Not a good start, but not a bad ending….

It started off as one of those days. You know the kind of day where you wake up and feel like you've just been run over by a steam roller. That was how my Saturday started. I woke up quite early, around 7.00 and the moment I sat up I felt like I had been crushed by a huge rolling pin. All my muscles were aching and crying out to me to just lie down again.

I don’t know how to describe how I felt in English (I guess lethargy would be a close enough description) but in Malay I would call it as “lemau” (If I was referring to food, I think “lemau” would translate as “stale”). After a brief tinkle, I decided that my running shoes could wait another day and my rowing machine wasn't going to go anywhere, I went back to bed.

Waking up again at 10.00 was slightly better. I could no longer hear screaming coming from my muscles, just some faint whispering  For a brief second, I contemplated either putting on my running shoes and head out in 0 degrees temperature or spend 15 minutes breathing heavily on my rowing machine. Instead I did neither.

After another brief tinkle, my wife informed me that Siti had cooked nasi lemak that morning and had invited us over. All of a sudden, all my aches vanished. The thought of having nasi lemak for brunch sounded like a brilliant idea (I honestly didn't know that the invitation was actually for breakfast).

The nasi lemak was excellent. The hotness of the sambal was more prominent compared to mine but the sweetness and the sourness helped to temper it down a bit. The rice was nicely cooked and I noticed that there were chunks of rice from the bottom of the pot in the rice bowl (in Malay we call this the “kerak”). I love these chunks of rice from the bottom of the pot. I didn't notice them that much in my first serving. I only realized they were in the rice bowl about half way through my second serving, so naturally, I just had to have a third helping.

The sambal, eggs, cucumber and fried anchovies making up the whole nasi lemak combination.

I would normally stop there. Three servings of nasi lemak is a lot to have in one sitting (although I think my record was 5), but I spent yesterday afternoon experimenting with this recipe for chocolate mousse on a baked cornflakes crust. I couldn't find a recipe for chocolate mousse on a baked crust so I had to combine 2 different recipes. And I was very eager to taste it. It was wonderful. The crust was a bit crunchier than I expected making it very difficult to cut, but the mousse was perfect and the whole combination of mousse and crust worked very well. Next time I will have to find a way to reduce the crunchiness of the crust.

The Chocolate Mousse on Baked Cornflakes Crust
(You need to zoom in to see the crust)

After the start I had this morning, I didn't really think that I’d feel much better in the afternoon. When I start any day feeling “lemau”, it usually ends the same way. Not much that happens during the day that would improve my overall outlook for the day, but today, was different. Thanks to the nasi lemak from Siti  

Goodbye 2012!!! Welcome 2013!!!

Reflecting on the year gone by.

This is tough. It’s the eve of the New Year and I want to write something about it. I've been staring at this blank document for 30 minutes now and have typed and deleted at least 6 paragraphs. I have walked back and forth to the toilet 3 times (it’s about the only place I can smoke in the house and also there’s something about a toilet seat which makes it a great place for contemplation). And so far, I just can’t seem to put my thoughts in a coherent form to write them down. But I’m going to try anyway.

Around about this time of the year, I always find myself contemplating the events over the past 12 months, reflecting on the good times and bad times, trying to decide if the year that is about to leave, was a good year or a bad one. The conclusion that I have come up with is that it was a wonderful 2012.

I have to say that I wasn't really expecting much from 2012. I had no job and spent most of my time at home. My biggest worry was that I would get bored and depressed since I didn't have much to occupy my time with. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2011 and my cholesterol level was border line. So on top of not having much to do, I had health issues to contend with.

But during the year, things started to pick up. My professional life remained in the gutter, but I was expecting that. I figured as long as I stayed in the Netherlands, it would be very difficult for me to find a job, so I wasn't expecting much improvement there. But everything else started to fall in place.

I started to become active again towards the end of 2011. I started going to the gym, played badminton, and I went running and cycling on a regular basis. All this continued throughout 2012 (except for the last month or so as I was advised to stop playing sports for a while because of a hip problem). These activities not only improved my fitness levels, but they also helped increase my overall health. My blood sugar level is still high but it has been constantly reducing throughout the year. My cholesterol level is still border line, but I see light at the end of the tunnel.

Besides that, I've also managed to travel a bit this year. I went back to Malaysia 3 times, and spent some time in Norway, Italy, Portugal and the UK.

Western Norway was breathtaking. We spent a couple of days hiking around Maloy and the hills surrounding it. And then we spent another day driving into the mountains, looking at the wondrous nature of glaziers and also taking in the beautiful scenery of the fjords.

In Italy, we enjoyed the scenery around San Gimignano and the Tuscan countryside. We also learned a bit about the history of Lucca and Sienna but one of the highlights of the trip and the whole year was driving a Ferrari California around the countryside surrounding Maranello in Italy.

Unlike the other places, Portugal was a relaxing holiday. We stayed in the beautiful town of Cascais, 30 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Lisbon and just soaked up the sun at the hotel swimming pool.

In the UK we went to catch a live game at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC (my favorite football club). We also spent a couple of days just driving around the countryside in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, taking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying the offerings of the small quaint towns such as Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden and Bradford-upon-Avon, along the way.

But if I have to say, the happiest moment of 2012 to me, would be looking at the joy in my wife’s eyes when I gave her the birthday present I got her.

(That first part was written on New Year’s Eve. The next part was written a few days after the New Year)

I have never made a New Year’s Resolution. Every year, on the eve of the New Year, I reflect on the events of the previous year, without making any resolutions for the New Year. I’ve always believed that whatever resolution that I make at the eve of a New Year will be forgotten within a couple of weeks, a month at the most. So I've never made any.

But this year, I've decided to make a New Year’s Resolution. I guess this change in heart has been brought about because I feel like there is so much more that I can achieve when I put my mind to it. So here are my New Year’s Eve Resolutions:

1. I’d like to learn some new things.
1. I bought an acoustic guitar a couple of years ago and took some lessons. That was before I moved to the Netherlands. When I moved here, I stopped completely. Last year, I started to take guitar lessons online and I think I am making some progress. So my first resolution is to learn how to play the guitar properly.
2. Apart from that, I’d like to learn how to ski. It won’t really be a useful thing to know back in Malaysia but I would like to go on a skiing holiday and I would like to know how to ski before I go on that holiday.
3. I would also like to learn how to make coffee. I've been looking at learning this for a year or so. I have been looking at a course in London and hopefully this year I’ll be able to take that course.
4. I would also like to learn other things but I haven’t really decided on anything else yet. More on this later.
2. I’d like to experiment more with my cooking. I have my normal repertoire which I think I've more or less perfected according to my tastes. But nowadays I feel like I should expand my horizons and try different things as well. I've already started with a birthday dinner for my lovely wife and it turned out quite well. The starter was Mussels cooked in tomatoes, while the main meal was a Lemon Baked Turkey, Roast Pumpkin and Parsnip, a simple salad and for dessert, I served a Banoffee Pie.
3. I also want to increase my fitness levels. I want to keep on playing squash, badminton and tennis. I also want to start cycling and running again. I've got a rowing machine now and that will help with my fitness levels.

The full spread

Top (right to left): Roasted Grated Pumpkin and Parsnip, Salad with Pomegrenate
Bottom (right to left): Mussels in Tomatoes and Banoffe Pie

That’s all my New Year’s Resolutions. I might decide to add to that list later on in the year but then they won’t be New Year’s Resolutions any more. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. 

The nasi lemak brunch....

It’s that time of the year again. Its Christmas time and I get to play dress up and attend my wife’s departmental Christmas party. Since I don’t work, I spend most of my time in jeans and t-shirts (and thermals and sweaters in the winter), so I don’t get the chance to dress up very often. Over the weekend, we went to the Malaysian Association of the Netherlands Annual Gala Dinner and we decided to dress up for that. This is us before the event:

Before the Gala Dinner... we looked goooood

Besides that, I’m stuck for ideas. I've spent the whole morning just hanging out at my favorite watering hole, the Coffee Company at Korteporten in Den Haag, and followed that up with walking around aimlessly for another hour or so. Then I came home and spent the last 2 hours reading comments on articles posted on a website dedicated to Liverpool Football Club (I read the articles in 15 minutes). Now I’m just waiting for the time to get ready and head off the Louwman Museum for the Christmas party.

Since I’m not doing anything else, I thought I might as well write about the events over the past weekend, particularly Sunday when we had our nasi lemak brunch. As I mentioned in the last post, I left the invitation open, anyone who wanted to attend would just have to read the post and let me know that they were coming. You’d think with that type of invitation, I’d probably have to cook for 100 people. But not here in Den Haag, I had a guest list of 5 and a half and even then, at the last minute, someone couldn't make it.

So I was left with Fazrin, Merlyna, Siti and Shaukatt being the 4 and little Khaleef making up the half. Brunch was scheduled to start at 11.00 and at 8.30 that morning, my wife got a message from Siti telling us that she was already hungry and couldn't wait to come over. I hadn't even started cooking yet.

The guests. From top to bottom: Fazrin & Merlyna, Siti  & Shaukatt, and Khaleef

 It usually takes me about an hour to cook nasi lemak, but this time I had to allocate a bit more time because I was planning to serve fried chicken with the nasi lemak. I started cooking at 9.30 and by 10.30 I was done with the nasi lemak. At 11.00, Siti, Shaukatt and Khaleef arrived.  I was only half way through cooking the chicken so I could feel the daggers coming from Siti as she was probably expecting to eat immediately upon arrival.

In a way, I was feeling a bit under pressure. This would be the first time I was going to cook nasi lemak for friends since I started writing this blog. I knew expectations were going to be high. As we sat down to eat, I grew more anxious and nervous. What if it turned out to be a disaster?

After my first bite, my fears quickly disappeared. It was exactly how I liked my nasi lemak. The rice was perfectly cooked, not too creamy or heavy and the sambal had the right balance of hot, sweet, sour and salty. Everything tasted right. I got confirmation of that when Siti asked if she could take some of the sambal home if we had extra.

The fried chicken on the left and the sambal on the right

But what really brought a smile to my face was that we almost finished the rice. As a general rule, for the 2 of us, I normally cook about 1 cup of rice. If I’m feeling really hungry, about a cup and a quarter and even then we’re usually stuffed by the time we finish it. If I base my calculation on that rule, 4 cups of rice should have been enough for all of us. I added one extra cup just in case anyone was extra hungry. But then, when I poured the rice into the cooker, there wasn't much left in the bag, so I poured the whole thing in. In total, I cooked about 6 and a half cups. THAT WAS A LOT!!!!

Anyway, all in all, it was a success. I spent the rest of the day with Fazrin and Shaukatt watching football while my wife, Siti and Merlyna went shopping. They left Khaleef with us but being the nice boy that he is, he didn't create too much of a fuss and we managed to enjoy the games on the telly.  

Plans for the weekend...

It started snowing about an hour ago. That’s the first time snow has been sighted this year in Den Haag. For me, it’s not truly winter, until you see snowflakes drifting down past your windows. That’s the real sign of winter and a warning that the temperatures are going to drop further.

I have this love hate relationship with winter. I hate winter because every day is the same as the day before, it’s wet, windy and overall, very dreary. But I also love winter because it gives me the opportunity to put on my body hugging thermals and I DO look good in body hugging thermals. YES, I am that vain and I’m sure most of my friends will be able to testify to that fact (sometimes I can’t walk by a mirror without taking a peak at how good I look). It’s a shame that I always have to cover up the tight fitting thermals with a t-shirt or a sweater on top.

Anyway, since the weather is not very encouraging, I’m more or less stuck in the house for now. Rather than waste my time this morning watching the idiot box (I can do that later today), I've decided to make plans for the weekend. I've got a couple of friends staying over this weekend. They will be in Den Haag for the Malaysian Association of the Netherlands Annual Gala Dinner which will be held on the evening of Saturday, 8^th December 2012.

I have a lunch invitation on Saturday at a fellow Malaysian’s house somewhere in Den Haag (I haven’t got his address yet). In the afternoon, Fazrin Edzuan Jamaluddin and Merlyna Aillen Kraal will be arriving from Antwerp, Belgium, and we’ll all be attending the Gala Dinner that evening. Fazrin and Merlyna will be spending the night at our place. So my Saturday is fairly packed.

Sunday morning is usually tennis time. I joined this group of 6 Malaysians who play tennis on Sundays. So far, I've missed a few sessions because I was traveling and a couple of sessions had to be cancelled because we didn't have enough people as others were traveling too. For this Sunday, I’m not sure if tennis is on. Three of us will be attending the Gala Dinner, so we’re not entirely sure if we can get up early that Sunday morning to play tennis. And on top of that, another one of us will be traveling that weekend. So we might not have enough players. Then there’s always the weather which might put a dampener on our plans.

Rather than living with the uncertainty, I've decided to make my own plans this weekend. Since I have guests over this weekend, I have decided to make nasi lemak for brunch. It’s the perfect substitute. In this kind of weather, all you’d be doing is warming up, you won’t sweat much playing tennis. If you eat nasi lemak, and the sambal is hot enough, you will definitely break into a sweat. So in a way, it’s a better Sunday morning activity compared to tennis.

I already have 2 guests and I’m still contemplating on whether I should invite more.  I enjoy entertaining friends, but I do try to keep a limit on these kinds of invites. I like chatting and catching up with friends but I wouldn't enjoy the occasion if I have to shout at them from across the room. Taking this into account, I have decided that I should invite a few more people over for brunch. I think a limit of 8 or 10 people would be nice. I just need to figure out who I can invite. Maybe what I can do is just leave the invitation open. Anyone who reads this post is welcome as long as places are available. All they have to do is just inform my wife or me that they would like to come. First come, first serve.

Now that my plans for the weekend have been settled, all I have to do is figure out what to do for the rest of the day. Maybe this afternoon, if the clouds stop pouring stuff that will make me wet, I might just drop by the gym (I think there’s too many maybes there). 

P.s. I haven't exactly cleared these plans with my wife. So, these plans are still subject to change

A major problem

J. Mokhtar tagged me in this photo

Last week, I was tagged in a photo posted by fellow blogger J. Mokhtar (you can find a link to his blog in my blog list on the right). The photo was a picture of a selection of “nasi lemak bungkus” at the breakfast buffet of the Le Meridien Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. They offered 5 options for your sambal. There is the conventional sambal ikan bilis (dried anchovies) then they also have the options of sambal udang (prawns), ikan (fish), daging (beef) or sambal sotong (squid). I can’t testify to the tastefulness of the nasi lemak as I’ve never tried the breakfast buffet at Le Meridien before and JM didn't say if he tried the the nasi lemak either.

Upon viewing this picture, my wife decided she wanted to have some nasi lemak. She made this decision while rushing back from Brussels via Roermond (another brief shopping trip). It was good that she volunteered to cook it as she hasn't cooked nasi lemak since I moved here to the Netherlands (and also because I was in a rush to catch a football game and since we were expected to arrive an hour before the game started, I was planning to park myself on the sofa until the game finished).

Here are a couple of pictures of my wife’s nasi lemak (the nicer photo was taken by my wife).

My wife's nasi lemak

After devouring her nasi lemak, I had a major criticism. I have a problem with her nasi lemak and I haven’t told her about it yet. I thought I would reveal the problem here in my blog rather than revealing it to her personally. I think in most cases, this could be grounds for a divorce.

The problem I have with her nasi lemak is that she doesn't make it often enough. I had three plates of it that night and another 2 plates over the weekend. Besides my own, the only other nasi lemak that I can eat 3 servings in one sitting is my mom’s.

Her nasi lemak is different compared to mine. The rice she cooks is not as creamy or as rich as mine but it is still very good. Apparently she adds another ingredient, "fenugreek", into her rice. As I said before, a good sambal has to have the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot. Her sambal doesn’t have the intensity of these tastes but the balance is there. Although I prefer a more intense sambal, her version is perfectly balanced and it doesn't overwhelm your taste buds. Through all the tastes, you can still feel the richness and creaminess of the rice.

My version of nasi lemak will flood your taste buds with the sweet, sour, salty and hotness of the sambal mixed with the creaminess and richness of the rice. Together with the crunchiness of the fried dried anchovies, it makes a wonderful meal. My wife’s nasi lemak achieves the same objectives (a delicious meal that you can have over and over again) but with a lower level intensity.

Maybe next time my wife says she would like nasi lemak, I might just park my butt on the sofa again and wait for it to be served.  

My Nasi Lemak in Den Haag

Since cooking my first nasi lemak back in my university days, I have perfected my nasi lemak to my own taste. Over the years, even though I haven't done it very often, I’ve cooked nasi lemak for friends (in university) and family (maybe a couple of times as I also love my mom’s nasi lemak). I have more or less perfected my technique and the ingredients that I use. I can now rustle up a delicious mouthwatering meal in 45 minutes.

When I first arrived in Den Haag, I didn’t know that many people here. My circle of friends consisted of my lovely wife and a couple of her friends who I met before on previous trips. So I had to make new friends. I decided I should try and extend the hand of friendship to the Malaysian community first as we probably had more things in common. I just had to figure out how to go about doing that.

One of the generalizations that I can make about Malaysians is that they will never say no to food. Under most circumstances, when you invite a Malaysian over to your house for any kind of food, you will get a positive response. Of course there are those who would decline because they can’t squirm their way out of a previous engagement, but if you ever invite a Malaysian to your house for a meal, be prepared to receive a “Yes” answer and in most cases, prepare a lot of food. We Malaysians, can really eat!

Based on this, I decided the best way to make friends here, especially among the Malaysian community is to invite them over for a meal of my nasi lemak. We decided on a small group, just five of us including my wife and I. It had been a while since I cooked anything (privileges of living with your mom for a few years). So I didn’t want to invite a large group just in case my nasi lemak didn’t turn out as I expected. These were to be my guinea pigs. 

Needless to say, my nasi lemak was a hit. I’ve cooked it a few times since and everyone in Den Haag who has had a plate would always have seconds. Nowadays, whenever I decide to have nasi lemak party, guests rarely decline whenever they receive an invite.

 P.s. Big thank you to the guinea pigs, my wife Zaiton Abdullah, and friends Samantha Lee, Zulfa Ashida Zulkifle, Johan Mokhtar and Azrina Kamaruddin

Devouring Nasi Lemak in Den Haag

Since I moved to the Netherlands, I haven’t been able to eat my favorite meal on a regular basis. I can’t just pop out to a stall and grab a stomach full of bliss like I can in Kuala Lumpur. So, if I do have a craving for nasi lemak, I have to cook it myself.

Cooking nasi lemak here isn’t really a problem. I can get most of the ingredients at the Chinese supermarket in the city center. However, I’m not fond at all of the dried anchovies they sell. They import the stuff from Thailand and somehow, it doesn’t fry very well. You don’t get the same crunchiness as you do with Malaysian dried anchovies after frying.

Because of this, I have to get my dried anchovies from Malaysia every time I go back home. Sometimes, as most of my friends here know about my obsession with the good stuff, they will buy some dried anchovies for me when they make a trip back home. After being here for 18 months, I have yet to run short of dried anchovies.

Besides my own home cooked version, I have had nasi lemak cooked by other fellow Malaysians as well. So far, I have tasted 4 different varieties (2 were cooked by the same person but in different quantities thus ended up tasting different). I think I’ll talk about all these different versions in future posts (if not, this will end up to be a very long post). As for now, talking about food has made me hungry so I think I’ll go and have some nasi dagang which was leftover from the weekend.

P.s. I didn’t cook the nasi dagang. I have no idea how to cook it.