Busy as a bee but beautiful as a princess

Salam. A lot has happened for these past few months. I can barely trace the activities that I've done.

I'm going to be someone's wife in 2 weeks time. WIFE. There's a whole lot responsibilities waiting but I take it as a step for me to grow up, to be in love and be loved for the rest of my life. Mentally, I am ready. I've known him for almost 4 years now and it's time for both of us to settle down.

There are still a lot more to be done and I just need to be wise in juggling my time to finish it all. Pray for me and my happiness.

Cinnamon Roll

Ahhhh....The smell of cinnamon roll is good enough, especially when you're hungry. I'm a lover, and will buy this when I'm in KL. So sad that there's no Cinnabon in JB. So, since I had a huge, massive cravings for it, I decided to be brave and make it by myself. In full determination, I tried. It works!!

This is the result. Baked a tray full, so had to keep them in the freezer. When I wanna munch on them, just need to defrost in microwave and it still taste good! This version, I put a bit of choc, like Cinnabon Choc. Yummy and lovely and I don't have to go to KL anymore just to get over my cravings. Recipe below.

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Methods:
1.When you're warming up the milk, mix in the margarine and salt together.
2. Mix flour, sugar and yeast together in a bowl. Put the eggs in and start mixing them together. Slowly pour in the milk mixture. Mix it together with your hand(s). If it too soft and sticky, put in a bit of flour. Adjust accordingly but make sure not too much flour. Knead the dough and cover with damp towel or seal with a plastic wrapper. Leave for an hour to rise.
3. After the dough has doubled in size, punch and knead it again. Cover and let it double in size again.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius (400 degrees Farenheit). Once the dough is ready, flour a working area lightly and roll it into a big rectangle, 16x21inch. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter together. Spread the mixture onto the dough. Roll the dough tightly and cut into 12 rolls. Place inside a greased 9x13 inch baking tin or glass dish (the latter works better) and leave it to rise again. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Beat together cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy. Spread over the rolls before serving.

P/S: If you want to make a choc version, melt 125gm of bittersweet choc and mix it with the spread. If you want less sweet, lessen the brown sugar. The rolls can be made earlier and place them in the fridge until you're ready to bake them. As for the icing, it can be made earlier too and put in individual plastics (like lollipops) and put them in the freezer. Defrost the icing before serving.

Instant Chocolate Mousse

I got the recipe from another place. It's Nigella Lawson's recipe. But it is so nice. Notice the white stuff? It's the whip cream, I put in extra for the taste. Lovely! This recipe doesn't require any eggs or sugar. Cheating, but taste just as lovely as other chocolate mousse.

Ingredients:
150 gram mini marshmallows
50 gram soft butter
250 gram chopped dark chocolate
60 ml hot water from recently boiled kettle
284ml double cream ( since I want creamier mousse, I used 2 boxes of 200ml heavy whip cream)
Vanilla essence as much as you like

Methods:
1. Put marshmallows, butter, chocolate and hot water in a heavy based saucepan. Melt the contents, then cool them for a while.

2. Whip the cream with vanilla until thick. Mix into cooled chocolate mix.

3. Pour into ramekins / glasses / small mugs, refrigerate until ready.

You can dust with cocoa powder before serving. Enjoy!!

Tiramisu

This is my first trial in making tiramisu. Love it! Here's the recipe.

Ingredients A
 1 cup of strong espresso
1 tbs sugar

Dissolve the sugar in the coffee when it's still hot. Let it stand at room temperature.

Ingredients B
2 egg yolks
50 gram sugar
225 gram mascarpone cheese (substitute with cream cheese if you can't find this)
1 cup heavy whip cream - whip until fluffy

1. Beat the egg yolks in a heat proof bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Transfer over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until it thickens. It will thicken just before boiling, when small bubble appears. This is call zabaglione.

2. Mash the cheese until creamy. Add the zabaglione into the cheese. Beat to mix well.

3. Fold the whip cream into zabaglione until smooth. Don't beat.

Ingredients C
Approximately 20 ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi)
If you don't have ladyfinger, use sponge cake, cut into 1 cm thick

Assembling:
1. Dip the ladyfinger lightly into the coffee, one at a time. It will absorb the liquid and become soft very fast, so work fast.
2. Arrange the ladyfinger in a loaf pan, then top with the zabaglione mix. (If you are using sponge cake, lay the sponge cake on the bottom of the loaf pan. Brush the coffee mixture all over the sponge cake).
3. Repeat the steps until you get the cream to top it last. I managed to get 3 layers.
4. Dust the top with cocoa powder. Chill for about 3-4 hours. Then dust with a little bit more cocoa powder before serve.

Serves 2-4 people

Gifts galore..

Salam..Wow!! This month's packed with activities!! Barely had time to chill out.

The good news are in however. Since I'm celebrating my bufday this month, as usual, Clinique has sent me a birthday card with a free gift. Last year, a really,really good manicure set. It is so good that my mum who has 2 manicure sets will use mine if she wants to cut her nails etc. This year, a passport holder.

I was really happy with it! And to top it of, I entered Clinique Test Team for the brand new Laser Focus Serum. The lucky 30 will be part of the test team and will receive the full size bottle of the serum. And yes!! I am part of the test team!! Can't really wait to go and get my bottle and use it. Thanx Clinique!

Gastronomy fever.........

Salam and hello everyone!!

Well, well, well. It has been a terrific week. I got my full rest (for the rest of the week) and today it's my baking day. I made some grilled salmon with steam veges and served them with lemon sauce. For dessert, I made 4 cups of chocolate mousse. For tea, a pizza and some leftover coffee from tiramisu mix. The tiramisu would be post-dinner dessert. YUM!!

So sorry I couldn't post the salmon pics as they all have been marrying wonderfully in my stomach. Hehehehe.. But I will definitely post the pics and recipes for both tiramisu and chocolate mousse.

Respect

Salam and hi to all. It's a new month and has been quite a while since I last wrote in the blog.

Life is not too good. It's has been hard these past few weeks and occasionally, I was being let down. I mean, if other people can't respect your decision about your own life, what's your life supposed to be? Letting yourself being lead on all the time?

For me, when it's time, it's time. You have a life of your own and there's no use regretting anything over the decisions that you have made. Others, well, will definitely judge and say things. But it's your life and they do not feel or go through what you had to. Think that's all for now.

My story on everything in between: Cake..cake..pizza..

My story on everything in between: Cake..cake..pizza..: "Hello all. I managed to bake 2 cakes and 1 pizza yesterday, as promised. The pizza was a hit that I had to make another 2 today. My choc fu..."

My story on everything in between: My Cheongsam

My story on everything in between: My Cheongsam: "Salam and hello everybody. I went to a lunch invitation last week in conjunction with celebrating the Chinese New Year. As promised, here a..."

My Cheongsam

Salam and hello everybody.

I went to a lunch invitation last week in conjunction with celebrating the Chinese New Year. As promised, here are some pics of me wearing it:

Me posing...arghh!!

Ang Bao lai...

Yeah! I did get ang bao/ang pao since I'm still single (but not available). I really enjoyed my day out that day.

By the way, here's the name and whereabouts of the shop I went and got myself this lovely Cheongsam:
Lip Sing Enterprise, 3rd floor, Holiday Plaza, JB. It's on the top floor, above Pizza Hut. The shop also sells wedding gowns and dresses (nice ones!). Visit this place if you're looking for something nice and affordable.

Until then, tata!!

My story on everything in between: Cake..cake..pizza..

My story on everything in between: Cake..cake..pizza..: "Hello all. I managed to bake 2 cakes and 1 pizza yesterday, as promised. The pizza was a hit that I had to make another 2 today. My choc fu..."

Cake..cake..pizza..

Hello all.

I managed to bake 2 cakes and 1 pizza yesterday, as promised. The pizza was a hit that I had to make another 2 today. My choc fudge is wonderful. The cheesecake, well, only half left. Here are some pictures of all three dishes that I made:

 The choc fudge cake

Pizza

 New York Cheesecake

Tonight, we managed to 'demolish' 1 pizza. Another 1 is still in the oven, good for school tomorrow (at least I won't go hungry). The cakes will also be in the lunch box :)

Anyone who would like to order the cakes, you can contact me here.

So much so...

Salam.

So today I woke up quite early. I managed to finish marking all books. Now I'm doing the class's duty roster and timetable. Finally I have the time to make these.

The chocolate fudge cake is still warm in the oven. Tomorrow I'm going to pour the ganache on the cake. And tomorrow I'm going to make the New York Cheesecake, with oreo base. The base is already in the freezer. Can't wait till tomorrow.

My story on everything in between: A day well spent..

My story on everything in between: A day well spent..: "Salam. Hello. I can say today is quite a productive day. Went to the school this morning to pass some forms. Then back home, folding all c..."

My story on everything in between: Newcomers @ home..

My story on everything in between: Newcomers @ home..: "Salam. It has been quite a day. Woke up late, and with flu, darn! So, I spent the day marking some exercise books and cook some crab stick i..."

My story on everything in between: The importance of treating small cuts or wounds

My story on everything in between: The importance of treating small cuts or wounds: "Hello. Every once in a while, we will get ourselves into little mishap. A razor cut, picking on pimples, knife cut, pet bites/scratche..."

My story on everything in between: Blood donation in Angsana, JB

My story on everything in between: Blood donation in Angsana, JB: "Salam. Today I went to Carrefour in search for Ronza and Larry's bathing sand and small 'potty' for them. It was a surprise to find the pet ..."

My story on everything in between: Chicken Mayo Japanese Style

My story on everything in between: Chicken Mayo Japanese Style: "Today, I managed to make some chicken mayo. It's simple, easy and delicious. Try it. Ingredients for 2 persons: 4 boneless chicken fillet ..."

Blood donation in Angsana, JB

Salam. Today I went to Carrefour in search for Ronza and Larry's bathing sand and small 'potty' for them. It was a surprise to find the pet shop in Carrefour opened as usual despite Chinese New Year (the shop is owned by Chinese). I found the stuffs and went to Angsana to buy some cloth and learn how to make awning for my shawls.

Walking around Angsana after I bought some cloths, my fiance and I stumble upon blood donation drive, held by KKM. My fiance was so excited as he has been talking about donating again. So, he queued up, got his HB checked and went to the chair. I stood by his side, taking pictures. Here's a pic of him:

He's only acting. This is the 5th time he donated (he's now eligible to be charged into first class ward). I on the other hand was not able to donate because of 2 factors - the red flag is up and it has been only 4 months since I had my surgery. If I want to donate, I have to wait a year post-surgery. :( (I managed to donate twice, the 3rd and 4th was rejected because my HB was really low, under 10).

While waiting for his bag to fill up, we asked the attendance the interval between blood donating. He said 2 months. Which means, the blood bank is running low on blood! They are searching for more 'O' type while 'AB' are not welcomed.

So, here's my pledge to all of Malaysians out there. Go donate your blood, especially if you know you're 'O' type. Our blood bank all over the country is running low on blood. Help them as we never knew when we're in need.

The blood donation drive will be in Angsana, 2nd floor from Thursday, 3rd February 2011 until Sunday, 6th February 2011. Go out there and help save lives.

Chicken Mayo Japanese Style

Today, I managed to make some chicken mayo. It's simple, easy and delicious. Try it.

Ingredients for 2 persons:
4 boneless chicken fillet - cut into bite size
2-3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
Togarashi (it's a Japanese pepper/spice, sold in Jusco in orange bottle)
Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie mayonnaise, also sold in Jusco)
Oil for frying

Methods:
1. Fry the chicken but not until golden brown. Make sure they're still juicy and soft. Place on kitchen towel.
2. Discard the oil. Put the chicken back into the pan/wok on medium heat. You can use another pan/wok or wash the one you're using if you don't want the dish to be too oily.
3. Put in the soy sauce, and mix it well with the chicken. We just want the soy sauce to coat the chicken. Turn off the gas.
4. Mix in Togarashi according to taste. It's not that spicy but rather a very mild heat.
5. Then mix in the mayonnaise. Serve warm with rice.

Note: You can use the regular mayonnaise but it will not taste the same. These products that I've mentioned are only available in Jusco and some Carrefour. Good luck!

The importance of treating small cuts or wounds

Hello. 

Every once in a while, we will get ourselves into little mishap. A razor cut, picking on pimples, knife cut, pet bites/scratches, fall, bang and almost anything that will result in either small or big cuts and wounds. Some of us usually neglects small cuts. Well, let us not. I've had some small cuts or wounds previously, all which I ignored and left untreated. The result? Bad infection and unsightly marks.

1. Now, first of all, if you have any small cuts or big ones, stop the bleeding. 

2. Apply pressure to the cuts or wounds with your fingers or hands or better with some tissues or gauze. 

3. Once the bleeding stop, check the cuts or wounds and clean it/them with clean water and put antiseptic on it/them. Antiseptic such as Betadine is very good to prevent infection to your cuts/wounds.

4. NEVER put things like Dettol directly onto the cuts/wounds. Dettol can be used to clean your good hand(s) before treating your cuts/wounds, but never meant as the antiseptic for cuts/wounds. Use diluted Dettol to clean your equipments and stuffs used to treat your cuts/wounds.

5. Cover the cuts/wounds with plaster, preferably a water resistant plaster. Replace the plaster once or twice a day until the cuts/wound dry.

6. Don't pick on the scab. If it itches too much, put on a thin layer of hydrocortisone cream. That should do.

7. Once the scab falls, put Vitamin E oil/lotion on the scar. The skin will recover in no time. Bio-Oil works for me.

Hope this helps.

You're a firework

Salam. 

Don't get me wrong aaaaaa...The Chinese New Year this year gave me a chance to snap some pics of fireworks. It has been quite some time since I last hold my camera and snap pictures. Living in a China town of Kulai, surrounded with Chinese neighbourhoods, I am enjoying my time tonight watching the amazing fireworks all around me and watched someone's wishes fly up. The lanterns filled the night sky and I watched in awe. I was lucky enough that my ayah woke up and I took the chance asking him to accompany me to go outside the house for a while to snap pictures. Met some of my neighbours and greeted them. So, here are the pics (some might be blurry as I didn't put on the flash).

This one was captured from the porch of my house. I wasn't out yet. Two fireworks at the same time.

These are the big ones. I was waiting for quite some time before I managed to capture these. Some are blur.

This is my fave. Noticed the solitary lantern?

This is the solitary lantern after the fireworks behind it ended. It went up high, joining other lanterns.

I went back inside and I smelled like sulfur! But perhaps tonight will be the night where I don't have to switch on the mosquito killer and mat. The fireworks have ceased to minimum now. Perhaps tomorrow another round of fireworks.

Newcomers @ home..

Salam.

It has been quite a day. Woke up late, and with flu, darn! So, I spent the day marking some exercise books and cook some crab stick in popia sheets. Served with Japanese mayonnaise and regular mayonnaise. Lovely snacks during the rain.

Later in the evening, my other half came and we went out to Giant, Tesco and Econsave, trying to find Friskies, 7-Up (for bandung), good cheese (for pizza and cheesecake!), and unexpected newcomers at home. 2 dwarf hamsters. Yes, I have 6 cats at home and now 2 hamsters. Hahahaha...Definitely not going to mix them together. So I went to all these malls to find wood shavings for hamster, the food, and the water bottle. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the water bottle, but I managed to get the other two things at IOI Mall, where today is the last day of rabbit exhibition (they sell these stuffs because rabbit uses the same thing too). Here's the pics of those two lil hamsters:

So, I named them after 2 characters in Mousehunt. The one on the left (white one) is Larry and the other one (black) is Ronza. Larry = he, Ronza = she. Both really love to bite. But once inside our hands, they're so cute!

So my plan for tomorrow are:

1. bake the choc fudge cake.

2. some of the batter from the choc fudge will be used as the base for my lovely new york cheesecake.

3. pizza.

4. chicken mayo - Japanese style

Hungry anyone?

A day well spent..

Salam. Hello.


I can say today is quite a productive day. Went to the school this morning to pass some forms. Then back home, folding all clothes and washed the white ones. Then went to JB to find a cheongsam. Found it in a shop in Holiday Plaza. It's verrrrrrry nice. Here's the pic:

Got it at RM200. I think it's worth the price. Very nice and fits me perfectly. I hand wash the Cheongsam and put it in the washing machine for spin dry. Then, into the dryer, set it at gentle dry. I did all this because the laundry shop will be closed till next week! I would not be able to get it on Sunday (have an invitation) if I send it for dry cleaning. Thank God, the Cheongsam had no damages in any form. To complete the look, I decided to get myself a pair of heels. My legs and my particular right knee is now able to take the pressure, provided that I don't wear heels to climb up and down any stairs. Anyway, the heels only costs me RM 1! Yes, one! Hahaha... I won myself 100k in the form of member's point in IOI Mall last year for entering "Guess The Price" Contest. So, I redeemed some points for cash vouchers. Saved some money here. Here's the shoes:

And here's the pic of the Clinique chubby lipstick:

The lipstick is sooo good and the colour stays on my lip longer, without the drying effect. As I said before, it's a 3 in 1 goody. Lip balm, lipstick and lip gloss all together. And it's only RM 50. Girls out there who doesn't want a mess or doesn't want to clutter your bag with too many stuffs, get this lipstick a.s.a.p.

And I got a shocked when my Angah called me this evening around 5 saying that he's almost home! I didn't know he was coming back to Kulai. So he said to come back home and then we all go for dinner in Tebrau. I said yes. So tonight, we went to JB but unfortunately, our favourite stalls are close for Chinese New Year! :( In the end, we went to ZZ @ Warisan and had some lovely and delicious Mee Bandung Tulang, Kuey Teow Kerang, ABC and bandung soda. Yum....

So, today, I went to JB twice. It was tiring but I had fun doing it with my loved ones. Until tomorrow, tata!

Treat your injuries well

I have been through a lot of injuries. I've a broken nasal bone due to softball, I have went through a surgery and had my right knee patellar realigned, with a permanent screw in it. I have, without fail, sprain both ankles in sports, any sport. And there are other injuries too.

But all of those injuries, only two I managed to treat it well - the nose and knee. The rest, most of the time, I went for a massage. You got it right. The traditional Malay massage. Lots of pain.

So, here's my advice to all of you out there who had any kind of injuries during games or even leisure. Treat your injuries well. If you sprain your ankle or any moving parts, first, DO NOT MASSAGE it! Elevate the injured part and put an ice pack (make sure the ice pack is covered with towel or cloth) or get some crushed ice, put them in a plastic bag and wrap in towel or cloth, and place the ice on the injured part for at least 15 minutes. Repeat this treatment every 2-3 hours until the swollen subsides. If you noticed any sharp or stabbing pain, go to the ER. an X-Ray or maybe MRI will tell if you have a more serious injuries.

More will come under this section. See you soon!

Erk!!

Salam and hello all.

So sorry. I was supposed to post one yesterday, but the seminar caught me up. Yup! I went to a 2 days seminar in Melaka. Just came back this evening, arrived around 5pm. The next thing was I took my bath, dressed up and went out with my other half. Where did I go during this unexpected monsoon? I went shopping!

Got myself the brand new 3 in 1 lipstick by Clinique. It's lip balm, lipstick and lip gloss all in one chubby stick. The colour is verrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy nice...Luv it!

However, today I want to talk about the drivers in Malaysia. The not so pandai ones. As my mama and I were cruising on the highway back home this evening, I can't help but to notice a few things our drivers do:

1. some are so negligence that they don't even bother to turn on their headlights during the rain, driving like F1 drivers. It gets worst when the car is dark coloured.

2. the express bus's drivers. Man, they cruise the highway during the heavy rain like nobody's business. Tailgating small cars and practically maintained on the right lane the whole time. I wonder what will happen if the small car suddenly breaks?

Not all drivers are well trained and skillful on the road. So, here's my pledge to drivers out there. Please behave yourselves, especially during this raining season.

P/S: I knew I promised the pic of the cake. But I failed to capture one. I have some leftovers though. Will try to upload that one. Till then, tata!

It's time to unwind...

It has been a really hectic week for me. What's with the appointment with ENT specialist (whom I have to wait for more than 3 hours to see) and adding more disappointment where my car was given a ticket!! Then another long queue at TM to pay my bills.

Today, after a very long time since I last bake anything, I went on to bake my favourite choc fudge cake this morning! It was so yummy. I brought some to school. In the end, I have to bake another one for tomorrow, where my brother would be meeting me and mum in Melaka to pick up his kids. Ooohh!! I can't wait to show all of you the picture of this cake.


Since I had quite a free time this morning, I managed to send an invoice to the company that has been hiring me for the past 2 years as their freelance translator (BI-BM or BM-BI). The money is not bad. I love every minute of it. And that adds to the reason why I need a smart phone a.s.a.p. as they send the jobs thru email and it's hard for me to access to it during working hours.

Until tomorrow. I will definitely be uploading the pics of the cake.

New year...new beginning

Today is the 18th day of the first month of a new year. I have been very busy like a bee since the new year started. Life is now much more hectic and demanding and that requires me to be more alert and (if this is even possible) more energetic than before. My knee has already heal but it requires me another 3 more months before I can do any physical activities like yoga. If it is called running or jogging, I have to wait another year for it. Yikes! But it's all part of healing process. I can now bend 115 degrees and am doing it bit by bit.

Have many resolutions but have no idea whether can achieve them by the year's end. But I make them all realistic. Nothing too abstract. Insyaallah, I will achieve 'em all.

Until then, I will write again when I'm free.