The Naked Truth: 2 - Cooking Woes

Dear Diary, 

I am domestically challenged. I mean , I'm great at keeping the house clean and the garden pretty but do you want to know which part of the house that I dreaded the most? - no, it's not the attic. It's the kitchen! Before hitting puberty, I have no doubt that KITCHEN is synonymous to EATING. You go in there for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper, heck yes, life is good.

That was until I was told that girls should know how to cook. Just like how they should wear skirts, have long hair and smell nice. I never take cooking seriously during my high school years, mostly because my mum cooked all the time, just enough for a family of four. I did, however, acquired the skill to cook fried rice without using onions. Because I hate onions..then. 

I'm partial to it now.

So, my lack of cooking skills or talent never bothered me. I'm not a choosy person, I eat whatever is on the table. Except veggies of course with exceptions to few types of vegetable. Certainly no leafy greens because I have sensitive gag-reflex. I do make a mean spaghetti once in a while. I've improved a lot since my first attempt two years ago. Other than that, I really don't know how to cook.

When I was sharing a house with five other girls in Shah Alam, all of them are cooking monsters! I realized just how behind I am in the cooking department. I didn't know how to prepare 'Ayam Masak Merah" or the "Sayur Kailan dish" or any type of soup for that matter! I usually play Assistant Chef, because I'm THAT bad.

Bad, like how bad. you ask? I have no idea how long to wait until you throw in the veg or chicken or whatever in the pan. How much salt? Chicken cubes? How are they suppose to look like when they are thoroughly cooked? (for fried chicken/fish). So I know what celery is, but what is it for? Now that I do know what the celery is for, another question follows like, how do I prepare it? or what type of dish that should have celery in it?

This girl is a TOTAL FAILURE! I bet that's what you're thinking now. Yes, this is for real, you better believe it. Ask Dedz if you want further clarification. Cooking is my ultimate Kryptonite. I'm graduating with ANC in November but I can't cook if my life depends on it. That's a serious crime to womanity! ~gasp!~

This is my fault obviously. I haven't been paying attention to Mum all this while and I haven't really initiated anything. I can't learn how to cook IF I don't want to cook in the first place. It's really time to get greasy in the kitchen. Take-outs and eating out is fine when you are single, but once married, you don't want to feed your guy with McD all the time, especially when the said guy have a cooking maestro for a mother. Not that I'm getting married or cooking for anyone other than the family anytime soon..heh!

Don't worry future husband, I am learning now. Slowly. I'm not as ignorant as I was two years ago. In fact, I'm getting better. I made my first chicken soup yesterday. My sister said "ok bah". I trusted her judgement because she is a fickle bitch when it comes to food. A better cook than me too! Now, there are mum and dad to impress. Urghhh, daunting!

So, I'm actively googling simple recipes online. Mum is busy with school so she can't really give me a one-on-one tutoring. It's okay, Youtube takes care of that. See if I transformed into Rachael Ray 2.0 in a year's time. 

Or maybe I should just marry a chef.

Fangirling

WARNING: THIS IS AN ECLIPSE-CENTRIC POST.

First of all, there are a few things that you should understand

I've never been ashamed to admit that I'm a TWILIGHTER. Yes, I'm a fan but don't expect me to buy a twilight mug, key chain or stickers because my obsession has its limit.

Yes, I have read the books. Yes, I've seen Twilight The Movie and New Moon The Movie, only liking the former because the latter bored me to tears. Or maybe it's because the novel itself is mostly about Jacob, and I don't give a rat's ass about Jacob. 

No matter how pretty Taylor Lautner is.

Speaking of Taylor Lautner and Jacob, I'm a certified Team Edward. I've never defected, not even when they made Edward look like a starving boho in New Moon The Movie and have a half-naked Jacob prancing around in every damn scene. 

But I would like to remind you though, being a Team Edward doesn't mean I'm team Rob Pattinson. I love Rob when and because he plays Edward Cullen. Of course Rob-when-he's-not-Edward is not that bad at all, mainly because he's dating Kristen Stewart aka Bella....

who just happens to be my favorite Red Carpet Muse. I've been following her red carpet style since Twilight and her choice of LBDs, gowns and shoes is always on the mark. I won't discuss her acting style or talent but she plays Bella perfectly, which is why I don't get why people mocked her Bella as being  "too awkward"  when Bella Swan is suppose to be AWKWARD. I know right, duh?!

Anyway, I managed to catch the Eclipse Premiere in L.A early this morning via the live streaming on E!Online. I wanted to see what Kristen would wear. Well, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. My first thought was 

huh?

The back view is stunning:

but the front view? The one-sided long-sleeve leaves me cold and speechless.

but Kristen still looks AMAZING! if you can ignore the long-sleeve though -__-'

Click here to gawk at some of her best Red Carpet looks:

KSTEWLOVE

Oh, if you happen to be a Robsten shipper, here's a little something for you. 

The Robsten Bubble Of Love

Please don't flame me for the above comment about not being Team Rob Pattinson. He's a pretty attractive guy.

 What, you want more? Okay, here's another one.

The infamous grip of love

just one more to conclude the post:

So listen up Malaysians, Sabahans and Kota Kinabalu-ians

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse premieres on the 8th of July 2010. 

If you hate Twilight and think it's ridiculouslamegayboring or whatever.,

you have got to be at least curious

OR

you wouldn't be reading this.

hah!

xoxo

Green Glam And Gorgeous

What do I think of Beauty Pageants? = 

Pretty girls parading pretty dresses. Wow, look at her crown! ~gasp~! She won? ~gasp!~ Oh my, I love her hair!

Obviously the first thing that we look for when assessing Beauty Pageant contestants is the marks of a beauty like blinding smile? check! eyes like the sun? check! Tall? check!

If all above checks out, the second round of assessment ensues. A bit difficult this one, maybe that's why most people never bothered to look further than the first round because really, how do you judge or measure intangible qualities such as personality, confidence level and brains?

Obviously when on stage, everyone brings their A-game, so the only way to know for sure is to mingle with the potential Queens in a casual setting and prepared to be awed or vice-versa.

So, the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself in the form of an exclusive invite to the Miss Earth Sabah Dinner, thanks to Mr. Dinoza Mahruf and my BFF, Dedz who thought that it would be awesome to have some life outside of the Induction Course that nearly killed us all. We managed to convince Elvie aka The Twin to join and that's how the three of us ended up sitting at a table at The Roof Restaurant on the 15th June 2010, feeling all giggly and stupidly awkward! haha

We found out later that instead of just taking photos with the Miss Earth Sabah finalists, we were also given the privilege to interview them. Now that's a surprise bonus!

Though i only managed to talk to four finalists (May, Fiona, Lydia and Melody) it's enough to conclude several FAQ about BP that have been hovering in my head all this while. 

The first one that i talked to was May Salitah, a sweet soul who is bent on promoting tree-planting culture to the masses, especially to young children. Anyone who have met and talked to her will agree with me on this - that she's a friendly, confident and articulate lady who seems to be genuinely passionate with her cause. 

So, it's not really a surprise when she was crowned as the 2010 Miss Earth Sabah on the 20th June:)

Picture credit to Miss Earth Sabah Official Page

The second finalist, Fiona is also as passionate as May when it comes to promoting environmental causes in which her main concern is to work on eradicating the rubbish-throwing culture of the city people. I mentally applauded this because let's face it, though a city, Kota Kinabalu has yet to embrace the "Bersih Tanpa Sampah" mentality. Meanwhile, Lydia, a licensed diver and a graduate in the field of Environmental Science expressed her interest in preserving the cleanliness of the coastal area.

 Think of Tanjung Aru and you get the idea.

 I was also really impressed with Melody who feels that change should begin from the individual. Walk the talk and the rest will naturally follow. It's akin to the butterfly effect, very  inspiring! :)

I came to the conclusion that Sabahans can be rest assured that our Miss Earth Sabah winners truly, wholly embrace the concept of "Beauty With Brains" or in the context of Miss Earth pageant 

"Natural beauty - Unblemished, immaculate and refreshingly natural".

Congratulations to the winners!

Picture credit to Miss Earth Sabah Official Page

Make us proud  at the Miss Earth Malaysia Finals!

My post has gotten ridiculously long but it wouldn't be appropriate to end it without mentioning our meeting with Miss Earth Malaysia 2009, Mandy Nandu, an amazing, down-to-earth lady and again to Mr. Dinoza Mahruf, whose effort of promoting this event by reaching out to the Sabahan Bloggers deserves another round of applause from us who were lucky enough to be there ^_^. Honto ni arigato! 

Picture credit to Miss Earth Sabah Official Page

As for you, yes you! and of course, me too!

Play your part. 

Heed the call

Protect our Mother Earth.

Till the next post, 

xoxo :)

Spoil You

Being a proud Gleek, I'm really satisfied with the season finale. Of course New Directions didn't win Regionals, Vocal Adrenaline was far more superior with their mash-up performance. What I didn't expect was them (New Directions) not getting a place at all, and their crestfallen expressions was really painful to watch. ~sob~

Other things did fall into the right places. Quinn and Puck's baby girl end up in the arms of Shelby, who is going to be an amazing mum, if her i-want-a-daughter speech is anything to go by. Finn and Rachel - finally getting together. Will and Emma - possibly getting together next season but not without complications. Emma's dentist, the one she's seeing after breaking up with Will,  will make an appearance in Season 2. We've got a love triangle people!

As for Kurt and Mercedes, they will be getting new love interests next season. Now that will be fun to watch! My ultimate wish is for Mike aka The Other Asian to have more speaking lines. Be involved more in the main storyline. Hook him up with Brittany, whatever, just don't waste his potential! Other than that, I love how the writers humanizes Sue, despite her crazy bitch antics. She's capable of compassion and empathy to a certain degree (yeay!)
I love how she stood up to Olivia's scathing comments on the New Directions kids. Olivia branded them as talentless with 'illusions of grandeur' ouch!)
"But they are just kids"
Sue is right. They are just kids doing something that they love with gusto. You don't shoot them down by criticizing them with venom, constructive feedback is always the way to go.

As for the best performance by New Directions this season? I'll have to go with the Regionals performance. That's a perfect 10 for vocals and heart.

Oh tizzles, I'm going to miss Glee! Do come soon Season 2 :)

************************************************

As for real life, I got an A for my AE aka thesis. To be honest, I think I would die if I get less than an A. Read this, it's a tribute to my depression in the course of completing AE..haha. The thing is,  I have put everything that I've got into it (kunun-kunun la) that it would be a crime to not expect a good grade :)

When I saw this on my final examination result slip:

ANC (VICE CHANCELLOR AWARD)

I know I made it :)

p/s Please excuse the hints of self-congratulatory. I'm so happy beyond words now. Please take note that this is not a daily occurrence, both in this blog and real life :)

Gasp!

This is a story of about a girl and a series of unfortunate events involving a piece of clothing called the g-string or least known as thong, often confused with sandals by some people. 

The first incident took place at her college dorm. Or more precisely, the toilet. The girl recently came into the possession of a cute GS with diamond straps. Fake diamonds AS the straps and not ON the straps. So what happen was, after shopping at the mall the entire day and stubbornly ignoring toilet calling due to her determination to crash every outlet with a SALE sign, her bladder finally rebelled just as she got out of her car at the hostel parking lot. So she ran for her life, I mean, the toilet. She gets there in time, pulled down her jeans in haste and then SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! she watched in horror as the diamond straps..well..you know..snapped. It's a good thing that she was wearing jeans.

The second one is quite crazy. You know when you gather your laundry and one or two or more piece of clothing might slip through your hands. Yeah, that happens when you don't use the laundry basket. Her little cousins were playing nearby with the family dog..who happens to love chewing things. Among the piece of clothing that miraculously slipped through her jelly fingers was a GS, her sister's shorts and her cousin's pink pajama. The family dog wasted no time appreciating his new playthings. The girl and her little cousins wrestledjumpedroared to save each piece and when they finally did, the girl's youngest cousin, a 7 year-old boy holds up the GS and said, "alaaaa, ini santut tinggal tali-tali lagi"....

when the said 'santut' is perfectly intact. 

*facepalms* 

There are other incidents. Minor ones though. Which she refused to share.

he he

Life's like that :)