ƸӜƷ•¨¯`•My Recuerdos•¨¯`•ƸӜƷ

Happy Birthday HUGO!!!

Joshua got 7As for his PMR!!!

Proud sis boasting...*snigger*

Anyway...
CONGRATS!!! to all those who scored straight As,and for those who didn't (I'm one of them...) don't fret too much. Just take things as they come and look forward to the Form 4 experiences..

Soon Ying officially joins the legal circle today!!!

The birthday girl...

This girl has been one of my closest friends since I made friends with her in Form 2. She was sitting in front of me and later became my table-mate in Form 3. The things that go on underneath our desks...(no groping..don't be dirty-minded.We smacked each other and gave each other red thighs.) I miss those days..

I'm not proud of this,but ever since we left school and furthered our studies in different places (Me stuck in hometown and she went to KL) we didn't keep in touch as much as close friends should. Occasional talks online,hurried sms-es..I felt really guilty but time and distance makes it hard. I can't even celebrate this significant birthday with her this year because her family has permanently moved to KL and she doesn't come to Ipoh anymore. Thankfully I do make trips to KL several times in a year,so there are chances we can met up.

So,Soon Ying aka Annie(never got that English name around my tongue)...
God bless you..
Hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration...

Christmas Day!!!
What did I do?? I woke up late;no jumping out of bed early because all presents were unwrapped the night before,and got ready for a brunch buffet. Yes...BRUNCH. We 'kiasu" Chinese want our money's worth;so the buffet would substitute breakfast AND lunch. Killing two birds with one stone,whacking two meals in one go...whichever way you want to put it.

My family (extended) gathered at my grandma's place before heading to the hotel.No..."kiasu" as we are,we weren't standing outside the restaurant waiting for the exact minute the buffet time starts. We're sensible people too..(self-praise). We waited for the concierge to seat us before milling around to check out the spread. One of my cousins;Khai Meng wasn't feeling very well (chose the wrong time to have a fever;poor guy) but he managed to eat two helpings of spaghetti,a plateful of turkey,a selection of dumplings,cakes and several glassfuls of water. Keep in mind he was SICK. Me,I helped myself to Christmas food;turkey,lamb,pudding...
Anyway, I stuffed myself until I couldn't eat anything till the next day's lunch.

My plate of meat and potatoes...

After eating all we can,we headed to the new Jusco shopping mall in Bukit Tinggi to absorb the atmosphere (and to digest our feast). And there was where I met my GOLLA...No...not new boyfriend. A new purse for me!!!!!Before you raise eyebrows...I've been making do with worn-out purses for the whole year (my fault because I kept putting off buying new purse and stole my mum's old purses instead..). I also got a new pair of pants. My dad was breathing a sigh of relief (because his fickle daughter hates shopping for clothes and must be forced to choose her clothes).

After shopping,we went back to my grandma's to sit and talk. That about sums up my Christmas Day...

Christmas is coming... I'll be heading to my granny's place in Klang for this celebration. Everywhere,I see signs shouting "Christmas is COMING!!!". Shopping malls started setting up Christmas trees in mid-November. Sales are in every mall. People are cracking their heads over what to get for Christmas presents (including me). Families are planning what (and where) to have Christmas dinner.

I used to get very VERY excited over Christmas when I was younger; Christmas meant that I could ask for that book which my mum refused to buy even though I begged. My aunts and uncles would ask me what I wanted as a special present, my cousins and I would dig out the old Christmas tree and try to string all the ornaments on it (until it starts toppling),the same Christmas songs would be played over and over again. It was fun.But now,the 18-year old me just can't feel the same excitement over Christmas. I don't feel that sparkling,fizzy anticipation anymore. More like a little twinge,and "Oh,Christmas is here already..." What's wrong with me?? I really WANT to get excited again..

Still,getting older also meant I learn Christmas isn't about presents,putting the star on top of the tree and cookies. If it used to be special to me because of those things;NOW,its special to me because it is the day to remember our Saviour,Jesus came to Earth. His humble beginnings in a manger. How the angels rejoiced and wise men brought presents to see him. I'm not going to elaborate long and wide about this. But this picture is a reminder to what Christmas is REALLY about.

So to all of you...

My dad bought glutinous rice flour at the grocer's today (a 1 kg pack) so my mum suggested that we make "tong yun" (glutinous rice balls). Usually they're made during this date on the Chinese calender where the Kitchen God makes his annual report to the Sky Emperor (to report whether the family is behaving well or not). To ensure that the Kitchen God made favourable reports, wives dip the Kitchen God's pictures in wine (to make him drunk),wipe his mouth with honey (to sweeten his mouth) or make offerings of "tong yun".

Anyway,my family is Christian so "tong yun" is made as a treat dessert (its nice to eat),not offerings or anything. So my mum kneads the flour with water until we get sticky dough. Pretty easy actually;just add water and knead till you're satisfied with the texture...

And if you're not satisfied with boring white,add some colour.
Pinch a little dough and knead it into a ball.

Flatten the ball and add a little filling in the middle.
In my case,I like "gula Melaka" (brown sugar).

Then,close the dough around the filling and you'll
get a cute "tong yun" ready to boil and eat:-

But of course...ONE isn't satisfying enough. So repeat the process until you think you have enough to whet your cravings. Many hands make light work so my mum and I roped in my brother,Joshua and cousin,Khai Meng to help (its so simple even GUYS can do this)

This is only one tray,there are more!!

Working in the kitchen can be really fun if there are many people there. This was proven when Khai Meng proposed the idea of mini "tong yun". I tried out his idea and the result was charming. Credits to Khai Meng...

Displaying the first successful mini...

It wasn't easy to make the minis. Try wrapping mini amount of dough over mini amount of sugar. Its a tedious job. This how a mini compares against a normal "tong yun" :-

So i had to stop...At least I managed to make a few. The dough for ONE normal "tong yun" was sufficient for FIVE minis.

Anyway,my mum immediately boiled some for us to eat.
TIP: When boiling "tong yun" make sure all the balls float to the water surface before ladling them out. The floating means it's cooked thoroughly,otherwise you end up sinking your teeth into raw flour and sugar...

My reward for helping my mum..

MMmmmm.....YUMMY!!!!

I finally connected with my friend Esther Hoh (or to give her her 'new' name: Natasha Rylie) on MSN the previous day (her fault..I've been asking her for her e-mail add for MONTHS and she didn't even realise she had mine all along and never added me into her list) and we spent hours talking. Girl conversation..guys,school,friends,shopping and etc. etc.. and after about two hours into the conversation..weight loss came onto the picture. (Before you make assumptions, I'm not going to rant bout my weight)

I happened to be browsing in Deviantart and I looked for some funny dieting photos to show her but she off-ed before I could do so...

But its OK..let me share them with you:-

Dieting is about SELF CONTROL!!!!

This is the reason
why I never succeeded in going vegetarian;even for a day..

They say,"Cutting down on meal portions is the best step."

Is this what they meant??The spirit is willing;
but what of the flesh??

There are shortcuts though...

but is it worth it to sacrifice your health??

Haha...I'm not against dieting. In fact I think it is good to watch what you eat (that is my new resolution) but there is no need to take yourself too seriously.
Its OK to indulge yourself once in a while (I do that too often though..hehe..) Enjoy life..keep healthy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!!!!!
After 5 GRUELLING papers...I finally have two weeks holiday before me.
Ya..CAT and ACCA students have very few holidays in the year. I'm starting to feel the effects of post-exam tiredness (had very little sleep struggling with last-minute revision you see..) God really gave me the strength to get through the exam. Prayer seriously helps...and so does a good pen..
All 5 papers I sat for were written papers and I think my finger bones are all crooked thanks to the constant writing..I could literally see the ink disappearing before my eyes.. Look at these pictures of my pen. The ink went from full to half after just two papers!!!

After T6..

T7...

Let me explain..
This post has been circulating on Face Book walls since mid-August:-

1. He used the material from a REAL missing person's case to construct the ad. As a result,people kept calling the family's house;giving them false hopes and adding to their distress.
   
2. He used his mother's name to forward the e-mails. As is shaming his own name isn't enough, he dragged his mum into the mess.
   
3. He then pretended that someone was playing a prank on him by posting those missing ads. Does he have a conscience;or more pathetic still..a LIFE??

1. If you were a girl with heart problems and can't afford the expensive treatment. The media publishes it an everyone pays attention to you cause you're dying and need help..Would you LIKE and ENJOY this type of attention?
2. If you were a boy and you lost your leg in an accident. The media publishes your accident and everyone gives you attention cause you've lost a limb. Would you WANT attention for that reason??
3. A person sent to jail for fraud makes the front page in the newspaper. Do you think he's PROUD of the attention he gets??

Let me give you an idea of what my room looks like in the midst of exam season..
In the wee hours of the morning..(around 1 to 2 a.m.)

My desk...

This is considered neat. The other day,I had to practically DIVE into a sea of papers to find my eraser and my calculator..

My bed...

Its quite convenient when I want to spread out all the books around me for a good look. I guess you can tell where I was sitting..hahaha..

Just a little post to amuse you and myself.
For now..
2 papers down..
3 more to go.

Pray for my perseverance. Thanks.

Yes..I'm serious. BLACK rice.
My mum just came back from Sarawak the other day and she brought back some of the local favourites. River fishes and "padi bukit" (rice planted on the hillsides). What really caught my interest was the rice. It was really different from the rice my mum usually cooks (bought from supermarket);because the rice (in two packets) had two colours!!! One white, and the other BLACK...(in case you're blur..the rice we usually eat is WHITE).
Let me show you:-

Can you see the fish?? That's the river fish...my mum fried it.

The texture is actually a little smoother than the usual rice I eat. But I'm not really a big fan of rice (because it sticks all over my teeth). Just the novelty of eating BLACK rice. Hahaha...