Animals Anecdotes : The Neighbour's Cats Invasion

The neighbour has countless amount of cats (at least I found it really countless, hehe) and thankfully all of them are spayed. Recently, three of the adult cats have always found themselves roaming around our little patch of garden at the front yard. They are really friendly, absolutely cute, constantly craving for attention and they are just a bunch of really happy, playful cats.

Of course we don't mind having them around not until they started to poo poo and pee pee around the yard which is really gross and smelly. That is one of the reason we prefer to have lots of plants instead of having animals as pets with the exceptional of the tiny harmless guppy that we have at the tiny water feature outside.

Anyway, back to the cute cats, I am pretty sure you want to have a peek at them while they are in action. So here goes!

[caption id="attachment_2504" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Peering at the front door just to check who's inside!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2505" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I just wanna chill!"][/caption]

Aren't they cute or what? But still I wouldn't want to have them as pets and would prefer to have them occasionally hang around for a bit minus the pooping part. Haha.

[caption id="attachment_2506" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I am Puss in Boots and I want to sniff your camera!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2507" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I'm a cutie and I know it! Meow!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2508" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Are those tools? Sniff sniff!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2509" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I'm snow white the shy kittie :)"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2510" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Look! I'm slightly handicapped but I'm the happiest cat in the world! Woot!"][/caption]

 

There will be more pictures to snap for sure but these guys are super active and constantly moving around which is what any normal, happy cats should be doing. The neighbour's cats absolutely love the little garden we have because they can play catch, jump around, toppled some tiny pots of plants over and it is really a great environment for them. Sadly enough, they couldn't get that back home. Hehe. We love the cats to bits and they are most welcomed to play anytime provided that they are well potty trained at home. Hehe.

Road Trip Down Memory Lane! Guess Where I Am Heading?

I'm so excited for the road trip tomorrow and yeah, it is going to be one of those road trip down the memory lane kind of thing. I hope to have some time in between the road trip to blog about things and yeah I'm really super excited about it.

Another big thing worth mentioning is that, my birthday is coming up in a couple of days and I think I'm going to have a jolly good time hanging out with people that I love to be around with. We are an adventurous and outdoorsy kind of people which makes twice the fun, not to mention the place I'm heading to is the food heaven of the Peninsular Malaysia. Haha. Therefore, I'm going with good energy, great vibes and great times, safe driving, good stomach and awesome company.

Road trips are really a heck of a lot of fun especially when you get to do it with a bunch of good friend who are ready to rock and roll it! At this point of my life now, I'm really thankful that I actually get to meet and be friends with these awesome people and I'm looking forward to always have more road trips or adventures with you lot. You know who you are! You guys rock!

* A little hint of where I'm heading! :)

[caption id="attachment_2498" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ferry crossing! Guess where this is? It's a super easy hint!"][/caption]

Animals Anecdotes : Meet and Greet with a Horse

One of the best things about travelling in New Zealand is that you get to be really close in contact with the  environment which obviously includes the plants and the animals. On our short stay over at Twizel, a little town located somewhere close to Mount Cook in South Island, New Zealand, we came across or some what literally met with this horse along with two other two legged animals - a little pony and a cow out in a fenced area of a field. This friendly horse actually walked all the way across the middle of the field towards the fence simply to greet us. At that time, we didn't have any food to offer them and so we thought, she just came around to say "Hello!"

[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="A horse came all the way across the field to greet us. Location : Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

It was amazing that she actually came up to us as if she understood that we were eager to see her right up and close. Also, it was the first time for everyone to be that close to a horse before and she even allowed us to pat her which was really sweet of her. I think horses are really smart and for this particular one, it is smart plus very friendly too. I do believe that horses are great mind readers just like dogs and they kind of like know if you have good or bad intentions towards them and probably that was why the horse was drawn towards us.

[caption id="attachment_2490" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The gang of three : the horse, cow and a little pony out in the field somewhere in Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

After a couple of minutes of our brief meet and greet, the pony and the cow decided to come closer to check us out over at the fence too. Come to think of it, it is funny to see these three animals hanging out with each other just by themselves and they seemed to be getting along really well too. I do hope the owner do come by to feed them and probably they were just waiting for breakfast to come when we were there.

Probably one day, I should learn up to ride a horse. It should be really fun don't you think?

I got myself a Koru Rose Quartz Pendant | New Zealand Jade Design

So there you go! That's me with a Koru (Spiral) design Quarts Pendant. I was browsing around the souvenir shop in Rotorua, New Zealand and I stumbled across the pendant and necklaces rack. New Zealand has a pretty nifty traditionally designed pendant usually crafted on those beautiful green coloured New Zealand jade.

Jade can be pretty pricey and usually in Malaysia, we only see old Chinese aunties who traditionally will wear jade jeweleries. So, getting myself a jade pendant didn't sound like a good idea. Hehe. However, I really love the unique traditional New Zealand designs on the jade and I was attracted to the particular pendant that I bought.

[caption id="attachment_2675" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Koru Pendant with Rose Quartz - Maori Traditional Jade Design"][/caption]

It is a Rose Quartz with the Koru or Spiral design. I really thought it fits me well until I finally read at the back of the little card that comes along with the pendant on the meaning of both the Rose Quartz and the Koru (Spiral) design.

Rose Quartz:

The stone of love, acceptance and forgiveness. Removes negative energy by dissolving hidden tensions. Possessing a very pacifying effect, the Rose Quartz is both uplifting and positive. Counteracts the effects of computer or terrestrial radiation.

Koru ( Spiral) Design represents :


New beginnings, growth and harmony

I guess there is a reason why I was attracted to the Koru Rose Quartz pendant or probably I just love the look of them. Either way, if you are down in New Zealand, I think it is worth to get hold of the various traditional, New Zealand jade pendant designs and I am pretty sure you will love it! :)

If you kling to me, I'll klong to you - The Chemical Brothers

I think I need a bit of an energy to kick start the day today. What better way to start with a boost of The Chemical Brothers.

Enjoy the beat!

If you kling to me, I'll klong to you - The Chemical Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTJagP_0Mw0

Just in case you are wondering what is klong, check it out here from Urban Dictionary : klong.

Quote of The Day : People Can Give Up On You, But Never Ever Give Up On Yourself

Quote of The Day : “People can give up on you, but never ever give up on yourself.”

Life can be tough and hard on you when the people you admire or look up the most tend to give up hope on you. You lost hope and you feel down, upset with just about everything. This happens a lot of time in life where people can and will give up on you but never ever in any circumstances for you to decide to give up on yourself. People can fail on you but if you decided to fail or give up on yourself, you will never get anywhere.

Therefore, this is a quick tip on how you can handle situations like this so that you can always rely and give hope to yourself. In return for all  those words that people tell you that "you can't and it is impossible for you” , what you can do is to take those words, I know it is hurtful and hard to swallow as a motivation for you to keep on going. Those words which at most times are pure negativity can be YOUR FUEL for you to achieve bigger things in life and to prove them wrong.Take those words as a challenge and keep on working to make things work for you and not for them.

Hence, never give up on yourself when others seem to give up and fail on you. Be resilient and keep on going.

I have personally seen success on myself whenever people have doubted on me and even probably lost hope on me. I also have a lot of successful friends who are now high achievers because we have been given up on and time and again we have proved them wrong. If right now, you think you want to throw out the towel and give up because others are giving up hope on you, I hope you are reading this now and I want you to not give in just yet.

Dig deeper, work harder, make vital changes, make mistakes and learn, keep on hoping and going and never ever give up on YOURSELF. Let's make things work people and all the best in the things that you are working for!

 

 

How To Make Masala Chai

How to Make Masala Chai :

This is a recipe I picked up from one of the cooking shows over at Travel and Living Channel (TLC). Chai essentially means tea and Masala Chai is a perfect combination of spices mixed over a boiling water of black tea.

Here are the ingredients needed to make your very own Masala Chai at home :

• loose black tea is much preferred than one of those in the tea bags


• a couple pods of green cardamoms


• some slices of ginger


• a couple of cinnamon sticks


• some black pepper corns

Methods :

• Heat some water in a pot until it comes to a boil


• Then, pour in all the ingredients mentioned above : black tea, cardamoms, ginger, cinnamon sticks, black pepper corns and turn off the heat.


• Let the tea and the whole mix steep for a couple of minutes ( probably about 5 minutes)


• Add sugar and milk


• Sift and pour over a cup and enjoy your Masala Chai

As long as you have all the basic ingredients handy around the kitchen pantry, Masala Chai is really dead easy and simple to make. Best of all it is way cheaper than the one in the coffee shops. With the combination of cardamoms and ginger, that is a sure way to release heat and gas out of your system. Moreover, the pepper corns brings out a bit of heat in the chai and I think that gives this Masala Chai a bit of a kick with an overall taste of spice and flavour in a milk tea.This recipe on How To Make Masala Chai is a difinite must try for all you tea lovers out there and happy drinking!

Coldplay - Paradise From The Album Mylo Xyloto

Paradise is simply awesome, man! If you are big, big fan of Coldplay, do check out their new album, Mylo Xyloto coming soon this October 24. At the mean time, enjoy Paradise by Coldplay :

Coldplay - Paradise

http://youtu.be/1G4isv_Fylg

Paradise Lyrics by Coldplay :

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach so
She ran away in her sleep
And dreamed of
Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise
Every time she closed her eyes

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
And the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd fly
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/coldplay/paradise_20980626.html ]
And dreams of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
She'd dream of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh

La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
And so lying underneath those stormy skies
She'd say, "oh, ohohohoh I know the sun must set to rise"

This could be
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
This could be
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
This could be
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
This could be
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh

Quote Of The Day : Setting Priorities In Your Relationship

I have decided to finally start with a Quote Of The Day, once a week at this blog. So yeah, let's get this started.

Quote Of The Day : Setting Priorities in Your Relationship

"If you spend too long holding on to the one who treats you like an option, you will miss finding someone who treats you like a priority." - Unknown.

I suppose this quote speaks true to its meaning when it boils down to any relationship that you are currently dealing with. It could be  a relationship between you and another person, between you and your commitment to yourself, relationship between you and your family, relationship between you and your belief or God, relationship between you and other living things in this world and pretty much any kind of relationship that we possibly could be dealing with at the present time.

In any relationship, the best way to make things work for you or for both parties is to simply prioritize on what matter the most and never ever take things as granted or taking things as an option. Therefore, for matters to work,  do set your priorities on them ( it could be in a form of executing plans, attending to issues, making important things come first and etc.) and constantly value the relationship at hand. I believe prioritizing is a way of putting a high level of commitment, trust and work on things. Set your priorities, know what are your priorities and make that relationship work!

Funny Travel Stories : Morning Toilet Run - View From The Train In India

A bunch of us friends were travelling on a 12-hour plus train journey through India. Sleeping overnight in the Sleeper Class an equivalent to the Third-Class Coach was horrible for me. Suffice to say, I didn't get much rest throughout the night. I woke up the next day waiting anxiously to get out of the train but we had still a few more hours to go until we reached our destination.

At around 7 am , the train traversed the local village and a couple of us including myself were sticking out our heads out of the window to breathe in the cool, morning air. At that moment, it was a blessing to breathe in something so refreshing until we were greeted with something absolutely shocking. Brace yourself people...

The train passed through a big field and we spotted a couple of grown men walking on towards different areas of the field. Most of them dispersed towards the far end of the field which was 'unfortunately' the nearest to the railway and obviously nearest to us peering over the window. Still eyeing closely on these men (which by the thought of this now, was the a huge mistake) and utterly clueless on what they were doing, we saw one after another, back facing our way, stripped down their trousers, baring directly towards us their now bare, naked bottoms and hastily squatting down amongst the tall grass in the open field.

We grasped in total shock, by now already figured it all out that these men were apparently doing their daily morning toilet run out in the open field. Before we knew it, we saw more grown men casually lowering down their pants and more naked butts flashed our way during that short frame of time. Now come to think of it, it could possibly be a good few minutes that the train travelled through the morning 'toilet rush hour' at the open field.

That was certainly a weird and rather unpleasant way to be greeted in the morning. But hey, we had a good laugh right after that and how often do you get to see that kind of 'view' during your travel? So yeah, that was totally bizarre in a funny way, depending on how far you can take 'grossness' in this life. Next time if you are down in India and travelling by train, do look out or more like watch out for this 'morning toilet run'. Haha.

 

 

My New Favourite Radio Station : Radio Mozart

Radio Mozart is incredibly awesome and it is presently, my  new favourite radio station to listen to.  I can't believe that I haven't listen to them a long time ago. You can listen to them via Media Player, iTunes, Facebook or go directly to their link. I feel that their music are more soothing than any pop or rock songs. You simply can't go wrong with true classical music and Mozart is definitely one of the best music to listen to.

For more of Radio Mozart , click here

or simply listen below!

Photo Travel : Great New Zealand Road Trip - Let's count the sheep!

This is quite possible one of the best views that anyone can look forward to if you are on the Great New Zealand Road Trip driving around the  South Island, New Zealand . We travelled by car heading down south from Christchurch to Mount Cook. Along the way, we were greeted by breathtakingly beautiful mountain views and thousands of acres of green fields filled with among them the grazing sheep.

[caption id="attachment_2417" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo travel : Great New Zealand Road Trip - Can you count the sheep?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2418" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sheep grazing at the open field in New Zealand"][/caption]

The sheep are obviously having a great time at the open field and I got to say that they are the luckiest sheep in the world for having to live in that view and environment every single day! If you are travelling down to New Zealand, do make sure to make a stop by the roadside and capture these beautiful view for yourself.

 

I guess I am perfectly normal ...

I've realized one big thing in this blog, I don't allow myself to spill out my personal thoughts and probably once in a blue moon, I should do just that. Something that I think I'm going to do just about now. Sometimes I do feel like I'm totally focusing on solely writing about travels and the outdoors and probably I don't connect much to you readers. But then again, do I need to feel connected with you guys? Haha. Anyways, anyhow, I'm feeling perfectly happy for the past couple of days which I blame totally on hormones and nothing less. And of course, I'm blessed and thankful for all these lingering in the air 'happy hormones'. :)

Also, I guess I am perfectly normal to sometimes feel this way, the way I am insanely loving this song by Colbie Caillat called I Do. When I say I love it, I do spin the song on repeat for the gazillion times until probably for the next few days I'll just get over it and start listening to other tunes. No matter what, in between switching to songs like this to my usual trance/dance music, I will always ended up sticking by to Colbie because somehow or rather, her lyrics seems true to what I may feel during the moment. So yeah, this is me getting down and personal ya'll! :)

Colbie Caillat - I Do!

http://youtu.be/E0oyglKjbFQ

Animals Anecdotes : The Cow Whisperer

On our Great New Zealand Road Trip back in April this year, we drove through the beautiful country side and somehow making our way through farms thanks to the 'shortest route' option from the GPS. Along the way, we saw this particular cow grazing by the fence right next to our car. Hence, we slowed down the car and decided to make a little chat ala 'Cow Whispering' with this cow.

The one saying "Hallo" is my mum while I make the initial 'moo-ing' sound in attempt for a response from it. What do we know, we got a pretty 'conversational moo' from Mr.Cow ( I am not sure of its gender though. Pardon me for the lack of knowledge on this one. Hehe)

Of course, fun and awesome things needed to be captured on video and I made a video for this Cow Whispering Moment! Hope you will enjoy watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhn9lbtGpu4

Photo Travel : Teh Botol Sosro, Indonesia

Teh Botol Sosro - you couldn't get any more Indonesian than that!

[caption id="attachment_2389" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Teh botol Sosro Jasmine Tea - Indonesian popular drink"][/caption]

Teh Botol Sosro is loosely translated as Bottled Tea ( Teh = Tea, Botol = Bottle;  Indonesian is easy to learn huh? ). When it boils down to the exact taste of Teh Botol it is actually a Jasmine Flavoured Tea, best to drink it cold and this Teh Botol is like a much better version of the typical Iced Lemon tea. The smell of Jasmine in the tea is pretty strong and for that I love this Teh Botol hands down.

If you would like  to discover just a miniscule taste of Indonesia, I guess having a sip of Teh Botol can kick start your adventure, journey and discovery of Indonesia. And yes, Teh Botol Sosro is a MUST beverage to taste if you are visiting Indonesia or if you can ever find one in your nearest Indonesian grocery store around your place. It is THAT good and if you love flavoured tea like yours truly, having a go at Teh Botol is a definite must. It will not let you down. :)

I couldn't stress this more - Teh Botol Sosro : You couldn't get any more Indonesian from that drink! I simply love it.

Foodie Road Trip : Nasi Kandar Line Clear, Penang Road - The Best Ever!

The latest of the foodie road trip, brought me to the island of pearls - Penang Island, Malaysia. Penang is THE place to head down to up north the peninsular Malaysia for the melting pot, totally only found in Malaysia, super delicious varieties of food! One dish you must always have a try in Penang is none other than the Nasi Kandar. Among one of the best Nasi Kandar in the city center of Penang is Nasi Kandar Line Clear.

[caption id="attachment_2369" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Nasi Kandar Line Clear at Penang Road - By far the one of the best Nasi Kandar in Penang! A must place to eat in Penang."][/caption]

This tiny restaurant is located along Penang Road just a couple of walk away from the Chowrasta Bazaar. It is basically sandwiched between another nasi kandar restaurant ( Nasi Kandar Yasmeen) and a shop lot. The easiest landmark to get to Penang Road is to head for Komtar - the tall white tower which is visible from the ferry ride towards Penang Island as you are approaching near the jetty.

 

[caption id="attachment_2370" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nasi Kandar Line Clear is part of Penang's Heritage Restaurant and it has been in business since 1930"][/caption]

Line Clear has been serving its totally delicious nasi kandar and arrays of curries along with it since the 1930. Any businesses that have been going on for that long is a sure way to tell that it got to be good and yes they are among one of the best in town.

 

[caption id="attachment_2371" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Line Clear lunch hour queue"][/caption]

Nasi Kandar Line Clear is opened 24 hours around the clock and the dishes are cook hot and fresh on site. I couldn't get a picture of the food selections because of the lunch hour queue. In general you can choose to have plain rice with any choice of food/curries that you like or you can opt for the briyani rice. Some of the selections always readily available on the menus are super huge fish head curry, honey chicken, fried chicken, kurma, black chicken, curry chicken, mutton curry, fish curry, fried fish roe, selections of fried vegetables, eggs omelette and many more.

[caption id="attachment_2373" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Some of the dishes we picked up - Curry Chicken, Honey Chicken, Fried Chicken Mamak Style, Huge Spicy Red Prawn"][/caption]

My favourite choice for an awesome plate of  Nasi Kandar will usually be half plain white rice ( I always order half because the portion of rice is really huge), honey chicken, fried cabbage and the best of all is to request for 'kuah campur' - literally translated as 'mix gravy/curry' where you pour every single curries available on your plate of rice. By putting the 'curries' all the way on the plate, you get to taste the different flavour of spices, sweet, sour, and most importantly it's hot and spicy just how we Malaysians love it. We love our food hot and spicy man! And to quench your thirst and to overcome the heat of the nasi kandar, my pledge to you is to always order a 'teh tarik ais' (iced pulled tea). Penang's mamak style teh tarik ais is simply the best. It's cold, sweet, and a milky tea. Quite mutually agreed by many as the best combination to have with a plate of nasi kandar!

There you go , a little review of Nasi Kandar Line Clear only and only available by the roadside of Penang Road in Penang Island! If you are down in Penang Island, do hunt down for Nasi Kandar Line Clear. Ask around the locals for direction if you are lost and they may even give you other tips on better and new nasi kandar places to hunt down to!

I'm On A Meat Eating Diet Streak!

For the past couple of months, I think I have successfully lost a 'big' amount of weight and when I say 'big' it is actually a small figure comparatively to other normal, average people. The reason is simple - I am one of those people skinny people who struggle to gain even a kilo and losing even just a precious kilo can pretty much leaves me feeling lethargic and less energetic in a whole. Thus, for the sake of gaining quick kilos, I have decided to start eating more meat. And yes, I am officially on a meat eating diet streak! Welcome Read Meat!

By far, I have been taking in sugary soda drinks, lots of chocolates and chocolates cookies, cookies of all range, oily crisps and the best part of all less and less vegetables although I have managed to squeeze in a single fruit portion into the daily diet. Haha. So far, I am not seeing any increase on the weight and I wonder how far this is going to eventually 'hurt' my stomach.

Anyways, at the moment I am loving my meat and I shall have some hopefully delicious, juicy, tender and it melts in your mouth, 1 day old marinated steak for dinner tonight. Oh man, I'm salivating just thinking about it. Until more food updates to come and happy eating!

Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe in 30 Minutes

It's time again for a quick cook up for just 30 minutes.Trust me this is one super delicious meal you can whip up for lunch or dinner today. Let's get started with the Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe:

1. Get you hands on some fresh crayfish or some freshly cooked ones.

[caption id="attachment_2353" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Get your hands on some freshly cooked crayfish. We got one from a lady selling seafood along the coastal, sea view road from Kaikoura, New Zealand heading up north."][/caption]

 

2. The choice of pasta is totally up to you. For this version, I was actually using egg noodles because I just felt like it.Haha. You see cooking is fun and just go about with what you feel like having for the day and cook around it. Follow the cooking instructions for your pasta usually written on the cover of the pasta bag and it shouldn't take more than 12 minutes or so.

3. For the pasta or spaghetti sauce, these are the things that I used:

- I'm Asian and I love it spicy and hot, hence the red chilli is a must have. Chopped it up small for the extra kick of heat in the sauce and the other extra ingredient is to add on a couple of tea spoons of spicy curry powder. The curry powder I used for this dish is Vencat Curry Powder and you can get it readily available in most stores around New Zealand. I couldn't stress how much I adore this particular curry powder.

[caption id="attachment_2357" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The fiery Vencat Curry Powder!"][/caption]

- Diced some onions, tomatoes, celery (optional)

- Tomato puree or one of those tomato spaghetti sauce in the can or bottle

- Italian herbs or mix herbs (any kind of herbs of your choice)

- Cut up the crayfish into smaller pieces and keep the head too because that's where the sweet crayfish juices will come from

4. To make the Crayfish Pasta Sauce, simply heat the pot, pour some oil in and saute the onions, diced tomatoes, diced chilli and herbs. Next throw in the tomato puree / tomato spaghetti sauce and add in a bit of water. Just as the sauce started to boil, throw in the diced crayfish and the head. Throw in everything, don't even miss a leg of the crayfish. Haha. For taste, add on some pepper and salt. And you are ready to serve!

The end result of this Spaghetti Crayfish in a quick 30 minutes cook up looks like this:

[caption id="attachment_2354" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Any kind of noodles or pasta will work too! This one I used egg noodles instead. The most important part is the spaghetti sauce with the crayfish in it!"][/caption]

And the close up version of the Crayfish Pasta Sauce! Yum!

[caption id="attachment_2355" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The killer crayfish pasta or spaghetti sauce"][/caption]

Cooking pasta is really easy and if you happen to have crayfish available around you, you should try out this Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe. It is simply divine! Ah, I'm drooling just writing about this. Give this recipe a try and happy cooking!

Traveling Malaysia During Ramadan Month in August 2011| Food Bazaar Malaysia

The weather in general all over Peninsular Malaysia as of right now August 22 is wet, raining and cooling. I think most of us, well at least for me, I have been anticipating for some rain to come pouring to counter the hot weather. They also say that when it rains, it is a sign of blessing. Well I think it is true!

I'm not so sure if the rainy season is starting to kick in which explains the amount of rain we have been getting lately since the last couple of days. Most probably it is that time of the year again, when it rains, it pours. If you are traveling around Malaysia at this time of the year, please remember to at least have an umbrella handy and be prepared to get wet. There are still a lot of places for you to visit especially for this month, it is the month of Ramadan where the majority of Muslims in Malaysia is fasting for the whole month.

Being Malaysians, we love our food and at this point of the holy month, there will be a lot of food bazaars or what the local calls it as "Bazar Ramadan or Pasar Ramadan" and with these food bazaars around, it is the best time ever to sample delicious arrays of local food. The bazaars are located in most townships and it will be opened usually around 3pm until about 7+ pm just before the time where people will break their fast. These Bazar Ramadan all around Malaysia is the place to go to for FOOD and generally pretty much everyone (of different races and religions) in Malaysia will be doing some major food hunting down at these bazaars because it is the only time of the year where you get to feast and find certain type of food that you don't usually see on normal days being sold on the street.

Food prices are generally cheap, there are a lot of varieties that will drive you nuts and you will be tempted to buy a whole lot of food but you will certainly enjoy the chow down. :) Besides that, by the end of this month, after a long full month of fasting, the Muslims will be celebrating Eid or what the local will call it as "Hari Raya Aidilfitri" and usually there will be a lot of open houses going on for the next one month where everyone is welcome to pay a visit and have a big feast. There will be a lot of eating great food involved and if you are a foreigner traveling down in Malaysia by end of this month, do watch out for some major 'Hari Raya' Open Houses that the Prime Minister will usually host for everyone to come and eat free delicious Malaysian food on the first day of Eid.

So there you go, there are still a lot of things to look forward to in Malaysia at least in the food travel categories despite the rainy weather that has been pouring for days now in this month. It is a happy celebration of food for everyone in Malaysia now and of course a holy celebration for those Muslims in this holy month and that is more than enough reason for you to come over and travel in Malaysia this month. :)

Animals Anecdotes 27 : The Army of Ants

I stumbled upon these army of ants while I was hiking up a hill and these ants kept on marching in rows of what seemed like multiple rows of little black dots. They were literally 'streaming' through the jungle going up and down the hilly path and there were like hundreds or possibly thousands of them. When you are hiking in the jungle, watch out for these troopers especially if you are hiking in Malaysia. The last thing you wanted to do is to step on these black ants and I'm pretty sure they can sting you hard. So, do watch out!

[caption id="attachment_2339" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Highway of black ants in the jungle, Malaysia"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2340" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Army of Ants streaming their way through the jungle floor"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2341" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Black ants troopers heading to the tree"][/caption]