# BUAH DABAI...The BLACK JEWELS of Borneo

Pernah tak dengar nama tu?  Tak pernah?  Saya pun, baru last week terbaca article Black Jewels of Borneo dari majalah "Happenings in Sarawak". Ini ialah nama glamour buah dabai aka... buah olive tempatan. Kenal buah dabai tak? Yang tinggal di Sarawak, taulah... Yang belum kenal tu lihatlah gambar yang kat bawah. Walaupun rupanya  tak seberapa tapi rasa dia...hmmm...yang pernah makan ja yang tau...cicah kicap manis...memang ummph...boleh ketagih dibuatnya.!

Sebenarnya, saya dulu2 tak berapa nak suka buah dabai ni...sebab dulu mana ada orang jual buah ni kat pasar ...buah ni terdapat didalam hutan so masa tu mana ada jalan raya macam sekarang yang ada highway walaupun.......so tak adalah orang nak mengangkut buah ni ke bandar untuk dijual. Kalau ada pun, cuma saudara mara dari kampung yang bawa mengunakan perahu, tu pun taklah banyak mana. Sebab tulah tak kenal maka tak cinta, tapi sekarang in..... dah taraf gila bayang...aiikkk.....sentiasa merindui buah ni. Buah dabai ni bermusim, so sekarang memang musim buah-buahan...so berpesta buahlah  kita......

Satu lagi buah kegemaran saya ialah buah engkalak..gambar kat atas ....yang berwarna pink bila dah masak.....cara makan pun sama macam buah dabai...direndam dalam air suam dan cicah dengan kicap manis...perghhh....hingga menjilat jari. Tapi yang best nya makan buah-buahan ni nak perlu risau pasal lemak tepu ke, kolesterol ke ataupun apa-apa yang seangkatan dengannya..  .Buah-buahan dikatogerikan sebagai makanan sihat...kan?   Yayyy.....Yang saya baca dari Majalah Happenings ni ada menyatakan khasiat  yang terkandung dalam buah dabai ialah energy, potassium, protein dan calcium dan juga tinggi anti-oxidant.....hah apalagi.!  Tapi kalau makan tu berpada- padalah ya!... asal jangan overdose, sudah!

Satu lagi buah yang bermusim ni, yang dulu saya suka tapi sekarang tak...Boleh teka ?...hihihi...Raja buahlah, apalagi kalau bukan buah durian.  Dulu2  memang hantu durian..tapi sekarang tengok pun tak berselera. Yang telah dibuat tempoyak makan pula, tapi yang masih freshlah, masih manis, yang baru dibuat dalam masa seminggu, yang dah masam tu buang tepi je. Ehh....sombong nya?

Semalam kawan hubby baru balik dari kampung, adalah  bawa buah-buah tempatan ni, so hubby beli 4 biji durian dan 2 kilo langsat. Durian dia makan sebiji seorang-seorang, my daughter kata dia dah kenyang so tak nak makan, my son sama macam saya, tak pandang buah durian, jadi yang selebihnya 3 biji dia masuk dalam kotak simpan kat luar rumah. Kalau disimpan dalam rumah mau nya pengsan saya.

#1MSIA KE NI!!!

Been quite a while since I last merepek kat sini...now back to my old routine since hubby dah balik..not much time to compose berita terkini...ambik masa juga tau...(yalah tuu.... perasaan.... seperti penulis novel lah konon) tapi sempat juga blog walking ke rumah favourite I... tu tak boleh miss!!

Masa Hari Raya Aidiladha yesterday, me and my family ada lah ngabang to my former baby sitter house, walaupun dia orang celebrate in small scale saja, for family members yang dekat2 tapi kita orang tetap diundang sama....siap tapau lagi for dinner. My two kids seperti biasalah akan  duduk kat sana satu hari suntuk, malam baru anak kakak tu hantar diaorang balik. Inilah 1Malaysia Sarawak style..tak payah pungpang, pungpang..macam orang kat sebelah sana....tapi nan hado juga...oppss..
Masa Gawai dan Christmas, kakak ni busy juga, bukan apa, busy masak dan buat kuih untuk kita orang.

Malam nanti nak pergi BBQ rumah kawan anak I...Bff my son...so family pun berkenalan. Yang family ni..bapa dia bidayuh, mumi dia kenyah plus kita orang Iban...tengoh tu ....multi-racial.

Belum lagi my family yang ada cina, matsaleh, melanau, bidayuh dan tamil. Meriahkan?

Gambar kat bawah tu (tak ada kena mengena dengan 1Msia ok..hanya sebagai selingan saja) masa kita orang makan di  Lof Cafe Stutong, same row dengan KPJ. Makanan ok tapi tak banyak choice. Kita order set lunch, Ayam Penyet atau Nasi Lemak dengan minuman plus 3 pieces jam/pineapple tart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

# OH MY MUSCLE.....

Last Thursday I thought of scrubbing the bathroom ...yalah the floor pun dah tak berseri lagi sebab tukang cuci tak ada..nak tunggu dia balik ...takut dia mengomel pula..so terpaksalah buat sendiri.

So ambik chorox, pencuci lantai dan berus plastik...so mulalah project menyental.....OMG.....takku sangka memang degil sangat daki2 yang melekat kat situ. Chlorox yang pada mulanya hanya ada 1/4 botol , dan pencuci lantai pula 1/2 botol, habis I kerjakan tapi tak juga berseri2 silantai tu. Dah lebih  setengah jam memberus tapi ada lagi yang masih degil... kita stop kejap.....masa untuk ambik budak2 tu dari sekolah.  Muscle kedua2 belah lengan dah mula rasa sakit..manakan tidak kita menyental sekuat2  hati.

My son pergi tuition ikut kawan dia, so hanya my daughter saja balik ikut saya. Dia dah tapau lunch so makan dalam kereta ja. On da way back kita singgah di TJ beli chorox dan pencuci lantai. Misi  menyental belum habis lagi..... So petang tu continue lagi .... resultnya?...oklah berserilah sedikit dari sebelum nya.

That night memang saya tak dapat tidur kerana kedua2 muscle lengan menjerit kesakitan.... terasa membengkak....puas saya mengurut dengan minyak kapak..lama2 adalah berkurangan sedikit sampailah saya terlena.

Dan semalam bila hubby balik, dia perasanlah lantai tu berseri sebab dia comment : eh..putihnya!
Hahaha...berbaloilah misi saya..... mendapat pengiktirafkan..

Inilah pertama kali saya buat kerja tu, kerana selama ini ia bukan dalam bidang kuasa kerja saya.....hubby punya, sebab tu bila dia tak ada, saya terpaksa ambik alih. Memang sungguh memeritkan. Moral of the story... Jangan pandang sebelah mata bidang tugas orang lain!

# BUDAK DIHAMPAP TV...

Tiap kali membaca berita seperti diatas saya akan teringat akan kisah yang sama yang terjadi kepada kedua2 anak saya.       

Masa tu, umur my daughter 4 tahun dan my son 2 tahun. Seperti biasa selepas makan tengah hari saya akan membentang tilam dan beberapa bantal depan tv untuk budak2 ni tidur. Tanpa saya sedari,( saya masa tu duduk tak berapa jauh dari mereka tapi tengah membaca suratkhabar) my son telah memanjat cabinet tv tu, dan membuat tv tu jatuh lalu menghampap mereka berdua.... It happened so fast that I did not noticed how my son had climbed on to the tv cabinet. Mungkin kerana ada tilam yang kat bawah tu yang menyelamatkan mereka dari apa2 kecederaan, tetapi saya percaya itu intervention dari yang maha kuasa.

Saya yang terlebih takut dan panik terus menangis and my daughter pun apabila melihat mummy menangis dia pun turut meraung sama, tu yang termuntah-muntah. TV tu pula besar gedebak size 29 inci yang model tahun 90 an. I really thank God that both of them came out without even a scratch on their bodies.

Tapi saya tetap menghantar mereka ke clinic untuk pemeriksaan bagi memastikan bahawa tiada kecederaan dalaman. Tak puas hati juga kerana my daughter ada muntah2 semasa kejadian, so the next day kita bawa mereka ke Normah Medical Centre. Doktor yang merawat mereka tergelak apabila mendengar kisah yang kami sampaikan.  So Doktor checked, nampak ok tapi dia pesan kalau ada apa2 simptom yang mencurigakan dalam dua tiga hari tu cepat2 hantar mereka ke hospital. Thank God semua nya ok.

Perkara yang berlaku macam ni, kita tak boleh nak menyalahkan ibubapa sepenuhnya kerana budak2 ni sangat lasak. Tak boleh terlepas pandang walaupun seminit. Tetapi walau bagaimanapun kita patut berwaspada setiap waktu.

Nilah tv 29 inci tu...

# MONDAY MORNING BLUES !!!!

This morning I literally jumped out of bed when I realised that it was  already 5.45am.....OMG..OMG.......my h/p alarm did not shriek as it usually does... than it striked me that I had forgotten to reset it back after setting it to 6 am on Sunday. My normal practice is to set my alarm clock to 5 am and my h/p alarm to 5.20 am ...banyaknya alarm...konon nak jadi unerring, tapi happened juga.... sebab last night it really slipped my mind. This is the 1st time .. hopefully it won't happen again.... especially when hubby is not around and I have to send the kids to school...Just my day, Huh!

I quickly woke up the kids.... told my son to wash his face and brush his teeth.... no need to shower .... no time.... so only my daughter took a quick shower. No time for breakfast too.... just made 2 cups of milk for them..... but gave them extra pocket money to buy breakfast at school. So by 6.10 am we were already on the road...Fuuuuh.......we made it in just 20 mins...Wow.....that's a record.

# THE BEST TIME TO Zzzzzzzzz.......

SUNDAY again???.....Phewww....  How time flies!  It felt like it was only yesterday that I blogged about Sunday....now its here again.

Today our Sunday service started at 7.30am.... so we had an extra 1/2 hr rolling in bed...and right after the service, mother, auntie, the 2 angles and yours truly went to the Stutong market to have brunch and later did some marketing......all under one roof. Good??

An hour later......
Why are there a lot of traffic on the road today????........even though it was raining on and off since dawn.

And on our way to send mother and auntie back, we were caught in the jam ...and  it took us almost an hour to go from the marketplace to the roundabout at King Centre.

My Conclusion:
The Kuchingites are .......the rajin lot....who are willing to brave the rain ...for what???
Jalan2....makan2.......marketing...shopping or to attend to some urgent matters!!! Beats me!

The weather out there right now is very gloomy....any minute the sky will open up and pour (silap2 aribulan banjir)...... so guys.........apalagi....I ni nak gi baca buku yang I beli yesterday, pastu nak Zzzzzzzzz....best kan, hujan2....sejuk2 ni!!!!

# PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST....&.. DINNER!!

This morning we had pancakes for breakfast. My son has been pestering me since last week ... but.....  sayang, mummy can't make it during the weekdays, cause I have to send you to school early so I don't have the time.... but mummy promised.... mummy will do it on Saturday. So last night he reminded me about the pancakes....OkOk.....mummy will do it.

So this morning I got up at 6.45am and started the project. I made 1 recipe, transfered it to a jug and got about 3/4 full.... I found it's much easier to pour into the pan than to spoon it....I used half the batter and  got 6 pancakes.... and the remaining batter.....I intend to make it again later in the evening.

At 8.30am I have to send my daughter for tuition and then rushed back to do the laundry...other housework can wait..... don't want to get stressed up, do we??

Two and the half hours later I have to fetch her soo....... as we were already out might as well go jalan2. I suggested BDC....everyone agreed...OK pass..... so off we went .... We headed straight to Popular bookstore, as I was searching for 1 particular book after reading the review. I  was ecstatic when I finally found it, tucked away among the rows and rows of books......yahhhh.....finally.  I can't find it at other bookstores .....

I've a collection of books by this author..love them all... santai, lucu tetapi penuh sindiran sosial.  The kids got 1 book each and by then we were hungry so...after getting  some toiletries from Watson, we headed to SugarBun at 1TJ.  It's nasi lemak for the 3 of us.... the kids dah rasa muak with fried chix so tukar selera.

At 1.30pm I have to send my son to Boys Brigade...although he was quite reluctant...mana tidak, cucua panas terik...but after some persuasion...ok pass..
And in the evening its pancake again.... nobody complained...happy lagi......muak makan nasi!!

@#%^&*..toot.. &*^%

Sori.... bukan nak mencarut tapi geram je.....walaupun kisah ni dah berlaku beberapa moon yang lalu.

Nak di jadikan cerita...satu hari tu hubby mendapat panggilan telefon dari saudara dia Mr D.... kata nak datang rumah esok ambik sesuatu...so hubby kata..datanglah tapi waktu pagi dia ada kerja sikit kat luar so datanglah petang.  Mr D nak bawa gf dia......Mr D ni duda dan gf pula Ms J. So kita orang happylah dengar Mr D dah dapat pasangan...yalah dah lama menduda.

So keesokan harinya masa mereka datang rumah, hubby belum balik lagi so kita pelawalah mereka masuk...tapi si Ms J ni tak keluar2 dari kereta, puas juga Mr D pujuk dia. So last2 Mr D masuklah sorang2 ke dalam rumah kita. So macam biasalah kita layan dia.... sembang2..bertanya khabar.... tiba2 muncul si Ms J, ...cara dia masuk rumah...sori to say, macam 'Cat & Mouse' bila dia pikir Cat takda baru dia meluru masuk.  Tekejut beruk saya...apa hal minah ni?...sudah masuk bukan nak menegur kita..tapi mata melilau melihat sekeliling. Dah tu duduk kat kerusi macam tunggul, kita yang cuba nak bebasa basi dengan dia pun dia buat dek je.

Masa tu hubby pun sampai, ingatkan Ms J nak tegur dia.....hmmm sama jah......dia buat dek je. So kita pergilah dapur nak buat minuman. Kita yang lurus bendul ni awal2 pagi dah membaking, yalah tetamu nak datang kita sedialah apa yang ada....tapi sekarang menyesal pula. Masa kita sedang sibuk didapur terdengar  Ms J ni rancak berbual dalam telefon entah dengan sapa. Ehh..pandai pula dia bercakap. Lepas tu saya hidanglah miniuman dan kek. Si Ms J ni masih rancak berbual ....boleh dia membuat beberapa panggilan tanpa menghiraukan kami yang duduk terpacak kat situ.

Saya pun beralih duduk dimeja sebelah terus menghadap lappy...tak kuasa I......you want to ignore me, fine...I can do the same too....ambik ko.....kita ni pantang dicabar.... Habis dia bersembang dengan hp, dia tetap duduk membatu kat situ. Mr D lah yang sibuk menghidang dia minuman.  Bila diorang nak balik kita dan hubby masih juga cuba nak bebasa basi dengan dia,...cara dia menjawab macam nak tak nak je......hissss...

Setelah diaorang pergi...kita pun cakaplah dengan hubby: Ms J tu tak mesra alamlah..Silurus bendul ni pun tanya(hubbylah tu): apa maksud u'?  Kita: Tak friendlylah...Hubby: Dia malulah tu.   Kita: Malu...my foot (cikgu Form 3 kita dulu, apabila marah dia selalu sebut 'my foot' .. tulah terbawa2 hingga sekarang...hahaha...). malu apa???  .. bukannya dia anak dara sunti, kalau tu bolehlah dimaafkan, ni dah jadi maknek, tapi nenek voguelah. Dalam bahasa kasarnya kurang ajarlah, masuk rumah orang tak nak bertegur sapa.

Dan dipendekkan cerita, baru2 ni kita orang balik kampung so adalah dengar cerita tentang Ms J ni...dalam hati saya: patutlah peragai macam @#$ toot %^&* hari tu. Yalah kalau niat kita baik ia akan terpancar dalam perangai dan kelakuan kita tapi kalau sebaliknya...hmmm...faham2 ajalah.  Lama dah tak dengar berita tentang diaorang ni, harap2 Mr D fikirlah masak2 sebelum membuat apa2 keputusan, jangan sampai pisang berbuah 2 kali..dia pun pernah mengalami kisah pahit suatu ketika dulu..Peace.

# BAKED MACARONI CHEESE

Since hubby is not around these few days I have not been cooking. The kids would normally tapau some food after school, and in the evening I would just cook something light.

 But yesterday......  my cooking mood  was back, so I thought of  making some cheesy baked macaroni.  I've tried it before but it didn't turn out well so I decided to give it another go.  Ingredients ..I've bought a few days ago so after doing my laundry I started the project.

 

This time round I wanted to try another recipe from Traditional Recipes Book which I bought a few years ago.  And  the recipe turns out quite a lot that I have to divide it into 2 trays.  Hihihi......so we had macaroni for lunch.... dinner....and breakfast the next morning and my girl bought some to school. We managed to finish 1 and 1/2 trays and the other half is still sitting in the fridge. Luckily this time the end product was hmmm.....okey( but not perfect yet) and the kids loved it.

And for lunch today, I cooked ayam madu popular request from the kids. But they said the one I cooked didn't look like the ayam madu they had at a few Indian restaurants, well colour wise that is. It's supposed to look bright red (I guess they used the dry chillies) but I only used 2 fresh chillies.

 

SUNDAY MORNING...LALALA...

Arise and shine at 5.30am everyday except Saturday is already the norm of the day for our family...so the kids are resilient to it although at times quite liat to get up....well ..kids being kids..... The only time they can sleep late is during the school holidays..... poor kids but they persevere.

So Sunday is just like any other weekdays when we have to be up by 5.30 am but instead of going to school we go to Church. Hopefully in years to come when mummy and daddy are not around anymore they will continue to do what we have implant in them. "Teach a child how he should live and he will remember it all his life." Prov. 22 v6.  After the service, which ends at 8.15am we'll go for breakfast and by 9 am we will send them to Sunday School and Youth meeting at the neighbourhood Church.

But this Sunday they don't have Sunday School or Youth meeting so I gave them the choice to choose where they would like to have breakfast. As expected they chose MD, where else...I don't know why some people, young and the young at heart are so obsess about going to  fast food joint...or is it that I'm from the old school..... I usually patronised such joint because of the kids, although normally I will find excuses to avoid it.  But this time, I'm giving in to them because of my guilty conscious...huhh..why?....because I had to leave them alone at home on Saturday night when I attended the reunion dinner. Never done that before, usually my hubby would be around but this was an exception case. I've already confirmed my attendance two weeks ago so I can't pull out at the last minute. Actually I've been delaying my confirmation because I don't know whether my hubby will be going travelling around these time. But as always he only knew two days before they had to leave for outstation...... Gerrrr..... So back to my story...we ordered porridge and hot cakes (at MD).  Although we reached there at about 8.30am, the place was already packed with people having early breakfast.......hmmm...luckily we managed to find a parking space right infront of the joint.

In the afternoon, we went jalan-jalan to the newly renovated Everise opposite Boulevard.  The supermarket was quite big and more spacious than the old one. I bought some ration for the week. On our way home we dropped in at Boon Khai Delight, 101 Premier for some ice kacang, rojak and chicken wings for the kids. Well that's how we spend our Sunday this week, the kids are happy and that's what matters the most... mummy is satisfied!

# REUNION OF CLASS 5 SCIENCE 1, 2 & 3- 1980.

the birthday bash...

On 6th October 2012, I attended a class reunion organised by ex-classmates/schoolmates of 1980 fifth formers...that's about 32 years ago...hmmm..... how time flies.!  This year event was considered small scale because in 2010 it was held at Mandarin  restaurant, can't  remember the exact number but the response back than was very good.  That year a few of them flew in from overseas (N.Zealand, Spore, and Hongkong, just to name a few) specially for the reunion. Salute you guys!

This year the gathering was held at Happy Valley Restaurant which is an open air concept dinning.
The idea to organise this event was  rooted up in June this year so as to enable those staying outstation to make arrangement so they could get a cheaper air tickets...as there were also celebrating their joint 50th birthday. Hihihi...a few of us are not there yet...but soon, very soon!!

Finally we get to meet old classmates whom we haven't seen for years. You can imagined the Hu ha... There were lots of surprises and hmmm......that face looked familiar but can't remember the name. Hahaha......it was fun catching up with old friends. Many tales to be told and not forgetting reminiscing the good old days as students...... Most of them have grown up children either in the early twenties or teenagers.

I noticed most of the ladies ,akhak..... still looked very youthful that you won't suspect they have reached half a century but sorry to say guys....can't say the same about you (mostly) the men looked their age, what with their receding hairline and perut boroi....sorry..hihi... mulut tak da insuran... But most of them are doing very well in their life and their careers. Another salute to them! A few left for overseas right after their Form 5 to further their studies and later settled there for good. It's so inspiring to hear their stories.



P/s - bukan nak angkat bakul...I was surprised myself when I heard a male ex-classmate asked another 'who is that ..... (referring to me)...Wah so beautiful now hahh......!!!!' (was I that ugly duckling back than???)

#JALAN JALAN CARI BAJU...

Yesterday my son went for an overnight camp at his school, so there's only 3 of us at home. When the mischievous little angle is not around it was very quiet and peaceful but when he's around huhh...".makes my blood go upstairs". So that night we decided to go out for dinner and hubby suggested Emporium since we haven't been there. Once there.... can't decide what to eat .... so my daughter just ordered cha kueh, the sweet and salty and we shared. Bolehlah...but nothing to shout about!!

After our dinner, we went to One Jaya to walk off some of the lemak.. but nothing much of interest except for my daughter who got some stationeries from Smart Bookstore. On the way back to our car we passed by a boutique, and from the mannequins placed  by the windows, hmmm... looked very impressive so we decided to drop in, the intention was just to look see, look see only. Wow....the dresses here were not bad, quite to my taste, so apalagi  mother and daughter  busylah cuba mencuba baju one after another. In fact I have been on a look out for dressess for the coming dinner in December  (December yo....lama lagi tu).....actually there's already a few invitations lining up so I have to start my hunting early.... Last minute buying is a no no.

So what do you think we got in the end???.....hahaha...I got one and my daughter one.  The price tag was quite reasonable, and for 2 dresses it cost me less than RM300. For me its quite a bargain. I've been to Riverside boutique and one dress price tag is equivalent to the price I'm paying for 2 dresses and I think quality and fashion wise  the ones I bought were much better. So that's why....(e-tok...) I repeat, we should survey first and not wait until last minute or else we'll just grab what ever there is without taking into account the price tag or quality and then menyesal seumur hidup!!.....(baju bergantung dalam almari seumur hidup ma.....).... tak guna.... Duit sudah terbang ......Been there, Done that...  hmmm....cerita belum habis lagi...so I pikir-pikir, manyak juga duit I keluar...so hint hintlah kat hubby suruh dia bayar untuk my daughter...nasiblah dia ok ja. SELAMAT duit aku...

Kejap lagi nak gi ambik my son dari school camp dia. Baru semalam he's not around and I missed him so much. Lagi lagilah my hubby baru saja berlepas gi travelling tengahari tadi. Sebab tulah melonggok depan lappy ni, nak melupakan kesunyian dan kesayuan yang melampau.

my daughter punya...