Sunday Lunch

Remember the recent Hari Raya celebration when I prepared Penang Assam Laksa? Well yesterday untuk melepaskan geram, I made Assam Laksa again and this time I had the photo to prove of the finished product.

Authentic Penang Assam Laksa

It was busy Sunday for me since 7:30 am. I managed to complete many tasks. Went to the local grocerer, bought roti canai and roti telor for breakfast, did 2 loads of washing, prepared lunch, watch a little bit of TV and in the evening washed my car. Later that night my other half said let's go out for dinner.  Woo hoo....

Is it real?

Yes it is real, Mustapha! It is not a fake plant! Why do you think I water the plant every week?

Several years ago, I wanted a plant with less maintenance to brighten my workstation. My other half planted this for me and today it has grown so tall.  It keeps on growing and sprouting new leaves. I am sure there are people who are very jealous of my plant...hehehe because theirs, after a while, dead!

Mustapha is a colleague from work, Algerian by birth and has been married to a Kelantanese lady for 15 years.  He has been living in Malaysia for the last 5 years and working with WHO for 3 years.  He understands little bahasa melayu, inspite marrying a Malay. Having him around is a good way for me to brush up my spoken English. Not only he speaks English, he is also fluent in Arabic and French.  Once in a while I try to pick up simple French words from him. He kept on putting down on my plant and said it is fake.

Again, for the last time, it is REAL, okay!

Good bye Akmar...

Tuesday 24-Sep-2013 was Akmar's last day. It was sad to see another team member leaving us.  Nothing special prepared since she wanted to leave in such a hurry.  I prepared my jello and we ate with ice-cream in the break room.

Akmar and Mustapha

It was nice sitting around, chatting as we wished Akmar the best.Once in a while laughter broke to kill the silence in the break room. It really touched me to see her go with the current situation when we needed all the manpower in AFRO team. I was responsible in training Akmar to be credible HRA and now the organization let her go for unknown reasons to us. Hers was the first voice greeted me every morning, S H EEEE R AAAA.....Then when I'm all settled down, she will passed by my workstation and poke me on the back. I am going to miss this bubbly girl.

The next morning I saw a yellow post-it left on my table.

What can I say more,...I am going to miss you Akmar. Wishing you all the best and do not forget us in Cyberjaya.

Chicken and Cranberry sandwich

Never tried it before. Akmar came to work this morning and gave me this from Starbucks.

Aww! that is so sweet of her. First time tasted the chicken and cranberry sandwich.....hmmm sedap....Thanks Akmar and I am going to miss you.

Jaya, in pink and sweet Akmar in white.

J E L L O

Several weeks ago, a colleague approached me to prepare a jello for someone's birthday at work. I took up the challenge.  She said just a simple looking jello perhaps shaped in a mold.  Luckily my sister has one which I borrowed.

It was kind of odd instead of the usual birthday cake they wanted a jello. Well, as they say customer is always right. So this is how the jello looks like.

Jello with diced mango in the mold after refrigerated over night.

During presentation.

I informed my colleague when serving, cut a piece and add a scoop of ice-cream on the side. Stick 2 roll wafer and sprinkle chopped nuts. Did not manage to take a picture of it since I was not part of the event.

I hope they enjoyed the jello.

It is something different and I think I'm getting use to the idea. In fact tonight I made one to bring to work tomorrow for Akmar's farewell tea party!

Sunday's Lunch - Chicken Rice

This afternoon we had chiken rice. Saja je buat maklumlah these days things are getting very expensive to eat out. Our favorite chicken rice stall pun dah naikkan harga from RM4.00 before raya to RM4.50 after raya. Entahlah mahal rasanya tu. Katanya harga barang naik. Ayam sekilo RM7.90. Biasala kalau berniaga siapa nak rugikan. Tapi chicken rice kedai tu memang sedap. I rate 9/10. Really, memang menyelerakan. You have a choice of roasted or steamed chicken.

So the kids enjoyed it. Bila dah makan I rasa tak payah makan chicken rice sebulan pun tak pa. Anyways dekat2 hujung bulan ni pandai pulak nak memasak....hehehe.....Well guys hope you all had a good lunch.

Assam Laksa at an Open House

A couple of Sundays ago, I was invited to my aunt's open house. Until I got there that I realized it was her grand daughter's birthday party.  She said its a good way to get our relatives together, God knows how long it has been since we met with each other.

It was a cosy event with the set up of several food booths around the guest tent. There was satay, rojak buah, fried char kuay teow, laksa, and dessert such as local kueh and ice kacang. Indeed I enjoyed it so much that I tasted each and every one of it. I was stuffed!!

So this is the laksa which was prepared for me. It was not that bad except kuahnya a bit cair but the laksa penang taste is there. I added extra petis or otak udang. Yum!

My cousin Jaji said it was too bad it was not served with an egg. I'm like, what? Oh no...no eggs please. But she said it is Negeri Sembilan's style. No way. Penang Assam Laksa does not come with telur rebus!

Shakira was in tears when the clown came by. She is afraid of clowns and balloons. That's my cousin Jaji in glasses.

Meanwhile Shakiel participated in the clown act. He had a great time.

Shakiel all wrapped as a mummy.

The birthday girl, Eva, with her parents Ratana and Frank.

Met my aunts, uncles and cousins and it was sad to say good bye because I know it will not be until next raya that we meet again. Insya Allah.

Gulai Asam Pedas for Lunch

This is what we had for lunch today.

Gulai Asam Pedas Ikan Merah (or Red Snapper)

 Mixed Veggie

Sup Ikan Merah (Red Snapper)  with carrots, potatoes and celery

I seldom get the chance to cook my favourite dishes since most of the time I cater to the kids taste buds.  They don't eat chili hot and spicy stuff. But today I really had the urge to cook Gulai Asam Pedas. Yes it has been a while.....kali ini cili kering direbus dulu and blend into chili paste. All from scratch! Memang sedap. Not only I enjoyed it with a plate of steamy hot rice, the kids too dug in....hahaha what do you know!

Veggie is a must and it will always be lots of it. Kena ajar budak-budak ni makan banyak sayur. It was a simple mixed veggie consist of carrots, cabbage, kacang buncis and sweet corn.

Sup ikan merah was specially prepared for the kids. Sedap jugak...woo hoo siapa lagi nak puji....btw the kidz said lunch was simply delish!

Comfort Food

Lately I have been experiencing gastritis.You know, when your stomach hurts so bad and does not require you to go to the toilet. I am yet to understand its attack patterns. Some days without breakfast I am fine. Then, there were days that I do get attacks even after light breakfast.

Tonight, I am having an attack and it hurts so bad. Felt like something squeezing my intestine. I thought I could withstand it. Could it be because something I ate? This afternoon I had satay, assam laksa, char koay teow and ice kacang at my aunt's open house. Yes, I was very full and planned to skip dinner.

So tonight, I decided to prepare Maggie instant noodle, my comfort food. Hope it will settle down the stomach ache. I love instant noodle, tell me who doesn't?  Please do not tell me that it is unhealthy. I consume instant noodle once a week. My favorite is the curry flavor. This is how my instant noodle looks like...

 

Funny how our instant noodle has diversify for us to enjoy the taste. 35 years ago, I placed the noodle and curry powder in a bowl then add boiling water. Wait until the noodle soften, stir and its ready to be eaten. 10 years later my aunt Azizah taught me her version. By adding garlic, fishball, fish cakes and veggies you bring out a delicious flavor.  Today just go to You Tube and search for Maggi Mee videos, omg..... various recipes that you can follow.

But tonight I was a bit adventurous and tried the assam laksa flavor. Never crossed my mind to buy this flavor. However after watching Istanbul Aku Datang, a malay movie, I said why not?  I am not so sure what is the big deal about this assam laksa flavor that a huge row erupted between Beto Kusyairi and Lisa Suryani. Tried once maybe 20-23 years ago;didn't like then and sorry to say didn't like it now either. Kalau bukan kerana sakit perut I memang tak akan habiskan maggie assam laksa flavor ni.

Anybody interested in the 5 packets I have left?

Bathroom Door

Tonight soon as my other half and I, returned home from sending the kids to religious class, we discovered the bathroom door locked from the inside. It's 8:30 pm and I hadn't showered.

Searched for the keys and its nowhere to be found. I know I had it on my dresser all this while and tonight, of all nights its gone missing. Search downstairs, in the kids room and nope,.....tak de. Apa nak buat ni? Oh ya! The credit card trick. It worked before with Shakiel's room and it should again. Unfortunately, it didn't work so I am not MacGyver wannabe after all.

My other half came back into the room with various metal tools and yet still failed to open. Until it was 9:30 pm he finally manage to break the lock and push the door all the way in.  Yay......! all the while I wanted a shower with see through sliding door,...there you go,....all open for public! Woo... Hoo...

Some how we knew who was behind all this. So when I picked up the kids and interrogate them in the car, Shakiel confessed he taken the key out earlier. He explained after he stepped out of shower, the bathroom door got locked. He grabbed the master key on my dresser. When my other half reminded him to perform his Maghrib prayer, the dashed out my room with the key and totally forgot about the locked bathroom door. That was his story. Well, I told him, "Adik, just be prepared....you deal with your father because he is verrrryyyy angry. Tonight I am not able to help you." Poor kid.

As expected, Shakiel and my other half had some "discussion"....I didn't asked. Shakiel came to my room and started clearing all the wood debris chipped from the smashed door and he kissed me. He was sent off to his room.

Later I went to his room as usual to tuck him to bed. He told me what happened and one of it that he was sent out of the house to stand under the street light. Yup at 10:30 pm.

Me : "So ayah suruh adik berdiri berapa lama?"
Shakiel : **silent**
Me : "So masa adik kena berdiri ada kereta lalu?"
Shakiel : "Ada. 2. Tak satu kereta satu motor. Motor dominos."
Me : "So bila kereta tu lalu, adik buat apa?"
Shakiel : "Saya pun pusing and buat2 tengok buah mangga kat pokok belakang saya."

I laugh....hahahahaha....pandai coverline la.

Shakiel : "Mummy jangan ketawakan saya."

Hahahaha....I can't stop laughing. I told my other half about it and he was not laughing....oops!

When I was a Kid Book 1

Hahahahaha....I really enjoy reading this book by Boey.

The author who's real name is Cheeming Boey and this is his first authobiographical graphic novel. He studied Art in the States and later switched to computer animation. My daughter bought the book and I pun sibuk pinjam and baca. This book is brilliant, hillirious, honest and really reminded me so much of my childhood.

Book 2 is already out at Popular Bookstore.

Rendang Daging Manis Mak Tok Part 3

Met my sister-in-law 2 weekends ago and she confirmed that no coconut milk is required in the making of rendang daging manis mak tok.

Siapa berani cepat cuba! Me? Not yet. I prefer eating them at my in laws.....muahahahah.