Ramadhan Update... Finally Here...

*Please click and listen to this song while you're reading this post!

Just another manic Monday! Got called up (very, very early) by someone named IZA from S.P.A. KL.

Been putting off posting a new entry on this blog since I don't know when and... Ok... Here's a recipe from Juliana in her own words, on how to prepare the best pineapple tart... In PINK :)

Jem Nenas

1. 2 bijik nenas - sagat..kalau malas sagat masuk blender..tapi x mau, boh ayaq
2. jerang atas belanga sampai ayaq kerin + daun pandan (kalau suka masuk essence nenas
3. masuk gula ikut suka rasa
4. kacau sampai kerin agak-buleh gentel..jagan masuk gula lebih dari nenas..nanti dia keras

Badan tart

1. 4 cawan tepung gandum - goreng tanpa minyak dlm 5 menet..tujuan untuk keringkan tepung tu..(biaq sejuk)
2. 1/2 cawan tepung custard
3. 1/2 tsp baking powder
4. 1 buku butter kecik 250gm
5. 1/2 cawan planta
6. 2 tbsp icing sugar
7. essence vanilla
8. secubit garam
9. 1 bijik teloq yg paling kecik.. kalau teloq besaq ambik kunin dia saja

cara buat badan tart

• ayak semua tepung sekali (1 + 2 + 3)
• pukul bahan 4 + 5 + 6 sampai putih + 7 + 8
• masuk tepung yg dah ayak tadi sikit sikit
• last sekali baru masuk teloq
• uli sikit2..kalau lembek tambah tepung gandum sikit2
• simpan doh dlm peti ais 20-30 menet

keluarkan tepung, biaq sat..uli sikit..jgn over uli..doh rosak..kalau lembek u tambah tepung sikit ..agak2 buleh tekan..you start tekan

Selamat mencuba! - Thank you Juliana, for the recipe... hehehe...

Anyway, just when I started to think that my Monday couldn't get worst... DJ Mimie of Mutiarafm messaged me on FB and mentioned about the B27 result that came out TODAY (Monday, August 22) and basically I am waiting for my fate to be decided... NAK STAY KAT LANGKAWI! UWAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

Awat depa x boh "Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin" kat situ?

Two nights ago Aizzat got into an accident opposite of IPP on the way to Tarawikh.

He's OK with just some bruises and scratches... Though the sight of him lying on the road unconscious was too much and then the waiting for the check-up and the scan result was FRIGHTENING!!!

But he's OK, recovering at home, alhamdulillah.

Remember, Be safe on the road!!! X larat nak habaq dah!

Get well soon. Nanti kita pi beli baju Melayu lain no?

And here are some snapshots from MY kitchen... Meals I've prepared for makan2 at home...

The recipes are coming soon (kot) :)

Penne Pesto with Mashed Potato and Ayam


Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potato and Baked Beans


Gulai Ayam + Nasi Putih (Paid RM10 for 1/2 a Chicken and 1kg of Rice, Paid RM10 at a restaurant for 1/2 a tapau of white rice and 2 scrawny chicken drumsticks!)

I also went back to Sungai Petani to "bukak posa" with my parents, though Juliana and I arrived just in time for bukak posa and my parents were at the mosque. We had Chicken Beriyani with Nira Nipah. I love my mom banyak-banyak and here's a photograph to prove it!

Anak Mak & Abah

Going Gaga over AFROS

Heterotis niloticus aka the African Arowana!!!!

It is something like a cross between Arapaima and Arowana.
Birthday is coming in 10 days... Drool!

The Buntets A, B, C & D and Then Some...

Presenting (drumroll, eye-roll to all non-fish friendly people person) my lungfish collection...

This is Buntet A. It's almost 1 year old. I got this one from a friend who bought it in Penang. It's as big as a mans arm, or a very muscular womans' arm. :)

Buntet A is currently living alone in a 3' tank.

Buntet B arrived 1 day earlier that Buntet C & D and it is the biggest of the batch.

Buntet C is the with the nipped tail end that looks more like "{" instead of the normal ">"

Buntet Dis the smallest of the lot. It is also the most active.

Group photo- Buntets C, D & B

This means I'll be adding at least 3, 3' aquariums to accommodate these new additions. Yay! Not forgetting the lungfish poop scooping (Buntet As poop is as big as a cats poop! I kid you not!), monthly water change, electricity bill etc. I love my hobby!

Also, I received 1 Polypterus endlicheri with superb markings, based on my standard, but I don't see a lot of P. endlicheri in person. It's about 5 inches. It's beautiful.

Spot the Saddled Bichir, Polypterus endlicheri in this picture!

And today we bid our goodbyes to the cute and entertaining and useful to have around the office (no doubt) to the practical students doing internship at our office... Kakak, Adik & Din! All the best.

AND! A surprise visit by an OLD friend, Mr. Zaki who used to work as a technician at the station.

Haji Said, Kakak, Zaki and "Adik Yang Comel Macam Rabbit tu"

Coming Soon...

More Protopterus annectens annectens/breini!!!

Hehehe.... What can I say? I'm living my childhood dream...

Buntet Panjang C

Buntet Panjang D

Pantodon buchholzi - The African Freshwater Butterfly Fish

My African Freshwater Butterfly Fish, Pantodon buchholzi, arrived yesterday. All 6 of them almost immediately started feeding on those "ulat burung" commonly sold at LFS. Shameless!

These little distant cousin of the African/South American/Asian Arowana can grow to a max size of 15 cm or about 6 inches in length. They have huge draw-bridge like mouth and feed on anything moving near the water surface.

Although they're called "butterfly" fish, they don't actually fly, I read on Wikipedia that they are "ballistic jumper", whatever that means so this species needs a tight fitting cover to keep them from "ballistically jumping" themselves to death.

After 1 hour floating in the bag in the tank.
This is to match the temperature in the bag with the temperature of the tank.

The morning after introduction to the tank... They have good appetite, which is a good sign.

My photos doesn't do them any justice...

So here are some beautiful photos of the same species taken from the net (I don't own these photos and the credit goes to the respective owners).

They look like miniature Arowana with fin extension.

The top profile showing the "butterfly" part of the name.

They have big mouth that can swallow big prey item.

As for the new lungfish, it is currently living next "door?/Tank?" from the old lungfish. I'm preparing a new tank for it soon.

Look at the colour/pattern difference. The old one is one the left, the new one's one the right side

African Fever!!!

I am so drooling over these...

The African Arowana Heterotis niloticus

It's some where between the famous Arapaima and our very own Asian Arowana...

Young ones are filter feeder (like its cousin, the Arapaima) while adults filters (chew at) the gravel for edible nyum-nyums...

It's rarely seen in the hobby in Malaysia.

This is the Amphibius/East African/Gilled Lungfish (Protopterus amphibius).

Yeap. It's like 1 big tadpole, I know but I like!

No chance to get one.

And this one! This one is poisonous as my sources called me to say that one is spotted on sale in Petaling Jaya!

The Marbled/Leopard/Giant Lungfish Protopterus aethiopicus!!!

I'm getting one soon!!!

Gymnarchus niloticus...

The package arrived yesterday and I am officially a proud owner of the Aba Aba Knifefish!

Been busy reading up on as much info possible on this species (I think I've read most of the limited info available on the web BEFORE comitting myself in buying this species and now I'm reading on scientific papers, potently boring stuff I might add- Boring I can tolerate, potently boring, so and so lah... ).

I am NOT saying that reading is boring! Reading is cool and being interested in knowledge is cool.

A few cool facts on the fish

* Known as Abu Rhad (father of thunder) locally in Arab speaking countries in its range.

* Because of its high price, it is often used for wedding gifts (as a special occasion food fish).

* Mildly electric.

* Bite from small specimen bigger than 12" can remove fingers, adults can remove hands.

* The tail is often used as a "feeler" to feel around when swimming in reverse.

Anyway, I present to you my latest addition... Gymnarchus niloticus- The Aba Aba Knifefish.

The Package.

The Package- Opened and relieved to find the fish swimming and alive... No guarantee of live arrivals here... It's supposed to be "food-material"!

The fish, half an hour after intro to the 4' aquarium...

A short video of the fish.

I am so happy with the fish that now I am contemplating on moving my sofa to the front of the Aba Aba tank so I can sit there and stare at the dorsal fins!

Btw, here's a of pix of the (now dead freshwater dolphin fish- Mormyrus sp.) Long story short... They came from Africa and they died in Langkawi.

Rest in peace little fishies...

Also, a photo of Amanda, snapping photos of the beautiful sunset at Tanjung Sanctuary on her new handphone taken with my handphone + color-enhanced on my pc :).

Gymnarchus niloticus...

I am so drooling over (maybe mata also turning white, mouth, frothing d) for the African Upside-Down Knifefish aka the notorious Aba Aba Knifefish, or is it the other way around? The Aba Aba aka the African Upside-Down Knifefish...

I've kept a group of our very own Clown Knifefish (Chitala ornata) and they grew big until I added those bendang-caught Ikan Selat (Notopterus sp) to the tank, all of them died.

1 tip for buying Ikan Belida at your LFS (live fish shop/local fish shop/le fishie shoppe) is wait for the DAA (death after arrival) to pass and to watch and watch closely at the belly of the baby knifefish (at 3-4 inches, they're babies!).

The belly should be full (full-belly=well-fed fish, hollow-belly=not feeding, meaning, if the LFS cannot feed them fish, what makes you think you can?).

Also, avoid knives (or any other naked, scaless fish) if your LFS adds blue or green meds to their tank water. Naked/scaleles fish+ blue/green meds= dead naked/scaless fish.

The trick is to get the baby knives to start feeding and get big fast. It can be hard to get feeders (bendang shrimp, ikan lompat/seluang, red bloodworm) here in Langkawi.

One can only find feeder carp, cengkerik and ulat kayu only so feeding your baby knifefish can be a wee bit hard.

Ok. Enough about my experience on keeping them Clown Knifefish.

Just in case you don't know watsa Clown Knfefish.

Anyway, I'm in the process of setting up 2 not so new tanks (moving, cleaning, filling up, running and cycling- the boring and lengthy process of setting up or resetting up a new tank).

1 is for a community tank (tetras, barbs, yeap, those small colorful girly-ish little fishies) and the other one.... Jeng jeng jeng... I'm placing a deposit on one of those Aba Aba. It'll be my most expensive fish ever even I got it at an extremely cheap price!

Now I present to you my motivation to work more and earn more... It is a common belief that the things you want most (be it a fish, a new phone, a new bf/gf) always pops up when you have not enough RM, I tell you now, that is sooooooooo true! Anyway, let us enjoy the mesmerizing fluid motion of the dorsal fins of the Aba Aba.

They can grow BIG.


They have SHARP teeth and love to bite off fingers.


They're from Africa and RARE in Malaysia.

There! So I'm placing my deposit now.

I hate the internet because.... It makes it all too easy to find sources for the rare stuff I've been wanting so bad for so long!

UPDATE: 12/04/2011 @ 9.45AM : I PAID FOR THE ABA ABA IN FULL.

New River Tank

Introducing my new river/riffle tank with the filter/pump system put together by a friend and the original idea was by Mr. Martin Theone (www.loaches.com).

It is not actually a new set up, I just moved the tank as the floor at the original location is not level enough and the glass bar keeps popping out.

Remember, water+glass= risk, fast-flowing water+glass= high risk!

This is the only time when I can successfully keep wild-caught loach species (Acanthocobitis zonalternans) from Lubuk Semilang (small loach about 1+ cm) for more than 1 week and the Sewellia seems happy and thriving (although in the process of moving the tank and putting it together again, 2 of them got sucked into my coverless back up pump!!!).

Moral of the story, securely cover your pump intake... Don't trust those cheap suction discs to keep the pump upright and love your fish!

Currently housing-

1. Botia kubotai
2. Botia almorhae
3. Yasuhikotakia morleti
4. Sewelia lineolata
5. Chromobotia macracanthus
6. Corydoras sterbae
7. Corydoras panda
8. Schistura robertsi
9. Acanthocobitis zonalternans

Future plan is to get more rocks and pebbles and black lou han aquarium background and maybe more of those flat-bodied torrential loach and maybe some more Corydoras, Otocinclus, a shoal of White Cloud Mountain Minnow, Shiners and exotic suckermouth catfish (not your ordinary ikan bandaraya ok?) species...

Penang!!!! I'm coming, next week!

update: somebody asked me about the riffle tank. Here's the spec.
(size-48"x12"x12", 29.92 USGal, 24.92 UKGal, 1250lph pump x 2, the water is cycled at about 26 times per hour)

My Fish Wish List 2011

Some of the fishies I dream of keeping... One day...
(*starts singing that "some where over the rainbow, way up high~")

Australian Lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri
(why? becos it's super-rare, super-endangered, super-expensive!)


The Electric Eel Electrophorus electricus
(why? it's electric la, that's why!)

The Electric Catfish Malapterus electricus
(why? you've all heard of the Electric Eel, but Electric Catfish? Come on, don't lie!)

African Reticulated Knifefish Papyrocranus afer
(why? becos it's CUTE!)

Aba Aba Knifefish Gymnarchus niloticus
(gigi tajam like surgical knife, grows huge to up to 5', can swim forward and backward and kona cepat2, aggrasive and mildly electric and rare and expensive...)

Freshwater Dolphin Fish Mormyrus sp
(cerita sedih... once upon a time... went to Penang pakai Air Asia, RM9, very small, then went back, habis... then in Langkawi... RM150 each... Angry Birds clay figurines... 1 happy buyer... LFS closed for 2 days... Smart shop owner mixed with sick loaches... x jadi beli... Arghhhh!!!!)

Some Random Pix of My Pets

Mr. Lungfish

Mr Lungfishs' Face
Sewellia Lineolata

Alligator Gar (2' & 3')

Ramadhan is Back!

When Ramadhan starts, the gates of heaven opens and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained...

May your prayers in the holy month of Ramadhan brings your more prosperity, faith, satisfaction and holy love from God ; )

Drawing on Glass...

This is my latest interest (reads- old, old, old interest renewed).

I know I'm getting a wee bit too old to start learning new stuff but hey, it's always not too late to learn new things. Life is about learning and learning.

Speaking of getting older (and hopefully wiser, with less wrinkles and gray hair), I've just turned 30-ish! Thank you for *the birthday wishes!

My phone got messed up the other day and all the contacts got saved twice so I have no idea who sent which message but thanks anyway for the birthday wishes and prezzies!

Anyway back to the drawing/painting/sketching on my tablet pc. Here are some of the more acceptable drawing I've made.

Normally I just doodle. You know, random lines and smudges, trying to find the Picasso in me.

I can stay up and doodle all night.

I know, I know. I live a rather BORING life! Ekekekeke....

Yellow-tail "Tuna"?

Catfish/Ikan Duri


Belida/Clown Knifefish


Freshwater Angelfish




Don't-Know-What-Fish

Redfish



Drawn by a friend within 5 minutes of learning how to use a tablet pc!
"Half a Dozen of Coconuts under the Coconut Tree with Partial Fence and Black Sand and a Flock of Black Birds"
This guy can draw!

He speaks 5 different languages, and can make a good impression of how a hungry duck sounds like!


He plays guitar!!!

...And he sings!!!
I know, I know, it's a little bit off key but at 6++ in the morning, kira ok la...
Ekekeke.... This video is so cute, it should be illegal!


*the birthday wishes! THANK YOU!!!!

New Year Celebration at The Westin Langkawi

New Year Celebration at The Westin Langkawi.

The Ballroom Dinner Show

The Batak (One of them owes me RM50!)

Then the guests were ushered out to the poolside by thr lions dancers (no pix, too crowded ler)

The Java rocking!!! Then the countdown... Then.... Percikan api dilangit...






This one kinda reminded me of the S.O.S. flares when the Titanic was about to sink... Kan? Then the real party by the poolside...


YES! The fireworks was this close!!!

One of the special guest with one of the exotic dancer atas kotak... hehehe

Own of Low Frequency Production with El Zorro...

All in all, it was a success... A big thank you to Jo and Desmond of Westin, Mr. Ooi from the Kedah Lion Dance Troupe and to my fellow event managers... Halina and DJ Nana Soliano...Good job guys! We've made it (for this year)... Now we've got to lay off the coffee for a bit... Jom pegi spa!

I'm looking forward for the next new year celebration where I can be among the crowd attending the partay instead of running around like a headless chicken! Muahaha...

Happy New Year! 2010! May this year brings you joy and happiness and...