Despicable Me 2

TGIF! To celebrate the coming of the weekend, here is a video to cheer you up. I cant contain my laughter when I saw this trailer in the cinema, I hope it brings a smile to your face just like how it did to me.

Happy weekend folks!

The latest addition

These are the latest addition to our household- XDS foldable bikes. 

Before transform

This is mine and Peter has a similar one, except that its black and white in color and has 8 speeds settings. Mine is only 7 speeds but I dont really give a damn as the highest I would go is 4. ;p. We call the bikes the "autobots", as in the robots-changing-autos in transformers, because when its in folded position, it can be really small, but when it is fully unfolded and assembled, tada! it transform into bikes, geddit? (why did I even bother to explain, of course you know what is autobots).    

Transform!

I know it looks small and mobile but don't get fool by the look. It pretty heavy, around 12 kg. The fella really give me double dose of exercises. First, cycling, secondly carry up and down staircase. If you have been to my place before, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Its freaking 4 floors of staircase!! 

It all started with Peter's friend, who is an avid biker. The fella is crazy about biking and despite of multiple falls and injuries he had, he still cycles hours every week, without fail. I don't know how it all happened but suddenly everyone in the group is into bikes, including my dear husband. Then one good old Saturday morning, I dont know how it occurred but somehow we swiped our credit card and bought 2 foldable bikes. So, dont ever underestimate peer pressure.   

Last Saturday we went for cycling at Taman Metropolitan Park, Kepong. Peter's friends were all gear up wearing full biker suit and helmet, while Peter was in his flip flop. Hahaha... His friend has an Alza which can carry 4 bikes!!! 2 foldable bikes at the back compartment and another 2 fastened on the top of the car roof.  And mind you, theirs are mountain bike, which looks absolutely stunning standing on the top of the roof, under the big bright sun. 

Taman Metropolitan is such a great place to cycle and I really enjoyed the entire biking experience. As you all know, the park is famous for its wide open space for kite flying activities, if you drive pass the park on MMR2 highway on Saturday afternoon, you will definitely not miss the beautiful sight of hundreds of colorful kites flying in the blue sky. However, the 95 hectares park also has a proper bike lane and interesting terrain like up/ down the hill, circling the lake, into the tropical forest, across the bridge etc. I was pleasantly surprise at how beautiful the place is. Its like a gem in the middle of the hustle and bustle of KL city.

After 3 rounds of cycling (approximately 12 km), we decided to call it a day and head for lunch. And we went to this 100 years old restaurant called Setapak Teochew Restaurant along Jalan Genting Klang which serves the best Teochew Bak Min (white noodle) in town. Oh, and the pork rolls is definitely the food to die for. I don't know whether it was the serious workout or the excessive amount of crispy lard bits in the noodles, the food somehow tasted extra tasty that day.   

Anyway, it was a great Saturday, good companion, good workout and good food. Couldn't ask for more. 

Baking Addiction 3: Peach tray bake with cheesecake ripple

I baked this cake for Easter lunch at church. 

My friend was pestering me for the name of the cake, but I can only vaguely remember it sounded something like cream cheese with cake in the recipe. So in the end I told her its "CREAM CHEESE CAKE lah!" :)  I think because the texture of the cake was rather soft and a bit wet, she tried to figure out whether its a  pudding or a cake from the name itself. 

So now let me reveal its actual name, by the recipe owner. "Plum tray bake with cheesecake ripple", except that I didnt use Plum/ berries, I used canned peach, which is easy to get from any stores and much more economical.  

Originally this is how it looks with red berries. 

Red berries tray bake with cheesecake ripple

And this is my version:

Peach tray bake with cheese cake ripple

For those who loves cheese, this cake will quench your cheese thirst immediately, because its super creamy and cheesy! I tasted kinda sweet due to the sweetened peach. But I think the cream cheese taste basically  goes well with any type of fruits. 

It makes me super happy that one of my friend loved it and asked for extra serving to bring back home. Although I had only started to bake less than a year ago (after my kitchen was fully renovated), but I absolutely understand that why many felt that cooking / baking for others is a pleasant and enjoyable chore rather than burden. 

Some may enjoy the process itself, but definitely not me. There were so many dishes to wash, so many utensil scatters everywhere, so many ingredients to measure, and painstaking amount of details to follow in recipe. Talking about measurement, Gosh how i HATE it! Some of the recipes use grams, some use cups, then there is ounce, tablespoon, teaspoon etc. I need to harmonize all the measurement even before baking itself. Prior to this, I used to baffle at how Americans like to use "cup" to measure, how do they know what is the size of the cup I use? If the size of my cup is not the same as the recipe writer's cup , then it wouldn't be accurate at all. And then one day while I was shopping around in the baking supply store, I saw these colorful measuring cups and spoons of different sizes tied together with a string. It was only then that I realized that the cup used for measuring is not the cup which is used for drinking. * paiseh *

Anyway, what I meant to say is that my enjoyment of baking came from other's enjoyment of eating the stuff which I've baked. When someone takes a bite out of the cake I poured my heart into and smiles in satisfaction, it makes me feel like gold. In fact, whenever Peter complements the food which I've cooked, it makes me light and fluffy inside. I believe that the love of food is in everyone, and the fact that my food makes people happy, makes me happy too. 

Now, here comes the recipe:

Cheesecake ripple:
200g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
3 tablespoons caster sugar

Cake:
3 eggs
175g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
I can of sweetened peach

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter an 8inch shallow baking pan, line with baking parchment 
• In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and caster sugar and beat until smooth. Set aside. 
• Place the eggs, butter, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla in a separate bowl. Beat for about 2 minutes until pale and creamy. 
• Spread half of the cake batter mixture onto the base of the prepared pan, then dollop half of the cream cheese mixture over it, spreading an uneven swirl through the base mixture. Scatter with half of the peach. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top and dot with the rest of the cream cheese. 
• Bake for about 45 minutes until risen and just firm to touch – when cooked, the surface of this tray bake should feel just firm to the touch, but bear in mind that it will firm-up slightly as it cools; if over baked, it will lose its moist texture. 
• Scatter with the remaining peach on top of the cake and leave to cool in the pan before refrigeration. Refrigeration is important as it makes the cake moister and firmer. It will taste dry if you immediately eat after bake

How many more years will you live?

Yes, mine is 51 years. 

Hmm.... which makes me 80 years old by then. Well, at least my medical insurance plan covers me til 80 years old. Phew....

The logical question you would ask me is how accurate is this system. This Life Expectancy System is developed by Malaysian Statistics Department with the aim to give a description on the estimated average remaining life of the individual. The algorithm was generated based on Malaysian mortality rates using the Coale-Demeny (West) and the Brass Logit model. Please don't ask me what does it really mean. Since the name of the model sounded pretty impressive I assume that its a very sophisticated statistical analysis model.   

Anyway, go ahead and try out yourself. I wouldn't say its a dodgy system. 

To think about it, 51 years sound way too LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG....

Remember the Justin Timberlake's movie- In time? I wonder what would I do if I know exactly how long more I will live, like the characters in the movie.  

The bigger question is how long will I stay productive?

I'm 29 this year, and I've already started to feel the effect of aging on my body. Goodbye to those days when I can stay up till 2am in the morning and still felt energetic like a bull the next day. Goodbye to those days when I can burn up all the fat by doing absolutely nothing. My metabolic rate had slow down quite a bit, I get tired more easily, my skin felt more flabby and less elastic, and wrinkles... Lets not dwell any further in this. 

To think about it, I actually wish that I don't have to live that long. It will be better if I can leave this world before my body start to break down. The quality of life goes down the minute our lives get consumed by old age diseases. Hearing loss, muscle near to the point of disintegration, wobbly feet (maybe knee with arthritis), smell of rotten meat, and NO teeth. 

I think i'm feeling depressed already. 

I don't think I'm thinking pessimally nor I live cowardly. My definition of a quality life is fruitful, bountiful and ecstatic. Without optimal health, I will be deprived from living passionately and purposefully. And these are the very things that make us feel alive and worthy. I don't want to be just "coping" with life. It will be the saddest thing if I end up that way one day. 

I dont know about you but to me, I want to stay as productive for as long as possible, the day I no longer useful, I hope that God will be merciful to me and take me away. 

Malaysian rock band

I started to listen to emo metal rock songs ever since I've attended Evanescence concert.   

To some extent I do understand why this type of genre is appealing to certain group of people. I find that there is a lot of depth in the hysterical style of singing, the emotions was so intense that you will either get sucked into swirling vortex of unknown emotion, or end up screaming at top of your lungs to the songs. It is contagious, it is infectious. 

It was a common misunderstanding that people thinks that heavy metal band scream more than sing. For me, it was a challenge for the vocalist to be screaming hysterically while still singing in tune. Although most of the heavy metal songs runs on a few chords repeatedly, but they still can be highly rhythmical and melodious. Most of the heavy metal band today are no longer hardcore heavy metal. The style of music is fusion of heavy metal with other genre like rock, electronics, groove etc. However, the high pitched vocal lines with occasional growl; the arpeggiated guitar, the blasting bass drum and snare drum are the signature which cannot be missed in the package. 

I was listening to songs of a local band called Rosevelt for the past few days and so far I really like it, especially this song called mirror. The song just stuck in my head like ipod running in loop mode. The ending of the song reminds me of Damien Rice, the singer whose songs had accompanied a significant chunk of my emo youthful days. 

Anyway, lets not dwell too much on that. 

I also like the short composition which the vocalist Nick Davis produced. 

And i kinda like this too.

Enjoy.