Yes, I have changed my pseudonym

Dont' be suprised if "Me, myself, cici and titi" is no longer appear in the comment box and at the end of each entry. Since I have published the "Misteri blog ini", I have decided to change my pseudonym, and just use my name instead. Reason, simple, the pseudonym is getting longer and impractical. Thanks to those friends, who have painstaking type it in full just to reply to my comment ya. hehehhehe...

When I first created the pseudonym, I planned to be anonymous. Well, that seemed appropriate since I was rambling in my old blogs. I came up with the name from Beyonce's song, "Me, myself and I" was popular at that time. 'Cici' is my eldest daughter's 'manja' name. When Yaya was a baby, she likes to say this, "chi-to-pa". Didn't know where it came from. But it sounded cute. So we decided to nickname her 'cici'. But we have stop calling her that now, don't know whether she still remembers it.

While 'titi' came from my second daughter's nickname. And I was the one who created this. But it doesn't fit Thirah, so it remain in my blog world instead. hehehehehhe....

However, I have decided to let that remain in my memory now. Well, at least, some of you have known me with that name ya.

p.s. I have just realised that there were a lot of mysterious entries this week ya :D

tuka selera pulak...poached egg on baguette

Sometimes, when I feel like not having nasi or noodle, I make myself a couple of poached eggs on baguette, spread with margerine, sprinkle some white pepper, and dress with a dashed of chilli sauce.




What is a poached egg? It is an egg that is cooked in boiling water. You need to crack the egg into the boiling water, the egg white will be solidified, while the egg yolk is still runny.

Healthy maaa... hehehhe...

Misteri blog ini.... Menyelesaikan tag

Tag dah lamo peram, tak sompek nak buek. Thousand apology Ms Iszan....

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Misteri kewujudan blog

(jangan biarkan hidup anda diselubungi misteri..huhu..nie den tambah)

Apakah nama blog anda sekarang dan kenapa anda memilih nama itu?

...Blog nie den boghi namo "Life in Brisbane". Den nie, ado la cito-cito nak jadi penulis, tapi casual laa...nuleh utk suko2. Jadi seblom "Life in Brisbane", den dah start membebel kek "Blogging Ala Mode"(den dah lamo tak update blog tu, dibiarkan sopi), den nie kuek bebel. Tapi blog tu hanyo kengkawan rapat yo tau (den la yg gi tau :p), maso tu penulisan pun lobeh kepado konteks peribadi, konteks pun kocik yo, oghang kato macam kelilingi bahu ajo la... tak jauh pun. Entry pun tak banyak, maso tu kigho trial run laaa..

Jadi, bilo den sampai sini, nak continue nuleh kehidupan kek Brisbane dlm blog lamo tu cam tak sesuai. Den pun meng"create" satu blog khas. Maso tu, den nuleh untuk kongsi cito ngan keluargo n kengkawan yang ado kek Mesia, mahupun luar Mesia. Biaso la kan, bila berado kek negagho asing, mesti oghang nak tau macam2 kan; makan camno, oghang2 kek sini camno, study camno kan. Jadi, bilo oghang nak tau khaba kami, den kasi yo link ni...."haa....korang baco kek sini yo..." hehehhehe... sonang yo tak?

Mulo tu, cito2 kami menyesuaikan diri kek sini, skrang nie bnyak cito kehidupan kek sini. Awal2 tahun tu, banyak cito pasa rindu kampung halaman, keluargo, kengkawan. Tapi skrang den dah kobal dah...ahahah..kato oghang "alah biso tegal biaso", yo tak. eh biso bona :p

Eh tadi tanyo napo pilih namo nie yo....ala... maleh nak pikir panjang...den lotak yo "Life in Brisbane" ....


Apakah link blog anda sekarang dan bagaimana boleh timbul idea untuk menamakannya seperti itu?

...aaaa tuuuuu, kek address bar tuuu.... fazidbrisbanestory.blogspot.com .... fazid tu namo glamo den (glamo you)... dan sobab den nuleh cito kehidupan kek kota Brisbane nie, jadi la fazid-brisbane-story....blogspot.com tu tau apo kan..ahahhahaha... den guno free hosting yo :D


Apakah 'method' penulisan dalam blog anda?

...method penulisan ??? nie susah nak jawab nie.... den ghaso la, tak do apo-apo kekdah, den nuleh gitu yo...takdo cagho yg totap... tapi den cubo sedayo upayo nuleh dlm bahasa inggeris. tujuan nyo satu yo, nak membantu den nuleh tesis, pakso den memikir dlm bahasa inggeris... takdo niat lain do... kadang2 nuleh melayu, ikut keadaan... (tapi bilo nuleh melayu, tup tup kuar bahaso noghori pulak....dah budak minang, nak buek camno yo tak)


Pernah terasa nak hapuskan blog anda? Sebabnya?

....hapus tu.... tak do... tapi kadang2 ghaso jomu tu ado...hehehehhe...


Apakah pendapat anda mengenai blog kepada pemilik blog yang tag anda ni?

... Ms Iszan, den kona di alam cyber ni laa... blog-hopping. cara penulisan dio yang menarik bagi den, sempoi. den bleh ghaso Ms Iszan cito dari hati, bilo bengang, den bleh teghaso bahang nyo, bilo sodih, den teghaso sayu nyo, bilo dia ghaso bersalah (bilo dio spend lebih), den bleh teghaso insaf tapi enggak mau nyo...wakakakakka (jangan mara babe)....tapi bilo dia cito pasal anak nyo si naupal, den akan emo teringat anak2 den.... tu apo yg den ghaso pasal blog Ms Iszan yo....

Jadi bilo aritu, Ms Iszan cuti dari menuleh, kurang la sumbo pembacaan den.... babe ko jgn berhenti terus ok....


Senaraikan 5 orang yang akan anda tag

...part nie den kughang goma skit....bukan apo, den tak nak menambah komitmen kengkawan sumo...masing2 ada tanggungjawab yg lagi ponting kan... apo2 pun, kalau kengkawan ilang punco nak nuleh...nak buek...buek la yo...takdo paksaan, den tak kocik ati do...

*Liza* *MsTaj* *Jas* *Cikgu Jane* *Kakty (kalau tak buat lagi..rasa macam dah baca)* *Neeza (kalau tak buat lagi)* dan den tambah lagi sorang *mummy Yaeesh*

kengkawan yang lain pun silo la yo....

gitu la kisah seadonyo.... kan den dah cakap den kuek bebel :p

Halal and Haram

This was an old post (published last year, 30th June 2008). With the swine flu outbreak, I wanted to share why there are certain things that we Muslim are forbidden to eat.

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[republished entry]
I snipped this comic strip from "Queensland Muslim Times periodical".



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And below, is an article that a friend of mine forwarded in the facebook just recently, though the source is unclear, but all the fact is there.

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A lot of people misconstrue Islam's forbiddance of pork consumption as mere obsolete historical belief but it's actually based on real medical facts as illustrated below.The following was discovered many centuries ago upon the dawn of Islam but no logical explanation was ever offered on the rule...until now.

If you pour Coke (yes, the soda) on a slab of pork, and wait a little while, you will SEE Worms crawl out of it.

A message from the Health Corporation of Singapore about the Bad effects of pork consumption:

Pig's bodies contain MANY TOXINS, WORMS and LATENT DISEASES. Although some of these infestations are harbored in other animals, modern veterinarians say that pigs are far MORE PREDISPOSED to these illnesses than other animals. This could be because PIGS like to SCAVENGE and will eat ANY kind of food, INCLUDING dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses, reta (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.

INFLUENZA (flu) is one of the MOST famous illnesses which pigs share with humans. This illness is harbored in the LUNGS of pigs during the summer months and tends to affect pigs and humans in the cooler months. Sausage contains bits of pigs' lungs, so THOSE who EAT pork sausage tend to SUFFER MORE during EPIDEMICS of INFLUENZA. Pig meat contains EXCESSIVE quantities of HISTAMINE and IMIDAZOLE compounds, which can lead to ITCHING and INFLAMMATION; GROWTH HORMONE which PROMOTES INFLAMMATION and growth; sulfur containing mesenchymal mucus which leads to SWELLING and deposits of MUCUS in tendons and cartilage, resulting in ATHRITIS, RHEUMATISM, etc. Sulfur helps cause FIRM human tendons and ligaments to be replaced by the pig's soft mesenchymal tissues, and degeneration of human cartilage.

Eating pork can also lead to GALLSTONES and OBESITY, probably due to its HIGH CHOLESTEROL and SATURATED FAT content. The pig is the MAIN CARRIER of the TAENIA SOLIUM WORM, which is found in its flesh. These tapeworms are found in human intestines with greater frequency in nations where pigs are eaten. This type of tape-worms can pass through the intestines and affect many other organs, and is incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage. One in six people in the US and Canada has TRICHINOSIS from eating trichina worms, which are found in pork.

Many people have NO SYMPTOMS to warn them of this, and when they do, they resemble symptoms of many other illnesses. These worms are NOT noticed during meat inspections.

(NST, Singapore)

Swine Flu

Another flu disease.

"The same strain of the A/H1N1 swine flu virus has been detected in several locations in Mexico and the United States, and it appears to be spreading directly from human to human, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general in charge of health security."

Read more > Swine flu fears prompt quarantine plans, pork bans


Note: Macam-macam penyakit pelik-pelik timbul.

Nasi Tomato on ANZAC day

Last Saturday, all stores are closed due to ANZAC Day celebration. ANZAC day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand to honour the Australian and New Zealand Army who fought the Turkish Army in WWI. Enough say, google if you like to know more :D.

We planned to do groceries shopping at Coles, and I need to get some ingredients for my baking project. There was a bunch of ripe bananas and I would like to try a new recipe. And I found one. Usually I would do the baking on Saturday and heavy cooking on Sunday. Changed of plan, heavy cooking on Saturday, baking on Sunday then.

Atang for long has requested ayam masak merah. So while browsing the internet for recipe that use banana, I found a new blog recipe. Her ayam masak merah looks tempting, and the recipe is simple. So ... to the kitchen and start cooking.



Some of the ingredients.

Please note the onions. Shallots or bawang merah is expensive here and it is difficult to find. People used brown onion for cooking, though the maroon bawang besar is easy to find, but it is a little bit expensive than the brown onion. The maroon bawang besar is usually used in salad, thus the name is salad onion. So I used brown onion in most of my cooking. But for some cooking, like this nasi tomato and ayam masak merah, I used bawang besar, this grade is bit cheaper than the one they used for salad.

For recipe, please find it at kak liza (nasi tomato), and kak noreen (ayam masak merah) ya.





buurrpppp... alhamdullillah.....kenyang dah :p.... I made air sirap to go with these.....

owh.... i missed my bro's nasi tomato and ayam masak merah la!!

|From my mobile blog| Misteri sungguh

I just bought ths stneries caddy lst friday, and just realised ths morng a crack n chip. Pelik, it was ok when i bought it. Hmm somebody must hv touched it, yesterday or durng the weknd.

Ini lah dia buah Fig

In relation to the last entry about the Farmers' market, with a mission to buy some figs, I went to the market the following week. However, the mission was unaccomplished because there were no figs on sale that day. Instead, I bought macadamia nuts, one of my fav nuts (dah kalau makan sume favorite :D).

I went again to the market a week after that. And sudah rezeki, I found and bought some figs.

Fig also known as buah Tin :D.

There is a place named Fig Tree Pocket here in Brisbane. You can find a Kaola Sanctuary there, but am not sure whether there is any fig tree around. However, definately there are a lot of eucaplytus tree (to feed the kaola). Mesti berangin je perut kaola tu bila makan daun eucaplytus tu ekk...

Can I survive this week "Mental Detox Week"

Boleh ke?? Switch off my TV for the whole weekend??



Mental Detox Week

?????? Nahhhh....... it is all about displine :D

tie rack at Queen st

A friend of mine asked me about the price of Tie Rack's scarves here in Brisbane. I only know one outlet, at the Myer Centre, Queen St Mall. The current price is $17 (that is in AUD) per one scarf, times 2.6 (current exchange rate for ringgit). There were also discount for selected scarves, buy 2 get 1 free (kat sini cakap macam nie, buy 2, get the 3rd free).



Sorry gamba kabur, susah nak ambil gambar kat sini, orang dok lalulalang (cakap aje la tak expert, huhu).

creative dudes

Those dudes are bloody creative. hehehe....

We saw them at Queens St Mall, last Saturday.

Craving for Sushi

(forewarn, this entry is long. make sure you are not in distress before reading this entry :p)

Ever since my first taste of sushi (read my first attempt on eating sushi here, thank you very much to my friend Sabrina for introducing me to Hanaichi), I am getting fond of it, especially Hanaichi's (as if I have tried other different sushi restaurant!!). I even introduced sushi to atang, and also to kak Su (a research colleague). But to go there often is a no no, because, 1 plate of sushi will cost you between $3.30 to $7.00. Only occassionally OK laa.

On the 11th of April, we wanted to have sushi for lunch. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed because of the Easter holiday. A notice on the front door read that the restaurant will be closed for several days. So, takde rezeki la we all that day, and we were a bit dissappointed (especially atang huhu). We went to Azra Kebab for pizza instead (tu namenya rezeki pizza :D).

Anyway, last Saturday we went again to Hanaichi (dah name pun craving kan...hehe). We were supposed to meet mael and family at the restaurant, but they couldn't come early. We, on the other hand couldn't wait for them, for the parking fee is expensive in the city ($9 per hour). Usually we would circle around the block to find a space, but this time I told atang, since I need to buy some groceries at Coles (a supermarket) in the Myer Centre (a shopping mall in the city), why not we just park at the paid parking area. And because we were chasing the time (planned to not exceed 3 hours, that will cost us $16), we told mael that we will start first. Owhh mael and family was our latest mangsa in this sushi introductory (should ask for commission from Hanaichi huh!! or at least discount LOL).

And so, let fulfillin the need of having sushi (is there a plural for sushi?? err Jas if you read this, please confirm ya, am sure you are an expert in this. terima kasih). These were what we were having last Saturday (siap google tu nak carik nama dalam jepun). ahahahahha I forgot to take a photo of 1 plate (can't fight the hunger....so desperate!!).

(Click on the picture for bigger and clearer picture)

Aha... a little information about sushi. Do you know that sushi comes in many types? When I first saw this sushi, I was peculiar about the way it looks. My understanding of sushi was so limited, I thought sushi only looks like 'lemang' that is wrap with nori. So after my first attempt, I browse the internet to find any information about the type of sushi (ye, kalau bab makan laju jek buat research :p). Using my favorite and reliable online dictionary, answers.com, there are 7 types of sushi; nigirizushi, makizushi, oshizushi, inarizushi, chirashizushi, narezushi and the contemporary sushi called western sushi. So sushi that is wrap with nori (yang macam lemang tu) is called makizushi. Hanaichi mostly serve nigirizushi (or nigiri for short). And I loved nigiri (especially unagi nigiri). If you like to know more about sushi, click here.

We were like that minah salih, waiting for the right sushi to come infront of us. Eyes following the sushi on the conveyor belt (or sushi train, kaiten zushi in japanese). Note in the picture above, a menu. The price of a sushi are indicated by the color of the plate.

I was always seated infront of this sushi chef. And he is always helpful in answering our questions about the ingredients of the sushi.

We, " err, excuse me. what is this?" Chef, "crab stick"

Few minutes later, "helo, what about this?" Chef, " that's tempura, vegetable"

Later, while raising a plate of sushi, ".....this?" Chef, "unagi... grill eel"

ahahhahahahahha the point I want to raise here is, don't feel shy to ask. Kang termakan benda tak halal kang, sape nak jawab (btw kat sini takde jual daging tu, faham kan, cume ayam dan daging kat sini tak sembelih, dan sebab tu jugak la entry nie tak letak tag Halal food outlet, sbb takde certificate halal).

And for conclusion....

Hik

Coffee break, with delicious apple pies

Eh...tak abis lagi kisah Stanthorpe nie...hehehhe... this is the last entry (phewwww...) :p.

On the way home, like I have mentioned in the previous entry, we were looking for a coffee shop for a fill-up (caffein la apa lagi). I decided and wanted to go to Heavenly Chocolate, but we missed the turn, so we end up at Sutton Juice factory, again. Mungkin dah jodoh dengan apple pie yang sangat-sangat menarik tu.



We walked in, and the lady at the counter remembered us...ahahahahah... I told her we came for the apple pie (ye memang gelojoh). We ordered each of us a cuppa; mocha for abby and me, atang with his latte and one black for mael.

And the apple pie......owwwwhhhhhh sodap, the crust was soft, I liked it that way than a crispier crust. Together with the apple pie they served homemade vanilla icecream and whip cream.

Makan sudah, minum sudah, we hit the road. We arrived Brisbane at a quarter after 6, and stop for maghrib+isya at Darra mosque. Atang and me sent mael, abby and little hafidz (little hafidz is such a good baby, tak banyak karenah, kadang-kadang aje merengek nak susu. senang bawak jalan hafidz nie) home, and we arrived our home sweet home at 8.15pm. 15 minutes to Earth Hour.

Penat sudah semestinya. But we enjoyed our one day trip.

~The End~

Stanthorpe's town

Before we went home, we drove around the town of Stanthorpe. Kecik je pekan dia. It reminds me of my kampung, Kuala Klawang, Jolobu. But Kuala Klawang is bigger than Stanthorpe town.
We were also looking for a coffee shop. I need caffein..hehehhehe... Couldn't find any interesting coffee shop, ahahah..so I decided to go to Heavenly Chocolate shop, on the way back.

Bye-bye pekan Stanthorpe. We will be seeing you again, InsyaAllah.

Looking forward to ...

Semoga dimurahkan rezeki.... amin...
kengkawan doakan saya dapat pergi ke sinun ekkk :D






(photos credit to http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/india/india_photos_23.html)

Sweet and sour beef

Bored with all this fruit picking stories ekkk... sorryyyy... couple more entries to go.. But today I will skip the Stanthorpe's stories and back to the mundane story of cooking.

I have no new baking project last weekend. Only baked a banana cake for atang's lunch box. This time I add a handful of raisins into the mixture, just to improvise a bit :D.

And this is not a baking story (duhhh!! I just realised the title gave away already, silly me). Anyway, yesterday, I was fasting, have a few more days to replace my uzur day during last Ramadhan. Soon the Ramadhan will come and stay again ya... Time flies. So for yesterday iftar, I cooked Daging Masam Manis aka Masak Merah. I got the recipe from Kak Liza's blog.

Ingredients (my DIY ya..hehehe improvise based on what I have in the kitchen. Again this is more like approximate measure (agak-agak la ya)):

About 300gm of gravy beef, thinly slice the meat
150 gm tomato ketchup (about 3 tablespoons)
150 gm chilli sauce (about 3 tablespoons)
20 gm tumeric powder (about 1 teaspoon)
cooking oil for frying
I add 1 tablespoon of chilli paste aka cili boh (kasi pedas sikit)

Then slice;
1 brown onion
3 garlic
Ginger the size of ur thumb
1 carrot
and some sweet peas

For garnishing;
1 red chilli
1 green chilli

Method:
1. Marinate the meat with the tumeric powder for a little while.
2. Heat the oil and saute the chilli paste. Then add in the meat, and fry until cook.
3. Add in the ketchup and chilli sauce.
4. Mix in the onion, garlic, ginger, and salt and sugar to taste. Stir well.
5. Then walla....ready to eat (sodap makan paneh2 kan). Served with hot rice, and omelet.



So, sweet and sour beef for dinner tonight?

The journey continued to a vineyard

Grapes harvest time...ahahahaha... the grapes, they charge $2.50 per kilo. I did ask for the specific name of the grapes, but mind you of my forgetfulness, lupa daaa. Anyway, there weren't many grapes left. It was the end of the season actually. Grapes and berries are summer fruits. Autumn is for apple. Anyway we were still lucky to get heaps of bunch of grapes (adeh, heaps of bunch of grapes??...heheh).

Yeah... gunting-gunting. By now it was nearly half past 2. Baru la mula terasa penat dan ngantuk. We have completed our agenda for that day. Owwhhh almost forgot, we did stop at a cherry farm, unfortunately because there was a short rain that afternoon, the farm was closed.

Mana lagi nak gi.....hmmmmmm....

Lunch @ Stanthorpe's "i" centre

For lunch, we stop at Stanthorpe's "i" centre. It is a one stop centre for tourist or visitor to get information about Stanthorpe. There was a huge lake behind the centre.

Heavy clouds hanged on the sky. Look like it was going to rain soon. Strong wind shoke trees, cooling the air. Chilling wind, we ate heartily, and laughing at jokes.

A far, there was one family seated at a family table, having their lunch. From a distance we saw ducks swam on the lake. Soon more family came and passed by our table, walking around the lake.

What a wonderful and peaceful surrounding. SubhanAllah.

After lunch, we perform Zuhr + Asr (jamak) prayer at the picnik area. Then off to the next destination.

2nd stop... strawberry picking

We continued our destination to a strawberry farm. The distance is about 15 minutes from Sutton Juice factory. Along the way we saw many farms, vineyard, cottages that sell homemade products such as jams, leather products and cheese. We didn't have enough time to stop at any of these cottages. Our agenda for that day was fruit picking. Maybe next time we will come again for these shops.



Look at the strawberry farm, huge, sayup-sayup nampak ujung. For picking, they provide 3 types of containers. We took the smallest (only 2 mouth to feed). We started picking, and at the same time we ate several, then more, and more strawberries went inside our mouth. They were very sweet. The smallest one especially.

We couldn't stop picking them as well. Excited betul!! Jakun pun ye. This is nothing like picking strawberries at Cameron Highlands. Yela, different climate, different soil, different type of strawberry.

I told atang, kenyang makan strawberry nie, tak payah lunch. ahahahha... We even joke about paying the strawberries at the counter, for we had eat a handful of them, so imagine while paying we accidently burp infront of the farmer, ahahahaha... she may charge for that as well.

Ok bayar-bayar....next our destination.... well, we planned to go to a grape farm, but we got lost. So we decided to rest for awhile, and had lunch.

TBC

The birth-day of one of the most important person in my life

Tu dia panjang tajuk entry kali nie :p


Today is my mom special day. We wish her wealth and health, and most importantly she is always under Allah blessing.

Happy Birthday Mak. We love you endlessly (sayu la pulak...sob sob)

Ok, am not typing emo things here. Mak will not read this anyway, coz she is not into computer. I want to share with you of an online service that I used to send gifts for Mak on her birthday. But first, here is the story on how I came across this online service. This is the third year I celebrated Mak's birthday away from her. The first year I actually didn't do anything. Not even sending her a birthday card (and I regretted it so much). Was busy settling down, well actually, it kinda slip away from my mind of getting Mak something. Not that I forgot her birthday, will never do that, will never forgive myself if I did it (mane tau in the future), but it just that at that time I didn't know what to do. So there was nothing special from us on her birthday, only a phone call that has became a weekly routine (twice a week) since we arrived here.

So last year, I was browsing the internet, a few weeks before Mak's birthday, and I came across several online gift shops that provide delivery service door-to-door. I compared prices and delivery option, and found a website that is reasonable for my budget. Nobody knew about it, hehehe, I even kept it secret from my sistah. And it has been a custom for us, siblings to celebrate our parents birthday, trying our best to meet on weekends (if the birthday do not falls on weekend, we will celebrate prior to the day). So on that day, my family was suprise of the gift. And that was my intention. Both Mak and my sistah love the gift. My sistah said it was huge, pretty flowers with fresh fruits. Good.

And for my sistah birthday last september, I sent her a flower and fruit basket, using the same online gift shop. I am satisfied with their service.

What online gift shop I am talking about? Here it is, Love.com.my. Click on the picture to browse their shop.

This year I tried finding different option, but still I found Love.com.my is the best. They even sent me an email reminding about Mak's birthday a few weeks before the important day, making a good rapport, taking care of their customers ya :D .

So for those who are living abroad, who are thinking of getting/sending your love ones at home (malaysia), to celebrate special occasions, to represent yourself, to show love, etc. Click on Love.com.my

(am posting another testimonial on their website soon)

Beri biru Cheesecake...hehehhe

We received an invitation from our old neighbour, to a housewarming cum makan-makan at their new home last Saturday. I baked a blueberry cheesecake for the occasion. I saw a picture of the cheesecake at one of my friend's FB. And she is so kind for leaving a link to the recipe that she used.

Here is the recipe (Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe ):

Ingredients for cheese filling:

1 ½ lbs cream cheese (that is 750gm of philly cream cheese or 3 bar of 250gm of philly)

1 1/3 cups sugar

5 large eggs

16 ounces sour cream (or 500gm)

¼ cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 can blueberry pie filling (I did my own blueberry glaze)

For base: I used Kak Ida's cheesecake sempoi recipe.

Method:

1. Beat the cream cheese until it’s light and fluffy.

2. Add sugar (a little at a time) and beat until creamy.

3. Add one egg at a time (beating after each one).

4. Add flour, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Mix well.

5. Add sour cream and beat until smooth.

6. Pour cream cheese mixture over the crust/base.

7. Place into the oven on the middle rack and back at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (I set the oven at 180deg C).

8. When time is up prop open the oven door and let cheesecake sit in the oven for 1 hour.

9. Remove and allow cheesecake to cool and refrigerate overnight.

10. Top with blueberry pie filling (or blueberry glaze, see recipe below).

Ingredients for blueberry glaze:

About 4 cups of fresh/frozen blueberry (I bought I pack of fresh blueberries)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

2 tbs of cornstarch (add 2tbs of water to it)

1 tbs of lemon juice

Method:

1. Combine blueberries with sugar and water.

2. Bring to boil.

3. Squash a bit some of the berries.

4. Mix in the cornstarch paste (slowly). You have to stir the mixture or else it will get curdle easily.

5. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

6. Add lemon juice. Mix well and then remove from heat. Let it cool.

7. Spoon the glaze on top the cheesecake. Then refrigerate.

Note:

I found the cheese filling is too much, almost filling to the brim of the spring form. You can see from the picture above, the cake was a bit horrible...hehehe...Maybe reducing the cream cheese and egg will give better result. So to make the cake more presentable (to cover the ugliness huhu), I prepared buttercream frosting and using the piping bag, tried my best to hide the mess.

Owhh.... I finally get the buttercream frosting texture like I wanted. I prepared syrup instead of using icing mixture (thanks Iza for the tip).

And after spending 1 hour, trying to be creative, this is the result :p

Yummy. Have a go.

Inside Sutton Juice Factory

Inside the farm house aka factory, there are varieties of apple juices, apple cider, and some alcohol product.

The apple juices were so tempting. They came with many flavor. Some are according to the type of apple. Some are a mixture of apple with other fruit, for example, a mix of apple and orange.They provided free testing, so we sampled a couple of them, and decided to buy 2 bottles of juice, each from Gala and Jonathan.

The apples and juice cost us $14. And I was also eyeing a plate of apple pie inside a display cabinet. Aiyohhhh.... it was too early for lunch, and yet the pie was so tempting. Anyway, I managed to break away, ahahaha...said goodbye to the shopkeepers cum farmers, and off we went to our 2nd destination.

The first stop...apple farm

When we walked in the farm house, we saw bottles of apple juice everywhere; lining up in the shelves, in some crates. The wonderful smell of apple pie lingered in the air. We went up to a counter, a friendly lady greeted us, and without hesitation, she quickly brief us on what to do. She told us, 1kg of apple will cost us $2.

With a couple of plastic bags, we went out to the farm. We saw apple trees, hundreds maybe, in straight lines.



Am not sure what type of red apples were there. And there was also Granny (green apple). The red apples were kinda dark red color, maybe it was Jonathan. Anyway, it was one enjoyment. Picking the apples, walking from one tree to another, and to another, crossing lines of trees. Until we said, we couldnt stop picking, and our plastic bags were getting heavy. But what suprised me was, the apple tree was a little too short, not as I expected. I was expecting a tall tree, like rambutan tree. But all the apple trees in this farm were almost at the same height. Probably the farmers trimmed the tree to prevent them from growing taller. Easier harvesting maybe.

Satisfied with our harvesting (chewah), we walked back into the farm house, that was also a factory.

TBC :p

The journey has begun....

It was a last minute decision and preparation. Together with Mael, Abby and little Hafidz, we started our journey to Stanthorpe, a town popular for fruit picking at 7.45am, on 28th March. Stanthorpe is located at south east of Queensland, near the border of New South Wales, 223km from Brisbane. Roughly the journey took us around 2 hours and 30 minutes.



Along the road, there are acres of land filled with corns and sunflowers. There are also herds of cows, sheeps and horses. It was scenic, with crops, farm houses in the middle of huge lands. Mountains or hills at a distance. The road is almost empty. We passed by a few small towns, until we reached Stanthorpe.

We arrived at our first stop, an apple farm, around 10.10 am. When we got out of the car, we felt chilling wind. The recorded temperature was 22 deg C. Well, Brisbane was not that cold at that time, so we were practically shivering because of the first draft of air.

Nevertheless, the excitement of first experience in fruit picking quickly bring warm to us. Heheheh... Indeed everybody was happy. More than 2 hours of travelling, getting up early in the morning to prepare some food, fatigue, never crossed our mind.

Beeming, we walked up to a nearby farm house....

to be continued

Prologue: Out of town

A much needed break.

A long awaited jouney.

A one day trip.

Last Saturday.

We headed south east, to a small but popular town in Queensland.

With only one agenda.

come on... you can do this!!

With persuasion, am now embarking to the most difficult task. Been chasing up and down for guidelines and motivation. And with the help of my mentor, I have some interesting references to share with those who are in the same boat.

We need a starting point ya. Hope this can help you in building the structure. If you have interesting references, please drop me a line (or two, or more...hehehhe)

ALL THE BEST!

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"Keep going---you're nearly there! Most PhDs will admit that there were times when we thought about reasons for not finishing. But it would be crazy to give up at the writing stage, after years of work on the research, and it would be something to regret for a long time.
Writing a thesis is tough work.

One anonymous post doctoral researcher told me: "You should tell everyone that it's going to be unpleasant, that it will mess up their lives, that they will have to give up their friends and their social lives for a while. It's a tough period for almost every student." She's right: it is certainly hard work, it will probably be stressful and you will have to adapt your rhythm to it. It is also an important rite of passage and the satisfaction you will feel afterwards is wonderful. On behalf of scholars everywhere, I wish you good luck"

(Quoting from: How to Write a PhD Thesis)

Arnab bercokelat

Ada satu perayaan nie, which you can google it later ya (apsal pulak cakap melayu nie ya..wakakaka), masa nie banyak la cokelat berbentuk arnab jual merata-rata. Selain tu ada gak bentuk telur. Ala...bila sebut telur, mesti ramai boleh agak kan. Jadi masa perayaan nie, diorang sorok la telur-telur cokelat ni untuk dicari oleh kanak-kanak. Kalau kat sekolah, selalunya seminggu sebelum perayaan (dulu la masa yaya sekolah kat sini, skrang tak tau ada lagi ke idak), anak-anak di sekolah akan buat la bakul, daripada cardboard ke, kertas warna warni ke, bergantung kepada kreativiti anak itu. Kemudian cikgu akan bagi la sorang beberapa bijik cokelat berbentuk telur nie untuk diletak ke dalam bakul tu.

Jadi kepercayaan diorang la kan...kira the story behind this thing (eh cakap omputih pulak, tapi citer nie pasal arnab ngan cekelat ye...bukan pasal agama), arnab akan datang bawak telur2 itu, dan sorokkan, nanti kanak-kanak akan datang carik. Yaya pun dulu sempat la menyertai aktiviti nie. Nak buat camne kan, dah sekolah kat sini, ikut aje laaa... tapi balik kami explain la kat dia kenapa kita tak boleh buat itu. So mak apak pun kene kreatif jugak la bila nak bagi jawapan, tapi jgn tipu, kena terus terang, bagitau sebab utamanya. Cuma nak bagi dia faham tu, mmg agak2 mencabar minda mak apaknye.

Jadi aritu ada tinggal komen kat blog ms Taj pasal cekelat bentuk arnab.... jadi khas utk tatapan ms Taj, dan kengkawan yang lain... gini la ngupenya....

dah selamat dah dalam perut....makan part kepala dulu...macam cannibal la pulak...wakakakkaka

Alert! Conflicker virus

I received an email in my student mailbox forewarning students and staff about Conflicker virus (a worm actually). Reported by media, the virus will be launced, again, today (1st of April, am not sure whether the virus is related to the April Fool virus). Click here for more info about this virus.

Don't panic. Make sure your antivirus is activated and up-to-date, and your Windows (the OS) is patched.

If your computer get affected, hey..it is not the end of the world (but honestly I would be totally depressed...hehehhehe)

Tag about ... fulfilling a wish from ms Iszan

This is for you Ms Iszan, ahahahha... baper kali aku kena redo entry nie tau...tak masuk termenung lagi wakakakaka.... susah betul laaa...sebab dah terlalu biasa, sampai tak bleh nak isolate pe'el atang ke, atau dipengaruhi oleh aku...tapi dengan sedaya upaya dan kemahiran yang ada, aku cube juga laaa :D... so here goes...

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About my Husband

Rules: Here’s a chance to see how well you really know your husband/boyfriend/lover.Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your husband/boyfriend/lover to see how right you really are.

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Men, men, men (the TV series - two and a half men)

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Takde choice, apa yang ada dia makan je, WYCIWYG (macam diktator pulak bunyik nye)

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like?
eeerrkkkk..... batang sayur, dia makan daun aje :D (terpaksa la den menghabiskan batang sayur itu)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
Nescafe tarik n roti canai banjir

5. Where did he go to high school?
KGV Seremban

6. What size shoes does he wear?
7

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Hi-Fi dan segala anak cucu yang berkaitan dengan hi-fi tu, cam booster, amp, speaker segala jenis... sikit lagi ruang tamu bleh jadi kedai 2nd hand jual barang2 audio nie

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Nothing, sama gak kes WYCIWYG

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Nasi + ayam goreng belado, seminggu dua minggu pun takpe (sonang kojo)

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Sultana bran

11. What would he never wear?
Short pants

12. What is his favorite sports team?
errrkkkk.... takde rasanya ahahhahah... he is not into this 'team kinda' sports

13. Who did he vote for?
Undi adalah rahsia kan :D

14. Who is his best friend?
Apart from me (chewah), his little brother and another 2 stooges :D

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
hmmmm....apa ekkk..... makan banyak kot...ahahhahaha...

16. What is his heritage?
"aku budak minang"

17. What is his favourite colour?
aiyoh, makin susah soalan nie.... biru kot, cekalat pun ye gak...ke tu my fav color??

18. What is his habit?
Strumming his fingers, kalau pegang tangan dia pun jari2 dia tak duk diam

19. What is he proud of?
His family laaa (chewah)

20. Lastly, do you think he will read this?
Maybe not, hopefully not :D (kadang-kadang dia curik2 baca gak masa den tengah update blog nie)

--- OK... solosai utang.. Am not tagging anybody, but anybody is welcome to do it :p