06 May 2013

505

Why so pessimistic, everyone? Yes, we failed to make a transition yesterday but Rome wasn't built in one day.

In fact, I have seen the biggest progress in history. Malaysian getting together to vote. 80% of turnout. Isn't that something for us to be proud of? No? What about the fact we did give our government a really good fight this time around? I could see they were desperate with their campaigns. I had fun reading their campaigns. Some even went to an extend of poking fun at our hudud law. But that just showed the desperation they were in. They kept playing the racist card to create fear among us.

In fact, I could see the majority of Chinese rejecting a certain political entity that is supposed to be representing them this time around. And yes, that to me, as a Malaysian, is a progress.

Why so pessimistic, everyone? Haven't you see how we won majority of the hot seats in the parlimentary elections. That showed us something. That meant something. I honestly thought they would pull the dirrrtiest tactics of all to remain in those parlimentary areas but we won. And that showed, we still had the power in our hands.

And haven't you see how we managed to stay in Penang, Kelantan and Selangor? How LGE could make an easy win in Penang. How the people of Selangor (well, at least my friends were and Faizal Tahir as well hahaha) were in joy finding out their state's fate is still in the hands of PR. That just proved the fact that PR was doing their jobs in the previous 5 years and making (most of) the rakyats happy. I wish people from other states can see this as well. Maybe in the next five years, InsyaAllah.

Why so pessimistic, everyone? Haven't you notice that even though it is a small progress but we did gain more seats in the parliament this time around. Haven't you notice how some big guys lost this time around? Ali Rustam, now that came as a suprise to me. I saw him as a strong candidate. And that to me is progress, sir. Better than losing seats. ;)

Why so angry, everyone? Saying things like "I wish Malaysia will have something like the 'Arab Spring'. Then we can really make change". No, I don't think that's a good idea. Our economy doesn't need to face that kind of trouble considering the debt we are already in now. Our country doesn't need that kind of instability just for the sake of changing the government. But speaking as someone with an experience, I can just say it tickles my funny bone imagining all the chartered flights the Bangladesh Government have to send to save their people. ;)

Yes, I was sad with the turnouts this time around. Yes, I was upset finding out the indelible ink turned into an invisible ink by washing. And yes, I... wasn't really surprised with all those 'blackouts' while counting the votes and 'magic boxes' appearing out of nowhere. On how those recounts and suddenly the other candidates won the election. But what's done is done. The new government is here. I read an article before saying that our government is like a bratty kid who needs a good beating once in a while. I hope DS Najib has woken up from his sleep and will behave this time around (preferably without any ridonkulous purchase of 24usd ring by her wife).

No. Democracy isn't dead. What's dead is your spirit to stay persistent in change. What's dead is you are giving up easily after just one fight. Stay strong, Malaysia. We may not change the country overnight but we did unite in so many ways and better than ever.

So stop changing your profile into a black box. Stop feeling sad. Stop mourning. Stop whining. Our fight is still on and it is never off.

Here's towards a better Malaysia. And perhaps, a better new (old) government.

21 April 2013

(Not So) Her Royal Laziness 3

I think my blog is slowing turning into a cooking blog. :-/

Anyhoo, I have been craving for a bowl of chili pan mee for the longest time!

Okay I lied.

I never had chili pan mee before. But looking at the pictures posted online by chinese friends of mine, I can tell chili pan mee will definitely suit my tastebud. Don't ask me how I know, I just can imagine it.

And yesterday, another blogging friend of mine posted few pictures of  the process of him making chili pan mee and that was it! No more looking and drooling at pictures on the net. I need to taste it myself! After all I am still having my indefinite holiday.

Googled for the recipe online, and it looked easy enough for my lazy-bum self. After all I had all the ingredients ready in my home (except for the broad white noodles, I used yellow Cintan dry noodle hahaha)! ;)


Errr, there shouldn't be any french beans as well but I loved my beans too much, I decided to included them as well. It was the... BEST DECISION EVER. It added extra crunchiness apart from the deep fried anchovies.

The How Tos according to Her Royal Laziness (1 serving):

1) Marinate +/-100gm of minced beef with a dash of dark soy sauce, salt and pepper. Put aside.
2) Boil some Cintan dry noodle. Drain and put aside. Original recipe demands for the broad white noodle but I couldn't be bothered to make it hahahahahaa. But if you're interested mix water and flour 1:2, knead it into a ball, wrap it with cling wrap plastic and leave it for 30 minutes. Then you can make the noodle using the pasta machine thingy. But if you don't have one, then use a rolling pin and cut it up using a knife manually and cook it in the water. Even writing this steps are tedious enough for me. Pfftt. So yeah, instant Cintan noodle anytime.
3) Blend some soaked dried chillies, half a medium sized onion, 3 cloves of garlic and some dried shrimps. Put aside. This is for the chilli paste.
4) Dice up the other half of the onion and another 2 cloves of garlic. This is for the minced beef sauce.
5) And as you can see, I prepared some french beans as well as one of the condiments. But of course you don't have to, as the original recipe doesn't use this at all.
6) Mix a quarter of chicken cube with some water as well. No need to dissolve it completely because you gonna cook it later.

So ingredients are all ready? Good.

7) Deep fry the anchovies. Put aside.
8) Heat 2-3 tablespoon of vegetable oil and pour in the blended chili paste. Add some salt and sugar to taste. Cook on low heat until it darkens and dries up. I cooked mine for 10-15 minutes I think. Put aside.
9) Heat up some oil and put it the diced onion and garlic. Stir for a minute. Add in the marinated minced beef. Stir for few more minutes.
10) Add in a spoonful of oyster sauce (I substituted mine with dark sweet sauce) and another spoonful of dark soy sauce. Stir some more.
11) Pour in the mixture of chicken cube and water.
12) Salt and sugar if you want to. I advise against this though because you already have soy sauce and oyster in it! *health conscious*
13) Cook for another few minutes until the water dries up. As for me, I prefer it to have some gravy so the noodle won't be too dry.

(Yes I am too lazy to list up all the ingredients first so I simply bold them up. For a better and nicely written steps, go here.)

And 30 minutes later...

Tadaaaa, a bowlful of (improvised) Chili Pan Mee siap!

Mix everything up and enjoy

And yes you might be saying "Oi, this is not Chili Pan Mee! There's no poached egg in it!"

Well, yes it should have poached egg as well but I didn't make it because:

1) I don't really like poached egg especially when the yolk is supposed to be runny. I never like my egg yolk to be runny at any time.
2) I am yet to master the skill of poaching the perfect egg.
3) This meal used up all the cholesterol quota I have for the day because there are so many frying involved so I better not risk it by having an egg.

and most truthfully...

4) I forgot to buy them when I went down to the grocery to get some onions earlier. -___-"

18 April 2013

Her Royal Laziness 2

(In case you're wondering yes, this is an unplanned continuation of the previous lazy post.)

I am a fan of pasta and cheese. So obviously I looooooooooove macaroni and cheese so so much. But making it is a hassle in my lazy book. Especially when I don't drink milk for some reasons. And no, I am not lactose intolerant at all.

I can eat cheese and I do drink yogurt. Just not milk. I don't cook any dish using pure milk or cooking cream. The last time I did was 3 years ago when I tried making chocolate truffle and I threw away the pot I used afterwards because I kept imagining the milk taste afterwards every time I used the same pot to cook.

So how am I supposed to cook macaroni and cheese when one the essential ingredients is milk?

Simple. I substitute it with soy milk instead. What can go wrong right? Both are white in color and they have the word 'milk'. So yeah...

I made an attempt to cook mac and cheese using soy milk a week back. But oh dear, it didn't turn out that well. It was edible but it didn't have that satisfying savory, cheesy feeling. Apparently my expectation was too high. After all it was my first try at making my own mac and cheese.

And then I was sad thinking the only way I am able to eat mac and cheese was when I am back in Malaysia (surprisingly most of the restaurants here don't serve this) or when the supermarkets here in Cairo stock up Velveeta, the one where you don't have to add milk to the powder cheese type which is, trust me, very hard to find here (or maybe I was looking at the wrong place).

So imagine my delight when I found out about cooking mac and cheese using rice cooker!

Read the instructions and found it too simple and easy even my lazy self was offended. Tried it just now and I looooooooove how it turned out.


Mmmmmm.

The cheese sauce was creamier, thicker and tasted way better than the one I tried to cook manually. There was no lump. Since I didn't have any chicken stock so I used chicken cubes (only half of it). Hehe. And I added the vegetable later than instructed because I didnn't like my veges to be soggy and overcooked. And to be honest, it took less than what was written on the website to prepare. You only have to stir it occasionally just to be sure nothing got stuck to the bottom of the cooker. And there was no mess afterward! I loike. ;)

This recipe is fool proof and I urge everyone of you lazy bums out there to try it so we can continue our legacy of being lazy. Live long and prosper wakakaka.

16 April 2013

Her Royal Laziness

This post is inspired, after watching as Christine's mom will say it, this bidjo.

So I can be very lazy at times. Bill Gates (or somebody else, I don't know, you have internet, you google it yourself) once told us to hire lazy people because they will come up with easier solutions for any problems. I have to say that's true. Here are some of the things I do due to my laziness:

Boiling the eggs using an electric kettle. 
And I don't think I am the only one doing this. (And by the way, it's not advisable to do so if you're living with friends and you are sharing one kettle with the others. A friend of mine once accidentally drank a cup of coffee made with the boiled-egg-infused water since his housemate left the water in the kettle after boiling the eggs hahahaha he only realised that because the coffee tasted 'weird'). Though you need to wash the kettle afterwards if you want to use it to make any hot beverages etc (which makes this solution as pointless to be honest) so, I bought another kettle for that purpose hahah! Problem solved.

But you need to time it or else you will end up like me last time. I did the impossible. I burnt a hard boiled egg because I forgot about it and it was left in the kettle for hours. I only realised when I got out of my room to find out smokes filled the kitchen. No worry, nobody was harmed, the kettle survived and still serving me until today. The egg didn't though. I threw it away and boiled a new one.

Make instant drinks without stirring.
Say what? No stirring? How is that possible?! Oh yes it's possible. I save up those empty mineral water bottles so whenever I feel like having any of those instant lemon tea drink that I love so much, I will pour a sachet (or two) into the bottle, fill it up halfway, put on the lid, shake it, and fill the other half of the water. No spoon needed, sir!

Use multicooker to heat up dishes.
I always cook in bulk. Like once I made a large pot of bolognese sauce and packed them into many 'one serving' size using those clear plastic, sealed and shoved all of them into the freezer to be stored for weeks. So whenever I am too busy and craving for a plate of bolognese, I simply take one pack, put it into the multicooker and steam it up (I also boil pasta at the same time la of course). And I can just go and watch a movie do my laundry *cough* or study *cough* while waiting for it to be ready in about 30 minutes time!


Making french toast (aka roti telur) using sandwich maker
This solution came up to me while I was hit by a sudden craving for some roti telur dipped with chilli sauce one late night during last winter. I was too lazy busy to do the dishes (washing pots and pans in winter at night? No, thanks) so it hit me to simply put the egg-dipped bread into my sandwich maker and voila, hot french toast are ready in minutes. And it's healthier too since you don't have to use any oil to fry it up! ;)


Buy chicken sausages instead of real chicken meat.
They're easier to handle. Being blood-less and everything. The first time a friend found out about this he actually laughed at me. And afterwards he thought, 'hey that's kinda genius'. So guess who is using chicken sausages as well now?

And if I have to use real chicken meat I will...

Buy chicken breasts.
Because they're boneless and easier to cook, and of course easier to eat to! And of course, white meats are the healthier choice (Haha! See how I am abusing the word 'healthy' in this post?)! Oh and when I buy chicken breasts, I always ask the guy at the poultry section to slice it up for me and get rid of the fats (again, trying to be healthy walhal kalau makan KFC kulit ayam tu la yang kau sental kan) so that I don't have to do so when I want to cook it. If it's possible to ask him to cook them as well, I will. -_-"

Oh by the way, I have 3 exams coming up. The first one will take place this Saturday. And yes, I am writing this post because I am too lazy to study for them.

30 March 2013

STEP 2: When Mecca Meets Medina

Note: Some points from this post can only be understood by the participants because they're like the inside jokes relating to the event itself. So kalau tak faham tu, siapa suruh taknak join! Haha padan muka.

Also pardon me if this post is too incohorent. I am too sleepy while writing this out but I die die want to jot it down here before hitting the bed.

Dan akhir sekali, kalau anda berada di blog ini dengan harapan untuk membaca tentang pengisian STEP 2013 itu sendiri, maaf. Sememangnya anda berada di blog yang salah.

---

Planned to sleep at a F's house in Sayeda before heading to Tanta on Friday morning. But not before stopping by Bazar Penang for dinner (Someone just had her bazar cherry popped last Thursday. Six years in Egypt and that was her first time visiting food bazaar! Blasphemy!). Didn't eat anything though because I was still too full from my lunch at Trianon's. Just had a glass of soya bean drink and a bowl of lai ci kang.

---

Went to Kak H and A's place to deliver her bag and food from the bazar. Because I am so nice and sweet like that, I offered to buy her something from the bazar. Hahahaaa. And because she trusted my judgement so much, she left it all to me to choose. And because I am awesome, I chose to buy nasi kerabu because it looked so good on display. And also because a friend tipped me earlier that nasi kerabu from there tasted way better than the one we had during bazar kelantan. I have to agree even though I didn't have any because one look at the display, nasi kerabu penang won already presentation-wise. Hidup oghang utagha!

---

Finally reached F's place. Was too knackered to fall sleep, blame my health condition back then and the lack of sleep. But somehow we ended talking until 2 something in the morning. Hahahaaaaaa.

---

Woke up the next morning at 4.30am feeling like a zombie. Started to get ready trying to keep my eyes open.

---

During lunch, while I was heading out to get my food, I accidentally heard a group of girl's saying something that sounded so much like my name. Looked around and decided that maybe I was hallucinating due to the lack of sleep from the night before on top of lack of sleep throughout the week.

Went back to the hall earlier than the other girls because I was feeling nauseated.

---


Went to say hi to (another) A who was sitting at the front with her husband. (Just a background story before I proceed, I actually changed my facebook name to Ramdzi about 2 weeks ago just for fun. So her husband was curious to know who is Ramdzi.)

"Abang ni la Ramdzi tu"
"Eh reti pula pakai tudung"

Adeh segannya. Hahahahahahaha. Rasa nak tobat dari buat perkara sedemikian terus. Rasa je lah.

---


I actually fell asleep at one point during the talk. Woke up when the girl sitting behind me was tapping my shoulder with a piece of paper containing a question to be passed to the front. Looked at the slide on stage and was stumped to see some graphs featuring hormonal changes in women. Momentarily thought I was in an Obgyn lecture. Hahahaa.

---


Looked to the left. Fathy was still concentrating on Pak Utih's talk. Looked to the right. Caught A's eyes who was sitting in a section beside mine and she was silently laughing at me mouthing "Ha tidur!". Smiled sheepishly back at her. Hurhur.

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We were told to exchange our contact infos using the cards provided in the folder. But I thought I was too cool old for such thing so I decided not to do so. Suddenly the girl sitting beside me handed me hers. Felt kinda bad so I quickly took out one card from my folder to write one for her back. Looked at her card.

"S? Hey that name sounds familiar" Continued to read on her infos. Turned out she was my junior whom I called earlier to confirm about my dinner.

"Eh ni ke S?"
"A ah. Kenapa?"
"Hahaaa akak la kak E yang call haritu pasal makanan tu"
"Eh eh ye ke!!"
"Omg I feel bad not saying hi to your earlier. What a bad senior. So sorryyyy"

And we laughed. Then I remembered that I actually fell asleep sitting beside her. Makin memalukan jadinya. Hahahahaha senior hampeh.

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S quickly introduced me to another junior, AH. Suddenly I remembered my encounter earlier that afternoon on hearing a group of girl's saying my name. Confronted her and turned out she was one of them. Hahaha. My stereo hearing is working fine, Alhamdulillah. XD

She requested for my card, so I quickly headed back to my seat and wrote one for her (gila pemalas betul kau kan bab bab bersosial ni ish ish). Went to find her again.

---

Watched the performance by Ikram Voice. Fell in love with A (Okay now I am having to many As in my post it can pass off as Pretty Little Liars already). Now I am angau overboard with his royal cuteness. And knowing this is one guy that I can never get my hands on... it's killing me. Argh!

---

Event was finished. Was waiting for others to be done with their Maghrib prayers at the lobby. Was approached by a random girl who was promoting another event this coming Wednesday. She asked for my name.

"Kak E, from Ain Shams"
"Kak?"
"A ah tahun enam dah"
"Eh seriously?! Saya ingat tahun 1 ke 2"
"Amboi ni bodek nak suruh join event ye. Tektik baik punya nooo"
"Eh eh tak serius ni"

Thank you adik for making me high with Oxytocin. Hahahaha.

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All in all it was fun lah. Now I know how to saiko my future husband cause I know how the male's brain works already. Here's to a life of queen control wakakakaka. Bye.

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Edit:
Another A merajuk because she wasn't mentioned in this post. Ini memang disengajakan sebab saya nak mengendeng dengan dia waktu event tapi dia dismissed saya sebaik saja dapat panggilan telefon dari adik baru dia. Ye la dah ada adik P mana nak sayang kakak P dah.

Padan muka tak kena mention. Haha wek.
 
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