Nature's Way Rest & Restore Night Multivitamin For Women

After weeks cuba siapkan assignments and mengubat hati yang luka, baru hari ni mak ada mood sikit nak update blog. Today I decided to share satu supplement yang mak suka konsep dan juga agak berkesan untuk mak.

Kisahnya bermula masa mak mula sampai ke Brisbane. The first thing mak buat time tu adalah cari supplement to replace kolagen Kinohimitsu yang mak selalu makan masa di Malaysia. Unfortunately, mana-mana pharmacy yang mak pergi mostly jual sheep placenta dan marine collagen products (yang ala-ala Imeedeen tu). Ada jugak mak carik online kalau-kalau ada jual kan Kinohimitsu products kat Brisbane ni.

One day mak buka TV and nampak iklan ni kat TV ... Rest and Restore Night Multivitamin for Women :

"Do you feel worn out, fatigued, not 100%. It’s no wonder- because the human body is not designed to withstand the constant pressure of each hectic day without eventually slowing down or burning out. This is the reason that our body rests and restores itself while we sleep of all the minor damages it has faced during your busy day. If your body does not repair & restore itself properly- it affects your health & vitality every day.

That’s why a night multi is an important step you can take to help support your health and well being. It works with your body while you sleep to help the body’s natural recharging and repairing that happens while you sleep, to help you feel renewed and restored every day- so that you can wake up feeling brighter, fresher and more energetic the whole day!"

Menarik kan konsepnya? So few weeks ago mak went to Terry White Chemists kat Myer Centre carik benda alah ni. Harga $24.95 ... about RM 77.00 la untuk 60 tablets.

Rest and Restore Night Multivitamin For Women

Multivitamin ni makan sebijik selepas makan dan sebelum nak masuk tido. Masa first time makan, skeptical jugak. Mak yang tak pernah-pernah rajin nak makan vitamin tiba-tiba taksub pulak try night multivitamin. Kira mak memang terpengaruh sangattttt lah dengan iklan.

Bila baca kotak ni ... makin semangat nak makan hahaha

Yes ... lepas makan, the next day mak memang rasa fresh sangat. Digalakkan makan sebelum nak tido. Jangan makan pastu layan facebook or tengok drama korea kerana tak berapa nak terasa effect yang "fresh" tu.  Tips nyer makan ... pastu terus tido. In my case, mak memang ada problem tido lena so itu sebab mak lepas makan, mak cuba rehatkan badan ... kosongkan fikiran and ... seriously it works!

Then mak pun rekemen kat Gayah kat UK nun. Apparently, ada satu brand yang kotaknya sama tapi nama brand tu tak sama. Gayah pun kata berkesan! So memang product ni sangat boleh dipercayai. Memang rasa tak adil lah kan review product yang mungkin takde kat Malaysia but nowadays ... kita boleh beli apa saja online!

Kat UK nama brand tu Bioglan ... sini Nature's Way. Tapi company sama.

Kalau nak tahu ingredients nya ... sila klik di sini. Mak tak pasti kalau supplement ni ada kat Malaysia. But since I don't have access to my Kinohimitsu Diamond Collagen drink, guess this is a healthier alternative.

OK see you in the next product review!

Love From Down Under,
MJ

Depressing Week

For anyone who follow the Korean Master's Sun ... mesti rasa Episode 12 sangat menyayat hati. Mak terus macam takde mood ... takde tenaga untuk teruskan kehidupan ini (overrrrr la pulak).

Aparently ... memang banyak incidents that follow memang buat mak takde mood and depress. I was almost on the peak of my performance and suddenly ... crash boom bang.

Ya ... I was sad sebab markah satu assignment tu. Seriously .... I was very very disappointed and shock! I am still recovering from it. The thing is ... mak jadi marah and dengki pulak dengan kawan-kawan mak kat sini. I was seriously .... disappointed!

Terus mood nak masak pun takde. Mood nak study pun takde. Mood rasa bodoh sangat pun ader. Malu pun ader. Tak pernah rasa macam ni ... rasa nak isolate from people yang pandai-pandai.

Been trying to work harder... tapi end up sleeping over it. 

Masih can't get over it.

Recipe Testing: Hong Kong Styled French Toast

This morning I saw sandwich bread masih banyak at the kitchen counter. OK ... I am not fan of bread and kadang-kadang geram jugak tgk my housemate beli but never finish it. What a waste!

Tiba-tiba mak teringat dengan French Toast. The best French Toast I have ever tasted was in Hong Kong, in Mido Cafe to be exact. I tried it with condensed milk instead of golden syrup, washed down with ice red bean with milk drink. It was HEAVEN!

Believe it or not, I never made French Toast. Makan ada lah sekali dua but it is not something yang boleh dianggap sebagai favourite. So this morning I decided that I am going to make that  Hong-Kong Styled French Toast. And this dish is listed number 38 on the World's 50 most delicious foods compiled by CNN Go in 2011.

I googled some Hong Kong Styled French Toast recipes and ok ... they have quite a number of variation as well. Hmmm ... so I decided to make the basic way so that I can enjoy it a number of ways!

Recipe (modified from Huffingtonpost.com)

Ingredients
Slices of thick, white bread
2 eggs
Vegetable oil

Preparation

1. Cut crust off of white bread slices.
2. Whip up the two eggs and thoroughly coat the pieces of white bread. Don't over-soak or saturate the slices.
3. Fry pieces of egg batter soaked bread in a frying pan with copious amounts of cooking oil on medium-high to high heat.
4. Fry until slices are golden brown.


Ok now ... let's see how I handle this recipe.

Ok ... I didn't cut the crust off hehehe

I didn't use a lot of oil to fry (but still a lot by Western standard I guess)

Hmm ... looks quite promising hehehe

Taraaaaaa ... HK style French Toast ready to be enjoyed.

Okay this is how I will enjoy it ... both sweet and savoury.

Yummmssss ... I love this better than pancakes.

Okay I also did some slight variations (mentang-mentang dah expert) ... these are with fillings and then halves before frying to make mini French Toast hehehe

Nutella, Marmalade, Butter and Maple Syrup and Condensed Milk fillings

Mini French Toast

Verdict: I still love the basic way of making it so that we could enjoy it with maple syrup, condensed milk, yogurt, mayonaise or tomato ketcup instead of with fillings and drizzle with syrups and butter.

So don't throw that stale bread away ... turn it into something nyums! Selamat Mencuba ...

Love From Down Under,
MJ

Recipe Testing: Stir Fried Pork With Cincalok

One thing about staying overseas, especially in Western-centric countries (Australia included) is they don't have much hawker fares. Eating out means eating in cafes or restaurants. Yeah, they do have street foods but it is more towards snacking rather than a complete meal on its own compared to our nasi lemak, char kuey teow or mee goreng mamak.

So nak tak nak mak kena jugak masak sendiri sendiri sebab tak sanggup nak spend AUD 15 setiap kali makan kat luar. Pastu sebelum mai Brisbane, tak sempat pulak mak makan segala makanan yang sesuwaiiii dengan jiwa mak kat Malaysia nun. 

Okay I decided to try out a well known Nyonya recipe - Stir Fried Pork With Cincalok. You may try out this recipe with chicken breast meat for Muslim readers. Cincalok is actually fermented krill (a type of small shrimp) in salt and rice mixture. Quite famous in Malacca - and it is a must in many of the Nyonya dishes. In Penang, they have two types - one for cooking (less salty) and one for dipping or condiment together with chillies and lime juice. Not sure about Malacca coz I usually found the one used for making condiment.

Cincalok Melaka

Despite having Nyonya blood from Penang, I am incline towards Nyonya food from Malacca. Hahaha pembelot kann ... kalau mak gi Melaka kan ... mak rasa macam mak balik kampung coz jumpa ramai Cina yang tak cakap Cina. Ramai keturunan Baba Nyonya Melaka yang mak jumpa or kenal memang ala-ala macam mak jugak hahahah. 

Anyway, you can get Cincalok easily in shops selling Asian products in Chinatown (Fortitude Valley). Also Yuen's in Sunnybank Market Place. It is salty and maybe quite an acquired taste for Westerners. I was craving this dish lately especially after I bought this Cincalok in Sunnybank's Yuen. There are many versions of Stir Fried Pork With Cincalok recipe in the internet but the one that caught my attention is from Frozen Wings blog. 

I changed it a bit coz I don't like ginger torch so I replaced it with lemongrass and I added in lime juice to make it a little acidic (hehehe my Penang Nyonya blood kicked in). Please bear in mind, I never cooked this dish before and I was pretty anxious of the outcome.

Recipe
Ingredients
3 tbsps cincaluk 

150gm pork belly ( sliced thinly)
3 tbsp oil
1 chilli, sliced

1/2 lime

Ingredients A
4 shallots , sliced
20gm ginger, shredded
1tsp kaffir lime leaf, shredded

1 lemongrass, shredded

Ingredients B
1/2 cup water

Method:
1. Saute ingredients A with oil till aromatic and add in cincaluk, onion and chilli.Stir fry them for a minute
2. Add pork and continue stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add ingredients B and simmer till almost dry.

3. Add lime juice before serving.

Ok my experiments ...

Cantik kan kaler bahan-bahan in Ingredients A.

Voila ... my version of Stir Fried With Cincalok

I would say it came out very nice and my housemate and I ate 2 plates of rice that day. Hahaha ... 

Selamat mencuba!

Love From Down Under,

MJ

Dami Im - X Factor Australia 2013

Mak sebenarnya bukan seorang peminat talent show. Kalau takde citer best kat TV or kebetulan my family and friends are watching, baru mak akan join sekali. Reasons? 

Hmmm ... mak pernah join satu talent show in NTV7 few years back and despite mak dapat lah glamour sekejap, many aspect of the talent show tu mak rasa sangat fake. U don't really meet or see the celebrity judges during audition. And if you really want to be spotted by camera ... don't think u can just come to the audition with your talent ... wear something weird atau "celebrity worthy" ... I can assure you, at least on Malaysian TV ... you will get notice! 

Oh by the way, I auditioned for 2 talent shows ... another one being Malaysian Idol. Thank God ... the person yang menang memang deserve the title ... else I will forever lost respect for the entertainment industry (nak juga mengaku diva kannn ...hahaha)

Anyway, mak punya uni mate suker betul dengan X-Factor Australia 2013. Well, can't blame him ... takde citer best sangat on Australian TV kat Brisbane it. Kalau ada duit lebih, subscribe lah FOXTEL. So on student budget, we went for chanel-chanel yang sedia adalah kat Queensland ni hahaha

However, this Korean-descent contestant memang caught mak punya attention. Her name is Dami Im. Maybe sebab rupa dia yang Korean totok, tanpa plastic surgery and she lives in Brisbane yang buat mak interested. Mula-mula mak tengok audition dia on X-Factor Australia mak rasa biasa-biasa jer. Yelaaa kalau bagi kat contestants for American Idol mesti macam-macam "feel" or "tarikan suara" depa akan buat.

Then, she screwed up during Super Boot Camp performance sebab dia rasa inferior compared to other contestants during the Super Boot Camp sampai lupa lirik. Memang bila mak tengok clip ni balik mak rasa kesian lah dengan Dami, know how it felt to be humiliated on national TV (though memang salah sendiri kannn).

So she didn't went through Super Boot Camp and she was not selected for the home visits. But maybe it was fate, suddenly one of the contestants tarik diri due to personal reasons and she got back in. Hmm so lucky!  But I guess the second chance ni memang gave her a new lease of life and boost her confidence as well.

And then we kept on seeing mesmerising performances, starting with this performance on Week 1. Mula-mula mak takut jugak sebab Dami never heard this song before (she is a K-pop fan) and she also screwed up playing the piano during Super Boot Camp. But time dia tarik tu ... mak memang tau, she dah dapat that "feel" and "stage command". Kalau mak pun ... mak akan tutup mata and sing my heart out!

Okay ... masa mak carik video Live Show Week 2 Dami on X Factor Channel Australia, terkejut mak bila tengok video deleted! Biar betul ... katernya ada claim from Controversy Music ... katenyerrr ...  Memang performance yang meletup and deserve a standing ovation!

Week 3 Live Show memang dinanti-nanti oleh mak. And entah kenapa macam Danii Minogue macam paham jer mood mak yang banyak dipengaruhi oleh music disco sejak dua menjak ni. And she really mentored Dami well, making Dami a very versatile entertainer! Perasan tak, performance ni adalah ala2 K-pop sikit hahaha.

Entah macam manalah her performance next week. Tak sabar rasanya. Nampak kan her evolution daripada penyanyi yang malu-malu ke super diva. By the way, mak geram betul lah line broadband rumah mak ni ... sucks giler! Loading lambat, putus-putus .... eeee memang nak kena komplen ni!

Ok lah ... mak nak tido dulu. Dah 2 malam tido lewat sebab carik bahan for blog mak ni. Sebenarnya nak tulis benda lain ... tapi entah kenapa tertulis pulak pasal si Dami ni ... 

Love From Down Under,

MJ

Note:

Btw ... another contestant worth watching on X-Factor Australia  ... Jiordan Tolli!

Embracing Today's Pop Culture

Sejak duduk di Brisbane ni, mak suka betul dengar UK pop, jazz music and lately yang ada elemen disco or 80s-90s pop. And selain Masterchef Australia, mak rasa Australia's X Factor pun best ... Vocal taklah sehebat American Idol finalists tapi soulfull gitew. Sometimes dengar iklan depa kat TV, mesti ada lagu-lagu menarik mak mesti akan try google based on lirik yang sempat mak tangkap.

Sekarang ni mak suka betul dengar Love Me Again By John Newman lepas dengar kat iklan promosi satu TV series. Mak rasa after Adele and Amy Winehouse, UK pop macam semakin mendapat perhatian. Setiap kali lagu ni berkumandang, mak mesti rasa kena fly to London ... oh how I miss London!

The next song is not a new song tapi mak takde masa nak carik singer dia. So when masa iklan Australia Dancing With The Stars they played this song ... mak pun terdetik nak cari. Finally lepas berhempas pulas I finally jumpa Get Lucky by Daft Punk featuring Pharell. Terkejut mak ...bayangkan ... this song was in Daft Punk - Random Access Memories album yang mak beli for my friend in Paris and I was not even aware of it!

Don't you just love Disco? Rasa nak menari kan? Sangat 70s-80s gitew

Pharell memang boleh tahan, I mean this year memang his year lah. Selain ni, satu collaboration dier dengan Canadian singer Robin Thicke pun top the AT40 chart these few weeks. Mak suker betul dengan Blurred Line ... another R&B disco yang memang mak bersemangat setiap kali stress study. When mak browse pasal Robin Thicke ni ... rupa-rupanya masa heols first jadi artist heols taklah "sehot' sekarang, selekeh hokey ... like hippies.

Rasanya tak lengkap list mak kalau tak include another disco pop yang sedang meletup sekarang ni ... Treasure by Bruno Mars. Frankly, lagu-lagu Bruno Mars tak pernah mengecewakan and he is so versatile. Selain this song, mak suka juga Locked Out in Heaven lepas dengar dalam Glee. Like Get Lucky ... this song pun boleh buat kita rasa nak menari jugak.

As I was researching the songs to be featured in this entry, mak found out that another of my favourite Primadonna by Marina and The Diamonds (Welsh singer) pun ada sikit elemen disco dengan electro pop. Mak pernah dengar lagu ni kat radio Malaysia but malas nak cari sapa singer. Then masa mak cari-cari video about androgynous model Andrej Pejic, ada pulak background music lagu ni.

Tak tahu lah kenapa but music electro pop ni macam lebih sesuai belah-belah Europe ni, maybe sebab cara depa speak English kot no?

Haa ... the last song to be featured in this entry is electro-pop I Love It by Icona Pop (Swedish duo). Mak suka dengar lagu ni lepas iklan keta Mitsubishi dalam TV Australia guna this song as the theme song. Kalau dengar gitu gitu tak best, sekali lepas masuk iklan macam best pulak. Sampai humming dalam bas nak gi ke uni.

Ok .. I am signing off now. Hope you guys enjoy seleksi mak untuk kali ni.

Love From Down Under
MJ

Kaverina - Part 2

Citer mak pasal kaverina terpaksa digantung kejap sebab mak tengah mencari kekuatan bila dapat tau salah sorang kawan mak yang dari golongan kaverina ni telah menamatkan zaman solonya baru-baru ni.

Korang mesti heran kan ... apa motif mak tulis pasal citer kaverina ni. Adakah mak jeles dengan kaverina yang berjaya menemui pasangan masing-masing atau dah bertaubat? Kenapa mak nak sibuk ambik tau kehidupan peribadi kaverina-kaverina yang terhangat di pasaran kan ...

Well my dearest readers yang mak tak kenal ... semuanya ada berkaitan dengan "pertemuan" dengan B ni lah yang mak citer dalam Kaverina Part 1. Terus terang, mak memang in real life and in person tak kesah lah depa nak buat apa with their life. Tapi when their life dah masuk campur my life terpaksa lah mak luahkan melalui blog mak ni.

Ok... sambung balik citer kisah mak dengan "B"... so nak jadi citer, weols pun jadi housemate lah kat Brisbane ni. Seperti mak mentioned dalam Part 1, mak mula-mula tak kisah kongsi rumah dengan sapa-sapa pun. Asalkan orangnya pembersih, tau tatasusila duduk berkongsi dan pandai bawak diri masing-masing. Paling penting, they respect my privacy. 

Lagipun, dari awal lagi mak taknak duduk keseorangan sebab lepas kena hi-blood pressure yang tinggi mendadak tu, mak memang decided mesti stay with someone in case apa-apa berlaku, lagilah mak jauh dari family. Tapi Gayah memang against mak duduk dengan orang dah kawin .... first 3 is a crowd , and secondly ... takut hormon tak stabil bila dengar "dengusan-dengusan asmara". 

Kalau ikutkan ... memang kesian jugak kat Gayah masa first sampai kat UK and duduk dengan satu pasangan suami isteri from Malaysia. According to "her", stress gila bila tiba-tiba kipas siling bergegar for 5 minutes, tak kira masa ... siang atau malam. Hmmm anyway 5 minutes ... cepatnyaa.

In my case, the stress doesn't come in the form of "3 is a crowd". It is an emotional turmoil of being the bystander, especially dengan mak sedang mengharap untuk bertemu jodoh di Brisbane ni. Firstly, "B" memang tak treat his wife as his wife. For me, his wife is just like satu "liability" but he needs it to cover his real self. One time weols gi shopping, he bought everything for himself and none for his wife except perfume set ... itu pun sebab discount. And then, bila dia buat sesuatu ... he never consulted his wife, and sometimes I think dia macam buat "dek" je dengan his wife.

One night I left the house in case they want to "copulate". I lepak kejap kat rumah my neighbours who happened to be from Malaysia as well. When I came back, I saw them macam buat hal masing-masing. And paling yang mak curious ... why bila weols lepak di rumah salah sorang member weols ... not far from our house ... "B" nampak excited semacam. Kalau cakap pun siap pegang-pegang lagi. And it happened like many times ...bersemangat gila "B" do everything for this guy.

Mak perati this guy yang "B" suka, memang not bad looking. Lemah lembut, tapi suara dia ada seksi sikit. If not sebab mak pelik dengan "B" ... mak taklah observe "this guy" betul-betul. And mak perati lagi sekali ... ada juga taste mak sikit in terms of gaya berpakaian and gaya bercakap. Pernah satu ketika, I caught him looking at my chest ... confuse kejap mak (walaupun ada lah rasa mcm Pamela Anderson kejap). Tapi between the two of us ... mak always got mix signals. Oh oh ... this is not good.  

Everything was OK sehinggalah satu malam tiba-tiba "B" kata nak tengok wayang. Mak kata mak taknak ikut sebab nak tengok DVD satu filem klasik yang mak dah lama mengidam nak tengok. Mak just kata "u guys go ahead". To me ... I meant him and his wife. Then tiba-tiba "B" ajak "this guy" and his housemate. I was like haaa ....

And benda jadi lebih akward when the wife asked me about tengok wayang tu. I told her ... yes he asked me but I don't want to go. And later that night, berlakulah sesi "Kak Seri Siantan" antara mak dengan wife "B". She told me she felt hurt that "B" tak pernah nak bagi tau dia apa2 ... always the last to know. Never sensitive about her feelings ... she sacrifice everything including career to join him here tapi nafkah dari segi duit tak bagi. Tapi benda yang paling mak confirm yang "B" is a kaverina was when wife kata ... "not sure he is ready to be a father and want children" and "no ... I never ada miscarriage". Mak terkasima kejap ... "B" pernah citer kat mak yang wife miscarried tu yang lama kawin tapi takde rezeki ada anak.

Terus mak takut pulak kalau dapat laki yang kaverina macam ni. Ada satu hari mak just drop hints lah kat "B" supaya lebih peka dengan feelings wife ... terus mak dapat rasa intonasi suara "B" berubah, macam warning mak supaya jangan masuk campur. Yea ... I got the message and I back off since then.

Cuma when another kaverina friend kahwin baru-baru ni ... mak rasa kesian for that innocent looking girl. My former boss who is a sexologist by profession pernah bagi tau ... Men by designed memang very sexual and their mind are focus on fulfilling that sexual need (ini termasuklah yang women trapped in a man's body). That's why many men cheat (or ada niat to cheat) and when they cheat, they can do it without remorse as long as that sexual need is fulfill. Mak ada jugak rasa statement ni mcm tak betul tapi bila dia add that part "without remorse" mak rasa ada betul.

I wonder how long my kaverina friends can hold on to the sanctity of a straight marriage. It will just hurt both parties. We just have to wait and see what happen next.

Note:

This is just my personal view on isu kaverina. I am not imposing what I believe is right to my readers. Everyone is entitle to their own opinion.

Love from Down Under,

MJ