Sketches of Life

I ate so much “unclean food” until my body feel so contaminated, so unclean. I need detox or colon cleansing or whatever to clean it. I ended up drinking Slimming Chinese Tea.

This is one of the unclean food that I ate. More photos here.

Oh ya, the food at Portuguese Settlement is not expensive but do go to the first stall, Sea Terrace. The most crowded stall. I think they can even afford to change all their chairs and table to teak furniture! LOL

gtg…i wanna cook sweet sour crab now…yes! more unclean food!

7 years ago after our wedding, hubby hibernated during our honeymoon. He sleeps most of the time. 7 years after, it was my turn. I was too exhausted to even update this blog! I slept, nap, slept and nap. Only today, I am myself again. Awake and alive.

Wondering what we did on our wedding anniversary?

We did some banking; investment for the future then buy milk for the children; another form of investment for the future and fetch the children home from my mom’s. Had light lunch then head to Dr Fish, in Melaka Raya.

We took their package of the Fish Spa and Massage. RM80+ for me (Mother’s Day promotion) and RM85+ for hubby. However we went for the massage only because I am having my menses. Don’t wanna change the colour of the water and kill the fishes. Be going again with my children after I’m “clear” because they told us that it is free for our children!

The aftermath of the massage; my whole body aches especially my neck and due to it, I was down for 2 days.

I enjoyed my dinner though. I finally found a restaurant that serve beef steak that is thicker than 1cm and it tasted good too! The restaurant is on the 1ts floor of Carrefour called Le Garden. They served buffet Steamboat and BBQ too but we did not try that. I was too hungry to wait till 6.30pm. We were there by 5pm.

 The Sirloin Steak above looks like a piece of fish eh?

After dinner, we went to Tesco to shop for toilet roll! :lol:Then head home to shower and to bed.

My sister planned to celebrate my mom’s birthday this May 18 at Portuguese Settlement. The moment we hear Portuguese Settlement we were reminded on the expensive food. So far we never dine there except my sister because we heard so many testimonies from others that the food there is very expensive.

According to my sister, that is not so. The food is very expensive to the tourist but not to the locals; Malaccan. My sister told us that when she dine there, she will let them know that she is local; not KL people or Singaporean. Then they will give her discount. If you are Portuguese, the food there is even cheaper for you. My sis has a few Portuguese friend you see; that’s how she knew.

So if you wanna save money dinning at Portuguese Settlement, drag a Portuguese along. Ask him/her to order for you.

We will be going there this May 18. I will update on the pricing then. hehe

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

My Mother’s Day dinner. Unplanned. Simple and Mouthwatering if you like the food that we ate.

The restaurant is just 100m away from the Pontianak favorite hang out. Oh ya, get didn’t get to wish her Happy Mother’s Day. Btw, I don’t think it is wise to do that even if we meet her. It will cause her more grief. hehe

Black Pepper Lamp Chop

In the menu, there are Fish, Chicken, Pork and Lamp. I want Beef! No beef, so settle for lamp lor.

Seafood Tomyam

Hubby’s all time favorite. This the reason hubby pick the restaurant. To satisfy his craving. The gravy is thick but the BeeHoon is very little this time around.

KFC Snack Plate

To fill our half empty stomach while we chat away in an air-cond place.

Unless you DIY at home.

We (my children, my mom and yours truly) went to Muara Sg. Duyong for Ikan Bakar to meet Jess to pass to her the Satay Celup Paste, her daughter’s birthday gift and Chooi Peng storybooks that she bought from Leah.

I forgot that it is Saturday, I took the Coastal Road and it took me 45 minutes to arrive the restaurant which on weekdays, the drive will only take 20 minutes. When we arrived, the place was packed and Jess and her family is almost done eating. We managed to get a table under the stars and the unseen moon.

The service is slow or maybe my girls are too hungry, begging me for food. I got to request them to send the Nasi Lemak fast. The fish was not fresh and someone ate my Sotong Fritters before it reaches my table.

I don’t think my memory is that bad. I remembered clearly that the man weigh 4 huge Sotong. But I got 5 Sotong heads instead of 4 and tiny pieces of the Sotong body. I don’t think the Sotong can shrink that much after frying.

Anyway, since there are lots of people and everyone is hungry, we dig in only lar. No time to make a fuss of it. Anyway, I think they won’t entertain me too. They have good crowds daily, who am I compared to the tour buses and big shot that come to dine there.

That is a common question when I go makan (eat) at Chinese food court or hawker stalls with hubby. All because hubby looks very much like Malay.

How come they never use their common sense one??? Malay will want to eat at non-halal Chinese food court meh? In KL maybe but not in Malacca. I heard there are Malays that eat pork here but normally they will ask their Chinese colleagues or friend to “tapau” for them. Their favorite is Wantan Mee and Char Siew Rice, that’s what I heard from a friend.

Back to me…

I look so Chinese some more. Hubby being asked the same question is very common. Will a convert wear short pants and go to Chinese food court when they miss their pork? I don’t think so right? Normally new converts will be very alim (religious) one.

I think I should print a t-shirt for myself that says, “Wo Shi Hua Ren” and wear it when I go look for Chinese food. I can’t print it in English, “I am Chinese” because most of them don’t read and don’t understand English.

Since I myself dunno Chinese (blame my dad for not forcing me to go to Chinese school) I will usually order in English first. If they don’t understand, I will order in Malay and if they still don’t understand, either I point-point or thicken my face and order in broken Mandarin.

Partly my fault also lar for not knowing how to speak Chinese.

After reading this post, I can’t stop thinking about Ikan Bakar and it’s special sauce.

I’ve got to get this sauce on my tongue, so since tonight is our night out, we went to Ikan Bakar at Sg Duyung.

Our fish comes with Mussels Fried with Chili. RM5.00 for 1/2 kg.

Ten pieces of Otak-Otak;. RM5.00.

And our Ikan Bakar; Burnt Fish! The price RM4.00 only.

We had 3 packets of Nasi Lemak, RM1.80 and 2 glasses of Lime Juice; RM2.20.

Total = RM18.00. First time we spent so little eating Ikan Bakar!

Chinnee, your Pineapple Tarts is in my hand now. Go drool over it.

I just hope I can stand the temptation. If not, please forgive me if you get less than 50 pcs.

Be sure to SMS me every hour or buzz me over MSN to remind me NOT to touch it!

****

This year not many people order from my mom coz she told me that this year the cost is so expensive. So I didn’t promote her pineapple tarts.

She has like 100 pcs to spare. Anyone want them? She is selling at 70 cents a piece. Self-collection ok.

I can guarantee that you won’t get mesothelioma eating my mom’s tarts. hehe.

This is requested by our dear Chinnee again. Make sure my children get big angpow ya.

Must add a lil bit more egg white to the dough that you will use for the string so that it won’t easily breaks.

Roll them as thin as possible.

No need special cutter, just use your normal knife. Cut it thinly too.

Wondering what is Wajik? This is another Nyonya goodies made only for CNY. It is super sweet and very chewy. I don’t really like to eat it because it always sticks on my teeth. And you really have to chew it before you swallow them.

I am not so sure how they make it because I was at work when MIL prepares it. All I know that it is made of steamed Glutinous Rice, Gula Melaka and Sugar.

After the rice has been steamed it is placed on the banana leaves to cool it down. While waiting, MIL cooks the Gula Melaka and Sugar, Ratio 1:1.

Once the rice is cool then they will be transfered to the wok of this brownish caramel.

Unfortunately, this year MIL’s Wajik tak jadi also! According to her the cooling time was too long and the rice became too harden thus the Wajik is hard too. Like eating uncooked rice!

Well, there are quite a number of food post here which is supposed to be my food blog. However it will only goes there after I get the proper recipe.

This pre-cooked Kuih Bakul looks so beautiful before it is being steamed for 12 hours. The ingredient for Kuih Bakul (Nian Gao) is Glutinous Flour (Tepung Pulut) and Sugar (Gula Pasir). The ratio is 1:1.

To save cost MIL use woods instead of gas. Can you see the Chinese Prayer Paper and Joss stick? I think that is to hinder from Kuih Bakul from being “disturb” by the naughty spirit. Old folks got a lot of superstitions when it comes to making traditional kuih. Everything much be “clean” like, you cannot have your period, you cannot visit the deceased, you cannot say bad words etc.

Well, I think the Chinese Prayer Paper and the Joss stick did not work because other than that we are cleaned. Unless the Kuih Bakul pantang being taken photo! Many my flash shocked them! hahaha.

The Kuih Bakul did not turn out as it supposed to be.

This one is still soft, like not cook like that.

This one is cooked but the surface is not as smooth as it supposed to be.

Ok, ok, here is a more practical reason to its failure. The fire must be consistent all the time. MIL cooked them using woods and she has not done this many years already. Impossible to get the consistency unless you sit there all the time.

After putting so many precious post and videos about the Nyonya cookies and special kuih, especially those tips and trick to make Nyonya Pineapple Tarts, I think it is best for me to get the NOD32 security software. With it, my computer will be protected. It has Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Exploits, and Firewalls; all in one.

I can’t bear the thought that one fine day my recipes just disappeared into thin air and my mom is no longer with me to answer all my question. No matter how much money I have, I can’t get my mom’s recipe once it has been deleted.

And it is no longer a secret now. This is for you, Chinnee.

8 eggs to 1kg of Flour. The egg white, take half of it only, ok.

Then just pour them in and mix.

After that she added margarine; must use Planta and not Daisy spoon by spoon. She did not even measure them!

Here’s the video on how to knead them…

She did not immediately start making the tarts. She let the dough to sit for about half an hour, so that it won’t stick to the mould when she try to press them out.

Do you notice that she place a plastic over the dough before she roll them? Prevent it from sticking to the roller.

Empty pastry.

This what my mom’s Pineapple Tart looks like.

Actually I planned to make Nestum Cookies today but MIL told me that SIL insisted to make pineapple tarts today coz next Sunday it will be too late. We try not to make it so early because pineapple tarts develop molds easily when kept too long. But MIL has no choice because then oven belongs to her.

At first MIL wanted to do only 2kg but SIL told her to make more in case we need to give some to relatives. So, she made 3kg all together. Least that I know that this is the first time for both of them! The dough turns out dry, my mom’s pineapple tarts’ mould got stuck, their pineapple tarts mould is too huge, and another one needs to kepit.

Dry Dough! You kneed with your fingers not palm.

So I brought my mom to the rescue! She added more butter.

These are the unbaked tarts. At first we used the plain mould but I have to kepit the side. They do not know how. The maid tried; her looks like the tarts has been stung by a bee! My MIL tried, hers is “terkangkang”. She even laughed at her artwork! So I told them to leave the “kepiting” to me. But I get sleepy after a few tray so I quickly hopped over to my mom’s and borrowed her mould, the smaller ones with ready made design. It is also due to the filling. The filling is extra sweet. Small mould, less filling. So the taste is just right.

The people behind the making plus myself too. My MIL, maid, SIL’s niece and SIL.

The oven that we used. Looks like robot to me. The temperature that we used is 160′C. The big tarts we baked for 15mins. The smaller ones, 10 mins.

Baked Pineapple tarts. The unbaked ones look better ya.

We started around 11.30am and finished at 7.30pm. It’s an 8 hours job!

I went out for a simple Nyonya & Portuguese lunch at Hot & Spicy Restaurant with my company’s supplier just now. She got a surprise when the bill adds up to RM45.80. She gave the cashier RM50 and told her to keep the change. After the cashier left, she looks at me and says, “Sooooo cheap!”

I was like “Huh? Cheap? Expensive what?” According to her this very cheap compared to KL. The same food that we ate will easily cost RM80 in KL. Ok, that’s cheap. No wonder our pay is so little here, can’t even afford for a stay in hotels Las Vegas.

The above is the best Penang Prawn Mee that you can get in Malacca according to my taste bud. The stall is situated at a food court behind Putera Hospital (used to be Southern Hospital) or right beside the Rex cinema. The price is RM2.50 for small and RM2.80 for big. I bought the big ones.

When I was in Penang, I got a surprise when I was given Prawn Mee when I ordered Hokkien Mee. For Malaccan, Hokkien Mee is the yellow noodles cooked with black soy sauce and it is dry.

Now I wonder what Hokkien Mee is in other states.

I have been eating out almost everyday. I don’t remember doing that everyday but hubby said so. Either we will go out for dinner or supper. Last night we went out again. Thursday; our dating night.

We went to a Malay restaurant at Pantai Puteri; eat till we drop and went for a stroll at the beach after that.

I had my usual Carrot Milk and hubby, as always, Lime Juice to wash away the fat (oil) that enters his body.

We ordered Nasi Goreng Ikan Masin (Fried Rice with Salted Fish) plus one Fried Egg, that’s for me and Nasi Goreng Chili Padi (Fried Rice with Bird Eye Chili) and Asam Fish for hubby. Oh ya, hubby can’t find the Bird Eye Chili in his fried rice, I think the cook mistakenly put that in mine. My rice is extra hot!

After we are done with that, we ordered a plate of Roti John! I wonder why they called it “John”. Could they be referring to the Mat Saleh “John”??? It’s long mah.

See, we sure can eat! I hope we won’t be needing houston lapband to control our appetite. If not we sure gonna miss all those good food. That is why we took a walk at the beach, a long walk to make sure we burn some of the fat. Not that we are a very romantic couple, we are very conscious about our size! haha.

I took half day off from work since I am richer by USD100 to collect my PBB Debit card. Since I have some time left after tagging hubby along to do his errands, before picking up the children from my mom’s, we head over to Nadeje Pastissiere to try their famous Mille Crepe Cakes as advertised by Jason.

A slice of cake cost RM8.50. Expensive eh. Thank God after one piece I felt jelak. It was too creamy.

We ordered 2 slices. The above is Rum Raisin. But where’s the Raisin? hehe Hubby don’t favor this one. He said, the Rum taste is too strong until it totally buries the original taste.

This is the original Mille Crepe. Layers of thin pancakes with creme in between. I think this is easier to make compared to the layer cake. No need to go in and out the oven many many times. Don’t you think so?

Only hubby had their one of their drinks; Chocolate Banana Milk. I don’t like milk, I don’t drink coffee or alcohol and I don’t favor tea on a hot day and I am not willing to pay RM5 for a carbonated drinks. So, no drinks for me.

Will I return? Well…maybe for the cake, only when the crave comes.

This will make me hungry no matter how aching is my heart.

I just had this for lunch and it is sooooo mouth watering. Before the fishball enters my mouth my saliva drips into the bowl!

Oh ya, I ate pineapple. Hope that will gain back my menses flow.

Yucks! I am mixing food with blood here! Can you imagine??? Mwahahahaha.

After reserving an opp from cari makan, I got so hungry and my mind can’t work. All because I just ate instant noodle for dinner.

So we head over to the nearest warong to fill our tummy. We actually wanted to eat Roti Canai but by the time we arrived, around 11.40pm, all has been sold out.

Since I am really hungry, I ordered a plate of Fried Kuay Teow. RM3.00.

Roti John for hubby. I didn’t get the price.

And my drink will always be Carrot Milk till my eyesight improve. Hubby had lime juice.

Total spent for supper, RM8.90.

On Deepavali day, we went for dinner at Hong Kong Village in Dataran Pahlawan. I wanted to know what’s so special about Hong Kong Noodle but was disappointed to discover that it is just Wantan Mee with a variety of topping instead the normal Char Siew (BBQ) meat without the dumplings.

This is my Abalone Wantan Noodle. Price RM8.50.

For my children, BBQ Noodle with Mince Meat. Price RM5.90.

Hubby’s drink, Ice Blended Sour Plum. Price RM5.90. This is the only one that I like.

Will I return? Nope. Nothing special. I still prefer the normal Wantan Mee at the hawker stall, only RM2.00 - RM2.50.

The above is BlurMommy’s Nasi Lemak. For the above portion, I can only eat it for lunch or dinner.

This is my Banana Leave Nasi Lemak. This one cost RM1.00. I prefer Nasi Lemak that is wrapped with banana leaf. It has the original Nasi Lemak smell. Those days, when I was in primary school, that’s like more than 20 years ago. One packet of Nasi Lemak, slightly bigger portion than the above is only 20 cents! Those were the days.

I enjoy snacking on the above. Fishball, Taukee, Pineapple and Cucumber with a special chili sauce. The above cost RM2.

I asked the seller (a Malay lady) where she bought the fishball, she told me from the wholesale market. So I told her about the fishball factory at Taman Merdeka and how it will be cheaper buying from there coz the sellers at the wholesale market got the fishball from that factory. Told her that she could earn more profit.

She replied saying that she used to buy from the wholesaler and the profit that she has now is enough. I think ah, if I were to tell this to a Chinese, he/she will immediately ask for the location of the factory. The Chinese will find ways to get as much profit as possible.

I think in general, many Malays who are still not rich even with so much help, incentives and subsidies from government because they have the same thinking as that lady. I have enough.

I had a long nap just now. Longer than my usual during weekend. Felt so rejuvenated after 2.5 hours of nap. I am really that sleepy! I think partly due the food that I ate last night that makes my body extra tired besides only 5 hours of sleeping. 2 nights before, I slept for only 4am but I am fine. Still awake and fresh in the office.

My theory: I think ah, the body has to work harder to process the meat that I took and to eliminate toxins from my body. I was at Carry On enjoying their bbq steamboat last night but have to suffer today! Hubby pass motion the moment we arrived at my mom’s to pick up our children. Then it was my turn when we arrived home. The next morning, I did it again with very loose/watery stool. So it is confirmed, it must be the food. Don’t think I would want to eat at Carry On anymore.

Now I need to get back to work and search for custom pens that boss has been asking for.

I am sure some of you don’t see me online at 5am anymore because I have company to blog till 3am everyday now! Hubby has another assistant to take over his night shift so I have someone to chat and go out for supper whenever hunger strikes while blogging.

But then, living in a kampung, food stall hardly open after 1am. It took us almost half an hour yesterday hunting for Roti Canai. We ended up eating Fried Kuay Teow at Klebang Beach. I think I can easily write two post with the time spent looking for food.

I wanna stock up candy at home now. Maybe I will buy it from bulk candy store which of course the price will be cheaper and we don’t need to leave the house to look for food unless I really crave for Roti Canai and Teh Tarik.

Yes, now we can buy bulk candy from eSnacks.com from the comfort of our home and enjoy premium sweets at discount prices if you are living in US.

I did something that most people who have stomach discomfort won’t do. I went out to EAT! I was thinking, if I need to vomit all my food out later, might as well eat something that I like. I was telling hubby, enjoy my food first then suffer later.

So I sent all my children to my mom’s and we went to eat Thai Steamboat at Johnny’s Restaurant in Jusco. It felt so good eating my favorite fishball and drinking the hot soup.

Unfortunately, the moment I walk out from the restaurant, I felt uneasy. My tummy did not feel good and we quickly head home.

Thank God no vomiting and I felt so much better today.

Can go rebond my hair d!!!

I seldom have embarrassing moments because I am kinda careful person. But something that I consider quite embarrassing happened to me during Msau’s visit. We had lunch in a Nyonya Restaurant, Manis Sayang.

After finished our meal, gua ya ya aja pegi bayar I went to the counter to ask for the bill and gave the cashier my credit card. “We don’t have credit card machine.” the cashier told me. Take a peep in my purse. “Alamak! I have less than RM100.” The bill is almost RM200.

Make my face thicker and ask Msau to pay. Then gave her excuses that I have used the cash to pay for the apartment rental. Because malu punya pasal too embarrass, I told her that the apartment is on me! Actually I forgot that my cash was used up paying for my children medical bills.

Btw, most Nyonya restaurant accept credit card because their food is expensive and the cater most for tourist. If tourist got no cash how? Wash plate? Thank God Msau got cash. If not we will be washing plates. That would be interesting. Another blog post to write.

The Lady that sells Cendol opposite my house is back in business after a month of recuperating since she was strangled and robbed in her house.

It will be a great lost to the community if she does not get back on her feed and sell her Cendol. People from Singapore and KL will sure be disappointed to come to an empty store.

If you are a Malaccan and have not tried her Cendol, I really recommend you give it a try. Bukit Rambai is just 20 minutes drive from Mahkota Parade. If you need direction, leave your comment here with valid email address.

Gula Melaka is another Malacca specialty. You can use it in your cooking. I use it when I cook my Pong Teh. Other than that you use Gula Melaka in….

1. Cendol
2. Bubur Cha Cha
3. ABC
4. Jelly
5. Dodol
6. Eat with Putu Mayam etc

When I was studying in USM, my Archeology lecturer will ask me to buy for her every semester break when I go home. I think she gave me an “A” for my Archeology paper as a returned favor.

I had a busy Sunday yesterday, going around to buying some goodies for Msau and Jess and also did some groceries shopping for MIL.

I went a Fishball factory at Taman Merdeka to buy the Satay Celup Paste. 4 for Msau and 2 for Jess. Enough or not? The seller told me that one packet is for 4 people but according to my mom, it is enough for 6 adults after we add the chili paste and peanuts. The gravy can fill half of a small rice cooker.

So if anyone of you knows Msau’s house and wants the Satay Celup Paste, I can go buy some more and you can go find her. If not Msau, you go open a Satay Celup Shop in KL lar.