Last Dinner Menu of 2010

Planning tonight's dinner! :D

Things i need:

1. Cherry tomatoes

2. Ham

3. Iceberg lettuce

4. Thousand island dressing

5. Hot dogs

6. Soft drinks

7. Potato chips

8. Mozzarella cheese

Anything else?

Three Resolutions

I wonder what year 2011 holds for me. To me, tomorrow will just be another that i live - i am still in my holiday mood and i do not intend to bring that mood to a halt. So it is with regret that i realise that university starts next Monday (and today is Friday!).

Well, for starters, i can imagine that in semester 2, things would rush by just as it did in semester 1. I miss Zokhrism, they made my life easier to live through in semester 1, and i hope we still do for the many semesters ahead. I will still take part in as many activities i can but perhaps, not too many..

This is the year I will start a full-fledge long distance relationship. Chee Yuan will be going to India in April, and will be studying in Manipal for 2.5 years. Although we did have our fair share of long distance when i was in matriculation (Perak) and he, in Shah Alam, at least we still could see each other at the very least, once a month. And call rates between states are the same. This time, well, everything will be so different. I have never been to India, can never possibly imagine what India is like. He will be starting his university life there, a total new phase of life, with me only in the background. We will be studying different courses, different places, different friends even different time zones. The one who is always the late one between the both of us is now behind Malaysian time by TWO hours. We will only have the Internet to keep us together, and i feel so so afraid.

No doubt, in the past few months and this December, i have really come to know CY better than ever before. But often, i wonder to myself if it will ever be enough?

New subjects, new lecturers. I will have to face them with strength, patience, and optimism.

I guess for this year, i wont set myself a list-ful of resolutions as they always end up unfulfilled.

1. Take part in as many activities as in semester 1. These activities were the ones that coloured my uni life.

2. Have faith and dont get hurt so easily. This applies to all my friends and cy.

3. Don't give up. At least you know you did your best.

Cheers! And to everyone, Happy New Year! :D

(Red Velvet) Cheesecake Brownies

I decided to put "red velvet" in brackets because it is the original name of the cake but because i choose not to put red colouring into the cake, it is not exactly red, and hence, i dont think it would be appropriate to name a cake red when it has no reminiscence of that colour.

The picture below is the joy of my baking efforts, half-way gone.. The top is the cheese layer while the bottom is chocolate cake / brownie. This is the part which is supposed to be red in colour like HERE. :D

I used the recipe from Baking Bites but tweaked the recipe a little by cutting down the butter *just a little* and the sugar *also just a little, but slightly more than the butter* and i totally omitted the red colouring.

A:

1/2 cup butter

2-oz (60g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

B:

1 cup sugar (can be less)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp red food coloring (omitted)

C:

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

D:

8-oz (240g) cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

First, just melt A together. While doing that, mix ingredients C and beat B. When A, B, and C are done separately, slowly pour in the liquid A into B. Beat in C.

When the brownie layer is done, proceed to D. Beat ingredients D and pour the mixture onto the brownie layer.

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350F or 177C.

:D

Super Duper Foodie Trip: Part 2 (Melaka Town + Portuguese Settlement)

The trip to Melaka was amazing although it would have been great had it been not so rushed. Did a basic tour of Melaka.

Lunch: Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Balls, Jonker Street.

We ordered 10 balls + a plate of chicken + one cup of 'leong cha' + coconut drink + cabbage. Besides the must-try chicken balls (a little overrated), if you ever do come to here, do try their 'leong cha'. It is really good, as it taste different from the typical 'leong cha', with a slight tinge of lime flavour? Something like tht. And it wasnt too sweet either. The chicken rice balls cost RM0.80 per ball.

Will upload all my travelling pictures as soon as possible once LCY starts uploading.

After lunch, we walked around, torn between visiting the historical sites and trying the delicacies along Jonker Street. In the end, we did a mixture of both. Walked along Jonker Street, LCY on a eating spree (ice-cream, sorbets, and of all things - Kickapoo?!) then proceeded to walking around Stadhuys, Dataran Pahlawan, park, A Famosa, before heading back to Jonker Street for the long awaited cendol.

The cendol we tried is along Jonker Street too. It's called 88 Jonker, and you cant possibly miss it! I orderd the (original) Baba Cendol for myself and the EPC Eight Precious Cendol for CY. Although quite a number of food bloggers seem to criticise this place, it is still undeniably one of the more popular stops by the locals and non-locals alike. I, personally found the cendol quite delicious and refreshing. :)

Next, we started off to the Portuguese Settlement. Because we went there a few days before Chirstmas (apparently, Najib would be there for the Christmas celebration) the place was in the process of being decorated. The performers were having their rehearsals and the place was beautifully decorated with bright coloured lights. Even the villagers living in the village joined the festive mood and decorated their houses to the nines! It was a breath-taking experience and we snapped plenty of pictures. Once again, all the pics are with CY so i have to wait till he finds the 'mood' to upload. Hmmph.

His car refused to start when we wanted to make our way to the Portuguese Settlement. His phone battery was near to 0% and my credit was RM0.00. Wakaka.. He kept making calls to his mechanics to fix the car. In the end, with the help of his Ampang mechanic over the phone, he managed to re-start the car. Amazing, kan? My bf has an option of being a car doctor a.k.a mechanic should he decide that medicine is not for him. haha, just joking.

Dinner: J&J Portuguese Seafood Restaurant, Portuguese Settlement.

We had dinner at store number 10. Ordered 3 dishes, besides the mango drinks and coconut water. The three dishes are Portuguese Baked Fish (absolutely delicious - if you love spicy food!), brinjal with sambal, and butter prawns. The portuguese baked fish was my favourite. At RM16.80, we were served one fish, loaded with sambal. Omg, i kept scooping the spicy chilli sambal to eat with my rice! The fried brinjal with sambal was good too. Although it was a little burnt. Total meal cost about RM40? But i guess it was worthwhile coz in the end, we were very full and satisfied with the meal. :)

We wanted to catch the River Cruise too but by the time we finished our dinner and our evening stroll of admiring christmas lights in the Portuguese Settlement, it was almost 9pm and we had to rush back to KL.

Anyhow, it was a great trip.

Next: Super Duper Foodie Trip: Part 3 (Muar)

Super Duper Foodie Trip: Part 1 (Klang Bak Kut Teh)

Planned a food trip with Chee Yuan to a few places.

1. Klang (specifically Teluk Pulai), for bak kut teh.

2. Melaka Town, for everything that Jonker Street has to offer.

3. Muar, his hometown..

4. Ipoh

This post is dedicated for the BKT, which we tried last Tuesday - 21 December. We took the KTM and got off at the Teluk Pulai station (one station after Klang). Apparently, Teluk Pulai is famous for the many BKT shops claiming the throne of BKT king. haha. But we choose Teluk Pulai Bak Kut Teh Restaurant. Dont ask me why, haha..

What's bak kut teh, with no teh? ;p

Discovered that he likes tea.. (picture above)

There are two types - the dry version and the 'wet' version (picture below). Personally, I enjoyed the wet version better, because I liked the soup. It had a slight tinge of herbal flavour, with porky goodness. Teehee.

The picture below is the dry version of BKT. Basically it is pork stir-fried in black sauce, dry chilli, shallots and shredded dry sotong? Although this was good, but i guess the two of us preferred to stick to the original soupy bak kut teh. :D

Generally, would say that the meal was satisfactory. If i ever come here to eat BKT again, i would probably just order one large bowl of soupy BKT, coz i simply loved the soup! As for meat eaters, be sure that your carnivorous cravings can be satisfied here. The amount of pork served is reasonable for its price with plenty of pork fat to melt in your mouth.

Dry BKT: RM11

Wet BKT: RM10

Coming up: A day in Melaka~!

i-City with all its lights and colours

An overdue post... the night i came back from SD camp, CY whisked me out for some dessert at Snowflakes. No, we did not order three bowls of dessert and one drink like the previous time. We both had hot desserts, as can be seen in the aboce picture.. both with black glutinious rice, but the difference is that mine has red bean and taro balls (left pic) while he had ice cream in his.

He kept saying that he wanted to go home by 9.30pm and we only arrived at Snowflakes at 9? I was like "...?" Anyway, he insisted we left as soon as we were done 9.15pm. What i didnt realise was that he had something planned...

i-City!

I know most people who wants to go has already went and those that didnt probably are not interested to go. But this was my first time. And it was breathtakingly beautiful! It would definitely had been better if there was not such a huge turn-out that night.. but nevertheless, the lights were simply amazing. When you see all the lights from afar, it might even start to feel a little surreal.

I didnt have a good cam. All the photos were taken with my trusty Sony Ericsson C510.

This picture (above) is my favourite pic. Any idea why? ;p

YSD and her scholars

Five days have passed since i stepped foot in Merlimau. It was definitely a first-time at that place.

The first day was spent in Gombak, Selangor, doing community work in the form of painting walls at Kem Modal Insan Kewaja. A wholesome great new experience! Together with four or five other girls, we actually managed to paint the four walls of the living room within a few hours. It was tiring but no doubt, refreshing to know we had made a change in the girls' lives.

That very same day, we departed to Merlimau. We were whisked off to dinner at some Ikan Bakar stall. Had a wide selection of food to choose from the typical otak-otak, the udang galah on galah, the popular ikan bakar, and so many more. After the meal, we settled in at Merlimau Training Centre. I was personally very impressed with the facilities there. Though basic, they were well-maintained and clean. I loved looking at all the well-kept greenery.

The following days were filled with classes that ranged from time management to communication skills. Was very amused with Mr Suresh Dhawan's session as the things he said were not only fun and entertaining, but were resoundingly true about each and every one of us. Fyi, he gave the session on communication skills.

But the best part, really, was the final day. YSD had beeen keeping mum about the session called TBC outdoors and it was only during the course of the camp, did we realise that we were going to be having an X-plorace!

It was one of the best-est explorace that i have ever participated. We were given the opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of Melaka Town while answering the clues and riddles along the way. I enjoyed the adventures i had with my group, the challenges and difficulties we had to go through together just made the whole game sweeter and better. The running all over Melaka Town, scorching our skins under the hot sun, sitting on the pathway of the park near Dataran Pahlawan having our packed lunch, cracking our heads solving the puzzles that came our way.. Will never forget the moments like when Xin Ming was so determined to peel out the clearance sticker from the restaurant banner for the sake of scoring a few extra points, or when Firdaus and i were debating on which was the true Portuguese name of the ship, or when Vincent cycled the trishaw and came back in speedy time. All those memories were incredible and it was great that in the end, we could still sit together after the race and enjoy the cendol from Jonker Street together. If that wasnt one hell of an experience, what is?

The camp may have started of dull and boring, but it gradually evolved to be an amazing camp. Though i could have used a few more friends, but i am glad i made enough friends to make the camp an enjoyable one for me.

Now, i have to start packing for Singapore. Orchard Road, here i come!

My December Plans

Now that my first semester exams are completed and done with, i can actually consider my life quite stress-free at the moment. For the next three weeks, I am going to try to fill my time with as much travel and food as possible, oh crap, somebody please remind me to bathe Metta (fyi, Metta is my lovely, as-cute-as-pie doggie, who unfortunately has not bathed in a month!)

Sorted out half of my room yesterday. Cleared away the book mountain forming on my table and areas around it.. Half-way in progress only. Then i sneaked off to Chee Yuan's house to watch Avatar. Had a fun night and morning with him, the day after. Sort of touched he actually called me this morning at around 8.15am to ask me to go to his house and resume watching Avatar because he is not much of a morning person.

Avatar is incredible! I know, i am that slow and outdated in watching movies... but i guess Avatar never really appealed to me what with the blue creatures with strange features.... I agreed to watch it yesterday merely for the sake of watching something, and boy, it was a good choice! A very elaborate, complex plot, yet it such a contrastingly simple and basic theme, of love and loyalty. Please watch it if you are one of the few who have not watched it.... lolz

Going out tonight for buddy dinner at TGIF, thank god, it is a Friday! (please excuse the pun.) Might catch another movie tomorrow if Chee Yuan feels well enough.. Then, after that i shall be whisked off to Gombak, Selangor for a one-day community project for SD scholars followed by a 4 day camp at Merlimau, Melaka, also under SD. I have no idea what those few days hold for me.

Urgh. The remaining plan for my December holidays has yet to unfold clearly but it is a mixture of a possible trip to Singapore (more shopping?), food trips to Muar - Melaka - Ipoh, and perhaps a trip up to Bukit Tinggi? Really hope i can do all those stuff with Chee Yuan..

Gotta go prepare for buddy dinner later. I have a feeling the next three weeks will fly in a blink of an eye!

Totally lost but it's alright

I finally sat for the law and society paper.

It wasnt good, maybe even bordering on awful. I really hope the examiner wouldnt be disgusted with the things i wrote coz i was rambling on nonsense. It was so bad, even i refused to re-read what i wrote!

Anyway, i confided in my mom. She said it's alright, i dont have to aim to be the best. I know who i am deep down inside, and the truth is, i am not all that great with general knowledge. It is not that i am too lazy to read the newspaper, or spare some time for the news. But i really have no interest in what goes on with politics, or if there is a war going on. I am ashamed to admit this, but it is the truth. Every time i turn to the front page of a newspaper, my eyes drift from the headline to the advertisement at the bottom of the page. If i try to read Malaysiakini, i just zoom past the headlines and click the red, "x" bottom at the right top corner of page. On the other hand, i do know what is happening in Hollywood, who is dating who, and what is delicious and easy to bake. I can read novels on fantasy, crime, thrillers.... and never put them down until the last page.

Isnt that bad? I often wondered when i will start developing some interest in current issues. Always, the answer was one day. But when is "one day" going to come? If a 9-year old girl doesnt know why North Korea is bombing South Korea, it is acceptable. But if a 19-year girl wonders the same thing, people will wonder if she is illiterate.

Am i normal?

When You're Socially Inept

What do you do if you just realise over night how much of a clown you are? Haha.

You laugh when people are saying something serious.

You try to make people feel better, but make things worse.

You worry out loud if you can score when people are worried if they can even pass.

Yup, that's me.

I really need to learn to be more sharp and not so aloof and slow. Or else, i will always be misunderstood.

To anyone that i have hurt or caused any misunderstanding, my apologies.

I am not the type of person to keep any vengeance in heart nor am i the kind that intend to spread malice or ill intent, so dont take me too seriously. I know i might look dead serious when i dont smile, but honestly, i DONT hate you! :D

*peace*