P1 Wimax in Penang

After a download frenzy in the last few days of March, I got a message saying that I've reached my 5GB limit for my Celcom Broadband. Now I realized that it come with a limit -> 5GB :(... peanut I think ... If you download videos from the net, it could easily reach 500Mb.

I searched the net and found a lot of user commenting on this tiny limit. I also found that if user reached that limit, then the conection will be 'managed'.. i.e your speed will go down to something like 166kb/s ..... so slow :(

Very recently, I saw a lot of banners near the Queensbay area advertising for P1 Wimax... finally it arrives here. Unfortunately, my area in Sungai Dua, Gelugor is not yet covered. I wish it will be here soon and I voted for it on the PI Wimax website :)

The package seems quite good but it comes with 12 or 24 months contract and you have to pay for the modem (RM199) if you choose the 12 months contract.

What pique my interest was the package that they offer. For RM99, the fair usage policy is 20GB .. but it is limited to 1.2Mbps.. i wish it is 3.6Mbps .... anyway, comparing with the 5GB that my RM98/month Celcom broadband offered.. that seems a lot. But then, on the other side, the coverage is very limited. Maybe in one or two years time it will cover the east and west coast also.

I heard that Celcom also offered unlimited broadband with their wireless gateway package - this one cost RM299. Well.. out of my budget at the moment. Hopefully Digi Broadband will come to Penang also as I heard one of their Explore package at RM108/month offer usage policy of 10GB.

The more player the better for us customer

Cute Smilebox!

Just couldn't resist this cute and useful software. You can get creative and start sending more personal and intimate email and even host your creation to your website or blog.

Check it out... you might like it too :)

We are what we eat

We always come across the phrase 'you are what you eat'. If that is true, then what does your eating habit reveals about you?

I was feeling peckish today and decided to make a simple quick meal to satisfy my tummy needs. I was actually thinking of pasta based meal when I decided to turn to the net for some simple to do recipes that I can try. I got that and I also came across something that piques my interest... food based healing....



Food is a necessity to us because we need the nutrients and vitamins from the food to survive. With the advance of marketing and technology, food has certainly evolves... and now we can see many fast food joints mushrooming in our area. Certainly the presence of these outlets are convenience.. but at what price? If we are not careful... we will start seeing our waistline expanding and tummy bulging. Once the weight starts to pile up, it will be an uphill task to get rid of and the journey of dieting will began.....

There are a lot of books written about the topics of food healing and I believe what it is trying to tell us is that
we can use food's nutrition to develop optimum health. The idea of using food to heal is not new and it is very diverse across the cultures. For example, the humble and bitter 'peria' or bitter gourd have been promoted as the answer to diabetes control. It was found that regular intake of bitter gourd along with your food can help diabetics to control their blood sugar level.

So, next time you shop for food, try to fill your trolley with fresh fruits, veggies, legumes, leafy greens, fish and seafood to cater for various nutrition that your body needs. It will be a great foundation to a healthy body... chioww..

Abie and me..

Abie.. squeezing herself next to me, and slept for about 2 hours with the fan blowing right into her :)

Meowww.....

Abie hates it so much when people try to snap her photo. She can rarely sit still and most of the times, the photo comes out blur… whenever she saw us taking out the camera, she’ll jump like crazy and won’t sit still even for a few seconds. She even touched the lens her big paws … and look at the long whiskers… auwww

Cik Tazzzzz...

Cik Taz… my niece. She’s chubby and likes to sleep a lot. In this photo, she dozed off on her mummy and doesn’t care what’s happening around her

Sausage and bean hotpot

Saturday brunch.. using  common ingredients from your pantry and fridge

Ingredients:

Cooking oil - 3tbsp
Onion - 1, peeled and chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
Garlic sausages - 450g, cut into half (or smaller pieces if you prefer)
Baked beans  -110g, drained
Tomato paste  -2 tbsp
Salt To taste
Freshly cracked black pepper
Dried parsley

Method:

1) Heat oil in a heavy based pan and lightly sauté’ onion and garlic for about 5 minutes
2) Add sausages and cook for about 10 minutes until the sausages are lightly browned
3) Add tomato paste, baked bean and enough water to cover beans. Simmer gently for a few minutes, stirring occasionally and add more water if needed. Check that the sausages are cooked thoroughly
4) Taste and add seasoning with salt, pepper and dried parsley and serve hot

This is Abie

My furry friend is called Abie... well.. that was not her only name. You see, she has many names, depending on times of the day and which of her human friends you asked. My sister Intan called her Gabby, my mom called her Bie and I like to call her Kelubi when she's being naughty, which is what she's been doing all the time.

She is 4 months old now and unfortunately has some problems with lices/fleas.. whatever you want to call it. I think those parasites were transferred to her from her mum that got them from other stray cats that she mingled with. Since the problem is getting worse, i decided to get the fleas drop from a nearby pet shop and thank goodness that works. In a matter of few days, the fleas seems to have deserted her and I only apply a few drop on Abie's neck. And now she's a happy kitty...



Thsi photo was taken during my recent trip back home in December. As it was a raining season, she took the opportunity to snuggle up and claim her righty spot on my bed. And she slept all the way from morning till two in the noon.

She does not tolerate others who disturb her sleep. A strong MEOWW from this princess will surely make you think twice .. and she bites too! Only if you bother her :)

A moment like this

This song is really beautiful..

"A moment like this
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Some people search forever
For that one special kiss
Oh I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this"

Both Liona Lewis and Kelly Clarkson sing this song but Kelly's Idol version has more feeling and her voice is more powerful.

So, are you waiting for your moment?

Thought of sharing this video.....

Happy New Year 2009

It has been sometime since I penned something on this blog. It has been two busy months and I just couldn't find the time to do it.

Well, 2009 is here and hopefully it will bring happiness to everybody regardless of what others are saying and predicting.

Each New Year will bring in new resolutions. This year, there are few things that I want to achieve, with sorting out my finance to be my top priority. I'm also trying to get my hand into small business... ... and in doing so; I'll have to learn the art of marketing and selling. I found this new knowledge very interesting and there are so many things to learn.

One thing we should be aware of is, whatever it is that we want to succeed in, having a correct mindset is the main priority. What we subconsciously think is what we are attracting, whether we realize it or not. And this is also the area that I'm focusing on this year. Reprogramming the mindset is not something simple and it requires efforts and I'm certainly taking baby steps in this path.

Anyway, I just want to wish everybody a happy new year and may your life blessed with abundance.

I love this fruit...

One of favorite fruits is pomegranate. I’ve bought this one at Tesco for RM1.99. Although the seed was not so red, it was so sweeeeeetttt.. and I finish one whole fruit in one go 

When I was small, life was tough. When mom bought this fruit, we have to share and I normally get smallest portion because I am the eldest. Due to this, I always say to myself that when I have my own money I’ll buy my own pomegranate.. not one, but many of them.

From Drop Box

It feels so joyful to be able to share something that I really like with others. When my sisters asked why always I splurge on this fruit, I’ll normally just smile. To me, it make me happy and the more I share my happiness with others, the more I will get back. I believe that kindness always come back to me, they are abundance and come from everywhere. Sometimes, it comes to me from strangers….

From Drop Box

I love my food...

Last Friday’s dinner was awful. A plate of ‘fried rice’ and ‘daging masak merah’ from the food court in Tesco Extra really make me feel sad. The so called ‘fried rice’ looks pretty much like plain rice fried in ketchup with only two pieces of peas. No other veggies or even onion in sight! Can you believe it? The ‘daging masak merah’ doesn’t really have taste and the sauce was really runny.. and both of them costed me RM4.90. I still finished them, because it I’d feel very bad if I throw it. Think about others that do not have food, and here I am complaining about meal. Anyway, I just sulk and eat it.



You see, I really love my food. I cannot stand substandard food. I strongly believe that it food is a gift and they are abundance. Food is something that should be respected and enjoyed. That’s why I feel miserable when my meal was not up to the standard. The stall claims that they are selling “Hot Thai Food”. The cooks are Bangladeshi men which I doubt the owner trained properly in cooking Thai food. I have nothing against them but I feel cheated. In my opinion, they should at least know how to cook fried rice. Higher raw material price is not an excuse to reduce the status of ‘fried rice’ to just ‘rice fried in ketchup with two peas’. At least do your customer a favor and put some onion and garlic and some veggies. Do you think I will go back to this stall? No way!


What do you think I’d do the next day? You bet it! I went to Tesco and bought some meat, kailan, some beef lung and fish. I rarely came across kailan and fresh fish in Tesco. I believed my desire to have them was so strong that God answer it and there they were.. I was so happy and bought some for next week stock as well. I treated myself to a hearty lunch to compensate for what my previous dinner was lacking.


I made ‘kailan ikan masin’, my own version of ‘daging masak merah’ with lots of red onion, fried fish, and crispy beef lung with some mean ‘sambal belacan’. I compliment it with ice lemon tea… Ohmmmppppphhh.. What a great lunch.

Quick Fix: White Tagliatelle

After a long and stressful day at work, the last thing that you want to do is to slog for another hour in the kitchen trying to fix dinner. Well, this simple recipe is based on common ingredients in your pantry. It will take you about 20 minutes to prepare and can be further modified by adding leftover chicken or meat.

What you need:

70g of tagliatelle (This is enough for one person. You can also use other type of pasta if you prefer) Some water to cook the pasta A packet of mushroom chicken soup powder (~16g per packet. It can be of any brand that you like)
150ml boiling water for making the soup
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
Lemon wedges Flat parsley or other fresh herbs (chopped finely)
Knob of butter to fry the garlic
3 cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 bird eyes chilies (you can deseed it if you can't tolerate the heat. Chop the chilies nicely)
Black pepper, a dash of salt to taste, sprinkled of cheddar cheese

To cook it:

1) Cook the pasta according to packet instruction – typically it will take about 10-12 minutes depending on the make. Just cook until al-dente and drain it

2) Meanwhile, prepare the mushroom chicken soup by adding the hot water into the powder and stir it (you can use cups or small bowl to hold the soup). You need to work quickly once you mix them as the soup will thicken as it get colder. This mixture will be your white sauce

3) Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the chicken/meat leftover if using. If not, just add

in the pasta and mix it

4) Stir in the mushroom soup, black pepper, salt and continue to heat until the sauce thickens. You may add in the cheese at this time

5) Add in chopped herbs, chilies, cherry tomatoes and squeeze the lemon juice into the pasta. You can add more if you prefer

6) Once the pasta sauce thickens slightly, you can turn of the heat. Serve immediately

Hugs...

A hug is used to show comfort and to show that you’ll always be there. It can sooth pain and bring cheer when you are in the blue.

Why do we hug each other? Do we need hug? Of course, we do. Even my cats and kitties love hugs and they crave it. They purr approvingly…

Hugging your love one can help you avoid stress. It is part of pleasure as human being. Studies also show that hugging extends the level of hormone which releases depression and reduce the feeling of loneliness.

A hug is perfect way of showing the love that we are feeling and it is a wonderful to gift to share. It’s meant for everyone that you care….


Funny Videos

Tinkering with Google gadgets.

After so many years, I finally take the opportunity to update my blog template. This is to enable me to add some gadgets to it. I'd added in the Picasa slideshows and the feeds. I know I'm a bit left behind in this blogosphere but I want to try it out.

Recently I'm checking out the Wordpress.org. Interesting source for those that want to go pro but I it comes at a price. There are multiple functionalities that are worth exploring and I'm really tempted to do it. The question now is whether it is really what I need at the moment… J

Honeyed Five Spice Chicken Pocket

One of my favourite pastime is trying out new recipes. Last weekend, I'd made "honeyed five spice chicken pocket" for my brunch. The recipes is from the book Healthy One Dish Cooking that I bought from Reader's Digest few months ago. The basic recipe is simple and I have modify it slightly based on the stuffs that readily available in my pantry :)

This simple meal take about 40 minutes preparation time, including the marinating of the chicken. I think the chicken will taste much better if I allow it to marinate longer but my tummy is hungry. So, I just marinate it for half and hour. Cooking time take about 20 minutes and the stuffs I prepared is enough for 3-4 people. You can always reduced the amount if your are cooking for fewer people.

What do you need?

1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
2 tbsp honey (or more if you like it sweeter)
1/2 tsp five spice powder
3 skinless chicken breast fillets
4 large pita bread (use wholemeal pita bread if you are a health conscious)
3 lettuce leaves, shredded
16 cherry tomatoes, halved (If you don't have cherry tomatoes, you can use normal tomatoes but it will be less sweeter)
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely grated ( I do not really have a grater, so I try to julienned it)

To make the lemon and herb yogurt dressing, you'd need:

1/2 cup (130g) natural yogurt (use low fat if you are health conscious)
1/2 lemon, zest grated and juiced (you can get about 2 tsp of juice)
2 tbsp of chopped fresh flat parsley (get it from the herb section in your supermarket. You can also use other herbs such as dill or chives.. whichever you prefer.. just don't use oregano or other strong smelling herbs please.. )

How to make it?

1) Combine lemon + honey + five spice powder in a shallow dish that is large enough to hold the chicken breast in single layer. Mix together until well blended. Make some deep slashes in each chicken breast and put it into the dish. Rub the marinade all over the chicken, ensuring that it get into the slashes. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate it in the fridge for 30 minutes

2) To make the dressing, blend/mix the yogurt + lemon zest + juice + parsley and season to taste. Cover and chill until you need it

3) Bring the chicken to room temperature and grill the chicken for about 20 minutes (or until cook). Occasionally, baste the chicken with the marinate and turn in to the other side halfway into cooking. Once the chicken is done, thinly sliced it diagonally and set aside to cool

4) Sprinkle the pita bread with little water and warm it under grill for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the lettuce, tomatoes and carrot with the dressing. Slice open one side of each pita bread and make a pocket. Stuff the chicken and the salad into the pocket and serve immediately

How does it taste?

The five spice powder adds some Asian flavour to the pita bread sandwich. I would prefer to add in more seasoning to the chicken so that it has more bodied taste. I'd add in some garlic and ginger if I were to do it again. The dressing has a refreshing taste and taste much better with normal yogurt (as compared to low fat). Adding lemon juice to the yogurt make it thinner and it also make the dressing too sour for my liking. The dressing taste a bit bland, so I spiced it up with sprinkling of chopped bird eye chilies and some salt. A dash of Tabasco sauce can also add colour to it. Instead of tossing the lettuce, tomatoes and carrot with the dressing I just spoon the dressing over the assembled pita.

It is simple dish and the chicken and dressing can be made in advance and we can have this as cold sandwich instead. Using pita instead of sandwich bread really make you feel full afterwards. I prefer to dip the chicken directly into the dressing while it still hot rather than having it with pita or any other type of bread. The mild sweetness of the chicken complement the the dressing very well.

I'd give this recipes 3 out of 5 stars.

Alpha Brainwave Music

I went for a workshop on Saturday and was introduced to this alpha music to help sooth the mind. It is a calming music .. sort of like Kitaro's music.

Alpha is a brainwave and the alpha music helps the brain to drift into this slower brainwave. If your mind in alpha, it becomes relaxed , free of stress and is automatically using more of the right side of the brain.

I search the net and found that there are four types of brainwaves.

1. The Beta Wave has a frequency of 14 to 21 cycles per second.
- We use in our ordinary waking state. At this level, we reason, rationalize, and execute whatever chores we need to do.
However, it will increase with stress, as faster it goes as more stress and nervous you will get.

2. The Alpha Wave which has the frequency is from 7 to 14 cycles per second.
- This is the State of Mind where you are in a "relaxed alertness". You are calm and peaceful, with clear creative thinking, ideas, solutions and intuitive breakthroughs. This is the State of Mind, where you can reach your full potential.
3. The Theta Wave aka deep sleep state (between 4 and 7 cycles per second)
- All our emotional experiences are recorded here.

4.The Delta Wave is the deepest sleep with frequencies less than 4 cycles per second.
Typically encountered in total unconsciousness

According to the instructor, we can actually drift into the alpha brain wave by listening to alpha or meditative music, relaxation and meditation exercise. Painting can also drift you this state as you lost the sense of time when you doing your paint. People have been using this music as background to presentation to calm the audience.

What he's trying to say is, we can influence our personal space, our living space or our working space, by playing certain type of music...Interesting, I do feel relaxed when listening to it. But to what extent, I'm not sure yet :)

In one year time ….

Intan will be a teacher .. a music teacher maybe ?

Hajar is still doing her PHD .. but with a kid trailing J

Shida will be a Chef .. wonder if she will cook nice food for me

Surah will be on her 2^nd year of engineering diploma …

Syahir will be sweating for his SPM exam ..

Angah … not too sure what he wants to do with his life …

Me.. ??

New addition to our family

I'd like to mark the beginning by announcing the new addition to our family. Recently, three of our cats gave birth and now our cats totaled up to 26!

Mama Milo with 5 kitties

Mama Abu with 3 kitties

Mama Yat with 5 kitties