A letter for Yaya

Dear Yaya,

I hope this is your email address as I want to say a big hello from me and Mrs McCall. We have a new Prep B this year and they are very small. I still see all of last years preps and they are growing up very quickly.

What are you doing in Malaysia? Please tell us about school and your new friends. We would also love to see some photos.

It was great seeing your Mum last year when she visited.

We miss you lots and think about you often.

From Miss Underwood xoxox

my Sistah roast chicken recipe

This is one authentic recipe. ahahahh Authentic ke?? Well I got this recipe from my sistah. I have tried this numerous time. I never thought roasting a chicken would be easy. Takde sukat-sukat la, semua main agak-agak aje.

I used to bake one whole chicken, but since I am only preparing a meal for two, a quarter of chicken would be enough. Oh I did mention about the name of this part of chicken right, hindleg, or chicken maryland. I marinated the chicken with oyster sauce, garlic, honey and black pepper. Then, leave it for at least 30 minutes. Before baking, I place some cubes of butter on top of the chicken.



And for the side dishes, we had garlic breads, and potato salad with vegeroni.

And like the famous pantun....

"Gendang gendut tali kecapi
Kenyang perut suka hati"

Switch off....for just 1 hour...

Do it ... Vote for Earth !.... the Mother has suffer a lot .....

Today, please turn off your lights, beginning 8.30pm your local time

Do it....for just 1 hour

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour site.

@ the Luncheon

Venue: Orleigh Park, West End

(the same park where the QUT luncheon was held about 2 weeks ago)

Time : 9 am till 1pm

We arrived at around 11am. There were some contests held by the organiser, I copied this from the flyer.

1. Untuk keluarga (ayah, ibu dan anak) – straw tower (straw disediakan)
2. Untuk kaum lelaki – longest apple peeling competiton (apple disediakan tetapi pisau disediakan oleh perserta sendiri)
3. Untuk kaum perempuan – char kueytiaw tersedap (disediakan dirumah masing-masing)
4. Untuk berpasangan (tidak boleh suami isteri) – creative potato print making (kentang dan warna akan disediakan tetapi pisau disediakan peserta sendiri)
5. Untuk kanak-kanak – creative play doh contest (tanah liat akan disediakan)







But we came to eat and mingle around...ahahahha...Here are some pictures taken during the makan-makan thing :D

And..more pictures in our fotopages

The cupcakes..... kejap aje dah abis. I recieved many praises (TQ, TQ, TQ, it is my pleasure), though I kept saying to some people who wanted to know how I made the cupcakes, that the frosting is too sweet, but they did not bother about that thing. Alhamdullillah ....

Cupcakes based on Mak's simple cake

For the makan-makan thing. I decided to make some cupcakes, based on Mak's simple cake recipe, with buttercream frosting. This is my first time in making the frosting, and also first time in using and playing with the piping bag (my latest toy :D). For ages I have wanted to experiment this frosting activity, most of the encouragement came from reading 'online chefs' websites that I visit regularly. And also from Iza's blog. I even asked her for the frosting recipe. To Iza, thank you very much for making my dream come true ...ahahahhaha... I saw your effort and talent, and that pushed me in doing this. But doing something like yours, that remarkable birthday cupcakes for your husband, would need more dedication laaa..... it would take me years to achieve that...maybe not at all..ahahahhahhaha (apa yang aku merepek nie)

After asar, around 5pm I start preparing the cake mixture. Finish baking and frosting at around 9pm. And here are the results



I prepared double amount of the mixture because I thought for one mixture, I will get about 40 mini cupcakes. It turned out, I have ran out of the mini cupcake casing (100 in one pack) before I finished all the mixture. So I put the left over mixture in a loaf pan, and baked it.



The frosting, manis sangat la to me. And it was not the consistency that I want. I was looking for finer textual, and shinier. This one, I can still feel the sugary textual when i rub it between two fingers. And it harden once settled. Iza....what went wrong?

Nevertheless, am so happy with the result. No wonder people can get hook baking and icing the cupcakes ya.... wink wink

Farmer's market @ Queens St.

Recently, I noticed there's a market that takes place every Wednesday at the Queens St., near the City Council building aka the Library. A quick glanced, I saw that the farmers are selling a lot of stuff, from meat to bread to fruit and vegetable plus flowers. I was rushing back home, so haven't had time to look around. But did managed to take some pictures, just incase the market are here for a short while.

Maybe, I will make some time to look around ya.

owwhhhh I've just realised, from the picture, they are selling fig as well. Maybe I will drop by tomorrow to buy some figs. Tak pernah tengok fresh fig nie. Fig tu ape?? Nanti ye :D

More pictures in our fotopages.

Black Pepper Mushroom Steak

Remember, one of the last week entry where I wrote about a Halal butcher at Stone Corner. At the butcher, we bought some steaks, and that night I prepared Black Pepper Mushroom steaks.

I marinated the steaks meat with Master Food Smokey BBQ sauce. I washed and cut some potatos (without removing the skin), and baked them together with the steaks. Then I boiled some carrots and broadbeans.

And for the sauce, I improvised the recipe I got from Kak Liza's website. Ala, improvised ikut apa yang ada kat dapur laa...ahahahhaha....

Amacam, Black Pepper Mushroom Steak tonight?!

another Luncheon, another get together agenda

Tomorrow, the Malay Student Association of Queensland (PPMQ) will be holding a get together at West End Park. Free food again (ahahahah kalau free harus dicanang-canang ok).

Nak bawak ape ekk....Hmmmm???

another Halal Butcher outlet in Brisbane

On one Saturday, atang wanted to go to a Cash Converters at Stone Corner. Cash Converters has been atang fav place to hang out. Apa best sangat la cash converters tu tak tau laa...ahahahha... Cash Converters is like a kedai pajak gadai, they buy and sell used items or pre-owned items :D. They even provide a loan service for you, say if you need some cash, you can pawn your thing for some duration to get some cash. Begitu la kot, I never ask them for info. Cash Converters are everywhere, maybe one in each suburb. Atang like to visit the one at China Town aka The Valley. You can find almost anything, from video cassette to DVD, from Xbox to Nintendo DS, from lawn mower to chainsaw, from diamond rings to gold bangle. Pendek kata macam-macam laaa. Atang likes to go there because he can get 2nd hand CDs. Very cheap CDs. So on that Saturday, atang wanted to visit another Cash Converters located at Stone Corner.



After that, we went to another Halal butcher in Brisbane. A long time ago (takde la lama sangat, tahun lepas je), I wrote about a Halal butcher that I frequented, it was located at The Valley. There is another halal Butcher. Actually there are a couple more Halal butcher. But the one I am going to tell is nearby Brisbane CBD. This one is located at Stone Corner.

I prefer the one in The Valley because it offers many variety. But since we were at Stone Corner, and I was thinking about our dinner, and I thought of having some steaks. So we stopped by the butcher to buy some steaks.

We had black pepper with mushrooms steaks for dinner that night. Yummy ... :p

navigation aid for a cabbie

This is the continuation of my entry about atang's work. Ok.. sedikit geografi pasal Brisbane nie. First of all, the correct pronunciation of Brisbane is, Briz-ben (ben sounds like burn, not sounds like cane or Ben as in Big Ben). So everyone knows Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, with the current population is estimated 1, 760, 000.


I was trying to find information about the number of suburb in Brisbane. Ok, here it is, there are 188 suburbs in Brisbane (I get this from wiki, maybe not accurate). Banyak tu... Thus, to help atang navigate around Brisbane, he seeks help from two dedicated objects. The primary object/gadget/tool/aid etc. is .....




The GPS. This you need to buy, not just because you are driving a cab, but it really helps a lot when you are travelling. So it is a bonus for us when atang need to buy this for his work, and at the same time we use it to get around Brisbane (and outside Brisbane).





And another important thing is.....

The Street Index, or RefeDex or some people call it UBD. Directory nie tebalnya macam yellowpages. It contains map of every district, suburbs, popular landmarks in Brisbane. We bought this directory on the first week we arrived in Brisbane. Why atang need this eventhough he has the GPS? Well one absolute reason that I can give is, according to atang, the GPS usually will calculate the easiest route, so it will provide you with the Hway or Motorway route, that sometimes take longer to reach the destination rather than inner road. Jadi bila dah lame bawak cab nie, atang eventually knows some shortcuts, but he needs to refer to the RefeDex for verification.

Usually, if we are travelling together, I will be the co-pilot la...ahahhahaha..or else atang has to pull over by the roadside to study the map. Best jadi co-pilot nie, kalau sesat bleh buat muke kesian :p

Ok, this is one example of a map inside the UBD. Yang bulat tu la QUT :D. Betul2 tepi sungai Brisbane. But my office is situated at Margaret St, about two blocks away from QUT.


OK... tamat kelas geografi arinie.

from gold coast to sunshine coast : the coast line

I was in standby mode last weekend. Macam-macam hal... Was in no mood to write anymore, terribly exhausted, excruciating headache, which is gone on Monday, alhamdullillah. Hmmm... maybe one of the reason of my not being me last weekend because I was anxiously waiting for my sifoo greenlight for conference submittion. My co-author was hoping there will be no changes, for she didn't want to spend the weekend working. She celebrated her birthday yesterday. I understand how she felt. I was too, hoping there will be no changes to the paper. Was totally out of this editing work. I need a BREAK.... (owhh but have another submittion in mid April)..... sangap betul

Anyway, I finally have the spirit to update the blog. Luckily I have some pictures that do not require a lot of words to describe... ahahhahah.... otak ku refuse to work again. These pictures were taken onboard AirAsia went we left Coolangatta Airport for Malaysia.



A view taken just after we left the airport. Nie dah masuk New South Wales, another state in Australia.








We are now in Brisbane, nearing Brisbane Airport. That is the Gateway Bridge, the only motorway with a toll.




I think that is Redcliff, one of the popular tourist attraction in Queensland. Further up is another popular tourist attraction, the Sunshine Coast.

More picture in our fotopages.

throbbing Headache

Maybe some of you are aware that I spend Friday evening writing up some entries for the following week. And sometimes I will continue to do it on Saturday evening. But yesterday I was trying to write, but was totally OUT, not that I don't have story to tell, but it just that the Mood is Off. I have a number of pre-write entries, some have pictures uploaded into it, but couldn't find the Feel to write them. Was staring at the computer screen for hours until I decided to call it a day, and continue it on Saturday. What is the possible reason? I don't actually know. Tired maybe, like I described in the previous entry. But not that I am tired of writing, but maybe I need a break from writing.

So right now, am trying again, to finish writing some entries awaiting in the draft folder. But I was having this terribe headache, throbbing as I am writing this. Might be something I ate today. There are some food that I can't eat, will coz me the wind (angin dlm badan). Then I will get headache, and watery eyes. Can't recall what coz me the headache today, maybe too much caffein. As I was completing this entry, atang has been telling me to stop sitting in front of the computer numerous time. But I need to write this, merely to warn you my friends, that I may creating some boring entries for the next couple of days (which are still sitting in the draft folder). Will finalised them tomorrow.

Signing off now, atang promised me a massage. Hope the headache is gone by tomorrow.

Tick-Tock

24 months gone
12 more months left
time is running out....



arrrggghhhhh penatnye rasa....too exhausted to do anything
can't wait to finish this
but feeling anxious at the same time
worrying about the outcome
but too tired to think to realise the outcome



maybe it is sign of aging
or maybe am vindicating

have no other choice, but to go on

can't wait for this to end

(images collected using google)

The MSA QUT BBQ Lucheon

So these are some pictures taken from the event. Tak banyak la..cos I was busy BBQueing...ahaahha...

The bbq chicken wings, sausages, with onions. Pak Arab suke makan bawang. Tu yang jadi camnie.

I don't know the exact name of this dish, I assumed it was one of the middle eastern cuisine, sorry, forgot to ask laa.....Busy eating, bbqueing, and meeting new friends.

A couple of new friends that I met at the luncheon. On the right is Sarah, a Muslim Chinese from Beijing, in the middle is Fazillah, from Singapore. Sorry if I spelt their name wrongly. Kiri sekali tu tak payah diperkenalkan :D ahaks....

After the scrumptious meal, some of us played badminton, while others sat and watched while exchanging story.

We ended at nearly 5pm. Ku pun balik, kecapekan :D.

chicken Tandoori tonight

There was this one day I craved for chicken tandoori. Then I remembered that I have tandoori pre mix spices inside the kitchen ladder. So on the way home on that particular day, I stop at a grocery store (it was just a walking distance from our home) and bought a halal chicken hindleg (hindleg is a part of a chicken that consists of the whole leg, see pictures below). I marinated the chicken with the premix as per instruction, and then I realised I forgot to buy a tub of yogurt, but I guessed it wouldn't made much difference (it turned out that I was wrong). Then let it set for at least half an hour. Before I put the chicken inside the oven, I rubbed the chicken with some ghee, than let it cook for about an hour. An addition to that, I have cut some potatos and let it baked together with the chicken.

Then I boiled some vegeroni, fried a couple of paratha (for we don't have any Naan) and prepare some simple salad of carrot, lebanese cucumber, and red onions with a dash of French Herbs.

And so.......

ooopppsss.... forgot to put the flashlight on .....

haaa baru nampak macam ayam tandoori kan ....

The vegeroni was for me, am on diet, the parathas were for atang. The taste, hmmm maybe not using yogurt is a big mistake, so you know what I am trying to say right. Anyway it is worth to try again. Cube la....easy and simple dinner and healthy too ....ahaks

Rewang for MSA QUT

Muslim Student Association of QUT held a welcoming feast for newcomers and returning students last Saturday. The feast was held at Orleigh Park at West End, Brisbane.

Last Friday night, I went to my friend's, Sabrina, house, to help her preparing for the feast. She needed to prepare fried rice noodle (or bihun goreng) for 100 people. Since the event was held in the afternoon, so Sabrina cooked the noodle on that Saturday morning. I only helped her prepared the ingredients on that friday night.



the uncooked rice noodle

While I was peeling the onions, suddenly I heard a familiar sound, and scratching on the sliding door grill. Meowww...

Aha, Sabrina neighbour's cat came to visit. I took a break to play with the cat. Manja sangat-sangat.... Owwhhh... Sabrina did named the cat with something, but I can't remember what. Then back to the kitchen to fry telur dadar, to garnish the fried noodle.

Sabrina did the frying, I did the cutting process. At 11pm atang came, and we went home.

Besides the preparation and the cooking, we chatted, ..and we were also wondering about Halida. Halida, if you read this.... we missed you heap, babe. Will try to write an email to you one day.

(note: Sabrina had to cook the whole lot (I mean the noodle) 10 times. Giler gigih makcik tu)

Invitation :QUT-MSA Welcome BBQ

I received an invitation to this luncheon...yeihaaa...iklan jap

------------------------------
To welcome the new students, QUT Muslim Student Association is organizing a lunch get together and invite all new and current Muslim students to a bbq scheduled as follows:

Date: 7 March, 2009 (this Saturday)

Time: From 12noon

Venue: Orleigh Park, West End (BBQ pit next to a playground near West End Ferry terminal - refer the attached map)

Transportation:
1) Take 199 bus and get off at the last bus stop in West End Ferry terminal.
2) Take a City Cat ferry ride and get off at West End ferry terminal

Come and bring your family or/and friends. Pls FORWARD this mail to any Muslim friends you know.

............................

Jemput datang .....FOC food laaa...hehehheheh alhamdulillah.....

Malam nie kita gotong royong, masak ramai-ramai, makan ramai-ramai :D

I'll Fly For You - Spandau Ballet

~Alamak, I've just realised I pasted the wrong code....OK...I have made the correction~

Last weekend (a weekend before this recent weekend), when I was relaxing after spending hours in writing a paper, out of nowhere, I remembered this song...ahahahahhaha .... Giler punye lame lagu nie (and yet I am suffering from short-term memory lost). Actually for weeks, atang has been asking me whether I have particular songs that he could find on the web (owhh the list is long dear). Atang has been downloading songs from the 70s and 80s (yup, we are old folks...ahahahah..). Well to us, songs from that era are nothing to forget (not all ya). Talk about disco, rock, jazz, modern wave; from the Scorpions, to Depeache Mode, from Sade to Bangles, from BoneyM to Duran Duran.... woohhhh... I better stop now...

And this song was one of my chosen song to sing in the shower (yup, during teenage year, I can spent almost an hour in the bathroom or until Mak came shouting and knocked on the door). It was (or may still is) my sistah fav song.... enjoy

Laugh out Loud ... I sure did ....

Start your day with something funny :D ... after all some people say "Laughter is the best medicine" ....





......adeh... tak tahan .... LOL

Summer ended : Australian bushfire to Queensland Flood

Alhamdullillah, we survived summer this year round. This time it was hotter than last year....phewwwww... I think the highest recorded temperature (as far as I know) was 39 deg C. Luckily I spent daytime in the office (though sometimes it was warm inside the office, maybe they wanted to conserve energy, hence they have set moderate temperature inside the office), otherwise I will definately loose focus working from home. There is no air-conditioned unit inside the apartment, only a couple of table fans to cool the apartment. Guess that is why they took long vacation during summer, maybe to get away from the heat.


This summer the nation was shocked by two heart-wrenching tragedies. Maybe some of you are aware about a disaster happened at Victoria, Australia, the bushfire tragedy. To date around 200 people died because of the disaster. The state is still on alert because some places are still affected by bushfires. Victoria's capital is Melbourne, you can see the affected area from the map below (taken from http://enviro-map.com/victorian-bushfire-map).



In this picture (taken from www.reddit.com/user/antardis/, you can see in the background the bushfire engulfed the forest, and black smoke almost concealing the sun. Indeed a scary sight.



The aftermath (www.smh.com.au/.../2009/02/09/1234027889048.html). The red alert portal was setup to aid the community. You can find information about bushfire in the website.

Early in February, large part of North Queensland was affected by heavy rain and flooding. Actually the same tragedy happened last year, same part of Queensland. The only thing that is different, this time it was worst.





Picture taken from http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/environment/weather_and_climate/news.php?q=1233873708


I received a number of messages, via email, faceboook and YM from friends, asking me whether we were affected by the flood. Thank you friends for caring about us hehehe....Alhamdullillah, Brisbane was not affected by any of these tragedy.

Special dedication for Ms Taj

Happy birthday Ms Taj.... may all you wish come true ya (shopping2 ekk.... harus baca buku Kinsella nie). Have a wonderful day sis.




glitter-graphics.com

Please... I can't wait anymore..

Sound so desperate kan....ahaks.....

I have to confess, I can't control myself and succumbed to another book. But with a strong reason (yela, a classic case of covering your guilt). Need something to read while travelling to the office. If I am travelling during peak time, it will take around 20 minutes to reach the city (sometimes it will take 30 minutes if the traffic is bad). So rather than staring myself in the window or outside the window, or staring at other people shoes, or bags, counting people getting in and off the bus, yadayada (ahahahha), so I am doing myself a favor by grabing another book than letting myself bored to death.



Though I have several books that are closely related to my research (look below) that I can choose to be my companion during the ride, I can't give 100% attention of what I am reading. My reason is simple, these books are meant for desk/table/workstation reading. In other word, reading at the table laa.... so that I can easily jot down important notes. If I want to do that in the bus, I need to occupy at least three seats. Hmm why not have a desk install in the bus then....ahahahhaha...crazy idea. Actually, am trying to give a lame excuse....or do I need too... LOL



Anyway, I have finish 3/4 of the book, I mean the Cornwell book (the other 3 books still need my attention, though I almost finish one of them, but not reading it back to back laaa, I skipped irrelevant pages). And I am waiting, anxiously waiting for.....



8 Cornwell's books that I won from ebay (yea...). I won them for AD13.00. Second hand books. Ok la... am not going to spend much on books ya. I don't mind buying used book, as long as it is in good condition.

Anxiously waiting ... which one gonna be my next travel companion.

ehem.... I wrote this entry on Saturday, thus was desperately waiting for the books... but I am now, happy, coz the books have finally arrived, yesterday. And as usual, the postman just left the package at our doorstep (this is not our first time) because we were at work. Atang gave me called when he reached home and told me about the package. Tu yang rasa risau sangat. Sib baik orang-orang kat sini very trust worthy. Alhamdullillah ...





I already read 2 of these (dulu laaa).... jual balik kat ebay aci tak :D ...

Teringin

The Upin and Ipin movie : Geng, pengembaraan bermula, was one hot entry of most Malaysian bloggers. Reading their verdicts have excited me. Ohw how I wish I can bring yaya to watch the movie. Anyway, this is not a disappointment, it is merely a wish *wink wink*. Heard that you can get it in DVD soon. Hey, maybe my wish will come true one day :D.

So friend, kindly remind me when the DVD is out ya. 10Q.