little miss may

It’s little May’s day off!

I decided to take today off to just laze around, without much plan in mind. It’s been awhile since I’ve had some time out during a work day, and it feels kinda cool, with no worries in mind! Aren’t you jealous? *Grin*!

Went to the gym in the morning for a quick workout. I’ve not been consistently going, perhaps just once a week the past few weeks due to morning meetings in town. I don’t seem to like evening workout sessions anymore, partly because the crowd would be there, and evenings are for me to just kick back and relax instead of sweating it out on the treadmill.

Wandered around MPH after that, and bought a book on Breads, which was on 30% discount. Hmmmm, some pretty interesting recipes in there. Don’t y’all look at me at once! I’ll take my time in experimenting with some of these. For now, I have something else in store for you…

Almond Thins! Recipe is found on Michael Thompson’s site.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter or margarine; unsalted
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups almonds; sliced

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
• Sift together the flour and salt and slowly add to butter mixture. Mix until just blended.
• Divide batter in half and place each half on in the centre of two un-greased, flat-sided cookie sheets.
• Dip a spatula in warm water and spread batter to cover the entire baking sheet, making sure batter is spread evenly. Sprinkle almonds and press gently into dough.
• Bake each sheet about 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven.
• Cut hot cookies into neat 2-inch squares. Return to oven and bake until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent over-baking.
• Remove from oven to a wire rack. Slide spatula under cookies to loosen. Cool completely on cookie sheets. Store in airtight containers with layers of wax paper between layers.

Makes 6 dozen.

RESULTS:
Ok, I must say that this wasn’t exactly the “almond thins” was expecting. I had wanted to make those that were like biscotti, the really, really thin and crispy ones. I had bought a book with a few recipes on that a couple of weeks ago, but I thought this should be similar. It’s thin alright, but not with the biscotti texture. Cookie texture, more like. And I had to bake it for longer than stated, yielding less than 6 dozen. Maybe it’s because my cookie sheets are smaller and I didn’t spread out the dough thin enough.

I should’ve guessed from the beginning that this recipe isn’t the biscotti-type thins, looking at the directions of making them. If memory serves me right, biscotti dough needs to be baked in a shape of a log, then sliced into thins later on. Right, Kat & Boo? It’s still very sweet and flavourful (with one cup of sugar, it had better be!), nice to nibble on. Lovely for teatime!

Thins… errrr… cookies, anyone?

Technorati: food, recipes

Isn’t it just typical of me to fall ill after a “holiday” away from Blogland?

Since last Friday night’s yummy-licious dinner of black pepper lala with beehoon and steamed fish with garlic among other dishes, my throat had decided to retaliate the burning torture of spicy peppers and chillies by giving me a dish of its own.

Icky green globs.

You know, the kind that looks like Calvin’s (of Calvin & Hobbes) plate of green mush which were supposedly vegetables.

It started as a tight sensation at the throat, with slight difficulty in swallowing, as if something’s always stuck at the base of it. Almost like having a piece of gum stuck under the table that wouldn’t go away. It got worse over the weekend, and by Sunday I was regularly hacking my lungs out at irregular intervals just trying to make it un-stick. It was quite an uncomfortable feeling especially at night when I try to fall asleep. Just as my brain starts shutting down, I’d choke on a fleck of phlegm and be awake again, swallowing down the discomfort. I’m surprised I didn’t snore my way to oblivion according to a reliable source who witnessed my quiet slumber. Oh wait… that’s only if I have a flu, hor? Duh.

I, being the stubborn cow, refused to see the doctor about my cough. Why get some awful tasting medicine when you could indulge in home-remedies? Ok, can’t really call store-bought Robitussin cough drops as a home remedy, but anything’s better than visiting the doctor for cherry flavoured syrup. Yuck yuck yuck!

Someone LB dear kindly recommended drinking lemon juice to calm down the throat and ease the soreness after coughing endlessly. The first time I had it on Sunday night, I had squeezed in a whole lemon, one teaspoonful of honey, and some water. Ohhhhh… sour!!! But with a brave face with eyes all screwed up and squeezed shut, I drank it all. I think that’s what started the glob to un-stick. I bought a couple of lemons today as well on the way back from my morning meeting.

It’s not miracle cure, but it still tastes better than cough syrup. Squeezing the lemons have made my fingers smell like them as well. Kinda like good ol’ dishwashing liquid. Some may find this disgustingly strange, but I actually like the smell of lemons (dishwashing kind or otherwise). Very homely scent to it.

Anyway, the glob finally started dislodging itself from the walls of my throat, bit by bit. It’s regular phlegmy, yucky coughing now that would wake up the dead. This morning, out came a sizeable chunk of it, again looking like the green mush monster on Calvin’s plate. Sorry if it’s too graphically described for you to digest. There’s some more to go, though. I guess I’ll still be disrupting the silence every once in awhile till the end of the week.

Juice from half a lemon,
2 teaspoons of honey,
some hot water to mix.Wanna wanna?

Technorati: ramblings, food

WARNING!
There is no evidence whatsoever that what you are about to read is in any way true or false. This blog does not authenticate or support the report submitted by the reporter, and is simply a vessel in bringing the latest feed to your doorstep. Reader’s discretion is advised and at own risk. An itch or two might occur.

This is an exclusive interview by Bloggarella Barbie, renown scandal reporter of Bolehland. She caught up with the likes of LB taikor and May mui-mui since their mysterious disappearance exactly 6 days ago. Posters of LB’s face were circulated on hot blogs in hopes to find the missing casanova and his innocent victim. The interview was held at an exclusive Maldives resort run by the Italian Mafia.

BB: Oh my darlings, how are you? (muah muah)

LB: Doing fine, thank you. (muah muah)

MM: (Mumbles incoherently… muah muah)

BB: I must say, the entire Stalker community was out looking for you for the past few days! You really had them worried, alerting Interpol, sending out FBIs and all. But oh, you were so good in playing hide & seek, even our best spy Agent Cocka couldn’t trace your footsteps. But before we go into those details, I’m sure this is the one question which had everyone’s tongues wagging, including mine, darling: where on earth have you two been?

LB: Oh, nowhere much… went on a little holiday. Isn’t this a lovely place? (Looks around the fabulous resort)… Perfect setting for a romantic getaway, beautiful sunsets, moonlight walks on the beach, skinny-dipping in our own private waters, catching little hermit crabs…

MM: (Squeaks shyly… blush)

BB: That sounds absolutely to faint for! Oh, how romantic, darlings. But what sparked this escapade? What happened?

LB: Well, we were talking one day about how it would be to be alone, just the two of us, in our own private little world. I must say, MM was a little sceptical that our plan would work. Didn’t you, honey?

MM: (Nod nod)… (mumble)… handcuffs… (mumble)

BB: What did you say, dear? Handcuffs? (Leans forward, recorder readily poised)

MM: (Cough)… I was doubtful, but it sounded fun so I willingly agreed; he didn’t have to use the handcuffs. No force involved.

LB: (Pats MM’s knee)

BB: Well, well, well! Isn’t this news! And to think the Stalker community was going to send out an International SOS! I knew you could be such a scoundrel to pull this off, LB, but MM… oh sweetheart, I never (well, almost) suspected you had anything to do with it! So dearie, how was it being with Mr. Casanova here for the last few days, having him all to yourself?

MM: (Squeak!)

BB: What was that, hon?

MM: (Beams shyly… blush)

BB: (Laughs musically)… Oh alright, darling. That told me everything I wanted to know! You really do know how to get it good, don’t you? (smiles slyly)

MM: (Sighs contentedly)

LB: Do pardon me, BB… but we have a yacht waiting to take us out to sea for a quiet, private dinner. Visit Nemo, perhaps. We really have to run. Are there any more questions?

BB: I do, but I simply mustn’t keep you two from your little romantic rendezvous! Goodbye my darlings! Thank you so much for this exclusive interview, we absolutely have to catch up soon and talk about the juicy details! Send my love to Nemo. (muah muah)

MM: (muah muah) Lovely meeting you, BB. (smiles)

LB: (muah muah) Thanks, will catch up soon.

(Both get up to leave…)

LB: Oh, and BB… just to keep things interesting, here’s a little bit of juice for your column: MM’s preggies. (winks!)

(BB stares after them with mouth wide open)

Disclaimer:
Certain characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Technorati: ramblings, humour

Sweetest Sin tagged L B about schools.

Those schoolboy days of.. time tables, school buses, schoolgirls, textbooks, slide rules, rubbers, school badges, dissecting frogs, hair spot checks, chapel, cramming for exams, Negara-Ku national anthem, Sports days, acne, extra-curricular activities, Pythogoras’ theorems, e=mc2, homework, detention, Showaddywaddy, dormitories, bed-sits, thesis, field trips, and so on, and so forth, blah blah blah…

How many schools did I go to?
1 Ho Seng Onn, Canning Garden ~ Kindergarten
Most horrific moments:
• My uncle picking me up on his bicycle daily, and me having to sit on the middle ‘bar’. I was terrified. However, I never did pee on him.
• I have lost all photographs from this era!!..

2 St Michael’s Inst, Ipoh ~ SMI, PreSchool, Primary, & Secondary
Most memorable & horrific moments:
• Children’s Days’ goodie bags of sweets & junk.
• The School Dentist From Hell & BCG inoculations.
• The girls from the Convent, and MGS.
• Inter-school Interact Club Debating Champs. A show-off even then.
• School Soccer Captain.

3 Coleraine Academical Inst, N Ireland ~ GCSE, A Levels
Most memorable moments:
• Froze ass off during that first ever Winter!
• Boarding school meals & food fights.
• Discovery of a different breed of girls.

4 University of Ulster - Art & Design, Belfast ~ Ad Dip in Fashion
Most memorable moments:
• Part-time cook in a Chinese take-away, and in an Italian trattoria.
• Wild parties/orgies at the Students Union, and everywhere else.
• First live-in GFs!

5 Royal College of Art, London ~ MA in Fashion
Most memorable moments:
• Hob-knobbing with models, wanna be actresses, arty farty types.
• Winning the International Wool Secretariat design competition and being sentenced to Australia for 3 weeks.

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?
Last Minute Hero sounds almost gallant, so I’ll stick to that, because it was mostly true. I excelled at Last Minutes. If there was a subject called Procrastination, I’d score 100% every time, I am certain. Lots of midnight oil, massage oil, those days, right up to the final Graduation Day at the RCA.

Was I the class ‘taiko’ (big bully) or the teacher’s pet?
It fluctuated from time to time ~ I went through the entire spectrum during my career as a student. I was only a serial teacher’s pet at Art classes, and I was a serial ‘taiko’ when it came to selecting sides for football. All other times, I was probably too busy being a wanker.

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?
Caught red-handed with an inmate from the girls’ boarding school nearby, by the House Master in my bedsit dormitory at Coleraine!! ‘Gated’ for 2 subsequent weekends - no going out of the school compounds, which was a big deal to us back then! No chinese meal from the local Chinese restaurant (there was this cute Hong Kong waitress there).. And I could never forget that look of sheer utter bewilderment on his face, reflected by his torchlight.. It is forever seared into my memory.

Three subjects I enjoyed
English - but I abhorred Bahasa Malaysia!! I devoured Enid’s books, and lots of those dog-eared ‘adult’ pulp fiction circulating in class. Improved my grasp of new specific words and phrases no end.
Art - What is Art but recess? Fun time with finger painting, then the brushes, magic markers, charcoal, chalk, mixed media, and the part-time nude models.
Chemistry - I had no freakin’ clue what I was blowing up, but those bunsen burners were so cool! And the whiff of ammonium nitrate!

Three (or seven) teachers that inspired me
1 Std One at SMI, David Loh (I think that’s his name). Old school snappy dresser, he will always remind me of the art of behaving like a gentleman.2 Kindergarten pretty school teacher whom I had this terrific crush on. I wish I can remember who she was, rather than just a pretty blur in my memory. Then again, I might get a shock. Let sleeping dogs lie..

3 Olive Clegg - Head Tutor at Belfast Art & Design, who personified mentor & friend. She was also a bit cranky, and a bit horny.

4 Michael Foo, a bulldog look-a-like, well versed Mathematician who when ‘A Beautiful Mind’ came out, I thought of immediately, for the insane way he spat out formulae like they were machine gun bullets.

5 Timothy Chee - Artist foremost, and Art Teacher secondary. He of the flared pants, colorful print shirts, wide ties, big sunglasses, long hair, and platform shoes!! Totally against school regulations, but what did he care?!!

6 Eugene Almeida - Scary School Disciplinarian (so scary I almost forgot his first name), & Head Soccer Coach. I was totally indebted to this great man for believing in a punk like me, and for showing what a mess a lesser teacher can do in the same job.

7 Siaw Tak Keong - I cannot leave this brilliant man out. Primary Class teacher in Standard Four, and also Home Tuition teacher. We got along so well we were more like pals. Much, much later on, he remains a family friend.

~ ~ ~

Just one person I am gonna tag for this, and it’s the one and only muffin making, apple pie crumbler, candle burner, ex-school prefect, wanna wanna may, or maybe not..

Technorati: meme

Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh!!!

Guess what, guess what, guess what?

After months of hinting (ok, more like downright complaining) about my slow, ancient Dell 12″ screen laptop which was crawling like a snail, with applications crashing now and then - definitely not more than 5 in a row otherwise it’ll just die - the Company finally presented to me a shiny, spankin’ new toy!

May I present…

The Dell Inspiron 630m, 14.1″ Wide Screen notebook!Wheeeeee!!!

*does a quick dance on the spot*

Oh, this baby runs fast; it zoomed 10 - nay, 100 - times faster than the oldie. Ok ok, I’m exaggerating, but I could really feel the difference. After a quick check that most of the data’s still intact, I spent what’s left of my afternoon installing all the extras I needed. Guess what’s the first application I installed?

Yup, it’s Yahoo Messenger! Ha-ha!

Then came MSN Messenger, Skype, iTunes, Quicktime, Picasa, Bit Comet, Bit Torrent, iScrobbler… There are still some yet to be installed, like the DivX drivers, but those could wait. Till tomorrow. *GRIN*!

I brought this baby home (did I mention I just absolutely love it?) and immediately set it up to connect to my local Wi-Fi. Oh yea, it has built-in Wireless! How gorgeous is that? I spied a little icon for Bluetooth, but I think it’s just there in case a dongle is inserted. Minus half a point there for not having built-in , but who the heck cares… for now.

Check it out… it has funky multimedia control buttons at the front. Cheesy, if you ask me. But who am I to complain, since I didn’t have to pay a cent for this, right? Granted that it’ll have to be returned if and when I leave the Company, but till then, it’s all mine… all mine!

Look at Rolf sniffing out the machine. He could even see his reflection on the XGA TFT display, with 1280 x 800 resolution. Did I say Wide Screen? There’s so much space to the left of my blog now, it actually looks small on this screen! No more scrolling left and right, no more grumbling about sites not being 800 x 600 to fit in a proper window.Ooooh, and this is the best-est, best-est part:

8X DVD+/-RW Combo Drive!

I can finally watch all of those DVDs I bought months ago but never got around to since my DVD player kah-puted. No more of that external drive nonsense too, so glad I don’t have to carry extra pieces of peripherals around. Burning data to CDs or DVDs would be a breeze too, instead of having to rely on someone else’s machine to do the job.

There’s only one thing I’m a little miffed about - it doesn’t fit my nifty little Moderate Embarrassment Crumpler bag. The padded sleeve only fits up to a 12″, maybe a 13″, but definitely not a 14.1″ Wide Screen machine. Sigh! Guess I’ll have to resume using my other Samsonite backpack which was a birthday gift from my brother last year. Thank goodness that fits up to a 14.5″ lappie, so I don’t have to spend more on buying a new bag.

My friends are telling me to sell the Moderate Embarrassment and buy a bigger Crumpler bag, but nuh-uh, I’m saving it up for the REAL baby. Granted that this brand new Dell is mine to use, it’s still my adopted child, my “kai chai”, my “anak angkat”. I’m still waiting for the day I acquire my own darling. What else could it be but a MacBook? Teehee!

Till then…

Ahhhhhhhhhh.Technorati: ramblings, gadgets