Closing the chapter for year 2012

This is by far, the best way to close this year's chapter.  Was not really in a good mood today, especially after a few phone calls.  Someone informed that due to the reasons given, I might not be able to be at the new place as planned, it might drag till mid next year. 

Then somehow, miracles do happen.  Out of nowhere, someone send me an official letter, stating what I have been hoping for so long.  Alhamdulillah, terima kasih Allah kerana memudahkan urusan ku hari ini.  Serasa seperti nak buat sujud syukur aje tadi...After I managed to calm down and convince myself that this is really true, terus ler share the "good news" with my colleagues......

If you really ask me how I feel now, I would say, I'm glad that the waiting game is over.  I finally know where I stand and what to expect.  I would be lying if I say I'm not gonna miss my current position.  But we do need to step out of our comfort zone, try to take new challenges and seize all opportunities that cross our path.

Looking back, now I know things happen for a reason, that only He knows.  If not because of the incident before Hari Raya Puasa, I might still be comfortable doing what I'm doing now, regardless of people telling me that it is such a waste for someone with a degree (in Finance especially) to be doing a secretarial work.  In a way, I'm grateful that it happened, now I understand why she's the chosen one to not receive the bags (man plans, God decides)....though I do feel sorry for the other 2 colleagues who were also blamed and penalised together with me.

Thank you 2012 for moulding me to be who I am today....welcome 2013, hope to bring more positive vibes and energy to all of us....

Wishing you a very Happy New Year....and all the best for year 2013!!

For the love of chocolate

Aishah, thanks a lot for the lovely Thornton's Chocolate.  This is by far, the best choc I've ever tasted.  Lain2 brand, I tak berapa favour tau.  Kalau dpt dark choc with marzipan filling pun lagi malatops.....

Post Christmas - Pre Farewell Lunch



First of all, this is not a planned Farewell Lunch.  Actually, BB was in Subang and there's urgent documents that need her signature.  Earlier, we have arranged for one of the staff to meet her in Subang but out of sudden, BB asked us to join her in Subang. 

After making a few arrangements, the 4 of us headed to Subang for lunch, oh yes, together with the stacks of documents.  We headed to Citta Mall as the place is relatively new to us and of course, easy to get parking.

We had our lunch in Bubba Gump as we wanted to try their food.  We had fun eating and chatting in a very informal environment.

Talking about the food, the food there is ok but for me, it's a bit pricey.  Personally, if given a choice, I would rather have my meal at Chilli's.

Motif sesangat kan??

Our drinks.....again, motif sesangat tema minuman ku??

Our lunch - sharing basis coz the portion is hugeeee

our lunch too....

Our dessert - free for all concept

Me.  Happy sesangat coz dah kenyang....

X'mas cum Pre-Farewell pressie....thank you santarina...

Birthday Celebration for December Babies

We had a small birthday celebration for December Babies this morning for the three of them - Aida, Muna and Hawa.  It is a potluck makan2, which everyone did bring one or two types of food for the celebration.

I prepared my egg sandwich since it is easy to make.  Food was  a plenty, and they continued having their lunch in the office.

To December babies, happy birthday, stay cute and may God bless you always......Sayang korang 10 menet yek.....hehehe

The scene

December babies

My egg sandwich

Jalan2 Cari Makan - 17 Disember 2012

For the love of travelling and food, we decided to take leave on 17 December 2012.  We headed up north, Kuala Kangsar to be more specific.  Reason being is because during our first trip there, we didn't have the chance to sample some of the food highly recommended by other bloggers.  Actually, I kinda like the place there, small, quiet town with no major traffic jam.  Life is so relaxing and calm there.

We reached Kuala Kangsar just in time for lunch.  First stop, we had our 1st lunch at Gerai Yeop Helmi, famous for its Patin Masak Tempoyak and Ikan Sungai Bakar.  As mentioned by the locals, I do agree that the Patin Masak Tempoyak is really superb.  The first sip of the gravy, you could taste that the ingredients used are made to prefection, not too sour, not too hot - just nice and it blends.

Gerai Yeop Helmi at Lembah, Kuala Kangsar

Patin Masak Tempoyak.  Though to some, it might look and smell a bit disguisting, but to tempoyak lovers, this is heaven!

After a quick, or shall I say, brief lunch, we then took a stroll by the river.  The weather was ok and hence, we decided to do some photo session there. 

After the photo session, we then headed to the famous coffee shop, Yut Loy.  This coffee shop is famous as this is the place for the MCKK students to hang out.  Yut Loy also is well known for its delicious-yeast free pau.

We ordered hainanese chicken chop, Meat on Toast, chicken and kaya pau.  One thing I notice is that the kaya used in the kaya pau is homemade and one could taste the ginger generously added into the kaya.  The chicken chop is cooked to prefection, so does the Meat on Toast.  I suspected that the meat is fried with marmite first before ended up being put on the toasted bread.  The kaya is nice, it is fluffy and full of flavours.

From top:  Hainanese Chicken Chop, Kaya Pau and Meat on Toast

Kaya pau

We were really full by the time we left Yut Loy.  We then headed back to Lembah to tapau some laksa to take home.  The famous laksa there is Laksa Pak Ngah.  Unfortunately, it is only available in the form of take away.  They wont serve the laksa there.  I personally regretted for buying only one pack of the RM10.00.  It is really delicious, full of flavours and one could not stop of having more and more laksa after the first bite.

Laksa Pak Ngah.  It comes in a package of RM5.00 and RM10.00.  The only difference is the qualtity of the noodles in each package.



After buying back the laksa, we headed straight home.  We reached Sepang around 7:30 p.m.  Though it's tiring, we have to admit that we did enjoy ourselves this time round.  Hope to be able to arrange another session soon....

Sessi Jelajah Dapur - 25 Disember 2012

Memandangkan today is public holiday and hari nie rumah "full house", I've decided to prepare something special for lunch.  Bukan selalu "full house" nie.  So, bersempena dengan tema Christmas, lunch was prepared ala-english style...(katanya, tapi presentation wise, very the Malaysian style...hehehe).

Today, we prepared roasted chicken with brown gravy, grilled lamb chop with black pepper sauce, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, buttered rice and grilled fish.  Dasaton sungguh lunch ini hari.

Preparation was done as early as 10:30 a.m.  Masa tu ler baru terkial2 nak pergi cari ayam, tak mau beli yesterday sebab tak fresh katanya....

Roasted Chicken

Grilled lamb chop

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ....

Roasted Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

My Plate

Our lunch

Sessi Jelajah Dapur - 16 December 2012

Sekarang kan memang tengah musim durian, so kat rumah nie, memang ler ada stok tempoyak.  Tempoyak ni pun buat sendiri, tak suka yang beli punya coz most of the time, depa dah campur dgn benda2 bukan durian seperti pisang masak, betik etc.  Dah tak authentic dah rasa tempoyak tu and most of the time, tak tahan lama.

Rumah nie, kalau ada tempoyak, maka pasti ler buat sambal merah tempoyak tu.  Cili yang digunakan pun dimesin sendiri ye, tak mau gunakan cili giling yang dijual di kedai.  So, pada hari Ahad lepas, memang dah sampai seru untuk buat sambal merah. 

Sambal nie enak dimakan bersama nasik panas, kalau ada ikan goreng, fuyooo, dah kira cukup lengkap lar tu.  Ada yang mengatakan juadah nie adalah juadah tradisi masyarakat mendailing, tapi aku sendiri pun tak sure pasal tu.  Yang penting, masak dan makan....hehehe.

Sambal Merah Tempoyak - fresh from the stove



Jalan2 Cari Makan: 15 December 2012

Another delayed entry.  Tetiba aje rasa macam malas nak update blog walaupun banyak cerita yang nak dikongsi bersama.

Ok, pada 15 December 2012 hari tu, ada ler org nak belanja dinner, nak meraikan belated besday katanya.  So, off we went to dont know where.  Adik aku sendiri pun tak nak bagitau ke mana arah tujuan kami walaupun diasak dgn persoalan itu berkali2.  Suka hati ngko ler labu, janji boleh makan kan.....

So, we ended up somewhere in Sungai Buloh.  Ye, giler kentangkan sikit punya jauh nak pergi makan. 

Nama restoran tu Tree Steak House.  Bermacam jenis hidangan ada dijual di situ.  Kami pun order Black Pepper Lamb Chop, Oriental Chicken Chop, Kuey Tiaw Goreng dan Fish and Chips.

Overall, the western food are ok.  Kuey Tiaw Goreng dia so-so aje...I've tasted much better fried kuey tiaw elsewhere.  Pricing wise pun ok gak.  Maybe there's gonna be a second visit but tak ler dalam masa terdekat nie.

Tree Steak House

Oriental Chicken Chop

Black Pepper Lamb Chop

Fish & Chips

Home Made Mushroom Soup

Fried Kuey Tiaw

Sessi Jelajah Dapur - Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Bila dah sampai rumah quite early, maka ada lar yg request nak makan home made mushroom soup and garlic bread.  Ok, proceed to cook walau pun dalam hati memang badan terasa penat sangat.

Home made garlic bread....waiting be dipped into the soup

Home made mushroom soup...semalam punya dah abis, tu yg ada request stok baru

alhamdulillah atas rezeki dinner malam nie



.....and Kakak is 6

Today is Kakak's birthday.  Lucky devil, her birthdate is the same dgn Sultan Selangor.  Asal birthday dia aje, the whole state cuti....hehehe.

As always, I've been busy in the kitchen dari jam 1:30 petang.  We did a small makan2 for her birthday, as she will be having the party together with her mom.  Her mom's birthday is on the 6 while she is on the 11, so biarlah celebrate sama2.

So, for the party today I've prepared strawberry dadih, homemade cheesey wedges, fruit cocktail with jelly, egg sandwich, mushroom soup and fried mee hoon.  Tah dari mana dapat energy sebanyak tu as I managed to finish cooking before 5 p.m.

To Kakak, selamat hari lahir, moga panjang umor, murah rezeki dan sentiasa diberkati Nya.  Jangan nakal2, dengar cakap org tua and belajar rajin....

Egg Sandwich

Fried mee hoon and kicap with cut red chillies

Dadih and fruit cocktail

The birthday cake

The birthday girl....

View from my workstation

There are times whereby I appreciate the view from my workstation.  Bila hari panas terik, normally my workstation would be verrry bright dgn the natural light.  I lovee it when it happens.  Rasa macam keje kat oversea lak....bright sunlight but the temperature is below 20 degrees......

Hello sunshine.....

We'll wait till the storm is over.....

Psst!!!!! You wanna know something....

Some things are better left unsaid and remain as a secret.  Honestly speaking, till today I can't get over it.  I can't handle and deal with it alone hence I told someone whom I can really trust about it.

What can I say??  Looks can be deceiving, it tends to give us the wrong impression and it is misleading......

Nota kaki:  Nasib baik aku cuma menghitung hari aje di sini, kalau idak, maunyer aku amek unpaid leave setahun.....muahahahaah

Kenduri Pulut Kuning

Tajuk yg sgt propa.....hahahah.  The time has finally come...alhamdulillah.  Datang tak dijemput, pergi tak dihalau....sendiri mau hengat ye......

Nota kaki:  Insya allah, ada ler kenduri pulut kuning tak lama lagi.....

The Finale

Officially, this will be the final event, organised by me.......

Post Trans Peninsular Hunt - Part 3 (end)

We reached Butterworth around 2:10 p.m.  After isi minyak keter, we then straight away shoot to the highway.  Traffic was quite heavy but still moving. 

After much debate and hesitation, we exited at Kuala Kangsar.  Yelah, mula2 ingat nak exit kat Jelapang so that we could proceed to look for Nasi Ganja.  Tapi disebabkan masing2 dah kelaparan, keluar kat Kuala Kangsar aje ler. 

Tujuan ke Kuala Kangsar adalah untuk makan di kedai kopi Yut Loy yg femes dan sinonim dgn MCKK ittew....tapi sebelum tu, sempat berpusing2 lagi utk sight seeing kat Bandar Diraja itu....

Masjid (sorry, tak ingat namanye) at Bukit Chandan

Istana Lama (tak ingat pulak ler namanya)

One of the old collenial bungalows at Bukit Chandan.  Cantik dan sangat2 menarik perhatian kami

Mungkin semalam hari nasib tak berapa baik bagi kami.  Kedai Kopi Yut Loy pun tutup gak...kuciwa nokssss....Kitaorg then decided that better ikut jalan lama dan keluar kat area Ipoh...who knows, ada tempat2 makan along the way yang kitaorg blh singgah.

Lepas Kuala Kangsar, jeng, jeng, jeng....kitaorg lalu pekan Sg. Siput (U).....Dulu, arwah pakcik aku pernah tinggal di Taman Okid.  Quiet town and kitaorg pun stopover ler kat satu kedai makan berhadapan dgn Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Sg. Siput.  Beggars cant be chooser, right?  So, kami makan aje lar, and the food is ok.

Selepas tu, kami meneruskan perjalanan melalui pekan Chemor, dan exit kat Bercham.  Masuk highway balik dan terus ke arah KLIA.  Sepanjang2 jalan tu, asyik traffic jam aje....sib baik aku tak drive, yg kesian si Neena ler....aku sempat tido, bangun dan tido balik tapi still tak sampai2....

Kami turunkan neena kat hentian USJ seblm heading towards our office.  Overall, it is a good trip.....dapat menjelajah ke tempat2 yg jarang kita kunjungi....Hopefully, we would be able to do it again in the future....

Sg Siput (U), here I come.....

The hunter's crew, team Garudadaku...Oh Yeah!!

Post Trans Peninsular Hunt - Part 02

The next morning, we woke up quite early.  Then we headed to the coffee house for light breakfast before checking out.  Itinerary dah ada dalam tangan, our plan is to go for a Jalan2 Cari Makan trip along the way heading back home.

Our first stop is at Chowrasta Market.  Saje2 join the crowd at the market.  Kami memborong jeruk2 di situ.  The most "in thing" now is jeruk madu pak ali....apa lagi, kitaorg pun borong yg itu ler.  Although it was hot, it didnt stop us from wondering around.

We then stopped to try the roti canai at Hameediya Restaurant.  Located at Campbell Street, word of caution though that parking may be a problem here.  Be prepared to park quite a distance from the location that you want to go.  Tapi mungkin rezeki kitaorg hari tu, we managed to find a parking space very close by to the restaurant. 

The roti canai here is superb.  They dont have the "roti canai biasa" here, they sell roti telur and murtabak.  Try order their roti telur and kuah kurma, you wont be disappointed.  The taste of the kuah kurma is simply superb, aku rasa depa guna rempah yg diadun dan dibuat sendiri....lain dari yg lain, cukup segala rasa rempah ratus nya....in short, you feel like drinking (I'm not kidding ya) the gravy itself.....

The gravy, kari and kurma...

Murtabak daging

Roti Telur

After the makan session, we wanted to buy the roti banggali at Mallia Bakery.  The thing is, I cant really recall the location of the bakery.  Ada kejadian lucu berlaku di sini.  Bayangkan ye, ada lar yang menggunakan khidmat GPS kat iPad, punya lar jauh direction yg diberi....berpeluh2 kitaorg berjalan, kalih2....the shop is so close by...kitaorg seumpama pusing satu tanjung baru mai bakery....wkakakakaka.  Memang kena kutuk ler GPS siapa tu.....

Roti banggali utk dibawa pulang -  fresh from the oven

Us and the rotis.....

Hajat di hati nak try the mee goreng sambal sotong tapi apakan daya, apabila kitorg sampai ke lokasi, gerai tersebut tutup.  I thought all the while the stall is open on a Sunday tapi tidak pada kali ini.....sob, sob, sob.....

Dari situ, kami terus ke arah jeti kerana ada ahli rombongan tak pernah naik ferry katanya....beratur jap dan baru ler dapat peluang naik..

Mari beratur tunggu feri

Bye2 Penang, till we meet again.....