Tuesday, October 30

Cuti-cuti Kuantan...




Time flies really fast when you are enjoying your weekend right? I was in Kuantan for a short vacation with my family and at the same time we had a wedding reception to attend. It was a wedding reception held by my arwah mother's cousin for her daughter. We bumped into my arwah mother's relatives from Singapore. They kept asking about my arwah mother's passing etc. I can't help but shed a few tears when I heard them talking about her. My eyes were all watery when I hear stories of my arwah mother's childhood years and how they all miss her. Hearing how my dad was explaining to them about her last few days...I felt numb again. Al fatihah.

Anyways, we decided to stay in one of the hotels in Kuantan. We are very sure that the 4 hour driving can be time consuming and tiring. Which is true, the long distance travelling put a toll on all of us. Oh my, I can'tbelieve it after all those years living in PJ, I am so malu to say that it was my first trip to Kuantan. So ancient kan!



Me and lil niece, Sophie ( look at her hands, you just can't separate her from her calamine lotion). She is allergic to mosquito bites !

I like Kuantan very much, the town is pretty laid back, not many cars (less jams) and most importantly it is clean. I envy you Kuantan people!. Hmm pretty impressive la to note that Kuantan is simply a quiet and relaxing town to visit, my conclusion for the quietness could probably be that the "Kuantarians" might have houses located out of town. Teluk Cempedak the main tourist spot in Kuantan is rather clean and the beach is beautiful. I wouldn’t say that the water is crystal clear but it is so much better than PD or Malacca beaches. The sandy beach is well kept. The beach originates from the South China Sea hence that explains the thick and heavy waves. We were enjoying the fresh air while digging into our lunch boxes at the bench overlooking the sea. I wish I am given the chance to do this every weekend when I am in KL :D Oh well, no harm in dreaming right? hehe.... :)

Pic snapped at 7am in the morning and was surprised to see the empty main roads.





View from the hotel...quiet and peaceful @ 7nish am.




The wedding reception was done in the afternoon and the team colour was turqouise






The pelamin, we did not stay for the berstanding...so no pics taken of the couple :(



another snapshot of the pelamin




this is where the meja pengantin is located.




the professionals

We borong the "dried stuff" from Kuantan. We bought all kinds of "dried fish" and "keropoks". I for one was into the keropok ikan parang and my dad was soo into the prawn crackers...I think with the stuff we bought we can probably open a stall at one of the Pasar Malam here. :)


















All types of "ikan masin"...everyone went like...oh wow, macam-macam ada!



Seafood is rather cheap in Kuantan, I was told by friends that good Seafood restaurants can be found along Teluk Cempedak and Tg Lumpur. We had all kinds of seafood for dinner and the bill came to only RM85 plus which I am sure back in KL it would cost a few hundred bucks!

On the way back, we saw the signage which indicates the exit to Tasik Chini...all of us were curious on how Tasik Chini looks like in real, apalagi we then said step on the gas and exit. We went on the narrow road heading towards the Pengkalan Tasik Chini...we saw thick and massive greeneries, monkeys playing on the road and goats crossing the road dengan selambanye. The drive in lasted more than 30 minutes. We then saw a huge lake with still waters. It was pretty scary, the water was really dark and the area was rather remote. I would NOT recommend anyone to go there either alone or as a couple. Pretty deserted during weekends. Need be, go in big groups. The area is very remote!





Tasik Chini, somehow looking at this part of the lake just gives me the creeps...the water is still and you just don't know what's underneath it..yikesss!!

My lil niece kept asking me..ada dinosaur tak??:D

I can't wait for my next cuti-cuti :)

Wednesday, October 24

Welcome Back!!

Although NASA recognizes our Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor as a spaceflight participant, I still see him as our first Malaysian astronaut. Well done and Welcome back!


pic courtesy of http://www.spacefacts.de


pic courtesy of http://www.nasa.gov

You can read more on him here and here.

Saturday, October 20

Vegetables and Raya pics...oh my..what a combination!

My lil sister's SILs went to Cameron Highlands during the Aidilfitri break and got us beautiful fresh flowers and veges, I personally adored the roses and lilies, they were just lovely. The flowers were selling at very reasonable prices. Oh man, the veges were not only fresh and juicy but also huge..check this out! Looking at them, makes we wanna go and "borong" the whole kebun sayur! :D

    the extra large (XL) capsicum

    yummy..jagung!!

    By the way, I am glad that I did manage to snap a few pictures for the Raya album. Taken while we were doing our rounds of visiting....:)



    me and lil nieces, hannah (L) and hanis (R)

    the three lil ones, hannah, sophie and hanis


    my dad with hannis (she is such a shy girl!!)

    me

Tuesday, October 9

Selamat Hari Raya...


Wishing all my muslim friends and fellow bloggers .......




Selamat Hari Raya


&

Maaf Zahir Batin

Tuesday, October 2

Who said baking was easy??

Just like everyone else, my sisters were busy baking cookies for Raya. They did the kuih makmur and biskut arab. Much to my surprise, the cookies turned out nice..hehe :)


While they were busy baking, I was busy in my room hibernating...the cosy bed was just too much to resist. The weather was extremely hot and humid during the weekend which indirectly contributed to my malasness. All I did was help them mix the fruits with the butter and flour to make the fruit cake.

biskut arab ....ours turned out to be crunchy too :)


biskut makmur (minus the icing sugar)

Normally, our kuih raya comprises of kuih "tunjuk", that is the easiest way eh! This year we decided to bake a few which happens to be my arwah mama's favourite just to remind us of her during this holy month of Ramadhan and Syawal.



the bunga api kids....

Happy Baking y'all!

Bila main bunga api tu, berhati-hati la ya!

******************************************************

dnas, a fellow blogger, this kuih makmur recipe is for you:-

Bahan:-

  • 1kg tepung gandum
  • 500gm minyak sapi
  • 250gm kacang tanah
  • 250gm gula aising

Cara menyediakan:-

  • Tepung gandum diuli bersama minyak sapi sehingga sebati dan boleh dibentuk
  • Kacang tanah digoreng dan ditumbuk kasar kemudian digaul dengan aising
  • Bentukkan tepung sesuka hati dan isikannya dengan kacang tanah tadi
  • Bakar kira2 15 minit pada suhu ketuhar 15oC dan setelah sejuk gaul dengan gula aising.

******************************************