Why they call it Red Velvet

Red refers to the color of the cake; and Velvet, is the texture of the cream cheese frosting, velvety.

Why, is the red coloring essential? I don't know. I tried baking some without the red coloring. They're of the same ingredients, and yet they taste different than those with coloring.

I guess looks really do matter

Breakfast

This morning I woke up and made this. Egg benedict-inspired nattou toast.
Nattou is fermented soy beans, they're sticky and some people say they smell bad.
I am a big fan of tempeh(malaysian version of fermented soy beans) and when I came here, I was really devastated because I can't get tempeh easily. It wasn't until I started working at the convenient store that I began to know of this nattou. They're actually quite close to tempeh, but they're wet and sticky and probably smell weird.
But I love them anyway.
My favorite is nattou with japanese rice, topped with a sunny side up and seaweed but today, I came up with something new!

I made nattou toast and put a poached egg on top.

The combination of the stickiness and the half cooked egg yolk, totally made my morning. :3

Caution: do not try this at home. Nattou is to a malaysian what durian is to a japanese (or any other foreigners)

And erh this may look disgusting but seriously, they're good.

Hot bath and iphone

Mid sem starts tomorrow!
Keep calm and read notes!

Happy Monday people!

Picture: How to take a hot bath with your iphone

See, I'm the kind of engineer our country needs. #shamelessselfadvertising

Dear myself. I am grateful.

Dear myself,
upon turning 22.

You need to stop whining about life problems and start living. You know, like an adult.

You need to learn more about the world. Politics, economy, wars. You can't be indifferent about all these anymore. The present's future lies on you.

You need to take responsibility in what you're doing.

You need to take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well, exercise well, maintain the health that has been given to you.

Cherish each and every new encounters. As the saying goes, make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver, the other is gold.


When life gives you hardship, smile. And be grateful of what you have.

Life is yet another year shorter. Enjoy while it last.

Love,
yourself


I am happy and grateful now that I am studying in Japan, the one place I have always dreamed of being in.

I am grateful to be surrounded by wonderful people; families and friends who love and care for me.

I am grateful that the person I love decides to love me back.

I am happy that I am blessed with great health; am able to see, speak, hear, walk, run perfectly.

Upon turning 22,
I got
a portable iphone charger from a dear sister who knew how I don't like wasteful presents like teddy bears and such so she bought me something useful,
a pair of beautiful earring,
an iphone casing,
a case full of lotus incenses,
2 almond muffins from mr misai,
a bouquet of flower,
2 youtube birthday songs; of which one was sung by a dear friend of mine,
a live birthday song and live guitar medley through skype, 
 (this may seem creepy but I actually counted each and every one of them. fb80, tw18, whapp5,insta3,mail10 = 116)
and a total of 116 birthday wishes from friends and families all over the world;
 

Thank you for the warm wishes, everyone! I am truly blessed and I feel so loved!  :')

and so I'm also grateful for the inventions of facebook, twitter, instagram, whatssapp, skype and smartphones, and most importantly, the internet for making this possible.

For the first time; I bought my own birthday cake, and I also bought my own present(s); 3 pairs of glasses

Terima kasih, everyone. Please accept my love in return. No, I command you to accept my love in gratuity. 

excerpt from #1 Sayang, I love shoes in the Sisterhood of Traveling Sisters~

"'Terima kasih' means thank you, but literally means 'accept love', as in, I command you to accept my love in gratuity."

Tsukuba International Festival; the beauty of multi-ethnic community

Beautiful day today! Got to meet a lot of people at the festival!

One time, I was taking pictures of stalls and food when one of the aunties asked me,
"So where are you from?"
"I'm from Malaysia :)"
"Oh, no no. I meant, which organization are you from? You're taking all these pictures with such a big camera *pointing to my camera*"
"uhm. I uhm. putting them on facebook and my blog."
 she had this somewhat disappointed smile since I'm not a reporter/journalist who can help her promote her stall.
 ok so it wasn't really some auntie la, more like a granny. so she went

"buro-what?"
"Burogu desu" (Blog = burogu)
"oh progress? ahahaha"
 "-____-"

she didn't get what I was saying so she quickly looked away after that ahahaha. 
that awkward moment.
but yeah, it was fun.

It felt like I just got back from touring all over the world. Really, I think God made us different so that we may know one another; AND so that we get to taste different kinds of delicious food all over the world.

" O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another."                                                           -Surah al-Hujurat (49:13)

Little things in life

Digital cameras, dslr, smartphones, facebook, instagram, tweeter, can we live a day without using/looking at any one of these?

During my trip to london and manchester in March this year, anywhere I go, I'd take with me my doodle book and a pen so that whenever I have the time, I'd draw anything that would remind me of the trip. Things I see, places I go, food I ate, my thoughts, anything.

It was such a great exercise that helped me notice little little things in what I see.

Sometimes when we take pictures and post them in facebook; we're so busy updating our lives in the virtual world that we tend to overlook all the little details of the subjects we're taking; well at least I think I do.

And the same goes to life. We are always chasing something big in life that we overlook the little joys life brings. Maybe its just me but yeah.

Life is too beautiful for us to miss all the details it has to offer.

Listen to I don't wanna miss a thing by aerosmith. Something like that la.

So next time you're waiting for the bus or the train; or anytime while you're in the middle of doing something, anything; try looking around your surrounding and slowly pick up the littlest details or movement and perhaps you will see the little little things I'm talking about.

Reunited after 2 years

Does time change you? 

Yes. 

But do you really change? 

Perhaps. 

Perhaps no. 

I don't know. 

I think I've changed a lot in these 2 years. I've matured, I've learned so many things, well, that's just obvious. Babies change a lot in 2 years, they learn how to walk, learn how to talk. 

Where was I going? 

Changes, yea. 

It's ironic. People change, and yet people stay the same. 

Change; is probably not the right word. Mature is the word. But to mature is apart of changes. So change, is the word. 

I'm trying to be all philosophical but I'm really bad at words so I'm going to stop here.


Today has been such a great day. So much fun.
My definition of a great day :
Meeting amazing people, with awesome food, and a touch of retail therapy (read; shopping).

It was supposed to be a ladies day out; Sweets paradise and shopping with the girls;
but it turned out to be a reunion with friends, some of whom I haven't seen in 2 years!

And the best part of it, is that it was unplanned for!

If it was not for iPhone, if it was not for all those Social Network Services available for us to stalk each other, scrutinize each others' lives, there would be no reunion, and this blog post would have been titled "Of sweets paradise and shopping"

So I am really, really grateful for iPhone and all those SNS websites.

Sweets Paradise; same ol same ol

Same ol salad bar in SweePara

Pastas and sushi @SweePara

After the long stops at F21 and H&M, we decided we need sugar and a comfy space for us to
1. relax our feet muscles
2. chitchat, gossiping, catching up what not
3. nah. we prolly just wanted donuts

 

Me and Faten

With @namasayasam
after 2 years;
I'm glad to see that you've been eating well.
I think the both of us have been eating well.
In fact, too well.

more doughnuts.

With @hafeezlee aka pisang
after 2 years;
wait, I don't like how this picture made me look so, round.
why you so small?

Self-group photo!
was EPIC.
Fail.

So we had some nice guy to take our group photo.
Ok la :/

 with @hafizwahab
after 2 years;
I'm so glad we finally get to catch up!
You have got to tell us more stories! :)

with @nazriq
I see you a lot in these 2 years;
you're still tall. and skinny.
and tall.
aihetcchu.

Till we meet again, in 2 years time?

Till we meet again, soon? ;)

Now back to me being philosophical.

I was trying to be all philosophical about how amazing, I think, time can change us a lot and yet when we have this little little gatherings we find that we don't really change that much.
I suck at this, don't I?

and this, 

I just have, have, have to share with you guys. 

↓

This cracked us up pretty hard in the stomach today.

At first we saw the Dudes sign. 

Where on earth can you find a loo sign that says Dudes?

No where else but Japan. 

Enlighten me if you don't find this amusing.

Now, the ladies was located at the back so we couldn't see the sign at first. 

We were really hoping that it would say Dudettes, 

but to our great disappointment. 

Cuties.

Cuties?

 Seriously? 

Seriously?
Dude..........s
-_____-