Buffetting : Another 5 Day Hiatus

Hitting Hong Kong tomorrow! Hopefully I don't kill myself there with all the good stuffs lounging around!

Just packed up 6 hours before I hit the airport *teehee* hopefully those Hongkies don't pop their eyes seeing me la!

PS: I've registered for another 10km run under Bank Simpanan Nasional's Putrajaya Night Run!

Buffetting : 20th Birthday

I told myself multiple times that not being to celebrate my 20th birthday overseas since the dawn of the thought to study there is truly pathetic.

As pathetic as I am now, well celebrating it in the home country is still certainly delightful.

The Queen's gang called and asked for a mini reunion cum birthday celebration, so I'd suggested Chilli's in Empire because of the huge ad they have opposite the mosque in SS15. So ganged away there!

Hanging out with a bunch of boonheads was certainly fun, because I am a boonhead too! It has been so long since we had the time to get around and spend some time together.

Dream nachos!!!!!

Back in Form 6 we practically see each other EVERYDAY, including Sats and Suns because of tuition. And being with them again, at least reminds me that I'm still alive, inside.

As for the family, we spent our afternoon in Daidomon of Great Eastern Mall.

I would say its promotion was a total rip off, and I didn't quite enjoy my time there.

Can you believe this is total of 14 servings????!!!!

What's worst, the director is too much of a stingy weasel he'd actually used himself as the model for the ads. He's so so looking, but still I see that as cheap.


The food was also so so, I think spending the same amount of rm40 per person in Rakuzen should do an even better job.

Overall, 20th birthday was just dainty, but celebrating with the gang and family was still something worthwhile.

So now for 20th birthday wish, 21st birthday overseas!

Buffetting : Retreat!

Okay so the past ten days was like, a heck of a roller coaster ride for the mind.

Why?

I was in a retreat!

For?

Vipassana Meditation!

WHAT???!!! (WTF is THAT?!!!!)You need help go counseling or something la!You are still so young!

Uh, its more like self-discovery and development, so no one but yourself can help.

So anyways, lets bust some myths before I proceed to the experience.

Myth#1: Meditation retreats are for old hags!!!!
Busted: Actually, apart from the 3 jokers like us who went there are in our 20s, there were 2 more dudes. Apparently, one of them has already went for 3 retreats previously, and he graduated from Imperial College, Chem Engineering. Not so the-old-people hor?
*whisper* its for despo people la. Apparently, there are also retreats for young kids in their teens, 13 onwards.

Myth#2: It's like living in a jungle with caveman facilities!!!!
Busted: I was living in the jungle, but the facilities sure tops the ones we can even get in the metropolis in KL. No weird stains or foul smell,great air-conditioned rooms, great halls, and seriously, what's better to have a house in the scent of nature?

Myth#3: You probably eat like only grass, or probably grass-like food only!!!
Busted: The whole hermitage is supported by the fund of town folks or devotees who practices Dhana(Pali word for giving), so the monk and yogis(meditation practitioners) takes in what we are given. Curry, stewed pork, eggs and all you name in I've eaten them. Though vegetables do take a larger portion of the buffet table. Plus, the monk order never said they can't take meat, its some weird law created byMahayanese Buddhism I think.

Okay I manage to think of 3 myths till now, so I guess more will come when I do explanations.

So back to why was I doing there. Well, the Monkey J and Dog T wanna go for it, and since I'm the next joker in line who is practicing the Dhamma with them, I too signed up for this.

It was a 10 days retreat, and since we were beginners we are given the privilege to stay together in a kuti(Pali word for hut).

3 of us block heads thought that it was gonna blissful, yet little do we know, the pain behind the meditation is just, yeah.

I wouldn't go to the details, probably bore you out because of the differences in out mentalities.

But one thing is for sure, its really an eye-opener.

The whole point of going for a meditation is to know yourself, or more like your mind.

Yea, people out there will tell me,

"Omgee you don't even know your mind??!!! LOSER!!!!"

Yea, wait till you try the meditation out for yourself.

Day 1: We started out later at 6 because of check in and all sorts. 1 hour of sitting and standing and we hit 8pm for Dhamma talk.

Day 2: The mind start to fuzzle because of the biological clock adjusting. Sleep at 10pm and wake up call at 4am ain't as easy as it sounds, even it was a 6 hours sleep. The questions of "Why the Blocks Am I Doing Here???!!!" repeated in the head during each sitting and walking. Unwholesome thoughts of giving up arose, but my job was to just take not.

Day 3: Things settled but the thinking never stopped, because that is the nature of the mind. Walking was fun because the mind can note lotsa stuffs including the left and right walking, lifting and dropping, the sensation felt on the floor, the noting of thinking was easy and unclinging myself from the thinking and back to walking was a breeze. Sitting, however was tiring because the objects to notice were so vague. The rising and falling of the abdomen and the sensation of the body were hardly anywhere close to CLEAR and mind wandering is just so easy.

Day 4-Day 8: Interviews were held and questions were asked. Same ol same ol. Walking gets easier by the day and more sensations were felt. However, sitting was getting harder, and the noting of the pain on the body during sitting could only last maximum for 7 minutes. Thinking still comes in, and sometimes almost half of the sitting was spent on singing mind.

Day 9: A day before hitting home was surely exciting. But I wasn't really hyped up because of the matters I would need to deal with again after the retreat. The thinking on both walking and sitting became much more intense, noting them seemed to be even tougher compared o the past 5 days. Yet, it is the nature of the mind, and Bhante(Pali word for teacher) told us to accept the way, hence I allowed the thinking, with an extra effort to note them when thoughts arise.

Day 10: The final day, mindfulness somehow was harder to conceal, probably because of the desire to pull ourselves from the retreat already. Had a great time talking about Dhamma with Bhante and Sister Ivy about mentalities and beliefs. I was glad to come for the retreat.

I wouldn't say it was a pleasant period, because the effort you need to just notice your mind and watch them, accepting them as the way it is by NATURE is truly immense.

Seriously, I wouldn't be able to express these experience by typing, because the whole experience was so hands on, people need to have the urgency to come and see for themselves.

It truly reflects the true nature of our minds, in which they resonate so closely with scientific explanations.

The meeting of conditions, action and reaction, impermanence.

It's like physics,chemistry and biology class all over again.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, it was an enlightening experience.

Still far from my own Enlightenment, but I will strive hard.

Probably a 10 days retreat every sem break for 5 yrs in med school.


Crazy? Well, at least the creatures in the retreat ain't as harmful as the human out here, with all their absurdities they have in their minds.

Well, time to be back with reality. IELTS post soon.

Buffetting : 10 days hiatus

August have been such a busy month, I totally should have divided all my activities this month evenly for the past 7 boring ones.

Anyway, I'm leaving for 10 days, so no updates till then.

Where? It's a secret, until I'm back.

By the way, birthday was so so this year, people celebrated, but not that significant.

Oh well, what do you expect for birthdays when you are 20 right? Pinata parties?

So, in 10 days time then~

Buffetting : Peanut Butter-ish Brownies

Weee! It's my birthday today!! Happy birthday to me!!! Anyway, this post ain't about the birthday, will post some updates on it after this post~

I've always fancied baking because they are much more easier and manageable compared to convention cooking with fire and oil. So, I've decided to try out baking homemade brownies from some guide by this lady from The Joy of Baking.

And the whole thing turned out great.

So lets get to the cooking part.

For the base:
125 grams of unsweetened choc. In my case I used some ciplak brand, so its still sweet.
125 grams of butter, unsalted.
1 cup of white sugar.
3/4 cup of plain flour,
2 eggs.
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
1/4 tablespoon of salt* seriously optional*

So, making the base was totally easy. *PS: Decided to make them all into passive to suit my lab report practice XD*
0- Preheat the oven at 165 degrees celcius.
1- The choc and butter was melted with a double boiler. Those without double boiler can always heat a bowl under a pot of water for same effect.

2- Once melted, the mixture was removed from heat and sugar with added and stirred till dissolved.

3- Upon dissolving, 2 eggs were added and stirred, one at a time.
4- As the mixture thickens, the vanilla extract was added, along with the flour.

5-*Optional* Diced cashew nuts was added into the mixture
6- The mixture was stirred till it stiffens, and was transferred into a 20cm square pan.

7- The mixture was then baked under the temperature of 165 degrees celcius for 30 minutes.

I think the cashew nut baked in the oven totally flooded the whole dining room with a blissful scent of bakery. Seriously, I thought I was role-playing as a pastry chef or something XD

Once done, let the baked base left for cool, and proceed to the Ganache( Frosting )

The ingredients used for the frosting was simple:
125 grams of semi sweetened choc
1 tablespoon of butter
80ml of whipping cream
*optional* 1/4 cup of granulated white sugar. If you don't fancy sweet, skip it.

Cooking was also simple:
1- The choc and butter was heated using a double boiler till melted.
2- The whipping cream was then added, and the mixture was stirred till even.
3- Granulated sugar was added and dissolved.
4- Once a smooth mixture is attained, the frosting was added to the brownies.
5- The frosting was spread evenly using a spoon.

To allow the frosting to freeze even rapidly, the brownies was placed into the ice compartment of the refrigerator.

Upon then, cut them into pieces and serve!

I totally have a pastry chef lying dormant in me. The feedbacks were okay, some said nice, some said it should have been more bitter.

It's the first time, so hopefully the baking goes better later on. Btw, the brownies really do smell like peanut butter after a while. I wonder if the nuts and butter had some chemical romance to produce this baby?

Bleh, so wait for the next post on the birthday food then!

*Sheesh august is all about food, I think I gained like super weighs*

Buffetting : Creamy Mashed Potatoes

So I'd promise the elder sis to make her some mashed potatoes some time ago, and thanks to all the busy errands and university documents, I've only managed to make some today.

The whole process was easy, and I've just used everything I get from CHOW.com

Ingredients:

8 potatoes, with odd sizes. +/- 1.5kg
1 packet of cream, just the normal cooking ones, not the whipped one.
25g of butter, to let it have good aroma.
Salt to help disintegrate the potatoes while they are boiling
Pepper to taste.

Not much utensils used, just the boiler and strainer.


Okay, lets go~

1. Peel the pots, DUUH
2. Rinse them, to get rid of the starchy surface and easy grab during dicing.

3. Dice them up to about the same size, so that they boil at the same rate(chemistry 101!)
4. Heat up the diced bits to boil in the pot, and simmer them up to 25-30 minutes till the pots slides off upon knife slice.

5. Drain them, put them back in the heated pot.
6. Put on low heat to dry the pots, at the same time start mashing them.
*I have no potato masher nor ricer, so I had to use my faithful ol' wooden spoon*

7. Add in the butter. *this is when you smell corn in cup*
8. Slowly add in the cream once the potatoes are in pieces, then stir under the heat to allow the potatoes to absorb the cream.

9. Finally, add in pepper to taste. Once the whole texture becomes silky, turn off the heat and serve the MP in any dishes you like.

*Garnish if you want with basil, choves or some greens. I had no greens, so everything turned out to be, well, yellow*

Well, I'd to say my first attempt is great.

It better be, I watched the video for at least 2 times in order to get the procedures right. I'm totally the type of person who love proper procedures and predictable results.

Surprises? I hate them.

Well, I've got to learn if I ever wanna be a doc in action.

Buffetting : Washing Machine Mojo

The whole house is practically falling apart right now.

First the leakage from the parent's room.

Then, the leakage from my room, not to mention flooding in the bathroom.

After that, the washing machine couldn't perform the "SPIN" function.


Geez I spent like half an hour trying to figure out which part of the machine went wrong only to find the lid wasn't detected.

Something came off the lid, but I'd really have no idea.

As handy man as my identity is portrayed in the house, the parents somehow expect me to know what went wrong.

Yet, they were pretty understanding this time when I told them, seriously I can't do anything.

In my small heart I whispered an excuse," I wasn't a washing machine graduate man, don't have expectations,"

Anyway, the nice old technician dude came over today and fixed it within 15 minutes.


It was some magnet detector thingy which fell off the lid when the new maid started to "vandalize" the machine.

I'm not certain if she'd really did that, but that piece never fell off till she came!

Anyway, just another boring day again, will update on some social thoughts soon.

Buffetting : SLSE

Super Low Self- Esteem.

Well, its like you can only take so much blows in a day.

First is the sucky running shoes experience. Apparently the left side of my shoes is failing me and running 8 minutes on the treadmill totally wore my feet out, not legs.

Second is the low motivation in pump class. Geez, there ain't as much energy I do before.

Third, the skin texture of the body is like totally disastrous. Scars and stretchmarks and new MOLES everywhere. WTHELL.

Fourth, the sucky hair! What is with the growing sideways, seriously!

Fifth, lost cable and thumb drive. Holly miss molly, where the heck did the freaking case go??!!!

Okay, I really need to be positive right now. Gotta go crash then be positive.