Tuna Patties with Mayonnaise Dip

Question
What do you do when you are 7 months pregnant and feeling extremely irritated and pissed at someone?
a) Go for a calming prenatal massage
b) Take a warm, soothing bath
c) Scream at your husband
d) All of the above

My answer was (d) but they don't seem to be working. Therefore, I resorted to..... cooking! Here's an easy recipe to get rid of the rage.

Tuna Patties
Ingredients:

• 1 can of plain tuna chunks in water
• 1 medium sized potato - boiled & mashed
• Some carrots - boiled & mashed
• Some spring onions, diced
• 1 shallot, finely diced or pre-blended into paste
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of mustard (optional)
• 1 tsp of corn flour
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel the potato, cut it into pieces and boil it until soft. Same goes for the carrots.
2. Place the tuna chunks in a sieve to drain the water.
3. Mash the potato, carrots and tuna in a large bowl. Add in all other ingredients and mix well.
4. Heat up the pan with some cooking oil (I use olive oil) for 1 minute on medium heat.
5. Use your palm to shape and firmly compress the mixture into patties. Fry them until golden brown.
6. Serve warm with some salad and mayonnaise dip.

PS: To get rid of the rage, I imagined the potato was that someone before I boiled it and mashed it up. The best thing was... Dear Hubby happily finished them up.

Who says cooking has to be all about love?

Who wants to be a Felda settler when he grows up?

Dear Hubby has always had a profound interest in politics...especially in Malaysia. Whenever there's news out in the newspapers, he comes home and rambles about it continuously. I've always been a neutral bystander when it come to politics, as long as peace remains. So what if preferential treatments are given to certain ethnic groups of people (known as the Bumiputeras)? What doesn't kill the non-bumi(s) will only make them stronger, right?

The recent one was on Felda settlers. Many people thinks that to give out the long overdue compensation of RM50,000 right before the general election is the government's ultimate trump card to win. And I'm talking about RM50,000 for each settlers, with a total number of 363 settlers to receive the above said money.

Feeling sort of disgruntled, Dear Hubby had this posted on his FB:

(30 years ago.....)

Teacher: "What do you want to be when you grow up? Lawyer? Doctor?

Dear Hubby: "A Felda settler."

Hah! Now that's funny! 

Opss! He did it again...

.....last night.

Every time I open my mouth to say (or about to say) something which bothers me, his response would be, "I think you have too much free time. If you're working, you won't have the time to dwell over trivial issues."

Then he'll lie back with his eyes closed, pretending to be listening with some occasional replies of "..uhh huh". Before I can finish my story, I'll hear soft snores coming from him.

"You don't listen. You never listen!", I screamed.

He woke up and replied, "I'm listening."

"Oh really! So what was my last sentence?", I asked.

He paused for a while before quickly quoting what I said almost in the same exact words and manner.

I don't know how he did that but that was one of the many 'skills' that Dear Hubby has mastered ever since he met me. Lol. I'm amused but definitely not pleased.

0__0

Good for baby, bad for the mommy

What are the top 5 most irritating problems of pregnancy?

No.5: Leaking colostrum ===> It's suppose to be good but considering they leak every time I lean against something, I'm starting to feel annoyed.

No.4: Heavy tummy bulge ===> I'm losing my balance! And not to mention those killer backaches due to the bulge.

No.3: Look fat & ugly in maternity clothes ===> I've invested in a pair of maternity jeans, pedal pushers & capri pants, some lovely blouses, modern maternity dresses from Zara & Gap but none of them makes me look slimmer!

No.2: Very swollen legs due to water retention ===> Both my feet are so swollen that I can't fit into any shoes. Swollen calves & ankles make walking seem like mission impossible.

No.1: Severe morning sickness ===> Try puking every time you eat or drink for almost 10 weeks continuously. Absolutely not pretty!

00:34:28

Thirty four minutes and twenty eight seconds. That was the longest tele-conversation I've ever had with another homo sapiens in the past 6 months. Jen just had her baby boy in early March. I didn't get to speak to her until yesterday and there were so much to catch up - from newborn baby, postnatal weight lost to stories about ignorant hubbies when it comes to baby care. It's kind of nice to have someone to chat with when you're all alone at home, in a foreign country.

Pesan Antar a.k.a Delivery Order in Jakarta

I've just noticed that everything (well almost) can be ordered either through phone or website in Jakarta, ranging from the most basic necessity, e.g. bottled water (for use with water dispenser that has hot & cold features commonly found in offices around Malaysia), food items to massages & mobile spa. 

Back in Malaysia, only certain companies that are selling the water dispenser also sell the bottled water. And the dispenser rental doesn't comes cheap. In contrary, here in Jakarta, you can find the water dispensers being sold everywhere, even in Carrefour. Any toko-toko (shops) by the roadside sells the bottled water at Rp12,000 each. People says tap water in Indonesia is unsafe for consumption even if it's boiled so bottled water are commonly used for drinking and cooking in every households .

Delivery order for food - they have japanese, western, local indonesian and even north indian food. Even J.CO Donuts and Bread Talk can be delivered to your doorsteps. 

Here're some numbers to dial when you're hungry:

McDonald, Tel: 14045

KFC, Tel: 14022

Pizza Hut, Tel: Go to their website for delivery numbers according to locations.

Hoka Hoka Bento (Japanese fast food), Tel: 500-505

Kinara (North Indian cuisine), Tel: 021-7192677

Solaria (local fast food chain that serve varieties of food), Tel: 14099

J.CO Donuts & Bread Talk, Tel: 7996060

Vin + Arcadia (Wine), Tel: 57901477

Another thing that I really love about Jakarta is home spa! Mobile Spa offers body massage at Rp.100,000 (equivalent to US$11 or RM35) for 2 hours. Other services include manicure & paedicure (Rp.75k each), body & face treatments (Rp.115k - Rp.230k), prenatal & postnatal massages (Rp.100k each) and massages for infant /child (Rp.50k). 

The best thing about their service - they're available 24-7 in the comfort of your home. Even 7-11s in Malaysia don't open 24-7! 

Mobile Spa, Tel: 021-32768794, 021-94756891, 081-8695486

JR Studio, Tel: 021-26353378, 08-5692165213

Note: JR Studio also offers hair treatments (Rp.50k -Rp.75k), rebonding (Rp. 175k - Rp.250k) and colouring (Rp.200k) at your home. Cool, huh?

Stir-fry Marinated Butter Prawns with Peanuts

What do you do when life gets mundane and you feel like an idiot sitting at home? You can either go out shopping (...again!) or you can create a dish with whatever leftovers of raw food in your freezer and then blog it down. So here's my new creation.:

Ingredients (for stir-fry):

• Shelled prawns
• 1/2 clove of garlic (chopped) 
• 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger
• 1 tablespoon of coarsely chopped onions
• Spring onions leaves
• Carrots
• Salt
• White pepper
• Sugar
• Peanuts (Lightly fried with some oil beforehand) - optional

Ingredients (to marinate the prawns / fish):

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1/s teaspoon of salt
• A dash of white pepper
• 2 tablespoons of corn flour

1. Mix marinate ingredients together in a bowl, marinate the shelled prawns one by one and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Lightly grease the pan with some cooking oil and heat it up for 1 minute on medium heat before frying the marinated prawn.
3. Remove the prawns and drain on paper towels.
4. Use the remaining oil in the pan to lightly saute the chopped garlic, ginger, onions and carrots. Add in salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
5. Turn down the heat and add in the prawns, spring onion leaves and peanuts. Lighly toss them for 1 minute. Remove and serve warm with rice.

Note: You may replace the prawns with fish fillets (preferable white fish). Repeat step 1 to 5 but do not overcook the fish fillets.

Caution: Eat at your own risk.

 

Is this the life of an expat's wife?

Such a quiet week.

Life has been kind of lonely lately. Dear Hubby's so busy with work that when he comes home, he hits the sack as early as 10pm. At other times, there were company events and I had dinner by myself (not to mention lunch is also a one person affair). We spent an average of 3 to 4 hours a day communicating to each other or maybe less if we take into consideration TV time. I wonder if other expats' wives experience the same kind of loneliness.

Lots of anticipation for the day baby's to be born... 30 weeks + 1 day and still counting.

End of rant.

To buy or to rent?

It's true what people say; you can find almost anything in Jakarta. I just found out about a website that features rental of baby things in Jakarta. They have baby crib, playpens, strollers, car seats, etc. And the rental prices are quite reasonable, ranging from Rp100k to Rp150k per month (equivalent to RM35 to RM55).  Great for expats who are here on short term and those who doesn't want to spend bombs on baby products since babies grow up so fast. Besides renting, they also sell selected baby items but I'm not sure whether they're second hand or brand new. Those who are interested may take a look at their website: http://bambinopiccolo.multiply.com/

I need a baby crib but still contemplating of buying one since Dear Hubby isn't going to work in Jakarta for long. At first I thought of getting just the infant travel bed and stacking it on top of the bed. But once the baby is able to roll over or move around, I still need a baby crib for safety reason. So this whole rental idea might works out for me!

Off-the-shelf food

It is a routine that I go grocery shopping twice a week, usually on Monday and Thursday. So happen today, Dear Hubby's chauffeur went on emergency leave because his son is having high fever. Being in Jakarta for 4 months now, I've never stepped out of the condo without Pak Sopir (sopir means chauffeur in Indonesian language). Although catching a cab in Jakarta is quite convenient, it'll never be as convenient as having a chauffeur who helps load the grocery bags into the car and then bringing them up to the condo for me. A little help goes a long way when you are having a bulging tummy that you can't even see your toes. Moreover, most shopping malls in Jakarta do not have shopping carts access lane for the carts to be brought up to the foyer or lobby so I usually tell Pak Sopir to wait for me at the basement carpark entrance.

Stranded in the condo without Pak Sopir's help, I decided to go online and order McDonald for lunch and then take a lift down to the mini mart to buy some bread for tomorrow's breakfast. I came back, cut open the nicely sealed plastic bag from the loaf of white bread to make myself a peanut butter sandwich (I have cravings for peanut butter since I'm pregnant) when I saw it: greenish and black bread molds growing on the first slice of bread! I double checked on the expiry date again and it says 14/04/10... which is the day after tomorrow. In Jakarta, especially when you buy things from a local or neighbourhood mini mart, don't bother to ask for a refund. They'll just look at you with a silly expression on their face.

Morale of the story: When you buy off-the-shelf food (although it's perfectly sealed) in Jakarta, look twice before you put it in your mouth. This explains a lot why fresh bakery shops are blooming like mushrooms here and they're always jam packed with people at any time of the day!

Golden Baby Tigers

29 weeks and 2 days into my pregnancy. Another 10 more weeks to go. I'm opting for ceasarean instead of natural birth due to several reasons. One of them is labor hours. Ceasarean or c-section takes only 1 to 2 hours max. I have to admit I'm quite an impatient person. I do not like to wait for hours to get my hair done, I do not like long queues and I hate searching for a parking space in shopping malls! And thus, I loathe long labor hours as well.

This year is a year full of 'baby tigers' (as this is the year of the golden tiger)! One of my friend, T, emailed me to say that the wife is having a baby boy in July. Well, he's the 6th person I know who is having a baby this year. Last month alone, 3 of my friends had their babies.

The next person who's having a baby is Dear Hubby's ex-gf who lives in Singapore. She's due in May. I'm due in June, T's wife in July and another friend of hubby in August. The weird thing is they are all having boys except me! I always joke with Dear Hubby saying that this is his karma because he was such a casanova during his younger days. lol.

Citation from wikipedia

Karma: ..... the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect, originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies.

Now THAT'S complicated

I can feel my head burning while I'm typing this.

A simple question: Does an ex-wife encourages her ex-husband to keep secret from his current wife when they claimed they're just good friends after the divorce?

My opinion: If their consciences are as clear as the blue sky on a sunny day, why keep secrets?

I understand that they have a daughter together and it's inevitable not to talk to each other. But just the other day, I found out that they have been chatting with each other on the phone almost every day for as long as half an hour at each session. Dear Hubby did some explanation.... blah blah blah, which seem quite logical. After that their chatting session stopped. Or at least I thought so.

Today, I got hold of her email (never mind how) to Dear Hubby, suggesting him to watch a movie entitled 'It's complicated' with the tagline 'Divorced ... with benefits'. And also to watch it without me!

Curious, I went online to search for the movie plot synopsis and here's what I found:

Jake (Alec Baldwin), a divorced lawyer, married to a younger wife (Lake Bell), has a son, Pedro (Emjay Anthony) still feels affectionate to ex-wife, Jane (Meryl Streep), who is owner of a bakery shop. Now, a decade after their divorce, an innocent dinner between Jane and Jake turns into the unimaginable – an affair. Caught in the middle of their rekindled romance are Jake’s young wife and Adam (Martin), a recently divorced architect who starts to fall for Jane. Could love be sweeter the second time around? It's... complicated!

Coincidentally, Dear Hubby is a lawyer by profession and he's also married to a younger wife: me! So, what is she trying to get at? Am I not supposed to be mad?

Rp 2.3 million, a hefty airport fee

We had an unexpected encounter when we tried to leave Indonesia for the long Good Friday weekend.

Dear Hubby's passport was stuck with immigration department due to his work permit application. The agent he hired to do the processing promised him the passport by 3 p.m on the same day we're supposed to catch our flight back to K.L. Later that evening, Dear Hubby received an email from the immigration department stating that his passport won't be ready until the following Monday. However, they will issue a letter to say that he's allowed to exit Indonesia without a passport due to unforeseen circumstances. To exit Indonesia without a passport is one thing but to enter Malaysia without a passport? Seriously, how stupid can immigration officers be?

Fast forward the story....Dear Hubby managed to get back his passport at 5p.m with some help. We rushed to the airport, proceeded to check-in and tried to clear our passports at the immigration counter when Dear Hubby was asked for the exit stamp. Of course we were puzzled. We were then escorted to a room at the side. The officer explained that an exit stamp is required before he is allowed to leave Indonesia.

Feeling confused, Dear Hubby made calls to the agent asking him to clarify the matter with the immigration department. Soon after, the officer told us that in order to let Dear Hubby exit Indonesia without the stamp, he has to prove that there's an emergency situation back home that requires immediate attention. So I said how are we supposed to 'prove' an emergency anyway (not like we have one). That was when the officer sat down for a while and said, "Saya bisa tolong bapak. Ada 'tiga'?" (I can help you. Do you have 'three'?). By 'three', he meant 3 million rp.

Both of us emptied our purse and wallet only to find 2.3 million rp. The officer refused, saying that it's not going to be enough for all of them while pointing to all the immigration officers out there. He suggested Dear Hubby make withdrawals from an atm around the corner to make up for the balances. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Dear Hubby doesn't have a local bank account yet. After some persuasions, the officer finally took the money, stashed it into one of the drawers and proceeded to process the 'exit stamp'.

I looked out the tiny cabin window as the plane took off, feeling wonderfully relief that Dear Hubby is with me despite the fact that the so-called airport fee is more expensive than both of our return tickets that trip.

*FYI, 2.3 million rp is equivalent to about RM800 or US$250.