CleanIron: 2012

Middle Eastern Dish Review!

Good day dear earthlings, a few months ago I got the chance to have a full course of middle eastern dish ( at a fine dining restaurant in Universiti Putra Malaysia). Yes we do have training chef's that does this on regular basis every Wednesday. Been meaning to do review on the dishes, yet as always I present to you THE most cliche excuse of all - I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY.

At around 1 p.m, I got there with few other friends and we were greeted with music from the padang paseer..ya habibi ya maulaaa...! Then, we're shown to our table : note that you need to do a reservation beforehand. For ours we did them a week before because this place is usually fully booked.

The appetiser

Lattoush Salad with Potato Kibbeh

The Potato kibbeh taste a lot like our local begedil, only that it is free from the Malay spices. I feel that it was well seasoned . The taste of fresh garden salad+olive oil was balanced,even though the smell of the onion from my personal preferences was quite overpowering for the whole palette. With the combination if this two, I'm ready for the second course - the soup!

Eggplant stew served with Ciabatta Bread

To my surprise, for someone who hates eggplant this stew taste amazing! I find it soothing and it builds up the taste from previous appetiser. I think the base for this one is tomatoes, onion and chicken stock.

The main course

Bukhara Rice, lamb kebab with gremolata, snow peas subzi, salata salad and spicy arabian chicken

I was anticipating this (after the date sorbet) so badly but I'm disappointed with the rice as I find some parts of it was not cooked well enough (or we call it 'ada jelantah') My oh my what a spoiler it was to the whole table. But no worries, the other side dishes was a success. The lamb kebab was good ( a bit sour, strong hint of lemon), the snow peas subzi was crunchy - lightly sauted,with tomato based topping. The chicken was indeed spicy, do not be fooled by its innocent tamarind coated-image. HA-HA. terkezot dek non. The winner for this dish is the salata salad, my Lord the best one yet. Goes well with the chicken, it tones down the spiciness.

The dessert.

Baklova and Semolina Pudding served with fig and date compote

YUM! the baklova was extremely sweet with layers of nuts and caramel (strong hint of cinnamon) garnished with icing sugar. Then there was the pudding : contrasting to its neighbour, this soothes the palette. Just pure milk and cream. such win!

All in all, it was a satisfying meal. Will come back for more.note : I borrowed the pictures from one of their promoters- I can't recall her name on facebook.
Maaf tak dapat nak share link di sini.

(the other week I tried grilled lamb chop and braised rump of lamb with gratin potatoes at DELIcious - pretty good..
along with this pretty dessert..

Berry Choc Pavlova..melts in your mouth - juga harus coba

going to hunt for more good food!
till then :)

PENTAS-CARE Untukmu Somalia

After one semester of careful planning and undergoing the hassle of finding sponsorship for PENTAS-CARE - UNTUKMU SOMALIA' , we are blessed to finally being able to organize this event. The good news is the programme is at its final stage - THE SCREENING IS NEXT WEEK! The purpose of PENTAS-CARE is simple, we would like to give back, lend a hand and ease the burden of those in need.

This year we have decided on focusing our energy into helping the people of Somalia whom is suffering from prolonged drought . From our personal observation, this crisis is not getting enough attention. Therefore we are trying our best to bring awareness together with MERCY Malaysia on this issue by organizing a fund raising theatre show that would attract potential audience consisting of students (primarily) and public

The interesting bit is this program is being handled fully by the current board members (2012/2013) of PENTAS (Kelab Penggiat Teater Sejagat) with the help of other theatre enthusiasts in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang. We have actors and actresses, creative students of diverse undergraduate studies volunteering to support this cause.

Borrowing from Bob Cole's A Trip to Coontown in year 1898 and The Sound of Music (1959), this year's genre is is musical comedy. There will be spectacular array of well choreographed dance moves to portray Bertolt Brech's notorious 'The Three Penny Opera' - It should be entertaining and enlightening at the same time.

a sneak peak :

The Threepenny Opera proclaims itself "an opera for beggars," and it was in fact an attempt both to satirize traditional opera and operetta and to create a new kind of musical theater based on the theories of two young German artists, composer Kurt Weill and poet-playwright Bert Brecht. The show opens with a mock-Baroque overture, a nod to Threepenny's source, The Beggar's Opera, a brilliantly successful parody of Handel's operas written by John Gay in 1728. In a brief prologue following the overture, a shabby figure comes onstage with a barrel organ and launches into a song chronicling the crimes of the notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath, "Mack the Knife." The setting is a fair in Soho (London), just before Queen Victoria's coronation.

source : synopsis

The director, Azwan Azhari is well known in the performing arts arena here in UPM. He has written a few scripts and acted himself (in which the writer has acted with). It is no doubt that this show would be one of his most valuable and notable work. Meanwhile, the line of actors: we have Syakiron Abdullah as the lead actor - Mekhit, Dhania Hafizah as Polly Picum, Hanafi Yunos, Huqmah Hidayah, Syazli Nasir, Sakinah Benyamin and many more. This line-up,together with the unmistakable chorus are ready to bring this script up to another level.

In regard of the ticketing, this is how you actually donate! For each ticket with value of MYR 5 or MYR 7, the money will directly go into the Somalian fund -we do not claim any surcharge on the ticket.
The tickets are dated as the shows will be premiered on the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th of November. We function quite similarly to Istana Budaya, the same show will be re-staged for 3 days straight.

Important note on the ticket :

1) The counter in now open for booking ( Date : 29/10/12 until 9/11/12) - please call/sms :

i. Adib - 012 7624 974
ii. Rizal - 017 3494 719
iii. Syafika - 017 9944 961
iv. Maisarah - 017 7293 181

2) Our policy for the ticket : it is not refundable as it is considered as a donation.

3) If you wish to have a specific seating - you may do so by contacting our personnel at least 3 days before the actual date ( Term of service : Any abrupt requests on the premiere day would not be entertained )

4) Each ticket will only be valid for one date, if you are planning on watching it twice, we kindly invite you to buy another ticket on a different day.

5) There is no discount - flat rate for every student from IPTA and IPTS.

9th NOVEMBER 2012 - THE FINALE!!

That would be the final show for this event - the official ceremony to hand over the mock check to MERCY Malaysia's representative.We would be anticipating this day to see the total collection for the Somalia drought relief fund - wouldn't it be exciting? Plus, the press would be coming over to cover on the news - Berita Harian, Bernama, TV3 and others. Therefore be sure not to miss on this this date as well!

In a nutshell, we highly encourage you to support our cause. It is not difficult nor involves any rocket science to figure out - if we can't go out there and help them, the least we can do is contribute through this programme. Come and join us! Book a ticket now!

'SENI PENTAS KEHIDUPAN'

PENTAS CARE - UNTUKMU SOMALIA

OPERA 3 KUPANG

Official poster

Management Team

InsyaAllah.

Semoga kali ini, kisah dimulakan dengan baik dan diberikan pengakhiran yang baik. Taa'ruf mendahului nikah menyusul. InsyaAllah. Jika tidak serasi, tiada rasa yang disakiti, tiada benci dianyami dendam. Sesungguhnya dia yang menetapkan hati dan membuatkan rasa percaya. Wallahualam..

masih terlalu awal untuk diduksi..

Kakak dan Abah

Tahun 1998, semasa tandas rumah Atuk Singah sekadar jamban berdindingkan dan beratapkan zink berkarat. Sekilas Tuk Tamam lalu, aku boleh melihat dengan jelas dari dalam ruang itu menerusi lubang-lubang kecil yang terhasil dek terkena hujan reput dek teriknya panas matahari. Aku sebagai anak kecil yang hanya berumur 7 tahun mengeluh apabila perut memulas jam 2 pagi. Selalu aku tepuk-tepuk tangan abah, 'abah...abah...kakak nak berak, abah...bangun bah...teman kakak berak'. Abah terjaga, bagaikan ada getah skrap melekat antara badannya dan tilam usang itu, liat sungguh nak bangun. Nama pun bapa. Dia berjalan mendahului aku bersuluhkan lampu picit menuju ke belakang rumah. Pokok ciku nampak seperti hantu raya, pokok pisang menyembunyikan pontianak dan aku yang sakit perut makin takut. 'Abah tunggu kat sini, kakak pergi masuk..' Arahan tu aku tak berapa suka; abah tunggu bawah lampu dekat reban ayam 'kokokokk kokk kokk...' ayam busuk bau tahi. Aku tak yakin nak masuk sebab menurut majalah mastika, hantu raya suka duduk dalam tempat gelap, nanti kaki berbulunya yang panjang itu bertenggek dia pintu jamban. Dengan imaginasi aku, aku mencangkung dengan keadaan yang paling tidak tenteram..Aku berpaling ke belakang, melihat terus ke dalam lubang jamban: apa akan ada tangan berdarah keluar dari lubang gelap itu dan menarik punggug aku masuk kedalamnya? 'Line clear..okey aku selamat'..Usai 'urusan-urusan' itu, aku tolak pintu jamban yang seperti pondok itu dengan sepenuh tenaga, aku kan ketua sailormoon. Sambil menuruni anak tangga, seliparku yang basah tadi serta merta disalut dengan pasir ibarat nugget Ramli yang mak selalu goreng di petang hari. Abah melambai tangannya laju, menyuruh aku datang padanya. 'Kenapa lama sangat?'..aku diam sebentar 'kakak dah tak berak 3 hari..' ujarku naif..Abah sekadar gelak lalu memimpin tanganku.

abah kesayangan kakak

India II (60++ images)

Here's the continuation from the previous post..INDIA I

greeted with cold dew coming from the fountain

the place. too huge for a restaurant I must say

what's up with this? well this is the largest dumping site in new delhi, here lies the slums. banyak sangat burung gagak di sini, it was rather smelly and the air doesn't 'taste' right - I sneezed the whole time while we were by passing this place.

it might sound bizarre, but the people who lives in the dumping site has a great role to India's recycling and disposal management; see they collect all the reusable items and sell those back to the factories. It was documented, yet I forgot he title.

After such horrendous trip (their traffic jam is beyond believe) we finally arrived in Grand Sartaj Hotel. To my surprise the room was well decorated with authentic Indian design, hardwood floor, samsung flat screen and a view overlooking the city of new delhi. Extra stars goes to this hotel for their room service, very efficient indeed.

Sampai je bilik cempak beg, I penuhkan bath tub dgn air panas. HEAVEN SANGAT. hahaha, kalau winter tanpa hot bath apalah gunanya..

The next day, we headed to Agra for.....

Hint : 'Mahal'

Wait for it...

the guarding castles around it

the main entrance from inside of The Mahal

TAJ MAHAL

It was a very sunny day, the sun shone like it never did yet the cold wind is still present therefore shivering itu masih amat tegar..

What's indie Taj Mahal.the pictures below will reveal all

ada banyak chambers and windows made from carved marble

outside the taj

neighbouring mosque

local tourists

picit the kubah!

the same type of rock used to make the red wall of Agra and Jama Mosque

dah puas jalan,lunch dulu..beriyani kambing with butter chicken..sedap sangat!

vegetable soup for appetizer

then pi kilang marmar..oh what delicate work

then we head out to the other significant place, the Jama Mosque..Obefiend from Blog Serious once made a post bout it..click HERE FOR MORE you'll get better understanding how things are there..