Happy Anniversary to us!

Today marks our one year anniversary, when we were officially Husband-And-Wife.

Being married for one year so far has been blissful; every marriage has its' hiccups, and we do have the small arguments. Not the crazy ones though where you're throwing plates at each other. My husband is more conservative with finance and he prefers to stay at home, whereas I tend to splurge more and I like to go to out and explore new shops and restaurants.

It's quite a lot of compromise, but Alhamdulillah, we make it work. My husband calms me down, and he makes me feel most at ease, before bedtime, when he recites passages from the Quran.

I realized I never did a proper post on our solemnization (nikah), so here goes, the day, one year ago, in pictures!

Make up touch by Sabrina Hashim. She's awesome.

One of my closest friend; we've known each other for over ten years; we fought over boys, men, every thing. She was there for me, and is now a mother to a beautiful baby boy. Our friendship has matured and grown.

The groom and his family waiting to be invited into the house. The gifts you see in front of you are hantaran; presents that bride and groom present to each other during the day.

My then-fiance sitting down, preparing to talk to the Tok Kadi (the Solemnizer who represents our Islamic Religious office).

The Tok Kadi talks about the obligations and responsibilities of a husband before the akad nikah (formal contract of marriage, verbally and on paper).

The Tok Kadi makes him read his responsibilities and duties as a husband. He's laughing because I told the Tok Kadi in advanced that my husband is "pelat" (slight lisp) in Malay, so the Tok Kadi was making fun of him.

The lafaz akad nikah ceremony, where the imam will say that the groom agrees to marry the bride, and the groom must reply without hesitation, stuttering or errors. Alhamdulillah, took my husband just one try!

I only saw this picture one year post-wedding! This is my dad, and looking at this pictures makes me so emotional; it was very hard to hold back tears during the event. This was during the doa (prayer) read by the Tok Kadi for a happy and blessed marriage. 

Hehe he placed the ring on my hands. That was the first time we actually managed to talk to each other!

My family.

My grandma, brother, sister-in-law and aunties.

My new family!

My husband's grandma.

Hantarans!

The dulang girls (bridesmaids) who helps me through this crazy day.

Or you can just watch this video for the fastest recap hehe. Happy first anniversary, b! I love you.

Food Review: Nathan's Famous @ IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

This little restaurant is tucked away, near the skating rink. If you're not the type to explore IOI City Mall, you might not have noticed this restaurant, Nathan's Famous, Inc. an American company that operates a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in hot dogs.

With just a staff of three, and a semi-full restaurant, this self-serving restaurant/ fast food concept (not sure of the concept) was a bit slow on the service.

Of course, the decor made you feel like you were in New York, with it's illustrations, black-and-white chequered floor tiles, American booth seats and photos of the original Nathan's displayed on the wall.

Upon receiving the burger, I was quite disappointed with the size as I paid RM 16.99 ala carte for a supposedly "10 Super Cheese Burger". 10 cm? Definitely not 10 inches haha.

For the price of RM 16.99, you get an ala carte burger with single patty, beefed up with two pieces of lettuce and tomato slice. Burger was overdone. Shame, as there was potential. Essentially, an overpriced Cheeseburger from McDonald's.

We thought this would be the best-tasting Chilli Cheese Fries, but nope... was disappointed by the dollop of cheese on top with the bare minimum covering of the chilli beef. This was RM 8.99.

My husband ordered this Cheesesteak which essentially was dried bread topped with a too much artificial-tasting Cheese. Is this what American Cheese tastes like? It looks very heart-attack inducing. This was a set, totalling up to RM 22.99, and the set came with fries and a drink, if you're wondering.

The best tasting item we ordered; the lemonade drink! 

The bill for two pax.

Ratings:

Food: 2/5

Service: 2/5 

Pricing: 2/5 

Overall: 2/5

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/NathansFamousMY/

Web-site:

http://www.nathansfamous.com.my/

Address: 

L1-13B, First Floor, IOI City Mall,
Lebuh IRC , ​IOI Resort City,
62502 Putrajaya
​Sepang, Selangor

Conclusion:

Won't be hurrying there anytime soon. I'd suggest a cheaper and tastier alternative of A&W's Coney Dog. I believe they need to adjust the taste for the local market, and improve their service as well as cooking style.

Recipe: Spicy Ginger Chicken Asian Style

Spicy Ginger Chicken Asian Style served with Panfried Brussel Sprouts in Oyster Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1x Whole Garlic Bulb (Roughly 8 Pieces) (Bawang Putih 8 Biji)
• Ginger, julienned (5 inches) (Halia Muda, Hiris Nipis)
• 4x Red Bird's Eye Chili less if prefer non-spicy (4 Biji Cili Api)
• 2x Red Chilli (2 Btg Lada Hidup)
• 1x Cinnamon Stick (1 Btg Kayu Hidup)
• 2x Star Anise (2 Biji Bunga Lawang)
• 2x Cardamon Seeds (2 Biji Pelaga)
• 1 stick Carrots, Julienned (1 batang karot, dihiris)
• 1 tomato, quartered (1 biji tomato, dibelah empat)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon corn starch (tepung jagung) [optional]
• Coriander leaves (daun sup) / can be subbed with chives (daun kucai)

Steps:

1. Brown your chicken in a pan (low-medium heat, no oil, no water)
2. Saute items 1 - 4 in some oil over medium heat until it browns slightly.
3. Add in items 5 - 7
4. Add in the black pepper
5. Add in the browned chicken
6. Stir in the oyster sauce and the chicken stock
7. Cover with a lid until chicken cooks
8. Add in corn starch if you wish to thicken the sauce (optional)
9. Add in the carrots, leave for two minutes
10. Add in the tomato
11. Add in the coriander leaves. Season with salt

Step 1: Browning the chicken.

Step 2 - 3: Saute-ing some items with the spices.

Step 6: Adding in the browned chicken

Step 11: Adding in the chives and salt.

Palembang Day 1: Pempek & Patin

We recently went to Palembang to visit my brother's in-laws, Pak Hatim and his wife.

Palembang, honestly, is one of those cities that you go to just to eat.

It's also best if you could hire your own driver, which was graciously provided to us by Pak Hatim, during our visit there.

Upon landing, the driver, Pak Feri, picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Pak Hatim's house. It's a nice house nestled in the busy hustle and bustle of the city. We were served Pempek, one of the iconic and signature food. It's essentially varieties of fishcake, made from fish paste and tapioca. Pempek is usually served with kuah cuka. It is served grilled, steamed or fried. 

I love the courtyard; there are some singing birds who respond to you when you whistle to them.

Very gladiator-like decor in the courtyard!

Lunch was served; Ikan Patin, otherwise known as Silver Catfish was served three ways;

• Pindang (which was some lemongrass, red onions, chilli, tomatoes, galangal, pineapple and some other ingredients I can't remember);
• Tempoyak (fermented durian)
• Asam pedas (sour spicy)

If you've never tasted Ikan Patin, you should try and taste the wild/ River Ikan Patin. It tastes very fresh, but it has a slight muddy taste to it.

There were also king prawns, which I was too lazy to peel.

I loved the Ayam Kampung masak Kicap - organic chicken cooked in a sweet, soya broth. I also loved the Sambal Tempe (fermented soybeans in spicy sambal sauce).

My parents (my mom in leopard; my dad in black), and Pak Hatim and wife before the meal!

It was such warm hospitality, we couldn't thank them enough, especially after such a big feast. You can imagine, after the meal, we were very full and proceeded to head to the hotel. We stayed at Emilia Hotel by Amazing, located right next to Palembang Indah Mall.

Killer Gourmet Burger, KGB @ Taman Tun Dr. Ismail branch

For one of my closest friend's birthday, we decided to celebrate it at Killer Gourmet Burger (KGB) Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. I heard many good things about it.

It's a Minion-themed party. WHO SAYS 27 IS TOO OLD FOR BIRTHDAYS??

Ordered this Texas Jalapeno Steak & Cheese Fries to share, I think around RM 20 or less.

But someone doesn't want to share... The sad thing is, all the topping's just for show.. when you dig deep it's just regular fries.

I don't remember for the life of me what this burger was called. 

Happy faces being fed. Raihan's overjoyed by the size of her cheese from her Mexican-inspired burger that came with guacamole. Mmm, moley moley.

The queue and wait was a bit long, but I guess that's what happens when you go to burger joint on a Friday night. Their milkshake is quite small for the price. 

Overall Experience:

Food: 4/5

Service: 2/5

Pricing: 2/5 

For a little peace and quiet, we proceeded to Kaffe Coffee, just down the road, to cut cake.

Birthday girl (left) lighting up her own cake HAH!

The tasty chocolate cake by Nadia, purchased from Lavender. I think the coffee foam was Nadia's (questionable?). Not sure what it is - an old woman? Bahaha.

Forced selfie with Raihan!

Thanks Kaffe Coffee for allowing us to celebrate the birthday there!