Happy New Year 2014!

 

New Years' Resolution?

My 2013 resolution did not materialize. You can read here. No excuses for the failure. I never made the effort for a start. Kudos to those who made something out your determination. Anyway, it's not a must. If you don't have one pun tak pe....benda-benda macam ni kadang-kadang mengarut je! Just for fun, kan?

A few ups and down, naturally.....happy and sad moments I've shared in my blog. Of course there were others which did not get captured in here. Human mind - they think they can remember everything when in fact something happened a day before pun tak boleh nak recall at times. And a few....., which I am not able to share for personal reasons. It is kinda funny isn't it? Here I am, with no restrictions and freely releasing my thoughts but a part of me hesitate to share my hurt, my pain, my anguish and my anger. I do not want my words to be misinterpreted and offend the people dear to my heart.

So for 2014 I wanna go for something more grounded and realistic like below. 

Starting January 1st, write good things and happy moments that happen to me on little pieces of paper : it can be about surprise gifts I received (which is hardly), accomplished goals, the beauty of nature, "LOL" moments, memories worth savings, daily blessings and so forth.....then on 31st Dec., open the jar and read all the amazing things happened to you in 2013!

 SO WHAT'S YOUR 2014's RESOLUTION?

Finally, I would like to wish all of you readers,

THANK YOU

&

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2 orders for my Jello.

24 Dec 2013.

Thank you to Noreen who ordered 2 Jello for her anniversary and son's birthday. She said it was wonderful, delicious with the tropical ice cream and that her husband liked it too.  Yes a box of ice cream comes with each order of my Jello. Was a bit nervous since her husband is a chef. Alhamdulillah.

This was a back up plan. Initial plan was rainbow colored Jello but I was not happy with the result. This is diced mango with kiwi flavored Jello. Noreen, however, opted to add ice cream in the middle.

The love shape Jello for the couple celebrated their anniversary.

And, this was the original rainbow jello which did not make it to Noreen's party......Rainbow Layered Jello.

Blast from the past #3 - University years.

My favorite season is Winter.

When I arrived at Kalamazoo airport, it was heavily snowed. A group of us was transported to University Inn, a motel like accommodation. It was Christmas week holiday. Since we did not know our way around so mostly we walk to the nearest supermarket called Target or to a Chinese restaurant for a simple fried rice. It was Christmas break and on campus dormitories were closed for new registration until after new year. So we stayed almost a week in the motel.

Came January, my first semester as a sophomore began and I was assigned to Davis Hall. It is on campus and only student above 21 years of age can be accepted. I took the week days meal plan so at least my meals were taken care off.

Initially my first choice was Harisson-Stintson, the party dormitory! Davis Hall was my second and third was Bigalow. I had never experienced staying in a dormitory and gradually I learned to love Davis Hall during my 4 months stay there. Locality wise it  is short distance to the student center (tempat lepak), Administrative Department and to classes. I shared my dormitory room with Karen, an American girl who majored in Education whom later became a teacher. We still keep in touch to date. Our room was divided into 3 sections; study area, bedroom and bathroom. Yup we have our own shower bathroom....and not sharing the main common bath/shower! I was impressed!

Heavy snow at the time of the year. Temperature as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, very cold and freezing.

WMU campus in the background.

Knollwood.

Knollwood. Yup....centerfold? yikes!

Ahhhh....the best feeling you could ever have...hehehe.

Banyak lagi gambar-gambar but biarlah remained as my private collection.

My first week was busy with orientation activities, getting familiarized where your classes were conducted and opened an FD and checking account. Got a myself a check book. Using check book instead of cash is widely accepted in most business premises. At the time I have almost USD11K in bankers check, traveller's checks and cash to last me for at least a year. That first weekend in dormitory our student leader from the campus International Student Center took us out to Hudson's, JC  Penney and Meijer for a shopping trip. We need to get bedsheets, comforter, clothing's, and other necessities. On top of those items, I purchased a 25" Sony TV and a Pioneer CD HiFi.

It was difficult to manoeuvre around campus on foot. The snow, cold wind, and once I got lost on the way to class! Rasa nak menangis pun ada. Tangan gendong bag, map and thick winter jacket zipped up, pushing myself against the wind to move on, sniveling but I survived. And survived for the next 4 years......

Christmas Jello

Its Christmas time again at GHR....fa la la, la la la la.....

Our Christmas tree.  This artificial tree was purchased my yours truly in 2008, when we celebrated the first Christmas at GHR. Even some of the 'fake' gifts under the tree was wrapped by me.

Lucky draw. Gifts range from RM2 up to RM10. Everyone got a gift.

Our Christmas carolers. This year theme was blue and silver.

But everybody was patiently waiting for lunch. Dishes served was mushroom soup, garlic bread, spaghetti bologna, salads, potato salad, sweet and sour  fish nugget, and lamb in rosemary herbs.

Of course, thank you to Julia who ordered my jelly. My only regret that the pomegranate was not dark red as I would imagine.

Our dessert table. Another view of my Christmas jelly.

Rectangle shaped jelly with whipped cream.

It was a fun Christmas celebration this year compared to last year's due to some incidence which seemingly unfair and unaccepted in my sane mind. I refused to participate.

Nachos

I made Nachos for snack twice last week. It's nothing new because I regularly prepare this dish. But lately  dah lama memendam rasa to go me-x(h)i-co. Dulu-dulu lepas clubbing mesti pergi TACO BELL. Their tag line is 'Run for the border'. Hahaha....then a pack of taco cost less than 99 cents.

Anyway, talking about nachos, TGIF serves a tasty nachos but kalau buat sendiri much more satisfying. Of course a serving of nachos will cost you between RM20-30 kalau dine in a fancy restaurant. But, by preparing them at home I can make 2-3 servings of nachos....so makan la sampai muntah....and the craving will hybernate for another 6-7 months. Muaahahaha....Internet ada, You Tube pun ada so cari la recipe kat situ.

Dengan semangat yang berkobar-kobar and cooked with lots of love,....the results were,

Chicken nachos with fresh salsa and guacamole (minus the sour  cream-don't like it. So I decided not to include it on my nachos)

Guacamole and Fresh Salsa

Everybody enjoyed it except for Shakira, who ate nachos minus the salsa and guacamole....huhuhu....

Later in the week I prepared beef Speghetti Bolognese. I learned to cook my first speghetti in 1986 from my mom.  Mom was a good cook, in fact she taught me to bake pizza all from scratch! Yup, we roll the dough, blended tomatoes and cook the tomatoes to make the sauce for the pizza base.

Tangan sendiri yang buat mestila sedap kan. Those days tak ada Pregos ya! I luv, luv, luv a good speghetti. Sometimes its a turn-off kalau speghetti rasa terlebih masam or terlebih Italian Herbs. I recommend try as much as to use fresh herbs rather than dried products. Dried herbs are so strong and at times the taste is too over powering and your pasta dish will be a disaster!. Kalau itu saja yang available, reduce quantity in your cooking.

Maaf ye, I am not a cooking expert. Did not go to any cooking class or school well, except for home economics in secondary school. Semuanya trial and error. Nothing in this world is cooked to the perfection. Except hunky Gordon Ramsey. Saw him cooked delicious scramble eggs! Sorry but was a perfect looking scramble eggs. Belum try tapi tips he gave will be usefull. Kalau rajin check out his video on You Tube. So don't try too very hard....most of all semangat mesti ada and ingredient cukup....Adios muchachos!

Deepavali Lunch 21-Nov-2013

It is customary that every festive season, we at the HR Department would decorate our 4th floor. 

Located at the entrance to our floor the walls was decorate with sarees, 'Kolum' of a peacock  and oil lights.

 

Colleagues came in their sarees, kurta,and punjabi suits.  Mr Bala look dashing in a Sherwani. But the exciting part was the Deepavali lunch. We have looking forward to this day.

Food arrived.

The spread.

And this is my favorite, Idli and Putu Mayam. Did you know that a piece of Putu Mayam these days cost RM1.00 a piece? Gosh, mahalnya! Apa lagi bedal sepuas-puasnya. Didn't even gave the rice a second look.

Putu Mayam on the left and Idli.

Thank you to our Indian colleagues who worked hard making thin years celebration a success.

Brunch - Dim Sum at Xing Zhu Restaurant.

Finally after longing for a good Dim Sum spread, I stretched my budget this month for a lavish brunch. 

Xing Zhu is located in Cyberjaya. Most importantly it is close to home and where you can find a halal All You Can Eat Dim Sum. At RM50 ++ for adult and RM25 ++ for kids we definitely ate all we can!!!! Ha Ha Ha......sharks! its been a while since I came here for a dim sum....the last was perhaps 2 years ago....Back then they charged RM44++ for adults and RM22++ for kids. What a steep increased!

Eager and excited waiting for our food.

“Xing Zhu” is mandarin for “Lucky Bamboo”. It is the theme of this restaurant and it reflected by the usage of chinaware, menu design, as well as the bamboo steamer. Originally Xing Zhu was located across the street. This restaurant is surrounded by glass windows where you can relax and enjoy the views of a fish pond and the lush tropical gardens. It is a much more private dining. I like this new environment. 

All You Can Eat Dim Sum - Can't let good food go to waste. We cleared every single plate except for the noodles. We were really stuffed.

When the dim sum arrived and after a short prayer to thank God for the food we're about to have, we dug in. Love the steamed Kai Lan served with fried garlic. This time round the Chee Cheong Fan was not served with prawn filling instead it is wrapped in a bbq marinated chicken. The steamed chicken feet is an all time favorite with my other half and kids. Other dishes served was Sui Mai, Steamed BBQ chicken bun, Har Gow, Spring Rolls, Deep Fired Wonton, Taro Wrapped Chicken, Fried Sesame Balls and Stir Fried Noodles, just to name a few.....

I am satisfied with RM160.00 I'd spent this afternoon. Indeed we were happy with the food and service .I was so stuffed that I did not say much all the way back 20 minutes drive home. Surely my other half and the kids enjoyed their lunch as much as I did.

Syukur Alhamdulillah.