MISSION: HNY 2015

Salam Tahun Baru!!

It's been a while that i have stopped blogging..dah dijangka memang jenis buat kerja separuh masak!! hehehe..huhuhu.. It's 1st January 2015, so i decided to write again as i feel relax, restart & refuel physically & spritually.  Masyaallah, how fast time flies??? 2014 berlalu sepantas kilat.. It was like yesterday since I moved to Menara U Shah Alam, rupa-rupanya dah genap setahun jadi SA Resident.. heard from someone who told me that masa berdetik macam biasa, cuma manusia terasa ianya berlalu pergi begitu pantas apabila tak menggunakannya dengan sehabis baik!!  So much true.."Demi masa...."

Looking back in 2014.. it has been a hard & sad year for Malaysia as well as for me.  Double tragedy involving MAS, fallen of Ringgit Malaysia and we ended with disastrous flood & another Malaysia-owned flight Air Asia QZ8501 crashed !!  A very sad ending...Ya Allah..Dugaan besar & berat untuk Malaysia.. Saya yang hanya diduga dalam PhD ni pun dah separuh gila rasanya, apatah lagi to those people affected by those tragedies.. lebih besar dugaannya..

Yesterday, while doing my routine in the postgraduate room and as I realised its already 31st December - the last day of 2014, I told myself that I should have done better.. I must admit that there were sooo much of negative vibes within myself through out the year!!..and the negativity list goes..

I didn't do well in my study (obviously)

I didn't see my supervisor (instead he came to me & even asked me "dah makan ke belum"?? - shame on me), 

I kept worrying over the same old shits, 

I felt traumatized everytime I switch on my lappy, 

I practiced poor unhealthy lifestyle - my last work out was around March and eversince, I didn't go for swimming, gym, yoga & all sorts of active regime which I enjoyed previously

I sat on  the swivel chair & staring my laptop 24 - 7

Sleeping on the chair & in the car has become common.. If it happened on my proper bed, it's either last for only 3 - 4 hours or maybe I got overslept and only woke up at 8 am..Suboh gajah..Suboh dinosour dah jadi routine pulak..how sad!!

I easily got sick & unable to heal fast..until today, already had hoarse voice for about 3 weeks!! 

Sitting for long period of times leads me to hemorrhoids...huhuhu

I didn't eat well - after brekkie, I tend to skipped lunch & instead, I snack over junkfoods, sweets & chocolates and only had my dinner at 10pm!!

I managed to loose 4 kilos of my weight during Jom Kurus 1 Malaysia (JKIM) programme earlier this year & I ended gaining 12 'damn' kilos...HOHHH!!!!???

Now tell me.. how should I stay positive when sooo many things went wrong???? (cry..cry..cry..)

Eventually, my senior Kak Iza came in to the room and I was actually didn't know what was her real intention at first.. but she said that she felt sorry to see my tense face everytime she passed by the room from outside, muka penat, mata dah ke dalam, kulit muka pon x glow (yess, I've been neglecting my facial care these days & some more dah tak bermekap as usual).  In her loghat utara she said that "duk pulon gheja dari pagi ke pagi esok tapi tak siap2 jugak" and neglecting your health & your social life, is sooo not worth it!!  Furthermore, you didn't make use of your jovial personality and you end up isolating yourself silently in this room!! Sepanjang "spiritual chatting" ini, banyaklah nasihat2 kerohanian yang dititipkan..Kata Kak Iza..PhD ni cuma duniawi, what's more important is jalan dalam proses PhD itu sendiri adalah menuju kepada jalan Allah SWT, jadi kenapa perlu belakangkan Tuhan??!!  Subhanallah, betapa tipisnya iman saya rupa2nya.. saya bermusuh dengan PhD, saya benci dengan takdir ini, saya seperti salahkan Tuhan, PhD buatkan saya jauh dari Allah, sembahyang lewat waktu kerana nak habiskan serangkap write up, solat yang tidak berkualiti akibat tergesa2, tak sungguh2 berdoa, ada kalanya tak berdoa langsung..Sekalipun my ibu dah ingatkan..sebab itu lah kejayaan, rezeki sampai lewat..kalau dah solat pon lewat..Ini antara yang dikongsi Kak Iza during our "spiritual session";-

1. Solat 

- Solatlah di awal waktu

- Solat sunat taubat selepas solat fardhu (sebab kite memang tak sedar/perasan dgn dosa sendiri)

- Solat Dhuha supaya murah rezeki

2. Baca Al Quran / Doa

- Doa bersungguh2 & minta Allah yg besar2 (percaya kepada the power of Doa)

- Baca surah Al-Fajr sebelum matahari terbit

- Baca surah Al-Waqiah setiap hari (supaya tidak papa kedana)

- Baca surah Al-Mulk setiap hari (supaya kubur bercahaya)

3. Perbanyakkan sedekah (jangan kedekut bagi singgit2..bagi lah besar2 sikit..kesian org banjir, harta benda hilang, 1 sen pon takde, kite masih bole makan KFC lagi)

4. Ringan-ringankan mulut berzikir..bukan lama pon..3 minit je..

5. Study Life

- Ikhlaskan hati dalam menuntut ilmu kerana Allah SWT, bukan kerana gaji, pangkat @ title

- Datang ke postgrad room awal & balik awal so that you'll have time to exercise, bersosial & baca Al-Quran.

- Tidur awal (waktu terbaik bangun jam 230 pagi then tidur balik jam 4 pagi then bangun semula jam 6 pagi) - yang ni macam SUSAH je nak direalisasikan..hahah

- Outline your goal in your study.  Jangan stuck terlalu lama at one spot!! Buat lain..
- Mingle around.. speak to others about your study..don't do it alone!!

- Kurangkan surprises in your life (contoh teragak nak ke Hong Kong esok terus beli tiket flight) sebab takut tak cukup masa nak prepare & jadi kelam kabut!!

6. Work your plan..plan your work (ni tambah2 sendiri..) gagal merancang adalah merancang utk gagal!!

Alhamdulillah..Allah utuskan orang baik & positif untuk tunjukkan jalan kepada saya.. in fact all this while I have been surrounded with kind & positive people, it just that having myself as my worst ENEMY, i seldom see the beautiful parts that lies behind.. Terima kasih Kak Iza .. it's been soo long that I haven't been attached to Allah..satu permulaan yang baik untuk saya hari ni!! Saya tak punya resolusi tahun baru, saya hanya berdoa semoga Allah jadikan saya lebih kuat menempuh dugaan, lebih baik dalam pengurusan solat & hidup serta jadikan saya individu yang lebih terampil luar & dalam...Wassalam...

Apa kene mengena video ni??hehehe...simply because SRK is my idol, apart from his movies, I always seek for his motivational & inspirational quotes & lived with it!! Yang tersirat dalam trailer ni pon ade kene mengena dgn saya...lu pikirlah sendiri!! HNY 2015!!

Nasi Lemak Ujang @ Medan Selera Greenwood

These days, you would probably find the iconic Nasi Lemak only during night hours instead of the usual brekkie time.  So it doesn't matter if you missed it in the morning, there would always be a night time for you to search. Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa, Nasi Lemak Cinta Sayang, Nasi Lemak Ujang - just to name a few of the local favourites. Last night, Deo - the co-owner of "Nasi Lemak Ujang" has invited us for a small 'whatsapp group' gathering.  Eventhough I'm not a "night-time-nasi lemak-eater", for the sake of its popularity, I dare to break my rules!!

Being a Gombakian and spent most of my childhood years in Greenwood Park, I couldn't believe that I am unaware over this stall existence until I've heard about the long queue of people waiting to be served from a friend cum loyal customer few years back. Located at the food court @ Medan Selera at Taman Greenwood, Jalan Batu Caves, this stall has been opened since 1981 (I was only 3!!) and still continue making big hit until todate!!.  The stall opens around 500 pm and close to midnight or precisely until they finish the stock of food.  This is probably one of the reasons that they became favorite among locals who always look for a good variety of dishes.  When your turn to order at the counter, you would simply become spoil for choices as on their menu are fried chicken, sambal sotong, sambal kerang, rendang daging, rendang limpa, paru goreng bersambal, bergedil etc.  No menu price are displayed on the board, so you will need to roughly calculate on your head over what you choose before you go uhhh..ahhh...errr???..:-))) ..Simple calculation - a pack of nasi lemak with sambal kerang and telur goreng can easily priced at RM5 - RM6.

As an 'honoured' guests, Deo took orders from the table, and we agreed on everything that he recommended.  When everything has arrived, and the MAKAN time started, I must agree that the SAMBAL is the key feature that attract the patrons.. Not too sweet or salty, it has a distinctive flavour of belacan (shrimp paste) and in terms of the spiciness level, I indicated as less hot.  Other dishes also tasted good, and my favourite was the rendang limpa.  Will definitely give a go on the next visit.  Although I'm a fan of sticky nasi lemak, according to other members of the table, another thing that attractive in Nasi Lemak Ujang is the rice itself.  It was nicely cooked until you can easily distinguished the beads and the adequate santan has been added to give that creaminess of nasi lemak.  Deo said that this is the secret that has been passed from generations to generations as the cooking method is complicated where the rice need to go through repeated steps of soaking, tossing and steaming.  Above all, surely worth it . As a result...licin pinggan masing-masing!!  

Deo continued to serving us like there's no tomorrow..haha..after nasi lemak, there came 2 siakap in masam manis and steam version prepared by his wife (note that this is not part of the nasi lemak menu) and few plates of sate Minang which he ordered at nearby stall..bloated gilerr!!  Thank you very much, Deo and Nasi Lemak Ujang team for hosting..semoga Allah murahkan rezeki kalian and may longer queue formed from day to day.  I'm very sure that i will return to savour other lauk pauk!!  For those interested, here are the details: -

Nasi Lemak Ujang Medan Selera Taman Greenwood, 

Batu Caves, Selangor

Nasi Lemak Ujang, Bandar Baru Selayang

Tel No: 017-3337791

 Long queue at almost every night..not a big deal as they could served quickly!!

 Deo in action!!

 The mouth-watering Sambal Sotong

 Eventhough the set is complete with lauk pauk, I still think that they shouldn't skipped the ikan bilis & kacang

 These are a few of "OTAI MASIH BERBISA" group members.. The lady holding the orange is the most otai!!hahahah

Satay Minang

Birthday Surprise yang EPIC @ Chemistry Cafe (again???)

A very last minute plan (not even a plan) to make a date with my bff Ija sempena her birthday today. Tak sampai ati pulak tengok ada kawan kita yang tak tiup lilin kek on her birthday eventhough die x kesah pon..  So, we decided to chill at Chemistry Cafe as she was kinda crave for the cakes that i used to upload in my blog..Ms Shasha (cafe owner)..please note that my friend ni is the 4th batch yang diintroducekan ke cafe u ni tau..;)))..agak2 i layak dapat food voucher tak??? ngeeee... 

Without Ija's knowledge, while ordering, i requested for the barista to throw a surprise birthday singing with a single lilin on top of its best seller - Reese Peanut Butter Choc Cake..dengan confidentnye cashier girl tanya "u nak after main course ke? u duduk meja mane?..takut tersilap bagi.." Dah settle bayar.. chit chat la dengan Ija while waiting for our food & drinks to be served..Surprisingly, dengan selambanya they served the cakes (which are supposed to be surprised with the candle on top)..gerammm ni..hasrat nak buat surprise dah terkantoi dgn waitress2 tu..so I decided to berterus terang.."Ala Ija..so sorry.. these cakes were supposed to be a surprise to you..budak2 ni tak alert lah..lupe lah tu dah ramai sangat orang..huhu"...Ija replied "no wonder la you gave that kind of look tadi..haha..better not..ko jangan bagi malu aku"...hahaha...so we deal with it.. but few minutes later datanglah another waitress yang dengan muka ala2 membuat lakonan plastik ke table kami "excuse me, kek ni dah tersalah hantar " and terus grab the cake menuju ke belakang counter... we both looked at each other and burst into laughters...Alahai..dah kantoi, they tried to counter back to make the surprise still happening as requested earlier... "ko buat2 surprise je la Ija"..hahahah..

The moment of truth when we heard them singing "Happy birthday to you..." (mase ni Ija dah ready nak buat2 muka plastik yang surprise kot).. then, the singing stops..alaaa..lilin pulak padam..lari pulak waitress2 tu ke belakang nak nyalakan lilin balik.. and again we both gelak cam giler!!..Their second attempt to surprise berjaya jugak akhirnya..tapi lilinnya masih padam so nyalakan je lah atas meja...hahha..Wahhh..above all the kekantoian..the whole cafe patrons were singing & clapping along for Ija..Sangat EPIC lah your surprise ni Ija..I bet you're going to remember this at least sampai your next birthday ye..hahah..

Credit to all baristas!! Despite of the surprise failures, you girls still make an effort for making this happened & happening!! THANK YOU... 

 Luckily, they didn't go out of stock..Ritz Zainal, sila cube datang lagi...

 Semua menu creamy & berlemak!! Hot classic Vanilla, Reese Peanut Butter Cake, Charcoal Crepe Cake, Chicken Carbonara

Happy Birthday to this strong lady whom I know raising her lovely daughter alone.. May you get all you desire.  With a new year of your journey, shall come more challenges, opportunities and greater success.  May Allah bless you!

Chilling Down @ Chemistry Cafe

After a hot, fiery & tense dinner at ROA, we decided to extend our MAKAN event in another place..lagipun perut masih tak kenyang-kenyang lagi (this is very bad rapport when you're supposed to make people kenyang ok!!)..To chill my friends down, i suggested Chemistry Cafe to end up our day out with coffee & some light meals (light keee???)..This is my 3rd batch of friends yang dibawa ke cafe ni since i'm pretty sure that they will love it as much as I do!! Walaupun lokasinya sangat lah berdekatan dengan Restoran ROA tadi entah macam mana we decided to drive our cars sampai lebih lambat dari jalan kaki akibat busy cari parking..Hahahhaah!!  Its pay-day babe!! After seating, everyone was pretty excited as everything in the cafe is designed and ornamented to the likes of a Chemistry Lab...si Seni je kot yang kenal & tau nama2 radas dalam Lab ni..Dengan perut yang masih partially lapar, order mengorder pon bermula..the average price for meals, desserts & beverages is between RM8 - RM11..memang berbaloi lah dengan portion, rasa & the most important is TAK TENSION nak makannya!!!

Seafood Carbonara ni memang berlemak dengan heavy cream!! Tasted better with more paprica sprinkled on top!!

 One of the best seller - Chocolate Reese peanut butter cake...simply satisfy your sweet tooth!!

 Lusciously delicious beef lasagna..

After an espresso and a latte, we didn't want another coffee, so we opted for this fruity milkshake called Chemical Reaction!!..caution..very addictive..However, we forgot to do the chemistry stirring method in which you need to hold the flask and swirl in circles... 

 Muka-muka kepuasan.. lesson learnt - lidah kita ni memang lidah mat salleh girls...jangan nak manado sangat!!

We do have great chemistry!! Till we meet again in another MAKAN event!!!

"Berasap" di ROA by Jovian Mandagie

Eversince its launches few weeks ago..i can't wait to favor the menadonese delicacies offered in here.. tekak ni dah terbiasa dengan nasik padang & selera jawa or sunda..so i wondered how the menadonese would taste like..?? since bff ku from KK - Seni dah kembali ke semenanjung, we took this chance to meet up together with Ruzi & Marina & macam biasa agenda utamanya ialah MAKAN..Makanya, eateries yg tgh trending ni jadi pilihan..Jovian Mandagie whose family's roots stretch back to Manado is a well known fashion designer turned to f&b entrepreneur recently by opening an upscale Indonesian-themed restaurant in Seksyen 7 Shah Alam..the  rest name is ROA - bukanlah akronim but according to the friendly and  pleasant manager - Ms Hasnidah is a type of fish..jenuh pikir ROA tu hape rope2nye ikan..selepas menyelak 10 kali menu card yang sangat trendy itu (menu on chopping board), we must admit that we didn't  have any idea on what to eat as we didn't familiar with the lists.. with the help from Ms Hasnidah, she suggested the signature Sup Sayur Asam (Jovian's favourite & hidangan paling mahal RM25) ROA sambal, Daging Sapi Sere & the super hot Ayam Rica Rica & dessert  Ais Kacang ..bila tiba hidangannya, i was quite shocked to see the small portion  of the nasi (about half cup) on the plate..apa ingat aku tgh diet "nasi segenggam" Kevin Zahri lagi ke??sedangkan jenuh skip lunch semata nak makan busat time dinner malam ni.. ROA sambal tu biase la ambik pon small size which cost RM10 sepiring, Ayam Rica Rica tu ada lah 4 ketol 1 bowl (so kami ambik la seketoi sorg), cuma sup asam tu nampak sedikit memberangsangkan bile dipersembahkan dalam mangkuk besar (maklumlah RM25) tapi bila bukak..alahai macam masak bening je, ade lah sayur ape ntah la dengan tomato & few slices of ikan kayu kot..name pon sup asam..so rasanye memang termasam masam lah..kata manager customer biasa sampai repeat order..tapi kami yang champion makan ni pun tak habes...what the...?? Ayam Rica Rica tu memang epik sebab sambalnya tersangatlah Hot to death tau..sampai naik tension makan.. macam2 perkataan keluar tatkala menikmati makanan yang sepatutnya nikmat malam tu...sambal menyusahkan la.. sambal nak bunuh orang la...hahaha...memang tragedi sunggoh rasenye..Si Seni yang dah terbiasa dengan sabahan food yang tak pedas memang dah rupa macam nak pengsan!!! (Omaigad).. macam2 cara kami suruh die buat..minum air panas, makan kek, minum Ais Kacang yg rase milo semata..huhuhu...ooh ya.. we expect the dessert tasted equally like those es teller selling in jakarta street tau..but end up macam shaved iced bubuh milo je..overall experience  was like a disaster.. maybe the menadonese food didn't  go well with our taste buds plus the super fiery hot taste almost kill our appetite. .the only thing  that we enjoyed on the table was the wondermilk cake ehsan meja sebelah who's coincidentally  celebrating  birthday..Total damaged was RM86.00...emmm..alahai sorry Jovian.. in this short time, i dont intend to revisit..tapi mungkin ada menu-menu lain yang lebih bagus kot..some other time perhaps after memori berasap dapat dilupakan....
P/s : credit to the interior deco..they really put much effort on this..

Breakkie @ Restoren Merah TTDI Shah Alam

This morning dah plan nak service kereta and first thing came in my mind was the place for me to hang around while waiting for my car to get serviced..simply because i hate to stay in the workshop yang panas, berdebu, berminyak and for sure i'll get berpeluh..lainlah workshop yang ada air-conditioned waiting room siap sofa, wifi sambil2 boleh bancuh kopi, makan aiskrim, biskut & maggie mee bagai ..ehh overnye..ade ke?? Yupp..i once attended to this kind of workshop somewhere in penang..At last pergilah satu workshop area TTDI Shah Alam and most importantly berdepan dengan Restoren Merah.. my last visit was somewhere in the year 2000 kot.. restoren ni memang wajib for me and friends to drop by for lunch since they offered lines of lauk pauk plus yang bestnya siap ade aneka jenis bubur/pengat.. teringat pengat pisang & duriannya..Breakfast line pon boleh tahan juga dengan pilihan nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, pulut kuning, laksa, laksam, lontong etc.. and of course nasi kerabu menjadi pilihan dengan lauk paru goreng, ikan tongkol & solok lada versi goreng (first time tengok & rasa sebab ingatkan begedil).. alhamdulillah..heavy breakkie which cost me RM7.70 macam ni..i will definitely skip my lunch lah jawabnya!!

Ritz @ Chemistry Cafe

Baru ingat taknak makan malam hari ni but suddenly my bff Ritz called and said he's on the way to chemistry cafe sek 7 shah alam!!..memang takde chemistry sunggoh dgn program2 diet ni..huh.. as we arrived, i ordered one of their signature ice blended drink "Monster Oreo" since i was into espresso-choco craved..Ritz yg dlm mode kelaparan kebingungan nak makan apa since this cafe only offered limited entres... ade la few selection of pastas.. lastly he goes for carbonara sambil mengomel i membongakkan die..udah ku bilang yg cafe ni is an after-meal cafe where you would only drop by for coffee & cakes or perhaps pastries.. ooohh..earlier i requested for waffle malangnya waffle maker pulak rosak (errrr... baru lagi kot cafe ni)..nampaknya belom rejekiku menjamah waffle2 yg kelihatan menggoda itu..so we had that last slice of butterscotch cake for dessert..their best-sellers were all sold out!! Tengah2 syok sembang the barista approached & apologise that they ran out of spaghetti so the only one left they could offer was lasagna..so nak taknak terpaksalah si Ritz ni setuju sambil molot tak berenti mengomel kata aku membongakkan die lagi & tak pasal2 si barista terpaksa mendengar leteran die yg kunun jauh2 datang semata nak try food kat sini.. dengan rasa bersalah..berkali kali minta maaf & siap bawak 1 slice of choc peanut butter crepe kek yg lazat for free...memang lazat pon..i wondered how many layers of crepes they made to form into cake...alhamdulillah...bukan pasal kek free semata, what's more is budi bahasa dari seorang anak melayu yang dah jarang2 saya lihat..sampai kami berangkat pergi pon masih minta maaf..inilah ilmu "human skill" yang tak terdapat dalam mana-mana buku service quality pun..melainkan dipelajari dengan hati yang ikhlas & suci....

Cuba Try Test

Hahah....feeling wonderful that now i have downloaded blogger for mobile through appstore..(maafkan la newbie ni ye..).. am pretty sure that most of the post will be done via smart phone kann??..so sesaje la try test..

BLOG Again???

I do not know why am i getting obsessed over blogging these days?? Bukan sibuk tengok blog orang pon..tapi creating blogs of my own..hahaha..previously (long long time ago......) i have created one.. adrenaleenhassan.blogspot..tapi dah bersawang tahap villa nabilla gamaknya!! until todate..i only posted 2 posts and my bff Ritz yang sangatlah rajen menghupdate "Salam Mesra" nya always taking troll on this matter.. Recently, through over-blog, i managed to create one..tapi macam takde follower je walaupun visitor agak memberangsangkan..(ratus2 la jugak)...maybe over-blog ni kurang popular kot..ntah lah.. as i am not IT literate person, i do not know which is which..hantam sajelah labu!! So long as it is practical, not complicated, user friendly and updatable via smartphone dah cukup baik!!.  And accidentally today, while browsing on detox drinks through azlita masam manis yang follower dah berpuluh ribu tu..i saw this tiny caption "Create Blog" maka lahirlah blog ke 3 ku "lantaimizzpinky.blogspot.com"..address lebih kurang sama dengan over-blog..my bff Najiha said that mizzpinky sounded soo gedik as I am obviously not kind of.. malas nak pikir nama ape dah sebenornye and i always associate myself with "pink karer" and bila sebut pinky2 ni terus teringat karya popular "Lantai T. Pinkie" nukilan Sasterawan Negara Datuk A. Samad Said..so cedoklah sikit..kununnya nak berkarya jugak lah dalam blog ni.  Well.. i guess i'm here for sharing my experience especially on food and travel as i enjoy both very very much and it might be the right place for me to improve my writings..so Insyaallah i'll see you in my next post (hopefully...:-P). Terimalah gambarku yang bajet paling comel ni...