me 28th october 2009

Autumn 2009

This entry would not have photos.i have no camera now. i am writing with the porpose that one day, when i am back in Malaysia..i could recollect the cold autumn days in Japan.At this juncture, the temperature is still bearable, 21 celcius in the day and 14-15 celcius at night. its like ur sleeping with full blast aircond on a rainy night.There is no way but to bath without the hot water. Even when washing dishes at the kitchen sink, it would be unbearable without warm water.socks is a must.

its a time when all sorts of delicious food also. (1) persimmon (pisang kaki) : at the beginning of autumn..sedap!! (2) oden : macam yong tau foo (3) nabe : macam steamboat (4) muffler craze: bulu rabbit la.. bulu kambing la..macam2 la..(5) boots!: all sorts (6)sleepless nights under my futon.. (7) oyster!!! cheap sedap gila oysters!!



my next favourite food..easy to prepare..NIKUJAGA



*sake/wine can be substituted with lemon juice or a little vinegar..yum yum..

sambung later..

lawak pagi ini...selamat pagi semua!!!

Prawn Mee

Recipe: Penang Hokkien Mee

Stock ingredients:

1 ziploc bag of shrimp heads and shells (I used Ziplock Easy Zipper Bag)
15 cups of water (reduced to about 12-13 cups of water after hours of boiling and simmering)
2-3 pieces of rock sugar (about the size of a small ping pong ball) or to taste
Salt to taste

Chili Paste:

30 dried chilies (deseeded and soaked to soften)
10 shallots (peeled)
5 cloves garlic (peeled)
2 tablespoons of water
6 tablespoons of cooking oil
belacan/udang kering

1 pound of yellow noodles (scalded)
1 pack of rice vermicelli (scalded)
Some kangkong or water convolvulus (scalded)
Some bean sprouts (moyashi) (scalded)

Toppings:

1/2 pound of lean chicken/beef (boiled and sliced thinly)
1/2 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
6 hard-boiled eggs (shelled and quartered)
Some fried shallot crisps (store-bought)

Blend the chili paste ingredients with a mini food processor until finely ground and well blended. Heat up the wok and add cooking oil. Stir fry the chili paste for 5 minutes. Dish up and set aside. On the same wok (unwashed), add in a little oil and cook the shrimp topping. Add in a little chili paste, sugar, and salt. Pan-fried the shrimp until they are slightly burned. Dish up, let cool and sliced them into halves.

Method:

1. Add 15 cups of water into a pot and bring it to bowl. Add in all the shrimp heads and shell and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours or longer until the stock becomes cloudy and tastes really prawny.
2. Strain the stock through sieve and transfer the stock into another pot. Discard the prawn heads and shells. Scoop up and discard the orange “foam” forming at the top of the stock.
3. Bring the stock to boil again and add in half of the chili paste. You can add more chili paste if you like it spicier.
4. Add rock sugar and salt/fish sauce to taste.
5. To serve, place a portion of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, water convolvulus and bean sprouts in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over. If desired, add a few pieces meat. Top with meat slices, sliced shrimp, egg quarters, and sprinkle with shallot crisps.
7. Serve immediately with more chili paste to taste.

Cook’s notes:

1. Traditionally, the shrimp heads and shells are stir-fried with oil until aromatic before adding them into the boiling water. I tried this step before and found that my “cheated” method works equally well.
2. The hawkers in Penang also blended the shrimp heads and shells after they are briefly boiled to extract all the flavors from the shell. Again, I tried this step before and found that my method works as well if you have plenty of shrimp heads and shells.

will put up photos later!

typhoon melor - Japan 2009

some common scenes: gambar basikal terbalik ditiup angin and gambar org stranded at train stations..



Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Three people died in Japan after Typhoon Melor made landfall near the city of Nagoya, bringing winds of 139 kilometers (86 miles) per hour and stranding thousands of commuters and airline passengers.

Melor weakened to a tropical storm by evening and headed back out to sea.

One person was killed in Wakayama prefecture southwest of Nagoya and another person died near Tokyo, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a report. One person died in Kobe, west of Nagoya, Nippon Television Network reported. More than 7,300 people were evacuated and more than 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, the FDMA said.

Most train lines in and around Tokyo resumed operations after being suspended during the morning rush hour as the capital was hit by heavy rains and strong winds. More than 2.5 million people a day commute into the city from surrounding urban areas, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The weather office lifted landslide warnings for Tokyo and surrounding areas and kept them in place for regions to the north of the capital. Warnings and alerts for strong winds, rain and flooding remain in effect for most of the main island of Honshu and Hokkaido to the north.

Direct Hit

Melor’s eye made landfall south of Nagoya, Japan’s third- biggest city, shortly after 5 a.m. local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site. It was the first typhoon to make a direct hit on Japan since September 2007.

Waves as high as 9 meters (30 feet) smashed into coastal areas to the southwest of Tokyo. Some streets in the capital were flooded and covered in debris as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the city at dawn.

National broadcaster NHK Television showed images of trucks blown over on a coastal highway near Nagoya and cars floating in floodwaters.

Melor was over the Pacific Ocean about 419 kilometers northeast of Tokyo at 6 p.m. local time and moving northeast at 50 kilometers per hour. The storm’s maximum sustained winds declined to 111 kph, according to the meteorological agency.

About 521 domestic flights were canceled, more than a quarter of those scheduled today, NHK said. Japan Airlines Corp. scrapped 15 flights to Hong Kong, Seoul and destinations in China.

Power Supply

More than 450,000 customers were without power in and around Tokyo and Nagoya, by 8:30 a.m., utilities said.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, Honda Motor Co. and other carmakers stopped operations at plants around the country, they said.

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Japan’s second-biggest refiner, suspended shipments of refined oil products from its Chiba refinery near Tokyo, the company said. Nippon Oil Corp. halted shipments from a refinery in Yokohama, near Tokyo, and maritime shipments from a plant in Sendai, northern Japan.

Seiko Epson Corp. halted production at 10 semi-conductor plants in Nagano prefecture north of Tokyo, the company said.

Melor, the 20th storm of the northwest Pacific cyclone season, weakened from a supertyphoon with winds of 241 kph two days ago.

A typhoon that struck Japan in 2004 left 95 people dead, according to the country’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Tropical Storm Etau, which passed to the south of Honshu in August, left 25 people dead, according to the FDMA.

Melor is the Malaysian word for Jasmine flowers, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists names in use for Pacific storms on its Web site.
- washington post

Typhoon Tokyo - Invasion Malaysia

this is a warning on the Japan Meteorological Agency website as of 11.55pm.
in the news..many areas have been badly hit and Tokyo will experience it soon.
brave the night.

I hope nothing will happen in Malaysia esok.

Samprit + Selamat HAri Raya