See a cute daschund ("sausage dog") somewhere? :)

This was how the top of my butter cake looked like, having cracked open on the top after being baked. Gem spotted it. The artist he is. :)

Haven't been out recently to explore new things and places, hence the lack of pictures and udpates. Been pretty much preparing for things and events at home and trying to save moolah as well.

But i would love to go look for a nice dress for the wedding dinner performance (most of my blogshop dresses just don't cut it, the lengths are too short. haha, realized that sounded funny. don't cut it. too short. ok, never mind).

Looking forward to the event that has been challenging me to play music out of my usual genre! Hope to have loads of pictures. Hm.

Another wedding, another "gig". haha. Did i mention that i really LOVE playing at weddings? Yeah, i did. I think my repertoire of songs will increase with more episodes like this. So shiok. This time round, i'm having a chance to try my hand at jazz. I like jazz. I hear jazz riffs in my head, but i can't seem to produce what i hear in my head on the keys all that well. Ah well.

Been practising and praying that Father God will let the brain and fingers work together quickly and efficiently.

There's just something about being one with your instrument and playing for a cause. For love, for pleasure, in unison with friends.

I'm not a darn good keyboardist, but I'd LOVE to play at more friends' weddings! hurhurhurhur.

Random bits...

I think the KFC egg tarts ROCK.

After making and eating too much good stuff recently, the weighing scale has told me something i really don't like. Bah. Need to get back to exercising regularly.

A simple, outdoor ceremony would be lovely.
With my family, his family... All intact.
White, flowing, light and simple chiffon dress. Maybe i'll be barefoot too.
With a crown of dried flowers tucked into my long hair.

I can dream, right?

As i mentioned yesterday, i made scones at close to midnight yesterday because my craving was just too strong... My inspiration was of course - Pioneer Woman, who cooks stuff that REALLY appeal to my tastebuds. Maybe i belong on her ranch and should work as a ranch hand just to eat her creations. I'll even volunteer to wash the dishes, which she hates to do. Anyway.

Here's how Pioneer Woman's scones look like (with the delectable vanilla sauce being poured over...):

(Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman, her website's link can be found on the right)
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And here is mine.

I was laughing half the time i was making these! Firstly, i didn't follow the recipe's ingredient list (i used light cream instead of heavy cream. and i had wondered what went wrong. sheesh.) and since it's my first time trying this, my hands were clueless as to how to lightly and lovingly handle the dough. I more like manhandled it.

And here you have it. Sco-ca-kie! Which is, a cross between a scone (it tasted like one, a delicious one, mind you), and the consistency was like a cake and a cookie (doesn't it look like a giant cookie?)

Looking at the cross section though, i can't decide what it looks more like. A scone? Cake? Muffin? Bread?

When handling the dough to cut into rectangles, it was pretty impossible because it was gloopy and sloppy and resembled puppy rice-patty-vomit (ok, a puppy i used to have that ate rice). So i gave up and simply dropped dollops of dough onto the baking tray. Hence the cookie shapes. But hey! It tastes good! Though my mom says that 5 teaspoons of bicorbonate soda (as per the recipe) is crazy and it burned her tongue. I don't feel the burn though? *shrug*

Haha, i'm wondering who would want to try it this evening at church... Hoho.

some recent yums and places

Gem and i went to try the food at Amirah's Grill at Bussorah Street, on the recommendation of J. :) Thanks J! :D

This was the mushroom soup that came with Gem's set meal. It was a pleasant surprise that the soup wasn't your usual campbell mushroom cream soup. It tasted like there was effort put into it (spices, flavour) and there was chunky mushrooms in it. Not a ton, but enough to please. :)
The garlic toast and wrap.

Gem's mixed kebab. Very tasty, each kebab had a distinct different flavour. Yum. Chicken, lamb and beef. The potatoes were just as tasty!
and THIS... my friends, made my heart SING. The HUMMUS. I'm so going to find out HOW to make it. I think i have an inkling of how to make the yellow one, but not the darker colour one. Hm. But oh boy. My eyes widened and tastebuds went WOOHOO when i tasted both of them. Ultimate delicious.

Jie wanted to bake something and i think the words "Alton Brown", "carrot cake", "Cheryl", and "cake" has been floating around enough to provide a subliminal message to her to look for a carrot cake recipe. Ok, it wasn't that subliminal.

Jie: I think i shall make carrot cake.

Jo: I also think that you should make the carrot cake.

And made it she DID. They were DELICIOUS!

So, these were carrot cake cupcakes to give to the neighbour! I slotted that sheet of paper in between the two rows to indicate which cupcake had which particular frosting. You can see that the lemon frosting looks firmer and has a more defined shape than the frosting made with maple syrup. But both taste heavenly. But you must love your sweet food in order to enjoy this!

I gobbled one down myself after the phototaking. How could i not... Yummy.

This was the beef stew (chocolate beef stew) that i made for my sister. I made it once some time ago, and she liked it. I didn't make a lot so she didn't get her fill of it. So recently she requested for me to make it, and HOW could i possibly refuse? :) I like to feed people (just like me mom, but perhaps not yet as skillful) and she's my sister so i'd gladly do it. Besides, it's awesome to know that someone enjoys your cooking. :DD

Raspberry and chocolate sauce cheesecake at Max Brenner. Shared it with JL. :)

Ok, this was before the syrup was poured all over the cake.

Gem and i were walking to Chinatown under the hot sun and saw this really nice wisp of cloud above.

Couldn't capture the whole long wisp, but yeah. :)

Love the rainbow colours! That paler section of colour you see on the building has nothing to do with paint... It was actually the reflection of light from an opposite building's metal(?) exterior.

Pretty rainbow colour, i love.

Have got loads of (food) photos to show you guys... Have just been quite lazy these days. Ack! Hoping to get em up soon. The blog's too quiet!

Yum. Made a really delicious pasta.

Ingredients:

1) Ordinary, boring, smoring, plain campbell mushroom soup (also add 1 can of = milk and water)
2) Garlic and onion (roughly chopped)
3) Leftover salsa (tomato, jap cucumber, chilli padi, onion, black pepper, salt, lime/lemon juice)
4) Basil leaves (from my OWN PLANT!)
5) Bacon
6) Pinch of mixed herbs
7) Linguine

Method:
1) Fry garlic and onions in olive oil till soft and brown
2) Add in can soup, plus the additional 1 can combination of milk and water
3) Stir till it smoothens out
4) Add in salsa and bacon
5) Throw in chopped basil
Keep stirring...

Meanwhile... Towards the end of the sauce-making...
1) Boil up your linguine till it is still a bit hard, just before hitting al dente (or you can have it al dente if you want a softer pasta at the end)

When sauce is done, just throw in the freshly cooked pasta.

Well, that's what i did. I realized tossing the freshly cooked pasta into another pot of hot sauce might cook it further and then make it softer than i would like. Which was a mistake. But good thing it was done slightly before al dente, so my pasta still had bite, which i like. Alternatively, maybe you could fish out the pasta first, let it cool before dumping it in with the sauce.

The result was delicious! And it didn't even taste like i used the boring old campbell soup. Yay!

It could have been better with some fresh prawns thrown in.

Was going through my old chemistry, mathematics and biology exercises (oh, the blood, sweat and tears...) from JC because i decided that i really needed to empty out the clutter for a new season in my life.

While flipping through the stacks of files with fullscape paper filled with my writing of solving sums, finding measurements of chemicals, etc, i found that i didn't quite understand or remember any of the stuff from math and chem anymore. (Bio was my pet subject though)

Goes to show how essential those things learnt at the A Levels really are to real life huh. I can only hope that the abstract/logical/creative/etc thinking that was suppose to develop as a result of all that torture actually happened. Otherwise, what in the world was all that FOR?! HAHAHA.

A couple of days ago, i was discussing adding a new bookshelf to my room with my mom. You know, to house my growing book collection on my profession and hobbies.

Then she said, "Aiya, you'll be married out and gone already..."

That struck a raw nerve in me that i never knew existed till that moment.
And now, it bothers me.

Going to BonitoChico's Birthday Bash tomorrow! I have no idea what to expect... And i don't know what to wear! It's at a club (Zirca), and i, er, have been to clubs as often as i've been to the North Pole. I imagine the place is going to be filled to the brim with lots of young, nubile, pretty, heavily made up girls. haha.

If it wasn't for Y, i'd be feeling pretty lost. and probably very old. haha.

Time to whip out a dress i've bought but never had the chance to wear... and definitely not something from BC.

Was reading some of my old posts. I think i'm pretty funny. hurhur.
In fact, i think i'm funnier online than in real life. Dangwabbit.

thought for the day

God made so many kinds of people and is always moulding all sorts of people to be who they were meant to be... Like, people...

who have keen business sense... to make money and give it away (hopefully)
who go through pain and hurt (or otherwise) to bring healing to the hurting
who are artistic, bringing another dimension of beauty that touches the hearts and souls of the beholders
who love probing into the realm of science, only to discover that there must be a higher brain behind all of it
who are annoying (at times or all the time)... to build patience and Godly love in the rest of us (haha, maybe this isn't biblical)

who do you think God made you to be? :)

4 Years and 11th month-sary present...

It was an ordinary monday morning at the lappie at the corner of my room when i felt my foot kick something as i shrivelled around on the rotating chair. I thought, there isn't usually something there...
I looked down and spotted THIS!

A Foreign Body! An Unknown Item in my Inventory! An Object without an Owner!

Whose is this?!

Starts to clue in on who was behind this...

Oh, it was definitely magic alright. I was STOKED!
And I slowly pulled this pretty-in-baby-pink, smooth finished, velvety to the touch, object of hyperventilation out from the brown package...
AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Hyperventilating*

No, but seriously.

Yes, i was thrilled. Check. Happy that i got a new cookbook. Check. But what made me glow inside was the joy of seeing/experiencing a bit of my best friend on a seemingly same-same and ordinary monday (2 days ago). It's as if he was hiding in my clothes wardrobe the whole time over the weekend waiting for me to open the door to spring out and give me a big ole hug.

Except that he isn't actually there.

Surprises like these always remind me of the times when we first started going out doing the whole courting thing and also, well, doing the whole honeymoon thing after getting together. (I'm proud to say that our honeymoon period lasted quite a long time. :) At least from my point of view.)

It's almost 5 years on and he still speaks my love language(s).

He knows i love being surprised like this. He knows i like being given things. And he knows i love macarons. And cooking. And baking.

Tell me just how thoughtful is he?!

And I'm humbly reminded again of the many reasons why i fell in love with him in the first place, and that he sure is a keeper.

I've been wanting to clear my cupboard to free up space for new things to come. New books as references as i begin my profession in the counselling field, new cooking and baking books, etc. My room is fast running out of surfaces for all the new. But how about the old stuff? I remember an old post i wrote in 2007. Dang, i half wish i hadn't remembered...

(old post back in 2007, 2nd April)

"Old Papers"

Taking a break from staring at my lappie screen, i took a nice long stretch against the back rest of my study chair.

And i glanced up at my 3 shelved cupboard that still houses all the school work done in my past academic years, mostly from my junior college days, save for one biology file from my secondary 4 syllabus. Coloured files in yellow, black, blue and red, grey, papers chucked in between them in some order of subjects, thick textbooks that were seldom referred to but were there to give a sense of reassurance that information was within easy reach.

All of them speak silently and daily, reminding me (only when i take the time to look at them) of all the toil, tears (<-- seriously) and frustrations of the old, the failures and triumphs. And i realize that i may very well bring all of them with me till... We'll never really know. Perhaps for as long as i can keep them. It's too difficult to throw them all away, for sentimental reasons.

Though I can't make sense out of whatever i read in them anymore (esp. chemistry) but somehow, these chunks and stacks of papers with my own handwriting scrawled all over in attempts to solve sums and problems, to write logical essays without smoking through them, every dot and scribble - they were a part of my thoughts, and of me, back then.

Mundane as they look sitting high up there above my head as i type my essays to be handed in to tutors from university, these representatives are from one of the hardest periods in my life, emotionally and mentally, will always bring back the nostalgia no matter where i am in life. With each passing year, i grow more attached to these physical "relics", serving as triggers and cues for me to be able to recollect the memories of those days past.

Why is it that i refuse to let go of the memories of hard times and the things that transport me back to it? Is that a seeming rule that applies to people in general, i wonder.

I guess hard times were when you saw yourself put to the test, to see what you were made of, to show yourself and unknowingly others as well, who you were when situations become pressing and hard to bear. It's during those times when you see yourself stumble through weaknesses, grappling for help or just sticking it through, even growing and discovering new strengths and revelations. You get to see who among you are the people you can or cannot depend on, and sometimes our search leads us to become jaded, indifferent or even more hopeful.

Quite obviously, tough times are never a walk in the park and when we eventually emerge from the shadows, we step out with battle wounds that leave a deep impression, and scars to remind us of the tale, to either tell of or hide it. We come out of it knowing that something profound happened inside of us.

Which is probably why we never, or find it hard to forget tough times. They're somewhat useful bittersweet tools, becoming fuel for anger that continues to burn inside, times we laugh or grimace over on hindsight, the experiences that we look back upon to see how far we've come in our personal growth, the basis from where we glean some of our most intimate lessons from.

How to clear my cupboard like this?

Poll and Thought for the Moment:

Do you think a guy should ask his potential in-laws for their daughter's hand in marriage before actually making the proposal, or should that practice become obsolete?

i need to get this out of my system before my cortisol levels boil me up alive.

i was reversing into a parallel parking lot when the owners of the nice red toyota celica that was in front of me actually came and wanted to drive off. So common sense tells me to pause in my tracks in the middle of parking so that i don't hit the celica that was reversing backwards before driving off.

because the road was a narrow one, i was in the way of the driver behind me. due to the above situation, i couldn't budge for a few moments, BUT THIS EINSTEIN of a driver behind me started to horn.

and horn.
and hoooornnn...
and horn, horn, horn, horn, horn, horn, horn.

i tell you, i was so pissed off.

instead of horning the whole neighbourhood awake (it was night time in a dense housing estate), why don't you perhaps stop for a moment and LOOK FURTHER AHEAD TO SEE WHY I AM PAUSING?

sheesh. i passed my driving test you know. and i have a certain level of intellect that i wish you would at least respect.

didn't you learn that you should look at least 100m ahead of you? have you ever thought that perhaps there is a REASON for some things to happen?

BAH! RUDE, IMPATIENT, THOUGHTLESS DRIVER!

Rant over.

I can't believe i had to do this, but i had to cancel brunch with a friend recently just because of this IBS nonsense.

My gut has been protesting recently and it's making me increasing frustrated. At the simplest foods, i get bloated disproportionately to the amount of food that i eat and yesterday and today, i even experienced pain. I used to get backaches and pain before when it used to be worse. I got better in the last few years, but now the pain has returned.

Things started to go downhill after eating a bowl of fish slice ban mian a few weeks ago. I got pretty bloated after that and it pretty much messed up my whole rhythm for the days to come.

Another ironic observation is, is that i'm still having these problems despite my efforts to eat healthier recently. As you would already know, I've always tried to eat balanced meals (carbo, fibre and protein in a meal). Recently, I have added more greens to my diet.

I wonder. Has the increased greens actually aggravated the condition? After all, more fibre = more gas. If this is true with respect to what's happening for me right now, then boy howdy, this really sucks because i've been eating more greens in hope to have better movement in the system and also to get the nutrients from vegetables that nutritionists and doctors always talk about!

:(

Gem has kindly and very sweetly borrowed some books for me on digestion and the gut last week (ever since my complaints escalated) and i guess i need to take some of the suggestions in there seriously. Anyway, just wanted to take the chance to say thanks dear, you're awesome. :)

recalling some recent cooking exploits

Jie made these rockin' cinnamon and brown sugar coated grilled pineapples. Sprinkle with mint leaves and lime juice if desired. To enjoy, you gotta love your sweets.
My tuna, button mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, and feta cheese (had chopped basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley) pasta salad.
Ingredients for one of Pioneer Woman's recipes... Tweaked a little though.
Just to help me remember that i buanged in fresh chopped basil.

And some lemon juice.

End result.

With mozzarella cheese and smoked cheddar cheese on top, with coarse black pepper.

Another pasta salad for one of our dinners.

I don't know why but while cleaning up my sister's weighted barbells, i suddenly remembered someone from a long time ago. It's a weird feeling that rises up. I don't regret having met the person, but yet, i can't help but furiously deliver mental kicks to myself. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING?! And though i said i don't regret it, if i could do things over, i wouldn't even take the first tip-toe in that direction.

Confusing? Yeah, much.