Butter Prawn Tomyam

Okay...!! My first posting on food.. with pictures .. Let see the ingredients -

• Udang sederhana atau besar
• Butter ( 250 gram butter untuk 1 kg udang)
• Telur (putih telur untuk menyenangkan tepung melekat pada udang)
• Tepung jagung / tempura / kfc
• Bawang besar dipotong dadu (guna 2/3 bawang besar untuk 1 kg udang)
• Cili padi dipotong (jumlah ikut kesukaan)
• Pes / kiub tomyam secukup rasa
• Minyak untuk menggoreng     
• Daun bawang/sup                                              

Cara:

Bersihkan udang dan gaul dengan putih telur

  

 

 Gaul udang dengan tepung

Goreng udang yang telah digaul tepung tadi - angkat dan tos

Cairkan butter, masukkan bawang dan cili .. dan pes/kiub tom yam

Masukkan udang yang digoreng tadi dan gaul rata, kemudian tabur daun bawang/sup dan angkat - sedap dimakan panas dengan nasi putih..!!

Bon apetit.!!

Life is an onion..so they say..

"Life is like an onion, you peel off one layer at a time...and sometimes you weep.." Profound? Or just a cliche..? Don't know who said it first but sometimes it really hits the nail on the head...

It's been close to a year since i first reported for duty in Kota Bharu..lots of things have happened ..water under the bridge, as they say. I've adapted for the most part, to the flow of life here. One good thing that has happened here is that I found myself having more time to do other things (besides work) that I've always wanted to before but just couldn't find the time for it.....like....baking..!!

Heyy..I'm a regular martha stewart junior okay..!! ;-) Never baked anything before, let alone taking on sophisticated recipes... Well, thanx to blogs like tiffinbiru.blogspot and  videos from joyofbaking, I'm getting quite good at this baking stuff... I think I'm going to post more on baking and cooking with step by step pics on cakes, cookies and dishes that I'm making just to share my negligible knowledge with friends.. 

Here's some pics of cakes and cookies I've tried....

Kelantan - my journey so far....

It's been more than 3 months since i first reported for duty in Kota Bharu. It feels like a year have pass.....what did that tell you? So many things have happened ... my feelings have been up and down so many times.... in such a short time since I've been here....I'm feeling old.... and that is not a good thing...

My relationship with the hubby has entered a new level of trials and tribulations... Never have i feel so tested..!! Diuji begitu hebat that i feel so down and almost give up... I've even thought about giving up many times.... But reality sets in.....and I am trying to live my life with that reality everyday...

God is great...and humans, being human always thought things would go as they plan...but it never really does....because God have different plans for us.... and only when we are severely tested, would we be close to Him..at least that's the way it is for me... When i feel like there's no one out there for me... Allah is there....and the conviction in my belief..would always support me and carry me through...

They always say marriage is not easy... but you will never understand the meaning of that phrase until you are in the thick of it... and now i understand why some women would prefer to stay married despite problems they faced, they persevere....

Change is the only constant thing in life..

Another transfer....This time farther away than before ..maybe not in terms of distance.. Sarawak is further away, but certainly in terms of traveling time back to my father's house. It's a smaller state, but definitely with more challenges.

Kelantan....looking for a house is difficult..it's also the monsoon season, it would be terrible if Kota Bharu is flooded... The water woes... I can't believe at first that people had to buy a pump-engine to pump water from the pipes..!!! Not to mention having to pump water from boring wells - where sometimes you'll get yellowish, smelly water..... Why can't they just vote BN for one lousy term to settle the water problems in Kelantan. After that you can vote PAS again if you want..

It's the rainy season ... wow.... it reminds me of the moonsoon season in Kuching...the sky is always grey....floods along the roads and kampongs.. There's a difference tho... Floods in Kuching are usually caused by the rain water and overflowing rivers... in Kota Bharu floods in town are usually caused by the drainage system which is ... non existent..!!!

Babies all around..!!

With marriage you will get instant additional family. My other half's sister had a daughter late last year.. she's growing up so fast..!! The best thing is she is such a happy child.. smiling at the mere mention of her name.... umairah - the red one..!!

Updates..!!!!

Okay... this blog have been inactive for a loong time.... Lots of things have happened... In October 2010 i finally got married..

Mazuin got married too...!!!

The rioting case is proven - the accuseds have to enter their defence... that would be interesting indeed..

The Sani Ekspress case is proven - the driver (accused) have to enter his defence too.... wonder what he will say...

Of course there's another accident case that may end up with a charge...

Moved to a new rented house right smack in the middle of Ipoh..

Moved to a new office at 4th floor of SUK building..!!!

Trying to sell my car....

Got into the Istana's compound & Balairong seri...

Got a pingat...!!! (that will be a new posts..)

Hmmm.. will update again later..... Certainly life is full & I'm looking forward to whatever will be...

Pudu Jail

Read about the fall of Pudu prison wall in the papers today. Just now i read someone's FB talking proudly about being held in remand at the prison for taking part in an illegal assembly...!! Bangga giler dia... ada akai ka? tak suka, tak suka..!! Aku rasa macam dia mencemarkan kenangan bapaku di sana..

Yupp..!! My father spend 3 years in death row in Pudu jail after the Bintang Tiga rebellion. He and friends were charged and convicted for murder and rioting in Raub Pahang. Some people refer to the incident as the 'Batu Malim riot'. Fortunately his appeal to the Privy Council was allowed and he was set free.

He was detained there for defending this beloved country.. going against the Bintang Tiga's army bent on terrorising and driving away the people in their quest to take over this country. He spilled his blood for the nation..!! In my eyes, my father is a real hero..!!

That's my sis with my 85 years young father....

Baby Rayyan

Alhamdulillah... another cucu for me... and that makes ... hmmm.. almost 10.... God..!! How time flies.... Welcome to the world babe..!!

Snipers and professional demonstrators..!!

I never intended to post about the work i do in this blog.. i wouldn't want to accidentally leak anything sensitive or confidential or subjudice.. But what happened on the 13th may in court and what i found posted on someone's facebook and blog changed my mind. I guess i shouldn't be surprised by the completely one-sided view of the fb and blog owner, but.. seeing the person's educational background.. i must admit it was dissappointing..

This fella was going on and on about kesusahan of having to attend court to face a charge of being involved in illegal assembly... but.. HEYYY..!!! berani buat berani tanggung la..!! Apa makna perjuangan kalau tak sanggup menghadapi akibatnya..??? Takde sapa paksa ko pegi berhimpun secara haram dan buat kacau dengan polis k..!! bangga ditangkap kerana prinsip kononnya.... jangan la komplen pasal susah pergi court to face the charge..!! Takder cuti lagi la, kene amik unpaid leave la....

Dalam bicara baru tau pasal kehadiran sniper (penembak tepat) polis dalam satu-satu unit PORU/FRU. Dia ingat prosecutor tak tau.. rahsia bocor konon.. kalu dia perhati betul-betul setiap dvd yang menunjukkan all 3 PORU/FRU troops tu - seme ada sniper yang dok dekat Commander troop.. and seme pegang M16...!! Goes to show how intent they were on creating chaos sampai tak perasan komposisi troop yang mengawal ketenteraman awam yang ko bagi kecoh tuh..!! Yang dorang tau berdemo jer.. Sana demo, sini demo.. dah jadi profession pulak.

Tapi elok la dia tau sekarang... bagi tau seme orang.. Dah tau jangan pandai-pandai bawak bebudak pergi perhimpunan haram korang tu..!! Jadi apa-apa, korang boleh kene charge under Child Act for exposing a child to danger..!!

Anyway, segak jugak sniper ni kan..! Kan..?

5S....!!

Last Friday we were on an office trip to Mindef, the legal dept, to witness and learn about 5S. It was a good trip i think. Now they see what it's all about with their own eyes and can then think of how it could be implemented in our office. It was nice meeting up with all my former officers and staffs as well. Thank you all..!!! Hope we'll have a chance to meet up again...!!

The interlude before the visit was quite nice too..!! We parked at setiawangsa LRT station and make our way to masjid jamek where the ladies had time to purchase some stuffs (including me.. haha).. For some of them it was their first trip on an LRT too..

Laksa buyong bukit gantang

One of my favourite food in Perak. Never missed it if it's on my way. Kadang-kadang sengaja make my way there so i could singgah and have a bowl... It's really delicious..!! Not at all like Kole Kangsar's laksa which is rather light (jernih) and bland. Laksa buyong Bkt Gantang's kuah is thick and full of flavour.. u can even add cili padi and limau for taste.. The laksa is of course hand-made and is called laksa pulas.. smaller than the ones sold dekat kedai. I took nadiah with me to show her the place and she loved it too..!! Next two weeks, i'll be in Kole Kangsar and Taiping.. boleh singgah and makan lagi...!!

Aarrgghh!!!

Here i am... at the office still.. i don't feel good... aching all over... i think i'm going to get a fever... you can only push yourself so far before the body will protest... Apalagi ngko yang memang sakit tapi tak take care of urself..!

Benci laa HQ ni... ntah apa-apa yg nak dibuatnyer... nak dapat 5star, soh orang buat lapuran online bla bla bla... Dorang tak realise ke keying-in data tu makan lebih banyak masa dari menulis....???

Technology, in this case IT does not make things easier.... it takes up more time, more energy.. time and energy better spent actually minuting files and writing reports...

Tak larat seh.....

Lost in Translation

I finally did it..!! went and attended the translation course in ITNM. It reinforced my fondness of the subject. I would really like to do translation work.. well part-time for now.. just to maintain and improve the skill. Who knows, i may be able to do it full time in the near future.. freelancing...working from home... that would be great.. Doing what u like and getting paid for it..!

Met some nice people on the course. Sat with a doctor who was sent by his boss and he is required to come up with medical terminologies later.. Nice chap. A datin who was also a golfer (a good one too, i heard) and her son who went MIA after the 1st week. There was a meeting of a variety of backgrounds and specialities, we even had a young lady and man with Arab language and literature in the group. All in all, a satisfying experience and something i hope to continue soon with real work...!

Updates:
Well.. i've passed the exam...!! Not cemerlang, but only kepujian la... but alhamdulillah... i actually scored not in legal translation but in mass comm..! Maybe i should be a journalist instead.. haha..

Malay-counter movement?/ Pergerakan Melayu Alternatif?

This from Lim Kit Siang's blog here. Here's the source - Bakri Musa's take on it. How very cunning and slick..... I know why Uncle Lim is supporting it. Actually a movement that will promote DAP's middle malaysia aka malaysian malaysia policy. What it really wants to do is create an apologetic and guilt-ridden group of Malays to question the privileges provided under the Federal Constitution. Kononnya mereka tak perlu bantuan DEB. Sudah la.. kalau korang kaya pun, semuanya ada direct and indirect consequences of DEB.

Abih Cina-cina kaya tu seme on their own ke? They directly and indirectly get the benefit of DEB also okay.... Tak yah la nak berlagak as if korang tak dapat apa-apa. What you really want is MORE than what you are already getting.. dasar KIASU..

The reason why Malays are still lagging behind in economy? One of them is because middle-men, wholesalers, suppliers, manufacturers of goods and services in this country is still controlled by Chinese and their powerful connections. So Malays can start a business, produce crops etc but if they cannot get supplies, have no one to accept their produce... how will they survive..?

True.. its the implementation of NEP that is a major weakness of the policy.. so.. research that la kalau u ikhlas. Tak payah nak cakap bende basi pasal corruption etc.. kalau korang tak ade offer, takde acceptance k.. Siapa beneficiaries of cronyism yang ko sebok tu? Tengok list 10 orang paling kaya kat Malaysia nih.. Siapa yang tidak directly or indirectly benefit from the policy yang korang kutuk tu?

That was then...

This is a picture of an abandoned Felcra house (picked it up from flicker photos - tq). For those who don't know, Felcra is similar in purpose and function to Felda, a bigger and maybe better run agency. Both was in the news recently when the court ordered them to pay settlers millions of ringgit for buying latex or palm fruits at lower than market value.

This could be my family's house nearly 48 years ago... My parents and some of my older siblings would have just arrived at the settlement and starting a new life. I wasn't born until a few years later. The place would have been more forest than village.. tempat jin bertendang..!! Stories from my father and the elders in the village would have confirmed that too!!

I remember faintly that our house is built on stilts, there's a verandah and staircase where we would be sitting about, lepaking in the evening, watching the days and people go by. The place was cool in the day time but got really cold at night.. You can imagine how cold it is when we would have to reheat the coconut oil before we can use it for cooking in the morning..!! We were poor then... but i dont remember the struggle or the pain of being poor. Kids are so resillient... I only remember the fun, happiness and utter peace of the days gone by.. Playing around the kampung, dalam semak, belukar... running around in my underpants made of guni tepung cap kunci hahaha..!!

Those were the days... such carefree lives.... only on hindsight would i understand the tense atmosphere, the sadness in my mother's or father's eyes, or the small quarrels between my older sisters before they went up to my neighbour's house.... the embarrasment they must have felt having to borrow rice from them to feed us....My older brothers have to work to help ease my parents burden...

Thank you mak & abah.., along, angah, kak adoik, kak imot, kak zah, kak yot, kak itit, bang man.., my pesky little sister ina.. We would never be able to go back to the times.. but truly, i've never felt more happy, safe and loved than during those times... We were materially poor, but so rich in love and happiness..

Happy Birthday to me....!!

The office threw a surprise birthday party of sorts for me today. That was nice of them. A beautiful bouquet and some gifts for me and the others who also celebrates their birthday in January and February. Nice food and smiling faces around... makes up nicely for being away from home and family. Thank you all for the nice party and thank you to all the well-wishers... You made my day!!!

A woman in full..?

Today is a day for reflection. At least for me... and in doing so i remembered a novel by Tom Wolfe - "a man in full". I read it many years ago. It was an interesting novel. The novelist put forth the importance of virtue and stoicism in life. As one commentator puts it "the Stoic, the real man, is possessed of self-control, self-discipline, responsibility, decisiveness, courage, justice, moral fortitude, compassion, and self-respect. Consequently, Wolfe’s man in full turns out to be the man of virtue".

I remember feeling that the philosophy of virtue as narrated through the characters in the novel somehow reflects or coincides with my father's journey in life. To me, my father is a man in full. He lived his life by being a stoic, guided by the characteristics as stated above. My wish then... i would be like him...

Alas,... i feel my life is full, in that i have accomplish a lot, i've experienced a lot, i feel my life is rich, varied and colourfull. But am i a women in full? Stoic, a woman of virtue..?

Hmm... I think I would fail the test.... *sigh*....

sodomy II - consent

Aku tak faham la.. the blind devotion yang peminat anwar ada sampai tak nampak rasionalnyer tuduhan saiful dan betapa TAK rasionalnyer sikap dan response anwar.

Paling aku tak suka bila orang persoalkan kenapa saiful tak melawan, tendang anwar bila dia sebut the magic f**k word?. As if kalau tak consent kene terajang, meronta, menjerit etc.. If that is the case, banyak la kes rape kat malaysia ni and other countries kene buang..

Consent atau tidak bukan saja digambarkan melalui physical action atau conduct. A victim may quietly allow bad things to be done to her/him. It does not mean he/she consents to it. A wife does not necessarily fight-off an abusive husband. A child almost never fight-off an abusive parent. It doesn't mean they consent to being abused...

What is the issue here? Why didn't they fight back? It's the hold that the abuser - someone in a powerful/influential position have over the victim. This hold can take many forms - blood ties, marriage, sifu?, idols.... u look-up at your parents, your boss, your boyfriend, your guru... He/she give u stuff, teach u things, make you feel like you're somebody important. You feel obliged, beholden to him/her... as if u HAVE to allow him/her to do what he/she wants to do to you...

I totally understand saiful's position.... but anwar's adoring fans never will...

Biarlah luncai terjun dengan labunya....

2010

HELP...!!!!!

Betong, Thailand

That's the biggest post box in the world..!! I kid u not..!!!! And it's in Betong, Thailand - build by the British in 1924. I had an unplanned trip to Betong today. It started off by just checking out the temporary office for our new officer to be placed in Gerik. The office is small but furnished. Thanks to the D.O. who was kind enough to lend us the space while we look for a bigger office. I thought we had some time to kill before we have to start back to Ipoh, so i asked the driver to take me to Pengkalan Hulu as i've never been to the place.

Small town, but they told me that we could check out the duty free shop near the border to Thailand. So i said okayy... It was near lunch and i said we could have our lunch there. Turns out the shop was just like a mini market really... but i bought some chocolates... hersheys... Then out of nowhere (it seems to me) some officers came by and suggested we have lunch across the border in Betong .. well.. authentic thai cuisine..? Who am i to refuse such good food?? So off we go.... and the food was really good..!! After wards, they took me around town and the biggest post box in the world!!

Some interesting place to visit too i think.. there's a communist tunnel, hot springs... maybe i'll be back for a planned trip next time.... hmmm..