Muffin. But from the mix.

On an early morning last week, I made some muffins.

From the mix.


I'm sorry, I know this is a sin. Well Betty Crocker is a nice lady to make things much easier for us, so why not?

I'll try to make muffins from scratch next time okay. I promise.

Made these muffins in the wee hours of 26 Feb, and I took more than a week to blog this. Well, I was too busy to blog about it and upload the photos etc. It's not that I'm free now, it's just that I don't want to do anything related to school. It spells S-I-A-N.

So I greased my lovely girlish heart-shaped baking cups.


Opened the can of real wild blueberries.



Yes yes, I know I spilled that thing. Well it was hard to remove the lid from the can opener, it was like, stuck. I'm not perfect you know. I like being imperfect and messy =D

And I took out the mixing bowl and in went the flour mixture from the box.


Then some vegetable oil.


Milk. And it was the freshest possible that I just opened it. The evidence is in the photo as well. =P


And then the eggs.


Stir stir stir.

Until you get a nice and neat looking batter.


But it was a little lumpy and I couldn't get rid of the siewhoons. (Jing Yi, maybe the batter needed some of your medication =P)

Since this is what was printed on the box,


heck!

Then I poured in the purple blueberries.


And after stirring they turned blue.



Put them into the my greased lovely girlish heart-shaped baking cups. The amount was perfect for 12 muffins. As stated in the box.


And into the oven they went.

0256hrs

I set the heat according the the instructions on the box. Totally. I checked my measurements properly, preheated the oven to the required temperature and everything else.

0258hrs

Looking good!

0300hrs

0301hrs

0303hrs

The muffins were rising fast.

So fast that I didn't have time to react when...

0309hrs

...one of them belched. Can you see? The one in the middle at the back.


This is how the muffins should look like.

Sigh.

These are how mine look like.

The one in the middle at the back - I named it. And ate it.

The colours were all black. Let's go play football.

I followed the damned temperature, okay. And I took it out before the time stated on the box was up.

At least there was no burnt smell.


I really think it's time I should just NOT be stubborn and reduce the temperatures by a bit when I bake. Thanks to the angry oven.

And I thanked myself for taking the muffins out earlier.

Else this muffin would've risen and splashed down just like a wave on the beach.


Which happened to this one.


The one in the middle at the back.

I think I've learnt my lesson, so I tweaked the temperature down by 10 degrees C, and plonked the second batch in.

0322hrs

Everything was looking great until.............

0325hrs

Oh *expletive* man.

0325hrs - no no, please don't!

0326hrs - argh *expletives*!

Maybe turning down the temperature by 10 degrees wasn't sufficient.

Well at least the colours were slightly nicer, and I took this at a clever angle to hide the flaws...


...when in fact,


two muffins belched.


Nevertheless I picked that teeny bit out and ate it. Delish.

Though the colours are dark, they don't taste like they are charcoal-fied. I think it's still within the safe colour range.

So here are the friends I made that night.


Upon more looks, the colours aren't that bad la. Except for the two really black ones.


It was quite tasty, my folks liked them. I made 12, ~3 went to myself, (a little less than) 5 went to Really Charming - ah this is too cheesy to be published RC, and the rest went to my family. Mum said Ethan ate nearly one. Which is supposed to be a compliment, since Ethan likes it so much.

But Ethan eats everything.

Here's the inside. Yummy.


Here's the underside. If you're ever interested.


I know this post is quite a leap from the previous one. Between tasty food and what becomes of them. But still. =P

Hello Shi Hui a.k.a. Siew Hoon! Now you've gained some exposure on my blog! =D

If you're eating now,

or if you're gonna eat later,

or if you've just eaten,

please do not look at the following picture unless you think you can stomach it.



















Very classic isn't it.

That's Ethan's. My nephew. Right smack in the middle of the living room.

I'm so gonna show him this when he grows up.

My brother took the photo anyway.

I wasn't around to marvel at it.

Nah, I doubt I even want to get near it.

Tyyyyyyy-eeerrrrrrrd.

Pardon me for spelling 'tired' that way.

Because I am tired.

Really tired.

Kinda regretting now that I didn't skip band practice last night because I felt too responsible. (or maybe I just feel bad =P) Since I skipped one already.

But I regret because I'm afraid I might not be able to get pass this semester. That situation seems very real. I have just four modules this semester but they all are quite tough to me.

Sigh.

I have a test at noon and I'm here blogging. I haven't finished studying.

Extremely tired. (I nearly used an expletive in place of 'extremely'. No I can't use any expletives here. This is a family-friendly site.)

Boo.

Yes, I'm whining.

I don't wanna studyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.


Sometimes I dislike it when my blog becomes boring, I have some stuff I wanna blog but I haven't, but when the time comes that I can blog (I wanna blog NOW) seriously, it probably will be this weekend. Else...next.

=(

I don't like school.

I'm halfway through Terrible Tuesday.

Am dreading Freaky Friday.

Sigh.

Just finished a test, I don't think I'll get any reply. =\ The job isn't really for me anyway.

Gonna have a test later, and I'm falling asleep. Zzzz.

The more I have to study, the more I resist.

Grrrrr.

From West to East

(click on the image)

This is how it looks like when RC drives over from his place to pick me up.

That's like across nearly the entire Pan-Island Expressway. At least 35 minutes, 35.4 km.

Yikes.

Celebrations in the void deck.

There's a lot of commotion downstairs, coupled with the usual drums and singing and music. I don't know what you term this as.

I didn't know that our Malay friends get married on Saturdays too. I thought it's only Sundays.

Here's a riddle for you.

Q: Which week is the shortest week in a year?

.
.


.
.



.
.


.
.



A: Recess Week!

When can I sit down and really do my work?

I don't have enough time (nor $$). Drats man, so many things coming up. Please don't touch my weekends, only then I finally can do some work. Tests are approaching! Yikes.

Kids in the local education system

I was coaching a foreign kid today, and because I don't know him well, I took opportunities to create small-talk. He's in Primary 4.


Me: So, what games do you like to play?

Kid: Erm, what kind of games?

Me: Well, maybe like computer games.

Kid: *thinks hard*

Me: Oh like what do you do when you go home?

Kid: Tuition?

Me: *pauses*

Me: Ah, I see. Okay, let's try no. 54 again.

ARGH

All of a sudden I have so much going on.

I thought this recess week is gonna be FREE and empty.

Now I have this, I have that, I have this, I have that, plenty of tests over the next few weeks., and this, and that, and this, and that.

STOP COMING, I'M DROWNING! Damnit.

And I am going to blog more.

Because today is Saturday.

Saturdays in a recess week means you have to study slack.

That's what I've done the entire day, I'm sure you can see with all the posts.

Anyway.

I'm sure you all know of those Chinese guardian lion statues outside almost every Chinese building.

Okay maybe not every.

Here's one.


Now you are enlightened.

Since I'm Chinese (Singaporean) and I love lions, I decided to 寻根 and get lions for my own bedroom door.


They're kind of small but I think they'll pass.


And I like it that they're not made of stone and they don't look fierce.

Prawns with pineapples on skewers.

I cooked an easy dish for dinner today.

It wasn't terrific or anything, but it was good.

I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. (which was by the way, one of Time's top 50 blogs)

Nothing exciting happened that I can really blog about, so I'll just talk about the food.

Here are the prawns.


You can't see them, they're drowned inside heaven.

The marinate's teriyaki-sauce-based.

I removed the prawns and skewered them...


...to ensure that they were hugging a cube of pineapple each.

So now you can start assuming that I am going to barbecue/grill this.

No I wasn't going to, I was supposed to. Just that I don't have a grill. I made do with the pan.


In the meantime I strained the marinade, then heated it up to ensure the removal of all germs and bacteria. I hope they died. In addition I added tapioca flour. Or was it potato flour? I can't remember. I only know it's in that beige container by the stove and is used to thicken your stews and gravies.

I was supposed to ignore the marinate actually. However it would be too much of a wastage.

When the prawns were red and hot and sexy I took them out.


Then I poured the marinate-turned-gravy over.


Yummy.

Doesn't look yummy enough to you, that the prawns looked so imperfect? I'm sorry but I'm not a food stylist. Though it would be cool to be one.

Hey, I think I know what I want to be when I grow up (I'm not all grown up though I'm going 22. I'm still in school okay =P). I wanna be a food stylist!

Sorry for the digression.

Good reviews from my folks, except for my sis who thought that it was too fishy.

I think I can't trust her tongue for the next half a year.

I find that the dish was a little on the salty and sour side, I shouldn't have added the salt (the teriyaki has got enough salt in it!) and I added too much lemon juice. The recipe says a splash of lemon juice. I think I added the juice of nearly one lemon. Is that one splash already?

As for how it'd taste like on the barbecue, I can only imagine.

It most probably will turn out to be tastier.

This is kinda sick.

Imagine marrying an animal.

I'll never marry a lion! Even if you force me to. Or pay me tons of millions of dollars. I wouldn't want to do that. Not because it's inhumane or unethical or whatsoever, but...it just isn't right. It's their beliefs, no one can do much about that.

=S

My very first blood donation.

Just in case: there's a photo of blood in this photo. Don't read this post if you can't take it!

It was just decided overnight, when RC asked if I wanted to go for blood donation with him.

I had no mental preparation, really didn't know if I wanted to donate or not.

Age is creeping up on me, I was thinking I might be a little afraid of needles.

Yikes.

But I went anyway. Though I overslept and missed RC's donation completely. Sorry =(


And I hate my current hairdo.


While blood was flowing,


RC snapped more photos. Heh. They gave donors a packet of healthier choice nuts.

Because I was a first time donor, I was given a sticker that says 'Be nice to me, this is my first donation' so I got nice treatment. For example, the lady removed the wrapper for the stress ball (which was a heart) for me. And they asked me from time to time if I was feeling giddy or not. (RC didn't get such treatment =P haha)

I just didn't like the sensation of the needle going in and then out. =S

I didn't feel giddy or anything at all, until I stepped out of the MPSH. I thought I was going to faint. My eyes couldn't focus, my brain couldn't think, I just knew I needed to sit down.

And then I felt that I had to pay the toilet a visit. I vomited almost immediately after I entered the cubicle. =S

I think I was in there for quite a while. It was way past noon but I just couldn't get up and go for lecture. In the end I didn't. My tummy hurt too much and my head was still spinning.

When I finally got out like after dunno how long, I went to look for RC and I laid down on a bench. I curled up and felt so terrible. Someone even came over to ask RC if I was alright. And I was in a total mess - my hair was all over the place, RC said I looked very pale. It took about an hour before I felt well enough to go about.

I never felt this terrible before. The most painful of tummy aches and the giddiest I've ever felt.

This was how I was like when I could finally sit up.


The colour was back, my hair combed, but still hunching badly.

Thank goodness for RC.

In the end I hung around him the entire day until I left for band pract and I'm guilty that he didn't get to do any work that day.


His elbow and mine. I got a hot pink strap (I don't know how you term it) while he got a nude-coloured one. I told you I got nicer treatment haha.

Thank you RC =)

What do you expect to see at a train platform?

Considering Singapore, you might think of loads of human, zero trash, and of course, trains zooming in and out.

But would you expect to see this?


Eh, red hot bra straps okay.

I was with RC and Khee Nguen when we spotted the striking straps on the ground at Buona Vista MRT platform. =S

There was a pair of them, one in the foreground, and the other one further away in the background. Weird, it's hard to analyze how they ended up there. Maybe someone dropped it while walking.

Weird

I no longer look forward to the twice weekly fix.

I thought I'd happily enjoy my final times there but seems like something's missing. Sigh.

First it was C language.

And now it is MATLAB. I never remembered MATLAB to be so disgusting when I took it for 1101R. Maybe somehow I forgot.

I don't feel any kind of affinity with computer programs. I can never be like the genius kid who can write a program and give you a game on iPhone. For those of you who don't know, that kid's Singaporean. Not bad eh. But still.

I hate programming. Grrr.

How I spent my Saturday.

I've uploaded the info and photos to Facebook. If you can't see...I'm sorry I made the albums open only to friends. So if you're my friend but you're not my friend, do something about it! =P

Trotting Over The Ridges : 1
Trotting Over The Ridges : 2
Trotting Over The Ridges : 3
Post-trot

♥

This,

is love.

Thanks to a busy week, I just realised I haven't touched my ang bao money. The packets are left unopened somewhere in my room.

Why did I forget about them when I'm so broke?

Weird. I wonder where I placed my brain.

好想绑头发

Tomorrow's a good day to tie up my hair. As in, other than I want to, I think I need to. And I better.

But thanks to the hands of a certain ~@&(*?<@(8#)()*$@)(*, I have to give the thought up.

Since it would be a big head with a scrawny little tail.

Bloody hell.

I hate homework. Tutorials too.

And my hair =(

Bloody hell.

Here you are, I'm blogging again.

I am very pissed.

I went to the hairdresser earlier on today to trim my hair, and also to thin it out a bit. I told the lady I just want to trim 修 my hair, and she giggled at my thick mane. I told her she can thin it out. Then she asked me how much shorter I wanted my hair to be, and she placed the scissors at about an inch from the tip of my hair, and I nodded, yea, that's fine.

She looked like she had fun.

Apparently she thinned my hair till she got very 过瘾. (fuck!)

The last two times when the other lady in the same hairdresser did my hair, I asked her to cut 2 inches off and thin my hair for me. At the end of the day I was still able to tie up my hair into a decent ponytail.

Now my ponytail looks pathetic.

And my hair is much shorter than before, when I just wanted to trim my hair so that it's kinda neater and I can happily go for the Career Fair later this week. With neater looking hair. And look nice enough for Saturday. And still be able to tie my hair up to deter the African Singaporean heat.

Now what?

Okay, okay, an update.

Here's to feed you readers with my doody (whatever that means) writing. Stop complaining that I don't update! There's such a thing called writer's block, you know. =P

Anyway. I have some random and meaningless things to blog about today.

Firstly.

There was this boy - I emphasize, boy - outside Tampines MRT Station where he was spewing fire. No laaaaaaaa, he wasn't spewing fire, he was performing with fire. A very young teenager who had the guts to throw balls of fire around within the peak-hour crowd. When I was watching him (and trying very hard to take photos discreetly), a friend of his walked by and they said hi and the performer was telling his friend how well-paid his job was. Apparently a lot of people walked by and threw coins and notes for as long as he was there. I just wonder if his parents know about this. It was the first time I saw a fire-throwing busker. To add to that, in the heartlands.

He definitely turned heads

He'd definitely turn more heads if he burned the banner on top.

And next.

I never knew something like this existed on one of the remotes at home. One that I hardly ever touched.

Karaoke Po(r)n Star.

Hmm hmm.

And some more. A little random note from what happens to me almost everyday at home.

This is the altar at home. On the left is a tablet of my ancestors - paternal granddad and grandma - and on the right is a statue of Kwan Im.


No the fan underneath has nothing to do with the daily praying my parents do at home.

This corner of the altar


has little affinity with me. Or maybe too much. For some reason, I keep knocking into it when I was stepping into the kitchen. And I didn't notice, it was as if I couldn't gauge how wide my shoulders were. I don't mean just a little thud, everytime I knocked into it there was a loud BANG. I worried if everything on the altar would topple over or something, that scared me a bit. And I'm sorry to my grandparents and Kwan Im because I'm pretty sure they'd jump a bit whenever I knock the altar. That's like, maybe more than twice a day.

End.





Why? Were you expecting something more?

I'm sorry, then. =P