Auntie orang dapur

Apa khabar everyone?

Memang nampaknya blog auntie ni macam agak2 berkapang. And auntie notice sleepyhead dah mintak auntie update (walaupong blog dia lebih berkapang dari auntie's). Tetiba blog bro1 pulak yg agak rancak, 2-3 entry bulan ni. Blog mamachupan toksah citer la. Memang dia seorang yg diligent dan when she has set blogging as her routine activity, you can guarantee that she'll have consistent entry everyday. And thank God for small blessings!

Blog badak happy tu nampaknya kureng sket active semenjak-dua menjak ni. Apa da itu President and and Vice President. Kalau puang2 dok buak entry, manakang kuncu2 mu nok tulih jugok. Especially puang yg takdok official blog sendiri tuh! Tulungla tulih. Blog badak alter-ego masih adalah puisi2 yg menyayat hati. Keep it up badak poets!

Blog kawan auntie kat negara Hang Li Po tu pun ala2 slow jugak (oo auntie better wish dia: Happy Birthday, TATI! Her birthday is in two days, tapi just in case auntie tak blog on the 8th.). Samala jugak ke-slow-an blog kawan auntie sorang lagi tu, la petite maman de les enfants. (haha, practice french auntie yg berkarat)

Well, actually-nya memang auntie baru terpikir nak update pastu nampak pulak sleepyhead nye comment tu, so walaupong AH dah dok tepon2 suruh balik rumah (sambil singgah kedai adik mami beli roti), auntie lengah2 la sekejap so auntie could at least start a word or two of entries.

OK...auntie kena balik dah ni coz looks like everyone's gone from the office and since semenjak-dua menjak ni auntie selalu perasan macam ada 'kawan-kawan' from parallel universe jek kat opis ni, baiklah auntie balik. Auntie akan sambung bila sampai rumah dan selesai bagi makan ahli keluarga auntie yg sorang tu. Babai!


Welcome back everyone! Auntie kat rumah ni and baru free dari distractions (spt makan, membersihkan diri and tengok Perak crisis on TV) to continue the entry. Untuk kengkawan dan sedara mara yg curious tentang kehidupan seorang 'guru' yg on sabbatical ni, auntie nak bagi tau, TIDAK ADA APA2 YG BERBEZA kecuali auntie boleh la balik Kuantan tengok Wan and Aki pada tarikh yg convenient ngan auntie tanpa perlu menjuggle kelas and auntie tak perlu beri justification kenapa auntie tak hadir sesuatu mesyuarat di opis (dan depa pun akan mintak maap berbanyak kalau terpaksa panggil auntie mai mesyuarat). Selain drpd itu, auntie rasa sama busy, sama running around catching up with deadlines. Oleh kerana auntie bersabbatical di opis, org2 di opis dan students yg buat assignments berkaitan dgn bidang auntie (they are not my students, though) masih menganggap auntie available for walk-in consultation during office hours walaupun auntie dah letak kat pintu (OUT, 'I'M BUSY, PLS COME AGAIN ANOTHER TIME).


On the Chinese New Year week auntie managed to balik Kuantan just to spend time with Wan and Aki but sans AH. AH's mom was not well, so he has to stay behind. But auntie had good relaxing time with both parents, even though Aki's rants and raves about everything and nothing in particular could possibly drive saints to the brink. Auntie understands that Aki is venting his frustration about his pain because of the prolapsed disc he's suffering. So, everything does not seems right to him. Tapi, of course yg kesian is also Wan. Imagine Wan having to withstand this for weeks on end. Tapi auntie thinks somehow Wan had found a way to shut things out, so she seems alright and not too stressed out. Cuma auntie a bit worried about the eating habit of both parents. Aki thinks he's gained weight because he has not been moving too much (he's walking less because of the pain), so he's refusing to eat. Wan is trying to whet his appetite by cooking santan-laden fish and meats. But Aki still won't eat (he only wants vegetable soup for lunch and dinner). Wan doesn't want the food to go to waste, so she would try to finish the food (even after it is in the fridge for a few days). So, Wan's blood sugar is on the high side now. And Wan sometimes forgets to take her medication, which is real bad for diabetics. So, donno la. Anyway, auntie is going back to Kuantan again on the 25th this month to take Wan for her hospital appointment.

To auntie's adik beradik, we may not have forgotten but perhaps we had not been too enthusiastic about wishing Wan and Aki Happy 44th Anniversary on the 25th Jan hari tu. It was the day auntie arrived in Kuantan. Auntie was busy with arranging for auntie's kitchen cabinet that auntie forgot to buy any present for them. Tapi auntie ada la wish them in passing. Pastu Cik Din and Cik Ja ada la tanya depa dapat tak anniversary present. Of course, nampaknya takde. So, sis and bros, adakah plan utk do a belated celebration or get a collective belated present? Hari tu, Wan ada kata dia mau pinggan bujur (oblong) so that kalau dia masak ikan bawal masak merah tu dia boleh boh ikan tu sekor2 kat dalam pinggan. Tak perlu la potong ikan coz pinggan tak muat. We went looking for it in Giant (auntie took Wan strolling on her chair) but could not find any. So, kalau sape2 ada ternampak pinggan sedemikian rupa dan rasa nak bagi present kat Wan, amatlah auntie alu-alukan. Auntie pon akan be on the lookout for them. Tapi kalau sorang dah beli, tolong la msg kat yg lain coz tak yah la bagi 5 bijik (or 10 bijik kalau decided to beli a pair) pinggan tu kat Wan. Sapa la nak makan 5 ekor ikan bawal masak merah sekali hidang?

O, auntie juga memohon sesapa yg ada details about the proposed family fund for family holiday yg dengar khabarnya dibincangkan di satu family holiday di Awana Kijal itu, supaya tolong story kat auntie so that auntie boleh buat plan berapa banyak auntie punya food allowance harus auntie potong so that auntie boleh membuat contribution ke fund itu. Auntie rela berdiet (memang perlu pun!) utk pergi bersukaria bersama kaum kerabat. Lagipun, kalau auntie dapat potong food allowance itu, Insya Allah, auntie akan fit better into auntie's swimsuit semasa berenang di kolam ketika family holiday nanti. Kali ini auntie akan pakai swimsuit menutup aurat seperti sleepyhead kerana auntie sudah tobat menyamar sebagai pompuan German.

OK, now let's go into the topic in the title of this entry. Selepas menunggu lebih daripada enam bulan, auntie finally mendapat a kitchen to call my own. No thanks to A Seng yg telah run away with auntie's first dream of having a kitchen. But thanks to Mat yg more or less berjaya fulfil auntie's dream of having a nice, cozy kitchen. Mat sedikit sebanyak menaikkan semula kepercayaan auntie kepada contractor bumiputera kerana dia adalah agak professional dlm kerjanya. Walaupun ada la benda2 auntie tak puas hati seperti tak tau nak vacuum habuk kayu lepas pasang cabinet (walaupun AH dah sua vacuum cleaner), hisap rokok (walau sekejap) dlm spanking new home auntie dan mebiarkan stafnya membuat kerja atas meja makan tempered glass auntie. Hampir gugur jantung auntie! And terlupa nak jerit dan mengamuk kerana terlalu terkojut. Nasib baik meja kaca murahan ku masih intact. Kalau tidak harus ku taram muka budak beng--g itu dengan screw driver letrik AH.

Oh, and colour yg diberi oleh Mat adalah sedikit lari dari kaler sample yg diberi dan sepatutnya ada 'texture' tapi hampeh (penting you know, if i buy texture, i want to have texture!) tetapi auntie sudah capek (ie, penat, ini sbb baru tengok citer Indonesia pagi tadi) nak bergaduh ngan kontraktor. In any case, the resulting work is reasonably OK by auntie. Auntie tak lah ecstatic, tapi satisfied la.

So, inilah phoenix yg arose from auntie's ashes of a kitchen.

Impian AH utk memiliki dapur ala2 gerai char kuew teow utk menggoreng mee-nya nampaknya tak kesampaian coz no more space in the kitchen. Unless he can turn this two-burner hobs into doing the job for him.

Using all available space. Now I don't have to use TOYOGO anymore to keep my baking items. Getting the fridge into the kitchen required the front door to be unhinged first. So, this fridge is not going anywhere for a loooooong time!

Mat is quite ingenious in his ideas. See the little steel holes in on the cabinet door on the right? AH wanted a space where we can keep short term leftovers (ie food yg tak habis in one go but can be revisited throughout the day) without putting them in the fridge (and having to reheat them each time to eat). AH ori idea is to have that jaring like gerobok lauk lama2 tu, tapi Mat came with this eyelets on the door idea. And we like!

More swing-up frosted glass door options. Auntie is also happy with the hanging dish drainer.

Wet section of the kitchen, as in tempat boleh berkenjah.

Ample dish-washing space (and CSI tap).

This wall-hanging kitchen tidy thingy auntie bought many2 years ago through catalogue shopping in UK. Auntie thought auntie would never get to use it. In fact, the plastic pun was already kusam but with a little bit of help from 'sun of a gun' cleaner, it looks good as new.

More view of psedo- gerobok lauk.

Long-awaited oven, now installed. Not the most ideal place for auntie (coz will have to do a lot of squatting down) but will have to do. At the moment still not connected coz we need to get the electrician to hook it up (it's complicated!). Hopefully, soon, so auntie can be baking-mad!

What remains now is for Auntie and AH to gradually move to our penultimate nest. But not before we do some negotiation with 'friends' from the parallel universe.... (will elaborate in another entry, this one is getting a tad too long).

GOOD NIGHT, MY LOVELIES!