Homemade Goodness

Our dog-eared copy of Rohani Jelani's cookbook could be renamed "Baking for Dummies".

Never had I ever imagined that I would bake my own bread. Just for fun. Or that it would come out so nicely. But that's why we love the book so much - because it make it so easy to achieve good results. Her cooking classes are pretty expensive. But this mag - well worth the few ringgit forked to obtain it. If ever I had to choose a celebrity chef, she would be it. :)

Networking Done

It seems whining does help, sometimes. After I whined this morning, I tweaked the system a little and somehow managed to link up the network. Not without a few hair-raising incidents, though. At one point I completely screwed the internet connection, which is a lifeline to my research. Nasib baik it was restored. Don't even know HOW I did it. Dok fiddle sana, fiddle sini je.

Sister's PC is still in denial but I managed to move files around on MY laptop and have since managed to relieve both computers of the extra files clogging up the storage. My lappie was starting to complain since it only has 40GB on the hard drive and it was so full of various movies and TV series that the softwares are not getting enough elbow space. It was very slow moving the files even using 2 1Gb thumb drives.

So now it's quicker to share photos and stuff, not to mention backing up my work, without going through tedious copy and pasting with limited gadgets like thumb drives. Heh. And only a few years ago we were dependant on these flimsy things with 1.3 Mb of space called floppy disks ...

Networking Help Needed

Does anyone know how to set up a home network? Have been trying to ad nauseam (literally) since yesterday. My computer is doing all right. But sister's PC (which has the DVD burner) doesn't seem to be able to add a Network Place nor view Workgroup Computers. It should at least be able to see its own shared files, right? Right now it's niet. Nada. Zilch. Even when connected directly via LPT1, my lappie can access the PC, but not the other way round. And no, when I tried to move files, everything jammed up.

It's so frustrating. I have enough brick walls and hoops to deal with. Right now it's a petty matter, because I'm basically trying to cut down time required to move all my TV series over the other side for burning on DVD. But it could also mean backing up my work files and other stuff as well. I'm trying not to go nuts over trivial things, but I can't help feeling it's a simple setting problem that's messing things up.

Can anyone help, please?

Suka2 Entry

Hmm.. I must have said something wrong because suddenly everyone clammed up. :p

Have a pretty bad headache tonight, I wonder why. The hypochondriac in me is coming up with ideas like hypertension and stroke. Jeez. Nauzubillah. Tu la side effect dok buat health related jobs. Well, wasn't feeling too good this morning either. Took a long time to get up to speed.

Pastu my work pun didn't move much. Couldn't get in touch with doctors or Pejabat Tanah BP. Then my editor gave me another reference which entails me looking up either more info or calling up PR company for people's contact numbers. Isk. Not good in my current discomfort.

Because takde mood nak keja, pi buat roti. Pastu nak kemas tak larat. Sabar ajelah. Esok nak gi Setiawangsa lak. Well, work is work, la kan? Will have to squeeze in my other projects in between this short term one. Oh well, what to do? Rezeki jangan ditolak. Soldiering on.... :)

Diary of a Die-Ter

Since that 'fateful' media launch on Friday, have been a little too aware of my *sigh* weight problem.

According to doctors, normal loss is between 1-3 kg per MONTH. I lost 3 kg in one YEAR. OK, so maybe I have been overly lenient with my eating habits. Decided to try and lose another 2 kg by the end of the month.

My first step - portion control. I can eat a reasonable amount of normal food for b'fast, lunch & dinner. But NO REFILLS. SO I have to drink plain water to help me get that kenyang feeling.

Next, no fatty snacks. That includes pies, roti canai, cakes, pisang goreng, kerepek and perkara2 yang sewaktu dengannya. *Tears rolling down my face*. I can eat a bit of fruit at 10 am, 4 pm and at night.

And only a bit of sweet drinks. No more Nescafe 3-in-1 either. Oh man.. this had better work!

I had oatmeal instead of nasi lemak this morning. Yeah, sure. My favourite food. NOT.

By 10 a.m. I was desperate for my sour orange. How come only SIL buys sweet oranges?

1 pm - allowed myself lunch. Had to look away from 2nd piece of chicken. That's for dinner. Sabar, sabar...

By 4 pm, desperate for 2nd orange.

6.30 pm - dinnertime. Yeay!! God, I feel like I'm back in school pulak.

Let's see how it goes, shall we? Have to remind myself that any binge will take 3 days to show on the scale. Don't ask me why.

But guess I'm really ready to try and get back to 'normal' size. Maybe I should do it like a game - see how many dates I can snag with each kilo I lose. Pakcik doesn't count. Or if I can actually get a real life partner. OK that sounds lesbian-ish. Let's me rephrase that. See if I can get a real BF/husband if I am 'normal'. Weight wise, I mean. Mentally too far gone for that. After all, even my aunty2 are cheering for me... Wish me luck, mates.

Hmm... can I have burger for supper tonight?

Kenapa Harga Minyak Naik?

I have to admit, I'm no economist. I'm totally blur about the workings of international business and how one thing affects another. But as a user, I suffer, so I have to think about it, whether I like it or not. Kalau dulu isi RM30 lebih 1/2 tangki, sekarang RM30 kurang 1/2 tangki. Kalau dulu I isi full tank every 2 weeks about RM70, now full tank dah dekat seratus! Banyak beza tu...
Yang I tau, minyak naik je, harga barang pun for sure melambung2 mencanak2 naik. Nasib baik la aku ni keja kat rumah, makan kat rumah. Boleh la cuba control sikit belanja tu. Itu pun sekarang dah tak mampu dah nak beli olive oil ke, cheese ke. Camana la orang yang keja ofis makan kat kedai, ya? Harga nasi lemak tepi jalan pun dah naik 30 sen. Nasi campur tak tau la. Sedangkan ayam mentah sekor dah berbelas2 ringgit... masa aku kecik dulu sekor baru lima enam ringgit je. Even when I start keja and go marketing pun, ayam sekor kurang sepuluh ringgit. Budget pasar seminggu lebih kurang RM50, macam-macam boleh beli. Sekarang ni, RM50 dapat bare minimum aje. Harga air jangan cakap la. Tergezut bayar milo ais dua ringgit. Apa dia taruh 100g milo ke satu cawan? Cekik darah punya mamak!

So nak buat macam mana? Gaji bukannya boleh naik overnight. Like me, boleh la charge tinggi sikit for assignments. Tapi bukannya boleh charge lebih sangat, companies pun nak jaga budget jugak. Salah siapa? It's a worldwide thing. Everyone dari Asia ke Afrika & Europe terjejas. Satu dunia hadapi masalah. Apa puncanya?

One of the things I heard is - ini kerja speculators Amerika. Are they the culprit? Diorang dah rugi bergazilion dok menyebok kat Iraq, they suffer the subprime crisis, now they're trying to make everyone else suffer, izzit? Dulu masa orang buat main duit kita, Dr M peg our money to the USD. Now USD dah jatuh, and somehow causing oil prices to rise, what are we going to do?

Kalau difikirkan, tak logik, right? People are producing oil using their own resources at a certain cost. For what reason is the oil price rising? It's not scarcity. Kalau nak kira scarcity, by 1970s projection, oil would have finished by now. But people are finding new oil fields. Output is not compromised. What is the REAL REASON harga minyak naik?

Kalau semua negara2 pengeluar minyak tak ada masalah mengeluarkan minyak, demand is normal, why SHOULD prices rise? And WHY is the world oil prices controlled by the USD? Why can't we sell by normal market forces? What is happening? Seriously. Should everyone in the world allow one F**king nation to screw everything up because THEY screwed themselves? Seriously, I'm all for fairness and equality. Put a real value on things. All this speculation and futures and stuff are just BS innit? Why should we go along with it? It doesn't make sense.

Someone enlighten me, please?

The Jakun in Me

I don't know how long people have been using this thing, but it's definitely a first for me. Al maklumlah, I hardly ever see the inside of a hotel anymore, even ones behind the house. After the media launch on Friday, there were refreshments served. Went to look for coffee and met this contraption i've never seen before. Actually thought it was a normal coffee machine, but apparently, there's a quirky twist to it. I was all for kidnapping one of the bubbles to make coffee at home. But the boy told me that I should insert it into the slot. This was too good to miss, so i selected a green pod thingy (look at the tray on the right, on the machine) and inserted it into that slot on the big spout (the one on the left, you can see coffee coming out from it). He pressed a button, and hey presto! You have coffee filling up your cup! It was kinda cool. No matter that the contraption looked like it came from an 80's sci-fi movie like Galaxy Quest, isn't it mind boggling to insert a green pod and out comes coffee?

Ha ha. I'm all for quirky. It makes life fun :)

A New World

I should belanja Loret for introducing me to the editor. Met a few more prospective clients at a media launch this afternoon. Starting to 'kenal2' the media people a little. Still learning the ropes. Lambat lagi nak 'celen' Hillary Chew.

This time the story is about the dangers of obesity and how a slight reduction can make you happier. During Q&A tak ramai orang tanya. (Hmm, is that normal?) Only one girl was asking a lot of questions. Me being the slightly competitive person I am, had to join sekali la.

Since there wasn't much point of telling someone to lose weight without giving some clue of HOW to do it, I pun tanya la the speaker for some basic tips. Habih je dia jawab, speaker lagi sorang mencelah - have YOU ever seen a dietitian before? Heh? Aku plak yang kena. OK la, my BMI is squarely in the middle of the overweight range, but no need la to point out the obvious. Lalok la mamat tuh. Tensen aku. Heh. But yes, memang kena lose weight pun...

Hrmm... This story will be so much fun!

Making My Day

Email from my editor:

Your cow’s milk allergy story is good.

Yeay!!! Jumping up and down clapping hands. When you have had horrible bosses who made you feel like crap, a nice boss/client is a huge pleasure. Plus, there's a new story to do. He he. But have to redo the 1st one coz too dry. Okay... Have to do it la, no choice.

Then, printer is working again. Yahoo!! No need to fork out more money on more ink cartridges/ repairs. Phew. Yes, can print references and receipts.

Well, that's about it so far. Not that much, now it's in print. But one guy said he'd be around today. He'd better be, I want my payment. That would be really nice.

Am trying to clear my table and organise documents for ePerolehan application plus preparing things for Pejabat Tanah tomorrow. Looking a little busy this week. Hope everything goes smoothly. :D

Getting Somewhere

One of the things I detest most sejak zaman uni lagi is making that reference list. Lagi pulak sekarang most of the libraries I visit don't give me borrowing rights. Lagipun banyak giler material, takkan nak bawak balik semua kot...

Hari tu cari bahan kat WWF, I bawak scanner and laptop. But leceh la, and slow giler. Started cari handheld scanner. Kalau la benda tu wujud. Tanya punya tanya, tak ada. Last2 balik kat compact camera. Masalahnya dia dah 'tak nak kawan' dengan my SD card since I TER'eject' the card while checking the photos last year. Error manjang. Nak harap internal memory, dapat la 20 gambar karang. All this while I thought the camera dah 'weng'. Rupanya SD je problem. Heh. Ok la tu. Beli kat DigiMall 1GB baru RM35.

Tadi pegi TRAFFIC cari bahan, ambik gambar semua refs. Apa taknya, client sticky gila. Bukan aje nak tengok ref list, kena ada proof sekali!! Adehh... saba ajelah diorang nih. Masalahnya satu jer - focus. Silap je, gambar blur. Skrin seconet tu, bukannya pasti clear tidak. Esp kalau yang print kecik2, lagi la problem. Kalau glossy, nanti ada satu line blur. But nasib baik batch yang tadi okay, most of them legible. Alhamdulillah. Kalau nak kena pegi sana lagi pun tak masalah sangat pasal dah kenal. But time la. Bila masa aku nak buat write up nanti?

SO now dah ada progress dengan projek ni. Hope everything goes as planned- clients happy, and I get my money. Adeh.. bukan senang nak senang, ya?

Dangers of Downloading

Je procurer le "Blood Diamond", mais c'est en Francais. San Anglais transcript. Je ne comprends pas.... Merde!

Downloading is actually quite safe, except for a few things. Sometimes you don't notice that you're getting a version dubbed in a foreign language. Usually there IS an English version, it's just that I chose the wrong one. I actually like the ones with French subtitles, so that I can learn. Or even French speaking ones so that I can familiarise with the pronunciation. But I kind of prefer to watch the original version first.

Accidentally getting porn is a major annoyance. Now I make sure the file size is typical for the type - 350 MB for TV episode and around 700 MB for movies. And I'm extra careful is something is too fresh out to already be available. I once downloaded Shrek 3 and could not get images. I thought the sounds were funny but I stupidly downloaded the codec, which was really a virus magnet, and then found that "Shrek 3" had nothing to do with ogres... Sheez. Discovered that sometimes they disguise the titles so that people would think that it was legit stuff - like CSI: The Golden Triangle. Do not download it. There's no Grissom in there.

But otherwise, I'm happy to get my favourite shows. I've watched GA till the end of the current series and caught up with movies I didn't get a chance to watch at the cinema. I even managed to watch the 7th season of the Gilmore Girls until the not so grand finale.

A spoiler for GA fans - season finale is good, but beware, 'coz gay dude has exerted influence too far by first eliminating dear old Burke. I hate Hahn, by the way. And now there are LEZZERS on the show. Ee-yewww!!! Luckily they are the 2 characters that I least like, so at least not so badlah. But watching girls kiss... yuck. Stomach churning.

A Different World

Had to go back to BP the other day. After the necessary, went back to kampung to pay my respects to Mak Ngah. Had my computer with me, so that I could work there. Figured I'd borrow a land line somewhere to check my email the next day.

Once in the kampung, I resorted to borrowed clothes, since I only brought a baju kelawar and a tee for the ride home. It was really strange to wear kain batik and baju kurung again. As the day went by, I found more and more things I missed about being home. The house layout shut out the sun, so we needed to switch on lights all day long. There wasn't enough fresh air. Sometimes a pong came from outside. I missed my 2 healthy cats instead of the sickly specimens loitering in the area. I wanted my regular nasi lemak instead of sukun goreng. I even missed my minimalist loo without hot water! I couldn't find the washing powder, or any shower foam. I bathed using a sliver of hotel soap, which I don't really like. Of course I missed my regular internet connection. I mistook garam halus for gula and had a hard time readjusting my sambal tumis. Wanted to buy food for the house but didn't even know where the shops were anymore. In the end, I took a mega long siesta after lunch and decided to catch up with work over the weekend, at home.

When I was a kid, I LOVED being back in the kampung. The old furniture was all there; but they didn't work for me anymore. The old dressing table mirror now comes up to my chest; I have to stoop to look at my face. I had to rummage through numerous cupboards for something wearable. The old ranjang (metal four-poster bed) has shrunk and I had trouble getting to sleep that night. The smells and feel had all changed. I didn't belong there anymore.

I was glad when Saturday came and I could leave. Mak Ngah had to go to Melaka for a hantar tanda thingy that morning, so I hopped into my cousin's car to get to town and catch my bus. Bas tu pulak selow giler... Dari sana 11.30. pukul empat baru sampai KL. I was too tired to do the train thing. Just hailed a cab and headed straight home.

Guess I'd changed too much to ever go back to being a kampung girl. It's not so much the amenities. I can reorganise everything if I wanted to. I'm glad I stopped by to see Mak Ngah and spent time with her. It's just that I have a completely different life now. I have my own pad, I organise my own kitchen. I run the whole house, work, everything. I don't like staying over at anyone's place, even Abang's. I'd rather drive home in the middle of the night to my own bed. I think the word here is tak kerasan. It means something like not feeling a sense of belonging. I've always been a homebody. Guess now that I'm older, home really is where the heart is.