Sarawak ♥ Pt 4

Photo credit to Faizal, Dr Wan, Hasrul and my phone (gambo² buruk tu dia laaa..) :p

Wednesday was our third day in Sarawak. Today we had NO academic session, only jalan² sessions ☺☻☺☻☺

Early morning, we woke up to get some breakfast. Actually we were invited to the Ramah Tamah Aidilfitri in UniMAS but we we too hungry to wait for 10.00am (which was more or less like 11.00am here.. no wonder la kitorg lapo kan!) This was when I got my first (and last) taste of the popiah with mushrooms. Seriuosly wanna try make them.. tp popiah biase pun sy tak reti buat, camne tu?

So had our breakfast and while waiting for the bus, mcm² gambo la kan di amik mereke. Gambo tgh nak naikkan bendere la ape la.. mcm² hehe..

Sampai je bus, all of us serbu with only one thing in mind: Nak carik makanan Sarawak! And nak tapau (dgn tak malunye) Hati Pari lagik ☺ But when we arrived, we were more distracted by the deco of the 'open house'. They really take it seriously here. Sgt cantik and meriah..

Then we took off. Memasing dpt tugas haha.. to find something different. There are a few pictures of the food we got here but I'll post it in another entry.. ni pun dah byk dah ni weihhh! Ingtkan perangai buruk ini tiade yg nmpk but we were caught red handed by non other than Dr Wan himself haha..

..mesti dia malu tgk ex-student² dia merate carik makanan hehe.. The staff there were helpful too when they knew we were from Semenanjung so they pointed out to us their specialties.

When we finally sat down, we had a variety of food in our hands.. and with the help of Sabrina and Afnie (both of whom are our guides), we got to know a bit about the food.

Pastu, bile kenyang, mcm² la kan. Take Rashid and Faizal here. Here's Rashid mengintai klau this booth ade makanan yg different lagi..

..then him and Faizal buat ape laaa ngan the deco from this booth. Boleh?

Ish ishh.. tudung saji di buat main. Konpius org UniMAS tgk bdk² USM nihhh..

Then as usual: group photo!

After being given half an hour to get ready in the hostel, we started our jln² session. The first stop was Pasar Satok..

..and what did we find here?

Jeng.. jeng.. ikan terubuk masin! I didn't wanna buy any since I'm not a fan of salted fish.. but Anim and Rashid telah mempengaruhi minda sy ini :p Then, further in the market, we found what we've been wanting to find eversince we went to Nadya's : Laksa Sarawak paste! Yeayyyy!!

But here we were,. tak puas ati with the kakak selling it sbb tetibe dimahalkan harge paste itu setelah beliau menyedari kami nak beli byk (10 packet sorg.. and the were what? 7 of us?!?) Trus je we gi kedai sebelah dia yg jual harge standard.. hambik ko kakak! Heheh..

After that, we went to the Cat Muzium (Muzium Kucing)..

This is the entrance hehe.. sgt chumel kan!

..and 'anak² kucing' ini jugek sgt chumel, right! :p

This is the view after you step through the entrance..

..and this plak a 'view' special for my brother, Adi ☺

We went around looking at.. you guessed it: CATS!

..and cats in pictures!

Tgk je Dayah, nampak aje camera no matter how you try to hide!

Pastu, they took us to DUN Kuching yg sgt cantik. But it was past office hours (mcm la klau opis hours diorg nak kasi masuk pun kan) so we took photos out there je, but syarat! Spent only about 15 minutes there.

And the highlight of the day: Operasi mencari Kek Lapis!

Sile la tgk budak² USM ni cam lapo tak penah jumpe makanan hehe..

Actually, they had this long table where they serve their variety of kek lapis for us to taste before buying. I liked this non-lapis cake named Cadbury which was VERY chocolatey (bought 2 of it). Then bought another 2 of Horlicks kek lapis, 2 Hati Pari (yeayyyy.. dpt pun!), 2 Sisik Ikan (which is very yummy! Byk giler asam they put in it and sgt cantik the pattern!) and 2 more Sutera Ungu (which is like Sisik Ikan without a lot of asam.. but enough to make it yummy!). The choices were too many and I forgot what most of them tasted like by the time I came at the end of the 'tasting table'.

Then after penat memilih kek (and buying a bit more of those laksa paste :p), we went to a restaurant within walking distance from the kek lapis shop and ordered our first mee kolok with teh si peng! Yummy..

Kedainya itu juge sgt cantik tau!

After that, 4 of us (me, Sya, Ija and Dayah) telah naik the penambang to go across the river to the Waterfront :p Promised Amer we'd meet him there and spent some time at the shops there to buy other things to bring home. Mlm tu Amer la anto kitorg balik ke college..

Next: Kampung Budaya!!

Sweet yummy MOCCA!

Did any of you catch the 8tv Quickie a few nights ago featuring the Indonesian band, Mocca?

My motto in song-listening is: If you're not on the radio, I'm not gonna listen to you! I'm not the type to listen to all songs I could get my hands on, I usually stick to the radio-friendly ones and sgt la jarang for me to listen to other songs. If you go through my songs folder here, chances are you WON'T see songs that are not typical songs on the radio. So don't be suprised if I have this dumb expression on my face whenever you talk about any singer/bands that you really like.. sorry! Its just me..

However, flipping through the channels one day, I watched Prem raving about Mocca. I'm sure I've heard about them, but only through Adi's mouth rasenye. Since I was waiting for another show to go on air, I just sat through it.. and was I suprised!

They were singing a single from their album (a fews ago punye rasenye haha..), The Best Thing, and I LIKED IT! I meant to search for this song but never got around it until this Monday. I was waiting for Zabidi to send me the name list of students taking Geomatics so while I was waiting for the email ala² snailmail to 'arrive' in my mailbox, I found the song (and the title.. actually, I didn't know the title that night when they sang on Quickie)

While listening to it, I tried to listen to other songs from this group and found that I kinda liked them hehe.. the chumel² kinda songs with the likes of Ingrid Michealson's The Way I Am and Lenka. Terus jatuh chenta, okay! Nyesal didn't search earlier when Adi first mentioned them centuries ago hahah..

Also found out (and guessing I'm the last to know), this song 'Secret Admirer' was once used in a Malaysian ad though I'm still trying to remember which ad. Help me, I go crazy when I can't remember things like this!

Sgt chumel la lagu² diorg.. and kinda figuring out how old they are coz the singer (Arina or Ariana tah name dia.. didn't listen much when Prem was interviewing them) said something about being more than 10 years in showbiz but have formed the group around 4 years before that.. so mesti dah tak la mude² sgt kan diorg nih?!?! Sbb she said they knew each other in college.. pening doing the math here (and what is it with my obsession with their age? Simple: The singer nmpk cam umo 21!)

Currently sedang dgr their songs dgn perasaan mcm budak sekolah hehe..

The Best Thing

I've got the best thing in the world

Coz' I got you in my heart

In this cruel little world

Let's hold hands together

We can share forever

Maybe someday the sky will be coloured with our love

I wake up in the morning

Feeling emptiness in my heart

This pain is just too real

I dream about you, with someone else

Please say that you love me

That we'll never be apart

You have to promise that you will be faithfull

And there will be lots and lots of love

It is the thing that really matters in this world...

Sarawak ♥ Pt 3

Photo credit here to Faizal je kot?!?! Dr Wan and Hasrul nye gambo I'm not sure ade skali tak in this entry.

Our third day also found us getting up early for the mini colloquium at UniMAS where a few papers (mine included tho I tak present :p) were to be presented from both universities. But at first, both campuses 'showed off' their multimedia presentation on their respective schools hehe.. Lepas tu, bermule lah sessi where ade times we'd tahan ngantuk and other times we'd listen (klau interesting la :p)

Ni si Faizal tgh garu kepale (paham ke idak ape org dpn ckp tu tak tau la kannn)..

..and si Dayah and Sha yg nyempat je bergambo kt blkg tuh! Ape yg diorg eje tu :p

Then as usual, a group photo before tea break (VERY sedap okay! Tp tatau name kuih tu.)

After the 'academic session' of the trip, we headed back to the hostel to change and get ready to go jalan² before going to Dr Wan's open house that night. First stop was to this pottery. Memasing la carik bende² ala² Sarawak to take home. Some of us beli sampai berkotak tuuu.. I didn't plan to buy actually but in the end, beli jugak just for keep sake ☺

Then after paying, I went out only to realize there was this place reserved for anyone to try their hand at pot-making (the decoration, NOT the drug!) I wanted to try at first but mmandangkan I was wearing a white t-shirt, hasrat itu terpakse dipendamkan but here's Dayah trying a hand at it..

We were supposed to go back to the hostel after that but somehow someone managed to pujuk our guides and the bus driver to take us someplace else.. any place would do! Hahah..

So we were taken to this row of shop houses which boasted some batik craft.. only to be disappointed to see Indonesian batik there which is easily obtained in the peninsular.. alahaiii, jadik laaa.. Had to go down this trail to reach the shop..

..but NO pictures kat dlm kedai la pulak kan! Had planned to find some Teh Si Peng (recommended to us!) but tak jadi when we noticed the coffeshop there wasn't a Muslim one. Wouldn't have minded much if we didn't see bottles and bottles og beer on the table.

Balik tu, got ready to go to Dr Wan's house. An incident happened in the guys room haha.. Not telling but this is a clue of it:

Then boarded the bus to Dr Wan's abode. Was hoping for Sarawakian food but got 'normal' food haha.. hey! Who are we to complain, Dr Wan buat open house for us tu dah kire cukup bersyukur dah. And especially since we found another batch of Hati Pari here (fell in love with this traditional Sarawakian cake at Nadya's).

So here's some picture during the 'eating session'..

..and here

..and here plak the internationals yg mewakili PPKA. Ramadhan (Acheh), Wesam and Bashir (Palestin) and Saeed (Somalia)

These plak after memasing dah kenyang (and lepas memasing plan mau tapau Hati Pari dlm handbag hehe..)

This plak is Aminur Rashid (Malaysian and fellow USM student) and Aminur Rahman (Bangladeshi ke mane tah.. and UniMAS student!)

..and Faizal yg dok boring sambil men ngan tutup lens! (Sbnonye dr siang tu lagik diorg dok men camni hahah..)

Lupe plak.. intorducing our photographers: Hasrul and Faizal! Sian diorg takde sape amik gambo diorg kan sbb diorg je asyik amik gambo org so here, I put you guys in my blog! ☺☻☺

Then another group photo before balik. Berlatarbelakangkan the wall clock AcePRO bought as a farewell gift to Dr Wan ☺

And another group photo with almost all participants in it.

Sampai hostel, we couldn't resist the lure of this beautiful bridge at the lake in front of the hostel so we went there berangan² mau tangkap gambo la kan.. Jadik la kaaannn..

..and kat bus stand pun sempat lagik tu! Heheh..

Pastu ape lagi, sampai je bilik sumer trus diselubungi slumber yg nyenyak ☺

Next: Ramah Tamah UniMAS Open House, ikan terubuk masin at Pasar Satok, Muzium Kucing (as in Cat Muzium), DUN Kuching and kek Lapis Sarawak (Hati Pari pun ade ☺)

Cupcake disaster :(

Its been a while since I last practiced my cupcake making. I had planned my next projects around my last day with my students (kalau sempat buat la..) and a friend's birthday (which is waaaaay at the end of December). Initially, we thought we'd 'get over' with our fondant class but tadek rezeki so couldn't practice on that yet la.. sbb tu kot takde semangat sgt hehe.. <--lousy, lousy excuse!

But then, my old friend Yun called and asked if she could sleep over for a few days at my place and since she's been avidly following my 'progress', I thought I'd try an experimental recipe on her. It was also kak Sue's birthday yesterday so since I could usually make 2 sets in each batch, I felt it was a perfect arrangement..

..or not!

The first 'bad' thing that happened was, I only realized I had run outta my usual souffle cup size AFTER whipping up the cake mix. Sheesh! I thought I still had a lot of those lying around. I was left with slightly larger cups which I'm not quite used to yet. Thus..

..my cupcakes were on the 'shorter side'. Just like me, huh!

Aiyoooo.. I seriously need practice on this cupcake size! At least the filling turned out okay.. but the cupcakes weren't something I would be proud of.

Then, when my cupcakes turned out a bit 'shorter' than expected, I had to cover it up with too much cream I guess.. and by the time I finished putting on the base for the toping, I was left with buttercream yg sgt cipuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttt! Of course la now couldn't do any fancy schmancy deco la kaaaaannnnn.. (not that I'm good at fancy deco pun!)

Alaaaaaaaaaaaaa..

But thank God for friends who don't care wether you've messed up or did a great job! Yun still raved about the cuppies though I was already close to tears by 2.00am this morning.

But to kak Sue: Sorry tak dpt bg yg lagi elok. Sy dah plan mcm² deco dah ni, siap ade theme 'Nature' lagik tp.. uwaaaa.. kuciwaaaaaaa! Hrp kak Sue suke ye..

Note to self: Stock up on those souffle cups.. and practice other cupcake sizes!

Kamek sik pandey kelakar Sarawak ♥ Pt 2

Photo credits to: Faizal, Hasrul, Dr Wan Hashim and Anim.. and my trustworthy phone :p

So the first day, woke up early for Subuh prayers haha.. usually I wake up around 6.35am (my actual alarm ni!) but here since Subuh was waaaaayy early, we had to wake up an hour earlier. Couldn't sleep after that so cepat² la kitorg bersiap for the day, wearing the t-shirt provided. Then we rushed to the cafe, in hopes of having breakfast Sarawak style.. tp kuciwa, makanan pagi di kampus same je with USM hahah.. (what do you expect, kan?)

*Still, sgt suke when I tasted popiah similar to the ones we usually get here but also full with mushrooms.. sedap wooo though bkn specialty Sarawak laaa.. but buleh try!*

Then while waiting for the bus, di kiri dan kanan la sumer org sibuk bergambar. Kitorg tak ketinggaln though this is a more subdued picture than what THEY were taking before haha.. sy tak terlibat dlm gambo bersungguh² k.. but I enjoyed watching bermcm pose dikeliling sy ☺

Then we took a group photo with the banner made for the program. See, sumer org pakai baju purple ini. Sungguh USM kan kami ☺

Arriving at UniMAS, we were taken around the school to their labs. Ade je la comments among us on beze antara their labs (baru and bersih giler.. but diorg pun tak ramai students) with ours (well-used and agak la buruk hahah..). Hepp! Rashid buat pe tu? Nak curik mould (baru and dlm plastik lagik tuuuu..) kasik kat Shahril ek.. wat ganti mould school kite yg buruk² tu :p

Ni kitorg plak yg ternmpk kunun baking tray (bleh buat biscuits :p), botol yg cantik (leh simpan biscuits) and segale bende for baking hehe.. Anim je baik, jeling je kat kitorg.

..and this was at the lab (ape ye? Hydraulic ke Geotechnical ek?). Behind us was a mobile obeserving station (not gonna explain more.. takut salah hahah!).

After penat round the school, we went to their meeting room for a session with Prof Wan Hashim, my ex-supervisor who made me cry buckets during my MSc hahah.. but thanx to him, my viva was a breeze! Still, masih suke menyakat student dia yg suke lari dari dia sampai students sane asked, "Sape Ayu?" Hahah..

We were given a UniMAS goody bag each and cube teke bende 'bes' we got inside yg dibuat main je dek Salleh ni :p

Then we mingled around with their postgraduates and was reintroduced to Sabrina (our guide), Quey and Christine, all whom are in this picture with us!

Lunch was a super big portion of ayam in nasik ayam, and still not a specialty of Sarawak but for a while, terpegun jap ngan ayam² yg besar itu hehe..

After lunch, we requested to see their postgraduate room yang giler lapang! Sgt menarik okay, terase cubicleku ini sgt tak best tetibe (But now I know I'll love you forever, dear cubicle of mine!). This is Sabrina's place.. bes kan! Tepi cubicle dia leh buat tmpt main futsal!

..speaking of which! Petang tu, after a few minutes of rest, we headed to the futsal centre in Taman Desa Ilmu or something like that for a match between us and UniMAS. I'm sure it was supposed to be a friendly match but THEIR ACTUAL TEAM was the one we were against!

Adoi laaaa.. sian adik² ku yg terpakse bermain dgn bersungguh.. as opposed to nak main suke² je hehe..

So inilah barisan penyokong dengan banner..

..dan penyokong tanpe banner hehe..

While ni plak our team.. or half of it la kot! Ade yg injured la ape la.. cian diorg.. dah la kalah! But takpe la kan, kite bkn ready nak main sungguh² pun.. korg still best!

Balik tu, we headed to this cafe yg sgt ramai org but a bit jauh from our hostel. Turned out, the food was quite good sane but what we loved was the view! Cantik wooooo..

Then mlm tu headed to bandar Kuching. Sgt excited to go take photos at the famous monument there and we learnt a new word: Pusak! Which meant 'cat' or Kucing ☺☻☺

Lepas puas taking pictures there, we walked to the Waterfront (lagi?) with Sabrina on tow as our guide yg takut sgt klau we hilang.. sian Sabrina melayan org² yg tak penah jejak Sarawak kan! Jenuh la cari kedai souvenier for things to take back home for loved ones and we spent sgt byk mase there.

By the time we finished, it was nearly time to go back to UniMAS so while we waited for the bus and the others to arrive, we went near the riverside to find some snack and were lucky to find this super delicious kebab. Even belanja Sabrina for being so patient with us haha..

Tu pun sempat bergambar near this boat..

..and here. Ni just to show how 'artsy' Sarawakians are. Cantik kan the susunan tiles here on the Waterfront ☺☻☺☻☺

We were in the midst of taking pictures when the others arrived so kak Win and kak Sue trus je lari join in the 'photo session'..

Then akhirnye memasing 'panjat' bus to go back to the hostel for the much needed rest after a whole day with activities.

Next: Mini colloquim, gi kedai pasu and batik.. and raya celebration at Dr Wan's