Sunday, December 23, 2007

A Romantic Table for Two

Trump sangat baik hati.

Dia belanja makan malam untuk aku dan Suami Terchenta.

Di Chalet, Equatorial Hotel.

Sempena ulangtahun perkahwinan kami.

Makaseh Trump!

Jadi, semalam kami keluar untuk sesi makan malam yang romantik. Tepat pukul 9 malam, kami muncul di depan pintu restoran. Tukang jaga pintu bawa kami ke meja untuk dua orang. Ada lilin seperti yang diminta. Ada muzik romantis jugak. Kami sangat teruja (dan sangat kekok! Bukan hari-hari kami makan di tempat yang eksklusif ini!). Buktinya, orang lain sebok berbual2, kami berdua sebok amik gambar. Muahaha! Memang sangat jakun! :p

Hasil tangkapan gambar kami

Menu

Kami duduk. Pelayan datang, bawak menu (dalam Bahasa Inggeris & French). 10 minit kami terkial-kial baca menu di bawah cahaya lilin. Gila! Telur ikan (caviar) harganya RM700! Ini telur ikan ke atau telur dinasour? Buat 10 saat, aku terasa mahu memesan caviar, tapi aku rasa Trump mungkin tidak akan rasa murah hati untuk bayar sebanyak itu. Haha.

Suami Terchenta - Pakej Krismas
Juice - Mango juice
Starters - smoked salmon, fresh oysters, sup cendawan
Main course - Steak (tak tahu nama)
Dessert - Mango pudding, cinnamon-orange sherbet, iced chocolate ball
Hot drink - Tea

Aku

Starters:
- Raclaitte Valaisanne (traditional melted swiss cheese with baby potatoes and homemade pickles)
- Sup 'Crème de Champignons de Forest' (Cream of Wild Forest Mushrooms served in a Giant Roll)
Main course - 'Filet de boeuf' (tenderloin steak, medium)
Dessert - Gâteau au chocolat (chocolate cake), cinnamon-orange sherbet, iced chocolate ball
Hot drink - white coffee

My Verdict:

Starters >> boleh tahan, aku suka sup cendawan yang diletak di dalam roti bulat itu. Tapi Raclaitte valaisanne itu buat aku muak lepas sesuap dua.

Hidangan utama >> Dagingnya sangat liat! Menyesal order tenderloin! Sepatutnya order rib-eye atau sirloin sahaja. Tapi kuah steak (gravy) itu, not bad. Aku cuma dapat makan separuh sebelum aku surrender.

Dessert >> Aku boleh kasi rating 3/5. Not bad jugak.

Suami Terchenta's Verdict:

Starters >> uwekk!
Main course >> mmm...
Dessert >> Too sweet.

Sambil menikmati kopi panas, 3 orang pakcik yang bermain alat muzik datang ke meja kami.

'Would you like some song?'

'Erm...' saling berpandangan, 'please play some romantic music for our first year anniversary.'

Pakcik-pakcik itu terus mendendangkan sebuah lagu dalam bahasa Swiss dan lagu 'Everyday I love you'!

Sebelum kami balik, pengurus restoran ambil gambar kami dan berikan sekuntum bunga ros untuk kami.

Wah, seriously, ini ialah the perfect dinner date! :) Mungkin tahun depan kami boleh datang lagi ke sini...

Atau INI KALI TERAKHIR KAMI KE SINI.

Bila tengok bil dinner kami, kami terus mengubah fikiran.

Satu makan malam yang sangat expensive... sama dengan bayaran ansuran kereta kami sebulan.

Nasib baik Trump yang belanja. Sekali lagi... 1,2,3!

TERIMA KASIH, TRUMP!

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

Photoshop Tutorial: Layer

On dee83's request, I'm going to show how to create this layered image:

Step 1 - Open 'New...' in Adobe Photoshop and set background content 'Black'.

Step 2 - Open selected image, copy-n-paste on black background layer. Name it as 'Layer1':

Step 3 - Choose Layer1. Click 'Layer' > 'Layer Style' > 'Stroke...'

Step 4 - In Structure area, set Size '8' (depending on how thick the frame you want it to be), Position 'Inside', choose Color 'C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=0' (also known as white).

Step 5 - Duplicate image, twice (by clicking on image, then press 'Alt'+click).













Step 6 - Tilt images at the back at different angles: (Click image to view larger)

Step 7 - Arrange the images accordingly. Then, using Rectangular Marquee, draw a rectangle underneath top-most image, and paint it white using Paint tool:

Step 8 - Type a title inside the white rectangle. Tadah! Siap! :)

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Our Hari Raya Celebration

Early in the morning, after solat Hari Raya, this conversation ensued between a husband and a wife:

Wife: Which do you choose? Cooking (laksa Sarawak) or washing the toilet?
Husband (considering): Cooking.

Hubby headed to the kitchen, prepared to cook. Wifey went to the toilet, armed with detergent and stuffs. Hubby called out, 'Dear, what is supposed to be put into this pot?'

Wifey gritted her teeth and called back, 'Just read the instructions on the packet!'

2 minutes later, they switched roles. Wifey cooked, hubby scrubbed the toilet.

1 hour later:

Wife: Dear, help me make thin omelettes by whipping one egg at a time. Make 3 eggs, ok.
Hubby (nodding): Got you.
(Hubby whipped the 3 eggs together and fried them all in the pan)
Wife (big eyes and murderous look at hubby): Why did you fry all of the eggs together????
Hubby (looking wise and satisfied with himself): The pan is big enough to fry all 3 eggs.
Wife (looking not so satisfied): I. wanted. thin. omelettes. Grrr...

What an amicable start to the Aidiladha celebration.

So this was how our celebration looked like:

Some of the feast prepared, and some given by our next door neighbour (photo courtesy of Kak Retna)

From left: Topek, Fysal and Mr Shai (photo courtesy of Kak Retna)

As Fysal helpfully pointed out, our special menu was laksa Sarawak. Hubby prepared everything, and I merely helped to prepare the gravy :p (photo courtesy of Fysal)

Our Hari Raya guests (photo courtesy of Kak Retna)

Thank you to Kak Retna, Shai, Fysal & Topek (who drove all the way from Perak and Tanjung Karang) for coming for Hari Raya visit to our house and helping us to finish off the laksa :) Thank you also to Shai who came with lemang Pak Ali and the delicious serunding.

In short, we are certainly very happy to welcome guests to our house. Hopefully, we get to host more eating sessions at our home for more friends. Check out Suami Terchenta's blog from time to time!

Lastly, it's not too late to wish 'Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha' to all my blog readers.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan - Menara Condong Teluk Intan

The tale of two crazy husband-and-wife at the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. Nope, it wasn't the camera that made this tower looks 'senget' (slanting)

Finally, after reviewing so many oh-so-romantic holiday options, we settled for a day excursion to Teluk Intan, Perak instead. Why Teluk Intan, you ask? Well, blame it on watching LOTR 'The Tale of Two Towers' for arousing our interest in the leaning tower of Teluk Intan, also known as 'Menara Condong'. Hehe.

Let me tell you - Teluk Intan is worth a trip there :) So, let's go Cuti-cuti Malaysia to Teluk Intan!

Welcome to Teluk Intan, Perak. The town of fruits.

In a true fashion of ours (fashionably late, as usual), we set out of the house only to turn back because we forgot our camera. But after filling up the petrol, we were speeding non-stop to Teluk Intan via Kuala Selangor route. For those who are unfamiliar, you can check out Suami Terchenta's blog to look at the route.

It took only 2 hours to reach Hutan Melintang where we were supposed to meet up with Fysal at Petronas station. Fysal came and took over behind the wheel. Since it was noon already, we went to have lunch at a mamak restaurant before setting out on our Teluk Intan adventure :)

After Zohor prayers at a charming mosque in the town centre, we were off to firstly, check out the king prawns (udang galah) at the jetty. Unfortunately, the price was a killer or we would cart off 1 kg of the prawns to barbecue later. The finest grade of fresh udang galah costs RM48 / kg. Mukah is still the best and cheapest place to buy udang galah :)

Oh my yummylicious, udang galah tastes heavenly when barbecued, or fried in my mother's secret udang galah recipe!

It was the only time I felt disappointed that I was not pregnant - otherwise, I would beg and cajol Suami Terchenta to buy the udang galah because 'baby wants it'. Hehe.

Next, we were off to Menara Condong, which is just 5 minutes away (In a small, quaint town like Teluk Intan, anywhere is just 5 minutes away) from the jetty.

CLK, enter-frame. Look at the borderline of this photo, the angle shows that this is truly a leaning tower

My review, the tower is a charming architecture of wonder. It's actually a clock tower, and when we arrived, the clock chimed merrily to tell us that it was already 1.45pm. Originally, the 122-years-old-tower was built as a water reserve tank by a Chinese architect (thus, the Chinese architecture look). It has 110 steps, and 3 storeys.

Inside the tower, at the top storey

The Wishing Well. Some superstitious visitors throw one-cent coins in the well and make a wish. If I was them, I wish that all the coins in the well become mine. Muahaha!

Me, at the foot of Menara Condong

Next, we were off durian-hunting. We had Fysal to thank for his help as our local tour guide. He knows where to find durians in the remote kampung areas. After driving for half an hour, we stopped by the road side to buy durians:

The fleshy, creamy durian for RM8 per durian... Not bad.

3 huge durians later, we were feeling the heat and decided to stop by at another stall selling ABC (Iced Concoctions). The friendly and generous stall owners upon finding out that we are out-of-towners, welcomed us with another huge durian, on the house! Oh, our 'durian runtuh' day! :)

Makan, bang. Jangan tak makan...

Stomachs bloated from eating too many durians, we finally called it a day and sent Fysal to his house.

On the way back, we captured this replica of the Menara Condong, for fun:

They even made it 'condong' (leaning), bless them!

Tips for travellers:

Travel time: Approximately 2 hours from KL (using Kuala Selangor route)

Budget: Only for fuel (RM15 one-way, if using Kancil) and of course, durians (depends on the season).

Accommodation: Not necessary, since it's only a short distance away from KL. There are though, a few homestays along the way.

Local attractions: Oh goodness, just read the posting above! Or, you can check out Wikipedia.

Might want to check out: If you are using Kuala Selangor route, you will pass by Bukit Belimbing (or specifically, Firefly Park Resort) famed for the sight of millions of fireflies flashing in synchrony, often referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. A must visit place of interest in Malaysia and our next destination! :)

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Our First Anniversary

My Wedding Ring

... was sweet and simple.

We spent the day watching our favourite movie - Lord of The Ring.

Then cooked our favourite meal.

Lit a candle, and had a candle light dinner.

After dinner, we snuggled up on the sofa.

To watch our favourite soap - Ugly Betty.

Which Suami Terchenta downloaded from the Internet.

Suami Terchenta surprised me with a gift.

Which made me cry because I did not expect any.

He said, thank you for being my wife.

Though I am not rich, nor famous.

Yet you still marry me.

To which I replied, thank you for being my husband.

Taking care of me and everything.

Though I am not pretty, nor rich.

Yet you still marry me.

Happy Sweet Anniversary. May our love and marriage lasts.

From Here to Thereafter.

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