The Official Blog

We have moved to diyanazman.com. Now go there!

:: Makan :: Qualifying for Miss Penang ::

If I were to organize a beauty pageant contest in Penang I would include “Being able to indulge herself with Nasi Kandaq and spicy curries” as one of the preliminary qualifying requirements.

And if I was one of the contestants I would no way get my butt into the second round simply because I was born with a shitake mushroom for a nose but never because I lack appreciation in curries.

From all the years I spent in Penang, I’ve grown to create a personal devotion for the food. The occasional crave that I experience may have been resulted from all the kaskas I consumed at Kayu and Pelita but the kaskas-free ones I make at home help as well.

Here is the recipe of World Simplest Beef Curry for future reference of myself and if Friendster hangs on long enough; perhaps for my unborn daughter Mika and of course other amateur cooks like me..hehe…

Ingredients: Sliced beef Diced Potatoes Curry Spice for meat/poultry Shallot Garlic Ginger Lengkuas – rhizome spice plant like ginger but I don’t know what people call it in English Fresh turmeric Tomato sauce Coconut milk Beef stock Cooking oil

Methods:

Blend shallots, garlic, ginger, lengkuas and a bit of fresh turmeric, Thaw the beef properly and boil with some sugar to soften if necessary,

(remember repetitive chewing on tough meat is sooo not sexy!)

Sauté the blended paste till fragrant in cooking oil, Then add the Curry Spice, sauté till well cooked, Add beef and pour in beef stock, Add potatoes, Add tomato sauce, Add coconut milk and stir, Add salt&sugar to taste No msg please, losing hair is such a no-no!! Simmer on small to medium flame till beef is tender and potatoes are cooked.

All done!! Isn’t this recipe the easiest one? For me the lengkuas is an additional must to it because the lengkuasy aroma in the curry is oh so yummy! If any of you knows what it is called in English pls let me know. The tomato sauce meant to thicken the gravy texture and balancing the sour essence. Bon appetite...

:: Life :: The brain that doesn't only come with beauty..

It’s very ironic when it comes to people’s perspective of me. A friend of mine stopped contacting me after I got married because he thinks that the married me have stop being fun and intelligent and have moved on to doing nothing else but exchange recipes with other married ladies. Where he got such idea I still wonder.

The rest of my many friends either dropped their jaws to their boobies or fell off their chairs when I say that I am cooking dinner for Azman and myself tonite. They would stare at me with sheer disbelief and in one meticulous case, a friend asked if Azman’s digestive system has been doing well lately. I guess people these days are very creative when it comes to insults now don’t they?

Sometimes I don’t know if I should feel insulted for their underestimation of me can be quite kurang ajaq or should I blame yours truly for portraying myself as a long legged pathetically helpless bimbo?

The truth is I am still the same old me that you guys have always known. Still that sengal scrawny chatterbox, still reading a thick paperback one after another, still have Midvalley floor plan memorized by heart, still spurting Penang accent uncontrollably when mad…

Still the same old me…

Only a few like Kak Ina, Badyah and Farah who knows that I can cook up a meal without blowing up the stove or ended up with a meal that reminds you of those you get from Gerai Konvo. I guess they know that my brain does not only come with beauty but talent and skills in the kitchen as well…hehe..

I do like cooking,you guys… and I do can cook. In fact many of my posting after this will be about cooking! Hehe! Jangan maraa aa…

:: Shopping :: Yuzmin is a devil in disguise ::

Yesterday 30^th September, I went to a perfume warehouse sale at Queen’s Park in Cheras. Yes Cheras! Bloody hell Cheras, the traffic was crammed like lumps of cholesterol in Fat Joe’s artery. Not to mention there was hardly any directional sign that’s actually useful and the map on handout was freaking wrong.

Joi, Yuzmin’s boyfriend was driving. If Min was a devil, she could easily get promoted as the Head of Ministry of Luring People to Shop until they turn Broke in hell. She excelled amazingly in getting my hungry fasting butt to the sale with very little effort.

But its really not fair for me to blame her, I was quite tergedik-gedik to go as well, what kind of sensible female mind that doesn’t get excited with the idea of a hall full of branded fragrances selling at 80% off normal price? In fact I have been to similar one last year that was held in Kelana Jaya and not Bloody–Cheras-Jalan-Jam-Macam-Nak -Mampos. But then I went with my then fiance and he stopped me from behaving like a kid in a candy store. This year, Min and Joi were all devilishly encouraging.

There were so many crazy assed people in there and the queue to cashier was like 20 meters long and moving in the speed of a Siput Sedut climbing out the ice box at Giant hypermarket. Even Anfaal and Shiera were there too.hehe! As soon as we got into the shop lot, Joi decided that he better start queuing.

We didn’t take so long choosing the ones we wanted to get. In fact we hardly choose. We just grab the perfumes into our arms before another big spender got hold of it. There were perfumes, make-up and skin care products from Jean-Paul Gaultier, Kenzo, Carolina Herrera (my favourite), CK, Bvlgary, Davidoff, J-lo, Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne just to name a few. 95% were priced below 100 ringgit. It was raving mad. Yuzmin the devil had taken me to heaven.

I was so desperately tempted to get more but I thought of the people in Africa that hardly get a chance to bathe apatah lagi nak pakai minyak wangi. At last I narrowed down to only 3 :

Paco Rabanne’s Fluoressense Ultraviolet 80ml edt for RM80. Like 10 bucks for I0 ml? Davidoff’ Coolwater Woman 50ml edp for Rm95 only Carolina Herrera’ Carolina 100ml edt and free handbag for amazing RM85 and Body & Soul’s lipstick in honey brown for RM15.

Yuzmin bought 5 or 6.

Usually when I bought stuff that seriously do not need, Id feel rather guilty but this time I guiltily feel not guilty at all. Who asked them to sell all these goodies for so bloody cheap price??? It was not my fault! And Yuzmin dear, sorry about the entry’s title, you are actually such an awesome friend. I just need someone to blame for my overindulgence.

MERDEKA!!!!! MERDEKA!!!

Azman and Diyana trying to decide on whatto do during Merdeka day.. diyana: jomlaa makan kambing... azman: barbeque ke? diyana: ye ahh... azman: kat mane? diyana: kat mana-mana ah... azman:halaman umah saye boleh ke? diyana:tanak,ada taik kucing... azman:ok jom g PD! diyana:yea!! azman:tapi bbq pakai arang..susah! baik saye beli portable stove!! diyana:yea! tapi azman takde penggorengan...!!? azman:oh...kena pakai penggorengan ke? 5ringgit takde ke? diyana: ada..... dan kami pun pegila carrefour alamanda untuk beli kambing dan stove! orang2 kat putrajaya tuh suka langgar2 orang! pastu beli kuali kat warta sbb manada penggorengan rm5 kat alamanda! the lamb taste really good.. and azman's lawn is not so bad after all..... :p

How do we get into this...

A lazy Sunday afternoon at Starbucks in PJ... Azman with his routine of crowding his low-in-RAM VAIO with more dowloadings and Diyana with new eyebrow pencil! Print 30 beautiful pictures that was taken last year!! Actually there is a benefit of the delay..now the price of a 4R digital is 60sen only compared to 80sen the last time we had our romantic shot printed last year!hehe!! Suddenly, Azman stops his Hakka "ku mati!! ku mati!!" annoying sh*t and comes up with a brand new idea... A blog!!!! For the two of us... The blog of love... :p And to prove that this blog is blessed from above..we got FREE grande latte... or is the blessing comes from Starbucks?? Off to dinner now at Kedai Kecik... later...