the killer dish is found

One month have passed at Lil Haven.

I shop, I cook, I sell, I clean up, the whole works. It was fun as it was tiring.  Oh yes, I also serve.

Many dishes were plated. Our set meal was made out of one of these.   Nasi Tomato, Nasi Serai, Nasi Carrot and Nasi Goreng Seafood for the rice variety. We made Ikan Masak Asam, Ikan masak cili. And we also made Tomyam, Ayam Kurma, Ayam Masak Merah and Ayam Rendang. And we had Sambal Udang.

For vegetable dishes we had  made Urap Kacang Botol, Acar Rampai, Paceri Nenas, Mixed Vege, Masak Lemak Putih, Kacang Panjang Goreng, and Salads.

But guess what that 'Wowed!' our regulars?

Kak Ros's SAMBAL BELACAN!

That got the best reviews. The killer dish I was desperately looking for.

And why ever not?  Kak Ros had been pounding sambal belacan for 50 years.  It will, without a doubt, remain unbeatable and reign supreme over all other sambal belacans.

Early morning people

Since I started my lil food business with Lil Haven, slowly I have transformed into an early riser or early bird.  Having to help Hajar with her nasik lemak and to cook my meehoon, we wake up early. Much earlier than usual.  A good habit inculcated.

I guess l like to shop fresh.  I like to buy the ingredients just before I cook it.  This would could qualify me a meticulous cook or a last minute person with bad time planning. But that is how it is and our food last long into the evening.  So, as earlier as 6.30am I would be at Balaji, the Indian sundry shop to wait for the lorry that brings the fresh produce from the wholesale market.

Around me, I would see the men walking home from the mosque, the mothers waiting with their school going children for the school bus, the other early birds buying things for their house hold at Balaji. All sorts of   people walking to the bus stops to get to work, or going into their cars,  the other stall menders with many kinds of tasty breakfast dishes waiting for customers ( and here I am, waiting to buy the prawns for my meehoon to sell in an hour).

Then I went 1 step further by going to Old Town wet market, the biggest market in PJ at 6.00 am.  When all is dark and still asleep, the market was brightly lit and lively, bustling with all the buying and selling activities. To tell  you the truth, there are two places that I love to be at, the mosque, and the market. Market, not supermarket.  This is not a good thing since one is the opposite of the other but I love to see nature's produce. The abundance of vegetables, poultry, seafood, beancurds, fruits and flowers.  It makes my heart expands to its seems. Hihi.  What a boring person I am.   Maybe food is a quiet passion I did not encourage.

By evening I find my body extremely tired and my eyes close pretty early. Its a new clock in my head. And so is the gusto for cooking.  

Step it up, step it up

How do we get sales to pick up.

Ok, logical solutions.  Get a killer recipe and nail it.  But.... I do not have one. 

I see too much AFC, Asian Food Channel on Astro.  What do people in Centrio Soho, this upscale and upbeat and chic home cum office, and boutique offices  lifestyle people go for?  

This new culture has found itself  in Kg.Kerinchi. And Kg. Kerinchi has it all. High end, medium end, low end, high rise, medium rise, low rice. Modern living, ordinary living, foreign living.  One word, 'Chacha Marba' (jumbled)  and it is just so...emm...interesting.

Centrio Soho itself is a modern design building, its living quarters consisting of double storey studios, more like a big compartment, divided into two, horizontally.  And Lil Haven, is at the retail floor. 

Sue showed me one famous artist living there, selling his drawing by the thousands. There's a Max. And Allan who would come for 'Lil Haven famous' oatmeal cookie and ice lemon tea everyday.  There is Bala, an Indian who orders ice coffee black no sugar take-away.  There's Kim, who gjves alot of feedback on the food.  There's Sam my biggest supporter, Michelle, Irin, Mr cute Chinese CEO, there is En. Mat Parang Tajam. Another biggest  supporter, Tim who is from Philipines I think,  would  always ask me what the food is made of.  I would go, 'rice floor and coconut milk' for the kueh lapis, ' tapioca, sweet' for the bingka ubi. 'Sticky rice,  savoury with  coconut sambal filling' for the pulut panggang.  Ida's mother makes these delicious traditional cakes.  They are cake making family.  "Pancake with  coconut and palm sugar filling' for kueh ketayap. How I enjoy enlisting the ingredients to Tim, who soaks it all up and buys the kuehs.

Its nice to work in Lil Haven, to watch the people, to watch Ida bake and help her colour the frostings and give unsolicited ideas for her cakes, and to smell the aroma of cakes and biscuits in the oven.  

All is not easy.  I have not found the killer recipe.  

These people are all smart and world-wise and would not throw their money easily. 

Earlier I bet on home-cooked food but after 10 days,  maybe Centrio Soho finds it emm...boring.

Step it up, step it up. Huhu....I wonder what is Secret Recipe's secret...

Tomorrow I will take pictures.

Back to business and 49

It is a few hours past my birthday.  49.  Yesterday I received birthday wishes from those close to me including my dentist.  Thank-you loved ones.

Its back to business and I have taken a bigger step from my stint  sellling cookies during Ramadhan at the bazaar in Amcorp Mall. I am now helping Sue at her quaint cafe, Lil Haven, down the road, in the neighbourhood.

Sometimes one knows not what one loves until one sees it.  I don't 'love' Lil Haven per say  but when Sue tells me she needs help to keep the place open, I just have to do something..

Sue has put in alot in her cafe.  Her decor, her product, her cooking all shows it comes from her heart.  A cafe in blue hue,( I am a blue person, according to the colour therapy expert, Dr Rahim, section 13 Shah Alam) all is done in good taste. Everyone in this Chaca-marba (mixed and diversified, that's me too, in my head) area  comes here.  White, black, yellow, brown, they all go to Lil Haven for coffee, or for Sue's signature drink, ice-lemon tea, all sorts of cakes, scones, big biscuits or sandwiches.

So I paid for a small space and sell  nasi lemak and meehoon in the morning, and lunch in the afternoon, food that Sue does not make but what the cafe needs.  So I became the complimentary unofficial not actually  partner of sorts and my forte is to fill up the blanks in Lil Haven.

I am not that great a cook but under the category of home-cooked,  honest and wholesome food, I don't do so bad.  Nevertheless,  I seek a wonderful cook, Kak Ros to cook the main dishes, got Hajar to make her signature nasi lemak along side with whatever that I can cook decently.

Boy oh boy, it looked much easier than it is. This is hard work. No joke. Penat giler.

Sue appreciates  my help and I guess two heads are better than one.  I have been meddling in the food business for sometime now, selling or cooking this and that but not in a serious way.  This is a bold step I am taking and when I cannot meet the requirements, I have no choice but to step it up and is continuing to do so till now.

I pray Sue's dream to see her cafe succeed would come true.  She deserves it.  Lil Haven is an oasis for tired rat-racers and others to unwind with tea or coffee or to just meet up. Ida, the talented baker deserves a mention here too since she bakes really delicious cakes.

Ways to get through a loss.

The river of life is a long one.  There you are on a raft, sailing along, not knowing what is infront of you.  There will be smooth sails and turbulant sails for sure, knocking  and jolting over rocks or fallen logs or maybe going into its craters and potholes. This is when you have to use your skills to get back your balance and to forge ahead, never to sink.  Then what would you do when infront of you is a huge rumbling water fall,  and turning back in not an option. Fight the currents or preparing to fall, which ever way, would call for your highest survival skills.  Fell you did, injured and broken, but not dead.

Thats the river of life.  Heartaches, losses, failures, sickness, knock us senseless.  What would you do? Do you have the ability to bounce back? Do you have the determination to try again and again until you have beaten the odds?  Some have and some don't.

When you fall, it is always deep and dark.  You see no way out, unless you want to survive.

There are so many books to help you.  Or maybe you have people who would throw you a line. There are professionals that you can seek for counsel. Many offers of help out there.

The western remedies are everywhere.  The 'western knowledge' are by far the vastest and the easiest to get hold of. Self-help, motivation, psychology, positive thinking, Dale Carnagie, so many doctors' books to help save the world.  And they are indeed a great source of help and reference.

There is also the Islamic way of help.  There are books, unfortunately not as many as the english ones here in our country. Dr Aidh Al-Qarni's books are highly recommended.

I am going through some losses at the moment. A fair share this year.  Some by their demise, and some by circumstances. 

And my humble and limited self here, would like to make some comparison between the western ways and the Islamic way to healing. These are my homespun views if I may say so. I think it is important to spread the Islamic way  as a form of 'dakwah'.

The western way would be by being positive and by tapping  all your strength and by pulling all your stops onto your insights to maximise your possibilities. There will be many doctrines, theories and well tested hypothesises by great and brilliant thinkers. We just have to know what works for us.

Its alot simpler in Islam. Very fast consistent rules. To practice a few steps.

First and foremost, is to be connected to our creator, Allah Subhanahuwataala with Iman.   If there are no connection whatsoever, it would be impossible to seek, right? Seek what?

And Allah says, in the meaning, "Seek help in patience and prayers". "Verily Allah is with those who are patient".

That's 2nd step.  Patience. To wait it out, to lie low, to stay calm and collected. To stop short of any unappropriate actions and outrage. When people are in pain, the first reaction would be to destruct. Hurt yourself, hurt others. When we are patient, we do not get worked up, and effect our ability to think. On that patient mode, we keep going, not upsetting more apple carts. Minimizing other damages.  Being patient is like putting on a satin lining over your emotions that stops our strength from depleting or seeping out.  It keeps everything down to stay intact. Preservation.  Then slowly, slowly, the pain subsides, you would be your own hero, to be able to get through the worse part of it.

3rd step. Prayers. Its a natural instinct to pray. All humans pray at some time of their life.  Whether you are a believer or not.  Everyone says Oh God!!!  As a Muslim we pray 5 times a day.  Because a human, when they have a place to turn to, we are stronger.  We are never alone  or lost. We have The Almighty to depend on.  Once I asked an orphan, Kimi, how many friends does he have.  He said two.  This boy and Allah.  Five times a day of aligning your thoughts, five times of putting forth your problems to Him, five times of unloading your burden to Him.  Five times of knowing, He would help and shed you some light.  How else would help if not through prayers?

Then there is the Zikir, remembering Allah.  Islam says it is through zikir that our heart is at peace.  Our heart beats nonstop.  Feels nonstop. When does it rest? Even when we sleep, it keeps on going. It rest when we think of Allah, with the act of repeating his name,  by reading the Quran, of looking at the signs of His existance and greatness. When the heart is at peace, there would be strength.  No need to drink alcohol to numb off the pain or to forget it for a few hours until the alcohol subsides and the problems come back.  No need to smoke it out of your system. No need to take drugs to feel a high over too many lows. And to cut down on the anti-depressants.  Allah has given the Quran as a balm or antidote to the believers.

When we lose something we read "Innalillawainnailaihiroji'un" that means, we are from Allah, and therefore  we all return to him. Nothing last forever.  Do not take it too hard, it is not yours in the first place. Allah gives and Allah takes back when He deemed fit. With that reason, we can comprehend why things happen.  Or we would wonder till we lose our heads.

Islam says that we would all be tested in life but Allah will show the way to the believers. Having faith in that, there is hope. And hope is what makes us strong and gives us courage.  That is Allah's promise that there would always be help, when we believe in Him. And if Allah says there is a way, THERE IS A WAY.

And to always be grateful.  I have read many western motivational books and in the internet on how to be happy. How to have a good life.  And I came across many of the writers or doctors who promote the act of being grateful or, bersyukur.  It is found that being grateful makes life more  meaningful. In Islam, if we are grateful. Allah says He would add on to your providence.  One door close, be grateful and other door opens.  Lose something, be grateful for other things and Allah gives you more other things. Because no one has nothing.  All of us have something good.  There is always something to be grateful for.  No matter how insignificant it is to us or to others.  If we lose our thankfulness, means we could no longer see the other good things in our life.  And eventually lose those too.

So the Islamic way to healing is easier than you think.  Amyone can do it, and you do not have to read so many books.

business, raya, engagement, birthday

So many things to write about.

Last Ramadhan I took a stall at Amcorp Mall and sold hari raya cookies.  Before this, my means of business would be selling Hajar's choc chip cookies at the flea market  during weekends, but this time, something happened that calls for a diversion from the problem, has me jumping into the small timer, one-women show  business for a whole month.  All in all, the experience was quite valuable for I have discovered in me, that I do have some natural aptitude for business.  I could do it again.

I met nice people in this line, old timers whose advice I would keep.  I learnt hands-on the know-hows of selling. The dos and don'ts but most of all, the realities of it all. My strengths and weaknesses, peoples' wants and tendencies, about money, about marketing.  The way to promote your product, your ability to persuade people to buy and what it takes.  Shyness, has to be extinguished. You need thick skin for business, to bring or push your stuff to your customers or if you are not,  the showroom way would be more suitable, wait for the customers to come.  For me the latter, since I am new at this and my skin is still thin.  What ever your style, drive is number one rule to sell.

Now since this interest in business has been tapped, I would be selling this and that from now on.  I have keropok in my car boot if anybody wants.  $7.50 per pack.

Then hariraya was near and I have to pack up my table earlier since I needed time to prepare.  Most of the days of Ramadhan I was at the mall. I had to get ready the hariraya stuff.  Tumblers for the cookies, new table cloth, new curtains etc.  To make sure we have everything that makes it hariraya. This year,  I also have an additional member to the family, Picipu's husband, Hafiz Firdaus.

Hariraya was quiet.  My brothers spent it with their wives' side and on 2nd day, Abang and whole family set  off to Gold Coast Australia for their holidays, so it was just me and my sister and a very quiet KL.  It brought a lump to my throat early that morning to be so devoid of the festive air and merriment since here up in Bukit Kerinchi, on hariraya, there is not much movement. It is a good thing that as a city girl without a kampung, I am use to such a sorry hariraya.  This is all that we have girls, so, cheer up and be grateful. Then things picked up. Relatives came, we went to their houses, and we played fireworks.  I was grateful, I am grateful and will always be grateful.

This raya also had me cat-sitting for Kak Rosie who has a kampung. I agreed to look after a mother cat with 4 extremely cute just born kittens, whom I named Meg, Carly, Emily, Nikki and Rocco from the show My Kitchen Rules on Astro Diva channel.  These cats was a balm to my soul since I was going through some sadness.  While others raised their brows at me having to go to feed the cats and on the way back, feed other cats in this area since most of the eateries were closed, I was happy to see such cute creatures twice a day.


After the first few days, I had to regain my energy for Mimi's engagement on the 1st of Sept.  We began  preparing for the whole kenduri.  Many things to plan, many things to do.  I must acquire Herculean strength for such an auspicious family event.  My baby girl has been plucked to be married.  The 3rd of such event this year. Third!!!

Here we go again, the guests, the 'gubahan', the caterers, the door gifts, the room, the 'baju'. Mummy must take out her magic wand again and poof everything to be in its place.

It turned out a happy and beautiful event with the groom-to-be whom I know since he was 15, comes  grinning to the kenduri,  'sedondon' when customarily , he does not attend, but represented.  These two childhood sweethearts were too adorable to be penalized, so we all just enjoyed ourselves, celebrating their union and future marriage, InsyaAllah.

Four days later on the 5th September, Bah came to pick us up for lunch with me forgetting it was her birthday.  We went to Mid Valley, had lunch and due to post-kenduri tiredness, bought 15 types of pretty and yummy looking food as we window shop till night.  Like what? Like macaroons, durian moshi, little pancakes, creampuffs, Auntie Anne's choc dip, baked sweet potato to name half.   Buy one and share among 3 of us  so that we minimize the size of our intake.

Still tired and so much more to live for.

;)