Apa makna mimpi I ni ye?

I woke up laughing this morning because of a very funny dream I had. I was so glad it was just a dream though! But yang funny nya, masa tengah dreaming tu, I could feel myself thinking and saying to myself, “Thank goodness this is just a dream” :-).

So I ceritakan lah kat The Other Half about my dream. He said, “You are weird…. Other people dream of travelling to wonderful places, doing fun things. You dream of eating rice!”

That was my dream last nite you all. I mimpi mengketedarah nasi malam tadi, hahahaha….

In my dream tu, I was in a room and this stranger had just finished cooking 2 pots of rice and cooking kari ikan (which is not on my most favourite list). As soon as he left the room, I quickly makan nasi and kari yang dia masak tu until habis nasi dalam periuk I kerjakan. After I dah kenyang but feeling so guilty sebab makan nasi orang sampai habis, I tried to quietly leave the room. Pastu pulaknya, masa kat pintu, I dengar dia offer kawan dia makan nasi yang dia masak. The kawan of course lah kata nasi tu dah habis kan. But this guy tak percaya and said yang nasi tu banyak lagi sebab dia tak makan lagi pun, hehehe. I pun cepat2 lah ca alif but masa tu sebab tak nak kena tangkap mencuri makan nasi dia!

Punyalah obsess I dengan bet ni and nak sangat menang sampai terbawak2 dalam mimpi! Wahahahahahaha…..

What do you think my dream is trying to tell me? The Other Half kata yang the dream was telling me yang nampak sangat lah yang I ni akan kalah the bet! :-D. Ada ke patut dia cakap macam tu, sedih I, hehehehe…

And since dia cakap macam tu, I mogok tak nak masak malam ni ;-). I said to The Little Misses yang I’m going to cook pancakes for dinner, punyalah happy diaorang, hehehe. The Other Half kata he loves pancakes but not for dinner so he offered to cook his own dinner (yeay, seronok I dia nak buat his own toasted cheese sandwich, hehehe). I pulak cuma makan tuna sandwich aje malam ni (konon2nya berdiet lah :-)). Actually, it was quite hot today tu yang malas nak makan berat2.

So simple and yet so filling :-).

And I made mango lassi untuk dinner as well. Ye lah, sekarang tengah Summer so tengah musim mangga lah so tu yang boleh buat lassi penuh mangga. Sungguh lah healthy nya sebab ada buah, ada yoghurt, ada low fat milk and ada honey :-).

Bila lah nak pandai ni…

We went to the park lepas dinner tadi so The Little Misses could run around and I could put into practice my new found knowledge. Ye lah, orang kata the best natural lighting to take photos is an hour after sunrise and about an hour before sunset. Nak ambik gambar lepas sunrise, rasanya tak sanggup weh sebab sekarang sunrise pukul 5.20 in the morning mcm tu. Adalah nanti yang mengamuk tak tentu pasal kalau Mummy kejut suruh bangun pukul 5.30 pagi semata2 nak ambik gambar, hehehe…

So, I spent all the time kat park tadi pointing my camera at the girls, at The other Half and at the surroundings. Terperasan sekejap macam papparazzi :-). But then when we got back home and uploaded the photos, I was so disheartened :-(… I guess doesn’t matter how good the lighting is or how gorgeous the models are, kalau the photographer tak pandai ambik gambar and tak pandai guna the DSLR, the photos memang tak kan keluar cantikkan (I’m talking about me tau not anyone else). All the photos that I took look so tak cantik and tak menyerlah to me :-((. None made me go wow! Ini yang buat I rasa nak balik guna full auto mode aje, hehehehe….. But at the same time, it’s like learning anything new lah kan, sometimes it might take a long while before you can master it. And practice makes perfect kan ;-). But tang practice tu yang kadang2 I malas sikit, hahahaha….

And ini pulak gambar our dinner, beef nachos. Ye Tuan2 dan Puan2, we all masih lagi bertahan dari terkena godaan nasi, hehehe. Malam tadi I tanya lah The Other Half about this bet and the conversation went like this:

Me: So, you are still not hungry for rice yet?

The Other Half: It’s not that I don’t want rice. I just think this bet is a silly thing.

Me: Well, if you think it’s a silly bet, why don’t you just ask for rice and let me win then?

The Other Half: Even though I think it’s silly, doesn’t mean that I want to lose the bet :-D

Me: But you don’t care about the bet anyway so just let me win lah!

The Other Half: No can do! I still wan’t to win this bet since I know for sure that I can win!

Me: Fine then, if you won’t let me win, I’ll cook noodles for dinner every nite then. I don’t mind it at all but you hate it, so you’ll definitely be begging me for rice after 2 days of eating noodles, muahahahahaha (evil laugh ye tuan2 dan puan2 semua).

The Other Half: that’s called cheating since you know you’ll lose this bet, hahahaha….

So tonite, since dua2 still tak nak mengaku kalah, I made beef nachos for dinner.

13 days and still counting :-D

We had our first BBQ for the year today. Actually tak planned pun nak buat BBQ ni but we wanted to make naan. Yes, The Other Half dah rindu kat kari dia but mati2an dia tak nak makan nasi dengan kari! Ciss! So, I ni sebagai isteri yang sangat lah baik hati (even though memang dalam hati nak dia kalah, hehehe), meng offer kan diri buat butter chicken but makan dengan naan so dia dapatlah satisfy his curry craving but still tak kalah lagi.

But bila I dah offer nak buat naan, dia pun teringin pulak nak masak naan tu kat BBQ ala2 masak naan dalam tandoor oven lah konon2nya. So, what we did was we put the pizza stone on the BBQ and masak the naan breads on it. But tersilap, sebab we didn’t put the pizza stone on direct heat so masak dia lambat lah sikit. Once we put it on direct heat, baru lah masak dia cepat sikit. Memang tersangat lah sedapnya bila makan panas2. Kalau pasang lagu hindustan, memang terasa macam kat restoran aje lah, hehehe…

Lepas ni, adalah orang tu nanti yang mintak kari hari2 tapi nak makan dengan naan gamak nya. Pastu boleh lah I bukak restoran exclusive buat naan and kari aje, wekekeke….

Our dinner tonite: butter chicken with naan

I buat dough naan ni dalam breadmaker aje so bila keluar tu, memang lembut sangat2 and senang sangat2 nak uli. And I ambik resipi dia kat sini for anyone who wants to try it.

Meatballs and quiche

We went to IKEA this afternoon. Sejak IKEA pindah to the new location, we all memang tak pernah pergi lagi. So tadi tergerak hati nak pergi sebab nak cari a chest of drawers for Miss 6. We got her the cheapest IKEA drawers a few years ago, Kullen kalau tak silap namanya, but now dah tanggal all the bases of the drawers! I guess sebab Miss 6 ni jenis yang just shove everything in, so drawers yang tak muat tu pun she would try to muat kan everything so mana lah tak kopak the base kan. And probably sebab we got her the cheapest one tu yang tak tahan lama, hehehe.

Sampai kat IKEA tadi, punyalah terpegun sekejap tengok the new building because yang dulu cuma 1 floor aje and quite small. Yang baru ni pulak was quite huge (Perth standard kira besar lah, hehehe). I love jalan2 kat dalam IKEA sebab sambil jalan, sambil berangan. The Other Half pun macam tu jugak, sambil jalan, sambil berangan :-D. I especially love their kitchen areas, if only….

But unbelievable sungguh for me, I didn’t buy anything yang unnecessary. I cuma beli a laundry basket sebab ours dah koyak and a wide spatula so senang nak flip omelet and lempeng :-). We also bought a set of steel drawers for Miss 6 sebab we thought it would be a bit more difficult for her to wreck the steel drawers, hahahaha. Sian dia kena pakai steel drawers to put her clothes in. Takpelah once she’s a bit bigger, we’ll buy her a nice pine one that will last her until she moves out of the house.

Anyway, we had our afternoon tea there but biasalah kan cuma boleh drooling aje tengok their famous meatballs and chicken schnitzels, kalau kat M’sia memang dah lama lah we all makan. Rasa macam sedap sangat2 tengok gambar the meatballs tu. So, balik aje from IKEA tadi terus lah I buat meatballs. But since I tak pernah makan the meatballs set kat IKEA, I had no idea what they serve it with. When I asked The Other Half, he said most probably with chips or mashed potatoes kot. So, that’s what I did for dinner tonite, meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed veges.

Ada gaya IKEA’s meatballs tak? ;-)

And this was what I made for our picnic dinner yesterday, roast chicken and mushroom quiche. See, still no nasi in our dinner yet!

Psst… Mamak celup sorang tu masih kuat lagi lah his will power. He still hasn’t asked for his rice and curry yet. Wei, sape boleh bagi I tips macam mana nak bagi dia mengalah ye? Sebab I teringin sangat2 nak makan honey lemon chicken ni. And nak makan ni, kena makan dengan nasi tu yang I tak boleh buat lagi. Once dia dah mintak kari and nasi dia, baru lah I boleh buat honey lemon chicken I, hehehe….

Shooting at Freo

Hari ni naik senget bahu I dua2 belah sebab mengangkut bag kamera yang berat tu and also tripod ke hulu ke hilir kat Freo. Itu belum lagi beli segala jenis lenses yang berat2 ala paparazzi tu! Nasib baik lah Freo tu memang tourist precint so tak lah nampak odd sangat group we all tadi shooting ntah apa2 aje. Tourists lain ambik gambar the sceneries, the statues, the boats, the buskers around Freo. We all pulak ambik gambar sceneries, statues, daun2 pokok, batu bata, flags, silhouttes, hehehe… Pelik jugak orang tengok we all tadi agaknya :-).

Gambar yang I ambik tadi still tak cun sangat but at least I know how to manipulate the settings to make it less cun or more cun or clearer or brighter. Maybe 1 day, all the photos that I take will be all cun, mana tahu kan ;-). And the amazing bit for me was I used the Manual setting the whole day today, yiipppeeeee!!! Hehehehehe… The Other Half and The Little Misses pun ikut sekali ke Freo tadi but they went to the playground first and only followed us the last hour. So, dapat lah jugak I used The Little Misses as models sekejap :-D. The Little Misses pulaknya hari ni perasan sikit nak jadi models sebab they knew yang I had to take photos for this course so berposing sakan lah diaorang sekejap tadi, hehehe….

Layan aje lah ye a few photos that I took kat sekitar Freo and at the playground when we had our picnic dinner after penat menapak.

One of the statues that I took. Sape yang pernah pergi Freo mesti pernah ambik gambar dengan statue ni.

What’s this? I think it’s a part of an achor kot… Gambar mcm ni pun we all ambik jugak, hehehe

On tof of the Roundhouse.

Perasan artistic sekejap, hehehe…

Another set of statues (tak larat agaknya statues ni berposing hari2 kan ;-)).

Entah apa2 lah yang budak berdua ni tengah buat..

And at the playground

10 days without curry and rice and still going strong :-D

Dah 10 malam tak nampak bayang nasi but The Other Half masih lagi bertahan… Bila lah agaknya dia nak capitulate and start begging for me to cook rice and curry ye? Waduh waduh, susah jugak ye bila Mamak celup ni sikit pun tak hingat nak makan kari nya, hehehehe… I am happy sebab semalam dah dapat makan mee so tak lah I monyok aje :-).

Our dinner last nite was mee goreng and spring rolls and tonite pulak was oven roasted lamb chops and potatoes. Memang takde sebutir nasi pun yang sentuh pinggan we all, hahahaha.

Don’t get me wrong, we all tak makan nasi ni bukan sebab nak berdiet ye. We all tak makan nasi sebab masa kat M’sia hari tu dah makan nasi hari2. I still eat rice masa tengah berdiet cuma the amount aje yang I kurang kan or the type of rice yang I tukar. Instead of makan jasmine rice, we all tukar ke basmathi or ke brown rice. If you makan brown rice, memang you wont want to eat it a lot sebab for me, the taste tak lah sedap sangat so selera makan tu dengan sendirinya akan jadi kurang, hehehe…

Anyway, I’m so happy today sebab I finally can see the light when it comes to DSLR photography. Tadi I attended a whole day course titled “DSLR photography for beginners: the basics”. I know I really needed the basics! And esok we are going to go to Freo for the practical session which would be interesting and fun I think. Yang buatkan I happy sangat2 sebab I’m finally able to understand the terminologies that are in the user manual. Kalau sebelum ni, bila I baca manual, macam baca novel in Italian, I can understand a bit of it but most would just go straight over my head. Memang tak paham the jargons they use in photography. But now I can understand them which makes life a bit easier :-). Selama2 ni bila I guna DSLR, I would only use the full auto mode aje sebab I had no idea what anything was, hehehe. Hopefully esok during the practical session, I can start using all or at least some of the buttons and the functions on the DSLR lah. Baru lah berbaloi kan beli DSLR ni :-D. But I also know that I still have a very very long way to go… So don’t expect my photos to suddenly be awesome looking and mouth watering lah ye ;-).

New things we found in M’sia

A scene that happened in Malaysia a week before we all balik sini masa singgah Pavillion untuk cari makan. I ni jenis yang tak boleh tengok bakery, mesti nak masuk and nak tengok all the breads and buns and cakes yang boleh kasi meleleh air liur kat dalam bakeries tu. Especially the bakeries kat M’sia sebab the buns and cakes lagi lah bermacam2 jenis nya. So, kiranya bila we all balik M’sia and masuk bakeries, ada lah sikit macam rupa orang duk tengah2 Amazon yang tak pernah tengok roti, hehehe. So, this was the conversation that took place at one of the bakeries..

Me to my sister: Wow, look at that bread, it’s so black like midnite and look at the fancy name, charcoal buns.

Miss 6: That looks really nice Mummy, can I have that?

Me: I better ask the baker first whether they have chocolate or coffee in it since it’s so black.

Me(dengan muka confident bertanya): Excuse me, what’s in this bun? Cocoa or coffee?

The baker (dengan muka annoyed sebab kena jawab soalan bodoh from a kampung girl): Neither. Just charcoal.

Me: Eek.. you mean the charcoal as in the burnt wood that you barbecued with?

Baker (dalam hati sure kata, memang sah lah orang kampung first time datang Pavillion): Not wood, bamboo!

Miss 6:I’m not sure if I want to eat charcoal…

The Other Half: I’ll try it! :-D.

So, we bought 1 bun only sebab takut rasa dia macam apa aje, hehehe and when we got home, everyone had a small slice just to taste it.

The verdict: it didn’t taste of anything. Tak pahit, tak payau, takde terture yang pelik…   

So, kiranya sama aje macam makan bun lain but glemer lah kot sebab makan charcoal bread, hikhikhik. But I guess kalau you tengah kena cirit birit and then makan charcoal buns ni, sure lega cirit birit you ye tak. Sebab macam makan charcoal tablets lah, hehehehe.

And then, the next day when we went to Tesco, we saw charcoal orange swiss roll. Since at that time, masih lagi jakun tengok charcoal bread ni kan, we all pun terus lah beli :-D. But The Other Half kata yang he preferred the charcoal bun sebab ke ‘charcoal’ an nya lagi terasa (but it didn’t taste of anything so I tak tau lah macam mana dia kata lagi terasa charcoal nya itu?).

this was how the swiss roll looked like…

Hitam dia tu sangat menawan. My Mak kata, entah2 kek coklat yang hitam legam jual kat kedai tu semua letak charcoal agaknya! Ada ke, wakakakakaka….