Ramadhan is here

This year I’ve got the chance to observed Ramadhan in Malaysia. For the past two years, I was in US for either the whole Ramadhan month or half of it. So, I’m really happy this year. I couldn’t ask for more. The thought of carrying out one of the Five Pillars of Islam in my own country really excites me.

On the first day, I have watermelon juice with kebab and some rice. Yesterday, I went to buy Pasembor , popiah and … watermelon juice … again. Yeah I love it so much especially during the fasting season. Having said that, I couldn’t be bothered to blend my own. So I’ll allocate RM2 every day for this juice. For today’s menu, I haven’t got a clue. Wait until slightly later and all the idea will come pouring.

This month is not all about food. It is also a month to devote ourselves to Allah and carried out extra stuffs for his blessing. I’ve been doing Terawih and reciting AlQuran and I’m aiming to complete it early this year.

I hope that the Lebanon people will have something for their breaking fast. I should always be thankful for all the blessing and goodness that I receive. There are others out there that are suffering. How I wish I have the magic wand to stop it and welcome them to Ramadhan with delight.

Trip to Sedim with K Chik

Last two weekends, me and K Chik went to Sedim. It was just a hunch at first but then we decided to go. What the heck.. Just go and enjoy the different scenery. I don’t really know how to get there, but I did remember seeing one of those brown signboards indicating Sedim. Based on that, we pack some food and went there.

We found the signboard but then not much indication after that. So, most of the time we just try our luck and use our instinct. At the last few kilometers, the road becomes one lane and slightly winding. I try my best to control the car as there were quite a number of potholes on this small lane. The scenery is breathtaking and we arrived there at around 10am. We tried the tree top walk and later have picnic by the river. The water was so cold and K Chik gleefully play around.

Feel like cooking Japanese dishes

I’ve been craving for some Japanese food since Friday. So, I did my grocery shopping and made some sushi that Friday night. I use crab filament and Jap mayo and also scallop in shoyu and sesame oil combo as toppings for the sushi. Not bad…

For last Saturday dinner, I have a bowl of nice clear soup and fluffy rice together with yakitori chicken and grilled fresh shiitake mushroom. The yakitori chicken is surprisingly easy to make. I just marinade the boneless chicken pieces with ginger, shoyu, garlic and sugar for about ½ hour and later grilled. It tastes ok and I’d make it again in the future

Kuih sago

This is one of my favorite traditional kuih. It is made of sago, sugar and freshly grated young coconut. It is quite soft and springy and cost around RM0.30/pc.

New kitty …

My aunt got a handful of kitty from that mommy cat that chooses my grandma’s house as her new home – 5 of them altogether. They are quite an active bunch and grow up very fast. I just hope that my Aunt will properly feed them and neuter them so that they wont end up breeding unwanted kitty.

Terung herba

Can you believe that this is brinjal? My mom said that it is called “terung herba” or Herbal Brinjal (if loosely translated to English).

Mom brought it back from school and put it on the table in the kitchen. I thought that it was a toy as it looks so strange and is strikingly yellow. Upon closer inspection, it reveals a bite mark and I saw the leaf – it’s real!!.

I show this to some of my friends and none of them ever see it. Huh, it is strange fruit/vege. Maybe the Education Ministry moves to educate the students on our herbs are a good move. Else, this fruit will be gone forever.

The new member of our family – Yusman

Welcome to the world. Since my Aunt gave birth, I’ve yet to see her kid. I took this trip home as an opportunity to meet him. His name is Putra Yusham. Lord know who gave him that name. I always thought that his name is Yusman and I have been referring him by this name since the first day. So, I don’t care what other people call him. He’ll always be Yusman to me.

Before heading home, K Chik and I went to buy so stuffs in Giant. I saw nice baby cloth and these cute little shoes and we bought it for him. Well, I did not expect Yusman to be so small, and the shoes were too big for him…

When I went to KB, I bought two pairs of kiddy socks for him. This time it fits and he looks so cute in it.

Another trip home

National Day is here and I took few days off to go home. K Chik came and off we were together.

The weather was not so nice. It was raining heavily but luckily it was only cloudy by the time we enter the East West Highway. That area was quite cool as it is a highland. I enjoy the ride very much.

At one area, the visibility was so bad. I can hardly see more than 2 meters because it was so foggy. I think the cloud was so heavy and it stayed low.
Luckily we started our journey early so there were not many people on the road. In Jeli, we saw lots of people carrying flag on the bike. The kids were so happy tagging along but the ways they rode the bike were pretty dangerous. In my opinion, celebrating the spirit of independent is good but one need to pay attention on the safety factor as well

Succulent Mangosteen

The flesh of Mangosteen is really succulent. The sweetness really lingers in your mouth. This purplish fruit is hard to come by as it is seasonal.

People in Thailand are using the skin to obtain purple color and use it in cloth dying process. In Malaysia, this thing is unheard of. I think we are still behind in this. Maybe those folks in university can help the industry to make creative use of this fruit.

Anyway, I want to eat more and more Mangosteen. The tree behind our house has been chopped by our neighbor so there is no more chance to get the fresh fruit from that tree when it is in season. Now, the market is our source.

Kak Chik’s graduation

Sunday, 27th August is K Chik’s graduation day for her civil engineering degree. Mama and abah are joining her on her big day. Me? I’ll wait for her Master’s graduation. I’d promised her to go for that one. I hope she does not mind me for not attending her grad. Well, I celebrated my graduation in Bristol without my family.

It was Suria and some postgraduate friends that attended mine. Can you imagine how sad I felt at that time? But then it is not fair for me to ask my parent to come as the whole trip to UK was expensive. I still feel sad thinking about it and I remember longing to see my parent to be among the crowd watching me receiving my scroll. At that time, only me and Suria were the Muslim girl graduating in Electrical and Electronic Department and all eyes are on us because we are different. With our headscarves and graduating gown, we put our head up even though deep inside both of us are sad as our parent cannot make it. It still hurt and I’ll remember that day…..

Why does it always happens to me??

I’ve received bad news that some other group are also launching similar amplifier project as mine. The platform is the same and their target to release is Q407. Since mine is part time apart of my daily job to support production, I’d targeted for release in Q108.

I’ve been doing this since last month and had even shared it to one of our top management. This is just insane and now I’ve got to speed up mine so that I can get a working breadboard and proto in Q207 as well.

I feel so sad that this stuff is happening to me. Why does it have to be this way?

Dinner in Kampachi

Last Saturday night was pretty nice. I went to have Japanese buffet in Kampachi with a friend. It’d cost us RM72 per person but it worth it. I ate so much food that night. Here is the nice thing that I have:
- Okanomiyaki
- Salmon sashimi and oyster
- Teppanyaki and tempura prawn
- Lots and lots of sushi and that squid appetizer
- Miso soup and baked salmon
- Macha ice cream

I like the oyster. I wish they have the teppanyaki oyster but they don’t. Anyway, the so called “fresh” oyster was not that fresh but it taste ok and the flesh is quite big. I like the squid appetizer in particular. I think the sauce was made by combining the sesame oil and sweet shoyu and some other thing.

Their okanomiyaki was pretty filling. I’d small bite of it but then I think it taste nice. At least the mayo was not too overpowering. The macha ice cream is a good dessert after a hearty meal. The sweet and bitter aftertaste lingered in the mouth.

How do we response when disaster threatens us?

Experts say:
1) About 50% of people manage to hold on to themselves together and function well
2) 25% goes into shock and withdrawn
3) 25% become hysterical

For someone with an existing issue, this could be a trigger for a significant reaction. In general however, we cannot predict who is going to freak in those situation.

Interesting do and don’t for Scorpions

DO:

Scorpio's are full of passion and zest for life. They have tremendous drive that can involve you too. Tune in to their wavelength and you can enjoy the harmony and music of life with them. Scorpio's are loyal and never forget a kind deed done by you. If you want to enjoy life with your Scorpio lover, share their passion and intensity and you will be fascinated by how beautiful life can be with them.

DON'T:

Scorpio's are very passionate and intense but they are also fiercely possessive and would like to possess your mind, body and soul. Do not let seeds of jealousy grow in them because then you may have to suffer agonies of jealousy and discontentment in life. Scorpio's have explosive tempers be careful how you handle them. They never let anyone know what is going on in their mind till they strike and you may be caught unawares. Do not flirt around in the presence of your Scorpio lover.

This definitely rings a bell. Quite true and I agreed on being passionate and possessive as true Scorpions trait.

Interview

A colleague and I were assigned to interview a trainee for industrial attachment. Problem is none of us ever do that. So, we have to kind of prepare our question before we call the candidate. This is a new experience for me and to tell you the truth I don’t really like it. Why? Because, being me I’ll always be critical. I judge other people personality fast and Lord I hate it when people mix up their English and add in the ‘la’ word at the back.

Well, we think the candidate is ok. So, now we have to figure out what we want him to do. I was thinking of asking this guy to do HFSS simulation of the package that I’m going to use for my pet project but I have yet to decide. Maybe I’ll get him to write up the VEE code. Hehehehe…

It smells so nice and I’m hungry.

It smells so nice and I’m hungry.

Fried beehoon for dinner doesn’t sound fantastic but I couldn’t be bothered to cook a proper meal. It is not as filling as having rice or nice steak with mash potato but that’s ok. At least I don’t have to go out and buy my dinner or slaves myself in that small kitchen.

And now, at 9.30pm, my stomach is growling because my neighbor downstairs is cooking something that smell wonderful. I bet it is steamed fish. Now I crave for sweet and sour fried pomfret. Wow isn’t nice to have it with piping hot fluffy rice….

I miss Eberg.

It has been about two months since I last see him. I’m planning to go home on the national day weekend. I believe a lot of people will be doing the same. Take a long weekend and head home or go some place nice.

I’d have to go and get the Chicken Whiskas for Eberg. Mama said that Eberg is getting fatter and lazy as hell. I can’t wait to see him.

My pet project

I shared my investigation and my boss seems interested. I dig more and prepare the proposal. I secured the teammate or at least that was what I think of at the moment. I know I did a lot of ground work for them already but hey, this is my brainchild and damn I want it to go live.

Now I have to go and do the breadboard. I haven’t shared the proposal and timeline with the project manager. I wanted to do one breadboard and at least get the minimal requirement on the paper. Show them the monster … That way, it will be easier for me to secure the funding and it will also help my boss to defend it. Well, symbiosis is the way to go.

Brainstorm session..

We’d a 2-hour brainstorm session in the sport complex with the team last month. I think my boss is trying to find out what the engineers have in mind and what they wanted to do. It’s kind of all right as we got to share our idea with the rest of the team. However, some of the members think that this is a waste of time and might not lead us anywhere. We’ll see how our boss takes our input.

Anyway, I’d started ground work for some of mine even before this session. It is just that I’m not good in sharing my idea. Maybe I can do better next time.

What a strange fact..

I found that there is a condition whereby a woman can imagine that she is pregnant and the bodies will response to that. Once the desire to become pregnant is too high, the belly will grow bigger and she’ll start lactating and the milk can come out if she’s distress. I cannot what the medical term that they use to describe this but I think it is very strange.

I thought you can only get pregnant if you have sex but this surprised me. I wonder how many percent of women actually have this thing. It is all in the mind and the mind can play tricks on you.