Popcorn by the beach @PD

First place a crumpled piece of newspaper between rocks, then pile on some dried leaves, followed by twigs.
Light up a matchstick and ignite the newspaper

Fai says he needs more leaves!

Once the fire gets going, add on bigger pieces of wood.

popcorn kernels and enough oil to line the bottom of the pot.

Close the lid and wait for the popping to start.

Popped corn

In a separate pot, we melted some sugar in oil with a pinch of salt. Once the mixture melted down, we poured in the popped corn and gave it a quick stir.
Once cooled, it was snack time for the kids.

Ean and KC enjoying the view while waiting for their popcorn.

Kacang Botol

It took a while for the plant to flower. It just grew continuously, creeping upwards until it reached the roof. Then one day, it flowered and we had four angle beans hanging on its vines.

Fai giving his dad a hand.

Stir fried with sambal belacan or eaten raw with a sambal belacan dip...Ooooo Yum!
I am off to get my pestle and mortar...

Korean Fair @ Ampang Avenue

We were introduced to the Korean hotplate over a portable gas stove and delicious barbecued meat using a Korean marinade during a recent camping trip.
JY has been into K-pop recently.
The moment we were informed of a Korean Fair, we had to go!

Kimchi pancake was being sold in most of the stalls.

The kids got a glimpse of the traditional Korean costume -Hanbok

This looked like fun. Korean kids playing on a wooden plank.

Seesaw - standing up version.

Ampang Avenue had a few Korean stores.

We popped into one and came away with a hotplate and 2 bottles of Bulgogi Marinade.

Campfire snack

We had a fire going and the wood were smoldering, just nice for a barbecue. Han must have read my mind as he asked for some food, any food to cook on the fire. The only thing I could offer him was chicken soup out of a can. Han said it was acceptable.

So a pot of chicken soup was placed on the fire.

The boys brought out their books and had a discussion on superheroes while waiting for the soup to be done.

After a couple of minutes, it was supper time - a bowl of steaming hot soup. Ean made roti prata in the kitchen and that got dunked into the soup.

Lunch by the beach

We didn't have a car, one was in the workshop, the other in Melaka. We hadn't gone marketing, so food was running low. In desperate times, we resort to being adventurous.

We packed our burner, pot, bowls and drinking water and headed for the beach. DH cycled to the village grocery shop for instant noodles and eggs and got ready to cook lunch.
It was a very windy day and the water took a long time to boil, so we started a fire.

With roaring flames, lunch was cooked in no time.

This was my lunch. Super 10, found only in PD and it is delicious. Creamy, gooey with a slight tinge of bitterness....simply heavenly.

After lunch, as the water receeded, we found hundreds of lala or soft clams. The 'kuaci of the sea'.

After a quick rinse, we boiled them in a bit of water and sprinkled in some seasoning.

Lala!

Fai burning a couple of coconuts found by the shore. They gave off a lovely aroma.

Homemade Spinach Noodle and Capati

No McDonald's, Pizza Hut or KFC when we need a quick lunch here in PD. The nearest thing to fastfood is Warong Kak Yah where we go to for Curry puffs and Nasi Goreng.
It has been mainly homecooked food since moving here.

We first tried spinach noodles in a little cafe in JayaOne and have wanted to try making it one day. So when we bought a pasta machine, the first item that JY wanted to roll out with her new toy was Bayam Noodles.

We searched through the web for the simplest recipe. The portion was rather small so JY decided to double the amount.

We used 2.5 cups of compressed spinach leaves. Fai tore the leaves up.

JY stirfried the bayam in 4 tablespoons of water till it was cooked

then blended the leaves with 2eggs, 1teaspoon salt

The blended mixture was poured into 2.5cups of flour and kneaded till it was smooth and pliable

After letting the dough rest for 20minutes, it was rolled out into thin sheets and was left to rest again, this time for 2 hours.

By this time the kids were very hungry.

Finally, the rested flat dough was put through the pasta machine again to get noodles. the noodles were a bit clumpy and sticky, so JY sprinkled more flour onto the sheets before the cutting process. Fai and Ean were enlisted to toss the noodles up in the air to avoid getting clumpy noodles.

the noodles were cooked in boiling water and then dipped into a basin of water

Lunch is served! The noodles in fish broth (leftover fried fish boiled for 2 hours with a few slices of ginger and crushed peppercorn) and some fried ikan bilis and sayur manis.

Later that day, Han insisted on making capati. He had observed Uncle Sony numerous times in preparing the dough and flipping the capati.

After pouring in the flour for him, Han estimated the amount of water required, the proceeded to knead the dough.
He showed me how it was done by pressing the dough down with his knuckles. He continued with this technique till he was satisfied with the results.

Then to roll out the small amounts of dough. Ean joined in too.

The capati came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

No oil is used. Just a flat pan and high heat. The capati was allowed to cook on one side till it fluffed up then flip over.

Capati anyone?

Day2 with Machika 11March2011

It was pitch black when we arrived at the rabbit farm, the landmark for Broga hill. Only one car was parked by the road side.

Machika and JY: Eeeee....so eerie...

My hubby: You see, no one comes this early, let's have breakfast. I am starving.

We headed to Semenyih town for some hot noodles and drove back to Broga at about 7.30am. The moment we arrived, we could see about 10 cars parked in the palm oil estate.


As we approached the first peak of Broga Hill, we bumped into about a 100 homeschooling kids and their teachers coming from learning centres around Kota Kemuning, USJ and Cheras area. They were descending the hill and one of their teachers told us that they were there since 5.30am and there were cars already parked in the estate.

Homeschoolers in Broga! What an active lot they were. Chattering non-stop and having a gala time.

JY, Machika and Dear Hubby went on further while I kept a watchful eye on the boys as we rested at the first peak.

Fai and his admirers, UPM students.

The boys played amongst the tall grass and on the huge boulders.

Machika and JY at the highest peak.

Scaling down carefully.

Dear hubby came back with a giant millipede for the boys to look at. Han took it and showed to the UPM students.

It started to drizzle, so it is back down the hill before the sandy slope becomes a muddy slope. Fai and Han had an enjoyable bumpy ride as they slid down the steep slopes on their buttocks.

JY, Fai, Han and Machika were a good 10 minutes ahead of my hubby and I. They waited patiently in the car for us. Ahh..to be so young and energetic....

After a quick shower, we got ready for Yong Taufu @Peel Rd and KLCC. The crispy fried foochok and sweet sauce were Machika's favourites.

After a hearty meal at our favourite lunch stall, we headed to Petronas Twin Towers. Tickets to the Skybridge were sold out, so we watched a movie instead - I am number four - which was surprisingly good and very entertaining.

While we were choosing out doughnuts at San Moulin, Machika received a call and suddenly looked ashen. She informed me of the earthquake in Japan. She couldn't get through to her family. It was only 3 hours later when she managed to get hold of them - they were safe.

Machika was stoic throughout the 3 hour wait. She managed to put on a smile and took JY shopping. " Very cheap!" she says.

Han swinging with his eyes shut.

The boys collecting frangipani flowers

We ended the day with an origami workshop conducted by Michika.