Christina Hendriks aka Joan Harris nee Holloway

Top: Gorgeous everything.


Below: CH and her mom, Jackie.

Adieu!

A thing that I acquired in 1981 while I was doing an English course in St. Paul before enrolling in U of M. With much sadness, I am finally chucking it. You have served me well, my sweatshirt...

Congkak

This picture always amuses me. The bigs boys are playing congkak. The rules are too intricate for the 2-year old to follow, and the big boys are getting irritated by the young one's intrusion. Solution? Mak Long gives him a pseudo-congkak that serves him just as well. All he needs is a concave thingy to put the marbles in!

He's as happy as a clam.

Sabar ya Embak

From Abu Huraira: Rasulullah said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger." (Sahih Bukhari Book #73, Hadith #135)

Radix Fried Chicken, mai seketoi!

Setelah sekian lama mendengar pujian mengenai francais ini, semalam Embak berpeluang makan di kedai RFC pertama di Malaysia, iaitu di Sg. Petani. Mungkin semalam waktu bekerja dan kami tiba pon selepas jam 2 ptg, kedai tersebut lengang sahaja. Tetapi menurut saudara Embak, pada sebelah malam, pelanggan melimpah ruah dan terpaksa beratur panjang.

Menunya semacam dengan KFC, bezanya RFC menggunakan ayam organik dan bahan-bahan keluaran HPA seperti sos cili dan kordialnya. Abah Embak yang sebelum ini belum pernah makan KFC, nampaknya boleh gi dengan makanan segera ini.



Embak punya komen: Sedap! Tengok sahajalah pinggan Embak ini.

Sekarang sudah ada 9 kedai RFC di seluruh Malaysia. Tetapi belum ada lagi di Lembah Kelang. Yang paling hampir ialah di Melaka, berhampran Mydin Mall.

Syabas HPA!

South Korean Trip in Summary

Sorry friends, I have the lazy bug. So the Korean trip will not be covered like the other trips. Not that South Korea wasn't interesting; it was. I guess because age is catching up, doing it free and easy was not the best option to travel anymore. By the 5th day I was feeling tired and homesick. First time ever on a trip.

Some notes and observations:

1. There are a lot of millionaires in Korea,(in Won, anyway). A fresh graduate will earn about 3 million won a month. That's like RM8,000. Right away, you know things are more expensive there than in Malaysia. If you are used to shopping in Indonesia or Vietnam, brace yourself to pay more in Seoul.

2. Nami Island where they shot Winter Sonata to me is over-rated. It is a small man-made island with not more than 5km in circumference. No one lives there, except for squirrels and rabbits. There are structures made for tourists and of course, Winter Sonata sites and memorabilia. We had to travel one and half hours by train from Seoul, then took a taxi and a ferry to get to the island. Luckily the trees are lovely in November. That Friday, 5th November 2010, I think there were about 50 Malaysians amongst the tourists on that tiny island. Nak tergelak pun ada. So powerful the pull of Winter Sonata.

3. One good thing we got out of that trip to Nami Island was meeting a Matrade officer. She gave us a tip where to shop for brooches which is on 1st floor of Kwangjang Market, parcel nos 166 and 167. When we located the place, we were soon joined by three more Malaysians who apparently got the same tip. As for Korean silk, we couldn't locate the merchant even though we went to the right market, i.e. Namdaemun Market. These wholesale markets are seriously humongous; make sure you come armed with the right parcel number.

4. Insa-dong is a cute touristy place for souvenirs and tea-shops. To our delight, it is within walking distance from our guesthouse. We ate, browsed and bought some goodies there. But for serious bargain hunters, the place to be is Kwangjang Market which has more variety and better prices.

5. Seoul's subway system is pretty fantastic since they are catering to 10 million people of the city. It's cheap and tourist friendly and it's not that difficult to master. They even have facilities for paraplegics and for the old, they have elevators. On a few occassions, my friend and I wanted to feign ignorance by joining them. Luckily our conscience got the better of us.

6. We knew there is a mosque in Itaewon, but we didn't get to see it. We went to Itaewon for a very satisfying dinner twice in a row. It has a nice international crowd. And best of all we got to greet fellow Muslims with salaam. If I get to go to Seoul again, I would stay in Itaewon for its close proximity to the mosque and abundance of halal eateries.


7. Lonely Planet says the best time to visit Korea is in November. I agree. It's gorgeous as the autumn leaves are in season. The downside is the weather could be wintry cold thus resulted in most of my photos have me in my winter jacket, and my sensitive skin developed a rash that had me scratching from day one.

8. Koreans are polite people; they know we were not Koreans but did not stare. In the trains especially, they would take one quick look and soon after averted their eyes and put on that 'selamba' face. After the second day, I was already feeling comfortable sitting next to them in the trains. South Korea generally is very safe.

9. The Seoul Tour Bus is a great way to see the city. One thing we missed seeing was the rainbow fountain spectacle at Banpo bridge, as it is only on during summer.

Korea has a lot to offer. Jeju Island in the south for example requires at least two days to explore. and there's North Korea which is not very far from Seoul. Lonely Planet recommends a day trip there. But our Korean friends were aghast when we told them about it. They said South Koreans do not receive any coverage about their northern neighbour in the media. Hopefully I can come back in the future in a warmer time. Watch out for bargains offered by Air Asia. Some of our fellow trippers paid only RM400 for a return ticket to Incheon.

Fall-ing in Korea

Lonely Planet says the best time to visit Korea is November. What luck Air Asia had its inaugural flight to Incheon today. And my buddy and I are going to be on its second tomorrow! InsyaAllah.

Hope to blog about the land of ginseng (and Winter Sonata :D) when I come back. See you later, alligator.

Abandonment

via flickr.com

Home-made fish-ball sa-tay

This recipe was taught by my dorm-mate when we wanted to sell something at our hostel food-fair way back when John Travolta was a new sensation. We called our stall, the "Splendid Stall"; that's when the word splendid was a new word, and sounded so, so.. splendid!

Gaulkan dan kemudian buat bebola:

Isi ikan kembung
Sedikit kelapa parut
Sedikit daun kesum yang dihiris
Sedikit bawang kisar
Garam secukup rasa

Goreng sehingga kuning, dan cucuk dengan lidi ala satay. Makan dengan sos cili.

Gambar di atas diambil sehari sebelum raya baru-baru ni setelah mak Embak request, dah lama tak makan fish ball along.

Pak Malim learns a new language

The following post is extracted from an email sent by my friend RAY, who uses her alter-ego Pak Malim, a rhyming, and pantun-loving cat to speak on her behalf. RAY has graciously allowed Embak to re-post it here.

Pak Malim dan bahasa Mandarin
------------------------------------------------

Tuan saya, RAY meminta saya bercerita bagi pihaknya. Katanya, dia malu, kata Pak Malim sambil menutup muka dengan tangan yang berbulu.

Ni Hao Ma? Haiya. U know why Pak Ma Ling never spoke Mandarin aaaah. Becoz aaah, last time aaah, in UM, we had to take Mandarin as third language U know.

Ya lorrr, being Malaysian, BM is 1st language. English, 2nd language. So learn lorrr, another language. Tui, aah? Tui, aaah? (Betul, tak? Betul Tak?).

Waaaah. We all so excited already maaah. After registering for Mandarin classes, we were all looking forward to learning a new lesson.

First day aaah, we had to introduce ourselves in Mandarin.

We had a role-play. Each student, with partner. Stand up and talk to each other.

"Wo shi, Pak Ma Ling". (I am Pak Ma Ling).

Wah. I so proud of me. So clever already.

And then aaah, time to say, "sorry".

Then I look at my paper lorrr, the Mandarin notes they gave me -

Haiya, on paper aaaah, they spell "sorry", as "Tui Pu Qui" (pronounced as 'Tui Pu Chi', means, sorry).

My turn aaah, I stand up and say : Tui Pu Ki !

Haiya, my fren that time aaah, Malay girl, she laughed and laughed and then sat down, cannot get up one U know, 'coz I hadn't realized what I had just said.

At first aaah, I didn't know why she was laughing U know. Haiya. Why U sit down aaah. I haven't finished with my role playing.

About half an hour later, after she recovered from her laugther, my fren told me, it wasn't what I said that had her in stitches. It was 'how' I had said it, so confidently, that made her think it was so funny.

All I wanted was to say sorry, but ended up insulting everybody.

I hope, after reading this story, still got people want to be frens with me.

Okay aaah. Wo Ai Ni.

Reality Check

The reality is... Mad Men is just a tv show...


....which was voted the best drama show on TV last Sunday; victorious again for the third consecutive time, yay!

Fingers drumming the table, in anticipation for Season 4.

Video-video Dinar dan Dirham

Rasulullah bersabda (I am paraphrasing here) apabila akhir zaman, Islam akan tampak pelik, contohnya ialah penggunaan dinar dan dirham. Sekarang berita penggunaan dinar di Kelantan menjadi topik hangat semula. Ikutilah penerangan wakil Kerajaan Kelantan di video di atas.

Video berikut memaparkan praktis dinar dan dirham di Indonesia.

Caramel Pudding @ Puding Telur

Hari ni buat Embak mencuba buat kueh ini buat pertama kalinya selepas menelefon pakar puding, kawan Embak, Puan Cheni. Hampir setiap kali kami buat potluck, Cheni akan bawa caramel pudding ni. Dia kata, it's the easiest kueh to make in the world. Here is the recipe:

1. Panaskan kukusan.

2. Blend semua bahan-bahan berikut untuk dijadikan adunan puding:

*10 biji telur
*1 tin susu cair
*1 tin susu pekat (ikut tin kontot sikit ukuran dolu-dolu)
*1 sudu besar tepung kastad (atau tepung jagung)
*1 sudu besar esen vanila
*1 tin air (ikut sukatan tin susu cair)

3. Panaskan 5-6 sudu besar gula pasir dalam loyang untuk jadi caramel. Setakat kuning cukup, kalau sampai perang, nanti pahit. Ratakan di semua permukaan loyang.

4. Curahkan puding ke dalam loyang dan kukus selama 20 minit.

5. Apabila sejuk sedikit, terbalikkan ke dalam bekas yang lain.


Sila ambil iktibar. Inilah hasilnya jika memindahkan dari loyang bulat ke bekas empat segi. Karamelnya juga nampak macam sedikit hangus. Lain kali Embak akan lebih prihatin.

P/S: Actually gulanya sedikit pahit tapi masih di tahap sedap. Alhamdulillah. Selamat mencuba.

Nota untuk adik-adik dan adik-adik ipar, menjelang raya ni, silalah buat chocolate chip cookies untuk anak-anak anda. Resepinya di sini.

Beauty Post 3

My sister doesn't like my Beauty posts. I just do one more. What a beautiful bouquet!

Hadis palsu mengenai pahala terawih

Hari Khamis yang lalu, Embak sempat menonton "Tanyalah Ustaz" yang dihoskan oleh Ustaz Zahazan. Beliau menjawab satu soalan yang menanyakan tentang kesahihan hadis yang mengatakan pahala-pahala sembahyang terawih. Embak masih ingat lagi, semasa Embak di sekolah menengah dahulu, Embak sudah mula mendapat senarai pahala-pahala tersebut. Kalau solat terawih hari pertama, semua dosa diampunkan seperti bayi baru baru lahir dsb. Embak selalu merujuk ke senarai tersebut dan senyum sendiri kerana senang hati sudah memboloti ganjaran yang ditulis itu.

Uztaz Zahazan menjawab, hadis itu adalah hadis palsu; bukan dhoif, tetapi PALSU!!

Alhamdulillah, Allah memberi hidayah pada Embak pada usia matang ini setelah sekian lama berpegang pada senarai ganjaran tersebut. Betapa banyaknya hadis-hadis palsu yang tersebar; kini dengan kemajuan internet, maka makin mudah dan cepat merebaknya maklumat yang menyeleweng. Berhati-hatilah apabila meng"forward"kan email; niat kita baik untuk menyampaikan ilmu tapi ilmu yang disampaikan itu adalah palsu.

Beauty Post 2

Since we are on the subject of Indian beauty, I think why not follow my last post with some pictures of Indian inspired earings? These are from Padma Lakshmi Spring 2010 Catalogue. Enjoy the pretty! And here's Padma modelling some of her creations (the arm thingy is hers too).




.

Beauty Post 1

I think her face looks rounder here than usual, but her smile and slightly cocked eye brow show grace and quiet confidence; and her saree? j'adore!

Mad Men Ladies

Styling from Season 2 Circa 1961

Present Day - Nampak macam mereka tahan nafas je kan?

Sabor je le menunggu Season 4....

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?

While waiting for Season Four to make its way to our shores, here's something for its artsy fans to let off some steam.

DKUK: Larangan berbohong

Berbohong adalah penyakit yang akan lekat melepasi alam barzah hinggalah hari kebangkitan. Kalau penyakit-penyakit lain, semuanya akan lenyap setelah mati, tetapi tidak berbohong. Banyak ayat-ayat alQuran yang menyatakan apabila di hari kiamat, orang-orang yang berdusta akan terus berdusta walaupun mereka tahu tiada gunanya mereka berbohong ketika itu. Salah satu contoh ialah ayat Al An'aam 23-24.

Dalam kehidupan kita seharian, kita sentiasa terdedah kepada "peluang" untuk berbohong. Menyebarkan berita yang kita belum tahu kesahihannya dengan meng"forward"kan emel atau sms adalah satu benda yang dianggap remeh, tapi hakikatnya ini adalah pembohongan. Dengan kecanggihan teknologi, pembohongan akan tersebar "exponentially". Akibatnya, "exponential" jugalah markah pembohongan kita. Begitu juga dalam kita melayani anak-anak, kadang-kadang kita menjanjikan sesuatu tapi tidak kita tunaikan. Ini juga dicatat sebagai pembohongan!

Nampaknya dosa ini remeh, atau "hayyin" tapi ingatilah, dari hadis-hadis nabi, Rasulullah telah menceritakan bagaimana seorang wanita masuk syurga dengan perbuatan yang "remeh" iaitu dengan memberi minum air kepada anjing yang kehausan. Juga seorang wanita dimasukkan ke neraka kerana dosa "hayyin" iaitu mengurung seekor kucing sehingga mati.

Sentiasalah zikrullah, seperti menghayati kebesaran Allah melalui ayat-ayat yang diturunkan dalam al Quran juga "Aayat" iaitu ciptaannya. Seperti merenung pokok cili di laman anda. Di sebelahnya pohon tebu. Bagaimana dari tanah yang sama, persekitaran yang sama, satu pokok boleh pedas dan satu lagi manis, dan tidak pernah bercampur rasa kedua-duanya. Subhanallah! Dengan zikrullah, hati akan menjadi lembut, lantas lidah tidak lagi segan menyebut yang hak dan akan berat untuk berbohong.

Wallahu a'lam.

I Love You

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schongut/4788510012/

A very red reunion

The participants: Some 26++ year olds

The date: 17th July, 2009

The venue: Bora Ombak . Calm before the storm

The pahtay: Awash in RED and very LOUD





Cupcakes with the new ansarakb81 logo topping that went into the goodie bag - courtsey of a very resourceful member

Mucho gusto and ten-hut for lagu maktab

Catching up

Sepanjang jalan kenangan, yang kita selalu berganding tangan...

Enjoying their winnings from the table games (pails, dewan makan trays, hangers, cloth pins, berus and soap dish were the prizes)



Hushing people for the ringtone of the grand prize winner

Poco-poco into the wee hours

Our friends are already talking about the next reunion planned to take place in four years. Embak is ambivalent about that one; by the time they were doing the poco poco that night, I was already in my house, in bed, pancit!

J & R's 20th wedding anniversary

My friends J & R threw a celebration bash at Carcosa Sri Negara, tonite. My first time there, at the famous, grand old house. It's ideal for a party as it sits quietly atop a hill and you can blast your music with nary a neighbour to complain about it. It's all an all-white themed affair and yours truly bought a dress specially to comply with the theme. Hopefully the dress can be re-used later for umrah or ehem ....

The couple's children performed a series of Micheal Buble's songs confidently; 70's and 80's music was the music of choice and at one time yours truly joined in the YMCA hand dance.


Here's wishing J & R everlasting happiness together.

DKUK - Tahap-tahap iman

Satu point yang Embak dapat hari ni:

Mensyukuri nikmat-nikmat yang Allah Ta'ala beri adalah sifat orang beriman.

Tahap yang lebih tinggi dari itu ialah orang yang tenang menerima musibah Allah.

Yang lebih tinggi dari itu ialah orang yang mensyukuri musibah Allah. Can you imagine? Seseorang yang Allah uji dengan kanser, mengatakan "Alhamdulillah, aku bersyukur di atas ujian kanser ini ya Allah!" Amat sukar sekali, tapi itulah darjat yang lebih baik.

It doesn't have to be big trials like cancer; everyday conflicts like having to face arrogant, rat-sized brain, long-winded people or having to deal with a child's or an infantile spouse's tantrums is Allah's ways of testing us.

Allah help us all.

Mad Men - The Cast

Embak baru jumpa gambar antara barisan pelakun utama siri Mad Men yang karikatur Embak menempek sebelum ini.

Entah kenapa Embak dah tak teruja nak mengikuti House M.D. musim ke-6. Agaknya Embak jenis yang kalau dah jumpa cintan baru, yang lama ditinggalkan. Patutlah dot dot dot.

Maisara's 7th Birthday

Maisara visited us on the weekend of 1st May as she always does running towards the table calender exclaiming "dah bulan Mei kan?" Birthday adik 30 Mei! So last Saturday, shy a day of the 30th, we celebrated her birthday at her nenek and atuk's house bringing another awesome-looking cake.


Last year, it was Dora.



In 2008, it was Snow White.

DKUK - Pujian

Embak akan cuba kongsi satu dua point yang Embak dapat dari kuliah Ustaz Kariman yang Embak tanda dengan tajuk DKUK - "Dari Kuliah Ustaz Kariman".

Kami baru sahaja nak masuk surah Al An'Aam Ayat 1 yang dimulai dengan ungkapan Alhamdulillah....yang bermaksud segala puji-pujian bagi Allah. Di dalam al Quran ada 5 surah yang dimulai dengan ungkapan ini iaitu Al Fatihah (S1), Al An'Aam (S6), Kahfi (S18), Saba' (S34) dan Al Fathir (S35).

Kita manusia tidak digalakkan memuji selain siapa/apa yang Allah puji contohnya Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. Kerana puji-pujian boleh menaikkan riak atau rasa ajub -- penyakit-penyakit hati yang amat halus.

Bagaimana jika kita dipuji? Umpamanya "Cantiknya awak! Putihnya awak!". Kita jawab "MashaAllah- quwwataillabillah". Itu adalah ketentuannya dan tiada kekuatan/kelebihan melainkan dari Allah. Tanamkan syukur di atas anugerah Allah dan tambahkan tawadduk.

Bagaimana nak memotivasikan anak kalau tak memuji? Contohnya sekiranya anak itu cemerlang dalam peperiksaan; katakan itu adalah ganjaran yang Allah berikan di atas usaha gigih. Jangan dipuji, awak pandai, cerdas etc. Semuanya itu atas kehendak Allah.

Allah giveth and Allah taketh. Jangan hanyut atau leka dalam kejayaan, dan jangan berputus asa jika ditimpa musibah.

Kalau otrang memuji, cantiknya baju awak! Tak payahlah kata MasyaAllah, sebab yang dipuji baju, bukan tuannya :D

Dari Dapur Embak - Asam Tumis Taugeh

Bila kawan Embak beritahu masak asam tumis taugeh besar sedap, Embak terasa pelik. Biasanya Embak goreng dengan tauhu je.

So Embak try le. Masak macam asam tumis biasa, cuma tambah ikan bilis, tumbuk kasar-kasar sikit. Embak suka buang ekor taugeh besar ni. Jangan taugeh biasa; memang Embak surrender.Teringat masa kecik-kecik dulu. Emak Embak selalu bagi Embak sebesen taugeh. Duduklah Embak menyiang ekor taugeh sampai kecut-kecut tangan dibuatnya.

Flavour taugeh besar tu yang buat masakan ni lain dari yang lain. Cubalah. Sedap! Sebagai variasi, cuba juga masak asam pedas sawi asin. Yang ni memang dah tradisi di rumah kami.

Semangat Baru

Embak dah beli kamera baru. Jadi Embak bolehlah start blogging balik. Kamera lama tu masih baik lagi tapi chargernya hilang. Nak beli charger baru, mahal harganya. Yang "3rd party" punya pun sudah berharga RM100. Jadi Embak beli kamera baru yang pakai charger/bateri yang sama; jadi kamera Embak yang lama masih boleh digunakan lagi. Solution yang mahal tetapi Embak rasa berbaloi. Hmm, kamera yang lama tu Embak nak bagi kat siapa ya? Kena yang dekat dengan Embak, supaya kalau dia nak caj bateri, boleh pakai charger Embak yang baru.

Embak sebenarnya nak post resipi masakan, Jadi, kalau tak ada gambar, manalah menarik artikel Embak kan?

Terkini

Alahai, maaf le lama tak cerita-ceriti. Siang tadi Embak jumpa kawan Embak, Liza yang baru balik makan angin di Frisco. Dia beli kiriman Embak i.e Fritos chips. Terimakasih buat Liza; moga Allah murahkan rezeki awak. Embak gumbira kunyah Fritos chips yang rangup, tapi kena hati-hati sebab simen gigi geraham Embak sudah rapuh. Moga tak pecah menanti temujanji dengan dentist Khamis ni.

Kerana Embak masih demam Mad Men dan kemaruk menunggu Season 4, Embak merayau-rayau di cyberspace, terjumpa laman "MadMen Yourself" dan hasilnya ialah karikatur di atas. Konon-kononnya Embak berada di pejabat Sterling Cooper di tahun 60-an.

(Interlude: Ada satu hari tu, Embak dengar drama radio di Bernama Radio, pelakon tu sebut 60-an bukan enampuluhan tapi enampuluh-an. Ini mesti produk zaman Bahasa Baku!)

Apa lagi ye? O tadi Embak mengalami pengalaman pertama di Puspakom. Efisyen betul mereka. Lorong ekspresnya mengambil masa lebih kurang sejam sahaja. Mungkin hari ni kurang kereta yang diperiksa. Embak takjub tengok gambar kereta-kereta yang gagal pemeriksaan. Ada ke patut badan kereta dua potong dipateri sahaja! Sesangat bahaya!

Ehem, nampak sangat hari ni Embak kurang kerja rasmi. Selain daripada 3 panggilan telefon nak set appointment, Embak buat "errands" peribadi. Awas Embak! Awak bukan makan gaji -- pikir-pikirlah sendiri.