there she goes

never thought that baking macarons can be very technical.

last year i went to a macarons class and was so overwhelming once i tasted the scrumptious and pretty looking macarons after the class finished. up until that time, the only macarons that i usually bought was from whisk empire as i rarely buy online. even aaqilah and natalia love macarons from whisk. i once bought from a kiosk in klcc and sadly, they're quite disappointing. i've tried once from a kiosk in metrojaya mid valley, and they're also not really satisfying although looked promising. so i thought, why it's such a big hit?

since i'm not a patissier and have not much experience with macarons, my opinions are solely based on my personal taste and what i think is good. to me, a perfect macarons should have this crispiness on a thin layer of skin but won't easily break when you have a bite. the softness inside the shell holds the sandwiched macarons but it's not soggy. surprisingly, a chocolate lover like myself prefers salted caramel filling macarons over chocolate ganache, but i think chocolate praline filling is one of the best i've ever tasted.

my first attempt with macarons was like a week or two after the class. based on my performance in the class, i was confident that it could work. nah, i was wrong and demotivated just after 1/3 of the process. my meringue wasn't consistent as it should have been, and as i suspected, most of them were flat and took so long to cook. i guessed i was clueless at how long it takes time to cook perfectly and the experiment was quite a disaster. but what i've started must be completed not matter what was the end result, hence sandwiched the shells with ganache fillings, and put them neatly in container. my spirit was lifted a bit as my sister told me it tasted quite good contrary to the looks.

so i had another go last 2 weeks. i prepared the raspberry jam filling the night before and went quite smooth. i thought ok, this is a good indication. the process went smoother, the meringue was quite a success with the extra help from sister, the part-time baker. even when i piped the macarons, they all looked good and i was quite confident that finally i've started to conquer my fear over previous attempt.

wait until they're in the oven when i've started seeing something went wrong. macarons are not like cakes so basically they're not supposed to rise during baking, that's what i thought to myself. pray hard, i really hoped that at least i could get enough for cake decoration.


oh my god, look at these. couldn't say that they're a failure but it's more to something that wasn't work out as expected. however, they're tasted as good as the cute ones, see the following ;)


what went wrong during the first round was basically due to my less experience with macarons. although i did performed well during the class, never forget that it was conducted by a very experienced chef and we were taught in the heart of a fine dining restaurant. the atmosphere, equipment, everything was in a right place.

hence, i had better prepared myself as i knew what should and should not do. i managed better in a more timely manner, and technical aspects were improved too. so why did most of macarons become fluffy was quizzical to me, but i think every techniques applied must be precise. i'll let you know once i have become better next time.

so, back to the test kitchen to achieve perfection!

hh : bihun soto ayam 1, teh 3 layer - 1, awak nak apa bby?
oh : hmm michael jackson - 1
all : ah? (suprising)

rupanya michael jackson is soya + cincau. available at warung, mid valley, in front of fos. wah ni iklan free heheh

Intentionally my next destination after putrajaya was tasik titiwangsa.

if you're not really familiar with putrajaya ringroads and puzzle about getting to other places from putrajaya, just drive by following KUALA LUMPUR signage (it's a basic knowledge right). as in my case, i was going to kl and got oddly confused with the blue and green KUALA LUMPUR  signage. all i wanted was to get to mex with no hassles.

so, if you're having the same issue as i was yesterday in finding your way to mex, just follow the green KUALA LUMPUR. if it says KUALA LUMPUR - PLUS, i can assure that you're taking the right exits. what i wasn't sure was how far it took me from precint 4 to the mex exit.

only when you do it on your own that makes you value the hardship of driving.

p/s: the power of blogging - what about that? i'll post soon aight =)

Robin: I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?
Barney: I guess cause you're almost as messed up as I am.

demam..

this song was featured at the end of disaster averted, it felt right, no.

last week on andrew zimmern's bizarre food
singapore

dalam questnya mencari makanan yang unik dan bizarre di seluruh dunia, antara eaterie yang dilawati oleh pakcik botak ni ialah big d's kitchen. menurut owner, dia specialize in peranakan food, resepi turun-temurun yang diwarisi oleh familinya. alaa nama supnya yang super pekat aku tak ingat, contains animals internal organs all mixed up together. direneh dalam 2-3 hari gitu. kemudian akan dimakan bersama sejenis balls iaitu hati babi bungkus.

skripnya lebih kurang laa ye

------------------------------------------------------------
a.z - and what do you call this?
b.d - hati babi bungkus
a.z - hati babi bangkus (dalam pelat american accentnya)
b.d - menceritakan bahan-bahan dan cara membuatnya.. bla.. blaa..

bila tiba time makan, mestilah dia nak try the balls first kan.

a.z - the most bizarre name it got in the world, but tastes unbelievably good.
-----------------------------------------------------------

aaqilah - qiyah nak
moi - hish mana boleh, haram..

pengaruh tv, semua nampak macam sedap. sampai aaqilah pon mintak sama.. kalau bergedil or meatballs tak pulak dia heran, heh.
 

i have what it takes, now it's time to deliver and believe in yourself.
go get it tigress!!

well, today i'm gonna take public transports and wish me luck y'all
many thanks

buffet, very tempting akan tetapi stick to reality lah.

merasa jugak aku nak berbuka kat luar tahun ni. last year i was left behind due to my confinement period. time tu o.h pergi gathering kat jm bariani in ttdi area, sesat without a hp. duk ulang alik giant call orang, tapi only managed to reach after 9. gathering berbuka dah jadi supper kat kedai mamak plak.

sabtu, aku suggested jm bariani, ni semua pasal o.h jugak yang bercerita ada kawan kiterang cerita kat dia jm beriani rm30 kat bangi. terasa nak berbariani pulak. since kiterang dari hukm, so dia kata pj area is better option. aman damai, kau boleh walk in hatta sudah pukul 7. takde orang sangat maa, kiterang dapat meja sikit punya besar. buffet for him, ala carte for me sebab aku nak ayam goreng rempah dan wajib teh 3 layer. buffetnya is rm25, tapi ialah dia pon tak banyak option sangat. teh tarik dia sedap =) dapatlah ku menumpang satu gelas. o.h menyatakan yang dia sendiri sudah tidak mampu berbuffet lagi. kalau dulu-dulu boleh habis kambing 2-3 pinggan, aku rasa sekarang dia makan 2-3 ketul pon dah berpeluh-peluh. huh, kalau blackout kan saja je cari nahas.

semalam aku kasi can dia pilih, aku kata aku ikut je la. dia kata jomlah italiannies pulak. nasib baik ada meja kosong lagi, kes walk in pukul 7 juga. hehe afdlin shauki pon ada ye. dia lalu je, semua orang pandang dan bisik-bisik including us too. sebab utama aku bersetuju ialah teringatkan airnya yang bottomless. haus gila. memang 5 kali aku refilled. ada buffet juga, tak silap rm42. o.h surrendered, dia kata tak larat. lagipon mungkin main course yang kurang hmph pada dia. aku pulak sikit lagi nak amek semata-mata nak kek. tapi ingatkan diri sendiri yang aku mesti akan struggle nak habiskan punya. jangan ikut perut yang lapar dan nafsu makan semata ok.

aku sendiri pon rasa orang cam aku ni rugi je makan buffet. kalaulah o.h tau yang aku cuma larat habeskan chicken wing je waktu zaman buffet mcd dulu. tak berbaloi huhu

in my personal opinion, looking for jobs in malaysia is way harder, and i don't even started on the interview processes yet.

since the first interview i went last year, they're all like hell.

first interview. the technical person was oversea and we did the interview via teleconferencing. the guy bombarded me with all the technical questions, i didn't know if i was supposed to feel relieved that we're not doing this face to face or feel bad at my performance. the 2 hr people before me seemed sorry looking at how painful it was. or, maybe they felt that it's a big mistake shorlisting this phony, mana tau huhuhu

this is what i discovered, if you're applying for developer jobs, a test is mandatory. last week alone i had to sit for 2 java tests. seriously, macam nak amek periksa. the first one was like, whooooo a 2 ++ hours test. a lot of terminology that i can't remember. i still remember the person from that company told me, ok this test is supposed to be difficult. yeah, he's right.

the other one was a lot easier. no 1, objectives kinda questions. boleh main tembak je. no 2, 100% amek dari buku periksa mana aku tatau. i think i scored quite high, that's what they told me.

back when i was looking for jobs in uk, i didn't attend many interviews (i didn't get many as well). the interview was more like chit chatting session. i did not feel the pressure to study hard, it's more on  stuffs that i hope to feed in during conversations. there's a test once, but it's more on hands-on thingy rather than paper based exams. my manager told me once, what he's looking for apart from skills and abilities is the personality and your attitude. i guess i got good attitude and personality then ;)

i'm going to give myself up until end of this year to get a really really good job. alas, adieu it corporate world..

dirompak, checked. recently one more added, dicopet pulak.

at first, aku rasa agak reluctant untuk blog citer ni. tapi sebagai pengajaran dan peringatan untuk korang semua, aku rasa why not to share kan. yela, asyik-asyik cerita tak baik je, takdenya yang seronok dibaca.

location: sunway pyramid (mng)

ok, next time kalau window shopping kat sunway pyramid, silalah berjaga-jaga.

kiterang merayau-rayau kat s.p sabtu malam bebaru ni. naik atas, keluar masuk kedai, dan last sekali singgah nak beli donut. aku insisted nak bayar, at first glimpse wallet aku takde. mungkin tetinggal dalam dashboard aku fikir, so o.h bayarkan. kiterang cepat-cepat gerak, mood aku pun tak best.

dalam dashboard takde. aku dah start pening sakit kepala, dan mula track balik kat mana last sekali aku pegang atau nampak wallet. pagi ni on the way nak balik semenyih aku keluarkan duit nak beli nasi lemak. hipotesis o.h, mungkin tetinggal kat gerai nasi lemak, sebab dia tak rasa nampak purse waktu lepas beli nasi tu. bertubi-tubi soalan dia kasi, all lead to the heaviness of my sakit kepala. what happened in the whole day, i couldn't even recalled.

aku mintak tolong dengan people of semenyih, semuanya cakap tak jumpa. merata-rata dah derang tolong carikkan, dan nasi lemak theory was again brought up. kredibiliti aku terjejas, nampak sangat aku ni klutzy. down betul gua.

jadi ahad pagi tu o.h pon tolong cekkan maybank2u aku. and what he discovered was quite interesting. kredit aku sume kena blok. terus aku call maybank and informed them what happened. aku pon tanyakan laa sekali what's up with my cc. kata mereka, sunway customer service called in to report.

jadi kiterang ke s.p. alhamdulillah jumpa purse tapi sedih part was duit sumer gone la. rezeki geng pencopet untuk shopping baju, itu teori aku. s.p customer service cakap colleague derang jumpa kat mng and returned to them. antara modus operandi derang ni, memang kat kedai-kedai yang sale sebabnya sale akan attracts orang datang berduyun-duyun. jadi bila ramai-ramai tu, derang akan macam gang u up, mungkin akan terlanggar kau accidentally. apa yang terjadi memang aku tak perasan langsung. mungkin sebab handbag aku yang takde zip menyenangkan kerja derang ni. walaupun isi dalam beg tu boleh tahan bercampur aduk pon derang berjaya sneak a peek kat purse aku.

kata o.h perempuan ni memang senang mengundang bencana. handbag pun macam-macam pesen dan saiz. kalau pakai yang tali panjang punya possibility untuk diragut. yang besar ada can kena toreh.

apa derang ni ingat aku banyak duit sangat? haishh.. next time aku nak pakai sloppy gile, jalan lenggang kangkung je. kad kredit sorok dalam spender hahahahaa (ok lawak je)

terima kasih sangat laa derang ni, tak pepasal aku kena replace kad atm and kredit kad yang membuatkan aku kena charge around seratus lebih.. tak pepasal kan..

seriau I
lokasi, dalam lift hospital, dari gf menuju tingkat 6. aku, baru balik dari koperasi hospital beli suratkhabar. sedang mula nak tekun layan headlines papers, dan mula nak seriau once terbaca satu berita ni, sila rujuk seriau II di bawah. all of a sudden, lift stop bergerak serentak dengan lampu padam. berderau seh. perasaan seriau mula menjalar. within 5-7 seconds, lampu hidup semula, terus abang yang dalam lift tu picit alarm dan informed yang lift suddenly stopped. lift tak bergerak, dan terasa macam bergerak turun ke bawah tapi tingkat 5 tu macam tak berubah. oklah, dipendekkan cerita, tak sampai 5 minit kemudian lift bergerak balik dan aku akhirnya sampai kat gf. tapi perasaan dan pengalaman selama 5 minit tu macam beberapa jam ye. once sampai gf, aku cepat-cepat keluar lift. rupanya lif-lif yang lain pon macam problem. seriau dengan lif, terus aku panjat tangga sampai tingkat 6. ketar lutut beb..

seriau II
ok, sapa baca paper hari ni mesti perasan ada satu berita pasal baby 9 bulan yang jatuh tingkat 3 tu. seriau saya rasa. probably sebab aku ada baby about the same age. memang headline sajalah yang aku baca, tak sanggup nak layan the whole story. nanti aku rasa blues. dalam kepala aku boleh terbayangkan pulak insiden malang tu.. nauzubillah..

seriau III
ye, ini adalah entri special perasaan seriau. tapi adakah penggunaan aku tepat dan betul?

menurut pemahaman aku, seriau tu macam kau rasa ngeri, gerun, frantic yang bercampur aduk jadi 1 perkataan yang paling sesuai ialah seriau.

menurut kamus dewan pulak, perasaan ngeri atau seram (kerana melihat luka yang besar dll); 2. kd ngilu (rasa yang tidak enak kerana gigi dikikir dsb).

ye, pemahaman aku betul ;)

stress management

satu masa dulu aku kira dengan spending. tak kiralah on groceries, atau accessories. nak makan apa, nak masak apa, belasah je. merayau-merayau nampak baju comel, kalau harga ok, aku rasa aku beli je tak pike panjang sangat. in fact aku pernah hadiahkan diri sendiri lipstick sebab tengah down. weh, jangan tanya sejak bila minah ni pakai lipstick haha

lately, antara terapi yang aku rasa menenangkan ialah basuh dan jemur baju. sangat bersemangat. lipat kain ok lagi, tapi tang nak menyimpannya, aduuih super slow like a sloth.

anda bagaimana?

cerita 1
budak-budak ni demam bersama-sama. hidung berair alhamdulillah getting better. demam pun makin baik, tinggal batuk je lagi. level eleh aaqilah naik sikit, tapi dia jadi less aktif dan bila napping di siang hari lagi lama. natalia pulak marah-marah sebab hidung sebu agaknya. lepas makan ubat batuk/selsema dua-dua lalok..

cerita 2
bebaru ni aku call wisma putra nak tanya pasal borang w natalia. borang w ni ialah macam official surat beranak untuk kita register as warganegara malaysia, yang kita kena buat first sekali then baru bole proceed untuk pape proses, contoh nak apply passport. nak jadi cerita, less seminggu dari sebelum kiterang balik ari tu, boleh pulak orang high commision london tu terperasan ada typo kat borang w natalia, tak pepasal natalia ni jadi tua setahun (as in 2008 when it should be 2009 pada dob dia). setelah berjaya diconvincedkan aku post balik ke london tapi entah macam mana kiterang tak sempat nak dapat balik. setelah jejak menjejak, last sekali aku dapat tau yang borang w tu dah on the way ke malaysia, cuma sekarang tak confirm dah sampai ke belom. yang aku rasa agak depress dan quite upset dan juga sepatutnya aku kena expect wat can you exect from gov servant. minah yang tak berapa helpful, tak berapa friendly juga dan at some point aku rasa macam tengah nak bergado pon ada. atau dia memang camtu? atau dia yang rasa aku macammana impression aku towards dia? atau aku yang syak wasangka tapi apa pon hasilnya tak memberansangkan.. aiseh..

cerita 3
ada cerita besar sikit masa lagi. kita tunggu confirmation dari tuan empunya diri la dulu ye ;P

cerita 4
takde orang panggil interview pun huhuhuhu

cerita 5
apa hal dengan template aku nih? tak pepasal ada error plak, dem..

demikian adanya..

aku masih jobless, masih mencari dan menunggu dream job. bila laa tu?

akan tetapi, mungkinkah ada sesuatu coming soon?.. insyaAllah.. hehehe aku takmo kecoh-kecoh dulu, cheh, konon...

officially it's all begun

cheh macam apa je, padahal baru nak mencari kerja. ye people, saya baru nak mencari kerja semula. inilah antara proses yang boleh tahan agonizing akan tetapi exciting dalam masa yang sama. nak kena pergi interview balik, ish malas boleh tahan. akan tetapi dalam masa yang sama juga ialah peluang untuk mengasah semula skills yang sudah agak rusty itu. tak pergi maka tak cuba. tak cuba maka tak merasa. ada rezeki ada lah melekat tu, insyaAllah..

o.h ada menasihatkan aku agar menjadi lebih poyo dalam menjadi kerja idaman. bby awak kena cakap pung-pang pung-pang, jangan jadi pessimis, jadilah over enthusiastic. cakap biar berapi dan nampak power walau hakikatnya awak tatau apa. apa yang awak tatau itu kemudian cerita, kita blajar dan cover baek punya. kalau boleh kasi slang berbelit-belit lidah ok, jangan tak terbelit. orang yang modest ni macam susah je.

isk isk inilah dilemanya. aku tak pandai berlakon. kadang tu bila nak menipu je cepat sangat terkantoinya. haish..

jadi siva, lina adalah kawan baik baru aku sekarang ni. hi siva, hi lina..

bismillah..

notakaki: aku ada rasa guilty kat sorang kawan aku ni sebab decline last minit. so sori ye =(

mata gatal,
hidung gatal,
sakit tekak,
selsema,
achum achum,
resdung??
allergic?

biasalah aku kalau kat sini, aku tau aku tau ada bunyi mengada tapi itulah hakikatnya. memula aku nak gi oversea dulu seriously aku agak bimbang kalau nanti-nanti bersin tak henti-henti. siap bawak segala ubat-ubat sinus related kang kronik saya jugak susah. tapi alhamdulillah, hidung tak gatal, mata terang, bersin pun jarang-jarang.. ooo itu laa ubat dia kut huhuhu

ahhh gue tensen. plan jangka pendek nak gi buat facial resdung. plan jangka panjang, apa lagi melawat doktor la jawabnya untuk treatment dan obat-obatan.. hmm

aku notice yang ramai kawan-kawan aku samada jauh atau dekat, rapat atau biasa-biasa je tengah expecting this year atau maybe awal tahun depan. statistically speaking dan yang menarik gak aku rasa, 3 years ialah age gap yang aku perasan.

personally aku rasa, 3 is quite nice. dia dah boleh faham, kita pon dah lebih faham dia. macam-macam ekspresi dan respond yang kita dapat, dan yang boleh kita expect dari the first born. kadang-kadang tu beyond expectation pun ada. jeles tu biasa laa, dah biasa sorang-sorang tiba-tiba muncul seorang lagi yang pastinya dilayan dengan super lemah lembut. maklumlah, very delicate.

itupun aku rasa, banyak lagi signals dari aaqilah yang aku rasa perlu lebih banyak belajar camne nak handle with care. ini sikit-sikit tak sabar je, mana nak pandai huhuhu.. psikologi kanak-kanak ni boleh tahan kompleks gak.

dari pengalaman, aaqilah semakin less bercakap since natalia ada. doktor kata, itu tanda-tanda jeles. haish..

will give you three, it's a magic number

this is it, the inevitable..

no matter how hard you work towards your favor, if it's not gonna be, it's not gonna be..

sewaktu aku menulis entri ini, kiterang sudah memulakan proses mengemas barang-barang ke dalam kotak. nampaknya kotak pindah-pindah yang ada pun sudah habis, kena cari kotak atau beli kotak keras lagi. kudos kepada o.h kerana usaha dan kerja kerasnya semalam mengemas baju dan kain-kain, serta membuka 2 unit almari baju dan sudah ready untuk diflat pack later. aku? dalam keadaan sekarang yang dapat tolong ialah mengangkut baju dan memilih mana nak masuk kotak dan mana nak masuk luggage.

setelah 4 bulan kiterang berjaya delay kepulangan, mungkin kali ini kena balik jugak kut isk..

hampir terjadi drama hari ni..

dengan mulut masin o.h kiterang ingat something big akan terjadi hari ni. apparently belum masanya.

tanda-tanda awal dah mula keluar. kita tunggu sajalah esok, atau lusa atau beberapa hari lagi ye

;)

swine flu, h1n1 watever you call it
mamat teammate sebelah aku ni, yang kiterang selalu borak-borak kosong dan bergelak ketawa tak sihat baru-baru ni. siap boleh buat lawak, hopefully it's not swine flu.
lepas dia balik rumah tengahari isnin tu, sampai hari ni dia tak datang kerja lagi. doktor dia kata in case swine flu, kuarantin kat rumah sampai fully recovered. concern gak dia dengan aku, suruh pergi jumpa gp. so far orang lain within the bay area masih sihat. pening kepala dan risau gila advisor dari school of psychology (projects kiterang, maka main financial support dari situ) sebab sekarang kiterang mengejar release dateline pada awal ogos.

all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
aku tensen betul dengan kulit aku sekarang. sebenanya mungkin aku yang malas jaga hahahaha jadi jangan salahkan produk okie. jeragat atau bintik-bintik hitam (aiyo aku tatau apa nama dia) semakin bermaharajalela ni. pastu kulit macam agak dull lagi menampakkan aku ni makin dull. duh..
aku geram ni kang abis laa (diri sendiri juga).. apa yang habis? poket sendiri juga huhu

reaching 36
sebenarnya belum lagi tapi next week bakal masuk phase yang agak mendebarkan. once you reach 36 weeks, expect the unexpected, chewah. baby sudah matured untuk keluar, samada dia tak sabar-sabar nak keluar atau takmo keluar. aaqilah itu hari 38w+4.. kita tengok yang ni camne pulak, are u gonna break kakak aaqilah's record or u gonna stay put?
oh ya, since next week will be my 36 weeks, maka next week ialah sesi birth chat dengan midwife.
sekejap je kan, aku pun macam tak berapa percaya ;P

doakan semua sihat dan selamat amin..