Camera First Fork Later

Actually, I got this article titled as above from NST dated 12 April 2010 which original article is from New York Times.  Lately I have this urge of taking picture, before I eat.  NYT wrote that there is growing trend in keeping a photographic diary.  Though my blog is not totally about food diary, I think food-blogging is the easiest and most interesting to be read (air liur meleleh bila tengok makanan sedap..).  Some interesting facts and qoutes I capture from this article:

"Today, people are showing the world what they eat by photographing every meal, revealing themselves.."

"Last two years Flickr have about 600,000 food photos, now it has about 6 million"

"People I have never met follow blog and know me through food"

"A psychiatrist said that - in the unconscious mind, food equals love because food is our deepest and earliest connection with our care taker"

"French philosopher and gourmand said in 1825 - Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are"

I think I am starting to love food blogging and photography.  Maybe I can be like Hanieliza or RedMummy - generating big income, and it started form simple blog.  Hope this is sustainable.. ;-)

KB Food Galore

Actually, I should refrain myself from eating so much food again over the weekend after two major feast this week.  But, being in KB, you cannot just resist food.  As always said, I hardly eat sweet kuih in KL, except if its homemade, like Tellipuk's mom heavenly made kuih. Despite the two big food I have mid-week, I actually have been eating porridge since Thurday buka puasa time as I have this gastric-like sympton, similar to food poisoning.. So before flight on Saturday, I just take small McD porridge at the airport.  Upon arriving home, kiss my mom, then went straight to Pasar Wakaf Che Yeh to get something for breakfast - I mean, I need a real food after 2 days of porridge and oats..

Craving stomach lead to big sin...

Day 1, Sin No. 1 - Nasi Dagang Terengganu with Fish cost me RM2.00

Day 1, Sin No. 2 - Laksa Kelantan cost me RM1.00

Day 1, Sin No. 3 - Kuih Muih cost me RM4.00

The Tapai Beras is very sweet (5 pieces for RM1), tasty supersize Akok (5 pieces for RM2), Poli which taste like kuih lopes (RM1 per pack).  My stomach cannot manage all these, so I minus the Poli.

Day 1, Sin No. 4 - In the afternoon, somebody came to see my father and brought this Char Kuey with homemade kaya (Thai influence) plus Roti Goreng Inti Kacang.  Delicious !!

On Day 2, I hunted for more sinful food for breakfast...

Day 2, Sin No. 1 - Nasi Kerabu with Salted Eggs for RM2.00 - yummy.  My maid fried some salted ikan kurau to go with it. Double yummy..

Day 2, Sin No. 2 - Benkang Bakar cost me RM3.00, this thing taste really good, and I finish half of it for myself.  I mean the standard is similar to Topline Caterer - highly cholestroled, but not too sweet.

Day 2, Sin No. 3 - Ketupat (actually my aunt bought this for me, its only RM1 per bundle of 5, so RM3 for 3 bundle - I swear this is cheapest food in the whole world..).  Ketupat lemak or fondly called ketupat tawar in Kelantan is best eaten with gula melaka, unlike the norm of rendang condiment you guys normally eat.  So, I eat the Kelantan way..

I actually bought two more meal on Day 2, but forgot to snap picture, which is Nasi Dagang Kelongsong and Nasi Tumpang (Tupe).  I have been on food fair for the last two days, especially breakfast, I think I need to do some repenting.  And, my fasting today hopefully wash down some of the sins that I made the last two days. Amen...

7 Purnama - Dulu dan Sekarang

Aku balik ke KB lagi - sebahagian dari jadual rutin untuk lihat ibu sakit.  Kira-kira alternate week lah, bergilir dengan Kak Na.. Sebenarnya aku merasa teramat bersyukur, selepas 2 minggu, begitu banyak improvement berlaku pada ibu dari segi fizikal.  Syukur kepada Mu Ya Allah, rasa lapang sedikit dada aku kali ini...  Namun keadaan mental ibu yang nyanyuk dan berhalisunasi masih tidak sembuh.  Aku kira ini adalah sebahagian dari simptom Parkinson disease yang ibu alami.  Kalau orang melayu kita, kita sebut sakit tua.  Tapi hakikat saintifiknya begitulah.  Aku sebenarnya simpati juga dengan ayah dan maid ku yang terpaksa berdepan dengan karenah pemikiran yang tidak stabil yang di alami ibu.  Dia lebih kepada 'short memoray loss, long memory stay'.  Namun, melihat di sudut positif, Allah telah kabulkan doa kita agar kesihatannya bertambah baik, yang itu sudah tertunai walau tak sepenuhnya, maka perlu juga kita terjemahkan cabaran yang selebihnya ini dalam bentuk kesabaran.  Itu saja yang aku mampu katakan untuk dua orang terdekat dengan ibu di KB.

Dalam aku sibuk melayan ibu sempat juga aku menjenguk anak buah ku Amsyar Mikail yang mendapat Leukimia - ya sejak Hari Raya 2009 yang lepas.  Dia memang nampak lemah tidak bermaya namun nyata gembira menikmati kebebasan dapat bercuti balik ke rumah, maklumlah kebanyakan masa dalam 7 bulan yang lepas dihabiskan di hospital - ICU dan 'Freezer' memang rumah keduanya.  Kesan rawatan Kimo memang tidak dapat dijangka pada sikecil ini.  Entah apa yang berada dihadapannya, hanya Allah yang tahu.

Tujuh bulan yang lalu semasa Hari Raya Puasa 2009, tergambar wajah ceria dua insan ini...

Dan selepas 7 Purnama, ini sahaja yang mampu di berikan...

Tiada siapa yang tahu apa akan berlaku walau sesaat kehadapan.  Apa yang tertulis di Luh Mahfuz, hanyalah milik Allah.  Apa pun pentakdirannya, aku hanya mampu berdoa wajah-wajah ini diberi yang terbaik oleh Allah...

Makan Makan - Restoran Salero Negori

Today, few of Bakit Helwa's members that involved in Kelantan event were treated for lunch at Restoran Salero Negori.  As the name says it, its negori 9 and nasi padang theme.  It is located at the 2nd floor of Amcorp Mall. 

After good food during yesterday's training session, I thought I wanna go slow a lil bit today.  I mean those calories I wallup especially during afternoon teabreak - 4 super sinful tepung pelita plus 4 piece of roti jala banjir with chicken curry.  Aiyoo..Asmah, you're really serious about food ha... Topline Caterer is no nonsense food provider..

Back to this afternoon food, the menu is all delicious padang/negori food.  We take super crunchy daging dendeng, green sambal, masak lemak sambal tempoyak (my super favorite), gulai daging, gulai kaki lembu, ikan patin bakar masak lemak cili padi and ayam penyet.  Wah... food is so tasty.  Though we have ordered many varieties, I focus on my 2 favorite lauk i.e. masak lemak tempoyak and daging dendeng.  Wallah...puas aku makan...

For drinks, I ordered 'teh botol'.  'Teh botol' that is imported from Indonesia, is a fragrant bottled tea, taste very nice, similar to green tea aroma.  Its dejavu feeling, because this is my favorite drinks during my visit to Bandung.  Ni ha, aku angkat botol dia..

Me, Shikin and Faeza (lapar wei..where's the rest??)

Kak Haraza and Dr. Faridah..tak sabar nak makan, tunggu tukang belanja sampai

For dessert, lupa pulak aku nak amik gambar... Many of my friends have cool sago with coconut milk and brown sugar, while I settle for extremely yummy tapai beras top with vanilla ice cream.  So that's the end of of the good lunch - fully sponsored by Mrs NGN/HSBB, Puan Sal.

Thanks Puan Sal - lupa nak salam masa nak balik tadi... 

Antara Lombok dan Langkawi

Itulah cerita yang berlegar kat paper 2 - 3 minggu ni.  Lombok memang dah bersepah.  Katanya lebih 500 gadis Malaysia di larikan (?) ke Lombok - dalam sedar - atas dasar cinta.  Hmm.. murah betul harga sebuah cinta.  Cinta memang buta, tapi begitulah nasib perempuan, tidak habis-habis tertipu dengan cinta.  Bila sedar barulah "Tipah tertipu bang...".  Perempuan memang insan lemah, manakala lelaki pula insan opportunis. Perempuan suka buat kesalahan sama berulang kali, tak nak belajar dari kesilapan orang lain, tapi cipta kesalahan sendiri, baru nak belajar.  Dalam dok kecoh dengan cinta Lombok, datang pula cinta Langkawi.  Aku memang cukup terganggu dengan isu-isu sebegini, almaklumlah aku ada dua anak dara.  Fenomena ni memang buat aku kecut perut.  Tapi aku doa ajelah.. Yg aku dok hangat sangat nih, yg mak bapak si jantan tu, kenapa tak boleh nasihat kat budak yang setahun jagung nih.. Manalah budak ni tahu kahwin tu susah. Aku tumpang meleleh airmata tengok gambar ni tertera kat paper... mak dia pengsan kat atas kusyen tuh..dia boleh bagi muka beruk tuhh.. dasar anak derhaka.. Lupa dia betapa pedih mak dia mengandung 9 bulan, nak beranak separuh mati, kecik2 tak tidur malam, cabaran nak membela pulak sampai 15 tahun..

Terbaca jugak kat Berita Harian, satu surat terbuka untuk remaja yang dikatakan pintar ni, memang banyak nasihat yg dihamburkan.  Kalau tak dengar lagi tak tau la aku. Asasnya, kahwin bukan penutup cerita, macam dalam drama tuh.. kahwin adalah pembuka cerita, jalan yang ranjau, kerana yang indah seperti 'bulan madu di awan biru' itu akan hilang hanya selepas beberapa minggu sahaja. Lepas tuh.. banyak la jumpa jalan-jalan berlubang dan berliku nak kena ngadap.  Masa tu baru tahu langit tinggi rendah...

Movie Weekend - How to Train Your Dragon

Lately Hollywood goes crazy over 3D movie.  Many animated/CGI or mix animated/CGI movie comes with 3D options.  My last movie is Avatar.  Avatar is my most liked sci-fi movie, it's not plain sci-fi, its full of emotion.  Come Sunday, we went to KLCC quite late since Danny already purchased the ticket on Saturday (letih sikit ari ni sebab pagi-pagi buta dah masak Nasi Beriyani, ada old relatives coming for lunch..).  How to Train Your Dragon is the new Dreamworks's work, and I got to be there to enjoy the 3D things.  Well, I would say it's a pretty good 3D they produced here compared to 'Monster Vs. Alien' which I least impressed - biasa- biasa jer.  The story is about 'Hiccup', a son of a viking overcome his fear of fighting the dragon, by taming it.. Watch for your self guys - bring your kids, they'll love it..

It's cool...

My Name Is Khan

At last I get to see this movie to the end. Its a long winding movie of hindi style. However, the good thing is it does not have those scene that man and woman sing songs after songs with erotic dancing and change attires. Once I read the review, I know I want to see it for my self. The movie is about the journey of one man to meet the president of the United States to tell him that 'My name is Khan, and I'm not a terrorrist'. This is the first movie of SRK-Kajol I watched since the great movie kuch-kuch-ho-ta-hai (I cry everytime I watch this movie - I'm the soapy type of person..). In short it tells the story of SRK being an autism kids (but smart) grown-up, migrate to US, meeting his love with single mother of one-kid (Kajol), then after the marriege, Kajol's son been beaten to death post-911 incident because his last name is Khan, makes Kajol regret she ever married a Khan. So this is where the journey begin, when Kajol told SRK to go tell the President that 'My name is Khan and I'm not a terorrist'. There is some weaknesses here and there, and rather winding plot hindi-style, but thats acceptable considering its a true hindi movie. Comparing to Slumdog on the other hand which is more refined, as its Danny Boyle's.

All in all, the film is said to clear some misperception of Islam in America. I think SRK toying with this idea after the incidence of he himself being 'grilled' by US immigration at the airport about a year ago. This is one of the best english-spoken-hindi-movie after Slumdog Millionaire (well if Slumdog Millionaire is considered in the same cateogry..). This is a feel good movie and good job there...