Been busy with this...

Hey guys I know I haven't blog in awhile nowadays..it's because I went on a holiday &before that I was busy with this gadget that I just got--the iPad2!hehe

I never taught of owning it until one day when the boyf showed me the iBooks app.When I saw the awesome books,being the bookworm that I am,I just had to get it!Now that I have one,I'm beyond hooked!

I have so many books in my library..more than a hundred & I've even categorize all of them.hehe.My fave apps are the various cooking ones like Cooks Encyclopedia,Jamie OIiver's&many more.I especially love Paprika because I get to save any recipes from the web & refer to them anytime anywhere.

Below are some of the screen capture of my new baby!:) I'm actually blogging from it right now..Will update more soon!

Holy guacamole!

Tortilla chips with guacamole made by me & the boyf!

No wonder the term 'Holy guacamole' existed.The taste of guacamole is yummy and is verrryyyy addictive once you're dipping them with tortilla chips.I've been meaning to make them recently and last night I managed to do so with my dearest boyfriend.

Avocado chart!

Funny story is that at first we bought unripe avocadoes because silly me didn't read the label on the box & also cos he said that isn't avocado suppose to be green?haha.Take note people that when the avocado ripens,the outside will be brown not green!

So I used this truly simple recipe from one of my favorite food website out there--SeriousEats.Currently they even have an article on how you can amp up your guacamole recipe by changing or adding a few ingredients--read them HERE.

Meanwhile,below is the basic guacamole recipe taken from HERE.You can substitute Serrano chili for birds eye(cili padi) which I've googled but try to use 1/2 of cili padi because Serrano chili is far milder than our local cili!

RECIPE:

• 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1 serrano chili, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup picked cilantro leaves, finely chopped, divided
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 ripe avocados
• 2 tablespoons juice from 2 limes
• 
  
• 
  

1. Place onion, chili, half of cilantro leaves, and salt in a mortar and pestle. Pound into a fine paste. Alternatively, combine onion, chili, half of cilantro, salt, and half of lime juice in a food processor or blender and process until smooth paste is formed, scraping down sides as necessary.

   
   
2. Split each avocado in half, discard pits, and spoon out flesh into a medium bowl. Roughly mash with a stiff whisk. Add onion/chili puree, remaining cilantro leaves, and half of lime juice (if using mortar and pestle method). Fold to combine. Season to taste with more salt and lime juice. Serve immediately with warm tortilla chips.

   
   

   
   

You guys should definitely give this recipe a try because the result is very good!You won't be able to stop eating it!:)

And I should really try to find a way to replicate the red capsicum sauce at La Bodega that was serve with their onion & machengo cheese croquette..it is soooo addictive & delicious & I've eaten it 2 times now.I had lunch at Empire's La Bodega yesterday with the boyfriend.

They always give you a basket of bread to
eat the sauce with.so damn good!

Ordered a dish I haven't tasted there before which is their potatos bravvas.So good--spicy ketchup & aoili coated crispy potatoes.A few pics of the tapas we had there yesterday.

Juicy spicy bbq chicken drummets

his lamb cutlets

potatos bravvas..yummm

This is not a tapas dish but his fave salad,the caesar salad!Very good!

Wowweee--comeback with a long post!:)

Man I haven't blog in quite sometime!!Sorry dear blog readers but I've been really busy lately!The good news is that I got my car back last Saturday!!Alhamdulillah..Now it's easier for me to go to places & don't have to rely so much on my dad or boyfriend for transport.Phewww..

What have I been up too?Well..on the cooking/baking front..I made more choc chip cookies for my workmates who ordered them.Also when boyf's lil sister went to Cameron,she bought back a bunch of strawberries & I turned them into strawberry sauce because I was craving for a strawberry sundae.Yummm!

Fresh strawberries!

Strawberry sundae!

On the family front..my youngest brother was admitted to KPJ due to him having a growth behind his ear.He's fine now though but poor him because he had to undergo his first surgery..granted I've never had to experience that either other than 2 minor surgery in my mouth.

Lil brother!

The boyf showing my lil brother's anesthetic form..haha 

Eats with the boyf!:) 

He ended his project last Friday & he picked me up for tea after it ended.We had a bite at Coffee Bean & I loveee their new Wild Cherry ice blended..soo yumm!It's sayang's fave place for his fave salad,the Caesar salad.Yes,I have a boyfriend who loves eating salad more than I do..haha.

Him in a super spiffy shirt that I got him..:P A slice of tiramisu cos he was tempted by the ladyfingers on the side & my drink--wild cherry ice blended

Huge portion of caesar salad w smoked salmon--his fave not mine!

On Saturday when I got my car & was driving it for the first time,a bloody stupid saga car who didn't give any signal took over my car from the front to go to the other side of the roundabout when in fact I had already given my signal loonggg before.BLOODY HELL!

I was a bit shaken because I so didn't want to be involve with an accident again!So luckily I manage to hit the brakes & gave him a longgg and loud honking.hah!Girls and guys always beware because although you're a good driver,others might not be so you have to be aware of them at all times.The boyf was very considerate that in the lull of what happened,he bought me lele penyet with 2 soda gembira for dinner(banyaknyer!) & creme brulee cheesecake to compensate..hehe.

The next night I told him that I wanted to try this Japanese restaurant right in our hometown--Shah Alam.Because I've seen the place for years but never wanted to try it out.The name of the place is Sakura Fuji restaurant & I've to say that the food there is good& their service is very nice.

My vege tempura

His teriyaki salmon..hugeee portion!

My spider roll which I didn't finish cos it was huugee
 BUT I packed it for lunch at the office the next day!:)

Amazon purchases:
I have always,always been browsing on Amazon for yearsssss but never come close in purchasing anything from it.I ALMOST did once but when I wanted to checkout,I saw that the shipping cost actually cost more than my total bill!

And plus some items like jewelry or cosmetics can't be shipped here.So luckily,boyfriend's bestfriend who was in US for a holiday gave his brother's NY address & I manage to get everything shipped there!Yeayyy And he brought back everything here!!:)

I bought a box of sparkly set of 5 earrings,an aquamarine earrings(so pretty!!),a book by one of my fave dessert chef,David Lebovitz and a pair of snazzy socks for the boyf(he loves them& are always on the lookout for colorful socks!hehe)

My book & his socks!

Old(new to me) movies that I've watched recently:

Monster Inc.

I love Boo!!so cuteee

I know I know,I should have watched this movie a zillion years ago..hahaha.My brothers watched it but I never had any interest in it UNTIL one day during one of our random conversations,boyfriend found out I never watched it.So he insisted that I watched it with him.His brothers and mum was shocked when he told them(while I was there) that I never watched it..hahaha.

So watched it I did..And it was so cute and funny.I love it!Learned a few things from the boyfriend as well--that the movie was the first time that Pixar uses the technology for the 'fur' on Sulley and that they actually used a real little kid for Boo' voice!Can't wait for the sequel!:)

Funny Face

I loveee Audrey Hepburn.I have a few of her movies--Breakfast at tiffany's, My fair lady,Roman Holiday and Paris when it sizzles.And this movie is good as well.It made me wanted to look as thin as her(I wish!)..haha.She's just so stunning!This movie is about a girl who works as a book shopkeeper and when a magazine was doing a shoot there,the photographer 'discovered' her!

New tv series that I loveeeeeee...

Jane by Design

Remember weeks back when I blogged about this show because I saw the advert in Instyle US Dec 2011 issue?It's finally out and now I'm on the 2nd episode.Can't wait for ep 3!!

I love love the fashion aspect of this show.It is 100% about fashion.The main character is Jane,a high school student who's also doubling as an assistant to a famous fashion designer!Pretty crazy when she has to juggle both at the same time.I find her bestfriend Max as being reallllyyyy cute!The jock who likes her isn't bad either..hehe I would definitely keep watching this and you guys should too!!

CHEATED BY CELCOM..BOOO!

So I've been a celcom line customer for close to one year now.My boyfriend and I took a plan at the start of our relationship--principal &supp line--so that it's easier and cheaper for us to communicate since we're the kind who talk/text each other everyday!

So at times I always subscribed Celcom's weekly broadband so that I can use the net whenever I'm bored at work since the proxy here is iron clad(we do have a lot of p&c info here so I guess having an internet connection could lead to leakage!).

But Celcom will always sms me a day before the plan ends to remind me or an hour before..WITHOUT FAIL.So one day,they didn't do EITHER and I got no message.So me,being busy with work,didn't realize that my plan has ended 2 days ago and I imagine my surprise when my hp was barred!

Turns out the ongoing internet on my hp for the past 2 days racked up until rm400 something.I knew this because previously I paid extra rm135 and I checked my balance it was rm280 something!It's not my fault that they neglected to send me a reminder!

Proof that I paid extra!!(on top)

But I went to the Celcom center at Sect 9 with the boyfriend who was equally miffed about it & this counter girl there wasn't helpful at all.Seriously if they have those 'rate me' touchscreen thingy like the ones in Balai Polis sect 9 shah alam,I'd choose not helpful at all!

She actually turned it on me saying that I should be aware when the plan ended..Yes that makes a lot of sense since some PEOPLE ARE BUSY WITH THEIR WORK/LIFE and how the heck can you remember something that you signed up for days ago??

You should empathize with your customer who have paid extra in her current bill and now the amount is gone & to top it off,she has to pay more!Her solution was,write a letter to request for reimbursement but she was going like..you might not get any refund in a tone that's saying like 'hah don't count on it!Dah la butt ugly pastuh nak kerek pulak.eewwwwww puhleaseee!(sorry for being a bit mean!)

I still won't budge and won't be paying for the incurred charge in the past 2 days.But I will draft a letter in the hopes that Celcom will fix this blunder.Funny the fact that for the year 2012,they didn't fix their sms-sending system for their customers!HURMPHH!

Anyhoo,that's all folks!Will try to update more!:)

2012 is here!

Hey everyone!How did you spend your new years??Me?The picture below describe it best..haha.Me & the boyfriend Skype until wee hours in the morning because he was completing his model(the one he's holding).

How we spend our new years:P

Below are 2 pictures of my wrecked car.Thankfully the verdict is out from the police's investigation and the person at fault has to pay for the damage from her insurance.So now I still have to wait for my car to be fixed.

My poor car!

From all that has happened,I am VERY THANKFUL for the people in my life who are willing to help me out in my time of need.It's hard for me to go places now because my parents house are far from any public transportation and having a car helps a lot to go to work and going out.

But thankfully,my dad has been sending me to work every morning so I have to wake up like 5.45 am EVERYDAY until my car is fixed because my dad's office is about 1 hour a few mins from home.So he has to drop me off before he goes to KLIA.I managed to change my work schedule with a lot of my friends so that I can work at 7am almost everyday to be able to have my dad send me to work.

My super duper awesome boyfriend picks me up after work(cos my dad goes back way later than me) so I'm very thankful for that as well.It's great to know that I can count on the men in my life.:)

Yummy choc chip cookies!

I baked 500 pieces of choc chip cookies for one of my senior's at work brother's wedding and it was the biggest one shot order I ever had.I've baked more cookies for Raya orders but that was huge single order.And the funny thing was I had to bake all of them while having to handle being mugged and also involving in a car accident a day before the order was due.Yes super me!:P

Yesterday I went to a wedding of one of my super senior in uni days,Azam & Baby(farhana).Both of them are TESLians & I am so happy for them both.Especially Azam because me & my bestie Izza who knows him,knows how it took him a long time to find someone like Baby.

The bride & groom!Me on the right,behind them with Izza!

Finally Azam found his happy ever after!Thank you to Izza for picking me up for the wedding!:)

I'm the second on the right with almost all  of the TESLians girls

More friends!

The food at the wedding was SO GOOD!Nasi minyak,daging briyani & ayam masak merah(didn't get a pic cos I was so hungry!)was super sedappp..The wedding cake was good as well..nomnomnom..haha.I only managed to snap a pic of the SECOND slice of wedding cake--me,izza & our friends ate one slice & went for more!haha

The wedding cake..yummm!

It wouldn't be a blog entry without me posting about something on food!:P

2 of my fave dishes from my mum are her prawn + corn fritters & also ikan belah belakang(which my late Kedahan grandma who always make them for me calls it) or ikan jaket as most Malaysians knows it.Had both of them sometime this week!The fritters are a fave of our family for tea time.They're very crispy and delicious filled with prawns,corn,spring onions & onions!I always dip them with thai chilli sauce.

Fritters--super crispy and yummy..dip them with thai chilli sauce!

The ikan belah belakang or stuffed fish in english are fish(my grandma usually makes them using ikan cencaru but I prefer ikan kembung cos they're smaller & easier to eat!) stuffed with a mixture of onions in sambal or coconut.My family never uses coconut,only the onions.

Anticlockwise:Sambal tumis petai.ikan jaket/belah belakang,
omelet(hidden beneath d veg) & sauteed spinach!

Years ago,ever since I was a kid,my late maternal grandma who hails from Alor Setar would make them for me & I ate it with a gusto so she'll always make them for me.I am very thankful that my mother mastered the dish very well so I can eat them whenever I want!They taste so good with rice!

My 2 favorite new tv series(among the many others that I am watching) are Revenge and American Horror Story.

Revenge is about Emily Thorne or her real name Amanda Clarke who's bent on getting her revenge on the people who ruined her life by framing her late father and making the world believed that he was a criminal.The storyline is quite clever and I felt really sorry for Emily/Amanda because she has no one--no family member at all and her focus is only on getting revenge for her dad.

American Horror Story is so sick and disturbing!The boyfriend downloaded them & I watched it with him cos I was scared to watch it alone!haha.I only managed to watch until episode 5 but even then I was like..will things become more disturbing than it already is?It boggles my mind because the brain behind the series is the same people behind the bright and bubbly GLEE!

The character Tate is so disturbing because I was so smart to actually look the series up on the net so I kinda know what will happen soon.The boyfriend really pity Ben though at first I was like 'cheating bastard'!haha But then as the storyline grew,I do feel sorry for him.

That house is not a good place to live in!The series has many graphic scenes--masturbation,blood and gore and lots more so even if it is aired here,they'll probably cut out a LOT of the scenes.It's better that you download them!

Will try to blog more soon!:) Please pray that I'll get my car back soon as well!

Happy new year everyone:what I've been up to recently..:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY DEAR READERS AND EVERYONE OUT THERE!May 2012 be a great year for us all..:)


Between getting mugged and also having my car hit by this super careless driver which in turn made me having no car for atleast 3 weeks or so..I managed to bake 500 pieces of chocolate chip cookies for a friend's brother's wedding!Phewwww..

What a crazy week it has been.BUT,like always I managed to survive and persevered.It's amazing how much strength I have..thanks to my parents who raised me the way I am.Below are my posts on what I did these past few weeks..a little treat for you guys to read on the first day of 2012!:)


1.Bedroom makeover

My clothes!There's still 2 suitcases of clothes that I don't wear though

Last month my mum told me that I need to buy a new wardrobe for my room because my old one which I had since I was 16 yrs old is falling apart(I'm 24 now..haha).

So around 3 weeks ago,I bought a new one(using my own money duh) which consisted of two wardrobe space&also a shoe closet which I can also put my tv on top of it.

ALMOST all of my shoes..there's about 6-7 pairs which I usually put in my car

my mum sorting out my clothes!

They took out all of the books in my room & arrange them in a new shelf in the store downstairs..
Dad built this & there's two layers of books(you can see behind it)

The boyfriend also helped me choose paint to repaint my vanity with(a handmedown from my parent's wedding years back).My brothers and his friends repainted the vanity.My mum & my brothers helped clean my room when I went to work--thank you so much!


2. Second spa session with the boyfriend

On his ipod touch cos he wasn't thrilled with how
painful his foot massage was!:P Me too!

My boyfriend is not some metrosexual who goes to the spa every month but he likes getting massages whenever he can and since I'm bad at doing that,(hahahaha) I thought let's go to the spa together.This is our 2nd time going to the spa together and his 1st time was so hilarious because he was so nervous!:P

He didn't like the massage this time around because he said it hurt and wasn't relaxing like the other time when we went to the Royal Malaysian Spa(we used our Milkadeal coupon).This time we went to 1 Six Beauty at Hartamas and I thought the massage was fine but it probably hurt because we've been busy & lots of the stress affected our 'urat2'..haha.

It was my first time experiencing a foot massage/spa after our full body massage.It was PAINFUL!!I was wincing a few times & the boyfriend did as well & he clearly didn't like it!:P

Afterwards,to beat the traffic,we went back to Shah Alam & had dinner at my fave place for butter prawns--HOMST..:)

Butter prawns at HOMST!

3.Recolor my hair with highlights!

I look like a roast chicken..haha

Thanks to Groupon,I managed to get a super sweet deal to recolor my hair at Inspiration Alan.I love it there & would go there again when I have the $$.The staff are super nice and they look so cool!I managed to buy one of the hair serum that I covet so much which is Kerastase Elixir Ultime--it contains 4 diff oils:argan,camellia,maize & pracaxi.

The serum:it smells super nice too!

BUT now it's gone since I got mugged recently..:( It's super expensive at rm138 per bottle..T_T and plus the peeps said to me at that time that they are always out of stock of it..so sad.

The one who kept talking to me while I waited for the color to set!

Anyhoo,enough of my sad story!Izza was there to accompany me & then we had dinner at La Bodega & I bought desserts at Delicious--pavlova for me & her sisters & a cheesecake for the boyfriend.

Loveee the tapas there!Roasted pumpkin(so comforting & yumm that I made it a few days after at home!),
bbq chicken drummets & manchego cheese w onion
croquette in a red capsicum sauce(the sauce was insanely good!)

 

La Bodega's roasted pumpkin

Made roasted pumpkin at home a few days after cos I was craving for it again!

Desserts at Delicious!

4.Finally,lunch at Wang Solo but me & the boyf was dissapointed!:(

The disappointing lele penyet 

So,I've heard from like 3 of my friends that the food at Wang Solo is good.Because of that I've been meaning to eat there but never had the time so one day me & the boyf finally went there for lunch.But boy were we dissapointed!The food just wasn't that good.It was passable but the sambal was too sweet.

Taken before tasting the terong belado

The rice wasn't fluffy or wangi like the boyf said.And there was lettuce instead of fresh cabbage leaves!The boyf was so furious and didn't want to come back..I guess it's because we've eaten at 3 different penyet restaurant like Ria,Api and Waroeng that we know what's good and what's not.No.1 is Waroeng.No.2 is Ria.

Ayam penyet & lele penyet from padang jawa stall

A close third would be that stall in Padang Jawa which the boyf bought that same day,only at night.He bought it for his family but save the sambal for me so that I can taste it.His MMS pic is above..:) The taste was mild..Ria was so much hotter than theirs.I know this because I actually packed both sambal for lunch at the office the next day.The picture is below:

Takeaway lele penyet from ayam penyet ria w 2 sambal:
1 frm ria & 1 frm padang jawa stall

5.Meeting his grandma!

Alolololo

A day after Christmas,I went with his family to meet up with his grandma because they were visiting her and his mum said,don't I want to join them?So since I had nothing planned,I went with them.I was a bit nervous though but it was all okay and I was a bit sad actually that day because it reminded me the fact that I have no grandparents left.

I really miss my late grandma who passed away recently because she had a BIG influence on why I love to cook.I know how to cook lots of Malay dishes like Mee Rebus,Masak lemak kuning,Kuih Cara,kuah kacang,bingka roti and many many more because of her.:) 

Ermmm..playing sumtin w his siblings

Funny thing is the story of marriage came up.*gulp* But hey,only time will tell right?He's been a great great boyfriend and also a great son & brother to his family.I've no doubt in my mind that he'll make a good husband and father as well.*blush*