Sad, sad, sad...

Rizal and I were in BTS last night to catch RED. To kill the time, we thought of visiting border's new location, since i have read all of my books at home. ..
For those who didnt know, borders on 1st floor has closed its doors last september and re-opening on the Gr floor instead. We were quite excited to see the 'new' borders, hoping it would be bigger and better.
The first thing that came to mind when we were toilering the Gr floor was that the new location is harder to access. But, really, nothing compared to the shock we had when we finally spotted the new borders.
You know why?? It was sooo small!! In fact it is now called Borders Express. Still wouldnt believe my eyes i had asked their staff, to make sure that we got it right. Mana la tahu kan kotkot this is just the express outlet and they actually hv other outlet at different location. But nah ah ah. That was it.
I was so dismayed. So disappointed. I have always prefered going to borders instead of kino or mph but now i guess i just gotta find some other place to find my monthly doze of books. :(

Tsk tsk tsk...

Ampang yong tau foo

Location : ampang (same row as coffee bean, facing ampang putri hospital)
i'll let the photos to do the talking ay.

phone calls

Here is a real business conversation I had this mroning.

Me: "Hello, may I speak to 'so and so'?"

Him: "Who is this???" (in a huff tone)

I was thinking. Erkk??? Did i get the wrong number.. ? so i said in uncertain voice

Me: "sorry, I may have dialled the wrong number, is this 01X-XXX XXX?"

Him: "yes, Who is this??"

By that time I was really perplexed, I did dial the right number, but obviously not getting the right person. Then I thought maybe someone else picked up his phone. So I asked politely again

Me: "Sorry, may I speak to 'En So and So'?"

Him in annoyed tone: " yes This is 'So and So' , Who is this??"

aaaah... so finally, it was indeed the right person and right number. Except that his angry "who is this" really throws me off..  I mean, who answers their phone like that? Shouldnt you be saying yes this is blah blah blah... IN A NICE TONE  ???  Sheesshhhh... !

Tools ... tools.. tools...

When I first saw this at Jusco, I wasa very very interested indeed.

But when I looked at the price, I had to take a step back. I mean, its not like cooking on this excessively expensive kuali is going to make me an excellent cook, like at par with Jamie Oliver or Chef Wan...

No, I havent lost my marbles yet. I got it on promotion, costing only RM189. I took the pains to check the price at Isetan, and as it was in Jusco, they run the same promo. I am noyt sure if it meant that this skillet is no good or not really well received or whatever..

The main reason why I am so attracted to it cos this must be the only one wok with handle that Ive seen that is not flat in the middle. See what I mean?? It is like the good ol black kuali they use in the old days.



Close up sikit


With the lid

It comes with a warranty card. I thought that was funny, macam la kuali tu ada serial number to identify the unit.. but nonetheless, it is good to know that it comes with a 10 year warranty.

* After using it for a period of time, I have to say I cant really recommend this pot to others. The oil sticks on the surface and it was quite difficult to clean.

creme caramel

Norlinda brought in this divine home cooked creme caramel to work today.

She said it was easy to make, and all i needed was a steamer.

Intrigued, and I asked her for the recipe.

And here is what she gave me:
6 eggs/1 tin susu cair/half cup sugar/1 tin air/1sude teh vanilla
for gula hangus: half cup gula + sedikit air

*scratch head* errrr... what do i do with the eggs.. susu cair and and what naught...???

I really need to take a cooking lesson.

Kinokuniya

We went to Kinokuniya last night cos Rizal wanted to get this one hard-to-get book. I didnt really believe him, cos I thought he was just being dramatic, but true enough, there was only one copy left AND the book was already looking worn.

As the condition of the book is no longer tip top, I asked if we could get a discount. I was expecting like 30% off or something in that raange, but guess what,after that back and forth trip consulting the store manager, all we managed to squeeze is a teeny meeny discount - like 5%. Hello...??? a big huge bookstore, and all you could manage were 5%? I wouldnt have taken it, but this is my other half we are talking about. He couldnt have cared less, as long as the book is readable, he's happy.

Anyhoot, trips to the bookstore wouldnt be complete without buying books, ay? I could rarely resist buying books (or anything else for that matter), always using the tax rebate as excuses ;). Good thing, Rizal feels the same thing, so he usually encourages me to get one or two books as well.

What I hate about Kinokuniya is that their books are all wrapped up. So I cant read it before I purchase it. (the irony of it kan, all the books berbalut bagai, and yet the very one book we wanted to get were not in good condition pun)

WOthout being able to flip the pages to see if the book is intresting or not, I am left with looking at synopsis and reviews on the cover. Which for Kino's sake is actually a good thing, cos I ended up having to buy the book to know, rather than reading a bit to know if its any good.

Anyway, my loot is as below.

Bookstore

Gatecrasher
At the time of this updated review I have read gatecrasher and had this sense of dejavu, as if I have read it or seen iyt on the movies. The ending and middle part of the book didnt ring a bell so I must have flicked through it at Borders. What interests me with this book is that it is written by same writer as the Shopoholic series. She goes under different name previuosly, and as I have always enjoyed her books before I decided to give it a try.
It wasnt disappointing as I finish reading it within 2 days. Very light and suitable for leisure reading during vacations!

Eid Fitri 2010

Wishing all muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya ....

From the bottom of my heart, please accept my sincere apology of all wrongdoings I may have done, and I wish you a blessed Eid Mubarak, this year and many years to come



The four generations.... me, my mama, my uwan and forever cheeky niece

Pisces Woman

I am not one who trust or believe in astrology stuff, but i saw this on someone's blog and was intrigued... so let's see... betul ka tarak betul...??

You tell me... :)



Pisces Woman

February 20 TO March 20

Slogan: I Understand, therefore I am.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Pisces is the most considerate and compassionate sign out of all the signs of the zodiac. In keeping with those qualities, the Pisces woman is the one who is most willing and able to listen to other people’s problems and, who will offer endless support and comfort.

The Pisces woman’s emotional openness can also become her greatest challenge since the fish swims within the oceans and seas being areas of wide expanses and limitless depths.

The Pisces girl can swim about in an endless sea of emotions with no shore in sight and, as result, can end up absorbing so much emotional energy from her environment that she can become drained of vitality, causing her to withdraw into herself in the manner of a self-imposed exile of solitude.

This is the most mystical of the signs and the Pisces girl is aware that there is an invisible world; as result she can often feel overly burdened by the restrictions and responsibilities of the practical realities of the life in which she lives.

It is not uncommon for some Pisces women to endeavour to overcome the pressures of everyday life through forms of addiction. These girls can be related to the Fish that swim downstream.

The alternative, are the Fish who swim upstream, represented by those Pisces girls who take a path in life that brings them consciously into contact with their deep spiritual nature.

Such woman can be found working, or involved with, charities and/or organizations of a distinctly humanitarian orientation.

MONEY & FINANCES:

The Pisces woman is generous and sensual by nature and, she likes to indulge in the pleasures of life.

She is usually so open, generous and giving to her friends and partners that at times, she can overlook to provide amply for her own needs.

Irrespective however, Pisces is a very resourceful sign and one of the names for Pisces is “the sign of hidden resources.” The Pisces girl therefore will generally discover numerous ways in order to support and sustain herself.

The Pisces woman can be very shrewd at bringing riches to the surface be it some auction bargain, antique piece or even the valuable talents of another person.

The Pisces girl can achieve financial security when she can establish and develop a sound outlook toward financial structure and a savings.

For many Pisces however, this might prove to somewhat of a challenge.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:

A relationship with a Pisces woman can be a deep emotional experience and, one with a personality that is of ever-shifting moods and feelings.

The Pisces woman is the complete romantic and one who is known to sacrifice everything for love

She can at times prove astounding in identifying and knowing the most delicate aspects of our feelings and, at other times appear to withdraw from sight so that one might ponder on who exactly is this woman with whom I am living, and sharing my life with.

The Pisces woman can be quite an enigma since the more you try to characterize her, then the more elusive she becomes.

Irrespective, she is a very kind, thoughtful, and devoted person who will usually always do her best to be a supportive and nurturing individual.

The Pisces girl will relate well with those of signs Cancer and Scorpio.

Taurus and Capricorn can often provide a happy environment and, those of the Libra sign can prove to be very sweet, romantic, and idealistic

Aries, Leo, Virgo, Gemini, Aquarius, and Sagittarius can prove to be the most intense challenges for the Pisces woman.

March 18 Birthday

YOUR SIGN - Pisces

YOUR ELEMENT - Water

YOUR RULERS - Neptune Mars

The Astrological Interpretation

As a March 18 Pisces you are thoroughly honest person and will you look for, and expect receive truth and honesty in any of your potential partners in life.

To you “Beauty is truth and truth beauty” so that you are also someone who is very likely to love and appreciate the arts.

The March 18 has the ability to express their creative urges with an extremely strong and influential release of energy.

However, once a creative project or enterprise, whether it be at your work or in a personal relationship, is finished and over, then it is essential that you not remain and continue beyond the point your productivity.

It is your responsibility to recognize the point at when this creative conclusion occurs and to then assess the manner in which you can withdraw and leave the situation both comfortably and with grace.

Once you have successfully withdrawn into yourself, then take the time to rest up and to wait for that next creative urge to crystallize.

Never push or rush yourself. Remember that your greatest strength lies in your own understanding of your own recurring movements.

The March 18 enjoys music and dance and, since these are but two activities that are based on a structured rhythm, it is something that will provide you with an immense sense of appreciation, and personal enjoyment.

The March 18 is a seeker of wisdom and one who holds a great interested in nature.

They generally have a simple and easy-going faith in life, in its rhythms and, they enjoy a very skilled ability that allows them to share their knowledge with others.

Irrespective of how intense you may study you can derive simple satisfaction from those every day pleasures that will tend to limit any tendency toward moodiness.

A symbol for you is a red triangle with an open circle in the centre.

A perfect gift for a March 18 Pisces would be a bound volume of poetry and, it would be particularly so, if it came in the form of a collection of some of the great Romantic from such poets as Wordsworth, Keats or Shelley.

When it comes to the workplace, people born on this day of March 18 can have a somewhat split personality.

In their home environment they may relax with a glass of wine and a good book, at their work or office however, the energy of the “Strength” card in the tarot can become apparent.

This particular element is that of leadership energy and this can be an excellent quality in management and in other leadership positions.

To augment this talent, try carrying a piece of tiger-eye about you, or alternately, a piece of angelica will help you to be a little more compassionate.

On the home front, the March 18 may graduate through various different collecting periods and your main criteria in this activity will centre upon beauty and colour.

You may appreciate a variety of colours in the form of woodcuts or coloured glass. Amethyst-coloured glass could be of special appeal to you.

A bed that sits high off the ground will give you that sensation and feeling of safety within your bedroom, and a bedstead of curved metal design that incorporates some interesting shapes would be of appeal to your nature.

Think about incorporating some form of ornament bedroom that involves reticulating water.

A fountain for example, the sound of the moving water will prove a soothing for your sleep.

The March 18 is one who really likes luxuriating at the end of the day.

In order to feel really pampered therefore, why not coax your partner to give you a relaxing massage using scented massage oils that appeal to your senses.

In your outdoor scenario, your garden should feature night-blooming plants that you can look upon at the times of the full moon.

You can find it a particular pleasure to view your fertile garden area when it is under the light of the moon.

Fragrant water lily is a flower of particular appeal to those of a March 18 birth date.

Your special magic numbers are: 3 and 6.

The eighteenth day of the third month reduces to three and the number three endows the gift of enjoying simple pleasures.

As a March 18 you have the facility to see beauty and to get great joy from ordinary day life.

The simple things in life such as sunsets, rainbows and gleaming raindrops that settle and hang from flowers and vegetation after a recent rainfall.

You can derive as much enjoyment from the singing of the birds as other folk might from the music of an orchestra.

March 18 is the course of taking joy from the gift of an ordinary day and, because of your warmth and efficiency, the transforming of a simple transaction into a touching memory.

The magic of this day of March 18 renders the soul mindful that every act in life has the potential to be sacred.

For you, the stones of emerald and diamond and are the gems that will remind you of the precious and priceless potential of everyday things about you

The seventy-eighth day of the year reduces to six, and the number six is the number of beauty as expressed in the immeasurable exquisiteness and beauty of a snowflake.

Try building a sculpture in snow, or bake some bread, and savour its texture and aroma.

source: http://www.pisceswoman.net/

Chocolate topping for cake

Recipe given to me by Norlinda. Thks babe!

100gm cooking Choc
50ml whip cream
1 sudu teh butter

Caranya : double boil semua sekali pastu siram atas kek

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tried it at home, and true enough it was quite simple.


I didnt actually know what double boil mean. What it is - boil in a separate pot, with boiling water at the bottom
Break the chocolate bar in smaller pieces to make it easier to melt

Stir whilst it is slowly melting



Tadaaa!!!! ready to be poured on top of the cake..

Must Try

Bahan-bahan:
2 ketul isi ikan pari
1 tangkai bunga kantan - belah 4
1-2 tangkai daun kesum
1-2 helai daun kunyit
4-5 sudu besar cili kering kisar
4-5 ulas bawang merah kecik*
2-3 ulas bawang putih*
1 tangkai serai*
1 inci lengkuas*
1 inci halia*
Garam dan gula secukup rasa

Cara-cara:-

• Sapukansedikit garam pada ikan pari, letak ikan pari diatas aluminium foilyang dilapik dengan daun kunyit, tabur bunga kantan, daun kesum, dan ketepikan.
• Untuksambal, blend bahan bertanda * dan tumis hingga wangi dan masukkan ciliboh, garam dan gula. Tumis lagi sampai garing dan siram ke atas ikanpari tadi.
• Balut ikan pari dengan kemas dan perap 2-3 jam dalam peti ais.I perap agak lama dari tengahari, 2 jam sebelum berbuka baru bakar.Bakar selama 25 minit dalam oven.
• Masa menghidang perahkan limau nipis/kasturi.

Courtesy of lady_on_earth from cari

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Bawal Singgang

During this puasa month, looks like I am steadily decreasing my big fat bum, and I tot this recipe could help more as well:

Ikan Bawal Putih Kukus Pindang

Bahan-Bahan:
600 gm ikan bawal putih
10 gm kobis jeruk
10 gm lobak merah
2 sudu besar minyak masak
1 sudu kecil serbuk kunyit
0.5 cm halia 2 biji pelam jeruk
1 biji cili merah
1 keping cendawan hitam kering
Sedikit lada sulah
Garam secukup rasa

Cara:
Bersihkan ikan,lumurkan dengan garam & lada sulah.Cili, lobak merah, kobis jeruk, halia, cendawan hitam, buah pelam dihiris halus. Panaskan 2 sudu makan minyak masak & goreng bahan-bahan yang dihiris tadi beberapa saat. Tuangkan bahan-bahan yang telah digoreng ke atas ikan & kukus hingga masak (15-20 minit).

Source: http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/69.shtml

The Expendables

The expendables to my eyes was just so so. What made it bearable was only because I enjoy watching John Statham.

The movie wasnt so bad, but I wont rate it anything more than 3/5. There are some entertaining part, but I thought the jokes were pretty lame.

The Expendables is actually a remake, but I havent seen the original. So I am not at liberty to say if it was any better or less.

Anyway. Overall its not a big loss if you missed it, but nevertheless if you are already at the movies and you already watched Salt, then just go for it.

Salt

This is actually a belated one. We've seen the movies two weeks back. Been busy and hadnt had time to give a review of it. I still dun really hv time, so i'll keep it short.
I have always had mixed feeling of Jolie. I kinda like her movies, but at the same time I thought she is overacting. So i wasnt really expecting Salt to be very good, more so after seeing the review it just looked like any other flick movie.
Nevertheless i was glad we actually watched it anyway cos it turned out to be quite good. Unfortunately i cant tell u the gist of the movie any more than summarised by the traillers and movie synopsis, cos if i did, then i'd be telling spoilers and it wont be as interesting when u watch it. Anyhoot thumbs up to this one, i'd give it 4 over 5, and highly recommend u see it!

reddie.....

Checkout the new look .... :)

one day to go...

and I am still 1.5KG away...

and to make it worst, I was h.u.n.g.r.y and was not content with the 2 slices of bread I had. Therefore...

and you know what, i just realised that i actually am fond of lemongrass.. I never knew that it is the lemongrass that made me liked tomyam, masak kuning and others. The flavor is just something that suits my tastebud.

This is lunch. I made a deal with Rizal , if I loose 2kg during his absence, I'm gonna get something .... Hehe apalagi, so dengan berkobar-kobar i've skipped bfast, and now eating light lunch. And tis arvo i plan to jog.. Then swim to cool off... Haha see how

I need a 'Tastera'

you know what people should invent next? a Tastera

A device that can capture taste. I had the best asam pedas daging today, cooked to perfection, just the way I like it. Its been ages since I had asam pedas daging, I think the last time I had it was when I was in my teens. Uwan sometimes make it, and to date, I havent been able to find any place / anyone who could beat uwan's Asam Pedas daging.

Of course I have asked uwan for the recipe, and of course I have attempted it. And each time, it became more failure than the last. The only way to actually learn it, I guess is by buying all the ingredient and make uwan physically show me. Which is a rather difficult, cos I hardly get to see and lepak with uwan these days. And when I do actually have the time to see the ol lady, I cant be expecting her to do chores. On top of that, Ayah cant take meat, so to cook it in my parents house is kinda unlikely. Kesian Ayah if he cant eat it. But I think I will have to make the effort. Maybe one of these days.

Back to what I was saying earlier, there I was at the restaurant having the Asam Pedas Daging, just the way uwan made it, I was thinking desperately how great it would have been if there was a device that can tell me what is the ingredient to that dish. I bet, if such device exist, it would beat Ipod, DSLR or iPad easily. It would have been easily been voted as the coolest gadget on earth. Imagine, to just be able to dip a device into a dish, and bam.... all the ingredients are listed, with EXACT measurements!. How cool is that..

But of course such item does not exist, and so I had to just resort to examining each of the visible item in there. What I can deduce, ada lemongrass, ada daun limau, blended cili (presumably cili merah), ada rasa masam2 sikit which I think could be from assam jawa. That is all that I could surmise. How much to put, how long to cook, what other to put, all is a mystery to me.

So today, I made a promise to myself, one of these day, I will take leave, and I will get uwan to teach me how to make it!!!! Let us pray that it will be a reality soon and I can capture the recipe here for the benefit of all.

Till then..... sabar sabar aje la... sigh........

Sigh.....

UPDATE: I have found a recipe on the net, though it is for tetel, I think meat would substitue just fine. Will try it one day

http://mycikgumas.blogspot.com/2010/03/belajar-memasak-asam-pedas-daging.html

My korean CDs

 

My collection of korean cds!! specially brought in from Seoul

The Backup Plan & Despicable Me

Last week we watched two movies: The backup Up plan and Despicable Me.

The Backup Plan
I didnt have high expectation on this movie cos many reviews rated this movie badly. Having no other movies to watch, we decided to just go for it.

In my opinion, the movie wasnt that bad. I didnt like the beginning part, cos I thought JLo was being over perasan a bit. Granted, I loved how she looked tall and slim in the movie, made me wished I am back in my ol' size..

Thank God the movie moving along for the better as it progressed. It wasnt totally funny, but there are few amusing scenes.

Overall, the movie is quite ok to me. Maybe I'll rate it 5.5 over 10.



Despicable Me
Watched this one last saturday. I still cant quite decide if I liked this movie or not. For a movie classified in comedy category, this one didnt really tickle me. Sure, there were few funny parts, but I thought not enough.

My rating? erm, 4 over 10 kot.

iPad... where art thou?

I want an iPad!!!!!!!

Hisham came over last weekend and I asked him to bring along his iPad. Best sungguh jadi Hisham ni, ada je dapat all sorts of sponsored gadget. Maybe I should ask him to sell it to me. But then, I need to save money.... Hmm. Camana tu.

Anyway, after seeing and holding it meself, I was surprised to find that it is smaller than what I thought. For some reason I actually thought that it is like an A4 size. Anyway, so it is slightly smaller than I thought but it is still a good size. Especially to browse internet and read books. I didnt try playing game cos he didnt have any games on his. So I cant say much of how it would be though I have a feeling that it would be even better than ipod touch.

The beauty of ipad is that you can actually connect using 3G and wifi. So if I have a sim, I can practically access from anywhere. Even at Yusof, on the road, anywhere. Lovely!

Invader!!

Sorry folks. I wanted to blog tonight but my notebook has been taken hostage. Sigh.

Carwash

This is my car wash shop

Apple with Cream Cheese

While I am at it, I continued my meal with one of my favorite dessert / snacks..

Maybe its the cool weather, what a lovely sunday... :)


Ops back to the Apple Cream Cheese.. Its so easy to make. All you need is:


Apple (as crunchy as possible)

Cream Cheese



Cut both Cream Cheese and apples into cubes, and put it all in a bowl


That's it!!!

Its sooo yummy, the way I like to eat it, I take one piece of apple with one piece of the cheese. Superb. The sweetness of the apple mixed with the creamy taste of the cheese... just heavenly.

~~
Btw, you could also substitute the Cream Cheese with Strawberry CheeseCake from Baskin Robbins.


it is a must try, you won't regret it

Thai Fish Cake (Tod Mun Pla)

I fell inlove with Thai fish cake was when I was studying in Sydney. This friend of ours (of Thai origin but born and bred aussie) whose parent runs Thai restaurant in North Sydney have been generous to provide us with authentic Thai food. Every now and then, when we were studying or doing our group assignments, he would order in food from his parents restaurant. One of the must-haves was Thai fishcake.

After coming back here, I noticed that most of our local Tomyam restaurant (yg bukak malam2 tu) dont have it on their menu. Only the posh dine in ones like Sri Ayutthaya have them, usually as starters. But the price... er.. lets just say, not really the kinda money I would want to pay for the 2-3 miserable pieces.

Anyway, since it is not easy to come by, I thought I would try and make it myself, since I have one siakap been sitting in my freezer for more than two weeks already and no longer fresh enough for steam fish. So dengan gigihnya I went on the net to search the recipe for Thai Fish Cake, or Tod Mun Pla (in thai).

There are quite a number of recipes found, ranging from as easy as 2-3 ingredients to complicated ones with one whole page of steps and ingredients. I decided to mix and match the recipe, keeping the main ingredients (which found on most recipe) and adding here and there.

What I came up with:

Blend well:
-white fish flesh (taken whole from Siakap)
-corn flour, about 2 teaspoons
-1 beaten egg
-kaffir lime leaves (2-3 pieces, sliced thinly before blend)
-roughly chopped coriander leaves
-thinly sliced lemon grass (very little, like 6-7 slices)
-tumeric powder (1 1/2 teaspoon)
-cilipadi 2 biji (sliced thinly)

Once it was blended well, add in the thinly sliced green bean.

Make it into balls, and then flatten before frying in pan

And the result.... Wallla....



Reviews...

Me: 'hmmm.. not bad.. at least the taste is there'

rizal said ...' wow.. i'm impressed...'

So I guess jadi la jugak my first attempt of Thai fish cake. Next time boleh cuba lagi, and perfecting it.

p/s sorry I didnt snap any photos of the cooking process, kitchen and me were quite messy, plus I wasnt sure if it turned out alright. Next I promise there will be photos, and exact measurements of the ingredients. Yg kat atas tu, main hentam je...

Assam Fish

Dont know why, dah sampai mood nak memasak aje pulak. I have been eating home cooked meal for the past 3 days. These few days I feel soooo malas to eat out and felt sick of restaurant food.

It all stemmed from this article I read in the paper few days back, about the alarming number of Malaysian contracting TB, and all sort of other diseases which is usually a norm in poorer country. In that article, they blamed it on the rise of foreign workers who never had any compulsory jabs like us in Malaysia. The article was also suggesting that most of these foreign workers 's heatlh screen is also questionable - since it is a known fact that some of these foreign worker were not even legal and came in through tongkang and what not.

As many of our restaurateur today employ foreign worker ( whom may have been infected by these diseases) , we the customer of course also are exposed to it - since they prepared the food we are eating, etc etc.

After reading that article I became wary of eating out, takut + rasa geli nak makan pulak when thinking about it.
So today, I plan to cook again. The menu today, ikan siakap.
The fish is not exactly fresh, dah ada lama dalam fridge tu, so I cant exactly make steamfish as I normally would. Nak makan macam kari2 or gulai2, macam dah boring pulak cos had those 2-3 hari ni.

Then, ,teringat la pulak Nyonya assamfish, so as usual - googled it on the net.

I found a few recipes that look promising:


RECIPE NO 1

Ingredients
Kurau (Snapper) Fish Cut or Stingray, deep fried until golden brown.
Tamarind Juice from a table spoon of tamarind paste, add water to bring out the juice
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Blend
Shallots, 5 pcs
Fresh Kunyit (Turmeric), 1" (You can also use turmeric powder, 1 table spoon)
Fresh Chillies , 5 pcs (or chilli powder, 1 table spoon)
Belachan, 1"x1/2"x1/2"
Serai (Lemongrass), 2 stalks

Methods
Heat up 3 table spoons of oil in hot wok and sautéed the blended paste until fragrant. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add tamarind juice, sugar and salt to taste. Put in the fried fish and let it cook for a short while. Serve dish with steamed white rice.



RECIPE NO 2

Ingredients
3 mackerel
5 tbsp paste from Mom's Chili Prawns
1 rounded tbsp tamarind (asam pulp)
water
sugar
salt or light soya sauce

Methods
1. Clean the fish and season it with salt or light soya sauce.
2. Prepare the tamarind marinade: soak the tamarind pulp in 120 ml of warm water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the seeds and fiber with your fingers to extract as much juice and flavor as possible. Strain and discard fibers.
3. Heat wok with oil till hot, stir-fry the chili paste for a minute medium heat till fragrant.
4. Add water to the paste, stir to mix it well.
5. Stir in the tamarind juice (according to your taste of sourness).
6. Season it with light soya sauce or salt and a little bit of sugar .
7. Put in the fish to cook when you are about ready to serve dinner. This is to avoid overcooking the fish. The fish is cooked once its eyes popped.
8. Serve it with rice and a plate of vegetables by the side.



RECIPE NO 3

Ingredients
# 1 ikan siakap (800g)
# 60g dried chilli paste

To blend:
# 20g turmeric (kunyit)
# 20g galangal (lengkuas)
# 30g lemon grass (serai)
# 10g shallot
# 10g garlic

Cut into small pieces:
# 20g ladies fingers
# 20g eggplant
# 20g onion
# 20g tomato
# 10g belacan
# 20ml assam jawa juice
# 1 lime (squeeze for juice)
# salt and sugar to taste

Method
Clean the fish. Heat wok with a little oil and add all the blended ingredients, chilli paste and belacan. cook for five minutes. Add assam jawa juice, lime juice and cut vegetables (ladies fingers, eggplant, onion and tomato).

Steam ikan siakap until cooked. Pour the assam jawa juice on the fish. In a medium hot oven, bake the fish which has been steamed earlier for two to three minutes so that the sauce is absorbed into the fish. Serve fish with hot rice.



p/s tak jadi masak... makan kat usop je in the end. Will update once tried

Ketam masak kuning

Rasa macam dah lama tak blog about food and new recipes.

This one is not a new try, I have made it before and today when I wanted to make it again I kinda forgot how-to. Had to call uwan again to ask her for the right way to make it.

Ketam is one of favorite food, and I could sit for hours eating it! You know the best kind of crab to me is the ones that you savour at home, in front of the telly with a good show. Superb!!

Anyway as to not forget how to make one of my all-time favorite I am going to note it down here.

What you need:
Cilipadi (pounded) x 1 tablespoon - if prefer spicy can add more
lemongrass (pounded) x 3
kunyit x 1 teaspoon
santan x 1 box
and the ketam of course x 2 (halves it)

How to make:

It is quite easy to make it, all you need to do is put in the cilipadi, lemongrass, kunyit and santan into the wok. Wait up until it boil two times (stir a bit in between)



add in the ketam and let it boil some more. If the ketam is those with thicker shell, let it cook longer, otherwise, once it is comes to boil, then it is ready



yum yum yum.... yeah yeah i know.. I know I should be looking out for my health and bla bla bla.. but with Ketam on the menu, who cares about cholesterol huh?

bon appétit!

m.a.n.d.i

Today MissyVios had its first wash.

Unfortunately didnt bring my camera, so no photos to share here.

For today's wash, I requested for wash + vacuum, complete with Sparing Wax + dashboard polish. The total cost: RM33

The breakdown:

• wash RM4
• vacuum RM4
• Sparing Wax RM 15
• Dashboard polish RM10

It was well worth the money cos 'adik' now is gleaming and so wangi. I had it done at this carwash shop in Pandan Jaya, one of the best I've been to.

For those who would like to try, you can refer to the map below

View Larger Map

will try and snap a photo of the shop later on

ta!

my new ride

I have had my car for almost a week now. It surely is different than princess.

I am kinda short of time here, so I'll just summarise what I like and dunlike ...

what I like
- it is quite responsive than I expected. Going uphill is a slight push, but not so noticeable
- feels light. Not sure if I like or not, cos I am used to the feeling of heaviness in princess
- ada emergency kit, ada emergency triangle. and first aid kit. ekceli belum bukak, so dun really know whats in it
- seat is quite comfy
- behind cabin is more spacious than I tot
- ada mute button at the audio system


what i didnt expect :
- quite noisy , tot it was quieter
- basic audio. Ada ke the equaliser is set to presets of : Compact, Sedan, Minivan. Not sure if this is a joke or what???
- No RDS. On off from the Off button
- display is really basic. No date, no indictor of how many km left of fuels


Whatever it is, I think I am yet to get used to it and once I have I think I would enjoy it more.

Anyhoot.... introducing for the first time in Fluff BomBom... (err... takde nama yet... so far only panggil 'adik' , and bonjot is now officially 'abang' . Why? cos both are black machines... so macam adik beradik.. ... erk logic ke??)

Ipoh PART II

Though it was such a short trip, tak sangka there are a lot to share here. Hence the additional post on Ipoh, PART II. This a continuation from Ipoh PART I

Anyway, sambung cerita Ipoh, after we left Kellie's Castle we headed back towards Route 1 southbound to get to Gua Tempurung. It was not difficult to find the entrance to Gua Tempurung as there are many signs a long the way. Roughly only about 20mins drive from Kellie's Castle I think.

Sampai kat Tempurung Cave, I wore my snickers siap2, cos tamau la masuk cave with Heeled Sandals. Tak pasal2 jatuh pulak. We went straight to the ticketing counter to get more information and leaflets, while makan at the gerai there.

So here is the leaflet (click on it for bigger image):

Tanya2 kat org tu, he said, it is best to go for option 3. Option 1, which is just a quick tour around the cave apparently is nothing much. So... we decided that we wont do Tempurung Cave today, but will come back soon some other weekend. Lagipun tak fun kalau tak dapat masuk2 sungai all that.

I didnt snap any photos around there, cos I will do that when we go for the actual Tempurung Cave trip.

Along the way we passed many many of these ex-mining lake, some of which were just fantastic, especially the ones with lots of lotus plant. Unfortunately I didnt get any shot of those ones. I only managed to get this one, which is also turned into a fishing/recreational lake.


After that, off we went - headed for Tapah to get back to the highway. Then... adala pulak sign to Lata Kinjang!! Apa lagi... I asked Rizal to make the turn. It is about 8km from the main route (route 1), and it is quite easy to access. The road actually take you all the way to the foot of the waterfall.

Parking are available, and there are also gerai and basic amnenities.

As it was the weekend, so the place was a bit crowded, especially at the lower side. He hiked up a bit, there are concrete steps and all, so no need to worry. The steps are not all the way to the top though. It stops there where there is a hangning bridge. We took a dip at the topmost accessible area. There were still a lot people, but at least not as crowded as at the base.

While here, I remembered my Trolak days, I remember coming to this waterfall with Farah, Gunn, Siti and Dura. But those days we actually went all the way to the top, like the top most area past the concrete stairs and all the way up to where the pump station is. That trip was somewhat memorable, because when we were happily taking our dips, Siti was swept away by the strong water. Punyala pucat all of us. Nasib baik she fell into one of the water pool. Until today I could still hear my heart beating faster thinking about it. Anyway, maybe because of that traumatic experience, I dare not to be too adventurous when I was there last weekend, especially since I have to be on my own in the water (cos Rizal has to take care of our belongings).

In all honesty I think this waterfall is too strong and too high to my likings, I think I prefer Lata Iskandar much better.

Macamanapun.. after taking our dips, its time to go. Also took the opportunity to take some shots. The verdict: I still am not so good at capturing waterfalls.. but I think it is a bit improvement than last time

From Ipoh quick getaway