some things are better left hidden.

The password to all protected posts is the name of the old company that I worked for – if you are a friend, it is quite obvious..

Not a coincidence.

I usually try to avoid talking about work here. Blogging is a pleasure for me, whilst work is not. Work hunting;is even worse.

I have come to the plateau where I am overpaid for what I actually do as work.Not to say that I am not worth the moolah that I am paid,but not in this job – i surf the internet for 3 weeks in a month, and do proper busy work for 1 week in the 4. I want to go back to what I do and what I loved – to work alongside collegues and bosses who actually appreciates what you do rather than blame you for things that are not your fault.

I was questioned over and over again about an overpurchased for the weekend – which was impossible as I only purchase what the forecast told me we would need. When I said that I checked the forecast before and after I have put the purchase through (to make sure all forecast has been fufilled),I was asked how can I be sure. To stop the attack, I suggested that I will screenshot the before and after every single day – which was met with the comment that is only an audit trail and does not prevent mistakes from happening.

Like not my fault in first place wanna find fault??

In the end, it was the forecasting team’s mistake, AS USUAL. NOT mine.But time and time again, I have been put up on the pedestal and blamed again and again.

I sometimes feel that I am being paid this ££ for the sake of having someone put the blame to. It does not help that I am in a very male-dominated industry where the only females are admin staff, which I am not.

I have never been so miserable before in my life. But I am unable to quit without another job waiting, as I need the moolah.And I cannot take a lower paying job-I will be unable to afford my current mortgage. I believe my 3-month notice period is the problem as well when looking for a new job – I am on the verge of saying to all taht I am available immediately and just abandoning this current job. I am so so miserable its unbelivable – comming in to work everyday is like torture and it brings my spirit down and makes me feel worthless and aimless.

I dont know what to do.Help me

With the explosion of the sushi bars and ubiquitios Japanese restaurants in KL, I had always been a fan of Jap food, with my regular visits to Zen whenever I get back to KL. Yummy. So it was a really nice surprise that I found somewhere semi-authentic to eat here in Leeds.

Yo Sushi is one of the best sushi bar in the UK – ableit a chain,but I love it all the same. I have tried others self-standing Japanese restaurant (Si Sushi, which the sushi chefs were actually fighting and swearing in a mix of malay& cantonese&Mandarin = Malaysian sushi chefs!). I never seem to like any others, and always return to Yosushi for a fufilling and happy meal

It also runs really good deals like 50% off all sushi – and that is when me and harajukucat descends on our local Harvey Nicks like flies to a rotten watermelon. This time around did not manage to attack with the cat, but brought the outlaws for their first taste of merry-go-round raw fish.

Of course, I started them off with un-raw food, which I quite like myself.

Beef tataki

Karrage something

The ubiquitious teriyaki chicken

Karaage Ebi

Karaage tori roll

Deepfried selection

After all that ‘fake’ sushi bar food, it was time for more adventures. Alas, even though they totally enjoyed the deepfried stuff, they were still a little reluctant to go for the sashimi stuff which I love..:( .

Tataki toro with coriander & lime

Tataki salmon with sesame seed

And to finish off, I had 3 (it was free refills) of lukewarm miso soup. Yes, lukewarm is never good,but I am not good with hot soups/drinks, so lukewarm is really good in my case

Anyone with a hankering for jap food in the UK, please give YoSushi a go. They have branches all over London, Manchester ect, even odd ones out in the Middle East and Paris

Give Yo a Go!

If you recall one of my pre-007 posts, one of my resolutions for 2007 was to cook more malaysian-type dishes ; food that I grew up with,from scratch, rather than passing off maggi mee goreng mata kerbau (instant noodle with fried egg)as my specialty

Thus masak-masak was born; my Sunday cooking sessions at home.

My first dish was inspired by spotting a well-loved vegetable at the chinese supermarket – it is not often that we get kangkung/water spinach here at hicksville. And of course, there is only one way to cook kangkung – in belacan (shrimp paste)

And I seemed to have lost my pictures documenting this important event!

Never mind – lets move on to my next installment in masak-masak

Sambal telur (egg in spicy thick sauce)
This is a typical dish available in most Malay eataries around Malaysia. It is also available in nasi kandar (indian muslim rice stalls) restaurants. It is deepfried hardboiled eggs coated with a spice paste. The spice paste is the most important part of the dish, and it varies from cook to cook – some have it really really fiery,spicy and red, and some cook it in a more fragrant and lightly spiced sauce. I was never a big fan of this, but Bacon loves it absolutely completely, so let’s welcome the humble sambal egg into masak-masak.

Step 1: boil about 6 eggs till hard boiled – should take 10 mins?

step 2: Prepare your rempah (spice mix)

I use 4 shallots, 2 lemongrass stalk, juice of 1 lemon, 2 teaspoon belacan,4 cloves of garlic and 3 chillies

step 3: and jig em’ all around – either use a food processor or do it old-skool like me- pestle & mortar. Better still if you can have access to giling it, basically a pestle and mortar but a flat surfaced rock and a rolling-pin like pestle.

step 4:Chop tomatoes (try to de-skin & de-seed it) and squeeze your lemons.Leave aside to add on to sauce later.

step 5: Deepfry your hard boiled eggs (peel first, of course).Make sure they are nice and golden,with nice brown outer skin.

set aside

step 6: tumis (shallow fry) the sambal paste in low fire until fragant – about 5 minutes.

step 7:Add the tomatoes and the lemon juice and continue cooking.Add eggs and make sure it is completely coated with the sauce

tip: add some fresh coriander if you’re a freak like me

step 8: sprinkle ikan bilis (deepfried whitebait/anchovies) and surf’s up!

It was damn freaking good ok…yumm

Mission accomplished, 007.

With much thanks to Moo for helpdesking,bankrolliing,hosting and support. Ok, that’s starting to sound like an Oscar speech.

Please update your bookmarks, o stalkers, and come back again soon. Trying to adjust to wordpress still, so comments please, if you have complaints, accusations or suggestions.

xoxo