the girly dino: 2011

Sunday, December 4, 2011

there are no ugly women, only lazy ones!

Sleeveless V-neck dress: H&M

Light grey wrap-around cardigan: Zara

Sheer anchor leggings: Primark <3

For someone who is not blessed with a supermodel figure, I make the most of what I have - hide the ugly and flaunt the beautiful I say! Let's face it, how many of us are actually blessed with 100% good looks? Everyone has a flaw - some more than others but that only makes us more human.

Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, that has my full support. Beauty is definitely very subjective. On the other hand, I am one who is also a firm believer that first impressions will make or break you. Being judgmental is part of being human - call it superficial, shallow whatever but if someone tells you that they are not shallow, THEY ARE LYING. I'm sorry to say that everyone has something to say about everything and looks is possibly number one on that gossip list. Everyone is beautiful on the inside but bear in mind that I am talking only about superficial beauty. That's why girls, I think that it is SO important to look appropriate at all times. I'm sorry to say this but I get so disgusted when I see someone looking so sloppy - fresh-from-bed face, not a tinge of effort put into grooming themselves. Please, please do yourselves a favour and MAKE AN EFFORT to look beautiful!

Slightly controversial post but these are my views!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Traditional Chinese Steamed Egg Cake

(Imported post from my previous blog)

I used to go to the local pasar malam week after week just to buy this silly kuih/cake. You can get it at most places that sells malaysian kuih but believe me, no one makes it like the pasar malam aunty.

So far I haven't tried any that beats the one sold at the OUG pasar malam. I absolutely love the softness of it with its chewy texture, fragrant egg smell (Sexeh, you will love this too! lol), taste and most importantly the fact that its not diabetically sweet. Everything about it suits my tastebuds and I can never get enough. Nothing like old-fashioned comfort food at its best.. One of my favourite cakes of all time I might add.

Oh how I have longed and craved for this tasty, almost guilt-free (I said almost..) steamed egg cake on many cold and lonely nights in Dundee. I had to keep reminding myself: Just a few more weeks and I'll be back home in Malaysia stuffing my face with as many steamed egg cakes as I want.

Unfortunately however, I never made it to the pasar malam during my one week back in Kuala Lumpur due to my "hectic" schedule. (-.-) Now I'm in Kuching and I don't think there's anywhere that makes this cake the way I like it here. I've tried the one sold by the lady at the Petanak market and that just ain't gonna cut it. It's way too sweet and if you know me well enough, one of my mottos in life: SUGAR IS EVIL; yes it is. I have recently acquired the taste for ice lemon tea kosong and trust me, life does not get any more sour than that but I do enjoy it (or so I'd like to think) because it is completely guilt free!

Moving along, a couple of days ago I decided to take matters into my own hands as usual. I did a little bit of research online and came up with a little recipe of my own. My first attempt was quite unsuccessful. I poured the batter straight into the steaming pot which had a diameter of like 9 inches without realizing that there wasn't enough batter to cover the grounds (?) of the pot.. resulted in a flat cake... or rather "kompia" like what my mother called it -.- Also, I left the steamer on high heat for 30 minutes while I got carried away facebooking in my room. whoopsie daisie.

I tried again the next day and it was yummeh. Especially when it was hot straight out of the steamer. Freshly steamed egg cake. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :) What a familiar taste. I was a satisfied girl.

What you will need:

4 medium sized eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

150gm all-purpose flour

100gm caster sugar

2 tsp milk

Method:

1. Line a steaming tray/baking tin with baking paper and set aside.

2. Sift flour and baking powder and set aside.

3. Whisk together sugar and eggs until fluffy and a creamy yellow colour is obtained.

4. Pour in half the portion of flour into the egg batter and mix well.

5. Pour in the other half and mix well.

6. Add in the milk and mix well.

7. Pour batter into the steaming tray/baking tin.

8. Steam at high heat for about 15 minutes.

9. Insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean, it is done!

Try it yourselves folks! Its really good :)

Some tips and tricks:

Try to whisk the sugar and eggs for a longer time so that more air bubbles get trap in the batter. This will result in a fluffier cake.
When mixing the flour into the egg batter, be careful to do it gently and stop as soon as the flour is incorporated into the mixture. Do not over mix the batter as this would release the air bubbles from the batter.
Cover the steaming tray/baking tin with a lid to avoid steaming hot water dripping onto the surface of the cake making it reaaaal ugly.
Most recipes called for the use of cake flour/superfine flour for this cake but I prefer using normal all-purpose flour cos I think thats what gives it its pasar malam texture.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love weekends.. the only time I get to sleep in as much as I want to make up for the early morning calls the entire past week. Needless to say I had the laziest morning today. Woke up at 11am, made breakfast (or lunch?) and spent some time in the kitchen trying out a new cookie recipe I came across last week from browneyedbaker.com. Absolutely love the texture and flavour! and because it contains oatmeal, it is not AS sinful. teehee

What you will need!

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (omitted)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (omitted)
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Method?

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract until well blended. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, stirring just until combined.

3. Fold in rolled oats, raisins, and walnuts (in this case, chocolate chips). Drop dough by rounded teaspoons (I used a cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes (mine took 12 minutes) or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Summer 2010: York

(An imported post from my previous blog)

I've been to quite a number of places in england and I have to say that this little city about an hour away from Leeds has got to be my favourite one of all (London is a t0tally different story however but let's save that for a different post ;P)! I love the whole architecture of this city, the quaint-looking rows of shops, the cobbled streets, the fresh bakeries, everything! the whole atmosphere makes me feel like I'm stepping in to an Enid Blyton story book. Something I could only dream of a long time ago.

We spent an entire day there walking around and exploring this medieval city. It was good fun! will let the pictures do the talking..

basically the whole city looks like this. two rows of fancy lookin shops on both sides a street. we got lost a couple of times. went round and round in circles. its like a maze I'm not joking!

the munkeh

Queuing up for tea at the infamous Betty's cafe of York! Apparently this place is a MUST visit in York so we gave it a shot. It is the only cafe in York with a queue to get in. We waited for what? 45 minutes or so before we finally got a table. The interior was very pretty with all the cute little floral and pastel designs. very, very english I have to say. but the food? hm I reckon the sultana scones from tesco tastes exactly the same if not better. lol Sorry for being such a party pooper but it is the truth! People who visit this place go on and on about how good it is etc but honestly it is not that great at all. I suppose we were just paying for the whole english tea experience.. :S

part of the interior selling sweets and cakes.

me waiting impatiently for tea..

I have to admit we were quite jakun with the pot of tea. There was this miniature sieve thing which we had no clue what was for until we looked over at the fella on the next table using it to sift his tea as he poured it out of the teapot. lol

Zara had some crazy summer deals then! HEE happy me.

erm.. some castle? or church perhaps?

The city is surrounded by this ginormous fort. Reminds me a lot of edinburgh castle!

on top of the fort over looking the outside of the main city.

Monday blues

Not! teehee. I took a self-proclaimed morning off. Aaahh.. The perfect life indeed.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Yummy baked salmon with tomatoes and chives

I bought 1kg worth of salmon fillets from Tesco recently so no guessing what has been on my dinner menu for the last couple of days.

Chinese style steamed salmon with light soy sauce, shallow pan fried salmon, salmon porridge even and most recently, oven baked salmon! Baked salmon has got to be my favourite of the lot - you can appreciate the flavour so much more in my opinion and it is sooo convenient to prepare! mmMm i <3 seafood.

What you will need:

Salmon fillets, tomatoes, chives, red onion, splash of olive oil

Seasoning: Garlic salt, pepper, tiny pinch of paprika and dried basil.

Method:

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees C

Prepare and wash the salmon fillets, place it on a tin foil.

Season with seasoning ingredients.

Chop up the tomatoes, chives and onions - nestle in between salmon fillets

Last but not least, drizzle some olive oil, wrap up the foil nicely and pop it into the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Dinner is served!

Make up is my best friend

Can you blame me?

From waking up to this face: pale, tired looking..

ghastly even!

Quick touch of make-up!

With a little help from my current favourite eye shadow palette, a touch of blusher and the magical eye liner..

Ready to start my day!:)

These boots are made for walking

Whatcha'll think?

Yay or nay?

Saturday, November 26, 2011

The Charles Stewart Guesthouse

Initially when I found out I was going to Dublin for a weekend, I thought of staying in one of those backpacker dorms. I remember phoning my sister to ask her opinion and the first thing she said to me was 'Please book an ensuite hotel room. You will not survive a backpacker dorm!' LOL

I had a good think about it and figured hm she probably knows me better than I know myself sometimes so I went online and did some research for a reasonably priced hotel/bed & breakfast.
I was a bit skeptical at first when I came across the Charles Stewart. The pictures of the hotel didn't look very promising and if anything, gave me the impression that it was old and run down. It was quite highly ranked however and had really good review so finaaaally I thought ah why not!

I have to say, the reviews did not disappoint. I had such a pleasant stay at the Charles Stewart guesthouse. For the price (132 Euros for 2 nights), I have no complains at all! The bed was comfy, the shower was powerful, the room was clean. There was even a tea and coffee making facility, hair dryer on request and fresh towels every day - definitely couldn't ask for more. The location wasn't bad either. It was along O'Connell street, one of the main streets in the city.

Best part of our stay at the hotel has got to be the complimentary full Irish breakfast sets served on both mornings :)

Thank you Charles Stewart for the lovely stay!

Weekend getaway: Dublin!

Dublin is a beautiful city. I was delighted when I found out that two of my abstracts were accepted for poster presentations at the ICHAMS conference. It stands for International Conference for Healthcare and Medical students, organised by fellow students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I seized the opportunity to travel and I have to say, what a good excuse that was for a weekend getaway to Europe! I googled more about the city, booked a reasonably priced bed&breakfast with plenty of good reviews, read up on things to do and food to eat in Dublin, booked my flights, bought some Euros, printed my presentation posters and packed my bags. Next thing I knew, we were off!

Waiting to fly at Edinburgh airport

Day one!

We dumped our luggages at the bed&breakfast and went off exploring almost immediately!

River Liffey
It flows through the city centre and divides Dublin into North and South.

Breakfast at Mochaland Cafe, along River Liffey

Interior of the cafe

I went for the Irish breakfast set: Sausages, bacon, baked beans, scrambled eggs and toast served with a cuppa for 7.20 Euros.

Suffice to say I was disappointed to find out that there was hardly any difference at all between an Irish breakfast and an English breakfast -.-

Talented street performers everywhere in Dublin

Grafton street - the main high street in Dublin

Dublin is renowned for its night life - bars and pubs. Temple bar is possibly the most happening night spot in all of Dublin.

Pardon the tired looking eyes. I haven't had any sleep for more than 24 hours in this photo!

Possibly everyone in the bar was having Guinness except us. We opted for cider instead.. bunch of wussies lol

My starter: some deep fried fish cake thing which was pretty tasty. Do not be deceived - it filled me up completely and I didn't get to enjoy my irish stew. :S

Main course: Guinness and beef stew - a local Irish favourite served with buttermilk mashed potatoes and a pastry puff. It was gooooood. mmMm

Day two :)

Rise and shine!
All set for the conference. Little did I know that I was in for a very pleasant surprise :)

Poster 1: Eyelid Asymmetry amongst Malaysians: A Study of 2 Racial Groups

Poster 2: Clinical audit: Long term follow-up of women with genital lichen sclerosus

*Note to self: cut back on the seductive eyes when presenting! :S*

Yes folks, that is me!

Out of 56 presenters from throughout the world, little ol me won first prize for my lichen sclerosus poster! Believe me when I say that I did not expect to win at all. I did not practise my speech, not even once before the presentation. I have no idea how I won! Nearly fell off my seat when they announced the winner and I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot - explains the retarded smile in the picture above.

Oh and did I forget to mention what the prize included? A certificate of achievement, an online PasTest account and 200 Euros cash prize baby!!!!! :):):) Possibly the most generous conference prize ever. tee hee I was a very happy bunny!

So happy that I decided to splurge 44 Euros on a magical evening of food, folklore and fairies. I read about this on tripadvisor - good food, old fashioned story-telling, live Irish music? I was sold! The location was at one of the oldest pubs in Dublin - The Brazen Head which makes it all more exciting.

To all those heading to Dublin, make sure you include this in your itinerary! More about it here: http://irishfolktours.com/
It's ranked the number 1 night life entertainment in Dublin on tripadvisor :) you can't miss it!