The tiger within me

*Ini adalah luahan hati semata-mata*

Last week, adalah sorang hamba Allah ni .... macam nak banjer pwincess makan nasi kandaq untuk lunch ... oh berbunga-bungalah hati kan, orang tak semena-mena nak banjer kita. dengan pewot lapa krok krok tu, ku tabahkan hati jua untuk menunggu dengan penuh kesabaran akan ketibaan nasi kandaq yang bakal ditapau oleh si pembonceng motosikal bergelar, X. adalah dalam 35 minit kemudian, datanglah si X membawa bungkusan-bungkusan nasi kandaq ... dia pun distribute pada stakeholders .... oh pwincess sabaq jugak menanti .... sekali .... eh eh! mana nasi kandaq aku wei? rupenye tipah tertipu. hamba Allah tu tak jadi banjer pwincess walaweiiiii .... bengangnye hati ni....tuhan je yang tau ... mase tu mana ade lagi dah makanan kat cafe. sakit tul hati.

seb baik arini, encik mon janji nak lunch dengan pwincess kat kedai nasi kandaq. oh berbunga-bungalah balik kan hati ni. tapi mon kata, pwincess g dulu, book tempat. dia ada meeting and tengah wrap up. ok xpa. pwincess pun jalan lenggang kangkung g kedai tu. singgahlah setiap kedai yang ada sebelum sampai ke kedai nasi kandaq tu ... cuci mata + fill up the time. kaki dah penat ni. pastu dah lelama tu, pwincess pun masuk tunggu mon dalam kedai tu. dapat book satu meja ni. tapi kedai tu mmg penuh dgn manusia tau .... so, sorang-sorang asyik menegur, ada orang tak? finishing ke? pwincess pun jawab, ada orang takpun tak tak, saya belum habis lagi. makin lama, makin stress. mon ni pun satu, cakap la kan, jadi ke tak lunch together ni .... oh stress gile pwincess. tukang lap meja sampai 3 kali datang lap meja .... sah-sah ko nak halau aku yer .... then, tukang senduk lauk nasi kandaq datang tegur, nak order tak? belummmmm .... yang paling tak tahan, tokei kedai datang tanya you mau makan ke tak? kalau minum saja, bungkus sajalah. ramai lagi orang mau pakai meja. pastu siap inde porengge apa kebenda tah lagi dia cakap kat haku.

wahhhhh panas hati aku weiiii.

the tiger within me has woken up.

lepas tu mon sampai. pwincess pun haaa .... tengking setengking-tengkingnya sama encik mon. mase mon tengah q nak amek nasi pwincess, ade 1 kapel dtg tanya ade orang tak .... haaa .... pwincess tengking sama dia .... "ada la orang!!!! kalau tak kenapa saya tunggu sini sorang-sorang?!!!!" terkedu jap dia. then, bile mamak anta teh panas encik mon, main campak je mug tu ... ewah ewahhhh .... memang nak kena la ni. so tu pun haku tengking. haku tengking bukan main-main. siap suh dia letak balik mug tu elok-elok .... lap balik depan mata aku. then ..... tukang lap meja yang sengal tu datang ... oh god ... kitaorang tgh makan ni, dia boleh dtg lap meja untuk sekian kalinya?!!! haa ... silap besar la ko labu .... engkau pun aku tengking baekkkk punye. pwincess cakap, yang sibuk nak lap situ buat hape, situ bukannya kotor pun ... nah, ko lap ni .... bawah mug, bawah pinggan aku tengah makan ni .... haaaa .... dah lama dah haku tak menengking-nengking orang ni .... kalau dapat semangat tengking ni kat opis best jugak ... korang ingat aku ni kelihatan seperti orang kelantan yang manis lemah lembut yer... hah silap besar lah korang .... memang kalau the tiger within me dah bangun .... nahas lah

Good news

Actually I wanted to keep this as a secret as long as I could ... but I could not contain my happiness upon seeing this cute little baby in the 4D scan .... so now I'm letting the cat out of the bag.

Alhamdulillah, I am four months ++ pregnant!!


I am so happy yet anxious at the same time....my monthly checkups are done at Prince Court (PCMC), after months of researching and taking into considerations all the pros and cons of all the hospitals. A close friend of mine asked me hospital maner I plan to deliver and when I informed her that I'm going to deliver at Prince Court ... she surprised me by asking whether I am really sure with my decision ... I was like, why???? what's with the question??? You wanna know her answer? Katanya, Prince Court takde specialists and menggunakan teknologi third world country.

.....

tahla. korang cakap la ape korang nak cakap kan. a friend of my husband sanggup bayar rm10k for his wife to deliver there and dia sangat puas ati ... may Allah bless our decision. amin.

Kuey Teow Kungfu

Masa awal muharram yang lepas, Encik Mon dan pwincess masak kueyteow kungfu. tatau lah nape ye nama dia kungfu ... nak kata susah sangat nak masak dia sampai kena kungfu kungfu ... tak pun. resipi ni simple sangat, and bile masak sendiri boleh la letak banyak sket ingredients dia .. tak macam kalau beli kat kedai.


korang perlukan :

1 peket kuey teow
4 biji telur (yes i know ... a lot!)
garam

bahan kuah :

1 ulas bawang putih
black pepper secukup rasa, but white pepper tastes better
isi ayam
2 ekor sotong
sayur-sayuran e.g. broccoli, baby corn, carrot, chinese cabbage
oyster sauce
4 biji cili padi
1.5 sudu besar tepung jagung
1 cawan air

cara-cara :

1. Mula-mula kita buat dulu kuey teow. korang pecahkan telur dalam mangkuk, pukul sket. then masukkan garam sket and then masukkan semua kueh teow dalam tu. pecah-pecahkan kuey teow tu and bagi dia mixed dengan telur. scoop a portion and goreng dalam minyak sederhana macam nak goreng omelette. habiskan goreng semua kueh teow.

rupa kuey teow goreng telur

2. Next kita buat kuah. Tumis bawang putih sampai naik bau. then, masukkan ayam dan sotong. kacau sampai masak.

3. Masukkan tepung jagung yang dah dibancuh dalam 1 cawan air tadi tu. kacau-kacau, jangan bagi sampai bergumpal.

4. Masukkan sos tiram, black pepper, cili padi dan kesemua jenis sayur tadi tu.

5. Masak sehingga kuah jadi pekat dan tuang atas kuey teow omelette tadi tu. siapppp!!! RM10.00 sepinggan .... wahahahaha

Arrowhead Chips/Fried Ngaku

Suddenly I feel the urge to make arrowhead chips/fried ngaku.

*pic credit to wendyinkk

My mom bought a few early this year and left them to me to settle (i.e. cook/whatever/etc). I totally have no idea what to do with these ... after much googling, I decided to make arrowhead chips. I totally hate the grating/slicing process, and I cut myself during it but other than that, the chip making process was a good learning experience for me. Honestly, I have never seen anyone making chips at home and in fact, my household never make our own chips ... ever ... so when I finally produced arrowhead chips in my own kitchen, with these 2 hands, boy oh boy, you can't tell how proud I was ... hehe! And the best part is, the chips are to die for!!!! I was actually slapping my niece's fingers from snatching the freshly fried chips everytime I scoop out the chips from the big hot wok. She could not stop munching the tasty chips, really, I tell you...

*pic credit to wendyinkk

Now, now, cepatlahhhh datang Chinese New Year!! Because you can only get these darlings during that time of the year!

Terrific Terengganu - Part 3

Day 3 - 15th September 2011

arini macam biasa, lepaih encik Mon balik dari training, barulah pwincess ade kaki nak explorace. kali ni kitaorang terjah ke kedai keropok lekor B.T.B 2209. tau tak BTB tu amende? haaa ... it actually stands for Bukit Tok Beng ... bunyi macam adegan tembak menembak je kan .. beng beng beng gitu ... tapi bukan ye, sbenarnye tu nama tempat tu. sape nak g sini, ni hah gps coordinate 5 deg 21' 23" N 103 deg 7' 9" E

kedai ni besar jugak laa .. kat tepi selekoh. boleh opt nak makan situ or take away. mase kitaorang kat situ .... ramai sgt orang, ade yang q nak tapau, ade yang makan situ .... ade yang siap order awal-awal pastu sampai je situ terus angkut dan bayar. ha, lagi satu nak cite. kedai BTB ni kan, siap ade sistem nombor giliran macam kat bank-bank tu. mantop gitu.

kat bahagian tepi kedai ade jual yang dah siap direbus, frozen dan di-pek. yang dah siap digoreng pun ade.

kat bahagian kanan kedai pulak ade tempat pemprosesan kepok lekor. macam kat dlm gamba tu dia tgh merebus kepok lekor. pakai kayu bara lagik ... tu yang buat sedap tu. brader ni sporting aa, siap senyum lagi mase kitaorang nak snap gamba


ni pulak kaunter kalau sape nak bli keropok lekor rebus in bulk. ade option kalau korang nak vacuum ke tak packaging korang tu. kalau vacuum, tahan lama sket, takde lah berlendir dan cepat basi. tp ade extra charge sket lah.

kitaorang beli yang dah siap goreng as well as mini rebus pastu plan nak dating tepi pantai teluk ketapang sambil makan keropok lekor. okey gak la, lepak situ ptg2, altho aritu panas sket tapi kitaorang tgk ramai betul orang lepak2 situ takpun kayuh beskal fixie. mcm lawak je kan beskal fixie ni.


sedap gakla keropok lekor btb ni. kalau tanye mon, dia ckp biasa-biasa je ... nak kata byk ikan, tak jugak, byk jugak tepung dia letak. tapi pwincess suke sos cecah keropok lekor btb ni. dap. dah sudah tu, kitaorang saje g leisure driving around KT. singgah masjid tengku tengah zaharah untuk snap-snap gamba.

tenang je tgk kan

Day 4 - 16th September 2011

yeay, arini ari malaysia!

masjid kristal during day time

training encik mon pun dah habes. lagila ligat nak berjalan nih. kitaorang sbnrnye dah plan nak g pasar payang lepas checkout riyaz, and then from there either terus ke KB atau balik je KL. tapi terkojot tengok pasar payang boleh lak tutup aritu .... adeh. punah plan. huhu. oleh kerana pwincess ni nak jugak singgah pasar payang ni pasal nak shopping batik terengganu, makanya kitaorang buat ad hoc plan untuk check in nearby hotel untuk semalam. setelah dirisik dan direcki, hotel yang kelihatan sensible pada mata kitaorang ialah grand continental tapi masalahnye, penuh lak. alaaaah. next, gi la tanye ming paragon lak. penuh jugak! dengan budak-budak rombongan sekolah. alahai. mencik tau. last-last ade la kosong satu-dua bilik je kat ming star hotel. hotel ni 2 star kot ... cokia gak la ... tapi demi nak merembes duit beli batik terengganu, pasrah je lah. dari hotel ni, kalau jalan kaki ke pasar payang dlm 15 min je, kalau korang naik kete adelah dalam 2-3 minit. boleh la ... convenient la jugak.

Lepas checkin, kitaorang g isi perut kat secret recipe. saje nak upkan balik mood since pasar payang tu tutup. lepas dah ok tu ... pwincess ajak mon g kompleks batik noor arfa lak. adehhh ... sekali lagi kami kuciwa. dia tutup!!! kul 6 dah tutup. kitaorang sampai macam kul 6.05pm gitu.. sedeyy tau. dah macam tu, on the way dari kompleks tu nak balik ke otel, kitaorang singgah lah kedai keropok lekor 007 yang penah glamer satu ketika dulu. saje beli nak buat comparison. hehe.

dah sudah tu ... ronda ronda lagi ... oh bosan gak la ... last2 kitaorang decide nak dinner kat luar. kata orang, kalau nak makan seafood sedap, g lah kat area pantai batu burok/kuala ibai. to be specific bawah jambatan. and then, kitaorang thought ade satu diner ni la yang dimaksudkannya. turun la ... baru je usha ikan-ikan fresh ... sekali mata kitaorang dah nmpk dari jauh ade satu lagi tempat yang lagi happening. tengok nye tengok .. terpikir jap, caner nak g belah sana eh. takkan nak tanye kedai ni pulak. competitor la katakan. last2 kitaorang pun figure out sendiri lah. cari dalam gps, boleh tak jupe position kedai tu. adelah dekat 100 kali (exaggerate!) kitaorang drive kulu kilir turun naik jambatan yang sama ... and last2 ... jumpa jugak!! nama tempat tu medan ikan bakar selly kuala ibai.

gps coordinate : 5 deg 16' 45" N 103 deg 10' 5" E

sotong kat sini besarrrr sgt! kitaorang ordered sup sayur, ikan bakar and sotong celup tepung. sdap gile sotong celup tepung dia tp sos out.

Terrific Terengganu - Part 2

Day 2 : 14th September 2011

After Encik Mon came back from his training, we drove to ICT Pok Long (5 deg 23.1980'N, 103 deg 06.7783'E) ... haaa ... ni bukan ICT yang tekno tekno tuh ... tapi Ikan Celup Tepung. nama je ikan celup tepung tapi not limited to ikan sajo ... ade ketam dan udang gak. kedai ni tutup awal tau, kul 730 dah tutup. Khabarnya kedai ni best giler ... artis pun ramai buat pit stop kat sini ... so kita pun nak gak la try ape yang best kat sini. Sini rupenya dia buat mcm buffet style ... lepas dah goreng-goreng tu, they serve atas dulang kat depan counter and customers are free to angkut banyak mana they desire ... pastu q untuk bayar.

ni la nye kedai ICT yang femes tu

buffet style

we took a bit of everything

My personal verdict?

Biasa je.

serious, biasa sangat.

tatau apa yang special sangat sampai artis datang makan dan orang semua highly recommend. goreng2an adalah sejuk pasal serve atas dulang mcm tu dan dibiarkan saje ... bumbu dia pun so-so ... but i think kalau dia serve panas-panas upon customer's order, maybe kot sedap ...

After tu, kitaorang drive leisurely along pantai teluk ketapang ... and then pergi taman tamadun islam and masjid kristal.

and last sekali, kitaorang drive jauh sket untuk dinner. ni kawan encik Mon yang recommend this place.

it's called NR Seafood Village

ramai orang datang sini and the place is at pantai batu rakit

kat sini jugak pwincess fes time makan sup belut (!)

wowww...tak kusangka ku sanggup makan ikan belut selain daripada unagi sushi yang langsung takde rupa belut tuh ... kikikih
rasa dia? sedap gilerrr ... !!!
sup belut semangkuk kecik sorang makan rm7.00

food kat NR seafood village ni, boleh tahan sedap rasanya. we ordered ikan kerapu masak pedas, kailan ikan masin, tomyam and sup belut that night. harga makanan kat restoran ni ikut harga macam kat KL tapi portion size lagi kecik daripada portion size KL. so conclusionnya ialah ... mahal sket ahh...sesapa nak pi sini, ni hah GPS coordinate : 5 deg 25.8915'N, 103 deg 04.0319'E ... landmark ialah tepi pantai and next to it is tanah perkuburan ... huhuhu

Terrific Terengganu - Part 1

Hooray! I can at last upload my hols pictures!

Day 1 : 13 September 2011

We drove to KT on the 13th September 2011 and on the way, we stopped by at Temerloh to get a dose of to-die-for Pak Usop's Ikan Patin as posted here in 2010 but when we got there around 12.30pm, we were informed that the first batch of lauk ikan patin just finished and they were cooking the second batch and needed probably another half an hour ... so we decided to try out the restaurant next to Pak Usop. From my earlier readings, this restaurant gets a few good reviews as well. tapi beb, tak sedap lah kedai ni. harga ikan lagi mahal dari Pak Usop, we can't choose our fav parts, and the taste is kurang kaw.

Moving on, kitaorang singgah Mesra Mall, saja round-round. Do you know that ppl from as far as KT would drive to Mesra Mall just to go to cinemas? The journey is somewhat 2.5 hours!

And bila dah masuk area between Kerteh and Kuala Terengganu, along the way tu we can see lots of sellers selling jagung madu .... tepi jalan kiri dan kanan. Then drive a bit more you can see Roti Paung Panas stalls pulak ... then Keropok Lekor stalls.


And finally, we arrived at our destination ... Riyaz Heritage Resorts and Spa would be our accommodation for the next few days. It's situated di Pulau Duyung Besar. Hotel ni kan .... cantik sangat sangat! 5 stars ... chalet style. tapi dari one's chalet kalau nak menapak ke dining hall ... berpeluh gak lah ... pasal jauh. Registration was a breeze but the place did seem a bit isolated ... sunyi sepi ... tapi kata receptionist tu, Riyaz ni memanjang je penuh kalau musim cuti sekolah ... i think that might be true, nak-nak lagi, bile dah ada annual event Monsoon Cup tu kan ...

our room

interior
jamban - best tau, dia ade another section yang ade power shower tu jugak, tak snap gambaqtempat layan perasaan

dining place - dapat free breakfast for two

cun seh ...

Then malam tu kitaorang saja drive g Teluk Ketapang ... kat tepi pantai tu ade a few tempat makan ... pasal tak sempat nak google mana tempat sedap kan, kitaorang pun gamble je la makan kat kedai makan next to Kedai ICT Haji Pok Long. We ordered sup sayur, pari celup tepung and sotong celup tepung. pari dia comel je ... untuk 1 portion. anak pari ke apa. tapi nak habaq, kedai ni sedap and murah masakan dia ... i guess tempat2 makan lain semuanya murah kecuali kat KL je lah. betui tak?

Steamed Salmon/Salmon Kukus

We have been meaning to eat salmon. But everytime we resolute to eat this baby, we get invited to eat elsewhere. murah rezeki ? Alhamdulillah .... syukur :)

And today Encik Mon is away for outstation ... and guess who get the honour to cook and savour the yumminess of this salmon.... ? Yup. It's princess on board ... heheheh.

I just cooked it as simple as possible. Since it's for 1 portion, it's even simpler. See below :

1 clove garlic
1 shallot
about 1 cm ginger
1 small stalk of lemongrass
2 Thai/bird's eye/any kind of hot chilli
a bit of lime juice
1/2 teaspoon of corn flour
1/2 teaspoon of corn oil
a dash of salt
a dash of knorr ikan bilis

1. Clean the fish
2. Spread all the ingredients all over the fish
3. Steam until it is cooked

Should put torch ginger/ginger flower (bunga kantan), kaffir lime leaves and coriander leaves tapi takde dalam stok laa .. but it's ok, sedap jugakkkk :)

On another note, I am really stumped of why I am unable to upload my cuti-cuti pictures, but other than that, I am able to upload. Misteri nusantara sungguh.

stresssss ... rase nak tarik rambut :(

hajat di hati nak hapdet blog pasal cuti-cuti bebaru nih ... tapi alkisahnya, dah berhari-hari lah cuba hapdet tapi internet mcm ampehhhh .... kat opis, mmg dah takyah cakap la kan, takleh nak bukak blog ... guna yes, lembab ... guna unifi lembab ... guna streamyx punnnn lembab. kang lama-lama kalu ... ade yang malas nak hapdet blog camnihhhh