Tuesday, June 14, 2011

List of Potential Goodies to Bake

1. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting ^^
2. Brownies (appearance needs to be improved) ^^
3. Blondies (likewise with blondies) ^^
4. Apple Strudel Cheesecake ^^
5. Oreo Cheesecake ^^
6. Cornflake Cookies ^^
7. Cream cheese tarts ^^
8. Red velvet cake
9. Chocolate Oreo Cake ^^
10. Apple Crumble Pie (needa work on the crust)
11. Traditional Apple Pie (needa work on the crust)


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Two Sides to a Story

A little something a friend shared with me, found it on fb.

So guys (and girls), it's never easy to not take people for granted.. but at least make an effort not to kay? Because you never know, that one person you took for granted might be loved and appreciated by others.

Boy: I broke up with her.

His Best Friend: What happened?

Boy: She’s just too much for me.

His Best Friend: What makes you say that? What did she do wrong?

Boy: Well, for one.. She only cared about her appearance. Always had to look good, always took forever to get dressed! So insecure..

His Best Friend: So, you broke her heart because she wanted to keep your eyes locked on her? She wanted you to see that you have the prettiest girl under your sleeve and not think otherwise? I see..

Boy: Oh.. Well.. She’d often call me or text me asking where I am, who I’m with, telling me not to smoke, not to drink. She’s so clingy!

His Best Friend: So, you broke her heart because she cares about your well being? Because she cares about you a lot? And her greatest fear is losing you. I see..

Boy: But.. Uhh.. Well, she’d always cry when I say something slightly mean. She can’t handle anything. She’s a crybaby!

His Best Friend: So, you broke her heart because she has feelings? And because she just wanted to hear you say you love her? I see..

Boy: I.. Well! You know, she’d get jealous easily. I could barely talk to other girls! She’s so annoying! I had to hide it from her so she wouldn’t bitch about it.

His Best Friend: So, you broke her heart because she just wanted you to commit to her? She thought you were faithful, but you lied so she could find out later and hurt even more? She just wanted the guy she loves the most to love only her. I see..

Boy: Well, she..

His Best Friend: You broke up with her because she’s good for you? She just wanted the best for you? She’s broken now because you were selfish. Are you proud?

Boy: I broke her heart.. Because I couldn’t see what was happening.. What happened to me?

His Best Friend: You lost the girl that loved you like no one else could. You see? You didn’t want her when all she ever wanted was you. THAT’S what happened.

___________________________________________________

Think about it, when she’s too much for you.. She just wants the best for you. Because to her YOU’RE the best. If you don’t like something, talk to her about it. You mean so much to her. Don’t just give up. Don’t just leave because you want the easy way out.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lemon Mousse

Made something bake-free last night. My all-time favourite dessert... mousse!!!

I got the recipe from Cookie Madness. Just perfect, what i was looking for, coz i want a light flavoured mousse, zero chocolate. For those who are unaware of what mousse is, it is a cream-based dessert..no doubt sweet, and meant to eat chilled. Sort of a mixture between ice-cream and pudding. Normal variants are in chocolate, strawberries (or any berry) and vanilla.

This picture doesnt look like much coz i just simply digged out some leftover frozen raspberry puree. Will improve on the appearance the next time, but the taste is already a winner. ;p
Note: Long windy emo post, coming up!!!

Or not.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Bliss in Bali: Day 3

30 May 2011


Visited a whole lot of temples again today. Bali might be in Indonesia, but the majority is made up of Hindus. Dont get me wrong, the temples here are unlike the typical temples we have in Malaysia. Somehow, almost all the temples are strategically placed in places with breathtaking scenery or is placed in a middle of a beautiful garden.

The first temple of the day had an amazing garden.. full of grass and trees.

Also went to another temple which is a floating temple in the middle of a lake. Went there when it was drizzling so the lake sort of had a mysterious look to it. Nevertheless, still beautiful.


Below is the lake in the background. From left to right - Puan Wong (never taught me before but her son was my classmate for the five years of secondary school!), me and Puan Ang (my F3 Maths teacher, lol).
Also visited this place with this "gerbang" thingy. One of the teachers, got so excited when she saw this. She said that she had been teaching geography all this while and this was the first time she actually got a chance to see it in real life. Quite touched to know that there are some teachers out there passionate of what they teach. :)The below pic was taken at Tanah Lot's beach. Tanah Lot is actually a shopping area, somthing like Petaling Street where they sell batik cloth, hats, etc. and you can bargain for the best price. This is where i got my lovely hat. I like it 'cause it makes me feel... elegant? Anyway, going back to my description of Tanah Lot, at the end of all those stalls and little shops, you will reach the sea. Like in the picture below. The wind is strong and so are the waves. But it is mostly rocky, not much beach here.
Can you see the waves splashing upon the rocks?
And this.. (below) was the highlight of my dinner! It was a dinner with about 5-6 different types of fishes cooked in different ways but fish isnt really my thang. I was busily gulping down this delicious dessert while everyone was still busy with fish. It might not look like much but the flavour is great. Shaved ice with condensed milk and there are loads of goodlies under all that ice.. pink sagu, avacado, coconut meat, black glutionius rice and you can see the cherry on the top right? oh man, i loved it so much Ms Margaret (my F4&5 sejarah teacher) actually offered me to eat hers. but i didnt, 'cause i cant be so... discourteous.
Above pic is tapai. A common delicacy among Malays and kampung people... It is fermented tapioca. Taste like alcohol, texture is soft like durian. Lovely!


Friday, June 3, 2011

Deep Fried Oreos

Sort of got a little tired of all that baking. Somehow for now, all that greasy-weasy feeling of butter and oil sorts of turns me off baking. Maybe looking for new areas of food to explore..(like nyonya kuihs)? Or maybe i shall just give it a rest for now?

Dumpling festival begins today or begun yesterday, if i am not mistaken. Another year has passed, each year i vowed to learn the art of making it but i always procrastinate another year.

Offhandedly made deep fried oreos 'cause i had to finish off the remaining Oreos before i go off to Perak this weekend. Next weekend might not be here either.. high chance i will be visiting a friend in Melaka. I have acquired a fondness for travelling. It keeps my mind off unnecessary stuff and allows me to live for the moment. No longer do i fret over who said what about me or what that person did to piss me off. I just look forward to what new and exciting things i get to see for the day.

To be frank, I really wanted to go to Medan to volunteer during the period of 13th -27th June 2011. There are so many reasons for me to get away from this life.. but because of the possible dangers that my parents highlighted, i decided not to. *another chance i am allowing to slip away :(*

Anyway, back to the deep fried oreos, my dad and grandma seemed to enjoy it much. Just imagine an oreo enveloped by a pancake! Used the remaining batter to make pancakes with chocolate lava.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Bliss in Bali: Day 2

29 May 2011

A distinct characteristic about islands is that the rain comes and go as quickly as you can type the words, "I love Bali." The morning of the 29th was such a day. But it did not halt our plans of going to the beach. I managed to dip in the beach near the hotel that we stayed. The best beach is still Kuta Beach for i love its strong waves but this beach was good enough. At least, it is clean. *wide grin*
After the short trip to the beach, I came back and continued my swim in the hotel pool. Equally clean!
We went to a lot of places that day. The hotel is in the south part of Bali but I remember that we went north that day. Visited Berantam Lake (a crater lake) and its volcano (which is still active). The scenery was breath-taking from the restaurant where we had our delectable buffet lunch. More about that later. The weather is similar to that of our Cameron Highlands or Genting. Look at the scenery below. Volcano on the left, and if you can see... the crater lake is on the right (below the hill).This was my first serving for lunch. I would say that this was the most delicious meal i had throughout the trip. Because of its variety of choices as well as how good the food taste. My favourite was the pork satay, black glutinous rice with santan (dessert), fried rice, pumpkin rice with coconut shaving and syrup, plus some sticky kuih with gula melaka. Actually everything was very good. Another place i will come back to when i visit Bali again.Ta da! I hve to show you this picture because of the design of the entrance. Every temple has this kind of entrance. Note the two pillar shapes. I didnt remember the names of all the temples i went to as i went to quite a few. But this temple was made for the royals and had a beautiful garden. Very vast with much greenery.

Also visited this place that made kain batik in the morning.And this cute little animal at the bottom is called a luwak. You will be amazed to know its important function in the process of making Bali coffee. It is fed coffee seeds and people will collect its faeces, wash the shit off and reclaim the 'processed and digested' coffee seeds. It is then roasted and grinded. Of course, they wash it properly and everything but you know, for me, i cant imagine drinking that thing. Besides, i am not a fan of coffee. But coffee-lovers like my mom said it tasted so-so. Nevertheless, the process is interesting.
Hah, tea break at Dirty Duck Diner. It serves many other dishes but its dirty duck is the most famous. Let me share the story with you... the restaurant was just like any other normal restaurant. But one day, a dirty duck (literally) ran into the restaurant. And since then, the name stuck. But naturally, the duck they serve is also pretty quite delicious. The taste is almost similar to fried three-layer pork we normally have duringCNY, except that this is a duck.
(below) Beautiful typical kampung scenery as we had our duck. If your eyesight is good enough, you can spot the man driving the cute little ducks back to their home. Quack quack!

We had dinner at the Golden Palace Restaurant. Typical chinese fare. Nothing much to say about that. Went back to the hotel and strolled around the area with the others. Retired to bed, looking forward to the next day.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Bliss in Bali: Day 1


28 May 2011

Departed from LCCT around 11.10am. Bali was somewhat how i would have imagined it to be. Sunny, busy with people, etc. The first day itself proved not to be a disappointment.

We went to this temple in Uluwatu - famous for its monkeys. Apparently they are trained to steal / snatch peoples glasses, necklaces, cameras or anything dangling from your body. The monkeys are sort of owned by these people and to retrieve your belongings, you must pay a certain fee (which can go up to rP200000). I witnessed a few snatches, but thankfully i was never the victim.


Another memorable place we visited was in the evening. Kuta Beach is the most romantic place i have been to thus far. Sandy beaches, gentle waves, beautiful sunset, breezy weather, dinner on the shore with lighted candles under the starry sky, a delicious meal... it was everything i could dream off. No doubt if any guy proposed to the woman of his dreams here, chances of getting a "yes" would shoot up by 50%, even if it wasnt 100% probability in the first place. I definitely want to come back here with my future ...


Went back to the 4.5 star hotel - Hotel Bali Rani. Not bad. Check it out. Crystal clear pool, with a lake and verandah in the centre of the hotel, clean and well-decorated rooms.