100th Post! =D

In 'celebration' of my 100th blog post, I'm going to post a recipe that I've tried a few days ago.. ;)

Since I was busy doing nothing these days, I figured that I might as well do some cooking or baking. So my mum, teacher and many of my friends said that I had grown 'horizontally' rather than 'vertically' nowadays.. Ehehehe... =____= That's why I had somehow 'vowed' and promise myself to cut down my weight by not consuming that much sugar, dairy products and bread... =/ And of course, I'll be putting my dad's treadmill to good use by exercising 20 mins a day. Hopefully, I can keep my word to this promise and go slender and slim~~ LOL! But trying to learn to cook without any assistant from my mum will do me some good, since I had nothing to do. It's better than wasting my time here on the computer, right?

Less talking, more cooking! I'll just copy and paste the ingredients and procedures now. =P

Macaroni and Cheese (Mac 'n' Cheese)

Ingredients
(Serves 6)
recipe adapted from meals matter & SoGood.TV

- 200g elbow macaroni
- 40g butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 300g shredded red cheddar cheese
- 1 piece of plain bread
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tsp grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp nutmug powder (optional)

Directions
1. Cook macaroni till al dente according to package instructions. Drain the macaroni in a colander, rinse with cold water and lay them flat on a roasting tray/casserole.
2. Use a food processor/blender to grind a piece of bread till it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
3. In a heated saucepan/wok, melt butter. When all the butter has melted, add in the flour and stir gently.
4. Add milk, bay leaf (optional) and continue stirring till mixture thickens.
5. Add salt, pepper and if you like the taste of the following, add them as well – cinnamon powder and nutmug powder. Add half the shredded cheese and reserve the other half for later.
6. When all the cheese has melted and the mixture is even (it should be of a slightly thick consistency), taste a bit of the mixture and season accordingly if needed. Pour the mixture over the macaroni. Stir to make sure that the macaroni is fully coated in the sauce.
7. Top the macaroni with the remaining cheddar cheese, followed by breadcrumbs (you don’t have to use all) and parmesan cheese.
8. Bake at 180C (360F) for about 30 minutes, till the sauce is bubbly and the top is slightly browned.

Ta-da!!! Credits go to the NoobCook! =D I adore this website~~ Hehe.

I've made some bread pudding last month and some Beignets (Ben-yays). A Beignet is a French Donut which is a delicacy in New Orleans, USA. I came across this yummy, yummy yum-yum when I was watching 'The Princess and the Frog'... It's the bun-like bread with honey and icing sugar dusting. But my recipe didn't need the honey. It's easy to make and simply DELISH~

I found the video of this yum-yum on Youtube. Here's the recipe! But I've read someone's comment below saying that this isn't Beignets but Italian Zepollies. =/ Oh well, at least it's something edible and something yummy!! =D

Beignets (serve 6)

For the video, please click here!

Ingredients:
- 165 ml water
- 45g butter, cubed
- pinch of salt
- 125 flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp pastry cream (optional)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 500ml vegetable oil
- icing sugar for dusting

Procedure:
1. Boil the water, butter and salt for 1/2 min in a small pot. Add flour when butter is completely melted and quickly stir the mixture to get a dough. Remove the pan from the heat.
2. Add the eggs one by one. Only add the next egg after the previous egg is completely mixed with the dough.
3. Add your pastry cream and sugar. Mix well.
4. Shape the Beignets working with two spoons to form a rounded shape. Deep fry it.
5. After that, place the fried Beignets on kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Then dust it with icing sugar.
6. Serve!!! =D

See?? Easy-peasy~~ If you tried it, tell me how it went and the taste.. Good luck in the kitchen!

Moody...

I had been so moody lately... D=

Maybe it's because of the financial problem my family's facing and also the problem I'm facing in my choirs.. My dad's asking me to choose between Italy and China. Of course, I'll definitely choose Italy since I've been to China for countless of times. But I can't back out from any of the two competitions! I've got myself into a HUGE mess that I don't know how to clean up... Sigh! So I'm so depressed with myself. My mum's urging me to go earn some money by looking for a job. I want to have a job! But the problem is the time since I'm having classes for most of my days in a week! I am having a job, which is teaching TWO students piano lessons which I will have RM126 per month. How is that going to be able to pay for my trip/trips?! So now, I'm kind of working in my aunt's office in which I was assigned to tidy her pile of clothes and categorize them into Baby Boys: Months to Years, 2 - 3 years old and Baby Girls: Months to Years, 2 -3 years old. I don't even know whether I'll get paid. It's not that I'm worried that my hard work will be just volunteered work, it's just that it feels weird working for my family member and... Yeah, it feels weird... And my mum keeps telling my aunt that I want to work there and blah, blah, blah! I didn't even say I wanted to work there and she made all the decisions herself! >:( And now when I say that I don't want to work there, she said that I'm making it hard for her as she already told my aunt about it! ARGH!

It's all that Starbucks' guy fault! If he hired me in the first place, I won't have to go through all this trouble!!! SCREWWWWW HIMMMMMMMM!

Ahh.... That felt good... ^^' I've been keeping this in my heart which made me moody all these days... Now, it's all out and my heart already felt lighter!

So now that it's a few more days till Chinese New Year/Valentines' Day, my mum's busy baking cookies and I'm the only one who had been giving her a helping hand since my maid who has an attitude and who is rude and annoying and loud is 'busy' doing things slowly in purpose so that she wouldn't have to help my mum. My mum said she regretted hiring her because no one wanted to hire her in the first place when she saw my maid in the agency! ARGH... I just loath her... =_____=

Now that money is a problem, continuing my studies in Form 6 is back in my consideration. I know that I may had made my decision final when I said that I was positive about studying Contemporary Music, but now that my sister's going off to the US to further her studies, my dad had also been worried about money. Therefore, now I was thinking, maybe I should be studying medicine to become a Pharmacists or a Chemist which will have a more promising future than music...

Sorry for my emo-ness... Like I've mentioned earlier, I had been moody for these few days...

I'm so lazy now.. Even to blog..

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay... I'm so bored these days and I'm feeling reluctant to even blog! Sigh.. But anyway, here it is.

So the latest update about me now, is I dyed my hair brown! But because of my 'coal black' hair =P, it's only quite obvious under the sun. This was a whole DIY process where my sister bought the hair dye in the pharmacy the day before my birthday because I wanted to try out. Initially, my sister prompted me to get a lighter or a redder colour, but I refused because I was afraid that it would turn out too red. But I should have took her advice in as my hair colour now is just a shade lighter than it was and it's like it was not point dying my hair!

I actually did this behind my mum's back. It was my little brother who had a big mouth and spilled the beans to my mum when he saw what was in the pharmacy's plastic bag... But her reaction was expected. Her angry face and her notorious finger pointing which my family is soooooo familiar with. =P She always shows that look when we are in trouble and even when she see kids cycling dangerously on the road! Lol...

The process was long and boring and quite exciting for me. But I did felt a little sting on my scalp as the hair colour was applied. The label said that I should stop the whole process if the stinging was too intense. But it wasn't, so I guess it was alright. It took more or less an hour to complete the steps and the results I got didn't satisfy me... =( Oh well, everything's worth a try...

Last Monday, the 25th, was my 18th birthday. It wasn't anything special. My family took me out to the Manhattan's Fish Market for dinner the night before and we ate cake on the night of my birthday. I stayed at home the whole, doing nothing... Because all my friends were busy working and some, studying... But I've received loads of wishes from my friends and family via Facebook and text messaging, and thank you all! =D

Chinese New Year always comes during or right after my birthday! So this year's celebration will be extra special since Chinese New Year falls on Valentine's day as well! =D

I might be saving up my ang pau money for my trip to China and Italy this year. Since my family's income wasn't satisfying, my dad didn't really want me to go for that trip. But my salary isn't at all, high enough to even cover 1/4 of the cost. D= Oh and btw, I just got my first pay check today! *Drum rolls...* RM63! Not merely enough, I know. But I only have one student now, what to do?? And now, I'm in a deep dilemma. I couldn't back out from both of my trips since my teacher had already paid 30% of the whole cost to the organizer and the overall cost is calculated by the number of members taking part in this competition! And now, my teacher wants RM1200 as the deposit for the trip to China. The choir had already promise to pay RM800 for this trip and the overall cost will be about RM2200. Is it too expensive? =/

And as for the other choir's trip to Italy, we are working hard to look for sponsors. We will be holding a concert in Klang this March. The cost for this trip will be RM5000++! @_@ Although we are trying hard to gather the amount of money to cover everyone's expenses, but I think it would be close to impossible to collect that much money for each of us...

AHHHHHHHHH! What should I do?! ='(

First Music Lesson in months!

I've totally stopped everything "music" in my life before SPM started so that I could "concentrate more on my studies". Baahhh.. I'm not sure whether that's the main reason..

I've stopped 3 of my music lessons. Or maybe 4 lessons to be exact. 2 piano classes, 1 violin lesson and 1 choir practice. But now, I have only have 2 piano classes, no more violin lessons because my teacher is sick and couldn't give anymore classes, and 2 choir practice to attend to. And I would be flying to 2 countries this year. =) China, for the World Choir Games and also Venice, Italy (Yippee!!) for the Spring Choir Competition.

I've been to China the most. Hmm.. Lemme count. This would be the 4th time going there.

The first time was with my mum who went to 永春, 福建, which is my mother's side's grandpa's hometown. My grandpa's house was like those houses you see in movies set in the olden days in China? I meant those with the open-aired front yard in the middle of the house and the kitchen was "half" opened-air. So we were having Al Fresco dining while we were there.. =P Nah.. Just kidding. And the house have lotssssss of rooms and those rooms were empty. My mum said my grandpa renovated the house and build in more rooms so that when our big family visit his house there in China, they will have enough rooms for us grandchildren... =D There's a big garden in front of the house and a mountain full of Mandarin Orange fruit trees behind the house. There was a pig sty behind the house where my grandpa's sisters rear their pigs. And there was a gas station beside the house where my grandpa's siblings are in charge of. I've got to eat those peaches we usually see 孙悟空, The Monkey King, eating! Yummy!

The 2nd time was to Beijing, Tianjin and Chengde with my family and my cousins, both my mum's side and my dad's side. I've walked on The Great Wall of China, went to the Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square 天安门广场, Temple of Heaven 天坛, The Summer Palace 颐和园, The Beihai Park 北海公园 and much more places that I don't really remember. It was during the Winter months. So the lakes in the gardens and parks and also the drains are all frozen. I didn't get to see the snow fall, but I saw snow that had already fallen on The Great Wall and on the lakes of the gardens. I've sat on the tricycle 三轮车 going through the small back alleys 胡同 eating 冰糖葫芦... Hehe! It was years before the Olympics so it wasn't as beautiful as it is now. But that's ok, because I saw the Old Beijing and I liked it..

The 3rd time was in Xiamen, Hokkien. This time, I went with my choir mates where we went there to take part in the 4th World Choir Games and I'm about to enter the 6th one this year which will be taking place in Shaoxing, China this year. It took place in Graz, Austria 2 years ago and it was too expensive to go there.

And about the trip to Venice, Italy. I'm still not really sure about this trip because we're still not sure whether we are qualified to take part in this competition. But also, European trips equal to a HUGE sum of money.. So I will be performing in quite a lot of places to earn more money and also collect some donations from all of you kind souls out there.. =P

I haven't been touching my piano ever since my Graduation Day where I wrote a song for my class to perform.. =D Therefore, I'm afraid that my piano skills will worsen when I get back to class later... Although I've practiced for 1/2 an hour just now, I'm still a bit clumsy with my hands now. I'll see how it goes later on. I hope my teacher can be a little more patient with me and hopefully, be in a good mood today.. =P

ps: Oh, and I think I'm going to get my very first job next week as a piano teacher... Hopefully my students are not those spoiled brats for needs a good kick in their butts... Lol. I think I can handle this. Or at least, I hope I can... =3

Feeling L.O.S.T.

Now that it's after Secondary School, everyone is again, going their separate ways. But unlike graduating primary school, this time, everyone is going a lot more further apart.

So most of my friends are already enrolled in college or already in college doing their A-levels or SAM program or whatsoever. But here I am, facing the computer everyday since the 1st of January, doing absolutely nothing. No job, no school, no classes. And I'm so bored I almost died of boredom... And now that school reopened, my little brother had just started secondary school and I'm alone at home.

I guess this is what they usually say, feeling like a ship lost at sea.

I'm still now sure if I'm suitable for studying music. I'm not sure if this really is my path. But I hope it is because I don't have much options to choose from. I like music, but I hope I won't end up as a music teacher in the future. I hope to write songs for movies or films like, for Disney's animation or Pixar. =) Songs like the theme song for Titanic or Forrest Gump. Songs who can withstand the test of time and people of all ages, young and old, will be humming along to. Songs that make people cry, songs that make people connect.

I would like to meet people like Alan Menken who wrote most of Disney's theme song that is familiar to people of all ages. He wrote songs from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and also songs from Enchanted in which the "Happy Working Song" got everybody hummin' for weeks! He's naturally talented and gifted, where I'm the total opposite of. My musical talents are not at all a gift nor a talent I had.

I know that I dream big, but it is merely a dream. If I really want to make this dream a reality, then I have to work extra hard. I hope that I can look back some day in the future and smile, not regretting that I took the "road less traveled by".

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Singapore Trip

Happy New Year! 2-oh-one-oh.. Yes, I know that I'm 1 day or 2 days late. But better late than never, right? =D

So on New Year's eve, I was on my way back from Johor Bahru/Singapore. To be frank, I hadn't had much fun in Singapore... Because we was staying in JB, we had to go through the checkpoint every time we want to go to Singapore. So it was a really tedious job to go in and out of Singapore every time.

Day 1
When we reached Singapore, my dad's fuel tank was almost empty and we forgot to fill up the tank in JB. So when we reach Singapore, my dad went to the nearest Shell station to fill up his tank and the petrol station worker teased my dad and said, "I've only seen Singaporeans going to JB to fill the tank and not see Malaysians coming to Singapore to fill the tank!" And at their petrol station was a 7-Eleven convenient store and it was very much different from the 7-Eleven we have here! They sell lots of stuff! And yummy ones, too! =D

So after filling up our tank, we wanted to go to the city but my dad had some problems using the GPS and we ended up circling around Woodlands, which is near the checkpoint between the barrier of Singapore and Malaysia. Oh, yea. But we had a chance to drive around the Singapore National University... = =

So back at the checkpoint, I find the checkpoint officers there a little rude and arrogant. My dad didn't really know the "rules", which is to open the car booth when entering the checkpoint because they were afraid that we are smuggling chewing gum or bubble gum into Singapore... == No no, just kidding. Okay, so because my dad was kinda like a newbie, he didn't open the booth for the officers to check. And the officer was like banging on the car booth and shouting for my dad to get out of the car to open the car booth for them to check! o.O I'm not sure if this is a M'sian-Singapore thingie or just a "i'm-tired-of-doing-this-everyday-so-i'm-on-my-nerves" thingie...

Anyway, we got into Singapore twice that day just to eat dinner and walk around Orchard Rd. The Christmas decorations was nice and I love the Christmas tree in front of the ION Mall! =D

Day 2
Sentosa Island!!

First, I must say that I'm impressed at the transportation system the management on Sentosa Island had provided. It was really systematic and clean and all things that we can't find here on our public transportation system. Since it was the 30th, they were preparing for the Siloso Beach Party and there was a huge tent on the beach. I don't understand why the people were still swimming so happily in the sea since the waters were, err, not at all clean.

So we went to the Underwater Park there to look around. I saw some giant sea turtles! I've touched and fed the Stingrays in the "Rays of Fun" pool. The cow-nosed Stingray was really playful and kept splashing us with water! But the other big-sized ones were lazing around the waters...

Of course, I've seen the clown fish a.k.a. Nemo and also Dory.. =P




I've saw the Angel of the Sea and I'm still wondering how they manage to capture this micro-sized sea organisms from the cold-water seas. It's really adorable... =D Here's a picture of it:








I've also saw the Jellies in a big aquarium where they light up with different coloured neon lights! Niceeee....... =D





Ah! There was also the Garden Eel who sticks out from the sand.. Haha! It looked like Slimy, Oscar's pet worm in Sesame Streets!











And the highlight of the whole tour was the Pink Dolphin show! Well, the Pink Dolphins I saw were not exactly pink in whole. But they are pink with a little patches of Gray.

ps: I didn't take this photo and the water in the Dolphin Lagoon wasn't that greenish and murky..






We visited the Merlion statue where we saw a Cambodian(I think) man was busy taking pictures of his wife with various kinds of poses which was hilarious! And annoying, because he kept blocking the view... = =

I wanted to go on the Luge which cost $16 for 1 ride. But my mum thought that it was dangerous... What?! @____@

Anyway, my aunt gave me and my 3 other siblings a $50 note when we reached Sentosa and we was like, What?! o.O *wide-eyed* I thought it was just a $10 note! = = So thanks to Be Ee... =) Athough I've only spent like $5.20 to buy a bottle of Green Tea with Jasmine to quench my thirst and also a $1.50 each Bun which looked so delicious! =P And the packaging was so kyute!




This is the bun I was mentioning! The DayPlus bread with natural yeast. It's a Singaporean product made with imported ingredients from Japan. I bought the Hokkaido Cream flavour and the Maple flavour... Oiishi..! =D






On day 3 (31st Dec), we didn't get into Singapore so my trip ended here...


Oh and by the way, I've welcomed year 2010 in the shower this year.. Haha!

Merry Christmas, all!! =D

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas,
May the Yule tide gay...
From now on, our troubles will be miles away!

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us,
Gather near to us once more...

Merry Christmas to all..! I've just cam back from my graduation trip and I'm all tanned-up! This is what happens after swimming for 3 continuous days! =D

Well, anyway, I've had so much fun and I'll be missing all my friends for a long, long time. We must come out for a gathering some day!! We've been up and over the mountain, under the sea and also "ate up" the whole island in Penang!

• I woke up at 5am on the bus and my breath was taken away by the starry night sky I can see from the bus and marveled at it the whole night!
  
• I've saw about 5 or 6 shooting stars under the starry night sky in Langkawi.
  
• I've waited, but unsuccessfully, for the sun to rise without sleeping the whole night with a bunch of friends by our hotel pool side and also the beach. =D
  
• I've enjoyed waking people up in the middle of the night just for fun~ =P
  
• I've went chocolate hunting in Langkawi.
  
• I've played on a wheelchair in my hotel room because "someone" sprained her ankle just by walking on the streets in Penang... = =
  
• I've also ate my Tang Yuan made by my classmates this year in Cameron Highlands.
  
• I've saw the boys in my class go drunk in Langkawi because beer there is so darn cheap! =S Beer made the good boys go bad... Sigh!
• I've met some old friends in Penang.
• I saw baby sharks in the sea in Pulau Payar!
• I've just realized that most of the boys in my class can't swim and only blame Gulu for not catching the ball when we play games in the pool. = =
  
• I've had a few sips of beer but I still don't like it!
• I felt a little seasick because of the waves...
• I've waited for 3 hours just to be transported from the island to the boat which was about 10m away from the island because of the waves while crazily singing away with QF.
  
• I've made a rock skipped 2 times on the surface of the water!
  
• I've hugged my friends and cried before going home...
• I'm beginning to miss my friends...
  

These 5 days and 7 nights was no doubt memorable and is deeply etched in my heart and my memories forever and always!

So until we meet again friends... May our futures collide so that we can meet again someday!

Go 5S2! Class of 2009... We've fought, succeeded together. What's next? Bring up the challenge! We can manage it, whatever it is!