2014

In two hours time, 2014 will be drawn to an end. Tomorrow will be the the start of a brand new year - one filled with more challenges and a hectic college life.

Well, I never plan to write a summary for the year since I've been summing up most of it in my past few posts but since I did it las year, why not? And I will want to seize the opportunity on the last day of 2014 to express my gratitude to every single one of you out there who has made my year such a memorable one. To the passer bys, thanks a bunch as well. I have grown through it, learnt from mistakes and most importantly, I feel that I manage to make a better change out of the cocoon of the old me.

Dedication #1
Dear, you have been part of my life for the past eight months. The ups and downs, the moment that tore us apart, the heated arguments...have brought us closer. Nevertheless, they have made our relationship even stronger. You have been the best thing that have ever happened in my life (I have been repeating this for so many times haha, dont mind me) and I'm  blessed to have someone like you to shower me with infinite love and care. There were times that we were so down, but it had finally passed. Thanks for putting up with me. It's never easy but you have proved to the world that an unconditional love is the secret ingredient to make a relationship ever lasting.

For the next one and half year, I believe we can pull through it together. Distance will not pull us apart but teaches us to keep moving and stay strong.

Dedication #2
To my two best friends, Ziyin and Xinyuan,
without you guys, I can't  imagine how i can survive through the five years of high-school. It has been an amazing  journey so far. It's truly my honor to have met you two and having you all by my side through thick and thin. Whenever i need someone for me to pour out my heart, there's always one friend that i can rush to right next to my class and one who will willingly spend her half an hour to an hour to listen to my rants over the phone. And also sending me cheesy handwritten snailmail almost every single month. Not to forget the helping hands that you all rendered at any crucial time when I'm most in need. Though we are parting for different colleges/school next year, I believe that our friendship will last till the many many years to come!

Dedication #3
To my fam bam,
Well, there were stormy days but they shall remain as an erasable history and not to be etched in our hearts. Never did I expect the mental and physical support from all of you at the hardest time of my life and now, at the best moment of my life. Been through it, done it, I have grown to be more matured now. Thank you for everything that all of you have done for me and my bro for treating me like a princess
p/s: my bro is a better shopper companian than my mum so girls out there, you know what to do *chuckle*

Dedication #4
To all my high-school teachers, tuition teachers and my beloved Leo Advisor, Lion Chu,
Thanks you, xie xie, terima kasih.
Without any single one of you, I won't be who I am today. To be able to have an outstanding achievement, the credit shall go to all of you who have inspired me along the way. Your guidance and dedication have leaded me to a brighter future in the yeary to come. Special shotout to Miss Liang, my Leo Faculty Advisor and my physics teacher for two consecutive years, thanks a lot for the tremendous support that you have given me. As I have always said, she's more than a teacher to me but a motherly figure who taught me life values and experiences out of classroom. I'm grateful to have all these teachers as my mentor.

Lastly, to any haters thank you as well. You have made my year a rollercoaster ride. I have learnt more than it.

Signing off
Yours truly,
Wen
31 Dec 2014

Page 365 of 365

Done with highschool!

SPM ended on the first week of December but I felt like I had sat for it months ago haha. Well, it was quite a tough hurdle, to be honest. I struggled through it and I could not imagine how I would pull through it without him. As the examination board implemented High Order Thinking Skills in each and every one of the paper, all the papers took us by surprise with quite a handful of unusual questions that are sort of like open-ended questions. They require our opinions instead of answers that can be easily found from any books. I admit that it's a good start for Malaysia education system but for such a drastic change in a major exam as such, it's really unfair to the 97's. Once again, we became their lab rats. Now, I believe we can only pray fervently for an 'extraordinary' results, judging from the 'high standard' of the papers.

Highschool had drawn to an end after the last paper of SPM. To bid farewell with the bunch of highschool mates is indeed heart-wrenching. All of us shared bittersweet memories. What etched in my heart is the true friends that have been my mental support for these five years, through the ups and downs. They proved that the life can't get any worse when they are around. I'm truly grateful for that. High school has blessed me with my self-claimed non-biological twin sister (you know who you are!). We don't have to meet or talk every day but whenever we do, we seem to be out of control -- we will talk like nobody's business. *don't judge* not to forget, my other bestie who hails from Penang and has left my school after form two. This proves how much we appreciate each other as a friend. Friendship like such is what I cherish the most. I can be who I am when we hang out together and they accept me as who I am. Even when there's an argument, we can eventually get over it in no time.

In less than a month time, I will be starting college. I'm actually anticipating for a brand new start in a new environment and on a new course, unlike in high school, where we are forced to adapt to the education system that makes no sense sometimes. I keep reminding myself that I must not be fearful. True enough, there's actually nothing that I should be afraid of, probably just the subjects that I will be taking. It isn't an easy decision on which college to go and which subjects that I should take. First of all, I'm relieved that my family is financially stable but I won't want to burden my father even more with a huge sum of tuition fee as he's the sole breadwinner of the family. Furthermore, I have to be considerate as while I'm taking A-Levels, my brother will be doing his first year in university and for the following years, he will be studying abroad. That's lots of money. Secondly, I'm truly hoping for a scholarship with a higher amount although I'm grateful for what I'm offered by my college now. The meagre hope depends on my SPM result which will only be released during March next year. Though I planned to switch to other colleges with a bursary that is offered by Ministry of Education, it will be a waste of money and time. Moreover, I may not even get the bursary.

It hits me that from tomorrow onwards, he (yes, he!) will be leaving for UK in a week time. I'm definitely going to miss him lots. As the famous saying goes, absence makes the heart grows fonder. I truly believe that with faith and courage, nothing is impossible. We will have to make the best out of it, pull through it and prove everyone wrong. While for those that have trust in us and respect our decisions all this while, from the bottom of my heart, I'm truly grateful for you guys!

p/s: this will probably be my last post using the 'High School' label, next it will be 'College'!

《謝謝你們 愛我的每個人》

就是拥有了太多的感触，一首首脍炙人口的歌在耳边奏起时就好比唱出了我的心声。我不能说我经历了人生的每一个阶段，我仅度过人生的一载。

但是，一路上的成长塑造了今天的我。
种种的酸甜苦辣我一一尝尽。再大的风雨，我仍不能停歇。
被打倒了一次，我学会再一次站起来，
学会勇敢地面对一切，
学会敞开胸怀，坦然接受，
学会相信希望永存，
让我拥有这份坚强的意志力。

I have my right to live the way I want

I'm just so not in the mood in talking to certain people nowadays. They seem like they know a lot about me but in the actual fact, it's just a superficial illusion. God knows who you are.

True friends are like precious jewels, they are treasure for one to find and to keep with them through the years to come. I cannot deny that true friends are hardest to find. To me, I rather have two to three true friends than a bunch of friends that I can never count on. Five years of highschool, it's now coming to an end. Just a couple months away, we will be bidding farewell and so, I don't see the point of all these "revealing your true colours" thing. If you prefer to do so, you can just get out of my way. Just out of my way. I don't want to see you in the entirety of my life. I will rather believe that I never have such a friend before.

No doubts that people change, both physically and mentally. One who never changes is not a human, alright? It's the process of growing up. Though one may change, you can change for the better or for the worst. Even if one may 'seem' to change, but when you get close to him/her, sooner or later you still feel the closeness and the bond that we share all this while. That's the only point of changing. If you changed, and you are like an absolute stranger to me, what's the point?

I never hated life. Life is a blessing to me. Hope is what I hold on to through these years. I have learnt to be mentally strong because this is what life has taught me. I have my believes, I have my own way of rationalizing. That's just me. I grow up, I change, for the better. I find my own motivations, my own inspirations, my aspirations and my dreams to chase. I try to live my live to the fullest with one simple reason, life is a gift, life is a blessing.

Sorry to say I won't be bothered with whatever you are doing. I have learnt to be courageous and strong.

When there's no second chance

I'm sure none of us will reject a second chance that is given. But, there are times that no matter how hard we hope for it, it never comes into reality. For instance, we made a mistake and there's no way you can 'undo' your mistake, unlike the 'undo' button you can opt to click when we have made typing errors. Same goes with the journey of life.When you have made such a crucial decision and you know there's no u-turn to it, there're only two possibilities, it's either a good or a bad outcome. Who will ever hope to face the bad one? Life has never hit me so hard and so it does, on the very last two years of high school. It's more than a roller coaster ride of feelings. Words can't express how much I felt. Those heart-wrenching moments and the emotional blow that took hold of me are enough to make me fall hard. Here comes the consequences of growing up. All about making decisions and choices. There's always something you will regret as you may be young and free once or too gullible to come into realisation of the truth lurking behind it. I always thought that I'm ready to accept the reality -- problems of growing-up; I thought I could manage them; I thought I had the capacity to contain them as much as I could. Again and again, for a billion times, I was proved to be totally wrong. I can accept it superficially but not entirely, I can't manage them well enough; I can only contain them temporarily. Bits and pieces of high school life once puzzled together can be one of a nightmare or one of a priceless memory etched in one's heart, and I have both. It's nothing to brag about, both have their pros and cons. I may view things at a completely different perspectives with others which I always do. I have my own distinctive way of thinking and rationalizing them. I can't blame others for not understanding me as true enough, I am unique.

Life choices are not like picking one out of four like the multiple choice in tests or exams. They are way beyond that. I regretted for so much that I had done. Though they were many who came up to me, trying to show me the light but yet I failed to be a wise one, and instead being a selfish and harsh one. I could not turn back time, never would I be able to do so. To look ahead for a dazzling future may also be too fictional.

Time and tide wait for no man. No matter how much are burdened on my shoulders, life has to keep rolling and I still has to move on. Easier said than to be done. However, I can only hope fervently for the best to come.

Carpe Diem

"Carpe Diem - the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future"

aka Seize The Day

Though trials is drawing near, really near in fact. I thought I should vent everything out right here at this point of time. The rollercoaster ride of feelings ain't going to make me go smarter in any way (I doubted this much haha). 

As today was the day of mourning of MH17, I would say most Malaysians wallow in deep sorrow and express their respect to the late victims in their respective ways. Whether we show it phsysically or not, I believe it's the thoughts that count the most.Well, Carpe Diem was the first thing that came to me and struck me this morning when I took a glance on the newspaper. The black and white headings and front pagecovers on the newspapers and the one minute of silence we did were a sombre welcome to the Malaysian victims who were down flight MH17. Well, 'seize the day' truly touches my heart.

Certain thing are meant to be left in the past, 'let the past be the past'. Though they may be a such precious days and times with those carved memories, I can never turn back time. To regret or not, is truly a matter of time. After some days, I will be dawned with the fact that I have once made such a mistake. Indeed, the sudden realization creeps into me, waking me up from the drowning thoughts which have confined myself from making a step forward, away from what has been pulling me down. Days and time like those can be such good memories, but like I was talking to my friend the other day, they are purely a lesson to be learnt (in other words). We were uncontrolled of ourselves, being too impulsive and unable to rationalize things properly. However, it's not to us to regret or to blame anyone. Everyone has made a mistake and we may lose a little or a lot in it. Now, the key is to move on and bring the best out of life. Isn't life such precious? You may not know what's going to happen the next moment, do you? In fact, as time passes, it is wise for me to let bygones be bygones and not stay put in those difficult time, neither putting myself on a bet which will only lead me to even more frantic uncertainties. A game of dice like such has so much probabilities, probable infinite. Neither of us will know the outcome. I'm glad to be advised right now before it is later and blessed that I have been able to make such a courageous decision.

Sekinchan Road Trip (Part 2)

Lunch @ Restoran Bagan Sekinchan 鸿运海鲜饭店
As featured on a blog, the good review truly caught my attention so we decided to give it a try. We usually avoid tourist places (this restaurant isn't in the tourist map) as it may cost us much more than it should be. We reached there around 12 and it was rather crowded already. By the time we leave, the restaurant workers were advising the customer to come back an hour later! My advise to savour the mouth-watering seafood is to come as early as possible, first to avoid the crowd and before the restaurant runs out of any of the dishes. We didn't have the chance to try their mantis prawn which all of us will love to indulge in the wholesomeness of the salted egg mantis prawn.

Steamed Prawn (RM20)

A type of mollusc, resembling the shape of a bamboo, cooked as Kam Heong style. (竹滩/竹蛏)

(RM18)

Fried baby sotong with salted egg (RM15)

We also ordered a shark meat soup (RM14) and a claypot tofu (RM12). The portions were all very generous and the flavour were superb! Don't forget to try their rice as Sekinchan is famous for their 'paddy'. I will strongly recommend this restaurant and for sure I will be back again!

Total bill for 5 pax (including 3 drinks and 3 rice) : RM 85.50

Restoran Bagan Sekinchan

Taste: 5/5

Price: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5 (slightly slow, have to wait for some time for the dishes)

No.168-C, Lorong 5, Jalan Bagan, 45400 Sekinchan

Selangor, Malaysia, 45400 Kuala Selangor

Operation Hours :

Breakfast and Lunch only.

 

 

On the way to the Redang Beach 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redang Beach

 

Seashells everywhere, I wouldn't call it a 'beach'. There's not much of sandy area.

 

 

"Outbound Love" is a famous Hong Kong Drama among Malaysians as it was filmed mostly in Malaysia and several local artistes were involve din the filming. There were a few shots taken at Sekinchan on treehouse but sadly it was recently burnt down.

 

Temple opposite of Redang Beach

 

 

The End :)

Sekinchan Road Trip (Part1)

A quick update on today's road trip to Sekinchan. I won't be explaining in depth as I'm on pretty hectic schedule now but pictures will speak a thousand words!

A very simple and handy guide to all tourists. (credits to Sekinchan Tourist Web)

First stop: Tian Fu Temple
Right opposite of Tian Fu Temple is a vast paddy field and there's ample parking space at Tian Fu Temple in the morning when we just arrived around 10am. It wasn't the right timing for us to visit as the paddy were harvested so most of the paddy fields lie bare.

(credits to Sekinchan Tourist Web)

Second Stop: PLS Marketing

It's not an end, it's a beginning

First all, I will be away for a couple months till SPM (an exam which marks the end of my highschool life!) is over so bear with me. Stay tune, I will be back very soon.

This is going to be a lengthy post. Continue to scroll down if you're interested :)

----------------

Oh well, it's July now, probably less than five months away I will be leaving highschool. Whenever I think about it, my heart literally sinks. I can't accept the fact that I will be leaving these whole bunch of mates who I treasure the most and they have made the best out of my entirety of five years in high school. Without every single one of them, I won't know how to pull through the problems that I have faces. Not to forget the besties I have. Through the countless time of argument, the thick and thin, our friendship is still as strong as before. We embarked on the journey of our high school, and throughout this journey, you guys are more like the angels that I am blessed with. I will know that if I needed help or even a listener, none of you fail to do so. There's this saying that the friendship you have made in highschool is the one that will stay with you through years. In fact, I will say that the I will cherish this forever. Five years of friendship and still counting!

Next up, trials is less than two months from now. I don't feel panicky, that's too extreme. I'm plainly struggling to cope with it because to complete the syallabus and do revision ain't as easy as I thought. I know I don't live for others, I live for myself but I'm never as selfish. I strive for the best for myself and for my family, teachers and friends. Even if they don't ask for it, I will do my best. Deep down their heart, they feel proud for me at the very moment I acheived success though words seldom come pouring out of their mouth. Asians are being asians here haha. Anyway, this doesn't matter the most. All the constant hard work that I have put in will pay off when the results are released. However, I'm nowhere near to the best yet, there's this gap for me to hurry my steps before reaching the finishing line so double, triple up my effort it is! 

I know it's not the end of the year yet but I just wanna sum up these two months in this post so I can keep the memories with me forever and ever. I have been through the roughest days in June and yeah, I'm still fine now (not perfectly fine). I absolutely love a quote which I have read on Twitter that says after the stormy days, there's still hope. Yes, hope and faith are the one that keeps my rolling. I will take it as a journey, there's uphill and downhill paths, there's winding roads, but afterall, I will come upon a mesmerizing scenery which will be a sight to behold. Similarly in life, without the hard times, the good days will not come. Fallen once, fallen twice. I'm glad to have plucked up the courage and face the challenges head on. I can choose to let it to hinder me from moving on, however I did not do so. It's not the end, it's just a fresh start. All that I have is what I'm blessed with, indeed a blessing. I won't ask for more because I cherish it a lot. I appreciate all the helping hands, the commitment, the trust and the memories whole-heartedly. Without them, I'm not not who I am now. They made me grow stronger mentally because enduring it is a priceless learning process.

Last but not least, as a Malaysian, the MH370 incident has not only grabbed the attention from the press and medias globally but was the most heart-wetching moment for us. And now, the MH17 plane crash again has left us in wretchedness. My condolences to them crews and the passengers' family members. 

To everyone out there, always appreciate your love ones. It doen't require much effort to shower them with your love.

Signing off,

Mish

Happy Father's Day!

A short and quick post to dedicate my love to my best dad ever on earth! He's my all time superhero who teaches me all sort of thing from studies to life lessons. Papa never gets angry when I decided to tease him, play a fool with him or even text him randomly. He always bears with my swinging mood and constantly cheers me up with his lame jokes. Growing up from a little girl to a teen now, I'm the the petite adorbs to him as I'm still very attached to him like always. I love you forever Papa. If there's any Best Dad Award, you deserve it much. --- With much love, from Mish.

This is the cutest photo that I can find. Papa loves food a lot and all of us have inherited the same gene :p

Father's Day Dinner at Betty Midwest Kitchen, Aman Suria
Days before Father's Day, I was scrolling through Openrice (check it out for lots and lots of good reccommendation for eat-outs) and this particular restaurant immediately drew my attention. It was also one of the Featured Restaurant at Openrice and also coincidentally it was the restaurant that my mum was talking about all these time (but she didn't know the exact name of the restaurant). Hence, Betty's Midwest Kitchen it is for Father's Day! I was prettyy excited for it :p

As we are quite familiar with the place, it didn't take us much time to search for the restaurant. For any first-timer there, you can head up from LDP, turn into Kampung Cempaka and take the shortcut to Aman Suria! The restaurant is easily visible from the main road.

Lovin' all these adorable piggies

The restaurant is really a hit now so if you want to avoid the queue, come as early as possible. As we reach around 5.45pm, we do not have to wait for a table but the restaurant was actually quite full already. Stepping into the restaurant, I fancy the cosy interior with many pictures of the pigs adorning the wall.

Significantly ran by a restaurant owner who hailed from America

Father's Day Special: Hogwild

Side Orders: Pig in a blanket (RM 14.50)

Pork cocktail sausages wrapped with bacon, deep fried and glazed with honey. I find that it tastes not too bad but doesn't really worth the money. (probably because I don't fancy sausages much)

Hogwild

As shown by the chalkboard, Hogwild is basically a combination of bacon ham steak, a streak of bacon and pork sausage served with mash potato and coleslaw. The sauce served here is just so mouth-watering and pretty simliar to the mash potato gravy but with a stronger hint of mushroom in it. I personally love the mash potato which is so mushy and silky! And the gravy is just absolutely my favourite. However, I do not like their coleslaw as it is basically shredded cabbage and carrots which are mixed with mayo, nothing tangy on the tastebuds. Overall, the combination is fairly okay to me.

Baby back ribs (about 350g) RM37.90

I'm not so much of a meat-lover nowadays as I refrain from eating too much meat especially pork for health purposes. So, I did not give this a try but I can say that the sauce served deserves a thumbs-up. My brother loves it so much that he himself ate three-quarter of the ribs.

Classic Meatloaf  (RM 20 )

I have seen numerous recommendation of it on both the BMK website as well as on Openrice and what not? It was a must try to me. And indeed this dish did not let me down at all as it turned out to be my favourite dish of all! "A classical Midwest-style pork meatloaf. This hearty, wholesome and tasty dish is served with our house mash potato, peas, onion relish and our very own beer-based dip." --- from BMK website
I love every single bits of this dish, from the relish, the dip, the mash potato, the peas and the meatloaf. Yums!

Not to forget, ice water is complimentary here and for refill, it's simply RM0.30. Our bill ends up to be slightly over RM100.

Interior: 4 out of 5
Taste: 4 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5

Worth trying? Definitely!
Betty's Midwest Kitchen
Address: A-G-40, PJU 1/43, Aman Suria Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Contact number: 603-78800196

Homepage:  http://midwestkitchen.com.my/web/contact.php

Openrice: http://my.openrice.com/klangvalley/restaurant/bettys-midwest-kitchen/56554/

unconditional love; Belgium Waffles

topped with honey, toasted almond and dries cranberries.

perfectly done with a crispy shell and soft and chewy inside!

the mouth-watering decadent belgium waffles!

topped with honey, dried cranberries and fresh blueberries. a perfect yet healthy combination for myself :)

look at the drizzle of honey (they are finger-licking good)

topped hot chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, toasted almond and dried cranberries (for all chocolate lovers!)

This recipe is definitely a keeper for me! I have tried making once using a recipe from Allrecipe but it doesn't have the texture I wanted. This Belgium Waffle is just perfect, absolutely perfect for waffles fan like me! And.. I forgot to mention that right here in Malaysia, I have only seen one household brand of waffle machine which is Trio. Do look out for it if you adore waffles a lottt (the price is less than 100 ringgit)

Easy Belgium Waffles (from makingitblisful )

1 3/4 cup plain flour  (1 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup corn starch
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk (1 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla a pinch of nutmeg (optional) (1 tsp of vanilla extract, I omitted ground nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) butter , for greasing waffle iron before making each waffle (I omitted cinnamon powder)

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth.
3. Grease waffle iron generously with butter.
4. Pour batter onto the hot waffle iron and cook according to equipment instructions. 
5.  Serve immediately with favorite ice cream flavor. (serve with any toppings of your choice!)

 *words in red are my own adaptation to the recipe

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)

-----------------------
'The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to move forward is the happiest."
-----------------------


 

I'm messy; adapted version of Roti John

Roti John! Yep, my all time favourite! I have been craving for it as I can only manage to get the best Roti John from bazaar during the fasting period. So, here's my adapted version of Roti John. Basically, Roti John is an omlette sandwich using a baguette-type loaf and usually minced meat is used as filling but here I have made my very own adapted version of Roti John which is easy, healthier and scrumptiously-good!

Adapted Version of Roti John
(served 4 )

• 4 baguette-type loaf/ hotdog buns
• 4  eggs
• one can of tuna
• 2 medium-sized shallots
• lettuce
• tomato
• Kewpie chessy mayo
• butter
• salt
• black pepper
• teriyaki sauce (optional)
• dried basil

1.  Cut the loaves horizontally and spread some butter. Set aside.
2. Slice the shallots and saute them till aromatic and slightly browned.
3. Pour the olive oil/water in the tuna can away. (you may keep the olive oil) Cook the tuna with the onion for around 3-5 minutes to dry some of the water content.
4. Add a pinch of salt, black pepper, dried basil and one teaspoon of teriyaki sauce.
5. Beat the eggs well.with the onion and tun.
6. Heat a non-stick pan with some olive oil over low fire. 
7. Pour the egg mixture into the pan, preferably 1/2 cm thick.
8. Open up the loaves horizontally and face the side spread with butter downwards so that it immerse in the egg mixture. Put as many loaves as you can, depending on the size of your pan.
9. When the bottom of the egg has turned golden-brown and the egg mixture has set onto the loaves, flip the loaves over. Grill the loaves on every side, you may heat longer with more butter for some crisp on the bread. (I have omitted this)
10. Remove the loaves from the pan and served with a generous amount of lettuce and sliced tomato
11. Drizzle desired amount of the cheesy mayo or even tomato sauce. (create your very Roti John with any toppings you like!)

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)