I remember once upon a time, not too long ago, when i was young, carefree and.. young (which was not too long ago, ehem). I just said ‘not too long ago’ a few times kan? *sigh*. so where was i? yes. Mims and i were brainstorming about themes for her company’s annual dinner. so i (kunun trying to sound tres chic and intelligent) thought of ‘chic chapeau’. Mims gave me a super blank look: ‘shapow to haper kak?’. Makanya idea tersebut telah direject dengan jayanya.

Howevers, the title came back to me, because, Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan, (dan Cik-cik juga) there was this time, somewhere last year i believe, that i was hot-hot into knitting headgears. I was about to go on holiday to a cold country katanya.  Here, at home, the only time i would plop on my fisherman’s hat would be 1) when it rains and i am too lazy to take out my umbrella 2) when the bus aircond is leaking and it is damn difficult to sleep with cold water drops plip plopping on your head, know what i mean? But it’s a difficult decision really, because if i plopped on my hat, my head gets no aircond. but if i don’t plop it on, the water drops plip plop on my head pulak.  Bloody plipping difficult decisions about the ploppin’ I tell ya.

sooo anywaaays. enough of plip plops.

So, I had this idea that since this would the ONLY time (probably in my life) that i’d have the chance to wear hats eh? Apa lagi,  i scrummaged through my extensive (satu shelf pun tak sampai, but i feeling-feeling extensive la kan) aaaandddddddd knitted a storm of hats. I did. Really. Amazing how, when time is short, and you suddenly needed hats, you actually managed to produce practically one a week. But don’t even try to say ‘Hi’ to me la kan. I’d probably reply ‘Knit two, purl two to you too” or “yes, I’m decreasing, thank you” or most likely “macamana pulak tadi 38 stitches, skarang ada 30 je niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii” while giving you the evil look as if YOU did it kan?  And I was in such a hurry, I don’t i even bothered taking notes. To put it bluntly, akak main belasah je la.

Unfortunately I took the patterns out of magazines, and therefore, chicken (fat, overfed, undercooked, but chicken nonetheless) that I am, I don’t dare share the patterns. Nanti I’d be blogging from behind bars pulak. But never mind, we share share pictures. (That one i berani)

Ah-ha. Original pattern versus what happened after i hit my knitting needles with a vengeance in acrylic. Ahahahaha, arrows are where I somehow managed to screw up the ribbing during the decrease, and of course was too lazy to unravel and re-knit. Always remember when people ask “Apsal lain macaaaam je rupanya?” the correct answer would be: “Memang pattern dia macam tu laaaaa”. Make sure you have this supreme-confidence-don’t-you-dare-argue-with-me look ok. Muka bersalah will guarantee failure and kantoi-ness.  I actually tried again in pink. But malas want to do the flowers. I did a double-strand thingy with the orange, and single strand with the pink. Esh. Cantik pulak bunge oren tu kan? 

Ah-ha. The second pattern I tried. You must remember that I exclusively knit with acrylic. Murah ok. Setakat nak buat main-main ok la. So I expected all my thingies to turn different from the pictures.  Actually it’s quite stimulating to see how it would turn out with different types of yarn (ok in my case, ONLY acrylic hikhikhikhik). I’m seriously a ‘whatever’ kind of knitter. As long as I get to knit.

In the end I think I only wore the pink ribbed one. ONCE. As it turned out, the weather was WARM where I went. This always happens to me. Way back when, my dad drove across Europe, we went on the highest Alps Pass (or something). Amazingly cold. BUT NO SNOW. Can? Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

I’ve also discovered, somewhat belatedly and many knitted hats later, that my head is sooo not for knit hats. Floppy, up to my knees sunhat, ok. Fisherman’s hat that makes me look like I’ve been bertarung di lautan bergelora  hats, sesuai. But knitted hats? Tak berapa (to put it mildly). So it isn’t that my hats doesn’t fit my head, it’s my head that doesn’t fit knitted hats. (copy paste this to your smartphones. This may be good and sound reasoning to justify yourself somewhere, sometime).

Sebab itulah gambar ini kecil dan kabur. So I have some sort of dignity left kan?

Buuuut. I am here yet again. Jenguk-ing my blog, and again, amazed and surprised to find that it actually still exists.

First I would like to let everyone know (ok, ‘everyone’ would constitute me, and Nicks by proxy when i (sort of) read the posts to her) that I thank you, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, for bringing me back to my blog.

Actually, I am in error.

Accolades must be given to my erstwhile kidnappers, FOXY and MIMS (in caps ok, because they deserve it, y’all).  I love you forever and more sistahs!

It is them, the Bonnie & Bonnie team, the Kopitiam Duo, the ‘Matching Handbags While We Kidnap’ Tag Team who initiated all this.

How diabolical they sound, when Foxy called me one day and said: “Akak! We are kidnapping you on your birthday! Ko jangan buat plan lain plak!” Akak: “Baiklah” (note that i am ever the obliging Kidnapee). And after putting down the phone, these noble criminals (so they’d like to believe la kan) sms-ed me “Jangan lupa bawak baju tukar & baju tido!”. Hm.

Eh. Nak citer pasal benda lain sebenarnya. Ter-cerita pasal penculik pulak.

Sooooo Aaaaaaanyways.

They bundled me in the car, and told me to go to sleep until we reached the unknown destination. And it was a non-smoking car. How they torture me, these hardened, heartless kidnappers. And until today, I had no idea where we were. Serious. But we went for The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, as it turned out. I was blase about it at first. After all I’d gotten my fill of e-books in my phone. You name it, I got it. But I haad to wonder off in the Crafts & Hobbies section la kan. To be fair, it was near the entrance.

And so I got my stash, courtesy of my sistahs. Really  cheap, the books. All of yous should try to make it next year, if they have it.

And so (Thank you God), I have finally come to the POINT of this post. I was just browsing through Stephanie’s books, nearly fell over laughing, and grabbed the only two books of hers that i can find. And thus, I am now reading her books simultaneously.

 This one, I read at home. Because every time I read it, my hands either itches to start knitting, or to blog about my own experiences (ewah. bertahun-tahun and still at the status of ‘Novice Knitter’, sumore want to document experience all. ceh). Of course,  I ended up going to bed instead of doing either of these things kan.

 This one, I’ve just started reading, and VOILA! here I am taking hours and hours just to get to this point in my writing. Artistic temperament and all that, you see.

Checkout her blog, The Yarn Harlot (which I will also, once i’ve finished this). Hilarious stuff.

But I am inspired. Really.

And i HAVE been knitting. Really.

And I shall get back to showing my prowess (or I so i have deluded myself to believe) in here.

Soooon my pretty.. sooon.

never mind. let’s not get to WHY they haven’t been in my blog yet.

Anywaaaays. Third time’s a charmer eh? I took pictures (taaak payaaahla amek gamba, nak buat apa? – Nicks. Eh, nak masuk blog laaaa – Me. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHA - Nicks ). MY friend, ladies and gentlemen. never fails to give me the support i DON’T need eh?

Tak pe. Usaha Tangga Kejayaan kan? Terima lah usaha ku ini!

Where were we? yes. Kokopelli Traveller’s Bistro. I have nooo idea why it’s called a traveller’s bistro lah kan? Maybe because you have to travel to get there? But I have to travel to go mamak near my house no? and it isn’t called Deris Traveller’s mamak no? (It’s called Devi’s Corner, by the way). even at home i have to walk downstairs to go to kitchen no? that’s travelling no? (that’s trekking if you’ve been sleeping all day and hungry til your perot go backwards like that). and the kitchen is not called ‘Cik Ndon’s Traveller’s Dapur’. Kan mak kan?

Wellllll. Kembali kita kepada topik perbincangan pada hari ini.

If anyone ever clicks on the link, i don’t think the reviewer gave a good review (but i couldn’t find a good link, so there you go). sooo I BEG TO DIFFER. The caps is on purpose ok.

Three times i’ve been. and i was not disappointed.

I present the evidence.

haaaa. so nice the place.

Outside is where i usually sit and puff puff.

The wall art is a Point of discussion no? When you on that date where you don’t know what to say (‘How would you interpret the triangles?’). Intellectual katanyaaaaaaaaaaa.

Meja also nice nice artsy fartsy ok?  Sooooo keeping up with intellectual conversation (‘If squiggle A crosses squiggle B, how would that affect the Theory of Chaos?’).

let’s see what we had to minum minum.

The first time i was there i had this. Until today i donno what it’s called lah, Fly Me To The Moon kot? no, it wasn’t moonshine. Juice with soda.

Yesterday I had Coke Light. Ya la, nothing special. But i HAD to show the glass ok? Because the glass is BIG. I always adore big glasses. So if you fix me a drink, make it a BIG glass. Ok?

Ah-haaaa. Another thing i loike about this place. They serve ice water in bottles. THIS is how you drink water ok, murid-murid? Gelas kecik tak pe, tapi botol musti besar. Musti.

Sekarang mari kita makan!

I think this was pumpkin soup. Or was it Tomato? (You say pumpkin, i say tomato). It was nice and creamy. I remember the taste, but not what it was, this was from our last visit.

This is a firm favourite of mine at Kokopelli’s. Broccoli and cauliflower gratin. (pronounced ‘graton’ not gratin ok?. The owner, who is a casual man, well spoken with impeccable manners, subtly pointed that out. I loike him.)

The first time i was there, i had this. roast chicken. I think it was quite good (That was why we went back)

Nicks had this. Lamb methinks. me donch remember.

But I Do remember this. Fish & chips. the batter was ok ok, but the fish was really good. But maybe I am highly critical, since i love fish & chips.

Now this is what i had. Rolled Beef lasagna. I was a bit surprised at first, because the last time i had this here, it didn’t look like this. the beef is basically rolled in with lasagna layer and sauce poured over it. On a plate. This time it actually kinda looked like lasagna. I was disappointed at first, but after a few (huge) bites, it was the same as before. I like it because i can actually taste the beef without the sauce taking over too much. Sooooooooooo sedap yo.

To finish off, we should always have this dessert. It’s a scrumptious concoction of severallayers of ice cream, cornflakes, chocolate and entah la apa lagi. Benda-benda dessert la kan. Takkan kari ayam pulak. Duh.

I didn’t have this yesterday because i had to leave for a bonding session with my Kopitiam Sistahs. ‘Tis a sign of undying love indeed when Auntie K forgo dessert for bonding session ok. I LOVE YOU MY SISTAHS! (Saja je shoutout gitu kan?)

So I end this extremely unintellectual (almost unintelligible) discourse. After all i didn’t have the squiggle to inspire le cerebre that is my brain eh?

The Chaos Theory indeed.

Suatu hari
Kesakitan itu hanya kenangan
Kepayahan itu hanya dorongan
Hatiku cekal, tabah, mantap.

Takkan ku biarkan sesiapa, apa
Mematahkan jiwa

Takkan ku pasrah
Dengan dugaan, cabaran
Apa saja cubaan untuk meruntuhkanku

Suatu hari
Akulah juara.

Hari itu adalah hari ini.

(Feeling kan akak? Suka hati la, akak punye blog apa…)

Well, times changed, so did Sungai Penchala. Thing is, despite blossoming into this mega tempat artis buat banglo and all, it still managed to retain the ‘kampung’ ambience.

Saba je mukadimah ala-ala nak tulis novel.

Aaaaaanyways.

Miss AI (a.k.a. Kimmora Junior) introduced this cafe to Nicks, who in turn, brought me here.

Welcome to Kafe Chendana.

Mesti suka kan? Boleh ringan-ringan.. MUAHAHAHAHAHA

I am so lame sometimes.

Got tulis omputeh all ok? Don’t mess. But some of the stuff on the board wasn’t on the menu. Or maybe they were, just under a different guise.

Oh and I just noticed the Kafe crew posing-posing when I took this picture.

Aaaaaanyways, I had the Nasi Ayam Grilled. Or something like that.

Esh.. Nampak sangat sedap pulak. It was yummy but a bit not enough for me. (Tengok la perut sapa kan?)

Haaaaa that was where the did the chicken. You can have fish and seafood too. Eh, ni kiranya macam ayam bakar la kan?

*sigh* My bulb lights a bit too slow methinks.

My partner in tummy tucks had this.

Nyonya Curry Laksa. Quite sedap also.

I think this one would have been more filling than the nasi, but still, the nasi IS sedap.

oh and we had the sup ekor as well.

Yummy, no? I would say so.

What Kimmora loikes about the place was the ambience. Very balik kampung atmosphere. The azan and sembahyang jemaah echoing from nearby mosque, kids (well they looked underage at any rate) on motorbikes with no helmets on, lady also on motorbike with baju kupu-kupu/rama-rama (i.e. caftan), all passing by us. You get the picture. I even noticed a small catering van parked across, and the driver walked over, sat down with some friends, leaving the engine on. Obviously, at home. Suddenly I very shy with the short skirt I was wearing. (Well I thought we were going to mamak ok?)

Oh and the Western food is not bad either. (I’ve been a few times since the pictures were taken and tried other stuff).

The End (abrupt, no? But whatever).

But first things first. THANK YOU REBECCA for dropping by! I didn’t even know other people would drop by, other than the ones I have literally coerced to drop by, or me, myself and I. After all this IS a syiok sendry kinda blog, no? But thank you again! Honestly, I am kinda embarrassed to greet other knitters, simply because I am such an awful knitter myself. Don’t really have anything to show for it, except the love for the craft. Dah la I also berangan a craftswoman cum artist, I chose to be the temperamental artist la pulak kan?

When I read Rebecca’s message, I was inspired to go on a Local Yarn Shop review. Kunun la kan… But that would probably be in the works.. when my mood strikes. Hik.

And anyways, I haven’t been knitting for awhile. and just to justify myself;

Berikut adalah beberapa sebab mengapa saya tidak mengupdate blog atau meng-knitting knitting.

1. Pertanian adalah profesion yang mulia. That’s why I am planting, harvesting, selling, adopting baby animals….. With such vigorous activities, where would one find the time to blog/knit? (Nak jirus pokok bunga depan rumah pun liat, tapi bercucuk tanam rajin pule ye?)

2. Setelah penat membanting tulang di ladang, kini tiba lah masanya untuk memasak pule. I AM a woman, after all.

3. Work

4. Sleep.

5. Knitting pattern hilang.

6. Forgot blog address (I had given one friend a non existent blog address not too long ago *sigh*)

But, yang penting, I am back.

Kunun….

aaaaaaaaaaanywayyysss.

Been awhile since i go makan-makan eh. Well I go, but i always forget to take pictures. If I take pictures, I’ll forget to blog about it. By the time I remember, dah tak feeling lagi kan?

Aaaanywaaaays.

Yesterday we went to Gulam Mee Sdn Bhd. This is my second time there, and yes, the last time i went i DID take pictures. But never wrote it out. So this one is like from two visits lah you know?

The address is

That’s all i know ya?

Thing about blogging during working hours is that, you ARE working, and when you get back to the blog, you’ve forgotten what you wanted to write about already.

Makanya, marilah tengok – tengok gambar saje.

Apparently they started out selling only the Mee, but now have branched out to warong style food area. No, I didn’t have the Mee.

yaaaa.. loads of things to eat there.

First time we went, we had all these:

This is Sup Ekor. Very, very, sedap. And big portion. My tummy approves.

This one is daging goreng kunyit. The daging is very the tender.. Almost melt in mouth. *wipes drool*.

Ah-ha. We actually ordered everything already, but Nicks got tempted by the bakar-bakar stall next to where we were sitting, and ordered this. Large succulent sotong, in some sort of sambal. Drool.

The sec0nd time round, we had these:

Ah-ha. Daging Masak Kunyit, Sayur Campur & Telur Bistik. So menggiurkan.

This time, instead of the sotong,  we had siakap bakar. Soft, Juicy, and definitely droolicious.

For dessert I had Cendol. Rupa ok ok, tapi rasa mengancam. Just nice, not too sweet.

Ok la,  doesn’t beat Cendol Makcik Sayang TTDI la kan, but can do also lah.

I leave you with this visual. Puyoh Stylo ok? One imagines the puyoh  all suited up a’la Anuar Zain doing a show….. 

Tickets are at RM350.00, RM550.00, RM1,000.00. Kindly call the number provided for enquiries.

Also, Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur is offering a special promotion price for their rooms, call them to find out!

Oh, and D? CONGRATS ON BEING AN AUNT!

But I heard it again today, macam tau-tau je kena jadi background music to my melancholia.

Makanya I decided to just have the lyrics up on my blog. For posterity perhaps, or simply to have it here.

Suka ati akak la kan? Blog akak.

Should anyone (yes, all two of you, myself included) want to hear the song, sila la cari sendry. Or listen to Light & Easy.

Just Once ( James Ingram ) 

I did my best
But I guess my best wasn’t good enough
‘Cause here we are back where we were before
Seems nothing ever changes
We’re back to being strangers
Wondering if we oughta stay
Or head on out the door

Just once can’t we figure out what we keep doing wrong?
Why we never last for very long
What are we doing wrong?
Just once can’t we find a way to finally make it right?
Make the magic last for more than just one night
If we could just get to it
I know we could break through it

I gave my all
But I think my all may have been too much
‘Cause Lord knows we’re not getting anywhere
Seems we’re always blowing whatever we’ve got going
And seems at times with all we’ve got
We haven’t got a prayer

Just once can’t we figure out what we keep doing wrong?
Why the good times never last for very long
What are we doing wrong?
Just once can’t we find a way to finally make it right?
And make the magic last for more than just one night
If we could just get to it
I know we could break through it

Just once I want to understand
Why it always come back to good-bye
Why can’t we get ourselves in hand?
And admit to one another
That we’re no good with out the other
Take the best and make it better
Find a way to stay together

Just once can’t we find a way to finally make it right?
Make the magic last for more than just one night
I know we can break through it
If we could just get to it

Just once

If we could get to it

Just Once…

Bila la nak abis jiwang karat ni entah, tak larat dah.

D babe, u know me and continuation kan? Tak jive, babe, tak jive!

Wah jiwang akak kejap.

I’ve been feeling out of sorts for quite some time now. Some of the reasons for this were resolved without too much tears, some with a lot of pain, and others with tears AND an angina.

Yet, despite everything being as it should be, I still have that niggling feeling inside of me. Something that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Perhaps the residual feeling that seems to always come at any time without due notice is a sign of advancing age.

So maybe it’s time for me to just take stock of what i DO have to be grateful for so i would stop being a whining, whingeing (spelling? i can’t be bothered to check), wailing beeyiatch.

Here’s a list of what or who i AM happy about, or what/who makes me happy:

1. My Kopitiam Sisters. You gals have been with me for Gawd knows how long, and yet you STILL love me? That in itself is an amazing feat. I sooo love you gals tau. They have taken the challenge to take care of me when I am a cackling, grumpy , warty, old hag without me even asking them.

 2. NAZ. Has seen me dalam keadaan tak mandi, tak tukar baju, tak basuh muka, and STILL loves me. Every facet of my complicated life is laid bare to you, and you are still here. Thank you.

3. SJJ. Ah.. what can i say. Countless nights of alternating laughter and tears as we journey into our minds, hearts, clubs, mamaks. No one compares to you babes. Goss files shall never be closed. Ever.

4. TAHH. You have sooo passed the test of friendship, haven’t you? I am so glad to have you in my life, and pray that you would never be disgusted with my behaviour and may friendship lasts forever, Amin.

5. BM (a.k.a. Bimbo Moment(s)). In such a short time, you have become a big part of my life. And actually saw a part of me that most people would never see. There are no words to describe the gratitude I feel for you, for letting me share a small part of your life. I love you B.

Aiseh. Tengah jiwang feeling feeling, kene buat kerja pulak. Goes to show that it is NOT advisable to blog on company time.

To Be Continued.