The baked potatoes

Finally, after weeks of waiting, I got my butt off the chair and tested the oven. And this time, just to keep me interested, Wife decided we should test it with some potatoes which I loved ever since my SIL cooked for me months ago.

And so, we used two potatoes and one sweet potato,
which Wife cut into 27 pieces. Add in the Rosemary
herb, some butter, salt and so on. Then we left it to
baked for 30 minutes at 130ºC.

While letting the over do the baking, Wife made some
sesame seeds for my Furikake. This is the first time I
have ever know that sesame seeds must be "cooked".
I assume they were just deep fried since the Chee
Cheong Fun ones are oily.

Half an hour later, its still not cooked. Then I
realised that the 30 minutes also include the
oven's warming up time. So, we put another
30 minutes, this time at 150ºC.

After some time, the sesame seeds turned almost
golden brown, which means its ready.

And finally, the 27 pieces are out of the oven.
You can smell the Rosemary herbs. It is very
appetising. However, since we did not use a
lot of butter, the 26 pieces came out very dry.

After letting the 24 pieces cool down, they tasted
quite dry and some parts felt raw.
(I though the crunchy parts were cool)

And so, after looking at the 22 pieces again,
they all taste quite nice but not as good as
the ones my SIL did. But still, this is a first
for me. The last time I ever used an oven
was more than 15 years ago.

And so, although it was a bit too dry, the
21 pieces were still edible, which is a good
sign because everyone survived.

Honestly, I think the next time I do this, I am going to use the oven first, then when it is about almost ready, I will put in some cheese slices and then put them all under a grill for a few minutes. Oh, an I am also thinking about a bolognese sauce to flood the whole dish but unfortunately, I not so sure about making it since I am already pushing my luck.

Three cups

While Kristine was playing with some cups, I decided to teach her some tricks. OK, so I know my skills sucks but as long as I can distract her, I think I might be able to wing it.

So, for about 10 minutes, we were playing this game and because she was so easily distracted, she could never get the 50 sen coin. And even if she did, it would turn out to be a 20 sen coin instead.

So, after it was over, I left her at the table while she was trying to figure out the tricks while I laughed and laughed so hard, my Wife thought I was going nuts.

Kristine trying to guess which cup has the
50 sen coin. Of course, while I distract her,
I quickly shift the coin to other cups.

The Red Otak-otak

It was raining the whole day. And I was thankful that I was riding shotgun with my Boss. And haras....... er, visiting all our customers, we decided to stop by for tea. Or early Dinner. Or snack. Or "whatever you want to call it" meal time.

This habit actually stems from when we were in our original company where in the late afternoon, all Sales and Technical staff would "disappear" to the nearest Mamak stall. However, this is one habit which I have broken years ago, thanks to my wallet. And not only that, I find that nowadays, its easier for me to gain weight just like that.

Anyway, this place is quite funny. You have some stalls selling the same thing and I wondered how it would have worked out. There is a system in SS2 or other Chinese places where a drink stall "owns" a particular area or tables and the competitors are not allowed to encroach. But here, its different. Just look at the otak-otak. One stall uses green trays and the other uses yellow trays. And the best thing is, there is no system. In theory, if the stall owner looks good and her otak-otak tastes terrible, all her friends could switch them with the competitor ........ er, scratch that.

Anyway, I took from the yellow and my Boss took from the green. The mamak guy was obviously in league with the green team because he "reminded" my Boss to pay for it. But for me, I could walk away because no one came to ask for money. If they did, I would just say my Boss took from the Green team and paid for it. Moreover, both otak-otak looked the same. Looks like it, tastes like it but its not it.

The only thing that stopped me was guilt. Or I suspect, they might have stuffed a small activated tag just like the ones in a Department Store and when I walked past the sensors..............

The funny thing about this place is that almost
everyone is selling the same thing, which is the
otak-otak and nasi lemak. As soon as we sat
down, one lady put a tray of the otak-otak on
our table. Not to be beaten, a man ran up and
did the same.

And another funny thing is, I took
a packet of warm nasi lemak from
the table near a mamak stall while
my Boss took his "direct" from the
stall behind.

Mine has an egg and costs RM1.00 while my Boss
has to get his own egg. But I am not sure how much
his costs. Yes, both our Nasi Lemak are from the
same stall.

And surprise! Although both otak-otak are from
different stalls, they are the same. Chances are,
they got them from the same supplier and then
cooked them from their own stalls.

Maybe its the rain but the place is almost
packed with a lot of people.

There is not much choice here. This is the
stall which we both got our Nasi Lemak
from and just a few stores further, it was
also selling the same thing. I wondered how
they will all survive doing this.