Merdeka with Relatives

Rolled on bed for a while and felt that it was time to wake up. When I checked the clock, it was 9.40am! I was supposed to wake up and hour earlier to pick JW. Texted her and she just woke up too.

So after showering, I drove off to Sunway. Picked JW up and we went to Sunway Pyramid. She was hungry so we went to Old Town White Coffee. I had some toast. Was too hungry so I ate without taking pictures. :P

Later, we went to Jusco and bought the ingredients for our lunch. Drove back home and packed our stuff. Then, all of us, except mum and dad, went to SS's house.

There, we started cooking Tomato Spaghetti for lunch. About an hour later, we were finally done. It was nice. Cleaned up and went to the living room to use the computer.

Tomato Spaghetti

At 3pm, SS's other side of the family came over. K and C made crepes and caramel pudding for us. Those were quite nice too. And for the next 4 hours, I alternated between napping, watching TV and using the laptop.

Caramel Pudding

Crepes with cream

Finally at 8.45pm, we went out for dinner. We drove 2 cars to DU and ate at the usual Hokkien Fried restaurant.

Came back and watched a little bit of TV before driving off. I then dropped JW back at her hostel and continued driving back home.

Got home at about 11.10pm and took my shower. After that, I wrote this post till now.

It's already 11.40pm and I shall end this post here. Goodnight...

How To Make Tomato Spaghetti

I'm back again with another tutorial. We're gonna make Tomato Spaghetti! We will need to get spaghetti, tomato puree or pasta sauce, beef, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Spaghetti

Pasta Sauce and Tomato Puree

Beef

Mushrooms

Now, we marinate the beef. Use a fork and mash it till it is loose. Adding salt, pepper, sesame oil and mixed herbs are advised. Feel free to put in other spices and sauces.

Beef

Beef with spices and sauces

After that, mix everything in the bowl. It should look something like this.

Marinated Beef

We will then start chopping. Take out some garlic, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Chopped all of them and put them into separate bowls.

Chopped garlic

Chopped mushrooms

Chopped tomatoes

After that, we can start cooking the spaghetti. Boil a pot of water. Then, slide the spaghetti into the pot. Be sure to stir occasionally to prevent the spaghetti from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Spaghetti in the pot

Stirring the spaghetti

While waiting for the spaghetti to cook, we make the sauce. Take another deep pot and put some oil in it. Place it on the stove. After that, brown the garlic and onions. Then, we put the marinated beef into the pot and let it turn brown.

Onion and garlic in the pot

Beef is added into the pot

Next, add the tomatoes, tomato puree, and pasta sauce into the pot. Wait till it bubbles a little, then add the mushrooms. Add some salt and pepper after that.

Tomatoes are added

Tomato puree is added

Adding some pasta sauce

Mushrooms added into the sauce

Now, close the lid and leave it on slow boil. When it bubbles, turn off the heat. The spaghetti sauce will now be done.

Lid closed and on low heat

The spaghetti should be done by now. Pour the spaghetti into a strainer. This will drain all the water away.

Spaghetti is done

Strainer

Transferring spaghetti into strainer

Then, take a big bowl and put some olive oil in it. Transfer the spaghetti from the strainer to the bowl. Finally, stir the oil into the spaghetti.

Poured oil into the bowl

Stirring the spaghetti

Both the spaghetti and the spaghetti sauce can now be served. Put some spaghetti and some sauce on a plate. This is what you will get.

Tomato Spaghetti

Enjoy your meal.

*instructions by Joyce Wong
*the writer is not responsible for any stomachaches.

Spending Merdeka Eve Together

Woke up at 8.30am and used the laptop. Refueled the car before going to Sunway. Picked JW up and went to TMC. We bought some ingredients to make Jucy Lucys later in the day.

We hung out until 12.30pm. Then, we had lunch with mum in the kitchen. After that, we marinated the meat. Came upstairs for a while before going to Gardens with mum.

There, we went to the Maxis Center, PhotoFlash and Hush Puppies. Later, we went to Starbucks for a drink. We ordered Green Tea Frappuccino and Caramel Machiatto. At about 4pm, we left the place.

Green Tea Frappuccino and Caramel Macchiatto

The 3 of us walked over to Hush Puppies. JW bought two slippers. Mum asked the sales girl about the discount. After realizing that every other pair besides the first pair of slippers is 50% off, she decided to buy me another TWO pairs! :D

My 2 pairs of interchangeable HP slippers. :)

I got the same two pairs that I bought exactly 7 months ago. After paying, we went back home. It was raining when we got back.

Later, we used our laptops till night time. Then, E came up and told us to make the burgers NOW. We didn't plan to make them for dinner. But since GM didn't cook, we had to make the Jucy Lucys.

My Jucy Lucy :D

At about 8.30pm, we finished making all the burgers. It was quite an easy thing to cook but there were many preparations involved. The burgers turned out pretty delicious!

After that, we watched some TV. Came upstairs and started blogging. With the help of JW, I managed to complete the Jucy Lucy tutorial.

Then at 11.30pm, I drove JW back to her hostel. There was a police road block on the way to Sunway. That wasted some time. By the time I got home, it was already 12.45am.

Anyway, I had a fun time today. Happy Merdeka!

How To Make Jucy Lucy

So today, we are going to make Jucy Lucy. That's the name for a burger with cheese INSIDE its patty.

First, we need to get the main ingredients. Burger buns, CHEESE and minced meat (pork in our case).

Burger Buns

Cheese

Minced Pork (Chicken and Beef are fine too)

About half an hour before you plan to cook, you should marinate the meat. Here's how.

Thaw the meat till it is soft. After that, pour it into a bowl and marinate it. Ingredients like oregano, garlic and other herbs are optional. But, make sure you add salt and pepper.

Before marinating

After marinating

Cover the bowl and keep it inside the fridge. The longer you leave it, the stronger the flavour gets. But if you plan to cook it another day, keep it in the freezer. Let it thaw 30 minutes before you plan to cook.

---------------------------------------------------

Before we start cooking, take the marinated meat out. Take a lump of meat and roll it into a ball. Flatten it on the chopping board to form a patty. Make another one. Now, you have 2 patties.

Next, sandwich some cheese in between the two patties and seal the edges by pinching them together. This is how your patty should look upon completion.

Cheese in between the patties

One complete Jucy Lucy patty

Repeat this until all your meat is used up. One packet of minced meat should make about 3-4 patties.

The patties. :)

Now, pour some oil into the pan. When the oil is heated, slide the patties into the pan and let it sizzle. Flip when necessary.

Patty sizzling in the pan

Flipping the patty

When both sides of the patty has browned, remove the patty from the pan. It should look something like this.

A cooked Jucy Lucy patty

Next, we slice and butter the buns. Then, put them into the oven for about 10 minutes in low heat. Alternatively, you can sizzle them on the pan to give them a crisps.

Burger buns sliced and ready to be buttered

Heating them up in the oven

After that, put the patties in between the buns. You can now dress the burgers with anything you want. Mayonnaise, tomatoes, onions and lettuce are highly recommended.

the Jucy Lucys

Finally, the Jucy Lucys are ready to be served. Enjoy your meal.

*instructions and editing by Joyce Wong
*the writer is not responsible for any locked jaws or stomachaches.

Gearing Up!

Woke up at 11am and used the computer. Later, I washed up and got dressed. We then went out for lunch at 12.30pm. Dad brought us to Kopi Oh in PJ. There, I had roti bakar and black pepper chicken chop.

The food there wasn't that great. Everything was below average except the chicken which was just okay. The reason why we came here was because of the cheap drinks, fairly good service and pleasant environment.

Roti Bakar - RM 1.80

Black Pepper Chicken Chop - RM 9.90

Ice Blended Cappuccino with Coffee - RM 3.00

At about 1.15pm, we went paid the bill and went back home. Stayed downstairs to watch CSI. Later, I came up to use the laptop to play some flash games. Managed to beat Bird Escape without any help. :)

Then, I installed Virtual Villagers 4. I've played all previous versions and now this is the final chapter. Played till 6.15pm and went to take my shower.

After that, all of us got into the Avanza and drove off to IKEA. First, mum suggested Bubba Gump. But we went to Ikea instead. Once there, there was NO place to sit and NO turnover (nobody was eating or leaving soon).

So, we went over to Bubba Gump. The staff told us to wait at LEAST 30 minutes. Obviously, we won't wait so long. Therefore, we went over to Kim Gary since it serves pork. The guy told us to wait about 5 minutes. And we took a number.

But about 8 minutes later, dad got impatient and asked us to go over to Just Desserts for dinner. This place specializes in desserts but they also sell Japanese, Western, and Hong Kong food. I ordered their milk tea and Oyako Don to try.

Milk Tea - RM 1.80

Oyako Don - RM 13.80

The milk tea was okay. But, the Oyako Don (simmered chicken with rice) was tasteless and dry. I had to pour Miso soup into it to finish the whole bowl. After everything, I was so stuffed.

Later, dad paid up and we went over to IKEA. This is the favourite part of my day. In IKEA, we bought a non-stick flat frying pan. It costs only RM 12.90. :) I also convinced dad to buy a big red chopping board.

IKEA Chopping Board - RM 7.90

IKEA Non-stick Frying Pan - RM 12.90

After that, J got some ice creams and dad bought biscuits. We drove off home and got back by 9.30pm. GM then saw the chopping board and said she had the same white one in the cupboard. Oops!

Anyway, I came upstairs and attended to my villagers till it was 12am. Then, I started writing this post.

It's 12.35am already and I shall end this post here. Goodnight...