secret ingredient.. (A MUST READ!)

menyelerakan?

food presentation memang mempengaruhi selera. but have you ever wondered what goes into the food when the chef is not in a good mood, or bila you suka komplen? someone i knew yg pernah kerja kat hotel pernah cerita how the chef spit into the food ordered by the management officer yg staffs tak suka. hee... teruk kan? tak patut la gitu.. but not impossible.

what i'm about to write here is what i read from MSN news.

the article portrayed the above pictures.. yg di ambik dari buku "Natural Harvest", written by Paul ‘Fotie’ Photenhauer. nama pun 'natural harvest', so of course la ingredient nyer something natural. sounds good and healthy isn't it?

tapi sebenarnya buku ni adalah collection of "SEMEN"-based recipes (ini bukan simen yg buat bangunan tau! kalo tak tahu ape benda... please google! i malas nak sebut lebih2). haa... TERKEZUT! buku ni also cerita tips2 how to prepare, store and serve the 'delectable' goodies.

dlm buku tu also mentioned that “semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties.” dia boleh describe lagi... "like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic. Semen is inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and restaurants. Despite all of these positive qualities, semen remains neglected as a food. This book hopes to change that."

antara recipe yg ada dlm buku tu termasuk la..'Almost White Russian', 'Man Made Oysters', 'High Protein Shakes', 'Irish Coffee with Extra Cream' dan 'Creamy Eclairs' (gambar atas).

geli geleman membacanya.. people has gone crazy!! macam la dah tak de benda lain nak dimakan...!!

pucuk muda

i was on leave last sunday, but was away from home. the weather was cloudy with occasional rains. long-distance driving sorang2 was really a pleasure.. sambil layan mixfm.

sampai rumah dah almost 7 pm. sambil lepak2 makan big apple donuts, my hubby tunjuk satu gambar dalam paper hari tu.

rupanya dia nak tunjuk gambar imuda kawin lagi. imuda is 50, and the wife is only 28.

and ada lagi satu gambar, gambar penyanyi zaman 80's, Shidee yg juga baru kawin. irony nya, kononnya si shidee asalnya bercinta ngan si emak, but kawin ngan si anak! ntah ape2 la depa ni..

the picture brought us to the following conversation:

Hubbyby : "tak sabar rasanya abang nak umur 50" sambil tersenyum menunjukkan muka penuh cita2.

Me: "nape pulak nak umur 50?" (dengan innocentnya)

Hubbyby: "boleh kawin org muda.. umur 20an.. haha..!"

Me: sambil senyum sinis.. "bang, zaman sekarang, ramai lelaki muda pilih wanita berusia tau! lebih2 lagi perempuan yg financially stable!".

mr hubbyby cuma ketawa tanpa rasa tercabar!

**********************************************************

the next morning, while bersiap nak pergi kerja:

Hubbyby: "nak pakai ke tak cincin ni?", sambil membelek2 cincin kawin yg selalu dia pakai.

Me: "kenapa lak tak nak pakai?"

Hubbyby: "dalam magazine tu cakap, single ladies skrg suka berkawan ngan lelaki pakai cincin!"

Me: eyes uprolling!!

hee... dah buang tebiat ke laki aku ni???

an old friend

after 14 years.. we got connected again. thank you to MukaBuku.

i know some people take friends for granted. hilang di mata, hilang di hati. but not me. there are many types of friends. some wonderful, beautiful friends are like treasures.. susah nak cari. sekali jumpa.. hargailah, before you lose them.

and, not many friends can really leave an impression on you.

i met him in 1994, while in med school. he was actually my senior by one year, but he got to repeat his third year. he is smart and brilliant, but along the way, he lost his interest in medicine. i got to know him while in year 4, as we were in the same posting, and were in the same group.

it was not easy to get to know him. he was 'budak nakal' and difficult. a man with few words. most of the time he would be a listener, or drowned in his own thoughts. but whenever he decided to open his mouth.. bernas, pedas and sometimes kelakar. he was observant and analytical. it took me quite a while to get to know him. and i was among the few who can get along with him. i believe what brings two friends together are sincerity, trust and honesty.

besides me, my other good girl-friend was also close to him. actually we were like threesome. we shared similar wavelength, and we have similar interests. we love computers + games, books, poems, movies and music. he was the one who introduced me to the inner compartment in cpu. he read a lot. and as a well-read person, his general knowledge was outstanding. we would talk about anything.. and i can still remember the night while we were on a boat (a sampan, actually) while watching fireflies in tanjung karang, he was really excited explaining to us about the big bang theory and astronomy.

we had good time during our district posting in tanjung karang and kuala kubu baru. working together for our projects, lawan computer games bila dah tension buat kerja. sama2 jadi burung hantu with other group members bila project dah hampir nak jalan. pergi pasar, masak and makan ramai2. we had a wonderful group and we really enjoyed ourselves. he enjoyed being part of us, and i believe that helped him to go through the remaining years in med school.

he is very good in english. besides being very knowledgeable in so many aspects, he also can write very well. he loved writing to his girlfriend. he also wrote to me and the other friend. poems, beautiful lyrics from songs i never listen and never heard of. bukan tulis atas kertas cantik2 pun, tulis dlm exercise book than dia koyakkan dari buku and bagi kita. but we like it, nonetheless. and i still keep it nicely and neatly. i really appreciate the friendship. glad that i manage to see the beautiful and softer inner-self of him.

he married his girlfriend (who was really jealous of us sampai tak nak senyum ngan kami). they were blessed with 3 girls. but they had problems.. and they went separate ways in 2005. being a man.. he found another woman, and married a secretary who is 12 years younger than him, and got another three girls, making him a proud father of 6 girls. and he is working on his 7th.

i believe time and experience have shifted his paradigm. he is a GP now, with shares in few clinics. went for umrah and really hoping to go for haj soon. the family and his parents are the centre of his life now. but he is still crazy with computers (he uses Macs and hates win7), and hack computers for fun. learnt to play guitar and has a collection of his own. he also stored thousands of songs and movies in his mp3 and hdd.

glad that he managed to find me, make me smile and keep in touch again. wish you all the best, dude!

loyar

someone posted this to my yahoo-group. i found it rather interesting and would like to share this with you.

(the story was originally written in terengganu dialect, hope it can be understood)

Mamat rase malassang nok bangung tiddo. Nye gulling-gulling atah katil. Pusing kiri, pusing kanang. Serba dok kene dia berase. Mok Lijoh bleber hanyaar kot luor pitu, "Mat! Matahari nok tinggi galoh doh nim, ka'ak rezeki kalu bangung lewat-lewat. Mung tak dok kheje ke ari nim?"

Dok tahang kene bleber Mamat Ppayang pong bikah bangung ceggat dari katil. Baru dia teringat pukol 11 ada kene wat kheje sikit hok Boh dia suroh kemareng. Mamat pong jungaa tangang dia ambek tuala. Pesengang mandi P. Ramlee pulok pagi nim, al maklunglah pukol 10.30 doh. Dari Manir nok jembe ke Jalang Batah Baru tu jauh jugok. Pah tu nok kena bereti steseng minyok Petronah pulok dekat sipang trapik lait Pulau Musang. Dop ingat starang nok tamboh minyok kemareng. Dok dang 10 minit Mamat siap belake doh. Minung air kopi-o setegok dua lepah tu pakaa kasut kulit atah tangge kak lambo. Baru beli minggu lepah tu kasut tu. Bekilat ssio! Lepah tu Mamat pong stak moto vroooooong hale ke bando. Motosika sekeng heng jer, tapi boleh tahang lah.

Jalang Batah Baru ader banyok bangunang jabbat dengang kedaa. Kalu hale ke depang sikit ada kedaa Astro, hok tv kene bayo bulang-bulang tu. Kalu tebeng dok bayo jer kena potong hanyaar. Lepah pada suraa Flat Batah Baru tu ada lerek kedaa ekong. Kedaa makang pong ada gok. Kalu jallang sikit lagi sebelum kedaa Astro tu, ada kawasang lapang tepat juaa khete baru cap Hyundaa dengang Kia.

Di antara kedaa ekong dengang kedaa Astro tu ada celoh-celoh tu jabbat loyar baru buka. Pesengang baru pah jadi loyar tu Mamat mari mmkir sorrang. Slo-slo Mamat naek tikat dua. Napok gaye ader dua orang jer kherani. Llaki sorang, ppuang sorang. Boleh tahang hok ppuang tu. Tapi pakaa cicing molek ngak kat jari manih tu. Ttunang doh pesengang tu.. Dok napok gambo starang. Berat nnanang. Mamat kabo ke kherani ppuang tu dia nok jjuper Tuang Loyar. Hayat hidup Mamat dok rajing jjuper loyar skali habuk. Cakkak dengang loyar jauh skali.. Nye mari debo weh.

Mamat pong ketok pitu masok. Loyar tu tengoh pegang gagang talipung cap Panasonic kat telinga dia. Wayar talipung tu tengoh beseranggoh lagi. "I dah uruskan fixed deposit you sebanyak RM10 juta tu. Lagi satu, minggu depan ni, I nak you ikut I ke Singapore. HSBC Singapore dah buat arrangement untuk finance syarikat klien I, tak banyak, dalam 20 juta Sing dollar. Firm I jadi lawyer jugak tu. I turun KL minggu ni, kita dinner kat Shook di Starhill ok?"

Mamat bukang pandaa sangat cakak orang putih. Tapi bila dengo haa pitih die pahang. Mainang apa juta-juta nim? Mamat mari mmikir.

Loyar muder tu pong letok gagang talipung sambil-sambil kheling ujung mata tengok ke Mamat. "Yer, nok mender? Saya sibuk sangat ni, dok tengok ker?" loyar tu tanye Mamat.

Mamat pucat kesi. Dok tahu nok kata mende. Nok jawak saloh. Tak mboh jawak saloh. Macang mase nok bangung tiddo sakning. Serbe dok kene. Sudohhang Mamat tebeng jugok jawak.

"Sebenornyer tuang, sayer nim kheje dengang sarikat Telekong. Saya mari nok sambung wayar talipung hok tuang wak lolok cakkak sakning. Dok sambung lagi wayar tu, guaner lah tuang boleh cakkak doh!"

Muka tuang loyar tu jadi biru herang!

Doh nok wat guana starang! Nok ekseng dok betepat! Ada jugok loyar kecek orang deh! Pecoh bo! Orang jamang lenim kata "kantoi"

gitu lah org kita sekarang.. suka berlagak. loyar buruk!

cinta pertama

aku merasa diri hilang,

tanpa tahu apa yang sudah aku temukan,

aku merasa menemukan,

tanpa tahu apa yang aku cari,

dan aku seperti masih mencari,

tanpa tahu apa yang sudah hilang..

setiap manusia memiliki ruang kosong di hatinya,

ketika seseorang datang,

dan kita berfikir bahawa dia yang mengisi ruang kosong itu,

sebenarnya dia hanya berdiri di depan pintu,

dan menyamarkan ruang kosong itu.

ruang kosong di hati kita tetap ada,

dan tidak akan pernah

benar-benar terisi...

guilty pleasures

kita sebenarnya sangat suka makan.

masa kecik, orang panggil kita ikan buntal, sebab badan kita memang berisi sikit. tapi bila dah start sekolah, kita kuat main... tersangatlah... sampai balik rumah petang2 asyik kena bebel je..

then bila dah masuk secondary school, kita masuk MRSM. dah mula jadi anak gadis. still main but not as frequent as dulu2. nak pulak kat mrsm tu campur ngan budak laki, so peluang girls nak main sangat kurang. makan tetap berselera... dan badan kita kembali berisi. masa form2 berat kita was 49kg ! kira rekod la tu..

time paling kurus, masa jadi houseman. kita ni commited ngan kerja, selagi kerja tak siap, kita tak berhenti makan. nasib baik masa tu duduk ngan family, makan minum teratur.. kengkadang miss gak dinner, bila kita terus pengsan lepas maghrib... penat..

kita sangat suka makan kek. paling suka cheese cakes. tapi bukan senang nak jumpa cheese cakes yang sedap. dulu, everytime balik kb, mesti beli cheese cake. kat KT ni, cuma cheese cake secret recipe je yang sedap. yang lain, tak memenuhi piawaian..

kita juga suka chocolates. sangat suka sampai kita boleh craving for it. dan sangat suka evil, sampai kita boleh beli dan sorokkan dari anak2. jahatkan?? tak jahat.. itu semua demi kebaikan mereka, budak2 tak elok makan chocolate, nanti rosak gigi.. oleh kerana dari kecik kita biasa makan chocolate yg sedap2 dari oversea, kita juga ada piawaian sendiri utk chocolate. sofea nampaknya sangat mengikut perangai kita, kalau jumpa chocolate, dia takkan stop selagi tak habis.

kita juga hantu ice cream... tapi mesti really lemak berkrim, kalo yang cair semacam.. tu, kita tak suka.

kita juga hantu roti... tak kira la roti ape.. roti putih biasa sapu margarine pun kita suka. dan paling nikmat makan roti putih dicicah ngan air kopi... oohhh terasa sungguh kembali ke zaman2 dulu. nasib baik KT tak de bakery yang best2, kalo tak kita mesti jadi pelanggan setia.

kita juga suka makan ape2 yang berkuah... laksa penang, laksam, lontong, soto, mee jawa, mee rebus. sungguh menyelerakan. cuma nak dapatkan yang betul2 sedap tu yang susah. dan semodern mana pun kita, kuih kegemaran tetap kuih tradisional yang manis2 tu... lompat tikam, putu mayam, serabei, caramel pudding. perasan tak? semuanya berkuah!

dan kita tak minat biskut.

selalunya orang yang suka makan, pandai masak.. tapi kita tak pulak cam gitu.. huhu.. tengok rancangan masak2 kat tv bukan main khusyuknya. kalo gi bookstore pun suka tgk buku resipi, tapi balik rumah setakat belek2, belum sempat nak cuba.

huhu... ok la nanti rumah baru, kita nak renovate dapur kita elok2, biar practical and user-friendly, dan kita akan mula asah bakat.

i know i can do it. cuma nak atau tidak je.. betul tak??

mission impossible

kita sebenarnya was not looking forward for today. why? because kita ada 2 meeting hari ni. dan kita memang makin lama makin tak gemar meeting. pelikkan? patutnya as you grow older, and climb up your career ladder, you should be looking more towards the management/admin part.

but i'm just the opposite. kita tak de cita2 nak jadi boss, tak de cita2 nak jadi orang besar2. kita suka jadi org biasa je.. low profile. asalkan kita bermanafaat kepada organisasi dan tidak menjadi bebanan pada org lain, kita dah cukup happy. kita suka buat kerja...

yang menarik pada meeting hari ni hanya kerana lepas tu dapat makan sedap. dan hari ni memang sedap, lauk kampung. sambal belacan nye memang tambah kick, cuma tak de ikan masin. kalo tak mesti kita makan bertambah. tapi kita makan laju je sbb nak gi another meeting after lunch. 2nd meeting ni memang tak menarik langsung. kita pun duk berfikir2 nak menarik diri dari jadi ajk persatuan ni. persatuan ni bagus, cuma kita tak rasa kita boleh get along ngan other ajk. tak sama wavelength, susah nak ngam, tak seronok nak bekerja. penat2 kita get ready for meeting, tetiba cancel.. bagus!

kadang2 bila pikir, susah nak get satisfaction dalam hidup ni. kita mungkin nampak happy, tapi apa kehendak yang tersirat dalam diri kita, orang tak tahu. kadang2 kita sendiri pun confuse..

dulu lecturers pujuk kita stay kat universiti, jadi lecturer. they said i have the potential. hehe.. sorryla, kita ni memang bukan jenis manusia perasan bagus dan kita tak makan pujian. dah hampir 80% kita dah nak sanggup, tapi kita finally tolak and said a firm "NO" bila kita sedar dan tahu apa yang sebenarnya kita inginkan. kita really enjoy clinical work, dealing with patients and doing operations - ade satisfaction. tapi kita tak enjoy buat research and kita tak rasa kita cukup sabar utk mengajar students. dan kita tak leh tolerate politic kat university. hipokrit.

what do you really want in life? dah hampir 40 tahun hidup, kadang2 rasa masih mencari2. dulu masa early 20s banyak angan2. bila dah start kerja mula ade short term plan, long term plan. bila dah kawin, ade plan lain pulak. tapi sampai la ni masih tak jumpa kepuasan yang dicari..

kadang2 rasa nak padamkan semua sejarah lalu and start anew as a new person, di tempat baru yang tak de sorang pun kenal kita. dan kita corakkan kembali kehidupan ini..

would that be possible? impossible..