Lemon Melon

Mini Chocolate Cup Cakes

2010-11-24T02:15:00.004+08:00

I think I am in the mood to bake cupcakes lately. Today, I tried out baking chocolate cupcakes... the mini version. The mini chocolate cupcakes are easy to make. I got the recipe from googling the Internet. I don't make a lot. Total cupcakes I made were 18 mini-sized cupcakes and I put aside some of the batter to make another 9 medium-sized cupcakes.

Here are the ingredients that I used:

170 g self-raising flour
110 g butter
100 g sugar
50 g cocoa powder
2 eggs
240 ml boiling water
2 tsp vanilla essence

Methods:

Stir the boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth. Let it cool to room temperature.
Pre-heat oven to 190 degree for 15 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Then, add egg one at a time, beating until smooth.
Add in vanilla essence.
Add in flour and mix well.
Then, add in the cooled cocoa powder mixture, stir until smooth.
Line the paper cups on the mini cupcakes tray.
Fill in each cup with the batter to about 3/4 full.
Bake at 190 degree for about 20 minutes (for the mini-sized cupcakes and 25 minutes for the medium-sized cupcakes).
Remove and cool on a wire rack.
Wait until they are completely cool and decorate with frosting if you like. Here, I used the simple butter icing which is very easy to make.

Ingredients for the icing:
120 g butter
120 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Methods:

Beat the butter until smooth and creamy with a hand mixer.
Then add in the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add in vanilla essence and beat well.
Mix until it is smooth.

I decorated come of the cup cakes with the icing, while leaving some of them original without icing.

Butter Cup Cakes

2010-11-19T00:12:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I experimented my butter cake recipe and turn it into cup cakes. Basically, the recipe is so simple and easy to make. The ingredients I used is similar with the one used for making butter cake. The only difference is instead of putting the batter in a cake tin, I line the paper bake cups in a muffin tray and put the batter into each of the paper cups :) Here's the ingredients for my butter cup cakes

Ingredients:
250 gm self-raising flour
250 gm unsalted butter (
250 gm castor sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp milk

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degree.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Then add in the eggs one at a time, mix well.
4. Add in vanilla essence.
5. Fold in flour, alternate with milk, and finish with the remaining flour.
6. Line the paper cups on the tray, and fill in the paper cup until 3/4 full.
7. Bake in the oven at 170 degree for about 25 minutes. You can test if the cup cakes are ready by poking in a skewer (I use tooth pick here :P) into the cake and make sure it comes out clean.

Leave it to cool in the rack... and enjoy with a cup of coffee ~

Sg Gabai Waterfall 07-11-10

2010-11-10T21:31:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday, I went for a picnic at Sg Gabai with my boyfriend and my sister. Well, it was not a really planned trip. We just decided to go for an outing a day before. I was quite excited though since it has been quite a while since my last outing to the river or the waterfall. Sg Gabai is a very popular waterfall in Hulu Langat. It is not very far from KL. We went out at around 9am in the morning, and drove about 40 minutes from Cheras to Sg Gabai.

Won't get lost since there are road signs to guide us

The road to Sg Gabai...reaching quite soon

It was an interesting journey there as we drove further away from the town, we could enjoy the 'kampung' feel. We even wound down our car windows to enjoy the fresh air outside. When we reached, there were already many people. The carpark was quite full. We had to pay entrance fee - RM1 per head. Well, I guess the fee was reasonable. The waterfall has few cascades. The first or the lowest cascade is tall but not very steeply inclined. At this cascade, we saw many families with small kids playing there. We decided not to picnic at the first cascade as it was very crowded. So we headed further up where we found nicer falls.

My sister was so excited! The first cascade is just next to this sign board

We can see that the waterfall is quite high!

Quite a high climb... be sure you have the stamina to climb up else you'll lose your breath :p

The next cascade was not so interesting, so we climbed up higher and reached to a place where people can BBQ, and there is a natural rocky slide. That spot was quite crowded too, so we climbed further up again, and finally found a nice, less crowded small spot for the three of us. We quickly put down our bags and jumped into the water.... Wohooo~ it was so cooling!! And of course, I prepared some nice food for the picnic - hot coffee, sandwiches, curry puffs, muffins and not forgetting the all time favourite NASI LEMAK!

Enjoying the natural jacuzzi bath :p

My sister enjoying a hot cup of kopi-O... such a great feeling

The water is so cooling and refreshing!!

So, we just hang around enjoying the cool and refreshing natural 'jacuzzi', eat, drink and chit chat. The waterfall is pleasant but again the whole view is spoiled by the rubbish left by the visitors there. According to the staff there, they had six people cleaned up the place in the morning and yet, the surroundings were again dirtied by the irresponsible visitors who simply leave their rubbish behind. But overall, it was fun, the water is refreshing, and it's a nice place to get away from the hectic city life. It was such a relaxing outing, and we were all so tired back home but happy :) :) :)

Waterfall Abseiling & White water Rafting @ Gopeng 31-10-10

2010-11-07T01:03:00.001+08:00

Last weekend, I went to Gopeng for some new outdoor adventures. Well, it was just two days after my final exam... and I guess it's time to set free and enjoy myself :p The activity was planned sometime one month ago when my ex-collegue asked me if I want to join. Without any second thought I just said YES! I don't know what is waterfall abseling nor have any experiences in water rafting. But I know it's going to be very fun, and yes, it is indeed very FUN! It was an awesome experience, which I have no regret paying RM190 for that activity.

So, my friends and I went out as early as 6.30am, departed from Shah Alam and stopped at one of the R&R stop to have our breakfast. At around 9am, we reached Gopeng toll, and we stopped there to meet up with other members. Once everyone had arrived, we continued our journey to Murni camp where we met with the guides there and transferred to the abseil point. That's where our adventure started...

So, the journey began at Gopeng toll exit

Heading to Murni Camp

Here's out limousine

Getting ready to be transported to the abseiling point

Here's the waterfall that we do our abseiling

Owh... caught me in action!

Safely reach down there :D

Hungry.. hungry...O~ lunch time!!

Next briefing~ how to wear the life jacket and helmet the correct way

Briefing and briefing...talking about safety first

Here my group ;) eh, suppose to have one guide only, the other guide at the left side just "tumpang" snap picture :p

Water confidence test... owh, I love this~ it's fun!

Another briefing.. how and what to do at the rapids

Ah...caught us in action again :D

Oh no..stucked! To the back all!!

Yeah~ this is just for leisure, line body rafting

Ho ho... this is the fun part!

And everyone is happy :D

Posing for group picture~

The end of a great adventure!

The whole activity ended at around 5.30pm, it was tiring but awesome. It is definitely a not to miss activity!

Sausage Bun

2010-09-16T16:05:00.000+08:00

I love breads, buns, puffs...for breakfast or snacks or anytime. So, yesterday I tried for the first time to make my own sausage bun. It is not too difficult to make (but it's quite tiring kneading the dough by hands) and inexpensive. Here's the ingredients I use to make the sausage bun:

Ingredients:

330gm flour (I use all purpose flour since I do not have bread flour)

60gm castor sugar

10gm instant yeast (I use Mauri-pan instant yeast)

1 egg

1/ tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp milk powder

40gm butter

120ml water

Filling:

Sausages

Methods:

Mix the instant yeast with water, and put aside.
Mix flour, sugar, milk powder, and salt.
Add water, egg and the yeast.
Mix well to form a dough. (It can be very messy and sticky at this stage)
Then add in butter into the dough and knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Remove the dough and place it in a mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap, set it aside to let it rise to double its size.
Cut the dough into small portions about 40g, and let it rest for another 15 mins.
Then roll the small dough to a long shape and roll around the sausage.
Arrange them on a greased baking tray and spaced apart.
Cover and let them rest for another 30-40mins until the buns rise to double the size.
Glaze the buns with egg wash and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees until golden brown (about 20mins).

My first attempt to make these buns was successful. However, I did not let the dough proof for long enough for the second time. So you can see that the buns are not light and fluffy enough. Also, I guess I was over excited to brush the egg to the doughs, the glaze appear to be so shining.

These are the sausage buns I made.

Small portions of the dough, let them rest for 15 mins

Rolled dough over the sausages... setting aside to let them proof

Porridge Steamboat

2010-09-13T20:39:00.000+08:00

I went back to my hometown during the Hari Raya break on last Friday. So my eldest brother suggested to do porridge steamboat for dinner since all of our family members were back. He was so excited about the steamboat because he had porridge steamboat once and was craving for another time. Well, it was not something new to me since I had it many times. So early in the morning, me, my mom, my dad and my boyfriend went to the market to buy all the ingredients - fish balls, chicken, fish, prawns, vegetables, mushrooms, etc etc... Then back at home, we cooked plain white porridge as the soup base. It is not hard to cook the porridge, but it took many hours to make it really smooth and nice texture. As for the ingredients like chicken, fish and prawn, we marinated them for better flavor.

For the chicken marinade:

Oyster sauce

Light soy sauce

Sesame oil

Sugar to taste

For the fish marinade:

Salt

Fish sauce

Sesame oil

Sugar to taste

For the prawn marinade:

Salt

Sesame oil

Sliced spring onions

Chopped ginger

So, the steamboat feast started at around 7.30pm. To make the porridge base taste more delicious, we added in some cooking wine and sesame oil to the porridge and mix. And more interesting, my dad cooked curry pork as 'side dish' to our steamboat dinner. So delicious!

Part of the ingredients for our steamboat


Wow... the pot is full!

The curry pork and prawn

Bazaar Ramadhan TTDI

2010-09-10T04:37:00.001+08:00

Last two days, I went to Bazaar Ramadhan along Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 3 in TTDI . I thought why not visit the ramadhan market for the last time before the Ramadhan month ends the next day. So, I was searching for the bazaar nearest to my office, and I guess, the one at TTDI is the nearest of all. Only 5 minutes from my office at the Topicana City Office Tower (and I didn't know it until the last two days). At the time when I reached there it was already 6.20pm, and it was drizzling. Despite of that, I still see many people there, with their umbrellas and queeing up to buy food. So far, I guess the food variety was okay. Among the few bazaars that I had been to I guess, the food sold at TTDI is the most pricey comparing to the rest (the one in Serdang is the best of all :p). But I was not disappointed with the food, it was satisfying after all. Anyway, here's few pictures of the food I bought from there... (already served in plate and ready to be eaten...ngap ngap ngap)

Ikan kembung bakar (RM7.00)
Ayam percik (RM5.00)

I loveeee the sambal for the ikan bakar...

Nasi briyani ayam masak merah (RM7.00)

And that's the dinner for 2 pax... :p

Words of Encouragement

2010-09-08T00:41:00.000+08:00

Lately, I have more free time for myself, so I start cleaning up all the backlogs in my Inbox. Then, I received one email from my fellow church friend. She had shared something very meaningful in the email and I find it very useful to use it as words of encouragement for people and also ourselves. So, here it is:

What YOU Say vs. What GOD Says

YOU say "It's impossible". GOD says "All things are possible". Read Bible verses Luke 18:27

YOU say "I'm too tired". GOD says "I will give you rest". Read Bible verses Matthew 11:28-30

YOU say "Nobody really loves me. GOD says "I LOVE you". Read Bible verses John 3:16 & John 3:34

YOU say "I can't go on". GOD says "My grace is sufficient". Read bible verses II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15

YOU say "I can't figure things". GOD says "I will direct your steps". Read Bible verses Proverbs 3:5-6

YOU say "I can't do it". GOD says "You can do all things". Read Bible verses Philippians 4:13

YOU say "I am not able". GOD says "I am able". Read Bible verses II Corinthians 9:8

YOU say "It's not worth it". GOD says "It will be worth it". Read Bible verses Romans 8:28

YOU say "I can't forgive myself". GOD says "I forgive you". Read Bible verses 1 John 1:9 & Romans 8:1

YOU say "I can't manage". GOD says "I will supply all your needs". Read Bible verses Philippians 4:19

YOU say "I'm afraid". GOD says "I have not given you a spirit of fear". Read Bible verses II Timothy 1:7

YOU say "I'm always worried and frustrated". GOD says " Cast all your cares on ME". Read Bible verses 1 Peter 5:7

YOU say "I'm not smart enough". GOD says "I give you wisdom". Read Bible verses 1 Corinthians 1:30

YOU say "I feel all alone". GOD says "I will never leave you or forsake you". Read Bible verses Hebrews 13:5

Fried Tung Fun

2010-09-08T00:18:00.002+08:00

Today when I was back from work, I went round and round looking for what to get for dinner. No more chicken for dinner since I already had a plate of chicken rice for lunch. Suddenly I was craving for tung fun (glass noodles). At first I thought of fish ball tung fun soup, but later decided for fried tung fun instead. So here it is, my dinner - fried tung fun.

Ingredients:

Glass noodles

Some prawns

Some shredded meat

Some sliced fish cakes
Shredded cabbage

Shredded onions

Bean sprouts

Chopped garlic

1 Egg

2 tbsp oil

Seasoning:

Dark soy sauce

Light soy sauce

Fish sauce

Oyster sauce

Salt to taste

A bit of sugar to taste

Instructions:

Soak the glass noodles for 20 mins and drained well.
Heat the wok, and then heat the oil.
Fry the garlics until fragant or yellow golden in color.
Add the prawns, meat and sliced fish cakes. Stir fry constantly well.
Add the cabbage and shredded onions and fry for a little while.
Mix all the seasoning in a bowl and stir in the mixture.
Add the glass noodles and stir fry for a few minutes.
Add some water (chicken stock will be better) to the glass noodles if it is too dry. Don't add too much, you don't want it to be too wet after that.
Fry until it almost dry up and the push aside all ingredients to the side of the wok. Put a little bit of oil and break in the egg.
Then continue to cover the egg with the glass noodles and then add in the bean sprouts. Fry for about 2-3 minutes.
After that, you can dish out and serve. You may also want to sprinkle fried shallots or spring onions.

*The ingredients like prawns, meat or the vegetables can be added or changed according to your preferences.

Software Project Management: Phase 1 - Project Initiation

2010-09-07T00:52:00.002+08:00

Finally I am done with my part on my Software Project Management group assignment. Part one of this assignment is about project initiation. According to the PMBOK Guide, there are five phases in a project life cycle. They are:
1. Initiation
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring and controlling
5. Closing

So, why is project initiation required? Project initiation phase is the most important phase in the project life cycle. It formally authorizes a project to begin and links a project to the work and to the strategic objectives of the organization. At this phase, the purpose and scope of the project will be defined and the project team will be set up. Only with a clearly defined scope that is understood and accepted by stakeholders, and appropriate skilled project team, the project will be driven to success. As part of project initiation, an initial project plan is created, which includes the project charter, the financial or cost projection, scope, project schedule, quality documents, and preliminary risk identification list. So where is the starting point and ending point for this phase? As a pivotal starting point for the project, project charter is developed to initiate a project. The project definition is established so that to serve as the basis for all future efforts. The completion of this phase process is when the project kick-off meeting is held, where the project manager will present the project charter to the stakeholders. There are six steps involved in this phase.

Step 1: Develop business case

This is the very first step before any project is started is to create a solid business case. It is important to rationalize why the project is required and how it is aligned with corporate and department goals, and also to perform risk assessment, and identifies the key stakeholders for the project. A solid business case defines what the project is about, what the results of the project will be, how it benefits the company, and the financial projections involved.

Step 2: Perform feasibility study

Feasibility study is performed to investigate the chances of the project success. While performing feasibility study, the business problem or opportunity is analyzed, and business requirements are documented for a solution. All the alternative solutions available are also identified. Each solution will be reviewed to determine its feasibility and any risk or issues with each solution will be listed. A preferred solution for implementation is chosen and the results are documented in a feasibility report.

Step 3: Develop project charter

PMI’s PMBOK® recommends the use of a Project Charter as the project initiation document. Generally, the project charter should include high-level project description, stakeholder project needs or expectations, project objectives, assigned project manager, functional organizations involved and their roles, summary of milestones, preliminary budget summary and other organizational, environmental, and external assumptions and constraint.

Step 4: Appoint project team

In appointing the project team, the project manager can create a detailed job description for each role in the project team. From there, the project manager can recruits the suitable people into each role based on their relevant skills and experience. Should there be two or more potential candidates for one position, the project manager can use the weighted average scoring method to evaluate and select the best candidate to fill the respective role.

Step 5: Set up project office

A Project Management Office (PMO) is the department within which project staff such as the project manager and support staff reside. The project office also contains the communications infrastructure and technologies required to support the project. PMO roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined , equipment, infrastructure and tools properly prepared, and suitable methodology, standards and processes need to be placed accordingly when establishing the project office.

Step 6: Perform phase review

This is at the end of the initiation phase. Basically, it is a review point to check that the project has achieved its objectives as planned.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while striving to achieve the triple constraint goals - scope, time and budget. And the initiation processes determine the nature and scope of the project. So, at this stage, the processes need to be carried out well to ensure project success. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project.

Logical Domain

2010-09-06T19:33:00.000+08:00

Today I was exposed to something that I never learnt in school or at previous work place - create logical domain. I would say that it was quite an experience because this is new to me, as well as feeling fear of crashing the whole server. So what is this all about?

Oracle VM Server for SPARC technologies or previously known as Logical Domain (also known as LDoms) is a technology that allows server virtualization. Virtualization means creating a virtual version of the device or resource, for example server, storage device or network, or even operating system where it divides the resource into one or more execution environments. Perhaps in our life, we have done hard disk partition. Conceptually, virtualization is similar like hard disk partition where we divides the one hard disk drive into two or more separate drives. Logical Domain technology is from Sun Microsystem, where it allow the users to allocate a system's various resources such as memory, CPU, and devices into logical groupings and create multiple discrete systems, each with their own operating system, resources, and identity within a single computer system. In a simple sentence, it allows user to split a single physical resource into multiple, independent virtual resources. Each logical domain can be created, destroyed, reconfigured, and rebooted independently, without requiring a power cycle of the server. Logical domain can be used to run a variety of applications in different domains and keep them independent for security reason. Logical Domain is supported on Sun servers which utilize UltraSPARC T1 or UltraSPARC T2 processors, running at least Solaris 10 11/06 and the latest server firmware. The logical domain has several different roles such as one or more of these roles - control domain, service domain, I/O domain, and guest domain.
Of course there are many references available in the Internet like the Sun or Oracle website or any other sites for further reference. But firstly, getting to know the fundamental understanding of what the logical domain is and what it benefits is a useful 'jump start' to go deeper and more detail.

Useful References:
http://www.sun.com/servers/coolthreads/ldoms/get.jsp
http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Community+Group+ldoms/WebHome

Orange Butter Cake

2010-09-06T00:48:00.001+08:00

It's been quite a while since my last baking session. Today I saw a few oranges left in my fridge and suddenly the feeling of baking cake came across my mind. Hmm... I was thinking why not try baking orange butter cake. So, I took out all my baking utensils and prepare all the ingredients. In fact, baking orange butter cake is very simple, just like butter cake, I only replace milk with orange juice and add in orange and lemon rind to add the 'citrus sensation'. Here's the ingredients for my cake:

250g butter (softened)

250g flour

200g fine sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp lemon rind

1 tsp orange rind

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup orange juice

A pinch of salt

Methods:

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

2. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Continue mixing.

3. Add in lemon and orange rind.

4. Fold in flour, alternating with the orange juice and end with flour. Mix well.

5. Greased the baking pan and pour the batter into it.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 170 degree for 40 mins. You can test if the cake is done by insert the cake tester or a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.

7. Let the cake rest to cool before slicing it (I was too hurry to cut the cake, so it crumbles a little bit here and there)

Tadaaaa..... here's my cake (picture turned out not clear because it was taken using only 2.0Megapixel handphone camera)

Nyum nyum... a taste of butter plus orange...So, that will be my breakfast for tomorrow and plus a cup of hot Nescafe... I just love it!

Facebook

2010-09-05T23:50:00.000+08:00

Facebook trend is nothing new now. Almost everyone who is computer literate has a Facebook account. I guess Facebook is a great place to connect with family and friends, especially long lost friends and friends who we rarely meet, or just simply passing our leisure time playing games in Facebook. But Facebook is starting to penetrate into our real life. People start misusing Facebook like spreading political and religious issue. I was watching news in Astro few hours back, and I guess Facebook issue has become so serious that some irresponsible people misused this place to spread things that could be harmful to the peace and harmony of the country. I think it is alright to discuss unbiasly on these topics, but I personally think that it is very wrong to condemn any sides. That's not all, I start to think how safe are we in Facebook. How much should we reveal about ourselves in Facebook? I feel that we should be more careful to the information that we post to Facebook, whether it is personal or not.

Oh, it's my dad's birthday!

2010-09-05T14:48:00.000+08:00

Oh, it's 5th Sept... and it marks an important date in my calendar! Well, I don't actually use a pen to mark it down on my calendar, it's on my brain's calendar. I guess after so many years, this time I finally made it to be the first person to wish my dad a big Happy Birthday. There is no celebration though this year because I'm away from home :( , but I guess from his reaction, he's very happy because I remember his birthday and I promised to bake him a birthday cake when I get home! Time flies, sigh... and as I realized, my parents are getting older too. I guess it's time for me to start planning and manage my time properly so I can have more time to go back more often and spend more time with them...anyway, Happy birthday pa!!!!

Money or ...?

2010-09-04T17:47:00.000+08:00

The Chinese always like to say when we talk serious about money, it will hurt the relationship. Everywhere we go, we talk about money. It is like a trend now. We study hard hoping we can get a good job that pays well, we work day and night hoping to earn a penny for life, we save money for the fear of the future, everything we do we need money. We need money to buy food, we need money to pay for bus or petrol to go to work, we need money to buy books for school, we need money for almost everything! But do we need to pay for love? I realize that as we grow older, we tend to become the slave of money. When we have earned enough money for living, we demand for more and more. When we already have a decent car, we ask for bigger car. When we have a decent house, we ask for bigger house. When people are so focused on money itself, they tend to forget what is the most important thing in their life. Does money bring them happiness or emptiness? With money, we buy things to fill our desire and emptiness, but how much is considered enough and satisfied? How many of us are actually willing to give our money for the benefits of the society? When we see our close friends or relatives having financial crisis, how many of us are willing to borrow money without hesistation to help them out? How many of us are not being calculative when we talk about money? Or how many of us can actually sacrifice their time to earn more money only to spend little time with their friends and family? The pace of living is moving so fast today, even myself are falling into this trend. Life becomes so tense when we only focus on earning more money, relationship becomes so rigid and as day goes by, we are losing our real purpose of life. But at the time we realized all this, can we still turn back time and fix whatever we have lost along the way? Well, I guess at this moment, I have to pause for a while and take a step back to look into what actually matters in life.

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." ~ John 6:35

Fur for Fashion?

2010-04-07T20:35:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through my Facebook and came across one very shocking video. For goodness sake, I think that the human nowadays have lost their humanity and sense of mercy. It is eye-opening to know that how the animals like minks, foxes, and raccoons are killed and tortured just to get their furs. In fact, the animals are not killed but they are skinned alive! It is very saddening to know that before these animals are skinned, they are pulled out from their cages, and thrown to the ground. The workers will slam those animals hard on the ground, and beat them with metal rods. This does not cause immediate death, however the animals are helpless. You can see that the animals are still alive and struggling their way when the workers flipped them onto their back or hang them to skin them. And you can see the animals' limbs kicking when the workers begin to cut the skin and fur off! Gosh, and they even stomp on the animals' head and necks when they struggle hard. It is so hurt to watch it... why must they torture the animals? How on earth can anyone do this to a living? You can see how the animals are suffering... you can see them calling for help... you can see them crying, and yet the human continue to beat them, stomp on their heads and skin them ALIVE . When the fur is finally peeled off, the naked bloody body of them are just simply thrown into a pile like rubbish. You can see their hearts still beating and breathing in gasps! God created us and the animals are also living things on earth which God has created. This must be stopped!! Those who are so proud of wearing fur jacket, scarf and whatever, please do think about it again, is it worth to torture living animals and killing for the sake of looking 'expensive'? This is very sad...

Proverbs 12:10 A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs

Butter Cookies

2010-01-16T12:36:00.003+08:00

Chinese new year is coming! And it's time to go back to my "playground" and make some chinese new year cookies. For a warm up, I started with baking the easiest cookies of all - the butter cookies. It is very easy to make and it tastes so delicious :p yummy yummy.... Actually, I have never bake butter cookies but I am glad that it turned out to be good. For a start (actually just for some fun experiments), I started with a small amount of ingredients, which ended up only with 25 cookies. Here is the recipe I used for baking the cookies:

Butter Cookies

(yield 25 pieces)

Ingredients:
75g butter
70g plain flour
20g corn flour
25g icing sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla essence
A pinch of salt

Method:

Cream butter and icing sugar and mix well.
Add in vanilla essence, mix well and add a pinch of salt.
Mix in plain flour and corn flour.
Using a piping bag and a decorative tip, pipe out the cookie into desired shape on parchment paper. If the batter is too stiff for piping, add in a little milk at a time to a more manageble batter.
Top with cherries (or can use chocolate chip also).
Bake at 160 degrees for 15-20 minutes until light brown.

It is so delicious to eat with hot coffee... I guess I will make more for chinese new year. Next, I will experiment with more cookies and cakes, and I will share them in my blog. Till then... adios!

Blood Donation 15-12-2009

2009-12-15T20:56:00.000+08:00

Today, I went for blood donation after my lunch. It was not a planned intention. At first I thought of accompanying my colleague for blood donation only. Then, after saw her signing up, I also 'ke po chi' signed up myself as well. Anyway, this is not the first time I participated in blood donation activity. I guess it is the fourth time; I remember the first time was during my Form 6, the second and the third time were during my university years. So, I guess this is the fourth time. It is not a new experience for me to donate blood, but somehow what happened after the blood donation was a totally new experience to me. It just happen unexpectedly and so fast. After I left the blood donation center (which is just at the Lower Ground of my office building), so my colleague and I waited at the lift which is about 10 metres away from that place to go back to work. Just after a short while waiting for the lift to come, suddenly I felt so dizzy and in no time, I fainted. I did not realize that I fainted. What I could remember was I felt like I was sleeping and suddenly entered into my dream world. For the few seconds of unconscious moment, I was actually dreaming... or is that what a fainted person will feel when they go into unconscious state? I do not know. I could not remember how.. I just blanked out and fell. Not feeling pain or anything, I just don't remember what happened after that. I just know that I entered into my dream world in a sudden, and I felt like I was sleeping and dreaming. In the middle of the unconsciousness, and in the middle of my fantasy dream world, then suddenly I heard myself saying that I have to wake up, I think I need to go to office and I am late! Wow, that was crazy, I even thought of work even when I faint?? Thank God I know how to wake up...The next thing I knew when I opened my eyes, I felt myself lying on the ground...my forehead was sweaty and I heard my colleague telling me it's alright... and some few people around asking if I just donated blood. Then they called the doctor, nurses and they pushed my back to the center with the wheel chair. Wuwaaa.... I was on the wheel chair?? That was my first time too. So then the doctor examined my blood pressure and asked me many questions... Ok, I had my yummylicious lunch (honey chicken burger+pulut hitam) before I went there, I had a healthy breakfast (milk+cereals), I slept at 11+pm and woke up at 7+am (> 5 hours though), no menstruation, no sickness, and was feeling very excited before that... maybe I did not have enough liquid and the blood cannot circulate the oxygen up to my brain. Everytime I sit up straight, I would feel dizzy and nausea (not pregnant ok!). So the nurses let me lay down (I actually fall into a short nap after that :p), and 'forced' me to finish up the can of 100 Plus. I would rather they give me some glukose drink like 'Ribena' ... hehehe. Then after about one hour of lying down, I feel normal again, and I just turn so active back. Well, what an interesting day ... I was like so happy that I fainted... hahaha, not because I like to get fainted ok, but at least I know how it was like when someone fainted. But I just don't understand... I have donated blood a few times, but this afternoon was the first time I fainted. Thinking back, in fact it was quite scary because I have never fainted in my life under any circumstances...could it be I have not been eating healthy recently? Not enough liquid? Iron? Or simple because there is too much fat around my body that block the blood vein? Haha.. whatever it is, I guess it is a sign for me to start getting a healthy lifestyle back... oh, I guess this is going to be top in my new year resolution!

My right hand, looks like the vampire Edward Cullen just sucked the blood from my right hand :p

Finishing year 2009

2009-12-13T14:21:00.000+08:00

Wow... I can't imagine that the time flies. We're already half way through December 2009, and there is only 2 weeks or so left for year 2009. How fast could the time passed... really, again it's time for me to reflect on what I have achieved throughout year 2009. I guess again it's time for me to find a quiet time and sit down to recall the bitter sweet of year 2009. I still can feel as if it was only beginning of the year, where the memories of yester-year is still so fresh in my mind. The memories of my degree convo, first day of work, moving up and down from the office, havoc projects and rushing hours of the deadlines, gathering with family and friends, vacations... Really, the time just passed without me realising that things also chnge quickly. The pace of life is getting so fast these days that sometimes I really wish that I could just press the rewind button on the remote control to rewind back some chapters in my life...of just press the pause button. I don't know if others feel the same, but I feel that the world is spinning so quickly now and that we have less and less quality time for ourselves and the people around us. Just imagine 12 hours spent in work and time going to and fro office... 6 hours for sleeping, 3 hours for classes, and that left only 3 hours for... homework, house chores, and miscellaneous stuff. How pathetic that sounds... time is just not enough, and it just passed by without any full stop. And this does not stop me from thinking... hey, I am getting older and older too as each year passed by!!! Well, sometimes I really hate to think of growing old, but life is life... it's like a roller coaster as some people may say... it's moving fast with ups and down... whatever it is, it's the experiences of life that make us wiser as we grow 'older'.

Friday, the 13th

2009-11-13T23:45:00.000+08:00

Yep, today is Friday, and it is 13th November 2009. To me, it is nothing so special about Friday, the 13th. But I guess Friday, the 13th is the most widespread superstitions among the westerner. Some superstitions hold that the thirteenth day of the month that falls on Friday to be a good or bad luck. Perhaps there are many histories and folk tales that regard Friday the 13th as an unlucky day, for example in the earliest reference in the biography of Gioachino Rossini which was written by Henry Sutherland Edwards in 1869 (omg, it was so so long ago..!) - "[Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died". On the other hand, the ancient Egyptions in the time of pharoahs believed that life was a quest for spiritual ascension which unfolded in stages - twelve in this life and the thirteenth beyong that or afterlife. So, it means that the number 13 symbolized death. And, there is another superstition of being unlucky to have 13 diners in a dinner party where one will die within one year; and surprisingly, this was somehow referring back to 'The Last Supper' in the bible. Exactly 13 people present at the Last supper, and Judas the betrayer, who first rose from the table, was the first to die as recounted in the New Testament. There are many more supersitious stories, legends, or even explanation to mark Friday, the 13th as the unluckiest day of all. But the truth is... nobody really knows for sure. No matter what the superstition beliefs were, whether it is good or bad, anyway, I guess, I really want to thank God it's Friday! Time to release from work and class... it's a day to celebrate!

You are what you eat

2009-11-05T00:34:00.000+08:00

Past few days, I heard one of my colleague telling me of her new diet practice. One of the statement that actually open my eyes is "you are what you eat". It made me ponder for a moment, I think it is quite true that the food we consume everyday contributes to how we look and feel. Looking at my health status now, I am very convinced that my lifestyle and diet are not healthy at all. Working late plus stress, lack of physical exercise, fast food, sweet creamy hot coffee, low metabolism rate... and the list goes on. ***Hectic life...sigh***

I read on one pamphlet on the risk of being overweight. Being overweight myself, I am concerned about the health risk I might be facing, such as high cholesterol level, diabetis mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, etc. No doubt the culplrit to my excess body weight especially accumulation of excess fat around the waist area is my eating habit. I guess most of the time I am taking in more calories than my body needs. Overeating?? Or signal that tell us we are full gets delayed? Either one, but I believe both are related. I guess when the weight increases, our body becomes slow to process the signal of feeling full. Therefore, we tend to overeat.

I guess, it is time now that I should start to control the amount of calories intake and take more fresh vegetables and fruits into my meal. I think living a healthy lifestyle is not as difficult though but then again... it all comes back to my time and commitment. Maybe the first thing I should change is work less and exercise more? After all, money cannot buy health.

My first blog!

2009-11-04T02:35:00.000+08:00

My first blog! Never in my life I ever write on journals, diaries or anything similar to these... and now BLOG! I guess the internet and the WWW has become part of my life for years, but I never knew anything about blogging...until sometime ago, I read people' s blogs and I begin to think that sharing thoughts or feelings on the web is not a bad idea especially at times when real life communication is not as effective as we thought. Perhaps different people blog for different reasons... what I personally think is that blogging gives me the freedom to express and sharing interests. So, what's next...?