Sep 19, 2009



Whenever I play this video, I’ll find myself laughing so hard till my tears roll down my cheeks. IT’S JUST SO CUTE!! The video was recorded when he was 7years old. How time have passed by. I can’t believe that is seriously my brother; the annoyingly cute brother of mine that is growing up way too fast to my liking. I’ve found the perfect remedy for any emotional distress I’ll have in the future. Just watching the video makes me feel so much better. Though I prefer him back then for his vocabulary ain’t as big as now. Now, huh. His vocabulary can rival that of mine.

Sep 18, 2009

Just one

You know there’s always this list where people always put things they wish for? Like they wish for a car; wish for a miracle; wish to be given just one more minute with someone who has passed on and etc. Well, I got a confession to make. I just became one of those people. I don’t have a long wish list neither do I ask for anything that’s impossible to give but if one of my wishes do come true, even if it’s just one, I’d be the happiest girl alive.

I am not saying that I am not thankful for everything that has happened or been given to me. I am. I really am. But there are times where you just wish for something more. Something that would make you happier or more satisfied. It does not matter if that something is small or not so significant, but just knowing that it is of something you really want, that is gratifying enough.

'Nuff said about that. Anyway, here are my wishes. If at least one does come true, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Wishes:

I wish that my dad would stop pretending

I wish that I my parents would be more supportive in me trying to make my dreams come true

I wish that my dad would not be so judgmental

I wish that people would take me seriously

I wish that my dad could spare me a minute of his time


I wish that my parents would wholly support my passion

I wish that my dad could at least show a shred of happiness towards my achievements

I wish that at least one of my wishes comes true.

Knowing that these are more or less what I am wishing for, I’d be more than happy to give up the rest of my wishes if it means that one of them will come true.

Just one.

the things i'll save when a building's on fire

“Where is it? Where is it?” I asked to no one in particular as I rummaged through my clothes basket.

“Farz, come on! If we don’t get out now, the whole building is going to collapse!” My friend screamed as somewhere near her right, a piece of debris from the ceiling came crashing.

“I’m coming. I just need to find my…”

“Can you just forget about your GOD DAMN Victoria Secret bras?! Our lives are at stake here!!MY life!” With that, she tucked my hand violently and I could have sworn I heard something popped.

Ok, so maybe that would not really happen should I get trapped in a building that is on fire. From me screaming my lungs out for help panicking to thinking about the safety of those around me, I would have caved in to the pressure. Trust me, when I am under pressure, you can expect a lot a bit no of help from me unless I am in a situation where my life is hanging on the line though being trapped in a building that’s being burnt down to the ground doesn’t count (god knows why).

Now, what would really happen is that I would just grab my entire Victoria Secret bras from atop my clothes basket [for I am a very organized person ;-)], run to the kitchen, dump the whole lot of bras into my kitchen aid mixer bowl, unplug my kitchen aid and THEN try to make a run for it.

It’s crazy but my kitchen aid is my life. I’m nothing without it and as for my Victoria Secret bras, well, let’s just say that it is safer if you guys do not know the exact reasons behind it. Some things are better left unexplained.

Sep 16, 2009

Foolproof IT idiot

I've tried but I just couldn't do it.

I can't get the bloody tagboard up and running on Wordpress!!

I've read the step-by-step instructions a million couple of times and I still DON'T get it. So much for being an IT student. A friend of mine passed me that link about how to have a tagboard on Wordpress and I'm sorry to say this, but

I can't won't understand anything that involves IT terms. Did I mention that I'm a foolproof IT idiot. Give me an IT dummy book and I would secretly trade them in for a baking one.

That's how tight my relationship with IT is.

Anyway, blogspot seems to be in my favour now. I'm able to upload pictures and whatnots so maybe I shall just stick to blogspot for now. If the problem persist, well, let's cross that bridge when the time comes.

Take That!

As I’m typing this post, my cookies are being cooled; cookies that I have been slaving off for the past 3 hours... Ok, so maybe I may have exaggerated a bit but the whole completion of the cookies was about there; give or take.

Been baking since morning and I am so dead beat. Just so you know, baking when I want to is different from baking when I have to. Now I’m baking because I have to. My dad has been bugging me from time to time non-stop about the status of the Hari Raya cookies. We basically had a one-sided conversation regarding this topic. He was firing off one question after another till the point where I got too lazy to answer. A girl I can only take in so many questions at one time.

“When you going to start making?”

“You start making already or not?”

“You starting tomorrow?! You sure have enough time to finish everything?”

“What are you making?”

“Got any traditional cookies or not?”

“Is your cookies nice?"

“How you know it’s nice?”



And the questions went on and on. If I had the time to list down all the questions I would but right now, all I want to do is shove the whole jar of cookies I’ve made and rub it in my dad’s face. Hah! Take that Mr. One Thousand and One questions!

However, with me being me, I’m not that kind of person. I’m just going to point out to him the jars of cookies the next time he asked me such questions. People do say that I’m too kind for my own good. ;-)

p.s. I am still quite depressed with the need to move my blog. I'm not use to wordpress and looks like it's going to take some getting use to. Time to start adjusting I guess.

Sep 14, 2009

i am so depressed.

i have to MOVE. the blog that is.

i have been experiencing some technical difficulty with blogspot. it seems that we are unable to communicate well and work hand-in-hand to achieve my goals so i have no choice but move over to wordpress.

here's the thing.

lately, when i want to update, i can't seem to post any pictures. AT ALL. and i'm sick and tired of this problem so i gave up on it and chose wordpress as my new home for my blog. pictures are very crucial to me. the saying, 'Pictures paints a thousand words' is something i totally understand. perhaps when you come to the same level of understanding as i do, perhaps you would understand but for now, let's just leave as that. ;-)

so people, do update my blog link on your blogs and taggers, do not abandon me. i still need your tags to keep my blog alive and know that somewhere out there, people are still willing to listen to my whines and rambles of my daily life and of course mock me on my weird food creations.. ;-)

so, tag me by leaving a comment. good, bad, i don't care. just do let me know that you guys are still alive out there.

here's my new blog home:

http://cynfool.wordpress.com/

substitute banana cake

If bananas could talk, I think the current ones (though now it’s not so current) sitting on my counter would say,

“Use me. I know you want to. I’m ripe for anything.”

It may sound vulgar, OK, it does sound vulgar but so what. My imagination tends to run wild when it comes to food. If your imagination runs along the same line as mine, you’d understand when I say; whenever we see food, we have found our playground. Just imagine the things that we could do with them. Oh my! You can do wonders with just a block of chocolate, whipped up different flavored frosting with 8 ounces of cream cheese and different types of cakes with just 2 overripe medium bananas. We could even play around with it, tweak certain recipes to suit our little but demanding heart’s desire and of course the best part; doing experiments! What would you get if you add raspberry puree to a certain batter? Use wholewheat flour instead of plain? The only way to get that answer is of course by experimenting them. I think food is a gift nicely wrapped from heaven to kind people like us who appreciates food; it’s for our good taste in appreciating the finer things in life.

Back to my bananas. So there they were, taunting me; in their over ripe condition just begging me to use them as an ingredient. Well, with me being me, I caved in and decided to fulfill their wish. So they became my main ingredient for my banana cake. I planned to mash them up together, store it in the fridge and use them the next day but my mom insisted that I bake the cake that day and bake them I did.

Looking at the ingredients required, I thought I had all of them on hand, except for sour cream which I substituted with plain yogurt, so I started baking. Here’s the best part. When I was looking for my yogurt, it wasn’t there! I searched like a mad person I tell you but the result was still the same so of course I went out of the kitchen and asked,

“Who took my plain yogurt?”

Instinctively, my next question was, “Papa, you took my yogurt is it?”

This is of course knowing that when it comes to missing yogurt, it doesn’t take a genius to make my dad as the main suspect. He inhales yogurt like a freaking cigarette.

He stopped typing, looked up from his laptop and said,

“Ya la. Your mother never buy yogurt for so long. That yogurt I saved it as a last resort. I see your mother not buying yogurt then I had no choice but to eat that.” With that said, off he went continuing with his work.

So apologetic I tell you. Man. Can't they at least sound a bit guilty? Maybe I'm just asking too much.Oh well.

So I stood in the kitchen, racking my brain what to substitute my substituted ingredient for. So I listed down all the possible substitutes that would of course suit this cake (duh!).

Substitute for sour cream is plain yogurt (which I’ve intended to use). Substitute for plain yogurt would be buttermilk (for me that is but it may differ from individuals). Knowing that I do not have buttermilk on hand, I substitute that as well with homemade buttermilk. A cup of milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice let stand for 5 minutes.

Voila, my substitute banana cake. Turned out real nice.

Sep 12, 2009

Philips Food processor HR7620

2 speeds and pulse
The food processor has two speed settings to match hard or soft ingredients. Plus, a pulse funtion for chopping garlic or crushing ice for example.

Easily performs 15+ functions
The Food Processor comes with 5 different accessories that enable it to perform 15+ different functions. The – dishwasher safe - accessories are a kneading tool for mixing batter and for heavy kneading. A stainless steel chopping knife to prepare meat and vegetables. Metal disk inserts to handle medium shredding and granulating. And an emulsifying disk to prepare food like whipped cream and mayonnaise.

500 Watt motor to handle large quantities and heavy kneading
With the 500W motor plus 2 speed settings and pulse button you can pick the right speed for optimal results

I have decided to get it, using my Hari Raya money of course. Since my mom does not want to sponsor me, I have decided to splurge myself with this baby. Anyway part of the reason for me willing to part my money for this is because I am too lazy to write an essay to convince my mom on why I want to get the food processor.

Food processor is a MUST have in all kitchens; especially those who loves to cook and/or bake. It makes the job of slicing, dicing, mincing (and whatever else you do in the kitchen) so much easier. On top of that, I can make pate sucree and my apple pie crust too with a push of a button. Awesome huh?

Anyway, I was suppose to make lasagne for Matt. It was to be done eons ago but I just can’t get around to it. I would usually pin the blame on time constraint, not being able to find the perfect recipe and etc but for once, I shall be honest; I am too lazy. I’m sorry Matt but whenever it comes to you; my laziness just seems to intensify, A LOT. ;-)

So, yeah. When he reminded me a few days back that I owed him lasagne, I told myself, what the heck. Since I am in a baking frenzy and spends most of my time in the kitchen, might as well get my stove working, bring out all the pots and pans and start making lasagne.

Soon Matt. You’ll get your lasagne REAL soon.

PS: CT, Stop saying I’ll get an A!! You’re making me pin my hopes so high. You are so evil; downright evil. Didn’t know you had it in you. ;-)

Sep 7, 2009

stupid, stinking inspiration!!

It’s difficult being me.

I am someone that has a memory space worst than a one year old. The things I remember are limited to those that occurred 5 or 10 minutes ago. I’m cursed with a bad memory I tell you and this is NOT due to my excessive drinking of coffee whatsoever.

There I was, thinking of ways on how to ensure that my cookies for Hari Raya would stay as fresh as it was when they are out from the oven without having to put them in the freezer when an (inconvenient) inspiration struck me. As of right now, my mom and I are having a little bit of dispute about who gets the space in the freezer because when Hari Raya comes, my mom wants to use the freezer but on the other hand, so do I. Though if you ask me, that kind of size should hardly be called a space and not worth fighting over but desperate times calls for desperate measures right?

Anyway, while I was trying to come up with solutions of any kind, trying being the operative word here, the inspiration stuck. Just like that. It doesn’t even relate to what I was thinking about!! One minute I was thinking of buying tones of airtight containers to put my cookies in and the next I was coming with ways to decorate my brownies using chocolate plastic.

Damn!

Despite the fact that it’s an inconvenient inspiration, it was a useful one. It was about the different ways I could decorate my brownies.

Since I am known for a master in ‘short-term-memory’, I frantically searched for papers I could write on. Any papers I could get my hands on would do just fine so it is only natural that this would be one of the moments where I am so grateful that the printer was beside my study table. Grabbing the papers from the paper tray, I drew out what I had in mind.

Having taken a back seat, my findings for solution on “how-to-keep-cookies-fresh” dilemma was soon forgotten and my brownie decoration became my main priority. With that being said, I was done with that after half an hour or so. I then resumed back to coming up with solutions for my “how-to-keep-cookies-fresh” dilemma only to find out that I had nothing to work with.

I did not write down all the previous solutions I had come up with prior to the stupid, stinking, inconvenient inspiration!

“Well, that got to suck.” Heaving a deep sigh, I began thinking of solutions that could help with my “how-to-keep-cookies-fresh” dilemma all over again. This time, with my pen and papers on hand.

Like the saying goes, ‘Once bitten, twice shy.’

knowing its existence...

Today is pretty much a slow day. Make that a VERY slow day. As I’m typing this entry right now, my eyes weigh as though it has weights on its lids. I’m yawning like nobody’s business, which it really isn’t, and stretching so much till majority of my bones have popped. I’m guessing that any further stretches would be detrimental to my health but hey, if it keeps me awake, what the heck right.

Anyway, the thing that made me stopped yawning and stretching is the sms I received from Black. The contents of the sms shocked me due to the fact that just the thought of him knowing the existence of my blog was pretty much like me successfully dragging him to jog with me in which, I might add, is not going to happen anytime soon.

Of course when he mentioned the post about “How to shut Black up”, I completely freaked out. Firstly, he wasn’t meant to read it and secondly, I want to avoid hurting his feelings but it’s been done so no point brooding over it.

Anyway, he was a real sport about it. He wasn’t offended at all and he even said it was true anyway. (like as if I would post lies and fabricate the truth in my blog entries! What are you trying to say Black?!)

So after overcoming my shock, I just had to ask, “How the heck you know?! You’re not supposed to know!!”

I mean, how could I forget details like that right? Unless he actually took the effort to search my blog on the internet, which I highly doubt, he couldn’t have known about its existence but of course when he said that I mentioned my blog to him about a year ago, I thought to myself,

“Huh. That explains it then.”

I do not have the capacity to store memories or information that dates as far back as one year ago. Hell, anything that takes place 5 minutes ago is a chore for me to recall. That’s just how good my memory is. With a memory capacity that “large” I have always wondered. With the need to memorize facts, information and whatnots,

How the heck did I get far in my education?

Sep 3, 2009

An act of stupidity

Hypothesis: To prove that my level of stupidity at the age of 19 surpasses those of a bimbo

Experiment conducted: Take a jug of hot water (boiling hot mind you) and pour it into a plastic bottle

Result: A deformed bottle and a proven hypothesis


I think I defy the statement, “With age comes wisdom” because apparently, as I aged, wisdom tends to elude me. If you’re observant and know me well, you can tell that 5 year olds have much more common sense than I do. I mean come on, hot water in a plastic bottle?! I think I may have suffered a momentary growth of tumor in my brain that rendered my common sense useless.

Honestly, looking back at it, I can’t believe I did that! Being shocked to see what had become of my bottle is one thing but knowing that I was the reason behind it definitely made me questioned my level of intelligence. It’s not that I’m dumb per se, but there are times where I would just throw my logic out the window and proceed on with my life without it. Of course this usually leads to dumb acts as can be seen from today’s experiment. This is not the first time I spoilt my bottle. The first time was when I was about 12 years of age; I put my SIGG bottle into the freezer. Yes people, I put a freaking metal bottle into the FREEZER but hey, at least i can say I was too young to have known better.

Amazing how much I have matured from then till now.


The result of my stupidity:
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The top part remained unharmed...
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It's the bottom one that makes you wonder how I have come so far in my life without much common sense.
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P.S: Do you think it would work if say I pour boiling hot water into the bottle and while the water is still in it, I push the malleable plastic back to its proper shape? it's just a question. A SENSIBLE question mind you.

Sep 2, 2009

mirror mirror on the wall, tell me the truth or none at all

“Fascinating. I’ve never seen such a contraption before from where we come from. Perhaps humans think it is wise to have mirrors that could magnify anything to epic proportions,” AL said to IEN as he examined the mirror that was found hidden in one of the broken human houses.

A single line of crack could be seen starting from the edge of the round mirror down to its handle but otherwise, the mirror seemed to be in good condition.

"Oh my! IEN, check this out!" AL exclaimed as he pulled IEN beside him.

"Look! If I were to hold the mirror this way, our faces look normal does it not? Now, when I flip it over..."

"HOLY CRAP! IEN! What is that thing on you face?! It looks god awful," Al stated as he turned around to IEN and tip-toed to get a better view of what, he mentally deemed, as a volcana that was waiting to explode, leaving behind a huge crater.

Irritated with his friend's lack of tact, IEN slapped AL's fingers away.

Through gritted teeth, he replied, "That my friend, is what humans would call a zit."

With that, IEN stormed off to the other side of the house.

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw that mirror was, “Good god!! I can count my pores! This is horrible!”

The mirror tells no lies and hides no flaws. It has been sworn to show what you don’t want to see and not what you want to see. The mirror is a tool that will make your otherwise perfect reality into a living nightmare. Can you believe the nerve of this mirror?! Making me put myself down and feel all worked up over something that may have been blown out of proportion due to some factory manufacturing mistake during production.

“It’s a magnifying glass mirror you moron,” my voice of reason said with a hint of annoyance. Alright, so it was not a factory error. My bad.

Ok, so maybe I might have over exaggerated that part and left out that small insignificant detail about the mirror being two sided with different lenses but it WAS insignificant so I did not really register it in my mind. Notwithstanding the fact that in the product description, it was mentioned about the mirror being two sided with two different lenses.

Anyway, despite that small hiccup in our IKEA shopping trip, my sister and I decided to invest 20 bucks on the mirror (among many other junks that was really not necessary but were deemed necessary at that point in time) that would be the only thing in our life, for many years to come, to be honest with us and something that we can put our full trust in.

Hey, if humans can’t be trusted, always sugar-coating the truth and majority of the time telling you what you want to hear, it means that they are spouting lies cause seriously, the chances of your friends telling you the truth is pretty much like your mom giving you the green lights to go clubbing (which is very small). The reason behind it is simple really. They do not want to hurt your feelings. Bleagh!

So anyway, your back plan when a situation, such as above, arises, it’s time to go IKEA and get that mirror baby. They are reliable, provide perfect and clear view of anything and best of all,

IT DOESN'T SPEAK!