Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Morning Coffee vs Late-Night-Cuppa

Do you know one of the things that I miss most during the fasting month? Having a good cup of coffee in the morning. It just drives me crazy (bordering on lunacy!) whenever I pass by a Starbucks or SF in the morning on my way to office and the smell of freshly ground roasted coffee permeates through the air, provoking my senses in more ways than one, and with no absolute consideration to my addiction - seducing me with its full bodied aroma - that just makes me sigh and melt into a puddle of goo with just a whift.

Today, I crumbled. Right down to my knees, (almost) begging the barista for:
"Onegrandelowfatvanillalatteextrashot."
**blink**blink**
"Please."




Sure. It satiates that greedy monster in me and guilt that conscience of mine for downing a cup full of empty calories (and skipping the gym - again). BUT it's still not the same as having that particular brew of coffee first thing in the morning. It doesn't evoke that same brand of courage that makes it bearable enough to pull you through the day. Instead, all a late-nite-cuppa (LNC) does to you is to be your only companion as you try to work through the night shift, a small badge of courage against that dreaded feeling of having to meet a deadline. And LNC tends to not be a loyal friend, especially when you need it the most. It'll abandon you without much of a warning, to fend for yourself against that feind - sleep.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A Baking Project

You see... I had this "P.R.O.J.E.C.T." that I had made up in my head - to bake my own cookies and unearth the ever elusive domestic goddess in me and everyone will bow at my feet by just a simplest lick of my cookie crumbs. That's how good I was expecting my cookies to be. I had poured over my Green&Blacks cookbook and scavenge through sosososo many foodblogs for recipes. And now, 4 days and 2 batches of cookies later I've come to a simple conclusion.

FACT: I hate roll-out cookies.
(and roll-out cookies hates me)

I'm not even going to bother sharing pictures more or less cookies with you. And I don't want to re-live those moments - those precious precious hours slaving in the kitchen! - by recapping it here. So there. I shall leave it buried and gone. Out of sight, out of mind. I think I should just stick to cupcakes and muffins and drop cookies.

A successfull attempt: flourless chocolate cupcake
(recipe courtesy of Donna Hay)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Ramblings @ 07092009

Okay. Here's a few facts that you should know about me: I have been recently engaged (okay... not so recent if it's been almost 2 months now) and the wedding is set for early next year.

Now. My problem: I don't want to think about the wedding. It makes me nervous like... umm... a heavy lead inside my chest, hammering against my ribcage. I had a stressful time dealing with my engagement to the point that when my future mother-in-law finally slipped on that ring on my finger, I felt like I could finally breathe. As if a huge weight had been taken off my chest, and I was just so relieved that I had made it to that very moment without much incidence that I - okay, and I'm very embarrased to say this but - cried. Wept. Shed tears. Sob. Blubber. Snivel. You get the point right?

And the thing is, I'm not an emotional person in the first place. Ask any of my friends. They often get frustrated at my lack of facial expresion (which is something I've been improving on for the past few years). And you know the first thought that crossed my mind when I cried during the engagement? I was thinking like... "Am I gonna cry like this for my wedding day as well?" Okay. Some people would say, "Hey! It's happy tears! No shame on that." But... I don't want to start crying on my wedding day too. It's embarrasing.

And yes. The wedding is like an impending anvil hovering over my head, just waiting for the cue to crash on my head. It's not the idea of marriage that scares me. It's the wedding itself that I'm afraid off. Being the first wedding in the family (O.M.G.) both of my parents (and aunts... and cousins...) have already formed different ideas and expectations of what they want the wedding to be like. The father wants something that is acceptable enough to share with his (present and future) business partners. The mother wants something whimsical and fun and ... sorta grand. Me? I just want the solemnization ceremony, and a small private dinner party for those closest - which I'm aware will be the least likeliest to happen.

*sigh*

Would it be bad of me to say that... I hate weddings? The more people talk about it, the more I see the elaborate plannings (and yadda yadda crap stuff) that goes into it... the more nervous I get. And the more I feel like running away. And no... you cannot have an opinion on this if you are not getting married, or have a wedding planner, or do not have an absolute aversion to wedding details.


PS: Huh. Would you look at that? My first honest ramblings on this blog!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Ramadhan is here!

What do you do when you're hungry, you're counting down the hours till iftar and you happen to have plenty of time on hand?


Do you.....


... look up pictures of food, imagine what it would taste like melting on your tongue whilst trying to look absolutely unaffected and hope against hope that you won't start drooling all over your keyboard?




... or do you read up other people's description of eating and enjoying food (that you most probably can't afford), all the more tempted by pictures of the seductor - elegant, strikingly bold and simply plated and ready to be devoured?




... or your sense of curiosity and adventure beckons you to search for that one place (or two. or three.) that could take your senses of taste.sight.smell beyond your realm of imagination?




... or do you sit and ponder of your own abilities to recreate that taste - something akin to happy thoughts that made Peter Pan soar to the sky?




... or maybe you just want to find a place to share all of the above with beloved families and cherished friends? (yet still be able to not cringe when the bill comes up)




>Yes? No? .... Any of the above?? Mmm.... well, I guess it's just me then.


Have a Blessed Ramadhan everyone!



[PS: For links of the above sites, do check up the column on the right.]