A visit to Lavender Farm

Ingat tak yang aku cerita aku dapat invite for potluck lunch? well, that lunch was yesterday ...will write about that later ..nie nak cerita about lavender farm dulu ...

anyhoos, kami plan nak gi Lavender farm otw to Otaki ...but sebab dok sembang sembang dalam kereta tu, we missed the junction to the farm ..nak patah balik tu plak banyak kereta behind us ...so tak gi lah ...but we went back early yesterday ...and the farm masih buka masa kami lalu area tu, so singgah le sekejap ....it is in Kapiti by the way

masa sampai tu panas la...so aku malas nak venture out to the field ..just gi yang dekat2 shop ajer ...but the view was amazing ...beds of purple lavender di kejauhan ..and the heavenly smell of lavender ....

yang kat depan2 nie tak banyak ...and dah diharvest ..so takde yang deep purple colour like those in the background

harusle ada gambar aku kannnnn ...hahahaha ...sebab panas tak lama nak posing kat situ ..panas sampai ke tulang semalam ..20 degree masa tu ..plus masa aku dok jejalan ambik gambar lavender tu banyak bumble bee ..aku takut kat bee hahaha so cecepat balik ke shop ..

kat shop tu jual macam2 ...kak shidah nak beli lavender oil ....and barang2 lain ..i got myself lavender massage balm ..katanya utk relieve stress and help you to sleep ...so i beli satu and am gonna check it out nanti ...but this trip reminds me of my UK time sebenarnya ...my foster mom suka lavender ...all her closet akan ada lavender pouches ...her rooms smell of lavender ....and when I saw this dried lavender, rasa sayu ati aku ....i miss those people ..my foster parents, who have been so kind to me all these years ...entah bila aku dapat jumpa dorang lagi

jambangan dried lavender nie dorang bagi free ..kitorang ambik jer lah a few bunches ...now in my room

nie kitorang balam perjalanan balik hehehe ...after a long trip to the coast

balik2 kereta bau lavender ...now my room smells of lavender ..nice!!!

Nearly there!

This weekend is one of those weekend yang rarely happened - and i mean that in terms of my work. For the first time in months - yup, months!!!! - I do not have anything work-related to do this weekend ...sebab I submitted my work to my sv on fri afternoon ...and he did not get back to me lagi ...since that submission is more or less the complete version, so i do not have any things to do ....

my 5th version of proposal - submitted to sv last friday, and hopefully this will be the last version and ready for the real submission to the panel of reviewers

Tapi nak sampai stage nie, macam orang gila dah aku rasa ....everytime I feel I got the hang of it, ada saja yang harus diperbaiki...ditambah ...diubah ....the whole of last week was the most busy ...masuk opis kol 9 pagi ...balik kol 11 malam ...and public holiday and weekend pun di opis ..such was my life hahaha ...and bila dah balik selewat tu memang tak masak le ....luckily i had freeze several container of foods in the freezer ..so balik, just microwave kan ajer ...makan, mandi ..tido ..and the next day start all over again ....sungguh beza ngan masa aku di rumah dulu ...balik malam sure ada makanan terhidang di meja makan - huhuhuhu i miss my mom's cooking!

 yang nie saat saat pening ...bila dapat feedback from sv ...my sv is one thorough dude! but a cool one at that ....my last submission tu aku admit i was not satisfied with it ...i was distracted gila baban ngan isu personal the day before submission ....so, when i got good feedback i.e. better than i expected, memang aku bersyukur sesangat ....that's why last week i pulun habis ...hahaha nak cover the last slack-off ...

Nie lagi satu kes yang buat aku pening ...buat aku stress ...and hampir nangis ...sv aku suka nar conteng2 diagram and chart when we discussed ...aku plak susah nak grasp apa yang dia nak hahaha i am a person yang suka words ...so aku tulis tulis tulis ..dia nak chop most of the words and replace with charts ....so have to give and take di situ ...masalah aku is that aku tak reti nak convert the charts to lol so ada sessi hampir nangis sekejap di opis ...after 3-4 hours of complete waste of time yang mana aku cuba buat tapi tak jadi2 ....last2 my ex-opismate helped me do it ...and the my sv gave me a quick tutorial on how to buat chart in a super quick time ...with a reminder pastu untuk aku just ask if tak tau buat ..

and my peneman setia: black, strong coffee ....yup, I know I am supposed to reduce my coffee intake ..memag aku reduce pun ...no more than 4 cups a day now ...but kepekatan kopi meningkat ..depend on who make the coffee untuk aku ...kalau my opis mate yang buatkan kopi, memang kaw kaw ...and selalu nya dia akan just ambik my mug bila aku sampai opis and buatkan kopi ....so that aku tak buang masa gi atas buat kopi sendiri ....and so that aku avoid jumpa my sv secara tak sengaja di pantry ...so, bila dia buat camtu, aku tak complain lah ...and selain kopi, dia akan bawak macam2 makanan ke opis ...especially tahu aku sibuk and tak masak kat rumah ...dia bawakkan lunch jugak untuk aku yang ngada nie kekadang ....really must do some cooking or baking untuk dia one of these days lah ....dah lama aku tak bake untuk opis!

and bila aku takleh study kat opis ..aku gi buat kerja kat library ...untung dok uni nie..sebab view from library memang super awesome! 

pastu kan, library nie punya sofa sangat comfy! sebab takde orang - orang tak ramai coz ramai cuti ...plus trimester 3 memang tak ramai students ...sebab tak ramai org, sometime I can just lie down there membaca ...macam kat rumah sendiri ...

rumah aku kat sebalik pokok tu ...dekat ajer ngan library

since I submitted last friday, and have not heard anything back from my sv, I just lepak kat rumah ajer today ...didnt even go to sunday market ..memang sleep in ...and tak buat apa2 ...but somehow, aku terasa bersalah sebab tak masuk opis ..hahaha sebab dah terbiasa gi opis sunday ...such are my life kat sini ...rasa bersalah bila tak buat kerja!!! but, am telling myself, might as well enjoy my "day-off" yang jarang2 ada nie ....

Sultana and apple cake - recipe

alooooo ....I am back in my own flat now. Sampai dua jam setengah yang lepas ...sampai2 terasa lagi gegaran aftershock ..but it was a small one ...that's the downside of my life here ...so far kat sini this is my second huge quake but yang semalam way not as bad as the one in August last year ..and aftershocks are expected to continue beberapa minggu lagi ...but as the kiwis say life goes on ...

Semalam we got a call ..an invite to summer potluck with malaysians yang dah lama menetap here ...there are a big group of them and the girls and I are invited ...and the host buat special request.. i cannot bawak benda yang aku beli hahaha have to bring one home made dish ...jenuh akak berfikir coz the last time i went there dorang memang bawak makanan malaysia yang sedap tahap gaban ok ...semua terer masak ...so, apa aku nak buat???? kang buat malu ajer show up with food tak sedap ..kannnn??? so pressure kejap ...then tetiba teringat sultana and apple cake yang aku buat aritu ...

I completely forgotten about this cake hahaha ...so, check check pantry semua ingredient ada ..so, this is what I plan to make for the potluck this Saturday ...and the recipe is so simple ...

all you need are:

1.5 cup tepung self-raising

1 sudu teh cinnamon

2 biji telur

1 cup gula kastor - I used brown sugar

125g butter (melted)

1 cup sultana

0.5 cup apple - potong kasar so that nampak chunky

Mula2, campur tepung ngan cinnamon - sift into a large bowl. Then tambah gula and mix. In another bowl, mix kan telur dan melted butter - and almond essence if using - and then campur to bahagian tepung tadi. mix rata rata, then fold in apples and sultanas. Line the pan, spoon the mixture into prepared baking tin ....bakar in preheated 180 degree oven and bake approximately 55 mins..bila kuar oven tu, allow to cool 10 mins dalam pan ...and turn out of the pan to completely cool down kat wire rack ...and walla it is ready to eat!

rupa sebelum masuk oven :-)

rupa bila kuar oven :-)

and tadaaaaa ......

Well, as usual aku ada food tester kan ...bawak ke opis and got full approval from him ...sent some to geng architecture aku ...also got seals of approval ...so I guess this would have to be the choice this weekend ...kalau buat brownies best ..but from experience ..tiap kali aku buat brownies untuk diri sendiri, it always turn out ok ..but bila buat untuk bawak for potluck ..selalu tak menjadi ngan elok ...too dry or too moist .....I hope this one turns out ok nanti :-)

packed weekend outing

Making the most of the sunshine and nice hot weather in Wellington ..that's what I did yesterday ...plan ngan the girls to spend the whole day together ..i took yesterday off - tak masuk opis langsung ...and the weather was so nice, even kalau aku masuk opis pun, am sure I would not stay the whole day coz cuaca memanggil manggil untuk bersukaria ...

The plan was meet up for lunch in town ...then gi Paraparaumu beach ..which is about an hour drive from city ...and then balik in time for summer concert kat Botanic Garden ...then tukar plan coz we want to see Kak Shidah before concert ...instead gi Scorching Bay yang dekat lagi ngan city ...that's the beauty of Wellington - banyak beaches nearby ...from Oriental Bay, to Island Bay, Lyall Bay, Owhiro Bay, Shelly Bay (ni aku tak gi lagi), Makara, Evan Bay and so on ....but the girls kata better Scorching Bay - sangat cantik and less crowded ...

sampai2 tu sejuk siot ...berangin plak tu ...and not many people kat dalam air ...and malas nak lepak di pasir tu, instead we found a spot kat grass bank ....a nice spot yang jauh from orang ...down at the beach tu we can see ada lifeguards ..so it is a safe beach to swim in ...but they have designated swim area ....so, sampai2 bentang kan lah beach towel masing masing ...and just enjoy the sun ...kali ne sebab sejuk ..tak carik shady place ..memang go direct for the sun :-)

takde close up of the white sandy beach sebab aku malas gi sana bawak camera ...it was purely a relaxing  trip to the beach for us ...completely forgot about work and just spent the day cuci mata ..lapangkan minda ...and clear my head ...and hanging out with the girls ...

masa kitorang sampai, takde lah ramai sangat orang ..but more and more people datang ..by the time we left at 5.30pm, the place was a bit crowded ...gambar tak banyak coz I was too relax tido to get up and take photo ...next time aku gi lagi ....

went back at 5.30 coz by then Kak Shidah dah call kata dia dah tunggu kat rumah ..we took the coastal road balik ..and view was absolutely amazing!!! Seriously, I am falling in love with this place every day ...the more I discover and explore Welly, the more I love this smallest capital in the world ...

then reunion with Kak Shidah ..as usual bila dah jumpa, memang tak leh stop sembang ..it was great to meet up again ...and kak shidah is well known for her hospitality ..kami makan makan ..minum minum ...and siap mandi semua kat situ and sedar2 it was 8.00-ish ...padahal concert yang kami nak gi tu starts at 8pm ..blah by 8.30-ish gitu ...itupun we feel bad coz pergi cepat sangat ...kak shidah siap offer dinner tu but have to take rain check lah ....

as usual bila aku balik tu aku bawak fresh rosemary ..kat rumah nie berlambak2 fresh herbs ...dorang tanam around the house ...kalau gi garden dia siap ada lecttuce, silverbeet, spinach, rhubarb etc ...aku nak rosemary ajer ..sebab tahan lama and i love it with meat dishes ...

sebab dah lambat kuar from Khandallah kan ...maka lambat le sampai Botanics hahaha but we all said we just want to check out the ambience, listen to the songs, dance and get some selfies of us at the concert ....dah le parking susah dapat ..so ended up sampai very late ..sempat dengar the last 3 songs ...but we did all we said we were gonna do ...

dengar lagu - checked!

menari - checked! depan stage plak tu hahaha ...

selfie - checked!

ambience - checked!

summer open air concert nie memang an annual event ..sepanjang january ...and every night different genre and different band..last night tu memang packed ..all the grass area penuh ngan org ...org datang with picnic basket etc and just sit there, having picnic ..dengar lagu ...and dance away ...kami lambat so memang tak kuarkan our picnic punya tikar ...the suasana is so cool ...kilauan lampu with all hamparan bunga tu sangat cantik ...smells heavenly as well ...glad we had time to tengok semalam ..takut pas ni tak sempat coz all 3 of us sibuk .....bukan boleh jumpa everyday ..yang nie pun the 3rd attempts nak tgk concert ...selalu cancel sebab selalu sibuk ...

otw balik ke kereta pun sempat posing lagi hahaha ..people were milling around walaupun concert dah abis ....

by then, we had actually spent nearly 10 hours together hahaha ..and were too tired to do anything else ...so antar Sue balik ...and then we went to supermarket kat Kilbirnie ....sebab lapar and nak makan kat luar memang susah le ..coz cafes and restaurant dah nak tutup ...so beli food at supermarket ...and then antar aku balik .....

supermarket ni tutup lambat ..by midnight gitu ...tapi ramai gak le org shopping ...

seharian aku kuar semalam ...selalu kami buat cam nie ...sekali kuar memang full day gitu ...then the following day semua back to do own work ...that's why aku seharian kat opis hari nie ...walaupun sunday ...sebab kerja banyak ...my work strategy, time joli tu, joli sepuas ati ...and time kerja, harus sepenuh jiwa jugak :-) 

next plan trip with the girls kata nya nak gi Hawkes Bay ....our first trip together outside of Wellington Region ..tak tau jadi ke idak ...watch this space!

Owhiro Bay, Wellington

Last Monday, before gi Rose Garden tu, aku gi lunch di Island Bay ...went to one of the cafes kat sana yang sangat popular for its pie ...kalau gi situ memang panjang queue ...and pie memang sedap mantap meletop ..been there a couple of times already...anyway, masa balik tu ikut jalan Owhiro Bay ..and bila tau aku belum jejak kaki kat situ lagi, Ms. S buat detour and drive along Owhiro Bay Parade ..and stop for me to take photos!

Korang tengok cerita King Kong tak ..yang Peter Jackson direct tu ..2005 punya movie rasanya ..well, ini adalah one of the location for the scenes in King Kong movie tu ....aku pun tak ingat dah cerita tu hahaha ....

weather was not that good that day ..windy and blustery! memang tahap ketar2 ...so, just got out and took pictures jer ...but plan to come again soon ...lagipun datang nie dalam keadaan kaki tempang kan ...memang tak leh nak gerak pun ...

sebenarnya ini muka menahan kaki yang sakit hahaha plus it was so very cold and windy! pakai dress coz when we left my flat, the sun was out and it was warm ..sekali pergi sini cuaca berubah ...

laut yang bergelora ....and that ocean yang terbentang luas itu memisahkan us in North Island with South Island

This is actually one of the tourist attraction here ..coz tempat ni merupakan starting point for a walk to Red Rocks Sanctuary ..tempat yang ada seal colony ...tempat nie memang popular for seal watching, especially between May-October ...and from Owhiro Bay nie jalan kaki for 30-40 mins kata nya ..a  really scenic walk untuk sampai ke tempat seal itu  ..aku and the girls plan nak go hiking and see the seals once when ankle heals and weather nice ...my friens, Ana and Nabil and geng actually pergi last weekend ....and the view was awesome!!!!!  tapi dorang kata 30-40min ..but kata if aku yang berjalan, I will be between 40-60 mins hahahaha ...

one photo aku cedok from FB Nabil ...taken masa kat atas bukit tu hahaha ....just as a teaser!

saja nak tepek map to show where this Bay is ...tu aaa dia kat that red circle tu ....so it is actually really exposed kalau angin and ribut kuat ..

Welly is such a great place ...memang dikelilingi laut and in the middle tu memang bergunung ganang ...and guess what, the girls baru whatsapp kata esok we are lepaking at another beach ..this time gi Scorching Bay! so, will update on that one soon xxx.

midnite rambling

Hi there..it has been quite a while but i am having difficulties to rest early at nite...macam rasa sayang aje nak call d day off... mid life crisis ke...this started since  duan becomes the 4days-a-week husband.. we dont really talk when we were left alone ..tgk tv aje talk about d movies tapi gitu lah....at time i candy crush he watched football kepala senoneng tapi still at this tv area...like now i am doing this ..he's watching football...sambil kejap kebil2..antara sedar dgn tak kot...tapi we are still here....nanti esok menyesal tidur lambat...those days without hubby around..10 sharp off. Padam..

Oklah...tak de cite pun saja ...rasa cam cool postg kat note ni ha..ha..gd nite buddies ...am setting up new credit for d company..nak release collateral..more fund back to the US..2013 finally close for good tomorrow...thank god...next will be some true up exercise for 2013...kalau adjustments turn out to be ridiculously big..mmg sah teruk lah my forecast selama ni....then 2014 forecast...21 items already in the to do list...capital injections in my 2 favourite countries..erghh...tak de idea nak propose apa actually ah....still early kan...but am feeling d heat....aku rasa nak keje kat kedai sendiri lagi best lah

Ah...i am seeing positive change in Along...he is doing his revision every nite...even after tuition..my spy Angah is doing d reporting to me...Duan kata dia rasa terharu...hopefully that positivity stays until nov...10 bulan aje utk belajar...insyAllah...most important is d hardwork n dedication ...

Ok once again ...good nite..sleep tight

Lady Norwood Rose Garden, Wellington

POSTING BERGAMBAR

I was house bound on Monday ..ankle swollen gila bab* but will leave that story for now. So Ms. S datang ajak aku gi lunch ..and we went to Island Bay ..balik tu somehow we talked about roses in Botanic Garden are in bloom ...so tetiba decided to stop by there to see the roses ....

 

This is my second summer visit kat Rose Garden nie ..last year aku sempat gak visit the rose garden coz I arrived in summer ..in fact this is my 12th months in Welly ...rasa cam baru ajer kan aku kat sini ..tup tup dah masuk setahun ...anyway, the view that greets me was just amazing ...lots of vibrant roses ...beds and beds ..and beds of blooming roses ....

 Wise Woman nama nya ...and it smells heavenly too!

 I love this purple-ish rose ..rasa cam nak petik jer!

 kat belakang tu is the hot house ...siap ada pokok pisang kat situ ok!

yang nie smell like tea ....sweet smelling ...

aku tak gi banyak tempat sangat ..just the ones near the entrance ...kuar kereta ...jalan ala kadar ...snap sana snap sini ...but walau sekejap ajer ..it feels good ...kalau datang winter, macam aku gi ngan Kiky and Tijot aritu, these roses tak berbunga ...the best time is summer ...coz semua in bloom ...

 

 yang nie very pretty ...light purple and so wangi ...

I could spend a long time here to be honest ...tapi that day, I kan tempang ...tu pun over excited nak jejalan and smell the roses ....and Ms. S was kind enough to park betul2 kat entrance for me hahaha ....rasa cam nak datang lagi before summer is over ....oo, masuk sini free ...no entrance fee ...more info on whats available and how to get there ..click on this link here (website Lady Norwood Rose Garden)

and for Liz and Fend - sure korang teringat roses kat kampung halaman kiter kan :-)