Loyal readers

Monday, May 30, 2011

Introducing......Jellybeans!

Pilot.

These are mini muffins, not cupcakes, although they look exactly like my cupcakes (Yes I ran out of ideas on how to decorate them teheee).

 The ones with jelly drops on top is my latest creation, and I call them 'Jellybeans'. The Jellydrops have different colours (red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple) with different flavors. Adorable and delicious! =)

Saturday, May 28, 2011

s.n.e.a.k.p.e.e.k





Tudiaaa bulu mataku yang panjang tapi tak terlentik langsung, penyebab utama aku mendapat gelaran GAJAH SESAME STREET sejak sekolah rendah. Itu ori ok bukan palsu!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Resepi kek batik yang teramat senang



Requested by Miza through Facebook. And I thought, why not I share it here too. =)

Ini resepi untuk sebungkus biskut meri, agak2agak cukup untuk separuh loyang kek. Memang tak dapat banyak sebab biskut ni akan ditekan-tekan rapat nanti. Nak banyak, pakai 2 bungkus biskut meri dan doublekan sukatan.

Bahan2:

1 bungkus biskut meri (sekeping biskut kepak/patah 4)
1 kotak (kecik) susu dutch lady or brand apa2 ja
4 sudu besar butter
4 sudu besar susu pekat manis
Air panas
Milo secukup rasa. aku suka letak banyak. kasik sembelit.

Cara2:

1. Panaskan susu dutch lady, susu pekat manis n butter dalam periuk ngan api kecik sampai mendidih.
2. Bancuh milo ngan air panas. Kalau suka milo banyak, bancuh sepekat-pekatnya. (bancuh dgn air panas untuk elakkan milo berketul dalam adunan)
3. Campur milo ngan bahan2 dalam periuk. Panaskan sehingga agak2 pekat. Jangan cair sangat, nanti biskut jadi lembik. Biar ada texture pada adunan tu.
4. Lepas dah pekat, tutup api dan biar adunan jadi suam. Masa tengah suam, masukkan biskut meri yang dah dikepak kecik dalam adunan. Kacau sehingga sebati.
5. Masukkan adunan biskut+kuah dalam tupperware. Masukkan sikit2. Buat by layer. Masuk sikit, tekan bagi rata. Then masuk lagi. Jangan sampai ada ruang banyak sangat. Kalau ruang banyak, nanati bila potong, biskut/kek hancur.
6. Sejukkan atas meja. Bila dah sejuk, masuk dalam peti ais 2-3 jam. Nak kasik dia melekat/melekit sikit. Hidang sejuk atau tak sejuk. Aku suka tak sejuk.

p/s: Kalau jenis yang suka kurang biskut dan lebih kuah, boleh doublekan bahan2 pakai sebungkus biskut. Resepi ni sangat senang dan flexible. Ikut selera sendiri ok.

Selamat mecuba! =D

Sunday, May 22, 2011

My very own lovepage.


Told you, he's madly in love with me.

Thank you jellybeans!

Jiwang gila? Ko ado? =D

Saturday, May 21, 2011

House Rules. A book by Jodi Picoult.

I love reading. It just occurred to me I haven't done much reading since I started working. Reading novels, that is. I read scripts and essays practically everyday but that is NOT for leisure (it has the opposite effect, actually, since those essays often give me a mysterious headache after reading around 20 of them). 

I used to love The Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella. About the same time, I fell in Love with the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Do you know that J. K. Rowling purposely initials her name as if it were a man's just so that the book will become more known? Because male writers are often more known and celebrated in the United Kingdom. Whatever it is, those series educated and fascinates me when I was growing up, in my school years. But surprisingly, I have ALL seven of the Harry Potter books, but I don't even own any of the Shopaholic series. Hurmmm....

After I graduated from high school, I entered my university years. By this time I've outgrown Sophie Kinsella and J. K. Rowling, but I fell head over heels with Julie Garwood. She often writes about barbarians or barbaric men who are tough and rough, falling in love with beautiful, soft-spoken, fragile ladies. I owned a lot of her books, in which I read as often as I can. Also, I read and own a lot of Cecelia Ahern's and Nicholas Spark's. Notice the theme there? Yes, ROMANCE. 

Then I went to New Zealand, and I came back. I started looking for a new writer that could blow my mind off. When I was in Popular Bookstore with Zombee, I saw a book titled 'House Rules'. Not interesting at all. But something drew me to pick up the book and read the synopsis behind the cover. The story is not about love, fantasy or how a girl struggles to support her impulsive shopping amidst her mounting credit card bills. It's about a mother and her child. And I put the book back down on the shelf.

Days after, I went to a bookstore again. I picked up the same book, House Rules. The writer is Jodi Picoult. Not familiar at all, at least to me. And I put it back down again. This happens for more than 20 times over two weeks, I think.

And then one day, I came back from window shopping with Zombee, I realized that there was something else in the paper bag I was carrying. I didn't realize this earlier because, being a considerate gentleman that he is, Zombee was holding the bags for me. I was pleasantly surprised finding what was inside. Can you guess?


I was so happy and flabbergasted! I hate it when he does that! Buying or getting me things I really-really want! Oh wait who am I kidding? I love it when he does that! Thank you Zombee. He afterwards told me that he felt annoyed pitiful watching me picking up the book every time we enter a bookstore, but not buying it (because I did not have any money then. I was a poor, poor student).

One might say "It's just a book. Anyone can buy it. Duh." Well, MY book has this inside. And it is what makes it special, one of its kind. What makes me treasure it most.


To readers who are looking for a new breath of air, you can try Jodi Picoult. She often writes about mothers or family matters. But if you are looking for romance, you are barking up the wrong tree. Picoult deals with more matures issues in life, such as parental love, forgiveness and accepting imperfection in the people that we love. Her way of writing is so fresh and personal. I've learnt a lot reading her supposedly fictional novels. For examples, now I know a lot about Asperger Syndrom. Well, if you are not familiar with some of her writings, maybe you have watched the movie 'My Sister's Keeper'? Major TEARFEST for me. So does all of her books. 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Smiling with braces, and the Form 6 dilemma

Assalamualaikum! Dah lama tak tulis entry yang bercerita. Lately asyik letak gambaq ja. Sebab? Malas mengarang. And I've been really busy with some professional and personal stuff. Good news going to be revealed soon. Just sharing the news with my closest friends for now.

Ok. It's been almost 4 months since I've been wearing my braces. Sekarang tak sakit dah. Makan pon bedal ja apa yang ada depan mata. Cuma, every month bila pergi jumpa dentist untuk regular check-up, dentist akan tukar dan ketatkan wayar. Lepas tu akan rasa sedikit sengal dan gigi menjadi ketat. Mungkin susah nak makan selama 24 jam. Esoknya, InsyaAllah akan ok balik. Tapi tak la sakit macam mula-mula pakai dulu. Sakit sikit saja. Aku siap boleh drive balik rumah Penang-Changlun 2 1/2 jam straight lepas jumpa dentist.

Rupa-rupanya, susah betul nak senyum bila pakai braces. Sebab: Gigi secara automatiknya menjadi tebal disebabkan ceramic/metal yang digamkan terus ke gigi tu. Selama ni aku lebih selesa senyum tak nampak gigi. Entahlah, mungkin aku perasan yang senyum macam tu lebih ayu. Bila pakai braces, kalau aku senyum tak nampak gigi, nampak seperti senyuman dibuat-buat. Nampak macam senyum menyampah pon ada. Alah macam kita senyum nak perli orang tu. Walaupun aku tak berniat langsung. Kadang-kadang je aku dapat mengawal muscle muka supaya bila senyum tak nampak gigi, aku nampak normal seperti biasa dan bukan seperti seorang pengkidnap budak bersiri.

Jadi sekarang, kalau bergambar, aku akan cuba senyum luas-luas macam esok nak kahwin. Eh esok ke? taklah. Lambat lagi. Senyum macam sengih kambing. Kerang busuk. Sengih macam baru dapat gaji hari ini. Eh hari ini ke? Minggu depan lah. InsyaAllah.... Tak biasa lah senyum macam ni. Jadi agak kekok. So in the end aku nampak macam senyum plastik. Ah macam-macam la. Tutup mulut susah bukak mulut pun susah. Kalau tak senyum, nanti dikata sombong. Lagipun senyum itu sedekah, kan? So senyum je lah walaupun kadang-kadang I swear to God I think I look terencat.

On a totally unrelated subject, sekarang aku secara officialnya sedang mengajar MUET. I HAVE NO FRIGGIN IDEA what I should be teaching in class, but for now I'm still on the level of measuring their English proficiency and improving their courage to speak up in class. I have noticed a few things with my Pra U1:

1. ALL of the students in the class is taller and bigger than me.
2. They are 18 years old, and they look like bapak-bapak and mak-mak budak already.
3. Not much of a discipline problem with these grown up kids. When I talk in class, they listen like it's the end of the world. God is MUET that interesting???!!!

Teaching MUET is harder than it seems. Because they do not have a syllabus like Form 1 till Form 5. But some teachers have been reassuring me that teaching in Form 6 is one of the express way to naik pangkat, aside from GC (Guru Cemerlang). If you have an experience of teaching Form 6 for 4 or 5 years, you can apply to be appointed as GAT6 (Guru Akedemik Tingkatan 6). And when you are appointed, your DG status will automatically be increased to DG 44 (whilst the time-based normal method is going to cost you 10 years to move from DG41 to DG44). So my teacher-friends out there, lets apply for GC or GAT6 as fast as we can! Perlulah berusaha untuk memajukan diri kita, betul?

So far I feel blessed with life. Going to take a huge step in life soon, and my career is just showing a promising future. InsyaAllah. And I miss my friends. Seeing them soon at the end of the month. Can't wait, literally. =D

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Children of mine.

Hari Guru Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Megat Dewa. Tingkatan 1 Potensi. 2011.























Gonna miss these kids. Not teaching them anymore since I'm teaching MUET.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Kepada insan yang telah memberikan aku segalanya. Terima kasih MAMA.

I don't have much money atm, so this cheap custom-made key chain is the only thing I can afford for now. But she loves it nevertheless. =)

Diriwayatkan, Nabi Muhammad SAW bersabda ketika ditanya sahabat:
Sahabat : Kepada siapakah aku harus berbakti ?
Nabi SAW : Ibumu ..!
Sahabat : Kemudian Siapa Lagi ?
Nabi SAW : Ibumu.!
Sahabat : Kemudian kepada Siapa Lagi ?
Nabi SAW manjawab lagi : Ibumu .!
Sahabat Bertanya lagi : Kepada Siapa Lagi …?
Nabi Menjawab : Ayahmu…!!
Begitu tinggi derajat ibu di mata Allah dan Nabinya. Dan suatu kewajiban bagi umat Islam untuk menghargai, mendoakan dan berbakti kepada ibu.


p/s: I've hugged and kissed my mother today, then told her I love her so much. Have you told yours?


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Baked oreo cheesecake

It's been a while since I last baked anything or updated anything in here. Been busy the past 2 weeks with courses, upcoming exam and of course the never ending school workload.

Took the opportunity during the labour day weekend to try a recipe of Oreo cheesecake. The recipe was so plain and easy! It was for a New York cheesecake but I had some Oreo at home and being an Oreo lover that I am, I modified the recipe. Also, I added some golden syrup with sour cream as the topping for the cake. I also toned down the quantity of the sugar so that it won't be too sweet. Gotta take care of our body, right? Because giving up cheesecake altogether is just wishful thinking.





Overall the recipe turned out pretty okay. The cake is smooth and creamy, but next time I will reduce the number of eggs used because I insist that I taste too much egg in the cake although nobody else did. Baked this around 9pm last night, this morning there's less than half a tray left. Success? Maybe. Hungry barbarians in the house? Definitely!

Here is the simple recipe, if anyone wants to try it.

Ingredients:
Crust
Crush butter cookie with some melted butter. Spoon into the pan and spread them evenly.
Cheesecake
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
3 Tablespoons sugar
8 oz. sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Beat cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar, 3 eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with mixer until smooth. Pour into well greased 9 inch pie plate. (p/s: I just place the oreo biscuits all over/in the batter and some crushed oreo on top as a decoration)
2. Bake 22 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Turn oven off. Remove cheesecake and cool for 5 minutes.
3. Combine 3 Tablespoons sugar, sour cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spread over warm cheesecake and return to oven for 5 minutes. (p/s: I added some golden syrup here)
4. Cool and refrigerate.