Oh Aku Terkedu

I love to tease Simone, our cat. She's and ordinary domestic cat, but her length falls short behind other cats. Given her big belly that looks like a halfway-pregnant cat (she's neutered), we refer her as the compact cat.

One day, I held up Simone's front legs and start annoying her by making her twirl. She was purring furiously at me while I kept laughing at her with my loony face. When I put her down, I realised Rayzo was sitting, facing directly towards my direction. He was smiling and said,

"Sakit"

Shocked. Humiliated. Nervous laughter.

Simone, having a nightmare of drowning

Pretty Insun

2nd review on Korean drama, titled Pretty Insun. I believe Insun is the same girl as the heroine of Summer Scent, but my sister Miss Designer beg to differ. Maybe she aged, or she went under the knife (hehe) she said. The story is about Insun (big picture, left) who committed a murder when she was a teenager. The story behind the murder is still not being elaborated, though it's already 8th episode. The dude to the right is Sangu, her childhood friend plus the one who carried the torch for her. So the story is about how Insun copes with her life after prison.

She constantly has issues with her self-esteem, so it seems really real to me. So far as the story goes, Insun was reunited with her long lost mother, the pushy Seonyeong and her half-sister the apathetic Jeongya. Then, come along her nasty adopted brother Geunsu. To run away from her life's stress, Insun likes to seek her benefactor, her then school teacher Mr. Seo.

At one point, it's disappointing to see how ego makes Insun and Sangu's relationship falls apart, but as Miss Designer said, it's how they keep the ball rolling. So I turned to Jeongya and Geunsu. Jeongya wears this uninterested look, mostly because how their mother keeps forcing her to fill in her shoes as an actress. At first I thought she'll be like that for the rest of the drama series, but she started to show more emotions when Insun and Geunsu come into her life.

Geunsu is rowdy, but his character is yet to be developed. He and Jeongya look so cute together, and I'm hoping to see more of them *sparkling eyes*

Oh no, I might google Geunsu tonight.

Jism? How in the world to pronounce it?

It's the newest gadget in da house. Mama had been eye-ing this electrostatic therapy machine for quite some time. It claims to be able to get rid bad cells in the blood and steer the user away from illness, such as cancer(but if you already suffering from one, you are forbid to use this! because there's possibility it will exaggerate the malignant cells, so they say) and headache (this is what appeals to Mama, since Rayzo has an issue with his headache now and then). And some other benefits, which I'm too lazy to type them down. Click for more info.

We had it since last Monday, and last night was the first time I used it. Admit it, the word 'electric' sends chills to the bone no? :O so after 30 minutes of therapy, not only I feel energized, but also there's significant change to my physical.

Kidding xD

It takes time, everything does. I believe that's the way things should be, so that the good effect will prolong. So what was the immediate result? I burped a lot, passed gas a lot and my mouth became dry, just like what those al-Jabbar (the company who imported the machines from Japan) guys told us beforehand. Well I'll start using it regularly, and hope I'll have a peace of mind after spending RM 5 500 for the machine.

p/s: apart from the toxic being omitted by gas, pimples will also pop up as a result of dislodging oily matter. Is it still worth it? *sweating palms*

Did we bump on each other last night?

This incident happened while I was asleep. Fine, a dream. I dreamed of a new friend I met a couple of weeks ago in UiTM. I'll refer him as Mr. Vest because he's fond of wearing the Red Crescent vest. Maybe he's just like me, enticed by the vest's light-reflector function.

So, what happened in my dream? I confessed my shojo/romantic feelings for him (eh?) and he accepted it. And we ended up in a reversed-role relationship, where he's being cute and all, sending cute messages through the phone and wearing cute apron while cooking food (cute is all the adjective I want to use).

And as for me, well let's just say I was kinda annoying+snobbish+wears manly clothes kind of character. So much for the one confessing.

Anyway in real life, I like befriending Mr. Vest because he simply gives off good vibes. Nice smile, respectful to others, even to me whom got off on the wrong foot with him (I scornfully asked him to take off his vest when we first met), plays guitar and a talented photographer.

This morning I got a notification on FB telling me that he added me in a group. It's trivial, but really, did we bump on each other last night?

Cheesy me haha.

Comfort Food 1: Spageti Carbonara

Why am I suddenly writing about food? Because I found several key items for making spageti carbonara while cleaning up the larger-than-life freezer in my baking kitchen.

Crab filament sticks (a healthier option is of course real seafood, or chicken/meat whatever if seafood is lethal to you)

And mozarella cheese. The name says it all, perfect italiano~

And yeah, spageti. I found a block of frozen solid in the freezer, and that kicked the pasta craving in me. The spageti is being thawed by steaming.

So, three key items (just like Blue's Clues), I started off with melting 2 tablespoons of margerine.

Throw in 2 pieces of chopped garlic. Must fend off sparky sparky Edward!

I used low heat because I'm sure to burn the garlic in the middle of taking pictures. Add in 2 tablespoons of flour to make the roux (ahem 1st french word).

Stir, stir till it becomes a paste and put in about 2 cups of milk. I made mine with evaporated milk, so I put in 1/2 cup milk + 1 1/2 cups plain water. Whatever works. Usually they do.

Pour in a little at 1st, so it won't become lumpy, or use cold milk. And down with the rest of the milk. Dump in the crab sticks and a little salt to taste . Keep stirring until it forms a thick gravy.

Turn off the heat. Put in the spageti, coating them with the gravy.

The half-finished product. I prefer to make thin slices of cheese, arrange them on the top and bake them brown. Or the cheese can be grated and mixed along with the crab sticks.

Putting cheese on top. Using a microwave to melt the cheese is okay, but it won't brown the top. So I use the oven. Set on 180 degree celcius, about 10 minutes.

Walawei looks so nice. Top picture: no top brown is seen, because I stumbled the baking pan and it went upside down into the plate. And a pair of chopsticks to gobble it down. Forks are too easy.

After scraping half of the carbonara back into the baking pan, I re-bake it plus more cheese, just for the sake of taking a picture with brown top. I have lots of time in hand anyway. Meanwhile my duty to clean the freezer is still left undone.

Err this is supposed to be a portion of 2, so don't follow my example of not sharing and watch your waistline.

Next on Comfort Food edition: Botok-botok (You: What in the world?) special for Miss julie^beth

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

The debut of my Korean addiction. A gist of the story: The heroine girl took over her brother's place and become Kim Yunsik aka Big Man, a student in Sungkyunkwan school/university/studying place?. Because formal education is only available for boys, she has to well, become a boy. I personally think she has no problem because the boys are looking like girls anyway. Those hairless and pretty faces. Enough said.

Let's talk about the eye candies. There's the upright Lee Sunjeon, who is envied because he is the prime minister's son. It's funny when he tries to be as philosophically as possible in as many occasion as possible. But amidst his untouchable outlook, he's very helpful to Kim Yunsik, and sometimes uncomfortably close too, considering that he knows her as a he. Anyway I'm rooting for him to score the chick, coz he's just adorable wink wink*

And there's the rebellious Mun Jaeshin. He has the typical attitude 'I know I'm fabulous but life is boring' found in most Korean heroes. Maybe it's some sort of a dream boyfriend over there. Maybe this character is too common, so his kind gesture towards Kim Yunsik doesn't affect my preference of the other protagonist.

Up to yesterday, it has been six episodes aired. I don't want to expect anything because I'll end up googling for it. I don't want to get busted for googling a Korean drama. Let's tuck this obsession-in-the-making neatly between knitting and photography.

Aniyo Haseyo - I used this word too much till I forget the meaning

I was stalking Miss julie^beth's + her sister's blog who happened to be a pro-Korean's..pretty boys (ahem, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do) and I found myself in the hot seat of becoming a Korean drama junkie sooner or later.

Mother likes her drama, be it Korean, Tagalog or Indonesian. Don't ask me how she tolerates the diversity, there's subtitles. Indonesian is the least I fancied because I've yet to see a drama where the hero and heroine are not erm.. simple-minded and accept their fates as it is. If somebody poke you in the head, poke em back! At least don't cry in the corner, wimps.

Tagalog erm.. full of overwhelmingly beautiful people, even the house keeper is beautiful. But one series can stretch to 200+ episodes (the least) and judging from my short attention span, I'll only annoy Mother for asking too many questions because I forgot the role of each and every characters.

Ahaha Korean.. Monday and Tuesday nights start with 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal' (I can type the name without checking on MySoju.com yikes!) at 9.03 pm (weird time). An hour later the fun continues with 'Pretty Insun'. The heroine is the frail girl from 'Summer Scent', I prefer her with long hair, but at least she has other emotions rather than 'sad, frustrated, confused' in this drama. Pretty Insun runs from Monday to Thursday nights, while 9.03 pm slot time for Wednesday and Thursday are for Rain's (yes, yes Rayzo's hero from Full House) 'The Fugitive: Plan B'.

Uh oh I feel like putting up posts just for them 0.0. I wonder if this is how it begins for a birth of a potato couch.

p/s: Rain's name in 'Ninja Assasin' is Raizo? Purely coincidence with Rayzo's name? There's butterflies in my stomach, with Rain's smiling face on one wing and Rayzo's tantrum face on the other.

You are what you eat

I'm a business person. So it's only natural to support other fellow businessmen. I like wandering around flea markets and buy any product that caught my attention a.k.a gaudy stuffs.

Today I went to Amcorp Mall in PJ. They organised flea markets in the mall every Sunday. Most of the hawkers sell vintage stuffs and decorative ornaments. There are stalls selling adult collectibles too. And, behold, they have cake stalls too. I bought a jar of coconut cookies and several packets of home-made chocolates. The cookies are divine, tough and crumbly, the way coconut cookies are supposed to be. 5 stars!

Then comes the chocolates. I can still remember the sweet, motherly smile of the madam selling those morsel-sized chocolates. She had chocolate with dried kiwis, chocolate with cashew nuts and chocolate with dates. I bought all 3 variations and scored myself a freebies, mystery square-sized chocolate wrapped in golden paper.

The chocolate wasn't so nice, tasted like the time I made chocolate using compound dark chocolate plus cheap white chocolate to taste. It tasted more like dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate, bland in short. The barely-there kiwis, cashew nuts and dates were adding salt to the wound. But the ones that made me stopped eating was the mystery chocolate. It was so bland it made the raisins added tasted like plastic. My verdict: minus one star.

The aftertaste is still lingering in my mouth. Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm sure this unpleasant memory will trigger nauseous reaction during this entire week.

Lesson of the day: When cocoa craving kicks in, always stick to Cadbury.

Funny story..

0.0 This is like something out of a dream. The Basic First Aid exam tomorrow is cancelled. Thus, today's tentative will be game, play game and game some more.

Hmm before that, let's try calming Rayzo who's throwing a fit right now.

Can you put the blame on LL Cool J?

I was watching 'NCIS: Los Angeles' on AXN, till Father asked,

"Have you delivered the batik cake?"

"Batik cake?"

"THE batik cake" (imagine boggling eyes)

I rushed to my working kitchen, still in home's compound, and bring out a tray of frozen kek batik from the humongous freezer, which is big enough for 6 adult+one 6-year-old child's bodies to fit in (the accuracy is disturbing).

I saw Father was on the phone, probably calling the customer to apologize. Still keeping his head straight, he took the tray from me, along with his trademark cake knife-in-the-form-of-butcher knife and drove off.

Again I forgot the few cake orders bestowed on me. Maybe I should consider tattooing them (haram!)

Shell is an adorable gas station with the cutest logo

I dislike refilling car's gas tank. Me and my Big Bro Jack share a car, so only once in a blue moon I'll have go to the gas station myself. I'll lost my composure as soon as I bring my car next to gas pump. I'll get nervous if the car didn't park precisely in the allocated box. Then there's problem opening the fill cap, and I never miss bumping my head to the door. I'll then keep touching the car to neutralize my electrostatic energy for the fear of creating any sparks that will light up the whole gas station (I read it on a poster in Shell. Implausible, but better safe than sorry).

Then the awkwardness of walking to and from the cashier counter to pay. Then comes the friendly questions from the cashier that will be responded with huge, nervous laughter every time.

I express my concern (ahem) to Jack, and his solution: practice makes perfect. I dislike that idiom too.

Don't stop till you Drop

In 4 more days, I'll be sitting for Basic First Aid exam. Uhuhu after 3 years of leaving school, it has become hard to keep still the attention span for longer than 5 minutes. Nevertheless, I sure have the much-needed confidence. But heck, i had that too when I went to an interview for a job. And I was turned down, leaving everybody dumbfounded, especially myself.

Hopefully it will be smooth sailing with the exam. If else, I should just throw away my fancy triangular bandage with red crescent logo on its peak.

All the best to my comrades. Let's be there - with bells on!

Of Essay and Account

A memory crosses my mind.

I was reading an essay exam question. A very cute title, 'You have 1 million ringgit, how would you spend it?' I raised my head, sweeping away my bushy hair. I stared blankly at the handsome Cikgu Azman, my Malay language teacher (haha, he's a darling). He grinned. I looked back at the paper and started scribbling.

One week later, Cikgu Azman handed out our exam paper. I got 2. Out of the allocated 30 marks. He smiled and said, "this is Malay language, you should write an essay, not make an account sheet on how you'd spend your money. Don't get confused next time". I can see Wan Muhd. Hafizuddin and Syahirah looked at me with perplexed faces.

That was 10-year-old Momoe, back during her green days.

Taking Personality Test is the best way to blow away the cobwebs

Taken from http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Your view on yourself:

You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education

Education is less important than the real world out there, away from the classroom. Deep inside you want to start working, earning money and living on your own.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

Success in your career is not the most important thing in life. You are content with what you have and think that being with someone you love is more than spending all of your precious time just working.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You are full of energy and confidence. You are unpredictable, with moods changing as quickly as an ocean. You might occasionally be calm and still, but never for long.

p/s: Sweet talker. I'll buy to this.

Itaewon in Seoul in Korea

It was time for 2nd breakfast. I sat in front of the TV with Mama and watched a documentary on KBS World on 'Greatest Muslim Festival-Ramadan'. The shooting revolves around Muslim Street in Itaewon.

Yeah, usual stuffs about Ramadan; the sahur, the prayer, the breaking fast, the al-Quran recitation. But no Qiyamulail being mentioned. Maybe the production group have to sleep early. Muslims in the documentary are mainly Bangladeshi, so it's a good thing they don't name the show 'Ramadan al-Mubarak: Korean-style Unleashed'. But it would be nice to see how the Muslim Koreans, being the minority, honouring the month of endless blessing from Allah.

Why is it worth mentioning? It's Korea, what else! geez.

I Love You, Rayzo

Rayzo is 15. He is about 157 cm (5'3"), medium-built. He has a round face, with acne scars on his nose and temple. He has a thin mustache, never been shaved since it first grew, back when he was 13.

Rayzo likes to play games, be it computer or PS2 games. Deep down, I think he's eternally grateful on the discovery of Internet. He'll be on his PC most of his waking hours. YouTube is his favourite website, because that's where he watches clips of his beloved TV star, Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean. Superman Mr. Bean, Mr. Bean's Invisible Drum Kit, Mr. Bean's Magic Trick to name a few. When he's feeling a little oriental, he watches Secret Letter by Hyde and Full House OST.

Other times, he's either in his room, writing on an art block with extra large fonts or taking a shower. When he's happy, he jumps around the house, rocks his chair or just laugh out loud, real loud. It's tricky when he's not in a good mood. He screams, he bashes his head on wall, he strikes other people physically, he once smashed a sliding door to bits.

Rayzo is born with Autism. i pitied people who took him as a retard. He's my colourful brother, and I love him.

The Piercing yet Vibrant Sun

In short, it's hot today. It makes me traveled back to 8 hours ago, when Father was working very hard on his vast kebun (land). The endless string of dripping sweat, the back ache from bending vigorously to plant a part of ubi keledek (sweet potato) stem on the garden bed, stand up, walk a few inches away and bend again to plant a stem, carefully distancing them from each other. I feel pathetic for sleeping in.

No time for remorse. I have a paperwork to settle.

o.o Clueless, Staring at old Dell bulky monitor

Uh oh the pink 1.9 water bottle is empty. Should refill it immediately.

Changing from BenQ wide monitor screen (i never bother to measure the size) to a 16-inch feels uncomfortable. Maybe because Sean Patrick Flanery's face becomes smaller. But at least it's for a good cause. Rayzo won't strain his eyes as much as before by using his new computer screen.