Happy Birthday Tok Wan...

Tok Wan celebrated his 72nd birthday on 3 March 2010 although his ic stated the date as 19 March 1938. We had a belated celebration later the week so that Dini and Faiz can join. Tok and Za cooked Mee Kari and Char Kueyteow and we bought Tok Wan his birthday cake, Chocolate Indulgence from Secret Receipe. It was a small celebration and Tok invited Nyang and Kak Nor's family to join us. After the cake cutting, we presented Tok Wan with his birthday gift a Nike golf bag. To our dearest Tok Wan, Happy Birthday to you. May you have many blessed years ahead.

Cucu-cucu kesayangan Tok Wan

Tok Wan's birthday

cake "Chocolate Indulgence"

Tok Wan, Kakak, Abang and Adik

Tok Wan, Tok, Nyang and Us

Nyang, Dini and Uncle AP

Tok, Bibik and Nenek Nah

Tok Wan received his birthday gift

Tok Wan's birthday Gift

Do you know about Cendawan Busut or Kulat Pusu?

I'm sure many of us love to eat mushroom and they are really delicious and healthy food. Some of the ones that are common include button mushroom, oyster mushroom, portabello mushroom, shitake mushroom etc. These types of mushroom we can plant and commercialize them. Locally, the more traditional ones include cendawan sikat (kulat sisir), cendawan telinga kera and cendawan busut.

I would like to talk about cendawan busut or kulat pusu.

Personally, this type of cendawan is the best tasting of all, apart from portabello....normally we'll make it into a 'soup' or 'gulai kuning'. It is yummy and the flesh of the good ones taste like chicken. The whole family love it and I'm sure if you were to ask the older generations, they will not reject that. Its white in colour and as the name suggest, it normally grows near pusu / busut area, normally after rain and some say after rain and lightning.This species of mushroom could not be planted by human (so far) and it only grows on its own and you can't predict where it will grow next. This mushroom is claimed to be closely associated with termites and the mycelium is actually farmed by the termites themselves and the genus is called Termitomyces.

The best time to pick the mushroom is early in the morning when the sun is still low. As the sun rise, the 'umbrella' of the mushroom will slowly open up and it will die soon after that. The best ones are those ones where the 'umbrella' is not yet opened. When picking the mushroom, you need to be careful to remove it from the ground as it can be more than 1 foot long. So you'll have to dig the soil around the mushroom before removing the plant itself....you'll get dirty for sure. Some inexperience people would just try to pull it out which will surely break them apart. All you need to do after that is cleaned them with water and make sure no insects or small animals attached to it before cooking. Do not remove the skin as it will destroy the taste.

My latest encounter with the mushroom was during my driving back from Kuantan to KL on Sunday morning 21.3.2010, it was raining the whole day in Kuantan the day before. We decided to follow the old road as it could be more interesting. I was surprised to see the largest concentration of cendawan busut all the way from Kuantan to Maran. People were selling them by the road side and we bought RM 10 worth of mushroom, perhaps more than 1 kilogram. When I saw that, immediately I put on the brakes and stopped at the stall. They were beautiful, fresh and in abundance. That was the first time in my life where I saw a substantial quantity of the cendawan busut and it was just awesome...I even though of buying as much as possible and sell them in KL....but we did not because the challenge is you need to sell them on the same day as soon as possible....later in the day, the mushroom will turn bad and not worth eating anymore. At home, we stored them in the fridge so that it does not bloom further.

The last time I saw the mushroom was 2 - 3 years ago when I saw an Indian guy selling the same mushroom by the roadside near Jalan Kuching and it attracted many people, RM10 per kilo and it was sold in split second, although the quality of the mushroom is less than that of Kuantan.

There you go....well, if you see this mushroom...stop and buy! It's not available everyday, can't grow them and can't buy them in stores. This is one exotic local food which the younger generations should know that they exist and they are edible.

Gombakclan Gathering @ Royal Domain

The Gombakclanners had their latest gathering at the Royal Domain, Jalan Duta for a 2 in 1 celebrations on 26 February 2010. A Surprise Birthday for Aunty Conie who turned 70 on 21 February 2010 and house warming for Ira's new home. We decided to do it on that day since it was a public holiday, Maulud Nabi and most of us, the Gombakclanners were in town.

Aunty Conie thought she was invited to attend the house warming party, not knowing that we have all planned to celebrate her birthday. In order not to make it look so suspicious, her daughter has asked us to bring the cake and satay and we all had to make sure that everyone has arrived before her. Well, it was a good surprise indeed.



Ira's new condo was above the 20th floor. The view was fantastic, from the balcony you could see the swimming pool and the room is overlooking Masjid Wilayah and Kompleks Jalan Duta. Ira has decided on purple theme for the living room and pink for the room! Her round sofa and purple carpet are the main attractions in her living room. (Photos below courtesy from Ira's fb).

Abah was given the opportunity to recite doa before we had our makan2. The food was abundance, mee hoon putih, spaghetti bolognise, KFC, Dominos Pizza and lots of kueh and cookies. We were so full sampai ada yang terlena kekenyangan. Of course, the climax was the cake cutting, a 2 kilo strawberry cake from the Australian Cake House sponsored by Eezan and Milie.

To Aunty Conie, selamat hari lahir yang ke 70. semoga dipanjangkan lagi umur, dimurahkan rezeki dan sentiasa dirahmati Allah swt. To Ira, you have everything now, a good job, a big car, a nice condo....about time to find someone to complement your life.

Kak Lina, my childhood friend

We knew Kak Lina and her family when we were in Penrissen Camp, Kuching. That was way back in 1978 when I was in standard four. At that time, my father (who was an army officer then) was transferred to Kuching to lead the Calvary unit. So, my mum and I followed him there and my two elder brothers stayed behind since they were in boarding schools.

Kak Lina's father or Pakcik Mat worked in the same unit as my father and her mum, Makcik Mah was together with my mum in BAKAT (a group of army wives). That's how we came to know their family. They are Johorian from Batu Pahat. Both Kak Lina and I have two elder brothers and we are the youngest and the only girl in the family. Although she is a couple of years older than me but we were good friends then. Makcik Mah is a very good cook and her speciality is the johor food especially nasi beriyani, soto and lontong. Kak Lina's elder brothers, Abang Kamal and Abang Zahar are great artist. I still remember some of their drawings and sketches in my autograph book!

Anyway, when we returned to Semenanjung, we lost contact for a while until my parents moved to Pekan, Pahang and at that time Kak Lina and family have settled in Bukit Setongkol Kuantan when Pakcik Mat retired. I hardly see Kak Lina since I was in boarding school and later went to UK to further my studies. When I came back and my parents moved to Kuantan, our friendship resumed. I remember going for double dates with Kak Lina at Pantai Batu Hitam. Kak Lina married to Abang Taslim few years earlier than me and they now have twelve kids, the eldest is waiting for the SPM result and the youngest is just 4 months old!

I am always amazed with Kak Lina having so many kids to take care of. She used to work but later quit her job to take care of the children. Every time when I see her, there will definitely be a new addition to the family until I lost track of their names! They came to visit my parents on Sunday, 7 February 2010 and this time I managed to capture a photo of the whole family. I finally met Abang Zahar after so long, he is now married with two kids. I have not seen Abang Kamal for the longest time, he is now married with eight kids!

To Kak Lina and family, hope our friendship continues...

Kari daging, Masak Lemak Rebung, Ikan Siakap Sweet Sour, Kerabu Pucuk Paku, Gado2, Ayam Masak Kicap, Sambal belacan dan Ulam

Abang Zahar, wife dan Kak Lina

Abah dan Pakcik Mat