Test run + that time of the year

For the cookie recipe that I found online. They're supposed to be cappucino crisps with a coffee icing-ish thing, but I was looking for more of a slightly-browner-than-butter-cookies color, or more like a cappucino color. The dough turned out like one of my previous attempts at chocolate chocolate chip cookies - extremely dark brown, almost to the point that you can't see whether it's burnt.

Anyways, the cookies actually turned out to be an addiction for my sisters after altering the thickness a bit (the name was "crisps", so we tried some thinner cookies, at it worked!!!). The icing, however, is a whole different story. Here's a piece of advice when cooking and/or baking: ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW EVERY SINGLE WORD.


According to the recipe, I needed 4 cups of confectioner's / icing sugar. We only had 2 cups, so my sister (who studies culinary arts) suggested that I halve the recipe. Fine. I forgot to halve the amount of milk I was to mix into the sugar. Fine. I tried adding another two cups of fine granulated sugar. DISASTER STRIKES. While spooning out the sugar from the container, the milk cooled, thus unable to dissolve the sugar. And I also just poured in all the hot milk in one go, when I was supposed to "gradually stir" it in. MASSIVE PHAIL.


Now I have a ginormous bowl a concoction of sugar, light corn syrup, coffee, vanilla essence, milk and salt. I'm planning to making it a home-made exfoliation product. Any comments? Everything in it seems innocent enough, though I'm not really sure whether it would be generally safe for facial use. =P


I have to do a post on camwhoring soon and tag my younger sister in it. She's the kind that sees pictures online and tries to copy all the "lala mui"'s poses. I know most teenagers want to be part of the "trend", and I admit I was also once like that before, but those pictures where the "lala" poses failed, those are deleted and are never heard of again.


I know that everyone goes through the beginner stage of everything they do, but 我接受唔到咯! (It means "I can't accept it" in Cantonese) I'm not saying that I'm a complete professional at camwhoring, but I know when I don't look nice in pictures. I'll try to put it up soon, most likely after my finals.


And I'm probably gonna post about my tattoo (after 4 months of getting it =_=). Reason for the delay? No one was supposed to know, but my mum found out (whether she was furious or okay with it I don't know, but she didn't really say anything about it), my dad knows, my aunt knows, my (tattooed) uncle knows, so why not? I'm gonna need a better picture though.


My exercise is paying off - my muscles feel stronger, I'm getting biceps, a slight hint of a six-pack, and my tummy has reduced in size. My tummy was usually at the point that I'd to bend my back a bit in order to see my feet, now I still have to, but not so much. Looking in the mirror, I actually feel better now that my butt is slightly firmer and my thighs are slightly thinner.


I can't hope for a completely flat tummy - I'm just not born with it, and some say that those girls with a big tummy and/or hips / butt actually signifies fertility. =x As for my boobs, I'm quite happy with my Cs now. XD


It's that time of the year again, where the Chinese celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. Legend has it that on the 15th night of the 7th lunar month (Chinese calendar, obviously), the souls of the dead ascend from the lower realm and visits the living. So the entire 7th lunar month is considered the "ghost month".


During this month, every one (mostly Chinese) try to refrain from wearing black, red and/or white, avoid going out at night, always carry a safety pin (or something sharp and pointed as this is believed to prevent spirits from following you home) or a charm of some sort, covering their foreheads (the forehead and the two shoulders represent "lights" that deter spirits), and cursing (as this is believed that the spirit might get offended).


So just a few nights ago, I was Facebooking as usual. My older sister had just finished her bath and was waiting for sleep to come. My grandmother was asleep, and recently she has this habit of not switching on the table lamp. Out of nowhere I heard something topple over in my room - I thought my grandma got up to use the bathroom and knocked something over.


I waited a while, and instead of my grandma, my sister came scrambling out. She said that something fell over, but it wasn't her or my grandma. I guessed that it was the clock on the bureau, since it constantly slid down with a thud (no nails are allowed on the walls in my house, and no more hooks are permitted). An hour later, we both went to sleep together.


I switched on the light, and it wasn't the clock that slid down - it was the table lamp. My sister and I were spooked. And even worse, insomnia decided to hit me just then. I used my eye mask to cover my eyes and desperately tried to think of something other than what I thought it was.


The next day my mum guessed that it was just the wind that blew the curtain, and in turn pushed the lamp out of balance. But there's wind every night, and strong as it is it never made the table lamp topple over before. Anyway, as the Chinese say: it's better to believe than not, especially during these times.


It's not like I want to be superstitious, but I watch lots of movies, and I'm the kind who likes to watch ghost-related programs in the middle of the night, alone and with most of the lights off. And I've had a few friends who had encountered "spirits" this month - a mysterious bruise on the leg, with no memory of how she got it, and no pain in the bruise: this is what we call "pinched by spirits".


The same person had another encounter: she was sleeping, and suddenly she felt as if something was pressing down on her - she couldn't move, and she couldn't make any sounds - this is what the Chinese call "pressed by a spirit".


We were sharing some information about the Malaysian casino king Lim Goh Tong (deceased) yesterday. Supposedly he has 20 children and all his fortune went to the youngest child, who had converted to Islam. Some people concluded that Lim Goh Tong himself was Muslim, thus not leaving a cent to his other non-Islam children.


Then came the scary part - my mum said Lim Goh Tong's fortune was around RM1 trillion, and the casinos always went through renovation, because in Cantonese renovation is "装修" - 装 as in "the dealer", and 修 as in "receive" or "take". In Cantonese the reading of the word "renovation" also means that the dealers always wins, thus raking in the profits.




Then my sister want on to add that they "rear little ghosts" under the gambling tables. This is a traditional Chinese superstition that if you take the spirit of a child and "raise" it by feeding it and giving it offerings, they will, in turn, fulfill your requests on certain terms.