Spice world

I am forever forgetting what i have in my kitchen.

Sometimes i buy same thing twice.

So, dear me, please do not buy anymore of:
1. Coriander seeds
2. Rosemary
3. Hot chilli powder
4. Mixed spice
5. Black pepper
6. Nutmeg

Ipad charger

The thing about buying Apple accessories is you dont exactly get to see whats in the box. Its sealed as if you there is a ticking bomb inside it, and the only way you can know is by buying the item. Asking sales assistant most of time dont help, especially if the item is not their best seller.

So anyway, i have been wanting to get an additional charger for my iphone and ipad, as I usually keep one at the office too as standby charger.

Scouted around, googled hi and low, finally i narrowed down to these two items:

- the additional ipad charger
- the travel adapter kit

Why these two?
Pro 1 -Both charges at 10w, as opposed to the 5w that came with most charger. It shortens the charging time, especially for the ipad. I have not run a full test on it yet, but will do so now that i have extra cables.

Pro 2 -Price. I felt that these two gives best value for money. Compared to the charger for iphone at RM109, or the apple universal dock at RM209 (but without usb cable), or any other 3rd party charger which are more expensive.

Ipad charger
I like the fact that it gives me a solid 6 ft cable- a good length than the standard USB length. The downside of this item is that it is bulky than the ipad bundled charger, but it is a non issue for me cos i can leave this one a home or work, and use the ipad bundked charger as the portable one.

To purchase this item, i had to go to few places. First i went to machine in IOI mall cos thats the closest to home, but they are selling it for RM99 instead of RM89 as published in online store. I thought i might as well get it from online store , since i am not really in a hurry.

Next day i tried purchasing from online store - but whoaaa it turns out they charge RM30 for shipping if your purchasin is less than RM250. Aiyooh.

So no choice, i just went to macstudio in Lowyat to buy, and guess what? They are selling it at RM89! I loikeee! Of course Just grab it there.

As i mentioned earlier, they dont have sample, but since i kind of know roughly whats in the package i just made the purchase.

Upon unpackaging it, I was sooo pleased to see that it actually comes with two (yeap, TWO) Plug-heads, which means i can either use it as portable like the bundled one, OR, add on the 6 ft tough looking cable to it. Yaaayyy...

Just to share with others who is considering to get one, heres whats in the box

The whole lot:

Nice :)

The travel kit
Btw, why i didnt purchase the travel kit, it is indeed a nice to have, cos it makes it easier when i travel. But for double the price, just to get the different plugheads, when i can buy a RM12 travel adapter which i already have anyway, dont seem necessary. On top of that, I think i wouldnt get the 6ft tough looking cable in the package, which is also a downside to me.

In the end, I am very satisfied with what I bought and hope this will help you decide too, if you are considering to get an additional charger for your device.

Bake a cake

Finally i managed to bake a cake that resembles a cake, one not looking like a kuih bingka and not one that looked like it was burnt to its core.

This time around i tried a different settings on the oven and recipe.

Recipe taken from :
http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/8160

Oven settings:

Lil' things that make u happy

We have been anticipating the flower, and finally its here!!! Chewah macam la nak celebrate flower festival padahal bunga depan rumah je.

But seriously i have been wondering what colour it would be cos these frangipanis, do come in all sorts. But in the end i am happy to see that it is in shocking pink. Yaaayyy!!

Laksa in da houz!!

In my quest to become healthy and after so many days of rice for dinner, i was craving for something light but fulfilling.

Spaghetti and fusion is kinda out, cos i had too many those for lunch this week AND the weeks before that. Choices of food is kinda limited at my work area so as a result balik2 makan that same thing.

ANYWAYS i dont know what made me think of laksa but somehow it just popped in my mind. So on my way home, i just stopped by to buy the ingredients:

• cili kering about 10 pieces
• cili padi about 3 or 4 pieces
• belacan 2.5 cm
• udang kering half handful
• bawang besar x 2
• Ikan kembong x 5
• Daun kesum one handful
• Bunga kantan x 2
• Asam keping x 8
• Laksa 500grams
• Eggs
• Salt to taste
  

To make the gravy:

Blend well :

cili kering, cili padi, belacan, udang kering, bawang besar

Boil:

Ikan kembong. take out the fish and blend the meat. Keep the boiled water for gravy.

Boil in other pots:

Eggs (well done)

Laksa (for about 5 mins)

To prepare Garnishes:,

cili padi - slice thinly

Bawang besar - slice

Cucumber- cut long thinly

Bunga kantan (the top red bits) cut thinly

Red chilli slice

Eggs Slice in two

Methods:

Senang je masak laksa ni if you have all the ingredients ready.

Just put together blended fish, gravy ingredients, bunga kantan and daun kesum, asam keping. Bring to boil until the gravy thickens.

Thats it. and serve with the boiled laksa and garnishes...

I am quite happy when My Fluff said it was 8/10. So certainly its worth trying again - cos it is something that we both enjoy having.

Bon appetit!

Note:

Original recipe taken from here

Guide to Eiffel Tower

Finally. On the third time in Paris, at last i took the plunge ( errr not so appropriate term there :p) . Anyway, they say if u dont go to eiffel tower you might as well dont say uve been to pahree.

You know usually I am most inclined to visit a place when the place holds some sort of meaning- like historically. With Eiffel tower i think it is kinda overrated. Paris itself is indeed the city of love but frankly there aint anything romantic about the eiffel tower specifically. I think there are gazillion other dreamy love boasting spots in Paris, but hey, different people have different views kan.

So why do i say eiffel tower tak romantic? To start with, the place is sooo touristy, ye lah every one who sets foot in paris mestilah nak visit. So you can just imagine the crowd, any given time of the day theres just sooo many people there. And the queue.. ooo my... don't get me started.

Waaayyyy too long!!!

Guess how long i had to stand on the queue before i reached the ticket counter??

T.H.R.E.E hours!! Yeap, u read me right. I kid you not the queue was long, and seriously memang its one in a lifetime thing cos tak larat nak queue lagi , ever!

Anyway, when i got nearer to the tix counter i noticed they do actually have separate queue for pre-book. I dont know though how or where can u book but i found this:

ticket.toureiffel.fr/index-css5-sete-pg1-lgen.html link

You can give it a go.

For lack of better tool, here goes the pix snapped with my phone.

Ouch!

I must hv hated me so much that i inflicted pain on myself!

Itulah saya.... Ever so clumsy!

The music room

Finally there. Almost..

Doorless with CLS kitchen

I am half-hearted about this post, part of me wanted to share the experience, part of me think I shouldnt be too petty over things like this.

In the end I think I should just share what I have gone through fairly and squarely.

After scouting (but not for so long :P), we decided to go with CLS kitchen. Let me be frank with you, budget IS indeed is main determining factor for us. I dont have stash of cash/gold/diamonds lying around, so obviously where ever possible I would like to try to ensure the sweat blood is spent rationally.

What was good with CSL kitchen is that they offer free granite top and bottom skirting (standard colors of course. Kalau nak black granite need to pay more not sure how much though). There are three granite colors available: grey, orangish and the normal mix of grey and brown.

They do charge however on the installation of the granite itself and the cuttings of holes for the sink and hob.

On the cabinets itself I think is pretty standard, mind you, they are not customised size though. They are all modules - macam those of ikea. Like in my case, I do loose a few inches of space since my kitchen is not exact fits of their sizes. Another plus of CLS is also that they designed our cabinets to be ceiling-height, which then gives us additional storage and saves us the trouble of having to clean cabinet top (which is a relief ... haha )

So all in all in happy and dandy till the date nearing the installation date. Few days before scheduled installation date, I called to confirm.

First - I was surprised to learn that the person answering is a different one to one I was liaising before (btw ni mobile number). Apparently that person has left. I was stumped a bit, cos it was just the week before and this guy didnt say anything. But I was thinking, of course la, takkan pulak he wants to tell off customers about his career movements kan. Anyway after explaining again to him and confirming the dates and all, he assured me that the schedule is still on track.

Mr Fluff asked me to call again following day sebab I forgot to ask about making the final payment. Err actually I didnt really forget but I kinda not agree with the full payment system before delivery thing.. so malas nak bring it up unless they said something. They didnt. But I asked anyway cos in case they'd delay our installation due to that.

True to my fear, memang they wanted to re-schedule to which both me and Mr Fluff reacted. See we are both working, and weekends are kinda precious to us. We have also allocated the installation on the scheduled date sekali nak reschedule - when we already have other plans for the following weekends. We insisted and the guy said ok boleh, stick to the schedule.

On the installation day, they came and install. After like half way through the installation, datangla another guy telling us that the doors arent ready. I am like, what the heck?? So I told him off and he said he would call his factory.

He went off, I presume to make calls to factories and all. I waited, and waited, and after like two hours I began to wonder what is happening? He just went off, and now leaving us in the dark of whats going on. Luckily the other guys installing cabinet top and base are still around so I managed to get the number of that runaway sales guy. I called him and then he told me that they couldnt do the doors, cos the doors that was prepared by the factory was a bad batch. Geram sungguh. I was already spewing by that time, but I guess nothing much can be done.

They promised to call on monday to confirm. But no one called me so later in the evening I called. Still they could not confirm the delivery of the doors because apparently the woods arent in yet. Sabar aja lah.

By then me and Mr Fluff's evenings are already booked so memang tak boleh nak install pon on any of the weeknights. Terpaksa la do on saturday anyway. Promised us 11 AM, no one turned up. I called at quarter to 12, they reschedule to 2PM.

Just as we were going to grab our lunch at 1, tiba2 I saw the CLS lorry coming our way. Nasib baik havent left yet. tsk tsk tsk... my conclusion - memang they dont know how to stick to schedule.

All in all, I have to say I was quite disappointed at the whole thing, but I guess it could be due to the person supposed to be in charge of my account leaving the company.

Oh, and they didnt fix my piping right, cos the following morning when I started using the tap Ive got water leaking underneath it. They came the following night though to fix it, this time installing with better pipe. So in the end it was okay.

UPDATED: after all done, on final check I noticed something amiss, I doublechecked the kitchen drawings, and memang they did my frosty window wrong. Unbelievable. Not a major hiccup had it not for the fact that we do have other things we need to do on the remaining of our weekend.

But to their credit, they are quick to fix the problems and issues we raised. What I was more annoyed about is the fact that it took all four visits before everything was done right.

Overall, I think their workmanship is quite good, and had it not for the mixed up on the door, I would probably have commended them. It is just that it frustrates us that they cant get it right the first - wait , till the fourth time!

Other things that you should also know:

• *The granite that they use is only a 20mm compressed granite. Not so thick and not so hardy, so if you plan to do heavy duty work on it like pounding batu tumbuk, need to probably ask a better one than the standard free ones.
• *Because it is compressed granite, you'll see imperfections here and there
• *The granites are pre-cut, 8mtrs long. You will see cuts between the corners and if your kitchen is longer than 8mtr.
• *The cabinets are modules, so expect to loose some space in between
• *They'd usually throw in and ask to use their home brand sink, tab, kitchen hob and hood. Though their kitchen hob and hood are cheap, I decided to go against their home brand, in case it'll be hard to service later

the joinings at corners & imperfections

The Hunger Games

Rating = A must watch!!!!

I didnt expect the movie to be so good, though critics and reviews I read said so. I wasnt expecting it because I dont usually enjoy fantasy fiction very much, but the way this one was written was definitely an exception.

So apparently this movie was adapted from Suzanne Collins book. Since I havent read the book I cant tell you if it was any better than the movie itself.

What I like about the movie was that the storyline itself is different but not too far fetched as some other fantasy fiction. Its also quite focused on the lead characters and dont side track too much on the supporting roles. Usually I hated these kind of movies because they try to explain too much and tries to include stories about every one in the book but this movie did none of that- it stays on with Katniss' journey and Katniss's alone.

And the actress, my gosh, she is GREAT. Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job in this movie. I think if it was played by somebody else the movie probably wouldnt hold it together well. I am not sure if I have seen her in any other movie though but she definitely now is on my list-of-favs.

So peeps, watcha waiting for.... catch it before the curtains falls!

Oh, here's the trailer to entice you.. :D

Masak taucu

2nd attempt still tak jadi.

But better than the last try,.

Ingredients:
Ikan tenggiri 4 pieces
Bawang putih & kecik for tumis
Bawang besar
A bit of halia
Air asam jawa
Tomato
And the taucu of course (one spoon)

Methods:
Goreng ikan mcm biasa, put aside
Tumis bawang and add Bawang besar
put taucu and air asam
And water if necessary
Put tomato

Add in ikan towards the end


Look simple huh, still i cant get it right. Sheesh!

Where can I find another one of this????

Cantonese noodle

Looks can be deceiving. Seriously. Dont be fooled nampak je macam berjaya but na-ah-ah seyes mmg tak jadi !

The good thing is the taste is there so it isnt a complete disaster.

However what i think i did wrong was the noodle, it clumps together - i think i was supposed to break it apart before frying. And i should hv used less corn starch. Apart from that maybe it would turn out better.

Anyhow it is pretty easy to make, what u need:

The noodle (meehoon/kuew teow/charmee)
Garlic-pound slightly
Beef
Ginger
Vegs
Corn starch (one ts)
Salt to taste

To make:

1. Deep Fry the Meehoon. Put aside
2. Sauté garlic
3. Add beef until slightly cooked
4. Add stock and corn flour
5. Add all other ingredients
6. Stir for a min or two and pour on top of noodle

App Store on Facebook

I just noticed that there is a link to the App Store in Facebook

Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/AppStore?v=app_380449627359&ref=mf&sk=wall

Ketam kari part II

More than words can say.... Lalila....

lovely is my middle name

Say yesh to this bebeh:


The yummylicious Tiramisu cake from Suchan.

I couldnt get my mind off it, so much so that I had to have it.

As a proof : tengok ni, licin clear, even on Mr Fluff's (yg tak suka makan cake) plate!





Youve got to try it to appreciate it.

So that you wont get lost, here is the GPS coordinates :3.110724,101.648426, or simpler still, refer to map below:


View Suchan Deli in a larger map

The details:
Price is a bit steep for RM10.90 per piece but I thought it was totally worth it. Worth the travel, (on weekend only la, if weekdays dengan Traffic sumer, tak la kot). Worth the money. Yums. It is also available as a whole cake at RM110. So peeps lets go berserk!!

Weekend bersedih sedihan

Sungguhla gempak title minggu ini sesuai with the theme of the post today.

Why is it called hujung minggu sedih-sedihan? Because i watched two movies back to back - both the kinds that made my mascara turned me to look scary enuff to be casted in the next pontianak movie. Berendam air mata kalau ikut peribahasa melayunya.
To my defense - it is not sebarang movie ok, these two movies are ones people raved about.. Semua cakap besh giler.. And memang menyayat hati .

I started with Hafalan Shalat Delisa, which is an indonesian movie currently aired on astro first (but of cos me being apprehensive n kedekut donlod fr 'tokey' dvd diopis instead...) . Anyway it was indeed quite a moving one. Wont say it was sangat hebat though, i somehow found the acting was a bit off, especially 'uncle smith' and 'kak sophie' - Ntah mat salleh mana la dia sapu suruh act dalam movie ni.. Nasib baik they are just supporting roles. And nasib baikla smith tu handsome (yeah sungguh tak relevant kan).. maka saya pun mem-overlook the fact yg dia memang tak terer belakon.
Despite that, i thought the movie has good very good values and it brought some repentance in me. Immediately i was reminded that sungguhla tak diligent i am in serving and obeying my Maker.Budak kecik pun lagi bagus mengingati Allah. Masyaallah. Tsk tsk tsk..

So setelah sembahyang thus settling my debt to my Maker i continued to Ombak Rindu.

Its a love story, and honestly, i have mixed feelings on this one. Tak tahulah nak ketuk2 kepala Haris tu or nak ketuk2 kepala Izzah (ketuk kepala yg datin tu takyah cakapla, since dia boleh katakan at par ngan ibu tiri bwg putih bwg merah). But seriously woman, dear Cik Izzah, why oh why la you soooo submissive. Tak paham den. I mean, boleh tak jangan redha sangat sampai camtu sekali? And that Haris, amboi sedapnya dia dah kutuk2 and pukul2 pastu tiba2 nak jadi suami mithali, and at the same time repetitively, i say it again, repetitively hurt the woman u so called cared and love. Yennaadeyyy.
Hurm. So that sums up my mixed feeling. Cos i still bleed with tears sebab kesian. Walopon geram and frustrated tengok kesah chenta dorang tu yang sungguh macam roller coaster. The thing is, i dun understand why they wanted to be with each other. For izzah, he treated u badly, apesal ko tak lari je, or in the first place why did u beg him to marry u, cant u just say u will repay him back by being his bibik or something like that?
And that Haris, yes seb baik ko cute, why the sudden change of mind, from a monster to be a loving partner overnight? In my opinion, the movie should hv shown how Haris gradually fall for Izzah rather than in a blink like that. I was still memaki hamun Haris dalam ati tiba2 he turned 360 degrees and became Romeo of Malaya.

All in all, i felt that the local movie scene is finally re-maturing . Why i said rematuring is because i thought when i was kids local movies were good, like jins samsudin movies - u know the 'esok' series, and somehow it went deterioting in more recent years, sampai tak sanggup nak tengok cos it was too insulting to the human brains intelligence. At least nowadays takdela so bad, like this ombak rindu, though still not to the level of hollywood yet, it is decent enough to watch and the fact that you get carried away ranting and crying with the movie shows that it was pretty good. Sampai masih teringat2 the tracks of the movie which i think is brilliant btw. For those yg belum pernah dengar, do catch em here, seriously it is sweeet

Flush Puhleeeezzz

Each time I do my business in the office I cringe - because I would be staring at this:

Like, aiyoooo.... that also need to remind?? how embarassing... Think about this - we are an MNC company, a reputable O&G Engineering no less, and we need reminding to flush? seriously? Me felt like dunking me head in the sand.

Having said that, sadly though , there are indeed occasions when the toilet are left unflush. Like honestly you people, what were you thinking???

I can just imagine a visitor coming to this office, entering the toilet and thinking.. hmm not bad... toilet looks nice... and then... off she goes to the loo and then, WHOAAA... whats all these? cant these people flush?? too busy are you? or you think we have mechanical toilets?

tsk..tsk.. tsk... how embarassing... mesti dia ingat we are all blondies, tak pon so ulu that we dont know how to sh!t .

I was thinking, maybe we should rephrase instead: Dear All, This is not an automated toilet, kindly flush after you crap!

Begedil Part II

verdict: Still tak jadi !!! Huhuhu.. And my problem now is who is going to help me eat??!!

After consulting auntie ayie this time i tried frying the potato instead of boiling. It holds together better but still crumbling. Especially when i fry it...
So anyone.. Anyone at all.. Help???? Any tips???

Begedil - FAILED!!

I tried to make begedil with the mince meat made earlier.

Result: FAILED!!!


I couldnt get the texture that I wanted, somehow the potato was too soft and it didnt hold very well.

The way I made it:
3 x potato
mince meat (didnt measure- a handful maybe?)
daun sup (chopped thinly)
mix all three above, and made patty with flour, beaten eggs and then mix with flour again.

I forgot:
- to put white pepper
- to salt the potato (I put salt on the water I used to boil, and on the flour only)


Anyway, it wasnt disastrous - still edible, but didnt look appetizing and was a bit too gooey to my taste.

Based on further research on recipe, I found that:
Tips #1: I need to turn the begedil around often when frying (thats why mine blacken so quickly i think)

Tips #2: I boiled my potato, some recipe fry the potato instead

So I will try again, armed with more petua2.. hopefully it will menjadi..

btw, photos takde, sebab lupa nak ambik..

I can mince my own meat!!

Who would have thought, the very thing that I wanted has been sitting prettily on its ass all the while in my cabinet..

You know I had the hand blender for as long as I can remember. I took it from mama's home when I first moved out, which was like 15 years ago?

I didnt have a blender, and mama had this hand blender - still in its box (presumably from one of the golfing prize Ayah had won) so I took it with me. Konon nak pakai la, as substitute to blender.

Never really used it (actually never really cooked), so dudukla mendaallah tu from one house to another, from one cabinet to other. Tak pernah pakai - sebenarnya tatau nak pakai pon... yela, kat mesia suma pakai blender, takde sapapun pakai hand blender ni.

Anyway, so recently during Raya Haji ada org kasi Daging korban, sampai 3 bags. Dont know what to do with it, I thought would have been nice to be able to mince it, and make begedil ke, karipap ke... or spaghetti.

I was gonna use the standard blender. I googled to see if we can blender meat to make it mince.

Sekali, on one of the hits keluarla youtube Braun Hand blender - which is capable to mince the meat.

Hoolllaaaa.... and i thought to myself. Hang on. I have that thing in my cabinet (or kotak - since baru pindah kan) somewhere. Balik2 from work terus selongkar cari the hand blender.

Dah jumpa hand blender, lepas tu defrost meat, and test.

And yes, it can blend meat.. Seronoknya like nobody's business.

See??? my hand blender & and the minced meat. Sweet. :)



NEXT: to make my own smoothie...

we are the champion!!

congratulations Harimau muda!! U guys simply rock!!


photos from :http://sports.mylaunchpad.com.my

Cherating onestop guide

Getting there
I took the bus since Mr Fluff already there with his car. Quite a number of buses plying the KL-Kuantan route (info here: ) , but I opted for Plusliner because my previous experience with Plusliner to Penang was very good. So Plusliner bus costed me only RM21.90. Plusliner buses stops at Kuantan's main Bus station Kompleks Terminal Makmur. Those interested to know which route the bus took:

View Larger Map

From there, we took the taxi to Legend hotel, which costs RM55. Its standard pricing, so no haggling is required nor allowed.

Legend Hotel
The hotel is nicely situated just about 100mtrs from mainroad, and has a sea frontage. The beach is not a private but part of the long long stretches of beach. It is no bother though, because the next hotel along that stretch is a good distance away. It is also quite a convenient hotel because you can just walk towards the mainroad and you will find a few restaurants there.

Eating out in Cherating
In the morning and afternoon I just went to the restaurants along the mainroad from the hotel. In the morning Paksu's restaurant serves roti canai, nasi dagang and the likes.
In the afternoon i tried D'Cherating restaurant, if you are ever there, please try the Mee Kari. It is yummy and reasonably priced at RM4.50.
For dinner, we actually tried two different restaurant. We first went to Restaurant Awang upon recommendation from Paksu Cherating. Food was ok, to me nothing to shout about. The way food is priced is based on the weight. So you select the fish/seafood you want, they'll weight it and then you just tell them what sort of dish you want (bakar only/sweetsour, black pepper etc). Not knowing how much it would cost (since we cant tell unless you so kiasuly calculate when they weight), we didnt go crazy but just take moderately. But when the bill came I thought the price was reasonable, we took - 1 x ikan pari, 2 pieces of ketam, about 2 pieces of sotong and a bit of udang, those together with kangkung goreng belacan , drinks and rice came up to only RM66.30. To get to restaurant Awang, from Legend hotel just drive on towards Kemaman, it is somewhere about 2-3 kms away on the left side.
Despite the dinner we just had, I didnt feel enough, so we thought we'd go for a drink at the other place we saw when we went boating. It is in Kampung Cherating, its right infront of Hafiz tourist center (GPS 4.126667, 103.391667) Its the red color shop, the last shop. Though the selection of fish and seafood is not as many as Awang's, it was still ok. Taste wise, i prefer this one, cos I think it is better, and price is also great. Imagine, a big serving of Lala is only RM4, kerang RM5 and sotong RM15. I also ordered mihun hailam, tamak punya pasal kan, but the serving was huge, i cant even finish half of it.

Activities
I was there for a really short trip. So didnt get to do much. But managed to get info from Paksu Cherating on whats available there.

River cruise
We went for river cruise. It costs RM20 per person (no pickup, need to get to there yourself) and the cruise takes about 2 hours. They'll take you to see some amazing mangroves, wildlife animals such as snake, bats, biawak, birds etc. Beautiful landscaped, and an insight of things you dont see everyday. Apparently the river where we cruised is like more than 25mtrs deep! No wonder the water look sooo dark. The standard take offs (for walk ins) are at 9AM and 4PM daily, however if you come in a group (boat can fit up to 6 persons), you can request for different departure time.

Fireflies
Another popular activity is Fireflies watching. Costs around RM15, and starts at 8PM. I didnt do the Fireflies - opted for makan instead. Mana tak gemuk kan. Anyway, makan wasnt the only reason I decided not to go (saja la excuse) but apparently the best time to go is when it is pitch dark, or when moon is not full. When we were there the moon was exceptionally full and bright, so the kelip2 would loose a bit of its lustre because of it. But next time, I would surely give it a go.

Turtle watching
Again, another big hit for our eastern coastal is of course tengok penyu. Didnt go as well, because Paksu (the tukang roti canai cum tourist guide) told me that his recommendations is to go around June. Sightings of turtle is actually possible between February to September (off moonsoon period). During early months between February to June you will get to see the big ones (egg-hatching mother turtles). And subsequently between June to September, they'd be letting go the lil' ones (hatched baby turtles) to the sea. So if you go around June, you'll have added advantage of seeing both the mothers and their babies returning to the sea. Mental note: To go again somewhere in June.
Oh by the way, turtle watching costs around only RM10, if you actually go to the site yourself. So if you are looking at a budget kind of visit, should just find your own way there instead of taking the excursions kind of trip which costs whole lot more.

Jungletrekking & waterfalls
Other activities around there is Jungle trekking and going to the waterfalls. There are two kind of trips. The common trip one is categorised as 'easy' and suitable for all ages. Just about 15-30 mins walk to reach waterfalls and on well used path. Whole trip will probably only take you about 2-3hours. But for those who wants more advanterous trip, there's also a whole day excursions which requires a serious trekking. Needless to say, I didnt go to either one since takde kasut... lame excuse ;)

So that pretty much sums up the Cherating trip. Sorry I dont have photos to accompany my post, since I no longer have a camera.. sob sob sob...
(but nantilah if I am rajin I will copy some from Akmal's camera since he brought his).

Till then peeps... Enjoy nature and be supportive of SAVING OUR EARTH!

writing for the sake of it.

So much has happened within these few weeks that I dont even know where to begin.

I wanted to blog about Perth, but it is only reminding me of my stolen camera, so I changed my mind.

I wanted to blog about food, but there is nothing in fridge worth to mention, so again I changed my mind.

Now this is pointless. this will be deleted.

Greatest Lurve songs ever

I'll always be right there - Bryan Adams

I swear to you
I will always be there for you
there's nothing I wont do

I promise you
All my life I will live for you
We will make it through


Forever, we will be
Together, you and me
ooh when I hold you
NOthing can compare
With all of my heart
you know I'll always be
Right there

I believe in us
Nothing else could ever mean so much
You're th eon I trust

our time has cmoe
we are not two people now we are one
yeah you are second to none

Forever, we will be
Together, a family
the more i get to know you
nothing can compare
with all of my heart you know i'll always be
right there

Forever, we will be
Together, you and me
the more i get to know you
The more i really care
with all of my heart you know i'll always be
You know I really love you, nothing can compare
For all of my life you know I'll always be
right there


I'll be - Edwin McCain


The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
and Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth

and Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Chorus:
and I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide
and I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life
Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive not dead
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache, that hang from above

and I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide
and I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

and I've been dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on, Remembered the things that you said ..

and I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide
and I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

and I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide
and I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Happy Birthday Ayah

I love you lots!!

Chicken Grill

The last time I made grill chicken, we nearly had the bomba called by the neighbors. Didnt realise the smoke were all over the block...So of course after that tak berani nak buat lagi.

Now that my kitchen is no longer in an enclosed area, sungguhla bersemangat nak ber grilling, memandangkan nak makan yang healthy2 saja kan.

Anyway, as I am only using a grill pan, option is kinda limited.

I made chicken wings and drummets. This time i use

Worcester sauce

Balsamic Vinegar

Sprinkled with lemon, salt and pepper

..

Its the moment of truth. I am braving it out. All by myself. On my own. Pray for me.

Dear God, please turn the clock real fast. Make the time fly.

Let it be over in a blink.

How to mend a ruined cloth

Few weeks ago I was quite upset as the new shirt I bought were stained with oil (cooking oil). I have washed it two times since but the oil stain still there and didnt even fade.

It was unfortunately stained at such glaring place, which made it unwearable. I was already going to throw the blouse away in the bin - then, I thought about googling on the net to see if there is any way to mend it.

Lucky me, i found a few sites and they all gave same recommendation - to clean it with dish washing liquid.

I was quite sceptical and didnt expect much when I tried the method. But surprise surprise, it work wonders!

So I am sharing it here so that you folks can try it as well:

1. Get a Dishwashing liquid. I just use Sunlight
2. Spread it over the stain area
3. Wash the clothes as usual at the highest temperature the cloth can withstand , with Oxy type fabric cleaner. Note: For cotton type of cloth you can go up to 40degrees if color and upto 60deg if white.

That's it!

Imah's Cheesecake

COPY PASTE FROM IMAH:

Base:
Tiger biscuits - Square package
Butter - 60g-100g

1. Hancurkan biscuit
2. Cairkan butter dalam periuk and then campurkan biscuit yg telah dihancurkan.
3. Masukkan dlm freezer for about 15-20 mins.


Cheesecake:

2 pkts cream cheese [(250g) x 2]
3/4 cup caster sugar
4 eggs (Size B, medium)
1 sour cream (Biasa guna brand sunglo) OR 2 small cups Plain yougort
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tablespoon of multipurpose flour
1 container of blueberry filling

Cara2:

1. Putarkan Cream cheese sampai jadik macam butter.
2. Then add caster sugar.
3. Masukkan telur satu per satu
4. Masukkan sour cream
5. Masukkan flour
6. Tambah essence of vanilla
7. Kuarkan base from freezer. Tuang adunan atas base tadi.
8. Lupa lak, panaskan oven at 230 Celcius (Farenheight tak tau)


Masakkan cheese:

1. Masukkan dlm oven for 15 mins at 230 Celcius.
2. After 15 mins, lowerkan temp to 115 Celcius.
3. Masak for about 1 hour.
4. Selepas 1 jam, biar sampai sejuk kat luar.
5. Bila dah betul2 sejuk, masukkan dlm fridge. Ni kalu boleh sampai dia dah tak lembik, dlm
   5-6 jam. Pas tu baru letak blueberry. Masuk fridge balik, another 2-3 hours.  Sabar yer!!
6. Another thing masa masak cheesecake, kena bake dgn air sekali so that dlm oven sentiasa berair.
Tak reti la nak explain. Nanti jumpa saya, sy explain manually, hehehe .  Jangan lupa hantar sample!!
 

Pasar malam blues

Sob sob sob... Rasa sedih sangat because soon i wont be able to go frequently (if not at all) to my pasar malam.
I know i know i am sure there other pasar malam elsewhere and all that. But the thing with pasar malam is one pasar malam is different than another. I already have my favorite stall for mihun kari.. for my mihun sup.. another stall for my nasi tomato with daging kurma.. Another for my jagung bakar.. my apam balik.. my sayur stall.. my daging n ayam stall.. My rm5 tudung place.. Etc..etc..
And i am soooo going to miss all that... Oooo sedihnya nak pindah

bye bye pasar malam... Till we meet again some day hopefully wont be long cos i know i'll miss u!

Shrimp Scampi

The recipe wasnt really original, I took it from my pasta recipe book. Its really easy to make, and take very little time.

1/2 pack spaghetti or linguini
3 spoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
5 pieces garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 bird chilies, crushed coursely
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
20 medium sized shrimps, shelled and deveined
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon parsley
salt to taste

Heat the olive oil and the butter over moderate heat.
Add garlic, bird chilies and pepper flakes, saute for about 30 seconds
Add the shrimps; saute for 2 to 3 minute;
Add evenly lemon juice, parsley and salt;
Pour / mix over spaghetti

So long Norge...

happy at last - home tweet home..

I have taken some photos, and will upload soon. Here is the preview - some of my favorites shots around Sandefjord town & harbor

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

From Norway

Oslo

Click to see bigger image.


My oslo guide.

I only spent one day there, and my short visit was cramped with all the places where I can take photos. The objective - to try see as much as possible and take as many as possible nice photos.


Btw I was there on a sunday so there was not much on the retail front - In a way it is a blessing on its own.. cos kalau tak rasanya tak sempat pegi banyak tempat ... gagaga

Anyway I took the earliest train from Sandefjord. The journey from Sandefjord to Oslo should actually take around an hour and half.

Arrived at Oslo Sentralstasjon [no(9) in map], and looked for the Information office. I grabbed Oslo Guide andfew brochures and planned my routes over coffee.

I decided to purchase the Oslo pass, with it I get free entry to most of the museums and take any of the public transportation. It is NOK230 for 24 hours - which I reckon is a good deal.

Armed with the map and Oslo pass, I started walking towards Akershus and Fortress & Castle - the one place that made me decide to visit Oslo. It is probably the oldest area of Oslo dated back to 1200. The medieval castle is amazing, and definitely is a must visit if you are in town. Around the area there are also the Army Museums, the fortress and when you look down towards the sea,, you'll see the largest ever made Ship docked just right there.

Digressing a bit, the ship is H.U.G.E, eight storey high, and probably bigger than the building where I worked at here in KL. I wished I had time to go on it, it shuttles every Thursday nights to Germany from Norway.

Back the Akershus area, I walked down thru Christiana torv to the City Hall. Nothing of interests there. Its like any other quey Ive seen so didnt spend much time there. Took the next boat going towards Bygdøy. I went down at the first stop and walked towards Norsk Folkemuseum. It was an uphill walk, very very tiring - I shouldhv waited for the bus but I was racing with time (it was already near noon, and I had only visited one place), so anyway, it took a good 15 mins walk UPHILL before reaching the Folkmuseum. It was totally worth the walk though - it was such a nice showcase of Norfolks houses and community in the olden days. Also a must visit to me.

By the way sebab dah penat when reached Folkmuseum I had short coffee break at the nice cafe - and studied the timetable for the buses. So I timed myself to finish off the folkmuseum in time to catch the bus outside.

Very smart move - cos just nice as I walked out, the bus arrived. Took the bus to the Viking Ship Museum. The Viking Museum is unique on its own, it houses three viking boats, which is pretty amazing. To see that those days they travel miles in that thing. Viking boat has a very unique characteristic, and can easily be recognised by its shape.

Moving on from the Viking Museum, I went to the Frammuseet. Again, the museum housed a ship - this time it is the Polar Ship FRAM - which is the very first ship that had crossed the Antarctic waters. You can go into the ships and see the cabins and all. It is surprising to see how compact it is but I guess voyages like that werent really meant for holiday goers, more for people who make histories ;) There are three museet altogether there, the Fram, Kon-tiki and Norsk Maritime. I didnt bother with Norsk maritime, and Kon-tiki to me is nothing spectacular, maybe because I was in such awe with FRAM and Viking museums.

From there I took the boat back to City Center. The last must-see on my list is Vigeland Sculpture Park (Vigelandsparken) [F3 on the map]. I took the tram which is great transportation for tourist like me. It was kinda crowded on the tram. But my oh my, nothing had me prepared for the MASSIVE crowd I see at the park. At first, I was thinking to myself, so here is where all the Norwegian people - they flock the park on weekends. But my thoughts were quickly re-aligned when I see that there is actually some kind of event happening there. What a bummer. With soooo many people there I couldnt get nice shots, in fact I didnt even bother going close to the pole.

Didnt spent much time there since nothing much I can do. Decided to go back to city center and exploring the City hall, Royal Palace and Johans Gate area. City Hall as mentioned earlier was nothing to shout about. Royal Palace looked nice, but I was already quite tired by then so only glimpse of it from Karl Street, which is a nice place to be if you are in town. This is the happening part of the town with swanky restaurants and bars like HRC. Though it was only early evening, I could tell the place is a popular spot for tourists and locals as well perhaps.

Leading away towards the Oslo SentralStasjon is Johans Gate - where retail lovers could be spending chunks of their time. Sadly it was a sunday, no shops were not opened. I still could not comprehend why would shops be closed on what could potentially be the most lucrative day of the week... sigh..

With the shops closed, I covered Johans gate pretty fast which is a shame. All is not totally lost though, since one or two souvenir shops are still operating - and selling wayyy cheaper things than in Sanderford.

Last stop of the day - from there I hunted the nearest halal food outlet (which is quite a number and it is listed in the Oslo Guide), to have my dosage of meat. How heavenly... :))

There goes my Day trip to Oslo. Overall I think I covered a fair good amount of places and I was happy that I made the effort to go to Oslo. Certainly wasnt disappointing !

My beautiful country

I have been dragging feet to update this blog, and now is as good time as any, since I am at this god forsaken place, with SERIOUSLY nothing to do.

So, lets start with some photos I took during my short trip to Kerteh recently.

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

From kerteh

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE ALBUM

Koss PortaPro, welcome to de kollektion.

My jaw dropped when I saw it .. Whoaaaa....

NOK299 - dun matter if its the red hot, blue classic, black or ANNIVERSARY???

Too good to be true.

I.Cant.Stop.Myself!!

Hehehehe....

I can make sambal belacan!!!

I don't eat sambal. Of any kind.

He likes LOVES sambal. Of any kind.

Needless to say, I am very very incapable in making them. Not that I didnt try, I tried so many times and yet it always turned out deficient in some ways.

Until yesterday. I finally found the perfect recipe here. God bless you FOODILICIOUS!

The problem with making sambal is that nobody and i really mean NOBODY could give me a recipe that gives proper measure. It is always a bit of that .. a bit of this.. no real measurement but more like to-taste. Which is a BIG problem for me - cos Ive never eaten it so I dont know how it is supposed to taste like.

Anyway, I tried the recipe from Foodilicious and was very very anxious when Mr Fluff ate it. Dub dab dub dab .. macam tengah tunggu SPM results pulak

and at long last ( and I mean really really long ), my sambal is edible and tasted like sambal. I can make sambal!!! YEE HAA!!!!

So friends... Please find THE magical sambal recipe below..

* 3 Red Chillies
* 1 Green Chillies
* 10 bird chillies (can reduce if prefer less spicy)
* 1 tablespoon belacan (bakar)
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt

Pound the above until it became a paste

* Squeeze lime juice (1) once done.

I cant stop smiling. Muahahaha.... :D :D :D

Dinner : His & Hers

HIS.....

Ikan Goreng

+

assorted veggie

+

Sambal Belacan

*************************************************

HERS...

Chicken & Mushroom spaghetti