Using My Kitchen

So I've been feeling like I needed to use my kitchen lately, especially since my friend commented on how lovely my new kitchen is "but you don't even cook!". Bah. 

So I got cooking. Or baking.

#1 Chocolate Banana Moist Cake

I got this off a friend's website, www.eternalbaking.com. Alan is a chef and he recorded every step of how to make those recipes on his site. Very helpful!

The cake turned out successful so much so that my colleague polished off the samples I brought to work the next day and decided to try out one of his recipes off his site too.

 

#2 Pancakes

Got this simple recipe off Karen Cheng's. She had yoghurt on hers (so healthy!) and I had my new tub of yoghurt waiting to be opened in the fridge so I dabbed some on top. Tastes... strange but palatable.

#3 Golden Syrup Scones

Now, I've never made scones before and since I had guests coming over last Sunday, I thought, hey, why not? I found this recipe that looked easy (plus it didn't have raisins!) so I gave it a try. It worked! Although I must say I was shocked at how sticky it was and how much flour I had to add to prevent it from sticking to my fingers/utensils since the method called for a "lightly floured surface".

My cookie cutter turned scone cutter was a bit too big so this recipe yielded only 5 pieces. Which means they were HUGE! Still, after distributing to about 9 people, they were all gone.

And of course, I attempted to bake a chicken meal for my two friends who came on Friday night. Since I've been actively baking cookies, cakes etc since shifting in, I completely forgot for meat you need to put the temperature a lot higher. After an hour and blood still oozed, I nuked the chicken in the microwave while the vegetables were half done.

After telling my parents of this disaster, and when I said I was going to experiment on the scones with another group of friends, Mum immediately asked me to buy a cake from the nearby cake shop. When I refused, she then fried some popiah for my friends and got Dad to send them over. They were well received! Aaah, the benefits of staying so close to parents!

Remembering Miss G

You were always the poser, ready for the click of the camera. Your beautiful fur always perfectly in place and this is how I'll always remember you. Glad that we managed to see you recently. May you rest in peace. 

New Dream

KS and I have always discussed where we'd like to travel next. As you can guess from this blog, we love traveling except that we don't have the opportunity to go as often.

The other day, I met up with some friends who brought along another girl. She looked sort of Chinese but with fairly large eyes but when she spoke, she had a strange accent. Her surname is Honda (apparently Honda is a pretty common surname for a Japanese, so is Suzuki and Yamaha - learn a new thing every day) and she is a 3rd generation Japanese living in Brazil (she doesn't speak much Japanese but is fluent in Portugese - I suppose I'm the same since I can't speak my own mother tongue either), but she's now working in Sydney but in Malaysia to look for property. I think.

Anyway, I digress. She started talking about how disappointed she was with the beaches in Malaysia (she went to Langkawi and another island, can't remember which one). I thought it was strange since our beaches are well, rather nice. Then she started sharing about places to visit in Brazil. She has swam with piranhas, fished for them and eaten them in the swampy areas of the Amazon. Again, I digress.

I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. Photos taken off the internet:

Lençóis Maranhenses (pronounced leng-soys ma-rang-ngehs)

Imagine pristine white sand dunes, pooled with crystal clear rain water during certain seasons (according to Wiki, there's fish there too although there's water only for a few months. Fish eggs get transported there by birds). It looks AMAZING! It just begs to be jumped in!

Then there's Iguazu Falls. Apparently this beats Niagara Falls. Since I haven't been to either, it's only fair that I go to both to judge for myself, right?

And then there's Bonito Caves, which is apparently quite colourful but I can't find an image that shows it. Still, thought this one was stunning.

So there you go. Three good reasons to visit Brazil already. But flight tickets are SO expensive since there are no direct flights there from Malaysia. Still, it's good to dream, eh?

P/S: Images taken off the web but I can't remember which sites :(

Being Touristy in KL

The other weekend, we had a Greek guest stay over at our new place together with my in-laws. Kat, as we call her since we don't know how to pronounce her full name, was excited to visit places around KL. So KS and I became sort of her tour guide for the weekend. I only managed to follow for one trip and we went here:

Can you guess where we were? This is a famous place in KL, the supposed "must-visit" site where tons of tourists visit. And this was my first time there. So when I saw this building, it looked totally out of place from it's surroundings.

Anyway, if you could guess, then it's probably because you visited the place recently, so that's cheating. :P

Yes, this is Batu Caves, famous for it's 272 steps. I didn't promise myself I'd reach the top so I told Kat to go on up ahead and see her if I catch up!

And so our climb started. That's Kat, starting to get ahead of me.

Pausing several times "to take photos", this was one of the results for stopping.

 

When I finally reached the top, huffing and puffing, what did I see? MORE STEPS! Gaaaah!

 

There were temples within the cave at the top, beautiful rock formations and colours which I am not sure if it's man-made or natural such at the picture above.

This is looking down on the 272 steps. What comes up, must come down.

The view from the top. A fantastic angle of the Middle Ring Road 2. :) We rewarded ourselves with a fresh coconut. Yums! 

Would we bring tourists here again? Yes. Would I climb it again. NO. But I think I would have to read up more about the rituals that are performed here. I felt like the kids in Slumdog Millionaire as they made up stories of the Taj Mahal.

Furniture Fix

Last Sunday evening, KS and I made an impulse purchase of a TV cabinet from a DIY shop. Thinking I had enough experience fixing flat packed furniture, we loaded it into the car and excitedly brought it home.

Upon seeing the simple instructions, I started gathering the necessary parts only to find that the instructions were a bit too simple! Each piece had different pre punched holes for the screws and nails. I sat there for a good half an hour figuring out which piece went where.

It took me 2 full nights to completely assemble it with the help of KS. I now appreciate the detailed instructions given by IKEA. The sequence of which part to assemble is also vital. I had already nailed the back portion before realizing I had to fasten the drawer rails, which meant we had to lie on our stomachs, twist our bodies to insert our heads into the small drawer cavity to do this. I am still aching from all that contortions.

Moral of the story, don't quit my day job. Still, it does look pretty good. Carpentress for hire?

Fluffies

I just realized my hubby has so much more soft toys at his office than me.

Here's mine. I got this with some hamper during Chinese New Year this year. Why am I keeping it? Because I discovered the underside of it can wipe my phone's screen very well.

And here is my husband's stash, all huddled in a drawer when his office "flooded" (I still don't know the story on this episode). These fluffies come from Australia, Japan to London... I don't think he has a reason for having them besides them being cute.

Now come to think of it, the box of soft toys in our attic are also mainly his...

Lazy Way Out

Yay! My dear hubby stayed up late last night to put this blog post on our new place. So rather than reinventing the wheel, here's his link.