Posted by eirene83 at 03:38 AM on June 2, 2007 in Personal.

There's only so many tears that you can cry before it drains the light right from your eyes

1 onigiri

Future

Posted by eirene83 at 04:01 AM on June 2, 2007.

Ever notice how some people have this fascination for horoscopes, tarot, palm-reading... pretty much anything that claims to tell you about how your life might be or your immediate future?

I guess there's just something that makes people want to know about their futures or how their career/relationship/romance/whatever will turn out... I used to be like that; reading monthly horoscopes and wondering if it'd really come true... or reading yearly predictions and wondering how accurate it'll be...

But now, it's not that I'm not curious... but rather, I don't see how knowing will change things... Noo, I'm not being a fatalist. After all, I don't believe our future is set in stone... but just rather, would knowing really spur you to try and change? Or would you just think, oh it's going to end up like that... so why bother?

Though some people might claim, fore-warned is fore-armed... but still, I think I'll just enjoy my life as it is now since I already have more than enough worries... Why should I add to it by worrying about worries in the future??

Fruits Basket!

Legal language...

Posted by eirene83 at 04:34 AM on June 2, 2007.

Soo...

"Breach of condition essential to contract" isn't legal language but rather phrasing it in a common sense way whereas

"Fundamental breach of condition" is legally acceptable language?

O-kaayyy.... 

1 onigiri

Angst

Posted by eirene83 at 03:39 AM on June 5, 2007 in Personal as a favorite post.

Wishing I was anywhere but here...

Wanting to get out, away from this...

Fucking hate this situation...

Nath, thanks for reminding me... I am who I made myself to be... I had forgotten who that was... Someone who never saw the point in putting up with nonsense; liked being herself...

Tomorrow never comes... Live for today. 

Fruits Basket!

Consciousness

Posted by eirene83 at 03:40 AM on June 5, 2007 in Thoughts, Personal.

I think as a whole, we are just way too worried about what we think others are thinking about us. Frankly, I personally think the rest of the world couldn't really give a shit about us since they're probably too wrapped up in their own worries about what everyone else is thinking about them...

So the question is... if we are all just too bloody wrapped up in our wondering what people are thinking about us to even bother thinking about them... why in the bloody hell did anyone ever start being conscious of what other people were thinking??? 

1 onigiri

HP Fic of the Week

Posted by eirene83 at 04:46 AM on June 5, 2007 in HP.

Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow
By: November Snowflake

Fruits Basket!

Posted by eirene83 at 02:41 AM on June 6, 2007 in Personal.

1 onigiri

Much Love

Posted by eirene83 at 04:07 AM on June 6, 2007.

Wahey people, I'm back!

Feels good after getting that bit of rant-y angst out... Sorry if I've worried a couple of you out there... thanks for your concern, dears... Much love!

But yeah... am feeling much better after harping about it for quite a long while and being all 'illogical-ly' and 'female-y'... Plus warm hugs and good food make good therapy!

*big grin*

Much love!!

1 onigiri

Blueberry Muffins - Cheat

Posted by eirene83 at 04:35 AM on June 11, 2007 in Recipes.

Ingredients:

1 pack muffin mix
70ml water
1 egg
50ml vegetable oil.

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in an electric mixer for 1 minute on low speed.
2. Scrape down bowl, add the oil and beat for another minute.
3. Bake at 200^oC for 15 minutes.

Wheee, mixes are so convenient when you feel like baking without the hassle of measuring and weighing and sifting! Plus I can't be arsed to go out and get a couple of punnets of berries to chuck into my cakes, muffins and cookies.

For one thing, I can't seem to find fresh berries on the market...

And for another, do you know the price of fresh berries??? No way am I chucking those into the oven! If anything, they're going straight, raw, into my mouth.

Anyway, these are nice... but just... white. It's probable due to the dried berries so there wasn't much juice to dye the batter... but it's so weird seeing a blueberry muffin that white. Still, not too bad... Less of a stick-in-your-mouth texture compared to the Gardenia ones.

Fruits Basket!

4 In The Morning

Posted by eirene83 at 04:36 AM on June 11, 2007 in Music - Songs & Lyrics, Personal.

Waking up to find another day
The moon got lost again last night
But now the sun has finally had its say
I guess I feel alright

But it hurts when I think
When I let it sink in
It's all over me
I'm lying here in the dark
I'm watching you sleep, it hurts a lot
& all I know is
You've got to give me everything
Nothing less cause
You know I give you all of me

I give you everything that I am
I'm handin' over everything that I've got
Cause I wanna have a really true love
Don't ever wanna have to go & give you up
Stay up till 4 in the morning & the tears are pouring
And I want to make it worth the fight
What have we been doing for all this time?
Baby if we're gonna do it, come on do it right

All I wanted was to know I'm safe
Don't want to lose the love I've found
Remember when you said that you would change
Don't let me down
It's not fair how you are
I can't be complete, can you give me more?

And all I know is
You got to give me everything
And nothing less cause
You know I give you all of me

Oh please, you know what I need
Save all your love up for me
We can't escape the love
Give me everything that you have

Fruits Basket!

Strawberry Coconut Muffins

Posted by eirene83 at 04:38 AM on June 11, 2007 in Recipes.

Ingredients:

60g butter, softened
50g sugar
1 egg
90g self-raising flour
¹/₄ cup milk
2 cups grated coconut
1 cup strawberry chips

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg.
2. Add flour and milk alternately to butter mixture.
3. Stir in coconut and strawberry chips.
4. Spoon into muffin trays and bake at 180^oC for 20 minutes

Okay... so maybe this wasn't so much of a muffin as a tart, minus the pastry shell... But it's still a damn good... urm... piece of... baked good!

So I might have gone overboard with the coconut there... but for me, coconut is like chocolate... You can never have too much of it. So yeah, less batter, more coconut; exit coconut... something. Hehehe...

And I thought it went rather well with the strawberry chips. Got them from a speciality baking store but hadn't have the chance to use them yet until I thought of making a coconut muffin with it. Anyhow, this is nice, not too sweet and has a rather crumbly texture but that's actually just the coconut.

And because of the amount of coconut I chucked in, this made 10 small muffin rather than 6... and you can actually spoon the batter to almost the top since they'll sink almost immediately upon cooling. Me likey... and funnily, I see a lot of other food blogs with recipes for something coconut based! Me happy!  

Fruits Basket!

SMART

Posted by eirene83 at 04:39 AM on June 11, 2007.

Row row, row your boat;
Gently down the stream

Check out the rain! It's been raining so freaking much now that the floods are horrible...

Of course, during the first round of floods, all the authorities were saying was that the SMART tunnel was built to handle storm floods and not flash floods...

Come the second round of floods, now they're saying that oh, actually the retention ponds aren't ready and that's why the floods are happening...

Smart of them eh?...

Merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Fruits Basket!

Posted by eirene83 at 05:00 AM on June 11, 2007.

Sucky thing about being sick (not that being sick isn't already sucky enough by itself...) is how you could either be down with something totally boring and normal... or something potentially less boring and normal... and probably won't know it since the symptoms are the same.

It's like oh look, cough; sore throat; body aches; joint pains; fever... You could probably just be having a cough... or it could be dengue... or bird flu... or something... and ya know what? It's still pretty much the same symptoms!

So... play it safe and act paranoid? Or just use the usual tidak apa (I really couldn't care less) attitude?

Well, I've got a fever of 39.3^oC now... so it's either something normal... or in a couple more days, something not so normal, if it's still around...

1 onigiri

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Posted by eirene83 at 05:26 AM on June 11, 2007 in Recipes.

Ingredients:

7 oz chocolate
1.5 tbsp water
6 eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
220g butter softened
2 tsp grated orange peel
120g flour
Powdered sugar

1. Melt chocolate with water over double boiler. If chocolate looks thick, whist in an extra tablespoon of water.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and creamy. (I think the proper term is blanchir)
   
3. Fold chocolate into the egg mixture.
4. Stir in softened butter and orange peel.
5. Fold flour into the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form, stir 1 heaping spoonful of chocolate into whites and mix.
7. Pour into chocolate mixture and fold gently.
8. Grease and sugar a 10" pan, bake at 325^oF for 80 minutes.
9. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake.

Wheee, new recipe, me likey!! Can't remember where I got this from but it turned out an absolutely scrumptious cake... Rather greasy when I first took it out (it was actually bubbling) and the paper I lined the pan with was translucent...

But this is a really great cake. It wasn't insanely rich; just this nice chocolate-y flavour with a strong hint of orange. I suspect I went wrong somewhere with this since it's actually supposed to be dense and rich... but I like how it turned out; kinda spongy without being overly so. Thinking of lacing it with Cointreau next time...

Nice nice cake... Not too sweet, not too rich; great taste of orange instead of just blandly chocolate (Nothing wrong with chocolate... Sometimes I just like to taste something more than just chocolate)... And so moist...

Fruits Basket!

Headache

Posted by eirene83 at 03:59 AM on June 15, 2007.

The fever's gone... and it's been replaced by this absolutely brilliant headache. Sheer masterpiece of a blinding headache...

And I mean that literally... I see spots in front of my eyes. And the throbbing in both my temples are enough to make me sick... Again, literally.

Urgh...

Looks like I still can't put away the Panadol... 

Fruits Basket!

Wrong Number

Posted by eirene83 at 04:11 AM on June 15, 2007.

I'm actually really curious... How do people still end up calling the wrong number nowadays, especially when they're calling from their handphones?

Okay, so maybe it could be someone gave them the wrong number... Or they entered one or two digits off while dialing... Makes sense... but thing is, I got calls from people looking for their god-mothers... and it's spaced like a month or two apart... So it's kinda puzzling...

Don't they save the phone numbers or something? Or did they just forget to edit the number?

Chances of getting a wrong number nowadays is really small... but I see it still happens quite a bit... Well, to me, anyway  

Fruits Basket!

Form 5

Posted by eirene83 at 04:18 AM on June 15, 2007.

I had a relatively... interesting conversation today... and I've been told I look like a Form 5 kid... Well, I mean... not that I look 17... but the whole sweet, demure thing going on...

Jeezz... words fail me... I was talking with a veteran CLP resitter (veteran = middle aged, working, sat for the CLP several times) when another girl came over... the type who looks party-ish and a little wild... After which the veteran commented, speaking as a man, that guys would look for girls like her... but they would probably marry someone like me.

Coz I look like some Form 5 student.

/sweatdrop

Something about having looks that guys apparently want to settle down with.

So I've just been given an assurance, that when I start working... I'd probably end up married within 3 to 4 years... Since guys would probably be pushing me to get married...

/sweatdrop

Speechless... 

2 onigiri

HP Fic of the Week

Posted by eirene83 at 05:01 AM on June 15, 2007 in HP.

Second Chances
By: kishijoten

Fruits Basket!

Cream Of The Crop

Posted by eirene83 at 03:18 AM on June 18, 2007 in Thoughts, Personal.

Sometimes... being good just isn't nearly enough. Sometimes, the only thing that will do; that will get you anywhere... is to be the best of the best. The cream of the crop...

And then sometimes you wonder if you'll ever actually be that good no matter how hard you try; how long you work; how much you practise...

But that all doesn't matter... because even though it's bloody difficult, it's still something that has to be done...

And sometimes... that's what it feels like sitting for the bloody Certificate of Legal Practice. 

4 onigiri

Promises

Posted by eirene83 at 03:30 AM on June 18, 2007 in Thoughts, Personal as a favorite post.

"Promises are made to be broken... and lies are meant to be kept."

How often have we all promised something, only to break it... sometime.. eventually? How many of the promises we've made in our lives have we actually kept? One? Two? All? None?

It's so easy to promise... and to lie... but between the two, it feels like sometimes more effort goes into protecting the lie... making sure it never gets found out... Lie upon lie, stacking on each other... until you have no choice but to keep to the lie.

Yet, that same effort doesn't seem to go into promises... Sometimes it feels like promises are fair-weather friends. Easy when things are good but ditched when things get bad...

Cynical, yes... but still I can't help but wonder... If promises are made to be broken... then I would rather have no promises...

Instead... Just be.

Fruits Basket!

To Use And Be Used

Posted by eirene83 at 04:45 AM on June 20, 2007 in Thoughts, Personal.

I guess a lot of the things that I talk about here are just situations that seem to be unique to me... It's hard to explain unless you've been hanging out with me a lot... during classes and library sessions and just gradually absorb the things that go on.

Some things provide for interesting gossip (Yea, we gossip. Best way to while away those 15 minute breaks while grabbing some energy drinks.), like the psychopath I mentioned earlier this year (Okay, I know it's mean to call him that... but dammit, he brings freakiness to a whole new level!)...

So the latest gossip between Gary and I... is another mutual friend from Sheffield who hangs around us... when she needs study tips... and comes running up to me, being all cheerful and bouncy, and asking to go yum cha and sit together... because I'm the first female she's seen in awhile... and comes gossip with me... because her other friends aren't around.

Gary and I both know that she's in a way just using us because no one else is around... and we both know that she's honestly just too nice to even realise what she's doing... (She called up Gary to share some good news and said, "Yea, I'm really happy about this... I called up all my good friends to tell them immediately..." Sounds good, no? Except she called Gary 2 days later...)

But somehow... we don't really care. Can't say for Gary but for me? Yea... I couldn't care either way... Not because of what, but because accommodating and entertaining her doesn't require extra effort on my part. So yes, I just go along with it. But it's just a fact of life; people use.. and are used... by everyone else... Only difference is how you view it and whether you accept it...

And in a way, according to Gary, this is apparently also why guys think I'm interested in them when I'm not. Because saying yes doesn't take extra effort on my part, I don't say no... And thus when I don't reject them, I'm apparently encouraging them. 

Fruits Basket!

HP Fic of the Week

Posted by eirene83 at 04:54 AM on June 20, 2007 in HP.

A Moment In Time
By: The Shadow Bandit

Fruits Basket!

Posted by eirene83 at 04:58 AM on June 20, 2007.

Huh... I just checked... and realised... I've got people doing my Johari window... except I have no idea who they are!

Anyway, whoever you are, appreciate you all filling it up... :D but would love it if you could let me know who you are....

No point knowing what you think of me... when I don't even know who you are.

Fruits Basket!

Pet Peeve

Posted by eirene83 at 05:02 AM on June 20, 2007.

There are so many little things that I can't really stand... My pet peeves, I guess you could say.

Like, when someone is head bopping... without listening to any music. Just looks plain freaky... and a little distracting having something bobbing up and down just at the corner of your eye...

Really minor... but that's what pet peeves are all about, isn't it? Minor annoyances that get to you more than it would others...

One thing I really can't stand is people blabbing off when they really don't know what they're talking about... Okay, I mean, yes, everyone does it... but somehow there's just something about it that irritates the heck out of me when I hear someone say something that just screams, "Smartass!"

I guess it just really irritates me when people say something... without really thinking about it and just making assumptions. Flippant remarks tossed around... can sometimes cause a lot of damage... I suppose it's because I feel like they don't know what they're talking about and tossing out casual remarks when they don't really have any ground to stand on...

Ah well... Pet peeves... we all have 'em, like it or not.  

Fruits Basket!

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Posted by eirene83 at 05:25 PM on June 25, 2007 in Personal.

When do you decide to stop being adventurous and to just stay? When do you know that you want to stop trying new things because you've found something you really like?

You always hear people going, "Oh, I feel like trying out that new Turkish restaurant" or "I'm thinking of giving yoga a try". It's all perfectly acceptable, isn't it? Trying out new things; not sticking to hum-drum routine... And if it's someone who's supposed to be set in their ways, you'd just think; Good for them! Being brave and trying out new things...

Perhaps... once you've found it, all doubts and fears will vanish; you won't be asking questions anymore... You'll just know... that this is it.

1 onigiri

Ghost Of Lovers Past

Posted by eirene83 at 05:29 PM on June 25, 2007 in Thoughts, Personal.

We've been haunted by them at one point or another in our loves and relationships. I'm talking about the ghost of lovers past. Perhaps more with females than guys, we tend to think and mull over it to the point of obsession...

What was he/she like?
Is there any flame still being kept on the back burner?
Did she used to smile at him, the way she's smiling at me now?
Does he feel the same thing with me now, bringing me to this place where he once brought her?
[All rhetorical... I still remember the last time I wrote something and everyone thought I was writing about my life...]

Not everyone's like that... Some really just don't care since the past is the past... But for a small select few, it really goes beyond mere jealousy of past lovers... It's literally fascinated curiosity mixed with dread and yes, envy... The paranoia that maybe we're a shadow, a replacement. The fear that maybe we just don't quite measure up to the ex-lovers. The ache knowing that it's a period of time spent with another that will forever be inaccessible to us.

Whatever it is... it's there. When she has that look in her eyes when she's saying that she loves you. When he takes you for a romantic dinner. When you go for a holiday in a place either one of you have been before with a previous lover. That quick thought, "Did they once...?"

1 onigiri

The Wating Game

Posted by eirene83 at 05:30 PM on June 25, 2007.

Ah, the wonders of Internet... I had this snippet playing in my mind for the longest time and all it took was the time to get my laptop started and connected to find out which song it was from.

If you love me, let me know
If you don't, then let me go
I can't take another minute
Of a day without you in it

Ah, the waiting game. The "I'll dodge right and you'll dodge left and we'll forever keep missing each other" game... Miscommunication, misunderstanding... either accidental or intentional...

I think I mentioned this somewhere before... The road to hell is paved with good intentions... The intention is for the best... Someone meant well... but sometimes it can get so incredibly skewed and miscommunicated. A natural disaster that only humans seem to manage.

And what with the perpetual dodging and never actually saying out something... You get the waiting game. A tangle that just gets worse and worse with each good intent and each silence-laden conversation. Until it gets so terribly messed up that you can't ever sort things out again. But some tangles just need to be tossed aside for a while and when you tackle it again, you find that magical knot that seems to unravel everything. But sometimes not...

And you wonder what with all the leaps and bounds people have made in communication technology... it's still the one that can get so beautifully, easily messed up.

Fruits Basket!

Puke...

Posted by eirene83 at 05:31 PM on June 25, 2007.

Exams are drawing extremely extremely close and the common question that I've been getting, especially from the library regulars are, "How's things?"... Typically, I'll shrug, grimace and say it's okay or something... and they'll nod and totally understand what I mean.

It's gotten to the point where, at 3 weeks to the exams, you're pretty much screwed if you're just starting your revision (unless you are the type who studies best last minute) or you've doing your nth time revision of the topics and feel like chucking your books out the 2nd floor library.

It's actually pretty rare to find someone who'll confidently say, "Yea, I'm ready... Don't think studying any more will help." Most of the regulars, veterans included, are doing topics over and over... and frankly, the only person I've heard say they were ready... was Gary. Verbatim, "Yea... If the exams were tomorrow, I could probably sit for it... I'm ready." *gag*

So it annoys me a little when I get people making fun of me studying... Sitting for the CLP is dicey enough as it is since studying hard and smart doesn't guarantee a pass and having to redo it just doubles the pressure. So it gets to me when jokes are cracked about being the last to arrive, first to leave and sleeping all the way through...

I don't want to be asked about how my revisions are going because I can't say anything other than it's okay and I don't know if that's going to be enough... Okay?

Fruits Basket!

GLOMP!!

Posted by eirene83 at 05:33 PM on June 25, 2007.

Whee!!!

Boing boing boing boing!

Hahahahahaha this is just so, so cute!!!

6 onigiri

Posted by eirene83 at 02:58 AM on June 27, 2007.

Did anyone catch that commercial on TV? The Malaysia, our country, our dearest homeland one? I heard it on the radio first before actually catching it on TV... and I have to confess, something really puzzled me.

You had this Chinese guy saying how he could have satay-la, char kuey teow-la and chappati...

Great. Cool... Malaysians enjoy different types of food.

Then it ended with an Indian guy on a bike saying he could speak Malay, Mandarin or Tamil (? I can't quite remember...)

Great. Cool. We're multi-lingual.

But what got me puzzled was between the Chinese and the Indian... was a Malay women, nicely tudung-ed... saying she can wear the baju kebaya, cheongsam and saree... But while it was her voice, what flashed on screen was a Chinese lady in a cheongsam... and you guessed it, an Indian lady in a saree.

Sooo... what's that all about? Multi-racial, multi-lingual, can enjoy food from all races but can't wear other races' national costumes?

1 onigiri

HP Fic of the Week

Posted by eirene83 at 03:26 AM on June 27, 2007 in HP.

Dragonweed
By: Penguin

Fruits Basket!

3 Weeks, 21 Days

Posted by eirene83 at 03:56 AM on June 28, 2007.

Quite often, I get people poking fun at the way I make distinctions for the tiniest little things... Splitting hairs basically...

Yeah well... what do you expect?

As it is, some of the topics under CLP makes a distinction between 3 weeks and 21 days... (And if you manage to figure out the difference, bravo for you!! You are now splitting hairs... and maybe you'll actually see that there is really a distinction between the two!)

Lol, so really... it's not my fault that I've gotten into the habit of interpreting things differently.

2 onigiri

Steamed Cake

Posted by eirene83 at 03:59 AM on June 28, 2007 in Recipes.

Ingredients:

1 cup Planta (margarine)
1 cup sugar
21 pieces Jacob's crackers (Cream crackers), finely crushed
5 eggs
Flavouring; eg Milo, instant coffee, pandan paste

1. Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the crushed crackers and stir well.
3. Add the eggs one by one.
4. Divide batter and add flavouring to taste.
   (You can use anything you like. I've done combinations of Milo and coffee; plain and chocolate...)
5. Pour into cake tin and steam each layer for 10 minutes and the final layer for 20 minutes.
   

I remember I got this recipe from my BM tuition teacher back in high school. We had classes at 2 on Friday afternoons, so sometimes she had a little snack for us in case we didn't have time for lunch. It was an extremely easy recipe, but I think I was the only one who attempted making it ... The others weren't too interested.

I used cocoa powder and cinnamon this time around... Any combination that works really. The more you use, the stronger the flavour. It's such a fuss-free and simple recipe. Measure out margarine and sugar, crush biscuits, combine with eggs and flavouring and steam. No hassle and relatively easy cleanup.

Only requirement is to keep watch on the water; you'll probably need to top up once or twice during the steaming. And be careful when opening the cover since the steam will be wicked hot. Oh and cover the cake tin with a plate or towel to prevent the water droplets hitting the cake.

Lovely, simple and moist... And flavours are only limited to your imagination. You can even do a simple one-flavour cake instead of layering, if you like!

Fruits Basket!

What A Laugh

Posted by eirene83 at 04:13 AM on June 29, 2007.

Anyone read the papers about how this judge was saying the quality of lawyers was on the decline? That even the Bar Council agreed there was a decline in standards and thinking of introducing a common entry exam?

When I read that, I commented to another fellow veteran, "Gosh... Only about 100 of us CLP-ers pass each year... We can't be polluting the Courts that badly "

My friend snickered.

'Nuff said.

Fruits Basket!

Transformers

Posted by eirene83 at 04:28 AM on June 29, 2007.

Exam stress too much... But it's a fantastic feeling revisiting childhood memories and rediscovering it through another's eyes...

Sometimes you just get so used to something, you don't really enjoy it any more... I guess it just needs a little freshness to inject excitement back into it...

And then you'll find that hey, it really isn't all that bad... And you walk away from it, having a blast!

Fruits Basket!