It is far!

Thanks everyone for wishing me luck in the next big event.

Hehehehehe….

Mesti you all heran kenapa lama sangat we all tak jumpa diaorang kan.

Sebab Perth and Adelaide ni quite jauh the distance, lebih kurang Perth Malaysia aje!

Perth to Adelaide is 2793kms apart!

Beribu2 kilometres tau, bukan beratus2..

Kalau naik plane, it will take around 3 hours 20 minutes to get there.

(Perth-Malaysia pun 5 jam lebih sikit aje).

Kalau nak drive non stop, it is not advisable, sebab semua orang recommend not to drive at night time along the desert highway called the Nullabor desert.

Highway kat sini tak macam highway kat Malaysia ok.

Highway kat sini kalau out in the country areas, cuma 2 lane aje and takde lampu jalan every few hundred metres and takde R&R yang best giler mcm kat Msia tu.

Sebabnya, bila malam aje, highway tu semua akan penuh dengan binatang2 tempatan like kangaroos yang besar2 giler, emus, wombats and what nots.

Kalau terlanggar the big red kangaroo yg 6-footer tu, kemek lah bumper kereta depan tu.

And kalau you terkejut and try to swerve nak elak the kangaroo, you most probably will roll your car in the desert and die/injured yourself.

So, kalau with rest, most probably you’ll need 3 days kot to reach your destination.

kalau naik train, it will take 2 1/2 days from Perth to Adelaide!

Australia ni besar!

And the plane tickets nak ulang2 alik dua tempat ni are quite mahal jugak especially during school holidays which are the only times we can go visit them.

Murah berganda2 beli tiket balik Msia masa AirAsiaX buat promo sale!

The last time they saw Miss 9 and The Other Half was 3 years ago when they flew to Adelaide to visit them.

The last time they saw Miss 14 and I was 6 years ago kot.

And my Mak and Pak mertua ni selalu pergi caravanning around South Australia every free time they have and kadang2 balik nogoghi asal diaorang so tu yang memang nak datang ke Perth tu susah sikit lah.

I dgn the girls pun selalu balik nogoghi kelahiran I jugak so tu yang lagi susah nak cari masa nak berjumpa…

Macam2 excuses kaaaannnnn…..

Hahahahahaha

Takpe lah, walaupun bertahun2 baru jumpa, at least jumpa lah jugak kan..

Tak lah tak jumpa langsung .

Kalau diaorang duk satu state dengan we all, sure nya akan jumpa selalu….

Anywayy….

Malam ni for dinner, I masak ikan.

Kalau ikan, sure nya yg fillet version.

Tonight, we tried nile perch fillet.

I tak pernah beli ikan ni sebab takut tak sedap but tadi berani kan diri beli….

And instead of masak the usual fish and chips, I did something different.

I made panfry perch with creamy mushroom mustard sauce with steamed veges and fries.

I followed this recipe but tweaking here and there replacing a few things and adding some things .

For us, sedap lah rasanya.

The mushroom sauce is a bit like the sauce you put on swedish meatballs but this time makan dengan fish instead of meatballs .

home alone….

I am finally home alone after 2 weeks of constant company .

Rasa lain aje sebab tetiba kena cakap dengan diri sendiri, hahahaha.

So what do we normally do after tetamu2 dah balik?

Kemas rumah lah kan, heeee.

But I was so lucky sebab the girls and The Other Half did a lot of tidying up hari Sabtu tu masa I pergi hantar the guests to the airport.

They stripped the beds, picked up all the toys and miscellaneous items on the floors, tidied up the dining area, wash the dishes, did some laundry.

I’m so blessed!

Semalam pulak, hujan lebat the whole afternoon sampai ke malam so memang tak boleh nak continue with the laundry.

So pagi ni, I just continued with the rest of the housework

I did 4 loads of washings and ada lagi 3-4 loads to do esok.

Vacuumed and dusted the living areas, cleaned and scrubbed the bathrooms and toilets and mopped the floors.

Esok nak sambung dust and vacuum the rooms pulak and packing stuff away.

Dapatlah rest a few weeks sebelum another event happening….

Mak mentua dan Pak mentua I nak datang you all!!!!!!!!

Ketaq segala sendi kat badan ni!

Muahahahahaha…..

Lama giler we all tak jumpa diaorang, especially Miss 14 and I lah.

Memang bertahun2 lah.

Kalau we all ada anak sorang lagi, mau kot dah masuk sekolah tahun ni, lama giler tak jumpa.

Mak mentua and Pak mentua I dah pun bertolak dari rumah diaorang kat Adelaide semalam menuju ke Perth.

Tapi diaorang caravanning so diaorang akan stop kat banyak tempat on the way here, sightseeing.

Tu yang ambik masa berminggu2 nak sampai, hehehehe…..

Phew….

Sempat lah kan I nak betul2 kemas rumah kasi kilat memancar2 and takde habuk yang berani singgah!

Ahhhh…only in my dreams aje lah rumah I akan jadi habuk free….

Kahkahkahkahkah…..

Since dah penat mengemas hari ni, I masak yang simple2 aje.

I made beef kebab.

I guna beef topside ( i tak tau which part of the beef this is in Bahasa Melayu).

I sliced the beef thinly pastu sprinkle some coriander powder, cumin powder and paprika powder on the beef. And I also sprinkle some salt on it.

Then you seared/panfried the beef slices on very high heat with a little bit of olive oil.

I buat atas stove top aje, tak kuasa nak buat kat BBQ sejuk2 kat luar tu.

Then, guna yiros bread, add some sauces and some lettuce leaves and some sauteed onion slices…

Gulung and siap untuk dimakan…

The house is so very quiet

My family has gone back semalam and they’ve arrived safely at their homes.

(The Other Half got back from his 3-day trip to Darwin at around 12 noon semalam and my family pulak left at around half past 1.)

Plus all their luggage and boxes and bags intact, without anything missing, hehehe….

But, they nearly forgot to take home 2 bags!

Nasib baik lah Mak I teringat about the forgotten bags sebelum keluar KLIA so bergegas lah my brother masuk balik ke area carousel tu and to his horror saw that the carousel was empty!

Luckily bila tanya pekerja kat KLIA tu, they told him that it could be in their storage room and Alhamdulillah, he found the bags there.

Dah lah those 2 bags carry the most important harta karun….

Chocolates and cheese!

Hahahahahaha…..

Tu lah, sape suruh bawak banyak giler luggage, kan dah lupa!

I love my Zafira so much sebab berjaya memuatkan the 3 big suitcases, the 8 boxes of varying sizes, a stroller, 2 big chiller bags, 3 hand luggage and the people as well.

We had to use 3 trolleys at Perth airport to transport all the stuff and my brother said that they had to use 3 trolleys as well to transport the same stuff at KLIA.

Hahahahahaha….

Memang geleng kepala kan .

I told my sister in law, kalau ada orang tanya awat bawak banyak giler barang, cakap aje yang diaorang baru habis study and nak balik for good tu yang berkotak2 barang…

Hikhikhikhik…..

And that morning, before they left, I made choc scones for breakfast.

And the final photo of us before I sent them to the airport.

And after 2 weeks of cooking every nite, malam tadi I still ‘cooked’ dinner.

I made chicken burger with chips.

The chicken patties from out of a Steggles box, the bread buns from Coles, the chips from Woolies and the salad from IGA.

The patties cuma pan fry without any oil in a pan, the chips masak dalam Actifry and the buns cuma tinggal sapu butter and grill sekejap in the oven.

My kind of cooking when I want something sedap but too lazy to cook! .

The last night

Malam ni malam terakhir the guests kat rumah I.

Esok petang diaorang dah nak balik.

So, satu hari ni jenuh semua bekerja mempacking segala harta karun yang dah dibeli di sini.

Mak I yang kata, “Mak tak nak beli apa2 kat Perth nanti sebab dah selalu pergi…” tu pun berkotak2 barang dia!

Ini kan lagi orang yang baru first time datang, lagi lah baaaaanyak sgt kotak!

Hahahahahaha…..

Esok memang definitely kena buat 2 trips ke airport sebab tak muat nak sumbat all the boxes and luggage and orang in one trip.

Kalau I ada van, baru muat kot, hehehehe….

Kalah barang2 I nak balik Msia haritu .

And for the last dinner, I made nachos malam ni.

Something easy to make but still sedap sebab penuh dgn cheese kan.

Terhangus sedikit sebab sibuk buat benda lain.

Semua orang naik sekilo bila datang sini sebab I asik2 balik2 buat dinner yang penuh dgn cheese aje, hahaha…

And ini pulak muka budak2 yang dah jadi bff for the past 2 weeks.

Kakak sorang tu suka sangat melayan so adik sorang tu seronok lah bermain sebab ada orang layan.

Some of the food

Sekarang ni busy nak ambik gambar the dinner every nite.

Bukan sebab malu nak ambik gambar, they all know about the existence of my blog anyway.

Tapi sebab memang betul2 tak kuasa nak kelaurkan the camera nak cari lighting bagus nak ambik gambar.

I need the energy to do other things, hehehehe.

So, bila I terfikir nak ambik gambar, I just used the phone aje.

Layan lah ye gambar some of the food yang I masak for the past 1 week.

Like I said before, tengah hari masak nasi and lauk, malam masak western.

I made beef and chicken schnitzels and potato gems (kedai mari) and salad.

Roast rolled turkey thigh and curly fires and apple+walnuts+mixed lettuce+croutons salad on another night.

BBQ lamb chops with mashed potato, guacamole and plum+roast almond+mixed lettuce+croutons salad on another night.

And garlic and olive oil curly fettucine with seafood marinara with garlic+chilli breadcrumb sprinkle.

I think puas jugak lah the guests makan western-style food while they are here.

But tak lah diaorang rasa resah gelisah tak jumpa nasi sebab tiap2 hari ada nasi for lunch, hehehehe…

Love notes on the food

The Other Half and the girls usually have leftovers for their lunches.

And usually I will convert the leftovers into sandwiches especially if we have roast chicken or schnitzels or roast turkey or silverside for dinner.

But typical of them, each one will ask for specific things/condiments to go in their sandwiches.

And selera the girls dah bertukar nowadays compared to when they were younger so obviously the fillings and condiments inside pun dah berubah juga lah.

I will normally make their sandwiches the night before, right after we’ve finished our dinner sebab kalau nak buat pagi2, sure tak sempat sebab The Other Half usually leaves very early in the morning.

So, kalau buat malam and letak dalam fridge, the next morning I would have forgotten which sandwich belongs to which kid.

Kalau tersilap masuk the wrong sandwich into the wrong lunchbox, mau lah kot diaorang tak makan sebab tak kena dengan tekak diaorang kan.

So, every time lepas buat their sandwiches, I will write their names on their sandwiches so I dont mix them up.

But, kadang2 I will write other things on it….

I used to write only on the girls sandwiches aje sebab The Other Half’s sandwiches memang lain dari the girls so memang takkan mix his up.

Tapi dia sedih sebab tak dapat ‘love notes’ on his sandwiches like the girls’ so terpaksalah I tulis gak on his sandwiches, hehehe….

Nasib baik lah bukan buat sandwiches hari2 or else pening kepala I fikir what to write and habis I kena bukak dictionary every nite!

Hahahahahaha…..

It was freezing

Selalunya orang pergi overseas nak rasa musim2 yang berbeza kan.

Samalah macam my brother and his family jugak.

They want to feel cuaca sejuk lain dari kat Msia so tu yang diaorang datang Perth masa late Autumn sempena cuti sekolah kat Msia instead of datang sini masa panas2 Summer.

Semalam, they truly got to taste/feel Perth Winter.

The temperature at 6 o’clock on Friday morning

Menggigil2 semua pagi2 tu, hehehehe….

Nasib baik lah during the day, the temperature naik sikit even though tak sepanas mana.

But still so nice and nyaman.

They went to melawat the city that day dengan semua berbungkus2

And Miss 9 pulak ada school excursion up to the Perth Hills that Friday so dia pun berbungkus2 juga lah pagi tu.

Masa ni dia cakap kat I, “I should have worn a jacket with long sleeves and gloves cos I’m still freezing!”.

But bila lagi kan nak merasa gigil2 kind of cold kalau tak sekarang, hehehehe….

And today, The Other Half took them to King’s Park and around so I had some time at home to chill out a bit.

And since, it’s Saturday I pun masak lah a nice dessert for everyone.

I’ve promised Miss 14 a pavlova since April haritu but baru hari ni rasa rajin berkesempatan nak buat.

She likes her pavlova plain, just with whipped cream so tu sebab my pavlova sangat2 lah simple nya.

But the rest of us had the pav with kiwi fruits which made it even nicer .

I made the pav using 6 eggwhites and we managed to finish all of it tonite!

Sekarang semua dah overdosed on sugar! hahahaha