seriously, I have much to tell... :)

28 May 2007

How to cook rice

-Just some old pics of food-

We, humans, love food! When we don't have to cook it, that is. It is a common fantasy to have a personal cook. For the first 18 years of our lives, our mommies did a good job filling in that position. Now, 4 years on, we are expected to take over. "Like, why?!" I hear some whine. A Malaysian answer: What to do. Big girl already. Must know how to do house chores and cook!

Some might even add: "Hey, at this age last time, you already have 6 kids!"

How typical but we hear less of this nowadays. Standard of living is on the rise(6 kids?!How about college?!). Also, parents are trying hard to keep their kids from unwanted pregnancy and stuff.


OK, back to the point. Last week, Shobeedee raised the point that her mom was worried about her cuisinability. So this post is dedicated to Shobie and all you college students. Here's how to cook rice for one person(or two to appease Sathya) quickly, without wastage (such as rice sticking to the rice pot) and with minimal mess (such as washing the damn rice out of the rice pot). And the results are almost always guaranteed because of the cooking method. Here goes:


















First, measure the amount of rice in the little cup usually provided with your rice cooker. If you don't have this, I think you can use your yogurt cup. Anyways, for one person, it should be 1/2 cup. For 2, then 1 whole cup. For Yvonne, it usually is 1/3 cup because I believe in eating more dishes than rice. :)



















Next, pour the rice into a glass/porcelain/clayton bowl and wash with clean water.



















After draining the water which you washed the rice with, add more clean water to cook the rice with. Measure the amount of water by placing your fingers flatly on the surface of the rice. If the water level is about where the picture shows, then it should be alright. I think. This is when you need to "agak-agak". Trial and error. However, there won't be much damage because we are using the Steaming method.



















Next, place the bowl of rice and water into your faithful rice cooker which was earlier washed and filled with some water.



















Always remember to press the lever! I once waited so long just to find out that I was keeping the water warm. -_-



















Check on the rice in 15-20 minutes(Not every 5 minutes because then you will lose the heat and steam). If it has risen and looks solid, then it is done! Use a chopstick or fork to "loosen" up the rice and steam for another 3 minutes.



















Ready to serve! But you can choose to decorate it a bit. Make it look Kim Gary-ish or Japanese. For that moment when I was taking these pictures, I only had limited resources (egg and canned meat). Here are some suggestions.



















Et voila! Healthy food! (Munch on a cucumber to make it balance and make mommy proud)


Here's another serving option:




Well, as long as you get the basic rice done, it should be no problem. The accompanying dishes can be any vege, some eggs and meat to make it a balanced meal. Happy cooking and bon appetit!


ps: I miss mommy's cooking. :(

first day @ work!

Today was my first day as a nine-to-fiver in KL. All my other internships has been in Subang or Langkawi so this one is a first. I have to take 2 trains to get there. TWO! And oh, how packed were they. All of us commuters were packed like sardines. No, wait, more like Ayam Brand's tuna in mayonaise (Not the tuna chunks types; too much space. Tuna in mayo.) Have you ever poured out the contents of a can of Ayam Brand's Tuna in Mayo and realize that that little can could fit one whole cereal bowl of tuna in mayo? I was amazed when I first realized. Today, I was also amazed by how an already packed coach can actually still fit in 10 more people at each stop. I wonder.

Anyways, this is the way of life and this is how it will be for the next few months. Doh! I should have signed up for "Uncle Van". This uncle drives a van and caters only to students doing internship in KL. Each trip is RM5 so if you go to and fro, it is RM10 per day. Not bad for the luxury of being driven from and to the doorsteps. Also, I suspect this uncle is very rich. He makes a few trips a day because of the various working shifts of hotels. Smart entrepreneur. Where there is a demand, there is a supply. My two trains cost me RM5.80 plus people stepping on the tip of my pointed shoe (new) and risk falling victim to pickpockets and also having to walk an average of 600 m (through KLCC and the convention centre) and having to cross the railway tracks which is actually the cause of the death of an unlucky man about a week ago. Sigh. Do pray for my safety.


Hmm.. Maybe I should ask Jiawei to think of doing an "Uncle Van" stint during his 3 months break.



Yeah right.



Anyways, can't tell you much about my work yet because we spent the day doing our orientation, looking at hundreds of slides and oohing and aahing during the House Tour. The staff at Human Resources were mostly away at training in their mothership hotel and so we were briefed by another trainee who has been there for 5 months. He is also our junior. By leaps and bounds. But we were too polite to point that out when all the staff who met him said, "Wah, so now you are the senior showing your juniors around ya!" -_- *roll eyes* Thinking to myself, "Like, can't you tell who are the pioneers here? Hello?"

Anyways, he was nice. I must say.



It was a tough day. Really tough. What a chore! Such difficulty to stay awake! I knew this was going to happen as it always happen on the first day of work and so I even took some time to heat up my essence of chicken and took it before I left home. No such luck. Still yawning and tearing. I wonder why. We also had our nametags done and they told us we can request whatever name we want to on the nametags and my friends who saw a permanent staff with "Ronaldo" comtemplated getting "Ronaldhino". I don't know what is the outcome yet. I put Yvonne. (Surprise!)


Other summaries include that we found out that the food at the cafeteria is somewhat not what I have expected to be getting since I expected that a hotel in the middle of KL should have somewhat fantastic cuisine to fatten up their staff to face the higher stress of commuting. What irony. No wonder the staff are so thin. Maybe I should think of this as an advantage. And oh! we got to leave early today! Wheee! For one day only but it was still worth a mention. :D! I am looking forward to tomorrow for another day of fun and excitement(I sort of 50% mean it)!


PS: I can't wait to watch Shrek this Saturday! :D (I sort of 100% mean it)

15 May 2007

One after another...


A picture paints a thousand words...

This paints that I'm going to face my finals soon (coming Monday) and that I'm not in the mood to study at the moment. But at the same time, the skull and bones sort of paints that I sense I'm in trouble. But the lackadaisical attitude shows in the fact that it has perfectly straight teeth and loves to brush its teeth. At the same time, the Purple Eyed Monster looks scary, like I'm really scared, but actually it was a mistake. My "e" turned out too ugly so I turned it into a monster. I couldn't think of anything for "a" so I made it a capital "A" in yellow and singing because that's what I want to achieve... I hope... I wish... I pray... As for the "m"... well, no comments. A lazy excuse which paints that I am really not putting much effort into this. Trust me. With effort, you could sell this on eBay. Last but not least, the "s". I have always used snakes as "s", ever since I knew how to draw and they were always green with black zig zag pattern on its back. How original, right? Anyways, it is actually wiggling to get away - don't know from what. I got a feeling it is headed for the beach. Wow. It really does paint a thousand words.

14 May 2007

Food Life Style of Tomorrow!

Convenience Food Exhibition 2007 - Food Life Style of Tomorrow
11 May 2007
Taylor's College School of Hospitality and Tourism.




The exhibition that me and my classmates have been fussing about for the past 3 months was finally over. Here is a short summary...

It was a success! Everybody showed really good teamwork and were independent in that everyone knew what they had to do and somehow everything just turned out really well.


The exhibition covers 3 areas. The Exhibition Hall where the exhibitors exhibit their products and also give our food and drinks sample, which were the main attactions. Then there is the Auditorium where we held our Convenience vs. Health Forum with speakers from SJMC,UPM and also our own lecturer who have done studies on food sociology.. or something like that. Then we have the courtyard where all the fun stuff and happenings happen.
-The exhibition hall-

-The panel of speakers at the Forum-

-The courtyard early in the morning-

-We never resist photo opportunities-


We thought the crowd will not be so fantastic but we were wrong. It was overwhelming.

Part of the attraction was the chance to win 2 air tickets to Jakarta courtesy of KLM-Air France. Therefore you can see the little blue booth on the right being crowded with people filling in contest forms. The crowd was also there to cheer their friends on in the Lunch Munch competition and the Best Zest Squeezer contest!

-What a mouthful and squeezeful-

The guys mostly took part in the Lunch Munch where they have to eat up 4 pieces of healthy Gardenia Breakthrough bread and the girls took part in the Best Zest contest. The guys who failed the Lunch Munch were also spotted trying the Best Zest. Haha.. our prizes were too attractive? Maybe. RM50 cash vouchers for Daorae Korean BBQ and even RM100 Hampers from Boh Tea. Even losers get RM20 cash vouchers. What's not to like, eh?

The participants had a lot of fun. Even our lecturers couldn't resist and took part too. The last picture on the bottom right are some of them. Haha!

All of us had fun too!
-Some of us-


-All of us-

In a nutshell - success! Hopefully our photo will appear in the front page of our next college magazine. I'm working on it. In the mean time, yay!

I Love You, Mommy

-Mother's Day 13 May 2007-
Breakfast with mommy, daddy and sis Lisa @ Kluang Station before I left for KL


I love my mommy. And my mommy loves me. She has given me so much and done so much for me... including chasing lizards out of the way when they block my way to the toilet. And making excuses for me when my dad tries to make us go climb Gunung Lambak at 6.30 am in the morning. And she can really sew! And she can crochet. And she can cook really wicked food. And she bakes! And she regularly updates me on the world news. And on the latest news in and about home. And she takes my nonsense without questions. Even crocheting 2 sets of clothes for my little stuffed tiger, Mushroom.

Seriously, my mom is the best mom in the world!

07 May 2007

Random Poppadom

My daily life has been very boring lately. So boring it could bring tears to your eyes. My eyes, already. Nothing interesting. None!

What I didn't have:
No gossips. No food sampling(well, of course there is but nothing to-die-for). No chocolates(due to heatiness). No eye-candy lengchais. No movies. No Grey's Anatomy. No life.

What I did have:
Projects, assignments, gastric problems (during my one and only scheduled shopping trip!! aR!), fatigue, heatiness, one little ulcer, more work and boredom. And, ooh, my "cucumber fresh" shower cream finished so I had to use my "almond moisturizing" one which is quite unnecessary in this current hot and superbly humid weather.

So...time for Show-n-Tell!


-ooh-
At Mid Valley Fashion Week before my gastritis hit.


-spot my feet-
I have this tendency to develop an urge to clean things up when I'm busy with important things. Way more important things.

-How low can you go?-
Just a comparison of my highs and lows. Plain and Polka Dots. White and Black. Work and Play. PVCs and Satin. Tweed and Cotton.

-whooooosh...-
It is nice to have friends with connection with airlines. Cute new toy. Cathay Pacific has some too. Totally cute. Can make imagination go wild.

-ahpooh-
And then there was ahpooh. Keeping things light and bright. As usual.



01 May 2007

309-tales of a technophobe

Intro: You're in for a long read...


The first time I saw this particular promo poster, I questioned, "Why 309 ya? Is it like 4400 (the series)? Did they get lost somewhere too? Or maybe it is a date? 30th September? Is it a code?"

I very much later found out that it was actually 300. The extra splash of blood, which was a feature in this movie, made it look like 309. And it is about the ancient Greek world which is something I like to watch because I know oh-so-little about this part of history. And Brad Pitt made it look so glorious in Troy. I was just wondering how accurate these movies were. Anyways, I got the movie from Jiawei and was ready to watch it. Or was I?

I was craving for a movie. Any movie. Just to spend an hour or two staring at my laptop, not necessarily paying attention and comprehending whatever efforts that has been poured into the making of a movie. I wanted to Crunchyroll a Korean movie; probably a funny one with a really cute guy. No luck. Why is it loading so slow today? Leave it on for a while. OK. Something else in the meantime. Is my Grey's Anatomy 3 Epi 1 done? Nope. 80%. Aiyo... Looks like I'll have to settle for bloodbath 300. This is like a last resort thing. I wasn't in the mood for the Spartan's killing spirit. I was planning to keep this movie till when I really need the spirit to do-or-die. Then somehow my media player won't play it. Ar!! Why! ROar! I really want to watch a movie! Now I have even passed my nap time! Never mind- chillax. Use Gom. Ar!! Compatibility issues! ROar ROar!

I asked my housemate if she had any movies for me to watch. She had one Korean one which is superbly funny and has a cute guy in it. The BIG problem was they were speaking Korean and the subtitles were in Chinese. Ar! Why didn't I pay attention in Mandarin classes! Ar!! Then seeing my flustered face, she offered some old movies. I picked one which was still OK.... It was Casanova. I seriously don't know since when this show existed. Then, when I tried to play it, the player cannot read it because it is too scratched! My laptop actually told me that the cd is either too scratched or is dirty. Since when did laptops do that? Even my 3M fibre cloth thing couldn't help. I'm doomed.

*dialled Jiawei's number* "Dear! Why cannot watch?! Stress! Help!"

Upon Jiawei's advice, I downloaded another player will most probably play this file. It is taking too long. OK. Give up. Technophobes usually do this when the second available option fails. To nap it is.

When I woke up, I found that the file which I have been downloading for so long was not really an installable file... Not that I know what I'm talking about. It just doesn't work, OK? Delete button is the only option for you now, you sorry little waste of space! I just don't like my desktop to be so cluttered... :D

Then I thought, it is OK. My Korean movie should be done by now. Oh yeah, it is. I cooked my new found favourite egg noodle (healthier than Maggi, I suppose, because I'm on a Maggi strike [because they wouldn't come to my exhibition]) and made my teh-O panas and settled down to watch. I managed to watch the first 2 minutes of silence and whispering and then it jammed when the lead actor was appearing. Ar!! ROar! Why! I just really wanted to watch a movie!

*dialled Jiawei's number* "Opah! Help! Everything just won't work!"

After Jiawei helped me calm down, I decided to abandon the whatever player and take matters into my own hands. Download a new Gom (of course Jiawei suggested this too). Finally, after a few minutes, it worked!

*dialled Jiawei's number* "Opah! Can redi! Can watch redi! I graduated!"

Jiawei said he was proud of me and is happy to see that I have this spirit. Because then he wouldn't have to be on call to help me solve my techno-probs all the time. Well, not like he was studying or anything at the moment. It is my right, right?

Anyways, finally getting to watch 300 was like this glory you feel after you win a war. Gosh, these people were harsh on their kids. The people of Sparta were all good looking. I know, I know, they discard the not-so-good babies but everyone looked good. The men looked like Brad Pitts in Troy and the women had serious curves. Then when King Leonidas decided to bring some 300 men to "take a stroll, stretch their legs" and sort of secretly defend Sparta against one million Persians, they looked like 300 Brad Pitts in Troy taking strolls and stretching legs. Did I mention that I just wanted to watch a movie to stare at the pc for an hour or two without paying attention?

As I was about a few minutes into the movie, I suddenly heard someone talking in Korean. Oh, NOW the movie, which jammed earlier, decided to play. What just happened? I really don't know. Sigh. I wish I knew. Hmm. Anyways, to stop the Korean movie for the meantime, I could have just clicked "pause" but I clicked "X". So, there goes Part 1...

One thing I realize was that this 300 movie had a lot of blood. Blood splashing, spurting, dripping. However, I don't see any blood on the ground. Totally CGI I think. Something like when I watch Jiawei play World of Warcraft. The dead people will bleed and then somehow the blood and bones will disappear. Did I miss the housekeeping team? I don't really rationally know what I'm saying. Anyways, I saw that when the Spartans decided to kill the messengers, they stabbed, the blood spurted but when the guys fall into the well, they don't have any wounds or blood stains. Hehe. I know I'm not supposed to look so much into this movie. But I think it was very "yeng" (gaya, stylo mylo) of the Spartans each time they charge forward.

After that movie, it was about time for me to do my laundry because they have been soaking for about 4 hours now. My MSN nick read:
"doing laundry... as usual... my favourite activity of all time.. whoa... woohoo... yay... tres bien..."

Boy, was I washing. For victory! For clean clothes! My two hands against you big pile of laundry! ROar!

Anyways, washing clothes is one of the most hated chore around. After ironing clothes. And washing dishes. I just can't take it anymore! My skin is very sensitive!! ArR! Wear gloves? But the substance inside gloves are the main cause of my finger's sensitivity. No choice. But then, hand-washing clothes gives you a sense of confidence towards the outcome of the clothes later. How many times have you thrown your clothes into the washing machine and have them come out disfigured, discoloured and so crinkled you need to steam them before ironing? This question is not applicable to males.

OK, we have Japanese washing machine nets for the above. I was just consoling myself.

After the laundry, I saw that the Epi 1 of Grey's Anatomy is done! 100%! Whoopie! I'm really into technology now... My first downloaded episode of a series. Cool stuff. I right clicked and there was no "Open with..." Sigh...

"Opah!!"