Food Photography..NOT!

The food photos I have taken over the last one year, using my Sony phone. 

Brings back memories.....

 Chicken Pot Pie I made for graduation party at Colony Manor (or something like that).

June 2010.

Kayu Nasi Kandar

Trip to USM with Mama for my interview. Alhamdulillah the interview got me here :)

Nov 2010.

Cheese tarts I made for Sons of Adam Family Day at Pulai Spring Resort, Johor Bahru.

February 2011.

Sup ikan merah by Chef Mama, the best ever!

Cannot remember when the photo was taken.

Homemade beef kebab, and baked potato as background.

Baked potato, close-up.

Thanks to Annes for inducing me to try the recipe :P

Aglio Olio Spaghetti.

Thanks to my dearest Kekna for teaching me how to make it.

Remind me of our sleepover sessions :)

Seoul Garden, One Utama with sister and brother-in-law.

Again, can't remember *too lazy to switch on my phone to get the date*

Baked Pasta (kot) at William's Corner, Kelana Jaya with Angah.

Don't judge the food by the look :P

Laksa Janggus, Balik Pulau.

August 2011.

Trip to USM for Research Methods course.

Met the nicest couple ever.

Serabai. Yes, that is what it is called.

Not too serabai pun kan? LOL

Same time as above.

Ikan bakar Hammerbay, Penang.

First salary dinner treat by Harris.

Good time, indeed.

Before.

After.

Pasembor, Padang Kota, Penang.

Can't believe I finished the whole big plate. Too sedap to resist.

Cendol, Padang Kota, Penang.

Beriani @ Kapitan, Penang.

I forgot how it taste like but surely heavenly.

Restoran Nelayan, Seremban.

Man, their masak lemak cili api is to cry for! Sungguh sedap! I requested to have my last lunch in Malaysia, here.

September 2011.

Johny's Steamboat.

My last treat for my parents before I left. Ate like a lion that night.

It's the family's favorite dine-in.

September 2011.

Last but not least, my first try making Salmon Teppanyaki.

Oh, I love salmon!

Isn't it fun to take a stroll down memory lane by browsing through old food photos? :P

Hopefully more food photos coming in 2012

*which I doubt because it's never the same with Malaysian food :(*

Baby step.

Salam,

I hit one of my milestones this week-gave my first ever presentation as a postgrad student. My audience was only 10 -___- but hey it was a good number for a start, no? It's to prep me for the next presentation in a couple of months, in front of 30+ people.

So the presentation was more of an introduction to my lab group about my project, my plan yada yada yada all those boring stuff. It's not thesis defense, but I somehow felt like it was, when people question  my hypothesis, my method, why do this not that etc. I found this paper by one Japanese group and I really want to try their method. So I presented the paper and little that I know it would create a heated debate during the presentation. 

The whole one and the half hour of the presentation, one hour was spent discussing/arguing whether or not I should do it. At first I was very demotivated and confused, I thought I was fooling myself in front of 10 brainy people. But then after the presentation was over, my supervisors came to me saying that I did a good job, that my presentation managed to get people to think.

At the end of the day, although I was left with more things to ponder, more journals to read and more questions to answer, I am satisfied.

And decided to reward myself with....PIZZA! Haha

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate - Oprah Winfrey

I'm doing just that :P

Masterchef in the making.

Salam,

The title is a mere exaggeration.

So over a month ago, there was this bookseller who came to our lab and dumped dozens of books in the pantry. At first I thought some kind people donated those books because they thought scientists need a break, and ironically they thought books could give scientists a break. Come on, more books on top of those journal articles and tedious lab work? Give us a REAL break.

That was quite a ramble there.

Turned out those books were for sale, and the bookseller put them there for sample.  

I caught one Chinese guy trying to figure out the price for a Disney Sing-a-long book. He said he was buying it for his niece in China. How adorable!

But most people, guys included, were crazy about this one book.

At first glance I knew I had to buy it. First, because it's pink. Second, it has cupcakes as the cover. Third, it's baking book! (The third one should be the first, LOL) 

I enjoy baking, it's just that I don't have much time for it. *alasan* But I thought, this book was a good bargain. Its retail price is GBP 25 but this seller was selling (and still selling it online) at GBP 10!! Tell me how can I not get it? I convinced myself sooner or later I'm gonna find time to bake therefore I must get this book. So that later in the future, I could have this little conversation with my hubs..

On a nice Saturday evening..

Hubs: Yang, I feel like having panettone for tea 'lah' today.
Me: Coming right up Hun :)

Me: Tomorrow can we have millefeuilles 'pulak'?

Hubs: Uuuuuu I like that :)

BERANGAN! HAHAHAHAHA. I can't even pronounce those two things correctly. LOL

But seriously, it's worth every penny. The book has more than 300 recipes (just my wild guess) and every main recipe comes with a step-by-step instructions like the picture below. It has everything you could think of, sweet to savory, breakfast to tea. Well actually not everything I could think of; I was flipping through it the other day and guess what, no Red Velvet recipe. I think the book is biased towards European recipes because all I can see is 'Italian this' 'French that' 'originate from Germany' and all that jazz. But still WORTH.IT.

p/s: It's been a month or so since I got a hold of this book, but I haven't tried any recipes yet. Hi hi. I'll make time I promise! You're gonna see me covered with tepung and egg in this blog soon. :))

Twiathlon.

Salam,

So my friends and I had this crazy idea after seeing an ad at the cinema last month. They are having special screening for Twilight movie(s).

It was a good bargain, so we decided, 'Why not?'

The only downside to that is that we have to 'berkampung' at the cinema for 8 hours plus. Krazy, I know. But for experience sake..LOL.

So today is the day.

 Tiket wayang kat sini macam resit je pffffttt sgt

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn Part 1

Starting at 4.45 pm

(I shall update the finish time later ;P)

Image from IMDb

Happy watching, guys!

Lesson learned.

Don't think too much.

Don't say too much.

Don't ask too much.

Coffee to my morning, milk to my night



just turned..

Alarm clock to my morning, ghost to my night



:(((

Terlampau melampau!

Salam,

Sigh.

Ye, tak elok mengeluh, tapi pasal ni kena mengeluh juga. 

Apa nak jadi la dengan artis-artis Malaysia ni. Teruk sangat dah jadinya. 

I admit, saya pembaca tegar BeautifulNara -___- But I don't expect to read about 'F*sha pergi event pakai bareback dress', 'Z*rina A*n Jo*lie amik gambar macam Kim Kardashian', or 'Nabil* H*da pakai bikini kat Pulau Tioman'. 

Melampau seh korang.

Seriously, apa masalah diorang ni? Last time I checked they are all Muslims. Berpada-padalah kalau taknak tutup aurat pun *I know this doesn't sound quite right sebab mmg kita WAJIB turut aurat but I hope you get my point*. Dulu kala takat nampak rambut je, now slowly semua benda nak tayang. Rasanya among artists ni, diorang ada pertandingan 'Who shows the most skin is the most popular' kot. 

Korang tu public figure kot, like or not, good or bad, people tend to follow you. Kalau good, baguslah. Contoh macam cerita 'Fash* gunakan scrub dari pati halia untuk kulit badan yang licin', atau cerita 'Zar*na A** J*ulie makan  2 kg sayur setiap hari untuk jaga kulit'. Ha kan bagus camtu, takde masalah kalau orang nak follow.

Ni korang pergi pakai tak senonoh tu, nanti anak perempuan Kak Temah tengok cakap 'Mak, boleh tak adik nak pakai dress macam F**sha pergi birthday party Sandha (bukan nama sebenar)'. Anak lelaki Kak Temah pulak duduk terperuk dalam bilik mengadap gambar Za*ina dalam magazine FHM. Naya naya.

But in all seriousness, sedih teramat sangat tengok perangai artis sekarang. Langsung tolak tepi soal agama. Astaghfirullahalazim. Orang lain berlumba-lumba sebarkan dakwah, at the same time, artis-artis ni berlumba-lumba tayang body. Makin lama makin teruk. Kalau bukan public figure, at least tersorok jugak la dosa korang buat tu, walaupun Allah nampak jugak. Ni public figure, beratus kali ganda orang tengok.

Kalau artis amik dadah kena gam dari TV for a period of time, why not kita gam artis-artis terlampau ni? Mungkin bila duit tak masuk poket baru sedar kot. 

Istikharah

‘O Allaah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and by Your power I seek strength and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You are able while I am not and verily You know while I do not and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allaah, if You know this affair [insert your need/concern] to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life, and end, then decree and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it, and if You know this affair to be ill for me towards my religion, my life, and end, then remove it from me and remove me from it , and decree for me what is good wherever it be and make me satisfied with such.’

A little reminder.

Salam,


Taken from Islamic Society of University of Nottingham's website..

The first ten days of the Islamic month of Zul Hijjah starts on 28th October, those days are a special time when all kinds of good deeds are encouraged and highly rewarded by Allah.

The ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah (the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar) is the day of 'Arafah. It is the day when pilgrims stand on the plain of 'Arafah to pray. On this day, Muslims all over the world who do not witness the annual hajj should spend the day in fasting.

Abû Hafsah, may Allâh be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said:

"Fasting on the day of 'Arafah absolves the sins for two years: the previous year and the coming year"

Even for those of us who are not performing the pilgrimage, Hajj, the first ten days of the month of Zul Hijjah are considered very sacred and a time for increased reflection, seeking Allah's forgiveness, fasting and doing various other forms of worship.

You can read more here.

Homies.

Reminder: Super heavy with pictures entry.

This post is a reminder, to me, and to you girls, to show how far our friendship has gone. 

10 years and counting.

 

Last 16 months were great, amazing, awesome, wonderful, memorable, cheerful, beautiful and [insert any positive adjectives you could think of] because of these people. We did so many new things together. Out of 10 years of friendship, I must say, those 16 months were the best. I am blessed, Alhamdulillah.

October 2010- First roadtrip to Melaka

December 2010 - Bike riding @ Taman Botani Putrajaya

December 2010 - Our first IKEA meatball 

I swear it was a different white top, just the same shawl ;P

January 2011 - Izral's birthday @ Look Out Point, Ampang

Ni je yang ada semua. Blur pun bantailah.

January 2011 - Aizat's concert @ Bentley Music, Damansara

Our first time @ Wondermilk Cafe.

March 2011 - First musical theater; Terima Kasih Cinta @ Istana Budaya

March 2011 - Karaoke session till wee hours @ Wangsa Walk

March 2011 - Breakfast @ Levain

April 2011 - Second musical theater; Lat Kampung Boy @ Istana Budaya

April 2011 - Bee's Bachelorette Party

April 2011 - 12 hours roadtrip to Melaka (we just love Melaka ;P)

May 2011 - Kota Kinabalu, just the two of us :P

 

May 2011 - Bee's Wedding

June 2011 - My surprise birthday celebration @ Chili's KLCC

We were supposed to go to Penang in July, but everyone was busy :( Then came Ramadhan and Syawal. InsyALLAH we'll go to Penang someday.

September 2011 - Yuna's DFP Spotlight @ Dewan Filharmonik Orkestra

Malas beratur amik gambar dgn Yuna, dgn Sharifah Amani pun jadilah.

Last but not least,

September 2011 - My surprise farewell picnic @ City Park Seremban 2

 *

You girls are too kind.

I can never repay whatever you did to me.

I cherish our friendship so much.

Till death do us part.

Thank you mucho!

xoxo

p/s: I miss you all :(