Some sweet and bitter flavours of me

Life can be full with such big ups and downs like a yo-yo string's swings.

Even more when I'm reaching another year older soon to complete a full year of huha-s in my life.

I guess there are some that I could be nice enough tonight to spill and share some with you guys;).

Here are some that I wanna store for long vs some that I wish to let go & forget:



Experience I wish to let go & forget:

<1> Worry too much about what's next after this - in studies, work and life;

<2> Missed the hangouts with my friends for meals/yamchas couple of times till they have perceptions that I don't take calories-hahaa;

<3> Not spending enough time inhaling the life and culture and friends in UK especially when da jie flew over & could spend some weeks in Birmingham & my childhood friend just arrived to UK from Msia;

<4> Budgeting from small items to big items. Can be devastating if u can't buy sth u really like cuz u overspent in other things; and

<5> Can't get my old friends out to catch up with our lives - we are too busy earning money to buy what we dream of having till we take friendship for granted & let go undervalued friendship.

Wonderful experience I wish to cherish for a long time:

<1> More open & receiptive to all sorts of comments & wider range of people I meet along my path of life;

<2> Getting the grasp of working life and better in managing bosses & lucky to meet great colleagues that stayed up just as late after work hrs;

<3> Completed my professional qualification successfully in Aug 09. That means, exited from late night classes after work hours on weekdays (3x a week) and full day on Sundays (2x per mth) and exam pressure (1/2yr once ) for time being;

<4> Long breaks during weekends or festive season so I could catch up with family, friends and myself; and

<5> Contented in life at times when it's supposed to be and feel alert when things don't go right.



Love-love-love,

KimoraIvyLeong

A surprise for me

Before TW came back from outstation, i texted 'im to say, "We have not been dating for a while. We need to do something nice when u return."

And we did. TW said he was gonna give a surprise to us.

"All you need is to just dress your best".

Good. Surprises are nice and boosts your happy hormones level once a while.

So much of dressing my best, I think I slighlty over-dressed. The only hint I got from him was to wear socks. Bowling? Must be already. We haven't been bowling lately and he has been complaining bout it. Cuz he can... bowl, n he must hv missed putting those pins Down... brr.

Wrong guess, guys. And I only got to guess the surprise correctly when we were on our way to the place. Who will guess that it would be Ice Skating...?! GREAT.

1st, I got the pants part right but I wore a less thick clothing for a cold place today. 2nd, my period is not fully over lar-h. 3rd, it's an old game of ours since 2-3yrs ago!

I tried negotiating wif him, Let's go shopping lar-h, I need a new office skirt. My idea was not working. Let's play bowling instead of a challenging game like skating lar-h. Plus, only so few skater-s. Not working either. Fine. Ice skating, as planned.

I skate badly. Could barely move to the other end. He, as usual, glide his way on the ice without much effort. Damn. What happened to my skills previously when I could glide all I want, without panicking on how to stop/ fall?

My fear level in me got less, until the next 0.5hr, when I wanted to slow down and bam, I collided onto him, and got my 1st fall. Buuu... at me. Was like a helpless baby when I wanted to lift myself up again. Buuu... at me for the 2nd time on that.

On the 2nd session, I felt my left ankle hurt a bit. Until not long later, it came to a point that every hit of my left leg on the ice, there was a continuos sharp pain on my ankle.

"Let's take a break", TW says.

"Yeah, I need that."

Cuz every move was an unavoidable pain. I checked and only to notice, I got my ankle blistered. GREAT. Now I counldn't even skate for the day. Bad bad bad.

I ended up observing TW skating from the outer rest area. Luckily all that happened after I got to skate a while, like for an hour.

At least I go against my fear to skate after 2 yrs, and glide as much as I could. I hope my next glide would be a better one.

Love-love-love,
Kimora Ivy Leong

Swim with the current

Rays of hope, a brighter future to come by...

Some tips I wish to share with you guys when you are facing with problems in life.

You got to also think that when you are facing a big problem, another person is facing as big problem as you, or may bigger problems. Try out some ways to encounter in the ways best suit you.

Here are some tips I find to be useful, sourced from http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/br_coping_with_change.htm:

Swim with the current.

When the wind blows, don't build windbreaks, build windmills.

If life gives you lemon, make lemonade.

When the river flows, don't just build a dam, put in a hydroelectric generator.

Stubborn rigidity may defeat you while flexibility may get you through the current.


Remember that it will end.

Every stream or river ends at a lake, sea or ocean sooner or later.
Then, you will experience stability and normalcy again.
Keep this in mind as you feel like you are being helplessly swept along in the current.

Remember, it will take a full year to adapt to the change in a different city, feeling like home, not until you experience every season and every holiday in the city.

Hope that helps those that are in need of some directions in their lives...

Love and Regards,
KimoraIvyLeong

some news about me...

What have I been doing since I last blog on june 3?
Let's see...Exam was a week after june 3, so the first week of June was basically study sessions.

It was a good break, to be away from office and to have a few days stay at hometown with parents. Not forgetting little brother's good drive treat back to Mlk. The worst traffic I experienced so far in NS highway! With only 1 small bao for brunch and empty stomach for the next 5hrs, *sigh. But lil bro sure did have a good plan to speed up our journey. Hee...

After exam, I had a great relief. But it was a quick 1 week study break, then back to work life- 5 days of working and 2 days of destress days.

Somewhere along mid of June, tw and I did a short trip to Taiping during the weekend. Damn it was so relaxing... Just staying on the clear road with awesome view of Lake Garden and all the short snacks we had was a good weekend treat already...Definitely looking more for short trips.

Last weekend, I was in Melaka to see my parents. I also wanted to catch up with 2 other long lost in touch friends, Joanne and Kian Min. I had a good women's talk with Joanne, but I missed the meeting with Kian Min. He was up in KL it seems...sorry I still din't quite catch you through the phone on why you need to follow ur dad up to KL when I was in Melaka wo...!

Looking forward for more meetings with my high school, college, and university friends. Just last night, I got an invitation to a bachelor's session for a college friend of ours who will be leaving for Australia to the arms of his dearest to-be-wife somewhere in a prosperous new year next Jan 2010! Cheers to you, Paul~!

Now I'm in the mood for an ice cream session...=) PP signing out.

What *fb worths...

I've known some friends who are constantly using *fb everyday; 8.15am, 8.20am, 8.29am, (breaktime-ie. work hrs). 5.31pm...and, so on.

Happened to browse through online and the value of what *fb is now is Amazing.....!

According to the source http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13754128, a Russian group bought a 2% stake of *fb for $200mil. If we calculate it correctly in our head, or... calculator, *fb's latest valuation would be a big, fat, amount of,

10 billion dollars!!!!!!!

Thanks to all of us, who have been patronising *fb, now we know a social website like this can worth so much.... 0.o

Gigantic white cookies experience

Last Friday, Aunt Monica came to KL and brought us 4 pieces of gigantic white cookies (2 pieces stick together as 1 gigantic piece) for Tak Wei and I. When Tak Wei's sister heard of the cookies, she got excited cuz it has been a while since she ate the gigantic white cookies. She said it is called, Melting Moments cookies.

I was so (?)clueless(?). Believe me, I have not seen that before. Must have been a kampung girl, for eating goreng pisang, and more goreng pisang all these years. What to do, we grew up eating Malay kuihs simply bcuz it's my dad's favourite! La la laa...

Anyways, I took a bite yesterday. Boy, it is so soft in texture, and melts right in my mouth, at my first bite . I didn't bother finding out what it was made of that day. Must be too busy online-ing other crappy stuff gua.

Anyways, I finally had some spare time today, so I went to check out more about the gigantic white cookie.

Here is what I found from Stephanie Jaworski's website http://www.joyofbaking.com/MeltingMoments.html:

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"Sometimes it is hard to decide which is better, Melting Moments or Mexican Wedding Cakes (Russian Tea Cakes). Both are round balls that are coated with confectioners sugar shortly after baking, and both are a shortbread-like cookie that rely on butter for their wonderful flavor.

But there are a few differences between these two cookies; one is that Mexican Wedding Cakes contain ground nuts, and the other is that Melting Moments replace some of the flour with cornstarch (corn flour) so the cookies literally "melt-in-your-mouth".

Melting Moments are easy to make and are perfect for those who like to do their Christmas baking early. They store very well, up to two weeks, but since they are so fragile I wouldn't advise shipping them.

As far as the ingredients go, because there are not a lot of competing flavors in this cookie this is one time when buying a good quality unsalted butter is advisable. Also, use 'pure' vanilla extract not the ones that are labeled 'imitation' as they are made with synthetic vanilla (from glycoside found in the sapwood of certain conifers or from coal extracts) and leave a bitter aftertaste. The best pure vanilla extract I have found, although it is quite expensive, is Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract that can be found in specialty food stores and by mail order. If your budget doesn't allow this expenditure or you cannot find it, don't worry, there are quality brands to be found in your local grocery store.

Incidentally, you may have seen Melting Moments that look very different from the picture above. Sometimes the dough is placed in a piping bag with a fluted tip and then piped into rosettes. The finishing touch is to top each cookie with a red or green candied cherry. Other times the dough is rolled into a crescent shape with the ends sometimes dipped in melted chocolate."

After reading the article, I still think it was my first time eating Melting Moments yesterday. I wonder if that's the one they served during CNY...still no clue till now.

Rgds,
Kimora Ivy Leong

Chocolate chip cookies' lovers, read this...

Hey,

Was browsing through some recipes on Sunday afternoon, and happen to read an introductory on the origin of choc-chip-cookies, a.k.a. c-cube. The article is written from Stephanie Jaworski in her article link http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChipCookies.html.


"The Chocolate Chip Cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. The story goes that one day in 1930 she decided to add small chunks of a Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough.

The cookies were an instant hit with her customers and word of their popularity reached the Nestle company. Nestle must have realized that adding small chunks of their chocolate bar to cookie dough would appeal to the mass market because by 1939 Nestle was selling chocolate morsels (or chips).

What a brilliant marketing plan it turned out to be when Nestle decided to package the chocolate chips in a Yellow bag and then bought the rights to the Toll House name and Ruth Wakefield's chocolate chip cookie recipe. They called her recipe "The Famous Toll House Cookie" and printed it on the back of the Yellow bag of chocolate chips."

Hope you will appreciate yr next c-cube bite after reading the above story...!

rgds,
KiMoRa iVy LeOnG