Legwork along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman
The same clan as in the earlier post decided to have another trip. This time to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman or Jalan TAR for short. A famous street in Kuala Lumpur, which locates dozens of shops from diners, to clothes, to head covers, to carpets, to wedding things... you name it...

I have fond memories of Jalan TAR. During university days, my friends and I used to stay in the college located on Jalan Temerloh, very near to Titiwangsa Lake Garden of KL. We occasionally went to Jalan TAR, mostly on Saturday evenings coz there's a night market on Saturdays. We would take the pink-colored mini bus (oh yes.... I survived thru that era..), can't remember what number, 10? 15? which took us to Jalan TAR. And of course, I used to go out on dates at  Jalan TAR with my then BF who has now claimed the title as my hubby happy.

Ok, back to the present day... As we planned it, we will meet at a restaurant called Insaf which is famous for its briyani rice followed by tudung shopping. So, on that Tuesday, I was in my office, which is just minutes away from Jalan TAR. At 1.40 pm (we were supposed to meet at 2 pm) as I was getting ready to leave the office, my cell phone rang. It was my neighbor. Oh..oh... I said to myself... This can't be something good. Bad news it was. Apparently, my mother in law, who is staying with us, and my 3rd daughter, were accidentally locked out of the house and the keys were inside. So I had to rush home to open the door for them. And called Hemy to inform her that I may be late or maybe I won't be able to join them at all. Inilah yang dikatakan, manusia hanya boleh merancang... I reached home a little after 2. Then bawak kereta mcm ribut (I imagine it was like a ribut) and headed for Jalan TAR. Parked outside Semua House which cost me RM8 per entry and finally sat down in Insaf by 2.30 pm. Pheww....whew!



 Us... finishing lunch. I had briyani rice with fried chicken and iced tea. Pic from left: Me, Ana, Elin, Nor (bz dok jawab phone call) and Hemy.






Then, we started our mission to buy some head covers. Well, actually it was not my mission. Coz I don't have the intention to buy any. I'm just tagging along exercising my legs. Tak reti la pulak nak beli tudung saje-saje, selalunya kena beli baju dulu then look for tudung..(Moral of the story: I need new dresslaughing )


So, this is the first agenda on the mission. While we were at this shop, a customer mistaken me for the salesgirl and asked the price of one of the items... Chett... muka salesgirl ke apa...angry
Pic: Nor is trying on a tudung. I don't remember why Hemy or Ana were laughing.





More tudung agenda. Pic: Nor trying  yet another tudung. Elin is showing off one of the tudungs which actually reminded us of kek lapis Eika.





Tudung, tak sah kalau tak de brooch. So, we stopped by this shop. They bought something, I just cuci mata.












And did I mention that one of us is a tailor? Not me, obviouslyit wasn't me. I don't even have a sewing machine, remember? Elin yang pandai menjahit tu. She can sew baju kurungs and also can sew beads and sequins and all those lip lap things onto your dress. This pic was taken in a shop in Semua House. Elin bought some beads for her next masterpiece which is actually baju Ana.

Next on the agenda was almost like a trademark for us. Dah penat berjalan, we stopped by Station Kopitiam, outside Semua House, and ordered 5 drinks and 1 dish. From left: honey cinnamon tea, melon juice, strawberry shake, honey dew shake, something chocolatey (can't remember the name) and hokkien mee (no vege... kalau dah tak de sayur tu, tak lain tak bukan Hemy la yang order)



We went home eventually. Them with their packages that they have just bought. While I balik berlenggang. But berlenggang berisi coz while we were shopping, Elin shared, consulted and advised  us on some personal image tips. Cool eh....cool Image consultation by the road side.

Back at home, feeling tired but exhilarated at the same time, my husband gave me his disbelief look surprise when I told him that my friends and I will be going for another outing next week hee hee. 
Cara-cara membuat Kuih Cara Berlauk
This is one of the few dishes that I can cook. It's quite simple. A school mate did mention some time ago that we actually learn this dish in our Home Science subject in secondary school many years ago. But how come I did not have any recollection whatsoever of cooking this dish during school time? Takkan ponteng kot...thinking Even though I admit that I didn't have the passion for the subject then, but I wasn't a kaki ponteng...err... true most of the time...happy

Anyhow, I learn to master (master ke...??) this dish when I'm already married. Too late?? Better late than never. Lagipun bila dah pandai buat, mula la rasa yg beli punya kurang uummph... (waahhh.... berlagak giler...tongue). And the most important thing, my other half likes to eat it. Kids too.. Initially, my kids jual mahal. Tak nak makan. Then, they had their first dose, lepas tu, sekali ambik, 2, 3 ketul sekali... (waahh.... masuk bakul angkat sendiri lagi sekali..tongue)

Ok, back to the point...
The recipe can be obtained from various sources. I'm sure on the net itself dah bersepah-sepah. And I'm no exception. I browsed thru the net too to learn.

The ingredients (batter):

Wheat flour
Coconut milk
Eggs
Salt
Yellow colouring
Water

The how (batter):
Mix all the ingredient and put in the blender and trrr.... away.


Note: The same batter ingredients can be used to make roti jala. Another dish that my kids love.

The ingredients (filling):

Minced beef (sometimes I'm terlebih rajin, so I mince the meat myself. Easier way, buy the ready-minced one)
Garlic, shallot and dried chillies (blend)
Curry powder
Salt and sugar (secukup rasa)

The how (filling):
Saute the blended ingredients in a frying pan. Add in curry powder which has been dissolved in water. Add in meat, salt and sugar. Add in the chopped onions. Simmer for a while until the meat is well done. Then put it aside.

For decorations:
Chopped spring onions and red chillies
Fried shallots

Really sorry I can't give the exact measurements of each ingredient coz I selalu campak2 je... err... of course I'm exaggerating. But seriously, I simply add in the ingredient sesuka hati, and then observe the texture. Agak2 cair sangat, boh lagi tepung. Agak2 kurang lemak, boh lagi santan. And that's why I don't have the consistency in my cooking. Today's Kuih Cara Berlauk may taste differently from last week's Kuih Cara Berlauk. Sometimes it tasted heavenly.., sometimes it tasted hampehly..winking! I advise you to refer to other sources for the complete recipe.

Now you have the batter and the filling ready, this is how to make the kuih itself.

You need to have a mould like the one in the pic. Put the mould on the stove. Since the mould's bottom is not flat you need to have some sort of support (please refer to the pic). Tak reti pulak aku nak explain that thing yg boleh jadi alas tu. Let's call it alas periuk. Once the mould is safely perched on the stove, ignite the fire, glaze some oil on each one of the mould's spaces? cavities? holes?..confused whatever la kann.. Usually, one mould has 6 of those. My mother-in-law usually use daun pandan and dip the leaf in oil and glaze the mould so there will be an extra nice aroma of daun pandan. But me, the malas version, will glaze the mould with anything that I can get hold on to. Kalau sudu, sudu la. 



Next, once the mould is heated enough, pour the batter mixture into the mould's spaces. I use a jug, easy to pour. But caution, not too full or overflow coz you'll be putting the meat filling next. If too full, the batter mixture will overflow and it won't be Kuih Cara Berlauk anymore but Kuih Tak Cara Berlauk..laughing. 3/4 full is just nice.





Once the mould is filled with the batter, put in the meat filling.  Err... see, mine almost overflowed... Sometimes I do cakap tak serupa bikin winking. Anyhow, I loveee to put a lot of the filling. Lagi banyak, lagi best. Usually, those which are on sale, kedekut lauk (Kuih Cara Sikit Lauk). Oh yes... almost forgot, all this while, maintain a low fire eh.. if not, tak sempat nak bubuh semua inti, the bottom part of the kuih will be burnt and rentung and hangit...



Next, add in the decorations. Spring onions, red chillies and fried shallots. I usually skip the chillies and fried shallots coz my kids will excavate  'em and throw 'em away. Better not put it and save my energy from chopping those things whew!













 





Then, cover the mould with a lid. Whatever lid can do. Janji tutup so that the kuih is well-cooked.










 Next, take out the kuih from the mould. It shouldn't be sticking to the mould. If sticky, may be it is not well cooked or the batter too watery or the mould is not well-oiled. Agaknya la... Me no Chef Wan... big grin


Repeat the above process until you have finished the batter. And if you ran out of filling and still has the batter, not to worry. Do the same as above, but instead of beef filling, can put in sugar. Jadi la Kuih Cara. Just as yummy. Well, of course the color is wrong la. Kalau Kuih Cara kan green kaler. 


 

Now, serve and Bismillah... makan...thumbs up

If there is no tomorrow

My kids have this ritual that they do before going to bed. They would kiss me and hubby good night. However, one night, some time ago, my 2nd daughter, Syahirah, said, ‘Mak, nak salam, mak… Nanti mana tau esok Angah tak bangun ke..’ Of course, as a mother, I was shocked to hear her talking like that and would never want her to say such things again.

I did ask her, what made her say things like that. Apparently, her ustazah from her agama school reminded her and her friends to do that and ask forgiveness from the parents before going to bed. Hmm… no matter how difficult it is to accept the fact, it’s true isn’t it..? You never know what will happen. Would you survive the night? Would you wake up next morning? Would you ever see the sun shining next day? After all, it is said that sleep is a form of temporary death.

But I just can't imagine I outlive my daughters. I'm sure every mother would exchange their lives for their children... And I sure don't want to imagine if my hubby is suddenly not there for me. I have begin to depend on him so much that I would be like bird without wings, patah kaki or like the song by Anang, Separuh Nyawaku Pergi... if he's gone.

There's a song by Yusry KRU which appeared in Cicakman the movie that really touches my hearts. This song is dedicated to those who have lost their loved ones. OK... I'm a bit emo, but this song is worth listening to, especially the lyrics.




JIKA KU TAK BANGUN ESOK PAGI

Jika kutak bangun esok pagi

Sayangku kau jagalah diri

Sentiasa ingatkan hati

Dirimu amat kucintai

Andainya dihimpit kesusahan

Sujud dan mohon pada Tuhan

Agar diberikan bimbingan

Meniti hidup bersendirian

Bila terasa sejuk pejamkan mata

Bayangkan dalam dakapanku

Bila terasa rindu pejamkan mata

Kita bersua dalam lena

Kalau ada yang sudi mengganti

Sayang lepaskanlah ku pergi

Kerna sayang seistimewamu

Berhak tuk dicinta dalam hidup

Sayang… tiada apa yg kekal dlm dunia ini

Namun yang pasti walaupun ku tiada nanti

Cintaku .. akan kekal abadi

ulang

Kuberharap kau tak akan lupa

Mengirimkan bekalan doa

Kita jumpa lagi di sana nanti

Jika kutak bangun…..esok pagi

Jika kutak bangun esok pagi

A trip that is worth every mile
It was a spur of the moment kind of plan via FB to have lunch with few of my ex-schoolmates 2 days ago. And with no itinerary and exact details, we agreed to meet the next day. Five of us: Nor Hemylia Mohd Nor, aka Hemy, Zanariah Mohd Nor aka Ana (not related to Hemy), Noraliza Alias aka Nor, Alina Merah aka Elin and I. So yesterday, finalizing the plan over phone, it was decided that the rendezvous will be at One Utama. Oh oh… I exclaimed… worried Now how do I get there considering the limited routes that I’m used to as the car driver. Tak kira la the countless times I’ve been to One Utama with the family coz hubby is driving and I’m just the passenger that manage to stay oblivious to the routes and the turns and the tolls and what nots…tongue
So, I resorted to Google maps… but oh boy..d'oh. I’m hopeless in reading maps too.. Then, I turned to a living and talking GPS-like device. A colleague of mine, Siti Fatimah Ibrahim, kindly drew me a map with detailed instructions of when to stay on the right lane or when to switch to the left lane… Google maps pun tak boleh bagi this kind of service. And I’m pretty confident when I set out yesterday afternoon. But orang hanya boleh tolong lukis peta and bagi instruction tapi kalau dah yang ikut arahan tu blur, blur jugak la. I’ve been advised to follow the Penchala Link but I guess in my ‘blur’ness state, I missed the exit. I did panicked but thank God the signboards are quite reliable and I managed to reach One Utama safely and in good time too. whew!
Since I was early, I headed for Ana’s house which is in Taman Tun. And again, thank God, the directions are quite simple and easy to follow. Well, minus the U-turn I had to make because I accidentally took the wrong lane… the rest of the trip was uneventful.
Then all of us car pooled to One Utama. And had a wonderful time having lunch at one place and then adjourned only to have another drink at another place… Well, the toilet stop in between helps. And we had hilarious moments rolling on the floor (err... not the rolling on floor part though) when the specifications for choosing an eating place does not solely depends on the menu but also on the chairs to sit on. Eg stools mcm kedai kopi tu tak nak, tak de tempat sandar. Menu tu tak heran, Kg B*** pun ada…
This is where we read the menu but decided it’s not for us (cheh… berlagakk) and went out to look for another place.


And we chose this place. BBQ Chicken.


I had this dish called Kochi but it is nothing like Kuih Koci at all. Very nice. Stay tuned to Hemy’s page. She had a lot more pictures to show and with more stories to tell, I am sure.

Eventually we went back to the first eating place, an outlet called Teh Tarik, and had drinks and a plate of maggi goreng. Sharing is caring...
I think we must have walked almost a mile (as usual I’m exaggerating rolling eyes) before we settled down to eat but it’s worth every mile… or inch.. And even before this particular trip started, we have already planned for the next trip.
Mummy’s night out
Part I

I attended a dinner held by the faculty last Friday night. On Thursday and on that Friday morning, before I left the house, I reminded my kids again that mummy will be home late and not to be naughty and listen to daddy and granny. The kids were like.. ala….. mak balik pukul berapa?? Kenapa mak balik lambat?? Those kind of statements.

That Friday afternoon, while at work, my 3rd daughter called. She must have this feeling of dissatisfaction because mummy won’t be home at the usual time. She said, ‘Kenapa mak balik lambat? Kan selalunya ayah je yg balik lambat?’ At 7 pm, my 2nd daughter called and asked, ‘Pukul berapa mak nak balik?’ I said, ‘Malam nanti mak balik’. She said, ‘Ni kan dah malam ni..’ She even refused to do her homework because I was not there sigh.

Conclusion Part I
  • Daddy should be home earlier more often. thinking OR

  • Mummy should be having more nights out. dancing OR

  • Kids need mummy more than daddy. laughing (My husband will totally disagree to this…)

Part II

The dinner was held by the faculty to express appreciation to its staffs that have performed excellently in categories namely Academic & Research, Quality, Community Service and Sports. Ha’ah… ye la tu… rolling eyes cemerlang la sangat (speaking for myself). Anyhow, I applaud the effort done by the faculty. Staffs are people who need to be appreciated once in a while. Words of encouragement are sometimes enough. Tokens can also be given and not necessarily expensive ones. I received a certificate in a frame and free dinner. Ok la kan… daripada tak ada…big grin But frankly, I feel everyone in the faculty should be appreciated and not only the few hundreds who were invited to the dinner coz everyone did their fair share of contribution and sometimes the margin of who contribute more is sometimes ill-defined..

My hubby’s office has one of the cool ways of showing appreciation to others. He is working in one of the banks in KL. They have what they call as 'Apple'ciation Day. So on that day, you sent out big juicy apples to colleagues that you would like to show your appreciation to. Likewise, people may give you apple to show their appreciation. But what if you don’t receive any apples? Demotivated la pulak. Jadi macam Mr Bean and sent apple to yourself, maybe? tongue

Ok, back to the dinner. It was held in Marriott, Putrajaya.


Nice place. The theme for the night is batik. From left: Norhazlina, yours truly and Anisah


Great company. I was pre-determined to sit at a table elsewhere but luckily I managed to squeeze into this table and enjoyed the dinner. From left: Chua, Azman, Anisah and yours truly again.


Good performance by people from PPUKM itself. This is one of many.



So-so food. Somehow I don't fancy the food but dah depan mata, belasah je la. Thank God the company is great. Those were buttered prawns and chicken ntah masak apa ntah in the pic.


Conclusion Part II

  • Appreciate yourself and others. Why not write an email of appreciation to your colleagues and cc the email to the head of department or maybe the Dean or even the VC or the CEO. Hantar sekali kat PM while you are at that. No la… gila apa… But at least the immediate boss or supervisor should be in the know.
  • Even if the gift/token/words are way below your expectation (like in this case, the dinner…winking), the effort itself should be appreciated. Do you think I should write to the Dean appreciating him for appreciating me? Then he will appreciate me for appreciating him appreciating me. Boleh?? laughing
Wind of change in Desa Tun
I left high school about 20 years ago. Four years ago, I set foot on its ground again for its Golden Jubilee Celebration. I was thrilled and excited to see the familiar classrooms where I once study (or sleep sleepy); the dorm where we used to lepak and had midnight snack; the walkways where we used to run heading for the dining hall coz if late, the queue will be very long; the gym where we had fun playing the game called bola baling; the public phones where I used to wait for ages to call home or ahem-ahem..blushing; the warden room which we tried as hard as possible to avoid going to for it has this certain negative aura; the teacher’s lounge where we knew some of our letters were held since its content may be of a threat to us, not the national threat kind of thing but a threat to the boys-girls relationship boundaries raised eyebrows; the school compound which once upon a time had mango trees and cempedak trees which led us to temptations beyond resistance; the showers, where each morning with sleep heavy in our eyes, hung our towels on the door as a sign that we are booking that particular cubicle so those towels which were at the most bottom, will get to use the shower first (some rule eh… but it works) and lots of other things that are quite impossible to jot down here.


Pic from 4 years ago with some of the batch-mates. In the pic: Arm (grey tudung), Tie Z on her left (yg maintain ayu), Dayangku Lily (yg macam tengah baca doa tu) then on the opposite side, me (yang nyaris-nyaris tak masuk dlm gambar), then Ila (yg nampak mata je tu) and Elin (yang kalau posing memang class..)Nostalgic abis dpt makan kat dlm the same dining hall again... *Addendum: Enit is in the pic!! Furtherst middle right. Only half face showing. This is totally aging. Boleh tak perasan pulak..*

However, time goes by. People change, apatah lagi tempat. Walaupun tak ada bah, ia tetap berubah. So some changes were noticeably observed in the school but I’m sure for the better. Now, at 2010, I received a description of the school’s new look via email. It was written by one of our seniors, Sis Wardah, describing the change that has transpired in the school. Somehow I had this feeling that yearn for the school to stay as it is, but that's like wishing you won't get older eh..?. However the report itself is beautifully written and I could not resist sharing it here.


Begin report:


I must say I was IMPRESSED upon driving up to the main tarmac, near the office building. There is this BIG and LONG brightly painted with our school green color, welcoming board spanning across at least 2 classrooms length, at the admin block to greet visitors. The words "WELCOME TO SEKOLAH TUN FATIMAH". Also they have transformed the whole length of the ground floor corridor, at the block facing the tarmac into a covered green awning walk-way. The bilik guru has been moved from the other block to this block and it looked much much better with new sturdy tables. And the Pusat Sumber has been moved to a more humane area from the 4th floor, i.e. to the block nearest to the road, second floor. This floor is connected via a brigde from the tarmac so students now frequent the Pusat Sumber, not like before.

At the "kolam" area infront of the office, the fish tank is gone and replaced with beautiful shiny glass panel laden with all the prizes and awards which were in the Pengetua's room all this while. This has made our sisters happy and motivated to see all the winnings made by the school and their seniors. (I tak sempat nak ambil gambar ni. Later lah ok..)

Oh..yes, the canteen. The place where sampah used to be thrown and an eye-sore was cleaned up and turned into a cosy enclosed air-cond eating place for teachers and visitors..like me.. where I spent my talking time with the Pengetua -- at least about 30 minutes max there.

Oh there are a million things to tell you. Kak Junaidi has really done her best and yet she says she is still not finished yet. Next year she is due to retire, so she likes to get most of the changes in soon.

On another note: You could also "see" other important and intangible changes too... the 'air' of Kakak-kakak bullying adik-adik is hopefully thing of the past.. She said she had a hard time identifying the root causes, but ALhamdullilah it was ironed out last year and hopefully we are seeing more of the seniors embracing and welcoming the new adiks with open arms. She said however closer monitoring is still needed to ensure the culture which we had last time will be returned accordingly. HEM is a new outside teacher hand-picked by the Jabatan -- she is Puan Maimunah, a very motherly figure and I am sure the new girls will relate to her. Puan Saidah is now guru cemerlang and will concentrate on teaching. I met Pn Saidah and a few other teachers at the canteen.

I must commend the way Kak Ju playing her role as the passionate Pengetua handled her PR with the parents and their soon to-be-left behind daughters. She would dakap the new girls and made them felt welcomed. I was told around 127 new girls registered that day. They estimated that each girl would be accompanied by a pair of parents, so they arranged chairs for around 127x3, but the turn out was over subscribed by 7 to 8 times; Grandma and Grandpa, abang-adik-kakak were also there to send off this new Puteri Srikandi. So obviously you expect some delays in the registration process -- understandable. But luckily the dewan is now fully air-conditioned and has a new face lift.

Apa lagi nak cerita eh.. oh yes, the dorm... The dorm which I went to (former Block A) now Blue coloured has been tiled with white tiles to cover the old cement surface. The toilets are due to be reno in the next phase. The bed sheets are all white with the School Badge printed at the foot of the sheet. So sejuklah sikit mata memandangnya. RM20 each bed sheet. Nak beli ke??? For we all the price is special...at RM50.00 he he he...

I will append some of the pictures I took with my not-so-clear mobile handphone camera.

All in all, I seriously suggest that those who have the means, and if you ikhlas, please lend a hand or contribute some extra funds to the school while Kak Ju is still there and trying to make our school pristine again.

Kak Ju also asked that you all please DOA that the school gets good SPM results so that it can be adorned with a special entitlement which carries with it a substantial financial assistance. The recent excellent PMR 1.01 results was such a great gift to the school and all the form 4 girls were gleaming with pride whenever they introduced themselves as Form 4 girls.. and why not? because almost everyone got 8As... woosh..some of them are R2V players too.

Lastly, I hope to organise a get-together to visit Cik Kalthum. I thought of getting the UTM and JB girls on board. Kak Ju would like to come along so that we can use the NEW SCHOOL BUS.


End report.

p/s Apart from minor typo errors, the report is just as K. Wa wrote it… Hmm.. is it terminologically correct to use WYSIWYG in this case..? ha ha…laughing