Assalamualaikum.....

Selepas makan mee kicap, kita ke pajabat biro di Ipoh sekejap. Bertemu dengan petugas di situ, sekadar bertanya khabar dan update beberapa issue dari pihak pengurusan. Lagipun kedai mee kicap tu dekat dengan pejabat cawangan kami. Selesai di pejabat, kami terus hantar SIL ke lokasi graduasi beliau. Ikut waze jer la. Sebelah hospital Tanjung Rambutan jer.

Dalam pada tu, kita punya otak dah berpusing2 mencari idea nak pergi mana. Tanya hubby dengan Mommy...semuanya angkat bahu. Tak tahu...suka hati...ikut jer lah. Adoii...poning mak. Dah la tak prepare. Dulu masa kita outstation ke Ipoh, kita dengan colleague suka beli bahan seramik. Tapi dah tak ingat kat mana. Sudahnya...mari ke Kuala Kangsar.

Kuala Kangsar is a very special place. It has its own personal attractions. It is popularly known for it's labu sayong industry. A clay vase used to keep water for drinks at home. It has been said that drinks kept in the vase turn out to be delicious with a lower temperature than the normal room temperature drinks. So, why not have it one at home? After all, we are Malaysian. I googled the location then.

The range of labu sayong

We found a blog recommended this center. I called the owner and he came right away to pick us from the road side and lead the way. On the way to his shop, we saw many other shops selling the ceramics products and clay products. We lost count on them. It excites us, anyhow. Once we arrived, I was so excited because this is definitely a large shop. Numerous products and all are sooo beautiful. The amazing thing is, the prices are all affordable. Oh my.... You can even find small beautiful clay products from as low as RM3.00!! And of course, there's the hero...the labu sayong. We bought 3 of them.

Me and Mommy. We were so excited.

These are lamps actually. For house furnishings. Hubby bought one...

Multifunction case. You can put stationery or spoon, or even for ashtray...hihihi

They have activity to make your own clay too... None of the boys were willing to be the participant, but they were attracted enough to stand by the maker and watched the process all the way to the finishings. All visitors are welcome to participate.

Please call the number printed on the banner. They will answer your call. Trust me.


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Assalamualaikum.....

Done in Penang, we straight away drove to Ipoh that evening. Arrived quite late in Ipoh and we settled down early in the homestay chose by my SIL. We went there for her convocation ceremony. She received a diploma for her nursing study. Currently she is happy being a staffnurse at HKL.

Anyway, the next morning we have to went out early for my SIL needs to attend the rehearsal at the college. Need to send her there and we will proceed with our own activity. I didn't prepare for Ipoh. I was extremely busy before that in the new office in Bangsar. Plus the stress, I really couldn't afford to plan for a good journey. When hubby asked what to have for breakfast, I googled. Yeap...impromptu action. Let it be..as long as I could present something different.

So I came across about this mee kicap. I remember I've seen a tv programme about this mee kicap. We don't have this in Malacca, so let's try.

Mee kicap is directly translated as the soy sauce noodle in English. It is a simple dish so as my expectation hearing just from the name. What is so special about this dish when you simply throw a bunch of yellow noodle on the plate and sprinkle some kicap (soy sauce) on it? So off we went. Oh, we went to the popular Mee Daud Mat Jasak stall. You can google the picture and you can simply key in the direction in your Waze application.

2 of us ordered the mee kari and the rest all requested the mee kicap. I had the mee kari since hubby and Adam has already requested for mee kicap. With this, we can taste each menu for verdict.
 I had Adam's mee kicap in which he had to order another plate because I ate half from his portion, hahahaha. The plain yellow noodle was drenched in a boiled water for a few seconds and they mix the noodle with taugeh (beansprouts). Next, they pour the kicap onto the noodle.

Now, this is what that needed the highlight. The kicap is not simply the kicap from the bottle. Though the color is none other the kicap color, but the taste is totally different. You can taste the mixture of other ingredients in which I can't really detect what. Ok, they definitely blend together the kicap with kitchen stock and onions and garlic. They might have a bit of ginger and probably a few other.

So it beyond expectation. The smooth and thick kicap gravy envelopes each layer of the noodle. It's not bitter at all, not really a salty, just a hit of salty taste and it feels as if you are eating a rich meaty food though you are having a blank mee kicap. Oh yes, the mee kicap accompanied by a bowl of soup. Sort of yong tau fu soup. You han have the normal standard of soup as what you seen in the picture above, or you can go and select your own kueh to have a full bowl of soup to your liking. Mix the soup into the mee kicap and wallah...another new dimension of attractive mee kicap in front of you.

The mee kari is not up to my liking. The gravy is too watery. The bowl was consists of the noodle, taugeh and the gravy with a few pieces of fish cake only.

Luckily they serve this sambal or cooked chili paste in the bottle. It gives a low amount of hot taste, not enough for my tastebud. I need to scoop a few to satisfy and balance my bowl of mee kari.

Adam was happy eating the mee kicap. Me and Mommy had our tasteless mee kari. Both of us agreed that mee kari in this stall is far below expectations.

Anyhow, the mee kicap is the star, anyway. I might come back to Ipoh just to enjoy another round of mee kicap...



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Assalamualaikum.....

Note : Beautiful dam...soft breeze and breath taking scenery. 

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Assalamualaikum.....

Antara keluarga yang menunggu

Alhamdulillah, Adam baru selesai sesi temuduga untuk kemasukan tingkatan 1 ke MRSM tahun 2015 nanti.

Adam memang looking forward untuk belajar di sekolah berasrama. Mungkin kerana dah biasa berjauhan, maka dia tak kisah untuk tinggal di asrama.

Kami mohon aja semua. SBP pun ada, MRSM pun ada...sekolah agama pun ada. Mana yang dapat saja lah. Kalau tak ada yang berjaya pun takper. Plan B kami ialah Adam terus bersekolah di PD.

Semalam kami ke Batu Pahat. Adam terpaksa menjalani ujian di MRSM Batu Pahat. Tempat ujian di NS dan Melaka dah penuh masa kami hantar permohonan.

Untuk MRSM, Adam pilih jurusan dwi sijil iaitu IGSCE. Boleh google. Sukatan pelajaran yang termasuk sekali dengan sukatan pelajaran Cambridge. Risaunya kami kerana takut ianya agak berat untuk Adam. Tapi Adam kata dia ingin mencuba.

Maka sesi Adam pagi tadi adalah ujian Sains, Matematik, Keperibadian, Comprehension dan IQ test. Ujian dijawab di dalam komputer. Tiada ujian bertulis langsung. Sesi temuduga di jalankan dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan ditanya beberapa soalan asas. Ada juga soalan isu semasa iaitu tentang tanah runtuh di CH dan juga tentang AFF Suzuki Cup. Adam juga diberikan petikan ayat AQ untuk diuji kelancaran mengaji.

Ada juga yang Adam teragak2 dan ada juga yang dia sengih jer. Tak apa lah. Apa yang boleh saja lah...

Keputusan akan keluar 20hb Dis ni.... Tunggu sajalah. Apa yang diterima, itu yg terbaik untuk beliau. Insya Allah.

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Assalamualaikum.....


Selepas lunch yang sedap, perut dah mula berat, kelopak mata dah mula berat dan minda pun jadi berat untuk aktif. Tapi kami nak bawa Mommy dan SIL untuk pusing Penang di bahagian Balik Pulau. Maka dari restoran, kami terus ikut jalan belakang pulau dan melalui kampung2 untuk ke kawasan Batu Feringgi.

Sambil2 tu, mata melilau juga cari port laksa janggus, tapi tak nampak pula. Bukan nak makan, cuma nak 'mark' tempat tu sahaja. Dalam pada kami menikmati pemandangan gunung ganang dan lurah gaung tu, tiba2 hubby ternampak satu signboard kecil di tepi jalan untuk pintu masuk ke tenpat memproses buah pala. Hubby terus melencong masuk dalam tu. Tak pernah masuk, so jalan2 saja lah. It could be educational for the kids and for the adults too.

Bila masuk jer, ada satu bangunan usang dari papan yang tersergam di hadapan kami. Oh, jalan nak masuk, agak mencabar sebab kena menurun jalan raya yang curam juga. Driver kena berhati2lah yer...tapi jalan tu pendek jer.

Anyway, kami nampak ada beberapa dulang besar yang di isi dengan buah yang berbiji2 di atas sebuah meja panjang yang lebar. Setiap dulang berisi buah yang berbeza warna.

Ok, siapa tak pernah tengok buah pala? Ini lah buahnya.... Ini buah yang mentah. Dijemur untuk dikeringkan bagi diproses untuk berbagai produk.

Ini Apek. Dia bahasakan dirinya Apek. Tapi kami panggil Uncle, rasa kurang sopan pula nak panggil Apek. Tapi dia rasa lebih mesra kalau kita panggil Apek, maka dalam blog ni, mari kita beramai2 panggil dia Apek.

Di depan Apek ialah buah peringkat2 buah pala yang dalam proses pengeringan. Rasanya ini hanyalah untuk pameran dan education sahaja. Proses sebenarnya dijalankan oleh pekerja2 beliau iaitu penduduk2 kampung yang beragama Islam. Dan beliau juga dalam proses untuk mendapatkan sijil halal dari JAKIM untuk produknya.

Apek ceritakan apakah buah pala. Dari mentah, dari sabut, dari isi, dari buah yang digunakan oleh mat salleh dalam cooking show di asteruk sehinggalah ke bijinya yang boleh dipelbagaikan. Berbagai jenis gred buah pala digunakan untuk berbagai produk.

Selain itu, apek juga tunjukkan jantina buah pala. Yesss....ada jantina yer. Perlu tahu jantina untuk tanam pokoknya. Ditanam dari buah pala female sahaja.

Oh, kilang ni ada siapkan air jus buah pala. First time kami tahu yang buah pala boleh dijadikan jus. Memang percuma untuk tetamu yang datang melawat. Eh, memang sedaplah jus buah pala ni.

Ini kami bersama dengan Apek. Kita yang jadi tukang snap nya. 

Inilah berbagai jenis produk buah pala.

Bakul sebelah kiri atas sekali dan bawahnya ialah buah pala mentah. Yang dalam bakul hijau ialah female dan bakul pink pula ialah male. Err, sendiri boleh tau kot kenapa...hehehehe. Kami dah gelak berdekah2 dah di situ masa Apek explain.

Dalam besen pink sebelah kanan ialah satu keratan rentas buah pala. Kulitnya tu lah yang kita makan jeruk buah pala. Isinya, di sagat dan dimasukkan serbuknya dalam berbagai jenis masakan.

Di dalam bakul pink kecil di sebelah kiri bawah sekali ialah pecahan dari biji yang kualitinya agak kurang baik. Tak boleh eksport untuk jadikan serbuk atau untuk masuk dalam masakan, tapi di stimkan dan dapatkan minyaknya yang akhirnya di pasarkan sebagai balm puah pala dan minyak angin. Memang harum sangat baunya... Bau yang mentah ni pun memang berangin dah rasa. Kami ambil sedikit, Apek bagi semua orang..."Lu simpan dalam keleta. Lu punya keleta banyakkk wangi.." pesanan dari Apek. Memang wangi.

Inilah pokok buah pala. Nampak tak buah pala yang bergantungan?

Ha, sila ambil nama kilang Apek. Nampak tak muka Apek di signboard? Hubby sangat gembira bertemu Apek...hilang terus rasa mengantuk dia...hahahaha

Since kami adalah pengunjung terakhir, Apek suruh ambil semua jus buah pala. Pergi cari botol kosong dalam kereta, tadahlah air jus tu untuk minum2 dalam kereta. 

Oh, tujuan sebenar kami ialah nak cari balm buah pala di Penang ni. Dah masuk kilang Apek, apa lagi..borong laaaa. Beratus juga laa duit yang melayang.....hahahaha. Takper, nak datang bukannya dekat. Balm buah pala ni memang kegemaran kami sekeluarga sejak bertahun2 lagi. Ada kawan di penang ni yang syorkan pada asalnya....hingga mak ayah di PD pun laju jer capai balm ni kalau ada. Kami suka yang warna putih kerana baunya lebih lembut dan kurang menyengat pijarnya. Kalau ada selsema, kembung perut...memang sangatttt mujarab. Loya2 nak muntah pun sangat berkesan lah membantu. 

So, dah pergi sini, tak perlulah kami meredah kesesakan untuk ke Chowrasta... Alhamdulillah.

Lepas tengok Batu Feringgi dari dalam kereta, kami terus masuk highway untuk ke Ipoh pula. Goodbye Penang. We'll be back for more nutmeg balms...hihihihii....

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Assalamualaikum.....

Note : Hubby's. He went down to Malim river in Malacca with a few friends and they catched the fishes using a piece of net. Now hubby has friends at home.

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Assalamualaikum.....

Setelah puas bersantai di bilik hotel...berehat dan bersedia untuk perjalanan yang masih jauh, kami check-out dari hotel tepat jam 2.30 petang. Sukanya..... Masa tu terasa macam masih kenyang jer lagi. Maklumlah, breakfast heavy. Perancangannya, nak lunch kari kepala ikan di Pen Mutiara. Yang kita ingat dulu, Pen Mutiara ni dalam kawasan jeti perikanan..so key in dalam Waze untuk jeti LKIM. Kami berdua kereta ni pusing sana sini, lalu celah lorong sempit segala mengikutkan Waze tu. Sekali entah mana ceruk punya rumah orang dengan warung santai yang dibawanya. Alamaakkkk...tukar..tukar...! Tukar search untuk Pen Mutiara terus...hahahah.. Ada rupanyaaaa! Ceh! So, senang jer lah jumpanya....hihihihi.

Yes, Pen Mutiara ni adalah sebuah restoran yang terletak di dalam kawasan naik ikan. Jadinya, makanan laut mereka memang segar dari ladang lah....

Hubby yang pernah makan disini awalnya kerana di bawa oleh supplier masa audit kilang dulu2. Katanya kari kepala ikan di sini memang sangat sedap.Dan kita pernah di bawa ke sini dulu sekali. Memang kita akui, sedap. Oleh itu, bila bawa Mommy, kami datang lagi ke sini.

Ini lah star of the day. Kari kepala ikan. Karinya tak terlalu pekat dengan rempah. Kuahnya sedang2 elok untuk dinikmati sama ada dengan nasi atau pun sekadar di ratah. Penuh dengan bendi, tomato dan terung. Harum baunya. Ikannya pastilah segar. Dihidangkan dalam belangan periuk tanah. Maka ketika tiba di meja makan, lauk ini masih panas mendidih lagi. Rasa pedas kari yang tidak cair dan tidak juga pekat tu memang sangat memikat selera kami.

Harga hidangan ini bergantung kepada permintaan kita. Untuk berapa orang makan, biasanya. Macam kami hari tu, untuk 6 orang makan, harganya lebih kurang RM80.00++. Hidangan paling kecil adalah untuk 2 orang yang berharga RM38.00++ kalau tak silap. Pada kami, sekali sekala untuk duduk selesa di dalam restoran yang cantik dan berhawa dingin, makanan yang dihidang khas atas permintaan kita semua, harga seperti ini memang berbaloi.

Kami tiba di sini hampir jam 3.00 petang, maka pengunjung telah ramai yang sudah selesai lunch. Itupun, meja kosong tidaklah banyak sangat. Makumlah, cuti sekolah. Tapi lihatlah Adam dan Mak Su nya...tangan masing2 dah mula bersalut kari......

Pastilah kami order lauk lain juga. Dalam gambar di atas ialah terung masak cabai (cili) yang memang sedap. Terungnya pun segar dan 'juicy'. Disebelahnya ialah cili masak cabai (cili) juga. Bukanlah kami ni penggila pedas, tapi masak cabainya tidaklah sampai membunuh usus perut. Cilinya terasa manja2 saja... Yang buat sedap ialah bagaimana mereka menggabungkan bahan2 biasa seperti cili dan bawang dan menghasilkan menu sebegini.

Firdaus the happy boy. Dia ni nampak jer kurus, tapi dia boleh makan 2-3 kali ganda lebih banyak dari Adam, tau. Sebab tu lah tulangnya keras seperti besi... Boleh jadi body guard lepas ni. Mommy dan Ain riang dan rancak berborak. Oh, lupa. Depan Mommy tu kami order udang butter. Satu lagi signature dish di restoran ni. Udang butter yang lemak berkrim...bukan sekadar nampak minyak dari butter menyaluti udang tu, tapi ada daun kari, ada krim yang likat dan sedap rasanya. Manis dan lemak tetapi beraroma daun kari. Tiada telur yang bersarang2 tu, tapi dengan krim itu, isi udang lebih sedap rasanya.

Udangnya adalah udang besar yang saiz XXL tu. Di restoran ni, harga udang bukannya mengikut kiraan timbang, tapi mengikut kuantiti. Udang yang mereka guna memang sama saiz. Harganya ialah RM7.00 seekor udang. Tak kira masak apa sekali pun, harganya tetap sama. Kami order 10 ekor...hahahaha.

Mengikut pengalaman yang lalu, kalau order menu banyak2 pun mesti tak habis. Maka setakat ini sajalah kami order.

Of course kita pun happy bila tengok ahli keluarga yang lain pun happy. Tapi makan tetap makan. Nampak tu, dah lipat lengan baju sampai ke siku. Eheeem...senang nak cedok lauk....hahahaha...

Oh yer, kami order juga air jus asam boi yang sangat sedap satu jug. Tidak masam dan juga tidak terlalu manis. Memang sangat sesuai untuk menghilangkan kelat kari dan pedas rempah. SIL kita nak air bandung..untuk dia segelas dan hubby macam biasa, nescafe tarik segelas. Tapi kami ambil juga air suam satu jug. Banyak minum air betul kami ni kan.

Bila dah kenyang, seperti yang dijangka...tak habis juga. Jangan membazir, mari tapau. Kami minta petugas tolong bungkuskan semua yang ada balance. Terung, ayam, kari ikan tu sendiri dan even nasi putih pun ada. Bungkus semua... Pssst, mereka bungkus dalam bekas tupperware yang proper dan kemas. Dan mereka charge RM0.60 yer. Ada charge juga rupanya.

Total damage masa tu adalah RM280.00++. Errm...boleh tahan lah. Tapi sebenarnya kita dengan hubby bajet bil adalah RM300 ke atas. So, within budget juga. Alhamdulillah....

So, kalau ad sesiapa yang rasa bermurah hati nak belanja family best2 sikit di Pulau Pinang, bolehlah cuba restoran ni yer.

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Assalamualaikum.....

Firstly, zillion thanx to all wishes for Adam. We are happy and so does he. After the crying session upon the unexpected result, I drove back to office in Bangsar. He came with me. Stayed with me until Friday. And those 2 days, Adam couldn't stop smiling. He said he can't believe it. Was it true...? He kept on questioning me..checking out that he was not dreaming. I laughed everytime he asked. I was flying in the sky seeing his smile. He worked so damn hard for this. And it pays. Though Adam is not a brilliant boy, but at least he gave a shot. A fully loaded gun with bullets to be shot in his war. He was lucky he aimed correctly.

Ok, for that we planned a short Penang trip for him over that weekend. My SIL happenned to be having a convocation on 2nd of Dec, Tuesday. Our family need to be in Ipoh by Sunday because she needs to attend briefing sessions and rehearsals on Monday. Since Saturday was free, we thought that a one night stay in Penang could show some appreciation to the boys.

Oh, remember Adam's cousin, Firdaus? Firdaus successfully gained 3As, 1B and 1D..hahahhaha. He failed his Maths. We tried so many ways to help him in Maths, but we failed. He got B in English which for me is an outstanding achievement by looking at the performance of his school. Even his English teacher was so happy and cried while hugging him. And he got A for his Science. And it still confuses me. How come he can gain A in Science but failed in Maths? I thought Maths is allies with Science?

Anyway, we are happy for both of them. So happy... Their achievements are beyond our targets and achievements. So an extended trips might send them a message that we do appreciate their efforts.

We departed from Malacca quite late that Saturday plus with extremely heavy traffic and heavy rain...we finally checked-in at Vistana Hotel at 11.30pm. Mommy brought home cooked delicacies...a lot. So we just enjoyed the food and enjoyed the comforts of the room. I booked a 3 bedroom suite at Booking.Com. I got a good price. Inclusive of breakfast, we paid less than 100 for each pax.

This is the master bedroom. This was for me and hubby....hehehehe

The living hall. I think they need to add up more sofas... We need family bonding time, right?

The dining hall....

The kitchen. We didn't use it. The kitchen was not up to our expectation. 

They have a small room. It has iron facilities, a small corner for hot drinks facility and it is also a study table. I did my work here and sent my documents to my boss. BUT....my mobile data is much more faster than their wifi. 

The 2 happy boys in their room. This bed is a little bit smaller than queen size bed but bigger that super single bed. Just nice for them.

The second bedroom used by Mommy and my SIL. Each room is attached with private bathroom. So we enjoyed our bathroom moments. Oh...no..no... No mandi bunga because there was no bath tub.

We didn't go out to enjoy Penang that night because we were too exhausted. So we totally enjoyed the room. We went down for breakfast the next morning. Breakfast was ok....but I did experience a better menu and food here during our previous visit.

Adam was happy with his breakfast as long as they serve sausages. Ish..ish..ish....

This is Mommy's plate. Enough rest, comfort in the room and the next morning your tummy growls.... Mommy pushed this plate to me so that I could snap a good picture. Hehehehe

We had good time overall. Adam took some time to swim but he didn't enjoy it. Too many people in the pool, he said. We took more time to rest and kills time since we got a complimentary late check-out at 2.30pm.

Upon checking-out, we went to a place for lunch. I will share the place later.....

Anybody going to Penang?

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