Spiral Curry Puff & Euro Trip

Spiral curry puff? It's actually 'karipap pusing' in Malay. Yesterday I did my first ever spiral curry puff. Not bad actually (for a first timer like me. hehe..). Thanks to Elly for showing me how to make the 'kelim' or closure for the curry puff. I know, I know.. it look like dinosaur's spikes. Ugly but I'm more than satisfied. It's one of the hardest 'kuih' or traditional malay cookies that I have ever made.

I won't be around for the next 1 week. I want to complete my Euro trip journey before I'm going back to Malaysia. Back for good, of course. Wait for another journey updates later, ok?

Journey to the North

27 days to go. Countdown time! I'll be back for good. Too little time, too much to explore.

Last weekend (15-17 August 2008) we went to the North of England. Actually, we didn't plan it at first. It just popped out from my head since we didn't have any plan for the weekend.

Remember our last trip? Journey to the West of England (Norwich - Birmingham - Manchester - Liverpool). That was 2-3 months ago. After that, I was being quarantine at home since my health condition didn't allow me to travel. My nausea really killing me!

I'm now in a 'safe pregnancy stage'. My nausea slowly gone and I'm strong enough to do a lot of things (except dealing with garlic). My pregnancy glow started to show and my mood swings are more controllable. Thank God. Alhamdulillah.

We started our trip on Friday (15 August 2008), around 4pm. Arrived at Bewick Hotel, Newcastle around 9.30pm. Check in for a good night rest.

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Saturday (16 August 2008), 7:00am - Full English Breakfast. Eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans (without bacon and sausages of course!). Not to forget, orange juice and toast. Simple but delicious (..somehow I still miss nasi lemak and karipap for breakfast).


9:00 am - Check out. Headed a little bit South to see the famous Angel of the North, Gateshead. It is Britain's largest sculpture and believed to be the world's largest angel sculpture. It rises 20 metres and has a wing span of 54 metres - almost as big as a jumbo jet.



11:30 am - Arrived at Alnwick Castle, Nortumberland. Famous as the 'Hogwart', film location for Harry Potter, the Philosopher's Stone & Chamber of secret. It's huge and full with every little details inside. I was amazed with all the spectacular artworks, from the silk wallpaper, antique clock (still ticking), beautiful furnitures to the heavily crafted ceilings.


2:30 pm - Finally, arrived at Edinburgh, Scotland. It was cloudy with some sunny spells to remind us that it's still summer. Cold, windy summer. Again, I was stunned with all the beautiful and unique buildings there. I bet it's more beautiful than London. Our short vacation was really worth it! The journey to the North now completed.

11:30 pm - After a very long, tiring drive from Scotland, we arrived at Holiday Inn, Leeds.


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Sunday (17 August 2008), 9:30 am - Another English Breakfast. Buffet with additional delicious hash brown and fresh fruits.

11:00 am - Check out, headed back to South and stopped for some shopping at Nottingham.


3:00 pm - Continue journey along M1 motorway to the South, stopped at Kirby Muxloe in Leicester. A nice, small castle surrounded by water.

5:30 pm - Headed back to Norwich. Arrived home around 7pm. Exhausted but we were glad that we finally made it! Our final last days in England will be fully used to the max and wait until we explore the rest of interesting places in Europe, next week..


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** Updates for my little one **


Today is the first time I hear your heartbeat. My midwife is having difficulty to track your heartbeat since you move a lot. What an active baby you are!

I can feel little movements inside this morning. Is it really you?

My midwife, the lovely Ms. Allison Allen told me that I'm not immunize with Rubella. I thought that every young girl in Malaysia, including me is already vaccinated. That worries me a bit. Hopefully everything going to be alright. Stay strong and grow up healthily dear baby..

Raya abroad?

No, you don't have to double check your calendar. It's still August.. 12 Syaaban 1429. Not yet Ramadhan, and Syawal is still 1++ month to go.

Wondering why there were 'raya cookies' on top of my kitchen table? It's neither for sale nor booking sample. Last Tuesday, we made 'honey cornflakes' and 'kek batik' (It's quite messy in the picture above, but believe me.. it's yummy!).

It's actually for a special event yesterday, (13 August 2008). TV3 team from Malaysia came here to Norwich and did some shooting for their Raya program. We were asked to make Raya wishes to family & friends in Malaysia and act for a Raya celebration, abroad. It's a great experience and I found it really amusing especially the part where the cameraman and Majalah3 host, Nurul Syuhada ask us to sing a Raya song before the wishes. I really hope that it won't appear on TV.. It will be sooo humillating since I'm already at home in Malaysia during Raya. hehe.. Sorry peeps, I just can't help myself from being more glamour than you guys! ;p



What I'm really excited about that was the foods! (Despite being glamour and being able to meet Nurul Syuhada, Dato' Farid Ridzuan, CEO of TV3 and Zuhairah @ Ira, News presenter from TV9). There were nasi impit, kuah kacang, lontong, ayam masak merah, rendang, beriani, karipap, popia, cakes, and of course.. our special raya cookies (We received a lot of compliments for our effort in making those cookies and the superb taste). I was stuffing myself to the max and didn't care what people said about that. I'm eating for two.. It's an acceptable reason, right? It's not that I'm hungry or craving those foods. I'm just missing the taste of 'Malaysian'. I enjoy meeting a lot of Malaysian and sharing stories about my weight loss. (They said I look thinner than before!). Teddy was enjoying himself also.. stuffing himself with delicious lontong.

Before that they (TV3 team) made a documentary about Proton workers in Lotus. It will be aired on Majalah3 this 31st August and there might be a glimpse of my Teddy on it! hehe..

Sizzling Yee Mee & homegrown strawberry

Carrying your first baby is not a simple task. Every mother should knows this fact. I'm not lucky enough to escape from morning sickness and depression during pregnancy. My body was too weak during the first trimester and being quarantine at home is absolutely not my choice. Our trip to Scotland was canceled I have to be on my bed all the time.

I'm a clingy & spoiled wife. Yes, I don't deny it. Despite of being weak all the time, it's great to have Teddy as my hubby. Let's look at the bright site. Teddy did most of the cooking now (why? ..because almost all Malaysian dish will start with onion & garlic). Didn't I told you earlier, the smell of the kitchen made me sick? I can't smell garlic, onion, cooked meat, fish, prawns.. etc. etc. etc. All of the sudden I became a vegetarian.

Teddy became a good cook. He made a variety of foods and some of them were 'soto' (complete with 'nasi impit' and 'begedil'), 'ayam masak kunyit' (chicken tumeric), tomyam, paprik (Thai food), bihun soup, stir fried mix vege, 'sambal kupang' (mussels with chillies), porridge.. etc. etc. etc.

My food craving didn't end there. Last weekend, I ask Teddy to make a chinese food, 'sizzling yee mee' for me. I did help actually (finding the recipe on the net). hehe..

Here are some pictures. It came out very good and the taste was as good as the one sold at Giant, Puchong. hehe.. Thanks Teddy! Next week boleh order lagi..






It is harvesting time for our homegrown strawberry. One of the fruit has ripen and we were so excited about that. We will never get this chance to grow our own strawberry back in Malaysia (unless if we buy a home somewhere in Cameron Highland).