Kodomo no Shiro

23 maret 2009, senin
Hari ini ngajak anak2 main di ehime kodomo no shiro, tempat main anak2. Datang ke sana ternyata ga begitu ramai, mungkin karena hari senin yak...kalo weekend wah padat banget dah..
Disana ada bangunan seperti kastil, dalamnya tentu saja t4 mainnya anak2, seperti kolam bola, mainan anak2, main sepeda, ato bola yg gede banget, ada pingpong, ada perosotan, ayunan...mpe bisa pinjem komputer buat main game...

Trus ada stage, sayang hari senin, jadi ga ada acaranya...kl weekend psti rame da pd nonton. Ada kolam renang mini juga...mmm...ga bisa berenang juga, coz masih agak dingin...jadi main2 air aja dah. Nyari tempat buat makan siang disitu, udah kayak piknik aja, bawa bento dari rumah...gw bikin makizushi, trus bawa sosis goreng, kue n roti, cemilan2 anak, air minum..lumyan berat juga..hehe. Trus terakhir naik kreta tentomushi...nyampe nyampenya ke arah kastilnya...jadi ga usah jauh2 lagi balik ke t4 parkirnya...cape juga...mmm..tapi senang bisa jalan2 bareng kluarga.

Trakhir, kita nyempetin mampir ke pameran bunga nano hana matsuri di minara, skitar setengah jam dari kodomo no shiro. ..ga ada apa2 si, cuman hamparan bunga kuninggg...bagus buat foto2..sayang Xiang keburu bo2, ga smpet ngeliat dah...uda terlalu cape main2 tadii...hehehe

Krispy Kreme Day!

Yesterday one of our Executive Creative Directors here at Saatchi House served Krispy Creme Doughnuts! So thanks to Facebook because Tones our ECD tagged me and I was able to grab these pics! One sweet day in the office. It was really fun and happy afternoon after the last week vodka-slurpee afternoon party. Slurpee on the other hand makes my heart freeze and not my brain :p

(In this photo: Sab, Tanya, Hans Malang, Windel Aboy, Jo Angeles, Andrew Petch, Kate Plata, Maan Agsalud, Bia Fernandez, Sir Rod, Jordan Santos, Patrick Miciano, Bogey Bernardo, Biboy Royong, Abe, The Artist Chef Joanie, Mark Peckson, Ruel Arnedo, Glenn Lalogan, Acid Cid and The Ian San Gabriel...where are the others?)

I just realized how I really, really love Krispy Kreme and told myself that maybe it only takes two doughnuts for me to say YES! Not that difficult huh. And so now me and my Creative Director Rex will run to 7-11 for an afternoon "Ice Cream Craving." My treat! :p

hugs,
joanie xxx

Irresistible

Over the weekend my friend Monika and I made an excursion to an Indian grocery store near her house. Supposedly it was the "larger" store in the area. This means when you walk down one of the two aisles in the store, you don't knock bottles of chutney off the shelf.

Have you been in an Indian grocery store? Here's what you'll find. Frozen flatbreads. Frozen dinners of spinach and cheese or lentil stew. Huge bags of ground and whole spices for about $3 each. Bottled ginger paste, bottle garlic paste, and my favorite - bottled ginger/garlic blend. Different kinds of pickle made with lemon or mango. Flour and beans of every variety. Refrigerated mix for making dosa (Indian version of a crepe). Fresh vegetables like ginger, cilantro, onions, garlic, okra, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes. Goldenrod and tangerine colored sweet blocks made from flour and sugar, nuts and cheese.

I'm a kid in a candy store in there. Not because I like to stock up on the frozen samosas and naan (though I do). It's the aisle of spice mixes that gets me going. Because here's a secret: I never really learned any Indian recipes from my mom. She doesn't use recipes. This is how she makes goat curry. Get my dad to cut up the goat meat. Coat it in ginger, garlic, turmeric, red pepper, salt, and other mystery spices. Marinate overnight. Cook in a big pot with some water on a low heat for a long time, until it's tender. It's magically delicious. I might be leaving out some steps since I never really watched her make it, I just turned up when it started smelling good.

So I need those spice mixes. I need them to cook with and I need them to inspire me. I went in there to buy a chicken biryani mix and picked up one for kofta curry (also known as meatballs and gravy). But there were many options for curries, kebabs, veggies, tandoori, and desserts. Those boxes of spice mix last a long time so as much as I wanted to buy a shelf full, I restrained myself. I used my biryani mix to marinate my chicken overnight, mixing it with yogurt, tomato paste, slow cooked chopped onions, cilantro, garlic, ginger, and salt. I cooked the chicken and soaked the rice with whole spices - cinnamon, cardomom, and cumin seeds. Then everything went into a pot with some fried potatoes and saffron infused milk and cooked for nearly an hour. Don't you dare say I made my biryani from a mix.

Shan Food has a list of all their products. I especially like the category labled "Irresistible Pickle" and plan to name my off-the-beaten-path pub that some day.

Hummus and Flatbreads

If you are ready and willing, I’d like to let you in on a little secret.

Ready? Good

Willing? Excellent.



Here we go: you never need to buy another flatbread, pita bread, wrap, tortilla or naan bread ever again.

They are so easy to make, so very tasty, so incredibly fast and so extraordinarily cheap that it makes almost no sense to buy them.

Before I started keeping a ‘mother dough’ in the fridge, I used to make flatbreads with a simple flour and water dough, flavoured with a little salt and olive oil (about 250g of bread flour, 150ml of warm water and seasoning to taste).



Within five minutes it was possible to have a steaming pile of hot, blistered flatbreads ready to be torn apart by hungry guests and dipped into garlicky hummus or wrapped round a spicy lamb kofta.

Now all I do is tear a small handful of dough from the bubbling mass in the fridge, incorporate a little extra flour to make a workable dough, roll extra thinly and cook for 30 seconds on each side in a hot, dry, frying pan.

For pita breads, after the dough has been rolled, fold it over on itself once, then once again to trap a layer of air in the dough. Roll it out and cook as above. It should puff up like a little pillow as steam gets trapped inside the bread. Perfect for slicing open and stuffing with falafel, salad and tzaiki .

We cook these a lot. Brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, they are an ideal snack and near impossible not to eat whilst they are still too hot.



Dipped in hummus, too, they are wonderful. Blitz a tin of chickpeas, some of the reserved water, two cloves of garlic, olive oil and seasoning in a food processor and you have an insta-lunch.

I tend to sprinkle a little smoked paprika over the top as well, just to add a slight warmth and depth of flavour. Just delicious.

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registration day

i've watched confession of a shopaholic!!! lalalala~~~

dont b jealous. haha. show off gile! =P
act. i dunno how 2 download any movie from da internet.
but then ternmpk link 'watch now' or smthing like dat.
terus click n biar laptop on je sepnjng mlm.
bgn pagi2, x kemas katil, x mandi, terus g dpn laptop!


n tgk cite confession of a shopaholic nih!!! haha.
d mlysia, this thursday 26th march baru dtayangkan! hee.
cite nih, 4 me, biase - biase. best but biase.
yes i know i'm soooooooooooooo excited 2 watch d movie.
but then mcm frust jgk. cuz biase sgt. tp. puas la dpt tgk~
wanna know bertapa sy nak tgk cite nih?
sy tnggu dah lebeyh 3 months! and. sy tgk trailer hari2.
since sy download trailer filem ini d laptop! haha.
and sy beli novel die! & sy hafal few parts of da dialogue!

nyway. it's da 1st day of 5th sem. more to, registration day.
nothing much 2 be done. just, isi borang d office.
n then. cracked some jokes with the lecturers.
and. borak-ing with friends. long time no c~
as usual. lepak d CMR. lunch hour bebeh.
and leon gave us a keychain from indonesia.


he's a classmate of mine from indonesia. hee. he's da eldest.
then Dill busyuk ajak mkn ice cream d klcc. okay!
me. zikri. leon. dill. fatin. shasha. we went there. 1st thing.
serang gelato fruity beramai - ramai!!! haha. addiction~


went to kinokuniya. and finally!!!

i've found da #1 twilight saga novel. which is - twilight.
i've been searching 4 this novel 4 a few months.
n all over mlysia. yesss. hua3... fyi. twilight saga ade 4.
twilight - new moon - eclipse - breaking dawn


and. #1 tuh, i went 2 most of da bookstore, da x de stok!
yg #2 - #4 sumenye berlambak d pasaran. wawawa~~~
finally! then mama blh plak tanye. soklan cam best.
"nape x beli je full series twilight tuh?"
mama. kalo ade cash-in-hand. hua...best ah.
ni duit ckup mkn je wooo~~~ wawawa.
sape2 yg cam baik hati nak kasi novel lg...
dialu - alukan! haha... gile x malu muke nih. skali skale~

after lepak-ing with them. went back 2 college.
2 meet nora. talk n talk n talk. and. she gave me.
a slumdog millionaire novel + big lollypop!


huaaaa... thanks a lot! erm. really appreciate it.
and nora terbuat lawak drpd kesilapan percakapannye...

"waed suruh aku carikan lagu raya"
should be lagu kahwin

"nnt waed dtg kasi kad raya"
should be kad kahwin.

lambat lg raya weyhh!!! XD

Una juventud violenta.

Lo vemos todos los días en las noticias, lo escuchamos por la radio, en los programas del corazón... se hacen campañas de prevención, se trata de evitar que suceda... pero sigue sucediendo, y cada vez más.

El caso de Marta del Castillo hace que te plantees cuán segura estás rodeada de gente; te replantea y hace mirar con otros ojos al género masculino... ¿Y si no es tna encantador como parece? ¿Y si, a pesar de ser ahora amable conmigo, se pone violento cuando haga algo que no le guste?¿Acaso tengo que vivir en la sociedad de "las Mujeres Perfectas"? Luego te lo niegas en tu propia cabeza, "No, a mí no me va a pasar, por favor". Hasta que pasa.

Este pasado fin de semana un elemento subversivo estuvo reteniendo (y casi agrede) a una de mis mejores amigas contra su voluntad. Suena a coña, no te planteas que alguien que va de progre, cool y moderno, pueda tener una reacción así. Y no obstante, la tuvo. Ahora esta chica se debate entre el terror y la misantropía máxima hacia el género masculino... y lo mejor, la "culpa", es de ella.

Claro que la culpa es de nosotras. Es de nosotras por dejarnos engatusar por palabras y caras dulces. Es de nosotras por confiar cuando te tienden una mano. Es de nosotras, por ser claras y tener las ideas claras. Es de nosotras, por tener miedo.

Me asusta que cada vez pasen estas cosas con gente cada vez más joven, y de clases sociales tan dispares y diferentes; y con educación o sin ella. La violencia ya no es algo de las clases bajas o de zonas marginales. Nos afecta a TODOS. Y por mucho que trate de pararse, sólo engendra más violencia.

Porque claro, ahora soy yo la que quiere coger un bate de béisbol y partir cráneos. Porque el que hizo la ley, hizo la trampa. Porque todo es un juego político.

Porque somos una juventud violenta que tiene sueños de paz e igualdad.

Honey Roast Chicken and Potatoes

Chicken is a great favourite of mine and I know of a great many other people as well. I am therefore always on the look out for new and exciting healthy chicken recipes which I can add to my repertoire. This roast chicken offering is very simple and straightforward in preparation but is absolutely delicious when served.

Ingredients

1 3 or 4lb chicken
1 small orange (unpeeled and shopped in to 8 pieces)
1 tbsp orange blossom honey
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 large potatoes (unpeeled and chopped in to 1" chunks)

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.

Put the honey and thyme in to a large bowl or basin and stir well. Add the orange pieces and stir to ensure they are evenly coated then stuff this mixture in to the cavity of the chicken.

Place the chicken on a roasting tray and cover with aluminium foil. Put it in to the oven and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven and remove and discard the foil. Add the potato pieces to the tray and stir them around well in the juices which should by now have collected. Return the tray to the oven for a further 45 minutes.

Check the chicken is properly cooked by sticking a metal skewer or fork in to the thickest part of the thigh and ensuring that the juices run clear. It is then simply a matter of carving the bird and serving with your deliciously flavoured roast potatoes and further vegetable of your choice.