My 4Bs Option

I have these 4 Bs option to pass time tonite. I could choose to bake, read a book, do beading or go to bed. 4Bs - bake, book, bead or bed.

Should I bake?

Should I go for books?

Should I finish my beading?

Or just go to bed?

In the end I opt to blog instead :-) and that had added another B to the existing four.

Back to Back Baking

This baking bug has really gotten into me. I baked back to back on both Friday and Saturday last week.

Friday evening

After 2 hours...this is what's left of the cake.

I tried out this new recipe I found on the Internet - Moist Butter Cake. The cake tasted just like those Sara Lee pound cake. That was on Friday evening. The 1/2 kg round cake was gone in a while. By the time I came back from my swim, there was just a quarter left.

Saturday morning

The mixture

Freshly baked...still hot from the oven

The next morning I baked cupcakes for Faris. He came to KL for a trip to the Islamic Museum in the city. We then met in Suria KLCC....and a box full of cupcakes was packed for him to take back to campus in Malacca. When we called him later, he said he had eaten 3 cupcakes at one go...gosh!!!

J. Co Donuts

ABE and I were at Sunway Pyramid on the Thaipusam holiday. The new wing of the shopping mall now boasts many more retail outlets that could make one go fizzy and dizzy shopping.

Jaya Jusco the department store is the anchor tenant. I was somehow not very much in the mood to shop. Well, there's an explanation to that. Just the day before I was in Suria KLCC and some damage was done in Isetan and Times Bookstore...hehe..heheh. But, of course, ABE didn't know that ;-))

ABE managed to find things he was looking for. After all the walking, we decided to try out the donuts and coffee at J Co Donuts, located on the ground floor.

When we got there the place was packed and the line was so, so long. I told ABE to look for a place to sit and I would stand in line. It would not take long I told him....maybe 10 minutes or so.

I stood in line for almost 20 mins

Queuing for the donuts was quite sensory yet tormenting. You could actually follow the beat with every almost-perfect dough churned out by the high tech donut machine placed closed just behind the cashier counter. That got my lips dried up and hunger building.It was a good 20 minutes queue when my turn finally came.

Yummy...yummy...

People were buying donuts by the dozens. My sister had told me about these J Co Donuts. She said they are very popular in Jakarta. Huh??? Since when pulak those Indons became such donut lovers?? Whateverlah...as long as I got my donuts. That's all I care about.

Found this on Wiki about J.CO Donuts. It is a bakery retailer in Indonesia specialising in doughnuts and coffee. The company is owned and managed by Johnny Andrean, a famous Indonesian hairdresser.

When took my first bite of the almond & sugar donut...it's different...it's soft, less cakey, very light and very delicious. The topping was a real sin....yummy...yummy....sedap nyerrr!!! And...we both sat there for sometime satisfying our sweet cravings.

So people go check out this place. Try out those heavenly J. Co donuts!!!

Baking Again

Last weekend was exceptionally thrilling for me. Me, the undomesticated soul, did some baking!!!

Wahh...a new, improved, domesticated MOI?? Even I was surprised with myself. Well, the story of my baking "trivia" started way back when I was studying in a secondary school in my hometown Seremban. Those days, we girls had to take this one subject known as "Sains Rumah Tangga" a.k.a Domestic Science. My girl friends and I always joked on the name of the subject. We renamed it to "Sains SURI Rumah Tangga".

Mrs Seow's glasses looked something like this.

This subject was somewhat interesting. We learned how to sew, cook and also bake. My teacher was a Chinese lady, Mrs Seow..if I recall her name well. She was some character. She was a bubbly small sized lady who had those 60's like a-go-go dancers glasses and was extremely sharp with her words. If we slacken in her class, she would tell us that we would end up as spinsters for we didn't know how to cook and wasn't able to get anyone to marry us. And if we did get married, our husbands would "lali" (lari...as how is was pronunced by her) with other women who were better cooks. At the age of 15...urgghhh...none of us girls was thinking of marriage. So we would totally ignore her treats.

I laughed most of the time in her class. As punishment, I had to sweep and clean the DSC (Domestic Science Classroom). She made sure I gilap (polish) all the cutlery until I could use them to look at the pimples on my face!!!

Mr Seow's BM was urghhh...how shall I put it...hilarious!!!. She would time and time again confuse these words...kelapa & kepala and kipas & lipas. Her favourite lines were, "Sekarang masukkan KEPALA ke dalam kuali". Literally translated, "Now put your HEADS into the pot". And with that statement...who wouldn't laugh until pecah perut!!! My friends and I almost fell off our stools when she said that. Mrs Seow meant KELAPA (coconut) and she had said KEPALA (HEAD). Just imagine, putting your heads into the ovens? Now...macamana tak ketawa???

One time she screamed her lungs out and said, "Saya ade nampak KIPAS!!!" We looked up towards the ceiling of our classroom. But she was instead pointing to the drawers. Ooo...she was confusing her words again. So...how not to laugh?? When she realised, she had fumbled on her words, she would say, "Kenapa awak semua ketawakan saya?" (Why are you laughing at me?)

Mrs Seow also used to get mad with me when my cakes didn't turn up well. No matter how hard I tried, the cakes I baked would not be as fluffy as others. They always would turn up hard or batat (flattened). Mr Seow said that if she threw my cakes to the wall, it might just make a hole in the wall. Wahhh...so teruk ka??? Well, I guess they did!!! It was then when I accepted the fact that I was not cut to be a baker, not even if I have to safe myself with the skill.

Mrs Seow continued teaching us until our form 3 exams. I did pretty OK in Domestic Science in the exam. When I showed Mrs Seow my result, she said this to me, "Good result. Ha...now u can get married already." Gosh...what a comment!!

With those not so glorifying experiences in my domestic science class, I had obviously stayed away from baking. There were a few times when I tried baking cakes for hari raya. Some of the cakes I baked turned up OK but many didn't. As the years passed, cake houses and bakeries mushroomed. I could still get nice cakes even without making them. I was extremely trilled with the sprouting of outlets like "Secret Recipe" and "La Manila". Cakes are still aplenty...no worries for me.

Milk, coco powder & kissable Hershey's

Basic ingredients butter, sugar & flour

My indifference towards baking came to a pause when one day last week, my daughter Farah, told me that she wanted to make cupcakes for her Kemahiran Hidup class. Sweaty palms and all, I was dumbfounded!! Aduss....she would now be relying on me to show how it's done. Instantaneously, those visions of my flattened cakes from school days came like a play back in my mind.

My cupcakes in the oven

So, during the wee hours of last week, I did my homework on baking. Got some useful tips on the Internet and finally...last nite, I gathered my guts, cleaned up my oven, got out my mixer and started baking.

Wallah...this is how they turned out to be!!!

The outcome of my effort was very rewarding. My cupcakes turned out OK. Not hard as how they used to be during those school day. Nissa ate 5 of them at one go after I took them out from the oven.

My baking still needs improvement for sure. But what made the most out of it was when Nissa told me, "Mom, U are the world's best baker!!!" She may not have any famous bakers she'd be comparing me with, but I know she was impressed with what I did. And that surely made my day...

I guess I'll be baking more in the months to come. Hopefully this newly found interest of mine will stay and not be short lived as some of my other "hot" pursuits.

Women over 40

While we are still at the topic on WOMEN, I thought I'd post this note which was forwarded by my friend, Muni in the email.

These comments came from 60 Minutes Correspondent, Andy Rooney (CBS).


As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game , she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons.

Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Apple Picking

This was reported in the Star on Wednesday, 9th January 2008.

MALAYSIAN men prefer Indonesian women for wives because they are more pleasant and enticing, a lecturer told Utusan Malaysia.

Oh... really ka??

According to Prof Dr Ahmad Atory Hussain of Universiti Utara Malaysia said Malaysian men were attracted to Indonesian women because they were slimmer and more charming. The report also mentioned that many Malaysian men choose to have Indonesian women as wives. The hantaran to marry an Indonesian woman is cheaper.

No kidding?? To all those dear men desperately seeking for their "Susans", I just have this one comment.

Consider this.......women are like apples on trees.

The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the best ones. Why?? Well, they are afraid they might fall and get hurt. So what do they resort to instead? They go for apples from the grounds that are not as good, but easy. As for the apples at the top, they know they are good. They are pride of the whole apple lot. So why stoop low? They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Therefore, why would we want to compete with those Indons? The answers are simply put in these next few words.

We are a confident lot who have the ability to do anything we set our minds to. We are health conscious, independent, opinionated and self sufficient. We command respect in the hearts of the men.

So to all you knights in shinning amour out there….get the message? Cut that macho crap..be brave, work harder.

Pick your apples right. Go get yourselves those good ones!!!

A Baby No More

Nissa, my youngest started "real" school last week. She was in playschool the last 2 years and in kindergarten last year. So this year she starts Year 1 in a school not far from home.

She will be seven this March. Where has the time gone? Every time her birthday rolls around, I reminisce about the day I got to know I was pregnant of her. After many years of trying to conceive, I sort of gave up on trying to get pregnant. I remember having this conversation with a friend. "Aku rasa aku ni dah mandul kot...after having 2 kids." And we laughed our lungs out over that remark. And then, there I was...pregnant!! Oh nooo....a baby on the way!!!

When my gynae, Dr Haris told me..."Yup..you are pregnant alrite. And baby is due in March" Waaaa.....didn't know if I should cry and scream or leap with joy. The last time Dr Haris said this same line to me was a long, long time ago....8 years to be exact.

Nissa - 3 years

A baby would be nice...but the 9 months would be a challenge. Both of my earlier pregnancies had been awful. My morning sickness would start from the time I knew I "got knocked" and would prolong till the day I delivered.

A good 7 years have passed since that visit to the gynae. And now..before we knew it, our "little baby" Nissa is getting on the bus and heading off to school. Tears welled up in my eyes as I became nostalgic, and marveled at my sweet little cherub who has grown into a pretty, young girl.

Poem & Photo Editing

My first posting for the year. I used to write poems when I was in school. I thought I'd try my skills at it again. But this time combined with some photo editing tools.

The outcome...oh well...I'd rate it OK la ;-)