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!

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.....

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

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.

BELATED BIRTHDAY

Last week was my husband's birthday. I was sick on his birthday that I totally forgot that special day. It was already midday when I realized it.

To make it up ;) here is the 'cake' for you!

Happy Belated Birthday! Semoga di panjangkan usia dalam IMAN DAN ISLAM, di kurniakan kesihatan yang baik dan mendapat rezeki melimpah ruah dan kebahagiaan hidup di dunia dan akhirat. Amin ya Rabb al-'Alamin.

CAMERON HIGHLAND

Cameron Highland ni antara tempat yang sejuk di Malaysia. Tapi mungkin dah tak sesejuk dulu-dulu la. Baru-baru ni berpeluang lagi ke Cameron Highland. Tempatnya masih menarik. Sebelum ni dah pergi beberapa kali...'rombongan cik kiah'. Bertolak tengah malam dari KL pastu tidur jap kat R&R Tapah. Around 3 a.m. barulah jalan semula.. agak-agak boleh sampai dekat waktu subuh la. Dah sampai sana terus singgah kat masjid tepi jalan...yang dekat balai polis tu... dah selesai semua... pergi cari breakfast. Pastu tu terus lah pusing-pusing ke kebun strawberry, rose, lebah .....macam2 lagi lah. Pergi pagi-pagi ni best sebab tak ramai lagi orang. Bas pun senang nak bergerak...tak jem. Selalunya by the time kita nak patah balik tu dah ramai sangat orang. Penuh sesak sikit lah. Balik lunch and solat Zohor kat Tanah Rata. On the way turun tu singgah le kat Lata Iskandar ataupun satu lagi jeram yang ada tempat air panas....lupa nama tempat tu. By Maghrib dah sampai semula di KL.

Baru-baru ni pergi bulan Mei. Tu lah first time bermalam kat Cameron. Dapat le rasa suasana malam. Oleh kerana dok lama (3d2n) sempat le berjalan kaki ke kebun teh boh. Jalan kaki 5km tapi tak rasa penat sangat pun. Berpeluh gak la. Tapi boleh tahan. Kalau kat KL nak jalan 5 km...huh sorri...tak daya rasanya...kejap je semput.. Yang bestnya lepas jalan 5km tu...hirup teh panas atas bukit dengan pemandangan kebun teh yang menghijau dan saujana mata memandang...

Hari tu masa nak balik tu mengelat sikit. Tumpang bas orang lain sampai ke pintu pagar ladang teh tu. Dah jimat tenaga dah. Lebih 1km kalau tak silap. Satu lagi...tak terasa sangat perjalanan 5km tu sebabnya sambil jalan sambil bergambar.

Sapa-sapa yang belum ke Cameron tu .... silalah ke sana .... Go Holiday!

SALAM!

It has been a while since I last updated this blog. A lot has happened since then. The most significant one is harga minyak dah naik. Memang horror lah...RM 2.70... Hari sebelum kejadian tu..saya pun join gak the crowd pi isi minyak penuh-penuh. Macam nak pi pesta lak tapi dalam hati berdebar-debar gak. Ish...sempat ke turn aku ni sebelum pukul 12 tengah malam ni.....ke kereta bertukar menjadi labu...ayyooo.. (dah le Nilai ni dekat le juga dengan Labu ;) masa sampai (konon le sampai, padahal jauh lagi sebab line dah panjang)kat petrol station tu dah pukul 10.30 malam. Tapi tunggu gak dalam debar dan akhirnya penantian berakhir jua pada pukul 11.57p.m..... Huh....sempat le isi setangki penuh (macam le tahan berbulan-bulan pun....) kalau ada lagi tangi spare kat kereta tu..mau di penuhkan semuanya...

Sambil-sambil dok tunggu turn tu..mcm-mcm gelagat orang boleh tengok le..tak kurang gak rasa bengang bila ada yang potong queue....ingat dia sorang je ke yang isi minyak. Dua orang mamat kat depan I ni main taram tolak je kereta dia....tak hidupkan enjin pun....sorang lagi pak cik ni turun dari kereta and jadi polis trafik jap sebab bengang dengan manusia yang selfish...tak nak queue.... tapi terus je menonong ke depan....

Masa I tinggalkan petrol station tu...masih ramai lagi yg beratur tunggu turn....They have no choice but to wait....1)sebab kereta memang nak kena isi minyak...2)depa tak leh nak pusing balik dan blah begitu saja sbb kiri kanan penuh sesak dengan kereta...nak tak nak kena lalu gak petrol pump and isi minyak...baru boleh jalan...

Tu lah dia penangan kenaikan harga minyak. Selalu je saya tengok phenomena macam ni masa minyak nak naik harga (stesen minyak boleh nampak dari tingkap rumah) tapi tak seteruk yang berlaku pada 4 Ogos 2008 hari tu. My first attempt pukul 7 mlm. Pi ke stesen yang kat sebelah ofis ni..dah panjang queue....7.30mlm masih tak bergerak-gerak...pusing balik sebelum terlambat..kang terlepas Maghrib lak...tak pasal-pasal. Masuk ofis semula and keluar balik kol 10.15 malam. Sampai rumah dah hampir pukul 1 pagi sebab drive slow je...Begituu lah adaanya