Birthday Party

Vividly remembered the day when I celebrated my tenth birthday. All my friends and neighbourhood kids were invited to the party.

For the party, I put on my birthday dress which I was specially sewn for me. I liked the big bow behind my back.  I was superslim that day.... 

I walked into the hall where everyone was waiting for me. I saw a lot of lovely presents being displayed at one corner. They had been bought for me by all those who came that day.  I was truly happy…ya for a 10 year old girl to receive so many presents, definitely my heart pumped zillion !!

Then, Ah Pa bought my birthday cake with ten candles on it. It was a large and beautiful cake. The guest sang Birthday song while I stood facing the cake.  I was the central of attention for everyone.  After that, I was asked to make a wish and cut it. Though I felt rather uneasy, with so many eyes upon me, I somehow managed to cut a line.  

The guests were then served with an array of yummy food prepared by mum.   Music was played. There were also jokes and laughter among the children.  My friends and I played some games-Musical chairs and card games.

When the party was over, I unpacked all my birthday gifts. I was surprised to see such lovely gifts. The happiness reflected in my face…..Thanking my parents for holding such a pleasant party for me although we weren’t from a well-to-d0 background. 

Fast Forward to today….eversince that  10^th birthday, I never have the privilege to celebrate my birthday on a big scale.  It was always within my family members having a simple meal or a birthday cake or sort.  Year in year out….I’ve approached my 40^th birthday !!    

Happy Birthday to dear me…. 

The big 4 Birthday

Suprises from the two boys of my life.  Thanks Dear. Thanks Ah Boy. 

Nothing much changesafter all.  It's a matter of figure and mathematics.  Physically and mentally, am still myself.  

Crisis...

Am savoring the last few hours of my 30s before the clock strikes 12.  Hmmm….how is it like to be 40 circle, my life getting better or worst ? 

Hitting the big 4 ol. Sigh..  

For the first time in my life, am feeling a sense of nervousness, uneasiness right now.  A sense of being completely lost in life and completely alone really does scare me off.  

For a moment, I’ve developed this feeling like I’ve lost my identity and no longer know who I am.  All my values, principles, belief system suddenly evaporated !  What I stand for and what is my purpose in life….am totally blank.  Am beginning to feel depressed as well.   

Attempting to analyse my emotions and feelings.  One thing for sure…I’m starting to feel myself getting ‘old’.  Old is the dreaded word…which was never a taboo in my life until recently.  I began to get agitated over this word.  Am I getting old…where now I’ve landed on my 4^th decade.  The inferiority complex in me.

Mid life crisis…is this a natural phenomena when one approach 40 ?  

Am I experiencing a mid life crises?  So many things crossing my mind…menopause !  Am I ready to face this “M” ? 

I guess it is normal to develop such insecurity.  At least, I do have the time to sit back and re-access my options and make changes if there’s any….

Happy 40^th Birthday to myself.  

Total Confusion

Being in a daze for months.  Can concentrate on just anything.....  Lost !!  Surprising...Work wise I'm doing fine and so is at home. Managed both reasonably well.  No complain from my headmistress nor my family members esp Ah Boy.  But I just can't focus.  When at work, I think about home.  And when at home, I think about work.  In a total confusion state. 



Wonder why am I feeling so suck..?  Is it the 'Big 4 ol' syndrome ? 
(Hint hint...it's around the corner..folks..!!!)    

Dilemma

To continue to not..?  Unable to decide.  Sigh..!  Should I further my studies, am I capable of doing my Masters ?  As my mind is still fresh and energetic (after having gone thru my 4 year degree), I think I should move on to a higher level.  But on the other hand, I doubt I have the capability and time to do it.  Had been sort off neglecting my boy for a long long time.  His growing age is important and he needs lotsa of motherly concern and care and guidance.  He's already in Std 4 and would be sitting for his UPSR in 2 years.  These 2 years are critical.  So if I continue my studies now (masters-2 years duration), then I would probably neglect him once again which I wish to avoid.  Nevertheless, if both of us do study together, this might give him the inspiration to achieve coz I could be a perfect role model to him.

Apart from time, my another obstacle is cash.  I needed to cough out a handsome amount of money for my masters.  A good sum of RM16K which I could save for Ah Boy's future etertiary education.  If i use up that $$ for myself, then indirectly I'm also using up Ah Boy's educational funds.

Time and cash, then commitment comes next.  How far can I concentrate on my studies at such 'advanced age'?  Going to be 40 next month.  My memory and concentration level depleting....!

Sigh....I'm in a total dilemma.  Should I or shouln't I..?  Any advice, dear readers ?

So near yet so far... 

    

Graduation Day

Ah....finally, I can shout to the entire world that I'm a grad.  Officially a graduate.  Four long grueling years of hardwork, I finally earn a piece of paper !!!!  I yearned for this day since the day I attended my first tutorial.  My convocation day was on 18th June @ PWTC KL.  I wasn't prepared for it, as a result, everything seems chaos and a bit clumsy.  Had a tough time adjusting my robe.  I've gotten the smaller size but it still abit too big for my petite figure.  Have I shrinked ?  hmmmm
My hair was messy and my face looked like a ghost due to fatigue.  Didn't sleep a wink the entire night before.  Heavy eyebags and pale skin.  Sigh...  I didn't look good at all on that day due to the overwhelming stress.   
However, the so many ruin downs didn't exactly spoilt the day though.  There was happiness and the anticipation was overflowing.  Am glad that I managed to step on stage to receive that priceless scroll after enduring so many obstacles and hardship.

I didn't have a good photographer to capture the moments of glory but all of it will stay in my memories for life.         

My updates...

Hi...I'm back after a month of disappearance.  Apologised for the absence. Been busy preparing for my convocation and my never-ending workloads in school.  Superbusy the entire month....

Day in day out, was tied up with work, attending endless meetings and courses...that I did not have much time left to update my blog.  Keep reading...

Labours' Day

Graduation Attire

Everyone were so obsessed over the Royal Wedding of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge.  Her wedding gown...hmmmm.  Admired her slender hourglass !!!  Kate's every moves, her every utterances~had been scrutinized by hungry paparazzi.  Bride of the heir to the throne simply can't be camera-shy, rite?

Yours truly was glued to the TV screen the entire Friday afternoon....watching the telecast from Westminsters Abey.  Prince William and Princess Catherine do make a lovely pair.  She has the most beautiful smile.  May both of them live happily ever after.

Admiring the guests' esp the ladies gowns/dresses and matching headgears.  Very formal kinda of attire.  The bride's mother donned on a perfect dress.  So were a few other Royal guests.

Hmmm...mentioning about fashion and formality attire, yours truly is also busy preparing herself for her convocation day next month.  Am searching high N low for a proper good looking slack and blouse to match the graduation robe.  Nah...I don't have a personal designer to secure myself an outfit.  Gotta look for it myself which is pretty time consuming.  Should I opt for ready made straight from the rack or something special tailored made..?  hmmmmm...still pending...

It's a package....Hairstyle, new specs, new shoes....oh...don't you think I'm also preparing for my big day ?  Any suggestion, dear readers ?

Misery Days

It's THAT time of the month again.  Hated the discomfort, hated the ugly feeling inside.  The bloated-ness, the uneasiness underneath, heaviness abdomen and extreme disgusting sensation.   

Sigh….

Just made myself some warm ginger concoction…and yet the discomfort still persists.  I always dreaded this time of the month where my “Tai Yee Ma” comes visiting.  The ill feeling makes everything topsy turvy and usually put my daily activities temporary on hold for couple of days.  

Am super tied up with my school duties.  Untangled reports and files.  Am also busy training my “Action Song” team.  The competition is merely days away yet my pupils still have not master their steps and lines.  Another load on my shoulders apart from my core business @ teaching. After this event..there come the 2^nd term exams.  Still haven’t finish the syllabus, due to my busyness and very much behind time.  Oh gosh !    

All the above spells another dreaded word “S T R E S S”.  Should avoid all these misery. Kept reminding myself to RELAX RELAX.

On a brighter side, am looking forward to my graduation day schedule on 18 June.  Am making preparation for my big day…walking down the aisle to receive a well deserved scroll.  

Better Dinner Treat

Had a lousy lunch this noon.  For dinner, am replenishing my body with something more nutritious (sort off) and better looking and tastier.  More balanced, I supposed.  Salty beancurd pork fillet, Tofu topping with minced meat, Lady's fingers blended onion, Fried mackerel and Prawn fritters.  Not forgetting the onion rings.  Hmmm...a bit too oily and not heart friendly but they simply taste good.  Once in awhile lah....

Lady's Finger with onion

Salted Beancurd Bak

A variety of deep fried goodies

(prawn fritters, onion rings, fish, fries, crab meat sticks)

Minced meat tofu



Everything on the table



Ready to savour dinner

And end of the meal, fruits of mango and pear.  And hearty carrot milk to drain down the oily stuff.   

Fragrant pear and mango

A decent meal...!!!

Quickie Lunch

Long and tiring day in school.  Endless reports to do.  Training my "Sunshine Team" students.  Came back home, dog tired.  As usual no food on the table, no maid to serve me food....as a result got to DIY.   Instant Noodle ala Ann.  Blanch some 'dou miow' @ snowpea sprout (mersed briefly in boiling water).  These greenish shoots are believed to be riched with Vitamin Vit C and K.

Then some tomatoes and oinons.  No MSG as I used my own seasoning of Kikoman soya sauce and some home meade garlic oil.  Sprinkle abit of pepper...taadaaaa...a healthy meal.  Then I had this chicken floss cookies as dessert.  Yummy and filling.  No quite balanced but I'll cook a proper dinner later this evening.          

My Face

This time around, I noticed that my mature skin took a longer time to recover.  Usually after the massive destruction of the facial treatment, my skin would return to it's normal being after a day or two.  However, this time, there are still some sightly sore and pore on both my cheek due to the extraction procedure.  Sign of aging ah..?  Oh no.  Am reaching the big 4 ol, which means that the elasticity of my skin is diminishing.  Perhaps not...but perhaps yes.  Not a good sign.

Oh gosh, I want my youthful, flawless, porcelain smooth skin back.  My baby bottom skin...

When I look at the mirror just now, fine lines and a lil tiny bit of wrinkles are noticeable to bare eyes.  No need to use any magnifying glass....Oh dear.  Under my eyes and my laughing line area.  Lines could been seen very clearly.  My forehead too.    

My wrinkles ~ Each line has a story behind it.....

Need to stop worrying, don't wanna over exert myself.  Not enough sleep, stress and food cause a major damage to my skin.  Thank God, I had completed my studies. No need to burn midnite oil.  In addtion, my crazy hormones too aggravated my skin problem. 

Sigh....how sad.  My beautician friend did suggest some kinda of supplements (taken orally) to restore my collagen.  She too recommend jabs like placenta and vit C.  Nevertheless, I'm still not keen on these substances.  Chemical and it's side effects in long term.  The harmfulness of these chemicals being pump into my body.  And it also cost me a bomb to perform all these procedures.  Laser treatment would definitely provide an instant result ~ invisible lines after an hour. 

Quite tempting...but...I love my body more. 

Am not going to opt for all these.  Allowing the chemicals invading my body for the sake of beauty.  Oh..no need lah.
Prefer to grow old gracefully.  After all, BEAUTY IS SKIN DEEP. 

What say you?  Vitamins and daily supplements dosage....are they trustworthy ?  Any good recommendations..?

So worry of the growing wrinkles on my face and yet wouldn't want to take the risk...haha

My Facial Treatment

Gone for a facial treatment, a good 2 hour treatment yesterday.  Lying on the treatment bed, leaving my face, neck and shoulder in the hands of the beautician.  Very professional kind.  Very relaxing except for the extracting procedure.  Removing my acne and blackheads which are ample on my T-zone area.  Pinching and squeezing…ouch, my nose and cheek. 

The procedure in sequential order :-

Cleansing with two kinds of cleansing product @ deep cleansing gel and mild scrub

Peeling~ applying some kind of peeling ingredients onto my face, leave it to dry and then slowly use finger to rub onto the surface to remove dead skins and impurity. This peeling process exfoliated the top layer of dead skin cell.  It leaves the skin looking brighter and more youthful.

Steaming~ to open up pores for extraction of black & white heads.  When the pores were fully expanded, thus making the exctraction process much easier. 

The Extraction~ the most painful process.  The beautician used some tissue paper and squeezed out the blackheads.  For stubborn ones, she resorted to a thin metal device.  It has hole at one end which would encircle each blackhead, with a gentle tug on it, the blackhead gets extracted.  Painful pressing esp on sensitive areas like the nose and below the eyes.  This procedure need to be done professionally to avoid scarring or infection.     

I have lots of blackheads on my T-zone as a result of overproduction of oil on my skin.  Basically, I have oily skin but dry on the surface which made me prone to blackheads.  My working environment (chalk dust) aggravated my condition.  The excess oil secreted then to clog my pores and entrapped dirt (I wished the MOE could obliged  teachers’ plea to convert blackboard to whiteboard in all classrooms !!!

Once all the blackheads were removed, antiseptic cream was applying onto the affected area.  There was some stinking sensation due to the extraction just now but it soon go off overtime.  Then, the skin was soothed with a cooling cream to avoid swelling and redness.  

Facial Massage~The best part.  Using essential oil, the beautician massage my face.  With proper stroke and right hard press on the exact points…it improved blood circulation around the face area.  Very relaxing.

Mask~Mine was a double mask.  The cooling effect of the cold mask.  I was left to sleep @ rest for a good 20 minutes with the mask covering my entire face.  

With mask plastered on my face, the beautician gave me a good shoulder neck massage.  Again she concentrated on my trouble areas like neck and shoulder aching due to long sitting and facing the PC for a long period.

Time’s up to remove the mask.  So relaxing…  

However, I do feel a bit pain due to the extensive of blackhead extracting yesterday.  Will take a day or two to recover. 

My brunch bento

Today and the week will be superb busy for me in school.  Preparing my students for English Carnival ~ training them for “Action song”.  This would filled up my free periods thru out the day.  Besides my normal teaching class, I need to look into my action song team.

As a result, decided to pre packed my own brunch box to school.  I believe it’s much healthier and also cost saving.  Yeah…$$$ saved.  There aren’t choices in the menu of my school canteen.  Nasi Lemak doesn’t sound too good for a 40 something woman.  After eating the same food for many years, I started to get sick of them.  Nasi lemak, fried noodles…argh…..

So this morning, I made a brunch box for myself and also for Ah Boy.  I started to prepare the raw ingredients the night before.  After all, most of the ingredients are leftovers from last dinner.  Rice, fried tofu & anchovies. 

In the morning, I just have to fried the rice (minus msg, soy sauce) and made some eggs (bulls eyes).  Cut some cucumber slices and tomatoes. 

Taaadaaaa…as easy as A-B-C. 

Packed them in a tinfin and off to school.  The rice would remain warm in this special tin fin for at least 1-2 hours, no need to reheat whatsoever.   

Of course, I could only prepare simple food, as I'm not really good in cooking. Fried rice is the easiest as it doesn’t need too much prepare it. Simple food yet delicious….!

Today's brunch box



How about you? Do you like to prepare your own food and bring them to work? Or you'll prefer going out for lunch everyday?

Maths Fun

Fun with numbers....

Ah Boy having fun being  fisherman fishing for figure fish.  He has to get the answer, look for right fish and hook it up using a small tiny magnetic rod.  Ain't easy.  He has got to calculate the answers manually
Running against the time limit.  When everything done at a limited time, with much pressure...it sure force oneself to excel.  Under enormous pressure, things get done better...true ?


When things can done under pressure with time limit, under constant demands and extreme situations, children tend to fair better.  Ah Boy was practically grasping for air when doing that activity, as though there wasn't enough time to solve the mathematical problems.  The wantings of winning the game was the priority that made him work hard.  In fact, it made him more productive @ working hard to catch more fishes..!!


Learn things under stress....


Many a time....when we all must deal with deadlines, people making demands of us, and emergency situations. When under pressure, we feel as though there's never enough time to get things done. In fact, we may even become less productive because of worrying about all the work we have to do.  We handle stress and perform under pressure that make the top performers stand out above the rest. 


At the end of the day, Ah Boy did enjoy the game.   That's was utmost matter. 

Red or Blue

Indulged in some shopping spree which awaiting for Ah Boy to explore the Maths Carnival last Sunday.  Initially, supposed to window shop but...errr....."super sales, great sales, slashed prices...." So damn tempting...saliva drooling..

Indecisive mind...can't decide which colour..?  Red or blue.  Kinda liken both.  In the end, I bought both.  Save the hassle of picking either...! Luckily it's on sales 50%....! 
When back home, I tried on them again.  But think that they were way too childish for this 30 something aunty.  Hmmmm....can I wear them out..?  Aiyoyo...That's what I mean by "blind purchase" syndrome.  Buy bought purchase....then fill up the wardrobe and never wear them.  Accumulating volume in my closet.  Have to control that bad habit of impulse buying N little planning during shopping. 

Fun & Ah Boy

This is a post dated entry.  Browse through my camera and found a few snaps shots & video clips.  Thought they may be interesting to write about it. 

It was end of the st semester break.  [head shaking...] One week just flew passed like lightning, before you realised, it's over.  How fast...huh

Ah Boy needed his break, therefore took him to a Mathematics Fair organised by Petronas Science Centre.  It was held at Aeon shopping complex on Sunday @ 20 March.  Ah Boy participated in the Maths Monkey activity.  With a group of 10 children aged 8-10, he played a game related to numbers and figures.  Seemed to enjoyed himself though.  My main intention was to expose him to activities that help to build up him self esteem & confidence.  Wanna make him able to stand out in public, be bold, be brave and able to express himself well. 

Apart from the Maths Monkey activity, Ah Boy also went around to explore the various exhibition booth.  Theme~ Maths.

Kinda fun and educational way to kill time.  He enjoyed himself there.  While Ah Boy was there, mummy sneaked away to do some shopping.  Killed 2 birds with a stone, of sort.  Mummy went on to spend some shopping time menawhile Ah Boy had his own enjoyment.  

My Income Tax

Press ENTER~ mission accomplished.

Phew...just completed filling in my LHDNM eforms online.  Spent almost an hour key-in those details.  Need to be extra careful as I could only do it once.  Was struggling to find ways to lessen my deductions.  Just don't wanna missed out on any tax relief.  Every single cents counts !! Also need to tally with my proof of receipts and bills whatever....!  Arranged them in proper, clipped them...

Relief of purchasing books, sport items, PTPTN, broadband, insurances, .........everything must put it.  'Cari jalan kurang potong' 

Kinda like this e-forms.  Makes life easier as it will automatically calculate for you.  Put aside the calculator....  everything being programmed.  The entire process was much quickier and faster.... 

Although the dateline is still a month away but I think it's good that I do it earlier so that I needn't have to rush at the very last minute.  It would surely be snail crawling then when everyone rush to log in.  Don't wanna be in the same predicament like last year....almost screwed up!  Now I'm all done.

Another mission completed.  Sipping my a cup of warm milk before retiring to bed.

Monday blues brighten up by Solivite

Monday blues...not in the mood to get back to school.  Need some time to return to that working momentum. 

But anyway, this morning, the students in my school had the opportunity to witness a roadshow sponsored by Fonterra Brands (Msia) Sdn Bhd.  Several young promoters set up the LCD and PA system.  Thumb up to these youngters.  They were rather efficient as they managed to set up the displayboard and screen in split seconds.  Very organised. 
They played a video clip of the goodness of friendly bacteria and it’s beneficial to human body.

Naturally their gimmick to promote their product through young targets @ young victims like my students..the innocents young consumers. 

Their promotional strategy was the Solivite mascot which made his appearance on stage to appeal the target audience @ the young students.  Mr. Solivite danced to the rhythm of the music by shaking his body.  As a results, the children went haywired and started to scream hysterically upon seeing the mascot on stage. 

Mr Solivite - the mascot

[it's no fun business being inside this costume.  Imagine the exessive heat and the discomfort, try put youself in his shoes...]

The highlight of da day was the free distribution of Solivite drink to each and every child.  Happiness was drawn on their faces.   They enjoyed the drink of varied flavors.  A perfect gift to start the first day of achool after the holidays....

 A bit chaotic at that moment but the discipline master was able to settle down the rowdiness...

Horray...The free drink for all residents of ths school

Word Building for X-minded

Last day of the week break...arggg time flies.  So fast last day already.  So heavy lah to return to schol tomorrow.
While surfing, I found this which I think it's good to share.  Quizzes...

1. A four letter word which ends with 'K'.  It means intercourse. 
2. Cow has four of it but woman has only two.
3. It's in every Malaysian gentleman's trousers, approximately 5.5 inches long, has a head on it and every women love so much that they often blow it.  
4. A word that begins with 'F' and ends with 'U C K' .
5. What does a dog do that you can step on into ?
6. A four letter word that starts with 'F' and ends with 'K'.  If unavailable, one can substitute with their hands.
7. It's hard, has two nuts, 6 inches long and usually makes a woman puts on weight?
8. Name five words which are each four letters long, ends with 'U-N-T'.  One of them is a word for woman. 

Hello, filter your brain, stop thinking dirty.  Mind you, none of the answers are obscene.  




















Answers


1)  talk

2)  legs

3)  RM50 note

4)  Firetruck

 5)  pants

6)  fork

7)  Almond Chocolate Bar

8)  hunt, bunt, runt, punt, aunt

Adulterous Scrabble

We stumbled acrossed a treasure trove of adult-themed game called "Adulterous Scrabble". 

Begs to differ....the board game was pretty fun in a way.  So lovey as we try to out run each other.  Overwhelming array of dirty words...like wet pussy, masturbate, fingering, hand cannon, fireshots, penis, asshole........a list full more which I do not have space to share in this post.

Didn't expect to come up with the many terms where most of the time it's a taboo language.  We laughed so much during the game.  It was indeed a smart way to exchange thoughts , recommended for new couples to know each other better.  In fact, old couples also can play this game to rekindle relationship, keep flame burning.  Titillating

We spent about an hour on the game.....and what happen next..........
Ringgggggg goes the alarm.  It's time to fetch Ah Boy from his class.  Had a quickie shower 'together' and then will be heading off for grocery shopping and dinner. 

Sekian Terima Kasih....

Board Game 4 Bored Couple

Raining dogs and cats outside which makes staying home the best choice.  A meal of baguette from Tesco Xtra  and also my left over hardrock bread dipped into piping hot creamy Campbell mushroom soup (canned food).  Blissed ! 

Imprisonment due to the weather.....hmmmmm how to kill time ?  Ah Boy was away at Art class.  Now, just the two of us left.  Hold on......don't let your imagination run wild.    I know what you're thinking right now.  Notty you..
Staying home, playing board game with Him might just be the perfect way to keep sparks alive....[wink wink].  What have you been thinking earlier ya..?

I got that Scrabble set out from the closet.  The package was covered by half an inch of dust.  Wow...haven't use it for centuries !!!

SCRABBLE...huh..??  Not the building vocabulary kinda thing.  Guess, we already have a reasonable amount of wordlist embedded in our brain by now. 

So why SCRABBLE ?  Don't you think it's a boring game for a 40 something adult ?  Well, we diverged a lil bit by playing a game of adultery.  The catch ~ only dirty adult words are allowed.  Hmmm...a great way to pick up "adultuterous" semantics to use in the bedroom.  Spells fun wasn't that !!!  So welcome on board ~talking dirty and construction of  'dirty language'.  Hmmmm are we getting ourselves 'high N horny' with these full 'sexual vocabulary' which was once upon a time a taboo to most people. 

We spent about an hour on the game.....and what happen next...........

Ann's Raisin Bread

Good morning.  What could be better than waking up to the aroma of warm baked bread ?  Blissed.

I'm the proud owner of this breadmaker machine since three or four years ago.  Never made full use of it due to laziness. 

Out of the blue, I began to have this urge to bake some bread this day.  Bought all the neccesary baking products like High Protein Flour [RM8.10] which can be divided into two session.  The neccesities like yeast [RM0.80] and bread improver [RM1.60] can be used several times coz only a small quantity needed eah time.  Other items are butter, salt and sugar.  Have some CNY left over raisins, so decided to dump them in.  

The night before @ 11pm, I measured carefully and placed all ingredients into bread machine pan.  Waited for it to kneed the dough on it's own for a good 20 mins.  Then add raisins at the beeping sound of the Raisin/Nut signal 10 minutes before the last kneading cycle ends.  After that, I could go to bed leaving the duty to the machine from waiting period  (expansion of da dough) to baking.  I could sleep peacefully knowingly that my faithful breadmaker could give perfect job.  

Nice aroma of the freshly baked loaf filled the netire house.  So sweet....!  So refreshing.  Just found out this info courtesy of  wiki.answer.com

How does the smell come along ?  The molecules of the bread want to spread throughout the entire premise because it would be too crowded in one area. This process is called diffusion.   

I removed the bread onto a stainless steel plate,allowing it to cool down.  It'll be alot more easier to slice when cool.  But I simply can't resist to taste it.  Hot bun, the crisp...yummy.  Overall, the bread was not so successful but it taste okay.  Spreading butter onto it or simply eat it just the way it was.


The process in photo sequence.


The dough...can you spot the raisins..?

The faithful breadmaker -kneading the dough



Dough awaiting to rise

The hot bread sitting inside the baking pan

The bread -a bit out of shape

Thumb up to please mummy

Taste good with peanut butter

Left a small portion for Him....



Ann Asam Fish

After a thorough rest, I spent the day in the comfort of home.  Decided to reactivate my kitchen N stove.  Did some bargaining N shopping at the market.  Noticed lots of ikan kembung (our local mackerel), must be cheap coz in abundance.  They looked fresh too.  The first thing ran into my mind, how about laksa ?  Nah...Ah Boy doesn't fancy laksa.  How about Asam Pedas..?  Good idea.  Bought half kilo of it @ approx. 10 pcs.  Next, I need the secret ingredient @ cili giling of such.  A special makeshift stall offers good cili giling.  You name it, she has them all...from curry kapitan to nyonya paste.  Bought the necessary ingredients like lemon grass stalks, bunga kantan (torch ginger) and daun kesum (knotweed or Vietnamese mint) and daun pudina (menthol mint).  Love these leaves, the aroma they emit into the gravy.  The pineapple cubes add sweetness to the gravy. Add a lil bit of lime juice, salt to taste.

Budget ingredients ~ all the raw materials cost me about RM 9.20 (can cook two meals)
Fish=RM5, Chilly and leaves stalks 3.70.  Lime RM 0.50, Morris Pineapple (left overs bought from from Tesco Xtra)

Hmmmm....at times, it's more economical to cook at home, the hygienic guaranteed, the nutrition intact and taste of course delicious and 100% MSG free. 

Headed home to dissect the fish, cleanse with salt.  Off into the fridge for evening.  Simple procedure.  In a lil bit of oil, saute the chilly giling till the aroma emerge.  Add in the lemon grass and daun kesum.  Add water.  Leave it at low heat.  Add in the fish, bring it to boil.  Lastly, add some lime juice (substitute it with asam juice coz my gastritis doesn't allows with asam jawa).  Garnish with menthol mint and sliced bunga kantan.  Served immediately.  The gravy is best eaten pipping hot.  So is the fish, when cold it has fishy odour. 

Everyone gave a thumb up to my Asam Pedas Mackerel. 
Although the pictures don't look appetising but in real they do.  However, there's room for improvement in the near future. 

The product

The Individual serving.

Below are the bahan-bahan masakan.  I used only a small amount coz I only cooking for 3 person.  The quantity are just about half of the things I bought.  There's a need to improve on the technique of cooking.  The first attempt usually don't taste as good as the second N so forth.      



Morris Pineapple

Serai Stalk

Daun Pudina (for garnishing)

Daun Kesum (for aroma)

Bunga Kantan

 Chilly paste (special secret ingredient)