(chunky) cheese brownies

i am so crazy over brownies! baked another batch of brownies with a cheesy twist... literally and figuratively. yipeedeeda! it turn out great but the cheese sandwich could be better ... maybe because it was in the freezer which "killed" some of the creamy cheese texture.... also it wasnt really chunky as most of the chocochips melted when baked... maybe it will harden when refrigerated.

he's camera shy

i noticed vodka's camera shy. it's so hard to take nice potrait of him. one of my fave angle is to take from top down which has nice effects.
just discovered that vodka is silver frosted goldendoodle! ha ha very glamourous, eh?

a lot of ppl whom seen him when he was younger always asked in confusion "eh, why grey now ar?!"
i always answered nonchalantly "old d mar.... hair turn grey lo...."

sick human poor dogs

really sick sick human. i nearly cried when i read this article. these dogs had to endure 40 mins of torture. one of the dogs suffered multiple injuries and broken teeth! how can they continously beat the dogs? maybe they were high in drugs? i believe the thieves will get their payback soon.

[ http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/12/nation/18280747&sec=nation ]

chewy chocolate brownies

thank god i am recovering from the much despised flu. my appetite wasnt so great which was good actually but this caused bloated tummy as i ate irregularly. i miss my mom and her cooking!! haiz.... she was planning to extent her stay ...ok, so i dont really have mood to eat but the sudden thought of chocolates perked me up and my digestive juices started flowing... then i remembered having a great slice of american chocolate brownies in secret recipe on my birthday... that what i called CHEWY!! i hardly find really chewy brownies here. i guess malaysians dont really like the chewy texture... moist yes but chewy maybe not. it's an aquired taste, i think. why? cos most of my friends dont really fancy chewing their cakes.... mom certainly doesnt but maybe it's her dentures :P so my quest to look for a chewy brownies recipe begun... and yipeedidee! found one which is simple and has some rave reviews... bake it with the tweakings as suggested and it turn out yummy! however, i think i will cut down the baking time to maybe 25 mins so it would be goo-eyer. maybe i will drizzle some sheridan (baileys would be better but i dont have it here...) on top..

* i tweaked those ingredients in []
2 BIG eggs [ 3 medium eggs ]
1/2 cups butter, melted[ 1/4 cups vegetable oil ]
2 cups sugar [1 1/4 cup]
1 cup flour1 cup cocoa powder (i used the cheapest local cocoa from "bake with yen". i reckon if you use those higher quality cocoa powder, your cake will taste better)
2 tsps vanilla essense
1/4 tsp salt [i omitted the salt]
[a small fist of choco chips]

1. melt the butter and mix the vege oil and sugar while the butter is warm. put aside to cool.
2. shift the flour and cocoa powder together into a bowl.
3. pre-heat the oven to 160C or 325F
4. beat the eggs lightly and fold it into the wet mixture.
5. fold in the wet mix to the dry mixture.
6. mix then together until combined but do not over mix else it will be cakey.
7. i swirl in the chips before pouring the batter into the pan. original recipe uses 8x8 square pan. i used a 8" round pan.
8. bake for 30 mins in 160C. but i think should reduce to around 25mins.
9. to check for doneness - which really depends on how u like your brownies, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean IT'S TOO DONE!!! for me i think it should have crumbs sticking to the toothpick but not too wet.

5sc.1 class of 93

this photo certainly make my mind racing back to those times where we pulled cheeky pranks on teachers and friends, exams, teeny bopper mags, exams, silly crushes and miami vice. did i mention exams?

note : actually i lost all my secondary school photos. i accidentally thrown the photo albums while shifting houses. so i would be really great if someone can sent me somemore pictures...

mini bbq @ bridget's

the food all working hard ... but one drinking

all eating ... butt one still drinking

eat the po-tay-to eric & swee style

after a satisfying meal...

reunion of the gals

it was a great nite with great gals! had superb meal with best companies after such long time. the pictures tells it all!

beauty time : let's hydrate!

love facial masks. they actually do help. believe me as some yielded the results as promised. today i tried the bbe algae soft mask from it's herbal soft mask range. it is actually in powder form and you have to mix with water into a paste of you prefered consistency before applying. didnt noticed any scents but perhaps my nose is not sensitive enough to pick the scent. it's pretty easy to mix the paste as it disolved easily. i used my fingers to mix it and applied onto my cleansed face. application was easy too but i think i have used too much powder. i think it's quite economical too as i've only used 1/4 of the pack and i had some more paste even after covering my face. and i do have quite a large face :)
after 5 mins after application, i can feel my face getting cooler. i had some tingling sensations after around 10 mins. i felt my face tightening a little and a little itchy after about 13-15 mins. after about 25 mins, i lost my patience and decided to peel the mask off.
removing the mask especially those feel off ones is my fave part. but it didnt went that well. removal of the mask was a really messy affair. the mask was flaking at the corner of the mask while the middle was smooth. i didnt managed to "remove the whole mould" as per instructed (which got me excited when i read it). it cracked, tore or stuck all over. perhaps the paste was too thick? i can actually see my pores' marks on the bigger pieces which i think if good as it cleaned them. luckily i managed to remove the mask residues after rinsing my face with water and using a small towel to lightly scrub the more stubborn pieces.
the after effect was pretty nice. my skin felt supple and smooth. i think my pores looked less defined and face more radiant and fair. maybe the deep oil cleansing before the mask application helped to achieve this too but this algae soft mask did hydrate my skin after all.

don't strike shogun out yet...

i've been getting feedbacks from friends, blogs, etc that shogun standard has decreased in terms of food, service, cleanliness, etc. and rightly so as it gave me that impression when I had my b-day bash there which was nearly a year ago. *hint *hint

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however, my craving for japanese food and plans to bring mom for a good makan compelled me to give shogun another try. and hee-hoo! how i enjoyed the lunch! their waiters were very attentive : taking away the empty plates promptly (most did ask us b4 taking them away) and making sure our ocha cups are always filled to the brim). food was good as well. it was so much better compared to my previous dinners there. i love the melt-in-the-mouth grilled salmon, aromatic garlicky cheese-baked escargot and crunchy baby crabs best. they had great choices of thirst-quenching drinks too. however... they should improve vastly on the dessert section especially the cakes...

happy 3-1 fong!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FONG!

fong and myself had a great dinner @ hanwoori in taipan. we had a enjoyable time chatting and filling our stomachs. ah. i managed to order the rice cake dish (ddukboki) i love so much but had to fore go the fried squid as it is pretty expensive and i guess we can't finish it too. the soju was ok but it taste a little like kerosene ... ahha not that i tasted kerosene before... the bbq meat was lovely and i like the smoke "sucker" so you wont smell like on walking piece of smoked meat. the side dishes were quite appetising. we were also given each a bowl of bean paste soup. they also serve free dessert which i found very amusing as they just offered like 2 thin pieces of watermelon. i guess there were only 2 of us but i mean they should make it 4 pieces to look good, rite? however, the refreshing ice cold barley with red date drink served in a bowl was good and a nice way to cap the dinner.
their service were good and prompt. periodically they would come up to ask whether we want to top up the side dish or soup and ask whether we need anything else. (probably we were practically the only customers there). i like their attentiveness as the previous korean restaurants i went, they were quite stingy in replenishing the side dishes. we had to order them to do so. 4 stars out of five. i would have given 5 stars but i had to top up my tea myself.

taiwan round island trails.....

yay! i have drafted out my highlevel itineraries for taiwan trip. although it is very very very early plan but i love planning early

Day1 : Taipei
Day2 : hualien- taroko
Day 3 : Taitung
Day 4 : Green Island
Day 5 : Kenting
Day 6 : Tainan
Day 7,8 : ChingJing Farm
Day 9 : SunMoonLake
Day 10-14 : Taipei

basically it covers from north to south and a little middle. where's alisan?! well, basically ppl go there because of the forest train and sunrise. hmm... not so interested. besides i think i prefer to spend more time in chingjing farm. IT IS SO LOVELY!! go google it....

so now have to think of :
- budget
- best time to go

** i love planning, half the joy of travelling is planning it and making it work :)

guess who looks like moi!

this tool is cool. go try it at : http://www.myheritage.com/ and have some laughs!hey ah-girl, ah-yang, remember the remark your neighbour's kid made few years back during my cny visit on the lady in the winter sonata poster?? ha ha ha. kids tell the truth.
actually i did try a few more photos and guess who keep popping up in my match? miss winter sonata.... guess we have a lot in common - facially.... ha ha ha.

taiwan or korea

ok. so i just came back from oz. $$ low but spirit high to plan for next travel. haha. especially i am quite free today (which i think for today only). i did plan for a 19-20 day trip to kr but the language barrier and the costs kind of put the idea off. i've actually put off kr trip for 2 years d! well first it made way for ph (free flight...) and then oz (i oso dunno y i go... missed yinna kua. yea i know. at first mom wanna visit for 1 mth then it didnt happen. but i already put my heart to visit so it happened for me ... ). since tw cheaper and i can understand a little mandarin so kr have to be in backseat.the problem now is, i totally have no idea how to start in tw. maybe should get the lonely planet book...so will it be visit tw 2008? hmm....

it's so spicy...

had a very bad gastric pain last night. i woke up from at around 1900 and decided to join mom for dinner. ok. totally my fault. being a glutton i wallop the sambal prawn (spicy level ****) and some cili padi with the yummy pai kuat wong. bad move. felt so warm in my tummy and i tot heck, it's the chili kicking in. after dinner, whoa i started to have unbearable tummy ache. it's like my normal indigestion discomfort x100. so i tot, lie down would be better... nooOOooo it became worse. i was contemplating popping some gastric pills i have but those was around for long long time... so decided to pay the dr. a visit. went to my usual klinik segara but the usual doctors were not around. but this doctor which looked and sounded like a middle eastern doctor did a thorough check poking my tummy all over. said my upper abdomen was tender and loads of air. i was baffled when he asked me whether i had malaria before?!! he later explained my spleen is swollen or bigger 2 fingers compared to normal size. erm. bad news? he said nothing to worry about. some blood tests and ultrasound scan can diagnose the issue. so advise me to go back a few days later. should i? i mean nothing to worry about right?after taking my med from the counter, mom was outside buying some cakes from a van. i went over and bought 2 yummy cakes as well. hehehe. i felt a bit better after the dr. poking my tummy - i let out some air (burped... or i think they were burps la... and of course farted too). felt even better after taking the medicines. but in the middle of night or morning rather, the gastric attack came again. had to take the medicine but they didn't acted as fast as the first time so had really difficult time sleeping. but luckily i did managed to lulled into deep sleep. aaa.read up on enlarged/swollen spleen. erm. maybe it's just FAT spleen.symptoms of splenomegaly include:
Inability to eat a large meal - erm. not true as i can eat a lot.
Pain on the upper left side of the abdomen - erm. yes quite frequently
Pain may spread to the left shoulder - erm. yes... but i thought it is my long hours in front of lappie in wrong posture.
Hiccups - sometimes....
although nothing to worry but i guess i better go for follow up checks with doctor.

mother's day @ carousel cafe, palace of golden horses

time to honor mom for all she had done for us. we brought her to carousel cafe @ palace of golden horses brunch buffet. mom dine for free :)they were having the thai promotion but no sticky rice or mango was available. however they had quite some selection of food. i especially like the smoked salmon (a little too oily though) and the tiny spinach quiche.they had a singing group with a guy playing guitar going around and presented mom some goodies and carnations. erm. i was given a stalk of carnation too.

sophie's guide to enjoying yummy scones

just loved observing yinna enjoying her scones. she was more excited than me when we ordered the scones in the "pie in the sky" shop. but the scones were really great with the yummy fresh strawberry jam and of course creammmy whipped cream.

oz mini updates pt. 3

a day out @ great ocean road. it was an enjoyable journey to the past and present. have not felt so near to nature since my cliffhanger trip to scotland.

oz mini updates pt. 2

had a greek lunch and spent the rest of the day in melbourne museum. was one of the last to be ushered out and yet didnt finish analysing all the stuff...

oz mini updates pt. 1

so far what i have done (in no particular order) :

• met man lok. quiet ok kinda chap.
• ate loads of malaysian and asian food.
• did wine and cheese tasting at yarra and bought some
• ate pie in the "pie in the sky" place @ olinda which a yin raved about so much. it was ok.
• had cones of ice creams which made me sick later. i'm not so lactose tolerant. u know gas and all. ha ha ha.
• had fresh oysters with yin @ lake entrance
• see some lakes at gippsland
• sat like a hundredth time on the free tram circle. ideal way to bum around mel
• saw the penguins @ philip island
• fed the wallabies and kangaroos
• walked the 90 mile beach
• seen the tassie devils, platypus, wombats, etc.
• bought and ate easter eggs chocs
• braved the fairy caves in buchan. gotten meself a small souvenier - a scratch on my palm but no fairy sighting, haiz...
• visited the victoria market, ate the best brownies ever!, bought some vinegars and more wines
• caught captain cook in his cottage
• walked the treasury gardens and the fitzroy gardens.
• caught some swans (in the camera) in albert park
• saw some "unique" animals and an escape artist in healesville
• amazed myself with the tall trees in dandenong and black spurs drive
• bought a nice wool sweater
• met his brother and family yesterday

tiring...

today started quite badly.firstly get a call from mom informing me about vodka!... he was continuously vomiting and was so sick that he wasn't wagging his tail as usual. he didn't even budged when they waved his fut-fut (his fave toy). cried a little as i remembered bronte last days.... not again...then when reached office, had to face numerous sarcastic emails from my business rep which i suspect issues caused by users themselves as later he confirmed issue resolved mysteriously.saddest news was the passing away of a relative of my close friend.
very trying day ...

my great oz (victoria, actually) escape - itineraries

at last. the rough plans are drawn out! i just love plans especially if they turn out as planned. phew... now, i have to worry about my budget...
01-Apr Sunday
Yarra Valley day trip
- Yarra glen
- Healesville (santuary??)
- Black Spur Drive
- Marysville
- Steavenson Falls Walk (2 hours)
1800 dinner and snooze time
02-Apr Monday
island escapade! (3D2N)
- nobbies
- date with the small guys in tux
nite @ cowes
03-Apr Tuesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- up & personal with the koalas
nite @ cowes
04-Apr Wednesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- lepak
05-Apr Thursday
St. Kilda??
Lepak melbourne??
06,07-Apr Friday,Saturday (4D3N)
life's a beach! - Gippsland
get high! - Alpine
08-Apr Sunday
to the race!
- run with the devils at mornington
- back to gippsland
09-Apr Monday
life's a beach! - Gippsland (continue..)
10-Apr Tuesday
to the ranges
- belgrave
- dandenong's tuesday market
- puffing billy
- etc?
11-Apr Wednesday
the great expedition
- nite @ Apollo Bay
12-Apr Thursday
the great expedition (continue..)
- nite @ Port Fairy
13-Apr Friday
the great expedition (continue..)
- head back to melbourne via inland
14-Apr Saturday
golddigging (not the nose thingy la) day
- ballarat
15-Apr Sunday
0000 leaving on the jet plane

Why British think 80% of M'sians coming to UK to study law?

UK Immigration Officer: Purpose of visit?
Visitor: I'm here to study law, sir.
Officer: You know, you must have a lot of lawyers in Malaysia .
Visitor: Why do you say that?
Officer: Well, i've been here for a good twenty years, and I'd say 80% of Malaysians I see here say they're here to read law.
Visitor: Oh, really? That's really something i never knew. Hard to believe in fact.
Officer: Just you watch, then. You just stand here until the next Malaysian comes along, and I'll bet he's here to read law.
*Visitor waits for 5 mins, Ah Chong from Malaysia comes to immigration counter*
Officer: Mr. Ah Chong, purpose of visit?
Ah Chong: Study lorr...

quirky quacks

let's play spot the quacks. ok. so i am being wu liao. he he. it has been someday since the last entry to the blog. so i thought why not share some of my fave stuff with ppl.
although some ppl thought photography is my recent craze with the new slr and all but they are gravely mistaken. those who knew me way back then would know better. i love taking the shots (hee hee, literally and figuratively, actually) and not being shot (which depends on the company...). if you have seen my travel photos, you would know. which my mom still doesn't understand why i prefer to be behind the camera.
besides feeling a little wu liao, i need to use my e500 to stop from collecting dust :), so i took some shots of the recently cleaned bookshelf. yup. after a tedious day cleaning and re-stacking my books (this time in category order) i decided then to decorated it with the rubber ducklings i bought in kekloksi (of all shopping places, rite ?!). so now you might have guessed my top pastimes. DUH?! cleaning shelves??!!! are you nuts. reading of course :). and shopping for them, of course!. which gal doesn't love shopping?
so what stuff i read. ANYTHING! that i fancy. chic lit, historical stuff, lovely dovey romance, classic lit, pulitzer winners, etc. you can gather from the pix. erm. actually there's one collection that was suppose to be phui's pressie. it came late from online order and it laid in the shelf since the day it arrived. i thought it was a neat piece. corny but i think every bookcase should have one of this...
and if you scrutinized even closer. you will spot the 2 decks which i enjoyed a lot especially during cny. so far there are my income "ka chang" during this festivities. hee hee.

online shopping
well, what can i say. I LOVE online SHOPPING! i mean, it's shopping rite?!! besides being sOOoooOOOoo easy and accessible, some of my purchases are not available in msia e.g. certain book collection and %discounts to boot. ok. some of you scary cats. safe? of course, always check their creditability first. don't just plunged and purchase from the first site u come across, silly! check your credit card statement carefully and often after any purchases.
some sites i shopped and recommend :

• 
  
  books - http://www.acmamall.com : this site is great. they offer up to 26% depending on the promotion. each month will have different category on offer. free shipping for purchase over myr200. free stuff u get when shopping - precious!
  
  
• 
  
  music cds - http://global.yesasia.com : my fave dig-out for k-pop. ok. i don understand korean but doesn't mean i cant enjoy them... start clicking this site for those hard to find kpop albums. customer service is good as response is extremely fast. just splurged on another purchase recently. hope they will arrive before i leave for mel.
  
  
• 
  
  flights - http://www.malaysiaairlines.com : for oversea trips. come here to book. prices are lower than those in travel agent. REALLY! cos they are encouraging ppl to book online. purchases might be around myr10-30 cheaper.
            - http://www.airasia.com : for low fare promo. check here often. you might get free flights! i got mine free to philippines...
  
  
• 
  
  hostel - http://www.hostels.com : only did a booking once for a bunk in edinburgh. great place to check out oversea hostels.
  
  
• 
  
  hotel - http://www.asiawebdirect.com : booked some local hotels and service is quite responsive and good.

hoi kong!

first day at work. first day night shift. dont quite like working in the command centre as the place is not as comfortable as my own cubicle. but the whole place decorated festively. however, due to same area with the service desk ppl, quite noisy as some of them tend to speak their lungs out and worse in spannish. imagine how irritating that can be.

gong xi gong xi

tuan nian fan
i only managed to leave for mcca around 0930 on cny's eve. tg the traffic was not too bad. was only delayed for around an hour. however mom decided to have tuan nian fan dinner and not lunch. erm. bad move cos this means less time for digestion. i immediately had tummy upset after dinner. lots of lots of air in tummy and cant fart nor burp. ha ha. what a condition to start the new year. guess for chinese it suppose to be good kua. i mean full mar....
gong xi FATt chai
gong xi gong xi.... tis a quiet cny. with the strict ban and high fine for red crackers, no more cny bing bang mood d. first thing i did when i wake up after wishing gong xi fatt chai to mom, i dashed to my room to try my new clothes. aaa. lucky man. with my bloated tummy and all, i still can fit into them. ha ha.
ban ban
ha ha. puak kiao. my fave activity during cny. it was receiving ang pow but as you get older... luck didn't pick up in di koo's house. must be something about a-girl sitting next to me... however, luck picked up the next few days and yee ha!
peer pressures
ooh ooh. so cute. yea. reunion with friend and their babies. sooo cute all of them. but i only managed to take some ellie's pics. one of the aunties suggested that i get married soon to have one cutie myself... erm. i countered "erm... no need get married to have one, auntie. just a willing donor, rite?" she was stunned. so any donors? anyway, many of my ang pow giving friends has became scrooges!!! come on, there are only a few of us singles, er, rite? winnie and siewping were cornered by us singles and "willingly" gave us those lucky red packets. siewping turned the table by remarking "make sure this is the last time, ok?" yea. ok. erm. sure.
reunions of friends
one of the many reasons i always looked forward to during cny is meeting up with friends. some were anticipated while there will be a few delightful meet-ups. one of my best catch-ups was with winnie (based in suzhou with hubby, kintat). this woman is still as captivating and loud as all of us :) especially when us chabos and peter only gathered. phui looked more like a tai tai now with her long curly locks. siewping! our papan monitor... i think 2 years i haven't met her! still rosy cheeked with endless legs. sharon - our very own grey's anatomy was a little tired but immediately perked up during the puakkia session. who says docs don't take chances?! others were and i hope still are as lively and lovely as ever :) seems like we don't aged, huh?!

rise dragon rise!

ok. botched biscotti aside, i braved myself to bake another new cookie for this cny - loong pheng aka dragon biscuit. hey! what do you know - they turned out well. erm. after toiling for loooooong hours due to incorrect apparatus. i had some marks imprinted on my palm while using the ill-fitted icing pump. i even had muscle sores for like 2 days!! last resort, i had to roll the dough into short rounded strings and slowly inprint them with lines using the kuih siput's moulds. ha ha. inovative ler! well it turns out more like seh pheng. cheche said it looks like cacing pheng. but i was happiest when one remarked "eh! loong pheng!! didnt eat one for looong time! and this tastes good". aaa.

here's my loong pheng's recipe :

• 
  
  150g butter
  
  
• 
  
  80-90g icing sugar
  
  
• 
  
  3 egg yolks
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  
  
• 
  
  1 egg white, beaten
  
  
• 
  
  1 whole egg + 1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp uht fresh milk
  
  Sift together:
  
  
• 
  
  350g corn flour
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp milk powder
  
  
• 
  
  20g flour

method

1. 
   
   cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy.
   
   
2. 
   
   add yolks one by one, beating well after each.
   
   
3. 
   
   add in the 1 whole egg, vanilla essence and uht milk. mix to incorporate well.
   
   
4. 
   
   fold in sifted flour and mix until a soft dough is formed.
   
   
5. 
   
   put dough into a cookie press and press out dragon shapes.
   
   
6. 
   
   dot the eyes red then bake in a preheated oven at 180 ºC for 15 mins (erm... depends on your oven heat distribution.) 
   
   
7. 
   
   DO NOT bake till brown. the cookies are suppsoed to be white or yellowish. (if u like crunchy instead of melt in your mouth, then bake till really light brownish...)

[01 Mar 2007] : grt news! left less than 1/4 tong now.