ONE WHITE PEARL

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Sarawak Day 1

first of all, so sorry dah lama tak menulis..masih mencari ilham and mood to write (macamla writing a novel watsoever~) huhu.. anyway, I enjoyed my holiday A LOT! Thanks to my colleagues and parents for making my dreams come true..

My first trip throughout the past 1 month of holiday was to Kuching, Sarawak. Itt was amazing man! haha.. Syukur.. I've never been to the borneo island before, so this is it..the whole journey..

It wasn't my first time flying via airplane, but the last time I fly was when I'm in standard 3 I guess..so, its quite a long time la kan.. Nervous okay!! I've been aiming to naik airplane since forever! Thank God I pass my final and so my Dad dengan senang dan rela hatinya said, "Go and enjoy the vacation..go..go.." It wasn't easy to hear him said that :P opsss sorry Dad, I'm honest! haha.. It was a beautiful night flight.. My flight departure was around 9.55 pm, and arrival time was around 11.30pm. Plus, I dapat seat belah window! Yippy! Even though I couldn't see much, but yes, I enjoyed my ride!

ops. Pardon me for misbehaving..this picture was taken by Nawal at our previous home in Putrajaya where we were waiting for the taxi to arrived.

This was out guess house where Wani booked for us..It's between the shops. Even though it's small, we didn't care much coz we still need to budget a cheaper price kan?

The rooms we booked were some like a dorm with 2 double decker and others were family rooms. Each and every room were given names of ethnics such as Kenyah, Iban, etc (lupa daaa). I'm in room Iban, which we gedikly called, The Ibanians! yooohuuuu.. and Wani was our chief! We have a common room where we could watch TV and ate our breakfast.

Our first stop was to a jewellery shop that sells all kinds of accessory including Borneo pearls. I like! hehe.. I bought bracelet, a beautiful one for Ibu, grandma, aunt, my small sisters, Bibik and myself. The price were cheaper than in Semenanjung Malaysia.

Perompak2...

we had a ride on a van..we paid rm10/person for the whole half day journey to the important places around Kuching.

Next stop was to Kek Lapis factory! yeayyy..! We ate and ate all different types and flavour of cakes..yummy!! Coz it's free, so we do have a blast keeping our stomach full. The flavours I bought and I think delicious were Chocolate cheese, Cadbury, Cuppocino cheese, Original, Rempah, Pudina, Kasih pelangi, Asam Manis, etc. We bought a lot..reaching rm1000 for all 10 people. They gave us 10 free cakes..weeeehuuuu.!

Muka2 kekenyangan.. Since the bilangan of the cakes were a lot, they've packed (for flight luggage) and deliver it to us a day before our departure back to KL. With free service! yiipiii..

We finished half of our budget here.. *tskkk* :(

Then, we went for pasu-hunting! hehe.. My mom loves this part. I......not sure coz I really don't know how to choose the right vase for her. It's been a difficult task. huhu. But finally, I bought one which looks really ethnical for her. The price were reasonable too.

After a long half day, we went for lunch at the nearest stall. This is Umai Udang. One of the you-must-try-food there in Kuching. It was very nice.. They did not cooked the prawn instead the rendam it with lemon juice for quite a while and added onion, chillies and other stuff to make it nice. It taste sour & spicy. Yummeh. Love it!

We tried another must-try-food in Kuching which is Mee Kolok. We've tried from 2 places but this one is the best. There's 2 different types of Mee Kolok, dried mee kolok without soup and soup mee kolok. We ate it with sambal kicap. Tasted good!!

This was an ancient grave for the princess or kerabat diraja masa dulu.. They think that it is safer.

I forgot the name of this thing..something with to do with 'sulong'..huhu..

This is 'Kubu Tanah Buaya'. They used to do this during menuai padi time. They were used to chased away other animals from the padi. The right one is the male crocodile, while the left one is a female.

We stop by to an open souvenir store nearby the muzium. I was fascinated by the antic things sold there.

We proceed our journey to the ethnology museum..

This was a killer whales' rangka.

Then, we headed to the waterfront where lies the astana and riverside.

This was a building named st. .........i can't remember. It was situated by the river.

Have you ever heard of Kisah Bujang Senang? Bujang senang actually adalah seorang lelaki atau pahlawan dalam etnik errrr saye lupa nama nye.. haha (ye sila gelakkn saye).. orang katakan dia seorang lelaki gagah yang senang je dapat rezeki.. gitu la. Ada pula sebuah cerita lagi yang mengatakan bahawa, bujang senang adalah seekor buaya yang teringin nak jadi manusia lelaki.. one day, sedang sang bujang senang menikmati makanan tengahari nye, tiba2 ada tulang (atau kayu) yang tersangkut pada mulutnya menyebabkan dia dok ternganga jer.. so, came an old man tanya padanya samada dia memerlukan pertolongan dia tak untuk keluarkn tulang tersebut? So, si bujang kata, "nakkkk!!" The old man said, "if you want me to help u, u must endure the bad consequences. at night you will be turn into a human being, but in daylight u will be as you are...a crocodile." And so, si bujang senang pun terima.. So, itulah yang saya ingat..hehe..

Orang sana mengatakan bahawa daging buaya adalah penyembuh penyakit asthma.. ye, asma.. tapi, dikatakan pula, bukan senang nak telan daging buaya ni. Baunya seperti bangkai, warnanya seperti merah yang lain dari daging2 lain. Ada yang pernah seek for the meat, but end up muntah kan balik daging tersebut. Ada pula yang sampai menangis2 nak telan sepotong daging buaya itu. huhu..

Along the Waterfront, there are lots of souvenir shops and we ran into joget lambak yang terdiri drpd org2 tua..wow, hebat skali semangat menari mereka ni.. hehe..

Malam pertama di Kuching, kami ke rumah Ama, a friend of mine.. Her family served us with Laksa Sarawak! yiippiii...u know how i love laksa! kekeke.. Its different from Laksa Penang.. Kuah nye la yang lain.. isinya pun lain.. tapi, perghhhh sehingga menjilat jari sendiri! hehe.. Nanti nak try cari recipe and buat..yeay!

This kek lapis, ditempah khas oleh mak Ama..and its triple double delicious! yummeh! Lagi sedap dari factory yang buat..

This cake? ermmmm strawberry cheese cake, one of Amas' favourite flavour.. yummeh!

we had fun for the 1st day in Kuching..yiipii..

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Never Give-up

For whatever we went through..never give up!

Life has to go on..I live and I learn.. :)

For Sandwich Lovers!

I dedicate this recipe to Kak Paa & KI whose been craving for my sandwich in such a long time. Haha. Sorry dear..been quite busy [hah alasan lagi]. I had actually made this for Prof L and my classmates. Everyone loves it! Thanked God.

2 in 1 Sandwich

Ingredients for homemade meat patty:

450g lean minced beef or chicken
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, half ground, the other half thinly sliced
½ tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Ingredients for mushroom and cheese:

2 tsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, sliced
8 medium-sized white button mushrooms, sliced ½ cm thick
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tbsps minced fresh oregano OR 2 tsps dried oregano
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup chicken stock / can use chicken cubes in warm water
1 tsp light soya sauce
85g sliced Cheddar cheese

Other ingredients:

4-6 slices of multigrain/wholemeal bread
Butter
Green Salad / Japanese cucumber
Slices of tomato

How to do it?

In a mixing bowl, combine minced meat, egg, grated onion, garlic, salt and black pepper. Mix well. Shape into thin patties.
Heat a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Fry the meat patties till cook on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Put aside.
In a large non-stick pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 2-3 minutes, stir until soft and beginning to brown.
Add mushroom, bell pepper, oregano, and pepper. Stir fry and cook until the vegetables are tender about 7 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low; sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir to coat.
Stir in chicken stock and soy sauce; bring to a simmer.
Remove from the heat and lay cheese slices on top of the vegetables. Cover and let stand until cheese is melted, about 1-2 minutes.
In a clean saucepan, place slices of wholemeal bread, butter side down. Cook each slice of bread until golden brown. Put aside.
Place butter, salad/cucumber, tomato, meat patty and last but not least mushroom and cheese. Serve hot immediately with extra fresh fruit salad.

Enjoy the sandwich with your love ones.. :)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

It's a mixed feeling!

In memories of my great grandmother..we miss u..a lot. Al-Fatihah.

Syukur Alhamdulillah..

I'm officially not a medical student anymore.

Should I be happy? Or should I be afraid of the world out there?

Should I be sad being separated from my colleagues?

Should I be anxious..well, being a houseman isn't THAT easy..

For God sake, people do commit suicide due to THAT. ergh, scary.

Please God, let all my specialist be as kind and good in teaching and guide me to become a better doctor in future...amin...

But, whatever it is, I'm bless with all the support I got from my beloved parents..

If they are not here to support and pray for my success, I won't be Dr. Zahraa.

For all the encouraging words when I feel like quiting my studies..

For all the hard works to pay my tuition fees..

For EVERYTHING lah! :)

To my grandparents..

Nenek & Atok - Thank u for taking care of me through my first 3 years of life.

You fed me well! :)

Embah - Been there for me every single step..thank u so much.. :)

I'm thankful to my brothers help..if they aren't home, I won't be able to practise all my physical examination. Thanks bro kasi pinjam your 6 packs! haha. (haa..kembang semangkuk la budak2 ni)