Touristy Us.

We had some touristy day in Hong Kong the last weekend. And I am happy to announce that I had so much of fun just being with my partner. His the best-est bestfriend, guyfriend a girl could have especially to hang out with. Oh, I forgot, Im married to him too. That's a PLUS.

Anyways, the touristy spot to go when anyone comes to Hong Kong is Ngong Ping 360. It's a place where one can see a Giant Big Buddha. We Muslim don't really focus on that, but on the other hand, this place is interesting for photo taking or practising the photo skill that one always wanted to develop. And they do have some shows, activities to do there. Like hiking, or island visits & others. Check out Ngong Ping 360.

Direction.

MTR from Central or any other line that leads to MTR's Tung Chung Station & the Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal is adjacent to it. It is a two-minute walk from Exit B of the station. Easy peasy. I think it takes about 30 mins to reach Tung Chung. Don't worry. You will never realize the 30 mins when you are in a MTR. I've attached a map (I took it from Ngong Ping's website. Sorry.)

We didn't know the direction for Bus or other transportation to NP360. Cause we think that MTR is the best transportation ride you can ever ride on. It's on time and fast. I think the trip cost about HKD$ 20 +/- Single trip.

So basically, Tung Chung Station, go to Exit B, then get blinded with Citygate Outlet just next to you (that's another topic to talk about), walk to the Cable Car (it's a recommendation, not for those fainted heart though, as its a loooooooong trip across up the hills, sea and well, land.) Then line up for a VERY long time to get into one of the cable cabin which is shared by others up to 10 pax. You can pay up to HKD 2900 to get a private cable, but you CRAZY!. You do have a choice of a Standard Cabin or Crystal Cabin which is, your cabin floor is visible to see. But price defer. We took Standard like other which cost about HKD 179.

Once in cabin (pssst.., only 2 cables are supporting us)it took us 25 min (5.7 km) trip across the mountain, hills, sea & land. It is worth it. Trust me. You will reach your destination, and head up to NP Village where the shows, food & shopping be. Make sure to check your tickets to know your itinerary that is included.

Standard only have Round Trip Ngong Ping Cable Car journey and entry to Ngong Ping Village's Walking with Buddha and Monkey's Tale Theater attractions. Can't compare with other package, but I think, we had just enough fun with this package.

Muslim, have no fear as there is Halal food up there, besides having the blessed smell of Starbuck's coffee, you can find Ebeneezer's Kebab & Pizzeria too. Thank god. A good meal and a good coffee place. And for desserts, they have Gelatos for those who crave ice cream, Honeymoon Dessert (Astro's Rasa Halal Orient HK, recommendation) and others too (if you're not as picky as we are.) After a good full meal, enjoy the gift shopping. They do have loads of things to buy up there. Not those fancy branded clothing, but touristy, souvenir thingy.

Anyways, enjoy the photos.

Updates.

While listening to Faizal Tahir - Kasih Tercipta, which is a weird choice of genre for me, I asked myself, what happen to blogging? Therefore I tweeted, "why have i stop bloggin'? what is wrong with me & my thoughts? has it shut down." Got to start my fingers typing & exercising. *krack krack*

My goodness. How long has it been since I last updated my blog. Must've been ages. I can see dust on my pages. Literally. Heh heh heh. How's everybody doing? Life is good? It's a beautiful date today. 11.11.11. And coincidentally, it's my good friends birthday too. Krystle. Happy birthday, baby girl.

Headphones on me ear, Youtube's on with my music playlist. Getting the grooves of typing. Sitting straight, shadows of me typing can be seen on the walls of my room, as the only luminous lights that I'm getting is our Ikea stand lamp which I just loved.

How's Hong Kong? Its ok. It's been a good 11 months here. Well, there were ups & downs, such as I hated the Summer heat, but then again, loved the sunny brightness, loved the coming Winter, but hate the coldness when showering. Both Suami & I are doing all ok. Living every day with full of grateful, thankful and blessed feeling.

My Youtube playlist is playing God Help The Girl's Funny Little Frog now. Gosh! It brings me back to work life. I keep playing this song when doing my work. I dance to this song when I'm at home in front of my wardrobe mirror and sing out loud when I'm driving to work or back from work. Life has totally changed now. I do miss my ID life. Gosh. *Silent moment* Ni semua Syana's fault for making me in a sob sob situation. Emo.

*Sign* Move on. While my head is nodding up and down following the music beat, I even typed according to the music tempo too. I wonder how I could actually think, type and listen all at the same time.

Suami's at work now. Housemates dah balik. Cause I can hear them front door banged & entering the room door banged. All is good. All is fine. I've got loads to blog about. But, not sure where to start first. Maybe I should list it down first.

1. Weight
2. Halal Discovery
3. Touristy
4. Business
5. Dancing
Before I start babbling, I would like to wish all Muslim Happy Eid Al-Adha. Though it was last Sunday, but then its a new year for us Muslim. So I've got another 1 year more to go before the next Eid. :) Would like to tell the whole world, that Suami & I experienced the best solat raya haji ever. We were privileged enough to pray at Causeway Bay's Victoria Park's field with other Muslim who is in HK. Well, 90% are Indonesian as 172,000 of them are domestic helpers working in HK & other 10% are Malaysian like us, Chinese, Mat Sallehs and so on. The field at Victoria Park was like a waved of white homo sapiens wearing their prayer attire. We were fortunate enough to experience it. I wonder if this is how it would be when we do our Haj. Masya'Allah.

And this year would be the first time that I didn't get to celebrate in KL. It was kinda sad, but I didn't want to think about it. But when I saw Suami's expression, I was in tears to see him in tears. *Silent* We may be missing all the family gathering, celebration, no korban, but we were again fortunate enough to have friends in HK and we did have a little celebration & makan-makan. Though we weren't invited cause we were with friends who said let's just go, therefore rezeki kami. Alhamdulillah.

Ok. I will continue on the list wrote above in the next blog.

Wax Paper

This great tip which I found from Apartment Therapy's website :

Rub WAX PAPER on a metal bar to make metal hangers glide smoothly and with less squeaks. The same concept works with a shower curtain with metal rings and rod.

I think we can use the wax paper on anything which uses metal that needs a glide or slide on something...

Enjoy. I sure did on my shower curtain and now it slides like a Slytherin from HP. :)

Another quick recipe.

Here's another quick tasty treat to munch on a weekend. And I personally thinks that this goes well for Summer.

Check out Racheal's easy-peasy recipe.

Cinnamon-Sugar Buñuelos Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

Halal...

If anybody is interested in coming to Hong Kong for a holiday and is a Muslim and wonders where to go and look for Muslim Halal food, please drop us an email as we are both gladly to help you out. And help you all to have the worry-free trip. Not only that, if you want us to help you get around, we would be happy to give you a hand...

Hey, you'd be surprised that Hong Kong do serves loads of Halal food.

email us at : aziramustafa@gmail.com

:)

Ramadhan is coming..

Alhamdullillah.. Ramadhan is coming soon. I can't wait. As this will be my first time as a wife celebrating Ramadhan without my parents/family. Plus, I am living in HK. It will be a total different thing all together. Food will be different & so is the environment of celebrating this coming holy month.

Every one who lives in Malaysia, loves it when Ramadhan is near. All because of the food fiesta that is waiting to be attacked. We just love the Ramadhan Bazaar going on for 1 whole month. And the food fiesta starts from 4/5 pm - till the sun sets for 'buka puasa' (open fast). Just talking about it now makes my mouth watery. I can just imagine all the savory food, desserts, drinks, pastries, dishes and etc displaying on the whole stretch of the side road and calling out "Buy me..! Eat me...!". And I am not kidding you. Come travel to Malaysia on Ramadhan month and you will enjoy the pleasure of eating. *dreaming away...*

Anyways, like I said, I am in a different zone all together. But that doesn't mean I can't bring the Malaysia's Ramadhan mood to HK. I've decided to research and learn to make some of the delicacies, pastries and food here. I've got my recipes jotted down, ingredients bought and prepared. I am no cook or a baker like my husband. But, curiosity kills the cat and I am one of it.

Today I marked my history of making my first roti jala 'lacy like bread pancake'. It was a bit thick, but I got the hang of it on how to make it 'web lacy like'. I managed, struggled and destroyed the first batch, but later on it turned out OK. A bit thick then usual, but am so proud of myself. I even made the curry gravy for the roti jala. *happy mode*

I took some photos therefore enjoy them. In preparing my Ramadhan mood, I will continue learning to cook/bake/steamed and other terms that relates to food. :)

Salam ketibaan Ramadhan.. Ku telah menanti mu sekian lama..

PS: Reminder, you have got 1 more day to repay your fast.. :P

Summer!

It's been raining the past few days. No. Weeks. And HK was not being friendly to us. It summer time. So, maybe a few rain drops wouldn't hurt. But thunderstorm. Typhoons. Come on! But today, our laid back (mostly do nothing - watch TV, scratch butt) activity was a bit different. Suami's housemates gf is leaving HK as her internship has come to an end. So they decided to go to the beach. That's what people in HK do. So for a change, and since the young couple (emphasize on young couple) planned on going, Suami's housemate was nice enough to invite us and we said yes.

They wanted to explore Tai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay) beach at first. But somehow, there wasn't any luck on us.

1. Taxi driver didn't know the place, but insist on trying to find it. And Suami & I felt pity on him, cause he was so eager to drive us, but was totally puzzled by where the f* it was. So we decided to just drop off at Sai Kung Town.

On Sundays and public holidays, bus 96R from Diamond Hill MTR station serves Wong Shek Pier - via Sai Kung. There's also a frequent daily bus service (94) from Sai Kung to Wong Shek Pier. And a 45 minutes hike.

For a shorter, less hiking option :- Get a cab from Sai Kung Town. Head to Sai Kung Sai Wan. Tell taxi driver about walking to Tai Long Wan beach. If can, get somebody to write it in Chinese.

2. We asked around, and there was a schedule for the shuttle bus. Apparently, we were 3 hours late. And time wasn't enough. And sky looks a bit dark. So, we didn't want to risk it.

3. Had a local person to explain to us and said something about we need permission to go to the beach. Like an admission letter as the place is a resorted area. (Wasn't sure about this, but am doing research while typing this.)

4. The local guy gave us wrong information. I did some research and there wasn't any restricted or rules saying we need permission.
Ok. Do not want to bore my readers. We end up heading to another beach, which was more familiarized by Suami's housemate. Hoi Ha Wan beach where it's sort of a coral haven place. Though mostly damaged. The sea ain't that clear and it was a bit muddy. Advice to rent some snorkeling gears plus flippers as it wasn't a flat sandy surface once jump into the sea. Had some 'ouch', 'oofs', 'urgh' moments. Well, my Suami, most of the times. As I was wearing my 'I Love my Crocs' multipurpose shoe on. Heh heh heh.

But, sadly, we thought that it will be a nice beach-y place to do a bit of snorkeling. See some fishes. Get bitten by one. But, nah. Mostly mud. Rocks. Sharp shells. Cuts. And icky moments when u step into something gooey and can't see a shit as water was misty like. Like going into a river with unwanted sea creature. Hmmm... Suddenly the show from Discovery Channel's River Monster came to mind.. Yikes!

Malaysia. Truly Asia. I miss Perhentian. Or, Krabi. Nothing beats snorkeling in Krabi. Just jump into the middle of the ocean and snorkel, snorkel stork. I'm not giving a bad vibe about Hai Ho. It's what my opinion says. But, I never complained about being at the beach. Spending my weekend, after snorkeling, sitting at the sand. Taking LOADS of photos. Exploring the nature. More photos. See the sun. Hear no noise. Feel the wind. Feel the sand on my feet. Smell the ocean. Hear the sound of soft ripples. And most important, get burned marks on my back. Who can't resist that.

I got more to talk about. But, it's 1:30am. And am dead sleepy. My Suami is snoozing to La La Land, and Isteri here is still busy typing about. Good night everyone. Good night HK. Good night world.

Will post the photos once edited - POSTED. And will blog more ridiculous write-thoughts-that-is-in-my-head post.

I still smell salty like the beach. *grin*

My mind is...

Messed up.

I haven't been blogging lately. Maybe because I was away for the last 12 days. Balik kampung. In direct English translation - Go home village. heh heh heh..

I'm sorry to my loyal readers. - If there is anyone reading this piece of crap.

Anyways, back to my topic. Speaking of "topic", remember those days back in school, where you should not write an essay that is out of topic. Hahahahahah! I think I got 1 or 2 feedback/results for my essay paper that was "out of topic". That's fuh-ney.

There I go again. Astray. I can never get my mind straight to what I'm about to write. Always an interruption. Shut up!

I'm in a messed mode these few days. Feeling sluggish. Sad. Down. Hopeless. Stupid. Name it. Anything demotivating. I'm IT. I haven't been working. I haven't been dancing. I haven't been exercising. I can't even spell "exercising" without using the right click - check spelling, button.

It's that whats been bothering me? I thought I could pull it off for a year. You know, take a break. But, I realized I get mad easily. Uneasy. You know, just itchy to be pissed off at small things that don't matter.

And now, I get so frustrated knowing people I know is being all successful and 'out there'. And here I am, having big dreams, but no shit on making it real. I don't know. It's not the time yet. I know. But shouldn't I be doing something by now?

Maybe I'm just plain lazy. That's the answer. Tell me. How do I get myself motivated back again? Help. I think, I've lost something in me. And I know, this will not do good to my self.

:(

Sad day.

It really sucks when you are so far away from home, and you hear the news about someone you love, is suddenly having sick. And it sucks even more, when somebody tells you, that the sickness is cancer. And it gets worst when you know the next day, it has become worst to stage 4 and you can't do anything about it. Thinking and praying that it will be ok.

And suddenly today, at 12 midnight, you receive a message, telling the news that, that person pass away....

He was my late grandfather's brother. He was a wonderful grand uncle that I just adore and love. He is the most happiest man I ever known. Cheerful, funny, witty and always acted like he forgot all of his grandchildren name. And he would just call out random names to us. He would laugh so loudly and talked to random people. Humble, humble, humble man.

On my Solemnization day, he was the eldest man to become my "tukang ganyang" "tukang pembuka majlis" (person who speaks/introduce/starts the event). Since he was the eldest from my family side, he has been in charged ever since both my brothers and now me. And, never in my mind would I think off he would go that soon. I always imagine he will be the one who will be at every of my cousin's wedding. He was my witness. And witness to my brothers. He was the one we all look for when it comes to family matters. Mom is so attached to him.

I know he is old, but he doesn't look or even act old. His just so happy. Always smiling and laughing. You can never not love him.

Rest in piece, datuk Aziz. We will miss you. We love you very much. I'm just so honored, you were there for my wedding day.

10.06.2011 - Datuk Aziz
03.03.2007 - Datuk Salleh

Wanna Cupcake?

I think it was yesterday, that Suami & I stumble upon (again) a small cupcake shop. Well, I saw it online and never thought of looking for it. But when we were walking about aimlessly (as usual) after our disappointment of going to Lomo store to pick up our "spoiled-photos", which was not ready by the way, we were face to face with this cupcake shop called Cake-A-Licious.

Well, our main reason of aimlessly looking around was to have a dessert session due to depression. (Remember, photos not ready.. *point statement above) So we wanted to check out this pastry shop called SIFT. We walked all the way from Shueng Wan where the Lomo store is at, and pass through another cool shop I discovered online, called Pantry Magic (will write a blog about this - definitely), and suddenly we were back to SOHO area. We were just walking along Queen's Rd. And was blinded by all the junk, antiques, collector item's along the way. In short, it ain't that far from Central to Shueng Wan.

So, back in SOHO area, Suami thinks he knows where SIFT was, but sadly, he don't remember. That's when we discovered Cake-A-Licious. It's basically hidden among the shops. Plus it's at the basement. You are to use a staircase to walk in their shop. It reminded me so much of Melbourne. Hehehehehe. But, once you are at that road, I don't think you will miss it. I sure didn't cause it's in Fuchsia, smells of eggs, sugar and flour, and you see people suddenly disappearing heading down.

First thing I saw was the cupcakes on the display counter. Not really much of a choice to pick from plus it wasn't really attractive. Wanted to walked out, but, now, that's the thing about having your shop at the basement area. You're like entering with an agreement to buy something, because walking out - more to UP, means attracting attention. hehehehehe.

I thought to myself, we are here, may else well buy something. Smells good. Don't wanna judge the decoration from it's taste. We bought Red Velvet and Carrot Cake. Typical. But, usually, the typical ones are the ones that helps to compare from another shop. The cream cheese icing on top was just to flat. Didn't have enough swirl on it. And, it was just plain cream cheese and a little icing mixed in it. Not complaining. Just giving you the visual idea. Though I've posted some photos. Heheheheh.

To give you a clear idea, I think the RV wasn't that great. But I did enjoy the Carrot Cupcake though. It's kinda hard to give a good A+ to cupcakes nowdays, as theres soooo may competition everywhere. And plus, I've tasted better. So, to sum up both Suami & my conclusion, Cake-A-Licious bakery is a so-so choice. But don't stop you guys from trying. Cause maybe it tastes good from your liking.

Glorious Food!

Chapter: 16, Verse 114

"...therefore eat of what Allah has given you, lawful and good (things), and give thanks for Allah's favor if Him do you serve.."

Thank you, Allah & to my Suami for this blissful life. Having to live in this world, with food that are made from earth. Alhamdulillah.

Crazy Ideas for Kitchens!

Why haven't I thought of this. Reused low cabinets example: TV cabinets, bedside cabinets, etc; and mount them on the walls and used it as a kitchen cabinets instead! It's super functional, cheap and super cool idea. If you think the colour of the cabinets are dull, re-paint them with your own choice. It's pretty much DIY, but when money is concern, who wouldn't want to be creative. I sure would!

I got my inspiration from a link I stumbled upon. She uses IKEA's bathroom mirrored cabinet (or I usually call the Medicine Cabinet) and mounted it on one part of the wall in the kitchen she designed. It's mirrored, so it gives the illusion of space. Smart eh? And you can usually DIY things from IKEA. All because you have to assemble your own things. Unless you pay the person who is in-charged of assembling it. But then again, you pay more. Right? So, why pay more. Make it a "weekend project" with your love ones or friends, or whoever.

I tell ya, once I get my hands on my own cheap, run-down apartment, I will use my (I hope its magical) magic hands, and spur me house like it cost a bomb, baybeh! heh heh heh.

Back to reused & being all creative. You see, IKEA cabinets always have its legs separated. Correct? Therefore, don't use them. Save them and used it on other things. Take those legs off and mount it on the wall. Now, mounting it, is another chapter for me to research. I'm sure there's many ways to stick them on the walls. Make your kitchen more funkier by adding tiles, which you can buy them easily at any tiles shops. You don't need them a lot, but measure the area you want them to be, and calculate the quantities/pieces needed. Not only that, buy those funky mirrors and lay them behind the cabinet wall to give it a little more depth and of course style.

I think its a great idea to make your own DIY kitchen. More like attaching them piece per pieces. Draw them (you not need to sketch it perfectly like a designer, just a rough idea) out on a sheet of paper, look at the product at the store which you think suits the design. Colour it, if needed to and figure out a way to attached them.

Here I've posted some photos of ideas you can cheat/copy to make your kitchen looks like it cost you a bomb! heheheheh.

Idea 1:
Idea 2: To be updated. (Now to tired and sleepy)

Compact Living indeed.

Now who say small living space is tight and boring. Here's a link you should watch. I can't post this YouTube on me blog. No idea why. But click the link.

I'm blown away. This architect guy is AWESOME! Thumbs up! But - wait! Reality check.

A Tiny Apartment Transform.
When you got money, you get to do anything which is the most impossible thing a person with no money can do.

Ok, back to fantasy.... Super cool! This is so super cool! Get your "inspired cap" on and dig this. And oh, it's said to be a "Green Home" living. Hmm... How green can it be..? You be the judge.

Where did I get them?

(Oh, this post is an additional add on on my last week post on Mascarpone Cheese.)

I don't know about you, but somehow or another, it's so hard to find Mascarpone Cheese here in Hong Kong. Well, maybe it's just me. I'm just ignorant on where to look for them. But, since I stay way, way, way far from the blue line MTR station, to get my hands on them cheese, is pretty hard, you know.

But thanks to my curiosity, penyibuk (a person who likes to snoop around - yeah, basically me.) and always on the look out for new things, (always asking my Suami, "Ubby, what's that? or "Can we go there?" or "Look! What's that? Can we check it out for a while?", I managed to finally, FINALLY stumbled upon the most wanted Mascarpone Cheese. *insert intense music here & shine a light at the cheese*

Ok, ok. I've been babbling all the time. You must be bloody bored to read on. If this was in a DVD, you would likely just fast forward. Fine. It's at TASTE, East Point City Mall in Hang Hau. Use the Blue line (if you are from Island line) and head to Northpoint station. Then changed line to Purple (I think it's more lavender-ish) line that is heading to Po Lum or LOHAS park, which is basically Tseung Kwan O Line. Stop at Hang Hau station and exit at A1 to enter East Point City Mall. I think you will be able to see TASTE when you are at the atrium area. It's above Mark & Spencer, I think. No worries, you won't miss it as the mall has 2 floors only.

And not only you will find the Mascarpone, you will be flipped and going all "Yahoooooo!" when yo see other branded international products that they bring in. Havarti cheese which you can't find it at the local ParkNShop or Jusco. And other Italian/US products. Even at M&S, I couldn't find any cheese.

Anyways, here's a link to where to can find your nearest TASTE supermarket. I'm doing some research on where to look for other international supermarket. I need to look for Tumeric leaves. Anyone knows where to get them besides back in Malaysia...?

TASTE Supermarket

Enjoy your shopping. Oh, if you need ladyfinger biscuits, you'll be spoiled with choices too. Weeee!

MHOR Bread

I was watching TLC's Rachel Allen: BAKE. And there was a segment that Rachel Allen went to a artisan bakery shop called MHOR Bread. And I was fascinated and impressed by the bakery and how it reminded me so much of how Suami is passionate on just making and baking bread.

As usual, my curiosity lead me to go online and research, research and research. After all, I am going to be the boss of Baker's Soul. Heh heh heh. I found their websites. And I was so impressed and blown away as it's actually a family business and they are Scottish. Not only they have a bread shop, they even have a hotel, fish store, tea store and many more. Its an entire family MHOR business, I tell ya! What an inspiration to me. I dig & dig & dig. And found loads of links & article written about this entrepreneur business.

My, my, my... I wish one day, to be that adventurous!

I've attached the link to their main websites. Happy clicking this : MHOR

And I've got some articles to those who would like to read about these great family business. It's like so cool to have a brand or name that you can have it in different types of business. A hotel, I tell ya! Hotel! A tea shop? Like come on! A tea shop! You not only get supplies from your own farm or bakery shop, you get it FRESH & the exact style and taste/texture/size you want without having to argue about the quality of it with the suppliers! Damn...! :P

Ok, ok. Here are some of the articles. Thanks to the link provided.

The Bakery Info

Stirling Gov : Business

Surprise Yourself: Visit Scotland

Orange Pup Tent + cheese sandwiches


Enjoy your day, readers. I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog lately. Been busy with "trying" to finish up my wedding album which I have postponed doing it ever since I was solemnized back in Dec 2010. Heh heh heh. I am such a lazy girl. Life. Living without any work stress to think off except how to make my relationship happy.

I'm blessed. *grin*

My summer's breakfast.

Today, my Summer time breakfast would be... *drum roll please*

Oatmeal with warm milk. And some golden syrup with cherries. Cherry-o-licious!

It's cherry season in Hong Kong, btw. Bought them HK$48 for a bunch of them like in a medium size plastic bag. Which back in KL you've got to pay RM48 for half of them bunch. Heee.. Sadly, blueberry seasons is out and I think I missed raspberry season. Oh well. Strawberries are still around. :)

But, make sure to buy them at the morning markets. Its way cheaper there. And fresh too. We both occasionally go to the market, as we don't like to encounter the piggies on the hooks. If you know what I mean. It's quite terrifying for us to see one just hanging around, doing their thang. Heheheheh.. So, occasionally. Thank god there's a market near our place. But, not to worry, you can simply find any market along the way in HK. They are like mushrooms. Evey corner or alley or lorong, there's always a stall selling fruits/meat/veges and so on.

We buy or halal meat or chicken at Wan Chai. I forgot the name of the market, but the butcher shop is called Pak Mahmod Halal Meat (I think) located way, way, away from the piggy alley. hehehehe. Like, its not facing each other. So we have no doubt of its cleanliness or pig-splattered-free. Though we have to pass through the piggies hanging around, but it just for a few seconds. I will get more detail on the butcher's location. Oh, he sells fresh chicken too. But mind you, HK's breed chicken ain't big as Malaysia's.

Enjoy..!

Add ons

Oooo, Tiramisu with drizzled cherry sauce and cherry pulps.. Yummmsss...

Hehehehehe!

Mascarpone..

I made Tiramisu today. heh heh heh. Will post photos and update this post. At the mean time, I'm a happy kid. Loving the smooth, fluffy and creamy look of the cheese, with soggy, soggy, soggy coffee dipped ladyfinger biscuits. Ohhh, cant wait to get my hands on them babies, once its all cool up in the fridge.

In the mean time, taking a rest as today's agenda was, woke up early, early, early and had a bit of mood swing, when to the club house with Suami and did our gym workout. He did 90 sits ups, while I managed to do 40. Blah!

After working out, we both went to the market and bought some fishes, squids and prawn. Suami wanted to go to Sai Kung for lunch, but I wasn't up for it. So, I decided to do some Sai Kung style cooking. Heh heh heh. Deep fried fish (I think the fish we bought was Snapper) with dark soya sauce, buttered deep fried prawn with egg floss, though the eggs wasn't flossy enough. And my kangkung goreng belacan (Fried spinach cooked with fermented prawn paste.) Suami had 3 helpings and of course I packed for him for his dinner.


Ok, not feeling well now. I think I'm having a little bit of headache. Maybe due to stress level at home. I think, now I know how my mom feels every time she sees the clothes not folded, clothes not washed, house not clean, bed not made, and yada, yada, so on, so on.

Update soon. With the Tiramisu recipe too. Ooo, I can't wait! :)

As promised Tiramisu recipe :

• 250 g of Mascarpone Cheese (Get the expensive ones. It's about quality baybeh, not quantity).
• 100 g granulated sugar.
• 3 eggs (separate the egg whites and yolks).
• 400 g whipped cream.
• A dash of Vanilla extract.
• A packet of ladyfinger biscuits (Can usually find them at an international food store or Italian).
• Espresso powder or I use instant coffee mix.
• Double boiler.

What you need to do:

1. Whipped cream to its peak and store in the fridge.
2. Add hot water to coffee and let it cool to room temperature.
3. Separate eggs white and yolks.
4. Beat egg yolks with some of the sugar till fluffy.
5. Slowly & patiently stir egg yolks & sugar in the double boiler till eggs look custard like (basically looks cooked).
6. Once eggs is custard like, let it rest.
7. In a bowl, put Mascarpone cheese & vanilla. Whisk or mixed or what ever you want to do so that it blends well.
8. Add in custard like eggs. Let it aside.
9. In another bowl, whisk egg whites till it's fluffy like whipped cream and slowly add in the left sugar (after the egg whites looks fluffy and whipped cream like)
10. Fold egg whites in the cheese mixture.
11. Take out chilled beat whipped cream and fold whipped cream in the cheese mixture.

Cream is done.
Now to make it look like a Tiramisu, what you need to do is :

1. Dipped in ladyfinger biscuits into coffee and lay it on your desired pan, Tupperware, glass or anything that holds.
2. Once filled, pour cream on it and level the cream.
3. Add in ladyfinger biscuits with coffee.
4. Filled the left over cream on top.
5. Basically, dipped ladyfinger, then cream, then ladyfinger, then cream.

I didn't have any cocoa powder to give it a Midas touch to it. But heck, it still taste the same. Instead, I have got some cherries in my fridge and made my own sauce.

1. Diced cherries or just cut into 2 (make sure seeds taken out)
2. A spoonful of sugar
3. Lemon juice (I didn't have any, so I used apple juice)
4. Tupperware container

What you need to do:

1. Put in cherries, a dash of apple/lemon juice and 2 spoonful of less sugar (depending on how much sweetness you want) in the container and close the lid.
2. Shake well and leave it alone in the fridge to let them sweat its own juice. heh heh heh..

Enjoy!

Rachael Ray's Raspberry Tiramisu

I saw this SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE recipe for Tiramisu. Not a typical Tiramisu, but a funky raspberry ones. And I'm making one. Will blog it once it is a success. Since now I know where to find my Mascarpone Cheese from! Wohoooo!

Raspberry Tiramisu Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

Buddy Valastro - Every Day with Rachael Ray

I was just scrolling down, reading my Twitters Home page, and came along this twit post by Buddy Valastro from the Cake Boss, that I LOVE to watch.

Click below for the link.

Read on. Enjoy! :)

Buddy Valastro - Rachael Ray Celebrity Interviews - Every Day with Rachael Ray

Beautiful Lunch Date

Salam.

I'm so blessed by today's lunch. Suami made some arrangement with his ex-colleagues to bring me and have our, once-in-a-while "fancy" lunch or dinner in some "fancy" restaurant, looking all "fancy" and fine. Hehehehe. Love being "fancy". Anyways, just an insight of what we had for lunch today.

Suami's brought me to 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Restaurant at Alexandra House, Central. It was another beautiful place to have a lovely "fancy" meal. The last fancy meal we had was at Cepage, and it was a French Cuisine, but this time, it's Italian, baybeh! Magnifico & deliziosa! , & prelibato!

The ambiance was rich, masculine and of course, classy. When we entered the restaurant which first thing you will encounter is the bar/lounge, I did feel a bit intimidated, as it looks pretty dark & dimmed lights. Everyone was rich and famous like. All in coats, formal, snob-like, and so on. Heh. And here are two Muslims, Malay, middle class, couple came in.

Felt a bit out of place, as I rather head down and eat in our favorite Halal cafe. Plus we had to wait as reservation was suppose to be at 1:30pm, but then, when we came, it was still not available. So we had to wait till 2:00pm. From there on, I was giving all this moody, bad and judgmental comments that it wasn't a great idea. But mind you, it's o myself. Not to my Suami. He planned all this, so I could've not say it out loud. Damn you, PMS!

Anyhow, I try to over look at it, and read some papers while waiting, amused by the news written, where there was a guy who got stopped at the railway station for bringing his dead baby in a box (which must've been a coffin), where his intention was, he wanted to bring the dead body back to his homeland to bury. The police must've jumped into conclusion. Sigh. Even read the Zodiac sign section and it says about Leo, that I'm heating up, so go ahead, take the plunge. Bla bla bla... Well, my own Leo says, I'm just plain lazy to do so and want to enjoy the moment of laziness. Hah!

Then, came a voice. "Hello, How are you today. Sorry to keep you both vaiting. I've goz good newz vor you two. Your tablez are set and vaiting..." and brought us to our table. And that, totally changed my mind when we entered a short hall where suddenly, just SUDDENLY, the room was lighted up, bright as ever, where the windows were big and wide. i LOVE big frame less window. No obstruction.


The whole room from where we were waiting, was a total transformation. It lifted my mood back again. Interior concept was a flow from the bar area we were waiting at. Same atmosphere which was, masculine, rich and classy. But more visible to the naked eyes. I guess, they wanted to have that effect to customers. And of course, having the bar area outside, near the entrance is an easy target attraction to customers or passer by. Like a pulling curiosity method. Bar means alcohol. And maybe I didn't take a glimpse when we arrive at the restaurant. I'm sure the bright lights from the sun was squeezing through the short hallway where the bar/entrance space is at, cause the lights that were in the room, was bright enough to let me see ever detail in it. Just amazing. I can write so many things about when I see an interior. I want to get into details, but that will definitely bore you. So I let the photos say the thousand words that's playing in my mind.

I think we were the last customer to come in for lunch as everyone who came was heading back to the office. So we had the most full service attention. Heee.. Suami's friend came out once in a while to check us out and he made some special arrangement too for our meal. Though we have already order our starter, appetizers & main course, thanks to our waiter (not sure if I should call him a waiter or a host?) where I mentioned that we were Muslim, so no wine, alcohol, meat or of course no pork. And he explained to us which one is suitable for us. And, may I say, that, most of their meal do not use alcohol. Usually it will be written. Had a few options in it that we can choose from. So we had these for starter and appetizer...
And special request from Suami's friend, the Pastry Chef Ali, along came these. Though pasta was slightly not cooked. But tuna was chunky and meaty and sauce was yummy...


Then our main course came. And look at them squisito presentation!


And to top up the lovely evening, Pastry Chef Ali made us these.


Oh, I'm in love. He gave us 2 different types of desserts and as usual a Petit Four (which we take away) as stomach was full. Meals look small. But eating small amount of food and waiting for the next course at a certain length of time can actually help a person eat less and fill up the tummy.

To total up, the place was beautiful. Food was delicious. Staff was moderate friendly, but not the guy who lead us to our table, and the guy who served us our desserts. But the rest was pretty much sour face. I would recommend you to come eat here. The pastry chef is a Muslim, by the way. So, he will whip up some Halal dessert for you. Maybe you should mention Suami's name to him. Say we recommended you to him. Via blog. :)

There goes our day. Had a lovely evening. We came at 1:30pm and left the restaurant at 4-ish pm. So, that's how long we were there. Go ahead. Be "fancy" once in a while with your other half. It's fun. I sure did. I end up the evening and wracked my Suami's wallet and bought for us some bodywash and bubble bath bombs from LUSH. It was on the way to the MTR! I can't help it!

Like how the Italian say, Grazie molto! Arriverderci! (Thank you very much & Goodbye.)

Still keep counting..

I know, I know. This is cheesy. But, hey, I like counting/remembering/updating days, dates, memorable moments in life which I specifically thinks is special. As which I am posting up a shout out to commemorate (just to make it sound dead serious) this date.

It's 18th May 2011. Back in 2006, my 'boy'-friend cum Suami (husband) officially asked me, Isteri, to be his girlfriend. Now, I'll be damned. hehehehehehe. Well, its a long story & loads of drama. Loads. But, I guess, it was the biggest test that God have given me, to see where I stand. And God totally opened up a new world for me. Changes everything. Shows everything. Given everything. And this is where we are today.

It took him about a month, exactly a month before this date to popped the question. * I'm blushing just thinking about it back again. Oh gosh!* Remembering that, he said "I love you" first before he asked me to be his girl. *Cheeeeesy!!* Well, it all happened. It gelled well, clicked well, and everything falls into places (though took us years to actually fall the right way - the way we are now).

I can't thank Allah enough for whatever He have done & given to me & us. It's just incredible. Really am thankful.

So, today, right now, as I'm typing this, I want to tell the whole world, its our 5th year anniversary. Yeah, it maybe a small 'big deal, who cares' moment, but it matters to us for the path that we both had to go through, to keep our relationship and life to where we are now.

"Suami, Happy 5th Anniversary, my love. Thank you for everything.
Semak for Life...."

May Allah bless your kind soul and heart, forgive your sins, give you good health and wealth and keep us both strong together to strive what He asked us to do in life before the day comes to and end.

Insy'Allah.

Yours,
Isteri.

Happy Birthday.

Oh, I almost forgot, it's 15th May 2011!

Its my Papa's birth date. So am wishing him a very blessed birthday. May Allah protect him, shelter him, gives him wealth, health and happiness in his life. And may Allah forgive his wrong doings and adds his well doings as Papa turns 60. Insy'Allah.

Happy 60th Birthday , Pa. Glad that we get to celebrate with you in Australia last few weeks. Here's the cake! :)

Small, but tasty.

Salam.

Suami brought us (my parents & me) for dinner (last dinner before parents fly back home to Malaysia) at Maharani Restaurant. Yes, another Indian cuisine. But, it's Halal.

When Suami told me about this place, thinking it will be a fancy restaurant, as it's located at the heart of Central's Lan Kwai Fong. I think it's few shops away from Eberneezer, adjacent to this restaurant/pub place Suami & I like to hang out for some live kicking music band, called Insomnia. And plus, I don't want to give a bad impression of the place we are going since we are bringing our parents. I don't think my mom and papa likes to pass through or even go anywhere near to streets where the music is blasting so loudly, people drinking, neon lights and well, basically, you guys can imagine how. Party! Wohooo!

But because we are Muslim, we got to do what we've got to do. Not only, did my Suami brought us to a different entrance - dodgy staircase, dim lights, cracking door sound and scary atmosphere, (mom can't stop saying, "Quickly, before we see any cockroaches come out..") we managed to find the restaurant. Its above a pub, by the way.


Next when we entered, Golly Miss Molly!
Isteri : "Honey, are you sure you brought us to the right place?"
Suami: "Yes lah. Why..?"
Isteri : "Why? You serious..? Why you ask me?"
Suami : "I've eaten here before lah. It's sedap."
Isteri gave a look.

The place was so small, again dodgy, dimmed, and well, just small! It's like you can only fit in less than 30, but mind ya, crammed ok. I think mom had a bad feeling 'bout the place. And papa was I guess, trying to accept whatever it is. As long as it's Halal. But, thank God, the best turning point, no - DISTRACTION, was when mom said "Assalamualaikum.." to this Muslim family sitting next to our table. How we know they are Muslim, the Hijab of course! :) So mom & papa didn't gave much thought to the restaurants interior or space, and even the menu. Because they were into their conversation to the family next to us, who were Malaysia too. Thank God!

So Suami & I ordered and we we're the last customer. We were kinda late. It was around 8 plus close to 9pm. Shop closes at 9:30pm I think. And had some ladyfingers, chicken & cauliflower. Papa kept saying, "Masala..? Takde masalah lah.." lol. And rice, of course. Had the usual drinks - Mango Lassi, that was made just right behind us on a shelf where the drinking cups and glasses was. Sangat space saving.

I may be complaining about the place and where they made their drinks, and EVEN HAVE A BAR that sells alcohols, but food was good. Halal and good. The chicken was soft and tender, cauliflower tasted like vegetable, duh, and the ladyfingers was cooked with some Indian spices deliciously. It all tasted the same, but, we were hungry. Plus, the rice sedap. So bedal lah. But mango lassi was bad, maybe cause it was done right behind us. Mom didn't like it. Tasted like orange mixed mango.

And oh - the kitchen is like next to us, just next to us like 1ft from us. And there were 2-3 guys in there cooking, which I think, the head chef/owner must be the oldest uncle in there. And the kitchen is so small it looked like they were in a store room. Adoi. But then again, when one wants to survive, anything whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifill do. And as long as they are serving Halal food - minus the alcohol, please, we Muslim will support it.

Don't be surprise ok, that most of the Lebanese, Middle Eastern & Indian restaurants serve alcohol. So, they're not 100% Halal in terms of business, but they serve Halal food - FOOD. They have their Halal certifications from Islamic Union of Hong Kong.

Well, another venture for Halal discovery. Go to Maharani Restaurant. It may have a bad interior, but food is delicious. Ah, another Indian cuisine. Oh, fun. I miss having to eat Malaysian food. There are many here, but miss eating HALAL Malaysian food. Sigh..

ps: no website linked to Maharani Mess, but try Google it. Enjoy.

Love this!!

Ever since my baby sister bought this DIY calender from Kikki.K, I feel in love with it. And since we Suami & I went to Aussie last week, my sister brought us to see the shop. And BAM! It's tha' bomb place. I bought myself a DIY Perpetual Desk Calendar. The best thing is, its date/month/year is not written. Therefore we get to write/stick to our own likings. Well, basically according to what year I am in. Duh. Heh heh heh..

Its an interesting, creative and very much a wonderful gift shop. And also a 'I-Am-A-Freak-Organizer' place. Love it, love it, love it!! Hooojyeah! Check out their link attached below. Sadly, they only have their stores in Aussie & Singapore. Oh, come to Hong Kong please...!

Kikki.K Stationery & Gifts.

Enjoy your browsing. You will definitely love it. I sure do. :)

Good Morning HK.

Salam. Good morning. As I'm typing this, its 5:50am. I was woken up by my needs to pee. My goodness, Allah is great and powerful. What I meant was, you know how hard it is to wake up for Subuh prayers. When back in KL, my parents use to wake me up to do our Subuh prayers, but as now Im living on my own, I took the advantage of not being a very dedicated hamba to Allah. He always find ways to wake me up and remind me about it. And he does it smoothly. If I'm not mistaken, I snoozed every time the alarms on, and I said (like everyone in this world would say) "5 minutes more, another 5 minutes." and never woke up again. Syaitan, syaitan. Kau menutup wajah ku, badan ku dengan selimut kulit babi. Sedap saja rasanya untuk tidur balik. Masyallah. Subhanallah. Kuasa Allah.

But Alhamdullilah, I guess, I must have done 'something' or tinny tiny good deeds for he loves me and gave a lil' help. Thank you, Allah. And I feel good waking up suddenly. Very "semangat berkoba-koba". heh heh heh. Actually, it's good to wake up really really early, where the sun is not yet out and the air is still a virgin. Fresh and silent too. Like now. The best thing about waking up early is, I sure feel like I need to go to the poo poo land! Brb.. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Left 5:59am.
Continue : 6:07am


I'm back. OK. Where was I. Ah, yes. Waking up early. Hong Kong's been raining since last 2 days. We are now entering Spring-Summer season, and April- early May was pretty hot. The temperature rises from 10'degrees to 30degrees Celsius. Then we had our long holiday to Australia at the end of April and Aussie was in their Winter season, therefore I didn't really felt the heat waves of Summer yet. And when we came back, thinking the heat will kill me, it's been raining. Alhamdullilah. Amin, amin.

Oh, no. Shiat. I just cleaned the window. And now its gonna have the droplet/splattered stain on it. I never seen my room window soooooo clean and crystal clear. Its like, cantik. hahahahah! But the rain water's gonna leave a mark again. Oh, well. I just have to clean it back. And, omg. I'm so loving the kitchen window too. It's CLEANED! And, it's so clear that you can see straight to the neighbors kitchen. Its like so clear, I saw my own reflection when the light beams, and when the lights are off, you feel like there is no window there. Its so clear. Before this, it was so oily, stained, even hog the view. Very misty like. Almost visible to the naked eyes. But now. Not anymore! With Amway's Window Cleaner & newspaper to wipe the dirt away, you can be happy like me! So happy! I love clean windows. (Psycho).
Am looking through the weather forecast now, its going to be a wet, wet, wet, wet week ahead. Alamak! Nak sidai baju susah lah pulak. Grrr.. Ok, not complaining. Well, I better make a move now. Man... this weather is really calling me to tuck under my blanket. So much of "semangat berkoba-koba" for the day! Lol!.