*Update* on the 'disaster' .. =p

Lamenye la haaaaiii nak update on disaster aritu kan hehe.. actually, it should have stopped there and then but dlm hati sgt tak puas hati coz I'd been planning on it for so long now. Kecewe gile bile bende dah lame planned tak jadi camtu je. Perasaan tak puas hati tu la yang lead me to go find jugak strawberries and the cooking choc that I liked (memang tinggal SATU je pun choc tu mase tu)..

When I realized the shop still had a couple of boxes of fresh strawberries and the cooking cho yg I liked, dah mule nmpk 'light at the end of the tunnel'.. cewaahhh, over la plak Ayu ni hahah!

So balik umah and did all the work all over again. Spjg mase tu, hati dok takut je klau tak jadi.. mode crossing-fingers je setiap step tuh. Risau okay.. especially tang nak angkat the cake after pouring the choc ganache and masukkan dlm kotak a.k.a the-step-that-broke-it..

..dan Alhamdulillah la bile in the end, jadik jugak cake ku itu.. yeayyy! Trus je rase hari menjadi lebih cerah ala ade rainbow merate langit dan burung² seakan berkicauan dgn riang (Okay, sgt over!)

Though the choc a bit cair la and the strawberries pun dok main slide² kat choc tu. I used toothpicks to secure the strawberries on the cake.. pastu boleh tak terlupe nak cabut semua hahah..

So tadaaa.. this was the final outcome of the birthday cake (toothpicks and all)

Suke okay.. tetibe sy over lagi dari org yg besday. Dia relek je tak heran pun ngan cake ni hahah..

Anyway, here's the picture of the 'experimental' cake I did on the Saturday before yang dpt kat bdk² umah no 40, Yun's family and Awang.

Ohh.. the cake 'patah' also jadik rezeki ramai org len: Kay, ahli umah no 40, Irnis and Zabidi hehe.. dpt la diorg rase hehe..

As for orders, ni order form Farah for her neighbour yg nak a mix of pink and blue (sy konpius sbb sy tak reti nak buat campur² kaler sgt.. usually pair ngan putih je pun)

..and ni plak cookies untuk Khatam Al Quran anak kak Nurul. Actually couldn't do the fancy schmancy cookies sbb my cutters tertinggal kat umah.. sib baik la ade cutter heart kecik² ni so I packed 3 in one bag.

And finally, ni gambo order from kawan Jaja. Kene deliver to Bkt Pancur. Dia nak same design with the one I did for Mama.

Thanx for the order ye, Iefa!

Brg free ☺

Bende lame nak update tp asik tadek mase kan. Just nak menayang freebies I got these past few weeks.

1st: Freebies from RedFM. Orianthi CD and special edition guitar picks by her. This I got during Ramadhan but only received last week.. then I also got 2 movie passes (patutnye 4, tp anto nye 2.. aishhhh)

2nd: Souvenier from friends yg pegi Sabah aritu.. aiii, bile la bleh nak gi sane?

3rd: Buah tangan dari Mekah from 'Haji' Rashid.. mude² lagi dah dpt jemputan ke tanah suci.. sgt jeles, hokey! ☺

Morning disaster =(

I got a new recipe the other day, a Mudcake recipe. I've always loved those types of cakes and couldn't wait to try so when I got a perfect reason to try it out, musti la suke kan..

But it was a bit leceh (which I didn't mind at first) coz I had to find some cream cheese yg thankfully dah senang nak dpt dah kat sini even with the lack of big hypermarkets and also some fresh strawberries (to give some zest to the chocolatey cheesy taste yang boleh memuakkan sesetengah orang). Luckily Kay told me where to find them but I had to pre-book the strawberries since this place ws the only place that provided fresh strawberries.. takpe lah, sanggup la jugak kan.

Then there was the question of choc ganache. I've never really mastered making the choc ganache and to find the cream for it was also, thankfully easy as the cake store sold them. Jgn harap la nak dpt kat Billion ke Econsave ke kan. Then came the question of what choc to try since here you dom't get that many choices of cooking chocolate. I've tried a few brands that have been too sweet or a tad bit too bitter and haven't really found the perfect cooking chocolate that suits my taste.. hmmm, takpe jugak lagi, masih ade mase nak experiment last week.

And thats what I did last Saturday, did my first experiment of the Mudcake and was so happy it turned out okay. Managed to get a lot of 'guinea pigs' like bdk² umah no 40, bdk umah no 12 and also Yun's sister's family who came down town on Saturday and I got good reviews..

Fuh.. lege! So I thought, takkan ade problem la when I wanted to execute the actual project last night.. :(

I was singing happily, looking forward to making it again..

1st disaster, the chocolate I used (I'm NEVER using that one again) seemed to harden a bit too quickly even if I used the same amount of cream as before (different choc brand sbb Sabtu tu I used the bakery punye and next time pun nak gune yg tu je lah). I couldn't get a smooth finish and it was all lumpy.. dah rase kecewe dah ni..

..but I thought I could cover it up with the strawberries.

Finally, it was ready and I was happily trying to move the cake into the cake box for delivary this morning.. that was when the major disaster struck..

My.Cake.Broke.Into.Half.

Uwaaaa.. ape ni?!?! I was blinking tears dah awal tu when I realized the choc+cheese topping was slopping down on the sides of the cake and the strawberries were falling off of it but when the cake broke in two, tetibe je jadi emosi and I couldn't seem to stop crying like its the end of the world ke ape tah..

..and yes, this morning I went to school with swollen eyes!

Frust nye sy.. experiment aritu jadi je.. why the real thing became a disaster, sy pun tak paham. Padahal the reason I did the experiment on Saturday was because wanted today to be perfect. Now I have no cake for today and I'm still feeling so frustrated with myself.

Hati masih sedih ni..

Suke duke kelas cuti sekolah..

..tajuk entry tak leh blah! Hahah..

Anyway, its the fourth week of class and another 2 weeks to go. Thought I'd have my classes figured but.. aishhh.. heheh.. mcm² perangai la diorg.

Class in Pt Buntar has around 30 students, mostly from boarding schools and dominated by girls. I have at least 2 ex-students in that class (I taught them in form 1). As usual, Pt Buntar classes are the noisy ones.. but a lot less than my class last year. Ok la, suke jugak ☺ They make me laugh most of the time as opposed to being afraid of my class two years ago hehe..

As usual, I get the questions on which school I'm teaching and all that, to which I'd just smile and tell them, "Rahsia!" Abis la kang klau diorg tau sy bkn cikgu sebenar.. ala² cikgu palsu gitu hahah..

Then my class in Jawi, though usually quiter than Pt Buntar but noisy nonetheless. But this year, suprises of suprises, diorg mmg senayp giler wpun dominated by male students. Serius! Boleh ke, when I give them any excercises ke ape ke, diorg buat dgn sgt senyap. The expression, "Its so quiet, you could hear a pin drop" sgt lah boleh apply in this class. Sampai I takut nak gelak or ape ke sbb terase sgt bergema suareku selepas itu.

Earlier, they didn't even talk in class and it was kinda strange coz students kan suke sembang. But now, rajin jugak la diorg nak bersembang dlm kelas.. we got into an 'argument' on the Malaysia vs Vietnam match the other day haha.. Then one day. They heard my UpinIpin 'Btul³, salah!' tone when I got a message. Pastu mule la dengar tone Doraemon and Kim Possilbe plak dalm kelas hehe.. sabo je lah bdk² ni ☺

A disadvantage of my school holidays is I 'get to see' the Teacher-From-Hell almost everyday.. sheesh! Sgt tak suke, ok.. I wrote about him dulu --> here

I was going to my class, right next to administration counter, when I realized he was sitting there. I wanted to pretend I didn't notice him when tetibe je dia tegur my register (which I had wrapped in Butterfly wrapping paper). But since I've always been 'allergic' to him, I couldn't even manage a smile, let alone a decent reply. Lantak ngkau la.. Sy dah tak larat nak buat baik ngan orang yg suke cari pasal ngan kelas sy bertahun² dah. I've lost respect for him eversince he pinched my Indian student just because of her race.. bangang!

But a plus of it was: I got a boost of confidence regarding my teaching! Hehe.. ye la, I know la to some people, bende kecik je. But to me, it meant the world when a mother came to see me after class asking if she could 'chup' me for her daughter's tutor next year coz her daughter kept talking about how much she understood maths after being in my class. Sangat made me senyum sampai telinge, ok ♥

And also made me smile was when even students kept asking me if I'd wanna teach them again next year. Believe me, nothing beats that kind of compliment.

Well, another 2 weeks to go before I bid goodbye to most of them.. till then, I'm gonna enjoy my classes and look forward to every single one of it.

Alhamdulillah.. thank God for my classes this time around. No complaints here ☺

Nape sy masih takut?

Yesterday I had my class at Jawi.. hmm, I usually write about my classes kan? Nnt la.. tonight I've got other things on my mind and no one to talk to.. =(

I was waiting for my students to finish the exercise I just gave them when my phone rang. When I saw the caller ID, I felt my heart plunge right down to my toes. No, it wasn't a nighmarish kinda call or person.. it was only mak cik..

I know, I've promised myself to call her eversince the night of Aidilfitri when I didn't pick up the phone when she called. I've been feeling guilty since but still never found the time to return her call. It wasn't that I didn't have the time to call her, but it was more on being a cowardly person, not knowing what to expect.. I know, shame on me kan!

Padahal mak cik sgt lah baik (and pak cik pun same). Through the hard time I went through those 7 years ago, they NEVER blamed me for anything. And not only did they not blame me, they kept calling to make sure I was alright. Dan tak cukup dengan call sy, they'd call kak Ana to check on me and to make sure I was happy and that I wasn't dwelling on what was happening at that time.. sy mmg tak kenang budi kan? ='(

Sy tak kate diorg tak salahkan sy, maybe la jugak diorg rase I should've done something to make things right, but they never said it to me. The only reason they'd call was just to check on me and I really appreciate that.. sampai IM, in his anger, also said that I'd rather talk to his mother than to him. Tp sekarang, bile diorg call, sy lari.. what the hell is wrong with me?

I don't want them to think that I haven't gotten over their son coz almost everytime they called, they'd ask me if I've found someone yet. Maybe thats why I avoid them.. or maybe its because sometimes mak cik just wants to tell me about IMs progress. I don't want him anymore, make no mistake, but there are times when I just can't bear to think of him.. though now there are also times when I mostly only remember the good things that make me smile.

Like yesterday, she was telling me about her other son who was doing his practical training and she said, "Abang dia pun mengajar kat sane.."

Normal people might've asked, "Abg yg mane?" especially if you know the family. But I didn't dare to ask even though I know most probably it would be his eldest brother and not him, himself.

Aisyy.. dah bertahun pun sy still tak boleh nak sebut pasal dia ke ngan mak dia?

Even the other day when Sid told me she frequently see's him when she takes her lunch outside (siap kate, "Takpe Ayu, dia dah tak ensem dah!" Hahah.. boleh?), I just let her talk about it and didn't ask anything. Not because I wasn't curious, but because I'm still so afraid of talking about it.

But I was happy yesterday. I know, I must've sounded a bit rude when I quickly told makcik I was in the middle of a class (macam tanak ckp ngan dia je kan, dah la susah payah dia call) but as I talked to her, I was happy. She still cares about me, and for this I'm glad. I asked about pakcik (who was out for a meeting) and her other sons (AFTER she told me the latest on her youngest one, Shafiq).

I hope I'll be able to make more of an effort after this and stop being so afraid of it..

'Kak Cikgu'? Hahah..

This morning, after performing my Subuh prayers, I grabbed my towel as usual with plans to go take a bath.. but it was raining, thus, cam bese la, freezing! Mule la melambat²kan mandi hehe.. sejuk, hokey!

It was only around 9am that I thought, "Tak leh jadik ni, kang tak siap langsung plak gi school," so nak tanak, mandi la jugak. As a result, I only got out of the house around 10am. Then noticing that the 'fuel warning' indicator was blinking, I detoured to the nearest petrol kisok to fill up my PFK.

It was still raining and the station was kinda full. One of the attendents however went out of his way to direct me to an empty pump. As I turned to thank him when I got outta the car, he suddenly called out, "Kak Cikgu!!"

Huh? Mane penah ku dengar panggilan itu?!?

Hahah.. upenye it was Nabil, one of my ex-students from 4 years ago. Then baru teringat, I once met him at KFC Pt Buntar and he kept calling me 'Kak Cikgu' jugak time tu. I think I wrote about it somewhere.. Ahaaaa --> here

He was from the batch who told me, "Cikgu takde harapan" Hahah.. written in an entry here

It as nice to meet him. Gone was the childish face and in his spot was an almost adult expression. Dah 20 kan, takkan muke budak² lagi kot. We talked a bit while he helped fill my car (actually I always do it myself but I guess saje je ni nak buat alasan so bleh bersembang haha..)

I remember when he told me he wanted to be an engineer (kot?) but now he's actually taking a teaching course and he laughed at the suprise on my face when he told me he wanted to be a teacher. Abih la student² jatuh chenta, cikgu nye comey hehe..

He was on a months holiday from his studies and just decided to while his time away working at the gas station like he did after his SPM (Yg mane sy penah kacau dia, buat² marah dia keje slow hahah.. yg kesian tu, org len ingt sy btul² marah. Siap kwn dia ckp, "Cik, sy mintak maaf la bg pihak kawan sy ni. Dia baru keje, tu yg dia slow skit tu.." Gelak sy bile tengok dia try terangkan ke deme yg sy ni cikgu dia je nak ngusik dia)

We talked a bit more, him asking pulak if I was still teaching and all that saaampai la ade customer baru so he had to go layan lah.. I justed waved my goodbye when I had finished filling my car.. Guess I'll see him again la kot since itu je pun stesen minyak sy selalu pegi ☺

Hmm..its nice kan to be remembered!

Blog Candy from Scrapcollector

I got this link from kak Lin's blog.

I'm not much of a creative person myself actually, but I've tried my hand at some scrapbooks and handmade cards (which sgt la tak capai tahap kak Lin kan). I love buying all crafty things and I have a few punchers and ribbons and buttons and stickers and flowers and other whatnots at home which I keep (kununnye) for scrapbooks and cards but somehow I feel as if I buy more than I actually use hahah..

Maybe because the creative gene hasn't kicked in yet.. or maybe because of the lack of that gene in me, who knows? Heheh..

Anyways, when I opened the link from kak Lin blog, I was excited on the prize offered. This definitely would help (really?) me untuk bersemangat di arena scrapbooks and handmade card so decided, why not give it a try ☺

Though nak menang mcm sgt la susah kan coz even now pun dah around 100 entries and she only offering ONE prize.. tp mane tau dak?

So anyone of you who'd like to try and win this very impressive gift box full of craft thingeys, sile lah click di site ini --> http://scrapcollector.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-candy.html

These are among the items inserted into the box.. menarik giler!

1.Lots of stamps from various brands like stampendous,hero arts,smirk,house of mouse,G studio,penny black,inkadinkado,and more
2. Bunch of buttons that definetely made your jar loaded
3. Assorted beautiful ribbons
4. Assorted flowers for flowers lovers
5. Bingo card,rhinestone,rub ons
6. Sponge dabber will be greate for you if you love to distress!! :)
7. Color box ink pad
8. Ranger embossing powder
9. Twinkling H2O--Red
10.Xmas card especially for you :)
11..many more to comes!!!

So sile² lah try ye ♥

P/S Also, kak Lin is organizing another, well, can't call it a contest la but you can win one of her cards. Just click here and leave your email ye

AlFatihah untuk arwah Pak Yang

Got a call from Mama around 5.20am this morning. Was a bit confused on why the phone was ringing but when I saw Mama's name on the caller ID, I guess a part of me understood what had just happened.

One of our most favourite uncle passed away during the wee hours of the morning..

Pak Yang as we call him, is married to Mama's oldest sister whom we call Mak Yang. All my life, they've lived in Tangkak, thus making it very seldom occasions when we ever get to meet but whenever their family comes back to Kuala Kangsar, it almost like a grand occasion.

Both Mak Yang and Pak Yang are teachers. I guess thats why they just know how to treat us.. make us kids feel like we're adults. Pak Yang was the sort of uncle who would wait for the ice cream man to come at Tok's house and will call all of us for treats (Yes! Its plural ☺) of ice cream. Sometimes the ice cream man had to go back home to pick up his supplies as we'd finish our first round of ice cream already and believe me, there were lots of us then hahah.. Pak Yang's family saje ade 6 orang, then Wan Chik's family also 6 people, mine ade 8, then Wan Diah's 7 and Pak Chu ade 5 orang. And if on occasion Ayah Yeop (3 family members) and Mak Wan (7 people) balik, buleh bayangkan la berape ramai.. tu tak masuk Pah and Tok lagi tu.. and we'd asked for all types.. the single scoop, the double and triple scoop.. the ice cream sandwich. Memang ice cream man leh kaye ngan our extended family je hehe..

Then he's take us to the town every morning. He only had a small car so it was on a rotation basis but he made sure no one was left out. Tu pun, sometimes in the afternoon, he'd take us on walks around the kampung, spotting squirrels and all (mandi sungai pun ade hehe..). I particularly remember an occasion when he caught this bushy tailed squirrel and let us pet it before he let the squirrel go. And after a long day of activities, he's be among the uncles who'd belanja us ais kacang or chendol.

Once, he even took us to the RnR at Sg Perak (just a walking distance from Tok's house) at night just for a treat. We were kids and he made us feel like we were big enough to be trusted. (Actually I was left out that night sbb demam and till today tak puas hati coz they took picture and all at the highway.. Jeles hokey hahah..)

A few years ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes that made him have to go for dialysis. This made it harder for him and his family to balik kampung but he suprised us when he insisted on coming to Adi's kenduri in May. He had just had his dialysis treatment and came straight to FRIM for the occasion.. and they all went home to Tangkak after the reception. Sgt penat kannn

Then a few months ago, he was diagnosed with cancer and the doctors only gave him a few months. That was why my brother, Iskandar, insisted we celebrate the recent Aidiladha in Tangkak and I'm sure glad we did.. He didn't talk much by then but he still recognized us. He wasn't eating much and he was so thin. He still managed to smile though when we salam him before going back.

His passing away didn't shock me as much as I thought it would, being the first death (of an uncle/aunty from both sides) in my family. I couldn't sleep after I finished talking to Mama and could only just get up and recite Yasin for Pak Yang. All the things he'd done to make our childhood memorable came 'tumbling' around in my head.

I'd appreciate of you, my friends, could recite AlFatihah for Pak Yang here. I hope he's one of the blessed ones (I'm sure he is, being the nice person he always was) with Allah's grace and I hope he really knows and realizes that all the people he's left behind here all love him with all our hearts.

We'll miss you, Pak Yang..

Al Fatihah..

Entry makan saje ☺

At this very moment, I'm still crossing my fingers! Adehhh.. hehe.. tak pernah la plak harap something material camni dgn perasaan yang amat sangat, this is a first! Sampai tak leh tumpu bace thesis Irnis haha.. mcm bulih menang pun.. oh well!

Anyway, to put my mind off it, I just wanted to paste a few pictures of food hahah.. tp bkn sumer sy buat la.. ☺

First one: My first almost-successfull attempt of doing buttercream swirls hehe.. I know, it looks simple but believe me, mine tak penah jadik.. nmpk mcm cream tu SPLATTT atas cupcake je selame ni.. this time, boleh la nak kate jadik, ye tak ?Heheh..

Second one: Sbb suke sgt sowril dah jadik, I did a set for Izati's friend who's been 'admiring' my cupcakes.. adeh Nasyrah oiii.. kak Yong bkn reti but thanx for keeping tabs on my progress hehe.. yg bes tu, dia ckp ayah dia yg tak suke makan manis pun took a lot of the cupcakes hehe.. thanx ye! Berbaloi laa kak Yong bwk dr Nibong Tebal ke Gombak ye =p Sian cupcake tu 'accident' 2 kali heheh..

Third one: Kiwi cheesecake from a friend yang sgt rajin experiment semua recipe yg dia dpt ☺

Forth one: Hehehe.. my feveret roti kirai (bkn sy buat, sy tak reti huhu..) with meat curry and full of potatoes! Suke ~♥~ Thanx! Ade cam mini lemang kat situ sekali yg bau sgt sedap ☺

Fifth one: Banana muffins with whiote choc. I usually shy away from doing muffins. I don't really trust cakey food that don't use self-raising flour but I decided to try this anyway sbb rasenye, sampai bile sy nak phobia buat muffin ye tak? Heheh.. Alhamdulillah la abis.. tp maybe sbb ujan and sumer org lapo la kot hahah..

And final one (Aiyakkk.. number genap la plak.. was hoping for odd numbered pictures): Cupcakes untuk cucu kak G!