I've Moved!

It was a wonderful two years in my teeny tiny studio apartment and now I have decided to move on to a bigger place. Yes, photos are in order but I can't find my camera and my new one-bed is still a mess.

Maybe in a few days weeks?

My Haphazard Take on Baking Bread Pudding

I had some slices of bread I didn't want to eat the usual way so I decided to mash them up and transform them into pudding.

Aside from butter and sugar, I had all the other ingredients on hand. A quick trip to the corner store made it all complete.

First, I soaked the bread slices in the milk. A first I wanted to take out the crusts but the it had the multi-grains struck to it. Maybe the extra crunch wouldn't be so bad.

After checking the recipe I realized that the milk should have been hot when I soaked the bread slices. I quickly nuked it and voila - bread slices in hot milk.

While waiting for the bread to turn into mush, I mixed 1 egg, 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar (I used the tablespoon they use for Chinese soups :p), a capful of vanilla (I reckon it's around 1 teaspoon) and what I think was 4 tablespoons of butter. Maybe I should have melted the butter to get a more exact measurement but I like to live dangerously. I'm sure it will melt while I mix all of the stuff together.

Not. No matter who fast I swirled it around the butter did not melt. I microwaved it for 30 seconds hoping the butter would melt and that the egg wouldn't turn itself into a scramble. My prayers were answered.

I poured the egg-butter solution to my soaked bread pieces and mixed them together. The whole thing smelled wonderful even if it looked like my cat's vomit.

After 30 minutes of baking, I took it out and found it still a bit mushy. So I microwaved it for another 7 minutes. It doesn't say that in the recipe but hey, it worked.

It won't win any awards but it was edible.

My first Lindt Advent Calendar

My boss surprised us Monday morning with a cool gift: a bright red Lindt advent calendar for each of us in the department.
It has little windows (or doors) that you open each day until the end of Advent. Inside is a quote (in German) and a chocolatey treat.

I began opening some windows and limited myself to three today (even if I could open 7 - being the 7th day of December) but 7 chocolates would be too much for my waistline.

I looked up the quote by Giacomo Casanova. It translates, "Love is three-quarters curiosity".

Indeed. The other one says, "Lindor heart milk chocolate". I devoured it as an afternoon pick-me-up. Mmmm.

Happy to know that I'll be getting more of these tomorrow!

Good Karma is Great Holiday Investment

budget planner – Mint.com

Wish I Had A Windfall

It amazes me how winners of super lotteries end up in financial ruin after a few years. The odds of winning the jackpot is surely a million to one - why waste the chance of lifetime and lose it all eventually? That being said, I'm getting myself ready for a windfall. I've listed all the things I would do if I win a million dirhams (or dollars/euro/pounds/whatever) so I won't be caught by surprise and buy the whole stock of Tiffany & Co. at the Mall of the Emirates.

my precioussss...

(how delicious it looks and all for $800! mere loose change)

Paloma's Sugar Stacks Ring

from Tiffany&Co

I Think I Will Go To Cyprus

A few weeks after Hanoi, I became restless. Wanderlust has descended upon me again. But please get me out of Asia. I want to go to Europe or Africa. Not USA because I'm still holding a bitter grudge because they didn't give me a visa. Get over yourself Uncle Sam!!! (As you can see, the issue is still sensitive).

I played with random geographical coordinates in random.org and clicked the random button on wikitravel.com and eventually decided on Cyprus. I hope everything goes well, visa-wise. It's going to be difficult if I begin hating another country.

photo credit: hull.ac.uk

If I Got Pregnant on the Day I Last Blogged....

Yes it has been nine months since my last entry.

Not that nothing exciting happened in my life. On the contrary! In the past nine months:

• I managed to hold on to my job
• Got myself my own apartment (a tiny studio, but still!)
• Joined a nearby Christian church, improved my church attendance and recommitted myself to God
• Traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam

However, I am extremely lazy when it comes to blogging, even my physical journal has suffered from word hunger.

So here I am again, attempting to blog more often.

(by the way, no child was formed during this self imposed "sabbatical". I might adopt another cat though)