Friday 30 November 2012

Well done Miss 9

A few months ago early in term 3, Miss 9 sat for a test.

And then the waiting game began until last week when she came bouncing into the car and said,

We’ve got the PEAC results today. There’s 2 types of envelopes. People who got into PEAC got the big envelope and people who didn’t get into PEAC got the small envelope.

I asked her eagerly, “Which envelope did you get?”

She was bursting with pride when she said, “I’ve got the big envelope!

This is the letter in the envelope.

 

image

Syukur alhamdulillah….

She really really really wanted a place in the PEAC programme.

But I had to keep on telling her that so many people wanted to enter the programme too and they only choose the top 3% so she might not get it and not to be upset if she doesn’t.

At least she’s tried her best in the test which was the most important thing.

Ye lah kan, I pun nak sangat2 dia dapat the program but at the same time I tak nak dia to put too high a hope on it sebab I tak nak dia kecewa and sedih sangat2 kalau tak dapat.

She’s quite happy sebab she says now she’s as bright as Miss 13, hehehe….

We want them to go to the best public high school and since we live out of the zone of the best public high school in the state, the girls have to work extra hard to get into there.

Kat sini, expensive private schools aje yang ada boarding facilities ni.

Public high school semua pergi pagi balik petang, hehehe.

And depends on which area the public school is situated in and what programs they run, some public schools have really bad reputations while some others are excellent.

Tu sebab nya, houses kat sekitar zone for Willetton SHS and Rossmoyne SHS are so expensive sebab they know they can get all the rich overseas people especially Asians to buy them.

And kalau you all tengok the students kat these 2 high schools, memang penuh dgn overseas Asians aje, heeeee….

Miss 13 dah selamat sebab she’s got into that school through the GATE programme.

And now tinggal Miss 9 aje lah.

Tu sebab Miss 9 needs to get into the PEAC program, then get great results for her NAPLAN next year and then get really amazing marks for her GATE test as well so she can choose whatever high school she wants to go to.

If she doesn’t get good results, terpaksalah we all fikir Plan B…..

Kenapa we all tak nak hantar the girls to our local area high school?

Sebab it doesn’t have a very good reputation and doesn’t have good NAPLAN results and a lot of the students are immigrants and refugees.

Semua parents mestilah nak yang terbaik untuk their kids kan.

Tonite for dinner I tak masak our usual Friday meal of pizza and garlic bread.

I malas nak masak so I masak fish and squids and chips aje, hehehehe.

IMG_2404

Tinggal open the boxes and put the fish and squids on the trays and shoved them in the oven.

Then tear open the chips bag and arrange them nicely on a tray and also shove it in the oven.

But since I tak nak kena cop isteri and ibu pemalas, I made a special salad to go along with the fish and chips Smile.

I made lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, white peach and walnut salad with balsamic vinegar honey mustard dressing.

IMG_2401

IMG_2407

See, if you spruce up your salad with fancy ingredients, terus jadi macam restoran high class nya fish and chips meal kan!

hahahaha…..

Thursday 29 November 2012

It’s working again!

Baru aje 2 hari tak update entry but baaaanyaaaakkkk benda nak cerita!

(kalah retis with busy social life aje kan, hahahaha.)

First of, The Other Half got back safely from Darwin yesterday evening.

Alhamdulillah his plane didn’t get diverted due to the awful weather condition semalam.

But his plane was the last one allowed to make a landing at the airport, so many flights were cancelled and diverted semalam dua to the weather.

And he said it was the worst landing he’s ever experienced. Yang buat dia lagi kecut but thankful at the same time when the captain announced that that was the worst landing he’s ever made in his 25 years career.

Memang teruk punya ribut semalam lah. One of our neighbours lost half of their fence and kesian diaorang terpaksa fixed it while it was pouring torrentially.

And so many areas without power and so many fallen trees and blown off roofs.

And when it rained, the rain was lashing ‘down’ horizontally instead of straight down.

Baru sekarang nampak the sun coming out gingerly….

Dah nak masuk Summer but the max temperature was only 20C hari ni.

And when The Other Half got back semalam, he straight away dealt with the bengong wi-fi.

He found out that the modem had ‘mysteriously’ reset itself including the password and everything.

No wonder lah they couldn’t talk to each other.

Patutlah when I did everything that we normally do when our wi-fi dropped out to fix it, nothing worked.

Our connection selalu jugak plays up but bila unplug and re-plug and switch off and on the modem button, it works again.

But Sunday night tu, memang tak jalan.

Walaupun we finally got our internet back malam tadi, I was just too tired to do an update malam tadi, hehehe.

Next story, Miss 9’s school will be shut down esok because they had a major damage to their mains water pipe from the storm.

And they need to shut off the water supply for the whole day esok to fix the damage.

Bila the principal called the Dept of Education, they adviced her to close the school down for the day sebab takde air for the whole day so it will be unhygenic.

Ye lah kan, macam mana nak flush toilets, nak basuh tangan lepas tu, nak minum air from the water cooler.

So, she’ll be at home with me esok.

But Miss 13 still kena pergi sekolah so I still kena hantar pagi2, hehehe.

Another story pulak, I tak jadi buat laksa sebab malas nak pergi beli the laksa noodles.

So, I ended up making mee bandung+rebus fusion, hahahaha.

I jumpa paste mee bandung Adabi dalam pantry but rasa dia kurang oomph sikit so I pun tambah mashed keledek, serai, halia, garam, gula.

Tu yang jadi mee bandung+rebus fusion.

IMG_2349

I used daging tetel for the perencah.

And mee bandung patutnya kena pecahkah telur dalamm kuah dia kan, but I just makan dengan telur rebus aje.

IMG_2352

Limau kasturi tu is the first limau dari pokok we all.

I suruh the girls smell the limau kasturi and straight away diaorang cakap, “ais limau!

Their favourite drink masa kat Malaysia, hehehehe.

IMG_2355

Apart from the limau kasturi, the chili and the bok choy also came from our kebun.

My chiller bin in the fridge sekarang dah tak packed macam dulu. Cuma ada a few veges wajib yang we all tak tanam like carrots, kobis and red onions aje.

Yang lain semua tinggal petik dari kebun Open-mouthed smile or beli as needed.

Cerita sensasi lain, I cerita lain kali lah ye!

Hikhikhikhik…………….

Tuesday 27 November 2012

No net, can't talk

Something is wrong with our wi-fi connection. The modem is working fine (well, that's what the iinet people told us), the internet connection is there but it seems that none of the gadgets can connect to the wi-fi. I'm clueless when it comes to fixing this sort of things. I've tried all the tricks I know but it's still not working.
So, we just have to wait until The Other Half gets back fr Darwin tomorrow nite to find out what's wrong.
It is a pain just relying on my iPhone to surf the net and also to post this entry. I really can't type quickly and type so many words. Sakit weh tangan I, hehe
So, my blog will be quiet until this problem is fixed. And your comments pun will only be answered then.
In the meantime, you guys can always read my old coretan untuk mengubat rindu ke I, hahaha 😉.

Monday 26 November 2012

Cravings….

Rajin juga akhirnya saya membuat yong tau foo!

hikhikhikhik…

But seperti biasa, I sorang yang makan, the girls memang tak makan lah.

And since I ni Mum yang kadang2 pemalas nak masak, I made scrambled eggs and bread for Miss 13 while Miss 9 wanted to have maggi goreng with boiled eggs.

But I made sure they had veges with their meals, hehehehe….

Ok lah kan, complete meal jugak, ada protein, carbs and veges.

This was my yong tau foo dinner.

IMG_2323

I made the kuah using recipe ini. I suka yong tau foo kuah gelap sebab dari first time makan yong tau foo, terus try yg kuah gelap ni. Tu yang tekak tak boleh terima sangat makan yong tau foo dgn kuah soup tu.

IMG_2329

 

IMG_2341

I’ve satisfied my cravings for yong tau foo already so tak makan again until a year from now pun I tak kisah, hehehe….

What should I cook next?

Hmmm…..dah lama tak makan laksa utara lah…. Smile.

Sunday 25 November 2012

A ring on his finger

The Other Half dah terbang ke Darwin pagi tadi.

He’ll only be back on Wednesday evening.

So, kiranya ada 3 malam lah I nak masak anything I want untuk penuhi segala yang I mengidam.

But seperti biasa, angan2 aje lebih…

Sebab gerenti nya I akan malas nak masak beria2 sebab I sorang aje yang nak makan apa yang I teringin tu, hehehehe…

Like tonite’s dinner, we all makan leftovers kari from the other day aje.

The girls makan roti canai instant dengan kurma while I makan nasi dengan beef vindaloo.

tsk…tsk…tsk…..

Punyalah pemalas Smile.

But esok I might buat yong tau foo sebab dah lama tak makan.

But if I buat yong tau foo, I still have to cook something else for the girls since diaorang memang tak makan yong tau foo ni.

Tu yang I’d rather masak apa yang diaorang gerenti makan aje instead of apa yang I teringin.

Kalau I kat Msia, memang hari2 lah I akan singgah gerai or restoran or pasar malam when The Other Half’s away.

The girls can eat what they like and I can eat what I like!

Heaven macam tu kan!

Semalam, we all pergi city cari barang The Other Half.

When he was involved in that accident 2+ months ago, they had to cut off his wedding ring to fix his dislocated ring finger.

And then his finger was in a cast and swollen for a very long time so he couldn’t get a new ring.

Kiranya 2+ months lah dia perasan ‘single’ sebab takde wedding ring on his finger, hehehe.

Until semalam, he went and bought a new ring.

IMG_2295

Lega I sekarang, everyone can see clearly that he’s already married….

So takdelah sape2 yang menggatal nak cuba2 tackle dia….

hahahahaha…. Smile with tongue out.

And since takde gambar dinner tonite, I ganti dengan gamabr garden aje lah ye.

I finally saw our first cucumber for this season tadi.

IMG_2319

And the grapes are also getting bigger.

IMG_2320

But not sure bila boleh dipetik. I guess once I see the birds start to eat them, dah masak lah kot kan.

I wish dah boleh makan masa Xmas nanti but most probably not kot…..

And the green capsicums.

IMG_2321

I think this is the green variety sebab dah besar pun masih hijau lagi….

That’s why I like Spring and Summer sebab bila I malas nak masak dinner, i can always put photos of the growing vegetables in the garden on the blog, hehehe….

Saturday 24 November 2012

The relationship I have with flour

The other day, I went to a bulk shop with a friend to buy some stuff.

Guess who came home with a 12.5kg bag of bread flour and also a 600m roll of glad wrap?

Who me? 

Hahahahahaha…..

Macam nak bukak bakery and also macam nak bukak kantin aje, heeeee….

I bought a 10kg bag of bread flour 2+ months ago and baru aje habis semalam, tu yang kena beli lagi.

Punyalah banyak I buat bread kan!

I cuma guna the bread flour untuk buat pizzas and bread sahaja, benda2 lain i pakai tepung gandum biasa aje.

Itu namanya makan bread or melantak bread you rasa?

hikhikhik…..

I rasa we all guna tepung lagi banyak dari guna beras kat rumah ni. Memang makanan asas ruji lah tepung tu kat rumah ni.

Like last night’s and tonight’s dinners.

Malam tadi I masak pizza.

Malam ni pulak we all masak burger and chips but I made the burger rolls myself and I also made some brown sugar rolls for afternoon tea tadi.

Tu sebab bread flour cepat habis kat rumah ni Smile.

And for the past year or so, I guna kudrat lengan kanan ni aje untuk menguli all my bread ok sebab my breadmaker masih lagi sakit, hehehe.

IMG_2257

I made 2 large sized pizzas. Cukup untuk dinner malam tadi and lunch hari ni.

IMG_2263

I made beef mince bolognaise topping. Basically macam buat bolognaise untuk spaghetti bolognaise tu tapi kuah dia buat kering sikit so the pizza nanti tak lembik basah.

IMG_2265

I added green capsicum in the topping. The first capsicum harvest from our kebun.

IMG_2268

tengah hari tadi pulak, I buat the bread rolls and also some sweet breads for afternoon tea.

Sebelum masuk dalam oven.

IMG_2276

Selepas keluar dari oven.

IMG_2281

The bread rolls ni I guna recipe yang biasa I guna untuk pizza tapi I tambah 2 teaspoons of milk powder and 1 teaspoon of bread improver.

The sweet breads pulak I guna recipe yang sama untuk buat donuts. I pernah letak the recipe before.

IMG_2286

IMG_2292

Our dinner malam ni. Burger with chips and salad.

IMG_2305

IMG_2310

IMG_2311

The Other Half kata he prefers my bread rolls than the store-bought burger rolls.

Sebab dia kata my bread rolls have more substance instead of being full of air macam yang jual kat kedai tu so dia mintak I buat bread rolls sendiri lepas ni, hehehe.

Macam manalah tak cepat habis kan!

Thursday 22 November 2012

Our daily dinners

Jemput makan!

ada mee kari laksa ayam on Tuesday nite….

IMG_2238

IMG_2233

IMG_2232

Ada mac n cheese with sausage on Wednesday nite.

IMG_2242

IMG_2246

And ada jugak beef rogan josh with sauteed cabbage with rice and poppadom on Thursday nite.

IMG_2249

IMG_2252

Sape yang tak suka mee, boleh makan mac n cheese, sape yang tak suka western boleh makan nasi and kari!

Sape yang suka tiga2, boleh makan semua!

Macam mana lah badan I tak makin naik kan!

hehehehehe…..

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Introducing the plants in our backyard

Yesterday’s entry was dedicated to the flowers.

Tonite pulak is dedicated to our back garden.

Ramai yang tanya besar sangat ke our back garden ni sebab dapat tanam macam2.

Tak lah besar mana, but besar lagi lah banding dengan our rented house dulu.

But our old house kat Adelaide had a bigger backyard cuma a bit hilly aje.

A lot of our neighbours kat sekitar ni have bigger houses but smaller backyards.

Our house pulak kecik dari diaorang but our backyard is mighty massive compared to theirs, heeeee

Tu yang boleh ada kebun and lawn area kat belakang rumah ni instead of just paved area.

The girls like the grassy area because they can play a lot of games on it and we like the rest of the backyard because we can have our vege patch, garden beds, places to put our pots and greenhouse Smile.

So, I have asked Miss 9 to introduce the plants in our back garden to you guys.

I took the video using iPhone so the quality is not that great but it’s better than nothing Winking smile.

Itu pun berapa kali takes I kena buat! Asyik lupa nama the plants aje, hahahaha.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Dedicated to the flowers

A bit too lazy to ‘talk’ so layan lah gambar the flowers in my garden

The chives flowers/bunga kucai

IMG_2190

The hydrangeas. Will it turn blue or pink I wonder?

IMG_2203

The yellow rose

IMG_2205

The red rose

IMG_2208

the purple cockscomb.

IMG_2215

The sundaze flirt.

the petals opening up

IMG_2219

fully opened…

IMG_2218

I can’t remember my botany lessons, I think these are the dried stamens (or are they the stigmas) just waiting to be blown away in the wind, hehehe….

IMG_2223

this sundaze looks a bit like sunflower up close.

IMG_2224

the ever gorgeous lavender

IMG_2226

The curry plant flowers.

IMG_2229

It’s Spring kan, so everything wants to flower and reproduce, hehehehe…..