2026 Eid Celebration at Geneva

April 14, 2026April 14, 2026 mizarwen

We’re still in the middle of the spring holiday, and honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit stuck this past week. I haven’t done anything particularly productive apart from housework and taking care of my daughter.

Only this week did I finally get back into my gym routine. Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit heavier, and I had assumed that fasting during Ramadan would help me lose maybe 1–2 kg—but it turned out quite the opposite. The sluggish, crash-like feeling after breaking fast really made it hard to stay active, and it dragged on for more than a month.
I’ve been a little anxious, wondering if I’m losing muscle. Even though I managed to go to the gym 2–3 times over the past few weeks, I know that without consistency, I won’t see much progress. It’s also clear that I need to slowly improve my diet—I’ve been indulging in way too much junk food and sweets lately. That definitely needs to change… slowly. sobs

Anyway, enough of me rambling about my insecurities—lol. Let’s talk about something happier: Eid! We celebrated Eid here in Switzerland on the 20th of last month. We celebrated the first day of Eid at the Brunei Ambassador’s residence, and it was such a lovely gathering. Alhamdulillah, my daging rendang turned out beautifully tender this time.

There was an amazing spread of food and desserts—rambang mata meliat!

Sadly, I completely forgot to try the Basque cheesecake, which I had been eyeing all day.

My daughter also received a little angpau (money gift) from one of the officers, and the packaging was so unique.

We ended the day with a family photo in our traditional outfits—such a special moment.

80% successful Daging Rendang recipe

March 14, 2026March 14, 2026 mizarwen

An attempt that really amazed me. Although I missed one ingredient in the recipe and still need to cook the meat until it’s tender, it was still an overall success for me as a novice cook.

Yesterday, I prepared a Daging Rendang dish following a recipe that Che Nom shared on YouTube. I found the taste and aroma to be almost identical to what my in-law used to cook. She is also following Che Nom’s recipe. As she is currently in Brunei, I have been given the responsibility of cooking the menu for the Eid feast. My nerves won’t go away until the event is over. So I wish I could pull this off.

Short day trip to Annemasse

April 9, 2025April 9, 2025 mizarwen

All Brunei workers at Brunei Mission were given a 3-day Eid-Ul Fitri holiday starting from Sunday, 30th March in Geneva (a day earlier than in Brunei). I was happy that happened because I could enjoy the day with Mr. Hubby while my daughter at school 🙂

The plan was to have lunch at a ramen restaurant near the Swiss border between Switzerland and France called Yatta Ramen in Annemasse, France, after the gym. Maybe after that, we could take a look around. Besides buying groceries at Carrefour, which is usually cheaper than buying in Switzerland, I can say that there isn’t much to see there. Due to the many road constructions taking place there, our exploration or small walk was limited.

According to the restaurant manager, the construction will continue until next year because they want to build a tramway track from Geneva to that location. I guess that would be convenient for us. Perhaps after that, there will be more intriguing shops and restaurants, especially halal ones.

I only managed to capture a place that would be my next target to go here next time.

I have a fondness for cats, so I would be thrilled to go here. They seemed to have an affordable and tasty dish to try.

We went home by train. If you already have a yearly pass, you only pay less than Sfr. 2 for a one-way ticket.

Winter and the Christmas Market

December 25, 2023December 25, 2023 mizarwen

I hadn’t fully embraced the cool and rainy of the fall season yet winter was already here. I really didn’t expect it to come this sooner.

On 4/12/2023 morning the street was blanketed with snow.

The magical Christmas Market, ‘Chrismas at the Quay’ in Geneva opened from 16th November until 24th December 2023. We spent time seeing the market right after her therapy. What I remember is they usually held the venue in Bastian Park and two years ago, I think in Jardin Anglais but this year they changed next to Hotel D’Angleterre.

There were so many food trucks and kiosks but we didn’t venture into the food that night. We only bought Churros as our late snacks.

Since we are Muslims and we don’t celebrate the beautiful day that leaves me wondering what is your favorite part of Christmas? Would love to know that in the comment 🙂

Make A TikTok for my Webtoon

August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 mizarwen

Make A TikTok for my Webtoon

Link to my TikTok webtoon account is here

Zermatt Trip (19.07.23)

July 30, 2023July 30, 2023 mizarwen

The view of the mountain during the summer.

A visit to Zermatt for the second time. Our visit this time is during the summer.

I mostly saw these taxis bringing the hotel guests to the place they want to stay. Due to the narrow paths and hotels located on the mountain, small automobiles are the only way to access them.

We got ‘directed’ by this young lady to McDonald by surprise. We didn’t even know she able to recognize the restaurant. It could be that her breakfast didn’t satisfy her hunger or that we often give her a Happy Meal. Lol. Her favorite meal is always two topper buns and chips to munch on. Other habit – she always has sundae and the barbecue sauce dip on the side to lick and stir 😀 She’s an autistic so we just let her do that as she please. On our first visit few years ago, she had a meltdown when we unintentionally disrupted her meal. So we did not want that to happen again. Lol.