At around 2:00am this morning, I awoke to the sound of thunder. It was raining heavily and the wind was howling outside the room window. I got up to close the windows in all the rooms and went back to bed.
As I drifted back to sleep, a bright strike of lighting flashed in the sky followed by a deafening sound of thunder and car alarms ringing through the air. The power tripped.
And then, I saw a silhouette. I wasn't wearing my spectacles and was wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I glared hard. I notice it's a human-like shadow on the wall, swaying very gently. My heart was beating faster. I couldn't tell if there was someone standing outside the window or if something is in the room.
I lay still for a while, observing the shadow and was wondering whether I should jump out of bed or stay still or start screaming. I tried to remember whether my golf stick was beside my bed.
Hubby was snoring beside me and I didn't dare to turn. I quickly calm myself down and said a quick prayer. I decided to just sit up straight in bed and to confront my fears.
It was Eryn, standing by the foot of my bed, staring at me. She gave me a fright. She said in a hushed tone that her back ached. I knew it was just an excuse and could have been frightened by the sound of thunder. I gave her a back rub and then she went back to bed.
Hubby got up and went downstairs to check on the circuit box. I went back to bed and closed my eyes. Once again, I had a big fright when there was this face right in front of me, with eyes wide open and whispering in a slow voice in Mandarin saying that the power has tripped. That was Brendan, speaking slowly and whispering so as not to fighten me. Sigh!
This kind of experience is definitely not for the faint-hearted. I remember the older folks used to have a chinese saying : "frightened by a human being can cause a fright to death where else frightened by a ghost can still be overcomed".
This is not the first time that Eryn has given me such fright. She has always stood there quietly and very straight and looked at me, always careful not to disturb me - while I'm cooking, while I'm in the toilet or while I'm watching TV or working on my pc at night.
She's not always like that though. She likes to come up to me and snuggle and hug me but cooking time and toilet time are a big no-no. When it's bed time, she's not to come downstairs too. So, she'll just stand still and look.
During such times, when I noticed a silhouette, I would normally turned very quickly, and there stood Eryn, looking at me and then breaking out in a wide grin.
What would you do if you encounter a silhouette in your room?
Monday, September 24, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sperms and Eggs (part II)
Here's the 'sequel' to my earlier post titled "Of sperms, eggs and balls", the kids know how fertilisation occurs but has never gotten down to the details of where sperms actually come from.
My little 7 y.o. Eryn came up to me after dinner and said she's got a very interesting story to tell me. So, I sat with her and she took out her kids' magazine, 小星星 or Bintang SinChew, and showed me this page below.
She then went on to tell her story which goes like this :
"These are all the sperms and the fastest and strongest sperm will go to the egg in your body
and make a baby. Just like how the sperm, which was daddy, and the egg, which is inside your body,
meet and made me.
"The little egg baby will go inside your womb and slowly grow into a real baby and when the baby is ready
to come out, it will come out from this part (pointing to the vagina in the picture)".
I then proceeded to ask her, "Where did the sperm come from?"
She answered like a girl full of wisdom, "The sperm is quite invisible. It is very tiny, and you can't see it.
It's like the size of kutu (lice). Wait, it's more like the size of germs because you can still see kutu. This
sperm will go down your mouth and inside your tummy to find the egg."
I almost chocked on my guava hearing that! Gosh! Trying to be smart indeed. he he he....
She continued, "And only married people can have babies."
Earlier this year, Brendan's version of where sperms come from is from kukubird and two balls.
I wonder what new versions I'm going to hear.
My little 7 y.o. Eryn came up to me after dinner and said she's got a very interesting story to tell me. So, I sat with her and she took out her kids' magazine, 小星星 or Bintang SinChew, and showed me this page below.
She then went on to tell her story which goes like this :
"These are all the sperms and the fastest and strongest sperm will go to the egg in your body
and make a baby. Just like how the sperm, which was daddy, and the egg, which is inside your body,
meet and made me.
"The little egg baby will go inside your womb and slowly grow into a real baby and when the baby is ready
to come out, it will come out from this part (pointing to the vagina in the picture)".
I then proceeded to ask her, "Where did the sperm come from?"
She answered like a girl full of wisdom, "The sperm is quite invisible. It is very tiny, and you can't see it.
It's like the size of kutu (lice). Wait, it's more like the size of germs because you can still see kutu. This
sperm will go down your mouth and inside your tummy to find the egg."
I almost chocked on my guava hearing that! Gosh! Trying to be smart indeed. he he he....
She continued, "And only married people can have babies."
Earlier this year, Brendan's version of where sperms come from is from kukubird and two balls.
I wonder what new versions I'm going to hear.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
"Kari Ikan Tongkol" to go with Nasi Dagang
Yummy Yummy!
From my earlier post on how to cook nasi dagang, here is the recipe for 'kari ikan tongkol' (Kelantanese style fish curry). I'm not sure what 'ikan tongkol' is called in English. I think it's some kind of a Malaysian tuna?
Well, we eat rather heathily on weekdays as I cook almost everyday, and we definitely do not consume much salt, sugar, santan, oil and stuffs that contribute to the high level of diabesity and overweight problems that is increasing in our country. So, do take it easy with the curry since it's generously laden with santan (coconut milk). I think you may opt to use evaporated milk or use less santan, but the taste be slightly less fragrant.
This is an occasional treat where we usually invite some friends over to indulge in this yummilicious meal.
Here's sharing with you our recipe. We prefer ours with more gravy. Do note that we do use any specific measurements as every ingredients are based on estimation according to our preference.
Our 'Kari Ikan Tongkol' recipe for approximately 10-12 pax :
Ingredients A :
~ one big bowl of shallots (approximately 4-5 handful)
~ a quarter big bowl of garlic (approximately 1-2 handful)
~ 4-5 stalks of serai (lemongrass) - more if you like the fragrance
Ingredients B :
~ 5 to 6 medium sized 'ikan tongkol' or 'tenggiri' (Malaysian tuna?)
~ santan (coconut milk) from one coconut
~ one/two cucumber (cut in big pieces)
~ long beans (cut in thumbsized length)
~ 5-6 fresh red chillies or green chillies (the light green type) - we like to have more of it
~ a few cili padi (bird's eye chillies) - if desired
~ cili giling (chilli paste, comes in a container and is easily available in the market)
~ a few pieces of asam keping or asam gelugor (dried tamarind skin),
~ fish curry powder (we prefer Baba's brand)
~ lengkuas, thumbsize (1 to 2) (galangal)~ 2 to 3 big bowls of water
~ salt and sugar to taste
Method :
( Pre-cooking steps ) :
1) Boiled a big bowl of water in a pot with 2-3 pieces of asam keping (dried tamarind skin) for approximately 20 minutes. Turn on low fire and add in the fish. Turn off fire when fish is halfway cooked. Leave the fish in the water and let it cool totally. Cover pot and let the fish 'soaked' in the asam water overnight in the fridge. This is to ensure that the fish would have a slight sourish tangy taste. Alternatively, you may soak it for a few hours prior to cooking.
2) A few hours before cooking, do the same for the cucumber and long beans. Boil half a big bowl of water with 1-2 pieces of asam keping. Turn off the fire and add in the vegetables.
Leave the vegetables in the water for approximately one hour. You may pour away the water afrer it's cooled down.
( Cooking steps ) :
1) Heat up oil. Lightly fry two tbsp-ful of the chilli paste.
2) Add in ingredients (A), stire and fry over medium heat till fragrant.
3) Add in 2-3 tbsp of fish curry powder and continue frying over medium-low heat. Be careful not to burn.
4) Add in the bowls of water and let it boil.
5) Add in the fresh chillies and one or two more asam keping (to your preference)
6) Add in all the fish and let it simmer on medium heat and then to low heat.
7) Add in the asam fish water (tamarind water) from the pot that was used to 'soak' in the fish.
Simmer on low fire for around 20 minutes or so for the flavour to come out.
8) Add in approximately 2 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar, to your preference.
9) Gradually pour in the coconut milk and simmer on low heat for around 5 minutes.
10) Turn off fire. Add vegetables from the pre-cooking steps above into the curry before serving.
(I prefer to keep my vegetables separated so that it's easier to scoop out).
As mentioned in my earlier post, 'kari ikan tongkol' goes well with nasi dagang which is a well known dish in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu and southern Thai, accompanied by 'acar' (pickled vegetables), hard boiled eggs, salted fish, 'sambal belacan' (a type of chilli shrimp paste) and keropok.
I've made a video here for your perusal. Happy Cooking!
From my earlier post on how to cook nasi dagang, here is the recipe for 'kari ikan tongkol' (Kelantanese style fish curry). I'm not sure what 'ikan tongkol' is called in English. I think it's some kind of a Malaysian tuna?
Well, we eat rather heathily on weekdays as I cook almost everyday, and we definitely do not consume much salt, sugar, santan, oil and stuffs that contribute to the high level of diabesity and overweight problems that is increasing in our country. So, do take it easy with the curry since it's generously laden with santan (coconut milk). I think you may opt to use evaporated milk or use less santan, but the taste be slightly less fragrant.
This is an occasional treat where we usually invite some friends over to indulge in this yummilicious meal.
Here's sharing with you our recipe. We prefer ours with more gravy. Do note that we do use any specific measurements as every ingredients are based on estimation according to our preference.
Our 'Kari Ikan Tongkol' recipe for approximately 10-12 pax :
Ingredients A :
~ one big bowl of shallots (approximately 4-5 handful)
~ a quarter big bowl of garlic (approximately 1-2 handful)
~ 4-5 stalks of serai (lemongrass) - more if you like the fragrance
Ingredients B :
~ 5 to 6 medium sized 'ikan tongkol' or 'tenggiri' (Malaysian tuna?)
~ santan (coconut milk) from one coconut
~ one/two cucumber (cut in big pieces)
~ long beans (cut in thumbsized length)
~ 5-6 fresh red chillies or green chillies (the light green type) - we like to have more of it
~ a few cili padi (bird's eye chillies) - if desired
~ cili giling (chilli paste, comes in a container and is easily available in the market)
~ a few pieces of asam keping or asam gelugor (dried tamarind skin),
~ fish curry powder (we prefer Baba's brand)
~ lengkuas, thumbsize (1 to 2) (galangal)~ 2 to 3 big bowls of water
~ salt and sugar to taste
Method :
( Pre-cooking steps ) :
1) Boiled a big bowl of water in a pot with 2-3 pieces of asam keping (dried tamarind skin) for approximately 20 minutes. Turn on low fire and add in the fish. Turn off fire when fish is halfway cooked. Leave the fish in the water and let it cool totally. Cover pot and let the fish 'soaked' in the asam water overnight in the fridge. This is to ensure that the fish would have a slight sourish tangy taste. Alternatively, you may soak it for a few hours prior to cooking.
2) A few hours before cooking, do the same for the cucumber and long beans. Boil half a big bowl of water with 1-2 pieces of asam keping. Turn off the fire and add in the vegetables.
Leave the vegetables in the water for approximately one hour. You may pour away the water afrer it's cooled down.
( Cooking steps ) :
1) Heat up oil. Lightly fry two tbsp-ful of the chilli paste.
2) Add in ingredients (A), stire and fry over medium heat till fragrant.
3) Add in 2-3 tbsp of fish curry powder and continue frying over medium-low heat. Be careful not to burn.
4) Add in the bowls of water and let it boil.
5) Add in the fresh chillies and one or two more asam keping (to your preference)
6) Add in all the fish and let it simmer on medium heat and then to low heat.
7) Add in the asam fish water (tamarind water) from the pot that was used to 'soak' in the fish.
Simmer on low fire for around 20 minutes or so for the flavour to come out.
8) Add in approximately 2 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar, to your preference.
9) Gradually pour in the coconut milk and simmer on low heat for around 5 minutes.
10) Turn off fire. Add vegetables from the pre-cooking steps above into the curry before serving.
(I prefer to keep my vegetables separated so that it's easier to scoop out).
As mentioned in my earlier post, 'kari ikan tongkol' goes well with nasi dagang which is a well known dish in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu and southern Thai, accompanied by 'acar' (pickled vegetables), hard boiled eggs, salted fish, 'sambal belacan' (a type of chilli shrimp paste) and keropok.
I've made a video here for your perusal. Happy Cooking!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Nasi Dagang recipe
Mmmmm........
Our kitchen is our mini bonding time for DH and I on some weekends when we undertake the task of cooking together. I cook for the family on weekdays and on weekends, DH would be the one who normally does the cooking. Occasionally, when the mood sets in, he'll go on a huge marketing spree and we'll then decide at the very last minute to call a few friends over.
Since we do not have a maid, our day starts right from the early morning till the evening, starting with the marketing, cleaning, chopping, slicing, cooking and washing the dishes. The rice will be soaked the night before. The kids love these cooking extravaganza weekends cos it means that they can watch unlimited cartoons or play games online while we toiled in the kitchen :-)
DH is a kelantanese and learnt this dish with recipe taken from the web, and improvised according to what we want. It's actually easy to cook, minus the time consuming processes in the preparation. With such a famous dish in the east coast, it would be a shame for those from the area who cooks but do not know how to cook this dish. Really! It's that easy!
A quick introduction on nasi dagang. It is a well known east coast of Malaysia and southern Thai dish, commonly eaten with 'kari ikan tongkol' (a type of Kelantanese style fish curry), accompanied by 'acar' (pickled vegetables), hard boiled eggs, salted fish, keropok and 'sambal belacan' (a type of chilli shrimp paste).
You can find the 'kari ikan tongkol' recipe in the next post.
The rice itself is rather reddish brown in colour and is like glutinuous rice. You may opt to use 'beras merah' (red rice) mixed with 'beras pulut' (glutinuous rice) as it can be quite hard to obtain it in KL area.
Below here is our version. Most of the ingredients here are just 'agak-agak' (based on estimation) on the ingredients used. You may improvise it according to your taste buds.
Nasi Dagang recipe for 8-10 pax :
Ingredients :
~ 1 kg beras nasi dagang (nasi dagang rice, or you may substitute it with a mixture of red rice and glutinuous rice)
~ Santan (coconut milk) from two coconut (you may opt to use lesser santan if you find it too 'lemak', or too rich)
~ one rice bowl full of peeled and chopped shallots
~ one knob of ginger, sliced and shredded (approximately palm size in length)
~ 1.5-2 tbsp biji halba (fenugreek seeds)
~ sugar to taste
Method :
1) Soak the nasi dagang rice overnight in water to soften it.
2) Discard water the next day and rinse rice. Heat up steamer.
Place netting in the steamer and place the rice on top of the netting.
(You may get this netting in sundry shops. We got our cotton netting from a fabric shop)
3) Steam rice for 20 minutes in steamer.
4a) Remove rice and scoop them out into a huge clean pot.
Add in some santan (approximately half).
Stir well to mix the rice evenly with the santan.
4b) Scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for another 20 minutes.
5) Remove rice once again and scoop them out into the earlier pot.
Add in more santan (approximately one, depending on absorption)
to stir and blend in together with the rice. This will ensure that the rice absorb the santan)
5b) Once again, scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for another 5-10 minutes.
6) Remove rice for the third and final time and scoop them out into the other pot.
Pour in remaining santan. Add in shallots, ginger, halba and a little sugar. Stir evenly.
7) Scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for approximately 5 minutes.
Turn off fire after that and serve rice warm with the curry.
Appended below is a video for your reference on the steaming method of nasi dagang.
Do try it. You'll love it! :-)
Our kitchen is our mini bonding time for DH and I on some weekends when we undertake the task of cooking together. I cook for the family on weekdays and on weekends, DH would be the one who normally does the cooking. Occasionally, when the mood sets in, he'll go on a huge marketing spree and we'll then decide at the very last minute to call a few friends over.
Since we do not have a maid, our day starts right from the early morning till the evening, starting with the marketing, cleaning, chopping, slicing, cooking and washing the dishes. The rice will be soaked the night before. The kids love these cooking extravaganza weekends cos it means that they can watch unlimited cartoons or play games online while we toiled in the kitchen :-)
DH is a kelantanese and learnt this dish with recipe taken from the web, and improvised according to what we want. It's actually easy to cook, minus the time consuming processes in the preparation. With such a famous dish in the east coast, it would be a shame for those from the area who cooks but do not know how to cook this dish. Really! It's that easy!
A quick introduction on nasi dagang. It is a well known east coast of Malaysia and southern Thai dish, commonly eaten with 'kari ikan tongkol' (a type of Kelantanese style fish curry), accompanied by 'acar' (pickled vegetables), hard boiled eggs, salted fish, keropok and 'sambal belacan' (a type of chilli shrimp paste).
You can find the 'kari ikan tongkol' recipe in the next post.
.JPG) |
| 'nasi dagang' and 'kari ikan tongkol' |
Below here is our version. Most of the ingredients here are just 'agak-agak' (based on estimation) on the ingredients used. You may improvise it according to your taste buds.
 |
| shallots, ginger and 'halba' (fenugreek seeds) |
Nasi Dagang recipe for 8-10 pax :
Ingredients :
~ 1 kg beras nasi dagang (nasi dagang rice, or you may substitute it with a mixture of red rice and glutinuous rice)
~ Santan (coconut milk) from two coconut (you may opt to use lesser santan if you find it too 'lemak', or too rich)
~ one rice bowl full of peeled and chopped shallots
~ one knob of ginger, sliced and shredded (approximately palm size in length)
~ 1.5-2 tbsp biji halba (fenugreek seeds)
~ sugar to taste
Method :
1) Soak the nasi dagang rice overnight in water to soften it.
2) Discard water the next day and rinse rice. Heat up steamer.
Place netting in the steamer and place the rice on top of the netting.
(You may get this netting in sundry shops. We got our cotton netting from a fabric shop)
3) Steam rice for 20 minutes in steamer.
4a) Remove rice and scoop them out into a huge clean pot.
Add in some santan (approximately half).
Stir well to mix the rice evenly with the santan.
4b) Scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for another 20 minutes.
5) Remove rice once again and scoop them out into the earlier pot.
Add in more santan (approximately one, depending on absorption)
to stir and blend in together with the rice. This will ensure that the rice absorb the santan)
5b) Once again, scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for another 5-10 minutes.
6) Remove rice for the third and final time and scoop them out into the other pot.
Pour in remaining santan. Add in shallots, ginger, halba and a little sugar. Stir evenly.
7) Scoop rice back into the steamer and steam rice for approximately 5 minutes.
Turn off fire after that and serve rice warm with the curry.
Appended below is a video for your reference on the steaming method of nasi dagang.
Do try it. You'll love it! :-)
Kids outing to KLCC Park and Istana Negara
It was Merdeka Day (Independence Day) last Friday. Since it was a public holiday and the kids' little cousin, Jas, came visiting, we decided to take them out for a short outing to the KLCC Park just before Jas leaves KL in that same afternoon.
We would have expected to see lots of foreign workers hanging out there but were surprised to see that the park was rather empty at 10:30am. It started getting rather crowded about half an hour later. So, we had to drag the kids out from the pool in less than an hour.
We would have expected to see lots of foreign workers hanging out there but were surprised to see that the park was rather empty at 10:30am. It started getting rather crowded about half an hour later. So, we had to drag the kids out from the pool in less than an hour.
.JPG) |
| Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! |
.JPG) |
| Kids lying down by the pool |
While driving towards Federal Highway, we decided to just make a quick stop to Istana Negara as the kids have not been there. I have to admit that I've never been to the guard post nor the main gate outside Istana Negara before. So, was rather surprise to see that the place were opened to the public. We didn't know this prior to this visit.
It was a lovely place surrounded with lots of greeneries and a nice garden with a pond. Unfortunately, what was once a beautiful garden and nursery, was a big let down with unkept surroundings. The field was pretty well kept though, and the grass were green and trimmed.
Overall, it was a good experience for us all as it was our first time visiting Istana Negara.
.JPG) |
| Inside the Istana Negara grounds near the entrance |
.JPG) |
| Tiled road leading up to the main halls |
.JPG) |
| Beautiful landscaping garden with a water fountain feature in the middle of the pond |
.JPG) |
| Not a pretty sight : stagnant water in a boat by the pond |
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre
Last Friday, we went to Kuantan for our group agency’s family camp for a three days and two nights stay.
Part of our itinerary was a visit to the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre on that Friday afternoon.
 |
| Kids at the entrance to the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre. |
The Cherating Turtle Sanctuary is managed by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia alongside the State Government of Pahang. Apparently, it was opened to the public sometime in mid 1998.
As we enter the centre, we went straight to the three ponds at the centre where there are turtles and terrapins swimming in the pond. From here, we moved on to a room with a video playback on the efforts in the turtles conservation programme in protecting the turtles from getting extinct.
We were earlier been told that there were baby turtles ready to be released into the sea. We had to prebook the number of turtles we required a few days earlier as release of the baby turtles are limited. A payment of RM5 per turtle hatchling is to be paid which is also treated as part of a donation towards the conservation programme.
The kids were extremely excited to know that there are baby green turtles ready to be released to sea.
After the video presentation, we headed outside to get ready for the turtles release. Just beside the centre, there is a turtle hatchery area where turtle rangers transfer turtle eggs laid by the turtle from the beach to the hatchery to protect from any harm.
This would ensure that the turtle hatchlings will hatch safely, after which, it will need to be released to the huge ocean out there.
 |
| Turtle Hatchery |
We were told by the guide that the baby turtles from this beach will normally come back to lay their eggs when their time is due.
Admission is free and the visiting hours are from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm with an hour lunch break from 1:00pm to 2:00pm/ On Fridays, there is a 3 hours break for lunch and prayers from 12 noon to 3:00pm. The Sanctuary is closed on Mondays.
You may need to call and verify if you want to participate in the release for the baby turtles or watching turtles laying eggs at night.
Cherating Turtle Sanctuary Address:
Turtle Sanctuary & Information Center
26050 Balok, Cherating, Kuantan, Pahang.
Contact No. : (6) 09-581 9087
26050 Balok, Cherating, Kuantan, Pahang.
Contact No. : (6) 09-581 9087
 |
| baby green turtles in a box, ready for release |
 |
| kids taking great care and being gentle with their hatchlings |
 |
| Brendan's extremely careful with his baby green turtle |
 |
| Up close with a baby green turtle |
 |
| Eryn gently releasing her baby green turtle on the sand |
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| A baby turtle making its way to the sea |
 |
| wriggling their way through the rough surface on the sand |
 |
| Love our turtles. |
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| Brendan at the beach |
Friday, August 10, 2012
Cup Bangle?
On school days, my mornings are the routine of waking the kids up, showering them, preparing breakfast for kids, wash their water tumbler, ensuring their bags are properly packed, washing the dishes and then sending them to school. In-between, there's the constant nagging to get them to hurry up cos they like to take their own sweet time, dilly-dallying here and there.
Anyway, this morning. I did the usual routine, and then this happened!!
Anyway, this morning. I did the usual routine, and then this happened!!
While I was washing this particular glass, the bottom just broke and in a split second just before I realised the bottom was broken, I pulled my hand back in and had various cuts all over my right hand, plus one on my left hand too. The one on the second finger on my right hand is really deep. I put on soap and tried to pull my hand out gently. There were blood all over the sink.
The kids started screaming! "No! Mummy! No! Don't do that!"
Sigh! Had to get Brendan to bring the hammer out. Wrapped my hand in towel and smashed the cup away.
I can feel my whole hand throbbing with pain right now.
Damn!! A domestic goddess I'm not! Not domesticated, and definitely not a goddess. So, you see, my days are NOT filled with pleasant mornings all the time.
I don't know what is more comforting. Brendan taking this photo for remembrance, or Eryn saying "Mummy, don't die! Who is going to take care of us?!" or the kids suddenly became so grown up and concern and started taking their bags and stood at the door without me having to open my mouth.
Oh well, just another day in paradise........not!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Tesco, Oh Tesco!! How disgusting can you be?
Aaarrrrggghh!! This is totally disgusting! Damn!! I just can't believe that I did not learn my lesson, and I'll tell you why.
If you read my first sentence above, I mentioned "I did not learn my lesson". Why? Well, this is because I just can't trust these hyper or super thingy. Below here is a pack of Tesco brand honey breakfast cereal which I bought in December last year. My first and my last time buying that stupid "cicak cereal". NEVER EVER buy Tesco brand food products. Just stick to Nestle or Kellogg's and you'll not get it bad.
I only realised that dried and shrivelled lizard after the kids ate a portion of it. Again, I called to file a personal complaint. I cannot tahan. This time must make it public. I even drove all the way to return it back, not even bothered to get back my refund. To date, I don't even get any assurance from them.
Note to self : Stick to my standard household goods, biscuits and vege and only when it's fresh. No meat! No cicak cereal or in-house brand food products.
I shop in Tesco a lot mostly for the dry goods and household items. I don’t normally buy meat products or fish from any hypermarkets or supermarkets as they just don't look as fresh as the ones in the morning market. People tell me that NHK (I first heard of it last week), Cold Storage and Jaya are the better supermarkets.
Occasionally, the meat section in these "super hyper markets" tend to emit some sort of nauseating smell. I do get the chilled Australian sliced beef to make pizza once in a blue moon, provided I "think" they look fresh and does not smell. We take more fish and vegetables most of the time and the morning market supply really fresh ones though they may be a little pricey as compared to the supermarkets.
Anyway, this morning, I was in Tesco Puchong doing some grocery shopping. As I passed the fresh meat section, I thought I could make do with the packed chicken fillet in Tesco after noticing that it was packed today (based on the label). Since it's a weekday and it's a rush for me, I didn't want to make a detour to the pasar and besides, it's too late to go to the morning market.
Upon reaching home, I proceeded to remove the fillet from the pack to rinse and was extremely shock to see a slightly harden piece of fillet with greenish parts on it. Eeeww!!
I immediately drove back to Tesco Puchong to return it and filed a complaint to the customer service girl at the front counter. Apparently, one lady whom I spoke to, said that this is rather normal. Yet, the photo that I showed her made her gasped in disbelief.
Another lady staff of Tesco (in apron) said that this could be packed by a newcomer. While a third lady staff (in office clothings) mentioned that the meat was from a supplier and not packed by them. The fourth person that came by was a guy by the name of Din, who was apparently in charge of the “fresh food” area for day, indicated they will give me a refund.
Gosh! I’m not concern about the refund!! I drove all the way back to Tesco Puchong, just to show this and file my complaint. It took off some of my time and petrol, so that little refund is not my concern. Don’t they have any assurance or QC check on your supply? This is a shame. Are the fresh food even fit for human consumption?!!
I don't care if this meat was packed in Tesco, or from a supplier. They seriously need to look into this.
With the rising rate of health problems due to food and environment, this kind of greenish meat will definitely make your life shorten. Eewww!!!!! Horrible!! Disgusting!! I'm feel sick just talking about this...
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| I feel like puking... |
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| Look at the date! It's supposed to be freshly packed this morning!! |
If you read my first sentence above, I mentioned "I did not learn my lesson". Why? Well, this is because I just can't trust these hyper or super thingy. Below here is a pack of Tesco brand honey breakfast cereal which I bought in December last year. My first and my last time buying that stupid "cicak cereal". NEVER EVER buy Tesco brand food products. Just stick to Nestle or Kellogg's and you'll not get it bad.
I only realised that dried and shrivelled lizard after the kids ate a portion of it. Again, I called to file a personal complaint. I cannot tahan. This time must make it public. I even drove all the way to return it back, not even bothered to get back my refund. To date, I don't even get any assurance from them.
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| Spot the lizard!! No price for getting it correct. |
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| This fella is not enjoying his cereal bath. It's dead. Period. And it's found in my cereal!! |
Note to self : Stick to my standard household goods, biscuits and vege and only when it's fresh. No meat! No cicak cereal or in-house brand food products.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
All she wants for her birthday is.....
Eryn has always been a happy-go-lucky girl. And she definitely has lots of things to talk about. She can yak and yak from morning till night. It drives me crazy sometimes, but that brings out the good vibes in our house unless she goes around throwing little tantrums and makes me go even crazier.
For the past two weeks, she has been talking about her birthday. She didn't ask for any present but was extremely pleased to get a glittering star watch souvenior we got from Tokyo.
In two days' time, she'll be turning 7. Just like most girls her age, she likes cute little girlish stuffs. She loves drawing (just like mummy!). And she's got a mind of her own. DH was telling me about this little conversation they had reccently :
Daddy : Eryn, you must always eat at the kitchen table. Please do not eat and walk everywhere.
Eryn : Daddy, when I have children next time, I will allow my children to eat on the bed.
Daddy : *stunned*
Daddy : Then your bed will be dirty and ants will come! Don't be so dirty.
Eryn : Well, I just want to be good to my children. *laughed happily and went to sit by
the kitchen table*
That's just so Eryn. She has so many things to say and can be very impromptu. She can manja-manja at one time, and throw her tantrums at another time. At most times, she'll be happily singing and yakking and drawing away.
Last night, during dinner, she asked me, "Mummy, my birthday is coming. Do you know what I want for my birthday?" I told her firmly, "Mummy is financially tight. We'll see what we can do together". Eryn said, "Mummy, I'm not asking for present. I don't want any presents. I have not eat the green black rice (referring to khao jam aka Kelantanese nasi kerabu) for a long time. Can you cook that for my birthday, pleaseeeeeee?"
She then went on to talk about how she loves the green black rice and how her friends in school was starring at her greenish black coloured rice and asking her what it was.
I guess that's just not too much to ask for right? It will be done. And it will be made with lots of love (and the amount of effort put into it).
For the past two weeks, she has been talking about her birthday. She didn't ask for any present but was extremely pleased to get a glittering star watch souvenior we got from Tokyo.
In two days' time, she'll be turning 7. Just like most girls her age, she likes cute little girlish stuffs. She loves drawing (just like mummy!). And she's got a mind of her own. DH was telling me about this little conversation they had reccently :
Daddy : Eryn, you must always eat at the kitchen table. Please do not eat and walk everywhere.
Eryn : Daddy, when I have children next time, I will allow my children to eat on the bed.
Daddy : *stunned*
Daddy : Then your bed will be dirty and ants will come! Don't be so dirty.
Eryn : Well, I just want to be good to my children. *laughed happily and went to sit by
the kitchen table*
That's just so Eryn. She has so many things to say and can be very impromptu. She can manja-manja at one time, and throw her tantrums at another time. At most times, she'll be happily singing and yakking and drawing away.
Last night, during dinner, she asked me, "Mummy, my birthday is coming. Do you know what I want for my birthday?" I told her firmly, "Mummy is financially tight. We'll see what we can do together". Eryn said, "Mummy, I'm not asking for present. I don't want any presents. I have not eat the green black rice (referring to khao jam aka Kelantanese nasi kerabu) for a long time. Can you cook that for my birthday, pleaseeeeeee?"
She then went on to talk about how she loves the green black rice and how her friends in school was starring at her greenish black coloured rice and asking her what it was.
I guess that's just not too much to ask for right? It will be done. And it will be made with lots of love (and the amount of effort put into it).
 |
| Eryn eating "khao jam" with her hands in this file photo taken quite a while back. |
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thinking like a child
Children always see things differently, and as they grow, their beliefs and values are being tuned through the influences of family, friends, social medias, books, schools and the environment - the things they see and learn, the things they experience, the life they try to adapt and get accustomed to.
Sometimes, as adults, we think too hard and at times, we are required to think out of the box. However, just going back to basics seem quite logical in some areas of our lives too, don't you think so?
Below here is an illustration of what I mean.
Apparently, the "maths" problem below is easily solved by pre-school children within 10 minutes, by programmers in an hour and needless to say, those in higher education??
I got my answer in pathetically, 45 minutes last night after thinking too hard and then tried to get back to basic and cleared my mind with complicated stuffs and started thinking like my kids. What say you? What's 2581?
.jpg)
Sometimes, as adults, we think too hard and at times, we are required to think out of the box. However, just going back to basics seem quite logical in some areas of our lives too, don't you think so?
Below here is an illustration of what I mean.
Apparently, the "maths" problem below is easily solved by pre-school children within 10 minutes, by programmers in an hour and needless to say, those in higher education??
I got my answer in pathetically, 45 minutes last night after thinking too hard and then tried to get back to basic and cleared my mind with complicated stuffs and started thinking like my kids. What say you? What's 2581?
.jpg)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Pizza making attempt
The once-in-a-blue-moon urge to 'cook' something new came last few days for DH. And when his inspiration comes, it will be done.
So, this afternoon, DH spread his love (and flour) in the kitchen and he made pizza dough using our faithful breadmaker machine. I was a little doubtful as to whether his dough base will turn out well. So, I sat there quietly, observing the chef' at work while I was snickering away.
We didn't have much ingredients and decided to make do with what we have.
It turned out pretty well! I'm impressed! Thank you DH! *yummy*
Here's DH's dough recipe for 2 large pizza (12" pizzas each), taken from a recipe book :
So, this afternoon, DH spread his love (and flour) in the kitchen and he made pizza dough using our faithful breadmaker machine. I was a little doubtful as to whether his dough base will turn out well. So, I sat there quietly, observing the chef' at work while I was snickering away.
We didn't have much ingredients and decided to make do with what we have.
It turned out pretty well! I'm impressed! Thank you DH! *yummy*
Here's DH's dough recipe for 2 large pizza (12" pizzas each), taken from a recipe book :
- 280ml water
- 30ml extra virgin olive oil
- 450gm unbleached white bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp easy back dried yeast.
- Pour water and olive oil into our breadmaker machine, followed by flour on top the water and olive oil.
- Add salt and sugar in 2 different corners, yeast in a dent in the middle.
- Mix using pizza dough setting.
- DH divided the dough into two and 'whacked' each dough on the table like there's no tomorrow.
- DH spread the dough onto the pan and spread it with tomato paste and sprinkle it with ingredients* of your choice. For cheese, we use mozarella cheese. We sprinkle mixed pizza herbs on top.
- Bake in preheat 220 degrees C oven for approximately 20 minutes.
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| Chef at work |
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| Mini-chef assisting in the sprinkling of mozarella cheese |
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| Leggo's tomato paste and Tesco mixed herbs DH used for our pizza |
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
"My Generasi" : Generation X
For a while, I felt like a school girl again while looking at this lovely video which brings me warm memories. Produced by JinnyboyTV, the video titled "My Generasi" (My Generation) truly highlights some of the basic stuffs we used to do many, many years back. It brings out mixed emotions, it made me smile and laugh at all the fun and things we used to do.
We didn't need handphones, computers, facebook or any of the current technology to keep us entertained. I remember running and sweating it out under the hot sun before our afternoon school session starts. I remember the five stones and cepers which used to entertain us during breaks. I remember just simply staying back in school to train for my sports training or just hanging out with friends in school.
We played "belon-acar" (galah panjang), police and thief, hide-and-seek and the traditional games back then. There were no computer games for us, at least not for me. Calls were made from house phone or public pay phones. There was very less TV too. Video tapes rentals were a luxury.
These are just some of the nostalgic moments. What were yours back then?
We didn't need handphones, computers, facebook or any of the current technology to keep us entertained. I remember running and sweating it out under the hot sun before our afternoon school session starts. I remember the five stones and cepers which used to entertain us during breaks. I remember just simply staying back in school to train for my sports training or just hanging out with friends in school.
We played "belon-acar" (galah panjang), police and thief, hide-and-seek and the traditional games back then. There were no computer games for us, at least not for me. Calls were made from house phone or public pay phones. There was very less TV too. Video tapes rentals were a luxury.
These are just some of the nostalgic moments. What were yours back then?
Friday, March 9, 2012
Banjir, oh Banjir
With the latest flash flood in KL (again!), I seriously feel that there’s too much of a kampong mentality in some people. You practically see rubbish everywhere you go in Malaysia.
Imagine that DBKL claims that they collect approximately 20 tonnes of garbage every single day from the KL rivers. Eeww.... and you still see people fishing in these rivers. Cleanliness seems to be the least of the concern for these people.
The not so SMART tunnel had to be closed because of the flood effect. I kind of wonder what would happen when the new “River of Life” project is implemented.
You go to the makan stall, you see hawkers throwing food waste inside the longkang beside their stalls. I happened to wait inside a car for hubby who went to buy something, just right behind one very famous dim sum shop in Puchong one fine afternoon. I saw their foreign workers piling up all the unwashed dishes into a huge basin and proceed to pour dish washing liquid into it and give a quick wash to the dishes before rinsing it into another huge tub of supposedly clean water which has been used repeatedly. After the whole washing, the first tub of water was poured into the drain, just like the colour of the local dark kopi in our local coffee shops. You see pieces of food, bones, plastics and don’t-know-what on the floor. The works were barefooted too. I had wanted to take out my phone to videotape the whole thing, but the workers knew that I was observing them.
One thing I hate most is when people start clearing their throat out loud and start spitting around. The ones chewing on the betel nut leaves are the worst. Already we have people burping and farting like it’s their right to do so in public, especially those who get great pleasure in burping right after meals, the louder the better.
Then, you see those garbage truck with those leachate leaking out from their trucks everywhere they go. Have you ever seen those huge garbage containers filled up with garbage inside out? Gosh, I don’t ever remember seeing any on these containers without garbage surrounding it, not to mention the smell.
When it comes to public toilets, especially the ladies toilets (not sure about the men’s toilet), the floors are always wet, including the ones in some office buildings. One office cleaner complaint that each time she mopped the floor dry (and she reuse the same water from the same pail to mop and re-mop), some women just like to splash water everywhere inside the toilet. I can’t agree with her more. I don’t know what these people do inside when they go to the toilet. It’s like as though they’ve just bathed in there.
So you see, it’s the MENTALity on some people who do not see the wrong in doing these kind of things and wouldn’t give a damn what others think but make helluva noise when they get affected in some way or another.
My symphaties to friends and those who got stuck in those horrendous jam the other day, and those whose cars were stuck in the flood. This "River of Life" project better be good. I hope it's not one of those not-so-smart projects with billions spent on it.
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