.: Winks & Kisses :.

Am in Malacca for the long weekends, having truckloads of fun with my cousins.

Will be back to KL on Monday.

Til then, lotsa winks and kisses from me & Rach!

*wink*wink* ;)

.: Age Is Just A Number :.

Why do I need to explain to everyone how I graduated from ACCA at the age of 19?

Why to I need to explain to everyone that I started working at the age of 19?

Why do I need to explain to everyone that I am a qualified, chartered accountant to two professional accountancy bodies at the age of 23?

Why is it difficult to understand? Is it really that difficult to comprehend?

I am capable of doing what a 30 year old chartered accountant is doing. Why does my age have to be a barrier to my career progression? Is it really such a hindrance to be taken seriously at this age? The capabilities that I demonstrate at my work should speak for itself, not my age.

Do ever judge me by my age! Ever!

Gosh. At times like this I just wish I can put away all my adults responsibilities and re-live back my missing childhood days! At least I don't feel so frustrated for being treated like a normal 23 year old.

.: And The Winner Is..... :.

The list of DiGi Speak Up contest winners are up.

Click here to find out the list of winners! :)

Guess who won? *hint*hint*

Nah, not me, but.... Tammie, my cousin sister did! She won a phone! :)
Click on the winner site to have a look at her winning picture! And this is her Oscar speech. *lol*

So happy for her! :)

And congrats to other winners too :)

.: Kath's Travel Guide @ UK - Part I :.

It's been months since I came back from UK, but it is only until now that I have the time to upload some pictures.

So here are a few pictures (with me in it) to share.

If you don't like my face and would rather look at pictures of nature and things - click here for Kath's Travel Guide @ UK - Sneak Preview.

I will continue to post up pictures and blog more of my UK trip at not-so-regular intervals. Please bear with my laziness.

Outside the hostel Martin & I stayed at Stradclyde.

Martin is my travelling bear!

(Glasgow)

Albert & Me on a bad hair day. Lookalike no?

(Madame Tussuad)

Ben, Mummy & I standing right in the center of the Earth!

(Greenwich)

This is how wearing a gown in the old days feels like.

It's heavy, I kid you not
(Fashion Museum - Stradford Upon Haven)

Right outside of Roman Bath and Abbey Cathedral.

(Bath)

On a City Sightseeing Tour Bus in Windsor. Behind, the infamous Windsor Castle.

(Windsor)

.: Purge :.

Down with purging and tummy ache today. Wonder is it because of the fried tung fun I had last night? Or the avocado milk shake mummy made?

Either way, I have been visiting the toilet twice. Hope it will just stop there.

.: Blessing Streak :.

Been on a winning streak of late.

2 tickets to the premier of Orphan (thanks to Nuffnang)
2 double tickets pass to watch Cold Prey 2 at Cathay Cineplex (which is a con - coz the only Cathay cinema screening this show is in Johor, like what the heck right? -.-)
4 tickets to watch Hi-5 at Genting Arena of Star (which my colleague ask me to help enter for her 4 year old daughter, in case you're wondering what kind of 23 year old nut I am)

Nothing to really shout about, but still…..

On top of that, (tho this is not a contest) - I manage to secure a job in a well known company, paying quite well. And on top of that, I was counter-offered to work in my parent company in Singapore (which is the dilemma I am currently facing - to go or not to go Singapore?)

I guess that in many ways, I am very much blessed.

So instead of whinning and complaining, I guess I should be greatful and thankful for every single God's blessing :)

.: Think Outside The Box :.

This lovely lady that I was chatting over Xi Mut Tea in Old Town Coffee Café on Saturday was someone in HR. She's an absolute lovely lady, so easy to chat with.

She was telling me this, which I felt was something that I should share.

There was a group of employees in a team building exercise.

One of the game was that each person, has tagged his/her back, a piece of paper with name of a famous celebrity written.
Now, the objective of the game is very simple - to ask questions to other people around; who could see what was tagged behind; in order to guess the name of this famous celebrity tagged on his/her back.

So everyone went around, asking questions to each other. Some manage to get it very quickly. While a few others struggled. In the end, there was one guy left; who had a name of a celebrity that he has never heard of tagged on his back. So obviously it made it very difficult for him to guess. He ended up asking questions on the first alphabet, the second alphabet and so on and so forth.

Then one of them quickly object to say that it is not right - the guy can not ask these kind of questions.

To which, the coordinator said "No, he is not wrong. The only rules that I mentioned at the inception of the game is that you need to ask questions to guess the name written. Nobody said that you could not ask these kinda questions. In fact, you could very well ask 'What is the name tagged on my back' "

So, the lesson learnt from this exercise is that we should think outside the box.

And never allow anyone (or even yourself) impede or limit you from doing so in any way.

.: Jodi's Stories :.

I have been spending much of my spare time (which isn't very much actually) reading up novels. Now, I never really believe in buying books/novel for reading, unless one; I am going to read it a couple of times two; it's a definite real bargain.

So with that in mind, I am a regular visitor the our very own National Library.

Now, don't underestimate our National Library. Tho very much lacking as compared to libraries in other developed countries, there is still a wide range of books and novels that you could lend/borrow (I could never seem to get this right, someone pls correct me?).

And one of the novelist that I am following closely aside from Nicholas Sparks and Nora Roberts; is Jodi Picoult.

I have read her very first debut novel; Songs Of The Humpback Whale.

In this book, I love how she narrates the story by 5 different individuals - Jane, Oliver, Rebecca, Joley and Sam. What is unique is that her narration of Rebecca's experience is end to beginning. I have to admit that I was a lil confused when I started of with the novel, but after reading on, I manage to piece together what this whole novel was all about. I love the way that she must have really did her research to know and able to write so much about the Humpback whales and apple orchards.

The sypnosis of the novel as below :

In this novel, Jodi Picoult interweaves five rich narrative voices to tell a story of love, loss, and self-discovery. The voices belong to a mother, her daughter, and three very different men.

Jane had always lived in somebody's shadow. Escaping a childhood of abuse by marrying oceanographer Oliver Jones, she finds herself taking second place to his increasingly successful career. However, when her daughter Rebecca is slighted, Jane's dramatic stand takes them all by surprise.

Leaving Oliver and his whale tapes behind in San Diego, Jane and Rebecca set out to drive across America to Uncle Joley and the sanctuary of the Massachusetts apple orchard where he works. Joley directs Jane across the United States in a series of letters waiting for her in designated post offices. Each letter gives concise directions to the next post office; each letter provides Jane with a chance to reflect on her forgotten past.

Oliver, used to tracking male humpback whales across vast oceans, now has the task of tracking his tantalizingly unpredictable wife across a continent. To do so he must learn to see the world-- and even himself-- through her eyes.

Songs of the Humpback Whale is a powerful and sensitive novel of family life that questions how songs are passed down from male speaker to male speaker, but also examines the female tradition of listening that women unconsciously pass on to their daughters.

I have also read Second Glance, which is very much an unconventional love story.

Do we love across time? Or in spite of it?

This was the first two sentence in the synopsis that caught my attention. As I read on, I was very much swooned by her quirky, likeable characters; the mysterious elements of magical realism of the supernatural world; and the more serious social critiques on sensitive topics such as genetic selection and races.

I am now halfway through Perfect Match; which is basically a story about the battle of the parents of a sexually abused 5 year old boy.

Updated 02/09/09 :

I have to admit that this is the best Jodi's novel I have read so far.

It did started off kind of slow, mild, almost static plot, but as pages and pages were turned, the plot starts to thicken, and midway to the story, there were sharp twists here and there; at it was then that I started to flip the pages at a faster pace.

When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

.: Shifting Genre :.

As Ben, Yin and I was crooning to Vanessa's Colour Of The Wind, Desiree's Sunshine and Diana King's I Say A Little Prayer, the three of us realise that we prefer music from Mix FM rather than Hitz FM.

Damn! Are we all slowly but surely getting older (even our taste in music) or what?

Damn.....

.: Going Deep :.

Had alot of deep, thought provoking moments in my life today, which I wanna share with all of you.

Namely from a chat with a lovely lady at Old Town Coffee Cafe in Uptown Damansara in the afternoon and Rev Peter's book launch in Nanyang Siang Pau Hall in the evening.

But I am exhausted for today - will share more tomorrow.

For now, I shall leave you guys with one very profound quote

Church is only society on earth that exists for the benefit of non-members. -- William Temple

Indeed, sometimes as church goers we are too hung up with the smaller, petty things, that we lose sight and focus of the bigger purpose; of God's purpose.

.: Top 10 Signs You'll Soon Be Unemployed :.

1. You return from a week's vacation to find that you had scheduled THIS week as vacation, not last week.

2. The email in which you wittily described your boss as “Hitler without the redeeming features” was accidentally cc'd to “All Staff”.

3. That cute new employee you unsuccessfully hit on turns out to be head of the Lesbian Lawyers Alliance AND the chairman's daughter.

4. You wake up naked under the boardroom table just as the door opens and the directors file in.

5. Arriving at your destination on a business trip, you check your papers and discover that you have gone to the wrong continent.

6. The milk you “borrowed” from the company fridge in the R and D department wasn't milk and no one will tell you what it was.

7. The bad driver to whom you gave the one finger sign on your way to the office turns out to be the new director of human resources.

8. You take a "sick" day because you were up most of the night watching a TV sports final and the following morning the boss says, "So, I hear you had a late night?"

9. An off-color joke you forwarded to “All staff” contained a Trojan super-virus which shut down company computers worldwide.

10. After your project team gets the company listed on the stock market, you realize that your data had the decimal point in the wrong place.

.: Someday We'll Know :.

.: Someday We'll Know :.

Ninety miles outside Chicago
I can't stop driving I don't know why
So many questions, I need an answer
Two years later, you're still on my mind

Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart
Who holds the stars up in the sky
Cuz true love is just once in a lifetime
Did the captain of the Titanic cry?

Someday we'll know
If love can move a mountain
Someday we'll know
Why the sky is blue
Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you

Does anybody know the way to Atlantits?
What the wind says when she comes
I'm speeding by the place that I met you
For the ninty-seventh time, tonight

Someday we'll know
If love can move a mountain
Someday we'll know
Why the sky is blue
Someday we'll know
Why I wasn't meant for you
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Someday we'll know
Why Samson loved Delilah
One day I'll go
Dancing on the moon
Someday you'll know that I was the one for you

I want to take you to the end of the rainbow
Watch the stars crash in the sea
If I could ask God just one question
Why aren't you here with me, tonight?

Someday we'll know
If love can move a mountain
Someday we'll know
Why the sky is blue
Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Someday we'll know
Why Samson loved Delilah
One day I'll go
Dancing on the moon
Someday you'll know that I was the one for you

.: Someone's Got.... :.

Someone's got a new toy to play with! *wink*wink*

No points for guessing who tho :)

.: Chick, Action & Horror :.

Well, it is NOT a description of me - tho JC will definately attest to the horror part.

It's of the 3 flicks I have watched the past two weeks (which is way more higher than my average).

I watched The Proposal on Saturday (1st August @ GSC Tropicana Mall). It was an okay movie, not something I would watch again and again (still find it hard to find a good movie which has the same impact as You've Got Mail had), tho JC enjoyed it alot (I know - Mr. Woody into chick flick? But it's true!).


Then, watched with the CC Youth G.I. JOE on Sunday (2nd August @ GSC Tropicana Mall). Tho I am no big fan of action flicks, I must say that I do enjoy this movie. The storyline made a lil bit more sense compared to your average action flicks.

Yesterday (18th August @ Midvalley GSC) I won two tickets to watch the premier of Orphan. And even tho I love horror movies, this movie is considered mild compared to say Silence of the Lamb or The Hills Have Eyes. But when it's gory - it is sickenly gory. Good movie, with a slight twist in the end.

And .... I just found out today that I won two tickets to watch Cold Prey 2. Something similiar to Final Destination I suppose. *happiness*

.: The Green, Green Grass :.

It's tough when you are facing difficult decisions to make. Either side of the field, the grasses are green. Sure, there are some weeds here and there, but I suppose that there are no such things as perfect fields, are there?

I wonder which field should I decide to play in?

Sigh.

.: Pick N' Brew :.

I had a really great time on Saturday, meeting up with my ex-high school mates, especially Yen Nee, who just came back from abroad. Qian did a very good job at organizing the event - and she even diligently did some research of places to eat (and recommendations from food blogs). If it were up to me - it would be some simple restaurant or some fast food chain - I am just lazy trying to think up a venue.

Qian picked Pick N' Brew, a restaurant located on the 1st Floor of One Utama's Old Wing. I love the ambiance of this restaurant, warm and cozy, and perhaps because of it's unassuming location, it wasn't pack or crowded. Service there was relatively good - and we didn't have to wait that long for the food to arrive.

I ordered a Set Meal - which comes with a Soup of the Day (which was potato and leek soup), a main course (four choices here - I finally, after the waiter's recommendation, settled for grilled lamb served with grill abourgine and potatoes with some mint-based sauce) and coffee/tea. It's only RM 28++ It was good - but I felt that the lamb chop I had in Food Foundry was slightly better and more value for money.



SJian had Grilled Striploin beef with Yorkshire pudding in some wine sauce. Delicious! Makes me wanna make my roast beef real soon (this weekend?). Gosh, looking at this picture makes me drool!

Ckong had Chicken Cordon Blue, but I never had a chance to sample it.

While SJian, Ckong and I decides to be carnivores for the day, Jack & Qian decided to take the healthy route and opted for salad instead - Smoked Salmon on Brioche (which Jack really digs) and Spanish Prawn Avocado Salad.

Yee Nee (and later Sue May) ordered the Marinara pasta, which looks absolutely scrumptious - with really huge prawns and mussels.

Oh ya, and apparently the coffee there is the main attraction - but since neither of us have the flair for tasting good coffee - we weren't able to fully appreciate the coffee we ordered. The coffee did came in a really unique brewing pot and apparantly, coffee brewed in this structured pot taste better. Again, not like any of us could really tell. SJian ordered a banana strawberry shake, which is absolutely rick and thick and they were really generous with the strawberries I must say.

All in all, Pick N' Brew is a good place to enjoy a slow, quiet dinner in a warm and cozy ambience. And it is quite value for money too. I would definitely want to go back there again.

P/S : Thanks Qian for being such a great organizer and for allowing me to post the lovely pics!

F233, First Floor Promenade
1 Utama Shopping Centre
No.1, Lebuh Bandar Utama
Bandar Utama City Centre
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia

Brewing hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm
Tel: (603) 77260105
Email us: info@picknbrew.com

.: What Would Rachel Say? :.

A sequel to my previous two posts on Kids Say The Darndest Things by Basil & Janessa.



I was talking to Tammie last night bout Rachel, my 6 year old cousin (Tammie's sister).



And we were laughing out loud on how cunningly cute my dearest cousin is - and coincidentally, both incidents were over chocolates. Goes to show how she would do just bout anything for chocolate. *tsk* Takes over me I suppose *wink*



Incident one, a couple of days ago, exactly on Tammie's birthday. What happened was Tammie's friends bought her some chocolate. And she shared it [see, I thought her how to share since young] with Kevin (her brother) and Rach.



And Rach loved the chocolate so much, so she went to Tammie and asked "Jie, can I have some more chocolate?"



Tammie said no, coz Rach had her share already. Not satisfied with her sister response, lil Rach sulked, and them came back by saying "Jie, this chocolate is only your's today. After today, it's not your birthday, so it's for everyone to share...."



Incident two, I brought some chocolate back from the airport. And I was sharing it with my family after a family dinner. And all of us had our share, except for my grandmom, who was busy with something else.



And Rach loved the chocolate so much, so she went to me and asked "Jie, can I have some more chocolate?"



I had to say no and explain to her that poh poh hasn't had any yet.



She looked at me, then at the chocolate, then back to me again, and said "...but jie jie, poh poh bu si wan che chocolate...". Which translate "... but jie jie, poh poh doesn't like to eat chocolate" (which is not true, coz poh poh does eat chocolate).



So there you have it.



Two very similiar incident, and two very quickly, sneaky comment from Rach.



Love her to bits nonetheless! :)

.: Orphan :.

Oh. I won a pair of invites to watch the premier screening of Orphan on 18th August @ Midvalley @ 9pm.

The contest was just leave a comment here (only for Nuffnanger bloggers) on what is the scariest thing you did/wished you have done to frighten you parents. And guess what? There is no deadline (of course if you submit after 18th, you don't get to watch, like duh!) so if you're a Nuffnang blogger - all you need to do is drop in your comment.

My winning post was :

One of the most scariest incident for my parents would have to be the time my maid called them, screaming that I was chasing my brother around with a knife!

I got real mad over something he did, and took a knife from the kitchen and started chasing him around!

Oh, we were 7 and 5 years old respectively.

And oh, I chased him around with a butterknife, not a parang. Nevertheless, it freaked my parents out!

Needless to say, we both got rotan-ed over the incident! :)

Who shall I invite along? Hmmmm... maybe my brother? *wink*

.: Delusional :.

I am still at work now. I was suppose to go for yoga today - my favourite destressing tool, but no thanks to last minute work being stacked up on my desk, I am still here.

And why am I still staying back?

Two reasons.

One - to answer the phone, which is most likely my auditors, raising queries on my consol.

Two - to destress by surfing.

I am so tired. And slightly delusional. Thinking bout what the future holds, and it really worries me that I will never ever find my true calling in life. It's just so depressing.

But I must continue to trust the Lord in this matter.

My bro is coming back this Monday. Oh, how I miss him.......

.: Fed.Up :.

Fed.up.So.fed.up.Arg!

.: I ♥ You Online :.

I HEART YOU ONLINE (aka THE FACEBOOK SONG)

Every morning I wake up with lingering dreams of you
and my heart is beguiled.
I struggle to think just what else I can do,
then log into my favorite online social networking website..

I want to be in your profile picture.
I want to be a permanent fixture on your wall.
You're so beautiful.
Wish I could be in your profile status.
Feature in the place where you update us
Maybe then I'll have you in mind
I heart you online.

I can see from your information
you like japanese animation and stir fry,
well so do I
I've read the books that you love reading.
I must say you're quite appealing.
Maybe you could poke me sometime.
I heart you online.
I heart you online.

Ba ba da ba ba da~

Click on my face and tell me that you love me.
You signed your message with three kisses.
Could be wrong but i think this is
your way to convey
that my love is not unrequited
but i won't get too excited,
coz you're only virtually mine
I heart you online
I heart you online
I heart you online

I Heart You Online - Rocky & Balls

For now it's this til Su's cousin post it up (coz I dunno how to post FB's video)

.: The Most Interesting :.

She : What was the most interesting thing to have happened in your life?

He : You!

She : -.-"

.: Stress @ Work :.

I guess everyone in my office have been really stress out with work of late. Things are not running as smoothly as it could, due to circumstances. I too have not been in quite a positive mood (was I ever?). Maybe I shall buy and bring some chocolate to work to cheer everyone up. Afterall, we are all stuck to do what we need to do - so might as well make the best of it. Hope chocolate will do to lighten up the mood a lil. I know it will for me.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again - REJOICE!
Philippians 4:4

This is what I taught in Sunday School this week. I taught the kids that in all times - we need to rejoice in the Lord.

We had a far bit of fun yesterday. We played balloon puzzle. We clapped the tambourine as I name the things we do in our daily life - and they kids reply "We will rejoice in the Lord".

For example, I would say "When we wake up in the morning……" and the kids, banging their tambourines, jumping and cheering and shouting "…we will rejoice in the Lord"
*laughs* It was quite a fun - especially when the other teachers added "When we are doing our homework…." or "When we are being punished….." to hear the kids respond that they will still rejoice in the Lord is quite amusing and touching at the same time.

I think I too should learn from this verse. Rejoice in all circumstances, coz the Lord is near!

Rejoice!

.: Kids Say The Darndest Things - Part II :.

The IDEAL age of getting married - by Janessa Chan, 7 years old.

As I was cooing over baby Samuel (Joshua's younger brother), Janessa came up to me and said;

Janessa : Jie, next time you get married, then can have babies *cheeky smile*

Me : Hmmm.... But jie still very young wor. Still a long time to go before I get married.

Janessa : How old are you?

Me : *showing 2 fingers on my right hand and 3 fingers on my right hand* I am 23.

Janessa : *pause for a while, counting her fingers* Oh, that means you have 7 more years to go before you get married.

And there you have it, I am getting married at age 30. *laughs*

Click here for Kids Say The Darndest Things - Part I, by Basil, 11 years old.

.: Tie A Red Ribbon :.

Tie a red ribbon on the neighbours' gate where there is an ongoing funeral - to ward off the bad luck as Chinese views death as something bad.

Hmmm... never knew such tradition exist til today.

Sometimes, I feel that I know less of my roots, and tho I am a Christian, I believe that because of my heritage, I should at least be aware (even tho not practising) the Chinese tradition and culture.

.: Food Foundry @ Seksyen 17 :.

For dinner today, JC and I decided to head down to Food Foundry. Afterall, it’s been quite some time back since we had a meal in this cosy lil restaurant. This diner is located unassumingly in the heart of Seksyen 17’s Happy Mansion, nestled among the residential flat areas. Parking there is not a real problem, as it is aplenty.

They serve a variety of food – including Western and Asian meals. From nasi lemak, to pizzas, to steaks, to sandwiches and pastas.

But, many have flocked from far and wide for their very famous Mille crêpe.

(apparently, there's only two places in Malaysia selling this dessert - one in Taman Melaka Raya, Malacca and the otherone here in Food Foundry, PJ - but pls correct me on this if I am wrong)

A lil background of Mille crêpe before going into how scrumptious it taste – Mille crêpe is a French cake made of many layers of thin pancake (crêpe) interlaced with fresh cream. Mille (mil) means one thousand, hence implying that Mille crêpe is made of 1000 pieces of crêpe.

Tho I doubt that the Mille crêpe served in Food Foundry is NOT made from 1000 layers, but it’s absolutely scrumptious. By using my dessert fork to cut a bite piece of the cake, when I felt the texture and saw the cream and all melting into my fork – I knew that was IT. IT was definitely love at first taste as the piece of cake melts into my mouth. It was orgasmic (for a lack of better words to describe it). I would seriously recommend ANYONE and EVERYONE to try this out. No, seriously!I couldn't help but "battled" with JC for the last piece (but JC, not being a dessert person *thank God* gave me the last piece).

It priced at RM 8 a piece (for the Chocolate and Strawberry flavour) and RM 7 a piece for the plain vanilla flavour. And I believe if you have an occasion and want this cake,you can place your order 3 days beforehand.

The address and contact number below

FoodFoundry, Section 17, PJ
No BG-8, Happy Mansion
Jalan 17/13
46400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia.

Tel: +603.7955.3885 / +603.7960.5881
Fax: +603.7960.5882

Opening hours: 11.30am-10pm
Website : http://www.foodfoundry.wordpress.com/

(your could have a look at the menu & prices here too)

*pics credited to FoudFoundry*

.: Recipe : Triple C's Chocolate Brownies :.

A recipe that I may try out this weekend - considering I have some cream cheese left. Since I only have 125 grams of cream cheese left, I am going to half this recipe. I took the liberty of rounding up/down these recipes that were originally converted from the US measurement to the metric measurement. I am not very familiar with the whole "cup" measurement thingy.

Recipe for Cappuccino Cream Cheese Chocolate Brownie *now that's a mouthful isn't it? Hence renamed it to Triple C's Chocolate Brownies*

Brownie Batter
110 grams of unsweeten chocolate
170 grams butter
310 grams sugar (based on experience, I am gonna reduce this by 1/3)
8 grams of coffee powder
155 grams flour
4 eggs
2 - 3 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Cheese Batter
225 grams of cream cheese
115 grams sugar
15 grams of flour
1- 2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 egg

Beat Brownie Batter together and spread into a baking tray.

Beat Cheese Batter together until well blended. Spoon over Brownie Batter and swirl with knife to marbleize.

Bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven of 180 degrees.

Hmmmm....should I modify by adding a lil bit of peanut butter? Sound like a good combination no?

Note : The brownies turned out really well. I took Su's advise (well it wasn't really an advise - she just said I was crazy!) and skipped the peanut butter idea!

Am so loooooving the cheese, tho this brownie quite lacking in the "cappucino" part. Perhaps the coffee powder I used (Nescafe) isn't strong enough? Nevertheless, the brownies turned exactly the way I like it. Texture gooey-ish like, the smell when it comes out of the oven -oo00ooohhh (wish I could upload smells to share with you all), the taste just nice, not too sweet - I reduce my suger to 1/3, but bearing in mind I used sweetened chocolate. So if you have a sweet tooth, or you're planning to stick with baking chocolate (albeit the unsweetened one) then I suggest you stick with the original recipe. Finished with the first piece, off to get my second one.

Have a nice weekend all! Cheers!

.: The X-Files :.

Yoga class yesterday was great! Still got loads of room for improvement - considering a 50-over year-old-man is more flexible and stronger than me. *shame on me*

Have been feeling a lil blue lately. Probably coz of overwhelming workload and other worries and anxieties. Anyways, as always, am glad the weekend is already here. Tho I know that for some absolute bizzare reason - the clock seems to tick way faster during the weekends, and slow down during the weekdays.

A possible World conspiracy?

Shall I call Mulder and Scully to investigate?

.: Little Imperfections Made Perfect :.

In the end, it's these small things that you remember.
The little imperfections that makes them perfect for you.

Yasmin Ahmad

.: AS1 Malaysia :.

Can't believe that so many Malaysians can be so kiasu as to line up as early as 6am in the morning just to deposit money (for something that is not capital guaranteed at that)!

Can't believe that I am one of them too! Well, at least not at 6am, but still.........

Sigh.

What is AS1 Malaysia aka Amanah Saham 1 MALAYSIA aka AS1M? Read ASNB Official Website here.

.: Recipe : Kath's Chicken Yogurt :.

Another "Martha Steward" post, as Tammie was teasing me the other day.

This time it's bout roasting chicken.

Now, after a couple of attempts of roasting chickens; either nicely chopped pieces of chicken or the whole chicken , either it's the Western style or the Chinese style - I believe that we could never go wrong when it comes to roasted chickens.

All one need to do is to make sure the chicken is pre-marinated - with whatever type of flavourful herbs and spices at your whims and fancies - and all you need to do is chuck it in the oven, throw in a couple of onions (quartered) and some pre-boiled potatoes - and you have a complete meal! :)

Last weekend, since I have some yogurt leftover, I decided to try some roasted-chicken-with-yogurt dish.

Now, when I asked JC to google up a recipe, we realise that there are actually two types. One - the Indian type; using a mixture of spices. And then there's the Greek style - with lemon and mixture of herbs.

I decided to go for - both! Fusion! *this is as creative and as artsy as I could get, so just please bear with my excitement*

My very own Kath's Chicken Yogurt

5 - 6 pieces of your favourite chicken parts (I used drumstick and thighs)
3 - 4 tablespoon of natural, unsweetened yogurt
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 -5 cloves of garlic (peeled and whacked firmly with the back of your knife)
Some mixed herbs of your choice (chicken goes really well with all sort of herbs - terragon, rosemary, sage, thyme; for me, I used the ready mixed dried herbs I bought from Tesco UK *so cheap I tell you, even after conversion*)
Some chili flakes (add more if you want it to be more spicier)
Salt and pepper to taste

Marinate chicken with all the above ingredient for about 2 hours or more. The longer you marinate, the more flavour the chicken absorbs. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, put in chicken pieces and grill for about half an hour. It will take slightly longer if the chicken was frozen beforehand.

You know it's done when you use a skewer and poke through the chicken and if the juices comes out clear - your chicken is ready to eat! If it's slightly pinkish (or red for that matter) - just put it back into to oven for a couple of minutes more.

.: Baby Ju :.

One of the embarrassing moments in my life.

Yesterday, one-year-old baby Ju (Judith) walked up to me during worship and extended her hands out and up towards me, subtly asking me to carry her.

Usually, I will ignore lil babies asking me to carry them coz I just have this fear of carrying babies. Don't ask me why, I just have this unspoken fear of carrying them even tho I am the eldest cousin in my family and have been growing up with babies since, I have never really carried them. I guess it's just that they look so fragile and I am just so scared that I will drop them. And at the rare attempts that I do carry them, the position of them "sitting" in my arms are usually super awkward. Read : I am never gonna be a mum! *sobs*

But, baby Ju was looking at me with those big round pleading eyes, that I just have to give in.

And so I hoist her up in my arms, and seconds later ; I was leaning on my back did a whoopsie-daisy dance, and would have fallen flat on my butt if it wasn't for the shelves behind me. JC looked at me and laughed and took baby Ju off me. Ju's dad (Uncle Jimmy) was also laughing at me - and commented that I should start working out my arm muscles. Even cheeky baby Ju was laughing at me! *so embarrasing*

A'ritey then. Back to the gym to get my triceps and biceps in shape!

P/S : According to Auntie Jaime (Ju's mom), Baby Ju is 15kgs. That's heavy right? So I can't really be faulted for not being able to carry her?

.: Tammie's 19th Birthday! :.

Dearest Tamie,

Years gone by and I can't believe that you've grown up to be 19 today. The last of your teenage years, as you start your journey into adulthood. There is so much I want to say to you. So much I want to tell you. I want to tell you how cute you were as a child, and how beautiful you are as a grown lady. I want to tell you how wonderful you are as a daughter to your parents, and an elder sister and a role model to both your siblings, and a friend, as a child of God and many more. I want tell you how your brighten the days of others and cheer them up by your silly antics. Or how you use your wisdom to help those in need. And also how you allow others to see Christ shinning in you by the way you live your life.

But then again, I was never really that good with words, so just let me sum up by saying :

I LOVE YOU!

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY TAMIE!

.: Asthma Attack :.

Had a bad asthma attack this morning. Thankfully I wasn't coughing as bad as I did the last time I had this attack (my throat was sore to the bones - do we even have bones in the throat? Pardon my lack of intellect in the human anatomy department).

My chest still feels very heavy. And I am keeping my inhaler (Berotec) close by just in case, but aside from the heavy chest and a slight whizzing, I feel as fit as a fiddle (albeit no fever, no phlegm, no cough, etc). Just pray for God's to continuously lay His healing hands on me! And I will be up and jumping about by tomorrow! :)

Ok, there's alot of updates for the weekends; of which I think I shall break into the next few posts. So enjoy, as I keep the posts coming! :)