slack weekends
yo peeps.. i'm back from the luxuries of the weekend. a windfall of tuition cancellations over the weekend resulting in a pretty relaxing time. ain't exactly feeling in the pink of health either with the enormous amount of garbage consumed over the weekends. *gulp*... i knoe i knoe.. x physique around the corner.... argh! anyway, updates from the past weekend coming soon! think... the lovely aroma of baked apple tart wafting thru the hallways.. hehe..
chill out
For the Chill-out souls...
reminder: its a Friday. get your game on...
here's a soothing melody to calm your spirits for those who just wanna lay back and relax...
Sara Bareillies singing 'Gravity' live in San Francisco.
Just beautiful...
Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone.
You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much
than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.
CHORUS
Set me free, leave me be.
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall,
just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.
You loved me 'cause I'm fragile.
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while
and all my fragile strength is gone.
CHORUS
Set me free, leave me be.
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall,
just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.
I live here on my knees as
I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need here on the ground.
But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down
Click here for a better live version of that song.
Chocolate Therapy
what happens when life hands Sihan a bunch of odd twists and turns and a bunch of lemons? hmph.. She turns it into a chocolate cake!
well, truth is.. gotta tame the crazy urge to bake after a few stressful days and incidents. and of course find a reason to try out recipes from my newly purchased books as well as those i've borrowed from the library. This time, with a touch of luck, i chanced upon a recipe from the book 'Southern Cakes' tt required no use of the mixer. (fyi, my poor mixer is still stuck in the workshop getting fixed up. *sobz*). well.. easy recipes always appeal to me. quick gratification they would call it...
BUT in the end, the cake's recipe didn't turn out as easy as i hoped it to be. haha. perhaps a little fumbly from the use of so many different containers and pans! rawrs.. thank goodness i dun do the washing. Oops.. hehe.
Chocolate Wet Cake with Speedy Chocolate Frosting as it called in the sweet little book gurantees a 'unique texture, somewhere between fudge, cake and a milk chocolate candy bar. ' hmph.. after reading tt excerpt, i was quick to jump the gun. tt sounded lyke a feast to my tastebuds and ever growing appetite (my gosh.. doesn't sound right at my age now. but oh well...)
glancing quickly thru the recipe.. Dammit. i've got to shop for buttermilk! freaks.. just when i was worrying about fitting in a tiny shopping trip into my packed schedule. i saw a tiny note below the page tt made my heart leap about in joy. a quick alternative to buttermilk, stir 1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice into 1/2 cup of milk and let stand for 10min! woots.. tt sounded easy enough. now i've got all the ingredients at hand! baking shldn't be such a chore... i could smell freshly baked chocolate cake at the tip of my nose...
Chocolate Wet Cake
with Speedy Chocolate Frosting
ingredients
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar (i cut it down to 1 1/2 cup sugar though)
1 tsp ground cinammon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
- preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius
- grease a 13-by-9 inch baking pan generously
- combine coca, water, butter in saucepan and stir till butter melts to form a chocolate sauce
- let the mixture come to a gentle boil and remove from the heat. cool.
- combine flour, sugar, cinammon, baking powder and salt together woth fork.
- in another bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and vanilla, stir with fork.
- Combine all 3 mixtures and use a wooden spoon to stir everything together to form a smooth chocolate batter
- Pour batter into tray and bake for 25mins.
- Cool cake in pan.
Speedy chocolate frosting
ingredients
1 stick butter
2 tblspoon cocoa
3 tblspoon milk
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
- combine butter, cocoa and milk and stir over heat till melted into a smooth chocolate sauce.
- remove from heat and add confectioners sugar and vanilla to pan.
- Using a wooden spoon, beat mixture till sugar disappears and frosting reaches medium thick, spreadable consistency.
finally... all done! hehe. now now one's complaining about all that work coz the reactions were phenomenal! little bro commented tt its lyke a eating a apple crumble in a chocolate cake (strange as it seems.. i pretty much fancy tt idea!), the boss at work gave it thumbs up (imagine the italian mamma mia sign followed by a face tt melts with ectasy from a chocolate overload..). my gosh.. makes my day! colleagues loved it too.
only scrooge around was wang zhiheng who complained tt it was a tad too sweet and the sugar in the frosting was too granular (hmph. i'll solve tt problem next time yar?). oh well. at least i lyked it as well! *tee hee*
current mood: psyched about baking!
pls stay tuned for more baking escapades and recipes to come!
I know I am supposed to be in deep slumber right now. Just thinking of the ardous hours of work awaiting me at the slaughter house tmr morning just puts me in a mini panic situation. Kind of like what you experience when you were a kid way back on the night before a major examination and you can’t sleep. However, with age, comes a sense of laidbackness, with a slight adopted ‘heck-care’ attitude with results and other people’s reaction. Or perhaps it is just me alone in my escapade.
As I try to focus on penning my thoughts down, the lights switch off and a shrill voice fills the quiet room. 2 am in the morning, and the sounds of siren sound off. No.. don’t worry, there ain’t a fire; on the contrary.. its my mum. My head bursts with overwhelming frustrations and un-sorted out thoughts.. I’ve got to focus. Let it all out…
So here’s the long story cut short, my circumstance at the moment is strangely one similar to tt experience by any workaholic or someone having a over-the-top devotion to the cause of his work, the only exception being that I’ve got my complaints too, and halfway down the road, I feel like throwing down all responsibilities and restoring my hermit lifestyle. The only thing tt stops me in my tracks however are my lovely tutees.. each a different character, a different personality; all of whom I see in them various needs, wants and desires. My goal to help them has surpassed my own limitations, reaching out to them has exceeded the boundaries of my comfort zone. However, even as I sacrifice the slight inkling of possibly having a social life of any sorts, if questioned to whether I have thought of giving up, the answer would be a definite yesh. But somehow, destiny beckons in its strangest ways, luring me to my fate.
In the process, I have neglected my family and boyfriend. This I am quick to admit, and as both seek my attention with whatever time I have remaining; I am stretched. Thin as paper. Wisp as an almond crisp. conflicts on both sides with regards to the allocation of time slots spent on either are frequent. Without a warning, mum is quick to give me a lashings with her tongue, sharp as a knife. “can spend time tuitioning and spend time with bf, why do you not have time for the family? What are you doing? Do you not care about the family?” in a fluster, I am met with a downpour of accusations , my weary heart struggled for answers.. yet somehow or another, I knew tt I had no way of defending myself. No way to make myself heard. On the other side, it concerns late nights at babe’s place where I often fall asleep whilst in my short stay at his house. Following tt, an abrupt halt to beauty slp and a long drive home(which I dread and hate!) and a hour of tossing and turning before I drift back to sleep again. Life is pretty much a bore nowadays with it seemingly running like a tape on re-runs, the only difference is that the character Sihan has become aware of her relentless drive and role in the movie, nothing is new anymore. Added stresses from both parties, vying for attention. Along with the deprivation of time alone to oneself has driven her to certain insanity. I feel sorry for all those around me who are suffering as I suffer. I wish I could make things better, but my strength is little and dwindling. Fatiugue runs thru my bones.
Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Well, lets just say tt i had never had a penchant for baking muffins. as compared to cupcakes, these were duller, less sweet and more wholesome in a way tt didn't quite reach out to me since i had a nagging sweet tooth 24/7. however, with the purchased pint of fresh blueberries calling out to me from the fridge. i knew that i just had to find the perfect blueberry muffin recipe to do these lovely little exhorbitantly prized violet beauties justice... meanwhile, figured tt a muffin recipe would do wonders in accentuating the flavors of the star player blueberries better than some flowery sacharrine cake recipe.Finally settled on a recipe after much contemplation and several modifications. Inspired by Jaycynth's recipe for Blueberry Crumb Muffins taken from the allrecipes.com. the recipe produced moist muffins with a sweet brown sugar crumb, perfect for a late night snack coupled with a towering glass of cold milk before settling in for the night. tear the muffin apart with your fingers and enjoy the explosion of purple juices within the moist cake as the blueberries burst spreading its exburant shades of purple all around.
makes 12 servings
Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius. grease of line muffin pans
- In a large bowl, mix flour, white and brown sugars, salt and baking powder. Stir in oil, eggs, milk and vanilla essence until well blended and very few lumps remain. Batter will look very watery but don't worry!
- Gently fold in Blueberries being careful not to mash them. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full or slightly more for a larger muffin top.
- For the crumb topping, mix together flour, softened butter, cinammon and brown sugar. place a small amount on top of each muffin.
- Bake muffins in oven for 20-30 mins (i used 25mins), or until skewer comes out clean and dry.
- Tuck in!!!
Also, I have just returned from watching the movie' The Leap Years'... i must admit tt i'm very impressed. one of the better local productions i've seen in a long time. Catherine Lim has outdone herself with a simple yet heartfelt storyline with a convincing cast to boot. All in all, the movie is a wonderful film to indulge in with loved ones and close frens. beware.. bring some tissue paper alone for the teary eyed!
Movie rating: 4/5
doing fine
we're doing just fine!
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Rainbow falls
and whats on the other side...
those are the lyrics to one of my all time favourite song.. sang by Kermit the Frog.. SERIOUS.. its the rainbow song. well.. legend has it tt if u can find the end of the rainbow, you will suceed in finding the pot of gold tt lies at the end of it as well. hehe. knowing tt, i HAD to had to sign up for the rainbow falls trip organised by odac. and who else who i pull along besides babe? *sniggers*so lets see, the trip came off to a good start with a late night bus ride from Larkin Johor to the Kuantan bus terminal. a 4 hours drive up, pretty fast if u ask me for a 500+ km distance. the uncle was probably travelling at a whopping 120km per hour.. gosh.. i fear for my life sometimes. But still, sleep was ample on the bus.
By the time we reached Kuantan and travelled by another bus to the town of Lembing.. it was still 5 o clock in the morning. I was greeted to the sights of a ghosttown with deserted streets and randomly lit street lamps. Scary if u ask me but thankfully the air was fresh due to completely wildnerness in the surroundings. the rest of the group were more or less hyped up and prepared for the climb to start.
Next we loaded up onto the lorries and 4WD to carry the group of us to the foot of the climb. Little did i expect this drive to roughly over an hour long. gosh.. by the end of it, my butt was aching from the frequent bumps on the paths and my face itched from having passing branches whip your face as u travelled across the uneven roads. it was a thrilling experience through as the chilly winds and the night skies heightened the experience and created a sense of misguided adventure.
us on the 4WD
By the time we had arrived at the start of the climbing trail, dawn had broken. everyone was rather weary from the long rides tt required a substantial amount of energy to sit still and resist the defying motions of the swaying vehicles as they made its way thru the undergrowth.
all in all, the climb was rather easy with the group being spilt up several times along the way probably due to differences in skill level. not so seasoned climbers struggled to keep up with the pack, whereas the stronger ones lead the way at a comfortable pace.
i dread walking on the stony rock paths though as i didn't have a very strong ankle to vouch for, neither did i have a very good sense of balance. my only pillar of strength, babe, whom i refused to accept any help from at first but relented towards the end as dehydration and fatigued kicked in on the way down.
finally after a rather short climb, we reached our destination where we were treated to a rather grand sighting. a sharp drop of the granite cliffs with a strange floating platform of green growth and a pool of water below a cascafing waterfall tt dropped off the 100m cliffs. I was awed initially by the grand spectacle of nature. Of course i've seen better but not for a long time since. Hence, a moment to connect with nature was indeed a precious time for me. A gush of cold air tt was generated due to the cascading waters off the high cliffs were a welcome treat for us, the tired climbers as we finished the ascent. 
Swimming thru the waters was no joke though as the waters were a frigid cold unwelcoming temperature which i shunned as i waded thru the pool. my gosh.. it was so cold tt i had goosebumps all throughout the time tt i stayed ard the waterfalls...
Still, Babe and i managed to capture a few pictures together. it was memorable for us as it was the first time we were overseas together. Wats more, spending time doing something adventourous together made it seem much more meaningful as compared to spending a normal weekend shopping, eating and other mundane stuff together. glad he was here with me...
here are the trip i.c s in the shot above. thank you yilin and weillong for bringing us this marvellous trip!
looking up...
i love you babe!
pity the waters were rather sacare tt day leading to a very very faint rainbow to be formed. hearsay tt its possible to see even 2 waterfalls at times...*sigh*
after climbing down and taking a bus back to Kuantan where we went on to check into our backpackers inn at Luxury hotel (wat irony), the rest of the evening was free and easy. So instead of joining the others for games and movies, i decided to bring babe to my usual haunt here at Kuantan. the area near Hyatt Hotel, home to the lovely stretch of beach which is reallie reallie popular among couples. too bad, i forgot to bring my camera along hence there are no photos for this segment of the trip. but for keep sakes, i shall narrate it! hehe. so babe and i spent the moments before sunset clambering up the stone boulders along the beach and lying there in eachs arms as we enjoyedthe sea breeze and the crashing of the waves on the shores. after tt we walked along the sandy beaches to hyatt hotel where we enjoyed a sumptious dinner and were treated to some 'eye candy' (or rather not.. spoilt our appetites in fact.. haha). nonetheless, we enjoyed each others company in the presence of a perfect ambience coupled by a strong sea breeze.
Cakes from Secret Recipe...
now.. its back to reality.. back to work.. *sulks*
lazy me
an ordered cake, chocolate sponge laden with sugar syrup doused in rum, filled with vanilla cream studded with oodles of valrhona chocolate pearls and almond meal for tt nutty texture and topped with dark chocolate ganache.
Embraer's Legacy 600
Me in the cockpit.. be very afraid...
yep.. and i'm afraid tts all folks.. hehe. silly me didnt bother with taking too many photographs. now i'm kind of regretting it. haha. Alright. to end off the post, here are lost and found photo from the back part of the Msia trip during the cny holidays. tts all for now!
IA guys.. stick it in!
next updates: Rainbow Falls Trip with ODAC
off to the airshow
Shower me with your love
All of everyday
You make the red rose sun
Shine on me
Lift me up so high
Watch me fly away
Would you live your life
Like a butterfly
sick
If you just realize what I just realized,
Then we'd be perfect for each other
and will never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if we missed out on each other now.
