another one bites the dust

this refer to one of the laptops. i did mentioned my mom need a desktop due to her laptop died. yeap that one. one fine day it just decided to went black screen upon booting up. start the comp, the windows logo appear and then its supposed to be the windows with all the taskbar and icons but nope. it went pitch black. so yeah i know theres a way to fix this problem but im gonna shove it to the side for now. hehehe

the thing is there are files and documents that she wanted still inside the computer hence i need to extract the data from the drive. dead people tell no tale though. so im just gonna necro the hard disk and get all of the data.

this is compaq presario cq40

an the view from back

unscrewing the cover for all parts just because i can. i rarely monkey around with a laptop so yeah just wanna have a peek at the inside a bit. the hard disk was removed

this is how to remove the hard disk. unscrew t 3 screws holding the hard disk and pull the black plastic tab to unlock the disk.

so i went to the other computer to borrow a sata cable from the cd rom drive as this cable was missing. without it i cant transfer the data and files. 

using this device it allows me to connect hard disk to computer like an external hard disk using usb cable. the device though have multiple ports to allow it to connect to various type of hard disks. notice the red sata cable? yeah i found it in my stash. no point in borrowing from the other computer

everything connected and running

voila. time to transfer. also praise the sun

ill probably try to fix the laptop one day. or not. its an old laptop anyway

cyber cafe

back during college, i used to arrange my room so that it can handle lots of people coming in to play games together. my room can afford 8 laptops and we would be gaming all night together. it was fun. its like im managing a cc in college. people come and go to play games or sometimes just to do assignments together. they prefer using my room as there are mattress to lie down during break time and most of all they can smoke. ash trays are even provided even though i myself dont smoke. the maintenance and cleaning is a bit of a hassle though. soot and dust build up quickly. 

anyway, now that was in the past. now im setting up computer corner in my house for my parents they both use the computers more than ever now that they already retired. also my mum's laptop keep on hanging and going slower now that i think its high time for her to have a desktop. she has a massive storage of pics and documents a desktop is ideal for her. manage to reuse back an unused cpu with other accessories set her one. its not as fast as my computer but it would be suffice for her usage. i just change the hard drive to a new ssd so that it can be faster. ram sadly is 2gb only though haha. i really want to add another ram card for this computer. i think its a 2nd gen ram for this computer though. dont know if the price will be higher as it is considered an antique stuff by now.  

tadaaa cyber cafe in da house. the big tv used as a screen as my dad mostly used it to watch dramas and movies. the other cpu is placed behind the tv. 

dhal curry

Yesterday i decided to cook dhal curry after a long period of not cooking. theres no exact reason why i decide on  dhal though. just want to eat some indian themed food. besides i already bought lentils in advance. after watching 2 videos of making dhal curry here goes my attempt. oh i've made an attempt for dhal curry few years ago. it was edible but the quality is below par. i blended the beans nad used too much of them for my consumption alone. it ended like a thick broth. not gonna repeat the same mistake again. since i know theres a possibility that my parents wont eat this as im planning to make it a bit spicier, i decided to make a small portion only enough for one meal. my parents cant tolerate spicy food as much as me. 

ingredients are as below:

-150mg of lentils it is

-3 dried chilli (theyre are spicier than normal dried chilli. dont know where we bought this batch of chillies)

-some cili padi i dont remember how much i just pluck them to my liking from my backyard. just count them in the picture

-1 bulb of onion

-a splash of cumin (jintan putih) i just pour a bit of them in the pan. probably a teaspoon amount

-vindaloo curry powder (around 2 teaspoon i think. i just poured them) this curry powder is made to be spicier compared to other curry mixpowder. and the smell is good too

-butter (i just put 1 chunk of spoonful of butter)

-1 cinnamon stick

a bowl of meat

-1 lime (limau kasturi)

-tumeric (i used tumeric powder and 1cm of fresh tumeric the size of my pinky finger just because i have it in my backyard)

- salt

note that i dont have proper measurement for the ingredients as im too lazy to measure things just like any other malaysian. agak-agak is the key. i only measure lentils because i bought a small weighing scale for my mum few months ago and i just want to try it. i only watch the videos to see how they cook it and the ingredients used for the cooking. didnt use tomatoes because i forgot to add them in.

smash those chillies to paste. mortar and pestles > blender

wash and toss the lentils, boil em in potand simmer until soft. skim the scum made during boiling. add some tumeric powder and salt. i used 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of tumeric powder. adding them will make the water not boiling over the pot when you cover it with lid. keep on adding water if it started to become dry during the process. it took me almost an hour to soften the lentils. use pressure cooker next time to hasten the process or soak them early on. 

on side note, the boiled lentils tasted like kacang kuda that we used to buy in rnr. yummeh

cumin, vindaloo curry powder and meat (i have a bowl of leftover meat that i stir fried with carrot cubes, oyster sauce and soy sauce. so might as well use them rather than let them turn bad)

firstly melt the butter over low heat. dont wanna burn it. boiling point is way lower compared to other vegetable oil. id prefer to use ghee but dont have it for now. then add cumin, cinnamon stick and chillies followed by curry powder after 1 minute. slice the onion however you like or you can even cube them. sautee them together oh you can use big flame when you start sauteeing. add the fresh finely chopped tumeric. missing here are the garlic and ginger. theyre unavailable in my kitchen currently. 

onion soft enoughand well cooked. time to add the meat. tomatoes are supposed to be added here too. continue sauteeing and stir frying like a pro. 

add the soft, boiled lentils into the misxture and add a bit of water to let them mix together. i put too much water though. gotta simmer it extra long to get rid of the excess water.

squeeze some lime juice into the mixture. i use a flour sifter to filter the lime seeds. lel. 

stirring to remove the water faster. you can make it thick or watery based on your preferences. i dont use corn starch or thickening agents because i dont want the volume to be high.

taadaa the result after thickening the curry using water reduction. the lentils are soft but still intact which make it better compared to blended lentils.

the curry was a success. my parents tried and they like it. thumbs up from them. yeap it was finished clean eaten together with a roti canai. guess it isnt that spicy. the amount of chillies can added more. i can try to make it again spicier next time.

oh if you want to make a vegetarian version just switch the butter with vegetable oil and the meat can be substituted with mushrooms. to provide the umami flavour. personally i always go for the king oyster mushroom as meat substitute. its not that expensive and it gives the springiness like meat when eaten. just cut them to small cubes and people will think theyre eating meat.

Audi TT

i got myself a secondhand audi tt because i dont want a big car living in kuala lumpur. Parking would be a hassle there. Initially i got my eyes on a hyundai coupe 2000 for rm 10k only but the plan was scratched as the car i viewed cant start at all. Too bad though it was left in garage and only had low mileage as the owner rarely use it. If i know more about the car then i would have been able to buy the car at even cheaper price. Woe on me. 

Anyway, i have a TT now so that doesnt matter. It is an MK1 TT 1.8T. yeah it came with ots own baggage since its a second hand car but thats for another story. I enjoyed this car as it is quite stable when going for high speed. I dont feel the vibration much compared to honda city. 

Otherwise this car consumed more fuel compared to honda city. That i can be sure of hehehe. Hopefully i can fully enjoy this car for a long term. Planning to mess with the engine bay someday and perhaps some upgrade?