Who's the good cook?

When I was a lil girl, I had a passion in cooking. Those days…there was no AFC, hence aside from Wok with Yan and some other seasonal cooking programmes (e.g. for Raya), thus every Sunday noon, I’d glue my butt in front of the TV for the cooking programme-Kuali, hosted by Laila Johari.

Usually, I’d keep my hands ready with paper and pen to jot down the ingredients and how-to’s of preparing the dishes. Most of the time, I focus on desserts as I love ‘em very much.

The recipes were copied into an exercise book that I turned into a ‘cook book’ together with the pix that I drew of how the dishes should look like.

Unfortunately, not only that I didn’t get moral support from Mak. Yes, I realize that there’s no way that I could turn any of the recipes into edible food. But, she even condemned and demotivated me, saying that I wouldn’t be able to be a good cook, as I don’t even have the experience to do so.

Well, it was saddening… considering the fact that she’s the one who never trusted any of her daughters to help in the kitchen. To the most, we’d only be given simple tasks like peeling the onions, or stirring the mixed ingredients in the pot. That’s all. So, who’s to be blamed if Along, Yone, Ina, myself –none of us doesn’t know how to cook at all?

Anyway, Allah granted us the basic skills to cook at least. Alhamdulillah…so far, neither Along’s family and nor mine have been admitted to the hospital after consuming anything we cook. And there are more times when I receive compliments from MrHubby on my cooking, rather than critics. I might not be able to cook nasi beriani, laksa, mee bandung, etc. (bcoz I haven't tried) but I can now cook Western, Italian, simple dishes and desserts.

So, who cares if my childhood dreams were once laughed at?

Tips/strategy to be the Prom King/Queen

No...no... I wasn't the one!!!! Pls read the entry to the end.

As I have been touting last week, I had a faculty dinner last Friday. Well, it wasn't a great one. *sigh*


The setting was grand! Yet it seems like the participation/attendance was a bit poor, plus I feel like only certain people are being 'celebrated'...esp. those researchers (in agreement with the Uni's aim to become an RU).

Anyway, I promise, next year is gonna be my year!!!





Well, that nite... as encouraged by my fellow bloggers frens, I wore my bluish purple dress as u could see in the pix...

It's nice to see most of the faculty members put extra effort to look their best, not to mention some fashion victim :P

I arrived early with DrWan (as scheduled in the tentative) and took a seat next to the former Deputy Dean & Dr Harinder.





We chitchat and I didn't get up of my seat until the event ended, although part of me really wanted to go around and say hi to some people.

I believe that's the reason I wasn't noticed, besides the lacking in terms of my contribution to the faculty.

Wak Lempo, the Jamu Nano guy.

Joget and saturday nite fever by the admin team.

Hey, I don't mind not getting the Prom Queen title, as I don't wanna be paired with the narcisstic Prom King. Hahaha.
But the Prom Queen wore a dress with a black inner, which I think is only half-elegant.




So, the tips/strategies to make yourself in the limelight...

1. Wear something nice, though might seem overdone.
Don't be afraid to apply a 5-inch make-up or fake eyelashes. Wear bling-blings as much as possible. It's better than u appear as the sloppy one.

2. Arrive a bit late, so others notice how well u dress up. This was my biggest mistake. So, lessons learnt.

3. Else, u might have to walk around, chitchatting with others. Although u might have to excuse urself from the table, go mad cam-whoring. Ignore others if they are staring sternly at u.

4. If no.3 makes u look desperate, tone it down by doing a performance. This is an indirect way to be in the limelight. Nevertheless, make sure u don't fool urself with silly performance like a clown.

5. If no.4 is not possible (bcoz u have stage fright or u just don't possess the talents to sing/act), do something significant for the Faculty, that'll make u go up the stage. E.g book publication, research, gila research, research lagi, lagi-lagi research...etc. Hahaha
Hahaha. This particularly applies to my workplace. Very the poyo!




Hmmm....As I said, next year is gonna be my year.
I mean, not to be a Prom Queen, but I'll go up the stage for something I can be proud of.

So u think u can dance?

Actually, I love dancing very much. From the traditional joget, to modern ballrooom dance. I used to watch Strictly Dancing (in OZ) and now I love it when there's Sehati Berdansa.

Last 2 nites, I watched So U Think U Can Dance, the reality show. I just love to see the contestants swaying their sexy slender hips to the beat of the songs. Whoah!!! So graceful!

And I realize Cikebum has also developed the same passion. It has been a few times that he stretched his arms towards me when I was watching the dance shows.


I tot he wanted me to dukung him. Instead, he insisted on tilting and inclining together with me!!!

Galak betul! Siap lembik-lembikkan badan lagi to let me bend him backwards. Hehe. Dari mana lagi le dia dpt penyakit galak nak menari tu? :P

Looking back, I could have been good at salsa by now, if I shared my passion with C.fu before. Err... I mean salsa the dance, not the the tomato-based spicy sauce.

That's bcoz he too, loves dancing! Aha! Pakcik tu nampak je ganas (mati aku kalo C.fu baca nih!) tapi bab-bab nak jadi romantic ni, x agak-agak!

And I was the unfortunate one for not having the courage to attend dancing class with John, my classmate or to find a friend to go together.

Well, salsa might sound a bit flashy on me. It requires a good partner to move together at fast beat. But hey, I also love tap dance!

I wish I could put on the tap shoes and clack across the floor. It's nice to 'hear' the dance and to control the music we make with our own feet!

How to tap?

Step 1

Put on your tap shoes and some cool music.

Step 2

Start by tapping your toe to the beat. Do this faster and faster to build strength.

Step 3

Brush the ball of one foot forward and then back to shuffle.

Step 4

Step back on the ball of your right foot and step on your left (or vice versa) to do the ball change.

Step 5

Brush forward with the ball of your foot and step on the ball of it for the flap.

Step 6

Do a cramproll by jumping up and landing with your feet. Do this in the following order: Land first on the ball of your right foot, then the ball of your left foot, followed by your right heel and, finally, your left heel.

Step 7

Step with your right foot and touch your left toe behind it for the step toe.

Step 8

Learn the stomp. It's similar to stepping, but you hit your foot on the ground to stomp and then lift it off (placing no weight on the foot when you stomp).

Step 9
Perform the shuffle hop. Do the basic shuffle with your right foot and, leaving your right foot in the air, jump up.

and if it didn't work...

Just do this...."Hantam-sajalah-Labuuuuu-step" :P

Deep Blue Lense-copy paste contest

This is a very easy-peasy contest. Let's try our luck!

Just copy n paste...

AND click on the pic above or HERE for further details.

Deadline is 6th Dec 2009.

What I love most is the prize...
* outdoor shooting
* 1 photoshoot session for 1-2hrs
* 100-150 shots (+ 50 edited pics) in CD
* location around Shah Alam & Putrajaya only

And guess what, they are offering a very low introductory price of RM50 for their service too! So, if we are not lucky enough to be selected by random.org, we are somehow still lucky to be offered such a reasonable price!

Hmm..so now I can start daydreaming :P

Compliments that complement

When I meet new people, I always introduce myself with my short name, Is... bcoz I believe not everybody could remember my full name, although it is just an 8-letter-word. Yes, my full name is just made up of 8 letters, simple and not overdone like most kids nowadays.
Anywa, back to the introducing with nickname...it particularly applies to international people I meet, bcoz I believe they might find it hard to articulate a Malay name.

But hey, I was wrong.
Yesterday, upon hearing my full name...my newly found Iranian friend (from the iCeL2 conference) said "Is that a Spanish name?"

:P

And that wasn't the first time I got such a response. There were times when they replied with "That's a beautiful name! U shouldn't have use your nickname."

or
"I like ur name...Is******, Is******" (mumbling my name a few times).


Well, to be frank, I used to wonder how did I get my name. The first two syllables synchronize with Abah's name-at least that was what I thought...until I asked Abah personally.

I got to know that actually the first syllable is of Abah's name, while the second syllable was of Mak's. Aha!!! How come it never crossed my mind for the past 29yrs?

So, I asked Abah about Along's name. Hers sounds similar like mine (the first two syllables) and again, I was surprised to know that it is generated from our parents' names too!

Owing to the similarity of pronunciation in our names, whenever her friends were introduced to me, they would make a wild guess "Oh...so, is your brother's name Iskandar?"

The fact is no. His is Mohd Firdaus.
And none of my younger sisters got such names too. They were given beautiful and meaningful Arabic names that I wish I had.