Homemade Pesticides

warning: post ni dalam english. ampun ye.

Yesterday night, a friend of mine went on a cockroach (!) tour at the Science Museum. Being superbly sick as I am, I was unable to join him. Teasing him about fnding ridsect andsoforth reminded me of a mini project I made my students do during my year as a lecturer.

The title of the mini project is Homemade Pesticide (oh, fyi, the course was Chemicals in Agriculture). So what they have to do is try to find something (household items, etc) that can be made into pesticides.

Basically my students did a wonderful job. Even my beloved big boss (a.k.a the dean) loved the project so much. And this mini project truly helped them during their final exam, i kid you not. So hereby I assert that rather than emphasizing on theories and lectures, focusing more on hands on and practical works are so much better in guiding students to achieve the course outcome. :D (psst: that class achieve a beautiful bell graph for their marks)

Okay back to the topic. There are numerous items that you can turn into pesticides in your homes. Though we have to purify it at some point (which my students didn't do), and we have to test the potency of each substances (they didn't have time for it), their tests showed that most of them works. Though some smelled really bad, I think the insects will run away based on the smell itself. :p

1) capsaicin (pepper/cili)

This is an excellent source for a pesticide. What they did was they blended these, filter it and use the liquid. I really can't remember the exact aliquot, or water to capsaicin ratio. And i also don't actually remember if they checked the effect on plants, will it burn? i have no idea. but well, basically it works, so maybe needs to purify and adjust the concentration.

2) lemongrass (serai wangi)

Lemongrass or Cymbopogon is a natural insect repellent.  If i remember correctly there's already a commercialized product made from lemongrass in the market. I kinda don't like the smell though, I think there's added ingredient into it. But we can do it ourselves at home. As usual, just grind/blend chopped lemongrass, filter them and wallah, we can directly use it! It seems that lemongrass is good to repel flies and maybe cockroaches (you hear that, mr cockroach?). Again, the concentration plays a vital role, do be wary of too much or too little. play around with it.

3) Garlic (bawang putih)

I think this one has the worst smell among all. Garlic, or the scientifically known as Allium Sativum, is also a natural insect repellent. Well, if you ask me, its a natural human repellent as well. I think the smell alone is good enough to tell those insects (and humans!) not to come near. For this one I suggest you to try with a lower dosage, as the smell is really overpowering.

There are a few more (ginger, dioscorine, salt), but I'm running short of time. So in conclusion, there are many simple solutions for insect repellent, some of it are easily obtained. Do try them out, and let me know if it works. And to Mr Cockroach, beware!!!

Love from London,

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

Tahun ni sambut  raya haji dalam keadaan demam batuk n selsema. Sedih tol. Pagi2 lagi dah pergi Malaysia High Commision dekat Belgrave Sq untuk solat raya, dengar khutbah. Lepas tu pergi open house (aunts of Kak Zaila) dekat South Kensington. Let me tell you, rendang ayam kat situ memang superb! teringat2 rendang nenek. Sebijik pedas dia. Dapat lontong, laksa lagi. Happy sangat. At least takde la rindu sangat food raya kt Malaysia.

gambar gediks!

Qish, Kak Zaila, Baby Inex and me

among the ladies, beraya at Kak Zaila's aunties' house

lepas beraya, terpaksa masuk office jap. Did i mention i had to become a lab manager? serious taknak, tapi entah kenapa kena paksa. So kena masuk office jap, siapkan permit sebab hari Khamis deby demam panas so tak pergi office, orang2 office dah start sibuk2 call and email. Sedih je bila sakit pn orang tak kasik rehat. :(

Lepas touch and go kat office, Qish ajak pergi shopping kat Oxford street. dan saya bagaikan orang gila shopping mopping. Hahaha. Akhirnya dapat boots idaman hati! yay! Let me tell you, forever21 memang murah bangat kat sini. And i have to mention gak, deby dah lost weight byk gila sejak balik sini balik, now i can wear size 25 jeans! pencapaian nih!!! Sorry, excited lebih. sila abaikan. along the way, suara deby makin hilang. awal pagi suara rock + sexy serak, sampai petang suara memang dah takde. 

Our haul

so in love with this!

Today nak pergi MSD ada open house, tomorrow dekat Mara Hostel gak. Walaupun suara deby dah hilang, raya is still raya kan? makan is still makan gak. hehehe

P/S: next week nak pergi Birmingham (lawat Opie) dan Coventry (lawat Faiz and Ary)

P/P/S: next next week nak tgk Evanescence and the Used in concert! wuhooo!

P/P/P/S: sangat stressed out pasal kerja, most days rasa nak nangis je. T.T sbb tu asyik berpoya2 je skrg

Love from London,

Playlist saya

Aduiii... tak boleh tidoooo... lately ni mesti deby tak boleh tido malam. nape entah. insomnia? banyak fikir? Grr...

So bila tak boleh tido, deby dengar lagu. Macam2 genre, ikut mood.

Kalau tengah mood jiwang, sweet etc, ni playlist Deby:

Kalo tetiba nak dengar lagu2 English, ni playlist dia:

Perasan tak ada satu lagu tu termasuk dalam kedua2 playlist? Hehehe.

P/S: next entry nanti, deby nak citer hobi baru deby k

A story of mr freddy n ms sophie

Hello, my name is Sophie. This is my favourite cat tree. One day, I was lounging in my penthouse happily. (the penthouse is exclusively mine because i am the only one that can fit into this.)

I decided to take a nap because i was so tired after jumping and running all around the house. But then i realized that Mr Freddy is sleeping at the second floor apartment. 

"Please Mr Freddy, do not disturb me. I want to sleep."

Mr Freddy: "Hey, this is my cat tree! You cannot be here!"
Sophie: " This is my penthouse! You cannot fit!"

Mr Freddy: "We'll see about that~ now shoohhhh... go away!"

Mr Freddy: "Now see. I can fit in too!"

Oppss.. Oh oh... How to get out?? 

Okay never mind i'll just sit at this side. 

Wait a minute, where is Sophie??

There you are! This penthouse is mine, do you hear me? Mine!!!

~~The End~~~

Thames Festival: Night Carnival

Hidup kat London nie, memang agak menarik. Terlalu banyak festival, games, concerts disini. Yelah, antara major cities in the world. Last weekend kawan2 ajak pergi Thames Festival, a yearly event to celebrate London and River Thames. Actually The Mayor's Thames Festival ni kira a big event sebagai penutup summer setiap tahun. In fact, lusa ada lagi events untuk festival nie, contohnya River Race.

So yang Deby pergi ni dekat Blackfriars, iaitu Night Carnival. Dalam erti kata lain, a parade. Kat sini boleh lihat pelbagai costumes menarik (ada yang menakutkan, ada yang sexy mexy), numerous cultures (ala2 cult pun ada gak), music dan sebagainya.

Masa kat sini la Deby teringin sangat ada camera yang best2 untuk ambil gambar. Sebab bila ambil dengan blackberry Deby, memang serious tak cantik. Bateri cepat habis lak tu.Tapi untuk invest dslr, tak mampu la saya lagi. Ingatkan nak beli digital camera biasa je, coz yang lama (but not so old) camera dah hilang. entah mana deby campak. Ternampak a few bridge camera aka superzoom yang agak murah. compact system camera memang sangat la tidak ada dalam budget saya. decisions, decisions.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures yang tak bape nak lawa nie. Abaikan kepala2, rambut2, tangan2, sweater2 manusia yang termasuk dalam gambar ni. Unfortunately sy ni pendek orangnya, duduk kt depan pun still ada orang2 blocking sy.

InsyaAllah kalau Deby rajin masa River Race tu Deby try ambil gambar elok sikit. *wink*

rimau? dragon?

sexy lady

rupa macam wicked queen dalam carton snow white.

macam hantu je rupa dia

i have a suspicion patung ini menggambarkan mother earth? sebab dancer2 die kaler oren kuning, melambangkan summer. tp entah la. x berani nak ckp lebih.

another dragon? burung? entah

colours ni utk autumn kot?

ini saya serious tak tau ape maksud dia

scary ok

Seriously, ada customs/patung yang scary gila. so half way through deby terus balik. *ye saya penakut, especially time gelap*
Malam tu Deby notice, di awal parade semua costume ceria, warna2 summer, comel2 cantik2. tapi makin lama makin dark theme dia. ada symbolic? i have no idea.

adakah deby akan pergi lagi next year? mungkin tidak, kalo theme dia masih lagi menakutkan macam tahun nie.

P/S: belakang rumah deby nie thames river. :D

P/P/S: kat belakang2 ni juga Craven Cottage.

Borough market, London

Hari Sabtu lepas Deby dan kawan2 berkunjung ke Borough Market, tempat yang sangat famous di London kalau nak makan cheese.

Image taken from google

Borough Market ni terletak di Southwark, London. Cara paling senang nak ke sini ialah dengan melalui Tube (Underground) ke London Bridge (yes, London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down... as if!)

Dia open from Monday to Saturday, tapi Monday to Wednesday dia cuma open for lunch (10am-3pm), Thursday dia open 11am-5pm, Friday from 12pm to 6pm, and Saturday 8am to 5pm.

Seriously, this market is a haven for food! Dia ada macam2 jenis food, from cheese to fresh oysters, to fresh vegetables and fruits, even ostrich meat!

Untuk Muslim macam kita nie, pepandai la nak pilih, ye tak.

Salah satu favourite Deby is raclette, a Swiss dish. Basically dia cuma potatoes and cheese, tapi cara dia buat tu special.

Cheese dicairkan (melted) ada bara api kat atas cheese tu tapi sorry camera hp je so tak nampak

Lepas tu cheese tu akan dipotong (scraped off atau nama dia racler) dan diletak atas potatoes

Ni la end product dia. cheese + potatoes + pickles. sedap gila

Selain tu, member Deby serang kiosk oysters dia. Fresh, katanya.

Fresh oysters! besar gila, ada native ada rock oyster

sorry gambar tak cantik

Banyak lagi food kat situ. For desert Deby makan german cheese with fruits (cheesecake lah!), sedap cheese dia, and vegetarian friendly ye semua nie.

Nanti ada peluang saya mau pergi lagi. Banyak lagi tak dapat makan. <3

24 hours journey KUL-DXB-LHR

Deby dah sampai London safely.

Tapi seriously, I am sooo exhausted and tired. Sebab terlalu lama. Ni kali pertama journey dari KL ke London yang paling penat untuk Deby, walhal I am used to travel this far.

Deby naik Emirates, jadi transit kat Dubai. Let me tell you, Deby tak minat sangat airport Dubai. Yes, its large. Yes, boleh shopping. Tapi terlalu ramai orang. Semak!

Dari KUL ke DXB (Dubai) is 3427 miles (approx~). Kalo naik Airbus A380 tu, approx~ 6 hours 50 minutes.

Dari DXB to LHR (Heathrow London) is 34++ miles. dalam 7 hours gak.

transit kat dubai 3 jam. so patutnya 7 jam + 3 jam + 7 jam = 17 jam sahaja.

Jadi kenapa sampai 24 jam????

Haa.. Ni la something yang terjadi masa Deby transit kat Dubai.

Deby dah board plane tu dah. Dah duduk siap pasang seat belt lagi. tangan dah tekan2 ICE (entertainment system untuk flight A380 nie). mata dah ngantuk. tak sabar nak tidur.

in fact, dah tertidur dah pun. celik2 mata, dah 1 hour, plane tak gerak2 lagi. dalam hati dah tertanya2. then dengar announcement, something about blocked pipes and diorang tengah usaha nak fix.

then i waited. and waited.

around 45 minutes after that the pilot announced yang diorang decided untuk tukar plane. Hati ni dah sumpah seranah dah. have to wait lagi 1 hour untuk tukar plane lagi. even though diorang serve free breakfast kat the Gallery, tapi still nak menunggu tu.

Tambah2 lagi masa kat the Gallery diorang announce have to wait another 1.5 hours lagi. brrr

Nasib baik Emirates ada more than 1 Airbus A380. kalo jadi macam MAS yang baru ada 1, tak ke haru biru kalau jadi camni??

All in all Deby nye flight delayed dalam 5 hours.

Bila boarding the new plane semua orang mood crappy gile. and bila dah berjaya landing (akhirnya) kat Heathrow, kena mengadap plak crowd kat Border Office (customs). Berjam beratur nak get through.

dengan kena angkut luggage besor naik tube (piccadily line) ke rumah.

SEriously, exhausted gila. sampai sekarang sakit2 badan.

Lepas ni tertanya2, saya sanggup ke nak naik Emirates lagi?

Fallen in Love with Sarawak - a quick getaway

As per last post, Deby cakap Deby melarikan diri ke Sarawak kan? Deby seriously tak sangka Deby sanggup and willing pergi sana sorang2. Tapi Alhamdulillah Deby ada kawan yang sangat2 baik di sana. Dia yang jaga Deby sepanjang Deby kat sana (according to a friend, Deby perlukan babysitter :D).

Deby dah jatuh hati dengan Sarawak. Deby rasa Deby dah tinggalkan hati Deby kat Santubong.

Kenapa? Nanti Deby cerita kemudian.

Deby pergi hari Isnin pagi, the first flight, sampai airport Kuching dalam pukul 10 lebih. Mula2 memang terasa macam Deby masuk ke negara lain sebab kena lalu immigration dulu, kena ambil permit to stay. :)

Kawan Deby dah tunggu. Mula2 dia bawak round bandar Kuching. Tengah membangun hence banyak construction. Bila bawak orang real estate nie memang dia akan cerita pasal buildings je la. :)

Lepas tu we went to the museums. Banyak betul saya jumpa tengkorak. Hehe. But very interesting. The ethnics, the fossils, the arts. macam2 la. I love museums thus i had fun. Tengok dia pon excited je lawat museum, local pon jarang pergi museum rupanya. Hehe.

Lepas check in, relaxing bebagai, dia bawak deby pergi makan, jumpa kawan. Pergi sightseeing around Kuching, the CM's astana, the beautiful new building of DUN, etc. Watched the sunset. I wasn't feeling well, kesian dia sebab risaukan Deby. Haha. Mabuk2 bukan sebab apa, angin rasanya. Then makan malam, the first time ever dapat makan mee kolok. Quite nice, its just mee with soup, a little bit of beef. I like it.

a lil view of astana

The next day dia bawak Deby makan laksa sarawak dekan Ceria Cafe (please dont ask me where, i have no idea). Tapi serious sedap sangatttttttt. Suka, ikut ati nak order lagi tapi takut la plak lambat nanti. After that pergi Kampung Budaya Sarawak and Damai Beach. Oh i love em sooo much. I had so much fun in Kampung Budaya. I make a vow untuk mencuba duduk di kampung yang sebenar2nya. Kebetulan kawan Deby orang Iban dan dia janji akan bawak ke kampung dia. Thanks Allah for giving me such a good friend.

Kampung Budaya Sarawak

saya suka titi/jambatan nie

dekat rumah penan

ada orang kata nie gambar fashionista. haha. x silap kat rumah Melanau

boleh plak saya peluk patung nie

quite a lot superstitions here

rumah Melanau. dari luar nampak 2 storey. sebenarnya ada 5 tingkat kat dalam. 

sempat lagi membeli belah

beli kuih tradisional Melayu. Boleh??

rumah faveret saya, rumah orang Ulu

rumah bidayuh

Note: tak jumpa gambar kat rumah Iban. Apakah????

And I love the view at the beach. We had a little talk about our problems, alhamdulillah he's a good listener. I felt relieved dapat luahkan sikit kat dia.

Gunung Santubong

After Kampung Budaya we went to Kg Pasir Pandak, to the house of a mutual friend of ours. Kat sini lah hati Deby terpaut. Rumah kawan Deby nie betul2 di tepi laut, depan dia mengadap pulau, di tepi dia ada dua gunung, gunung Santubong dan gunung Sejinjang. Subhanallah, sungguh cantik. Dan Deby berpeluang solat mengadap laut, sungguh terasa keBesaran Allah swt. Tenang sangat disitu. Masa itulah Deby terasa semua masalah Deby lenyap selenyapnya. terasa betapa kerdilnya diri ini dibanding dengan kekuasaan Allah. Sungguh. Lihat kehidupan di kampung, tenang tanpa perlu terlalu mengejar dunia, dan mereka masih kaya, lebih kaya dari orang di bandar. Jadi kenapa orang di bandar terlalu mengejar dunia? a question that I pondered throughout my visit. Masa di pantai kat Kg Pasir panjang tu pun begitu. Tenang sangat hati. Tapi maaf, Deby tak ambil gambar. Deby nak simpan memori ni dalam hati.

I was real reluctant to leave Santubong. I vowed to myself i will visit again, for a longer time.

After leaving Santubong we went for a quick shopping spree, kena la beli ole2 untuk orang2 semenanjung. taknak la nanti ada orang kecewa (hihi kamo laa yang minta tu. eh tapi saya ikhlas memberi okay. sy harap kamo suka kucing tu). Lepas tu rehat2 kejap then dinner dekat TopSpot Seafood. First time dapat makan sup gamat. Memang sedap. Butter prawns yang guna susu. Ikan steam. And this.

Ho Chin? Chian? taktau la. but i kinda dont like it 

Banyak lagi Deby tak dapat makan sebab most dah habis. I made another vow to go back simply to eat those that I missed. After the good food dia bawak Deby jumpa the largest cat dekat Kuching. Hehe. SOoooo cute!

All in all. I had so much fun dekat Sarawak. walaupun just for a short while, i felt very happy, and i didn't shed a single tear during this time, alhamdulillah. I will come back, insyaAllah. Terutama ke Santubong. Sungguh.

Sampai semenanjung Deby disambut oleh seorang kawan dari zaman sekolah. dah 10 tahun tak jumpa, ni baru bersua muka. Thanks eh sebab sudi jemput saya.