Angel

I was down with a very nasty flu the whole week. But an angel took care of me.

Mr. J came to my place everyday to cook 'jook' (under my instructions on how to cook jook the way I like them - smooth and creamy, not watery and grainy) and to do my laundry. He practically took care of me while I was in bed moping and brawling my eyes out. The flu virus has the strangest propensity of wreaking me emotionally.

He even bought a small jar of Marmite, simply because I told him that jook tastes better with Marmite and not forgetting tubs of yoghurt and aloe vera jelly to soothe my raging sore throat.

I've been so blind. So blind to everything that he is.

Conversations at Zara

"Hey, you know, this black cap-sleeve top'd look really nice on you. It complements your petite frame. Quick, try this.

"Ooh, this sequin cropped cardi is just perfectly gorgeous. You'd look fab in it.

"Lovely, just lovely, this grey merle cropped cardi. You should try this, really.

"Sorry, I'm not there to help you choose your engagement ring. Yes, it'd be superfun trying sparkly rings together and going 'ooh and ahh' over them while John rolls his eyes and pretends not to notice. "

And that was my imaginary conversation I had at Zara today with Laine, my best galpal who lives in Hong Kong. She just got engaged and told me recently that she wished I were by her side to help her choose the ring.

She's the only girl I know who gets so much joy out of shopping that I, too, happily get sucked into buying clothes that I already have, only from different labels or outlets.

Without my shopping buddy around, shopping is no fun. So I talk to her in my head, sending out my shopping vibes to her in Hong Kong whenever I'm shopping here, in Malaysia.

Miss you lots, babe. I wish so badly I could be in Hong Kong, me your unofficial personal stylist, your shopping buddy, your tai-tai wannabe accomplice.

How odd

I received an email request to feature my blog from a Singaporean clubbing website.

Me? Cupcake Queen, the antithesis of a clubbing chicka? The domestic goddess who already has a million and one excuse ready on-hand to skive off clubbing.

Yeah, clubbing, to me, is work - pile on gung on my face, shiver in barely-there tops and feel utterly old because I'm perpetually surrounded by 20-somethings clubbers.

Sorry, yah. I'm no clubbing chicka.

That was my reply.

Signs

Everyday, I see a pair of birds flying past me. Driving along NKVE Highway, a pair of black crows perching high up on the lamp by the highway. On my balcony, a pair of brown sparrows nuzzling each other. At traffic light stop,a pair of blue-black magpies soaring above my car. On my weekly hike, a pair of grey pigeons cooing by the roadside.

Today, I must have seen at least 5 pair of birds. This is insane. Over the past 6 months, the signs have gotten increasingly persistent that I can not ignore them anymore.

I surrender.

Montoya lookalike

(on the phone, last night)

Mr. J - Hey, how was your day?
Me - Ooh.. I had lunch with two very handsome men... I think even Jo'd kill to lunch with me today.
Mr. J - Who la?
Me - You wanna know, hmm?
Mr. J - Yeah. I mean, I was asking how was your day and all.
Me - Uhm, ok. Montoya and Pitt.
Mr. J - Huh?! Who?!!
Me - Juan Pablo MONTOYA and Brad PITT. Hahaha!

And so, I explained to him my fabulous lunch at Nando's with Juan Montoya and Brad Pitt who gave me their complete undivided attention. Then, I rambled on how handsome Montoya is, only to hear a long pause at the end of the line.

Me - Hello, J. You still there? Eh, he's just a public figure, a celebrity la, you know, a harmless crush. You're not jealous, are you? Hello?
Mr. J - *in a quiet voice* My last girlfriend said I looked like him.

Hmm, actually he does. Mr. J has the same tanned skin, facial structure and the same short cropped hair as Juan Montoya.

So, dear readers, if you've been wondering how Mr. J looks like. Imagine the handsome Colombian F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

Lunching with 2 handsome men

After all the drama earlier this week, a dose of retail therapy was the antidote I'd needed. Although shopping malls are swarming with kids running amok and bewildered out-of-towners because of the school holidays, I decided to heck it and brave the maddening crowds.

It wasn't that bad at 1U Shopping Centre. Yeah, there were screaming kids running wild with their harried maids and unaffected parents. I think those little brats picked up my radar as not one came near me nor collided onto me.

I had a fine time today. Bought a black cap-sleeved tee and a brown tank top from Topshop at 20% off. I really like Topshop cotton tops as they're pretty good quality and fit really well.

However, my highlight today was lunching at Nando's with these two handsome men giving me their undivided attention from the watch shop across Nando's.

Aaah, I had such a fabulous lunch.

Anger is my blessing

The past few weeks have been rather stagnant. Things were moving too slowly and I was getting impatient crawling the snail pace at work and organising my France trip- I haven't even booked my plane tic yet!

Last night, I said a little prayer to the guy upstairs to help me 'sort my life out'. Oh boy, he sure did shake things up.

This morning, I went to my parents' place to collect my mail, only to discover that dimwit of my brother has thrown them away. I was really pissed off as there was an insurance claim letter for damages to my car in a road accident last year. Not only that, Dimwit threw away other insurance bills and bank statements.

Growing up, I've seen how my mother has closed one eye to my brother's inconsiderateness to others countless times. It's the Chinese thing - sons are the revered ones in the family. So, Dimwit can do no wrong in my parents' eyes.

I know better to confront Dimwit as he sure knows he gets away with his shit. What's more, with my mum not admitting to his throwing away my mail this morning. * Sigh *

Ah, well. That means I've got to go to my parent's house every single day to collect my damn mail.

The only good from today's unfortunate event. I'm suddenly rankled to get things done for my France trip and quit veering towards complacency.

Believe it or not, angry spurs me on. It is the fuel that kicks up determination and motivation. Anger is indeed my motivating fuel. Past experiences have taught me to not let anger get the better of me but to harness it positively.

That sure was a swift kick to shake me out of the rut, thanks to the guy upstairs.

Amen.

Anti-surfing device

While dining with Mr. J, Mr Busybody Glenn and his lovely girlfriend, Jo , we lamented on how the internet can be a real time-sucker and a real pain to our wrists and backs.

Admit it, yeah? We all do the unnecessary surfing. For me, it's countless baking sites and addictive blogs.

And this got me thinking, how about an anti-surfing software that sets a surfing quota for the day. Not only that, it rewards you with points which you can redeem on cool tech gifts from their merchants when you've been good.

Just a thought.

My baking idol

Five years ago, I had an irrational urge to bake a marvelous cheesecake. I wanted to bake a cheesecake so marvelous and delicious that people would remember me by that scrumptiously gorgeous cheesecake.

It was an irrational baking urge as I, for one, don't like cheesecakes at all. Yep, cheesecake are too rich and creamy for my taste. Huge, quizzical frowns appear on faces when I tell people that I don't like cheesecakes. I really don't care for them. My eyes skip them on cake counters and stay transfixed at other cakes and pies.

So I was plagued by this bizarre desire to bake a cheesecake. At that time, I had thought maybe I could train my tastebuds to like cheesecakes for once. But I had to find that one cheesecake recipe to transform my tastebuds.

And thus, began my cheesecake mission. For weeks, I browsed countless baking books at bookshops. I pored over my collection of baking books. Finally, after weeks of googling, I stumbled upon a whimsical cheesecake recipe at Saveur's website. It was a simple and yet elegant and classy cheesecake - Polka Dot Cheesecake.
(* Polka-dot cheesecake photo from Saveur's website)

I never did baked the Polka Dot Cheesecake but I was so inspired by the woman behind that wonderful cheesecake creation- Maida Heatter. Saveur honoured Maida as the Queen of Cakes. She really loved what she was doing and she came across as warm, friendly and full of joy. After reading that article, I was filled with a deep feel-good feeling and copied her recipes from the website for future baking endeavours.

Nine months later, with sheer serendipity I walked into the Times bookstore with Maida's cookbooks selling at an unbelievable price of RM39.95.

It was too good to be true! I gasped when I saw 3 of her cookbooks on the bookshelf. I had, months earlier, contemplated of buying them online from Amazon.com for a full price of RM120. Quickly, I snapped up two of her cookbooks - Maida Heatter's Cakes and Maida Heatter's Cookies.

And that was the beginning of my baking sucess. I owe it to Maida for all the wonderful cakes and cookies that have garnered me praise and gratitude from people. Her cookbooks are excellent; her recipes are fail-proof. Later, I added Maida Heatter's Great Book of Chocolate Desserts to my cookbook collection.

Last year, I wrote a thank-you letter to her but unfortunately, my letter was returned from the United States with the reason 'adressee unknown'.

Yesterday, I googled and to my delight, I found a recent article on Maida in the Miami Herald. She is the true epitome of a baking doyenne. That is how I want to grow old, like Maida, so full of joy, generosity and passion.