On this serene land - ''Land of the Hornbill''

On this serene land…
I hear you sigh
of the shield and its lies....
But you choose never to deny….
Did I not hear you cry?

On this serene land…
I hear you whisper
of despair and fear…
Did I not hear this year by year?

On this serene land…
My pride has gone
My soul is lost
For on this serene land..
I fear to see My future has no history!

Donation to Rh. Anek, Bayai, Undop, Sri Aman, Sarawak

Dear Readers,

I was just informed on the following news:
''A longhouse in Bayai, Undop, Sri Aman was burnt down to the ground 6pm yesterday''.

I do not know anyone there but the least I can do immediately is to put up the news in this blog before I start looking at some old clothings myself. Kindly help me to spread this information.

If you wish to contribute (used clothings, food, or even $ - its up to you) you can email me at mininya@gmail.com or you can click onto this link http://www.rumahdayak.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1565 to find out more about it.

Thank you and I wish you well!

Chicken Karahi (''Karai'')

I was introduced to this tasty Pakistani dish at a cafe near my place. I usually had it with Cumin Rice and some salad. When the cafe was no longer in business, I searched for the recipe and tried it a couple of times. It was a success and one of our guests, a Pakistani guy, said it reminded him of what was cooked at home. He brought home some leftover... and yes, I prepared an almost salad too!

You can find a lot of recipes on Chicken Karahi (if I am not mistaken ''Karahi'' means wok). A lot of diffrent ingredients but the basic one would be as follows (I improvise a little from time to time):

Ingredients:

• Some chicken pieces
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• About 1 inch of ginger, peeled and cut into small sticks
• 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger (you can use ginger powder but where possible use fresh ingredient)
• 4 - 5 green chillies, cut into half
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• A small bunch of coriander leaves, finely chopped (divide into the stems and leaves)
• A cup of natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds

And then....

• Heat oil in a wok.
• Add chopped ginger, the half-cut green chillies and cumin seeds. Fry till fragrant. Set aside for garnishing.
• In the same wok, add minced garlic and chopped ginger. Fry till fragrant.
• Add chopped tomatoes and you can sprinkle a little bit of tumeric powder.
• Stir fry until the tomatoes evaporates.
• Add chicken pieces and chopped chillies. Continue to stir fry for about 10 mins.
• Cover for a while.
• When the gravy starts to thicken, add the natural yoghurt. Stir fry for a while.
• Add the stems of coriander leaves.
• Salt to taste.
• Before serving, garnish with coriander leaves, the earlier stir-fried chillies and ginger.
• Best serve with hot Basmati rice/Naan bread or Cumin Rice

A Simple Salad

Sometimes when I am not in a mood to have any meat in my meal, I'll have something as simple as this:

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce
• Japanese cucumber (deseeded - so that your salad won't be watery) -
• Red capsicum (deseeded)
• Carrot (or baby carrots)
• Baby corns
• Dried cranberries (you can easily get them from the supermarket)

Dressing:

• Some olive oil
• Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
• Ground black pepper
• A little bit of salt

What's Next?

• Cut the lettuce into 2 or 3 depending on the size of the leaves
• Slice the cucumber
• Cut the capsicum into medium sized cubes
• If baby carrot, just cut into half of each. If you're using the big carrot, then you can just slice them any shape you prefer.
• Boil the baby corns.
• Toss everything before mixing them in a salad bowl.
• Pour in the dressing. Mix everything with a ladle or your CLEAN hands!
• Ready to serve.

It is indeed simple and healthy!
Well, if you feel like mixing with something meaty, you can add on slices of ham.

Bon appetit people :-)

Inspirational Quotes

Anatole France

French novelist (1844 - 1924)

·         An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't.

·       It is better to understand little than to misunderstand a lot.

Pearl Buck

US novelist in China (1892 - 1973)

·         A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.

Og Mandino

The Greatest Miracle in the World (1923 - 1996)

·         Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster. Your life will never be the same again.

Eddie Rickenbacker

US WWI aviator & businessman (1890 - 1973)

·         Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.

Seneca

Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)

·         Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

Kathe Kollwitz

O Magazine, September 2002

·         I do not want to die... until I have faithfully made the most of my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown.

Spiced Cranberry Lemon Tea

I've tried this one and it was a success :-)
Serving : The size of a jug.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 teabags (if you're in a hurry, get the 1 litre bottle of Lipton Lemon Tea - this is not an advertisement ya - from the supermarket)
• 6 lemons (if you get the bottle from the supermarket, you need 4 lemons only)
• A mug of cranberry juice (you can either buy off the counter 1 small packet or make your own)
• Half teaspoon of nutmeg powder
• Sugar to taste (I use brown sugar)
• Some ice cubes

Method:

• Place the teabags inside half jug of boiled water and let it cool.
• Add on cranberry juice
• If you make your own tea then squeeze lemon juice into the mix. Leave 1 lemon for its slices later on.
• Add sugar (slightly sweeter as you need to put in some ice cubes)
• Sprinkle the nutmeg powder
• Leave the mix for about 10 mins
• Put in the ice cubes and lemon slices and ready to serve

Goes well with any kind of finger food or even on its own ;-)

Steamed Minced Chicken and Japanese Tauhu

I have to admit that I am not a pro in cooking but rest assured, you'll like every dish. I have been cooking for quite an unusual and choosy taste bud for quite some time now...hahaha. I'm not joking people :-)
And because I am not a pro, I do not have the specific measurement, etc of the ingredients or the timing of cooking.
The following is for 2 - 3 pax.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized chicken drumstick meat (minced on your own)
• About the size of your thumb or more (depending on your liking but not too much) of Peppercorns (pound using the granite pestle and mortar)
• 1 packet of Japanese tauhu (mashed)
• 2 medium sized garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Mix everything together and marinade for about 10 mins.
• Put few drops of sesame oil
• Steam everything till chicken is cooked.

* Before serving, squeeze half of lemon juice (remember my earlier write up on the Gujarati's diet)


N.B. You can also use mushroom (any type) instead of chicken meat.

Bon appetit!

CNY Open House - Black Sesame Seeds and the Gujaratis' health secret...I was told

I was initially not very eager to socialise during this CNY break. But somehow, I could not resist this particular invite...I know this particular lady friend will always be there.
Sundari, a friendly and knowledgeable yet humble lady...

We ate quite a lot (we usually do not eat much over dinner these days..yeah, you can say that is our new year resolution) and waited for this couple to come.

I had a good time chatting with Sundari and later joined by another lady, Winnie. Mind you, they both are 54 years old but both look in their 40s (not to exaggerate). They both have that glow that you can see its not botox, detox, whatever you call it.

Sundari discovered this simple diet while she was staying with a Gujarati family for a month in London (ages ago) and Winnie with her cheap and easy supplement for healthy skin and hair :-).
To cut the story short, here it is:
From Sundari
1) Put in slices of fresh tomatoes or squeezed lemon juice into every cooked dish.
2) Pickled chillies. Pound some garlic cloves. Add a little bit of sugar and add on either red or green chillies to your liking.
3) Keep inside an air tight glass container.


From Winnie:
1) Blend black sesame seed (organic ones better). No need to wash.
2) Keep inside an air tight container.
3) Take 1 teaspoon of the paste with plain water or milo or milk (Not coffee and Not Tea!).

I started yesterday and I''ll share with you all the results in a month's time...happy trying :-)

Kinabalu - 10 September 2005 - MA10 (008)





A sign on top of Mount Kinabalu:
''Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints, keep nothing but memories''

 

Along the trail up the mountain,

No sound of the humming bees…

Not even sign of monkeys…

Only God and me and the leaves on the trees

When I looked up the cliff…

only problems ahead of me

My mind was weak but God gave me strength

Only a few more hundred steps, I thought 

Inside me I cried....
I screamed and no one insight

Reaching the top was my only choice

My muscles trembled….

My heart traumatised, I could hear my own heartbeat

Deep inside me, I felt a power within

I could not give up then…

I knew nothing called Impossible

God help me please...I prayed

I felt so weak in my knees...

I was almost at the top,

There could see smiling faces...

Such sweet success and no more stress….

I saw what I accomplished…it was amazing what I have done

for my climbing journey has just begun!

N.B. I only made it to Laban Rata and I do hope one day I can continue to the peak!

Strolling Down Memory Lane....

I stumble upon each day that was sweet

And I smile every minute

Here we are again…

Though some may have changed

Indeed…strolling down memory lane

Back to those days

That we will remember always!

My Introduction ;-)

Yeah...just as the title says... firstly, I have no idea what led me into creating this blog. Somehow or rather I thought...why not?
I'm not an IT savvy person...of whatever you would like to call that...but, having said that, I do write things on my notebook (note : the conventional one I mean!) :-) and read some blogs on the internet.
Speaking (Writing) of reading some blogs, it all started when I was doing research for 4 years 4 months and 4 days (yes I counted during my farewell lunch with my then bosses and colleagues) at a very reputable corporate organisation. It was confusing as I was supposed to be doing research on real estate market but eventually ended up conducting research on companies (not just via the Companies Commission of Malaysia), individuals...I had to start reading forums, blogs, etc. After all that, I somehow manage to squeeze everything in just 1 page, even when at times of too much information.
Anyway, I probably kick off my blog with something I used to be very good at and passionate about....poetry writing in English and BM..
Hopefully, in between, I can fill up the space with another newfound passion - cooking ;-)

Till then, good nite!