Craving For These Kueh :)

I met this auntie by accident. My younger brother invited me and other family members for 'majlis cukur rambut'. Dunno what to bring for the occasion. But doesn't feel right if we just 'touch and go' and only come for eating hehehheh.. Must have 'buah tangan' right. That's the customs or may be more appropriate. So, I searched the internet for people who sell traditional kuih and can accept orders within a short notice. I had called many numbers but most of them need at least 3 days notice until I call this makcik's daughter. I called them about 5 pm on Friday asking for the kueh to be ready by 10 am on the following day. They agreed and I ordered. It just to give a try and I dunno what else to bring. I am tired of cupcakes, tarts and cookies. And I need something else for a change. May be something more traditional. So, I picked up the kueh from the makcik at 10.15 am (heheheh actually I am the one who changed the time for 'technical' reason). At the very beginning, I just ordered lepat pisang and the makcik gave me pulut inti for free. After discovering the taste was awesome (less sweet but very addicting), I ordered karipap, cucur badak, roti jala and puteri ayu. Since then, when I feel like eating traditional kuih, I will just pick up the phone and call the makcik. Easy huh. coz I'm not that talented to prepare such traditional kueh..(another excuse for not cooking hehehehhe). So, here are some kueh that I have ordered (eat and finished). Enjoyyyy

   

Tiba-tiba Jadi Cikgu

Wahhhh.. can't believe it.. Tetiba jadi cikgu.. walaupun bukan cikgu sekolah, cikgu tusyen tak rasmi pun rasa dah macam jadi cikgu juga. Jangan tak percayaaaa... Percayalah..Macam mana bleh jadi cikgu ni? cer citer, cer citer..Asalnya pergi rumah makcik. Jadik ada la sorang kazen nih, namanya Anis,  akan amik UPSR tahun 2012 ni. Anis mana? Alah Anis yang mengajar aku buat blog memula ni la.Mama dia sudah fening sebab kat rumah asyik bergumpal dengan adik dia umo 4 tahun lebih..Nak daftar pegi tusyen, semua pusat tusyen dah penuh dan tak ambik pelajar tambahan lagi.. Caner nak buat ni? Sian la pulak tengok budak ni takder sapa nak guide dia. Sian kat makcik aku gak sebab dah macam nak kuar anak tekak suruh anak dia blaja. Memandangkan bebudak ni kira tahap kecik la untuk aku, maka dengan menggunakan kuasa kazen aka kakak yang ada, aku tanya dia nak tak aku ajar dia untuk UPSR ni walaupun dalam hati aku terpikir gak sama ker silibus aku dolu-dolu dengan silibus budak-budak sekarang... 

Aahhh silibus ni pikir kemudian la.. mesti tak susahnya setakat kalau pelajaran budak darjah 6. Anis tanpa ragu-ragu angguk kepala setuju aku jadik cikgu tusyen dia. Aku pun terus kasik homework kat dia, tapi mula dari awal la sebab aku pun nak kene blaja gak apa yang dorang blaja kat skola sebenarnya. Nampak macam simple jer. 4 subjek jerrrrr. Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Inggeris, Matematik dan Sains. Lepas aku kasik Anis homework awalan, aku pun pinjam la buku-buku latihan dia yang lain sebab aku pun kene gak tau apa tajuk-tajuk selanjutnya... Bila aku tengok jer silibus-silibus dorang, umangggg aiiiii. Susahnya. Aku rasa aku darjah 6 dulu pun tak blaja camni. Ni rasa macam dah tahap silibus tingkatan tiga time aku jer. Patut la dorang ni kene blaja extra harder. Lepas aku settle ngan Anis, balik dari umah makcik aku singgah umah kakak aku jap. 

Laaaaa baru teringat anak sedara sendiri pun nak ambik UPSR gak. Tanya plak dia sama ada dia nak join Anis masuk kelas tusyen aku. Sebab dia nih memang mak dia dah daftarkan kelas tusyen dekat umah dia. Dengan gumbiranya dia setuju. Dah agak dah. Mesti nak togeder-geder dengan 'anak sedara' dia yang sebaya dia tuh. Member kamceng la katakan. Nak jadikan citer, kelas tusyen aku tetiba jadik fofular. :) Aku dapat sorang lagi anak murid, anak biras adik aku. Sian dier nih. Ayah dah meninggal. Jadi aku dengan rela hati terima dia jadik anak murid aku kalau dia rela nak blaja ngan aku la. Hehehehhe cukup la tu tiga orang anak murid untuk permulaan ni yang ambik UPSR la. Ada sorang lagi anak sedara aku nak tusyen ngan aku gak katanya tapi baru darjah 3. Aku kata suka hati la. Aku orait jer. Senang hati tengok budak-budak bersemangat nak blaja bersungguh-sungguh. Terharu gak sebab dorang selalu kata aku 'menakutkan' hehehheeh tapi bila tanya dorang sendiri nak blaja ngan aku ke tak... nak la pulak budak-budak ni.. terharu, terharu.. Apa-apa pun aku pun kene blaja gak. Mencabar wehhhh mende-mende yang dorang blaja nih. Takper, takper. Secara tak langsung aku blaja gak.. Banyak ghupenya yang aku tak tauuuuuu... patutla jadi cikgu ni susah. Baru bleh rasa perasaan cikgu-cikgu kalau mak bapak dan pelajar-pelajar tak hargai penat lelah dorang. Cikgu yang dedicated la. Bukan cikgu yang tangkap muat asal buat jer. Bukan senang kan nak mendidik generasi akan datang ni. Nak memekik senang la.. Buka jer mulut tu dan keluarkan suara dengan setinggi yang boleh hehehhehe

Tahun baru, entri baru..

Hari ni dah nak masuk sebulan tahun baru.. tapi mungkin tahun baru tu rasa macam baru jer berlalu. Kat luar, bersahut-sahut bunyi mercun.. nampak cahayanya dari arah padang berhampiran..jiran-jiran tionghua masih lagi dalam suasana tahun baru china. 

Bila orang tanya apa azam tahun baru 2012? Apa rancangan? Kalau ikutkan dalam kepala ni rasanya macam-macam nak buat tapi tak tau mampu nak buat ke tak..apa yang penting ada azam ye doppp... dah niat lerr tu...kalau niat yang baik-baik, Insya Allah dapat pahala..kan, kan, kan... jadik sebagai peringatan kat diri sendiri dan untuk diperingatkan dek orang lain, rasa nak buat senarai check list sket la angan-angan tahun ni - antara angan-angan tahun ni:

i) nak jadi lebih baik dari tahun lepas dalam semua perkara;

ii) nak kumpul duit pegi umrah & haji, Insya Allah;

iii) nak jaga kesihatan - pegi bersenam selalu untuk ada stamina, bagi kuar peluh, kurangkan stress dsb;

iv) nak menambah ilmu memasak - concrete top dapur dah siap, jadik takder alasan lagi nak malas-malas; dan

v) nak tambah ilmu buat blog... bukan jer menggodek blog sendiri tp tolong godek blog org lain yg suh adjust blog dorang...

Ada lagi sebnarnya angan-angan tapi tak yah la letak kat sini... nanti macam poyos orang menyampah lak, takpun angan-angan tu masih di peringkat bayang-bayang, fikir-fikir & jengok-jengok lagik... apa-apapun, mudah-mudahan dan harap sangat, memana angan-angan yang baik tu jadik kenyataan... Aminnnn

Lunar Eclipse

Have you heard about this phenomenon before or even seen it before? As for me, to hear about it.. the answer is yes and to see it...no.. until yesterday... yeah, yesterday i supposed many Malaysians were waiting to watch this full lunar eclipse at selected locations or if they were lucky, they could even watch it without using any special binoculars or equipments for the event from wherever locations that it could be seen. I saw some announcements in the media earlier that the eclipse would start from around 7 in the evening on 10 December 2011 until around 1 o'clock in the next morning. However, I didn't pay much attention at first because it was Saturday. That day was just like any other Saturday when I spend my weekend at my parent's house. It was a special day though for one of my younger brothers, Tarmizi, as yesterday was his birthday. Really wish you the very best for your future and hope things will always be better, bright and positive.  Ok, forget about my younger brother's birthday. 

Talking about the lunar eclipse, I didn't realise that that night many people would do things associated with the rare phenomenon until my father returned from Isya' prayer at mosque. As the mosque is quite near from the house, earlier, I could hear the Imam recited a few long surahs like during tarawih in Ramadhan and I was telling myself that there might be special occassion at the mosque. Then, when my father returned, he told us that we were having a lunar eclipse that night and the people at mosques just performed sunnah prayer for the eclipse. He told us that he also learned and experienced new things that night about how to perform this solat sunnat.. It has 4 rakaat and the Imam has to recite a few verses from Surah AlBaqarah during the first rakaat. The verses recited for the second rakaat should be shorter than the first rakaat but longer than the third and the fourth rakaat. It also has khutbah like the one in Friday prayer...wahhh I also just know about this.. I thought it is just like any other solat sunah which normally has 2 rakaats...it is not.. so this occassion must be very special...very very special...

Indeed, it was very special. At first I didnt see anything on the clear sky except the stars and a few thin clouds moving slowly. As I ignited my car engine to return to my own house that night, my eyes suddenly found the moon and the eclipse was in full I supposed. It was around 10.30 - 10.45 pm. I could not stop myself from staring at the moon. It was so unique and so beautiful. The colours were combination of white, yellow and orange. The white colour part formed a crescent like shape while the rest had the mixture of yellow and orange colours. There were small dark or maybe brown dots on the moon. Really, I don't know how to decscribe it here but indeed the phenomenon amazed me and exciting. I watched this together with my father and my youngest sister. Unfortunately, I couldnt keep this special moment in the form of picture as I forgot to bring my camera....waaaa there I did it it again.. forget about important things when the opportunity is there and dont know when it will occur again...slap slap slap.. 

Whatever it is, I feel very happy and grateful about it especially when I found out that not all people who are waiting to see the phenomenon were able to do so. So stop complaining... be grateful for whatever you have and enjoy it whether it is big or small... it is because others might not even have it or only see it in their dreams...

Dream Kitchen - Part 1 - The Reason

I moved in to the current house two years ago. The house seems perfect for me because it has everything that meets my basic requirement including the kitchen.. If I said this to my sisters and frens, definitely they will say, hey the developer only gave you one fragile sink and a tap. I told them that would be enough for me for the time being. At least I don't have to do any renovation for the house. Only to fix some lights, fans and water heaters. That's all. Of course I dream of a nice kitchen cabinet but... well, I didnt have sufficient funds after all the payment & fees for the house.. argghh sale & purchase agreement, legal fee, stamping, maintenance & utilities fee bla, bla, bla

Everytime the maintenance people came to do some repairs, their workers always said, hmm this is among few houses in this area which maintain the original fixtures in the house. Hahahhah. When I asked them, what else other house owners did. The descriptions would just flow out of their mouth..owhh they would change the tiles, build kitchen cabinet, wardrobes, change the gate etc, etc, etc. When I asked them whether materials used for the house are good enough at least to be used for the next 10 years. They agreed with me for many things about the house except for the kitchen sink.. hihihiih. so, i told myself, nevermind, i will see how long the sink would last.

Yeah, the sink and the kitchen tap are usable until last August. And it was a day before Eid-ul-Fitr. My sister had assigned all the siblings and in-laws to prepare different dishes for the celebration and to bring the food to my parents house. My task was to boil small packs of rice (nasi impit) for the big gathering. Everything looked ok in the kitchen until I put the pot containing the rice packs and water onto the sink...Waaaaa my sink bended into an A shape and the water from the tap flooded my kitchen.. From that very day, I told myself, I badly need a new sink, a new tap, a concrete top for the kitchen and definitely a new kitchen cabinet. Otherwise, I will never cook again in the kitchen.. (huhuhuhuh does this excuse strong enough and acceptable for me to have a new kitchen cabinet? hmmm my sister-in-law and younger sisters didn't think so. They said this is only a lame excuse not to cook at home lalalalala)

Before

After

Congratulations Young Tigers

This time i will try using English in my blog. Although it will not be often, i think i need to use it once a while so that it will not fade from my mind. I do think my proficiency in this language is getting worse day by day but i keep telling myself that it's fine as it is not my mother's tongue. heheheh well, i can't speak good national language either as i use local accent at home..sighhhh what happen to me.. maybe it is because of being exposed to so many other languages at the same time.. arabic, mandarin, french, lao, japanese ... but can't speak well in any of the languages.. what a pity.. help, help, help

Anyway, today, I think feel proud to be a Malaysian when the national football team won the final football match against the host country team in Gelora Bung Karno stadium, Jakarta last Monday (21 November 2011). Congratulations young tigers. I know Malaysians will continue to support you as long as you show efforts to make us proud of you. Keep it up..


I have an open secret too :).. I didn't watch the game though despite already preparing myself in front of tv  half an hour before the game started. Why? I dozed off and woke up only in the next morning. Luckily, the Prime Minister didn't declare Tuesday as a public holiday. Otherwise, I might be the only one who end up going to the office that day.. kih kih kih..

We will miss u..

Hari ni hari Jumaat. Di luar hujan turun mencurah-mencurah. Lain daripada hari-hari sebelumnya dalam minggu ini. Jadi dengan rasa syukur akan nikmat yang diturunkan dari langit itu, rasa berkobar-kobar nak pegi ke pejabat. Rasa keceriaan tu dizahirkan dengan baju kurung kaler pink dan tudung merah..

Sedang asyik membuat kerja, panggilan telefon seorang kawan dan berita sedih yang disampaikan membuat hati seakan terhenti seketika. Hari ini aku harus menerima hakikat perginya seorang sahabat yang baik dan dedikasi mengadap Penciptanya kerana kemalangan jalanraya di Kuantan pada awal pagi ini. Pada detik itu juga terkenang wajah arwah. Kami sering terserempak di pasar malam setiap petang hari jumaat di Putrajaya. Malah rasa seperti baru semalam terjumpa beliau di satu karnival di Putrajaya.

Tiada apa yang dapat diucapkan lagi ketika menerima berita ini. Hanya doa yang mampu dikirimkan dengan harapan beliau ditempatkan bersama-sama orang yang beriman dan mendapat rahmatNya. Nana, you're truly a good friend and I believe a dedicated officer, good daughter, loving mother and excellent wife as well. May your soul rest in peace. Al Fatihah.