Well-spent New Year Eve Morning

Went partying with some friends the night before. Drank a few 'starbucks coffee bean shots'. They were lethal shots. Plus, a few other alcoholic drinks. Didn't dance much due to bad music played by the DJ. Drank from 12am to 1am. Took breaks in-between for chats. Guess that wasn't enough to get rid of the alcoholic toxic running in my blood then. Suddenly, I felt nausea and my head was spinning. I began to see stars. 'Hey, think I am going to puke!' I hastened my footsteps but my vision just got more and more blurry. My breathing seemed slightly unstable. I thought I would collapse and die. I couldn't walk straight too and quickly gripped tightly to the nearest handrail and climbed up the stairs to the ladies. Thank goodness, my friend was around and she helped me to the ladies. There I went, walked into a cubicle and PUKE! I know I shouldn't say this but my puke was red-colored. Guess could be the ribena I last drank after my alcoholic beverages. Felt sober and refreshed after all the puking. Proceeded to the wine bar to chill and left around 3plus in the morning for Roti Prata at Jalan Kayu. Was home by 5am.

Saw one of my good friend online and chatted with her till 7am. I felt alittle tired, yet at the same I got this urge to go for a jog. Anyone would think that I am deranged. 2 main reasons for the morning jog:

a) It was not raining in the morning; and

b) I wanted to use my ipod on the sportsuit I bought to strap on my arm for jogging.

By the time I was ready, it was 8am. I started my jog at 8.18am and ended my run at 8.46am. I bought breakfast for my family. What a fulfiling day! Ok, the time now is 10.32am and it is time for me to take a little nap.

I finally did it!!!

I did a 3-D jigzaw puzzle (240 pieces) shaped like a globe based on an antique map a while back. Took me a full day to finish it. It was kinda tough. Thank goodness I didn't get a 960-piece globe, else I will never finish it. That'll be the first and last 3-D jigzaw puzzle for me to piece up.

Not sure what got over me, I decided to buy another jigzaw puzzle. This time a 1000-piece one. I bought a frame at the same time. Very ambitious I know. Chose the above portrait because I saw the original painting by Giovanni Paolo Panini at The Lourve in Paris and that that was the best looking puzzle picture I could find in the Shop. It was a very beautiful painting but kinda challenging one for me. Took me approximately 8 days to complete the puzzle. Spent an avg of 5-6 hrs each day. I can sleep peacefully now. This will be the Christmas pressie from me to myself. Am gonna hang this framed puzzle in my room.

Best Christmas Pressie for 2006

I've got a new toy for

X'mas - Ipod Nano.

I'm so thrilled. I made

100% sure that I read

the Apple manual guide

properly. This new toy

seems so delicate. It

comes in handy for my

exercise regime too. I

bought a sportsuit for

my ipod so that I can

strap it on my arm

while jogging. I know

I sounded really excited

/ elated / uncontrollable

here. Indeed I am!!! =)

Maybe it is just a honest mistake

I went to the wet market this morning braved through the pouring rain, planning to prepare curry chicken again. I always go to the same old chicken legs seller. She sells other parts of the chicken, of course but I only get chicken legs from her, hence the title - chicken legs seller. I requested to have the legs halved as I don't desire chopping of them on my own. I had a discount of 10 cents per leg today (post-christmas sale?). However, I wasn't the least bit delighted & made my way back home immediately.

Back home, I took all the chicken pieces from the storage bag and started rinsing them. One, two, three, four....seven. Again...one, two, three... seven. Ok, I wasn't dreaming. Let's revise the basic foundation of Mathematics. 1 chicken leg halved equates to 2. 4 chicken legs halved equate to 8 (4X2). I am definitely absolutely not drunk. I'm completely sober. Slept at 11pm last night and woke up around 8am. Sigh, trick or treat? No savings for me at all, in fact, I made a loss. One leg would cost S$1.50 and half of it would cost S$0.75. With a mere DISCOUNT of S$0.40, I made a loss of S$0.35. I want my other half of the chicken leg back!!! Oh well, I was too lazy to head my way back to the wet market anyway. Maybe it is just a honest mistaken. Maybe not.

Christmas Pressies

Prepared some christmas pressies for selected people. Found some affordable glass jars to store my cookies. Performed some simple decorations on the glass jars. Every gift box contained different items inside. I love the art of giving. I love to bring a smile across the face of people I love. It makes them happy. It makes me happy. Merry Christmas to anyone reading this! :)

Come share my cookies

Finally, I finished baking my very own Mexican Wedding Cookies (MCW). Followed Martha Steward's Recipe religiously (except the inclusion of the vanilla and almond extract) as claimed from a food blog. I did some modifications because I find that some of the instructions given by the food blogger were vague. I must say this is a relatively easy recipe. Glad that the whole baking process went through smoothly without any hipcups.Looks yummy ya? :) I tried 3 pieces to ascertain the quality of the cookies. Hmm...it seems like I'm having a bit of a sore throat now. Oh well, I can always remedy it with salt water gargle. The next thing I am going to do now is to find 'victims' to try on my MWC.

MWC recipe:

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (plain flour)

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup icing sugar for the coating of cookies

1 cup pecan nuts

250g unsalted butter softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I didn't add this)

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract (I didn't add this either)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven at 190 deg celsius.

2. Toast the pecan nuts for 5 mins and left to cool completely. Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse till finely ground.

3. Add salt to the flour and sift it. Add the ground pecan nuts to the flour and whisk together. Set aside.

4. Blend the butter and the icing sugar until white and fluffy.

5. Add the flour mixture to the step 4 and beat with low speed until dough comes together.

6. Roll the dough into 3/4 inch balls with 2 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake for 14 mins until the bottom is lightly browned and pale on the top of the cookies.

7. Place the baked cookies on the wire rack and left to cool completely. Roll the cookies with icing sugar to coat completely.

New Bender

I've a new fixed asset (FA) owned by me dated 19/12/06 where all risks and ownership relating to the FA have been transferred to me when I made payment for it. Official name is Coffee Grinder but I prefer to name it as Bender. It is not an expensive buy. The purpose of the purchase is to allow me to grind the pecan nuts as part of the preparation for the baking of Mexican Wedding Cookies (MWC). My first taste of them began in Spinelli. Initially, I thought it is a special creation by the cafe for I can't seem to find any recipe for them via online search then. Or that the search engine was faulty. Disappointed I am. Hmmm... ok, I am starting to talk like Master Yoda. I kinda gave up searching for the recipe. To figure out the ingredients for these cookies, I bought MWC from Spin a couple of times and consumed them. Sounds like a good excuse to eat them without feeling guilty. Didn't wanna think of the calories I'd be piling up then. I am willing to sacrifice myself to discover the recipe of MWC. :P Anyways, this sacrifice was short-lived. I surrendered. Threw the white towel. I shld just stick to baking my chocolate chip cookies and continued to let Spin earn my hard-earned money for these MWC. Just when I had given up on sourcing for the recipe of MWC, H referred me to a food blog since he knew that I enjoy cooking and baking. I happened to chance upon one of his many articles where the blogger released the recipe of MWC which happened to be his favourite. I was thrilled. I couldn't believe my luck. All thanks to him (H). Couldn't hardly wait to explore new recipes. I promise that I won't overeat.

Name of Asset: Bender

Date of Purchase: 19/12/2006

Cost of Asset: S$39

Useful life of Asset: 2 years

Asset Tag Number: 666

Christmas shopping

Didn't know the kind of pleasure that shopping for x'mas for my loved ones can bring could be so enjoyable. I wish I'd more time to shop for more and I think I've not completed my pressies purchase name list just as yet. Am gonna bake more Christmas cookies.

Hersheys Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking has always been one of my favourite hobbies. Baking acts as a good form of stress reliever. The last I baked was around say, 5 or 6 months ago. Suddenly I'd this urge to bake some chocolate chip cookies. I supposed my uninteresting saturday evening created this ' spur of the moment' desire. Hehe... As my oven is not a heavy duty one, I can only bake approximately 500gms worth of cookies during each baking sesssion. I baked from 11.30pm to 3.30am. I enjoyed the fruit of my labour. I tasted a few pieces of these amazing cookies ( solely in my own opinion) and was pleased with my baking skills. HAha... Feeling so shag now, my eyes struggling to stay awake awhile more just to finish this post. *Yawn* =O

:(

Was whacked by my client up down left right today. Merely asked some questions to get more info to beef up my documentation as my in-charge was not satisfied with the work I submitted. Went to X client at the wrong time. I shld've check the weather forecast with the client's subordinates. My intention was to get some clarification, that's all. And what was I rewarded in return? Some insults and barbaric remarks. I felt so hot then. She was raising her voice in the whole dept, I'm 100% sure that everyone heard her. I kept my cool and tried to pacify her. I ended up getting more insults and felt humiliated. I felt like crying then. Her remarks were so uncalled for. I was just doing my job. Even when I left her desk, she tried to insult me again. I was told later that the weather today was thunderous.

No wonder my job is never one of the top 50 jobs in the world.

Tears of love

I cried when I watched 'Titanic'. I cried when I saw the crumbling down of WTC. I cried when Princess Diana died. I cried when our national aircraft crashed and many innocent lives were lost. I felt sorry for those who lost their loved ones who lost their lives be it in an accident or sickness. I cried and I stopped and prayed that these people who suffered lost love will live and be strong. Now, it is my turn to lose a loved one. Someone whom I loved so dearly but I didn't get to express my love freely when she was fit and able right in front of my very eyes. If I didn't manage to say 'I love you, Ma Ma' while she was still alive, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life. I cried and I stopped but not for long. I cried secretly at work. I cried generously on the bus, lowering my head down, dabbed away my tears with my working shirt as I ran out of tissue towels. Now, I truly construe what it feels like to have a part of my flesh literally being cut off my body. My heart aches. The pain never goes away. I tried to focus on my work but vivid memories of her kept flowing back to my mind and soon I felt that my vision began to appear blurry. I looked at my mobile and I commenced to bring my hands to the numbers pad. I wanted to dial his numbers, however I hesitated. What am I doing? Why stress him of my family affairs and my actions wouldn't help him at all and receive more hurtful remarks from some other people. It's my grandma and not anyone's else. No one can feel the same grievance as I do. If the same thing happens to his family, I'd make sure I'm the first person to offer my comfort hug without him asking of me. But I know I am not needed, maybe. Seeing my dad hurts me too. I do not want him to be spiritless, so I watched a tv show with him and my mum in the living room together and we laughed as hard as we could. It did help initially, so it seemed. I wish I won't cry in my sleep later if I can help it.

In Living Memory of My Grandma

She is gone. Gone to the Heaven. My ma ma's sufferings have finally come to an end. I can't feel her anymore but I know she will be happy up there. I wanted her to be in my dreams, so that I can talk to her. I tried and tried but she didn't appear. Sending her off to her final journey is the hardest thing to do. I kept looking at her inside the coffin to capture her image inside my head permanently. I tried to stay up as late as possible at the wake as I was afraid that the day to send her off would be nearing once I sleep.

Fond memories of her made me miss her even more. I find it hard to sleep, so I cry myself to sleep. My family is sad, so are my uncles and aunties, cousins. I dare not cry in front of my parents. I'd hide in my bedroom and cry with no one to turn to.

Goodbye, Ma Ma. I know you're in a happier place now and that you'll protect each and everyone of us. I will always love you and remember all the sweetest things that you've done for us.