I have been busy over the last few days, updating my vlog and producing another Etsy product for the summer season to the publishing process of my webtoon. The main reason is to sort everything out once and for all so that my brain is not cluttered. I came to realize being a stay-at-home mom and not working anymore thought my brain and body can cope with being a multitasker like I used to be when I was still working 8 years ago. I didn’t expect to have the same belief that I was capable of doing it and that I could handle things like a super-mom. I have so much respect for those who could raise children so dearly and do their jobs and housework at the same time. But in all seriousness, how do you handle things to perfection? Kindly share the recipe. I’m desperately in need of advice T.T
Excuse me for today’s vent. This is the me sharing with you guys a bit of my life stories and today as well, I share with you another throwback vlogs when we were in London 2018. If you like to watch them, remember to subscribe to the channel. Thank you ๐
It’s another art post! This time it’s my Draw This in Your Style Challenge that I took from an illustrator I followed, lobomaravilha.
This wasn’t the only #DTIYS challenge I’ve created. Back when I’m still a noob in creating art digitally I did try Sara Faber’s DTIYS but I had to take it down because I wanted to upload only the one that suits my IG colour palette. And the reason I joined this is that I want to present my version because her art is so freaking cute! Plus, the character is almost the same as the character I draw for my future webtoon character, Lily. So I thought it would be easier for me to draw it (little that I know. Haha).
My style
If you want to watch the process on how I draw this click on the video down below and don’t forget to subscribe, comment and like.
The part of what I loathe the most when living in a foreign country is when you crave more of your home country’s foods.
I finally uploaded my vlog #20 here. When I see there are still backlog videos that I need to edit for the sake of ‘purging’ them out of my cellphone storage, I realized most of them are all foods. It already sucks that I’m living away from Brunei it even sucks that some of the main ingredients or products I couldn’t even get from any Asian shop here.
For example, if I wanted to make Kuih Kosui, this sweet jiggly pandan taste-like cakes coated with shredded coconut they need to have lime water to make it perfect.
Can I tweak or substitute it?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, if you expect the imperfect taste of it. However, if you are like me, who doesn’t know how to tweak or couldn’t find any substitute for the ingredients or even worst a bad cook, then you’ll know the answer to this is no.
There are so many I miss about Brunei foods. But I mainly miss eating the traditional wet dessert cakes like Kosui or Malaysian called it Kaswi, Pinyaram, Ardam, Wajid, and Kelupis. Whilst Brunei traditional cuisine that I miss as well are Belutak and Aminah Arif Restaurant’s main dish, Daging Urat Tumis.
The appearance of traditional kuih-muih you can watch in my latest vlog below.
My attempt & What Is Missing
Pinyaram
Glad I still keep this picture with me. Compare to the first picture here and my experiment, straight from the bat you already know something is missing. My Pinyaram tasted tough, but the perfect Pinyaram usually tastes soft and has this crunchy edge frills that roll up after frying and the middle usually raises like a UFO spaceship shape and does not turn up like Dorayaki.
What did I do wrong here? Simply say the substitute ingredient that I thought I could tweak made it a failed attempt. Instead of using gula Anau I used brown sugar. Bear in mind that gula Anau is nowhere to be found here. In order to get it, you have to wait for my husband’s generous colleague who wants to help us to bring it hereโ that if they want to help. Asking my family to post it via normal mail post is not an option here because it’s not dry food. Even if I ask them to crystallize the sugar so that it’ll turn up like refined sugar I’m not so sure the quality will be good.
My attempt at making Pinyaram.
Ardam
Same as Ardam although it almost looks the same as the perfect one (pardon me there’s no picture of my failed attempt) the texture was very unlikely the same. Mine was hard and not soft and gritty at all.
Selurut, Wajid & Kelupis
I think I can make the filling of these two wet foods. However, I couldn’t find the leaves that wrapped these foods here, because Selurut uses Nypa Palm leaves, which come from a tropical palm tree that is usually found near the mangrove swamp river, and for Kelupis, you gonna need Daun Nyirik (peel leaves).
The only leaves that I saw last time in the Asian shop were just frozen pre-cut banana leaves packed in clear plastic. So without the leaves, it won’t be as fragrance and authentic as the original recipe.
For Wajid, since I used to help my mother make it during Eid Ul Fitr’s eve I can accept that I can eat it without the need to wrap the Wajid with Daun Nyirik. I remember my mother giving me a spoonful of serving size and placing it on the plate for me to taste. To me, the taste was already good so I don’t think I need the leaves to complete the taste.
My 6-year old’s brain used to think this snakelike food was fine as long as this ‘snake’ tastes as beefy and sweet, just like real beef meat ๐ but actually, Belutak is made up of salted minced meat stuffed into casings of cow’s or buffalo’s small intestines.
In Brunei, they sell it in a clear packet in the supermarket or personal vendor and the price ranges from BND6 to BND10 depending on the weight of the product. I love to buy it from Perindustrian Beribi which cost the cheapest and stir-fried it with onion and a pinch of salt. I can make 4 portions from just one whole roll. But don’t expect me to share it with you because it’s so so so delicious, although the look isn’t that appealing.
Daging Urat Tumis Aminah Arif
It’s trimming of the beef cooked with soy sauce and turmeric and other ingredients that no one can copy no matter how many recipes you can find out there that claimed it’s Aminah Arif’s real recipe. It’s already their signature dish along with their main dish, Ambuyat that is solely served here. One dish cost BND4 and it’s for two persons serving. If you order in a set with Ambuyat I think it’ll cost you much cheaper. A whole set of Ambuyat full package (if I can remember) comprises of Ambuyat, Daging Urat Tumis, choice of cooked veggies, Ulam-ulaman, the Ambuyat dipping sauce, Belutak, and cooked fish. You can watch my vlog below for a better view of it.
Thank you so much. Hope you enjoy watching it ๐ If you like the vlogs show some support by subscribing to the channel, give some comments, like, and share.
I missed making videos about my daily life. I had tons of unedited videos in my handphone taken before and after I went back to my home country, Brunei. Ever since the FTC has this COPPA policy over Youtube last October it discouraged me to upload videos; too anxious about my previous content and what I am about to share to the world. The penalty is USD42K+. I hardly earning anything from my video nor having that amount of money. Hence, I took a break and make my mind focus more on other priorities.
After I fully understood the policy, I garnered some courage and continue to edit it. It took me only two days. I felt so much relief that I managed to get one video done last night.
I’m used to edit video with iMovie. But now, I think I fall in love with Kinemaster. It is more practical and I can save a lot of time with this app. I’m using the Pro plan so if you lovelies out there want to remove that annoying watermark completely when you export your videos, I highly recommend you to purchase that plan. It’s USD$39.90 annually. Believe me, it’s really worth it.
A pic captured with just Kinemaster tool. We can use our installed fonts for the wordings. Awesome!
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mizarwen 
