zen and zonked

Unfolding the Blindfolded.

2011-08-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks had me zealous over a marathon of Thai dramas. A Korean drama addict, i can't help but compare these two. With superb acting and script, these two Asian drama waves actually run on the same page. However, after watching several Thai dramas, i begin to notice a difference in the plot which has never been portrayed in any of the Korean dramas so far.

RAPE. Now this is the on-going and recurring choice of plot for a Thai drama. Out of 10 dramas i've watched, only three are shown without a rape scene in the episodes. The rest, are broadcast with occasional raping by the male lead. The plot then continues with the female lead getting pregnant, and the two roles falling in love with one another. Despite of the fact that rape is a big issue religiously, culturally and internationally, the production companies seem to take no heed of this matter and continue on making dramas containing R-scenes. The way the script is written somehow manipulates the inhuman rape actions and drags the viewers' morality to the verge of collapsing. Making RAPE look OK to the public, especially the teenagers, is definitely not a GOOD thing!

i keep on thinking on the issue, and even question myself, that if i'm in the female lead's shoes, would i be able to forgive and accept someone who has raped me?Can i bring my traumatized self to LOVE and HONOR that person?Reality check shows that a rapist never gets away with it. If they aren't severely or fairly punished by the law, they'll be cursed and ostracized for a lifetime.

But then again, the dramas put up a different campaign, milking sympathy and mixed feelings from the viewers for these on-screen rapists. To prove how the dramas have victoriously colonized our minds, i threw the issue up to my students during a speaking activity. i started off with a few if-will questions, then i popped the real question: if a man rapes you, will you forgive and accept him after he changes to a better person? To the boys, in order for them to relate to the situation, i asked them to act as a family member of the victim. Well, i got a variety of answers. Some students bluntly spat out a NO, many of them said PERHAPS, and a few answered YES.

i'm too sleepy to continue babbling miserably in this post, so i'll put up another one to let you guys know the WHY-S and BECAUSE-S that my students have given.So,bon nuit!

to sahur, with love!

2011-08-08T04:06:00.000-07:00

As much as breakfast should be the start of a normal day, SAHUR should be the start of every fasting day. But cooking in the wee hours of the day is like pulling out your own hair. It's hard! Getting out of bed alone is a torture, let alone figuring out what to cook. Since i can be quite clueless as to what i should make for sahur, i'm gonna list every dish that i can think of right now..plus the ingredients!

These recipes are based on what i've made before and what i have in my kitchen ahora..

1. black pepper chicken

chicken meat(diced)

garlic(crushed)

shallots(diced, optional)

onion(diced)

black pepper powder(i like to used crushed black pepper seeds, but we're talking about NOW)

oyster sauce

salt and sugar to taste

saute garlic and shallots until a bit brown, then add chicken and onion.stir the chicken for a while, then put in oyster sauce. sprinkle salt, sugar and black pepper powder. serve with hot rice.

*for this recipe you can also substitute chicken with thinly sliced beef.

2. chicken with ginger and soy sauce

chicken meat(diced)

garlic(crushed)

ginger(julienned)

onion(diced)

scallion(coarsely chopped)

soy sauce

salt

saute garlic and ginger til a bit brown, add chicken and stir for a while. add onion, soy sauce and salt to taste. turn off the heat and sprinkle the scallion.serve.

3. beef and seaweed soup

beef(thinly sliced)

seaweed(i use the one for snacking)

garlic(crushed)

ginger(finely chopped)

oyster sauce(optional)

salt

water

bring a pot of water to a boil. add the sliced beef, garlic and ginger. cook the beef until tender, then put in seaweed, oyster sauce and salt to taste. serve hot.

4. fried egg tofu with tau miu (i seriously don't know what this vege is called in English)

egg tofu(thickly sliced)

tau miu

garlic(crushed)

shallots(finely sliced)

oyster sauce

saute garlic and shallot. add egg tofu and fry the tofu till brown on each side. throw in the tau miu and oyster sauce.ready to serve.

5. sambal prawn

prawns

garlic(chopped)

shallots(chopped)

chili paste

oyster sauce

salt

sugar

clean the prawns and set aside(you can leave the shell if you want to). saute garlic and shallots until brown. add chilli paste and stir till the paste changes its color to a darker red. add oyster sauce, sugar and salt. lastly throw in the prawns and some water. simmer till the prawns are cooked.serve.

*you can substitute the prawns with squid.

6. rolled egg

eggs

onion(chopped)

scallion(chopped)

seaweed(optional)

salt

beat the eggs, then add in the chopped onion, scallion and salt to taste. grease a frying pan(it's easier to use a flat one) and pour the egg mixture into the pan. fry the egg mixture at a slow heat. spread the seaweed on the egg, and when the bottom part of it is cooked, start rolling the egg. cool the egg roll and slice it before you serve.

If everything is so easy to make, then there should be no problem cooking at 4.30 in the morning, right?or not?

romanticizing romantics

2011-08-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

i..am hereby guilty as charged,of not being a romantic when it comes to love and courtship. Being a woman, one would always want to be pampered with words and actions that melt the heart and make head swoon. But then the Venuses aren't all the same. i, for instance, loathe sweet-talkers and men whose words would normally send some other women into ecstasy.

As a literature minor, romantic words have become a norm as we progressed into the studies. The literature component was filled with romance, thanks to the loved and loathed William Shakespeare, the world's classical romantic. Thrown into a world of vague certainty, we were forced to read between the lines, question the unquestionable and come up with our very own interpretation. As different as sugar and salt, sky and earth, Venus and Mars, our interpretations of love and romance vary.

That said, the way i interpret a romantic encounter might fall upon others as being nonsensical. i used to think guys who are straightforward in expressing their feelings as romantic. i prefer people to be direct(not blunt) with their speech, yet i LOVE those who show it through actions. Fed with all the crappy and soapy ideas from Korean dramas, no wonder my romantic fantasy goes hey-wire.

So how romantic is exactly romantic?A bouquet of roses or a box of chocolates?A walk along the beach or a candlelit dinner?A dinner cooked by that special somebody, or a dinner bought by that somebody?

Being indecisive is problematic enough, but what about being GREEDY?

funny!

2011-08-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

i came across these two short stories somewhere while surfing the internet, and just feel like posting them here..

1. My wife and I

One evening last week, my wife and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me." I said "WHAT???!!! What was that?!" So she says the words that every husband on the planet dreads to hear...

"You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man. " She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one take so I told her we'll just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit.

We went to the jewellery department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you, she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement.

Smiling with excited anticipation she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier." I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled "WHAT??!!!" I then said "Really honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman."

And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me I added, why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?" Apparently I won't be having sex again until sometime after pigs fly over a frozen hell.

2. Promise!

The other night I was invited out for a night with "the boys."I told my wife that I would be home by midnight...promise!Well, the hours passed and the beer was going down way too easy. At around 3 A.M., drunk as a skunk, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hall started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, I realized she'd probably wake up, so I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself, having a quick witty solution, even when smashed, to escape a possible conflict.

The next morning my wife asked me what time I got in, and I told her 12 o'clock. She didn't seem disturbed at all. Whew! Got away with that one! She then told me that we needed a new cuckoo clock. When I asked her why she said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said 'oh shit,' cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another 3 times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then farted.

Going high on chocolates!

2011-08-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

i LOVE chocolates!i can have a blast eating them alone, all day long!i know some people are allergic to chocolates, which is a pity, but hey,sometimes giving them to someone you care makes you feel a lot better than having them for yourself..

Earlier this week i had chocolates raining on me..bars after bars,balls after balls!all because of one little punishment i gave to my students last week.i jokingly told them to buy me chocolates if they get a certain low mark in their mock grammar test (well,i guess i gave off that serious look..hoho!), but they ended up REALLY buying them for me!i'm LOVING these kids to death!mmuahaha!

These adorable kids are a treasure to keep.i'm not saying this because they stuffed me with chocolates,but because they are truly cute, and they listen to me well.i always have fun going into their classes, and whenever i'm upset, they blow it away in a jiffy!

Their antics and differences..are like the various flavours and shapes of chocolates.The more you have them, the more you savour them!

The Best Korean Dramas

2011-08-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Almost everybody i know knows that i'm a die-hard,overdose addict of Korean dramas. So this post will be about me babbling on my most treasured,crazed for dramas.It's the EVERGREEN list,meant for rewind,replay and re-watch!So take a look folks, then take your pick!

1. City Hall

This drama deals with politics in a romantic comedy genre. It’s about the happenings between a young woman mayor and an elite bureaucrat. Jo Gook is an exceedingly smart government official. He passed the Higher Civil Service quickly, and basically is the perfect guy. But being a deputy mayor is not enough for him. He lives with the dream of becoming South Korea’s President. He should have easily gone straight to the top, but due to an unexpected incident, he gets dispatched as a deputy mayor for a provincial small town, Inju City, where Shin Mi Rae is working. Shin Mi Rae is a low-ranking secretary in Inju, but she works her way up in becoming the youngest City Mayor. As their paths met, they have to deal with each other’s personal and social differences, and feelings that grow along the way.

2. Secret Garden

The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won), a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the objects of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

3. Coffee Prince

In this drama, the life of Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) is not easy; she works many jobs to pay off debts and even gives up her feminine image. Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) is the heir of a big food company, but his grandmother wants him to settle down, so she arranges many dates for him. When Eun Chan bumps into Han Kyul and is mistaken for a boy, Han Kyul decides to hire Eun Chan to be his gay lover in order to avoid the arranged dates. Desperately in need of money, Eun Chan has no choice but to accept. Han Kyul's grandmother also makes Han Kyul in charge of a filthy coffee shop in danger of being bankrupt. Eun Chan begs to work at the coffee shop, and not long after, feelings start to spark, with Han Kyul struggling to accept his "homosexuality".

These are the top three dramas!I'll post more dramas in the EVERGREEN list, so stay glued on the page!

sweet potatoes..and white coffee!

2011-08-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

boiled sweet potatoes and white coffee.so these are what i'm having for sahur.well,actually i'm not really up for it(red flag alert!)..hihi!i'm going for sahur nevertheless.

i have lots of other things to cook,but right now my taste buds are craving for sweet potatoes.koreans would LOVE to have them with kimchi!

2011-08-01T04:22:00.000-07:00

i guess it's been like centuries since i last dropped a piece of my mind here.it's not that i don't like writing..it's what we call a writer's block.and i frankly had that.a lot of times.i used to think that i should write for people to read,but somehow that didn't work out well for me.

so now i'm gonna write for ME.if you people can relate or just feel like stopping by my blog,i definitely won't mind.comment, but don't criticize.writing is a privacy.whatever you wanna do with it,it's your own bloody business.as long as it doesn't hurt or destroy other people.

i admit my previous entries did have some bitchy words, meant for bitchy people.so if you're not the one i mentioned or will mention in my later posts(if i'm gonna write about one), then please,oh please don't mind about it.okay?

now i'm back to level zero since it's my first entry after a hiatus, plus currently it's ramadan(the blessed and blissful month for Muslims)..so i'll start with a nice note.^_^

Demons!

2010-08-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

it's only morning, yet i'm already heated up. some people just don't have even the slightest freaking idea as to how other people are doing. oblivious..or simply IGNORANT?have some conscience,people. it does you no harm to actually ask around, sympathize and empathize with the rest. i'm not angry, just annoyed. i can't blame you for being who you are, maybe you're born annoying. i mean..there are some people whom you can't help but feel like slapping their face the first time you met them.sounds kinda stupid, but look around..don't you agree?HOWEVER, my feeling annoyed has nothing to do with that immediate dislike or hatred.

i think you know what i'm babbling about.

anyway, speaking of demons, these creatures remind me of those people who would gladly suck your blood and feed on your self-destruction. they might not be the same kind as to what you have in mind, but well..just think about them in a similar way. they just love to see you break down to pieces.

i guess i'll just have to put a blind eye and a deaf ear to it.

what's for buka recipes

2010-08-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

beef soup with soft tofu and enoki mushroom

ingredients: 500 g of beef(thinly sliced), 2 tablespoon of sugar, soft tofu, enoki mushroom, water, garlic(finely chopped), oyster sauce, salt and pepper to taste

1. marinate the beef slices with sugar for about 1/2 hour.

2. bring a pot of water to a boil, then stir in the marinated beef and garlic.

3. cook the beef till tender, add oyster sauce, soft tofu and enoki mushroom.

4. season with salt and pepper.serve hot.

sambal stir-fried soft tofu

ingredients: soft tofu, chili paste, garlic and shallots(chopped), sugar and salt to taste.

1. saute garlic and shallots, add chili paste and saute for another 5 minutes.

2. add soft tofu and season with sugar and salt.

3. serve with hot rice.

what's for BUKA?

2010-08-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

OK. i know that many of us just DON"T want to cook for buka. even if you want to, sometimes you don't know what to cook. in the end you, i and the rest of us choose to eat out or tapau. however, some of us, sometimes, just got bored with all the eat-outs and tapaus. so we cook. simple, fast and most important of all..YUMMYLICIOUS.

here's the menu for breakfasting today..

1.beef soup with soft tofu and enoki mushroom

2.sambal stir-fried soft tofu

3.pumpkin dessert(refer to my previous post)

la boisson?

my all-time favorite drink..C2 green tea apple and forest fruits flavors. Gulp!

i'll post the recipes for the beef soup and sambal stir-fried tofu later.

off to the kitchen!

blogger's note

2010-08-27T01:40:00.000-07:00

hello, there!

to all my blog visitors(if any), do feel free to let me know of any language error in my posts.

merci!

fête de citrouille (pumpkin feast)

2010-08-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

love pumpkins? never tasted one?well, try out these very SIMPLE pumpkin recipes and kick-start your pumpkin craze!

pumpkin with coconut milk

ingredients: 1/2 of small-size pumpkin(cubed), 150 ml coconut milk, water, shallots (julienned), garlic (julienned), anchovies, black pepper powder(optional), a pinch of turmeric powder(optional), salt and sugar to taste.

1. boil the cubed pumpkin in water until soft.

2. add the anchovies, julienned shallots and garlic. leave for 2 minutes.

3. add the coconut milk, black pepper powder(optional) and turmeric powder(optional), stir occasionally.

4.season with salt and sugar to taste.

5. serve with hot rice and sambal belacan.

spicy clear pumpkin soup

ingredients: 1/2 of small-size pumpkin (cubed), water, shallots (julienned), dried prawns, black pepper powder,salt and sugar to taste.

1. boil the cubed pumpkin in water until soft.

2. add the julienned shallots and dried prawns. leave to boil for 5 minutes.

3. add black pepper powder, season with salt and sugar.

4. serve with toasted bread or hot rice.

pumpkin dessert

ingredients: 1/2 of small-size pumpkin (cubed), water, sugar.

1. parboil the cubed pumpkin in water.

2. add sugar, simmer until the sugar caramelizes and the pumpkin is fully cooked.

3. serve hot or cold.

angels and demons

2010-08-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

okay.since i'm currently living in hell, i found out that there are only TWO types of creatures. Angels and Demons.

angels are those with a view that there's always a silver lining behind the clouds, or to look at the glass as half full.such optimism that makes people just want to kiss them. they are sometimes, or perhaps most of the time, your voice of reason. always asking you to have a positive outlook on life. no matter what the world throws in your face, you'll be able to battle it out. this type of creature becomes your strength, a shoulder to cry on et cetera.

another type of creature, the demons, are those who crash the very last bit of your pride and courage, even when you've already succumbed to life's cruel beatings. these demons would always try to make easy things hard, hard things harder, and continue until you tell them,"i give up"."i can't do this"."kill me". and they will gladly kill you. how? by rubbing it in your face, showing off what they have achieved when you are flailing and failing.

i don't know about you guys, but if you happen to meet both creatures, only befriend the former. it'll save your ass. trust me.

HELL

2010-08-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

never, in my entire life, have i felt so vulnerable and lost. i never looked at myself as a weakling, never found an excuse to be one. always think that i'm a strong girl.but today..is a revelation. I can be WEAK. INSECURE. LOST..i even thought i'd die among piles and piles of work. maybe it's PMS. yeah..screw PMS!but a deeper thought shoved my hormonal dysfunction away. you can't always blame the hormones.

it feels like the world has come crashing down on me. why now?why everything starts now?i tried to divert the thoughts to something else.FOOD.KOREAN DRAMAS. it just doesn't work. i just wished i have a guardian angel, whispering words of courage and sweeping all the headaches away.but then, having a guardian angel next to you would only mean one thing. YOU'RE DEAD. And in heaven. this..is HELL

monkeys.. and the chance of getting bananas

2010-07-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

In the deep jungle of Hatred, there lived a bunch of monkeys. having no leader(they have superiority complex), the monkeys live in vague trust and obvious greed, determined to outdo each other at any chance of getting bananas. so one fine day...one of the younger monkeys decided to challenge the older monkeys for some big, juicy bananas. the older monkeys laughed histerically at the silly thought of the young monkey. "you don't even know how to climb the tree,"said one old monkey. "you can't even bite hard enough into the fruit," said another.

all hurt and angered, the young monkey turned and walked away from the old crowd, only to devise a revenge plan.

to be continued

salut!

2010-07-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

it's been centuries since i last updated this blog..so i'm giving it a new visage..

more food, recipes...and definitely more pieces of my mind!

Big apple . big bite

2009-02-24T22:32:00.001-08:00

Have you ever tasted one? For those who have, I'm proud of you guys ! for those who haven't, I'm sure you guys will make me proud too!

Just as appetizing and gastronomic as those of other doughnut brands, this one will cost you a few pounds of excess weight and hours of exercise routines(if not eaten with precautions!)

Upon arriving at the store, you will be tempted with an array of devilish creatures(doughnuts, of course!), which would be batting and smiling seductively, luring you into picking one of them(or 2,maybe 3..hmm,might as well get a dozen!)

jonker at last!

2008-08-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

"nyonya seafood laksa" "seafood soup noodle" "nyonya chicken rendang noodle"

these were the meals we had at a stall at Jonker Walk..the "nyonya seafood laksa" has a rich curry taste with fresh prawns, boiled egg, fried tofu and big fishballs.the "seafood soup noodle" is also a nice,wholesome treat with its succulent prawns, fishballs n severall other tasty ingredients(which i cant tell simply bcoz i dont know..haha:P).

the "nyonya chicken rendang noodle" would be the winner..the rendang is rich and thick and MMM,MMM!the chicken meat is served in big portion with hard boiled egg and some garnishing..these meals are sinfully good and are DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED for those on DIET!!

if you're at Jonker Walk, visit this stall..Jonker Gallery..n satisfy youirself with a wide range of scrumptious meals!

le petit dejeuner

2008-08-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

we had our petit dejeuner(breakfast) today. it's actually the second time we had it, the first time was during last semester's class. we had la salade verte(green salad), la salade fruits avec des yaourts(fruit salad with yogurt), la baguette et le croissants avec le fromage(baguette n croissant with cheese), la cereal avec du lait(ceral and milk),le the et le cafe(tea n coffee)..n we enjoy it more while watching a French movie..it's a good movie(i think), but we didnt have the chance to finish watching it..huhu.all in all, le petit dejeuner est superb!

a long time favorite..

2008-07-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

well..the story is about a long time search of an unforgettable 'kuey tiaw lakna' taste.one i had tasted long time ago..

the above photo of 'kueytiaw lakna' comes from a stall i went a few days ago.. though it didnt have the same powerful taste as the one in the long search..its taste qualifies the dish to be the BEST so far..it has all of the sweet,sour,salty,spicy and creamy tastes. the chunks of prawn, squid and chicken are sufficient and succulent!one thing,however, disappoints me..it doesnt have enough vegetable in it..but that's b'coz I LOVE VEGGIES!
other than that,this is another dish i would surely have on my table..

smokin' curry puffs!

2008-07-29T00:03:00.000-07:00

don't be deceived by the oh-not-so-tempting look..these CURRY PUFFS will surely make you craze for more!i went to a friend's house for a ceremony and found these yummy delicacy..
the outer crusts are sooo CRUNCHY!and the fillings..ohh,so..arrgh!i just cant find the right word to describe it..one thing for sure, im craving for more!
sadly to say that i forgot to ask where the auntie got these from, or if they're homemade, how to make these "cuisine delicieux".haih..

nasi goreng ayam

2008-07-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine who is a 'nasi goreng ayam' addict, introduced me to this dish from a stall near our campus..
the dish is accompanied with beef soup, cucumber slices and most importantly, the ever-so-very-hot 'sambal belacan'(my nose might bleed from it..really!)
the fried rice is neither overly done nor undercooked..just nice!and the roasted chicken..mmm,mmm!i guess it's been marinated for several hours..the tastes of the spices and soy sauce and honey blend together and the result..is finger-licking GOOD!!