Ayam Goreng Kunyit

Okeh, hari ini mari kita memasak Ayam Goreng Kunyit.

The beauty of ayam goreng kunyit is that it is an extremely easy dish to make, and it is very flexible, in the sense that you can basically mix and match the add-on ingredient to accompany the ayam.

For today's recipe, I am accompanying it with Potato(my all time favorite), baby corn and carrots.

Ok so basically what you need, is of course la ayam. Cut it into really small pieces, like bite sizes.



Put a bit of turmeric powder and salt


And mix it well macam kat bawah ni.. you know like as if you are going to do ayam goreng


Put the ayam aside to let mix well, then work on other ingredient.

A few onions, garlic and ginger.


Slice thin. Separate out the sliced big onion, cos that will go in later towards the end.


Slice thin baby corn and carrots. You could have them in small cubes as well if you like, ikut suka


and lastly, potato. I sliced them and fry them first separately. After it is cooked, take it out and put aside.


Start with cooking the chicken, once it is slightly cooked, add in the onion, garlic and ginger


When the onion is yellowish, and fragrant, add in the baby corn and carrots


Mix them well, then add in the sliced large onion. Add in salt to taste


And finally just before you take it out, add in the potato that was already cooked earlier.


Thats it! easy peasy.

S.P.R.C

Sneak preview of my next post...

From Rome

I was scanning through the long list of emails, not feeling ready yet to delve in into much detail and suddenly my eyes kind of pop out seeing this:

What the heck...??

An email from Najib and Family. A 1Malaysia email. I mean like how did my email even get on that list????

Muhibbah Seafood

Last night we were in Damansara neighborhood and thought we'd go to Muhibbah Seafood in Taman Tun for dinner.

I was already hungry - my stomach was already grumbling and I havent had Muhibbah for quite a while. So I was quite happy and SURPRISE SURPRISE... when we reached there it is gone!! not just closed for the day, but gone!

So apparently they have moved.

huhuhuhu. Sedih... sedih.

Anyway, I googled it up today to find out where they have moved to and thanks to http://foodcraver.net/ and http://masak-masak.blogspot.com

here is the new Addy
____________________________
Muhibbah Seafood
No. 2851, Jalan Seri Penchala
Kg Sg Penchala
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7727 3153
____________________________

Map taken from http://foodcraver.net:

Directions from http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/2011/01/muhibbah-seafood-restaurant-laman.html :

From the LDP highway, turn the turning towards Kg Sg Penchala, go through the small tunnel, keep left and go across, go straight and take a left turn near the car showrooms. Go straight, there'll be banners leading you to the restaurant. From Taman Tun Dr Ismail, take Jalan Datuk Sulaiman, go straight towards the Penchala Link. At traffic lights, go straight into Kg Sg Penchala, take a left turn at traffic light where the mosque is visible, go straight and at the end of the village, take a right turn up the hill. The restaurant is on the left hand side.

Technology and me

I love technology. More often than not it usually provide me some challenge and amusement. But the thing with technology is that you need to keep up. It is fine when you ve got plenty of time and plenty of $$$. As the time go by somehow i have less of both - to put priority on other imposing and imprtant matter. I have somehow have less time to fiddle with things and less cash to burn on these 'technologies'. This is fine when you decide to longer be on-top-of-things. It is however not so fine when you hv one foot wanting to be uptodate and one foot not.
the thing is, when you dont keep up u ended up being left way and way behind and unfortunately the price to be up to date escalates.
You"l think why am i rambling nonsense here. It is because i havent had any new toy for the longest time and i soooo want one! And I am torn between a new camera, or a new ipod. or maybe i shld just get an ipad???

Concise travel guide to Abu Dhabi

Now please take what you read as a rough reference and double check the info, as Abu Dhabi is a rapidly developing City, (and I meant ferrari-fast-kind-of-RAPID), so what you find in here may not be all that relevant at the time of your travel.

I gotta to also say that this is my first visit to this part of the world - the middle east and therefore what I have here is from a first timers eyes.

First off, lets trash out the important stuff;

Electricity - They are operating with 220 - 240V, similar to malaysia. And they are also using the UK type plug point. So there is no need for converters as such

Currency - They use UAE dirham. I suggest you take the time to scout for the money exchange, especially if you dont intend to change much. I had difficulties trying to exhange their money here in KL, and even when I manage to do so, it is in big nomination - like 1000UAE. Small change is really hard to come by. While we are on the topic of money their money is in denominations of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and coins of 50c and UAE1. Though - I am sure they have something bigger than 1000, but of course I am not in any way in a position to acquire such $$$ and UAE1000 is about the limit I have. (but really, for a week travel it was more than enough for me -I'll talk more in the and ya all can math up ur estimates)

ATMs & Credit Card - They have limited international banks. Most bankers are local to Abu Dhabi. No issues on Visa or Master.

Weather - Winter is the best time to go. Very pleasant weather ranging from 23-25C during the day and 14-18C at night. During the time I go, you'll get daylight from around 7AM to 5:30PM.

Clothings - Abu Dhabi is pretty liberal, but it is still advisable to dress moderately.

Phone Coverage - Roaming is not a problem. While I was there I was with a carrier called DU ... will update later on the rates

Shopping

Coming from KL where just about all (popular) merchants be it from east or west are available, Abu Dhabi malls are nothing new. We pretty much have everything that they have to offer there. You know how it is, shopping malls are shopping malls anyway. One is as good as another. In fact I have learned that most of the times, it is indeed cheaper to get it in Malaysia, especially during sale. Having said that, I still bought few things while I was there :p

Anyway, I was more interested to find local goods but could not really find much there. The only old and popular local shop is Madinat Zayed (and surrounding), where you can find Abaya's and Shela's in every imaginable design and cuts. There is also a Gold souq next to it as well, but I didnt go there cos we've been to the gold souq in Dubai.

Shopping Hours

The local souq operates as early as 9AM i believe and they take a break at 3:00PM to 4:30PM. During this break time, all the shops are closed. They open again at 4:30PM up till 10:00 at night. So you really do have plenty of time to shop. We didnt know that the shop closes at 3 so we were quite perplexed to see one after one other shop closes and were left going around literally 'window shopping'

Btw, the Azan (call for prayers) are heard everywhere in the mall and souq, so dont worry about missing your prayers. And I believe the break time is a siesta time to probably beat off the heat in summer and also to allow merchants to do their prayers

Souvenir shopping

Not easy to come by. Actually it is non existent. Except for this one shop called 'Gift Tower' which is located behind the Hamdan Mall.

Work hours

According to Rizal, the Emiratis work from 7AM to 3PM. I didnt go there for work so I dont exactly know.

Transportation

City Buses are available but I did not try it. The bus stops did not offer enough information on the buses that pass though it , so i wasnt sure if the bus would take me where I wanted to be. But I noticed that mostly goes to the place called Tourist Club, which I believe is one part of the town.

Anyway Taxis are plenty and very reliable and uses meter. They are not dirt cheap but its affordable because we were pretty much still within the city center anyway. If I am not wrong the rates are like - a one off service charge is UAE3 and UAE1 dirham for every 750m for distance below 50km.

Okay. I think I pretty much have covered the important stuff so lets take a ride on the trip.

As I said this is my first time going to middle east so I was not prepared to see what lays aforehead of me.

I knew that they are desertlike, but I wasnt expecting the WHOLE country is like that. I mean in my previuos travels the deserts that Ive seen are usually far from the sea so I was expecting more greens where its closer to the seaside. But nay.

How amazing to see a land so barren, with a sea so blue. So beautiful.

And the culture... Mashaallah.. As a muslim, of course I am familiar with muslims ways of life. But still I was in awe. To see men walking around in their Ghutra (the red white checkered headscarf) and Kandura (the white robe). And the ladies in their Abaya (the black robe or jubah as we call it in malay) and Shela (the headscarf).

From Abu Dhabi

I could not resist to buy one or two. And in fact when I was there, I was enjoying wearing the Abaya's around. The simplicity. Its unbelievable! All I need to do is drape myself in one and voila, I am ready. So hassle free and so easy. No need to think about mix and match. No need to wonder if I am dressing up or down (after all, one abaya is as good as another...its all black, and its all with the same look and design). And come prayers time, all i need is a pair of socks (if I ahve not worn it already) and I am ready. No need to lug telekung around. Gosh. It made me wish that its like that in Malaysia too.

Anyway, one thing that I discovered when purchasing Abaya there, they actually do fittings (its a free service btw) after you purchase it. I have always envied all the middle easterners, I always thought that their abaya is well suited and looks amazing on them, and now I know the trick. WHich then makes me have a new mission - I definitely am going to take all my other abayas (bought prior to this trip) to a tailor to be fitted for me.

As I mentioned earlier, when the time comes for prayer, the sound of Azan heard in every corner. Its not loud, certainly not intruding but you can just hear where ever you are. I guess it is becasue there is a surau just about every corner of it.

And being there, where people speaking arabic, be it a foreigner or locals just sounded soo beautiful. And people recites the verses of Allah like a song. Such serenity and humbling. How far and behind I felt.

Another thing that I have come to notice is that roads in Abu Dhabi are very very smooth. Not even once did I came across a pothole. And Minimum 3 lanes a side everywhere. Imagine this, at the time of my travel, they are in the midst of developing Saadiyat Island to become one of the cultural attraction (where Lourve and Guggheinham will be ). There is nothing there yet, not a building in sight yet, but you know what - the road , well , actually not a road but an 8 lanes highway is already been built and operating . No tolls ok, F-O-C. I was thinking to myself, how this is such a stark contrast to malaysia, where we have the whole neighborhood with thousands and thousand s of houses being built but no proper roads.

I am no politician so I dont know what difficulties our government face but really. One cant help but to compare.

And by the way while we were on the subject of development, I was also told that foreigners are not eligible to buy houses in UAE. The houses / land are only for the Emiraties. Not sure if neighboring nationals like Omanis or Arabis are allowed to buy or not. But I think they have same rulings in Oman as well. So all foreigners that are there have to rent.

I thought that was a good policy. Buy then again, they are not multi-racial so that kinda makes sense. Just like in Malaysia I guess, only Malaysian can buy land (leaseholds).

But I was told that they building what they call Foreigner Island - a reclaim island where the houses are available for foreigners to buy. I guess they are following the footstep of their brother city - Dubai. If Dubai has Palm Island, I wonder what this foreigner island is gonna look like. Liek a date tree?? Lol.

UAE Rulers

UAE actually stands for United of Arab Emirates - meaning the unification of 7 emirates ( Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain) . I was told that different families rule each area which each one has one ruler which is like the King of the emirate. For Abu Dhabi the current ruler is Sheikh Khalifa. In terms of law, I believe they practise Syariah law. And apparently Abu Dhabi is so safe. Their crime rate is almost none. No one steals. I wonder if it is because everyone there is rich. Perhaps :)

OK, enough of all those documentary stuff. Now lets talk about the attractions in Abu Dhabi...

The Grand Mosque.

This mosque (at time of writing) is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It is seriously majestically beautiful with all the white domes. If I am not mistaken the mosque is with more than 80 domes, and has 1000 columns. The mosque can fit more than 45000 muslimin and muslimat at one time. You know, the carpet that is in the mosque was said to be the largest handwoven Persian carpet and it took 1200 artisans to actually make it. Anyway you can read more about it here: http://www.visitabudhabi.ae/en/what.to.do/mosques.and.other.places.of.worship/sh.zayed.mosque.aspx

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

The ferrarri World

Yes this place is expensive, but hey its the only one IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, and youve come this far. Just go and you will not regret it. There is nothing more I can say, the ferrari world is indeed the largest indoor theme park and it also hosts the fastest coaster in the world. You will see history of Ferrari and i guess it feels a bit like Italy in there too. Food is expensive there so stuff yourself before you go and bring lotsa cash for food. I dont think outside food is allowed too. We were lucky cos we bought our tix from our Hotel (Al-Rawda) cos they have some sort of affiliation with Ferrari world, and we got Premium tickets for normal price. And seriously, it is worth it to pay the extra if you are the kind who likes to try or go on the rides repeatedly.

From Abu Dhabi

The Emirate Palace

This place is just majestic. The good thing is, unlike those expensive hotels in Dubai like the Burj where you need to pay to enter, here it is free.

When I was there, they were showcasing the-most-expensively-decorated Christmas tree ever in the world there (i know, the irony of it huh). But seriously, this tree is adorning things that I could only dream to own (agaknya to get to pegang those jewels pun almost impossible...)

From Abu Dhabi

Marina Bay Area

As the name suggests you'll see a marina. There is a mall there and beautiful yatchs and see around it. I think the mall is just so so, but the area is nice. If you like seaside and yatchs.

From Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi

Heritage Village

This one is a must go. To learn about the culture and its heritage. You could find a camel and also goat there. So tak dapat tengok Camel in the desert kat make-believe desert also will do lah.

They have tents too, in which each tribes have different characteristic. (Digressing a bit, I was at the same was also reading Jean Sasson's book - Love in a torn land. So it kinda helps me picture what was depicted in the book.. )

anyway, the heritage village also tells you Abu Dhabi history where it was originally just a fishing village. It is actually a fairly new city with only 39 years gaining independence. Abu Dhabi has just discovered oil in the 70s, so it is you know roughly just about my age..

From Abu Dhabi

While I managed to see all that is in Abu Dhabi, there are still a few things that I had missed.

What I wish I had done -

1. I didnt get to go to the desert. Apparently it is not like a day excursion kind of thing. You have to choose between a Desert Safari or Desert Challenge (which btw is an annual sports). The trip to the desert requires one to be very fit as it is quite an adventure activity. Knowing that I do get motion sickness Rizal thinks I am not fit to go for desert as the sand can be very unpredictable and you may ended up going up and down.

I have seen many pictures of the sand dunes and stuff and would like to capture it but I guess I'd have to toughen up before I could go on such trip. Nevertheless, I managed to curi a picture which actually is exhibited at the Museum. .hehhe

2. I didnt get to go to Al-Ain to see the Oasis.

According to Rizal, this is actually where the Emiratis really live. They dont live in Abu Dhabi. And according to some, Al Ain is really beautiful, totally different than Abu Dhabi's skyscrapers

3. I didnt see the leaning tower building. I saw it from far - which truly look senget but didnt have the time to go to the building.

Nevertheless, all in all it was a wonderful trip... and .. do enjoy the photos taken from the trip here

signs pun lain :)

From Abu Dhabi

Here is map of Abu Dhabi, if you need to get a rough bearing. This is taken from the Abu Dhabi tourist booklet which you can get at the airport anyway.

Map of Abu Dhabi City Center:

tskk... tsk... tsk...

Ive got less than 24 hours to go for my trip and I am not in any way ready.

Have not done a single packing yet, and heaven knows what the heck am i doing in front of the telly and blogging my time away!!

I think it is largely due to the fact that I could not decide what should I take with me.

My dilemma as always - practicality or style?

I could never decide.

I surely want to take my camera plus its gigantic lenses and flash, bbbbut.... I also want to not look like a dork and the vain in me would want me to carry one of my pretty handbags instead.

So, now it boils down to:

Should take this Nikon pouch, and dump it in one of my tote

or should I go with this AND carry my totes at the same time (one on each shoulder?? err.. maybe not)

Or just pack it in this, and dump it all in the suitcase. (err lagi la No, I know I'd miss my camera )

Or forget about all that and just take my Kata.

Haih.... decisions... decisions... decisions....

Ikan Belah Belakang (recipe Auntie Nab)

I must say, one of the best Ikan Belah Belakang I have tasted has got to be at Auntie Nab's.

In fact perhaps it was at her home that I first tried it. Cant remember. Anyway, hers was always so nice and when we were invited for lunch the other day, I took the opportunity to ask her for the recipe.

Simple aja the ingredients she gave me. She didnt mention the quantity though, but of course to save myself from looking like a dopey and trying to make my self sound knowledgeable in kitchen talk, me just nodded here and there and scribbled macam expert. He he

Anyhow, here are the ingredients

• Ikan kembung Hitam (you need to slice vertically it throughout the body)
• Bawang putih (she said bawang putih banyak sikit)
• Bawang merah
• Kunyit hidup (or could be substituted with tumeric powder)
• cili kering like a spoon or two
• a pinch of gula
• and of course salt to taste

You see what I mean....?? a bit of this and a bit of that... and walla.... :) :)

How it woudl really turned out when I try it, tak tahula. So peeps how bout YOU give it a go and tell me what are the correct measurements instead . :)

Till then. Happy cooking, holidaying, resting etc etc

Happy 5th anniversary to us; Part II

Anyway I just noticed that I had the previous title of anniversary but didnt have any story about it. Well, kind of.

If you didnt get it, what I wanted to convey was basically we had Chicago Cheesecake as our anniversary treat.

Desserts aside, we've got another surprise this year. In laws had bought us an anniversary gift. Something that I am REALLY looking forward to use.

A GRILLER!!!

Thank you y'all! We both really appreciate it :)

oh and not forgetting... thanks to Mr Fluff as well for the lovely flowers

And above all, I thank Allah Almighty for this gift you have bestowed on both of us. May we be blessed with this marriage till death do us part. Insyallah.

Happy 5th anniversary to us

Goodbye New York Cheese of Secret Recipe,

Hello Chicago Cheesecake of Coffee Bean

I have found me a new favorite. If you love cheesecake and havent had a taste of the Chicago cheesecake from Coffee Bean, I suggest you do so. I promise you, it wont disappoint.

Just one word to describe it:

...................yummylicious..........................

Life as we know it

I am just a sucker for chick movies. For two reasons:

One - They usually feature good looking actors and actresses, and who doesnt want an hour or so of drooltime..??

Two - They usually finish off with a feel good ending. No matter how turbulence a relationship is, or no matter how bad the leading casts' lives are , at the end of the day, everyone is happy and dandy.

The only difference between a good and crap chick movies are the amount of humour you'd get watching it.

Life as you know it kinda bring a fresh storyline, away from the usual girls meet guys at the most unusual place or like work or in vacation etc etc.

It is about two people who could not stand each other's guts, but had to somehow work out their difference and hatred towards each other to raise suddenly orphaned Sophie, daughter of their deceased good friends. Holly (Katherine Heigh) is a good friend of Alison (the baby's mother) while Messer (notice the pun on the name?) played by Josh Duhamel is the baby's fathers good friend going way back in College.

Katherine and Josh made a good pair, plus I have always enjoyed Katherine's movies - so far I have not seen one that disappoint.

As expected, so off they go the unlikely pair (Holly & Messer) trying to fit Sophie in their lives and living together as part of the process.

Both of them could not have been more different, with Holly being an righteous kind of girl while Messer , is a typical playboy happy go lucky guy.

It doesnt take long before Messer loses it and despise the fact that his life is over and Holly being triumphal over her thoughts on Messer - about how unreliable he is.

There were some good emotional scenes as well, like when Holly first found out about Alison's death and when Holly was dumbstruck at Messer's anger about having to care for Sophie.

It wasnt difficult to like both leading actor and actresses and their characters and to see why their good friend had thought that they would be suitable for each other.

Needless to say they both fall in love in the end - and I know it is a good movie when even after the credit rolls, I'd still want to see more.

My rating would be 8 out of 10, err, maybe 9 - if you factor in Josh's smiles and boyish grins..

Beautiful blue sky

But will it rain today?

Melaka Bandaraya Bersejarah

Watch out this space for more!

From melaka

Mari Menjahit

Okay, so I may not be the world's best tukang jahit, but I could do a simple sewing job or two. But I only know how to sew by hand. Sadly my skills do not extend to operating a sewing machine.

I have been wanting to blog about this, but havent really found the time to do it.

So it all started when Rizal bought a new pair of pants, but didnt it have it hemmed at the shop. I took it to the those alteration shop, and the lady demanded RM25 for it - because she was going to do the hemming by hand.

I thought then maybe I should just do it myself.

So I did. (With quick guidance from Imah of course)

First of all, you will need to measure it for the length that you want (or it might turn up looking like Mr Bean's).

For example, if you want a length of 42cm from the waist to the end, hold the pants together - and measure at the seam line. (or alternatively just have it worn and pin it at the length you want)

Once you have the length, turn the pants inside out, and fold it like image below. I usually iron it as well so that the fold stays

Next, sew the inside part (or the inner fold)

Once thats done, start hemming the outer part.

To sew the outer part, you should as much as possible hide the thread. My grandma calls it jahit sembat. What you do is you hide the thread in the folds (see image below). Kalau malas can just make the hidden part longer, but it would also mean that it will easily rip as well.

Keep hemming throughout. It should then look like this from the outside.

Finally, just iron it out to smoothen it further



Senangkan?

Asam Pedas Daging

Finally. I found the opportunity to get uwan to teach me how to make the Asam Pedas daging that I love so much.

Without further a do, here is the list of ingredients (rough estimation yah, cos u know la uwan, she doesnt go by sukatan but agak2)

1. Meat half kilo

2. Dried Chillies 7 pcs (blended)

3. Red Onion 1 pc (half in cubes, chopped)

4. Garlic 4 pcs (chopped)

5. Ginger around thumb sized <- typical of uwan.. thee hee hee (sliced thin)

6. Asam Jawa 1 teaspoon (mama uses Asam Jawa Xtra)

7. Daun limau (Kaffir leaves)

8. Tumeric powder 1 tablespoon

9. Oil (banyak )

10. salt to taste

11. Potato

The method:

- Sautee the chopped onions, garlic and ginger until slight brownish and fragrant

- add in the blended dried chillies

- Once the oil has surfaced, add in the meat

- The juice from the meat will make the paste watery, so we'd want it to become tender and just add a bit of hot water if the juice from the meat is not enough

- add salt

- Leave it to simmer (put the lid on to help the meat becomes tender quicker)

- Once the meat is tender add more water for gravy

- put in the potato and cubed onions

- Once potato is cooked and meat is tender, add in the sour paste (asam jawa) and Kaffir leaves

- Let it boil and walla.. its done!

Lagu Berhantu?

mengapakah tergamak sungguh, memperdaya harapan ini
tunas kasih yang aku semai, racun berbisa yang kau sirami

beginikah balasan cinta, manis kata dibibir sahaja
lembut lidah mengukir janji, segunung mimpi berkecai kini

sesalan tidak terucap, bila kau berubah sikap
kusedar siapa diriku, kau buat tempat berteduh
semoga engkau bahagia, disamping kekasih baru
andainya engkau kecewa, janganlah kau cari aku

Biar saja aku sendiri, yang mencari damai dihati
airmata basah dipipi, tak mungkin dapat membasuh luka

** Ku cari damai di hati , by Gingerbread ( listen here )

I have personally enjoyed the live rendition by Jamal Abdillah as well, which is here. (Performed at a live concert in Istana Budaya 2006)

~
This song was played by one of the radio station when I was in Melaka last weekend, and for some reason the song was playing in my mind ever since, up till today. I didnt really know the song, except that the song is sung by Gingerbread (or 'roti halia' as joked by the dj ) . It wasnt so difficult to google it as I knew the artist name, and some part of the lyric was like implanted in my brain. I guess this is what they mean by 'lagu berhantu' - it just wont leave your head, EVEN after you have deliberately listen to numerous other songs, including personal all time favorites.

Personally I think this song has such beautiful melody and lyrics. Though the composition is very 80-ish (duh, it is after all an 80s song), the way it flows and progressed from the early verses, and gradually catching its pace and soul as it gets to its refrain/chorus, i thought was just so awesome. It is accesible, simple, yet very dynamic and certainly gives lasting impression

The credit has to be given to the lyric writer as well, as it definitely complemented the harrowing melody. What I love about listening to the songs in those era was the poetic way a story was told, and it has a real art in it.

Sadly, they just dont make these kind of music these days. While I have heard some good ones, but rarely it stayed in my mind like a broken record as this one did.

* disclaimer *
To song writer and label, I dont intend to steal music by putting the song here, the link is merely to share to those who have not heard it. I would be more than happy to pay for it to make it legal and to support your art/talent.