2010-A Year In Review

Haii..

I was supposed to post this entry on 31 December 2010. But due to time constraint and the never-ending things to do, I didn;t manage to finish it on time.

So how has the new year been to you? For me it's work, home, friends and all things as usual, except that then end digit to the year now happens to be 1.

I remember at this time of the year last year, when we were at the beginning of 2010 feeling all kinds of things, especially when thinking that I would be moving to my own place. Fear, mostly, and worries. That's cause I was worried about how I was going to make the new place a home, where I would find money to move, what I needed to move and things like that. But towards the end of the year, I was also busy attending social gatherings and outings and lots of makan-makan events with friends.

Anyways, let's just do some review of what 2010 has been for me ya!

January
Started off the year just like any other new year. Rested nicely. I would say that January was pretty uneventful for me, as we were just turning into the new year, so it's been all about making plans for the year and adjusting to the new digits to the year.

February
February was the month when everything picked up for me. We celebrated Chinese New Year, and during this time, my parents came for a two-week stay. My cousin was here too as she had a work trip which she then extended to spend time with us.

We took the opportunity to drive up to the East Coast, and we went to Kota Bharu for about two nights. Once my cousin left, we also went to Port Dickson for a day trip and a picnic with my recently-married cousin.

That's just Mum and Dad posing near the fancy briodge in front of PICC

Picnic at Port Dickson

Our road trip-me camwhoring! Sorry gambar bercelaru tak ikut order!!Hahaha..


Then, my friend Carol got married and I was there to witness her big day. She's now settled in Adelaide, Australia, and I'm trying to find time (and money) to fly there and visit her some there.


During Carol's reception at Sunway Hotel and Resort.

March
March was another uneventful month I reckon, except that this was the month that I seriously gave a thought on switching my job. Alhamdulillah, as soon as my parents flew back to Kuching, calls started coming in to invite me for interviews. Among them was from an oil and gas conglomerate, as well as a government statutory body.

At at the same time, at the work place, I enjoyed my work as I had a wonderful boss and collegaues who werer really understanding and appreciate my contribution to the team.


April
April was a melancholic month for me, mostly because it was 'his' birthday month. And yes, I guess it was around this time that we made our break up more definite.

I also got a new job offer in April, so end of April I tendered my resignation. Four years at that private university was among the best in my career. I learned a lot, made many friends, matured a lot and grew financially, intellectually and in so many other ways.

It was while here that I decided also to buy my own apartment as I was confident enough that I was financially able to do so.

In April, my friend Carol moved to Australia. But before that, she asked me to come over to her place to give her one last cooking lesson. The story is here

May
May was the last month at my old place. As I was preparing to leave, I also prepped myself up for the new place-nervously anticipating how it would be like, prayed that things would go smoothly and that I would have a good time at the new place.

During this month, due to serving my resignation notice, I had to forgo my planned trip to mabul and Sipadan. Oh well, what to do?

June
It was 'the' month that I finally made a professional transition. Before that I was in education line, now I am in the communication and multimedia line. Before that it was the private sector, but now I am in the government sector, albeit a statutory one. Work-wise, it is still pretty much a corporate environment. I still have my pay deducted for EPF, Socso and tax.

But when it comes to transportation and travel, my oh my..the expenses took quite a lot from my pocket. As I was still living in Damansara, I had to travel around 45km and paid two tolls one way. Expenditure for fuel doubled. Before that, a full tank could take me two weeks before I had to refill my tank, but now, it took only on average one week. Then, multiply the daily expenses and really, i would easily spend about RM300-RM350 just for travelling to work and paying the tolls.

It was hard to adjust at first. The long travel also took a toll on my car, and as a result, I had to get it serviced at shorter interval.

July
Things start picking up at work, and I was getting busier. It was towards the end of this month that I received the notice of vacant possession from the developer. Happy siot! Finally! My home was ready to be occupied.

Last summer was a footy-mad month for me, as it was the World Cup season. Started in June, and culminated in July. Bad football withdrawal jugak after that, so was counting the day till the new season started again.

Then, due to the heavy daily travel, my car broke down in the middle of peak evening hours when I was descending from the Cable Bridge at LDP!! Oh my godd!! Memang teruji betul kesabaran time tu! Kalut sangat-sangat as thins kind of thing never happened to me before. But thank god it taught me to take better care of my car.

It was during July also that I rescued another kitten. Tried to adopt it out, but nobody seemed interested. So now I ended up with 8 kids:).

This was this lil kiddo when I first found him


And this is a much bigger Adik when he's busy suckling on his big brother's chest like a baby:)..(Sorry gambar dia takde plak, lots of it in my camera, and I don't have it with me right now)


August

Pretty much occupied with fasting. It was also a historic one as I collected my house keys during this month. Then I started looking for ideas on house deco-buying magazines la, and scouring the websites for inspiration.

Towards end of August, right in the middle of August, our family welcomed a new addition. My cousin gave birth to her baby boy and I got myself a new nephew!! Yippeee...!

Work-wise, things were as hectic as ever.

September
What is there to remember about September ya? Hmm..it was Hari Raya month, lots of celebration, family gathering, meeting friends and of course, food!:)

It was also my birthday month. I attended my school friend, Marlene's wedding reception on the eve of my birthday, and after the reception, we proceeded to another ermm..'private karaoke party' for my birthday:)..It was great, and glad to be able to spend time with friends.

Some photos from the wedding reception and the karok party;)

So glad to share the table with my school friends and the bride's trainers heheh..And here of course, with the bride and groom.

We were so gila-gila that we even took the flowers after the reception;)..And we're all from the same school:)

At the karaoke reception while waiting for our room to be available. We sang the night away from midnight till about..3AM? Tiring, but we had fun.

October
What happened in October ya?? Seriously can't remember much, except the fact that the house preoccupied most of my thoughts. I know that during this month, I was busy engaging contractor to do some things at the house, as well as choosing wallpaper and paint colours and getting my thoughts together on what kind of house can be my home, one that suits me personality as well as my budget.

It was also the time when I finalised and approved designs, and started to scout for the little things that would be featured in the house. I decided that furnitures could wait, so I was not exactly in a rush to get new ones as I prefer to use the existing ones that I have. I found a place that could reupholstered my L-shape sofa, for a fraction of a new one.

At the same time I also started packing up my stuff at home, delegaing between the impotant ones as well as getting rid of the ones I don't want. But the packing was going slow at that time as I gave myself the deadline to be end of November. Memang niat nak pindah to coincide with Ma'al Hijrah. Ye lah, like I write earlier, nak ambik berkat hijrah kan:)

November
So the works started in November. By then I was making more frequent trips to my new place during weekends. At the same time I was also busy doing lots of surveying. Foremost on my mind at that time was the lighting needs of the house:)..I was not worried about things like kitchen cabinet and airconds as they come with the house. Alhamdulillah.

So little by little I saw my house becoming the vision of what my nest would be like. I started packing up more aggresively as well. My family agreed to come and help me settle down. So I gave myself the December move-in target as I don't want to trouble them too much. They could just help me unpack instead of packing and unpacking.

Anyway, I gave a notice to my landlord about my impending move, settled the bills at that point and started searching for movers and packed more and more stuff. My kids noticed the changes, so I hoped in a way they understand what was going on. And of course, being around boxes make them very happy! Like this:



December

So December finally came. My family arrived on the last day of November, and I brought them straight to the new place. I got the movers to move the rest of my stuff the day before-a tiring and stresful day indeed. Sadly, had to leave my kids behind as I didn't want to stress them out during the move, and add that to the anxiety of having lots of people around as they're not used to being with many humans at a time.

We spent the first night at the new place with boxes scaterring around and my friend's hubby and his worker doing some final touches to the wallpapering and changing the bidet in both the toilets.

Unfortunately, despite being on leave on that 1st and 2nd day of the month, I had alot of driving to do. To make matters worse, I got my period, and naturally, the pain that comes with it as well as horrible fever and cough. It actually started a couple of days before that, probably due to the dust that I was exposed to whilst cleaning up the house. I almost lost my voice, and I squeaked when I spoke.

On the first day I was due back at work, I felt the lousiest. Remnants of the stomach discomfort persisted, and on that day I totally lost my voice. Couldn't stand the lousiness, I went to see the doctor during lunch time. He performed all sorts of checking, drew my blood for a test, and actually had to take three readings of my blood pressure. Oh well, it was a stressful period indeed, as my BP was at an unhealthy level!

So he immediately ordered total rest for the rest of the day, as well as on the next day. Went home and tried as much as I can to maybe get some more sleep, but as I had lots of people around, resting was impossible.

Anyway I recovered a few days after and could finally enjoy having my family around. Only after they flew back to Kuching did I bring my kids back to the new home.

It was really a covert mission, done at night with the assistance of my friend, Kartini. Thanks Tini! Once at the new home, they were at first wary, except of course, for Mimi who, as long as she can see me, would feel very much at home anywhere I am. Alhamdulillah, by the next day they started smelling and sniffing the nooks and corners of the house and registered the fact that they now have a new home.

Some of the stuff in the box are yet to be unpacked. I'm just taking my time.

And now that the new year has descended, new hopes, aspirations, wishes, and plans are being executed and put into place.

So that's it folk, my uber-long entry. Sorry for that, but well, after all, it;s the year in review isn't it?

Till the next time, cheers!

Life's Been Pretty Hectic

I'm taking a break from work right now, but after this will need to resume.

Must admit that yes, this new place is much much busier than the old place. I should've been confirmed by now, but my new Boss, as usual, does not seem to take any urgency into this yet. Oh well, sooner or later it will happen, InsyaAllah...
(Any other things I have in mind of her shall be in my own confidence, takut kantoi kang, bahaya kan..?)

Anyways, as it is towards the end of the year, that perpetual Year-End-Blues is setting in. The laziness towards work is stronger, but because of the many tasks to fulfill, have to suck it all up and muster the strength and the mental will to do them. If I had my way, I'll just spend the day surfing the net, catch up on my blog-hoppings, FB-ing and many other more interesting things but work. I guess it's the same sentiment with anybody else.

And oh yeah..of doing the year-end reflections. Flashes of memory of what 2010 has been to me keep popping up now and then, but I guess right now I can't afford the time to recount them. Perhaps in another entry when I'm relaxed at home.

Yes, 2010 has been an indeed eventful year for me. The biggest would of course, be finally moving in my own place. That is really something huh? And to think that I did all that all alone, without sharing the responsibility with a MAN, and without my relying on my family pitching in, money-wise, is something that I'm proud of. Of course, the family helped in other matters, especially when I'm moving in, but that doesn't count. So I guess, yes, I do have valid reasons to be proud of myself:)

This is just a rambling to take the steam off the work, so hope I can make a new entry very very soon. Promise!

Till then...

Mi Casa-Sneak Peek

Ok..

So this is what I've been busy for this past few weeks. Practically every weekend keluar rumah the whole day, driving here and there. Not to mention attending to family matters la:)

The pictures shown here are just to share sikit-sikit my new palace. Insya-Allah, next week dah nak pindah dah. Sekarang pun tengah buat final touches on the works. Ada lagi benda nak buat, but cross fingers everything is done by this weekend.

Just nak bagitau awal-awal, my rumah ni sederhana je, but it's a vision of my dream home. I take utmost consideration my lifestyle and the fact that I live with my kids, so kalau nak letak benda-benda macam pasu ke, decorative items like small trinkets ke, jangan harap la yer...Hehehehe...I want my place to be spacey so that the kids can run around. I haven't even decided if I want a coffee table pun. Tu kemudian hari la. Buat sikit-sikit bak kata orang.

Ooppss..banyak celoteh plak. OK..so I'll do this in a rather before-and-after sequence la ya..:)


My distended living room windows before.

And after I got a storage bench built there. Memang tak pasang cushion pun cause I can't decide on what material it should be of. Sebabnya, kalau guna fabric, takut anak-anak seronok kencingkan hahahaha...But I did buy some flat cushions which can be used as lapik kat situ. I envision sitting there petang-petang baca buku, or even of my Dad sitting there to read his papers. I got the windows tinted and installed with Invisible Grille as well. Then untuk lampu kat situ I chose the lampu berjuntai tu. Modern and simple. I love the crystal err..stick there hahahha. And as you can see, my coulouring concept is a combination of green and cream.

By the way, this is the view outside my window!!Hahahahaha..Duk berjiran dengan lembu dan kerbau tau!. For some people, the sight of those roaming cows and bulls might annoy them but not for me. I just love watching them graze on the grassfield outside our fences. And of course, there's that lake over there. Petang-petang, or time weekend, we can see people fishing and playing with the jetski kat tasik tu. Precious! I loike!


This is my kitchen-before. Still green. Mintak-mintak sejuk mata memandang ya!:)

And my kitchen partition after the installation of the sliding door. Sorry it's still messy in there. You can also see that I've installed the ventilation fan:)




And those three are of the rooms in the house! Motip banyak-banyak kaler kan?Hahahha... Anyway the first one with the top of a wardrobe is in the master bedroom. Saje je tunjuk siling, sebab syiok tengok lampu putih tu!:)..Lampu tu pun murah je. I got a good bargain (kot) as they cost me only RM29 each. OK la kan? In fact semua benda yang dibeli untuk letak kat rumah ni, most of them are of bargain price. That's why tak duk diam kat rumah time weekend, sebab pegi bargain-hunting and survey barang-barang tau!!

And finally, ni pulak lampu kat hallway. Suka kat lampu ni:)..harga pun OK la sederhana.

Ni je kot nak tunjuk sneak peek of my new casa. Even more excited as my family will be coming as well to help me settle down in this new place, and InsyaAllah, I will get my Dad to azankan rumah ni. Ye lah nak ambik berkat restu mak bapak kan? Ni kira hijrah jugak la;)

Apa-apa pun do pray that this house, along with other good things bring in more rezeki to me. Till the next time ya;)

So Very Busy

Hello,

My apologies again for being errant in updating this space of mine. Truth it, the office life is getting more hectic. Never mind, this is what I signed for when I accepted the offer at this new place. I have to keep up with the pace, and I still consider this, 5++ months down the road, still a learning period.

Busier still is my weekends. I barely have a restful one nowadays. My kids rarely see me staying put at home both on Saturdays and Sundays as I'm always out. but Mummy's doing it for our new palace la sayang;).

And yes, my Saturdays and Sundays are filled with activities related to the house. Just a quick update:

1. My tentative date of moving will be end of this month. Tentative is the operative word here.

2. I'm getting some works done to the house. Among them:
a. A new partition between the kitchen and the dining area. I'm installing a
sliding door as I want a limited access to the kitchen, especially from my
furkids.

b. Installing glass panel throughout my stove area all the way to the front of
the kitchen sink. Hope it turns out ok. By the way these things are being
installed as we speak.

c. Instead of installing another sliding door/window to the backyard, I'm
settling for an outdoor wooden blind. I reckon this will bring more air and
still keeping my privacy;)

d. A sky-high shoe cabinet!! Hehehe..just exaggerating! But nice to have that
space to store my shoes, in case I decided to buy even more shoes in the
future!

e. An 8-feet wardrobe in the master bedroom, with full mirror and an extra table.
Self-explanatory methink.

f. A storage bench along my distended living room windows. I'm especially
excited about that, cause that means I will be able to relax and read my
books whilst enjoying the lake view ouside that window:)

g. A TV panel from IKEA. But I'm kinda bummed that they cannot instantly send
it to my place as when I went there last Sunday, a few items ran out of
stock, so they have to wait for it to arrive before sending their contractor
to install it at my place. I have a definite design that I want, which
explains why I didn't bother looking at other places. Hmm...come to think of
it, maybe I should, huh?

h. I'm getting the walls repainted, and the feature wall be wall-papered. My
friend Nora and her husband are doing it for me as they're having their own
wall-paper/home deco business. She's also my de-factor project manager
actually. I'll definitely show you how things turn out, and if you like what
you see, and want to do the same thing to your house, don't hesitate to ask
for her phone number from me ya!

Some other things I haven't really decided yet, like where do I want to place my dining table. That is among my biggest dilemmas right now. Not to mention that if I were to put a pendant/hanging light near the entrance, it won't be proportionate to the supposed placement of the dining set. Oh well, that can wait I think.

I'm also not very sure about acquiring a coffee table. I'm excited about my brand new sofa though:)..In actuality, I got my existing sofa re-upholstered. It's really a big relief to be able to save up on more than RM2k to get a new sofa. That's because all this while I've been asking around, especially furniture stores where most of them would shrug me off and said I might as well get a new one instead of getting it re-dressed.

Then I found an ad for this service, and the price they charge took me really by surprise. Alhamdulillah, dapat jimat banyak you!

Then, my parents, my eldest sister, my aunt, my cousin and my niece will be coming over on this 30th supposedly to help me with my move. But I guess I don't want to trouble them too much and instead get everything settled before they come over so that they can just help me settle in la. So excited, and will definitely baca doa, azankan and buat doa selamat sikit-sikit before we actually sleep in the new place.

That's all for now. That explains my kemalasan to update this blog, eh? Sorry no pictures in this entry as well, maybe next time. Till then, later ya!

I Lost My Blogging and Cooking Mojos

Sorry for having gone AWOL for the past month and almost half. I know I've been playing truant for not updating my blog, but I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. And my cooking mojo too...

Dah berapa banyak jampi I baca, but kemalasan berblog mengatasi segala. So hari ni kupanggil mentera semerah padi, so datang la ia menjelmakan diri...Wahh...Hebat kan Mizz Ray bermadah??Hahhahah....(Bukan madah berhelah yer...)

Anyway, many things have come and gone in the period that I haven't been updating this space. Raya came and gone, and I'm getting busier by the day at the office. Some weekends were spent free and easy, and some were full with outings and activities with family and friends. I guess this is the right time to finally sit down and write something here, looking as though I'm less stressed by work right now. Baru balik dari berperang you...berperang kat ofis la, finishing up projects with deadline, spending lotsa of extra hours in the office and even staying back on Friday evenings instead of having nice relaxing dinners with friends.

I'm also excited about finally putting into gear on turning my new place into a home. I've been scouring home deco magazines for months, been going to Homedec and what-not kind of fairs held this past few weeks, acquiring quotations for possible things to be done at my apartment, and not to mention going in and out of various shops and visualising how each item would look like in my new place.

I'm not really sure if I will chronicle that journey here, but Insya-Allah I will try to. Hope that won't be misconstrued as menunjuk-nunjuk or being poyo, or whatever, but hopefully it'll be a good sharing session.

I've also lost my cooking mojo. Dah lama tak whip up something grand in the kitchen. but I guess that's understandable, because sekarang mood rasa nak cepat-cepat pindah rumah baru je hehhehe...

I've also started packing up my stuff into some boxes, especially the ones I know I don't need anytime soon. But always, they end up at the mercy of my kids! Pantang budak-budak ni jumpa kotak, mesti nak masuk and main! And pantang jumpa kotak, mesti nak cakar!! Bising jugak mulut Mummy halau diorang, but I do indulge them with their boxes fetish once in a while. I only hope they won't be stressed out by the shift of home nanti. I will also train them to adopt some new toilet habits, so hopefully I succeed! I also hope to place them once in a while in a big cage, especially when my family is around, so that is another thing to look into.

I plan to get moving and settled into the new place come December, since it will coincide with Ma'al Hijrah. When better time to start a new life at a new place than during the new year kan? And hopefully we can get the keberkatan Hijrah tu sekali, insyaAllah:)

So that's my ramble for the time being. Nanti kalau dah dapat recover my blogging mojo tu 100%, I will surely put in more pictures and more stories, but at least for now, I'll just day, HELLO AGAIN!!:)

Back From Kuching and Still in Raya Mood

Hi..

I'm kinda..depressed right now. I just returned from Kuching last night, but my heart is still very much at home.

It surely felt like the time back home was too short, but at the same time, I'm glad to be back here.

This will be a short one. Just let me get my blogging groove back, will ya?

In the meantime..

Still in the celebratory mood, so...Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin again!

Mood Nak Raya dan Tag Dari Qies

Hai..

For some reason, minggu lepas mood nak update blog nan hado! Banyak gak cerita, but the situation at the office was pretty hectic. Sibuk nak habiskan kerja before everyone is off for the Raya holiday.

Speaking of which, I CAN'T WAIT TO FLY HOME!!!

(Thanks Googs)

Hehehe..syiok le tu! Anyway I'll be flying back to Kuching on 8 September 2010, catching the 11.40AM flight departing from KLIA. So kot sesapa kenal ke, jangan le malu-malu nak tegur!!Hahahha...(Ada ke yang baca blog ni?). I'll be home for only a week, and fly back to KL on Wednesday 15 September, which gave me ample time on the 16th to rest and prehaps, beraya kat KL pulak. Memang niat di hati nak beli return ticket on 16,but since I bought my ticket pretty late (last month baru beli!) so harga pun dah mahal!

So right now, preparation for Raya is pretty much done. Baju baru dah beli, biskut dah beli (semua main tunjuk-tunjuk je. Nak gak buat sendiri, tapi since balik 2 hari before Raya, rasanya tak sempat), kasut je belum. Err...nak kena beli jugak ke kasut baru? We'll see. Otherwise kalau tak sempat, I have lots of other shoes boleh pakai:)

OK next story, last week I was occupied, or rather,my family was pretty occupied with the arrival of our new bundle of joy. My preggy cousin gave birth to a baby boy on 23 August. Oh he's so adorable! And his name is Addin Riffqi. So I've been visiting them almost everyday as I also transported my aunt, and later my uncle from the airport, taking them for Raya shopping and such.


Riffqi, 2 hours after delivery via C-sec

He made his appearance way earlier than the EDD actually, but at least that enabled his parents to take him home to Kuching just in time for Raya. Smart boy!:)

On the other hand, ye lah yelah Qies aku jawab tag ko ni!! Hehheh...Terima kasih sebab kasik award kat aku okeh! Tapi sambil dapat award kena jawab soklan plak tu. Ishh...


Thank you Mem Swiss. Ko jangan lupa hadiah aku ko nak balik Raya ni tau! Hikkss...

1. Apakah yang bermain di minda anda sekarang?

Errmm...seriously? Right now just pikir nak habiskan entry ni, so that lepas tu nak mandi:). But generally, I'm thinking about nak kena packing barang nak bawak balik kampung Rabu ni hehehhe..

2. Apakah nama samaran anda?

Nama samaran? Err..sama ke dengan nama panggilan? Ok kalau samaran, kat forum I'm known as Mizz..., kat blog plak my alter-ego is Ray, but in real life usually people call me by the first syllable of my name, Sue. Apasal banyak sangat nama? Hmm..Ntahla, tak tau;)

3. Siapakah 3 orang yang paling kamu sayang?

Aiks 3 je?? Mana cukup! Parents, family, friends. Nahh!!..3 kategori okehh!!

4. Panggilan untuk si dia?

Hmm..not applicable la. But when we were still together, I called him 'Deng' ('Sayang' in general Bahasa Melayu Sarawak), or Sayang or Baby. Anybody would like to be my next 'Deng'? Hehheh..

5. Hadiah yang anda impikan daripada seseorang yang istimewa?

Nope I have no idea. Not applicable too? But if it were to be from anybody, could you guys nominate my apartment for a makeover macam dalam Casa Impian tu? Nanti I'll act surprise la...;;)

6. Blog mana yang anda selalu lawat?

Yang masuk list kat sebelah kanan tu---------------------->>>> Kalau nak masuk list tu jugak, sudi-sudikan tinggalkan request or shoutout yer;)

7. TAG kan kepada 15 blogger?

Aiyakk..ni yang den malas nih!! Errr...boleh tak just bagi general award ni kat sesapa yang sudi? Dipersilakan la terima awrd ni and pass it along ya!


OK mek, aku dah buat assignment ko tu! Hamboi-hamboi ko promo abang baju merah aku kat orang lain yer??? Hahhahahah..Takpe, dah dia nak yang berhijab je, rasanya aku pun kena tendang keluar la ekkss;)

Ok peeps, that's all for now. This is my cacamerba entry for today. Perhaps the next time you hear from me I'd be in Kuching already. But whatever it is..

Selamat Hari Raya to everyone, Maaf Zahir dan Batin! As we bid adeau to Ramadhan, let's welcome Syawal by extending our thankkfulness and syukur to Allah for giving us the opportunity to serve him more during Ramadhan and for the celebration that is Syawal. Let us all forge closer silaturrahim to our brothers and sisters, forgive each other and seek forgiveness, remember the ones who are gone and offer them our prayers and zakat and rememberance for their afterlife.

Salam Eid Mubarak!


(from Google, thanks!)

Project Kitchen: Bubur Pedas

Hi all...

Nampak gaya bila puasa ni memang rajin gak ke dapur;). Boleh tahan, dua entry berturut-turut cerita pasal masakan untuk berbuka.

OK here's another common recipe among us Sarawakian folks semasa bulan Ramadhan-bubur pedas. Nama je pedas, tapi jangan risau, usually memang tak pedas pun:)

The thing is, this dish is very flexible in terms of the items you want to put in it. The most common ones would be baby corn, tauhu kering, sayur midin (which unfortunately takde kat Semenanjung ni:((..), different sorts of vegetable of yoru choice, and udang. But kalau takde udang, kita still boleh ganti dengan ayam, daging or even kulit lembu yang dah di keringkan. In fact, kalau masukkan kulit tu memang kira oommphh jugak la bubur pedas ni:)

Just like laksa Sarawak, nak buat bubur pedas kena ada perencahnya. We call it bumbu bubur pedas. Sorry masa nak masak hari tu lupa plak nak ambik gambar perencah tu sebelum masuk dalam periuk, but basically this is how it looks like:


(Timakaseh Mr. Google;)..)The photo is actually found in this blog
Anyway, yang ni paket untuk bumbu yang dikomersialkan. Kalau nak tau, bahan-bahan nya adalah beras, lengkuas, kunyit, kelapa parut and ketumbar. All these ingredients akan digoreng tanpa minyak sehingga kuning keemasan, dah tu dikisar.

So ni plak bubur pedas Chef Ray;)
Bahan-bahan:

Tauhu kering and dried mushroom. Rendam dalam air panas kejap sampai dua-dua bahan ni lembut, dah tu potong.

Baby corn. Hari tu guna dalam 10-12 batang

Bawang merah, bawang putih, dan belacan sebesar ibu jari. Also, cili boh atau cili kisar.

Isi ayam, potong kecik-kecik, and 3 helai besar daun kunyit. Kalau nak lagi banyak boleh gak, lagi sedap bau bubur pedas:)

3 paket bumbu bubur pedas, dicampur dengan air panas, dan 2 paket santan. Kalau guna santan fresh pun lagi elok.


Mula-mula tumiskan bawang putih and bawang merah sampai naik bau.

Bila bawang dah naik bau, masukkan pulak cili boh and belacan. Actually kalau nak tumbuk dulu belacan tu dengan cili pun ok gak:)

Bila bahan-bahan tumis tadi dah naik bau and pecah minyak, masukkan pulak bumbu bubur pedas tadi. Gaul rata, make sure api tak besar sangat sebab takut nanti berkerak pulak kat bahagian bawah periuk.

Bila dah pecah minyak, masukkan pulak baby corn..

And tauhu and mushroom. Stir well.

Then masukkan pulak santan. Kalau rasanya pekat sangat, tambah lagi air.


Let everything simmer slowly for between 5-10 minutes. Make sure api sederhana je, and at the same time, you can add in garam, gula, pepper secukup rasa.


Then, finally masukkan daun kunyit tadi ke dalam bubur. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes before you can turn off the fire.


My bubur pedas ready to serve. Bubur ni actually sejenis lauk. Tapi the best thing is, if you want to eat it on its own pun ok jugak, or even kalau rasa nak cicah dengan roti ke, it's really flexible:)

Alhamdulillah, kawan-kawan yang datang berbuka kat rumah hari tu semuanya suka. Memang sengaja masak banyak so that diorang boleh bawak balik untuk jadi juadah sahur. Seronok kan share makanan yang kita masak dengan orang lain?;)

Tu je dari dapur Chef Ray buat kali ini...hehehhe...

Project Kitchen: Roti Kukus

Hai, kita kembali ke dapur Chef Rayyyy.....(buat style sengau ala-ala Chef wan boleh??) hahahhaa....

Ok when it comes to Ramadhan dishes, some families may have their own recipe that makes their iftar extra special. For my family, that recipe would be roti kukus ni. It's simple, flexible and easy to prepare. Katakan kat rumah ada roti yang dah nak expire, resipi ni is just perfect to do supaya kita ni tak membazir. Nak kata it's a type of pudding pun ok jugak. Hari tu I prepared this and got it ready within half an hour je, provided, of course, all the ingredients are available la kan? But then again, bukannya banyak pun, dah namanya benda simple nak buat;)

My family memang selalu buat dessert ni sebagai pembuka selera untuk berbuka. Essentially, you can use bread. Tapi if you prefer a firmer texture, best jugak kalau pakai crackers masin yang bulat tu. Tapi kalau nak pakai crackers, you need to soak it in water for a while before you can actually steam it.


Telur 3 bijik, beat it with around 3-4 spoonful of sugar. The other day, I ran out of regular sugar, so I used my brown sugar. Tu yang gelap tu hehehe..(seperti biasa la kan, keja improvise resipe je memanjang)


At the same time, carik-carikkan roti ke dalam loyang. Tak kisahla pakai besar mana pun, semua ikut berapa banyak masing-masing nak buat. But make sure don't fill it to the brim, sebab the bread will definitely be soaked and absorb the liquid nanti. Kalau guna crackers masin, you can drain the water used to soak them and transfer the crackers tu ke dalam loyang. In the meantime, get your steamer ready and boil the water in it;)


In another bowl/cup, mix a packet of instant santan. Kalau prefer santan fresh, boleh guna santan sebijik kelapa untuk amount yang banyak, or half for smaller amount. Santan kena ada tau, tapi kalau rasanya nak tambah jugak susu fresh pun boleh. But no matter what, santan kena ada hehehe..


Mix in the santan into the egg/sugar combo, whisk some more. Kalau boleh tambah lagi air or that's when the milk comes into play. Make sure banyak liquid tau!


Macam rupa kopi susu plak! Hahhaha..


Pour mixture tadi tu into the bread-filled mould.


Ni la rupa roti tadi ready to be steamed. Dont worry about it being flooded. In fact, the more the better. Tengok la kalau suka lembik-lembik sebab kalau keras sangat pun tak best sangat actually;). Dah tu kukus for about 20 minutes.


Ni la roti kukus yang dah ready nak kena ngap!:)..Sorry, presentation out, tapi rasa memang vavavoom!!<--Aikss?? Masak sendiri puji sendiri ke? Ishh!!

It's OK, you don't need to cut it into shape ke whatever, you can just scoop out the bread with spoon/spatula. Kalau nak makan panas-panas boleh, nak makan sejuk-sejuk lepas masuk dalam fridge pun boleh:)

Bon appetit!