Bali Holidays with hubby

In April 2010, I attended a conference in Sanur Beach Hotel Bali, and took the opportunity to spend some quiet vacation with my hubby. Bali is really a place worth visiting again, and after our 4 days in Bali, we decided to take the kids over for our next holidays.

We landed at KLIA airport on the morning of the 26th. The flight from Auckland was quite tiring as we had to transit for 6 hours in Melbourne Airport. But I enjoyed the flight with Emirates though. It's a lot better in service, food & in flight entertainment compared to our very own MAS.

As soon as we arrived at BALI airport, we were picked up by Sastra, this chap I befriended from Facebook. He took us (Me, hubby & Khairi whom we met in KLIA) around Kuta, Sanur & some other popular areas before taking us to our Sri Phala & Spa resort.

We were first put in a Superior room, which I found it to be rather nice, quiet and charming...enough for my liking. After breakfast the next day, our room was upgraded to a 2 bedroom villa...with a 4 poster bed to my liking of course....and also an open air washroom...There were 2 single beds in the so called attic, and a king size bed with a lounge area on the first floor. I love everything about this resort, the friendly staff, the serene beauty of everything around it...

Well, no wonder people keep coming back to Bali. It's really a charming place. We didnt actually head to the beach as Bali itself, with its culture, scenery, people are unique.

My First Home in NZ

22 Endiburgh Road was our first home in NZ. Right after we landed in Hamilton, we stayed at the very lousy motor home, actually not so lousy la...but lousy to my taste...We took 2 rooms (the ruling in NZ is that all kids need to have their own beds) and paid more than $1000. The rooms weren't that dear, but perhaps I was too careless or maybe too tired that first night or too overwhelmed by the whole idea of people receiving us here, I lost $1000. I realized the next morning that the windows to our room were opened and "all hell break lose"!

After 2 nights at the Motor Home, Angela from Kuching let us rent her house for 200 a week, which was very reasonable. Angela was really really kind enough to lend us heaps of her stuffs for us to start a living...(Terhutang budi with Angela la ni...) After a week, we found this house put up for rent for 270 a week. At first there was just this one house on a piece of bare land, but after a while, there are some nice plants & a garage built for us. Marian & Ernie are really nice toward us, very considerate, very motherly & fatherly to us....

Classic cheesecake

I have alwayzzz woved cheesecakes..and my first attempt at making cheesecakes was 2 years back. Well. it's not difficult after all.

You need 4 eggs, 2 bars of creeme cheese ( I use Philadelphia Creme Cheese), caster sugar (about a cup), vanilla essence, & some lemon zest. Now, you can add in what ever you wish. If you like it plain, then that's what you have...But I sometimes add apricot yogurt if I feel like making apricot cheesecake. Sometimes my kids crave for chocolate cheesecake, so that's when cocoa powder comes in.

Once you have whizzed everything in, bake for 45 minutes.

Doughnuts

We used to drive up to Auckland to get our hands on Dunkin Donuts.
Now, I just tried my hands on anything simple...and I think Donuts are just the easiest "snack" kids crave for. Thanks to the breadmaker, my cooking tasks are getting easier.

You need 3 cups of flour, 3 tbspn of vegetable fat, 3 tbspn of sugar, milk, yeast and some warm water. Easy pezzy

Strawberry Cheesecake

The recipe for my strawberry cheesecake is similar to my classic cheesecake. Because this cheesecake was baked in Summer, there were heaps and heaps of berries. Sometimes you just run out ideas trying to figure out what to do with the berries. I blended some berries and added them to my cheesecake, wallllaahh....here is my strawberry cheesecake!!

Nasi Minyak & the Gang

At times when I am really lost of ideas, I would just make the easiest meal of the day..that's the nasi minyak. you don't need too much of a hassle, as it comes with the ayam merah and acar. Thanks to mat Gebu for the recipe which I have adapted.

NASI MINYAK
3 cwn beras (I use Jasmine)
1 cwn susu ( I use fresh milk)
4 camca besar minyak sapi or margarine
2 biji bawang besar, didadu
4 ulas bawang putih, dititik
2 inci halia, dihiris
1 batang kayu manis*
1 kuntum bunga lawang*
5 kuntum bunga cengkih*
3 biji buah pelaga*(*rempah tumis)
Garam secukup rasa

AYAM MERAH
Ayam
Kunyit
Halia
1/2 cawan fresh milk
1/2 cawan tomato puree
2 camca besar cili kisar
Garam dan gula secukup rasa
2 biji bawang besar*
4 ulas bawang putih*


Acar Mentah
1 biji timun, disagat
1/2 biji lobak merah, kupas dan sagat
1/4 bahagian kobis sederhana besar, hiris halus
1 biji bawang besar, hiris halus
2 biji cili merah, hiris halus
1/4 cawan cuka makan
Garam dan gula secukup rasa

A Sunday morning in cambridge

I love spending my Sunday mornings (2nd Sunday of the month that is..) at Cambridge Trash Market. It reminds me of the good old days when I did my undergrad in Winnipeg, spending my Sunday mornings hunting for bargain goods. Every time I ask hubby to tag me along, he'd say..."dah 10 kali pi tapi tak beli apa jugak!!" or he'd say "apa aje yg nak tengok...". Well, it's not a matter of what to buy, but I just love people watching...& sometimes I could find stuff that I like...like the china and novels which I have not even started reading. I bought heaps of novels, and keeping them for my pleasure reading when I am back home.

AUTUMN in NZ

Great beauty during Autumn...

Autumn is the best season of the year. the rustic colours of the beauty of the trees would definitely charm you.

Last Autumn, I took some shots of the area near the Boundary Mosque. This year, we headed to the Taitoa Arboretum to get shots of the falling leaves. While we were busy shooting, hubby was busy fishing in Raglan. I am contented as long as he finds something that he enjoys.

I's Autumn Again
Leaves whisper the sound of our past
In loss they pay a descent
To the ground we fall

It’s autumn again
Our song is sung by the wind
Echoes of loss and grief
Through chilled air we wade

It’s autumn again
The waters grow as cold as our hearts
We are alike – crusted in ice
In ourselves we freeze

It’s autumn again
Flowers vanish from our sadness
Our beauty grows weak
Covered in frost we wither

It’s autumn again
The rain falls like our tears
Can’t dry our eyes
From the sky we descend

It’s autumn again
The sun shines then fails like us
Our sight becomes a wintry gray
Lost in darkness we will fade

It’s autumn again

Andrea Rieck

Ain's Bday party

Just a simple party




Ain turned 10, on the 29th Nov 2007. We had a small party for her & invited the neighbours' kids. I made her a chocolate cake (which I thought as very tedious indeed...).

Ain and her best buddies....

Ain's School Activity

It was a sports day at Knighton Normal School, and I thought that I would just drop by Ain's school to give her some moral support...
These are Ain's friends from Knighton Normal School; Nadhirah & the rest of the gang..

Darling Harbour, Sydney

The Harbour Bridge, Sydney

Blue mountain, Sydney

Carrot cake with creme cheese topping

Shepperd's Pie

Chicken Chop

Dah teringin nak makan chicken chop....so I asked hubby to cook chicken chop for us...
We had to choose the best part of the chicken for this meal...I dont actually know how hubby does it...but he used breadcrumbs, eggs, spices, for the coating of the chicken...

Apple Puffs

Great picture of apple puffs, huh?? Well, this is my tipu2 recipe...it's just so easy. You can always buy the pastry puff sold at the supermarkets. But do be careful. Edmonds' pastry puff may contain 471, which could be a source of animal fat and non-halal. So, I normally buy the Vegetarian Pastry Puff which makes baking easier.

For the filling, I blend apples with brown sugar and add a dash of cinnamon powder and some lemon zest. Let it cool before you start filling the puffs.

Beef Black pepper with capsicum

Asam Pedas Salmon

Asam Pedas is one of our favourite dishes. I decided to make salmon asam pedas which is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids & a great source of selenium as well!
While i am here, it feel that it's best that i enjoy the rich sources of these rather than sonsuming capsules...

For my Asam Pedas recipe:
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Tumeric
Belacan (Prawn paste)
Chili powder (Just too lazy to use Dried chillies)
Galanga
Tamarind Juice
Water, Sugar, Salt

Apple Tarts