will you ever try to eat this...

isn't this looks distasteful enough to be featured in the Bizarre Food?? 

i think Mr Zimmern would like it XD

............

you might be wondering.. what is that bizarre, green, nodular creature in the picture above.. don't worry i found it awfully bizarre too.. but looking at the background.. isn't that some kind of.. fried fish? haha. i think you might get the idea now:P

i've encountered with that thing, thanks to my recent trip to the fish monger..

btw this is bolti fish/tilapia nilotica. one of the very few variety of fish you can find here in mansoura. as suggested by it's name, the fish is freshly caught from the Nile river. if you make a trip to the fish monger, you can find small bolti fish, medium-sized bolti fish, and large bolti fish. that's how boring the selection is. hehe. and also this fish below, mullet. google gambar sat.. lupa nak tangkap. so these two are the default fish at the local fish monger..

and... once in a blue moon, you will come across other fish than the default fish. this time, it is the catfish. and they're usually XL sized catfish. gemok-gemok plak tu. look at them.. yummeh?

so once in a blue moon jugak.. i feel like eating keli goreng garing2.. bought nus kilo (half). pakcik tu x percaya plak saya nak ikan keli.. malaysians bela dlm kolam tepi rumah lagi ye pakcik.. i think even arabs pun x brapa makan ikan keli..kan?

pakcik ikan mengerjakan the kelis.. normally kos menyiang ikan bagi sekilo adalah LE 1, but for catfish bayarannya LE 5. ok faham.. susah ye nak mematikan n menyiang ikan ni. veeryy tough and slimy.

rupa-rupanya keli tu gemok sebab ini:

pakcik ikan: " kamu makan dgn roti" sambil buat gaya cicah-cicah. me: "err......." was-was. tapi takpelah, ambik jugak..

dikunyit dan garamkan.. termasuk la dgn telor2 sekali. bila lagi nak rasa telur ikan keli. hehe

keli goreng with that creepy green thing, which is it's roe.. nampak macam.. lumut?? sampai minyak pun jadi kaler ijau.. haish.. terus kena dump into the sink. camne eh rasa dia.. umm.. the physical appearance sememangnya membantutkan selera lah.. i'm not a big fan of ikan sungai.. sebab hanyir sikit kan.. kalau makan ikan keli kena basuh bersih2 n goreng garing2 sebab nak hilangkan hanyir dia.. so.. can you imagine, how ppl like me are supposed to enjoy the catfish roe? just makan beberapa cubit sbb nak rasa. n sambil makan sambil imagine the slimy, alive catfish..

anyway i'm giving myself an A+ sebab berani mencuba. hahaha. but i guess sama je macam normal fish roe.. except the extra fishy taste la kan... the avid fans of keli might like it. how bout you? XD

makan keli goreng dgn nasi n air asam with loadss of coriander.. love it that way ;)

dan sayur-sayuran.. ok.. macam nak bagi makan seploh orang..

so, Mr Zimmern, lepas tak masuk rancangan anda? haha. even durian pun boleh masuk. takkan ini tak boleh. tsk tsk.

selingan. member kepada Zimmern. satu-satunya lelaki berpangkat atok yang aku rasa masih handsome.

i miss i miss i miss!!

i miss i miss i miss blogging. but currently my state of mind is 'weng~ weng~' and it will be risky if i write in here. i'll promise to make a new post in 5 or 6 days.. so much to tell but don't know where to start. till then, c ya.

mandy rice and kunafa

i just break the fast with instant noodle yesterday because i was too lazy to join my housemate and our friends breaking the fast at Hadramawt restaurant at Tir'ah, not far from our house. it is a newly opened restaurant serving mandy rice and since the opening, it is packed with Malaysian students as the restaurant is strategically located at the Malaysian population. we have been planning to go there,but in the end it was just my housemate who went there to break the fast yesterday with our friends. it was already 6.05 p.m. and i was just woke up from my long sleep when she opened the door. i was still mamai-mamai so i just mintak tolong belikan, and she spent 35 minutes waiting for my take away. poor you lah Opie! hehe.. so i perform my terawih first at the masjid and had the mandy rice after that.

the soft, perfectly-cooked basmathi rice. the chicken is so lembut too. priced LE12 (RM6). cheap eh, compared to hadramawt in Malaysia!

the tomato and coriander sauce, with some vege as side dish.

transferred to the plate for more convenience while eating! i had them with sambal belacan that is already in the fridge just to suit my tekak melayu. no, i couldn't finish the rice but ate all of the chicken. therefore, i guess eating at home is more convenient for me because even though i couldn't finish the rice at home, i will leave larger portion of leftover if i was eating at the restaurant. on top of that i will cause inconvenience to others because i'm such a slow-eater. hehehe

mama also gave us some dessert before we went for terawih. i forgot what it's called so i googled it. this is a famous Egyptian/middle east dessert called kunafa, made from baked noodle with cream+coconut+nuts (i guess almonds) in between. our mama made it perfectly, this is the best kunafa i've ever tasted so far! not too sweet for our tastebuds.. and so deliciously creamyyy!

i also found that the name of dessert that i posted earlier is qatayef. i noticed that kunafa is quite popular in Malaysia recently since kewujudan restoran arab bak cendawan tumbuh di Malaysia sekarang. these two desserts are the top ten desserts in Egypt as claimed by a website that i've found, with kunafa placed in higher ranking. yeah, no doubt bout that :P

mama i want moooreee!!

makan-makan @mansoura

disebabkan seseorang telah memberi galakan utk menulis tentang 'pengalaman di egypt', maka bersemangat jugaklah saya membuat entry ni. kita letaklah gambar banyak2 supaya senang nak bercerita ye.

anda pernah makan dalam dulang? 1st time saya makan dalam dulang adalah semasa iftar di utp lama dulu. masa tu rasa pelik sgt, makan pulak sedulang dgn org2 yang tak dikenali.. tapi itula yang org panggil mengeratkan ukhuwah, ye tak. if you are a small eater, mungkin makan dalam dlm dulang ni tak sesuai utk anda, sebab anda akan terpaksa atau dipaksa menghabiskan segala yang ada dlm dulang tersebut. macam yang kami makan kat bawah ni. mengah tau nak habis!

gambar ni diambil pada hari ke 6 ramadhan. persatuan pelajar perubatan mansurah telah mengadakan iftar perdana. sapa2 yang nak join sila sahkan kehadiran anda di poll facebook utk kira berapa portion makanan yg nak disediakan. that was the first time PCM did something like iftar perdana for ramadhan ini if i'm not mistaken. so saya dan housemate saya pun apa lagi joinlaa.. yelah org nak bagi makan free kan. tak yah la susah2 masak. seperti yang anda lihat dlm dulang tu, itu portion utk 5 orang. mungkin nampak tak banyak tapi mengah jugak nak menghabiskan. yours truly dah surrender awal. kita bagi peluang kat orang lain la pulak makan banyak. haha. 

lauk yang dimasak katanya ayam masak lemak. tapi confuse masak apa sebenarnya pasal ada bunga lawang. fusion style kowt.. dan berulamkan daun rocket. simple aje.. tapi alhamdulillah, kenyang jugak kami.

yang kat bawah ni pulak makaroni bakar that i mentioned last entry.. disebabkan kemasinan yang melampau pada tastebud kami, maka decided utk bagi selebihnya kat baba.. utk pengetahuan, makanan arab generally adalah masin. so kami yakin baba mampu menghadapi kemasinan tersebut. hehe. jadinya kami hanya makan sikit2 sorang dan selebihnya seperti di bawah kasi baba laa.. banyak bukan. takpe, arab makan banyak.

tujuan meletakkan gambar makaroni tersebut adalah kerana nak tunjuk gambar kuih di bawah ni. org egypt ni time bulan puasa je, mesti keluarlah kuih2 tradisi semua. maaf la tak tahu pulak nama apa kuih ni. ia sedap, dan saya sukaa! from mama..

rupanya macam kuih yang dijual kat pasar malam tu. lupa plak nama dia. kulit luarnya mcm dibuat dari tepung beras.. keras2 sikit. inti dia kelapa parut, raisins dan groundnuts. i realize that egyptians are quite obsessed with dried coconut. byk kuih diorang taruk these coconut. and one thing about egyptian kuih ni, ia sangat2 lah manisnya.. people like my mom wont be able to digest this! but i loike this kuih.. haa bape kali nak cakap :P

and saje nak buat selingan sikit, kat bawah ni adalah kad kahwin my classmate, Bushra yang akan melangsungkan perkahwinannya di Johor lepas raya nanti. her card is made in egypt y'all! students malaysia kalau nak kahwin suka tempah kad kad sini, sebab murah tapi design fancy. tgkla design kat bawah ni. it's typical for egyptian wedding cards to be this fancy tau. and the price is LE 0.60 each which equals to 30 sen. oklah kan. tulisan pun dalam bahasa melayu. hehe. but my wedding card in the future will be made in malaysia je kowt... i like something simpler. hehe

okaylah back to cerita makan-makan. actually yang kat bawah ni gambar semasa sesi makan-makan at my classmate's seminggu sebelum raya. diorang dah nak balik malaysia so they threw a partayy. hiks. takdelah partayy mana pun. just sesi bergosip di bilik tidur (not involved. haha) and mengketedarah nasi beriani yang awesome di bawah. ia dimasak oleh kak kembar Farahin n Fatihah yang terkenal dgn skills memasak mereka. makanya kami pun datang makan ajelah..

my plate.. tambah nasik dua kali, ayam 4 ketul. hebattt. pinggan kecik baaii...haha. but there are people who ate more than me. you know who you are. haha

the spread..

i wanna show you typical kedai sayur and buah here in mansoura. skrg kan summer time, so buah-buahan yang pelbagai jenis bolehlah didapati. apricots, cherries, mangoes, plums, oranges, melons..etc

cherries. nak masuk 3 tahun duk egypt baru yours truly merasa cherry kat sini. haha.. maybe because i'm not that fond of fruits kot.. satu masalah tu. nanti dah balik malaysia mana nak dapat ini semuaa. these cherries are really sweet!! sgt2 manis i tell you. with a tint of sourness. i finished rubu' kilo (250 g) cherries sekali harung one night. that's the first time i had fresh cherries my whole life and i fell in love instantly. tapi jaga la, your lips will look like of zombies after that because of the purple color of the cherries.

pemandangan dari rumah my friend. apa pendapat anda? you can see that rooftop, it's typical for egyptians to have that kind of rooftop. diorang berehat-rehat kat situ..bela ayam kat situ..bela kambing kat situ..sembelih lembu time korban pun kat situ jugak.haha that's normal right here. tapi rooftop yang ini bertamadunlah jugak.. xde bela2 binatang bagai.. you know the smell you're gonna suffer, if you're so unfortunate renting a house next to them. and you may ask me why they sembelih haiwan korban korban kat rooftop jugak. sebab kalau sembelih kat atas jalan di bawah pengemis2 yang ramai kat sini akan mengganggu diorang. they won't just sembelih atas jalan lah. paling koman pun in the garage. and you know those blood coming out from the animal.. they will be just collected on the ground and kering sendiri sebab kat sini takde sistem perparitan, yakni longkang. yelah, hujan beberapa kali setahun je pun kat sini. sapa2 yang mabuk darah make sure jgn keluar rumah ye di hari raya korban. and that's a disaster if you're a medical student too :P

okaylah sampai di sini dahulu entry yang agak panjang ni (for me laa). entry ini ditulis utk berkongsi pengalaman hidup di sini as suggested. hope you enjoy reading, and see you next time!

fourth day of Ramadhan 1433H

hari ini masuk hari ke empat berpuasa di Mesir. rutin harian 3 hari lepas, lepas sahur sambung tido, kemas2 rumah sket, then tido sampai tengahari (jangan ikut perangai tak senonoh ni). bangun tido baru tergagau2 nak bukak posa makan apa arini. so far 1st ramadhan buka pose my housemate yg masak-ayam masak halia ngan telur dadar. 2nd day-yours truly masak nasi lemak lauk sambal n rendang ayam yg tak brape nak menjadik sbb rasa kerisik ter over power la pulak. n arini, still 3rd day of ramadhan at the moment (sebab jap lagi nak masuk hari baru dah) yours truly buat baked macaroni n my housemate with syira buat choc cake. baked macaroni masih below expectation sebab resepi kedua yang pernah di cuba ni tidak dapat menandingi kesedapan makaroni bakar my dear friend's mom at MRSM PT bawak 8 tahun lepas. haha lama tuu. masih belum ada makaroni bakar yang boleh break the record. resepi hasil galian dari blog masakan ternama di alam maya pun takleh celen lagi nampaknya wahaha. dear aunty, i really really want your recipe tapi segan nak tanya anak makcik (mintak2 Tema baca ni..haha). lupa plak nak cakap, masakan arini masin 'pekok' bak kata orang Terengganu. memang lidah time puasa tak leh dipercayai sgt.. macam tumpah garam, serius!

terawih kat masjid syari' Hasan Sa'eed ni so far so good, takde gangguan waktu solat yang melampau sangat, kecuali ada makcik depan aku tu jalan pegi dekat anak dia yang duduk dekat dinding masa rakaat kedua solat terawih, then sambung balik tanpa rasa bersalah. haha. camtu la arab, jangan kita terikut2 dgn dia sudah. n time ramadhan ni la arab2 semua pakat2 menghias rumah masing2. kalau kita kat Malaysia buat camni, mesti kena bahan dgn orang kampung, tak sabar2 nak raya keee?? baba n mama kitorang pun tak ketinggalan nampaknya mendekorasikan rumah dengan lampu liplap. rumah yang belah kiri dalam gambar tuu. n arab2 kat sini buat solat terawih 8 rakaat je plus witir 3 rakaat. ini ramadhan pertama aku solat terawih kat masjid, tahun lepas solat berjemaah dgn kawan2 kat rumah diorang. lagi byk dugaan solat kat rumah dari kat masjid, sebab kat rumah sistem pengudaraan tak berapa memberangsangkan. kat masjid ada air cond lagi, kipas lagi. so takde alasan lah ye tak, malas solat terawih.

so sebelum mengakhiri entry ini yours truly ingin mengucapkan selamat menyambut bulan ramadhan al-mubarak kepada sesiapa yang membaca blog ini. sesungguhnya ramadhan itu lebih daripada sekadar menahan lapar dan dahaga, ataupun korek telinga dan hidung (sebab bila dah 'dewasa' ni baru tahu erti sebenar ramadhan, bercakap atas pengalaman sendiri). yours truly pun sedar ada byk perkara yg diri ini harus perbaiki demi menjadi hamba Allah yang lebih baik, dan sgt2 bersyukur kerana Allah masih memanjangkan umur ini untuk menemui ramadhan lagi pada tahun ini. manalah tahu kan, ini ramadhan yang terakhir utk kita. maka buatlah apa yang sepatutnya kali ini.. sebab nikmat kedatangan ramadhan ini sgt disesali oleh hamba-hamba-Nya yang tak sempat menemui ramdhan (sudah sampai ajal) maka sedarlah bahawa Allah ingin sgt kita berubah..(peringatan utk diri sendiri).

okey la..selamat berpuasa semuanya! kalau rajin saya update lagi. ciao!

amateurish arabic#2: KFC

okay, ana gayy dilwa'ti!

okay, i'm coming right now!

sah2 delivery

amateurish arabic#1: THE PLUMBER

imta gayy sabbaak

when will the plumber come

yisallah beeba fi hammam?

to repair the pipe in the bathroom?

mesti mama kagum tiba-tiba aku pandai cakap arab.

the thing is, it was 3 weeks ago the landlord had promised to bring the plumber to repair the pipe.

i guess janji Melayu is better.
i mean janji landlord Melayu.

my love for chicken rice..

yes, the title above says it all. i love chicken rice. it's like my own version of comfort food, just like mac and cheese or pizza for Americans, i think chicken rice is one of Malaysian's popular choice of comfort food too. wait... what is the definition of comfort food exactly?

Comfort food is food prepared traditionally, that may have a nostalgic or sentimental appeal, or simply provide an easy-to-eat, easy-to-digest meal rich in calories, nutrients, or both. Comfort foods may be foods that have a nostalgic element either to an individual or a specific culture. Many comfort foods are flavorful and easily eaten, having soft consistencies. - Wikipedia

that's what Wiki says.. but i don't think chicken rice can be categorized as an easy to eat meal. my understanding of an easy to eat meal is that it must be a one dish meal. chicken rice definitely is not. you will need a few other condiments to complete this dish. however, i believe that everyone can make a tasty chicken rice, even though he/she is a bad cook for everything else. it is the naturally flavourful ingredients which makes cooking this dish easy to be accomplished - lots of ginger, and garlic. 

i've always loved to try different version of chicken rice. the best chicken rice that i've ever tasted is from The Chicken Rice Shop. you might not agree with me. haha.. anyway, i've always wanted to learn making my own version of chicken rice that is similar to the taste of the one served there. therefore, when i found different recipes on the internet, i will save it to try it out later, like this one shared by the Steamy Kitchen. it is the recipe for making Hainanese chicken rice. i haven't tried making Hainanese chicken rice, because i'd always prefer my chicken to be crunchy on the outside. however, i tried Hainanese chicken rice once at TCRS and it tastes good too. besides, this is the healthier choice as the chicken is not fried. i will try this out and share the result here. i bet it will turn out wonderfully!

above is the Steamy Kitchen's Hainanese chicken rice. you might want to visit their website. they share lots of other tempting recipes to try. it is a Singaporean foodie website that i've just discovered when i was googling about this recipe.

the so-called minah bunga

guess what???!!! i forgot to water my plant for 5 days!!!! hahahaaa..... it was since i sit for Pathology oral and practical exam 5 days ago! i guess the disappointment that i get from those exams made me suffer from selective amnesia towards my pokok bunga. hahaha. definitely something i'm not proud of laa.. and guess how i suddenly remembered about my plant? when i opened blogger dashboard and decided to write something, this thought came across my mind-why not write about my pokok bunga! but then i remembered that i haven't watered them since last exam.. huhu. i thought my pokok bunga would died kering kontang because i didn't give them water for nearly a week. i rushed out to the living room and opened the door to the balcony. and there lies my little sweetheart, healthier and greener than the last time i saw them! i was shocked, and relieved that my pokok bunga haven't died yet! how come.........

after all, i am very happy that my plant still hidup malah tumbuh stems baru dgn bahagianya. you know lah the weather in here.. i assumed my plant had turned all yellow already.. can you see those died stems lying on the balcony floor? that was how the plant look like last time i checked. can you compare with those new stems growing healthily in the flower pot? ini amat menggembirakan saya kerana saban hari bila saya menyiram pokok ini tidak lama dahulu, i really thought they would die from the freakin hot weather here in Egypt ni. nampak tak tong di belakang pasu tu? that is the tong that i place my flower pot during springtime. when the season changed into summer, the weather is too hot and dry i decided to move the plant on the balcony floor instead to give it some shelter from the luminous sunlight. ignore the dirty balcony floor tu ya.. we didn't have time to clean it, lagipun kat sini memang kuat berdebu apatah lagi di luar rumah. and i don't know how the dried, dead stems ended up on the floor. maybe di tiup angin or terkena daun pintu bahagian luar..

this was when they are still at the nursery. one pot for LE10

i put it on the tong when i get home before moving them outside.

this picture was taken during springtime

you can see in above picture that the plant actually consists of two kinds of flowers. not just one. however, their leaves and buds are similar. i didn't know this until the flowers bloomed. one flower i'm sure it comes from the family of carnation/dianthus and the other on the top is one of the carnation variety too, but i did not managed to find similar pictures on the net. but i think it is a sub species of dianthus too. i picked them out of many other pots while in the nursery because i was curious how the flowers going to look like because the leaves didn't look like typical flowering plants. they look like grass instead. it turns out to be carnations that were blooming. did you notice lots of buds coming out of the stems? that was when spring, they produced flowers actively during summer of course, but the production of flowers decrease during summer (why it sounds like factory report here...). now that they becomes greener and healthier than before, i hope new flowers will bloom again, decorating the new, tall stems. and maybe next time if my plant refused to give out flowers, or giving out the hint of dying in spite of watering them religiously everyday, i should restrain myself from giving them water so they will learn the lesson. hehe. i guess plants in Egypt are tough like it's people too.. ;)

numero uno

what's with this new blog?? i don't know.. i admit that i get bored of same stuff pretty easily. it's a bad thang i know. i accidentally deleted almost of my posts in the scribbler's crib not so long ago.. posts that i have worked so hard for. i spent hours to create a single post.. and with just one single click, it all went to waste.. i'm not a good writer i know. that's why i spent a long time writing just a single post. but now they're long gone.. uhuk. enough talking about the past. nasi sudah menjadi bubur. in the other hand, i have always wanted a blog with my own name in the address. it kinda boosts my self esteem haha..

okaylah.. i will find time to write in here. i do love to write and share. i just think that i need to keep a blog. it's not same as twitter or facebook. what you share there will be forgotten after some time. but here, you can always retrieve back your memories without many hassle. maybe i should schedule a post every week. i'll try to be more rajin to write after this. yeah.