North, East & South

“Reaching Up” Mural, Cannon Street, George Town, Penang

Travelling has never feel any safer.

Ben's Vintage Toy Museum, Penang

Old mosque in Pekan, Pahang

Teluk Chempedak, Kuantan, Pahang. 

Early-July. And the new school term has finally begun. We were finally home after three weeks escape to the North, East, and South of Malaysia. It was merely a vacation, more like a tag-along trip (visiting relatives, husband's client's meeting plus, etc) with my parents, but boy I/we had a whole lot of FUN with them. I believed that was one of the longest time I managed to spend with my parents, this year alone. Yep, the bitter part of married life- living away from parents. But then, two weeks of vacation is a par for me, else I would die of ecstasy aka pure laziness of doing nothing. I guess routine-life has finally engulfed me after years of being SAHM.

Like always, a week after my return from a so called 'vacation' would turned me into something that I, up until now, don't understand it. A post-vacation syndrome is what some people labelled it. I'm nor bored neither angry, nothing interests me, and I'm at loss over what to do next. Sleep is just a short-term solution. But slowly, it fades away like nothing ever happened. No remedy needed. 

Anyway, there's only a week left for Ramadan and I feel slightly panicky for not being aware of it earlier. I was so occupied with nothing (read: pure leisure) for the past 3 weeks, and I always felt I still got a month before Ramadan. I. was. wrong. Sigh. Time is sprinting across our life rather than tick-tocking like a normal clock does now. 

Adam will turn 4 in the next 10 days. Gubra. I dont care bout the celebration party whatsover. It make me slightly gabra to know that my son is going to be four. I got a four yrs old in my pocket people!! I feel rojak inside. Partly proud of myself for raising him this far, sad for he's not going to be my little guy anymore, happy as he is what he is now, and excited for what else can he put in his plate in the near future. I love him. My little man has got his own mind and saying nowadays, so I have to be very careful on how am I behaving towards other people around me, and not to forget the way I talk- bottom-line, the way I live my life. There were lot of things I wished I didn't do back then, but we would not be in this state of life if it's not for those mistakes we made on the past. Kan?

So these are some of the photos which I've captured with my iPhone during our trip to Penang, Kuantan, KL and Melaka. :) Cheers! 

Cannon Street, Penang.

“Boy on a Bike” Mural, Ah Quee Street, George Town, Penang

Little India, Penang

Ben's Vintage Toy Museum, Penang

Telok Chempedak, Kuantan, Pahang.

Jam as usual in KL.

I love this pic even-though it's a bit blur. (Little India, Penang)

Custard Chiffon Cake

Happy happy Friday peeps. I sincerely apologise for the silence. The whirlwind aftermaths of the general election had me hooked on all sorts of medias; FB, Twitter, TV, and so on. I'm no more near the election news now. The outcomes of the election, to me, showed how much the other half of the voters want that change to happen. No matter which party governs the country, let's just open up your eyes, mind and heart and make that change happen. The support will always be given to those who walk the talk. So walk the talk. Frankly, I'm a bit unpleased with some of the election outcomes, but life goes on. 

I went Malacca on Friday, and arrived home on Monday, the day after the general election. It was my first time travelling without both Adam & Husband. Nope, my second one. But that was several years ago. It felt different this time. A whole lot of different. The journey felt... weird without his voice asking me this and that. Without his big voice singing and zikir-ing. A very quiet journey I'd say. And to make it weirder, I managed to finish the whole book "An Old Palace in the Village" in few hours time. I rarely finish any book these days- But most of that time goes to Adam and I'm indeed lucky. ;)

Next, photos in this entry. Honestly, I am a bit unhappy with it. Well, you know how the weather behaves lately. Sunny in the morning, and in just a blink of an eye, it changes! I took the "prep" photo (before the baking happened) at 11 am in the morning, and the cake was ready to be shoot at 2pm, you know, this kind of cake needs some time to cool down. The prep photos look good to me. But by the time I wanted to shoot the cake, the weather had turned gloomy. I wanted to use the flash but the thought of setting it up stopped me. Plus, I have no idea where my husband keep it. And that brought me to the ISO, my last resort. Sigh. Darling husband, where did you keep that flash? 

Now, to the cake. The recipe is from "Monday Morning Cooking Club" cookbook. I first discovered this cake almost a year ago through my Facebook timeline. It directed me to this touching video of Merelyn, making her mom's recipe, Custard Chiffon Cake. I was totally moved by Merelyn's story, and the cake... it was lovely. It's JUST a simple yellow cake, with a nice custardy scent. I don't know what, but the simplicity of this cake kindda WOW-ed me. It ranked right on top in my favorite cake list, to date. It's a big cake for the three of us, but poof, it's gone easily in less than a day. We had it for tea and keep the half chunk of it for breakfast. My picky Adam had more than two big slices, and that is enough to show you guys how great this cake is. :)

The recipe, adapted from MMCC cookbook. 

175g self raising flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

35g (1/4 teaspoon) custard powder

6 large eggs, separated

345g (11/2 cup) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

80ml (1/3 cup) extra light olive oil or vegetable oil

170ml (2/3 cup) warm water

1. Preheat oven to 180C. You will need an ungreased chiffon cake tin (not a non stick one as well). Do NOT grease it.

2. Sift the flour,1 teaspoon of cream of tartar and custard powder three times to ensure they are fully combined.

3. In an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks with 230g( 1 cup) of sugar until pale and creamy, then add the vanilla extract.Pour the oil and warm water into a jug. While the yolks are still whisking on low speed, add the flour mixture and the oil & water at the same time, whisking until just incorporated.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the remaining sugar & remaining cream of tartar and continue to whisk until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Very carefully fold the batter into the egg whites with a metal spoon until just incorporated.

5.Pour mixture into the cake tin. Bake for 1hour or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into cake.- I baked it for 1 hour and 10 mins. (Note to self, reduce the oven temp to avoid the cracks)

6. After removing the cake from the oven, immediately invert it to cool by balancing the middle funnel onto a bottle neck. It is important for the cake to be inverted and suspended upside down until it is cool to stop it from collapsing.

P/s: The comment box is not working and I'm doing my best to fix it- FIXED! :)

The Soup Story

Have you read this book, "For One More Day"? It is one of Mitch Albom's best sellers. I bought it several years ago and I read it again this week coz... I felt like it. Don't ask me why, but I love to reread some books again and again. Go read this book if you fancy some good old weep. 

Anyway, a few lines caught my attention and it went like this. 

"It was as delicious as it was familiar. I don't know what it is about food your mother makes for you, especially when it's something that anyone can make-pancake, meat loaf, and tuna salad-but it carries a certain taste of memory."

How true is that. 

I remember my mom used to cook this soup a lot when I was in primary years. The fish was quite smaller than the one I had today, which is a little trickier for my sister and I, at that age, to eat. Thus, she'd make sure she sit right next to us so nobody is choking on the fishbones. She never asked how my school stuff was going that day, but it didn't bothered me that much coz I have my father for that. Our conversations were always around the same talks; the neighbours, her side-income business, my father's office-politic issues, with some extra nagging in between. My mom is quite a talkative person and she really loves to talk. I'm totally the opposite though. I would only listen and reply to her, necessarily. Up to the point where I learned to pretend 'listening' to her. Idiot old self. Anyway, she always scooped us more rice, add some kuah to our plates and offer us more fish whenever our plates were nearly empty. Once done, she would asked us to help her clear the table and made sure we eat our dessert. Oh yes, dessert always comes in fruit form. No fancy wancy dessert back then. 

And that was yesterday.

The lunch-'talk'-routine stopped once the boarding school life took over at 13. I didn't realised how much I missed it until yesterday. After I read that small excerpt. Which brought me to the soup. And the soup dragged my thoughts to her. On how she cares for me. Nobody cares about me like she did. Nobody has ever been so close to me like her. I should have been more grateful. I should have been ashamed on how I treat her in certain way, and how I'd turned my back on her a certain point of life. 

Eating the soup made me fell back into being her daughter again. The same daughter who sat next to her during lunch decades ago. A matured one tho. I miss her. I can't want to go home next week and hug her. :)

*****

“You have one family, Charley. For good or bad. You have one family. You can’t trade them in. You can’t lie to them. You can’t run two at once, substituting back and forth.

“Sticking with your family is what makes it a family.”

Blueberry & Coconut Pudding

We went to KL a few weeks back. Just a short trip to settle few errands there. This trip was different from previous trips. This time, we decided to take a coach instead of driving. I'm glad we did that. That was Adam first long hour bus trip and he enjoyed himself most of the time. We loved it too, and we might do it again in the future. :) We also decided to stay in hotel instead at our place. It was more like a short escapade than our normal KL trips. We usually went there for Adam's check up and to check the house.

After three days in KL, we got home and found the whole house electrics tripped. I went straight to the kitchen, opened the fridge door, and there, the whole freezer staples were gone. *Gulp*. There were frozen paratha, homemade puff pastry, meatballs, dumplings, fish fillet, bla bla bla inside..all sticky and wet. T_T According to my FIL, there was a bad thunderstorm a day earlier and it likely caused the power trip. The smell was quite bad and I had to throw everything out. Mr.Bin was so kenyang lah that day. 

On a sunny note, I've finally converted my MY driving license to SG's. Yerp, after three years settling here. Yippee! Anyone needs a ride? :P

As for the pudding, I loved it! Anything with coconut is a winner! :) Ate half of the dish already :P 

Late Fall in Seoul

As always, I apologize for being incredibly slack with the updates. Since we got back from Seoul, I have been in such a rush to complete the macarons tower and few baking orders for my sister's engagement. 

Then came the so called new year celebration which I usually don't celebrate. On the eve of 2012, all of us including our close relatives gathered at my parent's house for a pot luck dinner. This year, my dad insisted on having a hotpot instead the usual BBQ. I don't know what's going on with him. Part of his healthy diet resolution I guess. :D 

The peak event of the night was to watch the fireworks display. FYI, my parents house is quite near with the A Famosa Resort. They usually launch a spectacular fireworks to ring in the New Year at midnight. According to my sister, we could view the fireworks at home. We waited, ate, waited, ate, and I fell asleep right before the fireworks started. Great...

Okay, let's talk Seoul. 

They say the best time to visit Seoul are during the fall. That is when the country is turning red, orange, yellow, purple and brown. Too bad, the trees were only seen in red shades and almost naked when we were there. Except for the ones that remain green through winter. It was freaking cold then. The lowest temperature was -9deg. Brr.. On the day we went back to SG, the snow began to fall. We were already on the plane by then. ceh 

Since the flight incident, Adam refused to do anything except playing with his toys and iPad. He didn't care to eat or drink his milk. He also had restless sleeps at night and taking him for a shower was...a pain. 

I don't want to sound bitter..but handling a  little toddler literally 24/7 is a bit tiring. I was beginning to think that the whole trip was a bad idea...but, towards the end of our trip, he began to enjoy himself and overall he was good as gold. I really thank to those who left comments on my first Seoul post here. It lifted me up. Thank you.. 

Adam caught a cold on second day. Luckily, he didn't make any fuss when I wanted to wipe his nose. Runny nose and rosy cheeks. See that cement mixer truck he's holding above? We made a deal with the little guy. "Wear you gears, and mommy'll buy you toys". 


Bad deal.


He agreed to wear the hood....Only... I should have known better. 

On the fourth day, Husband's colleague invited us for an authentic Korean Temple dinner at Sanchon. It's located in the back alley of Insadong and 100% vegetarian. A minute after the appetizer served, a Korean lady started to perform a Korean folk dance for almost half an hour. Interesting...and loud..err.. FYI, a Temple food is simple food which focused on preserving the authentic taste of the main ingredients. So less seasoning and spices are used in preparing the dishes.

I love the Hanok architecture and the interior design of the place. It feel so warm and cozy inside. We were served with assorted vegetables dishes including kimchis and whatnots. Haha.. I don't have much time to google the food names. There were more than 10 kimchis served. 

As for the photo, we could only snap the appetizers, then our little guy started to whine about getting out from that place. He he I had to quickly dig my bowl and entertain him after that. Despite that, Sanchon did give me a truly unique dining experience with a great taste of Korea. That was the only Korean dining we've ever encountered. The rest of the restaurants we went after that were either Middle East, Italian or the fast food.

Before we left that Sanchon, Husband's colleague told Adam to wear his cap and jacket as it was really freezing outside. and just like that, Adam agreed to wear his cap and put on the second jacket. Confetti.

Anyway, we stayed at Myeong-Dong area. Cafes, restaurants, street food, bakeries, you-name-it, everything are just distant away. I ordered Caramel Machiato almost everyday. Crazy. The weather is so freaking cold and a dose of sugared caffeine is a must have every time we went out.

Myeong Dong is a shopping district; from high class branded stuffs like LV, segala-mak-nenek-brand-I-dont-wear etc down to Uniqlo, Zara, H&M, etc, and to the street labels. 

The shopping crowd was crazy during nights and weekend. I don't bother sardine-ing myself with them. I went shopping right after the lunch break. The crowds are quite calm during that hour. There were sales at H&M, Zara, and few local boutiques but no size fit the giant me :( I can only shop bag and hats. Pity. Some people said you have to shop in Itaewon area for American/UK sizes. Unfortunately, we don't have time to explore the area.

I'm not that disappointed anyway..Pottery, dining wares and baking stuffs excite me more. I bought few dining wares and potteries at Namdaemun Market and Insadong. 

If you plan to visit Myeong-Dong, the closest halal restaurant is just at the back of Ibis Hotel lobby. There's an Arab-Pakistan restaurant called Saffron and the food is good. We dined in once and tapau twice. So AliaaRoslan, take note eh..he he There's also a RotiBoy shop nearby. I'm not sure when was the last time I ate Rotiboy. I had 2 buns in one go. Blame the weather and the Rotiboy itself.

On the fifth day, we dined again with Husband's colleague and this time he brought us to Kervan in Itaewon. There are lots of Halal restaurants in this area, and most of them served Middle-East food. 

The next day we went to Lotte World early in the morning, just to beat the crowd. It's a theme park with all kind of rides for people of different ages. Too bad, there are limited activities for kids at Adam's age. He had a bad flu during that day anyway. So every answer I've got from him was a NO, or a head shake. He even refused to ride his favorite carousel ride. 

We went to Gyeongbok Palace a day before we went back. We choose to walk from our hotel in Myeong-Dong, instead of taking a cab. We strolled along those small shop alleys, had a stop at Insadong and continued to walk to Gyeongbok Palace. I bought a pair of Mickey Mouse gloves at Namdaemun Market a day before that and Adam agreed to wear on them. Confetti. He finally wore everything.

Above: Insadong area

Above: Gyeongbok Palace. It was so windy and cold. We saw the guard changing ceremony. 

At Bukchon Hanok village

                  Doors at Bukchon Hanok Village. 

Bukchon Hanok Village is a Korean traditional village with a long history located between Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace and Jongmyo Royal Shrine. The traditional village is composed of lots of alleys and is preserved to show a 600-year-old urban environment.-Wiki

     Had a coffee break at local cafe in Bukchon Hanok Village. 

Above:Strolling along the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I was alone, and  busy snapping around with my camera. Suddenly, a local Korean girl came up to me, and asked if she could help me take a photo of myself. Aww..The local here are so friendly..  

Seoul gave me different kind of experiences compared to Europe trip I had two years ago. I fell in love with the people. Seoulites are so helpful and friendly. I really wish some local people here are more like them. Grr.. 

The city is quite clean compared to some Europe countries I've been. [I was a little put offed by Amsterdam and Paris.Ade je bau urine and dog poop kat celah2 alley.. cit.] Seoul might not be on the list of the most beautiful cities, but Seoul has everything travelers are hoping for. A four season city, exotic cuisines, warm-hearted people, rich cultures and historical places to explore and it's only 6 hours away from here. I'll definitely return to Korea. Definitely.