man in the mirror

This is not openness that examines its beliefs in pursuit of moral truth and good, but openness that finds its virtue in saying yes to everything-anything goes. The Christian's openness comes from his search for truth and absolutes. The secular humanist's openness exists because he manufactures truth and has no absolutes.

Baked Cheese Tart

Recently, my cousin Vivian has been involving her son Zheng An in a nearby baking supply shop's baking classes.

The shop is in USJ, called Best Baking Solutions. My cousin is very enthusiastic, and has gotten herself lots of supplies, but she has no oven in her home. So they come over to my place to do the baking.

So far, have been trying this recipe twice now, the Baked Cheese Tart with blueberry.







Mainly, Vivian and I do the work, but Zheng An has been getting more involved. So far the results are very tasty, but the proportions always confuse us. We always end up with more filling than pastry available.

May try apple pie next.

Gas Tank empty!

Sigh, must rant about work!

I feel like the Go-To person for every single thing in my projects lately. And all projects are very critical, very stressful and very rushed.

Help, my gas tank is empty! Getting sick so often nowadays too. Need to recharge, need to be motivated, need to destress!

I wanted to kick some of my colleagues' asses because I felt that they were not doing the right thing. But my boss said, don't rock the boat and I should crack my head to think about how we can all work together according to our strengths. Sigh, sometimes I wish the bosses would crack their heads and just give us some specific instructions to follow. It's so tiring to keep doing the thinking and managing in my own head. I am tired of leading, and I long to be a follower for a change!

Rant, rant, rant!

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Ok.... it's out of my system. Back to the tough and trying daily grind. Put on my happy face, try to be look more mature than I really am, try to sound smarter than I really am, and become the Go-To guy again.

Definitely need to ask for more advice from friends and family on how to refill my gas tank.

Grr... Angry! Tank Empty! Grr!

Porky Pork

Before we get to the food, a small rant about the level of quality from a big brand. I have been an Amway member for some years now. Introduced to this by an old classmate, I am currently consuming some of their health supplements and the eSpring water filter. 1 year has passed and the filter was due for changing. Can you see the difference between the old and new filter?

Tsk tsk tsk, spot the difference?

Yes, the black washer ring is missing from the new filter! A call to Amway confirms that there should be a matching washer ring in the new unit. The staff on the line said I could only do 2 things: send it back to the distribution centre for a replacement, or try to remove the old filter's washer ring and place it into the new one. I eventually managed to do the latter. But for the amount of money they charge on these things, the quality assurance is definitely lacking.

Anyhow, I purchased some pork from Jaya Grocer the other day and my mom got some from Pudu market. Both of which will be used in my roast pork experiment of the weekend. Loosely based off this recipe on the internet, i attempted to tackle the pork in my oven. I have no tabasco, so I used chilli sauce instead. There is a line of instruction saying the pork needs to be marinated 24 hours. I only read this on the day I was planning to have dinner, so the flavours did not have a change to penetrate. Boo Hoo... I also started the oven roasting bit late. The pork was bit tough when we ate it. Accompanying it was a sauce similar to the marinade, but with some whisky in it. I had my parents, grandma, cousin Vivian and son Zhen An, join us for dinner, and I forgot about the whisky till after the young man's lips become red (!). I am such a bad uncle aren't I? Also, some of the sauce splattered onto the casserole dish I used for the oven and burnt. This left a dark stain on the dish, which I am yet to clean.

Bought a wholewheat loaf of bread from Jaya Grocer too. To accompany the pork, I made a coleslaw. Cabbage, carrots and bit of onion. Dressed it in my own dressing of low fat mayo, cider vinegar (free from GNC points accumulation), brown sugar, black pepper. The slaw was a hit.

Sliced Pork, Coleslaw, Bread

Dad, Grandma, Vivian

My cousin and her boy came over to use the oven. So we made some egg tarts and a premix chocolate cake. My grandma and cousin are trying the tarts for the first time and quite like it. The chocolate cake turned out ok too and we sprinkled some coloured chocolate rice on top. The oven was heavily used during this day.

Pilsbury Chocolate Cake

Next time I need to read the recipe instructions better!

Enter Android!

Finally moved to the smart phone realm! Good bye faithful Sony Ericsson W700i. You have been an ever faithful partner, right until you had SIM card detection problems.

Probably still my MP3 player?

Purchased a unit of HTC Aria just 2 weeks ago. Went with the Digi plan. For a 2 year data plan, you can get the phone for RM799. I decided to go for this plan at that time due to fact that I thought I will YouTube a lot. But more on this later.

I actually wanted to get the iPhone, but it was not easy to shop for this as DiGi stores were always out of stock. After a couple of times of asking, and from some other research done, I decided Android phones were also very good. iPhone4 is still tops in terms of display technology, Apple AppsStore choices, and ease of use. My original 2nd choice was the HTC Legend which was also available from DiGi. Legend has AMOLED screen and a stylish brushed aluminium body. Consumers are so much more tech savvy these days, and being a great alternative to iPhone, HTC Legend was also out of stock in all DiGi and HTC stores I visited. So I settled for the next in line model from HTC, called Aria.

Aria is a slim build phone, running on the Google Android OS ver 2.1 Eclair. HTC Sense is included on top of the Android platform, improving some of the UI experience. Upon launching, you'll see the familiar HTC calendar as your home screen.

Hail Android!

Contacts are also easily linked between your phone contacts, GMail contacts and Facebook. This makes browsing through all your friend and family info a joy. It does mean you have to do your linking homework before this really comes to life. I was keen to sync my contacts and calendar with my office laptop Outlook, but I could not. Current version of HTC sync software only supports Outlook 2010 32 bit, and I am on 64 bit. I was quite pissed when I discovered this after frustrating troubleshooting. I worked around by exporting my contacts to GMail, which the phone auto syncs with.

Android apps are obtained from Android Market, which is almost always FOC. Popular apps which you are familiar with iPhone almost always has an Android counterpart, so that's cool. Angry Birds was my first download, and it was the full version FOC. The slim build design means the battery is quite small, so is not lasting if you play lots of games or use lots of internet. I did feel the phone tends to get warm after heavy gaming.

AGPS is also available, but I've yet to try loading the Papago maps into the phone. The connectivity to internet via mobile network also seems buggy, as if there is no network available, the phone goes into "Turning on internet... connecting...." mode forever. During which, you cannot cancel the attempt, so that wasn't great.






My main use is occasional gaming, reading RSS feeds from Engadget, comic strips, YouTube, Facebook reading. And for this purposes, the phone is excellent. It fits easily into my pants pocket, even with the casing attached. Most of my iPhone4 mates slip the phone into their shirt pocket, which sounds like a bend-over-drop-out risk. But it's all about habit, which can be trained.

I am happy with the phone, and do not miss iPhone4 too badly. Let's see any new developments in 2011.

Getaway in Terengganu

Local holiday again, this time to Terengganu. Decided to try FireFly airline this time. Very convenient for me, as it is in Subang airport. Just 15 minutes from my apartment.

Fly High! Proudly sponsored by SP Setia

Destination is YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort. It is between Kuala Terengganu and Kerteh (where all the petroleum refineries are). From Sultan Mahmud airport, it is about 1 hour to get to the hotel.

As with all YTL resorts, there are some familiar touches reminiscent of Pangkor Laut. Lots of leafy trees, wooden architecture, lavish bathrooms, thoughtfully placed decor items etc. Tanjong Jara is smaller in size compared to Pangkor laut but almost as comfy. A facility to wash your feet to avoid sand getting into your room, umbrellas in your cupboard for a rainy day, bath salts for your bath tub, 2 sinks, ceiling fan + air conditioning, the list goes on and on...

Freshly house kept whilst you are out for dinner

Double sink, and a dressing table!

Bathtub!

A water pot with water to wash your sandy feet before entering your room.

We went during Hari Raya period, so as a welcome treat, they gave us a box of Dodol sweets. There was also an open 'tent' where they served Hari Raya goodies like keropok lekor, Nasi Minyak, Rendang Tok etc.

The card looks handwritten too. That's a nice personal touch.

Decorative shelf in your room. Wine sold separately.

I was worried this place may be boring for kids, but I was wrong. The hotel manager got a trained monkey and handler to help pluck young juicy coconuts from the trees around the hotel. The fallen fruit is chopped up and straws placed inside and served to you on the spot. That was really fun for the young kids to see.

There are also lots of animals in the resort. We saw squirrels, iguanas, monkeys, many kinds of birds. Heck, I didn't know iguanas climb trees, but I saw one do so at the resort.

Hammock anyone?

The sand on this beach is quite rough, but the beach and water is clean. We saw schools of colourful fish swimming really close to shore. The beach is private, in a bay. So no other people crowd the beach. I flew a kite for the first time in years, and totally crashed. My cousin had to teach me again how to fly it. I got the hang of it in the end. Also made sand castles as well. Got tanned after doing this.

Sunset beach

The package we got is a full board package with 2 spa sessions each. The food here is above average. There is a credit limit, but you will never hit it. The main restaurant (Di Atas Sungei) has a different concept. A Menu Master staff comes over to your table to ask you what you'd like to eat. If you say fish, she will recommend the cooking style for you. This is somewhat like Chinese restaurant style, but in a Malay setting. The breakfast is also served here.

A morning view above the river (Di Atas Sungei)

There are also 2 different pools provided. One is for general adults and children. This one has a portion for jacuzzi jets, and the pool floor is shallow and shaped like a reclining chair! You can lie down with support for your back and knees... how cool is that!



There are also fish ponds with some tortoises by the reception. Kids can get free fish food to feed the fish. Alternatively, knick some bread from the breakfast table and feed the tortoises.

Gardenia, so good you can event feed tortoises

We had a very special outing in Terengganu. We managed to release baby turtles to the sea, see them hatch from the ground, and also catch a mother dig its nest and lay eggs! This was a real experience, and I've not tried this before. We are very lucky to be able to witness all of the different turtle activities. At this time, it is the end of the egg laying season, so much fewer turtles come on shore. It was no easy task to wait for the turtle to lay its eggs. We left the hotel at 9pm and returned at 3:30am! Some kids that joined us couldn't stay awake, but most of us made it. Turtles are indeed a special kind of creature. We managed to see green turtle during our trip. The more iconic black leatherbacks have all but gone from Malaysia. But we are still very thankful for what we did see during our outing.

Look at them go! All the best little ones...

The babies are attracted to light. Our guide showed us how they followed the torch.

It's climbing on my hand! So cute!

The spa sessions were really good too. I think the masseurs were very skilled, but the oil and tea drinks at Pangkor Laut are still better. In Tanjong Jara they specialise in Malay style massage. Again, I surprise myself because I really enjoyed the massage. Never really had these before, but the 1 hour flew by before I knew it. They also give you a pretty sarong after you're done with your session.

Lack of staff due to the holiday season resulted in long waiting times at the restaurants. But besides this, not much complaints. We also played tennis, and I went to a gym. So we were quite activity filled throughout.

I did not manage to try snorkelling at Pulau Tenggol (off the resort beach). I hope to try this one day. There are also boat cruises, waterfall excursions, cooking classes, visits to local markets as optional chargeable activities you may opt for.

I will be sure to try coming back to this place soon.

Happy memories at Tanjong Jara.

Egg Tart Experiment

So... I itching to use the oven again. And I wanted to use some of the vanilla essence that I had manufactured. I bought a bottle of plain Absolut vodka and soaked some of the leftover vanilla beans I got from my previous Bali trip last year into it. Just leave it in a jar for a few weeks, shaking it about once a week, and here's what I get.

Vanilla + Vodka = Vanilla Essence

I'm thinking that I could probably mix this vanilla into cola and get vanilla coke too. Might try this tomorrow.

Using this off the net recipe as a base, here is my own adjusted recipe:

Makes 20 tarts, Preparation Time 30 mins plus Baking Time 15-20 mins

Ingredients

Tart Shell

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups wheat flour
• 250g butter or butter blend
• 1 egg, beaten

Filling

• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cups water
• 5 eggs
• 1 dash vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist.
   
2. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use both thumbs, pressing gently while going around the mold.
   
3. Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Alternatively, just use hot water and dissolve sugar. Let this cool to room temperature.
4. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
5. Strain the eggs through a sieve
6. Whisk eggs into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.

Before...

After

I had some left over dough, which i just put into the oven anyway. So that become a cookie. I did fill the shells too much, so I spilt some when putting it into the oven. So kiasu of me... To be frank I think This recipe can make 21 shells, but I only had 20 aluminum tart foils.

I think 20 minutes baking time is pushing it a bit, 15 would have been better, then just let the tarts continue baking in the still-warm oven. I sampled one finished tart with my parents. The bottom is slightly burnt. The custard is nice and firm though.

I still got lots of flour and evaporated milk left. Will probably keep trying this till I finish the flour.

Got some friends coming over for dinner tomorrow. Let's get more guinea pig feedback tomorrow.

Revenge Complete... God of War 3

Finally, I have recently finished God of War 3. Yes I know, this is not a new game title. Forgive my tardiness.

So after finishing God of War 1 and 2 on PS2, how does the third installment on PS3 stack up?

This installment begins with the Titans scaling Mt Olympus, trying to squash Zeus and his buddies. From the get go, this does not give any sense of possible victory on the part of the Titans. They are just slow, lumbering, giants trying to bite off more than they can chew.

One really cool feature is that the Titans themselves become your battle arena, not just your opponents/allies. You can run along their arms or bodies fighting off smaller sized enemies. With the camera view zooming in and out to show you the scale of your environment, it's truly a technological marvel to see the Santa Monica Studios team achieve this very seamlessly.

Itsy bitsy Kratos on Cronos' arm

Another game mechanic that blew me away was the flights up the massive Icarus vents throughout the gameplay. Coupled with the exciting soundtrack, the flights are amazing to watch, frustrating to get a hang off, immensely satisfying when overcome. You've got to play it to believe it.

The violence in this game has also been upped several notches. Not only can you beat the daylights out of your foes, you can have your victim's eye view of the beating! That's sick. And cool at the same time.

Kratos! You've got something stuck in your teeth! So stop beating me up and clean it!

You can also rip out various body parts for your pleasure. One of your opponents is Helios, God of the Sun. I had to laugh out loud during this sequence, because after ripping out his head, you can use it as a torchlight. That's cruel. That's sick. And cool.

Kratos Massage Service... Guaranteed to relieve all headaches

Besides fighting the Gods of Olympus, you get to boogie with Hercules too. After settling issues with Herc (i.e. beating him up) you get a really cool looking pair of boxing gloves. This is my 2nd favourite weapon after the default Blades. They are slower that the other weapons but pack a heavier punch. Plus they are in animal motifs!

Meet Simba and Mufasa... say hello to my pretty babies

Gameplay was far easier than what I recall for God of War 1 and 2. That disappointed me somewhat. The ending plot was also kind of weird, because Kratos harakiri-ed himself, releasing hope to the destroyed world. They do not show Kratos' corpse at the end of the tale, and there are still other Gods roaming around (e.g. Aphrodite and Anthena). If Athena is anything to go by, this means all the murdered Gods can still make an impact to the story.

Still highly enjoyable, but short of being a masterpiece in my view.

Rating:

Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4

Acquired a PS3 console this year. So far, quite enjoyed the games on this console. Then again, the games are really pricey (RM150 and above), so I have to buy sparingly!

One of the ones which I really enjoyed from PS2 was Metal Gear Solid 3. So how does MGS4 stack up?

In this final installment of the metal gear series, you control Old Snake. Nanomachines have gone awry and aged this super soldier dramatically. Nothing an occasional bottle of Regain (not to be confused with hair growth serums!) and some Boss smokes won't cure in an instant.

Perk me up baby...

All the elements of stealth players have come to love return. A great improvement is the OctoCamo suit that auto changes the camouflage for you. In MGS3, this had to be micro managed quite often, so with this improvement this task is no longer a hassle.

You also get a handy remote controlled robot to fool around with. You can use it to pick up mines, go scouting, electrocute enemies and make distracting noises. Very handy indeed.

There are a lot more mecha enemies this time in MGS4. But there are a lot more interesting allies as well. At times, the storyline is too emo for my liking, but it's a small price to pay for a very intricate and detailed plot. One of the most emo good guys is Jack @ Raiden. No guns for this hero, just a sword will do. He's all about protecting Snake with no regard for his own safety. Later on he loses both his arms, but still battles with his sword in his mouth. He does get replacement arms at the end though, so I guess it all worked out.

I am the Lightning in the Rain... I am Raiden

Part of the mecha enemies in the game are the Beauty and the Beasts. Young girls who have been mentally scarred by war are placed into high tech battle suits to help your enemies make your life difficult. Defeating them usually rewards you with a full HD video cutscene of the girls doing... well, it's difficult to describe. Go YouTube if you'd like to see some of the action.

They really do look like this in the game. Really.

Of course, there is also some genius humour in MGS. You can now hold up an enemy and search him for goodies. Hit the button combos in the right time, and you can knock him out with a strike to the family jewels.

Oh my!

There is also this hilarious scene with Psycho Mantis at the end involving memory cards and vibrations. I won't spoil it for you... go play the game yourself.

I found myself playing till 2am sometimes, just so eager to get to the next scene or chapter. That's always a sign of a winning game. Cutscenes are detailed and aplenty, and only after you complete your mission. Almost all characters are complex and pull you in to the story. A lot of oldies make an appearance too, so that adds to the game's nostalgia greatly. I spent many a time restarting or redoing part of my mission to see if there were other ways to get past certain obstacles. I did resort to some FAQ help sometimes, but hey, that's also the mark of a winning game. Who would want something so straight forward right?

I am sad that this series has come to an end. I had a lot of enjoyable hours with Snake and will miss this dearly. We should all give this soldier a rest I guess and move on to look for some new 'classics'.

Snake, I wish you all the best and give the cigarettes a rest!

Overall rating:

Settling in (1 month)

Gosh, can't believe it's been almost 2 months since moving!

Here are some updated pics



We've installed grille for front door. Reusing the simple colour box shelves for a shoe rack at the moment. I do plan to look for another one soon.

I'm real pleased with the dining table. It's got a real solid feel and the colour matches well with the wall.



Here's the TV area and couch. We are in need of a coffee table. Will go hunting for this today. Will probably move the couch further back as well to accommodate the table. It'll have to be a small table though.

We've put in some potted plants at the balcony area. I do have one more power point at the balcony. In future, may put a water feature here.

Here's the kitchen with stuff in it!


Here's the study area with stuff in it!


Mom and Dad's room have the best view.

One of the dinners I made recently. Leek and Chickpea soup with toast. I hope to do more cooking over the weekends to come. I've also made toast pizza to great succcess.

Okay, I'm off to look for a table now.

Move Date!

09 - 11 Apr!

Progress so far

So far the following are completed

• Wiring and Light fixtures
• Paint
• Kitchen Cabinets, Built in Wardrobes, Study tables, dressing tables, TV shelf... 95% done.
  

Paint color:

• Plain Maxilite white on ceilings
  
• Almond white on 80% of all walls
• Orange red on Dining wall
• Green on one wall of each bedroom

Below are latest pictures taken last weekend

Balcony Area

TV Area

Kitchen Entrance from Living Area

Kitchen Area - Stove

E2Saver gadget next to the fusebox

From Main Entrance door looking at dining area

Study area

Bedroom

Built in Wardrobe

Tomorrow:

• Install curtains
• Final work on cabinets
• Connect plumbing to kitchen sink