Cohabiting: Frozen lauk.

I know I'm not the most housewife-material of all, despite my goal to become one. Well, not really to become a housewife housewife, rather, to be a stay-at-home-mom with a steady income. Now how complicated is that? So much for a medical degree. 

But anyway, allow me to become a little domesticated this time.

Not sure if I've said it before, but I've been on placement in Burton for the last 6 weeks, coming back to Leicester only during the weekends. And as you can guess, I think I have completely spoilt Adam in a sense that he won't cook for himself when I'm not around. He'll opt for the take-outs and delivery instead.  And sometimes nasi with telur goreng semata.

Sedih saya mendengarnya. Tummy department doesn't sound like it's doing too well.

That's when I decided to come up with a plan - frozen meals. God bless whoever invented freezer meals. It's well known among the Westeners as their food aren't so much like ours, which have to nasi and lauk. And rasanya orang Melayu kalau masak memang terbaik, macam nak bersilat kat dapur pun ada. Living in the UK where bahan masakan Melayu can be limited, frozen lauk solves half of the problem. I'm still desperate for daun kesum to make asam pedas, though!

So last Thursday we went to Tesco for chickens, a whole lot of chicken.

This, whole lot of chicken. All 24 pieces of them, (yes I counted).

And another whole lot of bawang

Plus about half a kg of beef. The beef isn't part of the frozen meal plan, but because someone posted something about 'daging jeruk' on Facebook the other day, I thought I just had to.

It was literally this. Slices of meat layered with lime/lemon and salt prepped overnight in the fridge, and shallow fried in oil, onion and chilli the next day. I tell you, this totally feeds the kampung girl in me.

And now, skipping to random parts of the cooking process. Since I'm good at cooking and not cooking-while-snapping-momentous-pictures, you'll see only the beginning of it, as halfway through I realised that my ayam kicap was nearly burnt, and the curry paste was making a mess all around, so grabbing a DSLR was the last thing on my mind.

I decided to make 3 dishes - ayam kicap, ayam masak lemak and kari ayam. I wanted to do tomyam too, but decided against it as there's not enough pots and pans, and the freezer wouldn't take it as well.

Half-frying the chicken for ayam kicap.

Slices of meat for paprik daging - this was for actual dinner, not quite for freezing.

Adding onions before I left them a little too long and realising that it's slightly burnt.

Curry and chilli paste, a whole lot of curry paste. Lesson learnt, use less next time.

Tumis kari.

At some point my stove looked like this. My heart bloomed with pride.

And in the end the kitchen was a complete mess. 

In my ideal world, Adam would come home to wash them (I cook, he cleans), but my ideal world also consists of a perfectly clean kitchen after a successful freezer meals prep. And it helps that we have an open plan kitchen, which means the living room and kitchen continues in one open space. It would be impossible to sit and watch TV with this view on the background, nope.

The end product. The OCD in me bursts into joy!

Each container holds 2 pieces of chicken, enough for 2 meals at a time. The two containers on the right keep cili kering yang dah ditumis untuk masak lauk 'merah', like paprik and anything sambal. I know it would be more space-savvy if I use the ziplock bag, as they can be compressed, and they don't get freezer-burnt for a long time. But I'm not very keen on the idea of having to transfer them into another bowl for serving, and we're not keeping these dishes for a very long time anyway. I foresee these would be gone in a week or two - which means 2 weeks of no bersilat kat dapur, haha.

Wife job, done. And now back to the duty role of a student, phew.

London food hunt.

About some forever ago, (chill Bella it's only been a month pfft), I went to London with Afiqah on a day trip. East Midlands Train was running a promo, less than £15 for a return train to London - can't say no to that, can I? It was a random decision made by the two of us on Twitter. Afiqah tweeted about the deal, I asked if she wanted to go on a trip, and boom, we were both set and ready to go. After all there's only two of us bebimbos left in this cold English land since Edy is yet to return for her PhD.

Main purpose of the trip?

Food.

Yes - food hunting! We have a list of things to be ticked off, so we were pretty determined.

1. Eggs Royale

Arrived nearly at 9am, we set on foot to Dean Street Townhouse near Covent Garden after some googling effort of the best place to have Eggs Benedict/Royale in London.

Meet Afiqah. A PhD student doing Engineering in Sheffield. Highly independent, despite being the only girl the the family. Love love loooveeeee travelling - been to USA and Indonesia on a shoe string - alone. I repeat, a-l-o-n-e. In other words, a solo backpacker. Seen most of Europe. Setting herself to go to Iran this winter. MAJOR RESPECT I CANNOT. If you want to do something new, go on a adventure, learn to be brave, this is the man. Or lady, whatever. She's truly something.

Meet Bella. A Medical student doing Medicine (haha) in Leicester. Highly independent when her husband isn't around, albeit a cry baby. Cries every now and then about littlest thing, such as the weather being too cold or the grocery bags being too heavy. Been wanting to go on a solo trip, but the furthest she went alone was Scotland after her father said no to her going to USA on her own. Itu pun gelabah nak balik rumah sebab nak Facetime. In constant search for cheap flight tickets to Belfast, kesian. And contemplating every now and then if she should start making babies. 

NO I CANNOT HAHAHAHAH.

And the star of the morning, Eggs Royale. This is perfection. Utter perfection. At £6.50 each, I think it's worth trying. By that I mean trying bukan makan sampai kenyang sebab mahal. Because you will end up wanting more. The hollandaise sauce was perfect, the egg was beautifully poached, the salmon was generous. Gorgeous. And the cafe interior was very posh, making it a bit awkward for both of us cause it felt like we were on a date.

2. Cronut, or crodoughnut (a hybrid between croissant and doughnut)

This was suggested by AJ back in Leicester, so went on a search for it. If you Google cronuts in London, one of the cafes selling them is Wild & Coffee. It's a cute little award-winning coffee house.

Excitement.

The much sought-after cronut. They only had it in red velvet flavour, but it was enough to make me want more. I didn't expect it would be that good, to be honest. But it was. It took doughnut to a whole new level. There was a bit of doughnut and a bit of croissant in every bite, not to mention the fresh cream at the centre. Verdict, try it. Especially if you have sweet tooth like me. At £3.70 each it did seem a bit pricey, but definitely worth trying. 

3. Burger & Lobster

That one place in London where it's a must to post in Instagram, myself included, lol. We went to the branch on Dean Street (just opposite Dean Street Townhouse). It opens at 12pm on Saturdays and we got there at about 11.50am after getting the cronuts. And we were greeted by this.

People lining up for lunch. Looking at the crowd, I was disheartened at first, but boy we were determined. It didn't take long, and once the door opened there were plenty of seats inside. It's quite a big eatery, so if you see people lining up like this, chances are you'll probably only have to wait for a maximum of 10 minutes. Well that's the theory anyway.

Not sure which one gets my attention more, Afiqah's sharp look, or the lobster. Haha.

Senonoh mana, senonoh?

Done and dusted.

I found the place pretty cool. They only have three menus - whole lobster grilled or steamed, lobster roll, and beef burger. We went for the steamed lobster, and hands down, I was sold. There was one time I had grilled lobster in Brussels and that was nowhere near this. Afiqah, on the other hand, had a grilled lobster at Manhattan Fish Market back in KL, and she preferred that more. But still we both agreed the lobster here was amazing and it's definitely worth coming back for. The lobster came with fries and salad and a sauce of your choice. The set is priced at £20 each, but since almost all restaurants in London charge for their service, essentially it's £22.50. Speaking of, I'm so not used to service charge in the UK, and suddenly there's a whopping 12.5% service charge here in London. Makes me feel contented to be in Leicester.

4. Noodle Oodle

Afiqah wanted this one so badly so I had to play along. Haha. This is a halal Chinese restaurant near to Bayswater where Malaysian Student Department (Malaysian Hall) is, making it a famous eatery among the Malaysians in London. Their  main specialty is roasted duck, as it's not easy to find halal ducks in the UK. 

The dish looks like a chicken rice set as a whole. We got the £10.50 set where it came with dumplings as starter, duck and rice as main, and a choice between banana fritters or some mango delicacy as desserts. And no service charge (hooray!) making it a very very veeerry filling meal. I think we overkilled it with this one, though. You see, we walked for more than an hour from the last place (lobster) to here, and to justify that, we just had to order a set each. Big mistake there. It was too much for us. The whole thing was good, but when you have too much of something good, it becomes the other way round. This is definitely something I would have on a very hangry day (hungry and angry), not on a I-feel-like-eating-everything-in-the-world day. 

Since we were already near Bayswater, we went to Malaysian Hall to pray and me, to see Kak Na, the warden. Had ginger tea and kuih seri muka at the canteen while waiting for her, which too bad I didn't take the pictures, since it's a rare occasion for me to go for kuih Melayu at the Malaysian Hall.

Met Kak Na and the whole family, and she insisted on us staying for dinner (as she always does), but we had trains to catch. By the way, another thing on Afiqah's list was Tinseltown, but we were too full for that. And everyone knows Tinseltown applies the same 'hangry' rule, they do big portions and their milkshakes are to die for, so by that time we thought it was probably a bit too much. Takde rejeki. But well, Leicester has Tinseltown so it's not a big deal! Good reason to make her come to Leicester anyway. Heh.

Later that night only we realised we didn't have any pictures together, so here goes.

Parted ways at London St Pancras where Afiqah took the train back to Sheffield while myself to Leicester. And I can proudly say I had one of the best food hunt in London on that day.

I think most of it went to how we both are so easy-minded. We didn't mind walking, which having said that, we only took the tube from Malaysian Hall to St Pancras. And it's not everyday when you have a friend who's so easy going and not fussed over small things. Like going in and out of stores along Oxford Street, skimming through sales without really buying anything. I mean, I don't have that many friends, but when I do, I really treasure them.

Having said that, we had salmon, lobster, duck, and nearly lamb in one day! Total damage including train tickets was less than £50. Worth every single pence. Ahh, of London and all the glorious food.

Meanwhile I'll just stay put in Boston, ughhh.

27 Days of Home: Day eight to eleven.

Day 8: Monday, 03/02/14 - A date with with bebimbos

Decided to meet up at KLCC since Syeeda had to work on that day. An easy pick for Faw and I as well as we are the MRR2 girls lol. Above all my hats off to Afiqah who came all the way from Klang! Effort la sikit nak jumpa sifu ye dak haha.

Remember these girls? They're all grown ups now :')

A little update on the girls: Both Syeeda and Fawani are now engineers working around KLCC at the moment. Afiqah is going to continue her PhD in Sheffield in April. Irhana is now back for good from her Masters but couldn't be kidnapped due to her being grounded lol. Edy is now in Cardiff doing M.Phil. something I vaguely familiar about but definitely beyond degree. Nina is now working with Petronas in KL, on her way to starting a family.

Nabilah? Lagi dua minggu balik UK belajar medic tak habis habis. Haha.

Tangga kejayaan katanya. Sads

Had chicken parmigiana for late lunch at Secret Recipe and I wasn't too impressed.

We had desserts too which were super nice but I ate them even before thinking of taking the pictures lol. They were chocolate lava cake and all chocolate cake if I remember well?

Day 9: Tuesday, 04/02/14 - Catching up with KN

This one is truly a catching up session since the last time I saw him was in Nottingham's Games in 2012. Almost two years back! And we didn't really have the time to chat as it was already closing ceremony and everyone was rushing to go back. But this time.. All the time in the world! Well not really since I had a curfew by Maghrib lol.

We went shopping for his work shirts at Sogo and much to his dismay, our tastes are nothing alike! I hate looking at men in short sleeved shirts, whereas he's comfortable in them. I don't find plain white shirts with coloured stripes attractive, he thinks they're as good. I like a little pop of colour and designs on a shirt, probably around the colar or cuffs but he goes for the super boring plain ones.

But as much as we'd like to argue on our personal tastes, it all came down to prices. Beggars can't be choosy, no? So he bought three shirts with me half-approving. At some point while shirt-hunting we both agreed that I could never really agree on his choice so I'd just settle for what was there haha!

Then we had lunch at Manhattan Fish Market.

Seafood chowder for starter. It had chunks of seafood in it. Nice!

Seafood platter something I can't remember for our main

It is meant to be shared hence the super large portion. Verdict, not too bad. The seafood was nice but it occured to me that I like my seafood done in a more 'traditional' way when it comes to tempura. More 'celup tepung' like than this kind of posh batter whatnot. I know it doesn't quite make sense but I used to live in Terengganu for more than ten years and nothing beats the 'goreng celup tepung' from there.

Chicken caesar salad

Another point which KN and I couldn't really agree on. I have never ever ever EVER ordered salads or anything like that at a restaurant. But KN likes this particular one that he just had to order it. I played along as I've heard somewhere saying Manhattan Fish Market has one of the best caesar salad. Lie. Or at least I don't agree to it. Nothing impressive, especially when you're Manhattan Fish Market. Could have done better.

But the one thing that I really like was the drink. Or drinks.

My bubblegum something. 

I think it's just sprite with a zest of pineapple syrup and lime. And probably some bubblegum colouring/flavour? Refreshing. Yums.

KN's apple pandan something.

I don't find it too interesting but KN thought it was nice and I thought he was just justifying his choice lol.

All in all, it was a good lunch.

Next we went for prayer and stopped by at CIMB nearby to resolve my suspended online banking. Had a good time laughing at each other's noob-ness since we both couldn't remember our username/password. My case was easily justified since I hardly used the service but his? Just noob, plain noob. Kahkah.

Came home completely knackered, only that night I had to teman my sister at the hospital. 

Hence,

Day 10: Wednesday, 05/02/14

Day 11: Thursday, 06/02/14

Another do nothing day!

Well not really because both Ummi and Syahirah had been ill so I did most of the house chores myself and if I didn't warn you I HATE HOUSE WORKS. Chores. Lipat kain. Masak. Sapu lantai. Basuh pinggan. I am never the housewife material I'm so sorry! And it doesn't help that we have a twelve-year-old boy who changes his clothes three times a day - baju sekolah, baju sekolah agama, baju main bola, baju swimming (if I'm unlucky) baju tidur, you name it! God helps D:

Mamak.

I have always been a foodie as far as I can remember. Street food, to be precise. My nights used to be spent (read: wasted) at mamak restaurants up to wee hours for no good reasons.

Sometimes I wonder what is it about mamak that I really can't get over with. I don't think it's the food, really, since I don't have any particular preference over certain food, though my usual order at mamak are usually cheese naan with chicken tandoori and three layer tea or neslo tarik. But I am also happy to settle for Mali's char kuay teow or SAS Corner's mee kungfu, which, as the names suggest, aren't mamak-style.

It's the feel good factors that come with the package. One of my favourite things to do (read: wasting time) is observing people. Tonight I was watching two young girls selling some sort of madu herba under the name of charity. They had me thinking, what kind of rumah kebajikan would let two young girls walk around asking for donation at this hour i.e. past midnight? Then there were a bunch of U-mobile promoters giving out their flyers. That was when I wonder, who goes to mamak with the intention of buying broadband packages and phone plans? Well there's always a chance, as they say sambil menyelam minum air. But no, really? These people, the girls, the promoters, amazed me with their persistence. There I was, at midnight, just idling around enjoying the good food, while there were people still trying their luck to earn some cold hard cash (or postpaid customers, in this case). 

To me, late night outing means good food and good company, but to some others, it determines whether or not they can pay the rent for next month.

I should really be grateful.

Cheese naan with chicken tandoori and three layer tea.
And a very absorbed husband.

The great lunch.

Ayam goreng kunyit, sup sayur pak choi with telur, sambal belacan.

Probably my best lunch since I can remember.

Long lost love.

HOMAI HOMAI :O :O you're back.

Must. Go. Buy. NOOWWWW!!

Summer Break: Makan Tak Beragak.

Adam was here for almost a week and we had a food feast. The theme was Makan Tak Beragak.

Memang betul makan tak beragak lah. In total I think we both spent almost £100 each just for the food. Yes, read that right. Just. For. Food. And that is for EACH.

So that's like £200 for both. Leave it in GBP. Jangan darab lima.

But really, my aim was to fill Adam to the max, since he's been starving for weeks. He only filled himself with DoTA and Korean stuff since his last exam, which was at the end of May. So now it's time to feed him with food. Real food.

1. Nando's

 One whole chicken with 4 side dishes

2. Tinseltown

Lamb chop with mash and veggies

3. Nasik lemak ayam home made (not in the picture)

4. More Buffet Restaurant

5. Piero's Snack Bar

Prawn Mary Rose Jacket Potato

Lasagne with garlic bread

6. Esquires Coffee House

 Chai Latte with cinnamon

Mango smoothie

7. Emerald Thai Restaurant

Prawn Tom Yum

 Thai Green Curry with rice

Salmon in Hot Sweet Sour Sauce with rice

This is our summer vacation. Here in Leicester. But there's more to come next!