The Day My Mascara Gone Before Reaching Office

My heart sank tis morning listening to the Fly.fm while driving to office...

You see.. to those who don't know, Fly.fm got tis program 'Fix It' where people call the radio to share their problem and Phat Fab and Ruben (the DJ) will try to fix it... all kind of problems.. gaduh wit housemate laa, masalah gemuk laa, kena marah boss la... u get the picture.

But today is different. A mother called up and her problem is her daughter, Lina. U see, Lina is 9 year old and just lost her father 3 months ago. Eversince, she's been very upset and always angry with her mom.

The mom didn't know that dat all this while, Lina and her father always go out spent time together like go to the park and drink teh tarik and stuff. The father was her was bestest friend. How the mother didn't realized this is somewat puzzling me, must be one very 'busy' woman. Anyway, the father made many promises to Lina like bringing the family pegi holiday laa etc etc. And then the father died of heart attack recently at the age of 42.

Since then Lina is constantly acting up at home, especially towards the little sis and mom. Mom couldn't handle the situation and the stress level, so the family went to a psychiatric . Still, Lina is angry. She must be desperate to share her problem over the national radio, but I don't mind listening to tis one coz it's so touching....

Lina have a very cute voice, but very articulate for a 9 year old.

Wen Ruben (the DJ) asked why she's upset with mummy, she said mummy is so busy wit work and she always get scolded by her even if it was her lil' sister yang buat salah. And she told him "I have so many frens at school but in my heart I have none". Tis is where i started crying...

She would love it if mummy can bring her to USA for the school holiday.

Then the mother, listening to the whole conversation at the other side interject...

"But how can we afford to go to US, sayang?"

"But abah promise?"

"Yeah, but things are different now, u know dat rite?"

The rest of the conversation become blurr coz I was busy crying and reaching for the tissue.

We know dat now the family having only single income, it's harder (maybe) impossible to fulfill those promises made by the father.

But, how can you make a 9 year old understand that?

I countinued crying until I reached the office.

Itu laa... my mom said jangan ketawa banyak sangat, nanti nangis...

True enuff, I've been having too much fun (and laughter) this week. U see, my chabie is away on 1 week course so to avoid feeling lonely and emotional I filled my days goin out and shopping. Yesterday itself, while someone was supposed to be on-duty at Parliament and the other one supposed to be in a meeting... they went mall hopping instead rushing for Coach sales!

Pavillion->The Garden->KLCC

Waiting in line in anticipation...

Muka mereka-mereka yang excited!

Muka bahagia....

And on a happy note, I give birth to these lil' babies....

Grow my baby, grow!

I'm taking my veggiemania into another level by planting my own... A bit disorganize tho cos now I dunno which one is tomato, sawi, or cili... main baling ja.

Happy weekends everyone!

The Beginning of Everything...

Isn't it beautiful?

Updates:

Sorry people for the entry 'tergantung', I wanted to write something but I have to rush back. Anyway, the character is actually 'bismillahirahmanirrahim'.

I got it from Yasmin Ahmad's blog. I met her once at Topshop One-Utama... she asked me in cantonese whether I was waiting in line to pay. Tho I looked like cina bukit but I speak very little of the language (better than mandarin and I'm also buta huruf ok!) but I managed to reply yes to her. Then she continue yapping in cantonese and I have to stop her and said "I don't really speak cantonese". She was kindda shocked and said "sorry, you are not chinese?"

I replied "no, I'm Malaysian" and we both laughed.

I'm not really her die hard fan (I still don't understand Gubra), but her muvi is unique compared to those cerita berunsurkan rempit (bikes and car alike) or guling-guling ala bollywood macam Anak Mami or cerita hantu which looked like perca kain. So kudos to her...

And NO, I'm not pregnant!

The Oink Oink Issue

I tried to blog straight from the lobby of Parliament while on duty lastnite. But the WiFi there is so not friendly, kejap-kejap ilang... mcm MP juga.

We received a forwarded e-mail yesterday about kemusykilan dat Nandos is using 'pure bristle' as the brush in their food preparation. According to the e-mail, pure bristle is made from bulu hog laa, so i checked on www for further clarification... hopefully yang menyedapkan hati coz i'm in denial dat one of my fav food is 'contaminated'. However, I found nothing explaining the difference between bristle, pure bristle or natural bristle...

My sis also questioning my BeneFit Dandelion blusher brush coz it's white and oh-so-soft (btw yang, if you are reading this adalah sangat tidak adil to show off your brand new Tod's bag to me... binci! I'm getting my Chloe Paddington.. don't care, huh!). Cemas ok, but I did my checking and its actually made from goat's hair (fur?). Phewwww...

So if you guys have some info on how to differenciate these thingie... pls pls pls share with me so I can share with the concerned muslim consumer. All I know is pigskin or brush from hog's fur are the softest and comfort-est in the world... hehehe!

This remind me of an sms from a gud fren the other day:

“Jie, ko mau ka brand new blvgari bag husband aku beli dari NY? Dia nda perasan baa bag tu pigskin lining. Alaa... knowing u, I’m sure you don’t mind”

Hahahaha... Maybe it appeared like I don't mind, but I do actually. Cannot imagine berguling-guling atas tanah menyamak seluruh badan after setiap pemakaian.

Mental note: Must check my wardrobe for the three dots, just in case...

The Surirumah Separuh Masa Part II

This is how I enjoyed my weekend bersama suami terchenta... before scouting for houses again (updates: we saw a few and decided we want a property with good investment value so we can sell if off and get profit)

And I dedicate tis recipe to Wewen coz these are the food we love to order whenever we have the chance in between shopping maddness... miss our main try2 baju session :(

The Recipe

1. Udang Goreng Kunyit
2. Kerabu Mangga
3. Kangkung Belacan (well... sort of)


Udang Goreng Kunyit (Cooking time: 10 mins)

Bahan-bahan:

• Udang (we got the freshest udang, courtesy from hasben hobby) - belah belakang to remove the poop

• Rempah kunyit
• Curry powder
• Garlic
• Corn flour
• Salt
  

Method:

1. Marinate the udang with all the ingredient (put tepung last), wait 10 mins then goreng

Senang kan?

Kerabu Mangga (oh-so-senang)

Bahan-bahan

• Mangga muda
• Cili padi
• Bawang merah (big)
• Limau
• Bunga kantan (refer to the pic if u don't know how it looks like)
• Sotong kering/ udang kering (whichever u prefer)
• Garam and gula

Method:

1. Cincang mangga ala kung fu fighther
2. Goreng the sotong/ udang kering and put aside
3. Hiris bawang, cili, bunga kantan
4. Campur semua (save a lil bit of the Sotong/ udang), perah limau, put garam and gula. Use the extra sotong/ udang for garnishing.

Tadaa.....

Kangkung Belacan Chinese-style (Cooking time: 4 mins)

Bahan-Bahan

• Kangkung la of course

• Bawang merah and bawang putih
• Cili merah
• Belacan (optional, I go without kerana hasbenku ada Sinus)
• Kicap cair
• Minyak Bijan
• Garam
  

Method:

1. Tumbuk bawang together with cili and belacan (if any), tumis sampai garing then masuk kangkung, kicap garam and few drops of minyak bijan. Siap!

(if u like the kangkung to be glossy like those in restaurant, they put a bit gula in the oil before u tumis the bawangs)

All recipe are from Mummy dearest, she's my best 'recipe book'. Mom taught us how to cook since sekolah rendah and paksa us belajar menjahit... "at least mesti pandai jahit hemline and jahit butang". These are good strategy to increase the hantaran money hahahaha....

Seriously, where would I be without my mama?

Whenever I'm in trouble or feeling down, she would call... all the time! Dats the miracle we called mother's instinct... no matter how big is the South China Sea.

Hearing her voice heals the pain...

If I could only be the half of she is...

Mama, Jiejie love u!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

The Next Big Step

It’s day 7 of the house-hunting spree…

Feeling exhausted and excited.

I’m kindda reluctant to leave my current apartment, its so convenient since its practically berjiran with Giant Bandar Puteri, opposite the highway got huge Tesco (remember my groceries shopping addiction… belum sober lagi), my beautician and spa is 5 mins away, so as my jinjangjane hairdresser, semua jenis bank ada, semua jenis fastfood, I got membership at practically all d clinics in the area... u get my point.

But we have to move… when we merged our things, my lil' apartment can’t seem to accommodate everything (who need 3 golf sets, God knows!).

Hence, it has been decided… we need a bigger place.

Our so-called dream house would cost us RM1.9m. We just sit in the car and stare at the house wit awe… almost drooling.

Next...

The second ‘dream house’ cost around 800k… but the finishing is to die for. Example, the washroom basin is like those posh baliness design and d rooms are so spacious! It's definitely off our budget, our combine loan only entitles us a maximum of 720k house… plus we not planning to invest into something dat expensive yet...

So scrap dat option also...

Demmit laa... who knew shopping can be tis hard?

Then… we found the house dat could be the one and it is still on the budget, a brand new unit with all these features:

• Gated community ready (with perimeter fencing and guard house) and 24-hour security


• Security alarm system


• Motion detector light


• Automated gate


• Water filtration system providing clear water for the entire house


• Long bath for master bathroom


• Vanity top for master bathroom
  

Andddd………………

• A small Pergola at patio garden area (Me wuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv)
  

Somethg like tis… but smaller (I heart heart heart…)

But unfortunately I read some bad review about the house from the forum on the net. Plus, Eddy said it’s kindda small….

I guess we gonna have to keep looking :(

Today I came to the office with a twisted (terpeleot) ankle akibat berjalan2 sesuka hati di construction site to check another show house. I know my hasben trying his best not to laugh, which made me more sakit hati...

“I tell u bie, if u laugh I sure gonna cry and make a scene...”

Ok laa… back to my lil’ cosy apartment… Tonite I'm cooking new recipe.

The Surirumah Separuh Masa...

I will blog about my most-expensive-Birthday-Bash-ever one of these days... still waiting for my pixies from the beloved photographer.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to become isteri mithali and cook daily for my hubby in an attempt to increase his weight and mencapai berat badan unggul (actually i'm jeles wit his supermodel body so i'm sabotaging him). The recipe is ayam masak kurma and of course my fav veggie dish bak choy wit mushroom.

Baiklah puan-puan, sudahkan anda bersedia dengan pen dan kertas? Berikut adalah bahan-bahannya...

Ayam Kurma (cooking time: 20 min)

Bahan-bahan:

• Ayam bogel (skinless)


• Rempah kurma (make it into paste i'e add lil water to avoid hangus)
  
  


• Bunga lawang and kayu manis



• Bawang putih and bawang merah (semua kenal kan? x payah la letak gambar)


• Santan (reduced - a cup will do)


• Ginger
  
• Potatoe
  
• Cili hijau
  
• Big yellow onion

• Garam, gula and ajinamoto (optional)
  

Sorry la I don't provide the exact matrix punya measurement (kilo, gram tablespoon etc), all based on 'secukup rasa instinct' aka main hentam ja la...


Steps:

1. Potong ayam kecil2... since only 2 of us a whole thigh is enuf
2. Tumbuk bawang putih n merah (tips: masakan is more yummy when u tumbuh/ giling d bahan2 vs. blender coz the 'bruising' brings up d flavor)
3. Then tumis d bawangs, add the rempah paste and bunga lawang+kayu manis and ginger


4. Add some water, garam, gula and ajinomoto (optional)


5. Wait till boiling then add d santan (its so convenient to use the kotak one, but its a bit sweet... my case i have to use the real santan coz yg dalam kotak sudah abis lorr. To those yang konon2 health conscious, gunakan la susu rendah lemak.. tp d taste agar emm.. tidak sinfully sedap)
   


6. Boil.. boil.. boil (don't get distracted wit TV like i did)


7. Lastly add potatoe, onion and cili hijau

Tadaa..... (gamba adalah blur... sorry!)

Second recipe..

Bak Choy wit Straw Mushroom (cooking time: 2 min)

Bahan-bahan:

• Organic Bak Choy
• Straw Mushroom
• Garlic
• Oyster sauce
• Lil bit salt
• Cili padi (coz i married a N9 boy!)
  

Steps:

Fry garlic, add mushroom, oyster sauce, stir stir stir..... add bak choy, salt to taste and cili... DONE!!!!

Gosh... I can eat tis dish hari2 beb...

Sekian sahaja recipe saya pada hari ini... semoga kita berjumpa lagi di minggu hadapan

Tata...