All out for college // My love: Basil and Sage Pesto

Anyone who comes up to me to ask what I truly love to do, without doubt my answer is baking and cooking. Sounds so-no-a-studious-girl will do? Well, the main reason for why I have such a burning passion in culinary can be described in one word -- therapeutic. When I'm so engrossed in serving the finest dish that I can or just to whip up a satisfying quick meal, I'm able to fully concentrate on what I'm doing and temporarily forget what has been bothering me or stressing me out. In other works, I feel more relaxed when I'm in the kitchen haha. Unlike the professional chefs who have nerve-wrecking moments when they try to serve the best dish to their guests, I'm rolling in the kitchen to wind myself down.

After such a long long time, I finally found the enthusiasm to be back in the kitchen to take some time off the books and some problems. And also, I'm trying to clear all the leftover ingredients in the fridge before lunar new year. I'm feeling excited for it as this is the only time of the year that all families will gather for a scrumptious meal to catch up or to foster a stronger bond. While for me, on this festive season, I will share my passion with everyone, whether my family, relatives or my friends by baking cookies to spread some joy to them.

I came up with a pesto recipe. Yes, it's definitely one of my love! This is my second try on a pesto recipe and I will say preparing it from scratch is da best. In my recent trip to Cambodia, I had spaghetti with pesto at Angkor Watt. It costs a bomb because at such a tourist destination, there's no such thing as cheap and good food. But...I'm totally satisfied with the dish. The pesto is so fragrant and the spaghetti is soaked totally in the oil. When I said soaked, it really seems like the spaghetti is bathing in the pesto oil. That's the best part to be honest. I feel so guilty trying to have every mouthful of spaghetti thoroughly coated with pesto oil. The calories in that particular plate of spaghetti is insane.

Here, I came up with a to-keep pesto recipe. Adjust the amount of each ingredient to your liking.

For pesto sauce:
-Sage and basil
(This combination yields a perfect pesto sauce in my opinion as both are fragrant and not overpowering each other. Adding sage brings the sinfully addictive basil pesto to a whole new level. However, using basil is perfectly fine too.)

-Pine nuts and walnuts
(Adding pine nuts will do. I find pine nuts to be a better option than walnuts as it has a stronger nutty smell after roasting.)

- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves

Methods:
Pulse everything in a food blender and ta-daa, you'll have your very own pesto sauce to be served or to be refrigerated.

When you are to serve the spaghetti with the pesto sauce, chop some large shallots and mix it with the pesto sauce in a pan. Heat it without adding any olive oil in a non stick pan as a healthier option. Once you hear that sizzling sound and the garlic starts to turn brown, immediately place the spaghetti into the pan and give it a good toss. Add some salt for a more flavorful option. At this point, you can add more olive oil which elevates the fragrance of the dish, but I prefer to just add some water and mix the spaghetti well so that it's not too dry or too oily.

To counter the greasiness of the pesto sauce, I served it with marinated tomatoes, cucumber and some shredded carrot (basically anything that I can find from the fridge). Mix them with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano, dried parsley and Worcestershire sauce. You will want to prepare this ahead to serve the salad chill and for the marinate to infuse into the salad. The zingy lemon juice definitely do a great job to balance up the dish.

In remembrance of Poppy

That one phone call from my grandfather, saying that you have left us, has delivered the bare truth that you were sent to heaven. I believe you are, for you have brought eternal joy and and laughter to us for the past five years. I pulled myself up to write this post because I never want to forget you as my little brother, more than a pet.

Dating back in 2009 before I sat for UPSR, your biological mother has delivered you and your two other siblings, namely Browny and Spotty in our house. I can't express how astonished I were to have seen you three little ones roaming the garden and squeaking like mice. I witnessed every single moment of your life, from a tiny little one that I manage to hold in my palm to the chubby you who has gained so much weight over the years. When we had the three of you in our house, we were forced to make such a tough decision to only adopt Browny. There, your mother took you and Spotty away from us. Browny was such an adorable, with brown spots on its snow-white fur and an incredibly long brown tail. She's so lovely that everyone of us loves her so much, and even our neighbors and any guests who visit our house will love to carry her in their arms. You were the total opposite back then, with a black spot at one corner of or your mouth, dad and bro had called you the ugly one or the one who has never wiped your mouth after eating. But I love all of you the same. Not long after we kept Browny, your mother brought you back to our house and from then on, we had never seen Spotty anymore, for we believe he has been sent to heaven. I could not blame your mother for leaving you at our house because you are assumed to be independent when you are able to fend for yourself. I will say lucky you that we have adopted you.

Since that day, we have you and Browny with us. I can never forget how we help you two to pull through the days after your mother had left. We kept you in a storage drawer where we kept all our clothings before we get to bed so that you get to feel the warmth when the air cond is on and experience the total darkness so that you can fall to sleep easily. You do have your moments by waking us up middle of the night and so we have to pat you to sleep. It was not easy to make sure that you two are in good hands. Believed to be elder one, you are more adventurous, brave and tough while Browny is always the timid and playful one. We had so much fond memories of spending some quality time with you two and even bringing you all to the park which in fact, left you all in awe! However, Browny decided to leave home and never come back again. I yearned for her return and longed to cast one glance at her, just to make sure she's alright but never once I have seen her in the neighbourhood after searching her for days. I do miss her terribly.

We are left with you only over the years. We managed to help you to pull through the days when your dearest sister has left by reassuring you and giving you the comfort when it's most needed.  But, never did we expect an accident to befallen you. That was during Chinese New Year when we headed to my aunt's place few doors away from ours for a yearly gathering after dinner. It was already late at night, which I believed is 10 or 11pm when all the shops had closed. You lied motionlessly, mewing in agonizing pain as blood was oozing out from your jaw and there were injuries on your limbs as well. Your white fur was stained with blood. We were equally shocked. I could not forget how hard those days were. We tried to render you first aid treatment by apply pressuring to stop the blood flow and spent the night searching for a veterinary that has an emergency unit. I don't know whether I should be thankful or not that we managed to find a veterinary in KL which eventually helped to treat the injuries on your limbs but gave us so much dissatisfaction. They caused you to be in a worse trauma, charged us an unreasonable high amount and worst of all, they gave us the wrong X-ray which showed that you 'had' a fracture on your limb. Thankfully, we went to seek for a second advice from Gasing Veterinary Hospital and I'm so glad that you were looked after by Dr. Melissa who attended to you personally. You had a few days stay in the hospital and even after so, you were able to stare at us with your smiling eyes when we came to pick you up after the stay. You were so brave through the recovery when we had to bring you to the vet for weekly check-up and feed you food and your medications. Despite having a hard time, you have never failed to be the toughest one.When Dr. Melissa said you have fully recovered and took all the stitches out, in no time, you are out of the house to explore the neighbourhood as how you will before the accident.

I would say that accident has taught me to appreciate you and every single animal, may it be a stray cat or dog as life is too short for us to take things for granted. It was you who drive me to be a veterinarian. Now and then, I still dream to be one when I have seen so many homeless cats and dogs that can't even have a proper meal and shelter. I hope to give them the best treatment and a place which they can call home. However, that was merely a dream as I knew I wouldn't be able to perform a surgery or inject an animal as I love them too much. It hit me really hard when we found out that Tiger who was a stray cat that would come to our house daily for the scrumptious meals that we provide you with was forced to leave us. A foreign object hit Tiger right on his spine and affected his central nervous system that both his legs can no longer function. I remembered bringing him to the vet at Taman Megah and fervently hope that he only had a fracture. The doctor tried to make him walk but when we saw that he had to pull his legs to move around, we knew that nothing could turn back time. He was given an injection and was forced to put to sleep. As a Buddhist, we believed that he should live a fairly more comfortable life in heaven after he was freed from the pain

Now, you were sent to join your only friend in life in heaven. We miss you dearly. From the moment I stepped into the house, I realised how empty and lifeless it will be. I stared at your litterbox and knew that it will no longer be put into good use. For the past five years that you had accompanied me, we have developed such a close relationship that I will call family love. There were times that I would hug you in my arms and shed tears while you would stare at me blankly and not making a single noise. There were days you loved to sleep on my bed right next to my leg and I had to shift my body to make space for you. You enjoyed the air conditioner in our rooms and even if you felt cold, you sought for warmth under my comfortable. How adorable you could be. Now, I will no longer wake up to you standing at my door, mewing for me to open my door to let you in so that you could wake me up to feed you your breakfast. It will not happen anymore. I won't have your natural clock to wake me up so that I won't be late for school.

Well, it has been an incredibly memorable journey with you. You have walked the the different milestones in my life with me and your loyalty is one that I appreciate the most. If it's time for you to leave, I truly hope that you can rest in peace in heaven and join your best friend there. Poppy, I will love you forever and always.

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.