no, you are not "running late", you are rude and selfish

if there's one thing that i am deeply ashamed about myself is the fact i am not a punctual person..which can be pretty annoying to one of my best friend is super duper punctual..

so this year, im making a supreme effort to be punctual...

reading this article below made me realise how badly i behaved and frankly i am surprised that my best friend forgives me still despite being late all the time! she must love me lots hehehe

anyway, if you are only making one resolution this new year, lets do this one, ok?

taken from HERE

This post may offend some readers. But only because it’s going to cut close to the bone for many.

And I don’t care if I sound old-fashioned, because actually it’s nothing to do with ‘fashion’ or ‘generation’. It’s got everything to do with basic good manners and respect for other people.

So here goes… How did it get to be “OK” for people to be late for everything?

Because as far as I am concerned, it’s not OK.

In recent years it seems that a meeting set to start at 9 am, for some people means in the general vicinity of any time which starts with the numeral ‘9’. Like 9.30 for example.

People drift in at 9.10 or 9.20, or even later. And they smile warmly at the waiting group, as they unwrap their bacon sandwich, apparently totally unconcerned that others have been there since five to nine, prepared and ready to start.

10 people kept waiting in a meeting for 20 minutes, while some selfish pratt who idles his way via the coffee shop, is actually 20 minutes times 10, which is 200 minutes wasted – while you keep us waiting because you did not catch the earlier bus. That is over 3 hours wasted. By you! How much has that cost the business? Shall I send you an invoice?

And an arrangement to meet someone for a business meeting at a coffee shop at 3 pm, more often than not means at 3.10 you get a text saying ‘I am five minutes away’ which inevitably means 10 minutes, and so you wait for 15 or 20 minutes, kicking your heels in frustration.

And often these ‘latecomers’ are people who have requested the meeting in the first place, are asking for your help, or are selling something. Fat chance mate!

And it’s not only business.

Why do people, invited for a dinner party at 7.30, think its cool to arrive at 8.30? It’s rude. It’s inconsiderate. And it’s selfish, as I witnessed in a coffee shop near my home one weekend. Three “ladies who lunch” (a species not confined to, but heavily represented on, the lower North Shore of Sydney) were chatting loudly at the table next to me. One inquired what time the ‘drinks do’ was that night. The reply for all the world to hear was ‘Oh 7.30, but we won’t get there till 9 because by then it will have warmed up and all the interesting people will have arrived’. Nice. Imagine if everyone took that view. Cocktail parties would start at 3 am eventually.

Or a dinner at a restaurant where I was meeting two other couples. My wife was away, so I was flying solo. I arrived at two minutes to eight for an eight o’clock booking. At 8.20, I was into my second glass of Pinot and at half-past I got a text saying ‘on the way’. We finally were all seated at 8.45. There were not even attempted excuses from either of the two couples, who seemed oblivious to the fact I might actually have got there at the agreed time. Meanwhile I had put a huge dent in the bottle of Pinot, and was ready to go home.

And it is not that we lead ‘busy lives’. That’s a given, we all do, and it’s a cop out to use that as an excuse. It’s simply that some people no longer even pretend that they think your time is as important as theirs. And technology makes it worse. It seems texting or emailing that you are late somehow means you are no longer late.

Rubbish.

You are rude. And inconsiderate.

And I act on it to. My dentist kept me waiting 50 minutes not long ago. I walked out, past a literally open-mouthed receptionist who had never seen a patient act on their frustration, only to get a frantic call from the dentist herself as I got into my car.

Sure she was “busy”, another patient took longer than she expected, blah blah.

But hold on, I am busy too! I would not keep her waiting 45 minutes if she came to see me as a candidate. And yet I am HER customer. I told her I have been coming to you for 15 years but don’t take me for granted. See fewer patients in a day if you have to, but see me on time or close to it. She has never kept me waiting again.

Me? Am I ever late? Sure, sometimes. That’s inevitable even with the best intentions. But I never plan to be late. I never ‘let time slide’ because my stuff is more important than yours.

I am not talking about the odd occasion of lateness. I am talking about people who are routinely late. In fact, never on time. You know who I am talking about!

And certainly I consider serial lateness a character flaw which I take into account when working out who to promote, who to hire and who to count amongst my real friends.

It’s that important.

3 Reasons to Travel While You’re Young

Taken from/Credits to : http://goinswriter.com/travel-young/

The other night, I had a conversation with a young woman who had a number of decisions ahead of her, one of which is whether she would go to grad school or travel the world.

I told her to travel. Hands down. No excuse. Just go.

She sighed.

“Yeah, but…”

Never were more fatal words spoken.

Yeah, but… what about debt?

Yeah, but… what about my job?

Yeah, but… what about my boyfriend (or dog or car or whatever)?

“Yeah, but…” is pernicious. Because it makes it sound like we have the best of intentions when really we are just too scared to do what we should.

It allows us to be cowards, while sounding noble.

Most people I know who waited to travel the world never did. Conversely, plenty of people who waited for grad school or a steady job and traveled still did those things — eventually.

Be careful of the yeah-but. The yeah-but will kill your dreams.

I was so stirred by this conversation that I shared it with a group of about thirty young adults last night, many of which are asking these very questions.

The life you’ve always wanted.

When you get older, life seems to just sort of happen to you. Your youth is a time of total empowerment.

You get to do what you want. As you mature and gain new responsibilities, you have to be very intentional about making sure you don’t lose sight of what’s important.

So if you still have a reasonable amount of control over your circumstances, you should do what really matters.

Because life won’t always be just about you.

(the rest of the article is available on the link above)

You won’t always be young. And life won’t always be just about you. So travel. Experience the world for all it’s worth. Become a person of culture, adventure, and compassion.
“What if I’m not young?”
Travel, anyway. It may not be easy to do, but find a way to get out of your comfort zone. It’s really never too late.
But if you haven’t gotten sucked into the routine of life yet, I implore you — travel. It will never be easier than it is right now for you to do that which really matters.

i was reading the article above and it strikes me to be so true!

but to add my own two cents, it is certainly as easy to travel when yr single and young and when yr with a family - if you set your mind to it :)

my family has always been big on traveling, we try to made it a point to go somewhere together at least once a year...my parents have been almost everywhere and done everything, i think that's the travel gene from my late grand-grandfather who was sea captain :)

but being a HUGE family, with 9 adults and 6 kids, its certainly not easy!

i remember when i was getting information on my trip to new york last year and at this age and era on internet and google where everything is available on line and yet we three single girls still struggled to get info on where to stay what to do etc, and i marveled how my dad did it, almost 17 years ago, and he planned and took the entire family of 2 adults and 5 kids to los angeles and did it so flawlessly?? i mean that trip was still one the best trips we've ever had! 17 years ago! and there were no handphones and hardly any internet then!! amazing huh?

anyway, point of the post is..

ok, actually, the point of the above article is you must travel when you're young...

my point is, is you must travel. full stop.

young or old, go for it!

like one my best friend always said, when it comes to traveling;

money - you can always find and get more,
experiences and memories - once in a lifetime!

(^_^)

the secret life of nora

tiara was super hot!

and she can sing so well too! i was so amazed!

and ryan silverman was a dream...sigh..

its worth to watch but not a must watch, if u get what i mean :)

its extended to 22nd October!

im off to hong kong!!

will be there during the Christmas Holidays!

my first time yeah! :)

actually ikut kan, i dont really feel like going to those part of the world sangat. lots of reasons but mainly personal. but then again, i made a vow to self to try something new this year + its cool during xmas (and i wanted to get away from the hot weather here) + its only four hours flight!!

but after purchasing the tickets and book the hotels....im already regretting it!

1. the ticket cost the same as my ticket to london next march
2. the hotel is damn expensive and they charge you for everything!! a four nights trip is gonna cost me Rm1k!! ive spend 6 nights in various parts of europe with that amount!
3. halal food is crazy expensive and hard to get! my sis who went before me said a plate of simple nasi goreng will cost me RM50 per person!!

damn kan?

i know im kinda biased towards UK/Europe and US but i mean seriously, if this the cost to travel to that part of the world, then no thanks, I WILL STICK TO UK/EUROPE AND US.

but one good thing is, well, three actually, is THREE of my bestest friends will be my travel partners so i am looking forward to definete good times with them :) :)

i am looking forward to HK Disney tho and H&M..so there's another two things!

and xmas decorations in HK is said to be pretty gorgeous :)

so here's hoping! :)

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date

it started with a lovely breakfast at the local stalls shop, you know, where there are many different stalls inside one restaurant? that's my favourite kind of breakfast place as there's so many food to choose from and you get to try everything! :) over breakfast would be the initial conversations, work, family education and the kind of person he is dealing with crowd, lots of people, if he is adventurous with food, does he let you try his food :p

then it moved on to the one of the best bazaar in town or flea market, i absolutely adores flea markets, which is why i love going to car boots so much while in Plymouth :) the smell of salty french fries and malt vinegar greeting you when you walked in, books at 50p each, glasses and pots and pans at a quid each, weird and sometimes gorgeous lamps at bargain prices, new and used toys, and so many other things, rest assured you need only to spend 5 pounds and can happily walk home with a load of stuff, while munching on heavenly sugary doughnuts!

i digress :p anyway, in these kind of places, is where you can walk and talk and discover more about likes and dislikes and sharing of stories and experiences :) a bazaar is a wonderful place to gauge someone's attitude towards different things - like how he felt about buying second hand items or is he a snob and would never go near them, his bargaining skills, does he have the charms to get that discount or is he rude and huffingly walk away?

after this would be a crucial point of the date, if things went well, you might go to lunch together, if not, hey at least you got all those nice stuff from the bazaar hehe

i dont really like having first dates at night, the pressure is too much and you tend to have all these stigma of those dates in the movies on how its suppose to be and when it wasnt like that you get disappointed which is totally not the guy's fault, he obviously did not grow up watching romantic chick flick all his life :) plus, going to candlelight restaurants, driving around together at night with a guy you just met? not such a good idea :)

Bicester Village yg berhantu!

two years i was studying there, never once i stepped foot on Bicester Village, mainly because people always say tempat tu berhantu! kenapa berhantu? sebab kalau pergi, macamana takde duit pun MESTI akan terbeli jugak sesuatu!! and then bila balik rumah, akan tertanya2 sendiri, eh betul ke beli nie?? what was i thinking?? i cant afford this gorgeous Gucci bag! mesti tadi kat Bicester kena rasuk and made me buy this!!

hehe...

ok lah, betul la berhantu tu, so dats why masa student tak pernah pergi, nanti terguna duit rent, jadi homeless pulak nanti :p :p

so when i went there last winter, baru la ada berani sikit nak pergi, itu pun credit card bawak satu jer, bahaya oooo!!

muka sangat sangat sangat excited untuk memula kan peng-shopping-an :p :p

this was on the 28th December, there were so many people there! even bumped into some "local politician and celebrities" there, shopping sebelah2 lagi :p

the pathways are super icy see! and it was freezing cold! but it certainly did not stopped anybody from shopping to their heart's content!

our loot! sikit jer :) and saja ambik gambar depan Gucci but didnt buy anything there, can u believe when we arrive just an hour after it opens, the shop is almost empty! the shelves are bare! they said almost all the sale items are already sold, we were late! tsk tsk...

but i got what i wanted and managed to shop for some cool stuff for everyone back home and they are all happy with their gifts, semua tu kira birthday present dua tahun hehe :p :p

miracle monday #6

i am @ Avillion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson
checked in here today! staying for one night :)
will review more later k :p
have a good week ahead everyone!

jalan-jalan tepi marina di plymouth

missing plymouth so badly :(

i know i know, i have an obsession with that place :p

here are some pictures taken from my visit few months ago during New Year :)








where we are going?

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here!

beli kicap cap kipas udang manis :p owner dia M'sian and students dapat discount, so ok la jugak nak jalan jauh2 tu kan :)

the host

whenever i want to read a book by a new author, i usually try to either borrow it from my office's library (yes we do have library, and its quite good and well stocked too!) or i rent it (the usual shop i go is in Ampang Point, very very well stocked and updated) mainly because i do not want to waste money to purchased it and the discovered that its horrible. especially since new books here is so expensive! which is why i loved loved big bad wolf book sales :) - free advert :p

anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, did not love it enough to purchase the set though, cos i usually only buy books that i know im going to read it over and over again, and the twilight series are the kind that i would only read once..

which is why i was so pleasantly surprised when this book, The Host was so damn good! when i took this book out to borrow the other day from the library i didnt expect much, well, i expected i would be entertained and that it will fulfill my must-read-something-before-sleeping routine, something light and simple..BUT it turns out to be so engrossing that i ended staying up the whole night finishing the book!

ok, quick synopsis of the book;

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

you can read more about this in here where this is taken from...

why i love this book? well, when i read the synopsis above, the first thing that came to my mind was, another book about aliens? i knew how that is going to end, right? but i decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because she made me read about vampires which is something i never ever would read about otherwise, same goes with books about aliens, so i thought its worth a shot. she's brilliant like that, writing from a different angle, a different perspective, and even though its about aliens invading earth, its also about love, friendship and family. the writing is simple and thoughtful and i really love the way the alien-Melanie tried to defend herself while surrounded by humans, which i think sometimes its battle for everyone even non-alien folks, trying to please others so that they like you, trying to fight others so that you can stand up to what you believe in, trying to find love, then fighting it because you didnt think you'd deserve it, simply, trying to survive in the world as best as you can.

well, anyway, do try read it if you can and hoped you enjoyed it as much as i did :)

happy reading!

what a woman want..

*rummaging through old stuff and saw this and had to post it again! :p :p

What a woman want…in a boyfriend of course;

1. We want him to listen to our problems like a therapist-this just involves saying ’so how do you feel about that?’ every now and again, then offering us to cuddles/ice-creams/chocolates on the side. We don’t want opinions, and certainly don’t want sensible solutions.

2. He needs to have a dark childhood issues that only we can fix. Any past dark problem will do. Basically, behind his handsome, cool persona, he never really had a reason to live until he mets us.

3. Ideally, he’d have at least one really really beautiful ex-girlfriend. we like to think we’re batting in that leaque. But he has to say he hates her because she has NO personality whatsoever.

5. He has to ring us at least three times a day and reply to our texts like his life depends on it. But he also should go AWOL for a couple of days at least once every three months to keep us on our toes.

6. His bookshelf should make us think he’s deeper than we are, and the same goes for his music selection. If he doesn’t read Bukowski and listen to Radiohead, how the hell are we going to discover them?

7. He should be in a band. In fact, be lead singer in a band. Or at least be on drums. Go on then, percussions - as long as he’s on stage. Oh all right, as long as he can play that cheap acoustic guitar and we can pretend our boyfriend is a hot rock star.

8. He should make us feel delicate, like a little feminine butterfly fluttering in his life, one that he would protect his life with. And he should know at the same time that if he EVER cheats, we will beat the crap out of him.

9. He should have the words "I love you.You’re beautiful", as a default setting.

Now to my male friends out there, was that tooo much to ask? hehe

the holiday

was reading Chic's blog on the her favourite movie, Love Actually and got me thinking of my current favourite movie..

so yeah ok, its a pretty old movie, i think it was released during Christmas 2007, cos i remembered walking through the cold winter night from our house to the cinema in plymouth which in itself is still an amazing experience for me, there you kinda can walk everywhere, cinemas, bowling, the bank, the post office, to my classes, the bookshop, the keysmith, to the shopping mall, to the beach, to the best halal fried chicken....everywhere is fantastically a walk away! and i love the weather there, its never too hot to walk, tho it does sometimes gets too cold, which i really dont mind, i prefer the cold compared to being hot, ive always thought I was been born in the wrong country hehe

anyway, i digress...

the movie was starring cameron diaz and kate winslet, with the ever so handsome jude law, and the ever so charmingly (sometimes weird) funny jack black, and its about two women who just got their hearts broken and wanted to get away from it all, you know, move to another country, get a makeover, shoot somebody, make a movie, any life changing event will do kind of get-away-from-it-all, but decided to go on a holiday instead, where they switched houses!

so amanda (cameron diaz) who lives in sunny L.A, switched with iris (kate winslet) who lives in cold snowy london the movie itself, was of course really great, i mean the line up itself makes it a guaranteed hit, but the best thing i like about the movie was the kate winslet character, who is in love with a man, who never actually loves her back, but cant live without her, thus not allowing her to let him go..which is selfish and unfair of him..

guess we all have been there, falling in love with someone whom you knew would never love you back, but at the same time you just seems never could let him go, and sometimes, well, actually most of the time, is because he does not let you..

anyway, the movie was beautiful, it seems natural to be nodding away in understanding at watever that iris or amanda did, gasping in amazement that someone understood you and made a movie out of your life! saying repeatedly over and over again ‘yes! that’s exactly how i feel!’ and ‘oh, i know, ive been there/done that before!’ and reaching for the tissue at the end of the movie feeling thoroughly satisfied that even someone as gorgeous as cameron diaz and kate winslet goes through the same problems as you do and restored your faith in men, and having hope that one day, maybe one day you’ll find a man with jude law’s devastating good looks and jack black’s charms :p

the movie Chic was talking about, Love Actually is also actually one of my absolutely favourite too. when days are particularly hard and you just wanna curl up with a good movie and watch it with a box of chocolates under your duvet, here are some of my personal recommendations;

1. Emma - the one with Gwyneth Paltrow in it

2. While You Were Sleeping - Sandra Bullock at her best!

3. French Kiss - Meg Ryan super cute in this..

4. Pride And Prejudice - the one with Colin Firth in it, BBC version..not the lame Keira Knightly one..

5. My Best Friend's Wedding

five enough for now :) :)

ps : i still havent found the kuch kuch hota kai dvd, will someone help please!

where to eat in Plymouth?

i lived in a small little town called Plymouth when i was studying in UK few years back. not many people have heard about it and yet many people have been there. hehe confused yet?

xpe2 slow2 :p

plymouth is prounounced plee-meth...lebeh kurang gitu la, asal kan jgn pronounce plai-muth sudah like i did zaman tak tau bende dulu okey! :p

so aaanneewayyss, when i was back there for a quick visit last christmas, i tried TWO new restaurants that ive never been too! yep! ingat kan bandar kecik boleh tawaf and try semua benda dlm masa dua tahun? semesti nya tidak! so here are the two places :)

LA TASCA

la tasca ni franchise, so mmg ada banyak tempat kat all over uk, food is spanish tapas, and the best thing about this place is it has the all-you-can-eat deal, so for students like us, its totally worth it!! mula2 kena register dulu dlm website dia, and then bebila dia ada offer all you can eat tu, cepat2 print and call the place to make a reservation ok :) oh, the all-you-can-eat is ten pounds only! murah kan!

ni rupa coupon dia, everyone must have one, print it out and show to the waitress kay :) gambar seterusnye di bawah tidak mengikut turutan tapi tidak sesama sekali meng-effect kesedapan makanan di situ :p :p


salad ni serious sedap!! its slices of pears with spinach, basil, tomatoes and cucumber and i think the dressing ada olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon, simple jer tapi sedap sangat!

haha mmg tak ikut turutan, tetiba gambar dessert plak, this is black and white brownies, nampak tak gambar separuh tu, tangan rakan semeja tgh genggam garpu tak sabar nak dig in but i wanna take pictures first :p

mula2 tgk gambar pinggan yg dah licin...kemudian........

tada! of course we only ordered seafood la kan, so there's fried calamari, prawns and fish, vegetarian paella, garlic mushrooms, omellete and lots of salad!




the decorations in the restaurant, pretty spanish kan?

so anyway, the deal here is per order you can order up to three dishes per person per round, so kira if there's 4 of you, you can order up to 12 dishes per round, then dah habis yang tu, order the next round and the next and so on and so forth until you are so full you hardly can walk home :) :)

okey, next place :)

THE PLATTERS

ade orang kata, south west i.e. devon cornwall onwards is where you can get the most authentic real british style fish and chips! orang kata la, im not so sure myself, tapi emang nya fish and chips di plymouth mmg terbaik! just be careful to check the batter tu diorang tak letak beer cos traditional cooking diorang mmg letak beer nak bagi fish tu nice and crispy tapi kat platters nie, owner dia muslim orang morroco (eh owner ke sangkut paut gitu la) dia pun tau la halal haram kan, which is a good thing cos this place nye food is super yummy!

we ordered a few stuff to share but my favourite has got to be this fisherman's pie, sedap macam nak nangis okey! seriously!!!!!! we went there twice and also tried the grilled fish platter, the creamy seafood pasta and of course the fish and chips and all of it is super delish! im not sure if this restaurant ade franchise ke tak kat tempat lain BUT if not, if you are planning to come to plymouth, harus pegi kedai ni makan tau!

oh lupa nak cakap;

LA TASCA - is in town centre, walking distance from the main high street near the ice skating rink.

THE PLATTERS - is at the Barbican, near the marina, next to the Mayflower theater.

ps : im writing this based on memory, kalau ade tersilap (cos i know ade org plymouth baca my blog hehe) sila correct me okies :)

ke bandung lagik gue!

my mom and her sisters and me and my sisters are going to bandung!

yes, again!

this will make the 5th (or was it the 6th?) time i am there!

hehe

xpe lah, my mom wanted to treat her sisters and we sisters also wanted to treat our mum and aunties :p :p

am looking around for a 3 bedroom apartment in bandung, anyone have any idea where a good place to stay?

semua perempuan nie, 8 orang, rombongan cik kiah wehhh! :0 :0

the meat & wine co

we checked out the Westfield Mall when i was in london last christmas, we actually wanted to eat at Jamie's Italian but as it was two days after xmas, the restaurant did not have any fresh seafood and all that was available was meat! so okey, since we have to eat meat we must find a halal one right?

so off we went to the Meat & Wine Co...

this pic is courtesy of google!

when they say meat, they really meant it! all kinds of MEAT is available! from kangaroo to springbrok (actually i dunno wat that is haha) and crocodile! weird! and um tak halal la! so we asked the waiter.. and he gave us this...

tadaaa!! they have a halal menu you'alls!! best kan!!

wahh so ape lagi, mula la dengan khusyuk nye study menu and punye la lama nak decide makan ape hehe

tapi kan kan kan kan...
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boleh tak excited punye pasal, i FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE FOOD!! can you believe it!!

sure you guys rasa tertipu dengan entry nie kan! me too! penat tau karang ni and then discovered that there are no pictures of the food!!

so pk2 jugak tadik nak update ke tak nak update ke tak cos nasib baik my frend got it on his camera tapi i still didnt get it from him till today, so nak tunggu memang la boleh tapi ni dah siap type and all kan? so xpe lah, i post this one first boley? nanti i will update with the food pics okey! hehe

BUT i remembered that the food was pretty good! not fantastic all around, ade la yg miss-ed sikit tapi in general not bad not bad.. hehe citer pun no point sure u guys tak puas hati kan tak dpt tgk gambar food tu huhu :p :p

the price pun ok la reasonable jugak, a bit on the pricey side but expected for this kind of place :)

oh location;

The Meat & Wine Co

Westfield Shopping Centre

Shepherds Bush

London

chicken pasta

miss v was asking me for the recipe for my chicken pasta with tomato sauce.

here it is :)

you need the following basic ingredients to make chicken pasta;

1 large yellow onion diced
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoon of dry oregano, basil and thyme
3 tablespoon of olive oil
2 portions of chicken breasts sliced or diced (up to u)
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of button mushroom - sliced
1 packet of pasta - any that u like

here are my methods to make them;

first step - after u have diced the garlic, place them in the pan with the olive oil BUT do not start the gas YET. let it soak in the olive oil for a couple of minutes. trust me this makes ALL the difference!

second step - after a few minutes of soaking the garlic, fry it up and add it in the onions and next important step, add in the oregano ans basil. add the thyme if yr cooking chicken, otherwise no need the thyme k.

after the whole house smells absolutely yummy from the lovely herbs, add in the chicken :)

third step - after the chicken brown lightly, add in the sliced mushroom

fourth step - decant the tomato paste into the pot. add hot water. then add salt and pepper to taste and a bit more oregano or basil if you like. if the sauce is too watery you can thicken it with cream or corn flour.

some people thinks its easier to buy the ready made tomato sauce, which i think if yr making lasagna or baked pasta is fine as its easier to cook from scratch, but if yr making the sauce for eating like this, best go with the from scratch method, i mean seriously its hardly any hard work right?

cos seriously, that's it! yr done!

a few notes;
1. if your making bolognese sauce, make the beef is properly browned before adding the tomato paste, for chicken, u can skip the browning process
2. the longer you simmer the sauce, the better it taste
3. if u like, add in extra fresh tomatoes as an additional veggie and also for extra taste


tadaaaaaaaa! (oh note - all pictures including the pic of the pasta here is courtesy of google, i didnt manage to take any pictures when i was making them last week :p)

for finishing, add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top :)

ps : i absolutely hate it when people put those frozen veggies in the sauce, like euuwwww! its horrible and taste fake and yucky! grate some carrots and diced some capsicum and put that it instead okey :) it taste better and healthier too!

kuch kuch hota hai and vitamins

a study was done somewhere sometime by someone that in order for something to become a habit, you have to do it straight for 28 days, then automatically becomes a habit.


like i have to shower before sleeping - a habit i picked up during my uni years, not really good especially if the shower is late at night but if u cant sleep if u did not shower than u have no choice but u have to! and especially bad during those cold winter nights too..ishk ishk.


but as i go through my habits it seems like all dat i picked up are unhealthy ones!


not good not good..

so i am currently working on three items at the moment for the next 28 days;


1. eat my vitamins - can u believe how forgetful i am about doing this?? like seriously, i buy the most nutritious vitamins supplements in the world and i take them diligently for the next 5 days and then i forgot one day and then next day and the next and ended i forgot for an entire year then i get sick and i read somewhere i shud taking these vitamins and i went out and buy some and come home happily and put the vitamins on my dressing table so that i see them and remember to take them only to realise there tucked hidden that bottle of unused perfume is the exact same bottle of the very vitamins i just bought, a year old and gathering dust!
current status : 7 days straight and counting

2. drink a glass of warm water in the morning - so ok, if you read those get slim tips this has to be the one dat tops the list, and best of all, its sunnah nabi too! yup2 :) so its great and we should all do it right? sounds simple isnt it? u get up in the morning and drink a glass of water that you have left by your bed the night before. surprisingly its harder than it looks! i even goes as far as buying large bottles of mineral water and put them in a basket next to my bed so i have access to the abudant supply of water all the time and for sure i wont missed it since its like right next to my bed!! but morning comes and i get up and groggily by passed the crate of water and showered and get dressed and walked out of the room all the while actually managed to ignore the crate of water in the room! its amazing really! and its not like the vitamins when u forget it in the morning u can just take it later at night, this is like if u missed that window of oppurtunity, its like gone forever. its not like u can go back to sleep right? huhu
current status - did it for 5 days straight, forgot for about three, now back to square one, and its um, day two. eh, did i do it this morning? oh shoot! damn, so yeah ok, back to day one.


lastly..


3. stop (okey okey, REDUCE) drinking ice water - this one, enough said la right. everyone know this.
current status - day three. course it helps that i was sick for the last three days hehe. but hey, small steps people, small steps :)


so ok, once i got all the above three, i will work on more.


so here's to making good healthy life changing habits!


eh lupa, wats d above got to do with kuch kuch hota hai?


nothing really.


i just really wanna see this movie again but cant seems to find the dvd anywhere!!


anyone has it? can i borrow? pretty please? :p :p

dungun, terengganu

another post about my favourite place :)

after tanjung jara in dungun, watch out for a place on your right, its on top of a hill and looks down to a wonderfully gorgeous beach...one of the local activities on that hill is the villages dried their catch - to make "ikan masin" or "keropok keping" but its been a while since ive seen it so maybe they dont anymore..

anyway, here are some of the pictures...

stuffed crab kemaman ganu

after a crazily hectic month in the hustle bustle of kl, sometimes u need to get out of the city and take a quick break and to me, the best place to go to is and has always will be, kemaman terengganu.. ive always blogged about this but i think ive never blogged about one of the best food ever ever in kemaman..

here it is...



its mega expensive ok, about RM8 per piece but its damn well worth it! usually we only have about two pieces each of it, but my recent trip we decided to have a proper seafood lunch as well - steamed fish, butter prawns and kangkung belacan together with stuffed crab of course!

directions to get to tong juan - when you reach kemaman town, after the store, there's a traffic light where hai peng is on your right, turn right at the traffic light, straight on and on, after the fruit stalls on your left, keep right and you will find the restaurant on your right. there's another restaurant called restaurant malaysia right next to it that sells the same thing, but that one tak halal okies :)

so next time you are in kemaman terengganu, be sure to try this kemaman's best kept secret!