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.