New Running Routine, Banana Cake and Choc Chips + An Impromptu Visit

It's 10:30am now and I am feeling so... SLEEPY.  Have been waking up 6:30am both yesterday and today for a morning run/walk with a friend who is staying nearby.  Very semangat hor (motivated)?  Felt that way too... no choice la... have to push myself a little or I'll never make an effort.   I think having a training buddy does make a whole lot of difference.  It makes running/walking fun!  I actually look forward to it despite of those ungodly hours.  Anyone who knows me can second that I am never an early bird.  You can have the worms. :) The only thing about this whole new routine is, I just need to train myself to hit the bed earlier. 

I had a great afternoon yesterday when a very good friend whom I haven't met for a while decided to pop by for a visit and hang-out a little.  Was it 4 months ago since we last met?  Hmm.. about there la...  Seriously, nothing beats an afternoon like this - great company, enlightening conversation, freshly baked treats, aroma of coffee lingering in the air (I think I imagined this one out)... ahhh... heavenly!  Yea, co-incidentally, I baked more Banana Cake with Choc Chips yesterday cause I wanna get rid the bunch of leftover bananas that was still sitting on my kitchen top and that, explains the 'freshly baked treats'!  One step into the kitchen, my girlfriend went... "Wah... u baked these? You became so 'yun liong suk tak' (homely) already...".  And I replied... "Yeah, since Sunday" hehehehe... crazy girl.  I gave a loaf to her to take home for her family too.

I thought yesterday's batch turned out rather weird.  The colour & texture were a little off-ish.  But everyone  seems to love it and that 'everyone' includes a non-banana lover, a sweet-toothless person and my husband who actually whacked three quarter of  a loaf for supper which I actually reserved for a friend. o.O  It must be good then.   But then again, the husband's review cannot be counted as one cause he is suppose to whack anything I served with a big smile + encouraging words, even if it tasted toxic.  It is in the contract of our marriage. :p

Anyway, if you wish to attempt this cake at home, here are the ingredients you may need:-

5 ripe bananas, mashed (add a drop of banana essence into it)

125gm of butter (soften)

300gm of castor sugar (I used only 150gm cause I added choc chips)

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

150gm of flour + 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda + 1 pinch of salt (sieve together)

35ml of milk

Choc chips (quantity as you pleased :p)

(1) Creamed butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
(2) Add beaten eggs a little at a time into mixture.
(3) Next, add in mashed banana.
(4) After that, fold in sifted flour and milk alternately.
(5) Throw in choc chips and mix.
(6) Pour batter into loaf pans.  Half filled.
(7) Leave in preheated oven to bake for 30minutes at 175deg celcious.
(8) Once baked, turn out the cake and leave to cool on wired rack.

Note: Usually I takes them out when they turn golden brown.  To test if it is thoroughly baked, poke a toothpicks thru it.  If the toothpick comes out covered in batter, then you need to leave it in the oven a little longer.  If the toothpick comes out clean, then your cake is done!  Oh yeah, remember to preheat your oven at least 20 minutes before putting in your batter ok.  :) 

Happy trying.  Why not make this your little project for this weekend and update me on the outcome! :)  I  would love to hear from you. :)

An Agenda-less Day - A triple *LOVE* Day

Today is one of those rarest day that I've got no agenda on my list.  Woke up to nothing to do, no place to go.  Always love a day like this.  :)  It has been quite awhile since I have a day like this.  *love*

After brunching on a cup of hot java + slices of banana chocolate cake which I baked the night before, decided to visit a very special friend who I haven't seen for quite sometime.  It was a good choice for the day.  Brought her a loaf of the cake too (baked 3 loafs) and we enjoyed it together over tea time.  Had a very inspiring and enlightening afternoon. *love*

When I got home later, decided to make ourselves some simple dinner.  It was so simple that I called it  'the cheating spaghetti'. Cheating cause I used one of those pre-made sauces from Preggo's instead of making them from scratch :p.  Except that I added carrot, sausages & onions into it.  Just can't bring myself to serve spaghetti kosong :p  (plain spaghetti with sauces). Lols... Found some potatoes and eggs in the fridge and made a potato salad too.  It was seriously yummy.  We wallop-ed all the food before I could remember to take any photos of it. Hehehe.... perhaps next time la... *love*

I always love a day like this.  Sunshining morning, drizzling afternoon, zero agendas and spontaneously whipping up a meal.  No hassle.  Simple & nice! *love*


p/s: Oh yeah, btw, like my new background?  Got bored with the old one and decided on this new one. :p

A Satisfying Day of Friendship, Baby Plants, Houseworks, Salsa & Run

I had a rather fulfilling day today.  Did a lot.  Super lots.  Very satisfying.  Wonder where did all those energy comes from.  These are what I've accomplished today:

(1) Lunch with an ex schoolmate.

(2) Bought stamps from the post office.

(3) Stucked 250pcs of stamps onto 250pcs of cards (don't ask).

(4) Did 3 loads of laundries.

(5) Hand washed some too.

(6) Folded & put away a basket of clean laundries.

(7) Weeded my mini garden a little.

(8) Ironed a basketful of clothing.

(9) Bathed Rumba & Sunshine.

(10) Attended salsa class.

(11) Got home from salsa and went for a run & completed 3km!

Amazing huh?  O.o  Wish  I have this kind of energy everyday.  Then more will be accomplished.    Most of the time, I will be pooped by nightfall unless there are some interesting happenings going on la... like lepak chill session with friends, salsa parties, touge outings...  die die also must find energy for it! :p

As I mentioned, had lunch with an old classmate this afternoon, who, I never really get to know much throughout our 5 years in secondary school.  Not sure why.  It was just like that la...  It was my new hobby (gardening) that brought us together this time round.  She read about my attempts in gardening in "Simple Happiness" and offered to cultivate some baby plants for me!  This is awesome or what....?

Belladonna Lily - Pink & Red

The best part of the whole 2 hours lunch was not just those baby plants she had for me but, I suddenly realized the other part of her that I never knew.  She is not only smart, but simple and down to earth  too.  You know, one of those people when you talk to them, you know they are 100% sincere kind.  Yeah, those lor...  I am so glad 'gardening' had brought us back together :)  

Elephant Ear Plant.  I think 'Love Love Plant' suits it better.  :p

Got home at 2:45pm, it was all about laundries, laundries and more laundries after that - washing, drying, folding, ironing... *faint*  Not forgetting 'stamping', weeding, bathing the dogs.  All 3 hours were spent doing those houseworks.  Never ending works.  Just need to get them all out of the system so that I've a clear mind to concentrate on other things in hand for the next few days.

Now you know why I am so busy even though I only work 2 days a week.  To put it in a more correct way, it should be, I work 2 days officially and 3 days unofficially.  5 days week still.  Sometimes may stretched up to 7 days week.  So don't be envious too early. :p  Hardly have any time to myself these days... sigh...

As I ngam ngam finished blow-drying the doggies, the husband walk thru the door (as if he already timed himself so that he don't need to help out :p).  It was already 6pm and I asked "Hey... you think I can squeeze in a run or two before we head downtown for salsa?" and he replied... "Don't be over ambitious." Hahaha... like that la... my pillar of strength.  Lols... 

Anyway, when we got back from the class 3 hours later, still feeling rather ENERGIZED, I went ...

Me: I wanna go for a run can arr?

Husband: Huh?  Now?  

Me: If not it is ok.  I can always run tomorrow.

Husband: *look at the clock* Ok, you need the training anyway.  Let me shower first, after that, I'll walk along you.

Me: *touched!*

Hahaha... So I jogged, he walked.  Up and down the street.  People must have thought what kind of mad girl jogs at 10:30 at night cause that's usually what I would thought whenever I see people jogging at that hour...  Actually no, I didn't just 'thought'.  I usually will just blabbered it out loud... 'GILA (MAD) PEOPLE JOG SO LATE!!' hehehehe... :p  So I guess now I am officially one of those GILA PEOPLE... :p  Nevertheless, I enjoyed every bit of it!!!

My First Marathon (Mini it may be)

I mentioned something about a 5km mini marathon on my last entry?  Yep, yours truly have taken the plunge.  Together with some friends Evie, Lilian & Jo (managed to poison Florence, Derek & Mambo too), we signed ourselves up for the 5km Women's Open Category. :)

And that's not all, we are welcoming friends/anybody to pledge RM10 for every kilometer completed by each of us (be it running/walking).  Meaning, for a 5km run, the maximum pledge would be RM50/runner.  The donations collected will go to HOPE (KL) & MDDB (Malaysia Dogs Deserved Better) equally.

Left approximately 19 days to D-Day.  Officially started training yesterday and completed only 1.8km.  Haven't been running for a while.  Really need to work on those stamina.  Wish I have more time.  :p Nevertheless, can't wait too.  Can exercise, can hang out with friends, can do some charity too!... Kill 3 birds with 1 stone le...  power ok!

So, if any of you wish to pledge, drop me a message ya! :)

Phew... what a relieve.

As I was going thru the list of songs in my pc trying to pick out few with the right beats for my training for a mini marathon (yeah.. mini cause it is just 5km), I had a realisation.

I think I know why I can't remember the lyrics to all the songs nowadays unlike a long time ago.  The realisation was, CDs were rather expensive a long time ago.  Whenever I bought one, will be hearing nothing but just that 24/7.  How not to know the lyrics by heart? 

These days, not only were there thousands of songs out there, but most of them are free too :p  You know what I mean.  How la to remember all the lyrics?

What a relieve.  At least now I know it is not AGING.  It is not that the 'memory' that is failing.  :p

Just finished reading an old issue of 'Just Dance' magazine given out at La Bomba's opening yesterday and feel so motivated now.  Never regret re-igniting my passion for dancing.  Amidst hundreds of my hobbies, dancing is the only one that I'll never get bored of.

Happy Malaysia Day People!

I don't know how did 'Malaysia Day' come about.  Nevertheless, here wishing everybody in Malaysia a 

HAPPY MALAYSIA DAY

We may be different in colours, different in cultural, different in taste buds, different in lifestyles, different in languages we speaks, different in everything we do.  But, in reality, it is all these differences that makes us the same.  For we are MALAYSIAN!

The Secret Project Revealed - A Paint Job.

A friday 3 weeks ago, few of us gathered together to execute on a secret project, a date which had been set 3 weeks prior to that Friday.  You following?  :p  Nevermind... just a long time ago la...

Due to the complexity of organising different people together to make different gift for different people, the three of us decided to take matters into our own hands and sort out the gifts for them who recently shifted into new homes.

The helmets were just something we added on to confuse Derek cause coincidently Florence bought an almost identical one from Ho Chi Minh recently.  He didn't know what was the secret project all about until the day itself.  I supposed to loan him a pail to replace his missing helmet... :p  But thought better of it.  Better not be so mea, afraid of 'pou yeng' (retribution).  :p

All we told him was to make himself available on the 27th for a secret project, lols... Don't mean to keep him in dark but when he replied the sms with... "Oooh... I LOVE secrets...", we decided to just keep quiet about it... hahaha...

And for that 2 over weeks, he thought:-

1)  We were going to have another drinking and chilling out session.  

2)  We were going for paintball game when we told him to bring a helmet.

3)  We were going to make our friend a cupboard as a house warming gift when I hinted to him that we are making a gift.  *faint*  A cupboard???!  He really think too highly of us GIRLS!!!

8:30pm - After a simple dinner of 'fish head noodle' nearby, we kicked start our secret project.  Had a small brainstorming session, found what we wanted from the internet and began working on it! :)

It was a lot of hard work ok.  First, we trace.  Then, we fine tune the shape to resemble more to the recipient of the gift.  Here, Florence correcting the head to look less like a gorilla and more like a human (her exact words.) hahaha... Once satisfied, we transfer the design onto the canvas, 9:45pm.

As usual, from all previous records, all activities of ours are always somehow fused with booze... so without sayings, this one too was that. The culprit this time round was that 750ml very fine Hennessy cognag leftover from our Cameron treasure hunt...  hahaha...  but I didn't drink.  Not even a single drop.  

At least one fella still can paint a straight line. :p The aroma was so tempting though...no choice la... can't risk the dancers turning out looking like gorillas. Smell enough already la... Hehehehe....   We started with painting the yellow background first - 10:30pm. 

The effect of boozing while painting.  Helmets and goggles somemore.  As if painting is a very dangerous activity.  Hehehe...

Taking 5 while waiting for the second layer to dry.  The cognag was so good even the non-drinker ended up drinking one after another.  Seriously good.  So imagine how BIG my sacrifice was or perhaps, how discipline I was...  ahem... NOT A SINGLE DROP!

Our bartender for the evening.  Hard at work.  Mixing drinks.  

11:15pm - After the many layers of yellow background dried, we started with working on the two dancers.  Better work fast before the alcohol kicks in... hehehe....  or it will never be completed.

Next, was the remaining background with bright orange.  Slowly turning out looking rather awesome right?

Fooled around a little too... camwhoring la... painting faces la... joked la... tok kok la... had so much fun. The effect of drinking (for them) and smelling (for me) the cognag.  Lols...

12:30am - Derek concentrating... "I must make sure I paint on the canvas, not on the newspaper." :p

Florence concentrating too.  Working on the figures.  Painting them black.  "Straight line...aum...".  When Derek attempted to help on that part, she went like.. "Ermm.. you better don't paint this one...".. lols... so mean.

Me.  Errmm... actually I was pretty busy but put on the helmet and goggles to entertain the drunkards.  Hahaha... Look as if we were using some super toxic paint or something...  and "Children shall not attempt this at home" kind of activities.  You'll get head injuries  from painting.

The 'ghost rider' distracing me working hard.  Kacau only...

The mabuks (drunkards) riding their imaginary Harleys... 

And went vrrooommm vrrooommming left and right... gila already!

And finally, at 2am, completed & signing off - "The Deliquenos".

Our masterpiece which took us a total of:-

5 and a half hours

600ml of cognag

330 minutes of laughters

Tonnes of effort

2 Helmets + Goggles

So, if you are drunk next time and boast that you can still walk a straight line, that's sap sap water (chicken feet) ok.  Try painting a straight line instead!

So, Jason Tan, if you sometimes thought you caught a whiff of cognag, you know where it came from ok...  You did not imagine it... hehehehe.....



Drive, Eat, Drink

Imagine this - 3 hours of almost non-stop salsaing till 2 plus, got home at 3, slept at 4.  Alarm went off at 6.30am, crawled out of bed at 7.  Breakfast 1 at 8, breakfast 2 at 9 along Karak.  Up & down Bukit Tinggi, Bentong ice kacang, up & down Fraser's checkpoint, lunch at Ulu Yam.  Home at 5pm.  Slept from 5-8pm... zzzzzzzz.... 

Nasi Lemak Biasa @ BHP mamak (after Karak toll)

The famous Bentong's ice cream - Kow Po.

Wall full of publicity - magazines/newspapers.

The humble tauke of Kow Po Ice Cream.

Interior of the shop, still the same since the last time I was there 10 years ago.  

Home made ice creams.  Very creamy & yummy.

Up at the Fraser's checkpoint.

Down at a restaurant in Ulu Yam Bharu.

Had a yummy dumpling while waiting for the real lunch to be served.  It was home-made too.  By the mother-in-law of a fellow member in KKB.

Lunch - Yummy pork noodle.  

Deep fried fish.  

Power le... 14 people.  5 bottles of Hennessy + 5 bottles of beer.

A Birthday Celebration = Another Excuse to Go Gila (Mad)

Last Saturday was a great fanfare.  We basically took up the whole Brussel Beer Cafe in Menara Hap Seng Kuala Lumpur.  Stylo le... No, not because there were a hundred of us.  But it was because their KL's outlet were simply deserted on a Saturday night!

We basically have the whole place to ourselves to celebrate the birthday of a fellow Deliquenos, Mr Derek!  We can laugh loud loud, talk loud loud, scream loud loud, curse loud loud complete with international hand signs, jump high high, do a little skip here and there, run around naked for all we care, nobody would bat even an eyelid.  Alright, not the naked part.  

There were only 8 of us.  But the amount of noise that we created... can match those from the pasar malam (night market).  Only when we were leaving we realized how quiet the place was.  Too engrossed  with each other's company and talking all at once. 

Some of us had the Hoegaarden.  Some, the Stella Artois and some, Leffe Blonde.  And yours truly, always prefer the Leffe Brune - lighter than stout, thicker than beer.  Just right for my taste buds!  Only ordered half pint for myself.  No time to drink.  Need to salvage more time to tokkok singsong and blast myself away with laughters and fun!

We, the girls, with the birthday boy.  All those smiles, can't remember what we were talking about though.   There were supposed to be 2 more girls, unfortunately, once again, unforeseen circumstances.  Seems to have lots of unforeseen circumstances popping up these days.  It must be in season!

We had, of course Brussel's MUST HAVE, and that is,  the Brussel's Pork Knuckle!  It was yummy.  Crispy on the outside, tender & juicy on the inside! Succulent!

Their week's special (I think), meatballs in cream sauce.  Equally perfectly done.

Also a Beer Food Platter - mixture of calamari, chips, sausages which turned out looking rather obscene...  the girls & boys had fun joking and playing with it! Lols...

And some greens too.   Mommi said must eat plenty of vegetables!  Simple yet refreshing.  That evening was the first time in my life I had so much capsicums. I basically walloped all.  They actually tasted sweet unlike the typical bitter taste most had.

Derek and I still trying to figure out what was the fingers pointing all about?  Wonder what were we talking about or arguing about until Florence laughed till like that.  I am sure it has totally nothing to do with WaiKong since he is the only one standing up and toasting to don't know what...

We also took the opportunity to present 'house warming' gifts to 3 of our other fellow Deliquenos who recently shifted into their new homes.  The 'GIFTS' was actually secret project undertaken by Derek, Florence & myself on behalf of the group.  The purpose?  To surprise them and moved them to tears!  Lols... For Penny, we combed thru hundreds of photos, finalized on this one and had it framed beautifully.  It turned out pretty awesome.  Classic & nice!  Love it!

As for Jason, a little bird told us that he have a 'salsa corner' in his new home.  So, for a salsaholic, we decided to do a painting for him.  Hand-painted ok.  No joke.  Pretty good job eh?  We were actually fretting out that he may not like it yet felt obligated to hang it up. So we went like "It's ok if you don't wanna hang it up". One look at it he went... "Eh, I also wear white pants like that le..." and the three of us went... "Uhuh... that's why we painted it white".  His reply was.. "You all painted this o.O ?!!" Lols...!  He LOVES it!  Seriously, even if he don't like it, it is ok.  I still think we did a GREAT job!!  The whole process was rather 'interesting' but I'll only blog about it on the next entry.

As for Caren who didn't make it to the party that evening, good in a way too cause we haven't got the present ready actually, :p  out of inspiration.  But thanks to her absence, now we have an INSPIRATION!   Just have to find time to execute it! :D

As usual, all lead back to more salsa.  We stepped into our bling-bling dancing shoes and headed down to Modesto nearby to salsa the night away. 

A friend who missed us at Brussel, came to join us in Modesto instead.  That's the spirit my friend!

Other than salsa, there were bachata too.  What is Bachata you asked?  Well, in my simple words it would be a kind of hip swaying dance which look best if you dance intimately with your partner.  By the word 'intimately', I only meant close together, body touching body. NOT to the extend of having sex on the dance floor. :p  Really, very very nice dance!  Try 'youtube' it and see.  ;)

Here are two that never fail to enjoy themselves immensely whenever they went mad salsa-ing on the dance floor.  Always love to catch them on candid whenever they are dancing away.  Guaranteed good shots with those beautiful smiles!

Girls spinning and spinning, guys leading and leading... everybody enjoying themselves to the beats of the latino!

At the end of it, we were all sweaty and oily.  Lols... good exercise!

Went a little mad with the camera too.  I tell you arr, nowadays arr,  whenever a camera is in sight, have to make sure (1) face tilted on best angle, (2) tummy tucked in, (3) chubby cheeks sucked in, (4) flabby arms HIDE!  Hahahaha... So when you see me turning out quite alright in a photo, just remember there were a lot of hard works ok....hehehehehe..

I think this one was taken while we were all high from endorphins.  Overdosed more like it.  Lols...  Ok lah... still very sexy and pretty... ahem ahem!  hahaahaha...

We had such an awesome evening that Saturday.  Till today, 5 days later, comments are still flying all over those photos posted on FB.  Still poking fun at each other, teasing & cursing.  An obvious sign of another good hangout!

So, to our friend Derek, who is a year wiser now (he say cannot tell his age one...), 

We are wishing you another year

of laughter, joy and fun

surprises, love and happiness.

And when your birthday is done,

as your birthdays come and go,

how very much you mean to us,

more than you can know.