Assalaam aleykom :D

A few days back... I was picking out the laundry from my washing machine. As I was putting the damp shirts and pants and skirts and others into the laundry basket... i heard what sounded like squeaks. Not suspecting anything, I thought it was the sound of my slippers. You know la... when cheap slippers have holes in them, and when they come in contact with water... they tend to squeak or (kinda) whistle when U apply extra pressure on them.

Anywayz... after a few too many squeaks... I decided to take a look at the slippers, as the squeaks were getting rather frequent. The suddenly, I felt like something was watching me. I mean, you get that feeling like ure being observed... ure every move watched and scrutinized... ure very breath measured for the slightest change in tempo... ure... ok you get the idea. Tapi takkan hantu atau Jinn... Cuz it was too early in the day for that kinda stuff to happen :P Then suddenly... something moved in front of me. KATA KUANG!!! Tengok2, dekat tepi washing machine, ada la this mak kucing (Mommy Cat), yang dah terberanak sampai 4-ekoq! Man... I mean, so brave this cat to beranak next to my washing machine. Normally, when ever I go out to buang the trash, she'd be almost running for her life at my very sight! So for her to give birth within the compound of my back-entrance is rather shocking! :P But anyways...

Actually I've kinda vowed not to take in any pet cats anymore. After so many foiled attempts, I can't bear the feeling of having to depart from them when they finally pass away. So, I was thinking of throwing them out. But where? I mean... where can these small kittens stay that doesn't have other alley-cats possibly scrounging for their very flesh? And don't let me get started with the doggies. Man... the ones here have cats for breakfast, lunch and also high-tea :P

So after considering the pros and cons... I just decided to let them stay lah. But won't treat them as actual pets la (hopefully...). Just decided to maintain feeding the mommy cat, so that she'd be able to produce milk for her little ones. No getting tooo close such as to angkat2 and belai2. I will only do that with my wife (minus the angkat2 of course... she preggy now... heheheheh). Anywayz... now the kittens seem to be getting bigger... Good lah tu :D And the mommy oso now is already so berani with me. No more running. Now siap suka gesel2 lagi. Even gesel-gesel with my wife oso. hehehehe. okes. anwyayz... below are some pics. Enjoy iya :D

Already brave. Let's me come near without growling...

Very2 close up pic. As you can see... she likes me alot now (because I give you FOOD!!!)

Early stages of discovery... "DO NOT EVEN DARE TO LOOK, HUMAN SCUM!!!!"

Sudah bergelimpangan after habis tonggang susu ibu... Susu Ibu, makanan sejati utk baby baby

Close up ...sleeping... "HOIT! GET THAT FLASH OUT OF ME EYES HUMAN!!!!"

Very2 cute

Okes... no flash this time... just macro shot

Another pic of them sleeping together

The auntie. She still runs away in fear at my very sight. But I still give her some leftover food from time to time

Mommy cat... after licking, ...what?

(Please ignore any religious ads ya. Especially if any of those Scientology ads come up... tq)

Assalaam aleykom WBT.

Alhamdulillaah, just now I was fortunate enough to be led by Allaah to view a very interesting video. Actually I might be a bit behind, because I just found out about this show (baru dapat access YouTube secara open :P)... Anywayz, this Eddie guy is doing a good job educating Old Muslims (default value... as in born into Islam), New Muslims, Non Muslims and whatever, regarding our beautiful religion...
Anywayz...

Just viewed a video regarding innovations... or widely known as bid'ah/bidaah. The link to the video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA92oxF9Bm8 ... and I really2 recommend viewing. It's an interview with Sheikh Yasin Qadhi (has a US slang... American I guess). One of the most informative and LOGICAL talks I've ever heard about bid'ah... and I also got to realize it danger for our religion, as well as for ourselves (could be a faster way to HELL!!! Don't want that)...

So, please do go and have a look (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA92oxF9Bm8). And since we're Malaysians... consider these:

1. Reading Yaa-sin every Thursday night,
2. Collective wirid and doa after prayers,
3. Qunut during Subuh (I know this sounds weird... even I myself am researching this. And at the moment, it doesn't seem to be favouring the culture that's been so dominant in Malaysia... as well as some other parts of the world)
4. Maulidurasul (to me... this is very2 terang a bad thing... as we get pop artists to sing nasyid-like songs... clear, but to many still blur...)
5. All those reading and salawat in beteween tarawih rakaats...
6. etc.

Anywayz... Am not saying I'm an expert. I am sooo not!... But lately I've been realizing that many a things that we've so used to doing... seems to be a bit weird at times. So this has led me to do some research...

Anywayz... I pray to Allaah that we are all shown the way... and in the end get a one way ticket to Jannah :D insyaAllaah... okes. Go and tengok the video :D

Assalaam aleykom WBT

Assalaam aleykom WBT :)

2-nites ago, Alhamdulillaahirobbil'aalameen... had a nice dinner with my wife at Seoul Garden, Juru (Penang... sebelah darat). I was initially expecting a throng of people in the restaurant, because the guy on the phone sort'a indicated that they were fully booked for the night. Tapi aleh aleh, bila sampai... the place was just half full. There was this one big Chinese family taking over one side of the establishment... and on the other side ada la 2-3 small families. So... ok la :D Kosong... buleh makan dengan tanpa rasa risah gulisah. :D

Wannywayz... the basic concept of Seoul Garden is... Hmmm... I don't quite know what you call it. Nak kata steam boat... the 'boat' wasn't that big (as will be shown later). Nak kata sitr-fry-on-your-own-depan2-mata... the frying pan was also quite small. So I reckon, it's a combo of both lah :D Mini steam-boating and also mini-semi-stir-frying. Overall, the price of RM70++ (for two persons that is) was quite OK with quality and quantity of food that was consumed...

Yeous... this is the cooking contraption provided. We chose tom-yam as our soup base. U can also choose other flavors such as abalone, ginseng and apa lagi ntah...

Anywayz... a note on the table said that, if you want rice... ask from the waiters. But I wasn't about to fill myself up with complex carbo. I'd end up getting too full too fast. So... went to the 'carnivore' section :D There I could choose from (heavily) marinated fish, chicken, beef, lamb and also VENISON! Tu macam deer kan? Ke? Anywayz, will do http://www.dictionary.com later.

In short, I had a bunch of meat (sorry, forget to take a pic of the meat n dessert bar), some processed and original seafood (put into the tomyam... and steam up the boat!), some dumplings, veggies, some free-flowing sweet drinks and for the penutup... three small scoops of vanilla ice cream with some crushed peanuts. In all... mmg kesedapan jugak la. But I have to say, even though the marinades were quite nice... I believe some of them were a bit too heavily marinated. In the end, it's difficult to distinguish between venison and cow... :P Tapi takpe... nak buat camne ye dok? If want mild taste, then bukak kedai sendiri la ye dok?

The wife had less than me of course. I mean, I'm like 100-kilos heavier than she is! Anywayz... Seoul Garden is located in Auto City III JURU. I have to say that, JURU reminds me quite a lot about how some suburbs in the US look like from the highway. If you drive past JURU, you could see that the way the buildings are arranged, it does seem like you're overseas. Juru itself is very2 nice at night. Ada lampu2 neon, and it seems very2 clean (don't know if I was deceived by the night lights :P). The building designs are different from one to another, and the establishments are also quite unique (except for the few familiar sights macam Nando's, KFC and also McDonald's).

Anywayz... enuff said. Sila lah tengok gambar2 berikut ye :D Assalaam aleykom WBT n tq for visiting...

PS:- Lupa pulak... the whole thing was RM70++ (I captured the cash register's amount in one of the pics. So you can see the actual price)

Carnivorous Delight... it there exists such a statement...

After being cooked by chef Alfian Abdul Halin (but this is chicken and squid if not mistaken)

Mixed up some crushed garlic, chili garlic sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce and crushed peanuts (taken from the ice cream bar)... sedap jugek!

Pengidam... "hua hua hua... u will kneel to my craving demands...."

"Hek eleh... aku pon nak makan jugak kat sini..."

Vanilla ice cream... and also 1 scoop of what I tot was mint ice cream. Tengok2 pandan... hantam saja la. Sib baik kecik je

Ok... it was RM70.35. 35++ la sekepala iya?

JURU... one part of it la :D

Assalaam aleykom...

Today, my pregnant wife had a 'mengidam' attack. Suddenly she wanted to eat steamboat!!! Luckily she didn't crave anything like football boots with curry, roti naan with zinc or even a compact disc in BBQ sauce :P Hehehe... Of course, ini semua exaggeration saja la :D Wannywayz... at the beginning I wasn't that keen on going. Because for one thing, it's gonna be a hassle to drive all the way to JURU just to buka puasa. The other thing is that the wife is pregnant 4-months ++... and I'd like to avoid crowded places due to the H1N1-virus. But it seems that me luvly wife is not budging from her decision. Dia nak gak makan Seoul Garden :D Okes la... I will attend to her needs. She's buying anyway. Hua hua hua!!!

Anywayz, it's been quite some time since I ate at Seoul Garden. Last time I ate there was for my 'farewell' dinner when I was going to do my PhD at UNSW, Australia. And that was somewhere in June or July 2006. Two things happened... the FOOD WAS GREAT!!! ... and I also came back from Sydney within 2-months cuz tak ngam ngan supervisor. Hehehe... So the meal ended up not being a farewell dinner after all. LOL!

Okes. So tonite, insyaAllaah after a small iftar (maybe tamar and some water?), and after marghrib prayers, we will head on to this Korean establishment (Well, I think they're actually Singaporean... but with a Korean name... I think la...). The charge I think is around RM30++ per head? But ok la... the food is good, and they have HALAL certification some more. So ok la :D Can eat insyaAllaah.

Oraitey... almost time to break fast. Seoul Garden... here we commeeee!!! ...

Ok la... I think I will pay... hehehe...

Assalaam aleykom WBT.

Two days back, I was wondering what to eat for iftar/break-fast/bukak posa/berbuka puasa :) Thinking punya thinking punya thinking... then I realized that the oven's rotisserie (golek) function udah agak lama tak digunakan. So... I thought... what da hey, let's cook some spinning chicken :) But, how to cook it? I didn't even have a bird at the time also...

Again, thinking punya thinking dan thinking lagi. Then I just decided to run up to TESCO (~25 mins drive, one way). Buy a chicken, and then just cook it rotisserie style. But still, I did not answer the question "HOW to cook the bird...". So before pushing off to Tesco, I surfed the net for a while to look for the simplest yet relatively delicious (by my subjective tongue that is) recipe. Stumbled upon http://bbq.about.com/od/chickenrecipes/r/bl50630a.htm. Hmmm... Garlic-Lemon Rotisserie Chicken. I could do that! Jotted down the recipe and drove off like the wind :)

If you tie it nicely, it should look something like this during the 'spin'. Of course mine is not as neat. I took this pic. from http://wendihiebert.com/2008/06/12/putting-a-spin-on-chicken/

Bought a few lemons (only needed half a lemon though), some onions (which I ended up not using cuz the recipe actually didn't call for it), tissue paper (again, not in the recipe), the chicken of course and a whole bunch of other stuff. I think U know what hypermarkets do to you... U end up buying more than you need :P

Anywayz... got back at around 6++pm. Dah dekat nak berbuka. But still tekad, cooked the chicken anywayz. Followed the recipe (accidentally missed the oil rubbing part...), prepared the dry rub and tarus, rotisseried that bird :) The recipe called for SWEET PAPRIKA... but aiyo, banyak expensive ooo paprika kat Malaysia. So, I just put in some chili powder plus some sugar. Closest I can get to sweet paprika I reckon. Hehehehe...

Okes... at 180-200 degree Celsius, at around 1.5 hours ++... Alhamdulillaah. The chicken was done. But at the same time, it was almost 8:30pm. Hehehehe. My wife n sister in law were also waitin' for the chicken... and alhamdulillaah, in the end it was worth the wait :) Ok jugak this recipe. And I beleive that if it were done by more experienced and more delicate hands (macam tangan perempuan which is lagik lembut dan penyabar), insyaAllaah lagik sedap :D

In all, I recommend this recipe to anyone yang nak buat rotisserie chicken... or even baked chicken. Hecks, the dry rub tasted like it had MSG in it! And I think that's a compliment to any chef-wannabe who doesn't use MSG! LOL!

Okes... That is all about chicken a.k.a. ayam. Tq for reading and happy cooking.

Assalaam aleykom WBT and a very good day.

From the last post, I've mentioned about the PC I just bought. So today, I am working from home instead of going to my lab in USM Penang :) A good change of 'angin', as I am getting rather tired of commuting and crossing the bridge on a daily basis, and giving RM11.20 per day to PLUS BHD and also PENANG BRIDGE SDN BHD :P Anywayz... working from home is rather fun, cuz you don't have anyone breathing down yer neck. Just yourself... But even I can't breathe down my own neck... Kind'a difficult to get my nose to the neck area... It's almost like the "Not being able to lick your own elbow" thinggy. Anywayz..

About working from home. Actually, when I hear the word "Work From Home"... I normally associate it with people quitting their day jobs, and doing Internet based businesses e.g. Affiliate Marketing, Internet MLMs, Get-Paid-To-Reads, Forex Trading, E-bay selling and buying and the sorts. I actually aspired to become a member of this Work From Home club once. But did not plan to quit my job lah... But in the end... I faltered. Why? Becuz I sort'a sucked in some of the promises given by the so-called Internet-business GURUs...

Duit duit...

On the Internet, you can see so many claims of making big bucks! And it all seems so easy peasy! I can bet you 1/4 my life savings (I am no risk taker, so 1/4 is a lot oredi :P) that almost no Internet based website will tell you the hardships of starting an online venture. If you do a Google search on the topic, you'd probably land on those 1-page (very2 long one page) websites, telling you from A-Z about how they made it BIG on the Internet. At the same time, they also claim that even donkeys can do it... so why not YOU? (Me, you, everyone else whose getting less than $50,000 per week :P). The normal thing they're promoting is their E-book, or E-course, or what ever, that will tell you how to make it big online. And in many cases, people end up buying these things... cuz they're relatively cheap anywayz.

To cut things short, from my experience, there's no easy way of doing it. Really... Not easy at all. What some of these e-books (etc.) are saying is not the entire truth. They make it look so easy (not simple), yet to master the world of Internet business (let it be small or big) needs years of experience and elbow grease. I am not saying ALL e-courses are bad... but most that pop up first after Google searches (due to playing around with SEOs I reckon) don't tell the whole truth...

But even with that said, the concept is simple tho... You can make it big online, if you follow the necessary steps. Simple steps :)

But never equate the SIMPLE with EASY :D Example: Losing weight is simple! But it ain't easy! Get the idea?

Same as making it big online. Simple concepts (e.g. big market of web surfers, hence high probability of demand). But it ain't easy to get people to your website! I mean, there're like 50-billion other people out there building five or six websites each! :P So the competition is also like nothing the world has ever seen before :) So sendiri mau ingat :)

But anyways... working from home is nice :) Especially when you get tom make lost of $$$. But just make sure we do it the right way :) And not the ad-hoc way... or short-term way... or what ever wrong way :D Some websites like www.sitesell.com for example, provide an almost honest outlook at making $$$ online :) So going to sites such as those would be beneficial and worth the effort.

As for me, I would like to make $$$ online also. But at the moment, I think I will start to work from home doing PHD first. After PHD, insyaAllaah, I will learn the ropes. Hehehehe. Okes. Selamaat