Thank you 2010

Smiling our way to Ipoh.

Just a few more minutes to the end of 2010, and on to the beginning of 2011.

2010 was a wonderful year. I've travelled to a lot of new and exciting places, spent an amazing summer with her and started a few new projects. Oh! and not to forget, me and Diana tried a few recipes throughout the summer and made my own inventions in cooking during my stay in Cyberjaya. The food was moderately good, but the process of cooking them was beyond exciting.

In short, the year 2010 was a blast. And I hope that this new year of '11 will be a great one.

So let's all countdown to a good year ahead, and hope that it'll be better than this year.
And for Diana, I hope that this year will be an exciting one for us, and here's for the future!

(Ok it's already 12.00 am when i'm writing this. So, Happy New Year everyone! Have a good one!)

Hello 2011!
Fireworks; seen from my bedroom window.

Here are some of my favorite snapshots taken in 2010!

Oh, look at that pose!
This was our New Year's celebration at Ampang Look-out point.

Sofiya's sister's do.

In front of an old TNB janakuasa building; by the highway.
was supposed to be my profile picture but it didn't look that flattering..

Made cookies and pasta at Home within a few hours while fasting!

Lounging at our favorite spot, Delicious @ Dua Res.

The wonders of photobooth for Mac; at padang USJ13.

Now, looking forward for more pictures in 2011, and hope that it'll be a good year for all of us. One of my new year's resolutions is to blog more often! So here's a start and I'll write about more exciting things later.
Have a good year and start enjoying life from now on!

New Year Resolutions

1. Get awesome grades. My past semester results turned out not bad at all, which I really was not expecting considering the overloading and 20 credits and all. If anything, I'm now convinced that I can actually take on anything as long as I put some effort into it. All my past results had been marred by my own laziness. I know for a fact that if I revise consistently throughout the semester and not just scramble to the books on the eve of an exam, getting straight A's is not that impossible at all. Can't promise that I will in fact start doing this, but I improved a lot this past semester, so why not?

2. Equip myself with (more) skills that will serve me in the future. Gonna turn 21 next year and will be entering the workforce in no time - scary prospects looming ahead.

3. Teach myself how to bake - and cook in general. Gotta lay off the instant packets and actually pull out some worthy food. People don't typically know me as someone who will spend time in the kitchen (because I hardly did), but they do know of my appreciation for exquisite cuisine and my undivided willingness to spend on gastronomical pampering. I generally don't have the most motivation to cook because I only do it for myself especially here in Boston, and after a long day of class and a huge pile of work, eating does not become my utmost priority (gasp) - but if health is not compelling enough to put me to the task, my goddamn frugality will. Gotta freaking save for that tentative Eurotrip!

4. That said, I do wanna start eating and living healthily. I've done a good 1.5 years here in the USA; only halfway to go before I bid indefinite goodbye to this land of freedom and choices. With all the pretentious natural and organic selections arraying the supermarket shelves here, it's really hard to not adopt the conscience of being healthy. I have the rest of my life to eat oily Malaysian food when I return, so I might as well take advantage of the available healthy resources while I'm here and embrace an ideal lifestyle.

5. To be nicer towards the deserving people who have always been by my side and stop wasting my breath and money on the wrong ones - but not without recognizing the limitations and knowing when to hold back, so not to let it take a toll on myself. I need to learn to love myself, and one way of doing that is by actually loving people who love me. I don't want to be selfish.

6. Be more useful. I'm getting old. I can't keep on asking from my parents. It's my turn to give to them.

7. Find happiness within.

Paris Creperie

Coolidge Corner is a quaint little neighborhood in Brookline that sort of reminds me of Taipan. Or at least, that's the closest thing to Taipan that we have here - but a little bit more charming and less organized. Coolidge Corner doesn't give you the trendiest places or have all the shops you need in one spot (I have come to learn that things don't work that way here), but it has an awesome independent cinema and lots of cool little cafes. Like Paris Creperie.

Paris Creperie is this tiny narrow cafe that sells Parisian crepes and Nutella drinks which I simply ADORE. Be warned though; it would be difficult to get a table during busy hours because the place is so tiny. With an adorable interior nonetheless. I had previously tried their Nutella hot chocolate during my first visit as a sophomore last year, and let me just say that its goodness has haunted me ever since. So I decided to return last weekend, and this time try another Nutella drink on their menu - the Nutella Frozen Hot Chocolate.

I would share a closeup picture I took of it but it was a bad shot and I did not take many. Whatever happened to whatever photo-taking skills/enthusiasm I used to have, you ask? Gone ever since I came to this country where at times when it's so cold, you just get super lazy to fish out your camera and snap around. Plus people here just don't take photos of food, you know? It's awkward.

But I can tell you in all honesty that the drink, was super good. The kind of good that reminds me of my first sip of Starbucks Caramel frappuccino :') I shall not kid nor exaggerate. It looks like an ordinary cup of frappe on the outside, but trust me when I say it's nothing like you've ever tasted. After I had my first sip I knew that I would only want more. But since I can't make daily trips to Coolidge Corner to get my fix (I lie, I probably can...), I'm determined to make one myself. Also to share with unfortunate family and friends who can't come here and try it themselves. Seriously, you have no idea what you're missing out in life until you've had a glass of this. Here's a recipe I found on the net! And considering it's so easy, there's really no excuse not to try it yourself.

Nutella Frozen Hot Chocolate

4 oz. skim milk
1-2 small ice cream scoops of nutella
2 large scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt

My peach marmalade crepe

Sadly, their crepes were nothing to shout about. Silly me - I expected to get actual chopped fruits in my crepe, but it came with marmalade fillings of course. Explains why it was only a little less than 4 dollars. My friend JiHye ordered the Coolidge Corner crepe which came with turkey fillings among a bunch of other things. Hers was definitely more fulfilling, but also pricier.

I don't know if it was worth it to pay so much money for a crepe that's a little better than mediocre. JiHye agreed that it wasn't the best and there is supposedly a better place that she promised to take me to one day! As far as the reviews I read, Paris Creperie has been known to make delicious crepes but unfortunately I cannot attest to that (or maybe I just had the wrong pick). You know what this makes me think of? The savory crepes from Wrapz at home. For just RM5.90! Now that's a deal I will make sure to appreciate from now on.

Not my usual coffee fix

Since I'm not so much of a hedonist over here unlike the way I typically am at home (financial, academic, and weather concerns get in the way), it doesn't take much to make Diana a happy girl in Boston :)

No Ordinary Cobbler!

Strawberry Cobbler - southernfood.com

I stumbled upon this American blueberry/red berries cobbler recipe last night when I was browsing for a good dessert recipe. And then I saw this recipe from vintagevictuals.com, where she (Ms. Ellie) was making a 'Liberty cobbler' for dessert to celebrate the 4th of July with her family. It looks almost like the traditional apple pie or peach pie, though this one doesn't involve any breadcrumbs; just butter mixed with sugar and berries i suppose(?). It looks really delicious, and it looks even better with a few scoops of Vanilla ice-cream! I wonder why I haven't seen it being served in restaurants like other desserts? Haha.

Anyway, here's the recipe - she used blueberries to go along with the cobbler, but I've seen other recipes using peaches and apples too; so you can use whichever fruit that you like to make your own fruit cobbler!

Note : The pictures and this recipe were entirely taken from vintagevictuals.com, and I'm just posting it here just to share with you guys! :)

The Liberty Cobbler by vintagevictuals.com

Liberty Cobbler - Adapted from Natalie Dupree’s recipe in New Southern Cooking (1986)

Cobbler:
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 scant cup milk

Blueberry Sauce:
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping: Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1/4 cup of the sugar with the sliced strawberries. Toss gently and set aside. Put the butter in a 9×13 inch baking dish and place in oven to melt. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a whisk, stir in the milk and the remaining cup of sugar to make a smooth batter.

When the butter has melted, remove the dish from the oven. Pour the batter into the melted butter. Spoon the strawberries and any juice evenly over the batter. Return to the oven and bake about 30 minutes. You will know the cobbler is done when the batter has risen up around the berries and turned golden brown.

Picture courtesy of vintagevictuals.com

To make the sauce, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat so that the mixture boils. Meanwhile, coarsely puree 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries in a food processor. Add the puree to the sugar syrup along with the lemon juice. Bring the mixture back to a boil, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add all but a few of the remaining whole blueberries to the mixture. (The rest will be for garnish.) Cook for about 1 more minute, until the whole berries begin to soften. Serve the sauce warm over the cobbler topped with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Peach cobbler from hintofsaffron.com

Strawberry Cobbler from Paula Deen Recipes

Aren't they just awesome? It's a perfect dessert for your summer or after a heavy western dinner. Imagine the fresh berries eaten with the warm pastry, along with your ice-cream on a hot sunny weather. Aaah...perfect!

Alright people, give it a shot if you want to, I'd love to try it sometime later. Thanks for reading, I've to go and bake some cookies! See you in the coming posts! :)

Thanks again!

Elle Est, La Dame De Fer

Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars - Wikipedia.org

La Tour Eiffel: The Iron Lady!

Placed majestically at the centre of Champ de Mars in Paris, The Eiffel Tower is the all-time favorite global icon of Paris.

To me, the beautiful platted iron structures make the tower looks really solid and strong. It was as if Gustave Eiffel was more an artist rather than an engineer. I think that this is the only lattice tower that looks so simple yet superbly-stunning in terms of its architectural and engineering design.

I enjoy viewing everytime that vision of walking in the streets of Paris came into me, which have always swept me away with hours of browsing about the tower and a couple of moments imagining how it'd be like if I am there.

Not to say that I'm really obsessed about it, but who wouldn't be amazed by such a beautiful work-of-art?Hehe.

Counting the days to Paris! Aminn....!

Paris is stunning both then and now:

Video courtesy of Bank Tangjaitrong; Paris

Okay, that's all from me, I'll continue with more babblings and rants about Le Parisien life and also the ongoing wonderment of Paris. And to Diana, all the best with your work and best and well wishes for your assignments, hope you can get them done on time! :) Bonne chance, ma petite amie!

Till Next time! A bientot, guys and gals!

(Another beautiful sight from the Rues before exiting this post!) Hehe.

Eiffel from the neighbourhood - wikipedia.org

Malaysia-USA Cook-Off

Picture courtesy of davidlebovitz.com

Cook-off : What about it?
Although we can't do much due to the distance, we still get to share a lot of things though we are both in two different places. And one of the many things we share is..the kitchen, and the passion of cooking. :) Yes, since we both cook at home and prepare our own food, i have a special and an ingenious idea, which is to have a cook-off between the two of us, (the readers are most welcomed to share!) - once in a month or if there's time, we can have once a week. :)

The Recipes?
Of course they can be found everywhere! But here are some sites that maybe quite helpful; and for you guys to check them out:

1. Jamie Oliver (The Awesome Brit Cook & Activist!) - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes

2. David Lebovitz (The Sweet Life in Paris) - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

3. The Generous Cook+momma Ms. Nigella Lawson - http://www.nigella.com/recipes

4. Any recipes from cookbooks, or whatever we've learned from our Mums!

The recipes can be any kinds of food, ranging from pancakes to A la carte meals like Nasi Lemak and even French pastries! :)

Share with us!
This way we can share with you guys all kinds of recipes we're going to try out and of course, the most interesting part is, the result. No pressure in this one, sweetie, as we are all here to learn and share! ;) (Even I myself am afraid of screwing things up in the kitchen :/ ) And you guys can comment and share your recipes too, all comments, reviews, and advices are welcomed.

Well, that's it from me now, this is just a quick update- I plan to try-out Nasi Lemak later, or if not, some other food then. :)

Stay tuned for our upcoming cook-off!

Bon appetit!

Changing Sides on Blogger

Hi and this is Diana writing :) I find it awkward to write on behalf of two people (especially when I haven't been blogging for so long myself), but someone's gotta do the welcoming around here. So yes, this is a new blog - our new blog - where Haafiz and I would write about whatever under the skies that interests us, show a couple of pictures, and all that jazz. During a recent Skype conversation we both decided that there are so many interesting things to explore out there and we can only share too much with one another. Which is obviously not enough, and so we needed a channel to bore the rest of the world with us; which explains why we're here - for exactly that purpose and none other.

For those who don't know us (which would surprise me how you ended up here then), here's our most recent photo. It was taken on our last night together, before I left for the states the very next day.

The caption was quoted from the smiley Häagen-Dazs waiter who kindly helped take this polaroid of us. He made the remark upon passing back the camera, which made me smile and subsequently decide to have it fixed on the photo. I recall tearing up when Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing played on the speakers of the tiny ice cream parlor in Bukit Bintang.

This was precisely two months ago, on Merdeka eve; before we proceeded to KLCC to catch some fireworks, only to be disappointed. As of now Haafiz is still back there waiting for me in Kuala Lumpur while I am keeping myself busy with the workload here in BU. Junior year is taxing, but it also means just one more year to graduation and putting an end to the distance. Right now, I'm just looking forward to our reunion when he visits next spring. Can't wait.

As an ending note, the photo is neither a Poladroid nor Fujifilm Instax, and especially not generated by an iPhone app. It's the real deal ;) and did I tell you that the banner was actually typewritten? Like, on an actual typewriter. That's my boy. You can predict the stuff he's gonna write about...