The Best Things in Life are... (Part 1)

definitely not free. At least not all of them. Yeah, there are good things that are free like love, happy memories, a stray cat that hangs around your house, etc, etc...but the best things i know has at least to cost something.

Hmm...when I really think about it even love is not free of charge. It costs you feeling. And time. And of course the phone bills, chocolate, presents, dinners, lunches, brunches, etc, etc. But it gives you a sense of belonging, the feeling being loved and the pleasure of sharing your love. Still love will cost you something, and that is my point exactly.

However, that is not my point totally. Actually, during a recent reorganization activities at rumah nenek, a few old photos were discovered by my aunt and one of them is the picture below. This is a picture of my ibu with her siblings minus my youngest aunt (who is the person who found this picture).

Now, my point is that The Best Things in Life Might Cost You Something, but They Make You Feel Good and Giddy. And Excited. And Happy!

~ In this picture, from standing from left is Mama (my aunt), Aunty Pah, Arwah Uncle Yeh. Sitting from left is Ibu (my mother), Uncle Mail and Uncle Yak~

To relate this picture to my point, when my aunt found this picture, being our family CNN that she is, she told all her siblings and close relatives. She showed this picture to those who went back to my kampung in Melaka.

Old memories started to flow. There are happy ones and there are sad ones. But every one of them is memorable. It costs you feelings, good and bad. Feelings that was way back and you thought disappeared, resurfaces. Feelings that you think are foolish now but matter most at that time. Now that the old memories came back, you shared them with your loved one and laughed at them together, all because your youngest sister found an old picture. Now, that is one of the best things in life :)

And this picture proves that I do look like my mother :) (In the picture she is in the lower left hand side)

Tomato Pesto Chicken Macaroni

Resipi ini adalah ciptaan sendiri. Purely for experimental purposes, not meant to satisfy anybody's tastebud

Semua bahan2 dibawah adalah readily available dlm peti sejuk kat umah. Sebenarnye, nak abesskan pesto tu sbb die tahan 10 hari je after opening. And ayam pon nak abesskan gak. Macaroni plak lebey daripada last 2 weeks buat macaroni goreng. Btw, nie serves 2 person aje, sbb aku ngn husband berdua je. Ehe~

• 140 gram tomato pesto
• 400 gram ayam (potong kecik2 supaya senang nak masak)
• 4 big cloves of garlic, ditumbuk (adalah byk utk some ppl, tp aku ske garlic)
• 1 biji tomato (diced)
• 1/4 kiub ayam
• ~140 gram macaroni

• Sedikit minyak

Cara-cara

1. Rebus macaroni dlm air yg ader minyak sket and garam sehingga al dente kate orang Itali :) Sambil nak tunggu macaroni, kite bley lah proceed ke buat sosnye.
2. Masukkan minyak dlm kuali. Biler dah panas masukkan garlic. Biar sampai naik baulah orang kate (aku ske bau die, btw).
3. And then masukkan tomato. Kaco2 sket and then masukkan ayam. Masukkan air like 3/4 cawan, kacau2. Letak kiub ayam (hancur-hancurkan masa nak masukkan tu), kacau sket lagi and then tutup. Biar ler ayam tu masak.
4. Jenguk2 la ayam tu. Masa nie the whole thing kelihatan macam sup yg sgt sedap n thick. Biler ayam tu dah almost masak, masukkan tomato pesto. Based on your preference of the thickness of the sauce, tambah lah air secukup rase.
5. Disebabkan ramuan2 nye mainly adalah masam, so aku tambah la satu table spoon of sos cili. Tp kalau ader black pepper lagi ngam. Tp kat umah kitorg blom wujud black pepper lagi sbb baru move in.
6. Biar die boil kejap and then hidang with macaroni. Kalau letak Parmesan kat atas lagi sedap, tp ini jugak tidak wujud didalam rumah kami.

~ Inilah Hasilnye ~

~ Inilah hasilnye biler dok dlm pingganku ~

p/s: lagi sedap kalau ader cendawan and kalau ayam tu adalah minced :). satu lagi tips yang aku terbaca adalah masukkan air rebusan pasta tu rather than air. dan terima kaseh to husband kerana membiarkan i mengarut with my cooking. Husband pon ske mengarut ngn food jugak~

Tomato Pesto

Aku x ske masak (bukan x tahu tau, tapi tak suke & kna admit la x pandai sgt). Tetapi aku ngn husband ske experiment mende2 mengarut ngn masakan kami.

Proses kemengarutan ini include mencari2 resipi2 dan combine 2/3 recipe yg berkaitan menjadi satu dan akhirnye buat lah ikut sesedap hati dan rasa juga. The deal with my husband is that die x ske membazir, so walaupon kureng rasa experiment kami tu, x kire kna abesskan jugak. So experiment kami tu kna lah edible jugak to a certain extent.

Dlm kemengarutan inilah aku terjumpe ngn Tomato Pesto. Ia adalah sejenis sos dari Italy yg ingredientnye mainly adalah tomato yg dicampur ngn olive oil dan segala bagai rempah ratus. Resipi utk membuatnye ader berlambak-lambak kat tenet nie, just google je la. Kat supermarket pon ader jual tp aku tak rase kat sme supermarket ader. Disebabkan hari tu nak pakai immediately, so aku cariklah kat I-Setan. The one i was looking for is sun-dried tomato pesto yg ader basil kat dalam. Kat I-setan ader like 3 jenis of tomato pesto, tp yg aku nak nie tinggal satu botol je. So aku amik je. Quite expensive tho, around RM18 for a bottle weighing 185g. Nanti upload gambar botol tomato pesto tu.

Stakat nie husband & i dah test dua kegunaan pesto di dalam recipe experiment kami;

1. Marinade utk chicken and then grill. Campur pesto nie ngn sket stok ayam, gaulkan ngn ayam n grill. Yum!!
2. Makan ngn pasta. Yang nie citer die kat sini, sbb lenghthy sket.

Dan yang aku tau die juga sedap dimakan ngn toast. Pasni aku nak explore lagi kegunaan Tomato Pesto. Sbb die mudah n sedap. And because die kinda expensive kat sini, aku nak test buat pesto sendiri. Buat banyak2 and simpan. Pastu tiap2 hari balik keje bley dinner pesto something (like nasi goreng tomato pesto ke). Ehe~

Lights Off!!

(Click above for bigger picture)

Twin Towers to go dark this Saturday, 8.30 pm - 9.30 pm in support of Earth Hour 2009.

Tower 1 embraced this spirit long time back by turning off the aircond and non-essential lights during lunch hour and also by doing the same at around 5.30 pm daily (i think la. Sape yg keje kat Tower 1 can confirmkan. Aku kadang2 je ader kt ctu sampai ptg) Staff who are staying late must request for power so that they dont have to work in the dark!!

Once, I had a meeting that dragged well after 5.30pm, suddenly the light was turned off. We had to move to a meeting area by the window so that we have some light and work efficiently so that we can finish before it's too dark to work. Some people might say it's not efficient for the working environment to have restricted working hour because the lights will be switched off at certain time. I say, work effectively during the time frame you have, because you can really complete your work in this period IF you put your head and body into it.

Putrajaya also will be turning off the lights at its famous landmark! Husband, jom kite pegi join!! Last week dah x dapat tgk hot air balloon~

Go here for more Pleadges and Support for Earth Hour 2009 from Malaysia!!

Earth Hour 2009

Let's support Earth Hour 2009. Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, and this is the first time that Malaysia (and Malaysians) are joining. So let's us start by turning off our lights for 1 Hour on 28 March 2009, 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so lets start with this small step and go bigger from here!! :)

You can get more info from the official Malaysia Earth Hour 2009 website, where you can pledge your support or if you are more ambitious, you can get your school / group / company to join in too!!

Melbourne (22.02.09 - 28.02.09)

We were in Melbourne for exactly one week.

To a good extent, my husband is an avid photographer and myself, a self absorbed person and likes to take pictures of myself, thus by the end of this trip we have accumulated almost 3 GB worth of pictures and short videos in the SD cards (dua SD card ye) of our camera.

As a picture can sometimes describes things better than words ever can (that, or a picture allows each person who sees it to personally intrepret whatever they want from that particular picture), I've decided to post max pictures of our trip and write min of my two cent (or non-sense).

My favourite picture from each activities we did in Melbourne, every day we were there!

DAY 1: ARRIVAL







-- At Tullamarine Airport, baru sampai so macam blurr sket --

-- Husband with a tram in the background. Mase nie confuse on how tram works, so last2 jalan kaki je la--

-- Our crib for a week. A studio apartment, ader pantry gitu --







DAY 2: MELBOURNE ZOO & MELBOURNE MUSEUM

I really love melbourne zoo & museum because of the display theme. Effort yg sgt besar for each display, ader theme tersendiri that make you involved in the display. Example kat melbourne zoo, die nye tmpt gajah the theme is ala2 thai, indon & msia sket (i think sbb gajah2 derang datang dr cni kot). Then tmpt kangaroo die buat cam the australian outback. Tanah merah & kering. So, really interesting.

-- Pagi pegi melbourne zoo! --

-- And then, the museum --






DAY 3: GREAT OCEAN ROAD

A road trip along the Great Ocean Road. Kerana kami x bley drive, so kami joined a tour. Very beautiful but the day of the tour was cold...

-- Bells Beach --

-- Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch. Monumen kat blakang husband tu ialah org2 yg balik from WW1 yg bekerja utk buat Great Ocean Road --

-- Ini adalah koala liar. Bukan kat zoo. Die ske lepak kt area nie kot, sbb aku nampak 2 ekor koala tdo kat atas pokok mase stop kat cni --

-- Maits Rest Rainforest Walk. Nama die Maits Rest sbb Mr Mait (polis of some sort la) ske berenti kat cni mase die on his watch masa zaman dulu2 --

-- Twelve Apostles --

-- Loch Ard Gorge. Tmpt nie byk sample2 batu yg digemari oleh ahli batu (aku bukan ahli batu, tho dulu blaja la sgt sket masa kat uni) --

-- A small town called Colac, bout 2 hours from Melbourne. Singgah cni to get something for dinner on the way back --

DAY 4: MELBOURNE AQUARIUM, YARRA RIVER, SKYDECK & FEDERATION SQUARE

-- Melbourne Aquarium. Btol2 kat CBD --

-- Yarra River Cruise. Tgk the city from river --

-- Lepas cruise tu, we walked along Yarra River. Lalu la kat garden2 yg cantik, Birrarung Marr sme nampak la and then back to hotel --

-- That afternoon, we enjoyed the sunset from Eureka Skydeck and stayed there till nearly 9.00 pm. This is the view of the city at night from the Skydeck --

-- After Skydeck, kami pg dinner and then lepak jap kat Federation Square. Sgt la sejuk so mmg kejap je dok ctu. Mase nie dah 10.30 pm something --

DAY 5: TRAIN & TRAM HOPPING OUTSIDE MELBOURNE

-- Naik train dari Southern Cross Station sampai ke last stop at that line which is Frankston. Bout 1 hour naik train from Melbourne. Nak pegi beach tp cam makan mase je at that time sbb ptg tu nak sopping. Hoho~ --

-- At Frankston. Nie jalan nak pegi mall kat ctu --

-- Lepas Frankston, naik train and tukar train at South Yarra station to go to Prahran. From Prahran Station we walked (quite far!!) utk pegi ke Malaysia Hall. Pastu naik tram kt depan Malaysia Hall je, dah x kuase nak jalan!! --

-- Sampai Melbourne like 5.00 pm singgah jap kat Direct Factory Outlet. Sempat tgk2 je sbb hari Jumaat die tutup pkol 6.00 pm. Sengal --

DAY 6: SHOPPING & ST KILDA

-- Hari yg didecicatedkan utk explore Queen Victoria Market and segala shopping mall kat segala ceruk. Start the day with good bfast at the park!! --

-- Setelah penat menyopping (and hv a quick nap at the hotel), let's go to the pantai!! Nie kat st kilda. Beautiful :) --

-- After the beach and dinner, we went to Luna Park. Kecik je park nie, ride die pon x banyak. Tp bess :) Pkol 10.30 pm baru bertolak balik ke hotel. Sbb malam tu jumaat malam sabtu, mase naik tram nak balik hotel, terserempak ramai org yg baru nak kuar. Giler havoc dlm tram!! --

DAY 7: SOUTH MELBOURNE, PARKS & HOME

-- Flight dr Melbourne ke Singapore adalah waktu malam, so pg tu, kami melawat ke South Melbourne --

-- And singgah jap kat garden on our way back to CBD --

-- Faiz & Nadirah --

-- Dlm flight ke Singapore. Mase die baru served dinner, aku cbok amik gambar food tuh. Stewardess tu kesian tgk kot, so die offer la nak amikkan gambar. Haruslah aku ok je!! :) --

-- Sampai Changi Airport around 1.00 am, and our flight to KL was at 08.55 am. Tdo kat airport jap mase tu --

Banyak lagi gambar2 ader kat sini dan juga kat sini. Tapi of-courselah this is not the total of 3 GB worth (which translates to around 500 pictures).

I had a good time while I was in Melbourne. Love the city, love the fact that derang clean-up after makan at public places (kutip sampah sendiri & buang, pinggan letak kat satu tmpt) and paling love ialah the public transport. Paling tak love ader 2 main things; 1. Derang xde cili sos and 2. The temperamental weather. Alhamdulillah, kt msia evryday pon i've got sunshine (kecuali hari ujan).

Before Melbourne

It has been a while since i last updated my blog. Why ya?? Why ya?? Why ya??

Because aku cuti panjang la!!! Yeeehaaa~~ Maybe tak cukup panjang bagi some people but oklah for me. Went on leave from 21 Feb 2009 to 2 March 2009 and by 2 March tu husband said to me, "Bosan lah cuti, dah x tau nak buat pe." hahaha...cukup panjanglah cuti kami tu maknanye.

We planned for this cuti panjang since April 2008, and husband wanted a vacation in a city. So we chose Melbourne! Definitely quite different from KL and my husband love it soooo much for its public transport system.

As our flight to Melbourne departed from Changi Airport, Singapore, we decided to have a good transit in Singapore (meaning: cukup la at least nak jalan2 kejap). We flown Air Asia flight AK 129 from LCCT to Changi Airport at 12.45 pm and were in Singapore 50 minutes later. Lessons Learned: We forgot to check MAS flights to Singapore on the same date and time. It turned out to be cheaper!!!

Us jalan-jalan in Singapore

From Changi Airport, we boarded flight EK 404 bound to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport at 10.15 pm. The flight took a lil bit over 7 hours and we arrived in Melbourne just before 9.00am, 22 February 2009, Melbourne Time.

Almost in Melbourne

Next up: While in Melbourne :)

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