Italian Brioche

We had guests over for lunch the other day. Dad invited 4 local staff (valerie, debbie, remy et sape lg sorang tak ingt..but lg sorang tu once borrowed mama's baju kurung for a reception on national day and later bought it from mama) from the embassy for a taste of malaysian cooking. Nasi tomato tak pedas langsung was on the menu. They complimented and raved about the smell and the chicken, but what was normal to expect from mat sallehs, they do not eat much. Well at least not much rice. Jelatah sayur was finished, along with dalca daging which mama ladden with cauliflowers (x ingt sp?) and other legumes. For dessert mama prepared the usual agar2 pudding with lychee topping. Yumm.

But that is not what I want to share today. Valerie brought us cadeaux which turned out to be a gateaux. Bloody big box it came in. And it was so..fluffy. Mcm pipi mama. Haha..

Presenting you..italian brioche!! Brioche is actually a bread-like pastery that can come in billions of different erm, fillings of fruits or chocolates. This one had raisins, and was topped off with a meringue and almond topping which was oven baked to give a sweet crispy crown on the top.

It was humungous, so we decided to share it with baby dina and encik amran's family. Even the local swiss told us that once you started eating it, you can't stop. (very true, pantang da siap potong mesti licin)

So that is the story of the first time our family had italian brioche-which is very typical in the winter-for tea!!

Karlovy Vary, Czech Rep : Euro Tour Part II

*this is a serie of a 4-part entry of the author's euro trip recently..

Date: Wednesday, 13th December 2006.

Making our way to Karlovy Vary with the intention of buying mama's chandelier, we passed heavy snow as we inclined up the mountains and the temperature dropped to almost -1. There was massive telltale signs of how much different the lives of the people in Czech Rep was compared to the Germans. The highway was partially done, with the mentality that the country could make better use of the money other than make highways (which I 2nd). And in almost all the windows of the village like cottage we passed by stood the candles symbolizing the celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of light. Hitler drove them all out of Germany, and now they reside in almost all neighbouring country of Germany.

Some people might mistaken this as an ornament of decoration. Poor souls.

We arrived in Karlovy Vary around 5pm which is considerably bad timing. It gets dark real soon here in europ, especially during the winter. All the small stalls selling handicrafts of crystals were packed for the day and our party of 4 made our way to Madonna Crystals where mama found her blue chandelier.

More and more crystals, got me in a dizzy spell myself there. I purchased some brooches and bracelets made out of glass for friends, while my brother sat there hopeless. Haha..

The wall lights

Gold plated ornaments and real crystals, for those whose fetish is collecting intricately detailed handcrafts made to burn a hole in anyones pocket.

Shoes? Doubt it if it comes in a 7.

At the bridge. The chandelier and other crystal things mama bought were dead heavy. We stopped by the fountain of youth, so as the Karlovarsky people cherish it so. We bought a small teapot like mug and tasted the mineral water rase besi (besi is mineral..) everyone we passed by was holding a'mug' or at least a cup and was sipping ever so religiously. Haha. I took a sip and it was hello river!

Mari minom. Did you know, that budweiser the beer originated from the Czech Rep but the americans produced and marketed it until it was known as the american budweiser? There are many more stories of how the Czech have been outsmart by their own neighbors, well maybe for some good reason or other.

At the town square, near the mineral water dispenser..

Dispenser la sgt..haha

So then we made our way in the dark and on to our next destination..Prague!

Berlin: Euro Tour Part I

*this is a serie of a 4-part entry of the author's euro trip recently..

Date: Monday 11th December, 2006.

The 4 of us departed for Berlin via Nurnberg, Germany. Dad was not feeling so well and in the end our journey of 8 hours took us around 14 hours. We stopped a lot for naps and short snacks but eventually got to Berlin all safe and sound around 1 a.m. at uncle zalazfian's house. The residential compound in Berlin was an apartment which was all rented out to the embassy staff and office suites. This first picture is of dad and mama with the Berlin 'Malaysia' Bear. Bears are the symbol of Berlin, which is similar to Bern (Swiss).

Dad and mama in front of the malaysian embassy/residence

We took a Berlin Tour Bus that costs us 12 euros for students and 14 euros for adults. The bus took us within Berlin and provided a tour guide to explain the becoming of Berlin. As we all know, the Berlin Wall was broken down in 1991 and much of Berlin's infrastructure construction took place after the reunification. This is evident in the big bigg buildings we found in Berlin and the wide roads and big open spaces in between the roads which could also be used as parking lots during the evening. Neat huh?

The remains of the Berlin Wall

East and West Berlin was separated by a great wall, much like our friends in Palestine. The occupation of Germany took place when both the Americans and the Russians won the war, so they wanted to claim the land. In the end Germany was divided into two, the east for Russians and the west for the americans. We visited Checkpoint Charlie, a famous US checkpoint where people who only had access (thus the stamping of passport et all) could go to the west. The political instability was very suppressing and a very famous photograph of soldier jumping over barbed wire so that he could escape to the west still poses a strong notion.

Checkpoint Charlie

The US army guardhouse (pictures with the guards costs 1 euro each)

The stamp collection, the different stamps people got to go in or out of west berlin (stamping could also be done on your own passport for 1 euro).

This signboard can be seen on t-shirts, mugs, posters..it is the actual text on the signboard still found today in Checkpoint Charlie to tell citizens that they have reached the border.

This is at Checkpoint Charlie, a monument for..don't remember the name for..don't remember the deed. Hehe..

Beberapa org malaysia stuck in a demonstration back in the days..nape mama senyum time protest??! Taken at a poster exhibition, which was just along the whole street.

In the Berlin City Tour bus, we didn't have the luxury of getting off too many stops because we were on the last touring bus for the day, they had to shorten their services due to some government event later in the day.

Passing by the monuments for remembering those who died..

The happy tourists.

Later, we toured Berlin by ourselves. The embassy wasn't too far for us to remember our way back. Europe really celebrates christmas, in every town we go there will definitely be a christmas bazar, which consists of lots and lots of vin chaud (hot wine), alchocolic punches and more drinking..Everyone is all pink and merry! Haha. The germans however ar famous for their saurkraut big sausages, potatoes and mushrooms. Mmg mengiurkan, especially if you've been walking around town all cold and living off bread and oranges. So in the end, we found the most halal looking stall, a vietnamese preparing mee goreng. She used sunflower oil and after much confirmation, it was all vegetarian. Sedappp~~

A big plate of mee hoon goreng at 3 euros, dirt cheap.

The candy stall at the christmas bazaar.

Erdenbeeren mit schokolade!! Not sure if the sentence is correct or not, but i found chocolate covered strawberriess!! 3 euros each.

Yummmyyy, overall, Berlin nye choc-cov-strawberries were the best

dad with amin syukran

And finally, a picture with the hosts of 2 days and 2 nights, encik Amin Syukran bin Zalazfian. Thanks for your hospitality and good food! Makes me more round by the minute. Owh, and it turns out that uncle zalazfian is the son of my mom's mentor when she just started teaching back in negeri sembilan!! damn coincidence no? en zalazfian is from tampin and they both went to the same school, but him being a much younger junior of course. Skali mama browsed through their photo album and saw someone she recognized. Small world!!

In a nutshell, Berlin is pretty darn modernized even with the set back of the wall. Their economic sector is really something many other countries should follow suit.

I'll be back with more tales..stay tuned =)

Pit Stop

Im a yoddling away during the car ride, dad drove the car all by himself. Never once admitting to being sleepy, and then as usual would rub it in our faces that all we did was sleep the whole jurney to and home. Haha..ye yah. Im packing again tonight, this time leaving on a train, TGV to be exact. My family of 4 are heading to Paris. This would be my second time and the aim would have to be only ONE. Get the bag, and leave. Haha, simplicity of life that will never be achieved when the other 20hours of non-bag searching is spent in a haven for shoppers. Fine. We'll see how I fair. Will tell more about the russian land I stepped on in the past. Till then, adieu.

Off again

Ciao, I am getting ready to leave Geneve - again. This time for a weeks worth of travelling by car. My whole family minus the big brother will be country hopping starting from Germany, to the Czech republic, off to Austria back to Swiss and head for home. The main purpose would definitely be for my mama to buy her crystal lamp of some sort. Tak paham aku. And I will not be spending too much on anything, other than maybe a czech rep tshirt or something, and get gc a sweater just for the fun of it. Hopefully we will stop by the adidas warehouse on our way back into swiss so that I can get gc his much wanted sweater.

Oh, and the fact that the watch shop is located in Luzern/Lucerne will mean that I will be much likely to get a pair of tissot's. And a quick (3-4 hours) stop at the Bally outlet in Aarau will also mean a leather fix for the whole family. Not that I am too keenon spending on any. Jimat cermat, jiwa tenang. hahaha.. senget.

A week from now, okay?

Venezia

In venice!!

mama and ayah in the train

And Im back! From a horrid 8 hour train ride to and from venice, which makes a total of 16 hours of boredomness in locomotion. Haha. We took the cisalpino line from Ginevra to Venezia. The ride to venice was in the morning, so we got the chance to look at some beautiful scenery, trees, ladang2 orang.. Upon arrival at Venice's ferrovia (railway station) we got a cheap hotel from the information counter. 25 euro per head/per night. Which is as cheap as it gets. It was near the Gugile boat stop, but was along the water banks connected to the ferrovia. The rooms are cozy and the toilets are not attached, but located just across the hallway. Ramai2 kongsi toilet, but it was very clean.

melantak time lapar, indah..

Replenished with mama's lasagna and other tid bits, we went sightseeing venice by night. First round, look at all desirable items. Round 2 followed shortly the next morning.

ashwan and me

The weather in venice was chilly due to the wind and drizzling rain. They did not have snow, instead had the Aqua Alta or High Water during winter. Which is..yucky by me. Dad said it was all nice and clean during the summer, but i cannot imagine myself living in that town.

at the boat stop

We spent the rest of the evening taking boat rides travelling the whole perimeter of venice..which was, 100% water. Unadaptable environments. Slept like a log. And woke up hungry as ever.

Breakfast at a "Corner Bar" - thats what the hotel personel said to us when we asked for the name of the cafe.

So the next morning, we had complementary brekkie at a corner lot cafe. The croissants were all sugary as the italians love their sugar.

Toothaches deligts dolce dolge ape tah

It was still raining and my brother was coming down with something. We walked around Rialto (tempat jual barang murah2) and stopped by the tapestry shop. Mama has finished surveying the whole mass of islands for the cheapest tapestry and lace shop.

at the tapestry shop

We would've gone to Murano for the glasses or Burano for the lace, but the weather was not forgiving so there was no boats coming into Gugile to take us there.

Murano Glass pieces

Mama finished off her collection of tapestry cushion covers and runners and table cloths. And dad got himself and the boys (including gc haha) some new ties. And me? I strolled around Furla, and Max & Co. (Just a note, in case anyone reading is going to venice any time soon, the cheap tapestry shop is nearby Furla).

Then mama bought the Murano glass vase in blue (just one).

Got myself a chuppa chup treat, and had a quick bite at a local restaurant.

The waiter was handsome. Looked a little like orlando bloom. Orang sane sume bg tip 5 euro bagai. We just left the black book thingy.

Pizza Funghi - sungguh tak berperasaan la derang wat piza

And that was how i spent my last two days. Skrang ni da saket perot sbb tahan g toilet. haha..And to think I'd include that in my blog =O *gasps* Today, we are all going to eat a lot of rice because tomorrow is going to be another beginning to a wayy longer journey.

ciao bella *muah *

Yours Truly,

Pelajar Final Year yg Tak Sedar Diri.

To the dentist

Its another cloudy day this morning. The sun came out of its resting haven of clouds yesterday at about 11am and I rushed downstairs to capture the autumn leaves a falling. It's still autumn here. The leaves have turned a fire like crimson so slowly, yet just in time for me to see them for the last time.

I had a dentist appointment at 230, at Servette. I hate going to the dentist, the doctor, the dean? Anyone with the right to cross examine you would do the same trick. They don't have to ask so many things and yet got more in return. Its been 2 years since I last visited my dentist, okay. Thats why I was a wreck. So as expected, the dentist will talk about my inflammatory gums, and this time prescribed me with another set of tepe sticks to help strengthen the gums. Yucks. Then she removed a pre-existing filling and decided to make her own one. Haha..abes la.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I helped mum make sushi for snacks. Tada~

On the way home, the three of us stopped by Dosenbach (shoe store), and ashwan got his puma which was on a reduction after reduction totale sort of price. And I got myself a pair of cutesy B toed heels. Innocent.

To end the day on a high note, which is really not what I was looking foward to, due to the numb feeling in my left mouth, which included my left lip, I was not in the mood for a round of bowling with the 'ladies'. Argh. Dad won the men's league and mom placed 4th, ashwan got a whole bunch of strikes towards the end and I inhaled too much cigar smoke.

Pictures updated.