Reminiscing...

Going through my old postings from my old blog, I decided to pick one for my new entry and this one entitled "Whose Way It Is, Anyway?" seems perfect for the time being. Perfect, in a sense that it simply speaks for myself without the need of lengthy write-ups which was melancholic then and...has becoming melancholic lately. But of course, there was a reason before and, are even more now. And as my favourite line goes, "I hate to elaborate...hiks!"  ;-)

So I hope all of you, reading this blog, will enjoy this classic number rendered so beautifully by my favourite singer, RW.

~ I loved, I laughed and cried

I've had my filled, my share of losing

And now as tears subside, I find it all so amusing...

To think I did all that, 

And may I say - Not in a shy way,

Oh no, oh no not me

I did it my way...

For what a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels

And not the words of one who kneels,

The record shows, I took the blows

And did it my way... ~

Thank you, all, for everything.

Lots of love,

Lili

 

Ranting on Eleven, Eleven, Eleven

Sometimes I likened myself to a weather girl! Each passing day with each passing weather, I am all into it. I take mental notes of the changes in my surroundings and play along with my moods afterwards. These two days see the skies in beautiful hues of blue. Thanks to the bright sunny day. I see the foliage fully green..in fact greener than it used to be. All the blessed rains we had had for the past weeks has put life to everything. But then again, being me...looking outside the window, a surge of sadness sets in when I cast my view on the awfully quiet park. With this lovely weather, driving to the seaside is apt as it takes my mysterious sadness away...hiks! ;-) 

I was driving everywhere this morning when I remembered today's date. I know everyone is excited about this date though not all really have the reasons to mark the 11-11-11 as their special day. But I see this date as numbers in itself....and a special person who loved the number ONE. 

That special person was my late brother-in-law. How shall I put this? I really want to say he was 'obsessed' with that number, but to term it an obsession would be over-rated. Anyway, I was only a school-girl when I heard about him going steady with my big sister (also deceased, now). I knew people were talking about him being the eligible bachelor with passion for fast cars and the number 17, denoting his birth date. Oh yeah...he was a Cancerian like moi..hehehe! TCLSS, when he married my sister, it was on a 17th January, and everything from then on seemed to be in seventeens but of course, not their babies! But soon he changed his interest when registering for a new car. I presumed, being a married man his attention was on his one and only, my sis! 
So over the years his cars bore those number ones: from a double 1, to triple 1 and the last being 1111. Among my siblings, I was the lucky wan when come my wedding day, he offered to drive the newly-weds, ehem..hubby and I lah tu, in his new car bearing the plate: P*M 111, for the majlis bertandang at hubby's kampung. Weeeeheeee)) Well, itu aje citernye...and to think I have quoted so many 'ones' in my posting today...Hahaha!!
 
I wish I could write some more about my b-i-l, but I can't do it anymore. It is so painful to recall the tragic incident that took his life. You can read about it HERE.  Al-Fatihah buat daddy.

And as for today, I reckon, this beautiful sunshine is gonna stay if only...


 

Wordless Wednesday : Morning Has Broken....

Aidil Adha...

Salam everyone...
I'm tired and sleepy tapi nak menulis jugak. Yelah, dah nak tiga hari Raya Korban, and I'm busy as usual even though I did not travel back to my hometown, Ipoh. MyC has been busy too going through her preparation for her exam in a weeks' time; so, I don't see the need to spend Raya with my mother & Co. this time. Still we celebrated in all the merriment of a festival observed albeit low-keyed. MyC, for one is happy when her papa bought her this:

Hehehee)) The only Raya dessert for us from that Recipe Rahsia!

 

This year's Raya Haji, when I'm not cooking for my mother, the menu I planned is not that elaborate...

 Breakfast of ketupat palas berjagung and rendang dinding.

Masa ni dah siap masak Ayam masak merah..

nasi tomato pun dah siap tapi belum nak makan lagi...

 Simple aje kali ni...

I wasn't expecting any visitors this time, so I left for my aunt's house to have lunch with her. I packed some of my home-cooked dishes for Wan Intan as we always do for many years when arwah PahChu was around. And hey, what do you know when I got to her place? The same lunch spread I would get at home only hers was made merrier with many people joining in. Wan Intan's cousins came too and we had a blast of time. Let's check her table!

 Nasi tomato, ayam masak merah, stir-fried mixed vegetables, 

ketupat, nasi himpit, rendang ayam, kuah kacang...

 We cleared the table to make way for my cousin Anje's desserts of

Marble Orange cake (in the background), pudding and....

Red Velvet Cake...

Anje was not satisfied with her RV, but I convinced her it was the best I ever tasted

and she said, 'kak Lili you're so positive! But I'm not going to eat anything now. I'm so frustrated!' 

Hahaha! I saw her tucking in my food in the kitchen...

By the way, Anje just came back from England for good and she loves baking. She told me

the flour she used in England is of better quality and that explained the dense RV. 

I can only laugh...

Azlin, Anje's elder sister, in action...

All in all, one whole day of non-stop raining and eating, and in the company of wonderful people, 

I can only say this: because it's family, it is the best party in the world! ;-)

At 3pm, I see myself at my dining table and EAT again!

Well, I blame the rain..hehe!

Bye for now...

Hungry Sokmo!

When it's raining cats and dogs (and monkeys!...haha... only Kak Zen does it best!) every afternoon, my appetite is becoming big. Every time I try to get some sleeps, only pictures of food dancing before my supposedly shut eyes and the mind starts making up ridiculous monologues forcing me out of bed. As always, I am deprived again of that precious sleeps I badly needed. 
And to the kitchen my head said, 'Go!'

 Mee Kuah...this time tak cheating ;)

macam yang...HERE

 Ready to dig in...

 Sharing between MyC and mee...er...ME!

Tata! ;-)

November Project? Hiks!

So much to write about this morning. But after writing and editing one piece to another, I simply discard all as nothing makes sense even for my own perusing. Another side of me that you might find boring: of being fickle-minded and uncertain most times. However, as I already promised CS to blog about my making karipaps yesterday, that gives me some sense and sensibility, hahahaha, to blog about! Okay, sit back and have some curry puffs yourself and read on...


Al-kisahnya, I dah lama tau tak buat karipap pusing ni. The last time being three years ago. Eh, sowi, ter-JohnnyEnglish pulak! Dulu-dulu memang selalu buat untuk kawan-kawan sahaja yang ada jamuan kat rumah derang. So, sekilo dua tepung sekali hadap, I boleh tahan, beb. Semalam, was different. Baru buat sikit...warm-up warm-up gitu kekdahnya, dah nak patah riuk badan I yang kiut miut ni. I told myself...cewah...nampak sangat dah kertu! 
I know, I know...age is catching up tapi hati duk macam tu gak! Meh gelak sama-sama, meh. Huahuahuahuahua))) *kasi echo sikit*

Anyway, TCTLSS, I pun beriyalah buat 'kuripaps'. Kak Som dah pesan, 'kalau buat, you letak dalam blog'  Well, kander Som, ni I letak step by step lagi and it's gonna be a long entry! 

Petang semalam lepas aje Asar, hujan seperti biasa mencurah-curah. I thought, what a good time to buat karipap. Dah masak inti bagai, I nak buat pastry and it happened. OMG! Lili dah luFA sukatan! Dah lama tak jadi blur since September 14th 2011...oops...tetibe masa nak bancuh tepung, itu Lili boleh jadi BLUR! Panic room sekejapans...lepas tu terus capai fon, called kak Mimi, my sifu kuih muih. Phew! And I told myself sekali lagi...yes...pandai you all teka...dah kertu! Makanya, gigih ler Cik Lili membuat karipap dari pukul 6 petang, membawa ke Maghrib. Berhenti sambung, berhenti sambung sampai pukul 9 malam. And then, you know what I said to hubby? 'Tobat, tak nak buat lagi!' You know what he replied? "Ye, I believe you, you TAU BUAT!" ekekekeke

Now...picture story time, ok.

 Inti biasa-biasa aje...but ada ler sekwet wesepi sikit...hehehe

Sape nak tau kena sms I @ 019-444444..tekan tekan tak dapat...hiks ;p

 Sumpah, tak cantik! grrrrrr
Anyway, rasa tetap sama...rasa karipap pusing! Haha!

Gambar ni blur macam tuannya....sebab MyC yang ambil.

Budak ni main snap jer tak adjust2 dah...pergh

 Oh, kuciwannye...karipap ini not flaky seperti yang kuharapkan!

So, uols...jangan jadi macam I tau.. :'(

 Jangan tak tau...dari berdiri rock n roll kat meja, terus pindah duduk bawah pulak.

Dah tinggal peng-last last tu, hah, hambik ko, dapat karipaps gedabak!

Guess what for breakfast?

Al-kisah dihujung pertemuan (..eee....geli geliman!) selamat membuat kuripeps! Until the next 'November Project', insyaAllah...sekarang ni, 'apa pun cannot'! 

Lots of love,

Lili d'emily <3<3<3

Hopeless Romantic!

When hubby decided to work from home the whole of last week, I felt he has violated my rights of having the idea that, come Monday, I get the house all to myself!! There is no way, a man working in my house, on a week day, is going to mess up with my already painted picture. A picture so perfectly drawn when a new day arrives. In my mind, at least...hehe! I know, I am weird. And it's getting weirder by the day.

The thing is, I don't get it myself sometimes. Okay...all the time...hehehe! How come when he is around, I am not a good home-maker? When he's around, I tend to slack on my chores. When he's around my schedules goes crazy. And then.... I. just. become.LAZY.
Imagine, me, Lili...not cooking. Can you just imagine that? Now, now...don't go too far, you guys . 
I straighten the house everyday, alright. I do the laundry every other day too. I do everything BUT...

 Breakfast alone...when he's sleeping in for another couple of hours.

The more reasons, he should be at the office...

 A lunch fit for rabbits...but who cares when the laziness 

are here to stay until you-know-who goes back to work!

 ..what better way to idle the lunch hours than

to have it whilst watching a movie...

 No table to set...but I'm watching you from where I eat...

you'd better be working.

 Take-outs for dinner...you asked for it...! 

This is my way of telling him... "Go to work in the morning and let me miss you all day..."

So, how's that for a hopeless romantic?:D

My Best Bet!

It rained a short while ago, and, when I'm sitting down to write this piece, the sun shines again...as bright as can be. I feel hungry suddenly, as I watch hubby digging in the food he should be taking at lunch. If he's eating at this hour, it can only mean we will be going to have dinner separately. I have already set in my head for a no-rice dinner. I bet hubby will not be having anything at all this evening. 

This is Us. I have lost count of the last time we sat together and had dinner or lunch quietly. I like my meals hot and eat them immediately after I'm done cleaning up the kitchen and freshen up myself. It depends sometimes. If my meals are the simplest ever, say, rice and a dish of omelette, stir-fry vege and sambal tumis...or anything that I could fix in a jiffy, and can still look chic (bueeekk!) in my you-know-what-favourite-attire-of-mine at home, or outside (begs for another round of 'bueeekk'!), then I'm good to settle for my lunch. And, as I said earlier, I tend to enjoy my meals a lot without him, that it may seem and sound weird when we sat together. I'm so used of not having him around that I am least offended when people start asking me why I am always attending kenduris without him...
His work is very demanding that having our meals or going places separately has become the norm in our lives. Sometimes the idea of meeting him half-way for an impromptu lunch outside, thrills me to no ends!  As much as like it to be, we try to spend time by having breakfast every weekend to anywhere I desire. Decision-wise, I think I have the say...haha! Now I see the truth in what marriage is all about. They say, marriage is like running an army camp. The husband is always the GENERAL while the wife, MAJOR. Thus, when it comes to making decisions, the husband makes the general decisions while the wife makes the major ones... hikhikhik! To that, I can never thank him more!

I don't know why I should be writing about this anyway. It started with his late lunch when I'm already sipping tea and nibbling reluctantly on a piece of Big A*ple doughnut at a stipulated hour called tea-time! 

It just dawned upon me that the space he's given me is vast, and when not filled accordingly, leaves a vacuum so depressingly within. Too vast that I know, it is my bad bet instead of the best. Still, I'm not complaining. As long as I have my way.... ;)
And as long as....er....never mind!

Note: This posting is delayed due to heavy rain again with thunder and lightning and all... you get me, heh? :D

Wordless Wednesday : One Late Saturday Afternoon...

Not So Wordless Wednesday: MISTY

Mist blanketed our morning as I see hubby at the door. So, what is best to do than 'torturing' myself driving in the morning rush just to capture some misty moments...and it is already half-past seven...

 One hand on the wheel and another, well....shaky one holding the camera!

 ...and when I get to my favourite spot...

the island IS GONE! 

Piano in The Dark...

It's not everyday I get to go out in the evening for drives or walks, let alone to watch the sun setting.

I did, one evening...

..the seven o'clock sky above Penang from where I view

The feeling is indescribable...

But something has to spoil my mood...when a song 

keeps following in my head...

Still asking myself: Is this normal? 

Of Breakfast, Lunch...and...Ducks?

Lama ye tak citer bab makan-makan. Bukan I tak masak...hari-hari @nowmememasak. 
Don't get it? Now Me memasak....ekekeke! Alaa...macam kat twitter tu...hiks!
Okay...tak nak citer panjang-panjang, nanti melalut pulak. 
So, let's check my breakfast this morning. Mode: tengah rajin ni...breakfast on a week day pun mememasak tau. ;)

 You all tau ke apa ni?

Inilah Nasi Lemuni...lagi sedap dari nasi lemak.

I dah memang teringin nak makan ni...daun lemuni dah lama petik from my friend's lemuni tree.

Tapi duk terperuk dalam fridge for some time now...

FYI, daun lemuni ni, kalau kita simpan berapa lama pun, ia tetap tahan.

So, meaning, lemuni ni has all the awet muda properties.

And, ehem, I have been eating this since I was ten!

 This time around, I makan nasi lemuni dengan sambal ikan kayu/aya.

Just masak nasi ni macam nasi lemak biasa..letak halba, lada hitam,

bawang merah/kecil dan halia yang dihiris.

Mmmm...as I'm writing this, masih terasa lagi pahit-pahit sedap nasi ni!

Semalam I masak lunch yang paling simple...sebab tu, hari ni masak nasi lemuni. Mana tahan weh, tak makan nasi sehari. At least one meal makan nasi. Tak gemuk weh, kalo makan nasi...bukannye kita makan sampai semangkuk nasi tambah tu. Makan ala kadar. je..hehehe!

My lunch yesterday:

Bihun sup...with minced meat and sweet radish toppings.

My soup base this time was the ordinary sup tulang.

The recipe calls for cili padi potong in soy sauce, 

but I'm so used to eating noodles soup with sambal kicap for condiments. :D

Bihun sup for dinner too! I don't mind noodles day in, day out!

And, look what I found at the back lane of my house yesterday afternoon....

 Itik gembo-gembo! Peking duck, anyone? erkkk ;p

Updated: 

For those who would wondering how lemuni leaves look like...hee hee hee hee...(the laughs of Michael Douglas in The War of the Roses...hehe...I'm watching while updating this!!) ;) 

 Pic: Google