Layanan Pelanggan

I know exactly how Secret Recipe's Grilled Mushroom Chicken tastes like. It's one of my fave's dish at Secret Recipe (not necessarily that we visit SR all the time). But I know and I believe that I still remember how it tastes like. I agree that this dish has undergone quite several evolution but the taste doesn't really change much. Kalau bertukar rasa sangat, baik ditukarkan namanya terus.

Last Tuesday I ordered for one. After for quite a few months.

A plate of Grilled Mushroom Chicken arrived me 5-10 mins later. The dish didn't look quite presentable, but it's ok. I had my first spoon.

The herbal rice was ok, I'd yet tasted the chicken but the gravy tasted wring. It was salty, sticky, soury, anything but nice. May be again this dish had 'evolved' and I didn't know about it or may be I'm simply getting older. But it was not edible at all. I chose not to proceed with another spoon and called the waiter instead.

I asked him to taste it. I said, "Masam lah, tak boleh makan." And he responded, "Mushroom, memang lah masam." My blood started to simmer.

He brought the plate back to the kitchen and I waited for several minutes.

He came back to me, "So macam mana?" I said, I wanted to order a different dish while he continued,

"Kita orang rasa kat belakang tadi, ok je. Banyak je kita orang makan."

"Tak kisah lah, itu you all rasa, tapi I rasa masam. Bukan I tak pernah makan."

"Mengandung ke?'

That's it. My blood boiled. I handed him back the menu and did not proceed with any order. Tak payahlah, I said.

Apa lah yang susah sangat nak menjadi pekerja yang baik? Or even seorang individu yang baik? I did ask you politely, did I? Did I yell at you? No. So what's your problem? It was perhaps a late lunch session, you were perhaps tired but that kind of attitude was never tolerable. Kalau aku jadi owner kedai, memang dah kena sekolah mamat ni. Customers are paying more than RM15 per meal added with 10% of service tax, yet what kind of service are you giving? Kalau service macam ni baik aku bayar dengan penampar je. And it is sad to say this kind of attitude among servers are common in Malaysia.

Good thing was, I did not pay. Berani la kalau diaorg nak suruh aku bayar. I might look petite but I'm not easily intimidated.

Ok, perhaps I'm easily intimidated with frogs, lizards, but that is a totally different story.

Calories Burning - The Alternative

What did you do when you go to Ikea?

Getting some ideas?

Window-shopping?

Browsing?

Actually DID some shopping?

Budgeting?

Killing time?

Bonding time?

Looking at people's behavioral (wow!)?

Pretending to know about stuffs?

Taking measurement?

Taking measurement for a millionth times?

Taking selfies and posting it to social medias? (dengan niat bermegah-megah aku-dah-sampai-sini-hoi! atau mungkin tidak, saya tidak judge anda)

Planning for the new house?

Planning to revamp the current house?

Planning to revamp your mom's house for as a surprise birthday gift?

Dreaming?

Or.

Sleeping, like these two did?

I was actually scheduled for a 5km running->jogging->walking->crawling TM Fan Run last Saturday. But I've got chickened out several weeks prior to the event, disebabkan langsung tak training hapah benda hamjadah pun sejak bulan puasa. Kot ye pun semangat kobar, aku masih kenal hati budi stamina sendiri.

Thus, I scheduled another form of calories burning activity cum aktiviti menggembirakan anak-anak cum tengok calon-calon perabot untuk rumah cum breakfast session; at Ikea.

Arrived at 8.40am, breakfast started at 9.00am, continued buat macam rumah sendiri di seluruh pelosok Ikea afterwards until 12.30 pm. After acah-acah surveying (survey apakah namanya kalau 80% of the time entertain budak-budak sahaja), one thing for sure; we needed to find other candidates for our dining set and sofa. It's either the price didn't suit with our budget or the cheaper options were not at par with our angan-angan tinggi tak sedar benchmark. And another thing for sure, benda-benda yang pasti akan dibeli di Ikea memerlukan satu lagi sesi membeli-belah yang lebih serius dan fokus dan tenang dan waras (read : sesi tanpa anak-anak). And another another thing for sure, the kids had fun there, lalu kuota bergembira mereka telah dipenuhi untuk minggu ini.

Lagi gambar-gambar kegembiraan.

Lagi 8 minit sebelum pintu dibuka. Ni yang dinamakan pepagi lagi dah pergi beraya rumah orang tuan rumah pun tak bangun lagi.

Dah besar sikit, layankan je permintaan untuk guna pisau garfu sendiri, dengan pemantauan secara terperinci dan kadang-kala boleh mengundang sakit hati si pemakai.

Yang ini pun sama. Asalnya mahu taraf yang sama dengan si 5 tahun Eirsa, padahal awak baru 2 tahun, pisau lebih panjang dari lengan. Sebagai alternatif, mommy bagi peluang bercomot-comot menyuap sup sendiri. And Ikea was being thoughtful by supplying this disposable bib for free!

Dan ada kalanya budak-budak ni tak nak makan. Mak dan bapak kau kena la lebih kreatif bagi menampakkan aktiviti memakan itu adalah satu aktiviti yang menggembirakan, bukan setakat aktiviti bermain sahaja ya menggembirakan. Berikan kayu aiskrim/pengacau kopi, lalu jadilah lollisausagepop. 

Acara wajib, lebih kurang highlight of the day. Gitu. Sekarang aiskrim ni dah semakin murah, RM0.80 sahaja.

Baking Projects, Our First Time!

Rumah kami tak dak oven. Microwave oven tu bukan oven sejati ye.

Oleh itu, tak selalu lah kami membakar kek.

Bakar kek guna periuk nasi ni dah lama dah tau. Sejak dari beli periuk nasi, iaitu 4 tahun lepas. Ni baru terfikir nak bake, tu pun sebab nak ajak Eirsa join sekali.

Eirsa tak de la kelihatan teruja sangat, sebab dia tak gemar sangat benda-benda yang comot ni (buat sepah rumah tak pe, sebab tak kena kat dia comot-comot tu, kena kat lantai, dinding, almari and whatnots je. pffftt.) Tapi aku yang teruja. Sebab nak tahu keputusan macam mana. Turned out menjadi weh! Not bad at all! Boleh tahan sodap, walaupun tak rasa pisang sangat sebab aku pakai pisang Dole kot. Tak pe, next time boleh cuba lagi.

Cream cheese aku beli instant je, gasak.

Kuah Lodeh, Kini Tidak Lagi Mustahil

My first kuah lontong / kuah lodeh. EVER.

Aku tiru resipi Filla sebab mudah.

Beritahu pencapaian ini pada adik-beradik di WhatsApp dan adik-beradik dengan concern nya telah mengkhaborkan kat mak.

Mak pulak risau kalau aku tak masukkan ini, tak masukkan itu. Mak memang sweet sangat. Lalu mengongsikan beberapa petua dan sempat bagi satu warning supaya aku tanya beliau terlebih dahulu kalau nak masak apa-apa.

Bertambah juga lah kami anak beranak, maka lebih bersemangat lah lagi nak memasak lepas ni.

Minyak dah naik harga, multiplier effects nya adalah lebih terasa berbanding kenaikan harga minyak itu sendiri. Oleh itu, kenalah mula memasak semula, supaya hujung minggu tak asik makan di luar. Juga supaya tiap kali aku masak bukanlah benda yang sama. -_-"

Tapi kuah kacang / kuah sate di atas masih ehsan pes masakan segera, namun tiada pengawet. Untuk pes masakan Kak Nab, boleh berhubung dengan Kak Nab di 017 663 4167 untuk maklumat lanjut.

Wordless Wednesday

Cooking Disaster

Sebenarnya kalau kau cuba resipi yang paling kurang pun tahap MasterChef Malaysia, boleh lah nak kata cooking disaster kan.

Tapi aku ni kes yang sebenarnya lagi sikit nak jatuh kategori tak tahu memasak. Tahu memasak, tahu. Tapi yang jadinya ada lah 50% dari segala percubaan. Ok lah, up sikit, 60%. Lain semua disastrous! Masuk tong sampah.

Ahad kelmarin konon-konon aku nak tiru resipi ini untuk sarapan yang alamakaih punya la kacang *sambil ketik jari*, tapi TU PON TAK JADI. Mula-mula beria ambil gambar nak bubuh kat blog (nak buat jadikan bahan blog) sambil dalam hati ada riak sikit nak bagitau "improvement" yang aku buat kat resipi tu bagi jadi perfect, tapi haraaaaaam tak jadi.

Aku berhenti ambil gambar kat sini je. Sebab konon nak try dulu. Kendian baru ambil gambar yang cantik-cantik guna resipi yang menjadi.

Tapi lepas 3 kali percubaan (1 kali konon-konon ada penambahbaikan, 2 lagi tiru resipi asal), aku dah lagi sikit nak campak mug. Microwave french toast in mug konon. Pui.

Rasa tak de lah buruk tapi keadaan makanan tu alamakaih. Bagi Eivie pon dia tak nak.

Kadang semangat je nak memasak untuk papa dan Eirsa (untuk anak-anak masa mereka bawah umur setahun memang aku masak selalu sebab tak suka bagi makan luar), tapi bila ikut resipi pon jadi hampeh, terus rasa down habis. Terus-terus nak capai phone dan call Dominos. Puas hati.

Bila dah frust tu, rasa macam membazir je masa kat dapur. Baik aku layan si adek manes ni yang sekarang ni tak boleh nampak mommy, sikit-sikit tersidai kat gate dapur, sikit-sikit tersidai kat gate dapur. Manja sangat ni, suka sangat aku gomol dia. Eirsa dah tak nak dah digomol-gomol ni, kecuali kalau main geli-geli (geletek).

Oh. Tapi. Sebenarnya. Saya cuba satu lagi resipi mudah di bawah ini, SYUKUR ianya menjadi, papa pun suka. Tapi tak ikut resipi sebiji-sebiji, saya ubah ikut hati dan perasaan. Sebabnya, fungsi rice cooker masing-masing kan ke lain. (Tiba-tiba cakap saya)

Ingredients

·         2 cups pasta (i used macaroni, but you could also use rotini, faralle or bite size pasta)

·         1 1/2 cups chicken stock (i use low sodium stock)

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup whole milk

·         1 1/2 cups cheese ( i use a 3 cheese blend of cheddar, mozzarella and monterey jack)

Preparation

1.    1. Place the first 3 ingredients in the rice cooker and cook for 15 minutes.

2.    2. Open the lid, add the milk and cheese, stir to combine, close the lid and cook for an additional 20 minutes (25 minutes if you want it to have a crust on the bottom).

3.    *Rice cookers can cook at different heats, so make sure to check the mac & cheese after if cooks for 30 minutes once or twice.

4.    3. Serve.

Oh lagi. Juga pernah masak laksa johor ikut resipi. Pertama kali. Jadi. Siap hidang kat orang lagi. Dabom juga. SYUKUR.

Hmmm.. I actually need an oven.

Baby's Food While On The Go

Eivie is still being fed with home-prepared food, even when she's at her daycare.

One batch could usually last for 3 days, so far it's a bit tiring but manageable. And since Eivie loves my humble campak campak cooking, it makes me happy preparing for her food.

We are going for a birthday vacation this early March. It's going to be 4 days and 3 nights and even if I prepare her food in the morning of the very first day, it is afraid that the batch would not last until day 4. Of course we'll keep it refrigerated or cold but it's quite risky for not having new batch prepared on day 2 or 3.

And to prepare for her food, even though it's easy, it still requires pot and stove. Mana aku nak cekau pot and stove masa vacation? Yes there's some options like small rice cooker, small slow cooker, small portable cooker but the fact that we have to carry those just to be used once throughout the vacation, hmmm... Ada yang tak pasal-pasal mengamuk sebab beg berat.

Thank God for the more and more non-added additive or foreign ingredients baby food available in the market nowadays.

I'll try this Happybaby sweet potato plus apricot instant puree, plan to add this with instant brown rice powder, for some 'weight'.

Eivie who is currently enjoy the one and only snacks Baby Bites, will also be given the opportunity to try these new snacks. And they are going to be her (and Eirsa's) bekal during the vacation too.

Important note : Chick Chick Happy Baby was not given to Eivie  since it contains chicken and this is a US product in which the halal status is not certain.

I'm soooo excited to let her try and of course to start packing for the holiday! Yiahu!

Fullhouse, Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara

It was agreed by the consensus (my husband, in-laws and I) that the place's ambiance was superb (great for party), the price was acceptable, the food presentation was OK but the taste was so-so je lah.

Wordless Wednesday

Gambar Makanan Sahaja, Sungguh!

Guilty as charged, I didn't have much time to put many things I have in my mind now into readable and comprehend-able sentences, type and publish them. But I did have photos ready in my laptop, with some minor editing required.

So, let's salivate!

Note : Menu and price for Malaysia Bubba Gump is here, and I could not find Malaysia's version of Tony Roma's menu. Boleh budget cantik-cantik dan cuba.

Fun Facts : Locavore is a new word formed from two Latin words; locus, "place", and vorare, "to swallow". Found in 2001, this word is defined as "a person who attempts to eat only food grown-locally. (Source 1 and Source 2)