Craving for Caramel custard

This is one of those days that for no apparent reason, you get this sudden urge for something, and today is one of those days. I have this sudden urge for caramel custard, don't know why, just wanted to sink my teeth into some soft, silky smooth, rich and sweet caramel custard! Luckily making custard is not too much of a work, it is rather simple actually. I like mine rich so I used full cream milk, rich thickening cream, 5 eggs, brown sugar(instead of white sugar) and some rosemary. You can use anything from vanilla, rosemary to all sort of spices that tickle your fancy.
First thing is to make the caramel by cooking the brown sugar till it's bubbling and when you get a whiff of the caramel scent, you are done. Now is where you have to have quick hands as you need to line the bottom of the bowl with the caramel before it turns hard. Then move on to heating up the milk(full cream) and thickening cream. I added some rosemary to get some fragrant to it. I don't actually boil the milk, cream and rosemary but just on low fire and heating it up. Once those are done, let it cool down a little before mixing it into the eggs, otherwise you will cook the eggs!
Anyway, as the milk are cooling off, whisk the eggs until they are all properly mixed(the yolk). I know some people like to use only yolks and maybe just one whole egg(yolk and egg white) but for me, no difference. I just use 5 whole eggs, whisk it till they are properly mixed and smooth, remember to avoid getting too much air into them. Once the milk is cool enough to mixed into the eggs, slowly pour the milk into the eggs, whisking all the time. The end result is you should get a smooth, thick and rich mixture, this is called the custard. Then fill the custard into the bowls that you had earlier lined the bottom with the caramel.
The last step is baking it in the oven at 150C for 30 minutes, I usually heat up the oven before hand and fill the pan with hot water(just enough but not overfilling until it overflows). Put the bowl of custard on the pan(that is fill with water), this way of baking will make sure that the custard will not be burnt or over cooked as the water helps smooth out the heat.
Once it's in the oven for about 30 minutes, you should see the top of the custard firmed up, otherwise leave it in the oven for a few more minutes. Let the custard cool down before serving, I like mine to go with some mint leaves, yummy. Enjoy everyone!

Hair Cut

Finally my daughter agreed to go for a hair cut(trim actually) as her hair is getting too long and it's in the way when she eats and play. She was not really agreeable and rather reluctant even as we walked into the saloon. She keep giving me this "long" and hesitant face, but I keep consoling her that it will be okay. She is worried that we will cut her hair short as her hair grows very slowly. Even when she was a baby, she does not have much hair, so I can understand the fright. Anyway, after much coaxing and persuading, she decided to go, though still hesitant.
When we were in there, watching her from behind and catching her peeping at us from the front mirror was a dejavu experience for me. It dawn on me that not too long ago, I was sitting there and my mom was behind me watching me have my hair cuts. I suddenly realize that the circle of life is playing it's role now, how we felt when our moms took us to the barber(not saloon those days), how she would sit behind and look at us and every now and then points out to the barber/stylist how she wants the hair cut. How funny life works and revolves between generations.
Anyway, luckily we told the stylist to trim down her hair and when she was done, it did not put my daughter off. Let's hope she will be more willing the next time around.

Race and religion politics

I am disturbed by what is happening with the recent spat going on in PKR. I am referring to the on going spat between Sivarasa and Zulkifli Nordin. I cannot see why this Zulkifli fella is still in PKR as from what I understand, PKR from day one project itself as a non race and religion base political party. It is suppose to be a "Malaysian" setup where all race, religion and color are equal and fights for truth, fairness and above all equal rights! Actually, since the tsunami victory for PR in 2008, this Zulkifli fella has been a torn in PKR flesh. He is shouting for Muslim rights, as if the other Malaysians of other races are robbing of the Malays, come of it! He is also involved in the bar council issue, the cow head incident and the ban of beer sales incident, which I personally think is a act of sabotaging PR and PKR. What is wrong with this fella! He still thinks with mentality from a 3rd world country, shouting for issues that are non issues, claiming to fight for his Muslim brothers but as far as I know, the "rakyat" have no issues amongst themselves, and when old friends meet up, be it with their Chinese, Malay or Indian friends, they are all calling themselves "bro"........which means we are all good friends and are considered brothers of different mothers and fathers.
This is truly very disturbing as we are all trying to work towards a united front and be known as true Malaysians, so that our children's and future generations will have a better future and life, and not worried about being told off as second class citizens like some countries from other part of the world, eg. African countries. And that by working hard and paying one's dues, they will get the fruit of their labour based on their hardwork and not on the color on their face.
I realize this Zulkifli fella does not truly understand what caused the tsunami election in 2008, just like BN, and that is a worrying sign for PR as I wonder how many more MPs in PR are of the same mentality like Zulkifli. I sincerely hope Datuk Seri Anwar Inbrahim walk the talk, bring this Zulkifli fella in and have a heart to heart talk to see what is his real intention is and bring all this to a closure so that PR can concentrate on doing other more important things!

Anime

My kids these days are so caught up with this Japanese anime that it is also starting to rub off on me! Japanese anime are basically cartoon stories from magazines(it's called manga in Japan) originally which made it's way to TV series. The one in particular now that my kids are following feverishly is call Naruto. This anime has 2 parts, the 1st part being the early stage of this character call Naruto, and the 2nd part dwells more on the character's teenage life. It's a story about ninjas and special jutsu's(special powers) and revolves around this certain village where this main character grows up. It also revolves around his friends and sensei's (teachers/master) who plays a major part in this character's life, so basically it's about family and friendship with a twist of ninja action thrown into. This is what entices my children to follow the series so diligently. In the beginning, I was not too bother with the series as I thought cartoons are cartoons, like any other cartoons I have seen during my growing up age. But after watching a couple of series with my children, it is actually pretty good. I was also very surprise to find out that there is a large following of this series among the adults too.
They also made PS3, Xbox and Wii games out of this series and is extremely popular, my kids themselve already have a few version of the games. I only wish my kids could have been so diligent and hardworking when it comes to their studies and school work........... They can memerize each character, what is their power and so on without hesitation, I keep reminding my son that if only he can do that with his school work and studies, he will be the top student in his school! But I am hoping that all this will eventually work to the benefit of my kids, somehow or rather, directly or indirectly.
Another thing I found out about the name Naruto is that it is actually a name of a fish paste that is commonly used in Japanese ramens. It is usually sliced thinly with a swirling pink design in the middle. Which also explains why the main character is called Naruto because ramen is his favorite food. You can also imagine the impact this has on my kids. My daughter especially, now is so fond on going to the Japanese ramen restaurant, and she will order anything that has that Naruto fish paste in it.

Aiyah, another decision without going thru protocols!Dato Hassan Ali

I am still trying to understand why is it so hard for Datuk Dr Hassan Ali to realize that a "one man show" decision reflects very badly amongst his party, namely PAS and PR. Barely a month ago, he took the law to his own hand by ordering the confiscation of

alcohol from a convenient without first going thru the proper protocols and all hell broke loose. The way he is going about now, it seems like he is trying to sabotage PR, I mean PAS is part of PR now, so act like one, be seen like one! Your actions reflects upon the group you are with(PR) and your current action is by far most inconsiderate. I am not saying being inconsiderate towards the people but towards PR leaders. We know where you are going with this, that Muslims are prohibited to touch or be near alcohol or alcohol serving establishments, and I know you are doing the right thing here but there are proper ways and consequences to think about and how to go about it. Have you ever consider all the establishments like hotels, workers in alcohol producing factories, tourist spots, our airlines(MAS and Airasia) and many many more? These establishments serves alcohol beverages to their clients, they may or may not be Muslim clients but the person serving or taking the beverages to the clients might be a muslim, how then? Pls screw tight your light bulb(head) first, talk to your PAS heads and PR colleagues, have dialogues on the repercussions, how to go about it and plan it out properly. Don't "kong song", meaning talk fun! This is getting really toolan okay! Anyway, below is the article about this matter which I pulled out from MI(thank you) :

Hassan Ali has DAP caught between a rock and a harder place

By Neville Spykerman

SHAH ALAM, Aug 26 — Datuk Dr Hassan Ali’s decision to empower mosque officials to arrest Muslims caught drinking or even selling alcohol is putting their Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners, particularly the secular DAP, in a spot.

The executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs said two days ago imans and bilals would be allowed to arrest and carry out raids at convenience stores under the Selangor Criminal Syariah Enactment 1995.

The state Pas commissioner’s announcement came as a surprise to his PR partners because the dust has barely settled over his call to ban the sale of beer in Muslim majority areas.

The issue was finally settled only after the mentri besar called on convenience stores in Muslim majority areas to practice self regulation.

However the controversial call was used by Barisan Nasional (BN) to lure non-Muslims during campaigning in the Permatang Pasir by-election.

A DAP MP who chose to remain anonymous said Hassan’s latest decision is going to hurt the party and PR as a whole.

He said DAP was caught between a rock and a very hard place.

“To slam Hassan’s decision would open ourselves to criticisms that we are anti-Islam, which we are not, but to remain silent would attract attacks that we are not fighting for people’s fundamental rights.”

His exco colleague Ean Yong Hian Wah also confirmed yesterday that Hassan’s call was a unilateral decision which he did not discuss at the weekly exco meetings.

“We will discuss the matter during the Exco meeting tomorrow.” Said the state DAP chairman yesterday.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said everybody respected the fact that Muslims should not consume alcohol but he pointed out that Hassan’s move would hurt Malaysia’s image of being a progressive country.

“Page one of the Financial Times today is about Malaysia canning a woman who was caught consuming alcohol and now we have moral policing in Selangor.”

He said the fact that mosques officials can also arrest Muslims selling, serving and displaying alcohol is going to cause economic hardship to the community.

“Muslims in the services, food and beverage industries which serve alcohol are now caught in a dilemma.”

Santiago said Hassan should have studied the move and consulted his PR colleagues before making the decision.

Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim said Hassan was digging his own political grave and repeating history.

“His increasing hard line will alarm non-Muslims who will link the move to other fundamental policies that could be implemented in the future.”

In 1999, PAS managed to retain Kelantan and capture the state of Terengganu from Barisan National (BN).

“They became snobbish and arrogant with success and started suggesting to impose many fundamentalist policies, which resulted in the 2004 elections debacle where they lost the state.”

Never assume simple comments are good comments

I always thought if you just speak what's on your mind, with sincerity, no ill feelings and agenda, people will see the point you are trying to push across. But this is not always the case, and I found this out lately via a blog that I frequent often. I am not sure if it was something I commented or did not comment, it seems to have offended the blog owner, since then I can feel the hostility from her. Anyway, now I know to never assume that being "me" and just say what's on my mind, even if it's just a carefree statement, no "punts" intended, none hypocritical(that's definitely not me) and no personal agenda of the statement made, people will be offended. I am not good at phrasing my words carefully, nor am I good at breaking "ices" but I say what I hear, what I know and what I read. I know I get my facts wrong sometimes, but I never fail to admit my mistake if there is one, that's me.
I will still frequent her blog as she writes well and most of the time, it was just funny and humorous, and she too speaks her mind but I will hold my tongue as I know now, sometimes it's better not to comment too much..........I learn that when you comment unnecessary, you will not be welcomed, even if it's just blowing wind type of comments(you get carried away when you read other commentators doing the same).
Hey, life still goes on..........cest la vie!

Selangor Beer Fiasco

I have no issues about the control of alcohol sales as if executed properly, its good! This way we can curb minors and in this case as stressed by PAS's Hassan muslims from purchasing alcohol beverages, namely beer. This is the same idea on cigarette purchase so that minors are prohibited from buying them.
But why must it be done so third world country style! If PAS Selangor insist on going their way, what is the difference between them and BN-UMNO? They are using the religious card to run the country. I know it is against muslim teaching to consume alcohol(beer) but there are ways, proper ways to do this. We cannot just one day say, hey we must stop alcohol sales in areas which have large muslim populations and then instruct officers to go to shops and confiscate the beverages. It is this sort of mentality and work order that give muslim's a bad rep! Why can't PAS Selangor draw up a plan, discussed it over with MB Khalid with the presences of other PR reps and work out a SOP for controlling alcohol sales. This way, we adhere to the rule of law, transparency and most importantly, we show that we are civilized Malaysians and we are capable of working and rationalizing out problems by coming up with proper working rules and regulations that benefit the rakyat and country. Why must PAS Hassan behave like a big bully and all hell break loose because of one person. This is the kind of work from someone who did not think things thru properly and shots his mouth!
I am so glad that MB Khalid held everything together and was calm headed enough to think things thru and finally gave a firm and logical way out to this fiasco. MB Ronnie was just doing the right thing, to make right what was wrong by returning the confiscated beverages but by doing so, he is now the target for racial slurs. He is now called a racist, a person who does respect Muslims and there are request from certain quarters to remove him. PR please get your act together because chances don't come twice, and if you guys continue going on like this, BN will catch up!