Resurrection...

I know, I know this blog seems dead and almost one year since the last post and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 everyone !!! At least, Im here and making efforts to resurrect it rite? What make me to do this again? Not really sure but judging from daily hits received despite da blog being dead for a year, its kinda encouraging here to revive it again. Posting a review the year 2011 below, and yes Maj, this seems like ur format and yes, i said it is. At least it gave me an inspiration to write again after a year hiatus..:)

Beginning the rainy new 2011 year in Cherating with the usual Akurians gang

With the management team of ma current company. Got a news of being promoted to manager. Been a roller coaster ride really as there's many things need to be done to improve the team but still hanging on there....Pray for me

At Great Wall of China, Beijing during annual trip with family & close family friends

Best activity enjoyed: Going "jalan jalan cari makan" all over the country which I called a food haven. Posted the photos on my FB album

Enjoying King of Fruits at a durian farm in Penang. This has to be one of the best random decision I've ever made, driving all the way to Pearl of Orient with buddy just to have a taste of it. It's now been announced as an annual pilgrimage trip

Brother got married to a wonderful lady on Boxing Day. Great wedding celebration & the best wedding dinner I've attended. Welcome to the family, Janice !!

Ending the year with "u know who" gang at the place where its all begins, Pangkor. Seems routined now but I personally enjoyed every moment really peeps & thank you for allowing me to be myself....:)

Reflection

It's coming to end of the year now & little that I realised this blog is not even updated since October. Yet, I've seen daily visits to this blog. Whoever r u out there, thanks a lot. There must be something that keeps the visits running.

An eventful year indeed in many areas, especially in working life, divine service & others. More details to be shared in later posts. Life is funny. If we actually sit down & reflects on all the happenings to us & around us as well, all are actually connected to each other. I've seen deaths, newborns, emotional breakdown, renewed zest of life, unions of 2 loves thru marriage, arguments etc. Each of them carries messages for us to learn as well. There' s saying "Everything in heaven & earth is the voice of God". The idea here is to know & to learn about the "messages". These learnings from the present are to be brought to the future. We may not know, but there will be one day we will get to utilise these learnings.

Going to the new year, what's in store? I personally dunno. U can predict, u can forecast, u can guess but in the end of the day, who will knows what will be the outcome? Which is why strengthening our faiths & foundation should be the upmost important aim. Enough of this for now. Going off to Cherating tomorrow to wind up the final moments of the year with Akurians & back after new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Nasi Lemak Cikgu

It's Malaysian favourite breakfast. It's used to be available only in the housing areas / villages in the morning where u see those aunties (or mak cik in Malay) sells them in roadside stalls. Coming to the present time, now it is sold almost everywhere at 24/7; kopitiam's, mamak's, market stalls's and even some posh restaurants.

But still, how to judge & diffenciate the best from the best? Some people say it's the coconut rice. Some say it's the sambal. The answer is up to u actually. Who else can judge our own tastebuds? Get what I meant? Went to these 2 places recently which in my opinion, serve among the best nasi lemak in town. Talked about Nasi Lemak Cikgu first, located in SS3, Kelana Jaya.

Opens daily till dinner

U need to wait for a while, especially in the morning

Ordered with fried chicken & squid. Reasonably price at RM 8.00

The sambal is pretty mild, suitable for those who love nasi lemak but cant take too spicy food. Rice has that distinctive coconut flavour & the difference compared to other is the cooking style of the rice. "Nasi lemak kukus" as they called it in Malay was cooked in a steaming hot wok, instead of the normal electric rice pot. This process, they say helps preserve the coconut & pandan flavour in the rice.

Pretty accessible alongside LDP highway. If ur coming from Damansara towards Sungai Way, keep left after passing Giant hypermarket. Turn left immediately on the junction after passing Customs headquarter. Drive forward till u see a row of shophouses on ur right. Turn right & the restaurant is situated at the middle. If ur driving from Puchong, Subang Jaya etc on the other side of highway, the only way is to make a U-turn after Giant & follow the path earlier.

Shall talk bout my next Nasi Lemak stop in next post...:)

Simply Durian

Durian...u just love it or hate it. I'm a self confessed fanatically crazy durian lover and very sure there are many more people out there who are willing to scream "I'M A DURIAN LOVER!!!". U will be very surprised to know what will people do in order to get the taste of the best ones.

True story: my boss actually went all the way to a Mantin durian farm in early morning to sit and wait...Wait for the durians to fall from the trees and make his picks from there. Mind u, it's BIG business out there for durian sellers. Some best ones can fetch till RM 30.00 per kilogramme. This caused some selfish and unscrupulous people who are selling the low graded ones for over-the-market prices.

Question here is how many of us actually know what type of durians are we eating. Anyone wonder what's market rate for each type. It's important so to avoid being conned. Here's the tips of the durian species available in Malaysia, taken from unknown sources..Do take note these are not list of ALL durians available. The best of em' all is not listed here. Go out there & check it out yourselves....

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD DURIAN
A good durian must be ripe, fresh and free from larvae / worms. Do bear in mind, a durian with worms does not mean it's bad, it could be soo delicious that even worms are attracted to it...
1) Look at the tip. If it's too dry, it's no longer fresh. A little dry is fine.
2) Look at the bottom. If it's cracked, it maybe over-ripe or not so fresh. Some sellers will use rubberband to tie it to prevent from cracking. It could still be delicious but since we're paying for the best, why bother taking the risk?
3) Smell the durian. If it has strong smell, it's most likely to be good. If no smell, it's probably not ripe.
4) Put the durian close to your ear and shake it. If there's a moving sound inside, it's most likely to be good.
5) Look for holes around the durian. If there is, most likely it has been infested with worms.

Bear in mind, these are not SOP (standard procedures) for choosing durians. It's only a basic guideline for us to know and not necessarily will get us the best tastes of durians. Like what people used to say, dont judge the book by its cover. Same applies to durians. Will post more on this subject later. Meanwhile, Happy Eating !!!

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Steven's Corner

This Steven's Corner needs no introduction to foodies, being a must-visit place for whoever around OUG (Old Klang Road) or Pandan Indah (Cheras). Recently moved to a new premise at its OUG branch but food quality pretty much the same.

My favourite has to be the cheese naan which is probably the best in town, and tandoori chicken. Most restaurants in town will have cheddar cheese as ingredient for cheese naan being a cheaper option. Steven's motto is to provide the best quality with best ingredients available. Thus, staffs used mozzarella cheese. When ready to be served, u better dont wait any longer with the cheese still steaming hot. It's that good that u can eat it immediately and dont need to eat it with dhal curry or anything else. Garlic cheese naan is also highly recommended. In fact, any of its dishes with cheese are great since all of them have mozzarella cheese as ingredient.

Cheese naan

This is what we called a cheesy meal

Tandoori chicken

It's Still Here??!!

Almost forgotten about the existence of this blog...it's like sooo long ago since the last updates. My fault for not updating.....Blame also World Cup for one month of absence here.

Actually finding something to do as need to stay awake till 3am, where I need to go monitor some works in Subang airport with some Jap bosses..long story. Maybe to talk bout it on next blog. Probably need to make it a point to update every 2 weeks at least...we'll see