"A la peanut butter sandwiches!"

Note to self #1: Throw away chocolate cupcake recipe, or at the very least, frigging TWEAK it! Didn't like the way these little thingies turn out, all nice and shiny and ebony on the outside, but oh, so BLEURGH on the inside. MB likes it though, weird...

Note to self #2: All hail the peanut butter frosting that saved the whole cupcake situation. You can always count on peanut butter. Yum-yum.



My dad took a look at them and was like, "When are you frying these murukkus? Haha..."

*grumble*

Okay, I admit, my piping was horrendous, but heyyy, murukkus won't save those cupcakes, only peanut butter! PEANUT BUTTER!! So there. Hmph.

Note to self #3: Divide cakes equally between my fans from the 8th floor and Faridah. The more people I can share my cakes with, the merrier. Yay!

Note to the rest of the world: Check out this video of MB's niece(hey, that makes her my niece too) singing a song from the movie Sherina (Indon kid movie) and messing up the family albums, totally oblivious to her mom video-ing her from her handphone. Video a bit blur lah but still, at least this cupcake is amusing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVV2pQd2iK0

NR
reminder of the day: Email Faroush and ask how things are going on in Lombok in light of the natural disasters in Indonesia; but mainly to catch up. He's a cool guy.

When life hands you lemons...

...you look for lemon recipes!! The 6 lemons sitting in the fruit bowl was just staring at anyone who walked by with its bright obnoxious yellowness for a few days so I decided it was time to start annihilating them. But seriously, I like citrus anything, so I pored through my recipe file and listed two lemony recipes I could use.

First up was the lemon cupcakes. Didn't rise up so well, so I didn't bother to do any frosting on them. There goes a lemon down the drain...


Next up is a recipe that I had wanted to try for like, oh, say, 10 years or something. Really. Just didn't think I could do it, but today, I just took a deep breath and dove in. The crust was not that easy, doesn't help that I'm pretty lousy with pastry stuff. For this reason alone, I love supermarkets that stock frozen pastry. Worse still, mom was not around to help (I need my mummy!! *sob*).

Still, the lemon filling turned out ok, and the meringue looked pretty good, so in the oven it went. Then I realised there's still a ton of filling and meringue left. Now...I know mom said she had a pie tin somewhere, but where?! In the end, I used the tiny foil cups I had leftover from the mini cheesecakes and kneaded some more pastry *grumble*. After that, still had quite of bit of filling and meringue left *double grumble*. Nearly wanted to throw the remnants away, when lo and behold! My saviour had returned home. I asked mum (pleaded and begged more like) to please, please make a crust for me? She whipped (kneaded actually) one up in no time, and even made nice fluted edges. So I managed to use up all the filling and meringue in the end. Oh, and she whipped out her pie tin from goodness knows where and said, "Why didn't you just use this? It's the same size as yours! And I have two of them, see?" OK ma, I got it.


So in the end, we ended up with two 9-inch Lemon Meringue Pies and and a handful of tiny versions. Aisy...... at least they all turned out OK. See how Ika is (fore)playing with her tiny pie? hehehe....


Still got a handful of lemons. Any ideas what to do with them?

NR
thought of the day: lemon flesh smells like oranges, and lemon zest smells like Johnson Wax. It's true.

Do You Remember the First Time?

I've been 'breaking into' my new baking utensils and I must say, it feels gooood! After melon baller had another opportunity to stretch its legs in another Mini Cheesecakes session, it was time to try out the rest of the stuff still waiting patiently in a huge plastic bag.

First up were the small silver paper candy cups. I made Tiger Butter; basically, peanut butter, melted semi-sweet and white choc all swirled together and refrigerated until set. I've not eaten peanut butter for some time, so this was goooood. Can't eat too much though. Manissss!

Next was my springform (toing! toing! - sorry, can't help it) tin. I expected to use it for a simple no-bake cheesecake initially, but it was not to be. Besides, after two sessions of Mini Cheesecakes, I don't think I could look at another block of Philly for at least a couple of weeks.

I made a simply wicked orange cake. Sounds so unceremonious, but lemme tell ya, this orange cake kicks ass! No essence added, just plain, pure oranges. Yummy! Must sell! Actually, on hindsight, I think I could use a normal cake tin to bake the cake, not necessarily a springform one, but never mind lah, excellent excuse to experiment again, heheh. Also used my new small whisk to make the syrup! Yeah! 2-in-1!!



Made Vanilla Cupcakes, not so great, wasn't what I had in mind. But I tuned up on the glaze and coloured half of the glaze pink (strawberry flavour) and the other half a nice sky blue (fruit flavour). Wanted to open up my new packet of coloured strands and 100s & 1000s but the ones I still had on hand were more than enough. No opening ceremony then *sob* Don't really know how they tasted like 'cos half of the batch was quickly spirited away to my cake fans (aka kids on the 8th floor) and the other half to Faridah. Same reason why no pix was taken. Dammit. They looked really cute.

Opened up my new bottle of peppermint essence and can't help taking a few deep sniffs from it. Aaaaaah..... love peppermint anything....made Frosted Mint Brownies; added more mint essence than was supposed to, but the final verdict from mum and MB was that the mint flavour came out just nice. Of course, Ika and I decided that more must be added the next time. Can't please everyone ;P No pix 'cos was getting the cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake ready. The brownies was nothing to shout about either, sigh, the hunt for the great brownie recipe goes on...

Wanted to use my new peeler to make garnish for a carrot cake my mum's friend ordered, but discovered that mum's mini shredder does the job pretty well. Dammit. Sigh... so no job for new peeler yet. BUT, my new metal bowls (at least the smallest one) got a piece of the action 'cos I grated my carrots in it. Yay! No pix of carrot cake 'cos was rushing to finish up brownies and go home (to 96 that is).

Over the week, started thinking about baking my Devil's Food Cake using 9-inch tins; thought that it might look nicer. So off to Phoon Huat to buy the tins to prove my hypothesis. Cari alasan...

No lah, actually been considering for some time whether or not to buy the tins 'cos I have three 8-inch ones already. But anyway... my hypothesis proved to be correct last Tuesday! To me at least. The cake looked nicer; not too high, just nice. I added fresh banana slices between the two layers just to jazz it up a little and garnished with caramelised bananas. Sweet! MB hung around as I was frosting the cake, hinting that he wanted a slice ASAP. Good to know someone looks forward to my cakes! AND I got to use my large metal bowl! Yeah!



MB took Idan to go fly with him today, and since the plane was at Chai Chee, MB suggested I go with him so I could bake while they were out. Excellent idea!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Went to the supermarket downstairs to get some yogurt and stumbled upon an ice-cream scoop among other kitchen utensils in there. Instant infatuation! Really! Didn't get it though 'cos was rushing....:(

Made Banana Cupcakes at Chai Chee. Not a big banana fan myself, but I actually like these 'cos the cinnamon gives it a nice kick. Made them bigger these time too, and topped them with Caramel Frosting and caramelised bananas. Gave half to my sis-in-law and kept half at 96 in case we have company over the weekend. Kept thinking that life would have been easy if I had the ice-cream scoop to, er, scoop out the batter into the cups...sigh...I want...


So to list the 'toys' that I've broken into this past few weeks: springform (toing! toing!) tin, 9-inch round baking tins, melon baller (still my fave!), small metal bowl, big metal bowl, small whisk, mint essence, small silver paper cups...not bad lah. Will figure out what to do with my veg peeler though... In the meantime, guess what I want to buy at the supermarket tomorrow? Hehe! Melon baller, watch out!

NR
band of the day: Starsailor (thanks to MB's iTunes)
P.S. In case anyone is wondering, the title of today's post is actually a song by Pulp. Dontcha just lurv Jarvis?

Glitch in the System

I can't stand rude and insensitive people. Even worse, I really can't stand rude and insensitive old people; 'cos you still kinda have to respect them 'cos they're, well, old.

Especially if they cannot (or refuse to) see or understand other people's point of view and think that they're right all the time. SO damn irritating.

Worse still, you're related to them (horror!!) and have to bite your tongue so bad, you start tasting blood.

Like for example:

Old person (OP): So, you still teaching?

Me: No.

OP: Why?!

Me: I don't want to. (I really dun feel like going into details about why I left the service with people I hardly know, hell, I can't even be bothered to explain to people I know)

OP's wife: Wah! One month teaching and u decide to quit?! Hmph!

Me: (in my head) Who the hell are you?! And what the f*** are you talking about?

OP: How long u've been teaching?

Me: 3 plus years.

OP: I was in teaching for 40 years!! You 3 plus years only cannot take it... (shakes head)

Me: (bites tongue. very hard)

OP: What you doing now?

Me: Baking. I've joined my mum to sell cakes.

OP: (Looks at me up and down) Hmph. (looks away)

OP's wife: Yak yak yak yak yak...(Sorry, blocked most of what she said 'cos she was just being loud and VERY insensitive)

Bear in mind:
1. The above was exchanged at a table which was fully occupied by other family members.
2. It was at a Malay wedding (goodness knows how many people were around).

Now, what pissed me off were:
1. OP's wife was very loud and I was so hurt and it was so embarassing. How embarassing? Her daughter-in-law who was at the same table didn't know where to look.
2. Honestly that was the first time I've ever met her (seen OP a few times), so how dare she just open that mouth of hers and accuse me of so many things and looking at me like I was a pariah who commited the highest sin by quitting my shit-ass job.
3. Just cos you were in the same line as I was for donkey years, please remember that you were in the system donkey years BACK, and things have changed SO MUCH in case you haven't noticed (obviously you haven't), so don't go all high-and-mighty on me jus 'cos I did something I felt was right for ME.

I was so upset, my head was spinning all the way home and then some. Ranted at MB and he kept apologising and I was like, "What're you saying sorry for?! Pujuk me lah!!"

Bless his heart, he tried so hard to cheer me up even though I had to tell him what to say to make me feel better! Haha! And he bought me a Moroccan Mint Latte from Coffee Bean (never fails to cheer me up).

I wonder if other ex-teachers go throught the same grief as I do. Teaching is a noble profession, yes I agree, and leaving it was not a decision I made overnight (as some people like to believe). But the payoffs are great. And I believe Allah has other plans for me; things are really falling into place now, and I'm glad that I now have the time to focus my energy towards my family and more fruitful things, intangible as their results may be, I have faith in my decision. My parents and my luvly husband (lucky me) are fully behind my decision, so to hell with what others say.

To those who've been in the teaching line but have since retired, don't keep saying young teachers now cannot take the heat, the education system has evolved so much so fast, it's just not the same; plus nobody likes a holier-than-thou kinda person.

To those who've never taught but tell me repeatedly, "Oh, what a waste, sayang eh? wasted all the training..." shut up already, you know nuts.

To those who immediately look at me like i'm crazy and stoopid and start ranting at me,"How are u paying for your house? Are you sure you will have enough money? You want to be a housewife?! What about your bills? You sure or not?!" Like hello, what's that all about? I'm not using your $ to pay my bills right?! Just shush already. Sheeesh.

To those who've been very supportive, it means a lot to me to know that I have people who are genuinely happy for me and wish me the best.

I truly do not miss waking up at 5.30 am and leaving the workplace at 4 to 5 pm everyday;
I truly do not miss being depressed every Sunday night cos I got a long week ahead;
I truly do not miss sincerely wishing that the taxi will do a U-turn and take me home whenever I reach the Paya Lebar exit;
I truly do not miss working lunches;
I truly do not miss being on MC and still worrying the whole day about what happens to my kids in school;
I truly do not miss being so tired every day that I hardly have the energy to spend quality time with my family in the evenings;
I truly do not miss ranting to MB about work politics when we could be using the time having a fruitful conversation about something else;

I luv it that now I get to eat breakfast everyday with MB.
I luv it that I talk more to my mum now than before.
I luv it that I have discovered something that I can be good at (baking!)
I luv it that going to the market is not something foreign anymore.
I luv it that now, when I'm sick, I can truly rest.
MB luvs it that I dun get depressed on Sunday nights and on the last day of school hols.

On the flipside, I have friends from diff schools who go home at 3pm almost everyday, no extra projects, get most of their one-week hols off... I'm happy things are working out well for them. I've been to three schools and never had that kind of schedule; its ok though, not my rezeki, just deal with what I got. I worked my ass off, gave it my best shot, but just realised that, hey, this doesn't work for me.

I was talking quite some time ago with my friend about the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, she said that all teachers should read it 'cos it's so inspiring, so I went ahead and read it, and, well, I was inspired. Nothing to do with my profession, but at the end of it, I just felt, that's it, I need to change how things are going in my life.

It tok a lot of guts to pack up and leave, there were times when I thought that, maybe, I made the wrong choice, but no more. I'm sure now that Allah has plans for me, and as I've said before, everything is falling into place,Alhamdulillah. So what if I have to make some sacrifices? The world will not stop turning if I shop less.

I don't feel like I have to justify my decision to anyone. I was working in a system that I felt I did not fit in, so I left, simple as that. Why is it so hard for some people to accept this?

NR
phrase of the day: Carpe diem (Seize the day)

MB Maidens - In more ways than one

Finally, the first post from me,the Walking Memory Bank! I am not much of a writer, that's why NR has been doing all of the previous posts but i hope that this won't be the last post that I'll be doing.

NR and I have been flying a few planes lately as you might have read in the previous posts. Actually it was more of letting the planes fall (with style...!) except for the mini red and black plane, Darth Maul, which flew wherever it wanted to and lands wherever we cannot get to (parapets, trees, etc). I was really getting sick of the planes not responding to the controls and crashing hard. It was really a pain in the ass to do minor repairs every time the plane lands (i.e crash). I NEED CONTROL!!!!

After doing extensive research on the net and going to hobby shops we got ourselves a plane kit and a 'pro' Remote Control (Transmitter,Tx). The plane is a GWS SlowStick and the Tx is a Futaba 6EX. Sounds damn pro right?

I took around half a day building the plane, attaching all the parts and getting the balance right. The only small thing which I cannot figure out is how to assemble the parts which controls the plane's directional control. Small problem *smiles sheepishly*.

Actually, all I want to do is to show the pictures of the new plane. I am rapidly losing momentum and interest in writing, so here are all the pictures of me and NR's experience of the new plane. Enjoy!!









Hope I didn't bore anybody with my over-indulgence. Anyways, I will be doing some more posts if anything interesting happens during any of the flight sessions. For now, this is MB signing off.

Over and out!

MB
Words of the day: Ailerons, elevator, rudder, throttle, fuselage, propeller, landing gear, bank, roll, loop, etc.

Mini Me

Finally got down to making those Mini Chesecakes that I've been putting off for goodness knows how long.

MB went to Fook Hai (again!) yesterday to get some aeroplane stuff, so I got a distraction-free environment to bake my cheesecakes. Took my own sweet time preparing everything, and took some time off to sit and chat and laugh (and I mean, LAUGH!) with Ika before she went out; I tell you I got one weird sister who has even weirder people hanging around her, they're just drawn to her like flies to garbage.

Anyways, made my mini cheesecakes, and I finally made use of my melon baller, yay!! Managed to get about 30 mini cheesecakes and used my new toy to scoop up blueberry topping for each of them, so pretty! Hahah! Here's a pix of cheesecakes and, of course, my current fave kitchen appliance.

A bit sad right, getting excited about a melon baller, but at least the cheesecakes were a hit. A neighbour stopped by just after I was done to return a plate (I give her most of my cakes whenever I experiment 'cos her kids love cakes), she said that her kids really liked the Ambrosia Cake that I gave them. Awwwww, I have fans!! Cute, adorable ones too!!! How could I not give them my cheesecakes?! I gave half of the cheesecakes to them, mum actually looked sad as she saw me arranging them on the plate, "Buat lagi tau? Sedap lah..." Heheh....

MB came home, went straight to the kichen and took a plate and a knife. "Where are you going with the knife?" I just had to ask 'cos his face was all determined and set.

"To cut your cheesecake lah," he actually gave me a 'duh!' look.

"Cannot cut lah! Satu kali ngap dah habis! Hahaha!" that came from mum.

Aiyoh, MB so blur, I had to take one out for him to see. "MINI cheesecake hon, nak potong apa?" "Oh, I thought it was big..." he sheepishly mumbled. Anyway, when he took a tiny bite, his paiseh-ness evaporated. "Omigod! This is...hohoho! I like!!"

Hooray! Success!! Got thumbs up from everyone, well, Ika was like "the topping tastes weird," but I thought, coming from her, that was a bit fresh *snicker* Will definitely do it again soon.

Cleaned up (or rather, tried to) the stuff I just bought from Phoon Huat last week, can't wait to use the new springform (toing! toing!) pan! And the new small whisk! And the new pie pan! And the new mint essence! And then some... but right now, it's just the melon baller and me *smile*

NR
advice of the day: life is uncertain, eat dessert first!

Blind Melon's No Rain

Very hot today!! There's grey clouds but it's sunny, there's thunder but no rain. Super humid! Just came back from Shikin's bbq, cooling off now...

Went to Fook Hai just now. MB supposed to get another servo, but apparently, no need. Aisey.... he got lots of advice instead. MB insists it wasn't a trip wasted; whatever, I was across the road eating popiah, so no complains from me. He's been building up the new plane all day. Someone very experienced will help to fly it first tomorrow morning, yay!

After that went to Parkway to change money for mum-in-law, went to Giant and got myself another melon-baller; can't help it! Just bought one yesterday, but this one comes with two different sizes, so, must get!! Haven't figured out what to do with them both exactly, but never mind. Melon-ballers! I like!

MB got some stuff at the DIY shop opposite of Giant, got new batt for digicam plus some stuff for Shikin...then we were off to her bbq at East Coast. Haven't met up with Shikin for some time, so it was good to meet her. Sheda came by a few minutes later with hubby and Afiq in tow.

Anyways, it's Shikin's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SHIKIN!!! She's been through a helluva lot this year, and to still hold her head high, wow, she's really something man. Cheers, Shikin, you really deserve to be happy :D



She had a cake with her face on it, kinda weird, I mean how to eat someone's face?! Anyways, asked if she's interested in flying and she said that she was actually looking for a kaki, hooray! She wanted to know more about RC kites, suffice to say I know nuts, but at least MB is more familiar with them. So anyway, will ask her along the next time we go flying :)

Ika and Yat coming along to the flying session tomorrow morning at Bedok Reservoir. Aiyoh, have to wake up so early, but MB is sooooo excited, he's putting finishing touches to his new baby and is so anxious that I don't seem so psyched about it compared to the other planes. I mean, the controls look so complicated! I can fly better than he does (chay-bah! eksen seh!) but damn, this is no toy plane, and I just got the hang of what servos, ailerons, flaps and rudders do, but put them all together and I'm a mess! Electrical stuff just boggles me, Physics don't make any sense to me, I mean, things work 'cos God makes them work. Period. It's the universal truth and the world will be a simpler place to live in if we all abide by this. No need to say what kind of grades I got for Physics in school huh...

Hmmm, dunno if I should go back to Chai Chee after flying; I've been bumming and haven't baked for some time, feel a bit guilty. Maybe will do those Mini Cheesecakes that I've been putting off for some time. Can use my new melon-baller to scoop the topping! See lah how. Public Hols what, maybe should just laze around and relax a bit, you know, take a break. Kah! Kah! Kah! Hai...

NR
my food of the day: bbq bananas with melted chocolate! Yum! Shikin you are a genius!!
MB's food of the day: DIY bbq lemon butter sauce, masam gila!!!!

dog man star took a suck on a pill...

Been in a haze cos of my cough mixture; didn't feel like doing much today because of that, plus killer headache at the base of my cerebellum...

Stoned out for most of the day watching videos of Suede concerts, interviews and music videos. Miss Suede very much......:(

Was watching the video of the song 'Shipbuilding' that they did for a charity album, been ages since I heard it, sounds sooooo good. Some of the 'live' concerts were good too - 'Simon' sounded so good live, I was blown away. "Beyond the Sea' had violins accompanying it onstage, beautifuuul! Thank goodness I've been to their concerts in Singapore before they split up! As much as I like Bernard Butler, 'The Tears' just isn't the same...sigh...

Links below to the videos to anyone interested to watch (or just listen, as I am now, thanks MB for the headphones!)

Beyond the Sea 'live'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G13lC-88AHY

Simon 'live'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr6Rszy4gCg

Shipbuilding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxo_Lum7XZs

Beautiful Ones music vid (one of my fave vid)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMslpKAnQdg

New Generation (can't help but jump around to this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fU895hNGE

Positivity( puts me in a good mood everytime)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipX71-P7Cpk

Suede = good times. Why?

• The best part of my Poly education was discovering Suede; hanging out with Ain everyday wondering when they will come for a gig.
• Buying bootlegs and MelodyMaker and NME and every Saturday (till today I wonder where I got the cash from!). Not to mention searching every nook and corner we could find for rarities.
• Waking up at 6am every Saturday 'cos the deejay at Perfect 10 played The Wild Ones at the start of his shift every Sat without fail (listening to your fave songs from CD and from the radio are totally different experiences; luv ya Emmanuel Bungaro!!)
• Going up to KL to meet Ric, another Suedehead. Got gang!
• Was starstruck when I met them for autograph-signing session. They seemed very aloof, but Brett warmed up fast when I asked him about his cat. Yeah Fluffington!!
• Their gigs. Pure magic for me. Will usually smile like a goon for a few days after.

I think I'll listen to a few songs before I sleep... Hope Piko had a good time on her first day in China :)

NR
lyrics of the day:

"Because we're young, because we're gone
we'll take the tide's electric mind, oh yeah..."

Stinky Whirlpool Tornado!!

Today was a fun day, yes!! Went to do voice recording for Sharif's animation at Rashul's house. So exciting! I've seen other people doing recording before at Rashul's place (he has one room converted into a recording studio), but never actually done it myself so was a bit nervous at first, but it went quite smoothly; Sharif helped by telling me what went on in each scene so it wasn't so bad, felt like drama rehearsals a little. Fun seh! I was the lead character in Sharif's animation Bobo Stinkyfoot (serious, no joke, that's the hero's name) and MB was the Narrator. But MB recorded his voice a few weeks back so he relax one corner today and just gave me moral support in case I chickened out. But it turned out OK (I think, I hope!)

After the recording, we just lepak for a bit at Rashul's place with Kak Sheri (Rashul's wife), ate pizza, talked about planes, watched a bit of F1...best lah, very nice hanging out with them. Just looking around the room then we realised, there we were, three generations of family sitting together lepak-ing. Seriously- Kak Sheri is pangkat niece to MB, and Sharif is related by marriage and he's pangkat atuk! We found out about this during our wedding almost two years back.

Here's the two of them hanging out together- atuk and cucu- during our wedding. Small world man...

Ika and Yat bought a small plane to fly too, just like Darth Maul, but theirs is silver and blue. We flew it and Darth Maul for a while at the void deck until almost 11 pm just to warm up their plane and have fun with ours.

Eh, just remembered I only had one helping of mum's chicken rice today, that's waaaaaaay below quota! Hmmmmm, will see if there's any leftovers tomorrow morning.

NR
kung-fu sound effect of the day: Hia-de-CHIAK!!!

Mental Diarrhoea

Dunno what the title has to do with today's blog, but MB likes it, so what he likes, he gets. Or rather, some things only, cannot be spoilt. Anyways, MB saw this interview video last week and I seriously encourage you (yes, you!) to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6jmOEgFnA

P.S. Thanks Ika for the YouTube link :)


NR
MB's word of the day: Probiotics (don't ask)

ButterScream Frosting

Learned loads of stuff at last weekend’s cake deco class. The guest chef flew in from Thailand and it was interesting to compare his style (esp with flowers) with what we’ve already learnt during the advanced deco classes.

It was two solid days of mostly standing up and keeping your hand steady. Saturday was mostly about learning to pipe different animals. So far, the only animal I can pipe OK is a sheep, but the last time I did that was for Ika’s birthday ( ‘cos she’s a kambing, duh) and I haven’t been practising since, so a bit apprehensive lah. But it wasn’t so bad; my dogs look OK and, honestly, I think my elephants and sotong don’t look so bad. According to me at least, kah kah kah!

Sunday we learnt how to pipe flowers - I think I’m better at flowers, but the flowers he taught not so easy man! Nervous jugak seh, cos at the end of the session there will be a kind of ‘test’, more of a competition really, so I made up my mind to do fishes. One good thing though, the roses that he taught was much easier than the one Judy taught us, so it felt good to be able to pipe good-looking roses.

Sekali, the chef said that he wanted us to pipe flowers only on the competition cake, no animals. Aisey! Panic man!! But I told myself, just wing it man! Then, dah lah panic, tengah ransack otak nak cari idea, this old lady in front of me decided to make a scene and complained to Judy that she nak angkat kaki and jalan ‘cos she said me and my partner give her attitude. Kuat pulak tu suara! She kept pointing at me and saying I give her a ‘black face’ whenever she ask me for help. Hello? Kalau nak tanya orang, panggil lah orang punya nama, janganlah panggil ”Eh, eh!” Anyways, I think she needs to learn some manners as well, seeing as to how she behaved throughout the weekend, tak senang lah nak layan orang macam ni.

Dah lah tengah stress, nak cari gaduh pulak si nyonya ni, apa lagi, I raised my voice and questioned her back, but she kept on rambling the same stuff not just to me, but my partner as well. Man, I was so ready to drag her out of the place and have a shouting match, tapi I thought, tak worth it lah. Judy also tried to calm me down and said, “Everyone knows she’s like that.” Ada bad rep rupanye. Aisy, spoil my day only….

But kesian jugak orang-orang tua kurang ajar macam gini. It still amazes me to realise that the rudest people I’ve come across are the older ones. Somehow, they seem to be loud, insensitive and crass, not to mention inconsiderate. It’s not a good thing to be at that age and still think that the world revolves around you and all young people owe their lives and living to you. Best still, they still think that respect for them is a given, and not something that should be earned. It sucks.

I wish I had not lost my cool with that lady. In the end, I just told her to say whatever she wanted to believe ‘cos she ain’t gonna believe anyone else anyways. Maybe if this had happened a few years back, I would have just let her rant and rave and kept my mouth shut; but after dealing with too many people like that, I’ve had enough of this bullshit. Should be more patient, Shahirah, some people cannot help it…. sigh…

So, after that, takde mood langsung nak buat betul-betul, I just wanted to get it over and done with. In the end, I piped a cluster of small yellow buttercream roses in the middle of the cake; didn’t want to plan anything else ‘cos we were given only about forty minutes. When I was done, I realised that the cake looks very similar to the deco I did for the Advanced Deco Test Cake. By then, I didn’t give a rat’s ass. The shell border that I did was also in purple, not a colour I would normally consider, but that was the only colour available, and I didn’t want to waste time mixing any more. Besides, the order of the day seemed to be ‘the more obit the colour, the better’, so I guess I was on the safe side.

When the time was up, everyone went around and voted for their fave deco. Surprise, surprise! I was in joint third place with my friend, yippee! Hai, buat nak - tak nak pun orang suka... jadi lah….

A few people came round to take a pic of my cake; this lady asked if she could snap a pic of my cake and I told her, ”Please do, if you don’t, I’ll show you my ‘black face’.” Then we laughed. Sweet.

Went home with the cake and mum really liked it, yay! Ika thought it looked a bit old-fashioned; I kinda agree with her, but I told her, it’s what was taught, so I have to showcase it. Must be exam-smart man! Anyways, went dinner with Faridah and Fadzly at Simpang Bedok. So I finally got my chicken rice, yummy! Take that, Banquet!! (Banquet Parkway was full on Saturday night when we went to collect our DVD, and I was famished and craving for chicken rice; was still thinking of it when watching our new Final Fantasy VII DVD later that night, no wonder never understand the story…sigh…)

Tried a new recipe two days ago, Ambrosia Cake, didn’t turn out too good. Mum suggested I use two tins instead of one, and not using the orange filling which was sooo masam and too runny. The frosting was goooood though. It tasted of melted marshmallow and went well with the cake.

Tried the same recipe yeaterday and tweaked it a bit. Used the frosting as filling and to cover the cake. YUMMY! Should have done this yesterday. MB likes it too, which is a relief cos he’s my biggest critic.

Am back at 96 (that’s my in-law’s place at Bedok North) that means no baking for a few days, boo-hoo. Wait a minute, just remembered my mum-in-law wanted to try making some kind of milk dessert one of these days, so, woo-hoo!!

NR
Yum of the day: Divinity Frosting…mmm….shit, now got craving for marshmallows, damn!