Of Tahmiah and Samak

View of the Burj Fateh from the Friendship Hall

Well it's the 2nd last working day before the 4Es embark on our holiday! Why 2nd last? Because I'll still be coming on Sunday morning for half a day of work.

Today Ckn tak larat nak masak lunch, pity her, since she has a few more of her MBA assignments to submit. At 12pm I went out to look for a driver to take me to any of the restaurants in Riyahd area.. Unfortunately, and this is nearly everyday, all the drivers have dissapeared. The office is running on a skeleton crew, and all the drivers have dissapeared...

So I thought - should I go starving waiting for the phantom drivers or should I find an alternative? I decided on the latter. I upped and walked about 10 mins to the Friendship Hall, which is west of the office, to have some 'Kusairi' (A cheap Egyptian dish, which is a bowl of various pasta shapes, topped with a nice sour onion sauce + shata) at the roadside restaurant.

It wasn't too hot; in fact it was nice and windy. The only thing is, no one was selling Kusairi today...Crap-usairi! I don't dig Sudanese Fuul, so I opted for the Tahmiah sandwich instead. Tahmiah is exactly like vade from back home - they stuff it in a bun (aish) with chili paste (shata), and sesame seed sauce (tahmiah), and it costs 1 pound (cheap, in any language!). I washed it all down with Pasgianos - it's only available in Sudan, but it tastes exactly like the cough syrup you can get in clinics back home; you know the kind in plastic bottles that them addicts like soo much...errr...

Today's lunch - scrumptious!

It was a pleasant lunch, and after finishing 20 mins later, I walked back. Only this time, it was a little hotter. I stopped to take some pics of the friendship hall, but all I got on me was my crappy Palm Treo cam, so I couldn't post nice pics - maybe next time!

3rd 4Es' 3rd Birthday

Ehsan was born on June 3rd 2005 - it wasn't easy as he put Ckn through hours of labor, only to stop at 7cm dilation, forcing a c-section delivery. Alhamdullilah, all went as planned (except a slight infection on Ckn's stitches). And now, Ehsan is 3 years old!

Our own speed racer - this is the 3rd time blowing out the candles

When we were discussing Erica's besday party last January, we also looked ahead to Ehsan's as well. I had a trip back in February, so I was tasked to look for stuff for their parties. However, the one big dampener for Ehsan's besday was that it was in June; which is the height of summer and when our colleagues (and their children) were mostly away. So, it wasn't possible to organise another big do for Ehsan, like we did for Erica. Since we are planning to go away ourselves (2 weeks and counting!), we decided to have our own little party for Ehsan instead.

Ehsan really liked that cake...or was it the singing and blowing out the candles bit?

Ckn baked a chocolate cake for Ehsan. We couldn't find cooking chocolate for the topping, so Ckn bought some Cadbury bars instead (The side effect was that I enjoyed the cake immensely!). We propped the candles on 3 cute sports cars, and we had a fun time blowing out the candles the moment I came back from work.

My mom joined us on the phone as we were singing Happy Birthday to Ehsan. He behaved well and waited till we finished singing before huffing and puffing!

Ckn prepared a dinner of grilled lamb chops and I promised to help with the roasted potatoes. I even managed to make a sauce from the drippings (but it was crap!). I just digged the cake and I think that spoiled dinner a bit for me! We hope to have another mini party with Mama, Baba and Fyan in the next 2 weeks, and I'm sure Ehsan will enjoy his trip to the toy store then! I know I would... Happy Birthday, son!

Baking Therapy

Ezal's frankfurter rolls

I told Ckn yesterday that I wanted to bake frankfurter rolls...and she gave me the usual 'we'll see...' look. Can't blame her coz I've always shared my intention of cooking this or that, but never got around it! so to surprise her, I really did my best this time.

I woke up early (well 8.30 on a Friday is early) and set about my task. I got the recipe while browsing to a website called Visual Recipes. We can't get these rolls in Sudan, and I really missed having them. I was determined to do this all by myself - and to my surprise, I did. When Ckn later joined me, she did point out that my yeast was expired and that the risk of that was that the dough would not rise...fortunately it did! I managed to yield 14 pieces (only had 7 franks in the fridge). Even Ehsan got in the act and helped roll out the dough - well, at least in his own special way!

Well, I finished the last roll at dinner; we had plenty of samplers today - Ckn, Devin (my colleague who was over to discuss her wedding montage), Nazri and Mahadir (our neighbours who joined us for lunch). They were polite enough to say that the rolls were good.

hehe and I agreed!

Iftar at Assaha Restaurant

I think Ramadan this year has been kind on me, Alhamdullillah. It's already past 3 weeks and insyaAllah we will be celebrating Eid next week flies. Yay!

As a huge thank you, I planned to treat Ckn to Iftar at a restaurant. It wasn't going to be the first time that we ate out for Iftar. Early in the Ramadan, I treated Ckn to Iftar at the As Salam Rotana Hotel. That was a good place to have dinner and it really helped build Ckn's spirits. So where could we go this time then?

Recently we've been hearing a lot about this new restaurant called Assaha; our friends claimed that their coffee easily beats Solitaire (a local establishment with an international menu), and a colleague was heaping praises on it after failing to get a booking due to it being full last week (obviously a good sign of patronage). Naturally, we'd thought that this would be a good idea to pay them a visit (pun intended).

Much to our surprise, we discovered that this new restaurant was just a 5 minute walk away; we could even see the roof from our unit. I went there directly after work last Thursday to make reservations and they managed to squeeze the 2 of us for that evening's dinner service. Ckn thought it was a good idea to bring Ehsan along as he had been cooped up in the house for far too long.


...yes, I'll go with the house red please! (Notice the Lebanese spread)

I suggested to Ckn that we ought to go earlier to give us the opportunity to take some snaps of the unique building architecture. So we set off about a half hour before Iftar. As usual lil' Erica had to be left behind (more on that later!). I tried to cajole Ehsan to walk with us, but he firmly said no, so Ckn had to carry him all the way - I wonder if it was related to the new shoes he had on?

We found out that the restaurant was actually part of a Hotel, which shares the same design and theme of a traditional/historical Lebanese building. I guess they mainly used shale rock to construct their homes (don't ask what they use for cement - it looked like 'mud' and it had straw in it...God please let it be just mud...!). The crowd came in fast, as a company had booked their corporate event for that evening.


...so Baba just follow my handwriting and surely you'll get that promotion, ok?

When we went into the dining hall, the concierge said 'sorry but we're full' - I had to point out that we made reservations earlier. He still said no...until I pointed out my name clearly written on the booking sheet!. He relented and we got a nice table in the nook of the main restaurant - He wasn't rude or anything so it was OK.

Unlike Rotana, the Iftar here was going to be served from a fixed set menu. It was traditional Lebanese fair, which I had to accept at face value since my knowledge of Lebanese/Arabic cuisine is limited to Fatoush and tabouleh salads.

We started with parsley potatoes, chick pea humus (lovely), yoghurts, fish and tomato salad, green salad of jirjir, cooked veg that looked like sawi (but tasted sandy!), fatoush, chicken soup (nice) and puffy lebanese bread. Our entrees were a selection of small fried tid bits (imagine curry puff and spring rolls), chicken breasts baked in a tomato sauce and a briyani (with pistachio nuts & raisins) served with roasted kharoof (lammmb!). We finished with watermelon, and mouhallabia, a surprisingly tasty desert - akin to semolina pudding, but smelling strongly of rose water. Ckn couldn't finish hers because of the taste, but she was looking forward to try their umm ali. Unfortunately, they were not serving ala carte dishes until after the dinner rush.



All in all, I can say that we were impressed with the Assaha. The food was nice (a bit too expensive perhaps), it had a nice ambiance and the building was really unique - it wasn't tacky or gaudy. The staff were also efficient, for a packed house. We even planned to come again later that night with friends to sample their coffee (and umm ali desert!), but they couldn't make it in the end. So, you can say we're glad that we have an excuse to make another date with the Assaha soon!

p.s. So what about Erica? I guess she made us notice that leaving her at home was a no-no! Ehsan went to bed quietly enough, but Erica really made us work - she was crying non-stop and not drinking from her bottle! Only when we sat down in front of the TV with her on our laps did she behave herself, the cheeky lass! I guess all she wanted was a bineeded our attention... Sorry darling, perhaps when you're bigger and have gotten all your shots, ok?

4Es Cup Cake Ventures (un)Ltd.

Cup cakes to die for!

There have been several things that I have aways longed to do with my life; for example, I wanted to go to outer space, but the Malaysian Astronaut program came 25 years too late... and I don't think Malaysians would have approved of an overweight, short sighted paper pusher representing them as the first Malaysian in space! So that dream of mine was confined to watching Star Wars and Battlefield : Earth (ask my brother - it's the worst movie we've seen!)

I also had dreams to become a cook - I don't know why, perhaps it was a cool way to be creative and it sounded more alluring then being an accountant! Well, I recently managed to realise that dream and another grown-up longing of becoming an entrepenuer! Don't get me wrong, I've been cooking for a long time now. I made a killer masak asam pedas when I was at Kent, and my tiramisu was legendary (i.e. its no longer being made, hence it becoming 'legend'). But I've never (knowingly) sold anything before!


The Tiny Cup Cakes being set by Ckn (not pictured - me working the hand mixer before!)

So the story goes; Last Thursday, I promised Ckn that I would help her bake some tiny cup cakes for iftar. We started with gusto after I got back from work at 4pm. Using a recipe our neighbour in Sg Buloh gave Ckn, we managed to produce a batch of the lil' scrumptious tidbits. It wasn't too difficult; but I was made to understand that cake making was not to be taken lightly, that it was a delicate process and that the wrong timing of ingredients going in or doing something too much will spoil the batter.


...now open wide for some uncooked batter!

We were fasting and someone had to be the batter tester! So Ehsan and Erica helped out; Ehsan with the cleaning (i.e. licking the mixer attachments clean! Hey that was supposed to be my job!) and Erica with the 'batter quality Assurance' test.

Erica's not into food yet, but she liked what we were putting in her mouth, I guess. She was squirming, asking for more, but we stopped at just giving her a taste as the batter had raw eggs in it. Don't want lil Erica to fall sick now do we!

We had our first taste at iftar...and we loved it! I just looked at Ckn and she did the same - we both had the same thought, that we had to share this with the world (you can say it was a Eureka! moment...)

After much soul searching (30mins or less only!) we both decided to go into business to 'bring the goods to the market'. The timing couldn't have been better as there was a Petronita ramadan bazaar the next day, on Friday. We agreed that the costs of producing a batch of 16 packs was minimal (each pack had 5 cup cakes), while the proceeds from the endeavour would be substantial! Ckn would be in charge of the coupon selling for the whole bazaar, so the cup cake marketing would be my responsibilities! yipee... Finally, an opportunity to become a businessman presents itself!


My 'muka welfare marketing gimmick' and I at the bazaar ramadan

As this was as much a business as it was a learning experience, I told Ckn that we should have a little fun; so I decided to take pictures of all the people who bought our cup cakes. I got some odd looks from the others selling their wares at the bazaar, but I was on a roll (of course I wouldn't have considered this if I had a few hundred customers la).


The lucky few who went to bed satisfied (hmmm!)

The bazaar started at 4.30pm and I had my tupperware opened and ready by 4.40pm. Nobody gave the goods a second look for the first few minutes (maybe because we didn't put signages..DUH!) so I resorted to telling (nay, shouting to!) the patrons about the cup cakes and how scrumptious and cheap they were. Once the crowd rushed in at 5.00pm, my cup cakes literally became... hot cakes!

Throughout the event, Ehsan was not really himself; we thought he would have fun running around making friends - but it was a hot evening, and he managed to have missed his afternoon nap earlier, so fatigue and grogginess was sinking in. He spent most of the time sitting beside me. Ckn bought some lin chee kang to cool him down, and when I left the bazaar later, he cried himself to sleep in the car! Such was his tiredness that he slept soundly till the morning (so it was a restful night for Ckn!). However, he did take a liking to one of the patron's cutey daughter; and Ehsan took a picture of her himself :


Cute little Nur Ain, thru the eyes of Ehsan

All in all, we made a profit of SDG 13 or about RM22; not bad huh? The only problem was that we spent more than SDG 70 (RM120) to buy food for ourselves...! (well it was for 2 days - and _it is_ Sudan!) I now know the feeling of making ones own money and can appreciate how tough it is for people to have to do this on a daily basis. We're still deciding whether we will continue selling the cakes at this week's bazaar... but I'd like to quote Mr Gooding Jr from Jerry Mcguire '...Show me the moneeey!'

What I had for Tea yesterday

Like always on a Friday, I would be walking to Amarat Hall to join the other Malaysians to play badminton (it's about a one-half kilometer walk). Before going any further, I would stop at the small fruit stall near my home and ask for SDG 1 (RM1.70) worth of bananas (I would get about 5 bananas!)

During the game (my stamina's totally off, so I only play a game!) I would usually finish one or two pieces of banana, so I have the remaining fast-riping bananas lying in the fridge. So what do i do with those bananas? Lemping pisang!

I shot a text message to my wife for a recipe; but being a man, I didn't wait and foolishly went ahead.

Ckn gave me this recipe : 1 level Tablespoon sugar, 3-4 level tablespoon flour and the bananas

And this is the actual that I used : 2 shakes of the sugar container, about 5-6 heaped tablespoons flour, pinch of salt, and 2 pours of milk (that's using Ezalman's metric system..) and the bananas.

I used a pancake pan to cook them dry - non-stick so I didn't use any oil and managed to get about 8 lemping . They look scrumptious don't they! How about the taste? well... I finished them all. I think they tasted fine, except it had a floury taste - I'm guessing I put in too much. Oh, and the flour expired 6 months ago...

Hosting a Simple Get Together

I told Ckn last week that I wanted to host a simple 'do' at home - as a 'Thank You' to my neighbors who have helped feed me(!) since Ckn went home (if this do is succesful, then I'll *still* get free grub!). It's also been some time since all of us had a nice cuppa teh tarik and a chat. I'd hoped that this do would be a great way to do so.

Anyways, the more memorable comments I got after mooting the idea, was that everyone couldn't believe that I would host a 'hi-tea' without Ckn around(!). I admit, a women's touch is essential to the success of such a party, but I thought it would be a simple affair to handle (see my steps below!)

By the end of the day I think they were impressed (thank God), which was great! All the food was finished (either by eating or giving away; but there wasn't much to give away, anyway!) Of course I had a secret methodology for those who are single and want to host such an event too. I will share with you this secret...now :



Steps to Host a Simple Get Together

1. Send out Invitations - very important; you don't want to be slaving away for a 'lifeless' party, do you?
2. Cleaning - make sure the house is clean and conducive for your invitees, including the toilet; and the last important step...
3. Get someone to cater the party! hahahah. Easy as pie huh?

I ordered a pretty full menu; but I forgot that my neighbors were capable of 'sabotaging' it - by bringing a dessert each! haha - so it's a good kind of sabotage! Being the practical creature that I am, I suggested that I would set aside my dessert (not pictured; caramel custard), for the next day's event being held by my neighbor downstairs (irony - from NO parties in a while, to 2 parties hosted in the same weekend!). Well, everyone agreed! We don't want any food to go to waste right?

p/s by now I can admit that I took the very, very easy way out in using *a contractor* to prep the food. Hey, don't blame me; my wife wasn't here, was she? :-) haha sorry Ckn sayang

A Bit of Malaysia - Stored in our Larder

Another challenge for us living here is the lack of Malaysian essential 'stuff'; The stuff that we can find in any kedai runcit on any corner back home; The stuff we take for granted because it's easily obtainable; The stuff we can get cheaply...

But don't fret - we have a solution for that : Larders! or a place to stock-pile our consumables (read : food and soap...don't ask!)

We are given an allowance to transfer personal effects when we were 1st transfered to Sudan. Apart from the various personal effects (e.g. speedos, selipar jepun, Low yatt dvds, the usual...), we also send *some* food and household stuff ('Some' meaning a lot, enough for our 3 year tour of duty)

So you can understand the *excitement* whenever we know of a new transferree, because our sole duty would then be to 'hitch a ride'/'tumpang' - somehow, we have to get all the stuff we miss and want from Malaysia shipped together!

Well I got such a load 2 days ago (I've managed to secure several loads and 'milk runs' in the past, thanks!). Usually Ckn would be home to help sort out the mess...no luck this time! So I spent Friday morning clearing up the boxes (small shipment this time around - just 12 boxes!). We have 2 metal larders - the one on your right is for foodstuff and the other one is for the soaps...I said don't ask! Ckn reorganised the larders before leaving in January, and being such a 'wise' husband, I thought I'd just continue the sorting theme she had established.

It took about 1hr, and I _think_ I did a good job. haha! Anyway - here is a sampling of the stuff we have (or had) in the larder; perhaps this could inspire you to get your own!

• Large 1kg cans of Tuna chunks - hey, if it expires _only_ in 2009, then it must be good for you right?
• Maggi Mee - the ever-ready standby meal replacement...so what if they're *only* 6 months expired?
  
• Sardines - another handy alternative. Ckn has used them in sambals to laksa - works fine by me!
• Sanitary pads - after a few months in Sudan, Ckn *mysteriously* didn't need them anymore...
• Chili Sauce - due to some 'miscalculation', we've got tons of the stuff. I need to chug down One bottle every 4 days to finish it all before they expire; So... a splosh in my cereal, a splish in my tea...
• Curry Kerang Ayam Brand - 'nuff said!
• Soaps - (well you did ask) it's expensive here (we're talking about laundry soap), and it lasts forever, and somehow the Breeze fragrance just reminds me of Malaysia...
  

It doesn't hurt to prepare - and I think we got a fair amount of Malaysiana stock-piled for the times we yearn for home; just look at the picture (and that's just it being opened halfway somemore!). We just need to visit the larder for an expired tin goodie, or dry ingredients for that laksa. Failing which, we can always raid our friendly neighbors' larders for that 'air kotak' that we *didn't* bring at all!!

March 22, 2006 : mmm-Food!

We have this BBC - Food channel in our satelite subscription, and it's a great watch - they have so many chefs concocting so many wonderful dishes. Even to the point where we're trying out some of the recipes

Wish Astro had this back home...now if only we can substitute 'kicap masin' for all the wine and balsemic vinegar that they seem to splash into every dish they cook...!

Arab-a-day:
1. Kharuf = a sudanese sheep, tasty but not smelly!
2. Samak = Fish, but I can't remember what they call tilapia here (this fish originated from the Nile and can be found in fresh waters worldwide!)