17 years is a long time!

I finally made it to one of our small reunion from the primary school group! Yay! Honestly, i had my reservations at first and didn't know what to expect since we have not seen each other for almost 2 decades.. I wasn't sure if we actually have things to talk about, whether or not they will be the same nice people (because people change. And for some, oddly enough, are only nice when u don't actually meet them). But as it turns out, we couldn't stop talking and had more refills (and restroom visits) to go on! I'm glad i didn't ffk the last minute. Hehehe.

We met at Friday's, The Gardens where we sat for 4 hours! Only 6 of us turned up since some already had plans for the long holiday, but we had great fun anyways :D

Friendships rekindled

Here's another class photo. Sadly, it's the only class photo i have from the primary school days:

Taken circa 1992

There's a similarity of me in this photo and this one.
Your take?

(you bet i'm the sweet and innocent one! nyahaha..)
God, i miss those days! Though, i wouldn't wanna go back and go through everything all over again.. :)

Goodbye...

How did December ends so fast?? A lot has happened this year..
Let's see...

It was definitely a year of travelling.

France in January (where we manage a short one to Manchester) and Andorra too.
A 2-day trip to Hong Kong (this was purely business & Dimsum :)) and a 6-day trip to London & Chester in March,
and the latest being Saigon last month.
All in 1 year!
And i realised that i don't have updates on any of them except for Toulouse and the short trip to Hong Kong.
There are lots to tell! Perhaps i shall put them up later. So to close 2009 :)

***

Started learning to play tennis..
...aaand have not been playing for 2 weeks now!
Jeremy (our instructor) said there is still hope for us, ladies can still be trained to be a pro before we turn 35. But if this keeps on, i doubt that that's gonna happen! As if! We just learned the backhand swing last lesson. Looks like it's back to forehand again after this.. sigh.

***

Took up beading class (or was this last year?) - and almost went blind!!
It was a full day basic course. By end of the lesson, i feel like my eyes were gonna explode! The SIL had kindly offered her clothes as guinea pigs and to date i've done 2 of her baju kurung. Suppose to do another 2 or 3 eh, Ilie? I pun dah lupa. I guess, i prefer baking to this lah. 

***

Got a part time job to occupy my time.
Working fulltime at the office and working part time from home certainly has its pros and cons. And to tell you the truth, it's a lot easier to work in the office (fulltime) and i am not sure how long i can keep it up.
Flexibility can have its downside, i must say.
But i sure met some new people from many different areas (and became good acquaintances/friends with some of them) and that is a big plus about the job.
Being out there.

***
Learn to bake and took up cake decorating class..
(not to mention made some $ to boot! Woo! Though, not up to the point where it can turn me into a millionaire, but still).
This, i have elaborated enough in my previous posts. But i do plan to go for cookies deco class and fondant cupcakes too. God willing :D

***
Started another micro (read very small) side business while going travel.
This started only recently. It's pretty fun.
I'm supposed to go to Saigon again last Sunday but the husband and i are still feeling a bit under the weather. (I'm still down with fever as we speak). So the trip will have to wait.
I have another destination in mind for next month but since the Saigon trip is being pushed, we'll see.
At least there's a plan.

*********

And therefore, i shall conclude that it has been quite a productive year for me.
But aside from all the good events that has taken place, sadly, there are unfortunate ones too...

We lost 2 cats.
2 cats in a year. What are the odds? :'(
Lost Aslan while we were in Toulouse earlier this year after almost 3 years caring for him.
We had planned to bring him to the vet once we get back from Toulouse.
The last time i saw him was through the car window when we were leaving for France. He was sitting near his feeding bowl, looking at us leaving.
Aslan actually belonged to a neighbour of ours but loved staying at our place instead of its owner's. The owner calls him by the name Chocho and visited him whenever they pass by our house. They were saddened by the news too and gave us some of his photos to remember him by :')

And recently, we lost our litttle Scabby to leukemia.
We were already at the vet, trying to find a space to park the car when we received the phone call telling us that he had passed on.....
We picked him up when he was about 7 months old. He was a very playful one. That was what attracted us in the first place. He was busy chasing after a lizard when we saw him.
I'm not so much into cats, but i love kittens.. especially lively, playful ones.
Scabby was only about 2 years old when he died (that's only 14 human years).

***
Lost my dearest grandfather.
A great loss for me.
After being in and out of hospital, he finally succumbed to gastrointestinal bleeding on December 8th at 2.50pm. He was buried on the same day, died at the age of 82.
I'm just glad that i get to be with him that last day. It's weird since we (the husband, my cousin and i) were having breakfast together that morning and decided to go to visit him at the hospital right after instead of in the evening like we had planned. I guess God has his own way in laying out plans for us, don't u think?
Well, i'd like to think that he's in a better place now, insya Allah.

*********

So anyways, what's your new year's resolutions?

I have a few of my own..
Stay healthy (no matter what the weighing scale says), Live more, Try to make babies (of course :)) and Spread more LOVE!
Have a great new year ahead, everyone!
God Bless!

[Oh btw, if anyone interested in donating blood, please give me a buzz. Our family could really use your help. Thank you!]

Horsing around at Denai Alam

Good news! For those who has a passion for horseback riding but find the cost is burning a huge hole in the wallet, here's a chance not to be missed! I was there for a photoshoot to promote the place. It will be launched and open to public in January. I was told that the yearly fees will cost about a mere RM150 (lesson fees not included, of course. But they will be offering low fees for the classes too!). So look out for it! Go horse around a little. Life is too short. Have more fun! (Unless u're a wee bit intimidated by the horses like err, me. Heheh).

You can find more than 10 horses that are very well kept here, in which all are male except for 2 (they are called Siti Nur & Siti Mas :D) and 2 ponies, one female and another a male.

The idea of this place is to provide horseriding facilities at affordable prices. So perhaps i should say that now, everybody can (horse)ride? :)

Mission accomplished!

The nephew's birthday celebration finally came. Elmo was the lucky (or not) character the mother had chosen for my task. These are what i came up with:

Initially the plan did not include the dialogue box. But when i saw the birthday candle the mum had bought, i knew i needed a change of plan. Either that, or we needed new candles. In the end, the mishap i had was what saved the day.

What's worse, I only realised that my oven was not working properly when i saw the outcome of the first Elmo. It was a DISASTER!! It was distorted, lopsided. I had to turn the next one the other way round after half baking time and prayed hard for the cake to rise nicely. Lucky for me, it turned out okay.

I would definitely hate to see the first one goes to waste (stuffing myself with it was obviously not a solution, and to serve it to any guests would be a disgrace!) so, the Mr. suggested that i do something with it. I needed a new plan anyways. That's when i thought of the dialogue bubble. And so i did damage control. Reconstructed the whole thing, improvised a bit here and there and voila! With not much expertise, i manage to salvage it! Hahh! Thanks to the beauty of frosting, it helps to conceal all the flaws :D But i admit that it wasn't my best effort. I was too drained to make it any nicer.. bolehla, kan? I hope the birthday boy liked it anyways..

Side profile of the (still edible) lopsided Elmo.
It was taken out of the mould by utter frustration, hence the bad complexion.
(I also had to warn the mother as to which part can be cut for the guests given the nature of its construction :p).

Happy 2nd Birthday, kid!
Aeeaeyyouuu!! (he knows what it means :))

A Token of Appreciation

A gift of 5 to 5 helpful friends.

All i want for Xmas is... not much.

Just these:

1. a DSLR
A basic one will do. I just need a good camera for nice, sharp images for my projects and travel. And for his hobby too.

2. an Anya Hindmarch Hector Navy Python

3. maybe a Hybrid car :P

OR,
some additions to my wardrobe/shoe/book/DVD collection and home furnishings would be nice too :)

Life goes on..

I lost my dearest grandfather 10 days ago. I told my uncle that day that i still can't believe the fact that he's gone (i still can't!). I've so many memories of growing up with him. Then the uncle replied,

"We all live with memories, just make the best of them. And live your life so that he would be proud of you if he were still around".

That gave me the support i needed at that time as i was in no mood to do anything, let alone to bake. but i'm glad i did. These happy faces made my day :)

Happy Birthday to the sister and a Happy Anniversary to the couple! :)

Spring in December

What i'd like to say is that i am proud to be the first one to leave class this time.. heheh. I know, it's not a competition but it's a big achievement for me :D What motivated me? Well, i was running late to fetch the Mr! :P

Learner vs. Teacher
This is how the chrysanthemum should look like.
Mine, of course is the one looking like a tepee..

And here are some i've made for a friend.. (she was asking me why i didn't put them up on my blog. Honestly, i'm uber shy :)).
Here goes nothing..

For her mum in law's birthday.
Dadi translates mum in Pakistani.
Trying out mini hydrangeas.

For the sister.
Experimenting with bright hues.
Note to self: To use the bright colours for the lettering background next time.. i think it will look nicer.

And this is a simple one i made for the lil kid who "helped" me bake for my friend's order. Sorry you only got 3 pieces, Naufal. Next time, perhaps when Aunty Azra is able to work her hands faster!

Funny how it never occurred to me that i'd be doing this for a side income - especially given the fact that i don't bake. I actually went for the class because i received a request to make my nephew's birthday cake from the mother. I have another order this week, Alhamdulillah. It's true what they say, sometimes the best things happen when you least expected it ;)

Irene Suchocki

She captures breathtakingly beautiful photos. I especially like the dream like effect. Stunning.

Check out her work, i am definitely a fan.









[the red vanity case reminds me of mum. She used to have one just like that, given by dad on their engagement day :)]

Just humour me

With body kit - Arden

Classics
I love them all.

Ouch!

One Sunday night over cakueh and air kelapa laut while waiting for our ikan bakar.
Venue: Tip Top Ikan bakar stall, JB.

Kid bro: .. tadi kat majlis qiqah there's this one girl my frens and i were checking out.. Cun! Tapi dah tua la...

Moi: Tua macam mana?

Kid bro: Dah late 20s..

Warning: High sugar content - Fondant fun 101

Went to another cake decorating class at Cake Connection last Thursday. This time, it's working with fondant. Like the Cupcake fun 101 class, we were provided with the recipe and given points on making the cake they prepared for us but the decorating part was hands on. Everything was breezy at the beginning. I was working pretty fast, kneading the plain white fondant by adding Kelly green mixed with Electric green, splitting the cake into 2 and filling it (i have to get one of those cake leveller. It's so easy to work with!) and icing the cake with a thin layer of buttercream but when it came to the decorating part, i got delayed.

First, because i had produced an oblong shape of fondant to cover the 6" round cake. So i had to start kneading and rolling all over again. It was quite a task i tell you! After several minutes had passed, i stopped rolling and asked Lynette, the instructor if my fondant was ready and she said, "it's still quite small for your cake". Sigh. Yeah, my patience was running thin at that point. "Please avoid re-kneading your fondant too many times, please", cried Lynette after checking one of the other girls. Obviously i wasn't the only one. Hehe. Fondant dries very quickly, so we had to work fast to prevent it from cracking due to dryness. You can't tell from the picture below, but my cake actually has some kind of (slight) "stretch marks" because it took me quite a while to work my hands on it. Huhuhu...

Lynette also demonstrated the crimping technique, which i didn't apply, not wanting to risk having ugly holes because i think it requires some practice and of course, time is of essence. In fact, none of us actually did any crimping on our cakes. She also showed us how to create borders from fondant cut outs, making sugar flowers from modelling paste and the quilling technique. We were given the chance to work with royal icing too. But the fact that we were instructed to make a stem and leaves for our sugar flowers using the white royal icing, i thought i'd continue when i get home. Reason being, i think it kind of spoils the look. (If this was a test i would obviously fail.. haha). Well, time was running out as i was just about done with my sugar flowers (Lynette told us to make 15 of 'em) when i decided to stop anyways.

When i got home, i realised that i had accidentally left the flowers behind. So i only had sebijik of the little pink sugar flower on my cake. Yep, one sad little pink sugar flower. My brother's maid sempat tanya, "bunga ni satu je kak?..". -__- However, the husband was kind enough to drive me to a place nearby to get the tools to make new ones from the leftover modelling paste i brought home. (Thanks, sweetness!). Here's the upshot(s) of my very first fondant cake (one, with a fan :P):

I thought the shade of green was rather too pale at first, but i kind of like it after it's all done :)

Have a sweet week ahead, everyone!

Wait, before i forget...

... Pearl Jam is coming to Malaysia?? Betul ke?? Asked a fellow fan about this, (the brother, who is guilty of the music influence) and he went, "..ye ke? Tak tau apa-apa pun..". Sigh. But it was in the news! I may not have an innate knowledge in music (my choice of music is eclectic), but grunge is what i grew up listening to and Pearl Jam is one alternative rock band i heart the most among very few others. Now that there are no Blind Melon and Soundgarden concerts to count on, i feel like i am obligated to go to this one. (Oh, Eddie Vedder!!) Why can't i get more info on this??? Sighhh...

Making connection with (cup)cakes - Cupcake fun 101

I went for a cupcake decorating class at Cake Connection last week. It's located at Jaya One, PJ where you can find almost everything you need to make that cake of yours extraordinary all under one roof - sprinklers, toppers you name it! And i simply love the setting of the place. It's simple yet so chic!

We were taught and given tips on how to make basic vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting that will hold in our nice, hot weather. It was all exciting but i was pretty nervous as i have never attempted any kind of cake decorating (heck, i've only baked once in my lifetime!) and i know the underlying challenge for me particularly will be the TIME as time is (always) jealous of me and in this case, wars against my rosettes & my hydrangeas & swirls :)

Nancy, the instructor told us to treat the class therapeutic, but of course, i was all stressed out come end of the class! Struggling in between the messiness of putting in the icing into the piping bag, practicing the techniques on the board and working on the cupcakes to finish on time. But i guess it somehow did have that therapeutic effect after all as one of my colleague said my energy was different that day. "You look happier than usual!", he said. Haha! Here's a visual of some of my finished product:

I've always loved the classic swirl. I would have done more swirls but due to time constraints, i was short for a refill.
And as for the purple Hydrangeas, it went straight onto the cupcake! 
(no time for trials!)

Mussy. The kind of work i get when i do things fast!

(But mussy sometimes adds character, no?)

Rave over an insect

Of late, i've noticed that i am more and more into Dragonflies. After googling to find out what it actually symbolises, here's what i get:

"A dragonfly is a symbol of sense of self, which comes with maturity. It represents renewal, positive forces and power of life. A pair of mating dragonflies is believed to be a symbol of love.

The animal symbolism of a dragonfly is associated with good luck, prosperity, swiftness, strength, peace, purity and harmony. These symbolic meanings of a dragonfly are popular, specifically, with the Japanese and Native Americans.

In Japanese paintings, dragonflies represent new light and joy. Dragonflies help you see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine in a new vision. They remind us to pay attention to our deeper thoughts and desires.

In Japanese culture, dragonflies are considered as a symbol of strength, happiness and courage. They are often mentioned in Japanese literature and art, especially 'haiku'. In ancient mythology, Japan was recognized by the name, Akitsushima that means ‘Land of the Dragonflies’. According to the Japanese people, a dragonfly is associated with the rice plant’s spirit.

To some Native Americans, dragonflies are the souls of the dead. In England, dragonflies were considered to be evil and dangerous (yikes!). They were nicknamed as ‘horse stingers’.

A dragonfly lives a very short life and it tries to live to the fullest with what it has. I think this is the greatest lesson for all of us. We should try to enjoy every moment of life with what we have."

There's always a little something to figure about yourself, ey? ;)
Have a good Friday, people!

Pretty boy Kris

He stunned many (including himself) when he was announced as one of the top three last week in American Idol and now he's in the final. Yes, he can sing and yes, he performed well in ONE of his songs before America voted Danny Gokey out. But i have to say, without that face and that smile, he wouldn't have gotten this far. I know looks sell but if that wins over talent, it just sickens me. I mean, that Gokey guy is more talented. All i'm saying now is, he better not win!

[Obviously i'm irritated. Well, how can i not when it's the only TV show i actually follow. Go to my labels and click TV and you'll find it's all posts on American Idol if you don't believe me ;p].

From the folder

I just love simple, unconventional designs of things. I have a few stuff in my folder which i keep as sort of my virtual scrapbook, this is one item i would so love to have in my home...

This bookshelf!!
.. found when i was browsing on books.
[i don't remember the source, though.]

My top three Idol

:)))

I hope Kris goes home today.