Balik Kampung

Last Saturday Hubby was away till the wee hours for a football game in Kuala Pilah.. since we don't actually have anything planned for the weekends i decided to spend some quality time visiting relatives and be a good daughter + good supir to dear parents. It's been a while...actually lama la jugak.. my father has been asking me to take him to see Mak Cik Jah, my auntie who is bedridden because of a sudden stroke attack last year..

So off we went - grannies and 4 kiddies - to Morib where Mak Cik Jah is being taken care off by one of her sons..Before going to the house, we thought of making the kids happy sikit la and had a small picnic at Morib.. the beach (should I even call it a beach when it looked more like Sg Klang yang super berkerak and berkeladak) was like in the worse ever condition..kids were of course excited...ingat ala2 Redang or PD boley turun main sand castle ke apa... i was going like hell noooo!Duduk kat tepi makan keropok je sayang oiii..don't think the kids had that much fun apart from makan chips especially as I was screaming every 5 mins to stay away from the beach or the tembok..The stalls were quite sad looking also (lupa nak take pics) but the goreng pisang was so sedap...dah lama tak makan that kind of goreng pisang.. u know the ones yang manis+masam sket and lembik2... niceeee... kinda blasah sampai 6 pieces of goreng pisang... hehe

Why in the world did my Mama put me in Roxy t-shirt and brought me to this berkerak beach.. :p

Mak Cik Jah's son (Halim) stays in Kg Tali Air, Morib... a really nice kampung area.. the kids were more excited when they reached there than the beach... I am not sure what my cousin Halim really does but he has a kandang kambing with some gigantic kambings... cows... and also some buah kelapa sawit yang dah kena kait there as well.. so u can just imagine how jakun the kids were and the questions that I had to entertain.. :) ...

I spent a couple of minutes with Mak Cik Jah... can't really bring myself to be with her too long... made me so mellow.. :( she was all healthy the last I went to her house... could drive..active in Wanita UMNO and all... then suddenly she just could not walk,talk or do anything.. it's just lately that she could sort of react to people's voices and make sounds... I think my father could not bring himself to be there too long too.. so we were there for just a while..

3 kiddies so jakun kat kandang kambing Kg.Tali Air, Morib

Before going home we stopped at another 2 houses.. one was of my dad's very best friend..Cikgu Mahful.. been friends since gazillion years so it seems...so there were some jejak kasih moment...hehe


The last house was of Uncle Bahari..my uncle who lives in Banting...when we reached his house he just came back from cycling with his wife... so sweet.. Wife is really good in baking and used to bake me some yummy cream puffs if she comes to parents' house.. since that day was a surprise visit she only managed to give us some yummy kuih pau which the kiddies blasah la kat rumah..

Tiring Saturday... coz of the long journey.. but felt good that after so long I finally managed to make up for some lost times with parents and relatives... usually occupied with the kiddies.. kinda miss being their supir and spending long lunches/hi tea with them... so I hope this will do la for the moment...Nanti bonus can blanja holiday, maybe... :)

Eating vs cooking

Like I said..I've been eating and eating and eating...
This whole week has been like food testing week for me...

Lamb shank @ Full House

Brownies with ice-cream, Blueberry cheesecake and Black Forest @ Full House


Great discovery! Super Yummy Pavlova @ Alexis that would make you go OMG!

It's amazing how some people can prepare these kind of meals in a heartbeat.

I am rather ambitious when it comes to cooking but get disheartened easily if what I prepare don't go the way I expect it to be or don't get the kind of response that I would hope for from my 'customers'. Hence I have not been doing that much of cooking for many many moons already.

Tuna Potato Salad - tried this about 2 months ago

Ayam masak kicap and sambal tumis kentang - tried this 2 months ago

I guess as far as cooking is concerned, well it’s no secret that I am not a great cook. On the days that I would grab some onions or chillies from Mama's kitchen, Mama would go like...you wanna cook? Sure or notttttttt.... :p Yeah...I try laa… it would usually take me hours and hours to cook a simple dish sometimes because I need to look at the recipe and follow every single thing that it says to the core. So kalau ada resipi yang cakap ‘garam dan gula secukup rasa’, then I would go like WHAT THE HECCCCKKKK..cakap je la berapa sudu or berapa cubit..

These days, my level of cooking and experimenting recipes have been downgraded to cucur udang for breakfast, nasik goreng kampong for lunch and nuggets/french fries on weekends. However like any other great or not-so great cooks, I have my own specialty too - mashed potatoes… Yeappp…that’s Jiji’s specials.. I am sure glad that it is because I love everything potatoes. And mashed potatoes goes on the list to be one of my all time favourite foods.. maybe it is the softness of it that somehow gives me a sense of warmth, comfort and sheer pleasure... :)

I was looking at a blog for some recipes the other day and found this lovely quote by Nigella Lawson, British food writer, journalist and broadcaster.

" ...... there are times when only mashed potato will do.”

So yeah.. I think I should not be so frazzled about cooking. Not that I am going to cook mashed potatoes everyday laaa. But I should cook what I like and what my 'customers' would like to have. I should not be too ambitious. And should I fail in my cooking... well, fret not... just grab the car key and take the 'customers' elsewhere for good food... hehe..

Note: Next on cooking list - ikan siakap masak stim..

Soul cleansing

I have been told that I am just not myself lately. I feel the same too actually. I am ....... evolving?

I don't know if many would share the same views as I have. But I think over time people evolve..we may not change ourselves entirely.. but I guess we can't really avoid changing when we evolve or to put in simple term, when we age and go through some episodes in life.

Some changes may be positive to you but could be perceived negative to others and vice versa. If we have people who holds us close to their hearts for the person whom we were..then the change is even harder to accept. So I guess it is important to make these people understand the change. Hopefully in time they would be able to accept and be happy with the change.

Of course like we all know, no one is perfect and we can't make everybody happy. But the corny bit would be if there is acceptance for the person that you were then there would be some form of tolerance for the person that you have become, yes?

It could be the migraine or whatever today that made me sort of list down some of the stuff that I like and don't like about myself these days.

I think my take about soul searching is all wrong. It should have been soul cleansing instead.

I have so much of bitterness, crankiness and whatever crappy crappy crappy stuff in me... hence even the smallest thing could tick me off these days! And I end up hurting people who are important to me. Which is just not right.

There are times that what others feel is far more important than what you feel.

Evolving or changing should be for all the right reasons and towards being a better person.

If it is otherwise and you come to realize that you just don't like what you see in yourself, then hit the 'Pause' button...think real hard. No matter how bitter you are, even when you are thinking with your heart and mind, you should not lose your soul in the process. Hence, you would think twice and stop yourself from being a heartless ogre... :(

This is where I want to officially say sorry to those people that I've hurt in this process of evolving - parents, hubby, friends etc. I will pause and think when needed and I will resume to be the sweet angel that I was... (hehe..ok..ok..nyet don't puke..)

My soul cleansing process begins today (soothing saxaphone solo effect here) ... :)

Watch your thoughts, for they become words
Watch your words, for they become actions
Watch your actions, for they become habits
Watch your habits, for they become character
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny

Monday Blues

Mode of the day - Zombified
Reason - Sleepless and Restless till the wee hours
Theme song for today - Lazy Song, Bruno Mars
Time check - 11.30am
Objective of the day - To survive till end of day
Obstacles - Hungry.Possibly gonna be cranky. Piles of work on my desk.Tonnes of emails to reply. Overseeing the preparation for an event tomorrow.
What i need - a time machine and Sarah to entertain me with her antics.
What keeps me going - planning for the next holiday..

Hahaha..hancussss..asyik nak berjalan je..

Note to self: Have not wished or done anything for Mama. Hmm..

Budget Traveller goes home

I think I have basically covered all the places that I wanted to go to in SG except for Sentosa/Universal Studios. But at least (thanks to Yeen) I got to see USS from Vivocity. We almost hopped on the monorail to Sentosa but there were too many people.

It was a good retreat for me...with retail therapy included albeit being a budget traveller. Last minute pun sempat lagi grab some stuff at Vivocity. Shopping wise.. hmmm... I dunno.. told hubby that the best place to shop will always be Bandung la for me. But yeah... you wont be able to get the latest trend/fashion in Bandung lah.

Anyhoo... lessons learnt when in SG:
1. Ask if you dont know - malu bertanya sesat jalan. Pandai bertanya will save you some SGD.
2. Know when to walk away and when to make a comeback... ;)
3. If you are low on cash, for a free flow of coffee and nescafes, go to Marina Bay Sands.
4. Sup Tulang is a must try!
5. Take pleasure in walking and strolling especially at night.

Had a good time and huhuhu...a bummer la next week kena gi keje dahhh...

Yeen... thanks so much for taking me around and cooking the yummy nasik ayam walaupun ayam dia hitam. Sedap tuuu... :)

Next trip (if there is one) should be to USS and with the whole family! :)

With Yeen and lil' Afreen..cosy crib you have Yeen... nanti we all serang ramai2..you should have a guestbook for the TKC girls who have been to your crib.. hehe..

Some pampering for Budget Traveller

Fickle minded as usual.

From walking to Orchard...decided to take a bus... while waiting for the bus decided to just lepak at Marina Square...from coffee at Starbucks..decided to have coffee at a slightly posh coffee place called The Coffee Connoisseur.

Coffee and meal was just so-so... BUT the dessert was superb!

Dark chocolate cake+lava+vanilla ice cream+strawberries. Abis je rasa cam nak order lagi satu!

Some pampering for budget traveller over lunch = SGD 24

Dinner kena makan murtabak je nih..

Note to self: Despite being a touristry destination SG is not like KL..if you are a tourist, asking people to take a picture of you will make you feel uncomfortable or super weird.

These shoes are made for walking

I reached Singapore at about 10.30pm on Wednesday. The initial plan was to take a cab from Changi to Marina Mandarin (which is in Raffles Blvd, not Orchard Rd). I went to the info desk and asked how much is the cab fare to Marina. She said between SGD 25 -30..uiyyoo...that could be one cool blouse for me to grab at Orchard! So I asked if there is a bus to get there and she said I can take a shuttle that would drop me off in front of hotel at SGD 9 je!

I decided my game plan for Singapore is to ‘act,think,do – budget travelling’.. I’ve got to be calculative and think like Hj Bakhil.. hehe .. Well, this trip is more like a relaxing retreat anyway not so much to shop.

Marina Mandarin is a really nice luxury hotel right smack in between a couple of malls.. Room is not that big but there is a balcony and a good view of Singapore – especially as the amazing looking Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino can be seen from the room. The last I came to S’pore for work, I stayed at Conrad, just nearby Marina Mandarin. But there were not that many malls that time. I decided to brave myself for some window shopping at all nearby malls the next day.

5 minutes in Marina Square and I almost bought a SGD 40 blouse! Almost ajelah coz then I put on my calculator mode and letak balik the blouse.. hehe.. Think I walked no less than 10km and more than 5 hours in,out and around the malls..I love the dresses and shoes that they have here...When it comes to fashion I guess memang SG has it far better than KL.. tahan je like crazy looking at the cool stuff...nasib baik the blouses are mostly with ruffles and polka dots (haishh...not really my kind of thing)... the trend is back kot..

The damage in the end was just about SGD 40 in total... *applause* *applause*.. Got myself a designer blouse which I have always wanted and was on sale at SGD19.90 only!! And a pair of shoes which was just love at first sight for me and also on sale at SGD 19.90 only!!! Super duper worth braving through the 5 hours at 3 malls and be choosy. But I think I might end up buying some more shoes laa... susah mau tahan laaa... i am a sucker for strappy and lacey shoes... hard to find in KL but simply abundance with some really nice designs in SG!

Since Hubby raved so much about the Sup Tulang in S’pore, I decided to just have it a go.. had dinner at M.A.Deen Biasa, Jalan Sultan... the mere mention of soup made me think of the normal clear soup, like in KL.. but this soup is blood red. My first time makan sup tulang camtu and yeappp...true to what hubby said..it tasted super good...the nasik goreng was super yummy too..but the murtabak was a bit disappointing.. maybe kena try jugak murtabak kat Arab Street tu kot..

Went to Marina Bay Sands after dinner...didn’t go up the Skypark because it was already late by then. Due to some strictly ‘private and confidential activities’ I can’t say much about Marina Bay Sands and no pics to post... haha..Word of advice: If you wanna come here make sure you have no less than RM 10,000 to burn. Kalau takde, a couple of Nescafes could cost you SGD 150! And Nyet, you can only come here with me! ;p :)

@ Marina Square just in front of Hotel where I window shopped for 5 hours

View of Singapore from the room..

2nd pic is Marina Bay Sands..I think the architecture is just uber cool!

Lounge at Marina Mandarin..pretty nice too.

Bloody red Sup Tulang..ordered for 1 person but these came! Giloss if sorang makan camni..

How can I not go crazy looking at the shoes!

Love at first sight :)

Sakit kaki and so tired by the end of the day so decided to stay in for half a day today. Still undecided now whether nak pegi check out Universal Studios (try pop corn and beli fridge magnets je..hehe) or walk to Orchard Road. Dinner with Yeen pun tak sempat lagi because I got the timing all wrong...

Whatever it is, am not gonna be a bum in SG..These shoes will be put to good use.

Note to self: Kalau nak tinggal S’pore I shall be a taxi driver..demand higher than supply!