Butter Cake Recipe!!!

  You are one lucky reader to have found this place. I'm feeling especially generous today, so today, I will be handing down, to you, a secret family recipe that was inherited since 250 years ago. But there is one flaw to this appreciative gesture: I don't have a 250-year-old secret family recipe (Or do I...?). So I'll just have to make do with a butter cake recipe, ripped off straight from the newspaper.

 The other day (1st June. to be exact.), my dad found a little something between the pages of the newspaper that he'd like to try; a butter cake recipe. When he said 'I wanted to try it', he meant 'I will drag my son down to the kitchen to help me'. So after a week of delays, he finally dragged me into the kitchen, and got started.

 Here are the ingredients you are gonna need:

• 250g butter
• 210g castor sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 200g self-raising flour, sifted with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and
• 4 tablespoon fresh UHT milk

Ze Instructions!:

1) Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with greased greaseproof paper. Preheat ze oven to 170° C.

It said to do it first, but we put it last on ze list. Yeah, we're rulebreakers, and proud of it.
Plus, I dunno why the empty tin was in there.

2) Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. One way to make sure that it's creamy (Because I didn't know how to recognize it, even when I'm facing it.) is that the butter does not stick to the whisk.

3) Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and creamy. Than add the essence.

4) Fold in sifted flour gradually to mix, before finally adding the milk. Mix until well combined.

Yup, that's well combined alright. I guess. Creamy yellow mess.

5) Turn out mixture into prepared tin. Level out the mixture at the sides but allow a shallow well in the centre. The keyword is SHALLOW. This is to enable the cake to level up evenly during ze baking.
   
    As you can see below, my dearest father did not listen to his son's constant disagreeing mumbles. Let's see what happens...

Not shallow enough, dad. Not shallow enough.

6) Bake in pre-heated oven for 55-60 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Optional Waiting Activities:

• Dance to a song (In my case, Bruno Mar's 'Treasure)
• Show dancing moves to mother. (This is a risky activity, as it can cause the mother to start her lecture on colleges and the importance of education. This will depend on the attitude of mothers.)
• Let sofa swallow you into comfort as you watch the latest episode of your fave TV show
• Watch curiously at the oven as the tin spins around for the hour.

 7) Let it cool before serving the cake.

  And we're done. :) As I proceeded to slice the cake, my baby bro pointed out how familiar it seemed to him. I stared at the cake, slowly realising the likeness of the cake.

Like a burnt pimply pellet-eating, ghost-chomping arcade character.

Also, we noticed the peculiar bump of the cake. Then I remember that it was due to the lack of shallowness and the ignorance of a certain person.

This is clearly a case of ididn'tlistentomyawesomeson-tis.

It was delicious. :D And I'm gonna attempt the second time this evening, so I'll try to upload the pics as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can either try this recipe, or continue drooling at the images of the awesomely home-made creation. ;)

Hide and Seek in TESCO with Bros + Surprise Visit to UiTM~

 Yep, my life has been reduced to this.

 Ever since the last post, I haven't been doing anything worth pouring into a public blog. Until today. Yeaaaaah, I just humiliated myself by running around the clothes section, chasing my two sweet lil bros in a game of 'Hide and Seek'. The last time I did that was 2 years ago, at a 3-storey furniture shop. Man, it was so awesome. Gave me adrenaline rush. :)

 You might be going, 'Aren't you embarrassed?' Hey, who am I to them? A stranger. They won't know me at all. (Until they read this blog, and then goes 'Ah, it's the lunatic in the red jacket from the other day.') And besides, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does these childish things? Right? If you don't, then you are a hypocrite for telling people you're a 'child at heart'. :P Yeah, call me immature. I'm a guy. We mature late. And I'm a late bloomer. Get with it.

 The other, more exciting event of yesterday was the surprise visit to UiTM. To visit a mate. Whom I haven't seen in a LONG, LONG WHILE. A best friend, who coincidentally has a similar name to mine. :) Brought him out to dinner. Out of his dorm, not out of the campus, because there's a supposed male curfew that starts at 11pm. (But still out, technically.) And not forgetting my sweet cousin, Kak Mimin, another resident of UiTM. :D Yeah, killing two birds with one stone. Multitasker right here.

Ash and Acap. :D Plus the big red fella in the background, a.k.a Lil Bro 1

"Why aren't you in college?"

 Moi? Answer: I'm simply too awesome to be imprisoned by the grasps of tertiary education life  I'm entering next month. :) Where? Spoilers~

 I also just realised that I'm nearing my 100th blog post. Which is weird, considering that this blog has been living for 3 years. I should really be more active. But hey, it's a perfect time to be engaging in some cool, secret project. :) Just two more to go.

 This has been me, signing out.

Interview #2: KYS Chartered Accountancy Programme

 The other day, I received a phone call from the Saad Foundation College/ KYS, or rather, my father did. Over the static noise, I managed to catch that they were offering me a chance to go for Chartered Accountancy Programme in New Zealand. I also got to know that my school sent me a list of hopeful candidates to them, which answered my question; HOW DID THEY GET MY NAME?

 So off I went to the Boulevard Office two days ago, with a bag in one hand and a blazer in the other. A few minutes earlier, on the road, a thought crossed my already occupied mind; since they received a list from the school, wouldn’t there bound to be other schoolmates of mine already waiting there? I seriously could not back out from this now. Going in the lift. I suppose there would just be 3 or 4 familiar faces. Stepped out on the 3^rd floor and the first thing I noticed? Two rows of familiar faces, staring at me. What a pleasant surprise. What was more surprising was the fact that in a room of 50, 60 candidates, only one were wearing a blazer. Guess who that was?

Answer: The idiot on the left.

The screen was this far. And that small. Would you believe that? D:

 After catching up with friends during the briefing (We were too far from the screen to pay attention to the video. And playing it twice does not make it more appealing. Which is what they did, BTW.), we headed to the food a level below. I had a laugh when my blurheaded mate Uzair accidentally brought the wrong result slip, before heading off to another building to prepare for the interview that awaited us. Well, some of us did, because I wanted to ask the people from the first session how it went, and I forced Uzair to tag along.

 The type of interview was a group interview; we were all separated into 5 groups of 2 – 5 people and 3 sessions, all lasting around 30 minutes. The interviewers would hand us a card, containing 6 questions, and we would have to unanimously pick one and discuss about it, before finally giving the interviewers a piece of our mind. Yeah, so when my turn arrived, only one other turned up, him and I making up A2. Now I know you might be going, ‘Hey, isn’t that advantageous for you? Less people, less competition.’ I have to agree, this situation would have been great... If he wasn’t as blur as Uzair.  

 I tried to engage in a conversation with him throughout the interview, but it seemed that his mind wasn’t completely there. It was hard to try to continue talking when your partner is only responding shortly. (BTW, Uzair and Haziq, if you happen to chance upon this, I don’t despise you two. Love you guys. As friends, of course.) After awkwardly choosing ‘What is the ideal age of dating?’ among the topics at hand, we uncomfortably discussed in front of the interviewers. It was over, at last, and I confirmed my earlier suspicions that one of them was a familiar person; we had met at a educational roadshow at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

 And that was how my interview #2 went. It was better than the first one, because I didn’t fumble over my words as much, and the KYS interviewers were much more relaxed. :D I hope all future interviews would go on like this. But I’m pretty sure my wish wouldn’t come true.

Pictures of Moments~:

 

I, the Unintentional Bully

 Recently, I found something lodged in between the pages of a book that really took me back. It was a handwritten letter from a friend, requesting me to hear out his apology, and asking me to wear appropriately before meeting him at the tuition centre. Seeing the three-year-old letter really brought me down memory lane, despite wanting to steer away from this part of my life. I need to store it in the deepest part of my mind, only opening the memories once more when I want to paint myself as an awkward kid/preteen bully in the eyes of my kids, and their kids, which would be unlikely.

It was suffice just to come to me and talk face-to-face, rather than waste a half paper to write a really short and somewhat incomprehensible memo. But I have to admit, it was pretty nice of him to go this far. :)

 “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???” I hear questioning screams from the other side of the screen.

 Yes, I have to admit. I was a bully. More like ‘accused as a bully’, but never mind. It might be shocking for those who know me.  Frankly, I was quite as surprised as you are, when my friends started to label me that a few years back. They don’t call me that for no reason, that, I realise now.

 There’s a long story behind the then-absurd claims. There was this one peer of mine, who was rather slow compared to other kids, the same one who wrote to me the aforementioned letter. To make the story less confusing, I shall name him W. Hence, being the simpleminded teen I was, I played around with the guy. I remembered clearly how a friend and I (Yeah, it wasn’t only me.), came up with a ruse.  W always carried his water bottle with him, so whenever he left it on the rack to enter the library, we would always relocate it to another spot on the rack, usually hidden from sight.  When he freaked out and reported to the teacher, we would put on our innocent masks and offered to help. And that was only a small segment in a long list of misdeeds done to him.

 You could see how cautious and scared he was of me; he’d run away from me when we coincidentally met on the way to the loo during exam week, and his homeroom teacher, to whom he put his trust on, gave me a suspicious glare whenever I pass by. Heck, there was even that one time when I watched TV with him (It’s a rare occasion.) Some mischievous guy spooked him from behind, and guess which name he screamed out in anger?

 The biggest blow occurred on a day which started off quite normally. The library was a common interest between W and I; I found peace and solitude within a room surrounded by a rowdy atmosphere, while he expressed curiosity towards the TV that sat at the corner of the library. On that day, he pestered a few people, cornering them into a room, holding the door to keep him from opening it. And I, annoyed by the disruption of peace, plus the sudden ‘hero complex’ idea that sparked in my foolish mind, proceeded to kick him out. Struggled to, to be precise. W was constantly screaming and shouting at me throughout the whole ordeal, which turned every pair of eyes at the both of us. Ever since then, people have been calling me a bully from time to time.

 This particular accident compelled him to write the above letter, describing how sorry he was for ‘bullying’ me in front of the others. The nerve.  Anyway, you could imagine by now how terrible I was towards W. Even I feel ashamed at the amount of grief he endured from me.

 In my defense,  I was merely teasing him. But I suppose that was how other bullies would say. I have somewhat learnt from that period of time; cover up my tracks if I were to ever commit a crime again. That, and to think about how others feel before I act.

 Oh, if you're wondering what the letter up there says, and you just couldn't squint enough to have a read, don't fret. Here is the content of the letter. :D :

Dear Asroff,

 I knew I'm sorry that I'd bullied you for a while in the library. As you know what bullying is the pengawas (prefect) will write my name to the list.

 I'm sure that I'm in a bad mood for a bit. While you're at the dewan tertutup (closed hall) I think you will get revenge to me. Please don't call somebody about me.

 Go to the tuition center by today. Wear formal clothing when you have Malay and Science class. Be there when I came to the tuition by car. I need to apologise to you.

 Please accept my apologies. Thank you.

Two things to know:
1) He spelled my name wrong; and
2) If you think that there are a few grammatical errors there, it's not my fault. I typed it word by word.

What I Learned From Promoting Things People Fear

Credit card, anyone?

 Greetings, people. Some of you may have wondered why I have disappeared for a month, right after I decided to update frequently. Most of you probably did not care about my wellbeing. XD I have to confess, I did something no one like me would ever dare to do during January.

I got a flipping job. As a flipping credit card promoter.

 “My gosh”, people tell me, “are you out of your flipping mind?” Well, looking back, yes, I was out of my mind, grabbing an offer to torture myself physically and mentally. By working, I inadvertently spent my well earned relaxation period doing something useful and beneficial for once, which was sickeningly awful, as I had planned to devote my precious few months to lounging around, watching endless TV soaps, and gaining a few extra pounds.

 But what’s past is past. Anyways, back to point. I decided to share my experience of working life to everyone, and tips on how to sail through smoothly. J

1)      Punctuality is Key

 Now, we all know punctuality is a very, very essential aspect of life. You need to be on time for everything, lest you want to miss the bus, overcook your meal, and get dumped by your BF/GF. All sorts of unfortunate consequences could happen, even if you were a little bit late. In this case, you can get a fine.

 The concept is like this: You rent a space at a shopping mall; you abide by the rules, one of them being ‘You will pay for not opening your stall on time, literally.’ A colleague of mine, being the usually late person he is, didn’t get the memo, and was slapped with a fine upon arrival. Luckily, the manager and he were on good terms, and thus he was let off with a slight warning.

2)      Keep Your Patience (Don’t Blow Your Top Off So Fast)

 One thing we all dread, not only in the promoting services, but in almost every type of job, are those unrelenting customers, who try to force you to drive up your wall and become all Hulkish with a few screws loose. During my stint, I was met with many bemused faces stabbing my already fragile confidence, their ruthless glares sucking out every single drop of pride you had in you. At times, I was met with so many ‘No’s and ‘I don’t want’s and lies such as the usual ‘I have already’ line, that the anger starts to build up in me, to the point that I could barely keep the rage from overflowing and affect innocent people. But then I think of my job, and I’m back to normal. XD

3)      Study (Really, I’m Not Joking)

 You’d think that once you get out of school, you’d finally be free from all those horrid memorizing. But no, you can’t escape the clutches of the process. Sorry to break it to you. It’s reality. :/

 One of the important things you really need when you are promoting something is adequate information. Study on everything you need to know about the product. Don’t end up like me. The first week was full of hems and haws coming out from my mouth as the customers asked the frequently asked questions. When people see promoters being so clueless about the products they’re hopelessly persuading others to buy, they lose all faith in said product, and BAM! No sale. Trust me, I’ve been in that situation tons of time.

4)      Store Your Personal Problems Somewhere Else

 Imagine this; you had a fight with your parents, just an hour before your work starts. When you arrive, you are immediately handed an urgent, yet important project that requires composed thinking to steer it to success. They gave it to you, a being currently emotionally unstable. What do you think will happen? Of course you managed to get it right from the get go, increasing the reputation of the company, and also the popularity among your colleagues- Oops, sorry. I read that wrongly. It was the opposite of that.

 Moral of the story: Don’t let your personal issues affect your work time. They cloud your judgement, and it’ll also lead to other undesirable consequences.

5)      Make Sure You Know What You Are Getting Into

 This is very, VERY important in guaranteeing the satisfaction of your work time. Don’t, and I say DO NOT, just pounce on someone’s offer blindly. Look into the fine print, like the terms and conditions that you have to obey, or else you could be a snared into a pit of despair, flailing helplessly as you stand among the streams of unimpressed people, clocking in overtime without a raise in salary. Like me. D’:

 Although, in my defense  I would like to point the finger to my baby brother, the one who kindly dragged me to the start of it all, knowing full well that my spectacles were in repair, therefore I can’t see well, and can’t think well. <------- excuse="" lame="" man="" s="">

Mm-hmm, I guess that's all the worthwhile advises I got in me to share with you people. Follow these tips, and I guarantee, you'll be able to keep your job, unlike this sad job-loser.

 Oh, didn't I mention it to you? I got kicked out of the promoting service for not having enough sales. Guess I'm not cut out for promotion. 

Finally.

 Finally. Remember this day, people, as the day I have gotten 'round to writing again! :D (Cue large applause track.) I thought I'd never touch the keyboard again. To write, that is. You're nuts to think I haven't been touching the laptop since the last post, which was... Wait, lemme see... Last September. Wow, that's long. I'm starting to think a simple apology won't suffice.

 But then again, what can I do? First of all, I would like to apologise for not updating my blog sooner. I know that there are impatient readers out there craving for more of my awesome anecdotes. :D (Haha, in my dreams.) It's not because I lost interest in blogging anymore, no. That happened last year, for a period of time. You have to understand, I'm tied up with SPM, which I admit is a very lame reason, seeing all my other mates updating quite frequently. Not all of us are geniuses, able to blog while revising till our head explodes.

 When the excruciating time finally ended in mid-November, I was finally able to blog again... Until my bed chained me with it's oh-so-velvety blanket. Because after two years of SUFFERING, it doesn't hurt to sit back and relax for a bit, no? I was also lazing 'round  finding some ideas to entertain my audience (You guys.), because I had a writer's block. To be frank, writing during school is way easier than during the holidays, since you're gonna be bored with nothing else to do, and when you fool around with your mates, lightbulb moments will always occur to you.

 When I slamdunked the backyard's basketball hoop so hard it crashed to the ground (Literally.), I thought 'Well, might as well start writing again.' (So random.) I don't want my blog to be like those dead sites that people leave at the outermost part of the Internet where it's cold and dark and damp. And here we are, with you reading this, and me probably lounging in front of the telly. I solemnly swear that I will update my blog from now on. I have some stuff in my heart to pour out here, hence the constant outburst of inspiration, thank goodness.

 With that, I bid you adieu. Adiue. Aduie? AHH I'll just stick with 'Goodbye'.

Yes, I Jog Barefoot.

 Who likes to jog? I know I do (When my bed doesn't entice me with its comfort.) But recently, I have been noticing a constant pattern whenever I go down my usual track, every single time; the trailing eyes of curious people on me. While I do love a bit of public attention, but even I feel pressured with this increasing affinity towards my not-so-daily routine. People, why stare at a guys leisurely doing his humdrum routine? Is it due to my fashion sense? (Yes, I have to admit; sometimes my shirt does not go with my trousers.) Or is the mere fact of ME even EXERCISING utterly shocking news to the world?

 Or is it because I jog barefooted?

 Yes, it’s true. I don’t jog with shoes. And yes, I go around school barefooted most of the time, out of laziness, plus the erstwhile lack of footwear, which I will elaborate another time. I wonder though, why do people tend to just assume that all quirky things are bad? Every time my friends see me walking around without shoes, they be asking, ‘Where’s your shoes, man?’ Normally I’d reply with an explanation, but when I get really tired of the questions, I just give them weird reasons. Either way, I get showered with bizarre ‘What-the-heck-are-you-spewing-out-boy?’ glances. Now, weary from all the agonising interrogation, I shall now give you ten reasons why barefoot running is good!

You’d have a sense of connectedness.

 Running with your shoes only allows you to feel the cool, refreshing air and eye candy. But barefoot jogging gives you a whole lot more – just think of it as shifting from 2D to 3D.

Strides are lighter.

 Ever feel like you jog too slowly sometimes? Try taking off your shoes – you’ll definitely feel the lighter and faster. Certainly advantageous when you’re trying run away from bullies and perverts.

Better landing guaranteed.

Footwear often tend to make people land on their heels. (Don’t ask me why. Just observe joggers.) And landing on heels is a big no-no. The correct way would be to land on the front and middle of your feet, and with your shoes, it won’t be comfortable.

You’d have a better posture.

 Running with your bare feet touching with the ground enables you to know whether your posture is correct or not. Contact of the ground will give feedback on how you to change your pose.

Give freedom to your feet.

 Notice how uncomfortable it is to have your feet movement restrained by your socks and shoes? I often find myself unconsciously trying to wriggle my toes, but to no avail. Jogging barefoot releases you from the burden of your feet binded by fabric. Be nice to your feet.

You’d be more alert.

 With bare feet, you’d be more vulnerable to sharp and dangerous objects lying idly on the ground, waiting to prick its victims to death. Your instincts would kick right in to avoid such an unfavourable fate.

Less stress will be exerted on your lower half.

 With running shoes, we tend to burden our ankles with our weight, which would heighten the probability of a sprained ankle. Bare feet lessens the possiblity of any leg injury, due to the better posture and lighter strides achieved.

Stronger feet.

 Our feet became too soft and weak, because of wearing shoes. Going barefoot increases our feet’s strength, though I warn you of the pain you have to endure the first few times trying this. But as they say: No pain, no gain.

It’s Fun!

 Jogging around with bare feet is very exciting! It reminds me of when I was still a child, running around outside without shoes and constantly worring my parents. Plus, it’s nice to have people look at you sometimes.

It’s also very, VERY cheap.

 How much did your fashionable, branded running shoes cost you? Now compare that price with your feet. Enough said.

 So there you have it, 10 perfectly good and logical reasons why barefoot jogging is good for you. I hope this would explain to every curious person why I do this stuff. For all you know, it might even become a trend in school! Right now, I have an appointment with my bed, so be seeing you soon!