Happy Birthday Sis!!!

Here is the cake!! Happy birthday sis aka MC.

The chocolate cake with handmade chocolate decorative items...

Loads of presents

Pop-up birthday message

Little flowers

Shine like a star!

To the best sister:

Someone who can predict my mood through merely sensing of the air around me;

Someone who can still be very cool even though I am in my tornado grade of tantrum;

Someone who can read my mind even though that particular thought is locked in the deepest area;

Someone who will strangely be in a bad mood for no reason just because I am in one extreme impossible mood.

I hope I can be there for you rain or shine like you've been there for me in even worse weather; and always there to share my happiest moments.

Thank you for being such a wonderful sis.

Happy birthday.

A Special Birthday Message

There is this very special person,

who has always been thought of in many special ways.

This is her very special day,

with people closest to her wishing her in many special ways.

A box of little indulgences has been requested,

to add colour, love and loads of warm wishes to her very special day.

May your days be filled with joy, health and many pleasant surprises.

Happy Birthday Jocelyn!

May all your dreams come true.

Hand Made Presents!!!

I was not supposed to blog tonight. Monday nights are normally late nights for me. But I must simply blog this before I go to sleep. (I was contemplating whether I want to voice out my complaints at work or not, but not in here lah. Don't spoil the post haha)

I got my birthday present from Carebear last night. Thanks dear!

Hand made card. So talented right! I'm very touched. Thanks! (The pop up effect is great and perfectly done)

Hand made bag charm (so it said on the label!) - same colour with my handbag some more. :)

And I NEED to blog about my other presents soon. Soon...

Cake Decoration First Project

My weekend pass-time while waiting for MC and BIL at MVMG who were attending a lunch gathering cum birthday party. And this was one of the very rare weekends which I actually had lunch with MFG.

Went over to my auntie's last night to carry out our first candy making project. These candies, like I told you the last time, are actually made of chocolate melts. My plan is to have them as decorative items for my cakes.

So what we did in project one... sis made some chocolate clusters - melted chocolates added with chunky almonds, raisins, marshmallow and what ever she could find haha... That includes surprisingly, Honey Star.

I was making mainly stuff from the candy melts, and I needed them for the birthday cake decoration for MC's birthday. Hee... Aren't these little chocolate present boxes cute?

I also made something from this mould, which I will show you when I post MC's birthday cake on Wednesday.

There are still many great ideas in here and I will try them when I have time later. Basically all I need are the moulds.

Will you love them?

Something special for a little 4 year old princess, from her favorite uncle...

I'm not sure if she take candies and sweets, but I thought little star look cute on the mini cupcakes, don't they?

Jelly beans are perfect to add colours to the cupcakes.


Hmm... more sweets, I do hope I'm not encouraging a child to take on a "bad diet" here...

Stones chocolate to match the little flowers.

Chocolate coated coffee beans, just in case the adults would like to have a share of the cupcakes.

TTB: I think children will generally like cupcakes...

Cupcakes: You think she will love us?

TTB: I do hope so ^^

Drugged

Yesterday at the clinic:

Doc: I'll give you one day MC tomorrow.
TTB: Huh doctor?! Am I SO serious??
Doc: If you take the medicine, you will be very drowsy.

And I have no idea when he said drowsy. No wonder I needed MC. I went to work today because I felt perfectly alright even though my boss and colleagues insisted that I looked pale. Must be the antibiotic draining the colour of my face. Before noon, I decided to leave the office to rest before I get more nagging from my boss for not taking care of my health. After taking the medicine when I came home, I practically fell into unconscious kind of deep sleep. Geezz... must give such a strong medicine meh doc?

So now, still feeling a bit numb, but throat feels fine (or maybe just got numbed by the drugs) and coughing under control. Will go sleep soon. I mean, go sleep soon after I've read a few pages of my story book.

In Between

I only have one hour, so first thing first, blog. I'm also hoping to quickly look through and perfect a few slides before the end of the hour.

I've got this sore throat which had persisted for more than a week, and today I felt a bit feverish on and off.

So this afternoon on Skpe:

TTB: I will be visiting the doctor after work today
MFG: Go back early, take more rest and no gym today. Ok?
(Whoopss...)
TTB: Okay...
TTB: Today is after all Wednesday :p
MFG: :)

I'm off from gym on Wednesdays actually.

The later on MSN:

Carebear: Take care and no gym today ok?
TTB: Awwww...

Carebear you are SO sweet, thanks for being so caring as always, I'm so touched. :p

So, mum said go to sleep immediately after shower. But she always said it's not good to go to bed straight after shower, so she gave me an hour interval before bed time.

Are you having your speaker on? If so you are listening to a Chinese song MFG introduced to me the other day. Only remember to search for it on the web the last few days. Will be having it as the background music for a while. (Don't worry, won't be playing forever)

One thing about song lyrics, they seem to be describing all sorts of situations and feelings that are very true all the time. This song for instance makes be also believe that there are always relationships or feelings that are "in between".

It is said that only when two persons are apart, then only you find that there is this person who is in between habit and love. Just because you see each other everyday, you actually did not realize that you will miss the other person so much.

So, does it means that absence make the heart grow fonder?

Sometimes due to certain limitations and constraints we draw a line in between a relationship. We promise ourselves we will not go beyond friends. Can that be done all the time? I actually think that feeling grows on its own and it cannot be planned or dictated. So it is then possible that fondness grows over time and there might be crossing of lines unconsciously and unintentionally.

Perhaps then it is necessary to wait for the "right" time for a relationship to work? For two feelings to be mutual? I remember Anonymous commented to say that when this one day finally arrives where the time is supposed to be right, the chances are everything will no longer be important to us anymore. Well, it is possible I guess.

So then, must we wait till this day when two persons have to be apart in order to discover the true feelings towards each other?

Bad Cough

Coughing madly and it usually got worse during night time, especially when I want to go to sleep. Humph...

Was at LM last night with MC and BIL for workout. That was when MC told me there is this Peter C doing pump the next day. Great. Reconfirmed with FI this afternoon - just in case because his MSN message said "Holiday" hmm... Anyways, I told him I would be going to the class, hopefully. It's hard to say, the traffic from TTDI to Cheras is unpredictable. On top of that, my everyday job tasks at office are also quite unpredictable sometimes.

But hey! I made it.

It's great to be finally doing FI's class. Mostly familiar tracks, wait, actually all were familiar tracks. So familiar that I can even afford to "day dream" a bit. Which was not good, I missed a few of FI's timing and was doing slightly off beat movements during certain parts. Too bad I don't know track names, otherwise I could tell you what we did. But I think if I'm not mistaken, the chest track was called Push Up, that ended with push ups. Back track was the one with four clean and presses in a row (not helpful isn't it my information?). Triceps track was the one with kick-back (haha... which one?). Biceps, I know! Erm... actually I don't know, I thought that track might be called "Crazy".

Shoulder track was one of the old time favorites. One of FI's favorite instructions for shoulder tracks is the push up options - ladies on your knees, guys on your toes. Sometimes he might have the in between type of instruction. Tonight, he said ALL guys on your toes for push up, unless you are gay. Woow... Must put it this way meh FI?

MC did well for not giving up and persevere through the whole class, I'm so proud of you sis! It was actually a very tough class, what with FI actually pointing out anyone who cheated or gave up.

I was suppose to continue with writing my paper, but spent quite a long time talking to my "client" for my project. So blessed with getting a project - I need solution for my credit card bill!

And then I was told I need more sleep in order to recover from my illness. I need more time! Like maybe one extra day during the weekend or something like that.

Random Post

I am feeling a bit sick, I think it's the weather and infections from people around me. So, blame it to my "sickness" I'm actually lack of inspiration to write. It's actually quite difficult to write when one is lack of inspiration and the fact that nothing very interesting is happening doesn't help with the situation. I don't even have any baked item to share since I needed a break from baking to nurse my illness, so to speak.


Not done enough exercise has effectively piled up some fats on my waistline and pushed the reading of the scale to the greater number. Humph... And I think since I've watched more movies this weekend, I ate more junk food (which of course resulted in increase in weights lah).


MC and BIL managed to get tickets for The Dark Knights for Friday night. It was great! Batman is of course so macho and his "transportation's" were just WOW. There was this scene where we actually clapped because the stun he did on this bike (bike to put it mildly, I don't even know what is the correct description of his cool piece of erm... vehicle) were just SO COOL! And let me know what do you think of him crashing his Lamborghini. However, we were quite disagreeable with parents bringing young kids to this movie, as we've witnessed. The movie is quite dark and very disturbing. Perhaps we should say bravo to Heath Ledger's Joker for his great act in the character. You can really believe that your mind can be corrupted by him and will go insane if he starts to hypnotise you. It sends cold vibes through your spine. Do you suppose Joker really "killed" him? This was what they said: "Almost immediately after news of Ledger's death broke, many media outlets began speculating about a connection with insanity, chaos and darkness within the mind of The Joker and whatever personal demons may have ultimately contributed to the actor's demise, suggesting that Ledger never fully shook the character out of his head."


The next day, we went to watch Red Cliff (赤壁). Very beautiful and very good selection of casts. But if you are watching, be warned that this is only part one of the movie, there is not even an interval type of conclusion, it's just unfinished. Humph... now do we have to wait for one year or more for the second part?


Carebear is not teaching at TC tomorrow, I guess I will head to LM to workout with MC, she needs some "inspiration" and motivation, haha... Lets hope the gym is not too crowded so we can use some of the machines for weights train.

Just act cool...

Sometimes guys can be very cute when they act cool. They are worried sick deep down about what you are doing, but still try to appear cool and calm so that they will appear to be the most supportive person who have full confidence in you. And when I say act cool, I don't mean the very vain and full of themselves "Oh, I'm so cool" kind of acting cool; I mean the "I'm not worried and I totally trust that you can handle this" kind of acting cool (even though they know something might go wrong). Acting cool all because they don't want to alarm you or show doubts in your ability. Now, wouldn't you think that these guys are rather sweet?

Meanwhile, I so agree with acting cool even though the feelings are so strong - you don't want to drown other people with too much affection, because that's crossing the line. Act cool and don't show too much concern even though you are all hearts - you don't want to suffocate other people with too much attention, because it's not appropriate.

Just act cool...

Can I hug you too?

The other day OrangeMaple told me she didn't understand what I was reading. Okay... I was reading this series by Mary Balogh, a set of seven books all about the romance of the brothers and sisters in the Bedwyn family. I've only gone through the first quarter of my fourth book and got rather bored. The story lines were almost the same.

Then MC came to my "rescue" by giving me this new series of books by Shanna Swendson to read. She gave me three books and though I'm only on the first book, I cannot wait to finish them because it's really very interesting and magical, literally. The story is about magical people existing in "normal" people's world; it's about selling magic and so this "normal" girl has been recruited into this company called Magic, Spells and Illusions Inc, hmm... how cool! It's also very hilarious, check these out, it's from the first book called Enchanted Inc...

I wondered what he'd do if I kissed him on the cheek, but I was rusty on CPR, and I doubted it would be an appropriate way to interact with a coworker even if he didn't have a heart attack.

"we are a good bunch, though we have a few skeletons in our closets." I had a sick feeling she meant that literally. "And what workplace doesn't have a monster or two?" She probably meant that literally as well.

... he was still green, and his eyes were red. It was almost like the Incredible Hulk, but he didn't get bigger, just scalier and greener, and horns sprouted out of the sides of his head. I'd heard about having monster bosses. I'd had monster bosses. But this was ridiculous.

So, this is what I'm reading right now. After this would be another two books, the titles itself are enough to humour me "Once Upon Stillettos" and "Damsel Under Stress".

Today I'm back home early, suppose to work on my project but I'm still here blogging. Need to catch some sleep because I feel like a flu-attack soon. Meanwhile, had muscle ache from last night's pump class. Yes, it was tough as usual, but the muscle ache is mainly due to lack of "training". Only did one pump class last week, so no wonder I was struggling last night. I could feel the "oh, die!" voice at the back of my mind as soon as we started doing overhead presses during warm up. After maintaining my 10kg for the squat, I decided to reduce my chest track weight to 5kg, and geeezzz... luckily I did. It was the track that sung "I'm not dead, just floating", but I did feel dead.

Soon after I heard Carebear announcing 6 clean and presses in a set, I decided to cut weights for back track too, to 7kgs. Survived but felt like throwing up. California for triceps - you can imagine all the agonizing scream, can't you? Needless to say how I suffered during biceps. Forget about holding on to any weights for lunges, which was still one from new release. Shoulder track, new release - and someone requested for "Get your hands off my girl" for next week's shoulder track!! Horror! Yes Carebear, please do point out the person who had requested for that, so if I feel like throwing my plates after the track, I know which direction. Okay, I should be more sporting, after all, we are all there at the class to be tortured and we should be enjoying ourselves and enduring all the pain. But this particular song annoys me especially the part where the song goes "ha..ah, haa... ah" - that's when I felt like screaming. The worse part is this part where the song sounds like it had ended BUT continue with more torturing moves. Arghh...

You know... my worries of not being able to find my guinea pig a "babysitter" have been really nagging me. Poor thing. We are all going to be away for the Hong Kong trip. I know it's still long time till then, and I can almost hear some people saying, it's just a guinea pig. No no... if that's your baby, do you have the heart to leave her with some strangers? Feel like crying by just thinking about it. But, MFG, you will take care of her for me, won't you? Just keep her away in your guest room and she won't bother anyone. I promise she will be a good girl... and a very good company for the week. :)

Cake Decoration Level Up

Went for a one and a half hour swim this morning and headed to ICCA in Mont Kiara with MC for our lunch at Soulded Out, then the long looking forward fun candy moulding demonstration class. Got loads of great ideas there and all could be used to "level-up" my cake and cupcake decorations. So, watch out for the new cake designs.

Candy moulding is basically melting up candy melts or chocolates and pour them into the moulds with various designs. Some of the moulds comes in very detail designs, that's when we will do "paintings". With the coloured candy melts, I should be able to add cheerful colours onto the cupcakes, and best of all the chocolate cakes. I am also now able to make lollipops with candy melts.

Okay... the drawback is, MC and I thought the taste of the candy melts are rather awful. It's a bit too waxy I think that's how compound chocolates taste - Okay, wait, I think the ones we tasted are the block chocolates. We haven't tried the ones from the candy melts yet, will find out how the candy melts taste, we took back two of the lollipops.

Of course we can still use expensive chocolates but limited to the dark, milk and white chocolates only. Cannot do purple, yellow, green or orange coloured stuff.

These could pretty much give you a sneak preview of my future cake decorations...

Close to culture shock

Haven't been to Axis for combat for so long. Today I went because I so wanted to meet up and join a class with KG, haha... Now, the thing about not going to a particular place is that you tend to forget how to go about inside it. It's like going to a new country or new company for instance.

So what happened was, I arrived at Axis and parked at a familiar spot in the carpark. Proceeded to the lift with no problem but the confusion started when I had to choose the floor. I selected "2" but luckily there's this other gym member (though he was going to ground floor) who told me gym is at "C". Whoopss... At least I didn't get lost then.

No problem in the locker room. Only a bit taken back after the class when I was waiting for the a shower cubicle to be available. Since when we do not queue up for our turns? We just go stand randomly near to whichever cubicle and just use it even though it's not your turn? Geezz... Then it was at the hair dryer area, how come one person uses two hair dryers? There were two persons doing that when I tried to get hold of one to use. Humph...

The class timetable is not different and I was also a bit disorientated when I went into the studio, I think there had been some changes to the arrangement, or colour of the wall? Oh, new mats. Combat class was good though, I'm not crazy about the new release but it's one of the best releases and I'm quite fond of the tracks. Master C's class was the usual high standard but the crowd was a bit quiet compared to how I had remembered Axis' combaters. Someone missing?

Before the class started, we were trying our very best to get ourselves to a spot somehow near the stage, but clear of the holy-water reachable radius. Managed to "catch-up" with little bro while we sorted our standing positions out. Looking good little bro, though tired and wet.

Got myself more birthday wishes today. I quite like belated wishes and presents, it makes my birthday celebration seemed very extended. KG, thanks for the present, your presents never go wrong. And I love your personalized message.

Also had lunch with gal friend today, if you are reading this, thanks for lunch and the present. I'm glad you enjoyed my stories and yes, I know the final few posts were a bit sad. But what to do, life is life, and how happy we are is really fully depending on how we want to feel.

Finally, following up on my plan of getting my precious little pig her new cage - got one, and I'd to say they finally have a size that makes sense. The last time I surveyed, they were either too huge, or as small as the one I had. The one I got is just nice, though my pig is a bit "short" to do a graceful leap back into the cage, but she had managed, I'm so proud of her. I think tilting the cage slightly to facilitate her jumping would be a good idea. Piggy is happy overall. :)

Double Three

We were booking our air tickets to Hong Kong just now and my precious little guinea pig must have heard that she would be left behind, because she had been making pitiful noise since I came back till I had to move her into my room. So she's now happily chewing her food. I NEED to get her a bigger cage. Actually her cage is a bit small, but mum had been nagging me about keeping the pig and spending more money on the piggy will definitely send her into some major frequency out-of-tune episodes. However, since she is also undergoing this guilty feeling of leaving the little baby behind (when we go to Hong Kong next year), she did not object when I brought up the topic of a new cage just now!! Pet shop it is tomorrow.

(by the way, MAS having promotion on air ticket to Hong Kong, it's less than RM600 all in. But I think the cheap tickets have all been taken by us.)

WHO IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE PIG WHEN WE ARE ALL GONE?? Uwaa...

Looks like this is a long post since my opening is already so long.

First of all, thank you for all the birthday wishes. There were a few who must have waited for the clock to strike twelve last night to be the very first ones to wish me, so touched. And I was also rather surprised to get a wish from NH. And a BIG thanks to Carebear for setting up a "wish centre" in her blog for me to get so many more wishes.

So, my first surprise was a bunch of white roses in purple wrapping and ribbons. Together with the flowers was a box of chocolates and a card with the message "I love you! ^_^" - from anonymous. And hence the whole office had speculated that it's a secret admire.

Thanks MC and BIL for creating the false, but beautiful image. Your sign-off icon gave you in. ^^ - of course I'd initially suspected KG since she asked for my office address earlier.


Then there was the delivery of my birthday cake ordered by MyFG, who later got me ice cream as well. ^_^ (will review the cake in another post).

My colleagues and bosses celebrated my birthday for me. One of my colleagues made me "red eggs" which I've not had for ages. Had two of them which resulted in me only able to fit in some french fries and chicken finger in my stomach when we went to lunch. But I had such a great time today.

Just when I thought it's over, what surprised me later, again, was a bunch of red roses at my desk when I arrived back in office. Thanks Tony, love them! And he'd plotted this without me even suspecting because he had KG as his partner in crime. Thanks babe for arranging this... And hence more speculation in the office about this mysterious "Tony guy" who gave me flowers. Haha...


TD also gave me a good "present" besides the birthday wishes. Thanks, having the cupcake supply in the corporate world is definitely a very thrilling progress. We'll make them cupcakes exclusively available through TD only okay. Also got message from SSB and OrangeMaples. Thank you.

All my ex-colleagues whom were very dear to me didn't forget as well. So warm. My ex-boss in particular said this as the closing of his wishes "... close your eyes and blow hard on the candles when you make your birthday wish, who knows, they might come true...".

I would like to believe that all my wishes will come true, can or not? And I have two "major" wishes - If I collect all your wishes and transform them to support my prayers, will it give me better chances of having my dreams coming true?

Insomnia

It had been some time, I always have difficulties falling asleep on Sunday nights. It's something like Monday phobia or anxiety attack. Even if I don't need to work on Monday, I will still have difficulties falling asleep.

Anyways, after the usual hectic Monday at work plus the back-to-back class at gym, I should be sleeping like a baby before I know it tonight. I still need to spend some time to look into my website project - the non office project.

When I read my horoscope yesterday (no, I don't do this all the time, just happened to read the papers BIL bought), it said something like I am going to be in a reckless behaviour this week. I wonder how reckless can I go, hehe... besides that, it said fun will be building up for the week and this, I think, looks promising :)

And I already know what MFG is giving me for my birthday... birthday cake. And let me guess... It should be a cheesecake.

What Breakfast?

If you have time, could you tell me what do you normally have for breakfast? And what would you rather have for breakfast? What is your favorite type of breakfast?

I had a last minute invitation today and I decided that the only possible thing I can bake to bring with me would be brownies (like baking at 4pm and had to leave house at 6pm). I was originally planning to bake the sticky brownies but MC suggested Kirsty's brownies, since she reckon it's more special, and also I am supposed to bake her the sticky brownies for her cookie jar refill, so perhaps I should not repeat what I bake in such a short interval. Besides, I wanted to try out using different dark chocolate for the brownies. The conclusion is, the Lindt dark chocolate, I supposed, is more milky, though I thought I saw the label mentioning a high percentage of cocoa. Anyways, got a different brand and the brownies turned out to be darker and with a better consistency so this time the milk chocolate chunks actually could "float" within the cake. However, this brownie is best not to be eaten straight from the oven because it needs time to capture some moisture for a better texture. I need to confirm some other "convenient" recipes, something I can just bake last minute and would still be extremely delicious. I had rather baked the mini party cupcakes IF I had more time.

I found that I generally get comments and feedback that I'm a quiet person, often being complimented as patient and demure. Haha... I think it's only people who really knows me will see my tantrum, noisy and funny side. But I would say that my general appearance would normally be hostile and snobbish.

My post is so random today. Maybe because I don't know how to feel and what to say.

Tomorrow then.

Mango Yogurt Cake

Made this for my cousin brother's birthday last week. Erm... I don't like the recipe, to me the taste was just so so. The worse part of this cake was actually the difficulties in preserving the mangoes in order for them to say and look fresh.

I got this recipe book from MC, she said it's my birthday present, so early. Anyways, she actually bought this for me more for reference on cake decoration. I agree with her, the recipes do not really look like they are all workable. These are the kind of recipes which you know requires some tips on techniques but are not published in the book.

The cake recipe of this particular cake I made looked fine and the cake mixture also appeared to be very "promising". Even the cake rise to a very desirable height and looked very impressive. But the cake actually sank a lot after a while. This picture was taken mid way of the cake cooling and it has sank a bit already, but it sank more later.

Nevertheless, since this cake requires fillings, the sinking was actually not a major problem. Now to the fillings which is simply mixing the mangoes with yogurt and adding whipped cream to give it the required consistency.

Again, the ingredient plainly said 2 mangoes which will actually result in a variance in the filling's consistency depending how big are your mangoes. The filling is a bit watery for me.

For assembling this cake, you do really need to have the cake sandwiched with the sponge cake in a cake tin because the cake cannot hold it's shape and the fillings will flow out. I had refrigerated the cake overnight after assembling it and thank goodness the cake appeared sturdy enough. Otherwise, no birthday cake, oh no...

Then it was the decorating of the cake, which I was initially really confident that it will turn out extremely impressive. The cake was first spread with whipped cream. The recipe didn't specify, but I supposed one would have to be able to figure our that the mangoes will not stick on the cake without some "aid".

Then lined with mangoes... like so.

But, as I mentioned, the preservation of the mangoes was not given in the recipe book. I had made mango cheesecake before and the mangoes I used for decorating the cake were glazed to give it the shine and "fresh" look. However, the mangoes will still turn slightly darker due to oxidation. This time, I thought glazing would be good enough - the recipe book briefing mentioned cover mango with glazing jelly. So, I was really upset when the mangoes turned really brown and I nearly didn't want to give the cake to cousin bro.

So, after some discussions, MC and BIL said next time soak the cut mangoes in ice water with some lemon juice before they are used. Then of course finish with a layer of glazing. Any idea how you can effective preserve the mangoes? Do tell!

I'm getting the reminders!

It's still long way to go and I'm getting the reminders already. Of course then, these are not from close friends, not even far friends, they are just "advertisements" lah.

The other day I got one from Body Perfect, it's with a few hundred dollars worth of free gift. But I know better to go redeem them, though they said it's a "gift" but I might just end up spending more money.

Then today I got one from AIA. Even worse, the present comes in the form of "purchase" - me purchasing policy from them. Humphh... what sort of present is that?? But I also got one from Jusco. Although it didn't say what is it exactly that they are giving me (It just said "Hurry! Redeem your Birthday Gift Coupon... Should be a bunch of discount coupons, I saw someone else having them the other day), it's better than asking me to buy some insurance policy. And I quite like the idea of the "Personality" thingy on the "birthday card".

It says:

Personality - secretive, prideful, quiet unless excited/ tensed, reputable, honest, sensitive, tactful, very emotional, forgives but never forgets, caring, hardworking, diligent.

True or not?

I'm actually quite a "secretive" person, especially when it comes to my true feelings. This blogging arrangement is sort of a contradiction. Haha... with me telling my secrets to the "whole world" is not really "me". I don't normally tell people exactly how I feel. Telling MFG my feelings (ok, I didn't "tell" him, he guessed by himself) is not something I would normally do. So, although I'm very emotional, I keep the emotions as secrets most of the time, especially in front of people who doesn't know me. In terms of hardworking... hmm... I'm sure I can call myself that, haha... I might not blog as often later, I've got to allocate some time to work on a project, something outside my official job. I need extra source of income to clear off my credit card bills. Heh...

I feel my muscles very tensed, should be having a good muscle ache tomorrow. The new pump release, I feel, is something that will grow on you and you will like it after a few times. The triceps track is really effective for me, I don't really get muscle pain on the triceps but I'm feeling it now. And the conditioning track is really effective, like what Carebear had promised. So if you've not tried, go try it now!

Kirsty's Brownies

This is a Dutch recipe specially translated to English by Kirsty, MC's best friend from London. MC first tried this from Kirsty's baking and was in love with it immediately. MC flew back from London the last time bringing containers of these brownies.

They are really delicious. However, there are several items to be explored and improved before we finalize this recipe.

The usual panel tasters had approved of this though, with Carebear being the only one who said it's a bit too sweet so far, but I did say though I might reduce more sugar. Or can I be so biased to say that since MFG is ok with the sweetness level, we consider this pass? :p

This is a double chocolate brownies which is very "cake-y" (flaky) and moist compared with normal brownies. This is unlike the previous brownies I made which was more sticky type. The brownies has a hint of crunchiness at the base due to the chocolate chunks. MFG did suggest to have the top made more crunchy. Will see how this can be done.

Frustration Overruled

Fickle-minded people are just inconveniences. On minor issues, they will just cause me to roll my eyes, sometimes adding a snort. Humph...

When people connected closely to me change their mind often, they tire me out and it's irritating when I have to change my plans too in order to synchronize with them. Tsk...

If an influential person starts to twist and turn rules and policies, it causes major frustration because I can neither tell him "whatever!" or throw a tantrum (I might still secretly do that) even though I totally despise the behaviour. Arghhh...

Oh, can we wear open-toe shoes to work? I've been told that these kind of shoes are only for functions or dress-down days. I've been doing that for more than one year in this new job - open-toe, strappy sandals, slip-ons... Whoopssss... I'm not up to spending money, not when expenses are escalating and salary increment is negligible in comparison.

Besides frustration today, I had anxiety attack on Sunday night, hence resulted in a little insomnia and contributed big time onto my Monday blues and blurs. But all are fine now, no one is going anywhere. But seriously, I often get insomnia on Sunday nights, sometimes even though I don't have to go to work on Monday.

Anyways, as I had serious "heart problem" last monday, yesterday felt like a much much better Monday to me. I was in pump class and thought, hey, I don't remember doing the these tracks - mind and soul was really not there last Monday. It's also true that when your mood is good, you've got more strength. I also did a combat class and at least I didn't look as if I was doing ballet. With KG around, it was really fun and motivating. The only flaw was DangerousMan standing at close proximity. Oh, no casualty, no worries.

Another happy note is present received from Carebear, thanks dear! I love it so much, though it's not my exact size.

Posting on my weekend bake - brownies - tomorrow.