it. Encounters range from the most random people of all ages to bumping into Mr India SA (yes, I'm a pageant girl) set against a backdrop of a buzz of all local artists showcasing their talent is an experience not to be missed.

If you're looking for a place to basically chill out at/ meet people/ support local businesses/ artists/ eat/ try something new or simply looking for a good experience in Durban other than the beach, be sure to visit next month (5 August)!

If you have been to the market share your experience with me in the the comments section below and if you see me there be sure to say Hi!

 That's all for now 😘

 xxx

 The UBG

 Saudaa

The Eid Effect

Peace be unto you all - in other words As-salaamualaikum ✌ 

A belated Eid Mubarak for all those that I didn't get to wish and thank you if you did wish me 😘

I'm sure everyone got to indulge and if you don't celebrate hopefully you had a good Muslim neighbour or friend that shared some goodies with you ➡ good company pays off😝

This year I fell into the category of "waiting for my phone to explode with messages" then put mendi/ henna before going to bed.😂 Eid was different this year, rather than it just being us at home it was a full house of family and it wasn't "Eid at the grannies".

⏰ My alarm on the morning of Eid was the sound of pots and pans klanking in the kitchen and mum's annoyed voice saying "Sa'ud wake up! Waaake up! You're going to miss Fajr" 🙈an atrocity not to be committed - losing the glow of the face on Eid, no thank you!! (It's because the morning prayer gives you "noor" (glow) on your face.) Morning prayer done - glow confirmed 🙌 then it was time to get cracking- shower clean up, help in the kitchen and ofcourse pack the plates of biscuits for the friends!

👗 Then it was time for the highlight and a sunnah on Eid: dressing up 🙌

I wore a Turkish style kaftan (that I'd been after for ages) from a store Saudi-Arabia - thanks to mum's recent Umrah trip, black Ajmaan inner (I absolutely love the fit of this inner), black pleather leggings from Winged Girl (CPT), my new favourite black Topshop stilettos, with finishing touches of a Hermes belt and a patent leather black bag from Jealousy (DBN) and a square scarf from ages ago!

 I usually wear my contact lenses on a dress-up day but I decided to play it cool and Wear my glasses 👓 I guess they are new and needed an introduction to the family 😂. 

Then there was the make-up I got to contour my sister's face, did mine and finished off with my second favourite lipstick which is from Avon! 

After dollin' up it was then time to head off to the new hotspot - my uncle's house, where everyone would be meeting for lunch. There's always one item missing and this year it was fire wood so off I went with the_eclectic_hijabi, cousin in-law and nephew to find some firewood. So there I was prancing around in circles to entertain the little-one in the shop with my amazing heels - so amazing that they deserved their own picture 😂

🍲 Back to the food The menu included soji 👌 ofcourse the grand "mutton breyani" drool because it was delish! Coming from me - a person who isn't a fan of such heavy foods you can believe it was divine🙌. 

There were other side dishes but the main attraction was my favourite - Pavlova 😍 since I was told my cousin from Cape Town would be down for Eid and making that for desert it was the only thing on my mind 😂 Only thing is EVERYONE wanted to try and having a big family wasn't cool for this moment because I couldn't indulge as much as I wanted to. I got restricted to only 1 piece if heaven 💔. 

Nevertheless lunch was a treat with the mini uncles and nephews and niece running around. Whilst we "in-betweeners" mingled with the adults laughing as we shared stories. I love the idea of large family gatherings you never feel alone. There's always that warm fuzzy feeling of belonging💗 if you haven't experienced it tell me and you can definitely come join me at our next big "thing" 😀.

On coming home, it was yummy food again soups, steaks and veggies! With visitors 😅 a change to the normal sense of serenity I usually experience at home, but a good supper time nevertheless!

Ofcourse to end my day there was a photo-shoot of selfies and "mum please take a picture of me" 😂

So my lovelies that was my eid! I hope you had an amazing day as I did. No need to feel underachieved on Eid 😊 

Please feel free to share your Eid tales with me or to take me up on the offer if joining me!

That's it for now 😘 

xxx 

The UBG 

Saudaa 

The Eid Bake-off: Chocolate Melting Tutorial🍫

As Eid approaches it's usual for many households, including mine to smell like a bakery. This year is no different! 

This weekend was spent creating yummy home-made biscuits in my 3rd favourite place in the house 😅. I'm not a huge fan of cooking but baking serves as my creative outlet in the kitchen. So Baked en Alles (Hayah confectionery) was born! It's something that kinda happened by default as people saw my baking then ordered from me 😅 word of mouth is an amazing tool!

Although I've been bogged down with issues mum's stepped up and come to help like a "knight in an apron" 😂! She may help bake but the decor is my department it's like I have a no entry sign when I'm working - it's my space you know...

I thought I'd help some of you guys out with an easy peasy 3 step way to melt chocolate to decorate your biscuits.

All you're going to need is:

• Chocolate chips
• Pot 
• Glass bowl (please make sure it's oven friendly)
• Spoon 
• Water
• A stove

Please remember when selecting your bowl please make sure that the base of the bowl fits into the top of your pot BUT should NOT touch the base of your pot. 

Step 1:

Fill the pot about halfway with water and put it on the stove to heat (you can boil it first and then put it into the pot - it makes the process faster).

Step 2:

Place your chocolate chips into the bowl and place it over the heated water in the pot. (your bowl may be submerged in some of the water)

Step 3:

Using your spoon stir the chocolate in the bowl as it begins to melt it helps with the heat distribution through the chocolate (remember stirring ANTI-clockwise is sunnah).

Also make sure your water isn't boiling rapidly - you might end up over heating your chocolate, so lower the heat or turn it off. The water is still hot so your chocolate will have a heat source.

You will know your chocolate is ready when it's has a runny consistency.

and you should be able to touch it if it's too hot for you it's too hot to be used!

And there you have it good ol' melted chocolate. Which I live on for decorating 🙌. 

I got my chocolate from Laeeque this year the joys of being located centrally 😅. It's a one stop shop for all my baking goodies.

Side note 📝:
I didn't get to go for my mass iftaar but it's okay I didn't infect anyone so all is well... And my littletjie is around so I'm a happy chappy!

Oh and Eid Mubarak 🌟 in advance my lovelies (yes, that INCLUDES you male species!) I don't think I shall post until the auspicious day.

That's it for now
xxx
The UBG
Saudaa

Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome 😘 

Iftaar & The Great Big Holiday Adventure!

Howdy guys 🤗

(I've no idea why I went all cowboy on you).

Hope you like the edits to the site 😀 took me a while to figure it out but I did it 🙌 

Saudaa: 1 - Tech: 0 😎

oh just a tip, check out the Web version for the full effect.

Anyhoo so as most of you know or have gathered thus far I'm Muslim (I follow the religion of Islam) and it is our holy month of Ramadaan where we fast from before sunrise 🌅 to just after sunset 🌇. 

Every year my paternal family has a mass iftaar where all my dad's siblings and their children and now their children's children 😅 are invited for the evening . 

Growing up it was the most exciting iftaar ever and I mean EVER. It was at the designated children's table where we discovered  that pouring cooldrink into a glass, which had already been used for milkshake WASN'T such a good idea😂. It was the place of gathering for us cousins to mingle, experiment with our food, play jokes on eachother, gossip about the adults 🙊 (don't judge, you know you're guilty too!) and EAT. Us Khan girls may be slender, but do not be fooled we LOVE our food and can EAT 😏. It's as if we were born "foodies" rather than born "FREES".

(yeah another of my lame-jokes but hopefully you laughed!)

The mass iftaar is my favourite iftaar of the month. No matter our age we haven't changed our antics and that's the BEST part! I missed quite a few of these iftaars when I was in Johannesburg but nothing has changed except we've upgraded from our little table to a normal table which is still not invaded by the adults (Alhamdulillah 😂) and we kind of contribute to the menu by actually making stuff.

This year is going to be one of the FIRST to have almost ALL of our cousins they're all flying in this weekend, only excluding a few (marrying away from home is the problem) and I'm super excited. The problem however, is my stupid viral infection which should be completely gone by Sunday, but my mother seems to be sceptical 😒🔫 (thank you over protective mother).

Anyhow I plan to dodge my mother and attend even if I have to wear my germmask I'm going (insha-Allah -God willing)! I can't be in the city this year and NOT attend it's like totally "haraam" 😂 -okay I made that up, but you gather how wrong it is NOT to go.

So why is my mother so sceptical? 

Well I've just spent 4 nights in hospital because of it and it was my first ever hospitalisation... So yeah I get her point but enough about the iftaar. Let me tell you about my holiday adventure to the hospital 😄😁.

Me in my J-loop and mask

After complaining about SEVERE headaches where I couldn't even move an eyeball without any pain (this time I'm not exaggerating) and then finding a weird stuff, my mother was convinced I needed to go to the hospital. Believe it or not I was actually excited to go 😂.  I packed with enthusiasm and had everything ready to go after I got back from school. Yes, I went to school because I was the narrator and script writer of the play we were performing - it was a parody of fairy-tales with a Dementor (if you don't know what a Dementor is you're probably very young or very old 🙊 use Google). The play was worth all the pain! The performance went off almost as we planned it only differed in the amount of laughter 😀🙌, they got my lame jokes! #happydance - I love drama 🎭.

Back to the hospital now, the first day was strange I really didn't know what do... Had some tests done and X-rays. I had x-rays before but this was so cool with the moving base😂.  Bloods however weren't so exciting 6 viles so not cool!  I'd rather donate blood. There it's just one needle one tube and two bags that you don't really feel.

I expected to go in and get to sit and watch TV the entire day - I even took my hard-drive 😂. But it was just a daze of doctors, an uber cool j-loop that always creeped me out before I had my own and a never ending supply of drips.

I did get room service and my own room (all hail infectious viruses) 😎😂. 

Special shout out to my visitors, thank you for making my stay a lot more colourful than you think and thank you for not judging my extra dodgy appearance 😂. You know it's love when people still #love you when you're a sickling💗.

All in all, I had a weird but fun start to my holiday. Who can say "I went to hospital for my holiday" and actually be thrilled about it? I suppose it was much more exciting than visiting a place, and besides it's Ramadaan where can we actually go 😂 so guess it all worked out pretty well! 

That's it for now 😘

Please keep your fingers crossed so I can go for my iftaar and I promise to share some pictures 🌸

xxx

The UBG 

Saudaa