16 more bags

Out of 50 of Tesco Finest Earl Grey teabags, I have 16 more to go to.

Have to endure this one, for I don't want to waste it. If you'd like to help me out, I'm glad to share with you some of the 16 bags. Come around my office for a cuppa.

I'm switching to Twinings' next. Much better aroma and taste than Tesco's. If you have Dilmah's Earl Grey, can I buy one teabag from you for a sample?

There are mixed reviews for Tesco's Finest Earl Grey. Compare the two links I'm providing here:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/drinks/tesco-finest-earl-grey-tea/

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews9766.html

Me, I'm not buying Tesco's anymore.

Oh, darn it. I have a few more of Tesco's at home, too. Come around this weekend, we'll have a chat over a cup of Earl Grey. Bring your own biscuits.

:)

what's your cup of tea?

Lately at the office I'm quite fond with tea compared to the usual instant coffee and chocolate drinks. My draughts(wo)man also make a jug of tea for a few of us to enjoy. This morning, the jug is upgraded to a bigger one so that many more could share.

:)

Last night Naza and I were shopping for groceries, and we were looking for teabags. Usually we go for Lipton, but last night she wanted to have those 'top shelves' kind of tea. Tesco (being British) stocks quite a good array of tea selection, including their house brand. We narrowed down three brands - Dilmah, Ahmad Tea and Twinings. So many different kinds of tea. We took home Twinings, for we could have assortment of teas in a box.

It costs about RM8 for 25 individually wrapped, 5 types of tea. That comes to about 30 sen each. Imagine how Coffee Bean & Tea Leaves, Starbucks, et. al. make when they sell you a cuppa.

We tried one in the middle of the night - Earl Grey.

Superb! Love it. With a hint of citrus, it's refreshing but not in the lemon tea kind of way.

Here's a list of what's in the pack:

• English Breakfast
• Prince of Wales (apparently a blend of tea from China)
• Earl Grey
• Lady Grey
• Darjeeling

The flavours range from 'light' to 'medium' strength.

There's also 'Afternoon Tea', but we'll get that and some other types later.

Fusilli with Baked Fish Dish

I love this one.

Tomatoes are diced.
Fish sprinkled with herbs (thyme and parsley) and salt to taste.
Garlic, onion and ginger puréed.
All put together and baked.
Served with fusilli prepared with boiling water.

Fusilli with Baked Fish Dish prepared by Naza.
Me, I just eat.

I don't know what the fish is, but it's a type of fresh water fish. Jelawat, maybe.
Baked, the fish is like a combination of salmon and terubuk. Thick fat and with lots of bones.
Anyway, it tastes super.

Yummmmmyyyy!

trifle

Naza's trifle: sponge cake as base layer, pudding in the middle and topped with jelly and fresh strawberries

We had our first dinner in Seri Alam last night, with Ayah and Ibu joining us.

For the occasion, Naza made trifle for our dessert.
Yummmmmyyy!!
First try and she made it super.

Another special dish was Siakap Masak Tomato. Literally translated as Siakap cooking the tomato. Hehe... kidding...
Naza prepared the dish. The fish. The fish dish. Hey, it rhymes.
Delishes fish dish. Heheehh...
(don't bother about the spelling)

soft drink refill at McD - update

I submitted a query to McD Malaysia with this question:

a quick question:
can i have free soft drink refills at any of your outlets?

Their reply an hour ago:

Dear Akmal,

Greetings from McDonald's Malaysia!

Thank you for taking the time in submitting your inquiry through our
official website dated 24th October.

With regards to your question below, FREE soft drink refills do happen at
all our outlets if the drink is being purchased on the day of purchase &
from the outlet that is being purchased.

We would appreciate if you could provide us with more details of your
experience that you had recently as this are areas where we can improve our
services.

Once again, thank you & we hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Leonard M. W. Wong
Corporate Communications Department
(tel/fax/email withheld)
Website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.my

soft drink refill at McD

we know that there's free flow of soft drinks in Burger King outlets in Malaysia.
this is widely publicised.

what is not widely publicised is that you can have refill of soft drinks in McDonald's outlets.
yup, it's true. no kidding.
just take your empty soft drink cup to the counter and ask for refills like nobody's business.

i asked about this fact to the McD crew in Ampang Park outlet in front of many other customers (during lunch hour). she answered 'yes' matter-of-factly.

so there you go. knock yourself out.

curry puff in manchester

people asked me this quite a lot:
do you want to live in manchester, given the chance?

my answer: yes and no.

yes - it's quite nice to live in a 4-seasons country. the culture, the manners of their people (believe me, they are very courteous lot) , scenery, etc.
no - when the little details of living a normal life have to be forfeited. parents, durians, rambutans, shopping until late at night, etc. also, i can't stand the cold weather. not to mention the constant rainfall.

i stumbled upon this website by a malaysian now residing in manchester.
he's selling curry puff - ready to eat, and frozen.
sold in 5 varieties: beef, lamb, vegetarian, chicken and fish.
the price? £1 for 3 ready to eat, and £1 for 4 pcs of frozen ones.
not too bad, considering one of the details of living a malay life in manchester is served.
check it out at http://www.alittletasteofmalaysia.com/

perhaps i have to re-consider my answer for the question.

ikea's swedish meatballs

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-make-your-own-swedish-meatballs.html

huhuhu...
okay, have to try this one out.
minus the pork.

meatballs

I bought Naza a recipe book from Borders quite some time ago.
One-Pot Casserole Recipes.
Simple dishes - cooked in one pot.

For Ramadhan, she decided to try the recipes out.
We had meatballs for buka puasa on the 8th Ramadhan.
Interestingly, they are easy to make.
Well, I helped Naza to make the meatballs. She prepared the ingredients.

It's really simple, I'm listing it here from the top of my head.
½kg Minced meat
1 teaspoon Italian herbs (or mixed herb)
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste

Mixed them all together (I used bare hands - a la Jamie Oliver).
Roll into balls. Size - up to you.
Do note that it will 'shrink' a bit after fried. And not too big, as it will take longer time to cook.

Deep fry the meatballs until brown.

I prepared the protein (with fat), and Naza prepared the gravy, carb and fibre.
Gravy is from Ikea - okay, so we cheated a bit.
Carb - boiled potatoes.
Fibre - boiled carrots and broccoli

Nice coloured meal, and yummy.
I don't know why though, the meatballs are kinda 'dry' inside, not quite like the ones in Ikea.