Monday, May 28, 2012

Ramblings of the exasperated mind

I'll be honest; I've not been in the right frame of mind for a couple of weeks now.

It feels like my emotions have gotten the better of me and as my thoughts are drawn to him once more and my reaction if and when he drops me a note again, it has led me to wonder if I'm a distant memory in some people's minds. I'm not saying that it's depressing me because it's not; it's just that there's a weird feeling in my heart when I learn that those whom I was friends with isn't too cordial with me anymore.

"It's dangerous for (any)one to not keep in touch with me for a long period of time."

It's like they have treated me like a random stranger on the street, which is perfectly fine if that's their ultimate choice. For me, it's plain simple; I'll call it a day and move on but I'll remember it for life and do the same if and when the time comes for me to turn the tables.

I know. I sound evil.

But he's not the one I mean. Our friendship has never been whacked into powdered remnants; it's just that we are barely able to keep in constant touch with distance and busy schedules between us.

With that out of me, I will leave you, my readers, to guess the inferred identities.

I can't wrap it around my head.

If I'm working as a real estate agent and my friend owns a property, I won't pressure or even ask the owner to give a written notice of one month to the current tenant. I will instead kindly ask the owner to immediately notify me once the current tenant has called it a day and returned vacant possession and allow me to handle the unit.

"When I'm a salaried employee and earning my bread and butter, I have need to work hard to save enough money to purchase a [modest] house in a serene neighborhood to call my own before the market [value] appreciates, leading to a rise in the property prices."

Unless the interior and exterior condition of the house is worth increasing the rental or if the tenant is causing unnecessary problems, the agent in me won't be like that someone who's trying to act smart by brainwashing and persuading the owner to either increase the rental or serve the notice on the tenant.

It should sound familiar to you if you're probably the one behind it. Couldn't you wait for the departure of the tenant instead of meddling with the affairs? And I've a problem with this matter. You shouldn't have suggested such a ridiculous and nonsensical amount when you've not seen the property with your own eyes. Because of you, someone else is now paying the price for this.

So, that brings me to this question, why do real estate agents tend to resort to methods like melting each other's rice bowl and undercutting? Can't everyone play the game with fairness by the book?!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Scotty McCreery - Please Remember Me

I finally found a song that describes my current feelings towards them, those people whom I thought who were my friends.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Chocolate Cake w/ Walnut



Dry

200g flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Van Houten chocolate powder
100g raw walnut

Wet

1 egg
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
250 cc milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F
Oil a 15-inch x 10-inch x 2-inch oblong baking dish with melted butter and set aside.
Sift chocolate and flour together in a mixing bowl
Combine bitter with fingertips
Balloon whisk in baking powder, baking soda and sugar
Fold in eggs and walnut completely
Pour mixture into dish
Whack in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted stick comes out clean
Allow to cool completely before cutting it in squares/rectangles.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Bryan Adams - Please Forgive Me

My friend,

I'm not saying that time heals all wounds. I know it is hard to accept the reality of it but have faith that it will eventually all fall into place.



Even though our situations are unrelated, this song is dedicated to me and "Casey".

Monday, May 21, 2012

Two Different Cities


Since we had both spent time there on different occasions, we decided to return there for a vacation and for some reason only visited my former residence. It was surrounded by three different types of worship, a Catholic church, a Christian church and a Buddhist temple but as we drove past, I was suddenly hit with the flashback of the past. How I had to deal with an attempted strangulation just because I was one of the primary witnesses to a kidnap-and-rape case. How I had to sit through a court session listening to the prosecution revealing disturbing evidences to the court.



What a nice picture, don't you think?


In the same dream, I was back in the city three weeks later but had no time to worry about the past memory because I needed to get back into my schedule fast. The three of us had caught up over a meal somewhere but I wasn’t too pleased with it; the food was oilier and sweeter and saltier than I had expected, constantly forced me to down loads of water. One of them must’ve seen my displeasure and mentioned that instead of spending so much for that meal, we should’ve gone straight for frozen yoghurt but I reminded her that one serving for it for each of us would be just as expensive as what we had paid for if not more.

We swallowed our dissatisfaction and treated it as our bad luck and made our way to the LRT station.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

5/20/2012

In a place that resembled the porch of a Church, I was surrounded by two human beings - one female, one male - in a distance and a snake right in front of me, not hissing but merely staring at me. I could hear and see the couple exchanging words with each other but I couldn’t reply them or take my eyes off that small fellow.

It didn’t look the same small, green snake that I saw standing on the curb in Bukit Kiara years ago, watching the humans carefully navigate their way through without any offense but from what Jade had explained to me, I think I’m in for a rough time.

In the same dream, an old friend whom I’ve not spoken to in ages swung by to pay me a long-awaited visit and he took the opportunity to let the cat out of the bag that he was married. I could see that behind him stood a slender lady, but I could see her lower body as her face was blocked by the door.


Oh, crap, is it the same fellow? I hope not...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

5/16/2012

Keeping to a promise that he had made to me days earlier, he brought me to his condo, which he had recently received vacant possession of. After spending an hour looking around, we caught a drink at the cafe downstairs to discuss about the furnishings and basic fittings that he wanted to purchase/install.

The person resembles someone whom I've not met in a long time, but I can't be sure if it is really him.


Credits to IKEA at Wikipedia.org for the image.

I suggested that we should swing by the furniture store since there were good deals there.

A couple of weeks later, I had driven myself to my favorite haunt to treat myself to a meal as nobody was free to bring me out for my birthday in the afternoon. And since I had a pair of tickets to a jazz performance on the same night, I decided to keep that extra ticket and go on my own.



It was to be held at "Loose Bar" in Thistle but since it was my first-time there, I couldn't find the bar and had to seek the assistance of the hotel employee, who kindly guided me there. It was just behind the swimming pool.

Terrible; as far as I can remember, there is no bar with such a name and it sounds so promiscuous! Which hotel on earth would give their bar such a name? 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cheese-infused Banana Wolfberry Cake

This is another variety to the banana wolfberry cake.



Serves 8

Dry
200g flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2½ tbsp Chinese wolfberry (kei chi in Cantonese)
8 mashed graham/digestive biscuits

Wet
4 mashed bananas
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
200cc milk
100g cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp molasses
1 egg

Directions
Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F
Oil a 4 inch spring form pan with 1/2 tsp of butter
Combine butter with flour using fingers
Mix in milk and egg with a balloon whisk
Fold in cheese, bananas, wolfberry and molasses
Add a little of milk into the biscuit to make a paste
Spread the paste evenly on the dish
Pour mixture and spread it evenly.
Whack it in the oven and bake for 60 minutes or a stick inserted comes out clean
Allow it to cool and slice

Tips
If the taste of molasses sends you running away, try substituting it with 3 tbsp of sugar or with figs. The figs will however accentuate the sweetness in the cake, so use it with care.

Friday, May 11, 2012

A Reunion


We met again after a decade’s worth of disappearance, at a time when we’ve grown into young adults with dreams and plans.


Conversations and reminiscence were exchanged over brownies and two servings of Swedish Berry.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Banana Wolfberry Cake

Sorry for the picture quality; it was taken with a W508. Worry not, the cake looks and taste better in reality.



Serves 8

Dry
200g flour
50g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp Chinese wolfberry (kei chi in Cantonese)
raw, pumpkin seeds (optional)

Wet
200 cc milk
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
50ml oolong tea



Directions
Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F
Oil a 4-qt baking dish with 1/2 tsp of butter
Combine butter with flour using fingers
Mix in milk, egg and tea using a balloon whisk
Fold in bananas, wolfberry and molasses
Pour mixture into dish and even it with a spatula
Sprinkle pumpkin seeds (optional)



Whack it in the oven and bake for 60 minutes

Tips
If the taste of molasses sends you running away, try substituting it with 3 tbsp of sugar or with figs. The figs will however accentuate the sweetness in the cake, so use it with care.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Clearance, clearance - Pt. 3



Selling: RM 7
Condition: not so good as there are water stains on it
Reason(s) for selling: the owner (Papa Carrie) bought it on impulse



Selling: RM 7
Condition: well-maintained
Reason(s) for selling: not bringing it abroad with me

Friday, May 4, 2012

"Oxygen, oxygen, I love you!"



Greens, greens and nothing but the greens of nature. A word of warning, though. Lurking somewhere inside the jungle and hidden by the tall trees is the slithery sly who used to love to scare the life out of the trekkers by sliding across to its next destination.



Don't ask me what these people are doing there, but this is the place where the HHH and the gangs of cyclists take their break and exchange photographs.



Only those who are hardcore trekkers would really go for it even though it's raining heavily. It was on one public holiday - a Wednesday, I remembered - that everyone including yours truly and Mama Carrie were caught by the surprise rain and dripping wet.

I'll have to bring the umbrella with me if there is no sun lurking in the distance as I can't afford another surprise rain.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...