NostalgiaAnakMami: 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

it's a boy

Hallo...saya Shakiera... and imma boy...

slps bbrapa siri penyiasatan... rasanya.. dia ni lelaki... opsss... takpa laa.. nama dia tetap Shakiera dan boleh la letak nickname Shark kan...

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

I wrote an Ayam post last year... the event where my niece made my parents bought a chick happened again...somehow... i have a feeling this is beginning to be a anniversary thingy.. erk...and again... they bought 2 of em, and again I freaked out and again after a while, put away my "ego" and start to feel passion for the chicks.... Then in one unfortunate event.. one died on their second day with us.... (kesejukan)... sad aaar... so nekad, have to take care of the survivor...She survived day 3... then day 4....

Day5 - still fur fur gitu - is it called fur?hmmm.. well lets just assume lah :P

By day 5... she has a name... Shakiera! named by my niece... And we had no idea of its gender :)) My dad said this is not a chicken but a quail... but just to make sure, I did some googling... and yeah... fathers know best :P

This babe is known as COTURNIX QUAIL or better known as Burung Puyuh :D

Day 8 - evidence of feathers coming out

Day 12 - more feathers replacing its fur

Day 12 - shakiera's playpen :P

We got Shakiera another playpen@ homie. During the visit to a petshop, I asked the owner, how to identify the gender of burung puyuh? He xplained dat one way to find out is to observe its behaviour. If it moves its neck upwards and actively most of the time, it might be a male, as female puyuh are known to be 'quite'. Then I became kinda sure shakiera's a male.. alamak.... gender confusion tu beb.. nanti he will grow up to be a troubled teenage puyuh pulak coz of the confusing name given? how....howw ??? erk....

Day 17: staring rite back at ya!

When I told Ain that Shakiera might be a guy... she refused to believe me... she is very confident that her Shakiera is a girl... hmmmm ....

Day 17: new housie... hmmm...so male u think?

Then again... I googled:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Happy-Homesteader/Sex-Of-Quails.aspx
http://farmingfriends.com/quail-gender-identification/

Now I think... Shakiera might be a female after-all.... hmmm.... So I guess I dont have to change her name to Shah Kiran then... hmmm.. hopefully I am correct this time :P

Friday, November 26, 2010

in the midst of insignificance...

Just one of those insignificant events - I parked my car, went to settle some matters/work, came out, approached by the parking attendant, he charged me, I paid, he issued me a receipt, and I was out of there.

But that day was quite different.... I was greeted by this much older man... Very old, his frame looked fragile. Very old you would imagine he would prefer to sit at home and relax in this golden years of his. Instead, he was all energetic and lively and seemed to enjoy his job. When he first approached me, I didnt know he was the parking attendant. He had the "friendly-neighbour" aura...

"Helllo Miss... going back already?" in a happy, joyful tone.

I was like "ermmm......" didnt know how to respon, huhu... a bit weird for someone u didnt know to be that friendly out of nowhere...ritee? to top that, I can't see his face clearly at that time.

"Going back? Do you have your car here, miss?" and as he asked and came nearer, I saw him taking out the parking ticket book from his small sling bag. Oooo.... parking ticket rupanya...

"Ooo just here... haa there..." pointing towards my car, 4-5 metres away. He followed me and took the yellow ticket and gave out a small laugh, "Haha, not very long...Hmmm, ok. that'll be only 30cents, miss"

uncle ni.... friendly and speaks english in a very polite manner..I handed him the coins and said thank you.

"Wait a minute ya, miss.. I will write you the receipt" wrote and gave it to me "Okeyyy, done...here is your receipt... Have a nice day, miss..."

"Same to you, thank you....thank you yaa" went into my car and lifted my hand as a gesture of appreciation and he waved back at me and then to the next car behind me, stopping the fella's car, to issue the ticket.... all with smiles and the consistent "friendly, happy" face :D

That uncle, he reminds me of the good old days... 15-20 years back, when people are friendlier... Well that uncle actually brings me back a lil more to the past, through colonial times, clearly shown from the way he speaks english which is different from our generation these days :P But above all, worthy of note.... is how his positive attitude made me smile that day :-)

From this so called insignificant event, I learn that if you are happy with what you are doing, or stay positive, you project positive energy to only to yourself but also people around you. Memang betul lah bak kata pepatah,

Senyum itu Sedekah
A smile is a curve that sets everything straight ~ Phyllis Diller

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Penang Bridge Marathon 2010.

First time join a real Marathon.... Haha... I never thought of joining this year or anytime soon...Zue invited us to join her mission to run in this Marathon... and tup tap... here we go, with Kak Ilah and Mar.

Since we are all first-timer, we opted for 10km run...

(other categories: Full Marathon (42km),
Half Marathon (21km),
FunRun (10km but with no qualifying time/medal))

Those who manage to complete their marathon within the given time, they get a medal.
Full Marathon - 7 hours, Half - 3.5 hours, 10km - 1.5 hours.

and when Zue said she wanted to target the medal... I laughed.... and I told her, I will be lucky enough if I can finish the run.

The route map for 10km.... i edited a lil, coz there's a change in the route compared to the map they provided earlier.

I walked for like 70% of my marathon :P coz

1. my stamina not that superb

2. I happen to have mild muscle strain at my right thigh joint, so i dare not stress out the muscle too much.

10km run started at 6.15 am.

as shown in the map... first part, we ran on the highway that goes straight to the bridge. At the fork towards the bridge, I bumped into Mar, and asked for the time and was told it was 6.30am. I quickly made some calculation, and figured I might be able to make it on time if I maintain the speed. But, my muscle started to sore a lil. Afraid I might end up hurt thus not able to finish... I walked, but in highest speed I could and berlari-lari anak a few times :P On the way, I asked 2 random people for time, just to check whether I was on the right 'track'. I maintained the same walking speed from the bridge towards the end. About 10 metres from finishing line, I ran :)) so that I won't feel like I did walkathon instead of marathon... miahahaha...

Finally, 7.30 am - I reached the finish line, took me 1 hour 19 mins. phewww..... Mar was just behind me in less a minute, then followed by Zue, just 2 minutes away. We bumped into each other a lot on the way... aku potong ko, ko potong aku, dan potong memotong sambil share ayaq :D Kak Ilah was nowhere to be seen, vanish into thin air gitue... haha... No lar, She finished earlier than us, took her 59 minutes oni...tak terkejar beb! :))

And all 4 of us managed to get medals.............. shared happiness is the best one ;-)

Thanksss u ollsss.... for various reasons i.e the invitation, lodging, motivations, jokes... etc etc

Hmmm... will I do it again? Hmmmmm...... we'll see... kalau ada kaki-kaki... maybe lah :P

p/s: PErghhhh... KAGUM lah.... those who did Half/Full Marathon.... cannot imagine myself braving thru 3-8 hours of marathon??? oucchhh

p/s/s: Adik-adik sekolah (junior category) sungguh incredible... they started 15minutes after us... but quite a number of them overtook us... ewah2.. mentang2 la metabolisme stamina korang masih tip top kan.... eksen nooh :P ahhahaa... cute nonetheless :D

Last but not least...

Tiring but Heppi!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

the rocky La-La Land

Some people view life as a student after a certain age as taking time-off from Reality /"normal life" to enter 'student-hood'... sounds like we are in a la-la-land or some sort.

Being a student doesnt give us immunity from all other responsibilites around us. There are bills to be paid, families to look after, datelines to be met, debts n loans to be settled etc... it simply means life resumes. Yes, life as a postgrad may appear to be kinda flexible, having space and given independence (in a way). But.. ouchhh.... these advantages are as deathly as it sounds convenient. It's a part of our battle to deal with this.

Don't misunderstand. I still love what I'm doing... and love and enjoy my time being a student :-) am aware dat everything has its ups and downs... its Just dat... sometimes, it irks me when ppl give the judging look when they discover my status - single and still studying at my age. Sometimes I'm immuned, sometimes I'm affected ;-) well, that makes me human.... and InsyaAllah... I hope will make me stronger.

Btw... here's bits n pieces from a conversation I had with a fren, a student like me... just some Nerdy talk lah...

Part 1

A: internet supposed to offer so many things but i feel nothing for them hahahha

S: yes.. thats y i want to say

S: be far away frm PC even if u r not using it for ur research. it makes u tired, better to be far from it for few days, just play with ur normal life WITHOUT PC

S: its getting impossible nowadays but when u do it u feel better. That y i said..that day, turn off my messenger and blablab

S: some times we waste many energy for just checking our emails and useless thing via the internet

A: u know, rite now i am waiting for something from email for more than a week

S: yeah same as mine

A: no reply till now, so internet makes me more dpressed now than ever

S: thats yyyyyyyyy

S: we hate the internet i guess

A: yaaaa

S: me & u right now

A: irony

A: but we are using it to talk now

S: yes... LOL

S: i love internet

S: but sometime i hate PC AND INTERNET

S: I FELL IT MAKE ME MORE CRAAZY

.... and duh.... wat am i doing now??? on my PC...online and diverting my emotions to my blog...

MORAL: Balance your life... say no to turning into human-species from Wall-E (too caught up with / reliance on technology that they overlook real human interaction)....

-haha geeky talk gives geeky conclusion...

Part 2

S: thatss the human story,,whatever u dont hav u wish 4 it

A: yes

A: like me

A: i want to travel simply becos i can’t do it now

S: and u forget abt the gifts that u got

A: yes

A: and sometimes i envy ppl who r married n have kids

A: but i know it doesn’t mean life is all the time perfect when u marry n have kids

A: n doesnt mean u not happy when u r single

S: yeah

A: but since i am not in that stage, it makes me feel like i’m lacking

S (who is married): and maybe i envy of ppl who are not married

S: i say..good laa, they can just concentrate on their stuff and their research

S: no extra responsibility, no headache, no overflow

S: they can just be like a mankan think of any single dress or ...they wear

S: me like a jumble up person just jump to the dress and jump to school

A: see... this is the thing

A: human nature

A: like to be in the situation u are not in

S: i totaly understand uuuuuuuuuuuuu friend

A: maybe if now.. i am working, committed n busy bein software engineer

A: i might be thinking

A: y didn’t I further my studies and go into academics

S: so lets fight with this feeling once it comes to us

S: just STOP /PAUSE it

S: we must pause negative issue

A: yesssszz

MOral: KEy to HAppiNess.... Be ThankFul n HAppy for the gifts you already have... its Ok to want more in life... coz its good that u improve n upgrade your life... but dont push yourself to the extent you take things you already have for granted....

..................................................................................................................................

Conclusion of the post?

I need to get back on my feet.

--> please put aside the negativity.... be optimistic... and move forward!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Back to School again

Back to School again.This photo taken by Lena, a whiteboard somewhere in d school compound. The lyrics of the classic edelweis song:

Reminds me of Primary School days..and also RedCrescent... where we had bunch of classics and other multi-lingual cheerings during gatherings/events :-P

I drew some numbers for lucky draw.. and the first draw.... was my own number... Erk... I am my own luck? a bit paiseh tho. Then one of the numbers hit this aunty's number... she is form 1965 batch. She said to me "This is my first time ever winning lucky draw"... wow... and its very flattering that I drew that number for her.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Syawal berlalu....

Selamat Hari Raya..... hari ni Syawal-29.
Okeh.... no more satay dgn nasik impit dan rendang.... or roti jejala... no more tat nenas.... ayam masak merah.... Hisssh... awat aku ngidam lagik nak makan mende2 ni eh... hohoho....

takper... tunggu tahun dopan lak ye...

chup tp masih dgr ura2 org masih buat dan ada nak attend "open house" weekend ni... hahaha... ye la nama pun open house... Open the House je lah...
Sebagai penutup... sedikit recap:

Baju bertema oreng trang tang tang...

Buiskut yg kebanyakan nyer resepi 80's itu :P

Mereka yang kesukaan dengan tosai mak aku masak... dan ayam masak merah :P

haishh lapaq eh....

nak pi makan.... weeezzzzzzz

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Business in the motion

.....last year....

Niecey nicey: Aunty, open the light... I want to pass motion...
Me: What....?
Niecey nicey: I want to pass motion pleaaaseeee... please open the light
Me: Huh? Pass motion.... what's pass motion?
Niecey nicey: Pass motion is go to "uuu-uuuk" laa... teacher Mary teach me... u dunno aar?
Me: Haaa... yaka? tak pernah dengaq pon, yeke Maa (turning to my mom....)
Amma: Yap.... taktau ka?
Me: Pass motion?? biaq betuiii....
Amma: Ya laa... abes tu hangpa ckp apa?
Me: Erk...... ntah...tak ingat pun cikgu ajaq? hmm... bahasa zaman dulu kot... (confident je, coz I know teacher Mary would be at least 15 years older than me)
Niecey nicey: Aunty faster laaa... open the light!
Me: its ON the light, not open the light...( Klik...)
Me: Okeii... you can go pass motion now...

Erk... did the term skipped a generation. Coz, bein curious and tak puas hati, I asked my sisters and they didnt know too... both my Mom and Dad knows....
maybe it was taught but then I/we forgot... i donnooo....

baidawayy... how did we say it back then, in school ? In a more "so called polite" way?
Big Business or Small Business... or... "we want to do business with Mr.Tan...."
bisness minded generation we are!

Monday, September 6, 2010

How to build ant colonies... yg bleh tolan.

My obsession with 80's recipe is not new to my family and some of my frenz. Having done 8 cookies altogether, I figured that should be enough. But then recently I was goin thru websites, (blogs n fotopages sharing recipes) and.. I found myself scouting for more recipes... and I fell in love with biskut makmur and biskut sarang semut. These are considered as evergreen, especially makmur. Sarang semut was famous in the 90s I think... hoho... but still evergreen gituw. Looking at the recipe... I realised I could still afford to make another cookies, and I chose sarang semut as most of the ingredients are already available.

When I searched the net, most of the recipes are the same. So here I share one of the links from a famous foodblog. http://hanieliza.fotopages.com/?entry=901155 . I rewrote... konon kasi variety sket dan takla copy paste je kan :P btw can also refer to the link for the resepi, in case mine tak clear sgt :P

The Ingredients:

350 gm wheat flour
100 gm corn flour
250 gm butter
100 gm castor sugar
1 egg (just the eggyolk)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For Deco:

Chocolate rice

Things you need (other than the normal baking stuff):

Grater
Small Paper cups

Method:

Sift wheat flour and corn flour together.
In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggyolk and add vanilla essense.
Blend in the dry ingredients (both the flours) gradually. Add and mix well.
Form into big doughs so that it will be easier to grate the doughs.
Grate the doughs into a bowl
Take a spoonful (/or accordingly) of the grated doughs into the paper cups.
Spread some chocolate rice for decoration.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes in hot oven at around 160-180 celcius.
DONE !

Guidelines to use Grater:

As seen in the photoblog, Ms.Hanie used this :

seems handy and easy right. But I dont have one of these!

therefore... I resort to this:

less blades huh.... imagine the efforts needed :P

But it was not that troublesome... So here's a demo of how I did it... cewah:

har har har... as u can see... I'm not using the dough. As this demo was done after the cookies dah siap! So I used Ain'a plasticine instead :)) huahuahua....

And your final result... would look something like this:

inset: how it looks like inside.

The Ant-Queen will be very excited!

So Am I !! Siok sendiri kuasa dua :P

Monday, August 30, 2010

New habits for highly ineffective people

title mcm tajuk buku glemer tu kan.... ahaks.. well....

New habit on Sundays...

Browse thru sunday star, and go time travelling back to when I was 15... hehe... :P

There's a section in the paper for Science n Maths for PMR... and I'll do the exam questions, monitored by my 6 years old niece. (more like tukang cek i dah abes ke belom) I can say my "PMR knowledge' is not that bad lah, tak la terlalu berkarat... But my prob is language... coz the terms were in Malay back then. so i kinda have problem tryin to figure out some of the terms :P

would i do better if the questions are in malay like how I was familiar with. Or should I be concerned that I can't relate to some of the Qs because of language issues? :P

My math still not that lost... coz most of it involves numbers n equations rather than terms. Some unfamiliar terms, just make assumptions :P

Ok... wait...
Has they changed Math n Science back to Malay? Tak sure plak...x keep myself up to date with current affairs :P Huhu... but inconsistency can be quite confusing eh?

New habit with the dough....

Haha... blame my niece. She always "forces" me to make something out of the plasticine. Chickens laa.. horse laa... tiger la.. cat laa... She will help by making some other props.... like this one-sarang ayam:

Somehow the habit got a bit uncontrolled and out of home. Like this one: completed with the help of a fren and some kids I played with, ranging from 5 to 10 years. The 10 year old Atikah made the Apatosaurus, Octopus, snake, mouse and a fish to feed the cat :P We made a Zoo... land and water creatures combined :P hahaha

Ok.... now is it my Niece or myself who got carried away? Hmmmm.......

Newest collection.... I bought this mini colorful doughs. I got my younger sis to work with me in making another Zoo a reality :)) Of course, the happiest person would be my niece :)) Can u list the animals correctly?

my personal fvourite :P

New habit with the dough (Raya version)....

Hehehe... doughs again... but eatable ones.
cookies... a.k.a biskut Raya
OK.... but my doughs are very very not commercial-able :))
and not very friendly to diabetic patients... erk...

but I like to eat them.... my own made cookies...

Siok sendiri yang mengenyangkan... i like....

okies... off I go.. to make another cookies tonite. nama biskut.. Biskut boubourn :)) apa punya nama daa.. biskut di atas pula bernama biskut badam bonbon... tak tipu, semua adalah mengikut resepi (tahun 80-an). Sekian Terima Kasih :*

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Makan beramai-ramai

14th Ramadhan... wow... so fast....
Our yearly routine of pot-luck Buka Puasa.

again, this year... we invaded Rash&Miem's home.... with new addition to the tribe- Adam & Azreen... oh yeah, and Alma... but she's not here in this pix coz she 'balik kampung' early with her mama & papa :) Chup... semua ahli baru nama "A"?Next in line, Kak Ilah's house to be attacked. yeaahaa

Buka puasa with the gurls. yes... Girls... chup, how many berpuasa here?

As I am typing this, my niece keeps saying "This is Sabrina-baby mother".... It seems that her kindergarten younger-than-her fren named Sabrina... has a mother who looks like Elena... hoho....Oppps... apparently, us Girls are already in our aunty-hood / motherhood....

but as always.... young at heart... even if the number of candles keep increasing every year.

In this case.... the 3 in 1 candle... This is actually a siok-sendiri thing... coz our birthdays are so so so belated already! That explains why Joe is in denial here :P

Alrights...dats all folks :D

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Nostalgia berpuasa...

Di bulan Ramadhan ni, tiba-tiba nostalgia lama kembali dlm ingatan. Cewah.... Ini kira first time belajar nak puasa, when i was 7 in Standard 1. Ye lah, dah masuk skolah, malu dgn kawan kalau cakap tak puasa, kan. So confident je thot I was ready nak puasa. With Azira, my partner in crime… we challenged each other, siapa boleh puasa lagi banyak hari. Lepas dah berjinak-jinak puasa tu (walaupun separuh hari masa tu), tiba-tiba pula dengar rumors yang kalau puasa, air liur pun takleh telan. Kalau telan, batal posa.

So ada skali tu masa recess-time, tengah main- main kt mangosteen trees tepi volleyball court, sebab tak pi kantin… Then suddenly terkuar issue air liur nie, Azira and I both tiba – tiba dah cuak.... cam mana ni, kena stop menelan air liur lah, kalau tak batal nih. Tanpa merujuk pada pihak ketiga, kami nekad! So kami berdua tahan air liur tu, bila dah banyak terkumpul (eeeeuuu).. tatau nak spit kat mana pulak. Tiba-tiba... masa tu jugak la *bellRing (loceng bunyi untuk ke dewan untuk perhimpunan lepas recess). ALAMAK ! Dlm kekalutan dan sambil bercakap dengan mulut penuh takungan, dok gabra gaduh tatau nak ludah kat mana? Banyak giler, semulut dah ada… Pengawas plak dah datang, dgn muka garang suruh masuk dewan… So, dalam kekalutan dan suasana tegang itu, kami pun bersama-sama decide menelan aje air liur ditakung tu… hua hua hua… eeYuckkkk! Banyak giler tuh! Wek wek wek.... Perasaan geli tuh takleh lupa sampai skang! Pengajarannya di sini, lenkali jgn nak pandai-pandai buat/ikut fatwa yang takde kesahihannya.

Darjah dua masih curi-curi minum air bila orang tak nampak. Darjah tiga dah puasa betul – betul, tapi maybe ada la skip beberapa hari. Darjah empat dah belajar puasa penuh. Dugaan besar, time sekolah sesi petang. Dah umur 13, patut dah terer puasa ni…. Tapi sebab dah penat dok kt skolah sampai lewat petang, dah tu bas sekolah aku lak sampai sangat la lambat dan kami terpaksa tunggu lama, jadi makin exhausting. Sekali sekala sambil tunggu bas tu, dok ushar satu rumah ni dekat kawasan menunggu tu… rumah dia ada halaman luas, dan jauh di sudut ada sebuah tempayan di sebelah sebuah kolah. Bila time-time dah penat sangat, renung je kolah dan tempayan tu… dah terbayang dah mandi air sejuk tu dan betapa besnya minum air tempayan sejuk tu…kalau dpt setitik dua pun j...PooonPooon… eh bas dah sampai! bila tersedar dr lamunan tu, termalu lah sendiri dgn fantasi kolah dan tempayan aku tu… erk…

Makin membesar, dah dapat atasi fantasi-fantasi mcm tu…. Kalau tengah puasa dan orang makan kfc kt sebelah pun tak heranz. Hmmm yeke… Yer Bolehh…..

Masa kecik-kecik dulu, fokus utamanya more to boleh tahan lapar dahaga ke tak, boleh lawan temptation nak makan minum ke tak. Pastu selalu alert takut kalau silap-silap tergali idung ke telinga ke tanpa sedar. akekeke... Tapi, wahai kanak-kanak, Ustazah ada cakap, puasa ni bukan control makan minum je, kena jauhi semua perbuatan tak berfaedah, jahat dan maksiat. Masa tu, maksiat paling besar yang boleh kita imagine adalah mengumpat. So tiba-tiba je, semua jadi baik tak nak ngata sapa-sapa. Kalau ada sesiapa yang terkuar statement ala-ala mengata nie, dan-dan sorang sorang start nak quote ustazah :P

Little did I know then....
Rupa-rupanya makin besar, makin banyak lagi “temptation” untuk buat perkara-perkara tak berfaedah… Rupa - rupanya dugaan makin banyak, pintu ke arah pelbagai jenis maksiat menjadi semakin meluas dan semakin kreatif pun ada.

Tapi bila dah makin besar ni, kita pun seakan-akan makin lebih pandai nak justify segala perlakuan kita. Apa je kita buat, ade je justification nye kan. Dah takde sapa dah nak tegur dengan quote2 ustazah mcm zaman kecik-kecik dulu, ye tak :) Kalau ada yang tegur pun, kita sama ada jadi malu, tak suka, ego atau tak selesa... dah tak terbuka dan boleh terima teguran dengan senyum kambing mcm kecik-kecik dulu.

Hmmm... bila ckp bab-bab agama masih banyak menda yang aku taktau... bak kata pepatah "cukup makan je"... tanamkan niat wahai gadis, anda Ilmu tak banyak....jadi rajin-rajinlah mencari..... Amal tak banyak.... jadi rajin-rajinkanlah beramal....wokey macha?

Sejauh mana penghayatan aku bulan Ramadhan ni? Lebih daripada tu... aku terfikir jugak, Sejauh mana kah penghayatan aku pada amalan-amalan yang di buat di bulan Ramadhan.... (i.e. baca Quran, Solat2 Sunat, Sedekah etc) pada bulan-bulan lain. Di bulan Mulia ini, kita perbanyakkan, itu tak bermaksud di bulan lain kita minimize/ lupakan terus, ye dok? :-)

~Peringatan untukkku....

MarHaBan ya RaMadhan...

SelaMat BerPuasa ye KenKawan seme, muslimin muslimat semua....

Semoga kita mndapat KeBerkatan dari-Nya....

Amin.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Cross Selat Melaka ke Medan :-)

This is my second time in Medan. .

First Medan trip was one of the memorable one as for that trip, I combined my family vacation with friends. Dindi is our friend from Medan who was our degree coursemate, and it had been 2 years since our graduation, and we finally got to plan our rombongan to visit Dindi and her hometown.

This Second Medan trip, was initiated from Durian crave! Dindi and I were chattin in Fbook, and suddenly... tadaaa.... I found myself caught in the Durian feva... I had to taste Es.durian Dindi mentioned. Well... and I miss her :P And my crazy adhoc plan got Zue and Mar's attention....

SHOPPING
(2 famous places) = Pajak Petisah + Pajak Ikan (tp jual kain2) :D

be reminded, it's quite expensive compared to Bandung / Jakarta... but slightly cheaper than the one back here...the key to get a reasonable price is to really bargain :D

Some of the Foods we had::

SOTO MEDAN

One of the Kedai yg sedap sotonya dan popular kt Medan:

ES DURIAN

Actually dindi owns a Kepudur Stall (Kedai Pulut Durian) selling varieties of desserts made from Durian... but her stall was closed temporarily. Her stall is kinda similar to this one. This stall belongs to a guy Dindi deals with for Durian supply: (Look at the Menu :P)

We dont have this exactly same dessert back in Msia. But to sum up this sweetie..... Its like Pulut Durian + Ais Kacang/ ABC + Chendol all put together in one bowl! Kebahagiaan yang Tripple !!!

Can u seee the floating durian :D This is Es.Kolak Durian. The difference with Es.Pulut Durian is this one, added with chunk of grilled bananas.

SATE PADANG

Dindi's Sis-in-Law tapau this for us :-) So nice of her...

LEMANG
This one... erm...actually I forgot the real name :P but it has Lemang served together - for breakfast - at Dindi's place. We stayed at her place except on the day we spent in Danau Toba of course :-)

BAKSO and ALPOKAT (Avocado Juice)

LAKE TOBA / DaNaU ToBa:

We stayed in this villa where President Sukarno had once made it his resting place. We felt honored to have experienced a sense of history :-)

The view around Toba.

Unfortunately, timing of our vacation clashed with the public school holidays in indonesia. Therefore Toba became a bit too crowded (including the amount of vehicles) and the atmosphere was very different from my first trip. We didnt get to swim because of the crowd and just when we found a better spot, later it began to rain :( However, the view is breathtaking, the scenery very serene :-)

Ouh how I miss swimming n playing in the lake....
This time around, we went around... feast on the "Mangga Udang" (small cute mangoes)... and made ourselves busy with our cameras :D

These boats are means of transportation to Pulau Samosir a.k.a Tomok.

SAMOSIR @ tomok

Rented a boat... we went in a group, together with Dindi's friends and staff :-) 12 of us altogether.

top deck

Besides the Batak Museum, cultural display + shows, this place is popular for the sorvenir shops.

FareWell

Going back to Medan and to Dindi's house, we are welcomed back by this sweet lil girl, Tara (Dindi's niece) :-) very kiut and intelligent girl.

On the 4th day, we made our way back to Penang. Dindi, thank you for everything....
Special thanx to all her family members for the hospitality and not forgetting Azka, for driving us to Toba ;-) We (Zue, Mar and I) will be delighted to be the host in Penang next time.

Dindi, Looking forward to your visit in future. Miss you :-)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Mount Kinabalu ~ Info, Tips & Tale

A few of my friends have been asking about my Gunung Kinabalu experience. As much as I am lazy to update this blog, I think it might be beneficial if I record the details here. In case anyone asks me again... I can refer back to this post or link it to them... Ha... bijak!

Alamak... where do I begin?

General:

The mountain top is known as Low's Peak. Don't get misdirected with the word "LOW"... it's definitely not Low ok :))
The (normal) package takes 2 days. You will stay one night at 6km (Laban Rata) before proceeding to the top next morning. Sleep at 8pm. Start hiking to the top at 2.00 - 2.30 am.... this is so that we can reach the top before/on sunrise.
They have 1 day climb kinda thing.... but usually on Climbathon, or on special request/package.(not sure... please check) :P
Each groups will be assigned with guides/porters. the larger the group, the more guides u'll be assigned to.
Althugh u come in a group, u dont have to move as one big group all the time. U will move in a smaller groups as u climb, following ur own speed.... The guide/s will follow the last batch/person in ur group to make sure no one is left behind.
They also sell sticks to help with ur climb... cost around rm3-4 per stick.
There is a resting hut / Pondok for each 1km. they come with Toilets, water supply + resting place. So worry not...

The Route:

The track to mountain Top = 8.7km (elevation = 4095 metres)
Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata = 6km + Laban Rata to Low's Peak (the top) = 2.7km
However, there are 2 starting points for the climb
1] Timpohon Gate
2] Mesilau Nature Resort
These two routes will meet at the KM4 (kilometre 4) of Timpohon Route and KM5.7of Mesilau Route
Which means, you have nearly 2km extra distance coming from Mesilau track, but once u reach meeting point of these 2 routes, the track uses the Timpohon's distance. Thus 5.7km= back to 4km :P

The starting point at Mesilau is at higher ground compared to Timpohon, so the beginning of the climb will be more "decent" compared to Timpohon which is steep right from the beginning. However, since mesilau route crosses ridge bla bla... its longer and this is challenging too. 2km difference in "hilly" route is a biggg difference ok. So both got pros n cons la.
Timpohon - shorter... but steep from the beginning. Can be hard for those have insufficient training on stairs/steps.
Mesilau - longer, easy for the start but gets harder because of the distance. But it has beautiful sceneries along the way compared to Timpohon.

Lodging:

Which ever Route u use.... u will come up to Laban Rata...
U can choose whether u want to include food(buffet) in your package. My advise: Yes, please do! The buffet is good and u really need lotsa energy ;-) and u dont have to think about the arrangement.
They cover lunch (first day climb) + dinner at laban rata + early breakfast (2am) + breakfast (8-10am) + lunch at Kinabalu Park (after climbing down)
There are 2 lodges:
1.. Laban Rata - this is the main building. Reception + Food. They have rooms here... more expensive. + point: U dont have to move up and down for food :P
2.. Gunting Lagadan - this is 100m from main building. 100m becomes a fear-factor issue because of its steep n stairs all the way up/down. + point:: Cheaper and the gate to proceed to Low's Peak is at gunting lagadan. So at 2.00am... u save 100m climb, and it meansss a load!! And you can arrange your makan-time wisely so that you don't have to climb up+down so much. Skip the 2am breakfast (eat somthing u tapau / somthing light like biscuits etc) so that u dont have to go back to laban rata lodge and climb all the way up again --> horror man. Oh yap, we stayed in Gunting Lagadan + we did skip that breakfast.
Buffet-dinner is available from 5pm-7pm. So make sure you reach before buffet ends.
Water heater works until 7pm... if u need shower, u need hot shower....so again make sure on time ;-)
by 8pm... everyone is required to sleeeeeep.....

*We started our climb at 8.20am and we reached Laban Rata at 1pm. So we had time to kill and enjoy the view and take lotsa lotsa fotos....

Laban rata

killing time :P

gunting lagadan

Once u made ur mind... on the package.... and preparing for the expidition. Some things u need to prepare or keep in mind:

BAGS / Loads:

Carry your own bags only if you think you are fit enough
If you are not so fit... and u insist on carrying ur own bags... of course, u can still make it to laban rata... but quite tiring n u will be very2 sloww.... u must remember laban rata is not ur ultimate goal, u have another climb the next morning... very early in the morning... so safe as much energy as u can.
if u are a pro... then u can carry as many bags as u want... even ur frens' bags n charge them .. haha
Here's an important Note: You can pass your loads/bags to your porters. They will charge u according to weights... Price changes from time to time... but roughly RM 4-5 per kg.
What to pass to porters (i.e of my suggestions la):
..cloths (especially the thick ones) - sweater jackets, gloves, etc
..headlamp
..extra munchies (power bar, biscuits etc)
..extra slippers/shoes if u bring any
..extra drinks (i.e Gatorade / 100 plus)
..toiletries etc
What i suggest u should bring along in a smaller bagpack:
..ur own version of first aid kit - muscle pain creame/plaster, minyak angin cap kapak etc
..food - somthing simple... if u take package with food, they will suply lunchbox
..powerbars/ powergel
..towel/face towel (optional)
..raincoat (the disposable one is light)
..personal belongings (wallet/hp/passport etc)
..camera.... hahha..... wajib :))
..drinks - 500ml mineral water +/ 100plus/gatorade (depend on ur level of consumption)
If your water supply finishes, u can get em at the resting hut (pondok)... direct water supply... safe but not guaranteed everyone can take it. Some got diarrhea... some have no prob at all :P

Once u reach Laban Rata / Gunting Lagadan, rearrange ur bags after retrieving it from ur porter... u need different set of things/attire for the next climb
The next morning.... get into ur "i'm-afraid-i-might-get-frostbite" uniforms...

to the MOUNTAIN TOP:

you will start the climb at 2.30am ... will be very dark.. = headlamp !
it's cold... different people have different ways to adapt to temperature change. to be safe... prepare for the worst. bring along ur first aid kit thingy... and wear warm clothings (i.e extra layer of tshirts/pants if u must)... sweater.
and ur climb involves a lot of rope use.... = gloves !

Climbing Down:

again.... u can pass ur bags to the porter...so u can put all ur heavy-stuff back in there hehe
if u want to be extra cautious... in case u have problems with your toes/ toenails... bring along a good sandals/slippers... u can replace ur hiking shoes with it once in a while / througout. If u comfortable in hiking shoes... dats the best lar.
use knee-wrap... helps a lot
and the stick if u bought one before climbing. helps a lot to support ur knees n footing.

I'm not sure what else to jot... Hmmm.... I'll update if there are more tips... or maybe I'll just leave it to you to make further research on do's/donts... ;-)

OK now....

PRACTISE:

It is a physical challenge... but it doesnt solely rely on ur physical condition... You must be mentally prepared too... especially for first timers.
Practise! U need them. But do not push too hard on yourself. Start with jogs, then hills and nearest mountain if available :P
Some say it wont be worth if you go to another mountain just to train for kinabalu i.e going to gunung tahan... coz it shoiuld be an expidition of its own. I guess its not the matter of how high is the hill/mountain but how often u practice.
i.e. I dint do mountains.. just hills, with Bt.Bendera being the highest. For Kinabalu, Bt.Bendera + Bt.Jambul is a very good place to start... coz it has stairs + steps just like in Kinabalu (except that Kinabalu's steps are steeper laa) hehe..
People have different opinions on practise and how much u need to be prepared for this. One pakcik told me... its up to yourself... you can go with the most minimal practise... but you will struggle along the way. If you want to enjoy the climb, then "bersusah2 dahulu, bersenang2 kemudian".
U need to also focus on climbing down... whenever u go hiking.. make sure u hike down as well and never resort to other alternatives.
but just in case.... If u have serious cramps/ injuries that make it impossible for u to climb down back to mesilau/ timpohon, the porters can carry you (im not kidding) and it costs around rm200 per kilometre.
According to kinabalu folklore, Some active people with very good stamina are said to be stuck in Laban Rata... gone flat after reaching laban rata, unable to proceed to the top the next morning.
Kinabaly folklore also reports... Some with asthma and heart problems are able to reach the top. The remedy? Keep moving on... even if you are slow, dont stop too long at one stop... just keep on moving forward.
Age doesnt matter, even those in their 60's can make it.
What does it say?....as much as ur physical condition matters... when it comes to moving ur mucles to take another step forward.... it's all in the mind....

Last but not least... My very own tale:

Despite having uncertainties n goosebumps, it was a fairly a good climb. The wheather was good, no... better.. it was great. We didnt stop too long at one station, and we reached laban rata quite early :)

Then jeng jeng jeng....

I got sick right after my dinner. My temperature increased and I was getting fever. It was really sudden and shocking all the same, coz I was perfectly ok before that. Zue gave me Panadol ActivFast... and to my relieve it worked. Headache seemed to ooze, and I felt better. Just when I thought I could finally relax n go to sleep, I started to have difficulties in breathing. I had blocked nose, both nasal passages affected. I couldnt lie down, because once I do so, I couldnt breathe properly, had to breathe through my mouth. How was I supposed to sleep if I couldnt lie down? My difficulties in breathing was somehow disturbing my fellow roomates to sleep... Kak Ilah tried helping me by her newly found method of pasting koyok on my nose... It kinda worked for a minute or so... but still I couldnt breathe well.

I imagined the all the worst thing that could happen...
But.... I came all the way... not to be stuck in Laban Rata with blocked nose! :(

Even if I had to stay awake all night (since I can't lie down)... I planned to go on with my climb next morning! I was determined. Even if it took 5 hours to reach the top, I told myself I will go for it.

While I was fighting with my voice-overs... I remembered this traditional method of using Vicks to ease blocked nose. went to the pantry room (the only room with lights on)... and boiled water and put some Vicks in it, and breathe in the steam coming out from the pot with my head covered with a towel. Wow... it was working... I can breathe...hoorah....went to my room to sleep....

10 minutes passed... I was panting for air... blocked again! Back I went to the pantry, now all alone, no one was around the corridor.... and repeated my treatment at the hall opposite the pantry. I considered sleeping there at the hall... Then I realised the windows had no curtains and I could see d darkness outside, trees swaying peacefully with the wind. Yikes... no way.... I brought the hot pot back to my room, placed it on my bed.. I laid down with my face in the pot... and I forgot what happened next....

1.45 am, They woke me up. I was sleeping in normal sleeping position and the pot was on the floor beside my bed. Huh... didnt remember putting it there... I must have been too sleepy I dint remember? I felt way better and no more blocked nose... So.... up up and prepared for the climb... and Alhamdulillah... I made it :-) Although at the last peak.. I was practically crawling ala Smeagol to get to the top :P

In conclusion to this very long post....

What would you need / need to have in order to conquer THe Mount Kinabalu ?

Physical readiness + Mental preparation+ Luck

Is it worth all the trouble? Would I recommend?
YESS !!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Academia, Food and Nature

Cerita ceriti 2 weeks ago:

KL:

in KL for 4 days....attended Tun's talk in a conference :-)
Still charismatic as always....

View from KLCC convention centre:

BACK IN PENANG:

Trus kena heret tgk bola kt Subaidah.... my very first time watching Bola kt mamak, dari start sampai abes... huhu... I wore Red konon2 nak bg variety since the other two wore light blue (argentina).... so argentina lawan south korea (in Red)... dan korea yg kalah... hahaha.... dah kata dah.... sapa aku sokong ke represent je mesti kalah :P
Next day: To Balik Pulau again!!! this Time penambahan ahli melantak: Shuh Jiuan. Beliau amatlah teruja dan tidak segan silu menyerang durian, rambutan, buah salak.... then makan Laksa + goreng pisang lgk :P (kt laksa janggus)

5 bekas durian + 4 gadis ayu... ahaksss... skali tgk mcm impossible.....

Har HAr Har..... Posssibleee jer....

Up NORTH, Kedah:

The next day... trus ke Jerai pulak... Gunung Jerai, Kedah... Seyes.... dah lawa dah tmpt ni.... Last skali mai sini 2003, masa tu agak 'sederhana' la keadaanya.. Skang, dah upgrade. Bilik selesa.... tmpt masih menenangkan, nice weather.

View.... Sawah Padi terbentang luas... leh nampak laut jugak.... Ni time musim baru tanam padi... menghijau... kalau musim padi masak... depa kata lawa jgk.. kekuningan. But kalo musim dah menuai...nampak mcm tanah tandus sket laa...

Bunga-bunga dan pokok2 hiasan pun byk.... Dulu first time, dtg thn 2001- masa tu byk bunga, then in 2003 takda bunga-bunga sangat. This time, depa dah renovate segala... landscape pun dah lawa dgn byk bunga2 seme... so harap dpt maintain la kali ni :-D

Cumanya.... mereka maybe belum cukup bersedia ambil guests berkumpulan kalau terlalu ramai... we went in 150pax... and depa macam agak kelam kabut menguruskan kitorg... a bit mengecewakan bab tu.... But for accomodation, and food... its good. Food is good wpun variety terhad :D Kalau go in small groups / family, this will be a good place to rehat2 tenangkan jiwa. Oh yaaa... dekat2 sini.. ada 2 spot air terjun. Satu a bit tersembunyi maka bahaya sket.. another dekat taman rimba ke apa ntah... turun bwh sket... mmg tmpt org suka camping dan ada air terjun yang besh....

Btw.... ini gmbr dulu dan skarang :D
Inset: gmbr pergi dgn kenkawan zaman dgree dolo...

Main: skang under Regency Resort.

So Jom.... hangpa nak pi mana... KL, Penang ka Kedah? :P