Butter Prawn

Bahan-bahan:

12 ekor udang

3 biji telur merah

3 sudu makan butter

daun kari

cili padi

serbuk kunyit

garam & gula

Cara-cara:

Panaskan sedikit minyak di dalam kuali,

Gorengkan udang yang sudah digaul bersama serbuk kunyit dan garam,

Masukkan daun kari dan hirisan cili padi,

Goreng seketika, angkat dan ketepikan.

Cairkan butter/mentega dalam minyak lebihan menggoreng udang

Kiraikan telur merah menggunakan bekas roti jala,

Masak seketika dan masukkan udang yang diketepikan tadi.

Masukkan sedikit gula. Masak sehingga telur garing dan angkat.

Boleh toskan minyak berlebihan.

Kerabu Kacang Botol

Resipi ni sedap dan senang, sesuai sangat dimakan panas2 dengan nasi putih sebagai lauk bersahur.

Goreng sampai garing sedikit bilis, angkat dan ketepikan. Kemudian tumis sedikit bawang merah hiris/tumbuk, masukkan juga hirisan cili padi. Perasakan dengan garam dan gula. Akhir sekali masukkan kacang botol yang dihiris bersama2 bilis yang digoreng tadi. Masak seketika sebelum diangkat.

Bye Bye Vietnam

Sorry all for not being able to update this blog.. I've been super busy for the past couple of weeks.. no time for blogging, facebooking and even TV.. I can't even remember the last time I watched TV.. The reason being is I was being repatriated back to Malaysia.. we are bidding farewell to Vietnam that has been our home for more than 3 years.. Melati actually refers to Vietnam as home.. she's only 1 1/2 years when we first came here..

On 26th June we pack all our stuff to be shipped to Malaysia..

The next day we decided to spend our last weekend in Vietnam doing the same thing that we have done for all other weekends before.. as if we are not going back to Malaysia the day after that..

We start the day with our usual wrestling and gigling session on the bed..

Nilam is having her last swim with her Japanese friend Aoi..

Later the girls begs to go to their favourite restaurant, The Satay House.. We were actually quite lazy to go there today since it is situated quite far from Ho Chi Minh but the girls keep saying that although there'll be plenty of food in Malaysia but it won't be the same since it is not from Satay House.. pretty smart reasoning huh?

With Uncle Ahmad Foo.. the Satay House towkey..

And finally to the movies.. It's all that we ever do here.. we were watching Night at the Museum II that afternoon..

We stopped by for our favourite Pho noodles stall on the way to the airport.. We are going to miss starting our days slurping those delicious and satisfying broth..

Saying Good Bye to Quy.. our driver for the past three years..

We arrived in Malaysia on Sunday afternoon.. The first place that we go to is the Pasar Malam.. nilam is actually so "jakun" to see the Pasar Malam.. she keep asking whether all the food is halal.. the food I really miss the most here is the Apam Balik and Tau Fu Fa.. once we have to live abroad we will start to appeciate all those little things such as the pasar malam that sometimes define our culture and our country.. Another thing that I miss the most too is waking up in the morning to the sound of azan.. and I can't also wait for Ramadan to come..

Atuk and Nenek from both sides sending the girls off on their first day of school..

Melati's first school day experience and Nilam's first day of School in Malaysia.. Since it is July it is very difficult to find books for Nilam.. we searched the whole KL for certain books.. most store ran out of it but didn't order more because it is already July.. we end up photocopying some of nilam's books..

The girls now.. all settled in Malaysia.. they prefer kaftan now.. "Du Lundi Au Samedi" pyjamas are too hot to be worn here.. Unlike me.. they lose some chubbiness due to the transition... I secretly wished that I could lose some weight during all these but sadly that is not happening.. *sigh*

It's a relief to finally be home.. but Vietnam shall definitely be missed..

Trip to Long Hai, Baria, Vung Tau

I've been so busy lately, with the packing, rushing to meet datelines, handover and all.. luckily last Thursday hubby's company organized a 3 day Family Day to Anoasis Resort, Long Hai Beach, Baria, Vung Tau.. finally.. I can breathe and smell the roses.. and to my relief.. there are no internet services inside the rooms.. so I can find an excuse for not answering emails for three days..

I've been wanting to go to the Anoasis Resort since 2006, ever since one of my colleague keep mentioning it.. but I can say I'm really dissappointed with the resort.. I won't recommend it to anybody.. the price is high, USD100++.. the area is pretty big, so you need to walk for a very long distance.. There is a buggy service but not as frequent as it should be.. We were lucky to get a room near the beach and pool but it was very far from the bus and reception.. the service is bad and the resort seems to be understaff and not really well kept.. The food is really expensive compared to the standard hotel price..


This is the stairs leading to our room.. It has a sea view but it is situated slightly uphill so you can't really sea or hear the beach..


This is another type, the cottage bungalow..


The girls were walking towards what they thought is the kids play area..

It turned out to have only a few toys and they need to share the area with the gym which has only three exercise machines..

This the pool and ping-pong hut..

Nilam really enjoys the swing.. we can only find these two swings.. perhaps there were more but we didn't walk far enough..

These are the rest area.. However, it is always too dirty to sit on..

The pool is quite big but it didn't have a sea view like other seaside resort..

With another Malaysian family at the resort grounds..

The beach is okay.. it is marked with white flags for safe area to swim and black flags for dangerous area.. However, the weather is too hot to take a dip..

Nilam has turned into one "budak hitam" after just two hours in the swimming pool..

These seaside beach hut is more inviting..

Especially for "puteri lilin" Melati that always seems to be "allergic" to the sun..

When the wheather is too hot to do anything else.. We just sat lazily at the beach restaurant sipping fruit punch and gazed at the ocean..

Perfect thing to do to let the time goes by if you asked me but not for Nilam and hubby who really loves to swim..

On the second day we went to Binh Chau Hot Spring 35 Km away from the resort. We initially planned to take a mud bath or take a dip in the big hot spring pool but we end up arriving there rather late that afternoon.. We then decided to just boil and eat some eggs and do the foot bath..

Nilam eagerly wait for her eggs.. we put the eggs in the basket and lowered it in a special place made to boiled them.. It should take 15 minutes for the eggs to cook through but we prefer half boiled so we just cook them for 10 minutes..

The children can't wait to taste their eggs.. of course it taste the same.. nothing different actually.. but the girls keep saying that the eggs taste better compared to the one at home..

We then took a foot bath in pool specially designed for it.. The water is quite hot, maybe because only three of us were using it at that time..

This is Nilam and Melati having lunch at Thuy Duong Restaurant on the way back to Ho Chi Minh City.. They refused to eat at the table and requested to eat at a window facing the beach.. I know Melati genuinely wanted to enjoy the sea breeze but Nilam probably just wanted to get her nose away from the smell of food at the table..

Overall, it was a nice getaway trip.. probably the last one for us to take in Vietnam for a very long time..

Am I weird??

I love salad.. call it rabbit food or what.. I just love it..
The main attraction of a hotel buffet to me is the salad spread (other than the desserts section of course..)
My colleague once said to me that I'm weird based on my favourite salad dressing which is the creamy french dressing claiming that you can actually predict a person character based on their favourite dressing.. I can accept it if people call me weird based on what I've done.. but based on my choice of dressing???
I'm not sure if he got it from any of the stupid quizzes in facebook (one of the reason I seldom log in to facebook anymore.. because everbody is so busy doing stupid quizzes.. hehe..)
Anyway.. curious about it.. I google it out and found all these interpretation..

Ranch dressing is a condiment made of buttermilk or sour cream, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce.

You'd probably pick the country over the city.
You are a well rounded individual.
You're very creative and artistic.
You're great with your hands!!!
You love being with your friends...a social butterfly who's also a team player-people love you for that.




The Blue Cheese dressing.
You're laid back and care free.
You like taking it easy.
Even though you love to lounge, you are always up for an adventure.
Competitiveness is not in your nature.
You like to spend a lot of money on food: take out, cooking, or eating out.
Your friends love your free spirited attitute and appreciation for the good things in life.

I guess this is the most famous dressing in Malaysia.. The Thousand Island dressing!

You're a lover not a fighter.

A True romantic with strong values.

You love to think and figure people out, but sometimes you think TOO hard.

Your friends want you to chill out JUST a little bit.

The Vinaigrette dressing.

You're tasteful and eccentric.

You're style is unique.

Your best characteristic is that you're able to resist temptation, and you're all about quality rather than quantity.

Your friends aspire to be like you.

And finally the French dressing!

You're the risk taking dare devil.

You don't mind the spotlight, but would rather be alone than in a tight crowd (this is actually spot on).

In a game of truth or dare you'll always pick dare.

You're spontaneous and witty.

Your friends think you're a bit nuts though.

There you go.. hahaha.. (I can be spontaneous and witty but nuts??)

what's your favourite then? or maybe if you are not a fan of these rabbit food, what salad dressing are you??

Grilled Lamb

My hubby came back from work craving for grilled lamb today.. Here's my quick fix grilled lamb recipe..

Lamb

Marinate 4 piece of lamb with 2 tsp Mc Cormick Broiled Steak seasoning salt, 1 tbsp Kraft A1 Steak sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp honey and a dash of Lea & Perrins Worchester Sauce. Leave it for a few minutes.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan and seared/cook the lamb (I usually avoid using Olive Oil for frying, it tastes better but I've read somewhere that it could be carcinogenic).


Veggies

I happen to have only carrot and potatoes in the fridge.. you can use whatever you like; broccoli, cauliflower, peas or brussel sprouts.. and steamed those vegetables, it tastes much better compared to just blanching.. grilled/sauteed baby tomatoes goes great too with lamb..

Gravy

Just heat up the pan already used for cooking the lamb, melt 1 tbsp of butter.. sauteed one clove of garlic(thinly sliced).. add in 1 tbsp of flour.. cooked the flour for a while and later add in some water until the desired consistency ; season with 1/2 tulang rusuk/beef maggi cube and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper.. You can also add a bit of dark soya sauce if you want the gravy to have a slightly darker colour.

Extreme Makeover

I should have started packing by this weekend.. However there is something more important to do.. I shouldn't delay any longer mending Melati's best friend.. her rag doll.. she pronounced it as "Dau". She would bring that doll everywhere and she couldn't go to bed without it..

This is Melati at 6 months old.. already inseparable with the doll.. I bought this doll for Nilam but I put it in Melati's cot when she was born.. Among all of the toys that I've put there, that doll was the first and only thing that she reached for.. It is also sad to think that at this early age Melati already learned that her parents are not that reliable and could not always be by her side and she try to seek comfort in a more reliable thing such as the doll..

This is the condition of the doll now.. the face is so thin you can actually see the cotton that was stuffed inside.. The head is almost bald, the dress is torn and already lose it's colour..

This is the doll new look in which I've spent my weekend achieving it.. I sew on a new piece of white cloth on it's face, neck, front and back. I replaced the hair with a longer, pink coloured hair, made a new dress and add a hat.. Only the hands and feet remains untouched..

Melati screamed and threw the doll the first time I handed it to her.. Eventually she pick it up and started accepting it.. She must have realised that it still smells and feels the same as the old "dau"..