Jul 31, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I would like to dedicate this birthday poem to my friend who celebrated her birthday yesterday! As I know her, she is a very fine lady with a kind heart. When I visited her country last month, my husband & I was very much indebted to her & her family for their hospitality and kindness. They made us feel at home when they offered their help; and she and her younger sister spent their precious time to accompany us when we went shopping and visiting places. There are so much more beautiful things that I want to write about her. However, let us enjoy the poem for now; and to Kak Yuli:

Happy belated birthday;

may Allah bless you and your family and

may He grant you all success in this world and the hereafter!


True Friend

A true friend is hard to find,
Someone who is always kind.
Words of advice; freely share,
Helping hand, always spare.

A true friend is hard to find,
Someone always on my mind.
Listens, cares, and understands,
Hardships; mutually withstands.

A true friend is hard to find,
Someone like you! Let me remind.
Birthday greetings, from my our heart,
This celebration, we must start.

www.special-birthday-poems.com

By Martin Dejnicki


Jul 29, 2008

PLEASE BE INFORMED!

Do you know that it is dangerous to take pills with warm/hot water? I came across that information here. Please read!

STORAGE

Ni ada simple tips... tapi rasa-rasanya berguna jugak lah... utk memudahkan diri sendiri. Tak perlu lah buang masa mengendap sana mengendap sini, tercari sana tercari sini...frust...tak jumpa masa nak guna. Esok esok baru perasan...laaa kat situ rupanya...ooopps...dah ada...kalau tau tadi ...tak de nya nak beli lagi...

Hmmm....pernah tak melalui situasi mcm tu masa buka peti ais...tercari-cari...tapi tak jumpa...
I'd like to share with everyone the tips on "How to organise your refrigerator" (The Star, Monday 28 July 2008):

  • Place the food you eat most often on shelves located at eye level (my husband puts chocolate there)
  • Store fruits and vegetables in the drawers at the bottom of the refrigerator (; I also keep my salted fish & anchovy here;)
  • Store condiments in the door of the refrigerator, with those you use most often placed as close to eye level as possible.
  • Place eggs, butter, cheeses and meats in the appropriate storage compartments, if available.

Click here for more tips.

Jul 25, 2008

PANGKOR ISLAND

HOW TO GET THERE.
To reach Pangkor Island, you will have to take a ferry from Lumut Jetty.

To Lumut Town

By Road : Lumut can be accessible by various highways either from Penang, Ipoh or Kuala Lumpur. Regular bus services are easily available from Puduraya in Kuala Lumpur, Medan Kidd, Ipoh and Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim (Jetty) in Butterworth. Taxi services are also easily available to Ipoh from major towns and cities in Peninsular Malaysia where you can board local buses or taxis to Lumut town.

By Air :-
Pangkor nowadays can be accessible by air from Kuala lumpur with the construction of a modern air strip on Pangkor Island.The airport have a 2,600ft runway. Pangkor is a 97nautical miles hop from Kuala Lumpur.


To Pangkor Island.
Lumut town offers regular ferry services to Pangkor Island at just RM4.00 per person.
Once on Pangkor, you can take a bus, taxi or even hire a motorbike to reach your favourite destination.FERRY SCHEDULE
To view the Schedule Click Here : FERRY SCHEDULE
**Ferry rates and schedule is correct at the time of publishing and acts as a guideline only and is subject to change without prior notice.

http://www.malaysiahotels.com.my/malaysia/island/pangkor.htm

PANGKOR ISLAND

Let's continue...

5. Dutch Fort: At Teluk Gedung, 2km to the south of Pangkor town. The fort was built in 1670 and used to store tin before the ore was sent to The Netherlands. According to a local, the fort was once a stronghold to fend off pirates.

6. Historical Rock: a.k. Batu Bersurat is just a stone's throw from the Dutch Fort. Several carvings are found on the large granite boulder. One distinct carving shows a tiger carrying a small child between its jaws. According to local myth. a tiger was believed to have taken the small child belonging to a Dutch couple in 1743.

Teluk Belanga: If you just want to - sort of - 'sit and do absolutely nothing but relax', you can head to Pangkor Island Beach Resort which sits on the long stretch of quiet beachfront at Teluk Belanga. White sandy beach, beautiful scenery, calming environment......just go and see things for yourself!

Jul 24, 2008

PANGKOR ISLAND

It is very rewarding if you can go places, be it near or far. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Pangkor Island. It was really enjoyable. I was very delighted since that was my first visit to Pangkor. From where we stayed, I can see and appreciate its beauty; the beach, the see, the view, the accomodation, the food. It was really the time to unwind and "loose" yourself.

While cleaning my living room yesterday, I found a newspaper clipping about where you can go and what you can do while you are in Pangkor:

1. Teluk Nipah beach: Facing Pulau Giam (where you can go kayaking, diving and snorkellig). Here you can ride on banana boats or jet-ski. You can stay at one of the budget hotels which are situated across the road from the beach.

2. Pasir Bogak beach: Situated 3 km south of Teluk Nipah and about 2km from the Pangkor jetty. It is famous for its white sandy beach and clear seawater. Among the activities that you can do here are: canoeing and jet-skiing. You can also rent boats for fishing.

3. Fishing villages: One of them is Kg Sg Pinang Kecil, located 4km north of the jetty. A fovourite spot for the islanders and visitors to get fresh fish, crab and prawns. Fishermen would normally return with their daily catch at 10am and 4pm.
You can also go to Hai Seng Hin, the well-known satay fish factory here where you can take a peek at how the snacks are produced and packaged. Visitors to this factory would be greeted by a giant sculpture of an octopus on one of the buildings.

4. Pangkor town: A small but bustling town. Just a short walking distance from the jetty. Lots of restaurants and coffee shops can be found here with a variety of food to choose from. Also a lot of shops selling souvenirs and dried seafood.

.....to be continued.....

Jul 8, 2008

CARROT CAKE

One of my (& my husband's) favourite cakes is carrot cake. We found the recipe on the internet and I've tried to bake the cake so many times. Some of my friends at the office have already tasted it and everybody loved it. The cake smells good and yummy and delicious because of the cinnamon powder used.

Masa dok tengah bakar tu ...aromanya sungguh membangkitkan selera. Dan rasanya memang seindah baunya.

Adunan kek ni saya dah ubah suai drpd resipi asal. Saya kurangkan gula, lebihkan carrot dan kekacang. Saya letak walnut dan badam. Ada jugak resepi yg saya nampak letak nenas. Tapi yg ni belum cuba lagi lah.

Untuk krim pulak saya kurangkan gula jugak dan kurangkan butter. Kekadang saya tambah youghurt. Tapi yang ni bagi saya kurang sikit kesedapannya.

Kalau rasa nak buat kek ni dgn cara yg senang, boleh ke kedai yang jual bahan2 kek dan beli tepung yang dah di campur bahan2 siap...tinggal lagi masukkan telur, carrot, kekacang dan lain2 lagi. Ikut je arahan kat peketnya tu.

;) kalau rajin dan ada masa...cubalah

Jul 3, 2008

TAJINE

Saya bukanlah pandai sangat memasak. Tapi saya selalu berangan nak cuba resepi-resepi baru lebih-lebih lagi kalau dah terbukti masakan tu sedap.

Last year, I had the pleasure to get to know a nice person from Morocco. She taught me how to cook a moroccan dish called 'tagine'. It has been featured in Astro's 'travel n living'. Traditionally, the dish is cooked in a special pot made of clay. Since I don't have the pot, we just used whatever pot that I have in my kitchen. You can use beef or chicken to cook this dish. One special ingredient used in tagine is saffron. It gives colour, flavour and makes tagine smell good. Masakan ni guna minyak zaitun dan buah zaitun. Bila daging atau ayam dah nak masak, kita bakar pulak dalam oven sampai masak. Kalau nak letak carrot pun boleh. Sebelum di hidang, tagine boleh di hias dgn kentang dadu yg dah digoreng dan daun parsley yang dah di cincang halus.

Best masakan ni. I managed to cook this dish for my open house last year dan beberapa kali lagi selepas tu (Tahun ni belum buat lagi). Boleh di makan dengan nasi atau roti.

Tips: Cara-cara menyimpan daun parsley supaya tahan lama:

1. basuh bersih-bersih dan kering kan

2. cincang halus dan masukkan ke dalam bekas/plastik. (bekas berpenutup is better sbb nanti senang nak ambil masa nak guna nanti)

3. simpan dalam freezer. boleh tahan berbulan-bulan (kalau tak di makan le. kalau makan sekejap je dah habis ;-) )

p/s: teringin pulak nak makan tagine ni. kalau sempat I'll cook tagine one of these days.