A successful durian cake production house for 2011!

But I have to tell about my sunday before leaving beloved Melaka.

It was just great! I have to say, one of the more successful cake baking days of my life! Yes, of course, it was great because I baked. 2 durian cakes. Successfully. The measurement of successful here is if my father says he likes the cake, which is seldom. Very seldom.

Day started about 10am. I woke up, feeling quite terrible actually. My head was feeling very heavy, the effect of sleeping for only about 4 hours. I had a late night in front of my lappie, playing around with some stuff. I could only say now that it was a good idea in my part to take the bar of butter out from the fridge before I slept.

The desire to not to waste the remainder of the blended durians in the fridge was stronger than the desire to pamper the heavy head. I had a slow start though, taking out the flour and sugar packs, letting them sit on the stove, while I went about like a zombie having my breakfast and then washing up.

It wasn't until nearly 11am that I finally started to start my production house. I bought a bar of 500 gms of butter, so I had to make 2 cakes to finish up the butter. I had hope that would do well enough to make sure the durian was all used up.

I went about mechanically for most of the time, measuring the flour, the sugar and halving the block of butter. Then creaming the sugar and butter, while popping in a little bicarbonate of soda into the flour. Ah, after the 2nd try, this time, it was limited to three quarters of a teaspoon only. Stir them in so that they would mix well with the flour. All the while the creaming continued. The wonders of machine. How would the modern day lives be without them!

3 eggs were beaten, a cup of milk prepared and the tray glistened with some butter, and still the creaming carried on. This time though, the creaming was quite fast. The mixture turned fluffy in a shorter amount of time compared to the 1st and 2nd attempt.

Half an hour later, the mixing started. I added the eggs, and the machine mixed them in. Then slowly the flour was added in, with the milk, just to soften up the batter a little. The machine whizzed hard, doing all the hard work. I stood and watch, orchestrating the little symphony.

Oven heated up, temperature set at 180 degrees C. Machine was still mixing. I was trying to allow the batter to get a nice consistency. Once it was smooth and soft, I stopped the mixer and took out the bowl. I had already planned to mix in the durian by hand this time, just to see what difference would do to the final cake. So in went scoops of durians, about 5 this time. Mixed them in with a butter knife, as well as I could, then pour the whole mixture into the tray. It took me quite a while to get as much out as possible. Not wastage anymore than I can!

Tray into the oven for 35 minutes. Baking for durian cake attempt number 3 was underway.

Whilst the heat from oven was helping the mixture to work its magic, I hurried to get cake number 4 out. I went about the same steps, but with a little necessary tweaking in the measurements. Necessary for I didn't want any leftovers bits of sugar and flour. My Mom won't do anything with them and they would all go to waste if this baker was not in town. And so, I didn't have much confidence for attempt number 4 as precision was already thrown to the wind. What I could ensure was just the steps were followed.

I had hoped, wrongly of course, that by the time cake 3 was ready, I would be ready to bake cake 4. Alas, that was not the case. I underestimated the creaming processing time, and it took slightly longer for cake 4. I took cake 3 out and let it to cool, before scrambling back to continue making cake 4. Once all the mixing was done, I put it to bake, and kept my fingers crossed. Hopefully it won't be that bad. It couldn't be, just a little heavier of a cake, I thought, with the extra flour and sugar.

The cutting of cake 3 was carried out while cake 4 was baking. I was really excited, and anxious. The smell was just lovely and I could hardly wait to test the texture. With extreme care, I took remove the ring of the round tray. Then slowly and gently, the cake was divided into quarters, before a slice was cut out. The texture was so soft and the durian aroma was still there. My father remarked that the texture was like the banana cake my younger brother used to get whenever we went down south. Futher comments from my father was, I should write down the recipe I used to bake this 3rd cake. It was that nice. Mom said it was soft too, too soft for her liking, but it was good work. I was extremely proud of myself.

40 minutes later, a lopsided 4th durian cake was done. The round tray couldn't fit into the oven tray and had slanted a little to the left as the weight of the batter shifted during baking. Well, couldn't do much about it. Cutting the cake was difficult as I had used the conventional tray, where the ring couldn't be removed. With a huff and a puff, I finally managed to get a slice ready for tasting.

As dad was not there to try it there and then, it was my mom who provided the comments. She liked that better than the 3rd, so as light as the 3rd. Again, she had the 4th cake was also good. When my father finally came along to taste it, he commented that the texture was a little rough for his liking and that he still preferred the 3rd cake, although taste wise, number 4 was equally good. And they both agreed that this round of durian cake production was much more successful than the first two attempts. I was elated!

Durian cake production house for year 2011 was a success after 4 attempts! Yayyy!!!

At least, I moved

I'm back, but without a vengeance.. Ya, still trying to shake off the effect of 10 days of lazying around. Operative word here is, trying.

It's day 6 back in Krung Threp, and routine is just trying to set in, once again.

Each day, it's breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner and sleep. On good days, there were conversations and motivations. On so-so days, only dosages of cooking programs. On bad days, well, so far, not yet.

Everyday, there were no slot allocated for exercising. No wonder, yesterday was a sloppy day at court. Friday badminton session started yesterday. This pig really had a less than desired session. The body was heavy and the mind was wandering a little too often. Trying to move my legs on the court was like trying to lift pillars around. Heavy! And my hitting was totally crap! Even a little kid of 5 years could hit better and harder than me, I think. Swallow swallow the embarrassment and just follow through.

Luckily, it was Friday group. The sessions are 4 hours long each as there are quite a number of us. Yesterday's was attendance was good, about 10 of us. Which let the lousy ones to play alternate games. Me, the lousy one.

Played 4 lousy games. I pitied my partners yesterday. Hope they just treat it like warming up sessions when playing with me, the lousy.

At least, I moved. A little bit.

Durian Cake Dilemma

I have a smile stuck on my face and I am feeling happy. Wonder what's the simile for happy.

My durian cake is ready. At least, this time I can call it a cake. It really looks like a cake and cuts like a cake. Smells a little like banana cake though and tastes too much of the bicarbonate of soda. Nevermind.

Lesson learnt:

Bicarbonate of soda works, but the amount must be lessen. One tablespoonful is just too much. Three quarters should work fine for this mixture. The cake rose perfectly and bake beautifully. No blackened top OR bottom. Perfect brown!

I could add slightly more durian to the mixture. I put three tablespoonfuls just now. Maybe a slight increase to get a more duriany taste. But of course, I have to be careful not to overdose it, lest it ends up like the first cake, which was more like Bingka-durian.

Other than readjustment to those two, the next attempt should yield a perfect durian cake. I am itching to try but it's getting a little too much. But there are still some durian waiting for me. My Durian Cake dilemma! A happy dilemma!

No Kuih Bingka-Durian!

Okay, it's quite confirmed that I am going to add in some baking soda in my batter in my next attempt at making durian cake. And also, yes, I have to reduce the amount of durian used. The temptation to add in lots of them into the batter was one of the contributing factor that the cake did not rise.

And yes, it became like kuih bingka, but with blacken top and bottom! And it was too sweet as well. Should not attempt to make my personal labrats suffer because of my experiments. They deserve only the best.

But wonder how much is enough for the baking soda? One teaspoon was the common suggestion and answer the web dangled. Also, cannot, must not fall prey to greed, even though I have almost a container full of blended durian at my expense, I must control myself and use only the amount needed. Hahahaha...Else, might make another kuih bingka durian, not durian cake! No! I don't want kuih bingka-durian!

Wish me luck!

Yummilicious Sambal Timun!

Ahh, just concluded my lunch. The scrumptious, most missed Sambal Timun (eh?) is now sitting my stomach. Delighted to have it, always!

Had specially requested my mom to make it, one of these days while I'm still home. This was another of one those dishes which I longed for when I was in Krung Thep. Yes, I know I'm supposed to eat, sleep, do, talk, act and blend in like the locals, but at times, it's difficult to deny your heart's desire. You just wish to have some familiarity, especially when things are not so much different, yet not the same.

While having this delightful dish, a question popped into my head. Why in the world is the dish named Sambal Timun, when the bulk of the ingredient is pork? Slices of boiled pork mixed with bashed chilies, belacan, onions and slices of cucumber, not unlike a salad. The pork is always more than the cucumber, which is English for timun. Wonder why.

But then, enjoy it while I can. Question can be addressed later. I think I could clean the whole bowl of the Sambal Timun if I didn't check myself. That was how much I missed it and how good it tasted. Yummilicious!

Another tick off my list. I must watch myself, I know, as I am really piling on the fat. I noticed my double is reappearing and my lower torso is expanding. Sigh, but how I am to control my intake, when I want to savour and sample as much as I can before I leave?

Blackened Durian Cake

Why, why, why??!!!!!

Again, I failed at my attempt to bake something with durian!!

Yet again!!!

This time, durian cake. Just a normal cake, with some durians as flavour. And still, I failed. Top and bottom of cake totally blackened out but the inner part is still moist, although pricking stick test yielded no cake mixture stuck on the stick. This is worse than my durian bread attempted last year. At least only the top was blackened on that.

My mom had commented, I should have added some baking soda to help the cake rise. Is she correct? Did the durian weigh the whole cake down? Is that the only thing missing? Are there anymore things that I overlooked?

I feel like giving myself another chance and make another one tomorrow. But I pity my parents. Unfortunately they cannot run away from eating the failed cake. And this is too bad to give away.

I am obsessed with the need to conquer this baking with durian. I think I will try again, probably day after tomorrow. If the second attempt fails too, then, I have nothing more to say. I surrender, with the white flag.

Sigh...pray it's only missing the bicarbonate of soda.

Hmm..Durians

Hmm...Mom just came back from my grandmother's with another 2 containers full with durians. That fruit. The thorny one, which you either love it or hate it. Nothing in between. The King of Fruits.

Hmm..Should I attempt another durian bread? Or stick to trying baking the durians into a cake or muffin?

Hmm..But I'm tempted to try to turn at least some of them into durian tart.

Hmm..Try all? We have about 4 containers sitting the fridge. Haha..

Hmm..Just must remember, no alcohol this week.

Attempt towards a Healthy Dinner

Not too long ago, I decided to try my hands at preparing a western style food for dinner. This sudden inspiration came about after we had in our home, AFC, upon changing from one satellite TV provider to another. Needless to say, I found myself no longer reading, stuck in front of the telly glued to AFC.

One Saturday night soon after, probably after a week's dose of various cooking programs, reruns and new alike, I got inspired. I had been a while since I prepared something which was not simple, hurried or leftovers thrown together. I thought, with 2 big steaks of pork meat and some asparagus sitting in the fridge, why try my hands at some western style course dinner, complete with starters, main course and dessert. Furthermore, with Wonderful Guy off to his weekly badminton weekend session, I would have ample time to create and cook.

So, away I went, taking the meat out from the freezer and marinating them. I had already pre-marinated them before I kept them in the freezer, so it was easier this time around, just adding the additional spices for more flavouring. I had planned to just fry them in the wok, just like how the chefs do it with steak in the telly.

That done, I proceeded to prepare the vege, which was asparagus and carrots. Asparagus was easy. I cut off the parts which I didn't want and then soak them for a while. With the carrots, I had to spend a little more effort as I had wanted to make them into carrots sticks, not too coarse so as you could taste the rawness in the carrot, but also not too thin that you could not taste the freshness in them. After about 20 minutes, I had all the veges done and kept into the fridge again.

While my hands were working on those, my brain had been pondering away, thinking what kind of food would make a good starter and dessert. It wasn't easy if you have a fridge filled with ingredients suited for asian cooking and limited skills and utensils. Furthermore, since Wonderful Guy was adamant to control his food intakes and me needing to go on diet as well, it made sense to try to make something healthy and low fat, as best as I could.

Finally, the experimental side of me kicked in. I thought, make a type of flat bread prinkled with lots of herbs and lemon zest and olive oil to combine all the taste. I saw it in an episode of a Jamie Oliver program in AFC years ago. So, off I went into bread making mode. Checking what I had, I realized the bread would have to be small as I didn't have much flour left. Once the dough had had been prepared, I let it to rise, and prayed very hard that it would rise.

Now for dessert. I already had in mind that dessert had to be fruity and must use the last kiwi and green apple in the fridge. Then, I had an idea. Since I had some leftover of liquid from dough making, I thought of using it to make something like a cake. To go with the fruits. Well, to be healthy and with no flour I thought, why not use oats. I proceeded to mix some oats and the liquid, added with a beaten egg, into a bowl, and sprinkled lots of muesli oats on top, hopefully that it would to turn a crust as it baked. Then I put mixture into the oven to bake.

Oh, how anxious I was for the first ten minutes. The temperature was set at about 180 degrees, not knowing what was the better one. I waited and peeked numerous time, but nothing much happened. I noticed the oats bubbling slightly and the muesli top hardening a little, but nothing exciting. Not too sure why but I increased the temperature to about 200 degrees and observed. It was then all the action started. The so-called cake started to bake and rise. The lovely smell of baking permeated from the tiny oven, and I smiled. I increased the temperature slightly to 220 degrees and let it stay there. My oats cake was now like a little golden plateau , with a smiling crack in the middle. I was ecstatic.

Tackling the fruits, I sliced the kiwis and the apples as thinly as I could. The slices of apples I soaked in some white wine. Then all the fruits went into the fridge to get some chilling love. By that time, it was almost time for to start preparing the main course. I heated up the wok and then remembered the bread. A little disappointment swept over me to see it didn't really grow. But heck, I placed it into the oven to bake.

The heated wok was ready to receive its customers. But then I heard the door open. Oh my, Wonderful Guy was back! Hahaha.. I was too slow. No surprise then, he would see all and know. Doesn't matter. I sent him to take his bath first while I continued cooking on, tackling the asparagus first for a light toss in the wok. That done, it was the turn of the meat. I fried them one by one, using low medium heat. This was so that the inside would cooked but still remain tender.

While the meat was cooking, I laid out the plates. I tried to be creative, weaving the asparagus and the carrots into something like a base for the meat. Not too successful though, but good enough for me. For Wonderful Guy's plate, I added 2 extra slices of fried onions. Once the meat were done, they were laid out the plates. At a spur of a moment, I added 2 slices of the wine-soaked apple slices on each plate. Main course is ready.

The bread had been ready while meat was cooking. Laying it out on the chopping board, it didn't look that bad, just hard. Soldering on, I took the knife, and slowly sawed, yes, sawed it into long slices, trying to turn them into bread sticks. I got about 5 pieces, but put 3 pieces on a plate and brought them out to serve Wonderful Guy, who was now in front of the telly.

Then I cut 2 small pieces of the oats like cake, put them into 2 small dessert plate, haphazardly placed the slices of kiwi and apple around and left them in the freezer . I then brought out the main course plates out. Wonderful Guy was all oohs and ahhs. Haha, but of course. As usual, photo taking commenced, while I tried to find us enough suitable utensils. Since we only had one knife, we had to share.

Dinner was on!

Verdict from Wonderful Guy was bread was hard although the taste was nice. Aromatic, I thought. The meat was a little dry and carrots were too raw for him but the effort was wonderful. Halfway through the meal, he went into the kitchen, wanting to pour some wine. Oh, that was when he saw the dessert. Hahahaha..yes, he didn't know there was going to be dessert. He loved the little cake slice from the dessert. Not too sweet, he had said. I had served dessert with some ice-cream as topping. Overall the meal had been successful. I enjoyed myself, and Wonderful Guy told me he enjoyed it. He might be lying, but I chose to believe him.

I was satisfied.

Birth of an e-Shopper

Made up my mind. Just purchased a voucher online for the purchase of a photobook at a discounted price. I am spending unnecessary money on something not needed. Willingly. No one forced me to do it.

This is the first time I am purchasing something so unnecessary online. I think so. I cannot think of other purchases I made online, apart from the airplane tickets. It had always been them and payment of some bills which I made online. Never at a whim, all carefully thought of and thought out for.

So, today is a significant day. It's the day I finally caved in to the pressures of living in the 21st century and became part of the growing trend of e-shoppers around the world. I gave in to temptation and bought a photobook, which I do not need at all.

Oh, but I just thought it would be nice to give a photobook of my parents' maiden holiday by flight to them. Just a remembrance, something that they can look at and share the memories together. Without them needing to turn on the computer and stare at the glaring screen. They are but not computer savvy. And, something concrete which they can hold in their hands and share with their grandson.

I have to start collecting photographs and shortlist them. Then, learn the software which I would need to use to create their e-album. Not forgetting though, browse, browse and browse for layout ideas. But above all these, I must not forget to redeem the voucher within the stipulated time.

Ah, I really hope they will like it. Hugs!

Oh, and also, I really need to earn more to feed this kind of indulgence.

Same but yet, different

Looking back at some of my posts of last year, I realized that I've certainly changed as a person. My outlook on certain aspects of life and its idiosyncrasies is definitely different. I wouldn't categorize it as good or bad, neither would I want to label that I've matured. Its really neither of those. It's just that circumstances had made me a different person.

I spent more time to examine the lives around, trying very hard to understand things that were going on. Frustration sets in, naturally, for just like a scientist trying to discover new things, my journey is not so much of a difference. I craved hungrily to understand why things happened the way they happened. The desire and need was so strong that when I couldn't rationalize the reasons, I could feel myself slowly being eaten away by the troubles and the fear that arose from the lack of understanding. Depressed and moody, that's what I became for most of the time when answers just refused me.

The uncertainties that I felt at times were just so overwhelming, many times I had to dig deep to stay afloat in my mind. It was not a very nice state to be in, questioning yourself, over things that you have done all your life, about things that you had strove to perfect throughout your life. The last time I had that kind of tendencies were when the hormones were raging during my adolescence years.

The bouts of puffy eyes were inevitable from a person who was so unstable, emotionally then. I might had been depressed, I wasn't sure. What I was sure was there were many nights where popping pills were a necessity just to allow my body to get the rest it needed. Or downing cough mixture.

Out of all these, when the tide was calmer, I emerged. Fortunately. Really. I am thankful, until now. It changed me certainly. Not for the worse nor for the better. That whole experience, if I may call it, certainly did something to me. I would not say that it's a 180 degrees change, but the feeling of wanting peace for myself is much stronger. The fear of being on my own, less. Whether I am a mentally stronger person remains to be seen.

One thing I realize is most of everything is now treated like a business transaction in my mind. I learnt to push those things away that I want to push. No longer do I feel I owe the world so much or they owe me things. It's weird thing to come down with, for I feel my level of consciousness grew even more.

Same but yet, different.

Too many too short a time!

I know, I know. It's too many too short a time.

I'm like trying to make up for the lost 30 days, or 720 hours, or 43200 minutes of last June, which I missed. With July already way past the halfway mark, I am now again staring at the 'new post' layout, typing this out.

What should I write about this time, I had thought? At that time, ideas had not sprouted, honesty is still shy, and well, words were lazy.

At then, this came out. Out of no where.

I should smile, for at least this is an honest post, of feelings, guilt and gladness, all mixed together. Guilt, as laid earlier, I missed June and we are now halfway through July when lazy brain re-started the engine. Gladness for I had started and am pouring out words now, as unfathomable they may be.

If my memory serves me right, this is the third post of the day.

At 4 minutes before the clock strikes 12 midnight, I wish only that as I write, my grammar is more bearable and my stories more interesting.

Oh, and my words, less repetitive. Double oh, and spelling independently!

Changing Melaka

Change is not easy on some people, including me. Not being back for quite a while, this trip will find me home for a week! Which is long, considering on my last trip back, I only stayed a day, and the trip before, that I was only here for about 10 days in total, even though I was back for close to 40 days.

Being home for a week, without any distractions, is long. And I welcome it with open arms. I had told myself, though not strictly, that this will be a good chance for me to reconnect and re-discover things that were familiar and explore and find out what's new here.

It's vital for me, you see, as here means Melaka, a rapidly developing state in Malaysia. Before, when I was doing weekly or biweekly commuting from the capital city, I felt that I always missed a couple new things and lost quite a number of familiar things with each visit. Then when I left to follow Wonderful Guy to Krung Thep, trips back here were even shorter and much rarer.

My first day adventures had led to some interesting discoveries of change and of course, plenty questions unanswered in my head.

My first eye opening finding is prices had shot up quite considerably since my last visit. Satay is now RM0.65 per stick! I know this is like old news but I am quite surprised to just learn this. Last I knew, they were priced at RM0.50 and that was at a more reputable place. One roasted duck sold from the shop in front of my house costs rm40, up about 11%. Oh, and I was told, a bowl of cendol from one famous aunty costs rm2.00 now, and this is selling at somewhere not in town. So much of Melaka being a cheaper alternative.

The second thing that I noticed is 2 things have mushroomed all over the town center. Yes, you guessed it, hotels and satay celup shops. The former ranging from half star, if there's such thing, till 6 stars, publishing rates of up till almost rm4000 per night! I mean, seriously! Everywhere in town, there is hotel, motel or hostel built, or a hotel, motel, or hostel being build. Do we really have that many tourist popping over to visit Melaka? Is Melaka heading towards the direction of Penang/Phuket, a must go if you visit Malaysia, even if you forego the capital city?

Now, the satay celup shops. Well, I had noticed new ones being set up a few years back. But they were always almost empty then, while the original ones continue to attract flocks and flocks of people to savour their delicacy. This visit, however, I noticed a change. While the two shops which I consider original ones were still being overwhelmed with queuing and waiting customers, the new ones were also not far behind. I no longer saw shops with empty tables, with workers idling around. Instead, I saw customers helping themselves, dipping sticks and sticks of satay into the piping round pot of grounded groundnut gravy in the middle of their respective tables. They were not crazily crowded but empty they were not too!

Next discovery is that another 'shopping experience' is going to be built in heart of the city! Or, already started building, I'm not sure. Argghh! Do we really need another one more retail outlet in the heart of the historical site? 3 within radius of 5km, if my estimation is correct. The last one built there a profound distaste for shopping centers in my mouth, for I personally felt that it had taken the grandeur and historical feeling off from whatever is left of the famous ruins of the Portuguese Fort and historical sites in Melaka. But I must learn, money wins over historical preservation, hands-down.

Another profound transformation is the Melaka river. Now, this is a mixed feeling on my part. While it is a wonderful move to have the river cleaned and flowing again, without the foul odour which used to linger in the air around the river, I wondered why the beautification of river had to be, err, not Malaysian? I've not been to Europe, so it isn't fair for me to say that it's influence came from a certain country in the Europe. But from what I heard and was told, the decorative influence is really strong, almost imitative. While I understand that they have a proven track record on how to handle river/canal system well, what's with recreating Melaka to be a replica of that city? Furthermore, I don't remember Melaka being conquered by them, even though history is one of my lesser subjects.

A plus point was while walking along the river to capture the newly 'Venicized' Melaka river, I realized that were many more people like me now, walking about. That is definitely a good thing. I believe I wouldn't have dared of doing so say, 2-3 years back. The feeling of safety had certain improved and this would definitely improve the image and quality of lives of the locals. My only hope that this good, safe feeling remains and is vigorously maintain by all quarters in Melaka, always.

These are the few changes that I noticed. There is this little voice in my head shouting to me, telling me that the Melaka as I knew and grew up in, will forever buried in my head, as I head out and discover more changes.

Finally, digesting Nasi Lemak

Breaking News! Bringing the latest update of my very own Nasi Lemak!

The last Nasi Lemak on the tray was found waiting patiently to be devoured. It had been sitting on the tray for almost an hour after being packed.

Finally released from the confines of the banana leave, the Nasi Lemak looked so beautiful in front of me. Rice mounted in the middle, with a slice of a omelet, some crispy fried anchovies and groundnuts, some kangkung and my additional side dish of fried mince meat surrounding the mount. A big pile of Sambal sat on the top of the rice mount, with some slices of cucumbers acting as the base. The cucumber spot was excellent, adsorbing the some of the sambal taste. I like!

I dug in immediately. Rice and Sambal for the first mouthful. Yummy! Although the rice was a little cold, the aromatic smell could still be picked up, although not so strong. The sambal was okay, not spicy hot at all. No wonder no complaints from my father. However, my mother did mentioned that it was a little sour, too much tamarind paste. I thought it was still bearable, even nice after the first mouthful. Perhaps, my bias!

I tried to eat slowly, to prolong the experience without having to have any additional helpings. Mouthful by mouthful, the Nasi Lemak went into my stomach. Sometimes with some anchovies, sometimes with some groundnuts, occasionally with kangkung and cucumber, meat and omelet, but always with the rice and Sambal. Savouring the various taste. Enjoying the Malaysian taste. Remembering the homemade experience...Delicious! Just delicious!!! I couldn't help but feel proud of myself.

Ah, but all good things must come to an end. Mine came within a short 10 minutes, even with the rerun of Princess Hours in front of me. Sigh. Since I've decided there wouldn't be any second helpings for lunch, I guess I have to wait until dinner time before I can get to re-experience the bliss and joy of having Nasi Lemak again. To satisfy my craving, once again.

My mouth is watering as I write this, but indulge I mustn't!

Nasi Lemak

It's nasi lemak day! Yay!!!!

Finally! I get to indulge in Nasi Lemak. I had been suppressing this craving for almost a month. Yes, that long, of course with a very good reason. There's simply no Nasi Lemak in Krung Thep, or at least, I've not found any peddler selling it. Last month was the last time I was back, thus the last time my pitiful stomach had wonderful experience of digesting Nasi Lemak.

Nasi Lemak is the staple food of all Malaysians, if I may say. The basic Nasi Lemak consists of a combo of rice cooked in coconut milk, sambal (fried pounded chilies), either fried eggs or omelet, crispy anchovies, some fried groundnuts, pieces of cucumber and some boiled kangkung. Nowadays, it's very common to find Nasi Lemak served with a variety of side dishes like Rendang, Curry Chicken, Sambal Sotong, among others. Whatever the side dishes are, the basic composition must and should always be there.

Throughout my short life, I've not met any Malaysian who doesn't like Nasi Lemak. Many had to instead try to limit their intake of this excellent dish though, as consuming too much of it might lead to a life littered with various health problems as the coconut milk makes contributes to high cholesterol in the blood system and the fried things, well, they are fried, need I say more. And yes, I too would fall into that category if I was staying in Malaysia. It's good but like everything good, moderation is the key.

Yet, it's comfort food. I had had it for almost every weekend, getting my supply for one Pasar Pagi makcik who only sells during the weekend. I remember when there was a time I where I had to work some Saturdays, I would purposely drop by her stall to get a pack to bring to work. Hers wasn't outstanding but it was really nice as it had all the basic ingredients. Many peddlers now omit the kangkung, which I really like having in my Nasi Lemak!

Today's craving is satisfied with my homemade Nasi Lemak. It's not difficult to make Nasi Lemak, if you already have all the ingredients ready, especially the Sambal. But if you have a mom like mine, all you need to do is wake up and cook the ingredients. Mine prepared all the things for me, including the kangkung and the sambal. I only had to add in the onion and some tamarind juice into the sambal.

My pack is waiting for me, nicely wrapped in banana leave. My parents had finished theirs. And since my father, quite a picky eater, did not complain anything, I guess, it's not too bad. I am going to stop very soon. The craving is getting stronger and I can feel myself salivating. Really. I know I will enjoy myself. Tremendously.

Later then!

Missed June

I missed June!

With thirty days in June, I missed 30 chances of posting possibilities if I did an average of a post a day.

Missing the 30 chances meant that I gave up the possibility of exploring 30 different topics, if I wrote about different topics each post.

Giving up the possibility of exploring 30 different topics meant that I stopped myself from conducting 30 light to medium range of researches, effectively chopping off my knowledge tree from branching into at least 30 different topics.

I also managed to effectively leave my brain to idle for 30 days, which in turn decreased the dexterity of my brain power and lower my life span a little, if not much.

Missing those 30 days here also meant that I had let go 30 opportunities to exercise my grammar, my language fluency, my thinking and writing skills, the chance to expand my vocabulary, and my increase my memory power.

Without any posts in those 3o days, I effectively allowed this blog to be not viewed.

Poisoned

It has been a long time since I last posted over here, or any where. Once again, I had allowed myself to be taken hostage by the lazy bug. Poisoned, plain and simple.

Many a times, interesting random thoughts borned out in my shallow mind had me telling myself they required permanent home for deeper explorations before my ever so-unreliable memory push them further back, forever lost in the abyss of my very poisoned, undisciplined mind.

Many chances flew by, and regrets grabbed me by the shoulders. Lessons were never learnt, still. Am I too complacent in writing quest, or in my life, adopting the mien pien lai attitude a little too much even here?

The bells had rung, yet again. And yet, once again, I am not prepared, and the train passed by. I overslept and forgot that I had not purchased my ticket. Again, I find myself at the platform, having to wait for the next train. And I have company as I wait, and I am running low on bug spray!

Will I ever be triumphant?